US Sanctions Chinese, Emirati Firms Over Iran Petrochemicals

The government’s Rewards for Justice program announced the award on Wednesday, saying he is involved in smuggling and other criminal operations to support the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

“Qasir is also a critical conduit for financial disbursements from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) that are used to fund Hezbollah's activities," the statement said.

According to the US government, he also helps oversee several front companies used to mask the IRGC-QF’s role in the sale of oil and other extractives, a crucial source of income for Hezbollah, the Quds (Quds) force, the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and other illicit actors.

“In addition, Qasir leads Hezbollah’s Unit 108, which coordinates closely with the IRGC-QF to facilitate the transfer of weapons, technology, and other support from Syria to Lebanon,” the statement said.

Earlier in the week, the US government’s Rewards for Justice program offered up to $15 million for information that can disrupt Iran’s IRGC and its Quds Force financial networks. The Quds Force is a branch of the IRGC that conducts operations beyond Iran’s borders.

The announcement can be seen as additional pressure on the Islamic Republic as it continues to support militant groups across the Middle East and beyond, after negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA came to a halt in March.

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in an unsigned article highlighted United States sanctions against the energy industries of the three countries, although each is a different case.

In Iran’s case, sanctions were imposed for its nuclear program after former US president Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA.

In Venezuela’s case the Obama Administration and many Western countries imposed targeted sanctions against individuals for human rights abuses, corruption, and antidemocratic actions. The Trump Administration expanded economic sanctions, including on the oil industry, in response to the increasing authoritarianism of President Nicolás Maduro.

Russian oil imports have been banned by many countries after its February 24 invasion of Ukraine and many European countries are ending their natural gas imports from Russia for the same reason. However, there are no third-party sanctions on Russian energy exports, which might be the next phase of sanctions.

IRNA argued that Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, mentioning 303 billion barrels, with Iran having 157 billion and Russia with 89 billion barrels of crude, totaling 45 percent of world reserves.

This represents a huge potential for influencing the world market, IRNA said, calling for cooperation between the three countries.

But facts on the ground are somewhat different than what the Iranian government seems to suggest.

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Venezuela’s reserves at this moment do not count for much because it was never a large exporter. Before the US sanctions, Caracas exported around 750,000 barrels per day, a small quantity compared with Russia’s and Saudi Arabia’s daily shipments, easily reaching 15 million barrels.

Saudi Arabia alone can easily add two million barrels a day to world oil supply if it decides the move to be in its political or economic interests.

Iran’s spare production capacity is higher than Venezuela’s, but not detrimental to world supplies. In recent months, Tehran has been shipping just under one million barrels a day and if sanctions are lifted it can add a maximum of another 1.5 million barrels.

Putting Iran’s and Venezuela’s spare capacities together, they are roughly equal to what Saudi Arabia can add to world supplies in a short period of time, if it decides to do so.

Venezuela’s oil production infrastructure is in serious disrepair and Iran also admits it needs at least $160 billion in investments to revitalize production that has suffered through successive international and US sanctions.

Meanwhile, as Iran dreams about a ‘cartel’ with Russia and Venezuela, Moscow is going its separate way since the invasion of Ukraine.

Multiple reports in May and June show that Russia is selling its spare crude to China and India at the expense of Iran. A report in May said that around 40 million barrels of Iranian crude is sitting in tankers in Asian waters unable to find customers. Another report on June 13 said Tehran’s oil exports dropped by 50 percent in May, which confirmed earlier news about Russia taking market share from Iran.

Since 2020, Iran has tried to help Venezuela revive its oil and refining industries, by sending technical help and shipping gasoline and oil. Many agreements were also signed during the recent visit of President Nicolas Maduro to Iran, but any serious project needs financing, which is a challenge for both countries.

Answering a question by our correspondent Samira Gharaei at the State department briefing on Tuesday about claims by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that the Islamic Republic has proposed new initiatives aimed at reviving the nuclear deal, spokesman Ned Price implicitly confirmed the news but avoided directly commenting on Iran's proposals. 

Price reiterated that Washington and its European partners are ready to conclude an agreement in Vienna for the mutual compliance with the JCPOA, noting that for that to happen, “Tehran needs to decide to drop demands that go beyond the scope of the JCPOA”, suggesting that the new proposals by Tehran include demands extraneous to the 2015 accord. 

He confirmed that Tehran and Washington are engaged in indirect regular contact via Enrique Mora, the European Union coordinator for the Iran nuclear talks, saying, “We await a constructive response from the Iranians, a response that leaves behind issues that are extraneous to the JCPOA.” 

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Earlier in the day, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization released a copy of its answers to IAEA questions about origins of uranium found at three undeclared locations, saying “sabotage” is the only explanation. 

The document that was released to the media on Tuesday was earlier submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which rejected the explanations as "technically not credible".

Iran agreed March 5 to provide written explanations by March 20 of long-standing issues in its nuclear work before 2003, and to clear up remaining queries by June 21. The latest quarterly report by the UN watchdog expressed dissatisfaction with Iran’s response to agency over sites not declared as part of the nuclear program where inspectors detected traces of uranium. This led to a resolution critical of Iran’s nuclear cooperation by the agency’s board of governors on June 8. 

In its answers, Iran maintained that the only plausible explanation for such traces is probably sabotage by foreign elements at Marivan, Varamin and Turquzabad sites, pointing out that the Varamin center, near the capital Tehran, was "never" used for nuclear activities.  

Iran said the IAEA’s claims about storage of nuclear material and/or conduct of nuclear-related activities, at Varamin are not supported by valid proofs and are misleading, noting that “the initial activities conducted in this location had been exploitation of sodium sulphate from the soil and water of the surrounding region.” 

For Marivan, which is a misnomer as the site is located near the city of Abadeh in the southwestern Fars province, Iran said the origin of the particles is "unknown" and insists the site was used for "the exploitation of fireclay through a contract with a foreign company decades ago" hence the IAEA’s “conclusion is absolutely false, unrealistic and biased.”

Iran claims it carried out its own investigation in Turquzabad and "did not find the origin of the particles" reported by the IAEA. 

Later on Tuesday, the head of the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said that Iran’s contacts with the International Atomic Energy Agency are still underway, reiterating that Iran will act based on the safeguards protocol. 

The resolution called on Iran to engage with the IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, without delay and expressed “profound concern” at Iran’s failure to satisfy the agency over the traces of uranium.

Following the resolution, Iran retaliated, telling the IAEA it plans to remove more monitoring equipment, but intends to maintain a basic level of monitoring and inspectors’ access as required under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). 

The resolution comes with year-long talks paused since March between Iran and five world powers aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

The semi-official Mehr news website quoting Iranian officials sadi that the oil cargo will be returned to its owner.

"With the swift and authoritative action of Iran, the Greek government finally issued an order and we are now witnessing the lifting of the ship's seizure and the return of its cargo to its owner," the PMO told Mehr.

The ship, previously called Pegas and renamed Lana in March, had reported an engine problem in April. It was headed to the southern Peloponnese peninsula to offload its cargo on to another tanker but rough seas forced it to moor just off Karystos where it was seized, according to the Athens News Agency.

A Greek court overturned an earlier ruling last week that allowed the confiscation by the United States of part of the Iranian-flagged tanker's Iranian oil cargo off the Greek coast, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The US has sanctioned Iranian oil exports since 2018.

The incident led to an angry response from Iran, with Iranian forces last month seizing two Greek tankers in the Gulf after Tehran warned it would take "punitive action" against Athens.

There is still no word about the fate of the Greek tankers, but in similar cases in the past Iran has released seized vessels if there was a reciprocal agreement.

With reporting by Reuters

Saeed Khatibzadeh launched his defense of Tehran’s policies at a press conference on Monday by attacking a recent trip by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi to Israel.

Defending the government’s decision to reduce cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog as a reaction to the resolution critical of Iran, he said, “We could not leave the IAEA’s political and non-technical action unanswered. Our response was decisive and appropriate.”

The resolution called on Iran to engage with the IAEA without delay and expressed “profound concern” at Iran’s failure to satisfy the agency over traces of uranium found at three undeclared sites and highlighted earlier in June in a report from by Grossi.

"The abrupt change in the IAEA chief’s tone, his manner of negotiations, and his discourse when he addressed the European Parliament [earlier in May] clearly shows that he was acting on the orders of an outside player," Khatibzadeh said.

Relations between Iran and the Agency continue within the technical framework, he added, saying that if Grossi wants to come to Iran within the framework of agency, he should have an agenda by the agency, but he can come as a tourist.

Saying that Grossi made a trip to the wrong place and at the wrong time and “met with wrong people, he added, “It is unfortunate that the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency has granted the unlawful regime of Israel permission to make a mockery of the international organization through its agents, and erode its credibility.”

Reiterating that the move seriously harmed the credibility of the UN nuclear watchdog, Khatibzadeh said that “These actions have discredited the achievements of international organizations. Under the Statute of the IAEA, its chief is obligated to ensure the independence and impartiality of the organization.”

Iran told the IAEA it plans to remove more monitoring equipment after the 35-member IAEA board Wednesday passed the resolution. Tehran says it intends to maintain a basic level of monitoring and inspectors’ access as required under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran is resisting excessive demands presented “by the other side” in talks to restore the 2015 nuclear deal that have stalled since March. The Iranian parliament and all Friday Prayer Imams in Iran, who are representatives of the Supreme Leader, backed the decision to reduce relations with the IAEA.

Khatibzadeh also touched on the Vienna talks, saying an agreement is within reach if the United States abandons delusions and fulfills its commitments.

“If the agreement is finalized in Vienna tomorrow, all the measures carried out by Iran are technically reversible,” he said.