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TOP STORIES
Iran's top nuclear official said Monday that his country
might rethink its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency
if President Trump scrapped American participation in the 2015 agreement
limiting Iranian nuclear activities.
An Iranian reformist lawmaker said Tuesday that some 3,700
people were arrested in the days of protests and unrest that roiled Iran
over the past two weeks, offering a far higher number than authorities
previously released.
The Trump administration is planning to impose blanket
sanctions on Iranian state television, as part of measures to punish
those involved in the crackdown of protesters following the recent
unrest. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), a state-run
organisation whose head is directly appointed by the country's supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been subject to US sanctions since
2013, but both Barack Obama and Donald Trump have signed presidential
waivers every 180 days to prevent them coming into force.
UANI IN THE NEWS
In just three days, President Trump must once again decide
what to do about the much-debated Iran nuclear deal. Most are framing his
choice as a binary one: Kill it or keep it? Although the emergence of a
popular uprising against the Iranian regime undoubtedly complicates the
politics of Trump's decision, the president should reject such false
choices and find a path that can sustain broad consensus at home and
abroad. There is always a middle path to discover in foreign policy-and,
in this case, a path that can uphold American values, defend our national
security and keep our commitments to close allies.
In fact, what's important is that the protests represent the
basic constituency of the supreme leader, of Rouhani, of Ahmadinejad,
and, in some cases, of the Green Path movement. The protestors didn't
have an actual leader. And one most wonder: if there were an actual
leader, what would have happened to these protests? Would they have grown
significantly?... We should stand up for the right of protesters to
peacefully express their feelings and stand up also against oppressive
regimes who put these people in jail. And it's important that we stand up
now for the many Iranians who are imprisoned by the security forces.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
The EU has called Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif to talks in Brussels on Thursday with his French, British and
German counterparts in efforts to preserve the hard-fought deal to curb
Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Iran warned the world on Monday to prepare for the possible
withdrawal of the United States from the landmark nuclear deal agreed in
2015.
If the international response thus far is any indicator,
Iran's protests risk driving a wedge between the United States and
Europe, potentially imperiling the West's ability to forge a common front
on a wide range of regional and proliferation issues. To close this rift,
Washington may need to reassure Brussels that it will not scrap the
nuclear agreement-a message that must be delivered quickly given the
decisions President Trump will make on a series of sanctions waivers that
expire in mid-January. According to senior U.S. officials working on
Iran, however, European governments and EU foreign policy chief Federica
Mogherini would need to respond in kind by showing a much greater
willingness to address the deal's shortcomings and challenge Tehran on
its human rights record.
IRAN PROTESTS
In a swipe at his hardline rivals, President Hassan Rouhani
said on Monday young Iranian protesters were unhappy about far more than
just the economy and they would no longer defer to the views and
lifestyle of an aging revolutionary elite.
A senior official of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has
announced that the paramilitary Basij Force will soon begin patrolling
missions in the capital city of Tehran, IRGC-affiliated media outlets
reported.
Tehran University has set up a committee to track the
whereabouts of students who have been arrested in anti-government
protests in Iran.
Although Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may be neither the
primary target nor the proximate cause of the demonstrations, his record
in office since winning reelection last May has been an enormous
disappointment to the nearly 24 million Iranians who voted for his second
term. Instead of seeking to be his own man, Rouhani has repeatedly fallen
back into following the playbook of the unelected Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, widening the already dangerous disconnect between
ordinary Iranians and the ruling Shiite Islamist elite that purports to
represent them. Nothing short of major reform can save the Islamic
Republic in the long term.
The current revolt may not lead to the immediate collapse of
the regime, but we are witnessing the death throes of the Islamic
Republic. Even if the uprising ends today, it is but one step in a long
struggle to achieve a more representative, democratic and popular
government. Khamenei and Rouhani may blame foreign enemies for the
rebellion, but their enemies are the hungry and oppressed people of Iran.
They are awake. And they are legion.
Whatever the ultimate outcome, however, the protesters have
already accomplished a great deal and shattered many myths in the West.
Let's review their achievements.
CONGRESS & IRAN
President Trump should impose sanctions against any entity
that received a waiver under the Iran nuclear deal, a House Republican
argued following the recent Iran protests. "It's time to deprive the
regime of further resources to repress their own people and terrorize its
neighbors, and target all regime-owned entities with robust economic
sanctions - no person, bank, or commodity should be off-limits,"
Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., told the Washington Examiner.
We have been down this road before, and we must learn from
history or be doomed to repeat it. As freedom-loving Americans, we must
support the Iranian protesters in their inherent right and noble quest to
create a more free and peaceful country, one that ensures a brighter
future for not only their children, but our own.
BUSINESS RISK
Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co. bought alternative supply
after a fire on board an Iranian oil tanker that was destined for the
South Korean company. Crew members of the vessel were still missing
following a collision in the East China Sea with another ship that's left
it in danger of sinking.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
Amber Rudd is facing calls to designate
Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation over its
suppression of protesters and support for militants. Dozens of MPs from
across the Commons have backed a motion calling for the Home Secretary to
include the regime's elite unit on an official list of proscribed
organisations and impose sanctions on its officials.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, considered to be a
successor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, faces protests and
possible criminal prosecutions in Germany for his widespread executions
of Iranians, which took place while he was the country's justice
minister.
RUSSIA & IRAN
[W]hile Washington should certainly be wary of the
Russian-Iranian relationship, it is less a strategic alliance than a
marriage of convenience - and one whose cracks are already showing.
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