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The Iranian authorities have flogged
and secretly executed two boys under the age of 18, Amnesty
International has learned, displaying an utter disdain for
international law and the rights of children. Mehdi Sohrabifar and
Amin Sedaghat, two cousins, were executed on 25 April in Adelabad
prison in Shiraz, Fars province, southern Iran. Both were arrested
aged 15 and convicted on multiple rape charges following an unfair
trial.
Iran could fulfill only 63% of its
non-oil export target during its last fiscal year, Trade Promoting
Organisation of Iran (TPO) announced. Iran's fiscal year (FY) ended
March 20, 2019. Iran had planned to export $54.9 billion non-oil
products, but it managed only $39.375bn, about 1.35% less than the
previous FY. Therefore, it can be argued that overall, Iran did not
do so badly compared to the previous year but it failed its own high
target, which became difficult to meet in an environment of tough
U.S. sanctions.
A U.S. government body that monitors
global religious freedom says conditions in Iran worsened last year,
with escalated government targeting of non-Shi'ite Muslims and
minority Baha'is and Christians. In its annual
report published Monday, the bi-partisan U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said Iran merits designation
as one of 16 countries of particular concern based on conditions in
2018.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Just a little more than ten years
ago, Finland's flagship telecommunications company, Nokia, was found
to have sold to Tehran surveillance technology, which was used a year
later to suppress dissident demonstrators' use of social media.
"[T]here are two documented instances where [the Finnish
company] Cargotec-tied cranes have been used for public
executions." - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) press release.
SANCTIONS,
BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
on Monday expressed confidence that trade talks between the United
States and China will not be affected by the end of Iran oil waivers
this week. Pompeo warned countries and companies that it would
be a costly mistake to violate U.S. sanctions by importing Iranian
oil after Wednesday, when the waivers for eight importers end.
China, India and Turkey are among Iran's largest oil importers that
were granted waivers from U.S. sanctions to allow them time to find
alternative supplies.
Turkey is seeking ways to buy more
oil from Iraq, already a major supplier of crude to the Middle East's
biggest economy, as the U.S. looks to squeeze exports from Iran,
according to two people familiar with the matter. Turkey could
consider oil imports from Iraq's southern port of Basra and may also
try to secure more shipments via an existing twin pipeline that runs
to the Turkish Mediterranean terminal of Ceyhan, despite its state of
disrepair, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity
because they aren't authorized to speak to the media.
U.S. sanctions against Iran's oil
industry will damage the stability of global oil markets, a senior
Iranian official was quoted as saying on Monday. "These
sanctions are an example of America's bullying reaction in trying to
change the balance of power in the world," Amir Hossein
Zamaninia, a deputy oil minister, said in a report carried by the oil
ministry's news website SHANA.
Some 20 million barrels of Iranian
oil sitting on China's shores in the northeast port of Dalian for the
past six months now appears stranded as the United States hardens its
stance on importing crude from Tehran. Iran sent the oil to
China, its biggest customer, ahead of the reintroduction of U.S.
sanctions last November, as it looked for alternative storage for a
backlog of crude at home.
Donald Trump's sanctions against Iran
have triggered a collapse in economic growth, pushing the Islamic
republic into a deep recession and lifting inflation towards 40 per
cent, according to the IMF. The fund on Monday linked its forecast of
a 6 per cent contraction in Iran this year with Mr Trump's efforts to
tighten an economic squeeze on the country.
US sanctions on Iran, rising unrest
in the Middle East and North Africa and oil price volatility are
dragging regional economic growth, the International Monetary Fund
said Monday. The IMF warned in a bi-annual economic outlook report
that prospects for the region are "clouded by elevated levels of
uncertainty". "Such uncertainty may increase investors'
perception of risk for the whole region, leading to capital outflows
and exchange rate pressure," the global lender said.
A war of words has erupted again
between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. But it
would be in no country's interest to see trade disrupted in this
vital international waterway. Furthermore, unilateral military action
on Iran's part would be a grave mistake. On Monday, April 22 the
United States announced it would end sanctions waivers for countries
importing oil from Iran, with the object of ending all Iranian oil
exports.
Iran on April 29 announced the
establishment of a company designed to match a mechanism
European countries have set up to facilitate trade despite U.S.
sanctions. Earlier on March 20, the Governor of Central Bank of Iran
(CBI) Abdolnaser Hemmati had announced that a mechanism similar to
Europe's Instrument for Trade and Exchanges (INSTEX) has been
registered.
