Eye on Iran: Iran's Talks With Russia May Strike at Sanctions

Join UANI           Top Stories NYT: "Iran sent new signals on Tuesday that it was seeking to subvert the Western sanctions on its contentious nuclear energy program, adding uncertainties in advance of another round of negotiations next week in New York before the United Nations General Assembly. The Iranians said they had been engaged in talks with Russia, a member of the group of big powers negotiating with Tehran, about economic cooperation in energy, which could undercut the sanctions. South Africa, a former Iranian oil customer that has honored the sanctions in deference to Western pressure, said that, after talks with an Iranian delegation, it hoped to resume imports in three months. On Monday, Iran's negotiator at the nuclear talks, Abbas Araghchi, the deputy foreign minister, said his country would not countenance any new economic penalties imposed by the United States, after an announcement by the Obama administration last month that it was adding more than 25 Iranian individuals and companies to a sanctions blacklist. The atmosphere contrasts starkly with President Hassan Rouhani's first visit to the United Nations last September for the General Assembly's annual convergence of world leaders. The Iranian president spoke optimistically of a new era and prospects for a nuclear deal - capped by a groundbreaking telephone conversation with President Obama." http://t.uani.com/1qEI0JK Reuters: "Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani while they are in Tajikistan for a security summit on Friday to discuss trade and economic ties, a Kremlin official said. He did not say whether they would touch on an 'oil-for-goods deal' which Tehran and Moscow have been discussing as a way to get round Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis and on Tehran over its nuclear program. 'Naturally, the main focus will be on strengthening trade and economic ties,' Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow at a briefing on Wednesday before the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. He said Russia and Iran were concerned about a 'certain trade decline'. Kremlin data showed an almost one-third decline in trade turnover to $1.6 billion last year following Western sanctions against the oil-producing Middle Eastern nation." http://t.uani.com/1rGGbIB Tehran Times: "Germany was the leading exporter of goods to Iran among the EU nations in June 2014, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat. The European country exported €207 million of goods to Iran in June 2014, an 88 percent rise compared to June 2013. Italy and the Netherlands were the second and the third biggest exporters to Iran, with €78 million and €58 million of exports, respectively... The EU exported €2.415 billion of goods to Iran during the 5-month period, a 4 percent rise compared to the year before, when the figure was €2.315 billion.  EU imports of goods from Iran totaled €386 million from January to May 2014, an 11 percent rise compared to the €347 million in imports in the first five months of 2013. Meanwhile, the value of EU exports to Iran exceeded €544 million in May 2014, a 43 percent rise compared to May 2013. EU nations imported €63.1 million worth of goods from Iran in May 2014, an 8 percent increase compared to May 2013." http://t.uani.com/WTdcJo   Nuclear Program & Negotiations Reuters: "Iran said on Tuesday it would still address concerns about its nuclear program, even though it missed a deadline last month for providing information about its suspected atomic bomb research. Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency suggested his country had not fully implemented five nuclear transparency measures by Aug. 25, as agreed with the IAEA, in part because of the 'complexity' of the issues involved. Iranian and IAEA officials would meet soon again, perhaps by the end of September, Ambassador Reza Najafi told reporters. Western diplomats have often accused Iran of stonewalling the IAEA, but Najafi said: 'There is no deadlock. We are sure we can implement that ... We are ready to complete that.' An IAEA report showed on Friday that Iran had carried out only three of the five steps to help allay international fears about its nuclear program, which the West suspects is working to develop nuclear weapons... 'If Iran can't even meet pledges of cooperation with the IAEA, it's hard to see how it can it summon the collective political will to accept the kind of cutbacks in its nuclear program that would be necessary for a deal,' said Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the non-proliferation program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank." http://t.uani.com/ZgL4kY Sanctions Relief Trend: "Iran will use $4.5 billion worth of Chinese financing through opening letters of credit (LC) for implementing 12 petrochemical projects. Ali Majedi, Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs and trade, said legal procedure for opening LCs for eight projects has been completed so far, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on September 10." http://t.uani.com/1qF0XMT Foreign Affairs AFP: "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday pledged to bolster ties with energy-rich Kazakhstan as he looked to strengthen Tehran's links with the neighbouring Central Asia region during a five-day tour. Rouhani said Iran had a 'serious will' to step up ties with the former Soviet state following a meeting with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev. 'Iran is one of our most important international partners in its capacity as a peaceful neighbour along the Caspian Sea shore,' Nazarbayev said." http://t.uani.com/1xIwNgg AFP: "Predominantly Shiite Muslim Iran criticised Sudan Tuesday for shutting down its cultural centres in the country over alleged Shiite proselytism, saying they had been operating correctly. On September 2, a Sudanese official said the centres had been ordered closed in response to 'increased activity... in spreading Shiite Islam,' the majority faith in Iran but a fringe one in overwhelmingly Sunni Sudan. Tehran's main cultural centre in the Sudanese capital was padlocked on Sunday, an AFP correspondent reported. Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the centre was operating within the law, and blamed the decision to shut it down on 'suspect political groups,' which she did not name." http://t.uani.com/YwBcn8 RFE/RL: "Iranian President Hassan Rohani has helped inaugurate a power generating unit at an Iranian-funded hydroelectric plant in Tajikistan. Rohani and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon took part in a ceremony in which the second generating unit at the Sangtuda-2 hydropower plant was put on line... Rohani will remain in Tajikistan for September 11 and 12 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. Iran has observer status in the SCO, whose members are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan." http://t.uani.com/1qEZPIV Opinion & Analysis NYT Editorial: "More than seven weeks ago, Iranian authorities detained Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post's correspondent in Tehran, and his wife, the Iranian journalist Yeganeh Salehi. Government officials have refused to say where they are being held or why. Their continued detention is as mystifying as it is outrageous. Mr. Rezaian, a respected and experienced reporter, holds American and Iranian citizenship and has worked in Tehran as a credentialed member of the press for several years. He suffers from high blood pressure, and his relatives say they fear that he might not have access to medication. Iran has detained several dual nationals, including reporters, in recent years. The authorities recently made the ludicrous argument that Mr. Rezaian's arrest should be of no concern to the United States because he holds Iranian citizenship." http://t.uani.com/1twq8zw   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.