Iran is under investigation for new attempts to import items from North Korea and China that are banned under UN sanctions against Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs, UN diplomats said on Tuesday.
The information emerged on the sidelines of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss a quarterly report on Iran’s compliance with four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions imposed on Tehran for refusing to halt a nuclear enrichment program that Western powers fear is aimed at producing bombs.
Iran says its nuclear program is intended solely for generating electricity.
Colombian UN Ambassador Nestor Osorio, who chairs the Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee, did not publicly provide details of the two incidents. He did, however, tell the council that both cases were being investigated by the Iran sanctions committee and a UN panel of experts.
Osorio said: “The increase in the number of reported sanctions violations is a matter of serious concern.”
A UN Security Council diplomat provided details of the investigations of the suspected violations. They involved attempts by Iran to import aluminum powder and phosphor bronze, both banned items.
“The aluminum powder was from DPRK [North Korea] and interdicted by Singapore,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. “The phosphor bronze was seized in South Korea from a Chinese company.”
Another UN envoy confirmed the diplomat’s remarks.
The first diplomat said the Chinese authorities cooperated in the seizure of the phosphor bronze. There was no indication that the government was involved or had approved of the attempted shipment, the diplomat said.
The applications of the aluminum powder and phosphor bronze were not immediately clear, but the diplomats said Iran was banned from importing both substances owing to possible uses in its nuclear and missile programs. North Korea also is under sanctions and forbidden from exporting such items.
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told the council that the two incidents were clear violations of the sanctions. He also complained about a shipment of Iranian weapons allegedly bound for Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
Another suspected violation by Iran was a shipment of weapons that Israel said was bound for the Gaza Strip.
On March 15, Israeli naval commandos seized a cargo ship in the Mediterranean carrying what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said were Iranian-supplied weapons intended for Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Israel’s UN ambassador, Meron Reuben, sent a letter to the UN Security Council last week complaining about the shipment and urging the council to “take firm action to prevent arms smuggling to terrorist organizations and to prevent the ongoing illicit transfers of arms from Iran.”
In addition to a ban on importing nuclear and missile technology, the council has banned all arms exports by Tehran.
Nigerian authorities complained to the sanctions committee about an Iranian arms shipment it seized last year that Tehran said was a legitimate trade deal with Gambia. Nigeria is prosecuting one of two Iranians involved in the arms deal.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of