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TOP STORIES
European governments may have found a way to save -- or
at least sustain -- the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that President
Donald Trump has threatened to scuttle. With Trump vowing to back out
of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by May if progress isn't
made in toughening some of its terms, officials from France, Germany
and the U.K. -- working with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson --
are focusing on how to restrain Iran's development of ballistic
missiles.
The U.S. and three European countries will begin formal
talks as early as next week on what the Trump administration
considers flaws in the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, but Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson said they might not meet a White House deadline
for a fix.
Vice President Mike Pence reiterated to Israeli leaders
on Tuesday that the Trump administration plans to pull out of the
landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal unless the pact is amended.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday that
he sees progress in getting European support for tough new penalties
against Iran that could prevent a U.S. withdrawal from the Iran
nuclear deal.
France's foreign minister is expressing annoyance that
the Trump administration is pressuring European allies to redesign
the Iranian nuclear deal to fit U.S. needs.
Last month when US President Donald Trump called for a
renegotiation of the so-called Iran nuclear deal, Tehran, the
European Union, Russia and China responded with a chorus of "No!
No!" and dismissed Trump's move as "totally unacceptable."
Trump, however, set the clock ticking by fixing a 120-day delay in
which those involved in the "nuke deal" should come up with
a clear agenda for renegotiation. With the clock ticking, the
thunderous "no! no!" became a sotto voce "well, maybe!"
Last week, EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn surprised everyone by
announcing that the Commission, in consultation with Britain, France
and Germany, is "closely studying President Trump's statement
and its consequences."
IRAN PROTESTS
A renowned Iranian lawyer raised concern on Monday over
the fate of a woman she said was arrested for posing without a
headscarf in Tehran in an image that went viral around the
world.
Iran's central bank has ceased issuing permits and
licenses for new private banks or commercial lenders, after the
collapse of several major institutions froze the savings of hundreds
of thousands of depositors and helped fuel anti-government protests.
It has been nearly one month since the rise of popular
protests in several parts of Iran, yet senior Iranian officials
continue to accuse foreign parties of standing behind these
demonstrations in the Iranian streets. The latest of these
accusations was from Iranian Judiciary Chief Sadegh Larijani, who did
not address the internal reasons behind the protests and said that
the United States has invested millions of dollars in order to
provoke "unrest and destabilization as it seeks to overthrow the
regime."
SANCTIONS RELIEF
Norway's ambassador to Tehran stressed his country's
resolve to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and called for
further development of trade ties between the two sides.
MILITARY MATTERS
Iranian military leaders claimed Monday that they
threatened two American-led vessels in international waters amid a
series of new war drills being carried out by the Islamic Republic,
according to regional reports and U.S. military officials who confirmed
to the Washington Free Beacon contact with the Iranian vessels.
The U.S. Navy says it only received a radio message from
Iranian naval vessels about an ongoing Iranian exercise in the Strait
of Hormuz, countering Tehran claims of a tense encounter between the
two fleets.
SYRIA & IRAN
Syrian troops have retaken the strategic Abu al-Duhur
military airport, located deep within the country's final major
pocket of rebel territory that was recently split in two by the
pro-government offensive. After declaring victory over the Islamic
State militant group (ISIS) late last year, the Syrian military, backed
by Russian warplanes and Iran-backed, Shiite Muslim militias,
launched a rapid push into the northwestern province of Idlib, the
final bastion of support for rebels that have tried to overthrow
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2011.
IRANIAN DOMESTIC ISSUES
Iran's central bank chief on Monday warned investors
speculating on the fall of the rial that they were heading for losses
because his bank could control the foreign exchange market and the
currency was likely to rebound in the next couple of months.
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