Iran has announced it will not accept preconditions from a new Joe Biden administration over its nuclear programme unless the US returns to it’s 2015 deal signed by the Obama administration but discarded by Trump in 2018.
After Trump scrapped the deal, he then reimposed strict economic sanctions against Iran, targeting the country’s oil and financial sectors.
Tehran has since exceeded limits to its nuclear activities set under the deal, raising suspicions that it could be using the programme as a cover to develop a nuclear bomb.
But the Iranian government insists it’s nuclear ambitions are peaceful.
The Iran Nuclear deal signed by the US, EU, Iran, China and Russia was designed to constrain the programme in a verifiable way in return for sanctions relief.
Biden said he will open talks with Iran when he takes over the White House in 2021. He promised to resurrect the Iran Nuclear deal and lift sanctions if Tehran returns to “strict compliance with the nuclear deal”.
But Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister has rejected Biden’s plan saying the US had its own “commitments” that must be implemented.
Addressing a virtual conference hosted by Italy on Thursday, December 3, Mr Zarif said the US had been “in grave breach” of a UN resolution endorsing the nuclear deal when it abandoned it, describing the Trump administration as “a rogue regime”.
“The United States must stop, the United States must cease its violations of international law,” he said. “It doesn’t require any negotiations.”
Mr Zarif went on to say that the US was “not in a position to set conditions”.
Biden said to the New York Times this week it was “going to be hard” but “the last goddamn thing we need in that part of the world is a build-up of nuclear capability”.
On Wednesday, December 2, Iran’s parliament passed a bill that would prevent UN inspections of its nuclear sites and require the government to resume enriching uranium to 20% – well above the 3.67% agreed under the deal – if sanctions were not eased within two months.
Uranium enriched to a much higher level can be used in a nuclear bomb, though once 20% has been achieved it is technologically easier to reach that required level of purity.
Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had more than 12 times the amount of enriched uranium permitted under the Nuclear deal agreement
Iran has vowed to avenge the killing of its most senior nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated near Tehran on Friday.
Fakhrizadeh died in hospital after an attack in Absard, in Damavand county.
Hossein Dehghan, military advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to “strike” the perpetrators like thunder.
Western intelligence agencies believe Fakhrizadeh was behind a covert Iranian nuclear weapons programme.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
The country’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, called on the international community to “condemn this act of state terror”.
“Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today,” he said in a tweet..
Iran’s UN ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said the killing was a clear violation of international law, designed to wreak havoc in the region.
Mr Zarif blamed Israel for the attack saying it had “serious indications of Israeli role”.
Fakhrizadeh’s name was specifically mentioned in Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s presentation about Iran’s nuclear programme in April 2018.
There has been no comment from Israel on the news of the assassination.
Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, said the “assassination of nuclear scientists is the most obvious violation of the global hegemony to prevent our access to modern sciences”.
News of the killing comes amid fresh concern about the increased amount of enriched uranium that the country is producing. Enriched uranium is a vital component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons.
A 2015 deal with six world powers had placed limits on its production, but since President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018, Iran has been deliberately reneging on its agreements.
Joe Biden has pledged to reengage with Iran when he becomes US president in January, despite longstanding opposition from Israel .
What happened to Mohsen Fakhrizadeh?
In a statement on Friday, Iran’s defence ministry said: “Armed terrorists targeted a vehicle carrying Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of the ministry’s research and innovation organisation.
“After a clash between the terrorists and his bodyguards, Mr Fakhrizadeh was severely injured and rushed to hospital.
“Unfortunately, the medical team’s efforts to save him were unsuccessful and minutes ago he passed away.”
Iranian media reports said the attackers opened fire on the scientist in his car.
Fars news agency earlier reported there was a car explosion in Absard town, with witnesses reporting that “three to four individuals, who are said to have been terrorists, were killed”.
Why was he targeted?
By Paul Adams, BBC Diplomatic Correspondent
As head of the ministry of defence’s research and innovation organisation, Fakhrizadeh was clearly still a key player. Hence Benjamin Netanyahu’s warning, two years ago, to “remember his name”.
Since Iran started breaching its commitments under the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the country has moved ahead rapidly, building stockpiles of low-enriched uranium and enriching to a purity above the level permitted under the deal.
Iranian officials have always said such moves are reversible, but developments in research and development are harder to eradicate.
“We cannot go backwards,” Iran’s former ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said recently.
If Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was the key player Israel alleges, then his death could represent someone’s effort to put the brakes on Iran’s forward momentum.
With the US president-elect, Joe Biden, talking about taking Washington back into the deal with Iran, the assassination could also be aimed at complicating any future negotiations.
Who was Mohsen Fakhrizadeh?
Fakhrizadeh was the most renowned Iranian nuclear scientist and a senior officer of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
He has long been spoken about by Western security sources as extremely powerful and instrumental in Iran’s nuclear programme.
According to secret documents obtained by Israel in 2018, he led a programme to create nuclear weapons.
At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he identified Fakhrizedeh as the head scientist in the programme, and urged people to “remember that name”.media captionIn 2018, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled what he claimed to be Iran’s secret atomic archive
In 2015, the New York Times compared him to J Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who directed the Manhattan Project that during World War Two produced the first atomic weapons.
A professor of physics, Fakhrizadeh is said to have led Project Amad, the alleged covert programme that was established in 1989 to research the potential for building a nuclear bomb. It was shut down in 2003, according to the IAEA, though Mr Netanyahu said the documents retrieved in 2018 showed Fakhrizadeh led a programme which secretly continued Project Amad’s work.
The IAEA has long wanted to speak to him as part of its investigations into Iran’s nuclear programme.
Suspicions that Iran was using the programme as a cover to develop a nuclear bomb prompted the EU, US and UN to impose crippling sanctions in 2010.
The 2015 deal that Iran reached with the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany saw it limit its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.
Since President Donald Trump abandoned the deal, it has floundered. Earlier this month, the IAEA said Iran had more than 12 times the amount of enriched uranium than permitted under the deal.
Meanwhile, tensions between the US and Iran have escalated, peaking in January with America’s assassination of Gen Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force.
Iran and Turkey have said that the United Arab Emirates’ decision to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel was a betrayal of the Palestinian cause.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S.- led deal was a “dagger that was unjustly struck by the UAE in the backs of the Palestinian people and all Muslims.”
According to Turkey, the Middle East region “will never forget and will never forgive this hypocritical behavior” by the UAE.”
President Donald Trump had said on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates and Israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of a deal to halt the Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, which the Palestinians see as their future State.
The deal was reached despite the region’s rejection of the US-led peace plan.
But Turkish Foreign Ministry said the UAE had no authority to negotiate with Israel on matters pertaining to Palestinians, or “to make concessions on matters vital to Palestine.
The agreement would make the UAE the first Gulf Arab state — and the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan — to have full diplomatic ties with Israel.
According to the Palestinian Government, the deal amounts to “treason”, and called on other Arab states and Muslim countries to reject the move.
But Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, supported the UAE position, stating that it stands by its “position that only a negotiated two-state solution can bring lasting peace to the Middle East.
“Together with our European partners and the region we have campaigned intensively in past months against annexation and for the resumption of direct negotiations,” Mr. Heiko said.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijianalso, said the country welcomes “any measure that helps in easing tensions between Middle Eastern countries and promotes regional peace and stability.”
Iran on Monday issued warrant of arrest against US President Donald Trump. It also asked Interpol for help in arresting and detaining the US president and dozens of others it believes carried out the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad.
According to a local Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr Trump and more than 30 others whom Iran accuses of involvement in the Jan. 3 strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad face “murder and terrorism charges,” the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than Trump, but stressed that Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after his presidency ends.
Interpol, based in Lyon, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alqasimehr also was quoted as saying that Iran requested a “red notice” be put out for Trump and the others, which represents the highest level arrest request issued by Interpol. Local authorities end up making the arrests on behalf of the country that request it. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects’ travel.
After receiving a request, Interpol meets by committee and discusses whether or not to share the information with its member states. Interpol has no requirement for making any of the notices public, though some do get published on its website.
It is unlikely Interpol would grant Iran’s request as its guideline for notices forbids it from “undertaking any intervention or activities of a political” nature.
The U.S. killed Soleimani, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, and others in the January strike near Baghdad International Airport. It came after months of incidents raising tensions between the two countries and ultimately saw Iran retaliate with a ballistic missile strike targeting American troops in Iraq.
Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
France, Germany, and Britain have made the first use of a bartering mechanism set up to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Iran, to send medical supplies to the crisis-hit country, the German Foreign Office says.
In Iran, one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, a complex web of sanctions imposed by the Trump administration—and abetted by Congress members of both parties—is choking off critical medical supplies to a country desperately in need.
While this dip in supply is not new, the scale of the harm is, as doctors frantically try to respond to a catastrophe that now includes 16,169 confirmed cases and 988 deaths in Iran – numbers that are rising by the day.
Amid these dire circumstances, the Trump administration announced sometime in March that it was imposing a fresh round of sanctions on the country.
On March 12 Iran’s Health Ministry reported dire shortages of key supplies, including syringe and infusion pumps.
At the Independent (U.K.), reporter Negar Mortazavi notes that several companies were reluctant to sell testing kits to Iran over concerns about violating a complex web of sanctions, until the WHO stepped in and instructed them to.
“A young father living in Tehran, whose cousin died at a local hospital at the beginning of the outbreak, told me he had all the signs and symptoms of coronavirus and his death report even cited ‘suspected coronavirus’ as the cause of death—but he was not tested for the virus as there is a shortage and test kits are saved for those patients who are still alive,” Mortazavi writes.
Relief International, one of the few humanitarian organisations that has been bringing medical supplies into Iran, issued a stark warning nearly three weeks ago: “There is an extreme shortage of these supplies in-country, where stock is often low due to the steep price of medicines and medical equipment—a consequence of U.S. sanctions.”
The doctors, nurses and pharmacists on the front lines of the crisis have been sounding the alarm about the dire circumstances for days.
“Medical professionals in Iran are seeing the early signs of shortages,” warned Esfandyar Batmanghelidj and Abbas Kebriaeezadeh (the latter is a pharmacology professor at Tehran University of Medical Sciences) in a March 3 article.
“They are calling the Iranian vendors of respiratory masks, surgical gowns, and ventilators only to hear that the goods are out of stock.
“They are struggling to get antiviral medication even to those patients exhibiting the most acute symptoms,” they said further. (dpa)
India on Tuesday suspended with immediate effect all regular visas or e-visas granted to the nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan issued on or before March 3 to curb COVID-19, said a revised travel advisory.
These visas also included visas-on-arrival for Japan and South Korea, according to the travel advisory.
“Those requiring to travel to India under compelling circumstances may apply for fresh visas to the nearest Indian Embassy or Consulate,” it added.
Diplomats, officials of the UN and other international bodies, Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholders and aircrew from the above countries were, however, exempted from such restriction on entry, adding that medical screening is compulsory for them.
Three more cases were detected in India on Monday, including places in Delhi, the southern state of Telangana and the western state of Rajasthan.
Besides, six people who were said to have been in contact with the Delhi case have been kept under watch and their samples were sent for testing.
Earlier, three patients suffering from COVID-19 were successfully cured in February.
According to the advisory, all foreign nationals who have traveled to China, Iran, Italy, South Korea, and Japan on or after Feb. 1 have been prohibited from entering India.
Passengers of all international flights entering into India from any port are required to furnish duly filled self-declaration form and travel history to health officials and immigration officials.
Passengers (foreign and Indian) other than those restricted, arriving directly or indirectly from a number of countries and regions must undergo medical screening at the port of entry.
These include China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, China’s Hong Kong, China’s Macau, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, and China’s Taiwan.
The United States has hailed a decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to keep Iran on its blacklist of countries with weak systems against money laundering and terrorism financing.
Secretary of State, Mr Mike Pompeo, gave the commendation in a statement after the FATF announced the decision to keep Iran on the list known as the ` Public Statement’ on Friday.
FATF, an intergovernmental body that develops policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, also re-imposed countermeasures on Iran.
The countermeasures require increased supervision of the foreign branches and subsidiaries of Iranian financial institutions.
No fewer than 11 FATF members have Iranian banks on their soil, according to Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a U.S.-based research institute with focus on foreign policy and national security.
The countries include Turkey, France, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Greece, United Kingdom, South Korea, Hong Kong, Italy and Malaysia.
Pompeo said: “The regime must face consequences for its continued failure to abide by international norms, in particular its inaction in ratifying the Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions.
“Since Iran’s FATF action plan expired in 2018, Iran has failed to fulfill its commitments to adhere to the FATF’s anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism standards, including ratifying the UN Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions.
“The regime needs to adhere to the basic standards that virtually every other country in the world agrees to.
“Iran must cease its reckless behavior and act like a normal nation if it wants its isolation to end.’’
FDD said Iran’s continued place on the list “correctly sends a clear message that Tehran remains a source of terror-financing risk that threatens the international financial system’’
FATF’s engagement with the Iranian government began in 2016 on a reform programme agenda known as the Action Plan.
The plan specifies the concrete steps necessary to bring Tehran’s AML/CFT regulations up to international standards, according to FDD.
Since then, Iran has failed to meet five deadlines to complete its plan, besides adding exemptions for terrorist organisations into its anti-money-laundering laws, among other alleged infractions, the institute said. (NAN)
The semi-official Fars news agency on Tuesday said a man sentenced to death in Iran for spying for the CIA and attempting to pass on information about Tehran’s nuclear programme would be executed soon.
Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said in another case, two people working for a charity were sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying and five years in prison for acting against national security on similar charges.
“Amir Rahimpour who was a CIA spy and got big pay and tried to present part of Iran’s nuclear information to the American service had been tried and sentenced to death and recently the supreme court upheld his sentence.
“He will see the consequences of his action soon, (referring to the individual facing capital punishment).’’
Esmaili did not provide any additional information about the nationality of the convicted individuals working for a charity.
Iran does not recognise dual nationality and the judiciary prosecutes dual nationals as Iranian citizens.
Earlier, Iran announced it had broken up a CIA spy ring of 17 individuals and that some had been sentenced to death.
The CIA did not immediately comment on Esmaili’s remarks.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted after the announcement last summer, `the Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth.’’
Tensions have increased between Tehran and Washington since the U.S. killed top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
Soleimani was killed in a drone strike in Baghdad on Jan. 3, prompting the Islamic Republic to retaliate with a missile strike against a U.S. base in Iraq.
Esmaili said at a news conference that names of the individuals working for the charity would not be released yet because the sentence had not been
finalised.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said all was well shortly after Iran claimed responsibility for multiple rocket attacks on two military bases housing U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.
“All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties and damages taking place now.
“So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!
“I will be making a statement tomorrow morning”, Trump said in a tweet.
Reports say no fewer than a dozen rockets struck the Al Asad Air Force Base in western Iraq and another located in Erbil.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said they fired the missiles in retaliation for the death of Iranian top military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. strike in Iraq on Friday.
“We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” IRGC said in a statement.
Later, the Foreign Minister of Iran, Javad Zarif, tweeted that the IRGC attack was in self defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
“We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression,” Zarif said.
Media reports quoted Iraqi security officials as saying there were no casualties in the attacks. (NAN)
France has urged Iran not to seek retribution in the wake of the U.S. airstrike that killed Iran’s elite Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
“No-one wants war,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told broadcaster BFMTV on Monday evening.
He said that possibilities for negotiations must be created.
“There’s always room for diplomacy,” the minister added.
The U.S. airstrike has prompted fears over an outbreak of war in the region and left the nuclear agreement struck with Tehran hanging by a thread.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been trying to bring U.S. and Iranian representatives together for talks, an initiative he presented at the G7 summit in Biarritz in August but which was not successful. (dpa/NAN)
