Top Stories
NYT: "President Obama's chief nuclear adviser said Friday that the United States and its allies planned new sanctions in an effort to test 'Iran's pain threshold' and force the country into suspending its production of nuclear fuel. The adviser, Gary Samore, made his comments three days after talks with Iranian officials adjourned with no progress. By increasing the economic pressure, White House officials say, they hope to raise the cost to the Iranian leadership of letting the talks drag on. But it is possible, some concede, that the Iranians could react by pulling out of the discussions. The talks, held this week in Geneva, were the first in a year, and are supposed to be followed by more meetings next month, probably in Turkey. Mr. Samore suggested that Iran may have decided to resume the talks with members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany 'because it believes it can manipulate the appearance of negotiations to weaken existing sanctions and avoid additional measures.'" http://nyti.ms/fk30Kz
CNBC: "An organization dedicated to preventing Iran from possessing nuclear weapons is asking Transammonia, an American chemicals company, to stop doing business with Iran. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a non-partisan coalition that says a nuclear-armed Iran is 'unacceptable,' wants Transammonia to severe all ties with the country. On Friday, the president of UANI, Mark Wallace, sent a letter to that effect to Transammonia CEO Ronald Stanton. Although U.S. companies are prohibited by the Treasury Department from engaging in business transactions with Iran, CNBC reported this week that a Transammonia subsidiary purchases ammonia from Iran. UANI says Transammonia is doing business with a company on the Treasury's list of Iranian firms with which American companies are forbidden to do business: the Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company (IPCC), a subsidiary of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), which is owned by the Iranian government... In the letter to Transammonia CEO Stanton, UANI's Wallace writes, 'While many responsible corporations are pulling out of Iran, it is especially important for Transammonia to do so because the business dealings that the company and its subsidiaries have had with NPC and IPCC line the pockets of the mullahs in Tehran, thereby enabling them to pursue policies which threaten the broader region and the United States.'" http://bit.ly/fiz5Nb
AP: "Iran's army has finished a large military exercise by ground forces near the Iraqi border, the state news agency reported Monday. But unlike previous war games in which Iran boasted of weapons advances, the latest maneuvers were largely held under wraps. The report by the IRNA news agency was the first public word that the maneuvers had been held, and even IRNA's confirmation came only indirectly. The report was about the death of two military officers in a road accident as they came back from 'large' exercises by ground forces. IRNA gave no further details about the maneuvers." http://wapo.st/ffbnP0
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
AP: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fired his foreign minister and named the nuclear chief to serve as the country's acting top diplomat. In a brief statement on the president's website Monday, Ahmadinejad thanked Manouchehr Mottaki for his more than five years of service but gave no explanation for change. Over the past year, Iranian media have reported that lawmakers were pushing for Mottaki to be dismissed if more U.N. Security Council sanctions were imposed in response to the country's nuclear program. According to the reports, the lawmakers argued that he was not a strong or persuasive enough advocate for Iran on the international stage. A fourth round of sanctions was imposed in June." http://bit.ly/gRTtAH
FT: "The US has acknowledged that the Stuxnet computer worm helped slow Iran's nuclear programme, and has come close to admitting the existence of a secret international drive to sabotage Tehran's progress toward the bomb. Washington is pushing for more sanctions on Tehran following inconclusive negotiations with the Islamic republic this week. Asked about Tehran's recent admission that Stuxnet has affected its enrichment plant at Natanz, which can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons grade material, Gary Samore, President Barack Obama's top adviser on the Iranian nuclear file, welcomed the news. 'I'm glad to hear they are having problems with their centrifuge machines,' he told a conference in Washington, referring to the centrifuges used to enrich uranium. 'The US and its allies are doing everything we can to try to make sure that we complicate matters for them.' In a further apparent reference to attempts to sabotage Iran's nuclear programme, Mr Samore added: 'Their technical problems go beyond steps that outside countries are taking.' He highlighted Tehran's dependence on outdated technology and a limited industrial base." http://bit.ly/i7pnoS
AP: "Leaked U.S. embassy cables show American diplomats were concerned that Switzerland's unilateral efforts in nuclear negotiations with Iran had sent a 'wrong message' and undercut international pressure on the Islamic republic. The cables obtained by WikiLeaks and published Sunday by German magazine Der Spiegel reveal U.S. displeasure at what was perceived as unhelpful Swiss interference in the delicate nuclear issue. A 2008 cable apparently written by the then U.S. ambassador in Bern, Peter R. Coneway, said that the so-called 'Swiss Plan' backed by Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey seemed mainly aimed at raising her own profile." http://wapo.st/hsEN06
Reuters: "French oil major Total will not invest in Iran because the financial terms are poor, not because of increasingly tough sanctions, Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie said on Friday. Total has negotiated on and off for years, unsuccessfully, to close a multibillion-dollar deal to develop gas fields in Iran, which holds the world's second-largest gas reserves. But those talks have effectively come to a halt this year, with Chinese companies swooping in to fund projects. But Total and other European oil firms have still resisted growing pressure to completely end all business with Iran, despite Washington's drive to isolate Tehran over a nuclear programme the West suspects is aimed at making bombs. 'At the time, we will not invest in Iran. It is not because of embargoes but because the terms are not good,' de Margerie told reporters in New York. Oil companies have for years complained that Iran's negotiators drive too hard a bargain." http://bit.ly/eRTzpz
