Iran‘s recent action against some of the IAEA inspectors was carried out in response to the issuance of an unnecessary statement by three European countries and the United States in the recent meeting of the Council of Governors against Iran.
“Constructive cooperation between Iran and the IAEA continues within the agreed framework and Iran does not seek to limit its cooperation with the IAEA,” announced Iranian diplomat in his weekly presser.
Iranian media outlets claimed that the confrontation forced helicopters to land back on the Americans ships.
The ships, a helicopter carrier and a support vessel that were carrying more than 4,000 American troops between them, were sent to the Gulf in response to Iran‘s continued threats of seizing commercial ships in the region.
Iran did not provide a reason for launching the drill, though such snap exercises have happened in the past.
Eine Flotte Hochgeschwindigkeitsboote der Marine der Iranischen Revolutionsgarde (IRGCN) habe die unter der Flagge Panamas fahrende griechische „Niovi“ gestern in der Straße von Hormus aufgebracht, erklärte das US-Militär.
Der Tanker sei ohne Fracht von Dubai nach Fudschaira, einem weiteren Hafen der Vereintigten Arabischen Emirate, unterwegs gewesen.
(February 26, 2022)
Following the 2015 Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war, Israel set up a „deconfliction mechanism“ with the big power to prevent them clashing inadvertently during Israeli strikes against Iranian deployments and arms transfers in the neighbouring Arab state.
„Our military officials discuss the practical issues of this substantively on a daily basis. This mechanism has proven to be useful and will continue to work,“ the Russian embassy in Israel said in a statement.
This is the latest strike in Syria, the third since Thursday and only a day after another attack on Friday
(March 13, 2023)
”Until we make sure that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a government that he controls, we will not be able to do common things, “said UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
The deal also comes as Saudi Arabia is demanding certain security guarantees, a steady flow of arms shipments and assistance with its civilian nuclear program in order to normalize relations with Israel, a major U.S. ally, the White House confirmed on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. was “informed” about the Saudi Arabia-Iran talks but played no role in them.
(today)
They also plan to reimplement a security pact signed 22 years ago under which both parties agreed to cooperate on terrorism, drug-smuggling and money-laundering, as well as reviving a trade and technology deal from 1998.
Friday’s announcement is also a diplomatic victory for China in a Gulf region that has long been considered part of the US’ domain of influence. It comes as the Biden administration tries to notch its own win in the Middle East by trying to broker a normalization pact between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Nach jahrelanger Eiszeit, die im Nahen Osten die Spannungen gefährlich erhöht hat, wollen der Iran und Saudi-Arabien die diplomatischen Beziehungen wieder aufnehmen. Der Deal kam offenbar unter Vermittlung Chinas zustande. Gelingt die Annäherung, wäre das für Peking ein wichtiger Erfolg als geopolitischer Player vis-a-vis den USA.
(06.03.2023)
Kanaani was referring to the nuclear negotiations that started in April 2021 to revive the 2015 nuclear deal but the talks came to a standstill in the summer of 2022 as the Biden administration is refusing to lift the sanctions imposed during Donald Trump’s presidency.
(04.03.2023)
The two-day visit by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, comes as the Vienna-based organisation seeks greater cooperation with Iran over its nuclear activities.
“By having a constructive discussion … and having good agreements, like I am sure we are going to have, we are going to be paving the way for important agreements,” Grossi told a news conference on Saturday alongside the head of Iran’s atomic energy organisation, Mohammad Eslami.
(March 5, 2022)
Hopes had been high that international negotiators from the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council, Germany and the EU would be able to secure a deal with Tehran on Saturday to put strict limits on Iran’s atomic work in exchange for sanctions relief for the Islamic Republic.
Such a deal would bring significant volumes of Iranian crude oil back to global energy markets in the months ahead, and that could spell trouble for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(05.11.2022)
The minister added that Tehran’s ties with Putin are based on neighborliness and common interests, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
The Iranian diplomat maintained that during a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, they agreed that Kyiv would hand over evidence of the use of those Iranian drones in the conflict. “If it is confirmed that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will not be indifferent to this issue,” Abdollahian stressed.
Following Putin’s visit to Tehran in July, Iran offered to assist Russia with avoiding those sanctions by using its so-called “dark” fleet of oil tankers.
In return, Moscow agreed an arms deal with Iran, including the purchase of 2,400 Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.
These Iranian kamikaze drones are now at the forefront of Vladimir Putin’s attempts to wreak havoc against Ukraine, with their participation all the more important because the Russian military is running low on stockpiles of its conventional missiles. Nor is Iran’s involvement likely to be confined to providing drones.
A letter from Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and members of the U.N. Security Council was obtained by The Associated Press ahead of a closed council meeting late Wednesday requested by Britain, France and the United States on Iran’s sale of hundreds of drones to Russia.
The three Western countries strongly back Ukraine’s contention that the drones were transferred to Russia and violate a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal between Iran and six key nations — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear activities and preventing the country from developing a nuclear weapon.
Eine Sprecherin der EU-Kommission sagte am Mittwoch dagegen, man habe nun genügend Beweise dafür, dass die Drohnen aus dem Iran kommen. Bereits am Montag hatte die EU Sanktionen gegen die iranische Sittenpolizei und mehr als ein Dutzend weitere Personen und Organisationen verhängt. Diese Strafmaßnahmen stehen allerdings nicht in Zusammenhang mit dem russischen Krieg gegen die Ukraine, sondern mit dem Tod der 22-jährigen Iranerin Mahsa Amini sowie der brutalen Unterdrückung von Protesten im Iran.
Iran has promised to provide Russia with surface to surface missiles, in addition to more drones, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters, a move that is likely to infuriate the United States and other Western powers.
A deal was agreed on Oct. 6 when Iran‘s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, two senior officials from Iran‘s powerful Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme National Security Council visited Moscow for talks with Russia about the delivery of the weapons.
If the idea of withdrawing from the JCPOA was always bad, it is even more detrimental now considering the political shifts in Tehran. The moderate administration of Hassan Rouhani which sought better relations with the West has been wholly discredited by Trump’s aggressive policies. The hardliners who now dominate the whole political landscape in Iran have always been skeptical of the JCPOA.
Moreover, an influential faction within the hardline camp sees the JCPOA as irrelevant at best and constraining Iran’s security options at worst. According to this line of thinking, Iran has already weathered the storm of the U.S. sanctions. Following on from that, what Iran needs now is not to get sanctions lifted, but rather to further immunize Iran from them by seeking closer ties with Russia and China. Iran notably has become a full-fledged member of the Shanghai Security Organization.
The SCO heads of state are expected to finalize the admission of Iran and grant the status of a dialogue partner to Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Putin told Raisi that he was happy that Iran was joining the SCO.
(heute)
Der Iran wird Mitglied in der Shanghaier Organisation für Zusammenarbeit (SOZ). Wie der iranische Außenminister Hossein Amirabdollahian auf seiner Instagram-Seite mitteilte, unterzeichnete die Teheraner Führung ein Abkommen über einen Wechsel vom bisherigen Beobachterstatus hin zur vollständigen Mitgliedschaft.
Rahimi was implicitly referring to hardliners who during the presidency of Hassan Rouhani opposed the agreement his government had concluded with world powers in 2015.
The lawmaker said that opposition to the deal was driven by political motives. He retorted that some politicians “did not want the previous government to restore the agreement. They wanted to be the ones to do it.”
Rahimi, a Sunni Muslim and a two-term parliament member, told the former opponents of JCPOA that they have to answer to the people as “why they did that to their livelihood.”
(22.08.2022)
„Ende letzter Woche war ein Treffen in Wien geplant, das jedoch nicht stattfinden konnte“, sagte Borrell ohne Angabe von Gründen. „Womöglich findet es diese Woche statt.“
Der Iran warf den USA „Verzug“ vor. „Die US-Regierung ist verantwortlich für die derzeitige Situation, und wenn sie politische Entschlossenheit zeigen würde“, könnte der Übergang zur nächsten Stufe erfolgen, erklärte der Sprecher des iranischen Außenministeriums, Nasser Kanaani.
He also said that any agreement being achieved in Vienna should be passed by Parliament.
As things stand, Iran appears to have done its part and made every necessary decision needed to resuscitate the JCPOA. Therefore, it’s now the U.S.’s turn to do the same and facilitate the conclusion of the talks.
The U.S. confirmed that it has received the Iranian response via the EU and said that it will need “some time” to study it.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday, “We are still studying [the response].”
He added, “It will require some time to digest what has been provided to the EU and in turn what has been provided to us.”
After several months during which Israel offered contradictory assessments regarding Iran’s intention to sign a new agreement, in the past two days senior Israeli officials have voiced similar assessments: Since Tehran conveyed its reply to the draft agreement last Monday, the chances of a treaty have increased significantly, even if still not great.
A political analyst says pro-Israel lobbies and groups that oppose Iran’s nuclear deal with the West, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), would take advantage of the Friday night attack on anti-Islam blasphemous novelist Salman Rushdie and pin it on Iran to diminish the prospects of an agreement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday once again threatened to stand in the way of Finland and Sweden joining NATO — a day before he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Iran.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a rare foreign trip Tuesday for a summit in Iran with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Why it matters: With Syria, Ukraine and oil on the agenda, all three leaders have something to gain from the summit.
He added “Iran has the capability to build nuclear bomb but it has no decision” to do so.
Enriching uranium to 20 percent was “more difficult” but increasing it to 60 percent was done in 2-3 days.
Therefore, he said, it will not be difficult to enrich uranium to purity of 90 percent.
“We’re a screwdriver’s turn away from reaching the 90% purity,” Kharrazi remarked.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei has banned production of nuclear arms.
The former foreign minister reiterated Iran’s long-held policy, saying nuclear weapon “contravenes” Iran’s religious “beliefs” and its „security exigencies“.
However, he added, mastering the nuclear technology and having the capability to build nuclear arms is “deterrent”.
Keiner der drei Parteien gehe es bei dem Treffen um das syrische Volk, kritisiert Bente Scheller, Referatsleiterin Nahost und Nordafrika der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, gegenüber der ARD – Putin, Erdogan und Raisi gehe es um „Kriegsmanagement“ und darum, sich für die jeweiligen geostrategischen Interessen in Syrien stark zu machen.
China, Afghanistan (which has observer SCO status), and India were the top three SCO importers of Iranian goods last year, he added.
The SCO is a transcontinental political, economic, security, and military alliance, comprising China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Iran had its full membership in the organization approved in 2021. Previously, it held observer status in the organization.
„Because a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA is very much an uncertain proposition, we are now preparing equally for either scenario,“ Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a briefing.
(12 March, 2022)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, saying it was targeting an Israeli „strategic centre“.
Around a dozen missiles rained down on the city at 1am on Sunday morning.
(March 11, 2022)
In a tweet on Twitter today, Khatibzadeh said that success in the dialogue will be the main focus for all parties, and that any external factor will not affect the common will to move towards a collective agreement.
Saudi ambassador Rayed Krimly, head of policy planning at the Kingdom’s foreign ministry, confirmed Riyadh was in talks with Tehran in comments made to Reuters in May.
He said the talks were aimed at exploring ways to reduce the tensions in the region and that Saudi Arabia wanted to see actions rather than words.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in comments reported widely in Iranian state-owned media, said: „The other side understands that it will take two or three months for the new government in Iran to be established and be able to plan.“
Iran‘s new President Ebrahim Raisi has said that his government would support any initiative that works towards the ending of US sanctions, but …
(07.08.2021)
Because they want to.
The current US administration has not yet fulfilled the promises Joe Biden made during his presidential elections campaigns to undo Trump‘s actions and return to the deal. In the meantime, Tehran has also stressed that the Biden administration‘s return to the agreement without lifting the sanctions is not important at all.
Iran. Washington. Atomabkommen. Libanon. Gaza. Israel. Hamas. Hisbollah.
Es herrscht derzeit mal wieder Verwirrung im Feld. Dabei würde in der Region weder geschossen, noch gestorben, wenn die Weltöffentlichkeit begreifen würde, was für heuchlerische Schurken da auf allen Seiten ihr Spielchen spielen.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Iranian parliament on Thursday afternoon, attended by high-ranking Iranian civil and military officials as well as a great number of foreign dignitaries from more than 80 countries.
Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi used his inaugural speech as Iran‘s president on Thursday to insist that the Iranian nuclear program was peaceful, to call for international sanctions against Iran to be lifted and to vow that his country would stand against oppression everywhere, from Europe to Palestine.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has sought to take pressure off the US by saying that it will become “very hard” to return to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement if negotiations in Vienna continue without progress.
Washington is dragging its feet on removing sanctions despite having declared that it is ready to undo the wrongs of the former Trump administration which abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018.
(24.06.2021)
Indirect U.S. negotiations with Iran over reviving the 2015 nuclear deal cannot go on “indefinitely”without success, a senior State Department official said following the completion in Vienna of a sixth round of talks.
“We’ve made progress” and “the Iranians have been serious,” the official said in a briefing for reporters Thursday. “But we do have differences, and if we can’t bridge them in the foreseeable future, we’re going to have to regroup.”