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TOP STORIES
Iran confirmed on Sunday that an appeals court had
upheld 10-year jail terms against a U.S. citizen, two
Iranian-Americans and a U.S. resident from Lebanon who had been
convicted on spying charges. In July, U.S. President Donald Trump
warned that Iran would face "new and serious consequences"
unless all "unjustly detained" American citizens were
released and returned.
Iran has tested its home-grown air
defense system, designed to match the Russian S-300, the head of the
Revolutionary Guards' air defense has said.
The prisoner swap between Hezbollah and ISIS on August
28 that saw the release of over 300 ISIS militants and 8 Hezbollah
militants and one Iranian was reportedly sponsored by Iran and Syria.
The official deal was halted by an American air strike
destroying the roads connecting the bus of ISIS militants to an ISIS
controlled territory in Syria.
UANI IN THE NEWS
An International Atomic Energy Association Thursday
report certifying Iran's technical compliance with the 2015 nuclear
deal overlooks the country's pursuit of ballistic missiles and other
malevolent behavior, United Against A Nuclear Iran Policy Director
Jason Brodsky explained to The Daily Caller News Foundation...The
IAEA report unfortunately shows a very narrow window into Iran's
compliance," Brodsky said, adding, "while Iran might be
complying with the letter of the JCPOA it's been routinely violating
its spirit, and that's very problematic." Brodsky specifically
highlighted UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which "endorsed
the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),
and lifted some UN sanctions, while maintaining the arms embargo on
Iran and ballistic missile restrictions," the Arms Control
Association notes.
NUCLEAR
& BALLISTIC-MISSILE PROGRAMS
The Somali government has asked the United States to
provide "immediate military assistance" because it says
al-Shabab militants are plotting to supply uranium to Iran. In a
letter to U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Stephen Schwartz, Somali Foreign
Minister Yusuf Garaad Omar says the militant group has captured
"critical surface exposed uranium deposits" in the central
Somali region of Galmudug and intend to transport the uranium to
Iran. The letter says the issue presents a problem for the larger
global community and will not be constrained within the borders of
Somalia.
Iran's new defence minister said Saturday the priority
was to boost the country's missile programme and export weapons to
shore up neighbouring allies.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Iran's Arabic language TV station al-Alam is reporting
that the country's air defense base sent two warnings in the last six
months to U.S. spy aircraft that approached Iranian airspace.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
OPEC members' compliance with the agreement to reduce
output has improved in recent months, Iran's oil minister said on
Monday, noting that unofficial talks were underway among the oil
producing countries to extend the cuts next year. Under the agreement
OPEC is curbing its collective oil production by about 1.2 million
bpd, while Russia and some other non-OPEC producers are cutting a
further 600,000 bpd until March 2018.
TERRORISM
The new Hamas leadership has taken dramatic steps since
assuming office in mid-February that suggest its policies will differ
significantly from those of previous officials. The new
administration has been trying to restore ties that had been cut off
or seriously frayed with many parties such as Iran, Egypt, the Syrian
regime and the followers of Fatah's dismissed leader Mohammed
Dahlan... A well-informed source in the Iranian regime told
Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, "Senior Iranian officials,
including speaker of the Shura Council Ali Larijani and adviser to
the supreme leader Ali Akbar Velayati, met with Hamas leaders
visiting Iran Aug. 4 to participate in the second inauguration of
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. [The officials] offered to mediate
between [Hamas] and the Syrian regime in a bid to restore their
broken relations."
NORTH KOREA-IRAN COOPERATION
U.S. officials are closely monitoring an ongoing meeting
between senior North Korean and Iranian officials that comes on the
heels of a nuclear test by Pyongyang, according to senior Trump
administration officials and other sources who expressed concern that
North Korea is helping to put the Islamic Republic back on the
pathway to a functional nuclear weapon. Sources told the Washington
Free Beacon that Pyongyang continues to stockpile illicit nuclear
material on Iran's behalf in order to help the Islamic Republic skirt
restrictions implemented under the landmark nuclear deal.
MILITARY MATTERS
Enemies are unlikely to attack Iran,
especially on the ground, the country's military chief predicted on
Saturday, saying even "unwise" leaders in the West know
that any such conflict would have huge costs for them.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The Iranian authorities must urgently stop the
destruction of a mass grave in the southern city of Ahvaz said
Amnesty International today, launching a campaign to urge authorities
to protect the site, where dozens of prisoners killed during a wave
of mass extrajudicial executions in August and September 1988 are
buried. Construction near the area began earlier this year. Recent
footage obtained by the organization shows the site is gradually
being buried beneath piles of construction waste. The campaign is
being launched along with a video highlighting the imminent risks
posed to the site.
YEMEN CRISIS
Yemen will "not allow Iran a foothold in the
country nor the room for the country to spread its philosophy of
destruction", prime minister Dr Ahmed bin Dagher has said,
according to local media. The Yemeni people, along with the Saudi-led
coalition backing the government, will look to foil Iran's plan to
establish a presence in the country at the expense of Yemeni unity,
Dr bin Dagher said on Sunday at a meeting in Aden with the commander
of Saudi forces in the country, Brigadier Sultan bin Islam.
SAUDI-IRAN TENSIONS
Iranian pilgrims returned to haj this year for the first
time since a deadly crush in 2015, in what could be an important
confidence-building measure for dialogue on other thorny issues
between Iran and Saudi Arabia...Iran's Supreme Leader has said his
people would never forget that "catastrophe", but President
Hassan Rouhani suggested a trouble-free haj this year could help
build confidence in other areas of dispute between the arch-rivals.
So far, Iranian pilgrims say they are satisfied.
HUMAN RIGHTS
An Iranian court upheld a 10 year prison sentence for
Chinese-American student Xi Yue Wang on Sunday on charges of
collaborating with foreign governments. Wang, a student at Princeton
University, was arrested last July while researching his PhD
dissertation. The U.S. state department says he is one of a number of
Americans and other foreigners being held on what it deems
"fabricated national-security related changes."
An Iranian court has re-imposed the death penalty on the
founder of a spiritual movement after the first sentence was struck
down by the supreme court, the judiciary said on Sunday. Mohammad Ali
Taheri, founder of Erfan Halgheh which calls itself
"Interuniversalism" in English, was arrested in 2011 and
given five years in prison for "insulting Islamic
sanctities". He was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court
in 2015 for "corruption on earth" but the Supreme Court
later quashed the sentence.
For a brief moment, Iran's female soccer fans thought
they were finally allowed to attend a match, but their hopes were
dashed on Monday when authorities said their tickets were sold by
mistake. Women have been barred from attending soccer matches, and
some other sporting events such as wrestling, since the 1979 Islamic
Revolution, with officials saying they must be protected from the
vulgar atmosphere.
Seid Moradi never wanted to leave Iran. But under
threats to his life because of his non-Muslim faith, he saw no
choice. Savings in hand, he fled his hometown near the Iraqi border
with his family, boarding a bus for the more than 20-hour ride across
the country's northwestern border with hopes of starting anew...When
news arrived this year that the U.S. government would resettle them
in Seattle, they moved out of their apartment in June, and sold all
but what would fit into seven roller bags days before their scheduled
flight. Then their flights were canceled. Three times.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
On August 31, 2017, the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) released its seventh report on its verification and
monitoring of the Iran nuclear deal in light of United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2231 (2015). UNSCR 2231 codified
into international law the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA). The latest IAEA report again states: "Since 16 January
2016 (JCPOA Implementation Day), the Agency has verified and
monitored Iran's implementation of its nuclear-related commitments in
accordance with the modalities set out in the JCPOA..." The
quarterly report does not report any violations of the JCPOA during
this reporting period, although the report is so sparse in details
that one cannot conclude that Iran is fully complying with the JCPOA.
Moreover, nowhere in the report does the IAEA state that Iran is
fully compliant with the JCPOA, and it should not make that judgement
in any case. The issue of judging full compliance is rightly the
responsibility of the Joint Commission and governments, in particular
those in the P5+1. However, this report and its predecessors suffer
from a lack of reporting on known compliance controversies and even
some violations, albeit minor ones, involving centrifuge research and
development.
There is an Iranian saying that when someone is
suspicious and not trustworthy, he has something in his shoes! The
root of this proverb comes from a time when people used to hide dagger
in there boots and used when needed. This story seems to be true for
members of the Iranian regime. The announcement of Nikki Haley's
visit to Vienna on August 23 and her meeting with Yukiya Amano, the
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, regarding
the US demanding UN inspection of Iranian military sites, has been
terrifying Tehran. Are they hiding anything in their shoes?
As part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Islamic
Republic agreed to suspend activities related to its development of
ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, or so it
seemed. In the year and a half that has passed since the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) went into effect, Iran has
conducted a series of provocative ballistic missile tests, eliciting
strong condemnations from the U.S. and raising the level of alarm on
the international stage.
When pride and glory went to Qatari leadership's head,
it gave birth to treason. Perhaps one of the most significant
advantages which resulted from the four countries' boycott of Qatar
is that this pushed it to openly take the stance it had held secret
for over two decades. It has not been three months since Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt boycotted Doha
and the latter has announced sending its envoy back to Iran. The
terrorist and sectarian Tehran, which works to destabilize countries
and sows seeds of chaos, lured Doha's diplomats after Qatari
leadership did not allow Saudi planes to transport Qatari pilgrims on
the expenses of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Majesty
King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
The former Obama administration ambassador to Syria said
this week that Iran's presence in Syria is "the new reality that
we have to accept, and there isn't much we can do about it," and
that this reality "has made the situation worse for
Israel." Iran's growing hegemony in the Middle East, marked by
the creation of a "Shiite crescent" stretching from Yemen,
across Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and its increased threat to
Israel are consequences of the nuclear deal. Iran's gains aren't just
the result of the nuclear deal; they are also a consequence that was
predicted by its critics.
The possibility of an imminent war between Israel and
Hizbollah has been growing as both Israeli and Hizbollah officials
engage in fiery rhetoric about how damaging the next war will be (for
the other side, of course). Convinced that Hizbollah has strong
control over Lebanon's state institutions, Israel is now threatening
to target Lebanon's infrastructure, institutions and army, while
vowing to attack Israel's nuclear facilities and cities. There is no
doubt that Hizbollah's build-up of precision weapons presents a
serious threat to Israel. Yet, if Iran is not contained in Syria and
Hizbollah's threat to Israel from both Lebanon and the Golan Heights
is not dealt with, the next war between Israel and Hizbollah may well
be inevitable (though at present, not necessarily imminent).
It is certainly possible that this three-way partnership
will be short-lived. The national interests of the three are not congruent.
Much will depend on the United States, however. Should Washington
remain active in Syria, or increase its efforts there, Turkey will be
far less likely to abandon the West for other partners. If, however,
the United States washes its hands of Syria, the
Turkish-Russian-Iranian connection may be the start of a beautiful
friendship.
Iran has already learned a number of damaging lessons
from North Korea. First, cheating on nuclear deals is permitted...
Second, limited nuclear deals can be exploited... Third, you can also
push the envelope on military and non-nuclear issues...
The situation playing out now with North Korea is a
nightmare scenario of the dangers of nuclear proliferation. It offers
a partial preview of the sorts of dangers the world would face if
Iran ever obtained nuclear weapon capability. And it vindicates the use
of preemptive military strikes to keep nuclear weapons out of the
hands of autocratic regimes, like the one that was launched -
according to foreign news sources - by Israel a decade ago, on
September 6, 2007.
Iran has confirmed a report that a Saudi delegation will travel to
Tehran, Press TV reported Sept. 3. The confirmation came after the
Kuwaiti press said the Saudi officials would take the trip following
the Muslim festivities of Eid al-Adha, which will end on Sept 4.
While the latest exchange of diplomatic visits is enough to inspire
hope for a friendlier future between Iran and Saudi Arabia, it isn't
enough to ease Riyadh's concerns.
The spokesman of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces
(P.M.F.) has announced that the paramilitary forces will participate
in the next major offensive against the Islamic State in Hawija city
of Iraq's Kirkuk Province.
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