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TEHRAN, Iran A hard-line candidate challenged Iranian President Hassan Rouhani over the nuclear deal with world powers during a televised debate Friday, while the incumbent accused hard-liners of attempting to derail the accord.

The second of three debates before Iran's May 19 presidential election saw Rouhani accuse elements within Iran's Revolutionary Guard of trying to derail the deal with a missile launch.

Rouhani remains the favorite in the election as every Iranian president since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself took the presidency in 1981 has won re-election.

However, hard-liners hope Ebrahim Raisi, appointed in 2016 by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as head of Imam Reza charity foundation, which owns a huge business conglomerate and endowments across the country, can unseat Rouhani.

Raisi said the nuclear deal had not resulted in tangible benefits for ordinary Iranians. "Dear people! Our question is whether the wheels of economy are turning. Businessmen: are you able to do business?" he said.

For his part, Rouhani referred to a March 2016 ballistic missile launch by the paramilitary Guard in which the missile was marked with Hebrew graffiti reading "Israel must be wiped out." He said the act was intended to disrupt the deal.

Rouhani also said his rivals were hoping U.S. President Donald Trump would tear up the agreement.

"When Trump took office you all celebrated saying he would tear up the deal," he said.

Iran signed the 2015 nuclear deal with the U.S. and other world powers, which saw Iran accept curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for relief from crippling international sanctions.

Trump's administration appears to have taken an aggressive stance on Iran, disparaging the landmark deal and accusing Iran of fomenting violence and terrorism throughout the Middle East, charges that Iran denies.

Read more:
Iran's presidential candidates spar over nuclear deal yield - Fox News

DUBAI Iran sees $55 per barrel as a suitable price for crude oil, and believes that OPEC and non-OPEC producers are likely to extend output curbs to support prices, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying on Saturday.

"The price range of $55 per barrel would be suitable for oil," Zanganeh said, according to the oil ministry's news website SHANA.

Oil prices closed higher on Friday, rebounding from five-month lows, following positive U.S. jobs data and assurances by Saudi Arabia that Russia is ready to join OPEC in extending supply cuts to reduce a persistent glut.

Brent futures gained 72 cents, or 1.5 percent, to settle at $49.10 a barrel.

Zanganeh said members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have signaled that they are leaning towards extending the supply cuts, SHANA reported.

"I think non-OPEC oil producers will also second (an) extension of the plan," said Zanganeh, speaking on the sidelines of an energy fair in Tehran.

OPEC and non-OPEC ministers are due to meet on May 25.

They appear likely to extend their agreement to limit supplies beyond its June expiry to help clear a glut, three OPEC delegates said on Thursday, downplaying the chance of additional steps such as a bigger cut.

(Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Keith Weir)

WASHINGTON U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Saturday that threats of retaliatory trade actions from Canadian officials "are inappropriate" and will not influence final U.S. import duty determinations on Canadian softwood lumber.

PALO ALTO San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams on Saturday reiterated his view that the U.S. central bank should begin trimming its massive balance sheet later this year, in part so the Fed has more tools at the ready when the next recession hits.

YOKOHAMA, Japan Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will announce his choice for the next central bank governor soon, giving his administration its biggest chance yet to shape the fast-growing country's economic future, the finance secretary said on Sunday.

Continue reading here:
Iran says $55 oil price suitable, sees supply cut extension - Reuters

Citing a POLITICO investigation, Republican leaders of the House oversight committee said Friday they have launched a sweeping investigation into whether the Obama administration, in trying to win support for a nuclear deal and prisoner swap with Tehran last year, undermined an ambitious U.S. counterproliferation effort to thwart Iranian weapons trafficking networks.

Also in response to the POLITICO investigation, 13 Republican senators have demanded answers about whether the Obama administration jeopardized U.S. national security as a result of its protracted top-secret negotiations with Tehran, and then misled the American public when disclosing the terms of the two deals in January 2016.

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The House and Senate lawmakers cited various portions of an April 24 report by POLITICO that found that the Obama administration, through actions in some cases and inaction in others, significantly hampered a much-touted federal law enforcement effort known as the National Counterproliferation Initiative at a time when it was making unprecedented headway in thwarting Irans illicit weapons proliferation activities.

The POLITICO investigation also reported that during their public rollout of the two deals, Obama and other key administration officials downplayed the threat posed by the Iranian traffickers they were freeing as part of the swap that also freed five Americans held by Iran. The Obama administration officials focused their public comments only on seven Iranian-born men in the U.S. whose convictions or prosecutions were being dropped as part of the swap, and described them as civilians involved in mere sanctions-related offenses but not charged with terrorism or any violent offenses.

In reality, many of the men and 14 other Iranian fugitives not named publicly by the top Obama officials had been accused or convicted of charges stemming from their alleged involvement in clandestine networks supplying Iran with parts and technology for its weapons, ballistic missile and nuclear programs, POLITICO reported. The Justice Department itself had characterized many of them as threats to national security, the investigation found.

In their May 5 letter, Republican Reps. Jason Chaffetz and Ron DeSantis asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to produce an exhaustive volume of Justice Department documents that they said would help the Committee in better understanding these issues. They sent a nearly identical letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson demanding all related documents in the State Departments possession, and gave both officials until May 19 to provide one copy of them to committee Republicans, and another to committee Democrats. A Democratic Committee staffer said the minority side wasn't asked to sign the letter or given an advance copy of it before it went out.

Chaffetz and DeSantis, who were unavailable for comment, also directed Sessions and Tillerson to please also make your staff available for a briefing on these issues no later than May 25. They characterized the committees interest in following up on the POLITICO report as an investigation in its role as the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives.

The two committee leaders demanded all documents relating to the January 16, 2016, prisoner exchange agreement with Iran, including the negotiations that preceded it. They also asked for any and all information about the 21 Iranian-born men for whom the U.S. dropped convictions or charges and international arrest warrants, and information about whether State and Justice department officials delayed or blocked efforts to lure Iranian suspects to U.S.-friendly countries so they could be arrested, citing details in the POLITICO report.

But the committee leaders also made it clear that their investigation would delve into much broader topics. For instance, they asked for information not only about all individuals and entities whose cases or convictions were dropped, but also any for whom any enforcement action was modified or cancelled in connection with the [swap], and indicate the action taken and how it was modified or cancelled.

And they asked for information about any Iranian national or entity investigated for, charged with, or convicted of engaging in violations of export controls, terrorism, arms sales, nonproliferation, money laundering, or other financial crimes, from January 1, 2013, to the present.

Chaffetz, (R-Utah) is chairman of the committee, formally titled the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. DeSantis, (R-Fla.) is chairman of its Subcommittee on National Security. A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment on the scope of the investigation, except to confirm that it was underway.

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Kevin Lewis, a spokesman for President Obama, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Justice and State department officials also had no immediate comment in response to the letters. But they said last week in response to a separate demand for information from the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that they would comply with the request.

Late Thursday, 13 senators led by Republican David Perdue of Georgia also wrote to Sessions, Tillerson and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to say they were concerned about issues raised in the POLITICO report, and to ask for a broad array of documents.

We write to request your assistance in providing Congress with more information regarding the Obama Administrations decision to drop the charges or convictions in the 21 cases, the senators wrote, quoting from the POLITICO article. Based on new reports, we are concerned that President Obama and certain previous administration officials intentionally suppressed the seriousness of the charges against these individuals in order to garner public support for the nuclear deal with Iran, and we fear that these individuals may still pose a threat to the national security of the United States.

The senators letter, released Friday, was co-signed by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), James Inhofe (R-OK), John Boozman (R-AK), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Tim Scott (R-SC) and Luther Strange (R-Ala.).

The senators, in their letter, included a list of questions they wanted answered, including whether the 21 men whose cases were dropped were still engaging in illicit activities on behalf of the Iranian government.

The senators also asked the top Trump officials if they could provide Congress with more information about whether any investigations and prosecutions were derailed by the Obama administration. Also, they asked, What counter-proliferation activities are we currently pursuing in order to combat Irans attempts to illicitly procure sanctioned goods?

Given that much of this information was previously kept from the American public, we respectfully request a report or an in-person briefing to Congress on this investigation at your earliest convenience, the senators wrote.

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House oversight panel to investigate Iran deal - POLITICO - Politico

Forbes

Iran's Presidential Election Will Render A Weaker Regime Forbes The so-called presidential election that is scheduled for May 19th in Iran is in far contrast to what is witnessed in today's democratic countries. Polls in Iran under the mullahs' regime are neither free nor fair, and the upcoming presidential ... What Does the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Want Out of Iran's Upcoming Elections?The Diplomat all 10 news articles »

See more here:
Iran's Presidential Election Will Render A Weaker Regime - Forbes

President Trump is looking for ways to put a squeeze on North Korea that will persuade it to give up nuclear weapons and the missiles to carry them. He hopes China will change its policy of tolerating Pyongyangs military programs in order to avoid a crisis on its border.

But unnamed Pentagon officials say there is another collaborator with North Korea that appears to be helping it survive: Iran. If the evidence they cite in interviews with Fox News is corroborated, Mr. Trump will have to face the need to deal with two problems at once: North Koreas active development of nuclear weapons and missiles and Irans use of North Korean technology to improve its own military might.

According to a report by Fox, Pentagon officials say Iran recently tried to launch a cruise missile from a small submarine designed by North Korea and has repeatedly tested liquid-fueled intermediate range missiles of a North Korean design.

The officials pointed out that only Iran and North Korea operate so-called Yono-class midget submarines that run on battery power in shallow waters and are very difficult to detect. Iran operates them in the Persian Gulf, where they are a threat to U.S. Navy ships.

Also, last summer Iran flight-tested a missile identical in design to North Koreas Musudan intermediate range missile.

According to Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, the evidence of collaboration between North Korea and Iran is ample and of long standing.

The very first missiles we saw in Iran were simply copies of North Korean missiles, he told Fox News. Over the years, weve seen photographs of North Korean and Iranian officials in each others countries, and weve seen all kinds of common hardware.

It has been 15 years since President George W. Bush stirred controversy by labeling Iraq, Iran and North Korea as members of an Axis of Evil. Iraq is no longer developing or pretending to develop weapons of mass destruction, but both Iran and North Korea have had another 15 years in which to pursue weapons to threaten their regions and the United States. For more than half of that time, during President Barack Obamas administration, official U.S. policy sought to woo Iran into a more peaceful posture.

But Irans continued aggressive behavior in the Persian Gulf and its interventions in the Middle East, as well as its continued efforts to develop missiles, show no sign of abating. And North Korea has solidified its nuclear forces and is working on designing solid-fuel missiles that are much more easily concealed and dangerous than its current, liquid-fueled missile arsenal, as well as nuclear warheads that are small enough for missile delivery.

True, President Obama got Tehran to agree to reduce its stock of enriched uranium and put its uranium enrichment program under international inspection for at least 10 years in exchange for lifting sanctions and freeing up impounded assets. But the agreement is a weak one if Tehran is simply paying Pyongyang to do the design work for missiles and warheads it will be able to field rapidly when the agreement runs it course.

And if Iran is paying North Korea for help, then the sanctions that President Trump is counting on to force change in North Korea are also being fatally undermined.

See the article here:
The Iran-North Korea link - Charleston Post Courier