Eye on Iran: Iran Arrests Dual National on Security-Related Charges

Join UANI       Top Stories    WSJ: "Tehran's top prosecutor said Tuesday that the authorities had arrested a dual citizen who had been in contact with British intelligence services, the latest in a string of such detentions this year. The person faces espionage charges after being taken into custody, prosecutor general Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi told the official Islamic Republic News Agency. He didn't disclose the person's name or second nationality, or elaborate further on the case. The U.K. government said it was seeking information following the reported detention of a dual Iranian-British national in Iran. At least six other Iranian dual nationals have been arrested this year, many of whom stand accused of spying or attempting to undermine the Iranian system." http://t.uani.com/2aWzWz7 AP: "Russian warplanes took off on Tuesday from a base in Iran to target Islamic State fighters and other militants in Syria, Russia's Defense Ministry said, widening Moscow's bombing campaign in Syria in a major development in the country's civil war... It is virtually unheard of in Iran's recent history to allow a foreign power to use one of its bases to stage attacks from. Russia has also never used the territory of another country in the Middle East for its operations inside Syria, where it has been carrying out an aerial campaign in support of President Bashar Assad's government for nearly a year." http://t.uani.com/2bvpeCs Bloomberg: "Iran, holder of the world's biggest natural gas reserves, says it will start exports to Iraq in the next month, more than a year later than it originally planned. Shipments will start at 7 million cubic meters a day to supply a power plant in Baghdad, Hamid Reza Araghi, director of the National Iranian Gas Co., said in an interview with the Iranian Students' News Agency. A second route to Basra will be opened in 2017, with shipments eventually reaching 70 million cubic meters a day. Iran is boosting crude oil and natural gas exports after international sanctions were eased in January. While its crude output has rebounded faster than expected, the natural gas exports to Iraq have taken more time. 'They are most of the way there,' Richard Mallinson, an analyst at Energy Aspects in London, said by phone on Monday. 'Iraq desperately needs gas for its power stations... The Iranians want to find a home for more South Pars gas as volumes increase,' Mallinson said." http://t.uani.com/2aZMOXm UANI in the News BidnessEtc: "Three separate groups of Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) officials are in Iran to discuss the merits of their $25 billion aircraft sale to the country. The official trip to the Islamic Republic follows ongoing obstacles Iran has faced to close the deal with the American aircraft manufacturer... A Baker Donelson attorney in Washington D.C, Doreen Edelman said: 'This is a very big deal. Boeing has been working on this, behind the scenes, for a very long time.' She further added that according to the notwithstanding government approval of the deal, the aircraft manufacturer is legally allowed to move forward with its deal with Iran, in negotiating key parts of the complex transaction... Deals with Iran have faced scrutiny from various political and non-political organizations since trade sanctions were lifted earlier this year...The US House of Representatives recently proposed a measure that may well stop both companies from making sales to the country because both businesses use a large number of US made parts that could easily be imitated and manufactured by Iran. Likewise, the United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a not-for-profit and non-partisan advocacy group, has protested deals with the country owing to the 'terrorism sponsoring' status Iran is often labeled with." http://t.uani.com/2aRBS0Q Sanctions Relief Reuters: "India's July oil imports from Iran rose to their highest in at least five year[s], climbing to over 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the second time in five months... Iran used to be India's second-biggest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia until 2011, when New Delhi had to cut purchases from Tehran because of western sanctions... Last month two state refiners Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum lifted oil from Tehran after a gap of years." http://t.uani.com/2bubR7U Foreign Affairs WSJ: "Iran has made no decision about joining an OPEC meeting on oil output next month and doesn't expect to reach the production levels that its government has previously said are required before it can make an output agreement, an oil-ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday. The statements cast a doubt on the success of informal talks due next month in Algiers to revive efforts to tighten output. A similar push failed in April in Qatar, when Iran said it wouldn't limit its oil production until it had reached between 4 million and 4.2 million barrels a day, a level it says represented its capacity before the West tightened sanctions over the country's nuclear program... But a spokeswoman for Iran's oil ministry said officials 'have not determined yet to join the meeting' and have 'made no decision' on joining a cap. Asked if production would reach presanctions level by late September, she said 'we don't think so.'" http://t.uani.com/2aXAXNL Human Rights AP: "Iranian sports fan and activist Darya Safai returned to the Olympic volleyball venue Monday repeating her message and hoping the whole world hears: 'Let Iranian Women Enter Their Stadiums.' After discussions with about a half-dozen venue officials leading up to the Iran men's team's match with defending champion Russia, she was allowed to stay and hold her sign in a front-row, curtsied seat... On Saturday, she was in tears when security officials told her she would have to leave if she kept it. Olympic officials do not allow political statements at the games, though the 41-year-old Safai insists 'it's a gender message'... The Olympics have provided the chance for some Iranian women to see a volleyball game for the first time. Women are generally banned from all-male sports events in Iran." http://t.uani.com/2aZJ0pg Opinion & Analysis Tzvi Kahn for Foreign Policy Initiative: "Tensions between Iran and Bahrain are rising. Over the past year, Tehran not only has repeatedly threatened to overthrow the Gulf island state, a key American ally that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, but also continued to support terrorist proxies seeking the Sunni monarchy's ouster. At the same time, Manama's repression of the Shiite majority has persisted, exacerbating the country's sectarian divide and offering Iran a pretext for its ongoing interference. If Washington fails to counter Tehran's aggression and Manama's repression, Iranian influence in the Gulf will continue to grow, further destabilizing the region and undermining America's forward operating position... These developments require a stronger U.S. response. The U.S. military base in Bahrain constitutes the centerpiece of America's regional position. Stability in Manama remains pivotal for any broader U.S. effort to combat the Islamic State, al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist groups, protect the free flow of oil in the Persian Gulf, and deter future Iranian belligerence. Washington must increase pressure on Manama to halt its repression of the Shiite majority, and enact meaningful consequences - such as halting further arms sales - if the regime refuses to comply. At the same time, the administration should impose new sanctions on Iran for its regional aggression. In the absence of such steps, the stability of Bahrain will continue to deteriorate, risking a broader conflagration that directly threatens U.S. national interests." http://t.uani.com/2aXCpQ1         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.