Virus-Hit Iran Demands US Be Held to Account for 'Cruel' Sanctions

Iran called Thursday for the US to be held accountable for "cruel" sanctions that have hampered its efforts to fight a coronavirus outbreak that it said claimed another 90 lives.

The Islamic republic has been struggling to contain the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease since revealing its first cases more than two months ago.

It accuses its arch enemy the United States of making the crisis worse through sanctions imposed unilaterally since Washington pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

The latest fatalities given by the health ministry for the past 24 hours took the overall death toll in Iran from the coronavirus to 5,481.

"Today, the coronavirus has spread not only in Iran but in almost all countries, and it requires serious effort and collective action to deal with it," said Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.

"In addition to fighting the virus, Iran faces illegal and inhuman American sanctions, doubling the pressure on the Iranian people," he was quoted as saying in a ministry statement.

"It is the right of the Iranian people to have access to their financial resources to fight the disease and to counter its economic consequences," said Araghchi.

"The United States' cruel and unilateral sanctions against Iran constitute a clear violation of Security Council Resolution 2231, and the United States must therefore be held accountable by the international community," he added.

Medicines and medical equipment are technically exempt from the US sanctions but purchases are frequently blocked by the unwillingness of banks to process purchases for fear of incurring heavy US penalties.

Iran's coronavirus outbreak, which first emerged in the Shiite holy city of Qom on February 19, is one of the deadliest in the world.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced 1,030 new cases of coronavirus infection on Thursday, taking the country's total to 87,026.

Quoted by state media, he called for caution despite what he described as the "relative stability" and "gradual decline in new cases".

"We certainly need to put personal and public health advice, traffic reduction and the cancellation of any unnecessary travel on the agenda."

Photo: IRNA

Iran Makes Big Diplomatic Push to Find Fix for Nuclear Staredown

By Abbas Al Lawati and Arsalan Shahla

Iran is ramping up negotiations as signs gather that it’s closer to ending a showdown with Europe over the wobbling 2015 nuclear deal and easing a security crisis in the Persian Gulf.

Iran’s top envoy Mohammad Javad Zarif held talks in Moscow with counterpart Sergei Lavrov as the threat of another erosion of Iran’s compliance with the accord looms. His deputy Abbas Araghchi went to Paris with a team of economists and central bank officials to discuss a French proposal to help restore Iran’s oil exports, the backbone of its economy.

The talks in Paris lasted 10 hours, state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported, without giving details. It was Araghchi’s second trip to the French capital in less than six weeks, continuing the most substantive negotiations between Iran and a Western power since U.S. President Donald Trump exited the nuclear accord last year and slapped a slew of crippling sanctions on Iranian oil and other sectors.

Talks related to the agreement also took place in Vienna, Zarif’s spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

According to an Iranian lawmaker, the French proposal—hammered out in hours of telephone negotiations between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and French President Emmanuel Macron, and at a recent meeting with Zarif—includes a $15 billion credit line to Iran for oil “pre-purchases,” the semi-official Tasnim news reported, citing an interview with conservative lawmaker Ali Motahari.

France has suggested the money be paid in three installments and in return, Iran would lift its threat to ramp up atomic activities on Sept. 6 and eventually revert back to full compliance with the accord, Motahari said.

“Iran’s and France’s points of view have grown closer,” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei told reporters at a news conference in Tehran, adding that Iran was “moving forward and advancing” in its efforts to resolve the crisis through talks.

Araghchi said Saturday that discussions between Trump and Macron at the Group of Seven summit last week “have shown flexibility with regard to Iran’s oil,” according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency. Trump said at the meeting in Biarritz that he’d agree to have other countries extend a letter of credit to Iran, secured against oil sales.

The U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 2018 and crippling sanctioning of Iran’s economy triggered a security crisis that has rocked the Persian Gulf region with tanker attacks, tit-for-tat vessel seizures and the downing of military drones.

Washington’s actions also left Europe scrambling for an effective way to keep the deal alive without running afoul of U.S. sanctions.

“The French initiative is the last best hope for salvaging” the deal, said Ali Vaez at the International Crisis Group. “The key for its success is to provide Iran with some economic reprieve in the form of increased oil exports in return for compliance with the JCPOA and commitment to engage in new negotiations.”

Photo: IRNA

Iran Links Tanker Row to Ailing Nuclear Deal

By Philippe Schwab and Jastinder Khera

Iran on Sunday called Britain's seizure of an Iranian oil tanker a breach of an ailing 2015 nuclear deal, after remaining parties to the accord met in Vienna in a bid to keep it alive.

British authorities detained an Iranian tanker off the UK overseas territory of Gibraltar in early July on allegations it was breaching EU sanctions on Syria.

A British-flagged tanker was then impounded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards with its 23 crew aboard in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19, which was seen by the UK as a tit-for-tat move.

In comments to journalists after the meeting in Vienna, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi linked the tanker row to discussions over the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "Since Iran is entitled to export its oil according to the JCPOA, any impediment in the way of Iran's export of oil is actually against the JCPOA," Araghchi said.

He added that the issue of Iran's oil exports—including US attempts to prevent them completely—was raised at the meeting.

"I think the atmosphere was constructive and the discussions were good, I cannot say that we resolved everything," he said.

Envoys from Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran had gathered for talks in the Austrian capital, a month after a similar meeting failed to achieve a breakthrough.

Chair of the meeting secretary general of the European External Action Service Helga Schmid suggested in a statement that a stalemate still prevailed, saying only that "participants reaffirmed their continued commitment to preserving the JCPOA."

The statement added that Iranian nuclear projects in Arak and Fordow had the participants' "strong support", and said another meeting "would be convened in the near future."

'Tense Moments'

The head of the Chinese delegation, Fu Cong, said the talks had taken place in a "very good" and "professional" atmosphere but also admitted there had been some "tense moments" between the participants.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated since last year when US President Donald Trump pulled out of the accord that was aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program, and imposed punishing sanctions. Iran said in May it would disregard certain limits the JCPOA set on its nuclear program and threatened to take further measures if remaining parties to the deal, especially European nations, did not help it circumvent US sanctions.

Even before the latest tanker seizures, pressure had been mounting in the region with a string of incidents involving tankers and drones.

The US has said it brought down one and possibly two Iranian drones last week.Iran shot down an unmanned US aircraft in June, after which Trump announced that he had called off retaliatory air strikes at the last minute because the resulting death toll would have been too high.

The US and Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of being behind multiple mysterious attacks on tankers in the Gulf in June, which Iran denies.

Efforts by European powers, notably France's President Emmanuel Macron, to salvage the nuclear deal have so far come to nothing.

Araghchi repeated after Sunday's meeting that the remaining parties to the JCPOA wanted to meet "soon" at ministerial level. He said preparation for such a meeting was ongoing and that JCPOA partners were also convening "expert meetings on different areas to find practical solution for Iran to enjoy its benefits of sanctions lifting".

He admitted that INSTEX, a mechanism set up by the JCPOA's European partners to facilitate trade with Iran in the face of US sanctions, was "not functioning yet but it is in its final stages".

Photo: IRNA

Diplomatic Efforts Multiply to Ease Tangled Frictions With Iran

By Zoya Khan and Golnar Motevalli

A diplomatic flurry is underway to try to defuse layers of international tensions centering on Iran and its increasingly tangled showdown with the West.

European efforts to salvage the multipower nuclear deal with Iran from months of brinkmanship between Washington and Tehran have grown more complicated with the seizure of a U.K. oil tanker, and officials are crisscrossing the skies t keep seething frictions from worsening.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has traveled to France to meet with President Emmanuel Macron. Oman’s foreign minister will head for Tehran on Saturday as tensions soar in the oil chokepoint it shares with Iran. The prime minister of Iraq, whose country has security ties with the U.S. and political and religious links to Iran, has been in Tehran since Monday.

Araghchi intends to pass on a letter from President Hassan Rouhani to Macron that will address France’s advice to suspend nuclear activities Iran recently resumed, in an effort to ease the standoff with Washington, a Foreign Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss its contents.

Salvaging Efforts

Macron, along with German and U.K. leaders, has been at the forefront of European Union efforts to keep the nuclear deal from from collapsing after President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out last year.

The European powers have developed a financial channel meant to let European companies trade with Iran without using dollars or U.S. banks, or moving money across the border. But Iran has been disappointed by the tool because it won’t process oil sales, its economic lifeline. Earlier this month, in an effort to pressure the Europeans to do more to take on Washington, it abandoned the nuclear deal’s limitations on uranium enrichment, a potentially vital component of bombmaking. Iran says it has no interest in pursuing nuclear weapons.

Regional frictions shot up in May after the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on the crippled Iranian economy in an effort to force Tehran to negotiate a new nuclear deal that would address areas of concern to the U.S. beyond Iran’s atomic program. Iran, refusing to be cowed by Washington’s so-called campaign of “maximum pressure” against it, has intensified its nuclear activities.

Tankers Seized

A back-to-back seizure of oil tankers has made European efforts to keep the accord alive all the more difficult. The U.K., while working to defuse the nuclear crisis as a member of the EU, has become embroiled in a diplomatic feud with Tehran after seizing an Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar earlier this month, saying it carried contraband cargo. Iran retaliated by holding a British tanker on Friday near the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 40% of the world’s seaborne oil travels.

On Monday, U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Britain didn’t want to escalate tensions with Iran and won’t take part in Washington’s “maximum pressure” policy. But he called on Iran to release the tanker and announced that European governments will assemble a naval mission to provide safe passage for ships through the Gulf. The U.S. has also called for a military coalition to protect vessels in the area.

“There is no need to form a coalition to protect the region,” Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said on Tuesday, according to state-run Tasnim news agency. “The enemies should enter talks without coercing Iran and they will then see that calm can be restored for all in the region.”

Amid the turbulence, Iran announced in a show of force Monday that it has handed down death sentences to several nationals accused of being part of a CIA-trained spy network. Trump dismissed the allegations as “totally false.”

Photo: YJC

Iran Welcomes New EU Trade Entity as First Step': Official

Tehran on Thursday cautiously welcomed as a "first step" the expected launch of an EU trade entity aimed at saving Iran's nuclear deal by bypassing US sanctions.

The special payment mechanism "is the first step within the set of commitments the Europeans have made to Iran which I hope will be fully implemented and not be incomplete", said deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, according to state news agency IRNA.

The formal announcement of the new payment vehicle is expected to be made on Thursday afternoon by the German, French and British foreign ministers in Bucharest.

The entity, registered in France with German governance and finance from all three countries, will allow Iran to trade with EU companies despite Washington reimposing US sanctions after President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 accord.

The three countries are the European parties to the landmark deal that curbed Tehran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief.

The new European scheme called INSTEX —short for Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges—was originally intended to allow Iran to sell oil to the EU on a barter basis.

But, with Europe currently buying very little Iranian crude, it is now aimed at small- and medium-sized companies. 

Iran is hoping that INSTEX will allow the Europeans to meet Tehran's trade demands and keep the nuclear deal afloat. 

"This entity has been in principle designed for sanctioned goods," Araghchi said.

He denied claims by some in Iran that sanctioned goods would not be traded by INSTEX.

"Some have said that this entity has been designed for non-sanctioned goods such as food, etc. It is possible that the beginning of activities might be with these goods until a mechanism for payments takes form," he said. 

"But in principle this entity would (only) be useful for sanctioned goods and the objective of the entity is for sanctioned goods," Araghchi added.

Photo Credit: IRNA