|
|
|
Join UANI
Top
Stories
WSJ: "Hezbollah along with members
of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard unit and thousands of Iran-funded
and trained Shiite fighters from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and
elsewhere are leading the current ground assault in the northern Syrian
city of Aleppo, pressing an offensive just before a cease-fire is
supposed to take hold to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and
the start of peace negotiations... Tehran's commitment to the cause is
reflected in the deployment of the Shiite foreign fighters, and shows how
intent it is to maintain the momentum that has allowed the regime, backed
by Russian airstrikes, to reclaim swaths of territory from the rebels.
'These allies are together in the same command center, working, planning
and coordinating their operations in the battlefield,' said a senior
official in the Iran-Russia-Syrian regime military alliance. 'Retaking
Aleppo will restore the regime's strength and control over Syria;
toppling the regime is now a thing of the past.' ... The projection of
power in northern Syria is the strongest signal by Shiite-led Iran that
it intends both directly and via its Shiite proxies to bolster its reach
and influence throughout the region. Already, Iran's rivals-Sunni-led
Saudi Arabia and Turkey-have signaled they might get involved militarily
to prevent Iran and Russia from crushing opposition rebels in and around
Aleppo. Phillip Smyth, a researcher with the Washington Institute for
Near East Policy and expert on Shiite groups in Syria, said Iran has
worked for decades to assemble and synthesize this network of proxies
starting in the 1980s... 'Iran has now fully developed this foreign
legion of sorts,' Mr. Smyth said. 'Saudis are left in the dust by this
Iranian effort.' ... Mr. Smyth said the core of the Iran-led forces in
Syria include several thousand Iranian fighters, up to 8,000 from
Hezbollah, an estimated 6,000 Iraqis and about 3,500 Afghans... 'The
alliance of Iran, Russia, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon is
marching toward victory and the Americans must realize that the region's
future will be decided by the Islamic Revolution's strength,' said Yahya
Rahim-Safavi, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei,
during a ceremony on Thursday marking the 37th anniversary of the
revolution that put the clergy at the helm of power." http://t.uani.com/1PQyZqg
Sputnik
(Russia): "Iran
plans to buy the Sukhoi Su-30SM fighters, the Mil Mi-8 and the Mil Mi-17
helicopters, as well as other weapons from Russia in an arms deal worth
more than $8 billion, the Kommersant newspaper reported, citing unnamed
sources. 'Tehran has already sent a list of military hardware that
Iranian Armed Forces would like to purchase from Moscow,' the daily
added, saying that the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian
government and the Kremlin have already seen the list. The Iranians
allegedly want to buy the Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighters, the Yakovlev
Yak-130 advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft, the Mil Mi-8 and
Mil Mi-17 transport helicopters, as well as the K-300P Bastion-P mobile
coastal defense missile systems, frigates and diesel-electric submarines.
'The addition of any Su-30 variant would greatly increase the
capabilities of the Iranian air force, which is mostly equipped with an
antiquated mix of American-, Russian- and Chinese-built hardware,'
defense expert Dave Majumdar wrote for the National Interest." http://t.uani.com/1LtzgNK
Reuters: "An Airbus executive urged
European banks on Tuesday to overcome their wariness about financing
export projects to Iran because of U.S. sanctions, highlighting
difficulties European companies face in their rush to Tehran. French
banks, deterred by a $9 billion U.S. fine on BNP Paribas in 2014 for
violating U.S. financial sanctions, have been reluctant to handle deals
with Iran despite Iranian authorities urging them to return now the
measures have been lifted. For companies like Airbus, which signed a deal
to sell Iran 118 Airbus jets worth $27 billion after international
sanctions were lifted against Tehran last month, that makes getting
financing for such deals more complicated. European governments and their
export credit agencies support a resumption in trade with Iran, said
Nigel Taylor, senior vice-president for Customer, Project and Structured
Finance at Airbus. 'With this blessing, I can't understand why we only
see the back of banks at the moment. Don't be afraid!' he told a
conference on export financing at the French Finance Ministry. However,
the head of the French banking federation, Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, also
on the panel, said the U.S. legal framework regarding sanctions remained
too uncertain for now. 'To be able to intervene, we banks need to have
complete legal security and clarity,' she said. 'We're not there yet.'
Senior French bankers have said the memory of BNP Paribas' fine remained
too fresh and the current legal framework, with a possibility to snap
sanctions back in place, was off-putting. Barbat-Layani also said
European companies should make an effort and bill their sales in euros
rather than U.S. dollars to avoid falling foul of the U.S. legal system.
'We need to develop euro-denominated financing, even if that's not
enough,' she said." http://t.uani.com/1PQCkFM
Nuclear
Program & Agreement
The Hill: "A new poll finds that just 3
in 10 Americans approve of the Obama administration's deal signed with
Iran aimed at curbing the Islamic republic's nuclear program. Fifty-seven
percent of Americans disapprove of the accord that relieves international
sanctions in exchange for enhanced oversight, compared to 30 percent who
approve, according to the Gallup survey released Wednesday. Republicans
are much more opposed to the deal signed among Iran and six world powers,
with just 9 percent supporting it and 80 percent opposed. A slim majority
of Democrats approve of the deal negotiated by the Obama administration,
with 51 percent saying they support it, compared to 38 percent who say
they do not. Americans are also just as concerned about the threat of a
nuclear Iran as they were before the deal went into effect. Seventy-five
percent of respondents said Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon represents
a critical threat to the U.S. over the next 10 years, compared to 77
percent who said the same last year before the July deal was finalized.
Of Americans who said they view the threat posed by a nuclear Iran
critically, only 23 percent support the deal. The poll also finds that
Americans have a significantly negative view of Iran, with just 14
percent viewing the nation positively." http://t.uani.com/1QIDWRA
NYT: "In the early years of the
Obama administration, the United States developed an elaborate plan for a
cyberattack on Iran in case the diplomatic effort to limit its nuclear
program failed and led to a military conflict, according to a coming
documentary film and interviews with military and intelligence officials
involved in the effort. The plan, code-named Nitro Zeus, was devised to
disable Iran's air defenses, communications systems and crucial parts of
its power grid, and was shelved, at least for the foreseeable future,
after the nuclear deal struck between Iran and six other nations last
summer was fulfilled. Nitro Zeus was part of an effort to assure
President Obama that he had alternatives, short of a full-scale war, if
Iran lashed out at the United States or its allies in the region. At its
height, officials say, the planning for Nitro Zeus involved thousands of
American military and intelligence personnel, spending tens of millions
of dollars and placing electronic implants in Iranian computer networks
to 'prepare the battlefield,' in the parlance of the Pentagon. The United
States military develops contingency plans for all kinds of possible
conflicts, such as a North Korean attack on the South, loose nuclear
weapons in South Asia or uprisings in Africa or Latin America. Most sit
on the shelf, and are updated every few years. But this one took on far
greater urgency, in part because White House officials believed there was
a good chance that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would
decide to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, and the United States would
be drawn into the hostilities that followed. While the Pentagon was
making those preparations, American intelligence agencies developed a
separate, far more narrowly focused cyberplan to disable the Fordo
nuclear enrichment site, which Iran built deep inside a mountain near the
city of Qum. The attack would have been a covert operation, which the
president can authorize even in the absence of a continuing
conflict." http://t.uani.com/1TqHz4T
U.S.-Iran
Relations
NYT: "Three Americans who were
kidnapped from a Baghdad apartment by Shiite militiamen last month were
released unharmed on Tuesday after the Iraqi authorities negotiated their
freedom, State Department officials confirmed. After showers, medical
checkups and a meal at the American Embassy, they were quickly put on a
plane out of the country. The exact circumstances of their release were
not immediately clear, including whether any money was paid or prisoners
were released in exchange... As Iraq's security has deteriorated in
recent years, with the extremists of the Islamic State seizing
territories in the north and west, there has been a rise in abductions in
Baghdad. Officials have said the Shiite militias that rose to defend the
capital were to blame. Many of these groups are backed by Iran and
operate largely beyond the control of the central government. The three
Americans were abducted around the time of a prisoner exchange between
the United States and Iran, which included the release of Jason Rezaian,
the Tehran bureau chief of The Washington Post... American officials
believe the kidnappers were affiliated with a militia supported by
Iran." http://t.uani.com/24a6Dkg
IranWire: "The day that news broke that
there had been a prisoner exchange between Iran and the United States, it
was assumed that Siamak Namazi would be among those released, along with
Jason Rezaian, Saeed Abedini and Amir Hekmati. Iran's official news
outlet, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) even reported that he was
among those freed. But a few hours after the announcement, IRNA withdrew
its statement and announced that Nosratollah Khosravi - a name
unknown to the media and the public - had been the fourth prisoner to be
freed. Siamak Namazi remained behind bars. The Iranian-American head of
strategic planning for Crescent Petroleum in the United Arab Emirates was
arrested in mid-October 2015 in Tehran during a trip to visit his
family... Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei is Siamak Namazi's lawyer. I talked
to him about the case." http://t.uani.com/1mHopcA
Sanctions
Enforcement
State Net
Capitol Journal:
"While the United States and other world powers have lifted oil and
financial sanctions on Iran, several states continue to adhere to their
own bans on investing or doing business with companies with ties to the
country. Although international inspectors determined in January that
Iran has curtailed its nuclear program, it appears unlikely there will be
any significant move toward backing away from those state-imposed
sanctions. Rhetoric surrounding the issue in fact suggests the opposite -
that more states may consider enacting new sanctions as a show of
objection to the international agreement. More than 20 states have laws
preventing state pension funds from investing in companies that do
business with at least some part of the Iranian economy. A few others
have institutional policies in place that also prevent such investments,
according to the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which
pushes for the divestment laws... And more than 10 states either prohibit
state government agencies, local government agencies or both from
contracting with companies that trade with Iran... 'Most state
legislatures are Republican and seem to oppose the Iran deal and the
president's move,' noted Matan Shamir, executive director of United
Against Nuclear Iran, which was behind model legislation to prohibit
state dealings with companies with Iranian ties... UANI's Shamir said
that regardless of the new nuclear deal, Iran should still be sanctioned.
'They are still a state sponsor of terrorism,' he said. That is legally
part of the consideration in some states. The Florida and California
laws, for example, are both based on Iran's presence on a U.S. State
Department list of 'State Sponsors of Terrorism.' Iran has been on the
list since 1984... Shamir said it doesn't seem likely that the federal
government would go beyond the 'urging' that Kerry mentioned, and
actually move to pre-empt any of the state laws. 'That would be a
political hot potato,' Shamir said. 'It would create such a big fight,
there'd be so much push back from the states, and from Congress as
well.'" http://t.uani.com/1Syq2HU
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters: "Global transaction network
SWIFT has reconnected a number of Iranian banks to its system, allowing
them to resume cross-border transactions with foreign banks after the
lifting of sanctions on Tehran, a SWIFT official said. Iranian banks were
disconnected from Belgium-based SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide
Interbank Financial Telecommunication, in March 2012 as international
sanctions against Tehran over its disputed nuclear program tightened. The
system is used to transmit payments and letters of credit and Iran's
exclusion severely damaged its ability to conduct foreign trade and money
transfers... 'SWIFT has completed the on-boarding process for these
banks, and can confirm that they have now been reconnected to SWIFT,'
said Onur Ozan, a country manager at SWIFT. 'We will continue to work
with the remainder of the entities that have applied to rejoin SWIFT to
ensure their smooth reconnection,' Ozan said in a statement carried on
the Iranian central bank's website on Wednesday. A representative for
SWIFT confirmed that the statement was accurate." http://t.uani.com/1opZ1dr
Reuters: "Brazil will accept payment
from Iran in euros and other currencies for planes, cars and machinery to
sidestep lingering U.S. sanctions on the oil-rich nation, Trade Minister
Armando Monteiro told Reuters on Tuesday. Monteiro is the first Brazilian
official to confirm that Latin America's biggest economy could accept
payment in currencies including the euro from Iran, which is forbidden
from using the U.S. financial system under the sanctions. Brazilian
President Dilma Rousseff could visit Iran this year to bolster exports,
he said. 'Everyone is racing after Iran now ... The trade potential is
very big,' said Monteiro. 'We will find ways to settle payments, the type
of payment and currency.' ... Monteiro said Brazil aims to triple trade
flows with Iran to $5 billion by 2019... The Iranian government has
already contacted Brazilian planemaker Embraer for the purchase of
commercial jets for regional aviation, Monteiro said. Embraer, the
world's No. 3 commercial plane maker, confirmed that Iran was interested
in its aircraft. The Islamic republic is eyeing the four models of
Embraer's E1 family of regional jets, because of their low maintenance
costs, said an official spokesman for the company." http://t.uani.com/1TqCM3o
Terrorism
Al-Monitor: "A frequently asked question in
Lebanon has been how the Iranian nuclear agreement might affect Iran's
ties with Hezbollah. But party officials and independent Lebanese
observers paint a picture of an unbreakable bond between the two. They
believe the geopolitical dynamics taking shape in the region and beyond,
now that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is being implemented,
further strengthen Hezbollah. Anyone who thinks Iran's return to the
national stage will decrease its support for Hezbollah 'doesn't know how
Iran thinks,' a Hezbollah official told Al-Monitor, noting that the group
is widely considered to be Tehran's staunchest ally. Speaking from his
office in Dahiyeh in southern Beirut, an area commonly referred to as
Hezbollah's stronghold, the official, who asked not to be named,
underscored that 'Hezbollah is more than just an ally for Iran.' The
relationship is similar to 'that between father and son,' he said, going
on to emphasize the ideological factor by saying that any success for
Iran means success for Hezbollah and for the velayat e-faqih... A similar
view is echoed by experts in the field. 'In Iran, it is the state that
serves the revolution, and Hezbollah lies at the heart of this
revolution,' Hussam Matar, an independent Lebanese scholar on
international affairs who is close to Hezbollah, told Al-Monitor." http://t.uani.com/1QIGWNS
Human
Rights
HRW: "Iranian authorities' decision
to prevent women from attending an international beach volleyball
tournament this week, despite prior assurances, is a disappointing step
backwards for women's equal access to attend public sporting events. Iran
is hosting the first men's beach volleyball tournament in Iran, on Kish
Island, from February 15 to 19, 2016. Although an official 2012 ban
prohibits Iranian women from attending volleyball matches, the
International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) announced on February 7, 2016,
that it received assurances from organizers of the Kish Island Open that,
'the event will be open to fans from all age groups and genders. This
will include families and women.' ... 'Brave Iranian women who took the
FIVB at its word were turned away at the turnstiles this week. That is a
black eye for the sport of volleyball, and a setback for women's rights
in Iran,' said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives. 'This sorry
episode highlights the shortcomings of the FIVB's strategy with the
Iranian government, and contradicts their claims that all Iranian fans
are welcome.'" http://t.uani.com/1SycL1Q
ICHRI: "An Iranian activist imprisoned
for his social media activity has gone on a wet hunger strike to protest
the Judiciary's rejection of his request for conditional release. Amir
Golestani, 35, was sentenced to seven years in prison with a group of
other social media activists in April 2015 for 'assembly and collusion
against national security' and 'insulting the sacred.' At the time of his
arrest in 2013, Golestani was the administrator of a Facebook page called
Zendegi-e Sagi (Living Like a Dog), where he had posted comments that
were critical of social and political issues in Iran. Golestani and a
group of prisoners became eligible for a conditional release from supreme
leader Ali Khamenei in May 2015, 'but eight months later [the Judiciary]
disregarded the process of commuting his sentence,' a source close to the
Golestani family told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran...
Golestani was arrested on August 20, 2013 by Iran's Revolutionary Guards
Intelligence Organization at his workplace in Babolsar, located about 140
miles north of Tehran." http://t.uani.com/1LtuboR
Journalism
Is Not a Crime:
"If Telegram does not follow the Iranian authorities' demands, the
app will be 'removed', said Mohammad Reza Aghamiri, a conservative
politician and member of Iran's Filtering Committee, on February 15. In
an interview with Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, Aghamiri said
that the Filtering Committee has demanded that Telegram transfer its
servers to Iran. Failure to do so could have fatal consequences for the
popular messaging app. 'If Telegram does not comply with Iran's demands,
it will be removed, not blocked,' Aghamiri said. It is not clear exactly
what Aghamiri meant by 'removed', but the wording could suggest that the
authorities are planning to use other tools apart from traditional
filtering to limit Iranians' access to Telegram. Many social networking
platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, are already blocked in Iran.
