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Top Stories
WSJ: "Domestic
politics and a June election could make the difference in how Iran
addresses its main dilemma of the coming year: whether to compromise on
its nuclear program or maintain a policy of defiance. Iran is slated to
elect a new president amid deep political divisions and rivalries among
conservative factions. The issues at the heart of Iran's standoff with
the West-the country's economy, its isolation and security-will likely
dominate the campaign. The contest for power will pit candidates seen
as loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against those
associated with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The main reformist
parties said they would boycott the elections. The discord is on daily
display in Iranian media, with prominent political figures blaming one
another for an economy withering from international sanctions and years
of mismanagement, with a plummeting currency and skyrocketing
inflation." http://t.uani.com/TH0rM1
Al Jazeera:
"Iran has blasted US President Barack Obama for enacting a law
aimed at countering Tehran's alleged influence in Latin America, saying
it was an overt intervention in the region. 'It is an overt
intervention in Latin American affairs... that shows they are not
familiar with new world relations,' Iranian foreign ministry spokesman
Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters on Tuesday... On Friday, Obama
enacted the law which through a new diplomatic and political strategy
to be designed by the State Department is aimed to counter Iran's
alleged influence in Latin America. The Countering Iran in the Western
Hemisphere Act, passed by legislators earlier in 2012, calls for the
department to develop a strategy within 180 days to 'address Iran's
growing hostile presence and activity' in the region. 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 organisation from entering the United States.'"
http://t.uani.com/W1qwDg
Belfast
Telegraph: "UK taxpayers have effectively funded
executions in Iran through £3.6 million in aid used to fight the flow
of drugs into Europe, human rights campaigners said. Iran has
historically been the leading recipient of UK anti-drugs assistance,
through joint programmes with other countries. But a report by
prisoners' rights charity Reprieve found that links between aid and
executions were 'not hard to establish'. Reprieve investigator Maya Foa
said: 'It's outrageous that Britain, which is supposed to be committed
to the abolition of capital punishment, should in fact be funding
executions for drug offences in Iran.'" http://t.uani.com/ZUhh0c
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
NYT:
"Iranian forces fired what military officers said was a new
generation of surface-to-air missiles on Monday during a wide-ranging
naval exercise that focused on striking hypothetical unmanned aircraft
and vessels in international waters to the south of the country,
Iranian news media reported. The missiles were fired on the fourth day
of a six-day naval exercise that started Friday, when Iran announced
that it had begun the exercises that would test a new version of its
Thunder surface-to-air midrange missile. They were meant to demonstrate
the country's defense of its territorial waters, the official Islamic
Republic News Agency said." http://t.uani.com/S4PkQe
AP:
"Iran's navy issued dozens of warnings to foreign planes and
warships that approached its forces during a five-day sea maneuver near
the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a semi-official news agency reported
Tuesday. Mehr quoted Adm. Amir Rastgari, spokesman for the exercise, as
saying that naval and air defense forces on 30 occasions warned off
reconnaissance planes, drones and warships belonging to 'extraregional
forces' that approached the drill, using a term that the Islamic
Republic commonly employs to refer to the militaries of the U.S. and
its allies." http://t.uani.com/Xicggo
Epoch Times:
"In relations with a diplomatically isolated Iran, the People's
Republic of China appears to be balancing its need for oil with the
importance of its ties to Washington. The Chinese regime drives a hard
bargain, taking advantage of its dominant position in a sanctioned
Iranian economy, while simultaneously taking a harder line on sanctions
related to Iranian nuclear ambitions, even as it finds means for
circumventing some U.N. sanctions. A new report titled, 'China-Iran: A
Limited Partnership,' charts the shifting bilateral relationship
between China and Iran and concludes that China is motivated in its
current relationship with Iran primarily by economics, specifically its
energy needs. Written by CEBNTRA Technology Inc. under a contract for
the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), the
report was released Dec. 20. USCC is a bipartisan congressional
commission that is mandated by law to review the national security
implications of trade and economic ties between the United States and
communist China." http://t.uani.com/Umg37K
Foreign
Affairs
Gulf Daily News:
"Bahrain's uprising was 'hijacked' by Iran which continues to pose
a threat to regional security, according to a new study. The study
explores how the Bahraini movement, which initially had true democratic
demands, was taken over by extremists linked to Hizbollah and Iran in a
bid to interfere in the GCC's internal affairs. Bahrain-based
journalist Yenus Rahman published the report, Bahrain: A Soft Target
for Iran, in the Central European Journal of International and Security
Studies (CEJISS). The study states that the legitimate demands were
'eclipsed when the remnants of old opposition and insurgent groups,
with histories of destabilising Bahrain, and alleged ties to Hizbollah'
took centre stage. This changed the uprising, which Mr Rahman, said was
'hijacked.'" http://t.uani.com/U9YRGl
Globe &
Mail: "The Harper government is committed to
working with the U.S. government as it ratchets up efforts to counter
perceived threats from Iran in the Americas. Legislation signed by
President Barack Obama last week gives the U.S. State Department six
months to develop an assessment of the threat posed to the United
States by Iran's growing presence in the hemisphere, as well as a plan
to combat it. Among other things, the law requires the State Department
and Homeland Security to work with Canada and Mexico 'to address
resources, technology and infrastructure to create a secure United
States border and strengthen the ability of the United States and its
allies' to prevent Iranian-backed terrorists from entering the
country... Ottawa is not expecting any new border impediments to result
from the new U.S. law, but is working with the United States on a program
dubbed 'Beyond the Border' to counter international threats." http://t.uani.com/UFjtDO
WashPost:
"John Sheardown, an unflappable Canadian diplomat in Tehran during
the Iran hostage crisis who helped shelter six American 'house guests'
until they were secretly shuttled out of the country, died Dec. 30 at a
hospital in Ottawa. He was 88. He had Alzheimer's disease, said his
wife, Zena Sheardown. In the events that became known as the 'Canadian
Caper,' Mr. Sheardown was serving officially as the top immigration
official at the Canadian Embassy in Tehran. Recounting the 1979 ordeal,
historian Robert Wright wrote that the portly, ruddy-faced Mr.
Sheardown 'exuded the sort of quiet but unyielding resolve that made
him a natural leader in a crisis.'" http://t.uani.com/VAqC5Y
Human Rights
BBC:
"The jailed daughter of the former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani has been moved to solitary confinement, the BBC has learned.
A spokesman for Iran's judiciary said Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani was
moved as punishment for her behaviour in jail. Ms Rafsanjani began a
six-month prison sentence in September after being found guilty earlier
this year of spreading anti-state propaganda'. The former MP is the
most politically active of Mr Rafsanjani's children." http://t.uani.com/S4PFlQ
Domestic
Politics
AFP:
"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again spoken out
against the use of pressure to impose Islamic values on people,
especially university candidates, media reported on Monday. 'You cannot
impose things by issuing decrees and directives -- a choice imposed by
force has no value whatsoever,' Ahmadinejad said in a speech on Sunday.
'In some universities, female students are forced to wear the chador
(covering the whole body, leaving only the face exposed), but the way
they are forced to wear it... it is better not worn since it becomes
worthless,' he said. He also criticised criteria on the selection of
university candidates, citing the case of a student denied university
admittance in the 1980s because he had shaved. Being unshaven in Iran
is a sign that you are a good Muslim." http://t.uani.com/10NRyWs
Opinion &
Analysis
Nir Boms &
Shayan Arya in WashTimes: "At the end of her
49-day hunger strike, Iranian activist Nasrin Sotoudeh smuggled a
letter from her Evin prison cell letting the world know about the 36
other female political prisoners incarcerated with her in Evin. This
number is a new high. However, those women are not alone. Thirteen of
them have immediate family members either in prison or under judicial
pursuit. Ms. Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer, was convicted in 2010 of
'spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security.' Her crime
was representing clients such as Iranian journalist Isa Saharkhiz and
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. While imprisoned, Ms. Sotoudeh
began a hunger strike, which afforded a rare glimpse into the fate of
female activists in Iran. However, this glimpse is not enough to convey
the trauma of daily imprisonment of Iranian women in the land of
ayatollahs. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran's Islamist
Revolution, began his political activism in the early 1960s during the
time of the late Shah of Iran's 'White Revolution.' The White
Revolution was a modernization process encompassing a number of
reforms, including granting women the right to vote in 1963 (almost a
decade before Switzerland). Khomeini and the Islamic establishment
vehemently opposed the voting reform on the basis that Shariah law does
not allow women to vote. This was and has been a point of contention
between the two camps ever since. Under the late shah, Iranian women
had equal rights to vote, get an education and work in the public
sphere and the seemingly mundane right to choose how to dress. They
also benefited from laws that protected them from abuses of their freedom.
Women were not allowed to be married before the age of 18, they were
permitted to divorce their husbands, and they could be granted custody
of their children. Polygamy was banned, with very few exceptions, and
in all cases, the permission and consent of the first wife had to be
obtained. Before the Revolution, Iran had nearly 100 female judges.
Included among them was Shirin Ebadi, who later received the Nobel
Peace Prize. There also was a Ministry of Women's Affairs dedicated to
the empowerment of women and protecting their legal rights. Immediately
following the 1979 Revolution, the newly established theocracy moved to
repeal the liberalized laws. The Ministry of Women's Affairs was
abolished. Women were banned from becoming judges and discouraged from
becoming lawyers. Judge Ebadi and her female colleagues were sent home.
The marriage age for girls was lowered to 9, in accordance with Shariah
law. Only after years of protest from Iranian women's rights activists
and international organizations was it raised to 13. Polygamy is now
permitted and is, in fact, encouraged by the government. Women also
have lost their right to divorce their husbands. Female activists are
regularly harassed and jailed. Following the 2009 wave of protests, in
which many women served as leaders, universities became further
segregated by sex... Old habits die hard with the mullahs. The Islamic
regime will continue its relentless assault on women's rights unabated
just as it continues its advancement toward nuclear domination in the
Middle East and the world. We must stand firm and fight oppression in
Iran on all fronts." http://t.uani.com/12Y1xYK
Simon Tisdall in
The Guardian: "The spectre of military
confrontation with Iran, igniting a wider Middle East conflict, looms
large as 2013 begins. If you feel you have been here before, you have.
According to recent reports from Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu was ready
to attack Tehran's suspect nuclear facilities as long ago as 2010, but
was blocked by his two top army and intelligence chiefs. What makes
2013 especially dangerous is that potential war-triggers are more
numerous and more finely balanced than two years ago. Iran's nuclear
weapons-related and associated missile programmes are more advanced, or
so the western powers believe. In Israel, meanwhile, the two
recalcitrant army and intelligence chiefs have been replaced. January
will see Netanyahu standing in elections for a second term as prime
minister. If successful, he can be expected to ratchet up the pressure
on Tehran again. The rightwing Likud leader will interpret his expected
victory as a mandate for action. For Netanyahu, Iran has become an
obsession. In Iran, the controversial two-term presidency of Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad is coming to an end and it is far from clear who may succeed
him. It can be assumed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme
leader and an anti-western, conservative hardliner, will try to pick
his own man for the job. But the opposition, though fractured, will
have its own ideas. It is entirely possible the June 2013 presidential
election will provoke a repeat of the street battles and civil unrest
that, for a moment in the summer of 2009, appeared to be close to
toppling the revolutionary regime. Many Iranians and outside observers
believe the Green movement's candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, won that
election but was the victim of massive fraud. The example of the Arab
spring revolts may now inspire even greater internal resistance. This
in turn could lead the regime to blame foreign meddling, as it has in
the past, and lash out abroad. For their part, the Americans will try
to avoid direct military confrontation if they can, although
Washington, like Tehran, has rightwing factions that would dearly love
a showdown. The Pentagon has severe misgivings about a shooting war.
This is not to say the shadowy covert war targeting Iran with cyber
attacks, assassinations and destabilisation operations will stop. It
will not. Barack Obama does not want to be drawn into another conflict
in the Muslim world, having striven so hard to extricate the US from
Iraq and Afghanistan. A new round of western diplomatic contacts with
Iran is under way. The US has been holding secret bilateral discussions
and Obama signalled publicly in a presidential debate that he was
prepared to negotiate face to face. The outlines of a deal are already
on the table. Iran would cease production of 20%-enriched uranium (the
biggest proliferation threat) in return for an easing of sanctions. It
would be allowed to continue making low-enriched uranium for civil
reactors in exchange for accepting more intrusive monitoring. The UN's
nuclear agency, the IAEA, says it believes inspections could resume in
January. But Israel will demand definitive progress, if not a
breakthrough, before June, the month by which it estimates Iran's
production of highly enriched uranium will give it the capability to
build an atomic bomb. This is a 'red line', Israel says. One big
problem in any talks process, as always, is who in Tehran is qualified
to speak authoritatively for a regime that has many power centres. No
Iranian politician will want to be seen ceding ground to the west at a
time of uncertain domestic political transition, for fear of being
accused of selling out." http://t.uani.com/VtNaWw
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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
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