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NYT: "More than 30 college
students were arrested, interrogated and within 24 hours were each
given 99 lashes for attending a graduation party that included men and
women, Iran's judiciary has announced. The punishments, which were
believed to be part of a wider crackdown by a judiciary dominated by
hard-liners, were meted out in Qazvin, about 90 miles northwest of the
capital, and were carried out in record time, Mizan, a news agency
affiliated with the judiciary, reported on Thursday, citing the city's
prosecutor. The Qazvin prosecutor, Esmail Sadeghi Niaraki, said that
more than 30 female and male students - the women were described as
'half naked,' meaning they were not wearing Islamic coverings, scarves
and long coats - were arrested while 'dancing and jubilating' after the
authorities received a report that a party attended both by men and
women was being held in a villa on the outskirts of Qazvin. An arrest
warrant was issued, he said, and the defendants were sentenced to 99
lashes after being questioned. 'We hope this will be a lesson for those
who break Islamic norms in private places,' Mr. Niaraki said.
Mixed-gender parties, dancing and the consumption of alcohol are
illegal in Iran, although they have become common over the past decade,
especially in cities." http://t.uani.com/1U0p4zN
WashPost: "The United States cannot
guarantee that Iran won't have access to dollars by continuing to
freeze the country from the American financial system, the Treasury
Department's sanctions chief told lawmakers on Wednesday. It's the
latest clarification in a two-month-long spat between administration
officials and mostly GOP lawmakers over whether Treasury plans to
loosen restrictions preventing dollar-based transactions with Iran.
'Every foreign bank in the world has U.S. dollars in their possession,'
Adam Szubin, the acting Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and
financial intelligence, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. 'Our
sanctions don't extend to those dollar bills. And foreign actors aren't
under our jurisdiction if they choose to give them to any actor,
including an Iranian actor.' Szubin, whose official confirmation is
still pending before the Senate, was responding to a line of
questioning from the committee's chairman, Ed Royce (R-Calif.), who has
grilled everyone from Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to President Obama
for assurances that Iran would not get its hands on dollars under the
nuclear deal. He has not been satisfied with their answers... 'The
concern is that while Iran wouldn't be allowed direct access to the
dollar you could structure a scheme offshore that would have similar
impact,' Royce told Szubin, while asking him if there were any plans
'to offer Iran the ability to access offshore dollar-clearing
facilities' or allow for 'dollar-clearing in any form.' Noting that the
topic had inspired 'a lot of confusion and concern,' Szubin tried to
give the committee a quick primer on the extent of sanctions' reach in
the wake of the nuclear deal. 'We have not promised nor do we have any
intent to give Iran access to the U.S. financial system,' Szubin said.
But because dollars, being the 'international currency of choice for
international trade,' are everywhere, there is a chance that U.S.
dollars stored in the vaults of foreign banks could end up in
Iran." http://t.uani.com/25q3zUq
AP: "Iran has corrected one
violation of its landmark nuclear deal with six world powers and is
honoring all other major obligations, the U.N. atomic energy agency
reported Friday... In February, a month after the deal's
implementation, the agency noted that Iran had produced heavy water
beyond its allotted limit of 143.3 tons (130 metric tons.), Friday's
The confidential assessment, obtained by The Associated Press, said
Tehran was now below that amount. Heavy water is a potential
proliferation concern because it is used in reactors that produce
substantial amounts of plutonium, a potential path to nuclear weapons.
Some of the excess was exported in February to the U.S. under an
arrangement criticized by U.S. congressional opponents who asserted it
facilitated Iranian violations of the deal... In one area of potential
future concern, the report said Iran had served notice of plans to
manufacture rotor tubes for centrifuges, machines used to enrich
uranium, but is not yet doing so. Iran is allowed to make such parts
but there are limitations. For the 5,060 standard centrifuges now
producing limited amounts of fuel-grade enriched uranium, Tehran must
use spare parts stripped from old and idle machines. Parts for more
advanced centrifuges would fall under even tighter research and
development regulations." http://t.uani.com/1UalNOe
Nuclear
& Ballistic Missile Program
Fars
(Iran):
"Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali
Khamenei underlined that Iran's nuclear advancements and power forced
the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany)
to negotiate a deal with Tehran. 'The other sides accepted (to
recognize) Iran's nuclear industry after they saw Iran's might, that is
enrichment to the 20% level, because everyone knows that reaching the
20% level is the most difficult part of enrichment,' Ayatollah Khamenei
said, addressing Experts Assembly's newly-elected head Ayatollah Ahmad
Jannati and members in a meeting in Tehran on Thursday. He said that
building 19,000 first-generation centrifuges, launching 10,000
centrifuges, production of the second, third and fourth generations of
centrifuges and construction of a heavy water plant are other symbols
of Iran's nuclear power, and added, 'The enemy which once wasn't ready
to accept even the existence of one centrifuge in Iran, was forced to
accept the same fact after facing the country's nuclear power;
actually, the Americans didn't make this concession but we took it in
light of our own power.'" http://t.uani.com/1WQtUWt
Press
TV (Iran):
"Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei
says Iran's capabilities in the area of nuclear technology made enemies
surrender and accept the country as a nuclear power. In a Thursday
meeting with members of Iran's Assembly of Experts in Tehran, Ayatollah
Khamenei said 'there was a time when enemies would not accept even a
single centrifuge inside Iran, but they finally surrendered in the face
of Iran's nuclear might.' 'In fact, it was not the Americans who gave
[us] this concession; we got it with our own power,' stressed the
Leader." http://t.uani.com/1UhVXL0
Trend: "Iran and Russia discussed
the construction of the second nuclear power plant in Bushehr on May
26, reports the official website of Iran's Embassy in Russia. According
to the report, Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Atomic Energy
Organization of Iran, as well as Mehdi Sanaei, Iran's ambassador to
Moscow, met with Rosatom CEO Sergei Kiriyenko in Russia. 'The date of
the groundbreaking ceremony for the second nuclear power plant was
discussed,' the report said, without giving further information. The
report said the two countries have reached an agreement on the
framework of the nuclear power plant construction project." http://t.uani.com/1VlB4AU
U.S.-Iran
Relations
AP: "A former U.S. Marine who was
jailed in Iran for more than four years until his January release said
Memorial Day is 'bittersweet' during his Thursday visit to the Michigan
state Senate for memorial services. Amir Hekmati did not directly
mention his time in an Iranian prison on Thursday. 'It's always a
bittersweet day,' Hekmati said of Memorial Day. He called it 'sweet because
you remember having taken part in our nation's defense, but bitter
because of the sacrifices that were made, and some of my fellow Marines
that weren't here today.' The 32-year-old Flint, Michigan, resident was
jailed in 2011, charged with espionage and sentenced to death in 2012.
The death sentence was later overturned by Iran's supreme court and he
was instead given a 10-year sentence before his release in a
prisoner-swap deal... Hekmati was the guest of Flint Democratic Sen.
Jim Ananich during the Senate's annual Memorial Day service, which
Hekmati said is the first he has attended in years. Ananich's office
said Hekmati was visiting his grandmother in Iran when he was arrested.
'His presence is an inspiration and testament to the American spirit and
the vigilance of thousands of people across the country who would not
let him be forgotten,' Ananich said in a statement." http://t.uani.com/1TN3bru
Congressional
Action
Free
Beacon: "The
Obama administration has the power to sanction key Russian arms sales
to Iran, but has so far abstained from exercising this right under U.S.
law, prompting some in Congress to question whether the administration
is 'acquiescing' to the arms sales in order to appease Iran, according
to conversations with sources and recent congressional correspondence
to the White House exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
President Barack Obama has the authority under U.S. law to designate as
illegal Russia's contested sale to Iran of the S-300 missile system, an
advanced long-range weapon that would boost the Islamic Republic's
regional military might. However, the administration has declined for
weeks to clarify its stance on new sanctions, despite expressing
opposition to the sale. Administration officials have further declined
to answer questions from the Free Beacon and other outlets about
whether the president will consider taking action in the future. The
administration's hesitance to act has prompted a new congressional
inquiry, the Free Beacon has learned, and has sparked accusations that
the White House is not exercising its sanction authority in order to
prevent Iran from walking away from last summer's nuclear deal. Rep.
Steve Chabot (R., Ohio) sent an inquiry to the White House about the
matter more than a month ago. The White House has not responded." http://t.uani.com/1UhTbW4
Sanctions
Relief
Press
TV (Iran):
"Iran on Thursday awarded a major contract to a German company
over the development of a petrochemical project in the country's
southwestern city of Masjed Soleyman. The contract has been awarded to
Abels Decker Kuhfuß Lenzen (ADKL) and has an initial value of €2
billion which will be increased to as high as €10 billion in the
future. Accordingly, the ADKL will cooperate with Masjed Soleyman
Petrochemical Industries Company over providing the funds, transferring
the technology and implementing contracts for the project within the
framework of engineering, procurement, construction and finance (EPCF).
The deal was signed during the visit to Iran by Garrelt Duin, the state
minister for economic affairs and energy of Germany's
Nordrhein-Westfalen State." http://t.uani.com/1X0jO6a
Reuters: "Indonesia expects to sign an
initial deal on Sunday with Iran for the purchase of crude oil and
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), an official at Indonesia's state energy
company, Pertamina, said on Friday, providing no further details.
Indonesia's energy minister Sudirman Said is heading to Iran on Sunday,
a ministry spokesman, Sujatmiko, said separately." http://t.uani.com/1VlzOO7
Human
Rights
Tower: "The United States has not
sanctioned any Iranians for human rights abuses since last year's
nuclear deal with Iran was signed, a senior Obama administration
official told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday. 'There has
not been a specific sanction on human rights cases since the signing'
of the nuclear agreement, admitted Ambassador Stephen Mull, the
official in charge of overseeing implementation of the nuclear deal.
Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who supported the nuclear deal but has
expressed his concern that human rights abuses have increased in Iran
since that time, said he was disappointed in Mull's response. 'We were
told during this process that getting the nuclear issue off the table
was so critical and we could actually expect Iran to engage in additional
destabilizing activity,' he said. 'We were assured that this would give
us an opportunity to push back hard in these other areas because the
danger of a nuclear Iran would be off the table, and I was very
persuaded by that.' International concern has grown in the past year
over Iran's deteriorating human rights protections." http://t.uani.com/1TH85IB
Foreign
Affairs
FP: "Iran is working with the
Taliban to set up a buffer zone along its border with Afghanistan to
keep out the Islamic State, the latest sign of how the rise of the
Syrian-based terror group is turning longtime rivals into uneasy
allies. Tehran's growing push to secure its 572-mile border with
Afghanistan, which hasn't previously been reported, marks a significant
shift for the Shiite power. Iran had long seen the Taliban, a militant
Sunni group, as a direct threat. Tehran also provided weapons and other
assistance to the Northern Alliance during its war with the Taliban in
the years before the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. But
Iran now believes that the Taliban pose much less of a threat than the
Islamic State, whose expanding affiliate in Afghanistan is thought by
U.S. officials to have as many as 3,000 fighters." http://t.uani.com/1TH5wGp
Opinion
& Analysis
David
Albright & Andrea Stricker in ISIS: "On May 25, 2016 Ambassador
Stephen Mull, Lead State Department Coordinator for Iran Nuclear
Implementation, implied before a Senate Banking Committee hearing that
the United States has no other supply option than to buy Iran's heavy
water. During lines of questioning from Senators Cotton and
Vitter, Ambassador Mull implied that a previous supplier for heavy
water, Canada, was unable to supply needed heavy water to Oak Ridge
National Laboratory's Spallation Source Reactor. After Senator
Vitter stated that the United States has multiple other avenues for
heavy water purchases from allies, Mull replied, 'There are only two
countries that regularly export heavy water - Canada and India.
Canada ceased production of heavy water in 1997 and only sporadically
makes it available.' We have learned, and wrote in an earlier
report, that this is a false portrayal of Canada's ability to supply
heavy water. For several years prior to stopping production of
heavy water, Canada stockpiled a huge amount of heavy water which it is
now seeking to sell. There is certainly no shortage of available
heavy water from Canada. Moreover, Iran was given a 10-20 percent price
reduction from the market rate for its heavy water. The sale
represents a government intrusion into the North American heavy water
market, prefers Iran over a close American ally, and opens the door to
future U.S. purchases of Iran's heavy water. Mull did not exclude
the latter possibility, stating that 'the Energy Department does not
plan any future purchases at this time, however...the market supply is
unpredictable and so the administration is reluctant to foreclose the
possibility of buying heavy water where we are able to.' This
statement also ignores in particular the availability of heavy water from
Canada. Mull claimed that Iran was required under the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to sell excess heavy water over
the 130 metric tonnes cap and 'to dispose of that excess heavy water by
offering for sale and delivering it to a foreign buyer.' This is
not true; Iran could simply blend the heavy water down to regular
water. The State Department should clarify whether this purchase from
Iran was nothing more than a perk or benefit for implementing the
JCPOA; there is certainly no evidence that the purchase of heavy water
from Iran was required due to lack of supply." http://t.uani.com/1RwHpT5
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." http://t.uani.com/1TN4jeO
David Albright
& Andrea Stricker in ISIS: "Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA) Iran has agreed to a cap on the amount of heavy water it can
have in the country. However, Iran wants to produce more heavy
water than it needs, and the JCPOA does not explicitly ban additional
production as long as Tehran finds international buyers for any
excess. The United States intends to buy about 32 tonnes of
Iranian heavy water that has been temporarily stored in Oman, and it
may buy more. The heavy water sale risks legitimizing Iran as a
nuclear supplier despite it not being one. Iran has frequently
violated other nations' export control laws, among other laws, and a
series of United Nations resolutions instituting an embargo on its
access to nuclear goods, which was designed to prevent it from
outfitting its previously sanctioned nuclear programs.
Significantly, it continues to violate remaining United Nations and
national missile and conventional arms embargos. The sale also
risks disrupting a North American commercial supply chain of heavy
water at a critical time. The United States should consider
ending the planned purchase of heavy water, encourage Iran to stop
making excess heavy water, and blend down any excess to normal
water. If the US purchase cannot be reversed it should be a
one-time occurrence. The use of Oman as an intermediate storage
area for excess Iranian heavy water should be ended." http://t.uani.com/1U0sjaz
Stratfor: "Throughout the first half of
the year, Iran's national oil company has been busily signing
partnership deals with its international peers to secure its place in
future Iranian energy projects. The agreements, the most recent of
which was sealed on May 4 with Austria's OMV Group, come at a critical
time for Iran's hydrocarbons sector. Over the past decade, the Iranian
oil industry languished as Tehran largely shunned outside assistance.
But now, in an effort to capitalize on the country's recent nuclear
deal with the West and the lifting of sanctions, President Hassan
Rouhani is trying to reinvigorate the sector by pumping in foreign cash
and expertise. The president's envisioned reforms will fundamentally
change the structure of the Iranian energy industry. But they could
also redefine the role and scope of the National Iranian Oil Co.'s
activities - an outcome certain stakeholders in the company and the oil
sector more broadly are determined to avoid. Despite the consensus among
Iranian elites that some foreign investment and technology is needed to
get the country's hydrocarbons industry back on track, they agree on
little else. And as the disputes among Iranian policymakers persist,
the appeal and efficacy of Rouhani's push for change will fade." http://t.uani.com/1NRZgJF
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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