Eye on Iran: US, Britain, Israel Still Iran's 'Main Enemies': Khamenei

Join UANI               Top Stories AFP: "Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashed out Friday at the United States, Britain and Israel as the Islamic republic's 'main enemies', accusing Washington of procrastinating over Tehran's landmark nuclear deal. 'It's the US, the evil Britain, and the damned and cancerous Zionist regime. These are the main enemies,' Khamenei said in a televised speech marking the 27th anniversary of the death of his revolutionary predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The supreme leader mentioned the nuclear deal with world powers that came into force in January, and accused Washington of breaking its promises. 'We sat down and negotiated with the P5+1 group and even separately with the Americans over the nuclear issue,' he said during a televised speech to thousands gathered at Khomeini's extravagant mausoleum in southern Tehran. 'The other side, the Americans, made some commitments. The Islamic republic completed its commitments but the other unfaithful side is procrastinating.' 'Whoever trusts in the United States is committing a big mistake and will be hit with a slap,' he added. Khamenei's address was met with chants from the crowd of 'Death to America', a common cry during his anti-Western speeches... Khamenei went on to emphasise the importance of a domestic 'resistance economy', rather than reliance on foreign investment. 'To think that the economic boom of the country can be merely reached through foreign investment is a mistake,' he said. 'More important than foreign investment is activating domestic potential. For a country to integrate its economy into the world economy is not an honour, it's a loss and defeat.'" http://t.uani.com/1TSM2yK Reuters: "Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday Tehran had no intention of cooperating on regional issues with its main enemies, the United States and 'evil' Britain. Khamenei also accused Washington of not being committed to a nuclear deal reached between Tehran and six major powers, including the United States, in 2015 that aims to curb the country's disputed nuclear program... 'America has continued its enmity toward Iran since (the 1979 Islamic) revolution ... It is a huge mistake to trust evil Britain and the Great Satan (the United States),' Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live on state TV. 'We will not cooperate with America over the regional crisis,' he said, adding that: 'Their aims in the region are 180 degrees opposed to Iran's.' ... 'They use human rights, terrorism ... as pretexts to avoid fulfilling their commitments,' Khamenei said. 'If we remain strong and united and revolutionary, those who are trying to bully Iran and are against us will not succeed,' he told a gathering to commemorate the anniversary of the death of the revolution's founder, Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, in 1989... Khamenei, whose hostility toward Washington holds together Iran's faction-ridden leadership, said Iran should 'remain cautious in its economic interaction with the West.'" http://t.uani.com/1U2cu72 AP: "The U.S. said the number of global terrorist attacks declined slightly between 2014 and 2015, although the Islamic State group expanded its reach. Iran remained the leading state sponsor of terrorism despite sealing a nuclear deal with world powers, the State Department said in its annual survey of worldwide terrorism released Thursday... as it has done in numerous previous years, the report identified Iran as the world's 'foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015' through its provision of financial support, training and equipping of various extremist groups, notably Lebanon's Hezbollah, as well as the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad... Although it achieved a diplomatic resolution to concerns over its nuclear program, Iran in 2015 continued to use the Quds Force of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to implement foreign policy goals, which include creating instability throughout the Middle East, according to the report. In addition to arming the Hezbollah and the Assad government, it also provided weapons and other assistance to militants in Bahrain and remained active in supporting anti-Israel groups such as Hamas, the report said." http://t.uani.com/1VBqbLn Congressional Action WashPost: "The House Oversight Committee is demanding the State Department turn over documents to show how and why officials deleted an exchange about Iran from the official video of a 2013 press briefing. Chairman Jason Chaffetz sent Secretary of State John Kerry a letter Thursday night demanding paperwork within the next two weeks detailing who ordered the cutting of several minutes of the video, and information about why and when the order was given. The deleted portion features an exchange between Fox News reporter James Rosen questioning then-State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki about whether the administration lied about secret talks with Iran. The committee's GOP leadership also requested documents relating 'to any other requests to delete portions of daily press briefings' since the start of 2012, in case the Rosen-Psaki exchange is not the only instance State Department officials doctored a video. It gave Kerry until June 16 at 5 p.m. to send relevant documents to the committee... The State Department's admission Wednesday that someone had doctored the tape sent many Republican members of Congress into a rage. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) excoriated the White House, arguing in a statement that the administration 'should investigate who requested this selective editing and why.'" http://t.uani.com/1Y6jdPd The Hill: "The State Department on Thursday said it has hit a 'dead end' in determining who ordered the deletion of part of a December 2013 press briefing video that addressed the Iran nuclear deal. 'We believe we've carried out the necessary investigation. We have hit a dead end in terms of finding out more information,' said State Department spokesman Mark Toner. The answer was unacceptable to CNN news anchor Jake Tapper, who declared Thursday, 'Just as the public has a right to know the truth, we have a right to know who lied to us. And why.' During the deleted portion, then-State Department Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked by Fox News reporter James Rosen whether it was OK to lie to keep secret negotiations with Iran. 'I think there are times when diplomacy needs privacy in order to progress,' she responded. The State Department first called the deletion 'a glitch' before admitting it was an deliberate order made by someone it says is not known at this point. Toner told reporters that the deletion occurred after a video technician got a call from someone within the public affairs department, acting on behest of someone else within the bureau. Toner also made contradictory statements over whether the identity of the person who relayed the request was known." http://t.uani.com/1Ujl79n Sanctions Relief Gulf News: "Iranian airlines could purchase Boeing passenger jets in euros rather than the industry-preferred dollar if the United States' financial system does not open up to Iran, a Boeing executive suggested on Thursday. Boeing has been talking with 'more than' two Iranian carriers, including flag airline Iran Air but not the Revolutionary Guard-owned Mahan Air, since February after the US government granted limited approval. Boeing has spoken with Iranian airlines about all of its models currently in production, Marty Bentrott, Boeing's vice-president for Middle East sales, told reporters in Dublin on Thursday at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meeting. 'There is some very positive interest,' he said. Boeing was pipped by European rival Airbus who signed a preliminary agreement in January to sell Iran 118 aircraft valued at $27 billion. 'There is plenty of opportunity still for Boeing,' Bentrott said, who himself has visited Tehran since the plane maker was granted permission to engage in commercial discussions... Asked if Boeing could sell its aircraft to Iranian airlines in an alternative currency such as the euro, Bentrott said 'there is a number of different options that could be explored.'" http://t.uani.com/1TSLOYt WSJ: "When a handful of OPEC countries floated a proposal to reintroduce production limits on members on Wednesday, it took only a few hours for Iran to quash the idea with the words of one man: Bijan Zanganeh. By Thursday morning, support for the limits had faded and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries took no action on production at its meeting. Iran's oil minister has taken on a more powerful role among the world's biggest energy producers in recent months, as his country attempts an economic comeback with petroleum sales following the end of Western sanctions in January. Mr. Zanganeh, 63 years old, has now broken up several attempts to reduce a flood of crude oil from both OPEC, which includes Iran, and nonmembers like Russia and the U.S. The glut pushed oil prices to new lows over the winter, but Iran sees production-cap proposals as an effort to rein in its resurgent oil sales." http://t.uani.com/1UAyVz2 IRNA (Iran): "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrapped up his European tour to four countries in the north and eastern parts of the continent. Zarif started his tour of Europe on Sunday evening from Poland, then Finland, Sweden and Latvia. The Iranian foreign minister was accompanied by a 60-member delegation to in his tour of Europe. Zarif voiced his satisfaction with his talks with senior Latvian officials, including his counterpart Edgars Rinkevics, during his stay here. The Iranian foreign minister made the remarks in a joint press conference with his Latvian counterpart in Riga on Thursday afternoon. Zarif thanked Rinkevics for his and his country's hospitality during his stay in Lativa. Zarif pointed to the accompaniment of a 70-member trade delegation during his visit to Europe, including Latvia, and said that this issue shows the importance that Iran attaches to its relations with European countries." http://t.uani.com/25EuH1W Financial Tribune (Iran): "Denmark's Haldor Topsoe, a world leader in catalysis and surface science, has resumed petrochemical collaboration with Iran, project manager of Lavan Industry Development Company said on Monday. 