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Iraqi soldiers inspect the wreckage of a rocket-launching truck at the Ain Al-Asad airbase that houses US forces the day before in the city of Baghdadi in Iraq’s western Anbar province on the 8th. July
Photo:
ahmed jalil / Shutterstock
Nuclear talks between the United States and Iran were postponed last month and could resume after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took office in August. But Iran’s behavior during the interregnum shows what it thinks about President Biden’s arms control overtures.
Federal prosecutors said last week that an Iranian intelligence network planned to kidnap a US citizen in New York and bring him to Iran. A dual US-Iranian national, Masih Alinejad has reported extensively on human rights violations committed by the Islamic Republic. The journalist has built a large following on social networks while pushing for a tougher American approach to Tehran.
Prosecutors, who indicted four Iranian nationals, said Iranian intelligence services had targeted others in Canada, the UK and elsewhere. Last year, Tehran executed Ruhollah Zam, an Iranian exile based in France, kidnapped while traveling in Iraq. Europe has already imposed sanctions on Iran for planning terrorist attacks and killings on the continent.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that an Iranian commander has encouraged Iranian-backed militias to step up their attacks on US targets in Iraq and Syria. Shiite militias have attacked US positions in Iraq at least 26 times since President Biden took office, said Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Mr Biden has twice ordered retaliatory airstrikes against armed groups this year. But two US servicemen were injured this month in a rocket barrage after the latest US response.
Iran’s violations of the 2015 nuclear deal also continue. Lame Duck President Hassan Rouhani said the country could enrich uranium to military-grade purity of around 90%. So far it has stopped at 60%, but it’s well above the 3.67% allowed under the deal. The government is storing other illicit material and ignoring its inspection obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Even Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov admitted: “Iran seems to be going too far.”
None of this stopped the Biden administration from conducting six rounds of indirect talks with the Iranians, which demanded sanctions relief in return for nuclear compliance. According to Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, Washington is ready to lift sanctions against the Supreme Leader; remove restrictions on all Iranian banks except one; and revoke the designation of foreign terrorist for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He says the United States has also agreed to rescind several executive orders and drop other sanctions.
Mr Zarif could be lying, but his claims fit the pattern of the Obama-Biden negotiations. The United States offers a concession in the spirit of goodwill, but Iran demands more. The United States is making another concession and Iran is asking for more. So John Kerry ended up with a time-bound nuclear deal, including a weak inspection regime of suspicious sites in Iran, and neglected Iran’s ballistic missile program and regional imperialism. .
Mr Raisi has ruled out further talks on the issues until the two countries have returned to the nuclear deal. Add that to Iran’s continued bad behavior on multiple fronts, and Mr Biden has good reason to withdraw from nuclear talks and keep up the pressure on sanctions.
As the United States continues to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan ahead of President Biden’s September 11 deadline, the Taliban is advancing rapidly in the country. Image: Reuters
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Published in the print edition of July 19, 2021.
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