US Withdrawal Archives - Iran News Daily

Germany Voices Support for 2015 Deal

reporter 1222 — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 04:59:58 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Germany voiced its support for a multilateral nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers in 2015, saying the United States’ move to pull out of the agreement is “regrettable.”

In a post on its Twitter page on Monday, Germany’s mission to the United Nations said Berlin “remains fully committed to preservation & full implementation” of the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorses the accord, Press TV reported.

It added that the US “withdrawal from the “JCPOA & its reimposed sanctions [against Iran] are regrettable.”

The mission further expressed Germany’s concern about measures by Iran “contrary to key nuclear-related provisions in JCPOA,” referring to Tehran’s suspension of some of its commitments under the deal, in response to the failure of the other signatories to live up to their obligations stipulated in the accord.

US President Donald Trump, a hawkish critic of the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers – the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – unilaterally withdrew Washington from the agreement in May 2018, and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism.

Following its much-criticized exit, Washington has been attempting to prevent the remaining signatories from abiding by their commitments and thus kill the historic agreement, which is widely viewed as a fruit of international diplomacy.

Iran remained fully compliant with the JCPOA for an entire year, waiting for the cosignatories to fulfill their end of the bargain by offsetting the impacts of American bans on the Iranian economy.

But as the European parties failed to do so, the Islamic Republic moved in May 2019 to suspend its JCPOA commitments under articles 26 and 36 of the deal covering Tehran’s legal rights.

Iran took five steps in scaling back its obligations, among them abandoning operational limitations on its nuclear industry, including with regard to the capacity and level of uranium enrichment.

All those measures were adopted after informing the International Atomic Energy Agency beforehand, with the agency’s inspectors present on the ground in Iran.

The post Germany Voices Support for 2015 Deal appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Iran UN Envoy: Snapback Bid from US Null and Void

reporter 1222 — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 06:24:09 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s UN ambassador slammed as null and void the US administration’s push to trigger the snapback mechanism of the 2015 nuclear deal after its withdrawal from the agreement, asking the UN Security Council to thwart Washington’s plans for re-imposition of sanctions.

In a Sunday letter to the UN Security Council and to the UN Secretary-General, Iranian envoy Majid Takht Ravanchi called for action against Washington’s plan to reinstate the sanctions on Iran.

Following is the full text of his letter:

Pursuant to the letter dated 20 August 2020 from H.E. Mr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/2020/814), I have the honor to bring the following to your kind attention.

In its letter dated 20 August 2020 to the President of the Security Council, the United States illegally claimed to be a participant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), attempting to unlawfully invoke operative paragraph 11 of resolution 2231 (2015). The United States has recently claimed that the Security Council resolutions that have been terminated pursuant to paragraph 7 (a) of resolution 2231 (2015) will be reinstated on 20 September 2020.

In reaction to the aforesaid letter of the United States, none of the Security Council members accepted the eligibility of that country to initiate a process to reinstate the Security Council resolutions that have been terminated pursuant to paragraph 7 (a) of resolution 2231 (2015). Rather, through individual or joint letters addressed to the President of the Security Council, 13 members of the Council — including all remaining participant States of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action who are Council members — have unequivocally rejected the legal merit of the United States’ letter.

Similar views have also been expressed by the overwhelming majority of the Security Council members in the meeting of the Council on 25 August 2020, during which, the President of the Council, in response to the questions posed to him on the subject, stated that “having consulted with members and received letters from many member countries, it is clear for me that there is one member which has a particular position on the issue, while there are significant numbers of members who have contesting views. In my view, there is no consensus in the Council, thus the President is not in the position to take further action” (S/2020/837).

Reaffirming that, according to resolution 2231 (2015), the right to initiate a process to reinstate the Security Council resolutions that have been terminated pursuant to paragraph 7 (a) of resolution 2231 (2015) has been reserved only for “the JCPOA participant States”, the members of the Security Council, through the above-mentioned letters and statements, have also made it clear that, following its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the United States is not a “JCPOA participant” anymore, has no right to initiate the concerned process, and accordingly, its letter cannot be considered for the purpose of paragraph 11 of resolution 2231 (2015), thus is void of any legal effect now and in the future.

Likewise, in a statement on 20 August 2020, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Coordinator of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action stated that “as I have repeatedly recalled, the United States unilaterally ceased participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by presidential memorandum on 8 May 2018 and has subsequently not participated in any JCPOA-related activities. It cannot, therefore, be considered to be a JCPOA participant State for the purposes of possible sanctions snapback foreseen by the resolution” (S/2020/839).

