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TOP STORIES
A top Iranian
official has admitted for the first time that Iran knowingly helped
al-Qaeda terrorists - including some of the 9/11 attackers - travel
secretly through the Middle East.
Indian refiner Nayara Energy, one of the country's
biggest buyers of Iranian oil, began cutting imports this month after
the United States scrapped a nuclear deal with Tehran and said it
would re-impose tough sanctions, three people familiar with knowledge
of the matter said. Previously named Essar Oil, Nayara was
bought by Russian state oil-giant Rosneft and partners in a $12.9
billion deal last year.
The Syrian regime is disguising Iran-allied militias as
its own fighters, according to rebels, a battlefield feint that
appears calculated to try to avoid further Israeli air strikes
against Iranian targets in Syria.
UANI IN THE NEWS
The answer is yes, [the summit] could lead to
[denuclearization]...Our demands, our president has been very clear
about, is permanent, irreversible end of their nuclear programs and
essentially an anytime, anywhere inspection program. That's asking a
lot of a leader of a closed society. But we've got to be ready to
give them a lot if he gives us that because that would be a
tremendous breakthrough.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran's powerful parliament speaker Ali Larijani said
Sunday that the time for Europe to show it can save the nuclear deal
was coming to an end.
Iran's top diplomat is asking world powers that remain
committed to its 2015 nuclear deal to resist what he called U.S.
"bullying tactics" and ensure that Iran is compensated for
economic losses that result from U.S. withdrawal from the agreement.
Despite its aggressive rhetoric, the administration is
not intent on toppling the Islamic Republic. For now, Mr. Trump
appears to be more interested in making a new deal with Tehran.
Given Tehran's threat to scale up its enrichment
efforts, how far might its nuclear program go post-JCPOA, and what
lessons might it draw from U.S. discussions with Pyongyang?
President Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal
has left Israel to reassess its policy toward Iran-and how to advance
its key national-security objectives: preventing Iran from acquiring
nuclear weapons, thwarting Iran's aspirations for hegemony, changing
the fundamentally hostile and radical orientation of the regime, and
preventing future military conflict.
With new sanctions set to take effect in November, what
does President Trump's withdrawal from JCOPA mean for India and
Indian companies conducting business with Iran? The most direct
consequence will likely be a reduction in Iranian oil exports to
India.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
OPEC is likely to reject a request by Iran to discuss
U.S. sanctions against Tehran at this month's meeting of the oil
producer group, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
NORTH KOREA & IRAN
Does the road to Tehran lead through Singapore? Hopes
are high that next week's summit between President Trump and North
Korean leader Kim Jong-un will begin a process leading to the total,
verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
But North Korea can also play a major role in the broader global
effort against nuclear proliferation. When it comes to illicit
nuclear weapons programs, North Korea is the undisputed master.
SYRIA, RUSSIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
A Russian force deployment on the Syria-Lebanon border
this week in a Hezbollah stronghold sparked protests by the Lebanese
militant group, prompting the force to withdraw from its positions
only a day later in a rare sign of tension between the allies.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani met Saturday to discuss regional issues including both
countries' involvement in the Syrian civil war and the US withdrawal
from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran.
Israel has complained to the UN Security Council, saying
that Hamas is working with Hezbollah to establish missile factories
and training camps in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese newspaper Al
Joumhouria reported Saturday.
The commanding officer of the terrorist group
Hezbollah's Rocket Division was killed during an operation against
ISIS in the Eastern-Syrian town of Abu Kamal, close to the
Syrian-Iraqi border, Hezbollah reported on Saturday.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Friday that
Israel "can never" feel safe, as thousands of Iranians
marched in an annual day of protest against Israel.
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah will remain in Syria as
long as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wants it there, the group's
leader said on Friday, defying renewed U.S. and Israeli pressure to
force Tehran and its allies to quit the country.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied that military
ally Russia was making decisions for him, but said it was natural for
there to be differences of opinion between allies, in an interview
published on Sunday by state media.
Russia's compromise proposal for Syria's south appears
to lack Iranian buy-in-and it is primarily Tehran's calculations that
will decide whether the Israel-Iran conflict spirals out of control.
Hamas may rule the Strip, but it's Islamic Jihad that
will determine whether rockets are directed at Israel... And yet,
Islamic Jihad is not exactly the master of its own house. By
providing economic and military assistance over the years, Iran has
turned the organization into its own military wing in Gaza and the
West Bank.
Critics of long-term military aid to Lebanon from the
U.S. have been bolstered by the May 6 parliamentary elections that
have given Hezbollah and its allies a majority in the legislature.
Opponents to the aid are specifically concerned about an apparent
warming of relations between the U.S.-equipped Lebanese Armed Forces
and the political party/militant group Hezbollah. Hezbollah itself
and other skeptics of the U.S. assistance program in Lebanon have
repeatedly emphasized a close proximity between the Lebanese Armed
Forces and Hezbollah in an attempt to get the U.S. to reconsider its
ties to the LAF.
Israel and Russia reportedly recently agreed that
Iranian and Iranian-backed (a.k.a. Hezbollah and others) troops would
vacate areas of operation in southwestern Syria near the Israeli
border... Naturally, in light of this news, observers will be "shocked,
shocked!" to hear news of an Islamic Revolutionary Guards
officer killed in the area... Bottom line? Moscow, Paris, London,
Berlin, and Jerusalem may want the Iranians to cool it in Syria. But
they're not going to. Not, at least, without another fight.
A special iftar feast was held in Gaza City last
Thursday at the end of the day's Ramadan fast, marking the annual
Quds (Jerusalem) Day - an event initiated by Iran in 1979 to express
support for the Palestinians and oppose Zionism and Israel. During
the event, dinner was served to families of killed and injured
Gazans, in a manner similar to many other iftar meals. Nonetheless,
what made Thursday's event different was the Iranian sponsorship: The
event was marked and celebrated in order to send a message of
appreciation and respect to Iran.
Iran's Press TV is pushing this year's Quds Day as an
annual solidarity event with Palestinians "under Israeli
occupation," as Hamas toned down protests Tuesday in line with
Tehran's agenda.
Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the Islamic Revolution
Guards Corps (IRGC)'s second-in-command, said on Friday that
Hezbollah resistance forces are capable of firing 100,000 missiles at
Israel.
Hezbollah flags flew in central London as supporters
were locked in a noisy standoff with counter-protesters.
CHINA & IRAN
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for the Iran nuclear
deal to be "earnestly" implemented as he met the country's
president following the US withdrawal from the pact, state media said
Monday.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Yemen's Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Yamani has called on
the United States for cooperation to thwart any attempt of a new
Hezbollah being formed in Yemen, which would threaten security and
stability in the region.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
Iran's parliament voted Sunday to suspend discussion of
joining the UN Terrorism Financing Convention for two months, while
it waits to see whether its nuclear deal with world powers will
survive. The decision is part of an often furious debate among
Iranian lawmakers over joining international conventions on
money-laundering and terrorist financing. It is currently alone with
North Korea on the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF), adding to its woes in accessing global banking.
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