TOP STORIES
With Iranian Support, Drones Are Becoming A Larger Threat To Israel -Analysis | The Jerusalem Post
An incident on Tuesday in which an unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down in the North after it approached the border represents a growing drone threat to Israel. The IDF shot down the Iranian UAV with an Apache helicopter near Beit She’an. An Iranian drone carrying explosives and flown from Syria’s T-4 base in February 2018 also penetrated the same area. Israel has had to contend with growing drone threats during this war in Gaza as well. By Monday, at least six drones had been shot down.
Russia Envoy Dials Back Talk Of Major Breakthrough On Iran Deal | Bloomberg
A senior Russian diplomat denied reports that he expects an imminent breakthrough in critical negotiations over restoring the Iranian nuclear deal, after tweets suggesting such an advance triggered a slump in oil prices. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s representative at the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency, said that while significant progress had been made by officials seeking to orchestrate a U.S. return to the pact abandoned by then-President Donald Trump, “unresolved issues still remain.”
As Iran's Election Campaign Picks Up, Boycott Gains Momentum As Well | Al Monitor
Over 230 dissidents and civil society activists in Iran have called on fellow citizens to boycott the country's presidential election slated for June 18. In an open letter addressing the Iranian nation, the signees described the election as little beyond a "formality." The activists demanded that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei step down as the first stage in a peaceful transition from a system led by a cleric to a secular state compliant with the United Nations Charter. "Let's boycott the show election so that the unpopular establishment will not endure," the letter reads.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Iran’s Oil Exports Rise As U.S. Looks To Rejoin Nuclear Accord | The New York Times
… A separate analysis, compiled by the private advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, a critic of the 2015 nuclear accord, also indicated that the vast majority of Iran’s crude and condensate oil exports has headed to China since last October. The group estimated that Iran exported 993,000 barrels per day in March to China, but that dipped to 448,000 barrels per day in April. Importers in Syria appeared to buy the second-highest number of barrels, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, the group’s analysis found.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Tehran announced on Saturday that Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Zarif would not be traveling, as planned, to Austria, where the US and Iran have been holding indirect talks, along with the other signatories to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. In 2018, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement, and it is a high priority of the Biden administration to restore it. In addition to seeing his Austrian counterpart, Zarif was to meet with representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, and the UK—the five other signatories to the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), who are acting as intermediaries between the US and Iranian delegations in Vienna.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Bahrain To Prosecute Iranian Financial Institutions On Money Laundering | The Jerusalem Post
In the largest such case in Bahrain’s history, the Gulf state’s public prosecutor on Wednesday announced that the Central Bank of Iran and 12 other Iranian banks, most notably Bank Melli Iran (National Bank of Iran) and Bank Saderat Iran (Export Bank of Iran) will be tried on charges of money laundering in a scheme valued at $1.3 billion. Ali Al Buainain, the Bahraini attorney general, said that “Bank Melli Iran and Bank Saderat Iran used Future Bank to transfer $1.3 billion, using an alternative system that was not licensed by Bahraini authorities and was not subject to them, and these funds were kept, settled and laundered in order to evade international sanctions against Iranian entities and personalities.”
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Pompeo Warns US Money To Iran Could Be Funneled To Terrorists Attacking Israel | Fox News
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is warning that U.S. money that would go to Iran if the Biden administration rejoins the Iran nuclear deal could end up funding terror groups like Hamas -- which is currently launching rockets into Israel. Pompeo appeared on "America’s Newsroom" to discuss the escalating situation in Israel. Hamas has launched rockets into Israel, causing the U.S. ally to respond with airstrikes targeting Hamas locations in Gaza.
Biden Administration Engagement With Iran Yields Violence In Israel | Ellie Cohanim For The Hill
The timing of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s rocket attacks on Israel and on Israeli population centers is no accident. Just over 100 days into office, President Joe Biden has drawn America’s enemies — Iran and its terror proxies — close to the U.S. administration, all while distancing from U.S. allies Israel, Saudi Arabia and the peacemaking Gulf Arab states. The more than 3,313 rockets fired by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from Gaza toward Israel exemplify Biden’s failed foreign policy.
Washington Is Misreading Iranian Politics | Ilan Berman For Newsweek
The Biden administration's outreach to Iran is in full swing. A third of a year into its tenure, the new White House appears to be pulling out all the stops in its efforts to reengage with Tehran, and to demolish the "maximum pressure" policy of its predecessor in the process. That policy reversal has already entailed major political and economic sweeteners on the part of the United States, ranging from stalled enforcement of existing sanctions to the potential unfreezing of up to $1 billion as a goodwill humanitarian gesture toward Tehran.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
AP Interview: Iran Presidential Candidates Await Vetting | Associated Press
Approving a variety of candidates for Iran’s presidential election could help boost turnout for a vote that authorities already worry may see little enthusiasm, a spokesman for the panel that examines them said Tuesday. Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei’s comments came after more than 590 people registered to run during a five-day span last week — far less than the 1,630 people who registered in 2017. Kadkhodaei, spokesman for the Guardian Council, talked to The Associated Press as the state-owned polling center ISPA has warned of the possibility of a turnout as low as 39% — the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Democratic Senator Urges Iranian Envoy To Pressure Hamas To Agree To Ceasefire | The Times Of Israel
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy met today with Iran’s UN Ambassador Majid Takht-Ravanchi in a rare sit-down between US and Iranian officials. “I made the case directly to Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi today for the Iranians to engage with seriousness and urgency in nuclear negotiations, pressure the Houthis to end the war in Yemen, urge Hamas to accept a ceasefire and end rocket attacks into Israel, and release Morad Tahbaz from prison,” says Murphy in a statement.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Saudi Foreign Minister 'Hopeful' Over Exploratory Iran Talks | AFP
Saudi Arabia is "hopeful" after exploratory talks with its nemesis Iran, its foreign minister told AFP, in a rare comment on delicate discussions whose details have been closely guarded. The official-level meetings aim to restore relations severed five years ago between the Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran. "We have initiated some exploratory talks. They are at a very early stage but we are hopeful," Prince Faisal bin Farhan said in Paris on Tuesday, where he is participating in two international summits.
IRAQ & IRAN
Iraq And Iran Close In On Deal To Build Cross-Border Railway | The National
Iraq is close to reaching a deal with Iran to build a railway system connecting the southern port city of Basra with the town of Shalamjah, just over the border, the government said this week. The railway will link Iran with Syria and the Mediterranean, a long-held ambition of Tehran's, according to Iranian officials. “Negotiations with Iran to build a railway system between Basra and Shalamjah has reached its final stages. In addition, we have signed 15 agreements and memorandums of understanding with Jordan and Egypt regarding energy and transportation lines,” said a statement from the office of Iraq’s Prime Minister, Mustafa Al Kadhimi.
