Top Stories
WSJ: "Tens of thousands of Iranians marked the second anniversary of the 2009 turbulent presidential elections that sparked an uprising with a nationwide silent march against the government on Sunday. In Tehran about 15,000 people congregated along the capital's famous Vali Asr Avenue, historically the scene of opposition protests, on late Sunday afternoon, quietly marching up and down the sidewalk, witnesses said. Similar protests were planned in other cities. Security forces, in uniform and plain clothes, lined the streets trying to disperse the crowd, according to witnesses. On several occasions, antiriot police attacked protesters with electric batons and plain-clothes Basij militia on motorcycles screamed slurs at the crowd to provoke them, according to witnesses. Opposition websites reported that at least 100 people had been arrested in Tehran by being shoved into buses and driven to unknown locations. Internet and mobile networks were disrupted throughout the day in Tehran and other big cities, and journalists were banned from covering the event." http://t.uani.com/ig1XCy
Daily Telegraph: "Syria is 'undoubtedly' being assisted by Iran as it continues to crack down on anti-regime protesters, according to William Hague. The foreign secretary said the Iranian government was supplying 'equipment' and advising on how to crush protests. Iran's role was 'an extraordinary example of hypocrisy in world affairs,' Mr Hague said. Britain, France and America have led international criticism of the violence, but lack of support from the Arab League has made outside intervention likely." http://t.uani.com/lSO3hU
Fox News: "Protesters booed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or at least a giant papier-mâché head of him, outside five corporate headquarters in Midtown. The companies are accused of doing business with Iran and indirectly funding its nuclear weapons program. The Italian energy company Eni Corp. sent down a spokesperson who claimed the company would stop its business with Iran. Two years after Ahmadinejad is believed to have stolen the elections despite widespread opposition, the protests in New York City were sponsored by United Against Nuclear Iran and Iran 180." http://t.uani.com/lpTn9C
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "Iran's state shipping line will challenge the latest round of sanctions at the European Union's highest court, saying there is no evidence showing that it has been involved in arms trafficking as EU and U.S. officials say. In written answers to questions from Reuters received on Sunday, the managing director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines also said the IRISL planned to counter financial sanctions that have hampered its access to insurance by the creation of an Iranian P&I (protection and indemnity) fund. Last month the EU targeted over 30 IRISL holding companies as part of a wider sanctions campaign led by Western states aimed mostly at forcing Tehran to curb its nuclear energy drive, which they suspect is meant to develop atomic bombs. Iran denies this, saying it wants nuclear energy only for electricity or medical treatments. Sanctions have caused several IRISL vessels to be temporarily seized in foreign ports. The latest clampdown, on its affiliates overseas, pushed a major British shipping agency that used to represent IRISL, Johnson Stevens Agencies Ltd, into administration." http://t.uani.com/lgy1Lr
JPost: "Iran is trying to purchase foreign banks and money-exchange bureaus around the world in an effort to circumvent sanctions aimed at preventing the delivery of nuclear and missile components to it, according to a report prepared for the UN Security Council. The report was submitted three weeks ago to the Security Council by the UN Panel of Experts, a group that monitors compliance with UN sanctions imposed on Iran. The report was leaked to the Internet and obtained by a number of leading Israeli-defense analysts. The report found that Iran often uses money-exchange bureaus overseas to transfer money to, and then has it converted into dollars or euros. The bureau then transfers the money to an intermediary bank - in places like Dubai and Turkey - and then to a bank in the manufacturer's country." http://t.uani.com/iN2yS6
WSJ: "India's Essar Group has its eye on two coal-bed methane blocks in Indonesia, and continues to look for investment opportunities in mining and power generation in the South East Asian country... Touching on the problem surrounding payment for crude oil imports from Iran, Mr. Ruia reassured that the company, and other Indian importers, continue to get crude supply from the Middle Eastern country. India in late May said it would continue discussions with Iran on settlement of payments for crude oil purchases, after talks between officials from both the countries on ending an impasse over payments proved inconclusive. India's crude supplies from Iran are under threat as the two countries are trying to negotiate a new payment mechanism after the Reserve Bank of India stopped payments through the Asian Clearing Union in December, which the U.S. says is opaque and could be used by Tehran to finance its alleged nuclear weapons program. But Mr. Ruia said crude oil from Iran is 'a small percentage of the total crude imports,' and added that 'we continue to import from South America, from Europe, Africa and other Middle Easter countries.' Iran is the second-largest crude oil supplier to India after Saudi Arabia and accounts for about 13%-14% of the country's oil imports." http://t.uani.com/k9JFgV
