Eye on Iran: Newspaper Closed for Publishing News of IRGC Commander's Release

Join UANI           Top Stories ICHRI: "The major Iranian daily, Ghanoon, was shut down on May 7, 2014, by judicial authorities who claimed the newspaper published a 'false' report about a former Revolutionary Guard. Ghanoon's report concerned the release of Mohammad Royanian, a former senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards and manager of the major Tehran soccer club, Perspolis, on the astronomical bail of 1 trillion toman ($30 million) one day after he had been taken into custody on May 6, on charges of corruption and financial fraud relating to his tenure as head of the Fuel Distribution Administration. The Tehran Prosecutor's Office ordered the closure of Ghanoon for its 'illegal actions,' according to the state news agency, ISNA." http://t.uani.com/1qi0m4w Reuters: "Iran and six world powers held more 'useful' talks on Tehran's nuclear program, both sides said, although a Western diplomat said they were still struggling to overcome deep disagreements on the future of Iranian atomic capabilities. Their remarks came after two days of expert-level talks in New York between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia on a long-term accord meant to end by a deadline of July 20 a decade-old dispute over suspicions that Tehran has sought the means to develop nuclear weapons. '(The six powers) and Iranian technical experts had a useful meeting on 6-7 May in New York,' an EU spokesman said... A Western diplomat, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Iran and the six powers had made progress on scenarios for resolving a dispute over Iran's Arak nuclear reactor, which could yield significant quantities of bomb-grade plutonium if it is brought on line without major modifications. 'More difficult for getting a deal is uranium enrichment in general and centrifuge R&D,' the diplomat said." http://t.uani.com/1iuOWAM Reuters: "Israel insists Iran be denied uranium enrichment capabilities under a potentially imminent nuclear deal, a demand that risks opening a new Israeli-United States rift, officials said on Wednesday. The dispute, a major topic for a visit to Jerusalem by U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Wednesday and Thursday, appeared part of Israeli efforts to weigh in on world powers' difficult talks with Tehran before a July 20 date for a deal. Though not at the table, Israel matters in Western capitals given its fear of a nuclear-armed Iran and threats to attack its arch-foe preemptively if it deem diplomacy a dead end." http://t.uani.com/QhUjfF         Nuclear Program & Negotiations Free Beacon: "House lawmakers are readying legislation that would force the Obama administration to report to Congress about the progress of Iran's nuclear program and whether or not it is complying with the interim nuclear accord, according to a copy of the bill obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The legislation is being viewed as a bid to legally force the White House into sharing information and provide oversight over the Iran deal, the text of which the Obama administration has kept locked in a secret location. The new bill, authored by Rep. Jackie Walorski (R., Ind.), would mandate that President Barack Obama immediately report to Congress on the state of the interim nuclear accord and Iran's nuclear program. The bill also would require that the White House report to Congress about any final deal it may strike with Tehran. This White House report to Congress would have to detail Iran's ongoing nuclear progress and assess whether it is complying with the requirements of the accord. The report also would have to detail "the overall state of the nuclear program of Iran," according to the bill. House insiders say the measure-which will be included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)-is a direct response to the White House's bid to avoid congressional oversight and any public discussion of Iran's ongoing nuclear progress." http://t.uani.com/1fYRY5X Sanctions Relief WSJ: "China National Petroleum Corp. will retain Iran's North Azadegan oil-field project for the time being, a top Tehran official said Wednesday, after the company lost the neighboring South Azadegan contract last week. The disclosure is good news for Chinese oil companies generally, which have been losing ground in Iran's oil sector in recent weeks over continuous setbacks. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Ali Majedi, Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs, said CNPC 'is still working in North Azadegan' despite some delays. Last week, Iran announced it was terminating CNPC's South Azadegan contract over repeated delays." http://t.uani.com/RunOfi Human Rights ICHRI: "Two leading workers' rights activists, arrested by security forces in Tehran at an International Labor Day gathering on May 1, 2014, remain in prison. Jafaar Azimzadeh, president of the Free Workers Union of Iran, and Jamil Mohammadi, a member of the same organization, have been transferred to Evin's Ward 209 for interrogations, according to the Free Workers Union of Iran. More than 25 workers were attacked and taken into custody on Thursday, May 1, during a peaceful gathering in front of the Labor Ministry and the Azadi Square bus station. A number of workers, including Ebrahim Madadi, a Tehran Bus Workers Union board member, and Reza Nematipour, a worker at the bus company, were severely beaten by security forces at the gathering." http://t.uani.com/1j6EFdT RFE/RL: "An unveiled young woman stands in front of a sign that reads: 'Sisters, observe your hijab.' Another with red hair and dark glasses stands next to the ruins of Persepolis, while two others, also sans hijab, dance happily on the shores of the Caspian Sea. They are among dozens of Iranian women inside the country who have posted their hijab-less photos on a newly launched Facebook page to share their 'stealthy' moments of freedom from the veil. The administrators of the page, titled 'Iranian Women's Freedoms Stealthy,' say they do not belong to any political group and that the initiative reflects the concerns of Iranian women who face legal and social restrictions." http://t.uani.com/1nl28je IHR: "Five prisoners were hanged in four different Iranian prisons. One of the executions was not announced by the official sources." http://t.uani.com/1s6Ip4H Domestic Politics Domestic Politics ICHRI: "Two leading workers' rights activists, arrested by security forces in Tehran at an International Labor Day gathering on May 1, 2014, remain in prison. Jafaar Azimzadeh, president of the Free Workers Union of Iran, and Jamil Mohammadi, a member of the same organization, have been transferred to Evin's Ward 209 for interrogations, according to the Free Workers Union of Iran. More than 25 workers were attacked and taken into custody on Thursday, May 1, during a peaceful gathering in front of the Labor Ministry and the Azadi Square bus station. A number of workers, including Ebrahim Madadi, a Tehran Bus Workers Union board member, and Reza Nematipour, a worker at the bus company, were severely beaten by security forces at the gathering." http://t.uani.com/1j6EFdT RFE/RL: "An unveiled young woman stands in front of a sign that reads: 'Sisters, observe your hijab.' Another with red hair and dark glasses stands next to the ruins of Persepolis, while two others, also sans hijab, dance happily on the shores of the Caspian Sea. They are among dozens of Iranian women inside the country who have posted their hijab-less photos on a newly launched Facebook page to share their 'stealthy' moments of freedom from the veil. The administrators of the page, titled 'Iranian Women's Freedoms Stealthy,' say they do not belong to any political group and that the initiative reflects the concerns of Iranian women who face legal and social restrictions." http://t.uani.com/1nl28je IHR: "Five prisoners were hanged in four different Iranian prisons. One of the executions was not announced by the official sources." http://t.uani.com/1s6Ip4H Domestic Politics AFP: "Thousands of religious hardliners protested in Tehran Wednesday against what they said was the flouting of Iran's conservative female dress code, media reports said. Under Islamic law in practice since the 1979 revolution, 'hijab' -- which requires women to cover their hair and much of their body in loose clothing to prevent their figures being seen -- is obligatory. 'Some 4,000 demonstrators urged the authorities and people to take heed of the situation of hijab and chastity in the society,' the official IRNA news agency said of the demonstration, which took place outside the interior ministry." http://t.uani.com/1iuRdfm Opinion & Analysis Potkin Azarmehr in WSJ: "'You need to stop the hemorrhage first and foremost before you can do anything else with the patient.' So declared President Hasan Rouhani during an interview on Iranian state TV last week. The patient in question is the Iranian economy, and the hemorrhage Mr. Rouhani was referring to is the Islamic Republic's runaway inflation rate. Iranian consumer prices rose 23% in March, according to the country's central bank, down from 45% in June 2013, when Mr. Rouhani came to power. The International Monetary Fund and others have lauded his administration's efforts to stabilize the economy, yet Iran is still beset by serious and systemic economic challenges. While the Tehran regime is eager to blame international sanctions, many of Iran's economic troubles trace their origins to the mullahs' own mismanagement and their desire to gain popularity through handouts to an otherwise unhappy Iranian public. Mr. Rouhani highlighted some of those challenges in another recent TV interview, painting a catastrophic picture of the Iranian public fisc as he inherited it from the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad government. He said his budget should have included some $7 billion per month for day-to-day expenditures, including $3 billion per month to pay state-employee salaries. In fact, he said, his team found $500 million to spend per month. The government owed some $67 billion to banks, retirees and private contractors, among others; public grain silos were nearly empty; GDP was contracting; unemployment was skyrocketing. The new president said Iran's economy was undergoing an 'inflationary recession,' and he placed much of the blame on Mr. Ahmadinejad's Hugo Chávez -style public-housing and welfare handouts, which drove down the value of the Iranian currency, the rial, by forcing the central bank to borrow and print money. Yet these deficits had come about in a time of historically high oil prices and during an eight-year window in which Iran earned an estimated $600 billion in oil revenues. Where had all the money gone? Iran's economy at times seems like a sieve; every cent poured into it disappears through numerous unaccountable holes. One of the bigger holes is a monthly cash-handout program, which was instituted after the Ahmadinejad government cut long-standing price subsidies for energy and consumer goods in 2010. (Mr. Rouhani plans additional cuts to remaining fuel subsidies, which will likely put more upward pressure on the price of consumer goods.) The payments had quickly proved a major headache for the previous government, and Mr. Rouhani has been desperate to cut the number of recipients... It's worth contrasting these belt-tightening messages with the late Ayatollah Khomeini's fiery, populist speeches before and during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Back then, Khomeini and his comrades would tell Iranians that if the shah spent just one day's oil income on the people instead of buying arms from the U.S., every citizen would have a decent standard of living. Thirty-five years later, with oil prices in double and sometimes triple digits, Iranians are told to lower their expectations. In the end, the public-relations push didn't bear fruit. On April 19, the official Mehr News Agency reported that the number of those registered to receive cash had surpassed 70 million. Iran's population is estimated to be 76 million." http://t.uani.com/QhYUyq UANI Advisory Board Member Irwin Cotler in HuffPo: "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani repeatedly touts his commitment to 'constructive engagement' with the international community, particularly as he negotiates a comprehensive nuclear agreement. Yet, as nuclear talks resume this week, the systematic and widespread violations of human rights in Iran continue unabated, overshadowed -- if not sanitized -- by the myopic international focus on the nuclear issue. It should be recalled that when the U.S. negotiated an arms control agreement with the Soviet Union in 1975, it did not turn a blind eye to the USSR's human rights abuses. Instead, the Helsinki Final Act linked the security, economic, and human rights 'baskets' with human rights emerging as the most transformative of the three. Negotiations with Iran should replicate this approach. The latest report by Dr. Ahmed Shaheed -- the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran -- provides an inventory of continuing human rights abuses that remain unaddressed, even under Iran's new 'moderate' leadership. Accordingly, the ongoing nuclear negotiations should neither distract nor deflect from addressing and redressing the Iranian regime's massive domestic repression. The following constitutes an overview of the serious human rights abuses in Iran, and a corresponding set of queries that will serve as a litmus test for the authenticity of Rouhani's commitment to justice and human rights for the Iranian people." http://t.uani.com/1iuRC19 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.