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Top Stories
AFP: "Tehran
said Sunday it will keep talking with world powers on its disputed
nuclear programme despite a US move to blacklist Iranian companies for
evading sanctions. 'We are pursuing the negotiations seriously and of
course we will give a well-considered, purposeful, smart and proper
reaction to any inappropriate and unconstructive move,' Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his Facebook page. This was despite the
Americans having made 'inappropriate moves to which we gave the
appropriate response by considering all aspects of the issue'. 'The
negotiations and achieving a result are a difficult task and will
definitely have a lot of ups and downs. We have predicted that from the
very beginning.' He later told CBS television in the United States: 'The
process has been derailed, the process has not died.'" http://t.uani.com/18LDxce
Free Beacon:
"New statistics indicate that the Obama administration intentionally
refrained from sanctioning Iran following the June election of President
Hassan Rouhani, lending credence to multiple reports that the White House
began secretly courting Tehran from the first moments of Rouhani's
presidency. Prior to Rouhani's June 14 election, the U.S. Treasury
Department issued 10 sanction announcements targeting a total of 183
entities that were aiding and abetting Iran's rogue oil trade and its
nuclear weapons program, according to statistics compiled from publicly
available releases on the Treasury's website. New designations were
issued each month from February to June 4, including six in the month of
May alone. However, just two announcements targeting a total of 29 rogue
entities were issued following Rouhani's election, which was accompanied
by a three-month silence from the Treasury Department. Treasury did not
issue a new designation until Sept. 6, and it targeted some 10 rogue
entities... The stark contrast in the Obama administration's approach on
the sanctions front led some Iran experts to suggest that the White House
shifted its policy in an attempt to woo the Rouhani administration before
public talks that led to a recently inked nuclear accord. 'The Treasury
folks have typically been warriors in this effort,' said Unitd Against
Nuclear Iran spokesman Nathan Carleton. 'It seems incredibly likely that
this change reflects the White House and State's efforts to reach out to
the Iranians following Rouhani's election.' 'Obviously, this is a
dramatic difference, and it suggests a policy change,' added UANI
research director Matan Shamir, who has been tracking U.S. sanctions of
Iran for months." http://t.uani.com/1b39wV6
Reuters:
"Iran said on Saturday it had sent a second live monkey into space
and brought it back safely, the latest demonstration of the country's
missile capabilities, state news agency IRNA reported. 'President Hassan
Rouhani ... congratulated Iranian scientists and experts on successfully
sending a second living creature into space,' the news agency said. Iran
said it launched its first monkey to space in January... The West worries
that long-range ballistic technology used to propel Iranian satellites
into orbit could be put to use dispatching nuclear warheads to a target.
'We are aware of reports that Iran has launched an object into space,'
said Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. National Security
Council. 'Our concerns with Iran's development of space launch vehicle
technologies are well-known, and we continue to monitor these
developments closely.' Riki Ellison, a U.S. missile defense expert, said
the launch, if proven true, showed Iran had not halted work on its long
range missile development program. 'If it's true, they continue to expand
and grow their kong range missile capabilities regardless of their
overture to the West with self reduction of their nuclear capabilities,'
Ellison said." http://t.uani.com/1fyb1Ql
Nuclear
Negotiations
AFP:
"The United States on Friday denied that blacklisting more than a
dozen companies and people accused of evading sanctions against Iran had
violated a landmark nuclear deal reached with Tehran. And a State
Department spokeswoman defended the surprise announcement that caused
Iran to walk out of talks in Vienna, saying Iranian officials had been
given a heads-up. 'We have been very clear throughout the entire negotiating
process with the Iranians that we were going to continue designations.
They knew that,' spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters." http://t.uani.com/1hWGuPz
Reuters:
"President Barack Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice
played host to a series of meetings with Israeli officials last week to
try to gain their support for an interim deal with Iran aimed at
containing Tehran's nuclear program... Rice, along with her deputy, Tony
Blinken, and senior officials from the departments of State and Treasury,
met with Israeli national security adviser Yossi Cohen and other Israeli
officials on Thursday and Friday. 'During the meetings, the U.S. team
reaffirmed President Obama's goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a
nuclear weapon,' the White House said." http://t.uani.com/18LD6Pd
Sanctions
WashPost:
"Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that the Senate is 'very
likely' to pass a new sanctions bill against Iran despite a deal the
United States and other world powers reached to address the Islamic republic's
nuclear ambitions. 'I think that it's very likely that we could have a
sanctions bill, which would take effect at the end of six months if there
is no result in the negotiations, is I think what it would be,' McCain
said on CNN's 'State of the Union.'" http://t.uani.com/1hWGi2J
WSJ:
"Western powers will remain 'vigilant' about enforcing sanctions on
Iran, even as they push ahead in nuclear talks, U.K. Foreign Secretary
William Hague said... Speaking to reporters on his way into a meeting of
EU foreign ministers Monday, Mr. Hague said there would likely be
'difficult negotiations' with Iran in coming weeks over the
implementation of last month's deal. 'Meanwhile, we must maintain our
vigilance on sanctions and maintain the sanctions that we aren't suspending
so that Iran has a clear incentive to make a comprehensive deal' on its
nuclear program, he said." http://t.uani.com/18LyGb3
Reuters:
"There is no reason why the European Union could not relax some
sanctions on Iran in January as part of an interim deal between Tehran
and major powers to curb its nuclear programme, Swedish Foreign Minister
Carl Bildt said on Saturday... 'I would hope we would see the lifting of
the sanctions in January. I see no reason against it.'" http://t.uani.com/1gBvcjm
Reuters:
"South Korea's Iranian crude imports rose in November from October,
but still met a target of a 15 percent cut in shipments for
June-November, which ensured it secured an extension of a U.S. sanctions
waiver... South Korea imported 532,851 tonnes of Iranian crude last
month, or 130,193 barrels per day (bpd), up 26.7 from October, but down
34.6 from a year earlier, preliminary customs data showed on Sunday. That
makes South Korea's crude imports from Iran for June-November 125,769
bpd, according to Reuters calculations, meeting the 125,814 bpd sanctions
waiver target." http://t.uani.com/1jbeqtg
Syria Conflict
Reuters:
"Syria tendered to import food on Friday using a credit line from
Iran's export bank in what could be a test of last month's landmark deal
to ease Western financial sanctions on Tehran... 'This is the first time
I have seen a tender from Syria specifically offering payment by Iran,'
one European trader said... 'If Syria is indeed able to buy food staples
using Iranian funds, concerns that the net benefit to Iran will end up
being far greater than the $7 billion outlined in the nuclear agreement
are also likely to increase,' said Torbjorn Soltvedt of risk consultancy
Maplecroft. 'The threshold for potential sellers to engage with Iran is
now much lower,' Soltvedt said. A former U.S. Treasury official said it
was feasible that Syria could set up a payment mechanism using Iranian
funds held in various bank accounts abroad. Such funds have been used by
Tehran to pay for its own food deals in recent months. 'Iran has so much
money outside of the country held in accounts. That I suspect can be used
to finance purchases and keep the money flowing to Assad,' said the
former official, who advises companies on sanctions." http://t.uani.com/1hdTJbF
Human Rights
NYT:
"A stone's throw from President Hassan Rouhani's office, in an alley
blocked off by security forces, Iran's main opposition leader has been
living under house arrest together with his wife for the past thousand
days or so. Only months ago, merely uttering in public the name of the
leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, could have led to arrest; a newspaper's
printing it invited almost certain shutdown. Last week, however, calls
for the release of Mr. Moussavi and another prominent opposition leader,
Mehdi Karroubi, echoed over the campus of Shahid Behesti University in
Tehran, shouted by students who carried a green banner, the color of the
2009 anti-government protests that propelled both men, presidential
candidates at the time, into their opposition roles - and ultimately
house arrest. On Tuesday nine prominent politicians, activists and
journalists wrote an open letter to Mr. Rouhani asking him to take
measures to lift the house arrests of Mr. Moussavi and Mr. Karroubi. The
letter, featured prominently on the front page of the reformist newspaper
Etemaad, warned him 'not to remain entrapped in the past,' and encouraged
him to 'enhance national unity.'" http://t.uani.com/1cM5kxv
ICHRI:
"Tehran University Political Science Professor Sadegh Zibakalam publicly
challenged Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani's recent
remarks stating that Western countries' criticism of Iran's human rights
record is in opposition to Islam. 'Contrary to what is routinely said, I
believe the criticisms raised against us about human rights have nothing
to do with Islam,' Zibakalam said in a speech at Tehran's Shahid Beheshti
University on Human Rights Day... Sadegh Zibakalam asked Iranian
authorities to prove their claims against Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. 'We say that Ahmed Shaheed, the UN
Special Rapporteur, is a mercenary and is associated with Zionism. Let's
assume that this individual is a mercenary, a CIA agent, or a Freemason,
but we have to take note that in his 60- to 70-page report, he has listed
the names and references of individuals whose human rights have been
violated.'" http://t.uani.com/1bKpIy0
Domestic
Politics
Al-Monitor:
"Saeed Hajjarian, who is often referred to as the main theoretician
of the Reformist movement in Iran, spoke to the Iranian Students' News
Agency about a variety of issues, including the economic problems facing
the country... In regard to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
economic policies, which saw 40% inflation and 5.6% negative growth,
Hajjarian said, 'It might take 20 years to make up for it,' adding,
'People should not expect that all the problems will be solved in four
years or eight years, because the problems have been institutionalized.'
Hajjarian said that in contrast to Rouhani's administration,
Ahmadinejad's administration moved both in the wrong direction and at too
fast a pace, and it made the country 'poor and miserable.'" http://t.uani.com/JyJW4B
Foreign Affairs
NYT:
"An influential Saudi prince blasted the Obama administration on
Sunday for what he called indecision and a loss of credibility with
allies in the Middle East... Saudi unhappiness with Iran's growing power
in the region is no secret, and the Saudis, who themselves engage with
Iran, have no problem with the United States trying to do the same, the
prince said. But he complained that bilateral talks between Iranian and
American officials had been kept secret from American allies, sowing
further mistrust. The prince said Iran must give up its ambitions for a nuclear
weapons program - Iran says its nuclear program is only for civilian
purposes - and stop using its own troops and those of Shiite allies like
the Lebanese organization Hezbollah to fight in neighboring countries,
like Syria and Iraq. 'The game of hegemony toward the Arab countries is
not acceptable,' the prince said. Just as Arabs will not dress as
Westerners do, he said, 'we won't accept to wear Iranian clothes,
either.'" http://t.uani.com/1fgIcHl
AFP:
"A retired FBI agent who disappeared more than six years ago during
a visit to an Iranian island in the Gulf is not incarcerated in Iran, the
country's foreign minister said Sunday. Robert Levinson was in the news
here this week following reports by the Associated Press and the
Washington Post that the CIA had been paying him to gather intelligence.
The US government had repeatedly said that Levinson was on a business
trip when he disappeared on Kish Island, a tourist destination. Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Levinson's fate was 'a
mystery.' 'What we know (is) that he is not incarcerated in Iran,' Zarif
said in an interview with CBS's 'Face the Nation.' 'If he is, he's not
incarcerated by the government, and I believe the government runs the,
pretty much, good control of the country,' he added. Asked whether Iran
would return him if he was found, Zarif said, 'If we can trace him and
find him, we will certainly discuss this.'" http://t.uani.com/JrAWhh
Reuters:
"An American with links to the Central Intelligence Agency was
investigating suspicions that Iranian government officials were diverting
petroleum funds and laundering them through Canada when he went missing
in Iran in 2007, a lawyer for his family said on Friday. Robert Levinson,
a private detective and former FBI agent, was investigating allegations
of corruption by well-connected people in Iran, lawyer David McGee told
Reuters. McGee, who has been looking into Levinson's disappearance for
six years, said the missing American's inquiry involved trying to trace
money laundered through Iranian exiles living in Toronto. He did not
provide further details of the investigation." http://t.uani.com/1bTyk6z
Reuters:
"Iranian intelligence authorities have arrested a man on charges of
spying for Britain's MI6, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on
Saturday. The head of the Kerman region's revolutionary court, Dadkhoda
Salari, told the agency the suspect made contact with British agents 11
times in recent months, inside and outside the country. According to
Salari, the suspect has admitted his guilt and he is currently on
trial." http://t.uani.com/1fgNCC1
Opinion
& Analysis
David Ignatius Interview of Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif in WashPost: "Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that despite hitting a 'snag'
in nuclear negotiations last week, Iran is committed '100 percent' to
reaching a comprehensive final agreement. But he voiced tough positions
on key issues and said 'it's going to be a bumpy road,' with difficult
bargaining ahead. Zarif, who is Iran's top chief negotiator, outlined his
views in an hour-long interview at the foreign ministry here Sunday. He
said that his country would continue the talks, despite what he called
the 'extremely counterproductive' U.S. Treasury Department announcement
last week of new steps to enforce existing sanctions. Iranian concern was
eased, Zarif said, after his contacts last week with Secretary of State
John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the chief European
Union negotiator, Lady Catherine Ashton. 'What I have heard from
Secretary Kerry and Lady Ashton is that they are committed to an early
finalization of the Geneva process with a view to reaching a
comprehensive agreement. I share that objective.' ... Zarif, seen by
critics as the leader of Iran's 'charm offensive,' has become the most
visible international face of a regime seeking a deal that would end
punishing economic sanctions. He helped negotiate the breakthrough
interim agreement reached last month in Geneva to freeze Iran's nuclear
program for six months. He said that in a follow-on comprehensive
agreement, Iran would affirm its commitment to a peaceful nuclear
program. But he didn't provide specific responses to administration
concerns about activities the U.S. argues aren't consistent with a
civilian program. On enrichment, for example, Zarif insisted that Iran
could continue its domestic program with some limits and greater
transparency. 'We do not see any reason now that we have put so much time
and effort in it, and brought [the West] to the point of abandoning the
illusion of zero enrichment in Iran, why should we accept anything less.'
As for Iran's heavy-water reactor at Arak that would produce plutonium
that be reprocessed as nuclear fuel, Zarif explained: 'We cannot roll back
the clock 20 years and ask Iran to simply get rid of a project that has
been the subject of a great deal of human and materiel investment.
However, there are various ways of making sure that this reactor will
remain exclusively peaceful.' Asked about a U.S. demand to close the
enrichment facility at Fordow, built into a mountainside, Zarif said: 'If
you sit in Iran, and you see people having concerns about Fordow, the
only conclusion you can draw is that they want to attack you.' Zarif said
he didn't want to negotiate in public, and he argued that acceptable
compromises could be found on such issues. But President Obama, pressed
by Israel, has said he would reject an agreement that doesn't reverse the
Iranian program and ensure that it will be restricted to civilian uses
only. 'We do not follow a policy of ambiguity; this is not our intention.
We follow a policy of clarity - that we do not seek nuclear weapons,'
Zarif said. 'But we're not going to accept diktats." http://t.uani.com/1hdSo4E
Ephraim Asculai & Emily Landau in The National Interest:
"The interim agreement between the P5+1 and Iran does not address
Iran's military nuclear activities and aspirations. Its only stated
purpose was to freeze the current situation - possibly delaying Iran's
decision to 'breakout', and slightly prolonging the time that would be
needed to achieve the ability to produce a nuclear explosive device
if/when a decision is taken - with an eye to gaining time for negotiating
a comprehensive deal. However, the interim deal has nevertheless become a
new starting point for progressing toward a comprehensive deal.
