|
|
Top Stories
AP:
"Iran is taking steps to improve its ability to speed up uranium
enrichment that could delay implementation of a nuclear deal with six
world powers because Tehran's moves are opposed by the United States and
its allies. Iran's nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said late Thursday
that his country is building a new generation of centrifuges for uranium
enrichment but they need further tests before they can be mass
produced... But two officials familiar with Iran's nuclear activities
said Tehran has gone even further by interpreting a provision of the
interim Geneva nuclear deal in a way rejected by many, if not all, of the
six powers that sealed the Geneva deal with Iran. They told The
Associated Press Friday that Iranian technical experts told counterparts
from the six powers last week that some of the cutting-edge machines have
been installed at a research tract of one of Iran's enriching sites. They
gave no numbers. Iran argued that it had a right to do so under the
research and development provisions of the Nov. 24 Geneva accord, said
the officials... Iran's approach is being hotly disputed by the United
States and other representatives of the six powers - the United States,
Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - said the officials. They
said they have argued that installing any centrifuge that increases
overall numbers, particularly a new model, violates Tehran's commitment
to freeze the amount and type of enriching machines at Nov. 24
levels." http://t.uani.com/1ltBCyK
LAT:
"More than two-thirds of the Iranian parliament has signed on to a
bill that would accelerate Iran's nuclear program if Congress adopts new
sanctions legislation, official news agencies said. The bill would direct
Iran's nuclear agency to enrich uranium to 60%, close to the 90% needed
for the material to be used as nuclear bomb fuel. It is currently
enriched to a maximum of 20%. The legislation also calls for the start-up
of Iran's partially built Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor. The Mehr news
agency said Sunday that support for the measure in parliament has risen
from 100 lawmakers last week to more than 200. The proposal would still
need approval from the parliament's governing board. Iranian lawmakers
have described the bill as retaliation for legislation introduced in the
Senate this month that would impose tough new sanctions on Iran in six
months if it fails to cooperate with upcoming international negotiations
aimed at setting limits for its nuclear program... Iranian lawmakers
originally described the bill as retaliation for the Obama
administration's recent blacklisting of a group of Iranian organizations
and individuals in enforcement of past sanctions." http://t.uani.com/19zfwFC
AFP:
"Closed-door talks resumed Monday between Iran and world powers on
implementing a landmark deal to rein in Tehran's controversial nuclear
programme in exchange for easing sanctions. European Union foreign policy
spokesman Michael Mann told AFP that the Geneva meeting began at 8:30 am
(0730 GMT) but that no further details would be available immediately.
Technical experts from Iran and the EU-chaired 'P5+1' group -- comprising
the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- also
held a session two weeks ago in Geneva amid efforts to fine-tune a deal
reached by their foreign ministers in the Swiss city on November 24. The
latest talks were set to last for one day, before a break for New Year,
Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted deputy foreign minister and
nuclear pointman Abbas Araqchi as saying." http://t.uani.com/JpoiQ0
Nuclear
Negotiations
AP:
"Iran's nuclear chief says the Islamic Republic has not begun using
a new generation of centrifuges for enriching uranium after striking a
deal to ease sanctions with world powers, state television reported
Sunday. The report quoted Ali Akbar Salehi as saying that Iran decided
not to put 1,000 new devices installed months ago online because of the
November deal. However, Salehi reiterated statements made earlier this
week that his engineers are building and testing even newer generations
of centrifuges. 'We have two types of second-generation centrifuges,' he
said. 'We also have future generations which are going through their
tests.' ... Also Sunday, senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi
said... a parliamentary proposal that would force the government to
increase uranium enrichment to 60 percent if new sanctions are imposed
must be implemented if it is approved. The proposal is viewed as a
response to a U.S. Senate plan to impose more sanctions on Iran. 'The decision
is up to the parliament,' said Araghchi, who also serves as a deputy
foreign minister." http://t.uani.com/Kfi5qz
AFP:
"A top Iranian nuclear negotiator expressed hope Sunday a deal with
world powers could be implemented within a month, but said technical
talks on the matter are proceeding slowly, Mehr news agency reported...
'If expert-level talks are fruitful, a date will be decided which I guess
will be at the end of January' for the deal to be implemented by, said
Abbas Araqchi, a deputy foreign minister, in comments run by Mehr... But
Araqchi said the talks were 'not that easy.' 'The negotiations are
proceeding slowly as there are misunderstandings over interpretation of
some elements of the accord,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1gg8ESw
AFP:
"Iran's Arak heavy water reactor is incapable of producing plutonium
for use in a nuclear weapon, a major fear of the West, Tehran's atomic
chief said Friday. 'The Arak research reactor cannot produce plutonium
that could be used to make an atomic bomb since the plutonium will remain
in the reactor's core for a year,' Ali Akbar Salehi told the ISNA news
agency. 'Plutonium destined to make a weapon cannot stay there for more
than three or four weeks or it will contain other elements preventing its
use' for military means, he said. 'Anyway, Iran does not have a
reprocessing plant' to purify plutonium for such use, Salehi insisted...
'When International Atomic Energy Agency cameras are installed and
constantly monitoring the reactor and inspectors can visit, there will no
longer be cause for concern,' Salehi said. Salehi has said dismantling
the Arak reactor or giving up uranium enrichment is 'a red line which we
will never cross.'" http://t.uani.com/1aiNfmG
LAT:
"The chief foreign policy advisor to Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
has called for direct talks with the United States on nuclear issues...
In an appearance Friday on state-run television, Khamenei's foreign
policy advisor, Ali Akbar Velayati, suggested that more could be
accomplished if Iran and the United States discussed their differences on
nuclear developments on a bilateral basis. 'We aren't on the right path
if we don't have one-on-one talks with the six countries,' Velayati said.
As Khamenei's right-hand man on international affairs, Velayati's reference
during the interview to the success achieved in secret talks with
Washington on Iraq and Afghanistan was meant to telegraph the supreme
leader's changed views on improving ties with the United States. 'Now the
supreme leader is supporting direct talks with the United States and the
chance to bury the hatchet with America is very high,' said Nader Karimi
Juni, a political analyst with the reformist camp in Iran that has been
gaining clout since Rouhani came to power in August." http://t.uani.com/1cC7kZH
WSJ:
"Washington has gained a little-known ally in its bid to win crucial
Arab support for curbing Iran's nuclear program: Oman, a small kingdom
that is expanding its role on the Middle East's diplomatic stage. After
playing a behind-the-scenes role in the Obama administration's diplomatic
overture to Iran, the Sultan of Oman and his royal court are working to
help sell the deal to skeptical Arab governments, said U.S., Iranian and
Arab officials. The Obama administration is pressing to gain the support
of its key Mideast allies, particularly Saudi Arabia and Israel, for its
Iran diplomacy, but is facing strong resistance. Senior U.S. officials
have lauded Oman's support in the effort. U.S. and Iranian officials said
Oman has become a key promoter of talks with Tehran, an initiative that
is emerging as the signature foreign-policy move of President Barack
Obama's second term." http://t.uani.com/1fVE3cc
Terrorism
AFP:
"A key member of the Syrian opposition has accused the Damascus
regime and its allies Iran and Hezbollah of being behind a bomb attack
that killed a Lebanese politician in Beirut. The powerful car bomb in the
heart of the Lebanese capital on Friday killed six people, including
Mohammad Chatah, a leading critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's
regime. 'The murderers... are the same ones that kill and continue to
kill Syrians in Qusayr, Qalamoun, Ghouta, Aleppo, Homs and Idlib,' said
the Syrian National Council (SNC), the largest member of the umbrella
National Coalition opposition grouping. 'They are undoubtedly the
alliance between the Iranian and Syrian regimes and their agents in
Lebanon led by the sectarian and fanatical militia Hezbollah,' the SNC
said in a statement issued overnight." http://t.uani.com/KfiWaJ
Reuters:
"Bahraini authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle explosives
and arms, some made in Iran and Syria, into the country by boat, the Gulf
Arab state's public security chief said on Monday... The smuggled
munitions included what Hassan called anti-personnel and armor-piercing
explosives, as well as '50 Iranian-made hand bombs' and '295 commercial
detonators on which was written made in Syria', he said." http://t.uani.com/Jpo2kb
Human Rights
Mashable:
"For approximately 12 hours, Instagram became the latest apparent
victim of Iran's Internet censorship system commonly known as the
'Filternet.' The blocking of Instagram was initially reported by Iranian
netizens early Sunday, and later confirmed by independent researchers.
Instagram appeared to be the latest casualty of Iran's most recent online
clampdown - despite promises of more Internet freedom by the new
government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Then just a few hours
later, the photo-sharing network was unblocked, and Iranian officials
denied any wrongdoing." http://t.uani.com/1hPT0O4
ICHRI:
"Two weeks after a Euroepan Parliament delegation met with Nasrin
Sotoudeh in Tehran to present the 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of
Thought, the human rights lawyer's home has been ransacked and looted in the
family's absence. The European Parliament delegation's December 13
meeting with the two recipients of the 2012 Sakharov Freedom of Thought
Prize, Nasrin Sotoudeh, and Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, inside the
Greek Embassy in Tehran faced harsh criticism by conservative
Iranian officials." http://t.uani.com/KfgDEI
Domestic
Politics
AFP:
"An influential Iranian lawmaker on Sunday urged the judiciary to
end the house arrests of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi
Karroubi and to put them on trial. 'The protracted house arrests without
trial lack legal or religious justification,' conservative MP Ali
Motahari told parliament in remarks carried by the ISNA news agency...
'This crisis will not be resolved as long as one side is not allowed to
speak for and defend itself, while the other side continues to mount
accusations,' said Motahari, the son of a prominent revolutionary
ayatollah. 'The only solution is the public trial of Mousavi and
Karroubi, and also Ahmadinejad,' he said, arguing that the latter had
mishandled the crisis." http://t.uani.com/18TEWCZ
Foreign Affairs
The Telegraph
(India): "Tea exports to Iran have doubled to 16.47
million kg between January and September from about 8.48 million kg
during the same period last year. The near doubling of exports signifies
a turnaround in business, which had taken a hit after the payment crisis
in the wake of the US sanctions on Tehran. A memorandum of understanding
with the Iran Tea Association in March also seems to be paying rich
dividends. India and Iran had agreed on an export target of 30 million kg
in two years as part of the MoU." http://t.uani.com/1hPQnMl
Opinion &
Analysis
Jaime Dettmer in
The Daily Beast: "A massive unfolding corruption
scandal in Turkey-which has already forced the resignations of three
government ministers and threatens to upend the Islamist government of
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan- is fast acquiring an international
dimension amid accusations that Iran is enmeshed in Ankara's political
crisis... The first hint of the Iranian angle in the corruption probes
launched by Turkish police in the face of government obstruction came
before Christmas when a complicated oil-for-gold deal between Turkey and
Iran was unmasked. The investigators didn't set out to uncover the
sanction-busting oil deal but say they were led to it by following a
trail of cash bribes. An Iranian businessman and gold dealer, Reza Sarraf
(also known as Reza Zarrab), whom police have accused of bribing the
Economic Minister while organizing transactions from Iran worth $120
billion, was arrested last week. So, too, the CEO of the state-owned
Turkish financial institution Halkbank, who was reportedly found to have
more than $4 million of cash stuffed in shoe-boxes in his home. According
to Turkish investigators, both men were at the center of a complex deal
in which Iran sold oil and natural gas to Turkey for cash payments that
were deposited in an account held at Halkbank. In order to circumvent
international money-transfer sanctions on Iran, the cash deposits were
then allegedly converted into gold that Turkey exported to Tehran, often
via Dubai. Police reports filed with Turkish prosecutors estimate that in
the past three years alone, $8 billion in gold was transferred to Iran.
American analysts say the number could be higher, to the tune of $13
billion between March 2012 and July 2013 alone. (In July 2013, the U.S.
and the European Union tightened loopholes on a ban on gold exports to
Iran.) The broad outlines of the oil-for-gold deal has been known for
some time-in April,47 U.S. lawmakers called on Secretary of State John
Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to sanction Halkbank for its gold
trade with Iran... But analysts say the Halkbank oil-for-gold deal may
only be start of more uncomfortable disclosures about Iranian dealings in
Turkey. One of every six companies that began investment in Turkey
last year was backed by Iranian capital, the Turkish daily newspaper
Habertürk reported recently. The latest official Turkish government data
reported that in 2011, there were 2,072 Iranian firms operating in
Turkey, a big jump form the year before when there were 1,470. In 2002
there were only 319 Iranian firms in the country. Earlier this year Iran
reportedly placed $7-8 billion in cash in a Dubai-based fund earmarked
for investment and the acquisition of companies in Turkey." http://t.uani.com/Jpr9IR
Katrina Lantos
Swett in RCW: "With the approach of a new year comes
the hope of peace among and within nations. But as our nation explores
peace on the nuclear front with Tehran, members of Iran's diaspora
community in the United States and other concerned Americans must wonder
when Iran will cease its war against its own people and their rights,
including freedom of conscience and religion. Consider the eight-year
jail sentence handed down in January, upheld in September and imposed
without due process on the Iranian-born American citizen, Pastor Saeed
Abedini. His crime? Somehow, he was 'threatening national security'
through his involvement in Iran's house church movement. After holding
Abedini in solitary confinement in Evin prison, Tehran compounded the
injustice, transferring him last month to the forbiddingly harsh
Gohardasht prison. The outrage perpetrated against Abedini reflects
Iran's misconduct against religious minorities, especially Christians and
Baha'is, but also Zoroastrians, Jews and Sufi and Sunni Muslims, as well
as majority Shi'a dissenters. It is with good reason that, since 1999,
the United States has designated Iran a Country of Particular Concern
(CPC), marking it a world-class religious freedom violator. Today,
decades after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, the regime's radically
theocratic character is unchanged. Any Iranian dissenting from its
interpretation of Shi'a Islam may be branded an enemy of the state and a
potential target for abuse, including detention, torture, imprisonment
and even execution. The UN Special Rapporteur's October report found that
since 2010 more than 300 Christians have been arrested and detained; as
of July, at least 20 Christians were detained or imprisoned. While all of
Iran's Christians face a regime that restricts their rights, Tehran
reserves some of its harshest treatment for Protestants. Next to the
Baha'is, authorities view the Protestant community, comprised largely of
evangelically minded individuals, as their most serious spiritual
competitor for Iranian hearts and minds." http://t.uani.com/1dklZc3
Vali Nasr in NYT:
"On the foreign policy front, at least, Mr. Erdogan's luck may have
changed. Now that America and Iran are talking seriously, things could be
different. In sharp contrast to Israel and the Persian Gulf monarchies,
which have been alarmed by the interim deal on Iran's nuclear program,
Turkey sees benefit in serving as a bridge between Iran and the West and
in providing the gateway to the world that Tehran needs as it emerges
from isolation. The Iranian turn has come at an opportune time for
Turkish foreign policy in other ways, too. Iran has influence with Iraq's
Shiite-led government and Syria's Alawite elite. In Iraq, where a crucial
oil deal hangs in the balance, Turkey needs Iranian cooperation. It also
needs Iran's help on Syria. Turkey initially tied its policy to America's
demand that President Bashar al-Assad quit. It was disappointed when the
Obama administration signed on to a Russian-brokered deal with Mr. Assad
on chemical weapons. With violence menacing across the border, Turkey
wants to see an end to Syria's civil war. The new moderate government in
Tehran is Turkey's best hope for leveraging a settlement. Economic ties
between Turkey and Iran have been strengthening, with trade now estimated
to be worth $20 billion. The real number may be still higher, since the
recent corruption charges allege that Turkish officials and the
state-owned Halkbank have been helping Iranian businesses dodge
international sanctions. In any case, Iranian exports still reach Turkey,
and the proceeds fund the purchase of gold and silver that flow back to
Iran. In turn, Turkey's economy depends on Iran's oil and gas, its
investments dollars and large export market. If Iran does conclude a
long-term nuclear deal with the West, it still cannot expect a warm
welcome from the Sunni Arab world. With the region divided by a widening
sectarian rift, the Persian Gulf monarchies will become only more fretful
about Iran's regional ambitions. That makes Turkey potentially a key
strategic partner for Iran, especially if its economy starts to grow as
sanctions are relaxed. With American influence in the region in decline,
and with Israel and the Persian Gulf monarchies finding themselves united
in their opposition to Iran, Turkey could find itself playing a central
role thanks to its links with Iran. A new Turkish-Iranian partnership
could be a welcome development for the West: Turkey's economic ties could
boost Iran's commercial development, which would help consolidate the
political position of the moderates in Tehran. The real gains would come
if a closer relationship with Turkey began to erode the alliance of
militias and radical religious forces on which Iran has relied to project
its influence. To play this enlarged regional role, though, Turkey must
first reassure the West that it will remain a trusted NATO ally and not
demonize Western allies as a way of managing political dissent at home.
However Mr. Erdogan's domestic difficulties fall out, Turkey has an
opportunity to restore its international standing. It will have to show
that it is not simply an advocate for Iran, but has used its influence to
shift Iran's foreign policy and facilitate a permanent nuclear
deal." http://t.uani.com/1cC6Far
|
|
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