US sanctions cannot cut off our oil exports, Iran's oil minister says

The sanctions, announced by the US Treasury on Thursday, mark an escalation in Washington's ongoing standoff with Tehran over its nuclear program.

Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, described the sanctions as a clear violation of international law and accused the United States of hypocrisy.

"While American officials repeatedly claim they are ready for negotiations, these sanctions are yet another undeniable proof of their dishonesty," Baghaei said on Friday. "It is a sign of their hostility towards Iran’s progress, development, and the welfare of its people."

Baghaei also condemned the broader impact of US sanctions, describing them as "a violation of the principles of free trade and international law." He said, "America's addiction to sanctions and pressure against independent countries undermines international peace and security. The United States will be held responsible for the consequences of these unlawful actions."

The US Treasury accused Paknejad and Iran's oil ministry of funneling billions of dollars in oil revenues to Iran's security forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The sanctions also targeted entities in China and India, accused of facilitating Iranian oil trade through what Washington calls a "shadow fleet."

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have strengthened their grip on the country's oil industry, now overseeing up to half of its exports, according to a Reuters report from late last year. The revenue from these exports is used to bolster Iran's military capabilities and support allied armed groups across the Middle East.

Washington has been ramping up sanctions on Iran's oil exports since Donald Trump came to office earlier this year, pinching Iran's economy and deepening financial hardship for Tehran in a bid to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.

Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, but a United Nations watchdog said this month that its uranium enrichment levels and stockpiles of fissile material have risen significantly.

Trump said last week that Iran must reach a nuclear agreement or face military threat, in comments lambasted by Iran's Supreme Leader as an attempt to bully and dominate Iran.

Yet on Thursday, Iran's Foreign Minister hinted at the possibility of indirect talks through Oman.

Following trilateral talks in Beijing on Friday, senior diplomats from China, Russia, and Iran issued a joint statement emphasizing the need to address the root causes of the nuclear standoff. They condemned "unlawful" unilateral sanctions and underscored that Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy must be fully respected.

The meeting was not held at the highest diplomatic level but was led by deputy foreign ministers. Russia's Sergei Ryabkov, Iran's Kazem Gharibabadi, and China's Ma Zhaoxu attended the talks at the Diaoyutai State Guest House on Friday.

"(China, Russia, and Iran) emphasized that the relevant parties should be committed to addressing the root cause of the current situation and abandoning sanctions, pressure, or threats of force," said China's Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu.

Iran says Russia and China back limiting talks to nuclear issue

Iran, Russia, and China have agreed that future negotiations will focus solely on Iran's nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions, with no other issues on the table, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, announced after the trilateral meeting in Beijing.

"Any negotiations and discussions will be exclusively centered on the nuclear issue and the removal of sanctions," Gharibabadi said during a press conference following the meeting.

A major point of contention in the broader negotiation process has been whether discussions should expand to include Iran's missile program and its regional activities—issues that Washington insists must be addressed in any future agreement. However, Tehran and Moscow have firmly rejected this approach.

"Negotiations should not include Iran’s missile program or its regional influence," Russia’s envoy to the Vienna talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said last week in an interview with BBC Persian. "Adding these topics would complicate the process and make it unmanageable."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also criticized Washington's stance, warning that efforts to attach additional conditions to the agreement would fail. "This is not going to fly," Lavrov said, emphasizing Moscow's position that negotiations must remain limited to the original nuclear framework.

Trump says talks or risk of military action

The meeting comes as tensions rise between Tehran and Washington. The US has recently pushed for Iran to resume nuclear talks, but Iran has resisted, citing ongoing sanctions and perceived threats.

Last week, US President Donald Trump reiterated his stance on how to deal with Iran, saying, "There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal." In response, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian firmly rejected any dialogue under pressure, saying Iran "would not bow to US orders to talk."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, however, indicated Tehran's openness to indirect negotiations via Oman. "Indirect negotiation is feasible... What is important is that the will to negotiate and reach a fair and just agreement comes up in equal conditions," Araghchi said in an interview. Oman has historically served as a diplomatic channel between Tehran and Washington.

However, Araghchi emphasized that "entering negotiations under maximum pressure will lead to negotiations from a position of weakness."

Meanwhile, concerns over Iran's nuclear activities have grown. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently warned that Tehran has dramatically accelerated uranium enrichment, approaching weapons-grade levels. Iran has denied seeking nuclear weapons but acknowledged increased enrichment as a response to US pressure.