Therefore, what it does and does not establish have more far-reaching
implications, and go beyond the goal of providing some breathing space
for the more difficult negotiations to come. Iran has received some
sanctions relief, and companies are already lining up to resume business
with Iran in anticipation of further easing of economic and financial
restrictions. The thorny issue of Iran's right to enrich uranium has
already been given a clear direction in the interim deal: the P5+1 have
granted de facto recognition of Iran's ability to continue to enrich
uranium, at least to the low level of up to 5%. While no explicit reference
to an Iranian 'right' is mentioned, the deal stipulates that some
enrichment will be allowed in the final deal, with the details left to be
worked out at a later stage. Significant issues were purposely avoided in
the initial rounds of talks, and tacitly deferred to the final
negotiations. But their omission is already raising concern. These
include: the military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program as included in
IAEA reports; the application of scrupulous inspections, including the
right to search for concealed nuclear and nuclear-related facilities; the
ultimate fate of Iran's uranium-enrichment program; and the fate of the
heavy-water reactor at Arak. For example, the issue of inspections at
Parchin - which were very prominent on the IAEA agenda for the past two
years - are conspicuously absent from the IAEA's current to-do list. When
the inspectors recently visited Arak, following the interim agreement, no
mention was even made of the need to inspect Parchin. All of these issues
must be resolved if the ultimate aim of the P5+1 - to remove any
possibility of a rapid nuclear breakout - is meticulously pursued.
However, beyond the specific technicalities that need to be worked out,
the fundamental question that must guide international efforts in negotiating
a final deal is whether Iran is willing to give up what it has
consistently denied having - its military nuclear program and
aspirations. Once a decision is taken, the technicalities will not pose a
major hurdle. This is a decision that Iran has to take up with itself,
not with others. The second central question - that depends very much on
the answer to the first - is whether Iran can be trusted to uphold any
final agreement that resolves all the above issues. Based on past
experience, as long as Iran has not made a decision to reverse course in
the nuclear realm, it is highly doubtful. In this case, any future
agreement will again be a bad compromise, leaving dangerous uncertainties
and Iran with breakout capabilities, albeit at a slower pace and with the
risk of a stronger international reaction. A good agreement would resolve
all outstanding issues, leaving no loopholes to be taken advantage of.
Iran would cease and dismantle, verifiably, all activities related to the
military aspects of its nuclear program. Tough verification measures
would provide assurances that no clandestine nuclear program is
continuing, and that the produce of any uranium enrichment activities
cannot be used for military purposes. The heavy-water reactor would be
transformed into a light-water one, and greatly reduced in power. In
principle this could be the basis for a good final agreement." http://t.uani.com/19sPlDY
Heritage
Foundation: "The nuclear deal the Obama
Administration negotiated with Iran is flawed by the premature easing of
sanctions in return for easily reversed Iranian pledges that do not
substantially set back Iran's nuclear weapons program, according to a
panel of experts who spoke at a recent Heritage event. The deal also
implicitly recognizes Iran's claim that it has a fundamental right to
enrich uranium, the experts warned. Heritage's James Phillips, an expert
on the Middle East, spoke at the event along with Patrick Clawson,
director of research at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy,
and Fred Fleitz, a chief analyst of the Langley Intelligence Group
Network. They explained why the flawed agreement will make it more likely
that Iran will obtain nuclear weapons. According to Fleitz, 'A deal like
this is based on many questionable assumptions. It assumes Rouhani is a
relative moderate. It also assumes Iran has a legitimate right to uranium
enrichment.' Phillips said the Obama Administration worked to block new sanctions
being imposed on Iran, and he now worries about the consequences. 'I
would argue,' Phillips said, 'that not being tough enough on Iran, either
with the sanctions or further talks at Geneva, could actually increase
the chances of war, increase the chances that Israel will go it alone and
launch a preventive strike at Iran's nuclear infrastructure.' Clawson
explained that while the deal is initially set for a six-month period, it
can be renewed indefinitely, effectively allowing Iran to go on for years
without the world stopping them from obtaining nuclear weapons. 'That,
indeed, is the greatest fear of many of the critiques around the country
and around the world,' Clawson said. 'This agreement is likely not to be
the elements of a first step, but instead the details of a last
step.'" http://t.uani.com/1bTsL81
Brenda Shaffer in
Reuters: "When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was
campaigning, he promised the country's many ethnic minorities to expand
the use of their languages. Rouhani recently signaled his intent to keep
that promise, by appointing Iran's first presidential aid for ethnic and
religious minority affairs, acknowledging the country's minority
challenges. In the multi-ethnic state that is Iran, the political meaning
of the population's diversity will have serious consequences as political
normalization with the West continues. Both the United States and the
European Union should understand the significance of Iran's multi-ethnic
makeup and prepare policies that can address it. Washington and Brussels
should view this process as similar to when Mikhail Gorbachev began
opening the Soviet Union to the West, it quickly became apparent that the
Soviet Union was -not only composed of Russians. Later, it became clear
that what the West had considered to be 'Yugoslavians' or
'Czechoslovakians' were, in fact, many different ethnic groups. Few
of these peoples shared a civic-state identity. In the same way, while
Iran is commonly referred to as Persia, Persians account for roughly half
the population. The remaining half is comprised of ethnic minorities;
mainly Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Turkmen, Arabs and Baluch. The Azerbaijanis
are the largest minority, accounting for a third of the population.
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei is an ethnic Azerbaijani, as is one of
the main opposition leaders, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Ethnic minorities pose
a particular security problem for Iran. They primarily live in the border
regions and many share ties with members of their ethnic communities in
neighboring states, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iraq and Pakistan.
Iran's domestic makeup affects its foreign relations with most of its
neighbors. Iran's Constitution grants ethnic minorities the right to use
their ethnic languages in media and other publications, as well as for
education. In reality, however, Iran has not allowed ethnic minorities to
run schools or give testimony in courts in their native languages.
Non-Persian media and publications have been limited. The multi-ethnic
composition of Iran could affect regime stability. In a potential regime
crisis, the ethnic factor could play a role in toppling the government -
as it did in the collapse of the Shah regime and the ascent to power of
the Islamic Republic in 1979... Iran's ethnic minorities demonstrate
varying degrees of identification with the regime. Most seek expansion of
their cultural rights within Iran. In this, they are seeking to change
the nation's policies, not its borders. However, some groups, including
Kurds and Baluch, are now waging a violent struggle against Tehran. The
Western media does not often focus on these ethnic struggles. When they
do it is usually framed in religious terms, referring to Sunni minorities
and ignoring the ethnic basis of the conflict... Responding to these
ethnic upheavals, Tehran has long blamed outsiders. Rouhani has done this
as well, attempting to delegitimize the demands for language and cultural
rights by depicting these ethnic minorities as tools of foreign
governments, primarily Britain, the United States or Israel. Most foreign
governments, however, including the United States, have not formulated
specific policies toward the ethnic minorities. They rarely even factor
them in when assessing regime stability, and are cautious in their
contacts with representatives of the ethnic minorities who seek outside
support. In fact, even U.S. government-supported media outlets like Voice
of America and Radio Liberty rarely report on the discrimination against
Iran's ethnic minorities or the violent confrontations taking place with
the central government. Though actively meddling in Iran's ethnic
politics does not seem prudent, the Washington and European governments
should include Tehran's discrimination toward its ethnic minorities when
reporting on the state of human rights there. U.S. government analytical
units and officials dealing with Iran should consider the response of
ethnic minorities when assessing regime stability in Iran. Moreover,
Radio Liberty and other U.S. government-supported media outlets should
give a voice to these ethnic minorities. The rising ethnic activity in
Iran will likely lead to increased demands for policy responses from the
United States and Europe. These governments should be prepared. It is
best not to wait until people are marching in public squares to
understand their aspirations." http://t.uani.com/19sRrDG
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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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