Top Stories
WSJ: "Iran has invited representatives of several nations to visit its nuclear installations this month, including Russia, China and the European Union, but has excluded the U.S. from the proposed trip, according to diplomats briefed on Tehran's correspondence. The Obama administration and a number of European and Arab governments quickly dismissed Tehran's overture, saying they viewed it as an attempt by Iran to reduce mounting economic pressure aimed at curbing its nuclear program. 'A tour for some countries is not a substitute for sustained and transparent cooperation,' State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday. 'Iran continues to be in violation of its international obligations and the international community won't be distracted by this ploy.' Two diplomats from EU countries said Monday their governments were unlikely to accept Tehran's invitation specifically because it is seen as an attempt to divide the international community. Rather, they said Tehran should be prepared to engage in serious discussions with the West and allow greater access to international inspectors from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency." http://on.wsj.com/eLF6Nq
Reuters: "Iran has offered a stop-gap plan for oil supplies to India for January, an Indian government source said on Tuesday, but a lasting solution to the row over how to pay for future supplies may take weeks. India's central bank said last week payments to Iran could no longer be done through a longstanding clearinghouse system run by central banks, prompting fears India's $12 billion annual oil imports from Iran could be threatened... Iranian central bank officials rushed to Mumbai but so far talks have failed to agree on a new payment mechanism that also boosts the transparency of their deals, as sought by the United States. Iran has suggested Indian firms open an account in the Iranian Frankfurt-based EIH bank. But the companies have asked India's state-run State Bank of India to open an account in EIH to transfer money into the central bank of Iran, which in turn will pay it into NIOC account, the Indian source said... The U.S. Treasury Department in September sanctioned EIH for facilitating billions of dollars of transactions with Iranian banks that the United States and European Union have blacklisted for aiding Iran's nuclear or missile programs." http://bit.ly/gqfFXa
AP: "An Iranian nuclear scientist who claimed he slipped away from his CIA captors has not been seen publicly since his heroic return to Tehran last year and could be facing an investigation as a possible turncoat, according to an opposition website. The report on the website Iranbriefing.net says that Shahram Amiri is now being held in a Tehran prison, where he allegedly has faced beatings so severe that he had to be hospitalized for a week. The website's account could not be verified, but it purports to offer the first details on Amiri's fate since he surfaced in the United States six months ago amid an array of contradictory stories between Tehran and Washington. Amiri's return to Tehran in July was portrayed by Iranian authorities as a propaganda coup. The nuclear scientist claimed he was kidnapped by American agents in May 2009 while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia." http://wapo.st/gITToL
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
CSM: "The Stuxnet cyberweapon may have destroyed as many as 1,000 Iranian nuclear-fuel centrifuges - more than one-tenth of the Natanz uranium enrichment plant's capacity - in late 2009 and early 2010, according to a recent report by a nuclear arms-control watchdog group. Everything appeared to be going well for the Iranian program up through Nov. 16, 2009, the date of a quarterly report by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. At that point, there had been a 'steady increase in the number of centrifuges' at Iran's Natanz plant, reaching a peak of 8,692 installed centrifuges. But by Feb. 18, 2010, the quarterly reports issued by IAEA inspectors began registering problems there, according to a little-noticed analysis by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), released Dec. 23. By then, Iran had pulled the plug on about 1,000 centrifuges it had previously installed, ISIS concluded." http://bit.ly/eBaOPC
AP: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sought some kind of nuclear fuel swap deal more than a year ago, but faced internal pressures from hard-liners who viewed it as a 'virtual defeat,' according to U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks. The report, available on the WikiLeaks website Tuesday, also suggested Iran trusted its arch-foe the United States more than ally Russia to follow through with the U.N.-backed proposal: providing reactor-ready fuel in exchange for Iran giving up control of its low-enriched uranium stockpile. The assessment was given to a top U.S. envoy by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose nation has a growing friendship with Tehran and is scheduled to host the next round of nuclear talks later this month between Iran and six world powers, including the United States." http://wapo.st/fIwivx
BBC: "The US has denied that any of its unmanned spy planes have been shot down by Iran. Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said there was no evidence to back up Iranian claims that it had shot down 'Western spy drones.' Another US official told Reuters news agency that drones had in the past gone down in the Gulf, but that the cause had always been mechanical failure. There has been no independent corroboration of the Iranian claim. The head of the Revolutionary Guards' air force wing, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said on Sunday that two 'Western spy drones' had been shot down in the Gulf." http://bbc.in/hxnfBo
Blooomberg: "Indian Oil Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. will get crude oil from Iran on credit this month as officials discuss ways to resolve a gridlock over payments, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Iran will supply Hindustan Oil, India's third-largest state refiner, with 1 million barrels of crude on 90 days credit, one of the people said, declining to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media. The refiners are exploring the possibility of paying for Iranian crude in yen, dhirams or rials, the people said." http://bit.ly/f6e6d8
Human Rights
AP: "Iran warns that a campaign to free two German journalists detained in the case of a woman sentenced to death by stoning may backfire. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says the Iranian judiciary is independent and will not be affected by foreign pressure. He says, 'Pressure will have the opposite effect. They had better not politicize the legal issue.' Last week Iran let the journalists meet relatives for the first time since they were arrested nearly three months ago for interviewing the son of the sentenced woman." http://wapo.st/gJwOqG
Domestic Politics
NY Daily News: "The WikiLeaks document dump continues to kick up surprises. A new diplomatic cable says the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard smacked President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the face for suggesting easing restrictions on the press. The February 2010 cable, classified secret and puckishly headlined, 'He Who Got Slapped,' quotes an intelligence source recounting a contentious meeting of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. The Iranian bigs were trying to figure out what to do in the wake of Tehran's explosive pro-democracy street protests of 2009." http://nydn.us/eT0WOI
AP: "A top opposition leader has offered to stand trial over the deadly unrest that erupted across Iran after the 2009 presidential elections - but on condition the proceedings are open, a reformist web site reported on Monday. Mahdi Karroubi's offer is the latest challenge to the government over the disputed balloting. Hundreds of opposition supporters have been arrested and tried following the fierce crackdown that crushed weeks of protests. Authorities have not jailed top reformists, however, apparently fearing a new outbreak of unrest. But last week, in an abrupt aboutface, Tehran's chief prosecutor said it was only a matter of time before opposition leaders would be put on trial over the rioting that followed the disputed 2009 presidential balloting." http://wapo.st/gzgxPh
Foreign Affairs
AP: "Iran's decision to stop up to 2,500 fuel trucks at its border with Afghanistan is tantamount to an 'embargo,' an Afghan commerce official said Tuesday, as others warned the move could leave millions of Afghans shivering as winter rolls in. The unofficial ban, now in its second week, has pushed up wholesale domestic fuel prices as much as 70 percent. The shortage of fuel also threatens to stop trucks loaded with commercial goods from reaching the capital along a key southern transport route. Iran on Tuesday acknowledged a link between the ban and its recent decision to slash domestic fuel subsidies in a bid to cut costs and boost an economy squeezed by international sanctions. Afghan officials say Iran has also told them it is concerned the shipments are destined for NATO forces operating in Afghanistan, though Afghan and NATO officials deny that." http://wapo.st/eqT4rM
Opinion & Analysis
Emanuele Ottolenghi in WSJ: "In September the Obama administration sanctioned eight Iranian officials for their role in the recent wave of repression inside the country. Meanwhile, the European Union is still discussing human-rights sanctions-but nothing has seen the light of day yet. Rectifying this situation should be central to trans-Atlantic cooperation, and not just because Europe and the U.S., as open societies, should put principle before expediency when it comes to human rights. Equally important is that in the standoff with Iran over its nuclear-weapons program, the West can only gain by undermining the regime's legitimacy. If Western democracies were to target the Islamic Republic for its human-rights abuses, bolster the country's internal opposition, and speak directly to the Iranian people over the heads of their oppressors, they would cause significant harm to Tehran. This is particularly important as in the current international climate additional United Nations sanctions are unlikely. A top priority for policy makers should be to increase resources for the dissemination of free information inside Iran and to help ordinary Iranians organize against the regime. One way of doing this would be for EU countries to strengthen their own Farsi broadcast services, such as those from the BBC and Deutsche Welle, and to counter the regime's efforts to jam satellite transmissions and censor the Internet. An effective low-tech strategy would be to boost short-wave broadcasting. Tehran would have to confiscate every transistor radio in the country to prevent uncensored news from reaching Iranian homes. But our governments' support for radio, TV and Internet broadcasting should not stop at funding. The leaders of the free world must get on the airwaves themselves and start explaining Western policies while condemning the regime's human-rights abuses." http://on.wsj.com/gDk22S
Matt Gurney in The National Post: "Iran's Revolutionary Guards, considered to be the most fanatical and elite part of its military, recently claimed to have shot down 'many' Western spy planes, including some over the Persian Gulf. It did not offer any proof for this claim, such as footage of the shootdowns or any scraps of wreckage. Nor has any Western country reported the loss of any manned vehicles. If there is any truth at all to Iran's claims, it probably means that the Iranians have successfully engaged unmanned reconnaissance drones - it's a lot easier to cover up the loss of a robot than a missing pilot who leaves behind a family and friends and a Facebook profile. While the loss of a $10-million drone would be an irritant and a setback to any Western nation with an interest in monitoring the Iranian regime, it is still a far better thing to lose a drone than to lose a manned aircraft. This is not only due to financial calculations - drones are much cheaper than planes - and humanitarian concern for the pilot, but for reasons of raw geopolitics - the United States has learned from its history why flying manned spy planes over hostile territory can be risky. Just ask Francis Gary Powers... Iran might well have enjoyed some success knocking a few of these aircraft down ... just like America has enjoyed success against Iranian drones. But given how little coverage there's been given, it's doubtful they have killed or captured any American or Israeli pilots. We'd have heard about that, just like Iran loudly boasted of its capture of British sailors that allegedly strayed into Iran waters in 2007. Despite its bluster and bravado, the fact remains that Iran can never shoot down enough cheap, easily replaced drones to seriously effect the West's ability to spy on its military programs. Whether or not anyone chooses to act on the knowledge gained, of course, is another question entirely." http://bit.ly/eX3Q96
Sumit Ganguly in The Diplomat: "Last November, India's senior foreign policy officials made their unhappiness known over Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's remarks about Kashmir being a 'besieged' region of the world. They not only called in the Iranian ambassador to express their displeasure, but for the first time carefully abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning the state of human rights in Iran. (In the past, India had scrupulously voted with Iran to avoid giving offense to this important regional trading partner and tacit ally in Afghanistan). This week, the Reserve Bank of India, India's central bank, issued explicit guidelines indicating that Indian companies would no longer be allowed to use the Asian Clearing Union, a regional clearinghouse, for financial transactions with Iranian companies. This decision, in the language of international relations, constitutes a costly signal. It entails significant costs because India and Iran have gas and oil trade to the tune of $11 billion annually. It's also costly in other ways. The government will also pay significant political costs because the opposition in parliament -- and especially the Communist parties -- will now seize upon it as further evidence of the ruling United Progressive Alliance genuflecting before US pressure. There is, of course, no doubt that the Obama administration had long made it clear that it would prefer to see India distance itself from Iran and join the sanctions bandwagon." http://bit.ly/g4FHM5
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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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