Elon Musk Seeks Sanctions Exemptions To Provide Starlink To Iranians

Using commercially available data, the Commerce Department identified Boeing 747s operated by Mahan Air, Qeshm Fars Air and Iran Air transporting goods, including electronic items, to Russia in apparent violation of stringent US export controls on Russia related to its invasion of Ukraine. These are the first three Iranian airplanes identified, the department said.

The department has warned that any refueling, maintenance, repair, spare parts or services violate US export controls and subject companies to US enforcement actions.

Iran has publicly announced its intention to expand cooperation with Russia in the aviation sector by providing spare parts for its airplanes, the Commerce Department said.

The US and Ukraine have said that Iran has already provided military drones to Russia that are being used in the war.

With the additions, there were 183 aircraft on the list for apparent violations of US export controls. The three Iranian airlines identified Monday were already subject to a variety of restrictions by the US government.

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod said US "controls, especially on items such as electronics and aircraft parts, have degraded Russia’s defense industrial base, severely restricted their access to the world economy."

"When Russia seeks to engage pariah states like Iran in order to backfill for what the international community has cut off, we will take action to thwart such attempts and disrupt such connections," he added.

Reporting by Reuters

Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that Mahsa Amini “should be alive today,” referring to the 22-year-old who was arrested on September 13 by the religious police for her loose hijab and two hours later delivered to a hospital in coma.

“Instead, the United States and the Iranian people mourn her. We call on the Iranian government to end its systematic persecution of women and allow peaceful protest,” Blinken wrote.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also tweeted about Mahsa Amini’s death, saying “Her death is unforgiveable. We will continue to hold Iranian officials accountable for such human rights abuses,” adding the trending hashtag of #MahsaAmini.

But as protests unfolded in several Iranian cities and towns on Monday and the center of the capital Tehran was the scene of thousands of protesters confronted with ninja-like anti-riot police, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, sanctioned for his culpability in human rights violations, stepped down from his plane into US soil in New York.

Iranian activists and US lawmakers had urged the administration for weeks to deny a visa to Raisi and his large entourage, but the White House still entangled in nuclear talks with Tehran apparently had issued the permission long ago.

Hundreds of people left comments on these tweets, saying that mere expression of sorrow or support are not sufficient, and the United States should do more to show it supports Iranians. Many also commented that Riaisi should not have been given a visa to go the New York to attend the UN General Assembly.

An Iranian, Nasim Behrous replied to Sec. Blinken, “Iranians know very well that such tweets are just a political gesture with no practical effect and deep down you are also aware that the Iranians’ desire are not peaceful demonstrations & ease on women’s rights, but overthrowing the regime. You absolute double-dealer!”

Another Twitter user replied to Blinken saying that Mahsa Amini’s “blood is on your hands too,” for negotiating with the Islamic Republic with the possible end result of lifting sanctions, “sending them money so they could afford more suppression.”

A few Republican lawmakers opposed to a nuclear deal with Iran also criticized the administration.

“As Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrives in the United States on a visa granted to him by the Biden Administration, the American people stand with the brave Iranians who are coming together once again to protest the regime’s brutality,” Rep, Claudia Tenney tweeted. Sen Tom Cotton also tweeted against granting a visa to President Raisi.

The European Union’s External Action arm of the Diplomatic Service issued a statement condemning Mahsa Amini’s death. “What happened to her is unacceptable and the perpetrators of this killing must be held accountable,” the statement said on Monday.

France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monday also condemned the arrest and violence that lead to Amini's death. In a statement, the ministry said that her death at the hands of Iran's morality police is "profoundly shocking" and called for a transparent investigatiion.

Raisi has dismissed any suggestion of meeting or speaking with Joe Biden in New York, as the US President also will be at the United Nations on Wednesday when both are scheduled to deliver speeches. Iran has refused to have any direct contact with American officials during 17 months nuclear talks held in Vienna and elsewhere. The EU acts as the mediator in the talks.

