Iran Needs To Show The World It Is Not Seeking Nukes – IAEA

Tehran Times, an Iranian government newspaper August 27 published a US government memo purportedly sent to US Iran envoy Robert Malley informing him of his security access suspension.

US House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman McCaul issued a brief statement on Monday voicing deep concern that an alleged State Department memo has reached the Iranian government, while the US Congress knows very little about why Malley has been suspended without pay.

“If this memo is authentic, it is extremely concerning especially since this is not the first time the Iranian regime’s mouthpiece has appeared to have sensitive U.S. government information recently while Congress is kept in the dark,”McCaul said in his statement.

The State Department refused to comment on Monday when asked by Iran International. A spokesperson said, “We are aware of these reports,” but “The department does not comment on internal matters.” The Spokesperson added, “We have nothing further to share at this time due to privacy considerations.”

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Iran International first reported June 29 that Malley had been absent for a considerable time, his security clearance was suspended, and he is under investigation related to his handling of classified documents. The Involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was also reported, although until now no official details have been announced, except that Malley is on “unpaid leave.”

The document published by Tehran Times, purportedly from Erin Smart, Director of the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Office of Personnel Security and Suitability, cites three reasons for Malley's suspension: “Personal Conduct,” “Handling of Protected Information,” and “Use of Information Technology.” The memorandum further underscores that Malley's “continued national security eligibility is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security."

While Iran International has yet to independently verify the document's authenticity, it has been informally corroborated by two congressional sources, who have described it as seemingly "authentic." Politico also reported that a source “familiar with the investigation into Malley who has seen the original memo…that the Tehran Times’ version appeared to match that original.”

The Biden administration's refusal to provide more information to Congress even in a confidential briefing, arguing that privacy considerations are a hindrance, has led McCaul to threaten a subpoena.

“I have requested transparency from the State Department on the ongoing Robert Malley saga and will continue to demand answers,” the Chairman said in his statement.

He concluded by suggesting that there could be a security breach at the State Department. “This latest chapter raises serious questions about how the regime obtained this potentially authentic document and what other sensitive or classified information they may have. The State Department needs to do a top to bottom security review, because I am concerned they have a leak.”

Other Republicans, who were already angry about the Biden administration agreeing to release $9 billion of Iran’s funds from South Korea and Iraq, also started to weigh in.

“It is shocking and, to my knowledge, unprecedented that a propaganda arm of Iran’s terrorist regime got its hands on what appears to be a ‘Sensitive But Unclassified’ April 2023 memo related to the suspension of Special Envoy Rob Malley’s security clearance,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in a statement.He asked for the State Department Inspector General to investigate how the Tehran Times obtained the Malley memo.

Pierre Poilievre is also the leader of the country’s Official Opposition -- the party possessing the most seats in the House of Commons that is not the governing party. The Conservative Party of Canada, or the Tories, is leading in opinion polls and projections for the upcoming federal election, slated to take place on or before October 20, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament.

After a campaign event among Iranian Canadians on Sunday, Poilievre said on his X account, “Inspiring a group of freedom-loving Canadians who want to ban IRGC terrorists and kick regime thugs out of Canada. That is what I will do.”

Echoing the same sentiments, Anna Roberts -- another Conservative Party parliamentarian – said after another campaign event for Poilievre that “IRGC terrorists should not be free to roam our streets and should be kicked out of Canada.” “A common sense Conservative government will bring home safety in our streets,” she added on her X account.

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The promise has resonated with a large group of Iranians who have been critical of Canada's Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over his failure to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. There are 73 groups on Canada's terrorist list, but the Revolutionary Guard is not one of them. Ottawa has intensified measures against the regime in recent years, especially following the downing of a civilian airliner by IRGC in 2020 killing dozens of Canadians and the nationwide protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of police.

Pundit Babak Taghvaee said earlier in the week, “Canada is a Paradise for IRGC terrorists, authorities of Iran's Islamic Regime and their supporters.”

On Saturday, a video went viral in which a supporter of the Iranian regime chanted slogans in support of the Islamic Republic and its leaders Ali Khamenei through a megaphone as he passed through a neighborhood with a lot of Iranian shops and businesses.

So far, Canada has sanctioned 170 Iranian individuals and 192 Iranian entities, including key IRGC and members of the regime’s security, intelligence and economic apparatuses. In 2012, Canada designated Iran as a state supporter of terrorism under the State Immunity Act.

In June, Canada's Senate passed a non-binding motion to designate the the Guards as a terror organization. Ratna Omidvar, an independent senator for Ontario who fled Iran in 1981 and has been campaigning fiercely against the IRGC, said at the time that “the crimes of the Islamic regime and the IRGC go beyond the borders of Iran", citing the contribution of the IRGC to Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, for which Iran has supplied kamikaze drones. In June 2018, the Canadian parliament passed another similar motion, introduced by MP Garnet Genuis, to designate the IRGC but the government did not follow up on the action.

The federal government has referred to the IRGC as a terrorist organization, described its leadership as terrorists, announced measures to make its senior members inadmissible to Canada, and has listed the outfit’s extraterritorial expeditionary division Quds Force as a terrorist entity. However, despite numerous calls from the federal Conservative party, activists and even US lawmakers as well as the families of victims of the Ukrainian flight that was shot down by the IRGC, the government has refused to designate the whole entity as a terrorist entity under the country’s Criminal Code.

The airliner was shot down by two air-defense missiles fired by the IRGC as it took off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport. All 176 passengers and crew, including 63 Canadians and 10 from Sweden, as well as 82 Iranian citizens on the plane died in the disaster.

Canadian officials said last year that the designation of the group would be too much of a “blunt instrument” that could punish innocent people in Canada who were conscripted into the IRGC as part of their mandatory military service.

Following years of campaigning by human rights activists and Iranians dissidents, Canada finally announced sanctions last November against the IRGC, permanently banning over 10,000 of its officers and other senior officials from entering Canada. However, the ban on regime officials “applies to those who were senior officials at any time from November 15, 2019, onwards,” practically giving the greenlight to a large number of regime officials to reside in Canada.

He cited Tehran's human rights record, after Hashemi was reportedly seen in Montreal.

"Based on an assessment of the relevant facts recently brought to my attention, I have exercised my authority under s. 22.1 of the IRPA to prevent Mr. Seyed Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi from becoming a temporary resident of Canada for the maximum period of 36 months," Miller said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Section 22 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act gives the Canadian immigration minister the authority to deny temporary residency to a foreign national for up to three years.

"The decision itself, as communicated to the individual, is tied to Iran's disregard for human rights," Miller added, without disclosing Hashemi's location, whether he had sought residency, or how the information was conveyed.

Hashemi served as the minister of health for the Iranian government from 2013 to 2019 under former President Hassan Rouhani. He was widely seen as the key official behind a 2014 launch of a plan for universal medical insurance.

Iran International, a US-based news outlet focused on the Iranian diaspora, reported earlier in August that Hashemi was spotted in Montreal. It cited screenshots from a promotional video for the Quebec province's tourism industry. Reuters could not independently verify the presence of Hashemi in Montreal.

Canada cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012 and listed the country as a supporter of extremism. It also recently imposed sanctions on Iran over alleged human rights abuses and the killing of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died in the custody of Iran's morality police that enforced strict dress codes.

Ghafour Kargari, who currently serves as the president of Iran's national Paralympic committee, is presently in France attending a gathering with representatives from other nations participating in the 2024 Summer Paralympics games, according to statements from event organizers.

The two human rights groups assert that Kargari was a former commander of the Quds Force, a division of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) responsible for clandestine military operations and intelligence efforts throughout the Middle East.

Emmanuel Daoud, an attorney representing the French collective Femme Azadi and the Swedish NGO House of Liberty who filed the complaint, stated that France should not have issued him a visa for the meeting.

"The IRGC and the Quds group have been at the forefront of the violent repression of peaceful movements for democracy, civil rights and equality of men and women in Iran," they said in a document filed with France's anti-terror prosecutors and seen by AFP.

Given Kargari's high-ranking position in Iran's military hierarchy, the organizations assert that he was involved in formulating and executing strategies for these groups, leading them to argue that his actions "could also be qualified as crimes against humanity."

The 2024 Summer Paralympics are scheduled to be held from August 28 to September 8, featuring the participation of over 4,000 athletes.

Meanwhile, officials said an increase in weapons being smuggled across the border was raising concerns about a new Iranian-instigated threat beyond drugs.

The army said in a statement that the drone was brought down in its territory but did not say what it was carrying. Officials have recently revealed weapons were being smuggled as well as narcotics by drone.

Jordanian officials said the increasing use of drones carrying explosives was adding a new dimension in a relentless cross-border billion-dollar drug war the staunch US ally has long blamed on Iranian-backed militias that hold sway in southern Syria.

"This is Iranian targeting of Jordan helped by the presence of their militias near our border. It poses a security threat that goes beyond drugs," Samih Al Maitah, a former minister familiar with developments along the border said.

Syria is accused by Arab governments and the West of producing the highly addictive and lucrative amphetamine captagon and organizing its smuggling into the Persian Gulf, with Jordan a main transit route.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government denies allegations by Jordan and the West of its involvement in drug-making and smuggling, or complicity by Iranian-backed militias protected by its forces.

Jordan, which has intensified military drills along its border with Syria, announced 10 days ago it had foiled a large smuggling operation.

During a visit by the top US general last week, Jordan raised getting more US support for its efforts to curb drug trafficking by Iranian militias, Jordanian officials say.

General Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed in an interview that Washington was working closely with its ally to provide equipment, training and advice to deal with the growing drug trafficking threat.