G7 Urges Iran To Stop Nuclear Escalation And Arms For Russia
G7 foreign ministers meeting in Japan reiterated Tuesday that Iran “must never develop nuclear weapons,” and urged Tehran in a communique to cease nuclear escalation.
G7 foreign ministers meeting in Japan reiterated Tuesday that Iran “must never develop nuclear weapons,” and urged Tehran in a communique to cease nuclear escalation.
“We call on Iran to fulfil its legal obligations and political commitments regarding nuclear non-proliferation without further delay,” G7’s final communique said.
The G7 minister also expressed concern over Iran’s “destabilizing activities” in the region and transfer of weapons to Russia.
The United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany are the original signatories of the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran that restricted its nuclear program in exchange for suspension of international sanctions.
However, after US withdrawal from the deal in 2018 and imposition of sanctions, Tehran announced it will not be bound by JCPOA limitations and began enriching uranium at higher levels than set in the agreement.
Russia and China, Iran’s traditional allies, were also JCPOA signatories, but they put the onus of the deadlock on the United States, urging Washington to end its sanctions against Iran.
Subsequent negotiations in 2021 and 2022 to revive the JCPOA reached a deadlock last September, as Iran contuse to enrich uranium at the dangerously high 60-percent purity. Western government and experts say that it would be relatively easy and fast for Iran to enrich at 90 percent needed for producing a nuclear bomb. Iran has amassed enough enriched uranium at 60-percent that it can now further refine the stockpile and build two bombs.
“We remain deeply concerned about Iran’s unabated escalation of its nuclear program, which has no credible civilian justification and brings it dangerously close to actual weapon-related activities,” the G7 top diplomats said.
However, the G7 said that diplomacy remains their preferred path toward an agreement with Iran.
After talks broke down last year, Washington said that Tehran had balked at accepting a European Union compromise draft agreement and had presented “extraneous demands.”
Iran also has a major disagreement with UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over its secret nuclear activities more than two decades ago and has failed to provide satisfactory answers to the international watchdog.
The west had a chance to censure the Islamic Republic in IAEA’s board meeting in early March, but days before the meeting the Agency’s head Rafael Grossi decided to travel to Tehran and seek an agreement.
The result was that the two sides announced a deal for quick cooperation and Grossi returned with a “peace in our times” paper claiming his trip was not a failure.
Since then there has been no news of a follow-up or meetings between IAEA experts and Iranian officials to pursue a resolution to technical matters.
The G7 communique referred to this issue, once again asking Tehran to cooperate, while in March it decided not to censure Iran.
“We take note of Iran’s stated readiness to provide the IAEA with further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues, and its agreement to allow the IAEA to implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities,” G7 ministers stated.
One reason the United States has put nuclear talks on ice is Iran’s supply of weapons to Russia.
“Iran must stop supporting the Russian military in its war of aggression. In particular, we call upon Iran to cease transferring armed UAVs, which have been used in Ukraine,” G7 demanded, and also brought up Tehran’s human rights violations.
“We reiterate our profound concern over Iran’s systemic human rights violations and abuses, especially with Iran’s efforts to oppress peaceful dissent through threats and intimidation.”
Iran International has obtained information that Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and his aide Jamaleddin Aberoumand pushed former governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Ali Salehabadi, out of office to pave the way for stepping up financial support for proxy forces under the command of IRGC’s Quds force (Qods) Force -- a division responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations.
Both Ghalibaf and Aberoumand were senior officers in the Revolutionary Guard. While Ghalibaf was once commander of IRGC’s air force, Aberoumand is an IRGC brigadier general who was a former deputy commander for the outfit’s coordination affairs.
Aberoumand was also the head of IRGC Bonyad Cooperative, an entity also known as the Cooperative Foundation of the Revolutionary Guard and under US Treasury Department sanctions since December 2010. He was apparently in charge of paying the salaries of Quds Force militias.
According to Iran International’s investigative reporter Mojtaba Pourmohsen, the duo coordinated their efforts with at least four other officials. Head of the parliament’s presidium Amir-Ebrahim Rasouli as well as other conservative lawmakers Mohsen Dehnavi, Mostafa Mir-Salim, and Elias Naderan helped Ghalibaf in his plot.
Sources said that Salehabadi was resisting increased payments to Quds forces in the region, but after he was out of the picture, about $400 million was paid to the IRGC’s extraterritorial wing.
The push for more money for the foreign-based military forces was not a selfless act at all, as Iran International sources revealed in February that Ghalibaf and Aberoumand appropriated parts of the salaries that the IRGC meant to pay to its militias in countries such as in Syria and Yemen.
