Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Eye on Iran: Iran to Attend International Talks on Syria's Future






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AP: "Iran said Wednesday it will attend the international talks on Syria's future later this week in Vienna, following an invitation from the Russian envoy that would mark Tehran's first appearance at such a gathering. The invitation to the talks came after the United States declared itself ready to engage long-time foe Iran if it might help halt Syria's four-year civil war. Iran is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad and has provided his government with military and political backing for years. Tehran admits that its Revolutionary Guard officers are on the ground in Syria in an advisory role, but denies the presence of any combat troops in the country. Iranian state TV quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, as saying Wednesday that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will attend the talks. It didn't provide details but said Zarif discussed the Syrian crisis with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The TV also said Deputy Foreign Ministers Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Abbas Araghchi and Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi would accompany Zarif on the trip. 'We believe the solution for Syria is a political solution. Americans and foreign players in Syria have no choice but to accept the realities in Syria,' Abdollahian told state TV Wednesday. 'Assad ... has the necessary readiness for talks with insurgents who are committed to a political path.' ... U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia's Lavrov and several top European and Arab diplomats, including those from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, will be attending - a familiar cast that up to now has not included any Iranian representatives. Kerry departs for the Austrian capital on Wednesday." http://t.uani.com/1M1YJkR

NYT: "The special United Nations investigator of human rights in Iran presented a highly critical report on Tuesday that contradicted the Tehran government's own assessment, describing a record rate of executions, a deeply flawed judiciary and repression of journalists, dissidents, women and freedom of expression. The conditions described by the investigator, Ahmed Shaheed, a former Maldives foreign minister and an expert on human rights in Muslim-majority countries, belied the image of moderation and eased constraints that President Hassan Rouhani of Iran has sought to project since his election in 2013. In some ways, Mr. Shaheed said, Iranians are worse off than during the era of Mr. Rouhani's polarizing and relatively conservative predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Amendments to a criminal procedure law, for example, impose new restrictions on access to legal counsel. Some defendants must now choose lawyers from a pool selected by the head of the judiciary. 'The human rights situation in the country remains dire,' Mr. Shaheed said in a briefing at the United Nations. Despite Mr. Rouhani's pledge to lighten the repressive atmosphere that prevailed during the Ahmadinejad years, Mr. Shaheed said, there was a 'strong disconnect between the professed policy of engagement and the behavior of authorities on the ground.' ... His most striking criticism dwelled on what rights advocates have called Iran's increasing rate of executions, mostly for nonviolent drug offenses, under Mr. Rouhani's administration, which has given Iran the distinction as the top employer of the death-penalty per capita of any country. Mr. Shaheed described the trend as an 'unprecedented assault on the right to life in Iran.'" http://t.uani.com/1WhHlzp

Times of Israel: "A former Iranian president admitted this week that the country's nuclear program was started with the intent of building a nuclear weapon, Iranian dissidents said. The reported comments by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to the state-run IRNA news agency would appear to mark the first time a top Iranian official - current or former - has said the country sought a nuclear weapon, in contravention of repeated assurances by the regime that its enrichment program is and always has been peaceful. The comments by Rafsanjani, which do not appear on IRNA's English website, were first reported on by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a dissident group of Iranian exiles. Rafsanjani said the program was begun while the country was at war with Iraq in the 1980s with the express consent and participation of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to NCRI. 'Our basic doctrine was peaceful usage of the nuclear technology although we never abandoned the idea that if one day we are threatened and it is imperative, we would have the capability for going the other path [to nuclear weapon] as well,' Rafsanjani reportedly said... 'The statement by Rafsanjani is an unequivocal testimony to the fact that the Iranian regime, from the onset until present, and under direct supervision of Khamenei and Rafsanjani, has been in search of the nuclear weapon and has never abandoned it,' NCRI said in a statement... In the interview, published Monday, Rafsanjani reveals that the country's nuclear program was given a boost by renegade Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdel Qader Khan, widely credited with also selling nuclear technology to North Korea. He said he and Khamenei, who was at the time a politician and close confidant of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, both went to Pakistan to explore the issue after the outbreak of war with Iraq and a failed bombing of Iraq's Osirak nuclear facility. 'Those years, we were all thinking that we should arm ourselves with deterrent elements since the war was not about to end and in our defensive policies we had the word of Imam [Khomeini] in mind that the war may last 20 years,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1LYFHsa

