TOP STORIES
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on European
allies to work with Washington to rein in Iran's missile program and
its regional activities, saying Tehran's behavior must be challenged.
Iranian leaders celebrate the killing of Ali Abdullah
Saleh and some media outlets express the hope that the former Yemeni
president's death will further empower the Iran-backed Houthi rebels
in Yemen. Ali Akbar Salehi, a senior aide to Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei, said Saleh got what he deserved. "The Yemeni people
that are with the resistance front will ultimately emerge victorious
similar to the people of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon," he added.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged Muslims on
Tuesday to disrupt what he called a plot by unnamed countries in the
region to build ties with Israel.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
The US secretary of state says pressure will continue to
be applied to Iran over its commitments to the nuclear deal as the US
Congress mulls over whether to re-apply economic sanctions on
Tehran.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Iran's foreign ministry denied on Wednesday U.S.
accusations that the Islamic Republic is playing a destabilising role
in the region, state media reported. U.S. Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson had said on Tuesday that Iran is carrying out
"destabilizing actions" by supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon,
supplying missiles to Houthi forces in Yemen and sending weapons and
militia fighters to Syria.
SANCTIONS ENFORCEMENT
Reza Zarrab, the government's star witness in a trial involving
a billion-dollar conspiracy to smuggle gold for oil in violation of
United States sanctions on Iran, testified on Tuesday that he had
made huge sums of money in the scheme - but he could not recall the
precise amount.
HUMAN RIGHTS
As Iranian sports fans sat down to watch the 2018 Fifa
World Cup draw from Moscow last Friday, it was not just the fate of
the their national team that was on their minds. Many were also
waiting to see what the draw's Russian co-host, Maria Komandnaya,
would be wearing. Would Iranian TV censors consider her outfit
modest enough to show the whole draw? Or would they cut her out, as
they did when Brazilian TV host Fernanda Lima hosted the 2014 draw,
forcing fans to miss crucial bits of the programme?
NORTH KOREA & IRAN
A former NATO chief has claimed that China, Russia, and
Iran could be helping tubby despot Kim Jong Un in his bid to create
world-ending nuclear missiles. Retired NATO Supreme Commander James
Stavridis believes the pace of Pyongyang's weapons development
programme suggests that Kim's regime is receiving outside help.
CHINA & IRAN
The senior officials of Iran and China emphasized on
reducing the US dollar's role in their bilateral trade.
A consortium of Chinese and Hong Kong companies has
signed an agreement with Iran's Industrial Development and Renovation
Organization for a joint venture to produce solar photovoltaic panels
in Iran. The preliminary deal with China's Sunshine Solar Technology
and Konda Energy of Hong Kong calls for establishing an automated
production line for solar panels, a statement on IDRO's website
announced.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Magyar Idők, a pro-government propaganda daily, reports
that Hungary wants to significantly deepen economic ties with Iran.
According to the print daily, Minister of National Economy Mihály
Varga held a joint press conference with his Irani counterpart in
Tehran to announce stronger economic ties between the two countries.
Hungary may be an important entry-point into Europe for Iran, Varga
said.
Israel is expanding ties throughout the Middle East but
not with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday,
accusing his country's arch-foe of trying to dominate the
region.
MILITARY MATTERS
The Iranian Navy today added a new missile-launching
corvette to its fleet in the Caspian Sea, the Iranian media reported.
PROXY WARS
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer,
warned Monday that the threat of conflict between his country and
Iranian proxies in Syria and Lebanon is increasing by the week.
SYRIA CONFLICT
Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani has said that
Iranian forces will remain in Syria "as long as necessary"
to continue to assist the embattled regime of Bashar al-Assad, Fars
News Agency reported.
Saudi Arabia hosted a conference on Nov. 22 for the
Syrian opposition aimed at unifying its position ahead of the
UN-backed Geneva 8 talks. At the conclusion of what became known as
the Riyadh 2 meeting, the participants stressed, "[The
transition in Syria] cannot happen without the departure of Bashar
al-Assad and his clique of repression and tyranny at the start of the
interim period."
IRAQ CRISIS
Iraqis in the city of Kufa of Najaf Province held a
protest rally against Iran and its Iraqi proxies and attacked the
offices of the Badr Organization, according a video clip circulating
in social media and published in some Arab outlets.
Iraq's government approved a deal to import natural gas
from Iran to the eastern border province of Diyala, it said in a
statement on Tuesday, increasing purchases of the Iranian fuel which
started earlier this year.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, LEBANON, AND IRAN
On December 3, Houthi rebels in Yemen announced that
they had fired a "winged cruise missile" at the
construction site for al-Barakah nuclear power plant, located 230 km
southwest of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates... Apart from its
claimed target, the nature of the weapon itself raises important questions
about Iran's relationship with the Houthis. The missile bore the
unmistakable shape of a Soumar cruise missile, Tehran's copy of the
Russian Kh-55 (according to the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database,
several Kh-55s were smuggled to Iran through Ukraine sixteen years
ago).
Saudi Arabia called on Tuesday for a Yemen free of
"militias supported by Iran", in its first official
statement since rebels killed their erstwhile ally former president
Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The death of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh
has received extensive coverage in Iran, with media outlets and
newspapers describing his fate as the result of his
"betrayal" of the Houthis.
Iranian newspapers supported the Tehran-backed Houthi
group in Yemen in their launching of a cruise missile at the Barakah
nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates.
Mostafa Tajzadeh, a veteran Iranian politician, has
attacked the Revolutionary Guard for its intervention in Yemen,
saying that there was "nothing to make of Yemeni territory that
have any strategic importance for Iran."
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