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WashPost:
"The capital of Yemen, the Arab world's poorest and perhaps most
chronically unstable nation, has new masters. Shiite rebels man
checkpoints and roam the streets in pickups mounted with anti¬aircraft
guns. The fighters control almost all state buildings, from the
airport and the central bank to the Defense Ministry. Only a few police
officers and soldiers are left on the streets. Rebel fighters have
plastered the city with fliers proclaiming their slogan - 'Death to
America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory to Islam' - a
variation of a popular Iranian slogan often chanted by Shiite militants
in Iraq and supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah... Now the Houthis, who
many believe are backed by Shiite-led Iran, are poised to become Yemen's
version of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah - top power brokers dominating the
government and running a virtual state-within-a-state." http://t.uani.com/1vJ0sml
WashPost:
"An Iranian journalist detained in Iran since July along with her
husband, The Washington Post's bureau chief in Tehran, has been released
from custody, a family member said Sunday. While Yeganeh Salehi was freed
on bail in the middle of last week, her husband, Jason Rezaian, remains
imprisoned, his brother, Ali, wrote in an e-mail. Salehi succeeded in
visiting Rezaian over the weekend and said that she and her husband are
'physically healthy' despite being in custody for 21/2 months, Ali
Rezaian said. There have been concerns about Rezaian's health because he
has high blood pressure and must take medication daily. As first
disclosed to the National, an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper for which Salehi
was working in Iran, she now does not have accreditation to work as a
journalist in Iran. Neither she nor her family in Tehran will be speaking
to the media about their detentions, Ali Rezaian said, and he asked for
their privacy to be respected. 'We are thankful Yeganeh has been released
on bail,' said a statement by her family. 'We remain confident that Jason
has committed no crime. We pray that the Iranian government will conclude
that Jason should be released as well.' Rezaian and Salehi were arrested
July 22 amid murky circumstances. A photojournalist and her husband also
were arrested, but they have been released." http://t.uani.com/1uslQfk
Reuters:
"Iran is increasing steel exports and courting foreign investors in
an ambitious bid to quadruple steel output in a decade and replace at
least a small part of the massive revenue it loses due to sanctions on
its oil sales. A developing economy heavily reliant on construction, the
Islamic Republic exported an average of 1.35 million tonnes of steel in
2011 and 2012, according to a presentation by Iran's top steelmaker,
Mobarakeh Steel. By contrast it exported 1.26 million tonnes of steel
during the first seven months of this year, data from the Iran Steel
Producers Association (ISPA) showed... Tehran is leaving no stone
unturned in bolstering the sector. In August, it withdrew the special
rate foreign exchange allocation for all steel imports except flat
products in a bid to further boost local production. In addition, it is
courting foreign steelmakers to invest in a host of new steel complexes.
According to a press statement from Iran's deputy minister of industry, mines
and trade, Mehdi Karbasian, the country signed an agreement with Kuwait
Steel in June to build a new complex with 1 million tonnes of rolling
capacity... For western companies, however, readiness to do business with
Iran is still largely contingent upon the success of its nuclear
negotiations with global powers. German steel mill equipment maker SMS
Siemag, for example, told Reuters it is prepared to supply Iranian steel
companies, but declined to say whether it is actually doing so at the
moment... However, Vladislav Shik, head of foreign trade for Russia's
Akron Metal Group, said there were still opportunities for his company:
'We do see perspectives for scrap sales to Iran. We could supply up to
250,000 tonnes per year - the volumes that we now ship to Turkey.'" http://t.uani.com/1oJHiqF
Sanctions Relief
Trend:
"Four foreign shipping lines are ready to operate at Iran's Shahid
Rajaee Port after easing of sanctions against the country's shipping
industry. Mohammad Saeidnejad, the managing director of the Ports and
Maritime Organization of Iran, said that Hyundai, Cosco, Hanjin, and Wan
Hai shipping lines have been negotiating with Iran to resume operations
at the Shahid Rajaee Port, Iran's Fars news agency reported on October 6.
The Taiwanese Wan Hai container, with 6,000 TEU, took the lead and
berthed at the Shahid Rajaee Port on July 22... Direct shipment through
Shahid Rajaee Port will decrease costs $40,000-100,000 per ton of
cargo." http://t.uani.com/1s4jaUB
Press TV (Iran):
"The British Treasury has announced the repeal of an asset freeze on
five Iranian entities and an Iranian businessman following an EU court
verdict. The announcement came after the General Court of the European
Union annulled the sanctions against Iranian businessman and five firms,
namely, Sorinet Commercial Trust (SCT), Sharif University of Technology,
National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), Moallem Insurance Company (MIC)
and Sina Bank. The rulings in respect to the businessman, Sorinet
Commercial Trust, Sharif University of Technology, and the NITC were
passed on July 3, 2014. The verdict regarding Moallem Insurance Company
was handed down on July 10, 2014, while the decision on Sina Bank was
issued on June 4, 2014. Since the judgments were not appealed within the
designated two months, they have now come into effect." http://t.uani.com/1nX3liS
Trend:
"Some 521,585 cars have been produced in Iran in the first half of
the current calendar year (March 21 - September 22). The figure shows
74.3 percent increase compared to the same period of time previous year,
Iran's IRNA News Agency reported on October 4." http://t.uani.com/1vGB12z
Trend:
"Iran imported 51,474 cars in the first six months of the current
Iranian calendar year (March 21 - September 22). The figure shows 115
percent increase compared to the same period of time previous year, the
ISNA News Agency reported on October 5... Currently, the highest number
of cars is imported from Germany, Japan, and South Korea to Iran...
