|
|
Top Stories
Reuters:
"Iranians had a few hours access to Facebook and Twitter before a
Web firewall went back up by Tuesday and Tehran scotched talk of new
Internet freedoms by blaming a technical glitch for the brief opening of
access. Late on Monday, several people in Iran found they could log in to
their accounts on the U.S.-based social media sites without using
techniques to circumvent blocks on Twitter and Facebook that the state
imposed four years ago, during a clampdown on the biggest protests since
the Islamic revolution. That prompted speculation that it might herald a
broader easing of censorship under President Hassan Rouhani; last month,
he succeeded Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose re-election in 2009 sparked the
demonstrations, in which social media played a part. However, access was
being blocked again on Tuesday and an official involved in controlling
Internet usage said the brief lifting of the embargo at some Iranian
Internet service providers was probably caused by a technical
malfunction." http://t.uani.com/1a0ktZk
Der Spiegel:
"But the long-smoldering nuclear dispute with Tehran may be about to
take a sensational turn. SPIEGEL has learned from intelligence sources
that Iran's new president, Hassan Rohani, is reportedly prepared to
decommission the Fordo enrichment plant and allow international inspectors
to monitor the removal of the centrifuges. In return, he could demand
that the United States and Europe rescind their sanctions against the
Islamic Republic, lift the ban on Iranian oil exports and allow the
country's central bank to do international business again. Rohani
reportedly intends to announce the details of the offer, perhaps already
during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly at the end
of the month. His foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, will meet
Catherine Ashton, the European Union's top diplomat, in New York next
Sunday and give her a rough outline of the deal. If he were to make such
wide-ranging concessions, President Rohani would initiate a negotiating
process that could conceivably even lead to a resumption of bilateral
diplomatic relations with Washington... It was probably not until Rohani
was sworn into office that he learned the full extent of his country's
disastrous economic situation and now sees the need to take action.
According to intelligence sources, the economic data is much worse than
Tehran has been willing to admit. Iran can reportedly only avoid a
national bankruptcy if the international sanctions are lifted and new
money flows into the country." http://t.uani.com/199G7bl
NYT:
"Iran's Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that President Hassan
Rouhani has exchanged letters with President Obama in what may be a
further signal that the Iranian leader's victory in June elections has
created a chance for intensified diplomacy. But, asked about the tone of
Mr. Obama's letter - something the Iranians are extremely sensitive about
- Marzieh Afkham, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said Iran expected
improvement in the way that Washington talks to Iran. 'Unfortunately the
U.S. administration is still adopting the language of threat while
dealing with Iran,' Ms. Afkham said at a weekly news conference. 'We have
announced that this needs to change into the language of respect.' ...
Ms. Afkham said the exchange of letters was initiated by President Obama,
congratulating Mr. Rouhani on his election victory. 'The letter was a
congratulatory letter on President Rouhani's presidency and in response,'
Ms. Afkham said, Mr. Rouhani 'expressed thanks for the congratulations
and wrote about some several issues.' ... Ms. Afkham said the letters
were sent through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which has a section
looking after American interests." http://t.uani.com/1boPzxz
Nuclear
Program
AFP:
"The White House said Monday there were no current plans for
President Barack Obama to see Iran's new president at the UN next week,
but did not definitively rule out a meeting. Obama and President Hassan
Rowhani will both be at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New
York, ahead of a new round of talks between Tehran and world powers on
its nuclear program... 'There are currently no plans for the president to
meet with his Iranian counterpart at UNGA next week,' White House
spokesman Jay Carney told reporters... Carney said that Washington
remained willing to 'engage in the P-5 plus one or bilaterally' to end
the nuclear standoff. 'But we have also been very clear that Iran has
flagrantly failed to live up to its obligations under international
resolutions and needs to, in a verifiable way, forsake its nuclear
weapons program,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1a0oxZv
Reuters:
"Iran said on Monday it wanted to settle a decade-old nuclear
dispute with the West that has raised fears of a new Middle East war, but
the United States said it must back words with action. New Iranian atomic
energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi pledged greater cooperation with the U.N.
nuclear watchdog, delivering a conciliatory message before talks this
month about activities that the West suspects are aimed at developing a
nuclear weapons capability... Western diplomats say that, after years of
stalling, words are not enough. 'The proof will be in the pudding,' U.S.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who headed the U.S. delegation at the IAEA
meeting, told reporters. 'The words have to be followed by concrete
action.' In his speech, Moniz accused Iran of continuing to take
'provocative actions that raise legitimate concerns' about its nuclear
programme, an apparent reference to recent expansion of its uranium
enrichment capacity." http://t.uani.com/16AWrEi
Bloomberg:
"Iran's offer to negotiate a deal on its suspected nuclear weapons
program with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the five permanent
United Nations Security Council members and Germany, is being met with
skepticism. Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's former foreign minister and now its
top nuclear negotiator, said yesterday in Vienna that his country 'will
facilitate the resolution of this issue if the other side is willing.'
Iranian President Hassan Rohani is ready to decommission the Fordo
uranium enrichment facility in exchange for an easing of international
economic sanctions, the German news outlet Der Spiegel reported
yesterday, citing unidentified intelligence officials... Decommissioning
Fordo would be 'a good sign, but if they expect sanctions to be lifted in
the short term, they are deluding themselves,' said David Albright, a
former nuclear inspector and the president of ISIS. 'Iran will be looking
at how little they can try and do to get sanction relief.'" http://t.uani.com/16gNCw6
AP:
"Israel's prime minister on Tuesday urged the international
community to step up pressure on Iran despite signs of possible
flexibility from the new Iranian leadership in upcoming nuclear talks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet that halting Iran's
nuclear program will be the focus of his trip to the United States later
this month. Netanyahu is expected to meet President Barack Obama on Sept.
30 and deliver an address to the U.N. General Assembly... Netanyahu,
however, urged the world to stand tough and make four key demands, most
importantly that Iran stop enriching uranium - a potential pathway to
producing a nuclear weapon. According to the Israeli leader, the other
three demands should be that Iran remove its existing stockpile of
enriched uranium, close its enrichment facility in the central city of
Qom and stop producing plutonium, which can also be used for nuclear
arms." http://t.uani.com/17GCYS9
Sanctions
Reuters:
"The European Union's efforts to impose economic sanctions on Iran
suffered a new setback on Monday when a top court ruled that measures
against the Islamic Republic's biggest cargo carrier should be lifted.
The ruling by Europe's second-highest court follows similar decisions in
favour of some dozen Iranian companies in the last year, which have
raised alarm in Europe and the United States. Governments in the West
have been using economic sanctions such as asset freezes against banks,
shipping companies and other firms in an effort to curb Iran's nuclear
activities they fear aim at developing weapons. But the Luxembourg-based
General Court says the EU is failing to sufficiently justify the need to
impose sanctions against some targets. In the case of the Islamic
Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), the court said on Monday that
the evidence of its alleged involvement in nuclear proliferation offered
by European governments 'does not justify the adoption and maintenance of
restrictive measures'. Monday's ruling also included other Iranian
shipping firms connected to IRISL. EU governments have two months to
appeal, and sanctions will remain in place until the appeals process is
exhausted." http://t.uani.com/1aHI2a6
AP:
"An office tower is subject to forfeiture because revenue from it
was secretly funneled to a state-owned Iranian bank in violation of a
U.S. trade embargo, a judge ruled Monday. U.S. District Judge Katherine
Forrest made the forfeiture finding in Manhattan, ruling in a case
brought by the U.S. government in 2008. The U.S. government had said the
Alavi Foundation's sole partner in the ownership of the 36-story
Manhattan building was a shell company fronting for a secret interest
held by the state-owned bank of Iran, Bank Melli. The Iranian government
has been designated by the U.S. as a sponsor of international terrorism,
an allegation it has repeatedly denied. The judge agreed that monetary
transfers by the shell company, Assa Co., to Bank Melli violated money laundering
statutes. 'There is substantial, un-contradicted evidence that Assa is
owned and controlled by Bank Melli, and that Bank Melli is wholly owned
and controlled by Iran,' the judge said." http://t.uani.com/199G7bl
FT:
"Iranian shoppers are getting used to constantly rising prices,
especially - and most worryingly - prices of basic commodities. Inflation
over the past year has added to feelings of insecurity. Butter, for
example, is increasingly scarce in Tehran and, where available, its price
has doubled in the past few weeks, from 11,000 rials ($0.44) for 100
grammes to 22,000 rials. 'It is not only butter. It is almost all kinds
of foodstuffs and everything else like shampoo, toothbrushes and
clothes,' says Zohreh, a 45-year-old housewife. 'Prices do not cease
shocking me whenever I go shopping. You see prices are rising from
yesterday to today and then tomorrow.' Banafsheh, another housewife, said
she bought a pair of shoes for her teenage daughter at 680,000 rials last
year and bought the same pair at almost double the price this year.
Inflation is running at 39 per cent a year according to the central bank.
But independent economists reckon it is much higher, at 60 to 100 per
cent. Prices have been driven up by international sanctions over Iran's
nuclear programme, which have contributed to a more than 50 per cent fall
in the value of the rial this year. But Iranian economists also blame the
populist policies of former president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, such as cash
distributions to the poor and other expansionary monetary policies. Now,
ordinary people are questioning promises to curb inflation made by Hassan
Rouhani, the centrist president, before he won election in June." http://t.uani.com/188Ia0h
Syria
Conflict
NYT:
"Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, told Revolutionary Guards
commanders on Monday that Iran would support whomever Syrians want as
their leader even if it is not the country's staunch ally, President
Bashar al-Assad of Syria... But Mr. Rouhani's statement came as a video
surfaced online appearing to show Iranian commanders and Revolutionary
Guards soldiers training and fighting alongside pro-government militias
battling rebels trying to oust Mr. Assad. Taken together, the speech and
the video, if it is verified, point to the dual tracks employed by Iran
as it tries to navigate the Syrian civil war and its widespread impact in
the region. While calling for peace and diplomacy, Iran has also aided
the government's war effort... The video surfaced Friday on a Dutch
current affairs program. The show's producer said it had been provided by
rebels who said they had recovered it after the cameraman died in
battle... In the video, men who appear to be Iranian commanders and
soldiers are shown on patrol with Syrians, as well as engaged in
firefights against rebels. The men speak in Persian with distinct
regional accents." http://t.uani.com/1boNFwK
Opinion
& Analysis
Ray Takeyh in IHT: "Credibility is
a prized word in international politics. Countries that keep their
promises and enforce their red lines can be counted on to deter their
enemies and assure their allies. Nations, as with human beings, develop
reputations, and those that break their pledges are impossible to trust.
As such, the failure of the United States to bomb Syria is bound to
empower Iran and reinforce its quest for nuclear arms. The only problem
with such assertions is that the historical record suggests that the
so-called credibility argument rests on a very thin intellectual rail.
America's enemies put premium on its capabilities rather than indications
of its resolve. It is Washington's allies, however, that are likely to
prove sensitive to its intentions as opposed to its actual power. The
events of the past few weeks have probably impacted Israel more so than
Iran. The most tragic application of the credibility argument for the
United States was the Vietnam War. During Washington's quarter of century
involvement in Southeast Asia, successive administrations never claimed
that Vietnam by itself was relevant for U.S. security, but that the
failure to stop the advance of communism there was bound to embolden the
Soviet Union. America fought in Vietnamese jungles to prove to the
Kremlin that once the United States drew its red lines it would use all
of its power to achieve its objectives. In one of the ironies of history,
the collapse of U.S. efforts in Vietnam was followed a decade and a half
later by the demise of the Soviet Union. The guardians of the theocratic
state are clever men accustomed to sensing the subtleties of power.
Although cavalier in their public pronouncements and bold in terms of
their adventures in the Middle East, Iran's military men do respect
America's armada assembled on their periphery. They know well that
Washington is anxious to avoid a cascade of proliferation in the critical
Gulf region. And they know that the United States has the military power
to destroy their nuclear infrastructure. It is this calculus more so than
America's reticence in Syria that weighs on the minds of the mullahs.
Given the fact that Iran appreciates U.S. power, how can one account for
its nuclear truculence? Just because Tehran recognizes the reality of
American strength that does not mean that Iran will readily acquiesce to
its mandates. The clerical leaders have their own version of two-track
policy to forestall an American attack. On the one hand, they point to
their deterrent capability - terrorist allies such as Hezbollah are
emphasized and the notion of inflicting damage on America's military and
diplomatic personnel is subtly stressed. At the same time, Iran has
entangled the United States in a prolonged diplomatic process that has
successfully deferred a military response. Iran's diplomatic track has
been complemented by a charm offensive emphasizing its readiness to
arrive at a mutually satisfactory settlement. It is very hard for
Washington to justify a strike on Iran given the probability of
retaliation and Tehran's seeming willingness to resolve the issue at the
negotiating table." http://t.uani.com/18uKZMZ
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment