Eye on Iran: New Oil Sanctions Start to Bite Iran

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.    Top Stories FT: "The drop in Iranian oil revenues is substantial. The country's economy is suffering, with the exchange rate between the local currency and the US dollar falling sharply. But Iran still earned more last year selling its oil overseas than in any year before 2008. Last year's revenues of $69bn are the fourth highest on record in nominal terms, below 2011, 2010 and 2008. But the situation could change this year. A new set of sanctions became effective in April that will largely prevent Tehran repatriating oil revenues from its big Asian customers such as Japan, India and South Korea. In addition, Brussels has made clear that European insurers - and reinsurers - can no longer cover refineries that process Iranian crude. 'The new provision will mostly affect refiners in South Korea and India, which rely heavily on European insurance providers,' the US Department of Energy said this month. 'The new sanctions may further affect Iran's exports and production over the next few months as refiners try to find alternative suppliers of insurance.'" http://t.uani.com/18jGNun Bloomberg: "Iran is storing crude oil on board tankers off its coast, according to IHS Fairplay, a maritime researcher that collates data on vessel movements. There are 11 tankers anchored for 28 days or more with cargoes, Richard Hurley, a senior maritime data specialist at Redhill, England-based IHS Fairplay, said by e-mail April 25. Ten are very large crude carriers that can hold 2 million barrels and the other is a Suezmax with half that capacity. Iran stored oil on tankers in the second quarters of 2008, 2010 and 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg at the time. Refineries in the Northern Hemisphere normally carry out maintenance during the period, curbing demand for imports." http://t.uani.com/17uttVF NYT: "Just six weeks before Iran's presidential election, politicians and clerics have declared open season on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his government, in one instance calling him a 'coward' and likening him to a 'drunk driver.' The invective is the latest manifestation of infighting that broke out months ago between Mr. Ahmadinejad and his allies and a loose coalition of clerics and Revolutionary Guards commanders. Night after night during prime-time talk shows on state television - under the firm control of Mr. Ahmadinejad's opponents - critics tear into what they see as the government's mismanagement of the economy, blaming the president and not international sanctions for its poor performance... The change in tone signals a hardening among Iran's top leadership toward Mr. Ahmadinejad, who by law cannot run for another term but who is championing the candidacy of a protégé, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, in the June election." http://t.uani.com/1005iIl   Nuclear Program Reuters: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Iran had not crossed the 'red line' he set for its nuclear program, despite an assessment to the contrary by a former Israeli intelligence chief. At the United Nations in September, Netanyahu drew a red line across a cartoon bomb to illustrate the point at which he said Iran will have amassed enough uranium at 20 percent fissile purity to fuel one nuclear bomb if enriched further. He said then that Iran could reach that threshold by mid-2013. Last week, Amos Yadlin, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence, told a security conference in Tel Aviv that 'the Iranians have crossed the red line' Netanyahu drew at the U.N. General Assembly. Without referring directly to Yadlin, Netanyahu said at a meeting on Monday of his Likud-Beitenu parliamentary faction that Iran's nuclear activities remained short of his benchmark. 'Iran is continuing with its nuclear program. It has yet to cross the red line I presented at the United Nations, but it is approaching it systematically,' he said in broadcast remarks. 'It must not be allowed to cross it.'" http://t.uani.com/10RxwMT Sanctions Times of India: "The Union Cabinet is expected to clear an investment of $100 million in a crucial project to develop Iran's Chahbahar port this week. Foreign minister Salman Khurshid, who will be in Tehran on Friday, will work out the final details of the project with Iran. Khurshid will also work on a trilateral transit agreement with Iran and Afghanistan, since the latter is the most important beneficiary of the Chahbahar port. Iran has promised to ramp up capacity of the port in five phases to 20 million tonnes by 2020. Although India has long promised the project, this has been complicated by several factors. US sanctions have made it very difficult to finance projects in Iran. The sanctions also spooked parts of the government like the shipping ministry which were unwilling to attract US sanctions. Similar reservations were expressed by the finance ministry as well." http://t.uani.com/Yjt8EP Terrorism AFP: "A Nigerian judge on Tuesday postponed his verdict against an alleged member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who is charged with an illegal arms shipment. Azim Aghajani, who has been held in detention pending the verdict, was in court alongside his alleged Nigerian co-conspirator, Ali Abbas Jega. Judge Okechukwu Okeke said he needed more time given the complexity of the case, promising a verdict on May 13. Defence lawyer Chris Uche voiced hope Aghajani would be exonerated. 'We are still very hopeful that at the end of the day we will be victorious,' he said outside the court. The pair were arrested in 2010 after 13 containers of weapons were discovered at the Lagos port of Apapa and have been on trial since February 2011. Prosecutors have alleged that Aghajani was seeking to export weapons to the west African nation of Gambia on behalf of the powerful and secretive Iranian force." http://t.uani.com/11UxG1e Syrian Uprising Reuters: "Iran said on Tuesday it regarded the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war as a 'red line', echoing major adversary the United States but saying Syrian rebels were the main culprit and not the Damascus government. Last week Washington said it had 'varying degrees of confidence' that Syrian government forces had likely used the nerve agent sarin on a small scale against rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad." http://t.uani.com/18a5M69 Human Rights Fox News: "The American pastor jailed in Iran for his faith has been placed in solitary confinement and may now be suffering organ failure, according to family members in Iran who are increasingly alarmed at his deteriorating health. Saeed Abedini, the 32-year-old Christian and American citizen who is serving an eight-year prison term in Iran, was put in solitary confinement following a 'peaceful, silent protest' in an outside courtyard at Iran's notoriously brutal Evin prison, according to family members. Conditions at the prison prompted Abedini and other prisoners to sign a petition decrying the lack of medical care and the threats and harsh treatment facing family members who come to visit. The protest angered prison officials who retaliated by placing Abedini and nine others in solitary confinement." http://t.uani.com/11S6rpz Opinion & Analysis Saeed Ghasseminejad in Times of Israel: "Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei likes to pretend he leads a very modest life. There are several stories recounted by his various media outlets that are intended to prove his humility. My favorite is the one where Mohammadi Golpayegani, his chief of staff, and former undersecretary of intelligence, claims that the Supreme Leader usually borrows money from him as Khamenei's income is so paltry.  One could easily draw a very different conclusion from this supposed demonstration of the Supreme Leader's modest means: If the Ayatollah cannot manage his personal expenses, and has to always hit his chief of staff up for money, how, for God's sake, can he be trusted to run a country? Or maybe they just don't make 'God's vice-regent on earth' quite like they used to. But I digress. The real point is that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a master of deceit who is more concerned with his own image than anything else. A case in point is the former seminarian's fondness for luxury vehicles. BMW and Mercedes Benz are two cars Iranians adore and view as a sign of wealth. While the offspring of the religious rulers of Iran have been discovering even fancier status symbols like Porsche, Maserati, and Ferrari, ordinary Iranians still see BMW and Mercedes Benz as one of the most decisive signs of wealth. So when a picture of Ayatollah Khamenei riding in a BMW was published - as even the Shah's prime minister drove an Iranian produced Peykan - some of his followers found the need to explain it away. And as always, the regime's apologists found a good explanation. 'It is because of the security threat against the Supreme Leader's life that he needs to use such a fancy car,' his supporters argued. They might be right, and it's reasonable that high ranking officials use the best services the country can provide. What isn't so easily explained is why a supreme leader owns an official BMW dealership in Iran. The official dealership of BMW in Iran is Persia Khodro, a company owned by Rey investment group, which is under control of the Shah Abdol Azim shrine (in the city of Rey) whose director is personally appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader. This religious foundation is part of a vast financial empire directly under control of Iran's supreme leader. The conglomerate and those who run it pay no taxes and effectively function independently from the state." http://t.uani.com/12h7oVB 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.