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Stories
Die Welt (German):
"Twitter is now subject to criticism for hosting the accounts of
Iranian officials who are forcibly denying their electorate access to the
internet in their country. Recently, the American lobbying organization
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) appealed in an open letter to
Facebook, calling for a shutdown of the Supreme Spiritual Leader Ali
Khamenei's site. Now the initiators have contacted Twitter in relation to
Khamenei's account: 'The Iranian regime is using the account to spread
its propaganda, while it excludes its own citizens from Twitter,' reads a
letter from UANI boss Mark Wallace, who was the U.S. ambassador to the UN
from 2006 to 2008. Wallace also reminds Twitter CEO Dick Costolo of the
cruel persecution of opposition supporters who used the platform to
publicly protest in the aftermath of the disputed 2009 presidential
election. But the restriction of Internet freedom in Iran is also
associated with brutal repression in other ways. Just last year, the
well-known dissident blogger Sattar Beheshti was arrested and died in
prison - apparently as a result of torture. The UANI activists are asking
Twitter CEO Costolo how this fits with his own remarks praising Twitter's
role in the 'Arab Spring' and declaring that the short message service
could 'change the world' by giving a voice to 'people who have not
previously had one.' Unlike the oppressed Iranian opposition, the Supreme
Spiritual Leader used his Twitter account for rabble rousing. Thus, the
letter quotes Khamenei's tweets to the protesters of the 'Arab Spring':
'The activists of the Islamic awakening must be vigilant against the
unpleasant and horrific experience of Western lifestyle.' Or: 'Israelis a
vile entity in the Middle East, which will undoubtedly be
destroyed.'" http://t.uani.com/186x9Rc
Reuters:
"The U.S. State Department on Wednesday renewed six-month waivers on
Iran sanctions for China, India and seven other economies in exchange for
their agreeing to reduce purchases of oil from Iran. 'The United States
and the international community stand shoulder to shoulder in maintaining
pressure on the Iranian regime until it fully addresses concerns about
its nuclear program,' Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.
The waivers, which the State Department calls exceptions, mean that
financial institutions in the consumer countries do not risk being cut
off from the U.S. financial system for the next six months... Lawmakers
in Congress also hope to pass legislation this year that could further
limit Iran's oil sales and reduce Tehran's access to its foreign currency
accounts, mostly held in euros. 'The grounds for an exception are clearly
too loose,' Representative Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. He added
the House could vote in coming weeks on legislation 'to tighten the
standards for granting exceptions.' The other economies the State
Department renewed waivers for were South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore,
South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan. Japan and 10 EU countries got
waivers earlier this year." http://t.uani.com/ZRPKwR
Reuters:
"U.S. lawmakers are embarking this summer on a campaign to deal a
deeper blow to Iran's diminishing oil exports, and while they are still
working out the details, analysts say the ultimate goal could be a near
total cut-off. Such an extreme goal would risk antagonizing China and
India, the biggest remaining buyers of Iranian crude, and could push oil
prices higher in a hit to the global economy... Both parties in the U.S. Congress
are pressing for tougher sanctions, betting that a resurgence in U.S. oil
output and signs of ample global supply will prevent prices from rising.
Last month, during a House of Representatives committee meeting on a bill
toughening sanctions, a new clause was inserted that for the first time
would require importers to cut purchase of Iranian crude by a specific
volume: 1 million barrels per day (bpd) within one year. But here's the
catch: Iran's crude exports already fell to 700,000 bpd in May, raising
questions about what the starting point for such a target would be. The
new language has yet to be incorporated into the official text of the
bill and may change. At the hearing, lawmakers said the measure was meant
to cut shipments by two-thirds, suggesting last year's 1.5 million bpd
export was the starting point and 500,000 bpd the goal." http://t.uani.com/190xWmi
Nuclear Program
Reuters:
"Arab Gulf states sought reassurances from Iran at a U.N. nuclear
agency meeting this week over the safety of its only atomic energy plant,
which is located in an earthquake-prone coastal area, diplomats said on
Thursday. The Bushehr facility on Iran's Gulf coast is a growing worry
for nearby countries: if radiation ever does escape it could be blown
over the Gulf to Qatar's capital Doha and the main oil exporting ports of
the United Arab Emirates. Tehran has repeatedly rejected safety worries
about the Russian-built reactor, which began operations in 2011 after
decades of delays. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia raised the
issue during a closed-door June 3-7 meeting of the 35-nation Board of
Governors of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the
diplomats said... 'What the reactor does is create what is referred to as
a plutonium path to potential weapons-grade material for a nuclear
device,' U.S. IAEA envoy Joseph Macmanus said yesterday in Vienna. Iran
already possess the ability to pursue a separate path toward nuclear
weapons by enriching uranium." http://t.uani.com/1b8qHVX
June 14
Elections
AP:
"The eight candidates running in Iran's June 14 election for
president took radically different stands on personal freedoms, women's
rights and censorship in the country's second round of televised debates
Wednesday. Moderates vowed to loosen restrictions and hard-liners backed
strong state intervention in people' lives. The four-hour debate focused
on cultural issues. A previous round covered the economy, and an upcoming
debate will be devoted to foreign policy and security... During the
debate, centrist Hasan Rowhani said he would form a women's affairs
ministry if elected, but Saeed Jalili, Iran's top nuclear negotiator,
said the best job for a woman is to be a mother. Pro-reform candidate
Mohammad Reza Aref insisted that Iranians have social and cultural rights
under the constitution, complaining that the government looks at rights
as a privilege it can deny, while imposing censorship at will." http://t.uani.com/111hev2
Bloomberg:
"Two Iranian presidential candidates used the second debate before
next week's election to call for greater press freedom and social
liberties. All eight candidates took part in the program organized and
aired by Iran's state television, with the aim of introducing their views
on society and culture. While some underlined the importance of Iran's
'Islamic culture' being supported or celebrated, others used the time
allotted to criticize what they described as harmful restrictions on the
population. 'Let people have more freedom, let's not intervene so much in
their lives,' said Hassan Rohani, a cleric who was Iran's chief nuclear
negotiator in the early 2000s. 'Cultural issues must be solved through
culture itself. Police should be the last resort.' With the election
looming on June 14, Rohani criticized the seizing of satellite dishes by
the police, saying it was an 'attack against people's privacy.' The
government had brought about a brain-drain by discouraging those studying
abroad from returning home, creating in effect 'a one-way road,' he
said." http://t.uani.com/13I1EGU
NYT:
"Qum, home to some of Iran's most influential clerics, is not just
Iran's holiest city, but one of its most powerful, a Shiite Vatican in
the desert that can make or break any Iranian political career. So it is
not surprising that it has become a destination recently for almost all
of the candidates in next week's presidential election, seeking to sip
from the cocktail of money, politics and religion that the city
represents. While the eight presidential candidates, carefully vetted by
the government, all hold roughly the same views on the major issues, they
need to make sure they have support from Qum. 'The top clergymen from Qum
are among the few in the country who can openly criticize all politicians
if they feel like it,' said Farshad Ghorbanpour, an Iranian journalist.
'Seeking their allegiance not only prevents public reprimands, but also
means the support of their followers.'" http://t.uani.com/11n5YsV
Terrorism
Reuters:
"A Nigerian court charged four Lebanese men suspected of having
links to the Islamist militant group Hezbollah with terrorism and
possession of illegal arms on Wednesday, after authorities said they
found heavy weapons in one of their homes... The military said last week
that the weapons were to be used in attacks on American and Israeli
targets... The security source told Reuters authorities were also looking
into the possibility of a link to Iran. An alleged member of Iran's
Revolutionary Guard and a Nigerian accomplice were sentenced to five
years in prison earlier this month over an illegal shipment of mortars
and rockets seized in Lagos in 2010." http://t.uani.com/13cUeuK
Human Rights
Fox News:
"Iran just doesn't want to leave the Stone Age. The Islamic
Republic's Sharia law-controlled judiciary dismissed the concerns of
critics of its barbaric penal system and voted to retain stoning as the
penalty for sex outside of marriage. The move was bad news for the estimated
10 women and men who human rights advocates say currently face death by
stoning, as well as another 15 women Amnesty International says face the
possibility of being pelted to death with rocks. 'The death by stoning
provision not only contravenes international human rights standards and
has no place in any penal code in any country, but also puts on full
display the Iranian government's barbaric application of Islamic law
which most negatively affects the rights of women and minorities in the
country,' Dwight Bashir, deputy director for policy at the U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom, told FoxNews.com." http://t.uani.com/13cUAS4
AFP:
"Iran is again cracking down on people with pet dogs, viewed as
unclean in Islam, but Soroush Mobaraki says sales are booming despite
fears the pooches might be 'arrested' and their owners fined. This
veterinary pharmacologist, sitting in the small Tehran pet shop he owns,
said 'there has been a sharp increase in demand for dogs in recent years.
We sell 15 to 20 dogs a month, but I know some other traders who sell
many more,' said Mobaraki, aged 34. For decades, keeping dogs as pets was
a rarity and thus tolerated in Iran, where the Islamic beliefs cherished
by the vast majority of traditional Iranians consider dogs as 'najis', or
unclean. Guard dogs, sheep dogs and hounds have always been acceptable,
but the soaring number of pets acquired by a middle class keen to imitate
Western culture has alarmed the authorities in recent years. They have
now criminalised walking dogs in public, or driving them around the
city." http://t.uani.com/15E0EVp
Opinion &
Analysis
Ray Takeyh in LAT:
"Iran's presidential election is again inviting speculation about
which candidate can nudge the Islamic Republic toward moderation and
pragmatism. Such conjectural games miss the point that the theocratic
state is defined by an ideology that demonizes the West and relies on
conspiracies to explain global affairs. The guardians of the Islamist
state are emphatic in their belief that America harbors an enduring
animosity not just toward their state but to the Muslim world. Its next
president, drawn from the ranks of regime loyalists, is unlikely to
temper this noxious political culture. In pursuit of a diplomatic
solution to the conundrum of Iran, Washington and its allies persistently
ignore the fact that they are dealing with a deeply deformed political
state. Its clerical oligarchs routinely spin conspiracy tales about how
the real perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks have yet to be
unmasked. This has to be considered a 'sensitive' response compared to
the Iranian elites' denials of the Holocaust and depictions of the Jewish
community. It is the conceit of foreign policy realism that rhetoric is
meaningless, and pragmatism is the essence of the game of nations. After
all, the leading proponents of this school suggest, Soviet leaders and
China's Mao Tse-tung indulged in rash rhetoric and yet proved judicious
custodians of their nations' nuclear arsenals. Whatever Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's
crimes may be, he is neither as reckless as Nikita Khrushchev nor a mass
murderer like Mao. If the United States can contain one and celebrate
making peace with the other, it is said, then it should cast aside Iran's
troublesome statements and proceed with diplomacy... In Khamenei's
telling, the Middle East today is immersed in a struggle pitting the
forces of Islamism against America and its satraps. This is a conflict
that is playing itself out in slums of Lebanon, in the forgotten
frontiers of Iraq and, most dramatically, in Syria. For the clerical
rulers this is an existential struggle, as Iran's divine mandate can only
be redeemed in a region unhooked from the American empire. Thus, when
Khamenei speaks of the glory of resistance and America's dark plots, he
is not seeking to mobilize some abstract constituency but expressing his
genuine worldview. Unlike the tired Soviet revolutionaries of the late
20th century who cloaked themselves in rhetoric they increasingly did not
believe, Khamenei is sincere when he speaks of emancipating the Middle
East from the clutches of the 'Great Satan.' Iran's nuclear ambitions can
only be understood in this context, as the clerical state perceives that
it can best enhance its prestige, protect its allies and displace its
adversaries armed with the ultimate weapon... For the international
community to persist with its diplomacy, it must set aside Tehran's
rhetorical fulminations, explain away its various transgressions and
convince itself that there is an untapped reservoir of pragmatism
somewhere in the recesses of the Islamic Republic that can be harnessed
through a clever mixture of sanctions and dialogue. A Washington in
search of an Iranian interlocutor must cast Khamenei as yet another
despotic ruler whose words belie his essential realism. But after nearly
a decade of delusory diplomacy, it may be time to ask: What if Iran's
supreme leader actually means what he says?" http://t.uani.com/122fdnk
Firuz Kazemzadeh
in WashPost: "'I've never seen my mother so heartbroken
as when she returned from her visit to Evin prison to see my sister,
Fariba,' Iraj Kamalabadi recounts of his mother's visit with his sister,
Fariba Kamalabadi, in Iran. It had been four years since his mother and
sister had seen each other. Kamalabadi explained that during his mother's
visit, every minute of waiting felt like a year. Finally, a rough voice
called, 'Visitors for Fariba Kamalabadi, come forward.' As Kamalabadi's
mother eagerly rushed forward, she did not see her daughter and began to
panic, but was called back by her granddaughter to a window with an
unfamiliar, but smiling face. Behind the glass sat an aged lady with
white hair, pronounced cheekbones, and a face full of dark spots. This
was her daughter. In total shock and disbelief, she broke into
uncontrollable tears. May 14, 2013 marks five years since seven of Iran's
Baha'is, including Fariba Kamalabadi, were arrested, tried behind closed
doors, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Their crime: informal
leadership of a community, the largest non-Muslim religious minority in
the country, outlawed by the government of the Islamic Republic as a
subversive and 'deviant sect.' Accounts in Iranian government-controlled
news media said that the seven members of the Yaran-i-Iran ('friends of
Iran'), as the group was known - Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin
Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr.
Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm - were formally charged with
espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order, the
establishment of an illegal administration, cooperation with Israel,
sending secret documents outside the country, acting against the security
of the country, and corruption on earth. They categorically denied all
the charges. As the legal process moved forward, the seven Yaran were
denied access to lawyers for more than a year and were only given one
hour with their counsel before their trial began. They were convicted
without the government producing a shred of evidence of their supposed
guilt... It is important to keep the searchlight of truth on Iran and,
while paying attention to nuclear and other vital issues, not to close
one's eyes to the repressive policies and actions of the Iranian
government directed against its own people. While it is unclear how many
more times Kamalabadi's mother will be able to visit her, it is clear
that this injustice cannot go on. Five years is five years too
many." http://t.uani.com/190O7Qk
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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 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.
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