IRGC-Linked Website Claims Iran Exporting A Lot Of Oil To China

In phone call with Josep Borrell, Amir-Abdollahian reiterated that all parties involved in the talks must take serious steps toward reaching the final text of an agreement, while four days of talks in Vienna ended with a “final” text presented by the EU to all parties.

Iran insists that the text offered for renewing the 2015 nuclear deal is not a final agreement but European officials described the document to journalists as a ‘take it or leave it’ offer for both sides. American and Iranian diplomats left Vienna Monday after the European chair of talks offered a fresh and “final” text for renewing the deal.

“Iran’s views and considerations on the ideas offered by [Borrell’s deputy] Enrique Mora have been conveyed to him and all parties [to the deal] are expected to show seriousness and resolve in order to achieve the final text of the agreement,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

Expressing hope that the path to a final agreement would be paved through realism, he added that any final agreement must meet the rights and interests of the Iranian nation and guarantee sustainable and effective removal of sanctions on the Islamic Republic. 

According to IRNA, Borrell said he believes that relative progress has been made during the latest round of the talks, which he described as positive. Borrell also said he would continue efforts to bring the viewpoints of all parties closer to reach a good result.

According to a document released on Monday, the Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement issued an administrative charging letter against Far East Cable on July 29, 2022. 

"The Charging Letter alleges that Far East Cable signed contracts with Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation (ZTE), and Iranian telecommunications companies to deliver US-origin equipment to Iran as part of an effort to conceal and obfuscate ZTE’s Iranian business from US investigators," the document read, charging Far East Cable with 18 violations of Export Administration Regulations.

From September 2014 to January 2016, Far East Cable served as a cutout between ZTE which was under investigation by the US government for connections with Iranian telecommunications companies. 

In March 2017, ZTE pleaded guilty for its conduct related to these charges and broader violations of US export controls. ZTE paid a combined penalty of $1.19 billion in criminal and administrative fines at the time.

In July, the US Treasury issued sanctions on a new array of individuals and entities that help the Islamic Republic of Iran sell its petroleum and petrochemical products, and in June, the US sanctioned several Chinese, Emirati and Iranian firms over exporting the country’s petrochemicals.

The government news website IRNA reported that on the sidelines of an OPEC+ meeting, Owji said, “This winter is very important for Europe and the world” and they should make plans.

The United States imposed third-party sanctions on Iranian oil exports in 2018 after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA and launched a ‘maximum pressure’ campaign. Talks since April 2021 to revive the agreement have remained unsuccessful.

Iran’s oil exports dropped to under 300,000 barrels per day in 2019 because of the sanctions, but after nuclear talks started, it increased shipment to as high as one million bpd. Tehran has the capacity to sell more than 2 million bpd if a nuclear deal is achieved and US sanctions lifted.

But Iran cannot contribute much to the natural gas market although it has the second largest reserves in the world. Lack of technology investments has seen production falling, while its domestic consumption has risen. If most sanctions are lifted and Iran is able to find Western partners it can increase production in the future.

Owji said that the return of Iran’s oil to world markets is important and reiterated Iran’s position against energy sanctions. However, Iran has expanded its nuclear program and says it has the capability to produce weapons.

Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told a cabinet meeting that June’s removal of some cameras of the International Atomic Energy Agency was in line with the parliament decision, taken in December 2020 , to reduce agency monitoring to that required by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) rather than the extensive monitoring required under the 2015 nuclear deal, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

“When the other side is not in JCPOA, we have no reason to abide by a quasi-obsolete commitment,” Eslami said. “The cameras will not go back until they return to JCPOA and stop making false accusations.”

The United States – which left the JCPOA in 2018, imposing ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions – and three European states successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA board in June censuring Iran over what the agency regards as unsatisfactory explanations of pre-2003 nuclear work.

Eslami stressed that following legislation passed in December 2020, Iran had begun using “advanced centrifuges,” devices used for uranium enrichment barred under the JCPOA. “We will not shy away from any action aimed at removing sanctions,” Eslami said.

Agency informed on nuclear expansion

During a press briefing in New York Tuesday evening, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the IAEA director-general, was asked by Iran International’s Maryam Rahmati about Eslami’s statement earlier Tuesday that Iran was preparing new centrifuges, including relatively advanced IR-6s.

