TOP STORIES
Iran has ordered an investigation after a video surfaced
showing police pushing and pulling a young woman who was resisting
arrest for not adhering to the Islamic dress code.
Half of Iran's lawmakers have written to President
Hassan Rouhani demanding the removal of the central bank chief,
accusing him of mismanaging the banking industry and currency markets
as the rial weakened to a record low.
The UK, France and Germany are locked in
"intense" talks with the US in an attempt to stop the Trump
administration scuppering the Iran nuclear deal.
NUCLEAR DEAL
Iran warned the United States on Thursday of
"unpleasant" consequences if Washington pulls out of a
multinational nuclear deal, Iranian state TV reported.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS &
PROXY WARS
There is no force patrolling the world's oceans more
powerful than the mighty U.S. Navy. Washington's nuclear-powered
attack and ballistic submarines, aircraft carriers and surface
combatants, all guided by the best trained sailors and professionals
in the world, are no match when stacked up on paper one-on-one
against the likes of Russia, China, Iran or any other challenger. And
as history shows, going to war against Washington in a fair-fight is
suicide. However, thanks to advances in modern, ultra-quiet
conventional diesel-electric submarines, Washington will need to
adjust its tactics if it were to tangle with any nation sporting
these increasingly sophisticated weapons of war.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
If President Trump is serious about pulling out of the
nuclear agreement with Iran on May 12, time is running out for
American citizens currently being held in Tehran.
SANCTIONS
Iran's oil industry remains vulnerable to tougher US
sanctions regardless of a move this week to start using the euro for
its foreign currency data references instead of the greenback,
according to experts.
ECONOMIC NEWS
India's oil imports from Iran during the 2017/18 fiscal
year fell by 15.7 percent from a year ago as state refiners reduced
purchases after a row over development rights for an Iranian natural
gas field, according to data from shipping and industry sources.
HUMAN RIGHTS
United Nations human rights experts* have called for
Iran to annul the death sentence against an Iranian Kurdish prisoner,
Ramin Hossein Panahi, amid serious concerns that he has not received
a fair trial and has been mistreated and tortured in detention.
Iran on Thursday arrested a senior official after a
video posted online showed young boys and girls dancing in public in
the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, the judiciary said.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) slammed on
Thursday internal sides after they criticized the IRGC and
"issued statements that harm unity and stoke division"...
the statement was released shortly after President Hassan Rouhani
hailed the military for refraining from getting involved in
"political games."
Iran increased nominal power generation capacity by 3%
to around 78.9 GW during last fiscal year, ended on March 20, the
statistics of Energy Ministry's annual report indicate. The mentioned
figure is nominal power generation, but the actual capacity stood at
below 68.5 GW, which demonstrate that the country's power plants
suffer seriously from aging and exhaustion.
HEZBOLLAH & LEBANON
The group has essentially guaranteed itself a victory by
coopting opponents and shuffling electoral districts, but the West
can still contain the damage by pressing Beirut on economic reforms.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
Iran, Iraq, Syria and Russia held a meeting in Baghdad
Thursday of military and security officials to coordinate
"anti-terrorism" efforts, the Iranian defense ministry
said.
RUSSIA & IRAN
Russia and Iran have often been geopolitical rivals, but
today they are working in tandem to undermine American influence in
the Middle East... This is happening for two reasons, one
geopolitical and one ideological. The geopolitical reason is that
what Iran, Russia and China have in common is that they are all
trying to weaken, in their own way and for their own motives, an
international order that is built on the dominance of the U.S., its
allies and its partners... The ideological reason is that these
countries also share a commitment to illiberal rule in a relatively
liberal age.
IRAQ & IRAN
Iran's defense minister has visited a joint intelligence
center in the Iraqi capital operated by Iran, Iraq, Syria and Russia.
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