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Stories
NYT:
"The question of whether the United States should seek to engage
Iran in one-on-one talks on its nuclear program joined the likely topics
for Monday's final presidential debate as supporters of President Obama
and Mitt Romney jousted on Sunday over the issue. The prospect of such
talks was raised in an article published over the weekend by The New York
Times that said Iran and the United States had agreed in principle to
direct talks after the presidential election. On Saturday, the White
House denied that a final agreement on direct talks had been reached,
while saying that it remained open to such contacts. On Sunday, the
Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed the report... The Times, citing
unnamed senior Obama administration officials, reported over the weekend
that after secret exchanges, American and Iranian officials had agreed in
principle to hold one-on-one negotiations between the nations, which have
not had official diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution
in Iran. Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, denied on Sunday that
any direct talks had been scheduled. 'We do not have anything such as
talks with the United States,' he told the semiofficial Fars news agency.
Mr. Salehi predicted that there would be a new round of talks in November
with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -
including the United States - and Germany, but said that 'there is no
fixed date yet.'" http://t.uani.com/X130us
Trend:
"Three foreign currency printing companies have decided to
discontinue their businesses in Iran, UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran
U.S. group) Communications Director Nathan Carleton told Trend. Earlier
this month, UANI has launched a 'Iran Rial Currency Printing Campaign',
which targeted companies that print Rial for the Islamic Republic.
According to Nathan Carleton, three such companies have stopped their
businesses there, as a result of UANI's campaign. 'All three of the firms
we contacted, KBA, Flint, and DLR, have informed us that they are no
longer involved in currency printing in Iran,' Carleton said, noting that
UANI applauds the companies for their decisions. KBA, of Germany, is the
world's second-largest security banknote printing press manufacturer, and
has sold printing presses to numerous Iranian entities... 'UANI is
currently investigating what other companies might have taken their
places, and are prepared to pressure them as well,' Carleton noted."
http://t.uani.com/S9ut9l
Independent
Online: "The government has confirmed that SA's
ambassador to Iran, Yusuf Saloojee, has been suspended and recalled to SA
while he is being investigated for allegedly taking bribes from cellphone
company MTN to help it win an operating licence in Iran. International
Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane told
Parliament in July that Saloojee was being investigated on the charges
that arose from allegations by the Turkish cellphone company Turkcell in
a US court. This week Nkoana-Mashabane said Saloojee had been recalled
for an internal investigation by her department into the allegations
against him." http://t.uani.com/UpQ41V
Nuclear
Program
WSJ: "The Obama administration and
European Union expect negotiations between Iran and world powers over its
nuclear program to resume after the U.S. presidential election in
November, with a renewed focus on getting Tehran to give up more nuclear
fuel in exchange for economic incentives. U.S. and European officials
stressed in recent interviews that no firm date has been set for new
talks between Iran and the international negotiating bloc, known as P5+1,
which includes the five permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council plus Germany. But they said they see a diplomatic window between
the U.S. election and Iran's presidential election in June. The
coordinator for the P5+1 bloc, EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton,
has pressed for new talks with Tehran since the last round broke down in
Moscow in June, said these officials. 'If I was to bet, there'll be new
round in November or December,' said a U.S. official briefed on the Iran
diplomacy." http://t.uani.com/VuDNKS
AP:
"France's foreign minister says Iran appears on track to reach the
ability to produce a nuclear weapon by the first half of next year.
France is one of six countries that have negotiated with Tehran over its
nuclear program, which Iran insists is peaceful. French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius told Europe-1 radio Sunday that unspecified experts 'have
established in an absolutely indisputable way' that Iran has compiled a
full array of centrifuges that 'apparently will allow the ability to go
toward possession of the nuclear weapon by the first half of next year,
the end of the first half.'" http://t.uani.com/Ta2Rnf
WSJ:
"The U.S. and Israeli militaries on Sunday began their largest-ever
joint exercise to practice integrating defense systems in case of massive
missile attacks on the Jewish state, bolstering efforts to deter possible
strikes by Iran and its allies. Dubbed 'Austere Challenge 12,' the drill
highlights the allies' close military ties despite months of public
bickering between the White House and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
over how to block Tehran's nuclear program, Israeli analysts said... The
exercise, the sixth large-scale drill between the allies since 2000,
signals to Iran that an attack on Israel would involve drawing the U.S.
