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Top
Stories
AP:
"A pro-reform candidate withdrew Tuesday from Iran's June 14
presidential election to support a centrist whose campaign has gained
momentum in recent days. The decision by Mohammad Reza Aref is seen as a
major boost for Hasan Rowhani, who now faces off against five
conservative candidates. Aref's website Draref.ir said he made the
decision at the urging of reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami. State
TV and media also reported his withdrawal. Aref said he received a
message from Khatami telling him that his continued candidacy 'is not in
the interest' of Iran's reformers. He said his campaign could be a 'base
and great social capital' for the reform movement." http://t.uani.com/11wxt3t
Reuters:
"Iranian reformists led by former President Mohammad Khatami have
endorsed Hassan Rohani, the lone moderate contesting Friday's election
for the presidency, held by hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the past
eight years. Within Iran's complex mix of clerical rulers and elected
officials, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on big
issues like Tehran's disputed nuclear program and its support for
President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war. But the next president
may at least change the style of Iran's dealings with the world after
fiery populist Ahmadinejad steps down in August. He will also be an
important adviser to Khamenei and take charge of trying to fix an economy
battered by international sanctions, mismanagement and corruption. One
conservative and the only reformist in the race have dropped out in the
last two days, leaving four candidates ultra-loyal to Khamenei, one
outsider, and Rohani, a moderate cleric." http://t.uani.com/11sWlrN
AFP:
"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 'mismanagement' is largely responsible for
Iran's severe economic crisis, most candidates for this week's presidential
election have argued, accusing the outgoing leader of squandering the
country's oil wealth. One of the four conservative candidates running for
the June 14 election, Mohsen Rezai, said Ahmadinejad's presidency had
been more damaging than the tough international sanctions slapped on the
Islamic republic. 'Sanctions are only to blame for 30 percent of the
inflation. The remaining 70 percent is due to mismanagement,' he said.
Another presidential hopeful, Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, echoed
these comments. 'I'm not saying that the sanctions have not caused any
problems, but the government's mismanagement, which doesn't allow us to
benefit from the country's huge capacity, is the main cause of the
current situation,' said Qalibaf. Candidates have often talked of
'mismanagement', referring to government projects focusing on small
workshops scattered across the country, cuts to spending on housing
projects, and reductions in energy and food subsidies." http://t.uani.com/18snRz6
Nuclear Program
Reuters: "Iran's Russian-built
nuclear power plant has experienced technical problems with its generator
and experts are working to resolve the issue, Tehran's envoy to Moscow
said on Monday. Ambassador Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi said there was
'absolutely no link' between this problem at the Bushehr plant - which
was shut down when U.N. nuclear inspectors went there in mid-May - and a
powerful earthquake that shook the region two months ago... 'The one
problem in the working of the nuclear power plant at Bushehr occurred
with the generator,' Sajjadi told a news conference, without saying when
it happened. 'We are working very closely with Russian specialists to
resolve the issue.'" http://t.uani.com/14utnx1
AP:
"A Maryland jury has convicted an Iranian-American of illegally
helping Iran launch its first satellite. The jury returned its verdict
against Maryland resident Nader Modanlo on Monday. Federal prosecutors
had accused Modanlo of brokering a deal to help Iran launch an earth
observation satellite from Russia in 2005. The launch marked the
practical beginning of Iran's space program after decades of aspirations.
Prosecutors said Modanlo was paid $10 million for his assistance.
Prosecutors said the jury returned guilty verdicts on 10 of 11 counts:
one count of conspiracy, two counts of violating a trade embargo the U.S.
has against Iran, one count of obstruction and six money-laundering
counts involving the $10 million payment. The jury hung on one additional
count of violating the embargo." http://t.uani.com/168AKKg
AFP:
"Iran is working round the clock to enlarge its nuclear
infrastructure with the eventual aim of developing an industry capable of
building up to 30 bombs a year, an Israeli minister charged on Monday.
Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz
said Tehran was 'very close' to crossing the red line laid out by Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. But he said it was biding
its time and building uranium-enrichment facilities before making the
final push for weapons-grade material. 'The Iranians are getting very
close now to the red line... They have close to 200 kilos -- 190 kilos
(418 pounds) -- of 20 percent enriched uranium,' Steinitz said." http://t.uani.com/13xMBiq
Sanctions
Reuters:
"South Korean container shippers are joining a wave of their
international peers in giving up on Iranian business ahead of new U.S.
sanctions in July, adding to pressure on Tehran's vital seaborne trade.
South Korea's government said the country's top two shippers, Hanjin
Shipping Co Ltd and Hyundai Merchant Marine Co Ltd, had ended direct
shipments to Iran in May, with the Middle Eastern nation's economy
already reeling from measures imposed by the West to curb its nuclear
programme. Hyundai Merchant will also cease so-called trans-shipments of
freight ultimately destined for or originating in Iran from June 15, while
Hanjin halted such business on June 8, the marine, energy, finance and
foreign affairs ministries said in a joint statement on Tuesday. Hanjin
and Hyundai Marine, the only two South Korean shippers that had been
dealing with Iran, both confirmed the government statement, saying they
were cooperating in efforts against Iran's nuclear programme." http://t.uani.com/1bs0ge4
The Hindu:
"India has allowed export of imported products to sanction-hit Iran
under the rupee payment mechanism provided 15 per cent value-addition
takes place in the country. The move is aimed at fuller utilisation of
the rupee payments accumulated in India's UCO Bank for oil purchased from
Iran. 'Exports of such goods to Iran, which have been imported against
payment in freely convertible currency, would be permitted against
payment in Indian rupees also, subject to at least 15 per cent
value-addition,' a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign
Trade said. 'Now that the entire payment to Iran for its oil is being
made by India in rupee, it is much more than what can be paid to our
exporters for the merchandise exports being made to Iran. By allowing
imported items to be re-exported, the rupee balance could be used up
substantially,' a Commerce Department official told Business Line." http://t.uani.com/11TBYUs
WSJ:
"Even if a company doesn't have any business in Iran, a recently
implemented disclosure requirement could expose its owners. HD Supply
Inc. said Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission
that two of its key investors have done business in Iran. The
Atlanta-based, private-equity backed wholesale distributor said in the
filing that because of a broadly defined term of 'affiliates,' it would
disclose the Iran-related activity of Carlyle Group and Clayton Dubilier
& Rice... HD Supply said in its filing that another Clayton Dubilier
investment, SPIE SA, a France-based technical services company,
maintained accounts at an Iranian bank under U.S. sanctions with the
approval of the French financial regulator, which applied European Union
law. HD Supply said it "had no knowledge or control" over
SPIE's activities, and that Clayton Dubilier and SPIE both disclosed the
matter to the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Clayton
Dubilier said to HD Supply, according to the filing, that SPIE would no
longer conduct any transactions with the Iranian bank unless approved by
the French regulator and OFAC." http://t.uani.com/11d4kdz
June 14
Elections
BBC:
"As Iran's presidential election draws closer, many Iranians are
still deciding who to vote for - or whether to vote at all... In 2009,
over 80% of those registered to vote did so. But the wave of enthusiasm
that preceded the election came abruptly to an end for many Iranians when
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad controversially won a second term. Since
then, optimism has dwindled and living standards have declined. The value
of Iran's currency has plummeted, inflation is at its highest level in 18
years and people are struggling to find jobs. But is there hope for the
future? Here, Iranians share their views on the upcoming presidential
election and explain what life is really like for them in Iran." http://t.uani.com/ZHeSUO
FT:
"'A 10kg bag of rice was 25,000 tomans [250,000 rials, $20] last
year, but it is 50,000 tomans this year. [Red] meat was 12,000 tomans per
kilo, but it is 30,000 tomans now,' she said. 'Our life is much more
difficult compared to one year ago and we eat far less food.' Although
outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad swept to power in 2005 as a
champion of the poor, his combination of economic populism and a hardline
foreign policy that has resulted in nuclear stalemate and the tightening
of international sanctions has seen poverty increase... Unofficial data
suggest that 40 per cent of Iranians now live below the poverty line, up
from about 22 per cent in 2005. The government disputes these figures and
insists the gap between the rich and the poor has narrowed. Despite their
increasingly difficult economic situation, Masoumeh and her family - like
many of Iran's poor - remain loyal to the Islamic regime. For her, voting
is sacrosanct, for religious and nationalist reasons. 'Of course we
vote,' she said." http://t.uani.com/12iEVnI
AP:
"He talks about easing the political restrictions imposed by Iranian
authorities. He tells crowds that rebuilding ties with Western
governments is better than denouncing them as irreconcilable enemies. At
a rally Monday, crowds gathered for candidate Hasan Rowhani broke out in
chants for the release of political prisoners. Suddenly, the accidental
envoy of Iran's besieged reformists in Friday's presidential election
seems to be awakening - even if briefly and sporadically - an opposition
energy that has been largely stamped down after years of crackdowns. That
is jolting authorities who once felt they were in full control of the
ballot and the eventual outcome." http://t.uani.com/18skfgy
WashPost:
"In the nights leading up to the 2009 election, hundreds of
thousands of Tehran residents flooded the streets in a show of excitement
over a presidential contest that few had expected would attract much
attention. Today, however, Iran's vast capital does not look like a city
that will help to choose a new president on Friday. Four years after
contested ballot results that led to months of unrest here, authorities
have gone to great lengths to minimize public campaign events, shifting
the focus to the quiet of Iranian living rooms. That change has also been
reflected on state media outlets, which have been tasked as the main
engine of creating public interest in the election. Instead of the live,
one-on-one televised debates that it introduced in 2009, Iran's state
television network, known as the IRIB, has adopted a more subdued
round-table format." http://t.uani.com/168ItId
Human Rights
AFP:
"Labor rights in Iran are under threat as Western sanctions take
their toll on the economy, sharply reducing the purchasing power of
workers, the International Federation for Human Rights warned on Monday.
'Unemployment is on the rise, inflation is at unprecedented levels and
most people have to combine several jobs because the minimum wage is
insufficient to counterbalance inflation,' the group said. The minimum
wage stands at 4,871,000 rials, roughly 100 euros. The group's president,
Karim Lahidji, said several trade union leaders have been imprisoned on
charges of 'acting against national security and propaganda against the
regime.' The body called on the Iranian government to guarantee the
freedom of the trade unions, women's rights and ensure equality in the
workplace for ethnic and religious minorities. The report said the income
gap between rich and the poor in Iran is growing, adding that more than
half of the 75 million strong population live under the poverty
line." http://t.uani.com/16ZV9VU
Reuters:
"A senior Iranian diplomat linked to Iran's reformists, who has been
detained at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison for three months, has been
denied access to his attorney for the entire time, sources familiar with
the case told Reuters on Monday. Bagher Asadi, who was previously a
senior diplomat at Iran's U.N. mission in New York and most recently a
director at the secretariat of the so-called D8 group of developing
nations in Istanbul, was arrested in mid-March in Tehran for unknown
reasons, sources said last month... The sources said that denying Asadi
access to a lawyer during three months of detention was a violation of
basic human rights and widely accepted norms for justice." http://t.uani.com/11ED0rG
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