UANI Roundup: News And Updates From United Against Nuclear Iran
News and Updates from United Against Nuclear Iran
On August 18, UANI hosted a webinar featuring Brian Hook, U.S. Special Representative for Iran and Senior Advisor to Secretary Pompeo, UANI Senior Advisor and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and UANI Senior Advisor and former U.S. National Intelligence Manager for Iran Norman Roule that explored the consequences of allowing the U.N. arms embargo to expire on October 18. UANI Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace highlighted Iranian state sponsorship of terror, its role in supporting proxy militias and the economic toll that has been placed on the Iranian regime as a result of the maximum pressure campaign against Tehran, crippling its financial ability to export terrorism. Hook observed that the U.S. policy strategy of financial pressure and diplomatic isolation of Iran and support for U.S. allies in the region created the environment that led to the historic peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel. To watch UANI’s webinar, please click here. Media coverage: Jewish Insider, The National Interest, Jewish Insider
Biden rushing back to negotiate with Iran will “slide” US back to a worse time: Lieberman
On Fox Business Network on November 19, UANI Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman discussed U.S. foreign policy and the need for an incoming Biden administration to maintain a tough stance on Iran, to “achieve real peace in the Middle East.” Senator Lieberman expressed his concerns over the Joe Biden administration “rushing back into negotiations with Iran,” fearing it would “slide” the U.S. “back to a much worse time.”
Time to tighten the vise on Iran
UANI Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and UANI Senior Advisor Senator Mark Kirk, writing in the New York Daily News on July 23, note that Iran’s behavior fully justified the imposition of U.N. arms embargo and that pressure on the theocracy must continue. “We must not allow the partisan political differences that divide us — a little over 100 days prior to a general election — to prevent us from developing an architecture that will disincentivize any nation from selling or transferring arms to Iran. Beijing, Moscow and Tehran won’t wait. Neither should we.”
Tanker Tracking Campaign
Washington Post Highlights UANI Campaign to Track, Stop Iranian Oil Tankers
For the past 18 months, UANI has been tracking the activities of the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), and their blacklisted oil tanker fleets’ illicit activities. In response to the U.S.-led maximum pressure campaign, Iranian and non-Iranian vessels have employed brazen methods to hide their movements and evade U.S. sanctions. However, using various sources and methods, UANI Research Director Daniel Roth and Chief of Staff Claire Jungman have revealed and catalogued many cases of foreign tankers involved in illegal clandestine operations. Those efforts were highlighted by the Washington Post on November 15. Roth and Jungman also recently published the results of an additional 12 months of investigations, which unearthed dozens of instances of foreign tankers in illegal clandestine operations among 70 pinpointed vessels, designed to help Iran skirt oil sanctions. Additionally, each month, Roth and Jungman publish details of their continuing documentation of Iranian subterfuge. To read October’s Iran’s Tanker Tracking, please click here. To read September’s, please click here. August’s Tanker Tracking can be found here, and July’s here.
UANI Evidence Leads To Tanzania Stripping Flags From Four Tankers Supporting Sanctions Evasion
On October 28, UANI announced that four tanker ships were stripped of their flags in Tanzania after UANI researchers detected and reported illicit ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products in violation of U.S. sanctions. The tankers de-flagged by Tanzania’s Zanzibar Maritime Authority were discovered to be the same quartet of ships removed of their flags by the country of Gabon a few weeks earlier, based on information supplied in a letter by UANI. According to Lloyd’s Maritime Intelligence, the ships have “changed names, flags and ownership at least three or four times this year,” underscoring the unabating covert campaign Iran is orchestrating to conceal its defiance of U.S. sanctions. UANI conducts real-time tracking and course prediction of Iranian and Iran-related vessels, operating worldwide to expose the regime's efforts to smuggle oil and cargo in circumvention of international sanctions. Among the many responsible authorities to take action after UANI’s engagement, Gabon’s flag registry removed two of the de-flagged Tanzania vessels after reviewing evidence of illicit transfers from UANI. Media coverage: Lloyd’s List.
Mysterious Iranian ‘Ghost Ships’ Reappear in Persian Gulf After Months of Darkness
On August 19, the Washington Free Beacon reported, based on information provided by UANI, that 14 of 80 Iranian crude oil tankers involved in the illicit oil trade that hid their movements for more than a year by shutting down their GPS transponders, had suddenly reappeared. UANI suggested that the sudden reappearance of these ships in the Persian Gulf may have been ordered by Iran’s leaders to avoid a lethal accident during Iran's recent military exercises in the region
“Iran is the only country whose ships switch off their trackers as a matter of national policy,” Claire Jungman, UANI’s chief of staff, told the Free Beacon. “Iran has a history of concealing the destination of its oil sales by disabling its AIS tracking systems. The only reason Iran would do this would be to violate sanctions and go undetected.” On October 7, also based on evidence provided by UANI, the Free Beacon reported that Iran significantly increased its illicit export of crude oil in September via through dangerous ship-to-ship transfers at sea. “By offloading supplies in the ocean, Iran can obscure the origin of its crude oil and avoid detection by international observers, according to UANI, which released photographic evidence detailing Iran’s actions on Wednesday… UANI discovered from satellite imagery that more than one-third of Iran’s oil exports were conducted via ship-to-ship transfers around the country’s coastline. At least 20 foreign vessels participated in these transfers with Iran, in direct violation of U.S. sanctions.
Statements
UANI Applauds U.S. Leadership In Restoring U.N. Sanctions Against Iran
On September 21, UANI Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace released a statement following the U.S. announcement of the restoration of all U.N. sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, its right under the snapback mechanism in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231. The statement read in part: “UANI applauds the Trump Administration for its steadfast leadership to ensure that the integrity of the U.N. Security Council is upheld and that Iran is held accountable for its many breaches of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which are sufficient cause to trigger the snapback mechanism to reimpose all U.N. sanctions. The world must recognize the Iranian regime for what it is: an extremist, terrorist organization, rather than an ordinary country…The world is safer today thanks to U.S. leadership.” UANI’s report, What’s Wrong With the Iran Nuclear Deal, analyzes the shortcomings of the Iran nuclear agreement. For additional information and analysis on the decision to restore sanctions against Iran, please see the UANI blogs What’s Snapback and Why Does it Matter? and Iran’s Snapback Strategy.
UANI Applauds U.S. Sanctions On Iranian Financial Sector
UANI Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace released a statement October 9 applauding the U.S. government for blacklisting Iran’s entire financial sector and sanctioning 18 major Iranian banks. The statement read in part: “UANI applauds the Trump administration for taking this important step forward in the maximum pressure campaign while simultaneously remaining true to America’s moral commitments by ensuring the Iranian people have access to goods, supplies, and services that meet their essential humanitarian needs. By increasing economic pressure, the U.S. is amassing powerful leverage to thwart Iranian malign activity… The international community must come to terms with the reality that the Iranian regime is a terrorist organization and that the appropriate course of action to protect international peace and security is a full economic blockade.”
UANI Applauds Sanctions On Iranian Cyber Threat Group, Hezbollah Companies
UANI Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace released a statement on September 7 applauding the U.S. Department of the Treasury for imposing sanctions on cyber actors linked to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, as well as entities and individuals tied to Hezbollah. The statement read in part: “Iran has used cyberattacks to target the U.S. public and private sectors, and already, intelligence agencies have warned that Iran will grow increasingly aggressive in its actions. The sanctions announced today are a strong roadblock to this avenue of attacks. The sanctions on Hezbollah-affiliated entities and individuals are also an important step towards stopping the group from enriching itself on the backs of the Lebanese people… The revelation today that Hezbollah has been stockpiling caches of ammonium nitrate throughout Europe since 2012 makes it all the more important for the international community to sanction Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.” More information on these issues can be found in the UANI reports, The Iranian Cyber Threat and Iran’s Malign Intelligence Activities, and on the UANI website Eye on Hezbollah.
UANI Applauds U.S. In Applying Increasing Pressure On Tehran
UANI Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace released a statement on October 30 in the wake of sweeping new U.S. sanctions against Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), and additional individuals and entities complicit in the sale of Iranian petrochemical products. The U.S. Department of Justice has also filed a civil forfeiture complaint for illicit shipments of Iranian missiles and announced the sale of approximately 1.1 million barrels of Iranian petroleum which were destined for Venezuela. The statement read in part: “UANI applauds the U.S. government for taking decisive action to prevent Iran from profiting from the sale of petrochemical products and for taking necessary legal action that will benefit the victims of Iranian terror. These efforts are greatly enhancing the security and stability of the U.S. and its allies. We are also reminded of the heroic actions of the U.S. Navy Central Command in interdicting arms that would undoubtedly be used by the regime’s terrorist proxies.”
UANI Statement On Estonia’s Action Against Hezbollah
UANI Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace on October 22 issued a statement commended Estonia for imposing sanctions against Hezbollah in its entirety. The statement read in part: “European nations are steadily coming to the realization that their concocted fiction of separate political and terrorist wings within Hezbollah – a distinction that even Hezbollah admits does not exist – is a wrongheaded approach… With these sanctions, Estonia joins the United Kingdom, Germany, Serbia, Kosovo, Lithuania, and the Netherlands as leaders committed to thwarting Hezbollah’s terrorist operations in Europe and recognizing the threat Iran and its proxies pose to the international community.” UANI’s website, Eye on Hezbollah, chronicles Hezbollah’s evolution from a small radical militia in 1982 to a virtual state within a state in 2020.
Expiration Of Iran Arms Embargo Poses Grave Danger To International Peace & Security
One day before the expiration of the U.N. arms embargo on Iran on October 18, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace released a statement that read in part: “France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China have decided to allow Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism and regional aggressor, to lawfully acquire advanced weapons systems from abroad. Restrictions on Iran’s export of arms will also expire. In doing so, they undermine the essential peacekeeping mission of the United Nations. The desperation to salvage the failed JCPOA seems to have blinded the international community to the totality of Iran’s malign conduct. This abdication of responsibility now means it is up to the United States to strictly enforce the U.N. arms embargo.” UANI's resource, JCPOA Sunset Alert: Arms Embargo, examines the immediate destabilizing consequences of the arms embargo’s expiration.
Resources and Expert Analysis
UANI Introduces New Database to Track Sanctions Violations and Penalties
In July, UANI introduced a new digital tool to provide policymakers and the public with comprehensive information about corporate violations of U.S. and global economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as associated penalties. UANI’s Iran Corporate Violations and Penalties (CVP) Tracker covers a period from 1997 to the present. UANI's Tracker covers more than 500 civil and criminal cases settled by the U.S. Department of Justice and federal agencies. The total amount paid out in fines by companies for Iran violations exceeds $19 billion. The Tracker highlights the importance for companies to continue to adopt the most rigorous standards of enhanced due diligence (EDD), know your customer (KYC) and know your customer's customer standards (KYCC).
November 15 marked the first anniversary of the beginning of nationwide protests that roiled Iran last year after the regime increased gasoline prices. Thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest against corruption, mismanagement, and the core tenets of the Islamic Republic. In a lethal crackdown that followed, which was ordered by Iran’s supreme leader, as many as 1,500 Iranians were killed, including at least 23 children. UANI’s War on Protestors: Death, Detention and Darkness, documents Iranian repression over several rounds of unrest since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and profiles Iran’s agents of repression. UANI’s Cruel and Inhuman: Executions and Other Punishment in Iran, outlines the regime’s judicial injustices and reprehensible human rights offenses. The UANI blog, European dual-nationals & Iranian hostage diplomacy examines the incarceration of six dual-citizens on spurious charges and the differing responses from European governments. The UANI blog, Free Nasrin Sotoudeh, details the plight of Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is serving a 38-year prison sentence for being a human rights lawyer in a country without respect for human rights.