Nuclear Program & Agreement

Tehran Times: "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says redesigning the Arak nuclear reactor will not be a single project, noting it will be implemented in three phases. 'The project will be carried out under the management of Iran. In other words, others sides will somehow work along with us,' Zarif said on Tuesday. 'In the first phase, the joint statement between Salehi, the U.S. energy minister and the Chinese counterpart was issued,' Zarif said. 'In the second phase, the official document will be signed by ministers or other high-ranking officials of Iran and the 5+1 group. And the third phase will be about details of each project related to the Arak reactor.' The redesigning process of the Arak reactor will be conducted in compliance with the Supreme Leader's guidelines, decisions of the Supreme National Security Council and the parliament's approval, he noted." http://t.uani.com/1LYFS6O

Military Matters

Tasnim (Iran): "The CEO of Russia's intermediary agency for exports and imports of defense-related products, Rosoboronexport, said Iran will withdraw its lawsuit against Russia over S-300 as soon as a new contract on delivery of the missile system is finalized between the two countries. 'The Iranian side will withdraw its lawsuit as soon as the contact takes effect and we are in full compliance with our liabilities,' Anatoly Isaikin said on Tuesday, Russia's news agency Tass reported. 'The completion of the contract on the S-300 missile system for Iran was suspended and we've been given the order to renew work and as the executors, we are doing this, but much time has gone by and the S-300 system has changed so we're working on the modernization of the system,' he added. Under a contract signed in 2007, Russia was required to provide Iran with at least five S-300 defense system batteries." http://t.uani.com/1kRy7sM

U.S.-Iran Relations

Breitbart: "Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American citizen who helped establish a pro-Tehran lobbying group in America, has been arrested in Iran and imprisoned indefinitely. Mr. Namazi was visiting family in Tehran when he was arrested by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) soldiers and sent to Evin Prison, according to Iranian media reports. The detention center is infamously known for its horrific mistreatment of prisoners. The facility is noted for its routine 'beatings, torture, mock executions, and brutal interrogations,' experts have said. As the 5th American citizen now held hostage by the regime, Namazi joins the Washington Post's Jason Rezaian, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, and former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati. Namazi has been described as one of the 'intellectual architects' of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group that has been accused of working in support of the regime in Tehran." http://t.uani.com/1HaLmta

Fars (Iran): "Washington has come to realize that it lacks the ability to pose an effective military threat to Iran and has, thus, shifted its focus to soft war plots as its main agenda, Head of Iran's Civil Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali said Wednesday. 'For different reasons, the US does not deem the military option against Iran as to be effective... ,' Jalali said, addressing Civil Defense Conference in Tehran on Wednesday. Jalali further pointed to the US role in the 2009 post-election unrest in Iran and Washington's efforts to influence the elections mechanisms in the country, and said, 'Permanent and continued penetration into the country is their plan and approach, and to stand against this plan, a serious approach is needed in the cyberspace and in mobile-related cyberspace to confront the enemy.'" http://t.uani.com/1S9lYu7

Free Beacon: "Iran is hosting a three-day conference this week focusing on 'police brutality against blacks in America,' according to the event announcement. Foreign Desk reported that the event's organizer, Nader Talebzadeh, told an Iranian news outlet that he had extended invitations to the conference to 30 'anti-Israel blacks' from the United States. He said that the conference, beginning Monday, would feature 'human rights defenders' and 'social activists.' ... Talebzadeh labeled the conference the 'beginning of a cultural revolution and resistance and an international model for public diplomacy.' Another conference organizer, Reza Montazami, likened the treatment of blacks by law enforcement in America to the way in which the 'Zionist regime' treats Palestinians in Israel. 'Israeli and American forces are working together. It is evident that the way police treat blacks is identical to the treatment of Palestinians by the Zionist regime in Israel,' Montazami said. 'It is my belief that Americans should consider it imperative to start making their own decisions and not allow the Zionists to interfere in important intellectual matters.'" http://t.uani.com/1N7BfvI

