TOP STORIES
A joint military exercise in the Gulf of Oman between troops from China, Russia and Iran enhanced the ability of their navies to conduct diversified maritime missions, officials said on Thursday. Tan Kefei, a spokesman for China's Defence Ministry, said the drills further deepened friendship and practical co-operation between the three countries. The three nations sent forces including 12 ships, special operations and diving units to participate in the drills from March 15 to 19, Mr Tan said.
Iran Says IRGC Officer Killed In Israeli Strike In Syria | Al Arabiya
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Friday one of its officers stationed in Syria was killed in an Israeli strike near Damascus earlier in the day. “At dawn today, Friday, Milad Heydari, one of the IRGC’s military advisors in Syria, was martyred in a criminal attack by the Zionist regime near Damascus,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by state media. The IRGC has vowed to retaliate for Heydari’s death, saying: “Undoubtedly, the fake and criminal Zionist regime will receive a response for this crime.”
Wells Fargo To Pay $97 Mln For Sanctions Compliance Failures | Reuters
Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) will pay fines of about $97.8 million for inadequate oversight of its compliance risks, enabling the apparent violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan, federal authorities said on Thursday. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the bank's deficient oversight enabled it to violate U.S. sanctions by providing a trade finance platform to a foreign bank that used it to process $532 million in prohibited transactions.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Group: Oil Tanker Tied To US-Traded Firm Receiving Iran Oil | Hellenic Shipping News
…Satellite photos and maritime tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press put the Belgian-flagged crude oil tanker Oceania just next to the Vietnamese-flagged tanker Abyss for a possible ship-to-ship transfer. The group United Against Nuclear Iran has warned the Oceania’s owner, the Antwerp-based Euronav, that it believes the Abyss took on Iranian crude oil in late February.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
World Court Rules US Illegally Froze Some Iranian Assets | Reuters
In a partial victory for Iran, judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday ruled Washington had illegally allowed courts to freeze assets of some Iranian companies and ordered the United States to pay compensation but left the amount to be determined later. However, in a blow for Tehran, the ICJ said it did not have jurisdiction over $1.75 billion in frozen assets from Iran's central bank. Acting Legal Adviser Rich Visek of the U.S. State Department said in a written statement that the ruling rejected the "vast majority of Iran's case," notably where it concerned the assets of the central bank.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Vigil Held At Iran Embassy In Dublin Over Bernard Phelan's Detention | The National
Supporters of a man jailed in Iran have demanded his release at a rally outside the country’s embassy in Ireland. Family and friends of Bernard Phelan, a French-Irish citizen who was first detained last year, held the vigil on Thursday, mark his 178 days in prison. His 97-year-old father Vincent sat down outside the embassy, a walking stick at his side, as sister Caroline Masse Phelan demanded action. Banners urged Iran to release Mr Phelan.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iran-Russia Military Relations Take Spotlight Following FMs Moscow Meeting | Al Monitor
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was in Moscow on Wednesday for a visit he said covered military cooperation among a host of other bilateral and regional issues. "Obviously, defense cooperation is one of the subjects topping the joint agenda of Iran and Russia," he declared when leaving for Moscow, where he stood next to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at a joint presser. In an interview with Russian state TV, Amir-Abdollahian was asked about a report by The Wall Street Journal this week that cited American officials as saying that Moscow is giving Tehran "cyberwarfare" and "surveillance software" in exchange for Iranian drones.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Azerbaijan Denounces 'Slanderous' Comments By Top Iranian Commander | Voice Of America
Azerbaijan on Thursday denounced what it called "slanderous" comments by a senior Iranian military commander, the latest sign of fractious relations between the oil-rich Caspian Sea neighbors. Baku made the remarks a day after Azeri security services said they were investigating an attack in which a lawmaker with strong anti-Iranian views was shot and wounded at his home. The Azeri defense ministry said Kiumars Heydari, the head of Iran's regular army ground forces, had said that members of the Islamic State militant group had fought for Azerbaijan and were still based in the country.
Video Sheds Light On Iran’s Plot To Set Up Spy Cell In Tanzania | Iran International
Iran International has obtained a video clip in which an agent of the Islamic Republic confessed to the regime’s plans to set up a network of spies in Tanzania. In the video, which seems like an interrogation, or a confession session, an officer of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry’s 853 unit named Hamidreza Abraheh reveals the Islamic Republic’s efforts to recruit agents for a clandestine network from Africa's Baluch minority for terrorist operations. Abraheh, who worked under the alias Hamid Salari, said that the Islamic Republic is trying to infiltrate the African country under the cover of economic cooperation.
