US And UK Issue New Sanctions For Iran’s Militants Abroad

During his Monday briefing, he said Iran's continued production of highly enriched uranium remains a major policy concern. The statements came as two confidential reports from the UN's nuclear watchdog were distributed to member states on Monday, providing a grim assessment of Iran's nuclear program.

Persistent obstacles to thorough inspection procedures continue to obscure the true nature of Iran's activities, heightening concerns about the intentions of the Tehran regime.

IAEA head Rafael Grossi said that "public statements made in Iran regarding its technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons" have only increased "concerns about the correctness and completeness of Iran's safeguards declarations".

Iran's enriched uranium stockpile has now exceeded 5.5 tons, representing an increase of one ton since October. Within the stockpile are 712.2 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 20 percent and 121.5 kilograms enriched up to 60 percent. Notably, the latter category has seen a decrease of approximately 7 kilograms over the past hundred days.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran has decided to reduce its stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium over the last three and a half months "by deliberately diluting the material by mixing it with low-grade 2 percent material", noting that it is the first time the International Atomic Energy Agency has reported a quarterly drop in Tehran's highly enriched stockpile since Iran started production.

According to definitions established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran would require a minimum of 42 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent to produce a nuclear bomb.

Iranian authorities have consistently asserted that Iran's nuclear program is solely intended for peaceful purposes. However, nuclear experts overwhelmingly argue that the levels and quantities of enrichment undertaken by Iran since 2021 cannot be justified in the absence of a weapons program.

Central Command, via its official X account, announced the operations, saying, “CENTCOM forces identified the USVs and missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, as well as the UAV over the Red Sea, and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the US Navy ships in the region.”

Iran's longstanding support for the Houthis has come into focus once again. Despite Iranian assertions of the Houthi group's autonomy, recent events suggest Tehran wields substantial influence over their actions.

Analysts point to parallels between the relative decrease in conflicts in Syria and Iraq following targeted attacks on high-ranking Iranian commanders and US airstrikes. This suggests Iran's adeptness in controlling its proxies when deemed necessary.

Despite a temporary hiatus in Houthi attacks earlier in February, recent incidents indicate a resurgence in targeting commercial vessels, including those of British and American origin.

President Biden's warnings over the past three months have failed to deter the intensifying attacks, with the Houthi group expanding its blockade to include ships from the US and the UK, in addition to those linked with Israel, in allegiance with Hamas in its war against Israel.

Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, spamming a Tehran fueled proxy war.

The mission is also scheduled to release its preliminary report on the International Day of Women (March 8).

In his address to the 55th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on Monday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian accused the UN of double standards and criticized it for setting up the fact-finding mission for Iran but not taking any serious action on Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza.

“We will not forget the outcries in this place months ago under the pretext of an Iranian girl’s death and the formation of a so-called fact-finding mission,” he said.

In her address to the same meeting Monday, the German Foreign Minister Anna Baerbock called for extending the mission’s mandate. “I want to be crystal-clear to those who claim that calling out violations is an interference in internal affairs: Human rights are universal. A life is a life,” she said.

Mahmoud Amiri-Moghadam, director of Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization, told Iran International on Monday that it is the outcome of the mission’s investigations that is of great significance and expressed hope that its mandate would be extended for another year.

“The Islamic Republic has always accused human rights organizations and the UN rights bodies of being politically motivated and has never been accountable to them, he said. “But the mission’s report will be a very important message to [Iranian] people who will know the world has heard them …, especially if the mission concludes that [the regime’s actions] were crimes against humanity,” he added.

The UN Human Rights Council voted November 24, 2022, to launch an independent investigation into Iran's deadly repression of peaceful anti-government protests during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. The motion to form the mission passed with 25 votes in favor, six opposed and 16 countries abstaining from the vote. The following month, members of the mission were announced.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022 in the custody of the morality police unleashed a wave of protests across Iran that lasted until February 2023.

During the protests, security forces killed more than 550 civilians including tens of children. Security forces also blinded scores of protesters with shotgun pellet aimed directly at their faces, and tortured many of the tens of thousands of protesters that were arrested. Many of the victims also claim to have been sexually assaulted during interrogations and in prison.

In the past year Iran has also hanged nine protesters despite widespread pleas at home and abroad not to carry out the death sentences after sham trials held behind closed doors and without due process.

Despite these documented atrocities, Tehran almost immediately announced that it did not recognize the fact-finding mission and would not cooperate with it and summoned the German envoy Hans-Udo Muzel to the foreign ministry to protest Berlin’s key role in urging a special Human Rights Council meeting and the formation of the mission.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Javaid Rehman said in November 2023 that the mandate of the mission goes beyond Iran’s human rights violations during 2022 protest crackdown and even extends into the mass execution of political prisoners in 1980s as well as violations of minority rights.

Members of the mission have not been allowed to visit Iran to collect evidence and speak to victims of the violence or their families. The Islamic Republic has also refused to allow UN special rapporteurs on human rights to visit the country since 1992.

The strikes mark a significant escalation, representing attack on targets that are almost 100 kilometers from the traditional front.

Iran provides significant support to Hezbollah, as well as several other groups in the region designated as terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen.

The Israeli military confirmed that the airstrikes targeted Hezbollah's air defenses in the Bekaa Valley in response to the downing of an Israeli drone by Hezbollah using a surface-to-air missile.

In retaliation to the air strikes, Hezbollah launched 60 Katyusha rockets at an Israeli military headquarters heightening tensions in the region amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah said in televised remarks delivered at the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter killed in recent days that "Its [Israel’s] aggression on Baalbek or any other areas will not remain without response."

Lebanese television station Al-Jadeed broadcasted images of smoke rising from the area, depicting the aftermath of the airstrikes. Additionally, an Israeli airstrike targeted a car in southern Lebanon, resulting in at least one death, as reported by Hezbollah's al-Manar TV.

Hezbollah has been actively targeting Israeli border positions since the October 7 raid from the Gaza Strip by its Palestinian ally, Hamas, purportedly in support of Palestinians facing Israeli attacks in Gaza.

Earlier on Monday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for shooting down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone over Lebanese territory.

Led by Major General Tomer Bar, the newly formed Iran unit is a show of force not only to Iran but also to the United States, highlighting concerns over perceived gaps in addressing Iran's nuclear aspirations and its support for terrorism.

The unit's mandate encompasses overseeing military preparations for potential Iranian threats, with a particular emphasis on countering Iran's nuclear ambitions. Moreover, it signals Israel's preparedness to confront Iranian-sponsored terrorism across multiple theaters, including Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

Iran is currently at the helm of a regional proxy war which has seen its militias come out in support of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, in a war which has escalated to draw in international players including the US and UK.

In recent years, Israel has ramped up its airstrikes on Syria in a bid to thwart Tehran's growing reliance on aerial supply routes for delivering arms to its allies in Syria and Lebanon, notably Hezbollah.

The news of the new unit counters claims from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who said last week that Israel's air force lacks the necessary resources to halt Iran's nuclear program through military action amid the two nations' shadow war.

In an interview with The National, Olmert, a long time rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said, "We can destroy their headquarters, important projects, railways, roads, and airports .. Israel can do a lot to damage Iran's infrastructure, but Israel has no means to be able to destroy the nuclear program of Iran."