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Wednesday’s Iran Mini Report – August 22, 2018

Wednesday's Iran Mini Report - August 22, 2018

• Senior Cleric Says Iran Will Target U.S. Allies If U.S. Attacks

A senior Iranian cleric warned the United States on Wednesday that if it attacks Iran, its allies in the region including Israel would be targeted.

Ahmad Khatami also told worshippers attending Eid prayers in Tehran that U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer for direct talks with Iranian leaders was unacceptable.

• Facebook and Twitter Delete Political Misinformation Sites Linked To Iran

Facebook says it has removed 652 accounts and web pages linked to Russia and Iran for spreading political misinformation ahead of the November U.S. congressional elections.

The social network said late on August 21 that it had removed the accounts from Facebook and Instagram because they engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behavior” that included the sharing of misleading political material.

Twitter also announced late on August 21 that it has taken down about 300 accounts promoting Iranian propaganda with anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes, Reuters reported. Twitter said the “coordinated manipulation” on its platform started last year.

• U.S. To Keep Pushing for Iranian Exit from Syria in Talks With Russia

White House National Security Adviser John Bolton says the United States will continue to push for full withdrawal of Iran’s military from Syria in talks with Russia over the Syrian civil war.

In an interview with Reuters published early on August 22, Bolton said Washington is maintaining a contingent of several thousand U.S. soldiers in Syria in part out of its concern that Iranian fighters in the country pose a threat to U.S. ally Israel.

“Our interests in Syria are to finish the destruction of the [Islamic State’s] territorial caliphate and deal with the continuing threat of ISIS terrorism, and to worry about the presence of Iranian militias and regular forces,” he said. “And those are the issues that keep us there.”

• US Judge Denies Bond to Iranian Man Accused of Spying for Tehran

A U.S. judge has denied bond to an Iranian-born U.S. resident accused of involvement in a conspiracy to spy for Tehran on Iranian opposition activists in the United States.

The two men were charged with knowingly acting as agents of Iran without prior notification to the U.S. Attorney General, providing services to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions, and conspiracy. The prosecutors said Ghorbani and Doostdar were arrested in the Los Angeles area and Chicago, respectively, on August 9.

In a criminal complaint released on Tuesday, an FBI agent who worked on the case accused Doostdar and Ghorbani of operating as agents of Iran in the U.S. since July 2017. He said their goal was to provide the Iranian government with information about the U.S.-based activities of Jewish groups and supporters of the MEK.

The FBI agent said the intelligence was meant to enable Tehran to target those organizations in the U.S.