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FT: "Optimism that Iran's economy would quickly
open up to foreign trade and investment after the easing of international
sanctions has been dashed by continuing restrictions on financing
businesses in the Islamic republic. Iranian state-related bodies, backed
by billions of dollars in unfrozen assets, have been quick to capitalise
on the lifting of most sanctions, but smaller traders and investors
continue to have difficulty securing finance to ramp up their operations.
Some US clearing banks have warned banks in Europe, Asia and the Middle
East that their US-based dollar accounts will face close scrutiny if they
do business with Iran, Iranian and US bankers in the region say. The
warning, echoed by US Treasury officials in meetings in the Gulf, has
prevented banking transactions with Iran starting up again despite the
removal of many sanctions. 'For US banks, nothing has changed,' said one
senior Dubai-based banker. 'And that has consequences.' ... 'Any banks we
contact in Europe, Asia or even in the region like those in Turkey, Oman
and UAE, tell us they were told by a few major American clearing banks
that no matter which currency they use for transferring Iranians' money,
their US-based dollar accounts will be double and triple checked,' said a
senior Iranian banker. 'Now all banks are scared of delays in their own
dollar transactions and tell us they would love to work with us but don't
know what to do as they cannot afford to jeopardise their own dollar
accounts with American banks,' he added... 'US banks will be wary of
importing risk by dealing with foreign financial institutions that have
Iranian-related business, and foreign financial institutions will
certainly remember the BNP Paribas settlement,' said Patrick Murphy, a
Dubai-based partner at law firm Clyde & Co. Many analysts believed
that when nuclear sanctions were lifted the clock would be turned back to
before 2010, when non-US financial institutions had been prepared to
facilitate trade with Iran by using non-dollar currencies, such as euros.
'But that ignores the change in risk mindset since the settlements made
by BNP and for some banks it may be a while before we go back to that
pre-2010 position,' he said... Similarly, the insurance market remains
averse to new Iranian business given that facilitating trade with Iran
remains illegal for US citizens and entities, thereby constraining trade
further. New research by Clyde & Co shows that 85 per cent of
respondents at London-based insurance companies said US sanctions
'negatively impact their risk appetite for Iran-related business'. 'Even
those London based insurers with no US operations are very concerned
about the remaining US sanctions,' said Chris Hill, partner at Clyde
& Co. 'Those sanctions are proving a strong disincentive to such
insurers providing cover for permitted EU-Iran trade.'" http://t.uani.com/1WpAlfi
AFP: "Iran remains essentially off limits to US banks, despite
the lifting of some US sanctions following the landmark Iranian nuclear
deal. The Obama administration in mid-January eased several restrictions
on doing business with Iran, including former 'secondary' sanctions that
had threatened to penalize companies outside the US for their business
with Iran, as well as some restrictions on Americans seeking to make
inroads in the oil-rich country. Nevertheless, most 'primary' sanctions
tied to accusations that Tehran supports terrorism remain in effect,
blocking US businesses from joining a rush by non-US companies to cash in
on Iran's potential revival... 'Broadly, the US primary embargo on Iran
is still in place,' John Smith, acting director of the Treasury
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), told a
congressional panel on Thursday. The sanctions still in place were
imposed not over Iran's nuclear program but its record on terrorism and
human rights. That means the easing arising from the nuclear deal so far
'does not have any impact on us,' said an official with one large New
York bank who requested anonymity. 'We're still very prohibited from
engaging in just about any business activity with Iran except on very
limited exceptions.' ... But many remain keen to exploit the Iran
opportunity. They have turned to teams of lawyers and other specialists
as they plumb the shifting legal terrain. 'We continue to monitor the
developments in Iran,' said Citigroup spokesman Kamran Mumtaz. Foreign
banks operating in the US too remain hemmed in by the sanctions still in
place, because they are forbidden from clearing US dollar-denominated
transactions involving Iran through US banks, according to OFAC. In
addition, some 200 Iran-related individuals and entities on a list of
'blocked' persons, including large government entities involved deeply in
the economy like the powerful Revolutionary Guards. Non-US companies who
provide support to still-blacklisted Iranian entities 'may face being cut
off from the US financial system,' said OFAC's Smith. In 2014, US
officials fined BNP Paribas a record of almost $9 billion for moving
payments involving Iranian entities through the US economy. To avoid such
punishments, non-US banks that work in both Iran and the US must isolate
Iranian business from their US assets and implement rigid internal
controls, law firm Clifford Chance said in a memo advising US banking
giant JPMorgan Chase. 'Many organizations looking to trade with, or make
investments in Iran, now that sanctions have been eased may experience a
tension between business development personnel who may wish to take
advantage of the opportunities offered, and those whose responsibilities
are for risk management and compliance,' said the memo." http://t.uani.com/216upes
WSJ: "The chief executive of General
Electric Co.'s oil-and-gas business has visited Tehran to explore
business opportunities there, the company said, the first known visit by
an energy executive of an American company since before Western sanctions
were imposed on Iran over its nuclear program. Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of
GE Oil & Gas, visited Iran in recent days and departed on Monday as
the company takes another look at the country now that nuclear-related
sanctions have ended, a GE spokeswoman said. 'In line with the easing of
sanctions, we have begun looking at potential business opportunities in
Iran, while fully complying with the rules laid out by the U.S.
government,' the spokeswoman said. 'Mr. Simonelli's visit...was part of
our efforts to that end.' ... GE Oil & Gas, based in London, is a
subsidiary of its American parent company... GE manufactures oil-drilling
and processing equipment, including subsea pumps and pipeline-service
units. Mr. Simonelli's visit included a meeting with a top Iranian oil
official, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company
wants to sell spare parts, compressors and turbines from its unit Nuovo
Pignone, which is based in Florence, Italy, according to a person
familiar with the matter... GE Oil & Gas has had a team of 50 in
Dubai and Florence preparing to work in Iran for months, examining every
detail to ensure compliance with U.S. sanctions, a person familiar with
the matter said. That includes insulating any potential Iran business
from its U.S. parent and avoiding any use of U.S. technology... Other
American companies have shown interest in Iran, but it isn't clear
whether they have sent delegations to the country. Chevron Corp. last
year sent officials to an Iran-focused conference in Vienna." http://t.uani.com/1okBg5E
U.S.-Iran
Relations
Reuters: "U.S. Republican Senator John
McCain said on Sunday he would subpoena 10 U.S. sailors to testify about
their brief detention by Iran if the Obama administration does not
provide the findings of an investigation into the incident by March 1.
'It's an option that I do not want to exercise,' McCain, who chairs the
Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters as he was returning to the
United States from an international security conference in Germany. The
sailors were detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after
their two patrol boats strayed into Iranian waters on Jan. 12. U.S.
officials later blamed a navigational problem... McCain said he had been
told the sailors were still being debriefed, but added that he assumed
that administration members were 'dragging their feet' in completing an
investigation into the incident, which he accused Iran of exploiting for
propaganda purposes. 'I guarantee you, if they don't have a debrief by
the first of March like they said, we'll have a hearing and we'll
subpoena. We're not going to wait any longer,' McCain said. 'We will
subpoena the individuals if we have to.'" http://t.uani.com/1Svg61y
Sanctions
Relief
WSJ: "The first shipment of Iranian
crude oil to the European Union in over three years sailed Monday, with
two more poised to follow in the coming days, Iranian officials said. A
tanker chartered by French energy giant Total SA sailed with 2 million
barrels on Monday, the officials said. Another carrying 1 million barrels
for Spain's Cia. Española de Petróleos, or Cepsa, is poised to follow
Tuesday, they said. A third vessel, also of 1 million barrels and booked
by Litasco, the trading arm of Russia's Lukoil, arrived this weekend at
the Iranian terminal of Kharg Island, and its loading will follow soon
after, the officials said. The ships are part of a flood of new oil that
Iran says it is producing since world powers agreed to lift Western
sanctions related to the country's nuclear program. Those sanctions
crippled Iran's oil industry, reducing its export capacity by more than 1
million barrels a day. Rokneddin Javadi, the deputy oil minister, told
state television broadcaster Press TV on Sunday that Iran's crude-oil
production had increased 400,000 barrel each day. the bulk of its stated
short-term, post-sanctions target of ramping up production by 500,000
barrels a day. Total Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardière
last week said his company, 'as any other oil company,' is currently
buying Iranian oil on the spot market, though he declined to elaborate...
The tankers began loading after European oil traders and shippers won a
key victory allowing the cargoes to be insured. The American Steamship
Owners Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association Inc., or American
Club, said U.S. sanctions preventing it from covering cargoes originating
from Iran had been removed." http://t.uani.com/1oGq1oS
Press TV
(Iran): "Iran
said on Friday that Germany's BASF - the world's largest chemical
producer - plans to make an investment of as much as $4 billion in its
petrochemical industry. Marziyeh Shahdani, the managing director of the
National Petrochemical Company (NPC), has been quoted by the media as
saying that negotiations are underway with BASF to construct a
petrochemical township in southern Iran. The German company will have a
share of 60 percent in the project which will be constructed in Parsian
Special Industrial Zone. Hamid Reza Rostami, the NPC director for
planning affairs, said in December last year that BASF's planned
investment in Iran will also involve a guaranteed market as well as the
transfer of technology. 'BASF has decided to make direct investment in
Iran, bringing in capital, technology, management and a guaranteed market
for products which we welcome,' said Rostami. Iran's officials had
already announced that Germany's Linde and Japan's Mitsui are also negotiating
with Iran over investments in the country's petrochemical industry. BASF
and Linde sent their executives with German Minister of Economy Sigmar
Gabriel to Iran in July to discuss investment and transfer of
technology." http://t.uani.com/247KP8Y
Reuters: "Iran's rich deposits of zinc,
copper, gold and other minerals are tempting international investors
after the lifting of Western sanctions, but development of the sector
will take time and problems will have to be overcome. A slump in metals
prices and uncertainty about working with the Tehran government, which
controls virtually all the country's mines, means that many foreign
mining firms are not scrambling to sign deals. Nevertheless, some
agreements have already been struck and other foreign firms have been
looking at Iran's mining and metals sector in the weeks following the
scrapping of sanctions as part of a nuclear deal, which went into force last
month. Iran, which boasts one of the world's largest undeveloped zinc
projects and myriad other mines, has been trying to lure investors since
it became clear that sanctions would be lifted under last year's deal
signed by Tehran and six world powers. Iran's state-owned mines and metal
holding company IMIDRO told an Australian mining conference in November
that its mining sector needed $20 billion of investment by 2025... In
India, national aluminum company NALCO said last month it planned to send
a team to Iran to explore setting up a smelter worth about $2 billion and
state-run KIOCL is considering building an iron ore pellet complex... A
spokesman for global miner Rio Tinto, which was previously involved in
the Sara Gunay gold project in Iran, said there was no work being done by
their exploration team regarding the country. Chief Executive Mark
Bristow of Randgold Resources, which has experience of mining in risky
areas of Africa, told Reuters the firm was not interested in Iran." http://t.uani.com/1Xvf0SW
Reuters: "A freight train from China
arrived in Tehran on Monday, Iranian and Chinese media reported, calling
it a historical first that opens a new trade link between countries
seeking to strengthen ties as Iran emerges from years of economic
isolation. The train, carrying 32 containers, arrived in Tehran after a
14-day, 10,399 kilometer (6,462 mile) journey from Yiwu city in east
China, Iran's ISNA news agency reported. The agency didn't say what kind
of goods were shipped on the train on a route that took it via countries
like Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The train's journey was 30 days shorter
than the time usually taken by ships to sail from Shanghai to Iran's
Bandar Abbas port, China's Xinhua news agency quoted Iran's transport
minister and railway chief, Mohsen Pour-Aqaei as saying. With the lifting
of nuclear-related sanctions, Iran is being heavily courted by China.
Beijing sees the country as a key part of its 'One Belt, One Road' policy
to increase trade and open new markets for its firms as its domestic
economy slows. A big part of the policy is to expand the use of railways
between China and Europe to shorten goods travel time, creating a modern
'Silk Road', Beijing has said. Xinhua also quoted Iran's transport
minister as saying one freight train would now travel from China to Iran
every month. These trains would eventually be bound for Europe, helping
Tehran develop into a transit center between the two regions, according
to quotes attributed to the minister... The two countries are also
cooperating on a high-speed rail project linking Tehran to Iran's
northeastern holy city of Mashhad, Tasnim News Agency reported earlier
this month. It quoted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as saying that the
$2 billion project was finalised after Xi's visit and would take 42
months to build." http://t.uani.com/247vjtJ
Reuters: "A leap by the Tehran stock
market in the past four weeks contrasts with gloom in many bourses around
the world and hints at Iran's investment potential as its economy, long
isolated by sanctions, rejoins the global trading system. The TEDPIX index
has soared 18.3 percent since Jan. 16, when the sanctions were lifted
after an international deal on Iran's nuclear programme. Average daily
trading turnover has tripled from last year to around $150 million. The
economy is still struggling - growth is close to zero, the jobless rate
exceeds 10 percent and many banks face mountains of bad debt. Political
tensions between hardliners and moderates could slow efforts to address
these problems. As a result, some commentators are warning that the
notoriously volatile market may not hold on to its gains. 'The Tehran
bourse is disregarding warnings and the condition of world markets ... It
is going down the same road as in 2015, the result of which will only be
a lack of confidence and the flight of capital from this market,' the
conservative Nassim news agency said in a commentary last week. But many
investors are betting that by restoring Iran's links with the rest of the
world and attracting foreign capital and technology, the end of sanctions
will trigger a long-term economic boom. 'The actual benefits of the
lifting of sanctions will take six to 12 months to start to feed into
companies' financials,' said Payam Malayeri, head of asset management at
Griffon Capital, a Tehran-based firm which last month launched an
offshore equity fund focused on Iran... So far, auto stocks have led the
rally because of prospects for tie-ups with foreign firms; Iran Khodro,
which announced a 50/50 venture to build cars with Peugeot, has rocketed
52 percent." http://t.uani.com/1To696e
Reuters: "Russia could deliver up to 100
of its Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ 100) short-haul passenger aircraft to
Iran, Interfax news agency quoted the vice-president of Russia's
state-controlled United Aircarft Corporation as saying on Tuesday... 'We
have studied the potential market, as well as the needs of Iranian
airlines as far as regional jets are concerned. According to various
estimates, one can talk of up to 100 (SSJ 100) units there,' Interfax
quoted Vladislav Masalov as saying on the sidelines of the Singapore
Airshow." http://t.uani.com/1TlojEx
Bloomberg: "An Istanbul-based payments
startup says it's signed a deal that smooths the way for companies
seeking to follow it into Iran's $400 billion economy. Iyzico's agreement
with Tehran-based electronic payments platform PECCO lets its customers
process transactions from some 230 million payment cards that until
recently weren't connected to any financial system outside Iran,
according to Barbaros Ozbugutu, Iyzico's German-Turkish chief executive.
The deal is the first of its kind, he said in an interview in Istanbul.
Since visiting Tehran last year, the founders of the World Bank-backed
company have been working on expanding in Iran, Ozbugutu said." http://t.uani.com/1LrEg5G
Regional
Destabilization
Reuters: "Sunni politician Saad
al-Hariri said on Sunday Lebanon would never be an 'Iranian province'
hostile to Saudi Arabia, and attacked Shi'ite Hezbollah's role in the
Syrian war in a speech reflecting regional tensions. The former prime
minister was speaking in Beirut on the 11th anniversary of the
assassination of his father, Rafik al-Hariri. It was only his third visit
to the country since the Hezbollah-dominated March 8 alliance toppled his
cabinet in 2011... 'We will not allow anyone to pull Lebanon to the camp
of hostility toward Saudi Arabia and its Arab brothers. Lebanon will not
be, under any circumstances, an Iranian province. We are Arabs, and Arabs
we shall remain,' said Hariri, who is backed by Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah,
which is backed by Iran, is fighting alongside the Syrian army in support
of President Bashar al-Assad in a war against insurgents who have
received backing from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other states. Five
Hezbollah members have been indicted by an international tribunal over
the 2005 killing of Rafik al-Hariri." http://t.uani.com/1Oe1k7N
Human
Rights
The Hill: "The U.S. State Department on Sunday
marked the five-year anniversary of the house arrests of several Iranian
opposition leaders, condemning their continued detention and calling for
their release. 'Five years ago today, the government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran placed former senior Iranian officials and 2009
presidential election candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi,
as well as Mousavi's wife, women's rights advocate Zahra Rahnavard, under
house arrest without formally charging them with any crimes,' spokesman
Mark Toner said in a statement. 'We join the international community in
condemning their continued detention and the harassment of their family
members, and in calling for their immediate release.' The statement said
the United States will keep pushing the Iranian government to 'respect
its international obligations, including minimum fair trial guarantees
and not subjecting its citizens to arbitrary arrest or detention.' 'We
repeat our appeal for the immediate release of these individuals and of
all prisoners who are being held for their religious or political
beliefs,' Toner added." http://t.uani.com/1Qj2K8x
HRW: "The Iranian authorities'
arrest of a former BBC reporter on February 3, 2016, shows the risk dual
nationals face if they choose to live in Iran. The family of Bahman
Daroshafaei, who has been working as a translator, has not been able to
find out about why he has been arrested, or by whom, or what charges he might
be facing. Daroshafaei, a dual British-Iranian national who has worked as
a journalist for the BBC Persian television channel and website, returned
to Iran in January 2014, after living in the United Kingdom for several
years. When he arrived at the airport, the authorities seized his
passport. Over the next two months, Intelligence Ministry officials
periodically interrogated Daroshafahi about his activities as a
journalist, but at the time did not file any charges against him. 'Iran's
unaccountable security agencies run roughshod over President Hassan
Rouhani's promises of a more inclusive Iran,' said Sarah Leah Whitson,
Middle East director. 'This pattern of arresting Iranians who were simply
excercising their freedoms of expression and association while living
abroad seriously undermines the notion that Iran actually welcomes having
its own citizens return home.'" http://t.uani.com/1Sv0cUX
ICHRI: "Shops are prohibited from
displaying any signs or selling any products associated with the
'decadent Western cultural phenomenon known as Valentine's Day,' Iran's
police force announced on February 10. 'Young men and women should not
gather in shops and exchange gifts such as dolls, flowers and
chocolate... or else the individuals involved as well as the shop owner
will face consequences,' the police directive warned. Every year as
February 14th approaches, Iran's police force employs various methods to try
to dissuade people and businesses from celebrating the
internationally-recognized day for lovers. Nevertheless, reports indicate
that this year Valentine's Day will be more widely celebrated in Iran
than ever, even among young people in the religious city of Qom. Four
years ago, the Customs Organization banned the import of Valentine's Day
products in order to counter 'plans by aggressive capitalists to weaken
the foundation of the family in Iran's Islamic society.' In fact, Iranian
officials often refer to the holiday as a Western conspiracy, a belief
that is in line with supreme leader Khamenei's insistence on an Islamic
lifestyle free of Western influences... 'The West is trying to impose its
trademark on every aspect of our life, from food to architecture and
furniture. It wants to replace our beliefs with free masonry, and our
rituals with Christmas and Valentine's Day and our architecture with the
White House,' Mohammad Eshaghi, a senior planning official at the Supreme
Council for Cultural Revolution said on August 9, 2015. Also in a
commentary by Fars New Agency, which is affiliated with Iran's
Revolutionary Guards, Valentine's Day was described as plot 'to prevent
marriage and promote dating.'" http://t.uani.com/1U5x1re
Domestic
Politics
AFP: "Iran's protracted election
vetting process ended Tuesday with 6,229 candidates being allowed to
stand for parliament, narrowing the battle lines for closely watched Feb.
26 polls. The approvals, after seven weeks of scrutiny from the Guardian
Council, a powerful constitutional watchdog with veto power, were granted
to 51 percent of those who originally sought to become lawmakers. Anyone
wanting to become a member of parliament or Iran's Assembly of Experts, a
committee of 88 clerics that will be elected on the same day as
lawmakers, must be vetted by the council. The official campaign will
start on Thursday, meaning candidates have only a week to convince
voters. Thousands, including many reformists, were disqualified from
running for parliament last month and of the 800 who aimed to run for the
Assembly of Experts only 161 were given approval." http://t.uani.com/1QFQ2eg
AP: "Iranian reformists seeking
greater democratic change and moderates supporting President Hassan
Rouhani's outreach to the West have formed an alliance to increase their
chances ahead of Feb. 26 parliamentary elections, a prominent reformist
candidate said Monday. Mohammad Reza Aref, a former vice president, told
reporters that his supporters and Rouhani allies have agreed to release a
joint list of candidates in order to more effectively challenge
hard-liners and conservatives, who remain split. He announced the move at
a press conference, saying the bloc would be called the 'Alliance of
Reformists and Government Supporters' and would include several female
and young candidates... Many of the best-known reformist candidates have
been barred from running by the Guardian Council, which is dominated by
hard-liners." http://t.uani.com/20Bmrbg
Foreign
Affairs
AP: "Saudi Arabia's foreign
minister said Sunday that Switzerland has agreed to handle its diplomatic
services in Iran so that Iranian pilgrims can continue to visit the
oil-rich kingdom. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran last month
after protesters outraged over the kingdom's execution of a prominent
Shiite cleric set fire to the Saudi Embassy and another diplomatic
mission. Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the Swiss would facilitate
procedures for Iranian Muslims to visit Saudi Arabia for religious
pilgrimages. He spoke during a visit by his Swiss counterpart, Didier
Burkhalter. The Swiss Embassy in Tehran already provides consular
services to U.S. citizens in Iran in the absence of an American
diplomatic mission there. Switzerland has separately offered to represent
Iranian interests in Saudi Arabia, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency
quoted Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari as
saying." http://t.uani.com/1SQynHi
AP: "Even though Iran has agreed to
a landmark deal curbing its nuclear activities, relations can only fully
normalize when it recognizes the existence of Israel, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel said Tuesday. Speaking at the side of Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Merkel told reporters after a meeting of the
two countries' Cabinets that she's 'made very clear' that 'there cannot
be a normal, friendly relationship with Iran so long as the existence of
Israel is not recognized.'" http://t.uani.com/1QFYJFs
Opinion
& Analysis
IranWire: "A former Iranian official, who
is in close touch with intelligence agents in Iran, has stated that
Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari and Amir Hekmati, two of the four
Iranian-Americans released from an Iranian prison last month, were
innocent and used as a political tool in Iran's negotiations with the
United States. In a recent conversation with IranWire, Nosratollah
Khosravi-Roodsari, the fourth Iranian-American released from prison in
Iran on January 16, 2016, said that he is still recovering from many
months of incarceration and would like to have some time to gather his
thoughts and strength before talking to the media about his ordeal in any
detail... After IranWire published an article about Khosravi on January
23, 2016, a former Iranian government official unexpectedly made contact
with IranWire. The official, who still has contacts in the Iranian
intelligence and judiciary, offered to talk to IranWire about Mr.
Khosravi's arrest, as well as about the arrest and imprisonment of former
marine Amir Hekmati, who was jailed in Iran for almost four and a half
years. The former official, who asked to remain anonymous and rarely
gives interviews, said he felt it was important to shed some light on
recent events. The official began by saying that he believed the arrest
of the two Iranian-Americans, Khosravi and Hekmati, was a political move.
'It was a hostage-taking in the classical sense: incarcerating innocent
people in order to gain an objective,' he told IranWire. The former
official, who is a well-known figure within the reformist movement in
Iran and who has held high positions in the government in the past,
emphasized that he did not want to comment on the arrest of other Iranian-Americans,
and was only commenting about Khosravi and Hekmati. 'I know for a fact
that these two had done nothing wrong. I also know that those who
arrested them realized that their prisoners were innocent a few days
after their arrest.' The former official claims that he took personal
interest in the story when he read Amir Hekmati's letters to Iranian and
American officials on IranWire. He says that he tried to find out about
Hekmati as much as possible through his contacts at the Ministry of
Intelligence and the judiciary. He claims that his research into
Hekmati's case showed that the Iranian-American was innocent, and he
decided to find out what his contacts understood about the case. 'Some of
my friends are still in the government and we meet every now and then to
chat about different issues. I started to tell others about the
ridiculousness of Hekmati's case and sentence,' the former official said.
Amir Hekmati was given death sentence for espionage in January 2012. A
few months later, the sentence was commuted to 10 years' imprisonment. 'I
remember reading about Hekmati celebrating his birthday in prison in
IranWire [in July 2015]. Hekmati had said he was being used as a
bargaining chip. I told my contacts about this and wondered: how can
someone be sentenced to death one day for espionage and then, two months
later, have the sentence reduced to 10 years? He's either a spy who
should be executed or he's not a spy and should be freed. I argued that
this kind of wishy-washy treatment of espionage cases is not good for the
image of the Islamic Republic, and will make people trust us even less
than before. At that moment, a friend who still works for the Ministry of
Intelligence smiled and said, 'We also have a new prisoner that we
haven't revealed yet. He's even more innocent than Hekmati''. The
intelligence agent was referring to Khosravi, who had been arrested in
May 2015. 'My [intelligence agent] friend said, with a even a bigger
smile, 'But we're going to keep him as well until they pay the right price
for him. Our government needs assets.' He also said that Americans do
anything to get their citizens out of prison, and that makes
Iranian-Americans valuable bargaining chips for the Iranian government -
and he was saying this with a smile, as if he was proud of it. So,
basically these Iranian citizens (who also have American nationality)
were nothing to our government but assets, things that could be bought
and sold.' The former official said he was 'seething with anger' when he
heard this. 'I took part in the Revolution and fought in the [Iran-Iraq]
war for three years. I had tried to honestly help our country. So it
really saddens me that a government that I had helped bring to power
treats its own people like that. I don't think the Americans would have
ever done that to their own people.' During the conversation with
IranWire, the former official trembled with emotion, and emphasized the
importance of getting this information out to reporters outside Iran. He
used the words 'regret' and 'revolting' (afsoos and eftezah in Persian)
several times. 'I saw my [intelligence agent] friend after the prisoners
were released. When I told him that it appeared that the Iranian-American
prisoners were innocent, he said, 'Of course they were.' But he was still
proud of the deal they had done with the Americans. 'We gave them four,
and they gave us seven. Nothing to complain about.' That is revolting
behavior. No wonder that all the prisoners that Iran released left Iran
within a few days, but the prisoners that the Americans released didn't
want to even leave the United States and come to Iran. Our government
should be ashamed of treating its people like that. It should also be
ashamed that their own people whom they bargained with the Americans to
release are reluctant to return to Iran.'" http://t.uani.com/1Oee2DC
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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