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Top Stories
Reuters:
"More than half of U.S. senators support a bill to impose new
sanctions on Iran should the Islamic Republic break an agreement to
curb its nuclear program, aides said on Thursday, but there was no plan
yet to debate the measure. The White House has threatened to veto the
legislation, and Iran says last November's nuclear deal struck in
Geneva would be dead if the U.S. Congress imposes new sanctions. The
'Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act' is now supported by at least 54 senators
in the 100-member chamber, according to a congressional record, with
six senators joining on Wednesday. A Senate aide said two more joined
on Thursday, bringing the total to 56. It is uncertain whether the bill
will be introduced in the Senate and whether backers can win the two-thirds
majority to overcome a veto by President Barack Obama. A senior Senate
Democratic aide said there were no plans yet for advancing the bill to
the Senate floor, despite the growing list of co-sponsors." http://t.uani.com/1lInBQE
AFP:
"Iran and EU representatives met for a second day Friday to
discuss how to implement a landmark deal on containing Tehran's nuclear
programme, which they aim to put into action within 10 days... The
diplomats were painstakingly poring over three outstanding issues in a
bid to put the groundbreaking November 24 deal into action, Iran's
deputy chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said. 'We still have
disagreement on three points... If we solve these issues then the
Geneva deal will be executable,' Araqchi told Iranian state-run TV. He
was meeting for a second and final day Friday in Geneva with Helga
Schmid, deputy to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, whose
office represents the so-called P5+1 group of world powers -- Britain,
China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany." http://t.uani.com/1d793X0
Reuters:
"Iran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap that would
let Iran lift oil exports substantially, in defiance of the Western
sanctions that helped force Tehran in November to agree a preliminary
deal to end its nuclear programme. Three Russian and Iranian sources
close to the negotiations said final details were in discussion for a
barter deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of
Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods. 'Good progress
is being made at the moment with strong chances of success,' said a
Russian source. 'We are discussing the details and the date of signing
a deal depends on those details.' ... Russian purchases of 500,000 bpd
of Iranian crude would lift Iran's oil exports by 50 percent and
provide a major filip to its struggling economy. At current oil prices
near $100 a barrel Iran would earn about an additional $1.5 billion a
month." http://t.uani.com/1d74axa
Sanctions
FP:
"In a surprise development in Congress, a long-building effort to
impose new sanctions on Iran has reached a near-filibuster-proof
majority in the Senate. Despite months of White House lobbying against
the bill, 58 Senators now support the so-called 'Nuclear Weapon Free
Iran Act,' according to a Senate aide close to the process. The
bill's bipartisan backing puts Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in an
awful bind. Either he defies President Obama and allows a vote on the
legislation. Or he goes along with the White House -- and takes on the
majority of his fellow senators. 'The only way you can get a vote is if
Reid allows it,' said a separate Senate aide. 'Hence the question ...
Does Reid support sanctions -- yes or no?'" http://t.uani.com/1adUqNx
Free Beacon:
"U.S. officials are concerned that the Italian government's recent
rush to reenter the Iranian marketplace could hasten the collapse of
international economic sanctions and undermine Western efforts to
pressure Tehran into inking a final nuclear deal. The Italian
government has been leading the charge to reopen the Iranian
marketplace in order to cash in on Tehran's lucrative energy sector,
according to numerous reports and sources tracking the situation. As
the Italians seek to boost their economic ties with Iran-sending
high-level officials and lawmakers for talks-U.S. officials and other
experts say they are growing concerned that Italy's aggressive outreach
could undermine the international sanctions regime. A delegation of
Italian lawmakers met with a top Iranian official over the weekend,
possibly laying the groundwork for a visit later this month by Italian
Prime Minister Enrico Letta, according to Iranian officials." http://t.uani.com/1aNdstT
Terrorism
Guardian:
"A rapprochement between Hamas and Tehran is under way almost
three years after a breach over the Palestinian party's refusal to back
the Syrian government in the civil war, and amid its current political
isolation following the demise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The
rebuilding of the relationship is likely to dismay Israel and the US,
which had welcomed the weakened ties between Gaza's rulers and their
powerful political, financial and military sponsors. 'Relations between
us are now almost back to how they were before [the crisis over Syria].
We believe we will soon be back at that point,' said Taher al-Nounou,
an aide to Gaza's prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. Contacts between
high-ranking officials from both sides had resumed, he said." http://t.uani.com/1lYUkOU
Syria
Conflict
AFP:
"Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday a Syrian peace
conference planned for later this month will fail if Tehran, Damascus's
main regional ally, does not participated, media reported. The remarks
came ahead of a meeting Monday at which Russia and the United States
are to discuss Tehran's possible involvement in the talks set to start
in Montreux, Switzerland on January 22. 'Any trans-regional meeting
that is not attended by influential players will be unable to solve the
Syria crisis,' Rouhani told Russian President Vladimir Putin by
telephone, the ISNA news agency reported. 'Thus, the Geneva 2
conference has already failed without it even being started,' he added,
calling the Russian-US initiated forum 'a negotiation show.'" http://t.uani.com/1lYUfuB
Human Rights
ICHRI:
"Iranian users are experiencing inconsistent filtering of various
Internet and mobile application technologies as Iranian authorities
determine their communications policies. On December 26, 2013,
the Secretary of Iran's Working Group to Determine Instances of
Criminal Content on the Internet told Fars News Agency that blocking
Tango, Viber, WhatsApp, and other mobile communications applications
remain on the Working Group's agenda. Three days later, Iranian users
reported that Viber had been blocked in Iran; Instagram and WeChat had
been blocked earlier, despite disagreement from Iran's Ministry of
Culture and Islamic Guidance. These developments have cast serious
doubts among users about whether the Rouhani administration may be able
to deliver on his promise of access to information. The frequent
announcements about banning different Internet services are in direct
contradiction with Hassan Rouhani's statements." http://t.uani.com/1dC7fBM
Domestic
Politics
CSM:
"Nearly eight months after President Hassan Rouhani's surprise
election victory, in which the centrist cleric trounced influential
conservative candidates, Iran's hardliners are behaving as if they
never lost. Shadowy vigilantes on motorcycles have menaced the family
home of a pro-Rouhani filmmaker, and reform-minded journalists are
showing up on target lists. Hard-line Friday prayer leaders warn darkly
that seditionists 'have become ambitious' with Mr. Rouhani in power,
and the motorcade of the president himself was hit with eggs and a shoe
after Rouhani placed a historic phone call to President Barack Obama.
'It's not a full-fledged war, but they are trying to start one,' says
an Iranian journalist who could not be named because of the sensitivity
of the subject. 'They are very small circles, but they are closely knit
and they operate while enjoying impunity.'" http://t.uani.com/JN6JK2
Al-Monitor:
"Reza Faraji Dana, Iran's minister of science, research and
technology, has received a warning card from parliament. Faraji Dana
is the second member of the new cabinet - after Minister of
Education Ali Asghar Faani - to be called to parliament
to answer questions in an open session. His answers about his
hirings, however, did not satisfy conservative MPs, resulting in the
warning card. Any MP who receives three warning cards, known as yellow
cards in Iran, is automatically impeached." http://t.uani.com/1evXZB5
Foreign
Affairs
Reuters:
"Security forces in the United Arab Emirates have detained three
Iranians suspected of kidnapping a British-Iranian businessman who went
missing in Dubai in June, the Dubai government said on Thursday.
Britain's Foreign Office said in August it was in touch with the Dubai
and Iranian governments over the case of Abbas Yazdi, who went missing
in June in Dubai. His wife had told a UAE newspaper that he may have
been kidnapped by 'elements in Iran'... Yazdi went missing on June 25
and his wife, Atena, told the 7Days newspaper that she feared he may
have been kidnapped by Iranian intelligence officers." http://t.uani.com/KalXrZ
Opinion &
Analysis
Sen. Robert Menendez
in WashPost: "A diplomatic breakthrough resulting
in a peaceful and verifiable termination of Iran's nuclear weapons
program is the preferred outcome of the Obama administration's
negotiations with Iran. Backing up this achievement by taking out a diplomatic
insurance policy is an act of reasonable pragmatism... Opponents of
prospective sanctions against Iran argue that sanctions are like a
spigot - easy to turn on and easy to turn off. But the story of
sanctions, while effective, is more complicated. Passing anything in
Congress takes time. Writing regulations and implementing sanctions
takes even longer, and enforcement of sanctions is an ongoing process.
The Nuclear Weapons Free Iran Act, a bill with bipartisan support in
the Senate, guarantees immediate additional sanctions if Iran breaches
its diplomatic commitments. The legislation endorses the Obama
administration's efforts and the Joint Plan of Action achieved in
November. It supports continued negotiations, gives the administration
a year of flexibility to secure a comprehensive agreement, respects the
sanctions relief Iran is set to receive and prevents any new sanctions
from taking effect while good-faith negotiations are underway. If the
Iranians abide by their commitments, they'll receive the economic
relief they desperately want. Should Iran breach this agreement or fail
to negotiate in good faith, the penalties it would face are severe.
Nations would be required to further reduce their purchases of Iranian
petroleum, and new sanctions would be applied against Iran's mining,
engineering and construction sectors. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif has said that 'the entire deal is dead' if prospective
sanctions are passed by Congress. 'We do not like to negotiate under
duress,' he told Time magazine. But the opposite is true. The proposed
legislation is a clarifying action. It allows all sides to negotiate in
certainties and provides one year of space for the parties to continue
talking. It spells out precisely the consequences should the agreement
fail. This should motivate Iranians to negotiate honestly and
seriously. At the same time, these prospective sanctions play a
positive and reinforcing role in negotiations. The big winner is the
administration. Its ability to pursue a diplomatic path is enhanced by
being able to communicate this position in its negotiations with Iran.
