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Top Stories
AP: "A
U.S. institute tracking Iran's nuclear program says recent satellite
images it has analyzed show further major alterations of a military site
that the U.N. has long tried to access to follow up suspicions that
Tehran may have used it in attempts to develop atomic arms. The four
photos from satellite company DigitalGlobe and GeoEye were seen by The
Associated Press ahead of publication by the Institute for Science and
International Security planned for Thursday. The images show what ISIS
said was progressive asphalting of an area of the Parchin complex that
the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency has said was a possible
location for testing conventional explosive triggers for a nuclear
blast." http://t.uani.com/13TtIqh
AP:
"Iran's intelligence minister says opposition supporters who fled
the country during street protests following the disputed 2009
presidential election have no reason to fear returning to Iran. Iranian
state TV broadcast Mahmoud Alavi as saying his ministry would guarantee
the safety of those who have not 'committed any crimes' during the
tumult, which erupted after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory was
contested." http://t.uani.com/1auShkw
RFE/RL:
"Iran's new president apparently has an answer for those who have
criticized the lack of women in his cabinet: They aren't up to the task.
Speaking at the Interior Ministry in Tehran on August 19, President
Hassan Rohani provided some insight into what prevented him from
nominating or appointing women to top posts in his government. 'In many
professions, our women are educated and ready to accept responsibility,'
Rohani was quoted as saying by Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency.
'During government meetings I emphasized to my ministers to try to make
use of the [talent] of women and young people. At the ministerial level,
because of our country's special circumstances, it did not happen.'"
http://t.uani.com/19zoZhG
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Global Security
Newswire: "An alleged clandestine deal in which
Zimbabwe might sell sensitive nuclear material to Iran could revive
debate over the Persian Gulf nation's ability to import uranium ore,
despite international sanctions. Zimbabwe's government took pains last
week to deny allegations that it was secretly preparing to supply Iran
with unrefined uranium, going so far as to hunt down a journalist who had
reported the story and to demand a confession that he had fabricated
substantiating comments from a government official. Some analysts,
though, say the West African nation has parsed its denials, leaving open
the possibility of backtracking later on, should it ever decide to sell
uranium ore to the suspected nuclear arms aspirant." http://t.uani.com/12sdoiA
NY Times:
"In May, the Iranian tennis referee Adel Borghei received
confirmation that he had secured a coveted slot at the United States
Open. 'Congratulations,' the letter started. Borghei booked his travel,
obtained a visa and worked several other tournaments until he arrived in
the United States. He was scheduled to start work at the Open on Tuesday,
in the qualifying rounds. Instead, he is in Florida, in limbo, unable to
fulfill what he described as a dream assignment because of United States'
sanctions against Iran. In an e-mail sent on behalf of Rich Kaufman,
director of officials, the United States Tennis Association said 'current
United States law' prohibited the Open from 'retaining the services of a
resident of Iran.' The e-mail included an apology and expressed a hope
that Borghei could work a future Open." http://t.uani.com/12sdUx4
Syria Conflict
Reuters:
"Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday the
Syrian government could not have been behind a possible chemical weapon
attack on the outskirts of Damascus as President Bashar al-Assad's forces
had the upper hand in the fighting. 'If the use of chemical weapons is
true, it has definitely been carried out by terrorist ... groups, because
they have proved in action that they refrain from no crime,' Iran's Press
TV quoted Zarif as telling his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, in a
telephone conversation." http://t.uani.com/13TuJhP
Commerce
Bloomberg:
"Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh is on a mission to make up for the last eight
years. In his first few days as oil minister in President Hassan Rohani's
new government in Tehran, the 61-year-old initiated plans to revive oil
production to pre-2005 levels, hinted at a price war to win old customers
and brought back managers sidelined by the previous administration.
'Revival of Iran's lost oil markets is among my top priorities,' Zanganeh
told the Fars News agency this week. "We only ask those who have
replaced us in the world's oil markets to know that when we are
reentering these markets they will have to accept that oil prices decline
or they should reduce their production to create enough space for Iran's
oil.'" http://t.uani.com/12sfmj0
Human Rights
AFP:
"An Iranian Christian convert has been sentenced to 10 years in
prison for distributing Bibles in his home country, the Vatican
missionary news agency Fides reported on Wednesday. Mohammad-Hadi Bordhar
was arrested in Iran in December and reportedly said he wanted to
'evangelise by handing out 12,000 pocket bibles.' He was accused of
'crimes against state security.'" http://t.uani.com/1auVmRK
Detroit Free
Press: "Supporters of a Flint man jailed in Iran for
two years held a fund-raiser Wednesday night to help keep his memory
alive and put pressure on Iran's government to free him. At the dinner at
the Grosse Pointe War Memorial in Grosse Pointe Farms, U.S. Sen. Carl
Levin, D-Mich., expressed hope that Iran's newly elected leader could
possibly offer some hope for the release of Amir Hekmati. 'Pray for his
release,' Dr. Ramy Kurdi of Flushing, a brother-in-law of Hekmati, told
about 80 guests who attended the dinner. Each table had "Free Amir"
bumper stickers and programs that had a photo of Hekmati in his U.S.
Marine Corps uniform. In the back was a display featuring photos of
Hekmati and images of prison cells that illustrated his detention, whose
two-year anniversary is next week." http://t.uani.com/14Zq25E
Terrorism
Reuters:
"An Iranian man who blew off his own legs was sentenced to life in
prison by a Thai court on Thursday for his involvement in a botched bomb
plot that rocked Bangkok last year and brought condemnation from Israel.
A court found Saeid Moradi, 29, guilty of attempted murder in an attack
that authorities say was intended to target Israeli diplomats. A second
defendant, Mohammad Khazaei, 43, was given 15 years in jail for
possession of explosive devices. Five people were wounded by a series of
explosions in Bangkok on February 14, 2012. The wounded included Moradi,
who blew off both his legs when a bomb he was carrying exploded as he
tried to throw it at Thai police." http://t.uani.com/1bWjOJL
Opinion &
Analysis
José R. Cárdenas
on ForeignPolicy.com's Shadow Government: "According
to expert testimony this summer before two House panels, the State
Department's recent report on Iran's activities in the Western
Hemisphere, which argues that the country's activities there are 'waning,'
is marred by a lack of inter-agency unanimity. In two hearings on the
Congressionally mandated report on Iran in the Western Hemisphere both
members and expert witnesses hotly contested State's conclusion. The
second hearing, which occurred on Aug. 1 before a joint House Foreign
Affairs subcommittee, shed new light on what may be inter-agency
disagreement about the content of the State Department report.
Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy, testified that the 'people who wrote this report did not, in a
timely manner, consult with people who have the information. Those
people, both within the department and elsewhere are quite upset that
they were not properly consulted.' Michael Braun, former Chief of Operations
for the Drug Enforcement Administration followed by testifying that 'the
report was written in a vacuum. I don't think that the authors physically
met with probably some of the most important players in town. It was
poorly written by unseasoned, probably, analysts that contributed and I
would sense that there wasn't a strong leadership involved as well.' This
is no small matter. The department claims, as it did in an Aug. 1 letter
to Senator Mark Kirk, the Illinois Republican, that the report 'represents
the clearest and most current assessment by the intelligence community on
Iranian activities, capabilities, and intentions in the hemisphere.' Both
sides cannot be right. At issue as well is the recent 500-page report
released by Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman detailing how Iran has
systematically built a clandestine intelligence network throughout the
region 'designed to sponsor, foster and execute terrorist attacks.' Some
members of Congress are upset that the State Department did not factor
that tome into its report to Congress. A senior department official
told the Miami Herald that the Nisman report was issued too late to be
incorporated into their report but that it would review the report and
'reassess' its present position if need be. Some believe that may provide
State the opportunity to deflect ongoing Congressional criticism by
producing a more serious assessment of Iranian activities in the
hemisphere. That remains to be seen. It is difficult to explain State's
ostrich-like reaction to discussing Iranian activities in the hemisphere
openly and forthrightly. It may be that they truly believe that Iranian
activities in the region are 'waning,' despite the troubling evidence to
the contrary. Or they may simply want to avoid openly discussing issues
our neighbors in the region would rather not have to address publicly.
Either possibility is simply unsatisfactory. We are all adults
here. Honestly assessing and responding to threats to regional stability
and U.S. security constitutes neither alarmism nor waving the bloody
shirt. Moreover, it is better to conduct that now, rather than after some
preventable incident. Let's hope the State Department undertakes a
serious reassessment of its report -- in which all relevant agencies,
offices, and departments are allowed to contribute without a preordained
conclusion." http://t.uani.com/14lZsb0
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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