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NYT:
"Halfway through a six-month nuclear deal between Iran and major
world powers that was meant to allow time to reach a comprehensive
agreement, the Iranians have seen little in the way of a boost from the
sanctions relief they had been expecting, trade lawyers and diplomatic
analysts say. Whether Iran's disappointment means that it will be more or
less motivated to negotiate a permanent deal on its disputed nuclear
program by the July 20 deadline remains unclear. 'Iran has become
kryptonite for banks and shippers and insurance companies,' said Farhad
R. Alavi, a sanctions law specialist at Akrivis, a Washington-based
international law firm that has fielded numerous inquiries about doing
business with Iran since the temporary accord took effect. Though the accord
may have served as a 'teaser' to Iran, he said in a telephone interview,
foreign business interest has remained extremely limited. 'Is a bank in
Germany going to revamp its compliance policies when the law could be
changed and reverted in six months?' he said... Advocates of strong
sanctions against Iran have argued that even the modest relief afforded
by the six-month deal has been counterproductive, signaling what Iran
perceives to be a breach in Western resolve. Some contend that Iran is
openly defying the Obama administration's declaration that Iranian oil
exports, under the temporary accord, are limited to about one million
barrels a day. Data released on Friday by the International Energy
Agency, a group of oil-importing countries including the United States,
showed that Iran exported 1.65 million barrels a day in February, the
highest in 20 months, and that March exports also exceeded one million
barrels a day. Mark D. Wallace, the chief executive of United Against
Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group in New York that has argued for far
stricter sanctions, said the administration's assurances had been 'wholly
contradicted by reality.' The administration has contended that when
averaged over six months, Iran's oil exports will be closer to one
million barrels a day." http://t.uani.com/1hztdf3
WSJ:
"A senior cleric delivering a nationally televised sermon urged a
crowd that included former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the head of
Iran's nuclear energy organization to observe sexual piety, aid the poor
and support Iran's development of nuclear power. 'This technology is
progressing our nation,' Ayatollah Imami Kashani said at weekly Friday
prayers at the University of Tehran. 'Our enemies are against such
progress.' The sermon, like other speeches and television appearances by
senior leaders recently, offered few signs the government is conditioning
Iranians for any major limitations on nuclear work... By defining the
program as one of its signature achievements, U.S. and European officials
worry the regime is making it harder to accept the limits the West is
demanding... Independent researchers now estimate Iran's nuclear program,
tracing back more than three decades, has cost the government more than
$100 billion, when expenditures and lost revenues from economic sanctions
are calculated... Young men streaming out from the Friday prayers in
Tehran carried banners with the faces of the slain scientists and
chanted: 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel.'" http://t.uani.com/1kWhmGW
NYT:
"Amir Hekmati, a former Marine incarcerated here in August 2011 and
sentenced to death on espionage charges that were overturned, was
secretly retried by a revolutionary court in December, convicted of
'practical collaboration with the American government' and given a 10-year
prison term, his new lawyer said this week. The lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh
Tabatabaei, also said his client had never been informed about the
retrial, conviction or sentence. Mr. Tabatabaei said he learned this
information only recently in discussions with judiciary officials, which
he shared by telephone with Mr. Hekmati, who is incarcerated in Tehran's
Evin prison, and with family members at Mr. Hekmati's home in Flint,
Mich. They had been able to retain Mr. Tabatabaei in January, part of an
increasingly desperate attempt to seek Mr. Hekmati's release. Mr.
Tabatabaei, who is well connected to Iran's highest leaders, provided the
information in a series of interviews this week at his West Tehran
office. They were the first authoritative disclosures in more than two
years about the status of Mr. Hekmati's case, which has escalated into
one of the major irritants in the estranged relations between Iran and
the United States." http://t.uani.com/1t004ye
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
AP:
"Iran's nuclear chief has raised concerns for the fate of the
country's only running atomic power plant amid talks with the West about
a final deal to curb Tehran's controversial nuclear program, a newspaper
reported on Monday. The government-run daily 'Iran' quoted Ali Akbar
Salehi, the Iranian negotiator in talks with six world powers, as saying
that Iran needs 30,000 more centrifuges to enrich uranium and produce
enough nuclear fuel to run its Bushehr power plant for a year...
According to Salehi, Iran needs 50,000 centrifuges to make enough nuclear
fuel for Bushehr for one year. It currently has about 20,000 centrifuges
- but only around 9,000 of them are spinning and enriching uranium. If a
definite deal with world powers is reached, it's unlikely it would allow
Tehran to install the additional centrifuges. 'To meet the annual fuel
needs of the Bushehr plant, we must have 50,000 first generation centrifuges
in order to be able to produce 30 tons of nuclear fuel a year,' Salehi
said. He added that under a bill, the government is required to generate
20,000 megawatts of electricity from nuclear power plants in the next 15
years." http://t.uani.com/1eEhjvN
Fars:
"Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar
Salehi underlined that the country is entitled to enrich uranium to the
level of 90%, and said Tehran plans to build four new nuclear plants with
Russians' help. 'Firstly, we believe that we are entitled to any right
that any NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) and (International Atomic Energy)
Agency member has, which means that enrichment (of uranium) from 1% to
90% is our right,' Salehi said in a televised interview on Sunday. He said
that Iran has accepted to limit its enrichment program to the level of 5%
only in a voluntary move based on the Geneva deal inked between Tehran
and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus
Germany) sealed in November. Elsewhere, Salehi announced Iran's plans to
build four other nuclear power plants in the coming years, and said the
construction work for the establishment of Iran's second power plant
would start this (Iranian) year and the same trend would continue for the
construction of three more plans every other year. He said that Iran
seeks to build its next nuclear power plants through joint cooperation
between the country's experts and their Russian counterparts." http://t.uani.com/1epRepl
Free Beacon:
"Iran's Nuclear Chief Ali Akbar Salehi said whoever has nuclear
technology gains an 'inherent power' in a video posted on an Iranian
affiliated YouTube account. The video is translated with English
subtitles. Salehi contended the West is pressuring Iran on its nuclear
program because they fear Iran also gaining this 'inherent power':
"Whoever has nuclear technology also gains an inherent power. Why is
the West putting so much pressure on us when they know we are not seeking
nuclear weapons? They say that these people are becoming an example to
the world. They have resisted and have advanced so much in this
technology that they have created this inherent power for themselves
spontaneously. Regardless, this is a power.' Salehi curiously does not
explain how nuclear technology translates to 'inherent power,' although
one can reasonably infer the 'power' he is referring to is nuclear
deterrence." http://t.uani.com/1kXlMxl
Reuters:
"Israel described as 'unacceptable' on Monday remarks by U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry suggesting cautious openness to negotiating
a nuclear deal that would keep Iran six to 12 months away from
bomb-making capability. 'In the past, and also recently, what we heard
from the Americans, including publicly, and from the Europeans and even
from the Russians, was that Iran must be distanced years - not months but
years - from nuclear weaponry,' said Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli cabinet
minister in charge of nuclear affairs... Briefing U.S. senators last
week, Kerry stopped short of saying negotiators would 'settle for' a
timeline of six to 12 months in which Iran could amass enough fissile
material for a nuclear device but said it would be 'significantly more'
than the current two months it would take. 'The things that Kerry said
... are worrying. They are surprising. They are not acceptable,' Steinitz
told Israel Radio... 'We will not be able to adopt and accept any
agreement that keeps Iran within a range of months to a year from nuclear
weaponry, because such an agreement would not hold water,' Steinitz said,
reiterating Israel's demand that its arch-enemy be stripped of nuclear
capabilities." http://t.uani.com/1koonSp
NYT:
"William J. Burns, a career diplomat who led the Obama
administration's back-channel negotiations with Iran, plans to step down
as the State Department's second-ranking official in October,
administration officials said on Friday. Mr. Burns, the deputy secretary
of state, has been a trusted diplomat in both Republican and Democratic
administrations. He has twice delayed his retirement, most recently at
the request of President Obama... Mr. Burns's decision to delay his
departure until October raises the possibility that he may again play a
role on Iran policy should formal negotiations fail to produce a
comprehensive agreement to restrict Iran's nuclear program by their July
deadline. A successor to Mr. Burns has yet to be chosen." http://t.uani.com/1jDq8KD
Sanctions
Relief
AFP:
"Iran's economy is stabilizing and will post substantially stronger
growth if the Islamic republic reaches a comprehensive deal with world
powers on its nuclear program, the IMF said Friday. The International
Monetary Fund estimates that Iran's economy shrank by 1.7 percent in
2013, the second straight year of contraction after the United States and
its allies imposed sweeping sanctions. But the IMF projects that Iran's
economy will rebound by 1.5 percent in the current year -- even if
sanctions relief under a temporary deal proves short-lived -- as Tehran
undertakes reforms. Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF's Middle East and
Central Asia department, said that Iran's economic woes were 'beginning
to level off' but that much depends on whether the country reaches a
comprehensive nuclear deal." http://t.uani.com/Rhbsrd
Bloomberg:
"Iran is in discussions with European and Asian businesses about
potential investment in the country once sanctions are lifted, central
bank governor Valiollah Seif said. Iran, whose economy has been crippled
by penalties imposed by the West over its refusal to halt uranium
enrichment, has maintained a dialog with investors in countries it did
business with in the past, and is confident it could attract investment
in the automobile, steel and heavy machinery industries, Seif said.
'France, Germany and Italy have had extensive economic relationships with
Iran and they have kept that relationship,' Seif said in an April 12
interview in Washington during the International Monetary Fund's spring
meetings. 'They are in contact and in discussion on projects and we
expect that once sanctions are lifted they are waiting to make investment
in all different areas.'" http://t.uani.com/1lZGvlo
WSJ:
"Gold bars and jewelry worth about $75 billion came into and went
out of Dubai last year, according to new statistics from the Dubai Multi
Commodities Centre, by far a record for the emirate. The figures reflect
Dubai's growth as a hub for the processing, sale and export of gold, but
also betoken the added scrutiny that has come with being a trading post
for a metal steeped in both opportunity and controversy. The volume of
gold trade through Dubai last year rose by 73% even as gold demand fell
globally, according to the DMCC figures. The reasons behind the increase
aren't entirely clear, but it may be partly down to Iran's recent use of
Dubai as a transit point for gold bought in Turkey." http://t.uani.com/1kWhAhd
Trend:
"Iran is ready to expand economic and trade ties with South Korea.
Iranian Deputy Economy Minister Behrouz Alishiri said Iran is ready to
boost all-out ties with South Korea in all economic and trade areas,
especially in joint venture projects, Iran's Fars news agency reported on
April 12. Alishiri made the remarks in a meeting with his South Korean
counterpart on the sidelines of the three-day joint annual meeting of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) which opened in
Washington on April 11. The Korean official, for his part, expressed
readiness to encourage Korean companies to increase activities in Iran.
He also expressed hope that cooperation between private sectors of the
two countries will be expanded." http://t.uani.com/1epQtMR
Trend:
"Iran invited Polish companies to invest in Iran's economic
projects. Iranian Deputy Economy Minister Behrouz Alishiri met with his
Polish counterpart on the sidelines of the three-day joint annual meeting
of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) which
opened in Washington on April 11. Iran is determined to boost economic
and trade ties with Poland, Alishiri said, Iran's Mehr news agency
reported on April 12." http://t.uani.com/1iMBM2r
Syria Conflict
AFP:
"President Bashar al-Assad said Sunday that the war that has torn
Syria apart for three years and cost more than 150,000 lives is turning
in the government's favour, state news agency SANA reported. 'This is a
turning point in the crisis, both militarily in terms of the army's
achievements in the war against terror, and socially in terms of national
reconciliation processes and growing awareness of the truth behind the
(attacks) targeting the country,' he said. Syria's army has made a series
of advances in recent months, overrunning opposition bastions near the
Lebanese border and in the central province of Homs." http://t.uani.com/1hMutqv
Human Rights
Al-Monitor:
"The punishment of criminals in Iran is sometimes carried out in
public. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of
human rights in Iran, has reported several cases of public execution and
the humiliation of criminals. According to his March 2013 report on human
rights in Iran, Shaheed 'joins the [UN] Secretary-General's view that
executions in public add to the already cruel, inhuman and degrading
nature of the death penalty and can only have a dehumanizing effect on
the victim and a brutalizing effect on those who witness the execution.'
However, public executions constitute a small percentage of all
executions in Iran, as is the case with criminals being publicly flogged
or humiliated. In a recent case, three thieves were given 74 lashes in
public. These occurrences have become more common and intensified since
the launch of a police operation targeting petty criminals some eight
years ago. In some cases, male criminals were stripped in public and
forced to wear women's clothing or have a toilet ewer hung around their
necks." http://t.uani.com/1iLHbIm
ICHRI:
"A source close to the family of imprisoned student activist Maryam
Shafipour told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that
judicial authorities have refused the family's repeated requests for her
transfer to a hospital to seek treatment for heart, stomach, and dental
problems that she developed in prison. According to the source,
Shafipour's family was unable to have in-person visitation with her
during the Iranian New Year (March 21-April 2, 2014), and was only allowed
to see her through a booth. The last time Shafipour's family pursued an
in-person visit with her, Mehdi Khodabakhshi, the Deputy Prosecutor of
Tehran in charge of Prisoners' Affairs, told them that they are not
allowed in-person visits with her because they gave interviews to the
media." http://t.uani.com/1gtMZb3
ICHRI:
"The family of Sattar Beheshti, the blogger who died under torture
by his prison interrogator, is refusing to participate further in the
court proceedings against his killer, Giti Pourfazel, the lawyer
representing Sattar's family, said in an interview, in protest against
the charge of 'unintentional murder' brought against the interrogator who
caused his death. The family believes the perpetrator should be tried for
murder. 'We do not accept the prosecution's contention that the murder
was unintentional,' Giti Pourfazel told the International Campaign for
Human Rights in Iran. 'We will no longer pursue this case and the judge
can issue whatever verdict he wishes.' Pourfazel insisted that as far as
the family is concerned, Sattar's death in police custody should have
been treated as an intentional act of murder, not unintentional. Sattar
Beheshti, 35, a laborer and blogger, was arrested on October 30, 2012, by
Iran's Cyber Police and died under torture by his interrogator on
November 3, 2012. His body was buried at Robat Karim Cemetery near where
he lived." http://t.uani.com/Q5orLH
IHR:
"Two prisoners were hanged in the prison of Bandar Abbas early this
morning. Both the prisoners were charged with murder and sentenced to
death under the 'qesas' paragraph (retribution in kind)... Since 2013
there has been a dramatic increase in the number of implemented 'qesas'
verdicts in Iran." http://t.uani.com/Q5ozuG
IHR:
"The 26 year old Iranian woman Reyhaneh Jabbari might be executed in
less than 48 hours. Reyhaneh is sentenced to death for the alleged murder
of a former ministry of intelligence officer whom she stabbed in self
defense seven years ago. Iran Human Rights urges all countries with diplomatic
relations with Iran to use all their channels to stop the
execution." http://t.uani.com/1m1rO3L
Domestic
Politics
WashPost:
"In a bid to cut spending, the Iranian government has ended a
massive cash assistance program and launched a celebrity-driven campaign
to convince millions of Iranians that they do not need the help. It's
unlikely to be a popular message. As of last month, more than 90 percent
of Iranians were receiving monthly direct deposits from the government of
about $15 - a sum that many, though certainly not all, depended on to buy
staples whose prices have soared in recent years. The payments were
launched in 2010 by then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as part of a
program to reduce state subsidies on utilities and food. But they ended up
costing the government billions of dollars and, many economists say,
contributing to Iran's skyrocketing inflation rate. On Friday, the
government of President Hassan Rouhani sent the final payment to
Iranians' bank accounts, and it is taking applications to determine how
many people really need the help... The program changes have coincided
with the announcement of utility and gasoline price increases, which are
adding to public concerns that this year will be even more economically
trying than last year." http://t.uani.com/1kXiXMw
NYT:
"Richard Nelson Frye, a renowned American scholar of Iran who died
last month in Boston at 94, wanted to be buried at a spot in this country
where songbirds sing and dry desert breezes cool the slow afternoons. Mr.
Frye, a Harvard professor who had dedicated his life to studying Iran,
its ancient culture and its melodious language, had expressed in his will
his desire to be laid to rest in the land that he loved. He chose a
mausoleum on a lush green bank of the idyllic Zayandeh River, near the
city of Isfahan, once the capital of the ancient Persian Empire. But Mr.
Frye's plan has run up against Tehran's small but influential faction of
hard-liners... On Friday during the weekly political sermon in Isfahan,
the prayer leader, Mohammad Taqi Raghbar, called Mr. Frye 'a spy' and a
robber of Iranian national artifacts. 'How can we allow a C.I.A.
operative to be buried in our city?' said Mr. Raghbar, prompting the
worshipers to shout, 'Death to America.'" http://t.uani.com/OZCH7G
Foreign Affairs
Reuters:
"Iran has complained to the United Nations about the United States
refusing to grant a visa to its newly appointed U.N. ambassador over his
role in the 1979 hostage crisis, state news agency IRNA said on Sunday.
Hamid Abutalebi has said that he acted only as a translator during the
444-day crisis when radical Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in
Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage. Foreign ministry spokeswoman
Marzieh Afkham was quoted by IRNA as saying that the issue had been
'referred to the UN committee'. 'The official mechanisms for following up
the complaint have been activated and we are going to follow up the
case,' she said. Iran had said on Saturday it would take action against
Washington at the United Nations over the matter. Since an uproar among
former U.S. hostages and U.S. lawmakers over Abutalebi broke out, Tehran
has steadfastly stuck by its choice, describing Aboutalebi as a seasoned
diplomat." http://t.uani.com/1iMw293
Reuters:
"Iran has called off a deployment of warships to the Atlantic Ocean,
the semi-official Fars news agency said on Sunday, shelving plans for its
vessels to approach U.S. maritime borders in response to the U.S. navy's
presence in the Gulf. A senior Iranian naval commander was quoted in
February as saying that several warships would be sent towards U.S.
maritime borders in the Atlantic although the Pentagon said at the time
that it was not concerned and that many countries operated in the ocean's
international waters. But on Sunday, Fars quoted Navy commander Admiral
Habibollah Sayyari as saying: 'Due to a change in schedule, the battle
Group-29 of the naval forces of the Iranian navy will not head to the
open waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the mission will possibly be given
to another group.' He gave no reason for the decision but said warships'
missions were likely to change 'depending on the situation in the
region', such as a rise in piracy in the Gulf of Aden." http://t.uani.com/1jEdFGk
Opinion &
Analysis
Raymond Tanter in
FP: "The latest round of nuclear negotiations with
Iran, the April 8-9 talks that just concluded in Vienna, marked a
midpoint between the interim accord of Jan. 20 and the July 20 date to
sign a permanent deal. So how's Iran doing at midterm? Let me put it this
way: If Iranian President Hassan Rouhani were my student at Michigan or
Georgetown and I graded him for meeting the interim accord, he would be
looking at a midterm 'F,' for failing. If, however, he were being graded
on outfoxing Professor Barack Obama of the University of Chicago at
midterm, Rouhani would earn an 'A.' According to the Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Tehran must be complying because he
expects the talks to include drafting of the July agreement when they
resume on May 13. He made that statement before the April talks even
began, which implies back channels between American and Iranian
negotiators to cook a deal for formalization in Vienna, which the leader
of the U.S. delegation acknowledged. Having represented the secretary of
defense on a State Department-led delegation in 1985 arms talks that also
met at the Hofburg in Vienna, I am concerned. As parties place brackets
around 'not agreed upon texts,' the U.S. delegation may be too
forthcoming in the bracket removal process. In our talks with the Russians
in Vienna, contrary to the tougher approach of Defense, State delegates
were too eager for proposal-counterproposal bargaining, while the
Russians pocketed our concessions. I fear the same may be recurring at
the Hofburg, but this time Iranians are picking our pockets. Tehran is
also bargaining by pushing the envelope of noncompliance. It is on a
trajectory of cheating on its obligations in the Jan. 20 Joint Plan of
Action. United Against Nuclear Iran states that, 'Iran's oil exports have
increased 117% since October. It is now statistically impossible for the
[Obama] administration's assurances to be correct, unless oil sales go to
effectively zero.' There are reports that Iran's oil exports stayed above
levels allowed under sanctions for a fifth month. Tehran's exports should
average 1 million bpd for six months to July 20. Shipments to Asia,
however, have exceeded that threshold since November. To provide a happy
face to naysayers, Team Obama assumes exports will fall in the next three
months so the average will meet the 1 million bpd level of the interim
agreement. But as economies pick up, so oil demands will increase." http://t.uani.com/1hztZZF
Fred Petrossian,
Arash Abadpour & Mahsa Alimardani in WashPost:
"Iran became a 'nation of bloggers' between early 2000 and 2009, as
a vibrant, diverse set of online blogs became the platform for expression
for thousands of Iranians, ranging from political activists, poets and
sports fans to the often-overlooked class of hardline religious
conservatives. Those blogs emerged as a space for active, intense,
ongoing discussions on everything from politics to poetry. Regardless of
whether these blogs played a role in the 'Green Movement' demonstrations
that followed the fraudulent 2009 election of former President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, they helped to redefine Iran's politics and the nature of
public discourse. This Persian blogosphere, or 'Blogestan,' however, is
not what it used to be. As we demonstrate in our new report, 'Whither
Blogestan,' there have been remarkable changes in the Iranian blogosphere
since the late 2000s. Building upon the pioneering 2008 study 'Mapping
Iran's Online Public' to evaluate how the landscape has changed, we
conducted a survey of 165 blog readers, interviewed 20 active bloggers,
and used a Web-crawling analysis of 24,205 blogs. Of the survey
respondents, 92 percent reported a change in their blog reading habits
since they began reading blogs. Only 20 percent of the prominent blogs
from 2008 to 2009 were still online in fall 2013, while 70 percent of the
remaining bloggers publish one post per month or less. What happened? And
what does it mean for the once-bright hopes of the emergence of an
alternative public sphere in Iran? State intervention, from filtering to
repression, is a big part of the story. The Iranian regime introduced a
wide mix of repressive techniques, from domain and keyword 'blacklists'
to deep packet inspection, bandwidth throttling and filtering of
virtual private networks (VPNs). Many bloggers cite personal reasons for
abandoning their efforts. They noted the most important reasons for
starting a blog as 'saying things that cannot be said in public' and
'sharing news not covered by mass media,' while the key reasons for no
longer blogging are 'fear of censorship' and 'too many blogs filtered.'
But the fading of Blogestan does not mean that online engagement has
disappeared: One crucial reason for the decline of blogging has been the
increase in time spent on other social media platforms. Filtering hit
Blogestan hard, modifying the diversity of voices within the Persian
blogosphere. As one writer explained: 'They showed me a stack of papers,
each one a blog post that I had written, and they had highlighted
portions and sections. After I was released, my blog in effect became my
case file.'" http://t.uani.com/1hDHSXA
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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