Trump pick for Israel envoy says Iran-backed groups must be eliminated

The resolution seeks to formally rebuke Tehran over its failure to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog and urges the Islamic Republic to take appropriate steps in this regard, a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Iran International on Monday.

The decision by the US and its European allies to move forward with the censure resolution comes despite Iran's threat to retaliate if such a resolution is adopted.

"If the IAEA Board of Governors passes a censure resolution against Iran, the Islamic Republic will undoubtedly take reciprocal action and implement new measures in its nuclear program, which they will certainly not like," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the state TV on Saturday.

The IAEA Board of Governors will convene its regular November meeting in Vienna at 10:30 CET on Wednesday, 20 November. Board discussions are expected to include verification and monitoring in Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015) as well as the NPT safeguards agreement with Tehran, according to an IAEA press release.

The meeting will be held one week after the IAEA director general met Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran. In the meeting, Pezeshkian said Iran was prepared to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog to clear up "alleged ambiguities about the peaceful nuclear activity of our country".

Iran allowed Grossi and his team to tour Fordow and Natanz, two key nuclear sites, on Friday apparently in hopes that it would convince the Board of Governors not to move forward with the censure resolution. However, that strategy does not seem to have worked.

“Iran has not fulfilled its obligations under the NPT and Safeguards Agreements. The recent visit of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Tehran has not changed this assessment," the German foreign ministry spokesperson told Iran International.

Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, Britain, the US, and Venezuela are the 35 members of the Board of Governors for 2024-2025.

According to the Rules and Procedures of the Board of Governors, decisions on most matters require a simple majority vote of the Members present and voting. However, certain key decisions, such as those related to the Agency's budget, the appointment of the Director General, and the reconsideration of proposals or amendments, require a two-thirds majority vote.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police informed Cotler on October 28 that he was at imminent risk of assassination within 48 hours, from two Iranian agents, according to an anonymous source speaking to the newspaper.

The veteran campaigner, who as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, launched Canada's first National Justice Initiative against Racism and Hate, has been under 24/7 protection from the RCMP since last year’s October 7 attacks in Israel by Iran-backed Hamas.

The Globe and Mail reported that The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) told him that he was a high-profile target of Iran, and as such, he was given protection including bulletproof vehicles and heavily armed officers.

Cotler, an international human-rights lawyer and parliamentarian from 1999 until 2015, has criticized Iran for its conduct in the 2020 downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, in which 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents were among the 176 people killed. The airliner was shot down as it was taking off from Tehran with two missiles fired by the IRGC air defense forces.

He has also been vocally against Tehran’s support of groups designated as terrorists be governments, including Hamas, after the October 7 attacks in Israel which killed over 1,100 mostly civilians and saw more than 250 people taken hostage to Gaza.

Dozens of such plots have been foiled around the world in the last two years, in countries including the UK, US and Europe, as Iran tries to assassinate Jewish and Israeli targets, in addition to dissidents abroad. US authorities have also accused Tehran of being behind plots to kill President-elect Donald Trump and his former top officials.

Earlier this year, Canada, which severed diplomatic ties with Iran over a decade ago, joined the US in branding Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist group, as plots continue to emerge globally.

Cotler also campaigned since 2008 to have the IRGC designated a terrorist entity.

This month, in one of the highest profile cases, the US Justice Department charged Farhad Shakeri, accused of being an Iranian government asset, in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran’s IRGC to kill Trump.

The measures aim to curb Iran’s ability to facilitate drone, missile, and military technology transfers.

The European Union added the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its director, Mohammad Reza Khiabani, to its sanctions list, accusing the company of transporting drones and military equipment for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Ports, including Amirabad and Anzali, were also named, with sanctions prohibiting transactions unless for humanitarian needs. The EU's measures also include restrictions on Russian shipping companies accused of carrying Iranian-made arms to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“This additional measure is targeted to the use of vessels and ports for the transfer of Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), missiles, and related technologies and components,” read a statement released after the EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels.

Britain also announced on Monday that it has imposed sanctions on Iran’s national airline and shipping carrier, citing Iran’s transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia as the reason for the measures.

The sanctions target Iran Air, the state-owned airline, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), freezing their assets due to their involvement in supplying weapons to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.

“Iran’s attempts to undermine global security are dangerous and unacceptable,” said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

“We reiterate our call on Iran to cease its support for Russia's illegal war in Ukraine.”

As part of the sanctions, Iran Air’s direct commercial flights to and from the UK will face further restrictions. Britain also sanctioned the Russian cargo ship Port Olya-3 for its role in transporting military supplies to Russia.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the allegations on Sunday, saying that Iran has not transferred ballistic missiles to Russia, referencing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s acknowledgment of the same. However, EU and US officials have maintained that evidence supports ongoing negotiations and weapons transfers.

However, EU and US officials maintain they have evidence of ongoing negotiations and transfers.

These new measures build on previous EU sanctions, including actions against Iranian airlines accused of transporting military equipment. In recent months, European officials have described Iranian-made UAVs and potential ballistic missile deliveries as escalating threats to European security.

The new measures are part of a wider strategy to economically and diplomatically isolate Iran. In September, the United States, citing intelligence shared with its allies, reported that Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran for use in its ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In response, Washington imposed sanctions on the vessels and companies involved in facilitating the weapons transfers.

While the EU and the UK seek to curtail Iran’s military influence, Iranian officials argue the sanctions lack a legal or moral foundation and threaten to deepen Iran’s alignment with Russia, further entrenching the complex dynamics of the Ukraine conflict.

The case was filed in the US District Court by families of those killed on October 7 in addition to families of those killed fighting in Gaza in the ensuing war sparked by the Iran-backed group which the US has designated as a terrorist organization.

The case details Iran’s funding of Hamas, one of many groups the Islamic Republic backs for the purpose of destroying the Jewish state.

In addition to documents seized in Gaza since the fighting, lawyers for the plaintiffs have obtained original documents which refer to a secret planning meeting of a small group of Hamas’s political and military leaders in December 2022.

The New York Times, which has independently reviewed the documents, said that during the meeting, Yahya Sinwar, the assassinated Gaza-based leader of the group, requested an additional $7 million a month from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to fund the attack, which he termed the “big project.”

Two lawyers in the case, Gary Owen and Lee Wolosky, said: “Hard, incontrovertible evidence of who funded Hamas is now becoming available in the form of documents, bank records, and the like, and we intend to hold those parties accountable, in the courts of the United States or elsewhere, for however long it takes.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is also named in the lawsuit as having been key in coordinating between Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran’s largest militia which launched attacks on Israel on October 8.

Other groups named in the lawsuit and also backed by Iran are Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, all of which have been designated foreign terrorist organizations by the US.

On October 7, the single most deadly day for Jews since the Holocaust, over 1,100 mostly civilians were murdered, including 46 Americans. Another 251 people were taken hostage to Gaza, 101 remain, including seven Americans, three of whom are presumed dead.

A further 30 Americans have died fighting during the war in Gaza, according to the State Department, including Moshe Leiter, 39, whose father, Yechiel Leiter, is set to become Israeli ambassador to the United States next year.

It is not the first time such a case has been filed against Iran, which last year, the US named as the number one sponsor of state terrorism.

In 2011, lawyers in Manhattan representing families of victims of the September 11 attacks won a default judgment against Iran, Hezbollah, the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The lawsuit claimed Iranian officials helped the hijackers who flew jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In July, the Anti Defamation League launched a case on behalf of 125 victims’ families from October 7, against Iran, North Korea and Syria. ADL is working with the law firm, Crowell & Moring LLP.

A statement said: “Filed on July 1, 2024, the complaint states that the plaintiffs should receive compensation for their permanent damage, which would come from the US Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, a fund Congress created in 2015 to allow American victims of terrorism such as those in this case to obtain some meaningful relief for their suffering."

The strikes on October 26, targeted Iranian military facilities, including air defenses, following missile attacks on Israel by Iran earlier that month.

"In defending our territorial integrity and sovereignty, we seek no one's permission, and any aggression will undoubtedly be met with a decisive response," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Monday during his weekly briefing.

He also reaffirmed Iran’s support for regional militia groups, underscoring Tehran’s broader strategy in the region amidst ongoing hostilities.

Baghaei also said that the country's nuclear facilities must be protected from any potential attacks by Israel, in compliance with a resolution adopted more than three decades ago by the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

There is no UN Security Council resolution that bans attacks on nuclear facilities, but the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) did adopt General Conference Resolution (GC(XXXIV)/RES/533) in 1990 that prohibits armed attacks on nuclear facilities, "devoted to peaceful purposes." The resolution also calls for strengthening international cooperation on nuclear safety and radiological protection.

"This resolution is a clear rule that prohibits any threats against nuclear facilities," Baghaei said, but did not mention the wording which says "devoted to peaceful purposes. "Such threats endanger the national security of states, and the United Nations must provide a decisive response to them."

Israel's new defense minister said last week that the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities are now more exposed than ever, following Israel's October 26 airstrikes that targeted critical Iranian air defense systems.

In his remarks, Israel Katz said the vulnerability of Iranian nuclear sites has made it more plausible for Israel “to achieve the most important goal, to thwart and remove the threat of annihilation from hanging over the State of Israel."

“Our region has been familiar with the law-breaking approaches of the Zionist regime for decades. We will take all necessary actions to protect our nuclear facilities,” said Baghaei on Monday.

It is not clear what nuclear facilities Israel would target, but Iran's underground uranium enrichment sites, producing highly purified fissile material, might not be considered as peaceful.

Iranian authorities have consistently called for Israel's destruction, and until now, refused to call it anything other than “the Zionist entity.”

Responding to inquiries about European nations' willingness to negotiate, Baghaei said Iran is open to discussions. "We have never abandoned negotiations on the nuclear issue," he said. "The revival of the JCPOA has been an ongoing process, and Iran has consistently demonstrated its goodwill in these efforts."

Iran's nuclear talks during the Biden administration, centered around reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), remain a focal point of international diplomacy. The agreement aimed to limit Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief, but its future is now uncertain since the US withdrew in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to gradually breach its commitments. Recent negotiations have faced significant hurdles, including disagreements over sanctions relief, verification mechanisms, and guarantees against future US withdrawal. While Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, Western powers express concern over its enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade levels.

Baghaei pointed to a recent visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi as evidence of what he called Iran’s constructive approach.

"The visit was productive and positive, leading to constructive agreements. We expect the opposing parties to recognize Iran's positive approach and let the process proceed on a technical path, free from political pressure," he added.

He went on to say that ambiguities in Iran’s nuclear program raised by the IAEA lack a clear basis and were thoroughly discussed during Grossi's visit.

"Iran remains committed to ensuring that the Agency can operate without the disruptive and malicious pressures exerted by certain parties," Baghaei said, stressing the importance of allowing the IAEA to work independently of external political influences.

Iran's relationship with the IAEA has been fraught with tension in recent years, particularly over issues of transparency and compliance with nuclear agreements. The IAEA has repeatedly raised concerns about Iran's enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade levels and its lack of cooperation in granting access to key sites. Tehran, in turn, accuses the IAEA of being influenced by political pressures from Western powers and insists that its nuclear activities are peaceful and within its sovereign rights.