Commerce
Reuters: "An increase in crude output by Saudi Arabia will not change market conditions as demand is for lighter oil than it provides, Iran's OPEC governor was on Saturday quoted as saying, reiterating Tehran's stance that there is no need to boost production. At a meeting in Vienna this week, OPEC failed to agree on an increase in production, which consuming countries wanted and which leading exporter Saudi Arabia pushed for, because other producers, including Iran, said they feared prices could tumble. Saudi Arabia will raise output to 10 million barrels per day in July from 8.8 million bpd in May, Saudi newspaper al-Hayat reported on Friday, as Riyadh proceeds outside official OPEC policy." http://t.uani.com/kiv4BH
Dow Jones: "OPEC president Iran opposed a unilateral Saudi output hike at a meeting Wednesday where producers failed to reach an output accord, according to a delegate who was present. Iran's view, which was shared by the delegate, suggests an output rift within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries runs deeper that a simple disagreement about what to do collectively. Saudi oil minister Ali 'Naimi told other members that if they didn't increase output [collectively], Saudi Arabia would start boosting production' regardless, the delegate said. Mohammad Aliabadi, oil minister who also acts as 'the OPEC chairman responded that Saudi Arabia has no right to act unilaterally. It should act as a member of the group,' the delegate said." http://t.uani.com/kgUaOl
Bloomberg: "National Iranian Oil Co. cut the cost for July shipments of its Iranian Light crude to refiners in Asia and increased prices for its other grades to the region, according to a company official. The state-run producer lowered the price formula for Iranian Light crude by 72 cents, to $1.71 a barrel more than the regional benchmark, said the official, who asked not to be identified since Iran doesn't publish its price list. The move follows a similar pricing decision this month by Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter. Saudi Arabia's state producer cut official selling prices for light grades for customers in Asia in July and raised the cost for medium and heavy crudes to that region, it said June 5." http://t.uani.com/iP76nv
Human Rights
BBC: "Jailed Iranian journalist and veteran activist Hoda Saber has died of a heart attack after going on hunger strike. Mr Saber, who was in his 50s, began his strike on 2 June to protest about the death of fellow opposition figure Haleh Sahabi, during an incident at the funeral of her activist father. Mr Saber was jailed after the disputed 2009 elections that saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected. He had also served several prison terms since 2000." http://t.uani.com/lP2Ps5
Domestic Politics
Reuters: "Two years ago, Iran's reformists were stunned to see him re-elected president and said the election must have been fixed. Now, half way through his second and final term, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has silenced the opposition -- their rallies crushed and leaders under house arrest -- but his presidency is still threatened, this time from rival fellow hardliners. Critics in parliament, the judiciary and the clergy accuse the 54-year-old president of misdeeds ranging from a swaggering disrespect for other branches of government, through financial mismanagement, to being influenced by a 'deviant' clique of aides some say are involved in sorcery. Analysts say the fact that he can no longer rely on the complete support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- who forced him to reverse his decision to sack his intelligence minister in April -- means Ahmadinejad risks becoming a lame duck or even being forced out. Some parliamentarians are threatening to impeach him." http://t.uani.com/kGokMU
Foreign Affairs
Guardian: "Iran has claimed that one of its spies acted as a double agent and infiltrated the Iranian opposition movement as well as foreign intelligence units. Iran's state television has broadcast a documentary showing a man, identified as Mohammad Reza Madhi, who it said worked his way into the heart of the opposition outside the country and even succeeded in meeting western officials including the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and the vice president, Joe Biden. Some opposition groups have questioned the veracity of the claims, raising the possibility that Madhi had been arrested or forced to return to Iran as a result of pressure put on his family at home." http://t.uani.com/mkKSJI
Opinion & Analysis
WSJ Editorial Board: "For six months, global attention has fixed on the historic upheavals roiling the Arab world from Tunisia to Bahrain. But the biggest Middle Eastern story continues to be the steady progress Tehran has made toward acquiring the components of a deliverable nuclear weapon. The most recent news is disquieting, to say the least. On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency 'de-restricted' its most recent report on Iran's nuclear progress. Despite hopes that the 2009 Stuxnet computer virus had slowed or even crippled Tehran's efforts, the IAEA reports that in the last six months Tehran had enriched some 970 kilos of uranium to reactor-grade levels, or LEU, bringing its total stockpile of LEU to 4,105 kilos. Iran has also enriched 56.7 kilos of uranium to a 20% level, ostensibly to produce medical isotopes but bringing it measurably closer to the 90% level needed for a bomb. Iran also announced this week that it will begin installing a more efficient type of centrifuge to enrich uranium at its once-secret facility near the city of Qom. The IAEA devoted considerable space to what it calls the 'possible military dimensions' of Iran's nuclear program, noting that 'there are indications that certain [undisclosed nuclear related activities] may have continued beyond 2004.' This further discredits the flawed and politicized 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that suggested Iran had halted its nuclear weaponization efforts after 2003. The authors of that estimate, which undermined Western efforts to stop Iran, have a lot to answer for. Iran's suspected activities, says the IAEA, include 'producing uranium metal . . . into components relevant to a nuclear device'; 'multipoint explosive initiation and hemispherical detonation studies'; and 'missile re-entry vehicle redesign activities for a new payload assessed as being nuclear in nature.' Perhaps there's an innocent explanation for all this, like Iran wanting to achieve technological independence in the manufacture of a new generation of refrigerators. And there will always be credulous Western reporters who will take Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's word that Iran's intentions are peaceful. We wonder what those reporters think of an article that appeared in April on the website of the regime's Revolutionary Guards Corps and talks openly about the prospect of an Iranian nuclear test-a break from the usual Iranian policy of denying any interest in a bomb. 'The day after [the] Islamic Republic of Iran's first nuclear test will be an ordinary day for us Iranians but in the eyes of some of us there will be a new sparkle,' reads the article. The author goes on to imagine that 'the strength of the explosion was not so great as to cause severe damage to the region nor so weak that Iranian scientists face any problems running their test.'" http://t.uani.com/mx2KEx
NYT Editorial Board: "Iran continues to stonewall about its illicit nuclear activities. The International Atomic Energy Agency isn't falling for it. Nobody should. The agency's latest report is chilling. While Tehran claims that its program has solely peaceful ends, it lists seven activities with potential 'military dimensions.' That includes 'activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile'; new evidence that Iran has worked on a highly sophisticated nuclear triggering technology; and research on missile warhead designs - namely 'studies involving the removal of the conventional high explosive payload from the warhead of the Shahab 3 missile and replacing it with a spherical nuclear payload.' After the Iraq debacle, all claims must be examined closely. The I.A.E.A. has a strong record - in the run-up to the war it insisted there was no evidence that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program - and no ax to grind. There are still more questions to be answered... Tehran insists the agency's allegations are fabricated. At the same time, it is refusing to answer the inspectors' questions about possible work on weapons designs and is blocking their access to sites, equipment and documents. Five years after the United Nations Security Council ordered it to halt uranium enrichment, Iran still has thousands of centrifuges spinning at its Natanz plant. We don't know if any mixture of sanctions and incentives will change that behavior. We are certain that without more pressure Tehran will keep pushing its program forward. The major powers' last attempt at negotiations, in January, hit a wall, but Washington and its allies should keep looking for diplomatic openings. The fourth round of United Nations sanctions, imposed a year ago, is starting to bite, reducing Iran's access to foreign capital, trade and investments. But implementation is still lagging... Iran has not wasted the intervening year and is always looking for signs of weakness. The United States and its allies need to tighten the current round of sanctions and start working on another Security Council resolution with even tougher sanctions. If there is any good news in the I.A.E.A. report, it appears that Iran's enrichment program is not advancing as fast as many feared - the result of the Stuxnet computer virus and sanctions that make it harder for Tehran to import needed materials from overseas. That has not blunted its ambitions. The Iranians said on Wednesday that they plan to triple production of the most concentrated nuclear fuel - the kind that could get them closer to a bomb."
Turki Al-Saheil in Asharq Al-Awsat: "In February 2009, the Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry issued a list of its 85 most wanted terrorists, and revealed that 35 of them were either present in Iran, or had passed through the country. Information also revealed that al-Qaeda inducted its latest recruits in Iran in September 2008, which means that its attraction has not waned, and that the Iranian branch of al-Qaeda is still operational. A regional source informed Asharq Al-Awsat that 'we are certain that some al-Qaeda activists and leadership figures are present in Iran, but we do not know how the two sides [al-Qaeda and Iran] are dealing with each other. Yet it is definite that al-Qaeda's followers in Iran are under control.' According to the source, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, statements issued by Eman [Bin Laden], daughter of Osama Bin Laden, who escaped from her Iranian minders and sought shelter in the Saudi embassy in Tehran, provides considerable evidence that al-Qaeda has a presence on Iranian soil. Giving an account of how al-Qaeda used Iran as a center for its operations, the regional source confirmed that the 'honeymoon period' between the two sides began with the war in Afghanistan. This saw al-Qaeda members on Afghan soil fleeing to the country for three destinations; some fled to Tora Bora, whilst others infiltrated Pakistan, and others traveled to Iran. The source stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that 'it is certain that Iran has had dealings with al-Qaeda members and leaders who took refuge in the country, fleeing from the US military that was striking Afghanistan.' The source indicated that the Iranians seem to have imposed their authority upon the al-Qaeda members who entered the country, yet they have not prevented these al-Qaeda elements from performing their assigned roles. The regional source raised a number of questions that may help in uncovering the truth behind the relations between al-Qaeda and Iran, asking 'did Iran host al-Qaeda in order to secure a truce and avoid becoming a future target? Or did Tehran exploit al-Qaeda in order to achieve its goals in certain countries with whom it differs politically and ideologically?' The source stressed that these two questions about the nature of the relationship between al-Qaeda and Iran are still being raised in political circles today." http://t.uani.com/mbncw4
Howard LaFranchi in CSM: "Iran's announcement this week that it plans to speed up its enrichment of uranium - and to move part of its enrichment process from the desert to a more defensible mountain site - has spawned wide-ranging speculation on Tehran's nuclear intentions. If Iranian officials made the point of publicly announcing the plans after a ministerial meeting Wednesday, the intention was to promote the world's gradual acceptance of Iran eventually developing a nuclear weapon, some nuclear experts say. Another line of thinking is that the plans to develop more efficient and higher grade uranium-producing machines at a site inside the mountains near the city of Qom suggest the Iranians are preparing their program to be able to withstand an eventual attack by Israeli or American bombers. Speculation aside, what seems clear is that Iran is intent on accelerating production of what is currently its highest grade of uranium - 20 percent enriched - to expand its options in the face of international demands that it cease enrichment altogether. 'They're shortening their decision time' between amassing the enriched uranium it would take to begin building a nuclear weapon and actually moving forward with building one, says Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center in Washington. 'We're busy trying to fool ourselves into thinking we have all the time in the world,' he adds, 'while the Iranians are intent on getting to where they could make some extremely critical decisions in a very short period of time.' Yet one factor tamping down reaction to Iran's announcement is that no one knows if Iran has either the genuine intention or the technical capability to follow through on enrichment acceleration." http://t.uani.com/ipQ9ND
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