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Top Stories
LAT:
"The run-up to Iran's June presidential election took a dramatic
turn Saturday with last-minute candidacy announcements by two
controversial political figures: former President Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, top aide to outgoing incumbent
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In the final moments before the five-day
registration period expired, Rafsanjani and Mashaei arrived via separate
entrances at the Interior Ministry, where all would-be candidates were
required to sign up by 6 p.m. Saturday. Their cinematic entrance prompted
cheers from rival groups of supporters who had gathered outside. Scuffles
then erupted between the two groups, and order was not restored until
police responded. Ahmadinejad accompanied Mashaei, and the longtime
friends held their hands aloft in a show of mutual support. Mashaei
thanked the departing president, barred by law from seeking a third
four-year term, for encouraging him to run. Despite the theatrics,
neither of the two candidates is guaranteed a place on the June 14
ballot. The Guardian Council, composed of senior clerics and jurists,
vets candidates to determine who is qualified to run based on a series of
criteria. Also among the those registering Saturday was Saeed Jalili,
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, who is seen as a hard-liner close to
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Other loyalists seeking the
presidency include former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati and
Tehran's mayor, Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf." http://t.uani.com/16u09Rl
NYT:
"A day after two game-changing politicians signed up at the last
minute as candidates for Iran's presidential elections in June, the
country's governing establishment reacted angrily, predicting that they
would not be allowed to participate or that they would definitely lose.
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a protégé of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and
former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani signed up at the end of a
five-day registration period on Saturday, shocking opponents who had bet
on their preferred candidates' being the only ones running in the June 14
election. The governing establishment, a loose alliance of conservative
Shiite Muslim clerics and Revolutionary Guards commanders who hold sway
over the judiciary, security forces, Parliament and state news media, came
out in full force on Sunday, attacking the candidates. 'Hashemi knows he
is unpopular, a loser and is too old,' Mehdi Taeb, a hard-line cleric
affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying of Mr.
Rafsanjani by the semiofficial Fars news agency on Sunday. He added that
Mr. Mashaei 'only registered because he wants to sabotage the vote, or
make sure there is a low turnout and possibly cause riots on the
streets.'" http://t.uani.com/100a4Ky
WSJ:
"Iran's Guardian Council, a committee of powerful clerics that vets
presidential candidates and acts as a constitutional watchdog, opened a
criminal complaint Sunday against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
underscoring the power struggle taking shape in the country as the
election nears. The charge came after Mr. Ahmadinejad openly endorsed the
candidacy of his top adviser, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, and accompanied
the candidate as he registered his nomination on Saturday for the June 14
vote. Iran's constitution bans a seated president and his administration
from campaigning for or supporting a presidential candidate. 'We
discussed this at a meeting of the committee that supervises elections
and everyone unanimously agreed the president had committed a crime,'
said Abasali Kadkhodaie, the spokesman for the Guardian Council. Mr.
Ahmadinejad hasn't been charged; the judiciary must decide whether to
follow up on the complaint. The judiciary didn't comment." http://t.uani.com/13dDPEV
Nuclear Program
Reuters:
"The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it
would be a good idea to send experts to check the safety of Iran's
Bushehr nuclear reactor, a day after Iran said its facilities were safe
following a nearby earthquake... '(I think) it is better to send experts
to check on the safety of Iran's Bushehr reactor,' Yukiya Amano was
quoted as telling the Bahrain News Agency in Manama on Saturday... Iran
is the only country operating a nuclear power plant that does not belong
to the 75-nation Convention on Nuclear Safety, negotiated after the 1986
nuclear disaster in Chernobyl which contaminated wide areas and forced
about 160,000 Ukrainians from their homes." http://t.uani.com/19i8q7y
Sanctions
Platts:
"South Korean trader E1 Corp has bought 44,000 mt of LPG from Iran's
Petrochemical Commercial Co., possibly the first spot cargo from the
Middle Eastern producer to come to Asia this year, after an EU ban on
propane and butane trade from Iran brought its exports to a near halt
since late last year, market sources said last Friday. The cargo
comprising 33,000 mt of refrigerated propane and 11,000 mt butane was
purchased via a spot tender by E1 for loading over May 15-25, and will be
shipped by PCC on a CFR basis, a source familiar with the matter told
Platts... After the EU sanctions on natural gas exports from Iran were
included under tightened trade curbs announced last October, most
importers in Asia and trading firms have avoided imports from the Middle
Eastern producer, even though LPG was not explicitly mentioned at that
time. But propane and butane had since been included in an annex to the
EU Council Regulation of December 21, 2012, concerning restrictive
measures against Iran for its disputed nuclear program." http://t.uani.com/10ltIjV
Trend News:
"The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines has suffered $1 billion
loss as a result of international sanctions, ILNA quoted managing
director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines Mohammad Hossein
Dajmar as saying. The IRISL revenues have been reduced to below $1
billion from $2 billion, he noted. The country's share in bunkering among
regional countries is currently below 10 percent, he said.
'Unfortunately, the national oil industry has been sanctioned. This issue
has affected bunkering. European countries have banned Iranian ships from
berthing at their ports,' he noted." http://t.uani.com/13sIt5z
Syrian Uprising
WashPost:
"Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are beginning to
turn the tide of the country's war, bolstered by a new strategy, the
support of Iran and Russia and the assistance of fighters with Lebanon's
Hezbollah movement... Pro-Assad analysts credit a major restructuring of
government forces that has better equipped them to confront the
insurgency. The ranks of the conventional Syrian army - weary, depleted
and demoralized by defections, casualties and more than a year of
continuous fighting - are being swelled by the deployment of some 60,000
militia irregulars trained at least in part by Hezbollah and Iranian
advisers." http://t.uani.com/15F6bz1
Human Rights
WSJ:
"Every cause has its celebrity. The hunger crisis in Sudan has
George Clooney. War refugees in Syria and Pakistan have Angelina Jolie.
And now, Iran's human rights struggle has Jon Stewart. The host of the
popular Daily Show moderated a panel discussion on Wednesday night (May
8th) in New York City titled 'Censorship and Power in Iran.' The
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran hosted the event in partnership
with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and PEN American Center.
Mr. Stewart led an hour-long conversation about forced confessions from
political prisoners, crackdowns on journalists and bloggers ahead of the
upcoming presidential elections in June and the role of technology in
suppressing dissent. He was joined by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar
Bahari and Joel Simon Executive Director of the Committee to Protect
Journalists." http://t.uani.com/19i8uEo
Domestic
Politics
AP:
"Signs on currency exchange shops in Tehran explained why the doors
where temporarily shut: Waiting to see if former President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani would seek to reclaim the office. On Sunday, the money
changers reopened early amid a mini-surge in Iran's gasping economy after
Rafsanjani joined the race. Tehran's stock exchange nudged higher.
Merchants cut prices as the slumping Iranian currency clawed back about 4
percent against the U.S. dollar. That's how much Rafsanjani's surprise
decision reawakened Iran's presidential election process, which now
includes more than 680 hopefuls and will culminate June 14 with just a
handful of names on the ballot to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." http://t.uani.com/17X3zKj
Foreign Affairs
BBC:
"Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasoul has summoned Iran's
ambassador to protest at the alleged killing of migrants by Iranian
border guards. At least 10 people are said to have died as a group of
Afghan labourers tried to cross the Iranian border illegally on Friday in
search of work. Iranian officials have not confirmed the shooting.
