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TOP STORIES
A drone that took off from Syria and penetrated Israeli
airspace in February was armed and on an Iranian mission to carry out
an attack in Israeli territory, the Israeli military said Friday.
An explosion rocked an area in northern Syria Saturday
near a base where pro-regime Iranian fighters and allied Shiite
militias have been stationed, a monitor said. The origin of the blast
was not immediately clear and could have been caused by an air strike
or an incident at an ammunition depot, said the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights.
Iran warned of "regional consequences" on
Saturday following a wave of punitive strikes in Syria by the United
States, Britain and France.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Thirty-four years ago, CIA veteran [and UANI Senior
Advisor] Norman Roule... an expert on the Middle East and a graduate
of Washington & Jefferson College, returned to his alma mater to
deliver an address, "The Middle East in 2018: Iran and the
Region."
NUCLEAR DEAL
The future of the landmark Iran nuclear deal hangs in
the balance and its survival may depend on the unlikely success of
last-minute European interventions with President Donald Trump.
This report... outlines the options available to the
administration should it choose to terminate its cooperation with
JCPOA provisions, and the technical, legal, and administrative
considerations related to reimplementation of sanctions.
CONGRESS & IRAN
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) on Friday tore into President
Trump's authorization of military strikes in Syria, calling them
"illegal" and "reckless" and questioning what's
to stop him from bombing Iran and North Korea.
SYRIA, RUSSIA, HEZBOLLAH, ISRAEL
& IRAN
In sending missiles and bombs at Syria, President Trump
hit more targets and used more firepower than he did in a similar
military strike last year. But in the end, he opted for what was
still a restrained operation that was evidently calculated to avoid
provoking Syria's patrons in Russia and Iran into retaliating.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said an
attack on Syria by the United States, France and Britain on Saturday
was a crime and would not achieve any gains... Iran's pragmatist
President Hassan Rouhani also warned that the U.S.-led missile attack
on Syria would lead to further destruction in the Middle East, the
semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Syria was joined Saturday by its allies Iran and the
Lebanese terror group Hezbollah in condemning the joint US, French
and British strikes on Damascus' chemical weapons facilities.
The European Union on Saturday called for Russia and
Iran to help stop more chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian
government, warning of fresh economic sanctions.
French President Emmanuel Macron asserted Sunday that
Paris had convinced Donald Trump to stay engaged in Syria "for
the long-term", adding that French air strikes did not amount to
a declaration of war against the regime of Bashar Assad.
The missile strikes launched in response to Syria's
alleged chemical weapons attack on its own citizens "sent a
strong message to Syria, Russia, to Iran," White House press
secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Amid the potential of military escalation in Syria
between the US and Russia, Iran has allowed Moscow to station
"strategic aircraft" in its territory, Lebanese television
station Al Mayadeen reported Friday.
President Donald Trump may think he's projecting
strength and determination with his tweets and, perhaps soon, some
variation on limited strikes against Syria. But concern that the
United States of Trump may abandon Israel just as the distance to
Iran has shrunk from 1,000 miles to zero has gripped Jerusalem like a
fever.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday praised his
counterparts in the United Kingdom and France for joining US
President Donald Trump in airstrikes on Syrian military facilities
said to be linked to the country's chemical weapons program.
Netanyahu said he had spoken on the phone with British Prime Minister
Theresa May on Saturday evening and called for a similar policy to be
adopted against Iran's nuclear program.
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group said on Friday
that Israel's targeting of a Syrian air base on Sunday that killed
some Iranian Revolutionary Guards forces was a "historic
mistake".
Russia and Iran's support have been vital for President
Bashar al-Assad's military in the seven-year Syrian war, far
outweighing any support for rebel factions, including from the United
States, Turkey and Gulf Arab states.
