Minaret of Freedom Weblog

Socially conservative Muslims see a “disconnect with some parts of the Democratic political platform” but unlike their Catholic and Evangelical counterparts, “feel little imperative to use government to promote those value”:

• What Binds Muslims to the Democratic Party? (Religion News Services)

The Ottoman Empire ended in 1922 with Kamal Attaturk’s secular rule in Turkey. The new Ottomanism symbolizes everything “from justice, power, and pluralism to Islamic primacy and Turkey’s own campaign to make the country ‘great again’”:

• Erdogan’s Ottomania (Boston Review)

The government raised no “concerns about the permits during the actual construction process” but now wants the building torn down because minarets and domes do not have a “Chinese style”:

• Thousands of Muslims Gather in China to Protest Mosque Demolition (NPR)

Rather than realize the dream of democracy and human rights after the fall of Mubarak, the country is again heading to absolute autocracy for an uncertain period of time:

• Egypt’s Path from Autocracy to Revolution—and Back Again (The Economist)

To free themselves from dependency on Israel for electricity, individual Palestinians “have taken it on themselves to install solar panels, trailing cables down the side of buildings to keep fans whirring or to power televisions and other appliances”:

• Palestinians Look to Solar in Hopes of Addressing Energy Crisis (Haaretz)

The Saudi-led airstrike that killed many innocent people including children demonstrates the disastrous consequences of its brutal attempt to dominate the region:

• Yemen War: Saudi-led Air Strike on Bus Kills 29 Children (BBC)

Iraq begins to follow US sanction policy on Iran, while Turkey resists; and China, which imports 7% of its total crude oil imports from Iran, will also take over development of the Iranian portion of the largest gas deposit on earth from France …

• Iran’s Economic Worries Mount as Iraq Applies New US Sanctions (VoA)
• Iran Sanctions May See US-Turkey Ties Get a Lot Worse (MEI)
• China Says Its Business And Energy Ties with Iran Don’t Harm Other Countries (South China Morning Post)
• U.S.-Iran Sanctions Give China Lead in World’s Top Gas Field (Bloomberg)

… and most “Arabs believe that Israel and the US present a far greater threat to Arab security than Iran”:

• Trump’s ‘Arab NATO’ Plan to Counter Iran is Doomed to Fail (Aljazeera)

Human Rights Watch warns that “to combat corruption at every level … requires an independent judiciary that ensures due process rights for all those accused”:

• Death Penalty Not the Answer to Iran’s Economic Woes, HRW Says (RFE / Radio Liberty)

“Israeli Occupation Forces cut all communications and then violently attacked [the] lead boat … in international waters, pulled down its Norwegian flag and trampled upon it. According to many testimonies … they then beat up and tasered several people and stole most of the participants’ property”:

• ‘Freedom’ Under Attack as It CarriesMedical Supplies to Gaza (Freedom Flotilla)

Iran plans a currency rescue (see our proposal here) in the face of demonstrations such as those in as Arak, Isfahan, Karaz and Shiraz:

• Iran Sets Currency Rescue Ahead of Reimposed U.S. Sanctions (Bloomberg)
• Protests Pop Up Across Iran, Fueled by Daily Dissatisfaction (The New York Times)
• Scattered Protests in Iran as U.S. Sanctions Loom (Reuters)
• Reports: Protests Continue Across Iran; Seminary Attacked (VOA)
• Protesters in Iran Attack Seminary, Break Windows (AP / The Seattle Times)

Hate crimes are higher than even after the 9/11 attack:

• Texan Says U.S. Muslims Lately Subject to More Attacks, Hate Crimes Than Ever (Politifact Texas)
• PolitiFact: Attacks on Muslims More Common Than After 9/11 (My Statesman)

Iran-backed Houthi fighters do not believe Saudi Arabia can defeat them:

• Analysis//Backed by Iran, Yemen’s Houthi Fighters Flout Saudi Arabia’s Might (Haaretz)

While the opposition parties are accusing of Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of destroying lives, four million Muslims have been excluded from the National Citizenship Registry list leaving them at risk of deportation:

• Indian Officials Say Assam Register Does Not Target Muslims (BBC)

China will not honor the demand of the United States and cut down the oil imports from Iran, but the Chinese authorities agreed not to increase the imports:

