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TOP STORIES
Iran's oil minister says France's oil giant Total SA has
pulled out of Iran after cancelling its $5 billion, 20-year agreement
to develop the country's massive South Pars offshore natural gas
field over renewed U.S. sanctions.
Chinese buyers of Iranian oil are starting to shift
their cargoes to vessels owned by National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC)
for nearly all of their imports to keep supply flowing amid the
re-imposition of economic sanctions by the United States.
Iran will unveil a new fighter jet next week and
continue developing missile capabilities as a top priority, the
defense minister said on Saturday, defying new U.S. sanctions aimed
at curbing Tehran's missile program and regional influence. Iran's
navy also announced on Saturday that it has mounted a locally built
advanced defensive weapons system on one of its warships for the
first time, as tensions mount with the U.S. military in the Gulf.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran urged Europe on Monday to speed up efforts to
salvage a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers that U.S.
President Donald Trump abandoned in May, saying French oil group
Total has formally pulled out a major gas project.
President Donald Trump's national security adviser is
bemoaning the "wretched" Iranian nuclear deal in his talks
with Israel's prime minister. John Bolton told Benjamin Netanyahu on
Monday that the United States sees the "highest importance"
in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and that's why
Trump withdrew from the deal negotiated by the Obama administration
and was reapplying stiff sanctions.
White House national security adviser John Bolton
arrived in Israel on Sunday on the first leg of an overseas trip, and
met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Iran the focus of
talks.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Iran said on Saturday it would resist the pressures of
U.S. sanctions by relying on its natural and human resources, as
Washington pushes allies to cut economic ties with Tehran.
Iran's vice president said on Sunday the government was
seeking solutions to sell oil and transfer its revenues after the
United States withdrew from a nuclear deal with Tehran and slapped
fresh sanctions on Iranian energy and banking sectors.
Iran told OPEC on Sunday no member country should be
allowed to take over another member's share of oil exports,
expressing Tehran's concern about Saudi Arabia's offer to pump more
oil in the face of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil sales.
The United States is addicted to applying sanctions on
Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday in an
exclusive interview from Tehran.
The president of Germany's roughly 100,000-member
Central Council of Jews has called for an immediate end of
Iranian-German business relations because the trade benefits the
Islamic Republic's terrorism and contradicts Berlin's pledge that
Israel's security is non-negotiable.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
Hezbollah's announcement of its impending "victory"
in Syria may be a reaction against US sanctions against Iran, but the
threat it poses is no less real. Hezbollah remains one of the most
capable terrorist organizations in the world, which intends to
continue expanding its reach. The international community needs to
take a unified step to proscribe Hezbollah in its entirety and
curtail its global crime and terror network before it is too late.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Iranian media is reporting that authorities have
detained a human rights lawyer who planned a sit-in protest in front
of parliament. The Sunday report by the daily Arman says police
detained Ghasem Sholeh-Saadi after he appeared outside parliament on
Saturday in an "illegal gathering."
The wife of a jailed Iranian dissident says her ailing
husband's doctor has warned prison officials that they are putting
her husband's life in danger by denying him medical treatment in a
hospital. Speaking by phone from Tehran to the Friday edition of VOA
Persian's NewsHour program, Rezvan Beigi said her jailed husband,
Behfar Lalezari, has been struggling with asthma and heart problems.
Forty young people have been detained at a mixed-gender
"night party" in Birjand, the capital city of South
Khorasan province, the local Prosecutor General has disclosed.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said on
Sunday that a new Iran Action Group in the U.S. State Department
aimed to overthrow the Islamic Republic, but would fail.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iran's official IRNA news agency is reporting that the
country's top leader has appointed a new chief for its air force.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iranian lawmakers launched impeachment proceedings
against the finance minister on Sunday, ramping up pressure on the
president who is already facing attacks from hardliners over his
handling of the economy in the face of new U.S. sanctions.
A top Iranian constitutional body has demanded changes
to anti-money laundering measures passed by parliament, state-run
media said on Saturday, as Tehran nears a deadline to pass
legislation to help it attract investment while facing U.S sanctions.
An Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday that President
Hassan Rouhani would appear before parliament on Aug. 28 to answer
questions on his government's handling of Iran's economic struggles,
but an aide to Rouhani denied a date had been set.
As Iranians brace themselves for the effect of the
latest US sanctions, a new social media campaign has been launched
asking officials to disclose their wealth and how their relatives
might have benefitted from their support for the regime.
With Iran facing more US sanctions and a battered
currency, the judiciary is charging aggressively into an
anti-corruption probe in the hope that it will help stabilize the
economic situation.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton on Sunday said
that the US, Israel, and Russia agree that Iranian-backed troops must
be removed from Syria.
The United States is facing a new turning point in its
policy toward Syria, as it announced the appointment of former US
ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey will serve as a special advisor to
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Syria overseeing talks on a
political transition in that country. The administration also
transferred former officer [Joel] Rayburn from the National Security
Council to the State Department as Special Envoy to Syria.
Hussein Mazloum, son of a founder of Lebanon's
Hezbollah, has accused the pro-Iranian militia of running systematic
operations of torture and kidnapping in Dahya, its stronghold suburb
in the capital Beirut.
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are rushing to challenge
Russia and Iran's influence in Syria by investing in reconstruction
efforts, but their initiative may come late as the government of
Bashar al-Assad gained more ground as well as local and international
support.
Hezbollah's Role
Evolving in Syria As Assad Nears Victory | Al Monitor
As President Bashar al-Assad's regime consolidates its
control over much of Syria - appearing ready to launch an offensive
against Idlib, the last major insurgency stronghold - observers are
wondering what the end to the war will mean for Hezbollah's
involvement there in the wake of Assad's seemingly impending victory?
CHINA & IRAN
The U.S. signaled it is prepared to take punitive action
against China over the Asian country's refusal to stop buying Iran's
oil, in defiance of Washington's efforts to isolate Tehran.
China will continue its cooperation and relations with
Iran, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday, citing a statement
from Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Hezbollah says its leader has met with a delegation from
Yemen's Houthi rebels... Hezbollah is believed to train and support the
Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels, who are at war with a Saudi-led
coalition allied with Yemen's internationally recognized government.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador in Washington has set out
evidence of Hezbollah's deep involvement in the war in Yemen,
including footage of commanders directing training for Houthi
rebels.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US Prince Khalid bin
Salman said on Thursday that the Kingdom won't allow the Houthi
militias to be another Hezbollah, in reference to Lebanese
pro-Iranian militia, stressing that this is what the Islamic Republic
of Iran is seeking.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Senior Iranian officials found themselves in hot water
after the recent signing of an eagerly anticipated, five-party deal
on the Caspian Sea. While the so-called Convention On The Legal
Status Of The Caspian Sea that was signed on August 12 appeared to
postpone some of the most intense disputes between Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Iran, it also appeared to ditch
one of Tehran's strongest cards in any negotiations: the Soviet-era
characterization, in multiple treaties, of the Caspian as a sea
shared between two parties -- the Soviet Union and Iran.
Tehran's long-term strategy to fortify the Iranian
Corridor as a Shiite Crescent requires demographic reengineering.
CYBERWARFARE
Iran is doing what every respectable state sponsor of
terrorism does when their economy is going down the drain. They turn
to bitcoin. It might be time for us to take a page out of our own
playbook and design a new cyber weapon. Instead of targeting
centrifuges, we should consider targeting currencies. Iran clearly
hasn't gotten the message. Maybe "Transaction Declined"
will get their attention.
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