|
|
Top Stories
Independent Online: "Cellphone operator MTN has said it might be
able to scale down its operations in Iran to avoid US sanctions, the
government said today. Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim said that
MTN had said this in discussions with the government about how to avoid
the 'unilateral' sanctions which the US has imposed on Iran. Ebrahim was
speaking at a briefing by the Minister of International Relations and
Cooperate Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and her senior staff about her
department's budget which she presented to Parliament on Wednesday... MTN
has direct business interests in the US but the indirect impact of being
cut out of the dollar system is also enormous. Ebrahim said in an
interview afterwards that MTN had told the government it would not be
expanding its operations in Iran. But asked if that meant MTN had also
agreed to scale down its Iran operations, he said it had. But Ebrahim
added that there were no indications yet if the US would accept a scaling
down of MTN's ooperations or would demand that it would pull out of Iran
entirely. The Iran contract is believed to be one of MTN's largest and
most profitable foreign investments." http://t.uani.com/JFd0FP
Tech Central: "MTN, the R255bn Johannesburg-listed cellphone giant,
is in danger of being whacked with sanctions by the US for its
telecommunication activities in Iran and Syria.US President Barack Obama
issued an executive order this week that allows American authorities for
the first time to impose sanctions on individuals or entities found to
have used new technologies, including cellphone tracking and online
monitoring, to perpetuate 'grave' human rights abuses. Although MTN is
not named in the latest order, which specifically targets companies and
individuals aiding the Iranian and Syrian governments, White House
officials indicated in a statement that the sanctions list could be
expanded to include other countries using technology to crack down on
dissent. The US order adds to MTN's legal headaches and reputational
risks. Africa's largest mobile operator is being sued in US courts by
rival mobile operator Turkcell for US$4,2bn in a claim centred on the
bribery of Iranian government officials, a sophisticated weaponry scandal
and vote peddling in the UN Security Council. MTN told the Mail &
Guardian this week that it had hired international advisers, who were
closely scrutinising the order and the possibility of sanctions." http://t.uani.com/I3HXyK
Reuters: "Lloyd's Register, a leading maritime risk management firm,
has shut its operations in Iran and can no longer vouch for the safety of
the OPEC member's fleet due to Western sanctions, the head of the company
told Reuters. Lloyd's Register, a classification society that verifies
the safety and environmental standards of vessels, has stopped assessing
around 60 tankers and container ships owned by Iran's NITC and Islamic
Republic of Iran Shipping Lines following pressure from the United
States... 'The Americans came to us and said that if we continued to work
for the Iranians we would be blacklisted in America,' Richard Sadler, the
London-based chief executive of Lloyd's Register, said on the sidelines
of a conference in Singapore. 'There was a lot of confusion about the
sanctions and actually the recommendations was that it was better for
British classification societies within Europe not to be dealing directly
with NITC,' he said." http://t.uani.com/Ihbjyi
Nuclear
Program
Reuters: "A Russian diplomat said on Wednesday that
Iran and Western nations had shown interest in a Russian proposal aimed
to help defuse the standoff over Tehran's nuclear programme, but
suggested it had not been the focus of talks this month. Russia has been
calling for a 'step-by-step' resolution to the dispute over Iran's
nuclear programme, which Western nations fear is aimed at developing
nuclear weapons and Tehran says is purely peaceful. Moscow says Iran
should take measures to ease concerns about its intentions and comply
with U.N. demands, and in return be rewarded with the gradual easing of
sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council and Western states. In a
proposal aired in February, Russia says that as a start, Iran could
freeze the number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment at current levels
and place other restrictions on its centrifuge use. In return, global
powers would refrain from imposing new sanctions on Tehran." http://t.uani.com/IbKFmB
AP: "Israel's military chief said Thursday that other
countries have readied their armed forces for a potential strike against
Iran's nuclear sites to keep Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons. Lt.
Gen. Benny Gantz did not specify which nations might be willing to
support or take direct action against Iran. Still, his comments were one
of the strongest hints yet that Israel may have the backing of other
countries to strike the Islamic Republic to prevent it from developing
nuclear arms. 'The military force is ready,' Gantz said. 'Not only our
forces, but other forces as well.' 'We all hope that there will be no
necessity to use this force, but we are absolutely sure of its
existence,' he told The Associated Press, adding that he was not speaking
on behalf of any other nation." http://t.uani.com/IbdG4J
WT: "Iran is recruiting a hacker army to target the U.S. power grid,
water systems and other vital infrastructure for cyberattack in a future
confrontation with the United States, security specialists will warn
Congress Thursday. 'Elements of the IRGC [Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Corps] have openly sought to pull hackers into the fold' of a religiously
motivated cyberarmy, according to Frank J. Cilluffo, director of the
Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.
Lawmakers from two House Homeland Security subcommittees will hold a
joint hearing Thursday about the cyberthreat posed by Iran, as tensions
over Tehran's nuclear program continue at a high level, and a possible
Israeli strike looms." http://t.uani.com/JpKFBg
USA Today: "Iran is finding ways around international sanctions
meant to pressure its leaders to abandon its nuclear aspirations, even as
evidence mounts that sanctions are hurting the Iranian people, Iran
analysts say. 'It's definitely having an effect,' says Kenneth Katzman a
Middle East specialist at the Congressional Research Service. 'The
question is: Is it having enough of an effect,' to make Iran change
course. Other experts say that despite high inflation and decreased
Iranian oil exports, sanctions have not produced the desired impact on
Iran's nuclear program, which the United States says is aimed at building
a nuclear weapon. 'There are no indications that these sanctions are
forcing leaders to rethink their nuclear program or rolling back their
nuclear activities,' says Maseh Zarif, Iran team leader for the American
Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project. The only thing that will
cause a change in the regime's behavior, 'is a threat to regime
survival,' Zarif says." http://t.uani.com/I3JJjp
Sanctions
Today's Zaman: "Iranian investors, who established a record number
of companies in Turkey last year, have shifted their focus to the finance
and banking sector as Western sanctions implemented because of its
controversial nuclear program have eaten away at its economic
maneuverability. According to information Today's Zaman obtained from
Ankara financial circles, Iran's three biggest banks have started to work
in order to become the newest actors in the Turkish banking sector.
Tejarat Bank, Pasargad Bank and another bank, whose name was not
disclosed, have knocked on the door of the Banking Regulation and
Supervision Agency (BDDK) recently." http://t.uani.com/JFfMLt
WSJ: "China, Japan and South Korea, Asia's largest oil consumers,
significantly cut imports of Iranian crude in the first quarter of 2012
after the U.S. and the European Union moved to tighten sanctions against
Iran over its nuclear program, opening the way to rival suppliers.
Iran is the world's fifth-largest oil producer, exporting about 2.26
million barrels a day of crude in the first half of 2011, according to
the U.S. Energy Information Agency. China, Japan, India and South Korea
made up the bulk of its customers, accounting for 59% of its exports or
1.46 million barrels a day. Iran, on the other hand, accounts for about
10% of each of those countries' crude imports. Between January and March
2012, China cut Iranian crude purchases by a third to about 350,000
barrels a day because of a pricing dispute which has since been
resolved--it has consistently said that it respects only U.N.-imposed
sanctions. Japan and South Korea cut imports by more than 20% to 330,000
barrels a day and 200,000 barrels a day, respectively, as political
pressure from the U.S. mounted." http://t.uani.com/JsplbP
Reuters: "Japan's top refiner JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp will
not be able to continue importing oil from Iran as tightening global
sanctions against the Islamic Republic make it tough to pay for, ship and
insure the oil, the company's senior executive said. Japan has already
drastically cut loading of Iranian crude since April as its refiners
cannot rely on the European reinsurance market to cover tankers. Industry
sources have said Japanese buyers can no longer import Iran crude from
July if the European Union does not grant an exemption from its planned
ban on all European reinsurance, including the cover for pollution."
http://t.uani.com/IbeXZL
Reuters: "South Korea will make sharp cuts in imports of Iranian
crude from June as tightening Western sanctions make it impossible to
secure insurance cover for tankers to ship the crude, industry and
company sources said... With no resolution in sight, Hyundai Oilbank, one
of two buyers of Iranian oil in South Korea, has decided to stop lifting
cargoes from June, industry sources told Reuters. But bigger counterpart
SK Energy is sticking with its plan to lift annual committed volumes at
least until June. For July onwards, SK Energy, the country's largest
refiner, is in talks with the government to secure insurance cover for
tankers shipping the oil. If the government disagrees, the company will
have little option but to halt purchases, said the sources, who declined
to be identified as they are not authorized to talk to the media." http://t.uani.com/IyPxnn
Reuters: "Iranian energy companies could develop phase 11 of the
giant South Pars gas field, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday,
if a Chinese contractor does not meet Iran's ultimatum to move ahead with
the project in the next 30 days. State-owned China National Petroleum
Corporation (CNPC) was given a month's deadline by Iranian Oil minister
Rostam Ghasemi last week to make a serious start on the project after 32
months of delay." http://t.uani.com/KdJgKk
WSJ: "The U.S. hasn't threatened to impose sanctions against India
for its economic relations with Iran, Indian Foreign Minister S.M.
Krishna said Thursday. India's position is that it is bound by U.N.
sanctions, but 'unilateral sanctions imposed by countries or [a] group of
countries shouldn't impact legitimate trade relations with Iran,' Mr.
Krishna told lawmakers in a written reply in the upper house of
Parliament. India's crude oil imports from Iran are guided by its energy
security needs, he said. The U.S. has given countries until June 28 to
significantly reduce purchases of Iranian crude oil. Otherwise they will
face sanctions." http://t.uani.com/Jsow2C
Domestic
Politics
Reuters: "Iranian parliamentary candidates began campaigning on
Thursday for the second round of elections set to weaken President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he grapples with worsening economic problems.
Candidates allied to Iran's theocratic leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
dominated the first round of elections in early March at the expense of
those supporting Ahmadinejad. With more than 50 percent of seats filled
by new members, the new parliament - which will convene in late May -
will undergo radical change. The Iranian state news agency (IRNA)
reported that 130 candidates, allowed by law one week to campaign, had
started contesting May 4's elections for 65 remaining." http://t.uani.com/ITFirw
Foreign Affairs
Reuters: "Russia and Iran are helping Syria import fuel which it
needs for heavy vehicles including army tanks, allowing Damascus to avoid
the full impact of tightening Western sanctions imposed over its violent
suppression of dissent. Syria received regular shipments of Russian
gasoil and diesel over the winter and, despite Moscow's diplomatic
support for demands that the government stop its attacks and pull back
its forces, Russia sent another delivery this month. The shipments appear
to be legal, as neither Russia nor Iran has signed up to Western
sanctions barring such trade, and Moscow has blocked U.N. Security
Council sanctions that would apply to all countries." http://t.uani.com/IQ1wv9
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment