Eye on Iran: Iran, Powers Seek to Narrow Gaps in New Round of Nuclear Talks

Join UANI           Top Stories Reuters: "Iran and six world powers began a new round of talks on Tuesday aimed at settling the dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme by late July, despite wide differences on how to attain that goal... Chief negotiators from Iran, the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia started a two-day meeting around 9:45 a.m. at the U.N. complex in Vienna, where they have held two previous such sessions since February. 'We are involved in very detailed and substantial negotiations and we are trying as hard as we can to drive the process forward,' the spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who coordinates the discussions on behalf of the powers, told reporters. Both sides say they want to start drafting a comprehensive agreement in May, some two months before a July 20 deadline for finalising the accord. Western official say, however, that the parties are still far apart on key issues. 'What matters most to us is that there is a good agreement. Clearly we want to make progress as fast as possible but the most important thing is the quality of the agreement,' Ashton's spokesman, Michael Mann, said. 'It has to be a good agreement that everyone is happy with. So we will work as hard was we can to achieve that.'" http://t.uani.com/1jqs3lr Reuters: "Iran's reluctance to discuss limits to its missile program in nuclear negotiations with world powers highlights the weapons' strategic importance for a country facing U.S.-backed regional rivals boasting more modern arsenals. But while it is not at the heart of the talks over Iran's nuclear program, which center on the production of fissile material usable in atomic bombs, Tehran's longer-range missiles could become one of several stumbling blocks ahead. For the United States and its allies, they are a source of concern as they could potentially carry nuclear warheads. Washington wants the issue addressed in the quest for a comprehensive agreement in the decade-old nuclear dispute... Former senior U.S. State Department official Robert Einhorn, now at the Brookings think-tank, said there was 'considerable logic' to tackling the ballistic missile issue in the context of what he called the nuclear weapons threat posed by Iran. 'Given the inaccuracy of early-generation, long-range ballistic missiles, such missiles only have military utility if they carry munitions with a very wide radius of destruction, mainly nuclear weapons,' Einhorn said in a new report." http://t.uani.com/1hbLpeC Politico: "The Senate unanimously approved a bill banning Iran's ambassador to the United Nations from the United States on Monday night. Sen. Ted Cruz's proposal would prevent known terrorists from entering the United States as ambassadors to the U.N. Hamid Aboutalebi, who participated in the 1979 hostage-taking of Americans in Tehran, has been appointed ambassador to the UN by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a move described as a "slap in the face" to the U.S. by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and 'unconscionable' by Cruz... Cruz moved to pass the bill by unanimous consent shortly after voting on a bill extending emergency unemployment compensation. Anyone could have objected to the bill, but Cruz cleared the way for the legislation after speaking over the weekend with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a fellow Iran hawk, to clear the way for the bill, sources in both parties said." http://t.uani.com/1sw7Boa        Nuclear Program & Negotiations WSJ: "Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Ravanchi signaled potential progress in the country's nuclear talks with six world powers on one of the thorniest issues-the future of the country's heavy water plutonium reactor in Arak. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal before a fresh round of nuclear talks that started Tuesday in Vienna, Mr. Ravanchi said Iran would address 'legitimate concerns' about Arak, which the west said can produce enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon. 'So we know each other's positions on Arak very well...Our position is that we are ready to address legitimate concerns about the possible proliferation that might arise with regard to Arak,' he said. 'We have not reached a conclusion on Arak but at least we know very well where they are and where we are and how the positions of the two sides can merge.'" http://t.uani.com/1iptUUm Sanctions Relief Bloomberg: "Reports of multibillion-dollar oil talks between Iran and Russia are emerging as the latest obstacle to a comprehensive pact eliminating the threat of an Iranian nuclear arsenal. The Obama administration is weighing potentially deal-breaking sanctions if a contract is completed. The Russian business daily Kommersant has reported Russia plans to buy 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil a day, shattering an export limit under the interim nuclear agreement world powers and Iran reached last year. Moscow and Tehran are far from finalizing the contract, the newspaper said, but the U.S. has expressed alarm... The arrangement would break the interim agreement reached in November in Geneva and potentially trigger U.S. sanctions, said the official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name and briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. But the official didn't say the deal would force the U.S. to slap new economic sanctions on Iran - a move that would likely wreck the entire diplomatic process with Tehran. Critics of the Obama administration's outreach to Iran want a clear marker outlined. In a letter to the president Monday, Congress' leading sanctions drafters said the U.S. must re-impose all penalties on Iran suspended under the interim pact if Russia and Iran move forward. 'We urge you to put Iran on notice,' said Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill." http://t.uani.com/1isJwrE LAT: "When Iran's leaders signed a preliminary nuclear deal with world powers in November, they promised the six-month agreement would quickly start 'melting the iceberg' of Western sanctions, lead to new trade ties and lift the lives of ordinary Iranians. Opponents of the deal in the United States and the Middle East said much the same thing, warning that it would rapidly erode the international sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. It hasn't worked out that way. More than four months into the deal, many Iranians think the interim accord has done little to help them. 'The deal has not brought any economic breakthrough for the common people,' said Mohammed Hydari, editor of Khandani, a political and economic journal. The 'meager' funds released by world powers each month under the deal, he said, 'are not helping the people, but the government.' Dwindling popular support in Iran for the preliminary accord, coupled with perennial resistance to any nuclear compromise from hard-liners, raises doubt about how long Iranian President Hassan Rouhani can push ahead with his effort to reach a final deal." http://t.uani.com/1gHDh0o IBT: "Iran plans to boost its crude production and exports this year despite agreeing to U.S.-led sanctions against the country's energy sector. 'Iran will use every possibility to increase the amount of oil exports and will not wait for America's permission,' Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said Monday, according to Iran's oil ministry news service Shana. 