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Top Stories
Reuters:
"U.S. and Israeli officials differed over Iran's nuclear programme
on Wednesday as Israel called for its effective dismantlement and the
United States suggested safeguards could show that it is peaceful rather
than military. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke as they began talks ostensibly about
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations but which appeared likely to be
overshadowed by Iran. 'Iran must not have a nuclear weapons capability,
which means that they shouldn't have centrifuges (for) enrichment, they
shouldn't have a plutonium heavy-water plant, which is used only for
nuclear weapons,' Netanyahu told reporters. 'They should get rid of
(their amassed) fissile material, and they shouldn't have underground
nuclear facilities, (which are) underground for one reason - for military
purposes.' He called Iran's programme the region's foremost security
problem... Kerry, whose aides are exploring a diplomatic solution to rein
in Iranian nuclear activity, took a tack different from Netanyahu by
suggesting Iran could show its programme was peaceful by adhering to
international standards followed by other nations. 'We will pursue a
diplomatic initiative but with eyes wide open, aware that it will be
vital for Iran to live up to the standards that other nations that have
nuclear programs live up to as they prove that those programmes are
indeed peaceful,' Kerry said as he and Netanyahu began a meeting at the
U.S. ambassador's residence in Rome. 'We will need to know that actions
are being taken which make it crystal clear, undeniably clear, fail-safe
to the world that whatever programme is pursued is indeed a peaceful
programme,' he told reporters." http://t.uani.com/HhmDdE
Reuters:
"Iran is reaching out to its old oil buyers and is ready to cut
prices if Western sanctions against it are eased, promising a battle for
market share in a world less hungry for oil than when sanctions were
imposed. New Iranian President Hassam Rouhani's 'charm offensive' at the
United Nations last month, coupled with a historic phone call with U.S.
President Barak Obama, revived market hopes that Iranian barrels could
return with a vengeance if the diplomatic mood music translates into a
breakthrough in the stand-off over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
The Islamic republic's crude exports more than halved after the European
Union and United States, which accuse Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons,
tightened sanctions in mid-2012, cutting its budget revenues by at least
$35 billion a year. 'The Iranians are calling around already saying let's
talk ... You have to be careful, of course, but there is no law against
talking,' said a high-level oil trader, whose company is among many that
stopped buying Iran's oil because of sanctions... Several months before
the EU imposed its embargo, executives from large Western companies and
buyers of Iranian oil, such as Shell and Total, said the move would lead
to higher oil prices and EU consumers would be the main losers. But
benchmark Brent oil prices have barely changed in the past two years,
hovering in the $90-$120 a barrel range despite the loss of Iranian
barrels and supply disruptions from Iraq, Libya and Nigeria... 'It's a
different market. It's a market that has a greater degree of supply than
the market they, Iranians, exited,' said a trader with an oil major, who
used to buy Iranian oil." http://t.uani.com/18bbz82
AFP:
"With nuclear talks between Iran and western powers gathering steam,
the Obama administration will likely face an uphill battle to convince
Congress to back any deal rolling back its tough sanctions regime. For
years, US lawmakers have carefully crafted legislation aimed at reining
in Iran's suspect nuclear program and moves to provide even some
sanctions relief are likely to be met with suspicion on Capitol Hill.
Even as the nations leading the talks with Tehran -- the United States,
Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany -- met for the first time with
the new Iranian leadership in Geneva last week, US lawmakers issued warnings
to the negotiators to be on their guard." http://t.uani.com/18baVHL
 Sanctions
Reuters: "Better U.S.-Iranian
relations would be very welcome for South African mobile phone operator
MTN Group as it has been unable to repatriate around $450 million from a
unit in Iran due to sanctions, a company spokesman said.
Johannesburg-based MTN, Africa's largest mobile phone operator, said its
funds had been blocked since early last year because of Washington's
sanctions against Tehran. 'Our primary focus remains to ensure that we
are sanction-compliant with everything we do there,' said spokesman Nik
Kershaw. 'But obviously it would be a great outcome if things did
improve.' MTN owns 49 percent of local unit MTN Irancell, which
contributed 24 percent of its 2012 revenue. Iran's Ghanoon newspaper on
Tuesday quoted MTN Irancell executive Alireza Ghalambar Dezfouli as
saying MTN had been unable to repatriate around $450 million from Iran.
Kershaw confirmed the money in Iran was around that amount, although he
could not immediately give an exact figure because of exchange rates.
Around $120 million of that is dividends owed to MTN with the remainder
made up of loans due to be repaid to the South African company, he
said." http://t.uani.com/1ag9RqL
FP:
"Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said in an interview
that it would be a mistake for the Obama administration to relax its
sanctions on Iran or free up tens of billions of dollars in frozen
Iranian funds, highlighting Jerusalem's growing concern that the Obama
administration may be willing to make too many concessions to Iran during
the current nuclear talks between the two longtime adversaries. Steinitz,
a close political ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told
The Cable that the punishing Western sanctions that have been imposed on
Iran are the only reason that government of Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani is willing to engage in direct talks with the Obama
administration. With the Iranian economy in free fall, Steinitz said the
sanctions should be kept in place, or even strengthened, until Iran
agreed to fully dismantle its nuclear weapons program. 'Iran is now
coming to the negotiating table solely because of the pressure,' Steinitz
said in the interview. 'They are really on the verge of the collapse and
that's the reason they're coming to the negotiating table with some
willingness to negotiate.'" http://t.uani.com/18KlhCG
Human Rights
AP:
"A Southern California preacher who was briefly detained after
protesting outside an Iranian prison was expected back home Wednesday,
his daughter said. Eddie Romero surrendered peacefully to guards at Evin
Prison in Tehran on Monday after repeatedly shouting 'Let my people go'
in Farsi to protest the imprisonment of four Christian converts and a
human rights advocate, Sarah Yetter said. He was held and questioned but
called his family early Tuesday morning from the Swiss Embassy in Tehran
and said he would return Wednesday afternoon to Los Angeles on a Turkish
Airlines flight, Yetter said... Romero hoped to raise awareness about
Farshid Fathi, Saeed Abedini, Mostafa Bordbar and Alireza Seyyedian. The
Christian converts were imprisoned because of their faith, Afshar said.
He also protested the imprisonment of a non-Christian, Mohammad Ali
Dadkhah, a human rights advocate and lawyer who defended
dissidents." http://t.uani.com/1cdBm7U
AFP:
"Iran has decided to spare the life of a convicted drug trafficker
who survived a hanging, media reports on Wednesday quoted Justice
Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi as saying. The reports follow calls from
within Iran and appeals from international rights groups against the man
found alive in a morgue facing execution for a second time. 'The convict
who survived (the death penalty) will not be executed again,'
Pour-Mohammadi said late Tuesday in remarks reported by the official IRNA
news agency. 'After putting much effort to prevent the second execution
of this convict, we have received a positive response,' he said without
elaborating." http://t.uani.com/163kXOz
CBS:
"In 2009, prominent Iranian activist Majid Tavakoli was arrested
(again) for criticizing the country's leadership and protesting its
disputed presidential election. He's been imprisoned ever since, enduring
a hunger strike that reportedly left him critically ill. On Monday,
Tavakoli was a free man - thanks in part to a U.S.-based human rights
activist who reignited a campaign to release him after confronting Iran's
foreign minister in New York. 'I'm totally overjoyed,' Advancing Human
Rights executive director David Keyes told CBSNews.com. '(Tavakoli)
symbolizes a lot of other people in Iran.' ... Keyes says the backlash on
Facebook was the catalyst for Tavakoli's release. '(Zarif) was being
shamed by so many people,' Keyes said. 'It wasn't worth the price.'"
http://t.uani.com/1diCJBM
Domestic
Politics
Reuters:
"Iran is considering an interest rate hike to fight high inflation,
a senior official was quoted as saying, in a sign that the government of
newly elected President Hassan Rouhani plans economic policy changes.
Mohammad Nahavandian, a member of the Money and Credit Council, said a
rise in interest rates was being studied although the central bank would
have to move carefully because the economy was so weak, the Tehran Times
reported, citing the semi-official Mehr news agency. 'Currently, the
country is grappling with inflationary recession, so that it is not
possible to change the rates swiftly,' Nahavandian was quoted as
saying." http://t.uani.com/1a96L6b
Foreign Affairs
Reuters:
"Upset at President Barack Obama's policies on Iran and Syria,
members of Saudi Arabia's ruling family are threatening a rift with the
United States that could take the alliance between Washington and the
kingdom to its lowest point in years. Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief
is vowing that the kingdom will make a 'major shift' in relations with
the United States to protest perceived American inaction over Syria's
civil war as well as recent U.S. overtures to Iran, a source close to
Saudi policy said on Tuesday. Prince Bandar bin Sultan told European
diplomats that the United States had failed to act effectively against Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad or in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was
growing closer to Tehran, and had failed to back Saudi support for
Bahrain when it crushed an anti-government revolt in 2011, the source
said. 'The shift away from the U.S. is a major one,' the source said.
'Saudi doesn't want to find itself any longer in a situation where it is
dependent.'" http://t.uani.com/Hhj86Y
AFP:
"Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi called on the United
Nations on Tuesday to undertake reforms to reflect the 'growing role of
developing countries'. 'To continue its presence in the international
political and economic scene, the United Nations needs to undertake
fundamental reforms,' the ISNA news agency quoted Araqchi as saying. He
was speaking at a ceremony in Tehran to mark the 68th anniversary of the
UN charter going into effect, which was attended by UN Development
Programme administrator Helen Clark... 'These illegal, inhumane and
oppressive sanctions target Iranian citizens ... as well as the country's
developing programmes in health, education and its fight against
poverty,' Araqchi said... Tehran has struggled to obtain medical supplies
because of sanctions, even though the health sector is not directly
targeted by the international measures. Clark told AFP on Tuesday that
'sanctions either made by Security Council or unilateral should not harm
humanitarian needs,' but said that the World Health Organisation and the
UN children's agency UNICEF had both offered to procure medicine to trade
with Iran." http://t.uani.com/1h84GfD
Al-Monitor:
"The head of Iran's Basij organization, Brigadier General Mohammad
Reza Naghdi, spoke at a cultural event on clothing on Oct. 21 about the
influence of Western styles on Iranian clothing and how cultural values
in Europe are causing Europeans to become extinct. 'The European race,
just like the dinosaurs, is in the process of extinction,' said Naghdi.
'An obscene and vulgar culture is becoming prevalent over there.' He
added that one 'reason their race is becoming extinct is the prevalence
of homosexuality and living with animals.' Naghdi continued, 'Their
economy, culture and morals is in complete decline. ... If 100 years from
now, you want to find the European race, you will have to send a research
team because they have a declining birth rate.' Although many European
countries have a declining fertility rate, Iran suffers the same, and in
the final year of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, government programs
were implemented to address this issue." http://t.uani.com/1diAMp5
Opinion
& Analysis
Boston Globe Editorial:
"In 1993, South African president F.W. de Klerk acknowledged
something the world had long suspected: South Africa had developed
nuclear weapons and then destroyed them. De Klerk's decision to come
clean about South Africa's activities - and to invite the International
Atomic Energy Agency in to verify the claim - helped transform South
Africa from an international pariah into a trusted actor on the world
stage. Today, Iran is in a similar situation. It wants to take its place
as a respected regional power but finds itself hamstrung by crippling
international sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was elected on
a pledge to remove those sanctions by clearing up suspicions about Iran's
nuclear program. It is hard to see how he can do that without admitting
Iran's past research into nuclear weapons. That acknowledgement - plus a
series of concrete pledges and agreements to allow unannounced
inspections - should be the centerpiece of any agreement between Iran and
the United States. Although Iran has always insisted that its nuclear
activities are peaceful, it continues to install far more centrifuges
than a peaceful program requires. And while Iran has been careful to keep
its stockpile of enriched uranium under 250 kilograms - roughly the
amount needed to produce enough weapons-grade fuel for one nuclear weapon
- it still has far more than a civilian program needs. US intelligence
agencies believe that Iran halted most of its work on building a bomb in
2003, amid international attention. But Iran's habit of walking up to the
red line, even without crossing it, suggests that the country could be
hedging its bets. The Iranian regime should remove doubts about its
intentions by disclosing past efforts, agreeing to voluntary curbs on its
uranium enrichment work, and providing greater transparency into its
nuclear activities." http://t.uani.com/1idFUbO
Matthew Levitt in
NYDN: "Thirty years ago today, on Oct. 23, 1983, a
delivery van filled with 18,000 pounds of explosives slammed into the
U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. Seconds later, another car bomb hit a
French military building four miles away. A total of 241 American and 58
French soldiers lost their lives, all members of the Multi-National
Forces in Lebanon. The attack on the Marine barracks was not only the
single-largest nonnuclear explosion since World War II, it was also the
deadliest terrorist attack against Americans up to that time. And the
legacy of that moment haunts us to this day. The attacks, perpetrated by
Hezbollah under orders from Iran, announced the arrival of the Lebanese
Shiite group as a potent, anti-Western terrorist force supported and
directed by Tehran. Today, despite warming relations between the United
States and Iran, Hezbollah remains a weapon in Iran's arsenal, a means to
pursue the agenda of the Islamic Revolution in Syria and in terrorist
operations around the world. Despite the current charm offensive of
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani - and suggestions by some that the Islamic
Republic is moderating its stance - it is highly unlikely that Iran will
ever give a thought to reining in Hezbollah. Founded by the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps soon after the 1979 Islamic Revolution,
Hezbollah has always had an intimate relationship with Iran based on a
shared ideological foundation. Today, Hezbollah is no longer just a proxy
of Iran; it is in a 'strategic partnership' with Iran, as National
Counterterrorism Center director Matthew Olsen put it. Or, in the words
of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Hezbollah and Iran
are in 'a partnership arrangement . . . with the Iranians as the senior
partner.' For the past 30 years, this has proven to be a mutually
beneficial relationship. From Iran, Hezbollah gets tens of thousands of
rockets, hundreds of millions of dollars a year, training and operational
logistical support from Iran. From Hezbollah, Iran gets an extended reach
- to the Mediterranean and beyond - and a means of targeting its enemies
from afar with reasonable deniability. Today, Hezbollah targets Israeli
tourists around the world - in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Thailand, Nigeria - not
out of any Lebanese interest but at Iran's command. The U.S. State
Department concluded in its annual Country Reports on terrorism that 2012
represented 'a marked resurgence of Iran's state sponsorship of
terrorism' in which 'Iran and Hezbollah's terrorist activity has reached
a tempo unseen since the 1990s.' Could the recent election of Rouhani as
president mark the beginning of the end for this 30-year, violent
partnership between Tehran and Hezbollah? Not likely... As negotiators
try to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear
program, the anniversary of the Beirut bombings serves as a timely
reminder that tensions with Iran ought not be limited to Tehran's pursuit
of a nuclear weapon. At the very same time, through its terrorist proxy,
this government is eagerly sponsoring the killing of innocents around the
world." http://t.uani.com/19uVNZG
Admiral James A.
Lyons in WT: "With all the media focus on the
recently concluded talks in Geneva with Iran over its nuclear program,
it's easy to overlook the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Marine barracks
bombing in Beirut 30 years ago on Oct. 23, 1983. On that day, 241 of our
finest military personnel were killed, with scores more seriously
injured. Almost simultaneously, a similar attack was carried out at the
French military headquarters, killing 58 French paratroopers. We have
positive proof that these attacks were planned and ordered by Iran using
their Islamic Amal terrorist proxies - forerunners to Hezbollah - in
Lebanon. It is astounding that we had the information to prevent these
attacks, and even more astounding is the 'reason' for not retaliating.
The National Security Agency issued a highly classified message dated
Sept. 27, 1983, which contained the instructions that Iranian Ambassador
Ali Akbar Montashemi in Damascus had previously received from Tehran and
then gave to Husayn al-Musawi, the leader of the Islamic Amal. Those
instructions directed the terrorist group to concentrate its attacks on
the Multi-National Force but take a 'spectacular' action against the U.S.
Marines... At the time of these 'acts of war,' President Obama was still
a student at Columbia University and later at Harvard. He was probably
more involved in absorbing the wisdom of the leftist agenda than on the
tragic events carried out by Iran against our military. However, he is
certainly aware today of the thousands of our military personnel who have
died as the result of Iran's actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also
must realize that Iran has provided material and training support to the
September 11 hijackers. Iran was found guilty of providing such support
by Judge George B. Daniels of U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York in December 2011. Previously, Judge Royce Lamberth
of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found Iran guilty
in the Marine barracks bombing. Iran remains the world leader in
state-sponsored terrorism. It is a rogue regime that will do anything to
ensure the survivability of the corrupt theocracy. The mullahs have not
spent billions to build underground nuclear facilities, as well as
absorbing crippling economic sanctions, to simply negotiate away their
nuclear weapons objectives. In August 1995, Russia offered to provide
Iran with a 10-year supply of fuel for their nuclear plant at Bushehr for
only $30 million. Iran adamantly rejected the proposal because Russia
insisted that Iran return the spent fuel rods to Russia for reprocessing.
Case closed. Iran, with enough oil and gas to last at least a few hundred
years, doesn't need nuclear capability for electricity. With Mr. Obama's
eagerness to negotiate with Iran, it has been reported that he is
weighing the possibility of unfreezing billions in Iranian assets in
response to 'potential' concessions by Iran. Such a move would be
nonsensical. If Mr. Obama were to unfreeze billions of Iranian assets,
then the money should not go to Iran, but to the surviving families of
the Marine barracks bombing, as well as to the surviving families of the
September 11, 2001, atrocity, as our courts have mandated." http://t.uani.com/18bmXAZ
Yochi Dreazen in
FP: "Congress has spent the past three years
imposing tough sanctions on Iran that are designed to cripple its economy
and force Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. In recent weeks, a
parade of congressmen and senators have demanded that those sanctions
stay in place, never mind the nuclear talks between Washington and
Tehran. Lost in the noise is the fact that President Obama can -- and
often does -- lift the measures with a stroke of the pen. The current
sanctions have sharply limited overseas investment in Iran's energy
sector, locked foreign financial institutions that do oil-related
business with Iran's central bank out of the U.S. banking system, and
required banks around the globe to freeze more than $50 billion of
Iranian money. In July, the House approved new sanctions by a whopping
400-20 vote designed to effectively make it impossible for Iran to sell
any oil abroad; similar legislation will likely be introduced in the
Senate before the end of the month. The measures have devastated the
Iranian economy and driven the value of its currency to historic lows.
The question now is whether they'll remain in place. Congress can draft
any sanctions it wants to, but the White House has tremendous leeway to
decide how strictly they get enforced. The legislation that imposed tough
sanctions on Iran's central bank gives Obama a 'national security waiver'
he can use to temporarily soften or lift the measures. The
sanctions put in place to punish countries that buy Iranian oil allow the
State Department to issue waivers to those that have significantly reduced
their purchases. Key allies like Japan and the ten members of the
European Union have been protected from the sanctions since the measures
were put in place several years ago. 'The sanctions give the president
maximum leeway,' a senior administration official said. 'That's how
they were designed from the start.' Congress has tried to make it as hard
as possible for the White House to use its waiver powers. To lift
the sanctions on Iran's central bank, for instance, the administration
has to certify -- in writing -- that fully enforcing the measures would
harm the national security interests of the U.S. The waiver, which the
White House has never used, would also have to be renewed every 120 days,
a measure lawmakers inserted into the bills to force the White House to
face a heated political fight over the sanctions every four months... If
anything, the White House has shown a willingness to fight the Hill over
sanctions that it thinks go too far. The administration initially lobbied
against the measures targeting the Iranian central bank, arguing that
they threatened the stability of the global financial system. Last week,
Wendy Sherman, the State Department's chief nuclear negotiator, asked
Congress to hold off on imposing any new sanctions on Iran while the
talks with Tehran continued. The bill being crafted together by lawmakers
in the Senate would impose punish companies that do business with the
Iranian shipping, construction and petrochemical sectors... 'If the
president were to ask for a lifting of existing sanctions it would be
extremely difficult in the House and Senate to support that,' Rep. Steve
Israel (D-NY), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee, told The Cable last week. 'I'm willing to listen but I think
that asking Congress to weaken and diminish current sanctions is not
hospitable on Capitol Hill.' The president, though, doesn't need to ask
lawmakers like Israel for permission to lift or modify the sanctions. At
least for the moment, the power to determine the measures' future sits
inside the White House, not the halls of Congress." http://t.uani.com/1a77qIY
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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
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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