The administration of leftist President Joe Biden did not move to renew expiring sanctions in Iran’s drone and ballistic missile production at the United Nations in October, shortly after the Iran-backed massacre of an estimated 1,200 people in Israel and Saturday’s unprecedented direct missile assault by Iran on the country.
Tehran finally acted on Saturday, launching over 300 drones and missiles towards Israeli territory. The barrage orchestrated directly by the Iranian military – and not one of its many proxy forces, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Yemeni Houthi terrorist organization – was “unprecedented,” Biden said in response. It did not, however, result in major damage.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed over “300 threats of various types” swarmed Israel from Iran. An estimated 99 percent of them were intercepted, including all the drones and cruise missiles. Israel has documented one casualty, an Israeli Arab girl hit by shrapnel from one of the missiles. Despite this, the IRGC declared victory, describing the failed assault as a “success.” As it typically does after terrorist attacks, the Iranian government allowed loyalists to orchestrate street celebrations on Saturday night over the attack in Tehran.
Iran has consistently violated the agreement since its 2015 signing, most recently expelling International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors in November. The IAEA has repeatedly warned that Iran is enriching uranium at levels that are not consistent with peaceful nuclear development.
October 18 also arrived shortly after the invasion and massacre of Israelis by Hamas, a jihadist organization that has long received financial support from Iran. A Hamas spokesman told the BBC on the record on October 7 that Hamas had “direct backing” from Iran for the attack. Iran’s “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, openly celebrated the genocidal attack on Twitter, calling the state of Israel a “cancer.”
God willing, the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region. #AlAqsaStorm pic.twitter.com/XDyxoTT4gw
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) October 7, 2023
The Security Council sanctions could have been extended through protocol in the United Nations to formally accuse Iran of violating the provisions of the nuclear deal. The Biden administration made no move to “snap back” the sanctions, however, instead announcing a new series of sanctions limited to some Iranian individuals and organizations, backed by dozens of states that co-signed a joint statement with the State Department in October.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement published on October 18 that Iran’s “development, procurement, and proliferation of missiles and missile-related technology remains one of the greatest challenges to international peace and security,” vowing to “utilize every tool at our disposal to counter Iran’s development, procurement, and proliferation of missiles, UAVs, and other dangerous weapons.”
The restoration of U.N. sanctions was not addressed in the statement, which focused on Iran’s reportedly providing of drones to Russia for use on the Ukrainian battlefield and its arming of terror proxies, rather than concerns that Iran could use its weapons itself. Similarly, experts concerned about the expiration of the sanctions warned that Iran would now be free to arm “Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis,” rather than focusing on Iran’s own ability to conduct attacks.
The Iranian government celebrated “Transition Day” and declared that the sanctions on its missiles and drones had “unconditionally” ended.
The government of Israel responded to the attack on Saturday asserting that it would continue defending itself from its terrorist neighbor.
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