Iran To Revamp Venezuela’s Largest Refinery Soon: Reuters

Clint Watts, the general manager of Microsoft's Digital Threat Analysis Center, said Friday that the hackers, who called themselves "Holy Souls," were from Iranian cybersecurity firm Emennet Pasargad.

Emennet Pasargad was the employer of two Iranians, Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi and Sajjad Kashian, who were indicted by the United States Justice Department in November 2021.

They allegedly conducted a cyber campaign "to intimidate and influence American voters, and otherwise undermine voter confidence and sow discord" during the 2020 US presidential election.

In early January Holy Souls announced they had obtained the personal information of more than 200,000 Charlie Hebdo customers and published a sample of the data as proof.

It came after the magazine published a series of cartoons that negatively depicted Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The caricatures were part of a media campaign that Charlie Hebdo said was intended to support anti-government protests in Iran that swept the country following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in mid-September.

Iran publicly vowed an "effective response" to the "insulting" cartoons, and summoned the French envoy in Tehran, while also ending activities of the French Institute of Research in Iran and saying it was re-evaluating France's cultural activities in the country.

The so-called ‘privatization’ plan announced earlier this week to be carried out over the next two years is meant to augment the country’s budget. It involves the liquidation of billions of dollars of assets belonging to the government and its affiliated entities including banks under the supervision of a seven-man team with extraordinary powers and immunity from prosecution.

The country’s ruler Ali Khamenei has approved the plan, which is not a real privatization scheme. Well-connected and powerful buyers who are often secretive funds and endowments run by powerful officials are lined up to gobble up the prize.

First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber who is one of the members of the supervision team claimed Thursday that the “immunity” of the team has been misunderstood. “Immunity applies to decisions, not infringement of the law,” he said. His explanation, however, has done very little to reassure the public.

Many former officials and the media have expressed deep concerns over the plan. Mohammad Reza Salehi, a logistics chief of former President Hassan Rouhani’s office, in a speech at a meeting of former officials earlier this week argued that the so-called privatization would give rise to massive corruption, degenerate the regime from within and eventually cause its collapse. 

Reza Gheibi, an economic journalist told Iran International that the liquidation of assets would not help the government to overcome the economic crisis it is grappling with. “In the best-case scenario, it may balance some of the budget deficit,” he said, adding that transferring these assets to individuals and entities and companies connected with Khamenei’s office, who would be the likely beneficiaries, would give them control over the economy.

The new owners will use these assets to preserve the regime but if the regime is toppled, they will form a class of oligarchs with the power to control the economy, Gheibi said. “It’s a win-win game for the leader’s office and those close to its circle of power.”

In a tweet Wednesday, Iran's exiled prince, Reza Pahlavi, accused Khamenei of plundering the country’s national wealth “greedily” with the so-called privatization plan. “Plunderers should be aware that legal immunity will not help them, and the plundered assets of the Iranian nation should [one day] be restored to the treasury of the nation,” he wrote.

Right before the ‘privatization’ was announced, Mokhber misleadingly claimed that the former royal family had “stolen” the crown jewels when the Shah and his family left before the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The monarchy’s crowns and other crown jewels have been held in the Treasury of National Jewels in Tehran in the past four decades but have not been seen by the public for two years and his accusation worried many that these had been sold or stolen.

The claim, however, was disproved when minister of cultural heritage Ezzatollah Zarghami, published photos of his visit to the treasury with the crowns on display.

In a speech Thursday, head of the Mostazafan Foundation (Bonyad Mostazafan), Parviz Fattah, referred to other invaluable properties of the royals , including expensive art, a 500,000-piece stamp collection, bejeweled swords and daggers, and a unique vehicle collection including a gold-adorned vehicles belonging the to the Shah’s father, King Reza Pahlavi. Fattah’s mention of these assets, which have also remained in Iran, has worried some over the possibility that these invaluable national assets are also going under the hammer under the plan.

According to a report by Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, the deputy head of the Customs Administration has recently said that ships are stranded at ports – mainly at Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni (Imam Khomeini port) in the Khuzestan province and Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province -- waiting to unload their cargo. 

The official said that the goods, a large part of which are food and animal feed, cannot be unloaded also due to a lack of permits necessary for them to be cleared. Some of the essential goods need three or four permits from the Ministry of Health, Standard organization and Plant Protection Organization, which oversees the quarantine processes. 

He said that about 1,800 to 2,000 trucks are being loaded every day and transferred from Imam Khomeini port, but the number of the trucks does not seem to be enough to avoid the blockage. 

But the main impediment for clearance of these goods has been lack of foreign currency for a long time. Importers need to receive US dollars or other foreign currencies from the government to pay suppliers before the ships would anchor at the ports and discharge their cargos. Iran is currently in a crisis for not having enough foreign currency and the US dollar has reached a historic high. One dollar can buy 450,000 Iranian rials, while five years ago the exchange rate was around 35,000.

The ships have to declare their goods first, and then the customs administration should remove the obstacles in the way of their clearance within seven days, but the process is not working smoothly. But the suppliers of the goods await payment first before ordering the ships to dock.

Since the government has removed the subsidy in the form of cheap dollars for the essential goods, many importers face difficulties providing the needed foreign currency. 

In January, Iran’s judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said tens of ships have arrived in territorial waters of the country, but the Islamic Republic cannot unload them therefore the country must pay fines for the delay in discharging cargos. The delay in payments is the main reason that has disrupted flows of goods into the country.

Most ships should receive full payment right before they dock at a port to unload their cargo. If payment is not arranged, the ships wait off the coast. “Some of these ships are paid $25,000-65,000 per day as demurrage,” noted Ejei.

Some of these goods, which are not unloaded, added Ejei, “are damaged due to long waits by the ships, but these goods are necessary for the country,” he underlined.

Iran's currency has dropped by 30 percent since September and both the government and private importers face a financial crunch.

Food is exempt from the US sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, but the impact of the sanctions on Iran's financial system have created complex payment arrangements with international companies.

Reuters reported on December 21, that dozens of merchant ships with grains and sugar are stuck outside Iranian ports after weeks of delays in payment.

In a press release issued February 2, the IOC said a meeting was held with the head of Iran’s national Olympics committee where “intensive discussions took place,” and questions asked about the Iranian NOC protecting athletes and ensuring there is no discrimination “vis-à-vis any other athletes.”

The issue of discrimination refers to the Islamic Republic government forbidding athletes to compete against their Israeli peers, often by feigning sickness or injury and throwing games.

Many Iranian athletes were arrested during recent antigovernment protests and face serious charges, often brought by security and intelligence outfits without a fair chance of defense.

The IOC also raised the issue of government rules for athletes to provide financial guarantees when they are sent to compete abroad. More than 30 Iranian athletes have defected in the past four years and the government wants to penalize those who might choose to stay abroad.

“The IOC President stressed the importance of non-discrimination in every aspect and insisted on the full observance of the Olympic Charter by the NOC,” the international committee said in its release.

The Iranian side “made clear commitments to abide by the rules and the Olympic Charter, IOC said. However, sports is under the direct control of the government, and in many instances, the Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian Olympics committee would be hardly able to deliver its promises.

According to a readout of the call by the White House, Biden reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Iraq and consulted on regional developments with the Iraqi premier.

“The President reaffirmed the US commitment to the Strategic Framework Agreement with Iraq and commended the Prime Minister’s efforts to strengthen Iraq’s sovereignty and independence,” read the statement.

They also discussed al-Sudani’s economic agenda and plans to ensure that Iraq’s economy is delivering for the Iraqi people, policies the US is prepared to fully endorse, especially to curb the influence of the Islamic Republic in the country.

Biden welcomed the upcoming visit by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and an accompanying delegation next week to Washington to further discuss these programs.

The US president took the opportunity of King Abdullah of Jordan’s visit to the White House to invite him to join the call, in which King Abdullah stressed Jordan’s support for Iraq, including through joint strategic infrastructure projects.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud visited Iraq, affirming that economic relations with Iraq were developing significantly. Bin Farhan made the statement during a joint press conference with Hussein.

Earlier in the week, French President Emmanuel Macron met with Iraq Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, in which the two signed a set of strategic agreements meant to boost Iraq’s economic cooperation with the European country. Macron launched the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership in 2021, which aims at strengthening regional stability by involving Iraq and enhancing its role.