Thursday, April 24, 2014

Eye on Iran: India to Make May-July Oil Payments to Iran








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Reuters: "India is set to pay Iran $1.65 billion over the next three months under an interim nuclear deal that eases sanctions on Tehran and gives it access to $4.2 billion in blocked funds, four sources with knowledge of the matter said. As long as Tehran complies with the terms of its preliminary agreement with western powers, which took effect on Jan. 20, Iran receives some of its funds frozen abroad in eight payments from various buyers over six months... This means Tehran will have access to the next two installments, each of $550 million, which are due on May 14 and June 17. The final $550 million installment, due on July 20, is contingent on confirmation that Iran has fulfilled all of its commitment. The Indian government has asked refiners to make the first payment by mid-May, three of the sources said, adding that refiners will settle all three tranches if payment is allowed by the United States and European Union... Iran has so far received $2.55 billion in frozen oil funds, in five payments, four from Japan and one from South Korea. Three of the sources said Iran had asked India to make payments into the Central Bank of Iran's account with Oman's Bank Muscat BMAO.OM in Omani rails... Indian refiners Essay Oil, Bangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd together owe $3.6 billion to National Iranian Oil Co." http://t.uani.com/1l6QFBq

Reuters: "The United States on Wednesday sharply criticized the election of Iran to the United Nations' committee on non-governmental organizations, saying it was a "troubling outcome." ... 'The unopposed candidacy of Iran, where authorities regularly detain human rights defenders, subjecting many to torture, abuse, and violations of due process, is a particularly troubling outcome of today's election,' U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said in statement. The committee decides on which NGOs will be accredited at the United Nations. Conservative developing nations worked to block accreditation of an international gay-lesbian NGO several years ago and the issue was taken to the General Assembly, which voted to accredit the group... 'Today is a black day for human rights,' said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. 'By empowering the perpetrators over the victims, the U.N. harms the cause of human rights, betrays its founding principles, and undermines its own credibility.'" http://t.uani.com/ROiGTQ

AFP: "Ninety-five percent of the Iranian population signed up to a cash handout programme, dealing a blow to the government which wanted to spend the money elsewhere, a top official said Wednesday. Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, vice president for management and development, said 73 million out of the country's 77 million people had opted to receive the $14 monthly payments. The government employed celebrities in a media campaign to discourage families from taking the handouts. The International Monetary Fund is among global institutions encouraging Iran to drop subsidies and increase prices to regulate its economy after years of ongoing sanctions. But Nobakht said only 2,400,000 people -- three percent -- chose to waive the cash payments, which aim to provide help in paying energy and utility bills as well as basic food costs." http://t.uani.com/1k8XW2i
      
Sanctions Enforcement & Impact

WFMZ: "The U.S. Department of Justice has charged a Schuylkill County firm and its chief officer with conspiracy to evade export reporting requirements and attempting to smuggle a lathe machine to Iran in violation of U.S. export regulations. Hetran Inc., an engineering and manufacturing plant in Orwigsburg, and its chief executive officer, Helmut Oertmann, were charged Wednesday, according to a release from the Department of Justice. According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, Hetran allegedly manufactured a horizontal lathe, valued at more than $800,000 and weighing in excess of 50,000 pounds, for shipment to Iran without obtaining a required federal license. The machine is used in the production of high grade steel or bright steel, a product used in the manufacture of aircraft and automobile parts. Federal officials said three Iranians and two Iranian firms are also connected to the criminal scheme: Mujahid Ali, Khosrow Kasraei, Reza Ghoreishi, FIMCO FZE, and Crescent International Trade and Services FZE. Also charged was Suniel Malhotra, an Indian national and overseas sales representative for Hetran Inc." http://t.uani.com/1tGkWec

Terrorism

Jewish Week: "The house, a handsome, three-story Tudor, sits on a leafy street in the posh Forest Hills Gardens section of Queens. Unbeknownst to all but a handful of people, it was the subject of a heated tug-of-war between the Iranian government and relatives of a former Bronx butcher who died of injuries sustained in a Jerusalem suicide bombing. It is just one of several properties, bank accounts and other assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran that have been seized by U.S. courts and quietly turned over to the families and victims of Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist attacks in Israel... Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an Israel lawyer and director of the Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center, said that since then victims of state sponsored terrorism and their families have received more than $120 million in compensatory damages from Iranian assets. No one has yet received any punitive damages that have been awarded and which total in the billions of dollars. Bank Melli, an arm of the Iranian government, had owned the Queens house that was the subject of litigation. Robert Tolchin, a Brooklyn lawyer who worked with Darshan-Leitner on the case, said the home on Puritan Avenue was sold April 5, 2011 for $1.6 million." http://t.uani.com/1f75h3C

Human Rights

IHR: "One prisoner was hanged in the prison of Sari (Northern Iran) early this morning April 24, reported the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in Mazanderan Province. The prisoner who was identified as 'M. R. Gh.' was convicted of murdering another person under a street fight. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization a Kurdish prisoner was hanged in the prison of Sanandaj (western Iran) early Wednesday morning April 24. The prisoner was identified as Rafigh (22), convicted of murder said the report." http://t.uani.com/1pt4VbP

NYT: "The head of Iran's judiciary removed the country's highest prison official on Wednesday, after what human rights advocates said was a violent raid on political prisoners in Tehran's largest prison facility. The official, Gholam Hossein Esmaili, the head of the Iran Prisons Organization, was promoted to a new position, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported, quoting a directive by the head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani. Only a day earlier, Mr. Esmaili appeared smiling on state television repeating denials of the attack and showing what he said was a surveillance video proving that nothing out of the ordinary had happened in Evin Prison in Tehran. Last week, according to reports from outside the country, more than 30 detainees were hurt, some seriously, when a cellblock in the prison was stormed by guards, along with forces from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Intelligence Ministry... On Wednesday, Mr. Esmaili was given the title of director general of the Justice Department in Tehran Province. The move seemed aimed at silencing critics, and Mr. Esmaili himself told the Iranian Labor News Agency that he was promoted to a better job that would put him in charge of several high-profile judicial cases." http://t.uani.com/1jUw8NF

Trend: "While finger-pointing regarding last week's incident in Iran's Evin prison is increasing, the senior judiciary official has made an important announcement. Head of the country's Judicial, Sadeq Amoli Larijani said that those who try to start a 'sedition' in Iran, will be seriously confronted. 'Henceforth Iranian judiciary will not show any tolerance towards such people,' Larijani said, Iran's IRIB news agency reported on April 24. The 'sedition' particularly used by Iranian officials referring the mass protests in the country after the disputed presidential elections in 2009. Commenting on the Evin prison incident, Larijani said that the inspection in Evin prison was a completely legal procedure, adding that 'according to the report of the head of Iran's prisons, there was no wrongdoing during the inspections'... Larijani said that the people planning 'sedition' and foreign media are using the incident as a tool to cause unrests in the country. 'Some people inside Iran are involved in this anti-Iran movement, accompanying the foreigners and the anti-revolutionary media,' he added." http://t.uani.com/1nILTd7

RFE/RL: "Dozens of Iranian men and women have sheared their hair and posted their pictures online to demonstrate solidarity with political prisoners. The campaign was launched following reports that prison guards had shaved the heads of some political prisoners in Tehran's notorious Evin prison in order to humiliate them after some inmates were reportedly beaten up during an inspection of the facility last week. Earlier this week, a picture of a prominent jailed human rights lawyer, Abdolfatah Soltani, was posted online showing him with a shaved head. The photo, which was shared widely on social media, appeared to have been taken during an April 21 prison visit. Soltani is reported to have been among the prisoners who were assaulted during the raid on Evin's section 350. Activists both inside and outside the country are posting their photos on a Facebook page titled 'With the Political Prisoners of Evin's Section 350.' They are using the Persian hashtag 'sarfaraz,' or 'proud,' to promote their campaign." http://t.uani.com/1ihLuyY

EFF: "Narenji ('Orange') was Iran's top website for gadget news, edited daily by a team of tech bloggers who worked from a cramped office in the country's city of Kerman. The site was targeted at Iran's growing audience of technology enthusiasts. Like Gizmodo or Engadget in the United States, it had a simple but popular formula: mixed reviews of the latest Android and iPhones, summaries of new Persian-language apps and downloads, as well as the latest Internet memes (such as the ever-popular 'An Incredible Painted Portrait of Morgan Freeman Drawn with a Finger on the iPad'). But now it's gone. Narenji's front page is stuck in time as it was on December 3, when the entire Narenji team was rounded up by Iran's Revolutionary Guard and thrown into jail. Frozen, too, are Narenji's sister sites-Nardebaan and Negahbaan-that the start-up was beginning to build from Narenji's earlier success.The Narenji team's treatment is another example of how technologists are targeted by governments worldwide as a result of their work. It doesn't matter if you're writing a blog about Android development or distributing anti-censorship proxies: to many governments, simply being well-known online or having a latent power to influence or change society through your technical knowledge can quickly turn you into an unacceptable threat to the social order. Popular but apolitical bloggers like Narenji's also risk being caught in internecine battles over which they have no control. Iranian political experts we've spoken to consider that Narenji's arrest by the local Kermani Revolutionary Guard may be a deliberate response by local radicals against the Rouhani administration's encouragement of tech entrepreneurs: a signal that makes clear that Tehran should not go too far in its moderation. Narenji's high visibility may not have given them protection against the Revolutionary Guard; rather, it may have made them more of a target." http://t.uani.com/1iQAGGJ

