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WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden used a White House event to mark Persian New Year on Monday to pay tribute to Iranian women and girls who took to the streets of Iran to protest following the death last year of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and vowed to keep pressure on Tehran.

Biden said he wished the Nowruz holiday, a nearly 4,000-year-old tradition known as the Festival of Fire thats linked to the Zoroastrian religion, would be a moment of hope for the women of Iran fighting for their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The United States stands with those brave women and all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their conviction, Biden said, describing the reception as the biggest White House Nowruz celebration to date. Were going to continue to hold Iranian officials accountable for their attacks against their people.

The United States, Europe and the United Kingdom have imposed a series of fresh sanctions on dozens of Iranian officials and organizations, including the countrys special military and police forces, for their violent clampdown.

The protests began in mid-September when Amini died after being arrested by Irans morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republics strict dress code.

The protests mark one of the biggest challenges to Irans theocracy since the 1979 revolution.

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Biden pays tribute to Iranian women at Nowruz celebration - The Associated Press

BRUSSELS, March 20 (Reuters) - The European Union on Monday imposed a new package of sanctions against Iran, its sixth, in response to human rights violations, adding eight individuals and one entity to its list.

"In particular, the Council is sanctioning members of the judiciary responsible for handing down death sentences in unfair trials, and for the torturing of convicts," the EU said in a statement.

In total, EU sanctions now apply to 204 individuals and 34 entities in Iran.

"We want to make clear that nobody is above the law, which is why we will impose a sixth package of sanctions here in Brussels," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had told reporters earlier in the day.

Britain for its part said it had sanctioned senior officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including those who it said were responsible for managing the group's financial investments.

Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Andrew Gray, Bart Meijer; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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EU imposes further sanctions on Iran for human rights violations - Reuters

South Korean air force F-5 fighter jets shown in 2005. The F-5 has been used by many militaries, including Iran's. The U.S. this week unsealed two previously secret indictments against a network of companies that it says illegally exported military technology to Iran, including a nose landing gear assembly for the F-5. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)

The U.S. government unsealed two previously secret indictments this week against people that it says aided Irans pursuit of weapons of mass destruction by exporting nuclear, ballistic missile and aerial drone technology.

These defendants sought to obtain valuable U.S.-origin goods that could assist Irans military and WMD aspirations, and in some instances, they were successful, Matthew Graves, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement Wednesday.

The unsealing of the indictments comes in the same week that the Treasury Department levied sanctions on three of the people indicted. They were sanctioned for their role in separate schemes, which included shipment of aerial drone engines from Europe to Iran.

The two unsealed indictments are from 2011 and 2018. They accuse three Iranians, a Turk and a man from the United Arab Emirates of conspiring to illegally export U.S. technology between 2005 and 2013.

The Turkish man, Murat Bukey, was sentenced Monday to a little more than two years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The other four men remain at large. They are Amanallah Paidar, Agshar Mahmoudi and Bahram Aran from Iran and Shahin Golshani from the UAE.

The U.S.s inability to capture the other four men since their indictments prompted prosecutors to petition to unseal the case Monday in the hope that the move will help lead to arrests, Graves wrote in a court document filed March 16.

Paidar is the commercial manager of an Iranian company called Defense Technology and Science Research Center, which is owned by Tehrans military, the Treasury Department said.

U.S. federal agents said Paidaris at the center of a procurement network established to export goods related to biological, chemical and nuclear technologies to Iran, a court filing from 2015 said.

The Justice Department says Paidar conspired with Bukey in efforts to ship a device associated with germ warfare used to detect biological pathogens through Turkey during 2012 and 2013.

Bukey at one point sold more than $1 million worth of aerial drone engines from Europe that likely ended up in Iran, the Treasury Department said.

Paidar also worked with Mahmoudi to procure thermal imaging cameras, computer systems and marine electronics, the Treasury Department said.

One of the unsealed indictments also accuses Mahmoudi of working with Aran and Golshani to illegally export advanced technology to Iran.

The exports included a high-speed camera that has known nuclear and ballistic missile testing applications, a nose landing gear assembly for an F-5 fighter jet and a meteorological sensor system.

A thermal imaging camera was tracked as it traveled from the U.S. to Canada to the UAE and finally to Iran, the indictment said.

The Iranian companies listed in Tuesdays sanctions are Defense Technology and Science Research Center, Farazan Industrial Engineering and Selin Technic. A defunct Turkish company, Ozone Aviation, also was blacklisted. The people added to the sanctions list were Paidar, Bukey, and Mahmoudi.

The listings mark another round of U.S. financial action against Irans drone program, after five Chinese companies selling parts to an Iranian drone firm were added to American blacklists in early March.

Sanctions impose financial penalties on companies or private citizens, as well as any bank that works with them.

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Newly unsealed indictments allege Iran's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction - Stars and Stripes

News of the normalisation of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia came as a surprise to international observers. The enmity between the Middle East rivals has been among the most persistent and dangerous in the region.

This months agreement came after two years of negotiations between Riyadh and Tehran in Baghdad, and Chinese President Xi Jinping played an important role in concluding the deal in Beijing. As part of the ensuing trilateral statement, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to implement a 2001 security cooperation agreement and a 1998 deal bolstering economic, cultural and technological ties.

The upshot of these developments was a lose-lose for both Riyadh and Tehran

This is based on an agreement the two countries reached in the mid-1990sthat remained in effect until 2005. I negotiated the terms for then-President Hashemi Rafsanjani alongside then-Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh.

As I detailed in my recent book, A New Structure for Security, Peace, and Cooperation in the Persian Gulf, Rafsanjani and Abdullah agreed to revive relations. I was commissioned by Rafsanjani as his special envoy to discuss a deal with the crown prince. Over the course of four long nights in Abdullahs mansion in Jeddah, we debated and finally agreed on a plan of action.Then, Rafsanjanis son and I met King Fahd, and he approved the agreement.

After returning to Iran, the agreement was also approved by Rafsanjani and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It was implemented fully during former President Mohammed Khatamis term (1997-2005). I was told by a high-level Saudi official that Abdullah viewed Khatami as continuing Rafsanjanis policies. In 1997, Abdullah visited Tehran, and the cooperation and security agreements were subsequently signed.

In my negotiations with Abdullah, security issues were the primary concern. Riyadh was concerned about Tehran exporting Shiism and supporting Saudi Arabias Shiaminority, and about demonstrations by Iranian pilgrims threatening the security of the annual Hajj ceremony.

For its part, Tehran was concerned about SaudiArabia supporting the Sunni minority in Iran and spreading Wahhabi fundamentalism. The bilateral security pact greatly reduced anxieties in both governments over interference in each others internal affairs.

Unfortunately, the agreements collapsed after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in August 2005. Iran restarted its nuclear enrichment programme, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions sanctioning Iran, and Abdullah - by now the king of Saudi Arabia - repeatedly exhorted the US to cut off the head of the snake by launching military strikes to destroy Irans nuclear programme.

Then, in January 2016, Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, along with 46 other Shia dissidents. Nimrs execution triggered protests in front of Saudi Arabias embassy in Tehran.

The proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia escalated in Yemen, as the Houthis used drones and missiles to attack Saudi oil installations. In ever, and Iran supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against internal and external efforts to overthrow him. Assads efforts to normalise his regime have made considerable progress during the past year.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia welcomed former US President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, and supported reinstating economic sanctions on Iran - only to see it now enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.

Trumps maximum pressure and sanctions campaign against Iran has been devastating. Ordinary Iranians have been confronted with skyrocketing prices and a greatly devalued currency. Last autumn, a wave of anti-government protests swept the country after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.Irans government responded by strengthening its military and political alliance with Russia, as evidenced by Irans supply of drones to Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.

The upshot of these developments was a lose-lose for both Riyadh and Tehran, demonstrating that their confrontation would have no winner.The recent agreement in Beijing shows that Irans conservative government, led by President Ebrahim Raisi, has restored relations with Saudi Arabia based on the two agreements formulated during the moderate government of Rafsanjani and implemented by the reformist government of Khatami.

The distrust between Tehran and Riyadh is both deep and serious. Both governments, however, have committed to observe the principles of the UN Charter, including respect for national sovereignty and non-interference in each others internal affairs. This is necessary, but not sufficient on its own. The agreement must be supplemented with additional commitments to ensure sustainable, friendly relations between Tehran and Riyadh.

Saudi-Iran reconciliation: Why Riyadh and Tehran felt the time was right

As the most powerful regional and Islamic states, they should commit to regarding each others security as an integral part of their own; put an end to illusions about regional hegemony and work to create a system of cooperation and collective security among the eight countries bordering the Gulf;and convert their unhealthy competition in crisis-ridden countries such as Yemen, Syria and Iraq into a constructive partnership.

In addition, they should join forces to foster effective regional and international cooperation against weapons of mass destruction, extremism and terrorism;treat the members of their religious minorities as full citizens;and work to de-escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Finally, with Iran and Israel in a quasi-war situation, Beijing - which has strong diplomatic relations with both states - could potentially mediate a ceasefire.

