Top Stories
AFP: "Iran is to start
building its third uranium enrichment plant in early 2011, a top official said,
defying world powers which have slapped new sanctions on Tehran for pursuing
the sensitive nuclear work. Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi, cited on
state television late on Sunday, said the search for sites for 10 new
enrichment facilities 'is in its final stages.'" http://bit.ly/97XKzg
NYT: "The
Treasury Department released new regulations on Friday that could bar foreign
banks or companies from accessing the financial system in the United States if
they did business with entities or people subject to United Nations and United
States sanctions. The regulations, which grew out of legislation
Congress passed in June, effectively bar foreign banks from doing business in
dollars if they engage in transactions with anyone suspected of involvement in
Iran's nuclear or missile programs. The entities include Iran's Revolutionary
Guards." http://nyti.ms/9KbzuY
Reuters: "All governments should
step up their vigilance against dealings with Iran's shipping sector, a senior
U.S. official said Monday, describing it as a 'critical lifeline for Iran's
proliferation and evasion' ... In its latest move to counter this, Friday
Washington designated for sanctions three Malta-based shipping companies owned
directly or indirectly by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL),
the national carrier, he said." http://bit.ly/b9pR27
Nuclear Program
FT: "Iran's first
nuclear power plant will start generating electricity by the end of this year,
after more than three decades of delays in construction, according to a state
nuclear official. Russia announced on Friday that it would deliver 82 tonnes of
nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr plant reactor on August 21, ending the test
phase of the installation and officially making it a nuclear power site.
Iranian officials hope the plant will formally open a few weeks later." http://bit.ly/b7bLmf
LAT: "The United Nations confirmed
last week that Iran had violated several U.N. resolutions by activating a
second set, or 'cascade,' of centrifuges for enriching uranium at its nuclear
plant in Natanz, leaving many wondering what this latest development meant. The
West has accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program, a charge Tehran
denies. Babylon and Beyond recently spoke with former U.N. weapons inspector
David Albright and asked him to put Iran's latest move into perspective." http://bit.ly/cuIgCV
Commerce
AFP: "Sanctions-hit Iran will within days offer the
first tranche of a three billion dollar domestic bond issue to fund the
development of its South Pars gasfields, a top official said on Sunday. Ali
Vakili, head of Pars Oil and Gas Company, the Iranian firm in charge of
developing South Pars, said the funds will be raised in six stages during the
current year to March 2011, according to oil ministry's news agency Shana." http://bit.ly/calX2s
AFP: "Iran is not having any problems
procuring gasoline, a top official said on Monday, despite sanctions by the
United States and European Union targetting refined petroleum imports. 'The
adoption of sanctions have not created any obstacles for the country in
procuring gasoline,' Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran's envoy to the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), told Mehr news agency." http://bit.ly/aGVjUz
Human Rights
CNN: "An Iranian court has
delayed the final verdict of a 43-year-old woman sentenced to death by stoning,
a human rights group said Sunday, two days after the country announced she will
not be executed during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan... The group said in a
statement that the final verdict in Ashtiani's case is now expected on August
21, the date of her lawyer's next court appearance." http://bit.ly/9FfDKd
AFP: "Popular Iranian footballer Ali
Karimi, sometimes described as 'the Maradona of Asia,' has been fired by his
club for not fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the club said on
Sunday. Steel Azin FC said on its website www.steelazin.com that it was 'forced
to sack one of its players, Ali Karimi, for being disobedient and not fasting
during Ramadan,' when devout Muslims fast from dawn until dusk." http://yhoo.it/bzCbm7
CNN: "To
escape Iran, Mohammad Mostafaei traveled for more then 10 hours on foot and on
horseback over the mountains, crossing the border illegally into Turkey. Soon
afterwards, he ended up in a detention center for illegal immigrants in
Istanbul, where he was incarcerated for nearly a week. After several surreal
and sometimes dangerous weeks, Mostafaei's journey appears to finally be over.
He now strolls the tidy, rain-soaked streets of Norway's capital, safe from the
Iranian security forces who he claims targeted him. But Mostafaei is far from
at ease." http://bit.ly/c5Egdy
Opinion
Stuart Levey in FT: "Substantial attention has already been paid to sanctions in Iran's banking and
energy sectors. But the latest round of measures also sharpens the focus on
another sector that is a critical lifeline for Iran's proliferation and
evasion: shipping. Some of Iran's most dangerous cargo continues to come and go
from Iran's ports, so we must redouble our vigilance over both their domestic
shipping lines, and attempts to use third-country shippers and freight
forwarders for illicit cargo... US companies involved in third-country trade -
as well as foreign shippers and freight forwarders doing business with the US -
must be aware of their sanctions responsibilities. And all shippers, wherever
they do business, should exercise enhanced vigilance, particularly where
shipments may involve Iran." http://bit.ly/aINQ3c
Shilbey Telhami in LAT: "President Obama may have scored a diplomatic win by
securing international support for biting sanctions against Iran, but Arab
public opinion is moving in a different direction. Polling conducted last month
by Zogby and the University of Maryland in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
Morocco, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates suggests that views in the region
are shifting toward a positive perception of Iran's nuclear program. These
views present problems for Washington, which has counted on Arabs seeing Iran
as a threat - maybe even a bigger one than Israel. So why is Arab public
opinion toward Iran shifting?" http://bit.ly/cdAnm1
Charlie Szrom in The American: "Telhami's
findings on the Arab public's view of Iranian nuclear weapons may be accurate
on the specific questions it asked on the Iranian nuclear weapons program.
Before policy makers and the media take at face value the conclusion that Arabs
are warming to the idea of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, however, they
should consider the weight of contradictory evidence, the difficulty of polling
the Middle East, and recent anecdotal evidence from the region." http://bit.ly/aJssKB
Michael
Rubin in NY Daily News: "Today, strategic debate
revolves around how a nuclear Iran would behave: Would it bomb Israel? Would it
supply terrorist groups? Would Iran become more aggressive in the region?
Seldom discussed, however, is how nuclear weapons might change Iran itself.
That could be the most profound transformation of all... Possession is 90% of
the law. And in that sense, on a day-to-day basis, the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps - which will 'own' the arsenal - will control it. This is no
comfort: Not only do the Revolutionary Guards contain Iran's most radical
ideologues, but they also remain effectively a big, black box to Western
analysts." http://bit.ly/9J0DVy
Michael Richardson in The Japan Times: "Relations between the United States and China - already under serious strain
over trade and economic issues, human rights and, most recently, the Yellow Sea
and the South China Sea - are about to be tested anew over Iran's controversial
nuclear program. Armed
with what it says are extended international and national sanctions to squeeze
Iran's banking, foreign trade, energy, and air and sea transport sectors, the
U.S. is sending senior officials to Asia, the Middle East and South America
this month to try to rally more government and corporate support. The appeal is
backed by a threat: costly penalties for companies, whether state-owned or
private, that defy the sanctions." http://bit.ly/apQ1C3
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment