Iran FM Visiting Japan Pursues Release Of Frozen Funds
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited Japan on Monday as a possible move to cajole Tokyo into releasing its $3 billion frozen in banks there.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited Japan on Monday as a possible move to cajole Tokyo into releasing its $3 billion frozen in banks there.
Amir-Abdollahian, the first Iranian foreign minister to visit Japan since Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took office in August 2021, met with his counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Health, Labour and Welfare Minister Katsunobu Katō on Monday.
The readout from his meetings did not mention any talks about Iran’s funds mainly from exports of oil frozen due to US sanctions, but Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said earlier in the day that following up the issue was on the minister’s agenda during his trip.
Amir-Abdollahian most likely raised the issue of the funds, as Tehran is also pressuring South Korea to release $7 billion frozen by two Seoul banks. Iran has tens of billions of dollars worth of funds in foreign banks that it cannot access because of US sanctions. The funds are mostly kept in banks in South Korea, Iraq, China, Japan and India where Iran is owed for shipments of crude and other oil products that took place before the United States pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposed full energy sanctions on Tehran in 2018 and 2019.
Kanani emphasized Monday that “We will continue to follow up on the issue of unfreezing Iranian funds held in various countries, as we did before,” adding that the issue has been raised at different levels, such as during a meeting on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last year when Raisi and Kishida discussed the matter. He went on to say that the Japanese government has repeatedly announced its readiness to repatriate the frozen assets and is making efforts to make this happen.
A lot of recent reports and statements point to an interim deal with the possible release of regime funds in exchange for several US citizens held hostage in Iran and a freeze in Iran's nuclear program. Both the nuclear talks and the prisoner release talks have not succeeded in making meaningful progress. However, US officials say that efforts to secure the release of four Americans continue.
Japan – which holds this year's presidency of the Group of Seven nations – may seek to reduce Iran’s tension with the West to facilitate its dealings with Tehran; the most pressing issue is perhaps Tehran’s military support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, deemed a threat to Europe.
According to the readout of Amir-Abdollahian's meeting with his Japanese counterpart, apart from the usual calls for bolstering bilateral relations “in fields such as medical, environment and disaster risk reduction,” the most important issue discussed was Iran’s supply of drones and missiles for the Russian war on Ukraine.
As was reported before the visit, Japan urged Iran not to provide Russia with weapons for its war against Ukraine, with Foreign Minister Hayashi calling on Tehran “to respond in a constructive manner.” The two agreed to continue "close communication" over issues affecting the Middle East, Japan's Foreign Ministry said. It also said the ministers exchanged “frank views” on the latest developments surrounding Iran’s nuclear issue.
The Japanese diplomat stated that Tokyo has consistently supported the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and is “seriously concerned about the expansion of Iran’s nuclear activities,” calling on Iran to take constructive measures including the full and unconditional cooperation under the latest joint statement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Between 2006 and 2015, Tokyo fully supported the four UN sanctions resolutions designed to prevent the regime from developing nuclear weapons. Japan also complied with US sanctions reimposed by the Trump administration in 2018, which sought to eliminate all Iran’s oil exports.
Amir-Abdollahian explained that Iran is pursuing the restoration of the JCPOA through negotiations, and expressed his appreciation for Japan’s diplomatic efforts, noting that Iran seeks to continue close communication with Japan on the matter.
Later in the day, Amir-Abdollahian held a press conference in the Japanese capital, where he used it as an opportunity to further deny the extent of Iran’s involvement in the Russian invasion, calling claims “completely wrong and incorrect,” and instead blaming the conflict on the US-led NATO military alliance and its provocations, in spite of troves of evidence to the contrary.
“We consider NATO and its provocations among the root causes of the war and crisis. We continue our efforts to stop the war and make the parties focus on a political solution,” he said, claiming that “We have provided no parties [to the war] with drones for use in Ukraine.”
His remarks came just a day after Russia used 27 Iranian-made drones and 30 missiles to attack large swaths of Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said all 27 Shahed 136 and 131 drones were shot down by air defenses but some of the missiles fired from the Black Sea and the Caspian region got through.
The statement released Sunday addressed the Iranian nation as "the true owners of this country and its government," and maintained that "the rulers have no special privilege other thanrepresenting and serving the people."
The statement has been posted on Telegram messaging app in an account that belongs to Saham News, a media outlet that represented reformist figure Mehdi Karrubi, a former parliamentary speaker and presidential candidate.
The political activists, writers and civil rights defenders stated that the elections in Iran have been hostage to the "arbitrary supervision" of the Guardian Council, a body that operates under the direct supervision of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and vets the candidates based on their loyalty to him.
They also complained about the intervention of security and intelligence organizations in the election process. According to the statement, the worst examples took place in the 2020 parliamentary elections and the presidential election in 2021 which brought Ebrahim Raisi to power and packed the parliament with hardliners.
The activists also charged that the Assembly of Experts whose members are chosen based on the same kind of vetting by the Guardian Council lacks the independence and capability to supervise the Supreme Leader's performance, as the constitution requires.
"The Islamic Republic is overwhelmed by a crisis which is the outcome of distancing itself from the ideals of a republic and democracy and its submission to despotism and dictatorship. During the past 44 years, this has led to multiple political, economic and cultural crises as well as leading to poverty, corruption, repression, violations of the citizens' legitimate rights and freedoms," the statement added.
The activists further said: "As a result of this situation, young Iranians have lost their hope in any improvement in this dreadful situation and see only two options before them: Leave the country or continue living in Iran without dignity under the pressure of humiliation."
In another part of the statement, the signatories pointed out that the Islamic Republic has made hijab enforcement a security issue and by doing so has made the situation even more complicated for women who under the pressure feel further humiliated.
But what was even more notable in the statement was a demand to change the regime’s anti-West foreign policy.
"The country's independence has been seriously weakened as a result of a foreign policy devoid of dignity and prudence. This situation has made Iran's foreign policy a playground for Russia's aggressive policies," the statement said, adding that "The Islamic Republic's foreign policy has undermined Iran's national interests and disrupted the balance in its relations with East and West and made the country's progress and development hostage to seriously damaging sanctions."
The activists further pointed out that as a result of this policy despite its anti-imperialistic slogans, the regime has submitted to the humiliating oil for food arrangements and barter trade with underprivileged countries to provide food and medicine.
The signatories to the statement declared that "In such a catastrophic situation that has forced a large part of Iranians and their elites to leave the country for good, holding an election is nothing more than beautifying the regime in a bid to lend it some legitimacy. "We do not believe that such an election is going to lead to any improvement in governance," they insisted.
"What can justify people's participation in the upcoming election in March, is the regime's return to democracy by listening to the people and their elites and bringing about structural reforms in the country. A decision to hold a referendum to change the Constitution is a requirement for that change. Without doing this participation in the election would be a deceit against the country's national interests," the statement concluded.
Centrist politician Faezeh Hashemi, former state TV Chief Mohammad Sarafraz, 1980s militant journalist Isa Saharkhiz, and several cultural figures such as poet Ali Babachahi are among the signatories of the statement.
The German television outlet ARD on Sunday aired a blockbuster report titled “Iran: Persecution with modern surveillance technology,” citing a document obtained by the outlet in Persian showing that at “Khatam University in Tehran in 2017, an instruction course was organized by Bosch security and an Iranian distribution partner.” The topics of the instruction course were “facial recognition, face detection, and intelligent tracking from objects.”
The instruction teacher was allegedly a distribution director for the Bosch’s Middle East division. ARD did not name the director. Iran International sent press queries to Bosch, including the spokesperson responsible for the Middle East.
Bosch told ARD it delivered 8,000 cameras to Iran’s regime between 2016-2018. Bosch disputed that its cameras can be used for full facial recognition and denied that a Bosch employee participated in the instruction course. According to Amnesty International, the regime is expanding its” mass surveillance” targeting street traffic, with a focus on women to ensure they are wearing their compulsory hijab.
Iranian dissidents, whose images were altered to protect their identities, told ARD they seek to sabotage the cameras on the streets to prevent the persecution of protesters. ARD showed images of Bosch cameras and software used to monitor streets and highways.
An Iranian activist told ARD when a camera captures more than5 or 10 people at a protest an alarm signal is sent to the police and “within minutes” security forces are present.
In April, Iran International reported that Ahmad-Reza Radan, the chief commander of the Iran’s police, said that his security apparatus will use advanced technology and equipment to identify women who violate the law requiring females to wear the mandatory hijab in public places. He said women and girls who do not cover their hair in “public places, cars, or commercial centers,” will be prosecuted.
The ARD concluded its report with the narrator stating “When women in Iran face a trial in the future it could take place with help of technology from Made in Germany.”
It is not clear if Bosch has had any dealings with Iran since the United States re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic in 2018, but Tehran is adept at finding intermediary's to do business with Western companies.
The Iranian-American human rights activist, Lawdan Bazargan, told Iran International “Regrettably, Germany has a long-standing history of supporting the Islamic Regime of Iran (IRI) at the expense of the Iranian people, human rights, and democratic values. The 1980s, known as the Bloody Decade among Iranians, witnessed Germany maintaining close ties with Iran while remaining silent after the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. “
She said “Taking into account Germany's past experiences and the potential consequences of aiding the IRI in oppressing its people, it appears that Germany's assistance to the IRI is indeed deliberate.”
Bazargan, who runs the NGO Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), added, “In the mid-2000s Nokia Siemens Network (NSN) went a step further, selling an electronic monitoring and surveillance center to Iran's state-owned telephone company, bolstering this oppressive regime. The system allowed the Iranian government to easily spy on and intercept communications of dissidents heavily reliant on web-based platforms to connect with the outside world. Tragically, the IRI exploited this technology to apprehend protesters during the 2009 Green Movement, subjecting them to horrifying torture and unjust imprisonment based on their chats and text messages.”
Jason Brodsky, policy director for the US-based United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Iran International that the ADR report “is deeply disturbing. It demonstrates the long standing ties between the German business community and the Islamic Republic. And underscores the need for enhanced due diligence of German companies world-wide. Iranian drones are being found with western components.
Brodsky continued “And if Bosch is, wittingly or unwittingly, involved in facial recognition and surveillance technology, then this calls for a robust investigation by Bosch and the German authorities as to what has been done here. Bosch has been a partner in the past with the Islamic Republic.” He added the “German government like to say it is committed to upholding human rights, but German businesses are involved in Iranian markets. The German government has to speak with one voice with the business community. “
Brodsky said that “Bosch was part of a German business delegation visiting Iran in 2016 after the JCPOA. The German government has to be cognizant of it that Iran extracts western technology to advance its repression apparatus at home.”
The JCPOA is an abbreviation for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—the formal name of the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015.
The Bosch corporation played a key industrial role in advancing the war aims of Nazi Germany. Bosch used an estimated 20,000 slaves, which included 1,200 concentration camp inmates, as part of its efforts to help Hitler win the war.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the LA-based Simon Wiesenthal Center (named after the legendary Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal), told Iran International that “Facial recognition is weaponized by the Iranian regime against women and girls and facial recognition is being facilitated by one of Germany’s legacy companies. Shame on them. And shame on the German government for not putting an end to it. The German government can put an end to it in one second by barring export licenses. “
Cooper asked “Where are the voices of the political parties and NGOs who speak up, first and foremost, for the rights of women?” He warned that the Bosch technology will damage the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement.” He added "How many more people will end up in prison tortured and raped by virtue of this technology?”
Cooper noted the implications of Bosch having “not learned or forgotten” the lessons from the Holocaust due to the principle of “export über alles.” The prominent Rabbi said that by “putting on willful blinders so that businesses can maximize profits will come at a pernicious price with dealing with a murderous Iranian regime that threatens all of us.”
Iran International sent press queries to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, and to Sebastian Fischer, the spokesman for German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock.
Baerbock claims to have a “feminist foreign policy” but is facing criticism for allegedly allowing Iran’s“hanging judge” Hossein-Ali Nayerit o enter Germany for medical care.
Gazelle Sharmahd, the daughter of German businessman Jamshid Sharmahd, who was sentenced to death in Iran in February, has told the German media that Scholz and Baerbock are not doing enough to secure her father’s freedom.
Bazargan said “Instead of bolstering the IRI, Germany should take a firm stance and sever all ties with Iran, demanding the immediate release of Jamshid Sharmahd, the German citizen held hostage by the Islamic Regime. By doing so, Germany can demonstrate its commitment to human rights and support the aspirations of Iranians striving for freedom and justice.”
According to statistics from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, Germany exported more than $1.2 billion in merchandise to Iran from January to October 2022.
Traditionally, Germany has been viewed as the weakest Western link in the effort to improve human rights in Iran and end the theocratic state’s reported nuclear weapons program. Iran International reported last week about the controversial twin city partnership between the German city of Freiburg and Esfahan.
Hamid Hosseini, the spokesperson of the Iranian Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union, said Friday that this was a "very serious accusation" and called for accountability from the parliament, parties, and the central bank of Iraq.
Muhammad Nuri Aziz, a member of the Iraqi parliament, said on a television show last week that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and the country’s central bank are aware of the schemes Iran uses to get hold of US dollars it desperately needs amid US sanctions. The lawmaker noted that the smuggling started during Mustafa Al-Kadhimi's term as prime minister and still continues. Without providing any context or details, the Iraqi lawmaker alleged that Iran prints Iraqi dinars in Argentina, exchanges the money to US dollars in Iraq, from where it is smuggled to Iran by trucks.
The Iranian official said warned that given the recent alignments of some Iraqi officials with the United States against Iran, “it appears that these allegations may pave the ground for more serious disputes in the future.”
“This is a style of accusation by Iraqi nationalists and Ba'athists,” he claimed, accusing an Iraqi politician who happened to criticize the Iranian regime, without offering any evidence.
Hosseini emphasized that Iran has been a strong supporter of Iraq, contributing significantly to its security and stability. He urged the Iraqi authorities and parties to address this issue and demanded that the Iranian embassy take action in response to the accusation. “If someone in the Iranian parliament had said such a thing, all of Iraq would have taken a position," he noted.
A source with the Iraqi government told Iran International that following the recent restrictions on Iraqi banks by the US, a portion of the smuggling is being carried out through shell companies, electronic travel cards, online shops, exchange offices, and even suitcases.
Reports about the transfer of $165 million to Iran within less than a month by just one exchange office led authorities to discover dozens of similar cases by other exchange offices.
The credibility of the Iraqi banking system has been tarnished due to the Islamic Republic's influence, and US financial restrictions have tightened on Baghdad because evidently all Iraqi banks have had interactions with the Islamic Republic.
Late in July, 14 Iraqi private banks sanctioned by Washington over helping to siphon US dollars to Iran said they were ready to challenge the measures and face audits and called on Iraqi authorities to provide assistance.
The US barred the Iraqi banks from conducting dollar transactions as part of a wider crackdown on dollar smuggling to Iran. The latest sanctions, along with earlier ones, have left nearly a third of Iraq's 72 banks blacklisted, two Iraqi central bank officials said.
The dinar has been falling against the dollar since the New York Federal Reserve imposed tighter controls on international dollar transactions by commercial Iraqi banks in November to halt the illegal siphoning of dollars to Iran.
