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UNSC Discusses Iranian Drones, Links Them to Resolution 2231

A picture of drones broadcast by the Iranian army last August, launched from a warship during naval exercises (AP)
A picture of drones broadcast by the Iranian army last August, launched from a warship during naval exercises (AP)
    Washington, Paris – Ali Barada, Michel Abu Najm
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UNSC Discusses Iranian Drones, Links Them to Resolution 2231

A picture of drones broadcast by the Iranian army last August, launched from a warship during naval exercises (AP)
A picture of drones broadcast by the Iranian army last August, launched from a warship during naval exercises (AP)

UN Security Council diplomats are examining Iran’s transfer of drones, ballistic missiles, and even military experts to support Russia’s war in Ukraine as it violates UNSC resolution 2231, which is part of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Ukrainian and western officials have affirmed that Iran is supplying Russia with weapons in contravention of UNSC resolution 2231.

The US, Britain and France have raised the file to the UNSC. Resolution 2231 was adopted by the UN’s most powerful body in 2015 to endorse the nuclear deal between Iran and six key nations — the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany.

Ukraine has called on UN experts to investigate Iran-made drones being used by Russia. The breach of obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal and UNSC resolution 2231 gives grounds to initiating the snapback mechanism for reinstating international sanctions on Iran.

US intelligence information that Iran had also sent Revolutionary Guards trainers to Crimea to help the Russian military overcome problems with the Iranian-made drone fleet also raised the level of concern among Western countries.

The European Union is working to impose new sanctions on Iran after collecting “sufficient evidence” that it is supplying Russia with deadly drones for use in Ukraine, a spokeswoman for the bloc said on Wednesday.

“Now that we have gathered our own sufficient evidence, work is ongoing in the [European] Council in view of a clear, swift, and firm EU response,” said Nabila Massrali, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

An EU diplomat revealed that there was work underway to draw up a list of Iranian individuals and entities linked to the drones who would be added to the bloc’s sanctions blacklist.

Also, French sources revealed that Europeans are considering slapping sanctions on Iran for providing the drones used by Russia in its war on Ukraine.

These sanctions will be imposed in the next few days and will be added to sanctions approved by European foreign ministers at their Oct.17 meeting, sources added.

The sanctions slapped on Iran last Monday targeted Iranian figures and bodies involved in suppressing ongoing protests there.

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Russia Clears Thousands of Tons of Contaminated Sand after Black Sea Oil Spill

A volunteer works to clear spilled oil on the coastline following an incident involving two tankers damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait, in the settlement of Blagoveshchenskaya near the Black Sea resort of Anapa in the Krasnodar region, Russia December 21, 2024. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov/File Photo
A volunteer works to clear spilled oil on the coastline following an incident involving two tankers damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait, in the settlement of Blagoveshchenskaya near the Black Sea resort of Anapa in the Krasnodar region, Russia December 21, 2024. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov/File Photo
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Russia Clears Thousands of Tons of Contaminated Sand after Black Sea Oil Spill

A volunteer works to clear spilled oil on the coastline following an incident involving two tankers damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait, in the settlement of Blagoveshchenskaya near the Black Sea resort of Anapa in the Krasnodar region, Russia December 21, 2024. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov/File Photo
A volunteer works to clear spilled oil on the coastline following an incident involving two tankers damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait, in the settlement of Blagoveshchenskaya near the Black Sea resort of Anapa in the Krasnodar region, Russia December 21, 2024. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov/File Photo

Russian rescue workers have cleared more than 86,000 metric tons of contaminated sand and earth on either side of the Kerch Strait following an oil spill in the Black Sea last month, the emergencies ministry said on Saturday.

The oil leaked from two ageing tankers that were hit by a storm on Dec. 15. One sank and the other ran aground.

More than 10,000 people have been working to shovel up viscous, foul-smelling fuel oil from sandy beaches in and around Anapa, a popular summer resort. Environmental groups have reported deaths of dolphins, porpoises and sea birds, Reuters reported.

The emergencies ministry said on the Telegram messaging app that oil-tainted soil had been collected in the broader Kuban region in Russia and in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Kyiv in 2014.

The ministry published video footage showing dozens of workers in protective suits loading bags of dirt onto diggers and others skimming dirt off the sand with shovels.

Russia's transport ministry said this week experts had established that about 2,400 metric tons of oil products had spilled into the sea, a smaller spill than initially feared.

When the disaster struck, state media reported that the stricken tankers, both more than 50-years old, were carrying some 9,200 metric tons (62,000 barrels) of oil products in total.

The spill involved heavy M100-grade fuel oil that solidifies at a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and, unlike other oil products, does not float to the surface but sinks to the bottom or remains suspended in the water column.