Catherine Colonna said on the sidelines of the United Nations' General Assembly in New York that "There will not be a better offer on the table and it's up to Iran to take the right decisions," adding that there are no initiatives underway to unblock the situation. 

She reiterated that it was up to Tehran to decide now because the window to find a solution was closing.

She added that the United States and its European partners have similar positions on Iran’s demand for the International Atomic Energy Agency to drop its probe over uranium traces at three previously undeclared sites in Iran, the contentious issue that seems to be stalling a final agreement. 

In two separate interviews ahead of leaving Monday for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, where President Ebrahim Raisi is due to speak this week, he said Iran is ready to revive the agreement given guarantees that the United States and Europe will uphold it.

“If there were guarantees, then the Americans could not withdraw from the deal,” Raisi said. “The Americans broke their promises, they did it unilaterally…We cannot trust the Americans because of the behavior we have already seen from them.”

Throughout Monday fierce protests took place in Western Iranian cities and towns mainly in Kordestan (Kurdistan) Province, after a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini died Friday from severe brain injury at the hands of the Islamic religious police for her improper hijab.

Mahsa Amini was from the Kurdish majority town of Saqqez who visited Tehran last week where she was detained and assaulted by the hijab police. She was taken to hospital on September 13 in a coma and died on Friday.

Police forces fired at protesters in Divandarreh, Kordestan, where at least 10 people were injured, and there were clashes in Saqqez on Monday.

At the same time, people in Tehran and the central city of Esfahan (Isfahan) began protests with bouts of clashes with security forces.

There were also large gatherings on some university campuses in the capital, where Revolutionary Guard’s Basij members attacked congregating students. In one video, a group of students stand outside the office of their university’s cleric, most probably the representative of the Supreme Leader at the university, chanting “Mullahs Must Get Lost” as the cleric is watching them through his window.

There were also strikes in Kurdish populated areas and people send videos to Iran International showing security forces firing and residents opening their doors to shelter protesters.

Protests in Tehran came to an end in the night, but local reporters said that both size of the crowd and their determination to resist the security forces were unexpected. One reporter estimated that at least 10,000 people had gathered in Tehran's center.

Below, we offer our readers a glimpse of event that took place on Monday. We will resume live coverage of events on Tuesday. Our current coverage ended at 01:00 Theran time, September 20.

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Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights group, reported late on Monday local time that six protesters, including four teenagers, were injured by security forces in Mahabad, a Kurdish majority city of around 170,000 in West Azarbaijan Province.

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23:10 Local time - Iran International has learned that a protester shot by security forces in Saqqez, Kordestan Province today has died of his injuries. Saqqez is the hometown of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died on Friday of injuries she received in police custody.

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23:00 Local time - Iranian reporters in Tehran say that mobile internet is down in the capital amid anti-government protests. The government frequesntly interrupts internet connection during protests to prevent news and videos from reaching the outside world and also hindering communication among residents.

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The European Union’s External Action arm of the Diplomatic Service has issued a statement condemning the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last week. “What happened to her is unacceptable and the perpetrators of this killing must be held accountable,” the statement said on Monday.

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21:40 Local time - Protesters in Tehran have remained on Keshavarz Boulevard and are still chanting against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. They torched one of the motorbikes used by the anti-riot police in the area.

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21:30 Local time - Kurdpa, a Kurdish rights group, has identified two of the four protesters killed by security forces in Divandarreh in Kordestan Province as Fouad Ghadimi and Mohsen Mohammadi. Both men passed away in hospital in Sanandaj, capital of the province, this evening.

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21:10 Local time update - In the religious city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran protesters who took to the Mellat Park and streets of Vakilabad district earlier today are chanting “Down with the Dictator”, “Our IRIB (state broadcaster), Shame on you!”, “May your soul rest in peace Reza Shah” and “We don’t want to wear headscarves”. Mashhad is Iran's second-most populous city with a population of over 3 million and home to the shrine of the eight imam of Shiites. President Ebrahim Raisi who hails from Mashhad is son-in-law of Ahmad Alamolhoda, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the Khorasan Razavi.