AFP: "Western nations on Friday accused Iran of stepping up illegal arms trading and made calls for tougher UN sanctions. Britain told the UN Security Council that new Iranian individuals and entities should be added to sanctions lists while France said there should be a detailed investigation of Iran's sanctions-busting. The concerns were raised after the seizure of 13 containers of rockets, mortars and other weapons in Nigeria last month and up to seven tonnes of high explosive in Italy in September. British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told a Security Council meeting on Iran sanctions that the new seizures were part of 'a pattern of violations' after other raids, some involving Iran's weapons trade with North Korea." http://bit.ly/fWCMxz
Commerce
Bloomberg: "Crude oil at $100 a barrel is a good price, though 'demand is not good,' Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi said in Quito, Ecuador, today at a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. 'One hundred dollars as a nominal price is good, but real prices are weak,' Mir-Kazemi said before OPEC ministers began a closed-door meeting to decide whether to maintain current production levels. 'The market is better than before but it's not good because of the growth rate of the global GDP is low.' OPEC, supplier of about 40 percent of the world's oil, hasn't changed quotas since late 2008, when it announced the biggest-ever reduction in output as global demand collapsed." http://bit.ly/gIroJ0
Human Rights
AP: "An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery confessed to helping a man kill her husband and re-enacted the alleged crime in an interview broadcast Friday by Iranian state television - an apparent effort by the government to deflect international criticism over the case. It was the fourth time Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani has been shown on TV as Tehran has faced an international outcry over the announcement that she would be stoned to death, the latest source of friction between Iran and the West... In the new footage broadcast on English-language Press TV, the 43-year-old mother of two was brought from the prison to her home outside the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran where she was shown acting out the alleged December 2005 killing, complete with an actor portraying her husband." http://wapo.st/hbUdb7
AP: "Celebrities including Robert Redford, Robert de Niro, and Sting have called on Iran to release a woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. In an open letter published Monday, more than 80 actors, artists, musicians, academics and politicians said that 'Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has suffered enough.' Signatories include actor Colin Firth, artist Damien Hirst, Nobel literature laureates Wole Soyinka and V.S. Naipaul, British opposition leader Ed Miliband and former French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner. They say Ashtiani has already spent five years in prison and received 99 lashes. They called on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to release her along with her son and lawyer, who are also imprisoned." http://bit.ly/ifn8So
Domestic Politics
WashPost: "Two years ago, Iran's parliament blocked several of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's key decisions and impeached one of his top ministers. But today, the leader routinely ignores parliament's laws and undercuts its authority, leading some politicians and analysts to fear that Iran is slipping toward dictatorship. A strong parliament is central to the Islamic republic's political system, which mixes religion and democracy and divides power among the parliament, the president and councils of clerics. But Ahmadinejad, emboldened by the support of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says he is merely exercising his rights under the constitution. The Majlis, or parliament, should stop creating an obstacle to Iran's progress, Ahmadinejad argues. In a recent open letter, leading parliamentarians demanded a resolution to the escalating dispute and warned they could start several procedures, including impeachment, against the president if his power is not checked." http://wapo.st/hR2sLu
WSJ: "Iranian authorities said pollution has been at a 'critical' level in Tehran and other big cities for four weeks, blaming weather conditions-but residents of the capital say international sanctions and the government's response to them are the cause. An unofficial report Friday, picked up by many nonstate media outlets, said more than 2,500 people have died as a result of the recent bout of pollution. The report fueled popular anger among Iranians who say they believe the pollution is the result of emissions from vehicles using low-quality gasoline that Iran is producing to compensate for the effect of U.S.-led sanctions. Iran's government denied gasoline was a culprit in the pollution, and pointed to unseasonably warm temperatures." http://on.wsj.com/eLrHmM
AP: "U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show Iran's hard-line policies have left it without 'a single ally' among neighboring countries, an Iranian opposition leader said Sunday in a direct challenge to Tehran's official view that Washington seeks to poison relations in the region. The claims by Mir Hossein Mousavi touches on the difficult position for Iran's ruling establishment following the memos, which cite some Arab leaders - including Saudi Arabia's powerful King Abdullah - urging for U.S. military action to halt Iran's nuclear program. Iran claims the cables are a ploy by Washington to damage Iran's image and possibly try to mobilize support for a military strike - positions that authorities have aggressively pressed in the state media while trying to silence other viewpoints." http://wapo.st/gRVZgX
Foreign Affairs
