Eye on Iran: Huge Earthquake Hits Iran, Hundreds Feared Dead

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.    Top Stories Reuters: "A major earthquake struck Iran near the border with Pakistan on Tuesday and an Iranian official said hundreds of people were feared to have been killed. Tremors from the 7.8 magnitude quake were also felt in India and Gulf states. 'It was the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years and we are expecting hundreds of dead,' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit at 5:44 a.m. ET at a depth of 15.2 km (9.4 miles). People in the city of Zahedan poured into the streets when the earthquake struck, Iran's Fars news agency reported. All communications in the area have been cut, the Iranian Red Crescent's Mahmoud Mozaffar told state television. Rescue teams have been dispatched to the affected area, he said." http://t.uani.com/ZXWW3E AFP: "Iran's economy contracted by 1.9 percent in 2012 and is expected to shrink by 1.3 percent this year as it reels from the impact of Western sanctions, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. The economy of the Islamic republic is, however, forecast to grow next year by 1.1 percent, the IMF said in its annual World Economic Outlook. The IMF said the 'macroeconomic environment is likely to remain difficult, given the sharp depreciation of the currency and adverse external conditions, which would sustain inflation at relatively high levels.' A Western ban on Iranian oil exports, which came into effect in July, hit the country's economy badly." http://t.uani.com/YPcc8j WashPost: "For years, mystery surrounded an Iranian-controlled factory tucked away in this town of 70,000 in Germany's industrial west. The plant manufactured high-pressure gas tanks, but its managers seemed uninterested in making a profit. Potential investors were turned away. An expensive piece of machinery - precise enough to produce components for centrifuges and missiles - sat idle after a failed attempt to ship it to Iran. Finally, the factory, MCS Technologies, closed its doors late last month. Since then, the mystery has taken another turn. European security officials and former workers have raised questions about whether the high-tech equipment and material at MCS could have been part of a scheme to aid Iran's rogue nuclear program. Questions have arisen about the tangled ownership of MCS, which until recently was tied to a former Iranian minister of intelligence, and about the blocked attempt to export sophisticated machinery to Iran." http://t.uani.com/15h883B   Nuclear Program Reuters: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived on Monday in Niger, the world's No. 4 uranium producer, where the French nuclear group Areva has seen its grip on the industry loosened by a government looking to diversify its partners. Niger is the second of three stops on a trip aimed at deepening Iran's ties with Africa, a continent Ahmadinejad has courted for business deals and diplomatic support as the Islamic Republic becomes increasingly isolated by international sanctions prompted by its disputed nuclear program. Some Western analysts say Iran may be close to exhausting reserves of raw uranium crucial to its nuclear activity and might have to seek out foreign sources, although the U.N. sanctions would forbid such purchases." http://t.uani.com/119Wy3l Reuters: "Iran test-fired a new land-to-sea ballistic missile in the Gulf, a senior official said on Tuesday, days before an annual ceremony meant to showcase its military muscle at a time of rising tension with the West over its nuclear activity... 'The defense ministry has been able to test a new missile in the Persian Gulf which has a high ability to hit targets,' General Majid Bokaei, Iran's deputy defense minister, was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA, which described the missile as a ballistic missile. 'This new missile, which has been equipped with a surface-to-surface missile system, exits the atmosphere after being launched, re-enters it at high speed, and completely destroys the target vessel or warship.'" http://t.uani.com/14sKm5k Sanctions JPost: "A German government ministry and an evangelical church academy provoked outrage in the US and Germany by inviting the Iranian ambassador - allegedly involved in the massacre of Kurds - to speak at a conference slated for this week in Lower Saxony state... Germany's Economic Cooperation and Development Ministry is listed on the conference program as the sponsor of the three-day event in the village of Loccum titled 'How can Iranian civil society be strengthened?' ... Dr. Matthias Küntzel, a Hamburg- based political scientist who has written about Iranian- German relations, told the Post on Saturday that after the failed nuclear talks with Iran, it appears Germany wanted to increase its cooperation with Tehran. He cited the conference's stated aim to 'improve the German-Iranian relationship' in this regard." http://t.uani.com/YN1M9d Human Rights Fox News: "The American pastor jailed in Iran for his faith suffered new attacks and beatings, making his physical condition more serious than ever, according to family who visited him in prison today and saw the marks and injuries first-hand. Saeed Abedini, the 32-year-old American who is serving an eight-year prison term in Iran because of his Christian faith, has been suffering for months from serious injuries, including internal bleeding from beatings at Iran's notoriously brutal Evin prison. 'I cannot express in words how concerned I am about Saeed's physical and mental health,' Abedini's wife, Naghmeh said." http://t.uani.com/15h9lYS Iran Human Rights: "According to the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in Fars Province (southern Iran) 9 prisoners were hanged in Shiraz today Tuesday April 6. Six of the prisoners were hanged in public and the other three prisoners were hanged in the Adel Abad prison of Shiraz. The prisoners were all convicted for 'moharebeh' through armed robbery." http://t.uani.com/17ix1rW Domestic Politics AP: "It's difficult to measure how much lifeblood is left in Iran's pro-reform factions after four years of punishment. Its leaders are incommunicado under house arrest. Street protests after a hotly disputed presidential election are just a memory, and the public mood is far more preoccupied these days about the country's sanctions-stifled economy. A website offers clues about the opposition's desperation heading toward presidential elections in June to pick a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 'It's the time of sunset. I like the dawn,' says a message greeting visitors to an online petition urging former President Mohammad Khatami to run again. About 16,700 had registered as of Monday. That's hardly a groundswell in a nation with 45 million potential voters... Many reformists are expected to sit out the June 14 voting in a silent protest over the crackdowns that have left them leaderless and demoralized. Others unwilling to boycott the election are rallying around a last-ditch call for help to Khatami, who is seen increasingly as their only credible hope at the ballot box. Yet it's still a longshot on several fronts." http://t.uani.com/ZxETBr Opinion & Analysis Doyle McManus in LAT: "In my Sunday column, I argued that events are pushing President Obama toward a bigger role in aiding rebel forces in Syria's civil war -- not direct military intervention, perhaps, but certainly more direct help for the insurgents. Yes, I wrote, it's a slippery slope, but the U.S. interests in that part of the world are so great that it's dangerous to stand by... If all that weren't enough, another witness, former Obama advisor Dennis Ross, added another: U.S. hesitance in Syria, he said, is sending the wrong message to the rulers of Iran, who are backing Assad's regime. 'There is a relationship between what's happening in Syria and Iran,' Ross said. 'We want very much to convince the Iranians to change their behavior, not just on Syria but on the nuclear issue.  And one of the problems we have at this point is [that] they don't believe that we will actually use force. The irony here is, if you want diplomacy to succeed, they actually have to believe we're going to use force,' Ross said. 'Our hesitancy in Syria, I think, plays to their perception that we won't. So the more we're prepared to do in Syria, the more I think we actually may affect the Iranian calculus in terms of the nuclear issues as well.' Obama has shown no eagerness to get involved in Syria during its two years of increasingly violent unrest. But Iran is another matter; the president and his aides are bent on doing whatever it takes to persuade Tehran to suspend its nuclear enrichment program without starting another war. If Ross' argument about a 'demonstration effect' takes hold, deeper U.S. involvement in Syria could come faster than anyone expects." http://t.uani.com/11k5dCF Andrew Burt & Jordan Chandler Hirsch in The Atlantic: "Western diplomats departed Almaty, Kazakhstan recently declaring that yet another round of negotiations with Iran over ending its nuclear program had failed. But the problem for the United States isn't just preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons -- it's also preventing Israel from attacking prematurely. And although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly accepted American timelines, the dispute between Israel and the United States will erupt again. And no amount of phone calls or summits can resolve it. That's because the clash between the two countries isn't just about intentions--both have pledged to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, if necessary through force. Instead, it's about military capability. Israel, with its limited arsenal, must attack before Iran produces enough nuclear material to build a bomb. Because Israeli military capabilities would be significantly stretched in a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, every strike option carries a risk that Israel will only partially destroy its targets. To succeed, it may need to attempt a follow-up attack or even a series of them. All of this requires time, something Israel is running out of. Meanwhile, the United States, with weapons such as the long-range B-2 stealth bomber and massive bunker-busting bombs, can afford to wait. Despite the pleasantries of President Obama's recent visit to Israel, this discrepancy reappeared in the Jerusalem press conference between Obama and Netanyahu, with Netanyahu reiterating the need to strike Iran before it passes the so-called zone of immunity -- the point at which an attack would no longer derail the nuclear program. This tension has both exposed Israel's limitations and undermined U.S. credibility, weakening diplomacy and emboldening Iran. All of this, ironically, increases the odds for war. The only way to solve the problem is to level the playing field: the United States should give Israel air refueling tankers, increasing its odds of destroying Iran's nuclear program in the event of an attack and thereby giving it more time to wait. Refueling tankers are one of the most important advantages the United States has over Israel if it came to an attack on Iran. Any Israeli operation against Iran would severely strain its air force. Over 1,000 nautical miles separate Israel from its furthest targets in Iran, and Israeli jets would need to refuel approximately halfway. Tankers would play a critical role in any such attack. The problem is that Israel doesn't have enough of them. It has roughly 10 tankers in its fleet, all of which it would need to deploy in a strike on Iran--presenting the Israelis with a major operational vulnerability. The loss of one or two tankers could threaten the entire mission. If Israel decides to strike Iran, its lack of tankers will be a significant handicap... By giving Israel refueling tankers, the United States can escape its bind. Jerusalem would be better equipped to ferry its air force to Iran and remain airborne long enough to attack an increasing number of targets. This would give Israel a greater margin of error, allowing it to wait longer before striking and placing it more fully on Washington's timeline. Meanwhile, Tehran would take the potential consequences of an Israeli assault more seriously, so transferring the tankers would thus boost U.S. credibility. Empowering Israel, the country most likely to use force, would demonstrate that the United States is willing to risk war to stop Iran's nuclear program. With Israel in possession of sufficient air tankers, the Iranian regime would have the strongest incentive yet to end its nuclear drive. The hope, of course, is that neither the United States nor Israel will need to resort to force. Diplomatic niceties can calm the dispute between Israel and the United States over Iran temporarily, but only increasing Israel's capabilities can buy real time and credibility. By realigning Washington and Jerusalem, it offers the surest means of avoiding preemptive war." http://t.uani.com/YZVC4U 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.