|
|
|
Join UANI
Top
Stories
AP: "The slogan 'Death to America'
is not aimed at the American people, but rather American policies, Iran's
supreme leader said in comments reported on his official website Tuesday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei discussed the slogan while meeting with Iranian
students ahead of the anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. embassy in
Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979. Militant students stormed the compound and took
52 Americans hostage for 444 days... Khamenei says the 'aim of the slogan
is not death to American people. The slogan means death to U.S. policies
and arrogance.' The slogan has 'strong support' In Iran, he said... He
reiterated his warning that the U.S. is not to be trusted despite the
nuclear deal... He said the U.S. 'will not hesitate' if given a chance to
destroy Iran. 'The nature of the U.S. attitude is continuation of the
same hostile aims from the past, and the nation will not forget this,'
Khamenei said." http://t.uani.com/1SlyW8k
Al-Monitor: "As Iran began the preliminary
implementation of the nuclear deal with the six world powers on Nov. 2,
the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Ali
Jafari, warned of a weakening revolutionary zeal inside the country after
the agreement. His warning reflects the position of those concerned about
American influence in the country given that tensions and the possibility
of a war post-deal have decreased dramatically. Speaking at a conference
described by hard-line Mashregh News as 'the first anti-American
gathering after the nuclear agreement,' Jafari said that there had been
one 'sedition' in each decade since the 1979 revolution. He said the
fourth sedition will use the case that Iran's nuclear program is an
excuse to force the country to sit down at the negotiation table. He said
that the United States intends to use the negotiations to penetrate Iran.
By 'penetrate' Jafari means to have influence culturally, economically or
politically. Given that international sanctions on Iran will be removed,
American and Western products can now be legally brought into the
country. Along with Western products, the fear of Western or American
ideas also being imported to Iranians is a serious concern for Iranian
officials who want to maintain the Islamic nature of the country. Jafari
warned Iran's actions must be based on 'Islamic ideology,' and enemy
countries have tried in the past to convince Iran to put aside its
ideological and revolutionary policies. Jafari warned, 'If this belief is
created among the people that since on the nuclear deal there is an agreement
and so on other issues we can reach an agreement, this is a danger and a
sedition.' ... Jafari said that this sedition 'will be long and possibly
take many years.' The open-ended warning will not be welcome news to
Iranians hoping for a more open political environment after the nuclear
deal." http://t.uani.com/1WwITQR
Reuters: "Iranian authorities arrested
two prominent journalists on Monday as the head of the judiciary
dismissed international condemnation of what appears to be a crackdown on
writers and artists. Isa Saharkhiz, a well-known independent journalist,
was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on charges
of 'insulting the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and propaganda
against the regime', his son Mehdi said in a telephone interview from the
United States. Ehsan Mazandarani, managing director of the Farikhtegan
newspaper, was arrested on security charges, the Tasnim news agency,
which is linked to the IRGC, said. Staff at the paper confirmed the
arrest to Reuters... The arrests came after two Iranian poets and a
film-maker were sentenced to long prison terms and lashes last month on
charges including 'insulting sanctities and propaganda against the
state'. Film maker Keywan Karimi was sentenced to six years in prison and
223 lashes, and poets Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Mousavi were handed 11.5
years and nine years in prison respectively, and 99 lashes each...
Karimi, the filmmaker, spoke to Reuters last week from Tehran, where he
is on bail pending an appeal in the Supreme Court. He said he believed
the appeal would be rejected. 'My conviction is a message to the Iranian
art community that nothing has changed after the nuclear deal,' Karimi
said... Activists say the human rights situation is no better under
President Hassan Rouhani, who championed the deal, than it was under his
hardline predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, pointing to the high number of
executions and political prisoners. 'There are thousands of hopes out
there, but none of them are for us,' Karimi said." http://t.uani.com/1N8RX9B
Nuclear
Program & Agreement
Mehr
(Iran): "The
AEOI spokesman said on Tue. measures taken so far in regard to the
implementation of JCPOA are just preparatory work and no centrifuges have
been dismantled yet in Iran's nuclear facilities. Atomic Energy
Organization of Iran (AEOI) Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told reporters
on Tuesday that measures in regard to the implementation of the JCPOA and
the dismantling of centrifuges in nuclear facilities have been taken with
the aim to save more time once the agreement is put into effect; 'we are
just in the stage of the preparatory work,' he said. Kamalvnadi stressed
that Ayat. Khamenei's directives on the JCPOA will be meticulously
implemented, adding 'it is imperative to strike a firm and definitive
agreement on Arak reactor and fuel swap and receive the necessary
guarantees from the other side. All these steps are currently being taken
care of.'" http://t.uani.com/1Q8D8ZZ
Fars
(Iran): "Chief
of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi
said designing missiles with nuclear warheads and increasing the range of
long-range missiles to more than 2,000km are the only two bans that
Iran's arms program sees for itself. 'We will respect two limits; the
first is what has been stated in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA)(the UNSC resolution 2231 which approved the JCPOA) about the ban
on designing missiles for carrying nuclear warheads and the second is
confining the range of our missiles to 2,000-km which has earlier been
declared by all Iranian officials,' Firouzabadi said on Tuesday." http://t.uani.com/1Slv5rR
U.S.-Iran
Relations
Fars
(Iran):
"Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali
Khamenei cautioned that despite the nuclear deal and Washington's claims,
the US is still seeking to change the ruling system in Iran. 'The reality
is that the US objectives vis a vis the Islamic Republic of Iran have not
changed at all and if they can, they will not hesitate a moment to
annihilate the Islamic Republic but they cannot, and with God's help,
they will fail in materializing this goal in the future too in light of
industrious moves by the youth, increasing and deepening insight of the
nation and Iran's progress,' Ayatollah Khamenei said in Tehran on
Tuesday, addressing the Iranian university students and pupils on the
threshold of the Students Day and the Day of Campaign against Arrogance
in Iran. He referred to certain superficial and unreal flexibilities
shown by the US during the recent nuclear talks with Iran, and said that
the reality behind such behavior is that the US is still pursuing the
same inimical policies towards Iran, which will never be forgotten by the
Iranian nation. Ayatollah Khamenei underscored that the US support for
the criminal Zionist regime and the Saudi-led coalition's crimes against
the Yemeni people reveals Washington's real face." http://t.uani.com/1P7MHsO
Reuters: "Iranian authorities have
arrested an American-Lebanese man who they was linked to the U.S.
military and intelligence agencies, state broadcaster IRIB said on
Tuesday. It named the man as Nizar Zakka, an IT expert who Lebanese media
reported last week had disappeared on Sept. 18 after attending a conference
in Tehran. The report, which cited informed sources, is the first
official confirmation of his arrest. 'Nizar Zakka has deep ties to the
U.S. intelligence and military establishment,' IRIB quoted an unnamed
source as saying." http://t.uani.com/20qPrVY
Fars
(Iran):
"Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli blamed the US,
its western allies and certain reactionary regional states for the
current crises in the region, which he said, are aimed at hitting a blow
at the Islamic Revolution. 'The regional incidents, specially in Iraq,
Syria and Yemen, all show that the US, a number of western countries
which follow the US and certain regional countries in which prejudice,
fanaticism and violence have been institutionalized are involved in
them,' Rahmani Fazli said in Tehran on Tuesday. He said that the common
goal of all these countries is fighting against the Islamic Revolution
and its origin, the Islamic Republic of Iran." http://t.uani.com/1l684Os
NBC: "Twenty American activists,
writers and commentators flew to Iran this week to participate in a
two-week conference on U.S. police brutality and racism. Political
scientist and commentator Wilmer Leon said he welcomed the opportunity to
appear at the Third International Conference of Independent Thinkers and
Scholars... Iranian organizers told NBC News that they had paid for
attendees' expenses in the country, but it did not say whether their
flights were paid for. Organizers said the Americans would be speaking to
university students and appearing on talks shows. At a keynote speech,
Ahmad Salek, a cleric and head of the cultural committee in Iran's
parliament, referred to the U.S. as the 'Great Satan' - a common refrain
among Iranian hardliners - and compared its police and law enforcement to
ISIS. He also vowed that 'Israel will not exist in 25 years - Muslims of
the world must come together to ensure this.' Last year's Horizon
conference was accused of being anti-Semitic after the program included a
panel discussion entitled 'Zionist Fingerprints on the 9/11
Cover-up.'" http://t.uani.com/1LOc8Md
Sanctions
Relief
Bloomberg: "Daimler continues to hold
discussions with its Iranian partners about reviving operations in the
country, with hopes that the sales opportunities there could help offset
any negative impact in the Middle East from low oil prices. In the wake
of this year's nuclear deal between Iran, the P5+1 nations and the
European Union, investors and businesses are awaiting the lifting of
sanctions and the chance to tap into a $406.3 billion economy. Speaking
to Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East, Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, member of
the board of management of Daimler responsible for trucks and buses, said
the company was 'right now negotiating and discussing with our Iranian
partners.' He added that a major milestone would be lifting of sanctions
in March or April and that, once it was able to come to terms with its
partners, Daimler would go public with its plans. We've been in the
country since the 1950s. We've been a major supplier of trucks and buses
and passenger for many years. We had assembly operations, axle operations,
engine operations, manufacturing of all these components in the country.
'[This] machinery and equipment [is] still there. They have been
mothballed; nothing that we cannot re-establish and fix. We just need an
oil can and a rag to dust them off.' Bernhard said the company also had a
trained, local workforce ready to take up tools again, adding that was
important to Iranian authorities. Daimler shut down its Iranian office
four years ago, also abandoning a 30 per cent stake in a diesel-engine
venture with Iran Khodro and halting deliveries of three-axle
trucks." http://t.uani.com/1MEN6CL
Shana
(Iran): "BP's
President of Middle East Michael Townshend says the company is ready to
return to Iran and resume its presence in Iran's exploration and
production projects in its oil and gas industry. Speaking to Shana on the
sidelines of a meeting with Iranian petroleum officials, Michael
Townshend said, there is a range of projects BP can bring to Iran to
enhance the management of expertise and technology transfer. He said the
company has great experience in big brownfield projects particularly
around Ahwaz and Iraq. 'We also operate in Kuwait and Iraq. We can bring
value to Iran. On the exploration side, we have been focused on the
exploration side in Iran for a long time and we did some studies back in
early 2000 and we look forward to resume those studies in Iran,' he said.
Citing the greatness of investment and operational areas in Iran
including the gas industry, Townshend said, 'You have a lot of
opportunities in Iran.' 'I haven't been in Tehran for ten years and it is
really nice to be back. Some things have stayed the same and a lot has
changed as well. It is fantastic to see what Iran has done in the oil
industry with sanctions being in place. It is remarkable what Iran has
achieved.' 'What we all look for is what this new era brings. If
sanctions disappear, this will provide various opportunities. Iran is so
rich in its experiences and its oil wealth and I look for the time when
we can bring new partnerships,' he added." http://t.uani.com/1iAuhCF
Shana
(Iran): "A high-profile
business delegation from the UK met with Iranian petroleum officials to
discuss future cooperation in oil and gas projects in Iran in the
post-sanction setting. Executives and representatives from British oil
and gas heavyweights including British Petroleum (BP), KCA Deutag and
Petrofac, headed by Francis Maude, the UK trade and investment minister,
met with Amir-Hossein Zamani-Nia, Iran's deputy minister for
international affairs and trading, on Sunday to discuss oil and gas
cooperation after the sanctions removals as per Iran's nuclear deal with
the P5+1 group of countries which was struck on July 14 in Austria's
Vienna." http://t.uani.com/1NaLDhT
Shana
(Iran): "German
companies from the state of Bavaria are interested in supplying Iran with
the equipment used in the oil and gas industry in the post-sanctions era,
Deputy Petroleum Minister for International Affairs Amir-Hossein
Zamani-Nia said. 'Siemens, for example, as one of the major Bavaria-based
firms wants to cooperate with Iran,' he told Shana after a meeting with
the visiting Deputy Minister-President of Bavaria and Minister for
Economic Affairs, Media, Energy and Technology Ilse Aigner here on
Sunday. The Bavarian delegation, he added, was also interested in
scientific and training cooperation and is due to hold talks with the
Petroleum University of Technology and the Research Institute of
Petroleum Industry (RIPI). Aigner, who is heading a 130-member delegation
of German business people and corporate managers, was due to open
Bavarian state's trade office in Tehran during the visit." http://t.uani.com/1NaLMlk
Press TV
(Iran):
"Russian state-owned oil company Zarubezhneft is willing to develop
a major oilfield in western Iran which is projected to come online with
$2.2 billion of investment, a news agency says. Zarubezhneft Chief
Executive Nikolay Brunich has announced his company's readiness to
participate and invest in the development of Changuleh field in Ilam,
Mehr said on Monday. He traveled to the city during a recent visit by
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak to Iran and signed a letter of
intent with the governor of Ilam, besides discussing construction of an
oil refinery. After visiting Tehran, Novak said Zarubezhneft would take
up several projects worth a total of $6 billion in Iran's oil industry.
The company will send a team of experts to Ilam 'soon' to examine the
field, Mehr reported." http://t.uani.com/1Q8AROa
Business
Standard (India):
"State-run Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) would supply
rails for the major railway network expansion plan in Iran. SAIL has
bagged an export contract to supply about 100,000 tonne of rails to Iran
from its flagship entity Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), which has been the
sole producer of rail for the company. The export order for rails is in
18 metre finished lengths. The Plant supplies world class rails to Indian
Railways in lengths of 13 and 26 metre from its existing Rail Mill
besides 130 and 260 metre rails from its Long Rail Complex. Since BSP is
not producing 18 metre rails as demanded by the authorities in Iran, it
is installing new equipment to facilitate the supply." http://t.uani.com/1iArUQ1
Der
Spiegel: "And
that's why Diekmann, of Alfons Diekmann GmbH, is standing at check-in
counter 40 at Imam Khomeini Airport early in the morning, together with
98 other representatives of small and medium-sized companies from Lower
Saxony. They include logistics and waste disposal experts, leading
manufacturers of turbofans, plaster products, port cranes, special paints
and pumping equipment, dump trucks and reel slitters, and now, at 2:30
a.m., they want the same thing: to get into Iran, at last... when the
business owners from Lower Saxony go to breakfast the next morning, they
quickly realize that they are not alone. The lobby of the Parsian Azadi
Hotel is abuzz with delegations, Frenchmen, Croats on a 'fact-finding'
mission, Dutch, Italian and British businesspeople... 'You've come at a
good time,' the German ambassador says at the press briefing, as he
begins to explain the situation. Next to Turkey, he says, Iran is one of
the most stable countries in the region. The ambassador talks about the
social networks that are technically banned yet still used by President
Hassan Rouhani. He goes on about market opportunities and stable basis
data, the high standards at universities ('two-thirds of students are
female'), Iran's dormant 'human resources' and good infrastructure, and
the excellent reputation of the 'Made in Germany' brand. The ambassador
also describes a market of 80 million people, one that is largely
underused, and where the basic attitude toward all Germans appears to be:
Take me! 'My goodness!' says Rolf Schnellecke of the Schnellecke Group AG
& Co. KG, which provides logistics Services to car parts suppliers.
He will have to rethink his image of Iran." http://t.uani.com/1HoXp66
Sanctions
Enforcement
WSJ: "The Federal Reserve and
Treasury Department temporarily shut off the flow of billions of dollars
to Iraq's central bank this summer as concerns mounted that the currency
was ending up at Iranian banks and possibly being funneled to Islamic
State militants, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and other people
familiar with the matter. The previously unreported move to stop the cash
shipments pushed the Iraqi financial system to the brink of crisis and
marked a climactic moment in efforts to avert the flow of dollars to U.S.
foes. The situation sheds light on an important facet of the long-running
U.S. battle against terror: Just as military officials worry about U.S.
weapons getting to enemies, finance officials are on a global hunt to
keep dollars from getting into the hands of adversaries who could use it
to finance their activities... Around June, Iraqi officials working under
the enhanced information-sharing agreement reported to their U.S. counterparts
that three sanctioned Iranian banks-Islamic Regional Cooperation Bank,
Bank Melli and Parsian Bank-had obtained at least millions of dollars
through the auction. Like other Iranian banks, those were operating under
international sanctions, and it was illegal for the Fed to knowingly ship
dollars to them... Based on the new information, U.S. officials sent a
written demand around July to Iraqi officials that the Iranian banks be
cut off and separately conveyed to Iraqi officials that the Fed wouldn't
approve cash requests until the overall situation improved." http://t.uani.com/1PjnYjQ
FT: "Standard Chartered has not
escaped the glare of global regulators. Speaking after the release of the
bank's results earlier today, new CEO Bill Winters said that it is facing
a series of probes. The StanChart chief said the bank was the subject of
two investigations by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority over potential
anti-money laundering breaches, as well as by US regulators over
potential breaches of Iran sanctions, writes Martin Arnold. He added that
the bank was co-operating with US authorities in their investigation into
whether it continued handling transactions for Iranian entities after
2007, when it had said these had stopped in its 2012 deferred prosecution
agreement that averted criminal charges." http://t.uani.com/1XMb2G9
Syria
Conflict
Reuters: "A senior Syrian official
rejected on Tuesday the idea of a 'transitional period' sought by Western
states that want President Bashar al-Assad removed from power, saying
during a visit to Iran that an expanded government was being discussed.
Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad also said Damascus had not received
official notice of any meeting with members of the Syrian opposition,
after a Russian official said Moscow might bring them together next week.
'We are talking about a national dialogue in Syria and an expanded
government and a constitutional process. We are not at all talking about
what is called a transitional period,' Mekdad said. That idea existed
'only in the minds of those who do not live in reality', he added. His
comments from Tehran, broadcast by Syrian state TV, mark the first
detailed Syrian government remarks since foreign powers that support
opposing sides in Syria's civil war - including Iran, Russia, Saudi
Arabia and the United States - met in Vienna on Friday in an effort to
revive peacemaking." http://t.uani.com/1M9FdQd
AP: "On Tuesday, Iran's
semi-official news agency Fars said an officer with the elite
Revolutionary Guard force had been killed in Syria. Col. Mostafa
Ezzatollah Soleimani died in fighting in Syria's contested province of
Aleppo, the report said. Seven Revolutionary Guard commanders were killed
in Syria in October, Fars said." http://t.uani.com/1RsqSBQ
Yemen
Crisis
Tasnim
(Iran): "Commander
of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali
Jafari affirmed that Iran will keep providing Yemen's Ansarullah movement
with whatever advisory assistance it may need in the face of Saudi-led
invasion. In an address to the University of Tehran's students on Monday,
the top general said Iran has offered the necessary help for Yemen so
far, and will continue to 'do whatever it can in the advisory dimension',
because 'the Ansarullah (movement) has gained a firm position in Yemen.'"
http://t.uani.com/1NaKhni
Human
Rights
AP: "A semi-official news agency in
Iran is reporting that authorities have detained five local journalists recently
amid an ongoing crackdown on expression in the Islamic Republic. The
report Tuesday by the Fars news agency identified two of the journalists
as reformists Isa Saharkhiz and Ehsun Mazandarani. It did not name the
others... The detentions follow the arrest of others, including two poets
and a filmmaker. It also comes ahead of crucial February parliamentary
elections and as hard-liners push against a nuclear deal with world
powers." http://t.uani.com/20qOLzI
HRW: "The Iranian authorities should
immediately release the detained writer and blogger Mohammad Reza
Pourshajari, who is being unlawfully held despite the expiry of a prison
sentence. On March 11, 2015, Branch 1 of the Iranian Revolutionary Court
in the city of Karaj convicted Pourshajari on charges of 'propaganda
against the state,' and sentenced him to one year in prison and two years
of internal exile in the city of Tabas. His conviction was solely on the
basis of articles he had posted on his blog criticizing the Iranian
authorities. Documents officials provided to Pourshajari indicated that
his prison term would end on September 23, 2015. Despite this,
authorities continue to detain him at the Central Prison in Karaj. 'It is
outrageous that the Iranian authorities imprisoned Pourshajari in the
first place, simply for peacefully exercising his right to free
expression,' said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East director. 'Keeping
him locked up and then planning to keep him in internal exile only
extends this unjust persecution.'" http://t.uani.com/1l62XxL
WashPost: "For the tens of thousands of
Afghan migrants fleeing to Europe, the hardest part of the journey may not
be the perilous trip across the Mediterranean Sea. Before they navigate
that risk, many have to get through Iran. That step on the Afghans'
westward journey is being met by an abusive crackdown from Iranian
security officials, according to Afghans who say they have faced arrest,
beatings, torture and gunfire from Iranian guards blocking access to
Turkey. The stories of abuse are surprising mostly because Iran has a
history of some hospitality for Afghans, accepting more than 2 millon
refugees during the 1980s and 1990s as Afghans fled the Soviet occupation
and subsequent civil war. Now that Afghans are trying to use Iran as a
pathway to Europe, that warmth has shifted, affecting as many as 80,000
Afghans who, according to unofficial government statistics, have fled the
country this year, with most hoping to settle in western and northern
Europe... Government leaders here in Kabul are pleading with residents to
stay home instead of testing the patience of Iranian officials, after
reports that dozens of Afghans heading to Europe have been killed in Iran
in recent weeks. 'They cut a water pipe and were beating us with water
pipes,' said Mortaz Ibrahimi, an Afghan teenager arrested by Iranian
authorities near the Turkish border in late July. 'It was beating after
beating.'" http://t.uani.com/1HoObqv
Daily
Telegraph:
"Iran's regime has joined the campaign against a leading actress who
released photographs of herself without a veil, questioning the woman's
mental balance and calling her an 'offender'. Sadaf Taherian was forced
to flee to the United Arab Emirates last week after being criticised for
publishing pictures on social media showing her without the traditional
Muslim head covering, or hijab. Chekame Chaman-Mah, another leading
Iranian actress, caused further controversy by coming out in support of
Ms Taherian by posting her own photos on Instagram with her hair dyed in
red. Ms Chaman-Mah is believed also to have fled Iran. The ministry of
culture and lslamic guidance in Tehran announced that neither woman would
be allowed to act and both should repent. 'As far as this ministry is
concerned, these two individuals are no longer considered to be artists
any more and do not have any right to act,' said Hossein Noushabadi, a
spokesman. 'Both of them have to apologise to the Iranian people and
publicly announce that the reason behind publishing their photos on
social media is that they suffer from lack of esteem and have
psychological and personal complexes.'" http://t.uani.com/1Q8H64K
Opinion
& Analysis
Gerald
Seib in WSJ:
"Implicit in the nuclear deal the U.S. and other world powers struck
with Iran earlier this year was the hope, perhaps even the expectation,
that easing economic sanctions would draw Iran deeper into the global
economy-and that economic engagement with the outside world would begin
to moderate Iranian behavior. It appears that the answer emerging from
Iran's security apparatus is: No thanks. Iranian hard-liners not only
seem uninterested in deeper economic engagement with the outside world,
they may have set out to stop it. For those who hoped a diplomatic
breakthrough would reduce Iranian paranoia, these aren't encouraging
signs. They also aren't especially surprising, and may not be permanent.
Iran's hard-liners always seemed likely to find ways at the outset to
register displeasure with any deal struck with the U.S. In the meantime,
innocent people are being hurt, and the Western business community is
being put on notice to proceed at its own risk. The most ominous sign
came when Iranian security forces arrested recently an Iranian-American
businessman, Siamak Namazi, who has a long history of seeking improved
business ties between the U.S. and Iran. Iran also has arrested Nizar
Zakka, a Lebanese information-technology specialist who lives in
Washington and has permanent-resident status in the U.S. At the same
time, Iranian businessmen with ties to foreign firms are being harassed
by Iran's state-security apparatus. Meanwhile, there is no sign of
freedom for any of the other Americans being held by Iran: Washington
Post correspondent Jason Rezaian; Iraq war veteran Amir Hekmati; and
Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor. Nor is there any sign of Robert
Levinson, a retired FBI agent who disappeared after a meeting on an
Iranian island in 2007. These detentions are likely the work of Iran's
Revolutionary Guards, who function as a kind of parallel government
operating alongside-and apparently beyond the influence of-the official
government of President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif,
with whom the U.S. and other world powers negotiated the nuclear deal.
This is a depressingly familiar story for those who have dealt with Iran
over the past three decades. Tehran provides two governments for the
price of one, the official version run by the president and the shadow
one run by the Revolutionary Guards. Hard-liners have a double incentive
to undermine the new deal and its promised economic opening to the West:
They dislike any deal that curbs Iran's nuclear program, and the arrival
of foreign investors threatens the Revolutionary Guards' own hold over key
sectors of the economy, which was strengthened amid the stresses of tough
economic sanctions. Politically, the problem this creates for Messrs.
Rouhani and Zarif, as well as for President Barack Obama and the other
world leaders who negotiated with Iran, is obvious. There's good reason
to think Iran intends to live up to the letter of the law on the narrow
terms of the nuclear deal. But the government's seeming inability to
control its own security apparatus on the fate of Westerners in Iran will
only provide ammunition to skeptics and critics of the deal. For the
business community, the questions are equally difficult. Countries as
disparate as Britain, Finland, New Zealand and Taiwan have rushed trade
delegations to Iran in the wake of the nuclear deal. But Western
companies are heading into a dicey environment for their employees and
partners. Firms and individuals with American ties seem likely to be
particular targets for the hard-liners. But even beyond that, the
business environment is a tough one in more mundane ways. The government
controls huge chunks of the economy and isn't likely to let go. The
rights of investors in the judicial system are suspect. The World Bank
ranks Iran 118th in the world on its 'ease of doing business' scale,
which ranks nations on how conducive they are to the starting and
operation of a local firm. At risk here is the long-term hope, embedded
in the nuclear deal, that economic liberalization would help Iran become,
over time, a different and less hostile place." http://t.uani.com/1NoPQCT
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment