Accusing the U.S. of oil piracy of the Gulf coast off Houston, Iran was exposed in illicitly transporting for sale its oil through a Liberian-flagged tanker Achillleas AKA a Very Large Crude Carrier [VLCC]. Under U.S. sanctions imposed by 74-year-old former President Donald Trump after he canceled May 8, 2018 the July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] AKA “the Iranian Nuke Deal,” Iran is not allowed to sell crude oil on the open market. Justice Department officials filed suit in U.S. District court in Washington, D.C. alleging Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps camouflaged its Iranian oil, pretending it was from Iraq. Whatever the reasons, it’s clear that Iran can’t be trusted on any of its obligations under any treaties or international agreements, including the JCPOA, demanding the Iran stay within strict limits on uranium enrichment, now far exceeding the mandated limits.
Catching Iran transporting and selling crude oil should come a no surprise since Iran has skirted U.S. sanctions imposed by Trump after canceling U.S. involvement in the JCPOA. Trump cancelled the agreement due to Iran’s proxy wars against Saudi Arabia and Israeli, funding and supplying arms to Yemen’s Houthi rebels to battle Saudi Arabia. Iran refused to stop sending cash-and-missiles to Hamas terrorists in Gaza and Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. Biden appointed last week 58-year-old Rob Malley, a former Obama administration official, as Iran envoy, hoping to revive the JCPOA. Malley was a point man for 77-year-old former Secretary of State John Kerry when he negotiated over two years with Iran’s 60-year-old Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif for the JCPOA. At the time, Iran’s 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reluctantly signed the agreement.
Iran insisted all along that it never pursued an A-bomb, something Western officials doubted, prompting Obama to summons the P5+1, including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany, to complete the JCPOA applying strict limits on Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities in exchange for $1.6 billion in cold-hard-cash and $150 billion in sanctions relief. Once Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, Khamenei said all bets were off, with Iran resuming its covert uranium enrichment activity. Trump didn’t like the fact the JCPOA gave Tehran just enough wiggle room in intrusive inspections to allow Iran to skirt the agreement restrictions. Vienna-based U.N. weapons inspectors AKA International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] did not have access to Iran’s secret military sites, making verification impossible. Recent illicit oil sales expose why agreements with Iran don’t work.
Iran feels entitled to skirt all regulations when it comes to the JCPOA because Trump scuttled the agreement, prompting Ayatollah Khamenei to threaten increasing uranium enrichment from 3.5% to 20%, a step below weapons grade material. Nuclear experts believe that Iran has plenty of enriched uranium needed to build several warheads. Dealing with the tanker situation reminds Malley, Biden’s new Iran envoy, that putting the genie back in the bottle won’t be easy, knowing Iran’s tendency to skirt agreements. When it comes to the recent intercept of Iranian oil in a Liberian-flagged tanker, deception is obvious. “The shipment belongs to the private sector,” said
Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh. Caught red-handed violating new U.S. sanctions on oil distribution and sales, Iran has plenty of excuses. “It’s unfortunate that it’s happening under Mr. Biden’s administration.”
Iran hoped that they could start getting away with murder once Trump left office. Biden’s State Department despises everything Trump did, including canceling the JCPOA. Getting any opportunity to reverse Trump’s actions seems like the first order of business for the Biden administration, that’s used executive orders to undo much of Trump domestic and foreign policy. Re-engaging with Iran was Biden’s top foreign policy priority, since Trump made it his priority to cancel Obama’s JCPOA, thought at the time to be a landmark accomplishment. Iran’s failure to comply with terms of the agreements, especially when it came to covert uranium enrichment, made verification impossible. Even with Malley back on Biden’s team, it’s going to be difficult to return the JCPOA right away. Today’s tanker dispute underlines the problems of any contractual deal with Iran.
Since Malley was involved in the JCPOA, much has happened on the Iranian front, especially the Jan. 3, 2020 predator drone strike on 62-year-old Al Qud’s chief Qassem Soleimani, a personal friend of Khamenei. When Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrixadeh was killed Nov. 30, 2020 by a remove-controlled machine gun in a joint mission with the U.S. and Israel in Baghdad, Khamenei only wants revenge. Like North Korea, Iran has been involved in oil smuggling operations going on before Trump’s May 8, 2018 cancellation of the JCPOA. Iran denies anything about breaching uranium enrichment or, more recently, oil smuggling operations with the Greek-owned, Liberian-flagged Achilleas supertanker. Biden and Malley have their work cut out for them trying to mend fences with Iran, because currently there’s no trust left in the relationship to start any new deals.
