UN Court Takes on Iran-US Sanctions Case

By Danny Kemp

The UN's top court ruled on Wednesday that it can take on Iran's bid to overturn US nuclear sanctions reimposed by the administration of former US president Donald Trump.

Iran's foreign minister swiftly hailed the decision as a "victory" in the case launched three years ago at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

Tehran alleges that Trump breached a 1955 friendship treaty between the two countries when he pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal -- to the dismay of European allies -- and reactivated the sanctions.

Washington had said the Hague-based ICJ did not have jurisdiction and must throw out the case. It also argued the sanctions were necessary because Iran posed a "grave threat" to international security.

But judges at the court rejected all the US objections.

International Court of Justice President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said the tribunal "finds consequently that it has jurisdiction.... to entertain the application filed by the Islamic Republic of Iran".

A final ruling on sanctions by the ICJ—set up after World War II to rule in disputes between UN member states—could still be months or even years away.

The 2015 nuclear deal saw Tehran limit its nuclear powers and let in international inspectors, in return for an end to years of sanctions by the West.

After Trump pulled out, Iran invoked the 1955 "Treaty of Amity", which predates the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the pro-US shah and severed ties with the United States.

Iran said the reimposition of sanctions caused "hardship and suffering" and was "ruining millions of lives".

Rouhani Rejects Changes

It is the second win for Iran in the case, after the ICJ ordered the US in 2018 to ease sanctions on humanitarian goods as an emergency measure while the overall lawsuit is dealt with.

In response, Washington formally ended the Treaty of Amity that same year.

"Another legal victory for Iran," foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Wednesday.

"Iran has always fully respected int'l law. High time for the US to live up to its int'l obligations," Zarif said.

The 2015 nuclear deal involving the five permanent members of the UN Security Council—Britain, China, France, Russia and the US, plus Germany—has hung by a thread since Trump pulled out.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier Wednesday ruled out changes to the nuclear accord and dismissed calls to broaden the terms of the deal and include regional countries.

US President Joe Biden has voiced support for returning to the deal but insisted that Tehran first resume full compliance by reversing measures it took to protest the sweeping sanctions imposed by his predecessor.

The Biden administration argues that Trump's actions badly backfired, with Iran both moving away from the nuclear deal and only intensifying its opposition to US interests.

Zarif on Monday asked the European Union to coordinate a synchronised return of both Washington and Tehran.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Says to Meet Nuclear Commitments if Biden Lifts Sanctions

By Amir Havasi with Shaun Tandon

Iran said Wednesday it would "automatically" return to its nuclear commitments if US President-elect Joe Biden lifts sanctions, as the outgoing administration doubled down with more pressure.

Biden has promised a return to diplomacy with Iran after four hawkish years under Donald Trump, who withdrew from a denuclearisation accord and slapped sweeping sanctions.

Tehran again meeting its commitments "can be done automatically and needs no conditions or even negotiations," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in comments published in the state-run Iran daily.

Zarif described Biden as a "foreign affairs veteran" whom he has known for 30 years. Once in the White House, Biden could "lift all of these (sanctions) with three executive orders," Zarif argued.

If Biden's administration does so, Iran's return to nuclear commitments will be "quick", the minister added.
Washington's return to the deal, however, could wait, Zarif added.

“The next stage that will need negotiating is America's return... which is not a priority," he said, adding that "the first priority is America ending its law-breaking".

President Hassan Rouhani meanwhile called the Trump administration "unruly,” and said a Biden administration could "bring back the atmosphere" that prevailed in 2015 at the time of the nuclear deal, negotiated by Barack Obama's administration in which Biden was vice president.

The accord offered Tehran relief from international sanctions in exchange for guarantees, verified by the United Nations, that its nuclear program has no military aims.

Trump Team Doubles Down

Trump, who has not accepted defeat in the November 3 election, is moving to keep ramping up pressure on Iran, hoping to make it more difficult politically and legally for Biden to ease sanctions.

In the latest moves, the Treasury Department said it was freezing any US interests of the Foundation of the Oppressed, officially a charitable organisation for the poor that has interests across the Iranian economy.

The Treasury described the foundation as a "multibillion-dollar economic empire" and "key patronage network" for Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that operates without government oversight.

Also hit by sanctions was Iran's minister for intelligence and security, Mahmoud Alavi, on human rights grounds.

Outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in an indirect response to Zarif as he arrived in US ally Israel, vowed to keep imposing "painful consequences".

"The Iranian regime seeks a repeat of the failed experiment that lifted sanctions and shipped them huge amounts of cash in exchange for modest nuclear limitations," he said.

"This is indeed troubling, but even more disturbing is the notion that the United States should fall victim to this nuclear extortion and abandon our sanctions."

Iran, which denies it is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, has since May 2019 gradually suspended most of its key obligations under the agreement, including limits to the production and stockpiling of low-enriched uranium.

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday Iran had begun operating advanced centrifuges at an underground section of its primary nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz.

Under Iran's deal with world powers, it is only meant to enrich uranium with a less sophisticated variety of centrifuges.

In its report last week the IAEA said Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium now stood at over 12 times the limit in the 2015 accord.

The New York Times reported Monday that Trump had last week asked top aides about the possibility of striking Iran's nuclear facilities.

Senior officials reportedly "dissuaded the president from moving ahead with a military strike," warning him such an attack could escalate into a broader conflict in the last weeks of his presidency

Iran argues it has moved away from its commitments because of the sanctions and the inability of the other parties—Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia—to provide it with the deal's promised economic benefits.

Photo: IRNA

Iran and Ukraine Open New Talks Over Downed Plane

Iran hosted officials from Ukraine in a second round of talks on Monday over compensation for a Kiev bound passenger plane mistakenly shot down in January, state media reported.

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital's main airport on January 8. 

Iran admitted days later that its forces accidentally shot down the plane, killing all 176 people on board, after firing two missiles amid heightened US-Iran tensions.

State news agency IRNA said the talks were held at the foreign ministry in Tehran and that they would continue until Wednesday.

The first round of negotiations were held in Kiev in July, with the Ukrainian authorities saying they were "cautiously optimistic" about the process.

Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Yevgeniy Yenin, who headed the delegation, met with  Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday, after meeting with his deputy Mohsen Baharvand earlier in the day.

Zarif called the first round of talks held in Kiev "positive and constructive" and hoped that those in Tehran achieve their desired results, according to a statement by his ministry.

Yenin welcomed "Iran's decision to take full responsibility for bringing down the Ukrainian plane and its readiness to ensure the same compensation for all the relatives of the victims, regardless of their citizenship," said a separate statement by Ukraine's foreign ministry.

Yenin also emphasised the "need for an unbiased and objective investigation of the circumstances of the air disaster and called on the Iranian side to ensure access" to all of its elements, the statement added.

Canada, which lost 55 nationals and 30 permanent residents in the crash, on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to "work tirelessly so that the families of the victims can get the answers they deserve."

Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne "is actively working with his international partners to ensure a thorough and credible investigation," his spokeswoman Syrine Khoury said on Monday.

Canada announced at the beginning of October it would form its own forensic team led by a former deputy spy chief to examine the evidence in the tragedy and advise the government accordingly.

Iran's civil aviation authority has said the misalignment of an air defence unit's radar system was the key "human error" that led to the plane's downing.

Tehran's air defences had been on high alert at the time in case the US retaliated against Iranian strikes hours earlier on American troops stationed in Iraq.

Photo: IRNA

China Backs Iran Nuclear Deal, Calls for New Middle East Forum

China's foreign minister Wang Yi has called for a new forum to defuse tensions in the Middle East after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart where he reiterated Beijing's support for Tehran.

Wang and Javid Zarif also reaffirmed their commitment to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, according to the Chinese foreign ministry, an implicit rebuke of the United States for abandoning the accord during their Saturday meeting in China's southwestern Tengchong city.

Iran has been locked in an acrimonious relationship with Saudi Arabia, the other major Middle Eastern power, over the war in Yemen, Iranian influence in Iraq and Saudi support for Washington's sanctions on Tehran.

"China proposes to build a regional multilateral dialogue platform with equal participation of all stakeholders," said the Chinese foreign ministry statement.

The forum would "enhance mutual understanding through dialogue and explore political and diplomatic solutions to security issues in the Middle East", the statement added.

Wang added that support for the Iranian nuclear deal, negotiated by the Obama administration but ultimately abandoned by Donald Trump, would be a precondition of entry to the forum.

Zarif said on Twitter his "fruitful talks" with Wang amounted to a rejection of "US unilateralism" and had also focused on strategic ties and collaboration on the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

Photo: FPRC

Iran Hosts Second Indian Minister in a Week

India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held talks Tuesday in Tehran, becoming the second senior Indian minister to visit Iran this week.

"A productive meeting with FM @JZarif during a stopover in Tehran," he tweeted, after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Jaishankar said they "discussed strengthening our bilateral cooperation and reviewed regional developments.”

Zarif, also on Twitter, wrote: "Our active engagement with our neighborhood is our top priority."

On Sunday, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Amir Hatami also held talks in Tehran.

During Jaishankar's last visit in December, before the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic which has hit both countries hard, Tehran and Delhi said they had agreed to speed up the development of the Iranian port of Chabahar on the Indian Ocean.

Work has been stalled, despite waivers to sanctions that the United States has reimposed on Iran after withdrawing from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

"Indian policy is aimed at maintaining a balance in the complex Persian Gulf and the larger West Asia region," Manoj Joshi, a defence and foreign policy expert at New Delhi based think-tank Observer Research Foundation, told AFP.

"New Delhi has always wanted to have good relations with all the countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel... These visits need to been seen in that context."

Joshi said India also wanted to balance Chinese influence in the region.

"Iran is also important in the sense that China has been dominating the region, and New Delhi doesn't want to give a free run to Beijing," he said.

Iran is the closest major source of resources for India.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Hails 'Constructive' Talks With Visiting IAEA Chief

By Amir Havasi

Iran's nuclear body said it held "constructive" talks on Tuesday with the visiting head of the International Atomic Energy Agency amid tensions over a US bid to reimpose UN sanctions.

The trip is Rafael Mariano Grossi's first to the Islamic republic since the Argentine took the helm of the Vienna-based UN agency last year.

It comes more than two years after US President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark international agreement that put curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Grossi first met with the head of the country's atomic agency, Ali Akbar Salehi. Later he is due to meet Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"A new chapter has started with this visit," Salehi said after the meeting, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

"Today's talks were constructive," he added.

"It was decided that the agency continue its work professionally and independently and Iran, too, act in the framework of its commitments."

Salehi said Iran's "enemies will not rest" but noted that Tehran has "so far been able to manage the issue".

‘Safeguards Verification'

Access to the two disputed sites has been blocked for months, prompting a diplomatic row.

Iran has argued that the IAEA's access requests are based on allegations from the country's arch-enemy Israel and have no legal basis.

The two sides were working on a statement which will be announced "in due time", Salehi added.

Grossi said later in a tweet that the two sides were working on "reaching an agreement on IAEA's safeguards verification activities in Iran."

In a statement before the talks, the nuclear body had said Iran expects the IAEA to "maintain neutrality in any situation and refrain from entering international political games."

The UN agency's board of governors had passed a resolution in late June put forward by European states, urging Tehran to provide inspectors access to two sites to help clarify whether undeclared nuclear activity took place there in the early 2000s.

According to the spokesman for Iran's nuclear body, one of the two is located in central Iran between Isfahan and Yazd provinces, and the other is close to Tehran.

He hinted in a Monday interview with Iran's Al-Alam television network that access may be granted if the agency does not demand more.

"To prevent enemies from exploiting the situation... we are seeking ways to alleviate our concerns and say there is access, see there's nothing," Behrouz Kamalvandi was quoted as saying.

"But this issue must be resolved once and for all... meaning that they would not demand afterwards to inspect somewhere else in the same way," he added.

US 'Snapback' Bid

Grossi's visit comes amid tensions between the US and its European allies over Washington's bid to maintain an arms embargo on Iran and reimpose UN sanctions.

It also takes place shortly before a September 1 meeting of the joint commission on the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Washington controversially maintains it has the right to force the reimposition of sanctions through the agreement's "snapback" mechanism, despite its withdrawal.

Britain, France and Germany rejected the move, saying it frustrated their efforts to salvage the accord.

The deal has been on life-support and tensions escalating since Trump's decision to pull out of the deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

In retaliation, Iran has progressively abandoned nuclear commitments under the accord.

Grossi is also expected to meet Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday before flying back to Vienna.

Photo: Twitter

Iran Says Holding UAE Boat After Fishermen Deaths

Tehran said Thursday it seized an Emirati boat following a Persian Gulf incident in which two Iranian fishermen died, stoking tensions after the UAE said it would establish ties with Israel.

The Iranian foreign ministry said it also summoned the UAE charge d'affaires to protest the maritime incident, which took place on Monday.

UAE coastguard vessels had "opened fire on several Iranian fishing boats... leading to the deaths of two fishermen", a statement by the ministry said.

An "Emirati boat was seized by coast guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran because it was sailing illegally in our waters, and its crew have been arrested," it added.

The official Emirati news agency WAM said eight fishing boats had violated its own territorial waters on Monday, without giving their nationality.

"The coastguard boats attempted to stop the fishing boats but they did not comply with the orders, therefore, rules of engagement were applied", WAM added.

Iran's foreign ministry said the UAE had on Wednesday expressed "its deep regret" and said it would provide compensation.

Iran and the UAE have longstanding economic links and the Emirates are home to a significant Iranian expatriate community.

But tensions have spiked between the two nations following last week's surprise announcement that the UAE has agreed to normalize ties with Israel under a US-brokered deal.

Iran condemned the agreement, with President Hassan Rouhani calling it a "big mistake" and warning "against opening the path of Israel to the region", without elaborating on what that would mean.

Rouhani's remarks were seen as "threats" by the UAE which on Sunday summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in Abu Dhabi to protest "unacceptable and inflammatory" rhetoric.

The UAE, which downgraded its relations with Iran in 2016 amid fierce rivalry between Tehran and Emirati ally Saudi Arabia, said the remarks "had serious implications for security and stability in the Gulf region.”

Photo: IRNA

Iran Airs Support for 'Resilient' Lebanese After Blasts

Iran's top diplomat expressed Tehran's support for the "resilient" people of Lebanon after Beirut was rocked by devastating explosions on Tuesday.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the great and resilient people of Lebanon," Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

"As always, Iran is fully prepared to render assistance in any way necessary," he said.

"Stay strong, Lebanon," added the Iranian foreign minister.

At least 27 people were killed and 2,500 injured, according to "preliminary estimates" announced by Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan.

The explosions hit Beirut's port, flattening buildings in the vicinity and sending out shockwaves for kilometres (miles).

The cause was not immediately known.

Photo: IRNA

Iran, UAE Top Diplomats Discuss Virus in Rare Talks

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he discussed the region's coronavirus outbreaks and other issues with his Emirati counterpart in rare talks held via a videoconference call on Sunday.

"Just had a very substantive, frank and friendly video conversation with UAE FM" Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Zarif wrote on Twitter.

"We agreed to continue dialogue on theme of hope -- especially as region faces tough challenges, and tougher choices ahead," he added.

According to UAE state news agency WAM, the top diplomats exchanged greetings for the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday and discussed efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

Bin Zayed emphasised "enhancing international cooperation, solidarity and synergy between all countries" to tackle the virus, WAM said.

The UAE downgraded its relations with Iran in January 2016 amid fierce rivalry between close Emirati ally Saudi Arabia and the Islamic republic.

It came following the storming of Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran in response to Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Tensions between Tehran and Riyadh and its allies also increased last year following a series of mysterious attacks on tankers in sensitive Gulf waters, with Washington blaming them on Iran. Tehran denied the charges.

Saudi Arabia and Iran, the region's two leading powers, back opposing sides in several conflicts, including in Syria and Yemen.

Photo: IRNA

Moscow Sees 'Chance' to Save Iran Nuclear Deal

Russia still believes there is hope of rescuing the nuclear deal with Iran, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

"We are convinced that there is still a chance to return the (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) into a stable situation," Russia's top diplomat said as he met with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Moscow.

"In any case, we will do everything to make it happen, just like our Iranian friends," he said.

Iran signed the agreement with the five UN Security Council members plus Germany in 2015, agreeing to limit its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, but the deal has been on life support since US President Donald Trump withdrew from it and unilaterally reimposed sanctions in 2018.

Iran has since taken small but escalating steps away from compliance with the nuclear accord as it presses for renewed relief from sanctions.

Both ministers remarked that the deal "turned five years old" last week, with Zarif calling it a "historical international agreement."

After the two greeted each other with an elbow bump, Zarif thanked Russia for its "remarkable" efforts to keep the deal alive.

Iran's economy has been hard-hit by the US sanctions, which have scared off most international banks and firms from re-engaging with Tehran, and it has been further battered by the coronavirus epidemic.

Photo: Russian MFA

Iran Says Accord Under Negotiation With China 'Not Secret'

Iran has been negotiating a 25-year accord with China and the terms will be announced once a deal is struck, the foreign minister told a stormy session of parliament Sunday.

"With confidence and conviction, we are negotiating a 25-year strategic accord with China," Iran's top trading partner, Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

During the session, Zarif was heckled by lawmakers, largely over his key role in negotiating a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which the US unilaterally abandoned in 2018 as a prelude to reimposing biting sanctions. 

It was his first address to parliament since a new house started work in late May in the wake of elections that were dominated by conservatives and ultra-conservatives.

Zarif insisted there was "nothing secret" about the prospective China deal.

The nation would be informed "when an accord has been concluded", he said, adding that the intention had already been made public in January 2016 when President Xi Jinping visited Tehran.

China is also a key market for Iranian crude exports, which have been severely curtailed by the US sanctions.

The 2015 nuclear deal had given the Islamic republic relief from international sanctions in return for limits on its nuclear program, but Iranian conservatives staunchly opposed that multilateral agreement, arguing the US could never be trusted.

But Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has come out publicly in support of a strategic bilateral partnership with China.

The planned China deal has been a hot topic on Iranian social media since populist ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month condemned negotiations underway with a foreign country.