The Iranian Drone Threat
Iran’s overarching objective is supplanting the United States to become the dominant military and political influence in the Middle East. Iran recognizes that it would be a waste of its resources to seek military parity with its U.S.-backed foes and has thus adopted low-risk, cost-effective measures to maximize its advantages when it comes to defending itself and spreading the Islamic Revolution. One asymmetric arena where Iran has expended considerable investment is in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, giving Iran an additional means of lethal power projection outside of its borders. Iran is also providing UAV systems to its proxies who act on Tehran’s behalf, further enhancing its ability to threaten the U.S. and its allies. UANI’s report, The Iranian Drone Threat, analyzes the history and capabilities of Iran’s drone program, the malign use of Iranian drones in the region, and makes recommendations for combatting this emerging threat. Media coverage: The Defense Post.
Iran Rejects the Iran Deal. Norman Roule
UANI Senior Advisor Norman Roule joined radio host John Batchelor on November 20 to discuss the assassination of a top Al Qaeda commander Abu Mohammed al Masri, the Iran-Israel encroachment and the impact of the Abraham Accords.
Mohammad Moghiseh: The Iranian Supreme Court’s New Hanging Judge
Mohammad Moghiseh was named rto the Iran’s Supreme Court in November, 2020. As chief judge of Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, Moghiseh regularly violated defendants’ human rights, particularly the freedoms of religion, expression, information, assembly, and the press, as well as the right to counsel. In 2013, after an eight-minute trial, Moghiseh sentenced eight Bahá’is from the province of Golestan in northeastern Iran to a combined 40 to 45 years in prison. He has also presided over many trials seeking to punish Iranians for exercising freedom of expression and information. Defendants have included poets, movie producers and directors, and other artists tried on and convicted of trumped-up charges like propagandizing against the Iranian regime and colluding against national security.
Abolqasem Salavati: The Judge of Death
Abolqasem Salavati is an Iranian judge infamous for violating the human rights of defendants and sentencing them to death or long prison terms on trumped-up charges. He is nicknamed “The Hanging Judge” and “The Judge of Death.” Salavati became famous by presiding over the public show trials of demonstrators who took to the streets after Iran’s 2009 presidential election to protest incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s dubious victory. Salavati handed out lengthy prison sentences to over a hundred demonstrators and condemned at least six to death. Salavati has also been assigned to judge numerous cases of Americans and other Western held hostages and used as bargaining chips by the Iranian regime. The European Union and the United States have sanctioned Salavati for human rights abuses.
Ebrahim Raisi: Chief Justice of Iran
Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has steadily risen through the ranks of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He controls one branch of government while commanding a leadership post in the body that is formally vested with the authority to select Iran’s next supreme leader. Spending most of his career in the judiciary, Raisi’s ascendance can be explained by three factors: promotion by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an influential family network, and a knack for leveraging state positions to feed his ambition. Raisi has spent his career developing his image as an anti-corruption crusader and is a leading candidate to succeed Khamenei.
Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri: Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces
Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri is the chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, the highest-ranking military officer in the Islamic Republic. He is responsible for the coordination and supervision of Iran’s regular army (Artesh) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Bagheri’s revolutionary activities date back to the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979. He was one of the students who attacked and seized the U.S. embassy. Bagheri ascended to this post through a storied family military history and quiet competence. The United States sanctioned Bagheri in 2019 as part of Khamenei’s inner circle.
