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Bloomberg:
"The White House and Senate are headed into a battle over whether
to increase pressure on Iran. Lawmakers have completed a new bipartisan
bill on Iran sanctions and the Senate intends to vote on it well before
President Barack Obama's team finishes the current round of
international nuclear negotiations... The final language for the
updated Iran sanctions bill by Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Robert
Menendez was agreed on this week, according to several lawmakers and
senior staffers in both parties. The bill, which both senators want to
pass as soon as possible, would impose several escalating rounds of
increased sanctions on the Iranian economy that would begin on June 30
-- but only if Iran fails to sign on the dotted line of any negotiated
agreement or fails to live up to whatever it stipulates. The Obama team
has made it clear they oppose Congress voting on a new law before the
negotiations are complete, even though the actual sanctions
implementation would be delayed. The new Republican Senate leadership,
however, is committed to moving forward, setting up a political brawl
that could peak just as the negotiations enter their crucial final
stages. 'I don't think the administration really would like for
Congress to weigh in in any regard on any issue relating to foreign
policy, but Congress will weigh in on this,' Bob Corker, the Republican
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told me Tuesday. 'In
the very near future there will be a markup on a bill that will give
the Congress the ability to weigh in.' In addition to the Kirk-Menendez
bill, Corker is preparing his own legislation that would mandate that
the Senate vote on a joint resolution of disapproval of any final
nuclear deal with Iran. He feels this is necessary in case the White
House decides not to designate any new Iran pact a 'treaty,' and thus
avoid a ratification process in the Senate." http://t.uani.com/1u9xybR
JPost:
"Any bill from Congress regarding new, nuclear-related sanctions
on Iran during international talks over its nuclear program will be
vetoed by US President Barack Obama, the State Department said on
Tuesday... in Congress, now under full Republican control, leadership plans
on introducing a bill this week that would 'trigger' new sanctions on
Iran should talks ultimately fail, or should Tehran violate terms of an
interim deal that laid the groundwork for negotiations, formally known
as the Joint Plan of Action. 'Even with a trigger, if there's a bill
that's signed into law, and it is US law, in our mind it is a violation
of the Joint Plan of Action- which, as we've said, could encourage Iran
to violate it,' State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said on
Tuesday. 'A sanctions bill, trigger or not, that is passed and signed
into law by the president, which we've said we will not do... would be
a violation of the JPOA,' she continued. If a deal does not come to
pass, Harf said, 'we could put initial sanctions on Iran in 24 hours.'
... 'Sanctions alone do not stop Iran's nuclear program. It was through
negotiations that we got to the Joint Plan of Action,' Harf
added." http://t.uani.com/1Cqyeyg
WashPost:
"Iranian judiciary authorities have referred the case of a detained
Washington Post journalist to Tehran's Revolutionary Court, a news
agency reported Wednesday, in a move that appears to set the stage for
a review before a possible trial. A statement by Tehran prosecutor
Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, cited by the semiofficial Iranian Students'
News Agency (ISNA), said the court file on Jason Rezaian has moved to
the Revolutionary Court for 'processing.' The phrase suggests that the
charges against him, which have not been made public, could be studied
by the court before it decides whether to set a trial date or keep the
case in a holding pattern. The Revolutionary Court handles Iran's most
sensitive cases... Earlier Wednesday in Geneva, Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in remarks before a series of meetings
with Kerry that his government is willing to provide 'humanitarian
assistance' to Rezaian as courts work to resolve the case. 'The
government is doing its best to be of assistance,' Zarif said. But he
said the case remained under the jurisdiction of Iran's powerful
judiciary, which is directly overseen by the ruling clerics." http://t.uani.com/1INJyGH
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
Reuters:
"U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's foreign minister
Mohammad Jawad Zarif held intensive talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear
program on Wednesday, returning for an evening session before handing
off to their deputies, officials said. Iran and six world powers have
renewed their quest for an elusive nuclear deal - seen as crucial to
reducing the risk of a wider Middle East war - after negotiators failed
for the second time in November to meet a self-imposed deadline. Kerry
and Zarif 'had substantive meetings for approximately five hours today
and they discussed a broad range of issues with a small group of staff
from each side,' a senior State Department official said. But Kerry
later unexpectedly returned to the Geneva lakeside hotel for a third meeting
lasting some 90 minutes with Zarif after briefing senior U.S.
