|
|
Top
Stories
NYT:
"Just days before Iran enters its first nuclear talks with the West
since the summer, international nuclear inspectors said Thursday that the
country has begun installing a new generation of equipment that should
give it the ability to produce nuclear fuel much faster. The installation
- at Iran's main plant for uranium enrichment, located in the desert at
Natanz - came after a half-decade of delays exacerbated by Western
sanctions and sabotage. The new centrifuges are four to five times more
powerful than an aging model that Iran has used for years. The advance
has worried American, European and Israeli officials because it would
make it easier for Iran to race toward making fuel for nuclear weapons, if
it decided to do so. Victoria Nuland, the State Department
spokeswoman, called the installation of the advanced machines 'yet
another provocative step' and 'a further escalation' in Iran's continuing
violation of the United Nations demand that Tehran suspend its program of
uranium enrichment. But even as Iran installed the more powerful
equipment, evidence collected by the International Atomic Energy Agency
suggests that the Iranian authorities are deliberately slowing the
accumulation of the medium-enriched uranium that could most quickly be
converted to bomb fuel. According to a new report by the agency, much of
that production has been diverted to make specialized fuel for a research
reactor. The new report says Iran has diverted about 40 percent of its growing
stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium into an oxide form that can be
used to make fuel for a research reactor in Tehran. So far, the report
said, Iran used the collected material to produce at least five fuel
assemblies." http://t.uani.com/13aj81w
WSJ:
"The U.S. is moving to raise the stakes of international talks next
week in Kazakhstan, seeking to hold a one-on-one meeting with Tehran in a
bid to accelerate nuclear diplomacy ahead of Iran's presidential
elections in June, according to American officials. U.S. diplomats are
skeptical Tehran will accept their offer to meet in Almaty as Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's ultimate arbiter on foreign
relations, has come out strongly in recent weeks against any direct
dialogue between Tehran and Washington... Still, U.S. and European
officials said they believe Washington's overtures are creating fissures
within Iran's political elite as the June presidential vote looms.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who can't run for a new term, and Foreign
Minister Ali Akbar Salehi both have publicly indicated an openness to
meet directly with the Americans. Even if Tehran ultimately turns down
the U.S. offer, Obama administration and European officials believe,
pressure on Mr. Khamenei inside Iran and internationally could increase
if he is seen as the main impediment to progress in the diplomacy over
Iran's nuclear program. 'If Iran says yes, that would be great,' said a
European diplomat working on Iran. 'If not, we think they'll be more
isolated.'" http://t.uani.com/XFKOGu
Reuters:
"Preoccupied with an intensifying domestic power struggle, Iran is
unlikely to agree with world powers next week on ways out of a nuclear
dispute: Surviving a turbulent period of pre-electoral infighting will be
the priority for its faction-ridden elite. Despite eye-catching
suggestions among Iranian policymakers that a more imaginative approach
is needed to engagement with its Western adversaries, Iran's electoral
calendar may pre-ordain several more months of stasis in the nuclear
negotiations set to resume in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Tuesday. With a
presidential election looming in June, the latest round of negotiations,
at which world powers will offer relief from some sanctions if Iran curbs
activities of potential use in yielding a nuclear weapon, may amount to
little more than 'holding talks' to at least keep the diplomatic door
open. 'Iran is in listening mode. They'll go back to Tehran and look at
the offer,' said a Western diplomat based in Tehran. 'But they're unlikely
to discuss issues in depth until the insecurity in the domestic power
struggle has been clarified.'" http://t.uani.com/XpEbcl
 Nuclear Program
Reuters:
"Iran appears to be advancing in its construction of a research
reactor Western experts say could offer the Islamic state a second way of
producing material for a nuclear bomb, if it decided to embark on such a
course, a U.N. report showed. Iran has almost completed installation of
cooling and moderator circuit piping in the heavy water plant near the
town of Arak, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a
confidential report issued to member states late on Thursday. Nuclear
analysts say this type of reactor could yield plutonium for nuclear arms
if the spent fuel is reprocessed, something Iran has said it has no
intention of doing. Iran has said it 'does not have reprocessing
activities', the IAEA said." http://t.uani.com/UQmkM0
Sanctions
Reuters:
"U.S. lawmakers are crafting a bill designed to stop the European
Central Bank from handling business from the Iranian government, a
congressional aide said on Thursday, an attempt to keep Tehran from using
euros to develop its nuclear program. The bill, in the early stages of
drafting, would target the ECB's cross-border payment system and impose
U.S. economic penalties on entities that use the European Central Bank to
do business with Iran's government, the aide said on condition of
anonymity... The European Central Bank's so-called Target2 system is used
to settle cross-border payments in Europe and processes around 350,000
payments daily, according to the most recent figures made available.