A closed-door UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, requested by six members including the US, Britain, and France, discussed Iran's compliance with nuclear regulations. Tehran criticized the meeting as a "misuse" of the Security Council.

China and Russia, both key stakeholders in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have reiterated their commitment to restoring the deal, which Trump withdrew from in 2018. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized Washington's efforts to attach additional conditions to a future agreement, warning that it "is not going to fly."

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning emphasized restraint. "In the current situation, we believe that all parties should maintain calm and restraint to avoid escalating the Iran nuclear situation or walking towards confrontation and conflict," she said on Thursday.

As diplomatic tensions escalate, Beijing has called for enhanced cooperation to "increase mutual trust and dispel misgivings," while Russia has positioned itself as a potential mediator.

Khalid Mehdiyev said one of the defendants in the Russian mob group, Rafat Amirov confessed to him that Iran's government was behind the plot to murder the Iranian-American journalist.

Jacob Gutwillig, a federal prosecutor said in court this week: "The defendants were hired guns for the government of Iran."

Alinejad has been of the strongest and most vocal critics of Tehran's human rights abuses and persecution of women and minorities.

Since she fled Iran in 2009, she has had a target on her back.

“I was trying to get the easy way to kill her," the bearded Mehdiyev confessed in the Manhattan courtroom.

Prosecutors have said Iran’s government offered to pay Amirov, 45, and Omarov, 40, about $500,000.

Amirov and Omarov, both fellow natives of Mehdiyev’s Azerbaijan, are on trial for the murder-for-hire and attempted murder in aid of racketeering. The duo both pleaded not guilty.

Mehdiyev, who said he was paid $30,000 for the failed assassination attempt, is cooperating with the federal government after pleading guilty in an effort to lessen his potential sentence.

Watching and Waiting

Mehdiyev got dangerously close to Alinejad.

He parked outside of Alinejad's Brooklyn home for two days, watching her every move, and even slept in his car, ordering doordash meals to his vehicle.

The self-proclaimed Russian mobster watched and waited for his target.

The would-be assassin told the court he tried to open Alinejad's door, took videos and photos of himself touching her flowers in her front yard to prove to his mobster associates he was getting close to his mission, and asked his mob boss for a bike to conduct more surveillance.

In bone chilling testimony, Mehdiyev said even tried to hire a woman to lure Alinejad outside her home. He said he told the woman that his target owed him money and once she was in plain sight from the door opening, he would take care of the rest and pay her his share.

“I was there to try to kill the journalist,” said Mehdiyev.

He said in court Thursday that he saw Alinejad outside her Brooklyn home in at least on occasion. The shocking revelation made even more significant since Alinejad was already under FBI protection at the time.

But his assassination plans failed with some errors.

Once Alinejad spotted the stranger lurking around her home, peering into her window and wandering around her, she reported him to the FBI.

Mehdiyev ran a stop sign as authorities trailed him, leading to his arrest and the discovery of a loaded Ak-47, with one in the chamber and a ski mask.

The ski mask, he calmly said in court was "to cover my face when I was going to kill the journalist."

A past of kidnappings and murder-for-hire plots

Mehdiyev faced a grueling cross-examination that focused on his extensive criminal past.

Elena Fast, Omarov’s defense attorney, asked if he was ever caught for committing crimes in other parts of the world. He allegedly committed crimes in 7 countries around the world, but has only been convicted in the U.S.

Mehdiyev told the court he once tried to orchestrate a kidnapping in Ukraine as he was also managing a pizza shop called Peppino’s.

His resume included alleged kidnappings, extortion and murder-for-hire plots.

Green Card for an Informant (S Nonimmigrant)

Mehdiyev was born in Azerbaijan and left for the United States in 2017 after fear of rival gangs emerged in his home country.

He said he was offered by one of his mob bosses, known as a Vor in Russian, to run the gang division in the U.S. Mehdiyev said his goal was to one day became a Vor himself, and move up the ranks from his position.

He entered the U.S. on Nov 4, 2017 and later applied for political asylum, claiming that he would be tortured by Azerbaijani authorities. Mehdiyev admitted it was a lie as Fast, Omarov’s defense attorney said he was wanted in Azerbaijan for crime.

As a witness who has agreed to cooperate with the US government Mehdiyev's entire immediate family including his father, mother and brother are living in the United States with a S greencard, provided to informants.

Meantime, Alinejad hasn't seen her family in more than 15 years. Even Alinejad's brother was imprisoned in Iran in an attempt to put pressure on her to cease her activism.

