Iran News Round Up - June 22, 2017

IRGC Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ramezan Sharif said that future Iranian missile strikes “[depends] on the enemies’ behavior.” Sharif claimed the IRGC raid in Syria’s northeastern Deir ez Zour Province sent a resounding message “to terrorists and their regional and international backers.” (Press TV) (E)

A senior Qom Province official stated that security forces arrested “the first terrorist team in Qom.” He added that because of Qom’s unique position as a religious center, “special emphasis, in terms of security, must be placed on Qom.” (ISNA)

France’s Total announced its plans to invest $1 billion into the South Pars Gas Field. Total will own 50.1% of the shares, China’s National Petroleum Corporation will own 30% of the shares, and Iran’s Petropars will own 19.9%. (Tasnim News Agency)

President Hassan Rouhani highlighted that “the actions of the IRGC in preparing the missile and its launch… were not the decision of one person or military pillar. Rather these types of decisions are adopted by the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).” Rouhani indicated that the SNSC “authorized” Iran’s armed forces “to do [even] more” than the June 18 missile strikes in response to the June 7 terror attacks in Tehran. (ir) (E) (Tasnim News Agency)

Two unnamed Pakistani officials stated that a Pakistani Air Force jet shot down an unmanned Iranian surveillance drone in the Panjgur district of Balochistan Province in the last week. No Iranian officials appear to have confirmed the incident. (Radio Farda) (E)

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi in Tehran on June 20.

• On working with the U.S.: Khamenei stated “one must be cautious with the Americans and must not trust them at all because the U.S. is against the independence, identity, and unity of Iraq.”Khamenei warned that the Americans oppose the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMUs) because “they want Iraq to become an important actor of power for themselves.”
• “Allowing the entrance of American forces into Iraq with the excuse of education and other problems should be avoided.”“The Americans and some of its subsidiary countries in the region are not searching for the destruction and eradication of ISIS because ISIS came about with their support and money. They prefer an ISIS which is in their fist, [in order] to stay inside Iraq.”
• On the Kurdish question: Khamenei reiterated that Iran is “against the separation of a portion of Iraq” and criticized the “panderers” of this issue to be “opponents of the freedom and identity of Iraq.”
• On Iraq-Iran relations: Khamenei pushed for “some of the administrative problems [that] exist in the way of expanding relations be crossed and the level of cooperations where itis possible, must be promoted.” (Leader.ir) (E)  (Mehr News Agency)

IRGC Political Deputy Brig. Gen. Rasoul Sanaei Rad denied that Saudi Arabia arrested three IRGC members from a boat approaching Saudi Arabia’s offshore Marjan oilfield on June 17. Sanaei Rad claimed the arrested individuals were “merely fishermen” and that Saudi Arabia was fabricating the arrests “for psychological warfare purposes” against Iran. (Tasnim News Agency)