The Wall Street Journal
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
Tehran demands waivers from a new law on visa entries to the U.S.
President Obama has staked much of his foreign-policy legacy on the Iran nuclear deal, but does that deal effectively give the Iranians veto power over legislation by the U.S. Congress? That’s the question at the center of Tehran’s “outrage” at a security law passed by Congress after the Paris and San Bernardino attacks.
By Angus McDowall
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia widened its rift with Iran on Monday, saying it would end air traffic and trade links with the Islamic republic and demanding that Tehran must “act like a normal country” before it would restore severed diplomatic relations.
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters in an interview that Tehran was responsible for rising tensions after the kingdom executed Shi’ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, describing him as a terrorist.
Al Arabiya News
Saudi Arabia announced late Sunday that it would officially sever ties with Iran after having two of its diplomatic posts attacked in the Islamic republic.
Saudi’s Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir, speaking in an address aired by Al Arabiya News Channel, said Iran’s diplomatic mission staff and related structures in Saudi Arabia had been given 48 hours to leave.
Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi Arabia accused Iran of sponsoring terror and undermining regional stability, as a diplomatic spat between both countries escalated Saturday over the kingdom’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.
“The Iranian regime is the last regime in the world that could accuse others of supporting terrorism, considering that (Iran) is a state that sponsors terror, and is condemned by the United Nations and many countries,” said a foreign ministry spokesman in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
BY JEFF MASON
HONOLULU (Reuters) – The White House expects Iran to finish work needed to trigger implementation of an international nuclear deal in the coming weeks, but Washington needs more time to prepare sanctions over its ballistic missile program, a U.S. official said on Saturday.
Iran Focus
London, 30 Dec – Iranian Revolutionary Guards ships launched rockets near the US aircraft-carrier Harry s. Truman and other coalition warships on 26 December, according to a US official who called that action “unsafe”. It said Iran gave very short notice before the tests.
Iran Focus
London, 29 Dec – Deaths from a swine flu outbreak in Iran have more than tripled in the past three weeks to at least 112, Agence France-Presse said Monday, quoting Iranian state media.
Mohammad Mehdi Gouya, head of the Health Ministry’s communicable diseases department, was quoted as saying the outbreak, which began in November, was under control and likely to diminish in coming days.
Iran Focus
Paris, 24 Dec – Muslims and Christians can rely on their “common values” to stand up to extremists who “pervert their religions”, Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi said in a Christmas message on Thursday.
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
Iran’s status an energy superpower has been a blessing and curse. From the days of the Anglo Iranian oil company to the coup against Mossadegh in 1953, it is impossible to remove oil from the political equation in Iran. It should come as no surprise that Iranian oil has factored in extensively in Western negotiations with the regime in Tehran.
Iran Focus
London, 20 Dec – A group of 35 Members of Parliament and Senators from Spain have signed a statement expressing their “deep concern” over “the terrible situation of human rights in Iran,” it was reported over the weekend.
