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TOP STORIES
I've got my hands on a copy of the bill that House
Republicans will drop Thursday to amend the Iran deal. Conservative
Iran hawks tell me they are going to rally around this bill -
spearheaded by Reps. Peter Roskam, Liz Cheney and others - because
they don't like what they're hearing about the Senate version being
drafted by Republican Bob Corker and Democrat Ben Cardin.
The U.S. will turn its focus in Syria to moving to
reduce Iranian influence there, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said
in a policy speech that marked a shift in U.S. strategy in Syria away
from Islamic State.
An 81-year old American-Iranian imprisoned in Iran,
Baquer Namazi, was hospitalised earlier this week due to a drop in
blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat, his lawyer said on
Wednesday.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on
Wednesday that any issues not directly related to the Iran nuclear
deal "should be addressed without prejudice to preserving the
agreement," his spokesman said amid U.S. concerns with
Tehran.
Iran needs to create a peaceful political environment to
thwart Washington's spreading of uncertainty over the nuclear deal
aimed to discourage business with Tehran, says a senior
official.
IRAN PROTESTS
The Trump administration State Department is working to
suppress new sanctions on Iran's propaganda network that were
promised to be implemented by the White House in response to a wave
of protests that have gripped the Islamic Republic for weeks...
In the mountains of western Iran, the province of
Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari is known for mile-high lagoons, flowing rivers
and wetlands that attract thousands of species of migratory birds.
But years of diminishing rainfall have shriveled water sources.
Conditions worsened, residents say, after Iranian authorities began
funneling water 60 miles away to the lowland city of Esfahan,
sparking protests as far back as 2014.
The contrast couldn't have been sharper: In 2009, as
Iranians took to the street, they chanted, "Obama, Obama, either
you're with us or against us," but President Barack Obama
remained silent. Eight years later, as Iranians again took to the
streets, President Donald Trump tweeted up a storm. "Oppressive
regimes cannot endure forever," he tweeted. "The great
Iranian people have been repressed for many years ... TIME FOR
CHANGE!"
The anti-government protests that broke out in Iran on
December 28, 2017, came as a surprise. And not just to the Iranian
authorities, who scrambled to contain the revolt as it spread
throughout the country and threatened to destabilize the theocratic
regime. Observers in the West were taken aback, too. It's worth
asking why.
CONGRESS & IRAN
The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee on Wednesday said he believes there is a "path
forward" on Iran legislation, despite President Trump making
negotiations "more difficult" by issuing an
ultimatum.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The Trump administration is trying to prevent 100 mostly
Christian Iranians stranded in Vienna for more than a year from being
deported back to Iran where they would undoubtedly face severe
persecution amid a government crackdown on dissidents.
No one knows how Iran's political protests will evolve,
and perhaps the current moment is more like Poland in 1981 than 1988.
That's all the more reason for the U.S. to assist Iran's political
opposition as it seeks to use the internet to evade regime censors
and build a larger movement.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Germany's Jewish community says raids against suspected
Iranian agents show Berlin needs to take a tougher line toward
Tehran... Its president, Josef Schuster, said Germany shouldn't put
economic ties with Iran before the need to protect its own citizens.
SYRIA & IRAN
U.S. President Donald Trump and European Union leaders
should increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad and his allies
Russia and Iran to return to talks to end Syria's civil war, Syria's
chief opposition negotiator said on Monday.
While Iran's military involvement in regional conflicts
and support for militant groups often make headlines, Tehran's
sophisticated soft power strategies aimed at promoting the Islamic
Republic's ideological and political goals in the region are largely
overlooked. The establishment of Islamic Azad Universities in major
Syrian and Iraqi cities and the expansion of its main branch in
Lebanon is one example of how Tehran uses soft power tools to expand
its sphere of influence across the region. Moreover, Iran's
educational, cultural and charitable organizations abroad also
complement the country's hard power strategies and at times provide a
civilian cover for the Revolutionary Guards operatives to carry out
subversive activities at the expense of regional stability.
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