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AFP: "A US activist group on Wednesday urged French automaker Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan to pull their business out of Iran because of its suspected program to develop nuclear weapons. In an open letter to Carlos Ghosn, the Renault-Nissan Alliance's chief executive officer, the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) said, 'Renault's business dealings in Iran directly support the Iranian regime's ability to develop its illegal nuclear weapons program, support its terrorist proxies and pursue a brutal campaign of repression against the Iranian people.' While other industry groups left Iran to avoid supporting the current regime, Renault has doubled its production in Iran from about 50,000 vehicles in 2010 to 93,578 in 2011, according to UANI. The group's letter was signed by former US ambassador to the United Nations Mark Wallace, who also is president of UANI. The UANI letter said it was "disturbing" that Nissan was getting a contract valued at about $1 billion to manufacture a new fleet of New York City taxis while the automaker continues to do business in Iran." http://t.uani.com/HMHPEf
WABC: "On Tuesday, New York City finally unveiled its new taxi of tomorrow. A day later, the complaints begin. That's because the company that'll make these vans is Nissan, and Nissan also does business in Iran. "You can do business with the people of the United States of America or you can do business with the government of Iran but you can't do both," said Bill DeBlasio, Public Advocate. Wednesday, the public advocate and others blasted the mayor's decision to go with Nissan for all future taxis when they accuse Nissan of being cozy with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad... Wednesday afternoon Nissan responded saying it has no direct investment in Iran but everything is done through a local manufacturer." http://t.uani.com/HZlBjD
AFP: "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday warned Iran that time was not 'infinite' for diplomacy and that "all options remain on the table" after a dispute over the venue of talks. Clinton said that the European Union would look into setting a time and place for long-moribund talks on Iran's nuclear program but vowed that the United States would maintain "strong pressure" to address concerns. 'We want to see a peaceful resolution of the international community's concerns, but the time for diplomacy is not infinite and all options remain on the table to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,' Clinton said. 'Until Iran comes into compliance with its international obligations and demonstrates the peaceful intent of its nuclear program, they will continue to face strong pressure and isolation,' she said." http://t.uani.com/I7860U
Nuclear Program AP: "The head of an influential foreign policy committee in Iran's parliament said the country does not want Turkey to host talks with world powers over Tehran's nuclear program, raising further questions Thursday about whether negotiations can begin as scheduled next week. The comments by Alaeddin Boroujerdi do not represent the final word by Iran's ruling system, but strongly suggest a growing impasse ahead of talks set to start April 13 between Iran and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany. Iran has balked at having the negotiations in Istanbul because of Turkey's escalating pressure on the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key Iranian ally." http://t.uani.com/Hi8XfX
JPost: "A recent CIA Report to Congress discussing Iran's nuclear program says that Iran continued to expand its nuclear infrastructure and uranium enrichment activities in 2011. Iran's progress included enriching uranium at the underground Natanz location with first-generation centrifuges, while also testing and operating advanced centrifuges at the Natanz pilot plant. According to the CIA, as of November 2011, Iran had produced 4,900 kilograms of low-enriched uranium, compared to 3,200 kilograms by November 2010 and 1,800 kilograms in November 2009. Iran's holdings included approximately 80 kilograms of 20-percent enriched uranium, the report stated. Iran has also started to produce 20% enriched uranium at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant near Qom... The CIA report states that the number of operating centrifuges is estimated at 6,200, up from 3,800 in August 2010." http://t.uani.com/HPMatV
Sanctions
YnetNews: "In response to the New York-based organization United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) campaign, South Korean automaker Hyundai ended its business in Iran this week. Hyundai had exported vehicles to Iran and the Iran Khodro Group, which is controlled by the Iranian regime, had manufactured Hyundai vehicles, UNAI's website stated... UANI has previously held a campaign against New York hotels which accommodated Iranian Presidentd Mahmoud Ahmadinejad before speaking to the General Assembly in 2011. Now the group has a campaign against big automobile manufactures in business with the Revolutionary Guards. UANI was successful in putting a stop to business between 24 major companies and oil manufactures including Siemens and Japanese technology conglomerate Hitachi." http://t.uani.com/HiEII3
WashPost: "Several top members of the House of Representatives are fighting for expanded sanctions against Iran, but Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) opposes any changes to the bill before the Senate. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has joined with Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) to introduce a bill of measures they want to see added to the Johnson-Shelby Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act of 2012, which is pending before the Senate. Reid has said there is no time to debate or consider amendments to the bill and wants to pass it as is. But Ros-Lehtinen, Sherman and a slew of senators, including Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), are urging Reid to allow lawmakers to offer amendments that would strengthen the bill." http://t.uani.com/HgFl3G
Reuters: "Japanese nonlife insurers are in talks with Japanese buyers of Iranian oil to slash cargo insurance coverage for transporting Iranian crude reflecting the EU's move to prohibit European insurers from providing reinsurance, industry sources said on Wednesday. A ban on European insurance cover for Iranian oil exports from July 1 is threatening to curtail shipments and raise costs for major buyers. Japan and South Korea have lobbied for exemptions, but insurance and shipping executives say a complete ban now looks likely. Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Sompo Japan Insurance and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance are among those that have approached Japanese oil refiners to cut coverage for Iranian oil and petrochemical shipments by more than 50 percent, the Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday." http://t.uani.com/I0hOEa
Reuters: "Key ship insurer the China P&I Club will halt indemnity coverage for tankers carrying Iranian oil from July amid tightening Western sanctions against OPEC's second largest producer, two club officials told Reuters on Thursday. This is the first sign that refiners in China, Iran's top crude buyer, may struggle to obtain the shipping and insurance to keep importing from the Middle Eastern country. Iran's other top customers -- India, Japan and South Korea -- are running into similar problems, raising questions on how Tehran will be able to continue to export the bulk of its oil... The China P&I Club, whose members include major Chinese shipping firms Sinotrans and COSCO Group, is the first Chinese maritime insurer to confirm it will halt business with tankers operating in Iran, following similar action in Japan." http://t.uani.com/HoVhPw
Reuters: "Iran's oil flows to Greece have stopped this month, depriving the Islamic Republic of one of its most loyal European customers and leaving Greece with its financing troubles struggling to buy crude elsewhere. The European Union will impose a full embargo on Iranian oil imports from July 1 as part of an international stand-off over Tehran's nuclear programme... On Thursday, Iranian state television Press TV reported that the Iran had blocked oil sales to Greek companies Hellenic Petroleum and Motor Oil Hellas, accusing them of defaulting on payments. A senior source at top Greek refiner Hellenic told Reuters on Tuesday it had suspended Iranian purchases because sanctions imposed made it impossible to pay." http://t.uani.com/I0jSvR
Reuters: "The Indian government will offer tax incentives to exporters for sales in rupees to Iran, in the latest effort by New Delhi to bolster exports in return for oil from the Islamic Republic squeezed by Western sanctions, a finance ministry official said. Following U.S. and European Union sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, New Delhi is under pressure to cut oil imports from its second-biggest supplier, which provides about 12 percent of its oil needs. India has publicly taken a stand alongside other rapidly emerging countries, including China and Brazil, that it would follow only U.N. sanctions, a position criticized by conservatives in Washington." http://t.uani.com/Hg08nX
Mail & Guardian: "Although cellphone giant MTN is refusing to pull out of Iran, petrochemicals giant Sasol is working hard to exit the Islamic republic that has been placed under sanctions by the United States and the European Union because of its nuclear programme. Sasol has stopped buying Iranian crude oil and its spokesperson, Jacqui O'Sullivan, confirmed this week that Sasol's talks with potential buyers to off-load its Arya Sasol Polymers plant in Iran were progressing. Sasol Oil used to procure a relatively small amount of Iranian crude, about 12 000 barrels a day, roughly 20% of the company's crude requirement for processing at its Natref refinery in Sasolburg. 'We've stopped the purchases because of sanction fears. In terms of the polymer plant, we're looking to divest, but talks with buyers are still at an early stage and we cannot say anything until it's at an advanced stage,' O' Sullivan said." http://t.uani.com/Hg267O
Reuters: "Russian state-owned oil group Zarubezhneft met with Iranian officials on Thursday to discuss upstream oil projects in Iran amid international sanctions against Tehran, which Moscow has called 'counterproductive]', a company source said. A Zarubezhneft spokeswoman confirmed the meeting with Iranian officials but declined to elaborate. A source at the Russian Energy Ministry also said that an Iranian delegation was expected this week." http://t.uani.com/Hbgbjb
Terrorism
NYT: "Just hours after it was revealed that American soldiers had burned Korans seized at an Afghan detention center in late February, Iran secretly ordered its agents operating inside Afghanistan to exploit the anticipated public outrage by trying to instigate violent protests in the capital, Kabul, and across the western part of the country, according to American officials. For the most part, the efforts by Iranian agents and local surrogates failed to provoke widespread or lasting unrest, the officials said. Yet with NATO governments preparing for the possibility of retaliation by Iran in the event of an Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities, the issue of Iran's willingness and ability to foment violence in Afghanistan and elsewhere has taken on added urgency." http://t.uani.com/HkkdqK
Opinion & Analysis
Laurence Norman in WSJ: "What do Baghdad, Beijing and Istanbul have in common? They have all, at various points in the last few weeks, been Iran's preferred location to hold upcoming talks on its nuclear program. While Iran has fussed over the location of previous talks, this time is different: European diplomats say the government is lending strength to skeptics in the West who believe Iran is using negotiations to buy time for its uranium enrichment program. That's a dangerous game to be playing in an environment of heightened military tension between Israel and Iran, diplomats say. More than a week ago now, EU diplomats signaled they had a deal with the team of Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili to hold talks in Istanbul in mid-April. The EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was leading the negotiations with Iran. But in recent days, Tehran seems to be unpicking that deal. On Wednesday, Iran's foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Baghdad was now his government's preferred choice for talks - likely to start with a dinner on April 13 and formal negotiations the next day. The negotiations will be the first between Iran and six major powers - the U.S., France Germany, the U.K., China and Russia - since January 2011. 'Holding negotiations in Istanbul was our preliminary suggestion, which the Europeans first rejected and later accepted. But by that time we had other countries in mind,' Salehi was quoted saying by the website of Iranian state television, according to AFP. As Salehi said, Istanbul was Iran's first pick. The Europeans were initially unenthusiastic. Istanbul was the setting for the January 2011 talks, which quickly ended in failure; the optics of returning there to start all over again are bad. But once Ashton said yes, Iran was eyeing alternatives. Tehran's next pick was China, the country seen as least supportive of ramping up pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions. But Beijing quashed the plan, concerned that hosting talks would make them appear too close to Tehran, EU diplomats said. Then came Baghdad. The advantages for Iran are easy to see. There's proximity. Talks in Baghdad also underscore the close ties between Baghdad and Tehran these days - a major shift in the region's balance of power. And the Iranians feel the Iraqi backdrop would remind many in the region of American unilateral adventurism. The location game isn't new. It happened before previous rounds of talks, and few in Brussels were surprised there was some jockeying this time round. Yet some warn that Tehran's traditional games may be more dangerous this time. There are many voices of skepticism in the West about how seriously Iran intends to engage in the talks." http://t.uani.com/Hp1xqf
Eduardo J. Gómez in CNN: "After just over a century of amicable relations, Brazil has decided to cool its relationship with Iran. Gone are the days when Brazil's leader, President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva (2002-2010), worked hard to strengthen Brazil's partnership with Iran, defending Iranian interests, sharing and learning from similar policy experiences over cafezinho. At a time when Brazil has sought every opportunity to engage the international community and increase its influence as a mediator of conflict and peace, why has Brazil's new president, Dilma Rousseff, refrained from strengthening the government's ties with Iran? The answer lies in Rousseff's personal experiences and geopolitical ambitions. As someone who experienced human rights violations first hand under Brazil's military dictatorships (1964-1985), Rousseff has been unwaveringly committed to human rights. She has made it crystal clear that she will not support Iran unless President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seriously addresses this issue. It's striking how quickly two nations sharing similar economic and geopolitical interests have suddenly distanced themselves from each other and how Brazil's decision may negatively affect Iran's relationship with other countries. What this also suggests is that amicable relationships between similar nations are never guaranteed and that a sudden change in government interests and aspirations can reverse historic partnerships while having broader geopolitical ramifications. For Rousseff, personal experiences matter." http://t.uani.com/HwDDW2 |
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