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Some social media reports say security forces fired at people in Rasht and a protester has been shot. Protests began in Rasht, capital of northern province of Gilan, earlier this afternoon and have continued into the evening.
Protesters in Rasht who took to the city’s main square have been chanting “Shame on you Khamenei, Leave the country alone”, “Death to Khamenei”, and “We don’t want Islamic rule” and telling the Basij militia to “get lost”.

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Earlier on Monday students of several major universities in the capial, including Tehran University, staged rallies and marches inside university campuses. “We are all Mahsas, “Fight us and we will fight back [till we win]”, students of Tehran University shouted. Students also chanted against the IRGC’s Basij militia and clashed with Basijis.

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18:15 Local time - Social media users have posted photos and videos of women in Tehran who removed their headscarves and waved them in the air and a motorcycle belonging to security forces burning on the corner of one of the streets.

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In Divandarreh, a small town of around 25,000 in Kordestan Province, security forces opened fire on protesters and used tear gas around mid-day. An informed source told Iran International that at least four people have been killed as security forces opened fire with live bullets at protesters in the city of Divandarreh in the western Kurdistan province.

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18:00 Local time - Protests in Tehran began from Hijab Street off Keshavarz Boulevard in central Tehran as announced by women’s rights activists Sunday evening. A video taken at Keshavarz Boulevard near Tehran University, shows police and special forces violently shoving protesters and hitting them with batons to disperse them.

“Down with the Dictator” and “We will kill the ones who killed our sister”,thousands of protesters chanted in Tehran.

"We believe in the necessity of using political approaches and solutions to end conflicts and reduce tension and political dialogues to resolve the differences between the two countries," the ministry’s spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters at his weekly press briefing in Tehran.

Kanaani said Iran did not spare any efforts to help end the conflict after border clashes broke out between its northwestern neighbors Tuesday and said the Iranian president spoke with Armenian Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan while foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held a phone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart to resolve the situation.

“Escalation of tensions and instability in South Caucasus will not serve the interests of any of the involved and neighboring countries. What can solve the crisis is dialogue between the two countries and the use of regional capacities to stabilize the region," he added while stressing that Tehran considers any other approach “provocative”.

Iran has to an extent supported Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan and has warned that it would not allow any seizure of territory from Armenia proper by Baku. Tehran in the past has also expressed alarm at alleged Israeli military presence in Azerbaijan. Amir-Abdollahian also warned in October 2021that Iran would not tolerate "geopolitical change" in the region and at its borders.

In response to a question about US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Armenia and her expression of support for Yerevan, callingBaku an occupier, and American presence in the Caucasus, Kanaani reiterated that Iran viewsthis issue within the framework of Tehran’s afore-declared “principled political view of the developments in the South Caucasus and the conflict”.

Pelosi on Sunday said it was obvious that the border fighting was triggered by Azeri assaults on Armenia and that the chronology of the conflict should be made clear and pledged American support for Armenia’s sovereignty.

Pelosi's candid support for Yerevan has hugely angered Baku, which Armenia says has occupied some of its territories when the border clashes broke out a week ago.

The Armenian Prime Minister has accused Baku of attacking Armenian towns to avoid negotiating over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave inside Azerbaijani territory, while Azerbaijan accuses its neighbor of carrying out intelligence activity along the border and moving weapons and attacking it's military positions along the border.

Speaker of Armenia’s parliament, Alen Simonyan, last week criticised the response of a Russian-led military alliance to Yerevan's request for help. Russia, which operates a military base in Armenia, sent thousands of peacekeepers to the region in 2020 as part of a deal to end six weeks of hostilities during which Azerbaijan make significant territorial gains in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nearly 300 people were killed, and dozens were injured in the recent conflict which marked a major escalation in the 2020–2022 Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis.

The escalation of decades-old hostilities between the south Caucasus countries has fuelled fears that a second full-fledged war could break out in the post-Soviet world in addition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.