Eye on Iran: As Ties Thaw, Iran's Rouhani in Historic Visit to Europe

Join UANI           Top Stories AFP: "Hassan Rouhani heads to Italy and France from Saturday for the first visit of an Iranian leader to Europe in a decade, as ties thaw after Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. In Rome on Saturday and Sunday, Rouhani will meet Italian officials and Pope Francis, while on Monday and Tuesday he will visit Paris and see President Francois Hollande. On the agenda will be potential business deals -- as Iran opens up to the global economy after the historic July nuclear agreement -- and talks on regional issues including the conflict in Syria. The last visit to Europe by an Iranian leader was in 2005, when Mohammad Khatami, like Rouhani a reformist, travelled to Vienna and Paris... The choices of France and Italy for both visits are hardly surprising -- before sanctions were imposed on Iran in 2006 over its nuclear programme, the two countries were the oil-and-gas-rich nation's main European economic partners... In an interview with France 2 public television on Wednesday, Rouhani said he expected to sign a number of documents that would 'form the basis for industrial and commercial agreements'. Among them, he said, will 'probably' be a move to buy Airbus aircraft to renew Iran's ageing fleet." http://t.uani.com/1ln2AiJ Bloomberg: "Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will show off the glory of Imperial Rome to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as he seeks to spearhead a conquest of his own: a huge share of new business in the Islamic Republic. Rouhani's trip is his first to the European Union since his election in 2013. He has chosen to start it in Rome, and the Italians, once Iran's biggest European trading partners, will court him assiduously as the country returns to the international fold after the nuclear deal signed in July. On Saturday, Renzi will escort Rouhani on a tour of frescoed halls, statues and mosaics in the Capitoline Museums that overlook the Roman Forum, heart of the ancient empire. Rouhani will also meet President Sergio Mattarella and executives of leading companies, and call on Pope Francis. 'We had a strong presence in Iran before sanctions and we aim to go back, at least, to the trade volume of that time,' Marco Simoni, economic adviser to Renzi, said in an interview. 'We're seeing contacts in many sectors like energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, machinery and food.' Italy aims to boost trade with the Middle East's second-biggest economy to more than the 7.2 billion-euro ($7.8 billion) peak reached before sanctions were tightened in 2011. At the time, Italy led Spain, Germany and France, according to Eurostat. Italy-Iran trade slumped to 1.2 billion euros in 2013, with Italy behind Germany... Eni Spa, Italy's largest oil producer, which has maintained a presence in Iran, defense and aerospace company Finmeccanica Spa, power equipment maker Ansaldo Energia SpA and cruise vessels builder Fincantieri Spa are among interested firms, according to Italian officials. Eni declined to comment this week on a report by the Italian news agency ANSA that it had signed a draft memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Drilling Company to increase cooperation in the drilling sector." http://t.uani.com/1ln3g7E IHR: "In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, President Hassan Rouhani defends Iran's execution of alleged drug offenders. Responding to a question about Iran's large number of executions, Rouhani repeated the answer often given by Iranian authorities: 'Most executions in Iran are related to drug trafficking crimes, due to the long and porous border shared with our Afghan neighbour. If we abolish the death penalty, we would make it easier for drugs to be trafficked to European countries, and that would be dangerous for you.' The comments were made on Thursday November 12, two days before the start of Rouhani's scheduled visit to Italy and France. Iran Human Rights calls on the Italian and French governments to put the death penalty on top of the agenda during President Rouhani's visit to these countries. 'When the president of a country which executes an average of three people a day comes to visit, the death penalty must be the main issue of discussion with him. Italy and France are two of the world's foremost countries engaged in the abolition of the death penalty, it is expected that Iran's use of the death penalty will be on top of the agenda in their talks with Mr. Rouhani,' says Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR." http://t.uani.com/1MbEAHO Nuclear Program & Agreement Free Beacon: "Iran has threatened to walk away from the recently inked nuclear deal and stop rolling back its nuclear enrichment program, according to recent comments by Hassan Rouhani, the Islamic Republic's president. Rouhani, in comments on Thursday, threatened to break the deal if the United States imposes any new sanctions on Iran, even ones concerning the country's human rights abuses and its ballistic missile program. The comments are a direct response to promises by the Obama administration to continue pursuing economic sanctions targeted at Iran's terrorist proxies and efforts to foment unrest across the globe. The warning from the Iranian president was delivered amid bipartisan calls in Congress to increase pressure on Iran in response to its recent arrest of two Americans, one a dual citizen and one a D.C.-based permanent resident. Iran 'will not fulfill agreements' aimed at curbing its nuclear program if any new sanctions are considered, Rouhani said, according to reports carried by the country's state-controlled media... 'Under the deal Iran always has a gun to America's head,' said Omri Ceren, managing director for press at The Israel Project, a D.C.-based organization that has been critical of the final terms of the deal. 'Any time the Iranians don't like anything the U.S. is doing, they can blackmail Washington by threatening to walk away from the deal.' 'This time they're telling Congress that lawmakers are prohibited from responding to the arrest of American citizens,' Ceren said. 'Who knows what they'll ban the U.S. from doing next time?'" http://t.uani.com/1HMResK Tehran Times: "Rosatom's Deputy Director General for International Affairs Nikolay Spassky traveled to Tehran on Wednesday for talks with Iranian nuclear officials. During his two-day stay in Iran, the Rosatom official and authorities from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) will discuss the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the construction of two new nuclear power plants in Bushehr and their financing. Iran and Russia signed documents on constructing the two new power plants last year around this time." http://t.uani.com/20Rk1In Sanctions Relief Mehr (Iran): "Describing the latest status of negotiations with Malaysia's Petronas and Austria's OMV oil companies, managing director of ICOFC announced several Russian firms' willingness to invest in Iran's central oil fields. On the launch of cooperation between Iran's Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC) and Malaysia's Petronas, Solbali Karimi said, 'we have taken Petronas oil company as our 2025 model for upgrading Iranian oil systems since oil industry needs to continuously seek progress.'" http://t.uani.com/1Y99l5D Tehran Times: "The Russian Helicopters Company has signed contracts with the Iranian Helicopter Support and Renewal Company (PANHA) on upgrading its maintenance and overhaul facility for Mi-17 helicopters, the Russian company's deputy head said Wednesday. Two contracts have been reached to 'in compliance with the memorandum signed in October 2015 with the PANHA factory on its retrofitting,' Alexander Shcherbinin told RIA Novosti at the Dubai Airshow in the United Arab Emirates." http://t.uani.com/1HML5Nn Shana (Iran): "A delegation from the major Russian oil company Russneft met officials from Iranian Ministry of Petroleum here on Wednesday with swap of oil and gas on agenda of negotiations. A joint committee was set up to continue the talks between the two sides, ministry sources told Shana." http://t.uani.com/1HGXqI3 Iraq Crisis Long War Journal: "Akram al Kaabi, the leader of the Iranian-supported Harakat al Nujaba militia that is based in Iraq and is an integral part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, has said that he would and could depose the Iraqi government if ordered to do so by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader. He also said that he and his group take political and religious guidance from Khamenei, and not Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's most senior Shiite cleric. The militia commander, who is listed by the US as an individual who threatens the security of Iraq and remains hostile to the US, was photographed in Syria's Aleppo province just days ago. Kaabi was there to direct an operation in coordination with Iranian and Syrian forces. He arrived in Syria just days after meeting with the leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces, who takes direction from Iran's Qods Force. Kaabi made the statements in two interviews, one with Al Sumariyah Television on Nov. 4 and another with Biladi Channel on Nov. 7. Translations of the interviews were obtained by The Long War Journal." http://t.uani.com/1kSqP7N Human Rights Amnesty: "In this open letter, human rights and civil society organizations urge UN Member States to vote, on 19 November, in favour of the Resolution A/C.30/70/L.45 on the promotion and protection of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This resolution is a vital opportunity for the international community to express human rights concerns. The resolution welcomes recent positive commitments by Iranian officials, while effectively drawing attention to the broad range of ongoing violations." http://t.uani.com/1N1H8Mc Foreign Affairs WSJ: "Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to visit Iran on Nov. 23, a Kremlin foreign policy aide said Friday, laying the groundwork for the Russian leader's first visit to the nation since 2007. Mr. Putin will take part in a summit of gas exporters and will likely hold talks with Iran's leadership, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said. 'It's logical that during the course of participation in the summit, naturally, there will be bilateral contacts and meetings with the hosts, and with the other countries that are participating on the same level,' Mr. Ushakov said, according to Russian news agencies. The Kremlin aide said the schedule of meetings so far hadn't been finalized." http://t.uani.com/1HMG1sl Opinion & Analysis Giulio Maria Terzi in WSJ: "Iran's President Hassan Rouhani travels to Europe this weekend, arriving first in Rome and then heading to Paris. It will be his first state visit to Europe, and he is scheduled to meet with several high-ranking officials from both countries. The trouble is that the Western push for closer engagement with the Iranian regime reflects terrible naiveté about Tehran. It would be different if Mr. Rouhani were presiding over an improving domestic situation in Iran, as some Western leaders would have us believe he is. But the opposite is true. The Iranian human-rights situation is as bad as or worse than it has been since the mullahs came to power 36 years ago. Since Mr. Rouhani's election in 2013, more than 2,000 people have been executed. That's more than during any equivalent period in the past 25 years. Iran has also long led the world in per capita executions, a disturbing statistic that's only getting worse. But the regime has also stepped up its arrests and its judicial abuses, including its targeting of activists, dissidents, minorities and others. Many Western leaders have convinced themselves that Tehran's willingness to negotiate a nuclear deal in exchange for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions means that it is also prepared to improve its overall behavior. Instead, the nuclear agreement has given the regime added motivation to crack down on Iranian civil society while keeping Western influence at bay. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has even banned his subordinates from engaging in any further negotiations with Washington. His attitude toward Europe is hardly better. By welcoming Mr. Rouhani, Europe is giving the impression that it is willing to talk about oil deals and trade partnerships even if it means actively ignoring Iran's worsening human-rights situation, its sponsorship of terror and destabilizing activities in the Middle East. Such deals, along with the lifting of economic sanctions, will give the regime the money it needs to continue funding the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran's adventurism in the region and its domestic repressive apparatus. The Rouhani administration's national budget reflects these priorities, boosting the IRGC funding by about one-third while allowing real incomes for Iranian school teachers to sink further below the poverty line. This isn't the behavior of a regime that is moving toward moderation. The IRGC is the main agent of domestic repression and the mullahs' instrument for exporting their Islamic Revolution abroad. It isn't too late to reverse the situation. Italy, France and the European Union should commit to using Mr. Rouhani's visit not just to explore new investment opportunities, but also as an opportunity to confront him about his country's the human-rights situation. The only reasons Western countries should have for meeting with the Iranian president are to challenge his domestic and foreign policies and to make it known that Western investment and sanctions relief will be shut off if Tehran fails to release its political prisoners and safeguard the rights of its citizens... If Mr. Rouhani passes through Europe with hardly a word of criticism for his government's human-rights record, Tehran will only be encouraged to believe that it is still free to suppress dissent and consolidate power within its borders so long as Europe sees the prospect of healthy profits. That would be both immoral and politically wrong." http://t.uani.com/1Qm8oWd           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.