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Press TV (Iran):
"Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says the Islamic Republic will
never sign a nuclear deal with the P5+1 countries that would allow
foreign access to the country's scientific and military secrets.
Referring to the recent remarks by Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei that Iran will never allow inspections of
its military sites as part of an agreement with the P5+1 countries,
President Rouhani said the administration strictly obeys the Leader's
words. 'The Leader of the Islamic Revolution's word is rule for the
administration; and we will never sign a deal that would allow anybody to
have access to the country's scientific and military secrets,' President
Rouhani said in a Thursday address in East Azarbaijan Province. 'Research
and development is our red-line, and [nuclear] negotiators are aware of
the red-lines,' he stressed." http://t.uani.com/1AoVctq
WSJ:
"President Barack Obama, anticipating intensified criticism of his
pursuit of an Iran nuclear deal, is trying to boost ties with Jewish
Americans after a bitter, public fallout with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu. The campaign comes a week after Mr. Obama spent two
days personally trying to win over Arab states, which also have been
skeptical of his pursuit of an agreement with Iran to curtail its nuclear
program. Mr. Obama is scheduled to mark Jewish Heritage Month in a speech
Friday at Adas Israel synagogue, one of the largest in Washington, D.C.
In advance of the visit, he sat for an interview with the Atlantic's Jeffrey
Goldberg to outline his case. 'Look, 20 years from now, I'm still going
to be around, God willing. If Iran has a nuclear weapon, it's my name on
this,' he said in the interview published Thursday. 'I think it's fair to
say that in addition to our profound national-security interests, I have
a personal interest in locking this down.'" http://t.uani.com/1LsXmcC
AFP:
"A senior Iranian military official warned on Thursday that any
Israeli attack would unleash a firestorm of missiles on its cities fired
by the Islamic republic's Hezbollah allies in Lebanon. The Shiite militia
has more than 80,000 rockets ready to fire at Tel Aviv and Haifa, said
General Yahya Rahim Safavi, military adviser to Iran's supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 'Iran, with the help of Hezbollah and its
friends, is capable of destroying Tel Aviv and Haifa in case of military
aggression on the part of the Zionists,' he said, quoted on state
television. 'I don't think the Zionists would be so unintelligent as to
create a military problem with Iran,' the general said. 'They know the
strength of Iran and Hezbollah.'" http://t.uani.com/1SnwP5b
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
Tasnim (Iran):
"Iran's foreign minister reaffirmed on Friday that the country's
negotiators firmly stick to the Islamic Republic's red lines in nuclear
talks with world powers. 'Definitely, the negotiating team commits itself
to safeguarding the Establishment's red lines in all subjects of the
nuclear negotiations, including Fordow (nuclear site),' Mohammad Javad
Zarif said in an interview with ICANA on Friday. Asked about the talk of
West's call for inspection of Iran's military sites, Zarif, who is also
the country's chief nuclear negotiator, said, 'I and members of the
negotiating team have repeatedly emphasized that we will certainly not
allow the Western sides to make excessive demands in the nuclear
talks.'" http://t.uani.com/1EnA7dU
Tasnim (Iran):
"[The] West's call for access to Iran's military sites under the
guise of nuclear inspection is tantamount to espionage, commander of the
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force said, noting that
Iran's response to espionage is 'hot bullets.' 'We will not allow them
(Westerners) to inspect our military and defense centers, and our
response to any measure in the name of inspection -either coordinated or
not- around the (military) centers or at any distance and in any shape
will be the response that is given to espionage, namely hot bullets,'
Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said in a meeting with a group of
foreign military attachés, held in Tehran on Friday." http://t.uani.com/1AjBFKZ
AP:
"The United States has sent a top official to Israel amid an effort
to revive talks on a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons, a central
issue of a landmark treaty review conference that some fear will end
Friday without progress on global disarmament. The State Department
confirmed that the assistant secretary of state for international
security and nonproliferation was in Israel to discuss the issue. An
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman declined comment on Thomas
Countryman's visit, saying it was a 'very sensitive' matter... That has
alarmed Israel, which is not a party to the treaty and has never publicly
declared what is widely considered to be an extensive nuclear weapons
program. Israel was furious when the United States at the treaty review
conference five years ago signed off on a document that called for talks
on a Middle East nuclear-free zone by 2012. With a new document that
threatens to pressure Israel again, the U.S. visit this week is meant to
calm things down. 'This administration and this president do not break
commitments to our Israeli partners, and any suggestion to the contrary
is offensive,' White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a
statement." http://t.uani.com/1HyG7oX
Sanctions Relief
Reuters:
"China's crude imports from Iran fell 11.6 percent in April from
record shipments a year ago but were still the highest in 11 months,
official customs data showed on Friday. China's imports last month from
Iran were 2.91 million tonnes, or 707,400 barrels per day (bpd), up 10.8
percent from March on a daily basis and the highest since last May...
