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TOP STORIES
Iran said on Sunday that within hours it would breach
the limits on uranium enrichment set four years ago in an accord with
the United States and other international powers that was designed to
keep Tehran from producing a nuclear weapon. The latest move inches
Iran closer to where it was before the accord: on the path to being
able to produce an atomic bomb. President Trump withdrew the United
States from the accord last year and in May dealt a crippling blow to
Iran's economy by implementing sanctions intended to cut off its oil
sales any where in the world.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said Iran "better
be careful," hours after Tehran announced it would shortly boost
its uranium enrichment above a cap set by a landmark 2015 nuclear
deal. Speaking to reporters as he departed Morristown, New Jersey for
Washington, D.C., Trump also took aim at the British Ambassador to
the U.S., Kim Darroch, saying he did not serve the United Kingdom
well, after a news report alleged he criticized Trump administration
in a series of confidential memos.
While French Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, said
Thursday, July 4, he hoped the first trade transaction with Iran
under INSTEX will be conducted in a few days; an Iranian official has
insisted that the European special purpose vehicle is merely a
"claim" at the moment, and it would not solve any problem.
The instrument in Support of Trade and Exchanges, or INSTEX, is a new
European payment system for barter-based trade with Iran designed to
circumvent U.S. sanctions imposed on Tehran.
UANI IN THE NEWS
BRODSKY: Yes, [the threat from Iran to enrich uranium]
is credible. Iran was enriching around 20 percent before the signing
of the nuclear deal so it definitely is credible. And this is what
one of the problems was with the Iran nuclear deal - the ease in which
Iran could reverse its nuclear program. So this is very concerning.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran has surpassed the cap on uranium enrichment set by
a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, a spokesman for Iran's Atomic
Energy Organization said Monday, warning that Tehran would take
further steps to reduce its commitments under the accord. Speaking to
local news agencies, Behrouz Kamalvandi said Iran has exceeded the
3.67 percent limit and was now enriching uranium at 4.5 percent, a
rate far below the 90 percent needed to produce a nuclear weapon. He
said, however, that there were no obstacles to Tehran enriching at
even higher levels.
Iran remains open to diplomacy to save its 2015 nuclear
deal with world powers but has "no hope" in the
international community, the country's Foreign Ministry spokesman
said Monday, as the Islamic Republic broke the limit the agreement
put on its enrichment of uranium. Abbas Mousavi said he had no
information on how far Iran had taken its enrichment, though a top
aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei previously suggested
Iran had a need for 5%-enriched uranium.
European powers urged Iran to reverse its latest
decision to breach the levels of uranium enrichment under the 2015
nuclear accord but stopped short of threatening sanctions. The U.K.
and the European Union said they were concerned about Iran's move to
abandon uranium enrichment restrictions. Both said they're in contact
with other parties to the accord regarding next steps.
Iran will announce on Sunday that it will raise its
uranium enrichment level to 5%, a concentration above the limit set
by its 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers, an Iranian official
told Reuters. "The main announcement tomorrow will be the
increase of the level of enrichment to 5% percent from 3.67% that we
agreed under the deal," the official said on Saturday on
condition of anonymity.
The European Union on Sunday strongly urged Iran to stop
actions that would undermine a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, saying it
was in touch with other parties to the deal and may set up a joint
commission to look into the issue. "We are extremely
concerned at Iran's announcement that it has started uranium
enrichment above the limit of 3.67%," spokeswoman Maja
Kocijancic for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a
statement.
Iran has broken the terms of its 2015 nuclear deal and
must immediately stop and reverse its activities, a spokesman for
Britain's Foreign Office said on Sunday. Iran said on Sunday it
will boost its uranium enrichment in a few hours above a cap set by
the nuclear deal, a move that could eventually culminate in the
return of all international sanctions on Tehran. "Iran has
broken the terms of the JCPoA," the Foreign Office spokesman
said, referring to the deal's formal name, the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Israel's energy minister described as moderate on Sunday
an announced increase of Iranian uranium enrichment but accused
Tehran of breaking out of internationally agreed limitations on its
nuclear projects and moving towards a potential bomb. "Iran
has begun - while it is a moderate rise right now - but it has begun
to raise, to break out of the uranium enrichment curbs that were
imposed on it," Yuval Steinitz, a member of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, told Israel's Ynet TV.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he and
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had agreed to seek conditions for a
resumption of dialogue on the Iranian nuclear question by July 15.
"The President of the Republic has agreed with his Iranian
counterpart to explore by July 15 conditions to resume dialogue
between the parties," Macron's office said in a statement.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC
NEWS
Twenty percent of the global oil supply flows
through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow stretch of water that
separates Persian Gulf countries like Iran, Iraq and Kuwait from the
rest of the world. From May 15 to June 15, more than 1,000 tanker
ships traveled the strait. Many were destined for places as far away
as China and South Korea. The gulf region has been rocked by
instability in recent months, threatening the flow of oil through the
strait.
When a respected Iranian scientist left Tehran bound for
the U.S. last fall, he had plans to complete the final stage of his
research on treating stroke patients as a visiting scholar at the
prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Instead, when professor Masoud
Soleimani touched down on U.S. soil, federal authorities armed with a
secret indictment arrested him on charges that he had violated trade
sanctions by trying to have biological material brought to
Iran.
Iran is producing oil at the slowest
clip since 1986, making U.S. sanctions on crude sales as
effective as the devastating Iraq-Iran war that ended more than 30
years ago. And there is no sign of relief as the Islamic
Republic steps up uranium enrichment. President Donald Trump
warned Iran of further penalties if it continues to advance its
nuclear program, tweeting: "Be careful with the threats, Iran.
They can come back to bite you like nobody has been bitten
before!"
Britain's seizing of an Iranian oil tanker last week was
a threatening act that will not be tolerated, Iran's Defence Minister
Amir Hatami said on Monday in a speech broadcast live on state
television. Royal Marines impounded the tanker in Gibraltar on Thursday
on suspicion it was carrying oil to Syria in violation of European
Union sanctions. Iran denies the vessel was headed to Syria, where
the government of President Bashar al-Assad is an ally of Tehran.
An oil tanker damaged in a bombing that was blamed on
Iran is back in business. The ship's first destination: Iran. The
Andrea Victory is sailing in the northern Persian Gulf and signaling
Iran's Bandar Imam Khomeini as a destination, according to ship
tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The data show the vessel, which
was attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in May, is
full and transporting fuel to Iran. Tanker bombings this year
inflamed tensions in the Gulf as the U.S. and Saudi
Arabia blamed Iran for targeting the vessels and putting
oil flows at risk.
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday that
he was very hopeful of an improvement in the country's crude exports,
state TV reported, in spite of tightened U.S. sanctions on Tehran's main
source of income. His comments came as Iran faces further U.S.
sanctions after announcing on Sunday it will shortly boost its
uranium enrichment above a cap set by a landmark 2015 nuclear
deal. "I am very hopeful that our oil exports will
improve," Zanganeh told state TV, adding that the price of oil
was not Iran's main concern.
Iran will face further sanctions in response to its
expected breach Sunday of a uranium enrichment cap, US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo said. "Iran's latest expansion of its nuclear
program will lead to further isolation and sanctions," the top
US diplomat said on Twitter. Iran said earlier it was hours away from
breaching the cap set by an endangered nuclear deal reached with
international powers but from which the United States withdrew last
year.
MISSILE PROGRAM
"If Iran decides to confront you, a missile strike
on the Dimona reactor would be enough," said Tehran's Friday
Prayer Imam Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi-Kermani in a sermon
addressing the United States and Israel, according to a report by
Radio Farda. Movahedi-Kermani threatened that such an attack on the
nuclear reactor in Israel's Negev desert would "plow Israel 200
times."
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Thousands gathered in Berlin's government quarter on
Saturday to protest the Iranian government's use of draconian
measures against its opponents. Protesters, who carried pre-Islamic
Revolution flags and balloons in the national colors of green,
white and red, voiced opposition to both the use of the death penalty
and torture in prison. "Down with the regime" was
among the slogans chanted, along with: "The West should not
enter into any compromise with religious fascism."
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
The United States conveyed a message to Iran warning of
a limited strike against the country after its unmanned drone was
shot down in the Gulf, Iran's civil defence agency chief was quoted
as saying by the Fars news agency on Sunday. "After the
downing of its intruding drone, the United States told us through
diplomatic intermediaries that it wanted to carry out a limited
operation," said Gholamreza Jalali, who is also a senior
commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
The Islamic Republic's Permanent Mission to the UN in
Vienna has called the U.S. request for a meeting of the nuclear
watchdog IAEA a "sad irony". The UN's nuclear watchdog said
July 5 it will hold an emergency meeting on Iran's nuclear program
next week, days after Tehran breached one of the limits set in a 2015
deal with world powers. The meeting of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA)'s board of governors, which follows a U.S.
request, would be held "on 10 July at 14:30," an IAEA
spokesman said.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iran is not looking for war with any country, Iranian
army chief Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said on Monday, according
to the semi-official Mehr news agency. Tensions have spiked
between Iran and the United States after the Islamic Republic shot
down an American drone last month. Iranian officials have said
the drone was in their airspace while Washington has said the drone
was flying over international waters.
Egypt's Supreme State Security Criminal Court sentenced
on Sunday five defendants to 25 years in jail and another to 15 years
on charges of espionage for Iran with the aim of harming Egypt's
military, political, and national interests. The court decision
included a fine of 500 thousand Egyptian Lira (around $30,000) for
each defendant, in addition to confiscating their computer, phones,
hard discs, documents and papers and being placed under the authority
of the General Intelligence.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
The more people give up hope about reforms in Iran, the
more likely they gravitate towards subversion, the former President
of the Islamic Republic, Mohammad Khatami, has warned, adding,
"Subversive forces might succeed." Meeting with members of
Engineers Association on Saturday, July 6, Khatami called for efforts
toward forming an effective strategy for reformists strategy, to
attract people to participate in elections.
One of the signatories of a statement demanding the
resignation of Iran's Supreme Leader published a month ago says he
was attacked by three unidentified assailants. Reza Mehregan, one of
the 14 civic-political activists who in June demanded the resignation
of Ayatollah Khamenei and the overhaul of Iran's constitution, has
told Radio Farda in an interview that he was assaulted by a taser and
beaten by three plainclothes individuals on July 5.
Iran says a magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit a town in the
country's southwest on July 8, damaging several buildings. The report
by the official IRNA news agency said that the quake hit near the
town of Masjid Soleiman in Khuzestan Province, some 450 kilometers
southwest of Tehran. It said at least four people have been reported
injured.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
The latest intensification of the US-Russian dialogue
has revived speculations that Moscow could use Iran as a
bargaining chip in its relations with US President Donald Trump. The
argument usually goes that Moscow could withdraw its political support
for Tehran in exchange for the ease of American political and
economic pressure on Russia itself. Yet these suggestions should
be taken with a grain of salt.
American diplomats have been quietly mediating a
resolution to the Israeli-Lebanese maritime border dispute, an important
step to avoiding another war between these two countries. However,
even if American mediators can resolve the dispute, Hezbollah's
presence in southern Lebanon keeps alive the possibility of a
devastating war.
GULF STATES, YEMEN & IRAN
A fundraising campaign on a Yemeni radio station
affiliated with Iran-backed Houthi rebels has collected 73.5 million
Yemeni rials for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The campaign
on the Sam FM station solicited donations from listeners in the Arab
world's poorest nation from May 25 to July 5, reported the rebel-held
Saba news agency. It was the radio's third fundraising campaign and
the first for Hezbollah. Saba cited the value of the funds as
equaling $132,000, likely using a black market rate for the currency.
Houthis' violations of human rights had escalated this
year in Sanaa and other areas under their control, confirmed security
and human rights sources in Sanaa. They said militias committed about
18,000 violations over the past six months, basing their information
on reports from state facilities. The violations varied between
killings, kidnappings, house raids, confiscation of properties, and
arbitrary arrests at the checkpoints deployed in streets and roads
between the provinces.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
An Iranian cleric warned Britain on Saturday about
Tehran's retaliation for the capture of an Iranian supertanker by
Royal Marines in Gibraltar, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted
Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri as saying. "I am openly saying
that Britain should be scared of Iran's retaliatory measures over the
illegal seizure of the Iranian oil tanker," said the cleric, who
is a member of the powerful clerical body, the Assembly of Experts.
Iran said an oil tanker that was seized by British
forces near Gibraltar wasn't destined for Syria. The ship "was
navigating in international waters," Deputy Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi said at a press conference in Tehran. He said the
tanker wasn't heading toward Syria, without saying where the vessel
was going. "We consider this an act of piracy." Grace 1, a
supertanker able to haul 2 million barrels of crude, was arrested
earlier this week on suspicion that it was going to breach European
Union sanctions by delivering crude to Syria. The cargo came from
Iran.
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