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Top Stories
WSJ:
"Iran, already braced for escalating sanctions in coming days, is
facing another challenge to ship its oil that could ultimately curtail
its crude sales more than expected. Under pressure from lobbying groups
campaigning against Iran's nuclear program, some specialized companies
that supply the safety certificates required for ships to dock at foreign
ports are terminating their dealings with Iran. Tankers from Iran and
elsewhere can't sail without a stamp of approval from these
'classification societies,' which survey the vessels to ensure they are
safe and environmentally sound. The move is narrowing the number of
foreign vessels willing to load Iranian oil at Iranian terminals, which
could hit Iran's already declining oil exports and ultimately push prices
upward... 'It is of the utmost importance that we maintain our good
reputation,' Germany's Germanischer Lloyd said in a letter sent to
advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, announcing its termination of
Iranian ship surveys." http://t.uani.com/MP8Qdl
Reuters:
"Iran has given new English names and changed the flags of many of
its oil tankers, two of which are steaming toward Europe with an EU ban
on Iranian oil imports just a week away, ship tracking data shows. The
Haraz is now Freedom, Nesa has transformed into Truth, and Sima has
become Blossom. At least a third of oil tanker operator National Iranian
Tanker Company's ships have registered with the pacific atolls of Tuvalu
and also Tanzania after dropping their Maltese and Cypriot flags. NITC is
not subject to U.N. sanctions, but with Malta and Cyprus coming under
increased EU pressure to stop flagging Iranian government-linked ships,
NITC has hoisted flags from Tuvalu on at least 11 of its 39 oil tankers,
while Tanzanian flags fly above at least two. Merchant ships need a flag
from national ship registries to gain access to most of the world's
ports. According to ship tracking data on Reuters, two of the tankers,
now called Pioneer and Elite, were heading through the Red Sea toward
Europe on Sunday, where a ban on buying Iranian oil comes into effect on
July 1." http://t.uani.com/MKxcoW
AFP:
"South Korea's May imports of Iranian crude oil fell 39.5 percent
from a year earlier to 3.96 million barrels as it cuts shipments in line
with a US sanctions drive, figures showed Monday. Imports from January to
May dropped 15.7 percent from the same period last year, according to the
preliminary figures from the state Korea National Oil Corporation. May's
imports from Iran were down 47.3 percent month-on-month. South Korea has
in the past imported about 10 percent of its crude needs from Iran...
Earlier this month, two South Korean shipping companies said they had
suspended importing Iranian crude due to a separate EU embargo set to
come into force from July. SK Shipping, which handles the needs of
refiner SK Energy, said it shipped its last cargo from Iran early this
month and it would arrive by the end of June. Hyundai Merchant Marine
said it had not carried any Iranian crude for Hyundai Oilbank in June."
http://t.uani.com/L9Rvd6
Nuclear
Program
Reuters: "A high-ranking
Iranian general said on Saturday Israeli military action against Iran's
nuclear program would lead to the collapse of the Jewish state, Fars news
agency reported. Last week's round of nuclear talks between Iran and
world powers in Moscow failed to secure a breakthrough, heightening fears
Israel might take unilateral military action to curb Iran's nuclear
activities. The two sides agreed to a follow-up meeting of technical
experts on July 3, saving the process from outright failure. 'They cannot
do the slightest harm to the (Iranian) revolution and the system,'
Brigadier General Mostafa Izadi, deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed
forces, told Fars. 'If the Zionist regime takes any (military) actions
against Iran, it would result in the end of its labors,' he added. 'If
they act logically, such threats amount to a psychological war but if
they want to act illogically, it is they who will be destroyed.'" http://t.uani.com/MIBf4V
AFP:
"World powers negotiating with a defiant Iran over its nuclear
programme need to risk more and get more 'creative' if they want to break
a deadlock that threatens tipping into military conflict, analysts say.
After three high-level meetings in three months, the latest in Moscow
last week, Iran and the P5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France,
Germany, Russia and China), appear no closer to finding a way out of
their almost decade-long confrontation. Parallel efforts between Iran and
the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, are in
an even worse state, with no sign of a deal on enhanced cooperation that
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said was all but sealed when he visited Tehran a
month ago." http://t.uani.com/LtWBFz
Haaretz:
"Venezuela has transferred at least one F-16 fighter to Iran in an attempt
to help it calibrate its air defenses, in preparation for a possible
Israeli or U.S. strike on its nuclear facilities, reports Spanish
newspaper ABC. ABC, one of the three largest Spanish dailies and aligned
with the ruling rightist party, wrote that the transfer, in 2006, was
supervised by one of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's closest aides.