TERRORISM &
EXTREMISM
The Trump administration's decision
to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign
terrorist organization (FTO) has received applause from Iran hawks on
both sides of America's partisan divide. Conversely, it has received
criticism from some of President Donald Trump's opponents and those
who prefer to approach Iran's growing influence in the region through
dialogue.
U.S.-IRAN
RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Iran will continue to export oil
despite U.S. pressure aimed at reducing the nation's crude oil
shipments to zero, Iran President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech
broadcast live on Iranian state TV on Tuesday. "America's
decision that Iran's oil exports must reach zero is a wrong and
mistaken decision, and we won't let this decision be executed and
operational" Rouhani said. "In future months, the
Americans themselves will see that we will continue our oil exports,"
he said.
During an April 29
speech addressing Iran's police force commanders, Qasem
Soleimani of the Quds Force - the foreign operations branch of the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - weighed in on one of
the hot topics in Iranian media: direct talks between Iran and the
United States. "The enemy [America] wants to drag us to the
negotiating table through economic pressure, and this type of
negotiation is an example of submission," Soleimani
said.
"Maximum pressure." That's
how the Trump administration describes its approach
toward Iran - and lately, it's really been living up to
that billing. Early in April, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
announced that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard was being
designated a foreign terrorist organization. And now administration
officials have ratcheted up the pressure even more: Eight countries
that import Iranian oil won't continue getting waivers from U.S.
sanctions.
IRANIAN INTERNAL
DEVELOPMENTS
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on
Monday accused Iran of directing Yemen's Houthi rebels to renege on
commitments they made in Stockholm last December and continue fighting.
The Houthis "continue to refuse to comply with the agreements
that they signed up for in Stockholm, Sweden, they refuse to withdraw
from the port of Hodeidah ... this is because Iran has chosen to
direct them to do that", Mr Pompeo said at an event in
Washington hosted by The Hill newspaper.
In the 40 years of Iran's Islamic
Republic, 2019 is shaping up to be among the worst for an economy
that's weathered wars, sanctions and oil slumps. Even before the U.S.
decided to tighten oil sanctions against Iran last week, the rial
currency had lost two thirds of its value against the dollar, and the
International Monetary Fund expected gross domestic product to shrink
6 percent.
A controversial bill in the Iranian
parliament seeks to ban its members from running for office
after serving three consecutive terms. Under the new bill,
high-profile moderates such as current parliamentary speaker Ali
Larijani and outspoken lawmaker Ali Motahari, who have both served
three consecutive terms, would not be eligible to run in the
2020 legislative elections. On March 3, parliament passed
the bill, with 135 members voting in favor.
Some two months after massive swarms
of locusts attacked southern Iran, the government allocated a 10
billion tuman budget for fighting the pest, Mehr news agency reported
on Monday April 29. Mehr added that the Iranian Pest Control
Authority had called for a 12 billion tuman [roughly $1,200,000 at
the market rate and $3 million at the government rate] budget in
February, at least two months before the locusts attacked, not
knowing the possible extent of the attack.
RUSSIA, SYRIA,
ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
The head of the Lebanese Forces Party
has said that Lebanon cannot be an effective and strong state as long
as Iran-backed Hezbollah continues to be armed. Samir Geagea said
that he expected Iran's funding of Hezbollah to decline given the
recent US sanctions on Iran and said that as this happens Hezbollah's
overall influence will suffer, noting that this would mean tens of
thousands of Hezbollah fighters losing their money.
GULF STATES, YEMEN
& IRAN
The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and
Relief Center (KSRelief) has stepped up a number of initiatives in
Yemen and Sudan ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, removing mines
and providing aid packages to displaced and impoverished families.
The Iran-backed Houthi militias have
been trying to lure army forces deployed to the outskirts of the
coastal city of Hodeidah into armed confrontation. Analysts said the
militias are plotting to break the UN-brokered Stockholm agreement,
which was signed last December. According to the deal, signed by both
the Houthi and legitimate government, militias must redeploy from
Hodeidah and its three ports.
IRAQ & IRAN
A statement by the US embassy in
Baghdad that accused Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of
corruption has caused anger and alarm among Iraqi officials. Baghdad
is caught between arch-enemies Washington and Tehran and is walking a
fine line to maintain good relations with both. "Corruption is
rife in all parts of the Iranian regime, starting at the top,"
the US embassy in Baghdad said in a post on its Facebook page on
April 25.
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