Eye on Iran: Turkey's Gold Export To Iran Rises Again

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.    Top Stories Reuters: "Turkey's gold exports Iran has rose more than twofold through March during a time its overall gold trade receded, suggesting the two countries' trade of gold for natural gas has been continuing increasingly after a one-month halt in January. Turkey exported almost $381 million worth of gold to Iran in March, Turkish Statistics Institute data showed, while the overall Turkish gold exports declined by 15 percent to $467.6 million." http://t.uani.com/15ZkFch Reuters: "A senior Iranian diplomat linked to Iran's reformists was detained in Tehran in March, possibly as part of a crackdown on dissidents ahead of the June presidential election, sources familiar with the case told Reuters on Tuesday. Bagher Asadi, who has previously been a senior diplomat at Iran's U.N. mission in New York and was most recently a director at the secretariat of the so-called D8 group of developing nations in Istanbul, was arrested in mid-March in the Iranian capital according to the sources, who requested anonymity. 'We don't know why Ambassador Asadi was arrested,' a source said, adding that it could be part of a pre-election crackdown. It was not clear where Asadi was being held, the sources said. Reuters was unable to independently verify any aspect of the matter - who arrested the 61-year-old diplomat, on what grounds or even if he had been detained." http://t.uani.com/ZVnUgD The Telegraph: "Less than a month after this column queried Grant Thornton's continued business dealings in Iran, the accountant announces it has terminated relations with Rymand & Co, its Iranian correspondent company, and will "do no future business in Iran until the regime stops sponsoring terrorists and ends its pursuit of nuclear weapons". Grant Thornton says it 'appreciates' the matter being brought to its attention." http://t.uani.com/10UQYrT Nuclear Program Reuters: "The self-styled 'Sherlock Holmeses' of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, now seeking access to a major Iranian base, say they have the capability to find tiny traces of atomic material at a site even if a country were to try to cover it up. In talks later this month, the International Atomic Energy Agency will once again press Tehran to allow its inspectors to visit Iran's sprawling Parchin military complex. That would enable them to bring back swab samples for thorough checks at the IAEA's high-tech laboratory near Vienna. Western diplomats have accused Iran of trying to cleanse the Parchin site of possible signs of tests relevant for the development of nuclear weapons, casting doubt on whether U.N. investigators would discover anything even if they could go... Experts say that while it may now be difficult to find any evidence, it would still be possible to locate traces of nuclear materials with equipment that can study particles 10,000 times smaller than a grain of sand." http://t.uani.com/18nLdk0  Domestic Politics RFE/RL: "Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has become increasingly vocal about the country's domestic and foreign policies just as its presidential campaign is about to officially kick off. Potential candidates will be able to register their nominations from May 7 to May 11, and Rafsanjani's name is being floated as a possible entrant. He also took the opportunity to state that Tehran needed to "repair its foreign policy" in an apparent criticism of outgoing President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's defiant position against the West. He also noted that 'we are not at war with Israel' even as he added that 'if Arab countries are at war with them, we'll help them.'" http://t.uani.com/11VbwNM     Syrian Uprising AP: "The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group said Tuesday that Syrian rebels will not be able to defeat President Bashar Assad's regime militarily, warning that Syria's 'real friends,' including his Iranian-backed militant group, were ready to intervene on the government's side. ... Hezbollah and Iran are close allies of Assad. Rebels have accused them of sending fighters to assist Syrian troops trying to crush the two-year-old anti-Assad uprising, which the U.N. says has killed more than 70,000 people." http://t.uani.com/11BMQbh Human Rights Human Rights Watch: "The Iranian government is increasingly violating workers' rights to peaceful assembly and association. Dozens of labor and independent trade union activists are in prison for speaking out in defense of workers. Human Rights Watch called for the government to end the crackdown and free labor rights advocates in anticipation of International Workers' Day on May 1, as part of a joint campaign by Iranian and international rights groups to highlight the plight of workers. Labor rights groups say that the rights of Iranian workers have come under increasing attack during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Security forces have harassed and arbitrarily arrested an increasing number of striking workers, who are then subjected to politically motivated prosecutions and unfair trials. 'Iranian workers are on the front lines of the struggle to demand such basic rights as freedom of assembly and association,' said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. 'They are often the first victims of government crackdowns that aim to silence criticism.'" http://t.uani.com/14Tbcn6 Opinion & Analysis Andrew Roberts in the Wall Street Journal: "When-and it is most probably now a question of when, rather than if-Israel is forced to bomb Iran's uranium enrichment facilities, the Israeli government will immediately face a cacophony of denunciation from the press in America and abroad; the international left; the United Nations General Assembly; 20 secretly delighted but fantastically hypocritical Arab states; some Democratic legislators in Washington, D.C.; and a large assortment of European politicians. Critics will doubtless harp on about international law and claim that no right exists for pre-emptive military action. So it would be wise for friends of Israel to mug up on their ancient and modern history to refute this claim. The right, indeed the duty, of nations to proactively defend themselves from foes who seek their destruction with new and terrifying weaponry far pre-dates President George W. Bush and Iraq. It goes back earlier than Israel's successful pre-emptive attacks on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 (not to mention other pre-emptive Israeli attacks like the one on the Syrian nuclear program in 2007). It even predates Israel's 1967 pre-emption of massed Arab armies, a move that saved the Jewish state. History is replete with examples when pre-emption was successful, as well as occasions when, because pre-emption wasn't employed, catastrophe struck." http://t.uani.com/11X8aZi 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.