Iran Snap Analysis: Are the Oil Sanctions Tightening on Tehran?

The New York Times summarises the US effort to tighten sanctions on Iran, with Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner moving through Asia:

Pressure on Iran mounted on Thursday, with the United States saying it was determined to isolate the country’s central bank, and three of Iran’s largest oil customers — Japan, South Korea and China — getting assurances that Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf producers would help make up any gap in supplies if they curtailed oil purchases from Iran.

UANI Renews Campaign Against Fiat, Calls on Jennifer Lopez to Renounce Fiat Ties

New York, NY - On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) renewed its campaign against auto manufacturer Fiat, and publicly called on Fiat endorser Jennifer Lopez to end her support for Fiat if the company refuses to end its Iran business.

Fiat’s subsidiary Iveco continues to sell and distribute trucks in Iran that have been used by the Iranian regime to transport ballistic missiles and stage gruesome public executions. Fiat also continues to operate in Iran’s automobile market, and is reportedly planning to expand its presence there by opening a luxury Maserati dealership in Tehran.

On Wednesday, UANI sent Ms. Lopez a letter concerning her support for Fiat. Highlighting the human rights abuses and nuclear ambitions of the Iranian regime, UANI asked for Ms. Lopez to support UANI’s campaign by using her position to compel Fiat to change its irresponsible policies, or end her lucrative financial relationship with the company.

Bloomberg: Iran Bazaar Sees Rush to Dump Rials as Sanctions Squeeze Economy

By Jason Rezaian
Business Report:  The San Francisco Chronicle with Bloomberg
Jan. 12, 2012 (Bloomberg) — In Tehran’s shopping district, a crowd gathers round a man standing on a raised platform with arms aloft to display his merchandise: a stack of 500-euro bills.

The Bazaar Arz, the narrow 19th-century arcade that’s the center of Iran’s foreign exchange market, is crammed with people trying to sell their currency as sanctions tighten and tensions with the U.S. escalate. In nearby shops, imported laptops and smart-phones change price hourly. The rial weakened 20 percent in the past month at the official rate offered to Iranians traveling abroad, and by even more in the bazaar, where demand for dollars and euros is surging.

RFE/RL IRAN REPORT

 

Who Assassinated Iran’s Nuclear Scientist?  When motorcycle bombers assassinated an Iranian nuclear scientist on Jan. 11, they left behind no clues of who they were. But does the type of operation itself give any hints? RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel spoke with Shahshank Joshi, an analyst with the Royal United Services Institute in London. More  Iran’s Retaliation For Nuclear Scientist’s Killing ‘Will Extend Beyond Region’  It’s not clear who is behind the assassination of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the Iranian scientist who was killed on January 11 in northern Tehran in a bomb attack. Many analysts believe it’s part of a covert war against the Islamic republic, aimed at slowing its nuclear program. More

EU: UNHCR Empfehlungen an die dänische EU Ratspräsidentschaft

Am 1. Januar 2012 hat die dänische Regierung die EU Ratspräsidentschaft
übernommen. Wichtige Themen im Bereich des Flüchtlingsschutzes sollen in
Angriff genommen werden.

UNHCR Recommendation to Danish Presidency

Eye on Iran: U.S. Sends Top Iranian Leader a Warning on Strait Threat

Top Stories

NYT: ”The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a ‘red line’ that would provoke an American response, according to United States government officials. The officials declined to describe the unusual contact between the two governments, and whether there had been an Iranian reply. Senior Obama administration officials have said publicly that Iran would cross a ‘red line’ if it made good on recent threats to close the strait, a strategically crucial waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, where 16 million barrels of oil – about a fifth of the world’s daily oil trade – flow through every day. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this past weekend that the United States would ‘take action and reopen the strait,’ which could be accomplished only by military means, including minesweepers, warship escorts and potentially airstrikes. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told troops in Texas on Thursday that the United States would not tolerate Iran’s closing of the strait.” http://t.uani.com/wHeuBe

Iran News Round Up (Jan. 13)

Iran buries assassinated nuclear scientist; Supreme Leader vows to punish those behind assassination of Ahmadi-Roshan; Moscow cautions against Israeli attempts to push U.S. into war with Iran; Ahmadinejad returns from Latin America tour; Larijani says Iran ready to enter nuclear talks with world powers; IAEA to send delegation to Tehran; Hamas leaders to visit Iran

Military and Security News stories concerning assassination of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan: According to Daneshjou, Ahmadi-Roshan was assassinated because he was “an expert in how to bypass Western sanctions against Iran.” The news agency adds Ahmadi-Roshan used “various middlemen” in order to procure “sensitive equipment” banned under sanctions.

VOA: Japan Expresses New Caution About Cutting Iranian Oil Imports

Photo: Reuters

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda speaks during press conference in Tokyo, January 13, 2012

Japan’s government has backed away from comments by its finance minister about reducing oil imports from Iran in support of U.S. sanctions against the Islamic republic.

Crackdown on Christian “Apostates” in Iran

Many of the asylum-seekers Mission Free Iran supports have fled persecution in Iran due to their Christian faith. To support their applications for asylum, we gather reports demonstrating the persecution of Christians in Iran and submit them to decisionmaking authorities. Here, we post those selected news items on Christian persecution in Iran from the latter half of 2011.

Under Shari’a law, which is the law of the land in Iran, the penalty for apostasy – conversion from Islam to another religion – is death.

Despite the fact that no articles in the Islamic Republic’s legal code currently refer to the crime of apostasy, presiding judges base their opinions on texts by Iranian religious scholars, and prosecute Christians accordingly in the courts.