Mohebbinejad said on April 29 that the Iranian car industry had suffered
'partial stroke.' He added that the country's car exports had sharply
declined in the past year, so that just about 10,000 cars were exported,
a 80 percent decline year on year. He noted that the domestic carmakers
suffered some 40 trillion rials (about $1.3 billion) loss over the past
two years." http://t.uani.com/1xVTY64
Human Rights
Reuters:
"An Iranian-British woman has gone on hunger strike in prison in
Tehran to protest against her arrest for trying to watch a men's
volleyball game, the opposition website Kalame reported on Sunday.
Ghoncheh Ghavami's incarceration has angered Iranian women who say they
are still waiting for the greater freedom promised reforms by the
pragmatic cleric Hassan Rouhani when he was elected president last year.
Ghavami, 25, was arrested on June 20 outside Tehran's Azadi Stadium,
where she was taking part in a demonstration demanding that women be
allowed inside to watch Iran playing Italy in an international league
match. Iranian women in the Islamic Republic are banned from watching
certain male sports events such as football and volleyball. Ghavami was
released soon after, but then re-arrested days later when she was called
back to reclaim items that had been confiscated when she was first
detained. The human rights group Amnesty International says she has been
held at the Evin prison, which has a reputation for brutality, and has
spent time in solitary confinement. Kalame said she had been on hunger
strike for five days." http://t.uani.com/1vGu3uB
IranWire:
"In a letter to President Hassan Rouhani, 135 Iranian reporters,
editors and media workers from inside and outside Iran urged the
president not to insult them by lying about the persecution of
journalists in Iran. The letter, published in Persian on IranWire,
criticized Rouhani for recent comments he made during an interview with CNN's
Christiane Amanpour. During the interview, which took place while Rouhani
was in the United States to attend a the United Nations General Assembly,
Amanpour asked the president to comment on the case of Jason Rezaian, the
jailed Washington Post journalist. 'I really don't believe the fact at
all,' he said. 'I do not believe that an individual would be detained or
put in prison for being a journalist.' Technically, Rouhani is right, but
the reality is very different. Most of those in prison are not charged
with activities related to journalism... According to research conducted
by IranWire, there are 65 professional and citizen journalists currently
in prison in Iran. All of them were arrested because of their reporting.
Since the disputed presidential election in 2009, almost 300 journalists
have been arrested. Iran has the highest number of women journalists in
prison, and hundreds of Iranian journalists are forced to live in
exile." http://t.uani.com/1vJ0haO
Domestic
Politics
Reuters:
"Images of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appearing
frail and in bed have raised questions about the seriousness of his
condition, and who might eventually succeed him... Rumors about Khamenei
have circulated for years. But there has never been such a media blitz on
the health of the Supreme Leader, who holds substantial influence or
constitutional authority over the executive, legislative and judicial
branches of government as well as the military and media. The head of the
surgical team said Khamenei had an operation on his prostate which lasted
less than half an hour and only local anesthetic had been used. He was
completely awake and speaking during the procedure, the surgeon said. But
if Khamenei's health deteriorates, the traditional clergy and the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps - Iran's top military force and an economic
powerhouse - will need to settle on a successor quickly if the country is
to avoid a period of political instability, experts say." http://t.uani.com/1yHbRGX
Foreign Affairs
LAT:
"The Obama administration's muscular counter-terrorism campaign
against a dangerous Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen is facing a new threat
from the sudden military gains and growing political influence of a
Shiite Muslim rebel group backed by Iran, according to U.S. officials.
The Houthi rebels seized control of Sana, the Yemeni capital, last month
and forced the country's president, Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, to sign a
deal giving them a leading voice in the formation of a new government...
The Saudis, who share a porous 850-mile border with Yemen, fear that Iran
will seek to use the Houthis as a destabilizing force, as it has used its
ally Hezbollah, a Shiite militia, to project power in Lebanon. Yemeni
officials say they captured, then released, members of the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah who had come to train Houthis.
And the senior State Department official said the Iranian government
previously has provided arms and possibly money to the Houthis. 'The
influence of Iran on the Houthis is absolutely there,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1n9Q9WX
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