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TOP STORIES
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ordered the
development of a nuclear-propulsion system for ships, describing the
move as a response to the recent extension of sanctions by the U.S.
Congress. He also requested a study of fuel production for the
propulsion system and set a three-month deadline for a progress
report on both steps, the official Islamic Republic News Agency
reported on Tuesday. The White House said the announcement didn't
breach the Islamic Republic's nuclear deal last year with the U.S.
and five other powers. But Mr. Rouhani's order nevertheless inserts
new contention into a relationship that's expected to strain further
when President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. It is
unclear whether the move was political posturing aimed mainly at a
domestic audience upset at the extension of sanctions or if Iran will
follow through on the development of nuclear-powered ships... Many
nuclear-powered vessels are fueled with uranium enriched above 90%...
The use of any grade of uranium exceeding 3.67% enrichment would
violate the nuclear agreement.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned of Israel's
misusing the insecurities in the region, and said the Palestinians
have no way out, but resistance and jihad against Tel Aviv.
"Today, the world public opinion is faced with this strong
argument that the Zionist regime has never been after peace, and this
argument and reasoning should be used to show that there is no way,
but jihad and resistance for the Palestinians against the usurper
regime," President Rouhani said in a meeting with Leader of
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah in
Tehran on Tuesday. Warning that the Zionist regime has in the past
two decades misused the security problems in the region, he said that
the regime and its supporters have paved the ground for terrorists'
operation in the regional states, specially Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and even North Africa to make them busy with
internal security problems and forget the Palestinian issue.
Abdullah, for his part, appreciated Iran's support for the
Palestinian people and resistance groups, and said if Iran didn't
help, the Palestinians wouldn't be able to maintain their position
and inform the world of their ideas and causes.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali
Khamenei stressed the necessity for unity among Palestinian groups
and their continued fight against the Zionist regime of Israel, saying
that in that case, the Tel Aviv regime will cease to exist in 25
years. "The only way to save the Holy Quds is to fight and
resist and other ways are doomed to (failure) and fruitless,"
Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with Secretary General of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement Ramadan Abdullah Shalah and his
accompanying delegation in Tehran on Wednesday. "Despite
continued attempts by the supporters of the Zionist regime to create
crises and make the Palestinian issue fade into oblivion, the holy
land will be liberated thanks to the resistance and striving of
Palestinian groups," the Leader said. Ayatollah Khamenei further
highlighted the importance of the youth population of Palestine and
said the Zionist regime will not exist by the next 25 years provided
that Palestinians and other Muslims continue their struggle against
the Zionists.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Former Sen. Joe Lieberman on the risk of doing
business with Tehran's mullahs.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
Senior European diplomats, fresh from conversations
with President-elect Donald Trump's transition team, are hopeful that
the next U.S. administration won't tear up the Iranian nuclear deal.
But they are worried that Mr. Trump could pressure Iran in other ways
that will unravel the agreement... EU governments have repeatedly
said the deal has worked so far. After Mr. Trump's election, they
moved quickly to emphasize they intend to rapidly implement their
side of the agreement. The bloc is hoping to benefit from trade deals
with Iran made possible by the agreement, which sought to block off
Iran's path to a nuclear weapon... However, there is a growing
concern that the Trump team could take actions that could imperil the
nuclear deal... Trump officials have told European officials the
nuclear deal gives them scope to place new terror- or rights-related
sanctions on Iranian firms and people over Iran's actions in the
region, which include backing for Hezbollah and support for the
regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
BUSINESS RISK
An official with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC) has called on Iranian president Hassan Rouhani to cancel
a recently signed shipbuilding deal with South Korea. The Guard
suggests that its own shipyard should handle the volume instead. The
head of the IRGC-controlled construction company Khatam al-Anbiya,
Brigadier General Abdullah Abdullahi, argued that the contract is a
"neglect of internal power." "The president should
revoke the contract to build 10 ships with South Korea and if this is
not done, he can no longer be trusted," Abdullahi said, as
reported by the state-owned Shargh Daily. Abdullahi said that Khatam
al-Anbiya's shipyard, SADRA, is capable of building modern vessels
for Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL). The IRGC, one of
Iran's most politically conservative institutions, is closely
intertwined with many sectors of the Iranian economy.
In the final stages of the US election campaign, and
even though a majority of polls predicted a Clinton victory, many
bankers in Tehran were already starting to feel the Trump effect, as
foreign businesses stalled new agreements in Iran fearing the
Republican candidate would win. Behzad Golkar, the chief executive of
Iranian banking conglomerate Sina Financial and Investment Holding,
tells Euromoney that, in the weeks preceding the US election, Omani
bankers held back on entering correspondent banking relations with
Sina. "Please wait," he says they told him. "We don't
know about Trump. Slow down, slow down. Several lawyers advising
European firms on re-engaging with Iran say they were also instructed
to halt those efforts ahead of the vote... One worried Iranian banker
says: "Destroying JCPOA is impossible, but talking badly about
it will ruin everything."
SANCTIONS RELIEF
Shipbuilders vying to land more projects amid a global
drought in demand are eyeing countries in the Middle East, attracted
by eased sanctions against Iran and signs of international oil price
recoveries... Since Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a $700 million
order to build 10 vessels for Iran's state-owned Islamic Republic of
Iran Shipping Lines last week, expectations are growing for other
shipbuilders to ink new deals as well. Currently, Iran owns 175
ships. Among them, 43 are more than 20 years old and 110 are more
than 10 years old, according to shipping research company Clarksons.
Replacement orders for ships older than 20 years alone could result
in orders of container and bulk carriers worth more than a trillion
won... In September, shipbuilder Samkang M&T inked a $398.8
million deal with Iran's state-run shipyard Iran Shipbuilding &
Offshore Industries Complex. The amount is not as big, but it equals
roughly two years of revenue. Samkang will supply a 1,000 ton crane
and build facilities for the shipyard.
Russia and Iran are exploring the establishment of an
Islamic bank as the two countries expand their economic cooperation,
the TASS news agency cited Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak as
saying. The entire banking system in Iran must abide by Islamic
principles such as a ban on interest and gambling, which foreign
firms would need to follow if they are to grab business ranging from
long-term financing to insurance. "The creation of a
Russian-Iranian Islamic bank was discussed. Our banks are exploring the
mechanism, the related decision has not been made yet," Novak
said at a bilateral meeting held in Tehran. No timeframe or potential
size was given for the proposed bank, which would be the first such
institution operating in the two countries.
Iran's crude oil exports in December are set to fall 8
percent from November to a five-month low, a source with knowledge of
its preliminary tanker schedule said, as lower shipments to China and
others in Asia offset bumper exports to Europe. Iran was exempted
from last month's OPEC deal to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels
per day (bpd) starting from January, and had been expected to boost
its output slightly. But Iran's December crude exports excluding
condensate are set to fall to 1.88 million bpd, from 2.04 million bpd
in November, the source familiar with its export situation said. That
may be a sign it is having trouble maintaining output after the
lifting of sanctions this year led to a surge in production...
Compared with a year ago, Iran's December crude exports are still set
to jump 81 percent as shipments to Europe resumed only in February
this year, according to the source.
TERRORISM
Hamas representative in Iran Khaled al-Qaddumi said
Iran, Hamas Palestinian movement ties is getting better every day. In
an exclusive interview with Iranian Students' News Agency, Hamas
representative said Palestine is the common bond between Iran and
Hama, adding it is the most important issue between the two sides. He
went on to say that there is no disagreement over Palestine and the
issues related to that between Iran and Hamas, noting even if there
is it is not more than 5%. Al-Qaddumi stressed the necessity of being
unified to fight against Zionists, saying Zionist is Iran's major
enemy.
IRAQ CRISIS
In a significant break with past policy, U.S.-led
forces in Iraq have started arming and training hundreds of fighters
belonging to Shiite militias historically known for having ties to
Iran. The sectarian militias are being trained for the operation to
retake the Iraqi city of Mosul. While Mosul's future remains
uncertain, the cooperative effort is expected to strengthen the
Shiite forces both militarily and politically. The U.S.-led coalition
has provided hundreds of guns and training to the fighters in recent
weeks, indicating a new level of cooperation, although U.S. military
officials quickly moved to downplay it, saying the fighters currently
being trained have no ties to the Iranian-backed groups that targeted
Americans in the past... "It's a mistake," said Michael
Pregent, a former Army paratrooper who served in Iraq and is now an
Iraq expert at the Washington-based Hudson Institute. The Shiite
militias, he said, were "directly involved in killing Americans.
