Shocker! Iran is cheating on sanctions!
Great Britain has informed the U.N. panel responsible for monitoring compliance with Iran sanctions that they have discovered "an active Iranian nuclear procurement network" associated with their centrifuge program. Iran's secretive efforts to acquire technology to upgrade their centrifuges is explicitly forbidden in the agreement they signed in November 2013 that got the nuclear talks underway.
"The UK government informed the Panel on 20 April 2015 that it 'is aware of an active Iranian nuclear procurement network which has been associated with Iran's Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA) and Kalay Electric Company (KEC)'," the Panel of Experts said in its annual report. The panel monitors Iran's compliance with the U.N. sanctions regime.
KEC is under U.N. Security Council sanctions while TESA is under U.S. and European Union sanctions due to their suspected links to banned Iranian nuclear activities.
Iran, which is has been under sanctions for years, has a long history of illicit nuclear procurement using front companies and other methods of skirting sanctions.
That has enabled it to develop a substantial atomic program in spite of aggressive international efforts to curtail it, U.N. diplomats say. But analysts and Western intelligence officials say sanctions have slowed the development of Tehran's nuclear program.
The United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency have repeatedly said that Tehran has so far complied with the terms of a limited agreement struck in November 2013 between Iran and the six powers involving some reductions in its nuclear activities, including enrichment.
The panel's 41-page document did not contain further details on the British report.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf played down the report's significance. She acknowledged that Iranian sanctions violations have continued, and noted that Washington has repeatedly blacklisted Iranian entities due to illicit procurement while negotiations with Tehran were underway.
The report could add to skepticism in the U.S. Congress over the wisdom of engaging Iran, as senators vote on a bill subjecting the agreement to congressional review. Some Republicans are seeking to inject amendments that would toughen the demands on Iran.
Incredibly, the panel's report admits that other member-states have evidence of Iranian efforts to circumvent the sanctions but are keeping their mouths shut so that a deal can be struck. This makes those countries complicit in threatening genocide, as the Iranians have made no secret of their desire to wipe Israel off the map.
The sad fact is, no one cares what Iran does to build up its nuclear program. The sanctions have been little more than an inconvenience for Iran, as they play their shell games with cash in order to purchase nuclear technology and hardware on the sly. Everyone knows that Iran is violating the sanctions and violating their agreement signed two years ago – the one that President Obama told us would be a test to see if Iran was serious about negotiations.
Instead, it turned out to be a test for the West regarding Iranian intentions. We have failed that test miserably.
No comments:
Post a Comment