|
|
|
Join UANI
Top
Stories
Bloomberg: "London's financial elite
will listen to Iran's central bank chief on Thursday as the Persian
Gulf nation seeks to break a deadlock in investments caused by the few
remaining U.S. sanctions. While the lifting of most curbs after the
country's nuclear deal with world powers last year is luring some
smaller money managers, most investors are staying away from the market
of 80 million consumers as they remain doubtful of Iran's ability to
protect their investments. To win back their trust, Tehran is sending
50 policy makers and finance executives to meet their European
counterparts at the first ever Euromoney conference dedicated to the
country... 'The question is how much money would they possibly make in
Iran that could outweigh running into breach of those still existing
U.S. sanctions,' said Charles Robertson, the London-based global chief
economist at Renaissance Capital Ltd., which conducts economic research
on Iran and other emerging markets. 'The answer from most investors so
far is it's not worth it.' ... The Euromoney conference will facilitate
a discussion on 'the key hurdles and challenges to overcome in order
for Iran to regain its position in the international banking and
financial community,' according to the official website. Besides Seif,
senior officials including Hassan Ghalibaf Asl, the chief executive
officer of Tehran Stock Exchange, will also speak. About 300 delegates,
including the likes of Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Sumitomo
Mitsui Banking Corp., will seek clarity from Iranian officials on how
the country's financial institutions left impaired by the decade-long
exile are being mended. One of their chief concerns is the lack of a
global custodian for the safekeeping of stocks and bonds, given their
lack of confidence in the local alternative. 'We don't invest in Iran
at the moment,' Michael Levy, a London-based frontier markets fund
manager at Barings Plc, which oversees $35.4 billion in its asset
management business. 'The legal infrastructure and custody is not well
defined enough to ensure safe custody of assets.'" http://t.uani.com/1TlReWm
WSJ: "Ebadallah Abdollahi, a
commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was surprised last summer to
find one of his top projects being second-guessed. A confidential
review ordered by the government called for scaling back a
multibillion-dollar bullet-train project in which he was deeply
involved, cutting some of its costs and allowing Western companies to
bid for part of the work, said people who saw the report. Since then,
two European companies have negotiated with Iran for a piece of the
project, with talks in one case continuing. Iran is riven by a behind-the-scenes
skirmish over the economy, one that was sharply accelerated by the
country's 2015 deal with world powers to curb the country's nuclear
program. During years of sanctions that kept away many foreign
companies, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stepped into the void,
building a network of companies that came to dominate Iranian
industries from energy to telecommunications. The nuclear deal, by
lifting many of the sanctions, is reopening the doors to those foreign
companies. The relatively moderate government of President Hassan
Rouhani is trying to nudge aside the conservative Revolutionary Guards
in some areas to make way for what it hopes will be a flood of Western
money. Top leaders deny discord. President Rouhani, in remarks
published by the state news agency IRNA a week ago, said there was no
conflict between his administration and other Iranian power bases. 'We
don't have any confrontation with each other domestically,' he said.
Cmdr. Abdollahi, at a news conference a few days earlier, said, 'We
haven't had any particular problem with any of the government.' But
officials of both sides describe tensions over the Revolutionary
Guards' extensive involvement in business and what it means for other
participants... While Mr. Abdollahi disputes Iran's need for most
foreign involvement, a few companies affiliated with the Revolutionary
Guards are starting to hire Western consultants and recruit politically
moderate professionals to help run companies. The idea, said officials
familiar with the moves, is to co-opt Iran's Westward shift and get in
position to grab a slice of future foreign business instead of
resisting it." http://t.uani.com/1TZtdGK
Reuters: "The United States has a
simple answer for executives of European banks scratching their heads
over whether it is now legal for them to do business with Iran: Just
ask. Any firm concerned whether a prospective business deal with Iran
would be legal, Secretary of State John Kerry said before a meeting
with British bankers in London last week, should call the U.S. agency
in charge of sanctions, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign
Assets Control, known as OFAC. 'It really shouldn't be complicated,' he
told reporters, according to a transcript of his comments. 'It's
clearly defined, and when people have a question, we are available to
answer those questions.' If only it were that simple. Sanctions lawyers
say OFAC does not do enough to clear up the ambiguity caused by a maze
of overlapping sanctions and exemptions. In interviews, nearly a dozen
attorneys who regularly deal with the agency said the recommendations
they receive are often vague and noncommittal... Since some sanctions
were lifted, Iran has agreed to deals worth a total of at least $37
billion in sectors such as construction, aviation and car
manufacturing, with companies including planemaker Airbus, carmaker
Peugeot and Italian steel firm Danieli. Dozens of other companies have
said they are in talks or have signed provisional agreements with
