News Digest: Week of September 14

September 14, 2020

September 14

Health: Iran recorded the highest daily rise in COVID-19 fatalities since mid-August. More than 150 patients died in a single day which put overall official death toll at 23,313. 

 

September 15

Health: Iran recorded 407,353 cases and 23,632 deaths from COVID-19. 

Diplomacy: Iran vigorously condemned the new U.S.-brokered agreements—known as the Abraham Accords—between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed at the White House. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed the accords as politically motivated. President Donald Trump “desperately needed a campaign photo,” he tweeted. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and chief Middle East peace broker “blackmailed their clients into giving him one,” he charged.

 

September 16

Sanctions: Elliott Abrams, the U.S. special envoy on Iran, warned that reimposed U.S. sanctions “will have a very significant impact” on arms manufacturers and traders that seek to do business with Iran once the U.N. arms embargo expires on October 18. In August, the U.N. Security Council rejected a U.S. bid to reimpose all sanctions that were in place before the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was implemented. 

Health: