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TOP STORIES
Startling new evidence from German intelligence reports
shows the Tehran regime is working to illegally obtain technology and
know-how to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs, despite
the 2015 agreement to curb its nuclear program. A report from the
state of Hamburg holds that "there is no evidence of a complete
about-face in Iran's atomic polices in 2016" [after the Islamic
Republic signed the JCPOA deal with Western powers in 2015, aimed at
restricting Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions
relief]. Iran sought missile carrier technology necessary for its
rocket program."
Iran is readying its first round of oil and gas
exploration tenders since the easing of economic sanctions, hoping to
attract the likes of BP and Gazprom, an Iranian energy official said
on Monday. Sitting on some of the world's biggest energy reserves,
Iran has already been working on deals to develop existing fields
such as South Pars, South Azadegan, Yadavaran, West Karoon, Mansuri
and Abe-Timur. France's Total last week became the first major to sign
a post-sanctions development deal with Iran. Russia's Lukoil and
Denmark's Maersk are also potential investors. Next on the horizon is
the search for new oil, with the state national oil company (NIOC)
planning to tender 14 oil and gas blocks for exploration in the next
two to three months, NIOC's deputy director for exploration blocks,
Rahim Nematollahi, said on the sidelines of an energy industry
conference in Istanbul.
A separate truce for southern Syria, brokered by the
U.S. and Russia, is meant to help allay growing concerns by
neighboring Jordan and Israel about Iranian military ambitions in the
area, including fears that Tehran plans to set up a disruptive
long-term presence there. Such apprehensions were stoked by recent
movements of Shiite Muslim militias - loyal to Iran and fighting
alongside Syrian government forces - toward Jordan's border with
Syria, and to another strategic area in the southeast, close to where
the two countries meet Iraq The advances are part of Syrian President
Bashar Assad's push to regain territory from rebel groups, some
backed by the West, in the southern Daraa province, and from Islamic
State extremists in the southeast, near the triangle with Iraq. But
Syria's neighbors suspect that Iran is pursuing a broader agenda,
including carving out a land route through Syria that would create a
territorial continuum from Iran and Iraq to Lebanon.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
A partial ceasefire in southwestern Syria agreed between
the United States and Russia should be expanded to all of Syria if it
is to be successful, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said on
Monday. The United States, Russia and Jordan announced a ceasefire and
"de-escalation agreement" for the southwest on Friday and
starting on Sunday after a meeting between U.S. President Donald
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in
Hamburg. "The agreement can be fruitful if it is expanded to all
of Syria and includes all the area that we discussed in Astana talks
for de-escalating the tension," Iranian foreign ministry
spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.
In Astana peace talks, Russia, Turkey and Iran tried to finalize an
agreement on creating four de-escalation zones in Syria but failed to
reach an agreement. Russia and Iran are the main international
backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Washington supports
some of the rebel groups fighting to topple him.
Iran is using the ongoing to offensive against the
Islamic State to establish one its top priorities - control over the
Middle East from its own borders to the Mediterranean Sea.
U.S.-backed forces participating in Operation Inherent Resolve have
steadily increased their victories over the Islamic State in the past
year, giving Iran an opportunity to create what is known as a
"land bridge" to its allies in Syria and Lebanon. As U.S.
victories increase, so too does Iranian influence. "Advances by
Iranian allies and proxies appear intended to help Iran establish a
secure land corridor extending from Iran to Lebanon, enabling Iran to
better supply its main regional ally, Lebanese Hezbollah, which
supports pro-Iranian forces in Syria," said the Soufan Group, a
strategic security intelligence firm, in a brief published Wednesday.
Iran says it is ready to deal with any
"unsavory" and "misguided" step by the US,
including a possible violation of a nuclear accord which President Donald
Trump has described as "one of the worst ever made".
Both on his campaign trail and after election in early 2017,
Trump threatened to "scrap" the agreement known as the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but he has markedly toned
down his rhetoric since taking office. "Given the dimensions
that the JCPOA can have, Mr. Trump and the American leadership do not
appear to be capable of unilaterally violating it," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi told reporters in Tehran on Monday.
"That is why the United States has focused on
political, economic, and psychological measures in other anti-Iranian
bills, and is keen to counteract the positive effects of the
JCPOA," he added.
BUSINESS RISK
Total is well placed to take a lead role in helping
Qatar expand output from the world's largest gas field, largely
thanks to its involvement in the Iranian side of the shared deposit,
two sources familiar with Doha's thinking said. That puts the French oil
major ahead of rivals like Exxon and Shell in the early running for
developing the expansion, which the tiny Gulf state announced as it
seeks to counter growing isolation caused by a regional diplomatic
rift Total boss Patrick Pouyanne signed a deal this month to develop
the South Pars field, as Iran's part of the shared reserves are
known, becoming the first oil major to return to the country since
the lifting of sanctions. As he was ironing out details of that
agreement, he was careful to keep Qatar in the loop. "Of course,
I won't go to the same field in Iran without telling Qatar,"
Pouyanne told Reuters.
Two major Indian conglomerates have bid for supplying
key equipment for the strategic Chabahar Port in Iran, while process
is on to expand the financial eligibility criteria to attract more
bidders, an official said. This comes against the backdrop of India
being keen on expediting work on this port, located in the Sistan-
Baluchistan province on the energy-rich Persian Gulf nation's
southern coast that can be easily accessed from India's West coast,
bypassing Pakistan. "Two major Indian conglomerates have bid for
supplying four key mounted quay cranes at Shahid Beheshti Port,
Chabahar. The bids are under evaluation and a final call will be
taken soon," an official who did not wish to be named said. Bids
were invited on behalf of India Ports Global Limited (IPGL).
SANCTIONS RELIEF
NITC, Iran's leading oil tanker operator, said on Monday
its shipments to Europe were increasing daily and it plans to upgrade
its fleet to support expansion. International sanctions on Iran were
lifted in January 2016 and NITC is looking to come in from the cold
after years of isolation. Mohammad Reza Shams Dolatabadi, NITC's head
of international affairs, told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy
industry conference in Istanbul that the company aimed to replace
some of its older tankers with new vessels. He added that the company
also planned to acquire liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, marking
a new direction for the company. "We are thinking of an LNG
fleet in the future," he said. Dolatabadi said the number of
NITC ships calling at European ports was set to increase.
Iran says it is confident that a US-led regime of
sanctions that had been imposed against it as a result of disputes
over its nuclear energy program "will never return".
Mohammad Khazaei, the deputy finance minister for investment affairs,
told a forum on Iran's investment opportunities in Vienna that a
snapback mechanism that could revive the sanctions against Iran
"is no longer existent". Khazaei emphasized that Iran had
entered a new era of economic cooperation with the world, stressing
that the recent trend of investments in the country testified to
that. He added the Islamic Republic had already proven to be an
appropriate place for investments, saying this was the reason why
investors were already transferring their capitals from certain
regional countries to Tehran as a result of recent diplomatic crises
in the Persian Gulf.
Addressing a ceremony on the occasion of Iran's Industry
and Mine National Day on Saturday, Iranian First Vice President Es'haq
Jahangiri referred to market expansion as administration's top
economic priority in post sanctions era, IRNA reported. "To
overcome unemployment, the 80-million-people Iran should set other
markets than its own", Jahangiri said in the ceremony held at Tehran's
Summit Conference Hall. Naming attraction of foreign investments as
government's second priority, the VP added that sanctions removal has
played a significant role in attraction of foreign investments. He,
elsewhere, referred to the newly signed agreement with the French
company Total on the expansion of South Pars gas field, saying that
prominent international companies are inclined to commence their
activities in Iran.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
As Iraqi Kurds try to iron out internal differences
ahead of their referendum on independence in September, Turkey, Iraq
and Iran have all announced their opposition, questioning the timing
and fearing the implications of such a move at a time when regional
rivalries are at their peak. While Iran is the only country that has
long enjoyed close ties with Iraqi Kurds, the upcoming referendum on
independence for Iraqi Kurdistan puts it at a crossroads. "The
Islamic Republic of Iran opposes some murmurs about holding a referendum
in order to separate one part of Iraq," said Iranian Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi in June, adding that Iraq "should stay
unified." While Turkey and Iraq's opposition is understandable
to an extent, Iran's long involvement as well as cultural and
historical ties with Iraqi Kurds raises serious questions about the
motives for its opposition to the upcoming referendum.
Hundreds of Afghani citizens demonstrated in the
southern province of Helmand against statements made by the Iranian
President Hassan Rowhani accusing Kabul of mismanagement of dams and
demanding a bigger share of water resources in Afghanistan for Tehran.
The Afghani website (Khaama Press) reported that civil society
activists and politicians had called on citizens in Helmand province
in southern Afghanistan to participate in demonstrations against
Iranian interference in their country. On Saturday, the demonstrators
condemned the Iranian president's recent remarks about the waters of
the Afghan Helmand River, calling "Death to the enemies of
Afghanistan" in reference to Iran, considering that Rouhani's
statements on Friday were a blatant interference in Afghanistan's
internal affairs. The Iranian president warned last Friday to build
dams on the river of Helmand, saying that this destroyed the
civilization in the region and the evacuation of families from their
homes in eastern Iran because of the drought, referring to the
Balochistan region, which is suffering of privation, Baloch activists
accused the government of Tehran of being discriminative against
them.
Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the International
Atomic Energy Agency, said on Saturday that Iran as a victim of
weapons of mass destruction fully supports the UN treaty banning
nuclear weapons. The remarks by Ambassador Najafi came after the
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was signed at a UN
conference in New York on Friday. It is the first multilateral
legally-binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been
negotiated in 20 years. "The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly
supports the objective behind this treaty in banning possession or
use of nuclear weapons," Nafafi stated. Pointing to dangers
posed by Israel's nuclear weapons to the sensitive Middle East
region, he said, "Iran's proposal for creating a region without
nuclear weapons is an example of efforts being made by our country to
remove threats from the region."
IRAQ CRISIS
Iran has congratulated Iraq on its declared victory over
Daesh (ISIS) in Mosul and offered to help rebuild the country, as
Iraqi troops push to clear the last of the militants from the
devastated city. "Congratulations to brave people and Government
of Iraq upon liberation of Mosul," Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif wrote late Sunday in a tweet. "When Iraqis join
hands, no limits to what they can achieve." Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi was in Mosul Sunday, officially marking the end of a
difficult campaign to retake the city, where Daesh declared its
self-styled caliphate three years ago. Other Iranian officials were
also quick to welcome the victory, Iraq's biggest yet against the
militants.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
The new administration in Washington has chosen to stand
alongside its Arab allies to voice a clear message. This is how this
message reads: The regime in Iran is domestically repressive and
resorts to flagrant human rights violations, and expansionist outside
of its borders, wreaking havoc across the Middle East and beyond. To
take the next needed step, an all-out strategy is necessary to rein
in Tehran and confront its belligerence inside the country and
beyond. Far too long the international community has failed to
recognize the fact that the regime in Iran is controlled by
aggressive fanatics that will literally stop at nothing to seek their
interests, while knowing their internal status is extremely fragile.
While it is high time for the United States to lead the West and
Saudi Arabia to lead the Arab world in this initiative, there is no
need to launch yet another devastating war in the Middle East.
A country that does not take into consideration emotions
but rather believes in the death penalty, chooses to play on
emotions. A country that pays some of its people to shout "Death
to America" on a daily basis, has now its foreign minister,
Mohammad Javad Zarif, objecting on the decision to ban Iranian from
travelling to the US and saying that this ban is aimed against
Iranian grandmothers. In this same country, if a grandchild decides
to visit his grandmother in Iran, he will be put in prison for trying
to overthrow the regime because he has an American citizenship. This
country, which wants grandmothers to be able to travel to the US,
arrested last week, 110 young men and women for participating in a
mixed ceremony. The Iranian leadership does not hesitate to exploit
everything for its own benefit. The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei said to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi that "the
Americans are against the Shiite Popular Mobilization because they
want Iraq to lose its core power."
After eight years of Barack Obama's strategy of
"patience" towards Iran, the Trump administration on Iran
is basically inverting Obama's foreign policy. On June 30, 2017,
several prominent figures gave their opinions on the current
situation during a panel discussion reviewng U.S. policy on
Iran...John Baird kicked off the discussion saying that he completely
rejects the Obama administration's appeasement of Iran and his claims
that President Rouhani is a moderate. He said that there is no
moderation in the Iranian government and it was very naïve of Obama
to make such claims. He also pointed to the recent presidential
elections in Iran, which were anything but democratic. He questioned
how an election can be considered democratic when a panel exists to
approve and reject candidates. There is nothing democratic about an
election in which presidential candidates are only candidates because
of their strong allegiance to the Supreme Leader and his vision.
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