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Reuters: "A clear majority of Iranian
legislators said Monday the Islamic republic will not abandon the slogan
of 'Death to America' despite its July nuclear accord with world powers.
'The martyr-nurturing nation of Iran is not at all prepared to abandon
the slogan of Death to America under the pretext of a nuclear agreement,'
192 members of Iran's 290-seat parliament said in a statement carried by
state news agency IRNA. They said the slogan, chanted at the weekly
Friday prayers in mosques and at protests, had 'turned into the symbol of
the Islamic republic and all struggling nations'. The statement was
issued two days before Iran's commemoration of the start of the November
4, 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by radical Islamic students
that led to a 444-day hostage crisis and a break in diplomatic relations
between the two countries lasting up to the present day. In the aftermath
of the July 14 nuclear deal with world powers, 'the government and the
Majlis (parliament) should act carefully in line with the honourable
leader's wise guidance', the legislators said, referring to Iran's
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The leader has endorsed the deal
which curbs Iran's nuclear drive in return for a lifting of sanctions,
but has repeatedly warned against US 'infiltration' of the values of
Iranian society. 'America is the main part of the problem in the region,
not part of the solution,' he said on Sunday, citing US support for 'the
Zionist regime' in Israel. US regional 'policies differ 180 degrees with
the policies of the Islamic republic', he added." http://t.uani.com/1LLYvNo
WSJ: "U.S. lawmakers, angered by the
recent arrest of an Iranian-American, demanded Friday that the White
House take a tougher line against Tehran and impose fresh sanctions on
its elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The
arrest of Siamak Namazi , a prominent oil executive and the fourth
Iranian-American to be detained in Iran, emerged as the newest roadblock
to President Barack Obama's efforts to build on the nuclear accord world
powers and Tehran reached in July and foster cooperation with Iran on
regional issues, including ending Syria's war. 'The arrest of Siamak
Namazi is the latest show of contempt for America,' said Rep. Ed Royce
(R., Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. 'This
American executive-who has worked to promote closer U.S.-Iran
relations-deserves to be home with his family. So do the other four
Americans either detained or missing in Iran.' ... Critics of the nuclear
deal on Capitol Hill cited Mr. Namazi's arrest as proof that the Iranian
regime hasn't moderated its behavior as a result of the nuclear deal and
continue its hostile policies toward Washington. Iran announced this
month that it had convicted the Washington Post's Tehran bureau chief,
Jason Rezaian , of espionage, and test-fired a ballistic missile. Iran
also launched joint military operations with Russia in Syria in late
September to bolster the regime of President Bashar al-Assad... Some
Republicans specifically raised the possibility of new sanctions being
imposed on the Revolutionary Guards. A unit of the military force was
behind the arrest of Mr. Namazi, according to people briefed on the case.
The U.S. currently has sanctions on Revolutionary Guard divisions and
individuals for their alleged roles in international terrorism. But
lawmakers are calling for the Guards as an entity to face U.S.
