Friday, November 9, 2018

Eye on Iran: Mnuchin Says Iran's Central Bank to Be Cut Off from Global System



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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that the financial messaging service that moves money around the global banking system will be cutting off Iran's Central Bank. "I understand that SWIFT will be discontinuing service to the Central Bank of Iran and designated Iranian financial institutions," Mnuchin said in a tweet. "SWIFT is making the right decision to protect the integrity of the international financial system."


China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) is continuing to take oil from Iranian oilfields where it has ownership stakes, even after the United States re-imposed sanctions on the country's oil sector, a company executive said on Friday.


The Trump administration is considering designating Yemen's Houthi rebels a terrorist organization, people familiar with the discussions said, as part of a campaign to end that country's civil war and put pressure on the Houthis' ally Iran. The terrorist designation, which would inject an unpredictable new element into fragile diplomatic efforts to initiate peace talks, has been discussed periodically since at least 2016, according to several of the individuals.

UANI IN THE NEWS


First of all, we see this approach paying off today with the announcement by Foreign Minister Zarif in an interview with USA Today that the Iranian regime would consider talking now to the United States under the right circumstances, he was purposely vague about that. But we're seeing some softening in their approach, and that's because they know winter is coming in regards to the sanctions being reimposed on Iran.

SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS  


Turkey has been granted a waiver of around 25 percent on U.S. oil sanctions against Iran, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Friday, amounting to around three million tonnes of oil annually. 


A South Korean delegation including oil buyers is expected to head to Iran next week to discuss resuming Iranian oil imports after a three-month halt, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. 


JXTG Holdings, Japan's biggest oil refinery operator, is considering whether to resume Iranian oil purchases after Japan was granted a waiver from U.S. sanctions targeting Iran, Senior Vice President Yasushi Onoda said on Wednesday.  


Arash Sepehri, 38, a citizen of Iran, pleaded guilty on Nov. 7, to a federal charge stemming from his role in a conspiracy to cause the export of controlled goods and technology to Iran, in violation of U.S. Department of Commerce and military controls, as well as in contravention of sanctions imposed against Iran.  


India has welcomed a U.S. decision to allow it to continue to import Iranian crude oil and develop an Iranian port for trade with Afghanistan despite Washington's reimposition of sanctions on Iran.


Washington had been pushing governments to cut imports of Iranian oil to zero. But, fearing a price spike, it granted Iran's biggest buyers - China, India, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Greece, Taiwan and Turkey - sanctions waivers.  That will allow the eight, which account for about 75 percent of all Iran's oil exports, according to trade data, to import at least some oil for another 180 days.


Iran's plan to develop an alternative channel to monetize its oil through a local energy exchange faces many obstacles but holds real potential of boosting domestic capacities.

TERRORISM & EXTREMISM


Danish authorities say three members of an Iranian exile opposition group arrested on suspicion of supporting terrorism have been released. Police detained the three on November 7 under the accusation of having praised those behind a deadly attack in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz in September.


This administration has an opportunity to teach Iran that "what goes around comes around" is not just an empty slogan in the context of the Beirut Marine families' remarkable quest for justice.

PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS


World football's governing body FIFA said on Thursday it would work with Iran to end a long-running ban on women attending matches but offered no insight on when to expect the breakthrough. 


Campaigners in Iran remain hopeful that local women will be permitted to attend the Asian Champions League final in Tehran on Saturday, bringing an end to almost four decades of exclusion from top club matches in the country. 


The designation of financial institutions that support human rights violators constitutes a welcome development in U.S. sanctions policy. However, Washington has yet to target numerous Iranians for their roles as architects of widespread abuses, including some key officials tied to the IRIB and LEF.

U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS


U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that it is in Iran's best interests to toe the line and listen to Washington or else its people will pay the price.

IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS


More than 400 current and former student activist have published an open letter warning that the very existence of the Iranian people is at stake.

MISCELLANEOUS


Italian police discovered 270 kg (600 lb) of heroin hidden in a container that arrived aboard a ship from Iran, the biggest such haul for at least 20 years in Italy, police said on Thursday.






Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email press@uani.com.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.

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