TOP STORIES
Iran manufactured the ballistic missile fired by Yemen's
Shiite rebels toward the Saudi capital and remnants of it bore
"Iranian markings," the top U.S. Air Force official in the
Mideast said Friday, backing the kingdom's earlier allegations.
The top Iranian nuclear official has warned that
Washington wants to "annihilate" the nuclear deal and blame
Iran for it, the Iranian media reported...The Iranian nuclear
negotiator reiterated that the country can resume 20 percent nuclear
enrichment at Fordow facility within days.
Iran is establishing a permanent military base inside
Syria, a Western intelligence source has told the BBC.
UANI IN THE NEWS
In October, President Trump chose not to recertify the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran
nuclear deal, giving Congress 60 days to decide on the future of the
agreement. As Congress weighs action and the administration consults with
our European partners, policymakers must consider Iran's history of
holding Americans and dual-nationals hostage, including those held
captive today. On the 38th anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis,
it's the least we can do.
On October 1 of this year, Army Specialist Alexander
Missildine was killed by a highly lethal roadside bomb known as an
explosively formed penetrator (EFP) in the Ninawa Province of Iraq.
EFPs are the signature weapon of two Iranian Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC)-led militias in Iraq and the reappearance of this
weapon after six years demonstrates that the Islamic Republic of Iran
continues its campaign to kill American service members.
When Saad Hariri resigned his post as prime minister of
Lebanon last week, the move surprised even his closest associates.
The normally soft-spoken premier lashed out at Iran and Hezbollah,
accusing them of plotting his assassination, and vowing that the region's
reawakened Arabs would "cut off" Tehran's arms. The unusual
resignation came amid internal upheavals within Saudi Arabia and
escalating Saudi-Iranian tensions over Lebanon and Yemen, fueling
speculation that all were somehow related. Below is context on what
happened and analysis for what comes next for the key players in the
dispute after a transformational week in Lebanon.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
Whether through arrogance or ignorance, the Obama
administration falsely assessed the ability of the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to curtail Iran's illicit
nuclear activities. Even from day one, the deal they presented fell
far short of the red lines to which President Barack Obama and Secretary
of State John Kerry swore they would uphold. Far from creating the
most robust inspections and monitoring regime, Obama and Kerry
watered down on precedent to create a far weaker standard for all
future non-proliferation deals, notwithstanding the politicized and
corrupt analysis from groups such as the Arms Control Association.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director
General Yukiya Amano met Thursday in New York with United States
Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley for a second time on
Iran's nuclear program with the Trump administration's next move on
Iran at stake.
Senior officials from the European Union and Iran spoke
up on Friday in defense of the agreement limiting Tehran's nuclear
program, as the pact comes under heavy pressure from U.S. President
Donald Trump.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
The US should destroy virtually all of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps infrastructure as well as Iran's nuclear
facilities to reduce its terrorist and nuclear threats, former CIA
director James Woolsey told The Jerusalem Post in an interview. "
TERRORISM AND EXTREMISM
While considering the manner in which Saad Hariri had to
resign as Lebanon's prime minister, it has to be realized that Hezbollah
controls around 25 percent of that country's territory and that its
militia has grown more powerful than the Lebanese army. The level of
interference by both Hezbollah and Syria in Lebanese politics at the
behest of the Iranian regime, particularly Hezbollah's proven record
of assassinating those speaking out against it or its Syrian and
Iranian patrons, must have been a major cause behind Saad Hariri's
decision to leave the country before announcing his resignation.
Hezbollah's leader said on Friday that
Saudi Arabia had declared war on Lebanon and his Iran-backed group,
accusing Riyadh of detaining Saad al-Hariri and forcing him to resign
as Lebanon's prime minister to destabilize the country.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
With U.S. President Donald Trump tightly aligned with
Saudi Arabia against Iran, France is positioning itself as a broker
between the Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim rivals, but neutrality may leave
it with little leverage.
French President Emmanuel Macron is blaming Iran for a
ballistic missile launch by Yemeni rebels targeting Riyadh last
weekend, and said it illustrates the need for negotiations with
Tehran over its missile development.
The Arab League will hold an extraordinary meeting next
Sunday at the request of Saudi Arabia to discuss
"violations" committed by Iran in the region, according to
a memorandum.
The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the formation of
a series of republics in the Caucasus, including Azerbaijan, Armenia
and Georgia. Since these states' independence, Iran, which regards
the Caucasus as a strategic region, has sought friendly relations
with them... In the case of Azerbaijan, bilateral relations have been
maintained despite political tensions primarily revolving around
Baku's ties with Israel. In recent years, however, Tehran and Baku
have begun to develop more extensive relations than those between
Iran and the two other Caucasus nations.
PROXY WARS
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Friday that
Lebanon is at risk of becoming a new focus of violence as tensions
rise between Saudi Arabia and Iran. "The United States cautions
against any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a
venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to
instability in that country," Tillerson said in a Friday
statement.
Tensions are escalating between two of the biggest
powers in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Saudi Arabia
ordered all citizens to leave Lebanon after the country's prime
minister mysteriously announced he's stepping down. He made the
announcement while in Saudi Arabia. Lebanon is currently on the front
lines of a regional conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Secretary
of State Rex Tillerson said the United States has been assured that
Prime Minister Saad Hariri is not being held against his will.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, AND IRAN
More than two years into a war that has already left
10,000 dead, regional power Saudi Arabia is struggling to pull
together an effective local military force to defeat the
Iranian-aligned Houthi movement that has seized large parts of Yemen.
The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia has refused to
quell rumors that his country is working with Israel to tackle the
Iranian-backed group Hezbollah. Abel Al-Jubeir said Thursday that Hezbollah,
a political and militant Shia-Islamist group, has hijacked the system
in Lebanon and is spreading a malign influence throughout the Middle
East.
Earlier this week, buried in all of the other news
that's a constant feature of the modern world, there was an unusual
pronouncement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Gulf-affairs minister
Thamer al-Sabhan said Monday that the Lebanese government would be "dealt
with as a government declaring war" on his country - raising the
specter of a new armed conflict in the already tense region.
Iran has denied allegations it was behind a militant
attack on a pipeline outside Bahrain's capital.
IRANIAN DOMESTIC POLITICS
Footage has emerged of women standing up to police and
strangers in Iran after defying laws by walking the streets without
hijabs. Women filmed themselves without veils to capture some of the
abuse they face for failing to adhere to Iran's strict religious
rules. At one point a female campaigner shouts 'spit out your
insults' after being told to cover her head while a second film shows
a man threatening to slap a young woman for breaking the law.
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