Eye on Iran: UANI Billboard Criticizes Sasol Presence in Iran

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group.    Top Stories KPLC TV: "A group dedicated to keeping nuclear weapons away from Iran has put up a billboard in Southwest Louisiana criticizing Sasol for its presence in Iran. Sasol is based in South Africa. Sasol officials in South Africa say the billboard is wrong.  Sasol's much anticipated mega expansion in Southwest Louisiana became the topic of the single billboard just within the last couple of days. The sign is visible from Interstate 10 around milepost 31, if you're westbound on the interstate. The billboard says, 'Before you build here stop building in Iran.' It also demands Sasol 'choose between Louisiana or Iran's terrorist regime.' The billboard stands in a parking lot at the corner of Belden Street and Enterprise Boulevard. It was put there by a group called UANI, which is United Against Nuclear Iran. Spokesman Nathan Carleton said Sasol maintains an active presence in Iran's energy sector by operating chemical plants there. 'Sasol is involved in Iran's energy sector. It's partners with a company that is controlled by the Iranian government and it's irresponsible because it helps fund the Iranian regime and it helps fund the Iranian nuclear program. Sasol said that they would end that contract in Iran, but they've yet to do so,' he said." http://t.uani.com/10UwiMX Reuters: "The United States on Thursday slapped financial penalties on an Iranian businessman, a Malaysian bank and a network of companies it accused of attempting to evade international sanctions on Iran's nuclear program through money laundering. The Treasury Department blacklisted Babak Zanjani and First Islamic Investment Bank for providing financial and other support to the National Iranian Oil Company. It said Zanjani and a network of companies had moved billions of dollars on behalf of the Iranian government, including tens of millions of dollars to an engineering unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 'As international sanctions have become increasingly stifling, Iran has resorted to criminal money laundering techniques, moving its oil and money under false names and pretenses,' said David S. Cohen, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at Treasury... Last month Treasury imposed financial sanctions on Dimitris Cambis, a Greek businessman it said secretly operated a shipping network on behalf of Tehran to evade the oil sanctions. 'Whether through Babak Zanjani, Dimitris Cambis, or tomorrow's chosen accomplice, we will be relentless in exposing and thwarting Iran's attempts to evade international sanctions and abuse the global financial system,' Cohen said... Treasury also blacklisted a Swiss-based Iranian trading company, Naftiran Intertrade Company (NICO), which it said was owned or controlled by the National Iranian Oil Company." http://t.uani.com/ZPfURd FT: "Gary Samore, former nuclear non-proliferation adviser to Barack Obama, US president, says the suspension of 20 per cent enrichment is only 'the tip of the iceberg'. The more serious concern is the lower grade uranium enrichment at the Natanz nuclear plant, where Iran has expanded production capacity with the instalment of several thousand more advanced centrifuges. 'As they [the Iranians] continue to build stockpiles of 3.5 per cent enriched uranium, they could use Natanz in a few years from now to produce nuclear weapons material,' says Mr Samore. Are there ways to break the deadlock? Some experts suggest making clear to Iran that after a comprehensive nuclear deal it would be able to have some enrichment capacity, although tightly supervised, might give Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, sufficient comfort to move forward with the negotiations." http://t.uani.com/10QqSRH   Nuclear Program & Sanctions  VOA: "As North Korea continues to threaten the United States and its allies with nuclear attack, three U.S. House Foreign Affairs subcommittees have held a joint hearing on 'Breaking the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nexus.' Lawmakers and witnesses at the hearing agreed that the growing relationship among the three governments poses broad risks to international security and nuclear non-proliferation efforts.  House Foreign Affairs Committee leaders detailed the triangular relationship between Iran, North Korea and Syria at a hearing in Washington.  Lawmakers said Iran has been providing arms and fighters to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's army, and that North Korea and Iran have been working together on what amounts to a joint nuclear weapons program. Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen called on the Obama administration to get tough on the three countries' governments. 'History has proven that diplomatic relations with these regimes have been a waste of time,' said Ros-Lehtinen. 'The administration must fully and vigorously enforce sanctions against this triangle of proliferation and have a coherent and coordinated strategy to counter these threats.'" http://t.uani.com/16RRLbG AP: "An Iranian negotiator suggests that 'step by step' progress can be made toward lifting sanctions over the Iranian nuclear program. Ali Bagheri told state TV that Iran hopes the international talks can resume with a 'constructive, clear and functional response' toward Iran." http://t.uani.com/ZqLZrx Syrian Uprising USA Today: "The increasingly isolated regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad would fall quickly without the tons of weapons and other military assistance it is getting from Iran, said Marine Gen. James Mattis, who recently stepped down as commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East. 'Absent Iran's help, I don't believe Assad would have been in power the last six months,' Mattis said Monday in a wide-ranging interview in his Pentagon office as he prepares to retire from the Marine Corps... Mattis said Iran is providing weapons, advisers, money and other supplies to help the Assad regime battle a growing insurgency. Mattis said the longer the fighting goes on, the greater likelihood Syria will fracture, which will make reassembling the war-torn nation even more difficult." http://t.uani.com/YQ5huJ Domestic Politics WashPost: "Iran's political landscape has become increasingly divided during controversial President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second and final term. But as a diverse array of candidates to replace him takes shape, nearly all the contenders seem united on one thing: attacking the president's legacy. The eventual winner of the June election will wield influence over the direction of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, a topic of immense importance to the United States. In Iran, however, the biggest election issue is the sagging economy, and most among an emerging list of about 20 candidates argue that it has been harmed as much by Ahmadinejad's tenure as by international sanctions. The growing field of hopefuls is generating fresh popular interest in an election that few believed would be competitive just a short while ago. That is in large part because candidates must be approved by Iran's Guardian Council, a powerful body of clerics and jurists, half of whom are appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei." http://t.uani.com/158evpN 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.