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Stories
LAT: "As
international efforts to curb Iran's nuclear development program
continue, a growing share of Americans say they want firm action to end
the threat of the Tehran regime building a nuclear bomb, according to a
new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Fifty-six percent of respondents said they favor Washington taking a
'firm stand' with Iran, while [35]% said it is 'more important to avoid
military conflict,' the poll found. The share saying they advocate firm
action has increased from 50% since January. The poll, taken of 1,511
adults October 4-7, didn't define 'firm stand.' The Obama administration
has argued that a combined effort of international economic sanctions and
diplomacy can persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions, and says
time remains before policymakers need to decide whether to launch
airstrikes and/or other military action against Iranian nuclear
facilities." http://t.uani.com/T4XANR
WSJ:
"The U.S. Treasury Department said Thursday it designated another member
of an al Qaeda network operating in Iran, placing him under sanctions.
Adel Radi Saqr al-Wahabi al-Harbi serves as a deputy to Iran-based al
Qaeda facilitator Muhsin al-Fadhli, Treasury said, accusing al-Harbi of
facilitating the travel of fighters to Afghanistan or Iraq via Iran on
behalf of al Qaeda. He's also believed to have sought funds to support
attacks, Treasury said. The action taken Thursday follows a Treasury
designation in July 2011 of Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, also known as Yasin
al-Suri, and five others for operating a pipeline that moves al Qaeda
money and fighters through Iran to support the group's activity in South
Asia. The network is also sending funding and fighters to Syria, Treasury
said. Al-Fadhli, Treasury said, is a veteran al Qaeda operative who was
placed under sanctions in February 2005 for supporting the al-Zarqawi
network in Iraq. He began working in Iran in 2009 and was later arrested
by the Iranians. He was subsequently released by Iran in 2011. Also
Thursday, the State Department announced it would give a reward of up to
$7 million for information leading to the location of al-Fahdli, and up
to $5 million for information leading to the location of al-Harbi." http://t.uani.com/TxUJJk
Trend:
"If the Iranian regime does not change course, the economic pressure
on it will become so great that it will be totally isolated from the rest
of the world in every industry, UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran group)
Communications Director Nathan Carleton told Trend. 'The global economy
today is such that any industry inside a nation is dependent on other
nations,' the source said, speaking of Iran becoming self-sufficient in
many spheres for the last several years... Nathan Carleton told Trend
that the Iranian regime can choose whether it wants to go down the road
of complete isolation, or whether it wants to stop pursuing a nuclear
weapon. 'We believe, that Iran is a great country that wants to be modern
and have ties to the West, and might not choose to be the next North
Korea,' Carleton said. Carleton said that UANI's strategy is to force the
Iranian regime to choose between a nuclear weapon or a formidable
economy, and see 'if they might go with the latter.'" http://t.uani.com/TBCgMh
Nuclear
Program
Fox News: "New satellite
imagery released by the Institute for Science and International Security
(ISIS) shows some changes at a military site of great interest to the UN
nuclear watchdog. The watchdog, or IAEA, suspects that Iran carried out
explosives tests at the Parchin site back in the early part of the
decade, tests consistent with the construction of a nuclear weapon. Iran
denies that its nuclear program has a military dimension, but it will not
let inspectors into Parchin. In a satellite photo from August released by
ISIS, visible is the structure where the explosives tests were believed
to have been carried out, covered by a tarpaulin. In a September photograph,
released today, the tarpaulin is off. The photograph is not evidence of
an explosives test, but it is suspicious, given the IAEA has been asking
for access to Parchin, and Iran will not let its inspectors in." http://t.uani.com/Tj61H3
Sanctions
Trend:
"The world oil markets can withstand the loss of Iranian crude, UANI
(United Against Nuclear Iran U.S. group) Communications Director Nathan
Carleton told Trend, answering how the European countries will live
through the upcoming winter. 'Thus far all of the cutbacks have not
caused a problem,' Carleton said... In one of its earlier press releases,
UANI has stated that the EU should be imposing an economic blockade on
Iran. 'Such blockade would fully cut Iran off from the rest of the world.
We have long argued that pulling out of Iran is not just the morally
right thing to do, but a good business decision given the fiduciary risks
there and reputational harm elsewhere' UANI's Carleton told Trend. He
added that such a blockade would make companies choose -- whether it
wants to stay in Iran and continue to do business there, or it would
prefer to do business in the U.S. or the EU. 'Given that particular
choice, we are confident that companies will leave Iran,' Carleton
noted." http://t.uani.com/Ww9R0a
Bloomberg:
"The U.S. will 'ratchet up the pressure' on Iran to address
international concerns about that country's nuclear program, the Treasury
Department's top counterterrorism official said. 'We have things that we
can do to continue to intensify the sanctions,' David Cohen, the U.S.
Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said
in an interview with Peter Cook on Bloomberg Television's 'Capitol Gains'
show. 'We will continue to ratchet up the pressure to make clear to the
Iranians that their only real choice here is to address the concerns
about their nuclear program.'" http://t.uani.com/Ww7Cu1
Reuters:
"The European Union will further tighten economic sanctions if Iran
does not curb its nuclear activities, EU leaders said on Friday, urging
Tehran to engage in 'meaningful' negotiations. Europe imposed new
sanctions on the Islamic Republic this week, targeting trade, energy and
shipping, as part of a Western push to force Iran to make concessions
over the nuclear work. In a statement after a regular two-day summit, EU
leaders said Iran was in 'flagrant violation' of nuclear
non-proliferation rules but that if it moved to comply the sanctions
could be lifted. 'The Iranian regime can act responsibly and bring
sanctions to an end,' they said. 'But as long as it does not do so, the
EU remains determined to increase, in close coordination with
international partners, pressure on Iran.'" http://t.uani.com/PG5tdo
Bloomberg:
"Iranian oil tankers are mistakenly signaling their flag state as
Tanzania-Zanzibar and no such registration took place, according to a
government official from the east African territory. The 14 ships,
previously registered in the Pacific island of Tuvalu, transmitted data
from Sept. 24 to Oct. 13 to show they changed their names and were flying
the Tanzania-Zanzibar flag, according to data compiled by a unit of
Englewood, Colorado-based IHS (IHS) Inc. The company maintains a global
shipping database for the United Nations' maritime agency. 'This must be
a mistake,' Abdullah Kombo, director of planning, policy and research at
Zanzibar's Ministry of Infrastructure and Communications, said by phone
Oct. 15. The following day he forwarded confirmation from his country's
ship registry that the vessels aren't entitled to fly the flag." http://t.uani.com/TxTQQW
Terrorism
Reuters:
"A suicide bomber killed two guards as he blew himself up outside a
mosque in a restive southern province of Iran on Friday after being
prevented from reaching worshippers inside, Iranian media reported. The
bomber set off his explosive belt a few hundred meters (yards) outside
the Imam Hossein mosque in the city of Chabahar, killing two members of
the Basij militia that were on guard, Fars news agency reported.
'Eyewitnesses said the attacker was trying to get inside the mosque but
he was identified by members of the Basij,' Fars reported." http://t.uani.com/R88zoQ
Human Rights
LAT:
"An Iranian human rights lawyer whose jailing spurred an
international outcry is now going on a hunger strike, frustrated by
restrictions on her family, her husband said Thursday. Nasrin Sotoudeh,
49, was convicted last year of acting against national security and
spreading propaganda against the government. The attorney, known for
defending Iranian dissidents, had earlier angered the judiciary by
denouncing the unannounced execution of one of her clients, whom she was
allowed to meet only briefly. She was sentenced last year to 11 years in
jail and banned from practicing law for 20 years, to the outrage of
fellow activists and global human rights groups. At the time, the U.S.
State Department decried the sentence as an unjust and harsh attempt to
silence defenders of democracy and human rights in the country. Amnesty
International calls her a 'prisoner of conscience.'" http://t.uani.com/Rczv5t
Foreign Affairs
VOA:
"A satellite provider for Voice of America and the BBC says broadcasts
in the Middle East and Europe were deliberately jammed this week by
interfering signals coming from Syria. Many programs have been impacted,
including some of VOA's foreign-language services and BBC television and
radio services in English and Arabic. The French-based satellite provider
Eutelsat told VOA the disruptive interference emanated from Syria.
Vanessa O'Connor, a spokeswoman for Eutelsat, said 'deliberate ...
intermittent' satellite jamming of several international broadcasters has
been detected since the beginning of this week. She said Eutelsat used
'localization technology' to confirm that the source of the signal
jamming was in Syria. Deutsche Welle, a German state broadcaster that
transmits Arabic-language programs via satellite to the Middle East, says
Iran is behind the jamming efforts." http://t.uani.com/T2SuNC
Opinion &
Analysis
Gary Clyde
Hufbauer in The Iran Primer: "Oil and gas
account for close to 90 percent of Iran's exports. Anything that
interrupts the export of these commodities hits Iran hard. Oil shipments
are already down by about 50 percent and Iran no longer has access to
London's shipping insurance market. As of 2010, gas accounted for less
than four percent of Iran's export earnings, while petroleum accounted
for 78 percent of earnings. But gas is one of Iran's few remaining
exports. The European ban, coupled with the abundance of natural gas in
the world market, is another peg in the coffin of Iran's economy. The
Iranian government is now taking desperate measures to deal with the
crisis by applying drastically different exchange rates for purchasing
imported goods. There are ten categories of goods linked with different
exchange rates. For essential goods like medicine and basic foodstuffs,
the exchange rate is 12,600 rials to the dollar. Non-essential goods,
like consumer electronics and replacement car parts are priced according
to the black market rate of 35,000 rials to the dollar. The broad thrust
of U.S. and E.U. sanctions alienates middle and upper middle classes who
are importing many types of goods. The economy is basically reeling from
these sanctions. The panic that took hold in September- October 2012 was
likely sparked by the realization that sanctions may continue
indefinitely. Iran's printing of additional rials probably contributed to
the crisis. Iran is short on reserves of foreign currency since its
exports have been cut in half since last year. The government is also
spending money on support for the Syrian regime. At the same time, it is
trying to stave off the economic crisis impact on the Iranian people. It
has drawn upon its foreign exchange reserves to make up the difference in
export earnings to keep importing necessary goods. But in September 2012,
Tehran realized it would soon run out of foreign exchange. So the
government cut back on imports in order to maintain funding for the
security apparatus. As goods became scarcer and the rial's value
plummeted, people began to panic. Middle and upper class Iranians
observed the leadership's unwillingness to negotiate an agreement with
the P5+1. They probably concluded that sanctions are not going to be
lifted soon and that their holdings in rials will continue to lose value.
There is very little wiggle room now but there are a few more ways to
squeeze Iran. Asian countries could further reduce their purchase of
Iranian oil since the world supply is not tight. But the United States
would have to exert a significant effort to convince China, India, South
Korea and Japan to cut back further on their Iranian oil purchases. That
effort, even if made, is not likely to reduce Asian imports of Iranian
oil to a significant extent." http://t.uani.com/UenPTE
Thomas Joscelyn in
The Long War Journal: "The US Treasury Department
announced today that it has designated Adel Radi Saqr al Wahabi al Harbi,
who is 'a key member of an al Qaeda network operating in Iran and led by
Iran-based al Qaeda facilitator Muhsin al Fadhli.' This same network was
previously headed by another al Qaeda operative, Yasin al Suri, but al Fadhli
took over as chief of al Qaeda's Iran-based network in late 2011. Al
Harbi serves as al Fadhli's deputy. In that capacity, according to
Treasury, al Harbi 'facilitates the travel of extremists to Afghanistan
or Iraq via Iran on behalf of al Qaeda, and is believed to have sought
funds to support al Qaeda attacks.' Al Harbi joined al Qaeda's network in
Iran in 2011, but was previously added to Saudi Arabia's Most Wanted
List. The Saudi Ministry of Interior charged al Harbi with
"traveling to Afghanistan to join al Qaeda and providing technical
support on the Internet to the terrorist group." Yasin al Suri and
five other al Qaeda members tied to the Iran-based network were
designated by the US Treasury Department in July 2011. In December 2011,
the US government offered a $10 million reward for information leading to
al Suri's capture. It is one of the highest bounties offered for any
terrorist. In February 2012, the Treasury Dept. designated Iran's
Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) for its support of al Qaeda
and al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). Then, in July 2012, the US State Department
highlighted the relationship between Iran and al Qaeda in its annual
Country Reports on Terrorism publication. 'Today's action, which builds
on our action from July 2011, further exposes al Qaeda's critically
important Iran-based funding and facilitation network,' Under Secretary
for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen explained in a
press release. 'We will continue targeting this crucial source of al Qaeda's
funding and support,' Cohen added, 'as well as highlight Iran's ongoing
complicity in this network's operation.' Although the Treasury Department
does not say it, the US government's efforts to expose the Iran-al Qaeda
relationship have likely impacted the way the network operates. Today's
designation tracks with earlier press reporting on the reshuffling of al
Qaeda's Iran-based leadership." http://t.uani.com/TxWSVg
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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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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
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