Eye on Iran: Explosion Around Military Site Jolts Tehran, and 2 Are Missing

Join UANI           Top Stories NYT: "A mysterious explosion at or near an important military complex rocked the Iranian capital on Sunday, lighting up the skies over the city. Iranian official sources denied the explosion had taken place at the complex, the expansive Parchin military site east of the city, where international monitors suspect Iran once tested triggers for potential nuclear weapons. But the enormous orange flash that illuminated Tehran around 11:15 p.m. local time clearly came from that direction, several witnesses said. Officials at Iran's Defense Industries Organization, though also denying that the explosion took place at Parchin, confirmed that two people were missing after 'an ordinary fire' caused by 'chemical reactions of flammable material' at an unspecified production unit, according to the semiofficial Iranian Students' News Agency. There was no word on the location of the fire. Witnesses in the east of Tehran said that windows had been shattered in the vicinity of the military complex and that all trees in a hundred-yard radius of two villages, Changi and Hammamak, had been burned. The villages are on the outskirts of the military site. Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the monitoring arm of the United Nations, were given access to Parchin in 2005, but they have since been refused follow-up inspections. The agency is still seeking access to the site, where it suspects Iran of having conducted high-explosive experiments related to nuclear weapon research." http://t.uani.com/1tvuBky Press TV (Iran): "Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says excessive demands by certain members of the P5+1 group have prevented a final accord on Tehran's nuclear energy program. 'The [nuclear] negotiations have reached a sensitive phase and the Islamic republic of Iran has put various proposals on the [negotiating] table. Now it is the other side's turn to show its determination to reach an agreement,' Zarif said on Monday. The top Iranian diplomat made the remarks in a meeting with Dominique de Villepin, a former French prime minister and foreign minister, in the Iranian capital, Tehran. 'Unfortunately, excessive demands put forward by certain members [of the [P5+1] have so far hindered the achievement of an accord,' Zarif added." http://t.uani.com/1y16Esh Fars (Iran): "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif downplayed effectiveness of the western powers' pressures on Iran to halt the country's nuclear progress, and said Tehran is experienced in turning sanctions into new opportunities. 'The measures that the US and Europe have so far taken to stop Iran's (nuclear) activities have had no result but progress in the country's nuclear technology,' Zarif said on Monday. He added that Iran's nuclear know-how and capabilities cannot be exposed to limitations. Pointing to the West's standoff with Iran over the country's nuclear energy program, the Iranian minister added, 'Depriving Iran of (its) nuclear energy program cannot be a solution to the issue because Iran has achieved the nuclear know-how and technology.' He said the regional countries whose interests are served by the prolongation of the nuclear dispute have fueled 'the fabricated crisis' to cover up their own short-term strategic goals in the region." http://t.uani.com/1rf8u02     Nuclear Program & Negotiations Al-Monitor: "In an exclusive interview with Fars News, Ali Younesi, the former intelligence minister and current adviser for President Hassan Rouhani on ethnic and religious minority affairs, spoke about a wide range of issues, including his time as intelligence minister, his role in the 2013 elections, the nuclear negotiations and his statements that the current intelligence minister still does not have full control of the agency. On the nuclear negotiations, Younesi said, 'I am not very optimistic, but the sides are inclined to achieve a conclusion and the Americans are more inclined than the other countries. Some countries that appear as friends, such as Russia and China, are not inclined at all for the negotiations to reach a conclusion. Neither hard-line groups in Iran or America are inclined toward a nuclear agreement. And Israel's lobby in America has a large role.'" http://t.uani.com/1s5PPsx Commerce Reuters: "Indian generic drugmaker Cipla Ltd has agreed to set up a manufacturing plant in Iran, as part of its strategy to boost its presence in the country's $4 billion pharmaceuticals market that is growing at about 13 percent annually.Cipla, which will own 75 percent stake in the plant being set up in partnership with its local distributor, will invest about 2.25 billion rupees ($36.65 million) over three years on areas including machinery and equipment for the facility." http://t.uani.com/1nbGX4l Reuters: "International banks are shying away from processing humanitarian deals with Iran for fear being fined for breaking Western sanctions, despite moves intended to facilitate the trade, a senior Iranian banker said. The sanctions regime, imposed by the United States and European Union over Tehran's nuclear program, allows trade in humanitarian goods such as food and medicine. Yet many banks avoid dealing with Iran at all due to the heavy fines handed out by U.S. authorities for trading with sanctioned countries including the Islamic Republic, such as a $8.9 billion penalty imposed on BNP Paribas of France. Tehran-headquartered Middle East Bank, which is privately owned by investors that include small and medium-sized Iranian firms who can each hold up to a 5 percent stake, started operations on Nov. 1, 2012 with a focus on the humanitarian trade. Nevertheless, the bank continues to find it hard to get deals processed, its chief executive, Parviz Aghili, said." http://t.uani.com/ZrTYMm Iraq Crisis AFP: "Iranian television published a rare picture Monday of its elite Quds Force chief in Iraq that was widely circulated online, puncturing the mystique of one of the region's most powerful men. The image of Major General Qassem Suleimani purportedly showing him on an Iraqi battlefield was published on the website of IRINN state television, and repeatedly shared on Twitter. Grinning widely, Suleimani, easily identified by his greying hair and beard, was seen standing alongside Kurdish peshmerga fighters. IRINN did not say where the picture was taken. Iran initially denied Suleimani was in Iraq, but several pictures used in official media have appeared to confirm his presence near battles against militants from the Islamic State group (IS)." http://t.uani.com/ZrUaLI Human Rights LAT: "In Iranian woman facing a death sentence in a murder case that some have labeled a miscarriage of justice may be spared the gallows, Iranian judicial officials said. Authorities were seeking consent from the family of the victim to vacate the capital judgment against Reyhaneh Jabbari, according to an Iranian judiciary spokesman, Gholam Hussein Mohseni Ezhei, who made the comments Monday at his weekly news conference. Meanwhile, the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency quoted the nation's justice minister, Mustafa Pourmohammadi, as saying that the hanging of Jabbari would be put off for at least 40 days. Observers said the comments likely meant that Iranian authorities had decided to commute the death sentence for Jabbari, whose case has been widely circulated on various social media forums. It was not clear if Jabbari could face more prison time if spared execution." http://t.uani.com/1uwQ8Od Daily Telegraph: "Susan Moshtaghian, the mother of Ghonche Ghavami, marked the 100th day of her daughter's detention with a daring public challenge to the authorities. 'Today is the hundredth day of my daughter's detention. She is very unwell and during all these last one hundreds days no official has listened to us at all,' Mrs Moshtaghian announced on Facebook. 'I have come here today outside the gates of Evin prison and shall not move until my daughter is released. I visited her on Saturday and she has lost a lot of weight. She told me my only hope is to see you once a week and if I am not able to see you I will die.' She added: 'My daughter is very sick of being kept in solitary cell and her case remains unsolved and we do not know how we can help her from outside or what we should do. As no one has heard our cry for justice I have no demand from them any more and just sit outside this gate until my daughter is freed.'" http://t.uani.com/1oMTRkO Domestic Politics LAT: "President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday called for more academic freedom in Iran's universities, saying restrictions stifle innovation and breed sycophancy. 'Irrelevant restrictions will lead to lack of tolerance, the departure of honest, competent individuals and the promotion of ingratiating people,' Rouhani said at an event marking the start of the academic year at Tehran University. 'Let's not create a climate of flattery in the university,' Rouhani said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state TV. 'We should not be concerned about the expression of diverse views by university professors.' ... Rouhani added that 'governing and administering the country is not possible without tolerance. Let's let people express themselves.' Several students at the meeting were carrying placards reading: 'We are waiting to realize your promises,' a reference to last year's election, when Rouhani vowed change after the conservative rule of his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." http://t.uani.com/1qa8mPg    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. 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