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Top Stories
Reuters:
"A major Iranian partner of Huawei Technologies offered to sell at
least 1.3 million euros worth of embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer
equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone operator in late 2010, documents
show. China's Huawei, the world's second largest telecommunications
equipment maker, says neither it nor its partner, a private company
registered in Hong Kong, ultimately provided the HP products to the
telecom, Mobile Telecommunication Co of Iran, known as MCI. Nevertheless,
the incident provides new evidence of how Chinese companies have been
willing to help Iran evade trade sanctions. The proposed deal also raises
new questions about Shenzhen-based Huawei, which recently was criticized
by the U.S. House Intelligence Committee for failing to 'provide evidence
to support its claims that it complies with all international sanctions
or U.S. export laws.' At least 13 pages of the proposal to MCI, which
involved expanding its subscriber billing system, were marked 'Huawei
confidential' and carried the company's logo, according to documents seen
by Reuters. In a statement to Reuters, Huawei called it a 'bidding
document' and said one of its 'major local partners,' Skycom Tech Co Ltd,
had submitted it to MCI." http://t.uani.com/12T0OIw
JPost:
"There have been signs over the past year and particularly over the
past weeks, that Iran has an interest in reaching a resolution over its
nuclear program, the US Department of the Treasury top sanctions official
said Monday. 'Pressure is working' David Cohen, undersecretary for
terrorism and financial intelligence at the US Department of the
Treasury, said in an interview with Army Radio. However, he added that
the Iranian regime must be aware that 'the window' to reach a solution
diplomatically will not remain open forever. 'We have demonstrated to
Iran that continued refusal to address issues will only result in
increasing pressure,' Cohen asserted. He stressed that 2012 was a very
difficult year for the Islamic Republic, noting that oil exports dropped
by 50%, along with the value of the Iranian Rial." http://t.uani.com/10EzbmW
Bloomberg:
"Iraq jumped two places to No. 2 in OPEC's rankings this year,
cementing its position among the world's leading oil producers.
Neighboring Iran dropped three spots to fifth as international sanctions
took hold. Second only to Saudi Arabia within the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries, Iraq's output rose by 24 percent this year
as the BP Plc-led Rumaila field increased supply. Iranian production
shrank by the same percentage to the lowest level since 1988, data
compiled by Bloomberg show, and its exports will continue to drop into
2013, according to the International Energy Agency... Iraq's crude
production averaged 3.35 million barrels a day last month, Bloomberg data
show. Iran's daily output slumped to 2.7 million, less than Venezuela and
Kuwait, OPEC's third- and fourth-largest producers, respectively." http://t.uani.com/UE45Za
Nuclear Program
AP:
"Iran's navy said Monday it test-fired a range of weapons during
ongoing maneuvers near the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for one-fifth
of the world's oil supply. IRNA quoted Adm. Amir Rastgari, spokesman for
the exercise, as saying the Iranian-made air defense system Raad, or
Thunder, was among the weapons tested, along with various torpedoes and
underwater and surface-to-surface rockets as well as anti-ship missiles.
The Islamic Republic said it also deployed domestically-made hovercraft
during the operation. The Raad system was on show during a military
parade in Tehran in September for the first time. Iran says is more
advanced than its Russian predecessor and is designed to confront fighter
jets, cruise missiles, smart bombs, helicopters and drones. Iran said the
system fires missiles with a range of 50 kilometers (30 miles), capable
of hitting targets at 22,000 meters (75,000 feet)." http://t.uani.com/VSYU3a
Sanctions
AFP:
"President Barack Obama enacted a law to counter Iran's alleged
influence in Latin America, through a new diplomatic and political
strategy to be designed by the State Department. The Countering Iran in
the Western Hemisphere Act, passed by lawmakers earlier this year, calls
for the State Department to develop a strategy within 180 days to
'address Iran's growing hostile presence and activity' in the region.
Although the strategy is confidential and only accessible to lawmakers,
it must contain a public summary. The text also calls on the Department
of Homeland Security to bolster surveillance at US borders with Canada
and Mexico to 'prevent operatives from Iran, the IRGC (Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps), its Quds Force, Hezbollah or any other
terrorist organization from entering the United States.' And within Latin
American countries, the text provides for a multiagency action plan to
provide security in those countries, along with a 'counterterrorism and
counter-radicalization plan' to isolate Iran and its allies." http://t.uani.com/YFQEG5
Human Rights
AFP:
"Iran on Saturday hanged an Afghan drug trafficker and four
Iranians, three of them convicted of rape, local media reported. The
27-year-old Afghan from Herat, identified only by his initials MM, was
sent to the gallows in the northern city of Damghan after being convicted
of selling around two kilos (four pounds) of crack cocaine. Three Iranian
men convicted of rape and another of smuggling heroin and opium, were
hanged in the central city of Yazd." http://t.uani.com/VT1uGl
Opinion &
Analysis
UANI Advisory
Board Member Walter Russell Mead in The American Interest:
"Iranian authorities have realized that their longtime ally in Syria
is on the way out and have held talks with members of the opposition
about a transitional regime, reports the Los Angeles Times. From the
piece (with excellent reporting from Ramin Mostaghim and Alexandra
Sandels) it appears that Iran's government is still not willing to break
with Assad, but is increasingly and reluctantly coming to conclude that
efforts to save him are doomed. For those concerned about a possible
US-Iranian military conflict - which is to say everyone in the world who
cares about war, peace and the price of oil and gas - this is an
important moment of truth. The loss of its key ally in Syria will bring
dramatic changes to Iran's position. Will the ruling mullahs and their
allies decide that it's time to call off the confrontation before Tehran
is even weaker and more isolated, or will they double down on nukes and a
hard line in the belief that nothing else can save them? One way or
another, the course of the war in Syria will help determine whether the
US finds itself in yet another Middle East war, and watching the Iranians
process what looks like the downward spiral in Assad's fortunes offers
clues as to how the larger drama will go. We aren't at the decision point
yet. At this point the Iranians don't seem to have completely accepted
that their ally cannot survive and the debate in Tehran over Syria policy
isn't over. The government looks to be floundering around hoping to save
something out of the wreckage. Experts and officials talk about
preserving the 'structure of the Syrian state,' presumably hoping for
Assadism without Assad: an Alawite dominated state structure that would
continue to align with Iran while offering restive Sunnis more economic
and political space. The current situation on the ground makes it
unlikely that the Sunni opposition would settle for this now, but if the
government's military situation stabilizes, Tehran seems to hope that
international pressures for a negotiated, compromise solution would grow.
This appears to match roughly with Russia's current vision for the war.
Like Tehran, Moscow does not want to see a revolutionary Syria join a
Sunni bloc in the Middle East and fears the export of Sunni jihadis into
its own volatile Caucasus region. And like Iran, Russia has long term
investments in the Assad regime, with decades of close economic, military
and human ties. Russia sees itself as the protector of Syria's Orthodox
Christians as Iran wants to protect the Alawites; both minorities could
face tough times under a new revenge-minded Sunni regime. The fall of the
Assad regime would be a blow to both countries, but Iran has much more at
stake. As we've noted in past posts, Syria is crucial to Iran's grand
design in the Middle East; it is the keystone in the arch of Shiite
states Iran has sought to build across the Fertile Crescent from Iraq
through Lebanon. It was also the means by which Iran was able to support
Hezbollah in Lebanon and construct an anti-Israel alliance with Hamas
that helped offset Iran's deep disadvantages on the Arab street, making it
look less like a 'Persian' and 'heretical' anti-Arab power and more like
a leader of global Islam in the fight against the west. The growing
likelihood that decades of building this position will end in catastrophe
represents the greatest threat to the Iranian regime since its failure in
the Iran-Iraq war. Already Hamas has rejected Syria and distanced itself
from Iran; Hezbollah is singing small and thinking more about protecting
its suddenly vulnerable position in Lebanon than about joining a regional
Shiite surge." http://t.uani.com/TsEbH1
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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