Iran Burning Off 17.5bln Cubic Meters Of Natural Gas Per Year – World Bank

The Justice Department announced Friday that in addition to the rifle and machinegun ammunition, the Navy also seized thousands of proximity fuses for rocket-propelled grenades and thousands of pounds of propellent, disrupting “a major operation by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to smuggle weapons of war into the hands” of Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

Both the US and British navies have seized weapons and ammunition in recent months enroute to Yemen in Gulf of Oman or the Arabian Sea.

Iran has been rendering military and financial support to the Houthis who overthrew Yemen’s government in 2014 and have continued to fight a Saudi-led coalition that backs the internationally recognized government.

“The Justice Department is now seeking the forfeiture of those weapons, including over one million rounds of ammunition and thousands of proximity fuses for rocket-propelled grenades,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland was quoted as saying in the statement. “The Justice Department will be relentless in holding accountable those who break our laws and threaten our national security.”

The Biden Administration has adopted a tougher stance toward the Iranian regime since September after long-running nuclear talks reached a deadlock in what the US says was unreasonable demands by Tehran.

A deadly crackdown on protests by the regime that killed more than 500 civilians and delivery of killer drones to Russia that have been used against civilian targets, have also played a role in shaping Washington’s tougher position.

“This forfeiture action prevents ammunition and dangerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands and highlights the importance of our investigative work to deny criminal and terrorist networks their instruments of violence and destruction,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “I am extremely proud of the critical investigative role played by Homeland Security Investigations alongside our law enforcement and Department of Defense partners in a collaborative whole-of-government effort.”

It is not clear what practical difference the forfeiture would make in this case after the weapons were seized from an un-flagged vessel with no proper documentation to carry weapons in international waters. With no clear owner of the goods, there would be no legal party to claim the cargo.

“This forfeiture action aims to stop in its tracks yet another attempt by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies to fuel violence and conflict around the globe,” US Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia said. “The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will use all our tools, including our jurisdiction to seize and forfeit assets, located abroad, to disrupt the IRGC’s efforts to sow discord.”

Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two main foreign parties to the conflict in Yemen, sign a deal March 10 to restore diplomatic ties. Analysts believe that Riyadh’s main goal for the agreement is to end the conflict and focus on its economic progress.

However, this would take further negotiations and it is not clear to what extent the Iranian regime is willing to compromise, without making more demands, such as economic benefits from any cooperation.

Iran also ships weapons to its allies and militant proxies in Syria and Lebanon. Israel has been conducting air and missile strikes on Iranian warehouses and weapons shipments since 2017, to deny the arming of hostile forces.

Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, called Iran “a regional threat”, raising alarm bells among regime officials who fear its archenemy is using Azerbaijan as a base to launch attacks on the Islamic Republic.

Cohen said, “Israel and Azerbaijan must share the same understanding regarding the Iranian threat. Iran threatens our region, and creates non-stability in the Middle East by supporting and financing terrorism. We should jointly act against Iran. We should not allow Iran to expand its nuclear opportunities.”

In a stark warning, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, said the regime is watching. “It is expected from Azerbaijan's government to stay away from the trap set by enemies of the two countries' relations," he said.

Though Israel has had a diplomatic presence in Azerbaijan since the 90s, the move to open an embassy in Tel Aviv was a major diplomatic coup for Israel, as it further deepens ties with its Muslim neighbors.

”It is evident that the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot remain indifferent to the Zionist regime's plot from the soil of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Kanaani added.

Earlier in the month, Azerbaijan's new ambassador to Israel Mukhtar Mammadov, said his country would not let Israel’s military to use Azerbaijan as a base for a possible attack against Iran, denying previous reports about preparing an airfield to assist Israel during possible attacks on the Islamic Republic.

According to the latest official figures, the annual inflation rate reached 47.7 percent in February-March, while point to point inflation is estimated to be at 64 percent in the same period.

According to Khabar online this level of inflation is unprecedented during the past 50 years, adding that some government officials' wishful thinking about the possibility of reducing inflation to 30 and even 20 percent is a "dream."

Last week, when President Ebrahim Raisi called on government officials to offer their solutions for lowering the inflation rate, former Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati sarcastically said: "Don’t you believe it is a bit too late after 1.5 years in office as President?"

Nonetheless, the new Central Bank Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin promised to lower inflation to 20 to 30 percent but did not say how. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has called the new Iranian year "the year of controlling inflation and boosting production." However, experts say that it is unlikely for any government to be able to bring the inflation rate to the level of a decade ago when it was between 16 to 22 percent.

Inflation began to rise when the United States withdrew from the Obama-era nuclear accord with Iran and imposed crippling sanction in 2018.

Massopud Mirkazemi, the chairman of Iran's Planning and Budget Organization has also said that lowering inflation to 30 percent is feasible. He said this can be done by introducing monetary discipline in all government offices.

Economist Saeed Mesgari told Khabar Online that "the best any government can do is to reduce the current inflation rate by only 10 percent, but I cannot see the will to do that in this government." He added that an inflation rate between 40 to 50 percent will linger in Iran as long as the government refuses to bring about economic reform.

The economy, he said is suffering from accumulated challenges which have brought inflation to a new level.

Meanwhile, Khabar Online wrote in another report that hard-line political figure Yaser Jebraili, and Mohsen Rezaei who happens to be the vice president for economic affairs, have started a move to take over the government's economic team. Apart from Rezaei, the team includes Economy Minister Ehsan Khanduzi, budget chief Mirkazemi and Vice President Mohammad Mokhber.

The report added that the brother of President Ebrahim Raisi’s son-in-law, Meysam Nili has teamed up with Rezaei and Jebraili to pursue this goal. Rezaei who has been sidelined in the government economic team, has always claimed that he has the definite solution for Iran's economic crisis but has never offered a clear plan other than suggesting to make money by taking US soldiers in the Persian Gulf region hostage and demanding ransom before releasing them!

In the absence of government measures to control rising prices, some clerics have come up with rather funny solutions. Davoud Mehdizadegan, a cleric in charge of compiling university textbooks has said that a serious campaign against women who remove their hijab can help solve the country's economic problems!

While the pressure of increasing prices have been mounting, some pro-government officials' suggestion to increase the price of gasoline has caused more worries among the public. Such suggestions come although throughout Iran's modern history, any increase in the price of gasoline has had a dramatic domino effect on other prices and has led to unrest.

According to Aftab News, some experts have even warned the government that there is a limit to price increases that the nation can tolerate. During the past months many commentators in Iran have warned that further price hikes are likely to trigger another round of protests.

In November 2019, a sudden government decision to double the gasoline price led to protests in more than a hundred Iranian cities which left at least 1,500 dead.

Countering Transnational Terrorism Forum (CTTF) was established as a global forum in 2019 during the Trump administration to “improve international awareness and coordination on Iran’s terrorist and other illicit activities,” a State Department statement issued March 30 said.

It did not provide details about the discussions during the conference or a list of participants, but said, “Governments and organizations from around the world, including from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, participated in this session.”

The Biden Administration has toughened its position toward Iran since last September when talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal reached an impasse and Iran launched a deadly crackdown against antigovernment protesters.

The meeting that was organized by the department of State and Justice “discussed how Iran continues to engage in brazen terrorist plotting across the globe, including through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force, and how Iran continues to use a variety of mechanisms to evade international terrorism sanctions. “

Last week militia forces controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched at least two attacks on US forces stationed in Syria, killing one contractor and injuring at least 12 US servicemen.

The statement went on to say that “Participants discussed how Iran continues to engage in brazen terrorist plotting across the globe, including through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force, and how Iran continues to use a variety of mechanisms to evade international terrorism sanctions.”

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has announced the martyrdom of guardsman Milad Haydari, one of the IRGC's military advisers and officers, in the criminal attack of the Zionist regime on the outskirts of Damascus at dawn today," the media quoted an IRGC statement, which also threatened revenge.

Israel carried out an air strike near the Syrian capital early Friday the second attack near Damascus in the last two days.

Citing a military source, state media reported that Israel fired "sprays of missiles" just after midnight.

"Syrian air defenses intercepted the missiles and shot down a number of them," the source said, saying the attack caused some material damage. There are no reports about casualties from independent sources.

The source said the attack hit "a site in the Damascus countryside" but did not provide further details.

There was no immediate statement from Israel, which usually declines to comment on reports of strikes in Syria.

Israel has for years been carrying out attacks against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran's influence has grown since it began supporting President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that began in 2011.

Iranian-backed groups, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, and Iraqi paramilitary groups have entrenched positions around the capital and in the country's north, east and south. Israel has been regularly attacking targets in and around Damascus airport and suburbs.

There have been at least six strikes in March alone, according to a tally by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor with sources on the ground.