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TOP STORIES
U.S. and European officials said they've made progress
on revisions to the Iran nuclear accord to address ballistic missiles
and sunset provisions, raising optimism among American allies that
President Donald Trump can be persuaded not to scrap the deal... Two
European diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
discussions are ongoing, said they are close to an agreement that
could be taken to Trump and his top advisers. A senior State
Department official said the U.S. and Europeans are close to an
agreement on how to handle Iran's ballistic missile program.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo, U.S. President Donald Trump's
nominee to be secretary of state, said on Thursday he "wants to
fix" the international Iran nuclear deal, with just weeks to go
before a crucial deadline affecting the pact.
Iran's currency, the rial, has plummeted to an historic
low amid growing economic and political uncertainty, causing a rush
to the banks as Iranians desperately try to acquire U.S. dollars with
exchanges forced to shut their doors to prevent long and chaotic
lines. If unchecked, the crisis, combined with further deteriorating
relations with the U.S., could spell severe instability for the
Islamic republic.
NUCLEAR DEAL
Pompeo says that bolstering the Iran nuclear deal will
be a priority if he's confirmed as the nation's top diplomat. There
is one month until a May 12 deadline that Trump set to either address
"flaws" in the 2015 agreement or withdraw from it. Pompeo
said Thursday that fixing the deal is in America's best interest.
Pompeo added that if the deal can't be fixed and Trump decides to
withdraw, he will continue to advocate for a tougher accord.
Iran urged France on Thursday not to be influenced by
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over Tehran's nuclear
deal with world powers, the semi-official Tasnim news agency
reported.
HUMAN RIGHTS
In a report released on April 12, London-based
international human rights watchdog Amnesty International said
"more than half (51%) of all recorded executions in 2017 were
carried out in Iran." Iran ranks second in the world after China
in terms of executions and has "carried out 84% of the global
total number of executions with Saudi Arabia, Iraq and
Pakistan."
Prominent teachers' rights advocate Esmail Abdi has
written a letter from Evin Prison strongly criticizing Iranian
officials' for their failure to uphold the promises of the country's
1979 revolution.
Six months have passed and the Iranian government has
still not resolved the dispute over the suspension of a Yazd City
Council member, Sepanta Niknam, due to his Zoroastrian faith.
In a first for Jafar Panahi, the lauded Iranian
filmmaker has a berth in the main competition at the Cannes Film
Festival with his latest work, Three Faces. What is not clear is if
he will be allowed to travel to the Riviera for the honor. In 2010,
Panahi was arrested by the Iranian authorities and banned from making
films. He has continued to work, but is unable to leave Iran and
still faces a prison sentence which has not been enforced.
SYRIA, RUSSIA, ISRAEL & IRAN
Iran could destroy Israel so Tel Aviv should avoid any
stupid measures against the Islamic Republic, the supreme leader's
representative to the Quds force said on Thursday according to the
semi-official Fars news agency. "If Israel wants to continue its
treacherous existence ... it should avoid stupid measures. If they
give excuses to Iran, Tel Aviv and Haifa will be destroyed,"
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative at the Quds
force cleric Ali Shirazi was quoted by Fars as saying. "Iran can
destroy Israel."
The top adviser to Iran's supreme leader said on
Thursday he hoped Syria's army and its allies would drive U.S. troops
out of eastern Syria, and take Idlib in the northwest from insurgents.
"Idlib is an important Syrian city, and we hope it will be
liberated very soon," Ali Akbar Velayati told a news conference
in Damascus. "East of the Euphrates is also a very important
area. We hope big steps will be taken in order to liberate this area
and expel the occupying Americans."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned
Iran not to test his country's resolve as Tehran builds up its
military presence in neighboring Syria.
The reports of yet another Israeli Air Force strike this
week on a base near Homs show that there is a new reality in Syria,
taking shape as the civil war draws to a close-one that creates a
predetermined chronicle of collision between Israel and Iran, on the
soil of a third party. The routing of ISIS and the reestablishment of
Bashar al-Assad's rule across much of the state of Syria, alongside
the seeming lack of American interest in the country except after
major chemical attacks, is facilitating the expansion of Iran's
influence-indeed its de facto takeover-in much of the country. And
with each passing day the sensation in Israel, of standing alone
against the Iranian gambit to turn Syria into an Iranian forward
base, grows more intense. The only thing that might change it is
change of American policy.
In the past Israel has assured Russia that it does not
seek to harm the Assad regime, as long as its own strategic interests
in Syria are not jeopardised. That line is starting to change. Yoav
Galant, the housing minister and a former general, has made a round
of interviews calling for Mr Assad's removal... It is hard not to
interpret this as a message to Moscow. Israel is determined to
prevent Iran from expanding its foothold in Syria, even if it means
threatening Russia's client in Damascus in the process.
Although Damascus has sought to maintain a grip over its
network of brigades, Tehran is gaining ascendancy and could push more
of them to attack U.S. forces or Israel.
Russian media with reference to Iranian dissident and
defence expert Babak Taghvaee, reported that Russian Ministry of
Defence (MoD) had officially asked Iran to provide access to deploy
its heavy bombers in Hamedan Air Base.
PROPOSED SANCTIONS
In an interview last week with Bloomberg's Eli Lake,
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi urged the Trump
administration to sanction the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
(IRIB), Tehran's state-run media corporation. President Trump should
heed this call by designating the IRIB pursuant to Executive Order
13628. The conglomerate not only serves as a major propaganda organ
for the clerical regime, but also routinely facilitates Tehran's
violations of international law and norms - as well as Iran's own
statutes - by airing the forced confessions of political prisoners.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said on Wednesday
that $60 a barrel is a good price for oil currently as the market
should avoid volatility.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Farmers in Isfahan, Iran, are continuing to protest the
lack of water available to irrigate their fields. Recent amateur
video on social media showed protesters chanting slogans while
security forces tried to disperse them.
An Iranian state TV network's unusual decision to censor
the crest of Italian football club AS Roma has helped the club
attract a big following of Iranian fans to its new Persian Twitter
account. As Roma's head of digital media, Paul Rogers, posted a
tweet Wednesday, saying the club's Persian Twitter account had
"really good local fan feedback" in the first 24 hours
since it launched a day earlier.
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