This is hardly a march to war, as some critics have suggested. The
legislation explicitly does not authorize the use of force, though it
does restate the language of a resolution, passed 99 to 0 by the
Senate, supporting the United States' commitment to Israel, should
Israel be forced to defend itself against Iran. The American public
supports diplomacy. So do I. The American public doesn't trust the
Iranian regime. Neither do I. During this pivotal time, we have a
responsibility to work together across parties and branches of
government in the interest of achieving U.S. national security
objectives. As the Senate returns to work, let us concentrate our efforts
on achieving shared goals: a diplomatic resolution to Iran's pursuit of
nuclear weapons, coupled with a diplomatic insurance policy should
negotiations fail." http://t.uani.com/1fj3GHG
UANI Advisory
Board Member Fouad Ajami in WSJ: "The ground burns
in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Borders are being contested, and militant
Islamists have all but overwhelmed secular authorities. Yet America's
chief diplomat, Secretary of State John Kerry, was in the neighborhood
this week, for the 10th time, on an expedition to Israel and the
Palestinian territories. There was no sudden urgency to the impasse
between Israel and the Palestinians, nor had an opening presented
itself for serious negotiations. Israel's attention was focused, as it
had to be, on the large menace of Iran and its nuclear drive, and the
Palestinians remained mired in their own squabbles. It was the practice
of so many years that Arabs deployed what pressure they could exert on
the United States on behalf of the Palestinians. No longer. It is the
struggle for Syria, and the Iranian bid for primacy in the Fertile
Crescent, that engage the Arabs. This 'shuttle diplomacy' of our
secretary of state, if anything, is evidence of the retreat of American
power. President Obama and his foreign policy lieutenants are given to
the assertion that they don't want the U.S. caught in the middle of
other peoples' wars. But by deeds of commission and omission, the U.S.
is caught up in a deadly sectarian struggle between Shiite Iran and its
'sister republics' in the Arab world on one side, and the Sunni order
of Arab power on the other. Mastery of the arcane details of the
Shiite-Sunni schism may not be an American specialty, but over the last
two years this president and his advisers have placed the U.S. on the
side of Iran and its Arab satraps in Lebanon and, now, Iraq. Iran
planned and prepared for this fight. Its role in Lebanon dates to the
early 1980s, when the regime of Ayatollah Khomeini found fertile soil
among the Shiites of that country. Iran formed the Hezbollah militia in
the country's south and in the Bekaa Valley to the east. Hezbollah
fighters, newly urbanized young men in search of financial patronage
and a sense of mission, came to think of themselves as soldiers in
Khomeini's wilayat al-faqih, a Shiite notion involving ordained
supremacy. The Sunnis had their Arab nationalism and ties to the Arabs
of Egypt and the Gulf; the Christians had their sense of Lebanese
identity and their ease with the West. With Iran at the head, this was
the Shiites' opportunity to conquer their self-contempt and sense of
isolation. But of late it is the breakdown of the Syrian state, and the
fight over that pivotal country, that has given the Iranians this
chance at a big role in Arab endeavors. Iran and Syria made
common cause in the 1980s when Old Man Assad still ruled. He broke with
the taboos of Arab brotherhood and sided with the Iranian revolutionary
regime in its war with Saddam Hussein. This wasn't an alliance of
equals, but Hafez Assad held his own in that delicate relationship. His
son, current President Bashar Assad, could not maintain that balance,
and the massive rebellion that broke out against his regime in 2011 by
the Sunni majority forced him into greater dependence on Iranian
subsidies and military support. The Sunni Arab charge that Syria is now
occupied by Iran is a slight exaggeration, but only ever so slight.
Iraq presented Iran with an entirely different setting. This was a
wealthy oil country, populous, with a jealous sense of its own place in
the region. After the American invasion in 2003, political primacy
belonged to Iraq's Shiites, but Iraqi Shiism was not eager to slip into
subordination to Iran's will and preferences. But here, too, the Syrian
war, and the lack of American interest and willpower were of immense
help to the Iranians. The U.S. had quit Iraq by the end of 2011,
leaving no residual forces... The sectarianism unleashed by the Syrian
civil war rendered the Iraqi government more susceptible to Iran's
influence, and helped poison the well between the Baghdad government
and its Sunni population... When the U.S. lay down the foundations of
its presence in the Arab world, it befriended and worked with the
powers that be-the Sunni regimes. The Shiites were then outsiders, and
the inroads Iran was to make into the Arab states were unthinkable.
This is a radically different moment. America's allies in Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, the smaller states of the Gulf, and among the Sunnis in Lebanon
and Syria can be forgiven the conclusion that the U.S. has acquiesced
in this Iranian project. Washington is keen to conciliate Iran.
Secretary Kerry has proposed a role for the Iranians in negotiations
over Syria-even as Iranian forces and proxies are busy battering what
is left of that country. Beirut once mattered to the U.S., but we have
left it to the reign of Hezbollah, and what help comes to Lebanese
moderates is now offered by Saudi Arabia and France." http://t.uani.com/1evUv1p
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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
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
United Against
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united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to
become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is
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