Eye on Iran: France Says Russia, Other Powers Have Differences over Iran Talks

Join UANI           Top Stories Reuters: "France's foreign minister said on Tuesday 'differences in approach' between Russia and some of the other five world powers negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program had appeared in the past few days. Speaking to parliament's foreign affairs committee, Laurent Fabius also said none of the major outstanding issues in the talks had been settled and that the United States wanted foreign ministers to join the negotiations in Vienna. 'Until now the P5+1 (six powers) were homogenous, but over the last few days my representatives in the negotiations have seen a certain number of different approaches - and I hope they won't remain - between some of the P5+1 and our Russian partners,' Fabius said, without saying what those differences were and which powers were in disagreement with Russia. 'We want to preserve the unity among the P5+1 because that is how we reached a deal before,' he said... Fabius said so far nothing had been agreed. 'None of the primary points are resolved, be it the question of (uranium) enrichment, number of centrifuges, the Arak reactor, how we treat Fordow (enrichment plant), how the international control is done, how sanctions will be lifted. None of these questions currently have been ticked off.' ... Diplomats told Reuters on Tuesday Secretary of State John Kerry and other foreign ministers negotiating with Iran on its nuclear program may travel to Vienna soon to join the talks. 'There is a desire notably by our American partners that there is a meeting at ministerial level before July 20,' Fabius said." http://t.uani.com/TSA1Lu Nuclearenergy.ir: "'Iran needs 190,000 separative work units (SWU) of uranium enrichment capacity to produce the required annual fuel for the Bushehr [nuclear] plant,' head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi has said, echoing remarks by Iran's Supreme Leader. Salehi said 'the means of measuring enrichment is SWU or Separative Work Units, which shows the capability of a centrifuge in the [isotope] separation process....therefore we measure enrichment in SWU and not the number or kind of centrifuges.' He underscored that 'in enrichment, the number of separative enrichment units needed' should be determined, while the matter of which generation or number of centrifuges are used is an entirely different story. He further brought up counting examples, saying that if Iran used its most advanced centrifuges, which are capable of producing 24 SWU per machine, Iran would merely need some 7,000 centrifuges to meet the requirements of its Bushehr power plant. Virtually all centrifuges currently operated by Iran are of the IR-1 type, and only have a SWU capacity of 0.76-1.2 per machine." http://t.uani.com/1pXG9kL IHR: "At least 411 prisoners have been executed in Iran from the beginning of January 2014 to the end of June of the same year. This indicates that the execution wave, which recommenced after the most recent Iranian presidential election, is continuing. According to reports by Iran Human Rights (IHR), more than 870 people have been executed since the election of Mr. Hassan Rouhani in June 2013. IHR calls on the international community to take serious measures to stop the execution wave in Iran." http://t.uani.com/TSChCq     Nuclear Program & Negotiations WSJ: "Nuclear negotiations between Iran and six major powers hit a fresh hurdle this week when the country's Supreme Leader said Iran needs significantly greater enrichment capacity. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comment in a speech Monday to senior level technocrats and military personnel came as negotiators in Vienna struggle to complete a final nuclear agreement by the July 20 deadline. Western diplomats have said progress in the talks has been very slow... According to a transcript of his speech on his official website, Mr. Khamenei said the six powers were demanding Iran accept an enrichment limit of 10,000 separative work units, or SWU, a number they have never publicly cited. One SWU roughly equals the amount of enrichment one basic centrifuge carries out in a year. 'Their goal on the subject of enrichment capacity is to convince Iran to enrich 10,000 SWU. They first started off with 500 and 1,000 SWU,' he said. 'Officials tell me that the country's definite need is 190,000 SWU.' ... Karim Sadjadpour, senior associate at Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the 190,000 SWU figure 'is perhaps 10 times more than the U.S. would be willing to countenance in the next decade. That is certainly not a bridgeable gap in the next two weeks, or even in the next six months.'" http://t.uani.com/1jpuys7 Bloomberg: "Negotiators in their second week of haggling over Iran's nuclear work in Vienna are starting to change the terms they use to measure the country's uranium industry, a move that could support a long-term deal. Reaching an accord hinges on adopting the standard nuclear-industry measures for uranium enrichment capacity -- Separative Work Units, or, SWUs -- rather than counting centrifuge machines, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization chief Ali Akbar Salehi said today in Tehran. The shift follows Russia's announcement that representatives from the state-owned Rosatom Corp. would join this week's talks. Iranian officials 'don't want to carry out all the enrichment inside Iran but the other parties must know that if some day they don't give us the fuel for power plants, Iran has the ability to produce it,' Salehi said. Using their most advanced technology, Iran may need 7,000 machines to produce enough nuclear material for a reactor, he said. Iran currently has about 19,000 first-generation machines." http://t.uani.com/1xS0YhK Sanctions Relief Tasnim (Iran): "Russian Railways company is holding talks with Iran to electrify 600 kilometers of railroads in the Islamic Republic, the company's deputy president announced. 'It is a concrete project, which was discussed with the Iranians literally last week,' Russian Railways deputy president Alexander Saltanov was quoted by the Moscow Times as saying. Delegations from Russian Railways and its subsidiary Russian Railways International will go to Iran 'in the near future' to work through the technical side of the venture, he added on Tuesday. The total cost of the project has not been determined, but could exceed 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion), Saltanov said." http://t.uani.com/VXMSxW Iraq Crisis NYT: "Deepening its involvement in the crisis in Iraq, Iran has sent three Russian-made attack planes to the Maliki government that could be deployed against the Sunni militants who have wreaked havoc on Iraqi military forces, American and Iraqi officials said Tuesday. Delivery of the Su-25 aircraft, which American officials said had already conducted missions in western and northern Iraq, is the latest step Iran has taken to help Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki battle the forces of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and expand its influence as Iraqi politicians struggle to form a new government. An American official, who declined to be identified because he was discussing intelligence reports, said that at least one of the planes had been flown by an Iranian pilot... The Pentagon press secretary, Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, confirmed on Tuesday that Iran had sent warplanes, weapons, ammunition and military advisers, but so far no combat troops." http://t.uani.com/VJZ5WF Opinion & Analysis WSJ Editorial: "More than 200 Palestinian rockets have descended on Israel in recent days, triggering an Israeli counteroffensive that was still taking shape as we went to press Tuesday. But as the drama plays out in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, it's worth noting the role Iran-now under new and allegedly moderate leadership-has played in this latest spasm of violence. In March, Israeli naval commandos interdicted a Panamanian-flagged ship, the Klos C, off the Sudanese coast in the Red Sea. The ship's cargo contained 40 M-302 surface-to-surface rockets, 181 mortar shells and some 400,000 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition-all concealed under bags of Iranian cement. The weapons were almost certainly intended for Iran's terrorist clients in Gaza. Tehran denies any role in the shipment. But a recent classified report from the U.N. Security Council's Sanctions Committee effectively confirms it, and we've seen the pertinent portions. The panel found that Bandar Abbas, a southern Iranian port, 'is established as the origin of the shipment of 100 containers of cement, including the 20 containing weapons and ammunition.' The panel based this finding on, among other things, the ship's 'cargo manifest dated 4 February 2014,' its 'container stowage plan from Bandar Abbas' and 'statements made by the captain to Israeli officials.' The manner of concealment, the panel added, 'is consistent with several other cases reported to the Committee.' The panel concluded: 'The shipment of arms and related material found aboard the Klos C is a violation of Iran's obligations under paragraph 5 of resolution 1747,' referring to an embargo on Iranian arms transfers imposed by the Security Council in 2007. The panel didn't weigh in on the ultimate intended recipient of the shipment, yet previous such shipments have made their way to Gaza. The Obama Administration and some of its European allies are openly contemplating a partnership with the Iranian regime to help stabilize the Middle East and deter groups like ISIS. The U.N. report is a fresh reminder, if one were needed, that the Islamic Republic abets the very terrorism and instability it is now being enlisted to stop." http://t.uani.com/1qVfdl8 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.