Submitted by: Susan Short
Top Stories
AP:
"In the eyes of most Iraqis, their country's best ally in the war
against the Islamic State group is not the United States and the
coalition air campaign against the militants. It's Iran, which is
credited with stopping the extremists' march on Baghdad. Shiite,
non-Arab Iran has effectively taken charge of Iraq's defense against the
Sunni radical group, meeting the Iraqi government's need for immediate
help on the ground. Two to three Iranian military aircraft a day land at
Baghdad airport, bringing in weapons and ammunition. Iran's most potent
military force and best known general - the Revolutionary Guard's elite
Quds Force and its commander Gen. Ghasem Soleimani - are organizing
Iraqi forces and have become the de facto leaders of Iraqi Shiite
militias that are the backbone of the fight. Iran carried out airstrikes
to help push militants from an Iraqi province on its border. The result
is that Tehran's influence in Iraq, already high since U.S. forces left
at the end of 2011, has grown to an unprecedented level."
http://t.uani.com/1sq1bde
AFP: "Iran's atomic agency chief insisted
Sunday
on Tehran's demands for increased uranium enrichment, days before the
resumption of thorny talks with world powers in Geneva. Ali Akbar
Salehi, a former foreign minister and ex-nuclear negotiator for the
Islamic republic, said that within eight years the country would need 12
times more enriched uranium than at present... 'We currently produce
2.5 tons but will need 30 tons eventually,' Salehi, head of the Iranian
Atomic Energy Organisation, was quoted as saying by official news agency
IRNA. 'They refuse... and ask that we reduce the number of centrifuges
(the machines that enrich uranium),' Salehi said. 'We must have that
right in eight years... we are ready to do this in stages. They can set
the first step but we want to set the last step.' ... Salehi also
reiterated Iran's demand for an eventual enrichment capacity of 190,000
SWU (separative work units), which was first set out by the country's
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last July.... Salehi also pointed
to a third difficulty -- the time period the West considers necessary
for confidence-building measures to ensure Iran's nuclear programme is
peaceful. 'We want this period to be less than 10 years,' he said,
noting that the P5+1 powers want it to last 'between 10 and 20 years.'"
http://t.uani.com/14LpzMk
Reuters: "The U.S. and Iranian foreign ministers will meet in Geneva
on Wednesday
to discuss the Iranian nuclear program ahead of a fresh round of talks
among Tehran and major powers on the issue, a senior U.S. official said
on Friday.
The meeting will take place ahead of lower-level bilateral nuclear
talks between Iran and members of six major powers expected to start on
Jan. 15 in Geneva as well as a collective discussion among the entire
group scheduled to resume on
Jan. 18.
Speaking to reporters, the senior U.S. State Department official said
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif planned to meet so as 'to provide guidance to their
negotiating teams before their next round of discussions.'"
http://t.uani.com/1BYSJ4t
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
AFP: "Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said
Monday
that a more active role for Russia could speed up talks aimed at
sealing a comprehensive deal on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
With meetings between Iran and world powers to resume in Geneva
on Wednesday,
Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov was visiting Tehran,
with both sides seeking a breakthrough. 'A more active Russian role is
an important element in accelerating the final settlement of questions
for a global nuclear agreement,' Zarif was quoted as saying on state
media... Ryabkov, who heads up the Russian negotiating team under the
P5+1 talks, said good ties between Tehran and Moscow can still help 'a
rapid settlement of nuclear relations relating to Iran.'"
http://t.uani.com/1A7RE8g
LAT:
"High-level meetings in Geneva in coming days will offer an early test
of whether Iran is willing to show new flexibility in the stalled
international negotiations on its nuclear program. With only six weeks
before the next deadline in the negotiations, Secretary of State John F.
Kerry will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
on Wednesday in the Swiss capital. The U.S. and Iranian negotiating teams will meet
Thursday through
Saturday, and
on Sunday
diplomats from all seven countries involved in the negotiations will
hold a final session... Western officials hope to see whether Rouhani
will return with new instructions from Iran's supreme leader that will
allow completion of the several major issues that remain unresolved.
'There is hope that, having come so close, there will now be a decision
to take the final steps,' said a person close to the negotiations, who
declined to be identified, citing the sensitivity of the issue. Iranian
officials insist that it is not they, but Western officials, who are
intransigent."
http://t.uani.com/14Pig5C
Al-Monitor:
"But a former US nuclear negotiator warns that continued internal
disagreements in Iran seem to be stalling progress on a deal. 'In my
view, the talks have become hostage to internal divisions in Tehran,'
Robert Einhorn, former top arms control adviser on the US Iran nuclear
negotiating team, told Al-Monitor in an interview Jan. 9. 'Progress in
the negotiations will require a decision in Tehran to make adjustments
in Iran's negotiating position,' Einhorn, now with the Brookings
Institution, said. 'It means the supreme leader has got to ... authorize
[his negotiating team] to make the adjustments that are necessary to
conclude a deal. And he has not done that yet.'"
http://t.uani.com/17AdCdq
YnetNews:
"Following reports Syrian President Bashar Assad was building an
underground nuclear facility, a senior Syrian rebel official told Saudi
paper Okaz
on Sunday
that the Free Syrian Army has noted suspicious Syrian and Iranian
movements in the town of Qusayr on the outskirts of Homs, where the
facility is said to be. According to the official, Abu Muhammad
al-Bitar, the Free Syrian Army noted the presence of Iranian officers
and 'unprecedented' Hezbollah security in the area. Al-Bitar said the
Friday
report on Der Spiegel has been discussed at length in command meetings
of rebel factions in the Kalamoon area. He went on to say that 'what can
be confirmed is that what's going on there is happening under direct
Iranian supervision and the Syrian regime is only a cover-up for this.'
... Citing information made available by unidentified intelligence
sources, Der Spiegel said the plant was in an inaccessible mountain
region in the west of the war-ravaged country, two kilometers (1.2
miles) from the Lebanese border... Western experts suspect, based on the
documents, that a reactor or an enrichment plant could be the aim of
the project, whose codename is 'Zamzam,' Der Spiegel said. The report
said North Korean and Iranian experts are thought to be part of the
'Zamzam' project."
http://t.uani.com/1DPBqo3
Sanctions Enforcement & Impact
AFP:
"Iran coach Carlos Queiroz has his voiced anger and frustration at how
international sanctions are damaging his plans to build for the team's
future. The three-times Asian Cup champions began their bid for a first
title in 39 years with an impressive 2-0 victory over Bahrain in
Melbourne
on Sunday,
but Queiroz told AFP it was wrong that Iran's young footballers were
being 'victimised' by politics. 'It's been very difficult,' the former
Portugal and Real Madrid manager said. 'We suffer a lot to prepare
friendly games and to move internationally to prepare the team and
players. After the World Cup the situation is getting worse and worse.
The players are victimised by the limitations of the sanctions.'"
http://t.uani.com/1AI3x7J
Iraq Crisis
Al-Monitor:
"After Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003, in an act of rivalry with
the United States, Iran quickly started to form paramilitary groups in
Iraq and also started to support those Iraqi politicians who had ties to
Iran. Several groups including Mahdi Army (Jaysh al-Mahdī) which is
connected to Muqtadā al-Ṣadr, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Liwa'a Zulfiqar,
Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Kata'ib Hezbollah, Liwa'a 'Ammar Ibn Yasir,
Munadhamat Badr (Al Janah Al Askeri) were formed in Iraq with the
support of Tehran especially after the United States withdrew its forces
from Iraq. The most recently created group, however, is Saraya
al-Khorasani. Saraya al-Khorasani means 'Khorasani Brigades' or in other
words: forces obedient to the Seyyed of Khorasan. For the Shi'ites who
have ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, 'Seyyed Khorasani' is a
reference to Ayatollah Khamenei the supreme leader of Iran. What
distinguishes Saraya al-Khorasani from other Shi'ites groups is the logo
that this group has chosen for itself. In a rather unprecedented move,
Saraya al-Khorasani has chosen an official logo which is identical to
the official logo of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard."
http://t.uani.com/1IEgFg7
Human Rights
AP:
"Five weeks after being charged in a Tehran court, Jason Rezaian, the
Washington Post journalist imprisoned in Iran, still does not know the
exact nature of the allegations against him and remains unable to speak
to a lawyer, the reporter's family said after visiting him twice last
month. In what appears to be the longest imprisonment for a Western
journalist in Iran, Rezaian, who has been the newspaper's Iran bureau
chief since 2012, has been held at Tehran's Evin prison for more than
170 days. Weeks after an initial court date, he is aware only that the
five separate charges against him relate to alleged 'activities outside
the bounds of journalism,' said his mother, Mary Breme Rezaian, and his
brother, Ali Rezaian."
http://t.uani.com/1Ik4Kpk
IranWire:
"Some will still remember the days following the Islamic Revolution,
when, in a bid to maintain power and silence dissent, Iran's new leaders
targeted the guilty and innocent alike. Among them were political
activists, but also celebrities: artists, filmmakers, actors, musicians,
and athletes. Stars were summoned to court one by one or in groups.
