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TOP STORIES
"The reality was, business was still quite, quite
risky even after the Iran deal, because the Iran deal was a nuclear
cooperation deal plus," said Mark Wallace, CEO of United Against
Nuclear Iran and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
"Big companies operate because of disclosure requirements,
listing requirements, registration requirements, etc. on acceptable
business risk, and I don't think that there was ever a time...that
Iran has been an acceptable business risk." Iran was given
moderate sanctions relief in early 2016 under the conditions of the
Iran nuclear accord, orchestrated under the Obama administration the
year prior, after international inspectors concluded the country had
followed through on promises to dismantle sections of its nuclear
program. But U.S. companies are still largely barred from doing
business in Iran, and European companies who venture in risk running
afoul of the United States.
Iran is targeting German companies in its bid to advance
its missile program, in possible violation of an international
agreement, and at least on occasion with the aid of a Chinese
company, according to a damning recent report from a German
intelligence agency. The 181-page report, published last month and
released Tuesday by officials from the heavily industrialized
southern German state of Baden-Württemberg, warned that Iran is
actively seeking "products and scientific know-how for the field
of developing weapons of mass destruction as well missile
technology." The Islamic Republic is targeting German companies
through various fronts, according to the report.
Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' political bureau,
delivered his maiden speech July 5 in the Gaza Strip - the first
speech he has made since he was elected to the position about two
months ago. Israel's security apparatus followed the speech carefully
in an effort to understand where the Hamas movement will be heading
under the leadership of Haniyeh and Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip
Yahya Sinwar. In the background hovers President Mahmoud Abbas'
recent disengagement from Gaza. Instead of trying to appease tensions
with Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, head of Hamas' political
bureau Ismail Haniyeh makes provocative statements about
rapprochement with Iran. For one hour and 20 minutes, Haniyeh
delivered a prepared speech in which he presented the main principles
of his policies and his goals as the leader of the movement. Of
course, his speech also served as a vehicle for transmitting messages
and signals to his audience outside Gaza in an attempt to extricate
Hamas from its current existential crisis.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Nizar Zakka, a U.S. permanent resident imprisoned in
Iran, issued a desperate plea for international assistance in an
audio recording in which he asserted his innocence from spying
charges and vowed to continue his hunger strike "until my death
or freedom." "I am innocent-never done any crime in my
life," he says in an audio recording his family released to the
Washington Free Beacon. "Have been arrested unjustly by-for over
20 months. "I came to [Iran] based on the official invitation of
its vice president for women and family affairs who also happened to
send me a visa to speak at her conference," he says in the audio
taped from inside Iran's notorious Evin prison.
At first, Clay Jones was flattered. Then he learned
more, and was repulsed. Now, Jones, a self-syndicated political
cartoonist based in Fredericksburg, Va., is declining the honor.
Jones discovered this week that a cartoon of his lampooning the
president had been awarded a citation in the Trumpism Cartoon and
Caricature Contest, as announced Monday by Iran's House of Cartoon in
Tehran. His cartoon spoofed Time magazine's 2016 selection of Trump
as "person of the year" by drawing a comparison to Hitler,
whom Time named its "man of the year" in 1938. Jones's
issue with the competition is that he now believes it is
anti-American and anti-free speech.
The US Senate on June 15 overwhelmingly passed a bill to
impose new sanctions against Iran The Countering Iran's Destabilizing
Activities Act targets Iran's ballistic missile program, its alleged
support for terrorism and its human rights violations. It also includes
new sanctions against Russia. The House of Representatives has found
that the Senate bill violates a constitutional requirement that any
bill that raises revenue for the government must commence in the
House, thus stalling its finalization. While US officials claim that
the Senate bill complies with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), there are disagreements between Iranian officials and
scholars in the interpretation of the move and its impact on the
nuclear deal. At the very least, a majority agree that the new
sanctions hurt the spirit of the JCPOA.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
Iran exported €2.77 billion worth of goods to the
European Union in the first quarter of 2017, registering a sixfold
rise compared with the preceding year's corresponding period.Mineral
fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation, bituminous
substances and mineral waxes accounted for the majority of Iran's
exports to the EU during the period, with a total value of €25
billion, according to Eurostat's data shared with the Financial
Tribune. Non-oil
exports, however, still remain unimpressive. Fruit and nuts (€72
million) and plastic products (€48.5 million) were other top exports
during the period. Iran has been ramping up exports, particularly
hydrocarbons, over the past few months to regain a market share it
lost during the years it was under trade sanctions imposed by the
United Nations Security Council over the country's nuclear energy
program.
SYRIA CONFLICT
In a meeting with Revolutionary Guards commanders,
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei likened the Iranian missile attack
launched from the Islamic republic against ISIS sites in the Syrian
province of Deir el-Zour to an "act of worship" during the
holy month of Ramadan for Muslims, Iranian news agencies reported on
Thursday. Iran's news agency ISNA said that the meeting between
Khamenei and the leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
(IRGC) took place two weeks ago, a few hours after the missile
strikes were launched the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah.
"What you have done is wonderful, may God accept your good
deeds, this is what it means to worship in the month of
Ramadan," he said. June 24 was the last day for the month of
Ramadan in 2017.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Iranian Human Rights Organization on Wednesday took
foreign ambassadors in Iran on a tour to Evin prison in northern
Tehran, ISNA reported. The tour was launched a day after Mohammad
Javad Larijani, the organization's chief, said there is no political
prisoner in Iran. The ambassadors were briefed on the prison's
programs for the inmates, including education and work opportunities,
as well as health and sanitation status, Kazem Kharibabadi, the
organization's deputy chief for international affairs told reporters.
SAUDI-IRAN TENSIONS
Iran's culture minister says Saudi Arabia has provided
"written assurances" that it will meet all of Tehran's
conditions with regard to ensuring security for Iranian pilgrims in
the upcoming Hajj ceremony. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of
the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Reza Salehi Amiri underlined
Tehran's resolve to maintain the "dignity" of Iranian Hajj
pilgrims, the Iran newspaper reported. "For this aim, we have
taken all the possible paths. The Saudi Arabian side accepted the
conditions required by Iran for [ensuring] the security of Hajj
pilgrims and given [assurances] in writing," he added.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Three Azeri men and one Iranian man,
all Protestant Christian converts, have been sentenced to 10 years in
prison by the Revolutionary Court in Iran, according to Mansour
Borji, the advocacy director of Article 18, an organization that defends
Christians in Iran. No evidence was presented by the prosecution
during the trial to show the defendants had acted against national
security, Borji told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). He
added that Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh of Branch 26 of the
Revolutionary Court-who has issued sentences ranging from five to 15
years in prison to 16 Christian converts since April 2017-referenced
a report by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the
trial. The report was not included as evidence in the case files,
Borji said, so the defense was unable to respond to its content.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
When world leaders gather this week in Hamburg for the
G20 Summit, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will obviously not have
a seat at the table, and considering the proposed agenda, he'd
probably feel as if all eyes are on him. That's because, as current president
of the G20, German Chancellor Angela Merkel set a high bar for this
year's Summit in Hamburg, putting forth a series of lofty priorities,
including three that all tie directly back to Tehran: combatting
terrorist financing, fighting corruption and addressing the worst
refugee crisis since World War II. By highlighting these specific
areas and challenging G20 nations to assume responsibility for them,
Chancellor Merkel is putting Iran directly on notice.
Technically, Iran has its own two-stage solid-fueled
MRBM, as evidenced by the Sejjil-2 program (formerly called the
Ashura) which was last successfully flight-tested in 2011 but
previously had a mixed track record. Fielding a reliable and
road-mobile solid-fueled MRBM would allow Tehran to increase the
mobility of its missile force while decreasing launch-preparation
time. Currently, Iran's solid-fuel missiles have not expanded beyond
several classes of the same short-range ballistic missile, which
reportedly performed poorly in a recent strike on Syria. North Korean
and Iranian defense ties are robust and long-standing, rooted in
Tehran's desperate search for international partners during the 1980
to 1988 Iran-Iraq War. In addition to the Soviet Scuds Iran procured
from Libya and Syria, North Korean missiles like the Nodong (renamed
the Shahab-3) formed the backbone of Tehran's early missile arsenal.
Business is increasingly intermixed with politics in
Iran's relations with the world - to the potential detriment to both.
For instance, recent developments in bilateral ties indicate that
Iran's longtime economic partner Germany is keen to take advantage of
the opening provided by the nuclear deal. At a June 27 meeting with
his Iranian counterpart in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Sigmar
Gabriel said his country is eager to bring investment into Iran.
However, Gabriel made the latter conditional on further efforts by
Tehran to help end regional political crises. The strongest European
economy is thus in effect offering the investment Iran needs to
create jobs in exchange for the country's playing a
"constructive" role in the Syria, Yemen and Lebanon crises.
European countries are pressuring Iran to change its foreign policy
in exchange for profitable trade deals, but this approach may
backfire and damage the standing of incumbent moderates in Tehran.
From its very inception, the Iranian regime has relied
on extreme violence against its own people to retain a grip on power,
and from mass murder in its prison system, to torture, to public hangings,
this cycle of violence has continued for almost four decades. With
all ages being targeted, from children as young as twelve to elderly
men in their nineties, it has been estimated that over 120,00 have
already been executed in Iran for various crimes against the state.
Leading up to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's return, from exile on 1
February 1979, with rioting on the streets having lasted several
months, the Shah's ill-trained military had begun to open fire on
unarmed civilians, killing hundreds in the process. So, with the Shah
now gone, and his troops lacking the ability to quell the mass of
revolutionary movements ranged against them, they decided it was time
to declare neutrality.
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