sanctions... 'Iran's threatening behavior will worsen if the
administration does not work with Congress to enact stronger measures to
push back, including renewal of the expiring Iran Sanctions Act of 1996
and targeted pressure against Iran's Revolutionary Guard,' said Sen. Mark
Kirk (R., Ill.)." http://t.uani.com/1M6VbdT
Politico: "President Barack Obama's
effort to implement the Iran nuclear deal has been dealt another blow --
at least on the public relations front -- with word that the Islamist
government in Tehran has imprisoned a fourth American. The news that
Siamak Namazi, a businessman with dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship, has been
detained came as Secretary of State John Kerry meets with his Iranian
counterparts and other world leaders in Vienna to try to end the conflict
in Syria. It also comes as the nuclear deal is in the early stages of the
highly sensitive implementation phase, with Iran expected to reduce its
uranium stockpile and dismantle centrifuges in exchange for relief from
nuclear-related sanctions. Reports of Namazi's arrest flared anger in
Congress, where the Iran deal has numerous critics, many of whom tried
unsuccessfully to derail it earlier this year. The arrest is likely to
fuel efforts on Capitol Hill to increase human rights and other sanctions
on Iran that are not set to be lifted as part of the nuclear deal." http://t.uani.com/1Q24mCb
Nuclear
Program & Agreement
NYT: "Iran has started
decommissioning the first of thousands of centrifuges used for enriching
uranium as part of its commitments under the nuclear deal reached with
global powers, the head of Iran's nuclear energy program was quoted as
saying during a visit to Japan on Monday. The head of the Atomic Energy
Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, told the Kyodo News agency that
Iran had started preliminary work, referring to centrifuges and other
steps. The entire process will 'take some time,' said Mr. Salehi, who is
also a vice president, a former foreign minister and a member of the
nuclear negotiating team... A group of 20 hard-line lawmakers demanded
that the government stop the decommissioning of the centrifuges because a
special parliamentary committee to monitor the process sought by
Ayatollah Khamenei has not yet been formed. 'Unfortunately, in the last
two days, a number of contractors entered the Fordo site to remove the
centrifuges and the infrastructure at this site, and they have said that
it will take them two weeks to finish the work,' the lawmakers wrote in a
letter to President Hassan Rouhani, referring to one of the two
enrichment plants." http://t.uani.com/1Hn1HuU
Press TV
(Iran):
"Iranian lawmakers have urged the administration to withhold the
execution of its commitments under a nuclear agreement reached with the
P5+1 group of countries until the US and EU sanctions against Tehran are
declared null and void. In a letter to President Hassan Rouhani on
Sunday, 213 lawmakers said no practical measure should be taken with
regard to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA) before US President Barack Obama and the European Union
officially declare the lifting of all financial and economic sanctions
against Tehran. They called on the government to set up a 'powerful,
informed and astute' committee to supervise the JCPOA
implementation." http://t.uani.com/1P64dxu
Military
Matters
Reuters: "China wants to step up
cooperation with Iran's air force, the head of the Chinese air force told
his Iranian counterpart on Monday, the latest in a series of high-level
military contacts. Ma Xiaotian told Hassan Shah Safi that relations
between the two air forces had developed smoothly. '(We) hope that
cooperation can go up another level,' Ma said, according to a statement
issued by China's Defence Ministry, which did not elaborate. A senior
Chinese admiral visited Tehran last month and last year, for the first time
ever, two Chinese warships docked at Iran's Bandar Abbas port to take
part in a joint naval exercise in the Gulf and an Iranian admiral was
given tours of a Chinese submarine and warships." http://t.uani.com/1PgvRX9
U.S.-Iran
Relations
AP: "Iran's supreme leader
dismissed Sunday the chances of foreign countries bartering a deal over
Syria's future, suggesting they should focus on securing a halt to
fighting that allows fresh elections. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also
repeated his ban on direct talks with the United States about turmoil in
the Middle East, saying US objectives in the region were utterly at odds
with Iranian policy. The comments, to Iran's ambassadors and other top
diplomats, were Khamenei's first since his country joined international
negotiations on the four-year Syrian conflict. He said Syria's people
must choose who their leader would be, rather than the US and other
foreign powers trying to decide for them. 'The Americans seek to impose
their own interests, not solve problems. They want to impose 60, 70
percent of their will,' he said, alluding to the peace talks which took
place Friday in Vienna... Khamenei also took aim at wider US policy in
the Middle East. 'America is the main part of the problem in the region,
not part of the solution,' he said, citing US support for 'the Zionist
regime' in Israel. 'These policies differ 180 degrees with the policies
of the Islamic republic,' he added, also criticising Saudi Arabia for its
'double standards' of conducting an air war in Yemen." http://t.uani.com/1WrrKgy
AP: "Iran's supreme leader has
warned against importing American consumer goods as the Islamic republic
prepares for the lifting of sanctions under a landmark nuclear deal.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's website on Sunday quotes him as advising
authorities to 'be watchful about irregular imports after lifting
sanctions and seriously avoid importing consumer goods from the United
States.'" http://t.uani.com/1OiR3ND
Press TV
(Iran): "Iran's
Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade says it will block imports of
American goods in line with an order by Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to develop an 'economy of resistance'. 'We
will implement the blockade on imports of American goods in a directive,'
Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said on
Saturday. The plan is in line with Ayatollah Khamenei's recent letter to
President Hassan Rouhani, setting out the government's obligations on
empowering national production, developing an 'economy of resistance' and
checking imports of US-made goods, he added... The Leader also instructed
the government to guard against 'unbridled imports' and check the entry
of all goods from the United States when sanctions are lifted." http://t.uani.com/1P61NPq
FT: "Dusting off the thousands of
exquisite Persian carpets he has kept in storage for several years, Amir
Hossein hopes that soon he will be able to ship at least some of them to
the US. The 2010 ban on the export of Persian rugs to the US - along with
other economic sanctions - sent sales of the colourful and elaborately
designed carpets tumbling, says Mr Hossein, a trader who asked for his
real name not to be used. High quality global journalism requires
investment. He once sold $700,000 of carpets a month to the US. Now he
sells none. Officials say the total value of Iran's carpet exports fell
30 per cent when sanctions were imposed - taking a heavy toll on the
industry." http://t.uani.com/1kmmKZe
Sanctions
Relief
FT: "It is customary in Iran to
refuse an offer several times before agreeing to take it, whether it be
an invitation to tea or a business deal. Foreign energy companies are
gearing up to play the same game of manners during negotiations over the
terms of their return to the country in a post-sanctions era. This month,
Iran is expected to outline the terms of new oil contracts that will
allow foreign companies to take stakes in one of the last cheap and
accessible oil and gas provinces in the world. Mehdi Hosseini, the chief
architect of Iran's new oil contracts, says the Islamic Republic will
welcome feedback from international oil companies on these contracts,
after which further adjustments could be made. 'Nothing is perfect,' he
says. One European oil executive counsels patience: 'It seems that the
announcement is not going to be as definitive as we had hoped. More
discussions will be had and more changes will come to these contracts.'
... It is not just foreign oil companies that are on tenterhooks over the
proposed terms of trade. Domestic players say they are waiting anxiously
for the terms that might dictate their future. Hossein Abbasi, a domestic
services contractor, says: 'Big European companies have already spoken
with us saying they have talked to their banks and they are ready to work
with us. Not only are they ready, we are ready too.'" http://t.uani.com/1Mt7hNx
Reuters: "Iran will officially notify
producer group OPEC in December of its plans to raise its crude oil
output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), the Iranian oil minister said on
Saturday. 'We...ask them to respect the 30-million-barrel ceiling which
they have agreed,' Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Shana, the
ministry's news agency. 'Iran is prepared to supply at least 500,000 bpd
of crude oil to global markets,' he added. The Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will meet in Vienna in early
December... The OPEC member aims to raise oil output by 500,000 bpd as
soon as sanctions are lifted in early 2016 and by one million bpd in
March... 'If we cannot sell our oil is Asia, Tehran will also consider
European and South African markets,' Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Shana."
http://t.uani.com/1OiNOpv
Reuters: "France's Sephora plans to open
several shops in Iran starting next year, becoming one of the first major
European specialist cosmetics retailers to directly invest in the country
as it emerges from years of economic sanctions. Sephora, part of luxury
industry leader LVMH (LVMH.PA), running around 2,000 outlets worldwide,
is keen to build its presence in Iran where there is a huge appetite for
cosmetics and especially make-up. With a population of nearly 80 million,
Iran is the Middle East's second biggest market for beauty products after
Saudi Arabia with annual sales reaching more than 3.5 billion euros($3.86
billion) in 2014, according to market research company Euromonitor. And
the beauty and personal care market is expected to nearly treble in the
next five years to more than 10 billion euros, Euromonitor forecasts.
'Sephora is currently finalizing talks with its partner in Iran,' one of
the sources close to the matter said. 'Talks are already quite advanced
with their distributors,' another source said, declining to be named. One
source said Sephora was hoping to open up to seven boutiques... 'We
estimate that women, whatever their revenue level, spend as much as a
third of their income on beauty,' Reza Miremadi, who distributes
L'Oreal's mass market brands such as Maybelline and Garnier in Iran.
Several managers from LVMH have been making trips to Iran in Sept. and Oct.
and executives from Dior, Louis Vuitton and Bulgari are preparing to go
there next month to examine investment opportunities, the sources said.
And the French trade group Comité Colbert, which represents 80 luxury
brands, said it was planning to organize a trip in the spring... Many
luxury brands such as jewelers Cartier, part of Richemont, and Bulgari
are sold in Iran through multi-brand shops." http://t.uani.com/20nGA7g
Terrorism
WSJ: "Officials here on Saturday
accused Iran of training and supplying people who sought to carry out
terror attacks and create political turmoil on the tiny Gulf island.
Bahrain Chief of Public Security Tariq Al Hasan said the country's police
and intelligence services have disrupted a number of attacks by
intercepting smuggled vessels with weapons from Iran and discovering
concealed facilities to make improvised explosive devices, also with
material supplied by Iran. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Al Hasan said a
list of targets included police and military bases, as well as officials,
but the Bahrain police official didn't provide details. Earlier Saturday,
Bahrain Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al
Khalifa also accused Iran of attempting to destabilize the country by
training and supporting its Bahrain citizens to carry out attacks. 'Daesh
isn't the only terrorist threat,' Bahrain's foreign minister told a
regional security conference, referring to another name for Islamic
State. The allegations made during a security conference, called the
Manama Dialogue, reflected festering tensions between Iran and Gulf
countries. In early October, Bahrain recalled its ambassador from Iran
and expelled Iran's charge d'affairs, saying Iran supported 'sabotage,
terrorism and instigation to violence' in the Gulf island." http://t.uani.com/20nFEjf
Syria
Conflict
AP: "The United States, Russia,
Iran and more than a dozen other nations agreed Friday to launch a new
peace effort involving Syria's government and opposition groups, but
carefully avoided any determination on when President Bashar Assad might
leave power - perhaps the most intractable dispute of the conflict...
Although details were vague, the approach has clear differences with
previous such efforts. Chief among them: The U.S. and allies including
Saudi Arabia softened calls for Assad's quick removal from power. Russia
and Iran didn't rule out his eventual departure... 'I did not say that
Assad has to go or that Assad has to stay,' Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov said at the news conference with Kerry and the U.N. special
envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura... Officials said the 17 governments
in attendance had been considering a plan that would establish a
cease-fire within four to six months, followed by the formation of a
transition government featuring both Assad and opposition members.
Conscious of the deep divide over Assad's fate, they left undefined how
long Assad could remain in power under that transition. The officials
weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded
anonymity. Kerry and Lavrov said another round of Syria talks would occur
within two weeks." http://t.uani.com/1l3EPfe
Reuters: "Iran said on Monday it would
quit Syria peace talks if it found them unconstructive, citing the
'negative role' of Saudi Arabia, in the latest twist in a spat between
the regional rivals that bodes ill for efforts to ease turmoil across the
Middle East. Increasingly bad-tempered exchanges between the conservative
Sunni-ruled kingdom and the revolutionary Shi'ite theocracy have dampened
hopes of improved ties after the adversaries sat down for their first
meeting to discuss the Syria war last week. 'In the first round of talks,
some countries, especially Saudi Arabia, played a negative and unconstructive
role ... Iran will not participate if the talks are not fruitful,' ISNA
cited deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian as saying.
