Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Eye on Iran: Iran Threatens Lawsuit in Hague Court Over U.S. Ruling on $2 Billion







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NYT: "Iran said on Monday that it would seek to sue the United States at the International Court of Justice at The Hague to prevent the distribution of nearly $2 billion in impounded assets from Iran's central bank to compensate American victims of overseas attacks. Distribution of the impounded assets, which the United States Supreme Court validated in a decision last week, has enraged the Iranians and threatened to damage the improvement in relations created by the deal reached last July on Iran's nuclear activities. The Supreme Court decision affected more than 1,000 Americans - survivors of, and relatives of people killed in, attacks that the American authorities have attributed to Iranian operatives. The attacks include the 1983 truck bombing of a Marine base in Beirut and a truck bombing in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, in 1996. The Iranians have denied responsibility for these attacks and have accused the United States of using them as an excuse to steal their money through the Supreme Court decision. 'We hold the U.S. administration responsible for preservation of Iranian funds, and if they are plundered, we will lodge a complaint with the I.C.J. for reparation,' Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, told reporters on Monday in Tehran. He was referring to the International Court of Justice." http://t.uani.com/1NOXZxo

AP: "An Iranian court has sentenced four pro-reform journalists to prison terms ranging from five to 10 years after convicting them on charges of acting against national security. State TV's website said on Tuesday that the verdicts can be appealed. The four were arrested in November as part of ongoing crackdown by hard-liners, a move that was criticized by moderate President Hassan Rouhani. Several Iranian activists and cultural figures were also arrested in the run-up to February elections for parliament and the all-cleric Assembly of Experts. The four sentenced have worked for various newspapers, including pro-reform Farhikhtegan daily. They include Davood Asadi, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Ehsun Mazandarani was given a seven-year term while Afarin Chitsaz and Ehsan Safarzaiee each have to spend five years behind bars." http://t.uani.com/1VzJw06

NYT: "Iraqi forces, backed by American airstrikes and advised by American officers, have been making strides in Anbar Province, slowly taking back territory from the Islamic State. But in Falluja, a city in Sunni-dominated Anbar that has been in the hands of the Islamic State longer than any other in Iraq or Syria, civilians are starving as the Iraqi Army and militias lay siege to the city. And elsewhere in the province, Shiite militias supported by Iran are carrying out kidnappings and murders and restricting the movement of Sunni Arab civilians, according to American and Iraqi officials... A growing number of critics are warning that American-backed military victories need to be backed up with political reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite Arabs, something Iran is working against, and with determined efforts to rebuild cities so that civilians can return. In Anbar, they note, the situation is bleak: Shiite militias have worsened sectarian animosities, and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been unable to return home. More broadly, analysts and officials say, it has become clear that though the United States and Iran both want to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq, they have been unable to work together to promote unity in the country - even after a deal was reached last year over Iran's nuclear program, which many hoped would allow them to cooperate more closely... Iran's proxies are undercutting efforts to unite the civilian population, a necessity if Iraq is to eventually extinguish extremism." http://t.uani.com/1YRIxGs

Nuclear & Ballistic Missile Program

Reuters: "Iran is holding talks with Russia to sell it about 40 tonnes of heavy water from its nuclear program, Iran's deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. Under last year's landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, Tehran is responsible for reducing its stock of heavy water which is a component of making nuclear weapons and producing nuclear energy. It is not radioactive and the nuclear deal gives Iran the right to sell, dilute or dispose of it under certain conditions. Abbas Araqchi, who is also a top nuclear negotiator, was quoted by the Fars agency as saying late on Sunday that the United States had been the first buyer of Iranian heavy water and some other world powers, including Russia, were now showing an interest. 'We are negotiating with Russia to sell 40 tonnes of heavy water,' he said. The Russian Foreign Ministry later confirmed Moscow was considering the purchase." http://t.uani.com/1WR8mIp

IranWire: "There is not much of a 'missile gap' between Iran's oft-described reformists and hardliners. Ever since Iran carried out a series of controversial missile tests last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has been defending Iran's missile program to his English-speaking audiences. Addressing the New Zealand Institute of Foreign Affairs in Wellington on March 14, Zarif responded with apparent emotion to a Japanese journalist who asked why Iran was pursuing missile tests just as investors were beginning to explore possible opportunities in Iran. Zarif stood up with a sarcastic smile and, wagging his finger, invoked the era of fear and isolation Iranians lived through during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War... For all Zarif's popularity with Iranian reformers and western Iran-watchers, he is the defender of an Iranian military doctrine controlled by more conservative forces." http://t.uani.com/1Qyp4Vi

U.S.-Iran Relations

Reuters: "Iran on Tuesday summoned the Swiss ambassador, who handles U.S. interests in Tehran, to condemn a Supreme Court ruling that almost $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets must be turned over to U.S. families of those killed in attacks blamed on Tehran. Denouncing the ruling as theft, Iran warned on Monday that it would seek to take the United States to the International Court of Justice at The Hague to prevent the distribution of the money. 'Iran's strong objection over the ruling was conveyed during the meeting between Iranian official and the Swiss envoy. Iranian official underlined that the ruling was against international laws and bilateral agreements,' the semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry as saying. The Swiss embassy represents U.S. interests in Iran, because Washington has not had a mission there since hardline Iranian students seized American embassy shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The U.S. Supreme Court found that Congress had not usurped the authority of the courts by passing a law in 2012 stating that the frozen funds should go toward satisfying a $2.65 billion judgment against Iran won by the families in a U.S. federal court in 2007. The ruling would affect, among others, the families of 241 U.S. soldiers killed in truck bomb attacks on a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in October 1983." http://t.uani.com/26r66f0

Business Risk

ICHRI: "Saeed Razavi Faghih, a reformist journalist who was released from Evin Prison on April 6, 2016 after serving two years for his political beliefs, has issued an open letter urging the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, to not 'sacrifice human rights for commercial greed' during her April 16, 2016 trip to Tehran. Mogherini's one-day trip was seen as yet another sign of warming relations between Iran and the EU following the signing of the nuclear deal by Iran and world powers in July 2015. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has provided the first English translation (links added for context) of the letter, which was also addressed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The letter was first published in Persian on April 17, 2016 by Saham News, which is affiliated with Mehdi Karroubi, an opposition leader who has been held under house arrest since 2011 for his role in the Green Movement protests against the disputed victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 Iranian presidential election. 'In the past two decades, at the very least, the state of Iran has been the biggest danger to no nation other than Iran itself,' wrote Razavi Faghih. 'The great number of inmates in Iran's prisons, representing [individuals belonging to different trades] and [those who belong to different] schools of thought and various political and social groups, is an indication of the daily, deepening divide between the state and the people,' he added." http://t.uani.com/1YRJu1x

Sanctions Relief

Reuters: "The United Arab Emirates' Dana Gas has not been able to reach an acceptable deal with Iran on natural gas imports into the UAE, and an arbitration process will continue, chief executive Patrick Allman-Ward said on Tuesday. However, Dana is still open to further discussions with Iran, which also wants to see the dispute resolved, Allman-Ward told reporters. National Iranian Oil Co and Dana's affiliate Crescent Petroleum signed a 25-year contract in 2001 for Iran to deliver gas to the UAE, with the price linked to oil." http://t.uani.com/233hqcR

Mehr (Iran): "Iranian Ministry of Industry has approved of importing cars produced at Germany's Opel Automobile manufacturer company. Following the announcement of the list of authorized imported vehicles by the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) of Iran, Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, in a letter to TPO, announced its agreement with licensing German Opel cars in two models of Adam and Corsa with engine capacities of less than 2500 cc. In the letter to Iran's TPO, the Ministry of Industry has announced that the importer company, Tavan Khodro Jey Co., possesses credible certifications as well as licenses from the Iranian Department of Environment as well as the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research and intends to import Opel Adam and Corsa hatchback automobiles with an engine capacity of 1400 cc... Founded in 1862, Adam Opel AG is a German automobile manufacturer headquartered in Rüsselsheim, Hesse, Germany, and a subsidiary of General Motors Company." http://t.uani.com/233lQQJ

ISNA (Iran): "British Trade Minister Lord Livingston plans to visit Iran in May, said Head of Investment Commission of Iranian Chamber of Commerce Feriyal Mostofi, adding he is going to be accompanied by a delegation. Mostofi who has recently visited Britain for London conference, said the event was attended by different trade companies where the two sides discussed bilateral economic cooperation. She said that she had outlined potentials, rules and investment in Iran and they expressed their readiness for deepening bilateral economic ties with Iran after lifting sanctions." http://t.uani.com/1YRLbMs

SHANA (Iran): "UK's trade envoy to Iran, Lord Lamont, has voiced the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF)'s readiness to cooperate with Iran and offer insurance coverage to the OPEC member Asian country. Following a meeting with the British envoy in Tehran, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, deputy petroleum minister in international affairs and trading, said he discussed Iran's future cooperation with UKEF and lowering investment risks in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with Lamont. 'The British side voiced UKEF's readiness to cooperate with Iran and to allocate a budget for insurance coverage,' he said. Zamaninia added that oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum (BP) have also indicated readiness to invest in Iran's projects and are seeking to join them. Before meeting with Zamaninia, Lamont, who currently chairs the British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, met with officials of the Central Bank of Iran to confer banking issues between the two countries. 'We also discussed development of Rhum gas field and they promised to cooperate with Iran for solving the field's development problems,' Zamaninia said." http://t.uani.com/1UeF1a0

Tasnim (Iran):  "A high-ranking parliamentary delegation from Belgium is scheduled to visit Tehran this week for talks on bilateral ties. The delegation, headed by President of the Senate of Belgium Christine Defraigne, will arrive in Tehran on April 27. Defraigne is planned to sit down with Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. The two will also hold a joint press conference after the meeting. The president of the Senate of Belgium is also scheduled to hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Chairman of Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a top adviser to Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani on international affairs, Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi, and a number of other officials during the 5-day visit." http://t.uani.com/1MVQ0Ug

Mehr (Iran): "Iran and Vestas energy company of Denmark have begun a fresh round of cooperation in wind energy industry.Iranian power industry and Denmak's Vestas company have started collaboration by helping generate electricity from wind, transferring the knowhow of wind power plants and turbines, and integrating wind networks." http://t.uani.com/1SMhfmu

Terrorism

IranWire: "Ten victims of a terrorist attack who won a financial judgment against Iran are entitled to seize their claims from $9.4 million in funds owed to Iran's defense ministry, according to a recent ruling by the US Federal Court of Appeal. The February 26 ruling upholds a decision reached two years ago in a lower district court based in San Diego, California. The debt relates to dealings between a US private company, Cubic, and Iran prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Cubic, a San Diego-based defense contractor, had arranged to sell Iran air combat systems. Because of deep political tensions between Iran and the US after the revolution, Cubic sold the system to Canada and ignored Iran's call for reimbursement. Iran asked for the International Chamber of Commerce to arbitrate the dispute in 1991. In 1997, the international body found that Cubic indeed owed Iran $2.8 million. With interest and legal costs, the figure has since risen to around $9.4 million. The money has been a blocked or frozen asset under US law. Of the 10 victims named in the court's judgment, nine of them - Renay Frym, Stuart E. Hersh, Abraham Mendelson, Daniel J. Miller, Elena Rozenman, Noam Rozenman, Tzvi Rozenman, Deborah Rubin and Jenny Rubin - are survivors of a suicide bombing that took place in a pedestrian mall in Jerusalem on September 4, 1997. A lower court judge determined that Iran provided training and other material assistance to the three bombers of the Hamas Group that carried out the attack. The tenth victim is France Rafii, the daughter of Shapour Bakhtiar, who was Iran's last prime minister before the 1979 Revolution.  Bakhtiar was murdered in 1991, along with his secretary Souroush Katibeh, at his residence in the Paris suburb of Suresnes." http://t.uani.com/1rwPaUD

Human Rights

Al-Monitor: "Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei rejected calls for the release of political prisoner Omid Kokabee from prison after he had his right kidney removed. Kokabee, a graduate student in physics at the University of Texas at Austin who was arrested in Iran, convicted of collaboration with an enemy government and illegal earnings and sentenced to 10 years in prison, was diagnosed with renal cancer after reportedly being denied treatment for a kidney illness for years. Referring to Kokabee, Mohseni-Ejei said April 24, 'This offender has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. If someone commits treason against their country they should be punished.' On Kokabee's illness, he said, 'People in prison can become sick like other people, and if they can be treated in prison it will be done. Otherwise they will be transferred to a hospital for treatment.' Mohseni-Ejei said that if a medical doctor says prison will worsen the condition of the prisoner, then it is up to the prison officials to provide another facility." http://t.uani.com/1T1Pctc

Journalism Is Not a Crime: "Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has ranked Iran 169th of 180 countries in its 2016 edition of the World Press Freedom Index. Iran climbed four places since last year's report but remains one of the most repressive countries in the world when it comes to press freedom. According the RSF report, which was published on Wednesday, 20 April, this year's index saw a 'deep and disturbing decline in respect for media freedom at both the global and regional levels.' Since 2013, the overall level of media freedom in the world has declined by 13.6 percent... Iran is rated the world's third biggest prison for journalists by RSF, and ranks among the top three most censored countries in Freedom House Freedom House's annual study of internet freedom." http://t.uani.com/1T1O5tr

Journalism Is Not a Crime: "Jailed Iranian journalist and blogger Saeed Pourheydar has sewed his lips together and started a hunger strike to protest delays in his trial. Pourheydar is currently being held in Iran's brutal Rajai Shahr prison. In August 2015, he was given a five-year prison sentence, but his case has not yet been heard by the appeals court. In protest, Pourheydar sewed his mouth shut and went on a hunger strike on Saturday, April 16, according to reports. Pourheydar, who had lived in the United States for several years, was arrested in Tehran on January 4, 2015, about a month after he had returned to Iran. On August 3, 2015, a Revolutionary Court sentenced Pourheydar to five years in prison on charges of 'propaganda against the regime,' 'insulting the supreme leader,' and 'publishing falsehood in cyberspace.' Pourheydar appealed the conviction, but the appeals court has not issued a ruling." http://t.uani.com/1VUzwhN

AP: "The lawyer for a prominent jailed Iranian artist and activist say authorities will soon free his client. Mohammad Moghimi told The Associated Press Monday that an appeals court reduced Atena Farghadani's 12-year prison sentence to 18 months and 'she will be freed soon.' Moghimi said the exact date for her release has not been set yet. In June 2014, a court sentenced Farghadani, a cartoonist, over a cartoon that criticized a law limiting women's access to birth control." http://t.uani.com/1SHhA6X

Foreign Affairs

Reuters: "When Iran took delivery of the first parts of an advanced Russian air defense system this month, it paraded the anti-aircraft missile launchers sent by Moscow to mark Army Day. Tehran had cause to celebrate: the Kremlin's decision a year ago to press ahead with the stalled sale of the S-300 system was the first clear evidence of a growing partnership between Russia and Iran that has since turned the tide in Syria's civil war and is testing U.S. influence in the Middle East. But the delay in implementation of the deal also points to the limitations of a relationship that is forged from a convergence of interests rather than a shared worldview, with Iran's leadership divided over ideology and Russia showing signs of reluctance to let the alliance develop much more, according to diplomats, officials and analysts interviewed by Reuters. Some Iranian officials want a strategic alliance, a much deeper relationship than now. But the Kremlin refers only to ongoing cooperation with a new dimension because of the conflict in Syria, in which both back Damascus. 'We are continuously developing friendly relations with Iran, but we cannot really talk about a new paradigm in our relations,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last month." http://t.uani.com/1QyqSOe

Opinion & Analysis

Economist: "It was billed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Iran is the 'biggest new market to re-enter the global economy in decades', British trade officials said in January, predicting more than $1 trillion of investment over ten years. 'Iran is a new region to conquer,' said an imperial-minded boss of a French luxury-goods firm this month. Sanctions had kept outsiders from an oil-rich economy worth an estimated $400 billion. Although an American trade embargo remains in place, firms from other parts of the world were expected to scramble to enter after the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions in January. At first glance the influx has begun. Soon after the IAEA, the international nuclear watchdog, said Iran had fulfilled the terms of an agreement with big powers, European firms trumpeted deals potentially worth billions. Airbus said it would sell Iran 118 jets, with bigger orders possibly to follow. PSA Peugeot Citroën and Renault-Nissan said they would assemble and sell cars to Iran's 80m people. Analysts foresaw record car sales this year. So many delegations of would-be investors flocked to Tehran that visitors reported struggling to find rooms in the smog-choked city. Earlier this month Italy's prime minister, Matteo Renzi, became the latest to lead a gaggle of businessmen there, predicting a golden era for industrial ties. Italian fashion firms, such as Versace and Roberto Cavalli, and a French cosmetics firm, Sephora, have opened shops in Tehran or plan to do so. In cafés in north Tehran, where peroxide hairdos poke from veils, rumours circulate about a European arm of an American turbine-maker that has agreed a big joint venture. Local 'business enablers'-such as Ilia, run by well-connected Iranians and Germans-are popping up like mushrooms. They offer to help outsiders navigate markets, set up joint ventures, rent offices, find pre-paid credit cards and more. Yet getting started is proving harder than many expected. The biggest problem is a lack of finance. On April 13th a Treasury official denied that America is continuing to freeze Iranian overseas assets. Yet such funds, worth perhaps $100 billion, which had been expected to help pay for an investment boom, do not seem to be flowing. More importantly, America continues to deny firms that operate in Iran access to its financial system. That spooks foreign banks, which are wary of the long arm of American law. Since 2009 the Treasury's sanctions enforcer, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has imposed $14 billion in fines on those dealing with Iran. Without the banks, those headline-grabbing deals will struggle to go far. Uncertainty lingers. The US Treasury seems unable to define the benchmarks Iran has to meet to regain access to the American financial system. 'It was better when sanctions were still in place,' grumbles a wheat merchant, who traded with American suppliers (OFAC approved) throughout the sanctions era. 'At least the banks then knew what they could and couldn't do. Now the lawyers, not the bankers, are taking decisions, and nothing is moving.' 'We can't sell to Iran because our bank won't accept payment,' says a British producer of drilling parts for oil platforms, who has stayed out of Iran's market for the past six years. European export credit agencies are issuing some credit notes, such as a recent Italian one for $5 billion. A few European banks, including Belgium's KBC and Germany's DZ Bank, have started handling transactions, probably because neither has a big presence in America. Even so, they cannot trade in dollars (unless, America says, those dollars were already abroad) and appear only to be testing the water... A labyrinthine bureaucracy frustrates everyone. Since last October many Western visitors (though not Britons or Americans) have been able to get visas on arrival. Getting a work visa, however, still involves tiresome wrestling with red tape. Worse, a few foreigners have been arrested, among them Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman held since October, and his father, an ex-official at the UN. Statements from some public figures are discouraging. 'We're not going to go in their countries and we don't want them to come and live in ours,' says Hadi Khamenei, the brother of the Supreme Leader. Other sources of uncertainty include pervasive corruption and the activities of shadowy groups, such as the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which have big, hidden economic interests. It is hard to navigate Iranian politics, or even to find trusty accounting and legal firms, although several foreign outfits are returning to Tehran... America says Iran's government is violating the spirit of the international deal, by launching missiles and more. This month Barack Obama told Iran to stop 'engaging in a range of provocative actions that might scare business off'. America might not ease its position until after its presidential election in November. Were a Republican to win, that 'poses a huge risk for investors', says a Tehran-based consultant. Iran still holds huge promise, but the scramble will be more stately than expected." http://t.uani.com/1SxjmoS

Robin Wright in The New Yorker: "Three months after Iran dismantled large parts of its nuclear program, in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action-the international nuclear deal-the country's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, declared last week in New York that the United States is falling seriously short of its commitments. Iran's Central Bank chief, Valiollah Seif, delivered a similar message during his first meeting with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, on April 14th, and he told the Council on Foreign Relations, 'Nothing has happened.' Secretary of State John Kerry addressed some of these concerns on Friday. Standing next to Zarif, during their second meeting in four days, Kerry said that the nuclear deal opened 'opportunities for foreign banks to do business with Iran,' and that Washington would not stand in their way. The Obama Administration also announced that it was buying thirty-two metric tons of heavy water from Iran, for almost nine million dollars. Iran had already exported the matériel as part of the nuclear agreement, but it had been stuck on ships off Oman. It will be stored at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and later resold for industrial and research use, the State Department said. In an interview last week, Zarif discussed various sticking points in relations between Washington and Tehran. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity." http://t.uani.com/1QyqSOe
       

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.

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