US Threatens New Sanctions On Countries Supplying Russia

In a letter Thursday, she also submitted 13 recommendations for the Biden administration to reorient US policy towards listening to the demands of the Iranian people, not their oppressive government.

“Decades of repression under reformist, pragmatic, and conservative presidents have made life there unbearable,” she said, adding that “The problems of the regime stem from its revolutionary ideology, ossified leadership, antisemitism, and a structural anti-woman mindset.”

Describing the Islamic Republic as “a radical cause, not an ordinary country," she said, “Iran’s Supreme Leader has consistently prioritized the welfare of his terror proxies over his own people.”

She also called on the US government and its allies in the E3 (the United Kingdom, France, and Germany) to halt nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic while it is suppressing protests and throttling the internet.

Alinejad also urged the US to introduce human rights as a condition of continuing nuclear negotiations, emphasizing that Washington should refuse to greenlight release of Tehran’s frozen funds in foreign banks, “conditioning doing so on tangible improvement of the human rights situation.”

She called for the establishment of an independent UN investigative mechanism to hold Iranian leaders and security forces accountable, noting that the Islamic Republic “is incapable of mounting independent investigations on its own" as it has been the case for the downing of the Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 in 2020.

Thursday marked the 28th consecutive night of protests in Iran with videos on social media showing people blocking roads to stop the movement of riot police in the city of Mahabad, in West Azarbaijan province, and gunshots and teargas reported in Ahvaz in the southwestern Khuzestan province, while several neighborhoods in capital Tehran are scenes of violent skirmishes between people and government forces. 

The protest rallies in Tehran were not limited to a specific area as people from the northern or southern neighborhoods were participating in the demonstrations with slogans against the regime and the Supreme Leader while many people were chanting slogans from rooftops. 

The Youth of Tehran Neighborhoods, an anonymous group that helped organize rallies in the capital in the past four weeks, called for another nationwide protests on Saturday, October 15.

Sporadic clashes were also reported from Karaj, a city near Tehran known for its youths’ resistance against the security forces. 

Security forces were present in huge numbers in the streets of Kermanshah and Sanandaj, which were witnessing violent clashes in the past few days, with reports of several casualties from both sides. 

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According to videos, protests have also been held in the cities of Arak, Ilam and Bukan in West Azarbaijan province. Baneh and Saqqez – the hometown of Mahsa Amini -- in Kordestan province were also hotbeds of protests on Thursday night with people having built up big fires on main streets, although little footage is available from due to internet disruption by the government. 

While Internet access was shut off or significantly slowed down in many cities, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk – who had earlier promised to activate satellite internet system Starlink for Iranians – said “there are some active terminals” in Iran.

As the uprising -- sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, is entering its second month -- the movement, which many now refer to as a revolution, has not yet found a leader the majority would recognize. Since the early days of the Islamic Republic, the clerical leadership has consistently eliminated political parties, free media, and anyone who could possibly be in a position to lead the opposition. This has manifested itself in the biggest characteristic of the current movement which is spontaneous and has no leader.

Some pundits warn that without a leadership the movement which has chosen “Women, Life, Liberty” as its motto may fail to achieve its goal of overthrowing the Islamic Republic, and to sustain its achievement if it succeeds. Others say lacking a known leader makes it much harder for the establishment to suppress the movement.

In addition to protests in Iran, there are large rallies outside the Islamic Republic’s missions around the world, with people in some cities trying to enter the consulates and embassies to remove the flag of the Islamic regime and in some cases, police were forced to intervene. 

Despite reports that Tehran is sending out letters to EU diplomats, claiming that "bilateral relations may not survive" as the EU moves to penalize Iran for killing protesters, the uprising is garnering more and more support among Western government officials and politicians.

“If Europe misses taking the nuances of the current situation into consideration, the ramification will be grave and the bilateral relations may not survive it,” warned one letter — sent to a group of EU ambassadors and seen by POLITICO. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Wednesday received a similar letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran, the arrests and interrogations of school children accused of joining nationwide protests in Iran and their detention in so-called “psychological centers” has raised fears of more child killings while at least 28 children were reported to be killed by the Islamic Republic’s repression machine since the protests began in mid-September.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre made the claim in an online briefing, saying Paris had noted “a great deal of information that reports the use of Iranian drones by the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, in bombardments that were aimed at civilian targets…”

With European Union foreign ministers due to consider Monday plans for sanctions on Iran over treatment of domestic protests, Legendre said Paris was also coordinating with “European partners” on how to respond to the “potential transfer” of Iranian drones to Russia.

