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AFP: "Iran said Monday that Russian
raids on jihadists in Syria from one of its airbases had ended for now,
after accusing Moscow of 'showing off' when it revealed the bombing runs.
'It was a specific, authorised mission and it's over for now. They
conducted it and they are gone now,' foreign ministry spokesman Bahram
Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran. He left open the possibility of future
Russian combat flights from the Islamic republic, saying it would depend
on 'the situation in the region, and according to our permission'. The
Russian ambassador to Tehran, Levan Dzhagaryan, said Monday all Russian
planes have left Iran's air base in Hamedan but that nothing prevents
them from using it again in the future. 'There are no reasons to worry.
If the leaders of our two countries consider it necessary and reach the
relevant agreements, what sort of problems can there be?' he told
Russia's Interfax news agency. 'For the time being, there are no
(Russians) remaining in Hamedan' airbase, he added. Ghasemi's comments
came a few hours after Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan made a
rare public criticism of Russia for revealing that its warplanes were
using Hamedan to attack insurgents in Syria. 'Naturally, the Russians are
keen to show that they are a superpower and an influential country and
that they are active in security issues in the region and the world,'
Dehghan told Iran's Channel 2 television. 'There has been a kind of
showing-off and inconsiderate attitude behind the announcement of this
news,' he said." http://t.uani.com/2bftOUU
AP: "Iran's defense minister is
chastising Russia, saying Moscow's announcement on using Iranian bases
for attacks on Syrian militants was 'kind of show off and ungentlemanly.'
State TV's website on Monday quoted Gen. Hossein Dehghan as saying
'Russians seek to show that they are a superpower.' Dehghan's remarks
were the first sign of pushback from Tehran after Russia last week began
using Iranian territory to launch airstrikes in Syria, with Moscow's
bombers flying out of the Islamic Republic for three straight days to hit
what Russia says are Islamic State targets and other militants in the
war-ravaged country. Iran only confirmed the flights and the use of its
bases a day after Russia made the announcement. Dehghan's comments
suggest Iran may not have wanted the flights publicized to such an
extent." http://t.uani.com/2bbpszv
WashPost: "Critics of the Obama
administration's dealings with Iran on Friday accused the White House and
the State Department of lying about a $400 million cash payment to Iran
in January in what officials now acknowledge was conditioned on freedom
for American prisoners. Republicans were among those who disparaged State
Department spokesman John Kirby's explanation Thursday that the money,
part of a settlement for a claim Tehran had on its own assets frozen by
Washington decades ago, was 'leverage' to ensure a plane carrying three
released American prisoners could leave the country. On several occasions
in the past seven months, administration officials, including President
Obama himself, insisted the two situations were separate and unrelated.
Kirby on Friday acknowledged there was at least some link. 'The only
connection was at the endgame,' he said. 'Iran was not behaving well. So
a decision was made on the spot, given Iran's behavior, that we should
hold up on the $400 million.' Many who have called the payment a ransom
were not assuaged. 'The president and the State Department deceived us all,
Congress and, more importantly, the American people,' said Rep. Mike
Pompeo (R-Kan.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee. 'What the
State Department said is their effort to begin to address that.'" http://t.uani.com/2bbPAa6
U.S.-Iran
Relations
AP: "The Obama administration on
Friday defended its decision to make a $400 million cash delivery to Iran
contingent on the release of American prisoners, saying the payment
wasn't ransom because the Islamic Republic would have soon recouped the
money one way or another. In a conference call with reporters, senior
administration officials said it made no sense not to use the money as
leverage to ensure that four U.S. citizens were freed, especially as
Washington was uncertain until the very moment their plane left that Iran
would live up to its word. The administration's defense came after the
State Department outlined for the first time that the Jan. 17 repayment
of money from a 1970s Iranian account to buy U.S. military equipment was
connected to a U.S.-Iranian prisoner exchange on the same day.
Previously, President Barack Obama and other officials had denied any
such linkage. The acknowledgement kicked off a torrent of Republican
criticism, who declared it evidence of a quid pro quo that undermined
America's longstanding opposition to ransom payments... But Friday's
explanation, while more detailed than previous tick-tocks of the
diplomacy, still didn't answer why the administration insisted for seven
months that the money and the prisoners never became part of a common
negotiation. 'Reports of link between prisoner release & payment to
Iran are completely false,' State Department spokesman John Kirby tweeted
earlier this month." http://t.uani.com/2breHeG
Press TV
(Iran):
"Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan says the
Middle East and the entire world are grappling with the consequences of
the US interventionist policies, stressing that Washington's strategies
have failed in the region. Speaking in the pre-sermon address to
worshippers at the weekly Friday prayers in Tehran, Dehqan said the
September 11, 2011 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York led to
the US invasion and occupation of the two Muslim countries of Iraq and
Afghanistan. The whole world, including the Middle East region, is still
grappling with the severe and profound consequences of this invasion and
occupation, he added. Dehqan said the US thought that by pursuing the Greater
Middle East strategy it could secure a permanent presence in the region
and achieve its goals through claims of promoting stability, peace,
security, democracy and welfare. He noted that Washington was also
pursuing fueling the flames of insecurity and instability in the region
in order to destroy the national capabilities of the countries standing
against it." http://t.uani.com/2bpKN8L
Business
Risk
Kyodo (Japan): "The Japanese Embassy in Tehran
said Sunday that Ambassador Hiroyasu Kobayashi was briefly detained and
questioned in a raid by security forces in April and that a protest had
been lodged with the Iranian Foreign Ministry. While the reason for the
raid remained unclear, the incident could amount to a violation of
diplomatic immunity, which guarantees that foreign diplomats cannot be
arrested or detained. Since last year's landmark nuclear deal between
moderate-leaning President Hassan Rouhani and the West, numerous
individuals in the country with contacts to the United States and Europe
have been detained by hard-line opponents of the deal. There are growing
fears that foreign nationals living in Iran are now being targeted for
harassment. According to the embassy, the incident happened on the
evening of April 28 when Kobayashi and his wife attended a dinner hosted
by a local acquaintance. In total dozens of people, including other
foreign diplomats, attended the event at which alcohol was served. Alcohol
consumption is banned in Iran, although its consumption is widespread.
Midway through the dinner, security authorities burst in and prevented
attendees from leaving the venue as well as using their mobile
phones." http://t.uani.com/2bpId2v
Kyodo
(Japan): "The
South Pars field in Iranian territorial waters is adjacent to the North
Dome field, which is in Qatari territorial waters. They cover an area of
9,700 sq. km - 3,700 sq. km for South Pars and 6,000 sq. km for North
Dome. The South Pars/North Dome field is the world's biggest gas field,
with some 51 trillion cu. meters of reserves. 'Given that Iran's oil and
natural gas reserves are one of the world's biggest, there is a
possibility that Iran will play a part if Japan seeks to diversify its
supply sources,' a Japanese gas and oil industry source said. Iran,
however, has not been able to fully hawk its rich natural gas resources
on the international market, with most of it consumed by the domestic
market... The Japanese gas and oil industry source, however, cited
relations between Iran and its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia,
lingering sanctions from the United States and the slow reform of Iran's
financial sector as major uncertainties impeding investment in Iran, on
top of the Iranian presidential election next year. 'Probably Japanese
companies cannot decide anything for now because there are too many
uncertain factors,' the source said. Japanese companies also have bitter
memories of doing business with the Iranian oil and petrochemical
industries in the past." http://t.uani.com/2bIB0sq
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters: "German exports to Iran, mostly
machines and equipment, jumped in the first half of the year following
the removal of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic,
official trade data showed on Monday. Exports to Iran surged by 15
percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2016 to 1.13 billion
euros ($1.3 billion), the Federal Statistics Office said. This compares
with a rise of 1.4 percent in overall German exports in the same period
and a fall of 14 percent in German exports to Iran in 2015. 'There is a
huge demand in Iran for plant and equipment', said Michael Tockuss, head
of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, adding that chemical products
and electrical engineering were also doing well. 'And there is growing
demand for technology from the renewable energy sector, mainly wind power
stations,' Tockuss said, adding that the reluctance of banks to finance
bigger deals between German and Iranian businesses was slowly eroding.
Tockuss said exports to Iran would further pick up in the coming months
and are expected to rise by as much as 25 percent in the whole of 2016
and by 30 percent in 2017. 'The sanctions against Iran were built up over
several years and it now will take some years to reverse them and
establish new business ties,' he said." http://t.uani.com/2bbqECX
Mehr
(Iran): "A
fresh round of talks between Iran and Germany's Siemens was held in
Tehran revolving around partnership in petrochemical industries during
post-sanction era. Siemens AG company of Germany, after returning
properties of Iran's oil industry which had been blocked due to
international sanctions, has launched new negotiations with Iran over
petrochemical cooperation in the post-JCPOA period. Accordingly,
delegation comprising high-ranking directors of the German firm have
travelled to Tehran and held meetings managers of Iranian petrochemical
industries as well as the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporations
(APIC). The main axes of talks between the two sides include expansion of
bilateral ties as well as boosting activities of the German firm in
Iranian petchem industries by equipment and supply of parts to technical
and management systems." http://t.uani.com/2bbJarQ
Iran
Daily: "Iran
has received all its payments for oil sales in the post-sanctions era and
no oil money has been blocked in foreign banks since the nuclear deal,
said deputy oil minister. 'Currently, Europe is paying for its oil
purchases in full and if the sale is conducted via international brokers,
we receive the money as advance payment prior to the delivery of the
cargo,' Ali Kardor was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency... He also
criticized Saudi Arabia for trying to take Iran's oil markets. 'Our
rival, Saudi Arabia, identifies our markets and then quickly starts talks
with new oil buyers to gain a foothold in that market by offering special
discounts,' Kardor said. 'That is why we cannot yet reveal the names of
our oil customers, particularly those in Europe. This is an inimical
competition and the stances of Saudi are a threat to us,' he
concluded." http://t.uani.com/2bwNjcG
Financial
Tribune (Iran):
"A deputy oil minister announced on Saturday that no part of oil
debts to Iran is blocked in foreign countries due to banking problems.
'The only remaining issue is about the way money is transferred via bank
channels and the costs of oil exports for Iran that should be alleviated
by the banking system,' Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Oil Ministry's deputy for
international affairs, was also quoted as saying by IRNA. Zamaninia added
that currently several Asian and European companies are interested in the
purchase of Iranian oil and cooperation with Iran in a wide range of
fields in the oil industry. Iran's Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia also
said this month that the country faces no hurdle in receiving oil
revenues. 'Prior to the implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action, Iran had to pay a higher cost to earn oil revenues, though the
country now sells oil without any additional costs,' he said. According
to Tayyebnia, Iran is working with small- and medium-sized foreign banks,
but faces problems in banking transactions with large ones, which will be
alleviated in the near future." http://t.uani.com/2b9x08T
Foreign
Affairs
AP: "Turkey's foreign minister says
he has paid a surprise visit to Iran just days after the two countries
agreed to greater cooperation on Syria despite their differences. Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish state media on Friday that he stopped
in Tehran on his way to India on Thursday. The Turkish and Iranian
foreign ministers met in Ankara last week and said they would cooperate
more on finding a lasting solution to the crisis in Syria." http://t.uani.com/2bYrYvz
Military
Matters
AFP: "Iran released images of its
first domestically built long-range missile defence system on Sunday, a
project started when the country was under international sanctions.
Images on multiple state news agencies showed President Hassan Rouhani
and Minister of Defence Hossein Dehghan standing in front of the new
Bavar 373 missile defence system. The system was designed to intercept
cruise missiles, drones, combat aircraft and ballistic missiles,
according to earlier statements by Dehghan... In an earlier speech at
Friday prayers, he said: 'Our missile power is at such a level that we
are able to destroy all our targets at any operational range.' Rouhani
said in a televised speech on Sunday that Iran's military budget had more
than doubled compared with last year. 'If we are able to discuss with
world powers around the negotiating table, it is because of our national
strength, because of our national unity,' he said." http://t.uani.com/2bbIgLR
Terrorism
Asharq
Al-Awsat: "Commander
of Hamas' West Bank Department Saleh al-Arouri has expressed deep concern
over the high cost that the movement might pay to Iran in return for the
military and financial support received by Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades,
the armed wing of Hamas, sources affiliated with Islamic movement in
Turkey said. Arouri, who resides in Turkey, accused Commander of Iran's
Quds Force Qassem Soleimani of attempting to 'lure Hamas by blurring the
identity of the Qassam Brigades and integrate it with Quds Force to
become an Iranian executive tool.' Arouri said in a closed session that
Soleimani wants Hamas' full loyalty similar to the Islamic Jihad
movement, which announced its allegiance to Iran during a visit to Tehran
by a delegation headed by its Secretary General Ramadan Shalah. Arouri
expressed fear that Hamas would be blacklisted by Arabs and the West due
to its armed wing's loyalty to Iran. He also feared that relations
between al-Qassam and Iranian Revolutionary Guards might be similar to
ties that exist between the Lebanese so-called Hezbollah and Iran." http://t.uani.com/2bpzaih
Regional
Destabilization
Al
Jazeera: "Iran
has reportedly formed what it calls the 'Liberation Army' whose units
will be deployed in Arab countries, according to a news website.
Currently, Iran is involved in multiple conflicts where Shia and Sunni
Muslims are locked in a power struggle, notably Syria and Yemen. Mohammad
Ali Al Falaki, a retired commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps, said in an interview published on Thursday by Mashregh News
that Iran is fighting on three fronts: Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Iran
'created the Liberation Army in Syria under the leadership of Qassem
Soleimani', said Falaki, who leads forces in Syria... 'The forces that
belong to this army are not Iranians only. In any place where there is a
fight, we organise and supply the army from the people of the area,' said
Falaki." http://t.uani.com/2bucF8U
Al
Arabiya:
"Sources have told Al Arabiya.net that Iraqi Shiite militias
belonging to Iran planned to target the Saudi ambassador in Iraq Thamer
Al Sabhan, through the members of 'Mourtadha Abboud Ellami' group at the
behest of 'Abu Mahdi Al Mouhandis' and the leaders of 'Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq'
and especially the groups led by Akram al-Kaabi. The sources added that
members of Mourtadha Abboud Ellami's group, reported the plan to the
Iraqi foreign minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari, giving him a deadline to expel
the Saudi ambassador from the country. Al Sabhan told Al Arabiya News
these threats would not prevent him from helping Iraqi people, adding he
was continuing his duties as normal, 'even more than before.' He said the
Saudi embassy had taken the necessary actions and reported the issue to
the Iraqi government, leaving it to bear its responsibility before the
international community and its commitments. From its part, Asharq Al
Awsat newspaper said Iran was plotting to assassinate Al Sabhan using
RPJ7 rockets on his armored car." http://t.uani.com/2bOv1Fz
Domestic
Politics
Bloomberg: "Iran's central bank is
signaling that it will loosen its grip on the rial in an effort to end a
dual-exchange rate system seen as an obstacle deterring foreign
investment needed to rebuild the economy. Policy makers, in a decision
reported earlier this month, allowed commercial lenders to buy foreign
currencies using rial rates set by the market rather than those dictated
by the central bank. Akbar Komijani, a deputy governor, said the
regulator will be 'responsible for this market and will guide it.'
Authorities are 'laying the foundation' for plans to unify the existing
two rial-to-dollar exchange rates, said Kamal Seyedali, a former deputy
governor. The move will lead to more cash entering the banking system
rather than circulating through exchange houses, he said...
Simplification could help 'attract foreign investors,' said Seyedali, who
was at the central bank until January 2012 and looked after
foreign-exchange affairs and is now chairman of the state-owned Export
Guarantee Fund of Iran. 'Bringing foreign currency inside Iran, changing
it to rials using the official rate and then returning their revenue at
the market rate can lead to diminished profit,' he said." http://t.uani.com/2bbq7m7
Opinion
& Analysis
Jay
Solomon in WSJ:
"Since the completion last year of a landmark deal limiting Iran's
nuclear program, the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
has lashed out again and again at the U.S. for its supposed failure to
live up to its end of the bargain. But a speech he gave on Aug. 1 in
Tehran took his anti-American rhetoric to a new level. He accused the
Obama administration of a 'bullying policy' and of failing to lift
sanctions in a way that benefited 'the life of the people.' Mr. Khamenei
ruled out cooperation with the U.S. in the fight against Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria, telling his audience that Iran's experience with the
nuclear deal 'showed us that we cannot speak to [the Americans] on any
matter like a trustworthy party.' Many in the crowd chanted anti-U.S.
slogans. Is Iran preparing to walk away from the accord? It's unlikely.
Mr. Khamenei's speech was classical political posturing intended to rally
his hard-line followers. But more than that, his bluster conceals a
deeper strategic calculus. For all his complaints about American
treachery, Mr. Khamenei and his allies recognize that the nuclear deal
has produced significant benefits for their hobbled theocracy and may serve
to further entrench the regime brought to power in the 1979 revolution...
Since the accord was announced last summer, Mr. Khamenei and his elite
military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have moved to
solidify their hold. As international sanctions against Iran have
slackened, the ayatollah and his core allies have expanded the Iranian
military and pursued new business opportunities for the companies and
foundations that finance the regime's key ideological cadres. Iran has
continued to fund and arm its major regional allies, including the Assad
regime in Syria, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and Houthi rebels in
Yemen-all of which are at war with America's regional partners-and the
regime has continued to test and develop ballistic missiles. The
government has also stepped up arrests of opposition leaders and
political activists... Today, the 77-year-old ayatollah-who reportedly
suffers from cancer-is seeking to cement his legacy and to shape the
political transition that will occur once he is gone. The nuclear
agreement provides him with the building blocks to do that, and for now,
at least, Mr. Khamenei and his allies look to be the deal's big winners.
The next U.S. administration is likely to face an unhappy choice: to
continue to work with Iran or to challenge an increasingly entrenched
supreme leader and his Revolutionary Guard. For its part, the Obama
administration says that the nuclear deal blocks Iran from all paths to
develop an atomic bomb and that the agreement's success doesn't depend on
political change taking root in Tehran. They note that the deal is still
in its early stages and suggest that an opening of Iran's economy could
help reformists over time. They also insist that it has served the cause
of peace in the region. 'The president and I both had a sense that we
were on an automatic pilot toward a potential conflict, because no one
wanted to talk to anybody or find out what was possible,' Mr. Kerry said
in an interview. 'I have no doubt that we avoided a war. None.' To understand
Mr. Khamenei's perspective on the negotiations and the resulting deal,
the best place to start is Iran's nuclear program. The agreement requires
Iran to accept key limitations: Previously, the country had nearly 20,000
centrifuge machines producing nuclear fuel and was on the cusp of
possessing weapons-grade uranium. A plutonium-producing reactor was also
nearly online. Today, only 5,000 centrifuges are spinning, the
plutonium-making reactor has been made inoperable, and most of Iran's
enriched uranium has been shipped out of the country. Iran also agreed to
grant greater access to its nuclear sites to inspectors from the U.N.'s
nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to prevent the
country from diverting fissile materials to banned military purposes.
'There are serious constraints on their nuclear program for 15 years,'
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, an important player in the negotiations,
said earlier this year. 'Fifteen years, with serious verification
measures, should give considerably more comfort to our allies in the
region.' Mr. Khamenei, however, doesn't appear to share this view of the
deal's constraints. Just as Iran's negotiators were agreeing to these
terms in July 2014, the supreme leader delivered a speech about the nuclear
program-without consulting his chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Javad
Zarif, according to U.S. and European officials. In the address, Mr.
Khamenei said that his oil-rich country needed at least 100,000
centrifuges to power its civilian nuclear program in the coming decades.
This was more than 20 times what the Obama administration envisaged.
Western diplomats wondered whether Iran's diplomats really spoke for the
supreme leader." http://t.uani.com/2bucE4W
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