Although the ECB already complies with European Union sanctions against
Iran, the proposed bill is aimed at pressing Europe to do more to prevent
Iranian firms and banks from using the Target2 system to conduct
transactions involving euros." http://t.uani.com/YLy0MK
WSJ:
"South Korea imported 5.896 million barrels of Iranian crude oil in
January, a 16.1% drop from a year earlier, preliminary data from the
state-run Korea National Oil Corp. showed Friday. Monthly crude imports
from the Islamic Republic will likely continue to record on-year declines
over the next few months as South Korea wants to extend an exemption from
full compliance with U.S. sanctions targeting Tehran's oil exports...
South Korea's imports of Iranian crude were about 190,200 barrels a day
in January, up from 184,600 barrels a day in December, according to the
data. South Korea relied on Iran for 7.2% of its crude needs in January
compared with 8.9% a year earlier, the data showed. Before last year, it
met around a 10th of its crude needs from Iran." http://t.uani.com/XFKh7r
Terrorism
NYT:
"In a little-noticed trial in a small courtroom here on Wednesday, a
24-year-old man provided a rare look inside a covert global war between
Israel and Iran, admitting that he is an operative of the militant group
Hezbollah, for which he acted as a courier in Europe and staked out
locations in this port city that Israelis were known to frequent.
Breaking with the group's ironclad discipline and practiced secrecy, the
operative, Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, described being handled by a masked man
he knew only as Ayman. He told of doing simple tasks at first: picking up
a couple of bags in Lyon, France, taking a cellphone, two SIM cards and a
mysterious package wrapped in newspaper from Amsterdam to Lebanon. When
he was arrested last July, he had a small red notebook with the license
plate numbers of two buses ferrying Israelis to vacation spots in the
vicinity." http://t.uani.com/Yr8BqV
Reuters:
"Argentina's Senate approved on Thursday an agreement with Iran to
set up an international 'truth commission' to investigate the 1994
bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. The two
governments reached the agreement last month on how to deal with the
attack in which Argentine court authorities have accused Iranian
officials, including the defense minister, of involvement. Iran has denied
any link to the bombing. Many Jewish groups in Argentina and abroad
reject the accord, saying it gives credibility to Iran at a time when the
United States is leading efforts to isolate the country over its disputed
nuclear program. Critics also say it is unconstitutional for the
executive branch to get involved in judicial matters and that the
international commission's findings could hurt Argentina's court
case." http://t.uani.com/WeS7mm
Reuters:
"Iran denied on Friday Nigerian allegations that it had trained
militants arrested in Nigeria on charges of planning attacks on U.S. and
Israeli targets there. Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
said such allegations were 'made up as the result of the ill will of the
enemies of the two countries' good relations', Iranian state television
reported. 'Iran and Nigeria have friendly and close relations and despite
the vast efforts of the two countries' enemies in recent years relations
and cooperations have always improved,' he said. Nigeria's secret service
said on Thursday it had arrested Abdullahi Mustapha Berende and two other
Nigerians in December after Berende made several suspicious trips to
Iran, where he interacted with Iranians in a 'high-profile terrorist
network.'" http://t.uani.com/YgUgiM
Human Rights
Guardian:
"Staff at the BBC's Persian service face satellite jamming, smear
campaigns and intimidation, says Peter Horrocks, director of the BBC
World Service. In an article for Index on Censorship, he reveals that
Iran's interference with the BBC's signals started in 2009 at the time of
Iran's presidential election. Jamming began on election day and continued
in the aftermath of the election during the street protests. Since then,
he writes, the jamming of BBC Persian has continued intermittently. Two
weeks ago, on 9 February, during the Iranian government's anniversary
celebrations of the Islamic Revolution, Persian TV was taken off the air
in company with 13 other broadcasters." http://t.uani.com/WeWoWV
Opinion &
Analysis
FT Editorial Board:
"For much of this week, western governments fearing the spread of
atomic weapons have had their eyes firmly fixed on North Korea, which has
just conducted its third underground nuclear test. But in the next few
days, attention will turn back to the other nuclear pariah state, Iran.