Reuters: "Australia is at odds with its major security ally the United States over Iran, saying it is not a 'rogue state' and its nuclear weapons program is for deterrence, not attack, according to U.S. cables released by WikiLeaks. The documents, published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday, also reveal that Australia's top security organization believes Tehran sees a 'grand bargain' with the United States as its best way to ensure national security. But the Office of National Assessments (ONA) shared Washington's fears that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons could lead to conventional or nuclear war, noting a conflict between Israel and Iran was the greatest challenge to Middle East stability." http://nyti.ms/eRohcT
Reuters: "Iranian lawmakers have called on the government to downgrade its relations with Britain for interfering in the Islamic state's internal affairs, state media reported. Britain is at odds with Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, and has frequently been accused by Tehran of meddling and fomenting anti-government protests in the country following the disputed presidential election in 2009. 'Iran will lose nothing from downgrading relations with Britain ... this is the minimum cost that London should pay for confronting the Iranian nation,' lawmaker Kazem Jalali told state television. Jalili, who is spokesman for parliament's National Security and Foreign Affairs committee, said it would review ties with Britain on Sunday. However, the committee's decision would depend on the outcome of voting in parliament. Jalili also criticised the 'impudent' behaviour of the British Ambassador to Iran, Simon Gass. 'Gass wrote about violation of human rights in Iran ... ignoring the killing of students in Britain in recent protests,' said Jalili. Some MPs have demanded that Gass be thrown out of the country." http://reut.rs/fATveI
AP: "Jordan's King Abdullah II said Sunday he was seeking 'practical steps' to improve his frosty relations with Iran, a contrast to his regime's frequent criticism of Iran's policies. The call came in a closed-door meeting with Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, director of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office, Abdullah's Royal Court said in a statement. Abdullah has been one of Iran's harshest critics in recent years, warning that its growing influence in the region could undermine him and other pro-American moderates. The Royal Court statement said Abdullah accepted Ahmadinejad's invitation to visit Tehran soon, but no date was set." http://wapo.st/hFmdLa
AFP: "The showdown over Iran's nuclear pursuit is 'still in the stage of diplomacy,' and extended sanctions against the regime could help prevent it from acquiring atomic weapons, Israel's defense minister said in comments broadcast on Sunday. 'I think that it's still in the stage of diplomacy,' Ehud Barak told CNN in an interview. 'I still believe that much more active sanctions can cause the regime to have a second thought' about pursuing a weapons drive, which is at the heart of the concerns by western powers over Iran's nuclear program. Barak's comments came days after the first international talks in 14 months were held on the Islamic republic's nuclear program, which concluded with an agreement to meet again in Istanbul in late January to discuss ways to resolve what the European Union described as 'core concerns about the nuclear issue.'" http://bit.ly/f7ddBW
Opinion & Analysis
Jennifer Rubin in WashPost: "There's a Woody Allen joke that reminds us that everything our mothers told us was good for us -- milk, sun and red meat -- isn't, actually. After a week of feckless Iran diplomacy and discussion with some very smart Iran gurus, I'm thinking we need to start asking whether that isn't true about our policy based on economic sanctions and fruitless discussion with the Iranian regime. I would argue that there are at least five reasons to cut off the conversation. First, we bestow an aura of legitimacy on a regime already divided internally and facing pressure from certain clerics and the Green Movement. So long as we are talking, we are more inclined to pull our punches on issues like human rights atrocities when we meet, get no results and meet again. When you throw in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's scampering after the Iranian representatives, you realize that, at this point, we are doing more harm than good by engaging the despotic regime. Second, the only acceptable outcome is a complete dismantling of Iran's nuclear program, not another scheme, unverifiable and inconclusive, to allow Iran limited enrichment of nuclear materials. But the longer we talk, the more likely a 'compromise' of this type will emerge. That happened last year, although the Iranians wouldn't close the deal." http://wapo.st/dIktv2
Peter Khalil, Michael Danby and Carl Ungerer in The Australian: "The WikiLeaks revelation that the Australian intelligence community has explicitly warned that Iran should not be seen 'merely' as a rogue state, but as a rational actor should not be used to alter the fact that Iran remains a menace to regional and international security. While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may score more headline-spinning conspiracy theories out of the WikiLeaks drama, he is a sideshow, a willing and fanatic puppet of the Iranian regime. The real power and the puppet masters in Iran are the clerics, led by Ayatollah Khamenei and his Guardian Council. Iran's threat to regional and global security is a result of the now clear strategy of these unelected Khamenei theocrats - regional dominance through military aggression and nuclear weapons. No-one is fooled by Iran's recent nuclear gamesmanship. Endless 'negotiations' to try to ensure the Iranians comply with their declared peaceful nuclear energy program result in exasperation with Iranian intransigence. The international community (including the Russians and Chinese - although they will not say it too loudly) share an inescapable view that Iran is pursuing an offensive nuclear weapons program. Estimates vary, but the best guess of the Western intelligence community is that Iran already has enough enriched uranium to produce a bomb. Extensive UN sanctions, and further unilateral sanctions such as those passed by the Australian parliament, temporarily restrain Tehran's drive for a nuclear weapon. But sanctions are never enough. The critical question as we approach the endgame is: what would be the effect on regional and global security if Iran had a nuclear weapon?" http://bit.ly/fFUvVt
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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 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.
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