Eye on Iran: Iran's Nobel Laureate Is Done with Reform. She Wants Regime Change.

TOP STORIES Iran's Nobel Laureate Is Done with Reform. She Wants Regime Change. | Eli Lake for Bloomberg Shirin Ebadi, Iran's Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights lawyer, has had enough. For years she represented her country's dissidents in the Islamic Republic's corrupt courts. She spoke out for the rights of women, minorities and students abroad. But she never called for the end of the regime she was fighting to reform. Until now. German FM Vows 'Considerable Efforts' to Protect Iran Deal | Associated Press Germany's foreign minister says his government will exert "considerable efforts" to protect the Iran nuclear deal despite Berlin's misgivings about Iran's ballistic missiles program and its involvement in the Syria conflict. Saudi Arabia Calls on Security Council to Condemn Houthi Attack on Oil Tanker | Arab News The Kingdom has urged the UN's Security Council to condemn Tuesday's attack by Iran-backed Houthis on a Saudi Arabian oil tanker in international waters west of Yemen's Hodeidah port. Riyadh also called on the council to hold the Houthis and Tehran accountable for violating international law. In a letter, the Kingdom called for all possible measures to be taken to ensure the speedy and comprehensive implementation of UN Resolutions 2216 and 2231 to prevent the escalation of Houthi attacks. NUCLEAR DEAL Germany's Merkel to Visit Trump, As Trade, Iran Deadlines Loom | Reuters German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit U.S. President Donald Trump on April 27, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday, as differences over a nuclear deal with Iran and trade cast a shadow over the transatlantic relationship. Persuade Allies to Keep Pressure on Iran | Charleston Post and Courier Editorial Board In order to put pressure on our European allies, President Trump has threatened to withdraw on May 12 from the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran unless the allies support needed changes to the deal. The allies are balking, but the president's approach may yet yield tougher sanctions before the deadline.. NUCLEAR & BALLISTIC-MISSILE PROGRAMS Iran Continues to Hide Past Nuclear Weapons Work | Washington Free Beacon Iran continues to hide key work it undertook on nuclear weapons development while perfecting ballistic missile technology that could carry such a weapon, according to a new report from a senior Israeli military official that has fueled calls from Trump administration insiders and Congress to nix the deal ahead of a May deadline. IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS Iranian Conservatives Ask Supreme Leader for Reforms | Al Monitor A group of 300 conservative figures in Iran wrote an open letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asking for structural reforms for the country.  Late Iranian President's Son on Road to Become Tehran Mayor | Al Monitor Following the sudden resignation of Tehran Mayor Mohammad Ali Najafi last month, speculation has been growing that Mohsen Hashemi, the eldest son of the late former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, could become his successor. Little Sympathy in Iran for Youtube Shooter's Frustration | Associated Press The Iranian-American woman who opened fire at YouTube's headquarters this week appears to have lashed out after she felt the company had censored her often bizarre videos- a motive that many found perplexing in Iran, where YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are blocked. SYRIA & IRAN Iran's Syria policy: the View from the Street | Alex Vatanka for the Middle East Institute Listen closely to the debate in Tehran about Syria and you will detect great unease. There is an underlying fear-inside both the moderate and the hard-line camps of the regime-that Iran won the war but is in danger of losing out in the post-war period that will follow. 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@uani.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.