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Top Stories
Reuters:
"U.S. senators pushing a bill to slap new sanctions on Iran if it
goes back on an interim deal under which it agreed to limit its nuclear
program have gained support since the legislation was introduced in
December, aides said on Monday. The bill, which the White House has
threatened to veto, requires further reductions in Iran's oil exports and
would apply new penalties on other industries if Iran either violates the
interim agreement or fails to reach a final comprehensive deal... The
'Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act' had about 48 co-sponsors in the 100-member
Senate on Monday, up from 26 when the bill was introduced on December 19,
an Senate aide said. 'Expect that number to keep growing over next couple
of days as folks who were out of town and staff get back in,' the aide
said. The bill was introduced by Robert Menendez, the chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Mark Kirk, a Republican from
Illinois. 'We expect several Democrats to kind of cross the picket line
and come on board this week,' the aide said. While the bill has gained
support, it remains uncertain if backers can put together the two-thirds
majority in the Senate needed to override a veto by President Barack
Obama... The bill gives the administration up to a year to pursue a
diplomatic track, which backers say would not violate terms of the
interim deal." http://t.uani.com/1gBSkeU
Today's Zaman:
"The early morning raids on Dec. 17 are still being discussed. More
than 80 people were initially detained in connection with the corruption
and graft investigation being handled by the İstanbul Chief Public
Prosecutor's Office. Twenty-four of those suspects have been arrested on
court-issued warrants. The rest were referred to a court but released
pending trial. Those arrested include two ministers' sons, a mayor, the
general manager of a state-run bank and many high-level officials. Even
graver than the prominence of the accused are the charges levied against
them: involvement in a bribery ring working to benefit the Iranian deep state.
In an interview with Sunday's Zaman, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Akif Okur
from Gazi University explains that Iran has created a parallel economy to
evade sanctions. Because the system doesn't work legally, countries that
are involved are poisoned by corruption and bribery. Iranian Reza Zarrab
is claimed to have run this deep state's operations in Turkey, under the
orders of Iranian Babak Zanjani. It is alleged that Zarrab, who took the
Turkish name Rıza Sarraf after receiving citizenship, laundered money and
bribed high-ranking state officials in Turkey to make his plans work.
Media outlets have reported that Zarrab was observed by investigators
bribing four Cabinet ministers. The allegations are grave. The
resignation of the three ministers involved in the case (former Economy
Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Interior Minister Muammer Güler and
Environmental and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar) lent support
to the allegations." http://t.uani.com/1dNuFb5
Reuters:
"Iran and the European Union will hold a two-day meeting in Geneva
on Thursday to discuss implementing a landmark nuclear deal between the
Islamic state and major powers, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported
on Tuesday. 'We will meet (EU negotiator) Mrs. Helga Schmid in Geneva on
Thursday and Friday,' Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, told
IRNA. Schmid is a deputy of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who
has overseen contacts between six world powers and Iran on the nuclear
standoff." http://t.uani.com/JFrSFN
Sanctions
Reuters:
"The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday issued a rare emergency
order aimed at blocking the illegal re-export of two large, used
U.S.-built commercial jet engines to Iran by a company based in Turkey.
Assistant Commerce Secretary David Mills, who oversees export
enforcement, signed the order on Friday after learning that Turkish-based
3K Aviation Consulting & Logistics planned to re-export two engines
built by General Electric Co to Iran on Tuesday using Pouya Airline, an
Iranian cargo airline. There has been a warming in U.S.-Iranian ties this
year, including a Nov. 24 deal to curb the Iranian nuclear program, but
most exports to Iran remain strictly banned under U.S. law. The order,
which will be in effect for 180 days, includes sweeping consequences for
3K Aviation, Pouya Airline and Adaero International Trade, the
Illinois-based company that the department said had shipped the used
aircraft engines to Turkey." http://t.uani.com/1cVR1qz
Bloomberg:
"Indian Oil Corp. (IOCL) and two other state-run refiners said they
will defer resuming purchases of Iranian crude by at least three months,
having failed to get reinsurance for shipments after Europe said it would
relax a coverage ban. Indian Oil, which has an accord to buy 24,000
barrels a day from Iran in the year ending March 31, halted purchases
after importing in the first quarter of the fiscal year. The nation's
biggest refiner won't resume buying until insurance is available, said a
person with direct knowledge of the matter, asking not to be identified before
an announcement. Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL), which planned to
import 16,000 barrels a day, will hold back purchases, Refineries
Director B.K. Namdeo said in an interview. Chennai Petroleum Corp. (MRL),
which hasn't bought any oil this year from Iran, will continue to stay
away, Managing Director A.S. Basu said... 'The benefit of the Iran deal
is not percolating down,' Basu said in an interview in New Delhi. 'Our
insurers are saying foreign reinsurers want to observe the situation for
six months before extending any cover.'" http://t.uani.com/KzGfwj
Reuters:
"Two Japanese buyers of Iranian crude, Idemitsu Kosan and Cosmo Oil,
are unlikely to raise imports from the Middle Eastern country even after
sanctions were eased as part of an initial deal on Tehran's disputed
nuclear programme. Executives with the two refiners said on Tuesday they
have no plans to increase their contract volumes following the November
deal between world powers and Iran that allowed Tehran to keep oil
exports at around 1 million barrels per day (bpd), about half of
pre-sanction levels. Japan's biggest importer of Iranian crude, JX
Holdings Inc , had also earlier said it would not be increasing its Iran
volumes in 2014. That is in contrast to China, which may buy more Iranian
oil this year as a state trader is negotiating a new light crude contract
that could raise imports from Iran to levels not seen since tough
sanctions were imposed in 2012... Japan imported about 178,539 bpd of
Iranian oil in the first 11 months of 2013, down 4.6 percent from the
previous year, trade ministry data showed last month." http://t.uani.com/1dcyatd
Free Beacon:
"A network of pro-Iran advocates are uniting behind a new campaign
aimed at killing bipartisan legislation meant to increase sanctions on Tehran
should it cheat on a recently inked nuclear accord. The latest bid to
kill sanctions in Congress is being led by the Iran Project, a little
known group that is deeply tied to, and funded by, some of Tehran's top
U.S. advocates. The Iran Project went live on Monday with an
anti-sanctions letter signed by a who's who of liberal former U.S.
officials, many of whom have long advocated to roll back sanctions on
Iran and increase diplomacy with the rogue regime... The Iran Project,
which has a history of opposing sanctions, has received funding from the
Ploughshares Fund, one of the top advocacy groups opposing sanctions.
Ploughshares has encouraged its allies and funding partners to work
against sanctions measures like the one currently up for debate in the
Senate. Ploughshares partnered with the National Iranian American Council
(NIAC) late last year in a lobbying bid meant to stop new
sanctions." http://t.uani.com/1gdyUMB
Syria Conflict
WSJ:
"The United Nations sent out invitations Monday for the latest peace
conference on Syria and Iran wasn't on the list, despite its role as a
major backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. 'Iran was not
among the first invitations,' a U.N. spokesman, Farhan Haq, said at a
news conference, leaving the door open to another round before the
conference begins Jan. 22. In addition to the warring parties, others
invited to Geneva are the five permanent members of the Security Council
and about two dozen other countries, including Saudi Arabia." http://t.uani.com/1dcBWTq
NYT:
"Iran could improve its chances of playing at least a limited role
in the upcoming peace conference on Syria if it persuaded President
Bashar al-Assad to stop the bombardment of Aleppo and allow the delivery
of humanitarian aid to besieged towns and cities, senior State Department
officials said on Monday... Elaborating on those remarks on Monday, a
senior State Department official said there were other steps Iran could
take to show it was ready to help end the conflict. 'Those include
calling for an end to the bombardment by the Syrian regime of their own
people,' the official said. 'It includes calling for and encouraging
humanitarian access.' A second State Department official suggested that
Iran could make such entreaties to the Assad government privately.
'Public or private, we'd take it either way at this point,' the official
said." http://t.uani.com/KzCUgv
Domestic
Politics
Al-Monitor:
"Tehran's prosecutor confirmed that Mohammad Reza Rahimi, former
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's vice president, is currently out on bail
in regard to involvement in a bribery and embezzlement case at the Iran
Insurance Company, Iran's largest insurance firm. While the prosecutor,
Abbas Jaffari Dowlatabadi, did not state when the former vice president
posted bail or exactly what the charges were against him, this is the
first official confirmation that Rahimi's case has been pursued after
years of accusations and rumors connecting him to the high profile
insurance corruption case. Interestingly, the prosecutor appears to have
confirmed Rahimi's bail only after criticism by conservative MP Ali
Motahhari that the judiciary had not pursued Rahimi in this particular
case." http://t.uani.com/1hsSGHI
AP:
"In Iran, free condoms and government-backed vasectomies are out,
replaced by sermons praising larger families and discussions of even
offering gold coins to the families of newborns. Having successfully
curbed birth rates for two decades, Iran now is promoting a baby boom to
help make up for its graying population. But experts say it is difficult
to encourage Iranians to have more children in a mismanaged economy hit
by Western sanctions and 36 percent inflation." http://t.uani.com/Kvdccu
Foreign Affairs
AP:
"A British Parliament delegation arrived in Tehran on Tuesday - the
first visit by U.K. lawmakers to Iran in years - as the two countries
work to improve relations, Iranian media reported. The four-member
delegation was headed by former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who last
visited Iran in 2003 as Britain's top diplomat, said the official Iranian
news agency, IRNA. Separately, visiting German lawmaker Andreas
Schockenhoff, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, also met
Iranian counterparts in Tehran. The British and German parliamentarians
are the fourth round of visiting lawmakers from Europe since Iran's new
president, moderate Hassan Rouhani, took office in August." http://t.uani.com/JFsGum
Opinion &
Analysis
UANI Advisory
Board Member Walter Russell Mead in The American Interest:
"Close behind Vladimir Putin as the biggest winner of 2013 comes the
Islamic Republic of Iran. While western diplomats spun fantasies to
themselves that the regime was 'crippled' by sanctions, the Iranians
managed to extend their hold on the Fertile Crescent and by year's end
appeared to have trapped the United States into a negotiation that, from
a US point of view, would at best leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state
in exchange for tacit US recognition of Iran's new dominant position in
the Middle East. Spending billions of dollars to prop up its protégés in
Damascus and Lebanon, Iran strengthened its presence in Iraq, and used
the chaos of the Syrian war to give Hezbollah sophisticated new weapons
that could change the military balance on Israel's northern frontier. This
would have been achievement enough for any revisionist power, but Iran
took it one step further. At the same time that it's actual policy became
increasingly aggressive and assertive, Iran brilliantly deployed
theatrical lighting to paint itself as an increasingly moderate and
conciliatory state. It's like taking the Sudetenland and getting the
Nobel Peace Prize in the same year." http://t.uani.com/JFtob0
John Vinocur in
WSJ: "According to an Associated Press dispatch
headlined, 'Iranian official calls for direct talks with Washington,' Mr.
Velayati said of the current Iran-Security Council discussions, 'We
aren't on the right path if we don't have one-on-one talks with the six
countries. We have to have talks with the countries separately.' The
exceptionally clever aspect of the maneuver is that it can gain a degree
of theoretical traction in Washington, and something very close to
support in capitals like London and Berlin, where the dominant idea is
'get the Iran thing done.' Which means Barack Obama, having already given
ground on Iranian uranium enrichment, and remaining inexplicit about more
concessions, would be effectively left with the West's share of decisions
about the young century's most important international-security problem.
Camille Grand, director of the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic
Research, gave Iranian cleverness its due over the weekend, saying, 'The
fact is, three-quarters of the world would applaud' America's taking over
the show... Surprise: The French government is not backing off from
trying to block rotten concessions that would allow Iran to install
itself as a de facto 'threshold' country, with the ability to achieve
nuclear-armed status in months. Alongside a miserable year-and-a-half
start to François Hollande's presidency, his activist foreign and
security policy is portrayed here as the hard rock of a French foundation
of responsibility and determination. A day after Mr. Velayati's
one-on-one remarks, President Hollande spent two days in Riyadh with King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. A French aide said the king spoke of the two
countries' 'converging' views on what to do about Iran and Syria, and
described the French positions as 'courageous' and 'pioneering.' This
characterization, for lack of greater Saudi precision, says the Saudis
stand with France's insistence that the Iranians must definitively
renounce atomic arms, and Bashar Assad must leave Syria in order to allow
for a political solution to the country's monstrous civil war. The link
with Saudi Arabia in the midst of its very public disillusionment with
the Obama administration has the appearance of putting France in the
middle of an informal Front of Mistrust, knitting together the doubts of
Israel, the Saudis and the U.S. Congress about America's intentions in the
Middle East. I asked a high-ranking national security official involved
for his country in both the Iranian and Syrian issues about how he
regarded the circumstances. He requested not to be further identified,
but replied in full: 'The Saudis are in a huge sulk, and the French are
doing a lot of posturing in this connection, telling them You can't rely
on the United States, you can't rely on Britain. But the Saudis know
there is no way forward for them without a strong affiliation with the
Americans. And the French are too clever to deny that. What's behind this
is France pressing its long-term commercial interests in the country at a
time when it sees the Saudis wanting to show the Obama Administration the
extent of their disfavor.' Would a high-ranking French official care to
swat at the accusation? Here's what one said: 'A non-credible agreement
with Iran would be disastrous. The acceptance by the West of a bad
compromise would make an Israeli attack on Iran a certainty. France sees
its current role as the guarantor of credibility' for any deal claiming
to eliminate the threat of Iran getting nuclear weapons or retaining the
breakout capacity to produce them very quickly. Slyly-and the French can
well handle all comers, including Iran, in this department-the official
added this observation: 'You know, when friends in Europe or elsewhere
carefully examine France's position they can find its strength to be the
mirror image of their own weakness.'" http://t.uani.com/1a3XqM7
Matthew Levitt in
Times of Israel: "By siding with the Assad regime,
the regime's Alawite supporters, and Iran, and taking up arms against
Sunni rebels, Hezbollah has placed itself at the epicenter of a sectarian
conflict that has nothing to do with the group's purported raison d'être:
'resistance' to Israeli occupation. As one Shiite Lebanese satirist put
it the day after Nasrallah's speech, 'Either the fighters have lost
Palestine on the map and think it is in Syria [or] they were informed
that the road to Jerusalem runs through Qusayr and Homs,' locations in
Syria where Hezbollah has fought with Assad loyalists against Sunni
rebels. The implication is clear: Lebanon's Party of God is no longer a
pure 'Islamic resistance' fighting Israel but a sectarian militia and
Iranian proxy doing Bashar al-Assad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran's
bidding at the expense of fellow Muslims. And it therefore does not
surprise that the pokes come from extremist circles too. In June, the
Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a Lebanon-based al-Qaeda-affiliated group, released
a statement challenging Nasrallah and his Hezbollah fighters 'to fire one
bullet at occupied Palestine and claim responsibility' for it. They could
fire at Israel from either Lebanon or Syria, the statement continued,
seeing as Hezbollah 'fired thousands of shells and bullets upon unarmed
Sunnis and their women, elderly, and children, and destroyed their homes
on top of them.' But while taunts might be expected from Sunni extremist
groups, Hezbollah now faces challenges it never would have anticipated
just a few years ago. For example, the day before Nasrallah's August
speech Lebanese president Michel Suleiman called, for the first time
ever, for the state to curtail Hezbollah's ability to operate as an
independent militia outside the control of the government. By sending
fighters to Syria, many Lebanese believe Hezbollah has put its interests
as a group ahead of those of Lebanon as a state, something that blatantly
contradicts Hezbollah's longtime efforts to portray itself as a group
that is first and foremost Lebanese. Now the group that describes itself
as the vanguard standing up for the dispossessed in the face of
injustice, and that has always tried to downplay its sectarian and
pro-Iranian identities, finds those assertions challenged over its refusal
to abide by the Lebanese government's official position of
noninterference in Syria. To the contrary, its proactive support of a
brutal Alawite regime against the predominantly Sunni Syrian opposition
undermines its long-cultivated image as a distinctly Lebanese
'resistance' movement." http://t.uani.com/1a44BE3
Robert Zarate
& Patrick Christy in FPI: "While official
Washington paused to celebrate the holiday season, the Islamic Republic
of Iran has continued work to upgrade its nuclear program, destabilize
the Middle East, and empower its proxies throughout the region.
These provocations are a hard reminder of the need for continued
vigilance by the United States to prevent Iran from realizing its nuclear
ambitions. An important first step will be for Congress to act on
legislation to enforce any nuclear deal with Tehran and warn the Islamic
Republic that its dangerous provocations will be met with firm
response." http://t.uani.com/19YMToK
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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