A fascinating (and long) article about the lengths to which Iran goes to hide illicit oil and cargo shipments. One moral of the story—it is much more expensive to run a criminal enterprise than to participate in the open market. See “How a tanker and its crew that ‘disappeared’ for 10 days ended up in Iran,” Seth Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2020.
In multiple Iranian cities during the past two days, there have been protests against the government’s particular use of the death penalty. “Iranians Rally In Support Of Protesters Sentenced To Death,” RFE/RL, July 16, 2020.
“Will Iranian sea corridor compete with Suez Canal?,” Mohammad Hanafi, Al Monitor, July 16, 2020. Good ideas pick up steam. This idea won’t. The Iranian Chabahar Free Trade Zone Organization announced July 5 that trade connections to Mumbai, Hamburg, and St. Petersburg will be made through Astrakhan (in Russia), Anzali and Chabahar (in Iran), and Nhava Sheva (in India) instead of the Suez Canal. The notion of an Iranian International Transport Corridor dates to 2000 when the three countries signed a joint agreement to start establishing a transport route that includes maritime, land, and rail lines. The route, he said, aims to transport goods and shipments from India and Iran to countries surrounding the Caspian Sea, and from there to Russia and Germany and vice versa over 4,660 miles. Transport via this corridor, however, goes through four stages, so the cost is four times that of the Suez Canal. And it takes 19 days to directly ship a container from India to Hamburg through Suez, compared to 20 plus days via the Iranian Corridor. So, the Suez Canal is cheaper and faster. This idea appears “dead in the water.”
“Brother Of Anti-Hijab Activist Sentenced To Eight Years In Iran,” Radio Farda, July 16, 2020.
What do you say? The title and theme are so far removed from reality—So, what do you say? The IRIB has announced it will show a 40-episode documentary starting in August on Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani. The documentary will be titled “Commander of Peace.” See “’Commander of Peace’: Iran produces documentary on Qasem Soleimani,” Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2020.
“Big Leak Reveals Iran Targeting US Military With Super Speedy Google Account Hacks,” Forbes, July 16, 2020.
“United Nations’ (UN) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief said ‘things will be bad’ for Iran inspectors are denied access to suspected nuclear sites by the end of July, i24 News reported.” See “IAEA: ‘Things will be bad’ for Iran if inspectors denied access,” Middle East Monitor, July 16, 2020.