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JPost:
"European diplomats have told Israeli officials in recent days that
the United States and Iran are moving closer to an agreement that would
allow the Islamic Republic to keep a large number of centrifuges in
return for guaranteeing regional stability, Army Radio is reporting on
Tuesday. According to EU officials, US Secretary of State John Kerry and
his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, have discussed increasing
the number of centrifuges which Iran would be permitted to keep. In
exchange, the Iranians would undertake an obligation to bring their
influence to bear in order to ensure quiet in Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Syria. European diplomats are quoted by Israeli officials as saying that
the US in recent weeks has made significant concessions in its talks with
Iran, so much so that it is willing to permit Tehran to operate 6,500
centrifuges while lifting sanctions that have hurt its economy this past
decade. The Europeans have told the Israelis that these concessions were
offered in exchange for Iranian promises to maintain regional stability.
According to Army Radio, the EU is opposed to the proposed linkage
between the nuclear issue and other geopolitical matters. In fact, the
Europeans suspect that Washington is operating behind Brussels' back and
that Kerry has not bothered to keep them in the loop in his talks with
Zarif." http://t.uani.com/1HSPT8w
WashPost:
"The remaining hostages - 13 of the 52 have died - are keenly aware
that they can't recover lost time, so they are looking with increasing
urgency for another kind of restitution. They have turned to Congress in
a bid for compensation for their captivity - for solitary confinement and
mock firing squads, for beatings with rubber hoses and being hung, like
laundry, over open elevator shafts, or run, blindfolded, into trees. And
for the toll all this took on their families. They've pinned their hopes
on legislation sponsored by Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia (home state of
three former hostages), which 'almost made it,' the Republican senator
says, into December's mammoth spending bill. They're watching
negotiations underway between the United States and Iran, wondering
whether there will finally be an end to the diplomatic standoff prompted
by their horrifying ordeals - and how that might affect their cause. And,
35 years on, as some of the hostages live out their last years, they are
aware that if anyone is to benefit from a long-awaited windfall, it will
probably be the next generation - Firestone's generation. Because their
own time to get justice is running out." http://t.uani.com/1vq97Nz
HRW:
"Repressive elements within Iran's security and intelligence forces
and judiciary retained wide powers and carried out serious rights abuses
throughout 2014, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2015.
Iran's powerful security and intelligence forces, aided by a compliant
judiciary, have carried out their repressive activities despite hopes for
an improvement in the rights situation after Hassan Rouhani became
president in August 2013. Officials apparently stepped up their crackdown
on dissent through the Internet, with revolutionary courts meting out
harsh punishments, including death sentences against bloggers and social
media users. Officials also detained or targeted many activists and leading
opposition figures, including the 2009 presidential candidates Mir
Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who remained under house arrest
without trial. Executions, especially for drug-related offenses, were
carried out at an alarming rate. 'Iran's judiciary and security forces
are a major impediment to justice and accountability for victims of
rights abuses in Iran,' said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North
Africa director. 'Clearly, despite his popular mandate, President Rouhani
has little control over their actions. But he can and should do more to
show Iranians that he will stand up for human rights and justice.'" http://t.uani.com/16dvdXg
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
AFP:
"Iran's parliament agreed Tuesday to examine a bill asking the
government to resume all its nuclear activities in the event of fresh US
sanctions, local media reported... If passed, the bill would repeal the
temporary agreement and torpedo hopes of a lasting deal between Iran and
the P5+1 group of nations, which has to be reached by the end of June.
The draft law, supported by 220 of 290 lawmakers, said that, in the event
of new US sanctions, 'Iran is obliged to immediately annul the interim
Geneva agreement and take a series of measures to exercise the nation's
nuclear rights.' It also stipulates that Iran would resume enrichment and
accelerate construction of its controversial Arak heavy water reactor.
Media did not say when the text may be submitted to a parliamentary
vote." http://t.uani.com/1zDftsL
Al-Monitor:
"The Obama administration considered it a win when it managed to
persuade hawkish Senate Democrats last month to delay a vote on Iran
sanctions by two months. But some US administration allies are puzzled
that what they consider a soft deadline for a framework agreement for a
final Iran nuclear deal has seemingly become the de facto deadline,
rather than the June 30, 2015 deadline that Iran and the six world powers
agreed to in November. The US administration has 'bought two months, but
sold three,' a western diplomat, speaking not for attribution, told
al-Monitor. Some Democratic Senators who have signed onto a letter from
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to President Obama have told interlocutors that
the Obama administration asked them to give it until the end of March to
see if a framework deal could be reached, before voting on new Iran
sanctions legislation." http://t.uani.com/1K7rNEO
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters:
"Iran is sweetening the terms it offers on oil development contracts
to draw the interest of foreign investors deterred by sanctions and low
crude prices, as its pragmatic president seeks to deliver on his promise
of economic recovery... 'The new contract is more competitive than other
oil producers. It provides higher potential profits and lower investment
risks,' said a senior Iranian oil ministry official who declined to be
named due to the sensitivity of the matter. The contract offered a
favorable rate of return and joint venture options with local Iranian
firms, he added. The new contracts will offer long-term durations of up
to 25 years, oil officials say... The new oil contracts will allow
investors to be involved in production, giving them far greater control
and certainty over long-term revenue in a country where foreign ownership
of oil resources is banned." http://t.uani.com/1DB0yi5
IRNA (Iran):
"Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation
Organization (IMIDRO) welcome cooperation with South Korean POSCO (Pohang
Iron and Steel Company) in implementing new steel projects in southern
Iran, deputy minister said Saturday... Deputy Industries, Mines and
Commerce Minister and head of IMIDRO Mehdi Karbasian made the comment in
a meeting with the visiting top manger of POSCO Jin Sik Choi, further
elaborating that Iran-Korea cooperation in steel field will be along the
southern coasts of Iran, including in Chabahar, Bandar Abbas and
Asaluyeh... The top POSCO manager said that his multinational firm is
ready to assist Iran in implementing its steep plants using the modern
'Finex' technology. Jin Sik Choi said that POSCO has recently assembled a
steel plant with nominal annual production capacity of two million tons
and before that a steel factory with annual 1.5 million ton production,
both using the Finex technology." http://t.uani.com/16fdUFx
Sanctions
Enforcement & Impact
AP:
"A Maryland man has been sentenced to two years in prison after he
was convicted on charges of exporting American manufactured industrial
products to Iran. Thirty-four year-old Ali Saboonchi of Parkville was
sentenced Monday in federal court in Greenbelt. According to evidence
presented at trial, Saboonchi conspired with others to export products to
Iran in violation of a U.S. trade embargo. Prosecutors say the goods
included stainless steel filter elements, which are used primarily in the
oil and gas industry, as well as liquid pumps and valves and other
industrial parts." http://t.uani.com/1CVTjCO
Terrorism
Fars (Iran):
"Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace
Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh underlined Iran's high missile
capabilities, and said Tehran has provided Syria, Iraq, Palestine and the
Lebanese Hezbollah resistance group with the needed know-how to produce
missiles. 'The IRGC's Aerospace Force has developed to a stage in the
field of missile industries that it can mass-produce different types of
short- and mid-range missiles,' Hajizadeh said in Tehran on Monday. 'The
Islamic Republic of Iran has helped Iraq, Syria, Palestine and the
Lebanese Hezbollah by exporting the technology that it has for the
production of missiles and other equipment, and they can now stand
against the Zionist regime, the ISIL and other Takfiri groups and cripple
them,' he added. Hajizadeh also stressed Iran's self-sufficiency in
building radar systems and drones, and added that the country has also
exported its drone technology and products to other countries." http://t.uani.com/16ffFCS
Reuters:
"Two men charged with plotting to derail a train traveling from New
York to Toronto had their plans foiled by an undercover police officer
who convinced them he could help pull off the attack, jurors heard at the
opening of their trial on Monday. One of the men, Tunisian Chiheb Esseghaier,
told the undercover officer that he had met with 'mujahideen' in Iran and
had a plan in place with a 'Palestinian brother,' a reference to the
second defendant, Raed Jaser, the court heard. Mujahideen are radical
Islamist guerilla fighters... At Esseghaier's one-bedroom apartment, the
agent sat on a mattress in the living room while Esseghaier told him to
turn off his mobile phones and then showed him visas and stamps for his
recent trips to Iran, the court heard. The Muslim guerilla fighters he
meet with in Iran told Esseghaier to return to Canada, the officer
said." http://t.uani.com/1AnXZ52
Press TV (Iran):
"A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)
says it has become a necessity for Iran to enhance its powerbase in the
West Bank. Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi said Saturday that Iran must
try to increase its military power in the West Bank as well as the Gaza
Strip in order to contain Israel inside the occupied territories. 'We
must contain Israel ... so that it never dares to speak about a missile
attack on Iran, we must reinforce our power in the West Bank and Gaza,'
said Masjedi, who serves as top advisor to commander of IRGC Quds
Force... 'The Palestine Liberation Organization must know that what
brings them victory is not political negotiation but only resistance and
(military) power, and this is what Hezbollah and Hamas have been doing,'
Masjedi said while addressing a conference in the northeastern city of
Mashhad." http://t.uani.com/1uU0kNZ
Syria Conflict
Reuters:
"A mainstream Syrian rebel group said on Monday they were seeking to
swap an Iranian taken captive in the southwestern province of Deraa last
month for women held in Syrian government jails. Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim
ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has sent mainly military
experts to help him in his almost four-year-long battle with mostly Sunni
Muslim rebels. Last month several insurgent groups including the Sham
Unified Front launched a major offensive in the province of Deraa in
which they seized several military posts including a strategic army base
in the Sheikh Maskeen area. The group's leader Abu Ahmad said his rebels
captured the Iranian as he was fighting alongside government forces in
the province, and killed nine other soldiers as they took over a power
station near Sheikh Maskeen in the province." http://t.uani.com/1zPrRHW
Human Rights
Trend:
"Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is monitoring all
social networks in the country, Mostafa Alizadeh, a senior IRGC
cyber-space expert said, the country's ISNA news agency reported Feb. 2.
'We have intelligence control over all social networks,' Alizadeh said,
adding those who think the cyberspace is safe. He urged those who are
engaged in suspicious or questionable activities online, stop them
immediately. 'We ask them to keep the cyber-space clean,' he argued. The
IRGC expert further said that the organization will connect with those
who involved in shady social activity and 'advise' them. He also unveiled
details about arresting members of a cyber-group involved in 'propagating
obscene contents' via Facebook. The IRGC pursued and identified 350
'offensive' Facebook pages, which were managed by 36 individuals,
Alizadeh said, adding they had mission to change the Iranian lifestyle
and target the families across the country to spread immorality." http://en.trend.az/iran/society/2359520.html
Domestic
Politics
IranWire:
"Air pollution reached dangerous levels in Ahwaz, Khuzestan province
on January 31. Authorities ordered the closure of schools and advised
businesses to reduce their hours after a toxic smog covered the city.
'The city was covered in dust,' the Khuzestan edition of the Iranian
Students News Agency (ISNA) reported. There were footprints on the city's
sidewalks, and people on the streets looked as if they were 'emerging
from a hazy dream.' Pollution levels were ten times higher than normal,
according to the Environmental Protection and Climate Agency in
Khuzestan. But one report said pollution levels were as much as 70 times
the norm. The general governor and the head of Ahwaz's Crisis management
Office of Ahwaz took the decision to close universities and schools in
Ahwaz and 12 other cities in the region." http://t.uani.com/1KnP57I
ICHRI:
"Teachers in the cities of Marivan, Baneh, and Shahrood, who have
refused to attend class since January 20 in protest against wages that
are below the official poverty line, have announced that they would not
abandon their protest until their demands for salary increases are taken
into consideration, according to labor activist Mansour Osanloo." http://t.uani.com/1zDcHnu
Foreign Affairs
RFE/RL:
"A cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad on the latest cover of the
French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been denounced in Iran, where
two organizations say they are challenging the West's commitment to free
speech with a cartoon contest aimed at questioning the Holocaust... The
contest organizers, House of Cartoon and the Sarcheshmeh Cultural Center,
say that by questioning the Holocaust, which they don't recognize as a
historical fact, they aim to demonstrate that Western countries have
double standards when it comes to freedom of expression... Masud Shojaei
Tabatabaei, the contest's administrator who is also the head of House of
Cartoon, was quoted by Iranian media as saying that the West is
'sensitive' about the Holocaust... Shojaei Tabatabaei added that the
April 1 deadline for contestants to submit their entries was chosen
intentionally. 'April 1 is called the day of the big lie. The Holocaust
is also a big lie [created] by the Zionists to occupy Palestine,' he
said." http://t.uani.com/1HSHRfY
Trend:
"Prominent Iranian Cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati congratulated
Muslims over the death of Saudi king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. 'We should
express condolences to the Israelis and Americans and congratulation to
Muslims and those who really care about Islam and Shia,' Jannati said on
Jan. 30 during his Friday sermon in Tehran, Iran's Mehr news agency
reported. Abdullah was enemy of Shiites and founded and supported Takfir,
Jannati said, adding 'he will be punished for his activities.'" http://t.uani.com/1F0D6vK
Opinion &
Analysis
Michael Doran in
Mosaic: "President Barack Obama wishes the Islamic
Republic of Iran every success. Its leaders, he explained in a recent
interview, stand at a crossroads. They can choose to press ahead with
their nuclear program, thereby continuing to flout the will of the
international community and further isolate their country; or they can
accept limitations on their nuclear ambitions and enter an era of
harmonious relations with the rest of the world. 'They have a path to
break through that isolation and they should seize it,' the president
urged-because 'if they do, there's incredible talent and resources and
sophistication ...inside of Iran, and it would be a very successful
regional power.' How eager is the president to see Iran break through its
isolation and become a very successful regional power? Very eager. A year
ago, Benjamin Rhodes, deputy national-security adviser for strategic
communication and a key member of the president's inner circle, shared
some good news with a friendly group of Democratic-party activists. The
November 2013 nuclear agreement between Tehran and the 'P5+1'-the five
permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany-represented, he
said, not only 'the best opportunity we've had to resolve the Iranian
[nuclear] issue,' but 'probably the biggest thing President Obama will do
in his second term on foreign policy.' For the administration, Rhodes
emphasized, 'this is healthcare..., just to put it in context.' Unaware
that he was being recorded, he then confided to his guests that Obama was
planning to keep Congress in the dark and out of the picture: 'We're
already kind of thinking through, how do we structure a deal so we don't
necessarily require legislative action right away.' Why the need to
bypass Congress? Rhodes had little need to elaborate. As the president
himself once noted balefully, '[T]here is hostility and suspicion toward
Iran, not just among members of Congress but the American people'-and
besides, 'members of Congress are very attentive to what Israel says on
its security issues.' And that 'hostility and suspicion' still persist,
prompting the president in his latest State of the Union address to
repeat his oft-stated warning that he will veto 'any new sanctions bill
that threatens to undo [the] progress' made so far toward a
'comprehensive agreement' with the Islamic Republic. As far as the
president is concerned, the less we know about his Iran plans, the
better. Yet those plans, as Rhodes stressed, are not a minor or
incidental component of his foreign policy. To the contrary, they are
central to his administration's strategic thinking about the role of the
United States in the world, and especially in the Middle East. Moreover,
that has been true from the beginning. In the first year of Obama's first
term, a senior administration official would later tell David Sanger of
the New York Times, 'There were more [White House] meetings on Iran than
there were on Iraq, Afghanistan, and China. It was the thing we spent the
most time on and talked about the least in public [emphasis added].' All
along, Obama has regarded his hoped-for 'comprehensive agreement' with
Iran as an urgent priority, and, with rare exceptions, has consistently
wrapped his approach to that priority in exceptional layers of secrecy.
From time to time, critics and even friends of the president have
complained vocally about the seeming disarray or fecklessness of the
administration's handling of foreign policy. Words like amateurish,
immature, and incompetent are bandied about; what's needed, we're told,
is less ad-hoc fumbling, more of a guiding strategic vision. Most
recently, Leslie Gelb, a former government official and past president of
the Council on Foreign Relations, has charged that 'the Obama team lacks
the basic instincts and judgment necessary to conduct U.S.
