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Al-Monitor:
"At a meeting of Iran's ambassadors, President Hassan Rouhani
defended his administration's performance on the nuclear negotiations,
using harsh language to remind critics of the nuclear deal that his
administration has the support of the different branches of government
and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in the
negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN
Security Council plus Germany (P5+1). Fars News reported that in response
to criticism over some Iranian officials appearing to get close to
Western officials, Rouhani said, 'Some who are politically timid and
cowardly do not have confidence and they assume everyone is like them.'
He said, 'Whenever negotiations start, they say that they are shaking - To
hell, go and find a warm place for yourself.' 'The administration has
done something big,' Rouhani said. 'One of these examples is the Geneva
agreement and if some are not thankful for these efforts, sooner or later
they will be and history will have its own judgment.' Rouhani said that
the nuclear issue, which afflicted Iran with a number of sanctions, is in
reality 'an artificial crisis,' and that Iran is 'not in a hurry in the
nuclear discussions, but we do not see a delay as advisable. The
foundations of sanctions have broken and I have no doubt in this and we
should know that the previous situation will not return,' he said. 'In
the negotiations with the P5+1, we are in the process of breaking the
sanctions, and they know how we break the sanctions.'" http://t.uani.com/1kZzHYL
AFP:
"Iran will not accept a weak uranium enrichment program which world
powers might be willing to grant the Islamic republic like a 'toy' in
nuclear negotiations, a top official said Sunday. The size and scale of
the Islamic republic's enrichment activities remain the biggest stumbling
block in efforts to clinch a long-term agreement over Iran's disputed
atomic activities. Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister
for American and European Affairs, made the remarks on returning to
Tehran from Geneva, after five hours of talks with US officials. 'We said
to the other party ... we will not accept that our uranium enrichment
program becomes something like a toy,' he said, referring to last week's
discussions. 'Our enrichment program has a specific framework and we
cannot accept anything outside of this framework,' he added." http://t.uani.com/1yrfhZc
ITWeb (South
Africa): "MTN, Africa's largest operator, has
billions tied up in operations in Syria and Iran which it is trying to
repatriate as both countries continue to face challenges. CFO Brett
Goschen notes MTN has four months, under the current international
arrangements, to find a solution to getting its cash out of Iran. Goschen
notes the company has been in talks with several international
authorities in a bid to get its money out, an amount that is currently in
the region of about $400 million, or around R4.3 billion. In total,
including dividends and loans, some $900 million - or R9.7 billion - is
held up in Iran. Goschen says there are several complexities to overcome
and if its current option fails, it will look at other avenues...
Meanwhile, Goschen adds the company is also trying to repatriate money
out of war-torn Syria. The amount currently totals $250 million - or
around R2.6 billion. President and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa notes the group is
bidding to convert its build-operate-transfer licence in Syria to a
fully-fledged licence and will use some of the money that is locked in
that country to pay for the conversion." http://t.uani.com/1rmnY4k
Sanctions Enforcement & Impact
AP:
"A Maryland man has been convicted on charges of exporting American
manufactured industrial products to Iran. Prosecutors said Monday that a
federal grand jury convicted 34-year-old Ali Saboonchi of Parkville after
a two-week trial. Saboonchi conspired with others to export products to
Iran in violation of a U.S. trade embargo. Prosecutors say the goods
included stainless steel filter elements, which are used primarily in the
oil and gas industry, as well as liquid pumps and valves and other
industrial parts." http://t.uani.com/VimBt8
Foreign Affairs
AFP:
"Iran, a key ally of Iraq's sidelined Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki,
said Tuesday it backed the legal process which led to him being replaced,
following the nomination of Haidar al-Abadi as premier. The statement was
the first official signal that Maliki no longer enjoys the support of his
fellow Shiite leaders and politicians in Tehran to stay on as head of
government in Baghdad. Ali Shamkhani, secretary and representative of
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Iran's Supreme National Security
Council, made the remarks at a meeting of Iranian ambassadors in Tehran,
the Fars and Mehr news agencies said. 'The framework provided by the
Iraqi constitution stipulates that the prime minister has been chosen by
the majority group in the parliament,' Shamkhani said. Iran was
influential in ensuring that Maliki retained the post of prime minister
and served a second term following Iraq's inconclusive general election
in 2010." http://t.uani.com/1kyJnsB
Tasnim (Iran):
"Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani emphasized that the Israeli
regime will come to an end in near future. 'Without a doubt, the future
belongs to Muslim nations and faithful revolutionary youths and the
usurper regime of Israel will be annihilated,' said Ali Larijani on the
occasion of the 8th anniversary of Hezbollah's victory in the 33-day war
against Israel." http://t.uani.com/VfxSul
Opinion &
Analysis
Mary Breme Rezaian
in WashPost: "Jason is a global citizen whose
extended travels have allowed him to make many dear friends in Europe,
Asia and Latin America. Everywhere he goes, he tells people about the
beauty and wonders of Iran. He has encouraged countless people, including
many Americans, to travel to Iran to experience this beauty for
themselves. Ironically, now one of Iran's premier ambassadors has been
silenced. For despite his great love of Iran, my outgoing son and his
lovely wife, Yeganeh Salehi, have been detained in Iran, without charge,
for three weeks. They and two others (one of whom who has since been
released) were taken from their homes on July 22. This kind of treatment
of professional journalists who were credentialed by the Iranian
government as members of the foreign press corps is unconscionable. We do
not know why they were taken, who took them and what charges - if any -
they face. I don't even know if Jason and Yeganeh are being held
together. Our family and hers have been turned upside down with fear and
worry, and there has been little news to dispel that fear as we wait to find
out why they are being held. While Yeganeh was allowed brief contact with
her family, Jason's brother and I have gotten no word from him. Yegi is a
vibrant spirit, and Jason is warm and fun loving. Our families are deeply
concerned for their well-being and about the consequences of their
detainment. Jason has high blood pressure, which requires him to take
medication daily. I have no idea whether his health is in peril and have
no way of communicating with people around him to tell them of his
medical condition. The silence is unbearable. For all these reasons, I am
imploring Iranian officials to release Jason and Yeganeh immediately.
Iran is a complex and multilayered society that is often misperceived and
vilified by the West. My son and daughter-in-law have committed
themselves to dispelling many of these misconceptions through their
nuanced and fair reporting. And, once released, they will continue to do
so in a country they both call home." http://t.uani.com/1sUfjIj
Jay Michaelson in
The Daily Beast: "The tragic hanging of two
'sodomites' in Iran may seem, in theory, like an obvious cause for U.S.
concern and U.S. action. (Sign a petition! Demand human rights!) Yet in
practice, those most attentive to LGBT concerns may be the least eager to
pick this fight. As Nina Strochlic reported in these pages Sunday, the
two men, Abdullah Ghavami Chahzanjiru and Salman Ghanbari Chahzanjiri,
were hanged in southern Iran on August 6, possibly for consensual sodomy.
Their deaths are part of a wave of executions in Iran, with more than 400
in the first half of 2014 alone, according to the NGO Iran Human Rights.
We do not know for certain that they were executed for being gay-one
Iranian source says they were, another is vague about their 'crimes' but
calls them 'immoral villains.' If these men were hanged for consensual
homosexuality, however, this could be another LGBT headache for the Obama
administration, which has been trying to walk a tightrope between LGBT
human rights on one end and international politics on the other. Despite
Iran's state anti-Semitism, the recent arrest of U.S. journalists, and
the continued oppression of women, the Obama administration has been
attempting a rapprochement with the Iranian regime. Fending off Iran
hawks in Congress and the D.C. punditocracy, the administration has
argued for a policy of constructive engagement, pursuing diplomacy over
military action to halt Iran's nuclear program. The execution of two gay
men, while it may not be surprising, certainly doesn't make that 'engagement'
any easier." http://t.uani.com/VinSQU
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