Moreover, in the Chair’s statement following a meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on 1 September 2020, the remaining participant States of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action “reaffirmed that the United States unilaterally announced its cessation of participation in the JCPOA on 8 May 2018 and that it had not participated in any JCPOA-related activities subsequently. Participants reconfirmed that it therefore could not be considered as a participant State”.

The remaining participants also “reaffirmed their various statements and communications made previously at the UN Security Council including that of the High Representative of 20 August as the Coordinator of the JCPOA to the effect that the US cannot initiate the process of reinstating UN sanctions under UNSC resolution 2231”.

The views of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the above-mentioned attempt by the United States is also reflected in the aforesaid letter of our Minister for Foreign Affairs (S/2020/814), according to which, the letter by the United States is null and void, has no legal standing and effect and is thus completely unacceptable.

Given that the stated objective of the United States is to completely ruin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and to that end, its strategy is to create legal complication through presenting unilateral arbitrary interpretations and pseudo-legal arguments, the Islamic Republic of Iran trusts that the members of the Security Council will, once again, reject the United States’ continued attempt to abuse the Security Council’s process, thus undermining the authority and credibility of the Council and the United Nations.

The post Iran UN Envoy: Snapback Bid from US Null and Void appeared first on Iran News Daily.

US JCPOA Withdrawal, A Discredit: Govt. Spokesman

reporter 1222 — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 03:52:07 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The spokesman of Iran’s government has blasted the US for its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) saying Washington has been sidelined in the world since it left the historic nuclear deal in 2018.

“The US discredited and isolated itself in the world as its exit from the nuclear deal that it has clinched on July 14, 2015, was not comparable to its exit from other international treaties,” Ali Rabiei said in an address made on July 14, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the nuclear deal signing in 2015, IRNA reported.

He regretted that the JCPOA has lost its function to a great extent over the past years due to the US quitting.

“The Americans did not allow the Iranian people to benefit from the JCPOA’s advantages and they also suffered a lot of damages in the international arena and even in the public opinion inside their own country,” Rabiei said.

Noting that violating the JCPOA can certainly not change the realities, he added, “Iran with the JCPOA agreement showed that all propaganda of the past decade or more surrounding its peaceful nuclear activities were discredited.”

The historic nuclear deal was signed on July 14, 2015, between Iran and 5+1 (US, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, and China) in Vienna, Austria.

The deal ended more than a decade of a nuclear dispute between the two sides over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions.

However, in May 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally announced Washington’s withdrawal from JCPOA in an attempt to undo the nuclear deal which was one of the significant achievements of his predecessor Barak Obama Administration.

Trump later reimposed sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran and began unleashing the “toughest ever” fresh sanctions.

The US exit from the JCPOA has led to serious opposition of other signatories of the nuclear deal raising the prospect of a trans-Atlantic clash as European companies face the return of American sanctions for doing business with Iran.

US new wave of sanctions against the Iranian nation has also faced them with grave economic problems leading in difficult living conditions so that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has ordered three branches of the Iranian government to do all within their power to “confront the economic war waged by enemies against the country.”

The post US JCPOA Withdrawal, A Discredit: Govt. Spokesman appeared first on Iran News Daily.

China Says US ‘Addicted to Quitting’

reporter 1222 — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 10:41:28 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – China said on Monday the United States was “addicted to quitting” following a US decision to leave the World Health Organization (WHO) and said the withdrawal reveals a pursuit of power politics and unilateralism.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing that the international community disagreed with what he described as the selfish behavior of the United States.

“The US has become addicted to quitting groups and scrapping treaties,” said Zhao, Reuters reported.

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday his country would cut ties with the WHO, accusing the UN agency of becoming a puppet of China.

The WHO has denied Trump’s assertions that it promoted Chinese “disinformation” about the virus.

Trump’s decision came after a pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping to give $2 billion to the WHO over the next two years to help combat the novel coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year.

The EU on Saturday urged the United States to reconsider its decision.

China calls on the international community to provide more political support and funding for the WHO, said Zhao.

The US decision to quit the Geneva-based agency comes amid growing tension between the United States and China over the coronavirus outbreak.

Since taking office, Trump has questioned the value of the United Nations and scorned the importance of multilateralism as he focuses on an “America First” agenda.

He has quit the UN Human Rights Council, the UN cultural agency UNESCO, a global accord to tackle climate change, the Iran nuclear deal, and opposed a UN migration pact.

The post China Says US ‘Addicted to Quitting’ appeared first on Iran News Daily.

US quitting nuclear deal destabilizes region; Iraq FM

reporter 1222 — Sun, 19 Jan 2020 07:24:06 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Ali Al-Hakim, in a news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Al Safadi in Baghdad, has said that US unilateral withdrawal from 2015 nuclear deal has been the cause of recent tensions in the region.

US President Donald Trump quit the nuclear deal in May 2018 and introduced the harshest ever sanctions in history on Iran as part of his administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.

Under the JCPOA, Iran promised to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for the termination of economic and financial sanctions.

“We must take steps in line with preventing alien forces’ presence in the region,” he added, Azad University News Agency (ANA) reported on Saturday.

Al-Hakim further said that any escalation of tensions in the region will pave the way for the terrorist groups to reequip and reemerge.

Al Safadi, for his part, said, “I have a message of Jordanian King Abdulla II for Baghdad. The message concentrates on Iraq’s independency and de-escalation of tensions.”

Al Safadi went on to say that threats posed by the ISIL are still alive.

On January 8, the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles at the US Ain al-Assad airbase in southwestern Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of IRGC Quds Force Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.

The missiles were launched from 1:45 am to 2:15 am at dawn, January 8, 2020.

Ain Al-Assad, an airbase in al Anbar province, is the main and the largest U.S. airbase in Iraq.

General Soleimani was assassinated in a US air raid near the Baghdad international airport on January 3. It was an act of war against Iran.

Soleimani had gone to Baghdad to deliver a message to the Iraqi prime minister who is seeking to reduce tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The US airstrike also martyred Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU) and some other forces of the PMU along with their guests.

Top Iranian political and military figures had vowed: “harsh revenge” for the martyrdom of General Soleimani.

US military sources said on Thursday that eleven American troops were treated for concussions after Iranian missiles struck two Iraqi bases where the service members were stationed.

The post US quitting nuclear deal destabilizes region; Iraq FM appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Pulling out of JCPOA, wrong deed of Trump; Rouhani says

reporter 1222 — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 10:47:28 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his American counterpart has been duped into pulling the US out of the JCPOA.

The greatest trick ever played on US President Donald Trump was when the Zionist regime of Israel and Saudi Arabia deceived him into pulling the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as JCPOA, Rouhani said in a national conference on insurance and development, held in Tehran on Wednesday.

Highlighting Iran’s commitment to the JCPOA after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Rouhani said the Israeli regime, the Saudi kingdom, and American hardliners duped Trump into leaving the agreement, making him believe that withdrawal from the JCPOA and imposition of tough sanctions on Iran would overthrow the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian president underlined that Tehran is still honoring the JCPOA and that a reduction of commitments to the JCPOA falls within the framework of the agreement.

In May 2018, Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA. Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the JCPOA afterward, but the three EU parties to the deal (France, Britain, and Germany) failed to ensure Iran’s economic interests.

The EU’s inaction forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments to the nuclear deal, including a rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.

Iran maintains that the new measures are not designed to harm the JCPOA but to save the accord by creating a balance in the commitments.

The post Pulling out of JCPOA, wrong deed of Trump; Rouhani says appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Trump orders withdrawal of remaining US troops from Syria

reporter 1222 — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 06:34:05 +0000

Donald Trump is ordering the withdrawal of remaining US troops from northern Syria, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday, a development that has paralyzed the fight against ISIS and ceded US and Kurdish battlefield gains to Moscow and Damascus. Iran News quotes the report by CNN.

“We have American forces likely caught between two opposing, advancing armies and it’s a very untenable situation. I spoke with the President last night, after discussions with the rest of the national security team, and he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria,” Esper said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Which is where most of our forces are.”

In explaining the decision, Esper also said that “in the last 24 hours” the US had learned that America’s primary ally in the fight against ISIS, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, were “looking to cut a deal” with the Syrian regime and their Russian backers in order to “counter attack against the Turks in the north,” something the SDF leadership had told America it would do in the absence of US assistance in the face of Turkish attacks.

Despite Esper saying the US only learned of the effort in the last 24 hours, CNN has reported that the SDF commander told a senior US diplomat Thursday that this was his intent.

The order for withdrawal of remaining US troops comes as Turkish forces are pushing further south into Syria. Last week, the country launched its long-threatened incursion into the country after Trump ordered a small contingent of about 50 US troops to be pulled back from the border area amid a belief that a Turkish incursion was imminent.

Republican lawmakers in particular have harshly denounced Trump’s decision as a betrayal of the Kurds and a strategic blunder that will weaken American credibility, reverse gains against ISIS, make it harder for the US to build alliances and give a boost to Russia, China and Iran.

