Eye on Iran: Foreign Firms Lining up to Do Business with Iran Once Sanctions are Loosened, Officials Say

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.    Top Stories AP: "The Obama administration conceded Tuesday that foreign firms are jockeying to be 'first in line' to do business with Iran once sanctions are loosened, despite U.S. warnings that even preliminary trade deals risk weakening the West's economic leverage. Two senior administration officials were on the defensive to explain the parade of trade delegations visiting Iran long before a hoped-for deal to permanently curb Iran's disputed nuclear program is complete. A delegation from France, a partner with the United States in bargaining with Iran, went this week... 'As far as we have seen today, there are not deals getting done but rather people getting first in line in the hope that someday there will be a deal,' Wendy R. Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She said that while the U.S. preference is that 'people won't go to Tehran,' those who do at least raise expectations there that the Iranian government will follow through on the nuclear deal." http://t.uani.com/1b1OfC0 Reuters: "An initial agreement to curb Iran's nuclear program was 'not perfect' but bought time to try to secure a comprehensive deal, U.S. officials said on Tuesday in response to sharp criticism from Congress... Members of Congress have argued that it was unwise to ease sanctions before Iran took aggressive action to rein in its nuclear program... 'I was stunned when I saw what the agreement was. I've been disgusted as we've gone forward,' Idaho Senator James Risch, a senior Republican committee member, said during a contentious hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee." http://t.uani.com/1c3xyAT Reuters: "Japan this week became the first of Iran's oil buyers to make a payment for crude imports under an interim nuclear deal, sources told Reuters on Wednesday, as the West eased a year-long stranglehold on revenues that has crippled the Iranian economy... Tokyo's role in sending the first funds may be a boon for Japanese firms jostling for position with international rivals to invest in Iran's oil and gas sector, should a further agreement end Tehran's international isolation. It is unclear why Japan was the first of Iran's oil buyers to pay. China, India and South Korea also buy crude from Iran and all have billions of dollars of cash held in Iranian accounts pending transfer. The Iranian funds were released earlier this week from an account held by the Bank of Japan, three sources told Reuters speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. One of the sources confirmed the amount was for $550 million, while another said it was likely further releases of Iranian funds would be made by Japan as they come due. A substantial portion of frozen Iranian funds are held at the Bank of Japan, one of the sources said. The funds were transferred to an Iranian Central Bank account in Switzerland, a U.S. Treasury spokeswoman said earlier this week." http://t.uani.com/N20iEN     Nuclear Program & Negotiations WashPost: "As Iran and world powers move closer to a long-term agreement over the Islamic republic's nuclear activities, domestic political struggles here are threatening to undermine the diplomatic process, which both the White House and the administration of Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, say is on the right track... Since the nuclear dossier was transferred to the control of Iran's Foreign Ministry soon after Rouhani took office, the hard-line press and conservative members of the parliament have sought to require more oversight in future rounds of nuclear talks, citing a lack of transparency as their biggest complaint... On Sunday, in a sign that conservatives may be regaining some political clout lost since Rouhani's election, members of the foreign policy commission said they had reached an agreement with the administration to add a member of parliament to the negotiating team, which will probably quiet some of the loudest critics among them." http://t.uani.com/1g1Hlu7 Sanctions Relief AFP: "A visit to Iran by a large French business delegation drew a stern warning from Washington that most US sanctions remain in place and will be enforced even against allies. The 116-strong French delegation, with representatives from major companies like Total, Lafarge and Peugeot, was the largest of its kind from Europe since a landmark nuclear deal reached with the major powers in November gave Iran limited relief from crippling US and EU sanctions. French employers' union vice president Thierry Courtaigne said the delegation, which arrived in Tehran Monday, wanted to assess the commercial opportunities opened up by the easing of Western sanctions. But a senior US official said Secretary of State John Kerry had telephoned his French counterpart Laurent Fabius to tell him that the visit -- while from the private sector -- was 'not helpful' in sending the message that 'it is not business as usual' with Iran." http://t.uani.com/1iptWgT Bloomberg: "French automobile and aviation companies visiting Tehran may strike agreements with Iranian officials and executives within weeks, a former French ambassador to the Islamic republic said. 'The road is open for agreements in the near future to resume supply of car parts or plane parts,' Francois Nicoullaud, who served as France's ambassador to Tehran from 2001-2005, said in a phone interview late yesterday. 'On these two sectors, things can progress very fast,' given that restrictions are halted, he said... The French delegation primarily aims 'to test the waters,' Nicoullaud said, adding that 'all large companies that used to work with Iran' as well as small ones are present. 'All those that mean something to Iran and for which Iran means something are there,' said Nicoullaud." http://t.uani.com/Mt1obR Sanctions Enforcement AFP: "US officials declared Tuesday that Iran is 'not open for business' and vowed to scrutinize companies heading to the Islamic republic since it entered a temporary nuclear agreement... endy Sherman, who is spearheading the diplomacy with Tehran, said that the United States was warning the growing number of business delegations traveling to Iran that sweeping sanctions remained in place. 'Tehran is not open for business because our sanctions relief is quite temporary, quite limited and quite targeted,' Sherman, the under secretary of state for political affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 'It doesn't matter whether the countries are friend or foe -- if they evade our sanctions, we will sanction them,' she said." http://t.uani.com/1epZQeN Congressional Sanctions Debate WSJ: "The Obama administration appeared to be prevailing in its effort to persuade lawmakers to give U.S. diplomacy with Iran a chance, but faced continued skepticism from senators at a hearing Tuesday. Senior aides said pressure on Senate leaders to allow a vote on new sanctions has eased in recent weeks, as lawmakers gauge the effectiveness of an interim deal reached in November between Iran and world powers. But while many lawmakers said they were willing to give diplomacy time to work, Democrats and Republicans alike said the stakes were high if talks fail... Lawmakers have bristled at some of the White House criticism, particularly the suggestion that those seeking more sanctions were in favor of war. Sen. Timothy Kaine (D., Va.), addressing those complaints Tuesday, said that those who support new sanctions 'are not pro-war and those that oppose it are not soft on Iran or anti-Israel.' 'We all want exactly the same thing...we all will prefer if we can get to that diplomatically,' Mr. Kaine said. Ms. Sherman, stepping back from the more strident administration language, agreed. 'I don't believe anyone prefers war,' she said, calling the two sides' positions a difference over tactics." http://t.uani.com/1na2SD7 Syria Conflict AFP: "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has revealed he has 'no authority' to discuss the war in Syria with US Secretary of State John Kerry, tacitly acknowledging the regime's tight grip despite overtures to the West. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday the admission had come during weekend talks in Munich on Iran's nuclear program... Kerry had voiced 'his concerns and the concerns of the United States about the pace of moving chemical weapons in Syria, about the humanitarian situation on the ground, and about the need to move towards a transitional governing body,' Psaki said. But 'Foreign Minister Zarif made clear that he did not have the authority to discuss or negotiate on Syria, so... the focus of the meeting was on the nuclear talks.'" http://t.uani.com/1gMgs22 Reuters: "Last year's agreement to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons left President Bashar al-Assad in a strengthened position, and there appears little chance rebels will soon force him from power, the U.S. intelligence chief told Congress on Tuesday. 'The prospects are right now that (Assad) is actually in a strengthened position than when we discussed this last year, by virtue of his agreement to remove the chemical weapons, as slow as that process has been,' said James Clapper, director of national intelligence." http://t.uani.com/1kcmMjU Opinion & Analysis Thomas Joscelyn in The Long War Journal: "A senior al Qaeda operative based in Iran and known as Yasin al Suri (a.k.a. Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil) is 'more active than ever' and facilitating al Qaeda's global operations, Al Jazeera reports. Al Suri's role as al Qaeda's point man inside Iran was first exposed by the US Treasury and State Departments in 2011. In December of that year, the US government began offering a $10 million reward for information leading to al Suri's capture. After the US government's revelations, the Iranian government detained al Suri. This led al Qaeda to replace him with another seasoned terrorist, Muhsin al Fadhli, who took over as leader of the Iran-based network. But now, according to US government officials who spoke with Al Jazeera, al Suri is back in the game and even facilitating al Qaeda's operations inside Syria. 'As head al Qaeda facilitator in Iran, al Suri is responsible for overseeing al Qaeda efforts to transfer experienced operatives and leaders from Pakistan to Syria, organizing and maintaining routes by which new recruits can travel to Syria via Turkey and assisting in the movement of al Qaeda external operatives to the West,' an unnamed State Department official told Al Jazeera. A US Treasury Department official confirmed the revelation, according to Al Jazeera. 'He's an al Qaeda operative, Al Nusrah is an al Qaeda affiliate, and we know he's moving money and extremists into Syria for al Qaeda elements there, so I think you can draw that conclusion,' the Treasury official said. Al Suri operates under an agreement that was struck between the Iranian regime and al Qaeda years ago. He first began working inside Iran in 2005. It is not clear why the Iranian government would allow al Suri to act as a facilitator for al Qaeda's operations inside Syria. Al Qaeda and Iran are on opposite sides of the Syrian war. Iran is backing Bashar al Assad's regime, a longtime ally of the mullahs, in the bloody sectarian conflict. Al Qaeda's two official branches, including the Al Nusrah Front, as well as al Qaeda's allies, are on the other side, battling Iranian operatives, Assad's forces and proxies. The emir of Al Nusrah, Abu Muhammad al Julani, has verbally attacked Iran and Shiites in general. Other senior al Qaeda jihadists have called for attacks against Shiite-led governments in response to the Syrian conflict. And an al Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for an attack against the Iranian embassy in Lebanon. The Iranian regime, however, has mastered duplicity and may have unknown reasons for keeping tabs on al Qaeda's operations. Al Qaeda has also been willing to work with Iran on multiple occasions since the early 1990s, despite the two sides' fundamentally different theologies and sometime vehement disagreements." http://t.uani.com/1e3lHCw 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. 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