Iran News Round Up - June 14, 2018

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al Luaibi said that logistical difficulties delayed the start of an oil swap agreement between Iran and Iraq. Luaibi added that the oil swap will commence once Iran and Iraq resolve the technical issues but did not specify what technical issues were preventing the oil swap. Luaibi’s comments contradict an Iranian Oil Ministry announcement on June 3 that claimed that Iran and Iraq began to transport crude oil from Kirkuk, Iraqi Kurdistan to Iran for refinement. (Reuters) (E)

An unidentified source from the Lebanese Embassy in Tehran stated that Iranians traveling to and from Beirut International Airport in Lebanon will no longer receive entry and exit stamps in their passports starting on June 14. The unnamed official noted that the directive is intended to help “ease travel” and to “increase the comfort of Iranian travelers.” Iranians are still required to receive a visa upon their arrival into Lebanon. This directive follows a heavily-praised Hezbollah victory in the May 6 Lebanese parliamentary elections. (ISNA)

President Hassan Rouhani met and discussed regional events with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Qingdao, China on June 9 - 10 to participate in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Rouhani and Jinping discussed the expansion of banking relations and transportation ties between Tehran and Beijing. Rouhani and Putin both noted their satisfaction at the strong economic and defense cooperation between Tehran and Moscow. Putin also expressed his support for Iran gaining full-member status in the SCO. Rouhani also met separately with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and Mongolian President Khaltmaagin Battulga during his trip to China. (President.ir) (President.ir) (President.ir) (IRNA)

Iranian media reported that IRGC fighter Khalil Takhti Nejad reportedly died in the southwestern Syrian city of Daraa on June 3. Takhti was a member of the Imam Sajjad Hormozgan Provincial Unit and commanded operations for an unnamed base in Daraa, approximately 20 miles from Israel’s northern border with Syria. It is unclear how Takhti Nejad died in Syria although at least one Iranian source attributed his death to ISIS. Khalil Takhti Nejad’s death follows reports of a joint Russian-Israeli agreement over the withdrawal of Iranian and Iranian-backed forces from southwestern Syria on June 1. Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Ali Shamkhani denied these reports and stated that “Iranian advisors are in no way present in Syria’s southern region,” during an exclusive interview with Shargh newspaper on June 1. (Mashregh News) (ABNA)

IRGC Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami suggested that the May 9 rocket strikes on the Golan Heights were Iran’s response to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) April 8 strike on the pro-Syrian regime T-4 Airbase in Homs, Homs Governorate, Syria that resulted in the deaths of seven Iranian fighters. Salami made his comments before the commencement of Friday prayers in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province on June 8 during Quds Day celebrations. Iranian officials did not publicly comment or claim responsibility for the strikes following reports that the IRGC Quds Force conducted the strikes. The Iranian-supported strike on the Golan Heights immediately followed the U.S. May 8 withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). (Tasnim News Agency)

The Rouhani administration announced the designation of several large parks and stadiums in Tehran City as “suitable” public assembly sites during a cabinet meeting from June 10. Suitable protest sites in Tehran City include Azadi Stadium and the north side of the Iranian Parliament building. The cabinet also decided that city councils across Iran are to designate one to two sites as possible protest locations. The protest locations are required to be easily accessible for protesters and in a location that local citizens can hear protester grievances, among other requirements. Cabinet officials approved the resolution for the designation of protest sites but the government has yet to implement the order. (President.ir) (Radio Farda)

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) head Ali Akbar Salehi announced plans to construct a centrifuge assembly center in Natanz, Esfahan Province on June 5. Salehi later noted that the AEOI aims to complete the assembly center within the next month during a separate statement on June 6. Salehi stipulated that the AEOI will not begin assembling new centrifuges but rather that the AEOI is “preparing the infrastructure and requirements [to assemble centrifuges.]” The Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant is one of the AEOI’s primary uranium enrichment sites and the sole location for active centrifuges permitted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Salehi stated that Iran’s uranium enrichment capabilities will still comply with the terms of the JCPOA. Salehi’s statement follows Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s threat to increase Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity to levels far beyond the terms of the JCPOA on June 4. (Defa Press) (Defa Press)

IRGC Ground Force fighters clashed with militants “guided from northern Iraq” in three separate engagements in northwestern Iran near the Iraqi Kurdistan border from June 8 - 10. IRGC Ground Forces likely engaged with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-affiliated Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) fighters. The IRGC Ground Forces Hamzeh Seyyed ol Shohada (Northwestern) Operational Base announced that its fighters engaged and neutralized “terrorists groups” near Oshnaviyeh, West Azerbaijan Province on June 8. IRGC Ground Forces Commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour later announced on June 10 that the IRGC Ground Forces again clashed with two groups of militants in Oshnaviyeh and Sarvabad, Kurdistan Province on June 9 and 10. Unidentified militants previously killed two Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) Border Guard officials near an LEF Border Guard outpost near Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province along the Iraqi Kurdistan border on June 6. (Tasnim News Agency) (Tasnim News Agency) (Defa Press)

Mike Saidi explains how the IRGC continues to maintain a military presence in southwestern Syria near the Israeli border and how regime officials are comfortable lying about it in “Ahem: Iran still has troops in Syria on Israel’s northern border.”