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TOP STORIES
An Iranian-American held in Tehran has reportedly been
sentenced to 18 years in prison for "collaboration with a
hostile government," yet another dual national convicted in a
secret trial since Iran's nuclear deal with world powers. The sentence
handed down to Robin Shahini, a 46-year-old graduate student who
lives in San Diego, is the harshest yet for those detained in what
analysts believe is hard-liner plan to use them as bargaining chips
in future negotiations. Shahini told Vice News in an interview aired
late on Monday that he "just laughed" after hearing his
sentence. He acknowledged supporting the protests that followed
Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election, but denied being involved
in any sort of spying. "Whatever information they had is all the
pictures I posted in Facebook, in my web blog, and they use all those
evidence to accuse me," Shahini said in a telephone call from
prison... For Shahini, he said he wasn't sure whether he'd file an
appeal, but said he also had another option to protest his sentence.
"I do a hunger strike - until either they free me or I
die," he said.
Just as conservative opponents of the nuclear deal
with Iran had warned, Tehran seems to be moving aggressively to
expand its regional influence while working to counter American
interests throughout the Middle East. Yet, just as proponents of the
deal had promised, Iran is also slowly opening up, cutting deals with
Western businesses, establishing phone links with the United States,
speeding up the internet, welcoming hordes of European tourists and
relaxing some social restrictions on its own people. What would seem
to be a puzzling contradiction is in fact a carefully thought-out,
two-track policy being pursued by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, and the circle of leaders around him. Iranian generals are
directing the ground war in Syria. Iranian advisers are training
Shiite militias fighting in Iraq and Syria. Iranian arms and other
support help the Houthi rebels in Yemen. In addition to sanctioning
the country's more aggressive military footprint in the region,
Ayatollah Khamenei regularly issues broadsides against the United
States, promising there will be no softening of Tehran's stance
against the Great Satan, while quietly opening the door to Western
capital and expertise.
Iran says Germany's Deutsche Bank has started to
provide financial services related to the country's oil trade - an
announcement that could show the ice in doing business with the
Islamic Republic in a post-sanctions era is already thawing. Iran's
Deputy Petroleum Minister for International Affairs Amir-Hossein
Zamaninia was quoted by domestic media as saying that the new phase
of cooperation between Deutsche Bank and Iran had started last week
after a halt of about 10 years. Zamaninia added that Iran expects to
see several other major European banks to follow suit and resume
cooperation with the country over its oil-related financial
transactions. "Previously, merely certain small European banks
were ready to cooperate with Iran over its oil-related
transactions," the official told Mehr News Agency. Still, a
larger number of European banks - particularly major ones - are today
approaching Iran, he added. Zamaninia further emphasized that several
important European banks are set to start providing services to Iran
"within the next few days."
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
A dual American-Iranian citizen was sentenced to 18
years in prison in Iran over the weekend on charges relating to
espionage and "collaborating with a hostile government."
Reza "Robin" Shahini, 46, was visiting his mother
north-east Iran in July when he was arrested by Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Corps while walking to a restaurant with friends. "It was
a terrifying moment, and they blindfolded me and they took me to the
custody and I did not know where I was," Shahini said, speaking
to VICE News via phone from prison... Hadi Ghaemi, executive director
of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, said he was
"shocked" at the severity of Shahini's sentence. "That
is an unprecedented sentence for that charge," he said.
"It's extremely harsh. It really demonstrates that the Iranian
judiciary is out of bounds." ... Shahini told VICE News that he
was planning to go on hunger strike to protest his imprisonment.
A dual Iranian-American citizen sentenced to 18 years
in prison for insulting the Islamic republic and engaging in
espionage for the United States was convicted based on his
social-media posts, according to a close acquaintance. Robin Shahini,
who has been jailed in Iran since July and was reportedly sentenced
by the country's judiciary this week, had a speedy trial and was
convicted based on "no evidence except for a few Facebook and
blog posts," the U.S.-based acquaintance told RFE/RL's Radio
Farda on October 24. The source's observations, which were based on a
telephone call with Shahini after the trial, were shared on condition
of anonymity. "We're still in a state of shock," the
acquaintance said of Shahini's sentencing, which followed his arrest
this summer while visiting family in northern Iran. "We expected
him to be sentenced to prison, but not 18 years." ... Speaking
by telephone, the source said that the trial lasted only three hours,
and that all in all Shahini's lawyer only had about 15 to 30 minutes
to defend his client. "Out of the three hours, [the judge
presiding over the trial] was away for one hour, apparently to pray,
then it took them one hour to fill in the forms and write down details
such as his name and last name."
The Obama administration is forging a pathway for Iran
to purchase American-made airliners that are likely to be converted
for use in the Islamic Republic's military, drawing concerns on
Capitol Hill amid a flurry of recent attacks by Iranian-backed forces
on U.S. military assets in the Middle East, according to
conversations with lawmakers and fleet information obtained by the
Washington Free Beacon... Iran currently uses at least six Boeing
aircraft as part of its air force fleet. These planes were put on
display last week when Iran launched a series of war drills aimed at
deterring Western attacks. As Iran angles to purchase 80 new jets
from Boeing, which has lobbied heavily in favor of these sales, the
Obama administration is being accused of helping to pave the way for
Iran to transfer these commercial liners for use in its war fleet,
according to lawmakers and sources familiar with Iran's military
buildup. Iran has a history of transferring commercial jets purchased
from America to its air force for use in military operations and the
transfer of weapons and other illicit material abroad. Lawmakers
worry that the White House's efforts to facilitate new airliner sales
to Iran Air, the country's national airline, will help Tehran bolster
its war fleet at a time when it is threatening military action
against Western forces in the region.
BUSINESS RISK
The United States will harshly retaliate against any
bank or company caught doing business that involves sanctioned Iranian
entities, despite a recent announcement from the Treasury Department
that had been broadly interpreted as loosening American sanctions
against previously prohibited transactions with Iran, a top Obama
administration official said on Thursday. The threat, made by Under
Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Adam Szubin, came
after THE WEEKLY STANDARD asked about a recent statement from Iran's
Central Bank (CBI) that Treasury's new language had now made it
"unacceptable" for foreign banks to deny Iran access to the
U.S. dollar, even for business with entities controlled by Iran's
heavily-sanctioned Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). "You cannot
do business with IRGC companies," Szubin said. "If you do,
and you're doing so knowingly, you are risking the most draconian
sanctions in our toolkit, and that governs not just U.S. persons but
actors all around the world." Szubin also said that the U.S.
continued to ban and sanction "the vast majority" of dollar
transactions that Iran would want to engage in, because they would
have "to come through a U.S. bank." "That is not
legal, that is not okay, and you better be careful," he said.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
The British government has announced that it has
removed Bank Saderat Iran (BSI) from its list of sanctioned entities.
The announcement was made by the UK Treasury which added that the BSI
assets had also been unfrozen. The Treasury said in a release that
the Iranian bank had been blacklisted as a result of nuclear
sanctions against Iran. The decision to delist the bank, it said, was
in line with the amended regulations by the European Union regarding
the lifting of sanctions against Iran. The regulations required the
sanctions against the BSI to be maintained until 22 October 2016.
"As that date has now passed, Bank Saderat Iran and Bank Saderat
PLC are no longer subject to the restrictive measures set out in the
Regulation, including the asset freeze," read part of the
British Treasury announcement. Britain has previously lifted
sanctions against three other Iranian banks. In January, the Bank of
England announced that it had reactivated the licenses of Melli Bank,
Persia International Bank and Bank Sepah International - that had
been subject to EU and US sanctions - thus allowing them to resume
operations in the UK.
We are excited to announce that we have reinstated our
services in Iran. This means that our customers can once again
utilise our global network, large fleet of vessels and equipment,
weekly departures, superior transit times and innovative suite of
e-business solutions, both to and from Iran, subject to country
specific regulations... At Maersk Line, we recognise the strong
potential of the Iranian market and the crucial role it has in global
trade. Marcus Connolly, Head of Sales, UAE Cluster, reaffirms
"It is hugely exciting that after a 5 year absence, we are again
able to offer Maersk Line services to customers to and from Iran.
After a period of relative isolation, access to this new market will
present significant growth opportunities for Maersk Line in a market
that today represents approximately 700,000 FFE but is expected to
grow significantly in the coming years."
