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Top Stories
WashPost:
"The Mexican law student was surprised by how easy it was to get
into Iran two years ago. By merely asking questions about Islam at a
party, he managed to pique the interest of Iran's top diplomat in Mexico.
Months later, he had a plane ticket and a scholarship to a mysterious
school in Iran as a guest of the Islamic Republic. Next came the start of
classes and a second surprise: There were dozens of others just like him.
'There were 25 or 30 of us in my class, all from Latin America,' recalled
the student, who was just 19 when he arrived at the small institute that
styled itself an Iranian madrassa for Hispanics. 'I met Colombians,
Venezuelans, multiple Argentines.' Many were new Muslim converts, he
said, and all were subject to an immersion course, in perfect Spanish, in
what he described as 'anti-Americanism and Islam.' The student, whose
first name is Carlos but who spoke on the condition that his full name
not be used, left for home only three months later. But his brief Iranian
adventure provides a window into an unusual outreach program by Iran, one
that targets young adults from countries south of the U.S. border. In
recent years, the program has brought hundreds of Latin Americans to Iran
for intensive Spanish-language instruction in Iranian religion and
culture, much of it supervised by a man who is wanted internationally on
terrorism charges, according to U.S. officials and experts." http://t.uani.com/19nufZf
Bloomberg:
"Zimbabwe is still assessing the size of its uranium reserves and
isn't planning exports of the mineral to Iran, a Zimbabwean minister said
after a report that the nations signed an agreement for shipments of the
nuclear-weapons ingredient. 'We are not selling or marketing any uranium
to anyone at all, so we cannot talk of shipments to anyone,' Deputy
Mining Minister Gift Chimanikire, a member of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change, said today in a phone interview. The chairman of the
state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. echoed the minister's
comments. Today's London-based Times newspaper cited Chimanikire as
saying Zimbabwe had signed a memorandum of understanding to supply Iran
with uranium. Negotiations between Iran and President Robert Mugabe had
been taking place for more than two years, the Times said, citing U.K.
security officials whom it didn't identify." http://t.uani.com/16KNGXZ
AFP:
"Iran has beefed up its oil tanker fleet with vessels from China and
is selling more crude oil to Beijing as Tehran struggles under
international sanctions, the IEA said in a report Friday... In its
monthly oil market report, the International Energy Agency said Iranian
crude oil production in July fell back to 2.6 million barrels per day
(mbd) -- 50,000 million barrels less per day from June. In contrast,
however, the IEA said that preliminary data show that Iranian crude oil
exports climbed to 1.16 mbd from just 960,000 barrels per day in June,
mainly owing to a rebound in Chinese imports which last month rose to
660,000 barrels of oil per day from 385,000 the month before. 'Just five
countries reported importing crude from Iran in July -- China, Japan,
South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates,' the IEA said, noting
the number of countries totalled as many as 16 in January 2012. Despite
this, the IEA said 'Iran continues to expand its shipping fleet in a bid
to sustain crude sales in the wake of increasingly stringent
international sanctions'. Since May, it has added four more supertankers,
known as VLCCs, to its fleet, which now totals 37 VLCCs and 14 smaller
crude tankers." http://t.uani.com/16FPHD9
Sanctions
Bloomberg: "Bijan Namdar
Zanganeh, a former Iranian oil minister who has been nominated by
President Hassan Rohani to take over the ministry again, pledged to boost
Iran's oil output should he be approved by the parliament. 'My first
action will be to bring the country's oil production capacity back to
2005 levels, Zanganeh was quoted as telling Shana, the Oil Ministry's
news website... Iran, once the second-largest oil producer in the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, has
slipped to sixth place, producing 2.56 million barrels a day in July,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The country produced about 4
million barrels a day in 2005, according to Bloomberg. 'I don't mean
output should be immediately returned to its past level because it may
not be possible due to sanctions,' Zanganeh said. 'But stable production
capacity should be created so that we will be able under any
circumstances to benefit from oil for our domestic needs.'" http://t.uani.com/14DkBNs
Economic Times:
"Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd said on Monday it expects
to receive an Iranian oil cargo by the end of this week, the firm's first
purchase from the sanctions-hit nation since April. The resumption of
shipments by MRPL, Iran's top Indian client until the firm halted imports
in April, will boost India's flagging Iranian oil imports, which more
than halved in June from a year ago. MRPL and Hindustan Petroleum had
stopped purchases due to difficulties getting insurance for refineries
processing Iranian oil, forcing New Delhi to look at providing its own
reinsurance after European firms backed out over sanctions. 'It (the
cargo) was loaded at Kharg (island) on 8th and 9th of this month and is
likely to reach Mangalore by the end of this week,' MRPL's managing
director P.P. Upadhya said, adding the firm planned to lift four Iranian
oil cargoes this month." http://t.uani.com/1eEbiOU
Domestic
Politics
Bloomberg:
"Iran's new President Hassan Rohani defended his cabinet nominees
before parliament today, saying they were chosen based on their records,
commitment and efficiency... Nominees include former United Nations
ambassador Mohammad Javad Zarif, tapped to become foreign minister;
Hossein Dehghan, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps air
force, for minister of defense; and Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, chosen to
retake his previous position as oil minister... 'Moderation and
meritocracy are the basis,' for the selection, said Rohani, who was
inaugurated last week. All proposed ministers 'sympathize" with the
Islamic Republic, "have strong allegiance' to Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 'and will do all they can for the country.'" http://t.uani.com/14H49i6
Free Beacon:
"Iranian President Hassan Rowhani has appointed as his defense
minister an Iranian general who was implicated in the 1983 bombing that
killed 241 American servicemen in Lebanon, according to an Israeli
intelligence official. Rowhani, who some described as a 'moderate
following his election in June, has selected General Hussein Dehqan as
his defense minister, according to retired Israeli Brigadier General
Shimon Shapiro. Shapiro was a top intelligence official in the Israeli
Defense Forces and remains a leading authority on Hezbollah who recently
penned a report on Dehqan for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
(JCPA). Dehqan has 'spent his entire military career' in the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and served as the military group's
commander in Tehran until 1982, according to Shapiro. Dehqan spent many
years in Lebanon helping to build the terror group Hezbollah and was
later appointed as the IRGC's top official in that country. Dehqan
received an order to launch a terror assault on the Beirut-based
Multinational Force while serving as commander of the IRGC forces in Lebanon
in 1983, according to Shapiro's report." http://t.uani.com/1cHlJob
Opinion &
Analysis
WashPost
Editorial: "At his first news conference since
taking office, Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, declared his
willingness to negotiate with the United States. Speaking on Tuesday, he
insisted he is ready to enter 'serious and substantive' talks about
Iran's disputed nuclear program and said a solution can be reached only
through 'talks, not threats.' He added, 'If the United States shows
goodwill and mutual respect, the way for interaction will be open.' These
are only words, and whether there is any meaning behind them is not
clear. It does seem that after eight years of the fiery Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad as president, Mr. Rouhani is attempting to change the tone.
He is not a reformer, but he is a centrist, and his election victory, as
well as his early statements, could signal a new course, somewhat
different from the bitter confrontations of recent years... All well and
good. But the United States and its partners who want Iran to stop
enriching uranium for a potential nuclear weapons program can ill afford
to see Mr. Rouhani through rose-colored glasses. The Supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, remains the true center of power and controls
Iran's nuclear program. The Revolutionary Guard Corps is still a major
force, up to its eyeballs in Syria and supplying Hezbollah. Mr. Rouhani,
an experienced operator in Iran's elite jockeying, will have all of them
breathing down his neck in the months ahead. Nonetheless, the West should
resume negotiations soon to explore the depth of Mr. Rouhani's
seriousness and whether his election has come with room to maneuver...
Mr. Rouhani's priorities may well be at home, where Iran's economy is
crumbling. He will undoubtedly be eager to ease strict international
sanctions, yet it is not clear whether or how quickly he can or wants to
change course on Iran's nuclear program. The Western powers should
swallow hard and show up ready to talk. Mr. Rouhani's demand for mutual
respect is not unreasonable. Those talks must proceed with urgency,
however... Certainly international sanctions must remain in place absent
genuine evidence that Iran has abandoned its nuclear weapons ambitions.
No amount of sweet talk can change that." http://t.uani.com/1cZrCfg
Canadian Foreign
Affairs Minister John Baird in The Globe & Mail:
"This past weekend, the Islamic Republic of Iran inaugurated Hassan
Rowhani as its seventh president. In the weeks and months ahead, the
world will be watching to see if the hopes and aspirations of Iranians
will be fulfilled. Canada's skepticism of the regime's commitment to
genuine reform stands. Despite the expression of the Iranian people on
June 14, Iran's nuclear non-compliance, its deliberate decision to ignore
its human-rights obligations, its ongoing sponsorship of terrorist
groups, its support for Syria's Assad regime, and its own regular and
inexcusable anti-Semitic rhetoric continues unabated and undeterred. Mr.
Rowhani's own tome of literature chronicling Iranian subterfuge and
clever protraction of nuclear negotiations does little to enhance his own
credibility. Irrespective of these dubious confluences, after Mr.
Rowhani's inauguration, this regressive clerical military dictatorship
appears to have yet another opportunity. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, has to decide whether he will continue to march Iran down
its current path or whether he wants to allow Mr. Rowhani to roll back
the apparatus of tyranny and fear, and place Iran within the community of
nations committed to prosperity and freedom. Maintaining the status quo
will continue Iran's isolation as international sanctions will remain in
place. The status quo will also mean that Iran will continue its
malevolent partnership with Hezbollah and Bashar al-Assad, and deploy the
insidious Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. It will retain the same
international standing and prestige as North Korea. Alternatively, if the
Supreme Leader allows Mr. Rowhani to immediately implement significant
and deep changes in the regime's irresponsible nuclear policies, its
disregard for human rights and its destructive meddling in the Middle
East, Iranians may yet see a brighter future. Let us be clear about one
irreducible fact: The choice is firmly the Supreme Leader's to make. The
Iranian President has historically been constrained and shaped by the
Supreme Leader, which highlights the challenges facing Mr. Rowhani... The
world cannot afford to take hints of moderation on key issues at face
value while the regime continues to suffocate the aspirations of its
people. Nor can we accept gestures that do not result in the systemic
change Iranians demand and deserve. Serious change requires the regime to
hold genuine nuclear talks with the P5+1 group, to fully co-operate with
the International Atomic Energy Agency, to respect human rights, to stop
supporting agents of death, destruction and chaos in the region, and to
put the real interests of its citizens first." http://t.uani.com/1cHjWPY
Phillip Smyth in
The National: "As Syria continues to burn, Iran has
successfully pushed the narrative that it is the unbridled defender of
Shia Islam. Even if Bashar Al Assad loses more ground to the rebel
forces, Iran can still benefit from the conflict to bolster that
narrative. Iran's guiding ideology of valeyat Al Faqih, or the absolute
rule of a religious cleric, is far from the accepted norm among the
world's Shia. And Iran's support for sending Shia militants to fight
alongside the Syrian regime has put Iran at odds with both traditional
Shia clerics, who are followed by the majority of Shia Muslims, and
radical clerics such as Iraq's Muqtada Al Sadr. These clerics,
particularly Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Najaf, Iraq, have rejected
the Iranian role and have thus been a persistent thorn in Iran's side. Mr
Sistani went so far as to call Shia who go to fight in Syria
'disobedient'. Mr Al Sadr has said that he would "punish" any
members participating in Syria's battles, according to the news agency
AFP. Despite such resistance, the Iranian regime has managed to advance
its narrative among many Shia in the region. The Iranian regime justifies
the involvement of Shia foreign fighters in Syria as fighting to 'protect
Shia holy sites' - particularly the Sayyida Zaynab shrine in Damascus -
from 'takfiris', a euphemism Tehran uses to describe all Syrian rebels.
The term is generally used to describe radical Sunni Islamists who view
Shia and some other Muslims as infidels. The pretext of defending the
shrine in Damascus plays well with Shia who have suffered under waves of
bombings targeting their mosques, shrines and gatherings from Baghdad to
Pakistan. Iran and its proxies have described their operations in Syria
as a 'sacred defence' and fallen fighters as 'holy warriors of jihad'.
The Iranian 'defensive jihad' narrative is meant to be juxtaposed with
the statements by Mr Al Sadr or Mr Sistani, who call on their followers
not to fight in Syria, to make Shia feel their traditional and radical
leaders are out of step in the face of a historic threat." http://t.uani.com/14DorpK
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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