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TOP
STORIES
Iran's
supreme leader said the Islamic republic must stand strong against
Washington on the region's conflicts, in an address Sunday to
commanders of the elite Republican Guards force. "The Americans
insist we negotiate with them on regional issues, especially on
Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in
the speech published on his official website. "What is their
main goal for requesting these talks? They have no aim but to prevent
the presence in the region of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the main
factor of America's failures," said Khamenei.
The
United States made at least two separate payments to the Iranian
government via wire transfer within the last 14 months, a Treasury
Department spokesman confirmed Saturday, contradicting explanations
from President Barack Obama that such payments were impossible.
Responding to questions at an Aug. 4 press conference about a $400
million payment delivered in cash to the Iranian government, Obama
said, "[T]he reason that we had to give them cash is precisely
because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions and we do not have
a banking relationship with Iran that we couldn't send them a check
and we could not wire the money." But a Treasury Department
spokesman acknowledged on Saturday that on at least two occasions,
the U.S. did make payments to the Iranian government via wire
transfer.
Iran
is pressing the United States to ease banking obstacles to the
reopening of trade under last year's nuclear deal and hopes for
progress on the sidelines of United Nations meetings in New York this
week, an Iranian official said on Sunday. The country's national
airline has provisionally agreed to buy U.S. and European aircraft
worth over $50 billion at list prices, marking a high-profile test
case for the reopening of its economy under a deal with world powers
to ease sanctions. Nine months after the sanctions deal took effect,
foreign banks are reluctant to get involved because of concerns that
they could be caught up in restrictions applying to U.S. banks, which
are still banned from doing business with Iran... "We are
negotiating and I hope that during the trip of President (Hassan)
Rouhani to the U.S. today or tomorrow, we can have some news on the
subject," Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar
Fakhrieh Kashan told foreign investors at the CAPA Iran Aviation
Finance Summit in Tehran. IranAir Chairman Farhad Parvaresh is
traveling to New York as part of Rouhani's delegation for the U.N.
General Assembly.
U.S.-IRAN
RELATIONS
Iran
expects the U.S. Treasury to grant licenses by the end of this month
that should help pave the way for the completion of the purchase of
more than 200 aircraft from Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE, Iran's
deputy transport minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said in Tehran on
Sunday... "The U.S. should've issued the licenses already and
they haven't done that," Kashan said, adding that they will be
granted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, known as OFAC.
Kashan said Iran has an agreement with a leasing company for $10
billion in financing for the Airbus deal and that it will be signed
within days... "Our latest forecast is that by the end of the
current Iranian year (March 2017), we will definitely see a number of
those planes, both from Airbus and Boeing, arrive in Iran," he
said.
BUSINESS
RISK
Iran's
elite Revolutionary Guards, champions of a deadly war with Iraq in
the 1980s and more recently active in battlefields in Iraq and Syria,
have long been big players in the Islamic Republic's economy. Since
coming to power three years ago, Hassan Rouhani, the moderate
president, has tried to contain their influence. This month, some of
those efforts bore fruit when two Iranian banks refused to do
business with Khatam-al Anbia, a construction business linked to the
guards, which still face international sanctions despite last year's
nuclear deal. The move has angered hardliners and is likely to
intensify the struggle between Rouhani's supporters and the guards.
"This is banking capitulation" and
"self-sanctioning", said Ahmad Alamolhoda, a senior
hardline cleric, of the decision by the two privately owned banks
Mellat and Sepah. The banks feared they would be tarnished by
association. The president's supporters have been emboldened by a
plan agreed in June with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) - the
Paris-based body that seeks to combat money laundering and financing
of terrorism.
Iran
has fully complied with its commitments under last year's landmark
nuclear agreement, but eight months after the official removal of
sanctions, the west is failing to deliver on its promises, the
country's vice president has told the Guardian. Ali Akbar Salehi, the
head of the country's Atomic Energy Organisation, said that if the
agreement was to remain intact, both sides had to meet their
commitments... "As has been stated by the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has remained committed to its
commitments," Salehi said. "While the other side - it's
very clear now to public opinion and it's not a secret - has not
really delivered on the promises; that the sanctions would be removed
and that banking transactions would go back to normal, that trade
would speed up and economic relations would be enhanced. These have not
been materialised to the extent that we expected."
SANCTIONS
RELIEF
Iran
may adopt a key international agreement that would protect the rights
of foreign leasing companies as it seeks to renew its elderly fleet
of passenger jets, the country's transport minister said on Sunday.
The 2001 Cape Town Convention makes it easier to attract foreign leasing
companies by protecting their rights to re-possess aircraft if
airlines go bankrupt and is widely considered a benchmark for the
international jet market... Deputy Roads and Urban Development Ashgar
Fakhrieh said the ministry was in the process of getting internal
approval to join the pact, subject to a decision in parliament.
Industry sources say a decision to adopt the agreement could make it
easier to finance aircraft deals, including a provisional deal to buy
more than 100 jets from Airbus. To finance the deal, Iranair is
expected to sell most of the jets to two leasing companies and buy
them back. Two people familiar with the matter said the airline is in
advanced negotiations with leasing company Dubai Aerospace for the
bulk of the deal.
Advertising
giant WPP has proved resilient to the fragile state of the world
economy with shares nearing an all-time high. And seismic global
events haven't deterred CEO Martin Sorrell from eyeing expansion into
new markets, including the Middle East. He speaks to Bloomberg's
Haslinda Amin at the Singapore Summit about the potential in the
region and in Iran.
REGIONAL
DESTABILIZATION
Saudi
Arabia accused Iran of supplying weapons to Shiite rebels in Yemen
and urged the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Tehran for
violating an arms embargo. Saudi Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi
said in a letter to the council obtained late Saturday by The
Associated Press that the smuggling of arms to Houthi rebels violates
council resolutions and constitutes "a direct and tangible
threat" to Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the region and international
peace... Al-Mouallimi cited several examples of the seizure of
Iranian weapons shipments at sea by the U.S., Australia and France.
He said the Houthis and forces loyal to Yemen's former president
"must be held accountable for their continued irresponsible and
criminal behavior." He urged the council "to take all
necessary measures" - diplomatic language for sanctions - to
demand that Iran complies with U.N. resolutions.
EXTREMISM
The
Iranian president said world challenges should not be allowed to
divert attention from the plight of the Palestinians. "The
Zionist regime seeks to devise and exploit the ongoing developments
in the Middle East, particularly the emergence and spread of
terrorist and extremist groups such as Daesh to overshadow its crimes
against the oppressed Palestinian nation and others regional
nations."
OPINION
& ANALYSIS
Ronald
Reagan was fond of quoting John Adams, who famously said: "Facts
are stubborn things." So when Iranian Foreign Minister Javad
Zarif made public pronouncements about fighting extremism, the facts
show that his comments are ironic at best and little more than
insincere propaganda. The fact is that Iran is the leading
state-sponsor of terrorism, with government officials directly
responsible for numerous terrorist attacks since 1979. These include
suicide bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the Marine
barracks at Beirut International Airport; the bombing of Khobar
Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996; attacks against more than a dozen
embassies in Iran, including those of Britain, the U.S. and Saudi
Arabia; and the assassination of diplomats around the world, to name
a few examples. Nor can one get around the fact that Iran uses
terrorism to advance its aggressive policies. Iran cannot talk about
fighting extremism while its leaders, Quds Force and Revolutionary
Guard continue to fund, train, arm and facilitate acts of terrorism.
