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Stories
The
Local (Italy):
"Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Tuesday became the
highest-ranking European leader to visit Iran since its nuclear deal
with world powers, leaving some questioning his decision to take the
lead... But as the two leaders met again on Tuesday, a host of Italian
dignitaries, including former foreign minister Giulio Terzi, came
together to warn Italy about doing business with the Iranian regime. In
particular, they warned big companies such as Eni, Fiat and
Finmeccanica, that the lucrative trade deals risked damaging their
reputation. 'An environment of risk and uncertainty looms large
for the shareholders and executives of Italian companies considering
doing business in Iran,' they said in a joint statement issued by
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), an organizing aimed at preventing
Iran from having nuclear weapons. 'Their big bet could turn into a
disastrous gamble given the enormous financial, legal, and reputational
risks they would face in re-entering the Iranian market.' They also
said Renzi must 'appreciate that both the American and Italian people
share a deep suspicion of the Iranian regime, particularly given the
heightened intensity of its threatening conduct', and that the Italian
leader should instead focus his efforts on 'pressuring Tehran to halt
its destabilizing and provocative activities, rather than prematurely
rewarding the regime with lucrative business opportunities.'" http://t.uani.com/20Eh3FS
Bloomberg: "A top Treasury Department
official argued against imposing new legislative sanctions on Iran
after its ballistic missile tests last month, even as he said the
Islamic Republic would remain blocked from the U.S. financial system.
'New mandatory non-nuclear sanctions legislation would needlessly risk
undermining our unity with international partners,' Adam Szubin,
Treasury's acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial
intelligence, said at a conference Wednesday in Washington. 'It is
important to make sure our sanctions tools remain effective and are not
overused.' Republicans in Congress are still simmering over the nuclear
accord with Iran that was completed last July and have criticized
President Barack Obama for failing to punish the country for repeatedly
defying a United Nations ballistic missile test ban. Republican
Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Mark Kirk of Illinois have
introduced legislation to bar Iran from access to the U.S. financial
system, including offshore U.S. dollar-clearing houses. The U.S.
already has the ability to impose new sanctions on individuals and
entities for ballistic missile violations, Szubin said, citing
restrictions placed on 11 people after the nuclear accord was reached
last year... While U.S. critics of the nuclear agreement said it would
provide Iran with a windfall, the country's leaders, including Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have complained that the benefits of
sanctions relief remain elusive. European banks have been reluctant to
establish lines of credit or finance investment in Iran due to concerns
about the lack of transparency in the Iranian financial system and a fear
of renewed U.S. sanctions. Szubin said Treasury had seen 'indications
that some non-U.S. banks lack an understanding about the scope of U.S.
sanctions with regard to Iranian funds that were formerly restrained.'
... 'We are in no way blocking Iran's access to these funds,' Szubin
said at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies conference. 'We are
not encouraging banks or other partners to do so.' However, the U.S.
won't provide Iran access to the U.S. financial system, Szubin said,
and there will be no restoration of the 'U-turn'' authorization, where
transactions priced in U.S. dollars are cleared through a U.S.
financial institution even though the money doesn't stay in the U.S.
bank." http://t.uani.com/1Xxo5u9
WSJ: "Foreign auto companies
seeking business in Iran will have to contend with U.S. export-controls
rules that target the global supply chain, as well as an energized
regulator on the beat, experts say. The Iranian auto industry is one of
the many economic sectors Tehran hopes to revive in the wake of the
implementation of the nuclear agreement it struck with global powers.
The country's automotive sector, once one of the nation's top economic
engines, had collapsed in the wake of U.S. sanctions. Although foreign
auto companies weren't prohibited by international sanctions from doing
business with Iran, U.S. secondary sanctions, which target foreign
entities for conduct illegal under U.S. law, pushed some companies out
of the country. Foreign auto companies seeking to do business there in
the wake of the nuclear deal, though, will confront the combined forces
of U.S. sanctions and export-control compliance, and the dance can be
complicated, experts say. The nuclear agreement suspended the secondary
sanctions on foreign firms on the sale or supply of goods and services
to the Iranian auto sector. But it also maintained existing
restrictions from the U.S. that bar both American and foreign
automakers from exporting, or re-exporting, U.S.-origin vehicles or
parts to Iran, according to an FAQ document posted in January on the
U.S. Department of Treasury's website. Sourcing parts throughout the
supply chain will be key for auto companies to comply with the terms of
the agreement, experts said. 'Absent a license, nothing made here [in
the U.S.] can make it there [to Iran],' said Zachary Brez, a New
York-based partner at the law firm Ropes & Gray LLP... 'The largest
challenge they're going to have is to what extent you can build a car
these days without U.S. parts,' said Mr. Burns. 'That's going to be
tough,' he said... It's 'quite impractical' to entirely avoid
U.S.-origin parts, said Douglas Jacobson, an international trade expert
at the firm Jacobson Burton Kelley PLLC, because of the interconnected
supply chains that go into creating those parts in the first
place." http://t.uani.com/1p0MFb5
U.S.-Iran
Relations
AP: "Stop us if you've heard this
one. Three guys walk into ... the Iranian Interests Section in
Washington. They're Republican congressmen and they did actually march
into the office that represents Tehran's only official government
presence in Washington to apply in person for visas to travel to Iran.
That was more than two months ago and they still don't have an answer.
So they fired off a letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif asking him what gives. 'If you reject our visa applications,
please provide an explanation,' wrote GOP Reps. Mike Pompeo of Kansas,
Lee Zeldin of New York and Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey in the letter
to Zarif released Wednesday. All three lawmakers opposed the landmark
international nuclear deal with Iran. The congressmen have outlined
what amounts to a Republican fantasy trip, which may account for what
they called the 'ridicule and delay' their request has generated inside
Iran. They want to visit American hostages held by the Iranians and get
briefings on the detention in January of 10 American sailors who
strayed into Iranian territorial waters. They're also pushing for trips
to three Iranian nuclear sites and to get information about Iran's
recent ballistic missile tests that many Republicans contend violate a
U.N. resolution." http://t.uani.com/2635DiO
Free
Beacon: "Treasury
Department officials are moving to reassure Congress that Iran will not
be granted access to U.S. financial markets following comments by top
Obama administration officials suggesting such a plan was under
consideration, according to correspondence obtained by the Washington
Free Beacon and conversations with congressional sources. The
administration had promised Congress that Iran would not be granted
access U.S. financial markets as a result of the recently implemented
nuclear agreement. However, top officials from the State Department had
recently discussed the possibility of granting Iran unprecedented
access to U.S. dollars when conducting foreign transactions. The
statements triggered a backlash from lawmakers in both parties,
necessitating what some described as a cleanup campaign by top Treasury
officials. The interagency tension is coming to light as Obama
administration officials have sparred over a recent decision to avoid
classifying Iranian ballistic missile tests as a violation of the United
Nations resolution governing the nuclear deal, which the Free Beacon
reported on Tuesday. Asked by senior congressional officials last week
to explain the discrepancy in the administration's statements over the
dollar issue, the Treasury Department vowed that Iran would not be
granted access to the dollar, according to a copy of the exchange
obtained by the Free Beacon. 'We aren't planning on allowing access to
the U.S. financial system or making sure that Iran gets U.S. dollars,'
the Treasury Department wrote. 'We aren't planning on issuing the
general licenses [to foreign banks] that have been described' in media
reports. However, officials will instruct foreign banks on how to
release billions of dollars in frozen assets to Iran that have been freed
up as a result of the nuclear agreement." http://t.uani.com/1NpQmxa
Business
Risk
Al-Monitor: "Iranian officials and media
have hailed the trip of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to Iran as
a new era in economic and diplomatic cooperation between Iran and
Europe. However, despite the positive reception and billions in
economic agreements signed, there are still people in the country who
feel visits by European leaders have failed to produce tangible
benefits... Media close to the administration also covered the trip
between Renzi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei favorably. The
headline in Iran Newspaper focused on Khamenei's positive assessment of
Iran-Italy ties. What the headline omitted and what media critical of
Rouhani's outreach to the West did cover in their headlines was
Khamenei's criticism that the trips by European leaders have so far had
no tangible benefits. 'Some European countries and companies are
traveling to Iran and negotiating [business deals], but the outcome of
these negotiations until now cannot be sensed,' Khamenei told Renzi. He
added, 'Some people put the blame of this issue on the shoulders of the
Americans.' Khamenei's reference was to the remaining US sanctions
preventing Iran from conducting business in US dollars; this has caused
many European businesses to hesitate about doing business with Iran.
There is still confusion in Iran about these sanctions. On April 13, four
Iranian parliamentarians asked Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's
Central Bank, to clarify precisely which banking sanctions have been
removed. Khamenei's comments, and the focus that a number of
conservative and hard-line media such as Kayhan and Vatan-e Emrooz
placed on them, show that despite the victorious tone of Reformist
media, the Rouhani administration is still facing serious economic
challenges domestically." http://t.uani.com/1YvgQTR
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters: "Italy on Wednesday became
the first European country to take steps to help its fashion industry
build a stronger presence in Iran following the lifting of Western
sanctions. The two countries signed an agreement during a two-day visit
by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi with a delegation of business
leaders to increase trade between Italy and Iran and reinforce
industrial cooperation. The deal was signed by the National Textiles
and Fashion Association Sistema Moda Italia (SMI), which represents a
sector worth more than 52 billion euros ($59 billion) in revenues, and
its Iranian counterpart the Tehran Garment Union (TGU). It aims to cut
red tape and make it easier for Italian companies to obtain the TGU
licence required to operate in Iran. Some analysts estimate the
oil-rich Islamic Republic of nearly 80 million people has more than 3
million high net worth individuals who are major and regular buyers of
luxury goods. 'Iran could be an interesting expansion market, probably
worth about 2 per cent of the global luxury market, once developed,'
Exane BNP Paribas analyst Luca Solca said... Setting up businesses in
Iran is also no easy task, executives and consultants say, due to a
lack of appropriate retail infrastructure, high tariffs and banking
restrictions. A lack of enforcement of international trademark
protection agreements also means Iran is flooded with counterfeits.
Italian firms appear to have adopted a more proactive attitude than their
French luxury and fashion rivals. In February, Florence-based fashion
house Roberto Cavalli opened its first shop in Iran, in the footsteps
of leather goods maker Piquadro and men's shirt company Camicissima.
Versace is due to open a flagship boutique in Tehran soon, in franchise
with a local commercial partner. Several French groups, however,
including Chanel, Gucci owner Kering and LVMH's, have been adopting a
'wait and see' attitude until the evolution of Iran's international
relations became clearer. Some French brands such as the
family-controlled handbag maker Longchamp and crystal maker Lalique,
are looking for distribution partners but have no plans to open
boutiques. 'For us Iran is a new region to conquer,' said Lalique Chief
Executive and controlling shareholder Silvio Denz, who has been opening
new markets for the brand's crystal jewellery and home wear items over
the past decade. One of the first big French
companies to invest directly in Iran is LVMH's cosmetics retailer Sephora.
It is in talks to open two to three shops in Teheran by the autumn, in
partnership with an Iranian partner and the Middle Eastern luxury goods
distributor Chalhoub, a source close to LVMH told Reuters." http://t.uani.com/1Scn5ub
Saudi-Iran
Tensions
Mehr
(Iran):
"Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif has attend the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) ministerial meeting in Istanbul, warns Saudi
Arabia on possible agenda against Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah. The OIC
expert meeting kicked off on Sunday and Zarif joined the meeting on
Tuesday where he recommended Saudi officials to learn lessons from the
past doomed fate of Baathist foreign minister of Iraq, Tariq Aziz.
Zarif was reacting to an initiative by Saudi Arabia in 4 articles
against Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah in single article in preparing the
draft of the OIC final statement which had support of its allies in the
Persian Gulf. Zarif criticized the initiative as violating the spirit
of the Islamic solidarity and unity and as a project which would serve
Zionist interests in the region. 'Time has passed when Iran was
indifferent to Saddam Hussein's anti-Iranian resolutions in the
Organization which also had won the favor of Persian Gulf countries;
Saudi officials should learn lessons from the history and avoid going
in the same path which was doomed; condemning Hezbollah would only
serve Zionist regime,' he emphasized." http://t.uani.com/1p0PSak
Human
Rights
UN: "UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Thursday appealed to Iran to halt
executions for drug offences until Parliament debates a new law that would
remove the mandatory death penalty for drug crimes. Five men were
hanged last weekend, three of them on charges of narcotics trafficking.
The other two men were convicted of murder. In at least one of the
cases, that of Rashid Kouhi, there were serious concerns about the
fairness of the trial and the denial of his right to appeal. Kouhi was
sentenced to death in 2012 after he was found in possession of 800
grams of crystal meth. He was executed on Saturday, 9 April in Gilan
province in northern Iran. Last year, at least 966 people were executed
in Iran - the highest rate in more than two decades - the majority for
drug offences. At least four of those executed in 2015 were juveniles.
However, in December last year, 70 Members of Parliament presented a bill
to amend the existing mandatory death penalty for drug offences. The
bill, which was introduced in Parliament in January this year, provides
for life imprisonment in such cases. It remains to be seen whether it
will be taken forward in the new Parliament. 'There have been
encouraging signs from within Iran towards reform of the law, from the
judiciary, the executive and the legislature and I hope the new
parliament will adopt these changes. But it is unfortunate that
executions for drug-related offences - crimes that clearly do not meet
the threshold under international human rights law for application of
the death penalty - continue to be carried out in the meantime,' High
Commissioner Zeid said." http://t.uani.com/2636MqD
Times
of Israel:
"An Iranian pilot who defected to Turkey last year is threatening
to seek asylum in Israel and work openly to undermine the regime in
Iran if it does not cease what he says are its intimidation tactics
against the wife and son he left behind. Major Ahmad-Reza Khosravi, 39,
a pilot in the helicopter unit of the Iranian Security Services, fled
Iran to Turkey in March 2015 after he was refused repeated requests to
be discharged from the military, requests he made due to ideological
differences with the regime. Recently the subject of an apparent kidnap
plan to bring him back to Iran, Khosravi has now gone public with his
criticism of the Iranian leadership. In a face-to-face interview with
The Times of Israel in the Turkish city of Van where he is now
residing, Khosravi said if the regime does not stop threatening his
wife and son, who are still in Iran, he will seek to harm the regime in
any way he can. 'If you do not leave me alone and stop harassing my
family, I will seek asylum in Israel and start fighting you, even with
arms,' Khosravi said, in a message to Iran's leaders that he delivered
in the interview with the Times of Israel's Persian edition." http://t.uani.com/23HIVL5
Runner's
World: "On
April 9, Iran's Naqsh-e Rustam, an approximately 3,000-year-old
necropolis, received a rare jolt of animation. Under a large,
inflatable starting arch and to the tune of loud Iranian pop music, 158
male runners from around the world set forth on I run Iran, the
country's first marathon. But two hours before the starting gun, two
women-Masoumeh Torabi, 42, of Tehran, and a woman identified as Elham
on the race site-started their own race in protest of a rule that
disallowed females to participate in the inaugural event. In 2015,
after race organizer Sebastian Straten got official approval, local
authorities announced that women would not be allowed to run." http://t.uani.com/1qUDR8j
Opinion
& Analysis
Dominic
Dudley in Forbes:
"Most of the sanctions on Iran were lifted earlier this year, but
the expected rush of international investment has yet to follow.
Instead, things have been going frustratingly slowly when it comes to
deals being signed. Trade delegations from Europe and Asia have been
filling hotel rooms in Tehran, keen to find out more about a country of
80 million consumers and a well-diversified economy that is the 18th
largest in the world. But not too many of these missions have led to
contracts being signed or investments being made. There are a few good
reasons for the impasse, both inside Iran and outside the country. Here
are the biggest problems holding things back." http://t.uani.com/1NpMSLb
Farzin
Nadimi in WINEP:
"Following a string of unverified reports and social media
photographs suggesting that members of the Iranian national army (or
Artesh) had been deployed to Syria, their presence was confirmed this
week via new casualty announcements and official remarks. As suspected,
army personnel have been involved in fighting around the same areas
where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) previously
established a presence, namely Damascus and Aleppo. On April 10,
reports emerged that a sergeant from the 65th 'Nohed' Special Airborne
Brigade had been killed in Syria. The next day, Iranian media reported
that Col. Mojtaba Zolfaghari-Nasab, head of intelligence for the 45th
Special Forces Brigade, had been killed in action as well, along with
an officer from the 2nd Brigade, 58th Special Forces Division (a rapid
response unit), an officer from the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade,
88th Armored Division, and at least one other officer. They were
reportedly killed in firefights with the al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel
group Jabhat al-Nusra in the Hani Touman and Zitan districts southwest
of Aleppo; in addition, several army personnel were wounded. Also on
Monday, army commander Gen. Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan officially confirmed
for the first time that members of the elite 65th Airborne Brigade and other
branches of the national armed forces have been fulfilling 'advisory'
and intelligence-collection roles in Syria. The 65th Brigade was formed
in 1959 as the 23rd Special Forces Brigade, complete with an irregular
warfare school; American Special Forces advisors helped with its
establishment. The brigade was reorganized and renamed in 1991 and now
maintains an elite unit specializing in counterterrorism and hostage
rescue operations... One possible explanation for Tehran's decision to
employ Artesh elements in Syria could be to improve public opinion on
what has become an unpopular and relatively costly foreign adventure.
The Revolutionary Guards play a primary role in fighting the Iranian
regime's domestic and foreign enemies, and they proved in 2009 that
they can be ruthless in quelling civil unrest. Partly as a result of
this reputation, the IRGC's insistence on supporting militant groups in
Syria and elsewhere has failed to win the hearts and minds of
mainstream Iranians, so regime leaders may be hoping that the presence
and sacrifices of the popular national armed forces will attract more
support among the people. This tactic could backfire, however, if
Artesh casualties in Syria continue to mount." http://t.uani.com/23xMhUu
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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