Research & Commentary Results

An analysis article in Iran’s Fars News Agency suggests that Tehran may be open to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to “supplement” the Iran nuclear deal if such negotiations are to start near the year 2025. But it stressed that Tehran will under no circumstances hold talks about the country’s missile program. “At present, the French proposal seeks to address two issues: the sunset provision about Iran’s nuclear activities after 2025 and the country’s missile program.

Iran today unveiled a new ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometer and capable of carrying multiple warheads, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported today.

Qais al-Khazali, the leader of Iran-backed Iraqi militia group Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, has accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of executing an “Israeli project” by dividing Iraq and warned that his forces will not allow it to happen. “The enemies of Imam Hussein raised the flag of the homosexuals in Erbil at the wishes of the Israelis,” he said in a speech to his followers.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

A prominent Iranian-sponsored Iraqi militia group has rejected a U.N.-sponsored initiative on the Iraqi Kurdistan and warned that Erbil’s plan to hold an independence referendum is a “foreign conspiracy” that will destabilize Iraq. Earlier today, the political bureau of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a unit within Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.), issued a statement calling for unity in Iraq and rejected a U.N.-sponsored initiative on Kurdistan.

On Thursday, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the operational chief commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, announced the start of the first phase of a military operation to liberate the town of Hawija in the disputed province of Kirkuk. The P.M.F. vice-chairman explained that the offensive began from four main fronts: the Iraqi security forces and P.M.F. paramilitary troops will first capture al-Shirqat, a Sunni Arab town in Salahuddin Province, and then advance into Hawija.

American troops and U.S.-backed Syrian rebel forces plan to vacate the strategic military base in al-Tanf region along Syria’s border with Iraq and Jordan, Iran’s Fars News Agency reports. Quoting an unidentified military official, F.N.A. adds that the U.S. military is seeking to hand over the base to a rebel group. It also referred to a report in a Jordanian newspaper which claimed the U.S. has decided to leave al-Tanf but has not yet set a withdrawal timetable.

Iranian leaders have reacted angrily to President Donald Trump’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly and threatened retaliatory measures if Washington leaves the Iran nuclear deal and imposes new sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Under pressure from hardliners in Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani delivered a fiery rebuke of Trump’s anti-Iran remarks and warned that Tehran would respond decisively if Washington violates the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the nuclear accord Iran signed with world powers in July 2015.

Iranian leaders today rejected France’s President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that the Iran nuclear accord could be supplemented to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and Iranian nuclear program after 2025.

A prominent voice for Iran’s hardliners has denounced the 2015 nuclear deal and demanded that the Islamic Republic emulate North Korea in resisting American pressure and threats. “They say the J.C.P.O.A. is a good model,” said Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “Yes, it certainly is so but for the Americans not for Iran,” he added. “Iran only granted concessions in J.C.P.O.A. A J.C.P.O.A.

Iran continues to inflame the civil war in Yemen by smuggling illicit weapons and technology to Houthi rebels, the top American admiral in the Middle East has said. In an interview with the New York Times, Vice Adm. Kevin M. Donegan pointed out that Tehran is also enabling Yemeni rebels to fire more advanced missiles into neighboring Saudi Arabia and target allied ships in the Red Sea. “These types of weapons did not exist in Yemen before the conflict,” Donegan said.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the operational chief commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.), traveled to the disputed province of Kirkuk on Monday and met with Abu Reza al-Najjar, the military commander of the northern zone in the province. According to Iran’s Fars News Agency, the Kurdish Regional Government last Wednesday deployed two battalions of Peshmerga forces and PKK militants to Kirkuk to assist Kurdish forces in the region against a perceived threat from P.M.F.

As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was leaving Tehran to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave a fiery speech accusing Washington of reneging on the terms of the nuclear deal and pursuing hostile policies toward the Islamic Republic. Speaking to a gathering of law enforcement students in Tehran, Khamenei stressed that the Islamic Republic will not be bullied by the United States and will react forcefully to any “wrongdoing” by Washington with regards to the nuclear issue.

Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology announced today that the country has three satellites that are ready to be launched in the near future. “We have had talks with the Ministry of Defense as required and we will launch the satellites whenever they say,” Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi told reporters in Tehran.

At the 61st General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.) in Vienna earlier today, the top Iranian nuclear official warned that U.S. “hostile” actions are undermining the nuclear agreement Tehran signed with world powers two years ago.