Day: September 18, 2023

Five U.S. detainees were being taken to a Qatari aircraft to fly out of Iran on Monday in a swap for five Iranians detained in the U.S. thanks to a Doha-brokered deal between the arch foes that also unfroze $6 billion of Tehran’s funds.

The Qatari plane was on standby after the U.S. and Iran were told, according to a source briefed on the matter, that the funds had been transferred to accounts in Qatar. “U.S. detainees are being transported to the Qatari jet,” the source said.

The funds’ release triggered an exchange sequence agreed after months of talks between the United States and Iran, who are at odds over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and other issues.

The five Americans with dual nationality are due to fly to Doha and then on to the U.S. Two relatives are also expected to be on the flight. “They are in good health,” an Iranian official briefed on the process said about the detainees.

In return, five Iranians detained in the U.S. will be released. The Iranian Foreign ministry spokesperson said two Iranians would return to Iran while two would stay in the U.S. at their request. One detainee would join his family in a third country, he added.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said the funds, blocked in South Korea after U.S. sanctions on Iran were hardened in 2018, would be available to Tehran on Monday. Under the deal, Qatar will ensure it is spent on humanitarian goods.

There was no immediate public U.S. comment.

The deal will remove a major irritant between the U.S., which brands Tehran a state sponsor of terrorism, and Iran, which calls Washington the “Great Satan”.

But they remain deeply divided on other issues ranging from Iran’s nuclear programme and its influence around the region to U.S. sanctions and America’s military presence in the Gulf.

Qatar, a tiny but hugely wealthy Gulf Arab energy producer, has sought to raise its global profile, hosting the soccer World Cup last year and carving out a role in international diplomacy. The Sunni Muslim nation hosts a big U.S. military base but has also forged close ties with Shi’ite Muslim Iran.

Doha hosted at least eight rounds of talks with Iranian and U.S. negotiators sitting in separate hotels, speaking via shuttle diplomacy, a source previously told Reuters.

Under the agreement, Doha agreed to monitor how Iran spends the unfrozen funds to ensure the cash is spent on humanitarian goods, such as food and medicine, and not any items under U.S. sanctions.

The transfer of Iran’s funds has drawn criticism from U.S. Republicans who say President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is in effect paying a ransom for U.S. citizens.

The White House has defended the deal.

The U.S. dual citizens to be released include Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, both businessmen, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who also holds British nationality. They were released from prison and put under house arrest last month.

A fourth U.S. citizen was also released into house arrest, while a fifth was already under house arrest. Their identities have not been disclosed.

Iranian officials have named the five Iranians to be released by the U.S. as Mehrdad Moin-Ansari, Kambiz Attar-Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani, Amin Hassanzadeh and Kaveh Afrasiabi. Two Iranian officials previously said that Afrasiabi would remain in the United States but had not mentioned others.

Ties between Washington and Tehran have been boiling since Donald Trump, a Republican, pulled the U.S. out of a nuclear deal between Iran and global powers when he was president in 2018. Reaching another nuclear deal has gained little traction since, as Biden prepares for the 2024 U.S. election.

As a first step in the deal, Washington waived sanctions to allow the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar. The funds were blocked in South Korea, normally one of Iran’s largest oil customers, when Washington imposed sweeping financial sanctions on Tehran and the cash could not be transferred.

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World shares and the dollar slipped on Monday as growth concerns tested investor nerves at the start of a week of central bank meetings from the United States and Japan to Scandinavia, Switzerland and Britain.

The pan European (.STOXX) index slipped 0.6%, dragged down by healthcare, bank and chip shares, while trade in U.S. stocks futures pointed to a flat open on Wall Street later on .

Shares in Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) slumped more than 9% and were set for their biggest one-day fall since March. France’s third-biggest listed bank said it expected little if any growth in annual sales over the coming years in a keenly-awaited strategic plan from its new CEO.

China property woes, geopolitical tensions and ongoing strikes also stoked worries about global growth.

Shares of property developer China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) plunged 25% on Monday after police detained some staff at its wealth management unit. Fellow developer Country Garden 2007.HK faced yet another liquidity test with a deadline to pay $15 million in interest linked to an offshore bond.

Technology shares in Asia retreated, with Taiwan’s TSMC (2330.TW), the world’s top contract chipmaker, falling 3% after Reuters reported that it has told its major suppliers to delay the delivery of high-end chipmaking equipment.

The disappearance of China’s defence minister heightened uncertainty about President Xi Jinping’s stance on international engagement, worker strikes impinged on global production and the spectre of a U.S. government shutdown returned.

