US Lawmaker Calls Iran’s Detention Of Europeans Final Nail In Coffin Of Any Deal

State Department spokesman Ned Price on Thursday dodged questions about the content of the meetings by European Union’s coordinator of the nuclear talks in the first day of his visit to Tehran, implying that the administration does not have any readout of the visit.

“I am confident that our team will be in touch with Enrique Mora and his team. Of course, he is still on the ground”, he said.

Answering a question about the last communication exchanged between Tehran and Washington, he said that if Iran and the US were able to have direct discussions "we weren’t reliant on a middleman... But regardless, we’re not going to detail a play-by-play".

Saying that the department does not have any updates on the talks to offer, Price emphasized that the administration is of the opinion that a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the JCPOA, “would manifestly be in our national security interest because it would once again put permanent and verifiable limits on Iran’s nuclear program, a program that has been in many ways unconstrained since 2018”.

Talks to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have stalled since March, chiefly over Tehran's insistence that Washington remove the FTO designation of the IRGC, which is the only example of a sovereign state’s armed forces to be included.

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Opinion - On May 12, 2020, the Iranians of Berlin, like other compatriots in various cities in the United States and Europe, intend to take part in a demonstration against the presence of Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, professor of Islam and peace studies at the Oberlin College. Mahallati is the former ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, representing the Iranian government during the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988. While at the UN, Mahallati called the massacre a lie and "political propaganda against the Islamic Republic." In addition, his statements against the Baháʼí Faith and Baha'is of Iranat the United Nations in the early 1980s and his relentless defense of the Islamic Republic's anti-Israel doctrine and policies, its support for Hamas, and its encouragement of students to propagate the BDS campaign (The Boycott, Divestment, Sanction of Israel) further highlight the specific role of this key player of the Iranian government.

Despite the protests of the victims' families and disapproval of the Iranians about the presence of a justifier of a massacre, who had a specific governmental responsibility during the bloodbath of 1988, the University of Oberlin and its president refuse to offer any specific response and even ignore the request to meet the families of the victims of the 1988 Massacre.

It is very disappointing that the authorities of Oberlin College, a role model of culture and art in the United States, support the agent of an anti-cultural Islamic regime that suppresses and executes dissident Iranian artists, writers, and scientists or forces them into exile. Also, Mahallati was representing a regime that has repeatedly held Holocaust cartoon festivals in denial of this historic crime against humanity, and the university administration must condemn these acts.

When the case of Mahallati was brought to attention by the "Justice for Mahallati Victims" campaign in the United States, and the freedom-loving Iranians protested his employment at Oberlin, this story attracted the attention of the Iranian community on the Internet. Some have called the university too liberal, and some called it too conservative.

Oberlin College is one of the oldest universities in the United States and has a unique history. The university was founded in 1833 in Oberlin, Ohio. In 1835, the university officially changed its policy, enrolling a black man as a student for the first time in the United States. The university also awarded a woman a bachelor's degree in 1841, which was unprecedented. From the outset, the University of Oberlin shifted its political stance toward the abolition of slavery and opposition to other racist laws.

The policies of the Oberlin College have always been a point of contention between liberals and conservatives in the United States for more than 170 years. After the election of former US President Donald Trump, the controversy over the socio-political aspects of this college escalated significantly. During Trump's presidency, the far-right media practically portrayed the college as a producer of " Social Justice Warrior", a hint to the university's radical liberal views, and on the other hand, students with leftist and sometimes extremist views challenged the ideas and actions of conservatives with their social activities in the urban space.

This confrontation between the two groups and perspectives, especially in the tense period of the presidency of Donald Trump, given the position of Ohio State and its importance as one of the determining states in the presidential election, intensified to the extent that the Oberlin College became the center of events and this even caused problems in the city. The Gibson Bakery incident, in which a black student fought with the white son of the owner, made headlines in local, state, and even national media. The white son of the owner of the Gibson Bakery chased a black student for stealing two bottles of wine, and the court's case escalated to the point where the social supporters of both sides practically used it for electoral and political purposes.

In addition to the contentious issues between the two campaigns, such as racism, the arrival of immigrants in general, and Latin American immigrants in particular, Islamophobia is one of the issues on which the two sides have always had a dispute over it. To intimidate voters and advance their aims, extremist right-wingers in the United States use the issue of immigrants, especially crimes committed by ISIS or the Iranian clerical rulers, to sensitize society to a danger that is not so real in American society (in comparison with Europe). On the other hand, left-wing radicals go so far that they even downplay the Islamist's crimes in Iran and in the Middle East.

The Islamic Republic's lobby in Washington has always taken advantage of the conflict between these two political poles to whitewash the faces of criminals such as Mahallati, Hossein Mousavian, and Khamenei's fundamentalist representative, Mohammad Ali Elahi, the head of the Iranian Regime's Islamic mosque in Chicago.

The history of NIAC, which is recognized by Iranians living in the United States as the lobby of the Islamic Republic, confirms this tactic of the regime. NIAC's use of left-wing, anti-war groups such as the Code Pink is one example of these tactics. The Iranian government's lobby in the United States has even taken many activists of these left-wing and anti-war groups to Iran by launching travel tours and even publishing their books.

Now, regarding these points, it is noticeable that most Iranians living in the United States, whose main enemy is the Islamic Republic, are inclined toward the right and, sometimes regardless of the consequences of actions and statements by rightist groups, take their side.

Therefore, liberal figures and activists who have a particularly influential position in the management of prestigious universities, seeing the right-wing supporters in Iranian campaigns, are no longer even willing to listen and examine the explanations of the opponents of the Islamic Republic. With their reactionary and one-sided approach, they ignore credible evidence of crimes committed by Iranian government agents who have penetrated their educational institutions. This negligence of universities' liberal officials is pushing Iranians, who have only the support of the far-right media, further to the right, and this vicious circle practically leads to the ineffectiveness of the activities and campaigns of the freedom-loving Iranians. The main winner, of course, is the Islamic Republic and to some extent, the far right, which, takes advantage of sympathies among Iranians to show that liberals don’t care about human rights violation in Iran.

Therefore, in the gathering which takes place in Berlin on May 12, 2022, we will ask highlight the request of the family members of the victims of the 1988 massacre to meet with the President of the Oberlin College, Mrs. Carmen Twillie Ambar.

The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily the views of Iran International

Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced the detention of two European nationals on Wednesday without providing any details about their nationality or how and when they were arrested.

Kohler is the head of the National Federation of Education, Culture and Vocational Training – known by their French abbreviation FNEC FP-FO – that is a trade union representing education and related staff in France.

According to information received by Iran International, Kohler and her husband, who is also a member of the FNEC FP-FO, traveled to Iran as tourists and not on behalf of the organization.

They arrived in Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport on April 29 and stayed in Tehran for two days, and then went to Kashan and Esfahan. The couple were returning to Paris on May 8 when they were arrested.

Their trip to Iran coincided with intensification of Iran’s crackdown on teachers’ protests and union activists over their latest round of widespread rallies which were held on May 1, the international Labor Day.

Considering the activities of the FNEC FP-FO, the couple fits the bill for the scenarios Islamic Republic uses as pretext to arrest foreign nationals.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry alleged in its statement on Wednesday that the two met with members of the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, which has been the organizer of several rounds of nationwide protests since last year. 

Enrique Mora who arrived in Tehran on Tuesday met with Ali Bagheri-Kani and photos published showed a somewhat somber-faced Mora shaking hands with the smiling Iranian diplomat, but with no news about the results of the meeting until late evening in Iran.

In a tweet before the meeting, Iran’s foreign ministry emphasized both circumventing United States’ sanctions and removing them through an agreement. But it warned that Tehran’s “red lines” must be respected in any “lasting and good agreement.”

Fars news website, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, in a long article Wednesday morning, listed all the “violations” and “lack of commitment” by Europeans to the 2015 nuclear agreement, JCPOA, when they failed to honor its economic benefits for Iran.

The article coincided with the announcement that Iran’s intelligence ministry has arrested to “European nationals” for visiting the country to foment unrest, especially among disgruntled teachers. Hardline news websites publishing the news provided no details.

Mora, before departing for Tehran on Tuesday, tweeted that he would be discussing both the revival of the nuclear talks and “other issues”. Iran has been threatening Sweden for the long trial of a former judicial official who was arrested in Stockholm for his alleged role in the killing of thousands of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. A verdict is expected in the case in July and Swedish prosecutors have demanded the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

There is also the case of a former Iranian diplomat who is serving a 20-year prison term in Belgium for organizing a plot to bomb an opposition rally in France. Iran also demands his release.

On Tuesday Tehran ruled out any prisoner exchange with Europe as it says it will execute Hamidreza Djalali, a Swedish Iranian dual citizen, who was arrested in 2016 on a visit to an Iranian university and convicted on alleged “espionage for Israel.”

Therefore, Mora’s visit to Tehran could be as much about prisoners as to find a common ground to jump start the JCPOA talks stalled since mid-March.

However, Iran is facing a worsening economic crisis, as food price inflation accelerated this month and market chaos threatens political instability. To what extent Tehran is willing to risk survival with US sanctions in the absence of a nuclear agreement, is not clear.

Meanwhile, Fars published another article arguing that three foreign visits, starting with the trip of the Polish foreign minister Zbigniew Rau last Saturday, Mora’s visit on Wednesday and the upcoming visit of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, all had a common thread.

Fars argued that Europe needs natural gas in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the main purpose of these dignitaries is to find ways for Iran to export gas to Europe. The theory however has one problem. Iran does not have enough natural gas for its own domestic consumption, and it would take years to inject capital and technology to tap into its vast reserves and achieve a significant volume of exports.

Iran and the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had agreed a three-month plan on March 5 for a series of exchanges for Iran to clarify remaining questions about uranium particles found in old sites kept secret from the IAEA. Following that process, the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi was supposed "to report his conclusion by the June 2022 (IAEA) Board of Governors" meeting, which begins on June 6.

However, Western diplomats have said there is little sign that Tehran has given satisfactory answers to the watchdog.

Talks to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have stalled since March, chiefly over Tehran's insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.

While not technically part of the nuclear deal, one issue causing tension and distrust between Tehran and the West had been Iran's demand for the closure of the International Atomic Energy Agency's investigation into uranium particles found at three apparently old but undeclared sites.

Those sites suggest that Iran had nuclear material there that it did not declare to the agency.

Speaking to the EU parliament, Grossi said he remained extremely concerned by the situation and had told Iran that he found it difficult to imagine that the nuclear deal could be finalized if the IAEA had serious doubts about things that it should have known about.

"I am not trying to pass an alarmist message that we are at a dead end, but the situation does not look very good. Iran has not been forthcoming in the type of information we need from them," Grossi told European Parliament committees via webstream.

It has been four years since Israel revealed it had stolen old nuclear archives from a warehouse near Tehran, renewing accusations that Iran was secretly developing plans to build nuclear weapons. The IAEA has been long trying to get a full explanation from Tehran after it was allowed an inspection of the sites and traces of radioactive material was found.

The EU's Iran nuclear talks coordinator Enrique Mora arrives in Tehran on Tuesday in what he has described as the last bullet to save the diplomatic process to revie the 2015 nuclear deal, which also includes Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.

The Iranian government still says it stands on its “red lines” and demands lifting of US sanctions not directly related to the nuclear dispute. Pundits in Iran are pessimistic over Mora’s chances of making a breakthrough in his visit to Tehran.

Western officials have largely lost hope that it can be resurrected, sources familiar with the matter said, forcing them to weigh how to limit Iran's atomic program even as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has divided the big powers.

In the absence of an agreement to revive the JCPOA, Iran's economy has been gripped by chaos of rising food prices and possible political instability.

"We are, of course, still hopeful that some agreement is going to be reached within a reasonable time frame, although we have to recognise the fact that the window of opportunity could be closed any anytime," Grossi said.

Based on reporting by Reuters