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TOP STORIES
A senior Iranian foreign policy official warned Israel
on Tuesday that its strike on an air base in Syria that killed
several Iranians would "not remain without a response," the
Lebanese news channel Al Mayadeen reported.
Iran moved on Tuesday to enforce a single exchange rate
to the dollar, banning all unregulated trading after the rial hit an
all-time low.
A Qatari business delegation visited Tehran to seek ways
of bolstering economic and commercial ties between the two
countries,Qatari and Iranian media reported... Relations between Doha
and Tehran have notably improved since Saudi Arabia, followed by
several other Arab nations, severed diplomatic and commercial ties
with Qatar last June to protest Doha's alleged support for terrorism
and close relations with Iran. Tehran was quick to exploit the crisis
by offering assistance to Doha... This year, Iranian non-oil exports
to Qatar have gone up by more than 100 percent, and air traffic
between the two countries have gone up sharply as well. The growing
relations between Doha and Tehran have raised concerns in the United
States, which has military bases in Qatar. Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base
hosts thousands of American personnel and is one of Washington's
largest military bases in the Middle East. The base has been crucial
for US counterterrorism operations in the region.
NUCLEAR DEAL
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Tuesday it was
unclear whether talks between Europeans and the United States would
be enough to fix the Iran nuclear deal's shortcomings, and that
Tehran's "vision of darkness" had to be stopped.
President Donald Trump recently made clear his eagerness
to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, effectively ceding the country to
Iran, more chemical attacks and further conflict. However mistaken
that would be, he is inclined to confront Iran through a different
withdrawal - from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, unless it is
"fixed" by May 12. Since the fundamentally flawed agreement
cannot be truly rectified, and U.S. credibility is at stake, that
would be the right policy.
SYRIA, ISRAEL & IRAN
Israel's military has been put on high alert amid
heightened tensions along the northern border and with Iran
threatening to avenge an airstrike on a Syrian air base believed to
have killed at least 14 people, including 7 Iranian military
personnel.
The Syrian air base near Homs that sustained an
airstrike Monday night is where Iran is trying to set up a large air
force compound under its exclusive control.
Iran said Tuesday the number of its soldiers killed in
an air strike in Syria this week had risen to seven and that it would
not go unanswered.
IRGC-affiliated outlets, including Fars News Agency's
Farsi service, initially published photos and short biographies of
Iranians killed in the raids but later deleted the reports... There
may be several reasons for IRGC outlets deleting reports about its
casualties in Syria. The IRGC may not want to disclose information
about its operations, particularly its drone activities in Syria.
Admitting casualties in Syria, particularly in alleged Israeli
attacks, is also a bitter pill to swallow for Iran's elite force.
Losing men in Israeli raids without the ability to directly retaliate
against Israel diminishes the prestige of the Guards both at home and
among its regional proxies. Iranian leaders frequently threaten to demolish
Israeli cities if there is a war between the two countries, but the
fact that Israel hit Iranian targets inside Syria at will
demonstrates to the Iranian people that their leaders' rhetoric is
all bluster.
U.S. allies France and Saudi Arabia may be joining
President Donald Trump in an upcoming attack on Syria, defying
Russia, China and Iran, which support Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad and question his role in a recent chemical weapons attack.
Israel does not acknowledge or confirm the attack in
Syria at the T4 base near the city of Homs. At the same time, it
seems that the US and Russia have completely shattered Israel's
ability to deny the action. While the public debate and the struggle
for national interests and prestige are increasingly heated between
Trump and Putin, they may also have implications for Israel's
security.
Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States, Prince
Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, said on Tuesday that the kingdom
strongly condemns the chemical attack on Douma this week...
"This barbaric attack is a continuation of crimes committed by
the Assad regime and his main backers; the Iranian regime and its
proxies (Hezbollah, other Iranian backed sectarian militias). We must
stand against their aggression in the region; Syria, Yemen and other
countries," he added.
The latest reported chemical attack on Saturday evening,
in the rebel-held town of Douma, came just days after President
Donald Trump said the U.S. mission in Syria would end "very
soon." This was no coincidence. A lack of coherent strategy
toward Syria is strengthening our adversaries and weakening our
allies, risking an outright strategic collapse in a region long deemed
vital to U.S. interests. The power vacuum would immeasurably
strengthen Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his evil regime
propped up by his patrons Iran and Russia. Likewise, it would give
oxygen to the Islamic State terrorist group, which is looking for an
opportunity to re-emerge.
SANCTIONS EVASION
Russia is considering replacing the U.S. dollar in crude
oil payments on deals with Turkey and Iran, Energy Minister Alexander
Novak said as quoted by RT. According to Novak, "There is a
common understanding that we need to move towards the use of national
currencies in our settlements. There is a need for this, as well as
the wish of the parties. This concerns both Turkey and Iran - we are
considering an option of payment in national currencies with them.
This requires certain adjustments in the financial, economic and
banking sectors."
Russian aluminum giant Rusal has activated a contingency
plan asking customers to pay in euros instead of dollars to try to
skirt round U.S. sanctions, a source close to the matter said. The
plan follows the example of Iran, which a few years ago opted to use
gold, oil and the Japanese yen to pay for goods that would typically
be priced in dollars.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Iranians flocked to foreign-exchange houses after
authorities vowed to halt a currency slump by eliminating
black-market rates, only to be turned away by currency traders
awaiting instructions from the central bank.
A prominent Iranian member of parliament's recent
statement about a significant outflow of capital from the country has
raised eyebrows. Commenting on the foreign exchange fluctuations in
March, parliamentary economic commission head Mohammadreza
Pourebrahimi said some $30 billion of capital had fled Iran in the
final months of the last Iranian year, which ended March 20. To
assess such a phenomenon, it is necessary to grasp the parameters
that lead to capital flight and their impact on the Iranian economy.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
The Trump administration is scrambling to mend a
diplomatic rift between Qatar and its Persian Gulf neighbors and has
grown increasingly worried that the emirate is drifting into Iran's
political and economic orbit, according to U.S. officials. Such a
shift, U.S. officials fear, would represent a major political
realignment and a potential national security threat as Tehran
challenges America and its Middle Eastern allies in the region,
heightening the stakes of the Gulf dispute.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Iranian authorities should immediately release Golrokh
Iraee, a human rights defender hospitalized in Tehran, Human Rights
Watch said today. Iraee was sentenced to six years in prison in April
2015 on charges solely related to her peaceful activism, after an
unfair trial. Iraee was transferred to a hospital from prison on
April 3, apparently suffering medical complications from a hunger
strike.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
As the Iranian rial hit a record low, trading above
60,000 against the US dollar on April 9, criticism against President
Hassan Rouhani and Central Bank Gov. Valiollah Seif has intensified.
RUSSIA & IRAN
Russia's special envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev
visited Iran on Tuesday for an unannounced meeting, Iranian state
media reported, with both sides criticising Western reactions to an
alleged chemical attack.
CHINA & IRAN
A remote Iranian port could be the next trigger for
geopolitical tensions between rivals China and India. India has
pledged more than $500 million to develop the strategically located
port of Chabahar -- roughly 1,800 kilometers (1,110 miles) from the
capital Tehran -- since it first expressed interest in 2003. Yet
repeated delays have prompted Iran to turn to China in the hope of
speeding up construction.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Last week Putin, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and
Turkey's strongman Tayyip Erdogan completed a successful summit in
Ankara by announcing their new partnership to establish a ceasefire
in Syria and to start rebuilding the war-ravaged land that is ravaged
in large part by their own forces.
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