TOP STORIES
US Imposes Sanctions on Iranian Oil Minister, Shadow Fleet | Reuters
The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and some Hong Kong-flagged vessels that are part of a shadow fleet that helps disguise Iranian oil shipments, the Treasury Department said.
US Urges UN Council to Condemn Iran Nuclear Activity | Agence France-Presse
The UN Security Council must unite to call out Iran’s “brazen behavior” related to its nuclear program, the United States said Wednesday after a closed-door meeting on Tehran. US President Donald Trump “has made clear that Iran’s nuclear program poses a threat to international peace and security, which the Security Council is charged with protecting,” the US mission said after the meeting. It accused Tehran of continuing to “flagrantly defy” the Council and violate IAEA safeguards. “The Council must be clear and united in addressing and condemning this brazen behavior,” the US statement said, adding that Washington would persist with Trump’s “maximum pressure strategy” to keep Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Terrorism-Related Arrests Hit Five-Year High | Times of London
Threats from hostile states including Iran, Russia and China have helped to drive the number of terrorism-related arrests in the UK to a five-year high. . . . The UK’s head of counterterrorism policing blamed the spike on threats from hostile states, which now account for more than 20 per cent of their casework, naming Iran, China and Russia.
Representatives of China, Russia and Iran called Friday for an end to U.S. sanctions on Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program and a restart to multinational talks on the issue. The talks are the latest attempt to broach the matter and come after U.S. President Donald Trump wrote to Iran’s supreme leader in an attempt to jumpstart talks. The three nations who met Friday morning “emphasized the necessity of terminating all unlawful unilateral sanctions,” China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu read from a joint statement, flanked by Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.
UANI IN THE NEWS
In addition to nine “shadow fleet” tankers, the US State Department also targeted three tugs that US-based advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran said assisted in ship-to-ship transfers in the waters off Singapore, a key hub for transhipment of Iranian crude. “Designating the tugboats that assist in these illicit oil transfers sends a clear message: every link in Iran’s sanctions evasion network is under scrutiny,” said Claire Jungman, UANI’s chief of staff. “Specifically, Malili (IMO: 9179921) assisted in an STS transfer with the National Iranian Tanker Company vessel Sobar (IMO: 9221970) and NITC vessel Dune (IMO: 9569712) this week,” she told Lloyd’s List.
Charity in Iran Inquiry Broadcasts Daily Messages from Ayatollah | Times of London
A charity placed under investigation after concerns were raised about its links to Iran has been broadcasting daily religious messages from the country’s Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Islamic Centre of England (ICE) has been described by a think tank as the London “nerve centre” of the Iranian regime and has held events that eulogised a commander of its Revolutionary Guard. Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, said that the ICE should not be able to host Khamenei speeches at all. “It is simply unacceptable they are continuing to broadcast Ayatollah Khamenei, who is openly organising terror on British streets,” Aarabi said, referring to an MI5 warning that it has foiled more than 20 Tehran-orchestrated assassination and kidnap plots. “This regime fully supported and actively had a role in the October 7 terrorist attacks. And he has British blood on his hands because British servicemen were killed in Iraq in attacks that lead back to the IRGC, controlled by Khamenei.”
Poland Provided US with a Shahed Drone as Result of Covert Operation | Overt Defense
In a joint Polish Ukrainian operation it is reported that operatives and special operations forces personnel managed to locate and obtain a downed Shahed-136 drone in good condition that can be publicly displayed in Washington. Polish media outlets claim that the operation was directly aided by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, and a US organization “United Against Nuclear Iran.”
Adding to the complications, an Iranian ally, Russia, will assume the Security Council’s rotating presidency in October. America and the Europeans will therefore “want to start the snapback process well in advance, to avoid having Russia be in the chair” at the crucial moment, the United Against Nuclear Iran policy director, Jason Brodsky, tells the Sun. The new dynamic at the UN reminds Mr. Brodsky of how sanctions were initially imposed on Iran there in 2011, before Mr. Obama opted to replace them with the JCPOA that gradually eased all pressure on Iran. Like now, the Europeans in 2011 asked for a “comprehensive report from the IAEA, and there was referral to the UN Security Council, and sanctions were imposed thereafter,” he says.
Perhaps fearing a restoration of global sanctions, Tehran is now hinting it is ready to negotiate. Yet, it is “speaking in the language of the JCPOA,” Mr. Brodsky says, while the Trump administration “has a more expansive and sweeping deal in mind, and that is the dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program, disarmament akin to the Libya 2003 model.” Therefore, he adds, “I think that we are heading towards a collision, not a successful diplomacy.”
Trump Officials Aim More Sanctions at Shadow Tankers — and the Tugs That Serve Them | TradeWinds
Claire Jungman, chief of staff at United Against Nuclear Iran, said the Indonesian tugs were involved in ship-to-ship transfers off Malaysia and Singapore. “It appears another attempt to crack down on ship-to-ship transfers,” she told TradeWinds.
At the time of their arrival neither ship had been sanctioned, but both were on the list of tankers that pressure group United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) claims have been regularly engaged in transporting US-sanctioned Iranian crude oil.
The US Treasury and State Departments have imposed sanctions against the Swedish criminal group Foxtrot and its leader Rava Majid for cooperating with Iran in organizing attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe. Jason Brodsky, director of political affairs at United Against Nuclear Iran, said Foxtrot used minors and criminals in Sweden to attack Israeli targets and Jews on behalf of the Iranian regime.
NUCLEAR DIPLOMACY & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran’s Top Diplomat: Nuclear Talks with US Only Possible on ‘Equal Terms’ | Reuters
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has not ruled out talks with Washington, but said they can only take place if both countries are on “equal terms,” an Iranian state-run newspaper reported on Thursday. “If we enter negotiations while the other side is imposing maximum pressure, we will be negotiating from a weak position and will achieve nothing,” Araghchi told the Iran paper in an interview.
Iran Hints at Indirect US Talks via Oman Despite Khamenei’s Rejection | Iran International
Iran’s foreign minister on Thursday signaled Tehran's willingness to engage in indirect negotiations with the United States through Oman, just a day after the Supreme Leader publicly ruled out talks.
Iran Summons European Diplomats over ‘Provocative’ UN Meeting | Al Arabiya
Iran summoned diplomats representing the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Thursday in protest over a UN Security Council meeting on Tehran’s nuclear program, a foreign ministry statement said. There was “no technical or legal justification” for the meeting, the statement said, calling it “provocative and political, in line with the unilateral and nervous approach of the United States.”
Moscow Interested in Reviving 2015 Nuclear Iran Deal, Russian FM Says | Jerusalem Post
Iranian media has reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “has reiterated Moscow’s support for the revival of the landmark deal originally signed by Iran and six other world powers back in 2015.”
SANCTIONS, SHIPPING, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Iran Looks to Russia and China After Trump’s Threats on Nuclear Deal | Times of London
Iran will seek advice on its nuclear programme from China and Russia on Friday as it faces off with Washington in the latest example of President Trump’s revolution in the world order.
Iran Bets Big on Gold as It Weathers Trump Turmoil | Al Jazeera
Iran has been importing tonnes of gold in the past few months as it hunkers down for more hardships under the United States’s “maximum pressure” policy. But while the gold strategy may yield short-term gains for an economy under immense pressure, it has serious limitations in curbing runaway prices. Economist and market analyst Mehdi Haghbaali told Al Jazeera that the central bank’s gold coin sales to the public are unlikely to be very effective. The central bank and the government’s cards are known to the public, and the huge fiscal deficit and the forthcoming trade difficulties under the new US administration are all very well known to market players. As a result, no matter how much gold the central bank sells, it will fail to change public perceptions, thereby having almost zero impact on the prices.”
The return of “maximum pressure” is coming at the right time. Iran’s economy is extremely vulnerable. The global oil market’s fundamentals are relatively soft, as strong global supply growth keeps pace with moderating oil demand growth, driving Brent crude futures below seventy dollars per barrel for the first time since September 2024. Furthermore, nearly all of Iran’s 1.6 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil and condensate exports go to a single buyer, China. This means the conditions are ripe for dealing Tehran a crippling blow.
Sanctions Won’t Stop Our Oil Exports, Says Iran's Oil Minister | Iran International
On Thursday, the same day Washington sanctioned him, Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad dismissed efforts to reduce Tehran's crude exports to zero, vowing to withstand mounting pressure.
PROTESTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
A female Iranian rock climber climber who competed in an oversea competition without a hijab has been forced to leave the country after facing persecution. Elnaz Rekabi gained global attention in October 2022 when she took part in championships in South Korea without wearing the headscarf required for women in the Islamic republic. Many took the move as a sign of solidarity for nationwide protests in September 2022 in her homeland sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
UN Report Condemns Surge in Executions and Gender-Based Repression in Iran | Iran International
A new United Nations report has strongly criticized Iran for a dramatic increase in executions, systematic gender-based discrimination, and repression of minorities in 2024. The report, presented by UN Special Rapporteur Mai Sato, revealed that Iran carried out over 900 executions last year – the highest number since 2015 – with women and ethnic minorities disproportionately affected.
UN Warns of Iran Using Drones to Monitor Women in Public for Headscarf Violations | The Independent
Iran is increasing its use of electronic surveillance and the public to target women refusing to wear the country's mandatory headscarf in public as hard-liners advocate for stricter penalties for those protesting the law, a United Nations report has found. U.N. investigators outline how Iran increasingly relies on electronic surveillance. Among the efforts include Iranian officials deploying “aerial drone surveillance” to monitor women in public places.
Iran Expands Crackdown on Online Dating, Detaining Organizers | Iran International
Iranian authorities have intensified their campaign against online dating content, summoning or arresting 15 people involved in organizing blind date events on social media.
Azerbaijanis in Iran, like many other non-Persian ethnic minority groups living under the Islamic Republic, face repression and are denied the right to speak in their mother tongue at official gatherings, even if they are the president of Iran.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran’s Rulers Caught Between Trump's Crackdown and a Fragile Economy | Reuters
For Iran's clerical leaders, engaging with the “Great Satan” to hammer out a nuclear deal and ease crippling sanctions may for once be the lesser of two evils. Though it harbours deep mistrust of the United States, and President Donald Trump in particular, Tehran is increasingly concerned that mounting public anger over economic hardships could erupt into mass protests, four Iranian officials said.
ISRAEL, HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON, & IRAN
Ex-Top FBI Official to ‘Post’: When Iran-Hamas Oct. 7 Threat Really Started | Jerusalem Post
In an interview on Wednesday with The Jerusalem Post, former senior FBI counterterror official Lara Burns said that the [Iran-Hamas] relationship was started by top Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook during a trip to Tehran in 1992 and that the continuous alliance between the parties frames their common anti-Israel, anti-US, anti-democracy goals for the future as well. . . . She draws a straight line between Abu Marzook’s work with Iran in 1992 and his and other top Hamas officials’ work with Iran leading into October 7 and even now (Abu Marzook is one of the few surviving top Hamas leaders.) “The Hamas-Iran relationship as part of Iran’s axis of resistance means it needs to use proxies to do their dirty work. No matter what, Iran was going to ally with Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis,” Burns told the Post.