British Experts in Iran to Upgrade Arak Reactor

A team of British experts arrived in Iran on Monday to begin work to upgrade the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor, the UK embassy in Tehran said.

Iran removed the core of the Arak facility and filled part of it with cement as part of a 2015 deal that gave the country relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

Located southwest of Tehran, the reactor is to be modernized with the help of foreign experts under the deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

"A team of British nuclear experts led by UK Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Robin Grimes arrived in Tehran today to take forward the next stages of the modernization of the Arak reactor, alongside a team of Chinese experts," said the British embassy.

"The experts will hold talks with the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran on international technical assistance to the reactor construction," it said in a statement.

The British experts would remain in Iran for three days, the embassy told AFP.

"This visit forms part of our commitment to ensuring that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) provides benefits for both Iran and the wider international community," said the statement.

"That is why we are upholding our obligations to cooperate with Iran to modernise the Arak reactor, helping Iran to develop a modern and up to date civil nuclear programme.

"Our work with Iran on the Arak project has made important progress in the past year," it said.

Tensions have been escalating between Iran and the United States since May last year when President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear accord and began reimposing sanctions.

The remaining partners in the deal with Iran include Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

The European parties have repeatedly said they are committed to saving the accord, but their efforts have so far borne little fruit.

Tehran has already hit back three times with countermeasures in response to the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

On July 1, Iran said it had increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to beyond a 300-kilogramme maximum set by the deal, and a week later, it announced it had exceeded a 3.67-percent cap on the purity of its uranium stocks.

In its latest move it fired up advanced centrifuges to boost its enriched uranium stockpiles on September 7.

Photo: IRNA

Boris Johnson Says It’s Time to Make a New Nuclear Deal With Iran

By Robert Hutton and Gregory Viscusi

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it’s time to strike a new nuclear deal with Iran, breaking ranks with European allies France and Germany, which are still trying to preserve the 2015 agreement President Donald Trump withdrew from last year.

“Whatever your objections to the old nuclear deal with Iran, it’s time now to move forward and do a new deal,” Johnson told Sky News on Monday in New York, where he’s attending the United Nations General Assembly.

Johnson also suggested it’s “plainly” clear that Iran was responsible for attacks this month on key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, pulling into line with the Trump administration’s assessment. “How do we respond to what the Iranians plainly did?” Johnson said. “What the U.K. is doing is trying to bring people together and de-escalate tensions.”

Iran has denied being involved in the attacks on two Saudi Aramco facilities, which were quickly claimed by Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen who have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition for four years.

After Trump quit the nuclear deal with Iran, the other nations participating in it -- the U.K., Germany, France, Russia and China -- vowed to stand by the accord. But they have failed so far to find a way to sidestep increasingly tough U.S. economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, and Iran has begun to breach the agreement’s limits on its nuclear program.

Trump has vowed to seek a more stringent accord that would bar Iran permanently from the capability to develop nuclear weapons while also curbing its ballistic missile program and its support for groups, such as Hezbollah, that the U.S. considers terrorists.

Asked about Johnson’s comments, Trump told reporters, “I respect Boris a lot and I’m not at all surprised he was the first one to come out and see that.” He said Johnson is “a man who, No. 1, he’s a friend of mine, and No. 2, he’s very smart, very tough.”

Macron’s Stance

French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier Monday that “the oil attacks change the situation but France remains just as determined.”

He told reporters at the UN that he’s continuing to work on calming tension between Iran and the U.S. even as he inched closer to saying Iran may have been behind the attacks on the Saudi oil facilities.

“There are indications that a state actor may have been involved, given the sophistication,” Macron said, although he stopped short of saying who was responsible until Saudi Arabia completed its investigation.

Macron said he had a quick talk with Trump on Monday morning on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting about climate, and will see him again Tuesday, though the White House hasn’t confirmed any meeting with the French president. Macron said he would meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani later Monday, a session confirmed by Iranian officials.

“You know the work France has done the past months to make propositions to seek a de-escalation,” Macron said. “We need to get all the partners to sit around a table.” He said the subjects that needed to be discussed are maintaining 2015 accord, what happens after the accord expires, Iran’s ballistic missile program and its involvement in regional crises such as Syria and Yemen.

Iran Says Seized British-Flagged Tanker Free to Leave

Iran's government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Monday that a British-flagged oil tanker is "free" to leave more than two months after it was seized in the Persian Gulf.

"The legal process has finished and based on that the conditions for letting the oil tanker go free have been fulfilled and the oil tanker can move," Rabiei told a news conference.

He did not specify when the Swedish-owned vessel would be allowed to set sail.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps surrounded the Stena Impero with attack boats before rappelling onto the deck of the tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19.

The vessel was impounded at Iran's Bandar Abbas port for allegedly failing to respond to distress calls and turning off its transponder after hitting a fishing boat.

Stena Bulk, the company that owns the tanker, said on Sunday that it expected the vessel to be released soon, but expressed caution about the situation.

"We understand that the political decision has been taken to release the ship," Stena Bulk's chief executive Erik Hanell told Swedish television station SVT.

"We hope it will be able to leave in a few hours, but we don't want to take anything for granted. We want to make sure the ship sails out of Iranian territorial waters," he said.

The ship's seizure came hours after a court in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar said it was extending the detention of the Grace 1, an Iranian oil tanker later renamed the Adrian Darya 1.

At the time, Tehran denied the seizure of the Stena Impero was a tit-for-tat move.

A Gibraltar court ordered the Iranian tanker's release on August 15 despite an 11th-hour US legal bid to keep it in detention.

Photo: Mizan News Agency

UK Joins US in Persian Gulf Mission After Iran Taunts

By Joe Jackson and Amir Havasi

Britain said Monday it will join forces with the United States to protect merchant vessels in the Persian Gulf amid heightened tensions with Iran, after Tehran taunted Washington that its allies were too "ashamed" to join the mission.

Britain's decision to form the joint maritime taskforce with the United States marks a departure in policy under new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after efforts under his predecessor Theresa May to form a European-led grouping.

It follows a spate of incidents -- including the seizure of ships -- between Iran and Western powers, in particular Britain and the US, centred on the vital Strait of Hormuz thoroughfare.

"The UK is determined to ensure her shipping is protected from unlawful threats, and for that reason we have today joined the new maritime security mission in the Gulf," Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement.

The announcement from Britain's defence ministry did not detail which, if any, other countries would be joining the new naval coalition.

Britain was also at pains to stress that it had not changed its broader policy towards Tehran.

"We remain committed to working with Iran and our international partners to de-escalate the situation and maintain the nuclear deal," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.

The announcement came hours after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Washington was increasingly isolated in its hardline stance against Tehran and its allies were too "ashamed" to join its forces in the Gulf.

He also dismissed US calls for talks as a sham, confirming he had turned down an offer to meet President Donald Trump last month despite the threat of US sanctions against him.

"Today the United States is alone in the world and cannot create a coalition," he said.

"Friendly countries are too ashamed of being in a coalition with them," Zarif told a news conference, saying they had "brought this situation upon themselves, with law-breaking, by creating tensions and crises."

Germany 'Not in Favor’

Tehran and Washington have been locked in a battle of nerves since last year when Trump withdrew the US from a landmark 2015 deal placing curbs on Iran's nuclear programme and began reimposing sanctions.

Tensions have spiked since the Trump administration began stepping up a campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran.

Drones have been downed and tankers seized by Iranian authorities or mysteriously attacked in Gulf waters, while Britain has detained an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar.

At the height of the crisis, Trump called off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic's forces shot down a US drone.

Iran said on Sunday its forces had seized a "foreign" tanker carrying smuggled fuel in what would be the third such seizure in less than a month in Persian Gulf waters—a conduit for much of the world's crude oil.

Last month the Guards said they had impounded the Panama-flagged MT Riah for alleged fuel smuggling as well as the British-flagged Stena Impero for breaking "international maritime rules".

In response to such incidents, the US has been seeking to form a coalition—dubbed Operation Sentinel—to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf.

Last month Britain, while still led by former prime minister May, proposed a European-led maritime protection force.

But both plans struggled to find partners, with European countries believed to be reluctant to be dragged into a conflict.

Germany said Monday it was currently "not in favour" of joining an American-led coalition.

'Left the Table'

Meanwhile the US continues to target Iran economically, while holding out the prospect of possible talks.

It imposed sanctions against Zarif on Wednesday—under the same sanctions already applied to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—targeting any assets he has in America and squeezing his ability to travel.

Meanwhile however the New Yorker magazine reported that Senator Rand Paul had met Zarif in the US on July 15 and had Trump's blessing when he invited the Iranian minister to go to the White House.

Zarif dismissed as disingenuous US "claims" it wants dialogue.

"They were the ones who left the table... Who do they want to negotiate with?" he said.

But Zarif did not rule out talks in the future, saying: "Even in times of war negotiations will exist."

Photo: CENTCOM

Iran Poses Loyalty Test for 'British Trump' Johnson

By Dmitry Zaks

Iran's seizure and continued detention of a UK-flagged tanker deals Boris Johnson an immediate loyalty test: Britain's new prime minister may have to choose between Persian Gulf escorts led by Europe or by the United States.

