Iran (September 29, 2020)
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1)
US sanctions are harming Iran’s Covid-19 response & amount to ‘medical terrorism’, FM Zarif tells RT (VIDEO)
By RT
September 27, 2020
https://www.rt.com/news/501828-zarif-iran-medical-terrorism-rt/
„Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has accused the United States of impeding his country’s ability to fight coronavirus, explaining that US sanctions have prevented the purchase of critical medical supplies. Washington’s efforts to stop Tehran from exporting oil have limited the government’s ability to respond to the global health crisis and provide relief to the Iranian people, Zarif said in an interview with ‘Worlds Apart’ host Oksana Boyko. The top Iranian diplomat noted that Iran also has “quite a bit of money stashed in countries abroad,” but that the US has prevented Tehran from gaining access to these funds, even to buy medicine. […]“
2)
US Grants Iraq New 60-day Waiver To Import Iranian Gas
By Bourse & Bazaa
September 27, 2020
„The US has granted Iraq a 60-day extension to a sanctions waiver allowing it to import Iranian gas for its crippled power grids, an Iraqi official told AFP on Wednesday. Baghdad relies on gas and electricity imports from its neighbour Tehran to supply about a third of its electricity sector, worn down by years of conflict and poor maintenance. The US blacklisted Iran’s energy industry in late 2018 but has since granted its ally Baghdad a series of temporary waivers to stave off country-wide blackouts. […]“
3)
Another Iranian Tanker Delivers Fuel to Venezuela in Defiance of US Bans
By IFP Media Wire
September 29, 2020
https://ifpnews.com/another-iranian-tanker-delivers-fuel-to-venezuela-in-defiance-of-us-bans
„The first tanker of a three-vessel Iranian flotilla carrying much-needed fuel for Venezuela has entered waters of the South American country in clear defiance of sanctions imposed on both countries by the US. According to Refinitiv Eikon vessel tracking data, the Iran-flagged tanker Forest, which is transporting some 270,000 barrels of fuel loaded in the Middle East, entered Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone around 8:05 a.m. local time (1205 GMT) on Monday with no disturbances.[…]“
4)
The United States vs. Iran in Advance of the US Presidential Elections
By Eldad Shavit, Sima Shine
The Institute for National Security Studies (Tel Aviv)
September 24, 2020
https://www.inss.org.il/publication/iran-and-us-elections-2/
„[…] After the United States elections, US and Israeli policy must consider the following assumptions:
- Despite the maximum pressure policy, Iran is making progress in its nuclear program, with steps that shorten the time required for a breakout to nuclear weapons.
- The severe economic crisis is not enough in itself to bring Iran to the negotiating table without compensation for doing so. Those who hoped that the economic crisis would spark processes culminating in regime change have been disillusioned. Preparations should therefore be made for the possibility that Iran, with help from China and Russia, will persist in its current policy.
- Both the determination and the ability of the United States to enforce economic sanctions effectively, even without international support, were demonstrated under the Trump administration. This is an important bargaining chip that any elected administration can take advantage of, as long as Iran is unwilling to engage in negotiations leading to a better long-term agreement.
- On the other hand, in order to make progress toward negotiations, it is desirable to find ways of facilitating talks without losing the sanctions lever. It is possible that by proffering such help, a way to enable the Iranian leadership that prefers a diplomatic solution to save face can be found. It is also possible that this will make it easier for the United States to obtain the cooperation of its European partners.
- In any case, the next administration, whether Republican or Democratic, will have to underscore to Iran that the United States is willing to use its military capabilities if and when Iran makes significant progress toward nuclear capability. […]“
5)
Russia tells Trump to Jump in Lake, commits 80,000 Personnel to War drill alongside Iran, China
By Juan Cole
September 25, 2020
Russia tells Trump to Jump in Lake, commits 80,000 Personnel to War drill alongside Iran, China
„This week, Russia is deploying 80,000 personnel, including 12,000 troops, alongside 1,000 troops from friendly countries in its region, in its Caucasus 2020 (Kavkaz 2020) military drills. Its partners include Iran, China, Belarus, Armenia, Pakistan, and Myanmar. The choice of Iran was deliberate. The Trump administration has threatened the most severe sanctions imaginable against any country that cooperates militarily with Iran or sells it arms. While no one is saying so openly, Trump is crazy enough to deploy the US Navy against Russian vessels in the Gulf suspected of supplying arms to Iran. The Russo-Iranian military drills were in part about how to respond to such a US attack. […]“
6)
Middle East Chessboard: How Iran, Turkey and Qatar Can Counterbalance Emerging Israeli-Gulf ‚Bloc‘
By Ekaterina Blinova
September 29,2020
„Iran, Turkey and Qatar could form a united front to counter-balance possible geostrategic changes on the Middle Eastern grand chessboard emanating from the 15 September Abraham Accords inked by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain with Israel, says Mahan Abedin, a veteran journalist and analyst of Iranian and Middle Eastern politics. […]“
7)
US: Snapback Sanctions Go Into Force
By Andrew Hanna
The United States Institute of Peace
September 21, 2020
https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2020/sep/21/us-snapback-sanctions-go-force-0
„On September 19, the Trump administration formally reimposed U.N. sanctions on Iran that had been lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal. […] The Trump administration also threatened third-party sanctions, which would punish any U.N. member state that sold or provided Iran with conventional arms and materials for its missile and nuclear industries. […] In additional new sanctions against Iran, the Trump administration targeted 24 government organizations, companies, officials and suppliers connected to conventional arms, nuclear and missile program. On September 21, Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.N. Ambassador Kelly Knight Craft and National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien spoke at a joint press conference.[…]“
8)
Free The Namazis
Open Letter on the Continued Detention of Iranian Dual-Nationals
September 15, 2020
http://www.freenamazis.org/calls-for-justice
„As the 75th Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly opens in tomorrow, we, the undersigned, are writing to raise serious concerns about the continuing, prolonged detention of Iranian-American citizen Siamak Namazi and other dual nationals in Iran who have been unjustly convicted on vaguely and arbitrarily defined national security charges, without due process and in unfair trials. […]“
9)
Pressure Mounts Against Arbitrary Detentions in Iran
By the National Iranian American Council (NIAC)
September 24, 2020
„Calls for the release of prisoners wrongly held by Iranian authorities have continued to grow louder as unjust detentions of dual nationals, human rights activists, and political prisoners continue unabated. Distinguished lawyer and human rights defender, Nasrin Sotoudeh, is central to this renewed attention to the plight of prisoners in Iran, as she continues her hunger strike that has now spanned 45 days. […]“
10a)
Contesting the Iranian Revolution: The Green Uprisings
By Pouya Alimagham
September 21, 2020
„[…] Under no circumstances should this book be used to legitimize confrontation of any kind with Iran. I emphatically believe that the future of Iran should be determined solely by Iranians in Iran – those who know best the reality that they face. More importantly, the fact that Iran’s future affects them first and foremost also gives weight to the primacy of their views and wants. They retain their agency, and have erupted in revolt time and again. The Green Movement is part of a long, robust, and organic history of Iranians seeking more humane and representative governance. To be clear, Iran’s future is not the business of any other person, group, or government. Foreign heads of state, especially those who speak of freedom for Iranians while either denying it to others or enabling and protecting authoritarian regimes, do more harm than good in their “support” of the Iranian people. Their interference empowers the Iranian government to cast cracking down on dissent as part of an effort to stave off imperialism. Added to this are Iranians in the expatriate community, from which I come, some of whom fail to listen to their counterparts inside the country, instead telling them what they should want, need, or do. […]“
10b)
Pouya Alimagham, Contesting the Iranian Revolution: The Green Uprisings
Cambridge University Press, 2020
„Most observers of Iran viewed the Green Uprisings of 2009 as a ‚failed revolution‘, with many Iranians and those in neighbouring Arab countries agreeing. In Contesting the Iranian Revolution, however, Pouya Alimagham re-examines this evaluation, deconstructing the conventional win-lose binary interpretations in a way which underscores the subtle but important victories on the ground, and reveals how Iran’s modern history imbues those triumphs with consequential meaning. Focusing on the men and women who made this dynamic history, and who exist at the centre of these contentious politics, this ‚history from below‘ brings to the fore the post-Islamist discursive assault on the government’s symbols of legitimation. From powerful symbols rooted in Shiʿite Islam, Palestinian liberation, and the Iranian Revolution, Alimagham harnesses the wider history of Iran and the Middle East to highlight how activists contested the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy to its very core.“
PDF-Version: Iran (September 29, 2020)
Amir Mortasawi (alias Afsane Bahar) (امیر مرتضوی (افسانه بهار 