Photo: IRNA

World Rebukes U.S. Over Iran

By Colum Lynch and Robbie Gramer

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to reassert America’s waning influence on the world stage, challenging the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to extend a U.N. arms embargo that is due to expire in October. Instead, America’s top diplomat received a scolding from friends and foes alike in the 15-nation council, which roundly criticized Washington for withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal two years ago without a clear plan to limit Tehran’s nuclear activities.

On a day when the European Union pointedly excluded the United States from a “safe list” of countries permitted to travel to the 27-member bloc, the council’s chilly reception of Pompeo added to a portrait of an increasingly isolated United States and underscored how little deference other countries pay the Trump administration as it faces a grim reelection contest. The U.N. debate came amid a sharpening blowback in Washington to revelations that the Trump administration failed to act on months of intelligence warnings that Russia offered Taliban fighters bounties to kill U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. 

The dispute centered on the fate of the nearly moribund 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which capped Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon but which the United States abandoned in May 2018. European parties to the deal, like Iran, want to keep it alive; the Trump administration wants to kill it before the election, lest any future Democratic administration bring it back to life. 

The latest battleground is one provision of that deal, the planned expiry in October of a U.N. arms embargo on Iran—one of the sweeteners of the nuclear deal. U.S. allies, including the security council’s five European states, share Washington’s concern about Iran’s arms trade, though Europe’s own arms embargo is set to continue until 2023 regardless. But they worry that extending the U.N. arms embargo, in clear violation of the pact signed in 2015, would drive Tehran to kick out nuclear inspectors and set the stage for an even quicker development of its nuclear program. 

“The [Iran nuclear pact], which is the result of compromise, can of course be seen as an instrument that can be improved,” France’s U.N. ambassador, Nicolas de Rivière, told the council. “There is as yet no serious alternative to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and its disappearance would improve neither the regional situation nor the security of our populations.”

Since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal, Iran has violated key tenets of the accord by increasing its stockpiles of nuclear fuel and resuming its enrichment of uranium, according to assessments from the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

At the opening of Tuesday’s virtual session, Rosemary DiCarlo, a former U.S. State Department official who serves as U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs, praised the nuclear pact as a “significant achievement of multilateral diplomacy and dialogue” and expressed “regret” over the U.S. decision to withdraw, noting that Iran was in compliance with the pact before Trump’s abrupt decision to pull the plug.

But she also expressed regret that since July 2019 Iran has violated key provisions of the nuclear pact, surpassing limits on the size of its stockpiles of heavy water and low-enriched uranium and engaging in prohibited nuclear research and development activities. 

DiCarlo also flagged Iran’s role in missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia, as well as arms shipments to proxies in Yemen that appear to run afoul of the provisions of the key U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed claims that Iranian-made weapons were being transferred to Yemen and elsewhere in violation of U.N. sanctions. 

But the draft has little support among major powers at the U.N., reflecting Washington’s isolation on its Iran policy.

“The international community in general and the U.N. Security Council in particular are facing an important decision,” Zarif told the council. “Do we maintain respect of the rule of law, or do we return to the law of the jungle by surrendering to the whims of an outlaw bully?”

The Trump administration this month circulated a draft resolution to extend the arms embargo on Iran, but veto-wielding China and Russia signaled they would not support the U.S. plan. European powers also reacted coolly to the resolution and are expected to introduce their own stopgap proposal to extend parts of the arms embargo for up to six months. It is unclear if the United States would support their plan. 

The Trump administration has charged Tehran with playing a destabilizing role in the Middle East through its support of proxy terrorist groups in the region. Pompeo said that if the United Nations did not extend the arms embargo, it would pave the way for Iran to procure advanced military hardware from Russia and China that would undercut regional stability and potentially threaten capitals in Europe and even South Asia—reiterating misleading claims he made last week about the operational range of high-end Russian and Chinese fighters. 

“If you fail to act, Iran will be free to purchase Russian-made fighter jets that can strike up to a 3,000-kilometer radius, putting cities like Riyadh, New Delhi, Rome, and Warsaw in Iranian crosshairs,” Pompeo told the council during Tuesday’s virtual meeting. 

“Don’t just take it from the United States; listen to countries in the region. From Israel to the Gulf, countries in the Middle East—who are most exposed to Iran’s predations—are speaking with one voice: Extend the arms embargo,” he said. 

Photo: State Department

Iran Will Send Ukraine Airline Black Boxes to France

Iran said on Monday that it will send the black boxes of a shot-down Ukrainian plane to France in the "next few days" and expressed readiness to resolve remaining issues.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks in a phone call with his Canadian counterpart Francois-Philippe Champagne, his ministry said in a statement.

"The decision to send the black boxes has been made for some time and it will soon be acted upon," Zarif was quoted as saying.

The ministry said the process had been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen most international flights cancelled.

Iran says its novel coronavirus outbreak has killed 9,742 people out of more than 207,500 infected since reporting its first cases in February.

