arte: Kinder der Glücklichen – Nomaden im Iran – GERMAN – DOKU

Sie gilt als die spektakulärste Herdenwanderung weltweit: Wochenlang ziehen
die Bachtiari-Nomaden zweimal im Jahr im Südwesten des Irans durch das bis zu 4.000
Meter hohe Zagrosgebirge, um die Winter- beziehungsweise Sommerweiden zu erreichen. Aber inzwischen entscheiden sich immer mehr Bachtiari gegen die zu erst strapaziöse Lebensweise ihrer Vorfahren. Dazu tragen nicht zuletzt mobile Schulen für die Nomadenkinder bei, denen dadurch ganz neue Perspektiven eröffnet werden. Die Dokumentation begleitet ein junges Nomadenehepaar auf ihrer ersten gemeinsamen Wanderung.

Cartoons: Iranian women in Metro by Elham Ataei Azar

Elham Ataei Azar was born in 1984 in the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran. She has earned her Masters in Physics. In this cartoon set, she is displaying 31 digitally created artworks about the different characters of women’s wagons in Tehran Metro.  Ataei Azar held an exhibition in early September in Tehran displaying this group of works as Men Do Not Enter.
The Tehran Metro is a rapid transit system serving Tehran, the capital of Iran. On all Tehran metro trains, the first and last carriages are reserved for women who do not wish to ride with men in the same car. However, women can still ride other cars freely. The Tehran Metro carried an average of 1.26 million passengers a day and 447 million passengers per year in 2009-2010.

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Sculptures: 6th National Sculpture Biennial exhibition in Tehran

67 art pieces were displayed in gallery one and two of Niavaran Cultural Center.

“The sky is mine” was key theme of the exhibition and the aim was creating a healthy competitive environment for growth and promotion of young talents.

 

This year’s jury panel included Rima Eslam-Maslak, HamidSouri, Morteza Nematollahi, Malek Dadyar and Kourosh Golnari.

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The beautiful Mazandaran – Iran

Mazandaran Province is a Caspian province in the north of Iran. The diverse nature of the province features plains, prairies, forests and rainforest stretching from the sandy beaches of the Caspian Sea to the rugged and snowcapped Alborz sierra, including Mount Damavand, one of the highest peaks and volcanos in Asia.
Human habitation in the area dates back at least 75,000 years. Recent excavations in Goher Tippe provide proof that the area has been urbanized for more than 5,000 years. Mazandaran was among the last parts of Persia standing against Muslim conquests.

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Iran: Militarismus in der Schule

Das ist kein Guerrilla-Camp…

In Maschhad wurden vor zwei Wochen (also Ende April 2012) Schüler im Alter über 14 Jahren verpflichtend auf einen militärischen Ausbildungskurs geschickt.

Die Jungen, nicht die Mädchen!

Eye on Iran: EU Tells Defiant Iran It “Must” Suspend Atom Activity

Top Stories

Reuters: ”The European Union told Iran on Monday it must suspend uranium enrichment, a few days after the Islamic state ruled out doing just that, as Tehran and the West engaged in diplomatic shadow-boxing ahead of nuclear talks this month. The United States called on Iran to take ‘urgent practical steps’ to build confidence during negotiations with world powers on Tehran’s nuclear program, which Washington and its allies suspect is a bid to develop an atomic bomb capability… ‘A lot of people are talking the Baghdad talks up. We are also hopeful. But it is important to remain realistic,’ one European diplomat said. ‘This will be a start, not an end.’” http://t.uani.com/IYyXg8

FT: ”Iran’s automotive industry overcame international sanctions and a troubled domestic environment during the past 12 months, managing continued if slowed growth in what was a tough year for the country’s economy. In the Persian calendar year that ended on March 19, car production exceeded 1.6m, up about 2.5 per cent from the previous year – one of the slowest for the industry since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1986, analysts said… While growth slowed, the industry remains crucial to the domestic economy. The number of cars on Iran’s streets have increased more than 70 per cent in the past decade, according to the country’s traffic police. Economists say the double-digit demand growth for new vehicles cannot last forever, but producers counter that demand has not declined significantly in the country of 75m people. While production is still growing, the industry is struggling with domestic and foreign challenges, including intensified international sanctions… In March, General Motors said its French partner, PSA Peugeot Citroën, suspended shipments of vehicle components to an Iranian carmaker, in compliance with US laws governing trade with Iran. Peugeot supplied parts to Iran Khodro, the country’s biggest carmaker. Iranian experts suspect parts may still be reaching the country via intermediaries in third countries.” http://t.uani.com/IS2r1g 

