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TOP STORIES
The European Parliament has
overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for the Iranian government
to "immediately and unconditionally" release jailed human
rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. The lawmakers made the call on
December 13, six months after Sotoudeh was arrested after she
represented several of the women detained for removing their head
scarves in public to protest against the country's Islamic dress
code.
India's monthly oil imports from
Iran plunged to their lowest in a year in November with Tehran
dropping two places to become only the sixth biggest supplier after
New Delhi cut purchases due to the impact of U.S. sanctions,
according to ship tracking data and industry sources. Last
month, the United States introduced tough sanctions aimed at
crippling Iran's oil revenue-dependent economy. Washington did,
though, give a six-month waiver from sanctions to eight nations,
including India, and allowed them to import some Iranian oil.
Iranian government-supported hackers have reportedly
tried to break into the personal emails of American officials and
international nuclear experts. The Associated Press, or AP, reported
on the attempted attacks Thursday. The AP's report was based on
information collected during an investigation by the internet
security company Certfa, which is based in London. AP said the group,
known as Charming Kitten, is believed to have tried to break into the
private emails of more than 12 U.S. Treasury officials. The attempts
took place over the past month. Other targets included well-known
defenders, opponents and enforcers of an international nuclear deal
signed in 2015 with Iran.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan
Zanganeh said on Thursday that his country has no plans to reduce its
oil production, but will remain a member of OPEC, the official news
agency IRNA reported on Thursday. OPEC and its Russia-led
allies agreed on Friday in Vienna to slash oil production by more
than the market expected in a bid to shore up prices despite pressure
from U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude.
Iran is intervening in the
foreign exchange market and threatening speculators to engineer a
dramatic recovery of its rial currency, easing pressure on the
oil-exporting economy as Tehran defies renewed U.S.
sanctions. The rial jumped to 105,500 against the U.S. dollar on
Wednesday from 117,000 at the end of last week - and 152,500 at the
end of October, according to foreign exchange website Bonbast.com.
MISSILE PROGRAM
Iran on Thursday urged the
United States and its allies to stop their "absurd"
accusations about Iranian missile tests, a day after Washington urged
the UN to adopt punitive measures against Tehran. "US &
allies should cease their hypocritical absurdities abt Iran's
missiles," Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wrote on
Twitter. "Facts speak for themselves. It's they who sell $100s
of billions in arms to butcher Yemenis," he added, referring to
the devastating Saudi-led war backed by the West against Yemen
rebels.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
An Iranian political activist,
detained in Qom Prison, died in his cell on Wednesday after a 60-day
hunger strike. Vahid Sayadi Nasiri was jailed in 2015 and sentenced to
eight years after he was accused of insulting Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and spreading "propaganda against the
state" on his Facebook account, according to the advocacy
group Iran Human Rights Monitor.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Soon after President Donald
Trump took office, his National Security Council aides considered
trying an unusual new approach to Iran. Officials wondered
whether Trump should record a dramatic video message congratulating
the Iranian people on their new year. The twist? Trump would appear
alongside an Iranian royal who lives quietly in the Washington area:
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the country's late shah, the
U.S.-allied leader toppled during Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
After failing to receive
diplomatic support for exiting the nuclear deal, or the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United States has used the
most recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting to ask
other countries to apply pressure on Iran regarding its missiles
programs. The Security Council meets every six months to discuss
Iranian compliance with the 2015 JCPOA, which UN Resolution 2231
supported. The resolution "calls upon" Iran to not
test missiles specifically "designed to carry nuclear
weapons."
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Ayatollah Ali Movahedi Kermani
ascended the pulpit to lead the weekly Friday prayer session at the
University of Tehran on Dec. 7. He chose to spend significant time
reviewing and commenting on the ongoing negotiations over the fiscal
budget of the next Iranian year (beginning March 21, 2019). Movahedi
Kermani proclaimed, "I demand that wages be
increased justly and righteously. One solution I recommend would
be for the government to add a fixed amount to everyone's
salary.
Iran is currently suffering from
shortage and lack of water and certain policies have been put in
place by the Iranian government that put the country in the current
situation. Here is a look at the causes behind lack of water in Iran.
One of the causes of water scarcity in southern Iran and the rest of
the country is because of extensive and generally non-scientific dam
building by Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). The lands that have
been dried up by these dams are grounds for particulate storms.
