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TOP STORIES
New video footage appears to lend credibility to
President Donald Trump's claim that the United States' immigration
system is being manipulated by the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the
video Hassan Abbasi, a high-ranking official with Iran's
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is seen boasting about a
"guerilla movement" of Iranian agents living and working in
the United States. Abbasi claims there are over two million Iranians
in the United States, and over 7,000 PhD holders. He says, in Farsi
while speaking at an unknown location, that Iran is leading a
clandestine army of potential martyrs within the US. Iran does not
need nuclear weapons, he proclaims, because Iran plans to use
subversive measures to destabilize the United States from within.
Saudi Arabia hailed a "historical turning
point" in U.S.-Saudi relations after a meeting between U.S.
President Donald Trump and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
highlighted the two leaders' shared view that Iran posed a regional
security threat. The meeting on Tuesday appeared to signal a meeting
of the minds on many issues between Trump and Prince Mohammed, in a
marked difference from Riyadh's often fraught relationship with the
Obama administration, especially in the wake of the 2015 Iran nuclear
deal. Saudi Arabia had viewed with unease the administration of U.S.
President Barack Obama, whom they felt considered Riyadh's alliance
with Washington less important than negotiating the Iran nuclear
deal.
In a provocative move, Iran announced sending the
"45 Group" of the Iranian Naval Force, which consists of a
ship and a destroyer to the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab. The
tension caused by the continued friction between the Iranian gunboats
and US forces located in international waters is due to the
persistent attempts of Iran to assist and provide the Yemeni militia
with weapons. Tasnim news agency, the subsidiary to the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards, claimed that "Iranian warships are going
to the Gulf of Aden and Bab al Mandab "in an effort to maintain
the Iranian merchant ships," currently docked at the Omani
ports. Ever since Operation Decisive Storm, launched by the Arab
coalition under the leadership of Saudi Arabia in March 2015 to
regain legitimacy in Yemen, the Iranian navy has stepped up its
provocative moves against US forces in the region.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
In the first eight weeks in office, the Trump
administration has launched dozens of missiles into Yemen, found
itself embroiled in controversy over a botched raid into the country,
and sought to provide heavier firepower to the Saudi Arabian-led
forces fighting there. The real reason for this new interest, experts
say, is because of how the country figures into the White House's
plans to counter Iran's influence. The Houthis are considered an
Iranian proxy by the US, due to both the fact that the group's members
practice a form of Shia Islam, despite being a different model than
practiced in Iran, and increased weapons shipments from Tehran to the
Yemeni rebels over the months.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
British trade minister Liam Fox said on Wednesday he had
commissioned work from his department to look at how to normalise
"effective payment channels" with Iran to try to open up
trading opportunities. Britain is seeking new and deeper trade
relations with countries outside the European Union to strengthen its
hand in divorce talks with the bloc and is targeting countries in the
Middle East among other areas. Fox told a parliamentary committee
that he expected to receive the findings of the report at the end of
this month.
Australia will be collaborating with Iran to develop
renewable energy and construct water desalination projects in the
middle eastern country. The announcement, made by Martin Leslie James
Hamilton-Smith, the minister for investment and trade in the South
Australian House of Assembly, came on the sidelines of a meeting with
Alireza Daemi, the Iranian deputy energy minister for planning and
economic affairs, in Tehran on Monday. Australia has experienced a
boost in renewable energy in the residential sector, Hamilton-Smith
said. As much as 44 percent of the country's power is derived from
renewable energy, with plans to extend the capacity to 60 percent
currently underway.
Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) are expected
to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of this month,
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak announced. Making the remarks
before his Monday meeting with Iranian Communications and Information
Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi in Moscow, Novak expressed hope
that the agreement will be ready when Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani makes his planned visit to Russia in late March, according to
worldbulletin.net. A memorandum of understanding to set up a free
trade area between member countries and Iran was signed during the
EEU summit in Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan on March 7. Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia are members of the EEU
which aims for common policies in economy and energy markets, and
partnership in key infrastructure projects.
The gathering, held on Tuesday, was attended by Iranian
Foreign Ministry's political directors in charge of Latin American
affairs, representatives from Iranian banks, and diplomats representing
a Foreign Ministry committee on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), a nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1
(Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany). In comments at
the meeting, Director General for the Americas at Iran's Foreign
Ministry Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh highlighted Latin American nations'
enthusiasm for banking relations with Iran, given the Islamic
Republic's elevated position in the international community, high
investment security in Iran, its great political and economic weight
in the Middle East, as well as the ample trade opportunities
available in the country.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Turkish Ambassador to Iran, Riza Hakan Tekin, has
accused Tehran of launching what he called "smear
campaigns" against Turkey, stressing it will negatively
influence bilateral ties between the neighboring countries.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Tekin said, "This
responsibility falls on the Iranian side." This weekend, Iran's
Foreign Ministry urged Iranians to avoid making unnecessary trips to
Turkey during the upcoming Noruz (Iranian New Year) holiday. Turkey
has been unsafe for tourists over the past years, hit by numerous
terrorist attacks.
Russian and Iranian representatives are holding a
meeting in Kazakhstan's Astana at the Rixos hotel. Russia's
delegation is led by the president's special envoy for the Syrian
settlement, Alexander Lavrentyev. Iran's delegation is headed by
Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Ansari. The round of negotiations is
due to be wrapped up on Wednesday with trilateral consultations of
the three guarantor countries of Syrian ceasefire: Russia, Iran and
Turkey.
EXTREMISM
Iran's sole Jewish parliamentarian branded Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an "insane vampire" for
repeatedly saying that modern Iran, like ancient Persia, is bent on
annihilating the Jewish people. "Netanyahu is an insane vampire
drowned in crimes from head to toe and the recent remarks made by the
racist Israeli prime minister [are] not surprising to me,"
Siamak Moreh Sedgh told the Iranian parliament on Tuesday, according
to the semi-official Fars news agency. Sedgh further claimed that anti-Semitism
and racism have "never been witnessed" in Iranian culture.
Sedgh, a 50-year-old physician who also serves as director of the
Tehran Jewish Committee, has represented his community in parliament
since 2012 and has been a frequent critic of Israel.
CYBERWARFARE
Russian Telecom and Mass Communications Minister Nikolai
Nikiforov said on Monday that his country is interested in launching
cooperation with Iran in cyber security fields such as electronic
trade and software, IRNA reported. "One of the main objectives
of holding bilateral talks between Russia, Iran and international
bodies is to prepare the grounds for Tehran-Moscow cooperation,"
Nikiforov said in an appearance with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud
Vaezi in Moscow on Monday.
HUMAN RIGHTS
On Tuesday, Tehran has asked the UN Human Rights Council
to put an end to the mission of Asma Jahangir, the special human
rights rapporteur, calling her report on the situation of human
rights in Iran "politically motivated". "Given the noticeable
human rights progress made in the Islamic Republic of Iran and its
extensive and constructive interactions with the international human
rights mechanisms, it is now time to end the special rapporteur's
mission in an appropriate way," Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's Human
Rights Council director for international affairs, told the annual
meeting of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva,
Switzerland. He also warned that the UNHRC's "selective"
and "politically tainted approach" towards certain
countries would make cooperation between the two sides difficult.
On Sunday, Qaribabadi commented that Iran will declare its
official position on the recent report by Jahangir.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
While the rocket and missile threat built up by Israel's
enemies is a recent development, this large-scale, evolving attempt
to target the country's soft underbelly will remain a developing
threat for many years to come. The effort began in the 1980's when
the idea of targeting Israeli civilians with projectiles began to
take hold. The PLO led the way; firing rockets from southern Lebanon
into Israel. Launching salvos of projectiles at Israeli cities, towns
and villages is a task that is intelligence light for the launchers,
psychologically heavy for the targeted population. Indiscriminate
attacks, designed to terrorize and demoralize, were the hallmarks of
the first phase of the rocket attacks against Israel.
If there is any confusion about the Trump
administration's foreign policy agenda, Washington-watchers can at
least count on one certainty: Trump seems to have a real, though
complicated, affinity for Russia. What that actually means or how it
translates into the White House's policy towards Moscow is less
clear. It is safe to assume, though, that improving relations with
the Kremlin is a priority for the new administration. As President
Trump noted in a February press conference, "It would be great
if we got along with Russia." The administration seems less
enthused, however, with the company that Moscow keeps-Iran, in
particular. President Trump has strongly criticized the Iran nuclear
deal, instated a new round of sanctions on the Islamic Republic, and
placed Tehran "on notice" over the country's recent alleged
missile tests. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a moderate in the
ranks of the Trump administration, has struck a milder tone on the
nuclear deal but has also expressed concerns about Tehran's support
of terrorism and has noted that it "does no good to ignore"
or dismiss Iran's aggressive behavior.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's first term in office
will come to an end in a few months, and it is time to evaluate his
administration's economic policies during the past four years. When
Rouhani ran for president in 2013, he promised to inject new impetus
into the Iranian economy, which was suffering from eight years of
misguided populist policies under his predecessor, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, as well as from external sanctions. Rouhani himself has
recently defended his government's economic performance, especially
the fact that inflation has been contained. One of the qualitative
aspects that Rouhani pointed to was the "return of
tranquility" to the Iranian economy. A quick look at some of the
key indicators underlines that the government has indeed managed to
improve overall economic conditions.
On March 15th the international community will
unfortunately be marking a milestone of disastrous nature. The
conflict in Syria began as peaceful demonstrations by a nation
seeking freedom from the reign of a dictatorship and to establish
true democracy. The regime in Iran, however, viewed such a
development as a red line and placed its weight fully behind Bashar
Assad and his ruthless killing machine. Why is Syria so important for
Iran? Syria is of strategic significant for Iran, as the mullahs
considers the country their 35th province. This reached the point
that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei immediately dispatched his
Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) to prop Assad's lines in order to
maintain their reach to the Mediterranean Sea and continue the flow
of much needed weapons, including dangerous missiles, to the Lebanese
Hezbollah.
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