On October 3, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the United States to ease sanctions on Iran for humanitarian reasons. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and imposed a first round of sanctions on Iran in August. A second round of sanctions, which will target oil exports, will go into effect on November 4.
On September 24, E.U. High Representative Federica Mogherini chaired a meeting on the nuclear deal’s implementation attended by the Chinese, French, German, Russian, U.K., and Iranian foreign ministers. “The participants considered ways forward to ensure the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA in all its aspects.
On September 22, four gunmen attacked a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. At least 29 people were killed, including women and children, and some 70 others were injured. At least eight were Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel, according to Iranian officials. The gunmen were reportedly dressed like IRGC members. “They were just aimlessly shooting around and did not have a specific target,” one witness told Iranian state television.
On September 23, a bipartisan group of more than 50 American national security experts encouraged the Trump Administration to combine pressure and diplomacy in its approach to Iran. “The Trump Administration’s Iran strategy is to assert maximum economic, political and military pressure to change Iran’s behavior and threaten, if not cause, collapse of the regime. But since it has not undertaken diplomatic engagement on any of its twelve demands on Iran, the Administration has left Iran the option of either capitulation or war,” they warned.
On August 30, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran was complying with its obligations under the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). It was the second quarterly report released by the watchdog since the United States withdrew from the JCPOA in May.
On August 6, the E.U., French, German, and U.K. foreign ministers expressed their determination to “protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran” — despite the reimposition of U.S. sanctions. In a statement, the leaders also reiterated their support for the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “Preserving the nuclear deal with Iran is a matter of respecting international agreements and a matter of international security,” they said. The full text is below with reactions by other world leaders.
Ten Republican senators, led by Ted Cruz (R-TX), sent a letter to the British, French and German ambassadors in Washington urging their countries to comply with U.S. sanctions and to deepen Transatlantic cooperation against Iran.
On July 11-12, representatives from the 29 member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) met in Brussels to discuss collective defense, crisis management, and modernizing the alliance. The joint declaration from the summit expressed concern over Iran’s ballistic missile program and destabilizing activities in the Middle East. “We condemn all financial support of terrorism, including Iran’s support to a variety of armed non-state actors,” leaders said in the statement.
Iran supports groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) for both geostrategic and ideological reasons. Geo-strategically, Tehran aids, arms and funds the two groups to expand its regional influence. Ideologically, Iran views Israel as a usurper of Muslim lands and a threat to Islam. Tehran also views Israel as an extension of the United States.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are rival Gulf powers that have long competed for influence in the Middle East. They have starkly different capabilities in manpower and materiel. Both have invested heavily in building modern militaries, partly because of their rivalry, even though neither seeks direct confrontation. Hostilities between the predominantly Sunni kingdom and the predominantly Shiite theocracy have usually played out through proxies, notably in Syria and Yemen.
