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TOP STORIES
The top U.N. official monitoring Iran's nuclear program
on Thursday rejected Tehran's claim that its military sites were
off-limits to inspection, saying his agency needs access to all
"relevant locations" if suspicions arise of possible hidden
atomic activities.
An Al Qaeda affiliate has seized control of uranium
mines in Africa with the intent of supplying the material to Iran,
according to a diplomatic letter from a top Somali official appealing
to the U.S. for "immediate military assistance"... The Aug.
11-dated letter delivered an urgent warning to the US. that the
al-Shabaab terror network has linked up with the regional ISIS
faction and is "capturing territory" in the central part of
the country. "This issue can be summed up in a single
word: uranium," the letter said. "Al-Shabaab forces have
captured critical surface exposed uranium deposits in the Galmudug
region and are strip mining triuranium octoxide for transport to
Iran."
US. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on
Thursday Iran had shown its "true colors" by restoring ties
with Palestinian militant group Hamas and must be held to account by
the international community. The new leader of Hamas in Gaza said on
Monday that Tehran was again its biggest provider of money and arms
after years of tension over the civil war in Syria. Hamas had angered
Iran by refusing to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad, in the six-year-old civil war.
UANI IN THE NEWS
It doesn't take an Ivy League degree to know that giving
Iran - the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism - billions in
unmarked cash was a bad idea... Former U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, now with
the bipartisan organization United Against Nuclear Iran, says those
billions are also likely being used to advance North Korea's nuclear
program. "I think it's quite likely because the two countries
are so close together that some of the cash that President Obama sent
to Iran ended up in the hands of North Koreans. ... There is going to
be some evidence that comes out on that," Kirk told me
yesterday.
MILITARY MATTERS
Iran's Defense Minister said many
regional conflicts take place in countries that have weaknesses and,
therefore, Iran's Defense Ministry plans to export military equipment
to prevent conflicts in the region.
HUMAN RIGHTS
A U.N. human rights investigator called on Iran on
Thursday to resolve a prolonged hunger strike by prisoners protesting
against their conditions of detention and abrupt transfer to a
high-security section. U.N. special rapporteur Asma Jahangir
voiced concern about 53 prisoners, including 15 followers of the
Baha'i faith, who have been transferred to a high-security section of
Rajai-Shahr prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, over the past few weeks.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
A young Iranian cleric lit social media on fire with
claims that a censorship committee blocked his speech to Iran's
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a recent visit with
clerics. Hojat al-Islam Heydar Abbasi, a former student official with
Basij Organization, took to his Telegram account to publish the text
of his speech that he says caused him to be eliminated as one of
those who was to deliver a speech to Khamenei. Abbasi's speech, which
was never delivered, first begins with some of the positive outcomes
of the Iranian revolution. However, it quickly dives into his many
criticisms. Abbasi complained of the "governmentalized"
nature of student groups that he says have a "top-down
aspect," whereas the revolution had always aspired to have the
people's participation. He wrote that this tiered system has made the
people secondary to the state and government.
Iranian media are reporting that 12 female students have
been killed in a road accident in the country's south...With some
17,000 annual deaths, Iran has one of the world's worst traffic
safety records, often blamed on a combination of disregard for
traffic laws, unsafe vehicles and inadequate emergency services.
An interview with the son of prominent Reformist leader
Mohammad Reza Aref, a member of the parliamentary Hope faction, has
led to a new controversy in Iran. The July 20 interview features
Hamid Reza Aref talking about how the children of Iranian elites,
locally known as "aghazadeh" (noble-born), have "good
genes." The interview has not only introduced a new terminology
on nepotism to Iran's political lexicon but also brought social media
attention to the positions held by these
"aghazadehs."
OPINION & ANALYSIS
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made at
best a general statement in its last quarterly reporting (spring
2017) about its monitoring and verification of Section T, annex 1 of
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This innovative, key
section closes a loophole in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT), explicitly banning Iran from undertaking certain nuclear
weapons development activities and controlling dual-use equipment
potentially usable in such activities. At the same time, the Iranian
authorities have repeatedly stated that its military sites are off
limits to the IAEA, indicating that the IAEA currently has limited or
no access to Iranian military sites. Such access is an essential part
of a broader effort to verify Section T undertakings of Iran.
Iran's new defense minister [Brigadier
General Amir Hatami] has said that the country will
continue to support the "resistance front" by providing
"advisory" assistance... In the Islamic Republic, the
Ministry of Defense has limited role in devising and implementing
Iran's regional policies, particularly in conflict zones such as
Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. Thus, even if Hatami were willing
to moderate Iran's behavior in the region, he would lack the
institutional capacity to do so. Hatami, however, will play a key
role in developing Iran's defense power. But as his comments show, he
plans to only further enhance the country's missile program despite
international concerns
Iran and its allies are sending reinforcements near a
de-confliction zone in southeastern Syria to pressure the U.S.
military to withdraw from a strategic garrison near al-Tanf border
crossing. Both Tehran and Damascus see the presence of U.S. troops
training rebel forces in al-Tanf, as well as in northeastern Syria, as
a serious threat. Iran also views the expulsion of the U.S. military
from the strategic border crossing between Syria, Iraq and Jordan as
a prerequisite to securing a sustainable supply line to Syria and
Lebanon, as well as to establishing a new battlefront against Israel
in southern Syria. The new escalation risks another direct, and
potentially much more dangerous, ground confrontation between the
U.S. and Iranian-backed forces in Syria in the near future.
No effort is being made to cloak the warming of
relations between Hamas and Iran in a veil of secrecy... It is hard
to believe that these senior Hamas officials are oblivious to the
risks lying in wait for them by gambling on a distant ally, knowing
that it could cause problems with their next-door neighbor, Egypt.
After all, Cairo has the power to decide whether they survive or
fall.
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