Eye On Iran: New Sanctions Crimp Iran's Shipping Business as Insurers Withhold Coverage

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group. Top Stories WP: "Just weeks after the United States and the United Nations imposed new rounds of sanctions on Iran, Tehran's ability to ship vital goods has been significantly curtailed as some of the world's most powerful Western insurance companies cut off Iranian shippers out of fear that they could run afoul of U.S. laws, the insurers say." http://bit.ly/aqc4Rk AFP: "A top US financial watchdog outlined fresh measures to isolate Iran Tuesday, as Washington attempts to ramp up pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro told Congress she was working on measures that would make it easier for companies to abandon their stake in firms that trade with Iran." http://bit.ly/aZkH6C FT: "Not long ago, western energy majors such as Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total were eager to develop South Pars, the world's biggest natural gas field in southern Iran. Today, only one foreign company - the China National Petroleum Corporation - is present in one phase of the field, which lies beneath the waters of the Gulf. Iran's state-owned and quasi-private companies have taken over all other projects and they struggle with a shortage of investment and equipment." http://bit.ly/bR0kLg Nuclear Program AP: "An Iranian nuclear scientist who returned home last week from the United States provided valuable information about the CIA, a semiofficial news agency reported Wednesday, adding that his spy's tale would be made into a TV movie. American authorities have claimed Shahram Amiri willingly defected to the U.S. but changed his mind and decided to return home without the $5 million he had been paid for what a U.S. official described as 'significant' information about his country's disputed nuclear program." http://bit.ly/a8euWG AFP: "Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Wednesday called on Muslims to fight the 'blind and savage terrorism' fuelled by the United States and Britain, whom he blamed for deadly bombings of an Iranian mosque." http://bit.ly/9fjyG0 Reuters: "The owner of a gasoline tanker refused to allow the vessel to sail to Iran from Turkey earlier in July, trade and shipping sources said on Wednesday. The impact of a new wave of international sanctions over Iran's nuclear enrichment activities has been spreading into day -to-day businesses this month as the West fears Iran's nuclear activities could lead the country to make a bomb, something Teheran denies it wants." http://bit.ly/966xEo Domestic Politics LAT: "Even though streets are relatively quiet, the opposition movement that erupted following the disputed, allegedly fraudulent 2009 reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to live on, quietly trying to gather steam. The photo above was posted to the Persian-language opposition website Tahavol Sabz. It shows Parvin Fahim, the mother of Sohrab Aarabi, who was allegedly killed by pro-government militiamen amid the protests that followed the election, meeting with former prisoners of the Kahrizak detention center, where detainees were allegedly tortured." http://bit.ly/dbJFuH AP: "State TV says a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 has shaken southern Iran, injuring 15 people. Iranian state TV says the quake on Wednesday shook Ashkenan, a region near Lamerd in southern Iran." http://bit.ly/cP3iS4 Foreign Affairs Radio Farda: "Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian discussed Armenian-Iranian cooperation and regional security issues with Iranian political and military leaders during an official weekend visit to Tehran, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports." http://bit.ly/aK7iVC Opinion Emanuele Ottolenghi and Mark Dubowitz in WSJ: "That's why it's so important that Europe finally gets it right. Like comparable U.S. measures, the new EU sanctions will target Iran's energy industry, the regime's lifeblood. The problem is that when it comes to Iran, the EU has so far drawn a distinction between ostensibly legitimate Iranian businesses and those involved in procurement and proliferation for the state's nuclear and missile programs. But by using its own sanctions against Burma as a precedent, the EU could now target any publicly owned Iranian companies regardless of whether they directly contribute to proliferation." http://bit.ly/dzEaom Benjamin Weinthal in JPost: "Germany, the key EU economic force behind trade with Iran (roughly €4 billion annually), has thus far thrown a wrench into the works by blocking sanctions against Iranian banking institutions operating on German soil that are involved in financing the nuclear weapons program. In short, Germany is the key to effective EU sanctions against Iran's rulers." http://bit.ly/chC2jZ Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.

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