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TOP STORIES
Latest figures released by Iran
on December 30, indicate that the country's non-oil exports have
halved alongside a plunge in oil exports, after the United States
imposed oil-related sanctions on November 4. The country exported
only $1.867 billion non-oil goods during November 21-December 22,
less than half of Iran's monthly average during the current fiscal
year, which started on March 21, 2018.
Authorities in Iran are
preparing to block access to Instagram, extending their crackdown on
social media to the only major platform still freely available. The
National Cyberspace Council approved steps toward blocking the service,
Javad Javidnia, deputy for cyberspace affairs at the public
prosecutor's office, was cited as saying by the semi-official Donya-e
Eqtesad newspaper. Instagram would join Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
and Telegram in being banned in the Islamic Republic, ostensibly for
reasons of national security.
Afghan forces have killed two
Iranian members of the Taliban in northern Faryab province, local
army said Tuesday. The militants were identified as Ahmad and
Jundullah, according to 1Tv News. The site added that they were among
29 militants who were killed during clashes, airstrikes, and
supplying forces convoy on highway between Shirin Tagab and Khwaja
Sabz Posh districts. The deaths include also two local Taliban commanders
Nasratullah and Sadi who were killed in airstrikes, the statement
added.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
The Iraqi foreign minister says
his country is "not obliged" to abide by unilateral US
sanctions against Iran, stressing that Baghdad is considering options
to bypass those bans and maintain trade ties with its neighbor.
"These sanctions, the siege, or what is called the embargo,
these are unilateral, not international. We are not obliged [to
follow] them," Mohamed Ali al-Hakim told reporters on Wednesday.
He said Baghdad is looking into possible options to keep bilateral
trade routes open, including "dealing in Iraqi dinars in
bilateral trade" and creating a fund for payments to Iran.
The administration of President
Donald Trump imposed a new round of sanctions on the Iranian regime
on Nov. 4, 2018, following the president's announcement the United
States would cease participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran Deal. These sanctions are
said to be some of the harshest ever imposed on the Islamic Republic
of Iran.
Iran is closer to achieving
self-sufficiency in gasoline by raising its national production
capacity to more than 100 million liters daily, Iranian
media report. The increase will come from a capacity increase at
the Persian Gulf Star refinery on the Persian Gulf, which is fed
condensate from the giant South Pars gas field that Iran shares with
Qatar. The Persian Gulf Star began operation in 2017, with a
production capacity of 12 million liters of gasoline and diesel daily.
Reuters has surveyed 32
economists and analysts to find out what are their predictions for
oil prices in 2019 and it seems that no one expects to see more
expensive oil, at least for a while. The experts believe North Sea
Brent will hover around $70 a barrel in 2019, which is close to the
2018 average. Currently Brent is trading at $54. So, it will take
time for oil to climb back to $70 a barrel, if favorable conditions
prevail.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian charity
worker in prison in Tehran on espionage charges, is to go on a hunger
strike in protest at the "inhuman" denial of medical care.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, writing from Evin prison, said she intends to
go on a three-day hunger strike later this month alongside prominent
human rights activist Narges Mohammadi to demand access to a doctor.
The family of Nizar Zakka, a
Lebanese citizen imprisoned in Iran, has expressed fears that he
could die under torture, after it had not been able to reach him for
more than three weeks. "Almost three weeks have passed since our
last contact with our son Nizar after it was revealed that the
Revolutionary Guards had taken him from his detention in (Tehran's)
Evin Prison to one of their private jails for questioning," the
family said in a statement on Wednesday.
The food served at the Great
Tehran Penitentiary (GTP) is unsanitary and has been found to contain
rodent feces, making some prisoners sick, the wife of a political
prisoner held there told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
On December 26, 2018, Mohammad Sharifi Moghaddam, a Sufi Muslim
dervish of the persecuted Gonabadi order who is being held in the
facility's security wing, received medical attention hours after
suffering food poisoning, his wife, Faezeh Abdipour, told CHRI.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed
Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani as chairman of the influential
Expediency Council amid heavy speculation about who will succeed
Larijani as head of the powerful judiciary. One top name circulated
for the post is Ebrahim Raisi, the conservative who lost the 2017
presidential election.
