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NYT: "A senior Iranian official on Tuesday delivered a sharp threat in response to economic sanctions being readied by the United States, saying his country would retaliate against any crackdown by blocking all oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for transporting about one-fifth of the world's oil supply. The declaration by Iran's first vice president, Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, came as President Obama prepares to sign legislation that, if fully implemented, could substantially reduce Iran's oil revenue in a bid to deter it from pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Prior to the latest move, the administration had been laying the groundwork to attempt to cut off Iran from global energy markets without raising the price of gasoline or alienating some of Washington's closest allies." http://t.uani.com/tWWorZ
Reuters: "Closing off the Gulf to oil tankers will be 'easier than drinking a glass of water' for Iran if the Islamic state deems it necessary, state television reported on Wednesday, ratcheting up fears over the world's most important oil chokepoint. 'Closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran's armed forces is really easy ... or as Iranians say it will be easier than drinking a glass of water,' Iran's navy chief Habibollah Sayyari told Iran's English language Press TV. 'But right now, we don't need to shut it as we have the Sea of Oman under control and we can control the transit,' said Sayyari, who is leading 10 days of exercises in the Strait." http://t.uani.com/vYsREw
Reuters: "Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC states are ready to replace Iranian oil if further sanctions halt Iranian crude exports to Europe, industry sources said on Tuesday. Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi had said that Saudi Arabia had promised not to replace Iranian crude if sanctions are imposed. 'No promise was made to Iran, its very unlikely that Saudi Arabia would not fill a demand gap if sanctions are placed,' an industry source familiar with the matter, who declined to be named, told Reuters. Gulf delegates from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said an Iranian threat to close the Strait of Hormuz would harm Tehran as well as the major regional producers that also use the most important oil export channel in the world." http://t.uani.com/rHbEru
Nuclear Program & Sanctions AFP: "Warnings from Iran that it will try to close the vital Strait of Hormuz in response to further Western sanctions sent oil prices markedly higher on Tuesday. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery rose $1.66 from Friday's close to reach $101.34 a barrel. In London Brent fetched $109.27, up $1.31. US and London markets had been closed Monday for the Christmas holiday, and trade was light on Tuesday. But traders got a jolt from reports that Iran will allow no oil to pass through the key oil transit strait if the West applies sanctions on Iran's oil exports. The threat from Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, was reported by the state news agency IRNA as Iran conducted navy war games at the entrance of the oil-rich Gulf." http://t.uani.com/u6DeCG
AP: "An American man accused by Iran of working for the CIA could face the death penalty, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported Tuesday. In a closed court hearing, the prosecution applied for capital punishment, the report said, because the suspect, identified as Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, 'admitted that he received training in the United States and planned to imply that Iran was involved in terrorist activities in foreign countries' after returning to the U.S. The prosecutor said Hekmati entered Iran's intelligence department three times." http://t.uani.com/v9FCPT
AFP: "The United States renewed calls for Iran to release 'without delay' a US citizen of Iranian descent who reportedly went on trial Tuesday on charges of spying for the CIA. The State Department also said Swiss diplomats, who represent US interests in Tehran in the absence of diplomatic ties, asked Iran on Saturday for permission to see alleged spy Amir Mirzai Hekmati, but were denied their request. 'We are aware of press reports that a closed-door trial has begun against Mr Hekmati,' State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. 'We've seen this story before with the Iranian regime falsely accusing people of being spies and then holding innocent foreigners for political reasons.'" http://t.uani.com/rzcrN
Human Rights
AFP: "An Iranian official who raised the possibility of hanging a woman convicted of adultery rather than stoning her to death says he was misquoted, according to media Wednesday. Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the justice chief for East Azarbaijan province, at the weekend brought attention back to the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose 2006 stoning sentence for adultery brought international condemnation. Fars news agency on Sunday published an interview with Sharifi in which he said he told justice authorities 'we did not have facilities for stoning her.'" http://t.uani.com/tbg3wi
AFP: "Iran has sentenced Ebrahim Yazdi, the head of a banned opposition party and a former foreign minister, to eight years in prison for 'attempting to act against national security,' his lawyer said Wednesday. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah told AFP that his 80-year-old client was also accused of 'cooperating with the Freedom Movement of Iran party,' an outlawed but tolerated group. Yazdi was found guilty in the closed-door session reportedly held on November 2. Dadkhah said Yazdi was also handed a five-year ban on civic activities." http://t.uani.com/sKAlwd
Foreign Affairs
Fox News: "The Islamic Republic of Iran launched last week a Spanish language television station in what it says is an effort to reinforce cultural ties with Spanish-speaking nations and help introduce the country's traditions to Latin America. Iran, which already has close to Hugo Chávez's Venezuela, hopes to gain a foothold in other Latin American countries and offset the influence of the United States through the channel, which is called HispanTV. 'Launching a channel to act as a bridge between Iran and the countries of Latin America was a need to help familiarize Spanish-speaking citizens with the Iranian nation,' said Mohammad Sarafraz, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Deputy Director for International Affairs, according to the Tehran Times." http://t.uani.com/vVXNsT
Opinion & Analysis
Eli Lake in The Daily Best: "When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta opined earlier this month that an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities could 'consume the Middle East in a confrontation and a conflict that we would regret,' the Israelis went ballistic behind the scenes. Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington, lodged a formal diplomatic protest known as a demarche. And the White House was thrust into action, reassuring the Israelis that the administration had its own 'red lines' that would trigger military action against Iran, and that there is no need for Jerusalem to act unilaterally. Panetta's seemingly innocent remarks on Dec. 2 triggered the latest drama in the tinder-box relationship that the Obama administration is trying to navigate with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government... Matthew Kroenig, who served as special adviser on Iran to the Office of the Secretary of Defense between July 2010 and July 2011, offered some of the possible 'red lines' for a military strike in a recent Foreign Affairs article he wrote. He argued that the U.S should attack Iran's facilities if Iran expels international nuclear weapons inspectors, begins enriching its stockpiles of uranium to weapons-grade levels of 90 percent, or installs advanced centrifuges at its main uranium-enrichment facility in Qom. In an interview with The Daily Beast, Kroenig also noted that Iran announced in 2009 that it was set to construct 10 new uranium enrichment sites. 'I doubt they are building ten new sites, but I would be surprised if Iran was not racing to build some secret enrichment facilities,' Kroenig said. 'Progress on new facilities would be a major factor in our assessment of Iran's nuclear program and shape all aspects of our policy towards this including the decision to use force.' ... Patrick Clawson, the director of research for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said, 'If Iran were found to be sneaking out or breaking out then the president's advisers are firmly persuaded he would authorize the use of military force to stop it.' But Clawson added, 'The response they frequently get from the foreign policy experts is considerable skepticism that this is correct, not that these people are lying to us, but rather when the occasion comes we just don't know how the president will react.' Henry Sokolski, the executive director the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said 'You don't propose and go about doing an oil embargo unless you are serious about taking the next step, and the next step for the administration is clearly some form of military action, and people who have left the administration like Dennis Ross have made it clear that this is precisely what's on this administration's mind.'" http://t.uani.com/t1jP9w |
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