China's April imports from Iran were well above from the 2014 average of
roughly 550,000 bpd, which was about the same as seen before the United
States and the European Union toughened sanctions over Iran's disputed
nuclear programme in early 2012." http://t.uani.com/1IP9V3R
Sanctions
Enforcement
WSJ:
"The U.S. took punitive measures against an Iraqi airline and a
Syrian businessman on Thursday over the sale of aircraft to a blacklisted
Iranian airline, in a case that has sparked concerns that U.S. sanctions
are beginning to fray as foreigners anticipate a nuclear deal with Tehran
next month. Iran's Mahan Air took delivery of the nine Airbus aircraft
earlier this month, U.S. officials said. The U.S. has imposed sanctions
on Mahan Air three times since 2011 for allegedly shipping arms to the
Syrian government; ferrying members of Iran's elite military unit, the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and providing transport for the
Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which Washington has designated as a
terrorist organization... The Treasury Department said the nine aircraft
have been designated as 'blockable' interests, making it risky for Mahan
Air to fly them on international routes. Treasury imposed sanctions on
Iraq-based Al-Naser Airlines; Syrian businessman Issam Shammout; and his
United Arab Emirates-based company Sky Blue Bird Aviation for allegedly
serving as fronts for Mahan Air to buy the airplanes from European
companies. The U.S. said there was no indication the sellers knew Iran
was the ultimate buyer of eight Airbus A340s and one Airbus A320." http://t.uani.com/1HyKDUu
Syria Conflict
Reuters:
"Lebanon's Hezbollah says the Middle East is at risk of partition
and sees no end to the war in Syria, where it is fighting alongside
President Bashar al-Assad against insurgents supported by his regional
enemies. Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy leader of the Iranian-backed group,
said the insurgents would be unable to topple the Assad government
despite their recent gains in battle, including this week's capture of Palmyra
by the Islamic State jihadist group. In an interview with Reuters, Qassem
said Assad's allies - Iran, Russia and Hezbollah - would back him
'however long it takes'. There could be no solution to the war without
Assad, and it was time for 'Arabs and the world' to realize that, added
the white-turbaned cleric, speaking at Hezbollah offices in Beirut."
http://t.uani.com/1KoP4oi
Yemen Crisis
Reuters:
"An Iranian aid ship has reached the outskirts of Djibouti's port
and is waiting for a permit to enter after Tehran agreed to an
international inspection of the vessel with goods for Yemen, an activist
on board said on Thursday. The Iran Shahed vessel, carrying 2,500 tonnes
of food and medical supplies, was previously bound for the Yemeni port of
Hodaida before Iran agreed on Wednesday to allow the international
inspection. 'We have arrived outside the port of Djibouti and are waiting
for permission to enter,' the activist, Christoph Horstel, told Reuters.
'We are being told right now the permit will take three to four hours to
get.' The move reduces the risk of a potential showdown between the
vessel and Saudi-led forces enforcing inspections on vessels entering
Yemeni ports to prevent arms supplies from reaching the Iran-allied
Houthi rebels they have been fighting." http://t.uani.com/1EnB9q8
Human Rights
IHR:
"At least 12 executions, three of them in public, have taken place
in the last three days in Iran... Seven people were hanged in Iran on
Wednesday (May 20) and Tuesday, according to the Iranian state media...
One prisoner was hanged in public in the city of Ghochan in northern Iran
today... Another prisoner was hanged publicly in the city of Minab
(Southern Iran) on Tuesday May 19... Iranian state media also reported
that the flogging sentence of a man identified as 'Kamran' was
implemented Monday morning May 18 (picture). He was convicted of theft.
On Sunday the Iranian media reported about amputation sentence of another
prisoner in Khuzestan province (southwestern Iran)." http://t.uani.com/1doJnJH
ICHRI:
"Authorities in Iran are prosecuting another writer on national
security charges for signing statements and writing posts that criticized
state censorship on the Facebook page of the Iranian Writers'
Association. Reza Khandan Mahabadi, a member of the Board of Directors of
the Iranian Writers' Association, told the International Campaign for
Human Rights in Iran that Intelligence Ministry agents who appeared at
his home on April 29, 2015, had a search warrant for his home and a
notice from the Tehran Media Court, in which he was accused of
'propaganda against the state,' and 'publishing an illegal
publication.'" http://t.uani.com/1Q1bJp5
Opinion &
Analysis
Mehdi Khalaji in
WINEP: "Both Iranian and U.S. officials have
repeatedly said that the nuclear deal is expected to address only the
nuclear program and associated sanctions imposed on Iran. In his May 15
interview with Al-Arabiya, President Obama reiterated his recognition of
Iran's troubling behavior in the region: 'I've been very clear that just
because we are able to resolve the nuclear issue does not negate the very
real problems that we've had with [Iran's] past state sponsorship of
terrorism, with the potential for mischief in the region. And that's
something that we will continue to address jointly with our GCC [Gulf
Cooperation Council] partners.' Khamenei, for his part, expects a nuclear
deal to generally relieve pressure on the Islamic Republic. And he has
repeatedly insisted that a deal would not prompt a change in Iran's
behavior. Indeed, he would never tolerate a nuclear deal if the perceived
outcome were increased pressure on Iran over its regional activities. On
the other side of the coin, while Obama is working to reassure
Washington's Gulf allies that a deal would not herald a softer U.S.
policy toward Iran's regional interventionism, these allies fear that
lifted sanctions will invariably strengthen Iran's hand in conflicts
across the Middle East. For now, on both the nuclear and the regional
files, Khamenei dwells on what he sees as impertinent foreign demands. On
May 20, he angrily asserted that 'we will never yield to pressure...We
will not accept unreasonable demands...Iran will not give access to its
[nuclear] scientists.' Elaborating on the last point, he said: 'I will
not allow foreigners to come and talk to the nation's dear scientists and
children and interrogate them...our rude and brazen enemy expects us to
let them talk to our scholars and scientists about a fundamental national
and domestic [achievement], but such permission will never be
issued...this should be clear for the enemies of Islamic government and
all those who are waiting for the government's decision [on the nuclear
deal].' More generally, Khamenei repeated his philosophy about how the
enemy should be treated and said that the 'only way to confront the
brazen enemy is by firm determination, not passiveness.' He explained
that 'one of the challenges [of the nuclear negotiations involves] the
other party's bullying and unreasonable demands...our enemies still do not
know Iranian people, Iranian officials. This is why they are bullying us.
The nation and the government that emerged from it will not yield to
bullying demands.' Even as Ayatollah Khamenei has intensified his
rhetorical objections to foreign 'arrogance,' Iran's actions have not
kept pace in their toughness, as exemplified by Iran's submission to the
UN inspection of the Yemen-bound ship. And the nuclear negotiations
continue. All the same, Khamenei is inflaming public opinion, not
preparing the Iranian people for compromise." http://t.uani.com/1R9UGDH
Michael Eisenstadt
in WINEP: "Whether or not the P5+1 and Tehran reach
a nuclear deal, deterring an Iranian breakout, most likely at clandestine
sites, will remain a core U.S. imperative for the foreseeable future.
Although the U.S. intelligence community has a strong record of detecting
clandestine nuclear programs, it has often failed to correctly assess
their status, identify proliferation paths, locate key facilities, or
track the activities of proliferation supplier networks. Nevertheless,
the international community has a number of tools available for leveling
the playing field with Iran, including highly intrusive inspections and
monitoring, wide-area environmental sampling, and exploiting Iranian fears
that its nuclear infrastructure continues to be penetrated by foreign
intelligence services employing human agents and cyber espionage. In his
latest Research Note, Michael Eisenstadt examines every angle of a
possible Iranian nuclear breakout, with or without a deal. Guiding his
argument is the contention that Iran must be convinced that if it
attempts a breakout, it will be caught and will suffer unacceptable
consequences. Otherwise, the Islamic Republic will likely keep inching
toward its long-held goal." http://t.uani.com/1R9UTqE
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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