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Iran: Exiting nuclear pact one of ‘many options’ after US sanctions

i24NEWS - AFP — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 21:58:06 +0000

AP Photo: FILE- Iranian lawmakers burn two pieces of papers representing the U.S. flag and the nuclear deal as they chant slogans against the U.S. at the parliament in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 9, 2018.

The US seeks to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero in push to limit the country’s global influence

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said leaving the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is one of the “many options” Tehran has to retaliate against US sanctions, state media reported Sunday.

The United States has imposed a raft of sanctions against the Islamic republic since President Donald Trump withdrew last year from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with world powers.

On Monday Washington announced an end to sanction waivers for buyers of Iranian crude oil, and earlier this month the US declared Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards a “foreign terrorist organisation”.

“The Islamic republic has many options… (leaving) the NPT is one of them,” Zarif said in remarks to Iranian reporters in New York aired by state television.

State news agency IRNA said Zarif was asked why he had not touted leaving the nuclear treaty as one of Iran’s possible reactions during his trip as he had done so previously.

“The country’s officials are deliberating” the different options and measures, Zarif replied, adding that the possibility of leaving the NPT was among those options. He did not list the other options.

Iran has branded the US sanctions “illegal” and Zarif warned on Wednesday that there would be consequences should Iran be barred from selling its oil.

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal with six world powers — Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany — had given the Islamic republic sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Hamed Jafarnejad (FARS NEWS/AFP) – Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard attacks a vessel during a previous drill in the Strait of Hormuz in 2015

Separately, Iran’s top general warned Sunday Tehran could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping route if it faces more “hostility”, news agency ISNA said, as the US tightens up sanctions.

“We are not after closing the Strait of Hormuz but if the hostility of enemies increase, we will be able to do so,” armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri told semi-official ISNA.”

Also if our oil does not go through the strait, other countries’ oil will certainly not cross the strait, too,” he added.

The statement came after Washington said on Monday it would start imposing sanctions on countries such as India, China and Turkey that buy Iranian oil.

Eight countries were initially given six-month reprieves after the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in November, following President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from a 2015 nuclear accord.

Iranian officials have repeatedly warned the Islamic republic could shut down the strait, a vital shipping lane for international oil supplies, should it find its national interests or security threatened.

“We believe Iran will continue to sell its oil … (and) use the Strait of Hormuz. But if the United States takes the crazy measure of trying to prevent us from doing that, then it should be prepared for the consequences,” foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday.

“It is in our vital national security interest to keep the Persian Gulf open, to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. We have done that in the past and we will continue to do that in the future,” he added.

The report comes several days after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei called the end of oil sanction waivers by the United States a “hostile measure” that “won’t be left without response.

Khamenei.ir@khamenei_ir

U.S.’s efforts to boycott the sale of Iran’s oil won’t get them anywhere. We will export our oil as much as we need and we intend. They should know that their hostile measure won’t be left without a response. Iranian nation does not sit idle in the face of animosities.

“US efforts to boycott the sale of Iran’s oil won’t get them anywhere. We will export our oil as much as we need and we intend,” his official English-language Twitter account said.

The White House announcement last week declared that any country importing Iranian oil will no longer be exempt from sanctions if they do not end trade partnerships by May 2, in a renewed effort to heighten pressure on the Islamic Republic.

The aggressive move is the latest in the United States’ no-holds-barred move to crush the economy and scale back the clerical regime’s influence by seeking to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.

Source: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/1556450807-iran-warns-could-shut-hormuz-strait-if-tensions-grow

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Iran says it will unveil new fighter jet, continue developing missiles

Toi Staff — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 09:26:47 +0000

Tehran’s defense minister claims aircraft, believed to be the Qaher F-313, will fly over Iranian skies as part of National Defense Industry Day celebrations next week

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, listens to an unidentified pilot during a ceremony to unveil Iran’s newest fighter jet, the Qaher-313, in Tehran, Iran, February 2, 2013 (AP/Mehr News Agency/Younes Khani)

Iran’s defense minister said Saturday that the Islamic Republic was set to unveil a new fighter jet and, despite new US sanctions, will continue developing its missile program.

“Our top priority has been development of our missile program. We are in a good position in this field, but we need to develop it,” Brigadier General Amir Hatami was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency, according to Reuters.

“We will present a plane on National Defense Industry Day, and people will see it fly, and the equipment designed for it,” he added, referring to the August 22 celebrations.

Hatami is believed to have been referring to the Qaher F-313 fighter plane, which Tehran said it began testing last year.

The Qaher is one of several aircraft designs the Iranian military has rolled out since 2007. Tehran has repeatedly claimed to have developed advanced military technologies in recent years, but its claims cannot be independently verified because the country does not release technical details of its arsenals.

In 2013, then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that building the Qaher F-313, or “Dominant” F-313, shows Iran’s will to “conquer scientific peaks.”

Hatami’s announcement came after Iran’s navy on Saturday unveiled its first-ever advanced defense system for its warships, amid rising tensions with the US in the Strait of Hormuz.

Navy Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi told reporters in Tehran the domestically made Kamand system would protect Iran’s naval destroyers against anti-ship cruise missiles.

In remarks carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Khanzadi said the Kamand system was based on the American-made Phalanx CIWS, and could destroy any target up to 2 kilometers away.

For the time being, Khanzadi said, the defense system would only be installed on Iranian warships “that carry out missions in deep and distant waters.”

The announcement came two weeks after Iran launched naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz as a show of force while Washington prepared to reimpose sanctions on Tehran.

Navy Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi speaks at a Tehran press conference on July 31, 2019. (screen capture: YouTube/PressTV)

Iran routinely operates small boats in the Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding area, and has often threatened to shut down the vital waterway where one third of all oil traded by sea passes.

In recent weeks, President Hassan Rouhani renewed the threat, saying that if US sanctions threatened Iran’s crude oil exports, the rest of the Mideast’s exports would be threatened as well.

Earlier in August, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed that it had carried out a naval exercise in the Gulf, days before the US re-imposed the economic sanctions that were eased under the 2015-Obama era nuclear deal.

The general overseeing US military operations in the Middle East said Tehran was trying “to use that exercise to send a message to us that as we approach the period of the sanctions here that they had some capabilities.”

The capabilities include ocean mines, explosive boats, coastal defense missiles and radars, US Central Command head General Joseph Votel said.

In May, the US announced it was abandoning the 2015 agreement and reimposing nuclear-related sanctions, threatening global companies with heavy penalties if they continue to operate in Iran.

In a bid to salvage the accord, the EU and European parties to the deal — Britain, France, and Germany — presented a series of economic “guarantees” to Iran last month, but they were deemed “insufficient” by Tehran.

In this photo released by official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani attends a meeting with a group of foreign ministry officials in Tehran, Iran. Sunday, July 22, 2018. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

The sanctions that went into effect earlier in August target US dollar financial transactions, Iran’s automotive sector, and the purchase of commercial planes and metals, including gold. Even stronger sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector and central bank are to be re-imposed in early November.

US President Donald Trump has offered talks on a “more comprehensive deal” but Iran has balked at negotiating under the pressure of sanctions and has instead leaned on its increasingly close ties with fellow US sanctions targets Turkey and Russia.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-says-it-will-unveil-new-fighter-jet-continue-developing-missiles/

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Iran’s currency plunges to record low as US sanctions loom

Aljazeera — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 02:13:03 +0000

Rial has lost half its value since April amid weak economy and big demand for dollars by Iranians fearful of sanctions.

The probable return of US sanctions has triggered a rapid fall of Iran’s currency [Vahid Salemi/AP Photo]

Iran’s currency has plunged to another record low, dropping past 100,000 rials to the US dollar, as Iranians brace for August 7 when the United Statesis due to reimpose the first batch of sanctions on their economy.

In May, Washington pulled out of a landmark 2015 deal between world powers and Tehran under which international sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

The US government decided to reimpose sanctions on Iran upon its withdrawal, accusing it of posing a security threat, and has told countries they must halt all imports of Iranian oil from November 4 or face US financial measures.

On Sunday, the Iranian rial plunged to 111,500 against one US dollar on the unofficial market, down from about 97,500 rials on Saturday, according to foreign exchange website Bonbast.com.

Can Iran stop the downward spiral of its currency?

Other websites said the dollar was exchanged between 108,500 and 116,000 rials.

The rial has lost about half of its value since April because of a weak economy, financial difficulties at local banks and heavy demand for dollars among Iranians who fear the effects of sanctions.

Iran’s government tried to fix the rate at 42,000 in April, and threaten to crack down on black market traders. But the trade continued amid public worries about a prolonged economic downturn.

Tehran was forced to soften its decision in June, allowing more flexibility for certain groups of importers, according to local reports.

Foreign Exchange Rate according to the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran [Screenshot from the CBIR]

On August 7, Washington is expected to reimpose sanctions on the purchase or acquisition of US dollars by the Iranian government, Iran’s trade in gold and precious metals, and on the direct and indirect sale, supply and transfer to or from Iran of graphite, raw or semi-finished metals, coal and industrial-related software.

Sanctions will also be reapplied to the importation into the US of carpets and foodstuffs made in Iran, and on certain related financial transactions.

Iran, on the other hand, plans to offer price and tax incentives to private investors to take over idle state projects and help boost the economy.

The plan will offer attractive prices and flexible terms as well as tax holidays for investors who agree to take over some of the 76,000 government projects which are unfinished or idle, Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said on state television on Saturday.

“Over the past few months, the country’s liquidity has gone into housing, foreign exchange and gold coins, raising prices and provoking public concerns,” Jahangiri was quoted as saying by the website of the state broadcaster.

On November 4, 2018, a second set of sanctions is expected to start on industries such as shipping, oil, petrochemicals and the energy sector. The US will pursue efforts to reduce Iran’s sale of crude oil.

Iran’s oil exports could fall by as much as two-thirds, putting oil markets under huge strain amid supply shortages elsewhere in the world.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/iran-currency-plunges-record-sanctions-loom-180729135733789.html

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Iranian police open fire on protesters

Arab News — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 04:41:14 +0000

Iranian protesters gather at Mobile market in Tehran on June 25, 2018. In the latest protest in Iran, several people were injured in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr late Saturday during a demonstration against water pollution, Iranian state media reported. (AFP / ATTA KENARE)

Demonstration over polluted water latest sign of growing unrest
Khorramshahr has been the scene of demonstrations for the past three days, along with the nearby city of Abadan.

JEDDAH: Iranian police opened fire with live ammunition and tear-gas canisters early on Sunday as protests against the Tehran regime turned violent.

The shots rang out when about 500 young people gathered in the main square and outside a mosque in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr in a demonstration against water shortages and pollution.

Khorramshahr has been the scene of demonstrations for the past three days, along with the nearby city of Abadan. State television showed banks with broken windows and footage of a demonstrator armed with a rifle.

Police fired tear gas as protesters set fire to a bridge, and to a garden surrounding a museum which is a memorial to the Iran-Iraq war.

The protests were the latest outbreak of unrest throughout Iran, following demonstrations and strikes in Tehran last week over economic mismanagement.

Iran has been facing mounting economic woes since the United States in May pulled out of a 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers that had lifted international sanctions in exchange for curbs on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.

Iran’s currency has plunged almost 50 percent in value in the past six months against the US dollar and inflation is on the rise.

Traders in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar held a rare strike on Monday against the collapse of the rial.

Brief scuffles also broken out on Monday between protesters and police in the capital.

“Iran is experiencing a major political earthquake again,” said the Iranian-American political scientist and Arab News columnist Dr. Majid Rafizadeh.

“The fault lines in these protests are crystal clear,” he told Arab News. “On the one side, we have the theocratic regime and its suppressive forces; and on the other, we have the Iranian people who are protesting for political and economic reasons.

“The growing scope of the protests across Iran’s cities and towns highlight that the Iranian people are fearless, courageous, and fed up with the political establishment. The regime is facing a significant threat to its hold on power.

“There are several similarities with the run-up to the 1979 revolution. The middle class is joining the labor and worker class. Furthermore, many of the merchants and traders, the conservative base of the Islamic Republic, continue to demonstrate against the ruling establishment. And more people from the capital are coming on to the streets. These are major factors that are required for a revolution.”

The Iranian-American political commentator Camelia Entekhabifard told Arab News: “Poverty and massive dissatisfaction with the inefficiency of the system and financial and administrative corruption in Iran are the main causes of the protests and unrest in Khorramshahr.

“Asieh Bakeri, the daughter of an Iran-Iraq war hero from Khorramshahr, said on Twitter that no sound hurt her heart so much as the sound of gunfire she heard on the video footage from the city. Today, the regime is on one side and all the Iranian people, from Mashhad to Tehran and Khorramshahr, are on the other.”

Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri said in statements broadcast on state television that Iran is suffering from several problems, not just US sanctions.

Among Iran’s “woes,” he cited its dependence on oil revenues along with a weak private sector and a fragile banking sector.

Industry Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari told a news conference in Tehran on Saturday that the situation was not “critical” but “special.”

He urged foreign firms working in Iran to resist US “threats” of sanctions and to continue doing business in the country.

(With AFP)

Source: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1331581/middle-east

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Iran lists tough conditions for Europe to save nuclear deal

Deutsche Welle — Wed, 23 May 2018 08:23:47 +0000

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has given tough terms to Britain, France and Germany if they want to save the 2015 nuclear deal. Pledging not to seek new talks on Iran’s ballistic missiles is one of them.

Iranian leader Khamenei on Wednesday published conditions the three European signatories of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal — Germany, Britain and France — must accept to guarantee Iran stays in the agreement.

The move came as the three countries scramble to salvage the accord in the wake of the US’s withdrawal.

What the three European countries must accept:

They will pledge to avoid opening negotiations over Iran’s ballistic missile program or actions in the Middle East.
European banks should “safeguard trade” with Tehran.
They should continue buying Iranian oil and should, if necessary, also buy Iranian oil the US decides not to buy.
They should “stand up against US sanctions” on Iran.
They should condemn US for reportedly breaking a United Nations resolution that supports the nuclear deal.

‘We don’t trust them’

Khamenei said, “We do not want to start a fight with these three countries [France, Germany and Britain] but we don’t trust them either.” He also warned that Iran would continue its enrichment of uranium if the terms are not met.

Scramble for Iran: All three European countries have sharply criticized US President Donald Trump’s May 12 decision to withdraw Washington from the deal and have vowed to discuss how to save it with Iran and the other signatories — China and Russia.

Sticking points: Khamenei’s terms put the three European powers in a bind. They have tried to reassure Washington that it would be possible to renegotiate the current deal to curtail Iran’s ballistic missile program and its aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East.

Pompeo’s vision: On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded all signatories negotiate a fresh treaty that would encompass not only Iran’s nuclear program, but its defense and foreign policies as well. He warned Iran would face “the strongest sanctions in history” if it did not agree to make changes.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/iran-lists-tough-conditions-for-europe-to-save-nuclear-deal/a-43904326

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Russia To Cut Dependence On U.S. Dollar, Payment Systems

Tyler Durden — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 18:45:17 +0000

Russia will speed up work on reducing its dependence on U.S. payment systems and the dollar as a settling currency in response to U.S. sanctions, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday.

Quoted by Reuters, Ryabkov said that “we will of course intensify work related to import substitution, reduction of dependence on U.S. payment systems, on the dollar as a settling currency and so on. It is becoming a vital need.” The reason for that is that “the US is using its dominating role in the monetary and financial system to impose pressure on foreign business, including Russian companies.”

As a reminder, three years ago the MasterCard payment system stopped serving clients of seven Russian banks without warning after Washington imposed its first set of sanctions on Moscow in 2014. In response, the Russian government ordered the creation of a national payment system. With the support of the country’s banking system, the Mir charge card was introduced in 2015, although there is no information on what its adoption rate has been in the following years.

As we discussed previously, as part of the latest set of Russian sanctions the US has imposed new restrictions on the Russian banking and energy sectors: the ban targets already sanctioned Russian firms, limiting the financing period for them to 14 and 60 days. Additionally, the new law will punish individuals for investing more than $5 million a year or $1 million at a time in Russian energy export pipeline projects or providing such enterprises with services, technology or information support, a provision that has drawn strong condemnation from Washington’s European allies.

US energy companies criticized the tightening of already existing sanctions as damaging for business. At the same time, the European Union expressed concerns the new penalties may undermine the bloc’s energy security. European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker pledged to prepare an “adequate” response and “within days” if the measure hurt the interests of European companies. So far Europe has to elaborate on what, if any, retaliation to the sanctions it will unveil.

Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-07/russia-cut-dependence-us-dollar-payment-systems

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