Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Eye on Iran: US Plans to Bring Iran Oil Exports Down to Zero











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JPost: "The US House of Representatives will vote next week on legislation aimed at slashing Iran's ability to export any oil. With 360 co-sponsors in the 435-member body, the bill will pass, and is expected to be matched in the Senate after Congress's August recess. The sanctions bill requests that the US president, under his authority provided by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, come up with a strategy within two months to cut Iran's remaining export sales of roughly a million barrels a day. After a year, exemptions granted to countries such as China, Japan, Turkey and South Korea - which continue to import Iranian oil - will no longer be granted. Companies in those countries doing business with Iran previously given a pass will be cut off from the US economy. American officials are confident there is spare capacity in the global market to replace Iran's exports." http://t.uani.com/134JGRo

Just-Auto: "Renault says it is studying closely new sanctions imposed against Iran by the US as domestic manufacturer, IKCO, claims a tentative agreement has been been reached to build CKD Clio type 3 and 4 models at some point in 2013. Iran Khodro (IKCO) said today (23 July) it would produce the Clio types 3 and 4 in the near future, with a spokesman for the manufacturer telling just-auto from Tehran that 'it will be soon, this year.' However, any potential Clio production would come at an extremely sensitive time politically with regards to Western companies doing business with Tehran and hot on the heels of US President Barack Obama's recent Executive Order clamping down even further on automotive business in Iran... The United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) lobby group, headed by former US ambassador to the United Nations, Mark Wallace, says it is concerned about Renault's 'Iran business activities' and has informed the French automaker of the new US sanctions. 'It is time for Renault to end its business in Iran or face sanctions,' said a UANI statement." http://t.uani.com/14321kj

FT: "Greek shipowner Victor Restis will appear before the Athens public prosecutor on Friday to face criminal charges of embezzlement and money laundering through an Athens bank controlled by his family, according to a court official. Mr Restis, who controls one of the largest Greek commercial fleets with about 90 vessels, was arrested on Tuesday on orders of an anti-corruption prosecutor, following separate investigations by the central bank and Greece's anti-money laundering unit... Mr Restis's arrest came the week after he filed a defamation suit against United Against Nuclear Iran, a US lobby group that claimed FBB and the Restis family shipping group, Enterprises Shipping and Trading, were planning a sanctions-busting deal with Iran's state-owned petroleum company. Mr Restis denied the claims, saying he had 'no involvement, arrangement or transaction of any kind with nay sanctioned entity'. Mr Restis is a major shareholder in Seanergy Maritime, a bulk carrier operator on New York's Nasdaq market." http://t.uani.com/14311wB
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Nuclear Program

Reuters: "Russian leader Vladimir Putin will meet Iran's newly elected president in Tehran next month to discuss restarting talks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, Russian and Iranian media reports said on Wednesday. The Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted a source close to the Iranian Foreign Ministry as saying President Putin would visit on August 12, days after Hassan Rouhani is inaugurated... Kommersant also cited a defense industry source as saying Putin could discuss an offer to replace frozen shipments of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Tehran with deliveries of Antey-2500 anti-ballistic missiles, an upgrade of the S-300s. Russia scrapped an S-300 sale to Iran in 2010 after it came under international pressure not to complete the deal because of the sanctions." http://t.uani.com/13cSIrF

Sanctions

Reuters: "Iran has offered to underwrite insurance for its vessels to keep oil exports to India flowing, after New Delhi asked for assurances to help halt a fall in shipments. Letters seen by Reuters show Iran is offering sovereign guarantees of up to $1 billion per incident to back its ships sailing to India, its second biggest oil customer after China. India's crude imports from Iran have been hit by insurance problems triggered by western sanctions, falling by 59.4 percent in June, and the state guarantee could keep oil revenues flowing. In letters seen by Reuters from Iran's industries, mines and trade minister Mehdi Ghazanfari and Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi told India that liabilities of $50 million to $1 billion are covered by 'sovereign guarantee and government special fund'. The two ministers said Iran's finance minister will issue a final letter on the sovereign guarantee in due course." http://t.uani.com/1bMSIXU

Reuters: "India's Essar Oil imported 21.1 percent more Iranian oil in June compared with a year earlier and shipped in Kazakhstan's CPC blend for the first time, tanker arrival data made available to Reuters showed, as the private refiner increased its appetite for testing new grades after expansion. Essar was the only Indian client of Iranian oil in June buying 138,900 barrels per day (bpd), a growth of 16.3 percent over May. The refiner, however, has cut Iranian oil imports by about a third in the first half of this year when it received 86,300 bpd as it stepped up purchases last year ahead of sanctions starting in July 2012... Two government-run refiners, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp, stopped importing oil from Iran from April, as local insurers said they could no longer cover plants that process Iranian oil after Europe-based reinsurers backed out. However, Essar continued using Iranian oil based on legal advice that EU sanctions are not applicable in this situation, a document made available to Reuters showed. But there is some uncertainty as it is up to reinsurers to interpret the sanctions. Indian Oil Corp, the country's largest oil refiner, is not planning to lift Iranian cargoes until the fourth quarter." http://t.uani.com/164o5Jb

FT: "Gulf oil producers are benefiting from the sharp fall in crude exports from Iran through increased export revenues, according to analysis by the US government's Energy Information Administration. Excluding sanctions-hit Iran, members of the Opec cartel of oil producers earned $982bn in net oil export revenues last year, according to EIA estimates, the most since EIA data began in 1975... The data point to stark differences in the fortunes of Opec members, as US production surges, reducing demand for some Opec crudes from the world's largest oil consumer, and Iranian exports continue to decline. Gulf producers have had strong demand for their medium and sour crude oils, thanks to the absence of similar Iranian oil from international markets." http://t.uani.com/17D7H1M

Seatrade: "Early 23 July, shipowner Victor Restis, 45, was arrested in Athens by officers of Greece's Organised Crimes Squad (DOE), in connection with charges of embezzlement, fraud and the establishment of a criminal organisation... Restis' arrest comes as the dispute between he is having with the American coalition United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), and its chief executive, Mark D Wallace, becomes ever more nasty as he attempts to stymie the US lobby's efforts to get an official probe into the Restis group and its alleged dealings with Iran. Seatrade Global has reported the Restis Group's filing with an Athens magistrate court alleging libel and other offences against UANI and Wallace. The clash between the New York-based UANI and Restis has simmered since May when Wallace accused Restis, together with FB Bank, and the Restis group's shipping firm, Enterprises Shipping & Trading, of being 'frontmen for the illicit Iranian regime.'" http://t.uani.com/143qDlZ

Human Rights


RFE/RL: "There are many websites that the Iranian establishment doesn't like. It shows its feelings by blocking them, usually on allegations of immorality or offenses against the country's national interests. Then there are websites that Iran really doesn't like. Those are blocked, too, and the people behind them are often punished. Among them is the Sufi website 'Majzooban-e Noor,' which covers news about the Nematollahi Gonabadi dervishes in Iran. The group, considered the largest Sufi order in the country, has come under increasing state pressure in recent years. Conservative clerics describe Sufi interpretations of Islam as deviant. 'Majzooban-e Noor' has closely covered the crackdown on dervishes, becoming an invaluable source of information for Sufis and others interested in their plight. Recently, the website has felt the full wrath of Tehran, as officials have arrested and jailed those behind it." http://t.uani.com/134KZzN

Foreign Affairs

AP: "Iran's Foreign Ministry says that the United States and Israel have not been invited to attend the Aug. 4 inauguration of the country's president-elect. Spokesman Abbas Araghchi told a press conference Tuesday that leaders from all other countries, including Britain, have been invited to the swearing-in of Hasan Rouhani. Araghchi had said on Sunday that all world leaders have been invited to the event, but his remarks Tuesday clarified that U.S. leaders are not in the welcome list. Iran also doesn't recognize Israel." http://t.uani.com/17D8Iqr

Opinion & Analysis

Steve LeVine in Quartz: "Hassan Rouhani, who will be sworn in Aug. 4 as the nation's new president, tweets in a more personal style in both English and Farsi: On July 5, Rouhani sent out the photo above, of the Iranian women's futsal team after it won a silver medal at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in South Korea. Among three tweets in the last 24 hours, he included the photo below of what he suggested was a reunion of Khamenei's circle. Skeptical Iranian hands say we are witnessing a gigantic ruse: Khamenei and Rouhani are scheming to make the world think they have warmed up and are ready to compromise on their nuclear program, these voices say. All the while, they instead are just playing for more time while their centrifuges redouble their work. If so, the trick seems to be working to some degree-as his tweets win Rouhani points from some quarters for being warm and fuzzy, observers are pressing Washington to give him a chance and not box him into a corner." http://t.uani.com/164nEPb

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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