US Iran Envoy Says Diplomacy Is Best Despite Worsening Problems
Problems with Iran have gotten worse in the past two years despite talks over its nuclear program, US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley told the BBC’s Hard Talk.
Problems with Iran have gotten worse in the past two years despite talks over its nuclear program, US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley told the BBC’s Hard Talk.
Asked If he would acknowledge that the two-year diplomatic effort has failed, Malley said, “Diplomacy never ends as we do other things,” adding that the Biden administration has added sanctions, tried to contain Iran in the region and “mobilized the international community.”
However, he acknowledged that relations with Iran have worsened since the Biden administration came to office and started indirect talks with Tehran in April 2021.
The negotiation ended in deadlock in September, as US said Iran presented “extraneous” demands.
Pressed to acknowledge if the 2015 nuclear accord known as the JCPOA is dead, Malley avoided a direct answer, saying that Iran “turned down multiple opportunities to end this crisis…so you could reach your own conclusion.” He reiterated that the US is willing to continue talks with Iran “to reach a diplomatic outcome.”
Following the brutal and deadly suppression of protests in Iran many US politicians and Iranian activists have demanded an official end to the talks aimed at reviving the JCPOA, abandoned by former President Donald Trump in 2018.
Iranian activists have been demanding Malley's resignation, seeing him as an advocate of unending talks with the Islamic Republic, instead of opting for more pressure.
Malley reiterated that diplomacy is still the priority for the administration and a military option is only “a last resort,” apparently meaning to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. He added that the military option “is a very difficult option, a very dangerous option that President Biden would not engage in cavalierly.”
On the issue of how long the administration is willing to continue diplomacy with Iran when a point comes that it seems useless, Malley confirmed that the US has been sending “messages to Iran, but let’s not overstate,” and call it negotiations. He insisted that the US needs to convey messages, including about possible consequences if Iran supplies ballistic missiles to Russia.
When asked, Malley did not deny an Iran International report recently that he held three meetings with Iran's ambassador at the United Nations.
Asked if expanding close US and Israeli military cooperation and large joint military exercises are aimed at sending a message to Iran, Malley said these steps are designed to show that the US “has Israel’s back and we will work with Israel,” on protecting shared interests. He also said the drills aimed to demonstrate that regardless of what is happening in Europe “we could do other things, we could mobilize to defend our interests.”
In responding to a question if the administration is “compartmentalizing” its policy toward Iran, in terms of separating the nuclear issue from the gross violations of human rights, Malley said, “There is a degree to which we have to, in the sense that we can do two things,” support the people in Iran and defend the US national interest in not allowing Iran to go nuclear. He added “there is no contradiction between these two.”
The US envoy also defended the administration’s efforts in supporting the protest movement in Iran, citing frequent statements by President Joe Biden and his top officials and mobilizing international support to expel Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women in December. However, Malley reiterated that US “is not in the business of regime change.”
Malley praised the convergence of positions with Europe regarding Iran and said Tehran had a clear choice of returning to its obligations under the JCPOA, and to stop supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine. He added that US is not asking something “tantamount to surrender” but a “realistic choice, which is in their hands.”
Swedish democrat Charlie Weimers, member of Belgian Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Darya Safai, and Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius as well as many other activists such as RAND think tank analyst Alireza Nader and Stockholm-based rights defender Iraj Mesdaghi were among the participants.
The organizers and speakers of the meeting said they gathered together with the aim of providing more information to international and intergovernmental organizations and raise awareness about the reality of the IRGC. The session focused on two issues of the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in suppressing the antigovernment protests by the Iranian people and supplying arms for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to the members of the parliament and political activists, the approval of the 32-point resolution adopted by the European Parliament on January 19, which called on the EU and member states to designate IRGC as a terrorist outfit, did not persuade the EU to take that step.
The European Parliament’s resolution also urged the EU to expand its sanctions list to cover all individuals and entities responsible for human rights violations and their family members, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri and all foundations (‘bonyads’) linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG).
During the Friday session, Weimers said, “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – or the IRGC -- stands up on behalf of the mullah's evil republic through tyranny murder and terrorism,” adding that “the IRGC is a force for political terror both at home and abroad.” It has trained, financed, armed and provided a safe haven for groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have been listed as terrorists by many countries.
He also called on the EU to permanently suspend the talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, expressing regret that many members of parliament still hope that the agreement bears the fruits they seek.
The IRGC supported or motivated terrorist acts abroad, he said, noting that since the IRGC has provided support for assassinations, hijackings, bombings, kidnappings cyber-attacks, espionage, surveillance of Iranian dissidents, propaganda, delivery of explosives and arms all over Europe.
After the session, the Dutch justice minister twitted, “The Iranian Revolutionary Guards terrorize demonstrators fighting for freedom in Iran,” adding, “On behalf of the Netherlands, I again advocated adding the IRGC to the European terrorism list or imposing additional sanctions. We must continue to support the people of Iran.”
The issue of adding the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) to the list of Europe’s terrorist entities became a rallying point for the Iranian diaspora, which launched online campaigns and held a large protest in Strasbourg on January 16 to lobby the European Parliament for passing the resolution.
The Iranian expatriates and members of the European Parliament also called for another gathering to push for the IRGC terrorist designation in Brussels on February 20.
The IRGC played a major role in suppressing antigovernment protests in the past four months, overseeing several security agencies that have killed over 500 civilians, jailed over 20,000 people and inflicted lasting injuries on hundreds of people.
Many officials of the European Union, including foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, are not in favor of sanctioning the IRGC, as they are concerned that the Islamic Republic will not be forthcoming in nuclear talks with the West. Negotiations that began in April 2021 to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, came to a deadlock last September. In the meantime, Tehran has supplied kamikaze drones to Russia, which are used in attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
The West has stepped up pressure on Iran over its crackdown on protests and arms supply for the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the US, the European Union and United Kingdom imposed fresh sanctions on Tehran. In a retaliatory move, the Islamic Republic also designated over 30 European and British individuals and entities.
Also on Friday, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola condemned the decision of the Iranian regime to sanction several MEPs, as well as journalists, human rights defenders and institutions, underlining that “Women have the right to protest. Women's lives and women’s liberties are inviolable. The European Parliament will not stop fighting for these fundamental values. We will not stop standing up for freedom, dignity and equality. We will not be silenced.”
As hundreds of people demonstrated near the central bank headquarters in Baghdad on Wednesday to protest the devaluation of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar, which has triggered a rise in prices of imported consumer goods, an informed source told Iran International that representatives from the Iraqi government are scheduled to go to US next month to investigate the smuggling of dollars from Iraq to Iran.
People from different Iraqi regions waved Iraqi flags or carried banners demanding government intervention to stop the dinar's decline to around 1,620 to the greenback from 1,470 in November. “Stop the neighbors stealing our dollars,” one banner read, alluding to Iran. The protesters demand that the government must intervene to stop the decline of dinar value because people are suffering from high prices in local markets.
According to Iran International’s source, who asked not to be named, it is not clear whether Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani will head the delegation or not. The visit could take place in early February.
The dinar went into a tailspin against the dollar after the New York Federal Reserve imposed tighter controls on international dollar transactions by commercial Iraqi banks in November to halt the illegal siphoning of dollars to neighboring Iran, which is under tough US sanctions.
The move blocked more than 80 percent of Iraqi bank transfers. Under the curbs that took effect this month, Iraqi banks must use an online platform to reveal their transaction details. But most private banks have not registered on the platform and resorted to informal black markets in Baghdad to buy dollars.
This has created dollar shortages as demand has outstripped supply and accelerated the dinar's descent against the greenback. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the intensification of pressure on the Islamic Republic has caused the value of Iraq's currency to drop.
Sudani replaced the central bank governor on Monday as he had not taken effective steps to tackle the consequences of the new Fed regulations and their impact on the dinar.
Late in December, an informed source in Baghdad told Iran International that Washington has received reports on Iraq conducting trade with Iran using US dollars despite US sanctions. This source added that the names and bank account numbers that have secretly interacted with Iran have not yet been revealed, but the Biden administration has found out that a large amount of US dollars has been transferred from Iraq to some countries, including Iran.
The Islamic Republic needs Dollars to stabilize its deteriorating economy hit hard by US sanctions imposed since 2018 after then-US President Donald Trump ditched Tehran's nuclear deal with six world powers. Iran's troubled currency has lost more than 30% of its value since nationwide protests following the death in police custody of a young 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, on September 16, 2022 that have further isolated the country.
For years, the clerical establishment has used front companies from Iraq to Turkey to obtain the dollars it needs for international transactions and funding its proxy militia forces across the Middle East.