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Top Stories
Free Beacon:
"Iranian President-elect Hassan Rowhani was on the special Iranian
government committee that plotted the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community
center in Buenos Aires, according to an indictment by the Argentine
government prosecutor investigating the case. The AMIA bombing is
considered the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina's history, killing
85 and wounding hundreds more. The Argentine government had accused the
Iranian government of planning the attack and Iran's terrorist proxy
Hezbollah of carrying it out. Numerous former and current Iranian
officials are wanted by Interpol in connection with the bombing. Former
Iranian intelligence official Abolghasem Mesbahi, who defected from Iran
in the late 1990s, testified that the decision to launch the attack was
made within a special operations committee connected to the powerful
Supreme National Security Council in August 1993. According to the 2006
indictment, Mesbahi testified that Rowhani, who was then serving as
secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, was also a member of
the special committee when it approved the AMIA bombing." http://t.uani.com/12cvxMt
Reuters:
"Western government sanctions against Iran suffered a big setback on
Wednesday when Britain's top court ruled that the government was wrong to
have imposed sanctions on the biggest Iranian private bank over alleged
links to Tehran's nuclear programme. The Bank Mellat case and 50 more
like it pending at the European Union's General Court have cast a cloud
over the future of EU sanctions and alarmed Washington, which relies on
European support to throttle Iran's links to the global economy in hopes
of getting it to curb its disputed pursuit of nuclear power. The British
Supreme Court decision on Wednesday echoed a January ruling by the EU's
General Court, which overturned sanctions imposed in 2010, and paves the
way for Bank Mellat to sue Britain for damages... A campaign by U.S.
pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), whose board includes
former U.S. ambassadors and former CIA and British intelligence chiefs,
has led several foreign companies in sectors including shipping to exit
Iran. UANI chief executive Mark Wallace, a former U.S. ambassador to the
UN, said the appeals 'would set a troubling precedent'. 'The EU and its
member countries and citizens must make clear that Iran business is
unacceptable and illegal - that was the very point of the sanctions,'
Wallace told Reuters." http://t.uani.com/1avgqFJ
Just-Auto:
"Sources in Iran claim IKCO is continuing to produce Peugeot
vehicles in the country despite PSA ending parts shipments as European
Union sanctions continue to bite. Exact figures are currently unavailable
as to how many Peugeot models are rolling off IKCO production lines, but
the source maintains localisation is the key to continued build. 'Most of
them [Peugeot models] have been localised 100%,' the source in Iran told
just-auto. 'For example, the 206 completely, this is the model being
produced here. There is no need to import parts and components - 206, 207
[and] 405 are being produced.' ... PSA's involvement with Iran - as well
as several other western automakers in the country - has been a hugely
sensitive issue given the draconian sanctions regime that aims to
dissuade Tehran from developing what some maintain is its proposed
enrichment of uranium for nuclear weapons. Lobby groups in the US, such
as United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), have previously targeted PSA as
well as its partner, General Motors, by highlighting what it referred to
as the 'taxpayer-funded US$50bn bailout of GM'. Only two months ago, UANI
said tens of thousands of Peugeot-branded vehicles were being produced in
Iran, including nearly 204,000 during the Persian calendar year ending 20
March. 'Once again, we see evidence GM's partner, Peugeot, continues to
do business in Iran,' said UANI CEO, Mark Wallace, in April this year,
although PSA insists it has stopped shipping parts." http://t.uani.com/1950Wu7
Nuclear Program
AP: "Iran's state TV says a site in
southern Iran has been selected for a planned new nuclear research
reactor. There has been no timetable announced for the proposed plant,
which would be similar to a research reactor in Tehran that produces
medical isotopes. Iran's lone energy-producing reactor is in the Persian
Gulf port of Bushehr... Thursday's report says the new site is near
Zarghan, about 670 kilometers (420 miles) south of Tehran. It said the
plant aims to produce medical and agricultural radioisotopes." http://t.uani.com/17pp3D7
Times of Israel:
"Richard A. Clarke was the counterterrorism chief for both Bill
Clinton and George W. Bush... During the conference, Clarke, 62, sat down
with The Times of Israel for a characteristically no-nonsense interview in
which we discussed Iran's nuclear program, the Syrian civil war, ongoing
terror threats to the United States, the reasons behind the continued
incarceration of spy-for-Israel Jonathan Pollard and a whole lot more.As
was to be anticipated for a man who held vast responsibility for the
wellbeing of his nation, Clarke was brisk, blunt and clear in his
assessments. He said flatly that the Iranians will 'complete' their
nuclear program unless someone stops them. He also said that he was 'on
the apocalyptic side' when gauging the repercussions of military
intervention to stop them. 'The Iranian government won't take it lying
down,' said Clarke. 'And there's some relatively high risk that it would
expand into a war that not only involves Israel, but involves attacks in
the United States through cyber attacks from Iran, and involves attacks
on the American Gulf allies. And that could be very, very messy. It could
have worldwide economic effects. And I don't know how it ends.'" http://t.uani.com/11ADkoD
Sanctions
NYT:
"New York State authorities are poised to impose a $250 million fine
on the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ over claims that the bank, Japan's
largest by assets, transferred illicit funds on behalf of Iran and other
countries blacklisted from doing business in the United States, according
to people briefed on the case. The bank, which settled the case with New
York's financial regulator, Benjamin M. Lawsky, was accused of routing
28,000 payments worth about $100 billion through its New York branches from
2002 to 2007. To avoid detection, Mr. Lawsky is expected to contend, the
bank stripped information from the wire transfers that could have exposed
the identity of the Iranian entities." http://t.uani.com/14kMEig
JPost:
"US senators are pushing forward with a new sanctions package
against Iran despite the victory of moderate Hassan Rohani in last week's
election, sources tell The Jerusalem Post. Language for the Senate bill
is expected to be completed in the next month, while matching legislation
in the House of Representatives will likely see a vote before the July 4
recess. The bill aims to bring Iranian oil exports to zero and close
currency loopholes." http://t.uani.com/16Ox014
WSJ:
"Economic sanctions against Iran have made it increasingly hard for
Iranians to do business abroad. But Iranian businessmen are flocking to
Georgia, a longtime U.S. ally in the Caucasus region, to pursue profits
evaporating in much of the world... This is a boom being closely watched
by U.S. authorities charged with enforcing sanctions that aim to block
Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. 'We are focused intently on shutting
down any Iranian attempts to evade sanctions, including through possible
business connections in Georgia,' said David Cohen, the U.S. Treasury's
top official overseeing Iran sanctions. 'We are working closely with the
Georgians on the issue.' Two delegations from the Treasury have visited
Tbilisi in recent months to discuss the matter, according to U.S. and
Georgian officials. In some cases, they may have reason for concern. The
business branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has some 150
front companies in Georgia for the purpose of evading sanctions and
importing dual-use technology, according to two members of the
Revolutionary Guard and to the head of a Tbilisi facilitator agency-who
said he helped set up such firms registered under Georgians' names."
http://t.uani.com/180hAdb
AP:
"Britain's Supreme Court quashed sanctions against an Iranian bank
penalized over its alleged links to Iran's nuclear weapons program,
saying Wednesday that Bank Mellat had been arbitrarily singled out. The
U.S. Treasury Department slammed the ruling as mistaken and warned that
Bank Mellat remains under American sanctions... The United States, which
along with the EU has levied sanctions against Bank Mellat, said in a
statement that it is 'very disappointed' by the court's decision, which
it called 'mistaken.' 'Bank Mellat was designated for sanctions by the
U.S., the UK and the EU because it supports Iran's nuclear and ballistic
missile proliferation activities,' the U.S. Treasury Department said in a
statement. 'It has no place in the international financial system.'"
http://t.uani.com/17ppld6
BusinessDay (South
Africa): "The imminent change of government in Iran,
from that led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to one headed by
president-elect Hassan Rohani, who won last weekend's elections, may
offer respite for both MTN and Sasol. The investments in the country by
the two South African multinationals have been hurt by damaging western
sanctions imposed in response to Iran's nuclear ambitions, which have
crippled the economy... MTN's 49% stake in privately held Irancell, the
second-largest cellular network operator in Iran, contributed about 11%
of both proportional group revenue and proportional earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in financial 2012. This
exposed Africa's largest mobile operator to fallout from the effects of
the punitive economic measures against Iran led by the US, and involving
the European Union countries. Meanwhile, Sasol chief financial officer
Christine Ramon said in a June 7 note to stakeholders that the group was
finalising the disposal of its 50% shareholding in the Arya Sasol
Polymers Company (ASPC) in Iran. 'We concluded a memorandum of
understanding with an interested party regarding the disposal of ASPC and
at the date of this update, we are finalising closing activities,' she
said. But in a June 10 conference call she told US-based shareholders
that further losses of about $100m relating to the foreign currency
translation reserve would be recognised in income once Sasol had finally
divested its share. Ms Ramon also said the devaluation of the Iranian
currency may further negatively affect earnings." http://t.uani.com/10AiytW
Syrian Civil
War
Reuters:
"Hamas said on Wednesday its relations with financial backer Iran
have suffered as a result of the Islamist group's support of rebels
battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a long-time Iranian ally.
Hamas was also once an Assad ally but last year endorsed the revolt
against him in a shift that deprived the Syrian leader of an important
Sunni Muslim supporter in the Arab world. 'Our relations with Iran were
affected both on the political and the financial levels,' said Ghazi
Hamad, deputy minister of foreign affairs in the Hamas-run government in
the Gaza Strip. Hamad declined to provide any figures for the amount of
aid Hamas receives from Iran or give details of any cutbacks, other than
to say 'it did not get to the point of boycott (from Tehran).' ... A
diplomatic source in the region said Iran has provided Hamas with up to
$20 million a month to help pay the salaries of nearly half of 50,000
Gaza government employees." http://t.uani.com/11NwVVX
Domestic Politics
AP:
"Iran's state TV is reporting the country's election overseer, the
Guardian Council, has approved Friday's presidential election result,
affirming a first-round victory by a relative moderate. The report
Wednesday said Hasan Rowhani won the election by taking nearly 51 percent
of votes. Since he won more than half, that eliminated the need for a
runoff. Rowhani takes office in August, succeeding President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad." http://t.uani.com/12dhy9l
Bloomberg:
"Iran officially celebrated the national soccer team's qualification
for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil at a 'men-only' party yesterday
in Azadi Stadium in Tehran. Women were banned from entering. Female fans
were kept behind metal barriers away from the official celebrations,
according to the state-owned IRNA news service. Photographs of women
waving flags outside the stadium were posted on social networking
sites... Restrictions on women attending soccer matches were imposed
after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The games were deemed inappropriate
for women to attend to prevent them from mixing with men and from seeing
men wearing shorts. The ban was rigidly enforced after Iran's defeat of
the U.S. in the 1998 World Cup led to days of unofficial street parties.
'There is no legal basis for women to be banned from soccer stadiums,'
said Asieh Amini, an Iranian women's rights activist." http://t.uani.com/11pmCvH
Opinion &
Analysis
Christian Caryl in
FP: "So a 'moderate' has won the Iranian
presidential election. He's a moderate who advertises himself as a sly
defender of Tehran's nuclear aspirations. He's a moderate who's been
warning Western countries to stay out of Syria's civil war (where Iran
has been giving massive support to the beleaguered dictatorship of Bashar
al-Assad). He's a moderate who was allowed to run only after a host of
more pragmatic candidates were cut from the field by the current
leadership's vetting commission. And he's a moderate who's made it clear
that he's not about to tamper with the principle of clerical rule that
stands at the core of the system Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
established in 1979. So should we be celebrating? Well, the upside is
that Hasan Rowhani won on Friday's election because Iranian voters were
intent on showing their leaders that they prefer as their president a man
who suggests even the most minute revisions reigning order (such as vague
promises to rein in the widely hated morality police). But the fact
remains that, even if Rowhani wanted to implement even more far-reaching
changes, Iran's current power structure gives the president minimal space
to do so. Iranian voters may have signaled their desire for reform by
voting for Rowhani, but that doesn't mean they're any likelier to get it.
And that's just the way that Khomeini, the father of Iran's Islamic
Revolution, would have wanted it. From the very beginning he and his
followers aimed to transform Iran into a state where the Shiite clergy
had the final say. The Khomeinist constitution passed in 1979 (and
revised a few years later) included some opportunities for limited
political competition by embracing direct elections for local government,
parliament, and the presidency (with the proviso that only approved
candidates were allowed to run). But no one elected the Supreme Leader,
the man who holds ultimate power. That's because, as clergyman-in-chief,
he embodies the principle of divine rule. God's sovereignty trumps the
people's. In reality, of course, it's actually a very small group of
human beings at the top who interpret God's wishes for earthly ends.
Indeed, as became clear soon after the revolution, Khomeini's vision of
clerical rule didn't even extend to all of the Shiite clergy; those
leaders of the clerical establishment who disagreed with his theocratic
vision -- a group both more numerous and influential than most people in
the West have ever realized -- were systematically marginalized and
outmaneuvered until they were silenced altogether. They included, most
remarkably, Khomeini's handpicked successor, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali
Montazeri, who fell from grace when he began criticizing human rights
violations committed by the revolutionary regime. He ultimately died in
obscurity after enduring long years of intense persecution. That should
tell you all you need to know about Iran's capacity for reform. There are
few who would seriously dispute the imperative for change. Today, the
Islamic Republic is an international pariah and an economic basket case,
a supporter of Bashar al-Assad and a close ally of North Korea; it's also
a country whose governing class faces growing demands from its own
citizens for greater freedom and political participation. Thirty-four
years after the revolution, however, it's become increasingly obvious
that the system established by Khomeini has ossified -- and is now
correspondingly brittle. The limited space for democratic participation
originally allowed by the first generation of revolutionary leaders has
steadily yielded to unvarnished authoritarianism." http://t.uani.com/104Relp
Patrick Clawson in
WINEP: "Iranian president-elect Hassan Rouhani has
written at least seven books and fifty articles. His works are not light
reading -- for instance, his 2010 book National Security and Iran's
Economic System weighs in at 860 pages, while his February article
'Khomeini's Discourse Concerning National Security and Foreign Policy' is
60 pages long and uses terms not frequently heard from U.S. presidents,
such as 'Fouc[au]ldian Critical Dialogue Analysis.' Perhaps the most
important of his works, however, is the thousand-page 2011 study National
Security and Nuclear Diplomacy, a Persian-language tome that provides
ample fodder for assessing his posture on Tehran's nuclear program...
Rouhani describes being actively involved on the nuclear issue for at
least twenty-four years -- in other words, for most of his professional
life. This is not a minor issue for him; it has been central to his
career, and he has been an important figure in Iran's nuclear program for
decades. According to him, when Tehran decided to restart its nuclear
power program in the mid-1980s, it was determined from the get-go to
control the full fuel cycle, which would give it the capability to
produce highly enriched uranium. While his 2011 book never spells out in
detail why the regime wants a robust nuclear program, he repeatedly
mentions nuclear technology's importance to the nation -- in other words,
he does not emphasize an economic rationale... Rouhani's 2011 book also
goes into mind-numbing detail about nuclear negotiations. A constant theme
is that during his tenure, Iran's position was carefully worked out
through consultations with all the important power centers. His
concluding remarks about the impasse that emerged after he left office in
2005 draw a clear contrast between his consensus-building approach and
what followed, which he implies was slapdash and not well thought out. He
also emphasizes how much effort went into identifying points of
convergence between the Iranian and international positions. This focus
on consensus fits well with Rouhani's campaign rhetoric. Assuming he
truly wants to construct a broad consensus on the nuclear file, he will
have to address the concerns of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and key
constituencies in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. If those two
players are not on board, they will have many ways to sabotage any
agreement Rouhani might reach. The need to secure their buy-in will
certainly complicate efforts to reach an agreement acceptable to the
United States, Europe, Israel, and the Gulf Arab states, though there is
a (small) silver lining to this cloud: a broadly supported agreement is
more likely to be durably implemented. Yet Rouhani is not simply a
passive actor waiting for consensus to emerge. For example, his book
acknowledges that the November 2004 Paris Agreement -- in which Tehran
pledged to temporarily suspend its uranium enrichment efforts -- crossed
most of Khamenei's redlines for an unacceptable deal. Without going into
details about Khamenei's objections, the book describes how the Supreme
Leader was unhappy with the agreement and saw it as a mistake, but
nevertheless allowed it go forward based on the endorsements Rouhani had
marshaled for it. It will be very interesting to see if he can once again
persuade Khamenei to proceed with a deal he dislikes." http://t.uani.com/144SN1N
UANI Sanctions
Legislation Advisor David Peyman in The Jewish Journal of Greater LA:
"The election of the cleric Shia Mujtahid Hassan Rouhani is the
perfect Iranian move in a nuclear chess match where Iran seems to be
consistently outmaneuvering the United States. After all, the
Persians were among the first to introduce chess to the world in the 10th
Century. Rouhani gives the regime just enough façade of goodwill to
drag on the never-ending negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, now
spanning over a decade, while Iran sails full steam to a nuclear weapon
capability. Lest there be any mistake about Mr. Rouhani's ability
to change Iran's policy, Ayatollah Khamenei still holds ultimate power
over the nation's nuclear program. Majlis member Sharif Husseini warned
'nothing would change' in Iran's nuclear policies. For all the talk
of his 'reformist' leanings, Mr. Rouhani is responsible for much of the
progress of the nuclear program while he served as chief nuclear
negotiator under President Khatami. As he reflected in 2004, 'while
we were talking with the Europeans in Tehran, we were installing
equipment in parts of the facility in Isfahan. In fact, by creating
a calm environment, we were able to complete the work in Isfahan,' a
critical Iranian nuclear facility. Iran can use relief from the prospect
of even more strict sanctions, while buying time to complete its nuclear
project. Rouhani is the perfect answer. Sanctions are having
a severe impact on the Iranian economy, inducing double-digit inflation,
unemployment and poverty, the largest deficit in over a decade and
shrinking GDP. Yet, despite increasingly painful sanctions,
successful covert operations against Iranian scientists and facilities, and
unending diplomacy, Iran is closer than ever to a nuclear weapons
capability and is unwavering in its commitment-by word and deed-to cross
the nuclear finish line. Sanctions are painful, but
tolerable. A full economic embargo by the U.S. will not be. An understanding
of Iran's individual leaders, domestic politics, history and geo-politics
reveal that the Iranian regime has two critical strategic interests via
vie the West: nuclear weapons capability and continued animosity
with the West. These interests are only outweighed by the regime's
survival. Thus, the regime will stop its pursuit of nuclear weapons
only on the brink of its collapse, which may likely come about through a
full economic embargo, or military force (an option not politically practical
and militarily much more challenging than Iraq)." http://t.uani.com/17ZAfpm
Ian Bremmer in
Reuters: "This past weekend, centrist candidate
Hassan Rohani won the Iranian presidential election by a landslide.
Rohani beat the two perceived front-runners who were hand-selected
conservative loyalists to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and he did it with
an outright majority, bypassing an expected run-off. According to the
interior ministry, turnout topped 72 percent, a level that the United
States hasn't attained in a century. During the campaign, Rohani
declared, 'We will open all the locks which have been fastened upon
people's lives.' But while Rohani's sweeping victory comes as a big
surprise, it's no shock to the system in Iran. Don't expect Rohani to
open the locks fastened upon Iranian policy. He simply doesn't hold the
keys. All major decisions on foreign policy go through the Ayatollah. In
Iran, the president doesn't have the last word on the most important
security matters, like the nuclear program and Syria. Sanctions will
remain in place for the foreseeable future, putting a ceiling on the
near-term economic improvements that Rohani can implement. Lastly, even
if Rohani did have free rein, he would not upend the system. He is a
consummate insider, working his way up within the Iranian establishment.
He ran Iran's national security council for almost two decades, spent
three years as the top nuclear negotiator, and he maintains the trust of
the clerics. He campaigned as a moderate, not a reformer. That being
said, when President Rohani takes office in August, he will have the
potential to bring about meaningful changes within the confines of these
restrictions. It's important to understand just how low the bar is set.
Rohani is charismatic, thoughtful and pragmatic and this vaults him far
above the outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, known for aggressive
ideologies and rhetoric that springs from the realm of the absurd.
President Ahmadinejad's routine denunciations of Israel have made it
impossible for the United States to make progress negotiating with him on
the nuclear issue. Even if the U.S. were so inclined, his rhetoric and
lofty demands have undermined any common ground." http://t.uani.com/195aGnU
Meredith Tull
& Andrea Stricker in ISIS: "Almost a decade ago
Iran's new president-elect, Hassad Rouhani, held the position of chief
nuclear negotiator for Iran. If Rouhani is again to take up the nuclear
dossier-this time as president-what can the West expect from any
negotiations? His past and recent statements are illuminating of
possible strategies and positions. Below, ISIS has compiled a list
of noteworthy statements, speech excerpts, and social media posts by
Rouhani on Iran's nuclear program and policy, along with ISIS's findings
about those statements. Past statements and actions by the
seemingly shrewd, remarkably honest Rouhani show that the United States
and its partners should expect any negotiations to be used to buy time
for nuclear advancements and to garner sanctions relief. His more
recent concern about the economic state of Iran due to sanctions
indicates that the West may expect that he will at least try to make a
deal, but whether that deal will go far enough or be accepted by the
Supreme Leader is, as usual, a big unknown." http://t.uani.com/14k066i
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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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