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Top Stories
JPost:
"In a speech published on his website Thursday, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the ultimate goal of world forces must be the
annihilation of Israel. Speaking to ambassadors from Islamic
countries ahead of 'Qods Day' ('Jerusalem Day'), an annual Iranian
anti-Zionist event established in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini and which
falls this year on August 17, Ahmadinejad said that a 'horrible Zionist
current' had been managing world affairs for 'about 400 years.' Repeating
traditional anti-Semitic slurs, the Iranian president accused 'Zionists'
of controlling the world's media and financial systems... He added:
'Anyone who loves freedom and justice must strive for the annihilation of
the Zionist regime in order to pave the way for world justice and freedom'"
http://t.uani.com/T60wYO
Reuters:
"Chief negotiators for the EU and Iran agreed on Thursday to hold
more talks about Tehran's nuclear work, but the European Union gave no
sign progress was imminent in the decade-long dispute. Six world powers,
represented by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, have sought to
persuade Iran to scale back its nuclear program through intensifying
economic sanctions and diplomacy. They have failed to reach a
breakthrough in three rounds of talks since April... 'I ... have explored
diplomatic ways to resolve international concerns about Iran's nuclear
program,' Ashton said in a statement after a phone conversation with
Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili. 'I impressed the need for Iran now
to address the issues we have raised in order to build confidence. I
proposed, and Dr Jalili agreed, that we talk again after further
reflection at the end of the month.'" http://t.uani.com/QIGrYc
Reuters:
"New names for Iran's oil tankers are part of its national tanker
company NITC's defence against tighter United States sanctions which
target it, the company says. NITC ships are taking to the seas with
colourful new identities, swapping Farsi names for those that cover a
range of human virtues. Freedom, Truth, Honesty, Justice and Leadership
should resonate nobly in international waters; Brawny, Valor and Mars
carry with them a hint of steel... 'It's not easy being NITC at the
moment and they are trying to do whatever they can to stay in business,'
another ship industry source said. 'It's a cat-and-mouse game and they
cannot continue the way they could even a couple of months ago, let alone
two years ago.'" http://t.uani.com/RgMgxX
Nuclear
Program
Reuters: "For
all its recent tough talk, Israel looks highly unlikely to launch an
attack against Iran ahead of U.S. presidential elections in November,
hoping that Washington will ultimately do the heavy lifting. Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a blunt, public message to
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Wednesday that time was running
out to tackle Iran and that U.S. policies to curtail its nuclear program
had so far failed. An uptick of Israeli rhetoric this summer has fuelled
speculation that Netanyahu is poised to follow through on a long-standing
threat to attack Iran and destroy nuclear sites that many believe are
geared towards creating an atomic bomb." http://t.uani.com/M89Zym
Sanctions
Reuters: "Iran has become
Syria's main crude oil buyer, helping Bashar Al-Assad's flailing
government to circumvent Western sanctions, as Iranian tankers have
returned for a third time since April, shipping industry sources said.
Although Tehran already finds it difficult to sell its own crude under
sanctions, two of its ships picked up Syrian oil late in July following a
smaller purchase at the start of the same month... The MT Tour and MT
Amin, two tankers under the flag of Sierra Leone and owned by Islamic
Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which is under United Nations
sanctions, lifted around 140,000 metric tons each of Syrian Heavy crude
from the Syrian port of Tartous in the last few days of July." http://t.uani.com/Prk6dr
Bloomberg:
"Iranian carmakers have requested ministry officials to allow an
increase in the prices of locally-produced automobiles, citing higher
costs, Shargh reported, without citing anyone. The issue was raised at a
meeting this week of executives in Iran's automobile industry with the
deputy minister of industries, mines and commerce, the Tehran-based
newspaper said. Representatives of Iran Khodro and SAIPA, Iran's two
biggest auto producers, were at the meeting, Shargh reported. The
delegation presented reasons behind a recent drop in car production in
the country and mentioned 'liquidity problems' at the manufacturers and
their parts suppliers, the newspaper said, without elaborating. In Iran,
prices of locally manufactured cars are regulated by the state." http://t.uani.com/OFgiao
WSJ:
"As the U.S. imposes fresh sanctions on Iran, businessmen in Tehran
say existing restrictions targeting the country's disputed nuclear
program and its ruling regime are landing severe blows on businesses that
aren't directly connected with either. Despite U.S. and European Union
assurances that sanctions have been designed to avoid harming Iran's
civilian population, one Western official acknowledged that collateral
damage on business is a predictable consequence of such tough sanctions,
but ultimate blame for this lies with the Iranian government... Yet, even
with the exceptions in place, Mr. Cohen [undersecretary for terrorism and
financial intelligence] acknowledged that regular Iranian businesses will
suffer some effects of the tight trade restrictions. I don't doubt there are
businessmen in Iran who are facing difficulty in importing goods because
of the constricted financial channels in Iran,' he said. But, 'that is an
issue that the Iranian government has brought on its own people.'" http://t.uani.com/RgNg5i
AP:
"The commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard says the biggest
threat to Iran is a 'soft war' launched by its enemies. Gen. Mohammad Ali
Jafari did not define the term. 'Soft war' usually refers to measures
like economic sanctions, espionage and sales of faulty equipment, as well
as computer viruses. His comments were posted on the Guard's website
Friday. Jafari said Iran is in a 'sensitive and fateful period' and needs
the paramilitary Basij forces to protect it." http://t.uani.com/MnhEKE
Foreign Affairs
Reuters:
"Iran blamed Western and Arab countries on Friday for the failure of
Kofi Annan's Syria peace plan, the official IRNA news agency said on
Friday, a day after the former U.N. secretary general quit as
international envoy. Annan said on Thursday he was stepping down,
frustrated by 'finger-pointing' and a stalemate at the U.N. Security
Council while the armed rebellion against Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad was becoming increasingly bloody." http://t.uani.com/Mh3Nzq
Opinion &
Analysis
NYDN Editorial
Board: "The good news: Sanctions against Iran are
biting, and more are coming soon. The bad news: President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continue racing toward nuclear
capability. According to an analysis by Bloomberg News, a broad oil
embargo now costs the Iranians a whopping $144 million a day in lost
sales as shipments have dropped a stunning 52%. Bloomberg puts the cost
at 10% of the nation's economy. Significant indeed, but at 90% of power,
the regime has yet to feel enough domestic pressure to change course. In
time, perhaps, the Iranian people will rise up, but time is in very short
supply. It's to the good that still tougher economic measures are on the
way via executive order of President Obama, as well as through penalties
overwhelmingly approved by the House and Senate this week. Those are
aimed at banks, insurance companies and shippers that help Iran
circumvent sanctions, including through the reflagging of Iranian oil
ships. The tighter the vise, the better - and Obama must curtail granting
waivers to countries like China, Japan and India, excusing them and 17
additional nations from the full brunt of sanctions. Israeli Defense
Minister Ehud Barak made clear this week that the U.S. and Europe must
apply full, unrelenting pressure. He said Israel has evidence Khamenei is
creating redundant uranium production sites so as to undermine the
effectiveness of a military strike by the U.S. or Israel. Unless
deterred, Iran will, in the near future, get the capability to assemble a
nuclear weapon with the uranium it has enriched or will actually have
made a bomb. The world cannot tolerate either development, Israel least
of all." http://t.uani.com/QzjtFJ
Lyle Bacaltos in
ISIS: "An official Iranian statement released on
August 9, 2005 at a meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) claimed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa forbidding the
production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons. Recent news reports
have raised the question whether the fatwa has changed. Based on research
on news stories and commentary by Iranian officials from the past few
months, there is no publicly available evidence that Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei has changed the nuclear fatwa. Whether the Ayatollah considers
the fatwa a changeable edict is not open to question, because he may
change it if he thinks the national security interests of Iran are
threatened. Two recent articles and an essay raise the issue in the
public mind that the Iranian fatwa may have changed. The
first, 'Islamic world must have nuclear weapons, says Iran,' by
Reza Kahlili of The Daily Caller, focuses on an essay, 'The Necessity for
the Islamic World to have the Atomic Bomb' by Alireza Forghani, a former
governor of southern Iran's Kish Province and a strategist allied with
the Supreme Leader. An editorial by Mohammad Kazem Anbarlu'I, 'The
Peaceful Nuclear Bomb!' published on June 21, 2012 by Iranian news
source, Resalat Online, suggests that the West is pushing Iran through
military threats to change the fatwa and build nuclear weapons.
Neither the articles nor the essay referred to by Kahlili contain any
information suggesting the Ayatollah's fatwa has changed... To date, no
official Iranian statements support that the nuclear fatwa has
changed. This does not suggest that it cannot change or that the
Ayatollah will not change it in the future. The IAEA has internal
evidence from 1984 indicating that the Supreme Leader, while president,
announced and supported the then-Supreme Leader's decision to authorize
the development of nuclear weapons, calling them a 'deterrent in the
hands of God's soldiers.' The fact that the fatwa is being used in
negotiations as a justification for Iran's continued enrichment suggests
that it remains in place for now. Only time will tell if the
religious declaration is binding in any meaningful way or a truthful
statement about the Supreme Leader's intentions." http://t.uani.com/ONnLGa
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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
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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