Eye on Iran: South Korea Poised to Halt Iran Oil Imports from July

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.    Top Stories Reuters: "South Korea will effectively become the first of Iran's major Asian customers to halt oil purchases from July 1, when a European Union insurance ban will prevent further imports. South Korea's largest oil refiner SK Energy will stop Iranian oil imports after the ban takes effect, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday. Last month, industry sources said the only other South Korean refinery that buys Iranian crude, Hyundai Oil Bank, would stop imports from June. Iran exports most of its 2.2 million barrels of crude per day to Asia, home to its four biggest buyers China, India, Japan and South Korea... 'SK Energy won't lift Iranian crude oil after lifting a 2 million barrel cargo in early June,' one of the two sources said. 'SK Energy will not import Iranian oil for July arrival.' SK Energy had agreed to import 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude this year under a long-term supply deal, while Hyundai Oilbank had agreed to import 70,000 bpd. Both refiners have declined to comment on their plans." http://t.uani.com/Llyp1s AP: "Opposition to Iran obtaining nuclear weapons is widespread around the world, including in neighboring countries Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, and support for tough economic sanctions is high, according to poll released Friday. Support for military intervention to prevent Iran from going nuclear is more divided, the Pew Global Attitudes survey of 21 nations found. Among the countries polled, support was highest in the United States at 63 percent and lowest in Russia at 24 percent, while at least 50 percent of the people surveyed in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic favored military action... The Pew poll found that Iran's actions in recent years have damaged its standing in the neighboring Sunni-majority countries of Egypt and Jordan, where favorability ratings are low, support for military intervention reached 50 percent and approval of strengthening economic sanctions is high." http://t.uani.com/K3BdCC     Pew Global Attitudes Project: "A Global 'No' To a Nuclear-Armed Iran" http://t.uani.com/LueeEV LAT: "The United States and five other countries have agreed to offer a joint proposal to Iran at a high-level meeting next week in an effort to open a path for negotiations to curtail Tehran's disputed nuclear program and to ease the threat of war. When they meet in Baghdad on May 23, the six powers will offer to help Iran fuel a small reactor used for medical purposes, and to forgo imposing further United Nations economic sanctions. In exchange, Iran must agree to halt producing 20% enriched uranium, which could be upgraded into fuel for nuclear weapons, and to surrender its stockpile of the material. The proposal also calls for Iran to halt operations at an underground enrichment facility, near the city of Qom, that is relatively invulnerable to military attack. The joint position eases concerns about rifts within the six-nation group, which has clashed over policy toward Iran in the past. But diplomats acknowledged Iranian negotiators are highly unlikely to accept the opening bid without seeking significant conditions or concessions of their own. The deal would not help Tehran achieve its main goal, which is getting the U.S. and Europe to lift sanctions on their oil and gas industry and central bank, and to cancel a European embargo on purchases of Iranian oil that is scheduled to take effect on July 1." http://t.uani.com/Jwuhv0      Nuclear Program     NYT: "Top officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency were meeting on Monday in Tehran with senior representatives of the Iranian government. The aim was to resume talks begun last week in Vienna on the proposed inspection of a building that the agency suspects Iran used in testing explosives that can trigger a nuclear blast. Iran denies the charge, and so far has given the inspectors no access. The standoff centers on a 100-foot-long building at a sprawling military base known as Parchin, in a dry region 20 miles southeast of Tehran. Announced Friday, the move of the discussions from Vienna to Tehran - and the addition of the atomic agency's director, Yukiya Amano, and the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili - appear to signal an impending compromise." http://t.uani.com/KM2qbS NYT: "American negotiators, heading into a crucial round of talks with Iran over its nuclear program next week in Baghdad, are allowing themselves a rare emotion after more than a decade of fruitless haggling with Tehran: hope. With signs that Iran is under more pressure than it has been in years to make a deal, senior Obama administration officials said the United States and five other major powers were prepared to offer a package of inducements to obtain a verifiable agreement to suspend its efforts to enrich uranium closer to weapons grade. These gestures, the officials said, could include easing restrictions on things like airplane parts and technical assistance to Iran's energy industry, but not the sweeping sanctions on oil exports, which officials said would go into effect on schedule in July. The oil sanctions, which the Iranians are seeking desperately to avoid, are one of several factors that American officials believe may make Tehran more amenable to exploring a diplomatic solution." http://t.uani.com/J8rYyx Chicago Tribune: "The United States is ready to respond to an escalation in tensions with Iran but will continue working with its allies on an approach that includes military preparedness and economic sanctions, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Tribune on Friday. Speaking to the Tribune editorial board ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey said he believes 'the path we're currently on with Iran is the best path.' Global cooperation needs to be 'evident in the way we approach the diplomatic piece' of the Iran relationship, Dempsey said. Iran and six countries, including the U.S., are scheduled to hold nuclear talks this week in Baghdad. 'If the president were to ask me what we could do to respond to an Iranian provocation, I would have a menu of options,' Dempsey said. He added: 'Our stance, if you will, is one of preparedness and deterrence. It's not a stance that's based on offensive action.'" http://t.uani.com/KLSdMQ Sanctions AFP: "The Republican-led House of Representatives approved Friday the use of US force against Iran if the Tehran regime threatens the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons. According to a section of the National Defense Authorization Act, 'it shall be the policy of the United States to take all necessary measures, including military action if required, to prevent Iran from threatening the United States, its allies or Iran's neighbors with a nuclear weapon.' Lawmakers by a vote of 299-120 passed the sweeping legislation, which sets out a total of $642.5 billion in military expenditures for the coming fiscal year. The bill including the tough Iran language came just a day after a non-binding but sharply worded House resolution put pressure on President Barack Obama to prevent Tehran from pursuing its nuclear program and reject policy merely aimed at containing a nuclear weapons-capable Iran. Friday's measure would make the possible use of force a key plank in US policy to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb. The bill would still need to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Obama's allies are highly unlikely to pass the House version without substantial changes." http://t.uani.com/K52VAt The Hill: "Jockeying on an Iran sanctions bill is expected to continue this week as lawmakers seek to settle differences ahead of high-level nuclear talks. Senators are debating whether the economic sanctions bill should include a provision that states all options are on the table for encouraging Iran to abandon its nuclear program, including the use of military force. Senate Democrats argue that it is imperative to complete the sanctions bill before Tuesday's P5+1 meetings in Baghdad between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia, plus Germany. Republicans were less eager to jump at the Tuesday deadline, preferring to take whatever time needed to ensure the measure includes the tougher 'use of military force' language." http://t.uani.com/KCDPWR Reuters: "Leaders of the Group of Eight major economies raised the pressure on Iran on Saturday, signaling their readiness to tap into emergency oil stockpiles quickly this summer if tougher new sanctions on Tehran threaten to strain supplies. 'We remain united in our grave concern over Iran's nuclear program,' the G8 leaders said in a statement summing up the results of their meeting in Camp David in rural Maryland. In unusually blunt language, the G8 put the International Energy Agency -- the West's energy adviser responsible for coordinating reserves -- on standby for action. It was the clearest sign yet that U.S. President Barack Obama is winning support for tapping government-held oil stocks for the second time in two years." http://t.uani.com/KrC8vU WSJ: "Iran's top economic planner acknowledged that Western sanctions are posing economic 'difficulties' for Tehran, but predicted his country would weather the financial onslaught. Shamseddin Hosseini, Iran's minister of economy and finance, said in an interview Friday that the U.S. and European Union risked their own financial recoveries, because slackened Iranian oil exports could significantly drive up global gasoline prices. But Mr. Hosseini's acknowledgment at least partly supported the Obama administration's confidence that sanctions are hobbling Iran's energy and finance sectors, and are forcing Tehran's diplomats back to the negotiating table over the country's nuclear program. The Iranian minister conceded that European governments have stopped fueling Iranian jetliners, while Iran's central bank is increasingly shunned internationally." http://t.uani.com/KCFbRm WSJ: "China's imports of Iranian crude oil recovered in April after sharp drops earlier this year, suggesting Beijing remains a steady customer despite U.S. efforts to tighten sanctions on Tehran. China's April crude imports from Iran, at 1.6 million metric tons or about 390,000 barrels a day, were down almost 24% from a year earlier-but up more than 48% from March. That increase likely reflects the resolution of a commercial dispute between Chinese and Iranian companies. State-controlled China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co., known as Unipec, had skipped purchases from National Iranian Oil Co. as they worked out differences over the terms of the supply agreement. The dispute was resolved in mid-February, and the additional barrels likely started arriving in April around three weeks after being shipped from Kharg Island in Iran. The higher volumes from Iran in April may signal further increases in coming months, though the slowdown in February and March makes it unlikely that this year's levels will eclipse last year's. Iran will fully restore crude exports to China in the next few months, a person familiar with Iran's oil sales has said." http://t.uani.com/KrF4Zr FT: "Japanese importers are searching for new ways to pay for Iranian oil imports a month after a US District Court froze bank accounts held by Tehran. Failure to resolve the payments issue could not only threaten Iranian oil imports - which account for 6.2 per cent of Japan's oil - but could also further squeeze an already pressured Iranian economy, ultimately endangering its repayment of nearly $4bn of loans to Japan. Earlier this month, a New York court ordered Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ to freeze accounts held by the central bank of Iran, as part of a long-running court case stemming from a 1983 bomb attack on US marines in Lebanon. The bank, a unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, settles about four-fifths of Japanese oil trades with the Iranian central bank, which clears most of the country's oil revenues." http://t.uani.com/JyBVdY Reuters: "The Japanese government and private sector bank officials are considering asking the Bank of Japan (BOJ) for help in settling Iranian oil transactions, the Nikkei reported. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, which handles most of Japan's payments for oil imports from Iran, on Thursday said it had frozen transactions with Iranian banks after being ordered to do so by the New York District Court earlier this month... The BOJ can offer a solution to the worries as foreign banks can open accounts at the bank for managing and raising yen assets, the Japanese daily said." http://t.uani.com/KFz2I5 Reuters: "Indian refiner MRPL secured coverage from an Iranian insurer for a crude cargo that arrived last week, becoming the first Indian firm known to have taken such action as Western sanctions tighten, sources with knowledge of the matter said. India is the world's fourth-largest oil importer and one of the biggest customers for second largest OPEC producer Iran's exports of 2.2 million barrels per day, but Western sanctions make it tough for Indian oil importers and shipowners to maintain access to Iran's crude market. Indian insurers denied coverage to Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals for fear the action could fall foul of a pending European oil embargo against Iran... MRPL is a major Indian buyer of Iranian oil and its insurance policy with New India Assurance Co Ltd for cargoes lapsed this month." http://t.uani.com/K7yUyw Human Rights AFP: "Iran on Monday hanged 14 people in Tehran after they were convicted of drug trafficking, a statement from the Tehran prosecutor's office said. The report identified them only by their initials. The Islamic republic is one of the world's main practitioners of capital punishment, along with China, Saudi Arabia and the United States." http://t.uani.com/KrYVFJ WashPost: "An Iranian-born singer who went into hiding after receiving death threats for allegedly insulting a Shiite Muslim saint said Friday he didn't intend to provoke the wrath of religious extremists. Shahin Najafi, who has lived in Germany since 2005, said he plans to keep writing and eventually performing songs despite the threats against him, which appeared in online forums and his email inbox last week." http://t.uani.com/JwB73I Foreign Affairs AFP: "The government of Bahrain condemned on Sunday Iran's continued 'flagrant meddling' in Gulf affairs after the Islamic republic slammed plans for union between the Shiite-majority kingdom and Saudi Arabia. The cabinet 'stresses that Iran's continued flagrant meddling in the internal affairs of the Gulf Cooperation Council is categorically rejected at official and public levels,' a statement carried by BNA state news agency said. Iran's interference represents a 'disregard to the GCC's ongoing efforts to achieve integration,' it added, referring to plans to strengthen links within the six-nation bloc to form a union likely to start with Bahrian and Saudi Arabia. The Bahraini government condemned Iranian 'statements and actions that violate good-neighbourly rules and all international conventions and agreements,' the statement said." http://t.uani.com/K7udov Opinion & Analysis Patrick Clawson & Mehdi Khalaji in WINEP: "Both Tehran and Washington are downplaying expectations for the May 23 Baghdad negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany). Indeed, the prospects for eventual success are uncertain. If Iran is truly prepared to deal, and if the parties find appreciable overlap between what they are willing to concede, they may be able to forge an interim agreement, though the value and durability of such a deal may not be clear. To enable serious compromise, Iran must take two actions: prepare public opinion and include more-skilled diplomats in the negotiating team. Regarding the first item, Iranian officials consistently deny the impact of sanctions on both the nuclear program and economy. This fact suggests that if Tehran decides to make a concession, it will not want the move to be publicly perceived as a capitulation to economic pressure. Instead, the regime would need to present any nuclear accord as a victory for Iran. On May 9, an editorial in Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's newspaper, Keyhan, asserted that, for the first time since 2003, the P5+1 had agreed to take action if Iran takes action: 'This means that the West has prepared itself for giving up to Iran's demands...This is why the Istanbul talks were successful.' The author concludes that May 23 will be an ordinary day for Iran, but one of the last chances for the P5+1 and Washington to reach an agreement with the Islamic Republic. On Thursday, another Keyhan editorial about the talks stated, 'If in early days Iran took a step backward, today Iran has made dozens of steps forward...Iran welcomes agreement and success in the negotiations, but it does not believe that negotiation necessarily should lead to agreement at any price.' Many other newspaper and web articles have argued along similar lines, trumpeting Iran's success in its principled stance of resistance to Western pressure. The regime tightly controls media coverage of the nuclear issue and sanctions, providing strict guidelines about what themes to use, so the triumphalist tone of recent articles should be seen as an indication that Tehran is preparing the public for a deal. To be sure, there are negative signs as well. As indicated above, the media coverage includes assertions that the West needs a deal more than Iran does -- for instance, the May 9 Keyhan editorial also stated, 'The Obama administration is in a situation that continuation of the talks is much more important to him that anything else, even [closing of] the Fordow facilities or [shipping out] 20 percent enriched uranium...because Obama has no priority beyond succeeding in the presidential election. Therefore he has to first prevent the Zionists from getting mobilized against him...and second stabilize the world oil market.' The author continues, 'If Americans need these talks to be continued, why should Iran respond to their demands?...What is Iran's benefit in getting involved in talks?' Similarly, in his May 17 speech at Iran University of Science and Technology, chief nuclear negotiator Said Jalili criticized Western officials for remarks made after the Istanbul talks, saying they should be "more careful in their statements and not miscalculate because what is going to end is not the time for negotiation but the pressure on Iranian people." He continued, 'Undoubtedly, more pressure on the Iranian nation would lead to more resistance.' The second prerequisite for an agreement is that Iran field a negotiating team that is skilled at making a deal rather than resorting to the previous team's tactic of just saying no. On one hand, there are few if any signs that the former team, which was pushed out in 2005, has been assimilated into the current team. On the other hand, members of the former team have recently resurfaced after years out of the limelight, almost certainly at Khamenei's order." http://t.uani.com/JJQMkF   Jamie Fly & Matthew Kroenig in WashPost: "On Iran, President Obama has dangled plenty of carrots. It's time to pull out some sticks. With a new round of talks coming this week in Baghdad between Iran and the group of nations known as the 'P5+1' - the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - over Tehran's nuclear program, the Obama administration has gone to great lengths to stress the possibility and desirability of a diplomatic solution, and to make clear that the military option is a last resort. As White House deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough said this month in a speech to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 'We believe the policy we are pursuing is working... We're not involved in a negotiation effort for the sake of negotiations.' But despite the optimism that came out of the negotiations last month in Istanbul, there is little reason to believe that Iran is serious about doing anything other than using the coming weeks to enrich more uranium and make progress toward a nuclear weapon. Success in the Baghdad talks would mean starting a process that would halt Iran's program rather than just buy more time for Tehran. To do so, the United States must not only lay out the curbs on Iran's nuclear program that Washington would be willing to reward, but also clearly outline what advances in Iran's nuclear program it would be compelled to punish with military force. This is the only way to prove to the Iranians that, as Obama has said, the window is indeed closing. Over the past six years, the international community has engaged in an intense diplomatic effort to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program. All the while, the program has continued to progress, reaching disturbing milestones. For example, in 2008, the international community was concerned about Iran's mastery of enrichment at a formerly secret underground facility at Natanz and would have found the construction of another enrichment facility highly provocative. Nevertheless, in September 2009, the existence of such a facility was exposed; earlier this year, Iran began enriching uranium at the facility near Qom. Similarly, in January 2010, Iran was enriching uranium to 3.5 percent - a low level that has plausible applications for a civilian nuclear energy program - at Natanz, but we consoled ourselves with the hope that Iran wouldn't be reckless enough to enrich to higher levels under the watchful eyes of international inspectors. That is, until it did just that. Iran now possesses more than 100 kilograms of 20 percent-enriched uranium, having done 90 percent of the work required to get to weapons-grade material." http://t.uani.com/KLP5R9 Carol Giacomo in NYT: "The international community has not had much success trying to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. For years, it was split on how much pressure to apply, and Tehran deftly exploited that division. Since President Obama took office, the major powers have imposed increasingly strong sanctions aimed at Iran's banks and oil trade. It is crucial to maintain that cohesion as a second round of negotiations opens this week in Baghdad. The initial talks in Istanbul last month were encouraging enough for both sides to agree to meet again. This time, Iran will have to offer concrete proposals to address core concerns. It could move significantly toward a solution by suspending all its uranium enrichment activities, which the United Nations Security Council first demanded in 2006. At a minimum, it needs to stop enriching to 20 percent purity (well beyond the 5 percent needed for civilian nuclear programs and a few steps from bomb grade) and to close its Fordo nuclear facility. If Iran does that, the United States and its allies - Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - are expected to offer to take the stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium out of the country, fabricate it into fuel rods for Tehran's medical research reactor and help with safety upgrades to Iran's civilian nuclear program. What the Iranians really want, however, is an end to the sanctions, which are wreaking havoc on the economy. They may show just enough flexibility to encourage Russia and China to push to ease punishments prematurely. Tehran has played that game many times before, while plowing ahead with its nuclear program. If Iran makes credible gestures, sanctions should be eased, but not significantly until it takes irreversible steps to roll back its nuclear activities. The international community must make that clear before the Iranians start making promises." http://t.uani.com/KLSXBq Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.