Solsticewitch13's BOS: Eye on Iran: Obama Tries to Restart Nuclear-Fuel Talks With Iran

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WSJ: "The Obama administration is pushing to revive a failed deal for Iran to send some of its nuclear stockpile overseas in exchange for assistance with peaceful nuclear technology, according to senior U.S. officials. The aim is to try to reduce Tehran's ability to quickly produce an atomic weapon. Washington and other Western capitals are hoping Tehran will return to the negotiating table because they believe a fresh round of international economic sanctions against Iran-put in place after the previous fuel-swap deal fell apart last year-has begun to bite hard. The U.S. is accelerating its efforts to present Iran with a new offer as part of broader talks on Iran's nuclear program planned for Vienna next month, according to three officials briefed on the diplomacy. Such a meeting would mark the first direct negotiation between U.S. and Iranian officials on the nuclear issue in more than a year." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.5meq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2Fcjdxtp

WashPost: "Iran started to fully load fuel into its only nuclear reactor Tuesday, after a leak in the Russian-built reactor's basin delayed the process for months, state media reported. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said that tests had been run and that it had started loading 163 fuel rods into the reactor's core, bringing the country closer to its goal of becoming a user of nuclear energy. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the United States does not object to the reactor, but that it remains concerned about facilities where Iran may be working on nuclear weapons. 'Our problem is not with their reactor at Bushehr,' she said. 'Our problem is with their facilities at places like Natanz and their secret facility at Qom and other places where we believe they are conducting their weapons program.'" http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.bneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwapo.st%2Fa73u7n

WSJ: "BP PLC will likely have to shut down a natural gas field in the North Sea that it jointly owns with Iran, a sign that tough new European sanctions are beginning to affect the Islamic Republic's oil and gas sector. European Union foreign ministers approved new measures Monday which would, among other things, ban joint energy investments by Iranian and Western companies. The sanctions are designed to bring Iran to the negotiating table over its nuclear program. A spokesman for the EU foreign-affairs chief Catherine Ashton said the new sanctions would affect Rhum, a gas field co-owned by BP and a state-owned Iranian oil company, 'and could lead to its closure.' In and of itself, the shutdown of Rhum would have few repercussions for BP, the U.K., or Iran. It is a small field, producing the equivalent of 15,000 barrels of oil a day, and accounts for just 5% of BP's U.K. North Sea oil and gas production, the company says. EU officials say it is the only Western-Iranian joint venture of its kind in Europe." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.cneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2Farxl47

Nuclear Program

Reuters: "The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog urged Iran on Tuesday to take 'concrete steps' to allay international concerns about its disputed nuclear program. 'I am requesting Iran take concrete steps, concrete measures toward the full implementation of their obligations,' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Amano told reporters after addressing university students in Moscow. Six global powers have proposed revived talks with Iran on restraining its nuclear program and opening it up fully to IAEA scrutiny in exchange for trade and diplomatic benefits. Iran has not formally responded to the offer." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.eneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Freut.rs%2Fbaczvd

Bloomberg: "A reduction in China's imports of crude oil from Iran may be a 'warning sign' regarding the Middle Eastern country's pursuit of nuclear technology, according to consultants Petromatrix GmbH. China cut crude imports from Iran in the period from January to September compared with a year ago even as the world's biggest energy consumer shipped in more oil, Petromatrix said. It decreased supplies from Iran to 415,000 barrels a day, from 499,000 a day last year, Petromatrix said, citing data from the Beijing-based Customs General Administration. 'It might be a first warning sign,' Olivier Jakob, Petromatrix's managing director, said in a telephone interview from Zug, Switzerland. 'China is still importing a lot. It might be showing to Iran, 'you're not going to participate in our growth.'" http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.fneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F9FvIPl

Reuters: "Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned European countries on Tuesday that Iran might retaliate in kind for their denial of fuel to Iranian aircraft because of U.S. sanctions, a news agency reported.... 'We have given the necessary warnings and if the current situation is not corrected in some European capitals, they will be faced by a reciprocal action from Iran,' Mottaki was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency, without giving details." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.hneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FaKCvl0

Bloomberg: "BP Plc and Statoil ASA's Shah Deniz natural-gas field off the coast of Azerbaijan was exempted from European Union sanctions on Iran, clearing the way for a project designed to reduce the continent's reliance on Russia. EU regulations published today are intended to inhibit Iranian business activities and prevent European technology from helping the country's nuclear program. Article 30 in the measures against Iran was added so that development of the field, a possible source of gas for Europe, wouldn't be impeded, a person familiar with the regulations said on Oct. 22. Tehran-based Naftiran Intertrade Co. has a 10 percent stake in AzerbiajAn's biggest gas field that may help supply fuel to the 7.9 billion-euro ($10.9 billion) planned Nabucco link and bring gas to Europe via Turkey from 2015." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.lneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FdyQr8P

Commerce

Reuters: "Iran has exported more than $36 million worth of gasoline to Iraq, Afghanistan and Armenia, ISNA news agency said on Tuesday, which it sees as a victory against sanctions. Iran, which was long dependent on imported gasoline for 30-40 percent of its consumption, said last month that it had started exporting the fuel. The sales were confirmed to Reuters by trade sources but they did not know at the time where the cargoes were being exported to. 'To date we have exported 32 million litres to Iraq, Afghanistan and Armenia,' said Ardeshir Mohammadi, head of Iran's customs, according to ISNA." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.pneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F9UEaHi

Human Rights

Radio Farda: "Jailed Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been visited by her sister and has called off her month-long hunger strike, Sotoudeh's husband has told RFE/RL's Radio Farda. Sotoudeh, who is being held in Tehran's Evin prison, had launched a hunger strike at the end of September to protest being denied visits and phone calls from her family. Her husband, Reza Khandan, told RFE/RL that Sotoudeh's sister, Guity, visited her in prison today. He said Guity told him Sotoudeh had lost a lot of weight after a four-week hunger strike, during which she drank only water. Khandan said his wife apparently called off her hunger strike on October 23." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.rneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F8ZEKrA

Domestic Politics

TIME: "Successive governments since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988 have all made the project of overhauling Iran's vast and inefficient subsidies system a stated policy objective, but until now, no government has come this close to embarking on actual reforms. Analysts point to the fact that the Ahmadinejad administration enjoys a confluence of political factors that his predecessors could never have dreamed of: an emasculated political opposition, full support of Iran's security forces and the stalwart backing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But now, on the brink of implementation, Iranian politics and society have been gripped by a sense of uncertainty and foreboding that the Ahmadinejad administration has done nothing to allay. In fact, the government's skittishness about the issue has only raised anxieties." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.sneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F96vB5N

Reuters: "Iran has arrested three members of a Sunni Muslim rebel group who it says had played 'a major role' in a deadly mosque explosion in the southeast of the country, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday. More than 20 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, were killed and 100 others were wounded in two suicide attacks at Zahedan's Grand mosque in July." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.uneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Freut.rs%2FdgR5AW

Foreign Affairs

Daily Telegraph: "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has displayed a knack for international co-operation on the football field that has eluded him in diplomacy by scoring a goal from a cross by President Evo Morales of Bolivia. The pair, who had earlier vowed to 'defeat imperialism soon,' teamed up for a game of futsal, an indoor, five players per side version of football. It is the first time that Mr Ahmadinejad has been known to take to the pitch but he has regularly attended matches in Iran's domestic league." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.vneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FbnXdqx

Reuters: "Iran will soon try two of its citizens accused of spying for the country's arch foe Israel, a judiciary official was quoted by media as saying on Tuesday. 'Cases of the two will be sent to the court ... the two were linked to the Zionist regime's (Israel) intelligence services and provided them with information,' said Tehran prosecutor general Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, state radio reported." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.wneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FaPpn3i

Opinion

Fouad Ajami in WSJ: "'They do give us bags of money-yes, yes, it is done, we are grateful to the Iranians for this.' This is the East, and baksheesh is the way of the world, Hamid Karzai brazenly let it be known this week. The big aid that maintains his regime, and keeps his country together, comes from the democracies. It is much cheaper for the Iranians. They are of the neighborhood, they know the ways of the bazaar... Mr. Karzai didn't need to be a grand strategist. He had, as is necessary in his world of treachery and betrayal, his ear to the ground, his scent for the irresolution of the Obama administration. He saw the scorn of Iran's cruel leaders for America's diplomatic approaches. He could see Iranian power extend all the way to the Mediterranean, right up to Israel's borders with Lebanon and to Gaza. The Iranians were next door and the Americans were giving away their fatigue. Why not accept the entreaties from Tehran?" http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.xneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FainYZp

James Kirchick in Radio Free Europe: "It is no secret that Julian Assange, the man behind WikiLeaks, opposes the American-led war efforts in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He is not some dispassionate journalist bringing information to light for its own sake; he has an agenda, and makes no bones about it. 'This material shines light on the everyday brutality and squalor of war,' he said before releasing a stash of classified documents related to the Afghan conflict this summer. 'The archive will change public opinion and it will change the opinion of people in positions of political and diplomatic influence.' WikiLeaks will indeed 'change' opinions. But they should not alter them in the pacifistic way Assange desires. Far from demonstrating that it is America and its allies which are responsible for most of the violence that has engulfed Iraq in the seven years since the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the latest WikiLeaks reveal, in the words of the 'Washington Post,' that 'the vast majority of Iraqi civilian deaths were caused by other Iraqis, not by coalition forces.' And many of those deaths were perpetrated by Iraqis who received training in neighboring Iran." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.yneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F9wQ7kM

Bernard-Henri Levy in HuffPo: "Let's recapitulate. The affair is enormous and really compels one to come back to it. Sajjad, Sakineh's son, has been fighting for months to have his mother's innocence recognized and to spare her the death by stoning to which she has been condemned by the Iranian government. On October 11th, he gave his nth interview, to German journalists, attempting once more to call public opinion the world over to witness the injustice to which his mother is being subjected. Wary, and aware though not daring to believe it that his repeated pacific contacts with foreign journalists and his filial love may endanger him in turn, he took the precaution to conduct the meeting at the offices of the attorney Houtan Khian, a venue that is, even in Iran, in principle inviolable." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&t=uzpp8aeab.0.zneq8aeab.hfdiftcab.30860&ts=S0548&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhuff.to%2FbtJdFi

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.