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AFP: "Iran has carried out secret tests of missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload in breach of UN resolutions, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Wednesday. Hague's comments came a day after Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said they had fired 14 missiles in an exercise, one of them a medium-range weapon capable of striking Israel or US targets in the Gulf. In a statement to lawmakers, Hague said: 'Iran has also been carrying out covert ballistic missile tests and rocket launches, including testing missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload in contravention of UN resolution 1929.' He said Iran had also announced plans to triple its capacity to produce 20 percent enriched uranium, adding: 'These are enrichment levels far greater than is needed for peaceful nuclear energy. We will maintain and continue to increase pressure on Iran to negotiate an agreement on their nuclear programme,' including sanctions, he said. On Tuesday US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Iran was 'bragging' about its assets, but did not specify whether Washington thought the tested missiles were nuclear-capable." http://t.uani.com/j27xGL
AP: "A senior Revolutionary Guard commander says Iran is capable of producing even longer range missiles than the ones it has now but won't make them because Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf are already within its reach. Amir Ali Hajizadeh says the Guard's arsenal includes missiles with a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers), which puts Israel, U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf and parts of southeastern and eastern Europe within Iran's reach. Hajizadeh claimed on Tuesday that Iran 'possess the technology' but has 'no intention of producing' the missiles with the over-2,000-kilometer range. He gave no details." http://t.uani.com/mKv40z
Reuters: "The head of Maersk Line on Wednesday raised concerns that U.S. sanctions against a major Iranian port operator could disrupt food shipments to the Islamic Republic. Lawyers for the world's top container shipping firm were reviewing whether it needed to alter its operations in Iran to comply with last week's blacklisting of Tidewater Middle East Co by the United States. 'One thing we are concerned about is that we carry a lot of the reefer (refrigerated) cargo with food to Iran,' Eivind Kolding, chief executive of Maersk Line, told a news conference in Singapore. 'With a society that depends on this supply chain, it is important it goes on somehow even if we have to interrupt our services.' The sanctions were expected to force shippers to avoid the main container terminal at Bandar Abbas and other port facilities managed by Tidewater Middle East, which Washington suspects is run by the Revolutionary Guards, a U.S. Treasury official said... Separately, Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line last week suspended its direct voyages to Bandar Abbas." http://t.uani.com/ke9klv
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "In the Iranian summer heat, portable fans cool workers stacking parts in the Middle East's biggest car factory. But the heavy lifting is unaffected by the soaring temperatures as robots -- from South Korea, Germany and Japan, -- stamp sheets of steel into body panels, shaking the floors at a busy plant which shows no signs of being crippled by international sanctions... Even with sanctions, which have scared off some suppliers from exporting to Iran, and a limp economy, Iran Khodro says sales rose 18 percent in 2010 and plans a 13 percent output increase this year to 860,000 vehicles... Only a few minor foreign component suppliers have stopped doing business and it is their loss, Iran Khodro says. The bigger overseas players have not fled Iran where French and South Korean branded cars -- made in Iran -- are highly visible in a market where foreign-made vehicles are kept out by a 90 percent import tariff. Khodro's main brand, the Samand, is a sedan based on the Peugeot 405 which retails, with ABS brakes and airbags, for just under 150 million rials (around $14,000). Khodro also produces Peugeot branded cars and a version of a Renault model under agreements with the French manufacturers, despite Paris's support for tighter U.N. and EU sanctions. Several other foreign companies are present in Iran, most noticeably South Korea's KIA Motors whose Pride model, built by the other big Iranian producer Saipa, is one of the most popular in Iran." http://t.uani.com/kiMcCx
Domestic Politics
AP: "Iran's embattled president has denounced recent arrests of his allies on corruption charges and has warned against detentions of any Cabinet members. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday the arrests are 'politically motivated' and seek to pressure his government. Dozens of the president's allies have been detained over the past months in an evolving power struggle between Ahmadinejad and Iran's clerical leaders. Four senior government officials were arrested last week. There have also been calls by hard-liners for the arrest of Ahmadinejad's chief of staff. Ahmadinejad is believed to be maneuvering to set up a possible successor in the 2013 presidential elections and to be seeking to manipulate parliamentary elections slated for March 2012." http://t.uani.com/k5q2ps
Foreign Affairs
Guardian: "Iran's minister of cultural and Islamic guidance has attacked an upcoming BBC2 documentary series on the life of the founder of Islam, the prophet Muhammad, saying the 'enemy' was attempting to 'ruin Muslims' sanctity'. The three-part series, The Life of Muhammad, presented by Rageh Omaar, a Somali-born British Middle East correspondent for Al Jazeera English, is scheduled to be broadcast on BBC2 in mid-July and has been drawing increasing criticism from senior figures in Iran... But the Iranian culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini, who has not seen the programme, said in an interview on Monday that he was worried about the BBC film." http://t.uani.com/m8nV9K
Opinion & Analysis
Hillel Neuer in NY Daily News: "I feel let down. Not a week after my organization welcomed the reelection of UN chief Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general sent praise to Iran for organizing an 'anti-terror' conference - which is akin to a Bernie Madoff initiative on combating fraud. Ban's endorsement was especially surprising because he's shown that he knows right from wrong when it comes to the dangerous radicals who run Iran. On Jan. 1, 2007, his first day in office, Ban slammed a Holocaust denial conference organized by Iran, as well as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call to eliminate Israel. This past September, when Ahmadinejad declared before the UN that 'segments within the U.S. government' orchestrated 9/11, Ban called the statement 'unacceptable.' Likewise, in January, Ban became the first UN chief to blast one of his own human rights officials. When Richard Falk, the UN Human Rights Council's permanent investigator on Palestine, similarly suggested that 9/11 was an inside job, Ban condemned him immediately, saying the remarks were 'an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in the attack.' All of this begs the question: Why did the world leader not steer clear of this past weekend's 'International Conference on Global Fight Against Terrorism,' an outrageous farce organized by the mullahs in Tehran? Ban knows that Iran has been classified by the State Department as the world's 'most active state sponsor of terrorism.' That it arms Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. That Iran was behind the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85. Ban also knows that the Iranian regime has been killing its own people, attacking peaceful protesters who challenged the fraudulent 2009 elections. Lastly, Ban knows that Iran's Revolutionary Guard is aiding Syrian President Bashar Assad in his own bloody crackdown, and that Iran is under UN Security Council sanctions for violating international law in its covert pursuit of a nuclear bomb. As for the conference, it was entirely predictable. The opening message of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the U.S. and Britain of having 'a black record in terrorist behaviors.' He also attacked 'terrorist organizations such as the Zionism International Agency.' Then came Ahmadinejad. 'If the black box of the 9/11 incident and the Holocaust were opened,' he said, 'then some of the truth would be exposed, but the United States does not allow this.'" http://t.uani.com/jYlUH7
Robert Zeliger in FP: "June has been the deadliest month for U.S. soldiers in Iraq since May, 2009 -- with 11 deaths, including two soldiers killed Sunday in northern Iraq. The American combat mission officially ended in August 2010, and the 45,000 U.S. forces that are still there -- ostensibly in an advisory and training capacity -- are supposed to stick to their bases and not take part in combat missions without the Iraqi government's permission. So, what's behind the jump in deaths? Beyond the fact that the security situation is still tenuous, U.S. soldiers are likely being targeted more now because there is talk that Iraqi and American officials will try to keep additional troops in the country past the December deadline to pull all U.S. forces out, according to Feisal Istrabadi, a former Iraqi diplomat to the United Nations who now teaches law at Indiana University. A coalition of militant groups and outside actors is strongly opposed to that and are using violence to send a message to Washington. 'That's the primary driver,' said Michael Knights, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who tracks Iraqi security issues closely. 'The Iranians and Sadrists are taking it very seriously.' ... According to the New York Times, Sadr has said that unless the United States fully withdraws its troops by the end of the year, he will reactivate his Mahdi Army, which was responsible for much of the violence against U.S. troops earlier in the war but was formally disbanded in 2008. Iran also opposes an extension, said Istrabadi. He said various groups that don't necessarily completely agree with each other are working together. 'It's a situation where the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Knights said that when talk of an agreement heated up beginning in the spring, attacks on U.S. soldiers and personnel also increased -- including attacks on U.S. bases, with more sophisticated weaponry and an increased quality in the attacks, which Knights said indicates Iranian backing. 'They raised their game, so to speak,' Knights said. 'They brought in more experienced operators and are supporting Shiite militants in southern Iraq. The result has been better lethality.' The message, Knights said, is 'Don't stay. Reconsider.' 'They think the U.S. is casualty-adverse.'" http://t.uani.com/kT03Pp
Semira N. Nikou in The Iran Primer: "Human rights organizations have reported around 300 female political prisoners since the Green Movement's emergence two years ago. The accuracy of this statistic is uncertain since some women have chosen not to publicize their arrests. We know that around 80 women's rights activists have been arrested since 2009. At least 34 are still in prison. Examples include student activist Bahareh Hedayat, journalist Jila Baniyaghoub, and human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. Others have been temporarily released but are still waiting for their final verdicts. Extended prison sentences and/or punishments are an issue. Before the 2009 presidential election, prison sentences were usually less than three months-a worst case scenario being two years of house arrest. But since the election, the same crimes have been punished with years of imprisonment and the number of people arrested has increased. Currently, the shortest prison sentence has been six years. Baniyaghoub, for example, has been banned from pursuing journalism for 30 years. Circumstances in Evin Prison are also dire. All 34 women reside in one room. They have to sleep on the floor. Before the Green Movement, prison standards were far better-higher quality of food, sanitary environment, warm clothes, more living space, etc. Now, that is not the case." http://t.uani.com/kBwaGg
Reza Marashi & Jason Rezaian in The National Interest: "For several weeks now, observers and analysts of Iran have been referring to an emerging rift between the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The recent back-and-forth between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei reflects a deeper generational shift. After three decades of Iran's clerical network dominating the political scene, the emergence of the Islamic Republic's next generation of leaders-nonclerical, war-veteran technocrats-may well portend larger ramifications for Iran's inward and outward orientation. The common narrative argues that all Iranian leaders-especially given the vetting system that one must go through to enter politics-are cut from the same cloth. 'He is one of them,' or 'He is like all the rest,' has increasingly become the mantra of a society and much of its Diaspora who have grown tired of decades of disappointment. At the moment, though, Ahmadinejad and his cronies have emerged as an unlikely group challenging the status quo in Iran; simply put, when looking at the trajectory of the Islamic Republic and what it has stood for since its inception in 1979, the current president and his cabinet have done more to shake the system to its core than any other group, including their reformist predecessors. This should not be taken as an endorsement of Ahmadinejad, or a suggestion that he intends to dismantle the system-far from it. But continuing to push the boundaries of what is acceptable by the Islamic Republic's own standards is certainly a trend worth tracking. It is through this paradigm that the recent rift between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei tells the real story: It's not about Ahmadinejad as much as what and who he represents: a generation of war veterans who felt the Iranian power structure had cast them aside. This generation increasingly personifies everything that Iran's clerical establishment is not; they are seen as young and confident; as the real reason for Iran's revolutionary survival and at the heart of a dissipating mistrust of the West in the wake of the Iran-Iraq war. Above all, they represent a belief system predicated on Iranian self-reliance and self-sufficiency. They have remained loyal to the Supreme Leader for religious reasons, but are hostile towards clerics who grabbed power while they fought to protect Iran from Iraqi aggression. To that end, they believe that the Islamic Republic has become corrupt and deviated from the true path of the 1979 Revolution. Perhaps more than seeking to profit from their inclusion amongst Iran's political elite, this new generation of technocrats seeks to include Iran more fully in the global economy... The Ahmadinejad-Khamenei rift does not foreshadow the collapse of the Islamic Republic. The power structure and those within it are all that matter. Insiders are bound by layers of political, military, business and family ties, and a shared commitment to preserving order - albeit with divergent views of what that might entail. And these insiders remain the only game in town. Within Iran, widespread popular dissatisfaction has not evolved into organized opposition, and there is no coherent challenge to the system-the government's coercive capacity prevents such an emergence. Iranian dissidents abroad and permanent expatriates have thus far found no meaningful way to impact the power structure in Iran and have been relegated to being bystanders to its evolving political dynamics. Worth noting is Ahmadinejad's predecessor Mohammad Khatami's recent call for national reconciliation, underscoring his-and potentially both Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi's-continued support for the principle of an Islamic Republic. As in the post-Soviet states-and more recently, in post-Mubarak Egypt and Post-Ben Ali Tunisia-it is insiders that will likely shape any future iteration of government in Iran. With the new generation of Iranian political elite increasingly assuming positions of power, the Islamic Republic may enter a new phase in its history that allows for notable changes in domestic and foreign policies-perhaps short of the regime change that some outside Iran prefer, but far from negligible to the millions of Iranians living inside the country who know they deserve better than the status quo." http://t.uani.com/mm4ql8
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