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Top Stories
Reuters:
"Iran's crude oil exports in December leapt to their highest level
since European Union sanctions took effect last July, analysts and
shipping sources said, as strong Chinese demand and tanker fleet
expansion helped the OPEC member dodge sanctions. Exports rose to around
1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, according to two industry
sources and shipping and customs data compiled by Reuters on a
country-by-country basis and corroborated by other sources and
consultants. The sources said they expected exports to dip in January
from the December peak ahead of new U.S. sanctions. Western sanctions
aimed at curbing Iran's disputed nuclear program halved Iran's oil
exports in 2012 from 2.2 million bpd in late 2011, leading to billions of
dollars in lost revenue and a plunge in the Iranian currency. But
continuous robust demand from top buyer China and others such as India
and Japan, as well as the purchase of new tankers, allowed the Islamic
Republic to unexpectedly boost exports late last year." http://t.uani.com/W1qsqe
AP:
"The U.N. nuclear agency has told member nations that Iran is poised
for a major technological upgrade of its uranium enrichment program, in a
document seen Thursday by The Associated Press. The move would vastly
speed up Tehran's ability to make material that can be used for both
reactor fuel and nuclear warheads. In an internal note to member nations,
the International Atomic Energy Agency said it received notice last week from
Iran's nuclear agency of plans to install high-technology enriching
centrifuges at its main enriching site at Natanz, in central Iran. The
machines are estimated to be able to enrich up to five times faster than
the present equipment. The brief note quoted Iran as saying
new-generation IR2m 'centrifuge machines ...will be used' to populate a
new 'unit' - a technical term for an assembly that can consist of as many
as 3,132 centrifuges. It gave no timeframe and a senior diplomat familiar
with the issue said work had not started, adding it would take weeks, if
not months, to have the new machines running once technicians started
putting them in." http://t.uani.com/WAnnz9
Reuters:
"Fuel purchases made for Afghan security forces using U.S.
government funds may have included Iranian petroleum products in
violation of U.S. sanctions, investigators said in a report published
late on Wednesday. Afghanistan relies heavily on imported fuel and Iran,
Russia, and Turkmenistan are the leading countries of origin, the report
by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR) says. But the watchdog said it could not rule out the possibility
of sanctions violations in purchases for the Afghan National Security
Forces (ANSF) that are financed by the U.S. taxpayer. 'Despite actions
taken by the Department of Defense to prevent the purchase of Iranian
fuel with U.S. funds, risks remain that U.S. economic sanctions could be
violated,' Special Inspector General John Sopko said in the report."
http://t.uani.com/YGt41l
Nuclear Program
AP:
"Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel said the 'window is closing'
on Iran and the possibility of diplomacy if it continues to ignore
international demands to end pursuit of a nuclear weapon. In his first
opportunity to express his opinions since President Barack Obama
nominated him Jan. 7, Hagel addressed a range of issues, from Iraq and
Afghanistan to women in combat, in a 112-page questionnaire for the
Senate Armed Services Committee. The panel submitted the extensive
questions to Hagel in advance of his confirmation hearing on Thursday...
In his responses, Hagel adopted a hardline on Iran, echoing Obama's
contention that the United States would consider all options, including
military action, to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. 'If
confirmed, I will focus intently on ensuring that U.S. military is in
fact prepared for any contingency,' Hagel said in response to committee
questions... 'If Iran continues to flout its international obligations,
it should continue to face severe and growing consequences,' Hagel said.
'While there is time and space for diplomacy, backed by pressure, the
window is closing. Iran needs to demonstrate it is prepared to negotiate
seriously.'" http://t.uani.com/WAnKcP
Sanctions
Reuters:
"A Hong Kong-based firm that attempted to sell embargoed
Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone
operator has much closer ties to China's Huawei Technologies than was
previously known, corporate records show. Cathy Meng, Huawei's chief
financial officer and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei,
served on the board of Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech Co Ltd between
February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records filed with Hong
Kong's Companies Registry. Reuters reported last month that in late 2010,
Skycom's office in Tehran offered to sell at least 1.3 million euros
worth of HP gear to Mobile Telecommunication Co of Iran, despite U.S.
trade sanctions. At least 13 pages of the proposal were marked 'Huawei
confidential' and carried Huawei's logo. Huawei said neither it nor
Skycom ultimately provided the HP equipment; HP said it prohibits the
sale of its products to Iran." http://t.uani.com/WDoQl3
Reuters:
"Japan's crude imports from Iran fell 39.5 percent in 2012, trade
ministry data showed on Thursday, in line with falls among other Asian
buyers as Western sanctions cut shipments to Japanese refiners from the
Middle Eastern country. Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer,
imported 11,002,218 kilolitres (189,076 barrels per day) of Iranian crude
last year, compared with 18,191,375 kl (313,480 bpd) a year earlier, the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said. In December, Iranian
imports totalled 1,031,128 kl (209,213 bpd), down 36.9 percent from
1,635,000 kl (331,736 bpd) a year earlier... Other Asian buyers also have
cut Iranian crude imports, with China's 2012 imports posting a fall of 21
percent from 2011 to 21.92 million tonnes, or 438,448 bpd. India imported
315,200 bpd of Iranian crude in 2012, down 1.7 percent from a year
earlier, while South Korea's imports of crude oil from Iran dropped 35.6
percent last year to 56.15 million barrels, or 153,405 bpd." http://t.uani.com/12c9Ml8
Reuters:
"Iran's Bank Mellat plans to sue European Union governments for
damages after a European court ruled to annul sanctions against the
company, lawyers said on Wednesday. Europe's General Court said on
Tuesday the EU had failed to provide enough evidence that Bank Mellat was
linked to Iran's disputed nuclear progam when the bloc targeted it with
sanctions in July 2010, and ordered the measures annulled. EU governments
may appeal the decision, and diplomats said broader European sanctions
against Iranian banks could still limit Bank Mellat's ability to function
in Europe. But lawyers for the bank, the biggest private sector lender in
Iran, said the ruling meant it could resume trading in Europe. Bank
Mellat 'will now be able to commence trading internationally and try and
draw back the losses incurred over the last three years since the
sanctions were imposed,' law firm Zaiwalla & Co said in a statement.
'Furthermore, the bank will now look to claim damages from the EU
Council.'" http://t.uani.com/XV55FK
Bloomberg:
"The latest European Union sanctions against Iran allow ships to
burn fuel made from Iranian oil if it's produced and loaded in another
country, according to the insurers of 90 percent of the world's fleet.
The 27-nation bloc added restrictions on trade with the Persian Gulf
country on Oct. 15. The International Group of P&I Clubs commented in
a statement on its website dated Jan. 29. 'It would seem that ships
stemming bunkers that contain a blend of Iranian-origin crude oil will
not be caught by the prohibitions (providing the bunker oil is used for
the propulsion of the ship and not carried as cargo) on purchase,
transport or import of Iranian-origin crude oil in Regulation 267,
provided also that the blended bunkers were produced and stemmed in a
third country other than Iran, or, as a result of a force majeure event,
the bunkers were stemmed in a port of refuge in Iran.'" http://t.uani.com/14zjNZv
Syrian Uprising
AFP:
"Iran's foreign minister on Thursday condemned what he called
Israel's "brutal aggression" against Syria, following claims by
Damascus that the Jewish state's air force had hit a military research
centre. 'There is no doubt that this aggression is part of a Western and
Zionist strategy to push aside the success of the Syrian people and
government to return to stability and security,' Ali Akbar Salehi said in
a statement. It underscores the 'alignment of terrorist groups with the
Zionists' objectives,' he added, using the Syrian regime's stock word for
describing rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad. On
Wednesday, the Syrian army accused Israel of launching a strike on its
military research centre in Jamraya, near Damascus." http://t.uani.com/WDqIuc
Terrorism
AFP:
"Iran's defense minister will be questioned by an Argentine judge as
part of an agreement to investigate a deadly 1994 attack on a Buenos
Aires Jewish center, Argentina said Wednesday. Seven other Iranians with
international arrest warrants against them also will also be questioned
by the Argentine judge in Tehran, Argentine Foreign Minister Hector
Timerman confirmed on a local radio station. But he emphasized: 'I made
sure (Iran Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi) will have to be present when
the judge questioned them and he will be.' Argentina has long accused
Iran of masterminding the deadly attack and since 2006 has sought the
extradition of these eight Iranians, who also include former president
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and former foreign minister Ali Akbar
Velayati." http://t.uani.com/XacXm1
Human Rights
WashPost:
"Iran's Intelligence Ministry issued a statement late Wednesday
saying it has irrefutable evidence that journalists arrested this week
had been illegally working with foreign media. The statement, first
published by the semiofficial Mehr News Agency, said, 'The collected data
from the detained individuals' links to the BBC are strong and undisputable
in court.' The ministry went on to say that it had been tracking a
network of individuals who worked for the BBC, warning that there would
be more arrests in the coming days in its fight against what it called a
'psychological war' being waged against Iran by its foreign enemies.
Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a member of the parliament's national security
commission, told the Bahar newspaper Wednesday, 'Those who are arrested
are not in fact journalists, but traitors who sold out their country
disguised as journalists and sent reports to foreign-based Farsi
media.'" http://t.uani.com/Xnx3Lj
Domestic
Politics
WashPost:
"In a year when Iran will elect a new president and could face
make-or-break decisions about its nuclear program, the country's most
prominent political family appears poised to extend its influence,
strengthening the rule of hard-line clerics as they struggle with other
power centers. Larijani brothers now sit atop two of Iran's three
branches of government, the parliament and the judiciary, positions they
have used to attempt to foil populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Speculation is rife that the best known of the five Larijani brothers,
parliament speaker Ali Larijani, will make a second bid for the
presidency when Ahmadinejad completes his final term in June. The rise of
the brothers - staunch defenders of Islamic rule who have the confidence
of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - and their tensions
with the more nationalist Ahmadinejad have underscored the competing strains
of conservatism in Iran's increasingly fractious politics." http://t.uani.com/129hKeZ
Opinion &
Analysis
Clyde Russell in
Reuters: "Iran appears to have scored a victory in
its cat and mouse battle with the West, with oil exports rising in
December to the highest since European sanctions took effect. But while
Western attempts to crimp Iran's oil trade are a serious business, the
cut and thrust of action and counter-action resembles a Tom and Jerry
cartoon, with each side scoring little victories but neither ever winning
decisively. Iran's crude exports reached 1.4 million barrels per day
(bpd), the most since last July, when European sanctions took effect,
according to two industry sources, and customs and shipping data compiled
by Reuters. While this is still down on the 2.2 million bpd the Islamic
republic exported in 2011, it's well up on the 900,000 bpd shipped out in
September. The gain in exports is likely to encourage Tehran in its
belief that it can 'tough out' European and U.S. sanctions aimed at
forcing it to open its nuclear programme to international scrutiny. But
as Jerry the mouse often discovers, his successes against Tom the cat are
short-lived. Much of Iran's success has been due to its ability to
maintain shipments to two of its largest Asian customers, namely China
and India. India's imports from Iran rose 29 percent to 276,000 bpd in
December from November, and the South Asian nation bought an average of
315,000 bpd in 2012, down a mere 1.7 percent from 2011's 320,000 bpd.
This seems an unconvincing effort from an erstwhile U.S. and European
ally to scale back its purchases from Iran, even though India had cut
imports 19 percent in the first nine months of the fiscal and contract
year that started in April. State-controlled Indian Oil Corp. bought more
Iranian oil in December to honour its annual deal. However, import
volumes may drop by 10 to 15 percent in the coming contract year,
according to sources, as India seeks to maintain its U.S. waiver to
import Iranian oil. China's imports from Iran rose to 593,400 bpd in
December, the second-highest month in 2012 after June as shipping delays
eased as Tehran added secondhand tankers to its fleet. In 2012, China's
imports from Iran fell 21 percent from 2011 to 438,448 bpd, which still
makes Beijing the top buyer of Iranian crude. China may reduce its
purchases further in 2013, by up to 40,000 bpd, according to industry
sources. But it seems that both China and India are at best reluctant
observers of Western sanctions, with both still willing to take Iranian
crude and help overcome issues such as the European ban on its
re-insurers, who dominate the global market, from covering vessels
carrying Iranian cargoes. Their reaction to the latest U.S. sanction may
prove instructive. From February 6, U.S. law requires that funds being
used to pay for Iranian oil must remain in a bank account in the
purchasing country and can only be used for bilateral trade with Iran on
goods not under sanctions. Any bank violating this measure runs the risk
of being cut off from the U.S. financial system, something no major bank
would be able to countenance.In theory, this will make it difficult, if
not impossible, for Iran to be paid for oil. However, it also doesn't
prevent Iran from shipping oil, so it's quite possible the Iranians will
continue to supply Asian customers while they try to work out ways around
the new steps." http://t.uani.com/11jIjho
Andres Oppenheimer
in The Miami Herald: "Argentina has crossed a line
by making a sweet deal with Iran to jointly investigate a 1994 terrorist
attack against the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which
according to Argentine prosecutors and Interpol was masterminded by top
Iranian officials. The deal seems to put Argentina fully within the
Venezuelan-led club of Latin American countries that support some of the
world's worst human rights offenders. Until now, many of us had hesitated
to put Argentina in that category, mainly because Argentina remains a
democracy and differed with Venezuela on Iran. Despite pleas by Venezuela
to put the AMIA case on the backburner, the late President Néstor
Kirchner had supported Argentine court requests for the extradition of
former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, current Iranian
Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi and others in connection with the car
bombing that left 85 people dead and about 300 wounded 19 years ago. But
now, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner seems to have changed
course, breaking the biggest foreign policy stand that set Argentina
apart from the Venezuela and Cuba. Her agreement with Iran to create a
joint 'truth commission' to investigate the terrorist attack amounts to
making a deal with a suspected killer to jointly investigate a murder,
side-stepping the ongoing Argentine court investigation into the case,
critics say. The idea of establishing a 'truth' commission on the AMIA
tragedy that involves the Iranian regime would be like asking Nazi
Germany to help establish the facts of Kristallnacht,' says American
Jewish Committee head David Harris. Israel's Foreign Ministry has voiced
its 'astonishment and disappointment' at the deal. The U.S. State
Department's top official in charge of Latin American affairs, Roberta
Jacobson, told me in an interview that she is 'skeptical that a just
solution can be found' through the so- called Argentine-Iran
'truth-commission.' Asked whether she now sees Argentina as fully aligned
with Iran, Cuba and Venezuela, Jacobson told me: 'I wouldn't make that
leap yet. I certainly hope not. I hope that we will continue to work with
the Argentines on lots of global issues, including counter-terrorism
efforts.' Why is Argentina doing this? ... My opinion: Argentina has
crossed a line by making a deal with the prime suspect in the 1994
terrorist attack. I hope I'm wrong about this, but the end result
of this so-called Argentina-Iran 'truth commission' will be a finding
saying that a handful of low-level Iranian officials were involved in the
case, which allows Iran's regime to claim it didn't have anything to do
with it, and Argentina to claim it has solved the case. That would amount
to a big blow to justice, and an insult to the memory of the 85 Jews and
non-Jews who died in the terrorist attack." http://t.uani.com/11jIZDj
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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