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Fox News: "As many as 100,000 Iranian-backed Shiite militia
are now fighting on the ground in Iraq, according to U.S. military
officials -- raising concerns that should the Islamic State be
defeated, it may only be replaced by another anti-American force that
fuels further sectarian violence in the region. The ranks have swelled
inside a network of Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization
Forces. Since the rise of Sunni-dominated ISIS fighters inside Iraq
more than two years ago, the Shiite forces have grown to 100,000
fighters, Col. Chris Garver, a Baghdad-based U.S. military spokesman,
confirmed in an email to Fox News. The fighters are mostly Iraqis.
Garver said not all the Shia militias in Iraq are backed by Iran,
adding: 'The [Iranian-backed] Shia militia are usually identified at
around 80,000.' According to some experts, this still is an alarmingly
high number... Whether the force size is 80,000 or 100,000, the figures
are the first-known estimates of the Iranian-backed fighters." http://t.uani.com/2bdFvfy
Reuters: "Russia used an Iranian air base to launch air
strikes in Syria for a second day running on Wednesday, rejecting U.S.
suggestions its co-operation with Tehran might violate a U.N.
resolution. Russia's Defence Ministry said that SU-34 fighter bombers
flying from Iran's Hamadan air base had struck Islamic State targets in
Syria's Deir al-Zor province, destroying two command posts and killing
more than 150 militants. Moscow first used Iran as a base from which to
launch air strikes in Syria on Tuesday, deepening its involvement in
the five-year-old Syrian civil war and angering the United States.
Washington called the move 'unfortunate' and said on Tuesday it was
looking into whether Russia's move had violated U.N. Security Council
resolution 2231, which prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of
combat aircraft to Iran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on
Wednesday there were no grounds to suggest Russia had violated the
resolution, saying it was not supplying Iran with aircraft. 'These
aircraft are being used by Russia's air force with Iran's agreement as
a part of an anti-terrorist operation at the request of Syria's
leadership,' Lavrov told a Moscow news conference, after holding talks
with Murray McCully, New Zealand's foreign minister." http://t.uani.com/2aZ0jVt
Reuters: "Iran's new oil and gas contracts will need
amendments, its oil minister said on Tuesday after a meeting with the
speaker of parliament, adding that the new contracts will not be sent
to the assembly for final approval. The launch of the Iran Petroleum
Contract (IPC) has been postponed several times as hardline rivals of
pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani resisted any deal that could end
the so-called buy-back system, under which foreign firms were banned
from owning stakes in Iranian companies. Iran's top authority, Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last month that no new oil and gas
contracts for international companies would be awarded without
necessary reforms. Iran's cabinet approved this month an amended draft
for the IPC and sent it to the parliament. However, the latest comments
from the oil minister showed the lawmakers and other advisory bodies
have asked for more changes. 'Yesterday afternoon we had a meeting with
Ali Larijani (the speaker of the parliament) on the new oil contracts
in which some issues were raised. It was decided to make some
amendments in the contracts,' Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was quoted as
saying by the parliament's news agency ICANA. Zanganeh added the IPC
will not be sent to the parliament for final approval." http://t.uani.com/2aViEYp
UANI in the News
WSJ: "The country has long held foreign nationals to
further its political aims. In 2009, it arrested three American hikers
who had strayed into its territory from neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan.
They were released in 2010 and 2011 after Oman intervened and
facilitated talks between the U.S. and Iran. 'The regime sees
hostage-taking as part and parcel of its foreign policy,' said Barry Rosen,
senior adviser with United Against Nuclear Iran, which advocates
against Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. He was also one of 52 Americans
held by Iran for 444 days during the 1979 hostage crisis. The recent
spate of arrests were likely part of an internal standoff between Mr.
Rouhani and Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards-a hard-line force
charged with protecting Iran's Islamic system, Mr. Rosen said." http://t.uani.com/2aWzWz7
Nuclear & Ballistic Missile Program
Tasnim (Iran): "The US has kept the structure of anti-Iran
sanctions fully in place, Mohammad Javad Larijani deplored, saying
given some bad signs of frustration shown by Iran and the US notion that
Iran would give in to forceful pressure, Tehran should expect a huge
set of sanctions. In an exclusive interview with the Tasnim News
Agency, Chief of the Iranian Judiciary's Human Rights Council Mohammad
Javad Larijani highlighted the serious flaws in the process of
diplomatic negotiations that led to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), the July 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the Group
5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany)... The flawed
documentation and ill-definition of commitments in the JCPOA and the
subsequent UN Security Council Resolution 2231 enable Washington to
make very little concessions to Iran, Larijani explained, adding that
having control over how to interpret the deal has given US politicians
the power to impose what they want." http://t.uani.com/2bcpnfn
U.S.-Iran Relations
Weekly Standard: "Less than two months after Iran received $400
million in foreign currency in January, the world's top state sponsor
of terror acquired another $1.3 billion in cash from the United States,
based on statements of U.S. government officials. A State Department
official confirmed to THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the payment occurred
before March 17, and President Obama, while addressing the initial $400
million payment, acknowledged on August 4 that payments to Iran must be
made in cash because 'we don't have a banking relationships with
Iran...We could not wire the money.'" http://t.uani.com/2bAJPaD
Congressional Action
JPost: "US President Barack Obama supports renewal of the
Iran Sanctions Act before the law expires at the end of this year,
despite his public silence on the matter, House Foreign Affairs
Committee ranking member Eliot Engel told The Jerusalem Post this week.
In a wide-ranging phone interview, Engel was asked whether he expects
the White House to support an extension of the act, which served as the
basis for a strict sanctions regime against the Islamic Republic before
world powers agreed to a nuclear deal with Iran last year. 'Yes, I do
expect it,' Engel (D-New York) replied. 'I've already talked to the
president about it, and he's given me every indication that he supports
it.' The act is expected to become a political lightning rod in
Congress and an issue in the presidential campaign this fall. Advocates
for its renewal believe the law provides what remains of US leverage
over Iran, while skeptics fear its extension risks undermining the
spirit of the landmark nuclear accord. The Obama administration has not
yet gone on record in support of ISA renewal, however. A senior
administration official responded to Engel's remark by declining to
comment on the president's private discussions. But 'what we've said is
that it is not necessary to extend the Iran Sanctions Act at this
time,' the official continued. 'The extension of ISA does not affect
our ability to continue to issue sanctions designations when warranted,
as we have ample authorities to target ballistic missile-related
actors, as well as activity related to human rights violations,
malicious cyber activity, and other activity of concern.' 'We remain
committed to working with Congress, however, and are willing to discuss
how to further foreign policy priorities in a manner that does not
jeopardize JCPOA implementation,' the official added. The American
Israel Public Affairs Committee considers ISA renewal its No. 1
priority, and has been lobbying to that end ever since last winter.
Renewal is essential 'so that there are sanctions in place to 'snap
back' should Iran violate the nuclear agreement,' the lobby
argues." http://t.uani.com/2aZrBRC
Business Risk
Reuters: "Iran said on Tuesday it had arrested a dual
national last week in Tehran linked to Britain's intelligence service,
the latest in a string of arrests of dual nationals over the past year.
'The accused was working in an economic sector related to Iran,' Tehran
prosecutor general Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi was quoted as saying by the
state news agency IRNA. Dolatabadi did not identify the accused person
or the second nationality." http://t.uani.com/2bdGCw1
FT: "Iran has arrested several Iranians holding dual
nationality in what has been seen as a new round of intimidation
targeting people connected to foreign circles and businesses. Abbas
Jafari Dolatabadi, Tehran's state prosector, said on Tuesday that a
dual national whose 'activities were in the economic sector' was
arrested last week for alleged links to Britain's intelligence
services. He gave no further details but the arrest followed the
detention last month of two leading figures in Iran's art business,
apparently for socialising with foreign diplomats and allegedly having
alcohol at their home... Iran's judiciary said two dual nationals -
widely assumed to be the pair in the art industry - were arrested last month
last month because they invited foreign diplomats to parties and had
4,000 litres of alcohol in their home. Alcohol is banned by the Islamic
state but widely used in private gatherings... Earlier this year,
Revolutionary Guards broke up a party in Tehran attended by foreign
diplomats, Iranian artists, businessmen and athletes, and detained the
hostess, a western-educated ophthalmologist in her late 60s." http://t.uani.com/2aZwsCn
AP: "Iranian hard-liners have criticized a planned
meeting in September called 'Iran Connect 2016,' sponsored in part by
Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and the
British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce. A flier for the event notes it is
'strictly prohibited to Iranian individuals and entities that are
sanctioned by the U.K. government and/or the EU.' The hard-line daily
newspaper Javan, which has links to Iran's powerful Revolutionary
Guard, criticized the restrictions on Tuesday. 'The administration,
indeed, has allowed the British Embassy to implement European sanctions
in Tehran,' it said." http://t.uani.com/2bGNtBi
Sanctions Relief
Press TV (Iran): "Boeing representatives are currently in Tehran,
discussing the US planemaker's planned sale of commercial aircraft to
Iran, an Iranian minister says. 'Right now, Boeing representatives
including three financial, legal and technical groups are in Tehran and
negotiating' the sale of jetliners to Iran, Minister of Roads and Urban
Development Abbas Akhundi said on Saturday. Those negotiations with
Airbus have concluded and the two sides were waiting for the US
Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to
issue a license for the purchase to go ahead, he added. The two
aviation rivals have signed initial accords with the flag carrier Iran
Air to sell about 200 aircraft worth more than $50 billion to the
country which is seeking to renovate its aging fleet after decades of
sanctions." http://t.uani.com/2bnbewk
Reuters: "Iran's crude oil exports in July were more than 2.1
million barrels per day, the oil ministry's news agency SHANA cited a
senior Iranian oil official as saying on Wednesday. Director of the
International Affairs Department at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)
Mohsen Ghamsari told SHANA the total amount of crude and gas condensate
exports by Iran reached 2.740 million bpd in July. He said 600,000 bpd
out of that figure were condensate exports. 'Exports of crude are now
at a good level but ... have not yet touched that of the pre-sanction level,'
he said, adding that Iran used to export 2.350 million barrels of crude
per day before international sanctions were imposed." http://t.uani.com/2brLrQN
Syria Conflict
AP: "Russia's use of an Iranian air base to bomb targets
in Syria sends a message to Washington as it weighs a military
partnership with Moscow: Join us or we'll look to your enemies.
Tuesday's missions were unprecedented. Iran allowed Russian warplanes
to take off from its territory to strike opposition targets in Syria.
The move came with little notice to the United States, which has
watched helplessly the escalating bloodshed near Aleppo, the country's
biggest city, and even offered an alliance with Russia against Islamic
State and other extremist fighters as a way to get Syria's government
out of the fight. The negotiations have dragged on for weeks. Russia
has grown impatient, with top officials several times suggesting an
imminent deal, only to have American officials counter that the sides
weren't close. The bombing runs from a base near the Iranian city of
Hamedan, 175 miles southwest of Tehran, may have been a reminder to the
Obama administration that Moscow could be cozying up to Iran if
Washington doesn't come around. 'The Russians are showing they have
options in Syria while they have Washington over a barrel on Aleppo,'
said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near
East Policy. He said the operations also cement Russia's alliance with
Iran in the region." http://t.uani.com/2bdJoBa
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear
Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the
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United Against Nuclear
Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in
a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a
regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is an
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