Domestic Politics

WashPost: "Gasoline prices in Iran have risen steadily and dramatically in recent years, but at 22 cents per liter, they are still some of the cheapest in the world. Although Iranians have traditionally adjusted quickly to rate hikes without noticeably changing their consumption habits, a new increase scheduled for this week will test the patience of a public that has been waiting nearly a year for signs of an economic recovery promised by President Hassan Rouhani when he was elected last June. Prices will remain low by global standards, but for citizens here, the skyrocketing price at the pump in relation to the value of their national currency, the rial, is shocking. When Iranians paid 800 rials in 2005, five-digit gasoline prices seemed unfathomable, but the new rate will almost certainly enter that unchartered territory. The head of Iran's association of gas station operators, Bijan Hajjmohammadreza, said Tuesday that digital readers at pumps throughout the country are not equipped to display prices if they surpass 9,999 rials per liter. The current price is 7,000 rials per liter... Tehran's currency market has responded to the uncertainty with a decline of more than 5 percent in the rial against the U.S. dollar this week in open rate trading. (The official rate of exchange Wednesday was more than 25,540 rials to the U.S. dollar, and the open rate, at which the vast majority of transactions are conducted, was 33,000 rials to the dollar.) Just how much prices will increase this week is unclear, but most expect it to be upwards of 50 percent, although some officials insist that it will be less. The new price could reach as much as 12,000 rials per liter. Tehran's currency market has responded to the uncertainty with a decline of more than 5 percent in the rial against the U.S. dollar this week in open rate trading." http://t.uani.com/1f70T4R

Foreign Affairs

Reuters: "A senior member of Saudi Arabia's royal family said on Wednesday that Gulf states should work on acquiring nuclear know-how to balance any threat from Iran. Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former intelligence chief, also told a security conference in the Bahraini capital Manama, that the Gulf states should be prepared for any possible outcome from Iran's nuclear talks with world powers. 'We do not hold any hostility to Iran and do not wish any harm to it or to its people, who are Muslim neighbors,' he said in a speech. 'But preserving our regional security requires that we, as a Gulf grouping, work to create a real balance of forces with it, including in nuclear know-how, and to be ready for any possibility in relation to the Iranian nuclear file. Any violation of this balance will allow the Iranian leadership to exploit all holes to do harm to us.' ... 'The lack of trust in the Iranian leadership which arises from its double-talk and the duality of its policies prevents us from believing what it says,' he told the Bahrain conference. 'At the time when we hope that the ongoing nuclear talks between (Iran) and world powers reach the desired aim by halting its nuclear ambitions with definite guarantees, we have to be careful until this is a firm reality,' he said." http://t.uani.com/ROj5pA

Press TV: "South Korea has said that it attaches great importance to its relations with Iran, calling for stronger political, trade and cultural ties between the two countries. In a meeting with visiting Chairman of Iran's Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi in the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Wednesday, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se pointed to the exchange of political and parliamentary delegations, expressing hope that bilateral ties would further enhance in all areas of politics, economy and culture... He said South Korean firms are closely monitoring the negotiations and are keen on further trade exchanges with the Islamic Republic." http://t.uani.com/1ictdCj

Opinion & Analysis

WSJ Editorial: "Ward 350 of Tehran's Evin prison houses some of Iran's most prominent dissidents, including human-rights lawyers, labor leaders and opposition bloggers. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the intelligence ministry raided the ward last week and administered a mass beating to its residents, landing dozens of prisoners in the hospital. That's according to family members of the prisoners and news accounts from Kalame, a website associated with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Kalame on Tuesday published what it claimed was a firsthand account of the assault on Ward 350 written by Emad Bahavar, a supporter of the opposition Green movement serving a 10-year sentence for his activism. Mr. Bahavar's letter, sent from Evin, is worth quoting at some length for the portrait it paints of Mr. Rouhani's Iran. 'It feels as though pain has engulfed my entire body,' Mr. Bahavar writes. 'They covered our eyes and cuffed our wrists. . . . They lined us up in the Ward 350 corridor, our faces to the wall. I could hear some crying in pain. . . . They started beating our backs very severely with batons. The screaming and crying got louder.' The security forces next formed a 'tunnel' running from the ward's main entrance to a minibus outside, according to Mr. Bahavar. The guards, some uniformed and some wearing civilian clothes, beat the prisoners as they ran down this tunnel. 'The whole route . . . was covered in blood,' Mr. Bahavar reports. The minibus drove some of the prisoners away, while others like Mr. Bahavar were returned to the ward and eventually allowed to see a prison medic. It's notable that Mr. Bahavar, like many Green-movement supporters, initially embraced Hasan Rouhani's candidacy for president: 'Rouhani came, and we thought we'd forgive what had happened to us if he improves the people's condition.' But the beating he and the other inmates received last week convinced Mr. Bahavar that 'the hatred in their black hearts is much greater than the Greens' kindness and forbearance.' Western governments have treated Mr. Rouhani as the great moderate hope-an Iranian version of China's Deng Xiaoping. They forget that Mr. Rouhani has been a lifelong security apparatchik, having helped engineer the regime's bloody 1999 crackdown on Iran's student movement. His government also bans Twitter (except for its public officials) and is setting modern records for the number of public executions. And unlike Deng, whom Mao purged, Mr. Rouhani has always been part of the regime's inner circle. Perhaps a regime, and a president, that can brutalize political dissidents as a matter of routine can prove reasonable at the nuclear negotiating table. We wouldn't count on it, and neither should the West." http://t.uani.com/QHWcTm

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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