UN Accuses Turkey of Allowing Iranian Intelligence to Commit Killings In Its Territory

Masoud Molavi Vardanjani shared a photo from Istanbul via his Twitter.
Masoud Molavi Vardanjani shared a photo from Istanbul via his Twitter.
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UN Accuses Turkey of Allowing Iranian Intelligence to Commit Killings In Its Territory

Masoud Molavi Vardanjani shared a photo from Istanbul via his Twitter.
Masoud Molavi Vardanjani shared a photo from Istanbul via his Twitter.

UN rapporteurs implicitly accused Turkey of allowing Iranian intelligence to perpetrate or orchestrate extrajudicial killings on Turkish soil and of allowing an Iranian who reportedly played a key role in the assassination of Masoud Molavi Vardanjani in Istanbul to escape to Iran, a joint UN letter revealed.

Vardanjani was shot dead on an Istanbul street on November 14, 2019, a year after he left Iran and sought refuge in Turkey. Citing Turkish officials, Reuters reported in March that two intelligence officers in Iran’s consulate in Istanbul had instigated his killing.

Agnes Callamard, special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and Javaid Rehman, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, sent a joint letter dated August 4 to the Turkish government to express serious concern about the killing of Vardanjani in Turkey, “reportedly at the direction and involvement of Iranian authorities.”

The UN letter revealed how “the Turkish government has failed to conduct appropriate, formal investigations into the killing.”

According to the UN letter, Vardanjani had relocated to Istanbul in June 2018 and run a channel in Turkey on Telegram called “Black Box,” which published corruption allegations against members of the Iranian government, judiciary and intelligence services.

Vardanjani had posted a message on social media criticizing Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards three months before he was shot dead. “I will root out the corrupt mafia commanders,” the post reportedly said.

“Pray that they don’t kill me before I do this.”

The letter revealed that Vardanjani befriended another Iranian citizen, Ali Esfanjani, who allegedly reported on him to the Iranian intelligence and assisted with carrying out the plan to assassinate him.

According to Reuters, Vardanjani worked in cyber security at Iran’s defense ministry and had become a vocal critic of the Iranian authorities.

The Turkish police report named Esfanjani as the leader of the team that carried out Vardanjani’s killing. Also, three days after the killing, Esfanjani was taken across the border from Turkey into Iran by an Iranian smuggler, a Turkish official told Reuters.

A week after the killing, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had described it as “another tragic example in a long string of suspected Iran-backed assassination attempts” of Iranian dissidents.

With reference to Articles 2 and 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Turkey on September 23, 2003, the UN letter reminded the Turkish government that “ … States parties must take appropriate measures to protect individuals against deprivation of life by other States in areas operating on their territory, and States also have obligations under international law not to aid or assist activities undertaken by other States that violate the right to life.”

The UN officials recalled the importance of the right to life, saying, “immunities and amnesties provided to perpetrators of intentional killings and to their superiors, and comparable measures leading to de facto or de jure impunity, are, as a rule, incompatible with the duty to respect and ensure the right to life, and to provide victims with an effective remedy.”



Ukraine Urges Investigation into Alleged Russian Chemical Weapons Use

The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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Ukraine Urges Investigation into Alleged Russian Chemical Weapons Use

The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

Ukraine asked the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague on Tuesday to investigate the alleged use of banned toxic munitions by Russia against its forces.

A request to establish an investigation was submitted by Kyiv to the governing body of the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

It followed Dutch and German intelligence agencies on Friday saying they had evidence of widespread use of illegal weapons by Russia along the frontline.

Agency chief Fernando Arias said in a statement to the OPCW's Executive Council that in view of the alleged frequent use of dangerous chemical agents his office would step up monitoring of activity along the Russia-Ukraine conflict line, Reuters reportf.

He invited Ukraine to discuss its proposal with member states, a majority of whom may be needed to support such an investigation.

The OPCW created a similar team in 2018 to examine accusations of chemical weapons use in Syria. The Investigation and Identification Team found that Syrian government forces and Islamic State militants had used banned chemical weapons in the civil war that began in March 2011. The United States first accused Russia in May last year of using chloropicrin, a chemical compound more toxic than riot control agents and first used by Germany during World War One. The OPCW, a disarmament agency in The Hague with 193 member states, said last year that initial accusations levelled by both countries at each other were "insufficiently substantiated".

Both sides have denied using chemical weapons in the conflict, which escalated when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

"Ukraine hereby requests the Director-General of the OPCW to take steps towards establishing an independent and impartial mechanism (to) investigate cases of alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine," a copy of the request shared with Reuters said.

It asked that the mechanism be empowered to "collect additional evidence and identify perpetrators, organisers, sponsors of such use."

It was submitted at the beginning of four days of closed-door meetings by the 41-country Executive Council of the OPCW. The disarmament body had no immediate comment on the request.

At least three Ukrainian deaths have been tied to chemical weapons use, the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency said, while more than 2,500 people injured on the battlefield reported chemical weapons-related symptoms to Ukrainian health authorities.

On Monday, Britain targeted two Russian individuals and one Russian entity as part of its chemical weapons sanctions regime, in its latest effort to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine.