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AP: "A U.S. Navy ship fired three
warning shots in the direction of an Iranian boat that was approaching
another American ship head-on in the North Arabian Gulf on Wednesday,
U.S. officials said, in an escalation of encounters in the region this
week. According to U.S. Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, the Iranian boat came
within 200 yards of the USS Tempest and ignored several
bridge-to-bridge radio calls and warning flares. It finally turned away
after the USS Squall, which was with the USS Tempest, fired three
warning shots from its .50-caliber gun, said Urban, a spokesman for the
Navy's 5th Fleet. 'This situation presented a drastically increased
risk of collision, and the Iranian vessel refused to safely maneuver in
accordance with internationally recognized maritime rules of the road,'
said Urban. The incident was one of three encounters that U.S. ships
had with Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats in the Gulf on Wednesday.
And they came a day after four small Iranian boats approached the USS
Nitze at high speed in the Strait of Hormuz. The boats veered off after
the U.S. fired flares. The same Iranian boat that harassed the USS
Tempest also crossed in front of the USS Stout three times at a high
rate of speed on Wednesday in the same region. Urban called it an
'unsafe intercept' and said the USS Stout, a guided missile destroyer,
had to maneuver to avoid a collision. In the third incident, three
Iranian boats crossed in front of the USS Tempest at high speed, coming
within 600 yards of the ship. The Tempest and the Squall are patrol
ships." http://t.uani.com/2burLN7
NYT: "Iranian naval boats made
dangerous maneuvers around United States warships in the Persian Gulf
area on at least four occasions this week, Pentagon officials said
Thursday, including one episode in which the Americans fired warning
shots from a 50-caliber deck gun to prevent a collision. It was unclear
whether the confrontations - one near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday
and three in the northern Persian Gulf on Wednesday - were deliberate
efforts to send a hostile message about American naval activity. Still,
they underscored the risk of an armed clash between Iran and the United
States in an area that has been a perennial source of tension for the
two countries. There was no immediate comment from Iran about
Wednesday's encounters. But its defense minister denied that Iranian
vessels had done anything wrong in the Tuesday episode and accused the
Americans of trespassing to provoke a response. Cmdr. Bill Urban, a
spokesman for the Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, called
the Iranian behavior on Wednesday a violation of international law and
accused the Iranians of ignoring repeated warnings from the American
vessels, creating a 'dangerous, harassing situation that could have led
to further escalation.' In a statement, Commander Urban said Wednesday's
episodes included two in which the Squall and the Tempest, American
coastal patrol ships operating in international waters, were harassed
by three boats from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy,
which crisscrossed the Tempest's bow and created 'a possible collision
hazard.' Later, he said, an Iranian patrol vessel approached the
Tempest head-on despite repeated radio, flare and loudspeaker warnings.
'Ultimately, Squall resorted to firing three warning shots from their
50-caliber gun, which caused the Iranian vessel to turn away,'
Commander Urban said. In the third episode on Wednesday, he said, the
Stout, a guided missile destroyer, was harassed by the same vessel that
had menaced the Tempest and the Squall. It crossed the Stout's bow
three times in an 'unsafe intercept,' Commander Urban said, and the
Stout maneuvered away and 'employed devices,' which he did not
identify, to dissuade the Iranian vessel from further harassment."
