TOP STORIES
The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency on Sunday said that Israel is prepared to strike “in the heart of Tehran” to track down the perpetrators of what he said were over two dozen Iranian attempts to hit Israeli and Jewish targets around the world. Speaking at a security conference, David Barnea said that Israel and its allies had foiled 27 attacks over the past year in Europe, Africa, southeast Asia and South America. “The plots being pursued by these teams were orchestrated, masterminded and directed by Iran,” Barnea told the conference at Reichman University. He added that “as we speak” Iran is trying to carry out additional attacks.“Our message is loud and clear and determined,” he said. “Make no mistake, those of you who decided to dispatch the teams. Be assured that we will get to you, and justice will be done for all to see. This has been proven in the past, and in the future, we will ramp it up to the next level.”
Iran Dismisses Sexual Assault Claims Of Jailed Journalist | Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran's judiciary charged Thursday that a female journalist, who said she had been sexually assaulted in prison, failed to "report" or "provide any evidence" in support of her claims. Nazila Maroufian, 23, has been arrested repeatedly since she interviewed the father of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, whose death in police custody in September last year sparked months of nationwide protests. The judiciary's Mizan Online website said Maroufian's complaint that she was "beaten and assaulted" during her latest stint in Tehran's Evin prison, had been reported by "hostile media". "The investigations carried out on the allegations show that not only had she not provided any reason or evidence for this claim, but until now has not filed any complaint in this regard," Mizan said, AFP reported.
Iran Indicts Three People Over Deadly Mosque Attack, Mizan Says | Bloomberg
An Iranian Revolutionary Court issued indictments for three people accused of participating in a deadly attack on a holy shrine south of Iran last month, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported. The people were arrested in connection with an Aug. 13 shooting at the Shah Cheragh mosque in the city of Shiraz. Two people, including a security officer, were killed in the incident and several others were injured. The defendants are accused of having ties to Islamic State militants and endangering national security. Other charges include “warring with God” and “spreading corruption on earth,” for which they could face the death penalty under Islamic law if found guilty. Iran’s state TV initially placed the death toll at four and said Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
UANI IN THE NEWS
…The source’s information was further confirmed by the oil exhibition’s 22-page handbook obtained by the U.S.-based United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which provided FOX Business with the secretive brochure that lists Iran and foreign companies as attendees at the event.…Daniel Roth, the research director for United Against Nuclear Iran, told FOX Business that "the days of major European, Japanese and Korean participation are gone. Today, no responsible company wants to engage with the Tehran regime, which has ramped up efforts to brutalize its own citizens while supplying hundreds of kamikaze drones for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – all in plain view. None of that deterred companies from Iran’s major patrons and allies: China, Russia, plus [Russian satellite] Belarus. Not surprisingly, this year’s show saw a tremendous surge in Russian attendance in particular."
US Says It Disrupts Illicit Oil Shipment By Iran's IRGC, Seizes Contraband Crude | Reuters
…"It's a message to every Iranian smuggler that there is an off ramp from the mob," said Mark Wallace, chief executive of U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, which uses satellite images to track tanker movement and first noted that the Suez Rajan had taken on the oil from another tanker. Empire Navigation should be applauded for its cooperation with US authorities, Wallace added. Participants attempted to disguise the origin of the oil using ship-to-ship transfers, false automatic identification system reporting, falsified documents and other means, the DOJ said, adding that the charterer of the vessel used the U.S. financial system to facilitate the transportation of Iranian oil.
…Mark Wallace, chief executive of the U.S. advocacy group ‘United Against Nuclear Iran’, said, “It’s a message to every Iranian smuggler that there is an off-ramp from the mob.” Mark uses satellite imagery to track the movement of tankers, and he first noticed that the tanker Suez Rajan had taken on the Oil from another tanker.
Greek Shipper Admits Smuggling Iranian Oil, Faces $2.4M Fine | Greek Reporter
…In February 2022, suspicions arose when United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) suggested that the Suez Rajan might be carrying Iranian oil from Khargh Island, the main Persian Gulf oil distribution center. Satellite images and shipping data analyzed by the AP confirmed these claims.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Israel Will Act Against Iran’s Uranium Enrichment Above 60% | Jerusalem Post
Israel will act against Iran’s enrichment of uranium at above 60% because that means it was admitting pursuit of nuclear weapons, National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi told the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya on Monday morning. “If Iran enriches uranium at above 60% as an action that we would identify — and there is no chance that we would not, that the world and the International Atomic Energy Agency would not recognize it — the result is that Israel would have to act,” Hanegbi said. “There would not be any choice” but to act, Hanegbi stated. Passing over the 60% threshold would mean that “we have reached the moment when Iran is clearly telling the world that it is going for a [nuclear] bomb,” Hanegbi explained.
Former Iran Diplomats Say JCPOA Is Dead, Interim Deal Is Uncertain | Iran International
A former Iranian diplomat says the 2015 nuclear deal is now "a forgotten issue," and "it is not clear whether Iran and the United States will return to that deal." Jalal Sadatian speaking to Fararu website in Tehran, explained that "nonetheless, from a legal point of view, the contents of the 2015 nuclear deal, also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have cast a shadow on Iran's ties with the United States and Europe." Sadatian further explained that the reason for shifting from the JCPOA to a reported interim agreement is that although Iran stood by its commitment to that deal for a long time, it finally reacted after the Europeans failed to fulfil their obligations after former US President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Iran, US On Verge Of Prisoner Swap Under Qatar-Mediated Deal | Reuters
When $6 billion of unfrozen Iranian funds are wired to banks in Qatar as early as next week, it will trigger a carefully choreographed sequence that will see as many as five detained U.S. dual nationals leave Iran and a similar number of Iranian prisoners held in the U.S. fly home, according to eight Iranian and other sources familiar with the negotiations who spoke to Reuters. As a first step, Iran on Aug. 10 released four U.S. citizens from Tehran’s Evin prison into house arrest, where they joined a fifth, who was already under house arrest. Later that day U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the move the first step of a process that would lead to their return home.
The U.S. And Iran Are Taking, Small Tentative Steps To Dial Back Tensions | NBC News
There are growing indications that both Iran and the United States have taken steps to dial back tensions in recent weeks and months, though the de-escalation remains tentative and could easily collapse. Western officials and regional analysts point to Iran’s slightly slower pace of uranium enrichment work, a decline in attacks by Iranian-backed groups on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, an increase in Iran’s oil exports and a prisoner exchange agreement that appears close to completion as signs of a step back from confrontation.“There does appear to be some limited, tentative de-escalation, but there are many ways this could all go sideways, and it’s not clear where this will ultimately lead even if it holds,” said Eric Brewer, deputy vice president at Nuclear Threat Initiative, a think tank, and a former U.S. intelligence official who worked on nuclear nonproliferation.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Michael White had only recently arrived in a grim Iranian jail when a curious fellow prisoner, an English-speaking Iranian, approached him in the courtyard for a conversation. The American did not reveal much at first, but it was the beginning of an unlikely friendship between White, a Navy veteran imprisoned on spying charges he says were unfounded, and Mahdi Vatankhah, a young Iranian political activist whose positions on social issues had drawn his government’s ire. As the men connected behind bars over a shared interest in politics and human rights, they developed a bond that proved vital for both. Vatankhah, while in custody and after his release, helped White by providing White’s mother with crucial, firsthand accounts about her son’s status in prison and by passing along letters White had written while he was locked up.
EU ‘Very Worried’ About Swedish Official Johan Floderus Jailed In Iran | The Guardian
The European Commission has said it is “very worried” about the plight of a Swedish EU official who has spent more than 500 days in jail in Iran. Ylva Johansson, the home affairs commissioner, who was previously in charge of the work of the detained Johan Floderus, said every effort was being made to get him released as she spoke publicly for the first time on Monday since the veil of secrecy about his case was lifted. “I’m very sad. I’m very worried. And this has been with me for such a long time now,” she said. Floderus was jailed in Iran 512 days ago but the identity of the EU official, who turned 33 in prison on Sunday, came to light only 10 days ago after a report in the New York Times.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iran Hypes Its ‘Tactical Air Defense’ System – Analysis | Jerusalem Post
Multiple articles in Iranian pro-regime media have been hyping the “Tactical Sayyad” air-defense system over the past two weeks. Iran claims this system, which is launched from a military-style truck, can detect up to 24 targets at a time at a distance of around 180 km. It can then engage up to 12 of those targets. Iran claims this is an indigenous system, built and developed in Iran. This would be in contrast to other systems that Iran may have developed by modeling them on foreign air-defense missiles, such as S-200s.
NATO Deputy Visits Israel, Emphasizes Shared Threats From Iran, Russia | Al Monitor
On a three-day visit to Israel, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said on Friday the defense alliance shares many of the same security concerns as Israel. Speaking with Al-Monitor, Geoana warned against Iran’s affiliation with Russia and the cooperation of the two governments with North Korea. “We fully understand the deep Israeli concerns over the destabilizing efforts by Iran to create trouble,” Geoana said. “We share many of the concerns that Israel shares. Not only on Iran directly, but also Iran in its constellations of authoritarian regimes, such as the close relationships between Iran and Russia or with North Korea," he added. The NATO official highlighted Iran's role in Ukraine as major challenge to our security both in Europe and also in the Middle East. "In Ukraine, for instance, we are talking of 1,000 [Iran-manufactured] drones. So much destruction, and such a breach of international law," he said.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Small Group Of Hardliners Purging Iran’s Political Landscape | Iran International
An influential conservative in Iran claims that hardliners who are purging others from the political landscape are so few that they couldn't even fill two buses. Mansur Haqiqatpur, the former deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee, stated in an interview with Rouydad24 in Tehran, "Despite their small numbers, these ultraconservatives have seized control of all government institutions." Referring to their widespread influence and their “irresponsible behavior,” Haqiqatpur emphasized that the nation, the media, and politicians should hold the ultraconservatives accountable for their destructive performance. A few dozen hardliners in parliament and in President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration have increasingly resorted to eliminating others from the government bureaucracy and even universities, accusing some of insufficient “revolutionary” credentials.
IRANIAN REGIONAL AGGRESSION
Iran Issues Threatening Message To Azerbaijan, Adds Warning: Israel, Beware | i24 News
Iran is actively escalating a new round of conflict in the southern Caucasus region. Against the backdrop of reconciliation efforts between Azerbaijan and Armenia under the aegis of the EU and U.S., Iran has been making every effort in recent weeks to fuel revanchist sentiments in Armenia, and acting on it by mediating arms purchases from India and demonstrating military support. According to official Iranian sources, particularly the official Telegram channel of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on Friday, September 8, units of the Iranian Land Forces and possibly Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were concentrated near the border of Azerbaijan. Video captured from a helicopter and published on Telegram shows several Iranian armored vehicles in the vicinity of the border river Araz.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Iran Criticizes Its ‘Meager’ Share In Rebuilding Of Syria | Asharq Al Awsat
Iranian PM Hossein-Ali Haji-Deligani criticized on Friday his country’s “meager” share in the rebuilding of war-torn Syria in spite of Tehran and Damascus signing agreements on expanding cooperation between them. He said: “Despite the support accorded to the Syrian government and people during the war, we have received a meager share in the reconstruction.” Several countries are competing to be part of post-war Syria’s economic future, reported Iran’s Fars news agency, highlighting the criticism by Iranian experts and MPs that Tehran’s role in the process has been “weak”. Deligani remarked: “The countries that were the main cause of the Syrian war, now have the initiative in rebuilding the country.”
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Saudi Pro League At The Heart Of Kingdom’s Soft Power In Iran | Arab News
Saudi Arabia continues to pursue its Vision 2030, focusing on quality of life, the diversification of its economy and ending its dependance on oil. One aspect of this diversification is investments in the sports sector in general and football in particular. Saudi Pro League games are now transmitted worldwide. However, the channel that has sparked debate on social media is one linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The Kingdom has approved the broadcasting of Saudi Pro League games on Iranian television channels. This month’s Al-Hilal versus Al-Ittihad game was the first Saudi Pro League match to be shown in Iran. Iranians made approving comments following this landmark event. This game was not only the first to be broadcast live on Iranian television, but it also allowed comparisons to be made between the Saudi and Iranian football leagues.