into a conflict, a possibility that may prompt leaders there to think
twice, said experts. The last large-scale joint exercise, known as
Juniper Cobra, was held in 2010." http://t.uani.com/X11rfW
LAT:
"Austrian-born Daniel Frosch was only 23 when U.S. officials first
realized that he had become a small but important cog in Iran's illicit
weapons programs. In October 2005, Austrian authorities intercepted a
parcel containing graphite cylinders, which can be used in ballistic
missiles, addressed to Iran from Frosch's tiny export company in Graz. In
late 2006, they tried to arrest him for allegedly attempting to sell
valves and other components with military applications to Iranian
state-owned companies. By then Frosch had moved to the United Arab Emirates,
which has no extradition treaty with Austria and loose export control
rules. Today, U.S. officials say, his Ajman-based International General
Resourcing FZE sells banned electronics and other material to Tehran as
part of a global maze of illicit suppliers, fly-by-night companies,
crooked shipping agents and other corrupt officials in Iran's
sanctions-busting schemes." http://t.uani.com/UrLvnJ
Sanctions
Reuters:
"Iranian crude volumes received by China have been below contracted
levels since September, because Iran's tanker fleet, the sole transporter
of its crude to China, has been struggling to meet delivery schedules,
trade sources said on Friday. Iran, grappling with tough Western
sanctions targeting its energy and petrochemical sectors, has delayed
loading of some shipments for September, October and November to China,
its largest oil customer and top trading partner. The delays are further
evidence the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) is struggling to meet
delivery schedules after a European Union insurance ban caused buyers to
cut back on orders, forcing NITC to deploy more than half of its tanker
fleet to store oil. 'What was nominated was different from what was
actually loaded,' said one Chinese buyer, who declined to be identified
because he was not authorised to speak to the media. 'Almost every cargo
was delayed, some were even delayed for 10 to 15 days." http://t.uani.com/XEuxRU
Reuters:
"South Korea is set to resume Iranian oil imports in October after
crude cargoes were halted by EU sanctions in the previous two months,
with shipments transported under Iranian insurance cover to avoid
sanctions targeting Tehran's nuclear programme. The north Asian country's
overall crude oil imports fell 2.8 percent in September from a year ago
to 78.36 million barrels, or 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd), data from
the state-run Korea National Oil Corp showed on Monday. The world's fifth
largest importer of crude oil, and one of Iran's biggest oil customers,
imported 38.77 million barrels of crude oil from Iran in the first nine
months of this year, down 41.3 percent year on year, KNOC said. South
Korean refiners have resumed imports of Iranian crude oil for October
arrivals, with imports seen at about 6 million barrels per month, or
200,000 bpd, representing a return to full contracted volumes." http://t.uani.com/UrIweZ
Daily Telegraph:
"A senior aide to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has used
trips to Vienna to defy United Nations sanctions to build an
international money laundering network that funds black market ¬equipment
purchases by the country's regime, the Daily Telegraph has learned. At
least two visits this year to Vienna by a senior departmental director
have been used to carry out transactions worth millions of euros,
according to sources. Western officials confirmed the official is a
regular visitor to the Austrian capital and has travelled for extended
stays each year since 2007. While the official and the Centre for
Innovation and Technology Cooperation - part of Mr Ahmadinejad's
presidential office - are on the US Treasury's sanctions list, no
measures have been taken against the official in Europe. Money passing
through the Iranian network is believed to be brought into Europe through
diplomatic channels in deliveries of half a million euros." http://t.uani.com/Plwy5I
Platts:
"Japanese refiners have yet to decide on their crude import volumes
from Iran for 2013 as they are looking at various factors including US
sanctions, Petroleum Association of Japan President Yasushi Kimura told
reporters Monday. 'At present, we have not decided on our direction of
Iran crude imports,' Kimura said at a press conference in Tokyo. 'We will
consider our options from now on to see such factors as various
alternative crude options as well as situations over the US sanctions to
decide whether we will cut our imports further or maintain the current
reduction pace.' Kimura also added that every refiner, which has
contracts to import Iranian crude should decide about its imports
depending on situations at the time of their contract renewals." http://t.uani.com/SgEBgB
JPost:
"Iranian economists and analysts continued to criticize the Central
Bank of Iran on Sunday for poor reporting on the country's skyrocketing
inflation rate and for failing to stabilize its currency. On Saturday,
the central bank reported that the official inflation rate for the
Iranian month of Shahrivar (August 22-September 21) was 24 percent, an
increase of just half a percentage point over last month's figure.
However, as political infighting between Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and his conservative critics continues over who is to blame
for Iran's economic crisis, Iranian analysts have warned that real
inflation figures could be as much as double the central bank rate. Dr.
Mehdi Taghavi, a leading economist from Iran's Allameh Tabatabai
University, said recently that Iran's inflation rate is close to 50%,
according to Iran's Labor News Agency." http://t.uani.com/RWK5zP
Bloomberg:
"Expanded European sanctions against Iran approved Oct. 15 lack
clarity as to whether exporting liquefied petroleum gas from the country
remains legal, according to Clarkson Plc (CKN), the largest shipbroker.
Following are comments by Clarkson on the extended measures, taken from a
report published by the shipbroker Oct. 19. Twenty LPG carriers departed
the Iranian port of Assaluyeh since the first European sanctions took
effect July 1, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from IHS Inc., an
Englewood, Colorado-based researcher. 'There has been a notable use of
ambiguous wording by legislators, inspiring little confidence. If it is
their intention to stem the flow of LPG cargoes from Iran, then this has
not been made clear to those in the trade. The result is further
confusion and more time wasted consulting with legal and insurance
advisors.'" http://t.uani.com/Tso3ab
Terrorism
Reuters:
"Iran on Saturday condemned a car bomb attack in Beirut that killed
a prominent Lebanese intelligence official on Friday and suggested that
Israel was to blame. A senior Israeli official dismissed the suggestion
as 'beyond pathetic'. The slain Lebanese official, Brigadier-General
Wissam al-Hassan, was close to several Lebanese politicians who back the
uprising in Syria and led several investigations into Syrian meddling in
Lebanese affairs, including one that implicated Damascus and its Lebanese
ally Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik
al-Hariri in 2005. Iran is Syria's most powerful regional ally." http://t.uani.com/To8kbU
AP:
"Iran says a guilty plea by a Texas man allegedly hired by Iran to
kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States was the result of
'psychological and moral pressure.' The official IRNA news agency
Saturday quotes Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying
Manssor Arbabsiar's guilty plea Wednesday in a U.S. court is proof that
the case is a 'ridiculous plot' against Iran since Arbabsiar originally
pleaded not guilty last year." http://t.uani.com/TrexDW
AFP:
"The Saudi coastguard have arrested a group of Iranians who
attempted to infiltrate the country by sea near the northeastern frontier
with Kuwait, authorities said. Seized were 14 Iranians who had been
dropped off on shore by a boat and the driver of the boat, who was chased
and captured by patrol boats as he headed out, Eastern Province
coastguard spokesman Colonel Khaled al-Arqubi in a statement. 'Fourteen
Iranians were captured on Friday night while attempting to infiltrate
into the kingdom through the eastern coast in the area of Khafji,' he
said." http://t.uani.com/WYAKsw
Human Rights
AFP:
"Iran executed 10 drug traffickers in a prison in Tehran on Monday,
despite repeated calls from Amnesty International to halt such hangings.
The men sent to gallows were convicted of trafficking more than a tonne
of opium and a tonne of methamphetamine, according to the website of the
prosecutor's office in Tehran. London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty
International has repeatedly called on Iran not to execute people
convicted of drug trafficking, saying the sentence is excessive.
Three-quarters of executions in Iran, of which there are several hundred
per year, involve drug traffickers netted in the Islamic republic's
severe anti-drug laws." http://t.uani.com/TCmY9F
AFP:
"Iran's judiciary has rejected a request by President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad to visit Tehran's notorious Evin prison, its spokesman said
on Sunday, calling the request's timing inappropriate. 'As we are faced
with special circumstances and the country's priorities are the economy
and people's living conditions, all authorities should focus on solving
key issues... visiting a prison is extraneous,' said chief prosecutor
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie. 'More than seven years of his presidency
have passed, and no request was made during that time,' he said,
according to the ISNA news agency. Mohseni Ejeie, who also acts as the
judiciary's spokesman, suggested that Ahmadinejad's sudden interest in Evin
was linked to 'a person affiliated to (the government) in prison' -- an
allusion to the president's press adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr.
Javanfekr, who heads the official IRNA news agency and state newspaper
Iran, was arrested in September and sent to Evin for a six-month sentence
after being convicted of publishing material offensive to Islamic codes
and public morality." http://t.uani.com/Vt3wDC
Opinion &
Analysis
WSJ Editorial
Board: "'This is my last election. After my
election I have more flexibility.' That's what President Obama was
overheard telling then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in March on an
open microphone when he thought he was speaking privately. The exchange
is worth recalling with the weekend story that the White House has agreed
'in principle' to a bilateral meeting with Iran on its nuclear weapons
program-after the election. A White House spokesman immediately
denied the New York Times report 'that the United States and Iran have
agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections.'
But he added that 'we continue to work' with other nations 'on a
diplomatic solution and have said from the outset that we would be
prepared to meet bilaterally.' We'll go with the New York Times on this
one. Someone senior clearly was bragging about the one-on-one deal, and
probably because the source or sources thought it would help Mr. Obama.
The timing also is suspicious coming before Monday's foreign-policy
debate, and while the White House is on defense about its security failures
in Benghazi. The Times's dispatch treated the news as a diplomatic
breakthrough that could make Mr. Obama look like a peacemaker and put
Mitt Romney on the spot. The safe bet is that something is going on that
the President hopes to unveil formally after the election... Regarding
Iran, Mr. Obama has offered to hold direct talks with Iran for four years
to no avail. It's hard to believe that Ayatollah Khamenei has had a
sudden change of heart. Most likely, the bow to diplomacy is another
attempt to buy more time so Iran can get still-closer to having a bomb.
Iran has already bought four years on Mr. Obama's watch, but Israel is
increasingly impatient as evidence builds that Iran may get a bomb next
year. Iran may feel now is the time to play the direct talks with America
card and keep Mr. Obama on a string. The Iran leak also underscores how
some people in this Administration have been willing to exploit national
security for political purposes. The self-serving leaks to the media have
been legion and sometimes damaging, notably after the killing of Osama
bin Laden... Now, two weeks before the election, we get another leak
designed to make the President look good but which may have unpredictable
consequences in the real world. Iran's foreign minister also denied the
report of direct talks, but who knows what impact the leak will have on
Iran's internal politics or other regional players. Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he wasn't aware of any U.S.
plans for bilateral talks with Iran." http://t.uani.com/ViHdLd
WSJ Editorial
Board: "There have been two big stories about Iran
in recent weeks. One is that Iran's currency, the rial, is in freefall.
The other is that Iran's nuclear program is in overdrive. So the question
becomes: Which one will blow up first? A report earlier this month from
the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Science and International
Security (ISIS) warns that Tehran may be closer than even the Israelis
think to enriching uranium to about 90%, the grade needed for a nuclear
weapon. According to the ISIS study, the Iranians could combine their
stockpiles of civilian- and medium-grade uranium to produce a bomb's
worth of 90% uranium in about two to four months. That doesn't put Iran
within sight of a bomb, at least not yet. 'Iran would need many
additional months to manufacture a nuclear device suitable for
underground testing,' the report says, 'and even longer to make a
reliable warhead for a ballistic missile.' But this judgment assumes that
Iran seeks to have a sophisticated nuclear weapon from the get-go, rather
than a crude 'gun-type' bomb of the sort that leveled Hiroshima, and
which would be much simpler to produce. The judgment also assumes that
Iran has no more enriched uranium than what the International Atomic
Energy Agency reports it has. Yet Tehran has a record of nuclear deceit.
Intelligence analysts shouldn't assume that absence of evidence means
evidence of absence.Then there's the Iranian economy. The Obama
Administration is pointing to the recent sharp drop in the rial-down
about 80% against the dollar in the last year, including a 40% tumble
over a single weekend in September-as evidence that sanctions are having
a devastating effect and could tilt Tehran away from its nuclear
ambitions. But while Iran's economy is undoubtedly in bad shape, that has
less to do with sanctions than with ordinary economic mismanagement. The
government botched a subsidy reform last year, in which it tried to
compensate for the elimination of fuel subsidies with cash handouts.
Years of loose monetary policy have led to an annual inflation rate
estimated by economist Steve Hanke to be approaching 200%. Last month's
abrupt devaluation was largely the result of a government crackdown on
black market currency traders. It's true that sanctions have hit some
Iranian businesses, especially those that rely on imported parts.
Sanctions have also cut sharply into the regime's oil exports, down to
about a million barrels a day from 2.25 million a year ago. But while
exports are down sharply, revenues are off only 17% since 2010, thanks to
higher oil prices. Iran is expected to earn $53 billion in oil revenues
in 2012." http://t.uani.com/SaPthL
Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen in WT: "Just a few days ago, Mansour J.
Arbabsiar pleaded guilty to working with Iran's Quds force to carry out
an attack on U.S. soil and assassinate a foreign diplomat stationed in
Washington. Earlier this month, Hezbollah, a terrorist proxy of the
Iranian regime, reportedly launched an Iranian-supplied drone that penetrated
Israel's airspace before being shot down. Late last month, the Iranian
navy launched four missiles as a show of force and its capacity to shut
down access to the Persian Gulf. These are just a few examples of how the
Iranian threat has become more dangerous since the Obama administration
took office. Unfortunately, despite its rhetoric to the contrary, the
administration has not done what is necessary to effectively address the
threat from Tehran. Iran's nuclear program, particularly its ability to
produce enriched uranium, has expanded exponentially since President
Obama took office in 2009. Yet the president continues to embrace
engagement and meaningless negotiations with Tehran while refusing to set
clear red lines with respect to Iran's nuclear program. The
administration's behavior has sent a clear message to our allies and the
Iranian regime: The United States is not willing to do what it takes to
prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability. Nonetheless,
sanctions spearheaded by Congress - even with the administration fighting
us every step of the way - have made an impact. Iran's oil revenues are
falling and could drop much lower as the embargo on Iranian oil expands
and investment in Iran's oil sector dries up. Economic sanctions also are
inflicting increasing damage on Iran's long-term oil-production
potential. Concurrently, Iran is experiencing a currency crisis that
could threaten the stability of the regime. The Iranian regime also
reports that consumer prices rose more than 40 percent from spring 2010
to spring 2012. Updated data have not been published in recent months,
presumably because the data show further hyperinflation. We must exploit
this vulnerability. To do so, the president must make full and immediate
use of the tools Congress has provided him. Sanctions on Iran's oil
industry and banking system are curtailing the foreign partnerships on
which Iran's oil industry has relied. Given these trends, it is not
unreasonable to contemplate the end of oil exports from Iran, with resulting
damage to government finances, foreign exchange earnings and the larger
Iranian economy. However, incremental, a la carte implementation of
sanctions limits the potential impact on the Iranian regime's ability to
pursue its dangerous activities. The effectiveness of these
foreign-policy tools has been further undermined by the Obama
administration's naive view that if we keep 'talking' to the Iranians and
convince them to return to the negotiating table, Iran will stop its
drive for nuclear capability." http://t.uani.com/T4KPOF
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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
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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