Aberoumand – and probably other IRGC commanders working with him – reported much higher salary expenses to the government and pocketed the difference. The IRGC source told Iran International that they overcharge the government to the tune of $500-1000 per month per fighter. The amount lost in the alleged corruption scheme runs into hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Calls to remove Salehabadi mounted after the national currency rial hit new lows in December, but after he was removed the fall continued to a historic low of over 600,000 against the US dollar in February. Sending dollars abroad to finance Iran-backed militias reduces the supply of foreign currency in the country, and contributes to the devaluation of the rial against the dollar.
The Islamic Republic pays different amounts to its Quds forces and proxy militias in different countries of the region, with monthly payments in Syria and Iraq being higher than the forces in Yemen and way lower than the forces in Lebanon. According to unconfirmed reports, the Quds force has more than 200,000 forces across the Middle East although the number the IRGC is eager to admit is about half of that.
Zainebiyoun Brigade -- recruited mainly from Shia Pakistanis living in Iran – and Fatemiyoun Brigade – recruited from Afghan refugees in Iran and Afghanistan – were formed in 2014 to fight in Syria along with President Bashar al-Assad forces. These forces, along with Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon are in fact employed and regularly paid by the IRGC.
A senior IRGC commander, who talked to Iran International on condition of anonymity, says the Fatemiyoun, Zainebiyoun and Houthis were paid a monthly salary of $700 in 2018 but the figure has been reduced in recent years. By 2022, the militiamen are paid about $100 to $200 per month. According to this information, Hezbollah fighters receive the highest salaries among the proxy forces, at about $1,300 per month, and the Yemeni Houthis receive $100 a month. Forces within the ranks of Lebanese Hezbollah recently received a $125 bonus for the fasting month of Ramadan.
Tensions have been high between Iran and Azerbaijan since November 2022 when both sides accused each other of engaging in terrorism and espionage. Iran has also suggested Azerbaijani involvement in the October 26 attack in Shiraz claimed by the Islamic State group (Isis-Daesh).
While some pundits allege that Tehran is awaiting a wrong move by Azerbaijan to attack the country, international relations expert Ali Bigdeli in Tehran told Rouydad 24 news website that the possibility of military conflict between Tehran and Baku is “nil” while criticizing Russia for “silence” over the situation given its close relations with both.
Tehran has also accused Baku of harboring Israeli intelligence and military elements that plan to use its territory in a possible attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities. “The [Azerbaijani] soil is a base for Israel from where it can threaten Iran's security,” Bigdeli said.
He pointed out that Israel has succeeded in “infiltrating” not only Azerbaijan but also other countries including Iran's neighbor Turkmenistan and Central Asian states. At the same time, Shia Iran's attempts to create “centers of resistance” in Azerbaijan where, unlike its Sunni rulers, 60 percent of the population are Shiites irritates Baku.
Around a quarter of Iran’s population is Azari, with analysts and activists disagreeing over the closeness of their cultural-linguistic links to their neighbors to the north.
Hamed Khosroshahi, a Caucasus region researcher in Tehran, expressed a similar view about the possibility of war between Tehran and Baku in an interview with Donya-ye Eghtesad daily. The possibility of war is near zero because both Iran and Azerbaijan are aware that that they have ties that cannot be altered.
Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan enclave bordering Iran needs to procure gas and oil through Iran on the one hand and Iran's dependence on transit to Russia through Azerbaijan, are important factors he said. “The two sides know that they should not allow tensions rise beyond a certain level.”
While saying that the two countries are currently “appraising” their military power, Vali Khalaji, Caucasus region and Central Asia analyst in Tehran, said escalation of tensions would not necessarily end in war and could instead result in “relaxation of tensions” given factors including interdependent transit needs.
Current tensions are closely tied to the recent escalation between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan on Friday accused Azerbaijan of preparing for military escalation. Baku vehemently denies the charge while accusing Yerevan of violating the Prague and Sochi agreements.
A transit corridor through Syunik province of Armenia which Azerbaijan is demanding to secure access to its Nakhichevan Autonomous region without Armenian checkpoints will disconnect Iran from its de facto ally and trade partner Armenia.
Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov met with Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Friday and among other topics, according to Armen Press, discussed “unblocking of all economic and transport links in the region” and the Nagorno Karabakh issue.
Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran afteran armed attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran in January and earlier this month expelled four Iranian diplomats over what it called “provocative actions” which may refer to Iran's several military drills along the border with Azerbaijan in the past year including the latest in October.
Fresh skirmishes at Armenian-Azerbaijani border earlier this week left a total of seven deaths from both sides in one day around the contested Nagarno-Karabakh region. The Islamic Republic says it is neutral in the conflict, but it apparently backs its de facto ally Armenia and has warned it would not tolerate changes to international borders.