Eye on Iran: Iran Sees Failure of US Sanctions in Cuba Decision

Join UANI           Top Stories Al-Monitor: "After 18 months of secret negotiations, US President Barack Obama ordered the restoration of full diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba on Dec. 17, ending half-century-old US policy. Iranian officials and media outlets are painting the change in US policy as an acknowledgement that the US sanctions have not been effective in changing Cuba's positions. Though there are major differences between US-Iran and US-Cuba relations, both Iran and Cuba, after experiencing revolutions, expelled all American influence from their country while changing the balance of power in their regions and facing severe US pressure and sanctions. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said, 'The resistance of the Cuban people and officials on their principles and the ideals of the revolution during the last 50 years showed that a policy of isolation and sanctions from domineering powers against the will and endurance of independent governments and people is ineffective and inefficient.'" http://t.uani.com/16QjbE5 Bloomberg: "Iran's economy expanded 4 percent in the six months from March 21, President Hassan Rouhani said today, in a return to growth following two years of recession. In the 16 months since it came to power, the government has also 'curtailed inflation from 40 percent down to 17' percent, Rouhani said in a speech in the eastern city of Birjand, according to the Iranian Students News Agency. 'Economic revival has begun.' ... Rouhani today blamed 'plots' by nations he didn't name for driving down the price of crude. Oil 'won't remain at this level,' he said. 'Our future is bright.'" http://t.uani.com/1sY0ser NYT: "A former Marine imprisoned in Iran who began a hunger strike last week has suspended it after receiving assurances from Iranian penal officials that his case will be revisited, his family in the United States reported on Tuesday. The prisoner, Amir Hekmati, 31, from Flint, Mich., has spent more than three years in Tehran's Evin Prison. He is the longest-serving among the three Americans of Iranian descent known to be incarcerated by the Iranian authorities. 'Apparently, Evin Prison officials have implored Amir to end his hunger strike,' read a statement by the family posted on the Facebook page of Free Amir Hekmati, a support group. 'Evin Prison officials, in return, said they would take certain steps to have his case revisited by appropriate Iranian government authorities.' The statement said Mr. Hekmati had 'agreed to suspend his hunger strike, reluctantly and temporarily,' but would resume it 'if real action is not taken on his case with real results.'" http://t.uani.com/1sXYPxn     Sanctions Relief Trend: "Iran's economic growth based on prices in Iranian fiscal year of 1393 (March 2014-March 2015) increased by 4 percent during the first half of current fiscal year (March 21-Sep. 22) compared to the same period of last year. The country's GDP including oil sector reached 1,023 trillion rials (about $37.787 billion based on official rate of 27,073 rials per each USD) during the 6-month period, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) reported Dec. 24. Iran's GDP, excluding oil sector stood at 917.5 trillion rials ($33.89 billion) during the first six months of the current fiscal year indicating a 3.5 percent growth year on year. The Islamic Republic's GDP has registered a significant growth during the current fiscal year considering the 2.4 percent shrink during the last fiscal year's first six months compared to the preceding year. Iran's GDP experienced a 1.9 percent fall during the last fiscal year (March 2013-March 2014) compared to the preceding year and amounted for 1,972.85 trillion rials. The figure excluding oil sector reached 1,774.11 trillion rials, indicating a 1.1 percent decrease year on year." http://t.uani.com/1HBokeF Trend: "The Export-Import Bank of India has agreed to open a $150 million line of credit for Iranian banks. The agreement was signed between the head of Exim bank and representatives of Iranian banks in New Delhi, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported on Dec. 23. The Iranian delegation consisted of representatives of the Central Bank of Iran, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, as well as Saman, Pasargad, Parsian, Karafarin, Eghtesad Novin, and Keshavarzi banks. Iran's Ambassador to New Delhi Gholamreza Ansari said that the LC line will be used for purchasing technical and engineering services." http://t.uani.com/1xbBZ9u Tasnim (Iran): "India said it has extended the approval for two Iranian ship underwriters to provide insurance for container, tanker, and bulk vessels docking at Indian ports. An earlier six-month approval by India for Iran's Kish P&I