Iran's Rouhani Meets Iraq's Top Shiite Cleric

Iran's Hassan Rouhani met Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Iraq's Najaf on Wednesday, an AFP photographer reported, in the first encounter between an Iranian president and the country's chief Shiite cleric.

Sistani famously called Iraqis to arms against the Islamic State group in 2014, giving rise to the Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary alliance, which includes Iran-backed Shiite groups.

Those forces have since been placed under the command of regular Iraqi forces and several former fighters are now members of the Iraqi parliament.

Sistani rejects foreign influence in Iraq.

Iran and Iraq fought a devastating eight-year war in the 1980s but their relations shifted drastically with the American-led overthrow of Sunni Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Iran, which like its neighbor has a mainly Shiite population, is now one of oil-rich Iraq's main trading partners and has close ties to many of its political actors.

Shiite-majority Iraq is walking a fine line to maintain good relations with Iran and its other key ally, the United States, an arch-foe of Iran.

Both have played a major role in the battle against IS jihadists.

Sistani, a spiritual leader to most of Iraq's Shiites and some in Iran, heads the religious establishment of Najaf, a Shiite holy city in Iraq that rivals Iran's Qom.

 In 2013, the octogenarian leader refused to meet then-president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rouhani, who is on his first trip to Iraq since becoming president in 2013, hailed his country's "special" ties with its neighbor, saying they could not be prepared to relations "with an aggressor country like America.”

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iraq and Iran Build Economic Ties as a Sidelined U.S. Looks On

In the contest for Iraq’s loyalty, geography is proving irresistible. Baghdad is being urged to take sides in the U.S.-Iran confrontation that’s escalated into one of the Middle East’s top flash-points. President Donald Trump is pushing Iraq to stop buying natural gas and electricity from its neighbor. President Hassan Rouhani wants it to purchase more to ease the pain imposed by American sanctions.

So far, Rouhani’s winning. On a three-day state that ends Wednesday, he’s held a press conference alongside his Iraqi counterpart, addressed businessmen, visited important Muslim shrines and chatted with tribal leaders. In December, after a 16-year American military presence, Trump caused a diplomatic furor by arriving unannounced in the middle of the night at a U.S. base, speaking to troops and leaving without meeting top officials.

“The essential part of Rouhani’s message is addressed to the U.S.—Iran’s on the ground in a major way,” said Ihsan Al-Shammari, an Iraqi political analyst. Tehran “is bolstering its relations in a broad way to support its political position inside Iraq.”

Visas, Trade

The two countries signed transportation and trade agreements, including one for the construction of a railroad link between the Iranian city of Shalamcheh and Iraq’s oil-hub at Basra. From next month, the neighbors will drop visa charges for each other’s citizens, Iran’s state-run Press TV reported. And Rouhani said officials planned to boost bilateral trade to $20 billion from the current $12 billion.

Obstacles to banking between the two nations have also been cleared, Secretary of the Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Hamid Hosseini told state-run Tasnim news agency. Respective central bank governors signed an accord last month to make payments for oil and gas trade through non-U.S. dollar bank accounts, using euros and Iraqi dinars to skirt U.S. sanctions.

Shiite Muslim Iran’s influence in Iraq has been deepening ever since the U.S. invasion of 2003 removed Sunni Muslim dictator, Saddam Hussein, and precipitated a shift in power to the country’s majority Shiites.

Iranian militias played a significant role in pushing Islamic State jihadists out of Iraqi territory—a victory made possible by U.S. air power. And undeterred by an undercurrent of Iraqi nationalism, the three Shiite front-runners for the post of prime minister in last year’s elections trumpeted their good relations with the Islamic Republic.

Vague Offers

“We were standing by the Iraqi nation when times were hard and at a time of peace and security, we are at their side too,” Rouhani said in comments on Monday, according to Iranian state media.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Iraq in January amid Arab doubts over the U.S. commitment to their region following Trump’s announcement that he wanted to pull troops from Syria. While those talks focused on security issues, Pompeo also spoke about reducing Iraq’s reliance on imported energy that mostly comes from Iran.

He didn’t get far, it seems. In a February interview in Moscow, Abdulkarim Hashim Mustafa, special adviser to Iraq’s prime minister, put the record straight. “These are American sanctions and we have the right to protect our national interests,” he said. “We tell them always: we are your friends but we are not part of your policies in the region.”

Sunni Allies

Trump has made isolating Iran’s economy and curbing its military potential the cornerstone of his Middle East policy, finding grateful allies in Israel and among Sunni Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia.

Iranian oil production is languishing as foreign investors steer clear of the world’s fourth-largest holder of crude. Pledges by U.S. officials to tighten curbs on Iran’s oil sales and the expiration of waivers for several of the nation’s customers in early May are set to further restrict its exports.

Dhafir Al-Ani, an Iraqi Sunni lawmaker, regretted that his nation was caught in the middle of the standoff. “The U.S. has the ability to punish countries helping Iran bypass sanctions,” he said. “I hope Iraq will not be the victim of the U.S.-Iran conflict.”

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Awards Highest Honor to Guards Elite Force Chief

The commander of the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, a key figure in the battle against the Islamic State group, has received Iran's highest military award, the country's supreme leader announced Monday.

The major general, whose unit runs foreign operations, is regarded as the mastermind of Iran's military strategy in the region.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei awarded him with the "Order of Zulfaqar", the leader's office tweeted.

Soleimani became the first to receive the award since the 1979 Islamic revolution, according to Tasnim news agency.

The general has been the public face of Iran's support for the Iraqi and Syrian governments in their battles with Islamic State group jihadists.

He reportedly landed in Baghdad only hours after IS captured Iraq's second city Mosul in 2014 and threatened to overrun the capital.

In Islamic tradition, Zulfaqar is the name of the double-pointed sword said to have been given by Prophet Mohammed to his son-in-law Ali.

Photo Credit: Khamenei.ir

Iran's Rouhani Makes First Official Visit to Iraq

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani arrived Monday in Iraq for his first official visit, as Baghdad comes under pressure from Washington to limit political and trade ties with its neighbor.

Shiite-majority Iraq is walking a fine line to maintain good relations with its key partners Iran and the United States who themselves are arch-foes.

It has been under pressure from Washington not to get too close to its neighbor, particularly after the United States last year withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and hit Tehran with sanctions.

Baghdad was given limited waivers to continue buying electricity and natural gas from Iran, but Washington has urged Iraq to partner with US companies to become energy independent.

After Turkey, Iran is the top supplier of imported goods to Iraq, including cars, gas, home appliances and vegetables.

Rouhani, who is on his first trip to Iraq since becoming president in 2013, hailed the Islamic republic's "special" ties with its neighbor.

These relations could not be compared to Baghdad's ties "with an aggressor country like America", he said before flying Monday to Baghdad for the three-day visit.

 "America is despised in the region. The bombs that the Americans dropped on Iraqis, Syrian people and other countries cannot be forgotten," he added.

Iran is always ready to help its neighbors, he said, in a nod to the role Tehran played to help Iraq battle the Islamic State group (IS).

Iran was the first country to respond to Iraqi calls for help after IS jihadists in June 2014 captured the main northern city of Mosul as they threatened to overrun the capital Baghdad and the oil-rich region of Kirkuk.

It dispatched "military advisors" and equipment along with the famous Revolutionary Guards elite Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani.

Rouhani on Monday said Iran has supported the Iraqi people "during difficult times" and would continue to back them "through times of peace and security.”

Iraq's President Barham Saleh, at a joint news conference with Rouhani in Baghdad, thanked Iran for its "support" and said he was "lucky" to have it as a neighbor, without making any reference to the US.

Rouhani, who is heading a large political and economic delegation, said relations between the two countries should be further "reinforced and developed.”

Shiite Bonds

Relations between the two countries were not always close—they fought a bloody war from 1980 to 1988.

Tehran's influence in Baghdad grew after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. 

Iran now has significant leverage over Iraq's Shiite political groups.

Rouhani is set to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi and President Barham Saleh, as well as the country's chief Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who is also revered by many Iranians.

The meeting in the Shiite shrine city of Najaf will be the first between the top cleric and an Iranian president. In 2013 the grand ayatollah refused to receive Rouhani's controversial predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Analysts say talks between Sistani and Rouhani are aimed at bolstering the ranks of Shiite Muslims in the face of Iraq's warming ties with Iran's Sunni-ruled rival Saudi Arabia.

The meeting could "prevent Saudi Arabia and its allies from sowing discord" between Iran and Iraq, a Shiite cleric from the Iranian holy city of Qom was recently quoted as saying in Iran's Ebtekar newspaper.

Saudi Arabia is keen to develop relations with Baghdad to counter the influence of Iran in Iraq, which is seeking economic benefits to rebuild after the defeat of IS.

'Circumventing' US Sanctions

Iraqi political analyst Hisham al-Hashemi said Rouhani is seeking to bolster trade with Baghdad and discuss ways "to circumvent US sanctions".

"In addition, there are electricity, water and other files," he said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who travelled to Iraq ahead of Rouhani, on Sunday thanked Baghdad for having "refused the unjust and illegal (US) sanctions imposed on the Iranian people".

Trade between Iran and Iraq now stands at around USD 12 billion a year—tilted toward Iran with gas and energy exports—and Rouhani has said he would like to see it rise to USD 20 billion.

Iraq, which faces a chronic power shortage that was a key driving factor behind mass protests last year, has been piping in up to 28 million cubic meters of Iranian gas a day for power generation.

It also directly imports up to 1,300 megawatts of Iranian electricity—a dependence that is also uncomfortable for Washington.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Demands Pakistan Acts 'Decisively Against Terrorists'

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has demanded Pakistan act "decisively against anti-Iranian terrorists" in a phone call with the country's premier, Tehran said, a month after a bloody attack on security forces. 

Iran says a Pakistani suicide bomber was behind the February 13 attack that killed 27 Revolutionary Guards in its volatile southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan. 

A Sunni jihadist group, Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), which Tehran says operates mostly out of bases in neighboring Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the blast.

Iran has accused Pakistan's army and intelligence agency of sheltering the jihadists and summoned the country's ambassador in the wake of the attack. 

Rouhani in the phone conversation Saturday evening with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called to maintain good ties and pointed the finger of blame at Tehran's traditional regional and international foes. 

"We shouldn't allow decades of friendship and brotherhood between the two countries be affected by terrorist groups that we both know from where they are being armed and financed," Rouhani said, according to a government statement. 

The Iranian president was alluding to the United States and Israel, as well as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which it accuses of aiding jihadist groups responsible for attacks from Pakistani soil.

February's bombing was the latest of numerous attacks on Iran's security forces and officials in Sistan-Baluchistan, where the minority Sunni Baluchis accuse the authorities of discrimination.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Court Tries 13 in $7 Billion Petrochemical Fraud Case

The trial has started in an Iranian court for 13 petrochemical industry executives charged with embezzling EUR 6.6 billion USD 7.4 billion) in one of the nation’s biggest corruption cases, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. 

The defendants, most either chief executives or board members of Iranian petrochemical producers and exporters, are accused of “causing a great economic disturbance” by establishing shell companies overseas to circumvent sanctions imposed while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president, judge Assadollah Masoudi Magham said, according to IRNA.

Reading from a 700-page indictment, another judicial official added that billions of euros worth of sales from petrochemical exports were funneled to the companies as purchases, the Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.

The case, described by IRNA as “record-breaking” for its monetary value, is the latest in a series of trials and investigations started after the government of President Hassan Rouhani and the hardline judiciary vowed to root-out corruption in response to rising public anger over levels of cronyism and economic nepotism within industry and government.

The return in August of U.S. sanctions, the most punitive ever imposed on the Islamic Republic by Washington, has brought fresh urgency to the efforts as people are being forced to cope with steep increases in prices and a collapse in the rial, which have cut the value of their paychecks and spending power.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Ultra-Conservative Cleric Appointed Head of Iran's Judiciary

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday appointed ultra-conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi, a one-time presidential hopeful, as head of the judiciary, the leader's website said.

Former judge Raisi, who currently heads the holy shrine of Imam Reza, was the leading rival to President Hassan Rouhani at Iran's 2017 election and has close ties to the supreme leader.

Khamenei said in a statement that he appointed Raisi to bring about a "transformation (in the judiciary) in line with (its) needs, advancements and challenges" on the 40th year of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“For carrying out this crucial act, I have chosen you who have a long track record in different levels of the judiciary and are in touch with its nuances," he said in the statement.

He called on Raisi to be "with the people, the revolution and against corruption" in his new role.

Raisi is a mainstay of the conservative establishment, having served as attorney general, supervisor of state broadcaster IRIB and prosecutor in the Special Court for Clerics.

He bears the title of Hojjat al-Islam, which is a rank under Ayatollah in the Shiite cleric hierarchy.

Raisi became deputy prosecutor at the Revolutionary Court of Tehran during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. 

Human rights organisations, opposition members and dissidents have accused the tribunal of overseeing the execution of political prisoners without due legal process during his tenure.

He was chosen by Khamenei in 2016 to head Iran's Imam Reza Shrine and lead its huge business conglomerate, Astan Qods Razavi, with interests in everything from IT and banking to construction and agriculture.

During his 2017 campaign, Raisi took a tough line on Rouhani's "weak efforts" in negotiating the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that brought the Islamic republic sanctions relief in exchange for limiting its nuclear program.

US President Donald Trump last year withdrew Washington from the pact and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. 

Photo Credit: IRNA

Before Saudis Go Nuclear, They May Have to Follow Iran's Lead

International monitors reminded Saudi Arabia this week that it still has work to do before delving deeper into an ambitious nuclear program that could transform how the kingdom generates its energy.

Focus on Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program has risen in the last month after the U.S. Congress opened an investigation into the potentially illegal transfer of sensitive technologies to the kingdom. This week the International Atomic Energy Agency, responsible for verifying that countries don’t divert material for weapons, weighed in on what its inspectors need before the kingdom can start generating nuclear power.

Riyadh’s nuclear program is developing “based on an old text” of safeguard rules, even as it expects to complete its first research reactor this year and plans to tap uranium reserves, according to IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, who told journalists this week in Vienna that he’s “appealing to all countries to rescind” those old ways of doing business.

“We’re encouraging all countries to conclude and implement an additional protocol and that includes Saudi Arabia,” said Amano, who’s also in charge of enforcing the 2015 nuclear deal struck between Iran and world powers. The Japanese career diplomat has called the set of rules established by that accord, which U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from in May, as “the most rigorous monitoring mechanism ever negotiated.”

Rising power consumption and desalination costs are pushing Saudi Arabia to look at nuclear energy. The world’s top crude exporter currently burns oil to generate most of its power and provide drinking water. Pivoting toward nuclear would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and free up more crude to sell on world markets.

But the IAEA comments could strike a precautionary note among vendors lining up to service the kingdom’s nuclear ambitions. Receiving the imprimatur of IAEA inspectors, who account for gram-level quantities of nuclear material worldwide, is a precondition for receiving technologies and fuel. Without reaching a new understanding with monitors, Saudi plans for 3.2 gigawatts of atomic power by the end next decade could flounder.

Saudi Arabia didn’t respond to emails and phone calls placed to its IAEA mission in the Austrian capital.

In order to get its nuclear program on track, Saudi Arabia may need to look at the allowances made by its regional rivals in Iran, according to Robert Kelley, a U.S. nuclear engineer and former IAEA director.

The Iran deal “is unprecedented in terms of previous monitoring regimes,” according to Kelley, who worked in the Department of Energy’s nuclear-weapons complex before overseeing inspections in countries including Libya, South Africa and Iraq.

Maintaining that level of IAEA access to Iran’s nuclear program is the reason that China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. continue to defy U.S. calls to abandon the 2015 deal and reimpose sanctions. Diplomats from those countries convened Wednesday in Vienna in their first meeting since the European Union established a trade channel to skirt U.S. threats.

For Saudi Arabia, which threatened a year ago to develop nuclear weapons if Iran did, aligning its atomic rule book with current best practices may be the best option for it to accelerate its nuclear program.

“It has a ridiculously weak agreement right now,” Kelley said. “The additional protocol is the gold standard and has some teeth to it. Getting that in place should be straightforward.”

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

Iran to Set Up its Part of Nuclear Deal Mechanism 'This Month'

Iran hopes to have its part of a new payments vehicle —devised to bypass US sanctions—ready within a fortnight, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday.

"We hope it will be before the end of the Iranian calendar year," Araghchi told reporters in Vienna, referring to March 20.

He said that Iran now had a "clearer picture" of how the new vehicle, known as INSTEX, would work and that its managing director would visit Tehran for discussions "very soon.”

But he added that only when the mechanism was fully operational would Iran be able to assess whether it "can work properly and can produce results, (and) can do payments between Iran and European countries".

Araghchi was in the Austrian capital for a "joint commission" with representatives from China, Russia, Britain, Germany and France—all signatories of the international deal on Iran's nuclear programme.

INSTEX is seen as key to European Union efforts to preserve the deal struck in 2015 between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The US was also a signatory but last May President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and in November imposed sweeping new sanctions on Iran.

Remaining Members 'United'

Araghchi said there was "very strong support" for the deal from all participants at the meeting.

He emphasized that Iran expected INSTEX to work "for all goods and commodities, not only humanitarian goods", but that it could start with humanitarian goods "in order to set the patterns for doing business with Iran.”

"Once the patterns are set, then other goods, including sanctioned goods—and oil of course—would be added to this mechanism," he added.

"It is late but still a move in the right direction," Araghchi said. 

INSTEX was launched at the end of January by Britain, France and Germany, who sit on a supervisory board chaired by a UK national. It is registered in Paris.

Russia's ambassador to Vienna's UN organizations, Mikhail Ulyanov, who was also at the meeting, told AFP the remaining signatories to the deal were "united in the need to save the JCPOA.”

"There are some problems, particularly in the economic field but we are aimed at overcoming them as soon as possible," Ulyanov said.

He said the speed with which INSTEX became fully operational was up to Germany, France, Britain and Iran.

But Ulyanov added: "I believe it may take a rather long time, at least a few months; most likely even more."

In February the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog said Iran was adhering to the terms of the JCPOA, under which Tehran drastically scaled back its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

Washington has urged European signatories to the JCPOA to follow Trump's example and withdraw, but this has been rejected by the Europeans.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran, France to Swap Ambassadors After Strained Ties

Iran and France are set to exchange ambassadors, officials said on Wednesday, after months of tensions including over an alleged Iranian plot to bomb an opposition rally near Paris.  

Bahram Ghasemi, a former envoy to Spain and Italy and current spokesman of the foreign ministry, has been appointed as Iran's new ambassador to France, an official source in Tehran told AFP.

In Paris, the Official Gazette on Wednesday said that Philippe Thiebaud, a former envoy to Pakistan who once represented France at the UN atomic watchdog, had been appointed as ambassador to the Islamic republic of Iran.

Ghasemi and Thiebaud will fill posts that had been vacant for more than six months after a series of diplomatic fallouts between France and Iran broke out last year.

The previous French ambassador left Iran at the end of his mandate in August while Tehran's envoy left Paris last summer before finishing his term. No official reason was given for his abrupt departure.

In June, France accused a branch of Iran's intelligence ministry of attempting to bomb a meeting of the People's Mujahedin, an Iranian opposition group, near Paris.

Tehran vehemently denied the accusations and in return slammed France for hosting the group which it calls a "terrorist cult of hypocrites".

Relations between France and Iran have also been strained over demands by Paris that Iran limits its ballistic missiles program—which Tehran says is purely defensive.

Iran reined in most of its nuclear program under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers—Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States—that lifted sanctions on the Iran.

In May the United States withdrew from the deal and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.

France and the other European partners to the deal, have been trying to salvage the nuclear accord and set up a payment mechanism to maintain trade and business ties with Iran that would circumvent the US sanctions.

But Tehran has accused them of dragging their feet, it has also criticized France for selling advanced warplanes and other weapons to its regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

News that Iran and France will exchange ambassadors came a day after the ultraconservative Iranian newspaper Kayhan called for the expulsion of French diplomats from the country.

Kayhan claimed that Paris had expelled an Iranian diplomat last autumn. Neither the Iranian nor the French foreign ministries have denied or confirmed the expulsion.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Thrown a Nuclear-Medicine Lifeline Ahead of Vienna Meeting

The world’s atomic watchdog said it’s ready to meet shortages of nuclear medicines in Iran created by the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions, as top diplomats gather to salvage a 2015 deal with Tehran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is “willing to help” meet Iran’s nuclear therapy and medicine needs, Director General Yukiya Amano told reporters Monday in Vienna. The Islamic Republic has struggled to obtain some humanitarian goods as suppliers worry over contravening U.S. penalties, prompting Switzerland and the European Union to open new trade channels.

IAEA inspectors have repeatedly confirmed that Iran’s sticking to the landmark deal signed three years ago, which capped nuclear activities for sanctions relief. President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the accord in May forced the remaining powers -- China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. -- to take new measures to ensure its survival. Their so-called Joint Commission convenes Wednesday in the Austrian capital.

In addition to its monitoring activities, the IAEA helps countries around the world to develop medicine used for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Leading up to this week’s meeting, American officials had been ratcheting up pressure by threatening new sanctions and advocating for more aggressive inspections. Countries providing technical cooperation to Iran under IAEA auspices were warned they could run afoul of U.S. sanctions. Washington’s efforts, however, have struggled to gain traction among international officials.

“Iran is implementing its nuclear-related commitments,” Amano said. “The agency continues to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material.”

Photo Credit: IRNA

Dutch Recall Envoy From Iran in Murder Plot Row: Minister

The Netherlands said Monday it had recalled its ambassador from Tehran after Iran expelled two Dutch diplomats in an dispute over an alleged plot to assassinate regime opponents.

Dutch authorities accused Iran in January of involvement in the murder of two dissidents on Dutch soil in 2015 and 2017, and the EU slapped sanctions on Tehran over the killings.

Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a letter to parliament that the government "has decided to recall the Netherlands' ambassador to Tehran for consultations" over the row.

Iran's decision to expel the Dutch officials—which was not previously announced in public—was "not acceptable and is negative for the development of the bilateral relationship," Blok said.

He said Iran's move was itself a tit-for-tat response to the Netherlands' expulsion of two Iranian embassy workers in June 2018 "due to strong indications from (Dutch intelligence) that Iran has been involved in the liquidations on Dutch territory of two Dutch people of Iranian origin."

Iran had informed Dutch authorities of the decision to expel the two diplomats on February 20 and they were deported back to the Netherlands on Sunday, Blok said.

The Dutch had also summoned the Iranian ambassador over the issue, Blok said.

Dutch police have previously named the two murder victims as Ali Motamed, 56, who was killed in the central city of Almere in 2015, and Ahmad Molla Nissi, 52, murdered in The Hague in 2017.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Iran and Armenia Propose Gas Transit to Georgia

A state visit by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Iran has resulted in an agreement between the two countries to cooperate on the potential transiting of Iranian gas through Armenia to Georgia.

If implemented, the agreement promises to be controversial, not least because it would involve Armenia challenging Russian control of its gas distribution sector, and potentially pitching both Armenia and Georgia into conflict with the United States, which last November re-imposed its stringent sanctions against Iran. 

The suggestion for the transit deal appears to have come from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who brought up the issue in a Tehran press conference following his February 27 meeting with Pashinyan.

"As to cooperation in the field of gas supply, we expressed the Iranian side’s readiness to step up supplies,” Rouhani said. “We are likewise prepared to launch tripartite cooperation to export gas to Georgia."

Pashinyan said he was amenable. "Armenia is ready to cooperate with Iran and become a transit country for Iranian gas,” he said following Rouhani’s remarks. “The establishment of an energy corridor is also of great importance both in terms of bilateral and regional dimensions and in broader terms."

Neither commented on whether Georgia has yet been involved in discussions on the possible trade and an Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson was unable to confirm to Eurasianet whether Georgia had been consulted.

The possible export of Iranian gas to Georgia was first raised in 2016 with the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) making successive claims of a deal with both the Georgian state and an unnamed private sector company.

However, these reports were subsequently denied by Tbilisi, which has yet to confirm any form of gas agreement with Iran.

If implemented, the plan would introduce some competition into the Georgian gas market. Georgia is currently supplied entirely from Azerbaijan.

Transit of gas from Iran through Armenia to Georgia is technically possible, as pipelines with sufficient spare capacity linking the three countries already exist. But there are a number of technical and political hurdles that would have to be overcome to make it work.  

The line linking Georgia and Armenia is part of a Soviet-era pipeline that currently delivers Russian gas to Armenia. Exporting Iranian gas to Georgia through this line would require its flow to be reversed, and for Armenia to halt its imports of Russian gas. That in turn would require Armenia to replace that gas with increased imports from its only other source of supply, Iran.

That, then, could see the volume of gas needed to supply both Armenia and Georgia exceed the current capacity of the Iran-Armenia pipeline, requiring the line to be expanded, a move which would be both expensive and time consuming.

In theory, gas trade between Iran and Georgia could also be managed by a swap deal, under which Russia would supply a given volume of gas to Georgia, and Iran would supply the same volume to Armenia in exchange.

This would not require the flow through the Georgia-Armenia pipeline to be reversed, and would see Armenia only reducing, and not ending, its gas imports from Russia.

Both options are technically possible but would require support from both Moscow and Washington, either of which could block gas trade between Iran and Georgia or at the very least make it difficult to realize. 

Yerevan is already at loggerheads with Gazprom, which owns Armenia's gas distribution network and controls around 80 percent of the country's gas market, after the company hiked gas prices for Armenia at the start of the year.

Gazprom would be unlikely to welcome further competition in the Armenian market, although the possibility of increased Iranian gas exports to Armenia could persuade the Russians back to the negotiating table.

Ultimately, though, the final decision on whether an Iran-Georgia gas trade could go ahead appears to lie with Washington and the terms of its re-imposed sanctions regime against Iran.

The situation regarding Iran's gas exports is "not so straightforward,” Erika Olson, economic counsellor at the U.S. embassy in Ankara, said February 16 at a regional energy conference in Istanbul.

While Iran's gas exports are currently exempt from sanctions, financial transactions to pay for the gas are sanctioned, Olson said. Payments for gas are to be deposited into a local bank account where it can be used only in payment for the exports of sanctions-exempt goods back to Iran.

As such, Armenia's gas imports from Iran under the existing barter agreement are exempt from U.S. sanctions, and swap deals for Georgian gas could also be ruled exempt.

However, Olson also cautioned that the situation for any new gas deals involving Iran could face uncertain prospects depending on a number of “variables.”

Photo Credit: Press Office of the Government of Armenia

Iran to Merge Five Financial Lenders Linked With Military

Iran is combining six local banks as President Hassan Rouhani looks to curb the military’s role in the economy and bolster the country’s financial industry.

State-run Bank Sepah will take over five lenders linked with the security forces—Ansar Bank, Ghavamin Bank, Hekmat Iranian Bank, Mehr Eqtesad and the Kowsar financial credit institution. This is “an important step with a view to maintaining stability and the health of the banking system,” Iran’s central bank said on its website Saturday.

With the economy under strain after the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions, the merger is a step forward for Rouhani in his efforts to reduce the security forces’ footprint. The Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful military organization, controls local businesses in industries ranging from energy and telecommunications to infrastructure.

“By consolidating these banks, it becomes easier for the central bank to enforce regulations on investment activities and financial transparency,” said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of Bourse & Bazaar, a news website that tracks Iran’s economy. It’s “a positive development that reflects the serious debate taking place in Iran about the perils of mixing money and politics.”

The central bank has also been calling for a number of lenders to merge with healthier ones to clean up the industry and help tackle a high ratio of bad loans.

Iran is making less headway on Rouhani’s efforts to implement legislation to counter terrorism funding and money laundering.

The measures are urgently needed to keep Iran off the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force’s blacklist. The European Union said it expected Iran to follow through on its plans when the bloc launched the INSTEX special investment vehicle. INSTEX is a new payments arrangement that the U.K., France and Germany opened on Jan. 31 to help continue trade with Iran without running afoul of U.S. sanctions.

Hardliners in Iran have been mounting a media campaign against the FATF measures, likening them to a capitulation to the West similar to the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Nuclear Deal

Rouhani championed Iran’s negotiations with world powers that culminated in the deal, which lifted some sanctions on the Islamic Republic in return for restrictions on its enrichment program. Domestic critics warned at the time that no good could come from engagement with the US, a view they say was vindicated by President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the accord and reimpose sanctions last year.

On Saturday the Discernment and Expediency Council—a top consultative body that resolves political disputes and is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—said it had failed, for a fourth time, to reach an agreement over whether to approve the FATF legislation. Rouhani is himself a member of the council but wasn’t present at the meeting.

The council said there’s no plan to discuss the issue again until after the end of the Persian new year break in early April, keeping the law in limbo for at least another month, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

‘10 or 20 People’

Rouhani has rebuked the council and other unelected legal bodies for holding back policy by monopolizing the decision-making process. According to the president, Khamenei has said repeatedly that he doesn’t oppose the legislation.

“The country can’t be in the hands of 10 or 20 people and then claim that every decision they make is ours,” Rouhani said in a speech last week. “The decision maker in this country is either the government, parliament or the supreme leader.”

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Gets a Little Sweet Relief From Oil-Money Headache in India

Sanctioned by the U.S., Iran has found a sweet way to use the cash it is accumulated from trading oil: Purchase sugar from India.

Iran is struggling to spend the rupees it’s made from oil sales to India that are sitting in the south Asian nation’s banks. Meanwhile, sugar stockpiles are stacking up in India after a bumper crop. Now the two have struck a deal that eases each other’s woes—albeit only to some extent.

The Government Trading Corporation of Iran will buy 150,000 tons of raw sugar from Indian mills for delivery in March-April, paying in rupees from escrow accounts held at UCO Bank. Indian sweeteners regain access to an old market, which has been dominated by Brazil, the world’s biggest producer and exporter.

This payment mechanism will allow India, which imports nearly 80 percent of its crude, to comply with the condition that forbids direct fund transfers to Iran for a U.S. waiver from sanctions. It also opens an outlet for India’s swelling sugar reserves as local production exceeds demand for a second consecutive year. The Asia nation, which vies with Brazil as the world’s top sugar producer, is looking to boost exports.

India could potentially sell more commodities to Iran. India imported crude oil worth USD 12.6 billion from the Persian Gulf country last year, while goods sold—such as basmati rice, oilseed meal and tea—were worth only USD 2.9 billion, according to India’s Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics.

Photo Credit: DepositPhoto

Iran President Rejects FM Zarif's Resignation

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rejected Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's resignation on Wednesday, the government's official website said.

"I believe your resignation is against the country's interests and do not approve it," Rouhani wrote in a letter to Zarif, the website said.

"I consider you, as put by the leader, to be 'trustworthy, brave and pious' and in the forefront of resistance against America's all-out pressure," he added. referring to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Zarif abruptly tendered his resignation on Instagram on Monday, seemingly over being left out of meetings with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier in the day, Iran's Entekhab news agency reported.

Assad, a major recipient of Iranian aid during his country's nearly eight-year civil war, met with both Khamenei and Rouhani on his rare foreign visit, but not with Zarif.

Rouhani praised Zarif's "relentless efforts and endeavours" in bearing the "heavy responsibility" of the foreign affairs portfolio.

He stressed that Zarif was the point-man in the conduct of Iran's foreign policy.

"As ordered several times, all bodies—including government or state bodies—must be in full coordination with this ministry with regards to foreign relations," the president said in his letter.

Entekhab said it tried to reach Zarif after Assad's visit and received the following message: "After the photos of today's meetings, Javad Zarif no longer has any credibility in the world as the foreign minister!"

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Iran Bans Newspaper Over Article on Assad Trip

Iran on Tuesday banned reformist newspaper Ghanoon for publishing an article about a meeting between Iran's supreme leader and visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

"Ghanoon daily has received notification and its publication has been halted due to its (front page) headline on Tuesday," ISNA said.

The order stating that Ghanoon would be "temporarily banned" was delivered to the paper's management by Tehran's culture and media court, it added, without saying how long the ban would remain in place.

Assad met Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani on Monday during a surprise visit to the Islamic republic, his first since the start of the Syrian conflict.

The news agency did not elaborate on the article about their meeting, but the online version of the story was headlined "Uninvited Guest".

Ghanoon also published a front-page photo of Assad and the supreme leader embracing each other.

The reformist publication has been banned twice before in recent years.

One occasion was over a caricature deemed "offensive to governmental organizations", and the other was due to a report on an Iranian prison headlined "24 Damned Hours," according to Tasnim news agency.

Iran has been a key ally supporting Assad as he has battled to maintain his grip over Syria during nearly eight years of conflict in which more than 360,000 people have been killed.

Assad's visit to Tehran also coincided with Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's shock resignation announcement via an Instagram post.

According to ISNA, Zarif was not present at any of the meetings.

The minister did not give a reason for his resignation, but Entekhab news agency said it tried to reach Zarif and received the following message: "After the photos of today's meetings, Javad Zarif no longer has any credibility in the world as the foreign minister!"

Photo Credit: IRNA

Zarif Suggests He Was Undermined as Iran MPs Demand He Stays On

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who led his country’s nuclear negotiations with world powers, signaled that his surprise decision to resign was because he was undermined in his role.

In his first public comments after Monday’s announcement, Zarif said he hoped the move would eventually allow the ministry “to return to its rightful place in foreign policy.” President Hassan Rouhani hasn’t yet accepted Zarif’s resignation.

About 150 Iranian lawmakers, or a third of the chamber, signed a letter addressed to the president petitioning to keep Zarif in his role, state-run media reported.

Zarif’s resignation and public comments highlight the struggle of moderate Iranian politicians to engage with the West in the face of hardline opposition at home and aggressive U.S. policies. President Donald Trump last year pulled the U.S. out of the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement that was supposed to herald an end to Iran’s international isolation.

The resignation coincided with a visit from Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad to Tehran, where he met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as Rouhani. Pictures posted online suggested Zarif wasn’t present at the meetings.

The timing led analysts to speculate that Iran’s top diplomat was being sidelined on key foreign policy issues, such as the country’s role in propping up Assad’s government after nearly eight years of civil war in Syria.

Divisions have also been apparent on other matters such as the future of the nuclear program abandoned by the U.S. Rouhani’s government has said the country needs to abide by the accord despite U.S. sanctions. Hardline groups within the ruling establishment suggest Iran should free itself from the limitations imposed by the deal.

Deal Champion

A U.S.-educated career diplomat, Zarif led Iran’s negotiating team during lengthy talks with the U.S. and other world powers that culminated in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or “Iran deal," which lifted some sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for commitments on its nuclear enrichment program. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the accord and reimposed sanctions, leaving Iran to try and salvage what it could of the agreement.

Brokering the deal made Zarif popular with reformists and moderates in Iran’s fractious political system, but he was also the subject of criticism from the Islamic Republic’s hard-liners, who are traditionally suspicious of any engagement with Washington and Europe. The U.S. withdrawal has emboldened the hard-liners and weakened Rouhani, who has been trying to come up with ways to retain some of the benefits of the agreement in negotiations with other signatories.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Foreign Minister Zarif Announces Resignation on Instagram

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was the lead negotiator in the 2015 nuclear deal, announced his resignation on Instagram on Monday, which can only take effect once President Hassan Rouhani accepts it.

"I apologize for my inability to continue serving and for all the shortcomings during my term in office," Zarif said in a message posted on his verified Instagram account.

Zarif thanked Iranians and "respected officials" for their support "in the last 67 months".

The resignation of Iran's top diplomat was confirmed by an informed source, however Rouhani's chief of staff strongly denied reports that the president had accepted Zarif's resignation in a tweet.

The resignations happened hours after a surprise visit by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to Tehran. However, according to the semi-official ISNA News Agency, Zarif was not present at any of Assad's meetings with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei and Rouhani.

Prominent members of parliaments immediately called for Rouhani not to accept the resignation.

"Undoubtedly the Iranian people, government and state will not benefit from this resignation," said Mostafa Kavakebian, a reformist MP.

“A great majority of MPs demand that the president never accept this resignation," he said in a tweet.

The head of parliament's influential national security and foreign policy commission told ISNA how a planned trip to Geneva with Zarif on Monday afternoon had been cancelled at the last minute with no explanation.

Under Pressure

"I suddenly got a text message saying the trip has been cancelled," Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh told ISNA, adding that this was not the first time Zarif had resigned but "that he has done so publicly this time means that he wants the president to accept it this time."

Zarif, 59, has served as Rouhani's foreign minister since August 2013 and has been under constant pressure and criticism by hardliners who opposed his policy of détente with the west.

His standing within Iran's political establishment took a hit when the US withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018 and the deal's achievements became less and less clear as Iran's economy nosedived.

Zarif was blamed by ultra-conservatives for negotiating a bad deal that had not gained anything meaningful for Iran for all the concessions it had made in its nuclear program.

The faceoff between the minister and his critics only intensified as time passed, with Zarif saying his main worry throughout the nuclear talks had been from pressure from inside Iran.

"We were more worried by the daggers that were struck from behind than the negotiations," he told a local newspaper on February 2.

"The other side never managed to wear me down during the negotiations... but internal pressure wore me down both during and after the talks," he said.

The latest point of contention between Zarif and hardliners was the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force's requirements regarding money laundering in Iran.

The rift on the issue pitched the government and the parliament against supervisory councils.

On Sunday, ISNA reported that Zarif had warned the Expediency Council, an arbitration body tasked with solving such impasses, that it should "understand the consequences of its decision." 

He was immediately attacked by the ultra-conservatives who deemed what Zarif had said as a threat.

Photo Credit: Hadi Zand, ISNA

German President Under Fire Over Iran Telegram

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier came under fire for a congratulatory telegram sent to Iran for the Islamic revolution's 40th anniversary, with a Jewish leader on Monday joining a chorus of criticism.

Taking aim at Steinmeier for failing to include criticisms of the Islamic regime in his message, Josef Schuster, who heads Germany's Central Council of Jews, said that "routine diplomacy appears to have overtaken critical thinking.”

"It is incomprehensible that sensitivity was missing," Schuster told the daily Bild.

"If it was necessary to send congratulations on this anniversary, then the president should have at least found some clear words criticizing the regime," he added.

Human Rights Watch's director for Germany, Wenzel Michalski, has called Steinmeier's message "shocking.”

For the foreign policy chief of the business-friendly FDP party, Frank Mueller-Rosentritt, the telegram must have felt like a "resounding slap in the face for our friends in Israel who are exposed to constant threats of annihilation by Iran.”

The telegram has not been made public by the president's office. 

But Bild last week quoted excerpts of the message, which it said included Steinmeier's promise to do all he could to implement a nuclear deal on limiting Tehran's atomic programme.

The newspaper said there was no mention of Tehran's support for Hamas and Hezbollah in the message however.

Steinmeier defended his gesture during a telephone conversation with Schuster, but acknowledged in a statement to DPA news agency that "human rights are disregarded in Iran and Iran plays a destabilizing role in the region.

"The danger represented by an Iran armed with nuclear weapons is that much greater," he said. 

At the government's weekly briefing, foreign ministry spokesman Rainer Breul said there had been a "misunderstanding.”

"To our knowledge, the president did not send congratulations for the anniversary of the Islamic revolution. His congratulations were on the occasion of Iran's national day celebrations. 

They fall on the same day.

"It is common practice for states that have diplomatic relations to send congratulations on national day celebrations," Breul said Friday.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons