Arrests Of Hardliner Journalists In Iran Remains A Mystery

In a piece by staff in Washington and Mossad expert Ronen Bergman in Israel, the Times highlighted Iran’s construction of “a vast tunnel network” just south of its Natanz uranium enrichment plant.

With year-long talks in Vienna to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on hold since March, the paper suggested that “high on the agenda” for Biden’s trip would be “the question of taking more extreme measures to stop Iran, as the United States and Israel have attempted before.” Diplomatic efforts to “reimpose limits on Iran’s nuclear actions appear all but dead,” the Times argued.

The purpose of the tunnels was, however, unclear. US officials told the Times that the new underground facility was to replace a centrifuge assembly plant that the Times – apparently referring to a fire at Natanz in July 2020 ­– said “Israel blew up in April 2020 [sic], in a particularly sophisticated attack.”

US officials also told the Times Iran was probably engaged in a brinkmanship they believed to influence the nuclear talks. As well as expanding levels of uranium enrichment and restricting the access of International Atomic Energy Agency inspections, Tehran sought “new pressure points, including the excavation of the mountain plant near Natanz.”

The Times reported Kenneth McKenzie, who stepped down in April as commander of US Central Command covering the Middle East, also suggesting Iran sought leverage. “They like the idea of hanging the nuclear program over us because it produces a response,” he said.

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McKenzie argued that the nuclear program was not the main issue. The real “crown jewels” for Iran were ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones – where he suggested it had “made huge strides in the last five to seven years.”

‘Relentless effort for a bomb’

Israeli officials gave the New York Times a different take. For them, the paper said, the Natanz tunnels were “more evidence of a relentless Iranian effort to pursue a bomb capability” and justified Israel’s “accelerated attacks on the nuclear program and the scientists and engineers behind both Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.”

Among recent attacks on Iranian facilities was one on the Karaj manufacturing workshop in June 2021, which Tehran blamed on Israel. The strike soured Iran’s relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency and led it to switch manufacturing to existing space at Natanz.

While the killing of Iranian scientists attributed to Israel goes back to 2010, there have been suggestions that Israeli intelligence recently poisoned two more.

The freeze in talks to revive the JCPOA – which according to some reports boil down to the US listing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ – alarm many in Europe also concerned over Biden’s rapprochement with Saudi Arabia after initially in office taking distance from Riyadh over ‘human rights’ and its role in the Yemen war.

‘Time for decision is now’

While EU efforts to revive the Vienna nuclear talks over the 2015 nuclear deal, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), have failed to bridge the US-Iran divide, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell told the United Nations Security Council Thursday of his “permanent contact with all the parties to try arrange a return to the JCPOA and ensure its full implementation.”

Insisting that the “basic elements and terms to do this are known and on the table,” Borrell said “the time for decision is now.”

In a separate part of his speech referring to countries buying Russian exports, Borrell reiterated the EU’s opposition to ‘secondary’ sanctions – punitive measures against third parties. Ironically, the US Thursday took such measures against Chinese and Emirati firms over Iranian petrochemical exports. Hamad Al Kaabi, the United Arab Emirati envoy to the IAEA, said Friday he hoped Iran would work with the IAEA to reassure “the international community” over its nuclear program.

The officer was identified as Vahab Faramarzian and reportedly died in Maragheh in East Azarbaijan province. 

According to photos of his obituary published on some secondary websites, his funeral service was held on Thursday in the village of Qartavol, near Maragheh. 

The Revolutionary Guard has yet to comment on his death. 

Iran International quoted an informed source as saying on Monday that the two IRGC Aerospace Force officers whose deaths were announced Sunday were engaged in "developing arms for Lebanon's Hezbollah,” adding that Ali Kamani and Mohammad Abdus, both Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace engineers, "were not killed in accidents" as the Islamic Republic claimed.

The two died in separate incidents in two different locations, but the source did not provide further details about the circumstances of their deaths. What was clear from the information received is that the two officers did not die as a result of a car or work place accident.

Iranian media first announced that Kamani died in a “car accident in line of duty” in Khomein, in central Iran, before news came that another aerospace Force officer had also died in the province of Semnan "on line of duty". 

A series of other killings and deaths among IRGC ranks in Iran in recent weeks has led to suspicion that they might have been targets of a secret series of operations, purportedly by Israel’s Mossad.

Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Gharaei Ashtiani made the remarks during his trip to the southern province of Hormozgan, where he visited the Ministry of Defense's naval projects in Bandar Abbas and other cities.

“Our message to the region and the world is a message of peace and tranquility,” he said, adding that “we believe that peace and stability in the region can be achieved with the presence and participation of all countries in the region.”

Iran often uses foreign forces in the region” to refer to the military presence of the United States in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.

Having been briefed on the projects to build destroyers as well as surface and submarine vessels, Ashtiani said, "Increasing Iran’s military might in all aspects of defense, including land and air, and especially sea, is one of the priorities of the country's defense programs."

Highlighting that Iran's geopolitical position in the Persian Gulf is of strategic importance to the country, he said that the Defense Ministry will update and equip the Navy “in accordance with the regional threats in all its territorial waters.”

On Tuesday, the Israeli defense minister intensified pressure on Iran by calling for a military front with US leadership in the Middle East ahead of a visit to the region by President Joe Biden, saying that Israel and Arab countries that share its worries about Iran should build up their military capabilities under Washington's aegis.

Describing Iran as the most destabilizing force in the Middle East, the new CENTCOM commander in May called for coordinated efforts to confront Iran.

According to the highly active political rumor mill in Iran, Former parliament speaker Ali Larijani and Supreme Council of national Security Secretary Ali Shamkhani lashed out at ultraconservative Saeed Jalili after he voiced support at the Expediency Council for the idea of Tehran exiting the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Jalili was Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when Iran was nabbed with international sanctions. He is also the long-time mentor of current negotiator, Ali Bagheri-Kani.

Reformist newspaper Sharq later revealed that the news of the quarrel was first disclosed by "Ammarioun," an ultraconservative group close to the IRGC and the ultraconservative Paydari Party that had nominated Jalili as their candidate for presidency in 2013.

The former lawmaker, Gholamreza Jafarzadeh Imanabadi said in an interview with Didban Iran [Iran Monitor] website that he is not aware of the details of the argument, but he added that "It is obvious the country cannot be run based on the ideas of Mr. Jalili," who is a staunch opponent of an agreement with the United States. Imanabadi further characterized Jalili as a "warmonger."

However, Imanabadi's criticism of the government goes beyond his opposition with Jalili's rejectionism. He said, "all those who engineered the 2021 presidential election and brought Ebrahim Raisi to power should be accountable for what they did."

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"It is not important to know who fought whom at the Expediency Council. The real struggle is about the people's life and livelihood."

Imanabadi charged that "Raisi is to be blamed for all the swear words people use against the regime." The former lawmaker further warned that if Iran ever exits the NPT, the Islamic Republic and the Iranian people will have to face an emergency situation.

He said that individuals such as Jalili are determined to ruin the last remnants of the people's livelihood. Elaborating on the perils of the Raisi administration's economic policy, Imanabadi said that a tripling of tax revenues this year is tantamount to picking the nation's pockets.

He further criticized Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi for saying that prices of only four food items have increased, adding that Mr. Vahidi has never visited the kitchen in his own home!

On the nuclear deal with world powers and negotiations with the United States, he said: "Whether you like it or not, the people's livelihood is tied to the nuclear deal and relations with other countries. You cannot say that you want a dynamic economy and at the same time be sulking with all countries!" He further charged that "the Raisi administration is the weakest government Iran has ever had and Mr. Raisi does not know anything about how to run a country."

In another development, according to the conservative Nameh News website, political analyst Gholamreza Zarifian suggested that Raisi should benefit from the experience of former ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He added that Iran has so many economic problems that the only solution is trying to have the sanctions lifted. "I hope Raisi would benefit from the experiences of his predecessors Rouhani and Ahmadinejad."

Zarifian was referring to the fact that Ahmadinejad called UN resolutions shreds of paper and ignored warnings about Iran’s nuclear program, which led to international sanctions, while President Hassan Rouhani used diplomacy to negotiate with the United States and have the sanctions lifted for a few years.

The embassy released a statement on Thursday, saying that the Boeing 747 registered as a Venezuelan cargo plane was used by the Iranian company Mahan Air and transported “a group of Iranian officials, including a senior executive of the airline Qeshm Fars Air.” It was referring to Gholamreza Ghasemi, who apparently was the pilot and is a member of the IRGC and a former board member of Fars Air Qeshm accused of transporting weapons for Hezbollah during the civil war in Syria. 

“The State of Israel is particularly concerned about the activity of the Iranian airlines Mahan Air and Qeshm Fars Air in Latin America, companies dedicated to arms trafficking and the transfer of people and equipment that operate for the Quds Force,” the statement read. 

The embassy referred to an assassination attempt on Israeli citizens in the city of Bogotá by “criminals who worked for the Quds Force in Colombia,” adding that such events revealed that IRGC’s Quds force tries to consolidate its influence in South America. 

Argentina said on June 15 no member of IRGC Quds Force was among the crew, and Ghasemi just shared a name with a Quds Force member. 

Ghasemi is also reportedly a relative of current Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, whose appointment by President Ebrahim Raisi triggered condemnation from Argentina given his suspected role in the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 85 people and injured over 300.

Iran has denied that the Boeing 747 belongs to Iran’s Mahan Airlines, sanctioned by the US in 2008 for links to the Quds (Qods) Force.