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Tillerson: Washington and Europe to start work on Iran nuclear deal

January 28, 2018

By REUTERS January 27, 2018 17:56

Source: Washington and Europe to start work on Iran nuclear deal

(There’s a new sheriff in town. – LS)

WARSAW – US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday that working groups on fixing what the US sees as flaws in the Iranian nuclear deal have already begun to meet, trying to determine the scope of what is needed and how much Iran needs to be engaged in it.

Tillerson, ending a week-long European trip in Warsaw, said that he had secured support from Britain, France and Germany – all parties to the 2015 agreement – to work on the deal that President Donald Trump has warned he will walk away from unless changes are made.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn,” Tillerson told journalists. “The working groups have already begun to meet on efforts to agree principles, what is the scope of what we attempt to address and also how much we engage Iran on discussions to address these issues,” he said.

The nuclear deal gave Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in return for curbs on its atomic program.

Trump vowed to stop waiving US sanctions unless the Europeans agreed to strengthen the deal’s terms by consenting to a side agreement that would effectively eliminate provisions that allow Iran to gradually resume some advanced atomic work. Trump also wants tighter restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Iran has rejected any renegotiation.

Tillerson said the nuclear deal was only a “small” part of US policy in the Middle East and Washington was more immediately concerned about other issues including Iran’s support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen and its supplying weapons to militias in the region.

“Our work group also is intending to identify areas of greater cooperation (with) Europe to push back on Iran’s malign behaviour,” he said.

RUSSIA BLAMED

Despite statements from Russia earlier this week that Washington’s accusations against Moscow that it and the Syrian army were behind a chemical attack in eastern Ghouta were “unfounded”, Tillerson reiterated that ultimately Russia bore responsibility.

“I stand by my comments,” he said.

“The chemical weapons … are being used to hit the civilian population, the most vulnerable – children inside of Syria … We are holding Russia responsible for addressing this. They are (Bashar al-) Assad’s ally.”

Russia is providing direct military support in Syria against various rebel groups trying to oust Assad, and giving diplomatic cover in the UN Security Council.

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U.S. seeks to boost case against Iran with U.N. Washington visit

January 26, 2018


FILE PHOTO: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at UN headquarters in New York Thomson Reuters

By Michelle Nichols January 26, 2018 Reuters and Business Insider

Source: U.S. seeks to boost case against Iran with U.N. Washington visit

{Setting the stage for the ‘art of the deal’. – LS}

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States will seek to boost its case for United Nations action against Iran when Security Council envoys visit Washington on Monday to view pieces of weapons that U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley says Tehran gave to Yemen’s Houthi group.

Haley and her 14 council colleagues will also lunch with President Donald Trump, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said Friday.

The Trump administration has for months been lobbying for Iran to be held accountable at the United Nations, while at the same time threatening to quit a 2015 deal among world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear program if “disastrous flaws” are not fixed.

The U.N. ambassadors will visit a military hangar at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling near Washington, where Haley, the U.S envoy to the United Nations, last month presented remnants of what the Pentagon said was an Iranian-made ballistic missile fired from Yemen on Nov. 4 at Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, as well as other weapons.

A proxy war is playing out in Yemen between Iran and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia.

Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with such weaponry and described the arms displayed in Washington as “fabricated.”

However, experts reported to the Security Council this month that Iran had violated U.N. sanctions on Yemen because “it failed to take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer” of short-range ballistic missiles and other equipment to the Iran-allied Houthi group.

The independent experts said they had “identified missile remnants, related military equipment and military unmanned aerial vehicles that are of Iranian origin and were introduced into Yemen after the imposition of the targeted arms embargo.”

Haley said last month she was exploring several U.N. options for pressuring Iran to “adjust their behavior”. But she is likely to struggle to convince some Security Council members, like veto powers Russia and China, that U.N. action is needed.

Most sanctions on Iran were lifted at the start of 2016 under the nuclear deal, which is enshrined in a U.N. Security Council resolution. The resolution still subjects Tehran to a U.N. arms embargo and other restrictions that are technically not part of the nuclear deal.

