Eye on Iran: Iran Fires Another Missile from Launch Pad, US Official Says
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Iran Fires Another Missile from Launch Pad, US Official Says
Iran launched another missile Wednesday from the same launch pad east of Tehran where it conducted a previous ballistic missile test last month, an official told Fox News. The Semnan launch pad was the same as the one where Fox News reported exclusively on Tuesday, satellite photos showed Iran had placed a Safir rocket poised to put a satellite into space before it was taken off the launcher. The reason Iran scrubbed the previous launch is not yet known. The missile used in Wednesday's launch was a short-range Mersad surface-to-air missile, which impacted 35 miles away, according to a U.S. official. This latest test comes less than a week after the U.S. placed new sanctions on Iran. There's been a flurry of activity at the Semnan launch pad, located about 140 miles east of Tehran, in recent weeks, officials have told Fox News.
U.S. Weighs Terror Label on Iran Revolutionary Guard, Muslim Brotherhood | The Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration is considering executive actions that would designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the Muslim Brotherhood, an influential movement across the Middle East, as terrorist organizations, people familiar with the discussions said. A decision to target either of the two groups would mark a significant expansion of U.S. sanctions against Islamist organizations in the Middle East. They would join al Qaeda, Islamic State and dozens of other militant organizations currently on the U.S. terrorism list. The White House is likely to move more quickly on the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which could be less of a challenge to implement, one person familiar with the discussions said. It was unclear when a decision would be made on either designation... Taking the step of designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization would give the U.S. further latitude to target the IRGC’s finances and companies, which would affect large sectors of Iran’s economy.
Iranians Once Shrugged Off Trump’s Bluster. Now They’re Worried. | The New York Times
It was supposed to be a regular weekly debate night for a group that meets to discuss movies in a middle-class Tehran neighborhood. But on this particular evening, the 20 or so housewives, intellectuals and students in the group wanted to talk about only one thing: a possibly violent conflict between Iran and the United States. Months had passed since members of the group had been so worked up, recalled one of the participants, Fariba Sameni, a 57-year-old translator. No one wanted to discuss film. Younger members were convinced that President Trump would inevitably bomb Iran. “They shouted that their futures would be destroyed,” Ms. Sameni said. The group’s leader, a professor, argued that Mr. Trump, with his background as a businessman, would ultimately make a deal with Iran. The professor’s argument was unconvincing, Ms. Sameni said. “When I went home, I felt anxious and worried,” she said, “as if something really bad is about to happen.” ... Iran’s defiance of the United States has been a pillar of foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the ideology of independence from world powers is widely embraced even by Iranians who do not like their government’s politically repressive behavior. But some question whether this ideology can sometimes undermine national interests. “How about not test-firing a missile,” Ms. Sameni said. “Maybe that would reduce tensions.”
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Burn an American Flag? Some Iranians Are Saying No | The New York Times
urning American flags and homemade effigies of American presidents is a cherished tradition among Iranian hard-liners, but as the country prepares for the anniversary on Friday of the 1979 revolution that established the Islamic republic, others want to thank Americans instead. President Trump’s executive order barring travelers from Iran and six other largely Muslim countries has prompted a backlash in the United States, including challenges in federal court, and Iranians have taken notice. “We thank Americans who stood up for the seven countries blocked from entering the US by the new travel ban,” stated one popular Iranian Twitter account, with the hashtag #LoveBeyondFlags... Many hard-liners responded online by criticizing those who had urged an end to flag-burning.
Tour Companies Cancel Some Iran Trips | The New York Times
Operators that organize trips to Iran have begun canceling tours citing difficulty in securing visas for American travelers in the wake of President Trump’s executive order barring citizens from seven majority Muslim countries from entering the United States for 90 days. Though the order, issued on Jan. 27, has been blocked in a federal court, and citizens of the affected countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen may resume travel, Americans may not be able to enter Iran as tourists for the next few months. Wilderness Travel, which is based in Berkeley, Calif., canceled its April and May departures after its Iranian counterparts advised the company that Iran is presently not issuing travel visas to Americans... SmarTours, based in New York, had begun selling its first trips to Iran in January. It has canceled its initial July departure, but it hopes to begin monthly departures in August.
CONGRESSIONAL ACTION
Feinstein: Trump Is ‘Right’ to Put Iran on Notice | Washington Free Beacon
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) told Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" that President Donald Trump was "right" to put Iran on notice after it conducted a missile test. Iran tested a ballistic missile last Sunday in what many observers believe is a violation of United Nations Security Council 2231, which enshrined the Iran nuclear deal as international law and calls on the Islamic Republic to refrain from such launches. The Trump administration responded on Friday by imposing new sanctions on Tehran and articulating that it will respond to Iranian aggression. Wallace asked Feinstein whether President Trump had an appropriate response to Iran's actions. "I think he is right in this. I think Iran in wrong in this," Feinstein said. "Let me be very clear. These are not nuclear ballistic missiles; they are conventional ballistic missiles, but Iran has a lot of them–more than anyone else in that area." Feinstein said it is "dangerous" for Iran to test missiles now and that "it should not have happened."
PROXY WARS
Washington Turns Attention to Yemen, Pleasing Gulf States | The Wall Street Journal
Yemen’s simmering war is getting fresh attention from Washington—to the delight of Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, hopeful that President Donald Trump will choose the conflict as his first battleground to roll back Iran. Saudi Arabia and other monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council have been fighting in Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to restore President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, ousted that year by the pro-Iranian Houthi militia... The Obama administration and European allies, while assisting Saudi-led troops with some intelligence and weapons, also pushed for a political settlement with the Houthis and viewed the group as a legitimate political faction. The Trump administration, so far, has taken a much harder line. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn last week described the Houthis as one of Iran’s “proxy terrorist groups” even though the militia has not been officially designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.
BUSINESS RISK
Oil Major Total Says Final Investment Decision on Iran Project Depends on Renewal of U.S. Waivers | Reuters
French oil major Total plans to make a final investment decision on a $2 billion gas project in Iran by the summer, but the decision hinges on the renewal of U.S. sanctions waivers, the company's chief executive said on Thursday. Total was the first Western energy company to sign a major deal with Tehran since the lifting of international sanctions against Iran. Its project aims to develop South Pars 11, which is part of the world's largest gas field. Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said South Pars 11 will be among a couple of projects to be approved by the company to start by the summer, if nothing is modified with regards to the sanctions.
SANCTIONS ENFORCEMENT
Defense, Intelligence Officials Caution White House on Terrorist Designation for Iran's Revolutionary Guard | The Washington Post
Senior defense and intelligence officials have cautioned the White House that a proposal to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization could endanger U.S. troops in Iraq and the overall fight against the Islamic State, and would be an unprecedented use of a law that was not designed to sanction government institutions. Defense and intelligence concerns have been expressed at the highest levels over the past several days, as the White House was preparing to roll out an executive order dealing with both Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Muslim Brotherhood, according to administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive matter. The order would direct the State Department — in charge of the designation process — to move toward declaring them terrorist organizations... White House enthusiasm for the directives was high at the end of last week, with plans to release them as soon as Tuesday. But since then, national security agencies, still smarting from the White House’s failure to vet last month’s immigration order with them before President Trump signed it, have been concerned about a repeat of the criticism and chaos that ensued... Designating the Revolutionary Guard — a force of more than 100,000 that fields an army, navy and air force, in addition to wielding significant economic power — would mark the first time the Foreign Terrorist Organizations law has been applied to an official government institution.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
Iran's Missile Tests Reveal Weaknesses of UN Security Council Resolution | UANI Advisory Board Member Olli Heinonen in FDD
Iran’s latest missile test on January 29 received a swift response, as warranted. The United Nations Security Council called for an emergency session, and on February 2, the U.S. Treasury imposed new sanctions on persons and entities involved with Tehran’s ballistic missile program. Iran responded equally swiftly. An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander proclaimed that a separate, large-scale military missile exercise underway in Semnan province was intended to “showcase the power of Iran’s revolution and to dismiss the sanctions.” Officials in Iran have vowed to continue testing ballistic missiles and dismissed claims that its program is a cover to develop long-range projectiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The United States and its allies should demand that Tehran uphold its obligation not to conduct tests of nuclear-capable ballistic or cruise missiles... If testing of ballistic and cruise missiles is covered by Resolution 2231, those provisions should be implemented and Iran held to account. If the resolution’s provisions do not cover such activities, the Security Council should issue a new resolution explicitly banning them and ensure that there are long-term restrictions in place for the time when Iran is capable of producing fissile material in just a matter of weeks.
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Tue, 02/21/2017 - 21:57