If Iran wants to demonstrate sincerity in contributing to the global
war on terrorism, it could have begun by handing over al Qaeda
leaders who have enjoyed sanctuary in Iran. These have included Osama
bin Laden's son, Saad, and al Qaeda's chief of operations, Saif
al-Adel, along with numerous other operatives guilty of attacks
against Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and other targets. It is a fact that
Saif al-Adel placed a call from Iran in May 2003 giving orders for
the Riyadh bombings that claimed more than 30 lives, including eight
Americans. Yet he still benefits from Iranian protection... It is
this ideology of "Khomeinism"-driven by an appetite for
expansion, fueled by anti-Western hatred and motivated by
sectarianism-that has energized and empowered extremism. Only by
ridding the world of this toxic and radical mind-set can sectarianism
be contained, terrorism defeated and calm restored to the region. If
Iran is serious about combating extremism, then it should refrain
from policies and actions that give rise to extremism... Iran's
record is one of death and destruction, as the situation in Syria and
parts of Iraq clearly attests. Words will not change that; concrete
action will. Saudi Arabia's position has remained constant with
regard to Iran. The kingdom would welcome better relations with Iran,
based on the principles of good neighborliness and noninterference in
the affairs of others. That means Iran has to abandon its subversive
and hostile activities and stop its support for terrorism. Thus far,
Iran's record has not been encouraging.
As
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani prepares to address leaders from
around the world at the 71st session of the United Nations General
Assembly, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum calls on the
international community to condemn the Iranian state's continuing
promotion of Holocaust denial and antisemitism. "The Iranian
state has a long-standing pattern of promulgating Holocaust denial on
a global stage, which incites violence, promotes hatred, and stokes
antisemitism. Most recently, it has sponsored a series of exhibitions
across Iran of cartoons distorting or mocking the Holocaust.
Additionally, senior Iranian leaders have demonized Israel and called
for its elimination. The UN and international leaders at the General
Assembly have an obligation to clearly denounce these actions,"
said Tad Stahnke, director of the Museum's Initiative on Holocaust
Denial and Antisemitism. The Museum is greatly concerned about the
global rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial, in the Middle East,
Europe, and elsewhere. "President Rouhani should face hard
questions from global leaders. Ultimately, antisemitism poses a
threat to all peoples and societies," continued Stahnke.
"Hatred, once unleashed, can rapidly spread. We must combat it
wherever and whenever it arises."
The
partial cease-fire in Syria's civil war is welcome news. But it must
not be allowed to obscure a dangerous new development - the emergence
from the war of a Russian-Iranian military axis that could upset
hopes for stability in the Middle East, and for containing Russia's
global ambitions, into the future. The extent of Russian-Iranian
cooperation was signaled last month, when Russia used an Iranian air
base to bomb targets in Syria. American officials dismissed the event
as unsurprising and tactical, and some Iranian officials said
Russia's access was for a "one-time antiterrorism
operation." But a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry attached
the words "for now" to his announcement that the access
"is finished," clearly leaving room for repetition. In
fact, a Russian-Iranian bond for military cooperation is rapidly
forming, based on a meeting of interests between Russians competing
with the West for strategic influence throughout the Middle East, and
Iranian hard-liners seeking to dominate local and regional politics.
Last
week, the Obama administration admitted, during a congressional
hearing, that it had authorized cash payments to Iran, timed with the
release of U.S. hostages, in January. Cash was reportedly loaded onto
an unmarked Iranian cargo plane before it was flown back to Tehran.
Congress was right to criticize the administration over this episode.
So why should it now let the president approve the largest sale of
U.S.-manufactured airplanes to Iran Air, an accomplice to mass murder
in Syria? Iran Air is negotiating an agreement for the purchase of
100 aircraft from the aviation industry giant Boeing. It is also
taking part in the weapons and military personnel airlift to Syria
that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, is
coordinating on Tehran's behalf... Iran has never hidden its resolve
to keep Syrian President Bashar Assad in power at whatever cost. The
ayatollahs also have a track record of suborning their country's
economy to the pursuit of revolutionary goals. It is not surprising
that they instructed Iran Air to contribute to the Syria war effort,
but it is disconcerting that Washington has ignored this evidence and
allowed Boeing to continue its negotiations. Disconcerting, but given
how badly the administration wants the nuclear deal to succeed, not
surprising. Success, however, cannot come at the cost of compliance.
The next president should take note of what is by now glaringly
obvious: Iran Air should be sanctioned for its role in perpetuating
and exacerbating the Syrian civil war.
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