Iran Digest Week of February 11- February 18
/AIC’s Iran digest project covers the latest developments and news stories published in Iranian and international media outlets. This weekly digest is compiled by Communications Associate Elizabeth Kos. Please note that the news and views expressed in the articles below do not necessarily reflect those of AIC.
US-Iran Relations
Group alleges US firm's tanker illicitly traded Iran oil
A tanker owned by a Los Angeles-based private equity firm likely took part in the illicit trade of Iranian crude oil at sea despite American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic amid the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers, an advocacy group alleges. The firm said Thursday it is cooperating with U.S. government investigators.
The group United Against Nuclear Iran raised its allegations in a letter dated Tuesday to Oaktree Capital Management, which holds assets worth over $160 billion. Satellite images and maritime tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press correspond to the group’s identification of the vessels allegedly involved and showed them side-by-side off the coast of Singapore on Saturday.
The alleged oil transfer comes as world powers and Iran negotiate in Vienna over restoring the nuclear deal. That accord saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions — including those targeting its crucial oil sales.
Nuclear Accord
Iran Nuclear Deal Inches Toward Revival but Faces Critics in U.S.
Diplomats say the United States and Iran could soon decide whether to return to compliance with the 2015 accord, which limited Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some American economic sanctions. A U.S. official close to the negotiations said on Thursday that “real progress” had been made, but that an agreement was still uncertain.
Mr. Biden has said returning to the deal would be proof of America’s recommitment to international agreements that were cast aside by President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the pact, in 2018, was followed by hundreds of American sanctions imposed against Iran, devastating the country’s economy and promoting its leaders to swiftly rebuild its nuclear program.
The possible return of American sanctions in as soon as three years if a new deal is reached but again scrapped is a main reason Iran has been reluctant to commit to coming back into compliance. Leaders in Tehran want assurances that the agreement will endure under future presidents — which the Biden administration cannot promise.
(The New York Times)
Iran Nuclear Deal Inches Toward Revival but Faces Critics in U.S.
Iran has said any potential breakthrough in Vienna talks aimed at restoring its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers rests on political decisions by Western nations, after handing in its own final proposals.
“It’s better for Iran if there’s an agreement in Vienna and sanctions are lifted today rather than tomorrow,” said Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a news conference with his Irish counterpart Simon Coveney in Tehran on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said in a tweet that the talks in the Austrian capital have reached a stage where an outcome could be announced, depending on the US position.
(Al Jazeera)
Iran nuclear deal draft puts prisoners, enrichment, cash first, oil comes later - diplomats
A U.S.-Iranian deal taking shape to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers lays out phases of mutual steps to bring both sides back into full compliance, and the first does not include waivers on oil sanctions, diplomats say.
The draft text of the agreement, which is more than 20 pages long, stipulates a sequence of steps to be implemented once it has been approved by the remaining parties to the deal, starting with a phase including Iran suspending enrichment above 5% purity, three diplomats familiar with negotiations said.
Only once that initial wave of measures has been taken and confirmed would the main phase of sanctions-lifting begin, culminating in what many diplomats call Re-Implementation Day - a nod to the original deal's Implementation Day, when the last nuclear and sanctions-related measures fell into place.
Stubborn issues that remain include Iran's demand that the United States guarantee it will not withdraw again. Western officials say this is impossible to give an iron-clad assurance on given the difficulty in binding future governments.
(Reuters)
Economy
Iran Visits Old Korean Oil Buyers With Nuke Talks in Balance
Iran appears to be taking steps for its official return to the international oil market after more than three years.
Officials from state-owned National Iranian Oil Co were meeting at least two South Korean refiners to discuss a potential return of supply from the Persian Gulf producer, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Talks are at a preliminary stage with volumes and a possible timeline yet to be specified, one person said. The nation used to be a major buyer of Iran’s ultra-light oil.
South Korea imported as much as 18.5 million barrels a month from Iran before U.S. sanctions in 2018. While the biggest buyers of Iranian oil including Korea were able to continue purchases thanks to waivers, these weren’t renewed and imports halted in the first half of 2019.
(Bloomberg)
Women In Iran
RSF denounces the conditions of detention in the women's prison of Gharchak, where two journalists are imprisoned
In Qarchak prison, we are denied the basic needs of a human being, namely the right to breathe clean air and drink potable water,” the journalist Narges Mohammadi is quoted as saying by her husband, Taghi Rahmani, in a post on his Telegram channel on 14 February.
