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Top Stories
AFP:
"Experts from Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers have chosen
January 20 to begin implementing the Geneva deal on Tehran's nuclear
programme, IRNA news agency said Wednesday. 'One of the main proposals is
to begin applying the agreement from January 20,' the agency cited Hamid
Baeedinejad as saying. 'There is agreement in principle on this date,
which has yet to be approved by the politicians,' he said. Baeedinejad,
who heads the Iranian delegation of experts, had already been reported on
Tuesday by the ISNA news agency as saying the deal should be implemented
in late January... On Tuesday, Tehran's lead negotiator Abbas Araqchi
reported 'good progress' in the technical talks. Baeedinejad said on
Wednesday that 'two or three issues of a political nature must be
resolved at political levels', without elaborating." http://t.uani.com/1coyJcZ
WSJ:
"The next six months will likely determine whether the crisis over
Iran's nuclear program can be resolved peacefully, as global powers
conduct intensive talks with Tehran aimed at ensuring it can't produce
atomic weapons. U.S. and European diplomats have identified several vital
issues to be negotiated following the interim deal Iran reached over its
nuclear program with the five permanent members of the United Nations and
Germany in late November. One is Iran's development of a heavy-water
nuclear reactor near the city of Arak. Tehran says it needs the facility
to produce isotopes used in medical and industrial pursuits, but American
officials are skeptical. Iran, they say, has numerous other facilities
capable of producing these isotopes. The negotiators will also seek to
reduce Iran's capacity to produce nuclear fuel through the enrichment of
uranium. Iran has installed nearly 20,000 centrifuges and amassed enough
low-enriched uranium to produce three to four nuclear weapons, if the
material is processed further to weapons grade, U.S. officials say... But
few analysts expect Tehran to completely dismantle its production
facilities, as demanded by some U.S. Congress members and vital U.S.
allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia... 'It remains uncertain if Iran
recognizes the extent that it will have to roll back its infrastructure
to reach a deal,' said Robert Einhorn, a senior fellow at Washington's
Brookings Institution who studies proliferation issues." http://t.uani.com/1gqucfj
NYT:
"Two members of Iran's hard-line-dominated Parliament were added to
a supervisory council responsible for monitoring the country's nuclear
negotiating team, Iranian news media reported Wednesday. The additions
appeared to strengthen the influence of critics of the talks between Iran
and world powers. The two members of Parliament were not identified by
name, but they were described as 'legal and technical experts who will be
able to prevent misunderstandings by the Americans.' The supervisory
council's precise monitoring role has never been made clear. But it now
includes one representative from President Hassan Rouhani's government,
one from the judiciary, one from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
and three members of Parliament, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency
reported... Supporters of Mr. Rouhani were displeased with the
announcement, saying the nuclear talks are taking place under the
authority of Ayatollah Khamenei and do not need monitoring." http://t.uani.com/18Zq1Hq
Nuclear
Negotiations
NYT:
"One of Iran's most prominent former diplomats, an ally of President
Hassan Rouhani, has returned to the country, ending his unofficial exile
in the United States, state news media reported on Tuesday. The former
diplomat, Seyed Hossein Mousavian, who for many years was the spokesman
of Iran's nuclear negotiation team, left Tehran for Princeton University
in 2009 after hard-liners accused him of espionage during earlier rounds
of nuclear talks with European powers. 'I have returned to Iran to stay,'
he was quoted as saying by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency,
during a commemorative event for the death of the mother of Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. It was unclear from the news accounts of
Mr. Mousavian's return what role, if any, he might play in the current
nuclear negotiations or in other government affairs. But the publicity
given to his homecoming suggested that Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, remained confident in Mr. Rouhani's handling of the nuclear
negotiations, which have resulted in a six-month partial freeze of Iran's
nuclear activities in exchange for the relaxation of some Western
sanctions on the country." http://t.uani.com/1bBQPrS
Sanctions
Colombo Gazette:
"The Sri Lankan Government has been informed by the United States
that it cannot import crude oil from Iran despite some sanction being
