Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Eye on Iran: Aide's Fees Draw Critics and, Then, Defenders






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Top Stories

NYT: "The White House defended President Obama's senior adviser on Monday for taking $100,000 in speaking fees before joining the government from a subsidiary of a company working with the Iranian government. David Plouffe, who managed Mr. Obama's campaign in 2008 and joined the White House staff in January 2011, accepted the money from an affiliate of MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications firm, for two speeches in Nigeria. MTN is part of a joint venture in Iran's mobile communications market reportedly linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps... According to a nonpartisan advocacy group called United Against Nuclear Iran, MTN 'carried out orders from the regime to shut off text messaging and Skype during times of political protest, and reportedly has a floor in its Tehran headquarters where Iranian military officials compile and access tracking data. That data has been used to track, apprehend, torture and kill regime opponents.' 'Simply put,' the group said in a statement, 'MTN has blood on its hands.'" http://t.uani.com/OKuIs6

Fox News: "Despite international sanctions and increasing isolation, there is a relatively new class of super-rich in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mehrdad Emadi, an economic advisor to the European Union, likens Iran's nouveau riche to the oligarch class in Russia, those tycoons who were able by hook, crook, or corruption to acquire dizzying amounts of money at the end of the Soviet era. 'I can only find a comparison during President Yeltsin years in Russia, where you had sort of the old companies privatized, but they were really just a transfer of ownership to people who had good connections to the former Communist Party and KGB,' Emadi told Fox News. 'And we are seeing, in my opinion, at least, a very similar process unfolding itself in Tehran.' Iran's ultra-rich reportedly are a mixture of the well-connected." http://t.uani.com/RY3CvF
    Video: UANI CEO, Mark Wallace on Fox Files' Episode: "Persian Bling" http://t.uani.com/OIMN77

AP: "A British bank schemed with the Iranian government to launder $250 billion from 2001 to 2007, leaving the United States' financial system 'vulnerable to terrorists,' New York's financial regulator charged Monday. State Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky signed an order that requires London-based Standard Chartered Bank to answer his questions following an investigation into 'wire stripping,' the practice of removing crucial identifiers in financial transactions. The state agency called the bank a rogue institution and quoted one of its executives as saying: 'You (expletive) Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world, that we're not going to deal with Iranians.' The bank conspired with its Iranian clients to route nearly 60,000 different U.S. dollar payments through Standard Chartered's New York branch 'after first stripping information from wire transfer messages used to identify sanctioned countries, individuals and entities,' according to agency's order. The order said the transactions provided the bank with millions of dollars in fees at a time when such trade was restricted." http://t.uani.com/NZO11O

NYT: "Standard Chartered, the British bank accused of covering up billions of dollars of sanctions-busting transactions with Iran, has come out fighting against the allegations... There is also an active American lobby in favor of pressing foreign companies to cut remaining ties with Iran. Standard Chartered was itself among the targets of a 'name and shame' campaign by United Against Nuclear Iran (U.A.N.I.), a non-profit group headed by Mark Wallace, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. U.A.N.I., which gave Standard Chartered a clean bill of health in May after it pulled out of Iran, returned to the attack on Monday by saying the penalties the bank now faced in the light of the latest allegations 'should serve as notice to all entities and financial institutions that they will be held accountable for their business with such an unscrupulous regime.' The pro-sanctions lobby can certainly argue that the measures against Iran are having an impact. The Iranian currency, the rial, is in free fall as the country braces for a fresh devaluation brought on by the economic restrictions." http://t.uani.com/Qbj3z9
Lebanon Banking Campaign   
Nuclear Program 

Haaretz: "New intelligence information obtained by Israel and four Western countries indicates that Iran has made greater progress on developing components for its nuclear weapons program than the West had previously realized, according to Western diplomats and Israeli officials who are closely involved in efforts to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb. A Western diplomat who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to discuss intelligence information said the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Israel agree on that assessment. According to the source, this assessment began to take shape in February, when Iran refused to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit the base at Parchin, where it is believed Iran is carrying out part of the research and development of its military nuclear program. Visits of IAEA inspectors in Iran, and especially revelations of information the Iranians had been trying to hide, intensified suspicions that Tehran was developing nuclear weapons at a faster pace than it had previously seemed." http://t.uani.com/OITean

Daily Telegraph: "Iran is to move key ministries and state bodies off the worldwide internet next month in an effort to shield them behind a secure computer wall from disruptive cyber attacks like the Stuxnet and Flame viruses. Reza Taghipour, the country's telecommunications minister, said the step was being taken because sensitive intelligence was vulnerable on the worldwide web, which he said was untrustworthy because it was controlled by 'one or two' countries hostile to Iran. 'The establishment of the national intelligence network will create a situation where the precious intelligence of the country won't be accessible to these powers,' Mr Taghipour told a conference on Sunday at Tehran's Amir Kabir University." http://t.uani.com/QAUQqb 

Sanctions
  
Reuters: "Iran's rial continued falling against the U.S. dollar in free market dealings on Tuesday as traders anticipated a devaluation of the official exchange rate, media said. The currency dropped to about 22,300 rials versus the dollar, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported. Persian-language currency tracking website Mesghal said the rate was about 21,850. On Monday, the rial had tumbled to around 21,510 from its Sunday level of 20,440 after the central bank said it would change the currency's official exchange rate, prompting fears of another devaluation. Central bank governor Mahmoud Bahmani said he would announce a change to the government's 'reference rate' of 12,260 rials to the dollar 'within the next 10 days'. Iranian media speculated the new reference rate might be between 15,000 and 16,000 rials." http://t.uani.com/Qbkpty

Reuters: "Allegations that a banking unit of Standard Chartered Plc schemed with Iran to conceal billions of dollars in transactions have dragged Deloitte into the spotlight in another hit to the global accounting and consulting firm. The New York State Department of Financial Services, in a case involving U.S. anti-money laundering laws, on Monday said Deloitte LLP consultants hid details from regulators about Standard Chartered Bank's transactions with Iranian clients. The bank's actions 'left the U.S. financial system vulnerable to terrorists, weapons dealers, drug kingpins and corrupt regimes,' Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the department, said in an order made public on Monday." http://t.uani.com/NgQDFg

Reuters: "UK blue chip stocks fell on Tuesday as shares of Standard Chartered were hammered after U.S. regulators said the bank 'schemed' with the Iranian government, offsetting gains in mining and energy stocks. Standard Chartered shares plunged 23 percent to their lowest in three years after New York's top bank regulator threatened to strip the lender of its state banking license, saying it hid $250 billion in transactions tied to Iran, in violation of U.S. law. 'Standard Chartered is the main news today. What we thought was a bank that had got away with no scandal, now got hit by what is possibly the worst of all,' said IG index market analyst Chris Beauchamp." http://t.uani.com/Tcuk6g

Reuters: "The shipping ministry has told private company Great Eastern Shipping Co (Gesco) to supply tankers to import Iranian oil for state-run refiner MRPL, which had to slash imports from Iran in July because the shipper was unwilling to carry them. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), Iran's biggest Indian client, has an annual contract with Gesco through Transchart, an agency of the federal shipping ministry. But Gesco refused last month to lift cargoes for MRPL because of the lack of insurance cover after European sanctions came into effect barring insurance and reinsurance for Iranian shipments." http://t.uani.com/QAMU8i

Reuters: "State-run Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) has made its first payment for Iranian oil in rupees to partially settle its bill for a cargo imported in May, company officials said on Friday, a move that will help New Delhi fix its trade imbalance with Tehran. Another state refiner, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, the biggest Indian buyer of Iranian oil, will make a rupee payment on Monday, a company official said. India is Iran's second-largest oil buyer, but has struggled to find ways to pay for the oil as Western sanctions curb international financial payments destined for Tehran. The two countries agreed in January to settle 45 percent of the oil trade in rupees. The balance of HPCL's payment, made on Friday, was through Turkey's Halkbank and India's UCO Bank." http://t.uani.com/N05RSs

Daily Telegraph: "Organised smugglers are exploiting Iran's deepening economic woes by spiriting away vast quantities of chicken so they can then be sold at inflated prices on the black market, officials have said. In the latest twist to what has become known as the 'chicken crisis', Iranian police say have discovered 60,000kg (60 tonnes) of live and slaughtered poultry hidden in various locations throughout the country over a 15-day period. The discovery comes amid a bitter political furore over the soaring cost of chicken, which has risen more than threefold to up to 80,000 rial (£4.20) per kilogram in the past year." http://t.uani.com/NaCiMp

Syrian Civil War

Reuters: "Syrian rebels said three Iranian captives were killed on Monday during an air attack in Damascus province by government forces, and threatened to kill the remaining Iranians in their custody unless the army stopped its attack. 'They were killed when the aircraft attacked. One of the houses they were in collapsed over their heads,' rebel spokesman Moutassam al-Ahmad told Reuters. 'We will kill the rest if the army does not stop its assault. They have one hour.' Ahmad said that a number of rebels were also killed in the attack. 'Our losses are bigger than theirs.'" http://t.uani.com/NZKQqX

AFP: "Saeed Jalili, a top aide to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, arrived in Damascus on a surprise visit on Tuesday for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian state television reported. Jalili, the head of Iran's supreme national security council, flew in from Beirut, where he held talks on Monday with Lebanese leaders. He was to meet Assad within the hour. After the meeting, Jalili was to give a news conference in the Syrian capital, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said on its website." http://t.uani.com/MhiBmm

Reuters: "Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is to visit Turkey on Tuesday for previously unscheduled talks expected to focus on Syria and a group of Iranians seized by rebels there, an Iranian diplomat in Ankara said... A Turkish Foreign Ministry official confirmed Salehi's visit, saying it included talks on regional issues with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The Iranian diplomat said Salehi was expected to arrive in the afternoon and leave later on Tuesday." http://t.uani.com/RjI7Yy

WSJ: "Hezbollah's absence that night exposes the dilemma facing one of the Mideast's most powerful and polarizing Islamic movements. The group has long enjoyed military and financial support from the governments of Iran and Syria. But as fighting rages in Syria, and the international community intensifies its standoff with Iran, Hezbollah may be approaching a moment of truth: Will it fight for these backers?" http://t.uani.com/MqwaeN

Opinion & Analysis

Michael Oren in WSJ: "Nearly two decades ago, Israel started alerting the world about Iran's nuclear program. But the world ignored our warnings, wasting 10 years until the secret nuclear enrichment plant at Natanz was exposed in 2002. Then eight more invaluable years were lost before much of the international community imposed serious sanctions on Iran. Throughout that time, the ayatollahs systematically lied about their nuclear operations, installing more than 10,000 centrifuges, a significant number of them in a once-secret underground facility at Qom. Iran has blocked International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from visiting its nuclear sites, refused to answer questions about the military aspects of its program, and rejected all confidence-building measures. Iran has tested long-range missiles capable of reaching any city in the Middle East and, in the future, beyond. Iran is also the world's leading state sponsor of terror. It has supplied more than 70,000 rockets to terrorist organizations deployed on Israel's borders and has tried to murder civilians across five continents and 25 countries, including in the United States. In July, Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists killed five Israeli tourists, among them a pregnant woman, in Bulgaria. Iran's forces have attacked American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its agents are operating in Yemen, Africa and South America. By providing fighters and funds, Iran is enabling Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to massacre his own people. Iran has done all this without nuclear weapons. With them, it can commit incalculable atrocities anywhere in the world, beginning with Israel. As the chief of staff of the Iranian military recently stated, 'the Iranian nation stands for the full annihilation of Israel.' Last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said 'the annihilation of the Zionist regime is the key for solving the world problems.' Accordingly, Israel believes that Iran is far from forfeiting its nuclear ambitions. Our conviction is based on Iran's record of subterfuge and terror together with its genocidal rhetoric. It also reflects the inability of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany (the 'P5+1') to negotiate a compromise with Iran... A combination of truly crippling sanctions and a credible military threat-a threat that the ayatollahs still do not believe today-may yet convince Iran to relinquish its nuclear dreams. But time is dwindling and, with each passing day, the lives of eight million Israelis grow increasingly imperiled. The window that opened 20 years ago is now almost shut." http://t.uani.com/Naz0J4

Michael Smith II in Fox News: "Politics and the tragic events in Colorado, and now Wisconsin, have overshadowed news this summer that should be of paramount concern to our leaders in Washington. It concerns the war being waged against the United States and Israel since the ayatollahs seized power in Iran and the chants of 'Death to America' that have emanated from Tehran for decades. According to Reuters, NYPD intelligence analysts have determined that the Islamic Republic of Iran and its terrorist proxies were behind nine plots targeting Israelis and Jews outside of Israel just in this year alone. Of course, less than a year ago US officials determined the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite and clandestine Qods Force was behind a plot targeting foreign officials and facilities in Washington, DC. It is the Qods Force that manages plots of concern to the NYPD. For those unfamiliar with this entity, the Qods (Arabic for Jerusalem) Force is a special operations division nominally within the command of the Revolutionary Guard. It was literally created with a mandate from the government of Iran to fund, train, equip, even create Islamic terrorist groups capable of helping Tehran achieve a central goal as part of the regime's agenda: to undermine the US, Israel, and our allies - by force. On behalf of Iran's all powerful unelected officials like Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, it is the Qods Force that today manages relations between the Islamic Republic and the world's deadliest militant Islamists, including Hezbollah, Hamas, lethal factions of the Afghan Taliban, and Al Qaeda. In the post-9/11 era, for most Americans the unchecked existence of an official state entity that sponsors terrorism much in the same way that USAID promotes economic development, confounds our sense of Washington's priorities. What is perhaps hardest for members of our society to grasp is that for Iran terrorism became a key instrument of foreign policy the moment the ayatollahs came into power. And according to some terrorism experts, it is because of Washington's inaction in the face of Iran-backed attacks like the 1983 bombing that killed 241 US servicemen in Beirut, the 1996 attack on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 more American soldiers, the regime's permissiveness regarding the presence of Al Qaeda leaders hidden within its borders, and its provision of training and weapons to insurgent groups that have killed scores of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, that this regime continues to use of terrorism to advance its agenda... Iran's increasingly aggressive posture is something America can no longer afford to ignore. As the NYPD's recent report on this issue indicates if Washington continues to kick this can down the road, it may soon blow up in all of our faces." http://t.uani.com/OKztSG

Micah Zenko in Atlantic: "The most important unanswered question about the heightened U.S.-Israel confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program is whether Iran's political leadership will decide to pursue a nuclear weapon. The key judgments in the last declassified National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on the Iranian nuclear program found with 'high confidence' that 'Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program' in the fall of 2003, and this conviction remained with 'moderate confidence' through mid-2007. U.S. officials believe that only one person holds the power to decide whether or not to pursue a bomb--meaning to enrich enough uranium to bomb-grade level that can be formed into sphere that could be compressed into a critical mass--the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Testifying before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee in late January, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated: 'Iran's technical advances, particularly in uranium enrichment, strengthen our assessment that Iran is well-capable of producing enough highly-enriched uranium for a weapon if its political leaders, specifically the supreme leader himself, choose to do so.' Shortly thereafter, Clapper echoed this statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee, 'That is the intelligence community's assessment, that that is an option that is still held out by the Iranians. And we believe the decision would be made by the supreme leader himself, and he would base that on a cost-benefit analysis in terms of -- I don't think you want a nuclear weapon at any price.' One month later, James Risen reported in the New York Times: 'American intelligence analysts still believe that the Iranians have not gotten the go-ahead from Ayatollah Khamenei to revive the program. That assessment, said one American official, holds up really well.' On Monday, however, Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak introduced a new observation that upends the previous understanding of this particular redline: '[Israel and the U.S.] both know that Khamenei did not yet ordered, actually, to give a weapon, but that he is determined to deceit and defy the whole world.' ... If the United States accepts this logic--that the Supreme Leader would never issue the formal order to pursue a nuclear weapon for fear of foreign detection--then what was once a distinct and identifiable redline for U.S. intelligence no longer exists." http://t.uani.com/RwUrX8

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.

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