In 1983 a horrific act of terrorism killed 241 American servicemen (220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers) in Beirut, Lebanon. The bombing marked the deadliest attack on Americans overseas since World War II.
All the evidence pointed the mastermind behind the crime as Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, then commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and thirty years later in 2013 – under “moderate” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani – Hossein Dehghan was appointed Minister of Defense. In other words, Iran instigated one of the most horrendous terrorist acts against America and promoted the man who did it.
This year the same General Hossein Dehghan also seems to be in charge of the recent arrest of Americans sailors in an attempt to humiliate and mock the US. Iranian State TV showed one of the US Navy sailors crying in captivity and later showed Iranians cheering and celebrating in the streets at the humiliation the sailors went through.
Now Hossein Dehghan has shown up this week in Russia – just after the mullahs of Iran received billions of dollars from the Obama’s administration last week from sanction relief – and is spending billions of dollars to purchase offensive weapons that can only be used against conventional enemies like Israel and the United States.
Dehghan points out that Iran needs to “seriously focus on its air force and fighter jets” while adding “We are moving toward a contract. We told them that we need to be involved in the production (of the plane) as well.“ According to a Russian source, “Iran would like to buy Russia’s latest S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system and has made no secret of it.” On the eve of his visit to Moscow Dehghan openly said to the Iranian media they want to purchase the S-400s.
The intriguing issue is that these sales are in clear violation of three United Nations Security Council Resolutions and international law. First, the Russian-Iranian arms contract is specifically in violation of UN Resolution 2231 that clearly bans the Islamic Republic from purchasing “battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships” without prior approval from the UN.
Second, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 that states “Iran shall not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology, and that States shall take all necessary measures to prevent the transfer of technology or technical assistance to Iran related to such activities.”
Third, JCPOA (UNSCR 2231 Annex II, paragraph three) states that Iran should not undertake any ballistic missiles activity “until the date eight years after the JCPOA Adoption Day or until the date on which the IAEA submits a report confirming the Broader Conclusion, whichever is earlier.”
Once again Iran has ignored the UN without challenge – last fall the Islamic Republic and its Minister of Defense repeatedly violated UNSC resolutions right after the nuclear deal by test-firing long-range ballistic missiles and laser-guided surface-to-surface missiles in October and November on several occasions – yet no global power raised any objections to Iran’s activities.
It is worth noting that of the five members of the UNSC four members out of the five seem to be on the side of Iran for political and economic reasons (Russia, China, UK and France). As long as the fifth member, the United States, does not raise any objections to Iranian activities, the Islamist clerics of Iran can get away with almost any violation or crime against humanity.
In closing, it is clear that not only Iran has violated the international law and UNSC resolutions but is preparing for conflict with a terrorist at the helm.
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