This just in, Iran still pursuing ballistic missile program
By Jeff Kouba
Last week the Treasury Dept imposed sanctions on an individual and four related companies that “procured ballistic missile propellant-related materials for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Research and Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization (IRGC RSSJO), the IRGC unit responsible for the research and development of ballistic missiles.”
This was in response to “Iran’s missile attack on Erbil, Iraq on March 13 and the Iranian enabled Houthi missile attack against a Saudi Aramco facility on March 25 as well as other missile attacks by Iranian proxies against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.”
The individual had “been personally involved in high-level meetings and traveled with senior IRGC RSSJO officials and, in his role as the manager of Sina Composite, procured processing machines for nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) from China using falsified shipping documents.”
One of the companies “has procured centrifuge spare parts used in the production of ballistic missile propellant valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars from suppliers in China.”
In response, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said:
“This move is another demonstration of the ill-will of the US government toward the Iranian nation, which is a continuation of the failed policy of maximum pressure by that government against Iran, and this clearly proves the fact that the current US administration, contrary to what it claims, uses every opportunity to level baseless accusations against the Iranian people and impose pressure on them,” Saeed Khatibzadeh said.
“The US claims to be ready to return to full implementation of its obligations under the nuclear deal, while it continues to significantly violate the UN Security Council resolution 2231.”
2231 is the resolution (text here) in support of the original JCPOA. That’s a bit rich, accusing the US of being in violation. The resolution said this of Iran’s missile program:
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…
If you believe Iran isn’t trying to build a nuclear missile program, there’s a place for you in the Biden Administration. This would be the same administration currently trying to negotiate a return to the JCPOA with Iran. I always wonder if the Treasury Dept’s Office of Foreign Assets Control ever gets invited to the White House Christmas parties. They are diligent about keeping tabs on Iran. I’m always amazed the commissars in the White House let them issue all these sanctions. It makes all these negotiations in Vienna look rather silly.
What’s more, this Iranian missile program is proceeding with the assistance of China. Factor things like this in when you wonder why China was sliding stacks of dollars to the Bidens.
April 5th, 2022 at 11:47 am
The strength at all costs school of foreign policy is not just foolish it is counter-productive. As Iran’s resourcefulness under sanction shown. But the Daily Mail version of History always prevails. For the time being.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:04 pm
Jeff, you don’t have to go far to see the Quid behind the Quo when it comes to the Jughead crime family – widgets and gadgets produced in China are being exempted from punitive tariffs. Widgets and gadgets that can be produced in the US. Widgets and gadgets that keep the manufacturing base open. While raw materials that are critically short in the US are still being dutied to death. Raw materials that could expand and reinvigorate manufacturing in the US. If only we had people, let’s call them journalists for a lack of a better word, who would ask questions and hold to account the greatest Diplomat™ in charge of the adults in the white house™.
April 5th, 2022 at 12:30 pm
Mitch, those are Defensive missiles, not Offensive. That means they’re perfectly harmless, same as the bio-weapons being developed in labs in Ukraine funded by the US. Don’t be such a worry wart. So the Persians get nukes, so what? What could possibly go wrong?
April 5th, 2022 at 12:33 pm
I have to say that Iran’s position to ask for a guarantee that America cannot unilaterally withdraw from a future agreement seems fairly reasonable given its history in the region. Given that the plan has several US allies like Germany, France and the UK as co-signatories it would not seem unreasonable to require at least some agreement between them, and may even make the deal stronger. Least we find the situation becomes even worse on the whim of a future president with little knowledge of how diplomacy works (and I would not limit this list to Trump).
April 5th, 2022 at 12:34 pm
I mean, aside from Richard Fernandez’s Three Conjectures, first stated more than a decade ago and now available on Amazon.
April 5th, 2022 at 1:17 pm
Trump didn’t let Iran have nukes. Brandon is letting Iran have nukes. Makes this article even more interesting:
https://voxday.net/2022/04/05/how-donald-trump-saved-the-world/
Pull quote: “What we see today is an attempt to form a certain image of a new world order with a world government at the head, where people are driven into an Electronic Concentration Camp. You can see by the example of restrictions during the pandemic how it happened: all people are given tags, access to public goods is regulated through QR codes, everyone is forced to walk in formation.”
Nice phrase. Precisely captures the thinking of NYC vs. Restaurants, Trudeau vs. Truckers and Brandon vs. Putin.
April 5th, 2022 at 1:59 pm
One has to wonder if we ought to be loaning Israel a flattop, or whether the Mossad would politely decline because that would be too obvious for their style.
April 6th, 2022 at 7:48 am
Russia is closely allied with Iran.
What will we do if Putin sells nuclear tech to the Mullahs? Put sanctions on him?