Eye on Iran: Dems Ramp up Pressure on Obama to 'Immediately' Sanction Iran

Join UANI           Top Stories Fox News: "Some of President Obama's closest Democratic allies are joining Republicans in calling on the administration to reverse course and sanction Iran for illicit missile tests. The White House had notified Congress of looming sanctions last week and then abruptly pulled back, without offering a specific explanation for the delay. Republicans swiftly slammed the decision as a weak-kneed response to an increasingly belligerent regime, but top Democrats including party Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz are now joining in -- urging the administration to act 'immediately' to penalize Tehran. 'The United States and our allies must take immediate, punitive action and send a clear message to Iran that violating international laws, treaties, and agreements will have serious consequences,' Schultz, D-Fla., and six other House Democrats wrote in a letter Wednesday to Obama. They urged the administration to act on the sanctions 'without further delay' and issued a stark warning about the risk of holding back in light of the nuclear deal. 'Inaction from the United States would send the misguided message that, in the wake of the [nuclear deal], the international community has lost the willingness to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its support for terrorism and other offensive actions throughout the region,' they wrote. The lawmakers pointed to several Iranian missile launches - including a test in October deemed a violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution, and another in November that the U.N. has not yet ruled on. They also cited reports last week that an Iranian rocket came within 1,500 feet of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz. 'Such aggressive and destabilizing behavior is deeply troubling, particularly preceding implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and demands a U.S. response,' they wrote. In the wake of those aggressions, the administration last week had notified Congress of plans to impose financial penalties on companies and individuals tied to Iran's missile program. But then the administration held back, reportedly citing 'evolving diplomatic work.' ... On Monday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest insisted sanctions would be imposed. 'Ultimately, we will impose those financial penalties -- we'll impose those sanctions at a time and place of our choosing when our experts believe they would have the maximum impact,' he said. 'And those decisions are not subject to negotiation by the Iranians -- or anybody else for that matter.'" http://t.uani.com/1PQ9c5i Reuters: "The deputy head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) told Saudi Arabia on Thursday it would 'collapse' in coming years if it kept pursuing what he called its sectarian policies in the region... 'The policies of the Saudi regime will have a domino effect and they will be buried under the avalanche they have created,' the IRGC's second-in-command, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. 'If the Saudis do not correct their path, their regime will collapse in coming years.' Salami compared Saudi policies with those of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president overthrown by U.S. forces in 2003. 'The path the Saudi regime is taking is like the one Saddam took in the 1980s and 90s. He started a war with Iran, executed prominent clerics and top officials, suppressed dissidents and ended up having that miserable fate.'" http://t.uani.com/1OORAYw AP: "Iran on Thursday accused the Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels in Yemen of hitting its embassy in the capital, Sanaa, in an overnight airstrike, but there were no visible signs of damage on the building... On Thursday afternoon, Iran's state-run news agency said a Saudi-led airstrike the previous night hit the Iranian embassy in Sanaa, citing Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman. However, an Associated Press reporter who reached the site just after the announcement saw no damage to the building... On Thursday, Somalia joined Saudi allies such as Bahrain and Sudan and entirely cut diplomatic ties with Iran. The Somali Foreign Ministry said it recalled its acting ambassador to Tehran and ordered Iranian diplomats to leave Somalia within 72 hours." http://t.uani.com/1O6VhoZ Embassy Attack Reuters: "Qatar recalled its ambassador to Iran on Wednesday, state news agency QNA said, after allies Saudi Arabia and Bahrain cut their ties with Tehran following attacks on Saudi missions by Iranian protesters... Earlier on Wednesday Djibouti cut ties with Iran and Jordan summoned Iran's envoy in Amman to condemn Sunday's attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran by protesters angered at the execution of cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. 'The ministry summoned this morning Qatar's ambassador to Tehran against the backdrop of attacks on the embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Tehran,' QNA quoted Khalid Ibrahim Abdulrahman Al-Hamar, the director of the Asian Affairs Department, as saying. Qatar's foreign ministry called the embassy attack a 'violation of international charters and norms that ensure the security and protection of diplomatic missions and their members.'" http://t.uani.com/1PQ3Uqk Reuters: "President Hassan Rouhani asked Iran's judiciary on Wednesday to urgently prosecute the people who attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran in protest at the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric. Rouhani's comments appear to show his determination to reduce tension with Iran's Sunni Gulf neighbors and continue his attempts to normalize ties with world powers by speaking out on a practice that has become a challenge for the Islamic Republic's foreign policy... 'By punishing the attackers and those who orchestrated this obvious offense, we should put an end once and forever to such damage and insults to Iran's dignity and national security,' Rouhani was quoted as saying in a letter published on the state news agency IRNA. While embassies are often a focus of protests worldwide, Iran still celebrates the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran every year and refers to it as the Second Revolution. Since then, Iranians have attacked several embassies in Tehran, including those of Kuwait in 1987, Saudi Arabia in 1988, Denmark in 2006 and Britain in 2011, most of which have led to a breach in diplomatic relations... 'This has been always a paradox in the Islamic Republic,' said Hossein Rassam, a former political adviser at the British embassy in Tehran. 'While the revolutionary state condones or supports such attacks to capitalize on their revolutionary momentum, the administration dismisses them as it should deal with their diplomatic consequences,' he added." http://t.uani.com/1ISJawK Reuters: "Iran and Saudi Arabia took further steps to sever commercial ties on Thursday, intensifying a feud between the regional rivals, as Tehran announced a ban on imports from Saudi Arabia and Saudi groups called for boycotts of Iranian products. Iran's government said it had forbidden imports from Saudi Arabia after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday morning, according to state news agency IRNA. The cabinet also reaffirmed a ban on Umrah pilgrimages to Mecca - which are both lucrative for Saudi Arabia and important to Muslims - first imposed in April in response to an alleged sexual assault on two male Iranians by Saudi airport guards. Trade between Saudi Arabia and Iran is small compared with the size of their economies, but tens of thousands of Iranians travel to the kingdom every year to complete the haj as well as Umrah pilgrimages made outside of haj season." http://t.uani.com/22MYqSs AP: "Iran's president is accusing Saudi Arabia's government of fanning strife between Shiite and Sunni Muslims and creating 'an Islamaphobic atmosphere' in world opinion, according to Iran's U.N. Mission. In a press release, Hassan Rouhani accused the Saudis of supporting terrorism and obstructing 'the victory of Iraqi and Syrian governments,' and heightening tensions in the region." http://t.uani.com/1PLSIci Nuclear Program & Agreement WashPost: "As President Obama focused intently on locking in a high-stakes nuclear deal with Iran, his administration pursued a decidedly less clear strategy on containing North Korea, a rogue state that already possesses an atomic weapon. This week, Pyongyang rattled the United States and its Asian allies by claiming to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, an act that, if confirmed, would represent a major step for that nation's nuclear arsenal. Even if the bomb turns out to be less powerful than advertised, the test alone highlighted a conundrum for a president who has made nuclear disarmament a cornerstone of his foreign policy agenda... The difference between the level of U.S. engagement with Iran and with North Korea led some Asia analysts to conclude that the administration had downgraded the latter country as a national security priority." http://t.uani.com/1UzfzsT Congressional Action Al-Monitor: "The Obama administration tells Al-Monitor that it 'strongly opposes' an Iran sanctions bill that is scheduled for an initial vote this week, setting the scene for the first of what promises to be a long list of showdowns over Iran policy in 2016. The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Jan. 7 is set to mark up legislation from Rep. Steve Russell, R-Okla., that would restrict the administration's ability to lift sanctions on Iranian financial institutions as called for under the Iran deal. Administration officials say the bill is a transparent attempt to derail the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). 'We're aware of this draft legislation, and as we have long said, we are opposed to any legislation that interferes with the implementation of the JCPOA,' a senior administration official told Al-Monitor via email. 'From what we have seen of this bill, it would interfere with the implementation of the JCPOA, and therefore, the administration strongly opposes it.' The bill would require the administration to certify that Iranian financial institutions have not knowingly helped fund Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, foreign terrorist organizations and several other entities before they can be removed from the Treasury Department's list of specifically designated nationals. The Iran deal requires that the United States cease its nuclear-related sanctions on those banks as part of its obligations under Annex II of the deal... The committee counters that the bill's goal is to 'ensure the administration does not lift sanctions against individuals involved in Iran's ballistic missiles program or terrorism,' according to a markup schedule." http://t.uani.com/1Rllft2 Sanctions Relief Reuters: "India's oil imports from Iran fell by about a quarter in 2015 as refiners slowed purchases early in the year to keep imports within the limits of sanctions, preliminary tanker arrival data obtained by Reuters shows. Western sanctions against Iran's controversial nuclear programme limit the Gulf country's oil exports to 1-1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), with buyers such as India curbing annual purchases to 220,000 bpd. The annual decline came as imports in December surged nearly 70 percent from the previous month to 233,100 barrels per day (bpd)... India's December oil imports from Iran were the highest in six months... Indian refiners, including Reliance Industries, have shown interest in raising imports from Iran, Mohsen Qamsari, director general for international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), told Reuters. Reliance, which operates the world's biggest refining complex in India, halted imports of Iranian oil in 2010 under pressure from sanctions." http://t.uani.com/1OOTOqN Platts: "Japanese refiner Cosmo Oil is looking at the possibility of buying more crude from Iran once sanctions on the Islamic republic are lifted and is also 'actively' looking into crude imports from the US, company president Hisashi Kobayashi told Platts in an interview Tuesday. Speaking to Platts on the sidelines of a New Year reception hosted by the Petroleum Association of Japan in Tokyo, Kobayashi said economics will be key for any increase in the refiner's Iranian crude oil imports and imports from the US, but added that 'it is possible' it will increase crude imports from Iran in 2016 after the lifting of sanctions... Kobayashi said that Cosmo Oil is likely to renew sometime soon its annual term contract with Iran for the April 2016-March 2017 period at the same volume as the previous year... In October 2014, Cosmo Oil became the first Japanese refiner to import US shale condensate when it took a 300,000-barrel cargo at its Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan." http://t.uani.com/1mIrREr Human Rights IHR: "Three prisoners were reportedly hanged in the city of Nazarabad on drug charges. Four men and one woman were reportedly hanged at Tabriz Central Prison on murder and drug charges." http://t.uani.com/1VMl60t IHR: "Five prisoners sentenced to death on murder charges were reportedly hanged at Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison on the morning of Wednesday January 6." http://t.uani.com/1ISI1Wd RFE/RL: "A professional Iranian soccer player has been jailed after photographs published on social media showed him together with several women not wearing the Islamic hijab, as required by Iranian law. Sosha Makani, a 29-year-old goalkeeper who has competed with Iran's national team, was arrested on January 4 and jailed following a complaint by private plaintiffs, Iranian media reported. The Mizan news agency, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary, quoted a judiciary source as saying that one of the plaintiffs had withdrawn his complaint. But the source added that Makani will remain in jail pending an investigation for 'publishing pictures that lead to the spread of corruption and prostitution in society.' ... In the images, Makani is seen sitting or standing next to two or three young women. In one photograph, he is seen holding hands with one of the women, while in another he appears to be dancing... Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi on January 6 warned athletes and artists against sharing images deemed anti-Islamic on social media. 'In recent weeks, pictures that are inappropriate and against Islamic principles have been published on social media resulting in judicial cases,' Dolatabadi was quoted by Iranian media as saying." http://t.uani.com/1OR40bX ICHRI: "The mother of a student who has not been heard from since soon after his arrest in Tehran in 1999 has dismissed the Iranian Judiciary's claim that there was no evidence he was ever arrested. Saeed Zeinali was last seen by his family in 1999 when he was arrested amidst widespread student protests in Iran that year, and he has not been heard from since a brief phone call three months after his arrest. Yet Iranian officials are now denying the then-22-year-old student was ever arrested and they claim no knowledge of the case. In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Akram Neghabi, Zeinali's mother, reacted to a statement made by Judiciary Spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on January 3, 2016, that 'so far no document has been found that shows [Saeed Zeinali] was arrested.' 'Has any family gotten a receipt when a member was arrested for security reasons during the past 36 years? Was I, the mother of Saeed Zeinali, too stupid not to get a receipt? Seventeen years [after Saeed's disappearance] what sort of document should I be producing Mr. Ejei?' ... The case resurfaced on social media after Zeinali's father was detained with a group of civil activists who were protesting in front of Evin Prison on November 22, 2015." http://t.uani.com/1O6OJqr Opinion & Analysis Chicago Tribune Editorial: "Last Wednesday morning, the Obama administration notified Congress that it was about to slap new economic sanctions against Iran for conducting ballistic missile tests that violated a United Nations ban. The Treasury Department announcement, set for 10:30 a.m., was abruptly delayed. And delayed again. By Wednesday evening, the sanctions, targeting nearly a dozen companies and individuals in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates that had roles in Iran's ballistic missile program, had evidently vanished into the political ether. Administration officials told lawmakers the sanctions were delayed because of 'evolving diplomatic work,' The Wall Street Journal reported. A week later, nothing. It appears that President Barack Obama couldn't bring himself to call the bluff of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had threatened to walk away from the nuclear weapons deal reached with the U.S. and other nations. Khamenei said sanctions targeted to the ballistic missile tests would violate the nuclear agreement. As the U.S. backpedaled, the Iranians pressed their advantage: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani proclaimed on Thursday that he was so incensed by proposed U.S. sanctions that he had instructed the military to expand Tehran's missile program 'in terms of range and accuracy.' You don't like two missile launches? How about 20? Days later, the Iranian Navy launched rockets within 1,500 feet of an American aircraft carrier and a French frigate in the Strait of Hormuz. This development has been overshadowed by another Mideast crisis. Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shiite cleric on terrorism charges, which prompted Iranian protesters to torch the Saudi embassy in Tehran, which prompted the Saudis to toss out Iranian diplomats and recall their own representatives. Underlying the rising tension is the sense among U.S. friends and foes that the U.S. won't assert itself in any way in the Middle East, even diplomatically. A dangerous pattern is developing with the Iran nuclear deal: Iran provokes and the West looks the other way. The precedent is being set that Iran will not be expected to live by the terms of the agreement... The U.S. and its partners have only one chance to establish that strict compliance from Iran will be expected through the course of this nuclear deal. That chance comes right now, before sanctions are lifted, before millions of dollars flow into Tehran's economy. The U.S. should impose those sanctions for the missile tests. Iran won't walk from the deal. It desperately needs that sanctions relief. And if it does walk away, that will serve notice that Iran never did intend to comply. The Western wink and a nod now invites more trouble soon." http://t.uani.com/1kPc3hM Phillip Smyth in FP: "Riyadh rang in 2016 with the executions of 47 people, its largest mass execution in over 35 years. Amid detainees accused of supporting al Qaeda was one figure with a far different pedigree: Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, a dissident Saudi Shiite cleric, who had been imprisoned by Riyadh since July 2012. His death has already rocked the fragile geopolitical order in the Persian Gulf: While the Saudis have likely used this crisis to push their own cynical goals, Iran is also attempting to reap the benefits of Nimr's execution. Understanding how Tehran plays a role in fostering crises of this nature is important. The Islamic Republic sees itself as engaged in a long-term struggle for control of the region's Shiite community, which represents a tool for Iran to counter its main Sunni regional foes and promote its theocratic absolute velayat-e faqih, which forms the basis of Iran's clerical rule, and so-called 'Islamic Resistance' ideologies. So how did a Saudi Shiite sheikh who was a 'second-tier political player,' in the words of one U.S. diplomat, become the centerpiece of a regional crisis with sectarian dimensions? And how did his detention and execution come to assist Tehran? After Nimr's arrest by Saudi authorities on terrorism charges that included seeking 'foreign meddling,' and particularly following his 2014 death sentence, Iran and its proxies regularly issued threats to the Saudis, vowing dire consequences if they killed him. Iran's elevation of a cleric who found most of his support among radical youths helped legitimize radical policy options in line with existing Iranian strategy. In much the same way that the defense of the Sayyidah Zaynab shrine south of Damascus, Syria, has been used as a religious legitimation for Iran to pull in Shiite jihadis to preserve the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Nimr's imprisonment was cast as the cause célèbre for the Islamic Republic's campaign against Riyadh... Understanding how Tehran plays a role in fostering crises of this nature is important. The Islamic Republic sees itself as engaged in a long-term struggle for control of the region's Shiite community, which represents a tool for Iran to counter its main Sunni regional foes and promote its theocratic absolute velayat-e faqih, which forms the basis of Iran's clerical rule, and so-called 'Islamic Resistance' ideologies. So how did a Saudi Shiite sheikh who was a 'second-tier political player,' in the words of one U.S. diplomat, become the centerpiece of a regional crisis with sectarian dimensions? And how did his detention and execution come to assist Tehran? After Nimr's arrest by Saudi authorities on terrorism charges that included seeking 'foreign meddling,' and particularly following his 2014 death sentence, Iran and its proxies regularly issued threats to the Saudis, vowing dire consequences if they killed him. Iran's elevation of a cleric who found most of his support among radical youths helped legitimize radical policy options in line with existing Iranian strategy. In much the same way that the defense of the Sayyidah Zaynab shrine south of Damascus, Syria, has been used as a religious legitimation for Iran to pull in Shiite jihadis to preserve the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Nimr's imprisonment was cast as the cause célèbre for the Islamic Republic's campaign against Riyadh... These messages are part and parcel of Tehran's geopolitical strategy - a way of asserting that it can and will protect its Shiite coreligionists. The fact that the factions of the Shiite 'Islamic Resistance' across the Middle East acted as one further demonstrates Iranian power and the Islamic Resistance's ability and willingness to project power on behalf of Iran's regional goals. Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, which sits on the Persian Gulf and is a vital economic hub for Saudi Arabia, plays a major role in Iran's sectarian vision. This is the region where the kingdom pumps most of its oil - and even relatively limited strife there, or an attack on its oil facilities, could represent a significant threat to the Saudi economy. The area was Nimr's home, and its Shiite majority has suffered various forms of discrimination by Saudi Arabia's Sunni state. Shiites of this region also often link themselves historically and socially to Bahrain's Shiite community. Like the Saudi Shiites, Bahrain's Shiites have also protested their Sunni-led government and have suffered discrimination under the rule of the Khalifa family, which is closely allied with Riyadh. These populations' sense of being oppressed, both real and imagined, represents a win-win situation for Iran. Harsher Saudi or Bahraini repression of their Shiite populations will mean a greater chance that more Saudi and Bahraini Shiites will eventually come to view the Islamic Republic as a true partner or protector. Even before Nimr's execution, he had become a symbol for radical Shiite Bahraini militants - who, according to the U.S. intelligence community's 2014 Worldwide Threat Assessment, received aid from Iran - and a symbol to justify their violent tactics. Still, Iran's use of Nimr's case also had other ideological goals beyond basic power projection and winning over Shiite communities in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. While stoking deep-seated notions of Shiite oppression, Iran simultaneously aims to counter its Shiite competition. Tehran has worked hard to usurp and utilize the influence of other religious leaders - for example, exploiting Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's words and images to acquire Shiite recruits to fight in Syria or support Iran's proxy militia efforts in Iraq, despite Sistani's opposition to embroiling Iraqis in Syria's war and disagreements with the basic tenets of Iran's regime. Nimr, rather than being a radical cleric who completely toed Tehran's line, also offered some differing opinions on major issues. Now, it serves Iran's purposes to posthumously anoint him a 'martyr' to its cause... Events like Nimr's imprisonment and execution have a profound effect on local Shiite populations. But Saudi Arabia and Iran are viewing these situations from on high, in the context of a regional struggle for power. The Islamic Republic aims to use this crisis to bolster the state's ideology, expand its influence over regional Shiite communities it hopes to lead, and showcase its ability to project power." http://t.uani.com/1Rc6Hvn         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.