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AP:
"Israeli naval forces raided a ship in the Red Sea early Wednesday
and seized dozens of advanced rockets from Iran destined for
Palestinian militants in Gaza, the military said. The ship, the KLOS C,
was carrying Syrian-made M-302 rockets and was intercepted more than
1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) south of Israel off the coasts of Sudan
and Eritrea, military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told reporters.
He said the M-302 rockets have a range of up to 100 miles (160
kilometers) and would have significantly improved the capabilities of
Gaza militants, putting nearly all of Israel in their range.
Previously, Gaza militants have only been able to reach about 50 miles
(80 kilometers) into Israel with their homegrown M-75 missiles. The
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah used M-302s in a 2006 war against
Israel, the military said... The operation, codenamed 'Full
Disclosure,' followed months of intelligence gathering. Lerner said the
shipment originated in Syria. From there the weapons were flown to Iran
and departed from the Bandar Abbas port. Lerner said the Iranians tried
to 'obscure their tracks' by shipping first via Iraq and then out to
sea. The shipment was destined for Sudan, from where it was to be moved
overland through Egypt to Gaza, the army said. Israel says militants
have used similar routes in the past." http://t.uani.com/1oqC6qI
Reuters:
"Western powers pressed Iran on Wednesday to tackle suspicions
that it may have worked on designing an atomic bomb and the United
States said the issue would be central to the success of talks on a
final settlement over Tehran's nuclear program. At a board meeting of
the International Atomic Energy Agency, Washington and the European
Union underlined their support for the U.N. watchdog's efforts to
investigate long-running allegations of possible nuclear arms research
by Iran. The IAEA inquiry is separate from but complementary to
higher-level political talks between Iran and six world powers aimed at
a deal on the overall scope of Tehran's nuclear energy program to ensure
it cannot be diverted into bombmaking. In potentially a significant
advance for the IAEA's probe, Tehran agreed last month to address one
of many topics the U.N. agency wants answers on - the development of
fast-acting detonators with both military and civilian applications.
But while this was welcomed by Western officials at the closed-door
session of the IAEA's 35-nation governing board in Vienna, they made
clear the Islamic Republic must do much more. The U.S. ambassador to
the IAEA, Joseph Macmanus, said it remained critical for Iran to
address substantively all international concerns about the so-called
possible military dimensions (PMD) of the country's nuclear program. A
'satisfactory resolution of PMD issues will be critical to any
long-term comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue,'
Macmanus said, according to a copy of his statement. He later told
reporters: 'It is a central element to this negotiation, and all
parties recognize that.' The 28-nation European Union voiced a similar
line in its statement: 'We urge Iran to cooperate fully with the agency
regarding PMD issues, and to provide the agency with access to all
people, documents and sites requested.'" http://t.uani.com/1cBIxC9
AP:
"Iran's foreign minister pushed back Wednesday against calls for
deeper cuts to its nuclear program. Mohammad Javad Zarif said the West
'cannot entertain illusions' of Iran completely ending its uranium
enrichment program. Speaking in Tokyo, he also reiterated that his
country is not going to give up finishing its heavy-water nuclear
reactor. 'We're not going to close it. We're not going to dismantle it.
We're not going to close or dismantle anything, that is our red line,'
he told a news conference before meetings with the Japanese prime
minister and foreign minister. 'But we will address proliferation
concerns that people may have.' ... He also said Iran is eager to tap
Japan's nuclear power technology and needs more than $100 billion in
investment in its oil and gas industries and $75 billion in petrochemicals.
Iran has one completed nuclear plant, built with Russia's help, and
wants 19 more. 'We're negotiating with Russia on further construction
of other nuclear power plants, but it's not an exclusive environment,'
Zarif said. 'Certainly Japan can play a role.'" http://t.uani.com/1dr55ZQ
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
AFP:
"EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will travel to Iran this
weekend, Iran's foreign ministry said Tuesday amid a thaw in Tehran's
strained relations with the European bloc. Ashton is tasked with
coordinating nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, which
culminated in an elusive deal that was struck in November and put into
force in January. 'Ms Ashton will arrive in Tehran on Saturday night,'
Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, quoted by the official IRNA
news agency... Her trip -- which follows official visits by top
diplomats from Italy, Sweden, Belgium and Spain -- will take her to
Isfahan on Monday, according to Iranian media. European sources
confirmed the trip, saying talks in Tehran would focus on international
foreign policy issues of mutual concern. The last visit of an EU
foreign policy chief to Tehran took place in 2008... Iran and the
so-called P5+1 group of world powers will resume talks at experts level
in Vienna on Wednesday, ahead of a March 17 meeting of political
directors in the Austrian capital. 'In this round of expert-level
talks, we will review the issues related to (uranium) enrichment as
well as tackling the concerns about the Arak heavy water reactor,'
Araqchi said." http://t.uani.com/1fHtg2A
WashPost:
"Iran should face more intense pressure during international
negotiations - and not be given further respite from sanctions - to
force it to completely dismantle its nuclear program, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday. 'You know how you get that
agreement from Iran? Not by relieving pressure but by adding pressure,'
Netanyahu said in a speech to the annual policy conference of the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has advocated imposing new
economic sanctions on Iran during international nuclear negotiations...
Netanyahu spent more than half of his annual AIPAC address on Iran,
which he said was on the wrong side of the world's 'moral divide' and
not to be trusted. He suggested that the administration and its
negotiating partners - the P5+1 group including Britain, France,
Russia, China and Germany - had been duped by Iran's new government,
including 'its smiling president and its smooth-talking foreign
minister.' 'But if you listen to their words, their soothing words,' he
said, 'they don't square with Iran's aggressive actions.' Iranian
long-range missiles, he said, 'can strike, right now or very soon, the
Eastern Seaboard of the United States - Washington - and very soon
after that, everywhere else in the United States.'" http://t.uani.com/NTWZzp
AP:
"Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday said it had
acquired missiles with multiple warheads, the latest armaments advance
to be claimed by the Islamic Republic. At a ceremony Wednesday, Defense
Minister Hossein Dehghan presented a delivery of four types of
ballistic missiles - named Qiam, Qadr H1, Fateh-110 and Persian Gulf.
The Qadr H1 and Qiam, he said, are equipped with multiple warheads,
greatly boosting their destructive power. 'These missiles are able to
hit and destroy enemy targets with precision, and they meet a variety
of the armed forces' needs,' Dehghan said. 'The weapons have
strengthened Iran's deterrence power and military might,' he added, in
comments were posted on the Guard's website." http://t.uani.com/P0ddbo
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters:
"Japan made a second payment to Iran for crude imports under an
interim nuclear deal on Wednesday, diplomatic sources told Reuters, as
the West eases a year-long stranglehold on revenues that has crippled
the Iranian economy. Japan, which became the first of Iran's oil buyers
to make a payment to Iran last month, deposited $450 million in funds
owed for oil imported from Iran in a Central Bank of Iran (CBI)
account, according to the sources... Japan last month became the first
of Iran's oil buyers to make a payment for crude imports under the
deal, sources told Reuters, with one source confirming the amount of
$550 million. According to the agreement, the second and third payment
schedules were March 1 for $450 million and March 7 for $550 million."
http://t.uani.com/1cu57lC
Sanctions
Impact & Enforcement
ITWeb (South
Africa): "MTN, Africa's largest cellular operator,
is still in talks with US authorities on ways to repatriate R5.5
billion earned from its MTN Irancell operation. Funds from what is its
second-largest operation have been blocked since early 2012, because of
Washington's sanctions against Tehran. The sanctions were imposed as
the US believed the country was developing a nuclear programme. MTN
Group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa says there is US legislation that is
difficult to get around. He explains this is related to the transfer of
funds out of Iran, because it produces oil. 'When you negotiate with
governments, you work at their pace.'" http://t.uani.com/1cBKI8G
Congressional
Sanctions Debate
Reuters:
"U.S. Senator Robert Menendez said on Tuesday he still sees his
legislation to impose new sanctions on Iran as the best way to ensure
that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon and prevent military action
over its nuclear program. In a speech to the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC,
Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
expressed deep skepticism about Iran's intentions in current
negotiations with world powers. 'I don't believe we will have
sufficient time to effectively impose new sanctions before Iran could
produce a nuclear weapon, leaving the West with only two options, a
nuclear armed Iran or a military action,' Menendez said. 'I believe
that we can prevent those being the only two options by the legislation
that we have proposed with Senator (Mark) Kirk,' he said, to loud
applause. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, and Kirk, an Illinois
Republican, were lead authors of a bill to impose new sanctions on Iran
if international negotiations on a nuclear agreement falter... 'It is
clear that only intense, punishing economic pressure influences Iranian
leaders,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1jRonJs
Opinion &
Analysis
Dennis Ross in
TNR: "This week the President will see Prime
Minister Netanyahu and while Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations will form the centerpiece of their discussions, Ukraine,
Crimea, and Russian behavior will be a sub-text. Will Iran see in
Russian behavior an example that international norms mean little? They
certainly mean nothing in Syria. Will they welcome the potential for a
crisis between the US and Russia assuming that this will permit them to
exploit division within the Perm 5+1 in the negotiations? No doubt our
need for a firm response on the Crimea and the possibility of fall-out
on the Iranian issue will come up for discussion between President
Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Israel's prime minister, like his
Middle Eastern counterparts will favor a strong response on Crimea
precisely because they are looking for signs that the U.S will exercise
power and leadership. Regardless of how Iran may seek to exploit any
divisions at this juncture, most leaders in the Middle East will take
comfort from signs of American decisiveness in responding to what is
seen as a Russian provocation. Many in the region now believe that the
Russians (and the Iranians) act while we only warn. The answer is not
for us to be mindless in responses and to make rash statements that we
cannot fulfill. But it is to stake out meaningful positions and follow
through on them. For now, the U.S. should be seen in mobilizing a broad
set of political and economic sanctions-and material support for
Ukraine. Helping Ukraine stabilize its economy will be a huge task but
becomes all the more important now-and sacrifices may be far easier to
justify now in Ukraine than at any other time. And, helping Ukraine
will be one answer to the Russians and a reminder of US leadership, and
that will be observed in the Middle East. Knowing the Saudis have
concerns about our decisiveness at this point does not mean we cannot
challenge them as well. They want us to do more to change the balance
of power in Syria, and to counter the Iranians there and in the region.
