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Stories
NYT: "American commandos are on
the front lines in Syria in a new push toward the Islamic State's de
facto capital in Raqqa, but in Iraq it is an entirely different story:
Iran, not the United States, has become the face of an operation to
retake the jihadist stronghold of Falluja from the militant group. On
the outskirts of Falluja, tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers, police
officers and Shiite militiamen backed by Iran are preparing for an
assault on the Sunni city, raising fears of a sectarian blood bath.
Iran has placed advisers, including its top spymaster, Qassim
Suleimani, on the ground to assist in the operation. The battle over
Falluja has evolved into yet another example of how United States and
Iranian interests seemingly converge and clash at the same time in
Iraq. Both want to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or
ISIL. But the United States has long believed that Iran's role, which
relies on militias accused of sectarian abuses, can make matters worse
by angering Sunnis and making them more sympathetic to the militants...
In an extraordinary statement on Wednesday, Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, the world's pre-eminent Shiite religious leader, who lives
in Najaf in southern Iraq and is said to be concerned by Iran's growing
role in Iraq, urged security forces and militia to restrain themselves
and abide by 'the standard behaviors of jihad.'" http://t.uani.com/1Xbp0Ef
NYT: "A leading conservative was
re-elected speaker of Iran's Parliament on Tuesday, denying reformists
a post they thought they had earned with a big win in February
elections. In a mild surprise, an overwhelming majority of Iran's
lawmakers chose a conservative candidate, Ali Larijani, who has held
the position since 2008. Mr. Larijani, 57, scion of a powerful Iranian
family, is not considered a die-hard conservative, as he managed the
Parliament's approval last summer of the nuclear agreement with Western
powers. Moreover, Mr. Larijani has supported in recent years the
government of President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate who was elected on
promises of reaching a nuclear deal and loosening Iran's severe
restrictions on personal freedoms. Of 276 lawmakers present in the
290-seat house, Mr. Larijani won 237 votes, Iranian state television
reported. Mr. Larijani's election was something of a formality. His
main reformist opponent, Mohammad Reza Aref - who served as first vice
president from 2001 to 2005 under Mohammad Khatami, then the liberal
reformist president - withdrew from the race on Monday." http://t.uani.com/1RILXGd
AFP: "Iran's foreign minister
kicked off an EU trade drive in Poland on Sunday, in one of Tehran's
first moves to drum up business with the West after the lifting of
sanctions earlier this year. Javad Zarif is also expected to travel to
EU members Finland, Sweden before winding up his trip in Latvia on June
2. 'I'm convinced that our (Warsaw) ambassador's wish for our annual
bilateral turnover to reach one billion dollars will come true,' Zarif
told a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Witold Waszczykowski.
Annual bilateral trade between Poland and Iran has stood at around just
$70 million (62 million euros) in recent years due to international
sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme... Travelling with a mostly
private sector Iranian business delegation in tow, Zarif is due to
attend a Polish-Iranian business forum in Warsaw on Monday. 'We've
always felt that Iran was part of the solution, not part of the
problem,' said Waszczykowski, a former ambassador to Tehran. 'After
years of marginalisation and even ostracism, Iran is coming back to the
international stage as an important partner -- an important player that
will influence positive global solutions,' Waszczykowski said. Earlier
the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral
political cooperation." http://t.uani.com/1sYJW4T
Nuclear
& Ballistic Missile Program
Sputnik
(Russia):
"Russia and Iran in the next few weeks plan to solve the tasks
needed for the full-scale of operations on the construction of the
second and third units of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Rosatom's
press service announced Friday." http://t.uani.com/1Vsw5P5
U.S.-Iran
Relations
Reuters: "The United States must do
more to assure banks that they can do business with Iran, Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday. Iran is
struggling to access financing from abroad as many large banks fear
breaking the remaining U.S. restrictions, which prohibit trade with
Iran in dollars and bar Iranian access to New York's financial system.
'It seems that there is a psychological barrier,' Zarif told reporters during
his visit in Helsinki. 'Some European countries, even European banks,
continue to be concerned about retribution by the United States. I
believe that (in) the United States, they need to go further in order
to provide reassurances to the banks that this will not take
place.'" http://t.uani.com/1TOKyWf
Business
Risk
WSJ: "One of Airbus's biggest
deals announced this year, the sale of 118 jetliners to Iran including
12 A380 superjumbos, is yet to be completed. Mr. Brégier said the
company was making progress securing the financing and export licenses
for the deal, but that more work needed to be done. He remained
optimistic the deal would be completed this year." http://t.uani.com/1THXZSl
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters: "Asian imports of Iranian oil
in April rose by more than 13 percent from a year ago as Tehran vies to
recoup market share lost under international sanctions, with shipments
into India and South Korea offsetting a big slump in purchases by
Japan. The figures are in line with loading data obtained earlier by
Reuters and confirm that Iran is regaining market share faster than
expected after sanctions were lifted in January. April imports by
Iran's biggest buyers would have been higher had Japan not halted
loadings in March over shipping insurance concerns that have since been
resolved... China imports from Iran fell more than 5 percent to just
over 670,000 bpd in April, while India's surged nearly 50 percent to
around 390,000 bpd. South Korea's imports rose nearly 90 percent to
237,000 bpd. Japan's shipments fell 72 percent to less than 20,000
bpd." http://t.uani.com/1O1EcAD
FT: "A Norwegian oil and gas
company is closing in on a $600m contract with an Iranian petrochemical
group for one of the first major gas deals since international
sanctions were lifted. The contract will be a joint venture between
Hemla Vantage and the Kharg Petrochemical Company, a
quasi-privately-owned company, to produce and export liquefied national
gas and liquefied petroleum gas by 2017. 'Hemla will secure debt
financing and will be 50/50 equity partners with KPC/KGRC [the latter
is a sister company of the former],' said Gerhard Ludvigsen, a founding
member of Hemla group and director of Hemla Vantage... 'We are inspired
that Iran really wants to shift from a traditional player to a modern
player. Nobody would believe that Iran could be the first in the world
to produce LNG from a floating production vessel (FLNG) in 2017,' he
added. The joint venture will purchase 200 million standard cubic feet
of flared gas from offshore oilfields near Kharg Island over a period
of up to 15 years. In its first phase, the site is projected to produce
500 metric tons of LNG and 200 tons of LPG per year. The FLNG barge,
produced in China and ready to be shipped to reach Kharg Island by
October, will be leased from Exmar, a Belgian company." http://t.uani.com/1TUXCaO
Reuters: "Indonesia's state oil and
gas company PT Pertamina has signed a deal with National Iranian Oil
Company (NIOC) to buy 600,000 tonnes of refrigerated liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG), Pertamina said in a statement on Monday. The first
two cargoes of LPG are scheduled to be shipped by NIOC in the fourth
quarter of this year, followed by 12 more cargoes in 2017, the
statement said. The deal was signed during the Indonesian energy
minister's visit to Tehran... Pertamina and NIOC has also agreed to
continue their discussion on crude oil supply for the Indonesian
company, as well as possible partnership in upstream operations, the
statement said." http://t.uani.com/1O1EcjQ
Reuters: "Poland is in talks with Iran
over cooperation in the oil and gas sector, which could result in
exploration and production contracts for Polish industry, Deputy Energy
Minister Michal Kurtyka said on Monday. Polish state-run gas firm PGNiG
said last year that it was looking at various options in oil and gas
exploration and production in Iran. Polish refiners PKN Orlen and Lotos
have also considered buying oil from Iran. 'We are looking forward to
cooperation with Iran when it comes to both PGNiG and our oil
companies. Talks are being conducted on concrete contracts in
exploration and output, but also regarding trade agreements,' Kurtyka
told reporters at a Poland-Iran economic forum." http://t.uani.com/1WuJS8W
Reuters: "Iran will soon sign a $3
billion investment deal with Turkish private companies on building a
5,000 megawatt power plant in Iran, Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper on
Tuesday cited the Iranian deputy energy minister as saying... Hurriyet
reported Husheng Felahetiyan as saying the Turkish energy sector had
shown strong interest in Iran after the lifting of sanctions. 'In the
coming days we will sign an investment deal with Turkish private sector
companies for the construction of a 5,000 megawatt power plant in Iran.
