|
|
|
Join UANI
Top
Stories
Bloomberg: "A jump in oil exports,
business deals signed with global companies and inflation tamed: One
year since Iranian negotiators gathered with the world's top diplomats
to unveil their nuclear accord and Iran's economy is on the mend. That's
the good news for President Hassan Rouhani in the final year of his
first term. Not so welcome are the foreign banks deterred from lending
by remaining U.S. sanctions, Congressional threats of new curbs, and
the billions of dollars held in foreign accounts yet to reach Iran.
Jobs are scarce. 'On the whole, the economic consequences have been
disappointing but there was over-optimism,' says Robert Powell, Middle
East and Africa regional manager at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
'Many in Iran probably expected too much, too soon.' Here are four
charts to highlight Iran's economic performance." http://t.uani.com/2a3MpSx
Rudaw: "Leaders of the Arab world
took a unanimous stance against Iran at their League's summit in the
Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott on Monday, describing Tehran's
meddling in the region a threat to the Arab national security. 'We
reaffirm our rejection of foreign interferences in the domestic affairs
of Arab states especially the Iranian interference, which will threaten
the Arab national security,' said leaders of the Arab League in a joint
public statement. Representatives at the summit urged closer
cooperation among Arab states and called on Iran to behave on the
principles of a good neighbor and end its hostile media campaign
against the Arab world. According to Asharq Alawsat newspaper's Tuesday
edition, the Arab leaders asked Iran to stop feeding conflicts in the
region with its sectarian policies. The summit similarly demanded that
Iran respects the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates while
condemning Iran's military exercises around the islands of Abu Musa,
Greater and Lesser Tunb." http://t.uani.com/2abTqTi
IHR: "According to a report
published by Iran Human Rights (IHR), Iranian authorities have executed
at least 250 people between January 1 and July 20 of this year. This
represents an average of more than one execution each day. Still, the
execution numbers so far in 2016 are significantly lower than the
numbers for the same period in 2015. Last year, Iranian authorities
executed more than 700 people in the first seven months of the year.
The execution numbers for the whole year were more than 969, the
highest in more than 25 years. 'Despite the significant reduction in
the number of executions compared to the last two years, Iran remains
on top of the list of executioners after China. Moreover, there is no
indication that the reduction in the number of executions so far is due
to a change of policy by the Iranian authorities. The numbers are lower
than last year most probably because of the parliamentary elections in
February and March of this year and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in
June,' says Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson for Iran Human
Rights." http://t.uani.com/2aaWCeV
Nuclear
& Ballistic Missile Program
Tehran
Times: "Iran
has drawn up plans to bring its nuclear activities to the previous
stage if the West refrains from honoring its obligations under the
nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,
nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi has said... 'Necessary preparations have
been made of for a quick reversibility in case of the violation of the
JCPOA by the other side,' Salehi said in an interview with the IRIB
published on Saturday. Salehi's deputy Behrouz Kamalvandi has also said
that Iran is capable of restoring its nuclear activities to the
pre-nuclear deal in a span of 45 days. 'In a month-and-half we can
increase our centrifuges and (nuclear) material,' Kamalvandi told the
Mehr news agency published on Saturday... Elsewhere, Salehi said that
final steps to sell 40 tons of heavy water to Russia have been taken
and the agreement will be signed soon. He added some big European
corporations seek to buy heavy water from Iran and the issue is under negotiation."
http://t.uani.com/2aldsuf
Business
Risk
Al-Monitor: "Despite efforts by Iranian
authorities to draw multinational companies to the 9th International
Exhibition of Exchange, Bank and Insurance held July 10-13 in Tehran,
the foreign presence was not strong. Shahrad Padidar, the investment
and business development director of Karafarin Investment Group, told
Al-Monitor the weak presence of foreigners was predictable. Indeed,
several key Iranian banks and investment companies also declined to
take part in the event because they assumed such events would have
little impact on their businesses, Padidar said. 'Foreign companies do
negotiate - sometimes for long months - with Iranian brokerage firms,
but at the end of the day they don't make any investment due to
political concerns,' he said, referring to his own experience in
negotiating with European investors... Padidar, of the Karafarin
Investment Group, said that without a government body offering a
guarantee that all obligations will be satisfied when and if the
primary obligator goes into default, no major investment will be made
through the private sector's brokerage firms. In other words, the political
risks are still prevailing, despite the lifting of nuclear-related
sanctions and hopes for the inflow of capital to the Iranian market.
