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Top Stories
Pew:
"The public is reacting skeptically to last month's multilateral
agreement aimed at freezing parts of Iran's nuclear program. Overall,
more disapprove than approve of the deal, and there continues to be broad
skepticism about whether Iranian leaders are serious about addressing
international concerns over the country's nuclear program. The latest
national survey by the Pew Research Center and USA TODAY, conducted Dec.
3-8 among 2,001 adults, finds that 43% disapprove of the agreement
between the U.S. and Iran over its nuclear program, 32% approve of the
deal, while 25% do not offer an opinion. The public's doubts about the
intentions of Iran's leaders are as high as they were last month before
the nuclear agreement. By roughly two-to-one (62% to 29%), those who have
heard at least a little about the agreement say Iran's leaders are not
serious about addressing concerns over the country's nuclear
program." http://t.uani.com/1butWcW
Reuters:
"Two U.S. senators are preparing legislation to impose new sanctions
on Iran in six months if an interim deal on the Islamic Republic's
nuclear program goes nowhere, penalties that Iran's foreign minister has
said would kill the agreement. The Democratic chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, Robert Menendez, and Republican Senator Mark
Kirk are close to agreeing on legislation that would target Iran's
remaining oil exports, foreign exchange reserves and strategic
industries, aides said on Monday. The legislation, which faces an uphill
battle amid opposition from the White House, would seek to limit the
ability of President Barack Obama's administration to waive sanctions on
Iran. It would also reimpose sanctions if Tehran reneges on an interim
deal struck last month. A senior Republican Senate aide, speaking on
condition of anonymity, called the legislation 'an insurance policy to
protect against Iranian deception.' ... Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif told Time magazine in Tehran during the weekend that new
sanctions - even if delayed - would kill the agreement reached in Geneva.
'The entire deal (would be) dead,' Zarif said." http://t.uani.com/1e32LdE
Haaretz:
"German companies in sectors like mechanical engineering and
chemicals are eager to expand business with Iran following Tehran's
interim nuclear deal with the P5+1 world powers. Germany has been Iran's
most important Western trading partner despite the international
sanctions on Tehran. In 2012, German firms exported goods worth 2.5
billion euros to Iran. In the nine months from January to September this
year, the number was 1.3 billion euros. Haaretz has obtained a list of
firms from the German-Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Tehran,
known as AHK Iran in its German abbreviation. The list discusses
'branches, agencies and representatives of German companies in Iran
2012.' AHK Iran, which is partially funded Germany's Ministry of Economy
and Technology, supports German companies in their dealings with Iran.
The list, published at the end of 2012, includes the names and areas of
operations of 136 German companies that do business with Iran. One
company on the list, Bomafa Armaturen GmbH, is a maker of high-pressure
valves and specialty valves for use in power stations and industrial
plants. According to the company's website, its equipment is used in
nuclear plants as well. Bomafa is represented in Tehran by an Iranian
firm, Sinarad Kala Ltd., a supplier of industrial valves and accessories.
Another German company represented by Sinarad Kala is Gemu GmbH & Co.
KG, based in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. The firm describes
itself as a leading manufacturer of valves, instrumentation and
measurement systems." http://t.uani.com/1gm24wc
Nuclear
Negotiations
Reuters: "Iran and six world powers began expert-level talks on
Monday to work out nitty gritty details in implementing a landmark accord
for Tehran to curb its disputed nuclear program in return for a limited
easing of sanctions. The preliminary accord is seen as a first step
towards resolving a decade-old standoff over suspicions Iran might be
covertly pursuing a nuclear weapons 'breakout' capability, a perception
that has raised the risk of a wider Middle East war. Officials from Iran
and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia met at
the Vienna headquarters of the U.N. nuclear agency, which will play a
central role in verifying that Tehran carries out its part of the interim
deal. The outcome of the meeting is expected to determine when Iran stops
its most sensitive nuclear activity and when it gets the respite in
sanctions that it has been promised in return." http://t.uani.com/18k6HnT
Sanctions
Reuters: "Pakistan announced on Tuesday it had agreed with Iran to
speed implementation of a much-delayed gas pipeline project designed to
link Iran's giant South Pars gas field with consumers in South Asia. The
United States opposes the $7.5-billion project because it could violate
sanctions imposed on Iran over nuclear activities Washington suspects are
aimed at developing an atom bomb, although Tehran denies this. In an
announcement following a breakthrough pact between Iran and global powers,
Pakistan said both sides would speed up work to finish construction of
the pipeline." http://t.uani.com/1d6zrxI
Reuters: "Indian and Iranian officials are meeting this week to
discuss how to unlock the first oil payments to Iran since the United
States and other world powers eased sanctions last month in exchange for
curbs to Tehran's nuclear programme... India and Iran are to discuss how
to restart oil payments in foreign currencies, including a plan to
process partial payments for oil in euros through a Turkish bank, two
government sources said. A delegation of Iranian officials led by
Gholamali Kamyab, deputy governor at Iranian Central Bank, is in India
until Dec. 13. The group met officials of the finance ministry and
Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday. Arvind Mayaram, a senior official at
India's finance ministry, said that for now, India would not release
dollar payments it was holding back from Iranian imports. He said the
meeting had mostly focused on the implications of the new deal on issues
of insurance - a problem for shipping under the sanctions - as well as
ways to increase oil imports from Iran and exports from India." http://t.uani.com/1f40Fql
Terrorism
AFP: "The Palestinian Hamas movement has 'resumed' relations with
Iran after a temporary falling out over the Syrian conflict, a senior
member of the Islamist movement said Monday. 'Relations between Hamas and
Iran have resumed,' Mahmud al-Zahar told reporters at a news conference
in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas since 2007. Ties had been
'affected by the Syria situation, and Hamas has withdrawn from Syria so
that it can't be identified with this or that side,' he said. 'We've
confirmed we are not interfering in the Syrian case, or in any other Arab
country.' Shiite Iran had long supported the Sunni Hamas against their
shared enemy Israel." http://t.uani.com/18k5Kf9
AFP: "Israel's defence minister on Monday accused Iran of using its
embassies as terrorist bases and transferring guns and bombs through
diplomatic pouches, without providing evidence for the claims...
'Wherever there are Iranian embassies, they also serve as bases for
espionage and terrorism,' Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a
statement after meeting with visiting Guatemalan President Otto Perez.
'The Iranians use their diplomatic courier to transfer bombs and arms,'
he said, referring to pouches carried by diplomats that are not
customarily subject to inspection. 'We know there are South American
countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia where the Iranians
maintain terror bases in their embassies and among the local Shiite
Muslim population,' Yaalon said." http://t.uani.com/18k5X1V
Human Rights
IHR: "Iranian authorities moved two prominent Ahwazi Arab prisoners
from Karoun Prison to an undisclosed location on 7 December, prompting
fears they could be executed. Iran Human Rights calls for the Iranian
authorities to immediately overturn the death sentences of the men, who
were subjected to torture and unfair trials that have been condemned by several
UN experts. IHR's appeal comes just days after four other Ahwazi Arab
prisoners were taken from Karoun Prison and executed." http://t.uani.com/1hKnPX5
Domestic
Politics
Reuters: "Iran's foreign minister defended himself on Tuesday
against what he called 'slander, profanity and insults' by conservative
hardliners at home who have accused him of undermining the state and are
pushing for his position to be reviewed... Twenty of the 290 members of
parliament wrote to Rouhani on Sunday asking him to reassess Zarif's post
after several public statements they described as 'indecent', Fars news
agency reported. One occurred during a visit to Tehran University in
which Zarif was quoted by local media as saying the West feared the might
of the Iranian people, rather than its military defences, which he said
it could destroy with a single bomb if it wished... One of the more
outspoken critics is Hussein Shariatmadari, editor of the hardline Kayhan
newspaper, who said Zarif had sent a 'signal of surrender' to the West
and criticised Rouhani for alleging that sanctions-ridden Iran had all
but run out of funds at the time he took office in August. 'If the enemy
receives a message that our coffers are empty, that the regime's defence
system can be destroyed with one bomb, that the absolute sovereignty of
Iran over the island of Abu Musa is negotiable, what hope is there
against them thinking the hands of our negotiating team are empty, and
(they are) marching to victory?' Shariatmadari wrote in an
editorial." http://t.uani.com/1e32aZw
Opinion
& Analysis
Bret Stephens in WSJ: "Chuck Hagel was right: The Obama
administration's policy on Iran's nuclearization is containment, not
prevention. The secretary of defense let that one slip at his
confirmation hearings in January, and the media played it as a stumble by
an intellectually overmatched nominee. But it wasn't a stumble. It was a
gaffe-an accidental, embarrassing act of Washington truth telling-by a
guy who doesn't do insincerity nearly as well as his boss. This much was
apparent from the revealing performance Barack Obama delivered last week
at the Brookings Institution, where he was interviewed by
Israeli-American entertainment mogul Haim Saban on the subject of the
Iranian nuclear deal... Here are a few of my favorite Obamisms from the
interview: 1) 'We are stopping the advancement of the Arak facility,' he
said, referring to Iran's construction of a plutonium reactor. The
reality, as Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif bluntly pointed out, is
that 'construction will continue' at Arak. Tehran has merely undertaken
not to fuel the reactor-assuming that's even an option for the time
being-for at least six months. 2) 'There's nothing in this agreement or
document that grants Iran a right to enrich,' Mr. Obama said later on,
referring to Iran's enrichment of uranium in 10,000 centrifuges. The
reality is that the Geneva deal allows Iran to continue to enrich uranium
(though it has to oxidize the produced uranium, a reversible process),
and it specifies that a final accord 'would involve a mutually defined
enrichment program.' So Geneva doesn't 'grant' Iran a right to enrich. It
merely accepts it de facto and envisions it de jure... Let's break this
down for the real world. The president will not use military force under
any circumstances and will resist efforts to resume sanctions in the
event a final accord fails. Instead, he has accepted the principle of a
nuclear-capable Iran; he only asks Tehran that its nuclear breakout time
be in the range of six to 12 months as opposed to, say, two to six.
Perhaps this is supposed to be a comfort to an Israel, a Saudi Arabia, or
a Bahrain. But they understand the game Iran intends to play: accept
modest, time-limited and reversible constraints on their nuclear program.
Exchange them for broad concessions of fact and principle by the U.S.
Eventually, the West will get used to the idea of Iran with borderline
nuclear capability gradually extending its influence in the region as
American influence recedes. We're bored with the Middle East anyway. The
argument is now being made that a containment policy beats the unforeseen
risks associated with stopping Iran by force. People who dine in
Washington eateries that only recently Tehran made plans to blow up
should not concede this point so cavalierly. If Iran was prepared to
aggress that way without the benefit of a nuclear umbrella, just imagine
how it will behave with one." http://t.uani.com/1btgrH7
Mardo Soghom in RFE/RL: "After the limited nuclear deal Iran reached
with the United States and other world powers in Geneva, the
quintessential question is whether Tehran is ready to make a major change
in its foreign policy and put aside its traditional anti-U.S. stance...
Mr. Alizadeh believes that, actually, Tehran has not yet given a clear
signal in this regard. With the exception of its willingness to negotiate
a deal on its nuclear program, which can be seen as a positive step, the
Islamic republic has not yet shown any readiness to normalize ties with
the United States or give up its long-held anti-American positions and
rhetoric. Iran observers are united on one point: the key to such
momentous and historic decisions is none other than the supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Does Khamenei want a full-fledged restoration of
ties with the United States? Is he willing to change Iran's staunch
anti-Israeli policies? These are the crucial policies that have defined
and shaped Iran's foreign policy since the Islamic Revolution. A number
of factors influence Khamenei's thinking on U.S. and Israeli issues.
First, it is an ideological principle for Khamenei and his hard-line
supporters to carry on with the uncompromising positions set out 35 years
ago by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic.
Khomeini unceasingly urged his followers to defy the United States and
fight against Israel without fear. His famous declaration about U.S.
threats was that 'there's not a damn thing America can do.' This ideology
has been the basis of recruitment and mobilization for phalanx after
phalanx of supporters and fighters and also justification for numerous
aggressive and violent policies both domestically and internationally.
Too much has been invested and too strong a perception of influence has
been created for Khamenei to give up. The second factor is the
preservation of the very essence of the Islamic republic itself. Regime
survival is an overriding factor. How much can Khamenei give up or change
in Iranian policies without endangering the complicated survival web he
and others have woven in Iran and beyond its borders? If Khamenei makes a
drastic change in relations with the United States then other things will
follow: Ordinary people who yearn for openness, social freedoms, and a
better economy. Reformist activists will feel empowered and emboldened to
ask for more. Gradually, more openness will bring a larger foreign --
Western -- footprint into the country. People will be less afraid of regime
restrictions and will increasingly challenge the stifling rules and
restrictions imposed on them in the name of religion and the struggle
against the United States and Israel. Khamenei, most clerics,
Revolutionary Guards, and other conservatives think about this nightmare
in which the very fabric of the system unravels. With the election of a
new moderate president and a nuclear deal, the pressure is there for
discarding the traditional anti-U.S. positions of the regime. The strong
reaction of people in Iran welcoming the nuclear deal indicates that the
majority desire a less confrontational foreign policy... Popular support
for moderate leaders and moderate policies is more visible in Iran. One
can say that a new and strong tide -- one demanding a break with past
isolation, and better ties with the U.S. and the West -- is rising. Now
more than ever Iran is internally divided over its confrontational
policies and especially in regard with its anti-U.S. ideology. Leader
Khamenei, under the pressure of sanctions, has agreed to a nuclear deal.
But he is far from accepting a fundamental change in foreign policy
vis-a-vis the United States and Israel. This would be too much of an
ideological deviation and too dangerous for the survival of the regime.
Khamenei will tread very carefully for the foreseeable future." http://t.uani.com/1aREbor
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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