The size of this deal is $3 billion,' he was quoted as saying." http://t.uani.com/1Y0PK9f
Reuters: "The Reserve Bank of India
has capped weekly dollar purchases by oil refiners to pay off their
debts to Iran in order to avoid pressure on the rupee, three sources
said on Monday. India is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian crude and
built up a payments backlog when Iran was under Western sanctions, with
its refiners owing about $6.5 billion to Iran. They have cleared $770
million in euros through Turkey's Halkbank to National Iranian Oil Co
(NIOC). State-run Union Bank of India facilitated the payments. The
refiners had been holding back 55 percent of payments to Iran after a
channel through Halkbank was closed in 2013, although payment of some of
those funds was allowed after an initial temporary deal to lift the
sanctions. Last week, on the basis of an RBI advisory, India's oil
ministry wrote to refiners saying the remaining dues can be settled in
three months from May 30 and told companies to ensure demand for
foreign exchange is limited to $500 million per week, the sources told
Reuters. 'RBI wants to stagger payments to Iran to pre-empt any undue
volatility in the domestic forex market,' said one source." http://t.uani.com/1XLZVyd
AP: "An annual art auction in
Tehran drew record sales of $7.4 million Friday, a sign of Iran's
emerging arts market that buyers hope will be buoyed by the recent
nuclear deal with world powers. The sale at Tehran's high-end Azadi
Hotel - the former Hyatt near Evin Prison - drew celebrities,
collectors and businessmen hoping to walk away with the artworks there.
Total sales were 12 percent higher than the previous year, though this
year's auction saw only 79 items sold, as opposed to 126 then." http://t.uani.com/1THYbkB
Regional
Destabilization
Asharq
Al-Awsat:
"Exposing regional plans of Iran, a Kurdish official revealed that
the Iranian regime has launched its construction of the largest missile
and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base. The center is being
established near Sayed Sadiq which belongs to the Sulaymaniyah
Governorate located in the Iraqi Kurdistan... The official further
revealed that the number of IRGC commanders and officers frequently
visiting the location and supervising the construction are being
present on a daily basis. Quds Force division had deployed a large
number of unit400 members who are assigned with monitoring and dealing
with Iran-backed Kurdish forces to the area... 'The IRGC had started
since May 7 its construction of a military base in the Syrian Coastal
Mountain Range, inside Iraqi Kurdistan,' the official said. 'According
to our information, the Iranian regime is working on founding a missile
base in the region, given its strategic value. The location influences
a majority of its vicinity. Iranian military helicopters consistently
hover over the region; meanwhile IRGC soldiers and machines work on
construction.'" http://t.uani.com/1P0CABO
Daily
Star (Lebanon):
"[Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad] Hariri said that he and the
Kuwaiti emir agreed that while relations with Iran must be good, its
meddling in the region is 'unacceptable.' Referring to his talks with
the emir, he said: 'We discussed several issues, particularly at the
regional level. We agreed on the need to have a very good relationship
with Iran, but its interference is unacceptable." http://t.uani.com/1UavbBI
Daily
Star (Lebanon):
"Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani said over the weekend that Lebanon
would have been affected by the 5-year-old Syrian conflict if it
weren't for Iran's efforts. 'If it weren't for the steadfastness of the
Islamic Republic of Iran in the fight against takfiris [extremist
militants] for the last four years, Daesh [ISIS] would have formed a
government in Syria, and the Christians, Sunnis and Shiites in Lebanon
would have been affected by the situation in Damascus,' Iranian state
media quoted Soleimani as saying Saturday in rare public remarks to
members of the Iranian Shura Council." http://t.uani.com/1XbxFq4
Iraq
Crisis
Reuters: "Sunni politicians in Iraq
condemned on Saturday a visit by Iranian General Qassem Soleimani to
Shi'ite paramilitary forces fighting alongside the Iraqi army to drive
Islamic State militants out of the Sunni city of Falluja. Three
lawmakers from the province of Anbar told Reuters the visit by Iran's
al-Quds brigade commander could fuel sectarian tension and cast doubt
on Baghdad's assertions that the offensive is an Iraqi-led effort to
defeat Islamic State, and not to settle scores with the Sunnis... In
recent days, Iranian media published pictures of what they said was a
visit by Soleimani to Falluja and a meeting he held with the leaders of
the Iraqi coalition of Shi'ite militias known as Popular Mobilization,
or Hashid Shaabi. It is the second time Soleimani has appeared in Iraqi
conflict zones. About a year ago, witnesses said he was present when
Popular Mobilization fighters ousted Islamic State militants from
cities north of the capital. An Iraqi government spokesman did not
confirm Soleimani's visit and stressed that Iranian advisors are
present in Iraq in order to assist in the war on Islamic State (IS) in
the same capacity as those of the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition. Member of
parliament (MP) Hamid al-Mutlaq rejected that, however. 'We are Iraqis
and not Iranians,' he said. 'Would Turkish or Saudi advisers be
welcomed to assist in the battle?' he added, drawing a parallel between
the three regional powers bordering Iraq -- mainly-Sunni Turkey and
Saudi Arabia, and Shi'ite Iran. 'Soleimani's presence is suspicious and
a cause for concern; he is absolutely not welcome in the area,' said
Falluja parliamentarian Salim Muttar al-Issawi." http://t.uani.com/1WWsNo3
AP: "Saudi Arabia's Foreign
Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Sunday that Iran must stop meddling in
Iraq and that the presence of Iranian military units there is
'unacceptable.' His comments come as thousands of Iraqi Shiite
militiamen, soldiers and police, backed by Iran, surround the Sunni
city of Fallujah ahead of an operation to retake it from the Islamic
State group. Iran says its military advisers in Iraq are there at
Baghdad's request to help Iraqi forces fight militants. It has
repeatedly rejected Saudi criticisms of its role in Iraq, instead
accusing its regional rival of supporting extremism. Al-Jubeir,
speaking in a joint press conference with British Foreign Minister
Phillip Hammond in Saudi Arabia Sunday, said Iran had sown 'sedition
and division in Iraq' through its policies, which he said had provoked
sectarianism among Sunnis and Shiites there." http://t.uani.com/25wJvMP
Saudi-Iran
Tensions
NYT: "In a sign of further tension
between regional rivals, Iran will not allow its citizens to travel to
Saudi Arabia for the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in September,
Iran's state television reported on Sunday. The decision, which means
that tens of thousands of Iranians cannot make their spiritual journey
to the main pilgrimage site of Islam, came after several failed rounds
of talks between officials of both countries and on the heels of
accusations that Saudi Arabia has started a cyberwar against Iran.
Iran's culture minister, Ali Jannati, told state television that 'no
pilgrims would be sent to the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina,
because of obstacles created by Saudi officials.' In a statement,
Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage organization condemned Saudi Arabia for what
it said was a lack of cooperation. 'Too much time has been lost, and it
is now too late to organize the pilgrimage,' the organization said,
according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency. The Saudi Ministry of
Hajj and Umrah accused a visiting Iranian delegation of refusing to
sign an agreement resolving issues. 'They will be responsible in front
of Allah Almighty and its people for the inability of the Iranian
citizens to perform hajj for this year,' the ministry said in a
statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency." http://t.uani.com/280uEfH
Human
Rights
Reuters: "Iran has given foreign
messaging apps a year to move data they hold about Iranian users onto
servers inside the country, prompting privacy and security concerns on
social media. Iran has some of the strictest controls on internet
access in the world and blocks access to social media platforms such as
Facebook and Twitter, although many users are able to access them
through widely available software. 'Foreign messaging companies active
in the country are required to transfer all data and activity linked to
Iranian citizens into the country in order to ensure their continued
activity,' Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace said in new regulations
carried by state news agency IRNA on Sunday. The council, whose members
are selected by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave
social media companies a year to comply, IRNA said, adding that the
measures were based on the 'guidelines and concerns of the supreme
leader'. The new requirements could affect messaging app Telegram in
particular. The cloud-based instant messaging service has gained
popularity because of its high level of security and is estimated to
have about 20 million users in Iran, which has a total population of
about 80 million... Social media users reacted with concern to the
planned changes. 'Telegram's data centres are to be moved inside the
country so they can delete what they want and arrest who they want,'
@Mehrdxd said in a tweet. 'I would stop using #Telegram if the servers
are moved inside the country because it would not be safe anymore,'
@Gonahkar (Guilty) wrote in a tweet." http://t.uani.com/1Vsv2hU
WashPost: "It happens behind closed
doors in Iran all the time: Young people get together to play music,
flirt and generally relax, hidden away from hard-liners who definitely
would not approve. Mostly, the parties wrap up without incident: the
guys cleaning up any incriminating clues, the girls putting their
headscarves back on. Then they all go their separate ways. This time,
however, someone tipped off authorities that a group of students was
throwing a bash to celebrate graduation. More than 30 were taken into
custody. Their punishment: 99 lashes each. The report by Iran's Mizan
News Agency gave no details about the students, their ages, their school,
or when the arrests took place. But it noted that lashings were carried
out with almost unprecedented swiftness: within less than 24 hours
after officials raided the villa on the outskirts of Qazvin, a small
city about 80 miles northwest of Tehran." http://t.uani.com/1PfEgwU
AP: "An online report in Iran
says authorities have arrested eight people for producing allegedly
'obscene' music videos. The report by mizanonline.ir, a news outlet of
the hard-line Iranian judiciary, is quoting Tehran prosecutor Abbas
Jafari Dowlatabadi on Saturday as saying that the eight were arrested
last week in Tehran. They were not identified by name. The report says
the videos they produced were broadcast on an anti-revolutionary TV
channel - a likely reference to a foreign-based channel in Farsi."
http://t.uani.com/1TUWYdl
Opinion
& Analysis
WSJ
Editorial:
"One of the advertised benefits of the nuclear deal with Iran is
that it will gradually soften the regime by empowering more moderate
politicians. To judge by last week's leadership election in Iran's
Assembly of Experts, moderation isn't what the mullahs have in mind.
The 88-member Assembly, which will select the Islamic Republic's next
supreme leader, voted Tuesday to make 89-year old Ayatollah Ahmad
Jannati its speaker. Mr. Jannati is a hard-liner even by the regime's
exacting standards. He subs for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as Tehran's
temporary Friday-prayer imam, and his speeches should be instructive
for those who rushed to declare February's rigged election to the
Assembly of Experts a victory for moderation. On America: 'They are the
masters of terrorism world-wide and the teachers of terrorists.' On
Jews: 'The Zionists have the appearance of humans, but they aren't
humans and have the bearing of pigs and predators. And they have
created conditions that have forced peoples everywhere to cry out
against them.' On Israel: 'The fall of Israel and its fellow travelers
is coming, and soon we will witness this event.' In 1989 he traveled
the Muslim world to rally support for the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa
calling for the killing of British novelist Salman Rushdie. In 2003 he
called on Iraqis to 'resort to martyrdom operations' against U.S.
forces. In 2009 he said he wished someone would 'waste a bullet' on
then-Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni 'every time I see that
woman's face.' In 2014 he congratulated the faithful on the occasion of
Saudi King Abdullah's death. Mr. Jannati will direct the Assembly of
Experts for a two-year term, and he has said he will aim to preserve
the body's 'revolutionary' mission. His rise means that whoever follows
the increasingly frail Mr. Khamenei as Supreme Leader is unlikely to
alter the regime's core anti-Western philosophy. In Iran the
hard-liners are still in charge." http://t.uani.com/280rYyG
UANI
Advisory Board Member Walter Russell Mead in TAI: "Ayatollah Jannati has
managed to reach the age of 89 without strapping on an explosive vest
to go on a virgin hunt, despite his no doubt keen hunger to experience
the martyrdom he encouraged on others. At that age his future influence
on Iranian politics may be limited, but if the hardline bloc can get 55
out of 88 votes for its preferred candidate, it seems likely that the
next Supreme Leader of the Iranian Revolution will be just as hardline
and anti-America as the last two. For those puzzled by the hardline
show of strength, it's worth taking a look back at some of the smarter
commentary at the time of the Iranian parliamentary elections this
winter. The White House echo chamber and the 27 year-old know-nothings
that Ben Rhodes has on speed dial were gushing over the 'triumph' of
the moderates and spinning it as a big win for the White House
policy-but those who looked under the hood saw something different...
Bottom line: the much ballyhooed 'triumph of the moderates' was another
piece of White House spin, presumably pumped into the national
consciousness by those helpful folks at Ploughshares. What's really
going on in Iran has almost nothing to do with the happy clappy Beltway
talk about peaceable mullahs and the kinder, gentler theocracy they
aspire to create. Unfortunately, hardline values are hard wired into
the Iranian regime and Iranian foreign policy, and no White House
spinmeister can make that grim reality go away." http://t.uani.com/24hE1mB
Ray
Takeyh & Reuel Marc Gerecht in WashPost: "The Islamic Republic of Iran
held another Holocaust cartoon festival this month, inviting the usual
despicable cast of characters. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
assured the New Yorker that although the event would proceed, Iran
would ensure that the 'people who have preached racial hatred and
violence will not be invited.' Evidently, Zarif believes there are
Holocaust deniers who do not harbor 'racial hatred.' As Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani once remarked to CNN's Christiane Amanpour,
the Holocaust - the question of whether it happened and the dimensions
of the slaughter - is really 'a matter for historians and researchers
to illuminate.' Crimes against humanity are bad, Rouhani averred, as he
quickly glided over the Nazis' anti-Jewish malevolence to similar
crimes committed today, leaving no doubt for a Middle Eastern audience
that he was talking about Israel. Among Iran's ruling elite, Holocaust
denial and the accompanying conspiracies about Jewish power are
omnipresent and diverse, but they all have strategic intent.
Anti-Semitism is not only central to the regime's identity; it's also
inextricably tied to its soft-power propaganda aimed at the larger
Muslim world, especially Arabs. Anti-Semitism was part of Iran's
inception. The revolution's father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spent
much of his life indulging it. In Khomeini's rendition, the Jews,
always untrustworthy in Islamic history, are surrogates of Western
imperialism who have displaced Palestinian Muslims and even distorted
Islam's scriptural texts. Khomeini's hatred toward Israel exceeded even
his disdain for America. The United States was a pernicious, seductive
imperial power. But it was America's conduct, not its existence, that
the mullahs contested. Israel, on the other hand, was for Khomeini an
unlawful entity, irrespective of its actual policies and behavior. No
peace compact or negotiated settlement with the aggrieved Palestinians
could ameliorate this essential illegitimacy. Israel must be wiped off
the map. Since the ayatollah's death, Tehran's efforts to delegitimize
the Jewish state have continued, no matter who among the ruling elite
has had the upper hand. Whether it's those aligned behind Ali Khamenei
(Khomeini's successor), the revolutionary pragmatists backing Rouhani
or the Islamic leftists who once rallied behind the reforming president
Mohammad Khatami, attitudes toward Israel and the Holocaust have
remained constant. For them, Zionism is a racist, exclusionary ideology
that should be opposed not just by Muslims but also by all who care
about human rights. Iran's propaganda insists that Zionism was imposed
on the region by force of arms, sustained by bloodshed and perpetuated
by craven U.S. politicians beholden to domestic Jewish groups. Khamenei
has gone so far as to claim that to ensure the compliance of U.S.
politicians, 'these Zionist capitalists both bribe and threaten them.'
Even more: These Jewish American overlords 'have murdered some of their
high-ranking and great officials.' Anti-Semitism in Iran is an
Orwellian voyage of ideology, where fiery sermons and conferences
calling for the annihilation of Israel and denying the Holocaust have
become the sanctioned language of the Islamic republic... And the
clerical regime's anti-Semitism will grow worse as the rewards of the
nuclear deal increase. The mullahs no longer have to worry how the
regime's hatred of Jews plays in the West - the buffoonish character of
former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is gone and sanctions are falling.
The U.S.-educated Zarif is adept at handling Western officials and
journalists. In his capable hands, Holocaust festivals become yet
another reason to support Rouhani's 'moderates.' And Western opprobrium
not reinforced with sanctions just affirms the correctness and utility
of the mullahs' anti-Jewish worldview. What matters most is the war for
Muslim minds, and the clerical regime intends to exploit anti-Semitism
for all that it's worth." http://t.uani.com/25ygio5
David
Albright in ISIS:
"The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed by the P5+1
and Iran imposes a series of restrictions on Iran's stockpile of up to
3.67 percent low enriched uranium (LEU). One restriction imposes
a cap on the amount of uranium that is allowed in Iran. The agreement
allows for exemptions to this cap but these exemptions are intended to
be applied to future fuel fabrication efforts. Iran may now
be trying to obtain an exemption for pre-existing LEU that was expected
to have been removed from the country or blended down to natural
uranium by Implementation Day (January 16, 2016). The United
States and its P5+1 partners should refuse to grant this
exemption. One recent action is that Iran down blended 12
kilograms of up to 3.67 percent LEU to natural uranium." http://t.uani.com/1TF8UMP
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear
Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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