Eye on Iran: Iran Looks at Compromise Nuke Offer

Join UANI           Top Stories AP: "Iran is considering a U.S. proposal at nuclear talks that would allow it to keep more of its nuclear infrastructure intact while still reducing its ability to make an atomic bomb, two diplomats told The Associated Press on Thursday... Iran is refusing U.S. demands that it cut the number of working enriching centrifuges from nearly 10,000 to only a few thousand. That dispute has been the main stumbling block to progress since the talks began early this year. Ahead of a Nov. 24 deadline to seal a deal, diplomats told the AP last month that U.S. had begun floating alternates to reducing centrifuges that would eliminate the disagreement but still accomplish the goal of increasing the time Iran would need to make a nuclear weapon. Among them was an offer to tolerate more centrifuges if Tehran agreed to reduce its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, which can fuel reactors but is also easily turned into weapons-grade material. Back then, Iran was non-committal. But the two diplomats said Thursday it recently began discussions with Moscow on possibly shipping some of its low-enriched stockpile to Russia for future use as an energy source... Experts say the low-enriched uranium Iran has stored, if further enriched, could arm up to seven nuclear weapons. They estimate it would take Tehran between 3-to-12 months to have enough weapons-grade uranium for one bomb." http://t.uani.com/1ugaHub LAT: "The future of Iran's planned research reactor at Arak is again proving a major sticking point in international talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, according to a key negotiator. Western officials fear that the heavy-water reactor, once operational, could provide a significant supply of plutonium. Plutonium is one of two materials, along with highly enriched uranium, that can fuel a nuclear bomb... As two days of talks wrapped up Thursday in Vienna, Russia's chief negotiator said there was 'no consensus' among the seven countries on the Arak facility, which is southwest of Tehran. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, talking to Russian journalists Thursday, described Arak as one of three key areas where 'blocks of questions' remain. Arak is 'still not worked out,' he said, according to the RIA Novosti news service... Ryabkov said any attempt to extend the talks would require difficult negotiations. 'Obviously, every extension ... will be more difficult than the previous one, and the risk of total failure also increases,' he said. Yet he added, 'Achieving a sustainable result ... is more important than meeting a certain deadline.'" http://t.uani.com/1pk0ZWm WSJ: "The Europe-Iran Forum concluded in London Thursday. The event brought together Western and Iranian business leaders to explore opportunities in a 'post-sanctions' Islamic Republic, according to its brochure... The event hasn't been without controversy. As I reported in an op-ed in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, at least one of the firms represented on the Iranian side of the forum is included on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals. Two other participating Iranian firms, while not sanctioned themselves, are closely associated with designated entities... Also on Wednesday, the Danish engineering firm FLSmidth informed the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran that it would be pulling out of the forum. A spokesman for the firm confirmed the withdrawal to me. Even so, the brazenness of the forum's post-sanctions talk shows the extent to which, to many Western commercial interests, the sanctions regime targeting Tehran's nuclear-weapons program appears frayed and perhaps crumbling-the Obama administration's assurances to the contrary notwithstanding." http://t.uani.com/1riH4qk     Nuclear Program & Negotiations AP: "Iran said Thursday it is against extending a November 24 deadline for troubled nuclear talks, even though major stumbling blocks remain in the way of a deal. 'We only have 40 days left to the deadline and... none of the negotiators find (an) extension of talks appropriate,' Mohammad Javad Zarif said in Vienna, a day after six hours of intense talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry. 'We share this view... and we think there is no need to even think about it,' Zarif said in the Austrian capital, quoted by the state television's website. The comments echoed a senior US State Department official late Wednesday after the talks between Kerry, Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in a Vienna hotel room. 