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TOP STORIES
Amazon.com is under federal investigation for possibly
violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, the online giant said Friday in a
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company says
it sold and delivered about $34,000 worth of products - including
books, software, consumer electronics, musical instruments and
jewelry - to an Iranian embassy, as well as to others with links to
the Iranian government, between January 2012 and June 2017. The
company says it also sold about $300 worth of items to a person on
the U.S. government's terrorism watch list. (Jeffrey P. Bezos, the
founder and chief executive of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.)
"We are unable accurately to calculate the net profit
attributable to these transactions," Amazon said in the filing.
"We do not plan to continue selling to these accounts in the
future." Amazon said it has "voluntarily reported"
those transactions to the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments,
which are leading the investigation, and that the review could lead
to "the imposition of penalties."
Iran has built up a multinational network of tens of
thousands of young men from across the Middle East, turning them into
a well-drilled fighting machine that is outgunning the US on the
battlefield, as Tehran outsmarts the White House in the corridors of
power. These men can be found leading the defense of the Syrian
president, Bashar al-Assad, recapturing land from ISIS in Iraq, and
fighting for control of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. The
transnational militia of Shiite men - which has no official title -
is now the dominant force in the region, enabling Iran to take full
advantage in the absence of a coherent strategy from the Trump White
House. Over six months, BuzzFeed News spoke to researchers,
officials, and militia fighters who described what they knew about
the Iranian program, overseen by the secretive Quds Force of Iran's
Revolutionary Guard and its infamous commander Qassem Suleimani - who
often shows up on front lines in Iraq and Syria. Accounts by the
fighters reveal the scale and structure of the program, and although
many of the details could not be independently verified, BuzzFeed
News was able to confirm all the fighters' memberships in various
armed groups.
Federal authorities should investigate how a charitable
foundation with ties to Iran steered millions of dollars to dozens of
American universities including Columbia, Harvard and Princeton,
according to Rep. Dan Donovan. Critics charge the grants from the
Alavi Foundation helped fund pro-Tehran and anti-Israel professors.
"I'll be contacting the secretary of education about this matter
immediately," said Donovan (R-SI). "Did this foundation
attempt to subvert American academic institutions? We need to
investigate this, and universities have to do a better job of vetting
their donors." In June, a Manhattan federal court jury found the
Alavi Foundation was illegally managing 650 Fifth Ave. on behalf of
Iran.
SANCTIONS ENFORCEMENT
Iran has complained to the U.N. Security Council over
the latest U.S. sanctions imposed on Tehran. The semi-official Tasnim
news agency says Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani announced the
complaint on Tuesday, though it's unclear what Iran expects the
United Nations would do. The move came after the U.S. Senate approved
sanctions on Friday against Iran for launching a satellite-carrying
rocket into space. The U.S. legislation imposes mandatory penalties
on people involved in Iran's ballistic missile program and anyone who
does business with them. It would also apply terrorism sanctions to
Iran's prestigious Revolutionary Guard and enforce an arms embargo.
It now goes to President Donald Trump for signing. Iran has said the
U.S. legislation amounts to a "hostile" breach of a
landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Sanctions on Iran, on the other hand, have shown some
results, because unlike North Korea, Iran wants a deeper commercial
and political engagement with the rest of the world. Cutting off
access to global markets and investments, as well as freezing $56 billion
in assets, hit the country hard. Iran had hoped that signing the 2015
nuclear deal would breathe new life into its economy by allowing it
to return to oil markets, and it has-though not by as much as
moderates like President Hassan Rouhani had hoped. Iran is still
being kept in the cold despite the nuclear deal because the U.S. has
retained sanctions over Iran's ballistic missiles program, human
rights abuses, and state sponsorship of groups like Hezbollah that
Washington considers terrorist organizations.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
Iran and Russia signed a €2.5-billion deal on joint
manufacturing of passenger and cargo wagons in Iran, IRIB reported.