'The sanctions do not ban Iran from increasing oil production and we have a big plan for increasing Iran's oil production.' Iran is also planning to increase its gas production, Zanganeh said. Iran has the second-largest proven gas reserves in the world, and the fourth-largest proven oil reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration." http://t.uani.com/Ox81KP Syria Conflict AP: "Syrian state media say Iran has sent 30,000 tons of food supplies to help President Bashar Assad's government deal with shortages amid civil war. State TV said Tuesday that the massive shipment has arrived at a port on the Mediterranean Sea. The aid is part of Iran's broader support for Assad as he prepares to run for a third presidential term while his troops fight rebels trying to oust him. Iran has been Assad's major backer, lending Damascus military support through its proxy Hezbollah group and advising the government on strategy to fight the opposition. Tehran has also been pumping funds into Syria to save the country's battered economy from collapsing. Last May, Iran opened a credit line of $3.6 billion for Syria, enabling Assad's government to buy oil products." http://t.uani.com/R0r0j1 Human Rights Fox News: "The American pastor serving an eight-year prison term in Iran for alleged crimes related to his Christian faith has been in a Tehran hospital for more than a month, according to family members and his attorneys. Since mid-March, Pastor Saeed Abedini has been in an Iranian hospital getting treatment for internal injuries suffered at Rajai Shahr Prison, according to his American legal team. While they are pleased he is in a hospital, they said he is not getting needed surgery for his injuries, which they claim came at the hands of his guards and fellow inmates. Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, said there appears to be a struggle within the Iranian government over what to do with Abedini, who is 33 and the married father of two children back home in Boise, Idaho. 'Inside Iran there is a discussion because they know the severity of having an American,' Sekulow said. 'But they face a hard-line opposition within their ranks to keep him in prison.'" http://t.uani.com/1hanEUi Opinion & Analysis David Deptula & Michael Makovsky in WSJ: "Prussian leader Frederick the Great once lamented, 'The ways of negotiation have failed up to the present, and negotiations without arms make as little impression as notes without instruments.' The same could be said about nuclear negotiations with Iran. The Obama administration has cut a deeply flawed interim deal, forgone new sanctions, and effectively taken the military option off the table. It's time to increase the pressure on Tehran by boosting Israel's military capacity to cripple Iran's nuclear program. It's hard to imagine negotiations succeeding. The interim deal has undercut the leverage of the U.S. and its partners. It has triggered a rise in Iran's oil-export revenue, while its nuclear-breakout timing remains unchanged due to increased centrifuge efficiency, as permitted in the deal. Tehran continues to deny inspectors access to key nuclear facilities. Recent tensions with Russia will only create new opportunities for Iran to exploit the U.S. in negotiations.President Obama has already taken one potential source of leverage off the table by promising to veto legislation that threatens tighter economic sanctions on Iran. This leaves military pressure as the only option. But after the Obama administration's unenforced 'red lines' in Syria and Ukraine, Iran is understandably dismissive of the threat of U.S. military action. That leaves Israel. The U.S. has previously recognized the importance of Israeli military pressure against Iran's nuclear-weapons program, some of which is fortified and buried underground. In 2012, President Obama signed the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, which called for the delivery of aerial refueling tankers and bunker-buster munitions to Israel. Israel has 2,000- and 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, some of which were delivered by the Obama administration. Iranian planners, however, might hope that these will prove insufficient to do major damage. The U.S. should remove such doubt by providing Israel with the capability to reach and destroy Iran's most deeply buried nuclear sites. The U.S. could do this by providing an appropriate number of GBU-57 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator or MOP, and several B-52 bombers. The Pentagon has developed the MOP bomb specifically for destroying hardened targets. It can penetrate as deeply as 200 feet underground before detonating, more than enough capability to do significant damage to Iran's nuclear program. There are no legal or policy limitations on selling MOPs to Israel, and with an operational stockpile at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the U.S. has enough in its arsenal to share." http://t.uani.com/1ebsr8J Zvi Bar'el in Haaretz: "A day after Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz announced that the coming year would be a critical one for Iran, the Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan was assassinated. The date was January 11, 2012. A motorcyclist attached explosive devices to Roshan's car, and the devices exploded a few seconds after the motorcyclist fled. As expected, Iran was quick to hold the United States responsible for the assassination. Now for the surprise. Last week, Fereydoon Abbasi, the former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, revealed that Roshan was not a nuclear scientist at all, but rather a merchant who dealt in importing components for the nuclear industry. In an interview with the Iranian publication Ramz Oboor, he said, 'Roshan was a deputy for trade affairs at the Kala Electronics Company, which was responsible for managing the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. Roshan was in a 'special' position at the Atomic Organization and was involved in purchasing specialized equipment.' This revelation is not disconnected from the political struggle that is now going on in Iran between supporters of the previous president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the administration of the incumbent, President Hassan Rohani, whose rivals have accused of reducing the nuclear program, firing scientists and acceding to the West's demands. The new director of the Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, one of the people who glorified Roshan's name, was also asked to explain the recent dismissal of nuclear scientists, a move seen as an additional blow to the nuclear program. 'The six employees who were recently dismissed worked in the agency's commercial department, the same place where Roshan worked,' Salehi said, confirming Abbasi's claim. After the revelation, the Atomic Energy Organization quickly changed Roshan's title from 'young nuclear scientist' to 'young nuclear martyr.' The purpose of Abbasi's statements was to embarrass Rohani's administration, who replaced Abbasi with Ali Salehi as head of the Atomic Energy Organization. But the significance of the revelation of Roshan's actual role is also a venomous arrow fired at Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the political leadership, the ones who gave Roshan the title of 'young nuclear martyr,' turned him into a national symbol and named streets and city squares after him." http://t.uani.com/1g1U42v 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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