Eye on Iran: Iran's Presidential Race Gets Underway

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.    Top Stories AP: "Iran's presidential race got underway Tuesday as authorities officially opened the registration process for candidates in next month's election that will pick a successor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and offer a critical test for reformists battered after years of crackdowns. The campaign is also taking shape as open season on Ahmadinejad's legacy and his combative style that bolstered his stature among supporters but brought increasing alarm from critics. Ahmadinejad is barred by law from seeking a third term due to term limits under Iran's constitution. Many of the expected front-runners have promised to seek more measured diplomacy with the West and work to end Iran's nuclear standoff with world powers - although such major policies are ultimately decided by the country's ruling clerics... The slate is almost certainly to be heavily stacked with candidates considered loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been angered by challenges to his authority by Ahmadinejad and the president's allies. Among the presumed front-runners is senior Khamenei adviser Ali Akbar Velayati, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Rowhani, who registered his candidacy in the first hours as the process got underway Tuesday." http://t.uani.com/108BWeW Reuters: "Foreign container shipping lines are giving up on Iranian business ahead of new U.S. sanctions in July, dealing a further blow to Tehran's vital seaborne trade... Many of Iran's imports, including food and consumer goods, arrive on container, bulker and other ships. Feeder services, which transport ship containers to Iran especially from larger ports in the United Arab Emirates, are also used. The U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which comes into effect on July 1, blacklists Iran's shipping, shipbuilding, energy and ports management sectors. While it has an explicit exemption for food, medicine and other humanitarian goods, foreign shipping firms are pulling out to avoid falling foul of its provisions. 'Iran will become increasingly dependent on feeder services from nearby Gulf states for the import of its goods as major container shipping companies become ever more wary of transgressing against the numerous sanctions,' said Daniel Richards, with Business Monitor International (BMI). Kuwait-headquartered United Arab Shipping Co (UASC), which is among the world's biggest 20 container lines, said last month it had suspended all services to and from Iran... Dubai-based Simatech Shipping said this month it would cut services to and from Iran from June because of the new sanctions. A spokesman with Hong Kong-headquartered Orient Overseas Container Line said its feeder service to Iran from the UAE would cease from June after ending direct business from Asia two years ago. A source at Hong Kong's Wah Hai Lines said it would no longer send its vessels to Iran." http://t.uani.com/ZE27Hl CSM: "Iran has dismissed reports that Israel's attack in Syria early yesterday targeted advanced Iranian-made missiles on their way to Hezbollah in Lebanon, calling them 'psychological operations' aimed at undermining the Iran-led Axis of Resistance.  By inserting itself into the furor following the attack, Iran highlights how Syria's local civil war has been sucking in every key actor in a volatile region, and turning it increasingly toward a full-blown a proxy war. Between Israel's strikes and Iran's overshadowing presence in the analysis after the attack, there is little doubt that the risk of spillover now looms larger. Western and Israeli news reports quoted intelligence officials stating that Israel targeted a consignment of Fateh-110 missiles intended for Hezbollah, which would have bolstered the Lebanese militant group's already-extensive missile arsenal, enabling it to reach Tel Aviv and much of Israel from southern Lebanon. Comments by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today also underscored the increasing sectarian nature of the Syrian conflict. He warned that the recent desecration of a Shiite shrine near Damascus by rebel Sunni extremists with an 'evil mindset' risked fanning Shiite-Sunni hostility." http://t.uani.com/10mmGbu   Nuclear Program AP: "Iran says a moderate earthquake rattled a region near the country's main nuclear reactor, but there were no reports of damage or deaths in the surrounding area. The official Islamic Republic News Agency says Monday's quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 and was centered near Kaki, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf coast. A more powerful 6.1 temblor struck the same area last month, killing at least 37 people and raising calls for greater international safety inspectors at the nuclear reactor in Bushehr." http://t.uani.com/YrZM4L Reuters: "The United States and its allies are preparing for naval exercises in the Gulf energy export hub that will include minesweeping and escorting commercial ships in a region where Iran is seen as a threat both to trade and security. Forty-one countries are taking part in the two-week International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX-13) to practice minesweeping and protecting ports and energy installations in the Gulf... Iran repeatedly threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, east of Bahrain, in early 2012 during heightened tensions with the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. Iranian threats to block Hormuz have since subsided, but the nuclear impasse remains." http://t.uani.com/10mnb5o Sanctions FT: "The international banking sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy did not discourage Parviz Aghili from opening what is in effect the country's only privately owned bank, the Middle East bank, earlier this year. Its focus on domestic corporate clients and wealthy individuals within Iran's private sector means it should be able to thrive, says Mr Aghili. Since it opened its doors in January, the Middle East bank - the smallest Iranian bank with only three branches so far - has attracted 1.4tn rials ($114m) in deposits and granted 3tn rials in loans. But the greater challenge for the western-educated veteran banker will be avoiding the fate of Iran's other private banks, which, beset by interference from state authorities and cronies, are private in name only." http://t.uani.com/18ruQWB Times of India: "As US and European sanctions cripple its economy, Iran on Saturday offered India a new production sharing regime for oil exploration in an attempt to keep its third largest buyer of oil engaged. The offer was made by Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi during his talks with visiting external affairs minister Salman Khurshid at the India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting where energy was a subject of cooperation... Indian state-run firms led by ONGC's contract for exploring the gas-rich Farsi block too is a service contract which if converted into a production sharing regime would mean that New Delhi can get close to 13 trillion cubic feet of gas." http://t.uani.com/108DENi Syrian Uprising WSJ: "Hezbollah fighters joined Syrian government forces in the siege of a rebel-held town inside the war-torn country on Monday, local residents said, deepening the Iran-backed group's involvement in Syria's civil war and raising alarm among U.S. officials. Israel tried to tamp down tensions in the region, meanwhile, one day after it launched its second recent attack on arms shipments inside Syria that intelligence experts say were Hezbollah-bound Iranian missiles. The latest phase of Syria's conflict raises fresh U.S. concerns about Hezbollah, a Tehran-backed group that is a member of Lebanon's governing partnership and is deemed by the U.S. to be a terrorist organization. U.S. officials have seen units of Hezbollah fighters emerging in different parts of Syria with numbers ranging from 2,000 to 2,500 fighters, a U.S. official said." http://t.uani.com/18rtUl0 NYT: "Iran's Shiite leaders warned of regional sectarian conflict after reports that Syrian rebels raided a Shiite shrine in a suburb of Damascus last week, destroying the site and making off with the remains of the revered Shiite figure buried there. It was impossible to independently verify the report, which appeared on a Facebook page on April 28. Through the course of the civil war, the Syrian government and the rebel opposition have proved adept at manipulating social media to implicate each other in atrocities, trading accusations that cannot be substantiated. The shrine of the revered Shiite figure, Hojr Ibn Oday - also known as Hajar Ben Adi al-Kundi - in the Damascus suburb of Adra was a popular pilgrimage site before the hostilities mostly ended religious tourism in Syria. Pictures posted on Facebook seemed to show that the sanctuary had been ransacked and the remains of Mr. Oday exhumed." http://t.uani.com/10mjkoF AP: "The fighter's body was collected at an Iraqi border crossing with Iran, then carried on Monday through the streets of this southern city as mourners hailed his sacrifice in protecting a revered shrine in Syria. Diaa Mutashar al-Issawi was one of several Shiite fighters from Iraq who have trickled into Syria for months, providing a measure of support for Syrian regime forces battling mainly Sunni rebels. They are drawn by a sense of religious duty to ensure the sanctity of the revered Sayida Zeinab shrine outside the Syrian capital of Damascus as sectarian divisions harden in Syria's 2-year-old civil war. Al-Issawi is not the first Iraqi Shiite fighter thought to have died in Syria. But Iran's alleged role in repatriating his body strengthens suggestions that Tehran is involved in coordinating the movement of foreign fighters to aid its embattled ally, Syria." http://t.uani.com/11f1f2o Terrorism Reuters: "Two Iranian men were sentenced to life in prison by a Kenyan court on Monday for planning to carry out bombings in Nairobi and other cities last year. Ahmad Mohammed and Sayed Mousavi were found guilty last week of planning the attacks and also possessing 15 kg (33 lb) of explosives. They were arrested in Nairobi in June. Kenyan investigators said at the time of their arrest that it was unclear whether the pair had ties to al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia or were part of another network. Their lawyers said the two, who had both pleaded not guilty, would appeal against their sentence. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the verdict was 'unacceptable', Iran's state television reported." http://t.uani.com/YCxIhp Human Rights Iran Human Rights: "Three prisoners were hanged in the 'Liberty Square' of Kermanshah (western Iran) today... Kermanshah's 'Liberty Square' has been the scene of several public executions in the past few years. Iran Human rights strongly condemn's the new wave of public executions in Iran. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: 'the new wave of executions in Iran are meant to spread fear among the people in order to prevent protests in relation with the coming Presidential elections in June.'" http://t.uani.com/12Prabg Domestic Politics Reuters: "Few Iranian presidential elections have been so unpredictable but the next few days will at least narrow down who will stand in the ballot on June 14, for which candidate registration starts on Tuesday and ends on Saturday. What is certain is that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has held ultimate power as Supreme Leader for 24 years, wants to avoid both the mass protests by reformists that greeted the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, and also more of the public feuding between the outgoing president's allies and fellow hardliners which has marked Ahmadinejad's second term. 'The Iranian leadership is so nervous, even if it doesn't need to be. The 2009 election was an enormous loss of face for the establishment and they're very concerned about a repetition,' said a Western diplomat based in Tehran. 'Instead of trusting the people, they have put their trust in all sorts of security measures.'" http://t.uani.com/YCxWVM AP: "A journalist for an Iranian news website says its editor has been arrested after reporting that there is an audiotape of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussing vote rigging in his disputed 2009 re-election. Ahmadinejad's office strongly denied last month's report on the Baztab website, and so far, no audiotape has surfaced. The president's supporters claim the purported tape was an attempt to undermine Ahmadinejad's attempts to get his protege on the June 14 presidential ballot that will pick his successor. The journalist, Ammar Kalantari, said Monday that editor Ali Ghazali was arrested on Sunday." http://t.uani.com/18SkpIM Foreign Affairs Reuters: "The United Arab Emirates criticized on Monday a visit by Iranian lawmakers to Gulf islands near the Strait of Hormuz at the center of a territorial dispute between the two countries, who are both trade partners and strategic rivals... 'The Foreign Ministry strongly condemns and categorically rejects a visit by an Iranian parliament delegation to the islands,' the UAE state news agency WAM said. 'This visit flagrantly infringes on the sovereignty of the UAE and undermines all exerted efforts towards finding a peaceful resolution for this issue,' it said. The islands, Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb, are claimed by both countries but have been held by Iran since 1971, shortly before the seven Gulf emirates gained full independence from Britain and formed the UAE, now allied with Washington." http://t.uani.com/11Q0Gad AFP: "Kuwait's supreme court on Monday upheld life terms on two Iranians, a Kuwaiti and a stateless person on charges of forming a ring to spy for neighbouring Iran. The court, whose rulings are final, also upheld the acquittal of two Iranians, including the only woman in the ring, and a Syrian, a statement issued by the court said. 'The court rejects the appeals of the defendants and upholds the (court of appeals) sentences,' judge Abdullah al-Jassem said in the statement. In May last year, the appeals court reduced death sentences against the first three to life and upheld the same term on the fourth. The court also acquitted the Syrian who was sentenced to life by the lower court. The two Iranians and the Kuwaiti worked for the Kuwait's army at the time of their arrest in May 2010, while the stateless person was a former soldier." http://t.uani.com/140Xkmx  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. 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