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TOP STORIES
The United States on Thursday targeted two Iran-backed
foreign fighter militias in Syria and two airlines that help send
weapons to Syria in fresh sanctions as Washington prepares for a
military withdrawal from the war-torn country. All four groups are
linked to Iran's Mahan Air and Iran's elite military unit, the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, both of which are
already blacklisted, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a
statement.
Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar
Salehi spoke on Channel 4 TV in Iran on Tuesday and revealed Iran
bought spare parts to replace the items it seemed to destroy during
the steps made to ensure a deal with the West, MEMRI
reported. "We told no one but the top man of the regime [Khamenei],"
he said, "when our team was in the midst of the negotiations, we
knew that [the Westerners] would ultimately renege on their
promises."
South Korea imported no Iranian crude oil for the fourth
month in a row in December, S&P Global Platts
reports, citing information from Korea National Oil Corp.
During that month, one of the world's top oil importers increased its
intake of crude from Kazakhstan and the United States. Iranian oil
exports to South Korea for full-2018 dived by more than 60 percent to
58.2 million barrels, according to the Korea National Oil Corp. data,
from 147.87 million barrels a year earlier.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
In mid-January, Iran launched satellite into orbit. The
launch took place at Imam Khomeini Space Center. The
two-hundred-pound satellite, called Payam (message in Farsi), was
designed and produced at Tehran's Amirkabir University of Technology.
According to Telecommunications Minister Mohammad-Javad Azari
Jahromi, the rocket carrying the Payam satellite failed to reach the
"necessary speed" in the third stage of its launch. Iranian
scientists will analyze this failed attempt and will try again.
Ahead of next month's international meeting in
Poland to discuss threats to the stability of the Middle
East, The Financial
Times is reporting that Germany, France,
and the UK are seeking to shore up support for the 2015 nuclear
deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran. And yet, according to a
recent Reuters report, Iran appears to be doing all it can
to alienate these champions of the deal.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
The European Commission said it's seeking to launch
"very soon" a special purpose vehicle to help European
companies bypass U.S. sanctions on Iran, with three European
diplomats saying the official unveiling could come as early as
Monday. Progress has been slow in developing the SPV, a key element
of the European Union's effort to keep Iran from quitting the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 accord to constrain the
nation's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
The Treasury Department added two private airline
companies to its sanctions blacklist on Thursday for allegedly aiding
Iran, including ferrying weapons from Tehran into Syria. The move,
which also targets an Iran-backed militia composed of foreign
fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan, underscores the role regional
actors play in the Syria conflict and evasion of U.S. sanctions
against Iran.
France has announced that a European-backed system to
enable non-dollar trade with Iran and circumvent US sanctions will
finally be set up in the coming days. Will the EU's so-called special
purpose vehicle (SPV) be a game-changer in the nuclear and sanctions
standoffs between Iran and the US? The EU's concept of the SPV was to
help match sanctioned Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases
of EU goods, an effective barter arrangement. When
the Trump administration pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear
deal in May and snapped various sanctions back on
Iran in recent months, the Islamic Republic threatened to leave
the deal as well.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran has proved one of
the most consequential events in the history of modern terrorism. The
revolution led to a surge in Iranian-backed terrorism that continues,
albeit in quite different forms, to this day. Less noticed, but
equally significant, the revolution provoked a response by Saudi
Arabia and various Sunni militant groups that set the stage for the
rise in Sunni jihadism. Finally, the revolution sparked fundamental
changes in American counterterrorism institutions and attitudes.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Women's rights defenders in Iran will continue their
fight against the forced wearing of the hijab this year despite a
"sinister crackdown" by authorities in 2018 in which dozens
were arrested, activists said on Thursday. Iranian women took to
the streets holding their hijabs aloft in protests at the strict
dress code that quickly spread on social media last year, leading to
a "bitter backlash" by authorities, Amnesty International
said in a statement.