Iranian partners. But lawyers say those deals will be difficult or
impossible to carry out if large European banks refuse to finance them
or transfer money in and out of the country, for fear that doing so
might violate the remaining sanctions or that the restrictions might
'snap back' if Iran violates the nuclear agreement. Part of the problem
is that knowing if a company or person is blacklisted or owned by a
blacklisted person or company is difficult in a place such as Iran,
attorneys said. 'The problem is the IRGC doesn't walk out there waving
a flag and saying, Hey, I own 51.4 percent of this company; don't deal
with me,' said Aaron Hutman, a sanctions attorney at Pillsbury in
Washington. 'The banks are being asked to deal in a world where you
have very sophisticated players who over the course of years of
sanctions have become very good at hiding themselves.' ... 'The banks
have to hear something along the lines of 'If you act in good faith,
you can expect that we are not going to engage in any heavy-handed
enforcement,'' Hutman said. 'That's not the message you get. The
message you get is, 'We plan to vigorously enforce our Iran-related
laws.'" http://t.uani.com/1NA7d65
Nuclear
& Ballistic Missile Program
Washington
Examiner: "The
Obama administration is moving to finalize an $8.6 million deal with
Iran to buy a supply of heavy water used in the country's nuclear
program. 'We are still in the process of executing that first
transaction,' Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Wednesday at a policy
forum hosted by Politico in Washington. Moniz strived to make clear
that the heavy water purchase would be a one-time deal and not
something that will become part of normalized trade with Iran. 'We
would facilitate a first purchase, and a first purchase only,' he said,
explaining the terms laid out in the nuclear deal the Obama
administration hashed out with the Islamic Republic last year. Moniz
was a key player in reaching the deal. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.,
introduced an amendment to a $37.5 billion energy spending bill that
would have banned any future purchases of Iran's heavy water. The
amendment was voted down last week in an effort to move the spending
bill, which funds many of the Energy Department's programs." http://t.uani.com/1U1KFrf
U.S.-Iran
Relations
AP: "A nonprofit organization
headed by a Lebanese citizen held prisoner in Iran received grants
totaling $730,000 from the U.S. government for projects in the Middle
East, The Associated Press has learned. Nizar Zakka, 49, a technology
expert and advocate for Internet freedom, was arrested in Tehran in
September after being invited by the Iranian government to attend a
conference there. Although no charges have been announced, Iranian
media has accused him of being an American spy, allegations vigorously
rejected by his family and associates. Zakka, who lives in Washington
and holds resident status in the U.S., leads the Arab ICT Organization,
or IJMA3, an industry consortium from 13 countries that advocates for
information technology in the region... Zakka's family and his
supporters are pressing the U.S. government to become more active in
trying to obtain his release, arguing that his arrest was due to his
ties to America. Supporters have written Secretary of State John Kerry
stating Zakka travelled to Iran 'with the knowledge and approval of the
U.S. State Department, and his trip was funded by grants' from it.
Those assertions could not be verified by the AP and his friends say
they can't obtain copies of the contract from the State Department due
to federal regulations. 'Nizar is a man without a country when it comes
to consular assistance,' the April 18 letter to Kerry reads. 'We
believe that the State Department has a moral obligation to help Nizar
in his time of need.'" http://t.uani.com/1WFacgf
Business
Risk
WSJ: "Larger U.K. banks may keep
on avoiding business with Iran as long as the U.S. sanctions program
remains in place, but smaller and middle-sized banks and businesses are
keen on commercial engagement with the country, according to sanctions
experts. 'The big global exporters are taking their time to get into
those deals...But [the small and medium-enterprises] market is really
keen to re-establish relationships with Iran,' said Justine Walker, the
British Bankers' Association director of financial crime (sanctions and
bribery). 'My fear is that they are the ones who will find the access
to banking the most challenging,' Ms. Walker said Wednesday during a
panel discussion on sanctions in London organized by Dow Jones Risk
& Compliance and The Wall Street Journal... 'It's not the gold rush
everybody expected it to be,' said Ms. Walker. She said she gets asked
whether U.K. banks will get back into Iran 'every day, 10 times a day,'
but although risk appetites across the BBA-about 270 financial firms-is
diverse, the risk of breaching any sanctions is still too high. 'The
absolute predominant view is that it remains very challenging whilst
the U.S. primary sanctions are still in place,' she said." http://t.uani.com/1qwglgW
Sanctions
Enforcement
NYT: "The lawyer for Reza Zarrab,
a gold trader based in Turkey who is jailed in Manhattan on charges of
conspiring to violate United States sanctions on Iran, proposed on
Wednesday that his client be released on $50 million bond with strict
conditions to ensure that he would be present for trial. Mr. Zarrab was
arrested in March on a trip to Florida and was sent to New York for
prosecution. In 2013, he was detained by the authorities in Turkey as
part of a wide-ranging corruption investigation of businessmen with
close ties to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was then Turkey's prime
minister and is now its president. Under his lawyer's proposal, Mr.
