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Reuters: "The U.S. Supreme Court on
Wednesday ruled that almost $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets must be
turned over to American families of people killed in the 1983 bombing
of a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks blamed on
Iran. The court's 6-2 ruling dealt a setback to Iran's central bank,
finding that the U.S. Congress did not usurp the authority of American
courts by passing a 2012 law stating that the frozen funds should go
toward satisfying a $2.65 billion judgment won by the families against
Iran in U.S. federal court in 2007. Bank Markazi had challenged a 2014
ruling by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the
assets, bonds held in a trust account overseen by former federal judge
Stanley Sporkin, should be handed over to the more than 1,000 American
plaintiffs. With the legal questions resolved, lawyers for the
plaintiffs said all that is left is for a federal judge to allow
Sporkin to distribute the funds. The lead plaintiff was Deborah
Peterson, whose brother, Marine Lance Corporal James Knipple, died in
the Beirut bombing. Peterson said for her the legal fight has never
been about the just money. 'The mission was for those responsible for
the bombing to be held accountable and for the world to understand what
happened in Beirut,' Peterson said. Ted Olson, the lawyer for the
victims who argued the case before the Supreme Court, said the ruling
brings 'long-overdue relief to more than 1,000 victims of Iranian
terrorism and their families, many of whom have waited decades for
redress.' ... Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who
authored the 2012 legislation in question, called the ruling 'a
long-awaited victory for justice.' 'So long as Iran continues its
support for terrorism, its regime will be held liable for its actions,'
Menendez said. The Obama administration filed court papers backing the
families. The assets held in New York were part of the Iranian bank's
foreign currency reserves. They were traced to a Citibank account in
New York held by Luxemburg-based Clearstream Banking, which acted as a
intermediary for Banca UBAE, an Italian bank of which Bank Markazi is a
customer." http://t.uani.com/23LsSiO
WSJ: "President Barack Obama was
holding talks Thursday with leaders from the six-nation bloc of Persian
Gulf countries in an effort to repair relations and bridge differences
over issues ranging from Iran to the fight against terror. During the
summit in the Saudi capital, Mr. Obama was expected to reassure the
Gulf Cooperation Council that the U.S. remains committed to supporting
the security and sovereignty of its Gulf partners. But with deep
divisions between Washington and Gulf governments over how to calm
sectarian tensions and respond to Iranian aggression, the president was
also expected to face frustration toward the U.S. and its evolving
approach to the region. Mr. Obama and leaders from Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman were expected
to spend about four hours working their way through an ambitious agenda
that includes Iran, ongoing regional conflicts and the fight against
Islamic State and al Qaeda. The president was scheduled to deliver a
statement at the conclusion of the talks and then depart for London...
The summit came one year after Mr. Obama met with Gulf leaders at Camp
David to address concerns about the Iran nuclear deal, a meeting that
Saudi's King Salman chose not to attend in what was seen as a show of
his government's displeasure over the pact. Tensions have continued to
build since the group last assembled, and expectations remained low for
major announcements at the summit's conclusion... Washington and Riyadh
both say they want to contain Iran's destabilizing regional role, but
their approaches are fundamentally different. While the Obama
administration has pursued a policy of dialogue, culminating in last
year's nuclear deal, the kingdom has done the opposite, pushing to
isolate Tehran... Mr. Rhodes said Thursday that U.S. and Saudi Arabia
have similar assessments of Iran's destabilizing activities, but the
president still is urging Gulf states to remain open to diplomatic
solutions. 'We certainly understand this is their neighborhood, that
they're worried about Iran and what its agenda is and the actions that
they've taken,' he said. 'My point is simply that concern with Iran
should not foreclose the potential for diplomatic engagement if there's
an ability to resolve problems.'" http://t.uani.com/1MKjaFT
Reuters: "U.S. President Barack Obama
met Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday to seek joint action on
security threats including Iran and Islamic State - and to talk through
tensions between the two allies that have been laid bare in recent
weeks. Obama's fourth and likely last visit to the world's top oil
exporter has been overshadowed by Gulf Arab exasperation with his
approach to the region, and doubts about Washington's commitment to
their security. Most of the Gulf Arab monarchies have in private been
sorely disappointed by Obama's presidency, regarding it as a period in
which the United States has pulled back from the region, giving more
space to their arch rival Iran to expand its influence. Obama met for
two hours with Salman and a group of top princes and officials at the
opulent Erga palace, a meeting that had been forecast to be awkward...
'The two leaders reaffirmed the historic friendship and deep strategic
partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia,' the White
House said in a statement... 'More broadly, the president and King
discussed the challenges posed by Iran's provocative activities in the
region, agreeing on the importance of an inclusive approach to
de-escalating regional conflicts,' the White House said." http://t.uani.com/1U6EaIq
Nuclear
& Ballistic Missile Program
Fars
(Iran):
"Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned the world powers of
Tehran's serious reaction to their lagging and delay in implementing
their undertakings under the Vienna nuclear agreement. 'We should
monitor and verify the other side's performance,' Rouhani said,
addressing a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday. 'If we see any
lagging and shortages from the other side, we should certainly show
serious reaction,' he added." http://t.uani.com/23Lt15U
Free
Beacon: "Iran
this week conducted the first launch of a new rocket that the Pentagon
views as a key element of Tehran's effort to build long-range missiles.
The launch of the Simorgh space launch vehicle on Tuesday was judged by
U.S. intelligence agencies to be partly successful but did not reach
orbit, said defense officials familiar with reports of the test. 'It
was either an unsuccessful launch, or a test of third stage' not meant
to place a satellite in orbit, said a U.S. defense official familiar
with reports of the test. No other details of the test launch could be
learned... The large liquid-fueled rocket has been under close
surveillance by U.S. satellites and other intelligence assets at a
launch pad at Iran's Semnan satellite launch center, located about 125
miles east of Tehran. The Simorgh launch had been anticipated since
March and comes amid growing worries about Iran's development of
long-range missiles." http://t.uani.com/1NDbtMC
U.S.-Iran
Relations
NYT: "Iran's foreign minister on
Wednesday disputed suggestions that Iran now wanted access to the
American financial system as part of the nuclear accord, which has not
yet yielded the economic infusion that Iranians foresaw after the deal
took effect in January. But the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif,
also said American officials must be 'much more proactive' in assuring
other countries that they could do business in Iran without risking
penalties from the United States. 'We never asked to have access to
your financial system,' Mr. Zarif said. 'What we asked was to implement
the nuclear deal, which requires the United States to allow European
financial institutions to have peace of mind for dealing with Iran.'
Mr. Zarif spoke in an interview with members of The New York Times
editorial board, one day after he met with Secretary of State John
Kerry at the United Nations to discuss the financial complications that
have now become an issue in ensuring that the nuclear accord's
intentions are fulfilled." http://t.uani.com/1VDZVAY
Politico: "President Barack Obama is
unlikely to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran before leaving office,
one of the president's top national security aides said Thursday. 'I
think the trip to Cuba was probably enough in terms of, you know,
breaking a longstanding taboo,' deputy national security adviser Ben
Rhodes told reporters at a news briefing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Rhodes suggested that the administration would continue to 'engage with
Iranians where we see an opportunity to make progress,' mostly through
the diplomatic channel between Secretary of State John Kerry and
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. 'The president has
always indicated that he is willing to engage the Iranian leadership if
he believes that that could make progress on different issues. He's
spoken to President Rouhani on the phone,' Rhodes said. 'The fact of
the matter is, we haven't seen from the Iranians, I think, a desire for
that level of engagement. They've really focused on the channel between
our foreign ministers. And so, that's where I think it's most likely to
continue.'" http://t.uani.com/2445Ct5
Free
Beacon:
"President Barack Obama has sent two letters to senior Iranian
leaders in recent months requesting a meeting with Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani, according to Persian language reports recently
translated by a Middle East research organization. 'President Obama
asked to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in two secret
letters sent in late March to both Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
and President Rouhani,' according to the Middle East Media Research
Institute, or MEMRI, which translated a Farsi-language report published
Tuesday by a website affiliated with Iran's Green movement. Obama
purportedly wrote in the correspondence 'that Iran has a limited-time
opportunity to cooperate with the U.S. in order to resolve the problems
in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and promised that if Iran agreed to a
meeting between him and Rouhani, he would be willing to participate in
any conference to this end,' according to MEMRI's translation of the
report." http://t.uani.com/23Lsl0i
Business
Risk
AFP: "Iran may technically be open
to foreign investors after a nuclear deal with Western powers, but many
sanctions remain, deterring potential business partners who fear the US
could hit them again with punishing fines. In January, the United
States and other Western powers lifted sanctions related to Tehran's
nuclear programme, mostly on oil exports and financial transactions.
But it remains on Washington's sanctions list in other areas, notably
for allegedly supporting terrorism and its human rights record. 'Iran
sanctions are still very much alive,' Farhad Alavi, a US-based lawyer
specialising in sanctions application, told AFP... 'As we offer banking
services through our US operations we are required to continue to
restrict business activity with Iran,' Barclays chief executive Jes
Staley said." http://t.uani.com/2444LZx
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters: "Italian engineering firm
Maire Tecnimont is upbeat on prospects in Iran after signing a
memorandum of understanding this year worth around 2 billion euros
($2.27 billion) with more in the pipeline, its chief executive said.
'We feel especially confident because we're the only western contractor
that stayed in Iran after the sanctions,' Pierroberto Folgiero told
Reuters." http://t.uani.com/1qEWBrC
Trend: "German Vice Chancellor and
Federal Minister for the Economy and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel will visit
Iran May 2, the Iranian oil ministry's SHANA news agency reported.
Leading an economic delegation, which consists of the country's major
companies' representatives, Gabriel is scheduled to take part in the
joint Iran-Germany economic commission's meeting. Iran's Economy
Minister Ali Tayebnia will head the Iranian side at the event which will
be held May 2-4. The upcoming meeting will be the first session of
Iran-Germany joint economic commission after 15 years. The last meeting
was held in 2001. After the nuclear deal signed between Iran and the
world powers last July, Gabriel led the first top level German
delegation to Tehran in 13 years." http://t.uani.com/210q789
AP: "Iran won't consider a
production freeze until it reaches its pre-sanctions level of output of
4.2 million barrels a day, a senior energy official said Thursday.
Mehdi Hosseini, who heads the oil contracts revision committee at
Iran's Petroleum Ministry, said a freeze at anything less than that
would be a continuation of the sanctions imposed on his country as a
result of its disputed nuclear program. 'Our pre-sanction production
was something around 4.2 (million barrels per day), and our exports was
something around 2.5, 2.6 (million barrels per day) or so' Hosseini
said on the margins of an oil conference in Paris. 'Therefore any other
figure less than that it means another sanction against ourselves. It
is something we cannot accept.'" http://t.uani.com/1MKiQH6
Domestic
Politics
Reuters: "Campaigning for Iran's
parliamentary runoffs next week began on Thursday, state radio
reported, when allies of President Hassan Rouhani and their hardline
rivals will compete to secure a majority after an inconclusive election
earlier this year. Rouhani supporters made big gains in a general
election in February, especially in Tehran. They fell short of a
parliamentary majority but won enough seats to ensure conservatives
lost the upper hand in the house... The race on April 29 could decide
who will control the 290-seat house. Some 136 candidates will run for
68 seats representing constituencies where in February nobody secured a
required 25 percent of votes... In February, conservatives won about
112 seats in parliament, reformers and centrists 91 seats and
independents and religious minorities 18 seats, a tally by Reuters
showed, compiled in the absence of official numbers... The new
parliament and the Assembly of Experts will start work on May 27."
http://t.uani.com/2443hhM
Opinion
& Analysis
Foreign
Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif in WashPost: "Nearly three years ago, the
newly elected Iranian president called for constructive engagement on a
momentous undertaking: resolving the nuclear crisis dividing Iran and
the West. The fruit of 22 months of unprecedented diplomacy - the
historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - wasformally
implemented in January. Yet despite this important achievement, the
worrying reality is that we now face a far greater challenge. Those who
once hid behind the smoke screen of the artificial crisis over my
country's peaceful nuclear program have stepped up their damaging
adventurism. Driven by desperation, they have resorted to measures that
all of us will have to live with over the coming years and, possibly,
decades. Allow me to explain... During the intensive negotiations over
complex issues surrounding Iran's nuclear energy program, my country
insisted at every turn that our defenses were not on the table. But our
argument was not centered on sovereignty, nor on the fact that our military
is vastly outspent by those of many of our Western-allied neighbors. We
simply made reference to the recent past. In 1980, in the aftermath of
the Islamic Revolution, Iraq's Saddam Hussein launched a war against
Iran fully supported financially and militarily by almost all of our
Arab neighbors and by the West. Unable to secure a quick victory,
Hussein used chemical weapons against our soldiers and civilians. The
West not only did nothing to prevent this, it armed Saddam with
sophisticated weapons, while actively preventing Iran from getting
access to the most rudimentary defensive necessities. And during the
eight long years that this war continued, the U.N. Security Council did
not issue a single condemnation of the aggression, the deliberate
targeting of civilians or the use of chemical weapons. This may have
been forgotten by most in the West, but it is not forgotten by our
people. They remember the missiles raining down, the horrific images of
men, women and children murdered with chemical weapons and, above all,
the lack of a modern means of defense. On top of this, having listened
to the outdated U.S. mantra of 'all options are on the table' for 37
years, our people understand that we need to be prepared to prevent
that illegal and absurd threat from ever becoming a reality. The words
'never again' resonate with Iranians, too... Iran is blessed. At a time
when bombs go off in public places throughout the Middle East and war
is at our doorstep, we have a stable, safe and healthy environment for
our citizens and for those visiting and doing business with us." http://t.uani.com/1NDdFUe
Eli
Lake in Bloomberg:
"Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, is angry. For some reason
Iran's Arab neighbors, not to mention many U.S. politicians and
journalists, think his country is an aggressor, unworthy of
international investment and entry into the global community of
nations. It's enough to make you want to arrest an American
businessman on phony espionage charges. But Zarif is a man of reason.
So he has taken to the pages of the Washington Post to make his case
that despite Iran's ballistic missile tests, and its supreme leader's
threatening speeches, and its support for Syria's dictator ... his
country really just wants peace and harmony. It all comes down to a
simple misunderstanding, according to Zarif. During the nuclear
negotiations, he writes, 'my country insisted at every turn our
defenses were not on the table.' ... Zarif in his op-ed uses the
history of the Iran-Iraq war to justify what he calls the development
of his country's 'indigenous defense capabilities.' But this is
misleading, because Iran keeps testing ballistic missiles, which can
deliver a nuclear warhead. They are not a defensive weapon like the
missiles the U.S. sold Iran through the Israelis. Speaking of Israel,
the Jewish state is particularly concerned about Iran's ballistic
missiles because some of them were inscribed with Hebrew words promising
to wipe Israel off the earth. That doesn't sound very defensive, does
it? But this is not even the most galling element of Zarif's op-ed.
After rehashing the history of the Iran-Iraq war and complaining about
how U.S. presidents for 37 years have stated that 'all options are on
the table' when it comes to countering Iranian aggression, Zarif
writes, 'The words never again resonate with Iranians, too.' 'Never
again' is of course most associated with preventing another Holocaust
against the Jews. It is the title of Martin Gilbert's history of that
crime. Zarif is the front man of a regime that not only threatens to
wipe out the world's only Jewish state, but also actively denies the
Holocaust. In June, Iran will host a competition where it will give a
$50,000 award to the cartoonist who best mocks the Nazi genocide. An
earlier winner of the contest was a cartoon that depicted Hitler and
Anne Frank in bed with the fuhrer saying, 'Put that in your diary.'
This is the Iran that Zarif complains is unfairly demonized in the
West. It's enough to make one appreciate the bluntness of Iran's
fanatical leaders at home. At least there they say what they actually
mean." http://t.uani.com/2448CFS
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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