The U.S. Treasury Department granted licenses to aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing on September 21 that will allow them to sell plans to Iran. Airbus applied for two licenses and received the first, which covers 17 planes, including A320s and A330s, out of an overall announced deal to sell 118 planes to national carrier Iran Air. Boeing received a license to sell 80 aircraft to Iran Air, including 737s, 777s, and 747s.
News Briefs
September 12, 2016
On September 10, 2016, Russia and Iran inaugurated the construction site for units 2 and 3 of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Both units will be VVER-1000 reactors built by Rosatom subsidiary AtomStroyExport (ASE) in collaboration with Nuclear Power Production and Development Company of Iran. Units 2 and 3 are expected to start-up in October 2024 and April 2026, respectively. The event was led by Rosatom director general Sergey Kirienko and the first vice president of Iran Ishak Jahangiri. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) president Ali Akbar Salehi and ASE director Valery Limarenko were also in attendance.
-- World Nuclear News
September 8, 2016
The most recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran's implementation of the nuclear agreement noted that Iran is manufacturing rotor tubes for centrifuges. The IAEA is undertaking "related technical discussions" with Iran on this production, which is restricted by the agreement.
-- Associated Press
September 6, 2016
The Obama administration sent an additional $1.3 billion in cash to Iran, following a $400 million payment that U.S. officials have acknowledged was used as leverage for the release of prisoners. The $1.3 billion came in two separate installments of Swiss francs, euros, and other currencies collected by Iran in Switzerland on January 22 and February 5. The Obama Administration said the $1.3 billion was additional interest from the settlement of a 1979 arms deal with Iran.
-- Wall Street Journal
September 3, 2016
Two leading Iranian banks have declined to engage in transactions with companies affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to a report in the Iranian hard-line daily newspaper Kayhan. Bank Mellat reportedly refused to transfer foreign currency on behalf of Khatam al-Anbia, an IRGC-owned group of companies that is the largest contractor for government construction. The report also stated that Bank Sepah, a state-owned financial institution, declined to provide a letter of guarantee for a firm affiliated with Khatam al-Anbia. Both banks cited the international sanctions imposed on the companies, according to the report.
-- Associated Press
August 29, 2016
Iran has deployed the Russian-made S-300 air defense system around its formerly secret underground nuclear facility at Fordow, according to Iranian state media. Iran has halted uranium enrichment at Fordow since the implementation in January of the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and six world powers.
-- Reuters
August 22, 2016
Iran revoked permission for Russian airplanes to use an Iranian base for launching airstrikes in Syria, a week after having granted Russia access. Russian Tupolev and Sukhoi bombers had started flying missions into Syria from the Hamadan base in western Iran, the first time foreign forces had been based in Iran since World War II. Iran's Defense Minister, Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan, criticized Russia's excessive publicity for the basing deal.
-- New York Times
August 18, 2016
The State Department stated on August 18 that it delayed a $400 million payment to Iran on January 17 in order "to retain maximum leverage" and ensure the release of three American prisoners who were freed the same day. The Obama administration denied the payment was a "ransom" and said it was the first installment of a legal settlement with Iran related to arms purchases that the United States never fulfilled. The prisoner release was a separately negotiated agreement, according to the administration, but the timing of the two transactions became linked in an effort to resolve a series of issues between the United States and Iran on the same day.
-- New York Times
August 7, 2016
The Iranian government confirmed on August 7 that it had executed Shahram Amiri, an Iranian nuclear scientist who spent about 14 months in the United States in 2009 and 2010. The Iranian judiciary stated that Amiri had been hanged for disclosing state secrets. After disappearing from Saudi Arabia sometime in 2009, Amiri reportedly defected to the United States and shared intelligence with US authorities on Iran's nuclear program. In July 2010, Amiri returned to Tehran, where he was reportedly imprisoned and tortured.
-- Guardian
July 20, 2016
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on three senior al-Qaida members located in Iran: Faisal Jassim Mohammed Al-Amri Al-Khalidi, Yisra Muhammad Ibrahim Bayumi, and Abu Bakr Muhammad Muhammad Ghumayn. The men have been involved in financial, military, communications, and logistics roles in the terrorist organization.
-- U.S. Department of the Treasury