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TOP STORIES
A seven-country group set up to combat the international
financing of terrorists has blacklisted nine individuals associated
with Afghanistan's Taliban, including two Iranian military officers
and several men accused of "facilitating Iranian support to
bolster the terrorist group."
Bank of Kunlun Co, the key Chinese conduit for
transactions with Iran, is set to halt handling payments from the
Islamic Republic under pressure of imminent U.S. sanctions against
the country, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Iran was closer to developing nuclear weapons than
previously thought, according to a think tank report issued late
Tuesday. A report by the Institute for Science and International
Security said that combining new information produced by the Mossad
during its January raid on a Tehran warehouse along with satellite
imagery "conclusively shows that the Parchin site did house high
explosive chambers capable for use in nuclear weapons research and
development."
UANI IN THE NEWS
The Beirut Barracks attack is a reminder that Hezbollah,
already a formidable foe in the 1980s, is a threat to international
security. The only genuine change it has undergone in the last three
decades is considerably expanding its global reach.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
Iran's crude oil exports and production have declined
since the May 2018 announcement by the United States that it would
withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and
reinstate sanctions against Iran.
Illicit exports of crude oil from Iran to Syria spiked
in the first two weeks of October to roughly 150,000 barrels per day
(bpd), more than twice the reported high for previous two-week
periods this year. The shipments provide a crucial lifeline for the
cash-strapped Assad regime, whose persistent evasion of U.S. and EU
sanctions has yet to provoke fully effective enforcement measures.
Despite the FATF decision to maintain the status quo,
the United States is seeking to compel foreign financial institutions
to avoid dealing with Iran's financial sector through the threat and
application of sanctions.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that it and Bahrain had
added Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and senior officers from its
Quds Force to their lists of people and organizations suspected of
involvement in terrorism.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
The Iranian authorities must immediately and
unconditionally release Farhad Meysami, a human rights defender
campaigning for women's rights, who is being held in the medical
clinic at Evin prison in Tehran against his will to pressure him into
ending his hunger strike, said Amnesty International.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
In a fiery speech to parliament October 21, outspoken
businessman and pro-reform MP Bahram Parsaei lambasted President
Rouhani for suppressing Iran's pre-Islamic history.
Only one month into the new school year, teachers in
Iran have once again staged mass collective action.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
The Trump administration might take limited measures
that are not likely to alter the fundamentals of US policy in Lebanon
should Hezbollah get the Health Ministry in the new Cabinet
formation.
Mossad Director Yossi Cohen warned of Iranian
expansionist aspirations in the Middle East in a rare public speech
on Monday.
Thirty years ago, three spectacular attacks in Beirut
over an 18-month period announced the debut of a potent new force in
Lebanon-the Shiite Hezbollah militia- and defined its relationship
with the United States for years to come. The October 1983 bombings
of Multinational Force bases took the lives of 241 Americans and 58
French.
The US has vowed not to pull out of the conflict until
the last Iranian soldier goes home - but that could be trickier than
it appears.
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