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Bloomberg: "At the biggest oil market in
the world, crude from Iran is back in vogue. The Persian Gulf state
boosted exports to major oil consumers in Asia during the first half of
this year, after international sanctions that restricted its supplies
were eased in January. Japan's purchases increased 28 percent, India
bought 63 percent more, South Korea's imports more than doubled while
shipments into China gained 2.5 percent during the six months,
government and shipping data compiled by Bloomberg show. The increase
in cargoes to Asia shows Iran is having some success in meeting its
pledge to prioritize regaining market share it lost in the region due
to the sanctions over its nuclear program. The nation, which was OPEC's
second-biggest producer before the international measure choked off its
supplies, defied skeptics with a 25 percent surge in production so far
in 2016 and aims to reach an eight-year high for daily output of 4
million barrels by the end of the year." http://t.uani.com/2aAs7l6
Washington
Post: "Before
Reza 'Robin' Shahini flew to Iran to visit his ailing mother in May, he
was careful to delete years-old postings about Iran on his social-media
accounts. He was not a political activist, but Shahini wanted to avoid
attracting any attention from Iranian authorities... But on July 11,
Shahini, 46, was arrested in Iran on suspicion of crimes against the
Islamic Republic, becoming the latest Westerner with dual citizenship
to be detained. He joined two other U.S. citizens known to be detained,
and at least four dual nationals from Britain, Canada and France, three
of whom have been arrested in the past five months... [H]is arrest
reflects a shift in tactics by hard-liners in Iran trying to keep the
country isolated despite a nuclear deal signed a year ago. Prominent
people are not the only ones in the crosshairs. Now, ordinary people
are being swept up." http://t.uani.com/2ag1YoX
AP: "Iran's Interior Ministry on
Wednesday said a constitutional watchdog had approved the country's
presidential election for May [19,] 2017... Under the law, President
Hassan Rouhani is eligible to run for another term in office." http://t.uani.com/2a22mME
Business
Risk
Tasnim
News Agency: "Iran
is going to think again about engagement with the Financial Action Task
Force (FATF), the policy-making body of the international financial
system, following concerns that an agreement with the watchdog could
risk Iran's national interests. In the wake of media uproar surrounding
Iran's cooperation with the FATF and announcement of the parliament's
decision to intervene, an order has been issued by relevant Iranian
supervisory bodies to review the agreement and deter any threat to the
country's national interests, informed sources told Tasnim... In late
June, FATF hailed Iran's adoption of an action plan to address
shortcomings in its anti-money laundering policies and its decision to
seek assistance with implementation... Iran, however, will remain on
the FATF blacklist until the full implementation is complete, the body
said. Moreover, if it fails to demonstrate 'sufficient progress' at the
end of the yearlong suspension, the restrictions will be
re-imposed." http://t.uani.com/2ag1u26
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters: "Japanese oil refiner
TonenGeneral Sekiyu has bought its first oil from Iran since becoming
independent from U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp... Iran has been
regaining market share faster than analysts had expected after
sanctions were lifted in January, and its exports are projected to be
above 2 million barrels per day for a fourth month in July." http://t.uani.com/2agW0aJ
Financial
Tribune:
"Finnish company Outotec has been awarded a contract by Shangdong
Province Metallurgical Engineering Co., known as SDM, for the delivery
of process equipment to the Iron Concentrate Project Sangan in
northeastern Iran. The Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development
and Renovation Organization owns the Sangan mines and SDM is their
engineering partner. The contract value is approximately €10 million...
The new iron processing plant will process annually 5 million tons of
ore. The equipment will be delivered mostly during the second quarter
of 2017." http://t.uani.com/2ayznBr
Syria
Conflict
Washington
Free Beacon:
"A top Iranian general recently visited the Israeli-Syrian border
to tour a city on Israel's doorstep, Iran's semi-official Fars news
agency reported Wednesday, marking the first time the government has
publicized a visit by a senior regime official to the area. General
Mohammad Reza Naqdi, commander of the Basij paramilitary force, a
massive volunteer organization under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps that performs domestic security functions, traveled to the city
of Quneitra in southwest Syria. He also inspected the demarcation line
dividing the Golan Heights, a strategic rocky plateau by the border
that Israel has controlled since the 1967 Six Day War... Naqdi's stop
comes after several cross-border incidents between the Syrian army,
fighting for embattled President Bashar al-Assad, and the Israel
Defense Forces. Two Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles shot two missiles
by a residential building in Quneitra on Monday, resulting in no
injuries, after a stray mortar fell inside the Golan Heights near
Israel's border... Israeli officials are concerned that Iran and
Hezbollah will use the fighting in Syria as a way to set up a new front
against Israel in the southern part of the country, and Naqdi's visit could
raise concerns that Tehran is trying again to set up military posts
near Quneitra. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Naqdi in 2011
'for being responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses
in Iran.' Naqdi oversaw on Sunday the destruction of 100,000 satellite
dishes for causing 'increased divorce, addiction, and insecurity in
society" and for damaging Iran's Islamic "morality and
culture.'" http://t.uani.com/2at5sYv
New
York Times:
"Afghanistan has been hollowed out as its citizens have fled
poverty and war... But a specific emigration pattern - of thousands of
young men flowing into neighboring Iran and then on to fight alongside
the Syrian government and its allies - has provoked extraordinary
anguish for families here and for Afghanistan's government,
particularly over the past year. Leaving a country racked by decades of
war, the young Afghans who choose the path to Syria then fall into peril
on the bloody front lines of Aleppo, Homs or other battlegrounds... The
promise of urgently needed salaries - or at least compensation for
hardship or death, often paid by the Iranian government - has done
little to comfort the families left behind, or to ease their regret at
the misery that forced their sons to flee in the first place... Some of
the Afghan fighters head to Syria for religious reasons... But most
were enticed by financial benefits, including the promise of legal
residence for the fighters and their families in Iran... Iran's
government provides a few weeks of training and flies the men to Syria,
where they join one of the Afghan brigades." http://t.uani.com/2ayz0Xu
Domestic
Politics
BBC
News:
"'Payslip-gate,' as it has come to be known, has been dominating
the news headlines in Iran for months. The scandal began in May when
the payslips of top managers at the state insurance company were leaked
to the media, showing they were receiving very generous salaries. In
the weeks that followed more payslips mysteriously found their way into
the public domain, revealing the earnings of a range of officials from
top civil servants to bank bosses. Some were apparently getting around
50 times the minimum public sector wage. Many were also being paid big
bonuses and extras, taking their overall salaries to upwards of a
hundred times the average household income... The saga has been a major
blow to the reputation of the government of President Hassan Rouhani.
The millions of Iranians who voted for him in the 2013 were hoping for
change and in particular an improvement to their country's dire
economic situation. Although the president has delivered on his election
promises of resolving the stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme, and
opening the way for sanctions to be lifted, there has been little
concrete improvement in ordinary people's lives so far... There has
been a drumbeat of negative coverage in the conservative media. Things
have also got personal with critics targeting Mr Rouhani's brother,
Hossein Ferydoun, who has been accused of having close links to some of
the officials at the centre of the scandal." http://t.uani.com/2aq1Rfn
Opinion
& Analysis
Ellie
Geranmayeh in NYT:
"Iran and Saudi Arabia have, even while backing competing forces
across the Middle East, generally maintained one red line: They
wouldn't interfere directly in each other's domestic security. Policy
makers in Riyadh and Tehran have known that backing militant groups
among their rival's Shiite minorities in Saudi Arabia or Sunni
minorities in Iran could lead to an escalation for which neither
country is ready. But that tacit agreement might be unraveling. While
no hard proof has been presented, in the past month Iran has ratcheted
up claims that Saudi Arabia is supporting groups working to overthrow
the government in Tehran or to destabilize the country, in particular
opening a new front with Kurdish separatists. The Saudis, for their
part, say Iran is increasing support for Shiite militants. Both
countries deny the allegations. But given the total breakdown in
diplomatic relations since January, and in an increasingly volatile
region, it isn't hard to imagine this tension morphing into something
much more dangerous: a tit-for-tat exchange of attacks carried out by
domestic armed groups." http://t.uani.com/2ag23t4
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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