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Top Stories
NYT:
"Amid signs that Iran's military is resisting efforts to open its
nuclear program to deeper inspection, the Obama administration on
Friday imposed sanctions on several Iranian organizations, including
one run by the reclusive scientist who is widely believed to direct
research on building nuclear weapons. In a statement, the White House
said the sanctions were a continuation of its strategy to crack down on
groups suspected of seeking to avoid or violate existing sanctions,
even as 'the United States remains committed' to striking an accord by
late November that includes 'a long-term, comprehensive solution that
provides confidence that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively
peaceful.' ... The most notable of the new penalties is against the
Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, created three and a
half years ago by Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who is considered the father of
Iran's off-again-on-again nuclear weapons research efforts in the 1990s
and through the last decade... Mr. Fakhrizadeh's expertise is central
to any Western effort at stopping Iran from building a nuclear weapon,
or in putting together the components that could be used to assemble a
warhead that could fit atop one of Iran's long-range missiles." http://t.uani.com/1qXnkIZ
WSJ:
"The U.S. imposed a range of sanctions designed to exert new
pressure against Iran and deter international business leaders from
circumventing Washington's existing punitive measures as talks continue
over the country's nuclear program. The steps announced Friday come
amid growing concern in the Obama administration that Iran isn't ready
to make the concessions needed to clinch a nuclear deal. The U.S.
Treasury and State departments said the sanctions will punish a bank
that provides U.S. dollar bills to the Iranian government; a group that
helped Iran evade sanctions on oil and petrochemicals; several
transportation firms that helped deliver weapons and personnel to the
Assad regime in Syria; and some individuals and organizations that
support Iran's nuclear program... Friday's sanctions, which target
firms in Italy and the United Arab Emirates, are also a warning to
business leaders and financiers that they can't resume normal business
with Iran just because some sanctions have been suspended, according to
one senior administration official." http://t.uani.com/W5ZJ0u
AFP:
"Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday appealed to Iran to
release three detained Americans including a Christian pastor and a
journalist, and to help locate a US citizen missing there since 2007.
'The United States respectfully calls on the government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran to release Amir Hekmati, Saeed Abedini, and Jason
Rezaian to their families and work cooperatively with us to find Robert
Levinson and bring him home,' Kerry said in a statement... Friday marks
three years since Hekmati, a former US Marine, was detained on what
Kerry called 'false espionage charges while visiting his family' in Iran.
'He has long been separated from his family and they need him home,'
the top US diplomat said. Next month marks the second anniversary of
the detention of Abedini, a pastor held on charges related to his
religious beliefs, Kerry noted." http://t.uani.com/W6hFrD
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
Reuters:
"Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif voiced optimism
after talks with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton
on Monday that a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program can be resolved
by a Nov. 24 deadline. 'I am quite optimistic after discussions with
Lady Ashton that we can in fact resolve this issue in time,' Zarif said
after what he described as 'good' talks with Ashton. 'I hope with the
readiness and political will that I see in all parties to this
discussion to have a resolution within the next three months,' he told
a news conference following separate talks with Belgian Foreign
Minister Didier Reynders. However, he cautioned that reaching an
agreement 'requires political will, it requires full awareness of the
need to address the issues rather than simply domestic
constituencies.'" http://t.uani.com/1w2zDIt
Reuters:
"The six global powers will discuss ways to reach a comprehensive
nuclear deal with Iran on the sidelines of the United Nations General
Assembly in New York in September, the European Union's foreign policy
chief said on Saturday... 'There are ongoing discussions on that (Iran
nuclear issue),' Ashton told a news conference when asked if nuclear
talks would take place in New York around mid-September. 'We will use
the opportunity of the General Assembly in New York to also do that,'
Ashton, speaking at the end of a two-day informal gathering of EU
foreign ministers in Milan that discussed the situation in Ukraine,
Iraq and the Middle East." http://t.uani.com/1qlmKZj
Reuters:
"Iran held talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Sunday about
its investigation into suspicions that Tehran has conducted atomic bomb
research, and is still committed to implementing agreed transparency
measures, official media reported on Monday. Iran's envoy to the
International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, appeared to
acknowledge, however, that Tehran had missed a deadline of Aug.25 to
meet five requests from the International Atomic Energy Agency about
its nuclear program. 'Iran is in the process of implementing the five
agreed steps,' the official IRNA news agency quoted him as
saying." http://t.uani.com/1B9JHCc
Military
Matters
AP:
"Iran on Tuesday unveiled a new surface-to-air missile and two
radar systems it claims will boost the country's defense capabilities.
Air defense chief Gen. Farzad Esmaili said the Talash-3, or Endeavor-3
missile will enable Iranian forces to 'shoot down any hostile target,'
even at high altitudes. Speaking on state TV, he said the missile was
successfully test-fired recently. He did not describe its range. Tehran
regularly announces military advances that cannot be independently
verified. The general also inaugurated two radar systems - Arash-2,
tasked with detecting miniature drones at a distance of 150 kilometers
(93 miles), and also Kayhan, which he said was capable of detecting
cruise missiles and drones." http://t.uani.com/1nRUYz8
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters:
"Iran has agreed to export 20 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d)
of gas to Oman, Iran's oil minister was quoted as saying by the
semi-official Fars news agency, indicating the two sides had agreed on
terms after years of talks... 'Gas negotiations with Oman are over, and
as both sides have agreed, Iran will export 20 million cubic meters per
day (mcm/d) of gas to Oman in the near future,' Iranian Oil Minister
Bijan Zanganeh said, according to Fars. Zanganeh did not give further
details on the date, pricing or on the construction of a pipeline to
transport the gas. Last year, Tehran signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) to export gas to Oman from 2015 in a 25-year deal
valued at around $60 billion." http://t.uani.com/W5WsOO
Sanctions
Enforcement & Impact
AP:
"Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Western sanctions an
'invasion' Saturday after Washington imposed new penalties over the
country's contested nuclear program, though he promised negotiations
with world powers would go on... Speaking to officials Saturday,
Rouhani criticized the sanctions. 'Sanctions are an invasion of the
Iranian nation. We should resist the invasion and put the invaders in
their place,' Rouhani said in remarks broadcast by state TV. 'We should
not allow the continuation and repetition of the invasion.' However,
Friday's action did not constitute an expansion of the sanctions
regime, but rather the enforcement of existing sanctions... Rouhani
also said he didn't know whether he would attend next month's U.N.
General Assembly and said he had 'no plan' to meet U.S. President
Barack Obama there." http://t.uani.com/1nutpMn
Reuters:
"Iran's possible response to new U.S. sanctions could 'not be
pleasant', its foreign minister said on Sunday, raising the prospect of
tit-for-tat retribution against the Islamic Republic's old adversary
weeks ahead of fresh nuclear talks... On Sunday, Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif told a news conference that Iran would respond to
the sanctions 'if deemed necessary,' according to state news agency
IRNA. 'We can take actions that would be unpleasant to the other side,'
he added. Zarif did not elaborate on what the measures might be. He
added that the sanctions had been implemented to appease 'pressure
groups in the U.S. that are against any nuclear deal', using a phrase
Iranian officials normally invoke to refer to Israeli interest groups."
http://t.uani.com/1nugf1I
Iraq Crisis
Reuters:
"The influence of Iran was evident in Suleiman Beg. With Asaib Ahl
al-Haq, which is funded by Iran and recognizes Iran's Supreme Leader
Ali Khamenei as its spiritual guide, were two men who spoke Farsi and
dressed in beige uniforms different from their colleagues' green
camouflage. Asked if he was Iranian, one of the Farsi speakers said:
'We are liberating Suleiman Beg.' Asked if the Iraqis' could have made
their recent gains without Iranian support, he answered: 'No.' By a
convoy of armored police vehicles, a man speaking Farsi described
himself as coming from Iran and said he was there to help with training
police. A peshmerga commander in Suleiman Beg acknowledged the part
played by Iranians in the assault on Islamic State positions. 'The
Iranians had a role in this. They supplied weapons and helped with the
military planning,' he said on condition of anonymity. 'They trained
the Shi'ite forces. There are Iranians here in another base: three or
four of them. They are guiding the peshmerga in firing heavy artillery.
They don't speak Kurdish - they have a translator.' On Saturday, a
senior member of the Kurdish party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan,
told Reuters the Iraqi military, Kurds and Iranian advisers had joint
operation centers." http://t.uani.com/Z5D9H6
Human Rights
AP:
"Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declined to specifically discuss
the case of a detained Washington Post journalist during a nationally
televised news conference Saturday. During the conference, a journalist
asked a question about Iran's global outreach after the parliament's
impeachment of the country's science minister, increased raids
targeting satellite dishes and the detention of Washington Post
correspondent Jason Rezaian. Rezaian, 38, and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi,
a correspondent for the Abu Dhabi-based daily newspaper the National,
have been held for more than a month. They were detained with two
photojournalists who were later released. When asked about Rezaian's
detention, Rouhani said: 'In our country, there is not a united
viewpoint. There are different viewpoints. Institutes and organs have
tasks that they carry some actions in their framework.' It wasn't clear
which part of the question Rouhani was responding to." http://t.uani.com/1lFZOEm
Domestic
Politics
AP:
"Iran's president urged the country's clerics Monday to be more
tolerant of the Internet and new technologies, which are often the
target of criticism by influential hard-liners in the Islamic Republic.
Hassan Rouhani made the appeal during a meeting with clerics in Tehran,
where he said that the Internet is important for aspiring students and
experts trying to access new knowledge and science. 'In today's world,
one who does not know the internet and does not apply it is not called
an expert even a student. ... We cannot close the gates of the world
for the younger generation,' he said in a speech broadcast on state
television." http://t.uani.com/1rKCXd4
Foreign
Affairs
Reuters:
"Sudan has closed all Iranian cultural centres in the country and
expelled the cultural attaché and other diplomats, a government source
said on Tuesday, without giving an explanation for the move. Sudanese
media speculated that the expulsions were linked to government concerns
that Iranian officials were promoting their Shi'ite brand of Islam in
the largely Sunni country, but there was no confirmation from
authorities." http://t.uani.com/1sWVfUB
Opinion &
Analysis
Institute for
Science and International Security (ISIS): "Iran's
centrifuge research and development (R&D) program poses several
risks to the verifiability of a comprehensive solution under the Joint
Plan of Action. Negotiations on a comprehensive solution should seek to
place further limitations on this program and establish effective and
expanded monitoring practices as part of an agreement on a mutually
defined enrichment program with agreed parameters. Throughout the
duration of a long-term comprehensive agreement, Iran's centrifuge
R&D program should be limited to centrifuges with capabilities
comparable to the current IR-2m centrifuge. An open-ended Iranian
centrifuge R&D program aimed at developing more sophisticated
centrifuges than the IR-2m makes little economic sense. A long-term
agreement should reinforce sound economic principles universally
accepted in the world's nuclear programs, all of which are deeply
interconnected through an international supply chain based on reactor
suppliers and enriched uranium fuel requirements. Building an agreement
catering to open-ended, economically unrealistic ambitions is both
unnecessary and counterproductive, and also sets dangerous precedents
for other potential proliferant states. Iran's development of more
advanced centrifuges would also significantly complicate the verification
of a long-term agreement. In a breakout or cheating scenario,
Iran would need far fewer of these advanced centrifuges in a
clandestine plant to make weapon-grade uranium than in one using IR-1
centrifuges. Advanced centrifuges bring with them significant
verification challenges that complicate the development of an adequate
verification system. Even with an intrusive system that goes
beyond the Additional Protocol, International Atomic Energy Agency
inspectors would be challenged to find such small centrifuge
manufacturing sites, detect the relatively few secret procurements from
abroad, or find a small, clandestine centrifuge plant outfitted with
these advanced centrifuges. Moreover, with such a small plant
needing to be built, Iran would also have a far easier time hiding it
from Western intelligence agencies." http://t.uani.com/1q72Hy7
WSJ Editorial:
"Iran's leaders are preparing for another visit to New York this
month for the U.N. General Assembly, but many of their citizens aren't
going anywhere as they languish in the regime's prisons for political
crimes. One notable case is Farshid Fathi, an evangelical Christian
pastor who this week will spend his 35th birthday in jail. The
intelligence ministry arrested Pastor Fathi in December 2010. The
father of two then spent a year in solitary and semi-solitary
confinement in Evin prison's Ward 209, reserved for political cases.
There he was interrogated for hours on end and subjected to
psychological abuse, according to an Iranian Christian convert who has
also spent time in prison for his beliefs, currently resides in the
country and is familiar with Pastor Fathi's case. A Tehran
revolutionary court in February 2012 convicted Pastor Fathi of acting
against national security and sentenced him to six years including time
served. More recently he has been transferred to Rajai Shahr prison on
the outskirts of Tehran, where he is sharing a cell with addicts and
other common criminals who routinely harass and threaten him. When he
inquired about the reason for this latest transfer, the pastor was told
that it was because he sang Christian hymns. The Iranian regime knows
the political value of punishment and humiliation all-too well, and in
Pastor Fathi's case his harsh imprisonment is meant to send a message
to his followers. Iran's traditional Christian communities, such as
Orthodox Armenians and Assyrians, are protected under the Islamic
Republic's constitution as so-called People of the Book. Their daily
lives are subject to various legal restrictions, however. Their schools
and church activities are closely watched, and they can't lead most
public institutions. Converts to Christianity receive harsher treatment
since Tehran's authoritarians won't tolerate Shiites leaving the
official religion. Apostasy is punishable by death under Shariah law,
and Persian-language Bibles are banned (though contraband editions can
be purchased in some bookstores). Yet the Internet has made it
increasingly difficult for Tehran to root out evangelical Christianity,
and the movement by some estimates claims up to 500,000 Iranian
believers. Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq have recently given
the world a display of brutal vigilantism against minority religions.
Pastor Fathi's case is a reminder that persecution also is conducted by
long-established states, a truth to keep in mind as the world's leaders
sit down to tea with Iran's dictators." http://t.uani.com/1x5PVog
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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