Eye on Iran: Iranian Officials Say They Have Armed Hamas for Fight with Israel

Join UANI           Top Stories LAT: "Two senior Iranian officials told an Arabic-language television channel Monday that Tehran has supplied missile technology to Hamas for its fight against Israel. Iran is prepared to support the Palestinian resistance with weapons and technology transfers, Jafari said, and makes no distinction between Shiite and Sunni factions of the embattled populations under Israeli blockade. 'The Zionist regime [of Israel] will collapse soon as a result of the unity among Shia and Sunni Muslims and we are ready for that day,' Jafari said. Mohsen Rezaei, another former guard commander who is now a senior advisor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tehran had already provided Hamas with missile-building technology being used in fighting against Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip. 'Palestinian resistance missiles are the blessings of Iran's transfer of technology,' Rezaei was quoted as telling the broadcaster." http://t.uani.com/1y1n93j Tehran Times (Iran): "Car manufacturing in Iran rose 75 percent in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, compared to the same period in the previous year. Iranian carmakers manufactured 279,739 vehicles in the 4-month period, IRNA reported on Sunday. Car manufacturing in Iran dropped 20.2 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year. Iran manufactured 737,060 cars in the last Iranian year, while the figure was 924,051 in the preceding year." http://t.uani.com/1y1tYSt Tasnim (Iran): "An Iranian deputy foreign minister announced that the first installment of the country's blocked assets, which are being returned to Tehran under a four-month extension of nuclear negotiations with world powers, has been unfrozen. Seyed Abbas Araqchi, who is also a senior member of the Iranian team of nuclear negotiators, said on Saturday that the $500-million tranche has been released and will be transferred to the country. The payment is the first of the $2.8 billion frozen oil revenues that Iran will receive during four months... Iran is expected to receive the sum of $2.8 billion in five more installments, set to be paid on August 25, September 17, October 10, November 3, and November 23." http://t.uani.com/1pVL13Z     Sanctions Relief Fars (Iran): "Iran Khodro Industrial Group produced 120,012 sets of passenger cars and pickups in the first three months of this Iranian year (March 21 to June 21 2014), showing 178% increase compared to the same period last year. According to Iran-Khodro Company (IKCO), the vehicles produced in the said period included 28,588 sets of Pars, 21,531 sets of Samand, 21,318 sets of Peugeot 405, 17,775 sets of Peugeot 206, 7,704 sets of Runna, 3,778 sets of Renault Tondar and 35 sets of Dena, which are all passenger cars plus 19,283 sets of Bardo pickup." http://t.uani.com/1nobaHc Press TV (Iran): "Iran's leading auto manufacturer, Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), has announced plans to cooperate with French automakers Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen to produce four new vehicles in Iran. IKCO Chief Executive Officer Hashem Yekkeh-Zare said on Saturday that the Iranian carmaker will produce Peugeot 301 and Peugeot 2008 as part of its mutual cooperation with PSA Peugeot Citroen. He added that Iran Khodro and Peugeot will establish a joint venture with equal shares for car manufacturing.  IKCO will also manufacture Clio4 and Capture under an agreement with Renault, he said. The developments came after the two French automakers showed interest in taking back the significant market position they enjoyed before the US-led sanctions on Iran were toughened in 2012 over the country's nuclear energy program." http://t.uani.com/1s9TgMr Trend: "Iran has stored less than 5 million barrels of gas condensates at China coasts. Director of the International Affairs Department at National Iranian Oil Company Mohsen Ghamsari said the stored gas condensates will be sold to Chinese refiners gradually, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on August 5. Some of the Chinese refiners buy gas condensate at small volumes. So, Iran stores large amounts of gas condensates at Chinese coasts in order to be sold to refiners at small volumes, he explained." http://t.uani.com/1kCUhxW Trend: "Iran's industry, mine, and trade minister, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh and visiting Venezuelan foreign minister in a meeting on August 5 called for bolstering economic cooperation. Tehran is committed to increase economic and industrial cooperation with Caracas, Nematzadeh said, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported... The top Venezuelan diplomat was in Tehran to attend a one-day meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Ministerial Committee on Palestine which was held in the Iranian capital on August 4." http://t.uani.com/1kCUyRo The Hindu: "With plans of exporting iron pellets to China falling through and efforts to gain a captive mine in the State yielding no results, Mangalore-based KIOCL is now looking for a bilateral agreement with the government of Iran to import iron ore and export pellets... 'On a rupee-trade mechanism, KIOCL is proposing to open up export mechanism with Iran. The Iranian Minister of Mining had visited Delhi and overviewed the functioning of the company. KIOCL can play a role in meeting the big demands there...We are upbeat about this and the ministry is also supporting the proposal,' he said. Iran, Mr. Chatterjee said, would import more than 20 million tonnes of iron pellets over the next five years, and KIOCL had the capacity to produce 4 million tonnes annually." http://t.uani.com/UYCzIv Khaleej: "Dubai-based airline flydubai today announced the launch of flights to Mashhad and Tehran, the carrier's first two destinations in Iran, starting from August 10 and 11, respectively. flydubai will serve Iran with four flights a week, providing passengers with greater convenience when travelling between the UAE and Iran. With a network of 77 destinations the carrier is looking to expand its network in the market as it continues to strengthen trade and travel links from Dubai to the region." http://t.uani.com/1no7Qvy Terrorism Al-Monitor: "The Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip are 'a child's game' compared with what the Lebanese Hezbollah built during the last two decades, judging by reports published in recent years in the Arab press. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) first encountered the Hezbollah tunnels in southern Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. However, according to reports, the tunnels have been upgraded and expanded since, in both equipment and range. It is thus naturally feared that they already reach into Israeli territory, and Iranian experts have been involved in the massive development of the tunnels... As far as is known, the Iranians have built underground missile launching sites for Hezbollah that can be operated either manually or by computer. It is one of the lessons learned by Hezbollah in the wake of the Second Lebanon War, when the Israeli Air Force succeeded in destroying vehicle-mounted missile launchers." http://t.uani.com/1sqJKqr WashPost: "A video depicting a sniper rifle that was purportedly manufactured by Hamas is making the rounds on the Web. The grainy footage shows the weapon before cutting to a ski mask-clad fighter firing at Israeli soldiers. Contrary to Hamas's claim, however, the rifle is Austrian-made and has been displayed by the militant group in the past. 'Hamas' claim to have indigenously manufactured this rifle is totally false - from what is visible on the video, it's clearly an Austrian Steyr HS.50 rifle,' Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at Brookings Doha Center who tracks weapons use in the region, said in an e-mail. Lister said the Steyr HS.50 is currently used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The rifle has also been displayed by Hamas's military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades. Lister suggested that while the weapon shown in the new video could have been acquired by Hamas on the black market, it was mostly likely provided by Iran, which makes its own variant, the Sayad-2." http://t.uani.com/1tRPQ59 Long War Journal: "The chief of police for Herat has accused Iran of supporting a network that is stepping up attacks in the western Afghan province. General Samiullah Qatrah said on Aug. 3 that Taliban fighters recently captured by security forces admitted that Iran is backing the network, which has killed 11 policemen, soldiers, civilians, and two Finnish aid workers in Herat over the past 11 days. The two female Finnish aid workers were employed by a Christian charity and were gunned down while traveling in a taxi. 'In their confessions, they [six captured Taliban fighters] have said that the network is funded by Iran,' Qatrah said, TOLONews reported. He said documents seized by security personnel provide evidence of Iran's involvement in the attacks. The attacks were planned inside Iran, Qatrah said, and he also noted that Taliban commanders are transiting between Iran and Afghanistan 'unimpeded.'" http://t.uani.com/1v6jN2E Iraq Crisis Reuters: "Iran is trying to work with Iraqi factions for a replacement for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form a new government in Baghdad but there are few suitable candidates, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday. Iran has become the main power broker in its neighbor to the west since U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011, leaving the country in the hands of a Shi'ite Muslim-led government headed by Maliki, a key ally of Tehran. Maliki's critics accuse him of fuelling the Sunni Islamist insurgency that has overrun parts of northern Iraq, saying his anti-Sunni bias has inflamed sectarian tensions and allowed Islamic State rebels to cultivate support among Iraqi Sunnis. 'We have reached the conclusion that Maliki cannot preserve the unity of Iraq anymore, but Ayatollah (Ali) Sistani still has hopes,' said the Iranian official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, referring to Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric. 'Now, Ayatollah Sistani also backs our view on Maliki.'" http://t.uani.com/1qQJAFB Foreign Affairs IRNA (Iran): "The emergency meeting of Palestine Committee of the Non-Aligned Movement at foreign ministerial level opened in the presence of President Hassan Rouhani here on Monday. Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif is to head the meeting which is aimed at focusing on the Gaza crisis and the ways for dispatching humanitarian supplies to the defenseless people of the besieged strip. The NAM Palestine Committee is comprised of 13 countries, namely, Palestine, Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Colombia and Cuba. Representatives from 40 countries along with NAM ambassadors are also participating in the day-long meeting." http://t.uani.com/1tRW2de Opinion & Analysis Faraz Sanei in HRW: "On July 31, a prominent Iranian journalist tweeted, 'Saba's mother has now joined Twitter.' Saba's mother Akram Mohammadi, had just given an interview about her daughter Saba's agonizing 65 days of pretrial detention at an unknown location. Unidentified security officials had arrested Saba Azarpaik, a Tehran-based journalist, on May 28. A few hours later, the Twitter account linked to her posted this message: 'Mr. Rouhani, you promised that our children would no longer be arrested for writing articles and reporting... So what happened?' One year after President Hassan Rouhani took office, on August 4, 2013, with a popular mandate to bring change, journalism and media freedoms are in a state of disarray. Saba Azarpaik has become one of the victims of a seemingly harsher security environment in the country. When Rouhani took office, there was cautious optimism that things would get better, even if the process would be slow. Much of this had to do with the media atmosphere that seemed to be opening up, with Rouhani himself several times hinting that he favored a freer media environment. An increasing number of Iranians, including members of the ruling elite such asRouhani, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, began accessing and joining popular social sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube - somewhat ironically, given that these sites are blocked in Iran. More foreign correspondents reported from Iran. Local papers interviewed U.S. government officials, and Iranian journalists began reaching out to colleagues in other countries via Facebook and Twitter. The authorities appeared to be arresting journalists a little less frequently, especially during the first half of Rouhani's first year as president. Even cabinet ministers began debating the issue of government censorship. Now, it seems, the honeymoon, such as it was, is over... The sharp downturn in media freedoms suggests a worrying deterioration of human rights in Iran. There have been a few nods to human rights over the past year, including a half-baked effort by Rouhani's government to initiate public debate on a draft Citizens Rights Charter, but there has been no substantive and sustained improvement in the country's rights situation. In fact, a review of the key areas for rights reform identified in an August 2013 open letter Human Rights Watch issued to then-president Rouhani shows a grim picture. Not much has changed, and in a few areas things have actually gotten worse. The number of executions, including of people sentenced for offenses committed when they were under 18, and inhumane punishments such as floggings and amputations continue at a frightening pace. A large number of political prisoners arrested following the 2009 presidential election are still in detention. The situation for religious minorities also remains dire, with at least 136 Bahais in prison as of December 2013 solely for their peaceful activities. Authorities prevent many independent rights organizations, labor unions, and professional bodies such as the Iranian Journalists Association, from operating. And the government appears to be going backward on women's rights, especially reproductive rights... The reality is that Rouhani is the country's top elected official. He entered office with a large mandate and swore to uphold the country's constitution. He and his cabinet should be held to account. So while the international community, including rights groups, should do more to put direct pressure on those responsible for the vast majority of rights violations in Iran, they should not let President Rouhani and his cabinet off the hook. Until and unless Rouhani speaks out more forcefully, and in more specific terms, against the egregious rights violations happening in the name of his government, Iranian mothers like Mohammadi will continue to ask him: So what happened?" http://t.uani.com/XAoEuj Suzanne Maloney in Brookings: "A year ago today, Hassan Rouhani was sworn in as president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, having unexpectedly won a slim majority of votes in the country's June 2013 ninth presidential elections. As Rouhani completes his first year on the job, Iran @ Brookings begins a week-long series examining the impact of his presidency to date, with assessment of his track record on issues related to Iran's foreign policy, its politics, its economy, and its society and culture... In the wake of a decade of creeping isolation and suffocating economic pressures, it seemed that the revolutionary state had pulled itself back from the precipice, not for the first time. However, the transition from electoral sensation to successful executive has been a rocky one for Rouhani. To his credit, he can claim responsibility for several important breakthroughs, including an unprecedented direct bilateral conversation with his American counterpart and the signing of an interim accord that infused new momentum into the long-stalled nuclear diplomacy. And he made early progress in vital areas, particularly by instituting more responsible economic policies that have tempered inflation. Still, it remains unclear if the president can be as effective in advancing his ambitious agenda as he was in selling his message of hope and prudence on the stump. The Rouhani tsunami has run into Iran's enduring realities: a system stuck in an antiquated ideology; power concentrated in the hands of a few; and a region beset with threat and opportunity. As a result, the very issues that he campaigned upon - a resolution to the nuclear impasse and an unravelling of the sanctions regime that has devastated Iran's economy - appear to be in genuine jeopardy. Rouhani is not the decision maker on the nuclear issue, but his presidency will rise and fall on its fate. The death of any hopes for a deal would end any prospects for advancing his broader agenda... What is clear after this first year is that Rouhani was always something less than what his most effusive fans hoped - he is an instrument of systemic rebalancing rather than an agent of social change." http://t.uani.com/1miOhoY Isabel Vincent & Melissa Klein in the NY Post: "Rep. Gregory Meeks pushed to let an Iran-backed natural-gas project dodge US sanctions - after attending an illicit junket paid for by energy companies. The Queens Democrat and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-Brooklyn) were among 10 members of Congress who attended a conference in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku last year. While the Manhattan-based nonprofit Council of Turkic American Associations said it footed the bill for Meeks and Clarke, the Houston Chronicle found that the real sponsors included BP, ConocoPhillips, Honeywell and SOCAR, the national oil company in Azerbaijian. Energy concerns were an important theme at the gathering, including a natural-gas project partially backed by neighboring Iran... 'Congressman Meeks went on a 2013 Congressional trip to Baku, Azerbaijan, subsidized in part by corporate interests which lobby Congress - a violation of House rules. Shortly after he returned, Meeks sponsored a resolution wanted by those same corporations,' said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, a watchdog group. Former Sen. Richard Luger spoke at the conference and urged Congress to exempt the $28 billion natural-gas project from economic sanctions against Iran, the Chronicle reported. In September 2013, Meeks supported a resolution backing the gas venture that included the Iranian national oil company." http://t.uani.com/1pACypF 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.