|
TOP STORIES
Already furious over President Trump's visa ban, Iran
warned the United States on Tuesday not to escalate tensions over
tests of Iranian missiles - tests that his administration's new
United Nations ambassador called "absolutely unacceptable."
The Iranian warning, made in Tehran by Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif, came a day after American and Israeli officials accused
Iran of having conducted a missile test that they said had violated a
United Nations Security Council resolution. The United States called
an urgent meeting of the Council on Tuesday to discuss the grievance,
making Iran the subject of the first diplomatic skirmish at the
United Nations by Nikki R. Haley, the former governor of South
Carolina who is Mr. Trump's new ambassador. "The United States
is not naïve," she told reporters after the closed meeting.
"We're not going to stand by. You're going to see us call them
out as we said we would, and you are also going to see us act
accordingly." ... "We have said with this administration
that we are not going to show a blind eye to these things that
happen," she said. "We're going to act. We're going to be
strong. We're going to be loud and we're going to do whatever it
takes to protect the American people and the people across the world."
The Iranian-backed suicide attack targeting a Saudi
frigate off the coast of Yemen on Monday may have been meant for an
American warship, two defense officials told Fox News. The incident
in question occurred in the southern Red Sea and was carried out by
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Two Saudi sailors were killed and three
were wounded. At first the ship was thought to have been struck by a
missile. But based on new analysis of a video showing the attack, American
intelligence officials now believe this was, in fact, a suicide
bomber whose small boat rammed the side of the Saudi vessel. In the
audio heard on the video, a voice narrating the attack shouts in
Arabic, "Allahu akbar [God is great], death to America, death to
Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory for Islam." U.S. defense
analysts believe those behind the attack either thought the bomber
was striking an American warship or that this was a "dress
rehearsal" similar to the attack on the USS Cole, according to
one official.
Iran's defense minister said on Wednesday it had
tested a new missile but this did not breach the Islamic Republic's
nuclear accord with world powers or a U.N. Security Council
resolution endorsing the pact. Iran has test-fired several ballistic
missiles since the nuclear deal in 2015, but the latest test was the
first during U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. Trump said
in his election campaign that he would stop Iran's missile program.
"The recent test was in line with our plans and we will not
allow foreigners to interfere in our defense affairs," Defence
Minister Hossein Dehghan told Tasnim news agency. "The test did
not violate the nuclear deal or (U.N.) Resolution 2231." A U.S.
official said on Monday that Iran test-launched a medium-range
ballistic missile on Sunday and it exploded after traveling 630 miles
(1,010 km). The Security Council held an emergency meeting on Tuesday
and recommended the matter of the missile testing be studied at
committee level.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Barry Rosen was held prisoner in Iran 37 years ago,
charged with spying. He was eventually released, but those distant
events resonate now with the plight of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe,
whose husband fears she is being used by Tehran as a political
"bargaining chip"... Rosen joined the board of pressure
group, United Against Nuclear Iran, in May. The group lobbies large
corporations against operating in Iran, on the proviso that money
coming into the Middle Eastern country helps fund human rights abuses
and its nuclear weapons programme. Rosen argues doing business in
Iran, which relies on the use of dual nationals, is
"nonsensical". He says it carries the risk of imprisonment,
kidnapping, torture, execution and incarceration of staff... For
Barry Rosen, who was charged with spying against the Iranian state 37
years ago, Nazanin Ratcliffe's case is all too familiar. Though he
fears there is little to be done, he urges Richard Ratcliffe to
continue his work campaigning for her release, and not to take his
feet off the pedal.
The volume of trade between France and the Islamic
Republic has tripled since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA) went into effect last year, a top Iranian official said on
Tuesday, according to the regime-aligned Tasnim news agency. Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the comment during a joint
press conference with French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was
in the midst of a two-day visit to Tehran... The semi-official Mehr
state news agency reported that Ayrault was joined on his trip to
Iran by representatives of 60 French companies. On Monday, the United
Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) advocacy group warned Ayrault about the
perils of doing business with Iran. "As foreign companies have
started to enter the Iranian market, those who have benefited most
are Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) front companies, not the
Iranian people," UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace said in a
statement. "The Iranian regime has used this influx of foreign
money to fuel their brutal crackdown on human rights at home and
their sponsorship of terrorism in the region. Given this reality,
unfortunately any hope that the JCPOA will help strengthen moderates
in Iran is misplaced."
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Iran has stopped issuing visas to Americans, the
country's foreign minister said, in an expected response to President
Donald Trump's 90-day ban on Iranian citizens entering the U.S.
Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday said it would take
"reciprocal" and "proportionate" action after Mr.
Trump issued an executive order barring entry to the U.S. of
nationals from Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, as well
as Iran. Tuesday's move came the same day Iraq said it wouldn't take
any reciprocal action against Americans in light of the decree.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif confirmed that Tehran would no
longer issue visas to U.S. citizens. He also said exceptions to the
ban were possible and specific cases would be reviewed by a foreign
ministry committee. Iran's move could affect efforts by Boeing Co. to
seal an 80-plane sale to Iran Air...
SANCTIONS RELIEF
India's annual oil imports from Iran surged to a
record high in 2016 as some refiners resumed purchases after the
lifting of sanctions against Tehran, according to ship tracking data
and a report compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts.
The sharp increase propelled Iran into fourth place among India's
suppliers in 2016, up from seventh position in 2015. It used to be
India's second-biggest supplier before sanctions. For the year, the
world's third biggest oil consumer bought about 473,000 barrels per
day (bpd) of oil from Iran to feed expanding refining capacity, up
from 208,300 bpd in 2015, the data showed. In December, imports from
Iran more than doubled from a year earlier to about 546,600 bpd...
Indian refiners Reliance Industries, Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat
Petroleum and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) last year resumed imports
from Tehran, attracted by the discount offered by Iran.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
One early test for the Trump Administration will be
how it enforces the nuclear deal with Iran, and that question has
become more urgent with Iran's test last weekend of another ballistic
missile. The test of a medium-range, home-grown Khorramshahr missile
is Tehran's twelfth since it signed the nuclear deal with the U.S.
and its diplomatic partners in 2015. John Kerry, then Secretary of
State, insisted that the deal barred Iran from developing or testing
ballistic missiles. But that turned out to be a self-deception at
best, as the U.N. Security Council resolution merely "called
upon" Iran not to conduct such missile tests, rather than
barring them. Iran has little reason to stop such tests because the
penalties for doing them have been so light. The Obama Administration
responded with weak sanctions on a few Iranian entities and
individuals, even as it insisted that Iran is complying with the
overall deal and deserves more sanctions relief... What the
Administration can't afford is to allow the latest test to pass
without a response. That would tell Iranians they can develop
missiles and threaten neighbors with impunity. Mr. Trump is keen to
show he will honor his campaign promises, and charting a tougher
course against Iran is one of them.
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment