Iran Calls US Sanctions on Paramilitary Force 'Blind Vindictiveness'

Iran called new US sanctions against its paramilitary Basij group an act of "blind vindictiveness" on Wednesday.

“America's new sanctions are a clear insult to international and legal mechanisms and a result of the American government's blind vindictiveness against the Iranian nation," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi.

He called Washington's "lack of adherence to international legal mechanisms" a threat not only "to the Iranian people's interests but also the world's stability and security."

On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on the Basij paramilitary group along with a network of more than 20 businesses it said had financial links to the organisation.

The US pulled out of a landmark 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers in May and is reimposing punishing sanctions on the Middle Eastern country, hoping to pressure Tehran into what President Donald Trump calls a "better deal.”

Iran's biggest steel company, among the companies sanctioned on Tuesday, dismissed the measures as "nothing new", saying they will not affect its operations.

In a statement to investors, Mobarakeh Steel Company said: "International sanctions are nothing new and Mobarakeh has faced them throughout the years just like other sectors of the Iranian economy.

"This will not disrupt the company's production, financial activities and exports," it added.

’Can't Stop Exports'

Mobarakeh, the largest steelmaker in the Middle East and North Africa region, was accused of supporting the Mehr Eqtesad Iranian Investment Company, which is linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, according to the US Treasury.

A steel industry expert in Tehran said the sanctions would hurt Mobarakeh, but without entirely stopping its exports.

"The company will now have problems doing anything, be it attracting financing from abroad or having any overseas accounts," Mojtaba Fereydouni told AFP.

"But sanctions cannot just stop Iran's exports. You just ship it to a third country, unload the shipments there and leave it for a few days. Then you reship them from there with no mention of Iran and a new certificate of origin.

"All this will incur a cost of USD 20 - USD 30 on each tonne, but it's not impossible," he added.

Iran's steel industry was targeted under the first wave of US sanctions reimposed in August.

But Mobarakeh said it had indigenized its production line.

Fereydouni added that it had set up a factory to produce the key raw material of electrode graphite, which is normally imported, primarily from India.

Iran is the 10th biggest crude steel producer, according to the World Steel Association.

The government said it exported USD 2.53 billion of steel products between March and September, up 53 percent on the previous year—an increase which is thought to be driven by a rush by buyers to make purchase before sanctions hit.

Photo Credit: Mizan

Iran Stays Quiet on Khashoggi Case

Iran has been playing it cool as it watches the furore over the disappearance of writer Jamal Khashoggi create a crisis for its regional rival Saudi Arabia.

As of Wednesday, the government had yet to make any official comment on the alleged murder of Khashoggi who vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Barraged by questions at his weekly press conference on Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said only that Iran was monitoring events.

The Iranian press has been reprinting the gruesome claims from Turkish and other international sources that Khashoggi was tortured and dismembered inside the consulate, and on Wednesday alleged a cover-up by Riyadh and Washington.

"US, Turkey and Saudi colluding to close the murder case of Jamal Khashoggi," read the headline on Wednesday's Jomhuri Eslami, a conservative paper, as it reported on US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Riyadh and Ankara.

"Pompeo's mission in travelling to Riyadh and then Turkey is to cover up Saudi brutality and scandal by making up stories, and this very project is an excuse to keep milking the Saudis (for weapons' contracts)," added the Javan newspaper, considered close to the Revolutionary Guards.

Reza Ghabishavi, in the reformist Arman newspaper, acknowledged the silence from Iran's leaders over the case.

"The whole world... has reacted, but after two weeks, Iran has made no remarks," he wrote.

"Of course, it's obvious the whole thing is in the interests of Iran because on the one hand it has caused serious differences between America and Saudi Arabia, and on the other hand, the young prince's reforms in Saudi Arabia have been destroyed in the public opinion of the world," he added.

'Terrorist Wahhabis'

Ghabishavi also pointed out that Khashoggi was no friend of Iran, having strongly criticised the country's foreign interventions in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.

The case comes just a few weeks before full US sanctions are reimposed on Iran following Washington's decision to scrap the 2015 nuclear deal.

Although the sanctions have contributed to a sharp economic downturn in Iran, its leaders have relished a rare opportunity to hold the moral high ground on the international scene, as much of the world criticizes the aggression of US moves against Iran.

"Everyone knows that America has lost legally and politically by giving up on its international obligations and that we have achieved victory," said President Hassan Rouhani in a speech on Sunday.

The Tehran Times emphasised that Khashoggi's alleged assassination was the inevitable result of the West's long-running support for Saudi monarchs.

"This is your own doing," wrote editor-in-chief Mohammad Ghaderi, addressing Western governments.

"You pick puppets to rule over (their) lands... and back terrorist Wahhabis," he said, referring to the fundamentalist Saudi interpretation of Islam.

Photo Credit: Twitter

US Announces Sanctions on Key Iranian Paramilitary Force

The US Treasury Department on Tuesday slapped sanctions on an Iranian paramilitary group along with a network of businesses that were providing it financing, as part of Washington's campaign of maximum economic pressure against Tehran.

In announcing the sanctions, Treasury said a network of more than 20 businesses known as the Bonyad Taavon Basij was financing the Basij Resistance Force, a component of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

It also accused the militia of sending child soldiers to Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"The international community must understand that business entanglements with the Bonyad Taavon Basij network and IRGC front companies have real world humanitarian consequences," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The Basij, a paramilitary force formed soon after the 1979 revolution, is one of the Iranian regime's primary enforcers of internal security with branches in every province and city of Iran, according to the US Treasury.

"In addition to its involvement in violent crackdowns and serious human rights abuses in Iran, the Basij recruits and trains fighters ... including Iranian children, who then deploy to Syria to support the brutal Assad regime," it said. 

It added that in addition to Iranians, the militia recruited Afghan immigrants to Iran through coercion, some of whom had fled to Europe as a result, as well as Pakistani nationals.

"Children recruited by Basij have tragically fought and died on the battleground in Syria," a senior administration official told AFP.

The Bonyad Taavon Basij is said to provide the Basij militia social welfare services, including housing and financial support, and manages economic activities by funding small companies.

"Bonyad Taavon Basij has expanded its reach into Iran's economy by establishing several investment firms through its financial and investment offshoot Mehr Eqtesad Bank," the Treasury statement said.

Among the other companies singled out was Iran Tractor Manufacturing Company (ITMC), the largest tractor manufacturer in the Middle East and North Africa which predates the Iranian revolution, that generates millions of dollars in profit for the investment firms that represent the Basij.

Also targeted was Iran's Zinc Mines Development Company, described as the country's "preeminent, multibillion-dollar zinc and lead mining and processing holding company."

Photo Credit: Leader.ir

Iran's New Breed of Charities on Poverty Frontline

At an outreach centre in southern Tehran, teenagers are learning to be journalists, while upstairs their mothers are fine-tuning their sewing skills and rushing to fill an order for hospital uniforms.

The brand-new centre in the working-class neighbourhood of Shahr-e Rey caters to hundreds of struggling families and Afghan refugees.

It's a relatively new approach for Iran, where social welfare has often been left to informal groups based around the bazaar and mosque or fallen to large-scale government-controlled organizations.

Today, privately-run charities are emerging, with managers, targets and buzzwords such as "empowerment" and "skills-training", and funded by wealthy business people who have made fortunes in booming industries such as private healthcare.

This centre is run by the ILIA Foundation, created by social workers and members of the Nikan Hospital Group, who have partnered with UN refugee and health agencies to help around 1,000 families from deprived backgrounds.

For now these groups can only reach a small number of those in need but supporters say it is providing a model for future social work in Iran.

At one of the sewing machines is 27-year-old Somareh Ghazvani, a second-generation refugee—one of around 3 million Afghans who have fled decades of conflict across the border.

"It was a surprise to find this place. The conditions are much better than other places I have worked, so I'm very happy," she said. 

In the computer room, 16-year-old Masoumeh is working with InDesign and Photoshop as part of her summer classes in journalism.

"Our families have really counted on this centre. If we go to classes somewhere else, the fees are so high we can't afford it," she said.

Poverty Lines

One of the pioneers of the new approach to charity is the Imam Ali Popular Students Relief Society, which was recognised by the UN in 2010 and has built a network of 12,000 volunteers helping Iran's poorest children.

A recent football tournament it organized for street kids was a reminder of Iran's diversity, as Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds and many others were thrown together on the pitch in Tehran.  

"The only choice for most of these kids in their neighborhoods is violence, poverty and misery. We have tried to give them self-confidence through sports to improve their lives," said Meysam Vahdei, head of sports for the foundation. 

Ten-year-old Obeidollah had travelled since 3:00 a.m. from one of Iran's poorest cities—Sarbaz in southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province—and, inevitably, dreams of being the next Cristiano Ronaldo.

The foundation brought him to Tehran so he could participate in the tournament in a sport he loves.

"Some charity workers came to our city square. They saw me do a backflip and said 'Wow! What a boy', and now I'm here in Tehran playing football," he said, excitedly. 

Official data on poverty is hard to pin down in Iran. 

The labour ministry said 800,000 households were eligible for government support because they earned below the poverty line of seven million rials (around USD 160) a month, according to a report in January by the Financial Tribune.

The English-language newspaper cited prominent economist Hossein Raghfar as saying some 12 million Iranians lived in absolute poverty, in a country with a population of around 80 million.

Faced with mounting economic woes, President Hassan Rouhani has introduced welfare cuts and other austerity measures since coming to power in 2013.

The government was already struggling to support the poor before the recent return of US sanctions—after Washington withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers—which has sent prices soaring and threatens to take a huge chunk out of the budget this year.

That has put more pressure on charities and private donors, and encouraged the more modern approach to charity work.

'Breaking the Poverty Chain'

"We need to help these kids at an early stage of life to get them on the right path and help break the chain of poverty in their families," said Reza Taghdir, a doctor with the high-end Nikan hospital group and a director for the ILIA Foundation. 

It marks a change from the old ways of doing things, said one of ILIA's promoters, who asked not to be named. 

"In the past, some old guys would get near to death and start worrying about the afterlife, so they would hand out a load of money to build something in their name. It was really just about status and was not very organized," he said. 

"Now it's much more professional, the donors are younger and much more concerned to find real solutions to problems in society."

Photo Credit: IRNA

US is Loser by Abandoning Iran Nuclear Deal: Rouhani

Iran's president boasted Sunday that the United States has lost against the Islamic republic's "righteousness and wisdom" by walking out of the landmark nuclear deal.

"Everyone knows that America has lost legally and politically by giving up on its international obligations and that we have achieved victory," said President Hassan Rouhani in a speech at the University of Tehran to mark the beginning of the school year.

“There are but a few countries in the world that would call the US withdrawal from the JCPOA (nuclear deal) a good move," he added.

"Those that are cautious express disappointment, those that are more frank say it was a mistake, and the outspoken say it was illegal."

Washington pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers in May and is reimposing punishing sanctions on the country, hoping to pressure Tehran into what President Donald Trump calls a "better deal.”

The US is due to complete the reimposition of sanctions on November 5, targeting Iran's oil sector and central bank.

"There has never been a more spiteful team than the current US administration toward Iran, Iranians and the Islamic Republic," Rouhani said.

He said nothing would change on November 5 since "America has already done whatever it can.”

The other parties to the nuclear agreement—Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany—have all pledged to continue to try to make the deal work, despite their firms being vulnerable to the US sanctions if they keep doing business with Iran.

Rouhani said Iran's response had left Washington "empty-handed".

"They expected us to leave the JCPOA hours after they announced they are, and what would have happened? The case would have returned to the UN Security Council, turned against Iran and isolated us," he said. 

He said Iran had lost nothing by staying in the deal and could leave "whenever" it chooses.

Photo Credit: IRNA

UN Highlights Illegal Somali Charcoal Trafficking to Iran

Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab rebels are profiting from the illegal trafficking of charcoal exports produced in Somalia and transiting through Iran, United Nations experts said in a report recently shared with the UN Security Council. 

"The process involved using false Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Ghana certificates of origin to import Somali charcoal, repackaging the charcoal from typical blue-green bags into white bags labeled as 'Product of Iran,'" said the report, excerpts of which AFP has obtained.

The document, which has not yet been made public, said Iranian ports in the Kish and Qeshm free zones have been the main destinations of the shipments since March 2018. 

They would then travel onwards to ports in countries including the United Arab Emirates and Oman, where the charcoal is mainly used for smoking shisha water pipes.

The UN has banned Somali charcoal imports since 2012 in order to cut sources of revenue for the Shabaab, which levies taxes on charcoal production in regions they control.

The world body estimates that some 3.6 million bags of charcoal were produced in 2017 for exports, generating some USD 7.5 million in revenue for the Shabaab.

The report shared with the Security Council was drafted by a UN group of experts tasked with applying sanctions slapped on Somalia.

The document called Iran a "weak link" in implementing the charcoal ban and pointed to countries such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast for allowing charcoal traffickers to "exploit weaknesses" in the certification processes.

"Overall implementation of the charcoal ban by member states has improved compared to the previous mandate, and seizures of cargoes of Somali charcoal by Oman and the UAE have been influential in deterring the illicit charcoal trade," it added. 

"However, implementation has also been inconsistent."

The Shabaab have vowed to overthrow the Somali government, which is backed by the international community and the 20,000-strong African Union mission in the country, AMISOM.

While they were pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011 and lost many of their bastions, they still control vast rural zones in the country.

Photo Credit: Depositphotos

Iran Official Calls For 'Lobbying Anti-Trump Movements'

One of Iran's top foreign policy officials has called for negotiations with "anti-Trump movements" in the US to dampen the impact of sanctions, local media reported Saturday.

"America is not Trump," said Heshmatollah Falahat-Pisheh, a conservative lawmaker who heads parliament's influential national security and foreign policy commission, according to reformist newspaper Arman.

“There is a new diplomatic atmosphere for deescalation with America and it is fitting that Iran follows negotiation diplomacy and lobbying anti-Trump movements in America," he added.

He said this would help alleviate pressure caused by Washington's "extensive sanction-focused force.”

The US pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May and reimposed punishing sanctions on the country, hoping to pressure Tehran into what President Donald Trump calls a "better deal".

The US is due to complete the reimposition of sanctions on November 5, targeting Iran's oil sector and central bank.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has dismissed Trump's offers to talk as "a dangerous game.”

But Mehdi Motaharnia, a Tehran-based political analyst, described Falahat-Pisheh's proposal as "very meaningful" since it signifies a potential shift in conservatives' stance on talking with the US.

"This comes from a conservative whose party members called (Foreign Minister Mohammad) Javad Zarif a traitor for negotiating with the US," Motaharnia told reformist daily Hamdeli.

"But now we do not see such reactions when the head of national security and foreign policy commission proposes talks," he added.

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EIA Lifts Brent Forecast on Iran Sanctions Worries

This article has been republished with permission from Argus Media.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) is raising its Brent crude price forecast by USD 5/bl to USD 81/bl for the fourth quarter, citing uncertainty over the effects of US sanctions on Iran.

US will re-impose restrictions on Iran's oil exports on 5 November, but many buyers already have begun to wind down their purchases of Iranian crude.

Opec members in the third quarter increased output by an amount greater than declining exports from Iran and Venezuela, the EIA said today in its Short-Term Energy Outlook. But "recent price increases indicate that oil market participants have concerns about the ability of Saudi Arabia, other OPEC members, and Russia to continue to offset expected further production declines in Iran and Venezuela," the agency said.

The EIA data are among the factors the administration must consider as it decides on the scope of waivers from Iran sanctions in coming weeks.

Administration officials insist that Iran's forced exit from the market, partial or full, will not have a significant effect on global crude markets as Saudi Arabia and other Opec and non-Opec producers, as well as growth in US output, make up the gap. A rise in oil prices could hurt President Donald Trump's administration politically if Americans see a noticeable jump in what they pay for gasoline ahead of crucial midterm elections in November. Trump has taken to blaming Opec producers for the recent increase.

"The administration is learning the hard way that it is difficult to drive Iran's oil off the market and keep gasoline below USD 3/USG," consultancy Rapidan Energy Group president Bob McNally said. "We are kind of touching the stove and learning that Saudi Arabia really cannot or will not keep oil prices from rising."

The EIA estimated Opec spare capacity at 1.3mn b/d in September — its lowest level since December 2016 when global oil inventory levels were much higher.

But the agency also forecasts that global oil supply and demand will be nearly balanced in 2019, contributing to downward pressure on the oil price.

The administration's economic brain trust has sought to downplay the risks to pump prices.

White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow last week said—without any details—that internal government analysis shows US crude output growing to 15mn b/d in 2020. The EIA today estimated 2019 output at 11.76mn b/d. The agency's most optimistic scenario for oil production in 2020, published in February as part of its Annual Energy Outlook 2018, pegs it at 12.8mn b/d.

White House Council of Economic Advisers chairman Kevin Hassett said yesterday that global demand growth is the primary driver of higher oil prices, even though Iran sanctions have played a role as well. "When the global economy is strong, oil prices tend to increase, and those increases can be quite non-linear," Hassett said.

The IMF in its latest economic outlook released yesterday lowered global growth projections to 3.7pc/yr in 2018-19, citing negative effects from the US administration's trade wars with key partners.

"If the IMF revisions of the world growth forecasts are correct, that will put less pressure on the oil prices," Hassett said.

Trading firm executives speaking at the Oil and Money conference in London today agreed on the severity of the effect of US sanctions against Iran.

The administration sees such comments as validation of their approach, despite concerns about effects on US gasoline consumers.

"Iran is fighting for their lives. They have got riots in all their cities. It is blowing up. Their inflation, their economy is in tatters. And at some point, they will probably come and want to make a real deal, not the deal that they made," Trump said yesterday.

The IMF expects Iran's economy to contract by 1.5 percent in 2018 and another 3.6 percent in 2019 as US sanctions affect oil exports from that country.

The EIA, in a separate bimonthly report to Congress on the effects of sanctions on Iran, estimated global production of oil and products—excluding Iran—at 93.4mn b/d in August-September and consumption at 96.5mn b/d. The estimated 3.1mn b/d gap compares with a 4mn b/d shortfall estimated in the EIA's previous report based on June-July data. The estimate is a hypothetical snapshot of the market balance assuming Iran is completely shut out from the global supply-and-demand balance.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iranian Diplomat Held in Belgium Over 'Bomb Plot'

An Iranian diplomat was taken into custody in Belgium on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in an alleged plot to bomb an Iranian opposition rally in France.

An investigating magistrate earlier questioned the Iranian, normally based in Vienna, in the northern Belgian city of Antwerp, the Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that the suspect, previously identified as Assadollah Assadi, had been extradited to Belgium from Germany.

Tehran summoned the German ambassador on Wednesday to protest the extradition, which the foreign ministry said was "caused by a fabricated conspiracy by enemies of Iran and European relations.”

Iran has denied French accusations that Assadi was involved in a plot targeting an annual gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on June 30 just outside Paris.

Belgian anti-terrorism prosecutors announced on July 2 that they had foiled the plot. They then requested the extradition of both Assadi and a man identified as Merhad A., who was detained in Paris.

Belgian police believe Mehrad A. is an accomplice of a husband and wife team caught in Brussels in possession of 500 grammes (about a pound) of the powerful explosive TATP and a detonator.

All three are Belgian nationals of Iranian origin.

The accusations come at a particularly sensitive time as Iran works with European powers to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal, abandoned by the United States earlier this year. 

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Stolen Ancient Artifact Returns to Iran Museum

A twice-stolen ancient Persian artifact is back in Tehran's national museum after a New York court ordered it returned to Iran.

"It now belongs to the people who made it in the first place, and who are now going to preserve it, and is part of their identity," Firouzeh Sepidnameh, director of the ancient history section of the National Museum told AFP on Tuesday.

The limestone relief was handed over to Iran's representative at the United Nations last month and was personally brought back to Iran by President Hassan Rouhani, returning from the UN General Assembly.

The bas-relief, approximately 25 centuries old, depicts the head of a soldier from a line of Immortal Guards. 

It was discovered in an archaeological dig in the early 1930s at Persepolis, capital of the Achaemenid Empire near today's central Iranian city of Shiraz.

The artifact was stolen four years after it was found, and ultimately ended up at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts where it was again stolen in 2011.

It was seized by the Manhattan district attorney's office in 2017 when it resurfaced and was put on sale at an art fair.

"The international community has evolved enough to realize every artifact must return to its point of origin," said Sepidnameh. 

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

IMF Reverses Iran Growth, Lifts Saudi Forecast

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday predicted Iran's economy will sink deep in the red due to renewed US sanctions but forecast increased Saudi growth on the back of higher oil production.

In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF said the oil-dependent economy of the Islamic republic is expected to shrink by 1.5 percent this year and by 3.6 percent in 2019.

In May, before US President Donald Trump announced reinstating sanctions against Tehran, the IMF had projected Iran's economy would grow by 4.0 percent in 2018 and again next year.

The IMF said the Iranian economy was now expected to contract over the next two years "on account of reduced oil production, before returning to modest positive growth in 2020-23.”

Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May, and his administration reimposed a round of sanctions on the Islamic republic in August.

Iranian crude exports, which reach some 2.5 million barrels per day normally, have plunged by over half a million bpd and are expected to dive further when expanded sanctions on oil take effect next month, depriving Tehran of its main source of income.

The IMF also sharply slashed growth forecasts for the whole Middle East and North Africa region due to the slump in the Iranian economy and increased energy costs.

It now projects the MENA region to grow by 2.0 percent this year and 2.5 percent in 2019, 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent lower, respectively, than it forecast in April.

"The downward revisions reflect to an important extent the worsening of growth prospects for Iran, following the reimposition of US sanctions," it said.

The IMF, however, lifted its projections for economic growth in Saudi Arabia, the region's biggest economy, and its oil-rich neighbours in the Gulf.

It said the Saudi economy, which contracted by 0.9 percent last year, is expected to grow by 2.2 percent in 2018 and 2.4 percent next year, raising previous projections by 0.5 percent.

The growth is being "driven by a pickup in non-oil economic activity and a projected increase in crude oil production in line" agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and independent producers, the IMF said.

Oil prices, which account for about 80 percent of Saudi public income, have increased by more than 70 percent since June last year to over USD 80 a barrel.

The London-based Capital Economics think-tank said last week that revenues of Saudi Arabia and the five other Gulf states are expected to rise by USD 200 billion this year compared to 2017 due to high oil prices and output.

Photo Credit: IMF

Iran Says Saudi Claims To Replace Its Oil 'Unbelievable'

Iran's oil minister said on Monday that the market will never believe "exaggerated" claims by Saudi Arabia that it can replace Iranian oil shipments lost due to renewed US sanctions.

"Such exaggerations might please Mr Trump, but the market will never believe them," Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said, according to the oil ministry's SHANA news site.

"These statements were made due to Mr Trump's pressure on Saudi authorities. In reality, neither Saudi Arabia nor any other producer has such a capability," he added.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg on Friday that Saudi Arabia "did(its) job and more" by making up for the recent drop in Iranian oil sales.

He said Iran's sales had fallen by 700,000 barrels per day since the United States announced in May that it was pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposing sanctions on its oil industry.

Precise figures are unavailable, not least because Iran has begun switching off tracking devices on some oil-exporting ships since the threat of sanctions returned, according to analysts.

Iran was exporting between 2.5 and 2.7 million bpd in April before the US announced the return of sanctions.

"We export as much as two barrels for any barrel that disappeared from Iran recently," Prince Mohammed told Bloomberg.

But Zanganeh retorted that the Saudis had only opened up "their previous reserves" to the market and that their output capacity had not increased.

The Saudi statement could have a "short-term psychological effect", he added, but it would not mean much to global energy markets which had shown their concern over shortages by hiking prices. 

The sanctions on Iran's oil sector are not due to hit until November 5, but several key buyers in Europe and Asia have already cut purchases in recent months under pressure from Washington.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Qatar Airways Commits to Iran Flights Despite Sanctions

US sanctions on Iran will not impact Qatar Airways' flights to the Islamic republic, the airline's boss Akbar al-Baker said on Monday.

Speaking at a high-profile business conference in the Qatari capital Doha, Baker said services to Iran would continue despite a tightening economic and political squeeze on Iran by Washington.

"Aviation is not a sanctioned industry, Qatar Airways will continue to operate into the cities we are currently operating in Iran," he said.

"Our flights to Iran will not be affected."

Qatar Airways' Iran destinations include Mashhad and Shiraz, while the airline operates daily flights to Tehran, according to its website.

Baker's comments come as US President Donald Trump's administration is expected to impose a second round of tough sanctions on Iran next month.

A first tranche of punitive measures were introduced in August by the US after it withdrew in May from the 2015 international deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Washington has also warned foreign businesses to steer clear of Iran.

Already, major European airlines including Air France and British Airways have stopped flights to Iran, following the sanctions' announcement.

Qatar is also under scrutiny over its relationship with Iran, with whom it shares the world's largest natural gas field.

Since June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have imposed a sweeping embargo on Qatar, sparking the worst political rift to ever hit the Gulf, in part because of Iran.

The four countries accuse Doha of seeking closer ties with Tehran, Saudi Arabia's arch-rival, as well as supporting radical Islamist groups.

Qatar denies the charges, accusing its neighbors of seeking regime change.

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Iran Has 'Unclean Hands' in World Court Battle, US Says

The United States accused Tehran Monday of having "unclean hands" as it fought an Iranian court bid to unfreeze billions of dollars earmarked by Washington for terror victims.

Washington said Iran's "support for international terrorism", including bombings and airline hijackings, should rule out its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

Iran dragged Washington to the UN's top court in 2016 over a US Supreme Court ruling that the USD 2 billion should go to victims of attacks blamed on the Islamic republic.

Iran said the case breached a 1955 "Treaty of Amity" between Washington and Tehran signed before Iran's Islamic revolution.

Washington tore up that treaty last week after the ICJ in a separate case ordered the United States to ease sanctions reimposed on Iran by US President Donald Trump after he pulled out of Iran's 2015 international nuclear deal.

"Iran comes to the court with unclean hands. Indeed, it is a remarkable show of bad faith," Richard Visek, a US State Department legal official, told the court.

"The actions at the root of this case centre on Iran's support for international terrorism... Iran's bad acts include supports for terrorist bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and airline hijackings," he said.

Visek also accused Iran's "most senior leaders" of the "encouragement and promotion of terrorism" and "violation of nuclear non-proliferation, ballistic missile and arms trafficking obligations".

Iran's use of the 1955 treaty to lodge the case was an "abuse of process", he added.

The ICJ was set up after World War II to rule on disputes between United Nations member states. Its rulings are binding but it has no power to enforce them.

'Full Reparations'

At Monday's hearing, a 15-judge bench is listening to US arguments over whether the ICJ can take up the case under its strict rules governing its procedure.

The US Supreme Court ruled in April 2016 that USD 2 billion in Iran's frozen assets must go to American victims of terror attacks.

These included the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut, in which 241 soldiers were killed, and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. In total, the decision affects more than 1,000 Americans.

Iran angrily accused Washington of breaking the 1955 treaty—even though it was signed at the time with the pro-US regime of the Shah—and called for the US "to make full reparations to Iran for the violation of its international legal obligations".

A decision by the ICJ's judges could take weeks or even months before being made public.

But Monday's showdown risks deepening the Trump administration's rift with international justice.

Last Wednesday, Trump's national security advisor John Bolton announced the US was not only leaving the amity treaty but also quitting the international accord relating to the UN top court's jurisdiction.

That followed Iran's shock victory last week when the ICJ ruled that the US must lift sanctions against Tehran targeting humanitarian goods like food and medicine.

The step also came after the Palestinians went to the ICJ to challenge the US move of its Israel embassy to Jerusalem. 

Trump last month at the United Nations virulently rejected the authority of the International Criminal Court—a separate court based in The Hague that the US is not a member of—over a probe into US forces in Afghanistan.

Photo Credit: ICJ

Iran Parliament Passes Counter-Terror Finance Bill

Iran's parliament on Sunday approved a bill to counter terrorist financing that was strongly opposed by conservatives but seen as vital to salvaging the nuclear deal with European and Asian partners.

The bill, one of four put forward by the government in a bid to meet demands set by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), was passed by 143 votes to 120, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

It aims to bring Iran's laws in line with international standards and allow it to join the UN Terrorism Financing Convention.

A previous bill on the mechanics of monitoring and preventing terrorist financing was signed into law in August.

But joining the UN convention has been controversial because hardliners say it will limit Iran's ability to support armed groups in the region such as its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah. 

Two other bills—on money-laundering and organised crime—have also been passed by parliament but are being held up by the Guardian Council, which vets all legislation.

Iran is alone with North Korea on the blacklist of the Paris-based FATF, which monitors global money laundering and terrorist financing. 

The FATF suspended counter-measures against Iran in June 2017 and has set a final deadline of mid-October for it to amend its laws. 

The issue has become particularly pressing since the United States walked out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran earlier this year and began reimposing sanctions. 

The other parties to the deal—Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia—have sought to salvage the agreement and maintain trade with Iran, but have demanded that it accede to the FATF. 

"Neither I nor the president can guarantee that all problems will go away if we join (the UN convention)," said Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during the debate ahead of the vote.

"But I guarantee that not joining will provide the US with more excuses to increase our problems," he added.

He said Russia and China—two of Iran's "strategic allies"—have refused to maintain financial ties unless it joined the FATF. 

'Death to Traitors'

Conservatives were furious with the vote on Sunday, with hardliners leading chants of "death to traitors" outside parliament. 

In a heated debate ahead of the vote, opponents of the bill said it would not solve the country's financial problems, and would help its enemies. 

"We did what (the FATF) demanded, we passed three bills but nothing happened. Our financial problems will not go away even if we join," said lawmaker Hossein Naghavi Hosseini.

Another hardliner, Mohammad Dehghan, warned the bill means "providing the enemy with intelligence during an economic war" and that passing it amounted to "treason".

Both sides have evoked supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to support their position. 

Conservatives pointed to Khamenei's statement in June that Iran has "no need to join" global conventions.

But parliament speaker Ali Larijani, who supports the government's position, said he had received a letter from Khamenei explaining that his remarks were about "conventions in general" and not meant to oppose any particular bills. 

Reformist lawmaker Mohammad Feyzi told the session that Iran does not have "the luxury of choice" and will face negative consequences if it refuses to join the FATF.

Ali Najafi, spokesman for the parliament's commission which produced the bill, said Iran retained the right to walk away from the UN convention "wherever it acts against the Iranian constitution" and emphasized that it does not force Iran to recognize Israel.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Kerry Says War Chances Rising After US Leaves Iran Deal

Former secretary of state John Kerry voiced fear Friday of conflict with Iran after the United States pulled out of a denuclearization deal, saying regional leaders had privately pressed him for military strikes.

Kerry spearheaded diplomacy that led to the 2015 agreement in which Iran promised Western powers, Russia and China to scale back its nuclear program drastically in return for sanctions relief.

By pulling out of the accord, President Donald Trump has "made it more likely that there will be conflict in the region because there are people there who would love to have the United States of America bomb Iran," the former senator and presidential candidate told the Council on Foreign Relations as he promotes his memoir, "Every Day is Extra."

Kerry said that Saudi Arabia's late king Abdullah and Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak had both told him that the United States should attack Iran, even while they would not take the position publicly.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an outspoken critic of the Iran deal, had also asked then US president Barack Obama for the green light to bomb Iran, Kerry said.

While UN inspectors found that Iran was complying with the accord, Trump declared the deal to be a disaster for not addressing other US concerns with Iran including threats to Israel, support for Islamist militant moves such as Hezbollah and Tehran's missile program.

But Kerry said the United States was "actually getting them to do things, quietly," including on easing the conflict in war-ravaged Yemen, and believed that President Hassan Rouhani was "trying to move the country in a different direction."

"What Trump has done is now empower the guys in Iran who said don't deal with the United States, they'll burn you," Kerry said.

"He has made it more likely that if there is an implosion in Iran internally through pressure or otherwise, it will not be an unknown Jeffersonian democrat who is going to appear and take over, it will be the IRGC or another Ahmadinejad, and we will be worse off and the people of Iran will be worse off," he said, referring to the hardline Revolutionary Guards and former firebrand president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Trump has lashed out at Kerry for meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif since leaving office, accusing him of violating an obscure US law that prohibits private citizens from negotiating on disputes with foreign governments.

Kerry said Trump was seeking to distract from his own scandal related to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and said it was normal for former officials to maintain communication with foreign counterparts.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Iran Risks Losing 70% of Farmlands: Environment Chief

Iran faces losing 70 percent of its farmlands if urgent action is not taken to overcome a litany of climate woes, the country's environment chief Isa Kalantari told AFP.

The Islamic Republic is grappling not only with air, water and soil pollution, as well as drought and desertification, but also with the effect of years of crippling US and international sanctions.

Adding to the dire situation, "we currently use about 100 percent of our renewable water ... according to global standards this figure should not be higher than 40 percent," said Kalantari, vice president and head of Iran's Environment Department, in an exclusive interview in Tehran.

"The excessive consumption of water, especially from groundwater is a threat and could have terrible social consequences," he warned.

If the situation is not brought under control, then "we would lose about 70 percent of our cultivated land in a maximum of 20 to 30 years."

"The south of Alborz and east of Zagros, if we don't take swift action, will become unusable for agriculture," Kalantari added.

Alborz and Zagros are mountain ranges in the north and west of Iran respectively. The majority of Iran's mostly arid land mass and population centres are located to the south and east of them.

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, Iran, a country of some 80 million people, predominantly relies on agriculture.

Past Errors

Kalantari said there had been many years of mismanagement of water resources, and mistaken decisions forced by political and economic concerns such as the US sanctions and climate change.

“We basically thought that environment was not that important," he said.

Other countries had also failed to address climate issues introducing policy errors in the 1960s and 1970s.

"We made these mistakes in the 1980s. Then we came to realize that in places that we'd built dams, we shouldn't have built any, and in places where we should have built dams, we didn't build any," he said.

The pressure on the country's resources has also been exacerbated by population growth, with Iranians encouraged to have large families in the years following its 1979 Islamic revolution.

“In the first decade after the revolution, we encountered a high population growth rate, more than three percent annually," Kalantari said.

This policy was taken "without paying attention to utilising and improving" the use of resources, he said.

He also highlighted the effects of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), when the country was isolated and could not concern itself with sustainable development as it had a burgeoning population to feed.

"Iran could not, and cannot, bear the pressure that this (population growth) exerted on the consumption of water, for the supply of food and for agriculture," he added.

The strain has shown recently with Iranians taking to the streets in December and January this year, protesting over economic conditions.

A former agriculture minister in the 1990s, Kalantari said Iran could not be self-sufficient in food production for its estimated 80 million people "if we want sustainable policies".

Even with state-of-the-art technology, Iran could only be completely self-sufficient to supply food for 50 to 55 million people.

Sanctions Hit

He also blamed some of the country's air pollution woes on biting sanctions.

"Locally-produced car engines are not up to standard, so when sanctions are imposed, car manufacturers such as Peugeot and Renault depart," said Kalantari.

The two carmakers suspended operations in Iran after Washington withdrew from a ground-breaking nuclear deal earlier this year and reimposed sanctions, as European leaders have so far failed to gain any exemptions for their firms.

A lack of new cars prompts Iranians to "use domestically-made engines" which do not adhere to modern environmental standards.

The resulting pollution frequently hangs heavily over the capital Tehran, with smog often rendering the mountains to the north invisible, while there have been growing cases of people hospitalized with respiratory problems.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Khamenei Vows 'Never' to Allow Iran to Bow

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed Thursday "never" to allow the Islamic republic to bow to the demands of its enemies, at a time of increased tensions between Tehran and Washington.

"To entertain the idea, as desired by the enemy, that the only solution is to hand ourselves over to the enemy, is the worst act of treason towards the Iranian nation, and that will not happen," Khamenei said in an address to tens of thousands of members of the Basij, an Islamic volunteer militia, broadcast live on state television.

"With God's help, so long as I am alive and retain my capacities and with your help, I will never allow such a thing to happen," he said in the speech at Tehran's Azadi stadium.

For Iran's clerical establishment, enemy refers firstly to the United States which is dubbed the "Great Satan" and with which relations have been severed since the aftermath of its 1979 Islamic revolution.

Khamenei played down the impact of economic sanctions reimposed on Iran by the United States in August after Washington pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers.

"Our national economy can overcome the sanctions, and, with the help of God, we will overcome them, and this defeat will signal the defeat of America and a new slap for America from the Iranian nation," he said.

On Wednesday, Tehran hailed its "victory" after the International Court of Justice ruled that sanctions reimposed after President Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear deal put Iranian lives at risk.

But the United States insisted it was already allowing humanitarian exemptions to sanctions and, accusing Iran of seeking a "propaganda" win, announced it was terminating a treaty on which the case was based.

Photo Credit:

UN Court Tells US to Ease Iran Sanctions in Blow for Trump

The UN's top court ordered the United States on Wednesday to lift sanctions on humanitarian goods for Iran, in a stinging rebuke for the Trump administration which nonetheless made clear the decision would change nothing.

Tehran declared victory after the International Court of Justice ruled that sanctions reimposed after President Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear deal put Iranian lives at risk.

But the United States insisted it was already allowing humanitarian 
exemptions and, accusing Iran of seeking a "propaganda" win, announced it was 
terminating a treaty on which the case was based. 

The judges at the court in The Hague ruled unanimously that sanctions on some goods breached the 1955 Treaty of Amity between Iran and the United States that predates Iran's Islamic Revolution.

They called on Washington to "remove by means of its choosing any impediments arising from the measures announced on 8 May to the free exportation to Iran of medicines and medical devices, food and agricultural commodities" as well as airplane parts and services, chief judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said.

The court said sanctions on goods "required for humanitarian needs... may have a serious detrimental impact on the health and lives of individuals on the territory of Iran."

US sanctions also had the "potential to endanger civil aviation safety in Iran." 

Trump slapped a first round of sanctions on Iran in August after pulling out in May from the 2015 international deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions, to the dismay of his European allies. A second round of punitive measures is due in November.

Iran Hails Ruling

Iran dragged the United States to the ICJ in July and, during four days of hearings in late August, its lawyers accused Washington of "strangling" its economy.

Foreign drugs are now a rare commodity in Iran which is also dealing with a free-falling rial currency and price hikes. Official Iranian statements acknowledge the shortage and say imports of certain drugs are no longer subsidised.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the court ruling "another failure for (the) sanctions-addicted US government and victory for rule of law".

The foreign ministry said in a statement that the ruling was a "clear sign" that "Iran is in the right".

But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of "abusing the ICJ for political and propaganda purposes" and noted that the court did not reject US sanctions more broadly.

"The court's ruling today was a defeat for Iran. It rightly rejected all of Iran's baseless requests," Pompeo told reporters in Washington.

He said that the United States was ending the 1955 friendship treaty, signed when Iran was ruled by the Western-oriented shah.

"This is a decision, frankly, that is 39 years overdue," Pompeo said, referring to the time since the 1979 Islamic revolution transformed Iran from one of the closest US allies to a sworn foe. 

"Given Iran's history of terrorism, ballistic missile activity and other malign behaviours, Iran's claims under the treaty are absurd," he said.

Zarif said that the move showed the United States to be an "outlaw regime".

The end of the treaty will have little direct effect but Iran as well as the United States have cited it in court cases including when Tehran sought compensation when the US Navy downed an Iran Air civilian flight in 1988, killing 290 people.

Wednesday's ruling is in fact a decision on so-called provisional measures ahead of a final ruling which may take several more years, experts said.

Decisions by the Hague-based ICJ, which rules on disputes between United Nations members, are binding but it has no mechanism through which it can enforce its decisions.

Iran, US Ignored Rulings

In 1986, Washington disregarded the court's finding that it had violated international law by supporting the pro-US Contra the ICJ's ruling rebels in Nicaragua. 

Iran in turn ignored the ICJ's ruling in 1980 to release hostages seized when revolutionary zealots took over the US embassy. 

Trump has repeatedly voiced disdain for international organizations that he sees as limiting US sovereignty.

Trump's national security adviser John Bolton recently threatened that the United States would take action against any judge from the separate International Criminal Court who pursues a case against US troops in Afghanistan.

Negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, Trump argues that the 2015 Iran deal gave Tehran money to support extremist groups and build nuclear-capable missiles.

European allies have pledged to keep the agreement alive, with plans for a mechanism to let firms skirt the US sanctions as they do business with Iran.

Hearings in a separate Iranian case against the US freezing of around USD 2 billion of Iranian assets to help American terror victims are due to start at the ICJ next week.

Germany Says Shares US Goals on Iran

Germany on Wednesday told the United States that it shared its goals on Iran even as the Europeans press ahead to save a denuclearization deal threatened by US sanctions.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met in Washington with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who has voiced outrage over European plans to preserve commercial ties with Iran.

"In the end, we pursue the same goals with respect to Iran," Maas told 
reporters after meeting Pompeo.

“We just have different paths that we want to follow," he said.

Maas said that Germany shared concerns about Iran's ballistic missile program and believed Tehran should withdraw from Syria, where the Shiite clerical regime is supporting President Bashar al-Assad.

But Maas said that the end of the 2015 agreement would lead Iran to pursue a nuclear program with military purposes.

“This would create the danger of a military conflict in the region," Maas said.

The United States under former president Barack Obama negotiated the deal with Iran alongside Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

UN inspectors say that Iran has complied with the agreement, under which it ceased sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief.

President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord, vowing instead to target Iran aggressively and roll back its role in the region.

That European Union said last month that it was working on a legal entity through which businesses could trade with Iran and avoid US sanctions.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons