TOP STORIES
Iran’s Missiles, Drone Arsenal A Growing 'Destabilizing Threat' – Report | The Jerusalem Post
Iran’s massive missile arsenal is growing and combined with its drones and cruise missiles makes for a destabilizing force multiplier, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said Tuesday in a report. “Iran’s ballistic-missile systems, supplemented by cruise missiles and UAVs, are intended not only for deterrence, but for battle, including by Iran’s regional partners,” it said. “In a new report, the IISS provides a detailed assessment of Iran’s missiles, and the manner and purposes for which it has been proliferating them.”
Iran Says 60% Enrichment Meant To Show Nuclear Prowess, Is Reversible | Reuters
Iran began enriching uranium to 60% purity in order to show its technical capacity after a sabotage attack at a nuclear plant, and the move is quickly reversible if the United States lifts sanctions, the Iranian government said on Tuesday. Talks in Vienna aimed at bringing the United States and Iran back to full compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal have been further complicated by an explosion at Iran's main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.
Much More Work Needed In Iran Nuclear Talks Despite Progress, EU Says | Reuters
Iran and world powers have made headway in talks to save the 2015 nuclear accord, although much more work is needed, a senior European Union official said on Tuesday, with meetings to resume next week after consultations in their respective capitals. “Progress made over the last two weeks,” European External Action Service Deputy Secretary General Enrique Mora said on Twitter. “But much more hard work needed. Third expert group was created to address sequencing issues.”
UANI IN THE NEWS
Biden Rejoining Iran Nuclear Agreement Dangerous: Lieberman | FOX Business
…JOE LIEBERMAN: My reaction is to be concerned that we're going to repeat what happened in 2015 when we made a bad deal, and the main reason for the bad deal was we gave away all the economic pressure at that time, or most of it on Iran, and they didn't do what the economic pressure had been put on to accomplish, which was to end their nuclear program. They just put a pause on -- if they were following it, and of course, I believe that they were cheating on the way.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Interim Iran Nuclear Deal Could Be Ready Before May 21 – Analysis | The Jerusalem Post
All of the messaging by Iran, the US and most especially on Tuesday and recent days by Russia and China is that an interim new Iran nuclear deal on the road to returning to the 2015 JCPOA by May 21 is moving ahead at full steam. The Mossad, according to sources and foreign reports, hit the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facility in Natanz big time, yet the deal is still progressing. Tehran jumped to 60% uranium enrichment, an unprecedented nuclear violation, and the deal is going forward. The how and when seems to be getting clearer.
Top Iran Official: Power Fully Restored At Natanz, Enrichment Renewed | The Times Of Israel
Power has been restored in Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility and uranium enrichment activities there have been renewed after a blast at the site earlier this month, the head of the country’s atomic agency said Tuesday. Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was cited by the official IRNA news agency as saying that “the cables damaged in the accident were speedily replaced and… the main power supply to the Natanz enrichment facility [is] now connected to the grid.”
More Questions Than Answers About Iran’s Nuclear Intentions | Atlantic Council
If negotiations aimed at reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear talks fail and economic sanctions on Iran remain in place, would Tehran seek to field nuclear weapons? Is eventual nuclear weaponization an Iranian objective even if the JCPOA comes back into full effect? Or is it true, as some Iranian officials—even the Supreme Leader—have claimed, that Iran has no interest in becoming a nuclear weapons power?
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Activists Call For IOC To Sanction Iran Olympic Program | Associated Press
A group of athletes and human rights activists is calling on the IOC to sanction Iran’s Olympic program for what it says is the country’s long-running pattern of ordering athletes to avoid competing against Israelis in international events. The head of the United for Navid campaign, formed to protest the execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, sent a letter to IOC president Thomas Bach this week highlighting more than a half-dozen examples over the past 16 years of Iranian athletes intentionally losing matches that would set up meetings against Israelis, or withdrawing from competitions against athletes from that country.
Syria Expects To Receive Shipments Of Iranian Oil, Russian Wheat | Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran, Russia, and Syria have established an operations room to secure a safe and stable flow of oil supplies and wheat to circumvent the EU and US sanctions, according to sources in Damascus. State-owned Syrian News Agency (SANA) reported that President Bashar al-Assad had discussed last week with the special envoy of the Russian president, Alexander Laverntiev, strengthening joint action to find solutions to the current difficulties facing the country as a result of the policies imposed by some Western countries, and reduce the effects of the sanctions imposed on the Syrian people.
Iran Tries To Revive $16 Billion Deal For 80 Boeing Jets | Forbes
With reconciliation in the air at the Vienna talks to reinvigorate the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran Air has been trying to press Boeing BA -4.1% to revive a large order for jets signed in 2016. Local media in Iran have reported that the national carrier has sent a letter to Boeing demanding it honor its commitments. Managing director Alireza Barkhor told the Islamic Republic News Agency that it wants to revive the contract for buying airplanes.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
Iran Is A Daily Threat As U.S. Dominance Wanes, General Says | Bloomberg
Iran poses a daily threat to the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East as America’s military superiority in the region wanes, the top U.S. commander in the region told Congress on Tuesday, as indirect nuclear talks between the two nations continue in Vienna. Iranian-aided Houthi forces in Yemen have launched more than 150 ballistic missile, land-attack cruise missile and drone attacks against military, infrastructure and civilian targets in Saudi Arabia since January, the head of U.S. Central Command, General Frank McKenzie, said in written testimony to the House Armed Services Committee.
Fla. Judge Awards $405m For Iran-Backed Terrorist Attack | Law 360
Survivors of a 2005 attack that targeted U.S. government contractors in Basra, Iraq, as well as the families of their murdered colleagues collectively won $405 million Monday, concluding six years of one-sided litigation against Iran. U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles awarded damages ranging from $54 million to $115 million to the six plaintiffs in the case. The lower amount was set for the wife of one man who was injured when militants detonated an improvised explosive device beneath a vehicle carrying four Ronco Consulting Corp. employees, while the $115 million award will go to the widow and child of another victim, who was fatally injured when his son was just four days old.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Amnesty International says the use of the death penalty in 2020 was the lowest in at least a decade, though the "unprecedented challenges" of the COVID-19 pandemic were not enough to deter Iran and 17 other countries from carrying out executions last year. At least 483 people were known to have been executed globally, a decrease of 26 percent compared with 2019, the London-based human rights watchdog said in its annual global review of the death penalty published on April 21.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
US Says Iran Negotiations Are 'Positive' | The Hill
The State Department said Tuesday that indirect talks with Iran over its nuclear program remain “positive” after an attack on an Iranian nuclear facility last week threw the negotiations into jeopardy. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Tuesday that indirect talks through intermediaries in Vienna are ongoing but a full return to the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) remains a long way off. “I would just say generally that the talks have continued in Vienna, as we know. The United States and Iran, we have, together, a stated, common objective of returning to mutual compliance with the JCPOA.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Who Is Afraid Of Iran’s Faezeh Hashemi? | Atlantic Council
On March 31, when Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made an impromptu appearance on Clubhouse, many were impressed by how quickly the room filled with eight thousand listeners (the maximum allowed on the audio-only app). Less than two weeks late on April 13, a more impressive turnout occurred on the same platform. Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former member of parliament and daughter of one of the founders of the Islamic Republic, took to Clubhouse to voice her bitter critique of the clerical establishment. The room hit capacity within minutes.
Iran Cancels Quds Day For Second Year In A Row | Al Monitor
Iranian officials have canceled this year’s Quds Day rallies due to coronavirus concerns. The annual Iranian-led event aimed at opposing Israel was also called off last year. An official from Iran’s Islamic Propagation Coordination Council said on Tuesday that the annual event is not scheduled to take place due to the COVID-19 situation in the country. “Although the issue of Palestine and the fight against arrogance is vital, we announce that no decision has been made about holding the rallies so far considering the latest wave of the coronavirus, which is expected to escalate,” said Nosratollah Lotfi, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Facing Threat From Iran At Sea, Israel Working To Change Global Naval Warfare Rules | Haaretz
Israeli defense officials are working with various international agencies to draft updated guidelines regarding disputes and laws of war in the naval arena. This comes as tensions are on the rise in the Persian Gulf; in recent months, several attacks on Israel-owned commercial ships were attributed to Iran.
Over the past few months, officers from the international law department of the IDF Military Advocate General's Corps have been attending meetings and professional conferences with colleagues from all over the world to accurately define the operational challenges the military faces in various arenas, particularly at sea.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Even Saudi Arabia And Iran May Be Thinking Peace Now | Financial Times
The measured presence of Joe Biden in the White House, vacated gracelessly by the geopolitical arsonist Donald Trump, may be having a mildly calming effect on the Middle East, the most reliably combustible region in the world and perennial provider of what the US has come to think of as “forever wars”. A US delegation, headed by Robert Malley, the special envoy for Iran, is trying to resurrect the 2015 nuclear accord that Iran signed with Barack Obama’s administration and five other world powers, but from which Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018. Indirect talks in Vienna — where other signatories to the accord shuttle between Americans and Iranians — have sparked hope of at least an interim deal.
Iran, Saudis Hold Talks In Baghdad, Few Expect Quick Results | The Seattle Times
A first round of direct talks between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran signaled a possible de-escalation following years of animosity that often spilled into neighboring countries and at least one still-raging war. But few expect quick results. The talks, hosted by Iraq earlier this month, were confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press by an Iraqi and a Western official in Baghdad. They came as the Biden administration paves the way for re-opening diplomatic channels in the region. Saudi Arabia is recalibrating its regional position after losing an unflinching supporter in President Joe Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. Iran, meanwhile, has calculated that a gradual detente with Riyadh, a long-time U.S. ally, will work in its favor during renewed nuclear talks with Washington and world powers.
TURKEY & IRAN
Iranians In Turkey Fear For Safety After Wave Of Deportations | Arab News
Many Iranian dissidents no longer view Turkey as a safe haven after an increasing number of arrests and deportations in recent months. Turkey is home to around 67,000 Iranians, with 39,000 claiming refugee status. Millions pass between the two countries each year on account of the visa-free border. But following a crackdown by Ankara on Turkish dissidents in the last few years, and with trade and security links between the two countries increasing, Iranians too are being targeted.
Turkish warplanes staged airstrikes on Monday against the northern mountainous terrain of Duhok province in Iraqi Kurdistan. Targets hit by the raid are believed to be held by members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). No human casualties were reported, but a security source in the Amedi district told Asharq Al-Awsat that Turkish fighter jets attacked two villages located at the base of mountain Mtein after midnight on Monday. Speaking under the conditions of anonymity, the source added that another two villages at the base of mountain Karah were also targeted.