Iran: List of imprisoned journalists and bloggers

On December 1, 2011 the Committee to Protect Journalists has published a worldwide prison census for journalists, declaring the Islamic Republic of Iran “as the world’s worst jailer, with 42 journalists behind bars, as authorities kept up a campaign of anti-press intimidation that began after the country’s disputed presidential election more than two years ago.”

Back in December 2010 Tehran Bureau had already posted a most useful report on 34 imprisoned Iranian journalists, providing their full names and data.

The real figures for the Islamic Republic are however much higher as the following list proves. I posted it first in February 2010, based on the data by CPJ from February 2010 and The Guardian’sSpreadsheet of the victims of Iran’s crackdown from January 2010, regularly updated since. While some of the listed journalists may have been released or even have fled the country in the meantime, most cases are fairly well documented by reports from Iranian human rights websites as RAHANA (Human Rights House of Iran),HRANA or the Green Voice of Freedom. Even if one ignores the names lacking recent informations, 90 imprisoned journalists, bloggers and human rights reporters are still left over, while more than 90 journalists have been released on bail, awaiting their sentences or facing imprisonment. Recent additions with gratitude to the list of political prisoners, compiled by Lissnup. 

A List of the 100+ Journalists Detained Since the 2009 Electionshas been published in July 2011 by expatriate reporter Masih Alinejad, parts 1 and 2 of this report are also available in German translation on Julia’s Blog.

Reporters Without Borders has firmly condemned a new wave of arrests of Iranian journalists between 1 August and 27 September 2011 without any official reason being given. Two Kuwaiti reporters arrested on spying charges in November 2011 in Abadan have been released and returned home on December 18, 2011. 

Simin Behbahanis Gedicht für die Hingerichteten

Begu cheguneh benevisam ke panj tan budand …

In memoriam Shirin Alam-Houli, Farzad Kamangar,

Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili und Mehdi Eslamian

Sag, wie schreiben, nicht einer, es waren ihrer fünf

auch fünf nicht, denn fünfzig in meinen Gedanken.

Sag, wie schreiben, vom Baume stammte der Galgen,

von jener Art, an der die Äxte zerbrachen im Wald.

Sag, wie schreiben, dass einst der Galgen Stämme

über grünen Wiesen aufrecht die Freiheit vertraten.

Wenn einst die Brise sich zu ihren Wipfeln gesellte,

ihre Botschaft spendeten die Äste an Jung und Alt.

Nun hängt ein jedes Haupt, gebrochen den Hals,

der Tapferen und Furchtlosen aus jenen Tagen.

Wie stumm und wortlos, die Füße frei hängend,

diese Häupter, noch der Geschichten erwartend.

Es sei denn, dass Wolken ihre Leichen beweinen,

deren Mütter getrennt sind von der Liebsten Leib.

Sag nichts aber von ruchlosen Richtern, die finsteren

Frevels nicht, sondern Feinde des Schöpfers waren.

Aus dem Persischen von Mehre Sabz

Quelle:Mansur Arshama

Photos: Tehran’s 10th International Flower, Plant Show – the other side of iran

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Happy End nach Haft im Iran – Geiseln heiraten

Im Iran saßen sie gemeinsam im Gefängnis, in den USA schließen Shane Bauer und Sarah Shourd nun den Bund fürs Leben. Bauer erklärt, seine Gedanken an Shourd hätten ihm während der Gefangenschaft ermöglicht, von einer sicheren und schönen Zukunft zu träumen.

