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TOP STORIES
The U.S. official overseeing President Donald Trump's
Iran strategy warned European countries against hosting a payment
system to keep money flowing to the Islamic Republic, days after
Austria became the latest nation to decline to host such a facility.
"We are on alert for any type of sanctions evasion, and if we
see evasion we won't hesitate to use our sanctions to stop it,"
Brian Hook, the State Department special representative for Iran,
said in a phone interview from Tel Aviv.
European banks and firms who engage in a special
European Union initiative to protect trade with Iran will be at risk
from newly reimposed U.S. sanctions, the U.S. special envoy for Iran
warned on Thursday. It is "no surprise" that EU
efforts to establish a so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for
non-dollar trade with Iran were floundering over fear in EU capitals
that hosting it would incur U.S. punishment, Special Representative
Brian Hook said.
A U.N. committee on human rights approved a resolution
Thursday urging Iran to stop its widespread use of arbitrary
detention and expressing serious concern at its "alarmingly
high" use of the death penalty. The General Assembly's Human
Rights Committee adopted the resolution by a vote of 85-30, with 68
abstentions. It is virtually certain to be approved by the 193-member
world body next month.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran's nuclear program "was more advanced than
Western intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy
Agency had thought," reports Michael Hirsh at Foreign
Policy. ƒThis, from David Albright, a prominent nuclear expert who
examined a secret Iranian archive seized by Israel this year. Indeed,
it shows that Tehran "has the know-how to build a bomb fairly
swiftly, perhaps in a matter of months." If it rebuilds its
centrifuges, it could have enough weapons-grade uranium in about
seven to 12 months. This, says Albright, is "a surprising and
troubling finding."
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
The United States on Monday reactivated its most biting
sanctions on Iran, prohibiting and penalizing business with Iran's
energy, shipping, and financial services sectors, as well as other
activities. The move follows the United States' unilateral withdrawal
in May from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known
as the Iran Nuclear Deal.
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.
Iran executed the so-called "Sultan of Coins"
and his accomplice on Wednesday for hoarding gold coins and other
hard currency, signaling zero tolerance as it tries to shore up its
currency in the face of an economic crisis. State TV reported
that Vahid Mazloumin and his accomplice, Mohammad Ismail Ghasemi,
were hanged early Wednesday. They were convicted of manipulating coin
and hard currency markets through illegal and unauthorized deals as
well as smuggling. An unspecified number of other accomplices went to
prison.
With US re-imposed sanctions against Iran scaling back
Iranian economic activity in the region, Turkey is looking to fill
the void in commodity exports left behind by Iranian companies
leaving Iraq. Turkish exports are expected to increase, compensating
for goods imported from Iran. Iraq's head of Turkey-Iraq Cooperation
Council Amin Taha said that Iraqi markets generally prefer to import
basic commodities from Iran because of their low rates.
The United States has turned its currency into a
"weapon" and is using it to challenge the sovereignty of
European nations, a senior Iranian official says. "Dollar has
become a weapon for the United Sates to force its illegitimate
demands upon its European partners, practically challenging
their national sovereignty," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for
Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday.
South Korea did not import any Iranian crude oil in
October, the second month in a row one of the world's top oil
importers has abstained from buying Iranian crude ahead of the U.S.
sanctions against Tehran, which entered into effect on November 5.
Reuters reported the data, citing information from the South
Korean customs authorities, adding the country had stopped buying
Iranian crude in September for the first time in six years as it was
not certain it would score a waiver with the U.S. Department of
Treasury.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
The United States has warned that Iran could create a
new malign force akin to the Islamic State militant group
(ISIS) and said Saudi Arabia was an ideal partner to help
contain the revolutionary Shiite Muslim power in the Middle East.
James Jeffrey, the State Department's special representative to
Syria, told the Sixth Annual Defense One Summit Thursday that direct
military action would not be enough to defeat Iran and its expanding
network of armed allies, many of which were comprised of Shiite
Muslim militias.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
The health of an Iranian-American dual national held in
Tehran is rapidly deteriorating, his family and attorney warned
Thursday as they appealed to Iranian authorities to allow him to
leave for medical treatment. "I'm here today to beg the Iranian
government," said Babak Namazi, the son of 81-year-old Baquer
Namazi who has been held in Iran for over two years. The younger
Namazi called on the Iranian government to "show mercy" and
give his father permission to leave for medical treatment.
The Iranian soccer team Persepolis battled it out
against Japan's Kashima Antlers in the Asian Champions
League in Tehran Nov. 10. But before the referee announced
the start of the game, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who had
traveled to Iran to watch the match, had a request. Infantino asked
to be shown that Iranian women had been allowed into the Azadi
stadium to watch.
Asian soccer's most important game of the season, the
AFC Champions League final, was held in Tehran on Nov. 10. What
transpired on the pitch was somewhat anticlimactic, not to mention
discouraging for the Iranian side, as Iran's Persepolis and Japan's
Kashima Antlers reached a goalless draw that meant the latter emerged
victorious on aggregate. But a lot more was going on in the VIP
section and the packed stands of the iconic Azadi Stadium.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Masoud Nili, economic adviser to Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani, has resigned and is no longer attending meeting at
the Money and Credit Council where Ali Tayebnia is attending in his
place, according to ISNA news agency. The Higher Institute for Education
and Planning announced that Rouhani accepted Nili's resignation.
Tehran's city council selected 55-year-old Reformist
politician and architect Pirouz Hanachi as the capital's third
mayor in 18 months on Nov. 13. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, conservative
politician and Tehran's longest serving mayor, left office in August
2017 after Reformists swept the city council elections that year. He
was followed by Mohammad Ali Najafi, who held the office for just
eight months and left after health concerns.
Iran's state TV is
reporting that the managing director of the country's social security
agency and his deputy have been killed in a car crash in northern
Iran. The Thursday report said Taghi Nourbakhsh and his deputy,
Abdolrahman Tajeddin, were injured in a car crash in northern
Golestan Province and both died later in a hospital.
NORTH KOREA & IRAN
North Korea on Friday said it will deport an American
citizen it detained for illegal entrance, an apparent concession to
the United States that came even as it announced the test of a newly
developed but unspecified "ultramodern" weapon that will be
seen as a pressuring tactic by Washington.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
In May 2018, the international community watched
anxiously as relations between long-time foes Iran and Israel
seemed to reach a new low. Donald Trump had just announced the U.S.
would pull out of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, much to
Tehran's displeasure. Meanwhile, new skirmishes in Syria between
Israeli and Iranian military promoted both UN and EU leaders to call
for restraint on both sides. The conflicts may have died down, but
months later Israel and Iran remain at odds, and an end to
hostilities looks remote.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Pakistan on November 15 said its security forces safely
recovered five of the 12 Iranian guards abducted near the countries'
shared border a month ago. The extremist group Jaish al-Adl had
claimed responsibility for the abduction of Iranian security
personnel, which included member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps (IRGC).
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