Over half of the US House of Representatives have written to President Joe Biden urging coordination with allies on stricter measures to deter Iran in pursuit of its nuclear program.
In their letter released by the Jewish Insider on Monday, 249 lawmakers, including 133 Democrats and 116 Republicans, expressed concerns over the regime’s ability to enrich uranium to the weapons-grade level in a matter of days.
They cited a March report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about particles of uranium enriched to the 83.7% level, just below the 90% level generally considered to be needed to produce nuclear weapons, and remarks by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl about Iran being able to enrich enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb in as little as 12 days.
“The United States must increase its efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capability and to communicate to Iran, without any ambiguity, that any further progress in its nuclear program will result in severe consequences,” the letter reads.
Calling for coordination with US allies “to implement the snapback mechanism embedded in UN Security Council Resolution 2231 should Iran advance its uranium enrichment past the 90% weapons-grade threshold," they said such a coordination "would send a powerful message of our unified commitment to deterring Iran’s nuclear program” as well as the message that Iran “would not be able to reap the benefits of international sanctions relief if it operates outside of its nuclear commitments.
They also voiced worries beyond Iran’s nuclear program, mentioning Tehran’s ever-closer ties with Russia and China, quoting US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley as calling the China-Iran-Russia relationship a problem for the US “for many years to come.” “This strengthened alliance bolsters the Iranian regime's confidence and may make them more likely to challenge US allies and interests,” read the letter.
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) told Iran International’s Arash Alaei that “President Biden has made very clear that we cannot allow Iran... to have nuclear weapons.”
With the JCPOA, "at least we had better eyes, combined with Russia and China, on Iran's activities. We need to do all we can to prevent (Iran from getting nukes). This is a very dangerous part of the world," he added.
Following reports that the Biden administration is working on an unwritten agreement with the Islamic Republic, US lawmakers at the House and the Senate have moved to further restrict the White House in its dealings with Iran, or at least force the administration to keep the Congress on the loop.
Last week, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution to make some punitive measures against Iran permanent. The bipartisan bill called Solidifying Iran Sanctions Act of 2023, has the potential to make the 1996 sanctions against Iran – or several other measures -- permanent by deleting the 'sunset clause' in any action against the Islamic Republic, a provision that provides an expiry date for a measure.
In his weekly media briefing, spokesman Nasser Kanaani repeated the Iranian regime’s narrative of “decades of crimes” by the United States.
“Iran’s approach to America emanates from their hostile behavior, and as long as America’s behavior does not fundamentally change, it is natural that Iran’s attitude toward America remains the same,” Kanaani announced.
He was speaking in the context of improving relations with neighboring countries and reports of secret talks and even an ‘understanding’ with the United States.
The reality that Tehran and Washington have been holding mediated talks in Oman, Qatar and even having direct contacts in New York is all but certain. Numerous media reports and statements by Israeli officials have pointed to a possible unwritten deal, whereby the US would allow the release of Iran’s frozen funds in exchange for some temporary restraint in uranium enrichment.
The Biden administration has denied any such “interim deal” but few believe that some kind negotiation is not taking place behind the scenes.
Kanaani also added that Tehran does not link its foreign policy and pursuit of national interests to relations with any one country or one issue, referring to the United States and the dispute over its nuclear program.
However, Kanaani also spoke about exchanging prisoners, an issue that Washington has hinted is a subject of talks and can reduce tensions and possibly open the way for more agreements.
The Iranian spokesman said that the United States should free Iranian citizens that “the American regime has jailed based on various false excuses related to violating sanctions.” Kanaani said that US sanctions in essence are illegal, and Iran has been trying for years to free these prisoners.
The Iranian regime is currently holding three American dual-nationals hostage based on trumped-up charges of spying and after bogus trials without due process of law. On the other hand, individuals arrested in the US for violating sanctions have received the benefits of full and transparent trials.
Kanaani claimed that in the past and in different periods certain agreements were reached with Washington through intermediaries but when it came to implementation the US was not ready to make decisions. He confirmed that currently talks are taking place with the help of parties that have “goodwill” in this regard, but “we need to see if America is ready to make decisions or not.”
Earlier this month, the Biden administration allowed Iraq to release $2.7 billion it owed Iran for energy imports – part of a larger amount in Iraqi banks. This was seen as a gesture to reach a deal on prisoners, but so far nothing has been finalized.
It is not clear if the released funds will be made available to Tehran in cash US dollars or in credits that Iran can use to import food and medicine. No details were announced about the $2.7 billion released by Iraq. South Korea holds another $7 billion and apparently the unresolved issues in prisoner exchange revolves around these funds and how Iran can access the money.
At the same time, it is perhaps inevitable that release of the frozen funds and exchange of prisoners become entangled with the nuclear issue, especially if an interim deal is being discussed.
According to a confidential letter leaked by the hacktivist group ‘Uprising till Overthrow' on Sunday, Ali Shamkhani wrote that investigations over human rights violations during the crackdown on protests since September 2022 could even lead to revelations about other older incidents in Iran, such as the mass executions in the 1980s.
In the letter, Shamkhani said that such a mission had only been formed for countries struggling with crises and civil unrest such as Syria, Libya and Sudan, noting that the creation of this mission has a connotation that Iran is also struggling with serious problems.
Despite Shamkhani’s list of suggestions to prevent the initiative at the UN, the fact-finding mission was finally launched.
In its resolution S35/1, "on the deteriorating situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially with respect to women and children," adopted in November 2022, the Human Rights Council decided to establish an independent international fact-finding mission.
The mandate of the mission was to thoroughly and independently investigate human rights violations in Iran related to the protests that began in September 2022, after a 22-year-old woman was killed in police custody. The mission was also mandated to engage with all relevant stakeholders, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, as well as relevant United Nations entities.
Shamkhani, in his letter, suggested that Iran should invite Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, Clément Nyaletsossi.
Shamkhani said that a visit by the rapporteur may lead to negative reports but also positive ones as the regime could argue that “thousands” of rallies were held without any clashes.
The leaked documents do not provide an insight on what the response was from Khamenei's office.
In recent months there were rumors about Shamkhani stepping aside as hardliners blamed him for failure to suppress the protests. In video-taped remarks released on the internet in November, former lawmaker Hamid Rasaei, a hardliner cleric, accused him of failing to quash protests.
The conjecture was further confirmed after the hacktivist group hacked into 120 servers at the presidential office, getting access to internal communications, minutes of meetings, President Ebrahims Raisi’s online conference platforms and about 1,300 computers inside the office.
Among the released documents, there is correspondence between the president’s office and the office of Shamkhani, confirming rumors that he stepped down over conflicts with the Raisi administration.
In one letter addressed to Shamkhani, the president's chief of staff, Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, criticized the security chief for a lack of insight into the protests. With a condescending tone, Esmaili rebuked Shamkhani’s office for “merely describing and analyzing the events,” asking him to provide “meta-analyses and predictions” about the developments regarding the protests.