Iran

Echoing comments made yesterday by his national security advisor Michael Flynn, Trump started his Thursday morning on Twitter by first threatening to pull UC Berkeley's funding and congratulating Rex Tillerson, and then stating that Iran is now formally “on notice” for firing a ballistic missile. 

“Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile.Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them!” he tweeted, without providing any other details.

The White House has warned that the U.S. may use military action against Iran following Tehran’s ballistic missile test.  National Security Adviser Michael Flynn told a press briefing on Wednesday that the Trump administration has officially put Iran “on notice,” hinting that the U.S. army are on alert in preparation for a potential war. “The Obama Administration failed to respond adequately to Tehran’s malign actions—including weapons transfers, support for terrorism, and other violations of international norms,” Flynn told reporters.

After yesterday US officials reported that Iran conducted a nuclear ballistic missile test on Sunday, which some claimed would be another violation of the UN resolution and Obama's nuclear deal, on Wednesday Iran's defense minister admitted that the Islamic Republic had indeed tested a new missile, but added the test did not breach Tehran's nuclear accord with world powers or a U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the pact.

Iran is planning to ditch the use of the American currency after US President Donald Trump issued a travel ban on seven countries, including the Islamic Republic The Central Bank of Iran is seeking to replace the dollar with a new common foreign currency or use a basket of currencies in all official financial and foreign exchange reports. The move had already been in the offing but appears to have been expedited after Washington included Iran in a list of seven nations that are banned from entering the United States.

Why has Apple started removing Iran-based apps from its App Store? Iranian iOS Apps which facilitate transactions for businesses and entities based in Iran have started disappearing from the App Store. The US tech giant opened up its App Store to the Iranians in September 2016. Reports over the weekend suggest that one of the largest e-commerce start-ups in the Middle East, Iran’s Digikala service had its app removed by Apple. “Unfortunately, there is no App Store available for the territory of Iran,” according to Apple.