Tuesday's Iran Mini Report - January 15, 2019
• White House Sought Options to Strike Iran
The Wall Street Journal President Trump's National Security Council asked the Pentagon to provide the White House with military options to strike Iran last year, generating concern at the Pentagon and State Department, current and former U.S. officials said. The request, which hasn't been previously reported, came after militants fired three mortars into Baghdad's sprawling diplomatic quarter, home to the U.S. Embassy, on a warm night in early September. The shells-launched by a group aligned with Iran-landed in an open lot and harmed no one.
The Wall Street Journal President Trump's National Security Council asked the Pentagon to provide the White House with military options to strike Iran last year, generating concern at the Pentagon and State Department, current and former U.S. officials said. The request, which hasn't been previously reported, came after militants fired three mortars into Baghdad's sprawling diplomatic quarter, home to the U.S. Embassy, on a warm night in early September. The shells-launched by a group aligned with Iran-landed in an open lot and harmed no one.
• Iran Says It Is Taking Initial Steps to Design Reactor Fuel
Reuters: Iran is taking preliminary steps to design uranium fuel with a purity of 20 percent for reactors instead of having to copy foreign designs, Iran's nuclear chief said on Sunday. Iran's 2015 nuclear accord with world powers caps the level to which it is able to enrich uranium to 3.67 percent purity, well below the 20 percent it was reaching before the deal, and the roughly 90 percent that is weapons-grade. Iran is, however, allowed to produce nuclear fuel under strict conditions that need to be approved by a working group set up by the signatories to the deal.
• U.S. Not Looking To Grant Further Iran Oil Sales Waivers: U.S. Official
Reuters: The United States is not looking to grant more waivers for Iranian oil imports after the reimposition of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. special representative for Iran said on Saturday, underlining Washington's push to choke off Tehran's income. "We are not looking to grant any waivers or exemptions to the import of Iranian crude," Brian Hook told an industry conference in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi.
• Joe Lieberman: Asking Pentagon for Strike Options Against Iran 'Very Reasonable And Rational Thing' To Do
CNS News: National Security Advisor John Bolton has not commented on the claims, but speaking in defense of the reported request on Sunday was Joe Lieberman, a former Democratic senator who chairs the bipartisan lobby group, United Against a Nuclear Iran. In an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Lieberman said asking the Pentagon for options would be "a very reasonable and rational thing for John Bolton to do." "Think about it: Iranian-backed militias, extremists, fired mortars in the vicinity of our embassy in Baghdad and our consulate in Basra, Iraq," he said. "That's a sort of declaration of war," Lieberman said. "But let's not go that far. It was a hostile act. And if you let a country like Iran get away with it, they'll do it again. And next time, they will hit our embassy or our consulate."
Reuters: Iran is taking preliminary steps to design uranium fuel with a purity of 20 percent for reactors instead of having to copy foreign designs, Iran's nuclear chief said on Sunday. Iran's 2015 nuclear accord with world powers caps the level to which it is able to enrich uranium to 3.67 percent purity, well below the 20 percent it was reaching before the deal, and the roughly 90 percent that is weapons-grade. Iran is, however, allowed to produce nuclear fuel under strict conditions that need to be approved by a working group set up by the signatories to the deal.
• U.S. Not Looking To Grant Further Iran Oil Sales Waivers: U.S. Official
Reuters: The United States is not looking to grant more waivers for Iranian oil imports after the reimposition of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. special representative for Iran said on Saturday, underlining Washington's push to choke off Tehran's income. "We are not looking to grant any waivers or exemptions to the import of Iranian crude," Brian Hook told an industry conference in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi.
• Joe Lieberman: Asking Pentagon for Strike Options Against Iran 'Very Reasonable And Rational Thing' To Do
CNS News: National Security Advisor John Bolton has not commented on the claims, but speaking in defense of the reported request on Sunday was Joe Lieberman, a former Democratic senator who chairs the bipartisan lobby group, United Against a Nuclear Iran. In an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Lieberman said asking the Pentagon for options would be "a very reasonable and rational thing for John Bolton to do." "Think about it: Iranian-backed militias, extremists, fired mortars in the vicinity of our embassy in Baghdad and our consulate in Basra, Iraq," he said. "That's a sort of declaration of war," Lieberman said. "But let's not go that far. It was a hostile act. And if you let a country like Iran get away with it, they'll do it again. And next time, they will hit our embassy or our consulate."
• Nuclear Chief Says Iran Exploring New Uranium Enrichment
Associated Press: The head of Iran's nuclear program said Sunday that the Islamic Republic has begun "preliminary activities for designing" a modern process for 20-percent uranium enrichment for its 50-year-old research reactor in Tehran, signalling new danger for the nuclear deal. Restarting enrichment at that level would mean Iran had withdrawn the 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers, an accord that President Donald Trump already pulled America out of in May.
• India's Iranian Oil Imports Slide in December Under U.S. Pressure
Reuters: India's oil imports from Iran fell by 41 percent in December to 302,000 barrels per day oil (bpd), ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed, as pressure from U.S. sanctions took effect. The United States introduced tough sanctions aimed at crippling Iran's oil revenue-dependent economy in November but gave a six-month waiver to eight nations, including India, which allowed them to import some Iranian oil.
Associated Press: The head of Iran's nuclear program said Sunday that the Islamic Republic has begun "preliminary activities for designing" a modern process for 20-percent uranium enrichment for its 50-year-old research reactor in Tehran, signalling new danger for the nuclear deal. Restarting enrichment at that level would mean Iran had withdrawn the 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers, an accord that President Donald Trump already pulled America out of in May.
• India's Iranian Oil Imports Slide in December Under U.S. Pressure
Reuters: India's oil imports from Iran fell by 41 percent in December to 302,000 barrels per day oil (bpd), ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed, as pressure from U.S. sanctions took effect. The United States introduced tough sanctions aimed at crippling Iran's oil revenue-dependent economy in November but gave a six-month waiver to eight nations, including India, which allowed them to import some Iranian oil.
• United States Determined To Drive Iran's Oil Exports Down To Zero
Atlantic Council: The United States is determined to drive Iran's oil exports down to zero in its effort to maximize economic pressure and force Tehran back to the negotiating table to discuss a "comprehensive deal" in place of the nuclear agreement US President Donald J. Trump abandoned last year, Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran and senior policy advisor to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said at the Atlantic Council's 2019 Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi on January 12.
• Iran Is Preparing A Launch. but Is It For A Space Rocket Or A Missile?
NPR: About once a day, little satellites zip over northern Iran and snap a few pictures of the Imam Khomeini Space Center. The satellites, operated by a company in San Francisco called Planet, haven't recorded much - until recently. "We're seeing all kinds of activity," says Jeffrey Lewis, a scholar at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, who is analysing the images as they come in. In recent days, he's noticed cars and trucks moving around the site.
• British-Iranian Woman's Health Deteriorates In Iran Prison
Associated Press: The head of the Thomson Reuters Foundation said Monday she's "sincerely worried" about a detained British-Iranian national going on hunger strike to protest her treatment in the Islamic Republic. Monique Villa said in a statement that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's "health is already at its poorest" and that she hasn't received access to serious medical care after discovering lumps in her breasts. "This is slow and cruel torture, yet one more injustice inflicted upon her," Villa said.
• Family Of Navy Veteran Held In Iran Says He Had Valid Visa And Is No Spy
New York Times: The family of Michael R. White, a Navy veteran imprisoned in Iran half a year ago, said Friday that he had travelled there with a valid visa to visit a female friend, rejecting any suggestion that he might have been engaged in espionage. "We want to be very clear - Michael spent much of his time in the Navy as a cook and recently worked as a commercial janitor - he is not now, nor has he ever been a spy," the family said in a statement.
• No US Assistance on Syria Reconstruction Until Iran Is Out: Top US Diplomat
CNBC: Top U.S. diplomats are stridently pledging the Trump administration's determination to drive Iran out of Syria, even as it prepares to withdraw its military presence. Doubling down on the Trump's administration's anti-Iran message, the senior policy advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Brian Hook, vowed no U.S. reconstruction assistance to the war-torn country until Iranian forces and its proxies are completely driven out.
• Brian Hook: We Won't Permit Iran to Lebanonize Yemen
Al Arabiya: United States Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook told Al Arabiya English that Washington "would save no effort to prevent Iran from Lebanonizing Yemen". He added in an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya English that US is committed to the efforts led by UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and that they have called to an urgent end to the fighting in Yemen.
• Pompeo Urges Gulf States to Resolve Dispute, Unite Against Iran |
The Wall Street Journal: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reinforced support for the U.S. relationship with Qatar on Sunday while promising to renew attempts to resolve a standoff between the tiny Gulf nation and its rivals led by Saudi Arabia that has complicated the Trump administration's efforts to isolate Iran. During a visit to Doha as a part of a nine-country Middle East tour, Mr. Pompeo signed a memorandum of understanding with his Qatari counterpart on expanding Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which hosts the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East with some 13,000 troops from the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.
Atlantic Council: The United States is determined to drive Iran's oil exports down to zero in its effort to maximize economic pressure and force Tehran back to the negotiating table to discuss a "comprehensive deal" in place of the nuclear agreement US President Donald J. Trump abandoned last year, Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran and senior policy advisor to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said at the Atlantic Council's 2019 Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi on January 12.
• Iran Is Preparing A Launch. but Is It For A Space Rocket Or A Missile?
NPR: About once a day, little satellites zip over northern Iran and snap a few pictures of the Imam Khomeini Space Center. The satellites, operated by a company in San Francisco called Planet, haven't recorded much - until recently. "We're seeing all kinds of activity," says Jeffrey Lewis, a scholar at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, who is analysing the images as they come in. In recent days, he's noticed cars and trucks moving around the site.
• British-Iranian Woman's Health Deteriorates In Iran Prison
Associated Press: The head of the Thomson Reuters Foundation said Monday she's "sincerely worried" about a detained British-Iranian national going on hunger strike to protest her treatment in the Islamic Republic. Monique Villa said in a statement that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's "health is already at its poorest" and that she hasn't received access to serious medical care after discovering lumps in her breasts. "This is slow and cruel torture, yet one more injustice inflicted upon her," Villa said.
• Family Of Navy Veteran Held In Iran Says He Had Valid Visa And Is No Spy
New York Times: The family of Michael R. White, a Navy veteran imprisoned in Iran half a year ago, said Friday that he had travelled there with a valid visa to visit a female friend, rejecting any suggestion that he might have been engaged in espionage. "We want to be very clear - Michael spent much of his time in the Navy as a cook and recently worked as a commercial janitor - he is not now, nor has he ever been a spy," the family said in a statement.
• No US Assistance on Syria Reconstruction Until Iran Is Out: Top US Diplomat
CNBC: Top U.S. diplomats are stridently pledging the Trump administration's determination to drive Iran out of Syria, even as it prepares to withdraw its military presence. Doubling down on the Trump's administration's anti-Iran message, the senior policy advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Brian Hook, vowed no U.S. reconstruction assistance to the war-torn country until Iranian forces and its proxies are completely driven out.
• Brian Hook: We Won't Permit Iran to Lebanonize Yemen
Al Arabiya: United States Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook told Al Arabiya English that Washington "would save no effort to prevent Iran from Lebanonizing Yemen". He added in an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya English that US is committed to the efforts led by UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and that they have called to an urgent end to the fighting in Yemen.
• Pompeo Urges Gulf States to Resolve Dispute, Unite Against Iran |
The Wall Street Journal: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reinforced support for the U.S. relationship with Qatar on Sunday while promising to renew attempts to resolve a standoff between the tiny Gulf nation and its rivals led by Saudi Arabia that has complicated the Trump administration's efforts to isolate Iran. During a visit to Doha as a part of a nine-country Middle East tour, Mr. Pompeo signed a memorandum of understanding with his Qatari counterpart on expanding Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which hosts the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East with some 13,000 troops from the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.
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