Zarrab's bond would be secured by $10 million in cash and he would be
required to remain in his New York residence under 24-hour armed guard
and GPS monitoring. The lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said in papers filed
in Federal District Court that the office of Preet Bharara, the United
States attorney for the Southern District of New York, had rejected the
defense's bail proposal and wanted Mr. Zarrab detained until
trial." http://t.uani.com/27Dx0kk
Sanctions
Relief
WSJ: "Global hotel companies are
establishing new beachheads in Iran, betting that lifted sanctions
against the Middle East nation will spark a jump in tourism and
business travel after decades of economic isolation. Spanish operator
Melia Hotels International is planning to open a 319-room hotel next
year on the Caspian Sea. French group Accor Hotels, which opened two
hotels near the Tehran airport last autumn, is establishing a
joint-stock company in Iran through which it will partner with local
groups to manage hotels. Abu Dhabi-based Rotana Hotel Management Corp.
PJSC has started developing properties in the country as well... 'We just
have to wait. That's the frustrating bit,' said Peter Norman, senior
vice president for acquisitions and development at Hyatt in Europe, the
Mideast and Africa. 'We're really keen to go in there,' he said. Hyatt
and Germany-based Kempinski Hotels have been exploring opportunities
but said for the moment barriers remain too high." http://t.uani.com/1OJFfoM
Dong-A
Ilbo (South Korea):
"Hyundai Motor is likely to resume knockdown exports to Iran,
following the footsteps of Kia. It has been confirmed that the auto
maker is undergoing legal review of a deal to export auto parts to SDM,
an Iranian transportation & construction company for knockdown
manufacturing of its mid-sized truck 'Mighty.' The company plans to
reach an agreement by next month at the earliest, if the results turn
out positive. Concrete numbers are yet to be fixed, but annual number
of the deal is expected to reach between 2,000 and 3,000, given the
size of the local market. A 'knockdown export' is about Hyundai
exporting parts to an Iranian maker so that it can produce finished
vehicles and sell them in the market. Hyundai will transfer its
assembly techniques during the process. Hyundai has already agreed with
SDM immediately after the removal of sanctions imposed on Iran that it
will supply parts for the model upon SDM's request. 'SDM will be able
to launch Mighty as its first automobile,' said an SDM official...
Meanwhile, Kia Motors resumed its knockdown business with Saipa, Iran's
No.2 car maker, earlier this year. 1,200 Fortes (local brand: Serato)
were locally produced during the first quarter. Kia has also sold 800
finished cars to the market, including some of the K3 model. The
brand's representative sedan Pride had once been one of the most
commonly seen cars on Iran's roads along with Peugeot, before the
sanctions." http://t.uani.com/1Tg4Wz8
Financial
Tribune (Iran):
"The first edition of the Iran-Italy Summit was held in Tehran on
Monday with a large delegation of Italian business leaders conferring
with their Iranian counterparts on ways to foster closer ties between
Italy and the Middle East's second largest economy. Naming Iran as the
gateway between the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa,
Vincenzo Amendola, Italy's deputy foreign minister told the meeting
that 'Italy has never left Iran and will never give up on it.' He
underscored the time-tested relationship between the two countries that
goes back 200 years. The high-profile event which was organized by the
European House-Ambrosetti was also the courtesy of the Italian Foreign
Ministry, the the Iranian Embassy in Rome, Italy's Institute for
Foreign Trade and the Italian-Iranian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
It brought together some key Italian and Iranian corporate and
institutional stakeholders, leading economists and opinion leaders to
help build an influential community of business leaders and
policymakers able and willing to reshape two-way relations. Majid
Takht-Ravanchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for European and
American Affairs, Masoud Khansari, head of Tehran's Chamber of
Commerce, Industries and Mines and Mauro Conciatori, the Italian
ambassador to Iran were among the keynote speakers... Ferial Mostofi,
chairwoman of KDD Group and a board member of several trade
institutions said the partnership with Ambrosetti will pave the way for
Iran to establish ties with international legal and accounting firms
that in turn will also help Iranian firms to be rated by the world's
top rating agencies." http://t.uani.com/1OBvG5N
Extremism
Times
of Israel:
"An Iranian television news report about the country's current
Holocaust cartoon contest described how one section was 'dedicated to
drawings of people like Hitler and [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu'
and that the goal was to 'enhance' freedom of speech. The segment on
Al-Alam TV, an Arabic-language station based in Tehran, was broadcast
Sunday and covered the previous day's opening of the Second
International Holocaust Cartoon Contest, an event that has been
condemned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization and by the US State Department. An English-language
subtitled version of the television report was provided Tuesday by the
Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington-based watchdog group.
