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TOP STORIES
The EU faces a tough call on whether to hit back against
a US squeeze on European companies' dealings with Iran - but history
offers the bloc only small comfort that it can prevail.
It would be unwise for any company to breach sanctions.
Aside from the prospect of eroding shareholder value through
penalties, it is bad corporate governance to knowingly debilitate
reputation, brand value and incur opportunity costs. The risk is not
just to the corporate entity - executives can face prosecution and
jail. Corporations cannot afford to engage in wishful thinking like
politicians. They are rational profit maximizers and the examples of
ZTE, Commerzbank, and Deutsche Bank will chill European commercial
activity with Iran.
The European Union reiterated its commitment to the Iran
nuclear agreement while saying the current accord could be "a
basis for future work." Officials from Germany, Britain and
France are due to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in
Brussels on Tuesday, and EU leaders are scheduled to discuss Iran at
an informal dinner in Sofia on Wednesday.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to German,
French and British counterparts in recent days to discuss cooperation
over Iran, a State Department spokeswoman said on Monday a week after
U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.
administration.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he
had a "very good and constructive" meeting with the
European Union's foreign policy chief, as the 28-nation bloc seeks to
save the Iran nuclear agreement following last week's U.S. withdrawal.
Russian Acting Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov
said on Tuesday it was possible to discuss the future of the Iran
nuclear deal without the participation of the United States, the RIA
news agency reported. Ryabkov also said it would be impossible to
preserve the deal without Tehran making concessions, the Interfax
news agency reported.
America's withdrawal from the Iran deal and relocation
of its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem send an unmistakable signal about
the emerging Trump foreign policy: The administration wants to
enlarge American power rather than adjust to decline.
The decision to break with the status quo in a time of
apparent peace is always a risky venture that necessarily increases
uncertainty. Nonetheless, the President should be commended for
carrying through with his campaign promise to terminate the Iran
deal.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Siemens (SIEGY) CEO Joe
Kaeser said his company could not do any new business in Iran after
President Donald Trump decided to ditch the deal and reimpose US
sanctions.
Euro-denominated financing set up by European countries
to trade with Iran will not be enough to sustain economic ties with
Tehran in the face of U.S. sanctions, an adviser to the French
president said on Tuesday.
European Union leaders will discuss on Wednesday
shielding European companies doing business with Iran from U.S.
sanctions, a senior official said as the bloc is in damage control
mode following Washington's withdrawal from a nuclear deal with
Tehran.
America's three closest friends in Europe - Britain,
France and Germany - are near-bursting with anger and exasperation at
the United States. In a frenzy of meetings and phone calls among them
over the past week, their leaders have tried to figure out what they
can do about President Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement
with Iran and his plans to impose sanctions on their companies that
continue doing business there. The answer, they fear, is not much.
President Donald Trump on May 8 pulled the United States
out of an international nuclear deal with Iran, sealed in 2015, and
said he will re-impose economic sanctions on Iran... Below are
reactions since Trump's decision from companies most likely to be
affected by the move to reimpose sanctions.
The threat of U.S. sanctions on European companies
trading with Iran and tariffs on aluminum and steel exports are a
test of European sovereignty and will require a firm response, an
adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.
If European powers are to succeed in holding together a
nuclear deal with Iran that the U.S. abandoned a week ago, then one
issue they'll need to consider is the insurance of oil tankers
hauling the Persian Gulf country's crude.
U.S. President Donald Trump has offered to help a
Chinese technology giant [ZTE] that says it's being pushed out of
business by U.S. penalties over its alleged violations of sanctions
against Iran.
Global oil supplies are plentiful enough to withstand a
"significant reduction" in petroleum exports from Iran,
according to a White House memo issued on Monday as the Trump
administration prepares to reimpose sanctions on the OPEC member
nation.
Oil prices hit a 3-1/2-year high on Tuesday, supported
by tight supply and planned U.S. sanctions against Iran that are
likely to restrict crude oil exports from one of the biggest
producers in the Middle East.
... President Trump's decision to restore nuclear
sanctions and terminate America's adherence to the JCPOA risks
putting Washington on a collision course with Europe. With sanctions
kicking-in between the next 90 to 180 days, all attention will be on
the efficacy of American tools of financial pressure. In the interim,
Washington must not lose sight of managing Europe's reaction and
preventing Iran from taking advantage of fissures in the
trans-Atlantic alliance.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iran may suffer from military disadvantages, but that
doesn't stop it from being a major military player in the Middle
East. DW breaks down Iran's military strengths and three parts of its
asymmetric defense strategy.
Five decades in, Iran's F-14s are only getting better
and better. And more and more important to the Persian state's
defense.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
The United States Navy is closely watching Iranian
behavior in the Gulf and expects a "period of uncertainty"
and increased level of alertness after President Donald Trump's
decision to withdraw from an international nuclear deal with Iran,
the U.S. Navy chief said on Monday.
SYRIA, RUSSIA, HEZBOLLAH, ISRAEL & IRAN
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said Monday a barrage
of rockets from Syria against Israeli forces in the occupied Goal
Heights last week opens up "a new phase" in the conflict,
warning that Israel proper could be the next target for retaliation.
Following an Iranian rocket attack Thursday launched
from Syria against Israel that prompted the Jewish state to send
warplanes and missiles into Syria to destroy Iranian military
targets, the Trump administration needs to rethink its Middle East
policy. The central question now facing President Trump and his
national security team is what - if anything - they will do to
prevent the Iranian-Israeli conflict from erupting into a regional
war that engulfs American allies in the Middle East and possibly
draws in the United States as well.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The Iranian judiciary should immediately halt the
looming execution of a member of the Gonabadi Dervish community,
Human Rights Watch said today. Iran should also release all Dervish
members arbitrarily detained since February 2018.
Detained British-Iranian mother Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe could appear in an Iranian court to face fresh
charges, her family says... Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being held at
Evin Prison in Tehran following her arrest in April 2016 as she
attempted to return home from a holiday with her 21-month-old
daughter Gabriella.
[A] wave of hijab protests since January have shown
women openly defying the law, filming public acts of unveiling that
have been widely shared online. In response, the government has
arrested at least 29 women; one has already been sentenced to two
years in prison... VICE News spoke to Masih Alinejad about how the
online protest movement gained momentum - and where it's going from
here.
IRAQ & IRAN
Nationalist Shi'ite Cleric Moqtada al Sadr took a
surprise lead in Iraq's elections by tapping into public resentment
with Iran and what some voters say is a corrupt political elite it
supports.
Populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's apparent political
breakthrough in national elections is forcing the U.S. and Iran to
confront the prospect that a frequent critic of both is poised to take
the lead in selecting Iraq's next premier.
These internal disputes are taking place as the two main
foreign forces in Iraq, the U.S. and Iran, head toward greater
hostility. The U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the
possibility of escalation, as well as the parliamentary gains made by
former militia members, could turn Iraq once again into a war
theater.
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