Eye on Iran: Anti-Money Laundering Body Seen Keeping Iran on Blacklist: Officials

Join UANI               Top Stories Reuters: "An international group that monitors money laundering worldwide is expected to decide this week to keep Iran on its blacklist of high-risk countries despite aggressive lobbying by Tehran to come off the list to help it access the global financial system, Western officials said. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), established in 1989 to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, compiles the list, which it regularly updates. Its 37 member states are meeting in South Korea. 'No changes to Iran's status on the blacklist are imminent, though I think perhaps we can expect some words of encouragement and recognition of Iran's attempts to make progress,' said one Western official familiar with FATF discussions, who asked not to be named. Two other Western officials concurred this week with the opinion that Iran would not be taken off the blacklist at this time... Financial Action Task Force spokeswoman Alexandra Wijmenga-Daniel responded to a request for comment by saying the group would publish an update on high-risk and non-cooperative jurisdictions after the session later this week." http://t.uani.com/28Sdqfd Weekly Standard: "A group of think tank scholars, congressmen, and intelligence officials is urging an intergovernmental financial watchdog to keep Iran on its so-called blacklist, despite Obama administration officials' vocal encouragement of trade and investment in the Islamic Republic. In a letter Tuesday, the non-profit advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran called on the Financial Action Task Force to 'maintain and strengthen counter-measures against Iran' during the body's plenary meeting this week. 'Until the regime's banks meet the international standards on money laundering, no financial institution can afford the risk of doing business with Iran,' the letter, signed by officials such as former Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman, former CIA deputy director Michael Morell, and Foundation for Defense of Democracies executive director Mark Dubowitz, stated. The letter also reiterated Iran's support for 'its terror proxy Hezbollah,' its State Department status as the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and its designation by the Treasury Department 'as a jurisdiction of money laundering concern.' For years the FATF has classified Iran as a 'high-risk and non-cooperative jurisdiction,' or an entity that fails to address money laundering and terrorist financing. The group reaffirmed the 'serious threat [Iran] poses to the integrity of the international financial system' as late as February 2016. UANI's call to maintain Iran's blacklist status comes after months of State Department efforts to convince hesitant foreign banks and companies to do business with the Islamic Republic." http://t.uani.com/28SdBHA Daily Beast: "Boeing is grabbing headlines for its first-of-its-kind, $25 billion deal with Iran Air, Tehran's state-owned airline. But the American aerospace giant isn't exactly publicizing the fact that it paid a lobbying firm to 'monitor' the nuclear agreement that made its $25 billion sale to Tehran possible. Or that Boeing has on its payroll a former top Clinton administration official who used his clout to garner support in the corridors of powers for the Iran deal. Thomas Pickering, one of the country's most respected diplomats and a and former ambassador to Israel and the United Nations, has been quietly taking money from Boeing while vocally supporting the Iran nuclear deal-testifying before Congress, writing letters to high-level officials, and penning op-eds for outlets like The Washington Post. Pickering confirmed via email-from his Boeing corporate email address-that he was on staff at the company from 2001 to 2006 and has been a paid consultant for them ever since... He didn't respond to a follow-up email asking if he disclosed his relationship with Boeing when discussing Iran with members of Congress and with the press. The Daily Beast found no evidence that he made a habit of making such a disclosure... Neil Gordon-an investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington watchdog organization-said Pickering should have been upfront about his work for Boeing when testifying before Congress on the deal and making the case for it in op-eds for major publications." http://t.uani.com/28ZyoGN Foreign Affairs IRNA (Iran): "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said President of the Senate of France Gérard Larcher is to visit Iran next week in a move to bolster relations between the two nations. He made the remarks in the French capital on Wednesday in a meeting with the members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces. Zarif arrived in Paris on June 21 for a two-day official visit that is the first visit of an Iranian foreign minister in over a decade." http://t.uani.com/28SfDqa IRNA (Iran): "French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called for long-term cooperation with Iran, and described Tehran as a great trade partner for Paris. The French foreign minister made the remarks in a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif here on Wednesday. 'We want to have long-term cooperation with Iran,' the French foreign minister said. 'After President Hassan Rouhani's visit to France, we are happy that you are our guest,' Ayrault added... He reiterated that the nuclear agreement benefits both sides, and said, 'A new way opened for Iran after this agreement and France can be a great partner.'" http://t.uani.com/28Shqwn IRNA (Iran): "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived here on Thursday morning after wrapping up his two-day visit to France. Zarif is slated to meet and hold talks with his Dutch counterpart and some other senior Dutch officials during his stay in Amsterdam. Zarif will depart for The Hague after his one-day stay in Amsterdam." http://t.uani.com/28Q0nqs U.S.-Iran Relations Iran Project: "Deputy Head of Islamic Propagation Coordination Council says the United States of America is the biggest threat to the humanity, global peace and security. Elaborating Iran's plans for 'American human rights week' in a press conference on Wednesday, Asghar Abkhezr, Deputy Head of Islamic Propagation Coordination Council described America as the number-one enemy to the Iranian nation, humanity, international peace and security and violator of  human rights in Iran and the world... Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei suggested holding American human rights week in Iran from this year. Iran will hold 'American human rights week' from June 25 to July 1." http://t.uani.com/28Ur9km NBC: "A Navy investigation into how sailors ended up in Iranian custody has been completed and will recommend disciplinary action, senior military officials told NBC News. Ten U.S. sailors spent a night in Iranian custody in January after their two boats drifted into Tehran's territorial waters. The sailors were videotaped during their detention and footage of one sailor appeared to show him apologizing to his Iranian captors. Cmdr. Mike Kafka, a U.S. Navy spokesperson, confirmed that the 5-month investigation is complete and was 'being referred to the appropriate commands for adjudication.' Two senior military officials told NBC New the investigation shows that several things went wrong and several sailors made decisions that ultimately led to the embarrassing event. 'It was a calamity of errors,' one U.S. military official said... The investigation recommends that the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command and U.S. forces Central Command in Bahrain consider several sailors - some assigned on the boats involved and others in their chain of command - for potential disciplinary measures, the senior military officials told NBC News." http://t.uani.com/28YGX3q Sanctions Relief Reuters: "Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday he hoped that Tehran's deal with U.S. planemaker Boeing would pave the way for finalizing another contract with its European rival Airbus... Both deals are conditional on receiving export licenses from the U.S. Treasury due to significant U.S. technology in all modern jetliners, whether built by Boeing or Airbus. 'We thought to speed up our ties with Airbus, we should make a deal with Boeing first. Now we feel the situation is ripe for both,' said Foreign Minister Zarif in a meeting with the foreign affairs commission of the French Senate in Paris, according to Iran's ILNA news agency." http://t.uani.com/28PY7zq Reuters: "A provisional deal between Iran and Boeing to acquire jets for the country's national airline covers 109 aircraft, split about equally between narrow-body and long-range wide-body aircraft, an Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday. In addition to the 737 and 777 models announced earlier this week, IranAir also envisages acquiring some of the latest version of Boeing's iconic 747 jumbo under the deal, which is subject to approval by both the Iranian and U.S. governments, the official said. About half of the 109 aircraft will be narrow-body 737 jetliners, the official added, asking not to be named. The payment mechanisms and financing of the deal, including the currency in which it will be carried out, have yet to be finalised, the official said. Some of the jets are expected to be leased." http://t.uani.com/28Zy5vs Bloomberg: "Iran's signing this week of an outline deal for 109 Boeing Co. jetliners five months after agreeing to buy 118 from Airbus Group SE underscores the scale of the former pariah state's airline ambitions. The purchase of almost 230 planes would create a fleet three-quarters the size of that at British Airways and larger than the current lineup at Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, one of three Persian Gulf carriers that transformed air travel in the years Iran was stymied by trade sanctions linked to its nuclear program. While it's not certain that flag-carrier Iran Air will take all of the jets specified under the accords -- with the U.S. contract in particular still facing significant hurdles -- the arrival of models such as Airbus's A380 double-decker and Boeing's 777-9 seems set to swell the business to global proportions. 'There's no doubt that they want to emulate carriers like Emirates and Etihad,' said John Strickland, an airline analyst at JLS Consulting in London." http://t.uani.com/28RgXez Reuters: "Iran's condensate exports in July are expected to fall to the lowest in five months as major buyer South Korea scales back purchases of the ultra-light oil, trade sources said on Thursday. Robust demand for condensate, from South Korea in particular, helped drive a recovery of Iranian oil exports to a 4-1/2-year high in June, although the volume is expected to dip in July. Loadings of Iranian condensate in June rose to about 408,000 barrels per day, the highest volume since sanctions on Iranian oil exports were lifted in January. For July, Iranian condensate exports are expected to fall by 38 percent to about 252,000 barrels per day (bpd), the sources said citing loading data, as Asian refiners replace the ultra-light oil with cheaper naphtha. The volume destined for South Korea in July is expected to fall by nearly two-thirds to 84,000 bpd from a record high in the previous month, as key buyer SK Energy switched to process cheaper naphtha, they said... Still, the start-up of new and existing splitters in Asia and the Middle East is expected to drive demand for Iranian condensate later in third quarter. 'There could be a rebound (in condensate prices) in September because naphtha cracks are showing some signs of a rebound,' a trader with a North Asian firm said. South Korea's Hyundai Chemical will also need to buy more condensate from September onwards for its new splitter, which could come into operation in October, he said." http://t.uani.com/28O5JTW Human Rights CBC: "Homa Hoodfar, the Concordia University professor seized in Iran, has disappeared into Evin prison. Her family and her lawyer have been refused all contact in the two weeks since she was suddenly arrested in Tehran. 'We have heard she's been detained in a specific branch of Evin prison - Branch 2A, which is under the control of the counter-intelligence unit of the (Iran's) Revolutionary Guards,' says her niece, Amanda Ghahremani speaking to CBC from Montreal. 'Other than that we have no details of her arrest or detention.' Hoodfar, a professor of anthropology, with Iranian and Canadian passports, was on a mostly private visit to Iran to see friends and to do some research into women in the public sphere. She has a long academic career in gender issues, much of it in majority Muslim countries... Her niece says in spite of no official charges, and no access to her file, details about Hoodfar and the charges against her are being leaked to conservative Iranian media with links to the Revolutionary Guard. 'They claim that my aunt is fomenting a feminist revolution in Iran and the charges to me, to the family, they are very absurd; they're baseless and not grounded in any fact whatsoever.'" http://t.uani.com/28RePUh Domestic Politics LAT: "One Iranian newspaper has dubbed it 'Payslip-gate.' A series of leaks has exposed astronomical salaries among top executives at state-owned companies in Iran, a sign of persistent inequality in an economy struggling to recover from international sanctions. The general director of state-run Bank Tejarat took home approximately $270,000 last year, according to one newspaper report this week. Another paper obtained a pay stub showing that an executive at the government-owned Iran Central Insurance Company pocketed $25,000 in one month - nearly 100 times the wage of the lowest-paid government employees. Working stiffs everywhere believe their bosses are overpaid. But the disclosures carry particular significance in Iran, where egalitarianism was a mantra of the 1979 Islamic revolution, and where moderate President Hassan Rouhani has staked his administration on promises to improve ordinary citizens' lives." http://t.uani.com/28ZwZjd         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 Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.