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TOP STORIES
A strong majority of voters - including most Democrats -
said the U.S. should renegotiate the Obama administration's nuclear
deal with Iran, according to a recent poll. Furthermore, there is
broad support for any new deal to be ratified by Congress, rather
than implemented as an executive agreement, as former President Obama
did in 2015. According to the latest Harvard-Harris survey, 70
percent of respondents said the 2015 Iran deal should be renegotiated
and verified by Congress, including 85 percent of Republicans, 71
percent of independents and 57 percent of Democrats. Overall, 60
percent of polled voters said the deal is a bad one for the U.S.,
with two-thirds of voters saying Iran has not complied with the terms
of the agreement. Half of Democrats agreed that Iran has not held up
its side of the bargain.
President Hassan Rouhani said Monday that Iran's
position in the Middle East had never been stronger but that the
regime was at risk unless infighting between political factions was
curbed. "The greatness of the nation of Iran in the region is
more than at any other time," Rouhani said in a speech in
Tehran, carried by the state broadcaster. "In Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon, northern Africa, in the Persian Gulf region - where can
action be taken without Iran?"
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took the Trump
administration's case for isolating and containing Iran in the Middle
East and beyond to two Gulf Arab nations on Sunday, pushing for Saudi
Arabia and Iraq to unite to counter growing Iranian assertiveness. He
also called for a quick resolution to the ongoing crisis between
Qatar and its Arab neighbors, which he said was unintentionally
bolstering Iran. In Saudi Arabia and later Qatar, Tillerson denounced
Iran's "malign behavior" and urged nations of the region
and elsewhere, notably Europe, to join the administration to halt any
business they do with Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. He also
demanded that Iranian and Iran-backed Shiite militia in Iraq either
return to their homes, integrate into the Iraqi army or leave the
country. "Those fighters need to go home," Tillerson said.
"Any foreign fighters need to go home."
UANI IN THE NEWS
The battles for Raqqa and Kirkuk reveal much about the
mistakes in U.S. strategy for defeating ISIS, and the consequences of
not supporting Iraqi Kurdish efforts to establish an independent
state. Most importantly for Washington, Raqqa and Kirkuk demonstrate
that Tehran's regime is on the march, while American policy stands in
disarray, even while President Trump rightly condemned Iran's
continued regional belligerency and support for global terrorism...
Existing policies, on auto-pilot as always when new presidents take
office, especially when Republicans replace Democrats, persisted
after Jan. 20, without being subjected to searching review and
modification.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
There is absolutely no doubt that a deal between Western
powers and Iran to curb its nuclear program will survive despite the
U.S. decision not to recertify the deal, Britain's foreign minister
Boris Johnson said on Monday... U.S. Disarmament Ambassador Robert
Wood said on Monday Washington would "continue to meet its
commitments under the JCPOA and will hold Iran strictly accountable
for each and every one of its commitments as well."
Asking Congress to examine the Iran nuclear deal is a
thoughtful means to get the United States to re-assess our greater
Middle East policy in general and our relationship with Iran
specifically. President Trump's October 13 request also
included an outline of a new Iran policy, which is the culmination of
executive orders issued early in the administration. To change
Iran policy intelligently, we must understand the nature of the
Iranian regime now in power. Only then will we be able to adopt a
sound counter Iranian policy rather being stuck with the current
disjointed appeasement-like policy we inherited at the start of the
year.
BUSINESS RISK
Pushing its multibillion-dollar Iran
venture on several fronts, French energy firm Total will continue its
presence in the Iranian market as long as Tehran's nuclear deal is in
full force, according to the company's president for Middle East,
Exploration and Production Division... He reiterated Total's interest
in maintaining ties with Iran but echoed CEO Patrick Pouyanne's
comments that the introduction of new restrictions by Washington can
jeopardize Total's interests in Iran.
SYRIA CONFLICT
Fleeing grinding poverty and unemployment, thousands of
Afghan Shiites have been recruited by Iran to defend Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad's regime, former fighters and rights activists say.
Afghan men and boys as young as 14 are signing up to fight on the
promise of money and legal residency in Shiite-dominated Iran,
Assad's regional ally, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
IRAQ CRISIS
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi defended the role
of an Iranian-backed paramilitary force at a meeting with U.S.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday in Baghdad.
Tillerson arrived on Monday hours after the Iraqi government
rejected his call to send home the Popular Mobilisation, an
Iran-backed force that helped defeat Islamic State and capture the
Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk. In his opening remarks at the
meeting with Tillerson, Abadi said Popular Mobilisation "is part
of the Iraqi institutions," rejecting accusations that it is
acting as an Iranian proxy.
Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson slipped into Iraq
Monday night after having spent the morning in Afghanistan, but his
welcome in Baghdad was far less effusive as the Trump administration
pushes to isolate Iran, an important Iraqi ally.
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