Eye on Iran: Iran Marks Revolution With 'Death to America' Chants

Join UANI             Top Stories NBC: "If you thought anti-American sentiment in Iran had waned after the nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions, you could be wrong. Tens of thousands of Iranians marched in Tehran's Azadi Square Thursday, chanting 'Death to America and Israel' and waving anti-Western placards on the 37th anniversary of the country's 1979 Islamic revolution. Ahmad Norouzi, a nurse, wore a bandana on his head that read: 'We will not allow foreign influence.' 'I have a message for Obama,' the 37-year-old said. 'You can't do anything to us and anything you say is a lie.' Sanaz, a 22-year-old secretary, also joined the rally. 'I am happy that I was able to come here today, and as an Iranian I can put my fist in America's mouth and say Death to America,' said Sanaz, who would only give one name. There were several homages in the rally to the incident last month where 10 U.S. Navy sailors were detained by Iran's Revolutionary Guard - including a parade float. President Hassan Rouhani gave an address, saying that Iranians will 'never yield' to outside pressure. 'Our nuclear victory showed to the world that Iranians are capable of winning any battle, including diplomatic battles,' Rouhani told the crowds." http://t.uani.com/23Z71Cj Politico: "Iran has released new images of the U.S. sailors who were detained last month after veering into the country's waters. The photos and video from state television, as shared by Iranian reporters on Twitter, show one sailor with red eyes appearing to wipe away tears with a tissue. Previous photos released showed the sailors on their knees with their hands behind their heads. In an earlier video, a sailor is shown apologizing for crossing into Iranian waters. Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama administration thanked Iran for its treatment of the sailors while they were in their custody following their release. 'I'm appreciative for the quick and appropriate response of the Iranian authorities,' Kerry said on Jan. 13. 'All indications suggest or tell us that our sailors were well taken care of, provided with blankets and food and assisted with their return to the fleet earlier today.'" http://t.uani.com/1O4OHvH The Hill: "Lawmakers in both parties accused the Obama administration on Wednesday of bending - if not outright breaking - a new anti-terrorism law, and of violating the separation of powers in the process. 'The president has decided that he's going to break this law,' House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said in one of two separate hearings with administration officials. 'This decision could have serious consequences for our security and, perhaps more importantly, far-reaching consequences for our democracy.' The law passed by Congress last year narrows a program that allows millions of foreign travelers to enter the U.S. without a visa. But according to Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the Homeland Security Committee's top Democrat, the White House made a 'questionable' call to publicize a list of five possible categories of people who could still travel without a visa, even though the law would have otherwise made that impossible. Now, the administration 'is starting to backpedal on some of those changes,' said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the House Oversight subcommittee on Government Operations, during a second hearing later in the day. The anti-terrorism law forbids people from participating in the visa waiver program if they have recently traveled to or are dual citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan. Those people would still be able to travel to the U.S., but would have to undergo the lengthier process of first acquiring a visa. But when the law was being implemented last month, the Obama administration announced that it would expand a provision allowing it to waive the new visa requirement for cases 'in the law enforcement or national security interests of the United States.' The administration listed five categories of people who might be able to travel without a visa - including people who had traveled to Iran for business purposes since the finalization of the nuclear deal last summer. Republicans erupted over the move... 'It seems to me that in our effort to ... appease Iran, that State Department made a call overriding - basically breaking the law that we passed,' said McCaul. 'It sounds like we created a jobs program for Iran,' added Meadows." http://t.uani.com/20XFEpC U.S.-Iran Relations Military Times: "Images of a U.S. sailor crying in custody are being broadcast on Iran's state television as the latest propaganda salvo from the Iranian government in the wake of its provocative January arrest of 10 American sailors in their waters. The latest move prompted a condemnation from the U.S. Navy, calling the sailors' treatment 'outrageous and unacceptable.' ... The new images sparked a fierce response from the Navy. 'As Secretary [of State John] Kerry has said, we are disgusted by the exploitation of our Sailors in Iranian propaganda,' said Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, spokesman for Naval Forces Central Command, in a statement. 'The detention of our personnel was outrageous and unacceptable.' ... In some of the most extensive comments from the Navy to date on the sailors' treatment, Stephens said the Iranians should have escorted the riverines from their waters and offered assistance if mechanical issues prevented them from complying immediately. 'Professional mariners understand that it is a duty and obligation to assist other mariners who suffer mechanical problems or who find themselves off track at sea,' Stephens said. 