UANI

 

The Wall Street Journal reported that "Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, already an economic, political and military power, is quietly pushing into a new domain: the media.  By March, the Revolutionary Guards plan to launch Atlas, a news agency modeled on services such as the Associated Press and the British Broadcasting Corp., according to semiofficial Iranian news sites. The move comes as the Guards are increasing control over the conservative Fars News Agency, which has become the mouthpiece of the Iranian regime. Fars denies that it is linked to the Guards.  On Thursday, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the head of the Basij, a Revolutionary Guard volunteer task force, announced what he called a new era of 'super media power' cooperation between the media and the Revolutionary Guards, according to official Iranian news outlets.  Analysts say the Guards aim to control the official account of events coming out of Iran and offer a counternarrative to reports published by independent and reformist media outlets." http://bit.ly/3NuXQ6
 
Reuters reported that "Police clashed with supporters of Iran's opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran on Wednesday when a rally marking the 30th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy turned violent.  Reformist website Mowjcamp said police opened fire on protesters at Haft-e Tir square, but there was no independent confirmation of the report. 'Some people were injured,' Mowjcamp said, reporting other protests in the cities of Shiraz and Rasht.  Iran's Revolutionary Guards and their allied Basij militia had warned the opposition not to try to hijack an annual anti-U.S. rally to revive protests against the clerical establishment after June's disputed presidential election." http://bit.ly/1mbD3Q
 
The AP reported that "President Barack Obama noted Wednesday's 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, while insisting he wants the U.S. and Iran to move beyond 'suspicion, mistrust and confrontation.' Islamic militants stormed the embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, seizing its occupants. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days.  The crisis 'deeply affected the lives of courageous Americans who were unjustly held hostage, and we owe these Americans and their families our gratitude for their extraordinary service and sacrifice,' Obama said in a statement issued late Tuesday." http://bit.ly/1yQ9E6
 
AFP reported that "Israeli naval commandos and warships have intercepted a ship 'apparently' carrying weapons from Iran to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a raid dozens of miles off its coast, officials said on Wednesday.  'During the night a special marine force intercepted a ship that was supposed to be carrying cargo around 100 (nautical) miles from our shore,' a military spokeswoman said.  Photographs of the ship being searched in Israel's Ashdod port identified the vessel as the 'Francop,' sailing under an Antigua flag." http://bit.ly/2NG7MK
 
The LA Times reported that "Stop in any store and the gripes are the same. Oil prices are down and unemployment and anger are high. Profits for small businesses are shrinking and the government, which has endured years of international sanctions, is wrestling with an economic overhaul package that may further inflame the public by cutting subsidies for food, fuel, electricity and even postal services.  A series of bills before the parliament would trim the nation's $30-billion debt, much of it incurred from spending projects that have bought President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad support in the provinces. The overhaul package would also regulate energy consumption and allow the government to manipulate prices as a buffer against the possibility of new Western sanctions targeting Tehran's petroleum industry." http://bit.ly/sMycv
 
The New York Times reported that "Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, lashed out at the United States in a speech on Tuesday, criticizing what he called an arrogant American attitude toward nuclear talks and saying the Obama administration had not followed through on its promises of change.  The speech came a day before an annual anti-American rally that could turn into a confrontation between the police and antigovernment protesters, who have vowed to take to the streets in force...Ayatollah Khamenei also deplored the American attitude toward the draft nuclear deal hammered out last month, in which Iran would send its uranium abroad for processing. Iran has equivocated, and Western leaders appear to be losing patience. On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Iran again to accept it and emphasized that the deal would not be altered." http://bit.ly/1cpT3o
 
The New York Times reported that "Mohsen Mirdamadi had been applauded as a hero by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for helping to lead the takeover of the United States Embassy in Iran 30 years ago Wednesday.  Today, he is in prison, accused as an enemy of the state.  Mr. Mirdamadi's crime was working as a leader of the reform movement, specifically as the general secretary of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the largest reformist party.  But he is hardly alone among former hostage-takers who now find themselves under suspicion and siege by the authorities. As Iran marks the anniversary of an event that helped define its political identity, many former hostage-takers and their allies are committed to the political opposition, and therefore pose a credible threat to the leadership's legitimacy, analysts said." http://bit.ly/3kAwOl
 
The AP reported that "An earthquake struck a key port city in southern Iran early Wednesday, injuring at least 700 people and cutting power and telephone lines, the state news agency reported.  IRNA said 100 of the injured had been hospitalized while the rest were minor cases.  The 4.9-magnitude quake struck Bandar Abbas at 2:56 a.m. local time, sending residents streaming into the streets. Bandar Abbas is home to a large oil refinery that primarily serves the domestic market." http://bit.ly/35Ip1M
 
Avi Jorisch wrote in today's Wall Street Journal that "With a financial mechanism reminiscent of the Oil For Food scam, it seems Iran is using a United Nations office headquartered in Tehran to skirt U.S. sanctions. Once again, a rogue regime appears to be abusing a U.N. body in obtaining access to hard currency. The White House and the Financial Action Task Force - set up by the G-7 to combat money laundering and terrorist financing - have so far failed to identify this threat.  The Asian Clearing Union was established in Iran in 1974 as a U.N. initiative to expand trade and forge closer banking relations among ACU members. The organization's primary goal is to 'facilitate payments among member countries,' which include the central banks of Iran, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Burma." http://bit.ly/2wS3hm
 
Akbar Atri and Mariam Memarsadeghi wrote in today's Wall Street Journal that "Yet courageous and dignified overtures to the U.S. by Green Movement activists have been snubbed by the Obama administration. The administration has avoided discussion about the prospects for liberalization in a country that exports radical Islamist ideology throughout the Middle East and beyond. In regressive realpolitik fashion, it has grown increasingly reticent about the Iranian people's struggle for human rights, apparently viewing it as irrelevant to U.S security interests. Rather than bolstering the opposition at a time when the Iranian regime is at its weakest, America is pursuing a policy of appeasement.  In response to President Obama's eagerness to strike a deal with the Iranian regime, Green Movement activists are offering a compelling alternative. Their slogan? 'America! Obama! From us an apology, from you support!'" http://bit.ly/1uH6qm
 
Amy Kellogg wrote for FOX News.com that "I had been trying to get into Iran for months. Finally, I got the visa. Ordinarily, we travel in teams to cover stories. Reporter, producer and cameraman. For this maiden voyage to Iran, I was told by my man in Tehran, I would have to go alone. They wanted to establish a level of comfort with my work, so the story went. Or wanted to exercise more robust control over me, maybe. In any event, I signed up for the mission, and arranged to pick up a local crew upon my arrival in Tehran...I arrived at six in the morning, having taken an overnight flight from London. Bleary eyed, I donned the obligatory coat women must always have in Iran. The minimum body cover. Other option is the all-enveloping chador which is what the more conservative women wear. Oh, yes, and the headscarf." http://bit.ly/isMIq