How West’s single-minded pursuit of nuclear deal resulted in spread of Iranian terror drones from Middle East to Ukraine

Firefighters work amid the rubble of a building in Kyiv destroyed by a drone attack on Monday. (AFP)
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Updated 19 October 2022
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How West’s single-minded pursuit of nuclear deal resulted in spread of Iranian terror drones from Middle East to Ukraine

  • Iranian kamikaze drones supplied to Russia rained down on Kyiv on Monday, killing at least four civilians
  • Analysts say the Obama-era nuclear deal gave Iran the time and capital to develop its drone program

LONDON: Over the past month, the regime in Tehran has been responsible for the deaths of scores of civilians, from young protesters on the streets of Iran who died at the hands of security forces to citizens of distant Ukraine killed by Iranian drones supplied to Russia.

And yet, in its attempt to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal at any cost, the Western world appears willing to make concessions to the regime regarding its conventional weapons programs and proxy tactics, in the single-minded hope of preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.




The Shahed-136 drones, the name of which translates as “martyr” in Persian, have been used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies in conflicts across the Middle East. (AFP)

“The unrelenting focus on the Iran nuclear deal replaced policy work on Iran’s conventional and missile systems for years,” Norman Roule, a Middle East expert and former senior official in the CIA, wrote in a message posted on Twitter on Monday.

“Iraqis, Syrians, Emiratis, Saudis, Yemenis, Ukrainians and the multinational expatriates living in these countries paid the price for that decision.

Alberto Miguel Fernandez, a retired US diplomat and former head of the Middle East Broadcasting Network, echoed Roule’s assessment and called out the White House for its seemingly high tolerance for the malign activities of the Iranian regime.

“The Biden administration unfairly targets Saudi Arabia as helping Russia, meanwhile the same American administration has been indulging Iran (which actually supplies Russia with drones) for most of the last two years,” Fernandez tweeted on Monday.

Former President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Obama-era nuclear deal, more formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018. His successor Joe Biden, aided by European allies, has been adamantly trying to restore the accord by offering several major concessions to the Islamic Republic.

“Iran has used the talks to show that it is able to successfully defy major powers and the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Roule told Arab News.

“It has also normalized a larger and more dangerous nuclear program. Both of these achievements came at no cost to Tehran.”




According to US officials, Iran is supplying Russia with “hundreds” of armed drones in an attempt to turn the tide of the war against the Western-backed Ukrainian armed forces. (AFP)

Far from showing a willingness to meet the international community halfway, the Islamic Republic has been free to intensify its malign activities with impunity, massively expanding its uranium-enrichment program and continuing to interfere in regional affairs with its arsenal of drones, missiles and proxy militias.

On Monday, about 30 “kamikaze” drones, supplied to Russia by Iran, rained down on residential areas of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in an onslaught that left at least four people dead. The Shahed-136 drones, the name of which translates as “martyr” in Persian, have been used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies in conflicts across the Middle East.

The Houthi militia in Yemen, for instance, has frequently used explosive-laden drones to target Saudi Arabia. Tehran provided the militants with the means and the know-how to assemble and launch these drones to devastating effect.

In September 2019, Iranian drones and cruise missiles were used to attack oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in eastern Saudi Arabia, causing significant disruption to global oil markets. The recent use of them in Ukraine marks a major escalation in the regime’s efforts to export terror.

Responding to the reports of Iranian drones targeting Ukraine, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, told reporters in Luxembourg on Monday: “We will look for concrete evidence about the participation.”

 




On Monday, about 30 “kamikaze” drones, supplied to Russia by Iran, rained down on residential areas of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. (AFP)

According to US officials, Iran is supplying Russia with “hundreds” of armed drones in an attempt to turn the tide of the war against the Western-backed Ukrainian armed forces, which have reclaimed vast swaths of the country’s eastern territory in recent weeks.

Russia has used several of its newly acquired loitering munitions, also referred to as “kamikaze” or “suicide” drones. These particular drones are relatively cheap and can be used in large numbers, enabling them to overwhelm enemy defenses and reach their targets, where they self-destruct.

The Shahed-136 — also known as the air moped because of the buzzing sound it makes as it flies overhead — was first used in Ukraine in September, with reports suggesting they were sold to the Russians in August, despite Iranian denials.

“It is sad that we have to recognize that the Iranian government is lying, as the Russian Federation government is, because we had contact with Iran’s leaders at the topmost level,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said during an interview with Arab News’s Frankly Speaking.




On Monday, about 30 “kamikaze” drones, supplied to Russia by Iran, rained down on residential areas of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. (AFP)

“We talked to the embassy, we had the ambassadors called up to the Ministry of External Affairs, and we were assured that nothing was sold to Russia, it wasn’t their drones, and nothing of the kind.

“We have a number of these downed Iranian drones and these have been sold to Russia to kill our people, and they … are being used against civilian infrastructure and civilians, peaceful civilians. Because of that, we sent Iranian diplomats away from the country. We have nothing to talk with them about.”

Although there are reports that the US is considering further sanctions against Iran in response to the sale of the drones to Russia, experts say they are unlikely to deal a body blow to the regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

“There will likely be more sanctions against Iran but it is unlikely that sanctions on drone entities will have much impact in the short term,” said Roule.

“Iran’s leaders must understand that their actions have produced diplomatic and economic isolation that will destabilize the regime. It is critical that Iran’s oil revenue be cut.”




On Monday, about 30 “kamikaze” drones, supplied to Russia by Iran, rained down on residential areas of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. (AFP)

Azeem Ibrahim, director of the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, said the Iran nuclear deal, which eased the sanctions pressure on the regime in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program, gave Tehran the financial means to expand its drone and missile programs.

A revival of the nuclear deal, without additional restrictions on the development of conventional weapons and the use of proxy forces, will only repeat the same mistake, he warned.

“The West first needs to understand that the first Iran deal explicitly gave Iran the capital and time to develop its drone program, which is the cornerstone of a vast and aggressive regional strategy,” Ibrahim told Arab News.




The Western world appears willing to make concessions to the regime regarding its conventional weapons programs and proxy tactics, in the single-minded hope of preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. (AFP)

“Any new Iran deal must not make the same mistake and the West must do everything it can to curb Iran’s drone campaign in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and now Ukraine. But first it must recognize that there is such a campaign being waged.”

Ibrahim believes the Western response to the latest drone attacks should be “fearsome.”

“For too long Iran has counted on Western indifference and laxity,” he said. “It has built a regional empire of militia groups and set about arming them with ballistic missiles and drones, which are used to directly attack NATO forces and their Middle Eastern allies.

“Iran’s drone program has only flourished with Western negligence. For that negligence to end, the West’s policy must make up for years of inattention with aggression … of its own.”
 


Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

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Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

DAMASCUS: An Israeli strike hit a Syrian town near the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, less than a week after deadly strikes on the same area.
“An Israeli aggression targeted the industrial zone in Al-Qusayr” in Homs province, the official SANA news agency said. There was no immediate news of casualties or damage.

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

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Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

  • The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours

GAZA STRIP: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed in the year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.


Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

Updated 38 min 40 sec ago
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Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

  • At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents
  • Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps

ATHENS: Some islands in the southeast of the Aegean sea, including Rhodes, are seeing an increase in migrants arriving by boat from Turkiye, Greek migration and asylum minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said Tuesday.
“The southeast of the Aegean and the island of Rhodes are experiencing migratory pressure right now,” he said on public television station ERT, though he said the increase does not appear to be linked to rising tensions in the Middle East.
At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents and local authorities.
According to local media Rodiaki, more than 700 migrants arrived during the last week of October.
Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps on the mainland or in other islands.
Previously, Aegean islands further north such as Lesbos and Samos had received the brunt of migrants crossing from Turkish shores.
Crete, which has likewise seen an increase in arrivals from Libya, also needs to build facilities to process migrants.
Greece has seen a 25 percent increase this year in the number of people fleeing war and poverty, with a 30 percent increase alone to Rhodes and the south-east Aegean, according to the Migration Ministry.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 48,158 arrivals have been recorded so far in 2024, of which around 42,000 arrived by boat and 6,000 by crossing the land frontier with Turkiye.
“The camps on the islands have an occupancy rate of 100 percent. But on the mainland they are only 55 percent full, which provides a margin in the event of an increase in arrivals on the islands,” Panagiotopoulos said.


Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Updated 51 min 17 sec ago
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Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

  • Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF

PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army-backed government on Tuesday accused neighboring Chad of supplying arms to rebel militias, likely referring to the paramilitary forces it is battling.
The northeast African country has been engulfed by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the regular army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Justice minister Muawiya Osman said Burhan’s administration had lodged the complaint against Chad at the African Union.
Speaking to reporters, including AFP, Osman said the government demanded compensation and accused Chad of “supplying arms to rebel militias” and causing “harm to Sudanese citizens.”
“We will present evidence to the relevant authorities,” he added from Port Sudan, where Burhan relocated after fighting spread to the capital, Khartoum.
Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF.
“We do not support any of the factions that are fighting on Sudanese territory — we are in favor of peace,” foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said at the time.
The United Nations has been using the Adre border crossing between the two countries to deliver humanitarian aid.
Sudan had initially agreed to keep the crossing open for three months, a period set to expire on November 15. Authorities in Khartoum have yet to decide whether to extend the arrangement.
The Sudanese war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country’s borders.


Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

Updated 05 November 2024
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Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

  • The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations

ANKARA: An explosion at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkiye on Tuesday left at least 12 employees slightly injured, the company said. A fire at the facility was quickly brought under control.
The Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, TUPRAS, said a fire broke out at its facilities in Izmit, in Kocaeli province, during maintenance work on a compressor. The company’s emergency teams responded immediately to the incident, it said in a statement.
The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations, the company said.
The company said the unit where the incident occurred “was deactivated in a controlled manner” and that other operations at the refinery were “continuing as normal.”
Earlier, Tahir Buyukakin, the mayor for Kocaeli told private NTV television that the blast occurred during a drill. The fire was quickly brought under control by the company’s own crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery, which is one of Turkiye’s largest. Izmit is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Istanbul.
The Borsa Istanbul stock exchange temporarily halted trading of TUPRAS shares, until the company provides a detailed explanation of the incident.