IRANIAN REGIONAL AGGRESSION
One of Iran's defensive tactics
is to bribe and employ Arab traitors for stirring up unrest in their
countries. These traitors sacrifice the security of their own
countries in order to serve the interest of the abhorrent Persian
enemy. Prominent among these Persian proxies are those found in
Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. In Lebanon, Hezbollah controls security and
the country's peace and war decisions. As for the Lebanese army, it
is weak and helpless in front of Hezbollah's strength.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Houthi rebels attacked a village in southern Hodeidah on
Thursday night, hours after their representatives announced a
ceasefire deal with the Yemeni government following UN-brokered
negotiations in Sweden. Dozens of families were forced to leave Al
Humainya in Haiys district after the rebels stormed the village,
residents said. "Last night while we were sleeping, Houthi
fighters suddenly entered our village from areas still under their
control in the neighbouring mountains in western Haiys," Faiysal
Durami told The National. "They took positions on the roofs of
some buildings and started shooting anything that moved in the
village.
Judea and Samaria, a.k.a. the 'West Bank,' is once again
experiencing an uptick in terror attacks by Palestinian Arabs. This
week Arab terrorists not only carried out two deadly drive-by shooting
attacks on groups of Israelis near the village of Ofra Sunday evening
and Thursday afternoon but also staged a number of stabbing and car
ramming attacks on Israeli security personnel in Jerusalem, Judea,
and Samaria.
An Iran expert told The
Jerusalem Post that deterring Iran with military force in
Syria should continue, but not to expect open attacks on Iranian soil
despite public statements on the issue by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on Wednesday. INSS Arms Control Director Emily Landau also
told the Post on Thursday that clandestine and cyber
operations in the Islamic Republic itself were other ways to try to
alter Iranian behavior.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry's
spokesman has described the Zionist regime of Israel as the main
cause of instability in the region, noting that its bad dreams
about Iran will never come true. Bahram Qassemi made the remarks
on Thursday in reaction to earlier statements by the Israel Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who had noted on Wednesday that Israel
was prepared to launch attacks inside Iran if its survival was at
stake.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Yemen's government and Houthi rebels agreed Thursday to
a cease-fire in an embattled port city, a breakthrough in the nearly
four-year conflict that came as lawmakers in Washington ramped up
pressure on a Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels. The Senate,
upset by the October killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents,
ignored appeals by the Trump administration and passed a resolution
Thursday to withdraw U.S. support for the coalition.
Iran hailed as a positive step
an initial accord reached among Yemen's warring parties to halt
fighting for the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah and withdraw their
troops, Iranian state TV reported on Friday. "Iran welcomes
the agreement ... and hopes it will pave the way for the next round
of dialogue for concluding a final accord among Yemeni groups,"
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying
by TV.
The United States and Iran have
welcomed breakthroughs in UN-brokered peace talks between
Yemen's warring parties, who agreed on Thursday to cease fighting for
the vital port city of Hodeidah and withdraw their troops.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a statement on Twitter,
called the ceasefire between the Saudi-backed government of President
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels
"encouraging".
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
There's no end in sight to the
tensions between the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) and
Iran, especially in light of Iran's improving
ties with Hamas. The PA pegs that improvement as the
main reason for its failed attempts at reconciliation with Hamas and
Hamas' ongoing control of the Gaza Strip. Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of
Fatah's Central Committee and the PLO's Executive Committee,
made scathing comments against Iran on Nov. 27, saying it's the
No. 1 sponsor of the rival Palestinian factions' division.
If news reports are believed,
Australia will on Saturday formally recognise Jerusalem as
the Israeli capital while leaving its embassy to remain in Tel Aviv
in an announcement to be made by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. If
other news reports are believed, such a shift will
be against the advice of most government agencies, as well as at
least some of the experienced experts assembled to offer a
perspective.
An important Danish-Iranian
agreement regarding the return of rejected asylum-seekers has
stalled after Danish Immigration Minister, Inger Støjberg,
posted a Prophet Muhammad (PBHU) cartoon on social media last
year, Danish Radio reported, citing an internal document
from the ministry. One year later, Støjberg is yet to visit
Tehran, and Denmark still hasn't landed an agreement on the
failed asylum-seekers from Iran.
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