national-security policy,' and has urged the president to replace the
entire inner core of his advisers with 'strong and strategic people of
proven... experience.' One sympathizes with Gelb's sense of alarm, but
his premises are mistaken. Inexperience is a problem in this
administration, but there is no lack of strategic vision. Quite the
contrary: a strategy has been in place from the start, and however
clumsily it may on occasion have been implemented, and whatever
resistance it has generated abroad or at home, Obama has doggedly adhered
to the policies that have flowed from it. In what follows, we'll trace
the course of the most important of those policies and their contribution
to the president's announced determination to encourage and augment
Iran's potential as a successful regional power and as a friend and
partner to the United States." http://t.uani.com/18KgPYr
Tony Badran in NOW
Lebanon: "These tactical observations, however, miss
a more important dynamic. As Nasrallah made clear in his address on
Friday, he and his Iranian overlords are hell-bent on expanding into the
Golan Heights. Nasrallah, echoing the comments of Mohamad Ali Jafari,
head of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), not only blurred the lines
between the Lebanese and Syrian fronts, but also fused the Iranian
element into both of them. In addition, Nasrallah, again echoing IRGC talking
points, sought to establish an umbrella of deterrence over Hezbollah and
Iranian activity in the Golan by threatening to respond 'anywhere' to any
Israeli assassination of his or Iran's cadres operating there. This is
precisely why a large conflict will be harder to avoid down the road. As
Iran, in a race toward nuclear power status, pushes the envelope in the
Golan, Israel will need to establish clear red lines and reassert a
policy of deterrence. As such, the limited retaliation it held itself to
this time around could well become a liability going forward. For
example, Israel hitting whatever remains of the Assad regime's brigades
in the south is unlikely to deter Iran from expanding into the Golan.
Iran will absorb strikes against Assad that don't threaten his position
in Damascus and western Syria, and that don't fundamentally alter the
balance of power against the rebels. Similarly, a tolerable limited
retaliation against Hezbollah in south Lebanon, following a future
operation in the Shebaa Farms, will likely reinforce Iran's and
Hezbollah's sense that Israel is unwilling to start a major war, and has
therefore itself been effectively deterred. Of course, Israel did show
its readiness to escalate, and Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that such
Hezbollah attacks would invite a strong response, similar to what was
inflicted on Hamas in Gaza. Still, Israel's decision not to go all the
way this time around carries risks. From Israel's standpoint, what
transpired this month cannot become the new normal. By contrast, it's
certain that Iran and Hezbollah will continue to probe the Golan front.
The Iranians know they have two years left to press their advantage and
maximize their gains, not only without any pushback from the US, but with
its de facto consent. And the White House's open hostility toward
Netanyahu will only encourage the Iranians to take shots at Israel. Which
is why, over time, a limited tit-for-tat Israeli approach would work to
Tehran's advantage, failing to deter it, and making the Golan front a
fact. With Iran racing toward the nuclear bomb, its operational presence
in the Golan, integrating the Lebanese and south Syrian fronts, is
untenable for Israel. It is a matter of upholding Israeli deterrence and
containing the Iranian expansion taking place with the seeming
acquiescence of the Obama administration. For now, the Israeli government
has chosen to contain the situation. But unless it is willing to
effectively recognize Iran as a reality on the Golan - which is highly
unlikely - Israel will continue to deny the Iranians and their Hezbollah
arm the ability to establish a front there. This means that another
confrontation is just a matter of time, at which point Israel could well
decide to prove - both to Tehran and Washington - its willingness to
escalate with a massive display of force in order to enforce its red
lines. Put differently, Iran's expansionist push into southern Syria has
put Lebanon on the path toward certain ruin." http://t.uani.com/16flUGA
Hussain
Abdul-Hussain in NOW Lebanon: "Saudi Arabia is a
spent force and an unreliable US ally. As such, Washington should replace
Riyadh with Tehran, or so goes the thinking inside the Obama
administration. Brian Katulis, a think tanker with close ties to the
Obama team, penned a piece in The Atlantic under the title 'The twilight
of Saudi power,' in which he put out what seems to have become common
wisdom inside the White House and among its friends. Former National
Security Advisor Zbig Brzezinski echoed Washington's bias toward Iran at
the expense of Saudi Arabia at a congressional hearing. He said that he
and another national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, who visited
Riyadh with President Obama, share the idea that Iran 'is beginning to
evolve into a very civilized and historically important country.'
Brezezinski then launched a scathing attack against other governments in
the region. Brzezinski's comments mirrored Obama's interview with
Bloomberg Views in March, in which the president said that if you 'look
at Iranian behavior, they are strategic, and they're not impulsive. They
have a worldview, and they see their interests, and they respond to costs
and benefits.'Saudi Arabia is one of the least-understood governments.
Compounding the problem are writers who are divided into two camps:
apologists, who depict Saudi rulers as superheroes; and enemies, who
depict Riyadh as the pit of evil, ruled by ailing monarchs and rife with
royal divisions. Neither of these camps is correct. Since 1932, the
Kingdom has seen six of the smoothest power successions at its helm.
While some might underestimate such harmony, it should be noted that in
most Arab ruling families, it is rare to see a succession between two
brothers without a schism that often turns into competition, and even
war, like the military standoff between late Syrian President Hafez Assad
and his brother Rifaat in the 1980s... The Saudi government has been
stable for over eight decades. It has shown prudence in handling its oil
wealth. Its leaders have lived through various upheavals and regional
wars in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq and elsewhere. There is no
reason to believe that Saudi stability is at stake or that the Kingdom
faces threats in the medium or long term. Like the rest of the region,
Saudi Arabia faces a wave of fanaticism that sways many of its young men,
but on a per capita basis, Saudi youth joining the Islamic State (ISIS)
hardly top the chart. Riyadh outlaws Islamist groups and is an avowed
enemy of ISIS and Al-Qaeda - unlike Tehran, whose rulers openly fund and
support groups on America's list of terrorist organizations, such as
Hezbollah, and other groups that openly call for 'death to America,' such
as the Houthis of Yemen. Since its inception, Saudi Arabia has been
steady. While successive kings have demonstrated varying styles of rule,
continuity has been the nation's defining policy, and there is no reason
to predict major developments or shakeups after the most recent
succession. President Obama can try cozying up to Iran all he wants. But
to play favorites by pretending that Iran is a more stable, less Islamic,
and all-around better ally than Saudi Arabia is not only unfounded, it
will make Washington's allies - now and in the future - rethink their
ties with an America that often grows bored of its friends, seeking
instead the company of its seemingly more intriguing enemies." http://t.uani.com/1zxPQbr
Montel Williams in
Politico: "Semper fidelis. Always faithful. To
Marines, those two words are a badge of honor. Amir Hekmati is no
exception. This faithfulness, this time to his family, guided his
decision to make a trip thousands of other Iranian-Americans make each
year; a trip to visit relatives in Iran. Amir's grandmother's health was
faltering. With a proper visa, he left for his first visit to Iran in
August of 2011. Two weeks into what was meant to be a month-long trip, he
was detained. Three months later, he was charged with spying for the
United States. It is now three years and five months later, and he
remains behind the walls of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. Since
this arrest, multiple leaders in the American Muslim community as well as
influential members of the American Islamic clergy have written Iran's
Supreme Leader pleading for Amir's release, to no avail. Amir's father,
Ali, has terminal cancer; and, as the clerics have noted, in the Islamic
faith, at the death of the patriarch of a family, the eldest son MUST
assume responsibility to care for those left behind. Amir is a practicing
Muslim who loves America. He graduated high school in Flint, Michigan,
and proudly served the United States as a Marine. He was set to start an
economics degree at the University of Michigan when he returned from
Iran. He is also proud of his Iranian roots. None of those notions exist
in conflict with each other. Since his incarceration, Amir has detailed
to his family instances of being tortured, mistreated and abused. His
physical health has deteriorated while in custody. With no American
diplomatic presence in Iran, and with the Iranian Government taking the
position that Amir is Iranian, not even the Swiss Government, which
serves as the protecting power for the United States in Iran, is allowed
to visit him-a clear violation of international law. Amir Hekmati is a
good man-a loving son, a brother. He is a man of deep faith. In my view,
he is being held as leverage in the ongoing negotiations between the
United States and Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear project. His
release should not be dependent on the outcome of those talks. Given his
health, the health of his father, and the clear teaching of the Islamic
faith with respect to the eldest son's obligations, it is time for the
Iranians to send him home. Let their leverage be the unconditional
release of Amir as a show of good faith to those who doubt their
seriousness of purpose... Let us never forget American Amir Hekmati,
illegally incarcerated in Iran. Never. Amir, like me, is a former Marine
and fought for his country-in every way he represents the very best this
country has to offer. Semper Fidelis. Always faithful. Amir has always
been: to his mother, father, family and country. He should be deported by
the Iranian authorities-now. Before the conclusion of a nuclear agreement
with Iran. Let our guiding principle be to leave no man behind." http://t.uani.com/1zaOTqB
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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