• France says Iran’s uranium enrichment plans are close to ‘red line’
Iran’s declaration that it could increase its uranium enrichment capacity if a nuclear deal with world powers falls apart risks sailing close to the “red line”, France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
“It’s always dangerous to flirt with the red line,” French foreign affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Europe 1 radio on Wednesday. Reuters 6 June 2018
• The US warns allies to halt business with Iran
US Treasury official for terrorism and financial intelligence Sigal Mandelker issued a warning Tuesday to governments and private firms to avoid doing business with Iran in breach of the sanctions the US re-imposed after quitting the nuclear deal. They risk being caught in Tehran’s deceptive web and exploited to fund its nefarious actions in the region, she said. “We will hold those doing prohibited business in Iran to account.”
• European Investment Bank rejects EU proposal to work in Iran
The European Investment Bank has “balked” at EU plans to work in Iran after coming under pressure from the United States, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The move comes ahead of a meeting on Wednesday at which European commissioners are expected to encourage the EIB to support investments by European businesses in Iran.
Almost a third of EIB lending is dollar denominated, exposing the bank to potential U.S. sanctions, which will begin to take effect in August.
• US senior official: Iran paying Hezbollah $700 million a year
Iran has multiplied its support for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to a figure exceeding $700 million a year according to US estimates, which is more than three times as much as previous estimates of funding for the group.
Speaking at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington on Tuesday, the US Treasury under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Sigal Mandelker condemned the Iranian government’s behaviour on multiple fronts including funding illicit activities and supporting terrorism.
• Strike Of Workers In District 4 And 6 Of Ahvaz Municipality In Iran
On Tuesday, June 5, 2018, workers in District 2 and 4 of Ahvaz Municipality stopped working and went on strike in protest of the Municipality’s failure to pay their wages.
Last week, about 50 workers of the green space unit of district 3 in Ahvaz Municipality also gathered in front of the municipality building to demand their three months of delayed salary payments.
About 5,000 service workers, who have been active in the municipality’s green space section in Ahvaz, all suffer from a lack of job security and a lack of status change.
• Poultry Workers Protest To Bankrupt Economy And Lack Of Grain For Chickens In Garmsar, Iran
On Tuesday, June 5, 2018, poultry workers in Garmsar, Iran gathered in front of the Governorate in Garmsar in protest to the expensive prices for breeding grain that has led to many bankruptcies in the poultry industry.
The protest in Garmsar is one of the several protests that starting from Saturday, poultry workers had gathered for two days in several provinces of Iran such as Yazd, Khorasan, Semnan, Ardebil, Mazandaran and Tehran to declare bankruptcy and protested against the high cost of breeding grain for the chicken poultry.
