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TOP
STORIES
Iran launched
another missile Wednesday from the same launch pad east of Tehran
where it conducted a previous ballistic missile test last month, an
official told Fox News. The Semnan launch pad was the same as the one
where Fox News reported exclusively on Tuesday, satellite photos
showed Iran had placed a Safir rocket poised to put a satellite into
space before it was taken off the launcher. The reason Iran scrubbed
the previous launch is not yet known. The missile used in Wednesday's
launch was a short-range Mersad surface-to-air missile, which
impacted 35 miles away, according to a U.S. official. This latest
test comes less than a week after the U.S. placed new sanctions on
Iran. There's been a flurry of activity at the Semnan launch pad,
located about 140 miles east of Tehran, in recent weeks, officials
have told Fox News.
The Trump
administration is considering executive actions that would designate
Iran's Revolutionary Guard and the Muslim Brotherhood, an influential
movement across the Middle East, as terrorist organizations, people
familiar with the discussions said. A decision to target either of
the two groups would mark a significant expansion of U.S. sanctions
against Islamist organizations in the Middle East. They would join al
Qaeda, Islamic State and dozens of other militant organizations
currently on the U.S. terrorism list. The White House is likely to
move more quickly on the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps, which could be less of a challenge to implement, one
person familiar with the discussions said. It was unclear when a
decision would be made on either designation... Taking the step of
designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization would
give the U.S. further latitude to target the IRGC's finances and
companies, which would affect large sectors of Iran's economy.
It was supposed
to be a regular weekly debate night for a group that meets to discuss
movies in a middle-class Tehran neighborhood. But on this particular
evening, the 20 or so housewives, intellectuals and students in the
group wanted to talk about only one thing: a possibly violent
conflict between Iran and the United States. Months had passed since
members of the group had been so worked up, recalled one of the
participants, Fariba Sameni, a 57-year-old translator. No one wanted
to discuss film. Younger members were convinced that President Trump
would inevitably bomb Iran. "They shouted that their futures
would be destroyed," Ms. Sameni said. The group's leader, a
professor, argued that Mr. Trump, with his background as a
businessman, would ultimately make a deal with Iran. The professor's
argument was unconvincing, Ms. Sameni said. "When I went home, I
felt anxious and worried," she said, "as if something
really bad is about to happen." ... Iran's defiance of the
United States has been a pillar of foreign policy since the 1979
Islamic Revolution, and the ideology of independence from world
powers is widely embraced even by Iranians who do not like their
government's politically repressive behavior. But some question
whether this ideology can sometimes undermine national interests.
"How about not test-firing a missile," Ms. Sameni said.
"Maybe that would reduce tensions."
U.S.-IRAN
RELATIONS
urning American
flags and homemade effigies of American presidents is a cherished
tradition among Iranian hard-liners, but as the country prepares for
the anniversary on Friday of the 1979 revolution that established the
Islamic republic, others want to thank Americans instead. President
Trump's executive order barring travelers from Iran and six other
largely Muslim countries has prompted a backlash in the United
States, including challenges in federal court, and Iranians have
taken notice. "We thank Americans who stood up for the seven
countries blocked from entering the US by the new travel ban,"
stated one popular Iranian Twitter account, with the hashtag
#LoveBeyondFlags... Many hard-liners responded online by criticizing
those who had urged an end to flag-burning.
Operators that
organize trips to Iran have begun canceling tours citing difficulty
in securing visas for American travelers in the wake of President
Trump's executive order barring citizens from seven majority Muslim
countries from entering the United States for 90 days. Though the
order, issued on Jan. 27, has been blocked in a federal court, and
citizens of the affected countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia,
Sudan, Syria and Yemen may resume travel, Americans may not be able
to enter Iran as tourists for the next few months. Wilderness Travel,
which is based in Berkeley, Calif., canceled its April and May
departures after its Iranian counterparts advised the company that
Iran is presently not issuing travel visas to Americans... SmarTours,
based in New York, had begun selling its first trips to Iran in
January. It has canceled its initial July departure, but it hopes to
begin monthly departures in August.
CONGRESSIONAL
ACTION
Democratic Sen.
Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) told Chris Wallace on "Fox News
Sunday" that President Donald Trump was "right" to put
Iran on notice after it conducted a missile test. Iran tested a ballistic
missile last Sunday in what many observers believe is a violation of
United Nations Security Council 2231, which enshrined the Iran
nuclear deal as international law and calls on the Islamic Republic
to refrain from such launches. The Trump administration responded on
Friday by imposing new sanctions on Tehran and articulating that it
will respond to Iranian aggression. Wallace asked Feinstein whether
President Trump had an appropriate response to Iran's actions.
"I think he is right in this. I think Iran in wrong in
this," Feinstein said. "Let me be very clear. These are not
nuclear ballistic missiles; they are conventional ballistic missiles,
but Iran has a lot of them-more than anyone else in that area."
Feinstein said it is "dangerous" for Iran to test missiles
now and that "it should not have happened."
PROXY
WARS
Yemen's
simmering war is getting fresh attention from Washington-to the
delight of Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, hopeful that President
Donald Trump will choose the conflict as his first battleground to
roll back Iran. Saudi Arabia and other monarchies of the Gulf
Cooperation Council have been fighting in Yemen since March 2015 in
an attempt to restore President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, ousted that
year by the pro-Iranian Houthi militia... The Obama administration
and European allies, while assisting Saudi-led troops with some
intelligence and weapons, also pushed for a political settlement with
the Houthis and viewed the group as a legitimate political faction.
The Trump administration, so far, has taken a much harder line.
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn last week described the
Houthis as one of Iran's "proxy terrorist groups" even
though the militia has not been officially designated by the U.S.
government as a terrorist organization.
BUSINESS
RISK
French oil major
Total plans to make a final investment decision on a $2 billion gas
project in Iran by the summer, but the decision hinges on the renewal
of U.S. sanctions waivers, the company's chief executive said on
Thursday. Total was the first Western energy company to sign a major
deal with Tehran since the lifting of international sanctions against
Iran. Its project aims to develop South Pars 11, which is part of the
world's largest gas field. Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said
South Pars 11 will be among a couple of projects to be approved by
the company to start by the summer, if nothing is modified with
regards to the sanctions.
SANCTIONS
ENFORCEMENT
Senior defense
and intelligence officials have cautioned the White House that a
proposal to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign
terrorist organization could endanger U.S. troops in Iraq and the
overall fight against the Islamic State, and would be an
unprecedented use of a law that was not designed to sanction
government institutions. Defense and intelligence concerns have been
expressed at the highest levels over the past several days, as the
White House was preparing to roll out an executive order dealing with
both Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Muslim
Brotherhood, according to administration officials who spoke on the
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss
the sensitive matter. The order would direct the State Department -
in charge of the designation process - to move toward declaring them
terrorist organizations... White House enthusiasm for the directives
was high at the end of last week, with plans to release them as soon
as Tuesday. But since then, national security agencies, still smarting
from the White House's failure to vet last month's immigration order
with them before President Trump signed it, have been concerned about
a repeat of the criticism and chaos that ensued... Designating the
Revolutionary Guard - a force of more than 100,000 that fields an
army, navy and air force, in addition to wielding significant
economic power - would mark the first time the Foreign Terrorist
Organizations law has been applied to an official government
institution.
OPINION
& ANALYSIS
Iran's latest
missile test on January 29 received a swift response, as warranted.
The United Nations Security Council called for an emergency session,
and on February 2, the U.S. Treasury imposed new sanctions on persons
and entities involved with Tehran's ballistic missile program. Iran
responded equally swiftly. An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander
proclaimed that a separate, large-scale military missile exercise
underway in Semnan province was intended to "showcase the power
of Iran's revolution and to dismiss the sanctions." Officials in
Iran have vowed to continue testing ballistic missiles and dismissed
claims that its program is a cover to develop long-range projectiles
capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The United States and its
allies should demand that Tehran uphold its obligation not to conduct
tests of nuclear-capable ballistic or cruise missiles... If testing
of ballistic and cruise missiles is covered by Resolution 2231, those
provisions should be implemented and Iran held to account. If the
resolution's provisions do not cover such activities, the Security
Council should issue a new resolution explicitly banning them and
ensure that there are long-term restrictions in place for the time
when Iran is capable of producing fissile material in just a matter
of weeks.
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