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TOP STORIES
The Trump administration announced criminal charges and
sanctions Friday against Iranians accused in a hacking scheme to
pilfer sensitive information from hundreds of universities, private
companies and American government agencies. The nine defendants, accused
of working at the behest of the Iranian government-tied Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, hacked the computer systems of about 320
universities in the United States and abroad to steal expensive
science and engineering research that was then used by the government
or sold for profit, prosecutors said.
Saudi Arabia said its air defenses destroyed seven
ballistic missiles late Sunday, fired from neighboring Yemen and
targeting at least four Saudi cities including the capital, Riyadh...
At least one civilian, described by Al Arabiya as an Egyptian
national, was said to have died in the missile attack... The Saudis
and the Americans have accused Iran of violating a United Nations
arms embargo by providing military weapons and supplies to the
Houthis, including missiles. Iran has denied the accusation but has
defended the missile launchings, calling them a justified response to
devastating Saudi-led aerial attacks.
Roadside bombs disguised as rocks in Yemen bear
similarities to others used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and by
insurgents in Iraq and Bahrain, suggesting at the least an Iranian
influence in their manufacture, a watchdog group said on Monday.
NUCLEAR DEAL
Behind the scenes, President Trump has told a number of
people he believes his current national security team has been out of
whack with his own thinking and was slow to give him the options that
he wanted. The big example: Iran.
The EU is looking to provide European companies trading
with Iran access to emergency credit lines and funding support if
Donald Trump presses ahead with his plan to withdraw from the Iran
nuclear deal. A US pullout, leading to the reimposition of a tough
sanctions regime, would expose multinational firms trading with Iran
to potentially devastating loss of financial support by commercial
banks.
President Obama always said that his nuclear agreement
with Tehran wouldn't solve all the problems with the Iranian regime,
and he certainly was right about that. It appears that for
essentially the entire period of the negotiation, drafting and
implementation of the accord by the Obama administration, Iran was simultaneously
conducting a significant campaign to steal American property.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNAL DISCONTENT
The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution
extending the mandate on Iran, the Islamic Republic's official news
agency IRNA reported.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Oil prices closed at the highest level in eight weeks on
Friday, lifted by declining global supply along with the possibility
of fresh Iran sanctions.
IRANIAN REGIONAL AGGRESSION
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's March 21st New Year
address mostly dwelt on domestic political issues. But the Iranian
leader also made a few references to the most pressing foreign and
security issues, none of which bode well for Iran's relations with
the United States. Moreover, Khamenei tried to calm growing public
anger amongst Iranians about the country's costly military
interventions in the Middle East.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
In Iran, the Reformists are becoming increasingly
suspicious about the possibility that the centrist Hassan Rouhani
administration will officially form a coalition with moderate
conservative parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. This comes as many are
saying that Rouhani's second-term Cabinet has been filled with
figures from the president's inner circle instead of Reformists; at
the same time, Reformist First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri's role
appears to have diminished.
NORTH KOREA & IRAN
As President Trump prepares for direct negotiations with
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in the coming months, one of the
administration's goals for this historic dialogue should be to
permanently halt Pyongyang's arms sales to the Middle East. Since the
1990s, successive U.S. administrations have held exhaustive talks
with the regime aimed at ending its nuclear weapons and ballistic
missile programs, with very limited success. But Washington has never
placed a high priority on shutting down North Korea's foreign
proliferation networks, according to current and former U.S.
officials. The result is that Pyongyang continues to export dangerous
military technologies to countries such as Iran, Syria, and Egypt,
despite facing draconian international sanctions.
IRAQ & IRAN
A commander of the Iraqi paramilitary forces known as
Hashd al-Shaabi has called for suspension of Asharq al-Awsat in Iraq,
accusing the pan-Arab daily of propagating against the paramilitary
forces.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Iran should strengthen ties with Russia and China to
counter a tougher U.S. stance expected after President Donald Trump's
appointment of John Bolton as national security adviser, a senior
parliament member was quoted as saying on Saturday.
Britain on Monday urged Iran to stop sending weapons
into Yemen and instead use its influence to end the conflict, as the
Saudi-led coalition's military intervention enters its fourth
year.
Recent media reports suggesting that Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammad bin Salman plan to pay a historic visit to Iraq has alarmed
Iran and its Iraqi allies.
ISRAEL AND IRAN
Chief Commander of the Islamic Republic's regular army
has once again threatened Israel with total annihilation. Referring
to a comment by the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said, "We will finish
off Israel's life within less than 25 years."
Outgoing Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Herzl
Halevi on Sunday accused Iran of bringing instability to the Middle
East in its quest for hegemony, a trend that he said would shape the
region this year. Halevi implied that this effort by Iran was making
it more likely that Israel would have to change its policy of limited
involvement in the Syrian civil war raging to its north.
CYBERWARFARE
Iran on Saturday slammed new US sanctions against 10 of
its citizens and an Iranian company over their alleged involvement in
a massive state-sponsored hacking and intellectual property theft
scheme. The US Treasury Department unveiled charges on Friday against
nine Iranians along with sanctions against 10 individuals and the
Mabna Institute, which it accused of hacking hundreds of universities
on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
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