Iran Non-Oil Exports To EU Dropped By 64% In Past 14 Years

Overpriced ammunition shows the cash-strapped regime is able to charge over the going price as fellow sanctions-hit Russia runs low on supplies.

The 16 pages of top-secret documents, dated September 14, 2022, appears to be for samples of varying sizes of artillery and tank shells and rockets worth just over $1m.

A table on page five of the supplementary section covers samples of ammunition and weapons worth $741,860, including two 125mm barrels for the 2A46M gun of a T72 tank - each barrel priced at $85,750 - and two 122mm barrels for a D-30 Howitzer artillery piece - at a cost per barrel of $54,750.

The supplement also lists parts of ammunition to be sent, including 12 pieces respectively of the "shell body" and "brass case" of 122mm and 152mm ammunition.

The total for just 1,000 rounds adds up to $1,013,100, above market value. Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former army officer, told Sky News he thought this was expensive for such a relatively small quantity. "Let's hope the Iranians are ripping [Vladimir] Putin off,” he said.

Speaking to Sky News, Ukraine’s ambassador in the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, said: "That they're actually talking about simple stuff like the armaments, like ammunition, this is showing that the Russian position is quite difficult indeed."

If true, it is further evidence of Iran’s supporting the war in Ukraine. Several global powers including the US and UK have issued sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with drones on its war in Ukraine which have attacked civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Earlier this year, Sky News also reported allegations that Iran supplied large quantities of bullets and ammunition to Russia via cargo ships on the Caspian Sea in January. The transaction also dated back to September 2022.

Speaking to Sky News, Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, who has spent a lot of time in Ukraine covering the war and is also an expert on Iran, said it would make "perfect sense" for Moscow and Tehran to agree contracts for arms sales. "There was nothing in there that struck me as making it incredible," Mr Watling said, referring to the documents.

"It seemed perfectly reasonable. The timing matched up with when we started to see certain transfers being made. And there were a lot of specific details, like, for example, the use of Swiss jurisdiction for arbitration in the case of a dispute between the parties that also looked quite credible in terms of previous Iranian practice."

Headlined "In the name of Allah", the contract "for the delivery of ammunition" is allegedly between the Ministry of Defence and Logistics of the Armed Forces of Iran and Russia's state military exporting and importing company, JSC Rosoboronexport. The agreement is identified by this number: NoIR-RU-2022 6001/1/NoP/2236478020960.

The document, drawn up in English, is split into sections - each with a numbered article - like any normal contract. Key details are listed like payment for the samples of ammunition - $1,013,100 (£813,000).

An internationally recognised set of regulations and terms that underpin trade deals, known as the INCOTERMS, or International Commercial Terms, are cited - making the covert sale of arms seem almost mundane.

One paragraph reads: "5.9 Right of ownership and risk of loss or damage of the subject of the contract shall be transferred from the supplier to the customer under terms and conditions of FOB/INCOTERMS 2010.”

This section on the transportation of the goods, also reveals the plan was to fly the ammunition samples to Russia from Iran. They must be delivered within 10 working days after payment.

Article eight sets out how the contract is governed by a private codification of international contract law known as the UNIDROIT Principles. These principles are approved by an inter-governmental organisation called the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), which has more than 60 member states, including Iran and Russia but also the UK, the US and other Western allies.

The contract says any dispute that cannot be settled amicably would be dealt with by Swiss arbitration in Zurich, in spite of the fact that Switzerland has imposed sanctions on Iran for the provision of its deadly drones to Russia, wreaking havoc on Ukrainian cities.

Sky News has not been able to verify the authenticity of the documents independently and there has been no official government response from Iran or Russia.

The dispute centres on the International Atomic Energy Agency's years-long investigation into the origin of uranium particles found at three undeclared Iranian sites, most of which appear to have been active around two decades ago.

"We never ever, never ever water down our standards. We stand by our standards, we apply our standards," IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi told a news conference when asked about unusually strong criticism of his agency by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

US intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a nuclear weapons program that it halted in 2003.

The IAEA has long denounced Iranian stonewalling of its investigation, which spurred its 35-nation Board of Governors to pass a resolution last year ordering Iran to comply immediately.

In a report to member states last week, Grossi said Iran had explained depleted uranium traces at one site.

The report, seen by Reuters, said Iran had provided a "possible explanation ... Therefore, the agency at this time has no additional questions on the depleted uranium particles detected at 'Marivan' or on the location, and the matter is no longer outstanding at this stage."

Netanyahu said Iran's explanation was "technically impossible", adding: "The agency's capitulation to Iranian pressure is a black stain on its record."

Grossi suggested on Monday that Iran has been dragging its feet over the re-installation of monitoring equipment that was removed at Tehran's behest a year ago.

