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TOP STORIES
It will be months before new U.S. sanctions against Iran
take hold, but global shipping operators are already pulling back
from the big oil-exporting nation.
The U.S. government has reached a deal to put Chinese
telecommunications giant ZTE Corp back in business after penalties
imposed over Iran sanctions violations forced the company to shut
down operations, U.S. officials and congressional aides said.
Iranian university students in a meeting with Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered harsh criticism of the
country's direction, local media reported Tuesday, an unusually frank
discussion showing the concerns many feel over the Trump administration's
pullout from the nuclear deal with Tehran and Iran's battered
economy. One student in particular offered a list of problems
confronting Iran and directly asked Khamenei, whom hard-liners view
as second only to God, how he would respond to them.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Despite Khamenei's charged rhetoric, [UANI Senior
Adviser Norman] Roule does not believe that companies in Europe will
risk their access to the U.S. financial system to maintain ties to
Iran. "If you are the head of an international company or bank,
you have to be out of your mind to risk the U.S. market and
litigation and exposure to your firm's assets in order to work with a
country that brings such little profit and is so susceptible to
sanctions because of its malign regional behavior, missile, issues,
terrorism, let alone the nuclear issue," he explains.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
An Iranian nuclear energy official on Sunday repeated a
warning from earlier this year that his country is able to create
highly enriched uranium in "two to three days."
China will host Iranian President Hassan Rouhani next
month at a regional summit aimed at avoiding disruption of joint
projects, its foreign ministry said on Monday, as major powers
scramble to save Iran's nuclear deal after the United States pulled
out.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton will reportedly
meet with his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabat, in Washington on
Tuesday to discuss a joint approach to Iran.
The European Union is seeking to shield the bloc's
strategic and economic interests in Iran in the wake of the U.S.
withdrawal from the international nuclear deal, as the EU foreign
policy chief insisted Monday that the unity of the member states was
unquestioned.
The EU should pay more heed to U.S. security concerns
linked to Washington's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as
the bloc decides how to address American sanctions against the
Islamic Republic, Poland's chief diplomat said.
Mike Pompeo's first formal speech as Secretary of State
can best be described a diplomatic body slam on the Iranian regime.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has given
the EU extensive conditions if Iran is to stick to the nuclear deal.
Yet he is nothing more than a squeaking mouse.
The next chapter in the Iran nuclear saga, after U.S.
President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action will depend on the decisions made by the parties that
agreed to the deal. At present, it is clear that Iran desperately
wants to keep the deal-not a surprise taking into account that the
JCPOA has major benefits for it, while requiring only minimal nuclear
concessions-and the European states would like to go along, as would
the Russians and Chinese.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
The world's top oil trader said it will be near
impossible to avoid U.S. sanctions on Iran, suggesting Donald Trump's
attack on OPEC's third-largest producer may have a bigger impact on
the global crude market than many anticipate.
The European Union is trying to rope central banks into
its drive to salvage the nuclear deal with Iran - but it's
potentially risky, and they're not happy about it.
European refiners have started sourcing alternatives to
Iranian crude supplies well before new US sanctions on the OPEC
producer are due to kick in later this year, according to oil
traders.
Chinese and Russian state-backed companies are
maneuvering to profit from European firms leaving Iran, threatening
the Trump administration's bid to raise economic pressure on
Tehran.
A Chinese investment firm will spend US$2 billion on
building an oil refinery in the Iranian northern province of
Mazandaran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported
on Monday..
India said on Monday it abided by sanctions imposed by
the United Nations but not those imposed by any other country, such
as those announced by the United States against Iran.
Germany's biggest lenders have shied away from business
with Iran after past penalties for breaching US sanctions, but
smaller banks have leapt on opportunities afforded by the nuclear
deal rejected by Donald Trump.
Following the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal,
the Booking.com said in an email to Iranian hotels that despite its
strong interest in maintaining its cooperation with them, it has to
cut the ties because of the US domestic laws.
It is too early to say how many foreign companies
ultimately will pull out of Iran in the face of the American threats.
The European Union has made promises to take steps to protect its
companies. But the new sanctions have undeniably complicated matters
for foreign investors in Iran, particularly companies with global
operations, leaving many European executives bitter.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says if Iranian
leaders accept U.S. demands to behave like a normal nation, Americans
will visit Iran and treat it as a friend.
SYRIA, RUSSIA, ISRAEL & IRAN
Israel and Russia have reached a secret agreement to
distance Iranian forces from the border area in southern Syria,
Israeli TV reported Monday, as Jerusalem and Moscow sent differing
messages regarding the extent of their tolerance for Iran's military
presence in that country. Under the apparent agreement coming
together, Israel will accept the return of Syrian regime soldiers to
the border on the Golan Heights, in exchange for Russia guaranteeing
there are no Iranian or Hezbollah forces in the area, Hadashot TV
news reported.
Israel and Iran engaged over the weekend in indirect
negotiations in Jordan regarding fighting in southwestern Syria,
according to Elaph, a Saudi-owned website.
Israel is increasingly optimistic of being able to force
Iran out of Syria as Russia comes to see that Iran's presence may
threaten its own interests, a senior Israeli intelligence official
said Monday.
The Syrian air force has forbidden Iranian forces and
their allied Shiite militias from using its aircraft hangars and
other facilities on its military bases, in light of repeated Israeli
attacks, a Syrian news outlet reported on Sunday.
The secretary of the Islamic Republic's Supreme Security
Council has reiterated that Iran's military presence in Syria, its
regional policies and missile program will continue and are
non-negotiable.
Israel called on Monday for its arch-foe Iran to be
denied any military presence in Syria, after Russia said Damascus'
forces alone should control Syrian territory near the Israeli and
Jordanian borders.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Iranian security forces will "resolutely
confront" unrest that could be exploited by the United States
and other enemies, a judiciary spokesman said on Sunday, after a wave
of protests across the country mainly about economic issues.
In an act of political protest, hackers took control of
airport electronic sign boards at the city of Mashad in Iran Thursday
evening May 24. Social media reports from Mashad posted pictures of
defaced arrival and departure monitors at the city's airport showing
a statement protesting against Iran's military presence in the Middle
East.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency is reporting that the
country's authorities have detained a university professor over
insulting Sunni Muslims.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman
imprisoned in Tehran, will face a trial for new
"security-related" charges, Iranian media reports. The
39-year-old was arrested in 2016 and is already serving a five-year
sentence for allegedly spying against the Iranian regime.
The Baha'i International Community (BIC) says Baha'is in
Iran are facing a new wave of arrests and raids on their homes across
different cities in the country.
Women prisoners of conscience from Iran's Gonabadi
Dervish religious community are being subjected to verbal abuse,
including sexual slurs, and denied proper medical treatment by
doctors and other health professionals at Shahr-e Rey prison on the
outskirts of Tehran, Amnesty International revealed today.
The lawyer of Tehran-based death row prisoner Mohammad
Salas has released an audio file in which he denies driving the bus
that killed three policemen in Tehran in February 2018.
Iranian security forces on Friday May 25 prevented the
[celebration of the] 50th anniversary of the establishment of Writers
Association, the oldest and most prestigious trade union for Iranian
writers.
Protesters removing their headscarves in unprecedented
acts of civil disobedience are fostering a crisis of self-confidence
for the regime.
OTHER IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Khamenei's Ramadan speech combined explicit attacks on
the United States, implicit criticism of Rouhani's approach, and
excessive demands on Europe, seemingly bracing the regime for one of
the toughest challenges of his thirty-year rule.
Truck drivers in Iran continue their strike despite
promises made by the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development's
officials to raise cargo fees.
Celebrated Iranian actor and director Nasser Malek
Motiee was under a media ban for nearly 40 years, and it wasn't
lifted until he was 6 feet under. But after he died on May 26 at the
age of 88, the man known as the "King of Iranian cinema"
finally found himself back in the spotlight.
IRANIAN REGIONAL AGGRESSION
Relations between Morocco and Iran continue to
deteriorate over Rabat's allegations that Tehran is meddling in the
internal affairs of the North African country.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Riyadh pulled the plug on awarding government contracts
to German companies, in a possible response to Berlin's pro-Iranian
regime polices and its accusation that the kingdom's foreign policy
constitutes "political adventurism" in the Middle East.
Yemeni Houthi rebels have fired several missiles into
Saudi Arabia over the past two days, Iranian and Arab media reported.
Iran will be holding a new round of talks with Europe on
the Yemen conflict, negotiations that have taken on greater
significance as the sides try to salvage a nuclear agreement.
HEZBOLLAH & LEBANON
A senior commander and other members of the
Iranian-backed, Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group were killed
overnight in an Israeli airstrike, Sky's Arabic-language channel
reported Tuesday... It cited sources saying the strikes destroyed a
coordination center for operations and set fire to various places.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was taking
action against arms manufacturing in Lebanon and threatened continued
fighting with Iran Sunday. Netanyahu's stark threat against Lebanon
came after Israeli officials have warned repeatedly that Iran may be
trying to manufacture advanced missiles in Lebanon to be used against
Israel by the Hezbollah terror group.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has amassed a net
personal worth of around $250 million due to his organization's
illegal drug smuggling operations, Al-Ittihad, an Arabic language
newspaper published in the United Arab Emirates, reported on Monday.
Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri expressed hope
on Monday that a coalition government could be formed quickly to
shield Lebanon from regional instability and a dire economic
situation which he said posed the biggest danger to the country.
The leader of Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group
called on the Lebanese state Friday to stand up for citizens being
slapped with sanctions by the United States, saying they are harming
people.
Thirty-five years ago last month, a Hezbollah suicide
bomber drove a delivery van packed with explosives into the U.S.
embassy in West Beirut. The explosion collapsed portions of the
building and killed sixty-seven people, including seventeen Americans.
Later that year, Hezbollah, with Iranian backing, conducted
simultaneous suicide bombings of U.S. and French military barracks
that collectively killed nearly three hundred soldiers.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
The Council of Ulemmas of Tajikistan, an association of
the country's religious leaders, today accused Tehran of attempts to
destabilize the Central Asian country.
IRAQ & IRAN
The only thing that's clear from Iraq's May 12 election
is who the voters rejected: Iran and the U.S.
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