Amnesty International said Thursday Iran arrested more
than 7,000 people last year in what it called a "shameless
campaign of repression" as the US released an American
anchorwoman for Iranian state television held for days as a material
witness. While Iranian officials and state media have widely
condemned the arrest of Marzieh Hashemi of the broadcaster's
English-language channel Press TV, the figures released by Amnesty
highlight the widespread campaign of arrest and harassment those in
the media face in the Islamic Republic.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
An American detained in Iran in
July 2018 is being investigated on possible security charges, an
Iranian prosecutor was quoted as saying on Friday, in a case that
could further strain turbulent relations between Iran and the United
States. Ties between Tehran and Washington took a turn for the
worse following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision last May to
pull out of an international nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on
Iran.
A prominent American-born
anchorwoman for Iran's state television says she believes the U.S.
government jailed her because of her work as journalist and her
beliefs, and as a warning to her to "watch your step."
Marzieh Hashemi spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday, a day
after being released from custody. She was not charged with a crime
but was detained for 10 days as a material witness in a grand jury
investigation in Washington. Details of the investigation are under
seal, and Hashemi said she could not provide details.
Two brazen political
assassinations are proof of Iran's disregard for human rights and
international law. While President Donald Trump may have his critics,
his hard-line sanctions are the only kind of political message Tehran
can understand. One evening in November 2017, as Ahmad Mola Nissi
returned to his home in The Hague, an assassin gunned him down in
front of his door.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iranian military leaders declared Thursday the Islamic
Republic would launch a "massive" set of drills that will
include the regime's Army's Ground Force and 12,000 "combat and
mobile forces" - and the war games are intended to send a
message to Iran's "enemies." According to the semi-official
site Fars News, the drills will start Friday.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani's administration is hanging high hopes on this Saturday to
see whether its bid to join the international Financial Action Task
Force (FATF) goes through, as it faces a serious pushback from the
country's most conservative echelons. Committees at the cleric-led
country's Expediency Discernment Council oppose the anti-corruption
bill, despite its approval by parliament.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Political advisers in the country, currently busy
promoting Knesset candidates, would give anything for someone to love
their clients the way the Israeli media loves its chiefs of staff.
The series of blows exchanged between Israel and Iran in
Syria earlier this week was described by one newspaper as a
resounding Israeli victory, and by another as a brilliant ambush that
the new Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi,
set for his adversary, the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
An Iranian official on Thursday
expressed "anger" at Russia's failure to activate the S-300
air defense system deployed in Syria during a recent Israeli
airstrike near Damascus. Head of parliament's national security and foreign
policy committee Heshmatollah Falahat-Pisheh told IRNA there was
serious criticism in Tehran for not activating Russia's S-300 during
the Israeli attacks. He said if the system had operated correctly,
the Israelis would not have attacked Syria that easily.
GULF STATES, YEMEN & IRAN
The Arab Coalition in Yemen said on Thursday that
Houthis have been blocking the passage of four aid ships since 34
days. The ships heading towards the Hodeidah port carry oil and food
aid, said the Coalition, stressing on the fact that preventing the
ships from unloading will affect the lives of the Yemeni people.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Amidst a backdrop of accusations
against Iran of attempting assassinations in Europe, a former Iranian
ambassador has caused an uproar by calling those charges hard to deny
and suggesting the possibility that they could be at the hands of
rogue agents. During a Jan. 22 interview with ISNA, Ali
Majedi - a former ambassador to Germany recently forced to
retire due to an Iranian law barring the employment of those who are
technically retired for senior positions...
As the international community
marks the 38th anniversary of the Ayatollah's rise of revolutionary
regime, the persistent key question is whether Iran's regional and
global security challenges - ranging from terrorism to nuclear
ambitions - will continue to persist for the remainder of the 21st
century. Make no mistake. The short answer is potentially yes if the
current unfolding Teheran's intentions, capabilities, and actions are
any guidance.
CYBERWARFARE
The US has issued an emergency cyber security directive
in response to an ongoing attack attributed to Iran-linked hackers
striking during the government shutdown. Prompted by
disagreements over President Donald Trump's $5.6bn (£4bn) budget
request for a border wall with Mexico, the shutdown has now stretched
into its 34th day and become the longest in US history. As no budget
has been passed, many federal employees have been furloughed from
their jobs, left unpaid and effectively ordered to not come into
work, including those who maintain the security of IT systems.
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