Eye on Iran: Kerry Says U.S. Is Open to Talking to Iran, Even as Ayatollah Is Dismissive

Join UANI           Top Stories NYT: "The Obama administration is open to talking with Iran on the security crisis in Iraq, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday, even after Iran's supreme leader angrily said Tehran would no longer discuss Middle East issues with the United States. Mr. Kerry was speaking as 26 nations, Iran conspicuously not among them, gathered in Paris for an international conference on helping the new government in Baghdad fight the extremist Sunni group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. He acknowledged that he had opposed Iran's attendance, but he stressed that the United States was still prepared to speak with the Iranians about Iraq and Syria, including on the margins of the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program that will resume in New York on Thursday. Just because the Iranians were not invited to the conference, Mr. Kerry said, 'doesn't mean that we are opposed to the idea of communicating to find out if they will come on board or under what circumstances or whether there is the possibility of a change.' In Tehran, the tone was quite different. Iranian officials gave out flurries of statements to local reporters on Monday, saying that they had rejected multiple invitations by the United States to join the coalition." http://t.uani.com/XbUfSe Al-Monitor: "When Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman addressed a roomful of 200 foreign ambassadors to the United States last week, she implored them to tell their capitals to pass two crucial messages to the Iranians: the importance of seizing what may be the last opportunity to reach a nuclear deal, and that no agreement will be possible without Iran reducing the scope of its nuclear enrichment program. 'Ambassador Sherman's remarks on Iran were focused on the importance of seizing this opportunity to resolve international concerns about Iran's nuclear program, and the fact that no agreement - and no relief from sanctions - will be possible unless Iran agrees to reduce - significantly and verifiably - the size of its uranium enrichment activities,' a senior US administration official familiar with Sherman's briefing told Al-Monitor... 'I think the fundamental impasse remains,' former US Iran nuclear negotiator Robert Einhorn told Al-Monitor Sept. 11. 'I think they [the Iranians] genuinely want a deal. But I think they believe they can live without one. I think some in Iran may be underestimating the difficulties they face, economically, without an agreement.'" http://t.uani.com/1BIZlor Bloomberg: "The 11-year investigation into the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear work may never yield conclusive evidence on whether the country sought weapons, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said. Amano reported to the IAEA's board of governors, which convened its quarterly meeting today in Vienna, that Iran needs to step-up co-operation with inspections. Investigators are eventually expected to give board members a document which falls short of drawing conclusions, Amano said. 'I prefer not to say conclusion but assessment,' Amano told reporters, confirming a report last week from two international officials who said the IAEA can't be expected to reach a black-and-white conclusion. 'We are making our best efforts to clarify the outstanding issues. This is not an endless process,' he said... 'The normal mandate is for the agency to provide a conclusion,' Tariq Rauf, the IAEA's former head of verification and security policy, said today in a telephone interview from Stockholm. 'Drawing or making an assessment would be novel and set a bad precedent for safeguards.'" http://t.uani.com/ZnZrE5   Nuclear Program & Negotiations Reuters: "A U.N. nuclear agency investigation into suspected atomic bomb research by Iran will not be an 'endless process', its chief said on Monday, pressuring Tehran to step up cooperation with the long-stalled probe. Three weeks after Iran failed to meet a deadline for providing requested information to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Director General Yukiya Amano said Tehran needed to do much more to address the IAEA's concerns. In line with the findings of a confidential IAEA report earlier this month, he said Iran had not carried out two of the five transparency steps it had agreed to implement by Aug. 25... 'Iran needs to be as transparent as possible to clarify these issues,' Amano told a news conference. The U.N. agency would give an impartial and factual assessment to its 35-nation board on what the IAEA calls the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program when it has a 'good understanding of the whole picture', he said. The investigation could be carried out within a 'reasonable timeline' if Iran cooperated with the IAEA, he said, suggesting it could be done in roughly 15 months or less. 'This is not an endless process,' the veteran Japanese diplomat said." http://t.uani.com/1BIZlor Press TV (Iran): "The Iranian energy minister says Russia plans to build eight power plants in Iran. Hamid Chitchian told Mehr News Agency on Sunday that Russian companies are to offer proposals for the construction of the plants within one month. The Iranian minister said four plants will be built in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, two in eastern city of Tabas, and two in the northwestern city of Sahand... On September 9, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in Tehran that Russia and Iran have signed projects worth 70 billion euros to develop trade and economic ties. He added that Russian state-run power utility Inter RAO and Inter RAO Export as well as Technopromexport would supply equipment and help construct power stations in Iran." http://t.uani.com/1qJ8f2X Sanctions Relief Tasnim (Iran): "A delegation of senior trade officials from Romania has made a visit to Tehran to hold talks with the Iranian officials on ways to promote economic relations. The delegation consisting of representatives of some Romanian companies arrived in Tehran on Sunday and is scheduled to meet with Iranian trade officials and merchants in Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture. During its 4-day visit, the Romanian delegation accompanied by the head of Romania-Iran Joint Chamber of Commerce plans to study investment opportunities in Iran and explore ways to boost cooperation between the two countries. The Romanian mission will hold talks with high-ranking Iranian officials in various areas, including trade, investment, oil, road construction and housing." http://t.uani.com/1u1MMQn The National: "Iranian car imports rocketed by 150 per cent in the five months to August, as a loosening of trade sanctions against Tehran in February ushered in a resurgence of car exports from the UAE. Nearly 44,000 cars were exported to Iran from February to August, compared with 17,000 the previous year, according to the Customs Administration in Tehran. 'There's been a big jump in imports because of temporary relief of sanctions - everybody has been trying to get into the market,' said Pierluigi Bellini, an analyst who covers the car industry at the research firm IHS. 'There's pent-up demand.'" http://t.uani.com/1o0d3ev Iraq Crisis Tasnim (Iran): "groups have abruptly launched a campaign on terrorism, deriding the change in attitude as funny.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the countries that have fostered the terrorist. 'The funny part of the story is that the countries that have trained, equipped and supported the terrorist groups financially, are abruptly seeking to fight against those terrorist groups today,' Rouhani said in a meeting with Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak in Tehran on Monday. He was referring to the recent efforts by the US to lead a so-called coalition to take action against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group." http://t.uani.com/1wnN6L1 WSJ: "U.S. efforts to build a broad coalition to combat Islamic State on Monday ran straight into the sectarian chasm that has divided the Middle East for centuries, with Arab allies disagreeing over whether Iraq's neighbors-particularly Iran and Syria-should have a role in any military campaign... The hesitancy of many of the Middle East's major Sunni leaders, including in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, to back military operations is driven, in part, by a belief American airstrikes against the Islamic State will benefit the region's three main Shiite-dominated governments in Iran, Iraq and Syria, according to U.S. and Arab officials involved in the deliberations... Such a stance raises the possibility that Iran's Islamist rulers and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime could attempt to sabotage U.S. military operations, as they did in Iraq in the years following the George W. Bush administration's overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003." http://t.uani.com/1uDnvyx LAT: "In an isolated corner of northeastern Iraq, a foreign power has been a crucial contributor in a little-noticed front against the militant Islamic State - and it's not the United States. At his office here, Mala Bakhtiar, military supervisor of the Kurdish peshmerga forces and a local politician, spoke openly of comprehensive Iranian involvement in logistics, intelligence-sharing and provision of military equipment to Kurdish troops. 'They gave us rockets, cannons, maps,' a grateful Bakhtiar said of the Iranians, gesturing at the large-scale maps competing for wall space. 'We needed these things badly.' The Kurdish leader also confirmed the presence of consultants from the Pasdaran, also known as the Revolutionary Guard - who, he said, 'were very helpful' as advisors in the ongoing battle to dislodge the Sunni extremists from the nearby strategic town of Jalawla and vicinity." http://t.uani.com/1m7W3b4 Press TV (Iran): "An Iranian military official says the United States has created the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group in line with its plots to sow discord in the Middle East. Commander of Iran's Basij volunteer force Mohammad Reza Naqdi said on Saturday, 'The White House is the headquarters of the ISIL.' Washington itself created the "cancerous tumor and devious current" of ISIL in the region, the Iranian official said. 'The first objective of the United States in creating this criminal current is to portray a distorted image of Islam and this has been achieved through the perpetration of inhumane and savage crimes and their publication by the world media,' he said. 'The second objective is to create rift, animosity and war between the Shia and Sunni,' the Iranian commander pointed out." http://t.uani.com/1qYP2bj Foreign Affairs AFP: "Iran's foreign minister headed to New York on Tuesday to resume nuclear talks with major powers but it was unclear if there would be a repeat visit by President Hassan Rouhani, who launched Tehran's opening a year ago. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was to hold a working lunch with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the lead negotiator for the six powers, his deputy Abbas Araqchi said." http://t.uani.com/1DeILi0 AFP: "Neither Iran's Hassan Rouhani nor Russia's Vladimir Putin feature on President Barack Obama's 'dance card' of meetings with foreign leaders at the UN next week, the White House said Monday. Speculation about possible talks between Obama and Rouhani in particular has been mounting because the counterparts spoke by phone last year on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly." http://t.uani.com/1maT9SE    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.