Major General Hossein Salami: Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Major General Hossein Salami has risen through the ranks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since its inception following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. He served on the battlefield during the Iran-Iraq War, spent part of his career in the IRGC’s academic establishment, commanded its Air Force, served as its second-in-command, and finally was promoted to the top position in 2019, weeks after the United States designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. Salami, in addition to being an IRGC insider, is known for his fiery speeches threatening Israel and America. It is bellicosity coupled with his devotion to Iran’s supreme leader that has fueled Salami’s rise.Top of Form
Op-eds and Analysis
Op-ed: When China Met Iran
Writing in the New York Times on July 21, UANI Advisory Board Member Michael Singh observes that a pending agreement between China and Iran threatens the predominant position of the U.S. in the Middle East and bears careful watching. “The agreement ambitiously promises to bring a huge Chinese presence into Iran’s economic development, in exchange for a regular supply of heavily discounted Iranian oil."
Op-ed: Welcome to a Brand-New Middle East
Writing in Foreign Policy on September 30, UANI Research Analyst on Hezbollah and Lebanon David Daoud and Varsha Koduvayur of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, argue that peace deals brokered between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), then Bahrain, could usher in a new Middle East. “Not only do the UAE and Bahrain deals set the stage for a sea change in Arab-Israeli relations, but they might even present a novel opportunity to finally solve the most intractable issue between the two sides: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Op-ed: Ammonium nitrate didn’t belong to Hezbollah, but they knew about its dangers
Writing in the Atlantic Council on August 7, UANI Research Analyst David Daoud notes that some of the anger in Lebanon following the massive August 4 explosion is being directed at Hezbollah. “Suspicions that the stash of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate belonged to Hezbollah aren’t entirely unfounded.”
Op-ed: Maritime Border Talks Won't Lead to Israeli-Lebanese Normalization
Writing in Newsweek on November 19, UANI Research Analyst David Daoud argues that while Israel's normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan have raised expectations, Lebanon will not follow anytime soon. “Rather than paving the way for Israeli-Lebanese peace, Beirut's officials are seeking to reap an economic windfall from offshore hydrocarbon deposits, circumvent the painful reforms necessary to build a sustainable Lebanese economy and perhaps obtain sanctions relief from the United States.”
Op-ed: Renew the Travel Ban on Iran
Writing in Newsweek on August 12, UANI Policy Director Jason Brodsky argues that the expiration of U.N. travel restrictions on leading Iranian officials, set to sunset in October like the arms embargo, are critical and should be renewed and updated.
Blog: German Academic Cooperation is Potential Sanctions Soft-spot
UANI Research Director Daniel Roth, in this July 17 blog, notes yet another instance of Germany revealing that Iran was secretly procuring illegal nuclear and missile technology during 2019. “The Germans should also look closer to home though,” Roth observes, “because you don’t have to be a spy to appreciate that Iran has a less furtive route to the same destination: through international academic collaboration.”
Blog: Iran’s Sanctions-busting Money Transfer Websites Target AMEX, Visa, Mastercard
UANI Chief of Staff Claire Jungman and Research Director Daniel Roth observe in this October 16 blog that sanctioning the remaining 18 Iranian banks from the SWIFT financial messaging network was a positive action, but more must be done to “degrade more under-the-radar and innovative sanction-busting schemes, which are continuing to finance Ayatollah Khamenei’s terror apparatus.”
Blog: The IRGC’s Growing Role in Iran’s Government
In this November 2 blog, UANI Policy Director Jason Brodsky details the increased pace of sanctions designations on Iran and how the U.S. is “seeking to blur the distinction between Iran’s armed and elected states to document publicly that they are two sides of the same terror coin.”
The Importance of Listening to America's Allies
UANI Outreach Coordinator Bob Feferman, writing in the Times of Israel November 30, notes the significance of Israel and Arab countries speaking with one voice on defense issues and cautions President-elect Biden not to blindly try to re-enter the flawed Iran nuclear deal. “The expected re-engagement with Iran by the incoming Biden administration could be beneficial for the region if the concerns of America’s friends are taken into account. When America’s allies speak with one voice on existential threats that impact their common future, America should listen.”
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Eye on Iran is a news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a section 501(c)(3) organization. Eye on Iran is available to subscribers on a daily basis or weekly basis.