Thus, it seems that neither the Central Bank of Iran nor any other
government body wants to take the risks of the private sector's
possible default on its obligations - a policy that continues to make
foreign investors skeptical of the future prospects of Iran's capital
markets." http://t.uani.com/2apDwqY
Sanctions
Relief
Mehr
(Iran):
"Iranian and Sri Lankan oil ministers have begun a fresh round of
oil talks over signing the first oil sale contract in the post-sanction
era. With the passage of seven months since sanctions removals and
Iran's entrance to post-sanction period, a new round of oil talks
between Iran and Sri Lanka kicked off today in Tehran at presence of
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh as well as the Sri Lankan Minister
of Petroleum Resources Development Chandima Weerakkody. Sri Lanka marks
a traditional customer of Iranian crude as 100 per cent of the oil
demand in its only oil refinery, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, was
supplied by Iran before the imposition of international sanctions.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart,
Iran's Zanganeh said the ties between the two countries, which had
halted due to sanctions, will be reinvigorated; 'being situated in the
Indian Ocean region, Iran and Sri Lanka are naturally in conjunction
with each other.' ... Recently, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)
Executive Director for International Affairs Seyed Mohsen Ghamsari had
announced that oil exports to Sri Lanka has not started yet adding
'NIOC executives in Singapore have launched talks with officials if
Ceylon Petroleum Corporation over resumption of oil sales.'" http://t.uani.com/29VbdzI
ISNA
(Iran): "The
CEO of Iran Khodro, Iranian largest state-run carmaker, Hashem
Yekeh-Zareh, said the company has been negotiating with two Japanese
automakers Suzuki and Datsun. The two sides have had good negotiations
and in addition to the New Car Vitara, two new sedans that companies
Ciaz and Baleno will be jointly produced and presented in the market,
he said. 'The negotiation with the other Japanese Datsun, has begun
sometime ago,' he added. CEO Iran Khodro then stressed that the
cooperation agreement between the company and Mercedes Benz is almost finalized
and will be signed within two months." http://t.uani.com/2aqGZCE
IRNA
(Iran): "A
meeting was held between Kerman businessmen and members of Rauh Welt Begriff
Company (RWB) from the Netherlands on Monday. Chairman of Kerman
Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture said after
expounding on potentials of the province, companies active in the field
of water expressed interest to cooperate with Kerman's companies.
Masoud Rashidi Nejad expressed hope that RWB's presence in Iran could
provide the grounds for Dutch and Kerman companies to cooperate in
water field and in solving the related problems. The C.E.O of RWB Andre
Regers said that the company is active in the area of drinking and
process water preparation, waste water purification and reuse, water
sustainability, water evaporation and financing related projects."
http://t.uani.com/2a98Gk1
Mehr
(Iran): "An
oil official has announced that Sinopec Company of China will take up
second phase of the project for development of Yadavaran joint field.
