Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Eye on Iran: US Resident Gets 10-year Iran Prison Sentence

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A U.S. permanent resident detained for a year in Iran over spying allegations has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine, his supporters said Tuesday, the latest move in a crackdown on those with foreign ties following last year's nuclear deal. The sentence for Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen who advocates for internet freedom and whose nonprofit group did work for the U.S. government, comes as Iranian officials attend the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York. It also shows the challenge faced by Western governments and those wanting warmer ties with Iran, where hard-liners in the security forces and judiciary target dual nationals and others in secret trials. "There's no regard for any international order, any international agreement or any international state of relations that they care about," said David Ramadan, a former Virginia state legislator who co-founded a group called Friends of Nizar Zakka. A statement early Tuesday from Jason Poblete, a U.S. lawyer representing Zakka, said a Revolutionary Court in Tehran handed down the sentence in a 60-page verdict that Zakka's supporters have yet to see.

North Korea said it had successfully tested a high-powered rocket engine for launching satellites, elevating concerns it is making progress in developing a long-range ballistic missile. The description of the new engine matched that of a rocket booster the U.S. has alleged Pyongyang was collaborating on with Iran, experts said, indicating the North Korean technology might be shared with Tehran... The description of the engine also indicated it may be the same as a rocket booster that North Korea has allegedly worked on with Iran. In January, U.S. Treasury sanctioned two Iranian officials who it said had traveled to Pyongyang with engineers in recent years to jointly develop an 80-ton rocket booster. "It's one and the same," said Jeffrey Lewis, an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute, adding that a rocket engine of that size would represent an upgrade to Iran's current capabilities.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his brother President Raul Castro during a one-day state visit in Havana on Monday. His sit-down with Fidel Castro was an unusual encounter since Cuba's 90-year-old retired president receives only a few people. Officials did not say where they talked, but photos appeared to show them inside Castro's home. A government statement said the two leaders discussed the importance of food production and threats to world peace. Rouhani met separately with Raul Castro... Iran's president came to Cuba after attending the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Venezuela, which is the island's main commercial and political partner.

U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS

A Utah state senator who traveled to Iran last week has set off a firestorm there, where hard-liners accuse him of being "part of a major Western project to infiltrate" the country as authorities imprison others with ties abroad. And that was even before knowing that Sen. Jim Dabakis is gay - a crime in Iran that can carry the death penalty. For his part, the Salt Lake City-based art dealer said such cross-cultural exchanges will help relations between Iran and the U.S., which have been tense since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran... But things have grown rather undiplomatic since the Democrat returned home and gave an interview about his trip to local Salt Lake City television station KUTV . The semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, seized on the interview. It quoted a hard-line lawmaker on Sunday who described Dabakis' visit as "part of a major Western project to infiltrate into the country." On Monday, the pro-reform newspaper Arman quoted Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, as saying his committee was not told of Dabakis' visit. Responding to Dabakis' description of being welcomed by average Iranians on his trip, Boroujerdi offered this: "Iranians' main slogan is 'Down with the USA,' and it shows Iranians do not love Americans."

CONGRESSIONAL ACTION

Thirty-four Republican senators are pushing the State Department to confirm Russia and Iran violated a United Nations Security Council resolution when Russia launched its Syria airstrikes from an Iranian airbase this summer. "We should be using all available tools to dissuade Russia from continuing its airstrikes in Syria that are clearly not in our interest," the senators wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday. "If launching such airstrikes from Iran violates a legally binding Security Council Resolution, then that point should be made clear and enforced." In August, Russia began using an airbase near the city of Hamadan in Iran to launch airstrikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

Sen. Ben Sasse is seeking answers from President Barack Obama about a pair of wire transfer payments from the U.S. to Iran that seemingly undercut the explanation he gave for a cash payment to the Islamic republic last January.
Sasse's letter comes on the heels of a POLITICO report in which the Treasury Department confirmed that the U.S. made two separate wire transfer payments, one in July 2015 and another in April 2016, to Iran. The 2015 wire transfer in particular contradicts the president's explanation of a $400 million payment to Iran last January, which Obama said had to be delivered in cash "precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions and we do not have a banking relationship with Iran that we couldn't send them a check and we could not wire the money." ... "These wire transfers, Mr. President, seemingly contradict what you have previously told the American people," Sasse (R-Neb.) wrote in his letter to the president. In his letter to the president, Sasse asks Obama how many wire transfer payments to Iran the U.S. government has made any how many payments it has made in cash.

