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WSJ: "European
Union foreign ministers Monday gave their formal approval to a fresh,
wide-reaching package of sanctions against Iran and called on the Islamic
Republic to urgently comply with its international obligations regarding
its nuclear program. In a joint statement, EU ministers voiced 'serious
and deepening concerns' over Iran's nuclear program and the expansion of
its uranium enrichment capacities and called on the regime to cooperate
with international nuclear inspectors. Iran says its nuclear activities
are for peaceful, civilian purposes... One cornerstone of the latest
measures is a ban on all financial transactions between European and
Iranian banks, unless they relate to humanitarian aid. Iran's central
bank will face fresh restrictions and the export of materials and metals
used for industrial or military purposes will be prohibited. New rules
will seek to curb the movement of Iranian oil tankers and cargoes and
impede the country's ship-building capacities." http://t.uani.com/R6PzFL
AP:
"Iran is ready to show flexibility at nuclear talks to ease Western
concerns over its contentious nuclear program, its foreign ministry
spokesman said on Saturday, as tensions rise in the standoff between the
Islamic Republic, Israel and the West. The remarks by Ramin Mehmanparast,
published by the official IRNA news agency, underscore Tehran's push to
resume talks with world powers as Western sanctions squeeze the economy
tighter and the European Union weighs a boycott of Iranian natural gas.
'Iran is ready to show flexibility to remove concerns within a legal
framework but such measures should be reciprocal,' Mehmanparast was
quoted as saying. 'The other party needs to take measures to fully
recognize Iran's nuclear rights and Iran's enrichment for peaceful purposes.'"
http://t.uani.com/TR4TdC
AP:
"A leading European satellite provider took 19 Iranian television
and radio broadcasters off the air Monday as a result of European Union
sanctions aimed at punishing human rights abusers. People in Iran still
have access to most of the channels, operated by Iranian state
broadcaster Irib, but they're no longer broadcast in Europe and
elsewhere. Satellite provider Eutelsat agreed with media services company
Arqiva to block the Irib channels as of Monday morning because of
'reinforced EU council sanctions' Eutelsat spokeswoman Vanessa O'Connor
said. Irib's access to Eutelsat was via a contract with Arqiva." http://t.uani.com/SVVe3M
Nuclear Program
Reuters: "Iran would negotiate
on halting higher-grade uranium enrichment if given fuel for a research
reactor, senior officials said, reviving a previous offer in a possible
attempt to show flexibility in stalled nuclear talks with world powers...
'If a guarantee is provided to supply the 20 percent (enriched) fuel for
the Tehran Research Reactor, our officials are ready to enter talks about
20 percent enrichment,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast
said at a Eurasian media forum in Kazakhstan on Friday, according to
Iran's Press TV. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told the German
newsmagazine Der Spiegel earlier in the week: 'If our right to enrichment
is recognised, we are prepared to offer an exchange. We would voluntarily
limit the extent of our enrichment program, but in return we would need a
guaranteed supply of the relevant fuels from abroad.'" http://t.uani.com/QEnvZx
NYT:
"American intelligence officials are increasingly convinced that
Iran was the origin of a serious wave of network attacks that crippled
computers across the Saudi oil industry and breached financial
institutions in the United States, episodes that contributed to a warning
last week from Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta that the United States
was at risk of a 'cyber-Pearl Harbor.' After Mr. Panetta's remarks on
Thursday night, American officials described an emerging shadow war of
attacks and counterattacks already under way between the United States
and Iran in cyberspace. Among American officials, suspicion has
focused on the 'cybercorps' that Iran's military created in 2011 - partly
in response to American and Israeli cyberattacks on the Iranian nuclear
enrichment plant at Natanz - though there is no hard evidence that the
attacks were sanctioned by the Iranian government. The attacks emanating
from Iran have inflicted only modest damage." http://t.uani.com/R6fm0N
Reuters:
"Iran said on Sunday the launch of a drone aircraft into Israel by
Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was a sign of the
Islamic Republic's military capabilities. Hezbollah claimed
responsibility on Thursday for the launch of the drone aircraft which
Israel shot down last weekend after flying 25 miles into the Jewish
state, saying the drone's parts were manufactured in Iran and assembled
in Lebanon... 'Iran has great capabilities and our capabilities are at
the service of the Islamic nation,' Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi told
state television. 'The Zionist regime (Israel)...was defeated in this
respect and it can no longer bully Islamic nations,' he added." http://t.uani.com/OAfJ5i
Reuters:
"Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief has drafted a plan to cause an
environmental disaster in the Strait of Hormuz to block seaborne oil
exports with the goal of removing economic sanctions imposed on Tehran,
the weekly Der Spiegel said in an unsourced report. There was no
independent confirmation of the report. The German newsmagazine reported
that Mohammad Ali Jafari's plan, codenamed 'Muddy Water', envisages the
Iranians steering a tanker onto the rocks in the Strait, the world's most
important oil shipping waterway. 'The aim is to block shipping
temporarily through the contamination, to 'punish' adjacent Arab states
that are hostile to Iran and to force the West to take part in a
large-scale cleanup of the waters - and possibly thereby a suspension of
sanctions against Tehran,' Spiegel said." http://t.uani.com/RLrEey
Sanctions
Reuters:
"Iran said it would seek to cut imports of non-essential goods and
urged its citizens to reduce their use of foreign-made mobile telephones
and cars, as the country struggles to cope with Western economic
sanctions. The policies suggest the government is moving the economy onto
an austerity footing to resist the sanctions, which have been imposed
over Iran's controversial nuclear programme and have slashed its income
from oil exports this year. Authorities have divided imports into 10
categories based on how essential they are, and will provide importers
with dollars at a subsidised rate to buy basic goods, Deputy Industry Minister
Hamid Safdel was quoted as saying on Sunday. Meanwhile, importers of
goods in two non-essential categories will have to obtain dollars at much
more expensive rates on the open market, the Iranian Students' News
Agency (ISNA) quoted him as saying." http://t.uani.com/R6ewRK
WSJ:
"Iran's oil-rich economy, already forecast to contract this year, is
likely to suffer further in the future as a result of the steep plunge in
the value of its currency, the rial, over the past month, according to
the International Monetary Fund and economic experts. In its semiannual
report on global economic conditions, the IMF said the Iranian economy
will contract by 0.9% in 2012, after growing 2% last year. It estimated
inflation will rise to 25% this year from 21.5% last year, and that its
current-account surplus will fall to 3.4% this year from 12.5% a year
earlier. However, the sharp devaluation of recent weeks, sapping
one-third of the rial's value, will adversely affect those predictions,
fueling inflation and undermining the ability of Iranian companies to
finance trade and import goods, according to private economists... The
IMF report, released this week, was compiled before the rial's plunge. It
forecast a potential for positive economic growth in 2013. But those
forecasts are likely to fade as a result of the currency's precipitous
fall... Some critics of the IMF accuse the Washington-based organization
with relying almost solely on the Iranian government for its economic
data, resulting in overly optimistic projections. Many believe that Mr.
Ahmadinejad's policies have pushed annual inflation to as high as 70%,
much higher than the fund's estimate of 25%." http://t.uani.com/RJHPc5
NYT:
"Daily oil production in Iran, the most important component of its
economy, fell in September to the weakest level in nearly a
quarter-century, according to monthly data released on Friday by the
International Energy Agency. The agency forecast declines in Iran's
ability to produce oil for years to come if Western sanctions were not
lifted. The agency's report came as other signs of economic weakness were
further revealed, notably severe drops in port calls and automotive
production. Taken together, they depicted a stressed economy likely to
exert new pressure on the rial, Iran's currency. The rial lost 40 percent
of its value against the dollar this month in panicky selling before the
Iranian banking authorities moved to severely restrict currency trading.
But acute inflation in Iran from the rial's weakness is a major source of
concern in the country, and outside economists have pointed to this as
evidence that the sanctions, which have severely restricted Iran's
ability to sell oil and do international banking transactions, are having
a profound impact." http://t.uani.com/SUPTcZ
AFP:
"Iran's enemies seek to disrupt the 'calmness' in the country
through economic confrontation, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
said on Monday in an address delivered in the northeastern city of
Shirvan. The fiery speech comes as the European Union is about to ratchet
up sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear drive and as an oil
embargo by the United States and EU begins to impact on the Islamic
republic's economy. 'I am asking officials in the judiciary, executive
and legislative branches to be watchful so the the illwishers (Western
powers) are not able to disrupt the calmness in the country with their
plots,' Khamenei said his address, which was broadcast live on
television. 'With God's grace, as was the case in other issues which the enemies
were not able to do anything, they can do no damn thing in their economic
confrontation with our people,' he added." http://t.uani.com/SY1nrB
Reuters:
"Iran's oil exports have remained steady in recent months, Iran's
OPEC governor said on Saturday, denying a report from the International
Energy Agency (IEA) that Iran is struggling to arrest a decline in its
oil sales. In a report on Friday, the IEA estimated Iran's exports
falling to a new low of 860,000 barrels per day (bpd) in September, a huge
plunge from 2.2 million bpd at the end of 2011... But Mohammad Ali
Khatibi, Iran's OPEC governor, said the IEA's data was faulty and ran
counter to data provided to OPEC by Iran. 'Iran's oil exports are the
same as previous months and the situation is stable,' Khatibi was quoted
as saying by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) on Saturday.
Khatibi also denied that the only buyers of Iranian oil were China,
India, South Korea, Japan, and Turkey." http://t.uani.com/TrvLLF
Reuters:
"Iran may attempt to buy more costly foreign gasoline while
maintenance work is carried out on a big oil refinery, at a time when the
government is trying to slash imports to shore up its sanctions-hit
economy. Alternatively the country will have to rely more heavily on the poor-quality
gasoline it produces from converted petrochemical plants. Iran can
produce about 60 million liters a day of gasoline when all its refineries
are fully operational, compared with daily consumption of around 65
million liters, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported over the
weekend." http://t.uani.com/TrvWGK
Reuters:
"India's HMEL, part-owned by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, has
emerged as a new oil client of sanctions-hit Iran, potentially
complicating New Delhi's bid for a renewal of its waiver from U.S.
sanctions for buying crude from Tehran. HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) has
taken two shipments of Iranian oil since the start of September to
maximize margins at its 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) Bathinda refinery
in northern India, two sources with knowledge of the deals told Reuters.
The purchases came to a total 2 million barrels... HMEL is part-owned by
Indian tycoon Mittal, who heads ArcelorMittal, the world's largest
steelmaker. ArcelorMittal produces 35 percent of its steel in the Americas
and 47 percent in Europe, according to the company's website. State-run
refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Mittal own 49 percent each in the
joint venture HMEL." http://t.uani.com/QZVpu4
Haaretz:
"The Swedish government is trying to prevent the European Union from
imposing further sanctions on Iran for fear of losing a lucrative deal
for Swedish communications company Ericsson, according to a Foreign
Ministry official in Jerusalem. Several leading EU countries are aware of
the planned deal between Ericsson and Tehran, and of the Swedish
government's fear that the deal will be in jeopardy if further sanctions
are imposed, the source said. The EU foreign ministers are due to meet in
Luxembourg on Monday to vote on a new round of sanctions. 'We know
that in Sweden they fear that if the deal between Ericsson and Iran is
canceled this could have implications for the company's other deals,' the
Foreign Ministry official said. 'The Swedes fear that other countries
with problematic human rights records such as China will hear about the
cancellation and worry about their ties with Ericsson.'" http://t.uani.com/WmitEZ
Reuters:
"A U.S. court has delayed ruling on a $4.2 billion suit by Turkish
mobile operator Turkcell against South African rival MTN Group, pending a
Supreme Court decision on a separate case, the two companies said.
Turkey's largest cell phone operator sued MTN in a U.S. federal court in
March, alleging the Johannesburg-based company used bribery and attempted
trafficking of political influence to win a mobile licence in Iran that
was first awarded to Turkcell. MTN has asked for the case to be
dismissed, saying the suit has no legal merit and a U.S. court does not
have jurisdiction over the case. The court has put the suit on hold, the
two companies said in separate statements late on Friday, to await a
Supreme Court decision on a different case using the Alien Tort Statute -
the human rights law on which Turkcell's suit is based." http://t.uani.com/QmvV8z
WSJ:
"The U.S. and the European Union are looking to close loopholes in
sanctions designed to impede Iran's oil exports after it emerged that
Tehran is secretly using offshore tax havens to help ship its crude. The
National Iranian Tanker Co., the largest oil-vessel operator in Iran, is
hiding some of the ownership of tankers it controls right under the nose
of the U.S. in Central American tax havens, concealing their real
nationality from flag registries... Earlier this year, the nominal
ownership of at least seven NITC tankers was transferred to entities
incorporated in the Caribbean tax havens of Belize and the British Virgin
Islands-a U.K. dependency-according to the database of the International
Maritime Organization and tax-haven and shipping officials." http://t.uani.com/OBC2HX
Reuters:
"U.S. exports to Iran rose by nearly a third this year, chiefly
because of grain sales, according to U.S. data released last week,
despite the tightening of U.S. financial sanctions. The jump to $199.5
million in the first eight months of 2012 from $150.8 million a year
earlier, according to Census Bureau data, is surprising given Western
efforts to isolate Iran economically because of its suspected pursuit of
nuclear arms. The increase masks a drop in the export of some
humanitarian goods such as medicines, a decline U.S. exporters blame
largely on the difficulty of getting paid by Iranian importers because of
new U.S. financial sanctions. But it also shows that goods such as milk
products and medical equipment - whose sale to Iran is allowed with a
Treasury Department export license - continue to flow despite the
sanctions and the payments difficulties." http://t.uani.com/OBCw0L
Reuters:
"Iran is hopeful its ally China will fund up to $2 billion to
complete Tehran's metro rail which faces delays due to lack of financing
as a result of sanctions, a government official said on Monday. Phase two
of the metro is on track for completion next year but two new lines under
the third phase may be delayed due to lack of money, Mohammad Montazeri,
deputy managing director, planning & logistics, Tehran Urban &
Suburban Railway Co said. 'We are seeing funds from foreign companies. We
are in negotiations with China (government, banks and agencies), we are
hoping to get financing,' he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Middle
East Economic Digest's Rail Projects conference." http://t.uani.com/R6N2vd
Human Rights
Bloomberg:
"The government of Iran carried out as many as 223 executions, of
which 82 were done in secret, in the first five months of this year, a
United Nations investigator said. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special
rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, said in a report made
public today that at least 141 officially announced executions took place
between January and early June 2012. A further 82 executions were done in
secret in that same period, according to the report. Under Iranian law,
the death sentence can be applied for crimes such as alcohol consumption,
adultery and drug trafficking. Two men were sentenced to death in June
for drinking, the report says. There were 53 executions across the
country during one week in May, according to the report. 'A large number
of those sentenced to death were convicted in the absence of fair trial
standards,' Shaheed wrote in the report. There have been 3,766 floggings
since 2002, with 1,444 in 2009 alone, according to the report. Common
charges include adultery, public disruption such as taking part in
'illegal gatherings' and drug offenses." http://t.uani.com/SV6nBD
AP:
"Three top U.N. human rights experts appealed Friday to Iran to halt
11 executions they say are scheduled to take place Saturday and to
declare a moratorium on the death penalty. 'We urge the Iranian
authorities to stop the executions of Saeed Sedeghi and 10 other
individuals scheduled for Saturday, 13 October,' said the UN Special
Rapporteurs on Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, on extrajudicial executions, Christof
Heyns, and on torture, Juan E. Mendez. Sedeghi was sentenced to death on
June 2 for drug-related offenses. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner
for Human Rights says he did not receive a fair trial and was subjected
to torture. 'In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, the
sentence of death can be imposed only for the most serious crimes, which
do not include drug crimes. Cases that do not meet these standards are
tantamount to arbitrary executions,' noted the experts, who are appointed
by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council to report on specific human
rights themes." http://t.uani.com/TrvFUq
Foreign Affairs
WashPost:
"Azerbaijan, Iran's neighbor and longtime rival, is coming to relish
its role as the region's anti-Iran, a secular, Western-leaning country
that is working mightily to become everything that Iran is not. As Iran
sinks ever deeper into isolation and economic distress, its northern
neighbor is sprinting in the opposite direction, building political and
cultural ties to the West along with new pipelines connecting
energy-hungry Europe with the country's rich petroleum fields on the
Caspian Sea. Where Iran is repressive and theocratic, Azerbaijan is
socially and religiously tolerant, offering itself as a model of a
nonsectarian, Muslim-majority society that champions women's athletics
and embraces Western music and entertainers." http://t.uani.com/RsZXGK
AP:
"Bahrain's king says his country will stand against foreign
interference - a clear reference to Iran - in clashes between the
Sunni-led ruling system and majority Shiites seeking a greater political
voice. The comments Sunday to parliament by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
are part of efforts to link Iran to the 20-month Shiite uprising in the
strategic Gulf nation, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Iran has
denounced the violence, and there is no firm evidence of Tehran aiding
the protesters." http://t.uani.com/XaWqk8
Opinion &
Analysis
UANI Advisory
Board Member Graham Allison & Shai Feldman in NYT:
"In fact, Mr. Netanyahu's about-face resulted from a long-building
revolt by Israel's professional security establishment against the very
idea of an early military attack, particularly one without the approval
of the United States. For months, former and even serving chiefs of
Israel's defense and intelligence communities have vigorously and
publicly opposed Mr. Netanyahu's case for attacking Iran sooner, rather
than after all other means have been exhausted. Meir Dagan, the much
respected former head of Mossad, did so to an American audience in an
interview with Lesley Stahl broadcast last March by CBS' '60 Minutes.' In
Israel earlier, he had been quoted as saying that such an attack was 'the
stupidest idea I have ever heard.' In addition, Mr. Netanyahu and Mr.
Barak had proved unable to win sufficient support for early military
action from other members of the government. Despite months of sustained
effort, Mr. Netanyahu was not able to muster a majority even in his
nine-member informal inner cabinet, much less Israel's larger security
cabinet, whose agreement he would need before attacking. And in August,
Israel's president, Shimon Peres, took the occasion of his 89th birthday
celebration to decisively reject any unilateral Israeli attack. The
country's pre-eminent elder statesman and the father of Israel's own
nuclear project, he broke with the nonpolitical traditions of Israel's
largely ceremonial presidency to argue that the central issue was the
harm that going it alone could do to future American-Israeli relations.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the Obama administration was conducting a
quiet campaign that would strengthen the view, already circulating among
Israeli security professionals, that prematurely attacking Iran would not
advance Israel's interests and would damage Israel's relationship with
America. Instead of holding Israel at bay or threatening punitive action,
the administration was upgrading American security assistance to Israel -
so much so that earlier this year Mr. Barak described the level of
support as greater than ever in Israel's history. This increase was
manifest at every level: intelligence sharing that resulted in a
convergence of assessments about Iran's nuclear efforts; joint
cyberoperations to slow Iran's nuclear program; support of Israel's
development of antimissile defenses; and reaching a common declared
strategic approach to Iran's nuclear program. That approach now focuses the
two countries' efforts on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,
while also ruling out the option of a retreat to containing and deterring
a nuclear-armed Iran. Equally important, increased American assistance
has been accompanied by closer institutional links between the two
countries' defense and intelligence communities, as well as more intimate
personal ties between both communities' top echelons. Through numerous
meetings in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Washington, the Obama administration
has used these connections to convey an unambiguous message: Do not
attack before all nonmilitary efforts to roll back Iran's nuclear program
have been exhausted." http://t.uani.com/T3mb7v
Emile Hokayem in
The National: "Among Syrians opposed to and
suffering from Assad violence, hatred of Iran is growing. Shia Iran, the
reasoning goes, supports the Alawite Assads out of sheer sectarian
solidarity, crystallising religious rancour. It has a tragically comic
side: a rebel unit called itself the Saddam Hussein brigade because the
Iraqi dictator fought Iran. It later changed its name after realising
this choice offended everyone - from the Kurds he gassed to the Kuwaitis
he invaded - and apologised, but not without using prejudiced language
against Shiites. The extent of Iranian support for the Assad regime as it
tries to defeat a widespread rebellion is no longer in doubt. It includes
expertise in internet and communications monitoring, help to circumvent
oil and other sanctions, provision of weaponry and intelligence, and
counterinsurgency advice. After all, Iran has valuable know-how, having
crushed its own peaceful uprising and fought insurgencies. It also
assists by keeping a cautious Turkey in check, by using a pliant Iraq as
a conduit and by mobilising Hizbollah in Lebanon. The only unknown is
whether Iranian troops are engaged in ground operations. This is proving
difficult to confirm, even as alleged sightings increase. Tehran has
valuable interests at stake: its force-multiplying alliance with Damascus
has withstood the vagaries of Middle East politics and endless Arab and
western attempts to pull them apart. The alliance has long - and
mistakenly - been portrayed as one of convenience: the two countries were
too dissimilar, many luminaries thought. In fact, the alliance resembles
an arranged marriage that turned out much better than either of the two
parties expected. Tough security-minded men, who operated for 30 years in
the shadows and became brothers in arms, forged it. Although not always
in sync, the two countries shared animosity towards the US and the Gulf
states, gave each other strategic depth, and nurtured Hizbollah, which
grew into the third leg of this mighty alliance. Its durability, however,
made Iran complacent and blind. Not surprisingly for a regime that
engages in repression at home and doesn't care about human rights abroad,
it badly misread Syrian dynamics, misjudging the strength of the Assad
regime and the anger against it. Iran, it turns out, didn't know nor care
about Syrian society... Having invested so much in Syria, Iran will find
it hard to write the country off as a sunk cost, to everyone's
detriment." http://t.uani.com/WoEsLy
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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