Eye on Iran: Europeans Dig In against New Iran Sanctions

TOP STORIES Europeans Dig In against New Iran Sanctions Risking Nuclear Deal | Bloomberg European allies, pressed by President Donald Trump's administration to impose tough new sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program, are digging in against moves that would effectively void the 2015 nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. U.S. Threatens Action against Iran after Russia U.N. Veto | Reuters The United States threatened unilateral action against Iran on Monday after Russia vetoed a western bid for the United Nations Security Council to call out Tehran for failing to prevent its weapons from falling into the hands of Yemen's Houthi group. Saudi Arabia Claims Iranian Missile Expertise Used by Yemeni Rebels Could Spread to Al-Qaeda | Telegraph (U.K.) Iran's support for Houthi rebel militia in Yemen could see ballistic missile expertise escape into the hands of terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, the Saudi government has claimed.  IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL US-Saudi Atomic Energy Agreement Complicated by Iran Deal | Associated Press The Trump administration is opening talks with Saudi Arabia on a potentially lucrative atomic energy agreement that's inextricably linked to an Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. At stake: billions of dollars in contracts for U.S. companies and bigger questions about America's ability to keep friend and foe alike from reaching nuclear weapons capability. IRAN PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS Iran Arrests Two More Women for Protesting Compulsory Hijab | Radio Farda Iranian security officers have arrested two women who protested against the compulsory hijab in Tehran by removing their head scarves in public and waving them while standing on utility boxes. Shaparak Shadizadeh, one of the two women arrested, was taken into custody on February 21. Her family said she was beaten up during the arrest. Another woman was reportedly arrested on February 22. Iran: Stop Prosecuting Women Over Dress Code | Human Rights Watch Iranian authorities should drop charges and stop prosecuting women for peacefully protesting Iran's compulsory dress code (hijab) laws, Human Rights Watch said today.  USCIRF Concerned by Denial of Lautenberg Refugees from Iran | United States Commission on International Religious Freedom The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is concerned by recent reports that roughly 100 members of Iranian religious minorities, who sought resettlement to the United States, have been denied asylum and could be returned to Iran where they may face discrimination and persecution. BUSINESS RISK Transparency International Ranks Iran Among Most Corrupt Countries | Radio Farda Iran is ranked 130 out of 180 world countries on the global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2017, published by Transparency International on Wednesday, February 2017. OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS South Korea's Iran Crude Oil Import in January Down 47.3 Pct Y/Y | Reuters South Korea's crude oil imports from Iran fell 47.3 percent in January from a year earlier, while its total crude oil imports rose 6.6 percent year on year to 99.8 million barrels last month, data from state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) showed on Monday. HEZBOLLAH & LEBANON EU Parliament Politicians Call for a Full Ban of Hezbollah | Jerusalem Post Members of the European Parliament sent a letter on Thursday to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, urging her to classify all of the Lebanese organization Hezbollah as a terrorist entity. Iran Seen Uniting Lebanon Proxies against Israel, but Hezbollah Turns Inward | Times of Israel Ten days ago, the head of the powerful Iraqi Shiite militia Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba arrived in the Beirut suburb of Dahieh, a stronghold of Hezbollah, and visited the grave of Imad Mughniyeh, the former global operations chief of the Lebanese terror group, to mark 10 years since Mughniyeh was killed in a car bomb. The attendance of the Iraqi movement's secretary-general, Akram al-Kaabi's, at the event commemorating a terrorist thought to be responsible for many bombings, kidnappings and assassinations sends a clear message to Israel: Hezbollah is not alone. IRAQ & IRAN Iran-backed Group: We'll Avenge Our Casualties by Cleansing Iraq of US Presence | Ahmad Majidyar for the Middle East Institute The secretary-general of Harakat al-Nujaba, an Iraqi militia group with close ties with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has said that the group will avenge the blood of Iraqi paramilitary forces recently killed in the Iraqi province of Kirkuk by "cleansing" Iraq of the American presence... Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email press@uani.com. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.