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AP:
"President Barack Obama came out swinging Friday against
congressional attempts to slap fresh sanctions on Iran, warning such a
move would likely destroy nuclear talks and increase prospects for a
military showdown. Vowing to veto any sanctions that reach his desk,
Obama pleaded, 'Just hold your fire.' In an unusual move by a foreign
leader, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was personally
calling U.S. senators to say that new sanctions would drive a wedge
through international unity. Standing side by side with Cameron at the
White House, Obama said world powers would be sympathetic to Iran and
would blame the U.S. if Congress moved ahead with more sanctions while
fragile negotiations are under way. At that point, Obama argued, the
world would lose its best chance to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear
weapon. 'Congress should be aware that if this diplomatic solution fails,
then the risks and likelihood that this ends up being at some point a
military confrontation is heightened - and Congress will have to own that
as well,' Obama said in his most impassioned rebuke yet of the sanctions
effort... Obama argued that Iran would rightfully interpret any new
sanctions - even ones that don't kick in right away - as violating the
terms of the interim deal reached in 2013 that made the current talks
possible. He said the likelihood that Iran would pull out of the talks
was 'very high.' 'They would be able to maintain that the reason that
they ended negotiations was because the United States was operating in
bad faith and blew up the deal,' Obama said. 'And there would be some
sympathy to that view around the world.'" http://t.uani.com/1BaUYCM
Guardian:
"The death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman in Buenos Aires this weekend
is yet another reminder of how Argentina has over the last two decades
been bungling the judicial investigation into one of the deadliest
antisemitic attacks anywhere in the world since the Holocaust. The
energetic, garrulous Nisman, 51, was driven by a deep passion to bring to
justice a small group of Iranian officials his evidence allegedly showed
had been behind the terrorist bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre
in downtown Buenos Aires two decades ago. That massive blast, ascribed to
a suicide bomber driving a stolen white Renault van loaded with
explosives, resulted in the death of 85 people, mainly Jewish. Hundreds
of others were injured as the blast sent a ghastly plume of smoke
billowing over the city of Buenos Aires on the morning of 18 July 1994...
In 2007, on the basis of Nisman's investigation as the case prosecutor,
Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for Iranian officials who
are suspected of having masterminded the blast. Chief among them was
Mohsen Rabbani, the former Iranian cultural attache in Argentina at the
time of the blast. Nisman's pursuit of the Iranian lead in the case
seemed to give purpose to a case that had been bogged down since its
start by incompetence and blatant attempts to bury leads by its previous
investigators... Nisman's wiretaps allegedly show that the 'impunity for
oil' negotiations were being conducted by phone through a middleman in
Buenos Aires with the main suspect in Iran, Rabbani himself... 'Iran
admits and even boasts that it carried out the attack,' the prosecutor
said of the intercepted calls. 'It's astounding how the attack is
admitted.'" http://t.uani.com/15rZ9iu
WashPost:
"Lebanon and Israel braced Monday for possible retaliation by
Hezbollah for the deaths of six of the group's fighters in an alleged
Israeli raid in Syria, as Iran confirmed that one of its senior military
commanders was also killed in the attack. The strike on Sunday, in which
Israeli helicopters fired missiles at Hezbollah vehicles traveling in a
Syrian-controlled portion of the Golan Heights, sent regional tensions
soaring at a critical time, prompting fears of another war such as the
one that erupted in 2006 with sudden and unexpected ferocity... That one
of those killed in the strike was the son of Imad Mughniyah, a revered
Hezbollah military commander assassinated in a 2008 bombing also widely
blamed on Israel, compounded expectations that Hezbollah would feel
compelled to respond... Hezbollah and Iranian commanders reportedly also
died in those attacks, but this was the first to kill such senior figures,
and also the first to have elicited such a public response from
Hezbollah. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any of the strikes,
including this one, which Israeli officials quoted by news agencies have
said was intended to preempt a planned Hezbollah infiltration into
Israel... The commander was identified as Brig. Gen. Mohammed Aliallah
Dadi of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was serving as a 'military
adviser to the Syrian government,' according to the official Iranian news
agency IRNA." http://t.uani.com/1Cea3F7
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
Reuters:
"Iran and major powers will meet again next month to try to narrow
differences over Tehran's nuclear programme after making limited progress
on Sunday... All sides agreed to step up efforts to reach a political
understanding by the end of March with a view to clinching a full-blown
deal by their self-imposed deadline of June 30. 'The mood was very good,
but I don't think we made a lot of progress,' France's negotiator Nicolas
de la Riviere told reporters as he left the European Union mission in
Geneva. Iranian deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said that
discussions had been 'good' and 'extensive'... The negotiations, held at
the level of political directors, capped five days of diplomacy in Geneva
and Paris, including lengthy meetings between U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
'Substantive progress is limited, experts will continue tomorrow (Monday)
morning. It is fair to say that everybody is committed to stepping up
efforts,' a diplomat told Reuters." http://t.uani.com/1xPhuw8
AFP:
"A complex deal on Iran's nuclear programme can be reached only if
global powers stop pressuring Tehran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif warned Saturday evening. 'If the Western countries want to
negotiate with the Islamic Republic of Iran, they must make a political
decision, which for some could be difficult, and stop with the pressure,'
Zarif told Iranian state television... [Iran's deputy foreign minister
Abbas] Araghchi, who has spent three days meeting with senior US
officials and has also met with Russian officials in preparation for
Sunday's talks, meanwhile told the Fars news agency a deal would depend
on Washington showing 'good will'... A Western source close to the talks
however said the talks did not seem to be moving forward significantly
and that the biggest stumbling block was on the Iranian side. 'The
Iranians have not yet made enough gestures to enable us to reach a good
deal that would ensure a substantial reduction of their residual
(uranium) enrichment capacity, so we collectively can be assured they
don't have the technical capacity to rapidly develop a nuclear bomb,' he
told AFP." http://t.uani.com/1ujWYUd
AFP:
"Iran's foreign minister said Monday that he could hold fresh talks
with US Secretary of State John Kerry this week on the sidelines of the
World Economic Forum in Davos. 'It is possible I will meet Kerry or other
ministers from the P5+1 group' of major powers engaged in nuclear talks
with Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif said. Zarif met Kerry twice last week in
Geneva and Paris as the two sides seek to speed up the negotiations to
reach a comprehensive agreement on Iran's nuclear programme. Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani is also travelling to the Swiss ski resort to
join world leaders at the annual gathering, which opens on Tuesday. Zarif
said he could hold further meetings with his counterparts from the major
powers in Germany early next month on the sidelines of the Munich
Security Conference." http://t.uani.com/1CJN6YR
Al-Monitor:
"US and Iranian negotiators have worked intensively all week to try
draft a joint document to speed up nuclear deal talks, but are not
expected to present the document at a meeting with six world powers on
Jan. 18, diplomatic sources told Al-Monitor. 'Not this round,' a diplomat
involved in the talks told Al-Monitor Jan. 17, in response to a query
whether a document that US and Iranian negotiators have been working on
in Geneva this week would be presented to the other members of the P5+1
(the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany).The
document the United States and Iranians have been working to draft is
called the Principles of Agreement, diplomatic sources said, and is
evidently an element of the framework agreement that Iran and the P5+1 have
sought to complete by March." http://t.uani.com/1807c7w
Military
Matters
AP:
"Iran and Russia signed an agreement Tuesday to expand military ties
in a visit to Tehran by the Russian defense minister. Sergei Shoigu, in
remarks carried by Russian news agencies, said Moscow wants to develop a
'long-term and multifaceted' military relationship with Iran. He said
that the new agreement includes expanded counter-terrorism cooperation,
exchanges of military personnel for training purposes and an understanding
for each country's navy to more frequently use the other's ports. Iran's
Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan urged greater cooperation as a means of
opposing American ambitions in the region. Moscow and Tehran have
staunchly supported Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout Syria's
civil war, while Washington advocates regime change and supports rebel
groups. 'Iran and Russia are able to confront the expansionist
intervention and greed of the United States through cooperation, synergy
and activating strategic potential capacities,' Dehghan said. 'As two
neighbors, Iran and Russia have common viewpoints toward political,
regional and global issues.'" http://t.uani.com/1yljMbb
Congressional
Sanctions
WSJ:
"Two U.S. senators stepped up pressure on both the White House and
Iran on Sunday, drafting legislation to impose new sanctions on Iran if
U.S.-led talks to curb its nuclear ambitions collapse. Sens. Mark Kirk
(R., Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) said their bill would impose
the sanctions only if Iran and U.S. diplomats miss a July deadline for a
deal to curb Tehran's nuclear program. The Senate Banking Committee is
set to debate the bill and possibly hold a vote Thursday." http://t.uani.com/1ykkbL0
AFP:
"Supporters of Iran sanctions in the US Senate have unveiled a
toned-down bill aimed at gaining enough votes to override a presidential
veto... On Thursday, the Senate banking committee will discuss and vote
on the re-jigged bill proposed by Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat
Robert Menedez, two senators who have sponsored previous sanctions bills.
Their long-awaited bill was made public Friday but has not been formally
introduced in the Senate. It would gradually impose sanctions against
Iran if, by July 1, no final deal is reached in the talks under way
between Tehran and the so-called P5+1 group -- the United States,
Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. July 1 is the current
deadline for the international negotiations, at a stalemate after two
previous deadlines passed without a final agreement. The calendar
proposed by Kirk and Menendez would kick in a few days later, and
escalate over several months... 'The guillotine cuts into the wallet,'
but not in one fell swoop, a senior congressional staffer told AFP. 'It
cuts through over the next six months.' ... In December 2013, the two
lawmakers had proposed a much more stringent law, which set specific and
very strict criteria for any final agreement with Iran -- including that
Tehran completely dismantle illicit aspects of their nuclear program and
stop its support for terrorism. The new proposal would make these
conditions non-binding, which leaves Obama with more flexibility." http://t.uani.com/1Bxs2rb
Reuters:
"The sponsors of a bill to impose new sanctions on Iran if there is
no agreement on its nuclear program by July said on Friday they would
push ahead with the legislation, despite warnings that it could torpedo
international negotiations. 'All I'm saying is let us put in prospective
sanctions that don't get imposed... until July,' Democratic U.S. Senator
Robert Menendez said at a news conference in his home state of New
Jersey... Kirk also backed action in Congress. 'If anything can stop Iran
from getting nuclear weapons, it is maintaining the united bipartisan
front in Congress to end Iran's uranium enrichment and plutonium paths to
the bomb,' he said in a statement." http://t.uani.com/1xsiqHK
Al-Monitor:
"The battle between Congress and the White House over Iran begins in
earnest next week as the Republican-controlled Senate takes the first
step toward passing sanctions legislation critics say could derail
nuclear talks. The Senate Banking Committee is set to vote Jan. 22 on new
legislation by Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill.,
which would gradually impose sanctions if Iran doesn't agree to a deal by
July 6. The senators have greatly watered down their original bill in a
bid to get a veto-proof majority of 67 members on board. President Barack
Obama is expected to make a forceful case against the new sanctions push
in his State of the Union address Jan. 20. The president is also sending
some of his top lieutenants - State Department No. 2 Antony Blinken and
Treasury sanctions chief David Cohen - to make the case against new
sanctions at a Banking Committee hearing Jan. 20, ahead of the bill's
markup Jan. 22. Meanwhile, House leaders of both parties are working on
their own sanctions effort, Al-Monitor has learned. Blinken and Cohen
will be followed at the Jan. 20 hearing by outside experts from
pro-Israel think tanks that have been involved in the sanctions effort:
Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Patrick
Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The two
administration officials are also slated to testify on the morning of
Jan. 21 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding 'the
status of talks and the role of Congress.' It is the first hearing under
new Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn." http://t.uani.com/1yE09gM
AP:
"A leading Republican critic of President Barack Obama's foreign
policy is pushing new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program,
unswayed by a White House veto threat and lobbying by Britain's leader.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina did say Sunday that he would be
willing to set aside his efforts if Obama would submit any agreement with
Tehran to Congress for lawmakers to approve or reject. An Obama adviser
scoffed at the idea as an infringement on presidential authority...
Graham described congressional efforts as signaling to the Iranians that
'we would like a political negotiation, a diplomatic solution. But please
understand in Iran that the Congress is intent on reapplying sanctions if
you walk away from the negotiating table and if you cheat,' Graham said.
'I don't think that's a disruptive message.' As an alternative, he said
that if Obama 'thinks sanctions is disruptive to a good outcome, I'm
willing to forgo that vote with the understanding that any deal he
negotiates will come to the Congress for our approval or disapproval as a
check and balance.' White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer contended that
Graham 'would like to make all the foreign policy decisions of the United
States and be commander in chief. ... It's the president's authority.'
Pfeiffer added, 'It does not make any sense for Congress to scuttle that
deal ... because that would put America in a bad place, not just in
dealing with Iran but with the world.'" http://t.uani.com/1um8gge
Sanctions
Relief
Reuters:
"Mondo TV SpA signs a new agreement for grant of license for
transmitting channel Jam-e-Jam around 70 hours of programs distributed by
Mondo TV. License is granted for three years in Farsi language, including
exclusive free-tv rights via terrestrial means and without exclusivity
via satellite." http://t.uani.com/1ykNoFH
Sanctions
Enforcement & Impact
AFP:
"A government minister launched a rare attack Monday on Iran's
downplaying of the impact of international sanctions, saying that 'lying'
to the public over the measures had left the country 'backward'. Mohammad
Reza Nematzadeh, the industry, mining and trade minister, delivered the
broadside at a conference in Tehran, claiming years of statements about
sanctions not hurting the country were false. 'Why should we abandon
logic and swear instead or have empty gestures?' Nematzadeh asked. 'Do
you think the world doesn't get it that our gestures are empty? That our
remarks are empty?' The comments alluded to former president Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, whose tenure was dominated by tension over Iran's disputed
nuclear programme and the sweeping economic sanctions that followed. 'Why
should we say war has no effect or sanctions have no effect?' Nematzadeh
said. 'Our educated youths can tell if you're lying. Why should we teach
young people to lie?' ... He praised current President Hassan Rouhani for
taking a different approach to Ahmadinejad. 'We've been subjected to
injustice. Mr Rouhani referred to unjust sanctions. I heard this first
from him,' he added. 'If we consider sanctions as a blessing, then we
should be constantly asking for more sanctions, which in fact happened...
we kept saying: sanctions have no effect.' 'Let's put some cotton in
their ears, scotch tape on their mouth. Why do you lie? It does have an
effect. The country has become backward. There's inflation, recession.
Why should young people be unemployed?' he said." http://t.uani.com/1ujXqBN
FT:
"Importers of basic commodities in Iran say they are struggling with
delays in receiving hard currency from the central bank, caused by the
impact of falling oil prices and international sanctions over the
country's nuclear programme. 'Tens of ships are now waiting in Bandar
Abbas [the main port city in southern Iran], sometimes for several weeks,
and refuse to discharge cargoes until they are paid,' said one importer
of essential goods. 'This means we pay demurrage of as much as $30,000
per day.' The situation is reminiscent of the chaotic situation before
president Hassan Rouhani swept to power in the summer of 2013. The new
government quickly adopted policies that restored stability to the
currency market and discipline in payments to importers. But importers
say that after about a year of orderly payments, where they had to wait
for a maximum of a week for currency, they are back to month-long delays,
dramatically slowing down the flow of goods into the country... The
foreign currency problems come on top of the extra costs incurred as
businesses seek to avoid banking sanctions, for example by using
traditional transfer systems that rely on intermediaries or trading
through middlemen of other nationalities. One businessman involved in
shipping transportation said these costs were significant. 'If we want to
ship one tonne of commodities from Hamburg now, we have to pay €120. The
same cargo costs €42 per tonne if the destination is [the UAE's] Jebel
Ali.'" http://t.uani.com/1BynmBt
Reuters:
"A shipping insurer has warned that oil cargoes loaded ship to ship
at a port in the United Arab Emirates may contain Iranian crude disguised
as Iraqi barrels, and that it cannot insure these volumes as they are in
breach of U.S. sanctions on Tehran. Insurer West of England sent a letter
to its members this week stating that Iranian crude labeled as Iraqi oil
was being transferred ship to ship (STS) by smugglers at the Khor Fakkan
port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 'It appears that such oil may
routinely be described as being of Iraqi origin and as having been loaded
on board the transferring vessel at Basra some time before the proposed
STS operation,' the insurer said in a letter dated Jan. 13. The insurer
said it 'cannot provide insurance to vessels which load Iranian cargo in
such circumstances and cover will cease in its entirety if such cargo is
loaded'... West of England said that documentation of barrels labeled as
originating from Basra in Iraq, and which stopped over at Khor Fakkan,
should not be taken at face value. 'There is evidence of a sophisticated
smuggling operation and those responsible may go to considerable lengths
to disguise the true origin of the cargo,' the insurer said in the letter
on its website. West of England, which was not immediately available for
further comment, insures over 6,000 ships... West of England advised its
members 'to exercise extreme caution when engaging in STS operations in
the Arabian Gulf'. It also recommended that its members check with port
agents to ensure that vessels providing cargo by means of an STS transfer
in the region loaded the cargo at the port stated in its
documentation." http://t.uani.com/1zt6uLz
Human Rights
Reuters:
"Iran's hardline judiciary has banned a reformist newspaper for
publishing a picture of Hollywood star George Clooney wearing a 'Je suis
Charlie' ('I am Charlie') button, Iranian newspapers reported on Monday.
Mardom-e Emrooz (Today's People) had come under criticism after running
the image of the U.S. actor at last week's Golden Globes ceremony
displaying his support for victims of a deadly attack two weeks ago on
the Charlie Hebdo weekly in Paris. A conservative press watchdog revoked
Mardom-e Emrooz's permit only three weeks after it started publishing
with a pledge to support President Hassan Rouhani in his political and
social liberalization program, the official IRNA news agency said, citing
board member Allaeddin Zohurian." http://t.uani.com/17ZYRkn
AFP:
"Iran's footballers have been warned they could face punishment if
they take 'selfie' pictures with female fans who have turned out in large
numbers at the Asian Cup. The head of the Iranian Football Federation's
moral committee said players risked being used as a 'political tool' if
snapped with women fans. Women are banned from attending men's sports
events in the Islamic republic but they have flocked to see Iran's games
at the Asian Cup in Australia. Ali Akbar Mohamedzade, head of the moral
committee of the Iranian Football Federation, issued the warning last
week as photos of players with women fans circulated on social
media." http://t.uani.com/15pKBAi
IranWire:
"Political and civil rights activist Abdollah Momeni has survived an
attempt on his life. Momeni was returning to his Tehran home on January
15 when two men attacked him with knives and other weapons. The attack is
the latest in a series of violations against human rights activists.
Momeni, who previously spent two years in Evin Prison for his activism,
succeeded in fighting off the two men. He sustained chest injuries and
received medical attention at a Tehran hospital... The incident was not
thought to be an attempted robbery, and it is suspected that Momeni was
targeted for his work. Abdollah Momeni is a well known figure in Iran's
student movement, and is a spokesman for the NGO Office for
Fostering Unity. He has been arrested and imprisoned several times, most
recently following the 2009 presidential election, when he faced pressure
to confess to his crimes. He was released from prison in March 2014 after
serving a five-year sentence. For many, the growing attacks on civil
rights activists is a reminder of the chain murders of the 1990s, when a
group of Intelligence Ministry agents targeted intellectuals, writers and
civil rights activists." http://t.uani.com/1CvGIUB
IranWire:
"Authorities forced musician Harir Shariarzadeh off stage during a
concert by her husband Salar Aqili in Tarqobeh, Shandiz, on January 12.
Shariatzadeh, who was playing the daf, a large Persian frame drum used in
popular and classical music, was told to leave the stage at the end of
the first song and was not permitted to return thereafter. According to
Iscanews, altogether 13 female musicians have been stopped from performing
in live concerts according to an 'unwritten law imposed by hardliners and
pressure groups' on local branches of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic
Guidance." http://t.uani.com/1ykG6ln
IHR:
"The first public executions of 2015 were carried out in Shiraz this
morning. There were several children among those watching the hangings.
Two prisoners were hanged publicly in Shiraz (Southern Iran) today...
Tens of people and anti-riot police were present at the execution site.
There were many several children among the spectators." http://t.uani.com/15rXvxj
Domestic
Politics
NYT:
"The low rumble of powerful engines reverberated against the
high-rises of Zaferanieh, an upmarket neighborhood, as Porsches and
Mercedeses lined up to enter the multistory parking lot of a fancy new
shopping mall, the Palladium, the latest addition to Tehran's shopping
scene. Iran may be facing a dangerous economic abyss, with an empty
treasury, historically low oil prices and the continuing damage of
Western economic sanctions, but one indicator is going through the roof:
Developers have broken ground on a record 400 shopping malls across the
country, 65 in Tehran alone. In part, the malls are a lagging indicator,
a testament to a not-so-distant past when Iran was raking in record oil
profits, earning more than $700 billion in the last decade. Awash in
money, with a relatively strong currency, Iranians developed a taste for
luxury, setting off a boom in construction projects to host new shopping
experiences... Together with banks, wealthy individuals and powerful
foundations, tax-exempt organizations that are supposed to care for the
poor, Iran's security forces are building malls with Western-sounding
names such as Rose, Mega Mall and Atlas Plaza. Their bright neon letters
stand in sharp contrast to the revolutionary slogans painted on murals in
surrounding neighborhoods, labeling consumerism a Western illness and
taboo under Iran's rigid ideology." http://t.uani.com/1KXcDDp
Foreign Affairs
AFP:
"More than 2,000 Iranians protested Monday outside the French
embassy in Tehran, chanting 'Death to France' and urging the ambassador
be expelled because of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. The
demonstration was in response to French satirical magazine Charlie
Hebdo's use of the cartoon in an edition published a week after 12 people
were killed by Islamist gunmen at its Paris offices... Iran denounced the
Paris massacre but it also condemned the magazine's new cartoon, where
the prophet holds a 'Je suis Charlie' sign under the heading 'All is
forgiven'. Plans for Monday's protest led the French ambassador to
announce that the embassy, located in busy downtown Tehran, would be
closed all day." http://t.uani.com/1KXinNo
Reuters:
"Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has postponed a visit
to Saudi Arabia in protest against Riyadh's reluctance to cut oil
production, a senior Iranian official said on Sunday... 'There is
something that caused a delay in our foreign minister's planned visit to
Saudi Arabia and that is the fall in the oil price,' Iran's top diplomat
for the Middle East, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, told state-run al-Alam
television. The two sides have been talking about the visit for about 18
months, and a date had been tentatively set for last October." http://t.uani.com/1zt6fjJ
RFE/RL:
"With the end of NATO's combat mission in Afghanistan, Iran has been
tightening its grip on the western part of the country. Nowhere is the
Islamic republic's influence more visible than in the city of Herat,
which has deep historical ties to Iran. Over the past decade, Tehran has
remodeled Herat in its own image with new investment and cultural
initiatives, partly channeled through the region's Shi'ite
minority." http://t.uani.com/15rWx45
Opinion &
Analysis
WashPost
Editorial: "As negotiations with Iran on its nuclear
program resumed last week, President Obama reiterated his opposition to
new sanctions legislation. The legislation, which has strong bipartisan
support, could 'undermine the negotiations' and isolate the United States
from its allies, Mr. Obama said Friday. 'Just hold your fire,' he urged
Congress, vowing to veto the bill if it reached him. The logic of that
argument has always been a little hard to follow, since the measure the
Senate is likely to take up, sponsored by Democrat Robert Menendez (N.J.)
and Republican Mark Kirk (Ill.), would mandate new sanctions only if Iran
failed to accept an agreement by the June 30 deadline established in the
ongoing talks. Common sense suggests the certain prospect of more
punishment for an already-damaged economy would make the regime of Ali
Khamenei more rather than less likely to offer the concessions necessary
for a deal. We gave Mr. Obama's argument the benefit of the doubt when
Congress first considered the legislation more than a year ago. But the
president's logic has been undercut by the manifest willingness of the
Iranians to adopt their own pressure tactics - including steps that are
considerably more noxious than the threat of future sanctions. On the day
before talks resumed between Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif last Wednesday, Tehran announced
that construction has begun on two new nuclear reactors. The next day its
news agency reported that the case of Washington Post correspondent Jason
Rezaian, who has been imprisoned since July 22, had been referred to the
Revolutionary Court for 'processing.' The State Department was quick to
explain that Iran is not barred by United Nations resolutions or an
interim nuclear agreement from building new reactors. Yet by announcing
the construction, the regime is making clear its intention to continue
expanding, rather than dismantling, its nuclear infrastructure. It's also
demonstrating that it's not constrained from taking provocative steps during
the course of the negotiations - even as the Obama administration argues
that countervailing pressure would somehow be a deal breaker. The case of
Mr. Rezaian is particularly disturbing, as he and his family have been
subjected to prolonged and gratuitous suffering that violates
humanitarian norms and Iran's own laws. As of Friday, the 38-year-old
journalist, who was born and raised in California, had been held for 178
days, longer than any Western journalist arrested by the regime. He has
yet to learn the charges against him or be allowed to consult with his
lawyer. According to his mother, who was allowed to meet with him last
month, he has lost more than 40 pounds... It's difficult to avoid the
conclusion that he is being used as a human pawn in the regime's attempt
to gain leverage in the negotiations. If tactics such as that do not ruin
the chance of an agreement, then neither should action by Congress."
http://t.uani.com/1J24888
WSJ Editorial:
"'If Iran does not fully meet its commitments during this six-month
phase, we will turn off the [sanctions] relief and ratchet up the
pressure.' That was President Obama in November 2013, pledging he would
not allow an interim nuclear deal with Tehran to become an opportunity
for the mullahs to play for time while wringing economic concessions from
the West. The President's interpretation of 'six months' turns out to be
as elastic as his reading of U.S. immigration law. That became clear on
Friday when Mr. Obama warned he would veto any Congressional attempt to
impose sanctions on the Islamic Republic if the latest round of
negotiations fail... What seems to exercise Mr. Obama is a Congress that
holds his Administration to its word. 'The United States and our partners
will not consent to an extension merely to drag out negotiations,' wrote
Secretary of State John Kerry in a Washington Post op-ed last summer. Yet
two deadlines to finalize a deal have come and gone. The next one expires
in June. The Administration's latest argument is that a sanctions bill
would be interpreted as a hostile act by Tehran, potentially provoking
retaliation while spoiling the diplomatic mood. The Administration also
frets that it would disrupt unity among the so-called P5+1, referring to
the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council plus
Germany, while the West would be blamed if negotiations fail. These are
remarkable claims about legislation that would penalize Iran only after
the current deadline expires and if Iran does not come to terms. The bill
that is likely to emerge after the Senate Banking Committee holds
hearings Tuesday will be a revised version of last year's bipartisan
Kirk-Menendez bill, named after sponsors Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois
and Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jersey. It would reimpose the
sanctions Mr. Obama suspended when he signed the interim deal, impose
visa bans and asset blocks on top Iranian officials, and further tighten
oil and financial sanctions. Passing the bill now could help persuade
Iranian negotiators that they cannot string the West along indefinitely
without paying a price. Would that cause Iran to walk away from
negotiations? That's a strange argument coming from an Administration
that boasts that Iran agreed to the interim deal thanks to the bite of
strong sanctions. As for Western unity, it must not be all that firm if
it would collapse following a display of Congressional support for the
very goal the P5+1 claim to favor. Russia didn't walk away from Iran
negotiations even when it was hit with Western sanctions, so why would it
do so on behalf of Iran? The sanctions Tehran really fears-on the
purchase of its energy, on its banks, and restrictions on its
international financial transactions-depend on action by Washington and
its European allies. Moscow is an outlier in this negotiation, if not
bidding to be a spoiler. Mr. Obama's real reason for opposing the bill
may be that he knows it is also a message to him not to strike a bad
deal. The talks have already devolved from a demand that Iran give up its
nuclear program to how much of a 'window' Iran will have to build a bomb.
Mr. Kerry wants at least a year, as if Iran couldn't disguise its
progress." http://t.uani.com/1wn9MZI
NYT Editorial:
"As Iran's unjustified and unexplained imprisonment of Jason
Rezaian, The Washington Post's bureau chief in Tehran, headed into a
sixth month, the government news agency announced Wednesday that he had
been indicted. But the mystery continued: No charges were cited, nor was
there any sign that the Iranian-American reporter would be allowed to
consult a lawyer and Western diplomatic officials for his defense. The
announcement said only that the case was referred for 'processing' to
Tehran's Revolutionary Court. The development, while far from reassuring,
offers an opportunity for judiciary officials to finally introduce an
element of fairness into this shameful episode by dismissing all charges
against Mr. Rezaian, a widely respected foreign correspondent. In
November, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran's human rights
council, expressed the hope that the case might soon be dropped, with Mr.
Rezaian released in 'less than a month.' The Iranian leadership should
follow through and show that Iran, at a time of delicate international
talks about its nuclear program, can demonstrate that it is worthy of
greater trust and credibility. There was no justifiable reason for Mr.
Rezaian and his wife, the Iranian journalist Yeganeh Salehi, to have been
arrested in July." http://t.uani.com/1KXdlRc
Elliot Abrams in
CFR: "After six years in office, President Obama is
still unable to accept criticism or dissent from his policies, and labels
policy differences as essentially corrupt. Consider this report in The
New York Times: 'President Obama and Senator Robert Menendez traded sharp
words on Thursday over whether Congress should impose new sanctions on
Iran while the administration is negotiating with Tehran about its
nuclear program, according to two people who witnessed the exchange...
The president said he understood the pressures that senators face from
donors and others, but he urged the lawmakers to take the long view
rather than make a move for short-term political gain, according to the
senator. Mr. Menendez, who was seated at a table in front of the podium,
stood up and said he took 'personal offense.' This is a remarkable
exchange. Americans have been debating Iran policy for years, indeed
decades, and experts, former officials (including officials of his own
administration), and academics often differ on what policies will be most
effective in stopping Iran from getting the bomb. But Mr. Obama has no
respect for those who differ with him, and attributes those opinions to
pressure from donors 'and others' and the desire of politicians for
'short term political gain.' Let's leave aside just for a moment who
those 'others' might be; a good guess would be that he meant the
government of Israel and groups such as AIPAC. Let's just stick to
'donors' and 'short term political gain.' No wonder Sen. Menendez took
'personal offense.' What does a senior Democrat get from the leader
of his party when he spends years working on the Iran file? The
accusation that it's all about politics and campaign cash. Mr. Obama
remains unable to respect differing views; at bottom he considers them
not only wrong, but corrupt. Mr. Obama was not, of course, addressing
Sen. Menendez; he was characterizing all those who might favor additional
sanctions on Iran. Journalists and academics who write about the 'tone'
of politics in Obama's Washington should keep this news story in mind.
When a president is fundamentally disrespectful of all those who don't
happen to agree with his own views, and sees them as corrupt, it is no
wonder that politics in the capital takes on an ugly tone. And remember:
Mr. Obama was addressing Democrats here. His views of the opposing party
are no doubt even worse." http://t.uani.com/1yDujxr
Lee Smith in The
Weekly Standard: "Just as John Kerry was meeting
with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in Geneva last week as part of
the ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, Tehran announced it
was building two new nuclear reactors in the Bushehr region. That's
perfectly okay, said the State Department, since that's allowed under the
Joint Plan of Action: They can build as many reactors as they want. It
seems the Iranians can get away with a lot under the JPOA-the agreement
reached in November 2013 that eased sanctions on Tehran-because the White
House has hardly batted an eye over any of Iran's actions.Of course, the
notion that it's fine to build more reactors somewhat complicates the
Obama administration's claims that the agreement froze the Iranian
nuclear program. But in the year since the interim agreement with Iran
was signed, it's become clear that the White House defines 'froze' very flexibly.
The agreement also acknowledges Iran's right to enrich uranium. It allows
Iran unlimited work on its plutonium reactor at complex at Arak, provided
Iran does not touch the reactor itself. It ignores Iran's ballistic
missile program. All this while the administration has provided sanctions
relief that has rescued the Iranian economy and encouraged European
businesses to seek opportunities in Iran. Like any competent negotiator,
Iran is employing a two-track policy-negotiating while it enhances its leverage
by establishing facts on the ground. Why, on the other hand, is the Obama
administration forfeiting what leverage it has?An argument commonly made
by critics of the White House is that Iranian negotiators have run
circles around the Americans. It is easy to think so, but the reality is
that Iran, despite its worthy history as a great civilization, to say
nothing of its chess masters and master carpet weavers, has not cornered
the market on cunning. For every wheeler-dealer at the Iranian bazaar, America
produces a dozen corporate lawyers. The Obama administration isn't
getting outhustled. If it wanted to negotiate a tougher deal, it surely
could. It just doesn't want to. The Iranians understand that they're
pushing against an open door-across a threshold that happens to lead to
the rest of the Middle East, where Tehran's men are busy
empire-building... Maybe there are enough votes in the new Republican
Senate to pass more meaningful sanctions legislation. They had better act
fast, because the fact is we're soon going to reach the point when
sanctions will be largely irrelevant. Sanctions will be an empty threat
against an Iranian empire under a nuclear umbrella." http://t.uani.com/15r2W00
Roland Elliott
Brown in IranWire: "It was not out of exaggerated
respect for De Gaulle's memory that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
avoided naming Charlie Hebdo when he obliquely condemned the Paris
attacks last Friday. The killings put Iran in an awkward position. The
gunmen's claim to have 'avenged the Prophet Muhammad,' revives memories
of the Ayatollah Khomeini's 1988 fatwa calling for the murder of British
author Salman Rushdie, who satirized Muhammad's life - and Khomeini's -
in The Satanic Verses. The attacks cast into juxtaposition Islamic taboos
Iran still hopes to defend, and a revolutionary, anticlerical conception
of free speech that may well appeal to Iran's secular youth. They also
remind Iran and the West of their common interests, since the gunmen, as
Al Qaeda recruits, belonged to a Sunni jihadist movement that threatens
both. Thinking about the Paris attacks likely proved a dissonant
experience for Rouhani. No friend of free speech, he worked for years a
censor on the supervisory board of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting,
and sought tips on broadcasting from North Korea. He also supported
Khomeini's fatwa against Rushdie. And yet his remarks on Friday were
fresh. By saying that 'Those who kill and carry out violent and extremist
acts unjustly in the name of jihad, religion or Islam provoke Islamophobia,'
he echoed not Khomeini, but Khomeini's rival, Ayatollah Hussein Ali
Montazeri, who warned Khomeini that his extremism had 'frightened the
world' and made it think that 'our only task here in Iran was to kill.'
Montazeri, who was once Khomeini's heir apparent as supreme leader, spent
the rest of his life under house arrest for those comments. Historian
Michael Axworthy writes in his book Revolutionary Iran that Khomeini's
call for Rushdie's murder may in fact have been his response to
Montazeri's remarks. While the British government managed to protect
Rushdie himself, assassins motivated by Khomeini's fatwa stabbed to death
Hitoshi Igarishi, a Japanese scholar of Arabic and Persian literature who
had translated The Satanic Verses and tried to kill the book's Italian
translator Ettore Capriolo, and its Norwegian publisher William Nygaard.
Like the targets of Khomeini's fatwa, the murdered Charlie Hebdo staff
had been marked for death prior to the attack - in this case by the Al
Qaeda magazine Inspire, which happens also to have included Rushdie on
its hit list." http://t.uani.com/1EliXQL
Joel Simon in
Columbia Journalism Review: "In the aftermath of the
horrific murders of Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris, one might think attacks
on journalists tend to be dramatic, galvanizing events in which the fault
lines are sharply drawn. But the voice of a free press is most often
muffled in far less visible ways; through pressure, intimidation,
imprisonment, and exile. Take Iranian journalist Siamak Ghaderi, who demonstrated
extraordinary courage in covering the Green Movement that erupted
following the disputed 2009 presidential elections in his country.
Ghaderi had spent nearly two decades working for the Islamic Republic
News Agency, a semi-official news organization. But in the dramatic
moments when Iranians took to the streets, he observed a festival of lies
from the official media he worked for, and wanted no part of it. Ghaderi
created a personal blog he called IRNA-ye maa, or Our IRNA, to provide an
honest accounting of events-like the brutal beatings, shootings, and
other abuses perpetrated on the demonstrators. 'I was summoned twice by
the authorities and told to stop reporting on the shootings, the
protests, and other events,' Ghaderi told me in a recent conversation.
Ghaderi's refusal to succumb to censorship took him on an agonizing
journey, from an Iranian prison to a quiet suburb of Washington DC. He
views life in the US as a temporary refuge, one he is anxious to leave
behind. But he is caught between his stubborn bravery and a recognition
that a return home could lead to his re-arrest and further hardship for
his family. His tale shows how the struggle for press freedom is often
personal and private and that these battles are seldom surfaced." http://t.uani.com/1C2cuuJ
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