The International Monetary Fund issued a report highlighting weaknesses in the Iranian economy stemming from both government mismanagement and economic sanctions. The IMF estimates inflation in Iran dropped from a 45 percent annualized rate in July 2013 to below 30 percent in December 2013, and predicts that Iran's economy will grow by one to two percent this year. The study was the IMF's first on-the-ground examination of the Iranian economy in about three years.
News Briefs
February 3, 2014
Iran displayed two satellites developed by researchers at Malek Ashtar University. "Tadbir" (Wisdom) is an improved version of the "Navid-e Elm-o-Sanat" (The Promise of Science and Industry) satellite, with upgraded imagery resolution. The "Khalij-e-Fars" (Persian Gulf) satellite supports secure wireless communications.
-- Iranian Student News Agency
January 29, 2014
A three-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency conducted a "managed inspection" of Iran's Gchine uranium mine near the city of Bandar Abbas. The visit was one of six steps Iran agreed to under a November 2013 agreement with the Agency. The IAEA last visited the site in 2005.
-- Reuters
January 28, 2014
Bank of Moscow, run by Russian-government owned VTB Bank, has agreed to pay a $9.5 million fine for violating U.S. financial sanctions against Iran. The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control penalized Bank of Moscow for authorizing 69 financial transfers, worth roughly $41 million, for a Russian subsidiary of Iran's Bank Melli between 2008 and 2009.
-- RIA Novosti
January 23, 2014
Clearstream Banking SA, a subsidiary of Deutsche Borse, has agreed to pay $152 million to settle the U.S. Treasury Department's charges that it transferred Iranian government interests in securities from the United States to Iran.
-- Associated Press
January 10, 2014
Mozaffar Khazaee (also known as Arash Khazaie), a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport on January 9th while attempting to fly to Tehran. Khazaee was charged with allegedly transporting, transmitting and transferring "goods obtained by theft, conversion or fraud." U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security agents intercepted documents, including technical manuals, specification sheets, and other materials, related to the U.S. Air Force's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and jet engines. Khazaee had attempted to ship the materials from Connecticut to Hamadan, Iran, via Long Beach, California. He allegedly stole the documents from his employer, a U.S. defense contractor working on the F-35 joint strike force project.
-- Bloomberg News
December 14, 2013
Iran successfully launched and returned a monkey into space for the second time aboard the "Pazhuhesh" explorer. The liquid-fueled rocket traveled 120 km into space as scientists tracked the vehicle's gas combination and recorded the monkey's vital signs. The rocket safely returned to Earth after a 15 minute voyage.
-- Islamic Republic News Agency
December 11, 2013
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been fined $100 million for violating international sanctions against Iran and other countries by removing codes that would have identified payments involving those destinations. RBS reached the settlement with New York State’s Department of Financial Services, the Federal Reserve, and the Treasury Department. Regulators in New York alleged that the bank facilitated over 3,500 transactions, totaling as much as $500 million, between 2002 and 2011.
-- The Guardian
November 28, 2013
The European Union's highest court struck down sanctions against the Iranian energy company Fulmen Group and its chairman, Fereydoun Mahmoudian, ruling that there was no evidence to prove the firm's involvement in nuclear proliferation. However, the court did uphold restrictions on the state-controlled Kala Naft oil equipment company as part of the E.U.'s sanctions against the Iranian energy sector.
-- The Wall Street Journal
November 24, 2013
In an interim deal reached with the P5+1, Iran agrees to suspend uranium enrichment above 5 percent and to limit other parts of its nuclear program, in exchange for temporary relief from some economic sanctions. The agreement is designed as the first step toward a comprehensive accord to be completed in six months. It bars Iran from installing or operating new centrifuges and requires Iran to convert its current stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium. Tehran will also refrain from installing major components at the Arak heavy water reactor and will allow international inspectors to conduct daily monitoring at nuclear facilities. In exchange, Iran will be given access to up to $7 billion in frozen assets and receive relief from certain trade sanctions, which will be reinstated if Iran breaches the deal's terms.
-- Washington Post