Pence Demands EU Allies Leave Iran Nuclear Deal

US Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday demanded that European Union allies leave the Iran nuclear deal and warned of further US sanctions on Tehran.

Speaking at a conference in Poland attended by Israel and senior Arab leaders, Pence denounced Iran as the "greatest threat to peace and security in the Middle East" and accused the clerical regime of plotting a "new Holocaust" with its regional ambitions.

Pence denounced a new initiative by France, Germany and Britain to let European businesses keep operating in Iran despite renewed US sanctions.

"It's an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and creates still more distance between Europe and the United States," Pence said.

"The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us as we bring the economic and diplomatic pressure necessary to give the Iranian people, the region and the world the peace, security and freedom they deserve," he said.

As Iran's clerical state marks 40 years since the overthrow of the pro-US shah, Pence vowed maximum pressure while not explicitly urging regime change.

"As Iran's economy continues to plummet, as the people of Iran take to the streets, freedom-loving nations must stand together and hold the Iranian regime accountable for the evil and violence it has inflicted on its people, on the region and the wider world," he said.

US sanctions "will get tougher still" unless Iran "changes its dangerous and destabilising behavior," Pence said.

The European Union, including summit host Poland, has shown no sign of rejecting the 2015 accord negotiated under former US president Barack Obama in which Iran constrained its nuclear program in return for promises of sanctions relief.

EU officials say they acknowledge concerns about Iran but believe the deal, with which Tehran has complied, is working and that the clerical state is not the only problematic actor in the region.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Iran Vows Revenge on 'Mercenaries' Behind Suicide Attack

President Hassan Rouhani vowed revenge Thursday against the "mercenary group" behind a suicide bombing which killed 27 people in southeastern Iran and accused the US and Israel of supporting "terrorism.”

"We will certainly make this mercenary group pay for the blood of our martyrs," the official IRNA news agency quoted the Iranian president as saying in response to Wednesday's attack.

"The main root of terrorism in the region is America and Zionists, and some oil-producing countries in the region also financially support the terrorists," he added.

Rouhani was speaking at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport before leaving for the Russian resort of Sochi for a summit with his Russian and Turkish counterparts Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the future of war-battered Syria.

Wednesday's attack, which targeted a busload of Revolutionary Guards in the volatile southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, was one of the deadliest on Iranian security forces in years.

The bomber struck as the troops were returning from a patrol mission on the border with Pakistan, where Baluchi separatist and jihadist groups have rear bases, the Guards said.

Sistan-Baluchistan is home to a large ethnic Baluchi community, who straddle the border and who, unlike most Iranians, who are Shiite Muslims, are mainly Sunni.

Warning to Neighbors

Rouhani called on Iran's neighbors to assume their "legal responsibilities" and not allow "terrorists" to use their soil to prepare attacks.

"If this continues and they cannot stop the terrorists, it is clear—based on international law—that we have certain rights and will act upon them in due time," he said, without elaborating.

The attack came on the same day as the United States gathered some 60 countries in Poland for a conference on the Middle East and Iran which they hoped would increase pressure on Tehran.

Iran quickly linked the attack to the Warsaw conference, where supporters of the formerly armed opposition People's Mujahedeen plan a second day of protests on Thursday.

Dubbing the meeting the "WarsawCircus", Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it was "no coincidence that Iran is hit by terror on the very day" that the talks began in the Polish capital.

"Especially when cohorts of same terrorists cheer it from Warsaw streets & support it with twitter bots? US seems to always make the same wrong choices, but expect different results," Zarif wrote on Twitter.

Wednesday's bombing was claimed by the jihadist Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Iran, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.

The group was formed in 2012 as a successor to Sunni extremist group Jundallah (Soldiers of God), which waged a deadly insurgency against Iranian targets over the previous decade.

Sistan-Baluchistan has been hit by previous deadly attacks in recent months.

On January 29, three members of an Iranian bomb squad sent to the scene of an explosion in provincial capital Zahedan were wounded when a second device blew up as they were trying to defuse it.

And in early December, two people were killed and around 40 wounded in an attack in the strategic port city of Chabahar, on the province's Arabian Sea coast, which Zarif blamed on "foreign-backed terrorists".

In October, Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for abducting 12 Iranian security personnel near the border, five of whom were later released and flown home after Pakistani intervention.

Zarif visited Islamabad twice in a month for briefings on the progress of the efforts to secure the captured unit's release.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Amid Cool Response, US Says Warsaw Conference Not Aimed at Iran

A US-Polish conference next month on the Middle East is not aimed at Iran, a US official said Monday, after key players balked at attending.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to head to Warsaw for the February 13-14 "Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East," which he earlier said would look at "making sure Iran is not a destabilizing influence."

But the conference has drawn few concrete RSVPs amid unease over the hard US line on Iran, with EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini saying she had previous commitments even though the event is taking place in the European Union.

A senior US official, previewing the conference to reporters, said that Iran would not be a specific agenda item.

"It's important to underscore that this is not an anti-Iran meeting or coalition-building exercise," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"From the start, this ministerial has been focused on exploring a range of issues important to the region's security and prosperity," he said. 

He said Pompeo "will certainly discuss concerns regarding Iran's destructive policies in the region," but said this was because "it's difficult to talk about the region's challenges without referencing Iran."

The official said that the conference would discuss the crises in Syria and Yemen as well as missile proliferation, cyber issues, human rights and refugees, with working groups then tasked with following up.

The conference, which Pompeo said will draw ministers from around the world, comes almost exactly as Iran marks 40 years since its Islamic revolution and after the United States reimposed sweeping sanctions on the country. 

Iran summoned a Polish diplomat to protest the conference, which it called a hostile act.

A Polish official said that, despite serving as co-host, that Poland still supports an international agreement on Iran's nuclear program from which President Donald Trump withdrew.

Russia has also said it will not attend the conference because of its "one-country" focus and failure to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Photo Credit: Polish MFA

Russia Snubs US-Polish Conference on Iran

Russia on Tuesday slammed a planned US-Polish conference on peace and security in the Middle East as "counterproductive" because of its focus on countering Iran, and said it would not attend.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced plans for the major conference in Warsaw on February 13 and 14 to be attended by ministers from a dozen countries.

Addressing the UN Security Council, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the conference would fail to bolster Middle East security because of its "one-country aspect" and failure to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Attempts to create some kind of military alliances in the region by holding conferences and focussing on having a simplified unilateral approach that is clearly linked just to Iran are counterproductive," Nebenzia told a council debate on the Middle East.

Such a move "just further pushes away the prospects of finding a genuine security architecture for the region," he added.

In Moscow, the Russian foreign ministry released a statement saying Russia would not attend the meeting which is described as an "anti-Iran platform" and a bid to create conditions to weaken the Iran nuclear deal.

"Why has that conference not invited Iran, which is one of the most significant and large countries in the region?" asked Nebenzia.

Iran has reacted angrily to the planned conference and warned Poland that it could face consequences for hosting the gathering.

Pompeo first announced the conference on January 11 to bring together countries in addressing peace and security in the Middle East, and make "sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence" in the region.

The conference has also received a cool reception from European countries. 

Facing a lack of enthusiasm, acting US Ambassador Jonathan Cohen described the Warsaw meeting as a "global brainstorming session" and stressed that it was "not the venue to demonize or attack Iran."

Some of the agenda items for the conference include the humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen, missile development and cyber security, Cohen told the council.

Photo Credit: UN

Polish Deputy FM in Tehran Over Conference Row

Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Maciej Lang met in Tehran on Monday with his Iranian counterpart in an effort to solve a dispute over a conference his country is to host.

Lang described as "constructive" his talks with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi over the jointly organized conference with the United States on peace and security in the Middle East.

"We spoke about a wide range of issues, including misunderstandings about the Warsaw conference, and I presented our point of view on this issue. We had a long discussion and I hope that I did it in a clear way," Lang told AFP in an interview.

"For Poland this conference is not against any country," he said.

The summit had first been announced on January 11 by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said that it "includes an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence" in the region.

The Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement the reasons provided by the Polish government for organizing the summit were unacceptable and that the Poles "must be mindful of the consequences".

The Islamic republic would not allow any country in or outside the region "to build coalitions against its interests", the statement said.

Lang expressed hopes that the conference would have a positive impact on relations with Iran.

"We intend to organize an event to discuss problems. Basically the outcome of this conference is to find a process serving stability in the region," he said.

"We believe the outcome will be positive. Why should we suppose that relations with Iran would suffer?"

Iran had reacted angrily to the conference when news of it first broke.

Poland's charge d'affaires was summoned by the Iranian foreign ministry to "protest the anti-Iranian so-called peace and security conference" on January 13.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif poured scorn on the Warsaw summit and pointed out that the country welcomed more than 100,000 Polish refugees during World War II.

"Polish Govt can't wash the shame: while Iran saved Poles in WWII, it now hosts a desperate anti-Iran circus," Zarif tweeted on January 11.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Summons Polish Diplomat to Protest US Summit

Iran's foreign ministry summoned Poland's top diplomat in the country to protest its decision to host what it called an "anti-Iranian" summit, a spokesman said Sunday.

Poland's charge d'affaires was summoned to "protest the anti-Iranian so-called peace and security conference," ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said on his Telegram channel.

He was told "this is a hostile act by the United States against Iran and Poland is expected to refrain from going along with the US in holding this conference," Ghasemi added.

The summit was announced Friday by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said dozens of countries would participate.

They will "focus on Middle East stability and peace and freedom and security here in this region, and that includes an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilising influence," he told Fox News.

Poland's representative in Iran, Wojciech Unolt, reportedly said the conference, to be held February 13-14 in Warsaw, was not anti-Iranian and that Poland did not share recent remarks by the US against Iran.

The Iranian official said this was inadequate and Iran would be "forced to retaliate" if Poland did not back down.

Poland's foreign ministry said in a statement late Sunday "the international community has the right to discuss various regional and global issues.”

And Poland had the right "to co-organize a conference, whose goal is to develop a platform for actions promoting stability and prosperity in the Middle East region," it added.

Iran's cinema organization said it had cancelled a Polish film festival scheduled for next month, according to local media.

"A guest who does not honor their host cannot continue to be a guest. To honor Iran's dignity, the Polish film week in Tehran will be postponed until Warsaw's behaviour is proper," tweeted cinema organisation chief Hossein Entezami, according to the semi-official news agency ILNA.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier poured scorn on the Warsaw summit and pointed out that the country, then impoverished after invasion by Britain and the Soviet Union, welcomed more than 100,000 Polish refugees during World War II.

"Polish Govt can't wash the shame: while Iran saved Poles in WWII, it now hosts a desperate anti-Iran circus," Zarif tweeted.

Photo Credit: IRNA