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TOP STORIES
Tamnoush, an Iranian company that makes fizzy drinks,
has shut down its production line after 16 years and laid off dozens
of workers. It was facing massive losses as U.S. sanctions pushed up
the price of imported raw materials. "All our 45 workers are jobless
now. The men are driving taxis and women are back to being
housewives," said CEO Farzad Rashidi. Reuters interviews with
dozens of business owners across Iran show hundreds of companies have
suspended production and thousands of workers are being laid off
because of a hostile business climate mainly caused by new U.S.
sanctions.
Britain's top diplomat is
visiting Iran, less than two weeks after the United States re-imposed
oil sanctions on the country. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt met on
Monday with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammed Javad Zarif, shortly
after arriving in Tehran. The official IRNA news agency says that the
nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which the U.S. pulled out
of earlier this year, will be on the agenda, as well as an agreement
aimed at facilitating financial transactions with Iran.
Iraq's President Barham Salih
began a visit to Iran on Saturday, where he pledged to improve
relations less than two weeks after the United States restored oil
sanctions that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran,
which has had major influence over Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led
invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, is hoping to maintain exports
to its neighbor despite the renewed sanctions. Iraq is Iran's
second-largest market after China, buying everything from food and
machinery to electricity and natural gas.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
Iran will continue to export oil
despite U.S. sanctions, which are part of a psychological war doomed
to failure, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday. By
reimposing sanctions on OPEC's third biggest crude producer,
Washington wants to force Tehran to drop its ballistic missile
programs, further curb its nuclear work and limit its support for
proxy militias from Syria to Lebanon and Yemen.
A senior Iranian diplomat says
the Islamic Republic has not become completely disappointed with
Europe to help offset sanctions imposed by the United States on
Tehran but it has devised several mechanisms for any possible
scenario. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas
Araqchi, who is in Madrid for talks with senior Spanish officials,
made the remarks in an exclusive interview with IRNA on Saturday.
Iran's deputy foreign minister
has told a Spanish newspaper that his country will not change its
policies in the face of United States sanctions, IRNA reported. Abbas
Araqchi told ABC newspaper, "Sanctions might have a heavy cost
but they will not alter Iran's policies. The previous U.S.
administration implemented heavier sanctions but at the end, it had
to sit at the negotiating table." The U,S, has threatened to tighten
the screws on Iran to force Tehran to "change its
behavior".
When U.S. President Donald Trump
asked Saudi Arabia this summer to raise oil production to compensate
for lower crude exports from Iran, Riyadh swiftly told Washington it
would do so. But Saudi Arabia did not receive advance warning when
Trump made a U-turn by offering generous waivers that are
keeping more Iranian crude in the market instead of driving exports
from Riyadh's arch-rival down to zero, OPEC and industry sources say.
With its Persian restaurants and
shop signs in Farsi, Murshid Bazaar, a dense maze of alleys in
Dubai's old quarter, has for decades been a centre for small-scale
trade with Iran. That is changing. One in every dozen or so shops in
the once-bustling area is shuttered or carries a "for rent"
sign. Indian and Pakistani merchants now far outnumber the Iranians
who used to dominate the area.
President Donald Trump's
decision to take the US out of the international nuclear deal with
Iran and impose new economic sanctions is causing anguish in
unexpected places: Iran is India's largest buyer of tea, and traders
and growers are feeling the pinch. Demand for prized black tea from
Assam in north-east India, a favourite brew for Iranians, has fallen.
Japanese refiner Fuji Oil Co is
set to resume Iranian crude purchases after Japan received a waiver
from U.S. sanctions on Tehran, industry sources familiar with the
matter said. The refiner is under discussions to obtain final
approval from the Japanese government for loading starting in
January, the sources said on condition of anonymity due to the
sensitivity of the matter.
World Bank says
Iran's total foreign net debt reached $6.276 billion in 2017,
about 15% more than the previous year, which is still much lower than
other developing countries. The value is equal to 1.4 percent of
Iran's gross national income (GNI, which stood at $440.5 billion in
2017). This is not necessarily good news for Tehran, as isolation and
sanctions have limited its ability to receive foreign investment or
borrow funds for growth.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
Iran says it is prepared to
carry out anti-terror operations on Pakistani soil under Islamabad's
supervision. "As the interior minister and the person
responsible for the country's internal security, I announce that we
are prepared to conduct operations in areas where terrorists are
present in Pakistan, under the Pakistani side's supervision and
with their permission," Interior Minister Abdol-Reza
Rahmani-Fazli said on Saturday.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran's state-run IRNA news
agency is reporting that the country's authorities have detained four
workers protesting not having been paid their salaries for months in
the southwestern province of Khuzestan. The Sunday report says that
in recent days many people have attended the demonstrations at the
Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Mill in solidarity with striking workers there.
The Iranian people continue to
suffer under an "unjust... system of darkness" that does
not respect human rights, said the Saudi ambassador to the UN.
Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said the report of the UN special rapporteur on
human rights in Iran, submitted on Sept. 27, and the
secretary-general's report on Aug. 6, made clear that the country
persecutes ethnic and religious minorities, including Sunni Muslim
Balochis and Ahwazi Arabs.
Several labor rights groups in
Iran have reported that protests by Haft Tappeh (Tapeh) sugar mill
workers continued on Saturday. The workers accompanied by their
families marched in Shush, southwestern Iran, gathering near the
governor's office to draw attention to their demands. In the meantime
reports also speak of anti-riot police being stationed in and around
the complex in the early hours of Saturday.
Jeremy Hunt is visiting Iran on
Monday, where he will make a personal appeal for the immediate
release of the Iranian-British dual-national Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe on humanitarian grounds. The foreign secretary
will also call on Iran to stop using Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other
dual nationals as tools of diplomatic leverage. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was
arrested in April 2016 as she and her daughter were about to board a
flight back to the UK after a visit to her family in Iran.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
The United States, like a bully,
is exerting pressures on other countries but it has been isolated
politically, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has said.
Earlier this month, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump
announced the re-imposition of the "toughest" sanctions
ever against Iran's banking and energy sectors with the aim of
cutting off the country's oil sales and crucial exports.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
A top Iranian military official
said the Navy will soon receive a new destroyer and a submarine.
Deputy Chief of Iran's Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah
Sayyari on Saturday said Sahand destroyer and Fateh submarine will
join the Navy's fleet in the near future Denouncing the foreign
sanctions against Iran, the commander noted that Iran has turned the
embargoes into opportunities.
A senior Iranian commander says
the country's naval fleet will continue its presence in the high seas
to protect Iran's national interests. "So long as the
presence of the Iranian Army's fleets is necessary to secure Iran's
interests, the dispatch of the fleets to the high seas will
continue," Iranian Army's Deputy Commander for Operations Rear
Admiral Mahmoud Moussavi told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
on Sunday.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran's former economy minister,
impeached less than three months ago, will head the national oil
company as it works to evade renewed US sanctions, local media
reported Monday. Masoud Karbasian, 67, was impeached by parliament on
August 26 after only a year in the job, over his handling of the country's
economic downturn. In a short statement run by the state-run Iran
newspaper Monday, he vowed to "use four decades of experience...
to overcome the sanctions crisis."
With less than two months to go
before the AFC Asian Cup 2019 starts, Iran football faces so many
challenges which can hurt Team Melli's preparation for the biggest
continent's competition. Last week, the Asian Football Confederation
warned Iran they could face sanctions over government interference in
their national football association. It follows the Iranian
parliament passing a law barring the employment of retirees in
government, state or public institutions which use state funds or
facilities.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
The United Nations' special envoy to Yemen, Martin
Griffiths, said Friday that warring factions there had committed to
convening peace talks in Sweden shortly. A date hasn't been set, but
diplomats said they could begin this month. Diplomatic talks have
stalled for months while the conflict has escalated, and Friday's
announcement delivered a glimmer of hope, U.N. officials and
diplomats said.
Russia, Turkey, and Iran will
hold the next round of talks on Syria on Nov. 28-29 in Kazakhstan,
Kazakh foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said on
Monday. Delegations of the Damascus government and the Syrian
rebels are also set to attend, Abdrakhmanov told reporters.
The United States is laying the
groundwork for a long-term commitment to eastern Syria that will
include "stabilization" after the defeat of Islamic State
and also the demand that "Iranian-commanded forces" leave
Syria before the US withdraws. Over the last six months, this policy
has increasingly crystalized. It was finally spelled out by US
special representative for Syria engagement James Jeffrey at the end
of last week.
Mehdi Sanaei, Tehran's
ambassador to Moscow, on Sunday called for more cultural cooperation
between Iran and Russia. "The situation is ripe to
cooperate," Saaei said in a speech at the Saint Petersburg's
international cultural conference. The rich culture of Saint
Petersburg coupled with studies by Iranologists and Orientalists
provide more opportunities for cooperation, he stated.
IRAQ & IRAN
Saudi Arabia's King Salman
received Iraq's president in Riyadh on Sunday, a day after the Iraqi
official visited the kingdom's rival, Iran. Barham Salih's
back-to-back visits to Iran and Saudi Arabia reflect the delicate
balance Iraq seeks to maintain in a region where its two powerful
neighbors are battling for supremacy. Salih was received at the
airport in Riyadh by the province's governor and other Saudi
officials.
Iraqi President Barham Salih has
announced that his country has agreed to establish a "free-trade
zone" along its border with Iran, following a meeting with
his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani in Tehran. In
a joint press conference in the Iranian capital on Friday, Salih
declared that the relationship between the two neighbouring countries
is a "fixed principle" that is "rooted in shared
history, faith and geography". "We care about our
relationship with Iran," Salih declared.
Iran says it is discussing a plan
with Iraq to switch to dinar in trade instead of the US dollar. The
announcement was made by Iran's Ambassador Iraj Masjedi who said the
plan had been devised in response to recent US sanctions that
restricted Iran's access to the greenback. "Considering
the problems that have emerged in dollar-based banking transactions,
a joint proposal between Iran and Iraq is using Iraq's dinar in
trade," said Masjedi.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
British authorities say they
found nine suspected migrants from Iran after they landed on a coast
in southeastern England. The Home Office said the group landed Sunday
at Folkstone, near the town of Dover, on an inflatable boat. It said
they will be "processed in line with immigration rules."
The BBC reported that a member of the public found them
"clambering up rocks" on the coast.
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