Eye on Iran: Iranian-backed Militant Group in Iraq is Recasting Itself as a Political Player

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.    Top Stories WashPost: "The Iranian-backed Shiite group responsible for most of the attacks against U.S. forces in the final years of the Iraq war is busily reinventing itself as a political organization in ways that could enhance Iran's influence in post-American Iraq - and perhaps beyond. In recent months, Asaib Ahl al-Haq - the League of the Righteous - has been rapidly expanding its presence across Iraq, trumpeting the role the once-shadowy group says it played in forcing the departure of U.S. troops with its bomb attacks against American targets. The group's chief officers have returned from exile in Iran, and they have set about opening a string of political offices, establishing a social services program to aid widows and orphans, and launching a network of religious schools, echoing the methods and structures of one of its close allies, the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah." http://t.uani.com/W7RFGq NYT: "As the trailer for 'Argo,' an Oscar contender and a thorn in the side of the Iranian government, played in a conference room in a hotel here this month, Mehdi Tondro shook his head in disapproval. A self-described 'specialist in anti-Iranian and anti-Islamic films,' he fumed over scenes of angry Iranians storming the gates of the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979. 'We Iranians look stupid, backward and simple-minded in this movie,' Mr. Tondro said. 'Hollywood is not a normal industry; it's a conspiracy by capitalism and Zionism. We need to come up with an answer to this and other films.' Around him sat 130 foreign guests who had been brought to Tehran by the government to debate exactly that question. It would prove harder than expected. Introduced by their Iranian hosts as 'unsung heroes seeking truths,' a diverse group of people promoting 'alternative thinking' had gathered to discuss what they said was the hidden agenda behind major American movies - an ideology they called 'Hollywoodism.'" http://t.uani.com/ZoTyVm AP: "Iran is prepared to ease Western concerns about Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for pledges from the U.S. and others about the country's ability to enrich uranium, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday. The remarks signaled a possible opening before next week's talks with world powers, due in the Kazakhstan capital... Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters on Tuesday that an important 'opportunity' awaits next week's talks in Kazakhstan between Iran and a six-nation group, the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany. 'We will offer ways for removing possible concerns and ambiguities to show our goodwill, if Western countries, especially the U.S., fully recognize the nuclear rights of countries, which shows their goodwill,' he said." http://t.uani.com/VtfPhi   Human Rights Reuters: "Iran has complained to the organizers of the Berlin film festival for giving Iranian director Jafar Panahi an award for an allegorical movie made in defiance of a 20-year state ban. Panahi shared the best script prize at Berlin on Saturday for 'Closed Curtain' with co-director Kamboziya Partovi for a film made in secret, which mirrors aspects of Panahi's life under house arrest in the Islamic Republic. 'We have protested to the Berlin film festival. Its officials should amend their behavior because in cultural and cinematic exchange, this is not correct,' said Javad Shamaqdari, the head of Iran's national cinema organization, Iran's student news agency (ISNA) reported on Monday." http://t.uani.com/XKAOcb Domestic Politics FT: "Iran's supreme court has upheld sentences of death by hanging for three businessmen and a banker in a high-profile corruption case linked to president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad amid an intensifying power struggle ahead of June's presidential election. The sentencing to death of four people in a single corruption case is unprecedented in the Islamic Republic, and analysts believe it serves as a warning to the president that his allies and affiliated businessmen could face similar charges should they use state funds to support their candidate - yet to be named - in the next election. Mr Ahmadi-Nejad cannot run for a third term but he is believed to be seeking to have a close ally succeed him so he can retain his political influence. His opponents, however, appear determined to obstruct his political ambitions. The alleged $2.8bn fraud has centred on Mah-Afarid Khosravi, a little-known businessman who is accused of accumulating billions of dollars of wealth thanks to his links to the government of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad." http://t.uani.com/YwzifU Foreign Affairs AP: "Arch foes Iran and the U.S. have found some common ground in the fight to save wrestling as an Olympic sport. U.S. wrestling coach Zeke Jones on Tuesday called the sport an important 'ambassador,' suggesting possible cooperation to fight a decision by the International Olympic Committee to drop wrestling from the 2020 Games. 'Wrestling has brought closer the people of Iran and the U.S.,' Jones was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Mehr news agency after arriving in Tehran with his team for an international tournament. American wrestlers will compete in freestyle events later this week after the completion of Greco-Roman matches." http://t.uani.com/ZoTPrs Opinion & Analysis David Blair in The Daily Telegraph: "The opening skirmishes have begun. Next Tuesday, Iran's representatives will meet the world's six leading powers for another round of talks on the nuclear issue. Sure enough, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman has declared that the negotiations will 'bear fruit' only if the other side 'recognises our rights'. That's Iran's formula for its right to enrich uranium, which is the very point at issue. First of all, the good news. The very fact that these talks will happen at all is an achievement of sorts. Iran met the 'P5 plus 1' (the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany) three times last year and the negotiations got nowhere. At the last session in Moscow in June, which I covered, there was not even an agreement to meet again. It seemed as if the whole process could be over. So the fact that there will be more talks next week, this time in Kazakhstan of all places, is a very small reason to be cheerful. Second, 2012 passed without an Israeli strike on Iran. I never believed this was going to happen - and I wrote as much quite a few times. When I interviewed Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, he explained that Iran's decision to convert a chunk of its enriched uranium into harmless fuel rods had bought another '8 - 10 months'. That was Israel's chosen reason for climbing down from a threat which, I suspect, they never intended to act upon - for very good reasons. Third, Iran has been pretty cautious of late. The IAEA's most recent report on the nuclear programme, published last November, found that Iran has not increased the number of operational centrifuges inside the Fordow enrichment plant. That's the most sensitive facility: it's the one built in secret and disclosed by America, Britain and France in 2009. Instead of racing to finish this plant, Iran has kept the number of working centrifuges inside Fordow constant at 696 since last February. In addition, Iran has converted 40 per cent of its entire stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 per cent purity into harmless fuel rods for a civilian research reactor. As I've written before, these two decisions provide powerful evidence that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, is more cautious - and more sensitive to outside pressure - than you might think. But that's where the good news ends. The gap between Iran and the West is as wide as ever." http://t.uani.com/Y2pITJ 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.