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Stories
WashPost: "The U.S. Navy has
confiscated a cache of weapons that it believes was being transported
from Iran to Houthi rebels in Yemen, marking at least the third time in
two months that such a shipment was stopped, Navy officials said. Naval
forces aboard the USS Sirocco, a coastal patrol ship, intercepted and
seized the weapons March 28 from a small craft commonly known as a dhow
in the Arabian Sea, the Navy announced Monday. The cache included about
1,500 Kalashnikov rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 21
.50-caliber machine guns, the Navy said. Naval forces aboard the USS
Gravely, a larger guided-missile destroyer, also responded. The dhow
and its crew were allowed to depart after the weapons were seized.
Photos released Monday by the Navy show the weapons lined up on the
Gravely. 'Our naval forces, and those of our partners, will continue to
conduct maritime security operations in the region in order to disrupt
the flow of illicit weapons to Houthi insurgents in Yemen,' said Cmdr.
Kevin Stephens, a Navy spokesman in the Middle East. 'These weapons
only serve to exacerbate the situation there and prolong the conflict.'
In earlier seizures, the Royal Australian Navy's HMAS Darwin
intercepted a craft Feb. 27 that was carrying nearly 2,000 Kalashnikov rifles,
100 RPG launchers, 49 PKM machine guns, 39 PKM machine gun barrels and
20 60mm mortar tubes. In another incident, the French navy destroyer FS
Provence intercepted a ship March 20 that was carrying about 2,000
Kalashnikov rifles, 64 Dragunov marksman rifles, nine antitank missiles
and other equipment, the Navy said. The ships are part of the Combined
Maritime Forces led by Adm. Kevin Donegan, the commander of U.S. Naval
Forces Central Command." http://t.uani.com/1V6M0m6
WSJ: "A Singapore man has been
extradited to the U.S. to face charges he illegally shipped electronic
devices to Iran that ended up in roadside bombs targeting U.S. soldiers
in Iraq. Lim Yong Nam, 42 years old, also known as Steven Lim, was
indicted by a U.S. grand jury in 2010 along with four others and a
handful of companies on charges they conspired to violate U.S.
sanctions against Iran. Mr. Lim had been detained in Indonesia since
October 2014. Mr. Lim, according to the indictment, was an owner and
director of a firm called NEL Electronics, Ltd., based in Singapore. He
faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., smuggling, illegal
export from the U.S. to Iran, false statements to the U.S. government
and false statements to law enforcement. Mr. Lim appeared before a
federal judge in Washington, D.C., Monday and pleaded not guilty to the
charges. He was held without bail pending a hearing next week. His
lawyer didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. Two other
suspects charged in the indictment pleaded guilty in 2013 to a related
but separate case involving the sale of military antennas. U.S.