'Bilateral cooperation between the two companies halted in 2014 due to limitations caused by sanctions, but Haldor Topsoe has recently extended the contract on participation in the Iranian company's projects until 2018,' Mohammad Baqer Faridi was also quoted as saying by IRNA... 'The Danish company was active in transferring technology to Iran's petrochemical companies,' he added. Noting that Lavan Industry Development Company plans to set up a petrochemical complex in the second phase of South Pars Gas Field in Asalouyeh, Faridi said the complex aims to produce 3,000 tons of methanol and 1,000 tons of ammonia per day once it is completed. Earlier in February, Topsoe said in a press release that it will open an office in Tehran as it has reached an agreement with an Iranian firm to establish a petrochemical plant in the country's south. Topsoe told Financial Tribune that it signed a contract with Iran's Sharq Eastern Petrochemical Complex for licenses, engineering, proprietary equipment, materials and catalysts to establish a methanol plant in the southern port city of Chabahar." http://t.uani.com/1TZP7Lr Iraq Crisis WSJ: "Behind the rise of a paramilitary force in Iraq credited with saving the country from Islamic State is an Iran-trained jihadist the U.S. wants far from the battlefield. A decade ago, the Iraqi known to U.S. officials as Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi was in a cat-and-mouse game with U.S. forces and on the run from a Kuwaiti death sentence for allegedly orchestrating bombings at the American and French embassies there in the 1980s. The U.S. Treasury lists him as a terrorist. Today, the shadowy figure-known mostly by his nom de guerre, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes-is the most influential commander in the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF. The force of mostly Shiite Muslim recruits is Iraq's parallel army, crucial in successes against Islamic State in the past two years, filling the gap after the regular army crumbled and the U.S. moved to help rebuild it... The rise of the commander and the PMF reflect the new realities the U.S. government faces in Iraq, after withdrawing tens of thousands of troops more than four years ago. Iranian proxies that once posed the biggest danger to American troops have become, as the country's strongest combat force, inadvertent partners in the fight against Islamic State. Mr. Ibrahimi doesn't hide that he believes in the Iranian model of Shiite theocracy, said Mishaan Jbouri, a Sunni lawmaker who counts Mr. Ibrahimi as a personal friend. 'He says he represents Ali Khamenei,' Iran's supreme leader. Critics of the Obama administration say its aversion to deep military engagement in the Middle East allowed Iran to step in and rise to new prominence." http://t.uani.com/1TNc5ln Human Rights RFE/RL: "Ali Khomeini, a grandson of revolutionary leader and Islamic Republic of Iran founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, has defended thousands of summary executions of political prisoners in 1988 following a fatwa by his grandfather. Some sources claim that more than 5,000 members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) and further leftist groups, students, and others were executed in the span of a few months. The prisoners were said to have been executed after brief interrogations by three-member committees -- dubbed 'death commissions' -- about their political and religious beliefs. Speaking at a June 1 event in Qom marking the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's death, Ali Khomeini, a cleric, suggested that the executions of political opponents, particularly MKO members, was a wise move." http://t.uani.com/1PqZ3O5 Foreign Affairs JPost: "Israel's top diplomat in Austria, Talya Lador-Fresher, took to Twitter to criticize Vienna's Mayor Michael Häupl for his visit to Iran... Häupl also faced criticism from the anti-Iran regime group Stop the Bomb in Vienna. The group said 'a Social Democrat (SPÖ), traveled to Iran to meet with high-ranking regime officials like Tehran's mayor, although a Holocaust denial event is currently taking place in Tehran and despite the persecution of labor activists." http://t.uani.com/1UlCdmM         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.