Under curbs that took effect in January, Iraqi banks were required to use an online platform to reveal their transaction details. But most private banks have not registered on the platform and resorted to informal black markets in Baghdad to buy dollars.
Iran International revealed in May that an aide to former IRGC’s Quds force commander Qassem Soleimani, is a key figure in money laundering for Tehran. Iran International also reported details about the inner workings of a Quds force unit tasked with smuggling money from Iraq to Iran, proving that the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Iraq is also involved in money laundering operations aimed at funneling revenues from oil and gas exports back to Iran.
As pressure is growing on the British government to proscribe the IRGC, Home Secretary Braverman fears that the outfit is stepping up its activities, attempting to recruit members of organized crime gangs to target opponents of the regime.
The Sunday Times quoted a source close to the home secretary as saying that “The Iranian threat is the one that worries us the most.”
“It’s a big issue because they are getting much more aggressive, and their appetite is increasing. They are very defensive to anyone challenging their regime and just want to stamp it out,” the source said, underlining that “They are increasing their agitation.”
In February, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat told Parliament that the Iranian regime was behind 15 credible threats to kill or kidnap British citizens or people based in the UK in just over a year.
However, last month, the government again rejected calls to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist group in favor of expanding the criteria by which its supporters and affiliated companies can be put under sanctions. The UK Foreign Office seems worried that designating the IRGC as a terrorist group could permanently harm diplomatic relations.
The new sanctions regime would allow ministers for the first time to sanction Iranian officials and individuals for their activities both Iran and in the UK, where they seem to have increased their sway.
The Home Secretary’s warning came just after Iran's IRGC commanders were revealed to be spreading extremist antisemitic propaganda in UK universities via a London student organization. The Sunday Times disclosed earlier in the week details of the close relationship between the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Students Association located in a former Methodist church in west London.
The association was set up to promote the religious and political philosophy of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder and first Supreme Leader of the regime who ruled until his death in 1989.
The center hosts discussions with Iranian government officials and hardline clerics at Kanoon Towhid, an old church in Hammersmith that carries a portrait of Khomeini at its altar, as well as the Islamic Republic's flag.
According to an investigation by the Jewish Chronicle, since early 2020, at least eight IRGC leaders addressed British student audiences, trying to radicalize them. The speakers, some of whom are sanctioned by Britain for human rights abuses, have been involved in suppressing dissent within Iran.
Recordings obtained by media outlets exposed statements from commanders like Saeed Ghasemi, who claimed the Holocaust was "fake" and advocated for violence against Jews in “an apocalyptic war.”
Another IRGC man who delivered lectures at the center was Hossein Yekta – a commander of IRGC’s plainclothes agent during crackdown on protesters – who claimed Jews "created homosexuality" and urged his audience to "raise the flag of the Islamic revolution, Islam, and martyrdom."
The association's internal elections are also observed by representatives of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In January this year, Mohammad Hossein Ataee Dolatabadi, a former chairman of the association and a master's degree student at the University of Bradford, made a trip to Tehran, where he met Khamenei. He later received a 'blessed' keffiyeh, which is a traditional Arabic headdress, as a gift, a token of his allegiance to Iran’s ruler.
Dolatabadi says he is no longer the chair of the organization since October 2022. Nonetheless, he remains the chair of its parent organization, the Union of Islamic Students Associations in Europe, according to Khamenei's official website.
The association's Telegram channel had reportedly made posts praising Qasem Soleimani, the former IRGC Quds Force commander who was killed in a US air strike in January 2020.
Alicia Kearns, the chair of the Foreign Affairs committee, condemned the organization's activities, stating, "To broadcast the jihadist and deeply antisemitic ideas of senior members of the IRGC to students across Britain is a brazen act of radicalization. We must pursue and prosecute those responsible for trying to incite violence here in the UK."