Iran has denied supplying drones to Russia, and there was no immediate explanation of the French claim. Following the terms of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2231 and the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), a UN arms embargo on Iran expired in 2020 with a remaining ban on “any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons” in place until October 2023.

Reuters news agency cited “a diplomatic source” explaining Legendre’s claim in terms of drones violating UNSC Resolution 2231 because they came under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which is a non-binding political understanding among states, including Russia and the United States, limiting proliferation of missiles and missile technology. Reuters did not explain the relevance of the MTCR nor whether it would similarly cover the current supply of drones to Ukraine from Turkey.

NATO counties seem to be taking seriously reports that Russia is using Iranian-made Shahed 136 delta-wing ‘kamikaze’ drones, which are a cheap alternative to missiles. Ukrainian officials claimed Thursday Iranian drones were responsible for explosions near the capital Kyiv early that day, with Russian strikes across the country killing 13 people in attacks on “critical infrastructure.” Associated Press reported from Kyiv that it was not clear if any of these casualties were due to drones.

Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv military administration, said last week that explosions at a military base 75km south of the city wounding one, had been carried out by Shahed-136 drones.

Military supplies, escalation

The reported use of Iranian drones comes as Ukraine lobbies Washington for advanced weapons, including F-16 jets and long-range drones. Ukraine is meeting opposition from senior US officials concerned that striking targets well inside Russia would escalate the current conflict. There are also other reasons why sending more advanced weapons would not be easy. US officials recently told the New York Times that Ukraine, despite denials, was responsible for the August 20 bomb killing Darya Dugin, 29-year-old daughter of the Russia conservative commentator Aleksandr Dugin.

The US has so far sent $16.8 billion in military supplies to Ukraine, and the European Union $2.5 billion. Ankara has supplied Ukraine since 2019 with advanced Bayraktar TB-2 drones, while also acting in the current conflict as a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Republican and some Democrat critics of the JCPOA argue that protests in Iran require tougher US sanctions. Pressed by journalists Wednesday, Ned Price, the State Department spokesman said efforts to renew the JCPOA were “not our focus right now.” The US, like the three Western European JCPOA signatories – France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – say they want the JCPOA restored but that Tehran has thwarted talks by making demands beyond the 2015 agreement, which the US left in 2018 imposing ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions.

The French foreign ministry announced that it was coordinating with EU partners on how to respond, while earlier the Ukrainian officials said three Iranian-made drones were used by Russia to attack the small town of Makariv overnight targeting critical infrastructure.

"There was an overnight drone bombardment by invaders on the Makariv community," Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv region police said. Russia had used more than 20 Iranian drones in its large-scale bombardment of infrastructure and cities on October 10, Ukraine said.

According to the United States, Iran has supplied Shahed 136 suicide drones to Russia and Ukraine has reported swarms of these UAVs launched against civilian targets. The drones have a low speed of 120-150km per hour and many have been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses and warplanes.

On Tuesday, October 11, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia has ordered 2,400 Iranian-made Shahed drones from the Islamic Republic.

Diplomatic efforts to reach a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue culminated in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on 14 July 2015 by China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, the High Representative of the European Union (the E3/EU+3) and the Islamic Republic of Iran. On 20 July 2015, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2231 endorsing the JCPOA.

"There was an overnight drone bombardment by invaders on the Makariv community," Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv region police said on the Telegram messaging app.

"According to preliminary information, there were no casualties." Russia used more than 20 Iranian drones in its large-scale bombardment of infrastructure and cities on October 10, according to Ukraine.

According to the United States, Iran has supplied Shahed 136 suicide drones to Russia and Ukraine has reported swarms of these UAVs launched against civilian targets. The drones have a low speed of 120-150km per hour and many have been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses and warplanes.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Volodymyr Zelenskiy's presidential office, said earlier that the attack took place by "kamikaze drones on critical infrastructure facilities", without providing further detail.

Nebytov and the region's governor, Oleksiy Kuleba, said that rescuers were working at the site.

Makariv, a town which had a population of about 10,000 before Russia's invasion in Ukraine in February, is about 55 km (34 miles) west of the capital, Kyiv.
Iran denies supplying the drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has not commented.