Thousands of Afghans enter Iran illegally every year, and about 2.4
million Afghans are resident there. An Afghan foreign ministry statement
said the ambassador had been summoned as a 'protest against the killing
and injuring of some unarmed Afghans who had entered Iranian soil for
work.'" http://t.uani.com/13TDrym
AFP:
"Iran has given Reuters news agency permission to reopen its Tehran
bureau after work there was suspended in March 2012 over one of its video
reports, a culture ministry official said on Saturday. 'The court
authorised Reuters to open its Tehran bureau,' deputy culture minister
Mohammad Jafar Mohammadzadeh told the ISNA news agency, without
specifying when the decision was made. 'Last week the ministry told
Reuters it could restart its work in Iran,' he added. In September 2012,
a court found Reuters guilty of 'propaganda against the regime', and
'publishing false information in an effort to disturb public opinion' in
a report portraying female ninja students as assassins. Tehran withdrew
the press credentials of all staff at the bureau after the story was
published in March 2012 and suspended the work of the news agency, part
of the New York-based Thomson Reuters group. The case stems from a
Reuters video report on a group of female ninjas training in the martial
art in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran. The original headline on the
story erroneously read 'Thousands of female Ninjas train as Iran's
assassins.'" http://t.uani.com/ZUnhkD
Opinion &
Analysis
Marcus George in
Reuters: "After the huge protests that followed the
2009 election, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may have
hoped June polls would quietly install a loyal conservative president,
but the surprise candidacies of two major independents may scupper that.
Both Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, the nationalist protégé of rabble-rousing
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former
president and Iran's best known political grandee, are seen as a threat to
the leader's authority. Khamenei personally intervened to block Mashaie
becoming vice-president in 2009 - such was his disapproval of a man
conservatives accuse of leading a 'deviant current' within Islam that
seeks to undermine the power of Muslim clerics. Meanwhile, the supreme
leader's rivalry with Rafsanjani, a seasoned political operator, goes
back decades. Little can be predicted at this stage but if Mashaie makes
it through the vetting process, the election on June 14 could turn into a
three-horse race between him, Rafsanjani and one of several 'Principlist'
candidates - those who are fiercely loyal to Khamenei and the principles
of the Islamic Republic. Even if they fail to win, big-name alternative
candidates could attract greater public interest in the election, making
Khamenei's plan to see an obedient conservative take office a great deal
more difficult, despite his ultimate power and the Revolutionary Guards
who back him. Struggling with sanctions over its disputed nuclear program
and embroiled in civil war in Syria, one of its few and closest allies,
Iran's leadership must be keen to show the world it has a strong,
harmonious, fully functioning political system. Instead, the race may
produce drama and perhaps the unexpected. The contest not only reprises
Rafsanjani's fight with Ahmadinejad's camp, which beat him to the
presidency in 2005, but also brings into focus his troubled relationship
with Khamenei, which disintegrated over his support for the defeated
reformist opposition in 2009. 'Rafsanjani poses a challenge. He has said
he wants to save the Islamic Republic by changing the hardline direction
the country has taken in the past few years,' said Farideh Farhi, an Iran
analyst at the University of Hawaii. 'Principlists who have not been able
to come up with a candidate that brings together all their competing
wings will have to scramble in search of some sort of unity,' she
said." http://t.uani.com/12tHQWW
Marcus George in
Reuters: "Iran's best known political grandee,
former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, looms large in the history of
the Islamic Republic - now registered to run in Iran's presidential
election next month he may also get the chance to carve out its future.
Few have wielded such influence in modern Iran as the 78-year-old but
since 2009 he and his family have faced political isolation over their
support for the opposition movement which lost the disputed election to
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad prevailed thanks to the
unwavering support of Iran's most powerful authority, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, a move that left gaping divisions in the religious and
political elite. Four years on and the leader is under pressure from
political divisions at home and sanctions over Iran's nuclear program
which are biting deep into the economy and Rafsanjani's practical outlook
may be the tonic Iran now needs. 'Rafsanjani is above all a pragmatist, a
problem solver. He looks for ways to get things done,' said Shaul
Bakhash, of George Mason University in Virginia. 'As president, if Khamenei
allows him, I think he would move quickly to hold direct negotiations
with the U.S., zero in on getting sanctions lifted, considerably moderate
Iran's foreign policy rhetoric and take steps to create conditions for
foreign investment,' said Bakhash. Rafsanjani radically alters what was
previously seen as a contest between rival conservative groups. He could
scupper the hopes of 'Principlists' - those fiercely loyal to Khamenei
who want to secure a quick victory and present unity. Significantly, Rafsanjani
may be able to draw on the support of reformist groups which have been
sidelined since 2009. 'The Principlists will be in serious difficulty
because of Rafsanjani. He'll also be representing the reformist camp,'
said Sadeq Zibakalam, a professor at Tehran University. Earlier this
week, Rafsanjani said he would not enter the field without Khamenei's
consent over concern such a move would lead to conflicts and disputes.
Analysts say a last minute agreement with the supreme leader may have
opened the way for his registration. There have been signs though that
the way was being cleared over the last year. Rafsanjani played a central
role in hosting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran last August and
some see this as evidence of a deal in the offing. He was also pictured
alongside Khamenei and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. But some say
his candidacy may be weaker than it appears. 'What we do not know is
whether he still has the stomach for a fight, given his age, the life of
ease he has led in the last decade, and the love of wealth he has
developed,' said Bakhash. On hearing the name Rafsanjani, many Iranians
immediately think of the vast fortunes he has amassed." http://t.uani.com/YQsQW4
Michael Rubin in
Commentary: "Former Iranian President Ali Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani has declared his candidacy for the forthcoming Iranian
election, subject to approval of his candidacy from the Guardian Council,
a body that determines which candidates are loyal enough to the supreme
leader to appear on the ballot. For example, when Mohammad Khatami won
the presidency in 1997, he defeated three other candidates but only after
the unelected Guardian Council disqualified 234 other candidates deemed
too liberal or insufficiency loyal to the supreme leader. More than 680
candidates have registered to run for next month's election; most will
never have their names appear on a ballot. The Western press appears both
dangerously infatuated with and enthusiastic about Rafsanjani, falsely
attributing moderation to the former leader... Among journalists, it
seems, it's déjà vu all over again. When Rafsanjani first won the
presidency back in 1989, the West was optimistic: The Iran-Iraq War had
ended the previous year and revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini had
died six weeks before the elections. In both Washington and European
capitals-the Salman Rushdie death warrant notwithstanding-there was hope
that Iran would turn a new page, and that the revolutionary ayatollahs
would move to normalize relations with the international community. It
was not to be. Even though Rafsanjani suggested that 'reasonable, prudent
solutions' could free the American hostages that Iranian-backed groups
continued to hold in Lebanon and despite the fact that the new Iranian
president told Pakistani intermediaries that U.S. gestures could grease
reconciliation, the Iranians failed to deliver. National Security Advisor
Brent Scowcroft sought UN mediation, and UN Secretary General Pérez de
Cuéllar appointed Giandomenico Picco, an Italian career UN bureaucrat, to
be his representative. Picco dutifully flew off to Tehran, where
Rafsanjani dismissed outright reconciliation with Washington. To
negotiate over the American hostages in Beirut would be to admit Iranian
culpability. While Rafsanjani spoke publicly of pragmatism, privately he
revived Iran's covert nuclear program-of which he claims to be the father
today-and played a crucial role in ordering the assassinations of Iranian
dissidents abroad. Some of the most spectacular Iranian terror
attacks-such as the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos
Aires-not only occurred under Rafsanjani's watch but also with his direct
authorization. And no one should forget that it was Rafsanjani who, on
December 14, 2001, suggested that an Iranian nuclear strike on Israel
might be foreseeable, since one nuclear weapon could annihilate Israel
while Iran would be large enough to absorb any retaliation." http://t.uani.com/10tqt5Y
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