For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic, a
woman from Iran's Sunni minority has been offered an
ambassadorship. Homeira Rigi, currently the governor of a
southeastern town, is set to make history as the head of the Iranian
mission in Brunei. The 43-year-old Reformist has been serving in
different executive positions for the past 20 years. First Vice
President Eshaq Jahangiri announced the appointment during
his visit to Ghasrghand, an impoverished town in the
underdeveloped Sistan and Baluchistan province.
Iranian theatre director Hossein
Parsaee calls Victor Hugo's classic a "masterpiece without
borders" but his groundbreaking production of "Les
Miserables" that has hit the stage in Tehran has a few unique
twists. For a start, none of the actresses are allowed to reveal
their own hair, and in case their wigs look too natural, the poster
advertising the show carries a bright red notice underscoring that
their locks are fake.
Iran's prosecutor-general says
he is "ashamed." In June, for the first time since 1981,
Tehran allowed women to enter Azadi Stadium for a soccer match -
or, more precisely, for a live broadcast of a soccer match in Russia,
host of the 2018 World Cup. As they watched Team Melli, their
national team, compete against Spain, numerous women removed their
hijabs, or headscarves, and sang and danced - a deliberate act of
defiance against the Islamic Republic's religious norms. It's
"disgraceful," complained Mohammad Jafar Montazeri.
Residents of Tehran complained
about the spread of "bad odors" in various parts of the
Iranian capital even as authorities appealed to citizens to help them
search for the source of smell, Iranian media reported. "The
reason for the bad smell is the explosion of a sewage pipe network in
the Enghelab (revolution) square in central Tehran," the
government-run newspaper Iran said.
A television executive in Iran
has been fired after a local channel aired a Jackie Chan movie
featuring an uncensored sex scene. Television viewers on Iran's
Kish Island resort were shocked to see the Hong Kong actor having sex
with a woman in the 2009 movie Shinjuku Incident, the BBC
reported. According to local media, the "immoral" broadcast
was brought to light after a viewer shared a clip of the scene
online, local media reported, according to BBC.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United
States would get out of Syria slowly "over a period of
time" and would protect the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in the
country as Washington draws down troops. Trump did not provide a timetable
for the planned military exit from Syria, which he announced last
month against the advice of top national security aides and without
consulting lawmakers or U.S. allies participating in anti-Islamic
State operations.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Khamenei met with Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Ziad al-Nakhala in Teheran on Monday to emphasize his support for the
Palestinian people, the Iranian network Press TV reported Monday.
"As long as there is resistance, the Zionist regime's downfall
and demise will continue," said Khamenei.
Oman informed Iran before Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Oman in October, according
to an interview with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. In the
interview with Iran's Hamshahri newspaper published Online by Fars
News, Zarif spoke about Iran's role in the region and Israel.
According to Zarif, the government of Oman informed Iran about
Netanyahu's trip since Iran was against Netanyahu's visit.
GULF STATES, YEMEN & IRAN
Yemen's Minister of Information, Muammar Al Iryani, has
commended the World Food Programme (WFP)'s reaction to Al Houthi
militia's manipulation of food aid. In statement to the Yemeni News
Agency, Al Iryani said, "The WFP's account indicates that the Al
Houthi militia is deliberately exacerbating humanitarian crisis,
causing people in its controlled regions to suffer starvation in
order to capitalise on their torment to gain politically and
militarily."
IRAQ & IRAN
The leader of Iraq's second
largest party, Hadi al-Amiri, called on foreign forces to leave Iraq
over the weekend. Slamming US President Donald Trump's visit, in
which Trump did not meet Iraqi officials, he intimated that the US
should also draw down its forces. This comes at the same time as
Maj.-Gen. Tamir Hayman, head of Israel's military intelligence,
warned at a conference in Tel Aviv that Iraq is under growing influence
of Iran.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
When the migrant crisis started,
about three years ago, it was seen as a mainly Syrian affair. Caught
in the crossfire between Bashar al-Assad and sundry jihadist groups,
ordinary Syrians were heading for Europe, part of the largest mass
movement of people since the second world war. But as we now know,
that analysis was wrong. Or rather, it was only one facet of the
historical migration phenomenon that was unfolding then and still is
today.
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