Thursday, July 26, 2012

Eye on Iran: Congress Pushes to Finalize New Iran Sanctions Package






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Reuters: "Congressional negotiators are trying to finish work on new sanctions aimed at further restricting Iran's oil revenues, a package they hope to approve by the end of next week before lawmakers leave Washington for an extended recess. The sanctions, which have been in the works for more than seven months, are designed to crack down on transactions with Iran's national oil and tanker companies, and to hamper the ability of Iranian banks to transfer funds electronically... There are some complaints that draft language is too weak. An advocacy group that has pushed for stricter sanctions on Tehran said provisions to force financial messaging service providers to block Iranian banks from making electronic banking transfers had been watered down. The group, United Against Nuclear Iran, wrote to Senator Tim Johnson, head of the Senate Banking Committee, on Wednesday, saying it was 'concerned that the banking lobby has gutted these important provisions.' The measure had initially been aimed at the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, but revised language was less specific." http://t.uani.com/NwyyWQ

AFP: "Top Iranian government officials and lawmakers agreed in a meeting on Wednesday to budget cuts in a bid to shore up an economy struggling with Western sanctions and inflation, media reported. 'The conclusion of today's meeting between the economic officials of the government and lawmakers is to minimise the effects of sanctions,' Economy Minister Shamseddin Hosseini said after the talks also involving oil, commerce and agriculture ministers, and the central bank chief, the official IRNA news agency reported. He said 'we agreed to cut budget spending ... and focus on domestic production.'" http://t.uani.com/Nwz4UI

JPost: "A Tel Aviv-based civil rights group warned on Wednesday that British satellite operator Inmarsat could face criminal prosecution if it continued providing its technology to Iranian oil tankers. In a letter to Inmarsat, Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) said the company could risk civil as well as criminal proceedings in US courts if it did not stop supplying its guidance services to Iranian military vessels and tankers... Twenty-eight of the vessels that the department named appear on Inmarsat's shipping directory as being in receipt of the company's services... On Tuesday, US-based group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to end his country's provision of sovereign insurance guarantees for companies shipping Iranian oil. According to UANI, last week, Japanese crude carrier Ryuho Maru loaded 1.7 million barrels of Iranian crude on behalf of two companies, JX Nippon Oil and Energy Corp and Idemitsu Kosan Co." http://t.uani.com/Oo8jyj
Lebanon Banking Campaign   
Nuclear Program 

Bloomberg: "Iran's deputy chief nuclear negotiator said his meeting with a European Union official that aimed to establish common ground for another round of talks on the country's atomic program was 'positive.' Ali Baqheri said that during his July 24 meeting in Istanbul with Helga Schmid, the EU foreign policy chief's deputy, 'we managed to move forward with the talks within good frameworks and reach agreements on continuation of the work and future talks,' the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The talks will be followed by contact between EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief negotiator, Ashton's office said after the meeting, without giving details." http://t.uani.com/OpeORh

Reuters: "Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak called on Wednesday for major powers to speed up efforts to stop Iran's nuclear program, cautioning it would be tougher to confront it once Tehran managed to cross an atomic threshold. Israeli media interpreted Barak's comments as pushing for a possible Israeli strike against Iran to stop a project the West sees as a drive to achieve nuclear weapons though Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying its program is intended solely for peaceful purposes. 'I am very well aware and know in depth the difficulties and complexity involved in preventing Iran from achieving nuclear weapons,' Barak told a graduation ceremony for security officers, in remarks later released by his office." http://t.uani.com/NwASx7 

Sanctions
  
AP: "Western-led sanctions and diplomatic pressure will not force Iran to halt its nuclear program, Iran's Supreme Leader said Wednesday. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, voiced confidence that the Islamic Republic can beat the latest punitive measures aimed at blocking the country's vital oil and banking industries over the disputed program. 'They (the West) explicitly say they need to increase pressures, tighten sanctions to force Iranian authorities to reconsider their calculations,' Khamenei said in comments broadcast on state television. 'But a look at the facts leads us not only to avoid reconsidering our calculations, but to move on our intended path with greater confidence.'" http://t.uani.com/P2VgQV

AP: "An Iranian-led shipping venture that predates the 1979 Islamic Revolution is now unraveling as one of the most high-profile blows from international sanctions and U.S.-driven efforts to drive wedges between Tehran and its key trading partners. The impending collapse of the Irano Hind Shipping Co. - created in 1974 with India's state-run maritime firm - is likely to be noted in Washington and among allies as evidence of the deepening wounds from the diplomatic and economic onslaught over Iran's nuclear program... The top executive of the Indian side of Irano Hind said Wednesday it had become too difficult to operate the fleet's seven vessels under sanctions - imposed by the U.S. in 2008 and U.N. two years later for the company's connections to the state-owned Iranian shipping line." http://t.uani.com/OlEkZD

Dow Jones: "There's a 'high chance' that South Korea will resume importing Iranian crude oil in the near future, Minister of Knowledge Economy Hong Sukwoo said Thursday. He didn't elaborate on the terms or the scale of possible future crude-oil imports from Iran. Issues relating to Iranian crude imports 'will be resolved well without any big problems,' and South Korean companies will be able to export as much as they want to Iran, Mr. Hong told reporters, without elaborating. South Korea's imports of Iranian crude were suspended at the beginning of July, after European Union sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports came into effect. The sanctions effectively cut off insurance on shipments of Iranian crude." http://t.uani.com/MLnkMo

Bloomberg: "Western sanctions on Iran are biting so deep that even fishermen who make the two-hour journey across the Strait of Hormuz at night to Oman to smuggle flat-screen televisions, cell phones and food say they're feeling the pain. Using small fishing boats in a waterway through which a fifth of the world's traded oil passes has always been a risky business. Rising fuel costs have increased the price of boat trips, while a slide in Iran's currency has made it harder to pay suppliers. The risks are even greater with the state promising a crackdown on imports of manufactured items." http://t.uani.com/Ql1fYy

Terrorism

AP: "Iran called Israeli allegations that it was responsible for last week's suicide bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria 'baseless' on Wednesday and accused Israel of carrying out a terrorist operation. Israel's deputy U.N. ambassador Haim Waxman called the allegation by Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee 'appalling but not surprising' since it came from the same government that says the 9/11 attack was a conspiracy theory and denies the Holocaust... When he took the floor, Khazaee insisted that 'we have never and will not engage in such a despicable attempt on the lives of innocent people.'" http://t.uani.com/N58sVd

The Hill: "The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday said he believes Iran was behind the recent attack in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who gets to see detailed intelligence information, told The Hill, 'I believe there were certainly elements of Hezbollah [involved] and I believe it was under the direction of their masters in Iran.' Rogers's remarks are significant for several reasons. He is the highest-ranking U.S. official to blame Iran, and his comments go further than what the Obama administration has said publicly." http://t.uani.com/MZp9lM

Foreign Affairs

AFP: "A high-level Syrian economic delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Omar Ghalawanji arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to boost cooperation between the two allies faced with Western economic sanctions. Iran's official news agency IRNA said the visiting team included the ministers of oil, electricity, health, water and housing. 'The Islamic Republic of Iran has no limit for developing cooperation with the brother and friendly country of Syria,' Vice President Ali Saidlou was quoted as saying in a meeting with Ghalawanji. 'The enemies of Syria with their sanctions, terrorist actions and economic pressures seek to put pressure on the Syrian people and government but we are sure they will fail,' he said." http://t.uani.com/NL2rQz

AP: "A high-ranking Iranian official said his country is ready to share 'experience and capabilities' with the Tehran-backed regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the official IRNA news agency reported. The late Wednesday report said Iran's vice president in charge of international affairs, Ali Saeedlou, described the two countries as powerful nations able to influence regional and global stability. The comments appear to reinforce Iran's support for its main Middle East ally and counter speculation that Iran's leadership was facing internal battles over whether to continue their backing for the embattled Assad." http://t.uani.com/MInhD3

Reuters: "Dubai's chief of police has warned of an 'international plot' to overthrow the governments of Gulf Arab countries, saying the region needs to be prepared to counter any threat from Islamist dissidents as well as Syria and Iran. The comments by Dahi Khalfan, one of the most outspoken security officials in the United Arab Emirates, follow the detention in the UAE since April of at least 20 dissidents, according to relatives of the detainees and activists." http://t.uani.com/Ql01fN

LAT: "After an Iranian official said that the Islamic Republic's athletes would play 'every country' at the Olympics, it seemed the London Games would put a halt to Iranians boycotting events to avoid facing off against Israelis. But the question of whether Iran and Israel will compete head to head is up in the air again after an Iranian news agency linked to the government reported that the official had been misquoted earlier this week. Ducking out of events to make a statement is frowned on by the Olympics. The president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, warned earlier this summer that athletes who bowed out of competition without a good reason would face sanctions." http://t.uani.com/PuXdti

Opinion & Analysis

UANI CEO Amb. Mark Wallace in RCW: "For months, various pundits, oil experts and Iranian regime officials warned that an embargo on Iranian oil exports by the U.S., EU and others would precipitate a catastrophic shock to oil prices worldwide. This mantra has led many to oppose the complete sanctioning of Iran's oil industry and full enforcement of robust sanctions against Iran. Yet real-world developments have shown this conventional wisdom to be off-base: the truth is that the world's oil markets can withstand a full embargo of Iranian oil, particularly right now. The numbers prove it. Since the end of 2011, Iran's oil exports have been cut in half, falling by one-and-a-half million barrels per day as customers seek new sources of oil in the face of intensifying U.S. and EU sanctions. If the pundits were correct, the removal of this Iranian supply should have unnerved oil markets and sent oil prices surging. In fact, the opposite has been true. Oil prices recently hit an eighteen-month low. How is this possible? The standard line on oil is that any disruption of supply from Persian Gulf countries will lead to devastating price spikes. Yet in reality, today's global markets are more resistant to shocks than the pundits would have us believe. Although Iran is regularly touted as an oil powerhouse, consider that its exports - which have recently fallen to as low as one million barrels per day - actually make up a small, replaceable, part of the more than 80 million barrels of oil consumed globally every day. The expansion of oil production and exports in other parts of the Middle East are making up for the loss of Iranian oil. Saudi Arabia, for one, is utilizing its spare capacity to increase its output to record levels, while Iraq's oil industry is undergoing a resurgence with production now higher than Iran at nearly 3 million barrels per day. Libya has also achieved a near total recovery of its oil production since the end of its recent conflict. These developments, as well as the overall global economic slowdown and the widespread international disapproval of Iran's illicit nuclear program, have led to a decrease in demand for Iranian oil... Now is not the time for half measures or needle-threading. By pushing the remaining million barrels of Iranian oil exports off the global market and imposing a complete economic blockade of Iran, the international community can succeed in extracting real concessions from the regime on its illicit nuclear program. The reality is that the regime can survive without its nuclear program, but not without its economy, and world powers must force Ayatollah Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to make that choice. Squandering this opportunity could mean a nuclear Iran in a volatile Middle East, a scenario we must do whatever it takes to prevent." http://t.uani.com/O17Q4w

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.

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