Haley has said the Security Council could strengthen the provisions in that resolution or adopt a new resolution banning Iran from all activities related to ballistic missiles. To pass, a resolution needs nine votes in favor, and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, China or Russia.

Under the current resolution, Iran is “called upon” to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years. Some states argue that the language of the resolution does not make it obligatory.

A separate U.N. resolution on Yemen bans the supply of weapons to Houthi leaders and “those acting on their behalf or at their direction.”

The United States could propose people or entities to be blacklisted by the council’s Yemen sanctions committee, a closed-door move that would need consensus approval by the 15-members.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Haley has not signaled which accountability option she might pursue or when.

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Exclusive: the House Republican plan to toughen the Iran deal

January 18, 2018


Peter Roskam is spearheading the bill. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

By Jonathan Swan January 18, 2018 Axios

Source: House Republican plan to toughen the Iran deal

{Deal with it! – LS}

I’ve got my hands on a copy of the bill that House Republicans will drop Thursday to amend the Iran deal. Conservative Iran hawks tell me they are going to rally around this bill — spearheaded by Reps. Peter Roskam, Liz Cheney and others — because they don’t like what they’re hearing about the Senate version being drafted by Republican Bob Corker and Democrat Ben Cardin.

Why this matters: Last Friday, President Trump waived sanctions on Iran for what he said was the last time. He said it was a “last chance” for Congress and the Europeans to fix the deal. Trump wants a tougher international inspection regime, an end to Iranian ballistic missile research and development and a permanent nuclear ban to replace the current temporary deal that expires within a decade.

  • If Trump follows through on his threat to reimpose sanctions on Iran in four months— and many close to him believe he will — he’ll blow up Obama’s nuclear deal.
  • A senior administration official told Iran experts on a call last week that there is “no wiggle room.”

Highlights of the “Iran Freedom Policy and Sanctions Act”, per the bill summary and text:

  • Indefinite zero tolerance for Iranian ballistic missiles: U.S. sanctions would immediately “snap back” against Iran if they take any action “related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology.”
  • Indefinite zero tolerance for Iran even approaching a nuclear weapon: U.S. sanctions would immediately “snap back” against Iran if the regime does anything “to enable Iran to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium or plutonium for a nuclear weapon in under 12 months.”
  • Anytime, anywhere inspections: U.S. sanctions would immediately “snap back” against Iran if they do anything “to deny the international community unfettered, unannounced, and indefinite access to Iran’s nuclear program, including ‘anywhere, anytime’ access and inspections of military sites.”

The bill also goes further, to whack Iran for its support for terrorism and human rights abuses:

  • New sanctions: “To combat Iran’s support for human rights abuses and support for terrorism, this bill expands sanctions upon responsible regime entities such as the IRGC, and the Basij Force, by imposing sanctions on entities in which they own, directly or indirectly, a 20% or greater interest, lowering the threshold from 50% to encapture more entities.”

Bottom line: This is Congress’ last chance to stop Trump from blowing up the Iran deal. The four-month clock is ticking, and people who’ve heard Trump share his feelings about Iran don’t think he’s bluffing. Democrats and Republican moderates — especially in the Senate — are going to hate this Roskam bill. But Iran hawks are already telling me it’s their baby — far preferable to what they’re hearing about the Corker-Cardin draft, which they believe will be too weak to be worth supporting.

Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who was a chief architect of previous sanctions against Iran, on why hawks support this bill:

“The Roskam legislation is the gold standard for how to fix the Iran deal when it comes to ballistic missiles. The UN Security Council called on Iran to halt any activity related to nuclear capable ballistic missiles — and this legislation mandates a snapback of all our toughest sanctions if Iran violates that Security Council directive. It’s a stark contrast to the draft circulating in the Senate, which legitimizes Iranian ballistic missiles that could wipe out US bases and allies in the region.”

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