According to the statement, Iran had told Ukraine that it was ready to "resolve legal issues and discuss how to compensate the families" of victims, but was yet to receive a delegation from the other party.

Flight 752, an Ukraine International Airlines jetliner, was struck by two missiles and crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran's main airport on January 8.

Iran admitted days later that its forces accidentally shot down the Kiev-bound jetliner, killing all 176 people on board.

Tehran's air defenses had been on high alert at the time in case the US retaliated against Iranian strikes hours earlier on American troops stationed in Iraq.

Those strikes were carried out in response to the killing of a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport.

The black boxes are expected to contain information about the last moments before the aircraft was struck and crashed. 

Many of those on board the downed airliner were Canadians.

Photo: IRNA

Afghan Foreign Minister Visits Iran Amid Tensions Over Migrant Deaths

Afghanistan's interim foreign minister met with his Iranian counterpart on Sunday in Tehran as tensions persist between the two neighbors after the deaths in May of Afghan migrants at the border.

Iran's state news agency IRNA published a photo Sunday of the meeting between Afghanistan's Mohammad Hanif Atmar and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, both wearing face masks.

The two-day visit aims to discuss "recent unfortunate events (and) find solutions to avoid them happening again", Afghanistan's foreign ministry said Saturday on Twitter, without elaborating.

Atmar heads "a high-level delegation including Afghan political, economic and security officials", IRNA said, citing a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry released earlier.

The visit follows controversy over the deaths in May of several Afghan migrants who were allegedly forced into a river by Iranian border guards and drowned.

Afghan officials claim the migrants died while they were illegally crossing into neighboring Iran from Herat province.

Eighteen bodies, some bearing signs of torture and beatings, were recovered from the Harirud river, while other migrants were reported missing, in an incident that sparked anger and protests in Afghanistan.

One Afghan official said 55 migrants were forced into the river.

Iranian authorities have dismissed the claims, saying the incident occurred inside Afghanistan's territory.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered an investigation into the drownings, a move welcomed by the United States, at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.

The meeting also comes after an incident earlier this month in the central Iranian city of Yazd in which three Afghans died and several others were injured after a car chase with police, Iranian media reported.

According to one Iranian official, the driver of the vehicle "defied police instructions and failed to stop at a checkpoint".

According to UN refugee agency UNHCR, around 3.5 million Afghans, including almost a million refugees, live in Iran.

Tens of thousands returned to Afghanistan after the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak, but as restrictions have eased in hard-hit Iran, many are again seeking work there.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Warns US Against Disrupting Oil Shipments to Venezuela

Iran's foreign minister on Sunday warned the US against deploying its navy in the Caribbean to disrupt Iranian fuel shipments to Venezuela.

In a letter to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, Mohammad Javad Zarif warned against "America's movements in deploying its navy to the Caribbean in order to intervene and create disruption in (the) transfer of Iran's fuel to Venezuela."

He said that any such action would be "illegal and a form of piracy," according to a foreign ministry statement. 

Zarif added that the US would be responsible for "the consequences of any illegal measure."

Iran's Fars News claimed Saturday that it had received information that four US Navy warships are in the Caribbean for a "possible confrontation with Iran's tankers."

Elliot Abrams, the State Department's Venezuela envoy, has alleged that Caracas is paying Iran in gold to restore its troubled oil sector.

The US has imposed unilateral sanctions aimed at ending oil exports by both Iran and Venezuela, both major crude producers.

Zarif's deputy has summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents Washington's interests in Tehran, to communicate Iran's "serious warning".

Abbas Araghchi said any potential threat to Iran's tankers would be met with a "quick and decisive response."

Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves but analysts say that the sector operates below capacity.

The country's economy is in a state of collapse, with millions fleeing as they lack basic goods.

Iran has also taken a hit from renewed US sanctions after US President Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear accord in 2018.

Maduro has withstood more than a year of US-led efforts to remove him and retains the support of the military.

Iran has repeatedly expressed support for Maduro against opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is recognised by some 60 nations as interim president due to reports of irregularities in Maduro's 2018 re-election.

Photo: IRNA

In Twist to Press Arms Ban, US Asserts Role in Iran Deal

By Shaun Tandon and Philippe Rater

President Donald Trump's administration has persistently trashed a nuclear deal with Iran. But as it seeks to extend an arms embargo, it is making the case that it still has a seat at the table.

The push has drawn skepticism from Western allies and has led critics to question if the ultimate aim is to kill the deal entirely, potentially in the final stretch of Trump's re-election campaign.

"You cannot cherry-pick a resolution saying you implement only parts of it but you won't do it for the rest," a Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on United Nations members to renew the ban on all conventional arms exports to Iran which is due to expire in October.

He renewed his push last week after Iran said it had launched a military satellite into orbit for the first time -- proving, according to Pompeo, that the clerical regime had been deceitful in saying its space program was for peaceful purposes.

The launch should lead more countries to "understand what President Trump has understood since he first came into office, that the Iran deal was a crazy, bad deal," Pompeo told the Christian Broadcasting Network.

The arms embargo was part of a 2015 UN Security Council Resolution—whose primary purpose was to bless the deal, negotiated by former president Barack Obama, under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear program.

Former secretary of state John Kerry has said the five-year embargo was a compromise with Russia and China, which opposed any limits.

Wielding veto power, Russia and China are virtually certain to oppose a new embargo, with Moscow potentially in line for billions of dollars in arms contracts.

But there is one way to skirt a veto—if a party to the deal asserts that Iran is in significant violation of it, which would trigger a return of international sanctions.

A US official and several diplomats said that the Trump administration is pushing forward with the stance, disputed by some, that the United States is able to declare Iran in violation.

In a legal opinion issued last year to please hawkish Republicans, the State Department argued that the United States could do so as it was listed a "participant state" in the 2015 resolution.

'Abject Failure'

The United States, of course, has shattered its own promises under the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was meant to offer economic relief to Iran and is still backed by European powers.

Trump, who is close to Iran's regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel, has imposed sweeping unilateral sanctions that include trying to block all of Iran's oil exports as he seeks to reduce Tehran's regional activities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, responding on Twitter to a New York Times article on the strategy, said that Pompeo had hoped in exiting the deal to "bring Iran to its knees."

"Given that policy's abject failure, he now wants to be JCPOA participant. Stop dreaming: Iranian Nation always decides its destiny," Zarif wrote.

Even most US supporters of Obama's nuclear deal back the arms embargo, with a bipartisan resolution before the Senate seeking its extension.

But some believe Pompeo's motives, or at least the effects, would be broader if he tries to act from within the JCPOA.

"If Pompeo goes through with this plan, snapping back sanctions on Iran collapses the JCPOA," said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, a research group in Washington.

Even more significant, the move could lead Iran to make good on threats to exit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, she said.

"This is just another step that would undermine US credibility, make future negotiations with Iran more difficult and increase the risk of a nuclear crisis in the region," she said, adding that there were other avenues to address arms exports.

Iran has already stepped back compliance to protest US sanctions as well as a January drone strike that killed powerful general Qasem Soleimani.

A death-knell to the deal would leave a vacuum to reshape Iran policy either as Trump starts a second term or Joe Biden, who strongly backed the accord, enters the White House.

Photo: Wikicommons

Iran Tells US to 'Stop Dreaming' of Extended Arms Embargo

Tehran on Monday told Washington to "stop dreaming" after it was reported that the US plans to prevent the expiry of an international embargo on arms sales to Iran.

The New York Times reported that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "is preparing a legal argument that the United States remains a participant in the Iran nuclear deal that President (Donald) Trump has renounced".

The move was "part of an intricate strategy to pressure the United Nations Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Tehran or see far more stringent sanctions reimposed" on the Islamic Republic, it added.

Decades-old tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA—and reimposed sanctions as part of a campaign of "maximum pressure.”

Iran's top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif responded on Twitter to Pompeo's reported plan to extend the arms embargo.

Zarif wrote on Monday that two years ago Pompeo and "his boss declared 'CEASING US participation' in JCPOA, dreaming that their 'max pressure' would bring Iran to its knees.

"Given that policy's abject failure, he now wants to be JCPOA participant," Zarif said.

“Stop dreaming: Iranian Nation always decides its destiny," the foreign minister added.

The JCPOA was agreed in 2015 between Iran and six world powers—Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

It gave the Islamic republic relief from international sanctions in return for limits on its nuclear program.

In response to the US pullout, Iran has gradually rolled back its commitments to the JCPOA, which it says is in accordance with the agreement.

Washington, which accuses Tehran of violating the agreement, wants to prevent the lifting of an arms embargo that is due to expire in October under UN Security Council Resolution 2231—the same 2015 resolution that formalized the JCPOA.

The New York Times said the US was planning to achieve its goal through a new resolution that would bar countries from exporting arms to Iran.

But it added that in order to force the issue Pompeo had approved a plan under which the US would claim it legally remains a "participant state" in the nuclear accord.

Iran, for its part, accuses the United States of violating Resolution 2231 by withdrawing from the nuclear accord.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Asks IMF for First Loan in Decades to Combat Virus

Iran said on Thursday that it has sought immediate financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund to help it combat one of the world's deadliest coronavirus outbreaks.

