Iran Warns Of Retaliation Against Seizure Of Oil Tankers

Sydney-based Iranian Arash Behgoo has been denied access to government records after lodging a Freedom of Information request with the Attorney-General’s Department in June last year, seeking explanation as to why the IRGC was not banned under a motion in January last year when lawmakers were extremely close to proscribing the group.

The country's Senate claimed at the time that “as an organ of a nation state, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is not the kind of entity that is covered by the terrorist organisation provisions in the Criminal Code.” It also claimed that the IRGC could not be listed for legislative reasons because of its status as an organ of the nation state.

Initially, in August, Behgoo’s request was denied on grounds of “national security, defence or international relations”, a common obstacle to understanding the mechanics of issues such as designation amid the extreme complexities of geopolitics.

However, Behgoo said Australians deserved to know the threat they were facing. “Many of my fellow Australians may not know about this organization and it’s my duty, for the sake of our national security, to talk about the risk that I know of,” he said.

“I consider it my duty to my home to talk about it and to inform others that without a listing under the Criminal Code, the agents of the IRGC can roam freely in Australia and pretty much do whatever they want and they wouldn’t be committing criminal offences.”

The Iranian who moved to Sydney with his family five years ago, says he is now considering appealing the decision. “It is not just a bunch of fanatics who have wild ideas – they do things and you can see it all over the world,” Behgoo told Sky News.

“You can ignore them, but they won’t ignore you. We can and we must list them on our Criminal Code and make sure that we do a great job of enforcing our law because those who neglected this risk, you can see what has become of them.”

A spokesperson for the Attorney-General's department told Sky News that it has been long-standing practice that "the department does not comment on whether an organisation is being, or has been, considered for listing as a terrorist organisation."

Lawmakers meanwhile are campaigning for change. “The government is making excuses and is not being upfront about the reasons that it hasn't listed the IRGC as a terrorist organisation,” Senator Claire Chandler told Sky News.

She has long rallied for designation, highlighting the disruptive nature of the IRGC abroad including the recent hostilities in the Middle East, sparked by the Iran-backed Hamas attack on Israel, and subsequently followed by action in support of Hamas by Iran's proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

“It is, frankly, disgraceful that the government won't provide them on a confidential basis to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. This is a committee that is designed to be able to see this information and have that layer of transparency and accountability over government decision-making in the most sensitive of areas.”

The IRGC was listed back in 2018 by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and in 2019, by the US. The Australian committee, formed in the wake of the brutal 2022 crackdowns on protesters, has seen several sanctions imposed on both individuals and entities but as yet, the government, like those in countries such as the UK and Canada, has abstained from designation.

Hopes to revive the collapsed JCPOA nuclear deal appear to remain a barrier to progress, with several Western governments hoping to revive talks. Conversely, Iran has only enhanced its Uranian enrichment and escalated its brutal crackdown on dissent, with record numbers of executions last year, exceeding 800.

“I suspect that that is one of the reasons that this government in Australia hasn't listed the IRGC because they think it will be problematic in terms of any relationship that Australia tries to manage with Iran,” Senator Chandler told Sky News.

But she warned: “We know that the IRI [Islamic Republic of Iran] regime are not good faith actors. They are not a good government that Australia should be dealing with on a regular basis. They are a regime that we should be minimizing our relationship with to the greatest extent possible.”

Of most concern, she says, is the risk of attacks on Australian soil. Attacks by the IRGC and its proxies have been planned and foiled against Jewish and Israeli targets across the world from South America to Europe, in addition to dozens more against Iranian dissidents abroad, including reporters from Iran International.

Last year, the UK’s top intelligence chief said Iran was among the UK’s biggest threats with multiple attacks foiled on British soil. In Israel, Mossad’s head said they too had worked with foreign intelligence agencies to foil dozens of attacks abroad. Iran continues to openly threaten members of the Trump administration for the assassination of Qods Force commander, Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

In Australia, the threats have been no less apparent. In spite of Iranian denials, the Australian government admits it is “concerned” by Iran’s ongoing espionage activities.

A spokeswoman for Australia’s Home Affairs Department told Iran International in January: “Last year, the Australian Government made it clear that it is concerned by reports of harassment and monitoring of people in Australia by foreign governments, including Iran.”

In January, The Australian Financial Review published an interview with the Islamic Republic’s Ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, during which he rejected claims by Australia's Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil that the Iranian government had been spying on dissidents in Australia, insisting they were safe from harm or kidnapping.

However, last year, O’Neil revealed that Australia had disrupted the activities of suspected Iranian intelligence who had conducted surveillance of the home of an Iranian-Australian dissident, as well as their family, part of a wider global crackdown in the wake of the 2022 uprising.

"I just want to step back and say this again: we have here someone living in our country who is being followed, watched, photographing their home invaded by people at the direction of a foreign power. This is happening in Australia, and this is something ASIO was onto like a shot," O'Neil said last year.

And now, the concerns remain. “Australians should be very concerned that our current government is not willing to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation,” Senator Chandler said.

“We know that this is the entity that is causing significant violence and significant terror in the Middle East right now and we also know that the IRI regime has undertaken foreign interference activities in this country here in Australia and there are questions to be asked about the influence of the IRGC on our own soil.”

Abram Paley, a special envoy from the US State Department, said last week, "Our aim is to prevent ships from supporting groups designated as Iranian terrorist organizations through illegal oil sales".

As the leading global ship registry boasting over 8,000 vessels flying its flag, Panama offers what is commonly termed 'flags of convenience'. The practice permits ship owners to register their vessels in foreign countries for a fee, avoiding scrutiny and regulatory oversight.

Panama's maritime authority disclosed in January 2023 that it had delisted 136 vessels associated with Iran's state oil company over the previous four years.

The US government says that Iran channels revenues from oil sales to finance various groups including Yemen's Houthi rebels, as well as organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas. 

Experts highlight that the utilization of flags of convenience facilitates evasion of environmental regulations, labor standards, and ownership transparency within the maritime industry.

Syrian air defenses intercepted some of the Israeli missiles, the ministry claimed in a statement, resulting in what it called "material damage," A security source, speaking to Saudi media, revealed that the strike targeted a military base used by Syrian forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The source claimed the attack was on a base used jointly by the military and Hezbollah, warning that Damascus provides the Iran-backed group with arms to use against Israel.

The security source emphasized, "Continued arms smuggling from Syria will increase Israeli strikes on the military stores and the continued Syrian support of Hezbollah and Iran, will prevent it from achieving stability and the Syrian people will pay the price."

The previous strike, late on Monday, targeted Hezbollah sites around Damascus, reportedly hitting ammunition supplies and causing explosions in the area.

Iran's substantial backing of President Bashar al-Assad during Syria's nearly 12-year-old conflict has led to Israel conducting regular air strikes to curb Tehran's extraterritorial military power, especially its support for Hezbollah.

The recent escalation in Israeli strikes on Syria follows heightened regional tensions since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. More than half a dozen Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers have been killed in suspected Israeli strikes on Syria since December, reflecting the intensifying conflict dynamics. Israel continues to remain silent on the attacks.

Consequently, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has scaled back the deployment of its senior officers in Syria and planned to rely more on allied Shi'ite militia to maintain influence there, as reported by Reuters in February.

The 2024 session of the conference began in Geneva in late January and will continue till mid September. The Presidency of the conference rotates among its member states in alphabetical order, each member holding office for four weeks.

Iran took over from Indonesia o March 18 amid harsh criticism over its non-compliance with the demands and rulings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“Why does @UN_Disarmament think that it’s a good idea to allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to preside over negotiations on arms control and disarmament agreements,” Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna asked on X. “The Islamic regime’s history and continuous breaches of nuclear agreements go against the very purpose of the conference. It’s disgusting that the UN is continuing to legitimize the Mollah’s murderous regime.”

This is not the first time the United Nations is criticized for handing leadership positions, symbolic or inconsequential as those may be, to representatives of the regime in Tehran.

In November 2023, Iran's envoy was picked to chair a UN human rights council meeting in Geneva, not more than a few months after the brutal crackdown of widespread protests now known as Women, Life, Freedom movement. The US envoy boycotted that meeting, calling the appointment an "affront to the collective conscience of the global community".

Following that example, on Monday, campaigners led by the Swiss-based NGO, UN Watch, called on member states to boycott the plenary Tuesday when Iran’s envoy “take the gavel”.

“We urge all world leaders to STOP legitimizing a radical regime that sponsors terrorism around the globe, kills its own people for protesting for their human rights, and is racing to build a nuclear bomb to threaten the world,” campaigners wrote in their petition –which gathered more than 13,000 signatures before the morning plenary Tuesday.

Iran typically dismisses all such criticism as “enemy offensive” against the “holy Islamic system.” All such appointments at UN bodies –even if a matter of pure formality– are met by glee in Tehran and trumpeted with pride on media platforms.

“Western appeasement of Iran, especially in assuming this role, only serves to degrade the institution and its efforts,” said Congressman Mike Gallagher in a statement issued Monday, “Iran should be prohibited from occupying this post, and banned from holding any leadership role in the international community, especially any to do with weapons of mass destruction.”

Iran has been stockpiling highly enriched uranium (at 60%) for some time, according to the IAEA, whose experts have said enriching at such levels cannot be explained outside a weapons program. The issue is coupled by lack of transparency and restrictions set by Iran on International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors on the ground.

Earlier this month, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned about being blinded to Iran’s nuclear activities. “The Agency has lost continuity of knowledge in relation to [Iran’s] production and inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium ore concentrate,” he said.

US Congressman and House Majority Whip, Tom Emmer, pointed this out Monday, condemning the appointment. “Today, the UN Conference on Disarmament begins with Iran serving as its Chair –a country brazenly pursuing nuclear weapons,” he posted on X, “The decision to reward Iran with a leadership position only further degrades the UN’s legitimacy and its ability to uphold global peace.”

Iran grapples with a serious shortage of natural gas every winter and summer. Many industrial units, including gas power plants, are forced to switch to Mazut for fuel –a low quality, heavy oil that produces considerably higher amounts of pollutants.

This year, the shortage seems to have been prolonged, according to Hossein Ali Heji-Deligani, a member of Iran’s parliament (Majles) for the industrial region of Shahin Shahr in central Iran.

Haji-Deligani, a member of the Judicial Committee of Iran’ Majles, warned Monday that about 3 million people living in the vicinity of a power plant in his constituency are exposed to dangerous amounts of pollutants.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mazut emits 33% more CO2 than natural gas. Iran’s Mazut contains 3.5% sulfur, almost seven times more than acceptable levels for ship fuel –which makes its use in urban areas highly problematic.

Iranian experts have been warning against using Mazut in place of natural gas for some time. But the shortage of natural gas has been severe enough in colder months to put down all environmental (and health) considerations.

In 2021, gas held about 71% share in Iran’s energy supply, according to the International Energy Agency, a 295% rise since 2000.

If that trend continues, experts have warned, Iran may face chronic shortages in the years to come, potentially making it more reliant on imports despite having the second largest natural gas reserves in the world.