Israel and Iran... seem to be heading for a High Noon
shootout in Syria over Iran's attempts to turn Syria into a forward
air base against Israel, something Israel is vowing to never let
happen... In the past few weeks - for the first time ever - Israel
and Iran have begun quietly trading blows directly, not through
proxies, in Syria. And this quiet phase may be about to end. Israel
and Iran are now a hair-trigger away from going to the next level -
and if that happens, the U.S. and Russia may find it difficult to
stay out.
Turkey does not stand with or against any country on
Syria and its policy in the region is different from that of Iran,
Russia and the United States, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said
on Monday.
The successful allied air strike on chemical-weapons
facilities in Syria has given President Trump a victory - but not a
mission... What's missing is a clear idea of our role in the broader
conflict, and why we still have 5,000 troops in Syria... So what are
our interests in the region? Just one. To oppose Iran.
President Trump has sent a message that his "red
line" will not be crossed. It was important to degrade
Syria's chemical weapons capability and that's what we did. The big
question now is "What is the next step?" It is important
that the United States execute a "3 Pronged Strategy"
simultaneously designed to drive a wedge between Russia, Assad, and
Iran. Let's keep them busy and off balance, focusing on their
own problems, so they have less time for mischief and we can focus on
our greatest national security challenge-North Korea.
HUMAN RIGHTS
An Iranian resident of Sweden, Kamran Ghaderi, who
started his march for Iran's Freedom about a year ago in Stockholm
has been detained after entering his homeland, an unidentified
relative told the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran
(CHRI).
A branch of Iran's Supreme Court has upheld the death
sentence of a Kurdish citizen, his lawyer said in an exclusive
interview with Radio Farda's Mahtab Vahidi Rad. In a statement on
February 5, Amnesty International (AI) said, "Ramin Hossein
Panahi, from Iran's Kurdish minority, started a hunger strike on
January 27 after he learned that he had been sentenced to death in
connection with his membership in the armed Kurdish opposition group
Komala." According to AI, "Panahi's trial, which took place
on January 16, was grossly unfair and lasted less than an hour. His
family told Amnesty International that he appeared before the
Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj with obvious torture marks on his
body, but the court failed to order an investigation."
Iran has released a teachers' rights advocate whose
arrest last month on unspecified charges drew criticism from global
and Iranian rights activists. The Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA)
reported Mohammad Habibi was released from Tehran's Evin prison on
Sunday on a bail of $60,000.
Iran's ministry of education on Sunday (April 15) banned
the use of foreign social media networks in schools, the ILNA news
agency reported, amid a push by Tehran to limit the influence of
outside online platforms.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
Poland's biggest oil refiner PKN Orlen said on Friday
that a shipment of 130,000 tonnes of Iranian crude oil has arrived at
the Baltic seaport of Gdansk. Most of the oil refined in Polish
refineries comes via pipelines from Russia, but state-run PKN Orlen
and Lotos are increasingly buying from other sources, including Iran
and the United States.
ECONOMIC NEWS
A senior hard-line Iranian cleric has called for the
execution of "several key money changers" to help end the
country's currency crisis.
South Korea's March crude oil imports from Iran dropped
39.3 percent from a year earlier on slowing demand for Iranian oil,
the country's customs data showed on Sunday.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
A summit of the Arab League has called for an
international probe into the "criminal" use of chemical
weapons in Syria and condemned what it said was Iran's interference
in the affairs of Arab countries.
Saudi Arabia on Friday submitted a request to the UN
Security Council demanding to hold Iran responsible for the Houthi
missile attacks on its territory.
Saudi Arabia slammed longtime rival Iran on Sunday
following western missile strikes on Syria, an ally of Tehran, last
week.
The Yemeni government says that Iran supplied the Houthi
rebels with drones used to attack Saudi Arabia.
CHINA & IRAN
Tehran and Beijing are in talks to have China build
several small nuclear power plants in Iran, an Iranian lawmaker said
Sunday, amid concerns the Islamic Republic is seeking to build
nuclear-powered submarines.
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