The husband of Alieh Motalebzadeh, a photojournalist and vice-president of the Press Freedom Defence Association who is also in Qarchak, reported in a tweet earlier this month that sanitary condition in the prison have worsened even more as a result of another Covid-19 outbreak, and that 15 members of the staff are currently infected.
A former drug addiction treatment centre for men that was turned into a women’s prison in 2010, Qarchak is notorious for its appalling hygiene, which is contrary to all international human rights treaties. It currently holds at least 1,200 women in eight sections. RSF has learned that the latest Covid-19 wave has exacerbated the situation even more and has increased the risks for vulnerable prisoners.
(Reporters Without Borders)
Inside Iran
Iran celebrates revolution's anniversary with defiant tone amid nuclear talks
As nuclear talks enter what U.S. officials have described as the "final moment," Iran struck a defiant tone Friday, marking the forty-third anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that brought to power its hardline government.
At its core, the 2015 agreement saw the U.S. and international community lift certain sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program -- a swap that was disrupted by former President Donald Trump when he exited the deal and reimposed crushing U.S. sanctions in 2018 -- an attempt to strengthen his hand in negotiations.
Without a deal, that economic hardship will continue. A senior State Department official said the U.S. would "fortify our response" if it has to walk away from talks, "and that means more pressure -- economic, diplomatic, and otherwise."
(ABC News)
Regional Politics
Israeli prime minister makes historic visit to Bahrain, seeking to fortify regional coalition against Iran
MANAMA, Bahrain — Greeted with a red carpet and a military honor guard that performed Israel’s national anthem, Naftali Bennett became the first Israeli prime minister to visit Bahrain, meeting high-level officials Tuesday in an effort to fortify a regional coalition opposed to Iran.
Bennett’s visit to the tiny Persian Gulf country comes amid escalating talks among Middle Eastern countries over advancing security cooperation and as a shadow war between Israel and Iran, with tit-for-tat attacks on commercial vessels at sea, becomes increasingly public.
Israel and several Arab countries applauded when President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal — which sought to limit Iran’s nuclear program in return for relief from sanctions — and reimposed economic penalties on Tehran. More recently, Iran has significantly advanced its nuclear program, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.
“This is a new model and a good model,” Bennett said Tuesday. “This is what Arab-Israeli connections ought to be.”
(The Washington Post)
Regional Politics
Israel participates in huge U.S. Mideast naval exercise alongside Saudi, Oman
Israel is taking part in a huge U.S.-led naval exercise in the Middle East, for the first time publicly joining Saudi Arabia and Oman, two counties it has no diplomatic relations with despite its normalization of ties with some Gulf states.
Israel normalized relations with Gulf states the UAE and Bahrain in 2020, brought together by shared worries about Iran, and first held a joint naval drill with those two countries in November.
"For the past few months Israel has been exercising not only with us but other partner nations in this region," Fifth Fleet spokesperson Tim Hawkins told reporters on Wednesday.
In its seventh year, IMX 22 began on Monday from the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and will cover the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and North Indian Ocean.
(Reuters)
Saudi Arabia backs U.S. efforts to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons - SPA
Saudi Arabia's government expressed on Tuesday its support for "U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," state news agency SPA reported.
The government also thanked the U.S. for supporting the kingdom defending its territory against attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group, SPA said, citing a statement issued after a cabinet meeting.
Talks on a new nuclear accord with Iran are underway in Vienna amid growing Western fears about Tehran's accelerating nuclear advances, seen by Western powers as irreversible unless a deal is struck soon
(Reuters)
Analysis
House GOP opens a new shameful chapter in diplomatic sabotage
By: Ryan Costello
Nearly seven years ago, Sen. Tom Cotton convinced 46 of his fellow Senators to sign an open letter to Iran’s leadership, warning against agreeing to a nuclear deal with the Obama administration and highlighting that the next president could undo the agreement with a stroke of a pen. The backlash was fierce, with the senators branded traitors on social media along with warnings that they violated the Logan Act, which bans Americans from interfering with U.S. foreign policy.
This week, House Republicans organized the brazen follow-up to Cotton’s letter, with more than 160 lawmakers laying out a series of unobtainable demands for any deal and warning that a new deal will “meet the same fate” as the agreement Trump withdrew from. Even if we’ve come to expect this kind of sabotage from many elected Republicans it is yet another shameful chapter in which many of our nation’s lawmakers are at the heart of the problem.
Despite the noise, Biden’s choice remains clear. He can listen to those who would oppose any nuclear agreement with Iran and double down on the failed maximum pressure approach that has set the United States and Iran on course for a disastrous war. Or he can restore the nuclear agreement and try to make it work as it was intended. The path may not be easy, but the choice is clear.
