|
TOP
STORIES
A record-high 54 percent of American voters feel the U.S. is less
safe today than it was before 9/11, according to the latest Fox News
national poll... 54 percent of voters think last year's nuclear deal
with Iran has made the U.S. less safe. Republicans (76 percent)
are much more likely than independents (59 percent) and Democrats (30
percent) to feel that way... The poll also asks about the White
House's position that the $400 million dollars the U.S. recently paid
Iran was not a ransom payment for the release of American
prisoners. Voters disagree: by a 53-38 percent margin, they say
it was ransom.
With Iranians blocked from this month's hajj pilgrimage, their
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a furious rebuke to
rival Saudi Arabia, saying the Muslim world should challenge its
management of Islam's holiest sites. "Saudi rulers... who have
blocked the proud and faithful Iranian pilgrims' path to the
Beloved?s House, are disgraced and misguided people who think their
survival on the throne of oppression is dependent on defending the
arrogant powers of the world, on alliances with Zionism and the
US," Khamenei said. He accused Saudi Arabia's ruling family, who
are the custodians of Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, of
politicising the annual hajj pilgrimage, due to start at the end of
the week, turning themselves into "small and puny Satans who
tremble for fear of jeopardising the interests of the Great Satan
(the United States)". For the first time in almost three
decades, Iranians have been effectively barred from participating in
this year's pilgrimage to Mecca after talks on logistics and security
fell apart. But even by recent standards, with relations between the
rival Middle Eastern powers at an all-time low, the language was
tough. "Because of Saudi rulers' oppressive behaviour towards
God's guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the
management of the two holy places and the issue of hajj,"
Khamenei wrote in a statement on his website.
Several of Iran's biggest banks have been dragged into a fight
between the government and its hardline opponents, as disputes over
last year's nuclear deal roil domestic politics months ahead of
presidential elections. The nation's leading conservative newspaper
on Saturday published photos of letters purportedly sent by two
lenders -- Bank Mellat and Bank Sepah -- declining to serve companies
and individuals working for a conglomerate owned by the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps. Kayhan, whose editor is appointed by
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made similar claims about
other lenders... Kayhan accused Iranian authorities of pandering to
the international community, stating in an accompanying article:
"We've committed ourselves to self-sanctioning!" Central
bank efforts to improve Iran's standing with the Paris-based
Financial Action Task Force, which aims to counter money laundering
and terrorist financing, led a number of state-run and private banks
to penalize parts of the armed forces, the paper alleged.
NUCLEAR
& BALLISTIC MISSILE PROGRAM
Iran
is systematically testing the boundaries of the nuclear deal it
struck with the West, and the Obama administration has repeatedly
swept this under the carpet, acting as "Iran's lawyers"
instead, a senior Israeli security expert has warned. Dr. Emily
Landau, head of the Arms Control Program at the Tel Aviv-based
Institute for National Security Studies, told The Jerusalem Post on
Monday that a string of incidents over the past six months has proven
that "there is a continued struggle between Iran and the US. It
is real, and is here. Iran is continuing to push the envelope, trying
to get as much as it can, even within the confines of this
deal," she said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), which was reached last year.
CONGRESSIONAL ACTION
Congress
is set to consider new legislation that would block the Obama
administration from awarding Iran billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars
in what many describe as a ransom payment, according to a copy of the
legislation obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Sen. Marco Rubio (R.,
Fla.) will introduce on Tuesday new legislation that would prohibit
the Obama administration from moving forward with all payments to
Iran, according to the bill, which would also force Iran to return
billions of dollars in U.S. funds that have already been delivered to
Tehran by the White House. Rubio's bill-a version of which is also
being introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.)-would
mandate that Iran pay American victims of terrorism some $53 billion
in reparations for past attacks planned and coordinated by the
Islamic Republic.
SANCTIONS
RELIEF
Three Iranian banks have told Bavaria's economy minister that they
plan to open branches in Munich to help stimulate more business ties
with German firms, the Muenchner Merkur newspaper reported on Sunday.
Middle East Bank, Parsian Bank and Sina Bank have received approval
from Iran's central bank to set up branches overseas, the minister,
Ilse Aigner, told the newspaper. Aigner, a member of the conservative
Christian Social Union (CSU), spoke with the newspaper from Tehran
during her second visit to the Iranian capital within a year.
"Business ties between Bavarian companies and Iran often fail
today because of barriers in the payment process," Aigner told
the newspaper in interview to be published Monday. "That is why
having branches of Iranian banks in Munich is particularly important
for our businesses. Especially our small- to medium-sized firms have
enormous export prospects to Iran that they will be able to utilise
more easily in the future."
Two private Iranian banks will open branches in Munich, officials
confirmed Monday, as the Islamic republic looks for ways around
ongoing barriers to international financing. The central bank
announced late on Sunday that Middle East Bank and Sina Bank would
set up in Germany's Bavaria state, following a visit by local economy
minister Ilse Aigner to Tehran. "This is a first since the
revolution of 1979. We hope to open our branch by the end of
2016," Parviz Aghili, director general of Middle East Bank, told
journalists. Iran's central bank is also now working with its German
counterpart and several banks in the country to settle oil exports in
euros.
The
European Union's trade with Iran amounted to €5.107 billion in the
first half of 2016, a 43 percent rise year on year, based on the
latest figures released by the European Union's statistics agency
Eurostat. Following the implementation of the nuclear deal in January
and thanks to the rise in EU countries' purchase of oil from the
Islamic Republic, trade between Iran and the EU rose 43 percent
compared with €3.563 billion in first six months of 2015. From
January to June 2016, EU's exports to Iran increased by 13 percent
and reached €3.565 billion, from €3.154 billion in the first half of
2015... At the same time, EU's imports from the Islamic Republic
increased 52 percent and stood at €396 million, while the amount was
€260 million in the same period in 2015.
Turkish electricity producer Zorlu Enerji may build gas-fired power
plants in Iran as Turkey's eastern neighbor is seeking to attract
investors after decades of economic sanctions. The company is in
talks with Iranian authorities for the project and a concrete plan
may be announced this year, said Omer Yungul, chief executive officer
of Zorlu Holding that owns the Istanbul-based company, formally known
as Zorlu Enerji Elektrik Uretim AS. Zorlu Enerji ... plans to invest
"a sizable amount" in Iran, Yungul said in an interview in
Istanbul. The total capacity of the power plants may be similar to
plans by Unit International, owned by Turkish investor Unal Aysal, to
build power plants costing $4.2 billion in Iran, he said.
FOREIGN
AFFAIRS
The UK has fully restored diplomatic relations with Iran by
appointing an ambassador to Tehran for the first time since 2011. The
decision comes nearly five years after Iranians invaded the British
embassy, and reflects the gradual thawing of relations in the wake of
the Iranian nuclear agreement. Nicholas Hopton, a Middle East
specialist, was appointed UK chargé d'affairs in Tehran in December,
and the upgrade in his role to ambassador - announced on Monday - had
been regarded as only a matter of time. A key figure in the Iranian
nuclear negotiating team, Hamid Baeidinejad, has been appointed the
Iranian ambassador to the UK... On Monday Boris Johnson, the foreign
secretary, said: "This is an important moment in the relationship
between the UK and Iran. The upgrade in diplomatic relations gives us
the opportunity to develop our discussions on a range of issues,
including our consular cases about which I am deeply concerned, and
which I have raised with foreign minister [Javad] Zarif."
EXTREMISM
Iran's state TV says police have shut down more than 800 clothing
stores across the country for selling "unconventional and
inappropriate" attire - believed to mean Western-style outfits and
women's clothing that doesn't meet strict Islamic requirements.
Monday's report says the raids took place over a 10-day span after
authorities first sent official warnings to merchants in more than
3,600 shops. Iranian police and state TV have in recent weeks
campaigned against selling second-hand clothes, which are considered
"unhygienic," as well as clothes with English language
print on them.
SAUDI-IRAN
TENSIONS
A decision by a Kurdish opposition group to take up arms against
Iranian authorities has senior officials in Tehran worrying that
Saudi Arabia is seeking to undermine its stability in a deepening of
their regional rivalry. Riyadh denies the charge. But tension between
the two countries is surging, with Saudi Arabia and Iran supporting
opposite sides in wars in Syria and Yemen and rival political parties
in Iraq and Lebanon. The contest has largely hewed along sectarian
lines as mainly Shi'ite Iran and Saudi Arabia, a predominantly Sunni
country, vie for influence. That competition, officials in Tehran
worry, has now spread inside their borders, thanks to what they fear
is Riyadh's exploitation of the Islamic Republic's communal rifts.
They point to clashes -- the first in almost 20 years -- between the
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) fighters and Revolutionary
Guards in the northwest in June and July that left several dead on
both sides. As fighting escalated, Iranian forces shelled suspected
Kurdish military bases in northern Iraq, raising the prospect that
the conflict could spread across the border.
DOMESTIC
POLITICS
The
pistachio trees at the village in southern Iran are long dead,
bleached white by the sun -- the underground water reserves sucked
dry by decades of over-farming and waste. The last farmers left with
their families 10 years ago, and the village has the look of an
abandoned Martian colony. The dome-roofed, mud-walled homes are
crumbling, once-green fields are now nothing but dirt furrows, and
the only sign of life is a couple of drifters camping out in an old
storehouse. Pistachios are Iran's biggest export after crude oil,
with 250,000 tonnes of the nut produced last year -- a figure only
recently topped by the United States. In Kerman province in southern
Iran, cities have grown rich from pistachios, but time is running out
for the industry as unconstrained farming and climate change take a
devastating toll.
The
groom wore a navy blue tuxedo, the bride a custom-made gown with a
fish-scale pattern inspired by pictures she found on Instagram.
Waiters passed around French tarts as guests crowded a dance floor
pulsating under strobe lights. When the DJ played "Gangnam
Style," a cheer went up from the young women in tight dresses,
salon-styled hair falling down their bare shoulders. The wedding
reception was like so many - except that it took place in Tehran, the
capital of an Islamic republic whose ruling clerics take a dim view
of such displays of skin and secular, Western-oriented tastes.
"We represent the change in society," said the groom,
30-year-old Sarmad Kodeiri. Iran's theocracy - whose top clerics
still lead "Death to America" chants at Friday prayers -
has exercised strict control over public behavior since taking power
in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. But beneath the surface in this
country of 80 million people, the hard-liners quietly are being
challenged by a large urban middle class that has grown weary of
religious strictures and more attuned to global trends.
OPINION
& ANALYSIS
Destroying
ISIS in Iraq requires ditching Iranian influence | Pete Hegseth in
The Hill
We don't know whether ISIS draws direct support from
Iran or not, but we do know that senior Al Qaeda figures find shelter
in Iran today. And we also know that the rise of ISIS was made
possible, in part, by Iranian-dominated policies inside the Iraqi
government, all enabled by American military and diplomatic retreat.
Moreover, the existence of ISIS gives Iran a military pretext to
operate freely throughout Iraq. So, as prosecutors often say, a
pattern emerges. Now, with a presidential election looming, the Obama
administration has finally decided to get serious about destroying
ISIS. But anyone who has served in Iraq can tell you that
providing air support for Iranian militias is not the answer.
As we learned during the surge and the Awakening, giving the people
on the ground-aided by American military might-a reason to fight for
their own security is the only path towards sustainable stability and
against Islamism... For our own security and own interest, American
needs to free our foreign policy of Iranian control and give those
groups the motivation they need. America's next president must
have the intestinal fortitude and intellectual honesty to do just
that.
Iran's
Continued Imprisonment of Dual Citizens | Haleh Esfandiari in WSJ
Exactly nine years ago, on Sept. 2, 2007, I was allowed to leave Iran
after spending eight months under arrest and enduring 105 days in
solitary confinement in Evin prison. After what felt like endless
interrogations, interminable confinement, and threats of a trial and
a long prison term, the Intelligence Ministry, unable to come up with
plausible charges against me, finally let me go. Looking out the
airplane window at Tehran as I departed, I knew I was saying goodbye
to the city of my birth, and to my country, for as long as the
current regime remained in power. Its paranoia over foreign plots to
bring about regime change in Iran leads it to persecute dual
nationals as supposed agents of foreign governments.
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment