Eye on Iran: New Year a Dud as Iran Nuclear Optimism Fails to Tip Scales

Join UANI           Top Stories Bloomberg: "Fishmonger Shahin Anbarani's counter was covered with bright-eyed Caspian kutum and spotted river trout, staples of the Persian New Year feast. With few customers to serve, Anbarani spent much of what's traditionally the busiest period of the year, when Iranians mark the beginning of spring, staring at a television fixed into a top corner of his shop in Tehran. 'This last month has been terrible, really bad,' he said, shaking his head. 'People don't have any money.' The scarcity of shoppers at the food market near Hafez Street ahead of the March 20 start of the Nowruz holiday was a reminder to President Hassan Rouhani of the scale of Iran's economic woes. While his nuclear diplomacy promises an end to sanctions that have sapped the oil-dependent economy, inflation near 40 percent and the imminent prospect of higher household bills are souring the mood... While statistically inflation has edged lower, to an annual 38 percent, consumers haven't noticed. Take-home pay for government workers is increasing at half that rate." http://t.uani.com/1dK7gET FT: "Yet, it would be wishful thinking to assume that if the crisis over Ukraine continues to deteriorate it will not seep through Russian policy towards the Middle East and affect Iran, primarily because that is where the US would be hurt most. Motivated by fierce nationalism and a deep sense of historic injustice, for which he blames the west, Russian president Vladimir Putin has been lashing out with little apparent regard for the consequences. If cornered, he will be tempted to use all the levers at his disposal to retaliate against western sanctions. 'If you look at this rationally there no reason why Russians would want to undermine the [nuclear] talks in anyway but... at this point you can't count on him [Putin] making calculations of cost and benefit,' says Robert Einhorn, a former US negotiator with Iran. Despite Russian good behaviour in Vienna, Moscow's representatives departed with a warning shot, with a senior official saying that Russia might have to use the nuclear talks 'as an element in the game of raising the stakes'. Fyodor Lukyanov, a foreign policy expert in Moscow, says he expects a tightening of Russian relations with Iran and more intensive supplies of arms to Syria, where Moscow has been propping up the Assad regime. 'Russia will see no reason at all to ease US troubles in the Middle East,' Mr Lukyanov predicts." http://t.uani.com/1dmu1nz Military Times: "Iranian media reports that Iran is building a replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a prop in an upcoming movie strain credibility, a naval analyst told Military Times. The New York Times first reported that satellite photographs show the Iranians are building a non-working replica of the USS Nimitz that is two-thirds the size of the actual ship. Iranian newspapers have subsequently reported that the mockup is a prop for an upcoming movie about an Iranian airliner shot down by a U.S. cruiser in 1988, according to The Guardian. But the costs of building such a big model of a ship make it hard to believe that it would be used for a movie, said Christopher Harmer, of the Institute for the Study of War. 'It only makes sense to build a two-thirds model of a ship for movie if you are making a major commercial success movie,' Harmer told Military Times on Monday. However, Harmer acknowledged it is possible the Iranians are making a lavish propaganda film along the lines of Nazi epics late in World War II. 'It would be an utterly ridiculous waste of money, but it's just barely possible that the Iranians are that stupid,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1fXxDqG        Sanctions Relief Trend: "Iran and Tajikistan officially inaugurated a joint detergent factory in Danghara, Iran's Fars News Agency reported on March 25. Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon attended the inauguration ceremony. The factory came on stream at the cost of $1.4 billion. Iranian businessmen invested the money in the project... Germany has provided the factory's necessary technologies. Danghara District is a district in Khatlon province, Tajikistan. Its capital is Danghara. Tajikistan plans to create a special economic zone there." http://t.uani.com/1pvT1IU Trend: "Iran's IRNA News Agency reported on March 25 that Armenia may purchase natural gas from Iran in the near future. The Iranian News Agency quoted Radio Armenia as saying that the issue of importing two million cubic meters of gas from Tehran will be discussed at the two countries upcoming joint committee meeting, to be held in May in Tehran. Alireza Kameli, the managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company said on March 4 that Iran is currently negotiating with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq and Oman for exporting gas. Iran sits on the world's largest natural gas reserves. The country's estimated reserves are 33.6 trillion cubic meters or 18 per cent of the world's total proven gas reserves." http://t.uani.com/1oZFNWs Terrorism Al-Monitor: "Al-Monitor has learned from Gaza sources that Iranian financial support has resumed to Hamas, but at a level lower than that which preceded the rupture between the two at the end of 2012... Gaza political circles have been wondering whether Hamas would return to the Iran axis after a break that lasted more than two years. On March 10, leading Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Zahar, the last link between Hamas and Iran, announced steps to restore the bilateral relationship. Al-Monitor has learned from a source close to Hamas' political leadership that Iran is also planning to receive Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal soon, after a long tug of war marked by undisclosed shuttle discussions. The source said that Qatar was mediating with Iran to restore ties with Hamas. In late February, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah visited Tehran for that purpose. The source added that last week, Iran gave the green light for Meshaal's visit after contacts between Zahar and Marwan Issa, a senior leader in the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing. This long overdue visit will culminate in Meshaal meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei." http://t.uani.com/1gVeXIh Human Rights IHR: "Two Ahwazi Arab death row prisoners Ali Chebeishat (49) and Seyed Khaled Mousavi (36) have been transferred from the Dezful prison to an unknown location. Iran Human Rights (IHR) fears for their imminent execution and urges the international community to react... Six other Ahwazi Arab prisoners have been executed in December 2013 and January 2014, without the families or the lawyers being noticed about the executions in advance." http://t.uani.com/1fXv9bW ICHRI: "Against customary practice, the Iranian Judiciary prohibited New Year furloughs for political prisoners this year. According to Kaleme website, despite earlier promises by the Tehran Prosecutor, Head of the Iranian Judiciary Sadegh Larijani issued an internal memorandum ordering the denial of furlough for political prisoners. Officials at the Tehran Prosecutor's office informed the families of political prisoners that the furlough ban has political reasons, including Catherine Ashton's trip to Iran during which she visited with activists, and reports issued on the situation of human rights in Iran by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran Ahmed Shaheed, according to Kaleme." http://t.uani.com/1h5fdJi ICHRI: "Dian Alaei, Baha'i community representative, reacted to the March 17 statements made by Mohammad Javad Larijani, Head of the Iranian Judiciary's Human Rights Council, in which he claimed that no Baha'is were imprisoned simply because of their faith. 'There are currently 136 Baha'is in the Islamic Republic's prisons who were arrested only because they were Baha'is. They have committed no other crime,' Dian Alaei told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. She added that some imprisoned Baha'is had been charged with membership in 'illegal organizations' or 'spying for foreign countries,' but no evidence had been offered to prove such accusations." http://t.uani.com/1mssP4W Domestic Politics Al-Monitor: "In an extensive interview, the prominent Reformist Abbas Abdi challenged a number of common perceptions and beliefs regarding Reformists and the administration of President Hassan Rouhani, criticizing the former for their ineffectiveness and lack of cooperation with conservatives. He drew the praise of conservative websites for his observations. Abdi's most controversial comments to the Reformist newspaper Etemaad, in a Nowruz special edition, concerned the 2005 and 2009 elections. 'The legacy of [former President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad was not just a product [created] by him,' Abdi said. 'Others provided the ground for this. Whether it was in the 2005 elections or 2009, unwise policies of others resulted in this dangerous situation. That we want to blame Ahmadinejad for everything only proves our passivity and ineffectiveness.' Abdi further contended that if the Reformists think they had nothing to do with the Ahmadinejad moment in Iran's history, then they must admit that they are 'weak and ineffective.'" http://t.uani.com/1mstl2S Foreign Affairs Reuters: "Sunni Muslim militants have killed one of the five Iranian border guards they have been holding hostage for the past six weeks, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Monday. It identified the victim as Jamshid Danaeefar, shown sitting against a mud wall in an unidentified location with the other four captives in a grainy photo apparently taken by their captors. Fars, quoting an 'informed source', said the four other hostages were in good health, without giving further details. The guards were seized while patrolling the lawless frontier with Pakistan in early February. Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), an Iranian Sunni Muslim rebel group in Sistan-Baluchistan province later claimed responsibility." http://t.uani.com/1l0CL2F 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.