Another reason for the proposed sanctions is baseless allegations of human
rights violations, according to a Farsi report by Alef news website.
The US Senate approved the plan to slap sanctions on Iran and Russia on June 25,
2017. Countering Iran’s Destabilising Activities Act of 2017 received 98 yeas
and two nays.
The act will also need to be approved by the House of Representatives before
being signed into law by US President Donald Trump.
If the act receives final approval, the Trump administration will have to put in
place new bans on individuals, companies and institutions involved in developing
Iran’s missile programs.
If the act is given the go-ahead, it will be the first time that Iran’s Islamic
Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is sanctioned by the US.
Earlier in 2007, the IRGC’s overseas division known as the Quds Force had been
put under sanctions.
The lawmakers who have voted in favour of the act believe new sanctions are not
in contravention of the provisions of a nuclear deal signed between Iran and six
world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program. The deal is known as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The Countering Iran’s Destabilising Activities Act of 2017 was drafted on 23
April 2017 by seven Democrat Senators and as many Republican ones.
Nature of New Sanctions Act
The Senators’ new act, which is being signed into law, will ratchet up
non-nuclear sanctions against Iran. Generally speaking, the act revolves around
three points:
Sanctions related to ballistic missiles:
These bans target individuals involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program as
well as those associated with them.
Sanctions related to terrorism:
Bans associated with terror will be imposed on the IRGC, specifically
targeting individuals which are currently under sanctions due to the unfounded
allegation that Iran supports terrorism.
Arms sanctions:
These bans will obligate the US president to seize the assets of people or
institutions involved in special activities related to the procurement, sale or
transfer of banned weapons and relevant materials to or from Iran.
IAEA’s Report, EU’s Opposition
The European Union has issued a statement at a meeting of the Board of
Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressing support
for the JCPOA and confirming that Iran has lived up to its commitments under the
deal. The union also called for more cooperation to reach an overarching result
about Iran. The EU’s call for reaching a comprehensive outcome on Iran came as
Iran’s envoy to the IAEA also stressed the need for efforts to arrive at a
conclusion in the shortest time possible.
"As for measures to confirm that there are no undeclared [nuclear] facilities
[in Iran,] the regulations of the protocol must be enforced, and we will try to
shorten, as much as possible, the time required for the agency to reach a
wide-ranging conclusion,” said Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA.
"Under the IAEA’s standards, the implementation of the safeguards agreement will
enable the agency to corroborate that the declared facilities have remained
peaceful. As for confirmation that there are no possible undeclared
installations, the protocol’s regulations must be implemented, and this takes
time,” Najfi added.
"As for other countries, even European countries, it took 10 years before they
could get a wide-ranging result from the agency. It takes time. We hope we’ll be
able to shorten this time as much as possible through efforts being made,”
Najafi added.
The European Union has, time and again, underscored that all parties to the
JCPOA have remained committed to their obligations under the agreement. EU
Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini also said in Oslo last Tuesday that she
was confident the US would make good on its commitments under the JCPOA. She
said Europe would implement the JCPOA, with or without the US.
Moreover, some sources in the member states of the P5+1 Group have confirmed
that Mogherini, the coordinator for the Joint JCPOA Commission, has received a
new letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and revealed new
details of the letter. According to informed sources, the letter mainly protests
Washington’s blatant violation of the JCPOA, especially in recent months and
after Trump took office as president. The letter also calls on all parties
involved in the JCPOA, especially Mogherini, to make all signatories to the
JCPOA to deliver on their obligations in order to preserve the agreement.
According to the same sources, parts of the letter refer to US measures,
including its recent sanctions and some other actions on Washington’s agenda
such the so-called S.722 bill (Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act of
2017) presented to the Senate. If the act is ratified and goes into effect, the
letter highlights, the move will definitely be in gross violation of the terms
of the JCPOA. Also in his letter, Zarif has voiced strong objection to
Washington’s efforts to keep Iran from benefiting from the economic privileges
of the JCPOA.
A new report by IAEA Chief Yukiya Amano was discussed at a seasonal session of
the agency’s Board of Governors last Wednesday. Amano had already said in an
address to the meeting that the IAEA is impartially continuing to verify and
monitor Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA
and in accordance with safeguards standards.
New Iran Sanctions Act in Violation of JCPOA
It is stipulated in the JCPOA that the P5+1 group must not take any action which
would run counter to the nuclear agreement. Some former US officials also admit
the new act runs counter to the JCPOA. Former US Treasury Secretary Adam Szubin
said in a letter to Congress that new anti-Iran sanctions being reviewed at the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee will undermine the JCPOA and harm US
relations with its allies. According to the ex-official, the sanctions will be
regarded as contrary to the spirit of the JCPOA and trigger strong reactions
inside Iran.
Seven other officials of the Obama administration, namely former Deputy
Secretary of State Antony John Blinken and former National Security Advisor
Avril Danica Haines, have already warned that the ratification of the act would
authorise the president to take steps to undercut the nuclear deal, isolate the
United States and jeopardise American forces.
Although senators have reformed two clauses of the S.722 bill that were in
direct violation of the JCPOA, one of the clauses of the draft act is still in
breach of the nuclear agreement.
Clause 5 of the act, which practically singles out the IRGC as a terrorist
organization, would disrupt the trend of normalization of economic and trade
ties with Iran. This would amount to violation of Washington’s obligations in
clauses 26 and 29 of the JCPOA.
"The United States will make best efforts in good faith to sustain this JCPOA
and to prevent interference with the realization of the full benefit by Iran of
the sanctions lifting specified in Annex II. The US Administration, acting
consistent with the respective roles of the President and the Congress, will
refrain from re-introducing or re-imposing the sanctions specified in Annex II
that it has ceased applying under this JCPOA, without prejudice to the dispute
resolution process provided for under this JCPOA.”
Clause 29 of the JCPOA also stipulates that: "The EU and its Member States and
the United States, consistent with their respective laws, will refrain from any
policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalisation
of trade and economic relations with Iran inconsistent with their commitments
not to undermine the successful implementation of this JCPOA.”
Richard Nephew, the lead sanctions expert on the US team during the Iran nuclear
negotiations, told Huffington Post some time ago that since the IRGC is involved
in a great part of Iran’s financial transactions, the new sanctions would
discourage foreign companies from doing business with Iran, which, in turn,
would undermine the pledge of lifting sanctions as promised in the JCPOA.
The US not only wants to impose new sanctions on Iran, but seeks to impede
Iran’s trade relations as well. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made
remarks on June 24, 2017 (just one day before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee’s approval of the plan to tighten sanctions on Iran) which run counter
to the JCPOA. Speaking in a Q & A session of lawmakers, the official called on
Congress to tighten sanctions on Iran and said the Treasury would rethink the
issuance of permits to sell Airbus and Boeing passenger planes to Iran.
This comes as it is stipulated in Annex II of the JCPOA that the deal will
"Allow for the sale of commercial passenger aircraft and related parts and
services to Iran by licensing the (i) export, re-export, sale, lease or transfer
to Iran of commercial passenger aircraft for exclusively civil aviation end-use,
(ii) export, re-export, sale, lease or transfer to Iran of spare parts and
components for commercial passenger aircraft, and (iii) provision of associated
services, including warranty, maintenance, commercial passenger aviation and
repair services and safety-related inspections, for all the foregoing, provided
that licensed data-x-items and services are used exclusively for commercial passenger
aviation.”
SOURCE:IFPNEWS