According to a tweet by Iran's top diplomat, IMF chief Kristina Georgieva had "stated that countries affected by #COVID19 will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument (RFI)".

"Our central bank requested access to this facility immediately," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif added on his Twitter account.

Iran has not received assistance from the IMF since a "standby credit" issued between 1960 and 1962, according to the fund's data.

Zarif said the IMF and its board "should adhere to fund's mandate, stand on right side of history and act responsibly".

The various loans that can be granted by the IMF must be approved by the institution's executive board, where the United States practically has a veto on decisions.

The United States is currently pursuing a policy of "maximum pressure" aimed at crippling the finances of Iran's government.

In an Instagram post picked up by state news agency IRNA, central bank governor Abdolnasser Hemmati claimed to have formally requested access to RFI by letter on March 6.

"Given the widespread prevalence of coronavirus in our country and the need to continue to take strong measures to prevent and cure (the disease), and to address its economic impact," Iran was asking for "about $5 billion" in assistance, Hemmati wrote on his Instagram account.

Iran on Thursday reported 75 new deaths from COVID-19, the highest single-day toll since the Islamic republic announced the first deaths from the outbreak on February 19.

It took the overall death toll to 429 out of a total of more than 10,000 confirmed cases of infection.

The World Health Organization called for Iran to be given more support in its fight to bring the outbreak under control.

"Iran is doing its best... We are trying to mobilise more support for Iran," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva, adding that the country needed more supplies.

According to the IMF's website, the RFI "provides rapid financial assistance, which is available to all member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need."

Photo:

Iran Says German Freed in Prisoner Swap

Iran said Tuesday that a German held in Iran has been released as part of a prisoner swap for an Iranian held in Germany on suspicion of violating US sanctions.

"We announced that we are ready to (release) this German national... on condition that they (the Germans) do not extradite our citizen to America," judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said.

"On Sunday... the Iranian national left Germany and entered Iran, and on Monday... we released the German national," he told a televised news conference.

According to the official, the unidentified German had been detained "for some time" for "taking photos and videos" in areas without authorisation and had been serving a three-year prison sentence.

The German was swapped for Iranian Ahmad Khalili, who according to Iran's foreign ministry was detained in Germany "on the pretext of violating the illegal and cruel sanctions of the United States".

Khalili was freed on Sunday night after "intensive diplomatic consultations" and cooperation involving the judiciary and the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence service, ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement.

He returned to Iran together with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who last week attended a security conference in the German city of Munich, Mousavi added.

Iran said in December it was ready for more prisoner swaps with the US after it secured the return of scientist Massoud Soleimani in exchange for Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-born American held in the Islamic republic.

Decades-old tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated steeply since 2018, when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

Soleimani, a stem cell researcher at a Tehran university, on December 7, also flew back home from the United States with Zarif.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Could Reverse Nuclear Breaches if Europe Acts: Zarif

Iran would be willing to move back towards the 2015 nuclear deal if Europe provides "meaningful" economic benefits, the country's foreign minister said last Friday .

The European parties to the Iran nuclear deal—Britain, France and Germany—have been battling to save it since US President Donald Trump withdrew from it and reimposed tough sanctions on Tehran.

Iran has responded to the US pullout with a series of steps back from its own commitments under the deal, including by increasing uranium enrichment.

But Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Islamic republic could be willing to move back towards compliance—under certain circumstances.

"We have said that we are prepared to slow down or reverse these measures commensurate with what Europe does," Mr Zarif told reporters at the Munich Security Conference. "We will decide whether what Europe does is sufficient to slow down or to reverse some steps - we have not even ruled out reversing some of the steps that we have taken."

Europe has set up a special trading mechanism called Instex to try to enable legitimate humanitarian trade with Iran to offset some of the effects of US sanctions.

But it has yet to complete any transactions and the Iranian side does not think it is sufficient.

"We're not talking about charity. We're talking about Iranian rights and the rights of the Iranian people to receive the economic benefits," Mr Zarif said. "We have received irreversible harm or irreparable harm because of US sanctions, but nevertheless we will reverse the steps that we have taken provided that Europe takes steps that are meaningful."

The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell met Zarif in Teheran earlier this month to try to lower tensions after Britain, France and Germany triggered a complaint mechanism under the deal to try to press Teheran to return to full implementation.

Washington accuses Tehran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which Iran has always denied.

The renewed US sanctions have almost entirely isolated Iran from the international financial system, driven away oil buyers and plunged the country into a severe recession.

Mr Borrell has also been in consultation with the other countries still in the deal—Russia and China—who like their European counterparts want to save the accord.

A meeting of the joint commission that oversees the deal is due to be held this month to consider the dispute mechanism.

Photo: IRNA