|
TOP STORIES
China has slowed down its work
on an Iranian nuclear project amid Beijing's current high-stakes
negotiations with the United States.Top of FormBottom of Form Ali
Akbar Salehi, the head of Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI),
said on Wednesday that the Chinese were "reducing the speed of
cooperation despite their commitment" to redesign the Arak heavy
water reactor. Salehi told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency
that China fears possible US sanctions on its nuclear-related firms
if it continues its cooperation with his country.
Furious after President Trump pulled out of
the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed punitive banking
sanctions last year, European leaders vowed to find a way to enable
Tehran to keep doing business with the rest of the world. After
months of delay, and after enduring mockery from the Trump
administration, three major European allies on Thursday finally
introduced a financial mechanism to do just that. The question now is
whether anyone will actually use it.
A senior U.S. official warned Lebanon's Hezbollah not to
exploit its newly gained clout in the new Lebanese Cabinet and
channel funds from a ministry it controls to institutions affiliated
with the Shiite militant group. The remarks by Marshall Billingslea,
the U.S. Treasury's assistant secretary on terror financing, came as
Lebanese political factions agreed late Thursday to form a new
government, breaking a nine-month deadlock that had deepened
Lebanon's economic woes.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
Iran said on Thursday a new
European mechanism to facilitate non-dollar trade with the country
was a first step for the European Union to fulfill its commitments
under a nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers, state
television reported. France, Germany and Britain have set up the
mechanism in an effort to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran, though
diplomats say it is unlikely to yield the big commercial transactions
that Tehran says it needs to keep the nuclear deal afloat.
Crude oil exports from Iran to its four largest buyers
in Asia fell to a three-year low last year because of the
reinstatement of U.S. sanctions against Tehran in November, Reuters
reports. Although the sanctions kicked in only in November, Asian
importers began reducing their imports of Iranian oil earlier, with
South Korea completely suspending imports in August.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
What does it mean to belong? For
Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter who was imprisoned in
Iran for 544 days on spurious charges of espionage, that question is
complicated. Rezaian, an Iranian-American, holds the record for
longest imprisonment of a Western journalist by Iran. He explores
this dichotomy of love for a country and shame for its actions -
particularly after his arrest and imprisonment - in his new memoir,
Prisoner.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Last May, the United States reinstated economic
sanctions on Iran, despite vehement opposition from its European
allies. The United States had already unilaterally pulled out of the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, where Iran agreed to give up on
its nuclear ambitions in return for sanction relief and reintegration
into the world economy. The new U.S. sanctions not only affected
American firms, but European ones, even though Europe wanted to stick
with the JCPOA deal.
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez
wore his trademark fatigues over a red T-shirt as he and Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad of Iran grinned and cut the ribbon to inaugurate their
joint lender. The two presidents' attendance at the 2009 ceremony in
Tehran -- the Iran Venezuela Bi-National Bank officially opened its
doors the following year -- was a sign of their affinity and mutual
determination.
President Donald Trump on Thursday accused Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrats of being "weak and
passive with Iran," an insult that landed days after the
nation's top intelligence official contradicted the president's views
on the Islamic republic's nuclear capabilities. "Schumer and the
Democrats are big fans of being weak and passive with Iran," the
president tweeted.
The 68-23 vote by the Senate
Thursday for an amendment opposing the withdrawal American troops
from Syria and Afghanistan demonstrates the
Republican-controlled chamber doesn't support President Trump's
desire to pull U.S. troops out of both nations at this time. The
amendment is to a bill that has yet to be voted on in the Senate.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Wherever Asal Bahrierad goes,
her Shih Tzu terrier, Teddy, follows. The 31-year-old Iranian even
slept in her car with Teddy for three nights, she said, when visiting
with her mother, who does not like dogs. Impressed by her daughter's
determination to be with Teddy, Ms. Bahrierad's mother finally
relented and allowed her back in the house, with her beloved dog.
Iran is marking the 40th
anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the shah, ending
2,500 years of monarchical rule. On February 1, 1979, Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini returned from France after 14 years in exile to
become the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Across
Iran on February 1, sirens blared at 9:33 a.m. - the exact time
Khomeini's plane touched down at Tehran's international airport 40
years ago.
Forty years ago this month, the man who would go on to
lead the Islamic revolution in Iran lived in a simple house in a
village outside Paris, spending his days cross-legged under an apple
tree in the garden, contemplating insurrection. Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini had fled Iran in the mid-1960s, fearing a crackdown on his
teachings by the Shah.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
The foreign ministers of a growing alliance of Arab
states gathered in Jordan on Wednesday and Thursday, with Egypt,
Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia
participating. The meeting sought to build consensus among Arab
states on regional security issues, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman
Safadi said on the sidelines of the meeting, according to the
Jordanian newspaper Al-Ghad. The meeting was "positive and
constructive," according to local reports, and focused on
"common Arab interests."
The conflict between Iran and
Israel has been escalating in the last few weeks, highlighted by the
Israeli Defense Forces' series of airstrikes against Tehran regime
targets in Syria. This is not the first time that Israel has launched
airstrikes against Iranian bases in Syria. In May 2018, after Iran
reportedly fired several rockets into Israel, Tel Aviv carried out a
large-scale attack on Iranian targets.
Russian media reports revealed a
number of preparations were underway for another Sochi summit for the
presidents of the Astana Syria talks guarantor states, Russia,
Turkey, and Iran. The next summit is expected to take place on
February 14. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, according to
Turkish dailies, confirmed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan will be in Sochi for the upcoming summit on Syria.
CYBERWARFARE
Facebook on Thursday announced it removed 783
pages, groups and accounts with ties to Iran as part of the company's
continued effort to rid misinformation from its services. The company
said the Iranian accounts and pages were used to push Iranian
propaganda "on topics like Israel-Palestine relations and the
conflicts in Syria and Yemen, including the role of the US, Saudi
Arabia, and Russia," Facebook said in a blog post.
Facebook says it has removed 783
Iran-linked pages, accounts and groups from its service for what it
calls "coordinated inauthentic behavior." That's the social
network's term for fake accounts run with the intent of disrupting
politics and elections. Facebook has been disclosing such purges more
regularly in recent months, including ones linked to groups in
Myanmar, Bangladesh and Russia.
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment