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Top Stories
WSJ:
"An Iranian oil shipper's $100 million tanker, on order from China,
is nearly ready to sail the high seas. But it's turning out to be a
mystery ship. The National Iranian Tanker Co., a private company that
records show ordered the tanker three years ago for its fleet, has
acknowledged it ordered the ship but is now trying to distance itself
from its ownership. The ship's Chinese state-owned builder, Shanghai
Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., dismisses any link with Iran or NITC. The
fog around the new tanker shows the high level of secrecy companies are
imposing on their business with Iran these days-especially in the oil
sector-in the face of heightened pressure to squeeze Iran economically...
Until now, the company had been spared by the restrictions. But political
and legal pressure from governments and groups such as New York-based
United Against Nuclear Iran is building for companies to cut their links
to the tanker company." http://t.uani.com/MBagXd
Reuters:
"The powerful Flame computer virus is not only capable of espionage
but it can also sabotage computer systems and likely was used to attack
Iran in April, according to a leading security company, Symantec Corp.
Iran had previously blamed Flame for causing data loss on computers in
the country's main oil export terminal and Oil Ministry. But prior to
Symantec's discovery, cyber experts had only unearthed evidence that
proved Flame could spy on conversations on the computers it infects and
steal data. Symantec researcher Vikram Thakur said on Thursday that the
company has now identified a component of Flame that allows operators to
delete files from computers, which means it can cause critical programs
to fail or completely disable operating systems. 'These guys have the
capability to delete everything on the computer,' Thakur said. 'This is
not something that is theoretical. It is absolutely there.'" http://t.uani.com/MznpSm
BBC:
"The public execution of four men convicted of rape in Iran has led
to a debate among Iranian web users, with disagreement over whether such
scenes act as a deterrent or increase the general level of violence in
society. The four were hanged in the working class district of Shahid
Mahalati in southern Tehran after being found guilty of 'aggravated
rape'. The sentences were carried out at 06:00 and, according to some
reports, people had started gathering at the execution site the night
before to watch the spectacle. On the same day, the editor-in-chief of
Asr-e Iran (The Evening of Iran) news and analysis website penned an
opinion piece criticising the public execution and those who went along
to watch. Jafar Mohammadi's article - entitled 'All this enthusiasm to
watch a scene of execution - why?' - warned of the negative consequences
of viewing violent images, especially for the young." http://t.uani.com/MocPhI
Nuclear
Program
Reuters: "Iran has detected a
planned 'massive cyber attack' against its nuclear facilities, state
television said on Thursday, after talks with major powers this week
failed to resolve a row over Tehran's disputed nuclear activities. Iran's
Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said the country's arch enemies the
United States and Israel, along with Britain, had planned the attack.
'Based on obtained information, America and the Zionist regime (Israel)
along with the MI6 planned an operation to launch a massive cyber attack
against Iran's facilities following the meeting between Iran and the P5+1
in Moscow,' Iran's English-language Press TV quoted him as saying." http://t.uani.com/MGg1Rg
Bloomberg:
"Iran granting access to its military complex of Parchin remains a
'matter of priority' for nuclear inspectors, International Atomic Energy
Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said. 'Satellite imagery indicates
that they are undertaking quite important activities' at Parchin, Amano
told reporters in Budapest today after meeting Foreign Minister Janos
Martonyi. 'In the past we did not see such active activities.'" http://t.uani.com/NZx4DV
Sanctions
WSJ:
"India is speeding up efforts to ensure insurance cover for tankers
that bring in crude-oil from Iran, about a week before the onset of
European Union sanctions that will effectively cut off insurance services
for oil shipments from the Islamic Republic. The move by India's oil
ministry comes after the South Asian nation got exemptions from U.S.
sanctions. India and South Korea were among the countries exempted
earlier this month from U.S. sanctions after the U.S. believed they had
significantly reduced oil imports from Iran. But India continues to face
logistical challenges in importing oil from Iran as the EU sanctions,
which come into effect on July 1, are affecting its ability to get
insurance for ships carrying Iranian crude. Oil Secretary G.C. Chaturvedi
said Friday that the oil ministry has asked the shipping ministry to
allow refiners to import crude from Iran on Iranian ships." http://t.uani.com/KRiQVN
Reuters:
"Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp has renewed its annual oil
purchase deal with Iran but cut the loading volume to comply with U.S.
sanctions against the Islamic nation, trade sources said on Friday. As
Western nations tighten curbs in their bid to curtail Tehran's disputed
nuclear programme, Iran's crude exports in April and May have fallen by 1
million bpd since the end of 2011 to 1.5 million bpd, the International
Energy Agency said last week. Mitsubishi's new contractual volume from
April onwards remained unclear. The company had bought 15,000 barrels of
crude per day (bpd), or more, last year." http://t.uani.com/KZcLC0
Reuters:
"Turkey's sole refiner Tupras has cut imports of Iranian crude by 20
percent, Turkish Energy Minister Tamer Yildiz said. Yildiz said Turkey
would continue to source 'a certain amount' of crude from its neighbour
Iran but would compensate for the reduction by taking more from Saudi
Arabia and Libya. Speaking to reporters at the St Petersburg Economic Forum
he said Turkey was settling oil payments to Iran in Turkish lira." http://t.uani.com/O3ZKNf
Foreign Affairs
Guardian:
"A billboard of Hugo Chávez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looms over a
motorway in Venezuela, marking the entrance to a factory designed to
produce three things: tractors, influence and angst. The tractors, lined
up in shiny red phalanxes on the grounds of Veniran, a joint venture
between Venezuela and Iran, are for peasants and socialist cooperatives
across Latin America. The influence, less visible but real enough, is for
Mr Chávez and Mr Ahmadinejad, two presidents who hope this and other
ventures will project their prestige and power. The angst, if all goes to
plan, is for Washington. Veniran might be tucked away in the backwater
provincial capital of Ciudad Bolívar but it is part of a wider attempt by
Mr Chávez to forge a common front against the United States." http://t.uani.com/LLRKir
Opinion &
Analysis
NYT Editorial
Board: "It is disappointing but not surprising that
two days of negotiations this week failed to produce any real progress
toward curbing Iran's nuclear program. Iran, always playing the angles,
is still trying to figure out how much economic pain it is willing to
accept to maintain its nuclear ambitions and what, if anything, it is
willing to give up. It is in the interest of the United States and its
allies to keep talking, especially since a new round of sanctions are
scheduled to go into effect. On June 28, the United States can start
barring foreign banks doing oil-related business with the Central Bank of
Iran from access to the American financial market. Starting on July 1,
all members of the European Union will be prohibited from buying oil from
Iran and insurance for ships that carry Iranian oil. The meetings in
Moscow were the third in a series involving Iran and the United States,
Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. To avoid a collapse in talks,
they agreed that lower-level experts will meet on July 3. The goal has to
be to shut down all of the program that gives Iran the capability to
build a bomb. The United Nations Security Council ordered that all
enrichment should be ended six years ago, but the major powers were right
to start the talks with a more short-term goal: to stop the most
dangerous kind of enrichment." http://t.uani.com/LaYmBa
Meir Javedanfar in
The Guardian: "Judging by the latest round of
negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 in Moscow, neither side seems to
be in a hurry to back down and compromise. Instead, both prefer to adopt
a wait-and-see approach in the hope that future developments will force
the other side to back down. The P5+1 seems to be counting on the
sanctions, especially those scheduled to go into force on 1 July. On that
day, the EU will stop its purchases of oil from Iran, meaning Iran will
lose 20% of its total export market. This could lead to further falls in
the value of Iran's currency. It could also lead to a major spike in gold
and commodity prices (even construction materials) in Iran as they have
proven to be a safe haven for those who don't want to see the value of
their savings eroded. The P5+1 is most probably hoping that after the
shock of 1 July the Iranian regime will feel weakened and be compelled to
compromise. This is a logical possibility. There are also the events in
Syria where Assad's regime is turning into a financial and diplomatic pit
which Iran is trying to fill with money and military assistance. This is
creating a strain on Khamenei's regime, much to the west's advantage.
Meanwhile Khamenei seems to be holding out for an opportunity to create a
split in the international community, especially the P5+1 group...
Obama's offer to hold negotiations unconditionally while recognising the
regime was a serious effort to reach out to Iran, and this has been
terrible for Khamenei. As his chief negotiator saw in Moscow, when it
comes to showing a united P5+1 front against Iran at the talks, the
Russians and the Chinese are no longer in Iran's camp, because they
believe that Obama is interested in a deal and he has tried his best, but
Khamenei has not. That is why P5+1 is rock solid and united in its
negotiating position. The Senate and Congress, Democrats and Republicans
who usually have little to agree on, are united against Iran as well. So
is the EU, despite challenges and differences inside the community."
http://t.uani.com/LltVOP
Justyna Pawlak and
William Maclean in Reuters: "The talk can be blunt
and the rhetoric can be flowery, with invocations of deity and Persian
poetry. Sometimes, it has been suggested, there is the sense of a
well-worn cast acting out a script. Iran's negotiations with the West on
its nuclear program have developed their own rituals and etiquette bound
up with the frustrations of a decade of fruitless talk. Sheltering from a
Baghdad sandstorm or ensconcedin a drab communist-era Moscow hotel,
diplomats confront the same historic suspicions. An example of the
delicacy of the bargaining emerged in Moscow this week when world powers,
meeting as new EU sanctions loomed and fears grew of an Israeli strike
against Iranian installations, succeeded only in agreeing on a followup
meeting of experts. The date proposed by western nations was July 2. An
unfortunate error. According to the Persian calendar, that is the
anniversary of the day in 1988 when a U.S. warship shot down a civilian
Iranian airliner, killing all 290 mostly Iranian passengers and crew,
including dozens of children. 'Needless to say this is a date of some
deep feeling by the Iranians. Dr. Jalili reminded us of that. And we
changed the date to July 3. It was a passing moment, and unfortunate,' a
senior U.S. administration official said, referring to chief Iranian
negotiator Saeed Jalili. 'But those things happen.' Other parts of the
Iranian nuclear dispute have not been nearly so easy to resolve.
Washington has spearheaded the global diplomatic offensive to tighten
sanctions on Iran which it believes is seeking nuclear weapons, a charge
Tehran denies." http://t.uani.com/LFRlel
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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
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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