Executive manager of the Development Project of Yadavaran oilfield Hadi
Nazarpour described the latest status of Yadavaran development plan
saying 'at the current time, a daily average of 100 thousand barrels of
oil are being produced at the joint field.' He underlined that Iraq
begun production at Yadavaran four months ago asserting 'since the
launch of production, Iran has managed to recover a total of 53 million
barrels of oil from the joint field with the neighboring country.' 'The
contract to develop Yadavaran was inked in 2008 with China Petroleum
& Chemical Corporation (Sinopec),' highlighted the official noting
'three developmental phases were envisaged for the joint oilfield with
the first and second phases aiming to increase output to 58 and 180
thousand barrels per day, respectively.' ... He also touched upon the
latest status of talks with Sinopec over development of Yadavaran's
Phase 2 explaining 'for the time being, the Major Development Plan
(MDP) has become finalized and the Chinese firm will carry out the
project.'" http://t.uani.com/2ab8aQ3
Mehr
(Iran): "An
oil official has announced the beginning of new oil negotiations
between Iran and China for the second phase of North Azadegan oilfield
development plan. Speaking to reporters at a press conference, North
Azadegan Development Project Manager Keramat Behbahani said 'the first
phase of the project for development of the Iranian oilfield was
completed and put into operation one hundred days ago with a production
capacity of 75 thousand barrels of crude oil per day.' ... Keramat
Behbahani also referred to the talks with China's National Petroleum
Corporation (CNPC) over development of the second phase of the field
asserting 'negotiations are still underway as we are expecting to
receive CNPC's proposal for the project.' Behbahani pointed to initial
technical and financial proposal offered by the Chinese side
emphasizing 'in case of reaching an agreement between National Iranian
Oil Company (NIOC) and CNPC, a buyback contract will be signed.'" http://t.uani.com/2aFNHE0
Foreign
Affairs
Press
TV (Iran): "A
senior Iranian commander strongly criticizes France and Saudi Arabia
over their cooperation with the anti-Iran terrorists, including the
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), saying any act of terror in the
Islamic Republic would be blamed on Riyadh and Paris... 'The role of
the French in supporting and directing the phenomenon of terrorism is
undeniable,' the commander said, adding, 'The advocates of combating terrorism,
especially Western governments, better set aside their dual policies
and genuinely step into the arena of fighting the ominous phenomenon of
terrorism.'" http://t.uani.com/2ab5tOp
Terrorism
AP: "Iran on Tuesday denied
claims by Washington that three senior al-Qaida figures are based in
the Persian country, the official IRNA news agency reported. Foreign
Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted as saying that Iran
doesn't have 'any information about their presence on its soil.' He
also reiterated Iran's commitment to fighting terrorism. The Obama
administration last week slapped sanctions on the three, saying they
are based in Iran, which it accused of helping transfer money and
fighters from South Asia to the Mideast. The move froze any assets they
may have in U.S. jurisdictions and barred Americans from doing business
with them. The three - Saudi national Faisal Jassim Mohammed al-Amri
al-Khalidi, Egyptian national Yisra Muhammad Ibrahim Bayumi and
Algerian national Abu Bakr Muhammad Muhammad Ghumayn - were identified
as 'specially designated global terrorists.' According to the U.S.
Treasury, al-Khalidi is an al-Qaida military commission chief and a
former battalion commander who had ties with the Pakistani Taliban.
Bayumi is the group's liaison with Iranian authorities and Ghumayn is
in charge of al-Qaida members who are living in Iran, the Treasury
said." http://t.uani.com/2a1YkQ1
Syria
Conflict
Asharq
Al-Awsat:
"Four thousand Iranian fighters arrived in Aleppo last week to
join the 80,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Afghani forces in
Syria. Member of the delegation of the High Negotiations Committee
(NHC) Assad al-Zubi declared that Iran is trying to cover up its losses
by mobilizing new members. He added that the so-called Hezbollah had
recruited a number of child soldiers to partake in the combat as well.
Zubi told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that he received news confirming
the arrival of 4,000 Iranian fighters to Aleppo. He explained that the
fighters were being trained south of Damascus and the majority of them
are Iranian or Afghans carrying the Iranian nationality. He explained
that Iran is resorting to recruiting new members to cover its losses
which it prefers to keep undisclosed. He added that the latest
statistics confirm that 80,000 IRGC and Afghan Forces members were
brought to Syria in addition to a number of Iraqi fighters." http://t.uani.com/2a59iFR
Domestic
Politics
AFP: "Iran's government said
Tuesday it would cap salaries for public officials as it seeks to
dampen a scandal over exorbitant pay that has threatened to derail
President Hassan Rouhani's re-election hopes. The payslips of
executives at several public companies were leaked in May, showing that
many earned over 100 times more than the average worker. One bank
director was paid some $60,000 a month -- compared with an average
public sector salary of about $400. He was sacked along with three
other bank directors last month, and the entire management of Iran's
development fund was forced to resign shortly after. On Tuesday, the
government said it would cap monthly salaries for public officials at
189 million rials ($6,100), and 100 million rials for those in
political roles. Any payment beyond these limits would be considered 'a
violation and crime and they will face prosecution under the law', said
government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht. The scandal has gripped
the country and provided ammunition for the conservative media to
attack moderate president Rouhani ahead of the next election, due
around May next year." http://t.uani.com/2aHtTjr
Al-Monitor: "According to Gholam-Hossein
Mohseni-Ejei, Iran's judiciary spokesman, a total of four people have
been arrested who are linked to a corruption case at Bank Mellat...
Mohseni-Ejei added that in addition to the four arrests, a number of
individuals are also wanted, some inside the country and others
outside. He described the cases as being in the 'preliminary stage of
investigation.' Repeating assertions by the IRGC, Mohseni-Ejei said
that while the cases are related to financial issues, they are not
limited to the issue of exorbitant salaries. The statement by the
judiciary spokesman suggests that the judiciary and IRGC are working
together on a corruption case much wider in scope. It is possible that
the arrests could also bring in more people linked to the Rouhani
administration. On the scandal over the high salaries, Mohseni-Ejei said
all the institutions in Iran were to blame for their 'neglect' over
this issue." http://t.uani.com/2aHtLkc
Opinion
& Analysis
Toby
Dershowitz & Saeed Gasseminejad in The Hill: "Iran is on a diplomatic
offensive to persuade global illicit finance regulators to accept that
Hezbollah is not a terrorist group. It may be just a matter of time
before the international body in charge of protecting the global
financial system succumbs to pressure from businesses on a gold rush
back into Iran. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) sets global
standards to combat money laundering and finance for terrorism and
proliferation. In June, FATF announced it would keep Iran on its
high-risk blacklist, saying it 'remains concerned with the terrorist
financing risk emanating from Iran and the threat this poses to the
international financial system.' The business community was advised to
'apply enhanced due diligence to business relationships and
transactions' with Iran. Still, FATF suspended mandatory
counter-measures for a year on the promise that Iran would take steps
to address 'deficiencies' and seek 'technical assistance' to implement
its Action Plan. Neither FATF nor international financial institutions
should be blind to what Iran has in mind. On July 11 Iran's nuclear
negotiator Abbas Araghchi was blunt: 'It took us 18 months to reach an
understanding with FATF regarding the definition of terrorist groups.
We have clear red lines and will not sacrifice Hezbollah.' Hezbollah
has a decades-long terrorist rap sheet against America and its allies.
On June 24, the day FATF suspended mandatory counter-measures on Iran,
Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah tested FATF and the
international community by announcing, 'We are open that Hezbollah's
budget, income, expenses, everything it eats and drinks, and its
weapons and rockets, come from the Islamic Republic of Iran.' In
roadshows throughout the world, Iran has asserted that it has passed a
counter-terrorism law to comply with FATF standards. 'This law will be
helpful in sending a message of goodwill to financial bodies across the
world and would be effective in allaying their fears in doing business
with our banks,' Hamid Tehranfar, the Central Bank of Iran's deputy for
supervision affairs explained, adding that passage of the law would
improve Iranian credit ratings. But how Iran defines terrorism reveals
its real intentions. Abdolmahdi Arjmandnejad, the Central Bank's deputy
for anti-money laundering affairs, said 'liberation organizations are
not subject to this law and the Supreme National Security Council
decides who is a terrorist.' He added that FATF has no access to bank
account information and transactions.' Terror financing in Iran occurs
because the state orders it. The state will use its banks to transfer
money to terrorist proxies the same way Iran uses banks, both
state-owned and private in ways which led to their designation in the
first place. This is where Iran may be playing FATF." http://t.uani.com/29WUuw3
|
|
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