Author: Neal Coates

Interesting way to put it, but true—“The Abraham Accord is threatening decades of foreign-policy planning in Tehran.”  See “Israel’s Peace Deals Are a Strategic Nightmare for Iran,” Maysam Behravesh and Hamidreza Azizi, Foreign Policy, September 14, 2020.

Iran draws an unreasonable line about when interference is not allowed—if judicial norms are not followed such as lack of due process and right to attorney or having time in court or being tortured into a confession or not having evidence presented that the defendant committed the crime.  Deputy Judiciary Chief for International and Human Rights Affairs Ali Bagheri strongly protested against calls by European embassies when the Regime executed the Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari.  He said they were spreading “lies like an opposition group.”  See “Iran strongly protests European embassies’ interference,” Tehran Times, September 14, 2020.

“UN inspectors to gain access to suspected Iran nuclear site in days,” Callum Paton, The National, September 14, 2020.

“UPDATE 1-Israel deal protects Bahrain’s interests amid Iran threat, minister says” Reuters, September 14, 2020.

“Officials: Iran weighs plot to kill U.S. ambassador to South Africa,” Nahal Toosi and Natasha Bertrand, Politico, September 13, 2020.  And what a shocking headline this is, too.  For what other country is it now publicly known that they are planning to assassinate another country’s ambassador?  This is not what countries do.

“Iran could target Israelis in Bahrain, expert warns,” Dean Shmuel Elmas, Israel Hayom, September 13, 2020.

“Iran says 1,044 centrifuges being used to enrich uranium at Fordow plant,” Xinhua, September 13, 2020.

This enables Iran, to reinstate the JCPOA but then negotiate outside it missiles, hostages, Crescent, terrorism, etc.  Biden’s position is Obama’s position, and then we’re back on the “sanctioned” (seemingly authorized) path to nuclear weapons.  See “Joe Biden: There’s a smarter way to be tough on Iran,” Joe Biden, op-ed, CNN, September 13, 2020.

The International Olympic Committee, by letters from IOC President Thomas Bach, made direct personal appeals to the Supreme Leader and to Pres. Rouhani this week, asking mercy for Navid Afkari, who had also been tortured to force a false confession.  The IOC was ignored.  Will the IOC penalize Iran?  See “IOC Statement on the Execution of Wrestler Navid Afkari in Iran,” IOC Press Release, September 12, 2020.  And see “Iran executes wrestler who said he was tortured for false confession,” Danielle Haynes, UPI, September 12, 2020.

Note that Tabari was executive deputy under judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani from 2009 to 2019.  “Iran Ex-judiciary Official Gets 31 Years For Graft,” AFP, September 12, 2020.

Iran’s currency dropped to the lowest value ever versus the dollar, and fallen 30% since June.  “Money exchange shops traded the Iranian rial 262,000 for a dollar. The rial had traded at 256,000 to $1 on Thursday, and markets were closed Friday, the start of the weekend in Iran. The rial has tumbled from a rate of 200,000 in late June. Iran’s currency was at 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.”  See “Iran’s currency hits new record low against the dollar,” AP, Star Tribune, September 12, 2020.

Not showing the colors of the religion of peace.  “Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Bahrain would face “harsh revenge” from its own people and the Palestinians over the Gulf Arab state’s move to normalise ties with Israel. “The executioner ruler of Bahrain should await the harsh revenge of the Mujahideen (Islamic fighters) aiming to liberate Quds (Jerusalem) and the proud Muslim nation of this country,” the Guards said in a statement posted on their website.”  See “Iran Guards Warn of ‘Harsh Revenge’ Against Bahrain by Bahrainis, Palestinians Over Israel Deal,” Reuters, September 12, 2020.

“Iran says Bahrain normalising ties with Israel ‘shameful’,” Reuters, September 12, 2020.

“Iran’s Power Plants Allowed to Mine Cryptocurrencies,” IFP, September 12, 2020.

Beyond the instructiveness of the headline, it is informative what this article does not include—any comment by Canadian authorities.  The article only quotes Iranian officials and their perspective.  “Iran Denies Receiving Canada’s Lawsuit over Ukrainian Plane Tragedy,” IFP, September 11, 2020.

A group of three tankers are bringing Iranian oil to Venezuela and are taking the Cape Horn route to try to avoid U.S. forces following the seizure of four cargoes in August.  While it make it more expensive for the U.S. to interdict these ships, I believe it will happen. Watch the news around Sept. 15 or 16.  See “Iranian fuel tankers reported off coast of South Africa,” Al Monitor, September 11, 2020.

Just look north toward Venezuela.  Then ask if Uruguay should be inviting closer relations.  “Iran holds exhibition in Uruguay,” Trend, September 11, 2020.

Not a good idea.   “Iranian Banks Allowed to Invest in the Stock Market,” Financial Tribune, September 11, 2020.

“Iran, Ireland national museums discuss ways to broaden ties,” Tehran Times, September 11, 2020.

“Fully Iran-made submarine makes debut in Zolfaqar-99 Maneuver,” Trend, September 11, 2020.

Two young girls were removed from the cover of a textbook, symptomatic of a broader problem.  “Iran Removes Girls’ Image From Math Textbooks,” Radio Farda, September 11, 2020.

Rare that one entity in Iran would sue another.  Here, there are corruption questions, safety questions, and the growth of the military complex which has drawn concern.  The “city’s line 7 metro was granted to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)-linked Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters (KCH) under pressure from Tehran’s former mayor. IRGC Brigadier-General Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who served as mayor of Tehran for twelve years, is currently the speaker of the Iranian Maijes parliament.”  See “Tehran City Council Sued For Granting Project To IRGC,” Radio Farda, September 11, 2020.

While this article is about China, it has a good map showing how the Belt and Road Project runs through Iran—in two different ways.  See “China could signal increased engagement with Iran but doesn’t,” James Dorsey, Modern Diplomacy, September 11, 2020.

“Iran To Link Its Power Grid To Russia, Azerbaijan,” Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.com, September 11, 2020.

While this article is about China, it has a good map showing how the Belt and Road Project runs through Iran—in two different ways.  See “China could signal increased engagement with Iran but doesn’t,” James Dorsey, Modern Diplomacy, September 11, 2020.

“Iran Tobacco Company’s Monthly Output Hits Two-Year High,” Financial Tribune, September 11, 2020.

“Phosphorus, an Iranian hacker group often called Charming Kitten, has gone after the personal and work accounts of Trump campaign staffers and administration officials.”  See “Russia, China and Iran trying to hack presidential race, Microsoft says,” Tim Starks, Politico, September 10, 2020.

“Houthi Drones, Missiles Strike Saudi Capital; Iran Eyes Israelis In UAE,” Arie Egozi, Breaking Defense, September 10, 2020.

“The four Iranians are facing the death penalty for participating in protest rallies against corruption, economic hardship, skyrocketing prices and mismanagement by Iranian officials.”  See “Iranian Lawyer Presents Her Award to 4 on Death Row,” Radio Farda, September 10, 2020.

“Russia, China, Iran to hold massive joint military exercise,” Ben Wolfgang, Washington Times, September 10, 2020.

“20 Million Iranians Live in ‘Dark Zones’,” Iran News Update, September 10, 2020.

“Russia, China and Iran launched cyberattacks on presidential campaigns, Microsoft says,” NBC, September 10, 2020.

“Iran’s Space Program Is Far from Benign,” Mosaic, September 10, 2020.

“Iranian press review: Law proposed to allow military generals to run for president,” Middle East Eye, September 10, 2020.

It is important to note a headline that accurately portrays the situation.  That she is being charged with additional crimes, though, is not the reason to now (after almost 5 years) to declare openly that Iran is holding hostages.  That should happen within the first week or two after the person is originally detained illegally.  “Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘held hostage’ by Iran, says husband,” Patrick Wintour, The Guardian, September 9, 2020.

“Iran Building New Production Hall for Centrifuges in Mountains Near Natanz,” Algemeiner, September 9, 2020.

“Tractor football club win Iran’s Hazfi Cup,” Muhammet Kursun, AA, September 9, 2020.

“International Federation of Journalists Defends Iranian Whistle Blower Reporter,” Radio Farda, September 9, 2020.

The title itself seems mystifying, that a charity would drill for oil, until you take into account that non-profits in Iran are often used for the profit of government or IRGC.  “Iran Charity to Develop Marun Oil Field,” Golnar Motevalli and Patrick Sykes, Bloomberg, Rig Zone, September 9, 2020.

“Iran Announces Large-Scale Military Exercise In The Strait Of Hormuz,” Kashmir Observer, September 9, 2020.

“Iranian Wrestler Facing Execution Beaten in Shiraz Prison Last Week, Source Says,” Michael Lipin and Ramin Haghjoo, VOA, September 9, 2020.

And there’s no need for this, just cruelty.  They already charged her with spying and have held her for almost 5 years.  This is just more antagonism to pressure the UK into larger ransom payments or other concessions.  “Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘to face new charge and trial in Iran’,” BBC, September 8, 2020.

“Iran’s insistence to involve Islamic Revolutionary Guard firm at Chabahar has strained ties with India,” K.N. Pandia, Intervention, September 8, 2020.

“Watchdog Denounces Growing ‘Persecution’ Of Journalists In Iran,” RFE/RL, September 8, 2020.

“Athletes’ union wants Iran expelled from sport if wrestler executed,” Reuters, September 8, 2020.

“What Is Iran up to in Latin America?,” Lindsay Gabow, The Defense Post, September 8, 2020.

“Iran’s Khamenei says Mohammed cartoons ‘unforgivable’,” France 24, September 8, 2020.

TankerTrackers has identified three Iranian-owned vessels that went ‘dark’ in August after loading cargoes, and that are apparently owned by Iran (no foreign companies willing to give into U.S. pressure).  “Iran tests US resolve as tanker trio ‘heads to Venezuela’,” Gary Dixon, Trade Winds, September 8, 2020.

“Iran Medical Council lambasts education ministry for schools’ reopening,” Arab News, September 7, 2020.

Shocking.  India loses Chabahar port.  China takes over, and takes over Iran.  Must read story.  More people will move out of Iran.  “China Looks To Build Espionage Hub In Iran Under 25-Year Deal,” Simon Watkins, OilPrice.com, September 7, 2020.  “The next phase of the 25-year deal between China and Iran will focus on a large-scale roll-out of electronic espionage and warfare capabilities focused around the port of Chabahar and extending for a nearly 5,000 kilometer (3,000 mile) radius, and the concomitant build-out of mass surveillance and monitoring of the Iranian population, in line with the standard operating procedure across China, senior sources close to the Iranian government told OilPrice.com last week. Both of these elements dovetail into Beijing’s strategic vision for Iran as a fully-functioning client state of China by the end of the 25-year period. By that time, Iran will be an irreplaceable geographical and geopolitical foundation stone in Beijing’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ project, as well as providing a large pool of young, well-educated, relatively cheap labor for Chinese industry. The mass surveillance, monitoring, and control systems to cover Iran’s population is to begin its full roll-out as from the second week of November, after the final agreement on event sequencing has been reached in the third week of October at a meeting between Iran’s most senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and intelligence services figures and their Chinese counterparts. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, already agreed on the broad plans in July, according to the Iran sources. “The plan is for nearly 10 million extra CCTV [closed-circuit television] cameras to be placed in Iran’s seven most populous cities, to begin with, plus another five million or so pinhole surveillance cameras to be placed at the same time in another 21 cities, with all of these being directly linked in to China’s main state surveillance and monitoring systems,” said an Iran source. “This will enable the full integration of Iran into the next generation of China’s algorithmic surveillance system that allows for the targeting of behavior down to the level of the individual by combining these inputs with already-stored local, national, and regional records on each citizen, together with their virtual data footprints,” he said. “At the same time as this, China will start to trial its own heavily-censored version of the internet via the Great Firewall of China [that prohibits foreign internet sites], in Iran, and to begin the broad roll-out of Mandarin as a key foreign language to be learned in school, initially alongside English, but then to replace English,” one of the Iran sources added. “By the end of this process, these seven cities in Iran will be among the top 25 most surveilled cities in the world,” he underlined.”  [see the article for the Chinese military presence that will come to be in Iran]

“Report: Three More Iranian Tankers Under Way With Fuel for Venezuela,” Maritime Executive, September 7, 2020.

“Greenhouse Expansion on Track in Iran,” Financial Tribune, September 7, 2020.

“Iranian Authorities Tighten Their Grip On Daycare Centers,” Radio Farda, September 6, 2020.

“Iran’s National Information Network Not Based on Censorship: Official,” IFP, September 6, 2020.  When you read this story, your realize that based on Iran’s history over 40 years that every media source, every one, will be censored—just the opposite of what the headline declares.  “In remarks at a televised interview, director of Iran’s National Centre of Cyberspace, Abul-Hassan Firoozabadi, said the National Information Network (NIN) is not based upon censorship and will not carry out any filtering policy unless the platforms violate the law and their illegal activities would cause cultural, social, political and security problems. Like all other international networks, web contents in the Iranian Internet or the NIN will be accessible in accordance with the country’s regulations and the network is not going to censor anything at the beginning, he added. “There is no plan to shut down any foreign network or platform, unless the platform disobeys the Iranian law and causes widespread destructive security effects,” he noted.”  These arguments—that media violates Iranian law and poses security threats—are made all the time in Iranian courts at present.

