Russia Tries To Control Damage Over Iran Island Spat
Despite Russia’s siding with the UAE this week regarding sovereignty over three Iranian islands, Moscow has tried to somewhat contain the fallout.
Despite Russia’s siding with the UAE this week regarding sovereignty over three Iranian islands, Moscow has tried to somewhat contain the fallout.
Last week Russia supported the United Arab Emirates’ sovereignty over three contested islands - Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tunb - in the Persian Gulf, causing diplomatic frictions with Iran.
In a bid to repair the diplomatic furor, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikahil Bogdanov told Iran’s ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali on Friday that “the Russian Federation respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the friendly country of Iran”.
IRNA, the state news agency claimed that the remarks indicated that Russia had revised its position on the three islands.
However, a tweet by the account of the Russian Foreign Ministry used the term Arab Gulf for the Persian Gulf on Wednesday to insist on its stance. The move by the Russian Foreign Ministry again drew widespread criticism from Iranians on social media.
The Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdolahian and government spokesman Ali Bahadori wrote in separate tweets that "Iran will not compromise over its national interests and territorial integrity."
However, Tehran’s official reaction to Russia has been meek. The two have collaborated more deeply over the last year, including Iran’s providing Russia with drones and ammunition for its war in Ukraine.
Social media users recognized that officials had made a compromise by not naming Russia in their tweets as tensions simmered behind the scenes.
The US already uses A-10 fighter jets to patrol the strategic waterway, in particular the narrow Strait of Hormuz from Iranian attempts to seize oil tankers navigating in international waters, but it will now deploy additional F-16 jets.
A Pentagon official speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity said the F-16s will be an additional element to deter Iran and provide protection to commercial shipping.
Iran’s latest attempt to interfere with commercial shipping occurred earlier this month when it tried to seize two vessels. The US Navy announced July 5 that it prevented Iranian naval forces from diverting the vessels including the Richmond Voyager, a supertanker managed by Chevron in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrowest part of the Persian Gulf.
The official said that in both cases Iranian forces withdrew as the US Navy arrived on the scene.
Iran has been harassing commercial shipping in recent years and seized multiple vessels since 2019. Over the years, Iranian speedboats also harassed US Navy ships, sometimes in dangerous maneuvers.
“[The] United States will not allow foreign or regional powers to jeopardize freedom of navigation through the Middle East waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz,” National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters May 12. The US Navy in early June said that Iran had interfered with or attacked 15 internationally flagged merchant ships over the past two years.
Iran’s provocative actions come as attempts to restrict its uranium enrichment and reach a nuclear agreement have remained unsuccessful since President Joe Biden assumed office in January 2021. Iran has expanded military cooperation with Russia, supplying hundreds of kamikaze drones that are being used in Ukraine against civilian and military targets.
The Pentagon official also told reporters the US is concerned about more Russian aggressive actions in Syria in collaboration with Iran and the Syrian government.
Recently Russian warplanes tried to interfere with operations of US military drones that were trying to attack Islamic State group targets in Syria.
The official told reporters that Iran’s supply of drones to Russia and support for the invasion of Ukraine has given political leverage to the Islamic Republic that wants to use the Russians to expel the United States from Syria. The US also believes there is more planning and intelligence sharing cooperation now between Russian and Iranian IRGC forces in Syria to pressure US to withdraw troops from Syria.
Iran also probably wants to use escalatory tactics to force Washington to accept its terms in recent reported diplomatic contacts between the two sides aimed at some sort of a deal over three Americans held hostage by Tehran.
Iran wants Washington to agree to around $20 billion of its funds in third countries to be released, which would be significant for its beleaguered economy. Iraq holds around $10 billion of debts to Iran, while South Korean banks hold another $7 billion.
Pro-Iranian Iraqi Shiite militia groups also organized a protest Friday near the US embassy in Baghdad, demanding non-interference by the United States in Iraq’s internal affairs. Iran however, is deeply enmeshed in Iraqi politics using its proxy forces.
The only path for a clean deal would be for the US to issue a waiver permitting it, three former US officials have told Reuters.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Tuesday said Iraq would begin trading crude oil for Iranian gas to end recurring payment delays to Tehran due to required US approval for such transactions.
Sudani said Iran had cut gas exports to Iraq by more than half as of July 1 after Baghdad failed to secure US approval to disburse owed funds, but Tehran had now agreed to resume gas exports in exchange for crude oil.
There are few details available about the potential barter, which could help defuse a political problem for Sudani since power cuts are unpopular during the sweltering Iraqi summer when temperatures can top 50 Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).
However, three former US officials said a barter would likely run afoul of US sanctions.
"It would be a violation of US sanctions to conduct this kind of a barter transaction with Iran absent a US national security waiver being issued," said Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.
"This would be prohibited under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, which prohibits any transaction related to energy with Iran," added Goldberg, who served on the Trump administration national security council staff.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a 120-day waiver on March 21, a State Department official said, allowing Iraq to pay Iran only for electricity imports, not for natural gas to fuel Iraqi domestic power generation.
"The March 2023 waiver, granted by the Secretary, allows Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran. Nothing else," said the official on condition of anonymity. That waiver was announced by the State Department on March 31.
There has been speculation the waiver might be amended to allow barter, an issue the official declined to address.
"We are not in a position to preview any future decisions related to the waiver. We have no comment at this time regarding reports of a barter arrangement between Iraq and Iran," the official said.
The Iraqi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Former US officials said the Treasury Department, which oversees most US sanctions against Iran, defines the term "transaction" so broadly that it would cover a barter exchange.
"The test is whether it's a 'significant' transaction. The test is not whether it's denominated in one currency or another or whether ... it's a barter," said a former senior Treasury official on condition of anonymity.
The former official said that could provide "enough wiggle room ... for the US to look the other way, but that is a political decision, that's not a legal question.
"As far as a strictly legal question, it absolutely does violate US sanctions," he added.ew Miller, the spokesperson for the US State Department, calling it "a leave of absence”, adding that his duties would be temporarily assumed by his deputy, Abram Paley. However, it is believed he had been suspended as early as April.
Capitol Hill Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated with the Biden administration’s unwillingness to share information about the issue. Adding salt to the injury, an article by Tehran Times, a publication controlled by the Iranian regime, provided astonishing details about Malley's situation. This has led to concerns that the Iranian government knows more about the issue than US lawmakers.
(This report was published by Reuters under the name of Arshad Mohammed)
