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TOP STORIES
European officials are compiling options for tightening
implementation of the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement, hoping to bolster
their case that US. President Donald Trump should stick to the accord he
has repeatedly criticized... The Trump administration is carrying out its
own review of the nuclear deal. European officials hope that by
proactively offering up solutions, they can indicate that they are
responsive to Mr. Trump's concerns. Options range from stepped-up
inspections of Iranian activities to stricter interpretations of key
provisions of the accord, which seeks to keep Iran from being able to
amass the materials for a nuclear weapon. However while European
officials are eager to show flexibility, any U.S. push to change the
terms of the deal could still place Washington and Brussels on a
collision course.
In a climactic battle at sea, an Iranian commander orders
his forces to open fire on a much larger U.S. fleet, obliterating it with
a barrage of rockets, some of which tear American flags from their masts.
The scenario unfolds in "Battle of the Persian Gulf II," a new
Iranian animated film more than four years in the making that imagines a
devastating response to an American attack on the country's nuclear
program. It might have seemed out of date this time last year, when a
nuclear accord reached with world powers had lifted sanctions and raised
hopes for a broader rapprochement between Iran and the West. But now
tensions are rising again. President Donald Trump has repeatedly
criticized the nuclear deal, and his administration put Iran "on
notice" last month after it tested a ballistic missile. Iranians
were meanwhile angered over Trump's travel ban, which temporarily barred
their entry to the United States before it was blocked by the courts.
Iran is likely to go on an international shopping spree
for surface warships, submarines and anti-ship missiles after the
expiration in 2020 of a United Nations resolution prohibiting it from
acquiring sophisticated weapons, according to the U.S. Office of Naval
Intelligence. The expiration "will allow Iran to pursue foreign
acquisitions that have been inaccessible since sanctions were
imposed," according to a new assessment of Iran's naval forces,
strategy and capability obtained by Bloomberg News. Entitled "Iran's
Naval Forces: A Tale of Two Navies," the 44-page publication is an
update to a 2009 version. The ban on conventional weapons will be lifted
as part of the international deal reached in July 2015 between the U.S.,
five allies and Iran to curtail its nuclear program in return for easing
international sanctions. The Navy report is likely to be cited by those
who agree with President Donald Trump's past description of the nuclear
accord as "the worst deal ever negotiated."
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Few people have watched the deteriorating relations
between Iran and the United States with as much concern as Babak Namazi.
The stakes are intensely personal. His elderly father and his younger
brother, both U.S. citizens, are imprisoned in Iran after being convicted
of espionage and collaborating with the U.S. government. They had an
appeals hearing Wednesday, but there is little hope the verdict will be
overturned. The Obama administration had pushed Iran to free Siamak and
Baquer Namazi, and other Americans detained or missing in Iran, until
talks collapsed in President Barack Obama's final days in office. Since
then, there has been no contact between Washington and Tehran, according
to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. So Babak Namazi came to Washington this
week to urge the Trump administration to restart efforts to gain his
family members' freedom after more than a year in custody.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
Iran is making rapid forays into the European crude oil
market and selling its parcels to countries such as France, Italy, Greece
and Spain, UK-based global shipping consultancy, VesselsValue said
Wednesday. "Following the removal of sanctions, new players have
emerged in the mix," VesselsValue said in a report. Iran's crude oil
shipments have been delivered to destinations ranging from Malaysia and
Singapore in Asia to Syria in Africa, it said. In 2016, the number of
voyages delivering crude from Iran to France are estimated at 21, while
Italy, Greece and Spain took 15, 14 and 13 shipments respectively, it
said. This includes shipments in VLCC, Suezmaxes and Aframaxes.
SYRIA CONFLICT
The lead Syrian opposition negotiator at peace talks in
Geneva said he hoped U.S. President Donald Trump would correct the
"catastrophic" errors of his predecessor Barack Obama to become
a reliable partner against "devilish" Iran... "We reiterated
the devilish role that Iran is playing through hundreds of thousands of
fighters on the Syrian soil," Hariri said in response to a question
on what he had told Russian officials during their landmark meeting on
Thursday... Hariri said the opposition had common ground with Trump
because both wanted to fight terrorism and curtail Iranian influence
Washington, he said, should support the opposition.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech to
election officials that he wants to ensure a smooth presidential election
in May and warned off any potential government groups that might attempt
to rig the vote in their favor. "We all have to be careful that
government resources are not used in favor of one individual or
party," Rouhani told the officials Feb. 25 "This is a sin. By
government, I mean the executive, the judiciary, the armed forces. I mean
all the organizations that use public funds. No one has a right to use a
public platform, public media, newspaper or website that uses public
funds in the election." Rouhani told the audience that it is the
responsibility of the Interior Ministry and provincial governors to
administer a healthy election. With regard to the Guardian Council, the
conservative body that vets candidates for approval to run in the
election, Rouhani said, "I cannot accept anyone saying that the
responsible group [for administering the election] is the Guardian
Council. No. The administration is responsible. The Guardian Council
supervises." This point about who ultimately controls the election
process has been a long-running dispute between Rouhani and Guardian
Council head Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
In his recent column ("How Bibi Played Us On The Iran
Deal - And We Let Him") Peter Beinart claims Israeli Prime Minister
Netanyahu duped us by hyping the threat posed by the Iran nuclear deal.
But who does Beinart mean by "us"? It doesn't take a Bibi
Netanyahu to recognize the dangers the accord poses to Israel and
American interests, something Beinart is somehow not even willing to
concede. So let "us" review. First, for the positive. In the
short term, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal
is formally known, constrains Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon by
limiting it to a few hundred kilograms of low-enriched uranium and
reducing its output of weapon-grade plutonium at its heavy-water reactor.
Iran's declared nuclear facilities are also placed under a more rigorous
inspection and verification regime. However, in the short term, the JCPOA
also has empowered the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism by
lifting the most onerous sanctions upon Tehran and releasing tens of
billions of dollars in frozen assets into the regime's coffers. A
revitalized Iran has utilized its resurgent power to further its designs
for regional dominance and its ongoing aggression in Syria, Iraq,
Lebanon, and Yemen, as well as against Israel Tehran is now also brazenly
testing long-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear
warheads and threatening U.S. naval vessels in the Persian Gulf, having
notoriously detained 10 American sailors at gunpoint last year in
violation of international law.
February 22, 2016 marked 365 days that my innocent
80-year-old Iranian-American father, Baquer Namazi has spent in Evin
prison. 365 days. .... the number of days my father has been unjustly
imprisoned and held captive in Iran's notorious Evin prison on absurd
charges and allegations of "collaboration with hostile government of
America." The number of days his grandchildren have been deprived of
their grandfather, his children of a father and most importantly, my
mother from her loving husband...the number of days since I embraced my
father...the number of days I never thought I would be putting on paper.
365 days of broken and false promises, retreat and mockery of justice,
crushed hopes, indescribable cruelty, officials turning a blind eye to
this injustice, and the unbearable pain of having half my family (my
father and my brother Siamak Namazi who has been incarcerated since
October 15, 2015) ripped away and held captive for reasons beyond human
comprehension.
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