• China Rejects US Demand to Reduce Iran Oil Imports: Report (Aljazeera)

Muslim candidates are facing complex situations in Minnesota while they are asking for votes in the field. But they know that they a long way to go:

• As More Minnesota Muslims Seek Office, Some Face a Backlash (StarTribune)

Unease and suspicious over war in the near future that could be a severe disaster for the common people in a region which has already been a war zone for a few decades:

• Opinion//Israel and Iran Will Both Lose if They Go to War (Haaretz)
• Should We Be Anticipating War With Iran? No, but It Could Get Nasty (The New York Times)
• Ex-Diplomat to Sputnik: US Invasion of Iran Would Plunge Entire Region Into War (Sputniknews)

The U.S. plan to farm out its Middle East intervention will further destabilize the region:

• US Plans to Revive ‘Arab NATO’ to Confront Iran (Al Jazeera)

Iran’s privatization plan will offer attractive prices and flexible terms as well as tax holidays for investors who agree to take over some of the 76,000 government projects which are unfinished or idle”:

• Iran Woos Local Investors as U.S. Sanctions Loom, Currency Falls (Reuters)

“If Trump doesn’t choose regime change, he just might agree to a summit with Rouhani—brokered by Putin”:

• Two Scenarios for Dealing With Iran, Neither Good (Slate)

“Barreto … repeatedly used the hashtag #BanIslam and … also shared a conspiracy theory that French President Emmanuel Macron was controlled by the Rothschild family and that Clinton and former President Barack Obama were controlled by investor and Democratic mega-donor George Soros”:

• HHS Official Who Made Anti-Muslim Comments and Spread Conspiracy Theories Resigns (CNN)

The Islamic practice of mahr (by which the groom who must give a gift to the bride) is the opposite of the practice known in the West as dowry. Muslim religious leaders are taking strong action to end the unIslamic practice of extorting money from the bride’s family:

• Muslim Clerics in Bihar Insist on Prenuptial Dowry Vows (Gulf News)

“‘[T]hese pastoral communities are mostly Palestinian refugees, originally displaced from their tribal lands in the Negev. They should not be forced to experience the second displacement against their will” – Scott Anderson, director of operations in the West Bank for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees”:

• Palestinians Protest Planned Demolition of Khan al-Ahmar (Telesur)

In Philippines after four decades of violent conflict in Muslim demand for a full independence, there will be some peace in the southern part of the country after President Rodrigo Duterte signs a landmark law ensuring expanded autonomy. Now, young Muslims expect hearing their voice for their better life:

• Duterte Signs Law Giving More Autonomy to Muslims in Southern Philippines (The New York Times)

Millions of Muslims in China (Uyghur in western region of Xinjiang) suffer in detention without any trial as part of brutal crackdown. Muslims of all professions are emptied from their neighborhood and sent to internment camps:

• Islamic Leaders Have Nothing to Say About China’s Internment Camps for Muslims (Foreign Policy)

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department revokes the license for the imports of Iranian-origin carpets and foodstuffs, including pistachios and caviar. Now the US will have to face a lawsuit by Iran National Carpet Center (INCC) in International Tribunals:

• Iran to Sue US for Blocking Hand-woven Carpet Imports (Rudaw)

“But the Trump administration is using it to denaturalize citizens who’ve been living in the United States for decades, are married to American citizens, and have no criminal history.”:

• The Latest Target of the Trump Administration’s Anti-Immigration Jihad: Naturalized Americans (Reason)

“Al Jazeera has been told, off the record, that the US put pressure on Iraq not to pay the Iranians” provoking the electricity cutoff that sparked the protests:

• The US, Electricity and Iran: What’s Behind the Iraq Protests? (Al-Jazeera)

“More than 65 Israeli laws already exist that discriminate against Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories” …

• Five Ways Israeli Law Discriminates Against Palestinians (Al-Jazeera)

… and now, “[p]rovocations by Israeli settlers in occupied Palestine happened days after Israel approved the nationality bill, which reiterates Jewish supremacy” …

• Israeli Settlers Provoke Palestinians in East Jerusalem, West Bank (Telesur)

… so, the ICC’s “surprising decision to establish outreach activities in Palestine is a welcomed step in the right direction”:

• The ICC Is Reaching Out to Victims of War Crimes in Palestine (Al-Jazeera)

For the purpose  of destabilizing Iran’s economy, the US government will engage all possible groups even including listed terrorists to contributing to deterioration of Iran’s relation with the world to enhance its collapse:

• Why Trump’s Hawks Back the MEK Terrorist Cult (The New York Review)

The letter notes there is no written policy to justify the “pretext for the true motivation behind their conduct: discrimination against these children on the basis of their race, religion, and/or socio-economic status”:

• Cease and Desist Letter Sent in Alleged Muslim Pool Discrimination Case (abc News)

“The Expediency Council, tasked with resolving conflicts between parliament and the Guardian Council, backed parliamentary amendments allowing members of recognized religious minorities to run for city councils”:

• Iran Lifts Ban on Non-Muslim City Council Member After Outcry (Reuters)

“According to Palestinians, the U.S. administration seeks to impose a political solution that calls for the establishment of a state in the Gaza Strip and a limited autonomy in the West Bank, with Israel retaining control over the city of Jerusalem”:

• Palestine Says ‘Deal of the Century’ Thwarted (Andalou Agency)

A former Indian ambassador condemns Nikki Haley’s “intemperate remarks”:

• Ties with Iran Are Our Sovereign Prerogative (Deccan Herald)

“For the last few years, we have not carried any meat while returning from our hometown in western Uttar Pradesh after Eid. Traditionally, we would carry our share of meat for our maids, drivers, helpers and other needy people in our vicinity”:

• BJP is Done Marginalising Indian Muslims. It has Now Started Demonising Them (Scroll.in)

• Between the Lines: Muslim Americans Setting Campaign Records (Axios)
• Muslim Candidates Run in Record Numbers but Face Backlash (AP / The Reporter)
• Underrepresented in Politics, Muslim Candidates Seek to Become a Force in South Florida (Sun-Sentinel)
• Michigan Lawmaker Suggests Muslim Candidate Faces Hurdles Due To His Faith (Huffington Post)

• Trump, Putin and the Iran Agenda (The Real News)

• Palestine: Unregulated Tobacco Industry on the Rise (Al-Jazeera)

There is a “fear that Trump, egged on by the Saudis and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, … may privately offer de facto US recognition of Crimea’s annexation and an easing of Ukraine-related sanctions” for “Putin’s agreement to push Iran out of Syria, thereby safeguarding Israel’s border”:

• Trump and Putin’s Unholy Alliance Could Lead to War with Iran (Guardian)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, “Iran is committed to the rule of law in the face of US contempt for diplomacy & legal obligations. It’s imperative to counter its habit of violating int’l law”:

• Iran Takes US to ICJ over Re-imposed Sanctions (Al-Jazeera)

China wields “an iron fist to weed out what it calls “religious extremism” and “separatism” in the wake of deadly unrest, throwing ethnic Uygurs into shadowy re-education camps without due process for minor infractions such as owning a Koran or even growing a beard”:

• Is China’s Atheist Communist Party Trying to Eradicate Islam? (AFP / South China Morning Post)

“The country which is often in the spotlight for its Islamophobic social policies won the ultimate footballing prize with a team that is one-third Muslim”:

• Beautiful Diversity: Football to Spur Social Reform as Muslim Players Shine for France at World Cup (Express Tribune)

“Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki said the city was wrong to use a vaguely-worded policy to bar Muslim kids wearing cotton shirts, shorts and headscarves from the city’s Foster Brown pool”:

• Wilmington Mayor Apologizes After Muslim Children Denied Pool Access (6abc)

FDD helped “propel the administration to unapologetically implement a widely unpopular policy … [thanks to] ties to powerful administration insiders … combined with a seemingly open-ended invitation to testify before Congress, … [and] close ties to the GOP establishment and hawkish Democrats”:

• This Think Tank Is Pushing Regime Change in Iran—and the White House Is Listening (The Nation)

They were told they had to leave the pool because they were wearing cotton and/or because it was over capacity, but other who were wearing cotton and/or had been there longer were not asked to leave:

• Muslim Swimmers Asked to Leave Wilmington Public Pool (Delaware Online)

After killing a 15 year-old and a 20-year old at the Gaza border demonstrations, the Israelis launched air strikes that killed two more teenage civilians and provoked a response of rocket attacks by Hamas …

• Israeli Strikes Pound Gaza After Bloody Border Protest (Daily Star)

… while Jewish settlers will now be allowed to build on lands of a Palestinian neighborhood in Silwan whose “nearly 4,000 Palestinian residents … have been prevented for years by the Israeli government from any type of building or construction work under the pretext of preserving the national park” …

• Palestinians on High Alert as Israel Prepares to Hand over East Jerusalem Nature Reserve and Muslim Cemetery to Settlers (Mondoweiss)

… and by refusing to let “foreign nationals … add value to the community, by not letting them come in, the quality of life is reduced and that is more suffocating for Palestinians forcing them to leave the country” …

• Foreign Residents in Palestinian Territories Denied Visa Renewals (Al-Jazeera)

… and the Episcopal Church passed six of fifteen resolutions on “the plight of Palestinian children, the status of Jerusalem, the disproportionate use of lethal force on both sides and ways the Episcopal Church can press for peace through its investment decisions”:

• Convention Speaks Against Humanitarian Crisis in Israel-Palestine, Stops Short of Full ‘Divestment’ (Episcopal News Service)

President Trump seems heading to another devastating war with Iran. Any armed conflict with Iran will bring another ugly consequence like Iraq for the US as well as for the Middle East and the world at large:

• Don’t Let Trump Go to War With Iran (The Atlantic)

In Muslim majority Pakistan, it is hard for the non-Muslims to be elected to voice their demand in the parliament. If they have their problems in their neighborhoods, it is not easy for them to press the government to solve them:

• Problems With the Electoral Representation of Non-Muslims in Pakistan (The Wire)

The U.S. allows a favored Chinese firm to do business with Iran …

• U.S. Lifts Ban On ZTE Over Alleged Iran Sanctions Violations (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)

… even as it rebuffs European allies …

• U.S. Refuses European Requests for Exemptions from Its New Sanctions on Iran (NBC News)
• Mnuchin, Pompeo Reject European Bid for Iran Waivers (Bloomberg)

… but preventing Lloyd’s from using a partly U.S. owned platform for IT may create new business opportunities for non-U.S. companies:

• U.S. Sanctions Seen Barring IT Platform of Insurer Lloyd’s for Iran Trade (Reuters)

London streets showed anti-Trump demonstrations when Muslims gathered to pray together on Friday and protested Trump’s policies against the Muslims when he was on an official visit to London …

• Public Prayers and Orange Jumpsuits: How London’s Muslims Stood up to Trump (Middle East Eye)

… which, Rohani says, only shows how “America’s illegal actions … have even isolated it among its own allies”:

• U.S. More Isolated Than Ever Over Iran Sanctions, Rohani Says (Haaretz)

Nationalizing a Hindu school and then allowing Muslim teachers to dress as they please in it has stoked tensions in Sro Lanka:

• Hindu Group Protests Against Muslim Teachers Wearing Abaya (Al-Jazeera)

“The new law is part of a broader ‘ghetto package‘ designed to force immigrants living in 25 mostly Muslim enclaves to assimilate”:

• In Denmark, Controversial Assimilation Laws Target Muslim Immigrants (WBUR)

If Germany prevents the Iranian’s from withdrawing their own money just to placate the U.S., “it could mean the collapse of the Iran nuclear deal, which the European Union still hopes to salvage”:

• Germany Probes Huge Iran Cash Transfer Request (Deutsche Welle)

China forces Muslims to put GPSs on their bikes and cars and give police “smart glasses” that can “notify a patrolling officer when a Uighur Muslim has moved beyond his orher ‘safe area’, that is home or place of work” …

• The Uighur Muslim Crisis Is Worse than You Think (Al-Araby)

… the campaign, reminiscent of failed attempts to undermine Uyghur culture during the Cultural Revolution, involves the creation of a surveillance state of the future and the forced re-education of large numbers of Turkic Muslims …

• Xinjiang: China Ignores Lessons from the Past (Turbulent World of Mideast Soccer)

… while “[f]or many Palestinians, the knowledge that Israeli authorities are tracking their social media activities is seen as just another level of oppression and restriction in an intractable, ­decades-old conflict”:

• Israel Says Monitoring Social Media Has Cut Lone-wolf Attacks. Palestinians Are Crying Foul  (Washington Post)