Which way Johnson leans could set the tone for a complex agenda that includes withdrawing from the European Union and striking a trade deal with the United States.

It could also maintain or break European efforts to keep alive the deal curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions that Washington pulled out of last year.

Some US commentators see this is a make-or-break moment for Europe's policy on Iran as a whole.

"Johnson could simply announce that the UK is joining America's maximum-pressure campaign and calls for a new (Iran) deal," the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal wrote.

"The rest of Europe would likely have no choice but to join its Anglophone partners—and finally present a united front."

"The rest of Europe would likely have no choice but to join its Anglophone partners—and finally present a united front."

Persian Gulf Mission

The idea of a European-led mission in the Persian Gulf is carried over from a meeting chaired by Johnson's predecessor Theresa May this week.

Britain has proposed that European partners join together in a "naval protection mission" to ensure commercial ships can safely navigate in the Gulf.

But such an operation would expose Britain's continued reliance on EU allies at the very same time that Johnson is determined to yank his country out of the bloc on October 31.

Johnson's other option is to sign Britain up to a US-led alliance outlined by Donald Trump's administration at NATO last month.

That decision could boost London's chances of reviving stalled efforts to strike a post-Brexit trade deal with Washington.

The downside risk is that British warships could be caught up in more aggressive US rules of engagement that London currently does not support.

Both Johnson and Trump played up their friendship during the British leadership race.

The US president cheered Johnson's election—referring to him as "Britain Trump"—and a source close to Johnson told The Daily Mail it was time to "reset" US-UK ties.

Yet that might doom British efforts to salvage the remnants of the 2015 deal with Iran that Trump pulled out of last year.

Tehran's ultra-conservative Resaalat newspaper published a cartoon Wednesday of Johnson as a British butler being patted on the head by Trump in the Oval Office.

"British Trump," the banner of the reformist Sazandegi said.

Winning Trump's Favor

Johnson is yet to publicly comment on last Friday's capture by masked Iranian soldiers of the Stena Impero oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz that leads into the Gulf.

He will be expected to do so now.

New Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said moments after his appointment Wednesday that it was "obviously a very sensitive issue" on which he was going to be "fully briefed".

Johnson's decision to push ahead with a European effort to secure the world's busiest oil shipping lane would still need to be coordinated with US forces in proximity to Iran.

Centre for European Reform foreign policy director Ian Bond said Johnson might actually win Trump's favour by shepherding European navies to the Gulf.

"Based on the fact that Trump is always complaining about how little the Europeans do for their own defence, he ought actually to think that it was a good thing that the Europeans were taking care of this," Bond told AFP.

"But whether that is, in fact, how (Trump) will react I find it hard to say."

'Post-Brexit Relevance'

Bond said Johnson's Brexit credentials might also be saved by the likely inclusion in this "coalition of the willing" of non-EU members such as Norway.

"This would be a practical implementation of what Theresa May was saying—that we are leaving the EU, we are not leaving Europe," Bond said.

But Chatham House's Middle East researcher Sanam Vakil advised Britain's new leader to "avoid the temptation to align completely with Washington on Iran".

"Rather than conflating the ships and the nuclear crisis, a direct UK-Iran bilateral negotiation on the tankers could provide both sides with a face-saving outcome," Vakil wrote.

"The UK could position itself as a bridge between the EU and US, and in the process boost its post-Brexit relevance," he said.

Photo: Wikicommons

Iran Diplomat Calls Talks With UK Minister 'Repetitive'

A top Iranian diplomat expressed disappointment on Sunday after meeting a British Foreign Office minister amid escalating regional tensions, saying their talks were "repetitive", state news agency IRNA reported.

Minister of State for the Middle East Andrew Murrison had the "usual talking points", said Kamal Kharazi, the head of the Strategic Council of Foreign Relations at Iran's foreign ministry.

These included talking up a European payment mechanism to help Iran with US sanctions and saying "that Britain has always supported the JCPOA (nuclear deal) and has its own problems with America," Kharazi added.

"Such talks that have always been repetitive."

The JCPOA is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a multilateral 2015 nuclear deal that the US unilaterally withdrew from in May last year.

Washington has since re-imposed biting sanctions against the Islamic republic, despite Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia remaining committed to the deal.

Murrison said that in Tehran he had been "clear about the UK's long-held concerns over Iran's activities in the region," according to a Foreign Office statement.

"I reiterated the UK's assessment that Iran almost certainly bears responsibility for recent attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman."

The minister said he also repeated that Britain was determined "to maintain the nuclear deal which is in our shared security interests.”

"I was clear that Iran must continue to meet its commitments under the deal in full—including the limits imposed on its low-enriched uranium stockpile," he was quoted as saying.

Murrison also had meetings with Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and the deputy head of Iran's atomic agency, Behrouz Kamalvandi.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have flared further after Iran on Thursday shot down a US surveillance drone.

Iran said the drone violated its airspace—a claim the US denies—near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

In response, the US was ready to carry out a military strike against Iran but US President Donald Trump said he had called it off at the last minute.

The downing of the drone came after Iran-US tensions spiked following a series of attacks on commercial vessels that the US has blamed on Iran—accusations vehemently denied by the Islamic republic.

Britain is a signatory to the 2015 nuclear deal which saw Iran scale back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

European powers have tried to respond to the US withdrawal by setting up a special trade mechanism called INSTEX that would allow legitimate trade with

Iran to continue without falling foul of US sanctions.

But the mechanism has been dismissed by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei as a "bitter joke.”

On May 8, Iran said it would reduce some of its nuclear commitments unless the remaining partners helped it circumvent US sanctions and sell its oil.

Iran's atomic energy agency said on Monday it would soon pass the amount of low-enriched uranium allowed under the nuclear deal.

The deal set a limit on the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges, and restricted Iran's right to enrich uranium to no higher than 3.67 percent, well below weapons-grade levels of around 90 percent.

Kharazi warned Sunday that European powers must realise Iran is "serious" about its decision and that "in two weeks it will take new steps" to scale down nuclear commitments.

Photo: IRNA

Pompeo Tells U.K. Not to Go `Wobbly' in Stinging Rebuke

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo fired a broadside of criticism at the U.K.’s approach to national security, demanding America’s long-standing ally takes a far tougher approach to China and Iran, and to hurry up and deliver Brexit.

Pompeo’s remarks, during a trip to the U.K., risked a diplomatic argument with one of the U.S.’s closest allies, just a month before President Donald Trump is scheduled to pay a formal state visit to Queen Elizabeth II. His criticism comes at a particularly sensitive time for Prime Minister Theresa May, who is struggling to complete Britain’s divorce from the European Union and under daily pressure to resign.

In his speech, Pompeo risked an unflattering and undiplomatic comparison with Britain’s first female prime minister—urging the U.K. to think of what the so-called Iron Lady, the late Margaret Thatcher would do, faced with the same global challenges.

Now is “the exact opposite time to go wobbly,” Pompeo told an audience in London’s Lancaster House, one of the most prestigious diplomatic venues in the British capital.

“Ask yourself this: would the Iron Lady be silent when China violates the sovereignty of nations through corruption or coercion?” he said. “Would she allow China to control the internet of the future? I know it’s a sensitive topic, but we have to talk about sensitive things, as friends.”

He said it was a matter of Chinese law that the Chinese government can demand access to data flowing through Huawei systems, which the U.K. hasn’t ruled out as a supplier for next-generation 5G communications networks.

The U.K. is a a linchpin of the international “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance that includes the U.S. and Pompeo has warned that doing business with Huawei might come at the expense of continue to exchange secrets.

“Why would anyone grant such power to a regime that has already grossly violated cyberspace?” he said. “What can Her Majesty’s Government do to make sure sensitive technologies don’t become open doors for Beijing’s spymasters?”

Pompeo’s comments represent a blunt critique of Britain’s approach to security. The U.K. government is in the process of weighing up the role the networking giant will play in Britain’s new telecoms network. The reason allies are on edge is because so-called 5G technology is critical to everything from artificial intelligence to driverless cars.

The U.S. has already urged allies to ban the Chinese provider from running sensitive 5G telecoms infrastructure but May’s administration is said to be considering allowing Huawei a limited role.

Pompeo spoke after a meeting with May and talks with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. In his speech, the top U.S. diplomat turned to the differences of approach between the two allies over the handling of the nuclear threat from Iran.

While there is “no daylight” between Britain and America on the severity of the threat emanating from the Iranian regime, May’s government should take a harder line, he said.

“I urge the U.K. to stand with us to rein in the regime’s bloodletting and lawlessness, not soothe the Ayatollahs angry at our decision to pull out of the nuclear deal. If this is about something like commerce, let’s open markets together. I know that we can.”

In perhaps the comments most likely to cause embarrassment to his hosts, Pompeo then complained that May’s handling of Brexit was delaying the talks on a U.K.-U.S. trade deal that Trump is impatient to strike.

“President Trump is eager for a new free trade agreement that will take our Number 1 trade relationship to unlimited new heights,” Pompeo said. “We’ve filed all the papers we can at this point. We’re ready to go. But we can’t make progress on a new agreement until Brexit gets resolved—God speed and good luck.”

Photo: Wikicommons