They were forced either into exile or to the confines of their homes.
The popular actress and singer Marjan was sent to prison for supporting
the People's Mojahedin Organization. Football legend Parviz Ghelichkhani
escaped to Europe, where he continued his political activities. Habib
Khabiri, a member of the National Football Team, was executed at Evin
Prison. The story continues. Over the last three decades, there have
been numerous accounts of star athletes being put behind bars for their
political or religious beliefs."
http://t.uani.com/1tZunZV
Domestic Politics
AP:
"An Iranian parliament session has descended into chaos as several
hard-line lawmakers disrupted a speech by a moderate colleague
criticizing the long-term house arrest of two opposition leaders.
Parliamentarian Ali Motahari was speaking out
Sunday
in open session against the detention orders, calling them
'unconstitutional.' His remarks were disrupted by several lawmakers
shouting 'death to seditionists.' Parliament vice-speaker Mohammad
Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard adjourned the session, which resumed about a half
hour later."
http://t.uani.com/1C7TFEb
Foreign Affairs
Reuters: "Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Venezuela's president
on Saturday
he backed coordinated action between Tehran and Caracas to reverse a
rapid fall in global oil prices which he described as a 'political ploy
hatched by common enemies'. President Nicholas Maduro is on a tour of
fellow OPEC countries to lobby for higher oil prices, which hit new lows
last week below $50 per barrel, nearly half of what they were back in
June 2014. The plunge in crude prices has pummeled the public finances
of Iran and Venezuela, whose economies rely heavily on oil exports. 'The
strange drop in oil prices in such a short time is a political ploy and
unrelated to the market. Our common enemies are using oil as a
political ploy and they definitely have a role in this severe fall in
prices,' Khamenei said in talks with Maduro. '(Khamenei) endorsed an
agreement between the presidents of Iran and Venezuela for a coordinated
campaign against the slide in oil prices', the official IRNA news
agency said... Earlier
on Saturday,
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said OPEC hawks Iran and Venezuela
'can undoubtedly cooperate to thwart world powers' strategies ... and to
stabilize prices at a reasonable level in 2015.'"
http://t.uani.com/1spYp85
Opinion & Analysis
UANI Outreach Coordinator Bob Feferman & UANI Florida Director Tara Laxer in The Palm Beach Post:
"As the international community represented by the P5+1 proceeds with
negotiations with Iran, President Barack Obama should make it clear that
the United States will not renew diplomatic relations with Iran, or end
the U.S. sanctions, until Iran ends its support for terrorists. We must
hold the Iranian regime accountable for the murder of innocent human
beings and its threats to peace. The recently published book, 'The Bus
on Jaffa Road,' by journalist Mike Kelly, is a powerful reminder that
since the 1990s the No. 1 obstacle to peace between Israelis and
Palestinians has been the government of Iran. Kelly's account of a Hamas
suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus on Feb. 25, 1996, that killed 26
people shows how Iran has made every effort to blow up the hope for
peace. The attack took place just three years after the signing of the
Oslo Accords. In the book, Kelly provides a moving tribute to the
victims of the bombing, especially two young Americans: Sara Duker and
Matthew Eisenfeld. He tells of the courageous efforts made by the
families of the victims to identify those responsible for the bus
bombing and hold them accountable through a lawsuit in U.S. federal
court. All the facts pointed to the pivotal role of the government of
Iran. In the trial, we learn that the Hamas bomb-maker, Hassan Salameh,
received training in Iran, and the Iranian regime also provided
extensive financial support for Palestinian terror groups - especially
Hamas and Islamic Jihad - amounting to some $75 million per year. The
bus bombing on Jaffa Road was only one of many suicide bombing attacks.
