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Top Stories
AFP:
"Iran's top decision-maker Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday
that while he is not against a resumption of nuclear negotiations with
the world's major powers, the talks will 'lead nowhere'. 'Some of the
officials of the previous government as well as the officials of this
government think the problem will be resolved if they negotiate the
nuclear issue,' Khamenei said in remarks published on his website
Khamenei.ir. 'I repeat it again that I am not optimistic about the
negotiations and they will lead nowhere, but I am not against them,' he
added. Iran is due to resume talks on Tuesday in Vienna with the P5+1
powers -- Britain, France, the United States, Russia and China plus
Germany -- aimed at reaching a comprehensive accord on its controversial
nuclear programme... 'The Iranian nation emphasised that it will
never succumb to the bullying and blackmailing of America,' said
Khamenei, referring to anti-US slogans chanted by huge crowds during
nationwide celebrations last week of the 35th anniversary of country's
Islamic revolution... 'The Iranian nation emphasised that it will never
succumb to the bullying and blackmailing of America,' said Khamenei,
referring to anti-US slogans chanted by huge crowds during nationwide
celebrations last week of the 35th anniversary of country's Islamic
revolution. He also said Iran's nuclear issue was an excuse for
Washington to pursue hostile policies towards the Islamic republic. 'The
nuclear issue is an excuse for America (to continue) its animosity. Now,
the American spokesmen are bringing up the issues of human rights and
missiles.'" http://t.uani.com/1gUQVPX
AFP:
"An Iranian negotiator said nuclear talks with world powers this
week would focus on advanced centrifuges and the unfinished Arak heavy
water reactor, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday... 'Using
advanced and new centrifuges is one of the focal points which should be
examined and solved for the long term and comprehensive deal, since we
will definitely not accept to be deprived from having the right to
replace the existing centrifuges with the new and advanced ones,' Hamid
Baeedinejad, an Iranian nuclear negotiator, told IRNA. 'The Arak heavy
water reactor is also one of the most important and difficult subjects to
be examined and discussed in the negotiations, and we certainly want to
keep this reactor.' ... The unfinished Arak reactor is of concern to the
West because Tehran could theoretically extract weapons-grade plutonium
from its spent fuel if it also builds a reprocessing facility, giving it
a second possible route to a nuclear bomb. Baeedinejad said any proposal
which would allay such concerns 'without changing the essence of the
reactor' would be examined." http://t.uani.com/M6ec7l
Reuters:
"Russia could build a second reactor at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power
plant in exchange for Iranian oil, the Iranian ambassador to Moscow said
in remarks published on Monday. Russia could also supply Iran with
trucks, railroad tracks, mini-refineries or other goods to pay for the
oil, ambassador Mehdi Sanaei told the daily Kommersant, under a deal
Reuters revealed was being negotiated last month. Reuters reported Iran
and Russia were negotiating to swap up to 500,000 barrels of oil per day
for goods in the deal that would undermine Western efforts to maintain
economic pressure on Tehran while global powers seek to curb its nuclear
programme. In an interview published a day before the six powers
including Russia resume talks with Tehran on a nuclear deal, Sanaei
confirmed Russia and Iran were discussing supplies of 'a few hundred
thousand barrels per day'... Sanaei said it was possible the oil deal,
and a broad memorandum on economic cooperation, could be signed before
August. Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev is to visit Iran in April
for talks on trade... In addition to the possibility of Russia building a
second reactor at Bushehr, he said Tehran was interested in supplies of
heavy trucks or their assembly in Iran, and other items. 'Iran is
interested in buying a huge amount of railroad tracks from Russia, as
well as Russian involvement in the electrification of its railways. We
are also interested in Russian grain.'" http://t.uani.com/1hpoHBk
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
Bloomberg:
"Iran and world powers may struggle to meet a self-imposed July
deadline to agree on long-term limitations to the nation's nuclear work
in return for sanctions relief, according to former diplomats and
analysts. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European
Union foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton meet today in Vienna.
Diplomats from China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S., the
so-called P5+1, convene meetings with their counterparts from Iran
tomorrow for the first round of talks since reaching their Geneva accord
in November. 'The six-month deadline is tight,' Thomas Pickering, a former
U.S. undersecretary of state and ambassador to the United Nations, said
in an interview. 'If real progress is being made, an extension would
certainly be warranted.' ... 'The next five months are very unlikely to
see a full agreement but there are strong prospects of a clear road map,'
said Paul Rogers, global-security specialist at the Oxford Research
Group, a London-based conflict-advisory group. An agreement may emerge
'quite possibly over one to three years.'" http://t.uani.com/1jvZSRq
Global Security Newswire:
"A newly described Iranian weapon is likely designed to hold cluster
munitions, not multiple warheads, as initially reported, says IHS Jane's
Defense Weekly. Iran would face substantial difficulties in equipping the
'Barani' ballistic missile to protect dozens of reentry vehicles during
their return into the atmosphere, the defense publication said in a
Thursday analysis. The Persian Gulf power earlier this week said the
missile performed as intended in a recent trial flight, and state
television paired the announcement with a mock-up image of two ballistic
missiles each firing roughly 30 reentry vehicles outside the earth's
atmosphere. Iranian media described the Barani as a 'new generation of
long-range ballistic missiles carrying multiple reentry vehicle
payloads.' Jane's, though, said it is 'extremely unlikely' that the
missile can accommodate multiple warheads, a capacity commonly tied to
nuclear arms. Rather, Iran probably built the Barani payload to drop
numerous smaller bomblets after returning into the atmosphere, the
analysis says." http://t.uani.com/1cgYPTU
Sanctions
Relief
Free Beacon:
"Iranian oil exports soared in January, hitting new highs just
months after the United States consented to billions of dollars in
economic sanctions relief under the interim nuclear deal... Iranian oil
exports have steadily risen since negotiations with the West restored
confidence in Tehran's economy. The increase runs counter to a promise by
the Obama administration that 'Iran's oil exports will remain steady at
their current level of around 1 million barrels per day.' ... The
significant rise in oil exports has led some experts to accuse the Obama
administration of misleading the public about the amount of sanctions
relief provided under the interim nuclear deal. While the White House
said Iran would receive no more than $7 billion in relief, these experts
say that the rise in oil exports and other economic spikes will give Iran
'well more than $20 billion.' 'These numbers ... cast doubt on the
accuracy of the administration's estimates for sanctions relief,' former
Ambassador Mark Wallace, CEO of the advocacy group United Against Nuclear
Iran, said in a statement. 'The $6 or $7 billion estimate does not take
into account the tens of billions of dollars Iran will reap from
increased oil sales.' 'It is becoming more and more evident that the
Geneva deal provided Iran with disproportionate sanctions relief, in
exchange for far less significant concessions regarding its nuclear
program,' Wallace said." http://t.uani.com/1cf2qlg
WSJ:
"Iran's largest private bank, Bank Mellat, is suing the U.K.
Treasury for some $4 billion in compensation for what it alleges was lost
business due to British sanctions against Iran. A spokesman for the U.K.
Treasury said he couldn't comment on ongoing legal proceedings. In a
filing on Friday with London's Commercial Court, which was reviewed by
The Wall Street Journal, Bank Mellat's lawyers, Zaiwalla & Co., said
the bank is seeking $3.98 billion in reparations for lost international
businesses due to sanctions. The claim follows a June 2013 ruling by
Britain's highest court that found sanctions imposed on the bank by the
U.K. government in 2009 were illegal because Bank Mellat isn't a
state-owned financial institution, and there wasn't evidence it aided
Iran's nuclear program." http://t.uani.com/1hoyE1U
Trend:
"A delegation of industrial and trade entities from Germany will
travel to Iran on February 22, IRIB reported on February 16. The
delegation will be comprised of officials in the fields of energy, food,
engineering, steel, telecommunications, construction, agriculture, and
medical treatment industries... The German ambassador, for his part, said
that the recent decline in the Iran-Germany trade is unfortunate and
Germany is displeased with the issue." http://t.uani.com/1e0j5Wg
Trend:
"A high-ranking Thai business delegation will visit Iran next week
to discuss avenues for enhancing economic ties between the two countries,
an Iranian official says, Press TV reported. The delegation headed by the
director general of Thailand Ministry of Commerce's International Trade
Development Center, and comprising representatives of different
commercial and manufacturing sectors of the country will visit Iran from
February 16 to 18, said head of Iranian Imports Association Mohammad
Hossein Barkhordar on Friday. He pointed to Thailand's determination to
enhance economic ties with the Islamic Republic at all levels and noted
that the country can be considered a reliable source of some essential commodities,
electronic equipment and automobile parts for Iran. Iran, on the other
hand, can provide Thailand with many chemical, industrial and mineral
products, including steel and its derivatives, the Iranian official
added." http://t.uani.com/1dD91XX
Sanctions
Enforcement & Impact
WSJ:
"The world's largest pool of tanker insurers is advising members
they shouldn't insure Iranian oil shipments, citing the short-time frame
of sanction loosening agreed to between Iran and Western powers... In an
interview with The Wall Street Journal Friday, Andrew Bardot, executive
officer of the International Group of Protection & Indemnity Clubs, a
pool of member insurers who cover around 95% of oil tanker capacity
world-wide, said its members are warning clients the short-term nature of
the relief make it impossible for them to indemnify Iranian cargoes.
P&I members 'are saying: Don't do it as we cannot guarantee
coverage,' Mr. Bardot said. With many liability claims stemming from
seaborne accidents taking years to be resolved, 'it is highly unlikely
that claims would be presented and liabilities finally determined prior
to the July 20 cutoff' of the temporary sanctions relief, Mr. Bardot
said. In addition, U.S. reinsurers participating in the group's pool
remain subject to insurance prohibitions, he said. That could effectively
make it impossible for any member of the group to make payouts on claims.
The insurance official said the International P&I was seeking
clarifications from the U.S. Treasury and the European Union on whether
such hurdles could be surmounted. A U.S. Treasury spokesperson said it is
'still actively looking into this issue.' A spokesman for EU foreign
policy chief Catherine Ashton said 'consultations are ongoing,' without
providing more details. For now, however, operators aren't taking
chances. 'We have sought legal advice and been told it is impossible to
return' to carrying Iranian oil, an official at a large Greek tanker
operator said." http://t.uani.com/1j2KAnA
Reuters:
"South Korea's crude imports from Iran fell 51 percent in January
from a month earlier, and shipments are expected to remain at around
125,000 bpd through the first six months of the interim deal on Tehran's
nuclear programme... South Korea imported 275,169 tonnes of Iranian crude
last month, or 65,064 barrels per day (bpd), down 51 percent from
December, also down 66 percent from a year earlier, preliminary customs
data showed on Saturday... South Korea's Iranian crude imports, however,
can vary month on month as one of the two Korean refiners that buys from
Iran receives oil only every other month. SK Energy and Hyundai Oilbank
are the only South Korean refiners that buy Iranian oil on a regular
basis." http://t.uani.com/1lYLfHK
Trend:
"The largest Iranian carmaker, 'Iran Khodro' has experienced $201
million (based on official rate of 24,871rials per each USD) in loss
during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year, which started
on March 21, 2013, the Managing Director of the company, Hashem Yekke
Zareh said, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on Feb. 17. He went on to
say that, currently the company manufactures with only 60 percent of its
production capacity. According to the statistics, about 69 automobile
manufacturer units have been closed and 115,000 people lost their jobs in
the automobile sector of Iran during the past two years due to pressure
of the sanctions. Increasing prices on raw materials and foreign
currencies are car manufacturers' main problems in Iran. Yekke Zareh
forecasted that the company will manufacture with 100 percent of its
capacity by June, 2014. He also expressed hope that the company's
production will increase by 40 percent in the next Iranian calendar year,
compared to the current year." http://t.uani.com/1gbImiW
Terrorism
WashPost:
"A senior al-Qaeda figure with close ties to the terrorist group's
current leader has left Iran, where he had lived for years after fleeing
American forces in Afghanistan in 2001, according to former and current
U.S. intelligence officials. Thirwat Shihata is the latest terrorist
suspect to leave Iran, raising questions about the country's motives for
allowing or forcing the departure of a string of al-Qaeda members that it
had sheltered over the past decade. U.S. officials said that Shihata, a
53-year-old Egyptian, was the deputy of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's
current leader, when he ran Egyptian Islamic Jihad before it formally
joined forces with Osama bin Laden in 1998... It was not clear when
Shihata departed Iran, but a former U.S. official, who also requested
anonymity, said he was believed to have traveled to Libya." http://t.uani.com/N1FRai
Syria Conflict
Reuters:
"U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry blamed the Assad government for
stalling Syrian peace talks and pressed Russia to stop supplying it weapons,
telling Moscow it needed to be part of the solution. International
mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said in Geneva on Saturday that the first two
rounds of peace talks had not made much progress but that the two sides
had agreed on an agenda for a third round at an unspecified date. 'The
regime stonewalled. They did nothing except continue to drop barrel bombs
on their own people and continue to destroy their own country. And I
regret to say they are doing so with increased support from Iran, from
Hezbollah and from Russia,' Kerry told reporters in Jakarta on Monday
during a trip to Asia and the Middle East." http://t.uani.com/1oH2WxH
Human Rights
IHR:
"Two men were hanged in public in the city of Karaj at 7 AM this
morning, reported the Iranian state media today. The state run Fars news
agency reported that the men who were identified as 'A. R.' (23 year old)
and 'N. J.' (37 year old), were convicted of rape , kidnapping and armed
robbery. Other local news sources identified these prisoners as
'Nematollah Jazaei' and 'Abolfazl Rezaei'. According to Dana News website
one of the prisoners was calling God's name and asking for
forgiveness." http://t.uani.com/1j2J4lt
ICHRI:
"The Iranian government must end the inhumane practice of holding
its critics under house arrest for years without due process, the
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. February 14,
2014, marks three years since Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and
Zahra Rahnavard were placed under a de facto and illegal house arrest in
Tehran. 'It's astonishing that with all of President Hassan Rouhani's
remarks about citizens' rights, these three leading political figures are
still under house arrest, an absolute injustice and disrespect for
citizens' rights,' said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. 'Though Iran's Supreme
Leader is ultimately responsible, as the head of Iran's National Security
Council President Rouhani can and should stop the ongoing house arrests,
which continue to cast a long shadow over his intentions and remarks
about respecting his people,' Ghaemi added." http://t.uani.com/1gSiqcT
Independent:
"It's been over 100 days into Rouhadi's Presidency in Iran, and two
more Kurdish-Iranian journalists have been arrested and detained. Forty
year old Khosro Kordpour was sentence to six years and his younger
brother Masoud Kordpour to three and a half years. Khosro is facing
the additional special charge of 'enmity against God' and 'corruption on
earth' - both of which hold the death penalty." http://t.uani.com/1m0K4aE
Domestic
Politics
CSM:
"President Hassan Rouhani swept to election victory last year on the
slogan "prudence and hope" and a wave of high expectations for
cultural and political change in Iran. But after six months in office,
the centrist cleric is caught between reformists frustrated at the slow
pace of change and hard-line conservatives who warn that Mr. Rouhani's
agenda risks reigniting 'sedition.' The scale of criticism from opposing
camps has been so great that it prompted Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei to urge patience and support." http://t.uani.com/1oHgYiQ
Foreign Affairs
Fars (Iran):
"Commander of the Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza
Pourdastan warned Washington against a military move against Iran, and
said the US is moving towards a final collapse. 'Based on the remarks of
the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution (Ayatollah Seyed Ali
Khamenei), the world arrogance is moving on a historical twist and if it
repeats its wrong method against Iran, it will no doubt have no destiny,
but decomposition like the Soviet Union,' Pourdastan said in the Western
city of Kermanshah on Sunday. He further reiterated that the US is moving
on the path of collapse. Elsewhere, Pourdastan underscored the Iranian
Armed Forces' preparedness to defend the country, and said even the US
has always acknowledged the crucial importance of Iran's sensitive
position in the region. In relevant remarks in December, Commander of the
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force General Qassem
Soleimani downplayed Washington's war rhetoric against Tehran, and
underlined that the US has collapsed in all the three arenas of economy,
politics and military. 'The Americans and (US President Barack) Obama are
lying when they assert that all options are on the table against Iran,'
Soleimani said in the Southeastern city of Sirjan. 'That the Americans
say we have brought Iran to its knees by pressures and sanctions is
nothing more than a lie, rather it is the US which has collapsed in
political, economic and military arenas which are considered as the main
elements of power,' he added." http://t.uani.com/1oHia5Q
AP:
"Tehran's interior minister has warned Pakistan that Iranian forces
may enter Pakistani and Afghan territory to released border guards seized
by a rebel group. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli's remarks on state TV come a
week after the little-known Jaish al-Adl posted photos on Twitter of five
men it claims are border guards it seized near Pakistan. He said Iran had
asked Pakistan to treat the case 'strongly and seriously' or allow Iran
to secure the remote region 'deep on Afghanistan and Pakistan soil.'
'Otherwise we do consider it our own right to intervene and create a new
security sphere for our safety,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1eI7Wtd
Opinion &
Analysis
Mansour Osanlou in
Al-Monitor: "With great interest, eyes around the
world are watching the beginning of Iran's nuclear deal and its exclusion
from the peace conference on Syria. While these are indeed important
developments for the entire world, the protection of human rights is a
more relevant issue for the average Iranian. ust this month, Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif admitted to the country's human
rights 'problems and shortcomings,' restating that his new boss,
President Hassan Rouhani, has promised to address them. Concrete changes
have yet to take place, in part because as Zarif stated, it is a process
of 'consensus-building, not an immediate issue' and 'not everything is in
the hands of the executive branch.' The widespread arbitrary arrest and
detention of citizens for exercising rights protected under international
law and systemic torture have made it an immediate issue for many of us,
however. As some 900 prisoners of conscience and political prisoners
remain holed up in deplorable, inhumane conditions in Iran, every day
matters. I know this feeling of urgency. I was one of those prisoners. As
a labor activist and head of the Tehran bus drivers union, I spent more
than five years in prison, experiencing physical and psychological
torture, and constant threats against me and my family. Despite being
squeezed for extended periods of time into a concrete hole barely long
enough to fit my body but not wide enough to stretch my arms, I consider
myself one of the fortunate ones. Through my role in the union and as an
activist, I forged many relationships with other human rights defenders and
trade unionist both in Iran and abroad. When I was illegally jailed for
advocating on behalf of bus drivers for fair wages, they called publicly
for my release. Many others, however, do not benefit from this kind of
attention. The international media, too, helped me regain my freedom by
reporting my situation and detention, building a sense of public empathy
- even from prison guards, some of whom I can call my friends. While the
prison conditions I was subjected to were cruel and degrading, my name
and location were known, my story was told and my freedom was returned,
even if it involved fleeing my home country. Other activists whom I
admire have unfortunately not enjoyed the same luck, which is why I have
made it my mission to share their stories and advocate on their behalf...
Prison conditions in Iran are a major concern of Ahmed Shaheed, the UN
Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran. According to
his reports to the UN, many prisoners have been denied access to
necessary medical care, and have faced severe overcrowding and inadequate
nutritional provisions, in violation of international law and standards.
My brother, Afshin Osanlou, was a victim of such deplorable
circumstances. Afshin, also a labor activist, was arrested in 2010 on
charges of 'assembling to act against national security,' and sentenced
to five years in prison. On June 20, 2013, he was pronounced dead on his
way to the hospital because of a heart attack. Documentation has emerged
proving that my brother's death was based on neglect, however. It took an
hour for him to be taken to the prison infirmary after he complained of
chest pain, and three more to reach a hospital. He was transferred in a
car with no medical equipment or staff aboard to assist. Reports by the prison
physicians appear inaccurate, and to make matters worse my family was
informed of the tragedy two days after my brother's death, not from
officials but from our contacts inside the prison. We were not even
allowed to hold the memorial service at a mosque. Currently, there are
many prisoners whose lives are endangered by lack of medical attention,
including labor activists Rasoul Bodaghi and Reza Shahabi, secular
democracy advocate Arjang Davoudi, and Kurdish activist Kairm Maroof
Aziz, who is nearly 80 years old and has been in prison for 30 years. The
world cannot wait for Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Javad Zarif to address
the plight of Iranian political prisoners... International pressure saved
my life and helped me get my freedom back. The stories of Heshmatollah,
Afshin and others, on the other hand, prove what happens when there is
lack thereof. Unfortunately, these are a few of countless cases in which
prisoners have been forgotten about. For their safety, the international
community must continue to insist Iran put an end to these cruel
practices and ultimately demand their freedom. Though I had no other
choice but to leave the only place I knew as home, I am fortunate and
free, a testament that it is possible when the international community
insists on accountability and justice. It is my turn now to join the
chorus and call for the release of others." http://t.uani.com/1f52K8S
David Albright in
ISIS: "On February 8 and 9, 2014, the International
Atomic Energy (IAEA) and Iran held constructive technical meetings within
the Framework for Cooperation that was agreed between the parties in
November 2013. Iran and the IAEA reached agreement on seven
practical measures to be implemented by Iran by May 15, 2014, including
one provision: 'Providing information and explanations for the IAEA to
assess Iran's stated need or application for the development of Exploding
Bridge Wire (EBW) detonators. These EBW detonators are also called
Electrical Bridge Wire detonators.' In April 2008 ISIS posted on its
website a document summarizing a February 25, 2008 technical briefing
given in Vienna by Olli Heinonen, then the IAEA's Deputy Director General
of Safeguards, to member states, including Iran. The briefing
highlighted several technical issues related to the IAEA's outstanding
questions about the scope and direction of Iran's alleged nuclear
weaponization program prior to 2004. The briefing included the
issue of the EBW detonators and the questions that Iran needed to clarify
at that time. Iran and the IAEA had subsequent discussions in 2008 but
they were unable to settle this issue, partially because of Iran's abrupt
cancellation of scheduled meetings and visits in September 2008. The
development of safe, fast-acting detonators, such as EBWs, and equipment
suitable for firing the detonators, is an integral part of a program to
develop an implosion type nuclear device. Thus, the IAEA was
concerned about Iran's alleged work on EBW detonators in the context of
firing systems, or multipoint initiation systems, that Iran was
reportedly using in nuclear weapons development and testing prior to
2004. The IAEA's concerns were increased by information that Iran
developed and tested a remote firing system, which would have involved
EBWs, that appears connected to developing a capability to detonate a
nuclear device underground from a site ten kilometers away. Although Iran
has not committed in this recent agreement with the IAEA to discuss all
the major outstanding issues surrounding its alleged military nuclear
programs, it has now committed to provide information and explanations to
enable the IAEA to assess its stated need or application for the
development of EBWs. That assessment will necessarily involve the IAEA
drawing on its information suggesting that Iran was developing and
testing EBWs as part of firing systems for use in nuclear implosion
devices." http://t.uani.com/1jw2puL
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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