Irans Supreme National Security Council secretary, Ali Shamkhani, just held talks with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. Qatar and Oman have been actively mediating to revive the Iran nuclear deal and secure the exchange of prisoners between Iran and the US. Irans deputy foreign minister recently visited Oman, and China is planning to host an unprecedented summit later this year, attended by Iran and its six Arab neighbours in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

After years of bitter hostilities and escalating crises in the region, the era of diplomacy and wisdom has now arrived. It is time for Iran, Iraq and the Gulf states to embrace and cooperate, to collectively create a powerful region.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

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Saudi-Iran deal: After years of tension, a new chapter for the region begins - Middle East Eye

The China-mediated Saudi-Iran peace agreement, inked on 10 March in Beijing, marks a significant geopolitical shift with far-reaching implications for the Persian Gulf and Irans neighboring countries. For decades, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been engaged in ideological and economic competition on the territories of their neighbors, causing regional tensions to escalate.

If the agreement is successful and relations between Riyadh and Tehran improve as envisioned, tensions will likely begin to significantly subside in the Persian Gulf, Levant, and further afield in neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan. The former, long concerned about its security and energy supply vulnerabilities, will potentially benefit from improved relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which could help address its oil and gas crises.

Similarly, Afghanistan, whose Taliban-led government is still struggling to gain international recognition and is in dire need of reconstruction and investment initiatives, may also benefit from the kingdoms rapprochement with the Islamic Republic.

Persian Gulf States

An early litmus test for the Saudi-Iranian reconciliation will be its impact on Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, where a perceived proxy war has wreaked havoc on their respective economies and in their public spheres.

One of the most critical areas where the impact of the peace agreement will be tested is Yemen, where Iran and Saudi Arabia have backed opposing sides in the countrys eight-year war. The conflict has resulted in one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises aftera Saudi-UAE-led coalition in 2015 launched military attacks against Yemens pro-Iran Ansarallah movement, which had seized control of the capital, Sanaa.

Irans permanent mission to the UN said in a statement that the Iran-Saudi dealwill accelerate the ceasefire, help start a national dialogue, and form an inclusive national government in Yemen.

Meanwhile, in the Levant, Lebanon is deeply mired in an unprecedented economic crisis, exacerbated by the deterioration of ties between Riyadh and Beirut. This divide has been fueled by the expansion of Iran-backed Lebanese resistance group Hezbollahs power in Lebanon. The World Bank has reported that Lebanons economic crisis is among the worst globally in a century, and the situation continues to deteriorate as quickly as the countrys free-falling lira.

Tensions came to a head in 2017 when then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who had previously been Saudi Arabias closest ally in Lebanon, announced his resignation in a televised statement from Riyadh. Lebanese lawmakers charged that he was forced to step down after being detained and roughed up by his Saudi hosts.

The rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia has also impacted Iraq, which has suffered greatly since the illegal US-led invasion in 2003. Despite various domestic and foreign initiatives to stabilize matters and reach a consensus on vital issues of governance, the Iraq arena remains volatile, with ongoing violence and political instability.

The crisis in Syria is often viewed as a collection of proxy wars between regional and international powers. The 12-year conflict has been fueled by the involvement of various foreign actors, including the US, UK, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Qatar, France, and Saudi Arabia. These powers have politically and militarily backed different sides in the conflict and in the case of the west, imposed oppressive economic sanctions leading to a complex and ongoing crisis that has caused significant suffering for the Syrian people.

Relief for Pakistan?

Pakistans top policymakers are optimistic about the resumption of work on the Peace Gas Pipeline following the restoration of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia. A source in the Pakistani Foreign Office informs The Cradle that Riyadhs opposition was the main reason the project stalled.

Geopolitical analyst Andrew Korybko goes a step further, predicting that the reconciliation between Tehran and Riyadh will unlock the full potential of a Russia-Iran-India led trade route project the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) by connecting the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to a series of promising Eurasian megaprojects. These projects will run through Pakistan and connect Russia and India by road, making it a significant development for the regions transportation infrastructure.

Authorities in Islamabad also believe that the Saudi-Iran agreement will help reduce the activities of Saudi-sponsored sectarian militant groups, such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sippa-e-Sahaba (later renamed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat), as well as the Sunni militia Jundallah, based in Irans Sistan and Baluchistan province, which has claimed to have killed hundreds of Iranian security personnel. These organizations have been involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan, particularly targeting the Shia community.According to Korybko:

Inadvertently, the Baloch element of Pakistans security issues may worsen soon. After being cut off by Riyadh and losing their jobs, these militants may join other extremist groups like the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or sub-nationalist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), unless Islamabad detains them or initiates their disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration.

