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Top Stories
Reuters: "A
Chinese firm has stopped verifying safety and environmental standards for
Iranian ships, becoming the last top certification provider to end marine
work there as the trade noose on Tehran tightens. The China
Classification Society (CCS) is the last of the world's top 13 such
companies, all members of the International Association of Classification
Societies (IACS), to confirm it has ended Iran-related certification
work, key to insurance and ports access for ships... A letter seen by
Reuters dated November 15 showed Beijing-headquartered CCS had not
provided certification services to Iranian ships since June 28. It had
been urged to pull out by U.S. pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran
(UANI) and clarify its position. 'Currently there is not any ship flying
an Iranian flag or owned by an Iranian ship owner in our fleet, and we
have not conducted any statutory survey for any Iranian ship,' CCS
chairman and president Sun Licheng said in the letter to UANI dated
November 15... A targeted campaign by UANI, which includes former U.S.
ambassadors as well as former CIA and British intelligence chiefs on its
board and is funded by private donations, has already led to other top
classification societies exiting Iran. Without certification from
classification societies, vessels are unable to secure insurance cover or
call at most international ports. UANI's Wallace on Wednesday welcomed
the move by CCS, but sought harsher measures being imposed on Iran's
fleet. 'All of the world's major shipping certifiers have now ended their
certification of Iranian vessels,' said Wallace, a former U.S. ambassador
to the United Nations. 'We call for even tougher sanctions: any vessel
that docks in Iran or transports Iranian cargo should be barred from
accessing ports in the U.S., EU, or elsewhere.'" http://t.uani.com/TYz2UP
Reuters:
"Hong Kong has deregistered five Iranian cargo ships and a further
14 are likely to follow after their classification society quit Iran due
to sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States over its
nuclear programme... Hong Kong's marine department has asked the owners
of 19 dry bulk carriers, managed by an Iranian firm, to register their
ships elsewhere after the Korean Register of Shipping said earlier this
year it would not provide the ships safety auditing... Hong Kong had been
urged by U.S. pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) to deflag
the 19 dry bulk ships, which the group said were owned, managed or
operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) and its
associated companies. In a reply to UANI dated November 9 Wong said it
was of paramount importance to Hong Kong's marine department in
safeguarding the quality of Hong Kong ships." http://t.uani.com/V0CToV
Reuters:
"Six world powers agreed on Wednesday to seek renewed talks with
Iran as fast as possible, reflecting a heightened sense of urgency to
resolve a long rift over Tehran's disputed nuclear activity and avert the
threat of war. Their call coincided with growing evidence of Iran
expanding nuclear capacity in an underground bunker virtually impervious
to attack and follows the November 6 re-election of U.S. President Barack
Obama, which has cleared the way for new contacts. Senior diplomats from
the six countries - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and
Germany - met in Brussels on Wednesday to consider new negotiating
tactics despite abiding skepticism that a deal with Tehran can be
reached. It was not clear after the meeting what options, if any, were
agreed. But the six said 'necessary contact' with the Iranians would be
made 'in the coming days'. 'The (six powers) are committed to having
another round of talks with Iran as soon as possible,' said a spokesman
for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the six countries
in dealings with Iran." http://t.uani.com/V0FX4m
Nuclear
Program
Reuters: "Iran has been
hauling dirt to a military site U.N. nuclear inspectors want to visit,
Western diplomats said on Wednesday, saying the findings were based on
satellite images and they reinforced suspicions of a clean-up. They said
the pictures, presented during a closed-door briefing for member states
of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), suggested Iran was
continuing to try to hide incriminating traces of any illicit
nuclear-related activity. The allegations come a few days after the IAEA
said in a report on Iran that 'extensive activities' undertaken at the
Parchin site since early this year would seriously undermine its inquiry,
if and when inspectors were allowed access. Iran has so far denied the
agency's request for a visit. The U.N. agency believes Iran may have conducted
explosives tests that could help develop nuclear weapons at Parchin and
wants immediate access to investigate the facility. Iran denies this,
saying Parchin is a conventional military complex." http://t.uani.com/RYeCM6
NYT:
"The conflict that ended, for now, in a cease-fire between Hamas and
Israel seemed like the latest episode in a periodic showdown. But there
was a second, strategic agenda unfolding, according to American and
Israeli officials: The exchange was something of a practice run for any
future armed confrontation with Iran, featuring improved rockets that can
reach Jerusalem and new antimissile systems to counter them. It is Iran,
of course, that most preoccupies Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
President Obama. While disagreeing on tactics, both have made it clear
that time is short, probably measured in months, to resolve the standoff
over Iran's nuclear program. And one key to their war-gaming has been
cutting off Iran's ability to slip next-generation missiles into the Gaza
Strip or Lebanon, where they could be launched by Iran's surrogates,
Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, during any crisis over sanctions or
an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Michael B. Oren, the
Israeli ambassador to the United States and a military historian, likened
the insertion of Iranian missiles into Gaza to the Cuban missile crisis.
'In the Cuban missile crisis, the U.S. was not confronting Cuba, but
rather the Soviet Union,' Mr. Oren said Wednesday, as the cease-fire was
declared. 'In Operation Pillar of Defense,' the name the Israel Defense
Force gave the Gaza operation, 'Israel was not confronting Gaza, but
Iran.'" http://t.uani.com/WnopuC
Reuters:
"Israel has a 'childish' desire to attack Iran and Tehran is capable
of defending itself, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on
Thursday. 'They wish to hurt the Iranian nation. They are waiting for the
chance. They known that Iran does not attack anybody and they know that
Iran knows how to defend itself,' he told a news conference in the
Pakistani capital Islamabad. 'We don't accept the hegemony of Israel.
They wish to attack Iran but it is like a childish desire.' He was
speaking after attending a summit of developing nations." http://t.uani.com/QyB8hw
Sanctions
In Auto News:
"After giant international automaker left Iran due to the sanctions
on the nuclear programme, the country now relies on Peugeot to revive the
auto industry here. Iran currently has to deal with increasing production
costs and lack of technology on how to manufacture vehicles, after the
world's most important automakers, such as Toyota, GM, Fiat, Hyundai and
PSA Peugeot Citroen, were forced to leave the country due to the disputed
nuclear programme. In September auto production in Iran dropped 66% from
September 2011, and during the first half of the Iranian solar year,
which began on March 19th, auto production fell 42%... On November 18th,
the Iranian Industry Committee announced that Peugeot might return to the
Iranian market, which would mean an increase in the country's car input.
Although Peugeot has not yet officially confirmed this plan, its
situation in Europe might force the automaker to make this step, also
taking into consideration that Iran was its second major market." http://t.uani.com/10nu5tD
Platts:
"China's imports of crude oil from Iran in October fell 23.2% year
on year to 1.94 million mt (458,716 b/d), but were up 23.3% on month,
according to data from the General Administration of Customs received by
Platts late Thursday. Iran remained China's fifth largest supplier of
crude in October, similar to September. That is down from being the third
largest supplier in August. In the first 10 months of the year, total
Iranian crude imports were 17.73 million mt, down 22.2% from the same
period a year ago. On June 28, China received a US exemption from
sanctions levied against countries who trade with Iran for 180 days, with
Washington saying China had significantly reduced its crude purchases
from Iran. A renewal of the waiver is due December 25 and the US State
Department said previously it would be dependent on further significant
reductions of crude imports from Iran. China's total crude oil imports in
October rose 13.8% year on year to 23.68 million mt (5.6 million b/d),
the third highest level this year on a b/d basis, following the record
6.02 million b/d seen in May and 5.98 million b/d in February." http://t.uani.com/XJVhUI
WashPost:
"Iran is facing a possible crisis in its health-care system as a
result of economic sanctions and alleged government mismanagement of
diminishing state funds, according to officials here. The lack of money
is already being felt in hospitals throughout Iran, where medical staffs
have been told that they are working in 'war-time conditions' and should
prescribe drugs sparingly - or in many cases, not all - in an effort to
save resources... The scarcity derives from a complicated set of
circumstances that includes both a heavy dose of Western sanctions, which
are aimed at forcing Iran's leaders to halt their uranium-enrichment
program, as well as what critics here say are missteps by the government.
While some of the anger over the shortages has been directed at the
United States and other global powers, there has also been an internal
backlash. Hosseinali Shahriari, the head of parliament's health
committee, said this month that 'the government is playing with our
people's health and is not assigning the approved finances.'" http://t.uani.com/R3Z4JH
AFP:
"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday vowed to complete a
mutli-billion dollar gas pipeline to Pakistan on time, downplaying
financial woes and US pressure on Islamabad to scrap the project.
Pakistan and Iran signed a deal in 2010 under which Tehran would supply
gas to its eastern neighbour from 2014, with sales to reach up to one
billion cubic feet (28 million cubic metres) per day by mid-2015. The
project envisaged a pipeline, 900 kilometres (560 miles) in length built
from Assaluyeh in southern Iran to the border with Pakistan. Another 800
kilometres pipeline was also needed inside Pakistan to receive gas from
Iran's South Pars field in the Gulf. 'We want to complete this project by
2014,' Ahmadinejad told a press conference in Islamabad." http://t.uani.com/QdXQKj
The Nation
(Pakistan): "Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA)
and the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) - Iran entered into
MoU in Tehran on Thursday wherein PACRA will provide technical assistance
in establishing a credit rating regime in Iran. Under the MoU, PACRA
shall prepare regulatory framework for regulating the credit rating
business in Iran and in establishing rating agencies in Iran. PACRA is
one of the two Pakistani CRAs that provides credit rating services in
various countries. In order to enhance cooperation and assistance to each
other in the areas of interest, SECP and SEO-Iran had constituted a
Liaison Committee that is entrusted with the task of exploring areas of
assistance to each other. During a meeting in October 2011, SECP arranged
a meeting of both the domestic CRAs with an Iranian delegation visiting
Pakistan and the Iranian delegation desired to seek assistance of SECP
for the development of regulatory framework for regulating the credit
rating business in Iran." http://t.uani.com/WEnuLg
Terrorism
NYT:
"Above the bustling Niayesh highway in the western part of the
Iranian capital, a huge billboard hangs on an overpass to remind drivers
of Iran's missile abilities. Cars zip underneath the image of a green
missile on a launcher and text in Persian saying 'Destination Tel Aviv.'
Few here take note of the sign, as average Iranians are too busy trying
to cope with rising prices and occasional shortages brought about by a
faltering economy. But Iran's missiles and weapons technology are getting
plenty of attention hundreds of miles away in Gaza, giving the country's
ruling clerics a rare bit of good news in what has otherwise been a long,
dismal year... Throughout the battle, Iranian-designed missiles, the
Fajr-3 and the Fajr-5 that allowed Hamas and another Gaza-based movement,
Islamic Jihad, to hit Israel's heartland, sent Israelis fleeing to bomb
shelters. While political support and money helps, Palestinian leaders
said, Iran's weapons technology is a far greater help." http://t.uani.com/Tir2R9
AFP:
"Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said on Wednesday that Israel had
'failed in all its goals' after a Gaza truce deal came into effect, while
thanking Egypt and Iran for their support during the conflict. 'After
eight days, God stayed their hand from the people of Gaza, and they were
compelled to submit to the conditions of the resistance,' Meshaal said.
'Israel has failed in all its goals,' he told reporters in a Cairo hotel.
Meshaal also thanked ceasefire mediator Egypt, as well as Iran, which he
said 'had a role in arming' his Islamist movement during the
conflict." http://t.uani.com/Ui2SWR
AFP:
"Israel and the United States have agreed to work together to
prevent the smuggling of weapons from Iran to militant groups in the Gaza
Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday. 'Israel
cannot sit idly by as its enemies strengthen themselves with weapons of
terror so I agreed with President (Barack) Obama that we will work
together -- Israel and the United States -- against the smuggling of
weapons to terror organisations, most of which comes from Iran,' he said
in a televised address." http://t.uani.com/UNE2dt
LAT:
"Iran for years has supplied Hamas with weapons as part of its own
struggle against Israel, but the conflict in the Gaza Strip reveals a
shift in regional dynamics that may diminish Tehran's influence with
Palestinian militant groups and strengthen the hand of Egypt. The
longer-range missiles fired by Hamas over the last week - believed to be
modifications of Iran's Fajr 5 missiles - startled Israel by landing near
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. A front-page story in Iran's conservative daily,
Kayhan, boasted: 'The missiles of resistance worked.' Tehran would not
confirm the weapons' origin, except to say it sent rocket 'technology' to
Hamas... But the Gaza fighting erupted during a new era in the Middle
East brought about by the rise of Islamist governments, notably in Egypt,
that have replaced pro-Western autocrats. The political catharsis has
spurred anti-Americanism, which Iran relishes, but it also has upset
Tehran's regional designs." http://t.uani.com/R43cZW
Reuters:
"Iran reacted angrily to assertions by French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius and accused him of not understanding the realities in the
region after the diplomat accused Tehran of being responsible for the
Gaza conflict. On Wednesday Fabius accused Iran of negative intentions in
Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza and that it bore a 'heavy responsibility'
for the fighting for providing long-range weapons." http://t.uani.com/WEqNSw
NYT:
"Eighteen years have passed since a suicide bomber drove a Renault
van loaded with explosives into the headquarters of the Jewish community
center here, killing 85 people. Since then, investigations have
meandered. Interpol arrest warrants have led nowhere. Aging suspects
connected to the attack have begun to die. But in the elusive quest for
justice in the bombing, which ranks among the deadliest anti-Semitic
attacks anywhere since World War II, few developments have riled
Argentina's Jewish leaders as much as the government's move in recent
weeks to improve relations with Iran, the nation shielding in the high
echelons of its political establishment various people accused by
Argentine prosecutors of having authorized the attack... 'We cannot
comprehend this,' said Guillermo Borger, the president of the Argentine
Mutual Aid Association, the center that was bombed in 1994. 'The world is
shutting its doors to Iran, and we're giving Iran a chance to say that
Argentina is somehow now its friend. The Iranians have not budged in
their assertion that their people are innocent, so why should Argentina
be in dialogue with them?'" http://t.uani.com/TjvVZj
Human Rights
Guardian:
"The mother of an Iranian blogger who died in custody has accused
the authorities of killing her son and launching an intimidation campaign
against her family. Sattar Beheshti was a 35-year-old blogger from the
city of Robat-Karim who lost his life while being interrogated by Iran's
cyberpolice, accused of acting against the national security because of
what he had posted on Facebook. Iran's opposition activists have accused
the regime of torturing Beheshti to death. In jail, Beheshti had no
access to his family nor to a lawyer. Beheshti's mother, who has not been
named but is pictured with him in one of the only images available of him
online, has for the first time spoken out against the state pressure on
her family not to speak to the press. 'I have no fears. I can't accept
that my son has died by natural causes,' she told Sahamnews, a news website
close to an Iranian opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi, who is under house
arrest. 'My son has been killed. He went to jail standing on his own legs
and they gave us his dead body.'" http://t.uani.com/TfnT1g
Reuters:
"Iran said on Thursday a blogger who died while in police custody
may have lost his life as a result of a form of shock, the official IRNA
news agency reported, adding that investigations were not yet concluded.
In a case that has sparked international outrage, 35-year-old Sattar
Beheshti who wrote a blog critical of the government was arrested on
October 30 after receiving death threats and died some days later, having
complained of being tortured. Under increasing pressure at home and
abroad for an investigation, Iran's parliament said it had formed a
committee to examine the case and the judiciary said it would deal
'quickly and decisively' with those responsible. 'In its latest report,
the seven-member medical committee says ... it is not possible to
determine the exact cause of death,' IRNA quoted Tehran prosecutor's
office as saying in a statement. 'But the most likely cause leading to
death may be shock,' the statement said, adding that excessive
psychological stress could have caused the shock." http://t.uani.com/Ui0LSM
AP:
"In his last blog entry, activist Sattar Beheshti wrote that Iranian
authorities had given him an ultimatum: Either stop posting his 'big
mouth' attacks against the ruling system or tell his mother that she will
soon be in mourning. 'We will tear down your cruel cage,' Beheshti typed
on Oct. 29 before signing off... But while the specific circumstances of
Beheshti's death may be given a public reckoning, the more far-reaching
aspect of the case - Iran's rapidly growing corps of Web watchers - may
remain in the shadows, as well as their motives in targeting an obscure
blogger whose site was actively followed by more than a few dozen
viewers. The 35-year-old Beheshti apparently fell under the custody of
Iran's cyber police, created last year with a wide mandate to crush Web
dissent. The powers displayed in the case - including questioning
Beheshti outside the regular justice system - suggests a level of
autonomy and authority that could bring far more aggressive measures
against Web activists." http://t.uani.com/TSyqOt
Opinion &
Analysis
Kristen McTighe in
IHT: "Houshang Asadi was a Communist journalist
thrown into the cold confines of Moshtarek prison in Iran when he found
an unlikely friend in the tall, slender Muslim cleric who greeted him
with a smile. Imprisoned together in 1974, under the rule of Shah
Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, they found common ground in their passion for
literature. They shared jokes, spoke of where they came from, their
families and falling in love. Mr. Asadi, who did not smoke, would give
cigarettes to his cellmate who, uncharacteristic of a cleric, did. On
days when Mr. Asadi felt broken, he said, the cleric would invite him to
take a walk in their cell to brighten his spirits. So, when his release
came six months later and the cleric stood cold and trembling, Mr. Asadi
gave him his jacket. 'At first he refused it, but I told him I was going
to be released,' Mr. Asadi recalled. 'Then we hugged each other and he
had tears coming down his face. He whispered in my ear, Houshang, when
Islam comes to power, not a single tear will be shed from an innocent
person.' What Mr. Asadi found unimaginable was that the cleric would
become president of the Islamic Republic that later imprisoned him again,
sentenced him to death and brutally tortured him for six years in the
same prison. Today that same cleric is the supreme leader of Iran,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mr. Asadi's account of torture and imprisonment
has offered a rare glimpse into what activists say was a decade of grave
human rights violations in Iran. And at a time when international
attention has shifted to the nuclear issue and sanctions, they say a
campaign to bring justice and accountability through a symbolic tribunal
has helped unite a once fractured opposition. 'I never expected he would
get power, never,' said Mr. Asadi in an interview in Paris, where he
lives in exile. Mr. Asadi, a 63-year-old writer, journalist and former
member of the Tudeh party, was routinely arrested and tortured under the
shah. He had supported the revolution, so when he was arrested again in
1982 and accused of being a spy for the Russians and the British, he was
convinced that it was a mistake. In a plea for help, his wife wrote to
Mr. Khamenei, who had risen to power as president after the Islamic
revolution, but two weeks later the letter was returned with a note in
the margin saying only that he had been aware of the journalist's
political beliefs. Mr. Asadi's death sentence was reduced to 15 years in
prison. During his time in prison, he again developed a relationship with
the only person he had contact with - as he had done with Mr. Khamenei.
This time it was with his torturer, a man he knew only as 'Brother
Hamid.' 'He is your torturer and he thinks he is your god, he thinks he
is religious, he is pure, and you are evil, you are the enemy,' Mr. Asadi
said. 'So he can do anything to you.' Mr. Asadi said he was called a
'useless wimp' and hung by a chain attached to his arms twisted behind
his back while the soles of his feet were whipped until he was unable to
walk. Brother Hamid forced him to bark like a dog to speak or when the
pain was too much and he was ready to make confessions. His ears were hit
and his teeth were broken. Mr. Asadi said he had even been forced to eat
his own excrement and the excrement of fellow prisoners. Beyond
physical pain, he endured psychological torture. He was shown coffins and
told his comrades had been killed. He would hear screams and was made to
believe his wife was being tortured in the cell next to him... The
torture continued daily for six years, until he was abruptly pulled out
of his cell in 1988 when the supreme leader at the time, Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, ordered the mass killing of thousands of political
prisoners. Prisoners were asked three questions concerning their religious
faith and loyalty to the regime. 'If you answered no to any question,
they killed you,' Mr. Asadi said. 'I lied to save my life.'" http://t.uani.com/Y8dLgB
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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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