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TOP STORIES
President Donald Trump Tuesday said the United States is
ready to make a "real deal" with Iran just days after he
threatened the country "will suffer consequences the likes of
which few throughout history have ever suffered before."
"Iran is not the same country anymore, that I can say,"
Trump said during the VFW National Convention in Kansas
City, Missouri.
Iran's cabinet appointed new heads at two of the
government's top economic institutions, as the country grapples with
a faltering economy and a sliding currency that have provoked public
protests... Rouhani's cabinet appointed Abdul Nasser Hemmati to
replace Valiollah Seif as governor of the central bank... In May, the
United States imposed sanctions on Seif, accusing him of "moving
millions of dollars" for Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Israel shot down a Syrian jet fighter that entered its
airspace, its military said, potentially raising tensions in a
fraught border region where President Bashar al-Assad's
Russian-backed forces are battling to retake a pocket of southwest
Syria.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
German intelligence report from the city-state of
Hamburg said Iran's regime is continuing to seek weapons of mass
destruction, delivering another intelligence agency blow to
Chancellor Angela Merkel's belief that the 2015 atomic deal with the
Islamic Republic curbed Tehran's nuclear weapons ambitions.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
European efforts to protect businesses investing in Iran
from US sanctions risk leaving executives with the tough choice of
whether to obey EU or American rules. The EU is finalising its plans
to mitigate the punitive measures as the Trump administration
prepares to impose a new wave of sanctions next month and in
November.
European companies have been winding down their
purchases of Iranian oil, and the threat of sanctions on Iranian
business has pushed out banks, many of which had paid severe fines
for sanction violations in the past. But China, already the biggest
buyer of Iranian oil, is not expected to heed U.S. demands. In fact,
the Iranian oil sanctions could give China leverage in stalled trade
negotiations with the United States.
Turkey has told American officials it opposes U.S.
sanctions on Iran and is not obliged to implement them, Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iran's armed forces chief of staff on Tuesday warned the
US of a robust reaction if it continued to threaten Iranian
interests.
America's oil threats against Iran can be easily
answered, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday,
according to the Tasnim news agency.
A serious conflict in the Strait of Hormuz is more
likely, and closer, than people think.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Iranian President Hassan Rohani has said he feels no
need to respond to what he called "empty threats" from U.S.
President Donald Trump.
President Trump's unexpected threat against Iran earlier
this week was meant to make clear to Tehran "that they're on the
wrong track," Defense Secretary James Mattis said Tuesday.
"I think what we have to look at is the destabilizing influence
that Iran has consistently displayed and demonstrated throughout the
region," Mattis said at the Hoover Institution in Stanford,
Calif.
As Trump trades threats with Rouhani, his rhetoric
undercuts his secretary of state.
Despite all-caps Tweets between Donald Trump and Iran's
foreign minister, there are few options for Tehran. Military action
isn't one of them.
With proxy forces across the region, Iran has cards to
play, and the regime is inherently dangerous... But Iran lacks
several advantages enjoyed by North Korea. It doesn't have an
overwhelming, powerful patron like China. It unites Israel and the
Arab states, and none of our regional allies are pressuring us to
negotiate with Tehran the way South Korea pushed us to talk with
Pyongyang. Finally, Iran doesn't yet have nuclear weapons... This
gives the administration leverage. The mullahs shouldn't fear presidential
tweets as much as the economic clampdown to come.
CONGRESS & IRAN
Senators are mounting a bipartisan effort to hold
terrorist groups accountable for their use of human shields, a tactic
exploited especially by Hezbollah and Hamas, according to legislation
to be introduced Tuesday. The bill, led by Texas senator Ted Cruz, enables
the Trump administration to sanction members of foreign terrorist
organizations that use civilians to shield themselves from attack.
A group of Republican U.S. senators has appealed to
members of the nation's Christian evangelical community to provide
more support for their push for tougher U.S. policies toward Iran.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
In the run-up to the recent Lebanese elections,
Hezbollah officials and candidates rarely spoke about the party's
military deployment in Syria. Instead, they focused on two main
issues: the economy and corruption. What Hezbollah wants to avoid
discussing most of all is how its fight in Syria to support Assad's
regime relates to the eroding economy and growing corruption it is
suffering inside Lebanon.
Crackdowns on activists on social media have escalated
because of criticisms and comments against Lebanese officials. People
are being questioned by the security services because of views and
positions posted on their social media pages, criticizing President
Michel Aoun, Hezbollah and other influential figures.
A Hezbollah minister will head to Damascus Wednesday to
meet Syrian officials and look at ways to strengthen economic ties
between Syria and Lebanon.
The U.N. Special Coordinator Lebanon called for a
national defense strategy that would rein in weapons of armed groups
inside the country, in an interview published Wednesday.
OTHER IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Several top managers at Iran's Ministry of Industry,
Mine and Trade have been put behind bars as the nation increasingly
discovers that rampant corruption is a major cause behind the current
economic turmoil.
RUSSIA & IRAN
In Iran, political infighting over foreign policy has
once again been brought to the fore. This time, the clash is over a
recent trip to Moscow by Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign policy
adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Those who support
the removal of tensions in foreign policy have severely criticized
Velayati's trip while their rivals have defended it.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement attacked a Saudi
oil tanker in the Red Sea, causing slight damage, Saudi state
television quoted the Saudi-led coalition as saying on Wednesday.
IRAQ, TURKEY & IRAN
An Iranian-supported militia group in Iraq has
threatened retaliation against the United States if Israel carries
out any strikes against Iranian military personnel and assets inside
Iraq, Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic
Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) reported.
AFGHANISTAN & IRAN
Tension between Iran and neighboring Afghanistan over
water rights has reached new heights as declining rainfall, prolonged
droughts, and mismanagement of water resources have severely affected
agricultural production, food security and availability of drinking
water in both countries. Tehran has warned of retaliatory actions if
Kabul does not allow sufficient water into Iran's water-stressed
southeastern region, while Afghan officials accuse Iran's
Revolutionary Guards of aiding Taliban militants to sabotage dam
projects in southern and western Afghanistan.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Iran and Pakistan have agreed to boost defense ties,
enhance cooperation on border security and regional issues, and
jointly manufacture military hardware, Iranian and Pakistan media
reported.
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