Iranian Politician Says Tehran, Washington Have A 'Hotline'

While the chances of reviving Iran’s 2015 nuclear appear dim, an Iranian politician claims that Washington and Tehran have established a hotline for communication. 

Former chief of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said Wednesday that “What exists between Iran and the United States now is similar to the 'red telephone line' that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.” 

He added, “I proposed a similar suggestion in the parliament to establish a direct hotline of communication between Iran and the United States to manage the tensions.” 

Established in 1963, the Moscow–Washington hotline links the Pentagon with the Kremlin. Although the hotline was never a telephone line, and no red phones were used, in popular culture it is known as the "red telephone.” 

His remarks come after recent reports that the two sides were striving to reach an unofficial unwritten agreement to prevent escalation. However, many US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have called on the Biden administration to come clean about its dealings with the Iranian regime, particularly after the US special envoy Robert Malley was dismissed last month, with Congress in the dark. 

Falahatpisheh said that in a situation when reviving the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) seems practically unattainable, this kind of communication is the best possible outcome Iran and the United States could achieved. 

“What is referred to as the 'unwritten agreement' is essentially the formation of this hotline for communication. Iran and the United States have not reached a formal agreement, but they are managing the existing tensions in their relationship,” he said. 

He underlined that “The establishment of this hot line does not imply anything specific except that the two countries have direct and indirect (mostly secretive) interactions with each other at any given time, discussing tensions and preventing crises from escalating.” He made it clear that “there is no written agreement taking shape.” 

The Biden administration says that it continues contacts with Tehran, but no nuclear or prisoner release agreement is imminent.

According to Falahatpisheh, Washington’s lax enforcement of sanctions on Iran's oil exports and Tehran’s tendency to avoid tensions in the Persian Gulf are the outcomes of such a mechanism to manage differences.

But some events could be seen as contradicting this scenario. The US military announced in early July that it intervened to prevent Iranian naval vessels from seizing two commercial ships in the Persian Gulf.

Pentagon announced on Monday that it was sending more warplanes and an additional warship to the region, mainly to provide maritime security.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers are intensifying efforts to restrict the Biden administration in its interactions with the Iranian regime. 

On Monday, Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the US House foreign affairs committee, threatened a subpoena if the administration does not brief Congress on the circumstances of Rob Malley’s dismissal, noting that the State Department has been less than candid with his security clearance investigation. 

However, the administration still sounds reluctant to divulge any information as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged questions about the investigation on Tuesday. 

Moreover, on the backdrop of a flurry of Congressional initiatives and letters to the administration, eight Republican Senators wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, demanding more serious enforcement of US sanctions on Iran. 

The senators raised the issue of China’s increasing oil imports from Iran, while US sanctions prohibit third parties from buying Iranian oil and oil products. “Despite sanctions, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has purchased roughly $47 billion in Iranian oil since President Biden took office,” the letter says. 

Despite the push by lawmakers, Washington has made a change in the way Iraq pays Iran for electricity. According to an exclusive report by Reuters, the Biden administration on Tuesday moved to let Iraq pay Iran for electricity via non-Iraqi banks.