prosecutors said Mr. Lim was part of a conspiracy to obtain thousands
of radio frequency modules built in Minnesota that were shipped to Iran
before they were found in roadside bombs in Iraq... Some modules with
serial numbers matching those shipments were later found in roadside
bombs-also called improvised explosive devices-found in Iraq in 2008,
2009 and 2010, officials said." http://t.uani.com/1q3dL1U
AFP: "Italian Prime Minister
Matteo Renzi will travel to Iran next week for a two-day trip that will
make him the first major leader to visit since the lifting of
international sanctions against Tehran. Renzi's office said in a
statement Monday that the centre-left premier would be in the Islamic
Republic on April 12 and 13, without giving further details of his
itinerary. Italy has led the way among Western countries in
re-establishing economic ties to Iran following the lifting of
international sanctions imposed over concerns the country was seeking
to develop a nuclear weapons capacity... Renzi's trip follows Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Italy and France at the end of
January -- a trip which resulted in a string of major trade and
investment deals being signed between Tehran and the two European
countries. Contracts worth an estimated 17 billion euros ($18 billion)
were signed in Rome and Rouhani said he hoped that would represent only
a start, as he pitched Iran as a safe base for investors looking to get
into a regional market of 300 million consumers... Italy was Iran's
largest European trade partner before the impact of sanctions caused
exchanges between the two countries to collapse. As he seeks to
consolidate Italy's early lead in the race for business deals, Renzi
has also unveiled plans for cultural and academic exchanges. When
Rouhani was in Rome in he talked of reconstructing a relationship
between 'two superpowers of beauty and culture' that dates back to the
days of the ancient Roman and Persian empires. Rouhani's visit however
also prompted criticism that Renzi's government was going too far in
its efforts to charm Iran's theocratic regime. It emerged just after
Rouhani had left Rome that ancient nude statues in the capital's City
Hall had been covered up by wooden boxes to spare the Iranian president
any possible embarrassment." http://t.uani.com/1MPYDj1
Nuclear
& Ballistic Missile Program
AP: "Secretary of State John
Kerry on Tuesday defended the landmark nuclear deal the United States
made with Iran ahead of a congressional hearing where Senate
Republicans are expected to hammer the Obama administration for
considering the easing of financial restrictions against Tehran. Kerry
acknowledged the harsh criticism of the arrangement, which is designed
to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, telling MSNBC there's a
furious debate even in Iran over whether Tehran should choose missiles
over dialogue. 'I think what you're seeing there is tension' between
moderates and hard-liners over Iran's future course, Kerry said.
Kerry's remarks came just hours ahead of a scheduled hearing by the
GOP-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the implementation of the
nuclear accord. Thomas Shannon, the undersecretary of state for
political affairs, will testify. The committee's hearing comes amid
reports that the administration may relax the prohibition that prevents
U.S. dollars from being used in transactions with Iran. Angry
lawmakers, who contend the U.S. was taken advantage of in the deal,
have countered that Tehran would be getting more than it deserves from
the international nuclear pact reached last year... Kerry told MSNBC
that Iran 'needs to make some clear decisions about the role that it
intends to play in the region and the world.' Kerry added, 'if they're
cheating, we will know it.' Members of the committee also may press
Shannon on the need for stricter sanctions against Iran for what Republicans
have called repeated violations of a U.N. ballistic missile test
ban." http://t.uani.com/1SNfySn
U.S.-Iran
Relations
Reuters: "The Obama administration
does not plan to give Iran access to the U.S. financial system, a State
Department spokesman said on Monday. 'The administration has not been
and is not planning to grant Iran access to the U.S. financial system,'
State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at a briefing. On
Friday, President Barack Obama said the United States was not looking
to permit the use of its financial system for dollar-denominated
transactions with Iran, and said foreign companies could work through
European banks." http://t.uani.com/1q3bLXt
Sanctions
Enforcement
WSJ: "Chinese telecommunications
giant ZTE Corp. on Tuesday announced an overhaul of its top management,
replacing three of its most senior executives including its chief
executive. The changes come as ZTE, which sells networking equipment as
well as smartphones, tries to rebuild its business and reputation after
it was accused of violating U.S. trade rules. Last month, the U.S.
Commerce Department slapped trade sanctions on ZTE, alleging it
violated rules that restrict exports of American technological goods to
Iran and other nations. The sanctions blocked ZTE's access to supplies
of U.S. components and software, creating a major threat to the Chinese
company's operations. But the U.S. government recently agreed to lift
the trade sanctions temporarily." http://t.uani.com/23dlnh5
Business
Risk
Reuters: "Air France said it would
allow female cabin crew and pilots to opt out of flying routes to
Tehran after some staff said they did not want to be forced to cover
their hair when in Iran. Air France, part of the Franco-Dutch group Air
France-KLM, is preparing to restart flights to Tehran from April 17
after an eight-year hiatus due to sanctions. After a meeting between
Air France management and unions on Monday, the French carrier said it
would offer female staff the choice of opting out of the flights. Under
Iranian law, women must cover their hair in public places. Unions had
raised concerns over an Air France ruling obliging female crew to wear
a headscarf on leaving a plane... 'This obligation does not apply
during the flight and is respected by all international airlines
serving the Republic of Iran,' Air France said in a statement on
Monday. A spokeswoman for British Airways, part of International
Consolidated Airlines Group, which is planning to restart flights to
Iran from Heathrow on July 14, said it would make recommendations to
its crew nearer the time." http://t.uani.com/1SNffqN
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters: "Bank Muscat has received all
regulatory approvals to open a representative office in Iran, Oman's
largest lender said in a bourse filing on Tuesday. 'The bank is in the
process of registering the representative office and expects it to open
later in 2016,' Bank Muscat said. On Feb. 25, the bank said it planned
to open an office in Iran. Bank Muscat appears to be one of the first
foreign financial firms to establish a presence in Iran since the
international sanctions, imposed over Tehran's disputed nuclear
programme, were lifted in January. Many international lenders continue
to shun dealing with Iranian clients for fear of falling foul of the
many other restrictions imposed by the United States that remain in
force." http://t.uani.com/203DROY
Syria
Conflict
Press
TV (Iran):
"An Iranian military official says commandos from an Iranian army
unit have been deployed to Syria on an advisory mission. Brigadier
General Ali Arasteh, the deputy for coordination in the Iranian Army's
Ground Forces, told Tasnim news agency on Monday that the Iranian
commandos, from Brigade 65 of the Forces, had took on a mission of
advising Syrian forces." http://t.uani.com/1V6JFaR
AP: "The Obama administration is
making the case that Iran is drawing down its elite fighting force from
Syria in an effort to allay fears that Tehran is using its powerful
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria to strengthen its influence
across the Middle East. Yet the Iranian government said Monday it has
dispatched commandos to the war and it is still taking high-ranking
casualties. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is deeply involved in
trying to broker a political solution to end the five-year-old civil
war between President Bashar Assad and rebels, told Congress in late
February that Iran was recalling its IRGC forces from Syria. 'On Iran,
let me just inform everybody here that the IRGC has actually pulled its
troops back from Syria,' Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs
Committee. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 'pulled a
significant number of troops out. Their presence is actually reduced in
Syria.' ... But experts say that even if the IRGC has trimmed forces,
the pro-Iranian Shiite militias Tehran helped create are still
fighting. Iran stepped up its fighting in Syria in October 2015,
sending mainly IRGC officers to direct Shiite foot soldiers from other
nations, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. 'Iran has done so
much to strengthen the Assad regime - stabilize the Assad regime -
through the creation of these militia groups,' said Scott Modell, a
former CIA officer who has conducted operations throughout the Middle
East. 'They don't want to just build up their militia groups and leave.
This is their way of creating a lasting footprint' across the region,
he said. 'This isn't Russia where they make sure to shore up Assad and
then they downsize.'" http://t.uani.com/1PRChby
Saudi-Iran
Tensions
Reuters: "Saudi Arabia has suspended
licenses granted to Iran's Mahan Air to fly through its air space or
land at its airports due to violations of local safety rules, the
General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said on Monday. Aviation
sources said in January that around 150 direct flights between Iran and
Saudi Arabia that carry thousands of pilgrims every month had been
halted after Riyadh severed diplomatic relations with Tehran. The GACA
said in a statement that several violations related to airline safety
had been committed by flights operated by Mahan Air to the kingdom,
'prompting the suspension of licenses granted to the company'. 'This
decision comes in the context of the GACA (regarding)the safety of
passengers and to preserve their lives,' the statement said. There was
no immediate official comment from Iranian officials. Saudi Foreign
Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters in January that the kingdom had
halted trade and flights with Iran as part of a diplomatic response to
Iranian protesters storming the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after the
execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric by Riyadh." http://t.uani.com/1qntERA
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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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