The paper's Washington correspondent, Emili J. Blasco, said the story was
based on both sources in Venezuela's air force and classified documents,
following a tip- off by a non-Western intelligence agency. The timing of
the story's publication was probably timed to coincide with the current
visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Venezuela, which began
Friday." http://t.uani.com/KInHHE
Sanctions
Reuters:
"India has allowed state refiners to import Iranian oil, with Tehran
arranging shipping and insurance, from July 1, keeping purchases of over
200,000 barrels per day (bpd) flowing after European sanctions hit
insurance for the cargoes, government and industry sources said... Unlike
private refiners, India's state-run companies need government permission
to import oil on a CIF basis as federal policy requires them to favor
Indian insurers and shippers by buying only on a Free on Board (FOB)
basis. India aims to buy 310,000 bpd of oil from Iran under contracts
during the fiscal year from April to March, which includes 100,000 bpd of
purchases by Essar Oil, the only private customer. The United States
earlier this month extended exemptions from its tough, new sanctions on
Iran's oil trade to seven more economies including India but China
remains vulnerable. Indian state insurers led by General Insurance Corp
(GIC) had agreed to provide $50 million of cover for the ships carrying
Iran crude from July but this has been delayed as the insurance regulator
has not yet given its approval." http://t.uani.com/LkJD6N
AFP:
"Vendors of Apple products in Iran scoffed Saturday at US media
reports that the consumer technology giant was banning US sales to
customers of Iranian background, pointing out that iPads and iPhones are
widely available in Tehran. One salesman -- who gave only his first name,
Hossein -- said that he sold 40 iPhones the day before and explained that
prices for Apple items in Iran were only around $50 to $60 more than in
the United States. Traders were easily getting around US sanctions on the
export of popular electronic items to Iran, he said. 'All Apple products
are smuggled into Iran. Before, it was mainly from Dubai and European
countries, but now we can get all we need from Iraq,' he said. 'We have
all of Apple's products.'" http://t.uani.com/PYELZk
Bloomberg:
"Russian oil producer Zarubezhneft OAO (ZRNFT) has 'no result yet'
from talks with Iran on joint oil projects, the company said. 'Iran is
interesting for our company as a country with one of the biggest
hydrocarbon resources, but we need an approval from the government to
continue,' Zarubezhneft Deputy Chief Executive Officer Artyom Garibyan
told reporters in St. Petersburg, Russia today. 'We are in talks with the
Iranian side, but there is no specific result yet,' he added." http://t.uani.com/MmSLuP
Bloomberg:
"A senior cleric called on Iran's Islamic establishment to counter
the effects of high prices partly caused by international sanctions,
Shargh reported. High prices are caused by the sanctions as well as local
businesses seeking to profit from the rising value of the dollar by
increasing their prices, and the government's inability to ease the
pressure on poorer families through 'sound management, correct investment
in production and job opportunities for youth,' Ayatollah Nasser
Makarem-Shirazi was quoted as saying by the Tehran-based newspaper.
Makarem-Shirazi said Iran's problems can't be addressed by 'denial,
force, pressure and presenting incorrect economic indicators.' He said
failure to tackle them may lead people to 'doubt the essence of the
revolution.'" http://t.uani.com/MSlx3e
Bloomberg:
"The cost of construction materials in Iran has increased by as much
as 51 percent in the Iranian year that ended on March 19, compared with
the previous period, Shargh reported, citing the country's statistical
center. Costs of building goods, including bricks, ceramics and pre-built
items in concrete and cement, have risen by 10 percent to 51 percent, the
Tehran-based newspaper said, citing a report published by the center
yesterday." http://t.uani.com/Mu0ybq
Terrorism
Reuters:
"A Malaysian court ordered on Monday the extradition to Thailand of
an Iranian man suspected of involvement in bomb blasts in Bangkok in
February, rejecting his defense that he had not known about any plan for
an attack. Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh, 31, will be sent back to Thailand
unless his lawyers file an appeal within 15 days, prosecution lawyers
said. Masoud was arrested in Malaysia the day after the blasts as he
attempted to board a flight to Iran, police said. Three bombs went off in
Bangkok on February 14. The first was apparently an accidental blast at a
house that Masoud was sharing with two other Iranian suspects. Another
bomb was thrown at a taxi and a third blew off the leg of an Iranian man
before he was arrested by police. Another Iranian suspect was arrested at
Bangkok's main airport but Masoud managed to escape to Malaysia." http://t.uani.com/NCJZKG
Human Rights
AFP:
"Iran is to execute two people caught drinking alcohol for a third
time after judges upheld the Islamic republic's strict laws on alcohol
consumption, according to media reports in the country quoting a top
judicial official today. Hassan Shariati, the judiciary chief of the
northeastern province of Khorasan-e Razavi, announced the sentence in an
ISNA news agency report that was published by the Donya-e-Eqtesad daily.
