Iran

Iran – Major Sponsor of Terror

The Iranian regime was designated as a state sponsor of terror by the United States in 1984. Its proxies, such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen, have also been designated as terrorist entities, in the United States and elsewhere (the Houthi designation was revoked on 11 Feb 2021 by the Biden administration). The Iranian Qods Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was designated as a terror entity by the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury in 2007, by the U.S. State Department in 2019, and by Canada in 2017. On 25 May 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated several entities and individuals involved in an oil smuggling network with the IRGC-Qods Force as having provided material support for terrorism.

Iran has been directly involved or complicit in numerous terror attacks, as well as in torture and hostage taking. The background material listed below describes many instances. A great number of these terror attacks have occurred in Israel. In many cases where U.S. citizens were murdered or injured in Israel and elsewhere, lawsuits have been brought against Iran in U.S. courts.  Those lawsuits concerning attacks in Israel are being compiled in a database. The most devastating of the terror attacks have been perpetrated on three continents: Africa, Asia, and South America.

The Most Devastating Terror Attacks Supported by Iran
Lebanon - 1983Argentina - 1992 & 1994Saudi Arabia - 1996Kenya & Tanzania 1998

Background:

Iran’s Threats Against Israel – A Violation of Basic International Norms

The Iranian regime, by continuously threatening the destruction of Israel, violates one of the basic norms and principles that is incumbent upon all member states of the United Nations, as does the overall jihadist goal enunciated in its constitution. See, e.g., Referral of Iranian President Ahmadinejad on the Charge of Incitement to Genocide, JCPA (2006).

Charter of the United Nations — Article 2

“The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.

  1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.
  2. All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.
  3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
  4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
  5. All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
  6. The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.
  7. Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter VII.”

A Few Examples of Iranian threats against Israel

Excerpts from the Constitution of Iran  [Detailed Analysis, by Richard Horowitz (2010)]

Preamble

Form of Government in Islam

….
With due attention to the Islamic content of the Iranian Revolution, which has been a movement aimed at the triumph of all the mustad’afun [oppressed] over the mustakbirun [tyrants], the Constitution provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the Revolution at home and abroad. In particular, in the development of international relations, the Constitution will strive with other Islamic and popular movements to prepare the way for the formation of a single world community (in accordance with the Qur’anic verse “This your community is a single community, and I am your Lord, so worship Me” [21:92]), and to assure the continuation of the struggle for the liberation of all deprived and oppressed peoples in the world.

An Ideological Army

In the formation and equipping of the country’s defence forces, due attention must be paid to faith and ideology as the basic criteria. Accordingly, the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps are to be organized in conformity with this goal, and they will be responsible not only for guarding and preserving the frontiers of the country, but also for fulfilling the ideological mission of jihad in God’s way; that is, extending the sovereignty of God’s law throughout the world (this is in accordance with the Qur’anic verse “Prepare against them whatever force you are able to muster, and strings of horses, striking fear into the enemy of God and your enemy, and others besides them” [8:60]).

UN Resolutions and Sanctions on Iran Concerning Its Nuclear Program

    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1696 – passed on 31 July 2006. Demanded that Iran suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and threatened sanctions, invoking Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter to make that demand legally binding on Iran.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 – passed on 23 December 2006 in response to the proliferation risks presented by the Iranian nuclear program and, in this context, by Iran’s continuing failure to meet the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors and to comply with the provisions of Security Council resolution 1696 (2006). Mandated that Iran suspend enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and cooperate with the IAEA, imposed sanctions banning the supply of nuclear-related materials and technology, and froze the assets of key individuals and companies related to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. It established a committee to monitor sanctions implementation.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 – passed on 24 March 2007. Imposed an arms embargo and expanded the freeze on Iranian assets, welcomed the proposal by the permanent five members of the Security Council plus Germany for resolving issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1803 – passed on 3 March 2008. Extended the asset freezes and called upon states to monitor the activities of Iranian banks, inspect Iranian ships and aircraft, and to monitor the movement of individuals involved with the program through their territory, impose travel restrictions on sanctioned persons, and bar exports of nuclear- and missile-related dual-use goods to Iran.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1835 – Passed 27 September 2008, reaffirmed the preceding four resolutions, the only one of the seven not to invoke Chapter VII.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 – passed on 9 June 2010. Banned Iran from participating in any activities related to ballistic missiles, tightened the arms embargo and travel bans on individuals involved with the program, froze the funds and assets of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, and recommended that states inspect Iranian cargo, prohibit the servicing of Iranian vessels involved in prohibited activities, prevent the provision of financial services used for sensitive nuclear activities, closely watch Iranian individuals and entities when dealing with them, prohibit the opening of Iranian banks on their territory and prevent Iranian banks from entering into relationship with their banks if it might contribute to the nuclear program, and prevent financial institutions operating in their territory from opening offices and accounts in Iran. The resolution passed by a vote of 12–2, with Turkey and Brazil voting against and Lebanon abstaining. A number of countries imposed measures to implement and extend these sanctions, including the United States, the European Union, Australia,[5] Canada,[6] Japan,[7] Norway,[8] South Korea,[9] and Russia.[10]
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1984 – passed on 9 June 2011. This resolution extended the mandate of the panel of experts established by Resolution 1929, that supports the Iran Sanctions Committee for one year.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 2049 – passed on 7 June 2012. Renewed the mandate of the Iran Sanctions Committee’s Panel of Experts for one year.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 2105 – Passed 5 June 2013. Renewed the mandate of the Iran Sanctions Committee’s Panel of Experts for one year.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 2159 – Passed 9 June 2014. Renewed the mandate of the Iran Sanctions Committee’s Panel of Experts for one year.
    • United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 – Passed 20 July 2015. Endorsed the Iran Nuclear Deal and lifted all previous sanctions on Iran provided that Iran remains in compliance with its responsibilities in the nuclear deal.

[The following topics  on sanctions against Iran are still under development]

The United States sanctions regime against Iran

Sanctions against Iran in Europe

The Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA)

Resources on the Iran-Israel Conflict