US Government Warns Of Iranian Threats To Commercial Shipping, Including GPS Interference
Iran Business Risk
The US Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration has issued a new warning to commercial shipping about Iranian threats in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf, saying that some ships have reported having their GPS interfered with. Additionally, the administration warned that there have been reports of "unknown entities falsely claiming to be US or coalition warships." The warning, which was issued Wednesday, listed a series of incidents involving Iran since May including Iran's seizure of the United Kingdom-flagged M/V STENA IMPERO and the detention and subsequent release of the Liberian-flagged M/V MESDAR.
High-Level Cyber Intrusions Hit Bahrain Amid Tensions With Iran | The Wall Street Journal
Suspected Iranian hackers infiltrated critical infrastructure and government computers in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain within the last month, raising fears among leaders in the region that Tehran is stepping up its cyberattacks amid growing tensions. The intrusions, according to people familiar with them, rose above the normal level of Iranian cyber activity in the region.
Has Ebrahim Raisi Been Tagged As Iran's Next Supreme Leader? | The Jerusalem Post
Recent months have seen growing signs that the head of Iran's judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, has emerged as the leading candidate to succeed Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, Iran expert Raz Zimmt wrote in an INSS posting on Wednesday. Raisi is viewed as hard-line and there would be major implications for the United States and Israel if he succeeds Khamenei as opposed to some more reform-minded candidates.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Rouhani Takes Fire From Hard-Liners For Defending Nuclear Deal | Al Monitor
Iran's hard-liners have spared no opportunity to attack President Hassan Rouhani and his team of nuclear negotiators ever since Tehran clinched the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA) with major world powers back in 2015. To those relentless critics, the US administration's pullout from the pact last year brought a moment of triumph. They accused Rouhani of refusing to listen to their advice and avert the humiliating loss.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Iran Sanctions: What Impact Are They Having On Medicines? | BBC News
Iran says sanctions are preventing lifesaving drugs from reaching the country, despite special exemptions for medical supplies. This is disputed by Washington. "The United States exempts medicine and medical devices for the Iranian people from US sanctions," says Brian Hook, the American special representative for Iran. So how are sanctions affecting access to medicines in Iran?
U.S. Reclassifies Iran Metals Sanctions Under Human Rights | Radio Farda
The United States has amended its Iran sanctions regulation, linking iron, steel, copper and aluminum sanctions to Tehran's abuse of human rights. President Donald Trump on May 8, 2019 issued new sanctions on Iran's iron, steel, aluminum and copper sectors. In his Executive Order 13871 the president said: " It remains the policy of the United States to deny Iran all paths to both a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles, and to counter the totality of Iran's malign influence in the Middle East."
US Should Sanction Iran's Incendiary Kingmaker | Tzvi Khan For The Hill
He has called for death to America and Israel. He has described non-Muslims as "animals who roam the earth and engage in corruption." He has dubbed U.S. troops in Iraq "bloodthirsty wolves" and expressed support for Shiite militias seeking their demise. He has hosted Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan as an honored guest. He has demanded the execution of Iranian protestors, urging the judiciary in 2009 to show them no "compassion and leniency."
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran's Ex-President Condemns Inaction By Rouhani, Parliament In Defending Rights | Radio Farda
Lambasting the Islamic Republic's judiciary for accusing journalists and political activists of "intelligence-related crimes," former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has also criticized the government and Majles (parliament) for standing idly by. The mid-ranking cleric, and twice president (1997-2005), Khatami says that he is "surprised" that the government and Majles have kept mum against such injustice.
Iran Prosecutor Defies FIFA On Stadium Entrance Ban For Women | Radio Free Europe
Iran's ban on women entering stadiums is not the business of world soccer governing body FIFA, the country's prosecutor-general said on August 7. "That is certainly not the concern of FIFA -- whether women are among the football fans in the stadiums or not," Mohammad Montazeri said, according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency. He asked since when does FIFA care about women in Iran who "will be robbed of the blessing of a football match?"
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Pompeo Talks Maritime Security, Iran With Saudi Crown Prince | AFP
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed maritime security, Iran and Yemen with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call on Wednesday. "The secretary discussed heightened tensions in the region and the need for stronger maritime security in order to promote freedom of navigation," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. Iran has seized three tanker ships in strategic Gulf waters in a month, and the United States has accused it of carrying out multiple attacks on ships in the region.
We Asked 2 Experts If A U.S.-Iran War Can Be Avoided | The National Interest
America's policy of maximum pressure on Iran continues, with the U.S. Department of the Treasury announcing new sanctions on eight Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commanders. That directive was tweeted during a luncheon event on Iran at the Center for the National Interest, which was moderated by Geoffrey Kemp, the Senior Director of Regional Security Programs at CFTNI who also served in the White House during the first Reagan administration as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs...
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Two Revolutionary Guard Officers Killed In A Clash In Northwestern Iran | Radio Farda
Reports from Iran indicate that two members of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, IRGC have been killed in a clash with armed elements in northwestern Iran. The incident happened in the region of Maku in West Azerbaijan province bordering Turkey and also close to Iraqi Kurdistan. Maku's governor Hassan Abbasi told Iranian media that two junior officers of IRGC were killed in the clash and another soldier wounded.
IRANIAN REGIONAL AGGRESSION
Ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf have reported unusual GPS interference, among other problems, and the US believes Iran is to blame. The Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration issued a warning on Wednesday highlighting threats to commercial vessels posed by Iran. The warning revealed that ships have had a variety of issues when operating in the region, including "spoofed bridge-to-bridge communications from unknown entities falsely claiming to be US or coalition warships."
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
If Iran's Aug. 4 claim to have seized a tanker carrying "smuggled oil" is true, this brings to three the number of merchant vessels that Iran has taken in recent weeks. It is the most recent escalation in a developing crisis between an increasingly assertive United States and an increasingly bellicose Islamic Republic. The crisis goes back to the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the so-called Iran nuclear deal, in May 2018.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
In Gulf Tanker Crisis, Iran Tries to Avoid Alienating Allies | The Wall Street Journal
Iran's disruptions of Persian Gulf oil shipments are putting the country's leaders in a difficult position as they retaliate against foes while trying not to irritate their few remaining allies. Tehran captured two U.K.-connected vessels in the Persian Gulf on July 19, two weeks after Britain seized an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar it accused of exporting oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions. Iran, which had threatened to respond to its vessel's seizure, also detained an Emirati-based ship it accused of smuggling.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Macron Did Not Invite Iran's Rouhani To G7 Summit - Diplomat | Reuters
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has not been invited to this month's G7 summit, a French diplomat said on Wednesday, denying a media report published as European leaders seek a way to defuse a brewing confrontation between Tehran and Washington. The official was responding to a report by Al-Monitor that French President Emmanuel Macron had invited Rouhani to the summit in Biarritz to meet U.S. President Donald Trump. Rouhani rejected the proposal, according to the report.
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