“Rouhani Is No Moderate,” Isaac Schorr, National Review, September 6, 2020.

If Iran follows its pattern, of accusing Israel or the U.S. of so many attacks, then this announcement by the AEOI means that Iran does not think Israel or the U.S. prosecuted the attack.  Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi just said the July incident at Natanz was “an act of sabotage” and the “culprits” and “incentives [motivations] and methods” are known. In short, Iran has full knowledge of what happened.  See “Iran claims it’s identified saboteurs behind blast at nuclear site,” Times of Israel, September 6, 2020.

“Iran: We will proudly continue helping Syria,” Tehran Times, September 6, 2020.

“Iran has what is probably the most confusing currency system in the world, and it will soon become more so, as it says it will alter the appearance of the zeroes on one of its notes. Although the currency of record is the rial, that term is hardly used in trade and commerce. Instead, transactions are conducted in tomans. One toman is equal to 10 rials. A tourist blog, ariamedtour.com, gives this example: If you go to buy a bottle of water and ask how much it is, the seller will tell you that it is 1,500 tomans, meaning that you should pay 15,000 rials. That’s not all. It also has two systems of bank notes: Rials are issued in 10 denominations from 100 to 100,000 rials. To complicate things further, there are Iran cheques in the amounts of 500,000 and 1 million rials. The central bank used to permit major banks to print their own bank notes known as “cash cheques.” They looked like official bank notes and could function as cash for a year. The two types were Iran cheques that could be cashed in any financial institution and cash cheques that could be cashed only at the issuing bank. In 2008 the central bank halted that practice, and took over the issue of Iran cheques. In May, after extended dawdling, Iran’s rampant inflation (100,000 rials is now $2.38) led Parliament to slash four zeroes off the rial and change its name to the toman. One toman will equal 10,000 rials. The Financial Times quotes Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank as saying on the bank’s website, “The parliament is in favor of the currency revaluation plans … the color of four zeros will be different on new banknotes printed by the CBI to show that we are in a transitional period.” For a transition period of up to two years, both the toman and the rial will be legal tender.”  This is from “Iran to introduce currency re-denomination in tomans,” Arthur Friedberg, Coin World, September 6, 2020.

Totally improper, and a violation of human rights.  “Iran airs televised confession of wrestler after Trump tweet,” WNEP, AP, September 6, 2020.

“Iran to Extend Range of Air-Launched Cruise Missiles,” Tasnim, September 6, 2020.

“Iran exports tea to India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Canada, Australia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.”  See “Iran’s annual tea output expected to reach 130m tons,” Tehran Times, September 6, 2020.

“Iran Among World’s Top 5 Military Speedboat Producers,” IFP, September 6, 2020.

Not inspiring, and may not be tested enough.  “Iran, Russia to jointly produce COVID-19 vaccine,” India TV News, September 6, 2020.

“Iranian Authorities Tighten Their Grip On Daycare Centers,” Radio Farda, September 6, 2020. What could this be?  In the past, the State Welfare Organization controlled preschools.  But after the Supreme Leader on Sep. 3 expressed concern over local daycare centers and their curriculum (they allow mixed dancing and swimming for the young children), Iran’s Ministry of Education will oversee kindergartens and nurseries.  Next up: “Following the recent amendment of school and university textbooks, Iranian authorities are also set to change kindergarten textbooks’ content.”

“China, Iran, Russia Seeking To Undermine US Elections: NSA,” News India, September 5, 2020.

“Iran could become hub of arms trafficking and exports as embargo ends,” Seth Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, September 5, 2020.

“Iran stockpiling enriched uranium,” Kiyoko Metzler and David Rising, AP, Northwest Arkansas Democratic Gazette, September 5, 2020.

“New school year starts in Iran,” Trend, September 5, 2020.

“Defense Minister Says Iran To Export Weapons When Embargo Lifted,” Radio Farda, September 5, 2020.

“Iran used ‘excessive force’ against fuel-hike protesters: UN special rapporteur,” Rudaw, September 5, 2020.  ““The Special Rapporteur expresses his shock at the unprecedented use of excessive and lethal force by State security forces during the November 2019 protests, including by the police, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Basij militia,” read special rapporteur Javaid Rehman’s report to the UN General Assembly. According to his report, at least 304 people were killed in 37 cities across Iran between 15 and 19 November, 2019. Rehman believes the actual death toll is much higher.”