The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Iran

  • Iran to announce partial withdrawal from nuclear deal — Reports

    Iranian President Hassan Rowhani plans to declare his country’s “partial termination” of the nuclear deal with major powers on Wednesday, according to two Iranian news agencies.

    The Isna and Tasnim agencies reported on Monday that the date was chosen to coincide with the one-year anniversary of U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 pact.

    Rowhani is expected to explain his steps in a live interview with state broadcaster IRIB on Wednesday evening, according to reports that have not yet been confirmed by the president’s office.

    The nuclear deal was meant to prevent Tehran from building nuclear weapons in return for sanctions relief.

    But under the Trump administration, the U.S. exited the deal and revived sanctions, including an embargo against Iran’s economically important oil sector.

    So far, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna has confirmed in a series of reports that Iran has upheld its side of the bargain by significantly reducing its nuclear activities.

    The other powers that are still involved in the pact – Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the EU – have been trying to keep Tehran from abandoning the pact in spite the renewed U.S. punitive measures.

    Officials from Iran and the nuclear deal’s other remaining parties are scheduled to meet in Brussels on Tuesday.

    The discussion is expected to focus on an agreed barter mechanism that is meant to circumvent U.S. sanctions by avoiding direct money flows between Iranian and European companies that do business with each other. (dpa/NAN)

  • U.S. counter-intelligence officer charged with spying for Iran

    Iran was able to flip a U.S. counter-intelligence agent and used her to spy on former colleagues, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.

    According to the unsealed indictment, Monica Witt is accused of having defected to Iran in 2013.

    She allegedly revealed to Tehran the existence of a “highly classified intelligence collection programme’’ and the real identity of a U.S. intelligence officer.

    She is also alleged to have worked with Iran on research to target other U.S. officers.

    Witt was indicted along with four Iranian hackers, who the U.S. says worked on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

    The four used cyber tactics to target eight U.S. government agents “all of whom at one time worked or interacted with the main suspect.

    “It is a sad day for America when one of its citizens betrays our country,’’ said John Demers, an Assistant Attorney-General for National Security.

    “Espionage by past or present members of the intelligence community poses a significant threat to our country and a heightened danger to their former colleagues,” he said.

    The indictment says Witt was part of the Air Force until 2008 and then worked as a contractor for the Defence Department for two years.

    She first went to Iran in 2012 to attend an IRGC conference, and was housed by the government when she returned a year later.

    The cyber activities against her former colleagues took place in 2014 and 2015.

    Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against the New Horizon Organisation, which hosted the 2012 conference.

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    “New Horizon hosts international conferences that have provided Iranian intelligence officers a platform to recruit and collect damaging information from attendees, while propagating anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial,” Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin said.

    Similarly, Iran can proceed in its legal bid to recover frozen assets seized by the U.S., the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled on Wednesday.

    The highest court of the UN rejected a U.S. claim that it did not have the jurisdiction to rule on parts of the case, paving the way for the trial to continue.

    In 2016, the U.S. seized bank deposits worth about two billion dollars as compensation for the victims of terrorist attacks.

    Iran then filed a lawsuit with the court in The Hague, saying the action contravened a 1955 friendship agreement between the two states.

    In October 2018, the U.S. was ordered by the UN court to provisionally lift some of its newly imposed sanctions against Iran.

    The related proceedings have not yet begun.

    Iran also claimed these sanctions contravened the 1955 friendship agreement. The U.S. has since pulled out of the agreement. (dpa/NAN)

  • INAC Expo: 27 countries, others showcase culture

    27 countries and states  were  in Abuja to display  their culture,  arts and crafts at the 11th edition of International Arts and Crafts (INAC) Expo.

    Among the participating countries were China, Hungary, Gambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Bangladesh, Chad, India, Iran, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Sudan and many other countries.

    The impressive event was also an opportunity for many unemployed Nigerians to acquire free vocational training in arts and craft. The event  was declared open by the publisher of the Abuja-based Leadership newspapers, Mr. Sam Ndah-Isaiah. Also present at the opening ceremony were the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Aisha Abubakar; the Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji  Lai Mohammed, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs. Grace Gekpe; and a representative of the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris.

