Top Stories
WSJ:
"The Obama administration is preparing to communicate to Iran's
president-elect its desire to hold direct negotiations in the coming
weeks over Tehran's nuclear program, senior U.S. officials said. Since
his election in June, Hasan Rouhani has sent positive signals both
publicly and privately about his interest in engaging with the
international community on the nuclear issue, according to Obama
administration officials. Mr. Rouhani succeeds President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad early next month. Senior U.S. officials are meeting with
representatives of the four other permanent members of the United Nations
Security Council, plus Germany, on Tuesday in Brussels to map out their
coordinated approach to Mr. Rouhani and Tehran, these administration
officials said. The White House is eager to quickly test Mr. Rouhani, an
Iranian politician and Islamic cleric, to see if a diplomatic process can
gain traction on his watch, according to U.S. officials." http://t.uani.com/1besPjt
AP:
"Iran's president-elect on Monday leveled his first criticism of the
outgoing administration since June's election, saying it has mismanaged
the country's economy. Several newspapers quoted Hasan Rouhani as saying
his team of experts see the government's economic assessments as
sugar-coated, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as having left much work
to be done. 'We asked current officials about the situation of the
country but their reports and those of our teams were very far from each
other,' he said in remarks published by the pro-reform Shargh daily.
Despite Ahmadinejad's claims of creating hundreds of thousands of jobs,
he added, only an average 14,000 were created annually over the 2006 to
2012 period. Inflation, he said, actually stands at 42 percent and not
the officially reported 32 percent. On Sunday, the central bank put the
rate at nearly 36 percent... 'Today, the country has a difficult and
complicated situation partly because of domestic policies and partly
because of unfair foreign pressures,' he said in the published
remarks." http://t.uani.com/12PYBe8
WSJ:
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, concerned that
international focus on Iran's nuclear program is wavering, publicly
pressed the Obama administration to take more aggressive actions against
Tehran, including possible military strikes. Mr. Netanyahu's tough talk
on a U.S. Sunday news program came as Israeli officials increasingly
voice concerns that the presidential election in June of Hasan Rouhani, a
relatively moderate cleric, is providing Tehran with breathing space to
advance its nuclear program without facing retaliation from the West. Mr.
Netanyahu warned Iran that its production of nuclear fuel is moving
closer to a 'red line' that will prompt Israeli military strikes, with or
without the backing of Washington. 'If sanctions don't work, then they
have to know that you'll be prepared to take military action,' Mr.
Netanyahu said of the U.S. on CBS's 'Face the Nation' show Sunday. 'You
know, our clocks are ticking at a different pace. We're closer than the
United States. We're more vulnerable,' the Israeli leader said. 'And,
therefore, we'll have to address this question of how to stop Iran,
perhaps before the United States does.'" http://t.uani.com/12Q0kAm
Nuclear Program
LAT: "The Obama administration is
rejecting calls for it to offer a bold diplomatic proposal to Iran in
hopes of breaking the long stalemate over Tehran's controversial nuclear
program. Despite the urging of some former top U.S. officials and foreign
diplomats for an aggressive new U.S. initiative, a senior official said
the administration would not revise its latest proposal and instead was
looking for a more positive response from Iran's government, which will
soon be led by the more moderate president-elect, Hassan Rouhani. 'We
have a proposal on the table,' the American official, who did not want to
be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, told a group of
reporters. 'We are waiting for a serious proposal back.... At the end of
the day, the onus is on Iran.'" http://t.uani.com/1aHGal0
Sanctions
Legal News Line:
"Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin announced Friday that
his legislation to divest all state funds from Iran was signed into law
by Gov. Lincoln Chafee. Rhode Island's Iran Divestiture Act, which was
sponsored by Sen. Joshua Miller and Rep. Mia Ackerman, both Democrats,
requires the state retirement board to determine all companies in which
the public fund has direct or indirect holdings in companies with
business operations in Iran within 90 days. The State Investment
Commission then will send written notice of possible divestment to the
identified companies with direct holdings. Within 90 days, the companies
must cease scrutinized operations or convert them to inactive operations.
If the companies fail to abide by the law within the designated time
frame, the public fund will be left to divest the holdings according to a
statutory schedule." http://t.uani.com/15HrLAD
Reuters:
"South Korea's imports of crude from Iran fell 7 percent in June,
against the daily average for the previous six months, less than half the
rate Seoul has pledged it will cut oil shipments from the sanctions-hit
country over the next six months. To meet its pledge to Washington, South
Korea needs to import less than 126,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the
June-November period, but June's daily rate came in at 138,157 bpd, based
on calculations on import data from the Korea Customs Service on Monday.
Countries that import Iranian oil must make continuous cuts to keep
getting six-month waivers on U.S. sanctions aimed at cutting Iran's flow
of oil money and forcing it to negotiate over curbing its disputed
nuclear programme. South Korea promised to cut its Iranian oil imports by
15 percent from the daily rate seen from December 2012 to May 2013, two
sources told Reuters last month." http://t.uani.com/18jj9Uv
WSJ:
"A Canadian frozen yogurt franchise might seem like an entirely
unusual conduit for Iran to evade hardening U.S. government sanctions.
But among several companies the U.S. sanctioned in May for illicit
dealings with Iran was a cold outlier: Niksima Food and Beverages, a firm
based in Dubai that runs local outlets of Yogen Fruz, the Canadian frozen
yogurt purveyor. While the ties between Iran's energy industry and frozen
yogurt may appear tenuous at first glance, Niksima, the U.S. state
department said, had accepted payments on behalf of Jam Petrochemicals
Complex, a major petrochemical facility on Iran's southern coast that it
is targeting as part of a new strategy aimed at curbing Iran's income
from things like plastics and lubricants. As U.S. sanctions over Iran's disputed
nuclear program deepen, the Niksima case points to growing evidence that
the Islamic republic is using increasingly complex financial transactions
and far-flung business partners to evade restrictions and keep its key
industries humming. It also shows how the U.S., in turn, is becoming more
vigilant about solving Iran's transactional riddles and penalizing those
who aid it in avoiding sanctions. Niksima's penalty was a ban on
transactions involving U.S. jurisdiction, effectively freezing the company
out of the U.S. financial system." http://t.uani.com/12Dlq3Q
Syrian Civil
War
Reuters:
"Iraq is unable to stop its neighbor Iran transferring weapons to
Syria through its airspace, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in
a newspaper interview published on Saturday. 'We reject and condemn the
transfer of weapons through our airspace and we will inform the Iranian
side of that formally. But we do not have the ability to stop it,' he
told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat. Iran is the main ally of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, who is fighting mostly Sunni rebels in a civil
war in which more the opposition say more than 100,000 people have been
killed. The United States, which wants Assad to relinquish power, has
warned Iraq not to allow Iranian weapons flights to cross its airspace
into Syria. But Zebari said he had told Western countries that if they
wanted to stop such flights, they had to help do so themselves." http://t.uani.com/15elL07
Human Rights
AP:
"An ex-Marine held in Iran for nearly two years is faring much
better these days - meeting with family members, exercising and being
given access to books, his sister said Friday. Sarah Hekmati told The
Associated Press on Friday that she and other members of Amir Hekmati's
family 'feel really optimistic' as a result of the recent developments,
which also include positive conversations they have had with his lawyer.
Amir Hekmati's family says he went to Iran in 2011 to visit his
grandmothers. Iran, however, accused Hekmati of spying, and he was sentenced
to death. That sentenced later was overturned. U.S. officials have denied
the spying charge." http://t.uani.com/10VqKDj
Domestic
Politics
WSJ:
"It's no secret that Iranian authorities don't trust or like the
Internet. This week, the Islamic Republic inaugurated the national email.
A government assigned email address linked to your social security number
that makes it easy to trace users and monitor their communication. The
minister of telecommunication and information technology, Mohamad Hassan
Nami, even said on Tuesday that every Iranian 'must' register for a
nation email address upon entering elementary school. He added that
official communication between government and citizens would eventually
be redirected through the national email service... This is all being
presented to the public as a project aimed to increase the security of
the Internet and protect users against foreign enemy and criminal
hackers. Banks for example are now obliged to only accept their client's
email address if it's through a domestic provider." http://t.uani.com/17eJyOC
NYT:
"Iranian lawmakers said Sunday that the country's intelligence
minister should be questioned in Parliament after newly installed
wiretapping equipment was discovered in a legislator's Tehran office, local
news media reported. Ali Motahari, a member of Parliament, revealed the
discovery on Thursday on his personal Web site, Alimotahari.ir. His Web
site was initially blocked after he posted the item, but it was
accessible again on Sunday. Government insiders say that Mr. Motahari is
a top candidate to become minister of culture and Islamic guidance in the
cabinet of President-elect Hassan Rowhani... Several lawmakers on Sunday
called for a public hearing to question Heydar Moslehi, the intelligence
minister, who is aligned with Iran's powerful alliance of hard-line
clerics and commanders of the Revolutionary Guards." http://t.uani.com/1betjWD
FT:
"Not long after Iran's June election, the president-elect, Hassan
Rohani, and outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad both visited the holy
city of Qom - home to 50,000 scholars and the biggest centre of Shia
scholarship in the Islamic world. While Qom's senior clergy laid out the
red carpet for Mr Rohani, a cleric, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad visited some low-key
development projects but did not meet any members of the religious
establishment. The welcome Mr Rohani received in Qom reflects the
clergy's relief after eight years of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's rule, during which
they had been sidelined as other conservative institutions, notably the
Revolutionary Guards, an elite military unit with vast political and
economic interests, saw their influence grow." http://t.uani.com/11PePcM
FT:
"Welcome to the rarefied world of the Iranian elite, the tiny
proportion of the country's 75m population that has managed to thrive
despite international sanctions that have seen ordinary Iranians struggle
with a weak currency, rising inflation and stubborn unemployment. While
the capital once boasted just a handful of fine restaurants popular with foreign
diplomats and Iranian expatriates, over the past year more than a dozen
new restaurants have opened and most of the diners are Iranian... 'The
new restaurants are to address the demand of a class who drive Porsches,
wear suits worth €20,000 and need to eat out,' said Saeed Leylaz, an
economic analyst. 'The government of [outgoing president Mahmoud]
Ahmadi-Nejad created this political class but now they are only loyal to
their wealth and want to have peace.' These people, who make up about 1
per cent of Tehran's population of 12m, have the kind of wealth enviable
not just by Iranian but also by international standards, said Bernard
Ezraeelian, who manages Leon restaurant. They have the kind of lifestyle
that means they can enjoy restaurant food most nights of the week, he
said." http://t.uani.com/1amLdnj
Reuters:
"A senior Iranian diplomat linked to Iran's reformists was released
from a Tehran prison on bail on Sunday after four months in detention,
sources familiar with the case said. Bagher Asadi, who has been a senior
diplomat at Iran's U.N. mission in New York and was recently a director
at the secretariat of the so-called D8 group of developing nations in
Istanbul, was arrested in mid-March in the Iranian capital, the sources
told Reuters in April. The same sources, who spoke to Reuters on
condition of anonymity, said that an Iranian media report published on
Sunday about Asadi's release was accurate. They said it remained unclear
why he was arrested in the first place and what the status is of the case
against him. The sources said they doubted Asadi's release from prison
represented a move by Iranian authorities to relax what analysts and
Western diplomats have described as a crackdown on dissidents in Iran
ahead of the June presidential election." http://t.uani.com/12AqdHX
Foreign Affairs
Free Beacon:
"A bipartisan delegation of House lawmakers have petitioned
Secretary of State John Kerry to reconsider the level of aid given to
Argentina following revelations that the Latin American country has
opened it doors to Iran. 'We are particularly troubled by Argentina's
growing ties with Iran, utter contempt for U.S. law, growing corruption
within its government, and repeated failure to met its financial
obligations,' the lawmakers wrote on Thursday to Kerry, according to a
copy of the letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. U.S. officials
and regional experts warned earlier this week that under the leadership
of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina has helped Iran
bring its terrorist activities to the Western hemisphere. The lawmakers-including
House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R., Texas), Reps. Jeff
Duncan (R., S.C.), Grace Meng (D., N.Y.), Michael Grimm (R., N.Y.), and
Bill Posey (R., Fla.)-urged Kerry to immediately cut back U.S. support
for Argentina." http://t.uani.com/12ArXkx
Opinion &
Analysis
Mark Fitzpatrick
in IISS: "The election of the pragmatic Hassan
Rowhani has is no way alleviated Israeli concerns about Iran's nuclear
programme. This was the main take-away from a visit to Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem this past week with Survival editor Dana Allin. For every
optimist comment we heard, a half dozen reasons were advanced for
pessimism. Apart from two Israelis who have personal experience in Iran,
our interlocutors offered a series of riffs on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
post-election warning that the West should not be taken in by
appearances: Rowhani is a regime insider, who in any case is second
fiddle to a grumpy old man; sanctions pressure must be tightened;
engagement is not an end in itself; neither, for that matter, is a
diplomatic deal unless it eliminates a latent capability to produce
nuclear weapons. Our four-day visit was book-ended by the Internet
publication of two attention-grabbing commentaries, one by an Iranian who
may be re-joining Rowhani's circle and one by an American who just left
Obama's team. The first, by Hossein Mousavian, which came out in English
the day after we arrived, suggested that Iran's best option may be to
leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and instead abide solely
by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's fatwa against nuclear weapons
as a means of guaranteeing a non-nuclear status. The second, by former
State Department senior advisor Robert Einhorn, which appeared the day of
our last meetings, suggested that the US and its negotiating partners
should change tactics and take advantage of Rowhani's election by
considering a comprehensive proposal involving sanctions relief.
Mousavian's article was seen as a window to Rowhani's aims, which most
Israeli strategists already view with deep suspicion. It was noted how,
in a 2004 speech, Rowhani held up Pakistan's nuclear weapons
determination as an example of why Iran should not give up its quest for
a full nuclear-fuel cycle. Threats to leave the NPT have already been
voiced by senior members of Parliament and by Iran's ambassador in
Vienna. Although Mousavian wrote the article several weeks before the
election and insists it had nothing to do with Rowhani, the NPT
withdrawal idea has now become associated with the president-elect.
Mousavian was a key member of Rowhani's nuclear negotiating team from
2003-2005 and worked in Rowhani's think tank afterwards. He is rumoured
to be under consideration for a senior position in the new government.
Mousavian's purpose, surely, was to hold out the threat of NPT withdrawal
as leverage to push the West for diplomatic concessions. He knows that
NPT withdrawal would be seen as a de facto declaration of nuclear weapons
intention, akin to North Korea. But such subtlety was lost on at least
one of our Israeli friends, who advised that we take Mousavian's threat
at face value - and to ignore the fatwa, which holds no weight in
Jerusalem. Just as Mousavian's thesis confirmed Israel's worst-case
perceptions of Rowhani, Einhorn's thesis may have confirmed their worries
about the West being deluded by best-case thinking. Nobody criticised
Einhorn directly; they remain respectful of his long-time role in
applying non-proliferation rules vis-à-vis Iran and his most recent
assignment in strengthening sanctions. In meetings that took place before
his article came out, however, we heard ample arguments for not going
wobbly. One senior official even said that if the Iranians offer a small
compromise, the proper negotiating tactic in response should be to raise
demands even higher, so as to show that they should have taken the deal
previously offered. The role of bad cop comes easily." http://t.uani.com/11Qu711
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