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TOP STORIES
Iran's Revolutionary Guard has built a new attack
drone which is similar to a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle captured
five years ago, Iranian media reported on Saturday. The semi-official
Tasnim news agency says the "Saegheh" (Thunderbolt) drone is
similar to the RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone. Iran's state-run Press TV
says the long-range drone can carry four precision-guided bombs.
Neither report gave figures for the drone's range. Iran claimed to
have shot down an RQ-170 drone used by the Central Intelligence
Agency in December 2011 and broadcast footage of the recovered
aircraft. It also claims to have captured three American ScanEagle
drones. Iran said last year that it had successfully tested its
replica of the RQ-170. Also on Saturday, Tasnim published photos of
what it said was a U.S.-made MQ-1C drone captured recently by the
Guard. It did not say when or how the drone was captured.
Iran's total crude oil and condensate sales likely
reached around 2.8 million barrels per day in September, two sources
with knowledge of the matter said, nearly matching a 2011 peak in
shipments before sanctions were imposed on the OPEC producer. The
run-up from shipments of around 2.5 million bpd in August comes
mainly from condensate, a light oil excluded from OPEC supply quotas
that is often produced with natural gas and can be used to make
naphtha for petrochemical production. Iran sold 600,000 bpd of
condensate for September, including about 100,000 bpd shipped from
storage, to meet robust demand in Asia, the two sources said.
September crude exports increased slightly from the previous month to
about 2.2 million bpd, they said.
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel promised on
Monday to remind the United States of its commitment to reduce
sanctions against Iran, as he courted business ties during a two-day
trip to the Islamic State. Speaking at the opening of an economic
forum, Gabriel said Germany wanted to "remind the United States
of the commitment to get to an effective dismantling of
sanctions". Iran's Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad Khazaei said
10 economic agreements would be signed on the sidelines of Gabriel's
visit. "I hope that this will smooth the way between both
countries," he said. Gabriel has gone to Iran with a plane-load
of industry executives.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace
Force on Saturday released the first photos of a US drone captured by
Iran. According to the IRGC, the photos show an American MQ-1C
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) now in possession of the IRGC forces.
It is not clear when exactly the drone has been captured by Iran. The
General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle attack drone is a medium altitude
long endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft that is an upgraded MQ-1
Predator as an extended-range multi-purpose UAV.
CONGRESSIONAL ACTION
Congressional Republicans quickly pounced Friday on a
report that the administration agreed to support lifting United
Nations sanctions on two Iranian banks on the same day the countries
swapped prisoners. GOP lawmakers, fuming over a Wall Street Journal
report, argue the allegations are the latest example of President
Obama caving to Iran since last year's nuclear agreement, which every
Republican in Congress opposed. Al-Monitor first reported the agreement
in January, but the Journal's Thursday report outlining secret
documents signed by senior State Department official Brett McGurk
stoked lawmakers' fury. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called the new
allegations a "blatant quid pro quo." "When the Senate
is back in session, I will work with my colleagues to make sure
administration officials-including Brett McGurk-are called to testify
publicly about their role in this shameful charade," he said in
a statement.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
Iran has sold its first cargoes of natural gas
condensate and crude oil to British companies, the director of
international affairs at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said on
Monday. "A cargo of one million barrels of natural gas
condensate was delivered to BP," Mohsen Ghamsari was quoted as
saying by Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency. "So far NIOC
has sold two cargos of crude oil and gas condensate to two British
companies," Ghamsari said, without naming the second company...
Ghamsari said negotiations are underway for NIOC to sign long-term
contracts with BP and Royal Dutch Shell, Mehr reported.
Hungary has struck a deal to buy one million barrels
of crude oil from Iran, director for international affairs at the
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said on Saturday. "The
contract to sell a cargo of one million barrels of crude oil to
Hungary next month was finalised," Mohsen Ghamsari was quoted as
saying by oil ministry's news agency SHANA.
German energy services company SAG Group has signed a
memorandum of understanding with Iran Power and Water Equipment and
Service Export Company (SUNIR) on engineering and implementation of
power transmission lines as well as electricity generation and
distribution. According to SUNIR's official website, the companies
have agreed to cooperate in implementing projects, as well as in
financing, training and technology transfer, IRNA reported on
Wednesday. SAG is one of the leading service and system suppliers for
electrical power, gas, water and telecommunication networks.
Once cultivated by Persian kings and believed to have
healing powers, saffron is now fuelling the growth of a small German
business that imports tons of the spice from Iran to make fine food
products for sale in Europe and the Gulf. "We try to capture the
soul of saffron and the magic it contains," says Michael Sabet,
an Iranian-German business executive who quit his banking job six
years ago to found Miasa GmbH, which is now doubling its revenues
every year. Sabet is one of many German business leaders who see
great business opportunities opening up in Iran after the end of
sanctions related to its nuclear weapons programme.
Iran offered up to 13 years of tax holidays to
hoteliers at an international tourism summit on Sunday as it seeks to
boost visitor numbers and revamp its dilapidated hotels. "All
economic activities related to... tourism will enjoy 100 percent tax
holidays between five to 13 years depending on the region,"
deputy economy minister Mohammad Khazaei told hoteliers from 18
countries who had gathered in Tehran, many from Europe... "We
are working actively on 10 to 15 projects in Iran," Christophe
Landais, chief operating officer for France's Accor Hotels in Iran,
told AFP... "We've been invited by many, many investors, many
developers" to join in partnerships there, Imad Elias, chief of
the Dubai-based Roda Hotels and Resorts, told AFP.
EXTREMISM
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard's General
"Mohammad Reza Naghdi" along with some members of the
Iranian regime's parliament have announced their opposition to the
bill to join the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, stating
that joining will lead to closure of the Student Basij, the regime's
paramilitary force. The National Council of Resistance of Iran quoted
Naghdi as saying "This is against the Islamic law according to
which a person has a duty to fight upon reaching the age of puberty
(in Iran 9 years old for girls and 15years old for boys) whereas
joining this convention is prohibiting a Muslim from doing his
responsibility." Naghdi stated that joining the Convention on
the Rights of the Child is "totally irrational" and that "it's
not going to happen." He added "This is by no means
possible that we ask millions of young people who are ready and
organized to defend their country, to put their guns down and put
their trainings away and go sit at their houses. This is a retreat
and our Basijies will never retreat." The Commander of Basij
also said: "We are not obliged to join this convention. This is
totally irrational and there is no reason we voluntarily do something
that we are not obliged to."
Iran has rejected outright the demand of Germany's
economy minister that it recognize Israel as a precondition for full
normalization of ties between Berlin and Tehran. "Ties between
the Islamic Republic of Iran and Germany are based on mutual respect
and interests, and no precondition would be acceptable in this regard,"
Bahram Qasemi, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said on
Saturday, according to the official Iranian news outlet Press TV.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The United States and European Union on September 30
called on Iran to free Narges Mohammadi, a journalist and activist
whose 16-year prison sentence was recently upheld by Iranian courts.
Mohammadi was arrested last year after launching a campaign to end
the death penalty in Iran. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison in
May for founding a movement against the death penalty, which was
deemed to be an illegal splinter group. "No one should be jailed
for peaceful, civic activism," U.S. State Department spokesman
Mark Toner said, noting that Mohammadi's health is "rapidly
deteriorating" and she has been barred from communicating with
her two young children... The European Union also issued a statement
saying Mohammadi's imprisonment "sends a worrying signal about
the human rights situation" in Iran.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Iran's auditors said Sunday that around 400 public
sector officials face prosecution over their exorbitant salaries -- a
scandal used by hardliners to tarnish the government ahead of next
year's election. A report by the Audit Court found that executives at
state-owned banks had earned as much as 622 million rials ($20,000)
per month -- compared to average public sector salaries of $400. Ali
Larijani, the parliament speaker, said the salaries were "a
stain" on Iran's public sector, and that legal cases had been
opened against all 397 officials who earned more than 200 million
rials. "I hope (the report) will be the source of fundamental
reform in the country so that individuals cannot take advantage (of
the system)," he said, according to the Fars news agency.
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