BUSINESS RISK

Iran has reduced the number of airplanes it plans to buy from Airbus by six amid delays in U.S. regulatory approvals, and may knock one plane off a similar deal for more than 100 with Boeing (BA.N), an Iranian official told Reuters. Iran announced plans in January to buy 118 jets worth $27 billion at list prices from Europe's Airbus but has complained about unexpected delays in receiving U.S. licenses, which are needed due to the large number of U.S.-supplied parts. The country's deputy transport minister told a conference on Monday there were signs the U.S. Treasury would release the crucial licences by the end of this month. But speaking again on Tuesday, he stepped up criticism of what Iran sees as unfair delays in unblocking the deal, which is part of efforts to rebuild Iran's elderly fleet that were built into a pact between Tehran and world powers to lift most Western sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear activities.

SANCTIONS RELIEF

Russia's second-biggest oil producer Lukoil says it is preparing to present Iran with the findings of its studies over two oil fields in the country - a move which could lead to awarding the development of the fields to the company. Lukoil Chief Executive Officer Vagit Alekperov said the technical studies over Mansouri and Ab Teymour oil fields - both located in the southwestern oil-rich Khuzestan province - will be presented to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in the near future. Alekperov told reporters after meeting Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh that Lukoil experts will soon travel to Khuzestan for a further study of the fields. According to Alekperov, Lukoil is also studying an NIOC project in the Persian Gulf. Nevertheless, he emphasized that Mansouri and Ab Teymour are presently Lukoil's priority. If Lukoil is awarded the development of the fields anytime soon, it will become the first foreign company to win an oil project in Iran after the removal of sanctions against the country.

Iranian Naft Airlines, a homebound charter airline providing passenger and cargo services to Iran's Ministry of Petroleum, says it has received the first Boeing jet. The aircraft, one of the four Boeing 737 single-aisle jetliners bought from the US aviation company, was delivered to Naft Airlines on Sunday, its Managing Director Nurollah Rezai Niyaraki said. "After the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), an agreement was signed with the Boeing company for purchase of four 737s and today one of the ordered aircraft was delivered to Iranian Naft Airlines," he told Shana news agency... Naft Airlines appears to be the first Iranian company to have its deal cleared by the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

India is set to buy 6 million barrels of Iranian crude for its strategic oil reserves as negotiations with the United Arab Emirates' national oil company for supplies are stuck over commercial terms, industry sources said... Three industry sources with direct knowledge of the matter said India would buy 6 million barrels of Iranian Mix crude from the National Iranian Oil Co in October and November to fill half the Mangalore storage facility in the southwestern state of Karnataka... State firm Bharat Petroleum Corp will buy 4 million barrels in two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd will import 2 million barrels, the three sources said.

SYRIA CONFLICT

The Islamic Republic will spare no effort to help Syria in the fight against terrorism, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari says. "Iran is determined to provide Syria all the possible facilities in its fateful fight against terrorism," Jaberi Ansari said in a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Monday. He added that "strategic and one-of-a-kind" relations between Iran and Syria go beyond the two nations' interests and are based on common views and understanding of the threats facing all regional nations such as terrorism and extremism.

The US-led coalition's Sept. 17 bombing of Syrian government forces has triggered increasingly tough Iranian rhetoric on the role the United States is playing in Syria. After meeting with the Syrian ambassador to Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the former Iranian deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs who now serves as director general of international affairs in parliament, said Sept. 18, "America's behavior shows that the United States and its allies are always looking to strengthen terrorist groups in Syria and the announced cease-fire should be regarded in that respect." ... Meanwhile, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, Amir-Abdollahian's successor as deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs, is in Damascus for the second time in two weeks. Ansari met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who stressed "the importance of the support provided by Iran, Russia and other friendly countries." The two agreed on strengthening bilateral coordination and cooperation between the foreign ministries of the two countries.

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif seeks to characterize Saudi Arabia as the driving force behind Islamic extremism, as part of the regime's ongoing and unconvincing attempts to paint Iran as a source of moderation, peace and unity in the Middle East. In reality: Iran continues to fuel conflict and sectarian violence across the region to aid its own hegemonic goals. Zarif says there is room for the Saudis to join the effort against violent extremism, without acknowledging Iran's financial support of Hezbollah - a sanctioned terrorist organization that has thousands of forces supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Iran is funding Shiite militias in Iraq; the ayatollah routinely calls for death to Israel; dual nationals are being taken hostage at alarming rates, charged with unsubstantiated crimes. Iranian citizens are abused and hanged in public squares by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also a sanctioned terrorist organization. The 9/11 Commission Report details Iran's support of al-Qaeda - which includes training and safe transit from Afghanistan through Iran of terrorists (including 9/11 highjackers). Over the last 30 years, Iran has systematically invested money, training and other support to both Shiite and Sunni extremist groups across the Middle East, perpetuating violence, unrest and death to countless innocent civilians. Calls for coordinated action at the United Nations, ahead of this week's General Assembly meetings, are consistent with previous mendacious attempts by Iranian officials to use U.N. initiatives to whitewash Iran's terrorist misdeeds. Perhaps Zarif should focus on dealing honestly with the world.

There is a small window of time for the United States and its allies to determine what kind of nuclear technologies are delivered to Tehran, and by whom. And the clock is already ticking. The spokesman of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization recently announced that Tehran is holding talks with foreign states over constructing additional nuclear power plants. A week earlier, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Baku, and Putin reiterated his country's intent to build up to eight nuclear reactors in the Islamic Republic. An unnamed State Department official said earlier this month that last summer's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) does not prevent Tehran from pursuing new light-water reactors, but that any new nuclear reactors in Iran would be subject to International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards obligations. These IAEA safeguards would not block or deter Iran proceeding with reprocessing - especially after 15 years, when the main restrictions of the JCPOA expire. For example, the nuclear agreement and the UN Security Council resolution endorsing it establish a dedicated "procurement channel" for the transfer of materials, equipment, and technology required for Iran's nuclear activities. This is intended to ensure that the international community knows what nuclear items Iran is purchasing, and that the country can't illicitly procure nuclear technology. However, prior approval by the Security Council is not necessary if Tehran wants to purchase specified nuclear equipment for light-water reactors, low-enriched uranium fuel elements for the reactor, or dual-use items if they are used exclusively in light-water reactors. In other words, the nuclear deal does not set any limitations on the scope and content of Iran's light-water reactor program... The ongoing nuclear reactor negotiations between Russia and Iran will set a precedent for the subsequent delivery of nuclear technologies to Tehran. As those talks progress, this is the time for Washington, the European Union, and all parties invested in international security to influence the provisions that will set the tone of future nuclear agreements with Iran.

Israel's biggest threat comes from further afield, in Iran. Although the nuclear deal lengthened Tehran's timetable for building a bomb, it came with a host of negative consequences too. The Iranians will retain some of their nuclear infrastructure, and thus the capacity to build a weapon in the next ten to fifteen years. They also continue to make regular conventional weapons deliveries to terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, including Hezbollah, radical Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthis in Yemen. In all, Iran has helped establish terrorist infrastructure on five continents -- a fact that belies its portrayal as moderate under the leadership of President Hassan Rouhani. Some see Tehran as part of the solution to the roiling regional conflicts because of its willingness to fight the Islamic State. Yet its opposition to that Sunni jihadist group should not be viewed as anything more than a ploy to remove an ideological rival and gain a greater foothold in the region.







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@uani.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.

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