Both top officials and the general public have cried out against a decision to block members of religious minority groups from running “for seats in Muslim-majority constituencies” as a violation of  Iran’s constitutional guarantee that members of those communities  may elect their own representatives:

• North Korea Reportedly Asked Israel for $1 Billion in Cash to Halt Missile Sale to Iran (Haaretz)

“Since the village started resisting attempts by the Israeli state to push them out of their land, it has become a heavily policed community. On Wednesday it was both men and women who were beaten by Israeli soldiers in front of their children”:

• Bulldozing Palestine, One Village at a Time (Al-Jazeera)

Anti-Muslim hate correlates with “susceptibility to Muslim radicalization in regions of the U[U.S.] that are poorest and most homogeneous. And it suggests the ethnic diversity of the U.S. may protect against radicalization because people are less prone to pit one group against the other”:

• Study Links Anti-Muslim Hate and Discrimination with Radicalization (RNS)

Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri confirms that Iran’s foreign ministry and the central bank are cautious to take proper steps to keep banking operations active to face the U.S. sanctions. There was no explanation about this statement:

• Iran Vows to Sell as Much Oil as It Can in Face of U.S. Sanctions (Reuters)

Israel offers to use its lock on the U.S. Congress for Russia’s benefit if it removes the Iranian threat to its continuing occupation of Golan:

• Analysis//Netanyahu May Offer Putin: Remove Iran From Syria for Lifting of U.S. Sanctions on Russia (Haaretz)

“[T]he sheer cruelty — the scope of the violation of human, i.e., natural individual, rights — of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians warrants the concern of all who favor freedom and other (classical) liberal values: justice, social cooperation, free exchange, and peace” …

• Why Does Palestine Matter? (Counterpunch)

… but Trump and Kushner want the Palestinians to forget “superficial things like independence from the routine abuses and indignities of colonial oppression (that’s right; the same trifles Americans celebrated on July 4) — and focusing instead on what really matters: roads, jobs, and money”:

• The Trump-Kushner Delusion on Palestine (Libertarian Institute)

“We’re at a tipping point, where if this offensive really does go forward, it suddenly becomes a whole lot worse” –  Stephen Rapp, the former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes:

• Yemen on Brink of Catastrophe as U.N. Envoy Pushes for Truce (Foreign Policy)

The price of oil goes at least $10 high because of President Trump’s tweet as commented by the Islamic Republic’s OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili. This comment is perceived as taunting to President Trump:

• Tehran Taunts Trump, Telling Him His Tweets Drive Up Oil Prices (Bloomberg)

“The 25-year-old began his walk to Palestine from Sweden nearly a year ago to raise awareness about human rights abuse in the occupied territory. After arriving at the Israeli border from Jordan, he was barred from entering Palestine and kept in custody for six hours”:

• Israel Bars Pro-Palestine Activist from Crossing Border (aa.com)

“Five world powers agreed with Iran on Friday to forge ahead with negotiations with the country and maintain its ability to export gas and oil as they seek to preserve a nuclear deal with Tehran despite the withdrawal of the United States”:

• With US Out, Others Reaffirm Commitment to Iran Nuclear Deal (AP / Washington Post)

“At this point, countries may not be willing to sacrifice access to the U.S. economy for Iran, but forcing them to choose will certainly cost the United States political capital. And under the Trump administration, that capital is devaluing rapidly”:

• Why New US Sanctions on Iran Won’t Work — and Might Backfire (The Hill)

“Iranian Central Bank governor Valiollah Seif said the secondary currency market would help ‘minor importers’ buy their dollars, and emphasized that the price of the dollar would be set according to market supply and demand…”:

• Iran Launches Secondary Forex Market to Help Ease Dollar Shortage (Sputnik International)

“Muslims arrived initially as explorers and as slaves, and later as farmers, factory workers, and small-business owners. The first freestanding mosques were constructed in the middle of the country, in North Dakota initially and then in Iowa”:

• Our Founders Showed Greater Respect for Islam Than Trump and the Supreme Court (The Nation)

The hypocrisy of accusing the Iranian military of terrorism is underscored by the thirtieth anniversary of the U.S. shooting down a civilian airline flight as well as U.S. indifference to ongoing IDF terrorism:

• Exclusive: Trump Administration Debating ‘Terrorist’ Label for Arm of Iran’s Military (CNN)
• 30 Years Later, US Downing of Iran Flight Haunts Relations (AP / Navy Times)
• Israeli Forces Assault Palestinians, Prepare to Demolish Village (Al-Jazeera)

A poll shows 30% of Palestinians favor the the imprisoned Fatah leader who “enjoys strong grassroots support and has good relations with all factions” followed closely by Hamas’s Ismael Haniyeh with 23%:

• Palestinians Favor Jailed Leader Barghouthi as Abbas Successor: Poll (Reuters)

As Iran’s fiat currency continues to tank, the government goes after not only cryptocurrencies, but even the monetary commodity approved by the Prophet Muhammad (saws), gold:

• Crypto Exchanges Are Suddenly Being Censored In Iran (Coindesk)
• Iran Arrests Suspected Gold-hoarding ‘Sultan of Coins’ (NY Post)

Politicians manipulate Muslims as tools to be in power in India–but will not award them with any prestigious political positions:

• Muslims Being Treated As Bonded Labourers, Says Ram Vilas Paswan (NDTV)

A provision in South Africa’s Wills Act deprived a woman of her share of her husband’s estate. The Director of the Women’s Legal Centre “says more needs to be done to change legislation and recognise Muslim marriages”:

• ConCourt Confirms Rights of Wives in Polygamous Muslim Marriages (Eye Witness News)

As foreign ministers meet in Vienna “without the U.S. in order ‘to ensure the continued implementation’ of the Iran nuclear deal and countries such as China, India, South Korea, Turkey, will not be able to replace Iran for oil supply by November, there will be no immediate sanctions:

• U.S. Sidelined as Five Powers Set to Give Iran New Assurance (Bloomberg)
• U.S. Softens Demand That Countries Stop All Iran Oil Imports (The New York Times)

“Trump’s … pressures on European firms at a time when Nigeria and Libya are in crisis, when Venezuela’s oil exports have fallen due to U.S. sanctions, when Saudi’s domestic consumption has increased … will increases the prices of oil in the global markets”

• Iran Says Trump’s Oil Ban on Iran Is ‘Self Harm‘ (Reuters)

To punish the Palestinian National Authority for paying the families of jailed members, Israel passes a law to freeze money transfers:

• Palestinians Denounce Israel Law to Punish Payments to Prisoners’ Families (Gulf News)

Arabs need someone to reform society rather than religion, “who uses the popular legitimacy and the authority of religion to promote social and political change” more “Martin Luther King Jr. more than a Martin Luther”:

• The Middle East: History Threatens to Repeat Itself (Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer)

First Palestinian protest will be held on Monday in Ramallah against the unveiled peace plan of President Trump in the Middle East:

• Palestinians Planning Mass Protests Against Trump’s Peace Plan  (The Jerusalem Post)

“[A]nger is fueled by the Iranian rial plunging to 90,000 to the dollar — double the government rate of 42,000 — as people watch their savings dwindle and shopkeepers hold onto some goods, uncertain of their true value”:

• Videos Show Gunfire amid Iran Protests over Water Scarcity (CNBC)

“Iranian crude oil will be offered on the bourse and the private sector can export it in a transparent way” — First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri …

• Iran Eyes Private Oil Exports to Help Beat U.S. Sanctions (Reuters)

… while Afghanis will have economic opportunities as an unintended consequence of Trump’s policy…

• Opportunities for Afghan Money Traders as Iran Sanctions Loom (Reuters)

… and “India needs Iran for keeping it connected to Central Asia and Russia”:

• Iran to Remain Integral Part of India’s Foreign Policy (The Times of India)

“…six U.S. presidents before him (Trump) tried this and had to give up,” Khamenei ..,

• Iran’s leaders Seek Ways to Defend Economy from U.S. Sanctions (Reuters)

“…$2-3 million dollars cross the porous borders of the western provinces of Herat, Farah and Nimruz into Iran every day. …A shortage of dollars hurts importers and inconveniences Iranians who travel, study or do business abroad” …

• Opportunities for Afghan Money Traders as Iran Sanctions Loom (Reuters)

… Iran says that the ban by the U.S. on exporting crude oil will have adverse effect:

• Iran Urges Foreign Firms in Country to Resist US ‘Threats’, French Automaker PSA Ends Ventures with Tehran to Avoid Sanctions (First Post)