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TOP STORIES
Iran and Russia are preparing to
hold joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea, including rescue and
anti-piracy drills, the commander of the Iranian navy was quoted on
Sunday as saying. "Tactical, rescue and anti-piracy war
games between Iranian and Russian naval forces are being planned and
will be implemented in the near future," the semi-official news
agency Mehr quoted Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi as saying. Iran
and Russia have held several naval drills in the Caspian Sea,
including in 2015 and 2017.
All countries that were granted
waivers from the United States to continue buying a certain amount of
Iranian oil imports are complying with U.S. sanctions, a senior
Iranian energy official said, noting that Tehran was hopeful to find
new buyers. The United States withdrew from a nuclear deal with
Iran last year and snapped sanctions in place to choke Iran's oil and
banking industries, while temporarily allowing eight customers to
keep buying crude from the Islamic Republic.
One of the most common
arguments against President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw U.S.
forces from Syria is that it will strengthen Iran. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo, who leaves tomorrow for a weeklong tour of the Middle
East, makes an interesting case for why that isn't so. Trump
himself gave his critics ammunition at a Cabinet meeting last week,
when he observed that Iran already "can do what they
want" in Syria. But his comment was merely descriptive, not a
prediction of what will happen when the U.S. leaves.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
It was reported that the
Expediency Council has approved a bill paving the way for Iran to
join the FATF, but Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghaddam, a member of the
council, was quoted by Fars News Agency saying "The bill
approved by the council was an amendment to the internal mechanism
set up for countering money laundering and contrary to what has been
quoted by some media is has no connection with the Islamic Republic
to FATF."
Iran's central bank has proposed
slashing four zeros from the rial, state news agency IRNA reported on
Sunday, after the currency plunged in a year marked by an economic
crisis fuelled by U.S. sanctions. "A bill to remove four
zeros from the national currency was presented to the government by
the central bank yesterday and I hope this matter can be concluded as
soon as possible," IRNA quoted central bank governor Abdolnaser
Hemmati as saying.
A powerful Iranian council
approved an anti-money laundering bill on Saturday, state media
reported, a major step towards reforms that would bring Iran into
line with global norms and could facilitate foreign trade in the face
of U.S sanctions. Iran has been trying to implement standards
set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental
organization that underpins the fight against money laundering and
terrorist financing.
Salih Muslim, the former
co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), denied claims made
by US President Donald Trump that Syrian Kurds have sold oil to Iran.
During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump said he was not
happy that the Kurds are selling oil to Iran. "I didn't like the
fact that [the Kurds] are selling the small oil that they have to
Iran, and we asked them not to do it," the US president stated.
MISSILE PROGRAM
Iran's telecommunications
minister said Saturday his country's three new satellites have
successfully passed pre-launch tests. Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi
made the announcement in a tweet but did not mention a launch
schedule. Iran usually displays space achievements in February
during the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
One summer evening a couple years ago, Hua Qu's son's
preschool teacher pulled her aside. Shaofan, Qu's son, had been
pretending that bad guys had locked his dad in a dungeon inside of a
big castle that was guarded by scary dragon. Was Shaofan just playing
around? Qu had tried to be discreet. But for months, she had been
working nonstop to bring home her husband, Xiyue Wang, a Ph.D.
student at Princeton who had been arrested and imprisoned in Iran.
Now Shaofan had finally pieced together - in his 3-year-old mind -
why his dad had disappeared.
The head of an Iranian
parliament committee to combat economic corruption, Amir Khojasteh,
has called for the public execution of those found guilty of
corruption. "Thirty one people have been identified as
behind Iran's economic corruption and must be executed in public
squares," Khojasteh said, according to local news sites.
Iran's parliament will
investigate claims by a labour protest leader that he was tortured in
prison following strikes at a sugar factory, the semi-official ISNA
news agency reported on Sunday. Alireza Rahimi, a member of
parliament's presiding board, said his request for an investigation
had been accepted by speaker Ali Larijani, according to ISNA.
Outspoken MP and deputy speaker
of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Motahari has called on Iran's
intelligence Minister to order an investigation into the allegations
of ministry agents torturing a labor activist. In a commentary in
reformist daily newspaper Etemad on Sunday January 6, Motahari asked
Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi to probe into the complaints made
by labor activist Esmail Bakhshi and to declare if there was a legal
basis for what has allegedly been done to him by intelligence
ministry agents.
The labor struggles of
teachers in Iran have expanded simultaneously with the
establishment of a modern educational system in the country. The
first union action of teachers took place almost a century ago, in
1922, over demands such as wage raises, receiving back pay, improving
the quality and quantity of educational spaces and providing
free and high-quality education to disadvantaged students. Another
notable episode of teacher activism occurred in 1961, when one
teacher was killed during a union strike that led to the
collapse of the government.
January is the first anniversary
of Iran's protests. Massive demonstrations shock Iran to the core. A
year passed and the Iranian regime's officials are celebrating their
survival. Although supreme leader Ali Khamenei told his followers not
to go overboard with joy because in his words" The enemy may
have big plans for next year." He is right since the year has
been a very difficult one for the regime. It is safe to say that not
a day passed without some kind of protest here and there.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
A close aide to Iran's Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday U.S. officials had
approached him during a visit he made last month to Afghanistan to
request talks with Tehran, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency
reported. Tensions between arch foes, Iran and the United
States, have increased since last May, when President Donald Trump
pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers,
and then reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic that had been
lifted under the terms of the pact.
President Donald Trump on
January 6 on his way to Camp David told reporters that Iran is facing
difficulties and "they want to talk". Listing his successes
and plans on foreign policy, the U.S. president mentioned Iran,
saying, "Iran is doing very poorly. Once I took the horrible
Iran nuclear deal off, it has had a massive effect in Iran; they are
pulling back troops all over the place. They are not doing well. They
want to talk."
US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo is to embark on an expansive tour of the Gulf and wider Middle
East this week in a bid to strengthen alliances and reassure key
partners about American backing for the war in Yemen and the battle
against Iran's influence in the region. Washington's top diplomat
will leave on Tuesday for a trip that will take in eight Middle
Eastern capitals, including all of the Gulf Cooperation Council
members.
China, Russia and Iran have been
identified as the biggest three "national security threats"
to the United States in an official US government report listing its
top 26 perceived security threats. Titled "Long-range emerging
threats facing the United States," the report was compiled
by the Washington-based Government Accountability Office.
It polled four US federal agencies to come up with the 26 worst
threats as identified by the US Departments of Defense, State, and
Homeland Security as well as the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence (DNI), The National Interest news outlet
reported.
Families from around the globe
have filed suit in Brooklyn federal court "against several banks
they say funded terrorism that killed their loved ones,"
according to New York Post. Three separate lawsuits filed Tuesday and
Wednesday claim banks from Lebanon and Palestine "maintained
accounts for various branches of terrorist organizations" the
report added.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iran is to deploy its newest
warship to the Atlantic Ocean on a five-month mission -- the navy's
longest in a decade, the conservative Fars news agency reported on
Saturday. "The navy has had a plan to deploy a flotilla to the
Atlantic Ocean for a few years and now everything seems prepared to
launch the mission," said Fars, which is considered close to
Iran's military.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
An earthquake hit an area in
western Iran near the Iraqi border on Sunday, injuring 75 people,
most of them lightly, the head of the country's emergency medical
services said. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initially put
the magnitude of the quake at 5.9 but revised this later to
5.5. Pirhossein Koulivand said all but one of the 75 injured
had been released after treatment following the earthquake in Gilan
Gharb in Kermanshah province, according to the emergency services'
website.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
The White House has sent
national security adviser John Bolton on a mission to allay Israel's
concerns about US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw US
troops from Syria, with one official saying Washington will be
"very supportive" of Israeli strikes against Iranian
targets in the country. The pullout announced before Christmas was
initially expected to be completed within weeks, but the timetable
has slowed as the president acceded to requests from aides, allies
and members of Congress for a more orderly drawdown.
The Trump administration won't
withdraw forces from northern Syria unless Turkey offers a firm
commitment not to target the U.S.'s Kurdish allies, White House
national security adviser John Bolton said Sunday. President Trump's
order to withdraw U.S. troops is a "cause-and-effect
mission" that requires certain assurances from various players
in the region before it can be executed, said Mr. Bolton, the first
administration official to outline the conditions for withdrawal.
GULF STATES, YEMEN & IRAN
The recent talks regarding a cessation of hostilities in
Yemen, held in Sweden between the indirect representatives of Iran
and Saudi Arabia, represent Sweden's desire to mediate international
conflicts and promote its image as a humanitarian power. Nonetheless,
the implications of Sweden's foreign policy go beyond the intent of
serving "the goals of peace."
AFGHANISTAN & IRAN
Iran's deputy foreign minister
on a visit to Afghanistan met senior government officials to brief
them on Iran's talks with Taliban representatives. Abbas Araqchi on
Saturday met Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive
Abdullah Abdullah and Deputy Foreign Minister Idrees Zaman and
informed them of Iran's talks with a Taliban delegation that visited
Tehran in late December.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
When China landed an explorer robot
on the far side of the Moon last week, it underlined the ability
of space to inspire and grip our imaginations. Our increased
ability to cross extra-terrestrial frontiers has been one of the few
bright spots of recent years. As stock markets wobble and political
divisions grow, space has boosted global ambition. The new-generation
space race sets a test for many nations. Some, like China, can point
to rapid progress. Others, most notably Iran, have fallen short.
Iranians risking their lives by
crossing the Channel in small boats may not be genuine asylum
seekers, fellow migrants warned last night. They said that while some
Iranians have fled their homeland because of religious and political
persecution, others want to go to Britain for a better life or simply
to join family members.
There's a certain irony to the
fact that migration is yet again making front-page headlines in the
UK, with less than 84 days left to run until (deal or no deal)
Brexit's due date. Migration was one of the most polarizing factors
behind the UK's vote to leave the European Union in the first place.
Now, as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares for a January
showdown with British parliamentarians to secure support for her
Brexit deal, the country has seen an almost on-cue news story about
illegal migration and border security, with the compelling TV news
footage to match.
MISCELLANEOUS
No matter how intense, the heat
of summer yields to the moderating breezes of its successor season.
Brutal governments that scourge their own inevitably face movements
that hold out the promise of liberation and peace. The passage of 40
years, time enough to span three generations, tests the ability of
the suffering people of Iran to endure the inhumanity of their
radical Islamic regime.
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