Afghanistan

For years, Riyadh went head-to-head with Iran to shape Afghanistans internal governance and politics and limit Tehrans influence in its bordering state. Following the 1979 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the establishment of a communist government under the six-year leadership of Babrak Karmal, the Saudis used Afghan ethnic and religious groups to spread their Salafist, jihadi ideology.

Meanwhile, Iran supported several Shia groups that took over parts of Hazarajat in central Afghanistan near the western periphery of the Hindu Kush range, leading to the formation of Hezb-e Wahdat after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeinis death in 1989.

The US, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan formed a Pashtun jihadi fighter or mujahidin resistance force to fight the Soviet troops, with groups such as Gulbuddin Hikmatyars Hizb-i Islami and Abdul Rasul Sayyafs Ittihad-i Islami joining the US-backed war against the communist Afghan government.

Saudi Arabias rivalry with Iran led to the funding of an Islamic complex in Kabul in 2012, with the intention of competing against Irans Khatam al-Nabyeen mosque and Islamic University, built in 2006.

With diplomatic relations set to resume between Iran and Saudi Arabia in two months, it remains to be seen whether Afghanistan will benefit from this detente. While some experts are skeptical that Afghanistan will see any immediate relief from this rivalry, they note that the country is likely to benefit from the progress made in Irans Chabahar Port co-developed with India which is expected to accelerate in the near future.

Nonetheless, the Talibans international and especially regional recognition will likely be a key factor in determining whether Afghanistan can benefit from the resumption of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The Asian Century

On 17 March, Pakistan announced that it facilitated communication between Saudi Arabia and Iran during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Islamabad in March last year. During a recent weekly briefing, a Foreign Office spokesperson stated: We applaud this advancement. Together with various other countries and supporters of both Iran and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan encouraged the talks.

Mushahid Hussain Syed, Chairman of Pakistans Senate Defense Standing Committee, tellsThe Cradle that the Iran-Saudi peace deal is a clear setback for the US and Israel, noting that there is little they can now do about the trend of declining US influence in West Asia and the concurrent rise of China in what is now being termed the Asian Century.

The world has rejected the notion of a new cold war, which some hawkish elements in the west are peddling. The time has come when Asian hands must shape the Asian future, a process on which the region has already embarked, emphasizes Syed.

He also adds that for Islamabad, this is excellent news, as China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are close friends and partners.

China, Syed says, has achieved a major diplomatic victory in midwifing this agreement, which is a major step forward toward peace, stability, and harmony in the Muslim world and could bring proxy wars to an end in the volatile region.

China-led security paradigms

What motivated Beijing to take on the role of mediator in the Iran-Saudi peace talks and engage directly in Persian Gulf security matters?

In recent years, Chinas foreign policy has become more assertive, particularly since Xi Jinping became president in 2012. Analysts believe that Beijings decision to broker peace talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia is in line with its growing involvement in West Asia, which today extends beyond satisfying its energy needs, and includes conflict resolution, regional security, and domestic politics.

Another factor is Chinas substantial investments in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects across the region, with agreements and understandings signed by twenty Arab states.

Xi Jinpings Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Middle Eastern security architecture have driven China to become more deeply involved in Persian Gulf politics and address the regions security concerns. At the Communist Partys annual congress in Hong Kong in 2022, President Xi stated that the GSIs security parameters could effectively handle geopolitical conflicts, the food crisis, and the COVID-19 epidemic.

Tuvia Gering, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Councils Global China Hub, explains to The Cradle that as China strives towards national rejuvenation and grows its vested interests in the Global South, top Chinese experts are debating whether to increase their involvement in political and security issues in West Asia and North Africa.

Yang Cheng, a former diplomat and expert on Sino-Russian relations, thinks that China might eventually be able to work with [West Asian] countries on security issues and may become a major provider of security-related public goods, Gering says, adding that the majority of Chinas intelligentsia is in favor of getting more involved in regional issues.

The normalization of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia clearly has the potential to greatly impact West Asia and the wider region as a whole. By reducing political and sectarian rivalry, the deal could effectively neuter the tendency toward proxy wars and the spread of extremist ideologies.

Importantly, the rapid advancement of economic cooperation between the two countries and their regional neighbors could provide an excellent testing ground for Xis grand vision of replacing western-sponsored endless war with his peaceful modernization alternative for the Global South. While it is still too early to determine the extent of the deals impact, it is clear that this Iran-Saudi rapprochement is a positive step towards stability in West Asia.

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The Iran-Saudi deal: A bid to end endless war - The Cradle