Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Eye on Iran: U.S. Opposes Linking Iran Cooperation on Islamic State to Nuclear Talks








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Reuters: "The United States said on Monday it would refuse to seek Iran's cooperation in fighting Islamic State forces by being more flexible in the negotiations of six world powers with Tehran on its nuclear program. Senior Iranian officials told Reuters that Iran is ready to work with the United States and its allies to stop Islamic State militants but would like more flexibility on Iran's uranium enrichment program in exchange. Asked to respond, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the idea was unacceptable, remarks that echoed those from other Western powers in the negotiations with Tehran. European officials have also made clear they do not want to bring other issues into the nuclear negotiations. Earnest said the effort by world powers, including the United States, to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program is 'entirely separate' from President Barack Obama's attempts to build a coalition against Islamic State. 'The United States will not be in the position of trading aspects of Iran's nuclear program to secure commitments to take on ISIL,' Earnest said, using an acronym for Islamic State (IS). He also said the United States would not coordinate the coalition's military activities with the Iranians and would not share intelligence on Islamic State with Iran." http://t.uani.com/1yoK5iy

LAT: "U.S. proposal aimed at resolving a central dispute in nuclear talks with Iran is meeting skepticism in the Iranian capital from conservatives and observers of other political stripes. U.S. negotiators have proposed to have Iran disconnect some of its centrifuges, rather than dismantling them, as part of a plan to assure that Iran can't race quickly to achieve a nuclear-weapons capability... The U.S. proposal would allow Iran to claim to its public that it wasn't dismantling the machines, a step Iranian officials have insisted they will never take. But in a column carried Sunday by the Fars News Agency, which reflects the views of the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, conservative analyst Alireza Karimi described the approach as a 'stunt' aimed at 'deception of public opinion.' Iran would be left with only 'window-display enrichment,' which wouldn't be sufficient for the nuclear research and development it seeks, and wouldn't bring it closer to its goal of having enough uranium enrichment capacity to satisfy its needs for electric power generation, Karimi wrote. Nader Karimi Juni, a reformist analyst who favors a deal, said in an interview that he, too, saw the proposal as window dressing aimed at easing a public-relations problem. He said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani intends to do all he can, 'in good faith,' to reach a deal during the talks. But any agreement has to meet the requirement of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Iran be allowed to develop an industrial-scale enrichment capacity in the next few years, he said." http://t.uani.com/1slmhsY

AP: "Diplomats are reporting a setback at talks on Iran's nuclear program, saying Tehran has resumed rejecting U.S. demands it repurpose a uranium enrichment site. They told The Associated Press Monday that Tehran is invoking what it says was an Israeli drone shot down last month near another Iranian enrichment site in arguing that it wants to leave the underground facility as an enrichment plant. The U.S. wants the site shut down or converted because it is dug deep into a mountain. Washington fears it is impervious to air attack." http://t.uani.com/1mqy5rn


 
Nuclear Program & Negotiations

Press TV (Iran): "Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says the Islamic Republic will never give up its right to peaceful use of nuclear energy, vowing to continue the nuclear path for the country's development. 'In the fields of development and access to peaceful nuclear technology, we have inalienable rights which are pivotal to the country's development goals. We will not abandon them and will continue the [nuclear] path,' Rouhani told reporters on Monday ahead of his departure for New York City to attend the 69th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly. He added that Iran has never sought to develop weapons of mass destruction and nuclear arms. 'In the negotiations, the P5+1 asks us to show more transparency within the framework of international regulations and build mutual confidence and respect which are acceptable, but if the P5+1 calls on us to give up our absolute rights, it is not possible...,' the Iranian president pointed out." http://t.uani.com/1rlpB4V

Daily Telegraph: "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addressed concerns about his country's nuclear programme on Monday, saying it was not interested in making weapons of mass destruction.  However, he said Iran's rights over nuclear technology must be respected... Speaking at a military parade in Tehran to mark the anniversary of an 8-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, President Rouhani said: 'We have not thought of making weapons of mass destruction and we are not thinking of it. He added that Iran would 'never bow to pressure by superpowers', in an apparent reference to the country's nuclear stance." http://t.uani.com/1Cajggi

Islamic State

Reuters: "British Prime Minister David Cameron will meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the next two days in New York and ask him for help to fight Islamic State, the first meeting between leaders of the two nations since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Cameron will meet Rouhani on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, a source in the British leader's office told Reuters, speaking after the United States and Arab partners struck IS targets inside Syria." http://t.uani.com/ZG0PlO

Human Rights

IranWire: "Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Intelligence Unit have extracted a forced confession from the detained Iranian-American journalist Jason Rezain under duress. In a short conversation an Iranian security official, who withheld his name due to the sensitivity of the case, told IranWire that the Guards pressed Rezaian to confess in order to 'influence Iran's nuclear negotiations with the Western powers, including the United States.' The official did not elaborate as to how the confession will be used, and when it will be aired." http://t.uani.com/1tX1F95

ICHRI: "Jason Rezaian and Yeganeh Salehi have lost a 'shocking' amount of weight in prison, an informed source has told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. According to this source, the family of the imprisoned Iranian journalist Yeganeh Salehi was allowed to have their first visit with her and her Washington Post reporter husband Jason Rezaian on September 7, and they were astonished at the couple's appearance. The source, who was knowledgeable of the details of the visit, told the Campaign that after seeing Rezaian and Salehi, Yeganeh Salehi's father was overcome with emotion and collapsed. According to the source, the couple stated during the visit that they had no physical problems, but the family was gravely concerned by their appearance. The source stated that the couple 'has no idea when they may be released [and that they]repeatedly told their family during their visit that they have not committed any crimes and that they are very worried about their state of limbo in prison.'" http://t.uani.com/1CahLyI

AP: "The family of a former U.S. Marine imprisoned in Iran since his arrest three years ago on spying charges said his conditions have improved and he is now allowed to call home several times a week. The sister and brother-in-law of Amir Hekmati acknowledge that's a big step forward for a man who spent his first 16 months held in solitary confinement in Iran's notorious Evin prison, north of the capital, Tehran. But Hekmati's relatives are unwavering in their goal to obtain his release. 'The important thing here is that he needs to come home. And our push is one of urgency,' Hekmati's brother-in-law, Ramy Kurdi, told The Associated Press in an interview. Hekmati's father is dying of cancer, and 'every day matters. Every day is an injustice,' Kurdi said." http://t.uani.com/1CafPWX

NYT: "Anticipating the arrival of Iran's president in New York on Monday for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, the family of Amir Hekmati, a former United States Marine incarcerated in Tehran for three years, has called attention to the case by releasing a video in which his father, who has terminal brain cancer, appeals to Iranian leaders for Mr. Hekmati's freedom. The family, from Flint, Mich., has also released a statement sent by Mr. Hekmati from Evin Prison in Tehran, in which he acknowledges the widespread support he has received from the United States and elsewhere, saying the efforts to win his release have given him hope. 'It is this hope that helps me believe that I will return home to Michigan, to my family, and my life,' Mr. Hekmati said in the statement." http://t.uani.com/1rg0GP5

AFP: "A 25-year-old British-Iranian woman arrested in June after trying to attend a men's volleyball match has had her detention extended, still without charge, her lawyer said on Saturday. Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaie was speaking as the British foreign office said it was 'very concerned' about Goncheh Ghavami's situation and had raised the matter with the Iranian government. A British spokesman confirmed press reports that a foreign office official had met Ghavami's brother in London to discuss the case, but 'won't comment further on private discussions'... 'Her provisional detention has been extended,' Tabatabaie said without elaborating, adding that she has now been in jail for around 80 days without any charges being filed." http://t.uani.com/1od2Yer

AFP: "Eleven Iranians accused of sending insulting SMS text messages about Islamic republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini have been arrested in the southern province of Shiraz, a newspaper reported on Monday. 'After monitoring social network applications on mobile phones like WhatsApp, Viber, Line and tango ... 11 people were arrested,' the provincial Revolutionary Guards chief, General Esmail Mohebipour, said. 'They recognised the error of their ways,' the Haft e-Sobh daily cited the general as saying." http://t.uani.com/1uYM5ZZ

Reuters: "Iran's hardline judiciary has given the government one month to block WhatsApp and other popular instant messaging services, as pressure mounts on reformist President Hassan Rouhani to scale back his social and political liberalisation. In the severest warning yet to Rouhani's one-year-old administration, chief prosecutor Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei accused Communications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi of failing to unplug social networking sites and apps 'with immoral and criminal content.' 'Despite a three month grace period to allow you and your colleagues enough time, no effective action has been taken to filter out immoral and un-Islamic offences' relayed through WhatsApp, Viber and Tango, said Mohseni-Ejei, an influential cleric and judge." http://t.uani.com/1od3ARg

Radio Zamaneh: "A second day of protest by Gonabadi dervishes in front of the Tehran Prosecutor's office was met violently by security forces, who attacked and arrested a number of protesters. The Majzooban-e Noor website reports that riot police used batons and tear gas, and some of dervishes sustained serious injuries such as broken bones. The report indicates that riot police fenced off hundreds of men and women near the prosecutor's office. The dervishes have gathered in Tehran as part of a campaign to bring them from across the country to protest against the treatment of their peers in jail. Majzooban-e Noor reported earlier that more than 800 dervishes were held overnight. A rallying call was sent out to organize another protest for this morning at 9 AM." http://t.uani.com/1rlobr7

IHR: "Four prisoners were hanged in the prison of Bandar Abbas (southern Iran) Thursday morning September 18, reported the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in Hormozgan Province." http://t.uani.com/ZbZ53H

Foreign Affairs

NYT: "An assault on Yemen's capital rocked the transitional government on Sunday as fighters from a Shiite rebel group stormed through the city, seizing government buildings, state media facilities and military bases. The military broke apart, some units appeared to side with rebels, and the prime minister abruptly resigned. By late Sunday night, President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced that the rebels, known as the Houthis, had agreed to an immediate cease-fire and the formation of a new 'technocratic national government.' Although the details remained vague, analysts said the Houthis' control over the capital would give them the upper hand in dictating the terms of any agreement... The Houthis' gains on Sunday are certain to exacerbate sectarian and political tensions in the region: Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni Muslim-led Persian Gulf states believe that the Shiite rebels in Yemen are backed by their archrival, the Shiite state of Iran. The Sunni-led states of the gulf are waging a fierce proxy fight against Iran through the conflict in Syria, and three years ago Saudi Arabia even sent its troops to Bahrain to tamp down an uprising by its Shiite majority, in part because of fears that the movement's leaders were in league with Iran. 'In the regional cold war, this has strengthened the position of the Iranians,' Mr. Sharqieh said. 'For the Saudis, the Houthis arriving in Sana is definitely not good news.'" http://t.uani.com/1mJgNWX

Guardian: "Iran and Saudi Arabia have held their first foreign minister-level meeting since the 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani, official Iranian media have reported, signalling a possible thaw in relations between the rival Gulf powers... The Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, suggested after his meeting in New York with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al-Faisal, that the talks could lead to an improvement in relations. 'Both my Saudi counterpart and I believe that this meeting will be the first page of a new chapter in our two countries' relations,' Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying. 'We hope that this new chapter will be effective in establishing regional and global peace and security and will safeguard the interests of Muslim nations across the world.'" http://t.uani.com/1rtm8Sc

AFP: "French President Francois Hollande will take the opportunity of the gathering of world leaders in New York for the UN General Assembly to meet his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, his office said Monday. French officials said the pair were expected to meet on Tuesday and address the crisis in Iraq, where France has just carried out its first air strikes against Islamic State jihadists. The two leaders will also discuss Iran's nuclear program, a source in Hollande's office told AFP." http://t.uani.com/1uhoSo2
  

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

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