Iran’s Knowhow To Build Nukes Should Be Wake-Up Call For Biden – US Senator

The premier of the so-called Yemen’s National Salvation Government, Abdel-Aziz bin Habtour, said in capital Sana'a on Monday that Yemen has the final say in the Bab al-Mandab strait and will “preserve the Arab identity of the Red Sea in the face of the US conspiracy to turn it into a Zionist lake."

"Bab al-Mandab is an international waterway, but it is part of Yemeni territory," he emphasized. 

The Bab-el-Mandeb strait – located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa -- connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and acts as a strategic link between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

Echoing Iran’s position regarding US President Joe Biden’s tour of the Middle East and the summit of regional Arab countries in Jeddah, he said that during the visit Washington and Riyadh tried to cover up the reality of the Saudi-led “brutal aggression, the massacres, crimes and violations” they committed against Yemen, by portraying the crisis as just an internal conflict. 

The Houthis receives military and political support from Iran in their conflict with other Yemenis backed who are backed by a Saudi-led coalition since 2014. Iran has been sharing its missile and drone technology with Yemen’s Houthis and has also supplied other proxy forces, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite militias.

Mohammad Marandi, who was a member of Tehran’s team in the Vienna nuclear talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal known as JCPOA, was quoted by Rouydad24 website in Iran as having told Sputnik, that reports by Western media about the demand to remove the Revolutionary Guard from the US list of Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) is not true.

“This issue was never a pre-condition…What has been on the table is the [US] track record in partial implementation of the JCPOA and its ultimate violation. Iran deems this unacceptable and Washington’s unwillingness to remove sanctions,” Marandi was quoted as saying.

The Sputnik website is not accessible in most countries after the invasion of Ukraine and Iran International cannot verify Rouydad24’s exact quotations, but a website in Iran would hardly dare to be inaccurate in reflecting the words of an important official.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Kowsari, an IRGC officer and an influential member of parliament said Monday that, “It would not be acceptable at all that the Guards…remain under sanctions.” He also demanded “guarantees” that “all sanctions be removed” and rejected any notion of a selective approach in the matter.

Kowsari went on to accuse the US of using the issue of IRGC’s terror designation to refuse providing “permanent” guarantees to Iran. “At least there should be guarantees for the two remaining years of the Biden administration,” he said.

After the Vienna talks stalled in March, reports emerged that Tehran was demanding the delisting of the IRGC and Washington’s position was that the issue was not related to nuclear sanctions, which it had agreed to suspend or remove.

Lately, the issue of guarantees is again being raised by Iran, which if applied to assurances for full economic and financial access by entities sanctioned for terrorism or human rights violations, basically means the removal of all sanctions.

US administration officials and President Joe Biden himself have said that a final offer has been made to Iran months ago and it is up to them to decide. At the same time, during his trip to the Middle East last week Biden pledged bot with Israel and Saudi Arabia not to allow Iran to become a nuclear weapons state.

Marandi went on to argue that the United States is in not “in a strong position to act against Iran,” and the best option for them is to come to an agreement to unlock Iran’s oil flow, which they need.

The US-born Iranian official who plays a role in reflecting Iran’s positions in English language with international media, also spoke about reports about the creation of an air-defense alliance between Israel and Arab states concerned about Iranian missile and drone threats. He reportedly told Sputnik that even if such a system is set up it cannot pose a challenge for Iran.

“There is no regional country that can be considered Iran’s rival. Our only rival is America. Israel and Saudi Arabia are small and weak. Iran is the most militarily advanced country in West Asia,” Marandi claimed.

CENTCOM Commander General Michael Kurilla and IDF Chief of Staff Lt General Aviv Kochavi discussed “he importance of an integrated air and missile defense system, as well as the continued need for strong regional security cooperation.”

According to a statement by CENTCOM Public Affairs, Kurilla told Kochavi “As President Biden said earlier this week in Israel, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin echoed, the United States’ commitment to Israel remains ironclad. Regional security remains paramount for both CENTCOM and the IDF.”

Israel's Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, who also met with Kurilla during his visit to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, boasted about “the unparalleled defense relations between Israel and the US,” highlighting CENTCOM’s important role in maintaining regional peace and stability.

In a speech at a ceremony marking the change of the military’s Home Front Command chief, Kohavi said Sunday that it is a “moral obligation and a national security order” to prepare a military response against Iran’s nuclear program.

“Preparing the home front for war is a task that must be accelerated in the coming years, especially in light of the possibility that we will be required to act against the nuclear threat. The IDF continues to prepare vigorously for an attack on Iran,” he said.

Tehran has repeatedly warned regional Arab countries over the plan to launch the air defense system with the United States and Israel to confront Iran's missiles and drones.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, a former high-ranking official and one of the Larijani brothers who have long been influential regime insiders, told a TV program in Tehran on Sunday that if Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb “no one can stop it.”

Referring to what Iran says is a Fatwa by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei against producing weapons of mass destruction, Larijani said, “We do not have permission to pursue weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, but if at some point we decide to do it naturally no one can prevent us.” Without naming the United States or Israel, he added, “They also know this.”

Hours before Larijani’s remarks on television, Kamal Kharrazi, Khamenei’s top foreign policy adviser told Al Jazeera Arabic, ““It is no secret that we have the technical capabilities to manufacture a nuclear bomb, but we have no decision to do so.”

The subtle threats from two senior Iranian figures come in the wake of President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia last week, during which the president sounded a bit more forceful regarding Iran and its nuclear threat. Long before the trip, there were media reports of the United States forging some sort of a military network between Israel and Sunni Arab states opposed to Tehran’s rulers.

The trip, according to most assessments, had relatively modest results that can be summed up in reassuring Israel about US commitment to its defense and a start to re-building confidence with Saudi Arabia after a rough start by Biden. The US also signed a joint declaration with Israel, which said Washington is committed to preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state.

Larijani in his remarks also tried to appear optimistic about the stalled nuclear negotiations with the US. “I believe that the slowing down in the JCPOA process will be quickly fixed,” but he quickly added that Iran’s ability to make a nuclear bomb “is not something that can be eradicated with bombings.” Larijani was most likely referring to repeated Israeli threats to use a military strike if it feels Tehran is on the verge of building a bomb.

Larijani also took a jab at Biden, saying, “They swore not to let Iran obtain nuclear weapons, but American policies, are ancient like Biden. They are powerless in front of us.”

The chief of Israel's armed forces Lieutenant-General Aviv Kochavi said Sunday that preparing a military option against Iran is amoral duty and an urgent national security matter.

In fact, Iran’s ruler Khamenei is four years older than the US president.

Iran currently has sufficient uranium enriched to 60-percent purity to produce weapons-grade fissile material at 90-percent enrichment. The remaining stage would be the knowhow to make a nuclear bomb, and what Kharrazi and Larijani have hinted at is that Iran has that capability.

“It is no secret that we have the technical capabilities to manufacture a nuclear bomb, but we have no decision to do so," Kamal Kharrazi, the head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and senior adviser to Khamenei told Al Jazeera's Arabic service.

"In a few days we were able to enrich uranium up to 60% and we can easily produce 90% enriched uranium,” Kharrazi said while stressing that Iran has the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but has not decided to build one.

This is not the first time that Iranian officials say Iran is a nuclear threshold country butdoes not want or need a nuclear weapon and is only enriching uranium for energy and other civilian uses. They often add that Iran's supreme leader has declared that the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons are all forbidden under Islam (haram).

Khamenei’s fatwa, or religious edict, against the acquisition or manufacture of nuclear weapons was first revealed in a statement from Iran to the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) in Vienna in August 2005.

But former Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi in February 2021 hinted that the fatwa could change. Former Iranian diplomat and IRGC brigadier-general Amir Mousavi also in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television in January 2021 had said fatwas are not permanent and are issued in accordance with developing circumstances. “Therefore, I believe that if the Americans and Zionists act in a dangerous manner, the [Khamenei] fatwa might change.”

Indirect talks between Iran and President Joe Biden

's administration, which aims to bring both Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear pact, officially known as the JCPOA, have been in limbo since March. Tehran and Washington both put the onus of breaking the deadlock on each other.

"There are no American guarantees relating to preserving the nuclear deal, and this will freeze any possible agreement," Kharrazi told Al Jazeera. He was referring to Iran’s demands to receive guarantees that the US would not leave the JCPOA and also lift all sanctions impacting its economy.

The advisor to Iran's Leader further said that direct talks with Washington were difficult “due to the thick wall of mistrust and American policies” while insisting that Tehran would never negotiate over its missile program and regional policy, as demanded by the US and its allies in the Middle East. “Accepting this would mean capitulating [to their demands].”

He also said that speaking of “Middle Eastern NATO” -- a military alliance in the Middle East that similar to NATO -- was “a superficial notion” and that “Saudi Arabia has stressed that such a plan is not on the agenda.”

Kharrazi stressed that the Islamic Republic would directly respond against Israel should its security be targeted. "Targeting our security from neighboring countries will be dealt with a response from us to these countries and a direct response to Israel. We have held extensive drills targeting Israel's depth in case our sensitive facilities are targeted."

But since mid-2020, Israel has reportedly targeted Iran’s sensitive facilities and top personnel several times and Iran has not responded directly.

The US and Israel recently agreed to take a joint stance against Iran's nuclear program and involvement in regional conflicts and said they would work together to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The US and Saudi Arabia also agreed on July 15 on preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon during US President Joe Biden’s visit to Riyadh.