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TOP STORIES
Thousands of young Iranians danced and sang along to pop
and folk music as they waited for President Hassan Rouhani to arrive
at a rally ahead of next week's election. Many wore purple and green
wristbands and neck scarves, the colours of pro-democracy groups, and
waved placards emblazoned with quotes from Mr Rouhani. "I have
come to give you more freedom", read one. "We won't let
history repeat itself," said another. When Mr Rouhani finally
took to the stage, the centrist politician sought to tap into the mood.
"We are here to tell pro-violence extremists that your era has
come to an end," Mr Rouhani said. "You [hardliners] cannot
stand against our youth's choice of freedom and progress."
President Donald Trump urged Russia to "rein
in" Syrian regime head Bashar al-Assad during a meeting with
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, the White House said on
Wednesday. "Trump emphasized the need to work together to end
the conflict in Syria, in particular, underscoring the need for Russia
to rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iranian proxies," the
White House said in a statement. Trump had welcomed Vladimir Putin's
top diplomat to the White House for Trump's highest level
face-to-face contact with a Russian government official since he took
office in January. Lavrov entered through the West Executive
entrance, out of range for reporters to ask questions. Also attending
was Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US who is at the
center of many of the Trump administration's early Russia-related
woes.
Four major U.S. companies that have recently announced
plans to cut back on the number of jobs in their American divisions
also have made clear they are ready for new business in Iran.
Honeywell, Volvo, Volkswagen, and Schlumberger (the world's largest
oilfield services provider) are eyeing Iran for new business
ventures, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a
bipartisan group opposed to the nuclear agreement with Iran. Newsmax
asked White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday what the
White House reaction was to the news provided by UANI. "I think
that speaks for itself," Spicer replied, "The president was
very clear on what he thinks of the Iran deal, and companies need to
abide by the law."
UANI IN THE NEWS
A top French hotel chain is being taken to task by
opponents of Iran's nuclear program over its growing presence in the
Islamic Republic's tourism industry - including a partnership with a
local company believed to be a front for the Islamic Revolutionary
Guards Corps (IRGC). In a detailed letter sent to Sebastien Bazin,
the CEO and chairman of the Paris-based Accor Hotels Group, that was
shared with The Algemeiner, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace -
head of advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) - asserted
that "the legal, political, financial, and reputational risks of
doing business in Iran outweigh any theoretical benefit of commercial
involvement in that market."
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has said that
the EU will stand by the Iran nuclear agreement, describing the deal
as a "milestone" belonging to the entire international
community. In her annual briefing to the United Nations Security
Council on Tuesday, Mogherini said the agreement could set a
precedent for resolving global issues through diplomacy. "The
nuclear deal with Iran shows the way forward to us, the Europeans. It
set a milestone for non-proliferation," she said. The nuclear
deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA), was inked between Iran and six world powers in July 2015 and
took effect in January 2016. Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit
some aspects of its nuclear activities in exchange for the removal of
all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.
BUSINESS RISK
The largest annual convention in Iran's petroleum
industry, known as the Iran Oil Show, opened in Tehran on Saturday.
Conspicuous by their absence are the big names such as BP and Total.
Under a cloud of caution and uncertainty, the 2017 'show' is the
antithesis of last year's exhibit, when oil giants visited
post-sanctions Iran with high hopes for investment and collaboration.
According to officials, more than 800 international companies are
present this year, an upgrade over the 634 that came in 2016. Many
were left out for lack of accommodation. But you may get a wrong idea
about the exhibit if you go only by numbers. A walk through the halls
of the 22nd oil exhibition gives the uneasy impression that barely in
one year, the international companies have grown noticeably reserved
and reticent.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
Panid Engineering Co., a private domestic firm based in
Tehran, has reportedly reached an agreement with US-based Pall
Corporation to build a plant for manufacturing filters for the oil
industry, the managing director said. "Talks were held between Panid
and a delegation from the American company on the sidelines of the
22nd International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition in
Tehran, said Neda Mousavizadegan, whose company is a member of the
Society of Iranian Petroleum Industries Equipment Manufacturers,
Shana reported Wednesday. "The two sides reached an agreement to
establish a plant for manufacturing oil and gas filtration systems in
Karaj (40 km west of Tehran). This is the first official
collaboration between Iranian and American manufacturers in the
petroleum sector (after the 1979 Islamic Revolution)"
Mousavizadegan said.
Italy's Pininfarina automotive design house has signed a
€70 million commercial agreement with Iran Khodro Group for the
development of a technological automotive platform on May 9. The
agreement between the two firms will help develop a modular
automotive platform, able to house at least four different vehicles,
and the first passenger car of the medium segment of the market, a
press release from the Italian firm said. The 36-month deal by the
two auto firms will see a new concept architecture developed as well
as a new design concept for future vehicles. Chief Executive Officer
of Pininfarina Group Silvio Pietro Angori said following the deal:
"The agreement with Iran Khodro represents another important
step in the growth strategy of Pininfarina on markets of the new Silk
Road and the Middle East.
Iran says South Africa's MTN will invest as much as $1.1
billion in an ambitious fiber optic internet connectivity project
which will be launched in eight major cities across the country.
Mohsen Baqeri-Chenari, the managing director of Iranian Net
Communications and Electronic Services Company (INCESC), was quoted
by the domestic media as saying that MTN would invest $560 million in
the first phase of the project which is expected to start in the near
future. Baqeri-Chenari told reporters that the South African
telecom giant on Monday signed an agreement on the same front with
the INCESC - Iran's leading fiber optic connection provider - and
Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
European exhibitors participating in the 22nd
International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition of Iran
(Iran Oil Show 2017) believe that there is huge potential for
business in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemical sectors. The
exhibition, which was held at the Tehran Permanent International
Fairgrounds from May 6 to 9, hosted some 2500 domestic companies and
1500 foreign participants from 37 countries including Germany,
France, Spain, Britain, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, China, South
Korea, Australia, the U.S. and Canada. To find out the viewpoints of
European companies willing to do business in Iran, the Tehran Times
conducted interviews with a number of European participants of the
exhibition which is among the most significant oil and gas events in
the world in terms of the number of exhibitors and its diversity.
Austrian Ambassador to Tehran Friedrich Stift underlined
that the banking and trade relations with Iran will soon become
normalized. "We are highly hopeful about normalizing banking and
trade ties with Iran in the near future and we have been through many
challenges in this way so far," Stift said in Tehran on Monday.
"Austria wants expansion of trade ties with Iran and makes its
utmost efforts to normalize banking relations with Tehran," he
added. Also, President of Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Walter Ruck told reporters in Tehran that he and his team will soon
start negotiations with major Austrian banks to establish banking
relations with Iran, adding that they will use all means to persuade
them.
Iran's state oil company NIOC is close to finalising a
term contract to supply Austrian energy group OMV with 40,000 b/d of
Iranian crude, managing director Ali Kardor said. Part of the
proceeds for the crude will be used to repay debts Iran owes to the
Austrian company for some exploration work carried out in Iran more
than a decade ago, he said. "This agreement will help Tehran pay
its outstanding debts to OMV," Kardor said in Tehran. OMV carried
out exploration work at the Mehr block for five years after it was
awarded the rights to explore the license in 2001. It went on to
discover the Band-e-Karkheh oil field in 2007, when it was originally
estimated to hold 2bn bl of oil. NIOC more than doubled this estimate
to 4.5bn bl in 2009 after discovering a new oil layer. Kardor did not
clarify what Iran's standing debt was to OMV, but said 7.25pc of the
price of these barrels would go towards paying the debt off, with the
remainder going to the country's treasury.
SYRIA CONFLICT
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif has warned
the U.S. and its allies against pursuing military action near Syria's
borders amid international efforts to bring the six-year conflict in
that country to a peaceful end. Zarif's comments Tuesday came in
response to the commencement Sunday of the U.S. and Jordan's annual
Exercise Eager Lion, described by the Army's regional deputy
commanding officer, Major-General Bill Hickman, as the "largest
and most complex to date," according to Al Jazeera. The drills
will reportedly draw in 7,400 soldiers from 20 nations and include
"for the first time ever a global strike mission" performed
by U.S. B-51 bombers, according to Hickman. The massive mobilization
has been regarded with deep suspicion by Iran, and Zarif told the
Lebanon-based media outlet Al Mayadeen TV that U.S.-backed actions
could not remove the Iran-backed government in neighboring Syria.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Pakistan and Iran have set up a joint commission to
ensure better border management, two days after Islamabad summoned
the Iranian envoy to express concern over Tehran's assertion that it
will hit terror "safe havens" in its neighbouring country.
Pakistan on Tuesday summoned the Iranian ambassador to express
its concern over Iran army chief's remarks that Tehran will hit
"safe havens" of terrorists in Pakistan until Islamabad
takes steps to stop militants from carrying out cross-border attacks.
The commission has been set up to ensure better border management,
Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said
yesterday. Relations between the neighbours have been tense due
to the killing of Iranian border guards in a clash with militants.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Millions of Iranians are consuming the
latest twists and turns of the presidential and city council election
season on their Telegram accounts and Twitter feeds, with voting
scheduled for May 19. And during this time of expanded public debate
in Iran, candidates should be speaking out for the country's many
political prisoners. One of those prisoners is 28-year-old Atena
Daemi, a children's rights activist who is serving a seven-year
sentence in Tehran's Evin prison. Iranian Revolutionary Guards
arrested Daemi in October 2014 because of her activism, before
releasing her on bail after 16 months. A revolutionary court
had already sentenced her to 14 years in prison on charges including
"assembly and collusion against national security," and "propaganda
against the state." Her sentence was later reduced to seven
years by an appeals court.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Iran's highest leader said on Wednesday that any
disrupters of national elections, which are less than two weeks away,
would receive a "slap in the face," underscoring the
political tensions lurking behind the vote. The warning came in a
widely publicized speech by the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to
graduating cadets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the
powerful paramilitary force, in which he emphasized that security was
the most important issue in the May 19 election, when Iranians will
choose a new president and city and village councils. Ever since
unprecedented antigovernment protests after the disputed 2009
presidential vote, elections have become delicate moments in Iran.
