Thursday, August 12, 2010

Eye On Iran: Iran Curbs LNG-Export Ambitions






























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Top Stories









































WSJ: "Iran is greatly curbing its once-lofty ambitions to
become a major liquefied natural-gas exporter, a reversal that energy
executives and analysts tie to the country's difficulty accessing Western
technology amid fresh international sanctions.
In several recent interviews with state-controlled outlets, Iranian
energy officials have said they have suspended two of the country's big LNG
projects. Tehran said it is shifting its focus to building more gas pipelines."
http://bit.ly/bMu8eG

Reuters: "Russian oil giant LUKOIL (LKOH.MM: Quote) has
resumed gasoline sales into Iran together with China's state-run firm Zhuhai
Zhenrong, even as the United States urges the global community to be tough with
Tehran. Iran is the world's
fifth-largest oil exporter but lacks adequate refining capacity to meet
domestic demand for motor fuel, forcing it to import up to 40 percent of its
requirements." http://bit.ly/a8SF31

AP: "As Iran and world powers prepare for new nuclear
talks, letters from Tehran's envoys to top international officials suggest
little prospect of major progress, with Tehran combative and unlikely to offer
any concessions. Two letters, both
written late last month and obtained by The Associated Press, reflect Iran's
apparent determination to continue the nuclear activities that have led to new
rounds of U.N., EU, and U.S. sanctions over fears that Tehran might be seeking
to develop nuclear arms." http://bit.ly/aLXTkM

Iran Disclosure Project

Nuclear Program



























Radio Farda: "The United States says it wants to give
Iran sanctions time to work before turning to other ways to prevent it from
developing nuclear weapons. Jim Jones,
President Barack Obama's national security adviser, told CNN that Washington
would keep pressure on Iran over its nuclear program but that the
administration believed it had time before considering military action." http://bit.ly/cwo7IA

AFP: "Western countries' sanctions against Iran are
boosting rather than hurting the Iranian government, opposition leader Mehdi
Karroubi said in an interview with a British newspaper published Thursday. Karroubi said the sanctions gave President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government a justification for clamping down on
opponents." http://bit.ly/czcibR

Bloomberg: "Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi and
Chinese officials pledged for their countries to cooperate more closely in the
energy industry during talks in Beijing on Aug. 6, Iran's government-run Press
TV reported. Russia's state-controlled OAO Rosneft and OAO Gazprom Neft may
step up fuel shipments to the Islamic republic this month, the Iran Commission
of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in July." http://bit.ly/aAWJ11

Bloomberg: "Iran won't avoid keeping euros and dollars in
its foreign currency basket as a result of international sanctions over the
country's nuclear program, though it will decrease the proportion the Western
currencies represent in its reserves, Reza Nadali, director of the bank's
international department, said in a phone interview from Tehran. Iran won't
reduce the amount of foreign currency it holds in accounts outside the country,
he said." http://bit.ly/9zaUnS

Human Rights

LAT: "Seven leaders of the Bahai community in Iran were
sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of spying for foreign nations,
cooperation with Israel and undermining Islam, according to Bahai
representatives in the United States and France. All those accused have denied
the charges. The Bahai leaders have been
held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison since 2008." http://bit.ly/aF50c1

Radio Farda: "Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian
woman whose death sentence by stoning sparked international outrage, appears to
have been shown on Iranian state television confessing to adultery. In the broadcast, the interviewee also admits
that a man with whom she was acquainted offered to kill her husband and that
she let him carry out the crime." http://bit.ly/cnDBYT

Foreign Affairs

The Telegraph: "The UK ambassador to Iran has angrily
attacked comments by a senior Tehran government minister that the English are 'a
bunch of thick people'. Simon Gass said
the comments were 'illogical and worthless' and showed 'a lack of respect for
human dignity'.
The remarks were made by Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, a
vice-president of Iran, in a speech on Monday to education officials." http://bit.ly/blCQil

AP: "Iran's president called Thursday for a stronger
alliance with other countries in the region straddling the Middle East and Central
Asia, saying NATO-led troops have failed to restore peace in Afghanistan. Iran sees the presence of American forces on
its doorstep in Afghanistan as a threat, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has
urged neighboring countries to increase cooperation instead." http://bit.ly/bUxY6R

Opinion

Michael Eisenstadt and David Crist in Foreign Policy: "There
are a number of reasons that Iran, rather than the United States or Israel, may
act first. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and
other senior officials have proclaimed on numerous occasions their belief that
the United States is a declining power, that the international order that
underpinned U.S. influence is crumbling, and that U.S. strength has been sapped
by long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq." http://bit.ly/9ZUgGF

Steve Clemons in The Washington Note: "What
simultaneously disturbs and fascinates about this essay by Goldberg, who in
past conversations has told me that he is ambivalent personally when it comes
to bombing or containing Iran, is that it lays out a fairly comprehensive
roster of the probable high costs for Israel (and the U.S.) of a military
attack - and yet Israel's national leadership, for the most part, as reflected
in their interviews, maintains a consequences-be-damned posture on a military
strike - as opposed to a containment strategy." http://bit.ly/cZ9pAe

Golnaz Esfandiari for Radio Farda: "Ahmadinejad is known
for his frequent use of crude language when discussing Western countries and
adversaries. But recently the Iranian president has stepped up his use of
undiplomatic language, reaching new lows in the process. Ahmadinejad didn't stop at the breast
reference. Addressing the United States, he alluded to another phrase that describes
angry people as having 'burning asses.'" http://bit.ly/97Pvbl




















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



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