“Bad news stories on the growth side will add to the risk averse feeling that has been a backdrop,” said James Rossiter, head of global macro strategy at TD Securities in London.

TD Securities’ models predicted a slowdown in growth later this year that central banks might have to eventually counter by easing rates, said Rossiter, adding: “It’s only natural that markets would begin to test that”.

The Euro Stoxx Volatility Index (.V2TX) was set for its biggest one-day jump in a month, in a sign of growing volatility in world markets as central banks reach a turning point in monetary policy.

MSCI’s broadest stock index (.MIWD00000PUS) fell 0.2%, while Asia shares outside Japan dipped 0.1%. Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) was closed for a public holiday.

Oil prices hit fresh 10-month peaks, further stoking inflationary pressures. Brent crude futures rose 0.6% to $94.53 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 0.9% to $91.47.

“While higher energy may be inflationary in the first instance, it is (a) headwind to economic activity, and has been often understood as such by the Federal Reserve,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex.

Global central banks take centre stage, with five of those overseeing the 10 most heavily traded currencies holding rate-setting meetings this week. A swathe of emerging market central banks such as Turkey and South Africa will also meet.

Markets are fully priced for a second straight pause from the Fed on Wednesday, with its targeted range expected to be unchanged at 5.25% to 5.5%, so the focus will be on the updated economic and rates projections. They see about 80 basis points of cuts next year.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs reckon the Fed will also pause in November.

On Thursday, the Bank of England is tipped to hike for the 15th time and take benchmark borrowing costs to 5.5%.

The Bank of Japan is the key risk event on Friday. Markets are looking for any signs that it could be moving away from its ultra-loose policy faster than previously thought, after recent comments by Governor Kazuo Ueda sent yields much higher.

U.S. Treasury yields edged higher in Europe, with the two-year above the 5% threshold.

In currency markets, the dollar drifted lower with the dollar index last down a touch at 105.24 but within sight of recent six-month highs.

The euro gained about 0.1% to $1.0663, after slumping to a 3-1/2 month low of $1.0632 last week as the European Central Bank signalled its rate hikes could be over.

Against the yen, the dollar was also a tad softer tat 147.59.

The price of gold rose 0.15% at $1,925.60 per ounce.

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Russia called on the U.N.’s highest court in The Hague on Monday to throw out what it said was a “hopelessly flawed” case challenging Moscow’s argument that its invasion of Ukraine was carried out to prevent genocide.

The Russian request was made at the start of hearings dealing with the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court.

Moscow says Ukraine was using the case as a roundabout way to get a ruling on the overall legality of Russia’s military action. Experts say a ruling in Kyiv’s favour would not stop the war but could impact future reparation payments.

Ukraine brought the case days after the Russian invasion on Feb. 24 last year. Kyiv argues Russia is abusing international law by saying the invasion was justified to prevent an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine says there was no risk of genocide in eastern Ukraine, where it had been fighting Russian-backed forces since 2014, and that the genocide treaty does not allow an invasion to stop an alleged genocide.

Russian officials continue to accuse Ukraine of committing genocide. On Monday, Russia repeated allegations that the “Russophobic and neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv” was using the United Nations’ 1948 Genocide Convention, to which both countries are a party, as a pretext to “drag” a case before the court.

The hearings, set to run until Sept. 27, will not delve into the merits of the case and are instead focused on legal arguments about jurisdiction. The convention defines genocide as crimes committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.”

“Ukraine insists no genocide has occurred,” Russia’s agent to the court, Gennady Kuzmin, said in opening remarks.

“That alone should be enough to reject the case. Because according to the court’s jurisprudence, if there was no genocide, there cannot be a violation of the Genocide Convention.”

Kuzmin concluded that “Ukraine’s legal position is hopelessly flawed and at odds with the long standing jurisprudence of this court” and called on the judges to dismiss the case.

On Tuesday, Ukraine will present arguments on why the court does have jurisdiction to have the case continue. The court will also hear from 32 other states, all supporting Ukraine’s argument that the court has jurisdiction to move the case forward on Wednesday.

Ukraine has already cleared one hurdle as the court decided in its favour in a preliminary decision in the case in March last year. Based on that, the court ordered Russia to cease military actions in Ukraine immediately.

Russia has so far ignored the ICJ’s orders to stop its military actions and the court has no way of enforcing its decisions but experts say they may have implications for compensation payments after the war.

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FBI: Did Baku play any role in the new investigation of Senator Menendez? It smells like it. 

FBI: Are Senator Menendez and his new Armenian wife Nadine Arslanian in the crosshairs of the Azerbaijani Intelligence Service?

#FBI #Baku #SenatorMenendez
FBI: Did Baku play any role in the new investigation of Senator Menendez? It smells like it. – Google Search https://t.co/qc9PtvoHUy
South Caucasus News #SouthCaucasus #News #SouthCaucasusNews: – #FBI #SenatorMenendez #Armenian #NadineArslanian… pic.twitter.com/tbawNGjHSw

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) September 18, 2023

South Caucasus News #SouthCaucasus #News #SouthCaucasusNews:
–#FBI #SenatorMenendez #Armenian #NadineArslanian #AzerbaijaniIntelligenceService
–
FBI: Are Senator Menendez and his new Armenian wife Nadine Arslanian in the crosshairs of the Azerbaijani Intelligence Service? -… pic.twitter.com/BnuFn19L3c

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) September 18, 2023

FBI: Did Baku play any role in the new investigation of Senator Menendez? It smells like it. 

FBI: Are Senator Menendez and his new Armenian wife Nadine Arslanian in the crosshairs of the Azerbaijani Intelligence Service?

#FBI #Baku #SenatorMenendez
FBI: Did Baku play any role in the new investigation of Senator Menendez? It smells like it. – Google Search https://t.co/qc9PtvoHUy
South Caucasus News #SouthCaucasus #News #SouthCaucasusNews: – #FBI #SenatorMenendez #Armenian #NadineArslanian… pic.twitter.com/tbawNGjHSw

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) September 18, 2023

South Caucasus News #SouthCaucasus #News #SouthCaucasusNews:
–#FBI #SenatorMenendez #Armenian #NadineArslanian #AzerbaijaniIntelligenceService
–
FBI: Are Senator Menendez and his new Armenian wife Nadine Arslanian in the crosshairs of the Azerbaijani Intelligence Service? -… pic.twitter.com/BnuFn19L3c

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) September 18, 2023

Unlike her husband, Nadine Menendez has lived a mainly private life. Investigators appear focused on the possibility that she or the senator received undisclosed gifts.

The inquiry comes five years after the Justice Department dropped its corruption case against Mr. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat.

The G.O.P. has lost a commitment to solving the nation’s problems and become purposeless.

South Korea said on Monday it is working with all parties involved in unfreezing Iranian funds worth $6 billion, which once released will trigger a carefully choreographed deal between arch foes the United States and Iran to swap detainees.

Once the funds are transferred to Qatar, which mediated the deal during months of talks, five U.S. dual nationals who were imprisoned in Iran are expected to leave Tehran for Doha from where they will travel to the United States, sources previously told Reuters.

In return, five Iranians detained in the U.S. will be released so they can travel to Iran. Iranian officials and Iran’s state news agency have said one of those detainees is expected to remain in the United States.

The precise timing of the fund transfer has yet to be publicly announced.

The deal, first made public on Aug. 10, will remove a major irritant between Washington and Tehran, although the two sides remain deeply at odds over issues ranging from Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its influence around the region to U.S. sanctions and America’s military presence in the Gulf.

“Our government has been consulting closely with involved countries including the United States and Iran to tackle the frozen fund issue, and is currently making efforts to ensure smooth progress of all procedures so that it will be resolved once and for all,” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The U.S. dual citizens to be released include Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, both businessmen, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who also holds British nationality. They were released from prison and put under house arrest last month.

A fourth U.S. citizen was also released into house arrest, while a fifth was already under house arrest. Their identities have not been disclosed.

Iranian officials named the five Iranians to be released by the U.S. as Mehrdad Moin-Ansari, Kambiz Attar-Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani, Amin Hassanzadeh and Kaveh Afrasiabi. Two Iranian officials said Afrasiabi would remain in the United States.

As a first step in the deal, Washington waived sanctions to allow the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar. The funds had been blocked in South Korea, normally one of Iran’s largest oil customers, because of U.S. sanctions.

Under the agreement, Doha agreed to monitor how Iran spends the funds to ensure it goes on non-sanctioned humanitarian goods, such as food and medicine.

The transfer of Iran’s funds has drawn criticism from U.S. Republicans who say President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is in effect paying a ransom for U.S. citizens. The White House has defended the deal.

Ties between Washington and Tehran have been boiling since Donald Trump, a Republican, pulled the U.S. out of a nuclear deal between Iran and global powers when he was president in 2018. Reaching another nuclear deal has gained little traction since then, as Biden prepares for the 2024 U.S. election.

Doha hosted at least eight rounds of talks involving Iranian and U.S. negotiators who sat in separate hotels and spoke via Qatari mediators, sources previously told Reuters. Earlier sessions focused mainly on the thorny nuclear issue and later ones on the prisoner releases.