Delivering unusually personal criticism, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
appeared to reprimand Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, who, on
Saturday, lashed out at Tehran for what he termed its interference in
regional countries. 'An inexperienced young man in a regional country
will not reach anywhere by rudeness in front of elders,' Rouhani was
quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA on Monday. He did not name the
'young man' but Jubeir was assumed to be his target... Less than 24 hours
after the Vienna talks, Jubeir used a high-profile regional security
conference in the Gulf Arab kingdom of Bahrain, which Iran's government
did not attend, to attack Iranian policies. Jubeir accused Iran of
attempting to smuggle weapons to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, as well as
meddling in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, something he said was
'driving the negativity' in Iran-Saudi relationship. 'We have extended
our hand in friendship to Iran,' said the soft-spoken Jubeir, adding that
Riyadh had made the point 'time and time again' that it sought good
relations with Tehran. 'It is up to the Iranians whether they want to
have relations with us based on good neighborliness ... or if they want
to have relations that are filled with tension. That is on Iran.' Tehran
reacted with ire. Speaking to Iranian media, Abdollahian warned Jubeir
'not to test our patience'. He did not elaborate." http://t.uani.com/1M6TOvI
Reuters: "Russia and Iran must agree to
a date and means for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to quit the
country, and agree to withdraw all foreign forces from Syria, Saudi
Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in an interview with Sky
News Arabia broadcast on Saturday... 'Our two points where we differ from
them are on a date and means for Assad's departure, and the second point
is on a date and means for the withdrawal of foreign forces, especially
Iranian ones. These are the two basic points without which there can be
no solution,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1Q21ViZ
Iraq
Crisis
NYT: "In the struggle to transform
Iraq from a dictatorship to a democracy after the American-led invasion
in 2003, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest spiritual authority
for many of the world's Shiite Muslims, stood out as a singular champion
of the effort to hold direct elections and ensure that politicians, and
not clerics, rule the country. In doing so, he shaped the relationship
between religion and politics here as distinctly different from the
Shiite theocracy in Iran, where another ayatollah wields supreme power.
Now, in the face of concerns over the growing power of Iran and its
militia proxies amid a sectarian war in Iraq, Ayatollah Sistani has made
one of his biggest interventions in Iraqi politics, to try to strengthen
the Iraqi state, experts say. For more than two months he has issued
instructions, through a representative during Friday sermons, to Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi to hold corrupt officials accountable, to reform
the judiciary and to support the national security forces instead of
Iran-backed militias. Ayatollah Sistani's son, meanwhile, has kept up
direct phone communication to the prime minister's office, pushing for
quicker reforms." http://t.uani.com/1LLVigO
Human
Rights
NYT: "Two Iranian poets sentenced to
long prison terms and floggings have vaulted to international literary
prominence over their prosecution, which appears to reflect a tough new
crackdown on rights and creative arts in Iran. On Sunday, the PEN
American Center, an advocacy group that promotes free expression
worldwide, sent a petition signed by 116 poets and writers to Iran's
supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, beseeching him to grant pardons
to the condemned poets, Fatemeh Ekhtesari, 31, and Mehdi Mousavi, 41. 'We
are deeply concerned by the inhuman sentences levied against Ms.
Ekhtesari and Mr. Mousavi for the simple act of expressing themselves by
creating art,' read the letter, which was posted on the group's
website." http://t.uani.com/1NMse9O
Reuters: "Iranian authorities arrested
prominent journalist Isa Saharkhiz on Monday for 'insulting the Supreme
Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and propaganda against the regime', his
family said on social media. A post on Saharkhiz's Facebook page
reporting his detention included what it said was a picture of a search
warrant for his home. An Iranian journalist who knows Saharkhiz told
Reuters the page was under the control of a family member. Saharkhiz's
son, Mehdi, also announced the arrest on Twitter and said his father had
started a hunger strike... The journalist, who previously served as
deputy minister of culture, spent four years in jail from 2009 to 2013 on
charges of insulting Iranian leaders and harming national security."
http://t.uani.com/1N8RX9B
Daily
Star (Lebanon):
"Founder and Secretary-General of the Union of Arab ICT Associations
Nizar Zakka is being held in Tehran by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard,
sources told The Daily Star Friday. According to IJMA3-USA, a Washington
based advocate of online freedom in the Middle East, Zakka traveled to
Tehran on Sept. 15 and disappeared on Sept. 18. He was invited to Iran by
Shahendokht Molafrdi, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's vice president
of women's affairs, in order to attend the Second International
Conference and Exhibition on Women in Sustainable Development, named
'Entrepreneurship and Employment.' 'We don't have any document or
information that confirms he is being held by the Iranian authorities,'
Zakka's lawyer Majid Dimashkieh told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. The
Lebanese-American citizen disappeared 40 days ago according to his
lawyer. The family refrained from publicizing the issue to prevent it from
becoming a political matter. Zakka arrived in Iran and gave his scheduled
speech at the state-sponsored conference. He was last seen on Sept. 18
when he was spotted taking a taxi to the airport from his hotel,
according to a signed statement by his lawyer Antoine Abu Dib. Yet Zakka
never made it to his flight. Several days later his wife received a call
from him telling her he was being held by the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard... The family is expected to hold a news conference in the coming
few days detailing the circumstances of the case in an effort to secure
Zakka's release." http://t.uani.com/1l3E71y
IHR: "Two prisoners, both reportedly
30 years old, were hanged in public in Aliabad-e Katul (a city located in
the province of Golestan) early morning Sunday November 1... The hangings
were carried out during the Muslim holy month of Muharram, despite that
Iranian authorities do not typically carry out executions during this
time." http://t.uani.com/1P60Cj8
Opinion
& Analysis
George F.
Will in WashPost:
"Is the Iranian regime's anti-Semitism rooted, as Hitler's was, in a
theory of history that demands genocide? If so, when Iran becomes a
nuclear power, can it be deterred from its announced determination to
destroy Israel? ... Snyder presents a Hitler more troubling than a
madman, a Hitler implementing the logic of a coherent worldview. His life
was a single-minded response to an idea so radical that it rejected not
only the entire tradition of political philosophy but also the
possibility of philosophy, which Hitler supplanted by zoology. 'In
Hitler's world,' Snyder writes, 'the law of the jungle was the only law.'
The immutable structure of life casts the various human races as separate
species. Only races are real and they are locked in mutual and
unassuageable enmity, in Hitler's mind-set, because life is constant struggle
over scarcities - of land, food and other necessities. One group,
however, poisoned the planet with another idea. To Hitler, says Snyder,
'It was the Jew who told humans that they were above other animals, and
had the capacity to decide their future for themselves.' To Hitler,
'Ethics as such was the error; the only morality was fidelity to race.'
Hitler, who did not become a German citizen until 11 months before
becoming Germany's chancellor, was not a nationalist but a racialist who
said 'the highest goal of human beings' is not 'the preservation of any
given state or government, but the preservation of their kind.' And 'all
world-historical events are nothing more than the expression of the
self-preservation drive of the races.' Now, assume, reasonably, that
Iran's pursuit of a potentially genocidal weapon will not be seriously
impeded by parchment barriers such as the recent nuclear agreement. And
assume, prudently, that the Iranian regime means what it says about Jews
and their 'Zionist entity.' Then apply Snyder's warning: Ideas have
consequences. The idea of anti-Semitism is uniquely durable and
remarkably multiform. It can express a mentality that is disconnected, as
in Hitler's case, from calculations of national interest. Hence an
anti-Semitic regime can be impervious to the logic of deterrence. Much,
including Israel's calculation of what military measures are necessary
for its safety, depends on the nature of Iran's anti-Semitism." http://t.uani.com/1iy4xH0
Robin
Wright in The New Yorker: "Next Wednesday, November 4th, is the anniversary of
the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, which led to a mass
hostage crisis that dragged on for four hundred and forty-four days.
Thirty-six years later, the Iranians are still at it. For more than two
weeks, U.S. media, including The New Yorker, have been withholding
information-at the request of the family-about yet another American
seized in Tehran. The embargo was broken late Thursday with published
reports that Iranian security had detained Siamak Namazi, an American
businessman of Iranian descent who was once tapped as a Young Global
Leader by the World Economic Forum. Namazi was taken to Tehran's Evin
Prison in mid-October, according to friends and colleagues. He is a
business strategist, normally based in Dubai, and was visiting his
family. His mother's home was ransacked; his confiscated computer has
since been used by an intelligence wing of the Revolutionary Guard to
launch cyber-attacks against his contacts. I was among those hacked. So
was the State Department... U.S. officials have taken note of other
actions by hard-liners which appear to be conspicuously timed to disrupt
the deal. On October 10th, three days before Iran's parliament voted to
formally approve the deal, the Revolutionary Guard test-fired a
medium-range ballistic missile that was 'inherently capable of delivering
a nuclear weapon,' according to Samantha Power, the American Ambassador
to the U.N. 'This was a clear violation of U.N. Security Council
Resolution 1929,' she said. (Washington is taking the case to the
Security Council.) A day later, Iran's judiciary announced that the
Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, an American born in
California of Iranian descent, had been convicted of treason... The
reports of another hostage will almost certainly complicate Iran's recent
overtures to the West, discourage foreign business, and undermine further
diplomacy. The news broke on the same day that Secretary of State John
Kerry was scheduled to meet with Zarif in Vienna. They are part of a new
international initiative to resolve Syria's savage civil war... 'Iran has
repeatedly said it seeks to rejoin the global community, yet I simply
cannot fathom how this is possible if it continues to hold American
political prisoners,' Representative Dan Kildee, a Democrat from
Michigan, said today. The Hekmati family are his constituents. In the
past four decades, Iran has gone through waves of seizing Americans,
beginning with the fifty-two diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in 1979. After
four Iranian diplomats disappeared in Lebanon in the early eighties,
Iran's new allies in Hezbollah began nabbing Americans off the streets of
Beirut. Dozens were picked up. In the mid-eighties, Iran traded hostages
for military equipment, only to pick up more hostages after three were
released. One prisoner, Terry Anderson, an Associated Press
correspondent, was not released until 1991, after seven years in captivity.
During the hard-line rule of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran began
arresting Iranian-Americans who came home to visit their families. Some
were forced to confess on national television to assorted misdeeds.
President Rouhani's inability to prevent the latest detentions or to
guarantee the safety of the people he has invited to help Iran open up to
new markets has undermined his credibility. At the same time, Tehran
claims that at least fourteen Iranians are imprisoned in the United
States for sanctions violations. Last month, Rouhani suggested that both
governments might intervene on 'humanitarian' grounds on behalf of
prisoners in either country. In an interview with '60 Minutes,' he said,
'I don't particularly like the word 'exchange,' but, from a humanitarian
perspective, if we can take a step, we must do it. The American side must
take its own steps.' His argument is that breaking sanctions is no longer
a crime, because now that the world has accepted Iran's right to a
nuclear-energy program many sanctions will be lifted. (Tehran is not
pressing for the release of Iranians engaged in other criminal acts.) So
far, Washington is balking at a swap. 'We continue to call for the
immediate release of Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, and
for Iran to work coöperatively with us to locate Robert Levinson,' Kirby
said. 'This should be done independent of any other matter. Beyond that,
we're not going to detail all of the efforts we're making to bring our
citizens home.'" http://t.uani.com/1Hn1Kqu
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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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.
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