'The responsible action for the Iranians to have taken upon discovering our RCBs in their waters would have been to calmly and peacefully direct our RCBs out of their territorial waters or offer assistance if the apparent mechanical issues in one of the boats prevented them from departing immediately. It's outrageous and unacceptable that our Sailors were held at gunpoint and detained. We are grateful diplomacy worked at the end of the day, but it would never have come to that had the Iranian maritime forces involved behaved professionally and responsibly.'" http://t.uani.com/20OeJju AFP: "Iranians waved 'Death to America' banners and took selfies with a ballistic missile Thursday as they marked 37 years since the Islamic revolution, weeks after Iran finalised a nuclear deal with world powers. In the capital, hundreds of thousands converged on the historic Azadi (Freedom) Square, where President Hassan Rouhani was set to make a speech. Many demonstrators carried the traditional placards reading 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' while others carried the Iranian flag. Iran holds annual celebrations commemorating its 1979 revolution... Young people at a rally on Thursday reconstructed a scene from mid-January that saw US Navy sailors detained by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. State television has repeatedly broadcast pictures of the 10 sailors with their hands on their heads. On Wednesday night, a brief video also showed one soldier in tears... Revolutionary Guards were present on Thursday, displaying a long-range Imad ballistic missile in central Tehran. Many people were taking selfies with the missile, the ISNA news agency reported. Last October, Iran 'successfully' tested the new missile, which Tehran says has a range of 1700 kilometres (1050 miles). Local media also published images of General Qassem Suleimani, chief of the Guards' Quds special forces, marching in the rally. Louis Farakkhan, leader of the American group Nation of Islam, was also to make a speech as honarary guest after Rouhani." http://t.uani.com/1Sjm061 The Hill: "The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday passed a bipartisan resolution calling on Iran to return Robert Levinson, the longest-held American citizen in U.S. history. The committee passed the resolution, introduced by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and co-sponsored by Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a presidential candidate, unanimously by voice vote. 'We need to press [Iran] to keep their commitments,' Coons said... 'It needs to stay on the agenda,' Levinson's son Dan told The Hill. 'We're very encouraged it will continue to be an issue and continue to remain in the public eye.' After the prisoner release last month, Levinson's family spoke out in the media about a lack of communication from the government and not knowing ahead of time about the prisoner release. Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) expressed condolences to the family. 'We are sorry you've gone through this harrowing experience,' he said, calling Levinson a 'patriot.' 'All of us know that, and we need to do everything we can to get him back.' 'We'll use every avenue available to us to get a full accounting and release, I can assure you of that,' added the committee's ranking member, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)." http://t.uani.com/1TamOZT IranWire: "On Sunday, February 7, Iran's state television broadcast footage of an exchange between US F-18 fighters and Iran's air defense system near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. Although the clip features genuine images from January 12 - when Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval unit arrested 10 American sailors - parts of it have obviously been altered to present a more dramatic version of events to the Iranian public. The footage, aired by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), shows the American pilot in charge of the F-18 fleet announcing their approach to Farsi Island to support and rescue US military patrol boats. The Iranian air defense center warns them to leave the area as quickly as possible and that their personnel will provide the necessary help to the captured sailors... Although the Iranian authorities warn the Americans at the beginning of the footage, the overall tone of exchange is not hostile, with the US pilot thanking the Iranians toward the end of the clip. But General Farzad Esmaili, commander of Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, presented the chain of events as more serious and threatening to the Iranian TV audience. 'At first the Americans failed to reply to the warning that they must leave the airspace around Farsi Island. But when they noticed that our missile systems were ready and were locked on them, they immediately responded. They had less than 30 seconds to reply, after which we would have definitely fired missiles. We were not bluffing.' 'They were warned from both Bandar Abbas and Bushehr [command centers] and the Revolutionary Guards' missile installations were mobilized as well,' the commander said. 'They realized they were being targeted by 10 or 12 missile. We told Farsi Island to shoot any plane in its airspace, and to fire at will.'" http://t.uani.com/1TeAqVc Congressional Action The Hill: "Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) pledged Wednesday to work to get more funding for the group responsible for making sure Iran doesn't cheat on the nuclear deal, suggesting President Obama's budget request doesn't go far enough. 'As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am committed to doing everything I can to increase funding for the [International Atomic Energy Agency] during the Appropriations process,' he said in a statement. 'However, this goal is made considerably more difficult by the administration's low baseline request.' Coons, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, separately told reporters that while the president is supporting a 'modest increase,' it is less than the additional $10.6 million per year that the IAEA is requesting to help make sure Iran is complying with the nuclear agreement." http://t.uani.com/1o6Ao5n Sanctions Relief Reuters: "A subsidiary of Russian state defence company Rostec, United Engine-building Corporation (UEC), is preparing a 50-70 billion rouble ($635-890 million) supply contract with Iranian oil firm Kala Naft Tehran, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Wednesday. If successful, the contract would further strengthen commercial ties between Moscow and Tehran after the rolling back of Western sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme last month. A top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati, said in Moscow last week Iran and Russia had initialled contracts worth around $40 billion for projects including power-engineering and railway works. 'We have a framework contract with Kala Naft - a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company,' TASS quoted UEC Deputy General Director Sergei Mikhailov as saying. 'We see supplies for a large number of devices, for energy and gas-pumping projects.'" http://t.uani.com/1QXZ351 Tasnim (Iran): "Russian manufacturer Uralvagonzavod will export 5,000 freight wagons to Iran following the removal of anti-Tehran sanctions, a report said. According to the report carried by Russia's Kommersant newspaper on Tuesday, Iran will take delivery of all the wagons before the end of 2016. Russia's state development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) will give a $140-million loan to Uralvagonzavod for exporting the cars to the Islamic Republic, the paper added." http://t.uani.com/1o2dvPJ Bloomberg: "Iran is selling its Heavy crude grade for March to buyers in Asia at a deeper discount to Saudi Arabia's prices for the first time in a decade as it seeks to wrangle market share after international sanctions ended. National Iranian Oil Co. will offer supplies to Asia at $2.60 a barrel below the average of Oman and Dubai grades for March, according to a company official who asked not to be identified because of internal policy. Iran, whose pricing has tracked Saudi Arabia's since at least 2006, is giving buyers an additional 10-cent discount next month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The fifth-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is seeking to win back market share after economic sanctions were lifted last month." http://t.uani.com/1KdEVN9 Domestic Politics Reuters: "Hope for change is dwindling but not gone among supporters of Iran's main pro-reform opposition, although its leaders remain under house arrest and pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani looks incapable of achieving the freer society he promised. Exiled activists insist the 'Green Movement' is not a spent force; the struggle goes on in Iran, they say, albeit through the ballot box rather than the kind of mass protests that it staged in 2009, only to provoke a fierce state crackdown. Within the country, the mood is more weary before elections this month to parliament and the Assembly of Experts, a body which holds nominal power over the country's most powerful authority, the supreme leader. Mass disqualifications of reformist candidates are further undermining the chances of political and social change to match Iranians' expectations of a better economic life after Rouhani fulfilled his other election promise - to end international sanctions on the country under a nuclear deal with major powers... Aref, 28, who was expelled from university for backing the Green Movement then, typifies a disillusionment with mass action among those Iranians who cling to hope for change. 'I took part in the 2009 protests. I was beaten by the IRGC and Basij forces several times,' said Aref, asking that his full name be withheld. 'It was not worth it. It was too costly. I just want to live a free life. I want my rights as a human being to be respected.' ... 'The opposition has no leader to inspire people. Rouhani has failed to keep his promises over creating a freer society. People paid a very heavy price for the 2009 unrest,' said political analyst Hamid Farahvashian. For all the hope when Rouhani was elected in 2013, the Green Movement is still leaderless. Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister, and Mehdi Karoubi, a cleric and ex-speaker of parliament who stood against Ahmadinejad, remain under house arrest where they have been for five years." http://t.uani.com/1Wgb3QR ICHRI: "In addition to the massive disqualifications of moderate candidates for upcoming elections in Iran, hardliners have implemented another strategy to prevent challenges to their power: restricting the number of seats to important governmental bodies in order to prevent possible inroads by moderate candidates. For more than a year, the Assembly of Experts, the body of clerics charged with advising and choosing the country's supreme leader, has blocked efforts by the Ministry of Interior to increase the number of Assembly seats in provinces where there has been population growth, because that might open the door for more moderate candidates. The issue is of immediate relevance: Seats for the Assembly of Experts will be voted on in nationwide elections on February 26. Moreover, with the present supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, 76 and ailing, the next Assembly will almost certainly choose the next leader. Blocking an increase in Assembly seats is against Iranian law. Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Moghimi said on March 15, 2015, that in accordance with the law, the Assembly of Experts had been formally informed that because of the population increase since 1981 (when the Assembly was first formed), the membership should increase from 86 to 99. But following a September debate, the Assembly agreed to add only two seats-for representatives from the newly formed Alborz Province." http://t.uani.com/23YV53r Reuters: "President Hassan Rouhani urged Iran's faction-ridden elite on Thursday to seek consensus after a hardline watchdog body disqualified thousands of moderate candidates from two elections this month, state television said... 'Political factions should put aside any confrontation ... we need consensus now,' Rouhani told the Tehran crowd. 'Don't turn your backs on the ballot boxes.' ... 'Iranians will never yield to any pressure,' he said. 'Our nuclear victory showed to the world that Iranians are capable of winning any battle, including diplomatic battles.'" http://t.uani.com/1TeCcpk Opinion & Analysis David Schenker in WINEP: "The tight-lipped family oligarchy in Saudi Arabia headed by a geriatric and purportedly infirm monarch has no penchant for transparency. Despite the opacity, the transition from King Abdullah to King Salman has been accompanied by a perceptible shift in Saudi foreign policy. While the fundamental contours of the Kingdom's regional posture remain much the same, the ascendance of King Salman to the throne last January signaled a more robust Saudi approach to countering Iranian regional subversion. From Yemen to Syria to Lebanon, Riyadh is now pursuing an agenda that at times stands in stark opposition to the articulated regional policies of Washington. Saudi Arabia's more robust approach is a reaction to the Obama Administration's diplomatic overtures to Tehran in the context of the nuclear agreement. More broadly, though, it represents pushback from Riyadh against what, during a January 2014 interview, The New Yorker Magazine said President Obama envisaged as a 'new geopolitical equilibrium' in the Gulf. In that interview, the President described an 'equilibrium developing between Sunni, or predominantly Sunni, Gulf states and Iran in which there's competition, perhaps suspicion, but not an active or proxy warfare.' Not surprisingly, the interview sparked concern in Saudi Arabia. But the signing of the nuclear Framework Agreement in April 2015 and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in July 2015 confirmed Riyadh's fears about an American realignment in the Gulf. The Saudis were especially concerned that the nuclear agreement would purchase Iran immunity from US reprisal for its regionally destabilizing behavior, which would be exacerbated by the release of over $100 billion in frozen funds. In the months since the JCPOA was signed, the distance between the US and Saudi Arabia has only increased as Washington has seemingly embraced Tehran -- in Iraq and Syria -- as a potential force for regional stability. As Washington moved closer to detente with Tehran, Saudi Arabia has charted a new, more aggressive policy toward Iran. The first skirmish, just three months after King Salman's coronation -- and a month prior to the signing of the Framework Agreement -- was in Yemen. In March 2015, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed, nominally Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen, who a week earlier had sacked the provisional capital of Aden and drove Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi into exile. It wasn't the first time that the Saudis engaged in military operations against the Houthis; Riyadh deployed troops to fight the Houthis in 2009-10, but withdrew after three months when casualties started to mount. This time, however, notwithstanding casualties, the high financial costs of the campaign, and severe international criticism over extensive collateral damage in Yemen, the Saudis have sustained operations for nearly a year. Yemen has been the highest profile initiative in Riyadh's more aggressive approach to Iran, but it's not the only battleground. Saudi Arabia has been backing the Syrian rebels in their fight against the Iranian-backed Assad regime since 2011. This support has not wavered in the face of the September 2015 Russian military deployment, the reversal of momentum in favor of the regime, or the Obama Administration's volte face on Assad's continued rule in Syria. Indeed, Riyadh continues to provide materiel and political support to the rebels. And despite the Obama Administration's recent move closer to the Russian/Iranian position on Syria -- that Assad can stay in power indefinitely -- King Salman continues to help the Sunni rebels... For the Obama Administration, Riyadh's robust approach to Iran is problematic. For example, continued Saudi support for Syrian opposition groups could undermine the Administration's attempts to coerce these organizations into accepting a ceasefire that leaves the Assad regime in place. More broadly speaking, though, the real concern with the new Saudi approach is that it represents a shift away from the traditionally close alliance with Washington. In the aftermath of the Syria chemical weapons red-line debacle, a move away from the 2015 commitment to remove Assad, and the nuclear deal with Iran, Riyadh has determined that Washington is no longer a reliable ally. Judging from these latest Saudi policy initiatives, it seems that the Kingdom has decided to go it alone, to pursue its interests without regard for the wishes of the US. While many believe Riyadh's Yemen campaign and its oil policy are sowing the seeds of instability in the Kingdom, given the Administration's track record containing Iran, for the foreseeable future, Saudi Arabia's more activist approach is likely to endure." http://t.uani.com/20XHaIj         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.