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TOP STORIES
One of Iran's most prominent opposition leaders, under
house arrest since 2011, was hospitalized early Thursday, a day after
he began a hunger strike to demand a public trial, family members
said. The release of the opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi, and
another former presidential candidate under house arrest, Mir Hossein
Mousavi, was a major demand by supporters of President Hassan Rouhani
during his re-election campaign. They shouted slogans in support of
the two men during every campaign rally in May. The protest by Mr.
Karroubi, 79, who has been hospitalized several other times in recent
months for heart problems, places Mr. Rouhani in a difficult
position, as he has long vowed to get the two men released. It is
widely thought that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
opposes their release and objects to a trial. The two men have never
been formally charged.
It was an unusual meeting: An Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim
cleric openly hostile to the United States sat in a palace sipping
juice at the invitation of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the
Sunni kingdom that is Washington's main ally in the Middle East. For
all the implausibility, the motivations for the July 30 gathering in
Jeddah between Moqtada al-Sadr and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman run
deep, and center on a shared interest in countering Iranian influence
in Iraq. For Sadr, who has a large following among the poor in
Baghdad and southern Iraqi cities, it was part of efforts to bolster
his Arab and nationalist image ahead of elections where he faces
Shi'ite rivals close to Iran. For the newly elevated heir to the
throne of conservative Saudi Arabia, the meeting - and talks with
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in June - is an attempt to build
alliances with Iraqi Shi'ite leaders in order to roll back Iranian
influence.
Iran's Armed Forces chief of staff said Wednesday after
talks with Turkey's president that a referendum on independence in
Iraq's Kurdish region would trigger conflict and negative consequences
for the entire region. General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri's remarks,
carried by Iran's official IRNA news agency, underlined the firm
opposition shared in Tehran and Ankara to the poll next month.
"Both sides stressed that if the referendum would be held, it
will be the basis for the start of a series of tensions and conflicts
inside Iraq, the consequences of which will affect neighbouring
countries," Bagheri was quoted as saying. "Holding the
referendum will get Iraq, but also Iran and Turkey involved and that's
why the authorities of the two countries emphasise that it is not
possible and should not be done." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
hosted Bagheri at his presidential palace in Ankara with Turkey's top
general Hulusi Akar also in attendance, the presidency said. Turkey
and Iran have substantial Kurdish minorities and they vehemently
oppose the plan by Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to organise a
vote on independence on September 25.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has
ramped up pressure on Iran ahead of a trip to Vienna next week, where
she will meet with international atomic watchdog officials concerning
Tehran's nuclear activities. Haley on Tuesday rejected threats from
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who warned the country could walk
away from its nuclear agreement with world powers "within
hours" if the United States continued to impose new sanctions.
Rouhani said recently enacted sanctions targeting Iran's ballistic
missile program violated its pact with the United States and five
other world powers, which aimed to limit Tehran's nuclear activities
in exchange for the lifting of sanctions related to the program.
Haley said the sanctions were separate from the deal and were instead
imposed "to hold Iran responsible for its missile launches,
support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of
UN Security Council resolutions."
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei joined the
international criticism of race-related violence in the United States
on Wednesday with a mocking tweet. "If U.S. has any power, they
better manage their country, tackle #WhiteSupremacy rather than meddle
in nations' affairs. #Charlottesville," Khamenei's official
Twitter feed posted. Khamenei's office was responding to the furore
in the U.S. over an attack in Charlottesville by a suspected Nazi
sympathiser, who ploughed his car into anti-racism protesters, leaving
one dead and 19 injured. U.S. President Donald Trump has raised
another huge controversy by saying there was "blame on both
sides." The deepening divisions in U.S. society have provided
ample fodder for the Islamic republic to deflect allegations of human
rights abuses in its own country, and turn the criticism back on its
traditional enemy.
RUSSIA-IRAN COOPERATION
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described US
unilateral sanctions against Tehran as "unacceptable in
principle" especially if used for self-serving purposes, and
said Russia support Iran's right to develop its weapon capabilities.
Russia fully backs Iran's right to develop its weapons capabilities
while denouncing Washington's new batch of unilateral sanctions as
"unacceptable and irresponsible", Lavrov said at a joint
news conference with his Bolivian counterpart, Fernando Huanacuni
Mamani, TeleSure reported. "The missile program budget is
basically Iran's business. It is not prohibited from having this
program," he added. The Russian top diplomat further said,
"There are no legal bans in UN Security Council resolutions on
this issue."
The German newspaper Die Velt revealed, quoting Western
security sources, that Russia is violating the arms embargo and
sanctions imposed on Iran by repairing some of Iran's equipment,
defense systems, heavy weapons by airlifting it into Syrian
territory, and then to Russia by sea, in violation of resolution 2231
of the United Nations Security Council on Iran. The newspaper said in
its edition of Sunday, August 13th, that the Western security sources
confirmed that Iran carried out during the month of June, two trips
to the Khmeimim air base west of Syria, which is taken by Russia as a
base for the transfer of military equipment. According to the report,
Iranian defense equipment and systems are being transported by truck
from Khmeimim to the Syrian port of Tartous and then shipped to the
Russian ship Sparta 3, arriving days later at the Russian port of
Novorossiysk on the Black Sea.
MILITARY MATTERS
Turkey and Iran have agreed to boost military
cooperation after talks in Ankara this week between the Iranian armed
forces chief of staff and Turkish leaders, President Tayyip Erdogan's
spokesman said on Thursday. Erdogan, his defense minister and
military chief of staff met Iranian General Mohammad Baqeri on
Tuesday and Wednesday. It was the first visit to Turkey by the head
of Iran's military since the 1979 revolution, Turkish media said.
Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin also said the U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim
Mattis would visit Turkey within days.
SYRIA CONFLICT
Turkish and Iranian military leaders held talks on
Wednesday over cooperation in the Syrian conflict and
counter-terrorism, officials said, during a rare visit to NATO-member
Turkey by the Islamic Republic's military chief of staff. Turkey's
ties with Washington have been strained by U.S. support for Kurdish
fighters in Syria, and the visit by Iranian General Mohammad Baqeri
is the latest sign that Ankara is increasing cooperation with other
powers such as Iran and Russia. Baqeri met his Turkish counterpart on
Tuesday and Turkey's Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli on Wednesday
in what Turkish media said was the first visit by an Iranian chief of
staff since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. He was due to meet
President Tayyip Erdogan later on Wednesday. Turkey and Iran have
supported rival sides in Syria's six-year-old conflict, with
Iran-backed fighters helping President Bashar al-Assad to drive back
rebels battling to overthrow him, including some supported by Ankara.
SAUDI-IRAN TENSIONS
For the first time in two years, Tehran has sent Iranian
pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage. Although
this can be considered a positive step toward reducing tension
between the two sides, it is naive to think that developments such as
this will solve the existing problems between Tehran and Riyadh. The
resumption of Iranian participation in the annual hajj pilgrimage may
help pave the way for an end to the diplomatic deadlock between
Riyadh and Tehran. Iran's decision to end its boycott of the
hajj, which followed the 2015 stampede that left 465 of its citizens
dead, comes at a time when tension with Saudi Arabia is at its peak.
While Riyadh severed ties in early 2016 following the storming of its
diplomatic facilities in Iran by protesters furious about Saudi
Arabia's execution of a dissident Shiite cleric, there has been
further escalation in recent months Saudi Arabia, alongside Bahrain,
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, severed ties with Qatar,
ostensibly over Doha's continued relations with Tehran; in parallel,
the Saudi foreign minister has referred to Iran as the greatest state
sponsor of terrorism.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Iranian officials on Wednesday accused the State
Department of issuing a "biased" report condemning the
regime's restrictions on religious freedom. "The Islamic
Republic of Iran considers the report as unrealistic, unfounded and
biased which has been compiled only for specific political objectives,"
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Wednesday,
according to the semi-official FARS media outlet. Iranian officials
buttressed that claim by noting that Judaism is "a recognized
minority" in the country. But the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's
team noted that Iran "promote[s] Holocaust denial," and,
more broadly, restricts freedom of worship and bans religious
minorities from trying to win converts in the Muslim community.
The formal inauguration ceremony of Rouhani's second
presidential term was held earlier this month. The High
Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
Federica Mogherini, attended the event as a special guest. The
Italian Commissioner is known to be one of the EU officials who
supports a policy of appeasing the Iranian regime. The EU's foreign
policy chief also met President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister
Javad Zarif and the Foreign Policy Advisor of the Supreme Leader,
Ali-Akbar Velayati Mogherini's presence at the ceremony sends a
shameful message and gives a green light to the Iranian government to
continue its suppression of human rights in the country.
Economically, it is a fact that Iran presents a tempting opportunity
for the EU. But aside from Iran's malign actions in the Middle East
and continued support for terrorism, one should ask the following
question: Is the EU concerned about the human rights situation in
Iran?
DOMESTIC POLITICS
An Iranian opposition leader who has spent years under
house arrest was hospitalized early Thursday after he began a hunger
strike to protest the conditions of his detention, family members and
local news reports said. Mehdi Karroubi, 79, has been under stifling
house arrest since 2011 when the government censured him and other
opposition figures for leading popular protests challenging election
results two years earlier. He has not been formally charged nor put
on trial. Karroubi began his hunger strike Wednesday morning,
according to the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. But
his blood pressure soon dropped, and he was taken to the Shahid
Rajaei hospital in Tehran early on Thursday, reports said. A decline
in Karroubi's health, which is already weak from heart problems,
would be an embarrassment for the Iranian government, which had hoped
to quietly resolve the detention of Karroubi and his fellow
opposition leaders. Moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had
vowed to secure the release of Karroubi, as well as fellow opposition
leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard. But
hard-liners in the judiciary and security establishment reportedly
object to the move.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's reasoning for not
appointing any female ministers to his Cabinet - as he had promised
he would in the May presidential election - has prompted a backlash
from his supporters. Iranians take to social media to mock President
Hassan Rouhani over his explanation for failing to abide by his
campaign promise to appoint female ministers to his Cabinet. On
Aug. 15, the moderate Rouhani defended his proposed list of ministers
to members of parliament and tried to persuade them to vote in favor
of his Cabinet. "I will tell all the ministers in the 12th
[incumbent] government to appoint young people and women for
high-level positions," Rouhani said, adding, "I was really
eager to at least have three female ministers ... but it didn't
happen." He did not explain why it did not happen. Iranians
quickly took to Twitter and other social media outlets to mock the
president, launching a Persian hashtag that translates to
#ButItDidntHappen to express their disappointment with Rouhani, while
reminding him of the promises he made during his electoral campaign.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
The Procurement Channel of the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action (JCPOA) is a potentially valuable transparency and
verification tool aimed at controlling the export of goods to Iran's
authorized nuclear programs and non-nuclear, civil end users.
Troubling problems emerged early on and weakening compromises and
exemptions were made that called into question if the Procurement
Channel could truly be an effective monitoring mechanism for Iran's
nuclear-related imports. A particular challenge to the viability of
the channel is Iran's on-going commitment to illicitly procuring
sensitive goods for its missile and military programs, combined with
a long history of illicit nuclear and nuclear-related procurements.
Until the channel is better established, the United States should
adopt a policy of a presumption of denial with regard to Iranian
proposals to the channel, unless two conditions are met. The first
condition is a determination that the parties seeking the goods do
not have any involvement with Iran's military industries or entities,
particularly the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), or companies
linked to any of these entities. The second is rigorous, reliable, on
the ground checks on the use of goods in Iran after they are
imported, otherwise known as "end use checks."
The pro-Iran deal camp is recently making much noise
about how the Trump administration and critics of the pact, known as
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are making rightful
complaints of the text failing to address Iran's destructive
belligerence in the Middle East. These are valid concerns,
considering the fact that even if the deal remains intact come
October's decision by President Donald Trump to find Iran in
compliance or not, the mullahs are hell-bent to continue wreaking
havoc and expanding influence across the region.The pro-Iran deal
camp claim Washington has no evidence to hold Tehran in violation of
the JCPOA terms. Not true.Tehran has exceeded its heavy water
production cap, necessary for a plutonium nuclear bomb, testing more
advanced centrifuges, illicitly procuring highly sensitive nuclear
and ballistic missile technology in Germany, according to Berlin's
intelligence services, surpassing its uranium enrichment cap, another
key non-compliance factor.
We can sense fear in statements made by Iranian
officials and most recently President Hassan Rouhani who warned
against the consequences of the big scheme's collapse - the
reconciliation agreement with the West based on the nuclear deal
signed during the term of former US President Barack Obama. The
Congress shocked the Iranian government when it reinstated a number
of economic sanctions on Iran, and US President Donald Trump insisted
on his stance that the nuclear agreement serves Iran more than the
US, threatening to abolish it. Countries of the European Union (EU)
are keen to preserve the agreement, which they believe it ushered in
a new phase with the Iranian regime. Since signing it, they rushed to
seal huge trade deals with Tehran, a move that was previously not
possible because the US government would have put any European
company that dealt with Iran on the blacklist. Arab states,
especially Gulf countries, were the most provoked by this agreement.
They were neither against sealing a deal that eradicates the Iranian
nuclear danger nor against dealing commercially with Iran but
objected over its high cost - extending Iran's powers via fighting in
Syria, Yemen and Iraq and threatening other Arab states.
In recent weeks, a potentially dangerous verbal
confrontation erupted between US President Donald Trump and North
Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, which if not resolved through diplomatic
means, could lead to a nuclear showdown. The context to this
acrimonious exchange makes the situation even more alarming, as the
war of words was triggered by North Korea's testing of nuclear
weapons and the growing row over its development of long-range
missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. But what has led to
the Washington-Pyongyang face-off almost mirrors a similar dispute
taking place between Washington and Tehran, as it relates related to
another illicit nuclear program and the testing of nuclear capable
missiles. It is highly likely that a similar spat might soon take
place between Donald Trump and Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
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