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WSJ: "A lobbying group is calling on construction crane maker Terex Corp. (TEX) to stop all its business dealings in Iran in response to Iran's use of cranes for public hangings. United Against Nuclear Iran is making Connecticut-based Terex the first target of its 'Cranes Campaign' against companies whose machinery is used in executions where the condemned are hung from cranes and their bodies left to dangle for public display. 'Even putting aside the clear misuse of these cranes for public execution, the possibility of Terex's name being even remotely associated with the thugocratic regime in Tehran should be reason enough to end Terex's business in Iran,' Mark Wallace, president of the group, said in a letter to Terex Chairman and Chief Executive Ron DeFeo that was released Wednesday... The group decided to turn its attention to Iran's executions after a surge in death sentences as part of the government's crackdown against political opposition. Citing human rights organizations' reports, the group said at least 132 people have been put to death since the start of the year, setting the country on a pace to far exceed the 179 people believed executed during all of 2010." http://t.uani.com/gBLkLc
AP: "The Obama administration is implicitly criticizing Iran after Israel intercepted a ship carrying weapons it said was bound for Palestinian militants in Gaza. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement late Wednesday that the U.S. condemns illicit smuggling of arms and ammunition. He said U.N. resolutions prohibit Iran, in particular, from exporting weapons and that 'any activity to the contrary is another example of Iran's destabilizing activities in the region.' Israel said the ship intercepted Tuesday in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea had roughly 2,500 mortar shells, nearly 75,000 bullets and six anti-ship missiles. It said the weapons were sent by Iran by way of Syria, and that the advanced anti-ship missiles could have challenged Israeli enforcement of a naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip." http://t.uani.com/hDBceZ
AFP: "South Korea and Singapore have intercepted suspected nuclear and weapons materials bound for Iran that breach UN sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic, diplomats said on Thursday. The two seizures, made in the past six months but only revealed now, add to a growing list of alleged Iranian attempts to breach an international arms embargo, which are bringing mounting pressure to tighten sanctions, they said. 'South Korea authorities found more than 400 suspicious tubes in a jet cargo at Seoul airport in December,' one diplomat told AFP, giving details from a report to the UN Iran sanctions committee. The tubes could be used for nuclear facilities, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the seizures have not been made public. 'In September, aluminium powder that can be used for rockets was found on a ship in Singapore harbor,' the diplomat added. In each case the product was destined for Iran." http://t.uani.com/e6gWjq
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
AFP: "Malaysian police confirmed on Thursday they have seized two containers which may contain parts used to make nuclear weapons, from a ship bound for western Asia. 'I can confirm that we have seized the containers at Port Klang but we do not know yet whether these are possibly parts to help make weapons of mass destruction or nuclear items,' national police chief Ismail Omar told AFP... Last April, Premier Najib Razak said his country would strictly enforce a new law to curb trafficking of nuclear weapons components after being linked to the illegal supply of sensitive technology to Iran and Libya." http://t.uani.com/i7f8I9
AFP: "Iran has launched a rocket into space carrying a test capsule designed to house an animal, the official IRNA news agency said Thursday, amid Western concerns over Tehran's scientific advances. The Kavoshgar-4 rocket was launched without fanfare on March 15, the report said, citing the president's office. The capsule, unveiled by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on February 7, is designed to carry a monkey but there were no living creatures on board, IRNA added. 'This important scientific experiment was carried out on Esfand 24 (March 15) by the Iranian Space Agency,' IRNA said." http://t.uani.com/fa5GgH
Haaretz: "The Foreign Ministry plans to file a complaint to the UN Security Council's sanctions committee over Iran's efforts to smuggle arms to the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, the navy showed off the arms it seized aboard the Victoria on Tuesday. The ship was intercepted en route from Syria to Egypt, whence the arms were slated to be smuggled overland to Hamas in Gaza... Over the coming days, the Foreign Ministry plans to give the sanctions committee all the information in Israel's possession about Iran's involvement in the Victoria. It will argue that this was a gross violation of Security Council Resolution 1747, which forbids Iran to export arms. Today, the committee will hear a survey of Iranian arms smuggling efforts worldwide. Foreign Ministry sources said that over the last half year, at least five Iranian arms shipments have been seized: in Nigeria, Afghanistan, Italy, the Mediterranean Sea and Southeast Asia." http://t.uani.com/gS20Jp
Haaretz: "An Iranian cargo plane, forced to land in southeast Turkey on suspicion it was carrying weapons to Syria, departed on Wednesday after a search squad found nothing illegal on the plane, officials said. A team trained in chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear cargo from the Civil Defense Directorate inspected the plane, which landed in the city of Diyarbakir late on Tuesday en route from Tehran to Aleppo in northern Syria, the state-run Anatolian news agency said." http://t.uani.com/dKJ5Te
Human Rights
AP: "In addition to sending a letter to Iran's supreme leader seeking the release of two American hikers, Muhammad Ali's wife says the boxing champ is also willing to go there to help make it happen. But Lonnie Ali says such a visit would depend on her husband's health. Parkinson's Disease has limited his speech and physical activity. 'If we thought that they would be released and if Muhammad's presence would have some impact on that release for the good, then, yes, we would try very hard to make sure Muhammad was able to go,' Lonnie Ali said. 'But a lot of that, as you know, would depend on Muhammad's health. That's the bottom line.' Arguably the most prominent U.S. Muslim, Muhammad Ali made a behind-the scenes appeal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in February and released his letter to The Associated Press on Wednesday." http://t.uani.com/f6QLM8
Domestic Politics
Reuters: "On the snowy mountains that loom over Tehran, wealthy Iranians can put the political problems and economic fears that hang over the capital city like smog, behind them. Just an hour's drive into the Alborz range which fringes northern Tehran, life seems a world away from the traffic jams and pollution of the capital and its daytime population of 12 million people. 'This is the only place you can find happiness, freedom and so much energy,' said Maria, a 26-year-old university student who, like many Iranians wary of government attention if they speak to the media, declined to give her surname... Vahid, a 29-year-old student skiing with his girlfriend said this is the only place he comes 'to escape the limitations imposed on young people in Iran.'" http://t.uani.com/i0yEG9
AP: "Iran's State TV says at least nine prisoners died and 33 were injured in a botched escape attempt. The prisoners clashed with security forces Tuesday night after breaking windows and setting a fire at Ghezel Hesar Prison, 30 kilometers (18.64 miles) west of capital, Tehran. State TV said Wednesday none of the prisoners managed to escape. According to the report, most of the prisoners involved were convicted drug smugglers on death row." http://t.uani.com/glFoCp
Foreign Affairs
Reuters: "Iran criticized Bahrain's crackdown on protesters on Wednesday and told Saudi Arabia its military deployment was a threat to regional security. Increasing its rhetoric against the suppression of Bahrain's Shi'ite Muslim majority, Iran, the main Shi'ite power in the Gulf, said the crisis could lead to wider conflict -- something analysts have warned is a real risk due to regional rivalries and sectarian tensions. 'What has happened is bad, unjustifiable and irreparable,' President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on state television. Iran recalled its ambassador from Bahrain for consultations, state TV reported, in what would appear to be a tit-for-tat move after Bahrain which withdrew its ambassador for consultations on Tuesday to protest at Tehran's criticisms." http://t.uani.com/egAj1I
UPI: "Amid allegations Tehran is exploiting Arab unrest to destabilize its Persian Gulf rivals and Israel claims it has seized Iranian arms bound for Hamas, Iran is also suspected of instigating trouble in neighboring Azerbaijan, a key source of oil for the West. Following a growing number of protest demonstrations in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital on the Caspian Sea, the government of President Ilham Aliyev has openly accused Tehran of interfering in its domestic affairs. Aliyev's regime has good relations with the West and growing political, military and intelligence links with Israel." http://t.uani.com/fcvaxB
Opinion & Analysis
J. Berkshire Miller in The Diplomat: "Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe continues to vex international policymakers and diplomats with his determination to export uranium ore to Iran in a lucrative exchange between global pariahs. A recent leaked intelligence report by the United Nation's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), revealed what many experts have long suspected and feared - a nuclear partnership between Tehran and Harare. Zimbabwe's foreign minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, defended his nation's trade with Iran claiming, 'Any country has the right to use peaceful nuclear energy based on international rules.' US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley responded to Mumbengegwi's remarks with 'concern' and noted that Zimbabwe is 'bound by its commitments to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.' Yet despite Crowley's insistence that Zimbabwe will experience 'ramifications' for its intransigence, in practical terms there are few options left in the diplomatic toolkit for US officials. Zimbabwe already operates outside the realm of international obligations in most respects, its entrenched despotic regime working to immunize itself against international sanctions through marriages of convenience with partners such as Iran. Yet while Iran's emerging relationship with Zimbabwe is notable, it shouldn't come as a shock to the international community. Last April, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made Harare the first stop in his trip to sub-Saharan Africa. Mugabe reciprocated shortly after with a state visit to Tehran in May 2010 to attend the G-15 summit (a group of developing nations from Asia, Africa and Latin America). In addition to these state visits, there have been a number of high-level trips and exchanges between Iranian diplomats and Zimbabwean mining officials. Tehran continues to search for suppliers in order to sustain its nuclear programme, but is finding that the list of available vendors has dwindled significantly under the brunt of UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions. Leaked intelligence reports in 2009 revealed Iran's failed attempts to clandestinely procure 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan." http://t.uani.com/gQBu4J
JPost Editorial Board: "Our appreciation for a job well done only increases when we begin to fathom what it was that the Iranians tried to deliver to their Gazan proxies. While much of world opinion laments a supposed humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the Strip's Hamas overlords never lose an opportunity to demonstrate where their concerns really lie. They are certainly not preoccupied with the welfare of their population. The Victoria was expected to transport to them 'tiebreaker' land-to-sea (also sea-to-sea) rocketry that would have prevented the Israel Navy from monitoring the maritime traffic around Gaza. That would in turn have facilitated unrestricted imports into Hamastan of all manner of game-changing weaponry and turned Gaza into an even more potent Iranian outpost, situated, in military terms, only a hop, skip and a jump from Tel Aviv. By seizing the Victoria, Israel not only dealt a blow to Hamas machinations but foremost to those of Hamas's Iranian patron. The Victoria's cargo wouldn't merely have added quantitatively to Hamas's already colossal arsenal; it would have strategically upgraded its quality. With a 35-kilometer range, the Chinese designed C-704 could theoretically have hit any boat within that radius from Gaza, as well as hit naval facilities on Israeli shores, to say nothing of strategic sites like the Ashkelon power plant, fuel depots, oil and gas facilities and much more. It could have truly triggered a nightmare scenario." http://t.uani.com/hrdVGU
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