Eye on Iran: Iran's President Has Not Delivered on Pledges of More Freedom: U.N.

Join UANI           Top Stories Reuters: "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's promises of greater freedoms for the Islamic Republic have not resulted in any major improvements regarding human rights and freedom of expression, the U.N. chief said in a new report on Iran. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's annual report to the General Assembly on human rights in Iran, obtained by Reuters on Friday, also expressed alarm at the reported recent increase in executions in Iran. 'President Rouhani has pledged to decrease restrictions on freedom of expression and to ensure security for the press,' the report said. 'Unfortunately, those promises have not yet led to significant improvements, and restrictions on freedom of expression continue to affect many areas of life.' But reporters, Ban said, continue to face restrictions and other difficulties. 'Journalists and other media personnel are frequently summoned or detained by the judiciary or face harassment and attacks by security forces,' his report said." http://t.uani.com/1BFZrgC Reuters: "The U.N. nuclear watchdog sought to put pressure on Iran on Monday to address suspicions it may have carried out atomic bomb research, three weeks after Tehran failed to meet a deadline for providing information about the issue. In line with the findings of a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this month, Director General Yukiya Amano said Iran had not carried out two of the five transparency steps it had agreed to implement by Aug. 25. A lack of progress in the IAEA investigation could further complicate efforts by six world powers to negotiate a resolution to a wider, decade-old dispute with Iran and curb its nuclear work in exchange for a gradual ending of sanctions. 'In order to resolve all outstanding issues, past and present, it is very important that Iran continues to implement, in a timely manner, all practical measures agreed,' Amano told the U.N. agency's 35-nation board of governors. The phrase 'past and present' refers to the IAEA's long-running inquiry into suspicions, denied by Iran, that the country has worked on designing a nuclear weapon." http://t.uani.com/1m5JpJD AFP: "Iran rejected a US request for cooperation against the jihadist Islamic State group early in its advance in Iraq and Syria, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday. 'Right from the start, the United States asked through its ambassador in Iraq whether we could cooperate against Daesh (Arabic acronym for IS),' Khamenei said in a statement on his official website. 'I said no, because they have dirty hands,' said Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state in Iran. 'Secretary of State (John Kerry) personally asked (Iranian counterpart) Mohammad Javad Zarif and he rejected the request,' said Khamenei, who was leaving hospital after what doctors said was successful prostate surgery. He accused Washington of seeking a 'pretext to do in Iraq and Syria what it already does in Pakistan -- bomb anywhere without authorisation.'" http://t.uani.com/1y6Bcd7   Nuclear Program & Negotiations AFP: "A top Iranian nuclear negotiator said Saturday that 'disagreements over serious questions' persisted in the latest talks with the world powers on his country's atomic programme. 'After two rounds of negotiations with the European representatives, our positions have not been reconciled and disagreements over serious questions still exist,' said Majid Takht-Ravanchi, who is also a deputy foreign minister. Takht-Ravanchi urged the so-called P5+1 group to 'respect the red lines' drawn up by Iran to reach an agreement that would end the decade-old dispute. His remarks came after the Iranians and their European counterparts exchanged views Thursday in Vienna ahead of negotiations in New York on September 18." http://t.uani.com/1BG07CO Trend: "Iran plans to start construction of two new nuclear power plants by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21). The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran's Deputy Director for International Affairs Behrouz Kamalvandi said that the final negotiations are underway with the Russians to build the plants, Iran's Tabnak News Website reported on Sept. 15. 'The two power plants will most probably be constructed near the Bushehr nuclear power plant,' he said, adding that the two plants will have the capacity to produce 1,000 megawatt of electricity. 'The construction plan will be complete in five to seven years,' Kamalvand added. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Sept. 10, 'We have been informed that Iran plans to construct 20 new nuclear power plants.'" http://t.uani.com/1BG33zh Sanctions Relief Reuters: "South Korea's imports of Iranian crude doubled in August from a year ago but fell 8 percent in the first eight months year-on-year, reflecting moves by the world's fifth-largest crude oil importer to navigate terms of sanctions reliefs. Preliminary customs data showed on Monday that Seoul bought 567,913 tonnes of crude oil from Tehran last month, or 134,284 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 558,690 tonnes a month ago and 272,090 tonnes a year ago... The intake of Iranian crude in January-August this year by Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 4.24 million tonnes, or 127,944 bpd, down 8 percent from a year ago and 5 percent below the 2013 average at 134,000 bpd, according to the data and Reuters' calculations." http://t.uani.com/1uOzYgV Domestic Politics Bloomberg: "An Iranian paramilitary group will deploy thousands of volunteers to clamp down on women who violate the Islamic dress code, media reported, in a new push-back against government efforts to liberalize society. Ansar-e-Hezbollah, which receives its funding from conservative sources outside the government, hasn't applied for a required permit from the Interior Ministry to carry out the patrols, the Shargh newspaper cited Deputy Interior Minister Hossein-Ali Amiri as saying. Its work would parallel the activity of police squads empowered to arrest women who don't abide by the dress code, which requires women to wear head scarves and loose-fitting coats. The Ansar-e-Hezbollah patrols will issue 'verbal warnings' and won't carry out arrests, the Shargh and Etemaad newspapers cited the group's secretary, Abdolmajid Mohtasham, as saying yesterday." http://t.uani.com/1uDyF5w Foreign Affairs Fars (Iran): "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani plans to travel to New York on September 22 to attend the upcoming meeting of the UN General Assembly. The Iranian president is also due to address the UN General Assembly meeting similar to the last year. The 69th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 69) will convene at UN Headquarters on Tuesday, 16 September 2014." http://t.uani.com/1tW6yNj Trend: "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will fly to New York on September 16 to attend the UN General Assembly. Deputy foreign ministers Seyed Abbas Araghchi and Majid Takht Ravanchi will also accompany him on this trip, Iran's Fars News Agency reported on September 14. Zarif is scheduled to have a joint working lunch with Catherine Ashton on September 17. Ashton and Zarif will have another round of talks on Thursday." http://t.uani.com/YLrai1    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.