Club and QITA P&I Club to provide cover to Iranian ships docking at Indian ports will end on 26 December 2014, the Indian IHS website reported. The report quoted a spokesman for the Indian shipping ministry as saying that the approval is applicable to Kish P&I Club and QITA P&I Club. The extension beginning 27 December 2014 will help Tehran continue supplying crude to Indian buyers on Iranian tankers with insurance provided by the two P&I Clubs." http://t.uani.com/1xLIwKE Human Rights RFE/RL: "A pro-reform Iranian daily newspaper, 'Ruzan,' has been suspended by an order from the prosecutor office in Tehran. The reason for the move has not been announced publicly. The newspaper's editor-in-chief  was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that the suspension is likely related to the December 20th edition that featured a front-page story about dissident Ayatollah Montazeri, who died five years ago." http://t.uani.com/1B1mK3q Trend: "Iran has started implementing smart filtering system for limiting an access to certain pages in Instagram, the country's Fars news agency reported Dec. 24. An access to 'offensive' content of the Instagram, a popular photo sharing network is banned, meanwhile the users are still able to open other pages. The Islamic Republic has recently unveiled its first 'smart filtering software' which is capable of accurate and rapid detecting 'inappropriate' content (including text, image and video) online. The new software is a step from the existing filtering system in Iran that blocks an access to the whole website." http://t.uani.com/1zhRtaf Opinion & Analysis Miles Windsor in WSJ: "For Christians across the West, this week is a time to celebrate. Multitudes will throng to church for Christmas services-some dragged along by family members, others seeking peaceful sanctuary from the worries of daily life. They will gather there to mark the birth of their savior, of the God who entered the world in the most humble of circumstances. Elsewhere in the world, millions of their co-religionists are threatened and prevented from exercising their fundamental right to worship openly, even in this holy season. Christian communities in North Korea, Pakistan and across much of the Middle East and Africa, among other places, face various forms of persecution, whether meted by tyrannical governments or by Islamist fanatics. According to an estimate by the International Society for Human Rights, some 80% of all acts of religious violence target Christians. One of those persecuted Christians is Farshid Fathi, a pastor who this year will mark his fourth Christmas in an Iranian prison cell. Born in 1979, the year Ayatollah Khomeini toppled the shah and founded the Islamic Republic, Pastor Fathi converted to Christianity at the age of 17. As the pastor would soon learn, Iran is a very dangerous place to worship Christ. The Tehran regime likes to tout its treatment of Iran's historic Christian communities, the Armenians and Assyrians, as a testament to its tolerance. It's true that Armenians and Assyrians are officially recognized as 'People of the Book' under Iranian law, and that status affords them a measure of legal protection. But it also relegates them to second-class status. Their churches and schools are intensely surveilled, their inheritance rights are subsidiary to their Muslim relatives', and they are barred from many public offices. The mullahs reserve the most vicious treatment for Iranian Muslims, like Pastor Fathi, who have dared to convert to Christianity. Persian-language Bibles are banned in the country, and apostasy is punishable by death under Shariah law, which lies at the heart of the Iranian penal code. Yet to mask its naked persecution of Christian converts, the Tehran regime usually jails them on national-security charges or on the pretext that they spy for foreign powers. That's what happened to Pastor Fathi. In December 2010, the father of two was arrested and arbitrarily detained in Tehran's nightmarish Evin Prison. His 'crime' was serving as the leader of a network of underground evangelical house churches. After a yearlong interval, during which he spent months in solitary confinement and was subjected to psychological abuse, he was convicted by a revolutionary court of 'acting against national security' and sentenced to six years... For the past few years, I have been advocating on behalf of Pastor Fathi and other Iranian Christians in Westminster and before the regime's representatives. Though his case angers me and calls me to action, I am more often impressed and encouraged by the pastor's fortitude, faith and indomitable spirit as they are reflected in his letters to supporters from prison." http://t.uani.com/1AIM3ZX      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. 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