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Top Stories
Reuters: "He
is loathed in the West and weakened at home, but Iran's outspoken
president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems intent on raising hackles one more
time during his last official visit to the United Nations this week. With
tensions between Tehran and Western powers high due to the dispute over
Iran's nuclear program, his latest blasts against Israel show that the
hardline Ahmadinejad has no thoughts of presenting a kinder, gentler face
to the world at a delicate moment. But the 56-year-old - who is
struggling through his last year in office after nearly losing his job -
has long relished any opportunity to promote his controversial views and
to bat back criticism of them. 'Now he's been sidelined at home he will
really want to ham it up abroad,' said Ali Ansari of Scotland's St
Andrew's University, referring to Ahmadinejad's address to the U.N.
General Assembly on Wednesday." http://t.uani.com/RY2ptr
Reuters:
"The Iranian rial tumbled 5 percent to an all-time low against the
U.S. dollar on Tuesday, suggesting a fresh effort by the government to
stabilise the currency may have backfired. The rial was trading at 26,500
to the U.S. dollar on the open market on Tuesday afternoon, according to
Persian-language currency tracking website Mazanex, compared to a closing
price of 25,200 rials on Monday. The Iranian currency has lost more than
half its value in the past year because of U.S. and European sanctions
against the country's banking sector and oil exports, aimed at forcing
Tehran to give up its disputed nuclear programme. Iranians have rushed to
informal money changers to convert their savings into hard currencies,
accelerating the rial's slide." http://t.uani.com/Qxg2xD
Reuters:
"Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, is buying and selling
Iranian fuel oil, undermining Western efforts to choke the flow of
petrodollars to Tehran and put pressure on Iran's suspected nuclear
weapons program. Vitol last month bought 2 million barrels of fuel oil,
used for power generation, from Iran and offered it to Chinese traders,
Reuters established in interviews with 10 oil trading, industry and
shipping sources in Southeast Asia, China and the Middle East. A
spokesman for Vitol declined to comment. Swiss-based Vitol is not obliged
to comply with a ban imposed in July by the European Union on trading oil
with Iran because Switzerland decided not to match EU and U.S. sanctions
against Tehran. The company earlier in the year stopped trading Iranian
crude oil from its main European offices before the July 1 EU embargo
deadline. But the trading sources said it has continued to deal in
Iranian fuel oil from the Middle East." http://t.uani.com/P503CO
 UN
General Assembly
AP:
"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that a new world
order needs to emerge, away from years of what he called American
bullying and domination. Ahmadinejad spoke to The Associated Press in a
wide-ranging interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly -
his last as president of Iran. He was to address the assembly Wednesday
morning. The Iranian leader also discussed solutions for the Syrian civil
war, dismissed the question of Iran's nuclear ambition and claimed that
despite Western sanctions his country is better off than it was when he
took office in 2005. 'God willing, a new order will come together and
we'll do away with everything that distances us,' Ahmadinejad said,
speaking through a translator. 'I do believe the system of empires has
reached the end of the road. The world can no longer see an emperor
commanding it.'" http://t.uani.com/NQJdvu
Reuters:
"President Barack Obama urged world leaders on Tuesday to put an end
to the intolerance and violence that led to the recent killing of the
U.S. ambassador in Libya and warned Iran he would do what it takes to
prevent Tehran from getting nuclear arms. In a 30-minute address to the
193-nation U.N. General Assembly, Obama called anew for the ouster of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad following an 18-month civil war without
saying how to make it happen... 'Let me be clear: America wants to
resolve this issue through diplomacy and we believe that there is still
time and space to do so. But that time is not unlimited,' Obama said.
'The United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a
nuclear weapon,' he added, without providing specifics." http://t.uani.com/PFD97e
Nuclear
Program
Reuters: "Iran appears to be
making headway in building a research reactor that could yield potential
nuclear weapon material, adding to Western concerns about Tehran's atomic
aims, experts and diplomats say. The West's worries about Iran are
focused largely on underground uranium enrichment plants at Natanz and
Fordow, but it is also pressing ahead with construction of a heavy-water
reactor near the town of Arak, which analysts say could produce plutonium
for nuclear arms if the spent fuel is reprocessed. Iran now plans to
bring Arak on line in the third quarter of 2013, moving up its timetable
from 2014, according to the latest U.N. information, although there is
uncertainty whether it will be able to meet that target date." http://t.uani.com/Qa6JQF
NYT:
"Iran said Tuesday that it had amassed new evidence of attempts by
saboteurs to attack Iranian nuclear, defense, industrial and
telecommunications installations, including the use of computer
virus-infected American, French and German equipment. An Intelligence Ministry
announcement, carried by the semiofficial Fars News Agency, did not
further specify the intended targets or the type of sabotage equipment it
said had been found. But the announcement represented a new level of
detail from Iran about the scope of sabotage attacks, and it appeared to
reflect growing Iranian concern about security threats carried out
clandestinely. Some equipment in question was even put on display, Fars
said, calling it the first such exhibition 'to show American, French and
German equipment used for sabotage acts against Iran's vital and
important facilities.'" http://t.uani.com/RhAcLA
Reuters:
"United Nations nuclear agency chief Yukiya Amano, a key figure in
international diplomacy over Iran's disputed nuclear activity, will seek
a new four-year term next year, the Vienna-based organization said on
Wednesday. Western diplomats say they expect Amano, who has taken a
tougher approach on the Iran nuclear file than his predecessor Mohamed
ElBaradei, to be reappointed without problems, in contrast to his close
election victory in 2009. 'I don't expect anyone will challenge him,' one
European diplomat said, adding that Amano has been 'very firm' on
Iran." http://t.uani.com/PFCiDz
Sanctions
AFP:
"Iran's oil-dependent economy was showing the strain of punishing
Western sanctions on Tuesday, on the eve of a speech by President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad to the UN General Assembly in New York. The Iranian currency
dived around four percent close to an all-time low against the dollar,
while thousands of workers publicly complained of unpaid wages, importers
struggled to pay for goods, inflation climbed and travel agencies
bemoaned a rapidly shrinking pool of travellers able to afford to go
abroad. Government initiatives to maintain the value of the rial and the
volume of oil exports have failed, with both halved from their levels of
a year ago... Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already ordered
Iran to adopt an 'economy of resistance,' while officials have told
national media to avoid reporting on the 'bleak' domestic situation and
instead emphasise positive economic stories." http://t.uani.com/RXZKQB
Caixin:
"As the United States and European Union take economic sanctions
against Iran over fears of its nuclear intentions, Western oil firms have
gradually withdrawn from the country. This has left China National
Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) as the largest foreign oil company in the Middle
Eastern country. CNPC, China's largest oil and gas producer, has four
projects in Iran, namely the Masjed-i-Suleiman oil project, the North and
South Azadegan oil fields, and phase 11 of the South Pars offshore gas
field. In August, Iranian media reported that CNPC was withdrawing from
the South Pars project. Caixin has also learned that CNPC has reduced the
number of Chinese personnel working on the other three projects since the
beginning of the year. CNPC is maintaining investment for projects that
it thinks will produce soon and slowing investment in the projects that
will take longer to put into operation, a source who studies Chinese oil
firms' overseas investments said." http://t.uani.com/UV2P2K
Reuters:
"South Korea's biggest oil refiner SK Energy loaded a second cargo
of crude in Iran last week, a government source said on Wednesday, as
Seoul resumes Iranian oil shipments after a near two-month gap caused by
a European Union ban on insurance cover. The cargo of two million barrels
is under Iranian insurance cover to avoid the sanctions, said the source.
A spokesman for SK Energy's parent firm confirmed last week that another
Iranian cargo of the same volume was already on its way to South Korea.
'SK Energy lifted its second cargo in Iran last week,' said the source at
South Korea's economy ministry, adding that SK Energy's first cargo had
not arrived yet in Korea." http://t.uani.com/VI6tMQ
AFP:
"EU nations are discussing a British sanctions proposal against Iran
that notably calls for a ban on shipping and 'full' freeze on financial
transactions with Iran's central bank, European diplomats said Tuesday.
'Most member states are largely supportive" of the proposals, an EU
diplomat said on condition of anonymity. 'The discussions are ongoing,
there is still a long way to go,' cautioned another source who also asked
not to be named. Britain, France and Germany jointly urged their European
Union partners last week to step up pressure on Iran over its contested
nuclear drive by agreeing new sanctions to be adopted at EU foreign
ministers' talks in Luxembourg on October 15. Currently under discussion
is a London proposal to strengthen existing punitive measures in four
areas -- finance, trade, energy and transport. The Netherlands has tabled
similar ideas." http://t.uani.com/P514uw
Reuters:
"French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday the next
round of European Union sanctions over Iran's nuclear program would focus
on the financial industry and trade. French President Francois Hollande
earlier in the day told the U.N. General Assembly that the EU was ready
to impose a new set of sanctions to increase pressure on Iran and force
it back to the negotiating table. '(The sanctions will be) on the
financial and trade side,' Fabius said on the sidelines of the meeting...
Asked about the possibility of stronger sanctions against Iran's central
bank, Fabius said: 'It could be that. (Those sanctions) are not fully
exhausted.'" http://t.uani.com/S6KNpH
Terrorism
Reuters:
"Iran and Argentina have agreed to a meeting to discuss two 1990s
attacks on Jewish targets in Buenos Aires that were allegedly sponsored
by the Islamic Republic, Argentina's president said on Tuesday. Argentine
courts have accused Iran of sponsoring a 1994 attack on a Buenos Aires
Jewish center that killed 85 people. That assault came two years after a
group linked to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed
responsibility for a bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in the Argentine
capital, which killed 29. Tehran has denied links to either attack."
http://t.uani.com/UuCe9T
Syrian
Uprising
Reuters:
"A correspondent for Iran's English-language Press TV was shot dead
in Syria and its Damascus bureau chief was wounded, Press TV reported on
Wednesday, in an attack the channel blamed on regional powers that
support Syrian rebel forces. 'Insurgents in the Syrian capital Damascus
have attacked Press TV staff and killed one of our reporters,' anchor
Bardia Honardar said on air. Maya Naser, 33, Press TV's correspondent in
Damascus, died after being shot in the neck by a sniper, and Damascus
bureau chief Hussein Murtada received a gunshot wound to the back, Press
TV said." http://t.uani.com/SR1OV6
Opinion
& Analysis
WSJ
Editorial Board: "Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad speaks at the United Nations today, which also happens to be
Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. The timing is apt
because when it comes to Iran and Israel, the hardest thing for some
people to see or hear is what Iranian leaders say in front of the world's
nose. 'Iran has been around for the last seven, 10 thousand years. They
[the Israelis] have been occupying those territories for the last 60 to
70 years, with the support and force of the Westerners. They have no
roots there in history,' Mr. Ahmadinejad told reporters and editors in
New York on Monday. 'We do believe that they have found themselves at a
dead end and they are seeking new adventures in order to escape this dead
end. Iran will not be damaged with foreign bombs. We don't even count
them as any part of any equation for Iran. During a historical phase,
they [the Israelis] represent minimal disturbances that come into the
picture and are then eliminated.' Note that word-'eliminated.' When
Iranians talk about Israel, this intention of a final solution keeps
coming up. In October 2005, Mr. Ahmadinejad, quoting the Ayatollah
Khomeini, said Israel 'must be wiped off the map.' Lest anyone miss the
point, the Iranian President said in June 2008 that Israel 'has reached
the end of its function and will soon disappear off the geographical
domain.' He has company among Iranian leaders. In a televised speech in
February, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called Israel a 'cancerous tumor
that should be cut and will be cut,' adding that 'from now on, in any
place, if any nation or any group that confronts the Zionist regime, we
will endorse and we will help. We have no fear of expressing this.' Major
General Hassan Firouzabadi, chief of staff of the armed forces, added in
May that 'the Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full
annihilation of Israel.' This pledge of erasing an entire state goes back
to the earliest days of the Iranian revolution. 'One of our major points
is that Israel must be destroyed,' Ayatollah Khomeini said in the 1980s.
Former Iranian President Akbar Rafsanjani-often described as a moderate
in Western media accounts-had this to say in 2001: 'If one day, the
Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel
possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will reach a standstill
because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy
everything. However, it will only harm the Islamic world. It is not
irrational to contemplate such an eventuality.' So for Iran it is 'not
irrational' to contemplate the deaths of millions of Muslims in exchange
for the end of Israel because millions of other Muslims will survive, but
the Jewish state will not. The world's civilized nations typically
denounce such statements, as the U.S. State Department denounced Mr.
Ahamadinejad's on Monday. But denouncing them is not the same as taking
them seriously. Sometimes the greatest challenge for a civilized society
is comprehending that not everyone behaves in civilized or rational
fashion, that barbarians can still appear at the gate... The tragic
lesson of history is that sometimes barbarians mean what they say.
Sometimes regimes do want to eliminate entire nations or races, and they
will do so if they have the means and opportunity and face a timorous or
disbelieving world." http://t.uani.com/UuCMfN
Alan Dershowitz in
WSJ: "On Monday in New York, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised that Israel will be 'eliminated,' a
variation on his previous threats to the nation's existence. He was in
town for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, a gathering
that reliably sees leaders issuing pronouncements that, even if not new,
at least are given a bigger stage. On Tuesday, the first day of the
gathering, President Obama delivered a speech that also struck familiar
notes, including the statement that 'a nuclear-armed Iran is not a
challenge that can be contained.' He moved no closer to giving a signal
of what he might consider an intolerable development in Iran's advance
toward a nuclear weapon. For months, U.S. and Israeli officials have
debated whether Mr. Obama should publicly announce a 'red line' that, if
crossed by Iran, would prompt an American military response. Announcing
such a threshold publicly or privately might be helpful, but it may not
be necessary for the president to specify what would constitute such a
red line (a certain degree of uranium enrichment, for example, or other
evidence of weaponization). Instead, Mr. Obama has another good option:
Tell the Iranian leadership that under no circumstances will it ever be
permitted to develop or acquire nuclear weapons, and that the U.S. is
prepared to take decisive military action to make sure of this. Such a
statement wouldn't tip the president's hand regarding a precise red line,
but it would send a clear message that Iran's efforts to develop nuclear
weapons are futile and ultimately will lead to disaster for Iran's
rulers. Mr. Obama's prior statements-that containing a nuclear Iran is
not an option; that a country committed to wiping Israel off the map,
promoting terrorism and arming Hezbollah and Syria can't be allowed to
have nukes-have been strong. But Iran's leadership still doesn't seem to
believe that an American military option really is on the table. Iran's
skepticism is understandable in light of some Obama administration
rhetoric. This week the president himself characterized Israeli concern
over Iran and threats of military action as mere 'noise.' Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta has repeatedly and emphatically outlined the
dangers of military action against Iran, and this month Vice President
Joe Biden criticized Mitt Romney for being 'ready to go to war' with
Iran. Being ready for war with Iran, after all, might be the only way to
deter that country from going nuclear." http://t.uani.com/PZxBo2
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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