Along with footage of the opening ceremony, reporter Salim Issa
explained that 'the goals of the contest are to enhance the culture of
freedom of speech by means of modern art and to open new horizons for
cultural and artistic cooperation and exchange between Iranian and
foreign artists.' Issa highlighted 'the largest and most symbolic
picture in exhibition,' a drawing showing a kite in Palestinian
national colors flying above gray, imposing brick walls arranged in a
swastika... Another section of the exhibit, which runs for two weeks,
is 'dedicated to drawings of people like Hitler and Benjamin Netanyahu,
the prime minister of the Israeli occupation, who appeared in one
painting wielding a sword like an ISIS terrorist.'" http://t.uani.com/1Th6Uzq
Regional
Destabilization
Middle
East Eye: "The
military wing of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has been instructed by
Iran to suspend operations against Israel and to target Saudi Arabia
instead, Middle East Eye can reveal. The instruction comes in the wake
of widespread anger at the apparent assassination of Mustafa
Badreddine, its military commander in Syria and head of the movement's
military wing, which Hezbollah blamed on 'takfiri' forces supported by
Riyadh. According to well informed sources in Lebanon, the order was
conveyed in person by Qasim Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force of
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) who came to Beirut to give his
condolescences. Soleimani also named Badreddine's successor and his two
deputies, which is believed to be an unprecedented move in the relationship
between Iran and the Lebanese movement. Previous appointments have been
an internal matter for Hezbollah in consultation with Iran, MEE
understands. Badreddine's replacement is Fuad Shukr, whose nom de
guerre is al-Hajj Mohsen, the sources told MEE... Iran's order to
Hezbollah, and the fact that they have gone to such lengths as to
appoint a successor, confirms the significance to Iran of Badreddine's
death, the exact circumstances of which are still a matter of
speculation. His death near Damascus airport was initially blamed on an
Israeli covert operation, but this was contradicted by a Hezbollah
statement." http://t.uani.com/1qwhK7a
Syria
Conflict
Reuters: "Iran's elite Revolutionary
Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday many Iranians have volunteered to fight
in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's war against
'terrorism', the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported... 'Many
young Iranians from different parts of the country and of different
ethnicities have volunteered to go to Syria ... to help the Syrian
government and the Syrian people in their fight against terrorism...,'
Tasnim quoted the head of the IRGC's public relations office, General
Ramezan Sharif, as saying... The Islamic Republic denies having any
conventional armed forces in Syria, but has acknowledged having
military advisers and volunteers from the IRGC there to help Assad's
forces. Last month, however, Tehran said military commandos had also
been dispatched to Syria as advisers, suggesting it was using its
regular army as well as forces from the IRGC. However, Iran's army
chief later said those personnel were volunteers working under IRGC
supervision, and that the regular army was not directly involved... In
the past few months Iran has sustained serious losses in Syria,
including several high-ranking members of the IRGC. Iranian media have
reported the death of over 100 members of the IRGC and its affiliated
volunteer, the Basij militia, in Syria... 'Syria is the golden ring of
resistance front,' Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iranian Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Iran's Student News Agency
ISNA." http://t.uani.com/23Yks2g
Human
Rights
NYT: "A house visit by a daughter
of a prominent ayatollah to a female leader of the persecuted Bahai
religious minority touched off a debate this week in Iran about the
harsh treatment of a group deemed pagans and impure by the country's
dominant clerics. The issue was raised last week when the Iranian news
media reported that Faezeh Hashemi, 54, a daughter of the former
president, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, had sat down for tea
with Fariba Kamalabadi, 52, a Bahai leader. Ms. Kamalabadi, was on temporary
leave from a 20-year prison sentence imposed on her and six other Bahai
leaders for spying for Israel. The United States State Department has
condemned their imprisonment and called for their release along with
other 'prisoners of conscience.' An official with Iran's conservative
judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, called the meeting 'obscene and
despicable,' and told reporters on Wednesday that he was planning to
take Ms. Hashemi to court. Ms. Hashemi and Ms. Kamalabadi became
acquainted in 2013, when they shared a prison cell after Ms. Hashemi
was given a six-month sentence for 'spreading propaganda against the
system.' Before then, 'I had no information about these people,' Ms.
Hashemi said of the Bahais. 'But with the Islamic Republic imprisoning
me, I became familiar with them, and this opened another window in my
life.' ... Meeting a member of the Bahai faith, however, was one
provocation too many. Even her father criticized her for having tea
with a member of the Bahais, whom he called 'heretics,' the
semiofficial Fars News Agency reported on Monday. 'She has committed a
wrong deed and should be ashamed of herself,' he said." http://t.uani.com/27DtYwH
Opinion
& Analysis
UANI
CEO Amb. Mark D. Wallace in City A.M.: "This morning, in a giant
ballroom in one of London's most luxurious hotels, executives from
leading corporations will gather for a major investment conference. In
some ways, the conference will be like dozens that take place across
London each year. However, this one has an unusual and ominous twist:
it is organised precisely to encourage British and European financiers
to invest heavily in Iran. According to the conference marketing materials,
the event, co-sponsored by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, is designed to help facilitate the re-integration of the country
into the global business community. Everything about the event oozes
hope for respectability, but it cannot gloss over a simple truth. The
conference - whose lead sponsors include entities whose property
remains blocked in the United States - is encouraging investment in the
world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, in a country that brutally
represses its own people, and one that simply cannot be trusted to play
by the rules of the global financial system. Companies contemplating
rolling the dice with the Ayatollah should keep in mind five broad sets
of business risk: investing in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
(IRGC); revocation of the Iran nuclear deal; local corruption and
criminality; dangers to the safety of staff and their families; and
massive reputational risk. But the prospect of breaching the laws of
the leading economic powers - most obviously the United States - is
perhaps the most urgent risk for British businesses considering work in
Iran. Iran is a largely unknown entity for many businesses, and they
could inadvertently find themselves working with entities that are
secretly managed or owned by a hugely powerful terrorist organisation -
the IRGC. With more than 100,000 members, the IRGC is primarily a
military organisation, but it exerts huge economic clout. It controls
key strategic industries - like Iran's energy sector - and has a major role
in the black market. Working with the IRGC would be illegal but also
difficult to guard against because the group operates through numerous
front companies. Businesses might also find themselves in a difficult
legal position were far-reaching sanctions to be reintroduced on Iran.
The international nuclear deal agreed to put limits on what Iran can do
in the nuclear field. Given Tehran's past record, it is reasonable to
assume that there is a high risk that it will flout this agreement and
continue to pursue the development of nuclear weapons. Should this
happen, previously lifted sanctions would be reinstated, and
international business would quickly flee... For Iran to be integrated
into the global business community, it must undertake fundamental reforms
to attract business; commit itself to peaceful coexistence with its
neighbours and those in the West; treat its own citizens with dignity;
and put in place the fundamental building blocks of a free market
economy. Those delegates walking into today's conference should keep
this in mind as they listen to people talk about investing in Iran as
if it were like investing in Western Europe." http://t.uani.com/1U1Mh4k
NYPost
Editorial:
"If the American people knew the full - still classified - details
of how Iran treated the US sailors it took captive last January, they'd
be shocked. So says a senior member of the House Armed Services
Committee, who has received a 'full classified briefing from military
officials.' We suspect Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) is absolutely right.
Because what's already public is horrifying enough. Yet the public
won't learn the whole story for at least another year - well past
November's presidential election, Forbes told the Washington Free
Beacon. 'I think that when the details actually come out,' he said,
'most Americans are going to be kind of taken aback by the entire
incident, both how Iran handled it and how we handled it.' Again, it's
already an outrage. The Iranians ordered our sailors to kneel at
gunpoint, parading them with hands in the air and forcing the lone
woman to cover her hair, in accordance with their religious rules. And
they took photos and video of it all, as well as the commanding
officer's coerced apology. That's multiple violations of international
law - in just 15 hours of captivity that was itself illegal, since the
sailors plainly veered into Iranian waters by accident. Despite all
that, Secretary of State John Kerry actually praised Iran for finally
releasing its captives, calling it a 'triumph of diplomacy.' The only
one who's been held accountable? The officer in charge got dismissed
from his post, it was disclosed last week... What's the excuse for
keeping the American people in the dark about the details now? It's
hard to see how the info can jeopardize national security - though it
might foment even more opposition to Obama's Iran giveaway." http://t.uani.com/1WFaC6k
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment