Iran
- By Carl Schreck and
- Aleh Hruzdzilovich
'A Hidden Extradition': Iranian Murder Suspect Fights Deportation From Belarus
MINSK -- The bodies of the elderly woman and her 51-year-old son were found wrapped in blankets, decomposing in their home in southern Tehran. They had been stabbed to death, their corpses entombed in a closet sealed off with a makeshift wall, Iranian authorities say.
The grisly discovery in the fall of 2012 ended the search for the pair. But it marked the beginning of a family member's fight to avoid forcible return to Iran, where he says he could face torture or even execution for a double murder he denies committing.
Mehrdad Jamshidian, 52, who has lived in Belarus for more than two decades, has avoided extradition to Iran from his adopted country since 2012 to face charges of killing the two people found in the closet -- his mother and brother -- in an alleged dispute over his father's inheritance.
But despite the case's murky details and opposition from a UN rights committee, Belarus now appears set to expel the father of three back to his homeland for an immigration infraction -- a move his supporters consider a "hidden extradition."
Jamshidian has spent the past eight months locked up in a Minsk detention facility, awaiting deportation from the last country in Europe to retain the death penalty to another that has been accused of carrying out "arbitrary executions."
Official documents have given conflicting timelines of the crime, including one that places Jamshidian in Belarus when his mother, Azam Naghash-Asl, and brother Ismail were said to have been killed. Jamshidian, meanwhile, claims he is being targeted due to his deceased brother's purported opposition to Iran's government, though an Interpol commission said it was unable to determine an overriding political motive in the case.
Iran, which rights watchdogs have long accused of unfair trials and forced confessions, denies that Jamshidian faces political persecution, and says he has nothing to fear if he can demonstrate his innocence in court.
The UN Human Rights Committee, however, concluded that Belarus would violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by expelling Jamshidian to Iran and exposing him to possible torture and arbitrary execution.
Belarus appears to be shrugging off that November 2017 conclusion. The Interior Ministry last month ordered Jamshidian to be deported, citing his lack of valid identity documents after his Iranian passport expired in 2016.
Jamshidian's family and rights groups are now fighting to prevent him from being handed over to Iran, where a UN report last year found a "pattern of physical or mental pressure applied upon prisoners to coerce confessions."
In a new report, Amnesty International said on April 10 that while the number of known judicial executions in Iran fell dramatically in 2018 due to a change in its drug laws, capital punishment remained "rife" in the country and was often "carried out after unfair trials."
"It is very disappointing for us that our homeland, Belarus, has sided with Iran in the matter of a man's fate and that of his family," Jamshidian's daughter Katsyaryna told RFE/RL's Belarus Service in March.
Missing Assurances, Evidence
Jamshidian's case highlights a question in cross-border law enforcement that arose more than three millennia ago: Under what circumstances can -- and should -- one government transfer individuals into the custody of another?
Protections for international fugitives date back to the oldest known extradition treaty on record, codified around 1259 B.C. in a peace deal between ancient Egypt and the neighboring Hittite Empire in what is now Turkey.
Men extradited under the agreement should not be killed, nor should their wives, children, or homes be "destroyed," according to the Treaty of Kadesh signed by Ramses II of Egypt and the Hittite king, Hattusilis III.
As transnational crime has grown in recent decades, the issue of protections for extradited fugitives has taken on greater urgency, with the modern human rights movement pushing to prevent expulsions to states where transferred individuals could be subjected to political persecution, torture, and other abuses.
In a landmark case, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in 1989 that by extraditing a German man to face capital murder charges in the United States, Britain would breach his right not to subjected to "torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" due to the psychological distress he would likely face while on death row.
Britain ultimately extradited the suspect, Jens Soering, after receiving U.S. assurances that he would not be executed. Soering was convicted of two murders and handed two life sentences.
Belarus -- whose authoritarian president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, last year described "political relations" with Tehran as "splendid" -- is not subject to ECHR jurisdiction.
But its laws do forbid the deportation of foreigners to countries where "they face the threat of torture," unless the individuals in question are deemed a "threat to national security" of Belarus or have been convicted of "grave" crimes.
When Iran sought Jamshidian's extradition following his December 2012 arrest in Belarus on an Interpol red notice, Minsk demanded assurances that Iran would not prosecute him for another crime or transfer him to a third country without approval from Minsk.
In May 2013, Belarusian prosecutors rejected Iran's extradition request, citing Tehran's failure to provide these assurances and additional evidence of Jamshidian's alleged involvement in the murders, according to a copy of the rejection order seen by RFE/RL.
In the document, prosecutors say they requested the additional documents because the initial evidence submitted by Iran "does not fully demonstrate the facts of the case."
'Hidden Extradition'
The rejection of Iran's extradition bid, however, would provide little relief for Jamshidian, who moved to Belarus in 1993 and married his longtime partner and mother of his now adult children, Alena, in 2011.
In the same May 2013 order, prosecutors declared Jamshidian's presence in Belarus a "threat to the rights and legal interests" of the country's citizens and ordered police to open a case into his possible deportation.
While the authorities decided to deport Jamshidian the following December, the order was never carried out as he tried -- and failed -- to obtain political asylum in Belarus. He was released on humanitarian grounds in 2015 after his teenage son was diagnosed with brain cancer.
But his Iranian passport expired the following year, and he was arrested again in June 2018, this time for being present in Belarus without a passport, residence permit, or refugee document.
Nasta Loyka, an activist with the Minsk-based rights group Human Constanta, told RFE/RL's Belarus Service following his arrest last year that Jamshidian did not try to renew his Iranian passport due to the "difficulties" he might have faced at the Iranian Embassy in Minsk.
Jamshidian has been incarcerated in a Minsk detention facility ever since, and on March 15, the Interior Ministry's citizenship and migration department ordered his deportation due to his illegal status -- a move his other daughter, Dyyana, called "a disaster."
"People in the department sincerely sympathized but said they had to carry out the decision," Dyyana told RFE/RL's Belarus Service on the day of the order. "Now our last hope is the mercy of the Belarusian court. After all, Belarus is still a European country that should respect people's rights and not hand over a person to die."
Five days later, a Minsk court rejected an appeal challenging the deportation, saying it had been filed too late.
Enira Branitskaya, an activist with Human Constanta, told RFE/RL that his deportation would be tantamount to an extradition -- but without the guarantees and assurances of that process.
"This is a hidden extradition," Branitskaya said.
Murky Timeline
The bodies of Jamshidian's mother and brother were discovered in the closet in their Tehran apartment on November 21, 2012, according to materials in his extradition case. How long they may have lay there remains unclear.
Official documents related to the case provide conflicting accounts about when they were killed -- including one that would appear to give Jamshidian an unassailable alibi.
In the May 2013 order rejecting Tehran's extradition request, Belarusian prosecutors say Iran accused Jamshidian of committing the murders "in September 2012." Travel records reviewed by RFE/RL, however, show that Jamshidian had left for Belarus on August 25 of that year after a four-month stay in Iran -- meaning he would have been out of the country at the time of the crime.
Purportedly notarized statements from Jamshidian's niece -- the daughter of his late brother -- and another brother also said Tehran police and prosecutors determined that the killings occurred in September 2012, according to copies of the documents seen by RFE/RL.
RFE/RL was unable to independently verify the authenticity of these letters, which purport to show that the niece and brother believe Jamshidian is innocent but that they would forgive him if he were found guilty. Under the Qisas law in Iran, a victim's family can offer forgiveness and spare the perpetrator from punishment.
After a Belarusian opposition party noted that Tehran's timeline appeared to show Jamshidian was not in Iran when the victims died, the Iranian Embassy in Minsk said in an October 2016 letter that the accused or his lawyer should present "substantiated facts proving his alibi" to the "relevant court."
Nearly two years later, an Interpol commission explained in a letter to Jamshidian's lawyer that, due to human rights concerns, it had rejected Tehran's request to issue a red notice for his client's arrest.
The letter cited Iran as acknowledging that Jamshidian left the country on August 25, 2012 -- but indicating a different time frame for the crime: July 2012, when he was still in Iran.
'Inherent Right To Life'
Despite Jamshidian's insistence that he had left Iran by the time his mother and brother died, the Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files -- which handles challenges to Interpol red notices and alerts -- found that Iran had provided "sufficient" information "highlighting the possible participation" of Jamshdian in the "alleged criminal acts."
The Interpol commission nonetheless rejected Iran's request to publish a red notice for Jamshidian's arrest, concluding that his extradition to Iran would expose him to "torture and serious violations of fundamental human rights."
The commission said evidence for Jamshidian's claim that the case against him is politically motivated was insufficient to outweigh the "ordinary-law elements" of the matter, though it called the "political context identified around this case" a "supplementary risk" for the fugitive.
Jamshidian claims Iran is targeting him due to his slain brother's purported activism in the Green Movement, which organized protests against alleged fraud in the 2009 presidential election and was subjected to a violent crackdown by the Iranian authorities.
Iran dismisses this claim and Jamshidian's contention that he will face persecution in Iran because he converted to Christianity in 2002. The Iranian Embassy in Minsk said in its 2016 letter that Jamshidian had freely visited Iran without incident in the years prior to the crime he is charged with.
The Interpol commission's decision leaned heavily on a November 2017 conclusion by the UN Human Rights Committee that Belarus would violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights -- specifically, its guarantee of the "inherent right to life" and statement that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" -- if it were to expel Jamshidian to Iran.
'A Political Decision'
Jamshidian's family and Belarusian rights activists have held out hope that he might be deported somewhere other than his homeland. But Branitskaya of the Human Constanta rights group, which has advocated doggedly against Jamshidian's expulsion, said that Iran was the only country so far that has said it's willing to take him.
In the meantime, Jamshidian spends most of his time in isolation at the Minsk detention center where he is being held, according to Leanid Kulakov, an opposition activist who was jailed in the same facility in late February after being arrested for participating in an unsanctioned rally.
Kulakov told RFE/RL's Belarus Service that Jamshidian closely follows politics, was keen to get his hands on newspapers, and was "very happy" when the activist later managed to deliver some plastic silverware to him after Kulakov's release. During conversations between the two, Jamshidian continued to insist he had nothing to do with the deaths of his mother and brother, Kulakov said.
Attempts to reach Jamshidian's family for comment have been unsuccessful in recent weeks.
Branitskaya said the family had heard that both the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and Interior Ministry have submitted reports on Jamshidian's case to the administration of Lukashenka, the strongman president who has called for bolstering economic ties with Iran.
Neither ministry responded to requests for comment from RFE/RL, nor did Lukashenka's administration. Vital Naumchik, deputy head of the Interior Ministry's department on citizenship and immigration, declined to comment on the matter when contacted by RFE/RL's Belarus Service.
"He could be sent away at any moment. But there's an understanding now that it will be more of a political decision," Branitskaya said.
Carl Schreck reported from Prague. Aleh Hruzdzilovich reported from Minsk. With additional reporting by Golnaz Esfandiari in Prague and Hannah Kaviani of RFE/RL's Radio Farda
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Wary Of Iranian Restrictions, Mahsa Amini's Family Plan To Mark Second Death Anniversary
The family of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian-Kurdish woman whose death while in police custody in 2022 sparked the Women, Life, Freedom protest movement, hope to mark her second death anniversary -- if allowed by Iranian authorities.
In a message sent to RFE/RL’s Radio Farda on September 12, Amjad Amini said they were going to mark the occasion at the cemetery where his daughter is buried in response to calls from people wanting to pay tribute.
"We, the family of Mahsa Jina Amini, like all the grieving families across Iran, wish to exercise our right to hold a traditional and religious ceremony in memory of our beloved, marking the anniversary of her passing," he said in an audio message.
Amini said last year they were unable to hold a public gathering because the authorities blocked access to the Aichi Cemetery in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, where his daughter is buried.
"If such restrictions are not imposed this year, the anniversary ceremony will take place on September 15, in response to the many requests we have received from the honorable and dear people," he added.
Last year, Amini was briefly detained on his daughter’s death anniversary and the whole family were barred from leaving home.
The 22-year-old died on September 16, 2022. However, because the leap year is marked on different dates on the Iranian and Gregorian calendars, the anniversary this year falls on September 15.
Amini was arrested in Tehran on September 13, 2022, while visiting the Iranian capital with her family. She was detained by Iran's "morality police" for allegedly improperly wearing her hijab, or head scarf. Within hours of her detention, she was hospitalized in a coma and died on September 16.
The protests that followed lasted for months, spreading from city to city and drawing men and women into the streets. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights estimates more than 500 protesters were killed as the authorities cracked down on the unrest.
At least 10 men have been executed in relation to the protests for alleged involvement in attacks on security forces during the demonstrations.
Ahead of the anniversary of Amini’s death last year, the authorities stepped up pressure against family members of those killed, including through arrests, summons for questioning, and warnings against them holding memorial events in honor of Amini or their loved ones.
- By RFE/RL
Fath-360: The Iranian Missile Reportedly In Russian Hands
A Fath-360 missile is launched during military exercises in southern Iran in November 2022.
The short-range ballistic missile was first unveiled at a Tehran military parade in April 2022. Fath means “conquest” in Persian. Each 5.2-meter-long missile can carry a 150-kilogram warhead. That is some three times the explosive charge of the notorious Iranian-designed Shahed drones that have killed scores of Ukrainian civilians since first being deployed by Russia in 2022.
Recent media reports claim Russia has received Fath-360 missile systems from Iran, along with hundreds of missiles. Here is what that weapon system looks like, and how it could influence the war in Ukraine.
Pezeshkian In Iraq On First Foreign Trip As Iran's President
Iran's new president, Masud Pezeshkian, kicked off a three-day visit to neighboring Iraq on September 11 on what is his first foreign trip since taking office in late July.
Expanding relations with neighbors is Iran’s state policy, and Pezeshkian has vowed to deliver.
Pezeshkian, who speaks fluent Kurdish, will also make history by becoming the first Iranian president to visit Iraqi Kurdistan.
While the government in Tehran has had good relations with the authorities in Irbil, ties have often been tested over the semiautonomous Iraqi region's hosting of outlawed opposition Iranian Kurdish groups.
