March
30, 2023
The
United Nations’ top court has rejected Tehran’s legal bid to free up some 2.0
billion US dollars (£1.6 billion) in Iranian central bank assets frozen by US
authorities.
The
money is to be paid in compensation to victims of a 1983 bombing in Lebanon and
other attacks linked to Iran.
In
a 10-5 majority ruling, the International Court of Justice said on Thursday it
did not have jurisdiction to rule on the Iranian claim linked to the central
Markazi Bank.
In
a complex, 67-page judgment, the world court found that some other US moves to
seize assets of Iran and Iranians in the United States breached a 1955 treaty
between the countries and said they should negotiate compensation.
If
they fail to reach a number, they will have to return to the Hague-based court
for a ruling.
But
the largest part of the case focused on Bank Markazi, and its frozen assets of
$1.75 billion in bonds, plus accumulated interest, that are held in a Citibank
account in New York.
The
court said that it did not have jurisdiction based on the 1955 Treaty of Amity.
Iran
took its claim to the world court in 2016 after the US Supreme Court ruled that
money belonging to Iran’s central bank could be used as compensation for the
241 American troops who died in the 1983 bombing, which was believed to be
linked to Tehran.
At
stake are 1.75 billion US dollars (£1.4 billion) in bonds, plus accumulated
interest, belonging to the Iranian state but held in a Citibank account in New
York.
After
the bombing of the a U.S. military base in Lebanon, a second blast nearby
killed 58 French soldiers. Iran has denied involvement, but a U.S. District
Court judge found Tehran responsible in 2003.
The
judge’s ruling said Iran’s ambassador to Syria at the time called “a member of
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and instructed him to instigate the Marine
barracks bombing.”
At
last year’s hearings, US legal team leader Richard Visek told judges they
should invoke, for the first time, a legal principle known as “unclean hands”,
under which a nation cannot bring a case because of its own criminal actions
linked to the case.
Russia Nears Major Shahed Drone Deal With Iran—ISW
March
30, 2023
Russia
is set to receive further weapons deliveries from Iran, as Tehran works to
"solidify" the relationship between the two countries, according to a
new assessment.
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, met his Iranian counterpart, Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian, in Moscow on Wednesday. The pair likely discussed the Russian
use of Iranian weapons in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War think
tank said on Wednesday.
Russian
forces have made considerable use of Iranian-made Shahed-131 and -136 unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Ukraine. Tehran denied providing the drones to
Russia, but then said it had sent a "small number of drones months before
the Ukraine war."
Iran
is looking to establish "more equal" status with Russia, and will
"likely increase weapons transfers to Russia in pursuit of this
goal," the U.S.-based ISW said.
Earlier
in March, Iran said Moscow and Russia had reached a deal to buy Su-35 fighter
jets from Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian leader
Ayatollah Khamenei in July 2022, reaffirming links between Moscow and Tehran.
Ukraine's
National Resistance Center, created by the country's military, said on
Wednesday that newly reinstated flights from Tehran to Moscow likely included
Shahed "suicide" drones. Members of the Wagner mercenary group, which
is heavily involved in Ukraine, have started training on using the Shahed-131
drones, the center said, although this was not confirmed by the ISW.
Ukraine's
General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Tuesday that 14 out of 15
Shahed-136 drones launched at Ukrainian targets had been shot down overnight.
The
British Defense Ministry said on Sunday that since the start of the month of
March, Moscow's forces had likely launched at least 71 Shahed attacks in
Ukraine.
"Regular
resupplies" of limited numbers of drones were likely reaching Russia, the
ministry said on Twitter, after a pause in drone attacks through late February.
Earlier
this year, Ukrainian officials and Western military analysts suggested that
Moscow was running low in stocks of Shahed drones. On January 6, Ukrainian
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a tweet that Russia had used up 88
percent of its supply of Shahed drones.
The
drones had come to be a common sight across Ukraine, carrying warheads that
shatter or explode as the UAVs reach their target. The drones are considerably
cheaper than using cruise missiles, and can be difficult for Ukrainian air
defenses to detect on approach.
Newsweek
has reached out to the Russian and Iranian foreign ministries for comment.
Why Saudi Arabia Is Following Iran to Join China and Russia's
Security Bloc
March
29, 2022
Saudi
Arabia's decision to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has come
amid a wave of diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East bringing regional
powers closer to China and Russia.
The
decision, reached Wednesday through a memorandum approved by the Saudi Cabinet,
would establish Riyadh as an official dialogue partner of the SCO, an economic
and security bloc that counts China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as members. Other dialogue partners include
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Egypt, Nepal, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Turkey, while
observers include Afghanistan (whose participation is uncertain since the
Taliban takeover), Belarus and Mongolia.
Tehran
was the most recent to see its status upgraded from observer to full member in
September and Riyadh's decision came just weeks after a China-brokered deal to
resume Iran-Saudi diplomatic ties.
For
Saudi Arabia, the move is the latest step toward rebalancing its major power
relations that have been traditionally dominated by its ties with the United
States.
"The
Kingdom is pursuing a portfolio strategy of developing a number of strategic
partners to complement its relations with the West," Ali al-Shihabi, a
Saudi political expert who formerly led the Arabia Foundation think tank and
now serves on the advisory board of the futuristic NEOM city project, told
Newsweek.
"China
and the multilateral organizations it has established are an important part of
that, not only in strengthening the ties with China but by allowing Saudi to
benefit from China's relations with others like Iran."
Meanwhile,
the U.S. has placed itself on the sidelines.
"Saudi's
diversification strategy attempts to fill in the gaps left by the U.S.' loss of
interest or will in maintaining the status quo in the region," Shihabi
said.
"China
being heavily reliant on Persian Gulf oil is the world power with the largest
vested interest in a stable status quo in the Gulf," he added, "and
hence Saudi has worked to bring China into a more active role in helping
stabilize this volatile region."
State
Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel offered a muted reaction to the
development during a press conference on Wednesday.
"This
is not a new development," Pedant said. "As you know, Saudi Arabia's
SCO dialogue – SCO status as a dialogue partner has been pending for some time.
As you know, each country has its own relationships, and I would of course let
the Government of Saudi Arabia speak to that."
The
relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia entered a fraught timeline since
President Joe Biden came into office two years ago.
Among
the first major foreign policy decisions made by the incoming leader, who had
previously referred to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a
"pariah" over alleged human rights abuses, was to announce the end of
combat assistance to Riyadh as it led a military campaign in Yemen against the
Iran-aligned Ansar Allah, or Houthi, movement.
Shortly
thereafter, he reversed his predecessor's decision to list Ansar Allah as a
terrorist organization, though the Biden administration has repeatedly
condemned the group and its occasional attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The
relationship grew increasingly strained after Russia launched a war in Ukraine
last year. As energy prices soared over the conflict and ensuing Western
sanctions against Moscow, Washington called on Riyadh to increase production,
only for the Kingdom to join with Russia and other members of the extended
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) in cutting output in
October.
Biden
pledged there would be "consequences" for the move, as he ordered his
administration to review its longstanding ties with Saudi Arabia.
By
this point, Iran, longtime rival of Saudi Arabia, had officially joined the
SCO, with President Ebrahim Raisi traveling to Uzbekistan to attend the group's
annual leaders' summit in September. In addition to joining the SCO, Iran has
also expressed interest in joining BRICS, another multilateral body led by
China and Russia, along with Brazil, India and South Africa.
With
Saudi Arabia also having eyes on both organizations, Chinese President Xi
Jinping visited the Kingdom to host the first-ever China-Arab States Summit in
December. The gathering resulted in a number of agreements being signed, and
appeared to pave the way for further diplomatic breakthroughs.
Less
than a month after Raisi met with Xi in China in February, a trilateral
statement from Beijing, Riyadh and Tehran announced that a deal had been
reached for the resumption of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi
Arabia after an eight-year rift. Brokered by China, the deal signaled a new
level of engagement from the People's Republic in the region.
Reports
have since emerged that Saudi Arabia has begun talks to restore ties with
Syria, which has been suspended from the Arab League since civil war broke out
in 2011. The reports came after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan
traveled to Moscow to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov,
who then met with SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming about a week later.
Azam
al-Shdadi, a Saudi foreign affairs expert who is a member of the Kingston
University Political Science Association, argued that this series of developments
did not indicate a break in the relationship with the U.S.
"There
is no doubt that the relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the
United States of America is important and strategic for the two
countries," Shdadi told Newsweek, "and indeed for the world as well,
because of the weight of the two countries politically, culturally and
economically."
"And
there is no contradiction between this relationship and the Saudi response to
the Chinese mediation that aims to achieve stability in the Middle East
region," he added.
However,
he argued that "all of this depends on the extent of Iran's commitment to
the principles of this important agreement."
"And
from here," he added, "we can say that the Kingdom, along with other
powers such as China, provided cooperation that resulted in an agreement that
is considered fateful for the region and also builds for future agreements with
many countries for the benefit of the region and the world as a whole."
Shortly
after the agreement was reached, the Iranian mission to the United Nations told
Newsweek that "the Iran-Saudi Arabia relationship is significant on three
levels: bilaterally, regionally, and internationally."
"Resumption
of political relations between the two countries will benefit all three areas,
including the region and the Islamic world," the mission said at the time.
"It seems a resumption of political relations will speed up Yemen's
development for establishing a ceasefire, starting Yemeni-Yemeni dialogues, and
forming an inclusive national government."
All
three major factions of the eight-year conflict in Yemen have welcomed the
Iran-Saudi deal as well as China's role in it, though mistrust remains rife in
the war-torn nation.
And
despite the bad blood built up between Riyadh and Tehran over the past years,
Shdadi was hopeful the deal could provide positive outcomes not only for the
two nations and the broader region, but also the U.S., which has otherwise
largely focused on a military approach to the region.
"The
stability of the Middle East and the economic prosperity of its countries will
give the United States of America more economic opportunities with a
developmental dimension to participate in emerging economies," Shdadi
said, "in contrast to previous opportunities with a military dimension and
based on tensions and conflicts."
The
current approach, he argued, "is undoubtedly a new opportunity that was
not available in the past due to the absence of a vision in the region and the
tense relations between its countries."
In
this regard, Shdadi also saw new opportunities and "many benefits" in
Saudi Arabia's bid to grow closer to the SCO, a step, he said, "comes
within the framework of Saudi Arabia's openness to the world, especially East
Asia, economically and politically, and in support of international
stability."
These
include greater ties among members in terms of trade and cultural exchange, as
well as stronger integration in economic, industrial, technological and
security affairs.
Shdadi
also said that Saudi Arabia's dialogue partner status "gives the
organization deep international weight" due to Riyadh's leadership status
in major global institutions such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) and OPEC as well as its position as the largest economy in the Arab world
and fastest-growing economy among the G20 states.
"It
is natural for Saudi Arabia to be present in such organizations," Shdadi
said, "which constitute an important political, economic and cultural
dimension for the Kingdom and for the countries of the Shanghai Organization
alike."
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