Top Stories
Reuters: "India and Iran are talking to non-euro countries and territories to settle payments for Iranian oil imports to the Asian nation, a senior Indian government official told Reuters on Thursday. The official, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said he expected an early resolution of the issue which was triggered after the United States stepped up pressure to roll back trade with Iran.'We are speaking to non euro jurisdictions, payments may have to be routed in other currencies, but this is one of the options on the table,' the official said on the sidelines of a summit of major economies in southern China." http://t.uani.com/fI41Z2
UPI: "Iran provided Hamas with missiles broken down in parts so they could be smuggled via tunnels into the Gaza Strip, a leaked document indicated Friday. The document, leaked to Haaretz by WikiLeaks, was based on a conversation in February 2009 between former Israeli army Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Harel and then-U.S. Ambassador to Israel James Cunningham, the newspaper said. Harel told Cunningham Chinese and Iranian made rockets with a range of as much as 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) were in Hamas hands and had been specifically designed for Hamas use 'as it came in four pieces that could fit through narrow tunnels and be reassembled in Gaza.' He also said, according to Israeli intelligence, Iran was constructing additional missiles based on the Fajr rocket that would have a range of more than 40 kilometers (24.8 miles), the paper said." http://t.uani.com/g9UV4o Dow Jones: "Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) and its U.K.-based airline British Midland International said Wednesday it faces refueling issues after Iranian authorities said there were fuel shortages, but Iran's state-run newspaper reported it was a retaliatory move. Reuters cited the state-run Iran newspaper, which quoted first Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi: 'In a retaliatory move, we have stopped providing fuel to European aircraft.' The decision comes after some European countries last year refused to refuel Iranian aircraft. That led to Iran warning it would take action if their planes continued to be refused fuel. A spokesman for Lufthansa said it received a phone call about fuel issues and that it had been warned there may not be enough supply to complete refueling or refuel altogether from Thursday." http://t.uani.com/eZOkO0
Commerce Reuters: "Iran's oil minister said on Friday there was no reason to consider global crude prices too high and described the oil market, which has been boosted by unrest in the Middle East, as 'not extraordinary'.'The price depends on the oil market ...If you consider the price ...in the past 40 years, what we have today is a logical price,' Massoud Mirkazemi told a news conference on the first day of an oil and gas conference in Tehran. Ahmad Qalebani, the head of state National Iranian Oil Company, said: 'The price, which is around $120, is a good price for us.'" http://t.uani.com/idfvAJ
Foreign Affairs Reuters: "Iran has called on the U.N. Security Council to protect opposition activists in Bahrain, where, it said, unrest and suppression could destabilise the entire region, the official IRNA news agency said on Friday. Tehran has been outspoken in its criticism of the Bahraini Sunni Muslim ruling family's suppression of protests by members of the Shi'ite majority. Bahrain's Gulf Arab allies -- some of which sent troops to the island state to bolster government forces -- have accused the Islamic Republic of interference. In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi called for 'a serious and immediate action by the Security Council over suppressing people's demands in Bahrain using military force'.'The Islamic Republic of Iran cannot stay indifferent towards events in Bahrain and their consequences, because the situation could be uncontrollable if the current situation goes on,' Salehi wrote. 'Such consequences would destabilise the Persian Gulf region and of course its aftermath would affect the world.'" http://t.uani.com/fPYsN9 AFP: "The United Nations said Thursday that 34 people have been killed at an Iranian opposition camp in Iraq which was raided by the Iraqi military.'We are aware of 34 bodies at Camp Ashraf and nearby,' deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq told AFP. The Iraqi military raided the camp of People's Mujahedeen of Iran exiles last Friday. Camp Ashraf is in Diyala province north of Baghdad. The group set up the camp in the 1980s, when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime was at war with Iran, as a base to operate against Tehran. It was disarmed following the US-led invasion in 2003." http://t.uani.com/hoqunu AFP: "Last week's deadly Iraqi raid on an Iranian opposition base inside its territory signals the growing influence of neighbouring Iran, as US forces prepare to withdraw at the end of this year. ... In a telling sign, the raid came a day after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Baghdad and accused Tehran of instigating unrest in the region. Asked on Wednesday whether the raid was related to Gates' strong criticism of Iran, a senior US military official told reporters in Baghdad: 'I think it was a significant coincidence. Clearly they (Iranians) will continue to work things so that they get more influence...(but) the more they push the more reaction they will see from the Iraqi people' who oppose Iranian interference, he added." http://t.uani.com/ifVT1i
Opinion & Analysis
John Bolton in The Wall Street Journal: "Inside Iran, we now have confirmation-thanks to disclosures this month by an Iranian opposition group, which have been confirmed by Iranian officials-that the regime has the capability to mass-produce critical components for centrifuges used to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels. That news proves again the inefficacy of U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions against a determined adversary. Thus Iran's weapons program proceeds full steam ahead, which only emphasizes to would-be proliferators that persistence pays. Moammar Gadhafi surrendered his nuclear weapons program in 2003-04 because he feared becoming the next Saddam Hussein, but he is now undoubtedly cursing his timidity. Had he made seven years of progress toward deliverable nuclear weapons, there would surely be no NATO bombing of his military today. An Iranian nuclear capability would undoubtedly cause Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and perhaps others to seek their own deliverable nuclear weapons. We would therefore see a region substantially more in Iran's thrall and far more unstable and dangerous for Washington and its allies. Moreover, America's failure to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions-which is certainly how it would be perceived worldwide-would be a substantial blow to U.S. influence in general. Terrorists and their state sponsors would see Iran's unchallenged role as terrorism's leading state sponsor and central banker, and would wonder what they have to lose. The Arab Spring may be fascinating, and may or may not endure. Sadly, Iran's hegemonic threat looks far more sustainable." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=otrmfjfab.0.5phufjfab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0613&p=http%3A%2F%2Ft.uani.com%2FfQOmbw%2520 Miami Herald: "If pro-democracy activists in the Middle East have someone to thank for showing them how to challenge their oppressors, they should look to Iran. Young Iranians, who took to the streets after a stolen election in 2009, showed their neighbors how to launch a peaceful democratic uprising. Unfortunately, the regime that smashed the Iranian quest for democracy also had a lesson to teach its neighbors. The Islamic Republic's brutality against its own people is now being replicated in much of the Arab world. While the people of Iran have not given up hope that they will ultimately succeed in toppling a repressive regime dominated by the Republican Guard and the Shiite clerical establishment, the reality so far is quite the opposite. On balance, the seizures of instability convulsing Arab countries have strengthened the Iranian regime. So far, Iran is winning. ... The Obama administration's goal of deterring Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons seems to have slipped from the priority list. The regime seems stronger than ever. And yet, its vulnerability has become more exposed. Rather than war, the answer to the Iranian threat is a successful democratic uprising. Let's hope the Obama administration and its allies are quietly doing all they can to help Iran's beleaguered democrats. Let's hope this lack of attention to Iran is just an optical illusion." http://t.uani.com/fJ9dN0 |
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