Mehr (Iran): "The third edition of Iran's International New Horizon Independent Conference started its programs in the capital city of Tehran on October 27. A number of senior journalists, authors, anti-US musicians, political analyists, university professors and renowned political activists took part in the event. The participants attending the three-day event are mostly from the United States, and also several countries of Europe. The first panel of the event hosted the presentations of several experts focused on police brutality, racism and discrimination against blacks in the US. A number of Iranian experts and US scholars and thinkers presented lectures criticizing police brutality against African Americans, massacre of African Americans and widespread human rights violations both in domestic and international arenas in the US community. The first day of the conference included interesting and passionate lectures by American scholars, including Cicile Johnson and Wilmer Leon, and a beautiful performance by African American poet Amir Suleiman who read a poem describing unfortunate conditions of blacks in the US. Meanwhile, three books on Zionism, Israeli lobbies, collapse of morality in the West and racism in the US community were revealed and discussed during the conference." http://t.uani.com/1ka7qPr

Sanctions Relief

IHS Maritime 360: "A delegation from the Port of Antwerp visited Iran last week, along with officials in the shipping and commerce sectors hoping to exploit relaxed sanctions. Led by port alderman and port authority chairman Marc Van Peel, the group of petrochemical and shipping experts met in Tehran with various ministries, petrochemical organisations, and private companies. The exploratory mission was aimed at making contact with official bodies, the Belgian port said. 'Up until 2010 Antwerp was the largest European port destination for Iranian cargoes,' Van Peel said. 'In the light of the recent nuclear agreement and the raising of economic sanctions, we wanted to let the Iranians know directly that Antwerp is still the ideal hub for reaching the European hinterland.' ... In August Contship Italia, Italy's largest container terminal operator, signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sina Port and Marine, Iran's biggest port company. Diego Aponte, the CEO of Mediterranean Shipping Co, and Sultan bin Sulayem, chairman of DP World, the Dubai-based global container terminal operator, have also visited Iran recently. Maersk Line has said it sees great potential in Iran but is not expected to enter the market until sanctions are officially lifted. The sanction rollbacks are expected to be phased in from next year. Hanjin Shipping and Yang Ming have added Bandar Abbas to their Asia-Middle East services, as has CMA CGM. Most carriers dropped Iran from their networks in 2012-13 after sanctions were tightened, while a few, including Wan Hai and Pacific International Lines, resumed calls at Bandar Abbas in 2014 when the restrictions were eased." http://t.uani.com/1kO0JmC

Reuters: "Iran's exports of crude oil and condensate dropped to a seven-month low this month, hit by refinery maintenance and a lull in demand ahead of winter, according to an industry source with knowledge of the nation's tanker loading schedule. Still, loadings of the light oil condensate grade were robust - the second highest for the year - due to Iran's attractive pricing relative to other producers, the source said. Iran this month exported 1.07 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and condensate, down 13 percent from revised figures in September and the lowest since March, when India and Japan took no oil to stay within sanction limits, said the source who keeps a close watch on the producer's shipping programme. Asia's Iranian crude oil imports for the last two years have dipped in October, however, before recovering due to seasonal winter demand, and some industry sources said Chinese loadings are likely to rebound again in the coming months. Iran's exports of condensate, a by-product of natural gas output, in October totalled 240,000 bpd, the second-highest this year and down 10 percent from top-month September. Industry sources attributed the recent high condensate shipments in part to Unipec - the trading arm of Chinese state giant Sinopec - resuming its purchases after laying off the light oil for several months, taking about 1 million barrels each month in September and October." http://t.uani.com/1HaJVe9

Tehran Times: "Brazilian firms expressed interest in furthering cooperation with post-sanctions Iran in the evening follow-up to the minister-level conference of Iranian and Brazilian economic decision-makers in Tehran. Representatives from Brazilian companies of SOFTEX, ABIMO, MARFRIG and FANEM reviewed their potentials and capabilities in the event. SOFTEX President Ruben Delgado, key Brazilian software and IT service provider, stated his company can cooperate with Iranian firms in fields such as application stores and cyber defense as well as IT marketing and technical training. Also, Carlo Porto of ABIMO, Brazilian medical devices manufacturer, noted that her company is ready to collaborate with Iranians particularly in consumables, dental products, and medical equipment. Third speaker of the event was the commercial director of the food-producing MARFRIG Alisson Navarro. To Navarro, Iran's market is very luring as the company has been exporting fresh and frozen beef to Iran as of 2001 and the sanctions relief would ease money transfer and goods delivery between the two countries. The last speaker of the event was export manager Jose Flosi of FANEM, Brazilian medical equipment manufacturer, who saw the possibility of either manufacturing or assembling medical and lab equipment in Iran through joint ventures provided conditions for doing business are provided." http://t.uani.com/1jR7DYe

Syria Conflict

NYT: "Iran has been invited to join talks in Vienna this week with Russia, the United States and European nations on whether a political resolution is possible in the Syrian civil war. If Iran accepts, it will be the first time Secretary of State John Kerry will enter formal negotiations with Tehran on issues beyond the nuclear accord reached in July... But the American denunciation of Iran's activities in Syria, including its support for Mr. Assad's forces and for terror groups like Hezbollah, has always prevented the United States from including Iran in formal talks about the Syrian crisis. The State Department spokesman, John Kirby, buried that policy at a briefing on Tuesday, before it was announced that Mr. Kerry would attend the meeting on Syria in Vienna on Thursday and Friday. 'We anticipate that Iran will be invited to attend this upcoming meeting,' Mr. Kirby said. Mr. Kirby added that the United States still opposed what he termed Iran's 'destabilizing activities' in Syria. But he said that the United States 'recognized that at some point in the discussion, moving toward a political transition, we have to have a conversation and a dialogue with Iran.' ... The Vienna II meeting, as it is called, comes as Western diplomats seek to advance a United Nations Security Council resolution that would ban Mr. Assad's use of barrel bombs." http://t.uani.com/1NADUfy

CNN: "Iran is increasing its military presence in Syria, a top commander told Iranian television Monday. Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said Iran is increasing the quality and quantity of its presence in Syria, according to Iranian media. He described their mission as an advisory role to help the Syrian army loyal to President Bashar al-Assad... A U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency official estimated that since 2013, Iran has lost eight senior Iranian commanders in Syria, including at least six generals. 'Replacing commanders is not easy,' said a U.S. counterterrorism official. 'Iran's deepening involvement in the conflict suggests Tehran will have to weigh the risks of propping up the Assad regime even more carefully.' Salami did not say how many Iranians are now in Syria, but a top American commander Tuesday gave senators a general estimate of Iran's military presence in Syria, as well as in Iraq. 'I think there's more than 1,000 Iranians that are on the ground in Iraq,' said Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 'In Syria, we think the numbers are probably something less than 2,000.'" http://t.uani.com/1jR3ovE

LAT: "Russian bombing and Iranian-backed forces have helped give Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled forces an advantage in the country's bitter civil war, the top U.S. military officer said Tuesday, suggesting a sharp setback for the Obama administration. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared to contradict upbeat assessments by the White House last month that indicated Assad's government had suffered a series of military losses and was losing control. Although the long-term effect is far from clear, Pentagon intelligence has concluded for now that Russian air attacks, which began Sept. 30, and growing involvement by Iranian-backed forces have helped Assad's military advance on several critical fronts and extend his grip on power. 'The balance of forces right now are in Assad's advantage,' Dunford, who visited the region last week, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Citing the Obama administration's continued failure to find a reliable military partner in Syria, Dunford said, 'No one is satisfied with our progress to date.'" http://t.uani.com/1jR754y

Reuters: "A senior member of Syria's Western-backed political opposition came out on Wednesday against Iranian participation in Syrian peace talks in Vienna, saying their presence would undermine the political process... Hisham Marwa, Vice-President of the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition, criticized any participation in the talks by Tehran but stopped short of saying it would refuse participation itself if Iran was involved. 'Iran doesn't believe in the Geneva Communiqué. Involving it (Iran) in talks undermines the political process,' he told Reuters, speaking of an internationally agreed document setting out guidelines for Syria's path to peace and a political transition. Asked whether the Coalition would refuse to take part in talks, he said, 'What's important now is not to refuse talks, it is important to express our concern. Iran has only one project - to keep Assad in power... they don't believe in the principle of the talks'. In January 2014 the opposition body refused to attend political talks in Switzerland unless the United Nations retracted its invitation to Iran." http://t.uani.com/1P4OEV6

AFP: "A spike in the number of Iranian military officers killed in Syria has started a rare debate back home about the country's increased efforts to prop up President Bashar al-Assad. In Tehran, where war dead are revered and remembered in giant public murals, newly erected memorials are a sign of the human cost that Iran is paying in Syria, amid worries of what is to come... The past two weeks have seen the deaths there of one of Iran's best known generals, Hossein Hamedani, two colonels and nine other members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The mounting toll has followed Russia's launch of an air campaign in support of Assad that has coincided with an escalation in the ground war. The confluence of events has for the first time in Iran led some to openly question the country's four-year involvement in Syria, with concerns aired on social media... In an admission of the difficulties, the IRGC's deputy commander gave an extensive interview on state television on Monday night, in what appeared to be an effort to address public concern. 'They must visit the scene... and must get to know the realities on the ground in order to be able to advise. They cannot sit in rooms and help the Syrian army,' said Brigadier General Hossein Salami. 'Our presence increased in quantity and quality. Our number of martyrs is not high, but compared to before it is more noticeable,' he said, conceding that Syria had asked for more help." http://t.uani.com/1RBhrjc

Trend: "The number of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) casualties in Syria reached 20 in the last week, semi-official Defapress news agency reported Oct. 27. Jabbar Araghi, Hamid Reza Dayi Taghi and Pouya Izadi who were the members of the IRGC were killed in fighting with 'terrorist' in Syria on Oct. 26. Araghi was introduced as IRGC 'Sardar', which is equal to General in international military ranking. Pouya Izadi was an IRGC lieutenant while no information was published about Dayi Taghi's military rank. The IRGC members, who were killed in Syria in the last week, mainly have lost their lives in clashes near Aleppo, according to the Iranian media." http://t.uani.com/1ihAJhN

Human Rights

AP: "Executions in Iran have been rising at 'an exponential rate' since 2005 and could top 1,000 this year as the country cracks down on drug offenders, a U.N. investigator said Tuesday. Ahmed Shaheed said in a report to the General Assembly and at media briefings that Iran executes more individuals per capita than any other country in the world. He said the majority of executions violate international laws that ban the use of capital punishment for non-violent offenses and for juveniles. He urged Iran to impose a moratorium on the death penalty in those cases, and for all but the 'most serious crimes' where it can be shown there was an intention to kill that resulted in the loss of life. Shaheed, the special investigator on the human rights situation in Iran, said the 'shocking 753 executions' carried out by Iran in 2014 - the highest number ever - will be topped this year. In the first seven months of 2015, at least 694 people were reportedly executed by hanging, he said, and a number of human rights organizations now report that well over 800 individuals have been executed in the last 10 months. 'And there are dozens more waiting a similar fate on death row,' he added. Shaheed called the rate of executions 'alarming' and said Iran is 'possibly on track to exceed 1,000 by the end of the year.' He said 69 percent of the executions during the first six months of 2015 were reportedly for drug-related offenses, reflecting the increasing influx of drugs and rising drug abuse in the country." http://t.uani.com/20a6BXH

IranWire: "A prominent global communications technology expert has gone missing after participating in a conference in Tehran, IranWire has learned. Nazar Zakka, a Lebanese information and communications technology (ICT) expert, disappeared on September 18 after attending a conference on Entrepreneurship and Employment at the 2nd International Conference & Exhibition on Women in Sustainable Development in Tehran. President Rouhani's Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi invited Zakka to the four-day conference, where he delivered a speech about the role of ICT in empowering women on September 18, after arriving in Iran on September 11. Zakka also took part in round-table discussions at the meeting, which was attended by high-level Iranian ministry officials. On September 18, Zakka left his hotel by taxi to travel to the airport to travel back to Beirut. He did not arrive back in his home country... The announcement of Zakka's disappearance follows the arrests of two other businessmen who had traveled to Iran to explore business opportunities. On October 15, security agents arrested Siamak Namazi, the Iranian-American director of the strategic planning office of Crescent Oil Company. At the time of his arrest, agents ransacked Namazi's family's home and confiscated personal items. Prior to this, around the same time as Zakka's arrest, authorities detained a Europe-based Iranian businessman." http://t.uani.com/1GJ0mDv

ICHRI: "Esmail Gerami Moghaddam, a former Member of Parliament and spokesman for a reformist party has been sentenced to six years in prison. Moghaddam's lawyer, Nemat Ahmadi, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the trial took place on September 29, 2015, and was presided by Judge Salavati who issued a sentence of five years in prison for 'collusion against the state.' Salavati also reinstated a one-year prison sentence issued earlier against Moghaddam in absentia for 'propaganda against the state' based on Article 500 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code." http://t.uani.com/1LYFrJI

ICHRI: "Student activist Amin Anvari, 21, who received a suspended prison sentence earlier this year for Facebook postings promoting basic civil liberties, has been arrested and held without charge at Evin Prison's Ward 2-A by Iran's Revolutionary Guards since October 4, 2015, and is under intense pressure to make false confessions, according to a family member. 'They are threatening us and harassing us just to put pressure on Amin in prison. I'm sure of that. They want him to agree to confess to lies,' Amin Anvari's mother, Farah Bakhshi, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran... Amin Anvari was first arrested on December 30, 2014, because of his Facebook posts on basic civil rights. He was released the same day on 300-million-rial (approximately $10,000) bond. In July 2015, he was tried at Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Ahmadzadeh and sentenced to two and a half years in prison for 'propaganda against the state,' 'insulting the Supreme Leader,' and 'insulting Mohammad Taghi Mesbagh Yazdi' (a member of the Council of Experts). But his sentence was suspended for five years." http://t.uani.com/1kRlDBi

Opinion & Analysis

Khaled Bahah in WSJ: "In a region racked by strife, Yemen stands out. It is the poorest country in the Middle East and since March the plight of my people has been worsened by an inhumane war. The people of Yemen elected President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in February 2012 to preserve the country's unity, independence and territorial integrity, while leading all Yemenis toward a brighter future. But that future has been stolen by Iranian-backed Houthi militia, who drove our legitimate government from office and have committed countless human-rights abuses, documented by the U.N. In response, a broad, international coalition led by Saudi Arabia, and with Yemen's national army, is working to liberate our country from illegal, foreign-sponsored control. Although the battle for Yemen's future has been intense, we have recently made significant progress. In July the port city of Aden was wrested from Houthi control and is now the temporary base of the legitimate government... In its practices, the Houthi group enjoys the support of a regional power. My country is keen to have good relations with all countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, provided that principles enshrined in the U.N. charter-particularly non-interference in internal affairs-are respected and observed. But Tehran must choose: Either it continues to sow discord and maintain relations with a seditious movement, the Houthis, or it deals with Yemen's legitimate authority. The end of this conflict cannot come soon enough. In their callous disregard for the rule of law, the Houthis have opened up a dangerous power vacuum in parts of the country, which al Qaeda and ISIS-the sworn enemies of humanity-are exploiting. As a result, much more than the future of my country is at stake. Failure in Yemen will reverberate regionally and globally, emboldening and empowering extremists. Victory will send a powerful message beyond our shores that Yemenis are committed to defend their inalienable right to self-determination, to prosper in peace and to project those values throughout the Middle East." http://t.uani.com/1KFs6UX

Robin Wright in The New Yorker: "Iran can no longer downplay its intervention in Syria's civil war; there are too many public funerals these days. Two generals were killed in action this month. So was a senior bodyguard of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In recent weeks, senior Revolutionary Guards commanders-advertised as 'military advisers'-have died on three separate fronts. The human cost of Iran's intervention in Syria, on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad, started small, and with little notice. The first to die were young paramilitary fighters. I learned of one of the early casualties in December, 2013, when I visited Zahra's Paradise, the largest cemetery in Tehran. It sprawls across many blocks. One section is devoted to martyrs killed during the devastating eight-year war with Iraq, in the nineteen-eighties. Iran's Shiites revere the dead, especially their martyrs, so the cemetery is a good place to gauge public opinion. Among the old tombstones, and the families picnicking among them, I found a new grave. It had been squeezed in, next to a sidewalk. The red rose petals strewn across it, and the yellow flowers that neatly circled it, were fresh. A picture identified the man buried there as a martyr, Mohammad Hassan Khalili, a twenty-seven-year-old with dark hair and light facial stubble. An Iranian flag had been draped over the temporary headstone. A banner said that he belonged to a paramilitary wing of the Revolutionary Guards called the Basij. He died protecting the Tomb of Zaynab, a site of pilgrimages to honor the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, one of Shiism's early heroines. It's on the outskirts of Damascus. The Islamic Republic described the first men to die as a few young 'volunteers' deployed to protect symbols of the faith. The numbers have escalated since then. In June, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported that more than four hundred volunteers from Iran, including Afghan refugees living in the country, had died in Syria so far. Iranian news agencies and social media are now rife with stories about senior officers killed in Syria on the war's toughest front lines. Last week, Iran's Fars News Agency reported that the death toll hit eight in just two days. The funerals have become major events, sometimes drawing thousands onto Tehran's streets to escort the coffins to Zahra's Paradise. Iran has increasingly been forced to acknowledge its losses-including at least four generals in the past year-with some reports suggesting that twice that number have been killed since the intervention began. Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani, who was killed on October 8th, was given a state funeral. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, personally called on Hamedani's family to convey his condolences. Khamenei's official Twitter account, in English, lauded the general for fulfilling his 'martyrdom wish.' Hamedani's death was a setback for Iran-and possibly for Syria, too. According to Jane's Defense Weekly, Syria's regular Army has been halved since the war began, in 2011. Assad has increasingly relied on leaders in Iran to develop strategy, and counted on Hezbollah, Iran's proxy force in Lebanon, to provide new fighters. Hamedani was the senior Iranian tactician in northern Syria, where the regime is simultaneously fighting Western-backed rebels, the Islamic State, a local Al Qaeda franchise, and smaller militias. Hamedani was a hero of the war with Iraq-the deadliest modern conflict in the Middle East-and his death was the most notable Iranian military loss since that war ended. Iran has provided few details about any of the deaths. But the locations, in three different parts of Syria, offer insight into the scope of Iran's intervention. General Hamedani was killed on the outskirts of Aleppo, which is Syria's largest city, its commercial center, and, today, the war's most important front line. On October 13th, two Revolutionary Guards commanders, both colonels, died in southern Syria, Iranian news agencies reported. On October 22nd, Brigadier General Reza Khavari died in clashes around Hama, in central Syria. Earlier this year, in January, Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi was killed, along with six Hezbollah fighters, when an Israeli air strike hit southern Quneitra. In February, 2013, Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Hassan Shateri was assassinated in the vicinity of Syria's western border with Lebanon. Tehran blamed 'agents and supporters of the Zionist regime.' The Iranians are dying in gun battles, not just on the sidelines or while protecting religious shrines. This month, a senior commander in the Basij, Nader Hamid, died of gunshot wounds suffered in a battle around Quneitra. He was reportedly coördinating a campaign by Hezbollah and a Syrian militia against Western-backed rebels. In April, Major General Hadi Kajbaf and three other Iranians died fighting rebels sixty miles south of Damascus. Iran has been sucked deeper into the Syrian conflict in phases." http://t.uani.com/1XyJmEz
         

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

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