Eye on Iran: Canada Thwarts "al Qaeda-backed" Train Plot, Iran Denies Role

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.    Top Stories Reuters: "Canadian police have arrested two men and charged them with plotting to derail a Toronto-area passenger train in an operation that they say was backed by al Qaeda elements in Iran. 'Had this plot been carried out, it would have resulted in innocent people being killed or seriously injured,' Royal Canadian Mounted Police official James Malizia told reporters on Monday. U.S. officials said the attack would have targeted a rail line between New York and Toronto, a route that travels along the Hudson Valley and enters Canada near Niagara Falls. The RCMP said it had arrested Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto in connection with the plot... Malizia said they had received 'support from al Qaeda elements located in Iran', but added that there was no sign that the conspiracy, which police described as the first known al Qaeda-backed plot on Canadian soil, had been sponsored by the Iranian state." http://t.uani.com/14M6dou Reuters: "Iran's nuclear program poses the greatest threat to the credibility of the global pact aimed at halting the spread of atomic weapons, a senior U.S. arms control official said on Monday. The Islamic Republic has a 'long history' of deceiving the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its nuclear enrichment program far exceeds that needed for civilian use, said Thomas Countryman, Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation. Two-week talks that opened in Geneva on Monday to review progress in implementing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) were taking place in a difficult environment, he said... 'It is clear that if Iran succeeds in the project of constructing nuclear weapons, then it is not only the Helsinki meeting that becomes irrelevant, but it is in fact the entire credibility of this treaty.' Countryman was referring to a decision last November to put off talks on banning atomic bombs in the Middle East that were due to have taken place in Helsinki in December. 'The possession of such weapons by Iran constitutes a threat to the entire region and an impetus for greater proliferation, lateral proliferation of weapons, than we have ever seen.' Iran's acquisition of a nuclear weapon would be a 'genuine tipping point and would cause more damage to the treaty than anything else that has occurred in its history', he added." http://t.uani.com/ZhJUTm WSJ: "On his first official trip to Israel, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel swapped endearments with his Israeli counterpart and embraced an Israeli soprano after she performed a patriotic anthem. He heartily backed punitive sanctions against Iran, and offered what some might take as a green light for an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear complex.  Many Israelis have seen Mr. Hagel as a worrisome choice for U.S. defense secretary, recalling that when he was as a senator he backed engagement with the militant group Hamas, opposed unilateral sanctions against Iran and warned of the consequences of a military strike over Tehran's nuclear program. In recasting himself, Mr. Hagel expanded a U.S. charm offensive aimed at Israel while advancing an Israeli objective-trying to convince Iran that it faces a realistic military threat as it continues to rebuff Western diplomatic efforts. At a news conference Monday at Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Mr. Hagel said the Obama administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were in 'complete' agreement on Iran policy. He repeated for a second time in as many days that Israel, as a sovereign state, should decide for itself whether to strike Iran. 'I don't think there's any daylight there or any gap,' Mr. Hagel said, with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon at his side." http://t.uani.com/10amcnl   Nuclear Program NYT: "American and Israeli defense officials welcomed a new arms sale agreement on Monday as a major step toward increasing Israel's military strength, but Israeli officials said it still left them without the weapons they would need if they decided to attack Iran's deepest and best-protected nuclear sites. The mixed message came as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Israeli counterpart, Moshe Yaalon, reaffirmed their commitment to stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, while sidestepping a continuing disagreement between the two countries about how close to allow Iran to get toward such a goal... The new weapons sale package includes aircraft for midair refueling and missiles that can cripple an adversary's air defense system. Both would be critical for Israel if it were to decide on a unilateral attack on Iran. But what the Israelis wanted most was a weapons system that is missing from the package: a giant bunker-busting bomb designed to penetrate earth and reinforced concrete to destroy deeply buried sites. According to both American and Israeli analysts, it is the only weapon that would have a chance of destroying the Iranian nuclear fuel enrichment center at Fordo, which is buried more than 200 feet under a mountain outside the holy city of Qum." http://t.uani.com/XSBG32 Sanctions Free Beacon: "An Iranian-American group suspected of acting as Tehran's lobbying shop in Washington, D.C., was ordered to pay nearly $200,000 in 'sanctions' April 9 after launching a failed defamation lawsuit against one of its chief critics. The left-leaning National Iranian American Council (NIAC) was ordered earlier this month to pay $183,480 to the legal defense fund of Hassan Daioleslam, an Iranian-American writer who has accused NIAC of failing to disclose its clandestine lobbying efforts, which are believed to include efforts to roll back sanctions on Tehran. NIAC, which describes itself as a nonprofit educational organization, sued Daioleslam in 2008, alleging he defamed the group by claiming NIAC has lobbied U.S. government officials on Tehran's behalf... Federal District Court Judge John B. Bates cleared Daioleslam