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TOP STORIES
Iran said on Wednesday it would not give European powers
any more time beyond July 8 to save its nuclear deal by shielding it
from U.S. sanctions. The spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy
Organization said Tehran was ready to go through with a threat to enrich
uranium to a higher level if Europe did not step in, a move that
would breach the terms of a nuclear pact with world powers. Any
such breach would raise already heightened tensions between Iran and
U.S. President Donald Trump who has said he is ready to take military
action to stop Tehran getting a nuclear bomb.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has privately delivered
warnings intended for Iranian leaders that any attack by Tehran or
its proxies resulting in the death of even one American service
member will generate a military counterattack, U.S. officials said.
The potential for a significant military response to even an isolated
event has fueled a broader internal debate among top Trump officials
about whether the administration's policy exceeds President Trump's
specific goal of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, the
officials said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is
"strong evidence" supporting a U.S. accusation that Iran
was behind last week's attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
"We of course take these explanations very seriously, and there
is strong evidence," Merkel said at a news conference Tuesday
after talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin.
"But that does not prevent me from saying that we must do
everything to solve the conflict with Iran in a peaceful way,"
Merkel said, adding that there will be "consequences" if
Iran does not stick to its commitments under the nuclear deal and
Germany is in "the closest contact" with the U.S.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Iran, the world's leading state-sponsor of terrorism,
has lied to global financial policymakers for three years about its
intention to prevent its banks from laundering money and financing
terror organizations. And for three years, the same policymakers at
the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) have done nothing while Iran
dragged its feet. This must change. The FATF is meeting in Orlando
this week, and it must vote to blacklist Iranian banks - as it has
repeatedly promised but failed to do - or risk acquiring a reputation
as a toothless tiger.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
President Hassan Rouhani said Iran's decision to end its
compliance with some measures within the nuclear deal were the
"minimum" that the Islamic Republic could do in response to
the U.S. violating the landmark accord, according to the semi-official
Iranian Students' News Agency. Rouhani said "the other side in
the agreement" hadn't only failed to fulfil its obligations but
also reduced its commitment under the deal, questioning the spirit
and foundation of the accord, ISNA reported, citing comments made at
a cabinet meeting Wednesday.
A year after the United States pulled out of the Iran
nuclear agreement, the pact is at severe risk of collapse and the
European Union is caught in the middle, struggling to keep supply
lines open to the Islamic Republic's wilting economy under the threat
of U.S. sanctions. With few real options left, their trust in the
Trump administration running low, and fears rising that conflict
could break out, major powers Germany, France and Britain have been
reduced to repeating calls for restraint as pressure builds and Iran
threatens to walk away from the painstakingly drafted 2015 deal.
Germany is doing all it can to defuse heightened
tensions with Iran in a peaceful way, Chancellor Angela Merkel said
on Tuesday, adding, however, that Iran must stick to the 2015
international nuclear agreement. "We are pushing for Iran
to keep to (the nuclear pact) - if that is not the case, there will
of course be consequences," Merkel said.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
The British government has settled a 1.25 billion pound
($1.6 billion) damages claim brought by Iran's largest private bank
in an 11th-hour, out-of-court deal following a dispute over sanctions
and alleged links to Tehran's nuclear programme. Bank Mellat,
which is 20% owned by the Iranian government and 80% privately held,
said on Tuesday the legal row had been resolved for an undisclosed
sum on the first day of a trial to assess its damages at London's
High Court.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Wednesday
that Europe was not cooperating with Tehran to buy its oil in the
face of U.S. sanctions against Iran's energy sector. "The
Europeans are not cooperating to buy oil," Zanganeh was quoted
as saying by Fars news agency.
Iran's economy contracted by 4.9 percent in
the 2018-2019 year ended in March, slipping further into recession as
diminishing oil exports due to the U.S. sanctions are depriving the
Islamic Republic of its economic lifeline-oil revenues. The
4.9-percent contraction between March 2018 and March 2019, reported
by the Statistical Center of Iran cited by VOA, could worsen even
further as the U.S. removed all sanction waivers for Iranian oil
buyers as of May 2.
MISSILE PROGRAM
The commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps
said on Tuesday that Iran's ballistic missiles were capable of
hitting "carriers in the sea" with great precision.
"These missiles can hit with great precision carriers in the sea
... These missiles are domestically produced and are difficult to
intercept and hit with other missiles," Brigadier General
Hossein Salami said in a televised speech.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
As tensions between Iran and the United States reached
dangerous levels in recent weeks, Iranian human rights activists
warned about the dire ramifications of sanctions and other
pressures for women and the women's rights movement in Iran. The US
policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran has been composed of
ever-expanding sets of sanctions imposed in the aftermath of
President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear
deal last year.
A U.S. permanent resident who was recently released from
prison in Iran is finally making his way back to America, where his
three sons live. Nizar Zakka, 52, who is a citizen of Lebanon,
was arrested in September 2015 in Tehran while trying to leave the country
and charged with spying for the U.S. He denied the charges,
but he was sentenced to 10 years in Iran's Evin Prison.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
A squadron of American F-15E Strike Eagles arrived in
United Arab Emirates on Thursday as part of reinforcements against
the Iranian threat as announced last month by the Pentagon. President
Trump announced the additional military presence in the Middle East
last month, saying additional 1,500 troops will be sent together with
a squadron of U.S. Air Force jets.
The sophistication of the attacks on two shipping
tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week had already led most
independent analysts to conclude Iran was responsible for the
high-profile explosions. But there has been scepticism from some key
countries, including Germany and Japan, after the US initially
released a grainy black and white video it said showed Iranian forces
removing an unexploded mine from one of the two targeted ships. Iran
has denied involvement.
Iran is trying to rally support from Russia, China and
other countries to help counter a U.S. campaign that has included
crippling economic sanctions and thousands of additional
troops committed to the Middle East. As Washington struggles to
build robust international support for its pressure tactics against
Tehran, Iranian officials are working to take advantage. Their main
targets, Russia and China, are members of the United Nations Security
Council and could block any diplomatic moves there against
Tehran.
"As tensions between Washington and Tehran
escalate, European leaders find themselves in an uncomfortable place
they have feared ever since President Trump pulled out of the Iran
nuclear deal 13 months ago and restored punishing sanctions against
Tehran. While the Europeans want to preserve the deal - which they
see as important for their own security and for the stability of the
Middle East - they are basically powerless in the face of American
military and financial clout."
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States
was very prepared with regard to Iran, as tensions ramped up after
attacks on several oil tankers and Tehran's announcement it would
step up uranium enrichment. "We're very prepared for Iran. We'll
see what happens," Trump told reporters. On Monday, the United
States announced it would deploy about 1,000 more troops to the
Middle East, citing concerns about a threat from Iran.
There will not be any military confrontation between
Iran and the United States, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National
Security Council was quoted as saying on Wednesday by state news
agency IRNA. Worries about a military confrontation between Iran and the
United States have mounted since attacks last week on two oil tankers
near the Gulf. Washington blamed long-time foe Iran for the attacks
but Tehran denied any responsibility.
U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook plans to
travel to Paris next week for talks about Iran with senior British,
French and German officials, a senior European diplomat and another
source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The meeting, which
comes amid growing tensions between Iran and the United States
following a series of attacks in the Gulf that Washington has blamed
on Tehran despite its denials, was expected to take place on June 27,
the sources said on condition of anonymity.
President Donald Trump faces pressure to choose a new
Pentagon chief quickly amid rising tensions with Iran, but the abrupt
and messy withdrawal of his previous pick, Patrick Shanahan, has
raised questions about the rigor of the administration's vetting
process. Senators said they were blindsided Tuesday when Shanahan
took his name out of consideration after reports about domestic
violence episodes in his family. Trump later told reporters he
learned about the 2010 events only on Monday.
The U.S. is sending 1,000 more troops to the Middle East
as tensions in the Persian Gulf mounted Tuesday over Iran's
announcement it will not comply with the international agreement that
keeps it from making nuclear weapons. At the same time, Iran insisted
it was not seeking war. Iran's announcement Monday that it could soon
start enriching uranium to just a step away from weapons-grade levels
challenged President Donald Trump's assurances to allies that the
U.S. withdrawal from the deal last year made the world a safer place.
Key senators will soon be getting a new round of
briefings from the Trump administration amid escalating U.S. tensions
with Iran. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
said from the Senate floor Tuesday that committees would be getting a
briefing, and that a top State Department official will take part in
a closed-door Senate Republican lunch to discuss the situation with
GOP senators.
Some people call the brinkmanship in the Gulf between
Iran and the US a game of chicken. But with Tehran announcing
this week that it will breach the uranium enrichment limits in the
2015 nuclear deal, and Washington moving another 1,000 troops to
the region, the game is starting dangerously to resemble nuclear
roulette. The starting point for this escalation is President Donald
Trump's decision last year to withdraw the US unilaterally from
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
IRANIAN REGIONAL AGGRESSION
The simmering standoff between the United States and
Iran is feeding global concern that both countries are inching
perilously close to war. It has also focused attention on Iran's
network of proxy forces throughout the Middle East. On Thursday, U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listed a series of attacks he said
"Iranian surrogates" have committed since early May,
describing them as part of "an unacceptable campaign of
escalating tension by Iran."
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iran's Ministry of Intelligence said on Tuesday that the
country has managed to "deal a heavy blow against America's
international spy network." In a statement, the ministry said it
recently targeted the network, along with its international allies,
and succeeded in "preventing American plans from
succeeding." "We have intelligence allies and we exchange
information with them. Currently we are engaged in the battle of
intelligence with the United States. In this battle we should use
ours and our allies capabilities," the statement said.
The United States has denied new claims by Iranian
officials that Tehran and its allies have dismantled a U.S.
cyber-spying network as part of a purported operation that led to
multiple arrests of U.S. agents. In a Tuesday statement issued in
response to a query from VOA Persian, a U.S. official who declined to
be identified, disputed Iran's assertions that it recently
successfully targeted a U.S. spy network.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Iran's presence in Syria is subject to military and
political pressure from the country's four parts. This pressure aims
at pushing Tehran to gradually "reduce" its presence,
leading to the withdrawal of its military forces and militias from
areas controlled by the Syrian regime. The first source of pressure
is Syria's eastern gate as the US decided to leave its forces east of
the Euphrates River and Tanf base in the Iraqi-Syrian-Jordanian
corner.
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