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TOP STORIES
Two Iranian fast attack boats came within 300 yards of
USS Essex in the Persian Gulf Friday while the four star head of the
US Central Command was on board, according to two US defense
officials.
A battle is brewing between the Trump administration and
some of the president's biggest supporters in Congress who are
concerned that sanctions to be re-imposed on Iran early next month
won't be tough enough.
The EU has struggled to find a member state to host a
new financial channel to shield trade with Iran from looming US
sanctions, diplomats said, in the latest hurdle to the bloc's efforts
to save a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
Iran sold oil to private buyers through its energy
exchange for the first time on Sunday, as part of its efforts to
counter the imminent return of US sanctions. Only 280,000 barrels
were sold out of one million offered, and went for $74.85 per barrel,
more than $4 below the initial asking price.
Shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced in
May he would reimpose sanctions on Iran, the State Department began
telling countries around the world the clock was ticking for them to
cut oil purchases from the Islamic Republic to zero... With just days
to go before renewed sanctions take effect Nov. 5, the reality is
setting in: three of Iran's top five customers - India, China, and
Turkey - are resisting Washington's call to end purchases outright,
arguing there are not sufficient supplies worldwide to replace them,
according to sources familiar with the matter.
Speaking on the 35th anniversary of the attack in Beirut
that killed 241 Marines, President Donald Trump announced that more
sanctions might follow the full reimposition of previous sanctions in
November.
Iran's parliament approved a government economic
reshuffle on Saturday, days before new U.S. sanctions on Tehran's oil
exports take effect, after President Hassan Rouhani said Washington
was isolated among its allies in its confrontation with Iran.
A port being developed in the southern Iranian city of
Chabahar underscores some of the dilemmas U.S. policy makers face in
implementing sanctions against Tehran.
Iran's vice president has said on Sunday, October 28
that the United States will not be able "at all" to bring
his country's oil exports to zero.
With the next phase of painful Iran sanctions almost
here, European leaders are trying to gut them - and Treasury
Secretary Steve Mnuchin is taking their side. Will President Trump
let Mr. Mnuchin make him look weak, or stick with sanctions hawks
like National Security Adviser John Bolton?
To US farmers whose soyabean sales have slumped amid a
trade war with China, an unlikely country is lending a hand: Iran.
The Islamic republic's imports of soyabeans from the US have surged
this autumn ahead of looming sanctions from President Donald Trump.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
France has expelled an Iranian diplomat in response to a
failed plot to carry out a bomb attack at a rally near Paris
organized by an exiled Iranian opposition group, diplomatic and
security sources say.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Once sanctions are back in full force, the United States
needs to be ready for the worst.
"Iran is a country ... that pushes until there is
firm pushback. I think that you are now seeing an American
administration that is willing to push back very firmly. It has, with
the additional defense spending and robust economic growth, a
stronger foundation from which to push back and renew partnerships
with its allies in the Gulf."
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
A member of Majles (Iranian parliament) has accused
President Hassan Rouhani's government of placing high positions at
the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare under the
hammer.
A hardline member of Iran's powerful Guardian Council
was facing a backlash on Sunday after criticising one of the
country's top religious figures for meeting with reformist
politicians.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Israel has been conducting an aggressive military
campaign across Syria against Iran-backed militia groups, an effort
that has been encouraged by the White House but aroused the concern
of many U.S. military officials.
After its unanimous passage in the House and Senate, US
President Donald Trump signed into law the Hezbollah International
Financing Prevention Amendments Act (HIFPAA) on Thursday, putting
into effect a new set of sanctions that targets the Lebanese militant
group and its financial support network.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel
from Oman on Friday, the first such visit by an Israeli prime
minister in 22 years and a sign of closer ties for Israel with an
influential Persian Gulf nation that has long acted as a regional
go-between.
An Israeli military spokesman on Saturday accused Iran
of orchestrating a rocket barrage from Gaza into Israel, saying Gaza
militants were carrying out the launches "under guidance,
instructions and incentives" given by the Islamic Republic.
Most of the obstacles hindering the formation of the
government have been resolved, except for one "knot" which
shall be tackled by Prime minister-designate Saad Hariri once he
returns from Jordan before he presents the full formation of the
government to Lebanese President Michel Aoun. Meanwhile, reliable
Lebanese sources revealed that 'Hezbollah' will have three ministers
of its members, despite US pressures.
Iran has benefited from the chaos and instability in the
region and built a crescent of influence or corridor to the sea from
Tehran that stretches through Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Yemen's information minister Muammar al-Eryani shared a
video of a Houthi militiaman holding a mic and prompting primary
school students in Yemen's city of Ibb to repeat pro-Houthi and
pro-Iran chants.
IRAQ & IRAN
Iranian organisers say more than 1.8 million Iraqi visas
have been issued for Iranians this year for the Arbaeen pilgrimage
which culminates on Tuesday as the devout head, many by foot, to
Karbala and one of the holiest sites of Shiite Islam, the shrine of
Imam Hussein.
CYBERWARFARE
Facebook has purged 82 pages, accounts and groups tied
to an Iranian effort to exploit its social network and Instagram
service to provoke social strife in the U.S. and the U.K.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on
Sunday for the stepping up of efforts to fight enemy
"infiltration" in a speech to officials in charge of cyber
defense, state television reported.
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