TOP STORIES
Iran’s Deadly Street Protests Are Replaced By Quiet Acts Of Rebellion | Wall Street Journal
Four months after a nationwide uprising erupted in Iran, a lethal crackdown and an ailing economy have quieted antigovernment street demonstrations. Students still occasionally gather at universities and high schools, and others shout slogans from city rooftops and balconies. But organized protests have largely tapered off. Those still willing to demonstrate gather in small groups, scattered around Tehran and other cities with little coordination.
U.S. Curbs Exports To Iranian Firms For Producing Drones For Russia | Reuters
The United States on Tuesday put new trade restrictions on seven Iranian entities for producing drones that Russia has used to attack Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Commerce said. The firms and other organizations were added to a U.S. export control list for those engaged in activities contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. The additions to the Commerce Department's "entities list" were posted in a preliminary filing in the U.S. Federal Register, the government's daily journal, and will be officially published on Wednesday.
Iran Blames Foreign Spies, Iraq-Based Kurds For Drone Strike | Bloomberg
Iran said a foreign security service and Kurdish groups were behind a drone attack on an Iranian ammunition depot last weekend which has escalated tensions in the energy-rich Persian Gulf. Iran didn’t identify which country the security service belonged to, but has blamed regional enemy Israel for similar attacks in the past. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Israel was responsible for the strike near the central city of Isfahan, citing unidentified US officials and people familiar with the operation.
UANI IN THE NEWS
… The Consul General of Panama in New York told Fox News Digital that the Fox News query was sent to the Panamanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a response. The Consul General of Panama sent Fox News Digital a link to a statement from Panama Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney. "It is not true that we support terrorism," Tewaney said in response to former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush's opinion article in the Washington Post in January. Bush, who is an advisory board member of United Against Nuclear Iran, wrote that Panama "has been instrumental in the [Iranian] regime’s continued survival" and that Panama is "strengthening Iran by helping it to circumvent sanctions." Bush also said Panama aids Iran’s in oil smuggling.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Australia Imposes Myanmar, Iran Sanctions | Voice Of America
Australia Tuesday announced more sanctions against Myanmar and Iran. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said repression and violence forced the government to act. Australia joins the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in imposing new sanctions on Myanmar. Analysts say the measures add to the pressure on Myanmar’s military authorities two years after it overthrew the civilian government effectively led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who has since been jailed. Australia will target several members of Myanmar’s governing State Administration Council and two army-run corporations.
Exclusive: IRGC Runs Iran’s Money Laundering Network In Iraq | Iran International
Iran International has obtained information that unravels some details about the inner workings of a Revolutionary Guard’s Quds force unit tasked with smuggling money from Iraq to Iran. According to the information, the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Iraq is also involved in the money laundering operations that aim to funnel the regime’s revenues from oil and gas exports to Iran. As per a repeatedly extended sanctions’ waiver by Washington, Tehran is only allowed to import medicine and some essential goods in exchange for its export to its neighboring country.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran Special Police Commander Denies Killing, Injuring Protesters | Iran International
The commander of Iranian special police units has denied “deliberate” shooting at sensitive parts of the protestors' bodies such as their eyes and heads. Hassan Karami in an interview with Hamshahri daily on Tuesday claimed that "The performance of the special unit has shown it is not their intention to deal unprofessionally with people." "I have so much confidence in the ability of the special forces that I have said many times if anyone can prove that even one person was killed due to a mistake by our staff, I will offer them a reward."
Iran Imprisons Couple For 10½ Years After They Danced In Public, Activists Say | Washington Post
An Iranian couple have been jailed for more than 10 years each after a video of them dancing romantically near a Tehran monument was posted on social media, according to the activist news agency HRANA. Astiaj Haghighi and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, Instagram influencers who are reportedly in their early 20s, were arrested by security forces at home in November, the activist group said. They were sentenced by a Tehran court to 10½ years in prison each for “promotion of impurity and indecency, assembly and collusion against national security, and propaganda against the regime.”
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Iranian Experts Concerned About Russia Dragging Iran Into War | Iran International
Commentators and former officials in Iran are increasingly warning about Tehran’s close cooperation with Moscow and its impact on the country’s isolation. Former head of Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Heshmatollah Falahatpish told local media: "If it were not for the issue of sending Iranian drones to Russia to be used in the war in Ukraine, Europe was highly unlikely to ratify a resolution against Iran." Falahatpisheh, who is one of the few domestic critics still allowed to speak to print media, further said he is worried that Iran might become the second front in Russia's war against Ukraine.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Azerbaijan Arrests 39 People Accused Of Working For Iran Amid Tehran-Baku Tensions | Al Arabiya
Azerbaijan has arrested 39 people for allegedly participating in sabotage activities and promoting Iranian propaganda, Azerbaijan’s APA news agency reported on Wednesday. “As a result of the special operations carried out by the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 39 people who carried out acts of sabotage and disruption under the “veil of religion” in Azerbaijan were identified and detained,” APA reported. It said those arrested “carried out propaganda in favor of Iran on social networks, abused the freedom of religious belief in our country, and fulfilled the tasks of the Iranian special services in order to undermine the traditions of tolerance formed in Azerbaijan.”
Australia should designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organisation and be prepared to expel diplomats from the country, according to a new Senate inquiry report. The report, published on Wednesday, urged the government to expel “any Iranian officials in Australia considered to be involved in intimidation, threats, or monitoring of Australians”. The inquiry’s findings will increase pressure on the Australian government to expand its response to the violence in Iran, even after it imposed further sanctions on military and security officials for suppressing protests and supplying drones for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