lifted recently, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources said. Petroleum
Resources Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa has had several rounds of
talks with the US Embassy in Colombo while the Sri Lankan Embassy in
Washington has had talks with the US Government. At these talks it has
been said that while world leaders agreed recently to lift some sanctions
on Iran the restrictions on importing oil still remains, the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources said. The Ministry said that the move is affecting
Sri Lanka's ability to refine crude oil at the Sapugaskanda oil refinery
which was built to refine Iranian oil." http://t.uani.com/Jwd2kV
Syria Conflict
AFP:
"The Syrian government is on course to score major diplomatic
'victories' thanks to the unfailing support of its allies, including
Russia, Iran and China, its prime minister said on Tuesday. 'Relations
between Syria and Iran are strong and tough, as well as ties with other
friendly countries including Russia and the BRIC countries,' premier Wael
al-Halqi said referring to Brazil, Russia, India and China. Halqi made
the remarks duing the final session of parliament for the year." http://t.uani.com/1a3xow1
WSJ:
"U.S. intelligence officials misjudged the extent to which Hezbollah
was prepared to double down in support of Mr. Assad. U.S. intelligence
initially showed that Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, resisted
repeated appeals from Iranian leaders, including the commander of Iran's elite
Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, for sending Hezbollah
fighters in large numbers into Syria to reinforce the Assad regime,
current and former U.S. officials say. U.S. spy agencies believed
Hezbollah's leadership at the time was riven by internal debate, worried
that intervening in an uprising next door would be 'bad for the brand'
and spark a backlash at home, according to an official briefed on the
intelligence. Current and former U.S. officials briefed on the
intelligence say Mr. Nasrallah only agreed to the deployments after he
received a personal appeal from Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, who made clear that Tehran expected Hezbollah to act
decisively." http://t.uani.com/1aqsW72
Human Rights
ICHRI:
"In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in
Iran, Narges Mohammadi, human rights activist and spokesperson for the
Defenders of Human Rights Center, acknowledged that the Citizen Rights
Charter was a positive step, but noted that the draft document contained
many serious shortcomings that needed to be addressed... Narges Mohammadi
told the Campaign that the one-month window to seek people's opinion in a
society where citizenship rights have been suppressed for years is too
short. She also noted that, 'If the President agrees to have a national
dialogue about citizenship rights so that he can hear people's real and
honest opinions, security issues must be reduced in the society so that
people can find the courage to express their opinions. Otherwise, in the
face of what itself is a huge violation, they will not be able to
accomplish much,' said Mohammadi." http://t.uani.com/Jw8gns
Domestic
Politics
Economist:
"Five months into Hassan Rohani's presidency, many Iranians agree
that things are looking brighter. But for two men in Tehran, hopes are
dimming. Mir-Hossein Mousavi (pictured right) and Mehdi Karroubi
(pictured left), the opposition presidential candidates who in 2009 drew
hundreds of thousands to the streets in protest against President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's re-election, have been confined under house arrest for
almost three years. The election of Mr Rohani, a centrist who has tried
to put a kinder face on the Islamic Republic, raised expectations for
their imminent release. But on December 30th scores of high-ranking
conservatives used an official anniversary to insist that Mr Karroubi and
Mr Mousavi remain under lock and key." http://t.uani.com/1hiCn06
Al-Monitor:
"Conservative and outspoken Iranian MP Ali Motahhari criticized the
head of the judiciary for indicting him after he questioned the
independence of the judiciary for the harsh sentences that many political
activists received for the 2009 election protests. While the indictment
of Motahhari appears to be mostly symbolic at the moment, since MPs have
immunity unless they violate the constitution, the judiciary's actions
and statements made by hard-liners in regard to the 2009 protests reveal
still deep divide at the upper echelon of the Islamic Republic of Iran
over the 2009 contested election and those who are still imprisoned for
challenging the results. In honor of 9 Dey (Dec. 30) pro-government
protests that government officials insist ended the Green Movement, on
the parliament floor Motahhari criticized the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah
Sadegh Larijani, personally for not only the continuation of the house
arrests of the two presidential candidates from 2009 but also for the
continued imprisonment of lesser known political activists such as
Mostafa Tajzadeh and Behzad Nabavi." http://t.uani.com/KkPal5
Foreign Affairs
Business Standard
(India): "India's agriculture and processed food
exports to Iran have more than doubled both in value and quantity terms,
in the last one year, mainly on account of an exceptional surge in
Basmati rice exports. Consequently, this year India's export of Basmati
rice export to Iran could be highest conceivable past. In value terms,
India's Basmati rice exports to Iran increased by 137%, or nearly three
folds, while in terms of quantity it increased by 77%, between April and
September 2013 and 2014, data from Agricultural and Processed Food
Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) show... After US sanctions
against Iran, India' export to Iran had suffered a setback. However, with
Iran being a key oil supplier to India, both countries reached a new
payment mechanism in 2012. Under the method, 45% of India' crude payments
were made in rupees through UCO Bank. The rupee resources were being used
for making payments for Indian export. Thus, with Iran unable to procure
food grains from other countries, India's rice export has witnessed a
surge in volume. About 85% of India's agriculture and processed food
exports to Iran are on account of Basmati rice, which was affected after
the US sanctions." http://t.uani.com/1gqAJGU
Opinion &
Analysis
UANI Advisory
Board Member Fouad Ajami in Bloomberg: "In a
politically contested city such as Beirut, there are public figures who
fall to assassins, and others deemed safe by their reasonableness and
moderation. The assassination Dec. 27 of former Finance Minister Mohamad
Chatah by a car bomb in a swanky part of the city called into question
the rules of the sordid political game that has come to dominate
Lebanon's life... This political assassination -- by one count, the 17th
over the last decade -- fits a pattern. The targets are, in the main,
Sunni or Christian politicians, daring writers and journalists who
incurred the wrath of the master of the Damascus regime, or the leaders
of Hezbollah. There was a time when Beirut was fought over, the spoils of
the political game divided among the warlords and the feuding religious
sects. This now is of the past. Armed and financed by Iran, working hand
in hand with the Syrian regime, Hezbollah has come to dominate the
fragile country. The militia's might dwarfs that of the Lebanese state
and the national army, let alone the other political contenders for
power. Hezbollah, for all practical purposes, is the state -- without the
responsibility and the restraints of statehood. The war next door in
Syria has altered the political life of Hezbollah. Bashar al-Assad was an
ally, but his war against a relentless Sunni rebellion was stalled.
Hezbollah, doubtless prodded by its Iranian masters, had to step into the
breach. It did so covertly at first, but the Syrian war kept no secrets.
Assad's forces had to be rescued in the face of certain defeat in towns
on the Syria-Lebanon border. At first, Hezbollah was opaque about its
fighters who fell in Syria; they died while performing 'jihadi duty,' it
was said. But this duplicity could not last. The myth of Hezbollah as a
'resistance' movement at war with Israel and the U.S. was shredded.
Hezbollah had entered the sectarian war between Sunni and Shiite Islam
blowing through the Fertile Crescent. Its might and bravado would come to
offend and radicalize Lebanese Sunnis who had felt the bonds of
solidarity with the rebellion in Syria, but had refrained from stepping
into the quagmire there. It had grown much harder to accept Hezbollah as
part of the fabric of Lebanese politics. Beirut, as has been its way for
decades, illuminates the wider currents swirling around the region. There
is a negligible American role in a city that had once been in the
American orbit. Iran looms large, behind a veneer of neutrality and
distance. The Assad regime, on the ropes a year or so ago, is emboldened
again. It has put the word out in Lebanon that it will emerge victorious
form its struggle at home, and that Western powers have signaled their
acceptance of its writ, since it struck a deal over the disposal of its
chemical weapons. The Lebanese state struggles to be heard in its own
country; it owes the sustenance it has to France and Saudi Arabia. As for
Hezbollah, this is a time of uncertainty. It has power, but its leaders
must worry and wonder what will become of them if Iran truly comes to an
accommodation with the U.S. A good and decent man, Mohamad Chatah was in
the way of sinister designs." http://t.uani.com/1co3UZh
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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