Profile picture
Esfandyar Batmanghelidj
@yarbatman
, 26 tweets, 7 min read Read on Twitter
THREAD: Yesterday, @FinancialTimes reported that #Iran's Revolutionary Guard is making new inroads in the country's lucrative gas sector—a concerning development.

To understand how we got to this point, you just have to look back at FT headlines over the last 3 years...
Jan 16, 2016
IRAN SANCTIONS LIFTED
ft.com/content/7ca5b8…
Jan 17, 2016
SANCTIONS CONFUSION LEAVES EUROPEAN BANKS WARY OF IRAN BUSINESS
ft.com/content/62b848…
Aug 25, 2016
BANKS CANNOT INVEST IN IRAN WITHOUT US GUARANTEES
ft.com/content/f7dfa1…
Sep 21, 2016
AIRBUS AND BOEING WIN US LICENCE FOR IRAN SALES
ft.com/content/b6b758…
Oct 15, 2016
IRAN MOVES TO WOO FOREIGN INVESTORS
ft.com/content/3d1397…
Nov 2, 2016
IRAN’S ENTREPRENEURS HAMPERED BY WAIT FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT
ft.com/content/e03891…
Nov 2, 2016
WESTERN OIL GROUPS IN NO RUSH TO RETURN TO IRAN
ft.com/content/06acb8…
Jan 2, 2017
BP OPTS OUT OF IRAN DEALS AHEAD OF TRUMP HARD LINE ON TEHRAN
ft.com/content/b73c0e…
Jan 4, 2017
ROUHANI TAKES PUBLIC SWIPE AT JUDICIARY IN RUN-UP TO IRAN ELECTION
ft.com/content/205333…
Jul 2, 2017
IRAN TO SIGN $4.8BN GAS DEAL WITH TOTAL
ft.com/content/3b530f…
Aug 3, 2017
ROUHANI VOWS TO IMPROVE IRAN’S RELATIONS WITH OUTSIDE WORLD
ft.com/content/582ddf…
Aug 13, 2017
IRAN'S ROUHANI FACES CHALLENGE OF BANK REFORM
ft.com/content/ee4750…
Sep 14, 2017
IRAN CRACKS DOWN ON REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS BUSINESS NETWORK
ft.com/content/43de13…
May 8, 2018
DONALD TRUMP PULLS US OUT OF IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
ft.com/content/fb3692…
May 21, 2018
US DEMANDS EXACTING TERMS FOR NEW IRAN NUCLEAR TREATY
ft.com/content/972765…
Jul 19, 2018
TRUMP SANCTIONS BOLSTER INFLUENCE OF IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS
ft.com/content/81b4e9…
Sep 22, 2018
US SANCTIONS STOKE IRANIAN POWER STRUGGLE
ft.com/content/00a244…
Oct 16, 2018
US SANCTIONS IRAN BUSINESSES OVER TIES TO PARAMILITARY GROUP
ft.com/content/87d91a…
Oct 30, 2018
IRAN’S POOR TO BEAR BRUNT OF TRUMP’S OIL SANCTIONS
ft.com/content/457759…
Nov 5, 2018
EUROPE STRUGGLES TO PROTECT IRAN TRADE AS US REIMPOSES SANCTIONS
ft.com/content/644d34…
Jan 15, 2019
DATA SHOW US SANCTIONS HITTING IRAN’S OIL EXPORTS HARD
ft.com/content/5f414c…
Feb 11, 2019
IRAN FLOUTS US SANCTIONS TO CONTINUE MISSILE PROGRAMME
ft.com/content/5f76d6…
Feb 21, 2019
IRANIAN BUSINESSES DEVISE CREATIVE WAYS TO EVADE TRUMP SANCTIONS
ft.com/content/c3edcc…
Mar 21, 2019
REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS DRILL INTO IRAN’S GAS POTENTIAL
ft.com/content/ff6184…
P.S. The fact that you can trace these developments through headlines alone is credit to the reporting of @Najmeh_Tehran + @MKhalaj and colleagues.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Esfandyar Batmanghelidj
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Related hashtags

#Iran

More from @yarbatman see all

Profile picture
Esfandyar Batmanghelidj
@yarbatman
Reflecting on the #Zarif resignation reformist figure Mohsen Aminzadeh notes that tension between MFA/IRGC on foreign policy is real, but relates to regional issues. He does not discern that the IRGC is opposed to diplomacy + JCPOA as has been suggested in foreign reports.
Aminzadeh highlights that MFA's singular focus on JCPOA + related diplomacy (as well as the growing risk of regional conflict) re-opened the door for IRGC role in regional matters. When Zarif first pushed back "no one was willing to give up captured areas of foreign policy."
When asked about a rivalry between Zarif and Soleimani, Aminzadeh points to his own experience working with Soleimani back in his days as Khatami's Dep FM, and expresses confusion as to why Soleimani's "attitude to the management of diplomacy has changed so much."
Read 7 tweets
Profile picture
Esfandyar Batmanghelidj
@yarbatman
1. The conventional wisdom has been that #China's strategic trade + energy interests would see it defy US secondary sanctions on #Iran. Our new @BourseBazaar report, drawing on recent China-Iran trade data, suggests that the conventional wisdom is wrong.
bourseandbazaar.com/research-1/201…
2. The years when #Iran was under multilateral sanctions were boom years for China-Iran trade. China openly flouted US sanctions by purchasing historic volumes of Iranian oil while exporting a wide range of goods, winning marketshare as European traders pulled back.
3. At the heart of this trade was Bank of Kunlun, a subsidiary of state oil giant CNPC. Kunlun was the "bad bank" designated by the Chinese government to facilitate payments for trade with Iran. The bank thrived as it carried billions of dollars of trade on its ledgers.
Read 20 tweets
Profile picture
Esfandyar Batmanghelidj
@yarbatman
1. Everyone who cares about the wellbeing of the Iranian people and the credibility of American leadership can get behind this idea: Trump should sell grain to Iran.
bloomberg.com/view/articles/…
2. Fact 1: Iran has made strides in boosting its agricultural output, but still has a significant reliance on imports for key grains. The US is among the countries selling to Iran under sanctions exemptions. In August, Iran was the #1 destination for American soybeans.
3. Fact 2: The Trump administration is working from the Reagan playbook when it comes to its Iran policy. @mike_giglio's reporting helps illustrate this. Pompeo cites Reagan at length in his recent @ForeignAffairs piece. It's the 1980s baby!
buzzfeednews.com/article/mikegi…
Read 12 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
Heshmat Alavi
@HeshmatAlavi
THREAD

1)
 This is the account of #Iran’s IRGC Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani.
@ghasemsoleimane

Soleimani, blacklisted by the U.S. as a terrorist, commands a large number of extremist militias involved in proxy wars across the region.

RT to have @Twitter suspend his account.
2)
 Soleimani was designated “based on his relationship to the IRGC” and for “human rights abuses in Syria, for his role as the Commander of the IRGC-Quds Force, the primary conduit for Iran’s support to the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate (GID).”
treasury.gov/press-center/p…
3)
 Anti-Terrorism Designations; Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps Related Designations
10/11/2011
OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL
Specially Designated Nationals Update
treasury.gov/resource-cente…
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
NotMyPresident
@ironstowe
THREAD

#Trump #Azerbaijan #Baku #MoneyLaundering #IranianRevolutionaryGuard
1.#Trump and the #TrumpCrimeFamily built a hotel in #Azerbaijan, his partners in the deal to build the hotel was #Oligarchs with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard

#Trump #Azerbaijan #Baku #MoneyLaundering #IranianRevolutionaryGuard
2.March 23rd 2018 DAG #Rosenstein and the #SDNY indicted Nine #Iranians With Conducting Massive Cyber Theft Campaign on Behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

#Trump #Azerbaijan #Baku #MoneyLaundering #IranianRevolutionaryGuard

justice.gov/opa/pr/nine-ir… …
Read 52 tweets
Profile picture
Heshmat Alavi
@HeshmatAlavi
THREAD
1)
 Let’s talk about Marzieh Hashemi, an anchor of #Iran’s state-run Press TV who has been recently arrested in the United States, and the regime’s FM @JZarif is very concerned.

This shows she is a high-value asset for Tehran & holds many secrets.
2)
 "... Marzieh Hashemi, born Melanie Franklin of New Orleans, was arrested after arriving at St. Louis Lambert Int'l Airport on Sunday. The broadcaster, citing her family, said Hashemi was taken into FBI custody and brought to the Washington area."
cbsnews.com/news/iran-clai…
3)
 "U.S. Federal law allows the government to arrest and detain a witness if it can prove that their testimony is material to a criminal proceeding and that it cannot guarantee their presence through a subpoena."
uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ira…
Read 22 tweets
Profile picture
Heshmat Alavi
@HeshmatAlavi
#BREAKING
Syrian TV reporting:
"Syrian air defense units firing over Damascus due to missile attack"
#BREAKNG
Video footage of Syrian air defense units currently in action near #Damascus
#BREAKING
Explosions heard around Damascus Province following measures taken by air defense units firing moments ago.
Possible new Israeli air strike.
#Syria
Read 35 tweets
Profile picture
Heshmat Alavi
@HeshmatAlavi
THREAD

1)
 On Christmas Eve, it is important to take a look at the crackdown imposed on Christians inside #Iran by the oppressive mullahs’ regime.

#ChristmasEve2018
2)
 “Many of the 114 detained were converts to Christianity from a Muslim background, accused of ‘proselytising.’”
telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/1…
3)
 “A Christian couple have reported that a court in Boushehr has just sentenced them & 10 other Iranian Christians to one year in prison each for ‘Propagating against the Islamic Republic in favor of Christianity.’”
foxnews.com/world/iran-reg…
Read 16 tweets
Profile picture
Anna Ahronheim
@AAhronheim
#BREAKING: Incoming rocket sirens heard in northern #Israel
#BREAKING: Additional sirens heard in northern #Israel’s #GolanHeight communities
Video of siren going off in #Druze village of Majdal Shams in northern #Israel moments ago
Read 21 tweets

Trending hashtags

#Winning #Iran #Turkey #SaudiArabi #Christchurch #Khamenei #Iranianprotests #DragonEnergy #MissionComplete #IranDeal #SusanCollins #WhiteHouseCongressionalBall #InternationalWomensDay #Swag #IranianRevolutionaryGuard #Mammadovs #BlaseyFord #HappeningNow #ThanksgivingWeek #Iranian #HealthCare #IBelieveHer #SaveSyrianChildren #ChristoperWray #GameOver
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!