As a witness, Alinejad cannot discuss the case, but posted to X on Wednesday how profoundly grateful she was to US law enforcement for saving her life.

“In a federal court, he admitted he was sent by the Islamic Republic to kill me for the ‘crime’ of speaking out,” Alinejad wrote on X.

“The Iranian regime continues to use the proceeds from the nation’s vast oil resources to advance its narrow, alarming self-interests at the expense of the Iranian people,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Treasury will fight and disrupt any attempts by the regime to fund its destabilizing activities and further its dangerous agenda.”

US President Donald Trump reinstated his so-called maximum pressure campaign of sanctions on Iran last month in a bid to bring oil revenues upon which the state relies to zero and force Tehran to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.

The sanctions announced on Thursday also included entities in China and India the treasury accused of owning and operating vessels involved in the trade of Iranian oil - dubbed a "shadow fleet" by Washington.

Iran's oil ministry criticized the move and said it would circumvent US sanctions.

"The sanctions on Mohsen Paknejad are due to his extensive efforts to sell Iranian oil. He has repeatedly emphasized that Iranian oil exports will never stop and that the US policy of maximum pressure has failed," it said in a statement.

"In recent years, Iran has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to bypass sanctions and continues to sell its oil in international markets through various methods," it added.

The US treasury explained its targeting of Paknejad as a means of combatting Iran's security apparatus.

"Iran’s oil industry ... generates tens of billions of dollars annually for the regime."

"Under (Paknejad's) leadership, Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum has allocated billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil to the Iranian armed forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian Law Enforcement Forces, both critical instruments in the regime’s tools of oppression," it added.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have tightened control over the country's oil industry and now manage up to half of exports, according to Reuters report late last year, funding its military capabilities and those of armed allies across the Middle East.

The US state department too announced sanctions on several Indonesia-based entities it says facilitate Iranian oil shipments.

Washington has been ramping up sanctions on Iran's oil exports since the latter days of the Joe Biden administration, pinching Iran's economy and deepening financial hardship for its people which could threaten unrest.

US competitor China, the world's top oil importer, is Iran's customer for over 90% of its oil exports and has continued to buy the supplies through a world-spanning network of traders and shell companies dodging US-led sanctions.

Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon but a United Nations watchdog said this month that its uranium enrichment levels had sharply risen to levels which in principle could be refined further into six atomic bombs.

Trump said last week that Iran must reach a nuclear agreement or face a military intervention, in comments lambasted by Iran's Supreme Leader as an attempt to bully and dominate Iran.

According to Der Standard’s report citing business documents, the company Blue River Holding GmbH also pursued a plan to export luxury cars to Iran.

“The documents obtained indicate that (Ramin) Mirfakhrai acts or acted as a confidant of a clique of Viennese citizens of Iranian descent. He likely maintains extremely close ties to the internationally isolated Iranian regime,” wrote Der Standard.

Contacted by Der Standard, Mirfakhrai denied any wrongdoing.

“I have not conducted or been involved in any legally or morally questionable transactions,” he said. Mirfakhrai acknowledged he had worked for Blue River in the past but said he no longer has ties to the company.

Mirfakhrai first gained public attention in 2019 as the initiator of the so-called Ibiza video, a secretly recorded meeting on the Spanish resort island which allegedly exposed corruption within the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), leading to the downfall of Austria's coalition government.

His commissioning of the covert filming, Mirfakhrai said at the time, was a civic gesture aimed at exposing abuses of power.

Der Standard's investigation suggested that at the same time Mirfakhrai was involved in business dealings with individuals connected to Iran’s economic and political establishment.

One of these ventures was Blue River Holding, which held a license from Spar International, based in Amsterdam, to operate Spar supermarkets in Iran.

The company is also suspected of facilitating visa access for high-ranking Iranian officials and exploring ways to set up a payment system between Iran and Europe that could circumvent international sanctions.

Documents reviewed by Der Standard show that in 2021, Blue River sought a €10 million loan to fund its Iran-related projects.

A controversial luxury car deal

In late 2021, Blue River attempted another project—this time involving the export of luxury cars to Iran.

The company sought to establish a business partnership between Bentley and the Iranian conglomerate Zar Group, a Tehran-based company best known for food production but increasingly expanding into other sectors.

Zar Group's CEO, Morteza Soltani, has been publicly associated with Iran’s leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. His son, Arash Soltani, was honored by the Basij militia, a paramilitary force linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as a so-called Top Jihad Manager in late 2023.