Baghdad and Irbil recently started implementing a security agreement signed last year with Tehran to move the groups away from the border with Iran and disarm them.
"It was a very good opportunity to visit the friend and brother country of Iraq in my first foreign trip as the president of Iran," Pezeshkian said in Baghdad.
"We need to implement security cooperation agreements between the two countries in order to deal with terrorists and enemies," he added.
The neighbors have strong economic relations, and Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani told reporters during a joint news conference with Pezeshkian that the two countries signed 14 memorandums of understanding to boost relations.
Pezeshkian will also visit Basra, Iraq's economic hub, which Iran hopes to link to the town of Shalamcheh just across the border via rail as part of a larger railway project connecting Iran to Syria.
Pezeshkian and Sudani also discussed the war in Gaza, with the latter telling reporters at a joint press conference that both leaders opposed any expansion of the war between Israel and Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.
With reporting by AFP and AP
- By RFE/RL
Iran Vows 'Proportionate' Response After Sanctions Over Alleged Missile Transfers To Russia
Iran has vowed to deliver a “symmetric and proportionate” response after Britain, France, and Germany canceled air services agreements with Tehran and pledged to sanction its flag carrier, Iran Air.
The European trio, known as the E3, said in a joint statement on September 10 that they were taking the measures after confirming that Iran had transferred ballistic missiles to Russia.
Separately, the United States designated 10 individuals and six entities based in Iran and Russia, including Iran Air, over the alleged delivery of the ballistic missiles.
In a statement late on September 10, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani called the allegation “completely baseless and false.”
“The actions of these three European countries is a continuation of the West’s hostile policy and imposition of economic terrorism against the people of Iran,” he said in a statement on Telegram.
“It will face a symmetrical and proportionate response.”
In their statement, the E3 said the suspected delivery of ballistic missiles “is a further escalation of Iran’s military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and will see Iranian missiles reaching European soil, increasing the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”
Iran has been hit with several tranches of sanctions since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 over Moscow's use of Iranian-made Shahed and Mohajer drones in the war.
Iran still denies that its drones are being used in the war and insists it is not taking sides in the conflict.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British counterpart, David Lammy, officially accused Iran of the missile transfers earlier on September 10 in London.
"Russia has now received shipments of these [Iranian] ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine against Ukrainians," Blinken said.
The Kremlin has yet to comment on Blinken's statement.
A day earlier it declined to directly refute the accusation about Iranian-supplied missiles and instead highlighted its cooperation with Tehran, saying it was developing dialogue in all areas.
Tehran has denied supplying missiles to Moscow.
Experts agree that short-range ballistic missiles could be a boost to Moscow's war effort in neighboring Ukraine, which already benefits from Iranian drone supplies and technology.
Peter Stano, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said the transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia represents a further military escalation and will be met with a "strong response" from the European Union.
The EU's diplomatic service has already presented the bloc's members with "a substantial set of decisive and targeted measures" against Iran in response to the transfer, Stano said.
Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said on September 10 that new sanctions against Iran over the missile deliveries would be a "positive step" but said it was not enough.
"We also need authorization to use Western weapons against military targets on Russian territory, the provision of longer-range missiles, and the enhancement of our air-defense systems," Yermak said on X.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Levels More Sanctions On Iran After Alleged Missile Transfer To Russia
The United States on September 10 issued new sanctions on Iran in response to Tehran's military support to Russia, including the alleged recent delivery of ballistic missiles, for use in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. Treasury Department designated 10 individuals and six entities based in Iran and Russia for sanctions and identified four vessels as blocked property that the Treasury Department said are enabling Iran’s delivery of weapons components and weapons systems to Russia. The weapons that the United States said were transferred include drones and close-range ballistic missiles (CRBMs).
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
"In late 2023, Iran and Russia signed a contract for the supply of hundreds of missiles. In the summer of 2024, Russian military personnel were trained on the use of Iran’s Project 360 CBRMs by Iranian personnel," the Treasury Department said in a statement, adding that Russia received the first shipment of CBRMs from Iran earlier this month.
The announcement came after the United States and key European allies accused Iran of a dangerous escalation in a pattern of malign activity that threatens European security by supplying the short-range ballistic missiles to Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British counterpart, David Lammy, officially accused Iran of the missile transfers earlier on September 10 in London.
"Russia has now received shipments of these [Iranian] ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine against Ukrainians," Blinken said.
The Kremlin has yet to comment on Blinken's statement. A day earlier it declined to directly refute the accusation about Iranian-supplied missiles and instead highlighted its cooperation with Tehran, saying it was developing dialogue in all areas. Tehran has denied supplying missiles to Moscow.
After Blinken and Lammy's statements, the German Foreign Ministry called out Iran for its support of Russia's "war of aggression," noting that Iranian missiles could as a result be striking European soil.
It shared a joint German, French, and British statement condemning the transfers, calling them "an escalation by both Iran and Russia" and "a direct threat to European security."
Experts agree that short-range ballistic missiles could be a boost to Moscow's war effort in neighboring Ukraine, which already benefits from Iranian drone supplies and technology.
The U.S. Treasury Department's statement said Iran Air -- the country's flagship airline -- was one of the entities designated for sanctions. It said its actions against the airline and other entities, individuals, and vessels were "concurrent" with actions announced by international partners.
"Iran Air has a history of transporting goods on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics," the department said. "Iran has also provided freight shipping services to Russia, including shipments of electronics and aircraft parts."
Iran-based Azadegan Transportation Co., another IRGC-affiliated company critical to the logistics operations of the IRGC, is another of the entities hit by U.S. sanctions, which freeze any assets the individuals and entities hold in U.S. jurisdiction and bar any transactions with U.S. persons.
Peter Stano, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said the transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia represents a further military escalation and will be met with a "strong response" from the European Union.
The EU's diplomatic service has already presented EU members with "a substantial set of decisive and targeted measures" against Iran in response to the transfer, Stano said.
"A delivery of ballistic missiles will likely assist Russia's escalatory bombing campaign against Ukrainian civilians, cities and civilian infrastructure, further increasing civilian casualties and destruction," Stano said.
Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said new sanctions against Iran over the missile deliveries would be a "positive step" but said it was not enough.
"We also need authorization to use Western weapons against military targets on Russian territory, the provision of longer-range missiles, and the enhancement of our air-defense systems," Yermak said on X.
The Wall Street Journal and other U.S. media have quoted anonymous sources asserting that the Iranian missiles have come at a crucial juncture in the 36-month-old full-scale invasion.
Support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion is one of the main agenda items during Blinken's London visit, which was to include a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Reiterating ongoing U.S. and U.K. support for Kyiv, Blinken and Lammy announced their plans to travel this week to Ukraine in what Lammy called "the first joint visit of this kind for well over a decade."
"This is a troubling action that we're seeing from Iran," Lammy said. "It is definitely a significant escalation and we are coordinating."
The Blinken-Lammy meeting came with the secretary of Iran's Security Council, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, in Russia for a meeting later this week of security officials from countries in the BRICS grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa and other major emerging economies.
Lammy said the United States and the United Kingdom are "completely aligned on the need to tackle Iran's malign activity in the region and beyond."
"We're seeing a disturbing pattern of greater Iranian support for the Kremlin's illegal group, and we discussed today our shared commitment to holding Tehran to account for their undermining of global stability," Lammy said.
Blinken said the alleged Iranian supply of short-range ballistic missiles gives Russia added capability and flexibility, and would free up Moscow to devote other resources to longer-range targets in the ongoing war on Ukraine.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
- By RFE/RL
EU Hints At 'Swift' Response Over Iran Missile Supplies To Russia
The European Union on September 9 described as "credible" information provided by allies suggesting Iran has supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to help Moscow wage war in Ukraine and hinted at a "swift" response.
The statement came after the Kremlin declined to directly refute the accusation and instead highlighted its cooperation with Tehran in "the most sensitive areas" while Iran "strongly rejected" the allegation.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
"We are aware of the credible information provided by allies on the delivery of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia," EU spokesman Peter Stano said. "We are looking further into it with our member states and, if confirmed, this delivery would represent a substantive material escalation in Iran's support for Russia's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine."
Stano added that "the EU leaders' unanimous position has always been clear. The European Union will respond swiftly and in coordination with international partners, including with new and significant restrictive measures against Iran."
Earlier the same day, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the Russian side had "seen this report."
But he did not appear to refute it.
"It is not every time that this kind of information is true," Peskov said. "Iran is our important partner, we are developing our trade and economic relations, we are developing our cooperation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive areas."
Later, the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a flat denial. "We strongly reject the claims on Iran's role in exporting arms to one side of the war," ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a press conference.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on September 9 that the United States was "incredibly alarmed by reports of the transfer of Iranian missiles to Russia."
Patel told reporters at a briefing that if the reports proved to be true, it would mean a "dramatic escalation of Iran's support of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine." He also confirmed that the United States would deliver "significant consequences" to Iran if necessary.
Analysts had suggested as rumors of a possible transfer of the weapons circulated that it would provide a boost to Russia's war efforts as its 36-month-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues.
Russian forces have purportedly used North Korean ballistic missiles, but North Korean production capacity is thought to be relatively small.
Russian Security Council Secretary and until recently longtime Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Tehran in early August, contributing to concerns.
Russia has used Iranian-designed attack drones since the early months of the invasion, although Tehran has denied its drones are being deployed there.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
- By Reuters
U.S. Sees Potential Iran Transfer Of Missiles To Russia As Alarming
Any Iranian transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia would mark a sharp escalation in the Ukraine war, the United States said on September 6 after reports that the two countries had deepened ties with such an arms transfer. White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said the United States is alarmed by the reports. "Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran's support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," Savett said. Reuters reported in August that Russia was expecting the imminent delivery of hundreds of Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles. The Wall Street Journal reported on September 6 that short-range missiles had been delivered to Russia from Iran.
Telegram Founder Durov Says French Investigation, Arrest 'Misguided'
Telegram founder Pavel Durov, in his first public comments since his arrest in France late last month, expressed surprise that he was interrogated and told by investigators that he "may be personally responsible for other people's illegal use" of the popular messaging app.
Durov said in a lengthy blog post that he was arrested and questioned for four days after arriving in in Paris because "the French authorities didn’t receive responses from Telegram" regarding their complaints.
He was charged on August 28 with several crimes related to alleged illicit activity on the messaging app but avoided jail after posting a $5.5 million bail and was released on the condition that he remain in France and report to a police station twice a week.
French prosecutors accuse the 39-year-old Durov of complicity in allowing drug trafficking and the sharing of sexual images of children on Telegram, and of refusing to share documents demanded by authorities investigating illegal activity on the app.
But the Russian-born Durov -- who has citizenship in France as well as Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean archipelago of St. Kitts and Nevis -- said his arrest was "misguided."
"Telegram has an official representative in the EU that accepts and replies to EU requests," Durov wrote. "If a country is unhappy with an Internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself."
He denied any suggestion that the app is an "anarchic paradise" and defended efforts to monitor its 950 million users, saying that "we take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day."
Durov said Telegram also publishes daily transparency reports and that he had personally helped set up a hotline on Telegram to help the French authorities deal with the threat of terrorism.
"Sometimes we can’t agree with a country’s regulator on the right balance between privacy and security. In those cases, we are ready to leave that country," he wrote. He singled out Russia and Iran, where the encrypted app is a popular and safe means of communication among citizens and during protests, as places where Telegram was banned because it would not aid authorities' efforts to monitor users.
"When Russia demanded we hand over 'encryption keys' to enable surveillance, we refused -- and Telegram got banned in Russia. When Iran demanded we block channels of peaceful protesters, we refused -- and Telegram got banned in Iran. We are prepared to leave markets that aren’t compatible with our principles, because we are not doing this for money," Durov said.
He acknowledged that Telegram was "not perfect" and that "growing pains" had "made it easier for criminals to abuse the platform," but Durov said the app was driven by the "intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly where these rights are violated."
- By Mehdi Rostampour and
- Michael Scollon
Iranian Track Star Turned Turkish Para-Athlete Stripped Of Gold Medal Won At Paris Paralympics
A controversial Iranian track star-turned-Turkish-para-athlete has been stripped of a gold medal he won at the Paralympic Games in Paris and denied the right to compete in another event at the Games.
Sajjad Hashemi was one of Iran's fastest men and represented the country in the London Olympics in 2012 and the Rio Olympics in 2016. He holds the Iranian record in the 400 meters and 200 meters, as well as in the relay events in the 400 and 200 meters.
But he last competed for Iran in 2021 and since then gained Turkish citizenship, changed his name to Serkan Yildirim, and gained a spot on Turkey's Para-Athletic team due to impaired eyesight. At the age of 33 he made his stunning para-athletics debut, breaking the world record in the 100 meters T12 event with a time of 10.53 seconds at the World Para Athletics Championships in Tokyo in May.
Yildirim followed up on that success in the Paralympic Games in Paris on August 31, winning gold in the 100 meters T12, a disability class for track athletes with a visual impairment that requires them to run with a sighted guide. But on September 4, the World Para Athletics (WPA), the international federation responsible for the sport, announced that Yildirim had been disqualified.
"The results of Mr. Yildirim in the men’s 100m T12 medal event have been disqualified, with all resulting consequences," the WPA said in a statement. "The medals from the men’s 100m T12 medal event will be reallocated.”
In addition to losing his gold medal, Yildirim was barred from competing in a second event, the 400 meters T12.
Yildirim's disqualification resulted from a technicality stemming from a German regional court ruling that allowed him to compete in Paris. According to the WPA, it was notified on August 30 without notice of an "interim injunction issued by a single judge in the Bonn regional court" requiring Yildirim to be allowed to compete in his two events at the Paralympic Games, which began two days prior.
However, the "WPA was not provided with notice of the proceedings, or any opportunity to participate in them."
Because Yildirim's classification status was under a "sport class status 'review,'" which would make him ineligible to compete under WPA regulations, the governing body appealed the German court's injunction, while allowing him to compete pending the results of the appeal.
After a higher court ruled in favor of the WPA's appeal, the injunction was lifted, and the WPA immediately disqualified Yildirim.
The WPA said in its statement that it was "unable to provide further substantive comment at this point in time." The WPA responded to further questions by RFE/RL regarding the reasoning for the review of Yildirim's status by referring to its September 4 statement, while the International Paralympic Committee did not immediately respond.
The Turkish National Paralympics Committee did not respond to RFE/RL's questions about the case, nor did it respond to RFE/RL's questions last month regarding a growing controversy in Iranian media about Yildirim’s status as a para-athlete.
Following a story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda titled A Champion With Two Identities in July, questions had been raised about Yildirim's eligibility to compete as a para-athlete.
The story noted that Yildirim often appeared in sunglasses while running as a para-athlete for Turkey and in photos posted to an Instagram page under his new name. The account, which RFE/RL was unable to verify was overseen by Yildirim, offered no hints that he had previously competed for Iran.
The report also noted that, in recent images on an Instagram account under the name Sajjad Hashemi, the runner appeared without sunglasses or other signs of possible impairment and no trace of his activities as a para-athlete in Turkey. That Instagram account no longer exists.
Following the publication of Radio Farda's report, Hashemi responded to questions sent earlier to his Persian-language Instagram account asking about the apparent inconsistencies in the posts on two social media accounts.
'Relatively Severe' Disability
Responding in the comments section of Radio Farda's Instagram account, Hashemi said that he was an "athlete from Tabriz who, for personal reasons, competes for Turkey today."
He said he had changed his name after gaining Turkish citizenship and that the only reason he did not mention his past as an athlete competing for Iran was because "the audience of my sports condition is tied to the people of Turkey."
The athlete said he had "been visually impaired since 1986" and has had "relatively severe" disability status in Iran for more than two decades but preferred not to compete as a para-athlete. In other reports he explained that his poor vision caused him to jump the gun at the start of races.
He said that while he is not completely blind, his impairment had grown bad enough to earn him permission to compete as a para-athlete.
Subsequent reports in the Iranian media openly questioned the veracity of Hashemi/Yildirim's impairment and eligibility to compete in para-athletics, including quotes published by the conservative news site Tabnak in which Iranian athletes said they had not noticed anything irregular while training and competing with him and coaches who said the Iranian team could "not accept the hypothesis that he had vision problems."
In an interview published on August 19 by Tabnak, Hashemi/Yildirim said that "sometimes news is published only for views and clicks."
He said that some people unfortunately cannot distinguish the difference between being blind and visually impaired, but that he had had a disease that affected his eyesight since he was 10 that got progressively worse. By the Rio Olympics in 2016, he said, he knew his condition was bad enough to be eligible to compete as a para-athlete.
On August 20, the WPA said in comments to RFE/RL that "classification is carried out through a rigorous process to determine which athletes are eligible for para athletics, and then allocate eligible athletes into sport classes for competition."
Classification is granted following a thorough review of medical evaluations to confirm an eligible impairment, as well as in-person evaluations by certified professionals to "assess whether the athlete meets the minimum impairment criteria for the sport and to assign them a sport class."
While saying that the WPA cannot comment on individual athletes or cases due to confidentiality, the oversight body said that it can protest an athlete's sport classification at any time and "takes all allegations of classification-related misconduct very seriously."
- By RFE/RL
HRW: Iran Death In Custody A Chance For New President To Challenge 'Gross Impunity'
International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) says reports of a detainee death in custody are a chance for Iran's recently inaugurated President Masud Pezeshkian to demonstrate a commitment to holding security forces to account for alleged abuses. In an e-mailed statement, HRW noted Pezeshkian's instructions to Iran's interior minister to establish an investigation into Mohammad Mirmusavi's death in late August after he was picked up in connection with a street brawl in Lahijan and allegedly tortured. "Mirmusavi's reported death under torture poses a critical choice for President Pezeshkian of whether to continue to allow gross impunity for security forces or to actually credibly investigate and hold any perpetrators accountable," HRW said. Pezeshkian won the election in July after running as a reformer and was sworn in on July 30 to replace hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi, who died along with Iran's foreign minister in a helicopter crash near the border with Azerbaijan in May.
- By Reuters
Iran Summons Australian Ambassador Over 'Norm-Breaking' Content Online
Iran summoned Australia's ambassador in Tehran over the publication of online content it deemed "norm-breaking," the semiofficial ILNA news agency said on September 3, a day after state media said the post "promoted homosexuality." The post on the embassy's official Instagram account celebrated "Wear it Purple Day" and expressed dedication to creating "a supporting environment where everyone, especially LGBTQIA+ youth, can feel proud to be themselves." ILNA quoted Australian Ambassador Ian McConville as saying the post was not intended to insult the Iranian people and their values, and that the Islamic Republic was not mentioned in it. The post remains on the embassy's Instagram account. In 2022, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described homosexuality as part of the "moral depravity" widespread in Western civilization.
- By AP
As Iran Threatens Israel, Danger Of Tehran's Long-Vaunted Missile Program Remains In Question
As Iran threatens to attack Israel over the assassination of a leader of the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist organization Hamas in the Iranian capital, its long-vaunted missile program offers one of the few ways for Tehran to strike back directly, but questions loom over just how much of a danger it poses. The program was behind Iran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on Israel in April, when Iran became the first nation to launch such a barrage since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein lobbed Scud missiles at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War. But a new report by experts shared exclusively with the Associated Press suggests that one of Tehran's most advanced missiles is far less accurate than previously thought. The April assault showed "some ability to strike Israel,” said Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies who worked on the analysis. But "if I were supreme leader, I would probably be a little disappointed.”
UN Experts Express 'Alarm' As Executions In Iran Reach 93 In August
At least 93 people were executed in Iran in August, increasing the total for the year to more than 400, UN rights experts said on September 2. The UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed alarm over the monthly total -- a rise from 45 reported in July -- and called on Iran to immediately stop the execution of people facing the death penalty. It said 41 of those executed last month were due to drug offenses. "The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party, restricts the application of the death penalty to 'most serious crimes,' understood as intentional killing," it said. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.
Crash Of Raisi Helicopter Caused By Weather, Iranian Military Says
The deadly May 19 crash of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was due to "complex climatic and atmospheric conditions," including heavy fog, the "final" report issued by a special commission said on September 1. The report by the general staff of the armed forces ruled out the possibility of the helicopter being targeted with "offensive and defense systems, electronic warfare, and the creation of magnetic fields and lasers." An August 22 report by the semiofficial Fars news agency said the helicopter had been "overweight," but the general staff rejected that claim and did not mention the weight issue in its latest report. Raisi and seven others were killed when the helicopter crashed on its way to the city of Tabriz on May 19 in heavy fog as it crossed a mountainous and forested area. To read the original report by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.
Iranian Police Commander Fired After Death In Custody
Iran’s police force has fired the police commander in the city of Lahijan shortly after the death in custody of Mohammad Mirmusavi.
In announcement issued late on August 30, the national police command said the Lahijan commander was dismissed for “lack of sufficient supervision over the performance and behavior of employees.”
Earlier, rights activists published a video of Mirmusavi’s lifeless body and alleged that he had died “due to a severe beating.”
The August 30 police statement said officials were awaiting a final report on the “cause of the death of this citizen.”
A police statement earlier on August 30 said local police in the city in the northern Gilan Province had exhibited a “lack of anger control” in handling Mirmusavi. A police station commander and several officers were reportedly suspended.
Mirmusavi was arrested on August 24 after being involved in a fight. The Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw said on August 28 that Mirmusavi died the day of his arrest, but it was not known whether his body had been handed over to relatives.
The incident occurred shortly before the second anniversary of the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died after being detained by Iran’s so-called morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
Her death sparked national outrage and a wave of anti-government protests.
Javad Ruhi, who was involved in the Amini protests, died in custody under unclear circumstances in September 2023. Ruhi’s supporters said he had been told he would “never leave prison alive.”
Following Ruhi’s death, Amnesty International called for those responsible to be “criminally investigated and held to account,” adding that his “death in custody again exposes the Iranian authorities’ assault on the right to life.”
Iranian Police Say Officers Failed To Control 'Anger' In Alleged Torture Death
Iran’s national police command said on August 30 that officers exhibited a "lack of anger control" while handling a man who died in custody earlier this week in the northern Gilan Province. The rights group Hengaw reported that Mohammad Mirmusavi was severely beaten by police in the city of Langarud following his arrest on August 24. The 36-year-old, who had been involved in a street brawl, died three days later. The allegations of police brutality prompted Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian to order an investigation. The national police command said "friction" between Musavi and officers led to his death. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, click here.
- By AP
Iran Further Increases Stockpile Of Uranium Enriched To Near-Weapons-Grade Levels, UN Says
Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels in defiance of international demands, a confidential report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said on August 29. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in the report, seen by Reuters and the Associated Press, that as of August 17 Iran had increased its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 percent by 22.6 kilograms, totaling 164.7 kilograms. Uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent. The IAEA report says Tehran has also not reconsidered its September 2023 decision to ban the most experienced nuclear inspectors from monitoring its nuclear program and that IAEA surveillance cameras remain disrupted.
2 Senior IRGC Officers Killed In 'Gas Leak' In Iran's Isfahan
Two senior officers with Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were killed in a gas leak in the central province of Isfahan, the IRGC's Sahib al-Zaman regional center announced in a statement on August 29.
Another 10 people were taken to the hospital with injuries after the incident at an IRGC workshop on the evening of August 28, the statement added, without specifying whether an explosion or gas inhalation caused the deaths and injuries.
The statement identified the two officers who were killed as Captain Mojtaba Nazari and Lieutenant Colonel Mukhtar Morshidi.
The statement did not say what activities were under way at the workshop affected by the incident and did not give its precise location nor the region of Isfahan Province where the incident occurred.
Iranian authorities usually give only skeletal details of such incidents.
The statement came amid heightened regional tensions following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran.
Iran has accused Israel of killing Hanyieh, who was the political leader of the radical Islamist group Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Israel, which has been engaged in a war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since Hamas fighters stormed across the border into southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage, has not admitted officially that it was behind Hanyieh's death.
On April 19, Israel launched a limited air strike on a defense facility near the city of Isfahan, prompting Iranian air defenses to open fire.
The Israeli strike reportedly targeted an air-defense radar system at the defense facility, and satellite imagery suggested that an Iranian surface-to-air missile battery was struck.
The Israeli strike came in apparent response to an Iranian drone and missile strike in Israel, which was prompted by a strike by the Jewish state on the Iranian Consulate in Syria's capital, Damascus.
- By Kian Sharifi and
- Diako Alavi
Rising Number Of Iranian Women Sentenced To Death Amid Surge In Executions
What do an Iranian aid worker, a labor activist, a political campaigner, and a protester have in common?
All four are women who have been charged in Iran with armed rebellion against the state -- which carries the death sentence -- in recent months.
Two of them -- aid worker Pakhshan Azizi and labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi -- have already been sentenced to death. Political activist Varisheh Moradi and protester Nasim Gholami Simiyari are awaiting their sentences.
Besides Simiyari, all the women have been accused of being members of opposition Kurdish groups outside Iran. Azizi and Moradi are both members of Iran's Kurdish minority, which has long been suppressed.
There has been a rise in the number of women sentenced to death and executed since unprecedented antiestablishment protests erupted in 2022 following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian-Kurdish woman.
Fear Of Execution
Mohammadi, the labor activist, was sentenced to death in July. She was accused of membership in an independent labor union and a banned Kurdish separatist group based in neighboring Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Her family has said she was not affiliated with any political organization inside or outside the country.
Mohammadi's cousin, Vida Mohammadi, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that she was tortured in prison following her arrest in December and that she had spent several months in solitary confinement.
Moradi, the Kurdish political activist, was arrested in August 2023.
She was accused of being a member of the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), the Iranian offshoot of Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
Azizi, the aid worker, was also arrested in August 2023 and accused of membership in PJAK, which she has denied. She was sentenced to death in July.
She spent time in Iraqi Kurdistan as well as in northeastern Syria, home to the Arab country's Kurdish minority, to help people displaced by the civil war and the fight against the Islamic State extremist group.
In a letter written from prison before her conviction, Azizi said working in refugee camps in Syria "could have been one of the biggest moral contributions to a society that has been oppressed for years."
She also denied membership in opposition groups, adding, "So whoever spends time [in Syria's Kurdish-majority region] is a member of PKK?"
Simiyari, the protester, was accused of taking part in the antiestablishment protests in 2022. She was arrested in May 2023. She has said she was tortured in prison and held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods.
'Silencing Dissent'
Human rights groups have condemned what they have called trumped-up charges against the four women.
Iranian activists say the charge of armed rebellion against the state is often used by the authorities against political prisoners and dissidents.
"Faced with a women's movement in Iran that refuses to back down, Islamic Republic authorities are now trying to threaten these women with the gallows, in a desperate attempt to silence dissent," said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
Rights groups have repeatedly accused Iran of using the death penalty to instill fear in society in the wake of the 2022 protests.
Saeid Dehghan, a prominent Iranian human rights lawyer, said the four women have been charged with armed rebellion even though "they did not possess any weapons, and no weapons have been seized or recorded in their case."
"The activities of these citizens were civil in nature and had no connection to a rebellion against the 'foundation of the Islamic republic,' let alone being armed to justify the charge of rebellion," he said.
Activists fear the four women could be the next victims of Iran's surge in executions.
At least 345 people have been executed so far this year, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group.
CHRI said the fact that two of the women are Kurds reflected the "Islamic republic's continued disproportionate use of the death penalty against the country's minorities."
Iran's Kurdistan region was the scene of some of the most violent crackdowns during the 2022 protests.
In recent years, Tehran has upped the ante in its efforts to go after exiled opposition Iranian-Kurdish groups that it considers to be terrorist organizations.
President Appoints Iran's First-Ever Sunni Cabinet Member
Iran’s pro-reform President Masud Pezeshkian has appointed lawmaker Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh as his deputy for rural development and underprivileged areas.
The appointment, announced late on August 26, makes Hosseinzadeh the first-ever Sunni cabinet member in an Iranian government since the Islamic republic came to power in 1979.
In his decree, Pezeshkian said he tapped Hosseinzadeh for the job because of his “commitment and valuable experiences.”
Pezeshkian tasked his deputy with enhancing the living conditions in villages and “improving the indicators of rural development.”
Hosseinzadeh, 44, has been representing the northwestern cities of Naqadeh and Oshnavieh in parliament since 2012.
Sunni Muslims make up around 5-10 percent of the population in Shi'ite-majority Iran, according to government estimates. They have very rarely held key posts since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
After winning the July 5 runoff presidential election, Pezeshkian said he sought to form a “national unity” government. Members of his team later said that included naming a relatively young cabinet which represented Iran’s ethnic and religious diversity.
But Pezeshkian came under fire for failing to include members of underrepresented groups, including Sunni Muslims, in his proposed ministerial picks earlier this month.
All 19 ministerial nominees were approved by the conservative-dominated parliament last week in a move not seen since 2001.
Ahead of the vote of confidence in the cabinet, Pezeshkian told lawmakers that he had selected its members in “coordination” with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This led many to conclude that Pezeshkian’s cabinet had been picked by the supreme leader and lamented what they said were the limits of the president’s powers in Iran.
Pezeshkian’s cabinet also includes three women, including Roads Minister Farzaneh Sadeq, who is only the second woman in the Islamic republic’s history to be named a minister.
The other two women are Zahra Behruz-Azar, Pezeshkian’s deputy for women and family affairs, and Shina Ansari, a deputy to the president and head of the Department of the Environment.
- By Kian Sharifi
U.S. Says Iran Nuclear Deal Remains 'Off The Table' As Tehran Calls For 'New Negotiations'
Reviving the Iran nuclear deal remains off the agenda for the Biden administration, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said on August 26, as Tehran called for “new negotiations” to update the agreement before it can be revived.
Iran’s new foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said last week that the agreement “cannot be revived in its current form” due to sunset clauses that have expired and insisted that new talks are needed to resuscitate the agreement.
However, a State Department spokesperson told RFE/RL that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the 2015 nuclear accord is formally known, “is not on the table right now.” The United States unilaterally exited the deal in 2018 under then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
“The United States will ensure one way or another that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that outcome,” the spokesperson said.
Still, Washington views “diplomacy as the best way to achieve a sustainable, effective solution,” the spokesperson said.
During a televised interview, Araqchi conceded that renegotiating the agreement would be challenging.
“This document definitely needs to be reopened and parts of it needs to be changed. That is no easy task because once you reopen a document, putting it back together will be challenging,” he said in a live television interview.
Complicating matters further are the November presidential election in the United States and ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Araqchi said the Ukraine war had “deeply impacted how Europeans view security,” while the Gaza conflict has “completely upended the situation in the region.”
The minister, who was one of the architects of the deal between Iran and six major world powers, said the format of talks since 2021 to revive the agreement can no longer work.
“New negotiations are needed,” Araqchi added.
The deal restricted Iran’s nuclear program and capped uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent. In return, the United States lifted sanctions that had suffocated Iran’s economy and energy sectors.
But Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions that had been lifted under its terms. Iran retaliated by gradually scaling back its commitments and is currently enriching uranium at 60 percent.
Araqchi, then a deputy foreign minister, led Iran’s negotiating team when Tehran and Washington started indirect talks in April 2021 to restore the agreement. Negotiations paused when hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi came to power in Iran and a new team of negotiators entered the fray.
But talks were suspended in September 2022 in the wake of nationwide protests that rocked Iran for months. Hundreds were killed in the unrest as the authorities cracked down on demonstrations.
Iran's new president, Masud Pezeshkian, who succeeded Raisi after he died in a helicopter crash earlier this year, has vowed to engage the West.
But the ultimate decision-maker in Iran is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has praised efforts by conservatives to expand the country's nuclear program.
- By RFE/RL
Iran Says Israel 'Lost Deterrent Power' After Hizballah Attack
Israel has reportedly launched new strikes at Hizballah, which has been designated at terrorist organization by the United States, just inside Lebanon a day after a heavy exchange of missile and drone attacks between the two foes that Iran claimed showed a shift in the balance of power.
State media reported on August 26 that Israel targeted the border village of Tair Harfa and an area near Sidon in Lebanon a day after Hizballah launched scores of rockets and drones against targets in northern and central Israel in the early hours of August 25. The attack came shortly after Israel carried out what it described as preemptive strikes targeting Hizballah’s rocket launchers.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from Israel's strikes on August 26.
Iran said on August 26 that the exchange of fire, which marked one of the largest clashes to hit the Middle East since war broke out in the Gaza Strip last October, showed Israel has lost not only its ability to anticipate small-scale attacks but also its deterrent power.
“Despite the full backing of its supporters, including the United States, Israel has lost its deterrent power and ability to predict the time and place of even a limited and calibrated attack,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani wrote on X, referring to the large-scale attack on Israel by Iran’s Lebanese ally Hizballah a day earlier.
“The occupying regime has always sought territorial expansion, but now has to defend itself within the occupied territories,” Kanani added. “Fear has been embedded in the homes of the residents of the occupied lands.”
Israeli officials said the preemptive attack prevented the launch of “thousands” of rockets. Hizballah claimed to have launched more than 320 rockets and drones but Israel put the figure at around 150.
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah alleged that the group’s operation was calibrated to ensure it did not trigger a full-scale conflict.
Addressing Nasrallah and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's preemptive operation was "another step toward changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes."
Hizballah said its operation was “phase one” of its retaliation for the killing of Fuad Shukr, widely believe to be Hizballah’s second-most powerful person. Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on July 30.
Hours after Shukr’s assassination, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas was killed in Tehran. Iran vowed to avenge Ismail Haniyeh and accused Israel of killing him. Israel has neither denied nor claimed responsibility.
In his speech, Nasrallah said one reason why Hizballah took nearly a month to hit Israel was because it was discussing with Iran and other allies about whether to carry out a coordinated attack on Israel or attack separately.
Pressure has been growing on Iran to deliver on its promised attack against Israel to avenge Haniyeh.
During a phone call on August 25 with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araqchi insisted that a “measured and well-calculated” response will come.
“We do not fear escalation, yet do not seek it -- unlike Israel,” Araqchi told his Italian counterpart.
- By Kian Sharifi
Israel And Hizballah Edge Closer To Conflict Neither Side Desires
Israel and its Iran-backed Lebanese foe Hizballah insist they do not seek a full-scale conflict, but they continue to take steps toward war.
It took the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hizballah nearly a month to deliver on its promised attack against Israel for the killing of its most senior commander, Fuad Shukr.
But Israel saw the attack coming, taking what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described as preemptive strikes against Hizballah's rocket launchers on August 25, apparently reducing the scale of the Iran-backed group's offensive.
Raz Zimmt, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said that while neither side wants an all-out war, each party is "very determined to impose its own equation on the other."
They continue to take risks by attacking each other, but mistakes and miscalculations could spark the very conflict they want to avoid, Zimmt warned.
"This ongoing, so-called limited conflict between Israel and Hizballah is very difficult to manage," he added.
The IDF says around 100 fighter jets took part in its preemptive operation, while Hizballah claims it launched more than 300 rockets and drones against Israel. If the numbers are true, this marks the biggest exchange of fire between Israel and Hizballah since the 2006 war, which ended in a stalemate.
Without Israel's preemptive strikes, the scale of Hizballah's attack would have been devastating, Zimmt said. That would have prompted a "severe" Israeli response, he added.
Despite the heavy exchange of fire, the attacks do not -- at least on the surface -- seem to have affected negotiations to establish a cease-fire in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States.
Zimmt said while he is "not optimistic" about the prospects of a cease-fire, such a deal could help de-escalate tensions -- although, even that, he added, is only speculation.
Hizballah Going Solo?
The Middle East has been on edge for weeks, expecting not just an attack on Israel from Hizballah but also from Iran.
Iran vowed to retaliate against Israel after a bombing in uptown Tehran killed Hamas's political leader, Ismail Haniyeh. Israel has not commented on the attack.
Haniyeh was killed hours after Shukr, widely seen as the second-most powerful person in Hizballah, was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut.
Many assessed that an Iranian attack on Israel would come in concert with strikes from Hizballah.
But the Lebanese group, which is more an Iranian partner than a proxy, appears to have grown tired of waiting and struck out on its own.
"It is very important to note that Hizballah didn't wait for the Iranians," Zimmt said, arguing that one reason why Hizballah waited so long to launch its retaliatory strike was that it had hoped to attack Israel alongside Iran.
However, the Lebanese group likely concluded that a direct Iranian strike was not coming, at least for now.
"This might have some impact -- perhaps not immediately -- on Hizballah's relationship with Iran," Zimmt said.
Azerbaijan Moves Closer Toward China And Courts Investment Through New Deals
Azerbaijan is laying the groundwork to boost its ambitions in the South Caucasus and is looking to China for help.
In just two months, Baku's ties with Beijing have quickly moved forward as the oil-rich country has inched closer politically and economically through a series of agreements that could boost China's presence in the region and open the door to newfound Chinese investment into Azerbaijan.
The series of recent moves began on July 3 when Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana and declared they had upgraded bilateral ties through a new strategic partnership that calls for them to work closer together economically, militarily, and politically.
A few weeks later, Baku applied to upgrade its status within the SCO from dialogue partner to observer, setting the stage to potentially become a full member.
And then on August 20, Azerbaijan announced it had applied to join the BRICS group of emerging economies led by China and Russia that also includes Brazil, India, and South Africa as founding members.
Taken together, the collection of moves is part of China's growing momentum in the region as an investor and trade partner since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has left governments and shipping companies looking for alternatives due to sanctions on Russia that have left its vast rail network -- previously the main route between China and Europe for overland trade -- less viable.
For Azerbaijan, which is at a crossroads for trade on the Caspian Sea, this has led to new energy for the so-called Middle Corridor, the alternative trade route that bypasses Russia by cutting through Central Asia and the South Caucasus to connect to the European Union, and seen new investment worth billions of dollars.
"The Middle Corridor is a key issue and Baku needs Beijing's support,” Zaur Shiriyev, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told RFE/RL. "The immediate concern is that the success of the Middle Corridor depends on a steady flow of goods from China to establish a strong China-Europe route in the long term.”
A Series Of New Deals And Beyond
Attracting more Chinese interest and investment in the Middle Corridor is a main priority for Azerbaijan and is at the center of the strategic partnership agreement signed in July.
China pledged in the document to help develop and use the trade route and Baku is hoping that it will lead to more Chinese investment in infrastructure, which would make the route more competitive and strengthen Azerbaijan's role as a central hub in the region.
But Baku's "cooperation menu with Beijing is extensive,” says Shiriyev, with Azerbaijan eyeing further deals in green energy, advanced technology, and military purchases.
The Azerbaijani government has also expressed a desire for Chinese companies to set up a regional manufacturing hub for electric vehicles in the country and has been actively calling for more Chinese investment.
Bilateral trade between the two countries is also on the rise, although heavily slanted in Beijing's favor, with China overtaking Turkey as Azerbaijan's second-largest source of imports (behind Russia) with $3.1 billion worth of goods in 2023, a 40 percent rise from the previous year.
"Chinese companies are already participating in the diversification of Azerbaijan's economy, but we expect more,” Hikmet Hajiyev, Aliyev's foreign policy adviser, told the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN during a March interview in Beijing.
Increased trade and investment appear to be motivating the recent moves by Baku as the country looks to diversify away from the hydrocarbon wealth that has underpinned its economy for decades.
Another part of the strategic partnership agreement calls for China's support for Azerbaijan's full membership in the World Trade Organization and the application for BRICS membership could also open new markets. While there is no clear procedure for admitting new members or an application timeline for joining BRICS, it expanded in January to also include Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt -- and has a long list of other countries who have expressed an interest in applying.
"Membership could offer Baku the opportunity to expand access to the large and rapidly growing markets of the BRICS countries, potentially creating new opportunities for bilateral trade agreements and investments in Azerbaijan's economy,” Shiriyev said.
A New Balance Of Power
The appeal of closer ties with Beijing isn't limited to trade and investment, says Vadim Dubnov, a regional expert at RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus, who notes that China is also an increasingly important partner for Baku to lean on in the region's fast-changing geopolitical environment.
A decreasing footprint from Western powers combined with Russia being weakened and distracted by its war in Ukraine has given Azerbaijan more room to maneuver in foreign affairs. This has led to Baku deepening ties with Turkey and Iran and inviting China in to play a larger role.
"Aliyev is trying to reposition himself and find a new balance with all the major players in the South Caucasus,” said Dubnov. "Stronger ties with China allow Baku to not sit totally in any one camp.”
But the warming ties between Baku and Beijing are not a one-sided process.
Since Azerbaijan's success in its 2020 war with Armenia, China's interest in the South Caucasus has grown and Beijing hopes that Baku's stronger regional standing will lead to more stability and opportunities for more Chinese investment and influence in the region, such as additional trade routes connecting Azerbaijan to Turkey through Armenia.
Azerbaijan is also eyeing other opportunities to use its geographic position to its advantage.
While the Middle Corridor makes up an East-West trade route that bypasses Russia, the shake up to global trade brought by the war in Ukraine has also created new interest in other alternatives, including those that look to cut out the West.
As the Middle Corridor has grown, Moscow has looked to drum up investment in the International North–South Transport Corridor that flows south from Russia to Azerbaijan and then aims to connect to Iran and India.
China, which has strong trade ties with Central Asia and the EU as well as Russia and Iran, has expressed support for both the Middle Corridor and the North-South route, which Azerbaijan is looking to capitalize on given its central position in both.
"If Baku previously was able to use its energy resources [as leverage] in its relations with the West, international trade corridors are also now tools with strategic importance in Azerbaijan's foreign policy,” Nurlan Aliyev, a lecturer at the University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw, told RFE/RL.
RFE/RL Armenian Service correspondent Lusine Musayelyan contributed reporting to this article.
- By AFP
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