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USA Today:
"Visiting business delegations are streaming into Iran with an eye
on lucrative new deals before a June 30 deadline for a sanctions-lifting
nuclear agreement with six world powers. Tehran saw 'an explosion' of
foreign business delegations in the weeks after the framework for a
nuclear accord was announced in March. 'Everyone is now waiting for the
end of Round 2 in June,' said Heinz-Joachim Heise, a Switzerland-based
management recruiter who opened an office in Tehran last summer.
Multinational corporations, mostly from Europe and Asia, that did
business in Iran before U.S. and international sanctions forced them out
have started making plans to return. They include many well-known brands,
such as German auto manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, French oil giant Total
and U.S. electronics manufacturer Hewlett-Packard, according to news
accounts... Some U.S. advocacy groups, such as United Against a Nuclear
Iran, seek to publicize and shame Western companies from participating in
Iran-oriented business forums. David Ibsen, the group's executive
director, foresees an alternative to Khajehpour's argument that trade
will moderate Iran's political behavior. He worries the government will
use its economic wealth to subsidize foreign militant groups and continue
suppressing freedom at home. 'If we can get guarantees they won't use
additional funds to fund Hezbollah, the Basij domestic militias to
increase domestic surveillance, internal police forces, Houthi rebels and
other proxies, that would be great,' Ibsen said. 'It would be quite a
departure from the past 30 years.'" http://t.uani.com/1GoDAjX
Politico:
"With a June 30 deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran approaching,
western experts and foreign allies - including a top Israeli official -
are urging the Obama administration not to treat that date as sacred for
fear of giving Tehran leverage in the high-stakes talks. 'The Iranians
are using delay tactics. It seems they want to come close to the deadline
without an agreement,' Yuval Steinitz, Israel's energy minister, who is
in Washington this week for meetings with top Obama officials, told
POLITICO on Thursday. If that happens, Steinitz said, 'there will be no
time to close all the loopholes and clarify all the details. And this
will serve the Iranians.' ... The question of timing is thorny for Obama
and his top negotiator with Iran, Secretary of State John Kerry, who was
injured in a cycling accident last weekend and whose travel schedule may
be affected. On one hand, they are under pressure from those who say that
Iran is simply dragging out the talks with no intention of agreeing to
severe restrictions on its nuclear program. But others argue that the
greater danger is the prospect of concessions made under an artificial
deadline. 'The administration in my view should not feel under any
particular pressure to get a deal by June 30,' said Gary Samore, who
worked on the issue at the Obama White House until early 2013. 'To the
extent the Iranians try to use the deadline for bargaining leverage, we
should ignore it.'" http://t.uani.com/1HPLGNm
NYT:
"A new merging of strategic interests between Saudi Arabia and
Israel was on display on Thursday as two former officials from those
countries appeared on the same stage to discuss their concerns about
Iran's actions across the Middle East. In an appearance at the Washington
office of the Council on Foreign Relations, a retired major general in
the Saudi armed forces, Anwar Eshki, and a former Israeli ambassador
close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Dore Gold, described their common
interests in opposing Iran. It was the culmination of five meetings
between the two men, who both run think tanks, though Mr. Gold will
become the director general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on
Sunday. 'We're both allies of the United States,' Mr. Gold said after the
presentation. 'I hope this is the beginning of more discussion about our
common strategic problems.' Left unsaid was the fact that Saudi Arabia
and Israel have never had diplomatic relations, or that the Saudi
government has never formally acknowledged the existence of the Jewish
state. But the two nations have quietly exchanged intelligence for years,
particularly about Iran. Mr. Gold spoke of an Iranian 'war of
expansionism' stretching from Iraq to Syria to Yemen. Mr. Eshki talked
about a list of goals, led by Arab-Israeli peace, but focused his remarks
on Iranian actions since Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was in power more
than 35 years ago." http://t.uani.com/1JwfBhH
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
Free Beacon:
"[Sen. Bob] Corker, who participated in the classified briefing,
accused the administration on Wednesday of misleading the public about
the parameters of a final deal. 'Last night we met with scientists in a
classified setting about laboratories and our secretary of energy to make
sure Congress really understands all the details of this, can raise
concerns,' Corker told Fox News. 'We know there is already an agreement
relative to the Iranian nuclear development program beginning in year 10'
on any final deal. 'When the president said in that clip that you played
that they can not get a nuclear weapon for 20 years, that is contrary to
what he said on NPR right after the April 2nd agreement,' Corker explained.
Corker and others have been trying to obtain a document that offers the
precise details of what the administration has tentatively agreed to.
However, officials will not hand it over to Congress. 'There is a
document that explains what Iran is able to do per the agreement after
the 10-year period,' Corker said in a separate interview Wednesday on
CNN. 'I have asked the State Department for the document. They have not
given it to me. I have asked the Energy Department for the document. They
have not given it to me. I've asked the White House for the document.
They have not given it to me.' 'The only thing I can imagine ... is that
they think that it would shed [a] bad light on what they have agreed to,'
Corker added." http://t.uani.com/1KeQ7pV
Sanctions
Relief
Bloomberg:
"Indonesia is seeking a long-term oil supply deal with Iran in
anticipation of a possible end to sanctions against the Persian Gulf
nation over its nuclear program. Resources Minister Sudirman Said will
discuss potential crude supply and investments with Iran on the sidelines
of an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in Vienna on
Friday, according to a statement on the ministry's website... Talks will
examine the possibility of PT Pertamina, Indonesia's state oil and gas
company, entering Iran's exploration and production industry either as an
operator or shareholder, Said said in the statement Thursday... Iran
reached an agreement with Indonesia last month to increase oil exports to
Indonesia and plans to build a refinery, the Middle East nation's Fars
news agency reported in May. Kreasindo Resources Indonesia signed a
memorandum of understanding with Iranian company Nakhle Barani Paradis
for long-term crude supply in February last year." http://t.uani.com/1RPrqma
Press TV (Iran):
"A Turkish industrial group has indicated interest in investing in
Iran for production of ferrochrome, the Fars news agency said on Friday.
Yildirim Holding A.S. says it is ready to purchase Iran's ferrochrome
production units or their products and mines to produce chrome ores.
Yuksel Yildirim, CEO of Yildirim Holding, met with head of Iranian Mines,
Mining Industries Development and Renovation (IMIDRO) Mehdi Karbasian in
Tehran and discussed cooperation, Fars said. Yildirim announced readiness
to sign a 10-year cooperation agreement, saying his company has a plan
for operation in Iran. Ferrochrome is mostly used in stainless
steel." http://t.uani.com/1AODqAn
Extremism
IRNA (Iran):
"President Hassan Rouhani said the Iranian nation is determined to
resist against unjust pressures, smash sanctions and foil the plots
hatched against their country. He made the remarks addressing a large
gathering to mark the demise anniversary of Founder of the Islamic
Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini at his mausoleum. Praising
the leadership and statesmanship of late Imam Khomeini in leading the
Islamic Revolution to victory in 1979, he said, 'Imam Khomeini's message
resonates in our people's mind enabling us to stand against the plots
hatched by the major powers in the region.' Iran has not only resisted
and secured peace inside the country, Rouhani added, it has also assisted
the regional nations and will maintain doing so. 'The Iranian nation is
helping the peoples of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and other regional
nations in their fight against terrorism, violence and extremism. Relying
on Almighty Allah's power, we can ultimately defeat these
machinations.'" http://t.uani.com/1FyeLMD
Opinion &
Analysis
WSJ Editorial:
"U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew recently speculated that 'most of
the money Iran receives from sanctions relief' under a nuclear deal 'will
not go toward' supporting its terrorist proxies. Recent events in Gambia
and Cyprus suggest otherwise. Gambia over the weekend expelled Lebanese
businessman Husayn Tajideen. He operated a commercial network in Africa
that U.S. authorities say serves as a front for Hezbollah, the terrorist
militia created by Iran in 1982. The Gambian government cited Mr.
Tajideen's 'unacceptable business practices' as the reason... Meanwhile,
on May 27 Cypriot police raided a house in Larnaca where they discovered
five tons of the chemical-explosive agent ammonium nitrate. Police
arrested a 26-year-old Lebanese man visiting Cyprus on a Canadian
passport in connection with the raid. Israel's Defense Minister Moshe
Yaalon said on Monday that he believes the suspect is affiliated with
Hezbollah. Cyprus is a popular holiday destination for Israelis, and
Cypriot authorities have charged the suspect with conspiracy to commit a
criminal offense and possession of explosives. The suspect denies the
allegations, but the charges fit a pattern. A Cypriot court in 2013
convicted a Swedish-Lebanese man, who confessed to his Hezbollah
affiliation, of planning attacks on Israeli targets. In 2012 Hezbollah
operatives in Bulgaria bombed a bus full of Israeli tourists, killing the
driver and five Israelis. Under sanctions, the mullahs have funneled some
$200 million annually to Hezbollah-largess that doesn't make sense from a
rational economic perspective but advances the regime's terrorist aims.
Imagine what they could achieve with the estimated $50 billion that will
be President Barack Obama's down payment toward a nuclear deal." http://t.uani.com/1MaOCri
Eli Lake in
Bloomberg: "Since the beginning of 2014,
representatives from Israel and Saudi Arabia have had five secret
meetings to discuss a common foe, Iran. On Thursday, the two countries
came out of the closet by revealing this covert diplomacy at the Council
on Foreign Relations in Washington. Among those who follow the Middle
East closely, it's been an open secret that Israel and Saudi Arabia have
a common interest in thwarting Iran. But until Thursday, actual diplomacy
between the two was never officially acknowledged. Saudi Arabia still
doesn't recognize Israel's right to exist. Israel has yet to accept a
Saudi-initiated peace offer to create a Palestinian state. It was not a
typical Washington think-tank event. No questions were taken from the
audience. After an introduction, there was a speech in Arabic from Anwar
Majed Eshki, a retired Saudi general and ex-adviser to Prince Bandar bin
Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador to the U.S. Then Dore Gold, a former
Israeli ambassador to the United Nations who is slotted to be the next
director general of Israel's foreign ministry, gave a speech in English.
While these men represent countries that have been historic enemies,
their message was identical: Iran is trying to take over the Middle East
and it must be stopped. Eshki was particularly alarming. He laid out a
brief history of Iran since the 1979 revolution, highlighting the
regime's acts of terrorism, hostage-taking and aggression. He ended his
remarks with a seven-point plan for the Middle East. Atop the list was
achieving peace between Israel and the Arabs. Second came regime-change
in Iran. Also on the list were greater Arab unity, the establishment of
an Arab regional military force, and a call for an independent Kurdistan
to be made up of territory now belonging to Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Gold's
speech was slightly less grandiose. He, too, warned of Iran's regional
ambitions. But he didn't call for toppling the Tehran government. 'Our
standing today on this stage does not mean we have resolved all the differences
that our countries have shared over the years,' he said of his outreach
to Saudi Arabia. 'But our hope is we will be able to address them fully
in the years ahead.' It's no coincidence that the meetings between Gold,
Eshki and a few other former officials from both sides took place in the
shadow of the nuclear talks among Iran, the U.S. and other major powers.
Saudi Arabia and Israel are arguably the two countries most threatened by
Iran's nuclear program, but neither has a seat at the negotiations
scheduled to wrap up at the end of the month. The five bilateral meetings
over the last 17 months occurred in India, Italy and the Czech Republic.
One participant, Shimon Shapira, a retired Israeli general and an expert
on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, told me: 'We discovered we have
the same problems and same challenges and some of the same answers.'
Shapira described the problem as Iran's activities in the region, and
said both sides had discussed political and economic ways to blunt them, but
wouldn't get into any further specifics... The two nations worry today
that President Barack Obama's efforts to make peace with Iran will
embolden that regime's aggression against them. It's unclear whether
Obama will get his nuclear deal. But either way, it may end up that his
greatest diplomatic accomplishment will be that his outreach to Iran
helped create the conditions for a Saudi-Israeli alliance against
it." http://t.uani.com/1GoLj1v
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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 Nuclear
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