negotiators ahead of their technical-level talks scheduled with Iranian
counterparts for Thursday in the Swiss city... The two men took a break
from hotel talks for a 15-minute joint stroll through downtown Geneva
during the afternoon. 'We are working hard,' Kerry told a journalist
during the walkabout, which took them along the Rhone River flowing out
of Lake Geneva, according to a U.S. official." http://t.uani.com/1CkBU4G
Reuters:
"Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers will press ahead with a
plan for more sanctions on Iran, the chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee said on Wednesday, despite White House warnings
that they risked derailing nuclear talks. Lawmakers, who say they fear
Obama administration negotiators may not take a hard enough line with
Tehran, are also at work on a separate bill to have Congress approve
any final agreement on Iran's nuclear program, Senator Bob Corker, the
chairman, told Reuters in an interview. 'There's continual efforts to
try to figure out a way for Congress to play a role to strengthen
whatever final deal may occur,' the Tennessee Republican senator said.
Republican Senator Mark Kirk and Democratic Senator Robert Menendez are
finalizing a bill for tougher sanctions on Iran if there is no final
nuclear deal by June 30. The Senate Banking Committee is due to hold a
hearing on Iran sanctions on Tuesday, said Corker, a member also of
that panel." http://t.uani.com/1yfWOUW
Al-Monitor:
"The US House of Representatives has begun working on its own Iran
sanctions bill rather than simply agreeing to pass whatever the Senate
comes up with, Al-Monitor has learned. The dual-track effort presents
an additional challenge for the White House, which has repeatedly
warned Congress that new sanctions could derail nuclear talks. It
could, however, end up buying time for negotiators to strike a final
agreement, since both chambers must pass the same bill for legislation
to become law. 'We feel very strongly that the House needs to play an
important role, not just rubber-stamp whatever the Senate decides to
do,' the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs panel, Rep. Eliot
Engel, D-N.Y., told Al-Monitor. 'So we're going to put our heads
together [with Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif.] and see what's the best way
to proceed.' The two lawmakers are expected to hunker down next week to
decide on a strategy for moving forward, Engel said. Separately, Royce
told Al-Monitor that he was planning to sit down Jan. 15 with Senate
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., for an update
on the Senate strategy. 'We're in a stronger position in the House,'
said Royce, pointing out that the House passed legislation he
co-authored with Engel on a 400-20 vote shortly before negotiations
began in 2013... In a sign of how quickly things are moving, the Senate
Banking Committee, which would have jurisdiction over such legislation,
has announced a hearing Jan. 20 on the 'perspectives on the strategic
necessity of Iran sanctions.'" http://t.uani.com/151dMtt
AFP:
"Some Iranian lawmakers are considering a push toward resuming
unlimited uranium enrichment if the United States imposes new sanctions
on Tehran amid negotiations on the country's nuclear programme, speaker
Ali Larijani said Thursday... In a speech Thursday in the Iranian city
of Qom, Larijani warned the world powers they "cannot haggle with
us," saying they must 'make correct use of the opportunities
offered to them.' 'Recently some deputies have been considering a bill
stipulating that Iran will pursue its activities at whatever level of
enrichment... if the West decides to impose new sanctions,' he warned.
On Wednesday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said 'any new
sanction would mean a halt to the (negotiation) process underway' with
the world powers." http://t.uani.com/157ohL1
Sanctions
Relief
Bloomberg:
"Iran, its oil exports curbed by sanctions, is lowering the crude
price for this year's budget to $40 a barrel as the energy slump
affects governments and industry. The government is revising its draft
budget to assume a base price of $40, from $72, the state-run Fars News
Agency reported Finance and Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia as saying
today. The minister said some projects will have to be halted,
according to Fars. The Iranian calendar year begins March 21." http://t.uani.com/1C4hyOO
Reuters:
"South Korea's imports of Iranian crude oil fell 1.7 percent in
December from a year earlier, and shipments for 2014 were below the
2013 average, meeting international sanction requirements. Preliminary
customs data from the world's fifth-largest crude oil importer showed
on Thursday that Seoul imported 548,598 tonnes of crude oil from Tehran
last month, or 129,717 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 557,836
tonnes a year ago. Iranian crude shipments in 2014 were 6.2 million
tonnes, or 124,497 bpd, down 7.1 percent from the 2013 average of
134,000 bpd, according to the data and Reuters calculations." http://t.uani.com/151aI0f
Terrorism
WSJ:
"A federal prosecutor in Argentina has filed a criminal complaint
against President Cristina Kirchner , her foreign minister and others,
accusing them of conspiring to cover up an investigation into Iran's
alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in
this capital city. The prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, said on Wednesday
that Mrs. Kirchner had ordered Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and
others to negotiate immunity for Iranian suspects in hopes this would
reestablish trade ties and allow Argentina to import Iranian oil to
ease a domestic energy crisis. The alleged plan didn't come to
fruition, however. The complaint will be evaluated by Federal Judge
Ariel Lijo, who last year indicted Vice President Amado Boudou on
corruption charges. It isn't clear how that case will evolve. Mr.
Boudou has denied the charges. Meanwhile, Mr. Nisman has asked Judge
Lijo to freeze $23 million of assets belonging to Mrs. Kirchner and the
others named in the complaint... Mr. Nisman, who has been investigating
the bombing for years, said he inadvertently began uncovering evidence
of the alleged plot during that investigation. He said much of the
evidence is based on two years of intercepted phone calls between
people close to Mrs. Kirchner and others, including Mohsen Rabbani of
Iran. Mr. Rabbani, a former cultural attaché at Iran's embassy in
Buenos Aires, is a suspect in the bombing and is the target of an
Interpol arrest warrant." http://t.uani.com/1sCsH7I
Human Rights
ICHRI:
"In the wake of the January 7 attack on the offices of Charlie
Hebdo in Paris, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
released a video today, featuring nine prominent Iranian cartoonists,
satirists and comedians expressing their solidarity with the victims of
the attack and the defense of free speech. The video, Iranian
Cartoonists and Satirists Speak Out on Charlie Hebdo, contains
commentary from celebrated Iranian cartoonists and satirists, many of
whom were forced to flee Iran after publishing work critical of Iranian
authorities and official policies. Several of the artists featured,
including cartoonist Kianoush Ramezani, satirist Alireza Rezaie and
cartoonist Mana Neyestani, currently reside in France and in the video,
express their sadness over this attack in the country that provided
them refuge and a safe creative space." http://t.uani.com/1G1wTDW
IHR:
"Five prisoners were hanged in the prison of Arak (Central Iran)
yesterday Tuesday January 13, reported the official website of the
Judiciary in Markazi Province... One prisoner was hanged in the prison
of Sari (Northern Iran) early this morning, Wednesday January 14,
reported the official website of the Judiciary in Mazandaran
Province... At least 28 people have been executed in the first two
weeks of 2015 in Iran." http://t.uani.com/1u6yOC5
ICHRI:
"A new United Nations resolution warning member states about their
responsibility to protect the health of their citizens against
electromagnetic waves, including satellite jamming signals, was
approved at the UN's Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s Plenipotentiary
Conference which took place between October 20 and November 7, 2014, in
Busan, South Korea (Resolution 176, pg. 277). The ITU is the UN's
specialized agency for information and communication technologies. The
ITU's Human Exposure to and Measurement of Electromagnetic Fields
Resolution is significant because it directly confronts the dangers of
satellite jamming, a practice that Iran engages in extensively. Jamming
signals are transmitted via a variety of means, and are designed to
block or interrupt local receptors' reception of international
satellite broadcast signals. In this manner, state officials are able
to prevent the Iranian citizenry from accessing broadcast content that
is not state-approved. There are serious and well-established fears
that the radiation resulting from such satellite jamming signals is
endangering the health of Iranian citizens, possibly even causing
cancer." http://t.uani.com/1ylES9R
Domestic
Politics
AFP:
"Iran has announced plans to combat what it says are 'immoral'
online dating websites by launching an official site for young people
seeking marriage. Local media quoted officials as saying the site would
launch in the next few days and promote long-term marriages among the
under-30s who make up 55 percent of Iran's 77 million people." http://t.uani.com/1KNncsK
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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
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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.
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