Pace of withdrawal

A US official told CNN on Sunday that US Central Command will determine the pace of the withdrawal and it will not happen immediately, but will take place deliberately and could take “days to weeks.”

This is a withdrawal plan that was drawn up in February, in case an order was given to pull out American troops, however it is being implemented at a much faster pace than planned.

US troops still on the ground and on the move are receiving military air cover. A source familiar with operations in Syria told CNN that if there is an unauthorized approach on US positions, the American side will first attempt to de-escalate, and if their efforts fail, they are authorized to use deadly force to repel any threat — whether that is from Turkish forces advancing into Syria or other actors already involved in the Syrian civil war.

Esper did not initially make it entirely clear whether the withdrawal would mean the US troops would be leaving Syria entirely or relocating elsewhere in the country away from where Turkish forces are operating. The Pentagon did not respond to CNN’s request Sunday for clarification on the troop withdrawal.

While the majority of the 1,000 US troops in Syria are in the northern part of the country, the US military also maintains a small presence in southern Syria at a base in At Tanf where the US trains local anti-ISIS fighters that are not affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces.

A US official familiar with the situation on the ground said earlier Sunday that US forces in Syria are preparing to withdraw from the country.

The official said the situation on the ground is deteriorating rapidly in northeast Syria, adding that Turkish proxies, which the official describes as including “extremists,” have advanced along the strategically important M4 highway setting up multiple checkpoints. He says these proxy forces are wearing SDF uniforms and killing civilians on the highway. US Forces and SDF troops no longer control ground lines of communication and have no control over Turkish aircraft overhead.

“US Forces are at risk of being isolated and there is increased risk of confrontation between Turkish proxies and US Forces unless Turkey halts their advance immediately,” the official says.

Situation in Syria

Prior to Turkey’s offensive last week, as a confidence building measure with the country, the US convinced the Syrian Kurds to dismantle their defensive fortifications along the border and pull their fighters back. The US said Turkey had agreed to the arrangement which sought to prevent unilateral Turkish military action. Trump then had the Pentagon pull back US troops along that part of the border.

While Kurdish officials and Republican and Democratic lawmakers have argued that the pullback helped provide a de facto green light for the Turkish attack, senior members of the Trump administration have insisted Turkey would have invaded regardless of whether US troops had remained and that the US has not deserted the Syrian Kurds. However, the US government has not taken action yet to stop the Turkish incursion.

Esper said Friday the US is not abandoning its Kurdish allies, although he made it clear the US military will not intervene in the fight.

“We are not abandoning our Kurdish partner forces and US troops remain with them in other parts of Syria,” Esper told reporters at the Pentagon.

“We remain in close coordination with the Syrian Democratic Forces who helped us destroy the physical caliphate of ISIS, but I will not place American service members in the middle of a longstanding conflict between the Turks and the Kurds, this is not why we are in Syria,” Esper said.

Trump signed an executive order Friday giving the Treasury Department “very significant new sanctions authorities” against Turkey over its actions in Syria, but the US doesn’t have any immediate plans to use them, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

The Treasury statement had said that Trump’s threat of sanctions was meant to dissuade Turkey from actions that included “the indiscriminate targeting of civilians, targeting of civilian infrastructure, targeting of ethnic or religious minorities.”

As the situation in Syria deteriorates, Trump wrote on Twitter Saturday that he is working with Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and unnamed Democrats to impose “powerful sanctions” on Turkey.

The post Trump orders withdrawal of remaining US troops from Syria appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Syria’s foreign ministry slams new US sanctions against Iran

reporter 1222 — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 10:10:53 +0000

The Syria’s Foreign and Expatriates Ministry condemned Sun. the decision of the US administration to slap fresh sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran which are due to enter into effect on November 5.

According to SANA, an official source at the Syrian Foreign and Expatriates ministry said in a statement that Syria considers this step to be in line with the US policies aimed at undermining regional peace and security.

The decision, according to the statement “reflects the US failure to deliver on its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed upon between Iran and the P5+1 nations.”

The source strongly blasted the US tendency to impose unilateral coercive measures against the countries which refuse to succumb to its diktats in a way that contravenes the UN Charter, international law and the multilateral trade system, and magnifies the humanitarian suffering of nations hit by these sanctions.

The source concluded by reaffirming Syria’s solidarity and support for the Iranian government and people, voicing confidence that the new package of sanctions will only make Iran more determined to abort the US ‘unethical policies.’

The post Syria’s foreign ministry slams new US sanctions against Iran appeared first on Iran News Daily.