Page 10 - MEOG Week 11 2021

MEOG POLICY MEOG

US diplomat dismisses reports

of Korea returning Iranian funds

IRAN US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has dis- ready for full commitments in exchange for
missed as “incorrect” reports that South Korea full commitments, or partial commitments in
is sending $1bn to Iran in a move to resolve a exchange for partial commitments.
dispute over bank deposits that Tehran cannot “If you [the US] return [to the deal], you will
access because of American sanctions. experience better conditions and you’ll see it’s in
“The report is incorrect,” Blinken said late on the interests of all the people in the region.”
March 10, responding to a question from Rep- In the US on March 11, CNBC reported for-
resentative Greg Steube, a Florida Republican. mer US energy secretary Ernest Moniz as saying
“Unless and until Iran comes back into com- time was running out for Washington to engage
pliance [with the 2015 nuclear deal], they won’t in meaningful diplomacy with Iran on getting
be getting that relief, and the report that you’re the nuclear deal back on track. The Iranian
referring to is simply incorrect.” presidential election in June, in which analysts
The day after Blinken’s remarks, State Depart- say hardliners, or principlists, are most likely to
ment spokesman Ned Price told reporters: “We take over, could put nuclear talks into a “hiatus”,
will not offer any unilateral gestures or incentives Moniz said.
to induce the Iranians to come to the table. If the The Wall Street Journal on the same day pub-
Iranians are under the impression that, absent lished an exclusive report that Israel has since
any movement on their part to resume full 2019 targeted at least a dozen vessels bound for
compliance with the [nuclear deal], that we will Syria and mostly carrying Iranian oil out of con-
offer favours or unilateral gestures, well that’s a cern that petroleum profits are funding extrem-
misimpression,” ism in the Middle East.
There has been speculation that the US might It cited US and regional officials as reveal-
give Seoul its blessing to wire the money— ing the attacks, including with the use of water
largely owed on historical oil deliveries—to Iran mines, in what it said was a new front in the con-
as a sign of goodwill in the Biden administra- flict between Israel and Iran.
tion’s attempts to commence negotiations with On March 10, The Media Line reported how
Tehran on reviving the nuclear deal, which the Iran has denied attacking an Israeli owned cargo
Iranians have so far resisted, saying the US must ship in the Gulf of Oman. The Iranian ambassa-
lift economic sanctions on Iran first. dor to the United Nations on March 9 circulated
In late February, Iranian government spokes- a letter that said Israel is “playing the victim to
man Ali Rabiei said Abdolnaser Hemmati, distract attention away from all its destabilizing
governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), acts and malign practices across the region.” The
had reached preliminary agreements with letter called the February 26 incident that blew
the ambassadors of Japan and South Korea on holes in the hull of the MV Helios Ray a “com-
releases of funds that have become blocked plicated false flag operation”.
because of US sanctions. “He [Hemmati] has A video released on March 7 by Lebanon’s
said that it seems that, in a first step, about $1 bil- al-Mayadeen news network, featuring unverified
lion of foreign exchange resources of the Central video apparently recorded by Iranian drones,
Bank of Iran will be provided to us,” Rabiei told a purported to show that the holes were created
news conference streamed live on a government from inside the ship. The holes “were not created
website. by an external attack, but some individuals inside
“I hope that you stand firm on not allowing the ship created the holes in order to indicate that
anything as long as they are acting as the world’s the ship was attacked,” the news network said.™
number one state sponsor of terror,” Steube told
Blinken during a House of Representatives For-
eign Affairs Committee hearing.

Rouhani under fire
Separately, on March 11 Iranian media outlets
reported that conservative political factions in
Iran had expressed their firm opposition to an
apparent move by moderate, pragmatic Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani to support a step by
step resumption of nuclear deal compliance by
the US and Iran.
Rouhani told a cabinet meeting, televised
live by the state broadcaster, on March 9: “We’re

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