They're sectarian."
HUMAN RIGHTS
The family of an American man imprisoned in Iran has
expressed serious concern for his well-being after he penned a
suicide note. Robin Shahini, 46, a dual Iranian-American citizen and
resident of San Diego for the past 16 years, was sentenced in October
to 18 years in prison for "collaborating with a hostile
government," referring to the United States. His sentence also
included a blasphemy charge for "insulting the revered" on
a Facebook page, according to the official sentence handed to
Shahini... In an emotionally charged letter to his girlfriend, that
was shared with The Foreign Desk, Shahini wrote, "The situation
that I am in is ridiculous and my brain cannot cope with this
situation. Most of the time thinking to end my life to become
free."
OPINION & ANALYSIS
On the campaign trail Donald Trump called the Iran
nuclear deal - officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA) - the worst deal ever negotiated and vowed to scrap
it. While no doubt deeply flawed, eighteen months into the Agreement,
and after Iran has already pocketed many billions of dollars in
sanctions relief, scrapping it is neither realistic nor advisable. An
outright rejection of it would only provide a convenient platform for
its supporters to shift blame for all the ills that will follow, from
the Obama administration to the Trump presidency. Instead, the Trump
administration should review the deal, as well as developments over
the past year and a half, and take steps to improve the situation.
Much can still be done to significantly strengthen it: both on the
nuclear dimensions, and regarding attitudes of the US administration
toward Iran... Problematic provisions of the deal must be clarified,
better defined, and strengthened. For starters, ambiguities in the
text - especially regarding the terms for the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect a suspicious military facility - must
be cleared up in order to reduce to an absolute minimum the room for
interpretation and Iran's ability to play for time. There is a need
to put an end to Iran's false narrative of "nuclear
innocence," and state clearly that Iran violated the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by working on a military nuclear
program for years. On this basis, issues that have purposely been
kept under wraps by the Obama administration must be brought to light
and aired. As an NPT violator, Iran lost its right to any
confidentiality privileges in dealing with the IAEA; no secret
understandings can be tolerated. Iran's recent missile tests must be
seen for what they are: Iran perfecting the delivery mechanism for a
possible nuclear warhead.
Iran, which has been using sectarianism as a tool to
expand its political influence, has caused a deepening of rift among
Muslim communities in the Latin Americas as Tehran made an opening
toward the continent. Several reports and experts suggest that the inaction
of the U.S. and the nuclear deal have paved the way for Iran's
expansionism. While the world is focused on Iran's activities in
Iraq, Syria and Yemen primarily, the country has been busy
galvanizing its relations with Shiite communities, not only in the
Middle East but also in Africa and even in Latin America. Last year,
for instance, several Peruvian media outlets warned against the
activities of Iran-backed groups in the country while Venezuela's
small Muslim community faced a sectarian rift. Asharq al-Awsat, a
Middle Eastern media outlet, in July reported "young Peruvians
coming mostly from the mountainous region of Abancay where Iran has
lately exerted its efforts, convinced 20 young Peruvians to visit
Tehran and receive training on Shiism before being sent back home for
advocacy." What is more alarming is the fact that the report
claimed this group had effectively started working on establishing a
political party in the country under the name of "Hezbollah
Branch in Peru," driving ire concerning Iran's role and reasons
behind its political and religious presence in Peru. Lately, Peruvian
media outlets also spoke about the danger of the groups' presence,
similar to the so-called "Hezbollah," on Peruvian soil, as
they carry terrorist ideologies and are suspected of activities that
Iran might use to spread the Shiite sect and extend the ideology of
the Iranian Revolution." It was a proof of Iran's activities in
Latin America when the U.S. in 2011 revealed a joint plan between the
Hezbollah and Mexican drug cartels to assassinate the Saudi
ambassador to the U.S.
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