The deal was inked between Industrial Development and Renovation
Organization of Iran (IDRO) and Russia's largest manufacturer of
locomotives and rail equipment, Transmashholding, in Tehran on
Monday. Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammadreza
Nematzadeh and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi besides Russian
Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan were present in the signing
ceremony. The two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) in this regard during the visit of an Iranian delegation led by
IRDO Chairman Mansour Moazzami to Moscow in late March. During the
signing ceremony, Moazzami said a joint company will be established
by the Iranian and Russian sides, in a way that its shares will be
held 80 percent by Russia and 20 percent by Iran. The Russian side
will finance the project totally, he noted. Iran needs 8,000-10,000
wagons annually, he said, adding that cooperation with Russia in this
area is an opportunity for both countries.
TERRORISM
A senior Afghan official has accused Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of providing sanctuaries and
material support to the Afghan Taliban. The accusations follow
allegations by Afghan officials that Tehran's support enabled the
Taliban to briefly capture a district in western Afghanistan last
week. The claims underscore the budding alliance between Iran's
Shi'ite clerical regime and Afghanistan's hard-line Sunni Taliban,
who were once each other's sworn enemies.
A special aide to Iran's parliament speaker hailed unity
among Lebanese political groups and parties, saying Tehran will keep
supporting the Arab country in the fight against terrorism and the
Israeli acts of aggression. In a meeting with Lebanese
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on Monday, Iranian
Parliament speaker's special adviser on international affairs,
Hossein Amir Abdollahian, underscored that Iran will keep providing
effective supports for the anti-Israeli axis of resistance in
Lebanon. "The people, the army and the resistance in Lebanon are
known as the three main sides of victory against the Zionist regime
and Takfiri terrorism," Amir Abdollahian noted, praising the
current status of unity in the Arab nation. He also lashed out at the
US government for interference in the Middle East issues and its
destructive role in the region, saying the White House only seeks to
ensure the Tel Aviv regime's security and exploit the regional
countries.
EXTREMISM
The Islamic Republic of Iran reportedly provided aid to
Palestinian protesters demonstrating against new security measures at
the Temple Mount last month. The aid reportedly included boxes of
food and drink, which came with a flyer attached depicting the Dome
of the Rock and a quote attributed to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei reading, "With the help of God, Palestine will be freed.
Jerusalem is ours." While Palestinian media reported that the
food packages were provided by an Iranian youth movement, a PA
intelligence official said it was clear that the Iranian regime was
behind the aid. "It is clear to us that the regime in Tehran, by
means of its long arms, is behind this catering operation," the
official told the Israel Hayom daily in an article published Tuesday.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called
on Muslims to take the opportunity of the Hajj rituals to take a
united stance against "Israeli efforts to control the Aksa
Mosque." The Iranian leader described Hajj rituals as the best opportunity
for Muslims to speak up about the Aksa and Palestine issue, Iranian
media reported. "Where can the Islamic Ummah find a better venue
than Hajj to comment on the Aksa Mosque?" he said addressing a
group of Iranian organizers of Hajj on Sunday. He further accused the
US of meddling in the issues of Muslim countries and creating
terrorist groups in the region. A recent standoff between Israeli
authorities and Palestinian worshipers occurred after Muslim gunmen
killed two Israeli police officers near the compound on July 14.
MILITARY MATTERS
Real Admiral Ali Fadavi, naval commander of the Islamic
Revolution Guards Corps, said on Monday new weapons will be rolled
out in upcoming war drills in the Persian Gulf. "The Guard's
naval force is in good conditions, exemplarily prepared, and tries to
unveil its newest equipment in the upcoming exercises," Fadavi
told reporters in the southern port city of Bushehr, which sits on
the coasts of the Persian Gulf The comments follow two incidents in
the Persian Gulf between IRGC and U.S. navies last week, one on
Tuesday and the other on Friday. While the IRGC navy castigated
the U.S. Navy for acting "provocatively" and
"unprofessionally" in both incidents, the U.S. navy's
Bahrain-based fifth fleet has claimed its encounters had been
"safe and professional".
CYBERWARFARE
Iran's communications and information technology
minister was quoted Sunday as saying the widely used Telegram
messenger service has transferred some of its servers into the
country, but the encrypted application's founder swiftly denied the
claim. The report from Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency quoted
Mahmoud Vaezi as saying: "As a result of meetings with Telegram
managers, some of its servers have been moved to the country."
But Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said that's not so, reiterating the
company's previous position in a Twitter message to The Associated
Press on Sunday. "No Telegram servers will be moved to
Iran," he wrote, while providing a link to an earlier post.
Vaezi said Telegram planned to use third-party systems known as
content delivery networks, or CDNs, in Iran. But Durov said CDNs,
which internet-based services like Telegram use to make data
available faster, "have nothing to do with relocating Telegram
servers or complying with unreasonable local laws."
SAUDI-IRAN TENSIONS
Saudi Arabia has condemned Iran for delaying and
refusing to complete investigations into the attack on Riyadh's
embassy in Tehran last year. A statement released by Saudi Ministry
of Foreign Affairs stated that Iranian authorities refused to
accommodate and allow entry of a team from Saudi Arabia to
investigate what had happened to its embassy premises in Tehran and
consulate in Mashhad despite initially agreeing to. In January of
last year, Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran and its consulate in
Mashhad were attacked by Iranian protesters following the execution
of a Saudi Shiite preacher along with 46 others. Images shared on social
media showed Iranian protesters complicit in breaking into the Saudi
embassy and starting fires. "The source added that Iranian
authorities have resorted to fraudulent tactics. Iran, despite an
initial approval, has denied a Saudi team entry into Iran as part of
the Iranian team investigating the attacks on the Saudi Arabian
embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. The Saudi team was
delegated to work alongside the Iranian authorities to inspect the
two Saudi facilities and finalize the processes relating to
them," a foreign ministry statement read.
HUMAN RIGHTS
At a time when the move towards the
abolition of the death penalty is spreading around the world, Islamic
Republic of Iran insists on executions which clearly are in
contravention the international human rights law. Iran alone
accounted for 55% of all recorded executions in 2016; Amnesty
International says. 239 executions were carried out in Iran in the
first six months of 2017. Among them were seven women and three
individuals who were under the age of 18 at the time they allegedly
committed the offence they were sentenced to death for. 12 executions
were carried out in public. Seeking to rein in increasing protests
and the abhorrence of the younger generation in cities across the
country, the Iranian regime has intensified the crackdown on society
through increasing the wave of executions. The month of July alone
saw 103 executions from which seven were made public by media press.
This shows how the state of human rights had been deteriorated
during the past month.
Six teachers and civil rights activists
who had earlier attended in a traditional ceremony, were summoned
during the past week to Revolutionary Court of Saqez, in Kurdistan
Province. These activists have been identified as Soleiman Abdi,
Mohammad Abedi, art instructor, Seyed Ali Hosseini, English teacher,
Molla Hassan Mahmoudi, Friday Prayer's Cleric at the Kani Niaz
Village, Loghman Ghoreishi and Hassan Salimi Azadi. They were all
charged with alleged "spreading propaganda against the
state," according to local sources. Soleyman Abdi, a member of
Kurdistan Teachers Association rejected all the charges as being
unfounded.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Mahmud Ahmadinejad was no stranger to controversy during
his two terms as Iran's president. Now he faces possible sentencing
for his alleged mishandling of billions of dollars during his time in
office. But following news that multiple verdicts have been issued
against the former president, analysts looking at the murky legal
process suggest that the development is intended as a warning for
Ahmadinejad to rein in his criticism of the country's clerical
establishment.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
A logical conclusion would be for Iran is to yield back
on its ballistic missile program. Yet this isn't necessarily the case
for Tehran. We are dealing with a completely pragmatic regime, moving
its pawns very carefully, with the utmost calculus to the very end.
Iran needs to maintain face on two different issues: 1) While not
understood by many in the West, the mullahs desperately need to
maintain a straight face before its already dwindling social base. 2)
Iran will continue to set the stakes high for the international
community - meaning continue their missile program - until pressures
corner it in the ring, similar to 2013 when sanctions forced Iran
into the nuclear negotiations... Despite the new US sanctions
restricting and blacklisting the IRGC being long overdue, needed now
is for the Trump administration to fully implement such actions
against Iran. There is no more room for reservations that have to
this day provided Iran paths to bypass and derail international
community efforts.
Like "politics," "regime change" has
many faces. A policy of regime change might mean withdrawing
diplomatic relations, or introducing sanctions, or enforcing a trade
boycott, or banning a nation's citizens from travel to America, or an
effort to promote alternate political beliefs. Or, yes, the use of
force. But it doesn't mean any one of these things unless you specify
further... At present, for example, regime change is the effective
U.S. policy toward North Korea, Venezuela, Sudan, Russia, China, and a
whole host of other nations. But that doesn't mean we are going to
invade any of those countries, or that we'd even seriously consider
it. The U.S. calibrates its regime-change policy with patience. Doing
so, the U.S. leaves space to deal with those regimes. The U.S. is not
pursuing the decapitation strategy that defined our invasions of Iraq
and Afghanistan.Iran's regime cannot be considered compatible with
U.S. interests. We should not be considering the use of force to
overthrow it, but our experience in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria all
prove that Iran's policies directly harm U.S. national security. A
slow-rolling, calibrated regime change policy is thus preferable.
Over the past two decades, export controls and sanctions
have held back Iran's missile programs. Despite the considerable
overlap between SLV and ICBM technologies, Tehran still needs to
develop significantly more advanced propulsion systems, as well
procure ablative material to shield any re-entry vehicles it
produces. To increase pressure on Tehran, Washington should couple
the recent designations with sanctions on key sectors of Iran's
economy, such as metallurgy and petrochemicals, which play a critical
role in its domestic missile supply chain. These tougher sanctions
could also demonstrate to Iran the political and economic cost of
flight-testing, which would have to continue if Iran were to pursue
an effective ICBM capability. Tehran cancelled an impending SLV test
in early February 2017, apparently fearful of the potential U.S.
response. Days earlier, the White House had put Iran "on
notice" over a nuclear-capable MRBM test from January. While the
new administration's change in rhetoric towards Tehran has yielded
some fruit, Iran's recent Simorgh test is proof that the regime
continues to test America's commitment to stop Iran from developing
nuclear weapons technology. For that reason, last week's launch
highlights the need for a comprehensive policy to contest the Islamic
Republic's provocations at every turn.
The Iran nuclear deal is deeply flawed. Its duration is
too short, and it fails to require of Tehran the universally
agreed-upon minimum for effective verification - a complete and
correct declaration of all relevant activities. Nonetheless, it would
be a mistake for President Donald Trump to renounce it now, as he is
reportedly contemplating. First, the deal's short duration is
problematic. President Barack Obama himself warned, "[A] ...
relevant fear would be that in year 13, 14, 15, [Iran has] advanced
centrifuges that enrich uranium fairly rapidly, and at that point,
the breakout times would have shrunk almost down to zero."
Tearing up the deal now would only compound this problem. Trump
should be seeking a longer deal, not a shorter one. Worse, with the
unfreezing of hundreds of billions of dollars in assets and approval
of like amounts of investments and commercial transactions, Iran has
already gained enormous benefits from the agreement, while the other
parties have not.
In Tehran's chaotic metropolis, sharing taxis is the
norm. But darbast, meaning literally "door-closed",
is the word to shout if you want one exclusively for yourself. That
long-standing tradition is now giving way to its modern substitute:
Snapp, Iran's version of Uber, which is also offering something
unique - a fleet of female drivers for women and children. For
years, international sanctions have kept global companies out of
Iran, which has in turn spurred a tech start-up boom as local experts
build a range of homegrown services from Digikala (Iran's answer to
Amazon), to WashMash, an online laundry service. In the past
three years, Snapp has revolutionised the way Tehranis live and
travel in the city. "Right now Snapp has become synonymous with
giving a ride. What used to be called darbast, it's now known
as Snapp," says the company's CEO, Shahram Shahkar, a
32-year-old Iranian entrepreneur who now has 500 staff with an
average age of 24. Just a year ago he had 60 employees.
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