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TOP STORIES
The White House said Iranian-backed militias in Iraq had
carried out "life-threatening attacks" against the U.S.
consulate in Basra and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and warned
Washington would hold Tehran responsible if there are future assaults.
Iran's first vice-president Es'haq Jahangiri has
admitted on Tuesday, September 11 that U.S. sanctions against Iran
have been "highly effective." Jahangiri also said that Iran
is experiencing "a difficult and sensitive situation," but
it has not reached a "deadlock" yet, Iranian Students News
Agency ISNA quoted him as saying in a speech in Tehran.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned
Russia and Iran of "dire consequences" if they continue
airstrikes against the last rebel-held area in Syria and said the US
would respond to any use of chemical weapons.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran has between 3,000 and 4,000 active centrifuges,
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday, according to the
Tasnim news agency - still within the limit allowed under its
troubled nuclear deal with world powers.
Russia and Iran will intensify work with Europe and
China in coming days to counter U.S. attempts to undermine the Iran
nuclear deal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in
remarks published by RIA news agency on Tuesday.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Iran is starting to store oil on its fleet of
supertankers again as impending U.S. sanctions force the Persian Gulf
country to revive a strategy it deployed under previous curbs.
Iranian crude production fell 200,000 b/d from July to
3.52 million b/d in August as US sanctions loom, and apparent hedging
activity indicates some traders are preparing for a potential price
spike above $80/b as a result of further declines in Tehran's
exports, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday.
It's hard not to see China wherever you look in Iran.
From Chinese goods flooding markets to its business people eager for
deals as Western business interests flee, Iran likely will further
embrace Beijing as an alternative market for its crude oil and
financial transactions amid uncertainty over the nuclear deal.
Europe will have no choice but to comply with U.S.
sanctions on Iran, according to Javier Solana, a former NATO
secretary general and early advocate of the nuclear deal abandoned by
Donald Trump.
India's state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp will skip
purchase of Iranian oil in October due to turnaround at its plants, a
source privy to the plan said on Tuesday.
At least three North Asian buyers will receive extra
supplies of oil from Saudi Arabia after the kingdom cut its prices
for most grades in October and as they look to cushion the impact on
supply of U.S. sanctions on Iran, sources said. Buyers have asked to
lift more Saudi oil than contracted volumes in October amid fears
that the sanctions, to be imposed on Iran's crude exports from Nov.
4, will crimp supply during peak winter demand in Asia, the sources
said.
The Iranian government has announced a new rule for
steel and petrochemical exports with immediate effect, according to a
directive issued by the Central Bank of Iran and seen by S&P
Global Platts. According to the directive dated September 5,
exporters of steel (including semi-finished, finished and downstream
products) and petrochemical materials, must return all hard currency
earned from overseas sales into the country within 60 days from the
date of export.
Iran and Turkey's ability to continue with their gas
contract has also been helped by an agreement signed last October
when the two sides agreed to allow their own currencies to be used
for bilateral trade instead of U.S. dollars. Tehran has tried to set
up similar arrangements with other governments including Russia. If
deals go ahead on that basis, it will effectively remove one of
Trump's main leveraging tools by allowing Iran and its partners to
bypass the U.S. financial system.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
An Iranian woman living in B.C. says she's trapped in
her Islamic marriage because her ex-husband refuses to co-operate
with their separation - even though they've been divorced under
Canadian law for years. Without a divorce recognized in Iran, Fariba
Nasser says she can't travel back home to visit her mother and sister
for fear her ex-husband will block her from returning to Canada.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
The times they are a changin'. But in Iran, families
with infants are struggling to do the same. Senior officials,
industry executives, and young parents have been forced to confront a
shortage of baby diapers
IRANIAN REGIONAL AGGRESSION
A ministerial committee condemned on Tuesday Iran's
ongoing meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN.
The big Syrian government offensive to recapture
rebel-held Idlib province-which the United Nations fears could cause
the deaths of thousands and displace a million civilians-is on hold
for want of forces on the ground to coordinate with Russian air power,
according to military leaders in the Syrian opposition.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif paid an
official visit to Damascus Sept. 3 to meet with high-ranking Syrian
officials and discuss the latest developments in the country. Iran's
role in the process of post-war reconstruction in Syria was a top
priority among the issues discussed.
Lebanon's incoming prime minister called for
"justice" on Monday as a UN-backed tribunal into the huge
bombing that killed his father Rafiq Hariri in 2005 entered its last
stage.
Early in the Trump administration, top officials were
worried that Israel could not defend itself against Hezbollah, with
one National Security Council staffer warning that this could lead to
a devastating Middle East war, according Bob Woodward's new book.
An Israeli Cabinet minister says if Iran chooses to
continue pursuing a nuclear program it will face a
"military" answer.
CHINA & IRAN
China has grown closer to North Korea and Iran at a time
when all three countries are struggling to deal with President Donald
Trump's hardline foreign policy.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
The Houthi rebels have been at war with the Yemeni
government almost constantly since 2004. In the first six years, the
Houthis fought an increasingly effective guerrilla war in their
mountainous home provinces, but after 2010, they metamorphosed into
the most powerful military entity in the country, capturing the three
largest cities in Yemen. The Houthis quickly fielded advanced weapons
they had never before controlled, including many of Iranian origin.
The story of how they moved from small-arms ambushes to medium-range
ballistic missiles in half a decade provides a case study of how an
ambitious militant group can capture and use a state's arsenals and
benefit from Iran's support.
IRAQ & IRAN
Iran's ambassador to Iraq says his country is relocating
its consulate in Basra, after demonstrators burned down the old one
four days ago.
The head of Iran's armed forces demanded on Tuesday
authorities in neighboring Iraq hand over separatist Kurdish
dissidents stationed there and close their bases, according to a
report by the semi-official Fars news agency.
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