Venezuela Begins Imports Of Iranian Heavy Crude For Refining

According to a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, Indiana’s Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee, Jim Banks, has asked the administration for explanation about the visa to Parviz Parastui (Parastouei), saying he has an "overt connection" to the IRGC and the former commander of its Qods (Quds) force Ghasem Soleimani.

“Parastui has been directly involved in IRGC funded propaganda projects, promoting a hardliner ideology that seeks to shape Iran’s culture to the agenda of the Iranian regime”, the letter read.

During a film screening event in Los Angeles late last month that was organized by the far-left anti-Israel group Code Pink, Parastouei was caught on camera during a row with an Iranian dissident.

Before the event, Sam Rajabi, a former judoka champion who now lives in the US, insisted that Parastui explain his relationship with Soleimani, while filming him on his mobile phone. Parastoueire refused to respond, and the encounter ended in Parastui knocking the mobile out of Rajabi's hand. The video taken by Rajabi went viral on social media with hundreds commenting in support of or against Parastui.

Code Pink introduces itself as a women-led grassroots organization "working to end US wars and militarism" and supporter of peace and human rights initiatives. Code Pink condemns US sanctions on Iran.

Alabama Republican senator Tommy Tuberville told Iran International on Monday, “Iran and a lot of (other) people are going to have problems because of this (Russian war)”, noting that “Iranians are not going to be the only ones that will have problems with wheat and corn and things like that. It’s going to be a tough time for a lot of people”.

Reacting to how the Islamic Republic is handling the wheat shortages that has sent bread and pasta prices soaring and prompted popular protests, Tuberville said, "You can do a lot of things to people, but you'd better feed them. You need to feed your people and take care of them, or obviously that could be a huge problem”.

“The wheat shortage is a problem for all of us. We’re starting to see shelves empty and it’s going to be a tough time with this (Ukraine war) going on, because 30 to 35 percent of the world’s grain comes from that area - Russia and Ukraine”, he said, warning that “So that’s serious, going to get very serious”.

Security forces in Iran are on high alert to prevent unrest over rising bread prices, as unrest has been reported in Khuzestan Province in the past few days.

The Moscow Times, an independent Dutch-based paper, said on Friday that several military units have been relocated from bases across Syria to three unnamed airports at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, from where they will be transferred to Ukraine.

No Russian official or state media has yet confirmed the transfer.

The current number of the Russian forces in Syria is not known but according to the data by the Russian Defense Ministry, about 63 thousand military personnel were stationed in the country in 2015-2018.

Russia has been a staunch military backer of Syria and started to support Syrian President Bashar Assad with airstrikes in 2015 as government forces were struggling in the Syrian civil war.

Assad visited Tehran on Sunday and received praise by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and promises of stronger cooperation.

Although the real purpose of the unannounced visit was not clear, it could strengthen perceptions of Iran's meddling in the region, if its military role expands in Syria in the wake of Russia's entanglement in Ukraine, and now the withdrawal of its forces.

Aoun Diab told the state-funded al-Iraqiya television that the ministry had forwarded a dossier to the government after Iran had failed to respond after requests to discuss its diverting six rivers flowing into Iraq. Diab criticized what he called a lack of cooperation and drew an unfavorable comparison with Turkey given a delegation from Ankara was due to arrive for a field study.

Iraqi officials have for months talked of filing a case with the International Court of Justice, while Iranian officials have suggested Iraq’s chronic water challenge – the United Nations in 2017 ranked it the world’s fifth most vulnerable country to water shortage and food availability – results more from Turkish dams.

In April, Minister of Water Resources Mahdi Rashid al-Hamdani accused Tehran of ignoring Iraqi water rights “even if its dams are filled with water."

Both the Tigris and Euphrates, Iraq’s most important sources of water, originate in Turkey, although tributaries come from Syria and Iran.

Across the Middle East, water shortages have fed tensions between countries and within countries. Iranian officials have warned of a further fall this year in precipitation.

The head of the Planning and Budget Organization Massoud Mirkazemi told state television that the government is in the process of “reforming the subsidy system…and we are close to final decisions.” He repeated the official argument that the government wants the subsidy to go to the people instead being wasted in different ways.

His remarks signal the implementation of a long-suspected plan to make hydrocarbon fuels and electricity more expensive. Iran has the world’s second cheapest gasoline after Venezuela and the cheapest electricity for more than four decades.

One gallon of gasoline is around 22 cents and citizens are said to be using too much electricity and natural gas which are similarly offered at extremely low rates.

However, inflation has stood above 40 percent in the past 12 months and food prices have risen even faster. As the people’s purchasing power has declined, many expect another round of protests. An increase in energy prices might be too much for the population to bear.

Mirkazemi said that in addition to energy subsidies, the government is providing another $20 billion to keep food and medication affordable.

As it tries to save financial resources after four years of tough United States’ sanctions, the government might be risking a popular backlash.