Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union, announced that the EU will extend indefinitely the deadline for resolving the issue of Iranian noncompliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).The EU formally accused Iran of violating the treaty on January 14, triggering the start of a 15-day process to resolve the issue under the dispute resolution mechanism. The EU will avoid a strict time limit that would oblige it to bring the issue to the U.N. Security Council, where new sanctions could be imposed. Borrell stated that progress on the issue can only be made if the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) remains in Iran to monitor its nuclear activities.
News Briefs
February 4, 2020
-- Reuters
January 31, 2020
According to a new U.N. report, Houthi rebels in Yemen are receiving parts for drones and weapons that may have been manufactured in Iran, suggesting potential violations of a U.N. arms embargo. In addition to maritime transport, the main smuggling routes run overland from Oman and southern Yemen toward Sanaa. The report deemed it unlikely that Houthis carried out the September 2019 attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities based on the range of the systems used. These systems were unlikely developed in Yemen, implying that they were imported in violation of the embargo. One batch of seized parts was traced from a Hong Kong company to Oman, and another was traced from Japan to the United Arab Emirates.
-- Associated Press
January 31, 2020
U.S. federal prosecutors charged Bahram Karimi, an Iranian national living in Canada, for facilitating payments in an infrastructure project by the governments of Iran and Venezuela. Prosecutors allege that Karimi illegally routed $115 million from a Venezuelan company to Iranian entities through Swiss bank accounts, violating U.S. sanctions. Charges include conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and lying to federal investigators.
-- NBC
January 30, 2020
The United States renewed 60-day sanctions waivers that allow Russian, Chinese, and European firms to continue their nuclear cooperation initiatives with Iran, including nonproliferation work at the Arak heavy water research reactor, the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, and the Tehran Research Reactor. At the same time, Washington issued new sanctions, designating the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and its head, Ali Akbar Salehi.
-- Reuters
January 27, 2020
New commercial satellite imagery shows vehicles parked at the rocket assembly and launch sites of Iran’s Imam Khomeini Space Center. The images may indicate that Iran is preparing a space launch after three failed attempts in 2019. Iran’s minister of information and communications technology, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, recently tweeted Iran’s plan to launch two small communications satellites, the Zafar 1 and 2, into orbit.
-- NPR
January 25, 2020
After pleading guilty to violating the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations and federal criminal law, James Meharing, owner of Turbine Resources International, LLC in Pensacola, Florida was sentenced to 40 months in prison for conspiring to ship a Solar Mars 90 S turbine core engine to Dubai for an Iranian energy company. Meharing falsified documents used to legally export items from the United States and received a payment of $250,000 in laundered funds from a conspirator in the United Kingdom. The turbine was seized by law enforcement authorities before it reached the Iranian company.
-- WKRG
January 25, 2020
Iran announced that it has stockpiled 1,200 kilograms of enriched uranium, surpassing the 202.8 kilogram limit set by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Ali Asghar Zarean, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) chief, stated that Iran is increasing its enriched uranium stockpile at "full speed". The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not verified the claims, but reported that Iran’s stockpile reached 373.2 kilograms in early November.
-- The Associated Press
January 23, 2020
The United States sanctioned four companies for facilitating Iran’s petrochemical and petroleum exports: Hong Kong-based Triliance Petrochemical Co., Hong Kong-based Sage Energy HK Ltd., Shanghai-based Peakview Industry Co., and Dubai-based Beneathco DMCC. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the companies transferred the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars to National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) as payment for Iranian exports. The Treasury Department is authorized to impose secondary sanctions for activity related to state-run NIOC, which it accuses of financing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.
-- Wall Street Journal
January 22, 2020
Iran’s Expediency Council failed to endorse legislation aimed at combatting terrorism financing in advance of a February 2020 deadline set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) before it imposes counter-measures on the country. Passing the Combating the Financing of Terrorism bill would have allowed Iran to join the U.N. conventions against money laundering and funding terrorism. Iran’s Parliament ratified the bill in 2018, but the Guardian Council withheld the endorsement needed for legislation to become law, and the issue was referred to the Expediency Council for arbitration.
-- Radio Fara
January 14, 2020
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (the E3) triggered a dispute resolution mechanism within the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) after Iran announced that it will no longer respect limits on its uranium enrichment. The E3 states that it aims to save the deal through constructive diplomatic dialogue, and that the process has not reached a stage where U.N. sanctions could be reimposed. The signatory countries of the JCPOA will meet to discuss the issue within 15 days. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, accused the E3 of succumbing to U.S. coercion.
-- Financial Times