European Powers To Retain Ballistic, Nuclear Sanctions On Iran

Britain, France, Germany -- the so-called E3 -- and the US issued the warning during a quarterly meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors on Thursday, but they did not specify whether or when they might act on it.

The warning came as the West's standoff with Iran has been complicated by secret US-Iran talks over a prisoner swap agreement and releasing billions of dollars of Iran’s oil revenues frozen in foreign banks due to Washington's sanctions.

A November resolution ordered Tehran to cooperate urgently with the IAEA's investigation into the presence of uranium particles at three undeclared sites, since narrowed down to two.

"If Iran fails to implement the essential and urgent actions contained in the November 2022 Resolution and the 4th March Joint Statement in full, the Board will have to be prepared to take further action in support of the (IAEA) Secretariat to hold Iran accountable in the future, including the possibility of a resolution," the four Western powers said in a statement to the 35-nation IAEA board.

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Western powers have recently decried Iran for its lack of cooperation with the IAEA on issues like the re-installation of surveillance cameras removed last year and the enrichment of uranium to levels nearing weapons-grade purity at 60%. However, in parallel, diplomats report that the United States has been engaging in undisclosed "de-escalation" discussions with Iran, potentially complicating matters.

These secretive talks, which Washington has not officially acknowledged, encompass various issues, including Iran's recent reduction in enrichment to 60% purity.

Iran typically reacts to resolutions against it by expanding or accelerating its nuclear activities. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes, while Western powers argue that there is no credible civilian explanation for it, particularly uranium enrichment at higher level. The IAEA has never confirmed the peaceful nature of Tehran's nuclear program.

The Thursday joint statement addressed the re-installation of monitoring equipment, such as cameras, but only a fraction of the cameras requested by the IAEA have been installed. 

Instead of pursuing another binding resolution against Tehran due to the lack of progress on these issues at this week's IAEA board meeting, Western powers, along with 59 other countries, issued a non-binding joint statement, urging Iran to "act immediately" on various issues, including providing an explanation for the uranium traces.

On the opening day of the IAEA board of governors meeting on September 11, IAEA's Director General Rafael Grossi bemoaned Tehran's failure to respond to IAEA monitoring demands and questions regarding the traces of uranium. He cautioned that his agency is not happy with how relations with Iran progress on the outstanding nuclear issues.

Despite remarks by Grossi, Nasser Kanani, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said Iran and the IAEA have made “considerable progress” in boosting cooperation based on the March agreement.

“It’s a regret that England, Germany, France and the US, which have certain motivations and positions against Iran, have made Iran-IAEA technical cooperation a subject of their political moves,” he said, adding that the Western states did this in the name of defending the agency and the safeguards, but they aimed to distort the reality of Iran’s sincere cooperation with the agency.

“Of course this measure is not new and also not surprising. In the previous Board of Governors meeting, they had a similar show in the form of verbal attacks and accusations against Iran,” he said.

For years, the IAEA has tried in vain to verify the nature of Iran’s nuclear activities, as the regime obstructs inspections and dodges questions in what many see as a time-buying tactic.

The Biden administration has so far been reluctant to exert more pressure on Iran over its nuclear program and has instead endeavored to buy the regime’s cooperation with a side deal.

The Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs – part of the House Oversight Committee – held the hearing to discuss Washington’s secret dealings with the regime, including Tehran’s nuclear program and negotiations for the release of American hostages in exchange for billions of dollars as well as the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the Special Envoy on Iran, Robert Malley.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-Wis) emphasized that the Biden Administration has failed to be transparent with Congress and the American people on talks and actions regarding the Iranian regime. He condemned the White House for a sanctions waiver as part of its prisoner swap on the anniversary of September 11, freeing up $6 billion for “the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.”

Decrying the 2015 nuclear deal signed under the Obama administration, Grothman said “the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was touted by the left as the fix-all to the Iranian nuclear dilemma. In reality, it did little to reign in the Iranian regime while rewarding it with literal pallets of cash.”

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He continued that the Trump administration withdrew the US from the deal “due to Iran’s continued bolstering of its ballistic missile program and its funding of terrorist groups around the globe” and that the current administration has failed to uphold its pledge to return the US to the JCPOA. “Instead, the administration has negotiated in secret and has failed to be transparent” despite the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act’s expansive disclosure requirements. 

“In March 2023, the International Atomic Energy Agency detected enriched uranium particles at 83.7 percent, prompting great concern as weapons grade uranium is enriched at 90 percent or higher. In addition to its nuclear program, Iran continues work to perfect its ballistic missile program. In May of this year, Iran unveiled its 4th generation liquid fuel ballistic missile, which can carry a 1,500-kilogram warhead around 1,200 miles,” he pointed out. 

Grothman highlighted that “Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC, continues to provide arms, training, and financial support to militias and terrorist organizations in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen,” mentioning that the IRGC provides the terrorist organization Hezbollah $700 million a year in assistance. 

“Since President Biden took office, Iran or its proxies have attacked US forces in the Middle East almost 100 times,” he noted. 

On the prisoner swap deal, he said the White House claims the $6 billion could only be used for humanitarian purposes but Iran says it will decide how to spend the money. He stressed the necessity to “ensure that the increase in ransom payments does not incentivize hostile nations like Iran to continue to kidnap American citizens.”