The two unidentified people were repeat offenders, having been twice
before convicted of drinking and lashed 80 times each, Mr Shariati said.
He said the death penalty for their third conviction had been validated
by Iran's Supreme Court." http://t.uani.com/LkNxwl
Foreign Affairs
Bloomberg:
"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Venezuela to meet
with President Hugo Chavez after talks stalled in Moscow over his
country's nuclear program. The Iranian leader arrived yesterday from
stops in Brazil, where he attended the United Nations Rio+20 conference
in Rio de Janeiro, and Bolivia. Ahmadinejad is making his sixth trip to
the region since 2006 as he seeks to capitalize on a surge in
anti-American sentiment spearheaded by Chavez and his eight-nation
Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas." http://t.uani.com/LLhMh4
Reuters:
"Iran's Foreign Ministry congratulated Egyptians on Sunday over the
victory of Islamist Mohamed Morsy in the country's first free
presidential election and said the country was in the final stages of an
'Islamic Awakening'. Muslim Brotherhood candidate Morsy defeated former
general Ahmed Shafik to succeed President Hosni Mubarak, who was
overthrown last year after a popular revolt against his rule. 'The
foreign ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran congratulates the victory
of the Egyptian nation in these elections and the presidency of Doctor
Mohammed Morsy,' it said in a statement on the Iranian Students' News
Agency (ISNA)." http://t.uani.com/LLo5Tz
Reuters:
"Egypt's Islamist President-elect Mohamed Mursi voiced interest in
restoring long-severed ties with Tehran to create a strategic 'balance'
in the region, in an interview published on Monday with Iran's Fars news
agency... 'We must restore normal relations with Iran based on shared
interests, and expand areas of political coordination and economic
cooperation because this will create a balance of pressure in the
region,' Mursi was quoted as saying in a transcript of the
interview." http://t.uani.com/Ns4SVD
Opinion &
Analysis
L. Gordon Crovitz
in WSJ: "Ten years ago this summer, an Iranian
dissident first warned the world about efforts by the mullahs to build a
nuclear weapon. Since 2002, headlines have touted talks and possible
inspections, with no results other than an Iran closer to a bomb.
President Obama, who vows not to let Iran go nuclear, hopes economic
sanctions will work, as 44 senators have urged him to drop the pretense
of negotiations. The case of Iran raises novel questions about how open
societies should deal with risks from closed societies. Iranian leaders
have always claimed the right to build nuclear weapons and have been
clear about their intent. In 2005, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told an
Iranian student group: 'Many who are disappointed in the struggle between
the Islamic world and the infidels have tried to spread the blame. They
say it is not possible to have a world without the United States and
Zionism. But you know this is a possible goal.' The known unknown is how
seriously to take the threat. The regime has made this hard to calculate
by blocking access to information. The Committee to Protect Journalists
reports that Iran last year imprisoned more of its journalists than any
other country and tied Cuba for the greatest number driven into exile.
Responding to an inquiry about how many Western reporters are based in
Iran, CPJ could identify only a handful, almost all with wire services.
In recent years, correspondents from the BBC, Agence France-Presse and
Spain's El País have had their visa renewals rejected and had to leave
the country... In an era of transparency, countries that close themselves
off from the flow of information should lose the benefit of the doubt
about their intentions. Even without diplomats or journalists on the
ground, it's clear the likeliest reason for a country to seek such
isolation is that it has plenty to hide. We know more than enough about
Iran to make it imperative to do what it takes to make sure it doesn't
get the bomb." http://t.uani.com/PYI2rN
Mark Katz in The
Diplomat: "The Obama Administration has sought to
enlist Moscow in the effort to increase pressure on Iran to cooperate
with the international community and verifiably renounce any ambitions it
might have to acquire nuclear weapons. But while Russia would undoubtedly
prefer a non-nuclear to a nuclear Iran, joining the U.S. and its allies
in more forcefully sanctioning Iran for not cooperating on this matter
involves risks for Moscow that it doesn't wish to incur... The reality is
that Moscow isn't as concerned about the prospect of a nuclear Iran as the
U.S. and its Western, Arab, and Israeli allies. In Moscow's (however
unfortunate) view, Iran simply may not have the capacity to acquire
nuclear weapons. Further, while Moscow doesn't regard the Iranian
acquisition of nuclear weapons as desirable, it's far more sanguine about
this possibility than America and many of its allies are. However
unpleasant the leaders of the Islamic Republic might be, Moscow sees them
as (just like the Putin administration) focused primarily on remaining in
power and thus unlikely to undertake any actions that could undermine
this goal, such as actually using nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Moscow sees
Pakistan as far more volatile than Iran, and thus the Pakistani
possession of nuclear weapons as being more problematic than Iranian
acquisition of them. Ultimately, just as they had to accept and deal with
a nuclear-armed Pakistan and North Korea, Moscow anticipates that the
international community - including the U.S. - will just have to accept
and deal with a nuclear-armed Iran if and when this emerges. Moscow
understands that an important reason why the Obama administration has
pursued its 'reset' policy aimed at improving Russian-American relations
is that it seeks to enlist Moscow's help in the effort to prevent Iran
from acquiring nuclear weapons. Moscow, though, sees itself as having
very little leverage over Iran on this issue. Putin has on several
occasions proposed that the solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis is for
Russia to enrich all uranium for Iran (either in Russia, Iran, or a third
country), but Tehran has always insisted that it will continue to enrich
at least some of its own uranium even if it agrees to cooperate with any
of these Russian proposals. Otherwise, the only positive
inducements that Tehran might actually respond to that Moscow can offer
are either ones that the United States and its allies would object to
(more arms, more nuclear reactors), or ones that both they and Russia
itself would oppose (Russian support for the export of Caspian Basin
petroleum via Iran)." http://t.uani.com/KWgHIH
Walter Russell
Mead in The American Interest: "In all seriousness
though, it should be obvious by now to all reasonable observers that Iran
is an unstable regime shot through with dangerous anti-Semitic impulses,
apocalyptic fantasy and convoluted conspiracy thinking that has no
business anywhere near nuclear weapons. In this regard, much ink has been
spilled over whether the mullahs are 'rational actors' or not-i.e.
whether they would bomb Israel even if this would result in devastating
retaliation-but Via Meadia thinks that such speculation misses an
important point: anti-Semitism is never a rational policy, yet it
persists. Infamously, Hitler and the Nazis exiled their own best
physicists because they were Jewish, enabling the US to win the nuclear
arms race and ultimately World War II. History is replete with stories of
countries driving productive citizens into exile because Jew-hatred is an
irrational passion that overmasters common sense and destroys the ability
to perceive ones own best interests. True, risking a retaliatory nuclear
strike requires an unusual degree of paranoia and hatred, but enough
Israelis have enough historical memory of the irrationality that
Jew-hatred brings in its wake that it's unrealistic to expect Israel to
accept an Iranian bomb no matter how rational the experts say the mullahs
really are. Those fears cannot just be dismissed. If there were an
Olympics of Jew-hating, the competition for the gold medal would be
tough, but few could deny that Iran fields a strong team. Few countries,
if any, have engaged in more anti-Semitic activity or can match the
hothouse conspiracy thinking routinely encountered in the Islamic
Republic that made Ahmadinejad a world famous religious nut. While it's true
that not-so-mysterious computer viruses and other untoward accidents
involving nuclear scientists give Iranians solid ground for worrying
about Israeli measures against their government, Iranian hostility and
paranoia about Israel and Jews predates official Israeli hostility toward
Iran and its nuclear program... Even if there were no Israel, Iran's
nuclear drive threatens some vital American interests and allies, and the
US would have to resist. Countries like Saudi Arabia view Iran's
government with a deep fear and loathing. Throw Israel into the mix, as a
factor in Middle East politics and the US domestic politics on the issue,
and President Obama's oft-repeated judgment on the matter looks sound:
the US must stop any Iranian bomb drive because the effort to contain a
nuclear Iran will make everything in the Middle East even worse than it
is." http://t.uani.com/NrXut9
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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
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email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com
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regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is an
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