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Last Updated Aug 2, 2017 11:23 AM EDT

President Trump has signed a sweeping sanctions measure that targets Russia, Iran and North Korea, the White House said in a statement Wednesday.

The president's signature comes after some speculation that he could veto or not sign the legislation, which passed both chambers of Congress in overwhelming votes last week. Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials had signaled, however, that Mr. Trump planned to sign the bill into law.

While he signed the bill, the president made clear in a statement Wednesday that he's signing the bill "for the sake of national unity" even though he isn'tsatisfied with some of its provisions.

"I favor tough measures to punish and deter bad behavior by the rogue regimes in Tehran and Pyongyang. I also support making clear that America will not tolerate interference in our democratic process, and that we will side with our allies and friends against Russian subversion and destabilization," he said.

He added, "Still, the bill remains seriously flawed particularly because it encroaches on the executive branch's authority to negotiate."

The bill maintains and expands sanctions against the Russian government. Most importantly, it will require congressional approval before the president can ease or lift sanctions on Russia. The measure also targets sanctions on Russian activities that undermine U.S. cybersecurity, sanctions on Russian crude oil projects and on certain transactions with foreign sanctions evaders and human rights abusers, among other things.

A day after the Senate passed the new set of sanctions, Russia's Foreign Ministry last Friday announced countermeasures in which it set a Sept. 1 deadline for Washington to reduce the number of diplomatic staff in the country and ordered some U.S.-run facilities in Russia to close.

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In response to Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, Congress has imposed new sanctions on the country. CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer...

Mr. Trump's signature is significant given that he spent time on the 2016 campaign trail promoting a platform that included a warming of relations with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. The two leaders met in person for the first time in early July at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. Mr. Trump later came under fire for a previously undisclosed conversation that he had with Putin at the time over dinner in which only a Russian interpreter was present.

The measure also targets Iran's ballistic missile program, its support for terrorism and human rights violations, and yet it would still comply with the Iranian nuclear deal. Specifically, it imposes sanctions on any foreign person or foreign entity that does business with an entity already designated by the administration that has a connection to Iran's ballistic missile program. These sanctions, for example, could apply to any financial institution or any foreign company that provides key parts or components to Iran's missile program.

As for North Korea, it enforces compliance with United Nations shipping sanctions against North Korea and it imposes new sanctions in response to human rights abuses by the North Korean government and its bellicose behavior abroad.

The bill came togetherin July after a series of road bumps that lawmakers encountered over the last several months.

This also comes a day after the Senate confirmed Christopher Wray to serve as FBI director, replacing James Comey, who Mr. Trump abruptly fired in early May. Special Counsel Bob Mueller then took over the federal investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, which is still underway.

The U.S. intelligence community concluded in a report in early January that Putin ordered a campaign involving covert intelligence operations and overt propaganda to undermine faith in the U.S. election, disparage Hillary Clinton and help Mr. Trump's election chances.

CBS News' Jillian Hughes contributed to this report.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Originally posted here:
Trump signs sweeping sanctions bill targeting Russia, Iran and North Korea - CBS News

Reuters

US and allies call Iran's recent rocket launch 'threatening' Columbus Ledger-Enquirer The United States and three Western allies are calling Iran's recent launch of a satellite-carrying rocket "a threatening and provocative step" that is "inconsistent" with a U.N. resolution endorsing the 2015 agreement to rein in its nuclear program ... At UN, Western powers warn Iran rocket test a 'threatening step'Reuters US, Europeans push UN for action over Iran rocket launchDaily Mail US Says European Allies Back Protest at UN on Iran Rocket TestBloomberg all 7 news articles »

Read more from the original source:
US and allies call Iran's recent rocket launch 'threatening' - Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Iran or North Korea? Which threat should America confront first?

Heres a thought: both.

Save for the weather, North Korea wouldve tested an intercontinental ballistic missile last Thursday, at almost the same time as Iran did. It missed the date, coinciding with the anniversary of the 1953 armistice pact that ended the Korean War, likely thanks to a rain storm.

Nerveless, it tested the next day, creating a Mideast-East Asian stereo boom heard around the world.

American experts no longer think itll take North Korea years to be able to hit the continental United States. Most watchers now expect it sometime next year.

So President Trump has drawn the short straw. Three predecessors failed to stop the Kim regimes nuclear and missile advances. If he wants to stop the Norks, Trump has no choice but to act and all of his options are bad.

Meanwhile, much of President Barack Obamas Iran deal is expected to unravel during Trumps tenure as well.

What can he do?

Americans and others have long observed cooperation between these two rogue regimes. You dont need to be a trained missile expert to notice the design similarities between North Koreas home-built Rodong and its Iranian clone, the Shahab 3. Or the Rodong B and Shahab 4.

Iranian nuclear scientists were present at Pyongyangs first nuclear test. Iran-allied Syria modeled its nuclear plant (later eliminated by Israel) on a similar North Korean one. Rather than violating the Obama deal by experimenting at home, Iran can advance its nuclear program by observing North Koreas and contributing to its progress.

The mullahs have what Kim Jong-un needs most: cash. Pyongyangs only foreign-currency-worthy export is weapons and knowing how to build and use them, which Iran craves. Its a match made in hell.

So why are countries threatened by North Korea, like Japan, so eager to do business with Iran? After all, dont the mullahs enable the Norths quest to develop the missiles that get fired near Japan?

Theres no proof of such cooperation, Tokyo officials said when I asked them about it on a recent trip to Japan.

Theyre right. For decades, America shied away from revealing what the intelligence community knew about the Tehran-Pyongyang love affair because we dreamed of diplomatic breakthroughs on both fronts (and feared revealing spy methods).

After the Sunday ICBM test, such timidity is no longer an option.

Americas UN Ambassador Nikki Haley tweeted Sunday that China is aware they must act and that Japan and South Korea must increase pressure. Its not only a US problem but one that requires an international solution.

Yet, an international solution has eluded Haley since July 4, the last time North Korea launched a missile designed to reach the continental US. Russian diplomats have ridiculously argued theres no proof this was an ICBM, therefore no need to increase sanctions.

Such obfuscation will likely continue. Russia and China will block attempts to corner Kim and his henchmen especially now that administration officials like CIA Director Mike Pompeo are starting to push the idea of toppling the Kim regime, which both Beijing and Moscow oppose.

So one action the United States can take would be to put forth a UN resolution naming and sanctioning persons and entities involved in the Iran-North Korea arms cooperation.

Western diplomats tell me it likely wont pass. Yet theyre intrigued by publicly airing, Adlai Stevenson-like, Americas intel on Iran-Nork cooperation.

Irans missile program was, bizarrely, left out of Obamas nuclear deal. Revealing the Tehran-Pyongyang nexus might convince allies wobbly about Tehrans violations that the mullahs threat is global. It could also start the process of plugging a major cash source for the Kim regime.

And then, theres action beyond the United Nations: Obama rarely used the Proliferation Security Initiative, a treaty signed by 105 countries that allows search and seizure of ships carrying illicit arms. Expose the Iran-North Korea connection, then use PSI to disrupt it, with our allies help.

Weve long thought of Iran and North Korea as separate problems. Time for a holistic approach that will give a jolt to the diplomatic stalemate.

US flights over South Korean skies are helping. Talking publicly about adding Japan and South Korea to the global nuclear club may scare China into action. So will blacklisting companies that do business with Kim Jong-un. Regime change should be the ultimate target.

But a change in diplomatic strategy is needed too, and fast. Time to expose what everyone knows, but no one ever says out loud: Kim and the mullahs are BFFs.

Read more:
It's time to take on the Iran-North Korea nuke alliance - New York Post

DUBAI (Reuters) - Kuwait on Wednesday denied a Reuters report that Iran was using the Gulf Arab state's waters to smuggle weapons and equipment to Houthi forces in Yemen.

"The State of Kuwait refuted news by the Reuters news agency regarding Iran's exploitation of Kuwaiti waters to deliver arms and military assistance to the Houthis in Yemen," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

"A source at the ministry said that the country's waters were under the total control of the Kuwaiti navy and coast guard, adding that there were no reports of suspicious marine movements or activities," said the statement, carried by the official Kuwait news agency.

The ministry urged international media to investigate such matters "more thoroughly".

On Tuesday, Reuters cited sources familiar with the matter as saying that Iran's Revolutionary Guards had begun using a new route across the Gulf to funnel covert arms shipments to their Houthi allies in Yemen's civil war.

In March, regional and Western sources told Reuters that Iran was shipping weapons and military advisers to the Houthis either directly to Yemen or via Somalia. This route however risked contact with international naval vessels on patrol in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

For the last six months, Western and Iranian sources say the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has begun using waters further up the Gulf between Kuwait and Iran as it looks for new ways to beat an embargo on arms shipments to fellow Shi'ite Muslims in the Houthi movement.

Using this new route, Iranian ships were transferring equipment to smaller vessels at the northern end of the Gulf, where they face less scrutiny. The transhipments take place in Kuwaiti waters and in nearby international shipping lanes, the sources said.

Yemen is more than two years into a civil war pitting the Iran-aligned Houthis against the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition. More than 10,000 people have died in fighting and a cholera epidemic has infected more than 300,000 in a country on the brink of famine.

Reporting by William Maclean; editing by Mark Heinrich

Originally posted here:
Kuwait denies its waters used for Iran supplies to Houthis - Reuters

And with Uber locked out of the Iran for the foreseeable future due to U.S. sanctions, startup Snapp is seizing its chance to become the leading local player.

"The Iranian Uber" launched in 2014. Its current CEO, Shahram Shahkar, joined early last year.

"I felt that there was this underdeveloped market that I could potentially use the skills and experience that I've gained abroad to help develop further," Shahkar, who previously studied and worked in the U.K. and Canada, told CNN.

Snapp is available on iOS and Android and also has an Apple Watch version. The app promises to find its users a ride in less than five minutes.

Related: Who stands to lose if U.S. hits Iran with sanctions again?

Shahkar said his company -- backed by South African mobile firm MTN -- has seen the number of rides grow by 70% a month on average during the past year. It has hired more than 400 people in that time and now has 120,000 active drivers.

It offers four services, including Snapp Rose, which provides female drivers for women and families.

In designing the app, Shahkar took account of other local market factors. To begin with, it bans the customary haggling that often takes place between Iranian vendors and their customers.

"From day one, we have used pre-trip pricing to show the cost of the trip to both the passenger and the driver," Shahkar said.

And he had to work around sanctions that left the country with few links to international banking and no credit card networks. People using Snapp either have to pay cash or use a debit card issued by an Iranian bank.

Some sanctions were eased at the beginning of 2016 after Iran agreed to rein in its nuclear program. That has allowed Iran to pump more oil, giving a boost to the economy. The International Monetary Fund expects it to grow 3.3% this year and 4.3% in 2018.

Companies such as France's Total (TOT) and Germany's Volkswagen (VLKAF) have moved quickly to take advantage of Iran's potential. Airbus (EADSF) and Boeing (BA) have signed deals to sell hundreds of airplanes to Iranian carriers.

Related: Iran signs $2 billion gas deal with France's Total

Most of Iran's 80 million people are under 30, and many of them, like Hossein Chardoli, are desperate for jobs. Unable to find work as a hardware engineer, he now drives for Snapp and makes about $900 a month, more than the average income in Iran.

Chardoli is hoping Snapp's rapid growth will continue so he can earn even more.

"It would mean I can go from one city to another and make more even more money," he told CNN.

He may not have long to wait. Snapp is already available in four cities and will "soon be covering all the major cities of Iran," Shakhar said.

Snapp claims to have 80% of the market but doesn't have Iran's streets entirely to itself. Other local apps such as Tap30 and Carpino are vying for a share.

But like Uber, big regional competitors are steering clear of Iran for the time being.

Careem, which is based in Dubai and operates in more than 70 cities in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, said it has no plans to enter Iran.

-- Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Shahram Shahkar as the founder of Snapp.

CNNMoney (Dubai) First published July 30, 2017: 11:31 PM ET

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Snapp: Iran's answer to Uber is growing fast - Jul. 30, 2017 - CNNMoney