The charismatic 55-year-old mayor of Tehran seems a
long-shot contender for Iran's presidency, but could emerge as the
main threat to President Hassan Rouhani if he beats other hardliners
to emerge as the sole challenger in a second round. A chisel-jawed
former Revolutionary Guards commander with an action man persona, an
airline pilot's license and a populist economic message, Baqer
Qalibaf has so far defied the clerical establishment by refusing to
drop out before the May 19 vote. In the last election four years ago,
Qalibaf very nearly made it to the run-off, despite placing a distant
second to Rouhani with just 16.5 percent of the vote. Rouhani, who
promised to reduce Iran's international isolation and grant more
freedoms at home, averted a second round by winning just over 50
percent.
Until just a few months ago, not many Iranians were
familiar with the name Ebrahim Raisi. The 56-year-old cleric entered
the game last year when he was appointed to head Iran's largest
charitable foundation, Astan Quds Razavi, which oversees the holy
shrine of the eighth Shiite imam, Reza, in the northeastern city of
Mashhad. Raisi, a former prosecutor and deputy chief justice who once
headed Iran's anti-corruption committee, wants to be the Islamic
Republic's 12th president. Generally labeled as a Principlist, Raisi
"wants to free himself from any partisan affiliation and run as
an independent," according to an aide who spoke to Al-Monitor on
condition of anonymity. Conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi is
attempting to project a nonpartisan image while adopting stronger
positions against incumbent Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on
candidates in this month's presidential election to avoid
"immoral" outbursts that could damage the nation, after the
contest turned increasingly confrontational. "Elections can
bring us pride or weaken us," Khamenei said in a public address
on Wednesday, according to his website. "If people participate
with order and proceed with ethics and respect the limits of Islam
and laws, it will lead to dignity for the Islamic Republic," he
said. If they "turn immoral and with their spoken words give
hope to the enemy, then the elections will turn to our
disadvantage."
Iran's presidential election campaign is in full swing
and what was perceived as an easy victory for the incumbent President
Hassan Rouhani seeking reelection only a few weeks ago is now
appearing more challenging. The reason: a resurgent wave of populism
among Rouhani's conservative rivals. From a pledge to double or
triple monthly cash transfers (currently at $12) and offers of
generous unemployment benefits to the creation of one million jobs
annually, the anti-Rouhani faction has made it a point to remove him
out of office at any cost-even if that means taking recourse to crude
populism similar to what was espoused by former president, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
In the United Kingdom, a referendum was held to decide
whether to stay or withdraw from the European Union. The outcome of
the referendum divided the British society. Even though the gap
between proponents and opponents was narrow, and a group of people
expressed regret about the verdict, the British government and EU
member-states accepted the result, which amounts to showing respect
for democracy. Now, the British Prime Minister has decided to hold an
early election in which British people will choose their
representatives. All the parties, even the extreme right-wing, will
take part in this election. We also observed Jean-Marie Le Pen,
leader of a right-wing party, reaching the second round of elections
in France...In total contrast, the Mullahs of Tehran are misusing
religion to send terror to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and
Afghanistan in what is widely described as an ill-advised and
bankrupted policy.
Perched on the tails of Iran Air's aircraft is the
mythical Persian bird known as the Homa. Versions of its legend
describe how the Homa is periodically reborn, consuming itself in
fire before rising reborn from the ashes. As Iran's aviation sector
makes moves for an epic overhaul, the mascot seems particularly
appropriate. Since January 2016, when the nuclear agreement
negotiated with the United States and its five partners went into
effect, President Hassan Rouhani's government has tried to pull
Iran's economy out of its sanctions-era doldrums. On the campaign
trail and in the first two presidential debates leading up to
elections on May 19, Rouhani's conservative rivals have focused their
attacks on his record on this issue, rather than the deal itself.
"The Iranian people should decide whether they want the current
situation - which means unemployment, social harms, and recession -
to continue, or they seek a change," argued Tehran mayor
Mohammad Ghalibaf, one of Rouhani's most prominent challengers.
Pakistan's tightrope walk between Iran and Saudi Arabia
has suddenly become a lot tougher. Tehran, perhaps taking a leaf out
of New Delhi's book, has warned it was prepared to carry out
cross-border military strikes against Pakistan-based terrorists
following the deaths of 10 Iranian border guards at the hands of
Sunni militants. Islamabad has agreed to strengthen its military
presence along the Iran-Pakistan border, but this is little more than
a diplomatic band-aid on a much larger geopolitical wound. Pakistan
has traditionally had close security ties with Saudi Arabia but has
sought to maintain cordial relations with Iran, despite the open
hostility between the two Gulf countries. However, partly out of
concern at deepening relations between Riyadh and New Delhi, Pakistan
has been tilting closer to Saudi Arabia.
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