U.S.

Accuses Iran of Secretly

Breaching U.N. Nuclear
Sanctions
Washington has evidence that Tehran is
trying to buy new equipment for a key
nuclear facility. But the White House isn't
willing to say anything publicly about it.

BY COLUM LYNCH-DECEMBER 8, 2014

The United States has privately accused Iran of

going on an international shopping spree to acquire components for
a heavy-water reactor that American officials have long feared could
be used in the production of nuclear weapons-grade plutonium.

A U.S. delegation informed a U.N. Security Council panel of experts

monitoring Iranian sanctions in recent months that Iranian procurement
agents have been increasing their efforts to illicitly obtain equipment for
the IR-40 research reactor at the Arak nuclear complex.

The American allegations, which have never before been reported, come
more than a year after the Iranian government pledged as part of an
interim agreement with the United States and other big powers to scale
back Irans most controversial nuclear-related activities, including the
enrichment of high-grade uranium, in exchange for billions of dollars in
sanctions relief. They stand in stark contrast to recent remarks by Secretary
of State John Kerry, who has repeatedly credited Tehran with abiding by the
terms of the November 2013 pact, which bound Tehran to suspend some of
its work at Arak. Iran has held up its end of the bargain, Kerry said last
month in Vienna as he announced a seven-month extension of the

timetable for big-power talks.

The allegation is also sure to add to the mounting congressional unease

over the administrations ongoing talks with Tehran. Many lawmakers from
both parties believe that the White House is making too many concessions
to Tehran to cement a deal that it sees as central to the presidents legacy.
With the GOP slated to take over the Senate next month, Iran hawks like
Arizona Republican John McCain and Illinois Republican Mark Kirk are
already promising to push through a new package of economic sanctions, a
move that the White House believes would scupper the delicate talks with
Tehran. Both men are likely to see the new U.N. allegations as proof that
Tehran simply cant be trusted to abide by the terms of a future deal.

As part of its pact with the United States and other big powers, Iran has
halted some critical construction work at the IR-40 research reactor, which
is already being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), and in December provided the agencys inspectors with managed
access to a heavy-water production plant at Arak that had not been subject
to IAEA monitoring. Iran is currently in discussions with the IAEA on
establishing a protocol for future monitoring of the reactor.

The U.S. allegations were detailed in a confidential Nov. 7 report by an

eight-member panel of experts that advises a U.N. Security Council
committee that oversees international compliance with U.N. sanctions on

Iran. The report, which cites an unnamed state as the source of the
allegation, doesnt identify the United States by name. But diplomatic
sources confirmed that the United States presented the briefing.

The confidential report, portions of which were made available to Foreign

Policy, notes that one member state highlighted during consultations with
the panel a number of developments regarding proliferation-sensitive
procurement by Iran. The delegation, the report continued, informed the
panel that it had observed no recent downturn in procurement in recent
months. It did cite a relative decrease in centrifuge enrichment relatedprocurement in recent months. But it added that it had detected an
increase in procurement on behalf of the IR-40 Heavy Water Research
Reactor at Arak.
The United States indicated that foreign businesses and purchasing agents
interested in doing business with Iran have been taking advantage of the
improved diplomatic atmosphere to broker new deals with Iran. At the same
time, they say there is overwhelming evidence that Tehran continues to
transfer huge amounts of weapons to its proxies and allies, including Syria
and Iraq. In June, the U.N. panel of experts asserted that an Iranian
shipment of rockets, mortars and other arms seized in March by the Israeli
navy while en route to Sudan violated the U.N. arms embargo. Only last
week, U.S. and Iranian officials confirmed that Iranian warplanes had
launched airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq, making Tehran and

Washington unofficial allies in the fight against the Islamist group.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the matter.
A spokesman at the Iranian mission to the United Nations did not respond
to a request for comment.

The American claims have been greeted with skepticism by some outside
observers, who point to the history of U.S. intelligence failures during the
run-up to the Iraq War. Kelsey Davenport, the director for nonproliferation
policy at the Arms Control Association, a Washington-based group that
favors a nuclear deal with Iran, said there is cause to be cautious about
Washingtons latest allegations.

In the past, evidence of Iranian smuggling has often come to light months
or years after the crime has occurred, which means that the sanctions
violations cited by the Americans may predate the interim agreement,
she said. Davenport also pointed out that much of Irans illicit procurement
activities are conducted by private entrepreneurs and regime hard-liners
who, like their conservative counterparts in Washington, may be keen to
scuttle a historic nuclear deal.

She said that Tehran had scrupulously upheld its commitment to the United
States and its diplomatic partners to suspend activities at Arak and fashion
an agreement with the IAEA to ensure that the site is never used to develop
nuclear weapons. Davenport added that a Feb. 20 report by the IAEA found,

in her words, that there is no activity ongoing at the reactor itself.

Irans alleged quest to acquire parts and other equipment for Arak is part of
a long-standing campaign by Tehran to evade international sanctions and to
pursue what it claims is a peaceful nuclear program. Over the past decade,
Iran has responded to U.N. sanctions on its nuclear program by developing
one of the worlds most confounding shell games, using front companies,
international middlemen, and clandestine shippers to secretly acquire the
industrial raw materials aluminum rods, vacuum pumps, and carbon
fibers needed to keep its nuclear reactors running smoothly.

But as the worlds big powers prepare for a final round of talks on the fate
of Irans nuclear program, many foreign governments from Asia to the
Middle East have effectively stopped reporting Iranian violations to the
United Nations, according to several U.N.-based diplomats.

In its November report, the panel, which is charged with tracking Irans
nuclear purchasing program, said that they had not received a single report
from a U.N. government of a sanctions violation by Iran between July and
November 2014. In the past, the U.N. has investigated dozens of cases of
sanctions violations involving businesses in countries ranging from Nigeria
to China.

The reports authors suggested that countries may have been reluctant to

report Iranian violations of the sanctions in deference to Irans new leader,

Hassan Rouhani, who was elected president in June 2013 on a pledge to
repair relations with the world and secure an end to years of crippling
economic sanctions, and out of concern that doing so could risk upsetting
sensitive nuclear talks.

Back in June, the panel of experts noted that several governments informed
it that they had observed a decrease in the number of detected attempts
by the Islamic Republic of Iran to procure items for prohibited programs,
and related seizures, since mid-2013. The panel suggested that it is
possible that this decrease reflects the new political environment in the
Islamic Republic of Iran and diplomatic progress towards a comprehensive
solution.

A Security Council diplomat familiar with the panels findings said the world
body was aware of the fact that there had been no reported violations
during the last [reporting] period and that was a matter of concern.

We did think it was likely that people had been holding back on reporting
because of concerns about the impact it might have on the talks, the
diplomat said.

There has been a drop-off of reported cases to the [U.N.] Security Council,
added Ian J. Stewart, who heads up the Project Alpha at Kings College

London, which tracks Iranian proliferation. We follow this very closely, and
Im not aware of any specific cases in the last 12 months. As I understand
it, the panel of experts doesnt have much to do. It raises the question:
Whats happening?

There are various conflicting theories making the rounds in U.N. circles. Iran
may have developed a more sophisticated system for concealing the illicit
trade, or it may have simply slowed down its illicit activity to avoid
confrontations with the West that could undercut prospects for a nuclear
deal under negotiation with the worlds six key powers that could ease its
economic isolation and reset its relationship with the United States. The
temporary diplomatic pact in place since last November which included a
commitment by Tehran to suspend some of its more advanced enrichment
activities may have simply reduced Tehrans need for foreign supplies for
parts of its nuclear program, particularly for the enrichment of uranium.

The current slowdown in activity by the panel contrasts with the flurry of
international reports describing the ongoing seizure of sensitive materials
at sea. In February, British authorities arrested a Chinese national, Sihai
Cheng, on U.S. charges of shipping huge batches of so-called pressure
transducers to Iranian clients through a Shanghai subsidiary of a
Massachusetts firm, MKS Instruments, Inc. On Friday, he arrived in Boston,
where he will face charges of supplying Irans nuclear program. A lawyer for

MKS, Kathleen Burke, said in an email that the Chinese businessman is

not, and has never been, an employee of MKS or any of our subsidiaries.
She added that MKS itself is not a target of the investigation and has been
providing assistance to the government throughout the investigation.

The devices which are prized for the ability to withstand exposure to
corrosive uranium hexafluoride gas can be used to regulate gas pressure
in a centrifuge as uranium is being enriched. As an experiment designed to
show how easy it is to obtain the banned device, Stewart, of Kings College,
purchased one from a Chinese distributor on eBay.

The apparent decline in sanctions-evading activities has not translated into

increased cooperation with the U.N. or the IAEA. Tehran has largely ignored
edicts emerging from the U.N. Security Council, which it derides as an
illegitimate tool of the United States and its European allies. While Iran has
authorized increasing numbers of inspections by experts at the IAEA,
meanwhile, it has yet to comply with the U.N. nuclear energy agencys
requests for information about the Iranian militarys involvement in the
countrys nuclear program.

Tehran has benefited from diplomatic assistance from Moscow, which

routinely blocks action by the council designed to put pressure on Iran to
comply. Russian diplomats argue that any steps to confront Iran may
threaten to undercut sensitive nuclear talks. Over the long haul, Russia

believes that the U.N. Security Council should leave it up to the IAEA to
monitor Irans compliance with any new arrangement aimed at ensuring
Tehran doesnt pursue a nuclear weapons program.

The U.N. Security Council first imposed U.N. sanctions on Iran in 2006 in an
effort to compel Tehran to halt the development of its nuclear program,
including through a freeze on its enrichment of uranium, until it provided
verifiable assurances that it was not pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

The measures, which were expanded over subsequent years, also banned
the development of ballistic missiles capable of delivering capable of
delivering a nuclear payload, prohibited the transfer of most conventional
weapons, and imposed travel bans and an asset freeze on individuals linked
to Irans banned programs. Under the leadership of the Obama
administration, the Security Council in 2009 established a panel of experts
to enforce the sanctions.

While Iran has long denied it is pursuing a nuclear weapon, it has publicly
boasted about its ability to circumvent U.N. and Western sanctions aimed at
denying its ability to enrich uranium. Of course we bypass
sanctions, saidHassan Rouhani, Irans president, during a televised address
to the nation last August. We are proud that we bypass sanctions, because
the sanctions are illegal.
Irans defiance reflects a deep antipathy towards the U.N. Security Council,

which it claims lacks legitimacy. Tehran has argued that the 15-nation
council overstepped its authority by enforcing limits on its nuclear program.

Indeed, Iran has been trying to get the United Nations off its back. During
the past decade, Iran has been targeted by successive rounds of U.N.
sanctions aimed at suspending its nuclear program, halting its trade in
weapons, and foiling its efforts to acquire supplies that could be used for a
possible nuclear weapon. Movement to alleviate U.N. sanctions is
particularly important for Iran as they have less confidence that the U.S.
leadership has the power to overcome Congressional push for sanctions.
U.N. sanctions have proven particularly grating because they challenge
Irans right to enrichment uranium, and provide a political and legal
rationale for all states to constrain Irans commercial and military activities.
Iran has stepped up efforts to obtain relief from sanctions. Russia has grown
increasingly vigorous in blocking action in the sanctions committee. It has
also indicated that the panel of experts should be shuttered as part of a
final deal.

The Iranians have recently come to this notion that they have to get the
U.N. Security Council sanctions removed immediately, said Robert Einhorn,
a former top State Department advisor on nuclear proliferation issues
during the Obama administration who is currently a senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution.

Einhorn said U.S. policymakers expected Iran to work hardest to eliminate

the painful American and European sanctions targeting Tehrans lucrative
oil, banking, and shipping sectors. The United States had the assumption
that the Iranian would see relief from those sanctions as the highest priority
and the U.S. prepared to suspend some of them using executive powers
immediately, he said. But he said the getting relief from the U.N.
sanctions, not the American ones, had recently emerged as the top
Iranian priority.

The risk, Einhorn said, is that an abrupt lifting of U.N. sanctions could offer
Iran a path to acquiring equipment for a nuclear weapon. The U.S. and its
partners know Iran procures this stuff illicitly and they dont want the
restrictions on that removed prematurely, he said.

Nuclear proliferation experts have pressed the United States and other big
powers to ensure that any lessening of sanctions doesnt weaken the Wests
ability to prevent the diversions of materials to a covert nuclear weapons
program.

David Albright, the executive director of the Institute for Science and
International Security, and Olli Heinonen, a senior fellow at Harvard
Universitys Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the
former head of nuclear safeguards for the IAEA, proposed the U.N. Security
Council continue to sanction dual use goods that could be used for a

nuclear weapons program while establishing an internationally monitored

channel for the sale of legitimate equipment needed for a civilian nuclear
energy program.

The plan, they suggested, would need to include safeguards designed to

insure that the dual use equipment cannot be diverted to a covert nuclear
weapons program. Currently, the world is on heightened alert about Irans
illicit procurements for its sanctioned nuclear, missile and military
programs, they wrote. But as nations enter into expanded commercial
and trade relationships with Iran, a risk is that many countries will
effectively stand down from this heightened state of awareness and lose
much of their motivation to stop banned sales to Iran even if U.N. sanctions
remain in place.

But the prospects of continued U.N. sanctions are going to be hard for Iran
to withstand. It is very difficult for the Iranians to accept that they are not
going to get any of the big sanctions lifted at an early stage because it
would leave them in a vulnerable position as they defend the deal back in
Iran, said Trita Parsi, an expert on Irans nuclear program and occasional
contributor toForeign Policy. The way the Iranians see this is they are being
asked to make immediate, painful concessions but the relief is going to
come quite late on sanctions. [President Hassan] Rouhani needs to be able
to show tangible economic impact relatively soon after the deal because

there are going to be elements in Iran that are going to go after the deal.
Parsi said that American negotiators went into the talks signaling that they
planned to provide limited relief from U.N. sanctions. It remains unclear how
much Washington has yielded on the topic in recent weeks. From the
Iranian perspective the view is that the [U.S.] president will have greater
difficulty lifting U.S. sanctions as result of a Republican Senate, he said.
Tehran believes that something has to be done on the U.N. or the
European side, and their preference is for the U.N. side. At the end of the
day something has got to give.