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AFP: "Italian Prime Minister Matteo
Renzi started a two-day visit to Iran Tuesday, the highest ranking
European leader to do so since world powers completed a nuclear deal with
Tehran. Accompanied by a 250-person delegation, Renzi is seeking to
re-establish Italy's economic clout in the Islamic republic which, before
sanctions, made it Iran's number one European trade partner. The official
IRNA news agency said Renzi would meet Iran's President Hassan Rouhani,
who visited Rome in January just days after sanctions were lifted under
Tehran's deal with six world powers. Annual trade between Iran and Italy
peaked at about $8 billion (seven billion euros) but a decade of
nuclear-related sanctions saw it plummet to $1.8 billion currently. When
Rouhani visited Rome the two countries agreed initial terms on long-term
contracts that could be valued as high as $19.4 billion, including deals
in the oil, transport and shipping sectors." http://t.uani.com/1XsW9ru
WSJ: "Boeing Co. has opened talks to
sell airliners to Iran in what would be one of the highest-profile deals
between a U.S. company and Tehran since the West lifted nuclear sanctions
on the country in January. Iran-eager to re-establish ties with Western
companies after the deal to limit its nuclear program-quickly signed
several landmark agreements with European companies to signal it had
re-entered the international market. Agreements with U.S. companies have
been slower to materialize, though, increasing the importance of a
possible deal with a company like Boeing that is a flagship of U.S.
technology and manufacturing around the globe. Boeing said Monday it had
begun preliminary discussions in Tehran with Iranian airlines about the
potential sale of its planes and aircraft services. Its representatives
'discussed the capabilities of its commercial passenger airplanes and
aftermarket services with Iranian airlines approved by the U.S.
government,' said a Boeing spokesman, who added that no formal deals on
aircraft or services were made during the meetings. A deal for Boeing
planes could become the biggest signal yet that the U.S. and Iran are
moving toward normalized trade relations. The U.S. government has allowed
Boeing to enter talks with select Iranian carriers, but delivering the
planes still would require further clearance... U.S. officials on Monday
said they have seen an uptick in American companies seeking to enter the
Iranian market in the sectors allowed under U.S. law, which include
automotive parts and medical services. General Electric Co., for instance,
has been exploring business opportunities in Iran. Lorenzo Simonelli,
chief executive of GE's oil-and-gas business, visited Tehran earlier this
year, he said in early March... Boeing was granted a license by the U.S.
in February to discuss the needs of Iran's airlines. Neither Boeing nor
Iran would identify what specific airplane models are under discussion,
though an Iranian official said the country was eager to buy 737
single-aisle jets from the Chicago-based plane maker, as well as 777
long-range planes... Fewer than 10 Boeing employees made the trip to
Tehran for meetings with several Iranian carriers, including Iran Air,
the country's biggest airline, according to a person familiar with the
meetings... Republican officials on Monday sharply criticized the Boeing
move, arguing it will strengthen Iran's military capabilities and further
weaken international sanctions on Tehran. A spokeswoman for Sen. Ted
Cruz, a presidential candidate, said Monday the lawmaker would write the
Obama administration to formally oppose any Boeing sales to Iran." http://t.uani.com/1qlNRGQ
Reuters: "British banks remain reluctant
to finance trade with Iran, fearing they could still be targeted by
existing U.S. sanctions that are impeding Tehran's re-entry into markets
after years of isolation, officials said on Monday. International
measures against Iran - including banking curbs - were lifted in January
as part of the deal with world powers under which Tehran curbed its
nuclear program. But the Islamic Republic is struggling to access new
financing as many large banks fear falling foul of remaining U.S.
restrictions. 'This is a problem I regret will take a little time to
resolve,' said Britain's trade envoy to Iran, former finance minister
Norman Lamont. 'You can understand why they (banks) are extremely
cautious - they have already been fined billions of dollars,' he told a
City & Financial Iran Trade conference in London. Alexandra Renison,
with Britain's Institute of Directors (IoD) lobby group, said that
smaller European banks were starting to move toward providing trade
finance to Iran, but the 'risk appetite is absolutely not there' for
British lenders. 'Any banks in the UK that really have any exposure in
the United States ... are simply not budging,' she told the conference.
Renison said it is even proving difficult to bring together businesses,
policymakers and banks, frustrating efforts. Evan Warren, a senior policy
adviser with the UK's finance ministry, acknowledged that the close
business ties between British banks and their U.S. counterparts did 'pose
significant challenges'... British Trade and Investment Minister Mark
Price said the UK was working on these issues with Washington, adding
that Business Secretary Sajid Javid would meet with British banks ahead
of an official trade delegation to Iran next month. 'His plan is to take
UK banks out on that delegation,' Price told the conference. 'This
government would like to see the banks play their part.' ... When asked
about efforts to bar any access to dollars now faced by Iran, Lamont told
Reuters it was 'most unfortunate'. 'The U.S. is now saying it (access to
dollars) is not an option,' he said. 'We have to find other ways of
solving it.'" http://t.uani.com/1Sw6lel
Military
Matters
TASS
(Russia):
"Russia has started sales of S-300 systems to Iran. The deal is to
be completed by the end of the year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry
Rogozin said on Monday. In an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio
station, he said Russia has already sent the first batch of S-300 systems
to Iran. 'We are acting in strict compliance with the contract. They pay,
we sell. We have already started. It is a supply in full sets,' he said.
In his words, the number of missile systems and the number of missiles
are stipulated by the contract. 'I cannot say what exactly has been
supplied but the supply was conducted by a logistics route elaborated by
Russian and Iranian specialists,' he said. According to Rogozin, having
received the first batch of these systems, Iran is abandoning its claim
to Russia from the international court of arbitration. 'They have agreed
it with the Majlis, their parliament, so, the deal is being realized in
full,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1oTQrCO
U.S.-Iran
Relations
Al-Monitor: "Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew
said April 11 that the United States 'will keep our part of the bargain'
in providing sanctions relief to Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear
program, but that the Barack Obama administration would not allow even
limited access to the US financial system. Lew's comments, in response to
a question from Al-Monitor at the Council on Foreign Relations, deepened
uncertainty about how Iran will be able to conduct international trade
and access hard currency reserves, primarily in Asian banks, that had
been frozen under US sanctions until implementation of the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in January... The Treasury secretary
suggested that Iran's problems in attracting foreign trade and investment
had to do with the Islamic Republic's other policies, both domestic and
external. 'Iran has many challenges in doing business,' Lew said. 'Some
have to do with Iran's own business practices. Some have to do with
Iran's other activities outside of the nuclear arena where they continue
to engage in supporting terrorism, regional destabilization and missile
testing that is violating norms.' He also cited Iran's poor human rights
record and noted that the US government maintains sanctions in all these
areas... Lew insisted, 'We will keep our part of the bargain, but the US
financial system is not open to Iran, and that is not something that is
going to change. So the challenge is going to be how to work through an
international financial system that is complicated, where there is a lot
of attention paid to what US law requires.'" http://t.uani.com/1VlCwnW
Press TV
(Iran): "The
idea of the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a redline for
the Islamic Republic, says a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic
Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. 'Iran believes that the
government of Bashar al-Assad should remain in power until the end of the
presidency term and the removal of Assad is a redline for us,' Ali Akbar
Velayati, who advises Ayatollah Khamenei on international affairs, said
in a televised interview on Saturday. He emphasized that only the Syrian
people can decide the future of their country and their president. The
Iranian official also commented on the policies of the United States in
the Middle East, saying Washington has suffered repeated failures in its
regional policies. People in Afghanistan and Iraq, Velayati said, have
pushed Americans out of their countries and now the US authorities cannot
tolerate Iran's influence in countries such as Iraq and Syria. 'At the
request of these governments (Iraq and Syria), we support them [in their
fight] against terrorists and it is none of Americans' business to say
anything in this regard,' Velayati stated. He noted that Washington is
behind the creation of terrorist groups such as the Daesh Takfiri group.
The Iranian official warned that the US seeks to disintegrate Muslim
countries so that proxy governments would be formed to support the
Israeli regime. Velayati also emphasized that whether the Americans
accept it or not, the time for their presence in the region is
over." http://t.uani.com/1S7mx8M
Business
Risk
AFP: "The European Union Tuesday
renewed sanctions against Iran over its human rights record, even as it
relaxes damaging measures imposed on Tehran to force it to rein in its
disputed nuclear program. 'The Council (of member states) decided to
extend until 13 April 2017 its restrictive measures against 82 people and
one entity in view of the human rights situation in Iran,' a statement said.
It said the 28-nation EU had imposed asset freezes and travel bans
against Iran since 2011 over 'grave human rights violations' and these
measures have been regularly updated. Last month, Iran reacted angrily to
the latest United Nations report on human rights in the country, saying
it was 'biased, discriminatory and prepared with political motives.' The
U.N. report noted, among other things, that in 2015 Iran carried out
nearly 1,000 executions, 'the highest rate in over two decades' and many
of them juveniles." http://t.uani.com/1S7lp55
Times of
London:
"Britain is to plead for the life of an Iranian businessman who
boasted that he ran a multibillion-dollar nuclear sanctions busting
operation from a Surrey mansion. Mehdi Shams, an Iranian businessman who
was sentenced to death in Iran last month, holds a British passport. UK
officials are seeking consular access to him in Tehran. Mr Shams had
well-documented associations with a number of companies and individuals
who had faced international sanctions for their links to oil smuggling
and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. His self-confessed sanctions
busting was run from a £2 million mansion in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey."
http://t.uani.com/1Sdi7At
The Local
(France): "A
steward from Air France has launched an online appeal against gay cabin
members having to travel to Iran. It's titled: 'Gay stewards from Air
France don't want to fly to the death penalty in Iran'. 'Sure, our
sexuality isn't written on our passports and it doesn't change the way we
work as a crew,' wrote 'Laurent M' in an open letter to the French
government and the CEO of Air France Frédéric Gagey. 'But it is
inconceivable to force someone to go to a country where his kind are
condemned for who they are.' The letter points out that homosexuality in
Iran is illegal and comes with a penalty of 74 lashes for a minor, while
adults can be given the death penalty. A petition on site Change.org
which calls for gay stewards not to work on the soon to re-open Paris to
Tehran route has gained almost 2,000 signatures in the past few days. The
letter comes just one week after Air France hostesses and female pilots
refused to fly on the Paris to Tehran route because they didn't want to
be forced to wear a veil and loose trousers. The airline eventually found
a compromise with unions after the story gained international media
attention. In the end, Air France accepted that stewardesses could refuse
to work on the Tehran route without facing punishment." http://t.uani.com/20y94Kw
Tasnim
(Iran):
"Despite international enthusiasm for investment in Iran and
development of trade ties with the country, there are still obstacles in the
way of monetary transactions because of US obstructionism, Chairman of
Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Asadollah Asgaroladi said. Speaking
at a television talk show, Asgaroladi said Iranian businesses still face
problems in financial transactions in spite of the implementation of the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a lasting nuclear deal
between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France
and Germany). 'Americans (make moves against) banks that want to have
monetary interaction with Iran,' he deplored, adding that such US
obstructive measures run counter to the spirit of the JCPOA. Asgaroladi
also said that even if the obstacles are removed, another two years will
be needed for the situation to be normalized." http://t.uani.com/1Q4A64r
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters: "Italy announced 8.8 billion
euros ($10.05 billion) in credit lines and financial guarantees to
relaunch exports to Iran, the Italian export agency said on Tuesday
during Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's visit to Tehran. Italy's state-run
lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti will offer credit lines of 4 billion
euros to companies building oil and gas infrastructure, while export
agency SACE will guarantee loans and offer trade financing of 4.8 billion
euros, a SACE statement said." http://t.uani.com/1S7lK7Z
Houston
Chronicle: "Iran
is selling three times more oil to India even as its rival oil-producing
nations try to work out a deal to cap their collective crude production.
The Islamic Republic's oil exports have surged by 600,000 barrels a day
since December, the month before the United States and five other western
powers lifted strict economic sanctions against Iran. And so far, India
has embraced the country's return to the market by increasing Iranian
imports more than any other country, while Europe's refiners have been much
slower to increase purchases of Iran's oil, according to Genscape, which
tracks oil tanker movement. 'They've outperformed what the market
expected,' and it's largely thanks to India, said Amir Bornaee, an
analyst at Genscape in the Netherlands, in an interview on Monday. All
told, Iran's exports climbed by 140,000 barrels a day last month,
reaching 1.7 million barrels a day, according to Genscape. Some
oil-market analysts believed Iran would fall short of its promise to
raise its crude exports from 1.1 million barrels a day exports to 2
million in the first few months after the sanctions were lifted. But,
earlier this month, India reportedly agreed to buy a monthly haul of
400,000 barrels a day from Iran starting in April, which would easily
bring Iran's overseas sales above its short-term target. Reuters reported
the deal earlier this month, citing unnamed sources. Iran's exports to
India have climbed from 190,000 barrels a day in January to 540,000
barrels a day in March, overtaking Nigeria as the third-largest oil
exporter to India, Genscape says." http://t.uani.com/1RRgztK
TASS
(Russia): "Sixty
six agreements on cooperation between Kazakhstan and Iran were signed
during the visit Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Iran. Speaking
at a briefing after a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in
Tehran the Kazakh leader said that the sum of the agreements exceeded $2
bln. According to Nazarbayev, the agreements were signed in metallurgical
and mining industries, agricultural sector, transport and logistics,
tourism, science and education and healthcare sector." http://t.uani.com/1S3jZq9
Regional
Destabilization
Al
Arabiya: "After
the arrival of the Saudi deputy crown prince to Jordan on Monday, both
Riyadh and Amman said in a joint statement that they rejected Iranian
interference in the region, Al Arabiya News Channel reported. Deputy
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was welcomed by Jordan's King Abdullah
on Monday in the same day Saudi King Salman finished his five-year visit
to Egypt." http://t.uani.com/1VlzWy2
Syria
Conflict
Reuters: "Four soldiers in Iran's
regular army were killed in Syria, the Tasnim news agency reported on
Monday, only a week after Tehran announced the deployment of army
commandos to help President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war there... To
date, most Iranians involved in the Syrian war have been from the
paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iran is believed to have
sent hundreds as military advisers. But an officer in the Iranian army's
ground force said last week that commandos from the army's Brigade 65 and
other units were sent to Syria as advisers. 'Four of the first military
advisors of the Islamic Republic's army...were killed in Syria by takfiri
groups,' Tasnim reported... Commenting on the deployment of Brigade 65 to
Syria, the commander of ground forces, Brigadier General Hamidreza
Pourdastan, said on Monday it was Iran's new strategy to send more
advisers to the Syrian war." http://t.uani.com/1Nmu7rN
TASS
(Russia):
"Iranian military instructors and advisers help Syria in the fight
against terrorism, and Tehran also supports Damascus in the economic
sphere, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told TASS on
Tuesday. 'There are many Iranian military instructors and advisors in
Syria,' Mekdad said. 'Iran helps Syria a lot in the economic sphere, it
also provides scientific and cultural assistance,' he added. Mekdad noted
that Syrians are thankful to Iranians for their support directed at
preserving the country's unity. 'Relations between Syria and Iran are
strategic, just like Syria's relations with Russia,' he said. The Syrian
deputy foreign minister also noted that the Hezbollah group is also
helping Damascus in fighting against terrorism. 'Syrians have the same
attitude toward the role of Hezbollah in Syria. Hezbollah is defending
Lebanon and the same time fighting against terrorism in the interests of
Syria,' he concluded." http://t.uani.com/1VlzFeL
Foreign
Affairs
Fars
(Iran): "EU
foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is planning to pay an official
visit to Tehran on April 16, an Iranian spokesman said. 'Ms. Mogherini is
due to visit Iran on Saturday April 16 along with a big delegation of EU
Commission members,' Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari
told reporters in his weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday.
'Serious talks will be held between the EU and Iran on political issues
and in other fields,' he added. Stressing the importance of Mogherini's
visit, Jaberi Ansari said, 'We are in a new state of relations with the
EU after the nuclear deal (between Tehran and the world powers clinched
last July).' Addressing a press conference in Brussels in March,
Mogherini had announced her visit to Iran, adding that she would be
accompanied by a delegation of European Commission members for discussion
on bilateral EU-Iran relations, which have new perspectives in sight
following the removal of sanctions on Tehran." http://t.uani.com/23AYwvX
Opinion
& Analysis
Ray
Takeyh in CFR: "In
the recent weeks, a debate has intensified in the Islamic Republic about
the nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has disparaged the purported benefits of the
accord while President Hassan Rouhani continues to defend the deal
negotiated by his administration. In reality, this debate is not about
the nuclear agreement but Iran's economy, if not its identity. And it is
a debate as old as the Islamic Republic itself. At its core, the question
that divides Iran today is whether integration into the global economy
endangers the revolution or ensures the survival of the state. Since the
inception of the theocratic regime in 1979, clerical rulers have been
divided on basic economic issues. The hardliners support private property
and commerce, but are concerned that reliance on exports and foreign
creditors will diminish Iran's independence. In their view, the more Iran
becomes entangled in the global economy, the less it may be willing to
challenge the West. They call for development of Iran's internal markets
and cultivating economic ties with neighboring states such as Iraq and
Afghanistan. Yet the pragmatist wing of Iranian politics considers such
prescriptions inadequate for a country that relies on oil exports for a
substantial portion of its income. Given the nature of Iran's economy and
its citizens' demands for Western products, they see no way out for the
regime other than selling oil and relying on global financial
institutions... For Khamenei and the hardliners, it is the ideological
values of the regime that require preservation. A prosperous Islamic
Republic that has forfeited its revolutionary values, as post-Mao China
has, is a dim prospect for Iran's ideologues. Always suspicious of
foreigners, particularly Westerners, the hardliners see the global
economy as a trap that would engulf the regime and soon change its
complexion. In their telling, the revolution can only survive in
isolation. This debate, as with so many others in Iran, is likely to
remain unresolved for some time. The different factions and institutions
of the Islamic Republic will continue to work at cross-purposes. Rouhani
will seek to tempt foreign investors, while Khamenei will rail against
them. Khamenei will argue against trade, while Rouhani will call for more
commerce. Khamenei will continue to distance himself from the nuclear
accord that Rouhani has no choice but to defend. In the midst of all this
wrangling, many other states are left unsure about whether to invest in a
turbulent Iran. All this makes Iran's 2017 presidential election a
particularly consequential one. It will be at that time that the Islamic
Republic will have its reckoning with its identity crisis." http://t.uani.com/1Sdh9nP
Gen.
Charles Wald & Michael Makovsky in Politico: "Iran is back at its old game
- testing boundaries and provoking its neighbors and the West - this time
through a spate of recent ballistic missiles launches. In response,
Secretary of State John Kerry spoke last week of offering Iran some vague
'new arrangement' to address its ballistic missile program, and many in
Congress have resorted to a tried-and-true response: more sanctions. But
Iran's provocations are taking place in a new political and strategic
context, one fundamentally altered by last summer's nuclear agreement and
the region's spiraling conflicts. In this context, warmed-over U.S.
policies, however well intentioned, are inadequate. The best chance to
stop Tehran's ballistic missile program, box in its ambitions and begin
to restore U.S credibility now comes from boosting America's ballistic
missile defense capabilities, and those of our regional allies, and
threatening to shoot down any ballistic missile Iran launches in the
future. If credibly delivered, such a threat would compel Tehran to back
off its tests... We have the capability to slow, and even set back,
Iran's ballistic missile program. Unfortunately, we lack a policy to
utilize this capability. Sen. Ted Cruz recently declared that as
president he would threaten to shoot down Iranian ballistic missile test
firings, but so far no other presidential candidate of either party or
other leading policymakers have done so. Unless we leave no doubt about
our readiness and willingness to shoot down these missiles, we not only
encourage the further dissolution of U.S. influence and our allies'
insecurity but ultimately allow Iran to continue developing missiles that
could eventually reach the United States." http://t.uani.com/20y8koL
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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