    Delivering a paper titled: Networking for Arts and Crafts to the World: Prospects and Challenges, the Chief Executive Officer of Le Look Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Chinwe Ezenwa,  called on Nigerians to embrace the nation’s art and craft industry as a commercial venture.

    She said African art and craft industry is currently enjoying huge international acceptability and has the prospects of not only alleviating poverty, but also creating jobs. Ezenwa said  at the time she started the production of Afrocentric crafts as beauty items, European designers were the order of the day in Nigeria. But this has changed with the current huge demand for African crafts.

    Her words: “At the time we started, the prospects were not there then, as our products were competing against famous and infamous international labels. Our women    and men were preoccupied in wearing European and Western outfits. Over time, as we approached a new millennium, things began to change. Afrobeat through Fela, Ebenezer Obey, King Sunny Ade and other famous musicians started making waves outside the Nigerian shores.

    “We, on our part, invested in research to understand how and what was accepted internationally. We embraced training; we attended fairs locally and internationally. We became visible and could no longer be ignored by our own Nigerians as the Made in Nigeria campaign became the order of the day.

    “Then came the boom-Made in Nigeria, Made in Africa, the ankara revolution that we had already keyed into a long time ago and waited for the opportunity.”

    Ezenwa said Nigeria has never had the opportunity that it is having currently to expand its arts and craft to all parts of the world.

    In his welcome address, the Director- General of the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun Runsewe, said even though the arts of craft expo  was in its 11th edition, he saw the need to drastically improve on the expo by not limiting it to the just Africa.

    He said:“This flagship programme of the NCAC was conceived in 2008 as a platform for craft men and women all over Africa and beyond to make contact, interact, showcase their arts and crafts products , exchange ideas and skills, network for investment partners.

    “I am delighted to note that this exposition has lived up to the expectation of bringing about regional integration, continental unity as well as unveiling the economic opportunities in the arts and crafts sector.”

    Runsewe said the decision to change the expo’s name from African Festival of Arts and Culture (AFAC) Expo to International Arts and Crafts (INAC) Expo was taken last year in view of the growing popularity and the need to reflect the global relevance and outlook of the programme. He said having consolidated itself as at the regional level, it became imperative to launch into the global arena so that Nigerian craft men could network with the world.

    Speaking on the expo and their participation, the head  of the Bangladesh  from their country’s embassy in  Nigeria, Mr. Yamin Khan, said:  “The main aim of our participation is that we don’t want to stagnate in a certain place. We want to expand our traditional craft. We want to expand our traditional craft to everywhere.”

    Asked if he was satisfied with the organization and level of participation at the expo, he said: “Of course, there are many booths here. We can share with each other. It is through this kind of programme that we can share with each other.  What we are having, they can pick from us and what we are not having, we can pick from them.  This is the way to go. This is the way to show your craft and your products. This way, it will help you to expand your business all over the world.”

    Some of the participating countries took time out to celebrate their day and showcase their culture. Among these countries was the People’s Republic of China which put up a beautiful show to the admiration and satisfaction of visitors and participants.

  • US, Iran feud may boost Nigeria’s forex earnings 

    The United States/ Iran face-off has resulted in oil sanction, which in the long run may improve the earnings of many OPEC member states, including Nigeria, writes AKINOLA AJIBADE

    Penultimate week, the United States (US) imposed a sanction on the oil-rich state of Iran, after weeks of threats and permutations on what would be the likely consequence of such action on the oil rich country. Iran is reputed to be the third largest member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the global oil industry.

    Fuelled by alleged failure of the Iranian government to respect the earlier agreements reached with the US and other world powers on the issue of producing nuclear energy for growth, the sanction as declared by the US government on November 4, this year, has generated discussion, among  stakeholders in the value chain.

    The reason being that the sanction coincided with when OPEC was duly guided to monitor oil  supply quota allocated to countries that are its members, while at the sametime, placed a ceiling on the barrels of oil produced daily by some members, including Nigeria.

    Coupled with this is the fact that the prices of crude oil are rebounding at the international market for the first time since the global oil market was hit by recession and its subsequent fall in the prices of crude oil. This development, which has delighted governments, as they believe that the development, if its continues, will enable them meet their fiscal responsibilities.

    For instance, price of Brent crude recorded a four-year high in late September, this year, as it closed at $86.74 per barrel, a development that was greeted with excitements, globally.

    Though the price dropped later to $84.75, per barrel, following the decision of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to lower its forecasts, among other issues, the rise in price of crude was not an issue to be forgotten soon.

    Days after, the price rose to $85 per barrel early October as the US continued its push to sanction Iran.

    A university don, Prof  Wunmi Iledare, said the sanction is flexible and as such will not have immediate effects on Nigeria.

    According to him, the US imposed the sanction on Iran with some measures of flexibility by granting waivers to countries that buy crude from Iran.

    He said China, India and five other countries are allowed to buy some barrels of oil from Iran, adding that the development suggested that the US did not outrightly ban those  countries from buying Iranian crude.

    Iledare said: “By allowing some countries to buy crude from Iran, however, small it may be, the US government has reduced the pressures, which the sanction would have on the global oil market and members of OPEC. “This means that those countries that the pressures or shocks, which the sanction is going to have on Iran and other members of the cartel, if it was outright sanction, has reduced. Based on this, the decision by the US to sanction Iran is not going to impact negatively on Nigeria.”

    He said the increase in shortage and price of crude oil is expected to occur in the event that the sanction continued, adding that the issue is going to impact tremendously on the earnings of Nigeria, which relies on revenues from oil to sustain itself.

    “If the ban on Iranian crude persists, obviously, it is a blessing to oil producing countries, especially Nigeria, which relies on crude oil exports for more than 70 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings. The sanction is a gain to some countries and a loss to others. While the countries buying the crude oil are going to pay more for the product, the oil producing countries are expected to make more money in the process,“ he said.

    Iledare said Nigeria and Iran are members of OPEC, adding that unfavourable developments in one member state needed not cause major problem in other state or country.

    He said Iran is a country, which is always resilient, as it moves from one crisis to another, adding that the issue may have little effect on its partners.

    “ Obviously, there would be protests in Iran if the sanction continues, because Iranians would take to the streets to express their feelings.

    “This may take the form of vandalism of oil installation, a development, which would affect production of crude and further cause shortage of the product. This is good for Nigeria that is eyeing increase in the price of crude to finance its fiscal responsibilities,“ he said.

    Also, the former  President, International Association of Energy Economist ( IAEA), Prof Adeola Akinnisibu, said many barrels of Iranian crude would still get to the market, as long as the US allows some countries to buy the product.

    Akinnisibu said the issue is a good development for Nigeria, because the shocks on Brent crude, which is the country’s crude oil, would not be much.

    He urged the Federal Government to put in place measures to improve oil production, adding that OPEC will soon  exempt Nigeria from crude oil cut imposed on the country and Libya since last year.

    According to him, developments in the global oil market have presented opportunities for Nigeria to plan ahead by exploring potentials in areas considered green fields for improved oil production.

  • Facebook removes fake accounts tied to Iran

    Facebook Inc said on Friday it had deleted more accounts originating in Iran that attracted no fewer than one million U.S. and British followers.

    It said this was its latest effort to combat disinformation activity on its platform.

    The social media company removed 82 pages, groups and accounts on Facebook and Instagram that represented themselves as being from American or British citizens, then posted on “politically-charged’’ topics.

    Topics such as race relations, opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump and immigration, Facebook’s head of cyber-security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said in a blog post.

    In total, the removed accounts attracted more than one million followers.

    “The Iran-linked posts were amplified through less than 100 dollars in advertising on Facebook and Instagram,’’ Facebook said.

    While the accounts originated in Iran, it was unclear if they were linked to the Tehran government, according to Facebook, which shared the information with researchers, other technology companies and the British and U.S. governments.

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    The action follows takedowns of hundreds of accounts linked to Iranian propaganda efforts by Facebook, Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.O).

    Social media companies have increasingly targeted foreign interference on their platforms.

    This follows criticism that they did not do enough to detect, halt and disclose Russian efforts to use their platforms to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential race.

    Iran and Russia have denied allegations that they have used social media platforms to launch disinformation campaigns.

  • Gunmen attack Iran military parade, kill 24

    GUNMEN disguised as soldiers attacked an annual Iranian military parade yesterday in the country’s oil-rich southwest, killing at least 24 people.

    Fifty-three others were wounded in what is believed to be the bloodiest assault on the country in recent years.

    The gunmen sprayed gunfire into a crowd of marching Revolutionary Guardsmen, bystanders and government officials watching from a nearby riser at the Ahvaz parade.

    Security agencies are suspecting the region’s Arab separatists as the brains behind the attack.

    The separatists had previously only attacked unguarded oil pipelines under the cover of darkness.

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused regional countries and their “U.S. masters,” of having a hand in the assault.

    He claimed the gunmen were “terrorists recruited, trained armed and paid” by foreign powers. “Iran will respond swiftly and decisively in defence of Iranian lives,” Zarif wrote on Twitter.

    The attack came as rows of Revolutionary Guardsmen marched down Ahvaz’s Quds, or Jerusalem  Boulevard, which like many other places around the country saw an annual parade marking the start of Iran’s long 1980s war with Iraq.

    Images captured by state television showed journalists and onlookers turn to look toward the first shots, then the rows of marchers broke as soldiers and civilians sought cover under sustained gunfire.

    “Oh God! Go go go! Lie down! Lie down!” one man screamed as a woman fled with her baby.

    In the aftermath, paramedics tended to the wounded as soldiers, some bloodied in their dress uniforms, helped their comrades to ambulances.

    The state-run IRNA news agency said the attack killed 24 people and wounded 53, citing “knowledgeable sources” without elaborating. It said gunmen wore Guard uniforms and targeted a riser where military and police commanders were sitting.

    “We suddenly realized that some armed people wearing fake military outfits started attacking the comrades from behind (the stage) and then opened fire on women and children,” an unnamed wounded soldier told state TV. “They were just aimlessly shooting around and did not have a specific target.”

    Details about the attack remained unclear immediately afterward. The semi-official Fars news agency, which is close to the Guard, meanwhile said two gunmen on a motorcycle wearing khaki uniforms carried out the attack.

    Khuzestan Gov. Gholamreza Shariati told IRNA that two gunmen were killed and two others were arrested.

    State TV hours later reported that all four gunmen had been killed, with three dying during the attack and one later succumbing to his wounds at a hospital.

  • 21 killed in Iran road accident

    At least 21 people were killed in a collision between a passenger bus and a trailer carrying flammable materials in the Central Iranian Province of Isfahan, ISNA News Agency reported on Tuesday.

    The passenger bus was heading from Tehran to Kerman city in the southern part of the country, when the accident took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Javad Dorostkar from Isfahan police office told ISNA.

    19 passengers of the bus were killed on the spot, and two others died later in the hospital, said Dorostkar.

    Also, 25 people were injured as the huge fire engulfed the two vehicles.

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    The rescue operators of the Red Crescent of Isfahn province have moved the injured to the hospitals in Dorud city, the report said.

    The bus hit the rear end of the tanker and further details about the cause of accident would be announced after the due investigations.

    In July 13, people were killed in a similar accident in Iran’ western Kurdistan province.

  • Iran tells EU to speed up efforts to save nuclear deal

    Iran on Monday urged the European Union (EU) to accelerate its efforts to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers that U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned in May, as French oil group Total formally pulled out a major gas project.

    Efforts by the remaining signatories – EU members Britain, France and Germany plus China and Russia – to avoid its collapse are struggling as Washington has said any firms dealing with Teheran will be barred from doing business in the U.S.

    “Europeans and other signatories of the deal have been trying to save the deal … but the process has been slow.
    “It should be accelerated,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

    “Iran relies mainly on its own capabilities to overcome America’s new sanctions,” he told a news conference broadcast on state TV.
    European states have been scrambling to ensure Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal, which Trump said was “deeply flawed”.

    Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran in August, targeting its trade in gold and other precious metals, purchases of U.S. dollars and its car industry.

    The European powers, China and Russia say they will do more to encourage their businesses to remain engaged with Iran.
    But the threat of U.S. sanctions has prompted many major companies to pull out of Iran.
    Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said France’s Total has formally left a contract to develop Iran’s South Pars Gas project.

    “The process to replace (Total) with another company is underway,” he was quoted as saying by state TV.

    Carmakers PSA, Renault and Daimler are also among those to suspend or drop plans to invest in Iran along with Deutsche Bahn and Deutsche Telekom

    Working to maintain financial channels with Tehran and facilitate Iran’s oil exports, the EU has taken steps to counter the renewed U.S. sanctions, including forbidding EU citizens from complying with them or related court rulings.

    Washington has said Iran’s only chance of avoiding the sanctions would be to accept Trump’s offer to negotiate a tougher nuclear deal.

    Iranian officials have rejected the offer.

    The U. S. will impose tougher sanctions on Iran in November which will target Iran’s oil sale and banking sector.

    Iran’s rial currency has lost about half of its value since April because of a weak economy, financial difficulties at local banks and heavy demand for dollars among Iranians who fear the effects of sanctions.

    Under the 2015 deal, most international sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on the country’s nuclear programme.

  • You are sanctions addict: Iran tells United States

    Iran yesterday gave its most explicit rejection yet of talks with the United States, accusing Washington of an “addiction to sanctions” over its latest spat with Turkey.

    The US re-imposed harsh sanctions on Iran on Tuesday following its May withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement, dealing a heavy blow to the already troubled economy.

    US President Donald Trump has offered talks on a “more comprehensive deal” but Iran has baulked at negotiating under the pressure of sanctions and has instead leant on its increasingly close ties with fellow US sanctions targets Turkey and Russia.

    Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was asked by the conservative Tasnim news agency whether there was any plan to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

    “No, there will be no meeting,” was the blunt response from Zarif.

    He said there were also no plans for a meeting with US officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next month, which both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Trump are due to attend.

    “On Trump’s recent proposal (of talks), our official stance was announced by the president and by us. Americans are not honest and their addiction to sanctions does not allow any negotiation to take place,” Zarif told Tasnim.

    It was Iran’s most explicit rejection of talks to date, after much speculation that economic pressure would force its leaders back to the table with Washington or at least to engage in backroom discussions in New York.

    Earlier yesterday, Zarif waded into the mounting row between Turkey and the United States.

    “Trump’s jubilation in inflicting economic hardship on its NATO ally Turkey is shameful,” he wrote on Twitter.

    “The US has to rehabilitate its addiction to sanctions (and) bullying or entire world will unite – beyond verbal condemnations – to force it to,” he warned.

    “We’ve stood with neighbours before, and will again now.”

  • U.S. will not stop Iran oil exports

    U.S. plan to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero will not succeed, Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Zarif was cited as saying by an Iranian newspaper on Wednesday.

    U.S. officials have said in recent weeks that they aim to pressure countries to stop buying oil from Iran in a bid to force Tehran to halt its nuclear and missile programmes and involvement in regional conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

    “If the Americans want to keep this simplistic and impossible idea in their minds they should also know its consequences,” Zarif told the Iran newspaper.

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    “They can’t think that Iran won’t export oil and others will export.”

    President Hassan Rouhani hinted in July that Iran could block the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, if the U.S. attempted to stop the Islamic Republic’s oil exports.
    U.S. President Donald Trump responded by noting that Iran could face serious consequences if it threatened the U.S.
    “The Americans have assembled a war room against Iran,” Zarif said.

    “We can’t get drawn into a confrontation with America by falling into this war room trap and playing on a battlefield.”

    Iran sanctions are ‘the most biting ever imposed’: Trump

    In July, Trump offered to meet with Iran’s leaders. Zarif said that Oman and Switzerland have acted as mediators in talks with America in the past but that there are currently no direct or indirect talks being held with the U.S.