And, the Saudis-who so oppose what the Russians are doing in Syria-are
doing very little practically to express that opposition. True, they
will argue they cannot be a substitute for the United States, but this
is hardly the time for the Saudis to be financing a $3 billion package
of Russian arms for Egypt. Few things more clearly signal that the
Russians pay no price with the Arabs for helping to sustain Assad's war
crimes against Syrian civilians. Ironically, showing leadership now in
our response to the Russian intervention in the Crimea is likely to get
the attention of our friends in the Middle East. It cannot be a
substitute for what we do in the Middle East but it can open a new
conversation with the Saudis and others. One in which we focus on what
we can both do in Syria; how we can both act to ensure that Egypt does
not become a failed state; and what we do if there is a nuclear deal
with Iran and what we do if there is not. But launching a new
conversation will be far harder if the U.S. does not appear to come up
with an effective strategy that imposes consequences for Putin's act of
aggression against Ukraine." http://t.uani.com/1q66n1O
Valerie Lincy in
IranWatch: "Last week, my organization received a
call from a staff member on Capitol Hill who had an interesting
question: how much nuclear energy could Iran produce with its current
stockpile of enriched uranium? The staff member, like most
journalists and even the public, was under the impression that Iran's
stockpile of enriched uranium might be sufficient for the generation of
nuclear power. That is not surprising; we have heard it said in
many places that Iran could have a small enrichment program sufficient
for nuclear power but not big enough to pose a weapon threat.
Unfortunately, that is not true. It is impossible to have an
enrichment program for power that is smaller than an enrichment program
for bombs. Let's consider what Iran has done. Over the eight
years that Iran has been enriching uranium, it has accumulated only
enough to fuel a standard-size nuclear reactor for less than three
months. That is inconsequential from a nuclear energy
perspective. But that same stockpile could fuel seven nuclear
weapons. The truth is, Iran's enrichment program today is far too
small to be part of an energy program, but is perfectly adequate for
making bombs. To repeat: you can't have a small enrichment
program for nuclear energy. Such a thing does not exist. An
enrichment program for power is by its nature many times bigger than an
enrichment program for bombs. I will explain why in more detail
in just a moment. But first, what is the status of Iran's nuclear
program under the interim deal made last November? Iran has enough
low-enriched uranium now to fuel 7 bombs, assuming the uranium is
enriched the rest of the way to weapon-grade. It is already two
thirds of the way. Iran will keep this material under the deal.
It would probably take Iran at least 3 months to prepare a first bomb's
worth of enriched uranium using this material, plus additional time to
process it for placement in a weapon. Of course, these numbers
are only estimates... Iran also has a stockpile of higher-enriched
uranium, which is already about nine-tenths of the way to
weapons-grade. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has
confirmed that Iran has ceased production of this material and is converting
its existing stocks to an oxide form that is difficult, but not
impossible, to quickly prepare for use in a nuclear weapon.
Iran's suspension of higher-enriched uranium production represents the
only real roll-back achieved by the interim deal... So, overall, we can
see that the interim deal largely maintains the status quo. It is not a
roll-back... In sum, the Iranian regime could emerge from the talks
with its nuclear program intact, an economy spurred on by sanctions
relief, a weakened international consensus on future restrictions, and
reduced pressure on the Iranian leadership to negotiate for fear of
domestic unrest. How can we avoid such an outcome? Iran must be
convinced that the cost of failing to reach a final deal that includes
restrictions on its enrichment program would be high. 'Zero enrichment'
isn't necessary; Iran can retain a token enrichment capability, but
nothing more. We must also break the association between Iran's
enrichment program and nuclear energy, because any program large enough
to fuel nuclear reactors would also give Iran an unacceptable nuclear
break out capability. Until we achieve these goals, we won't have
removed the threat of an Iranian bomb." http://t.uani.com/1cBLYc6
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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