http://t.uani.com/2bSJw8t
AFP: "Iran wants its pre-sanctions
share of the crude market, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Friday,
dampening the prospects of agreement on an output freeze at an OPEC
meeting next month. 'Iran had no role in disrupting the stability of
the oil market and after the (lifting of) sanctions we seek to revive
our share in the global crude market,' he said, quoted by the
ministry's SHANA news service. Zanganeh had given a brief boost to
world prices on Thursday after announcing he would attend the informal
OPEC meeting in Algiers on a possible output freeze with non-cartel
producer Russia in late September. But on Friday he insisted there
could be no talk of Iran abandoning its ambitions to restore its market
share after last year's nuclear agreement with world powers led to the
lifting of sanctions on its oil exports. 'Iran will cooperate with OPEC
on improving prices and the state of the crude market, but we expect
our right to restore our lost market share in the market to be
considered,' Zanganeh said. 'Iran has made its sacrifices for the
market and it's no longer the time for Iran,' another Iranian website,
Mizan Online, quoted him as saying." http://t.uani.com/2blA3uF
Terrorism
Weekly
Standard: "A
Canadian who went abroad for terrorist training maintained contact with
terrorists in Iran while planning an attack at home, according to a
recently released report from the Canadian government. 'The individual
had left Canada to participate in ... firearms and explosives training
at a camp in Afghanistan,' the report said in a section that focused on
extremist travelers. 'He swore an oath of loyalty to al-Qaida and the
Taliban and returned to Canada with the expertise and intent to train,
finance and equip a terrorist cell in Ottawa.' 'He also maintained
contact with terrorists in Iran and Afghanistan while working to
recruit other men and raise money to finance a proposed attack,' the
report continued. The individual, whose description closely matches
that of Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, was arrested in 2010. In 2014, he was
sentenced to 24 years in prison for 'possessing an explosive substance
with intent to endanger life or cause serious damage to property for
the benefit of a terrorist group.'" http://t.uani.com/2bUXgPz
Regional
Destabilization
AFP: "Iran on Friday denied US
accusations it has delivered missiles to Yemeni rebels, retorting it
was US support for a Saudi-led coalition backing the government that
had prolonged the conflict. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said
the comments by Secretary of State John Kerry on a visit to Saudi
Arabia on Thursday were 'completely baseless'. 'Iran has repeatedly
said that Iranian military power will never be a threat to any country
and is merely for defence purposes,' Zarif said in a statement on the
ministry's website. 'The US administration with such remarks is itself
becoming a partner in the child killings and war crimes committed by
the Saudi regime against the innocent people of Yemen. 'Undoubtedly, Mr
Kerry knows better than others that the Saudi government in the past
year and half has consistently and seriously blocked all efforts made
to establish a ceasefire in Yemen.' ... Kerry announced a fresh peace
initiative on Thursday aimed at forming a unity government but hit out
at Iran for what he said was its support for the Shiite rebels. 'The
threat potentially posed by the shipment of missiles and other
sophisticated weapons into Yemen from Iran extends well beyond Yemen
and is not a threat just to Saudi Arabia and... the region,' he told
reporters." http://t.uani.com/2bLRjqZ
Opinion
& Analysis
Gillian
Tett in FT:
"John Kerry, US secretary of state, unveiled a historic deal with
Iran in July 2015. This was supposed to be a key part of the Obama
legacy: in exchange for Tehran freezing its nuclear programme,
Washington pledged to lift many sanctions - a move that was supposed to
enable money to flow into Iran again to kick-start economic growth. The
concept sounded momentous - for Iran and the US. A year later, however,
this vision is not quite playing out as planned. Never mind the fact
that the deal is loathed by many Republicans; so much so that Donald
Trump, the party's presidential candidate, has promised to rip it up if
he gets into power. And leave aside the resentment that parts of the
Iranian government still feel. What is arguably more striking is that
behind the scenes, far away from the US election campaign, a quiet
rebellion is also under way among international bankers. Unless this
changes, the silent revolt will make it hard for Iran to reap the
benefits of any deal. The issue revolves around the thorny question of
how the US Department of Justice will treat banks who decide to deal
with Iran. In recent years, American banks have been banned from
dealing with Iranian counterparts. And when Mr Kerry announced the deal
a year ago, he notably did not lift this particular sanction. What Mr
Kerry did say was that Washington would drop its longstanding
opposition to non-American banks doing business in Iran. And earlier this
year he actively urged European banks to get involved, in order to
boost Iranian economic activity. Indeed, the state department released
a joint statement with European governments that promised that it 'will
not stand in the way of permitted business activity with Iran...[and]
international firms or financial institutions engaging with Iran, as
long as they follow all applicable laws.' This also asked firms 'to
approach our governments to address remaining questions, rather than
forgo opportunities due to misperceptions or lack of information.' In
theory, there are reasons why non-American banks might like to grab at
this chance. European banks are hungry to find high-return business
opportunities, given that interest rates are low in the west. Meanwhile,
banks such as Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered and HSBC
have long histories in Iran - and clients who want to do business
there. Last month, for example, Siemens and Rolls-Royce started talks
on new energy investments. But there is a multibillion-dollar catch.
Since 2010, the DoJ has fined non-American banks some $15bn for alleged
global infractions of sanctions, anti-money laundering and
antiterrorism rules. This includes an eye-watering $8.9bn fine levied
in 2014 against BNP Paribas over deals with Iran, Cuba and Sudan.
Unsurprisingly, this sorry piece of history leaves European and Asian
banks very nervous and they have asked for watertight guarantees that
the DoJ will not penalise them if they heed Mr Kerry's appeal. He has
hitherto been unable, or unwilling, to persuade the department to do
this. So the banks have effectively gone on strike and are not dealing
with Iran again." http://t.uani.com/2blWJYT
Stephen
Bryen & Shoshana Bryen in U.S. News & World Report: "The United States was
humiliated this week when the USS Nitze came under simulated attack by
four Iranian missile and torpedo-equipped speedboats in international
waters. Despite American warnings, radio calls, flares and foghorns,
two of the boats came within a few hundred yards of the Nitze. Iran is
harassing American naval warships in the Persian Gulf while Washington
refuses to acknowledge Iranian threats for reasons that are both political
and practical. The political reason is that Washington still entertains
the idea that Iran can be a friend of America. This view, strongly held
by the White House, State Department, Pentagon and CIA, is a true
fantasy. No matter how many Iranian statements from top Iranian
political and military leaders proclaim their total hatred of the
United States, Washington persists in fostering the illusion. There is
no immediate cure for a political disease: We have yet to invent an
anti-regime-biotic that, when injected into the insane, returns them to
normalcy. As there is no solution, the Obama administration will
explain the Persian Gulf incident as some sort of aberration or
unauthorized action by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, or a mistake,
but not an act of overt hostility. Second is the practical reason. The
attack on the Nitze, described by the Navy and Pentagon as
'unprofessional' and 'unsafe,' actually was a test of an Iranian tactic
called the 'swarming boat' to destroy U.S. warships in the Persian
Gulf. The swarming boat attack is just what it sounds like: a number of
fast boats equipped with missiles and torpedoes attack enemy ships from
multiple angles to damage or destroy them as quickly as possible.
Recently the Iranians added another dimension to the swarming boats: a
vessel known as the Ya Mahdi, a remotely piloted fast patrol boat that
can fire rockets or be stuffed with explosives. It is a new version of
the boat that attacked the USS Cole in Aden in 2000 at a cost of 17
lives, 39 injuries and severe damage to the ship." http://t.uani.com/2bm0Ynn
Soufan
Group: "In
mid-August, the U.S. Department of Defense released the summary of its
annual report on Iran's military strategy and capabilities. This year's
report was the first to account for the effects of the July 2015
multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran. Though the summary is brief,
it revealed a considerable amount about the strategic threat that Iran
continues to pose to the U.S. and its allies, in spite of the nuclear
deal. The clearest conclusion the report reaches is that Iran is
developing a wide variety of missiles-as well as an offensive cyber
warfare capability-in order to project power far beyond its borders.
Iran is developing a large arsenal of short-range missiles, both
ballistic and cruise, to be able to deny an adversary control of the
waters around Iran. When combined with what the report describes as
Iran's acquisition of naval attack craft-'small but capable'
submarines, a large arsenal of 'advanced naval mines,' and armed
unmanned aerial vehicles-Iran is positioned to threaten military and
commercial shipping in the vital Strait of Hormuz. About one-third of
all seaborne traded oil flows through the Strait daily. Iran's
capabilities call into question longstanding assertions by U.S. and
allied naval commanders that Iran does not possess the capability to
close the Strait of Hormuz for prolonged periods. The assessment has direct
relevance; in mid-August, the IRGC reiterated its threat to close the
waterway if Iran were attacked. Iran's long-range missiles could
place a wide array of U.S. and allied targets within striking distance.
Iran's existing ballistic missile arsenal can already reach all of
Israel, as well as U.S. bases in Turkey and southeastern Europe. The
Pentagon report mentions Iran's intent to conduct a launch of its
Simorgh space vehicle later in 2016-a vehicle that could be capable of
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) ranges (3,000 miles or more)
'if configured as a ballistic missile.' An Iranian ICBM would
immediately put all of Europe, and perhaps even the U.S. mainland,
within Iran's reach. Still, given Iran's shortfalls in missile
accuracy, these missiles would mainly serve to terrorize civilian
populations in targeted countries rather than destroy hardened military
targets." http://t.uani.com/2bSKnpS
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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