The impact of the re-imposed US sanctions has forced the Rouhani administration to shift its market-oriented approach to the economy to focus on active involvement by the state.
While the Treasury designation focuses on the four Iraqis' links to Hezbollah, which is described as "a terrorist proxy for the Iranian regime that seeks to undermine Iraqi sovereignty and destabilize the Middle East," it practically ignores the fact that one of them is the Secretary General of the Imam Ali Battalions, or Kata’ib Imam Ali, a key component of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an official military army of the Iraqi state that reports directly to the prime minister.
- Iran is lobbying European states to host a bartering mechanism allowing Iran to export oil to Europe. A senior Iranian official traveled to Vienna, Austria, and Paris, France, after the EU failed to institute the mechanism before the U.S. reimposed sanctions against Iran on November 5. Tehran may accept additional delays in the mechanism’s implementation due to mounting economic pressures on the regime.
Despite the mullahs’ misrule, they are aging fast. Iran’s young people are clearly not following in the former’s medieval footsteps. The time is coming when young Iranian women and men will be able to dance in the streets and celebrate the end of a long, dark, oppressive night. – Washington Examiner
Iran has executed two men convicted of illegal currency trading, as Tehran steps up its crackdown on alleged financial crimes in the face of economic hardships heightened by U.S. financial sanctions. – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Iran’s inflation rate will jump to over 40 percent by the end of the year even as its economy sinks into a deep recession, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is projecting. – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
A prominent think tank has criticized the report published this week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirming the Tehran regime’s continuing compliance with the JCPOA — the watershed nuclear deal on the country’s illicit nuclear program reached in July 2015, but decertified by the US in May this year as part of President Donald Trump’s new offensive against Iran’s Islamist rulers. – Algemeiner
Iraq has agreed with Iran to exchange Iraqi food items for Iranian gas and energy supplies, two Iraqi government officials said on Wednesday. Baghdad is now seeking U.S. approval to allow it to import Iranian gas which is used in its power stations, and needs more time to find an alternative source, they said. The sources are a senior government official and a member of Iraq’s ministerial energy committee. – Reuters
Pakistan-based militant group Jaish ul-Adl has released five of 12 Iranian soldiers it abducted last month, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday. IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said, "The kidnappers are seeking to exchange the abducted soldiers with several of their accomplices who are behind bars in the Islamic Republic for committing crimes.” He added, "This request is not acceptable.” Jafari vowed to release the remaining troops but said it would take time. The border area between Iran and Pakistan is a haven for drug smugglers and terrorist groups. Read More