'Deadlines help people to make hard decisions, and there are hard decisions to be made here. And we must,' the official said on condition of anonymity." http://t.uani.com/1whKsYS Sanctions Relief FT: "When Iran's business elite and foreign entrepreneurs gathered in London to lay the ground for the day international sanctions are eventually eased, they received a blunt message from advertising executive Sir Martin Sorrell: the potential for investment in their country was high but the politics must be right too. Iran was one of the last remaining places 'short of Mars and the moon, where there is significant opportunity' for his company and its clients, the WPP chief executive told the 300-strong audience on Thursday. But for his company to feel comfortable doing business there, he said, Tehran would have to settle its nuclear dispute with the west and recognise Israel as a legitimate state. Mr Sorrell's forthright message took many in the audience aback. But Iranian delegates at the first Europe-Iran Forum - a two-day event exploring potential business opportunities in Iran, sponsored by ACL, a Tehran-based Iranian asset management company and Dentons, the multinational law firm - said the mere presence of such a leading business figure at the event was a positive sign. Many other high-profile speakers had pulled out amid criticism from pro-Israel groups... Participants listed by the organisers included US bank Citigroup; Cisco Systems, the US telecoms equipment group; France's Total oil group, power company Alstom and cosmetics group L'Oréal; Airbus, the European aerospace company; South Africa telecoms company MTN and media conglomerate Naspers; and Dubai's Emirates NBD bank." http://t.uani.com/1riGR6E Military Matters AP: "Iran's state television says two Russian warships have left a northern Iranian port after the two countries held a joint, three-day naval exercise in the Caspian Sea. Thursday's report on the TV's website quoted Iranian Adm. Afshin Rezaei Haddad, who is Iran's navy commander in the Caspian Sea, as saying that the Russian vessels departed from the northern Iranian port of Anzali on Wednesday... It was the first visit in decades by a Russian fleet to an Iranian port in the Caspian Sea. In recent years Iran's navy has increased its bilateral relations with various countries, including China and Pakistan." http://t.uani.com/1sX7fs8 Terrorism AFP: "The head of Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group, praised Iran for its role in last summer's Gaza conflict against Israel, during a visit to Tehran on Thursday. 'Definitely, the victory was achieved with the assistance of the Islamic republic,' Ramadan Abdullah Shallah said at a meeting with Iran's supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, quoted by Fars news agency. 'Without Iran's strategic and efficient help, resistance and victory in Gaza would have been impossible,' he said of the 50-day war in which 2,200 Gazans and 73 Israelis died and the Palestinian territory was devastated... Khamenei, also quoted by Fars, urged the militants to 'boost their preparedness day by day and reinforce their resources' ahead of any further Israeli assault on the territory." http://t.uani.com/1sQafq6 Fars (Iran): "Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called on the Palestinian resistance groups to reinforce their defensive capabilities against possible aggressions by Israel. 'The resistance movements in Palestine should boost their preparedness day by day and reinforce their power resources inside Gaza,' Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with the visiting Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement Ramazan Abdullah in Tehran on Thursday. The Supreme Leader said the Palestinian resistance's recent victory against the Israeli regime's 50-day war indicated the materialization of 'divine promise', which will pave the way for greater victories. Ayatollah Khamenei also anticipated a promising future for the Palestinian people, and said, 'The outlook of the developments is bright and good.' The Supreme Leader also urged the Palestinians in the West Bank to intensify their fight against the Israeli regime, and said, 'Fighting the Zionist regime (Israel) is a war of destiny.' 'The enemy should feel the same worries in the West Bank as it does in Gaza.' Ayatollah Khamenei further vowed more support for the Palestinian people, stating, 'The Islamic Republic and the Iranian people are proud of your victory and resistance, and hope that the back-to-back triumphs of resistance groups will continue until final victory.'" http://t.uani.com/1rHgZ4g Fars (Iran): "A senior aide to the Iranian Supreme Leader underlined that all Muslim states are pursuing the common objective of confronting and defeating Israel, and said the Zionist regime's security is being threatened now. Addressing a gathering in Mashhad, Northeastern Iran, on Wednesday, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Supreme Leader's Office for Relations and International Affairs Mohsen Qomi pointed to the ongoing regional crises, and said, 'Confronting Israel is the common goal of all Muslim countries.' He reiterated that Israel's security is now at risk, and said, 'We should imagine a world where there will be no US, Israel, Wahhabism and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and we should make use of the youth's potentials to this end.'" http://t.uani.com/1ocA0km Human Rights WashPost: "Tehran is the seat where most of Iran's artistic community resides and hopes to one day thrive, despite the tremendous censorship restrictions regarding who can perform and under which circumstances. Navigating these restrictions has become an art form itself, while social media sites (at least those that are allowed) are continuously monitored. Iran has very strict censorship rules regarding women's appearance, and which topics are permitted to be discussed openly. Anything cultural or artistic that has the intention of being presented to the masses must first receive authorization and approval from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance before it can proceed into production. Plays, novels, videos, films and songs all are subject to scrutiny, and which ones are ultimately approved or dismissed is often decided by an arbitrary stroke of an official's pen. Any plays that relate to politics or religion or refer to sexual issues are not allowed. Women vocalists are not permitted to sing solo in front of a male audience or make records, in part because of a long-standing idea that a woman's voice will incite sexual excitement among men. Many artists have been forced to pursue their creative freedom by traveling underground (and in some cases quite literally), staging shows in tunnels, caves, homes or isolated fields where officials won't see them, more so as an act of self-preservation rather than of rebellion." http://t.uani.com/1zeYL3Y Opinion & Analysis Daily Star (Lebanon) Editorial: "Yemen's Houthis, a Shiite rebel group from the north of the country, took control of the capital Sanaa in late September, and is now marching south, having taken the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and the surrounding governorate Tuesday night. Security forces apparently surrender upon their approach, but the world, admittedly distracted elsewhere in the region, appears not to have noticed. The governorate of Hodeidah contains two major airports, two Red Sea ports, much agricultural production and several arms depots. Having been rumored to be receiving smuggled arms from Iran, the Houthis now have access to their own. Once they take the Bab al-Mandeb port, the Houthis - and by extension the Iranians - will control a port through which passes 40 percent of the world's oil each day, as it controls the Strait of Hormuz. The ongoing question of whether Iran has, or is in the process of acquiring, a nuclear bomb is thus rendered virtually irrelevant. With such power at its disposal, Iran will have control over the global oil market. We now face a situation in which worrying outcomes appear likely: the disintegration of Yemen into smaller statelets and civil strife, the latter made possible by the extremely high rate of ownership of small guns and weapons in the country. And yet the international community has been virtually silent on the apparently unstoppable approach of the Houthis, and American drones continue to focus on Al-Qaeda elements elsewhere in the country. Events in Yemen could prove far more damaging to the region and the world than what is happening elsewhere." http://t.uani.com/1FbCowY Tony Badran in NOW Lebanon: "The Islamic Republic of Iran is managing an aggressive information campaign capitalizing on President Obama's war against the Islamic State group (ISIS). Recognizing that Obama's priority of combatting ISIS and Sunni extremism has created a huge opening for them, the Iranians have charged right through, high stepping all the way to the end zone. Tehran is pressing its advantage to portray itself as the indispensable manager of regional security, while also having a great time deriding the US and its regional allies. In that sense, the Iranian campaign is as much about messaging as it is about trolling. With their information campaign, the Iranians are exposing publicly the extent to which the White House is pursuing them, even as they continue to talk trash to it. For the Iranians, this is designed to signal clearly to their regional rivals that they have the Americans in hand. Take for instance the ongoing series of photo shoots Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani has been doing in Iraq. Soleimani models in different settings - under the cover of the US Air Force. There's the jovial Hajj Qassem dancing, weapon in hand, with Iraqi forces. Then there's Soleimani the General visiting his men on the front, shaking hands with Peshmerga from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan or with fighters from the Shiite militias he runs. Hajj Qassem also sports different styles from one photo shoot to the next - though his Palestinian-style black and white keffiyeh is always wrapped around his neck; after all, he is the commander of the force named for Jerusalem. The latest is the cool special ops look, in black fatigues complete with his cap turned backwards. Although the White House had sent unmistakable signals about its desire to work with the Iranians, it also was concerned about not angering Sunni regional states, whose participation in the coalition it needed. Soleimani's photo shoots were designed to make clear to everyone in the region that not only were the Iranians and the Americans in alignment, but also that the Iranians were the real force on the ground. Hence, US air power serves only to shore up the Iranian order... Secure in the knowledge that Obama has aligned with Iranian interests, Khamenei and Soleimani are obnoxiously rubbing the Sunnis' noses in the dirt: We are on the ground with our allies, and we offer them real support. What's more, not only are the Americans running after us - offering concessions in the nuclear negotiations and begging us to join their coalition - they are also publicly saying that you, not we, are the problem in the region. In other words, the Iranian messaging campaign is about spiking the football and celebrating in the end zone." http://t.uani.com/1sQcGZN     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.