However, blocking content is politically costly, and it is often
ineffective, as many Iranians bypass the firewall with VPNs and
circumvention tools. So instead of directly blocking platforms such as
Telegram, the Iranian authorities can choose to reduce internet speeds to
make it more difficult for its many users to access and use the app
properly. The Filtering Commitee has according to Fars news agency also
requested that Telegram cooperate with Iran's cyber police. 'Telegram is
very popular in Iran, which is why it can't continue like this. Telegram
must follow our rules; then we'll allow it to be active in Iran,'
Aghamiri said, and added that if Telegram ignores the demands, the
committee will make sure the app 'won't be able to compete with other
social media.'" http://t.uani.com/1KWmdcQ
Opinion
& Analysis
Senator
Chris Coons in The Guardian: "In a testament to the power of multilateral
diplomacy and the enduring strength of the transatlantic alliance, the
international community came together last summer to craft a complex
agreement to restrain Iran's nuclear ambitions. As the Iran deal moves
forward, I recognize that European companies will pursue business
opportunities there. But I urge these companies to keep in mind three
important points. First, US and UN sanctions against Iran for its human
rights abuses, ballistic missile program and support for terrorism remain
on the books, and the United States continues to enforce them. Second,
preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon must remain a higher priority
than pursuing commercial opportunities. The United States will continue
to rely on the stated shared commitments from our European partners to
deal with Iran in the same way. This brings me to my third point: Iran
remains a revolutionary regime, and companies eager to do business with
Iran and its state-owned enterprises must proceed with the utmost
caution. While every business deal with Iran is not inherently dangerous,
I'm increasingly concerned that in some quarters, the nuclear agreement
is viewed less as a matter of keeping Iran from building a nuclear
weapon, and more as a business opportunity. The headlines in recent weeks
have been startling... To be certain, the lifting of crippling economic
sanctions that brought Iran's economy to a standstill over the past
several years was the primary incentive for Iran to agree to the nuclear
deal in the first place. Still, the willingness of a number of nations to
economically embrace the Iranian regime must not keep us from enforcing
Iran's important commitments to limit its nuclear program. America alone
could not have forced Iran to the negotiating table and pressured it to
agree to the terms of the nuclear deal. That required an international
commitment, and we're grateful for the partnership of our allies in
Europe. As we move forward, let us do so cautiously and wary of the
potential need to reinstate sanctions should Iran violate the terms of
the agreement. The mechanism by which sanctions can 'snap back' into
place under the nuclear agreement is clear: if any of the signatories of
the agreement have any reason to believe that another party is not
upholding its commitments under the agreement, that party can refer the
issue to a joint commission for resolution and seek to reimpose full or
partial sanctions. Iran will continue to seek economic relief and test
our willingness to enforce the terms of the nuclear agreement. In the
months to come, I encourage the permanent members of the UN security
council, Germany and the European Union to acknowledge that certain
sanctions remain in place, and importantly, I ask that we restate
publicly our shared commitments to put national security before economic
interests... We must all remember that the most important contract with
Iran is the one we've already signed: the nuclear agreement. Until we can
enforce that contract, we must not rush to sign new ones that put the
effectiveness of the first one in jeopardy." http://t.uani.com/1op6vN0
Dave
Majumdar in TNI: "Iran
looks set to sign a deal to purchase Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 Flanker
fighters as it upgrades its military forces following the nuclear deal,
which cleared the way for sanctions to be lifted on Tehran. Iranian
defense minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan is set to visit Moscow on
February 16 to discuss the potential fighter buy, as well as to discuss
deliveries of the Almaz-Antey S-300 air and missile defense system.
'Minister Dehgan will also discuss the delivery of Su-30 airplanes
because the Defense Ministry believes the Iranian Air Force needs this
type of plane. We've moved far in these discussions of purchases and I
think that during the upcoming visit a contract will be signed,' an
Iranian defense ministry source told the Russian state-run media outlet
Sputnik. Earlier, the Iranian Mehr News Agency had quoted Dehghan-who
appeared on Iranian state TV-saying that Tehran needs to focus on
modernizing its air force. To that end, Dehghan specifically cited the
Su-30-but he did not indicate which version of Russian-built jet Tehran
is interested in. 'Today we need to pay attention to air force and
aircraft and we seek to seal a deal with the Russians upon which we will
have partnership in the construction and manufacturing of the jet
fighter,' Dehghan said. Presumably Iran would want one of the advanced
variants similar to the aircraft operated by India, Malaysia, Algeria and
Russia itself. However, it is also possible that Iran could opt for a
variant of the more basic Su-30M2, which is also in service with the
Russian Air Force. That variant is somewhat less expensive, which might
make more sense considering Iran's economic situation. Perhaps of note,
Iran does not seem content with merely buying the Su-30; Tehran seems
intent on license production of the aircraft. The Su-30M2 variant, which
is built in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia's far east, is missing the
Su-30SM's canards and thrust vectoring nozzles. It also has a less
comprehensive avionics suite. Either way, the addition of any Su-30
variant would greatly increase the capabilities of the Iranian air force,
which is mostly equipped with an antiquated mix of American-, Russian-
and Chinese-built hardware." http://t.uani.com/1KpRmFJ
|
|
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