Hamas’ war against Israel is set to be given a powerful shot if the US and its European allies allow the lifting of UN sanctions over Iran’s ability to buy and supply missiles to enemies of the US and Israel, experts say in Tehran. .
Next Wednesday is so-called “Transition Day” when the end of the UN embargo against Iran’s ability to procure and sell missiles and drones takes effect.
Richard Goldberg, who served on the National Security Council during the Trump administration as director of Countering Iran’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, told Fox News Digital: “The president is giving a speech saying he’s heartbroken over the images of the worst carnage Jews since then. the Holocaust and opposes Hamas, and a week later, he gives a gift to Hamas’s sponsor, Iran. It breaks my heart to see the president lift this embargo.”
Goldberg said the lifting of UN sanctions on Iran’s missile program “will be a huge victory for Tehran which only serves as a reward for terrorism and proliferation around the world.”
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An Iranian military truck carries surface-to-air missiles in front of a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a parade on April 18, 2018 in Tehran. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
Iran’s ally Hamas murdered 1,400 people, including Americans, on October 7 in southern Israel. Fox News Digital reported on Sunday that the late Iranian global terrorist Qassem Soleimani was the architect of the mass murder, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Iran’s regime has threatened Israel as the Jewish state prepares to launch an expected ground invasion of Gaza to root out Hamas terrorists and the entity’s military apparatus.
Earlier this month, State Department principal deputy spokesman Vedant Patel was asked during a press briefing whether the administration wanted to extend the embargo.
“We continue to have a number of tools at our disposal to hold Iran’s dangerous development and proliferation of missile-related technologies and UAVs — to hold those things accountable,” Patel said. “Obviously, UNSCR 2231 is not the only tool at our disposal. We have our own sanctions authorities. We have export controls. We have bilateral and multilateral commitments. We have already effectively targeted the same networks and individuals that would have been covered under a violation of UNSC 2231 and we will continue to use our own sanctions authorities to hold the Iranian regime accountable.”
UN Security Council Resolution 2231 was passed by the 15-member body in 2015.
Pressed on whether the administration was willing to let it lapse, Patel said there was “nothing to preview right now” while adding, “We’ve pretty reliably — if you look at our track record on this since the beginning of this administration — have put hold the Iranian regime accountable for its malign and destabilizing activities and we will continue to do so.”
Several inquiries from the Fox News Digital press to the State Department and the White House about the UN sanctions went unanswered.
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The UN Security Council meets at United Nations headquarters on July 13, 2023, in New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Goldberg, who is a senior adviser at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), noted that “right now it’s an unforgivable policy choice. We can stop it from ending. We could send a letter to the United Nations Security Council and triggering snap-back sanctions.” He called Biden’s policy toward Iran “appeasement.”
“Washington’s silence on the lifting of UN missile bans on Iranian missile tests and transfers is deafening. Iran’s missile proliferation radius continues to expand, and with the lifting of UN restrictions this October, it is almost certain that include Russia,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu. an Iran expert and senior fellow at FDD, told Fox News Digital.
He added: “Make no mistake though, Europe’s decision to maintain missile and non-proliferation sanctions on Iran is no small act. It looks like their first breach of the deal. This is big.”
The European members of the JCPOA, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, known as the EU3, announced last month that they had decided to maintain sanctions against Iran related to its ballistic missiles and nuclear proliferation.
The remains of an Iranian Shahed 136 drone are displayed at an exhibition of the remains of missiles and drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine on May 12, 2023. (Oleksii Samsonov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
The Obama administration’s controversial 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), contained provisions for arms sanctions against Iran that were allowed to expire. The Trump administration pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018 because, his administration argued, the deal did not stop Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon, downgrade its ballistic missile program and end its sponsorship of terrorism.
The JCPOA allowed for the lifting of the UN ban on Iran’s ballistic missile activities. According to the UN Security Council sanctions package, “Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology” until Transition Day .
Taleblu recently compiled a report titled “Avoiding a Surprise October sanctions This will empower Tehran.” According to the FDD report, the “ban on UN member states providing Iran with missile components and technology, along with restrictions on Iran’s missile exports, are popularly called the ‘missile embargo’ and will also end on Transition Day. .”
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The Obama administration’s controversial 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, contained provisions for arms sanctions against Iran, which have expired. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin/File)
The US and Europeans can invoke the emergency sanctions mechanism to restore UN sanctions on Iran’s arms procurement system. However, Taleblu said the sanctions are about to expire “and the only way to stop it was through snapback, but that won’t happen because Europe and the US are still attached to the agreement (JCPOA).
He added, “For context, Iran gave Russia drones, not missiles [and is] we’ll probably have to wait for that.” And once the UN sanctions expire, Iran will likely supply Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine to Ukraine, he said.
The lifting of UN restrictions on Iran’s missile equipment creates a dangerous new theater of war in the Middle East. Taleblu wrote: “The more confidence Tehran feels in its missile capabilities, the lower the bar for Iran’s overt use of force with these weapons. Likewise, the more Tehran believes in the deterrent power of its growing missile force, the more audacious and unfettered it can support terrorism, assassinations and destabilization.”
There is significant market demand for Iranian drones. Iranian regime military officials say 22 countries are seeking to buy their drones. Israel believes about 50 nations have an appetite for Iranian drones.
An Iranian long-range Ghadr missile emblazoned with “Down with Israel” in Hebrew is pictured at a defense exhibition in Isfahan, Iran, on February 8, 2023. (Morteza Salehi/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images)
In July, Iran’s state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency reported that “Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani and his Bolivian counterpart Edmundo Novillo Aguilar signed the Defense and Security Memorandum.” The AP reported in late July that Bolivia’s socialist government wants for acquiring Iranian drone technology.
Fox News Digital contacted Iran’s foreign ministry in Tehran and the UN mission in New York. A spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital media query.
Reuters contributed to this report.