Referring to the suspension of Iran envoy, Robert Malley, which he called “highly unusual”, he said Malley's career has been marked by a “long history of appeasement toward adversaries of the US, and mentioned his repeated meetings with the terrorist organization Hamas under the Obama administration and Iran’s former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif “to undermine President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran.”

Speaking as one of the expert witnesses at the hearing, Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) President Michael Makovsky said the Biden administration has not articulated any strategic goal toward Iran, elaborating that in its National Security Strategy, the administration only outlined a series of policies. 

He noted that the administration endlessly pursued diplomacy at the exclusion of other tools, an approach which “even enriches and strengthens the regime ... The administration accepts the regime’s existence, works with it and mutes criticism of its awful human rights abuse.” 

The US only retaliated to four of Iran’s nearly 100 attacks on US forces in the region, he said, adding that “Iran has even retaliated against US forces for Israeli actions because it fears Israel and not America." So laxly enforced are the sanctions that is has resulted in a triple rise in Iranian oil export revenues in 2023 in comparison to 2020, Makovsky stressed. 

Richard Goldberg -- from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies – described the recent unacknowledged deal with Iran as “a perilous arrangement negotiated in secret, without congressional oversight or review, in breach of statutory requirements.” Secret talks took place against the backdrop of continued attempts by the regime in Tehran to assassinate former US officials and kidnap or kill Iranian Americans on US soil, he added. 

He said that it defies logic to believe that the US is paying $6 billion for five people, making it “a historic hostage ransom payment.” Considering other concessions given to Iran such as a waiver of $10 billion of Iran’s oil money blocked in Iraq and a special drawing rights of the IMF for fiat currency of about $7 billion, and $25 billion of oil revenues through a lax enforcement of sanctions that has led to record high export of oil to China, “this is not a $6-billion deal... this could be at least a $50 billion deal.” 

“America is paying Iran’s extortion racket, ceding to Tehran nuclear threshold status just to avoid making tough decisions before next year’s presidential election," he stated. 

The exchange is viewed as a preliminary step towards initiating fresh discussions aimed at reinstating limitations on Iran's nuclear program, reported Bloomberg.

As part of the agreement, the United States is also allowing Iran to access $6 billion in previously frozen funds held in South Korea.

The move by President Joe Biden's administration has drawn criticism, with some arguing that it may encourage further hostage-taking incidents.

In response, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson emphasized that the primary objective is the release of five Americans who are “wrongfully” detained, emphasizing that this remains an ongoing and sensitive process. She clarified that no individuals will be transferred into US custody this week.

The Biden administration has refuted Iran's assertions that there will be no restrictions on the $6 billion in oil sales proceeds, asserting that the funds are earmarked exclusively for humanitarian purposes.

In support of the pending prisoner swap involving five Americans and five Iranians, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has informed Congress about a waiver ensuring that German, Irish, Qatari, South Korean, and Swiss banks can facilitate the transfer of the $6 billion from South Korea without violating US sanctions.

The source detailed the attack originating from the Mediterranean Sea and targeting Syrian air defense installations in Tartus on the West coast.

"At exactly 17:22 (14:22 GMT) this afternoon, the Israeli enemy carried out strikes," stated the official news agency SANA. "The aggression led to the death of two soldiers and wounded six others," it continued.

Throughout the course of more than a decade of conflict in Syria, neighboring Israel has launched numerous airstrikes within Syrian territory. The operations have predominantly focused on Iran-backed forces, Hezbollah militants, and Syrian military positions.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organization monitoring the conflict, reported that the airstrikes on Wednesday also hit a weapons depot associated with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. The British-based monitor, which maintains sources within Syria, confirmed the fatalities of the two soldiers. Additionally, an unidentified fighter was killed "in attacks believed to be Israeli missile fire."

Israel typically refrains from commenting on specific airstrikes carried out in Syria. However, it has consistently asserted its stance of preventing Iran, a key supporter of the Syrian government, from expanding its influence in the region.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011, it has resulted in the deaths of over half a million people, originally sparked by the suppression of pro-democracy protests.

The attacks, between March 2021 and June 2022, were carried out by the state-sponsored hacking group known as Charming Kitten, primarily focused on Israel but also affected Brazilian and Emirati organizations.

According to a report released by cybersecurity firm ESET, the cyber operations were executed using a specific backdoor malware called Sponsor. The hacking group exploited a software vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange servers to gain access to their targets, delivering the malware to the victim's technical infrastructure.

The malware enables hackers to execute their commands on the compromised servers of the targeted companies and steal sensitive information.

Companies in various sectors, including financial services, engineering, manufacturing, technology, law, telecommunications, and more, were among the victims of the regime-backed hackers. Additionally, a healthcare company in Brazil also fell victim to the attacks.

No specific information has been provided about the Emirati organization targeted.

Researchers from ESET have emphasized that the companies were targeted due to their failure to update their software infrastructure.

The incident followed warnings issued in 2021 by several cybersecurity organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia about the potential threat of Iranian regime hackers exploiting vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange servers.