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Top Stories
NYT: "As
the Obama administration makes a case for punitive airstrikes on the
Syrian government, its strongest card in the view of some supporters of a
military response may be the need to send a message to another country:
Iran. If the United States does not enforce its self-imposed 'red line'
on Syria's use of chemical weapons, this thinking goes, Iran will smell
weakness and press ahead more boldly in its quest for nuclear weapons.
But that message may be clashing with a simultaneous effort by American
officials to explore dialogue with Iran's moderate new president, Hassan
Rouhani, in the latest expression of Washington's long struggle to
balance toughness with diplomacy in its relations with a longtime
adversary... Those hopes may well be premature: even if Mr. Rouhani and
his foreign minister are eager for a deal ending the dispute over the
future of Iran's nuclear program, it is far from clear that they would be
able to deliver one. Negotiations have been stalled since last year, and
final authority on foreign policy rests with Ayatollah Khamenei. The
Iranian president's hand, whatever his politics, is weakened further
during national security crises, analysts say, and hard-liners are likely
to be empowered." http://t.uani.com/14mluaj
Bloomberg:
"Glencore Xstrata Plc (GLEN), the largest publicly traded
commodities supplier, is conducting business with Iran even as
competitors abandon the country, potentially drawing scrutiny from
regulators. Documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission by Century Aluminum Co. (CENX), in which Glencore owns 41.8
percent, show non-U.S. affiliates of Glencore 'entered into sales
contracts for agricultural products as well as purchase contracts for
metals with Iranian entities' last quarter. 'You can be sure the U.S. is
watching very closely what this company is doing on this issue,' Thomas
Biersteker, the Curt Gasteyger chair in international security and
conflict studies at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, said in an
interview. 'They will use pressure on affiliates, on transactions and on
access to the U.S. market.' Foreign companies have abandoned Iran after
the country's nuclear program prompted U.S., European Union and United
Nations trade sanctions. Glencore competitors Trafigura Beheer BV and
Vitol SA have halted crude-oil purchases from Iran as regulators move to
end transactions with the Islamic republic. The Iranian entities
conducting business with affiliates of Glencore were either fully or
majority owned by the government, according to the SEC filing, which was
first reported by American Metal Market. Glencore said it's not violating
laws." http://t.uani.com/1cBRVqA
RFE/RL:
"A video has surfaced that shows former Iranian President Ali Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani clearly blaming Damascus for chemical attacks, despite
the Iranian government's claim that the media had wrongly reported his
remarks. The video, posted on the website Bolaghnews.com, shows
Rafsanjani speaking last weekend in Savad Kooh in Mazandaran Province. He
says, 'People are being subjected to chemical attacks by their own
government and also have to wait for American bombs to fall.'
Rafsanjani's remarks were first quoted verbatim by the semiofficial
Iranian Labor News Agency on September 1. The news agency later amended
its report to remove Rafsanjani blaming Damascus. Iran's Foreign Ministry
claimed on September 2 that the original quote had been
'distorted.'" http://t.uani.com/17BAZ0a
Sanctions
Reuters:
"Iran's top four oil clients slightly reduced imports from the
sanction-hit nation in July and purchases remain down about a fifth for
the year, as the United States keeps pressuring buyers to take less and
less of the crude. Asia may start to feel pinched, however, from the
already deep cuts in the Iranian imports as the supply outlook for some
of the alternative grades worsens... In July, the four major Asian buyers
imported 796,047 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude in July, down
from 798,400 bpd a year ago, according to official government data and
tanker arrival schedules given to Reuters. Between January and July, they
imported 936,981 bpd, down 20 percent from the same seven months in
2012." http://t.uani.com/1a2fdVA
WSJ:
"India's oil minister is considering a plan to reduce the country's
ballooning current-account deficit that includes holding its oil imports
from Iran steady, according to a letter he sent to the prime minister.
Veerappa Moily said in the letter to Manmohan Singh, reviewed by The Wall
Street Journal, that India could save as much as $8.5 billion by
importing a further 11 metric tons of crude from Iran on top of the 2
million tons it has imported so far in the fiscal year that began April
1. This would be on par with the country's 13.11 million tons, or 263,000
barrels a day, of Iranian oil imports, in 2012-13. Failing to reduce the
amount would put India in jeopardy of losing an exemption from U.S.
sanctions against countries that do business with Iran. The savings in
foreign-exchange outflow would be achieved thanks to a barter arrangement
that India has with Iran. It purchases oil from the Islamic Republic by
depositing rupees into a bank account, and then Iran imports Indian
goods, potentially including food, drugs, consumer products and auto
parts, debiting rupee amounts from the same account." http://t.uani.com/137n5mQ
Bloomberg:
"India is increasing imports of crude oil from Iran as policy makers
risk flouting U.S. trade sanctions in their scramble to halt the slump in
the rupee. Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL),
India's biggest buyer of Iranian crude, plans to buy five cargoes of
85,000 metric tons each this month, compared with three in August,
Managing Director P.P. Upadhya said in an interview. Shipments from the
world's only producer that accepts rupee payments for oil are estimated
to rise to 4 million tons in the year ending March 31, versus 3.9 million
tons in the previous 12 months... Mangalore Refinery and Hindustan Petroleum
Corp. (HPCL), the nation's third-biggest state refiner, and Chennai
Petroleum Corp. (MRL) halted crude purchases from Iran in April after
Indian insurers declined coverage. India's government is preparing a 20
billion-rupee insurance fund for future purchases, Financial Services
Secretary Rajiv Takru said Aug. 19... Iran's Naftiran Intertrade Co. owns
15.4 percent of Chennai Petroleum, making it the second-biggest holder,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg." http://t.uani.com/15Tvprq
FT:
"New York's leading financial services regulator has called on
Lloyd's of London to provide it with fresh information about the
insurance market's supposed links with companies that do business in
Iran. Lloyd's had acknowledged to the state's Department of Financial
Services that some of its members had contracts with two companies that
had done business in the Islamic republic, said people with knowledge of
the matter. The regulator, led by Benjamin Lawsky, has asked Lloyd's to
provide it with details of enquiries the market has made about its
members' compliance with Washington's intensified sanctions against the
country. The department has been probing alleged links of non-US insurers
with Iran after President Barack Obama signed new rules into law this
year that restrict companies' dealings." http://t.uani.com/17IVXhs
Fairfield Sun:
"State Rep. Tony Hwang joined fellow legislators and the Jewish
Federation of Connecticut (JFACT) to champion passage of legislation to
prevent entities with investments in Iran from doing business with
Connecticut. The goal is to fight against international terrorism through
business and social intervention. Public Act 13-162 prohibits state and
quasi-public agencies from entering into, renewing, or amending a large
state contract with any "entity" that fails to certify that it
has not directly invested $20 million or more in Iran's energy sector or
certifies that it has made, renewed or increased such an investment. 'On
behalf of JFACT and all the other organizations, including UANI (United
Against Nuclear Iran), who are concerned about Iran marching forward to
become a Nuclear nation, I applaud Rep. Tony Hwang for joining this
critical bi-partisan effort in CT,' said Bob Fishman, JFACT executive
director. 'To make a clear statement that those business entities cannot
do business with the great state of Connecticut if they continue doing
business with the government of Iran.'" http://t.uani.com/14nfMFa
Commerce
Reuters:
"Iran's new oil minister has ordered the revision of energy project
contracts to make them more attractive to foreign investors, a National
Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) executive told oil ministry news service
Shana. Iran's long insistence on paying contractors with oil made
projects unattractive to foreign investors long before Western sanctions
made it almost impossible to work in the isolated Islamic republic.
Tehran began offering more attractive production sharing contracts (PSCs)
to some Indian companies earlier this year in the hope they would help
revive its decaying energy sector. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has
ordered a wider review of Iran's oil contracts because the buy-back deals
are particularly unsuitable for the enhanced oil recovery projects NIOC
needs to attract investors to revive its ageing oil fields." http://t.uani.com/17GY2KO
Syria
Conflict
WSJ:
"The White House is girding for more than a week of battle with
Congress over President Barack Obama's plan to launch limited military
strikes against the Syrian regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons
last month. To back the administration's position, Secretary of State
John Kerry said Sunday that the U.S. had obtained new blood and hair
samples from inside Syria that confirmed President Bashar al-Assad's
regime used sarin, a powerful nerve agent, against civilians in an Aug.
21 attack on an eastern Damascus suburb... 'If the United States is
unwilling to lead a coalition of people who are prepared to stand up for
the international norm with respect to chemical weapons that's been in
place since 1925, if we are unwilling to do that, we will be granting a
blanket license to Assad to continue to gas,' Mr. Kerry said on ABC's
'This Week.' 'We will send a terrible message to the North Koreans,
Iranians and others who might be trying to read how serious is
America.'" http://t.uani.com/15zzHzZ
WSJ:
"In recent meetings, South Korean officials told their U.S.
counterparts that continued White House inaction in Syria could embolden
North Korea to use its own chemical weapons against its southern
neighbor. Similar messages were relayed by Turkish, Israeli and Saudi
officials in recent days, telling President Barack Obama he must respond
to Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons, current and former U.S. and
Middle Eastern officials said. Failure to act, these allies said, could
convince Iran that Washington isn't serious about halting its pursuit of
nuclear weapons... Secretary of State John Kerry has been advocating a
harder line against Mr. Assad for months. In Situation Room meetings, Mr.
Kerry has argued the stakes were broader than Syria and specifically cited
the strategic implications should Iran doubt 'our seriousness about red
lines,' a senior administration official said." http://t.uani.com/1cBTDZ2
WSJ:
"Residents of western Afghanistan are bracing for the possible
fallout from a U.S. strike on Syria, worried America's entry into
conflict could disrupt their trade ties with neighboring Iran-or expose
them to potential Iranian retaliation. Iran is a close ally of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, and the commander of Iran's elite
Revolutionary Guard Corps warned this week that the consequences for an
attack 'would not be limited to Syria.' Such war talk has raised
anxieties in Herat, Afghanistan's historic trade hub, just an hour's
drive from the Iranian border. Khalil Ahmad Yarmand, the head of the Herat
Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said a wider conflict could interrupt
the flow of goods to Afghanistan from the Iranian port of Bandar
Abbas." http://t.uani.com/17AGa0y
RFE/RL:
"In an unprecedented move, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif has initiated a debate over the alleged use of chemical weapons in
Syria on Facebook. On August 30, Zarif posted some questions and
thoughts, first in Persian and later in English, that prompted hundreds
of reactions and comments from his more than 95,000 Facebook
followers.The issues Zarif raised reflect Iran's official stance
regarding the current crisis, including its condemnation of chemical
weapons and opposition to a military intervention against its main
regional ally... Zarif's airing of his views on Facebook has given
Iranians a unique chance to discuss their thoughts about the situation in
Syria, including Iran's support for Assad, which has come under
criticism. Citizens in Iran are rarely, if ever, given the opportunity to
interact with their public officials. The debate that Zarif sparked on
Facebook offered a rare glimpse into their diverse views on an
international crisis that is likely to impact their country. 'Do you
think it's fair for Iranians to be pressured because of [Tehran's]
support for [Assad]? What do you get from Syria in return for all of your
support?' one user asks." http://t.uani.com/18mgGnE
Human Rights
Bahá'í World News
Service: "From the available information it is now
clear that the murder in Iran of Mr. Ataollah Rezvani was religiously
motivated. It is understood that Mr. Rezvani was shot in the back of his
head and that his body was found in his car near the railway station on
the outskirts of Bandar Abbas, the city where he resided with his family.
Information received thus far points to the possibility that his
assailants had forced him to drive to that location. His body was
discovered following a search when he failed to return home. Mr. Rezvani
was well-known as a Baha'i and was loved and respected by the people of Bandar
Abbas for his honesty and helpfulness." http://t.uani.com/17wKcZM
Reuters:
"Six out of eight Slovak citizens detained in Iran since May on
suspicion of spying after taking photographs while paragliding have been
released and returned home, Prime Minister Robert Fico said. Iran media
said they were detained on suspicion of taking photographs of restricted
areas. Slovak news website www.sme.sk
said the group was detained near the central Iranian city of Isfahan,
where there is uranium conversion facility. Speaking at a news conference
attended by the released Slovaks, Fico said the government also had a
plan how to proceed to secure the release of the remaining two." http://t.uani.com/15RWkUp
Domestic
Affairs
BBC:
"Iran's Assembly of Experts - ostensibly one of the most powerful
institutions in the Islamic Republic - is holding its biannual session in
Tehran. The body has the authority to appoint and remove the country's
Supreme Leader - a prospect which would naturally lead one to expect to
see the Supreme Leader defending his policies before assembly members as
they assess his performance on every state-related issue that he is
responsible for - which is just about everything. In reality, the
functions and membership of the assembly are largely irrelevant to
Iranian politics and the members are far from being vigilant, critical
monitors of the Supreme Leader. There are 86 clerics in the assembly,
most of them very old. Twice a year, they take a few days off from other
activities to convene as the top body." http://t.uani.com/174q54h
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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
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