On February 26 Iran will meet six world powers in Kazakhstan, resuming
attempts to broker a deal that allays western fears that the Iranians are
seeking a nuclear bomb. Immediate success is unlikely. Still, this will
be yet another moment for the world to assess whether diplomacy has any
chance of success. As they prepare to meet Iran in the city of Almaty, it
is hard to fault the efforts by the US and its allies to strike a deal.
President Barack Obama has said the US is prepared to hold bilateral
talks with Iran to boost the chance of success, an offer recently
repeated by Joe Biden, vice-president. In Kazakhstan, meanwhile, the US
and its allies will make a more generous offer to Iran than they did last
year, widening the list of sanctions that they would reverse if Iran also
halts troubling features of its nuclear programme. However, Iran is
proving unbudgeable. Despite crippling sanctions, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
supreme leader, has rejected the US offer of talks. On Thursday Iran
flatly ruled out helping the International Atomic Energy Agency's
investigation into military dimensions of its nuclear programme.
Meanwhile, the regime is building up production capacity at its Natanz
uranium enrichment plant, putting it in a better position for a sudden
dash to the bomb at some later date." http://t.uani.com/XFT4GB
David Ignatius in
WashPost: "Mohammad Khazaee, Iran's ambassador to
the United Nations, took questions this week at an unusual forum hosted
by the Asia Society. Critics argued that the forum was simply an
opportunity for Iranian propaganda, but as moderator of the discussion, I
thought it made an important, if somewhat discouraging, point: There
isn't yet sufficient trust on either side for a broad agreement. The discussion
took place a week before the next negotiating session between Iran and
the P5+1 group of nations, scheduled for Feb. 26 in Kazakhstan. Khazaee's
stance might be described as forthrightly ambiguous. That is, he
suggested a deal can be imagined in principle but cautioned that the
environment isn't conducive for making it happen in practice. For
example, when I asked whether Iran was ready to endorse a framework for
resolving the nuclear issue that might involve caps on Iranian enrichment
and export of existing stockpiles of enriched material, Khazaee answered
'yes and no,' and then explained what he meant. The 'yes' part was that
Iran was prepared to be flexible on such details as the level at which it
enriched uranium and the size of the stockpile it maintained, so long as
its basic right to enrichment was recognized. But the 'no' involved the
atmosphere in which such an agreement might be reached. 'The point is ...
the mistrust that exists between the two countries. As soon as one side
says something ... [the other side] says there is a hidden agenda.' ...
It's always useful when officials answer questions in a public forum, and
I suspect that many in the audience came away encouraged that progress
can be made in the negotiations. But Khazaee is a diplomat, and as his
boss, the supreme leader, said bluntly in his statement last week: 'I'm
not a diplomat, I'm a revolutionary.' The problem is that it's hard to
negotiate agreements with revolutionaries. That may be especially true if
they feel there is a gun pointed at their head. A diplomat might
compromise, but a revolutionary could well say: Go ahead, pull the
trigger." http://t.uani.com/WYRAHj
David Albright,
Christina Walrond, Andrea Stricker & Robert Avagyan in ISIS:
"The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released on February
21, 2013 its latest report on the implementation of NPT safeguards in
Iran and the status of Iran's compliance with Security Council
resolutions.
Key Findings:
1) Number of installed centrifuges at Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP)
increases substantially;
2) IR-1 centrifuge installation is occurring at a faster than expected
rate at Natanz FEP;
3) New IR-2m advanced centrifuges are being installed at Natanz, although
when they will start enriching or how well they will operate remains
unknown;
4) Number of cascades producing near 20 percent low enriched uranium
(LEU) is constant;
5) Iran has less than enough 20 percent low enriched uranium hexafluoride
for one nuclear weapon, if further enriched to weapon-grade;
6) Almost all of the cascades at Fordow are now vacuum tested and likely
ready for enrichment;
7) Iran resumes converting near 20 percent LEU hexafluoride to oxide
form;
8) Iran will use the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) to test IR-40 Arak
reactor fuel; continued construction of the IR-40 reactor is in violation
of UNSC resolutions; and
9) No progress on 'structured approach' to resolve outstanding questions
about military dimensions and no access to Parchin, which Iran continues
to sanitize." http://t.uani.com/W811Y5
|
|
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