|
|
Top Stories
AFP:
"Iran is defiantly forging on with its controversial nuclear
activities by activating hundreds more uranium enrichment centrifuges,
according to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 'There are currently 11,000
centrifuges active in enrichment facilities' in Iran, he was quoted by
state media as saying late on Tuesday in a meeting with supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior regime officials. That was more than
the 10,000 centrifuges Iran was last said to have had operating,
according to a May 25 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA). Ahmadinejad's reported comments did not give a more precise
figure nor detail how many centrifuges were now working at each of Iran's
two enrichment sites: Natanz and the heavily fortified underground bunker
of Fordo." http://t.uani.com/NuJpR8
AFP:
"Iran's main automobile company, Iran Khodro, says it is coping with
a decision early this year by troubled French car maker Peugeot to halt
exports of vehicle kits for assembly, according to reports on Wednesday.
'Iran Khodro has managed to become self-sufficient in producing 90
percent of the parts for the (popular Peugeot model) 206, and an effort
is being made to use local suppliers for parts that were previously
imported,' company director general Hossein Najari was quoted as saying.
Peugeot's parent company PSA Peugeot Citroen in February suspended its
sales of car assembly kits to Iran, which had been its top export market
in terms of trade volume up to then. The decision appeared to be tied to
Peugeot's alliance with U.S. group General Motors, and U.S. sanctions
pressure on Iran over its disputed nuclear activities. The United Against
Nuclear Iran group, an influential US anti-Iran lobby group, says Iran
Khodro is affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which are subject
to specific US sanctions." http://t.uani.com/PkUdji
Free Beacon:
"The insurance industry and prominent Democratic lawmakers are
attempting to water down a new Iran sanctions bill that would penalize
any company that underwrites Iranian affiliates, according to insiders on
Capitol Hill. Sens. Harry Reid (D., Nev.), Tim Johnson (D., S.D.), and
others have quietly lobbied to weaken the revamped sanctions language,
which has been circulating on Capitol Hill for several months. The
legislation, which is currently working its way through the House, would
tighten existing Iran sanctions by punishing any insurance company that
underwrites activities that bolster the Iranian oil industry. Insurance
providers could be sanctioned for underwriting shipping companies, cargo
carriers, or airlines that have been subject to sanctions... 'If these
insurers would stop providing that coverage that companies have to
support these risks [of dealing with Iran] on their own,' explained
Nathan Carleton, spokesperson for United Against Nuclear Iran, a
nonpartisan advocacy group. 'No one should be insuring business with
Iran, and if these companies are lobbying to stop these sanctions we
would oppose it because it's not right.'" http://t.uani.com/QDxCRe
Nuclear
Program
Bloomberg: "Iran's
nuclear facilities have suffered a cyber attack that shut down computers
and played music from the rock band AC/DC, the F-Secure Security Labs
website said. A new worm has targeted Iran's nuclear program, shutting
down the 'automation network' at the Natanz and Fordo facilities, the
Internet security site reported, citing an e- mail it said was sent by a
scientist inside Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. The virus also
prompted several of the computers on site to play the song
'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC at full volume in the middle of the night,
according to the e-mail, part of which is published in English on the
website." http://t.uani.com/MHQ7Q5
Reuters:
"The United States will face a 'teeth-breaking' response if it
continues to carry out cyber attacks against Iran, an Iranian official
said on Wednesday. Iran has previously accused the United States and its
allies of trying to sabotage its disputed nuclear program by using
computer worms like Stuxnet, which caused centrifuges at the country's main
enrichment facility to fail in 2010. 'If the Americans' futile cyber
attacks do not stop, it will face a teeth-breaking response,' the Iranian
Students' News agency quoted an unnamed cyber security official as
saying. He gave no further details." http://t.uani.com/NTmm15
Sanctions
Reuters: "Iran's supreme
leader urged his country's politicians to show more unity as he warned
the West that sanctions imposed over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme
would only make the government more determined to pursue it, Iranian
media reported... 'The reality is that there are problems, however you
must not blame them on this or that party,' Khamenei was quoted as saying
by Fars News Agency, in a meeting with officials late on Tuesday.
'Instead you must solve those problems with unity.'" http://t.uani.com/NuJF2z
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/MGSsN4
AP:
"A shipping company backed by the governments of India and Iran says
it will close because of anti-Iran sanctions. The Shipping Corp. of
India, which holds a 49 percent stake in the Irano Hind Shipping Co.,
says sanctions have made it too difficult to deploy its vessels. Shipping
Corp. managing director S. Hajara says Irano Hind will cease operation
and its fleet will be split between his company and the Islamic Republic
of Iran Shipping Lines, which holds the remaining stake. He says the
decision was made at an Irano Hind board meeting last week and must be
approved by the two governments and the United Nations." http://t.uani.com/NJxw7g
Reuters:
"A preliminary U.S. assessment has concluded that the U.N.'s World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) did not violate U.N. sanctions
when it sent technical equipment to North Korea and Iran, the State
Department said on Tuesday.As two senior U.S. lawmakers accused the
Geneva-based agency of stonewalling a U.S. probe into the transfers, the
State Department indicated it was satisfied with WIPO's cooperation on
the issue. 'Our own preliminary assessment - but we are still seeking
more information from WIPO - is that there doesn't appear to have been a
violation of U.N. sanctions,' department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told
a news briefing." http://t.uani.com/MWkReK
JPost:
"Any corporation doing business with Iran, directly or indirectly,
will face sanctions, according to a law passed by the Knesset on Monday.
The bill passed its third and final reading with 47 in favor and three
opposed. 'We need to work so these sanctions have a chance to fulfill
their goal, so we can avoid using force against Iran,' Knesset Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Ronnie Bar-On (Kadima) said in the
plenum." http://t.uani.com/PlcXPy
Terrorism
The Star:
"A vessel suspected to have shipped into Kenya the powder making
explosive-Cyclotrimethylene Trinitramine is expected to dock at the port
of Mombasa anytime this week, again. The MV Padriz has also been at the
centre of possible US sanctions over Iran-owned vessels, which are said
to be re-flagged to mask their ownership. Sources confirmed to the Star
that the vessel has so far made 23 calls to the port of Mombasa, on a
monthly basis, and it was during one of those calls that the vessel was
carrying the RDX, which has been linked to the two Iranians facing
terrorism charges, Ahmad Mohammed and Sayed Mousavi The Star
recently reported that the manifest of MV Padriz apparently confirmed
that six security officers and another nine crew members were on board
the vessel, which was carrying about 200 containers when it last docked
at the port with the explosives." http://t.uani.com/LNIa9O
NYT:
"An 'exceptionally experienced' group of conspirators spent up to a
month in Bulgaria before carrying out the suicide bombing last week that
killed five Israeli tourists and a local bus driver, the prime minister
said Tuesday... Israeli officials said that the bombing was the work of
Hezbollah operatives backed by Iran. Privately, two American officials
said on Tuesday that the Shiite movement Hezbollah was responsible for
the bombing based on classified 'sources and methods' - typically a
reference to electronic intercepts and information from spies on the
ground." http://t.uani.com/QDNnrc
Domestic
Politics
Daily Telegraph:
"Iran is to offer university degrees in how to be a prison warden in
a move aimed at controlling the country's bulging number of inmates. The
four-year BA courses are due to start in the autumn at two higher educational
colleges run by the Iranian prison service. Their introduction offers an
insight into the theocratic regime's priorities at a time when large
numbers of political prisoners are being held and some prisons are packed
to six times their capacity, according to Iran's prison's chief,
Gholamhossein Esmaili, who has said there are 220,000 inmates
nationwide." http://t.uani.com/STMKZi
Foreign Affairs
Bloomberg:
"Israeli media misquoted comments from the general secretary of
Iran's Olympic committee, saying Iranian athletes will compete alongside
Israelis at the London 2012 Olympics, the state-run Fars news agency
reported. The Israeli media 'maliciously changed Bahram Afsharzadeh's
words and sought to project comments from the general secretary of Iran's
Olympic committee as they like,' the report said. 'Afsharzadeh responded
to journalists in the Olympic village, saying Iran respects the spirit of
sports and Iranian sportsmen would not boycott matches because of the
nationality of most participants,' Fars said, adding that Afsharzadeh
hadn't named Israel." http://t.uani.com/N28ZXX
AP:
"A semi-official Iranian news agency says police hope to work with
Facebook to fight cyber-crimes and pornography - a turnabout in Tehran's
stance toward the social networking giant that it previously banned after
activists used it as an organizing tool. A Tuesday report by ISNA quotes
Gen. Kamal Hadianfar, head of Iran's cyber-police, as saying the country
is trying to remove pages on Facebook created by Iranian citizens that
promote pornography and prostitution. Gen. Hadianfar said the plan would
be made possible by cooperation from Facebook. He did not
elaborate." http://t.uani.com/Q2nLQ7
Opinion &
Analysis
Olli Heinonen in
the Harvard Belfer Center: "After the announcement
by the deputy chief of the Iranian navy that it is considering nuclear
propulsion for its submarines, actions have proceeded swiftly. A bill in
the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Committee was approved, and debate in
Majlis is to follow in coming days, parallel to the next round of the
P5+1 talks with Iran in Istanbul. The Majlis debate brought to the arena
additional aspects of the Iranian plans: the use of nuclear propulsion
for oil tankers and possible use of uranium with higher enrichment. There
is speculation that nuclear propulsion will be used as a bargaining chip
to trade away or as (eventual) justification for continuing uranium
enrichment and get to higher enrichment. Some have raised questions about
Iran's proclamations and its actual capacity to develop nuclear
submarines. At the on-going negotiating track, the issue of nuclear
powered vessels was not mentioned in the paper distributed by Iran at the
recent Moscow and Istanbul talks. (What else is in the pipeline that has
not been mentioned?) The issue gets more complicated, since
non-nuclear-weapon states are allowed to remove from IAEA safeguards
nuclear material intended for non-proscribed military use, such as fuel
for nuclear submarines, under arrangements to be agreed with the IAEA. Since
the 1940's, about 500 vessels with nuclear propulsion have been built.
Most are nuclear powered submarines that belong to nuclear weapons
states. The majority of nuclear powered vessels at sea are also military,
such as aircraft carriers. Only a few countries have constructed merchant
vessels with nuclear reactors. Most of the civilian nuclear vessels are
in Russia, which uses nuclear powered icebreakers in the Arctic regions.
Currently Brazil and Argentina are the only non-nuclear weapons states
with plans to build nuclear powered submarines. Canada had plans in the
1980's to acquire such vessels to guard its vast Arctic waterways, but
gave them up not least for cost reasons. Traditionally, fuel for naval
reactors use highly enriched uranium (HEU) to reduce reactor size. For
example, American submarines use HEU fuel of up to 97 % and Russian
icebreakers' are up to 75 %. There have been some exceptions. Low
enriched uranium (LEU) fuel has been introduced in submarines in France.
The 'caramel' LEU fuel used in French submarines is known to be around
7.5 %, which enables enrichment and manufacturing at its civilian plants.
Brazil's planned nuclear submarine is also foreseen to use LEU fuel.
Merchant ships such as the USS Savannah (US), Otto Hahn (Germany), and
Mutsu (Japan) used LEU fuel, but they no longer exist. Nuclear reactors
in vessels are also complex, costly and varied. The design of submarine
and surface vessel reactors differ from each other. With a few
exceptions, naval reactors have been pressurized water reactors (PWRs).
Built to withstand a rough sea environment, long refueling intervals, and
compact in size, naval reactors are being built to much more rigorous
standards than other PWRs. Due to design constraints, only one third of
the energy produced is used for propulsion. The sizes of reactors also
vary, the largest being 200 MWt and smaller ones about 50 MWt. So what
should we be looking out for in the case of Iran?" http://t.uani.com/Pljj1u
Afshon Ostovar in
FP: "The bombing that killed five Israeli tourists
in Bulgaria last week has once against cast a spotlight on Iran and its
links to terrorism. Although they have presented no public evidence,
Israeli and U.S. officials have implicated the Lebanese militant group
Hezbollah, and by extension, its patron Iran in the attack (Iran has
denied any involvement). Outside of any clear link, we are left to
wonder: How solid is the evidence, really? And why would Iran risk
retaliation by killing Israeli tourists in Bulgaria? But Iran's
connection to several foreign operations over the last year only makes
the speculation more plausible. It's been a busy 12 months for the
Islamic Republic. Together, the foiled assassination plot against a Saudi
diplomat in the United States, bombing attempts in Georgia, India, and
Thailand, as well as the arrests of Iranians in Kenya, Azerbaijan, and a
possible Hezbollah operative in Cyprus, suggest that Iran's once
relatively cautious approach to covert activity may be giving way to a
more hot-blooded, aggressive strategy driven by Iran's hawkish military
leaders. Some of these recent foreign operations have reportedly targeted
Israeli diplomatic officials. But an attack on innocent civilians on
European soil -- which would garner little for Iran politically, put it
at risk for further retaliation and conflict, further stain its tarnished
reputation, and increase its international isolation -- would seem to
severely conflict with Iran's overall defensive-minded strategic
interests. Because of their secretive nature, covert operations tend not
to reveal too much about the individuals or powers behind them. Iran has
benefited from such anonymity in the past, and has generally added
another layer of credible deniability by outsourcing violent operations
to non-Iranians. In occupied Iraq, for instance, although Iranian
intelligence and military units were active, it was difficult to tie Iran
to specific violence incidents conducted by Iraqi groups. The Feb. 14
bombings in Bangkok are a vivid exception. The explosion that tore through
an apartment rented by an Iranian national, and an Iranian suspect's
failed attempt to flee the scene (which culminated in him accidently
blowing off his legs after throwing an explosive device at Thai police),
led to the arrest of four suspected Iranian operatives, the warrants for
two more, and directly linked Iran to a terrorism plot in the process.
The Thai bombings came just a day after two attempted bombings against
Israeli diplomats in Georgia and India, and gave credence to the
perception that Iran was connected to those incidents as well. (Indian
authorities later arrested an Indian journalist and issued warrants for
three Iranian nationals suspected of involvement in the plot.) Assuming
the bombings in Georgia, India, and Thailand -- and now possibly Bulgaria
-- show a shift in Iran's behavior, what precisely is motivating this
change? On the surface, it appears that Iran was attempting to target
Israeli officials in neutral countries in retaliation for Israel's
suspected role in murdering Iranian scientists in Iran. The sloppy nature
of these failed attempts, however, and the direct involvement of Iranian
nationals in at least one of them, suggests that Iran's decision to
retaliate could have been rash if not poorly planned." http://t.uani.com/N2bJEt
|
|
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