US 007 planes have stopped Iranian arms smuggling thanks to a controversial law. Here’s which one

The United States has stopped selling some weapons parts to Iran in recent years thanks to controversial Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The CIA and other intelligence agencies have used information gathered through monitoring the electronic communications of foreign weapons manufacturers to block them. Several shipments of advanced weapons parts were made to Iran by land, air and sea, according to two US intelligence officials Politician. The same newspaper highlights the extent of the Biden administration’s commitment at this stage to preventing Iran from developing its ballistic missile program, which officials still fear Tehran is using to help Russia invade Ukraine.

What is Section 702?

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a law that authorizes the collection, use, and dissemination of the content of electronic communications from or transmitted through U.S. Internet service providers (such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft). vertebral column (literally: the backbone) of the Internet (in forced cooperation with US telecom operators such as AT&T and Verizon). Unlike “traditional” FISA surveillance, Section 702 does not require that the target be a terrorist, spy, or agent of a foreign power. It is sufficient that the targets are non-US persons located abroad and that the “principal purpose” of the surveillance is to obtain “foreign intelligence information.” Loose connections raised doubts and protests about the law, especially after it was discovered that the FBI had improperly analyzed databases to check whether activists, donors and even members of Congress were involved.

Debate in Congress

Many in Congress are calling for Section 702 to be changed. For the Biden administration, the amendments made since the crimes were defined are sufficient and that the law will lose much of its usefulness if more controls are introduced. You have until the end of the year to refinance the law, otherwise it will lapse. Ultimately, Section 702 should be renewed, but with some modifications. Some call on intelligence agencies to request and obtain a court order before conducting investigations involving US citizens. and those who suggest greater restrictions on the ways data can be accessed by the Services.

Pressure from agencies

Officials reported Politician They said investigations into American citizens or others in the United States were crucial in the case of the sale of weapons parts to Iran and in 2022 in helping the administration target a foreign individual and company that tried to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran. They declined to name the company or country, but said the sale of Iranian assets amounts to tens of millions of dollars. The US Treasury Department was able to prevent the sale by conducting a Section 702 search of the names of the people and companies involved, officials said. “Sometimes Section 702 is the only group we have on this kind of thing. That’s why the situation has become more dangerous,” one official said. In recent months, several US intelligence sources have spoken to newspapers about how Section 702 is being used to protect security. National, as in the fight against fentanyl trafficking from the south and in identifying the (Russian) authors of a ransomware attack in 2021. which crippled one of the country’s largest oil pipelines.