Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said that Iran would not reactivate 27 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring cameras at its nuclear sites until the United States returns to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran had removed the cameras in June in response to a resolution criticizing it at the June IAEA Board of Governors meeting. Eslami also said that Iran would not cooperate with an IAEA probe investigating traces of uranium found at three undeclared sites, stating that the 2015 deal had already addressed all issues related to "possible military dimensions" of Iran's nuclear program.
News Briefs
July 17, 2022
Kamal Kharrazi, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, said on Al Jazeera TV that "Iran has the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but there has been no decision by Iran to build one." Kharrazi also noted that Iran could "easily" produce uranium enriched to 90% purity.
-- Reuters
Exclusive: Russians Have Visited Iran At Least Twice in Last Month to Examine Weapons-Capable Drones
July 15, 2022
According to U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, a Russian delegation visited an airfield in Kashan, Iran in June and again in July to examine a showcase of Iranian drones. The delegation was shown Shahed-129 and Shahed-191 models, both of which are capable of carrying precision-guided missiles.
-- CNN
July 13, 2022
During an interview with Israel's Channel 12 TV, U.S. President Joe Biden said he would use force as a last resort to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Biden also said that he would keep the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the United States' list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, even if doing so prevented a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
-- Reuters
July 11, 2022
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States had information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones for the war in Ukraine. The planned transfer would include both surveillance and armed UAVs. Further, Sullivan said, Iran is preparing to train Russian troops on how to operate the weapons as soon as July. Sullivan did not know whether any drones had already been transferred.
-- New York Times
July 10, 2022
Iran announced that it has begun enriching uranium up to 20 percent purity using advanced IR-6 centrifuges at its Fordow facility. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran was using a system of "modified sub-headers" for one cascade of these centrifuges, a set-up that allows Iran to more quickly and easily switch between enrichment levels.
-- Associated Press
July 7, 2022
The British government announced that the Royal Navy seized a shipment of Iranian weapons in the Gulf of Oman on two occasions in January and February 2022. The shipments included surface-to-air missiles and engines for land-attack cruise missiles. The British navy linked the engines to an Iranian-made cruise missile with a 1,000-kilometer range that it said Houthi rebels in Yemen have used against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran denied that it had shipped the weapons to Yemen.
-- Associated Press
June 29, 2022
A round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States in Doha, Qatar aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal ended on June 29 without any significant progress. The talks, which lasted two days and were mediated by EU official Enrique Mora, were the first since multilateral discussions in Vienna stalled in mid-March. There was no date set for the next round of negotiations.
-- The Wall Street Journal
June 27, 2022
On July 27, a cyberattack struck Iran's three largest steel-producing companies. Khuzestan Steel Company, a state-owned firm, said that it had stopped production because of the hack. Gonjeshke Darande, a hacking group, said that it conducted the cyberattack in retaliation for the "aggression of the Islamic Republic" and noted the companies' ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to video released by the group, the cyberattack caused a fire at a Khuzestan Steel factory; however, Khuzestan Steel's CEO said that no damage had occurred that would impact the company's ability to supply its customers. The hackers also appeared to target mills in Bandar Abbas and Mobarakeh.
-- Associated Press
June 26, 2022
In March, senior military officers from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States held a meeting in the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh to discuss potential cooperation to defend against the threat of drones and missiles from Iran. Attendees included Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, Chief of Staff of the Saudi Armed Forces General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al Ruwaili, and General Frank McKenzie, who headed U.S. Central Command at the time, as well as Lieutenant General Salem Bin Hamad Al-Nabit, who oversees the Qatari Armed Forces.
-- The Wall Street Journal