Between 1993 and 2007, no less than 167 Palestinian suicide bombers blew
themselves up on Israeli buses, in restaurants and shopping malls.
These suicide bombings, and other terror attacks, killed 1,000 civilians
and wounded many thousands more. Although Palestinian terror groups
provided the hateful ideology and the suicide bombers, it was Iran that
provided the financial means and technical support to commit mass
murder. Iran's victims also include several residents of Florida. Daniel
Miller, of Boca Raton, was severely wounded in an attack on Ben Yehuda
Street in Jerusalem on Sept. 4, 1997, that killed five civilians...
Daniel Cantor Wultz, of Weston, was severely wounded in a suicide
bombing attack on a Tel Aviv restaurant on April 17, 2006, that killed
10 people. Less than one month after the attack, he died of his wounds.
Daniel was 16 years old. Iranian support for Palestinian terrorism is
not limited to suicide bombings. For more than a decade, Iran has
provided tens of thousands of rockets for Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in
Lebanon that have been fired at Israeli civilians. More recently, Iran
provided the technological know-how for Hamas to manufacture rockets in
Gaza... Iran must be held accountable for its continued support for
terrorism. To ignore this would be an affront to the memory of the
victims and allow Iran to continue to sabotage the hope for peace. Sarah
Duker's mother said, 'There is this child of mine who isn't here and
never will be.'"
http://t.uani.com/1wPr0QIWilliam Tobey & Robert Joseph in NRO:
"he U.S. negotiating strategy in nuclear talks with Iran is failing. To
date, these negotiations have focused almost solely on topics that Iran
wants to talk about - how many thousands of uranium-enrichment
centrifuges Tehran will continue to operate, and how soon sanctions will
be lifted. This all but guarantees an outcome that will fail to block
the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons at a time of its
choosing. American negotiators, seemingly willing to make concession
after concession simply to keep the talks from breaking down, have
abandoned the fundamental objective of obtaining a verifiable agreement
that would deny Iran the capacity to build a nuclear weapon (in exchange
for relief from what were crippling economic sanctions). Instead, the
U.S. and its partners have settled for increasing the time it would take
Iran to build its first nuclear weapon from a few months to perhaps a
year. Secretary of State John Kerry haltingly explained the dramatic
shift in the Obama administration's aims in testimony last April: 'I
think it's public knowledge today that we're operating with a time
period for a so-called breakout of about two months. Six months to
twelve months is - I'm not saying that's what we'd settle for, but even
that is significantly more.' With this change, the United States
recognized Iran as a nuclear-weapons threshold state - a status seldom
discussed in the Western media but well understood by Iran's neighbors,
with dire consequences for future proliferation. Incredibly, U.S.
negotiators have actually facilitated Iran's ability to cheat. They do
this by focusing almost exclusively on blocking the use of declared
Iranian facilities to break out of the nonproliferation treaty, while
ignoring the more likely risk that Tehran will operate covert facilities
to achieve its nuclear ambition. This approach is incomprehensible
because Iran has been repeatedly caught red-handed pursuing multiple
clandestine nuclear projects in violation of its international
obligations. Now the evidence of clandestine nuclear-weapons work is
mounting. In August the State and Treasury Departments sanctioned an
Iranian entity created in 2011 for ongoing 'research in the field of
nuclear weapons development.' This fall the State Department briefed a
U.N. panel of experts charged with monitoring sanctions enforcement on
Iran's current illicit procurement efforts. In November an Iranian
dissident group reported that the organization sanctioned in August has
split in two and opened new offices in an effort to evade International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scrutiny and international sanctions.
Meanwhile, the Iranian government and military continue to stonewall
years-long IAEA efforts to investigate what the agency calls the
'possible military dimensions' of Iran's nuclear program. When asked how
the Obama administration can continue negotiating with Iran even as it
charges its counterparts with violating U.N. sanctions and conducting
clandestine nuclear-weapons work, the spokesmen respond that Iran is
continuing to adhere to the Joint Plan of Action (JPA) interim
agreement. But that says more about the flaws of the JPA than it does
about Tehran's willingness to comply with nuclear agreements. In
addition to strict and verifiable limits on Iran's overt nuclear
activities, a successful deal must address Iran's covert path to nuclear
weapons. This can best be done by two means."
http://t.uani.com/1IkerUK
No comments:
Post a Comment