of the defamation charges in September of last year in a decision that criticized NIAC for deliberately withholding and altering critical documents during an exhaustive discovery process." http://t.uani.com/11xyWIK AP: "An Iranian-American man living in Maryland is going on trial for allegedly helping Iran launch a satellite from Russia, a violation of a trade embargo the United States has against the Middle Eastern country. Nader Modanlo's trial is set to begin Tuesday in federal court in Greenbelt with jury selection. Prosecutors say Modanlo brokered an agreement between the Russian government and Iran to construct and launch satellites, resulting in the 2005 launch from Russia of an Iranian telecommunications satellite. Modanlo's trial is expected to last several weeks." http://t.uani.com/13V58tR Legislative Gazette: "Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has announced legislation (A.6855) that would further enhance the Iran Divestment Act and its policies. The Iran Divestment Act was signed into law in January 2012 and prohibited companies investing in the Iranian energy sector from receiving state or local government contracts. The Office of General Services was charged, under last year's Divestment Act, with creating a public list of individuals or companies that are engaged in investment activities with Iran. Any company that provides goods or services, or 'credit' used for goods and services totaling more than $20 million to Iran are placed on the OGS list and prohibited from procuring New York state contracts. The new, enhanced bill that Silver announced, would take the Iran Divestment Act a step further by prohibiting domestic insurers from including as an 'admitted asset' an investment in a company that is currently engaged in investment activities with Iran." http://t.uani.com/17fSSlH Terrorism JPost: "The Israeli Embassy in Kathmandu arrested an Iranian man who entered Nepal using a fake Israeli passport, The Himalayan reported on Sunday. The man was reportedly planning a series of terrorist attacks against both the embassy and Israeli tourists in Kathmandu, Channel 2 reported. The man, who was arrested on April 13, was identified as Mohsin Khosravian. He was handed over to the Kathmandu police. Security officials at the embassy suspected the man, who was carrying a tourist map of the Lazimpat area, was scouting the facility with harmful intention. According to the report, the man made 'frequent and suspicious visits' to the Israeli Embassy area. He hid his Iranian passport and used a fake Israeli passport instead when arriving at the Tribhuvan International Airport on April 3. Investigation found he used his original passport to enter Malaysia on March 31 and apparently acquired the fake Israeli passport in Kuala Lumpur." http://t.uani.com/12F8f6n Opinion & Analysis Alex Wilner in The Ottawa Citizen: "Canadians once again find themselves at the centre of an international terrorism plot. On Monday the RCMP accused two men, Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, of conspiring to conduct an 'al-Qaida supported' terrorist attack in this country. The men, both foreign nationals, reside in Canada. Their apparent targets included VIA passenger trains travelling between Canada and the U.S. Police added that the accused received 'direction and guidance' from 'al-Qaida elements in Iran.' Mentioning al-Qaida and Iran in the same sentence has some people scratching their heads. Iran and al-Qaida are greater foes than friends... So while both al-Qaida and Iran and its militant proxies are hostile to the United States, Israel, and various Arab governments, have orchestrated mass-casualty suicide bombings, and strive for similar political goals, the romance usually ends there. The bloody civil wars that have gripped parts of Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan over the past decade have often pitted these two religious communities against one another. But at times necessity has forced Iran and al-Qaida to bury the hatchet. While Iran's (and Hezbollah's) relationship with al-Qaida remains murky and while there are practical, political, and theological reasons why Shia and Sunni extremists may shy away from supporting one another, when circumstance demands it, collusion has occurred. Both before and after 9/11, Iran has had some dealings with al-Qaida. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, in the early 1990s al-Qaida and Iranian operatives met in Sudan to hammer out an 'informal agreement.' The idea was to support one another in attacks targeting Israel and the U.S. Soon afterwards, 'senior al-Qaida operatives' travelled to Iran and to Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon to receive 'training in explosives.' It appears Osama bin Laden was especially interested in a Hezbollah innovation: the suicide truck bomb. Al-Qaida presumably put those lessons to use in 1998 when it bombed the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. U.S. investigations found that leading up to these attacks, 10 per cent of the calls bin Laden and other senior al-Qaida leaders made were to Iran. As for 9/11, the Commission clearly states that there is 'no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack.' But at least eight of the 19 al-Qaida hijackers travelled into or out of Iran between 2000 and 2001. Iranian border guards were even directed not to stamp certain passports, which likely eased the movement of some of the 9/11 terrorists. And after 9/11, Iran continued to turn a blind eye to al-Qaida. For example, with the toppling of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in October 2001, some al-Qaida operatives found refuge in Iran. And between his stints fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan and later, in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, future leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, lived openly in Tehran. U.S. terrorism expert Matthew Levitt has suggested Zarqawi did so 'with the full knowledge' of the Iranian regime." http://t.uani.com/YKu2VB Alireza Nadr & Leila Mahnad in FP: "As Iran's economy continues to deteriorate, the labor movement is a key player to watch because of its ability to pressure the Islamic Republic through protests and strikes. Iranian labor, encompassing unskilled workers from rural areas and lower-class urban laborers is not a homogenous group. And thus far, Iranian laborers have not joined the opposition Green Movement en masse. But the economic pains caused by the Iranian regime's mismanagement, corruption, and international sanctions have dealt serious blows to worker wages, benefits, and job security -- enough reason for Iranian laborers to organize and oppose the regime. Parallels can be drawn between the Islamic Republic's treatment of the labor movement today and the Shah's treatment of Iranian workers before his overthrow, particularly in the regime's denial of the right to organize, the quashing of protests and strikes, and its refusal to address worker's rights... The Islamic Republic, which replaced the Shah, has not been much better at addressing labor rights. If anything, the current Iranian regime has made working conditions in Iran even worse than in the Shah's time. Laborers still do not have the right to form independent unions, and incremental achievements in the right to organize and retain benefits have been met with violent government crackdowns. Since the revolution, the Islamic Republic has kept close tabs on the labor class through government-monitored, ideologically centered unions known as Islamic Labor Councils and Assemblies of Workers' Representatives (for businesses with fewer than 35 employees). The labor councils are, in turn, supervised by the Worker's House, a once-secular labor organization taken over by pro-regime groups after the revolution. All councils must receive official recognition from the Worker's House or face closure. The Labor Councils and Assemblies of Workers' Representatives are loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran's ruling conservatives. But Iran's state-sanctioned labor groups have faced a rising tide of dissent from Iranian laborers in recent years. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic policies, abetted by the harshest sanctions in Iranian history, have been largely responsible for labor unrest. Ahmadinejad's policies, including cutting subsidies and privatizing of publicly owned industry, have greatly hurt the average Iranian laborer. The privatization of Iranian industry has been particularly problematic. Ideally, the practice of privatization allows for the government to offload failing businesses acting as a drag on the economy to the highest bidder. Instead, Ahmadinejad has sold government industries to companies associated with the Revolutionary Guards and ostensibly charitable -- yet largely unaccountable -- foundations (bonyads). The Ahmadinejad administration's favoritism has translated into greater government influence in industry. As a result, natural market competition between companies that should occur under privatization does not exist. This makes many Iranian companies uncompetitive and unprofitable. The ultimate effect has been salary cuts and mass layoffs of low-skilled laborers. Making things worse is Ahmadinejad's failure to expand social safety nets. Sanctions, in turn, have led to much higher inflation, squeezing labor wages. The economic decline has resulted in small but widespread strikes and sit-ins. Underground labor groups, ranging from bus drivers to sugar cane workers, have also become more outspoken, staging protests reminiscent of the revolution. One of the most significant was the January 22 sit-in by provincial factory workers in front of the Iranian parliament. Iranian oil workers have also organized protests, such as the February 2011 staged sit-in at Abadan, Iran's largest oil refinery. Both protests were sparked by unpaid wages." http://t.uani.com/17TS875 Michael Singh in FP: "Far from compelling the regime to rethink its strategy, however, the current Western approach is likely seen in Tehran as vindicating it. U.S. policies at the negotiating table and across the region -- a reduction in our military posture, our inaction in Syria, and our continually improving nuclear offers -- are interpreted as successes by the regime and perceived by it as indications not of good will but of desperation or decline. Seen in this light, rather than forcing the regime to face a stark choice, the U.S. and our allies have given Iran's leaders the impression that they can have their cake and eat it too: retain an implicitly acknowledged nuclear weapons capability and not only maintain but expand its regional influence without having to adopt a posture of international cooperation. The U.S. objective, therefore, should be to reverse this dynamic. Such an approach would require a firmer posture in the nuclear arena -- refraining from further improvements to our offer, setting red lines for Iran's nuclear program, taking steps to enhance the credibility of the U.S. military threat, and leaving open for now the question of whether we will hold further talks. But it would also require putting the nuclear negotiations in their appropriate regional and strategic context. The regime should come to believe that a confrontational, rather than cooperative, approach to its own security will come at a price, exacted by the U.S. and our allies. There are a number of ways to send this message -- pushing back against Iranian support for terrorism, greater support for the Iranian opposition -- but the most important way to do so is through greater involvement in Syria, where Iran has much at stake. None of these steps exclude continued or even intensified diplomacy. Successful policies should combine a range of tools employed in coordination. But the goal of all of these actions should be the same. A strategic shift by Iran -- from a zero-sum policy of confrontation to one of cooperation -- would benefit the U.S. and the region whether or not a formal nuclear agreement is reached. A nuclear agreement without such a shift, however, will prove a hollow achievement." http://t.uani.com/XSFa5A 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.