Dutch flag carrier KLM has resumed flights to Iran
after a three-year hiatus. Carrying a Dutch trade mission, headed by
Minister of Infrastructure and Environment Melanie Schultz van
Haegen, on board, a KLM flight landed in Tehran's Imam Khomeini
International Airport on Sunday at 00:05 Tehran local time. "KLM
has tried to strengthen its network by adding Tehran as its 14th new
destination in 2016," KLM President and Chief Executive Officer
Pieter Elbers was quoted by the news portal of Iran's Ministry of
Roads and Urban Development as saying. As per the new schedule, four
weekly services will be operated on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and
Friday between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Tehran.
DHL Freight enables streamlined access to the Iranian
market for European companies. For this purpose, DHL Freight
installed two competence centers at the gateways in Frankfurt,
Germany, and in Istanbul, Turkey, for seamless exports to Iran. Due
to the reduction of economic sanctions and the positive development
of trade in Iran, the demand for logistics solutions is increasing.
DHL Freight supports companies exporting their goods to the region by
offering pan-European part- and full truck loads as well as weekly
departures for groupage shipments. "We are delighted about the
new possibilities arising in the Iranian market. The recent political
and economic developments present great potential for doing business.
With its years of expertise our competence centers want to support
companies realizing this potential by expanding their trade relations
in Iran," stated Amadou Diallo, Chief Executive Officer, DHL
Freight.
Iranian and German transportation ministers have
signed six contracts for promotion of cooperation in marine, road and
railway transportation. The first document, signed by Iranian
Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and German Ministry of
Transportation, concerns comprehensive transportation cooperation,
the second document concerns joint statement for cooperation between
the two ministries in ports and navigation. The third document
foresees educational cooperation between Iranian Ministry of Roads
and Urban Development and German Siemens Company, and the fourth
protocol forecasts cooperation between Iranian Railway Company and
German Thales Group. Furthermore, the fifth document was signed by
Iranian Railway Company and German Siemens Company for cooperation in
connection with signaling of Isfahan-Shiraz and Kerman-Zahedan axes,
and the final document concerned cooperation between Iran's Railway
Company and German Siemens Company in raising speed of transportation
on the Tehran-Tabriz axis.
Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry
Mustapa Mohamed says Malaysian Petronas and Al Bukhary are to come
back to Iran. Mohamed told Iran-Malaysia Trade Session in Iran Chamber
of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agricutlure that the two
Malaysian companies are to talk with National Iranian Oil Company
(NIOC) officials on Sunday. He said Malaysia is keen on cooperating
with Iran in oil and gas. "The two Malaysian companies, active
in oil and gas, want to come back and to this end, talks will be
continued to be held with the NIOC."
The National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) and
Singaporean Tru Marine recently signed an agreement of cooperation in
technology and information sharing and repair of turbochargers for
main engines and diesel ship generators, a report said. The deal was
signed on the sidelines of the 18th Marine Industries Exhibition,
NITC Technical and Navigation Operations director Akbar Jebalameli
was quoted as saying in the Iran Daily report, which cited Shana.
Azarpad Engineering & Procurement Company, as the representative
of NITC, signed the contract with the Singaporean Tru Marine Company,
Jebalameli said.
Spanish hotel group Grupo Martinon has officially
declared its readiness to invest in the construction of three hotels
in Iran. In a letter to the Tourism Holding of Social Security
Organization (known locally by its Persian acronym HEGTA), the
Madrid-based group formally declared its intention to invest in three
hotels being built by Homa Hotel Group, one each in Tehran, Mashhad
and Isfahan, Donyaye Safer reported.
TERRORISM
Deutsche Börse has been swept up in a lawsuit against
Iran over alleged connections between the Islamic Republic and the
hijackers who carried out of the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001. The families of several 9/11 victims have demanded that
Deutsche Börse, which owns the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, turn over
$6.6 billion (€6.05 billion) in Iranian assets that its subsidiary
Clearstream managed for the Iranian state and central bank. Fiona
Havlish, whose husband died in the attacks, and the families of other
victims filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Iran provided
material support to the 9/11 hijackers. A federal district court in New
York ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in 2011 and they are now
seeking damages.
SYRIA CONFLICT
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah cast the insurgency
against Syrian President Bashar Assad as a facade designed to weaken
Iran's regional access and make "changes to the map",
vowing to stay in the country until it could "defeat the apostate
project." Nasrallah in a speech Sunday afternoon said the Syrian
rebellion is "not about the fall of the regime, but about
targeting the axis of resistance," a reference to the
Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance. Assad has long provided a corridor for
Iranian weapons shipments to the Lebanese militant group which grew
out of the resistance to the Israeli occupation of Lebanon's south
between 1982 and 2000. Thousands of Hezbollah fighters are on the
ground in Syria in defense of Assad's government and senior
commanders in Iran's powerful Republican Guard are in advisory
positions.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The Baha'i International Community said Tuesday that
Iran's effort to crush the religious minority has continued unabated
and intensified on some fronts despite President Hassan Rouhani's
promises to end religious discrimination. In a 122-page report, the
community said Rouhani's government has stepped-up its "campaign
to incite hatred against Baha'is" including by disseminating
more than 20,000 pieces of anti-Baha'i propaganda in the Iranian
media. Since Rouhani was inaugurated in August 2013, the report said
at least 151 Baha'is have been arrested, and at least 388 incidents
of economic discrimination have been documented ranging from threats
and intimidation to shop closings. The report also said that under
Rouhani, thousands of Baha'is have been blocked from attending
universities and 28 followers have been expelled.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
The final judgment may rest with God. But there is a
lot of manoeuvring in Tehran to influence the decision on who will be
Iran's next supreme leader. There is no public succession plan for
the most powerful position in the Islamic republic, which has been
entrusted since 1989 to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Discussion of the subject
is all but forbidden while the 77-year-old remains active, delivering
speeches and attending military parades. Nevertheless Iran's landmark
deal with the US and other major powers to scrap its nuclear
programme - triggering a lifting of nuclear-related sanctions imposed
on the country since 2011- is being interpreted by many in terms of
what it may mean for a post-Khamenei Iran and who might run the
country... Ayatollah Khamenei rarely cries during public speeches. So
when state media showed him bursting into tears at a March meeting of
the Experts' Assembly, the clerical body tasked with choosing his
successor should he die during its eight-year term, viewers found it
shocking. "Infiltration [into Iran's political system] is a
serious plot by Americans," he told senior clerics. "This
infiltration has targeted officials ... to make decisions that it
[the US] pursues ... and make people change belief in political
Islam." The speech to the Experts' Assembly - and others made by
the supreme leader this year - have been interpreted as a sign that
the succession has become an even heavier burden on him since the
completion of the nuclear deal with the US, UK, France, Russia, China
and Germany. Observers say his anxiety is driven by fears over the
possible effects of the accord on Iran's political and economic
structures and its subsequent choice of supreme leader.
As Iran seeks to normalize relations with the West and
to enter its multilateral bodies like the World Trade Organization,
the international community must demand that it stop sponsoring
anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. As some advocate to ease business
restrictions on the world's largest state sponsor of terror, we
should push even harder for Tehran to take concrete action to tamp
down its illiberalism and behave like a reasonable actor on the world
stage. Going forward, one way European leaders - particularly in
Germany, France, Italy, Denmark and Poland - can send this message is
by insisting that, before every meeting with an Iranian official in
Europe, the visiting dignitary takes time to visit a Holocaust
memorial, museum or historic site. This is something that many other
foreign leaders routinely do in visits to those countries where the
Nazis' Final Solution was implemented. It is time for Iranian leaders
to follow suit. Such a measure would be more than a gesture. It would
be an important symbol to show the world that Iran actually is
behaving like a normal country, that it is taking meaningful steps to
officially recognize the horrors of the Holocaust, an undeniable and
defining moment of the 20th century.
Iran's diplomatic charm offensive, which began in the
summer of 2013 with the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iranian
president, and the nuclear agreement signed with the Western powers
in the summer of 2015, raised the question of whether Iran's foreign
policy towards Israel had become more moderate. Generally speaking,
Iranian policy is predicated on a revolutionary ideological vision,
but in the past the Iranian regime has been pragmatic concerning its
national and political interests. However, its foreign policy towards
Israel remains unchanged.
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