"What needs to happen now is a sustained and uninterrupted process that leads to all the commitments contained in the Joint Statement being fulfilled without further delay," Grossi said in a statement to the IAEA board.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan in a statement on Saturday asked its citizens not to travel to Iran.

Baku also asked its citizens who are now in Iran to observe security measures more than before.

In response, Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson of Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said such a policy by Azerbaijan is the same as that of President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, who visited Baku last week.

It was an odd outburst since Israelis cannot and do not travel to Iran as the two countries have no diplomatic ties. Kanaani made a sharp verbal attack on Israel stating that the people of Azerbaijan should be scared of Israel, not Iran.

He further called the Israeli government a "fake regime" and its officials "child killers" in spite of Israel being named the region's only democracy according to Freedom House, while Iran continues to murder civilians for speaking out against the regime.

Tensions have been high between Iran and Azerbaijan since November 2022 when both sides accused each other of engaging in terrorism and espionage.

Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran after an armed attack on its embassy in Tehran in January and then expelled four Iranian diplomats over what it called “provocative actions.

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.

Killed with multiple hammer blows to the head, Rozhin Azimi, was murdered on Saturday in Divandarreh, according to Hengaw Human Rights Organization.

Kurdpa news website confirmed her death saying the father and brother of Rozhin are under arrest.

On Tuesday, news websites also reported the murder of another young woman named Parastou Shahbazi who was also a victim of child marriage.

According to Hengaw and Kurdpa, Shahbazi, 18, from Dehgolan city of Kordestan province, was first hanged by her husband and then her body was stabbed.

Shahbazi's husband is allegedly addicted to drugs, but no information has been published about the motives of the murder.

Iran's Islamic Penal Code stipulates that fathers and paternal grandfathers cannot be sentenced to death for killing a child or grandchild. In such cases the perpetrator may be sentenced to prison and payment of blood money to the next of kin, that is the mother, if demanded. Mothers can also completely forgive the murderer and forego the blood money.

Perpetrators of honor killings are often not brought to justice as most families do not demand harsh punishment for them, particularly if the perpetrator is the victim’s father.

Honor killings are prevalent in some parts of Iran mostly due to societal beliefs and the Islamic Republic’s lax laws and light sentences that encourage the behavior.

The vessel sent a distress call on June 4 while transiting the straits, a relatively narrow waterway controlled in the north by Iran but considered international waters for commercial and naval traffic.

Iran has hundreds of fast attack boats that for years not only have harassed civilian vessels but, on many occasions, have come dangerously close to US and other warships in a show of force.

“The internationally flagged merchant vessel made a radio distress call at 4:56 p.m. local time while transiting the narrow strait. The civilian crew reported three fast-attack craft with armed personnel approached and followed the merchant vessel at close distance. The fast-attack craft were assessed to be from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy,” a US navy statement said.

US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul and UK Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster both received the distress call, and Lancaster launched a helicopter to provide surveillance. US 5th Fleet also directed a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to monitor the scene, the Navy said.

“The situation deescalated approximately an hour later when the merchant vessel confirmed the fast-attack craft departed the scene. The merchant ship continued transiting the Strait of Hormuz without further incident.”

It must be noted, however, that allied navies did not confront the Iranian forces, but simply "monitored" the situation. If fighter jets or attack helicopters had been dispatched, it would have sent a more forceful signal to the IRGC.

The incident followed Iran’s seizure of two commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf waters in May and an announcement by the US to send more naval forces to the region.

“[The] United States will not allow foreign or regional powers to jeopardize freedom of navigation through the Middle East waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz,” National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters on May 12, adding that there is “simply no justification” for Iranian actions to interfere, harass or attack merchant ships.

The Sunday incident also followed an announcement by the United Arab Emirates last week that it has pulled out of a US-led maritime coalition to provide security, which was later denied by the United States. However, Iran was quick to claim victory and announce that a new naval coalition is being formed with regional powers. The US also denied that claim, saying the Iranian statement “defies reason” as the Islamic Republic itself is the greatest threat to maritime security.

Sunday’s action, although not a direct naval confrontation, will reassure littoral countries that have relied on the West, and primarily on the United States, for security in the Persian Gulf.

The region contains some of the world's most important shipping routes where, in 2019, suspected Iranian attacks began against oil tankers amid tensions with the United States as the Trump administration imposed oil export sanctions on Tehran.

But Iran had long been harassing even US Navy vessels with its fast attack boat. The Obama, Trump and Biden administrations chose not to retaliate against Iranian naval provocations over the years or show a convincing military deterrent response.

As Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab power in the region shows signs of adopting a new policy of détente with Iran and close ties with China, the Biden administration feels it has to show that US security guarantees are important for the oil-rich Arab allies.

“US 5th Fleet remains vigilant and is bolstering defense around the key strait with partners to enhance regional maritime security and stability,” the US Navy said in its statement about the Sunday incident.