Grossi confirmed Iran had briefed the IAEA. “Our inspectors are mobilized and they are going to be looking into this when this happens,” he said. “Not all of them have been prepared – just part of them – and we are going to be informing the Board of Governors soon about this.”

Grossi reiterated that the agency’s “visibility” had been “significantly reduced” by Iran’s decision in June to remove 27 cameras in “certain facilities.” He expressed particular concern over the agency’s lack of knowledge of Iran’s manufacturing activities – where access is not required under the JCPOA. “We will have to come to terms with Iran to account for them when, if and when, they agree on reviving the JCPOA,” Grossi said.

Knowledge of the amount and kinds of centrifuges manufactured, even if not in use, is seen by the agency as important part in assessing the nuclear program, particularly with Iran enriching to 60 percent, close to 90 percent ‘weapons grade’ and far above the 3.67 percent JCPOA limit.

IRGC designation

In Washington Tuesday, John Kirby, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, in a press briefing largely about the US drone strike killing Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda leader, in Afghanistan, reiterated President Joe Biden’s commitment not to lift the US Foreign Terrorist Organization’ (FTO) designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as part of negotiations to restore the JCPOA.

Eslami said at the cabinet meeting that the designation had “not been the main issue in the talks.” Disagreements between Iran and the US over JCPOA restoration – both in year-long talks in Vienna paused in March, and in the June round in Qatar – have centered on which US sanctions violate the 2015 agreement. Tehran argues that the administration of President Donald Trump introduced sanctions under various rubrics, including the IRGC designation. as part of its ‘maximum pressure.’

Argentina grounded the 747 cargo plane after its unannounced arrival from Mexico to an airport in Buenos Aires on June 8. The plane originally belonged to Iran’s Mahan airline affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and sanctioned by the US for transporting arms to Syria and supporting terrorism.

The plane had arrived in Argentina with a crew of 19 people, including five Iranians, some with clear ties to the IRGC. Argentina confiscated their passports. In recent days, a judge ordered the release of 12 crew members after weeks of being denied permission to leave Argentina.

In June, Gerardo Milman, an Argentine lawmaker, told Iran International that Iranians aboard the Venezuelan plane planned “attacks on human targets.” Contrary to Iran’s claim June 13 that the plane was not owned by an Iranian company, Milman said the pilot was “a senior official of Qods (Quds) force,” Tehran’s extraterritorial intelligence and secret ops outfit listed as a terrorist organization by the United States.

Early in 2022, a Venezuelan government company decided to set up a cargo division that came to be called Emtrasur Cargo and its first plane was the Boeing 747-300M bought or leased from Mahan airlines and christened ‘Louisa Caceres Arismendi.’

The grounding of the 747 sparked weeks of intrigue as well as concern within the Argentine government over its ties to Iran and Venezuela and companies sanctioned by the US.

The confiscation request by the US Department of Justice followed the unsealing of a July 19 warrant for the plane's seizure in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, which alleged that the aircraft could be confiscated because it violated export control laws, the DOJ said.

The DOJ said the US-origin Boeing 747-300 aircraft is subject to sanctions as its sale from Iran's Mahan Air to Emtrasur last year, part of the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa), violates U.S. export laws. Both companies are sanctioned by the United States for alleged collaboration with terrorist organizations.

"The Department of Justice will not tolerate transactions that violate our sanctions and export laws," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the DOJ's National Security Division in the statement.

The US move comes amid stalled talks to revive the 2915 Iran nuclear agreement, JCPOA. Apparently, after 16 months of indirect talks between Iran and the US, Tehran insists that the IRGC should be removed from the US list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).

One intriguing part of the nearly two-month-long saga was the identity of the plane’s Iranian pilot. Shortly after the plane was impounded it became clear that the pilot was Gholamreza Ghasemi, a known IRGC Qods Force operative and reportedly a relative of Iran’s current interior minister Ahmad Vahidi. The other Iranians were also linked to IRGC or its terror-linked companies.

Mahan Air is sanctioned for ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF), a US-designated terrorist organization. The US sanctioned Conviasa in 2019 for its ties to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government.

"The seizure of this aircraft demonstrates our determination to hold accountable those who seek to violate US sanctions and export control laws," said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves.

Fourteen Venezuelans and five Iranians were traveling on the plane when it arrived in Buenos Aires. Seven of them are still detained in Argentina.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With reporting by Reuters