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ABC: "'You want to be careful ... we will be in the same
cell' if caught. That is the warning - captured on secret recordings
obtained exclusively by ABC News - that 45-year-old Arash Ghahreman
gave to the U.S. businessman who he believed was going to provide him
with sensitive military technology so it could be smuggled into Iran.
In fact, Ghahreman was arrested days later for the export scheme and
ultimately sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. But five months after
being sentenced, the naturalized U.S. citizen was released as part of
the so-called 'prisoner swap' with Iran, and he chose to stay in the
United States. Five other Iranian-American inmates and an Iranian
national were also freed. And U.S. prosecutors dropped charges against
14 fugitives living overseas - including one of Gharehman's alleged
accomplices. President Obama called it 'a reciprocal humanitarian
gesture,' after the nuclear deal with Iran and the release of 'several
Americans unjustly detained by Iran,' including Washington Post
reporter Jason Rezaian and former Marine Corps sergeant Amir Hekmati.
Now amid questions over the timing of Iran's release of those four
Americans and a $400 million payment to Iran, Ghahreman's case
showcases one of the individuals who was released from U.S. custody as
part of the deal." http://t.uani.com/2aWct4E
AP: "Iran's semi-official ILNA news agency is reporting
that the families of at least 400 people killed fighting in Iranian
brigades in Syria have been referred to the Martyr Foundation, which
offers financial support to the relatives of those killed fighting for
Iran. The Saturday report quotes the head of the Martyr Foundation,
Mohammad Ali Shahidi, as saying that Iran's powerful Revolutionary
Guard announced the number of fighters killed, saying that around half
of them were Afghan. It is the first time that an Iranian official has
indicated how many people have been killed fighting in Iranian militias
in Syria." http://t.uani.com/2b67MWu
AP: "Olympic security personnel questioned a female
Iranian volleyball fan Saturday when she showed up for a match holding
a large sign that read 'Let Iranian Women Enter Their Stadiums' and
wearing a white T-shirt with those same words. Darya Safai, who sat in
a front-row courtside seat at Maracanazinho arena and briefly cried
during the ordeal 'because it hurts,' said that Olympic officials
pushed her to leave the venue but she was determined to stay put. 'They
said they didn't want the sign in front of the cameras and they asked
us to leave,' said Safai, who was with friends also wearing the
T-shirts. 'They even tried to impress me with military people. I think
it is a pity they always listen to what the regime of the Islamic
Republic of Iran says. 'This is not the first time I had this
experience but I won't give up because that's what Iranian women do,
they keep fighting for their rights.' The International Olympic
Committee bans political statements at the games. 'So with all the
things that happened here today at Maracanazinho, I stayed inside
because it is my right,' she wrote in a text message to The Associated
Press. Born in Tehran and now living in Belgium, the 35-year-old Safai
is the founder and director of 'Let Iranian Women Enter Their
Stadiums!' and an activist against gender discrimination. Women have
generally been banned or heavily restricted from attending all-male
sports events in Iran." http://t.uani.com/2budodV
Nuclear & Ballistic Missile Program
Free Beacon: "Iran is permitted to pursue the construction of two
newly announced nuclear plants under the parameters of last summer's
nuclear agreement, Obama administration officials informed the
Washington Free Beacon, setting the stage for Tehran to move forward
with construction following orders from President Hassan Rouhani. Ali
Salehi, Iran's top nuclear official, announced on Thursday that Iran
has invested $10 billion into the construction of two new nuclear
plants after receiving orders from Rouhani, according to reports in
Iran's state-controlled media. A State Department official said to the
Free Beacon following the announcement that Iran is allowed to move
forward with this venture under the nuclear agreement, which does not
prohibit this type of nuclear construction. The [nuclear deal] does not
prevent Iran from pursuing new light-water reactors,' a State
Department official not authorized to speak on record said to the Free
Beacon in response to questions about Iran's latest announcement."
http://t.uani.com/2blD6iG
Congressional Action
The Hill: "Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), a member of the House
Intelligence Committee, is pressing the Obama administration for more
answers on its transfer of $400 million in cash to Iran. Pompeo plans
to send a letter to the Treasury Department on Monday with a series of
questions on the transfer to determine whether any laws were violated,
he told The Hill. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported
that the Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400
million worth of cash to Iran, which coincided with the release of four
Americans detained in Iran. Critics say it equated to a 'ransom'
payment, which would violate longstanding U.S. policy." http://t.uani.com/2aWciGt
The Hill: "Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are
demanding the Obama administration prove that a $400 million payment to
Iran didn't break the law. The two senators sent a letter Friday to
Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and
Attorney General Loretta Lynch to 'inquire about the legality of the
payment.' 'The unusual circumstances surrounding the administration's
payment of $400 million to the Government of the Islamic Republic of
Iran have raised serious concerns not only about the propriety of the
transaction, but about its legality as well,' Cruz and Lee wrote in
their letter. Republicans have seized on the details of the January
payment - which was made in cash and coincided with the release of U.S.
hostages in Iran - to argue it was a 'ransom.' Cruz and Lee said it
'appears' the administration violated U.S. sanctions against Iran. 'If
the administration violated the law, then Congress and the American
people should be made aware of it so that they can hold the appropriate
officials accountable and take whatever steps necessary to strengthen
the law and prevent any reoccurrence,' they wrote." http://t.uani.com/2bhEups
Sanctions Relief
Reuters: "South Korea's crude imports from Iran rose further
in July to be nearly four times the level of a year ago, and 5.9
percent higher than the previous month, after international sanctions
were lifted on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. Seoul brought in
1.10 million tonnes of Iranian crude oil last month, or 260,910 barrels
per day (bpd), 285 percent above the 286,374 tonnes imported a year
earlier when sanctions were imposed on Tehran, its customs office data
showed on Monday. The world's fifth-largest crude importer shipped in
7.22 million tonnes of crude from the Middle Eastern country in the
Janaury-July period of 2016, or 248,616 bpd, versus 3.23 million tonnes
in the same period in 2015, according to the data. That was more than
double from a year ago." http://t.uani.com/2bhCn56
Reuters: "Hyundai Oilbank Co , South Korea's smallest refiner
by capacity, has bought its first Iranian condensate cargoes to prepare
for trial runs at a new refining unit in its joint venture with Lotte
Chemical, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
Condensate, an ultra-light form of oil, is mainly used to produce
chemical feedstock naphtha. Hyundai's plant is one of several to come
online across Asia and the Middle East, boosting demand for condensate.
Hyundai bought two cargoes of about 1.1 million barrels loading in June
and August ahead of the start-up of its new splitter, the sources said.
The first cargo arrived last month and the second cargo is expected to
arrive in early September along with 1 million barrels of Qatari
condensate, they said. Hyundai Oilbank's joint venture with Lotte
Chemical, known as Hyundai Chemical, is expected to start trial runs of
the new 130,000 barrels-per-day splitter in Daesan on the country's
west coast in August-September and to start commercial production in the
fourth quarter, a company's spokesman said." http://t.uani.com/2bufWZH
Reuters: "India's July oil imports from Iran rose to their
highest in at least five year, climbing to over 500,000 barrels per day
(bpd) for the second time in five months, revised tanker arrival data
obtained from trade sources show. India, Iran's top oil client after
China, shipped in about 523,000 bpd oil in July, an increase of 37
percent from June and more than double from a year ago, the data
showed. 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. India's oil imports from Iran have been
consistently rising since the lifting of sanctions earlier this year.
In the first four months of this fiscal year, India's imports from Iran
have climbed 48 percent more than a year ago to about 420,000 bpd, the
data showed. Last month two state refiners Hindustan Petroleum and
Bharat Petroleum lifted oil from Tehran after a gap of years." http://t.uani.com/2bubR7U
Reuters: "Poland is replacing Russian oil with Iranian oil
and unsold Urals crude is being redirected to Asia, industry sources
told Reuters. Trader Mercuria, once the largest seller of Urals in
Poland, is closing down and emptying Russian oil out of its tanks in
the port of Gdansk. Mercuria will use a tanker bringing in Iranian oil
to transport out its unwanted Urals. Mercuria is sending more than
250,000 tonnes of Urals to Asia via super tanker Atlantas (VLCC), which
will arrive in Gdansk with two million barrels of Iranian oil on board,
said two industry sources familiar with Mercuria's plan." http://t.uani.com/2aUjq2W
IRNA (Iran): "President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday said that
following the nuclear deal between Iran and G5+1 there has been five
billion dollars of investment in the Iranian projects. After the Joint
Comprehensive Plan Of Action reached between Iran and G5+1, five billion
dollars of clear-cut investments in Iran's projects has been realized,
President Rouhani said on Sunday during a meeting with the investors in
southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. Multilateral
regional cooperation enhances the position of country in the world and
makes new opportunities for the economy, he said. He noted that the
government aims to realize five percent growth during this Iranian
calendar year. Iran has a strong nation and a powerful Leader,
President Rouhani said, stressing that nobody has the right to
disappoint people about the future. The Resistance Economy outlined by
the Supreme Leader is a powerful type of economy, he said." http://t.uani.com/2bueBSs
Regional Destabilization
AP: "Kuwait said Sunday its coast guard detained 10
Iranian 'infiltrators,' but an Iranian official described them as
fishermen and denied they were detained for violating the border. One
of the Iranian men was wounded after refusing coast guard orders to
surrender, Kuwait's Interior Ministry said in a statement published by
the state-run Kuwait News Agency. The ministry released a photo on its
website showing nine of the men on their knees with their hands behind
their backs. Sunni-led Gulf countries have long accused Shiite Iran of
meddling in regional affairs, primarily in Bahrain and Yemen, where a
Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Iranian-allied rebels for more
than a year." http://t.uani.com/2b8UuYo
Human Rights
Reuters: "Mehdi Khosravi, an Iranian activist arrested last
week in Italy, said on Friday he had been released from jail, following
an appeal to the Italian government by the son of the deposed shah.
Reza Pahlavi, 55, whose late father was toppled by the 1979 Islamic
Revolution, said in a letter to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on
Monday that Khosravi risked torture and execution if Italy extradited
him as Tehran has demanded. Pahlavi posted the letter on his Twitter
account. Khosravi, 37, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica he had been
let out of jail in Lecco, northern Italy, five days after police
arrested him on an international warrant for alleged corruption. 'These
are false and ridiculous accusations to which I will not even respond,'
said Khosravi, who says he fled Iran after getting in trouble with
authorities for writing about 'democracy, rights and freedom' on his
blog. Khosravi has lived as a political refugee in Britain since
2010." http://t.uani.com/2bhC9Lc
BBC: "The husband of a British mother detained in Iran
has said the idea she could be involved in trying to overthrow the
regime is 'absurd'. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 37, is due on trial on
as yet unspecified charges after being arrested in April. Speaking to
the BBC on the couple's seventh wedding anniversary, Richard Ratcliffe,
from north London, said his wife was 'a proud and loyal Iranian'. Prime
Minister Theresa May raised the case with Iran's president last week.
The British-Iranian charity worker was arrested while she was at an
airport with her daughter Gabriella while visiting her family on
holiday. Iranian officials have previously accused Mrs
Zaghari-Ratcliffe of leading a 'foreign-linked hostile network'. Mr
Ratcliffe told the BBC's Caroline Hawley her arrest was 'so absurd',
adding: 'The idea that anyone with a baby could be busy overthrowing
the regime is obviously nonsense.'" http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37077128
WashPost: "In 1988, nearly a decade after Iran's Islamic
revolution, the country's leader-in-waiting faced a decision. He could
stay silent as Iran stepped up a campaign of mass executions, torture
and gulag-style imprisonment against perceived internal opponents. Or
he could follow his conscience and speak out. Ayatollah Hossein Ali
Montazeri chose to take a stand. It came at a high cost. Montazeri was
dumped as the hand-picked successor to the revolution's leader,
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He would be declared a foe of the state
and placed under house arrest for six years. The executions and purges
of the late 1980s in Iran are well known and have been examined in
books and reports by rights groups such as Amnesty International. Less
clear, however, is what transpired at the highest reaches of power
during a pivotal period for Iran and, by extension, for the wider
region and Tehran's relations with the West. An audio file that
surfaced this week - posted on a website maintained by supporters of
Montazeri, who died in 2009 - purports to offer a new glimpse into his
last, desperate attempt to limit the killings and roundups." http://t.uani.com/2aXNwEK
Opinion & Analysis
UANI Senior Advisor Barry Rosen in The Daily Telegraph: "Almost 40
years ago I was taken hostage with 51 of my colleagues in Iran and held
for 444 days in captivity. Today, international captives are being held
again, including the British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
She was captured in April when she was visiting family with her
two-year old daughter. Information about her condition is scarce. We
know she's frail, we know she's weak, and we know she's spent many days
in solitary confinement. She is a young mother of British-Iranian
citizenship who has dedicated her life to aid and charity work. And,
simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, she has
been taken from her family, and is subject to the brutality of the
Iranian prison regime. This week Theresa May took up the case on her
first call as Prime Minister with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Sadly, for the plight of all those currently held captive, I have
little faith that the Prime Minister's plea will bring them any closer
to release. For no matter how much Rouhani wishes to present himself as
a moderate to the West, it is not in his power to deliver. Iran is
perpetually embroiled in an internal struggle for power, which few
people will properly acknowledge. The terrifying fact of the matter is
that Rouhani is embroiled in a struggle for influence in his own
country, between the Right and the far Right. The President is
powerless to act; he is at the mercy of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei,
the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and the country's
revolutionary courts. Truth, international law and human decency never
enter the equation. The IRGC and the courts simply have two objectives,
and when the time is right, they will stop at nothing to get
them." http://t.uani.com/2bhEnJl
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Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
United Against Nuclear
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a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a
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