Bauer und Shourd schweißte die gemeinsame Zeit im Gefängnis zusammen.(Foto: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Die im Iran festgenommenen und inhaftierten US-Wanderer Shane Bauer und Sarah Shourd haben an einem geheim gehaltenen Ort im US-Bundesstaat Kalifornien geheiratet, wie ihr Anwalt und Freund Ben Rosenfeld mitteilte. Die Hochzeit sollte im privaten Rahmen mit Freunden und Verwandten stattfinden. Interviews werde das Paar nicht geben. Bauers Trauzeuge sei der frühere Mitgefangene, Josh Fattal.

Bauer, Fattal und Shourd waren am 31. Juli 2009 an der irakisch-iranischen Grenze festgenommen worden, wo sie sich nach eigenen Angaben auf einer Wanderung befanden. Im August wurden sie wegen Spionage und illegalem Grenzübertritt zu acht Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt. Während Shourd aus gesundheitlichen Gründen bereits im September 2010 freigelassen wurde, kamen Bauer und Fattal erst ein Jahr später frei.

Dankbar für die Freiheit

“Jetzt, da der Tag gekommen, ist, kann ich nur meine Augen schließen und dankbar sein für unsere Freiheit, für die Liebe so vieler großzügiger Menschen in der ganzen Welt und für den Boden unter meinen Füßen”, erklärte die 32-jährige Shourd in der Mitteilung. “Ich wünsche mir dieselbe Freiheit für alle zu Unrecht und unter barbarischen Bedingungen eingesperrten Menschen im Iran und weltweit.”

Bauer erklärte, seine Gedanken an Shourd hätten ihm während der Gefangenschaft ermöglicht, von einer sicheren und schönen Zukunft zu träumen. “Unsere Hochzeit ist auch ein Sieg”, erklärte der 28-Jährige. Der gleichaltrige Fattal sagte in der Mitteilung, der Tag, an dem Bauer Shourd im Gefängnis den Heiratsantrag gemacht habe, habe allen Hoffnung gegeben.

Die Lehrerin, Autorin und Frauenrechtsaktivistin Shourd hatte Bauer, einen freien Journalisten, der fließend Arabisch spricht, in den USA während einer Demonstration gegen den Irak-Krieg kennengelernt. Gemeinsam waren sie 2008 nach Damaskus gezogen. Dort hatten sie 2009 den Lehrer und Umweltaktivisten Fattal kennen gelernt.

Quelle: n-tv.de, AFP

Political Prisoner Mohamad Reza Motamednia Vows To Remain On Hunger Strike

By persianbanoo

Hunger striker political prisoner Mohamad Reza Motamednia, in a disciplinary action was incarcerated in solitary confinement at Ward 240 of Evin prison since April 15, was transferred back to the general public Ward 350 in Evin prison.

Despite poor and dire health, Motamednia proclaimed that since he was not blessed with martyrdom during the war, sacrificing his life is the only thing he can do now for his nation and country. He vowed to remain on a hunger strike until the war era Prime Minster (Mousavi) is freed.

According to Kalameh reporter, Mohamad Reza Motamednia who had served as a senior advisor to Rejaei, Bahonar and Mousavi, was transferred back to Ward 350 after being incarcerated in solitary confinement in Ward 240 for twenty days.

This political prisoner went on a hunger strike April 9 and despite the fact that he has lost more than 66 lbs, is suffering from severe tremors in his body and worrisome irregular heart beats has vowed to remain on hunger strike until the freedom of the Green leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi, his wife Zahra Rahnavar and Mehdi Karoubi.

According to this report, Motamednia who is not able to walk by himself without assistance, in response to the other political prisoner’s request to end his hunger strike, repeated that since he was not blessed with martyrdom during the war, sacrificing his life is the only thing he can do now for his nation and country.

US: An overview of O.F.A.C. Regulations involving Sanctions against Iran

This fact sheet provides general information about the Iranian sanctions
programs under the Iranian Transactions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 560, and the
Iranian Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 535.  These sanctions are
administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control
(“OFAC”).

Iranian Transactions Regulations - 31 C.F.R. Part 560

As a result of Iran’s support for international terrorism and its aggressive
actions against non-belligerent shipping in the Persian Gulf, President Reagan,
on October 29, 1987, issued Executive Order 12613 imposing a new import embargo
on Iranian-origin goods and services. Section 505 of the International Security
and Development Cooperation Act of 1985 (“ISDCA”) was utilized as the statutory
authority for the embargo, which gave rise to the Iranian Transactions
Regulations, Title 31, Part 560 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (the
“ITR”).

tehranbureau: Desolation Day: 24 Hours in the Life of an ER Doctor

by ASHFIA HASANI

“A country with such vast natural resources should be able to take better care of its people.”Sickness and morbidity are conditions so universal that finding elements about them that are unique to Iran is difficult. Still, working as a doctor, especially an ER physician, gives one the rare opportunity to observe a society at its best and its worst. You encounter the neglected, forgotten, and wronged, and yet, perhaps even simultaneously, you bear witness to acts of heroism, love, and affection. By telling the story of one of my days working as an ER physician in an urban hospital in Iran, I hope that I can provide you with a glimpse inside the struggles and challenges of modern Iranian society.

ER service is hard and stressful anywhere in the world. But being underpaid and overworked doesn’t help. As a GP, I am paid $600 a month, while I work sometimes as many as 100 hours in a week. My situation is not unique; almost all GPs in Iran are grossly underpaid. The ER where I work, despite several rounds of repairs and refits, still looks battered and run down. The exhausted staff tend to greet patients unenthusiastically and with a touch of aggression. It seems that the ER manages to suck the liveliness out of everyone who works there for any length of time. Although I try my best to greet everyone with a broad smile, by the end of my 24-hour shifts I can barely muster a mere fasciculation of the lips.

tehranbureau: Former Regime Supporter: ‘We Have Murdered People’

by MUHAMMAD SAHIMI

“To preserve power, we have committed so many crimes and we have lost so much.”

Mohammad Noorizad is a well-known Iranian journalist and documentary filmmaker. Born on December 10, 1953, in a village near Tehran, he received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology. He also has an art degree that is said to be equivalent to a Ph.D. In 1980, he started making documentary films for Jahaad-e Saazandegi (Reconstruction Jihad). During the administration of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), Noorizad, then writing for the hardline newspaper Kayhan, was one of the reformist president’s harshest critics and an ardent supporter of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. After the presidential election of June 2009, however, Noorizad joined the opposition. After writing several strongly critical public letters to the Supreme Leader, Noorizad was arrested on December 20, 2009. At the end of a show trial, he was sentenced to one year of prison for “propaganda against the political system and destroying its thirty-year image,” two years for insulting Khamenei, 91 days each for insulting judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and 50 lashes for insulting Mashhad Friday Prayer Imam Ahmad Elmolhoda. His family was told that he would be punished until “his thoughts are controlled.” Noorizad said that he was informed that he would be given a pardon if he wrote a letter to Khamenei pleading for one, which he refused to do.

While in Evin Prison, on April 17, 2010, Noorizad was taken outside “to have some fresh air” and beaten savagely, resulting in a concussion and damage to his eyesight. He was held in solitary confinement for 70 days. After 190 days of incarceration, he was allowed to post bail and released. Noorizad called Evin a “second Kahrizak,” a reference to the notorious detention center on the southern edge of Tehran in which at least five young demonstrators were tortured to death in the aftermath of the 2009 election.

Noorizad has recently produced a short film, We Have Murdered People. The movie begins with him saying,

We must believe that we have failed the 33-year test of the Islamic Revolution and the implementation of the promises that we made to the people. This is a fact, albeit bitter. Our bankruptcy began quite sometime ago, as has the time for saying goodbye, goodbye to the Islamic justice that the Revolution promised. So long, human rights that the Revolution promised to the people of Iran and the world. So long, the fallen ideals of the Revolution. We have demonstrated that the religious people and the clerics can lie if they come to power, that they can turn their backs on all the promises that they made, that they can embrace the world['s materialism], despite once speaking against it in the past, that they can oppress, they can loot, they can murder people.

Iran Caption Competition: The Supreme Leader Looks at a Book

The Supreme Leader visits the 25th Tehran International Book Fair, but what is the caption?

The Latest from Iran (8 May): The Political Fight Over Subsidy Cuts

0525 GMT: Life in the Capital. Staff of The New York Times speak to some young adults in Tehran about the state of their lives — a snapshot:

 

“Every topic me and my friends discuss, whether it’s the latest movie, a trip or our future, ends up with politics,” said Samaneh, 27, who lives with her parents and did not want her family name used out of fear of retribution. “Here our lives are decided by those in power. Our options are more and more limited.” 

She emphasized that the issues her generation faced went well beyond the nuclear issue. Iran is grappling with corruption and inflation, and youth unemployment is over 20 percent, according to official figures, but experts say it is probably much higher. Divorce, drug abuse and inequality have risen steadily in the last decade.

“I really don’t see any of these issues being resolved,” Samaneh said, “but at least less foreign pressure, like an end to sanctions, would ease our burden a bit.”

0518 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Imprisoned blogger Mohammad Reza Pourshajari has been given an additional year behind bars and will now serve a four-year sentence.

0515 GMT: All the President’s Men. Leading critic Ahmad Tavakoli has indicated the fight against Presidential aide Saeed Mortazavi will continue, claiming the Administration Court will pursue Mortazavi’s “illegal” appointment to head the Social Security Fund.

Tavakoli has also said that Parliament may persist in the effort to impeach Minister of Labor Abdolreza Sheikholeslami this week.

0505 GMT: Oil Watch. The Financial Times reports that Iran is accepting Chinese renminbi for some of the crude oil it supplies to Beijing, amid US sanctions.

Tehran is spending the currency, which is not freely convertible, on goods and services imported from China, its largest oil customer.

Some trade is also in barter. For example, the trading company Zhuhai Zhenrong pays with services such as drilling.

0455 GMT: Analysts contend that the Government’s subsidy cuts, launched in December 2010, have significantly contributed to inflation and currency difficulties. Now the second phase, promised by President Ahmadinejad and his allies, is generating political as well as economic conflict.

The highest-profile charge has come from Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, who alleged last Friday that the Government would raise gasoline prices up to three times to cover the costs of the second phase, but he has plenty of charge, including his Parliamentary ally Ahmad Tavakoli.

VOA Persian summarises the latest manoeuvres, with claims that the second phase has been cut in half, and MPs persisting in the call for the Government to “rethink” its approach.

Iran Feature: The Battle to Become Speaker of Parliament

Larijani (left) and Haddad Adel (right)The political outcome of the Parliamentary elections may be a “mish-mash”, with the Supreme Leader as the likely victor in his ability to control the legislature as well as the President, but the first battle of the new Majlis is shaping up — and it’s not directly about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Current Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, despite his allegiance to Ayatollah Khamenei, faces a serious challenge for his position. Unsurprisingly, his challenges to the Government have aroused the animosity of Ahmadinejad supporters, and he now has to contend with the alternative of Gholam Ali Haddad Adel — former Speaker of Parliament, officially the top vote-getter in Tehran’s Parliamentary ballot, and a member of the Supreme Leader’s inner circle (his daughter is married to Khamenei’s son Mojtaba).

An Iranian correspondent for EA surveys the situation….

As the outgoing Parliament convened on Sunday, the pro-Ahmadinejad Hamid Rasaei was sitting next to Haddad Adel, engaged in earnest conversation. Other members of the Islamic Constancy Front, generally hostile to Larijani, such as Ruhollah Hosseinian and Ali Asghar Zarei were also seen speaking with Haddad Adel.

Sadegh Mahsouli — a member of the Constancy Front, former Minister of Interior, and a close friend of Ahmadinejad —- was more cautious in the challenge: “The head of parliament must be able to utilise all the capacity of the parliament and the country to make the legislations and laws. Haddad Adel is one of the Constancy Front’s main candidates for the parliament spokesman, but we have to wait for the new parliament to form before making any decision.”

Iran responds to Quran burning by making a documentary movie about Nadarkhani!

In response to the Quran burning by Terry Jones, Nader Talebzadeh, a pro-regime film-maker, in collaboration with the Iranian judicial system, wants to make a documentary about Yousef Nadarkhani’s case. However, Nadarkhani himself expressed concern over the making of this documentary, immediately when notified.

Mohabat News ) - Although the American pastor Terry Jones’ Quran burning, to protest the verdict issued by the Iranian judicial system for Yousef Nadarkhani, a religious prisoner on death row, has been criticized by many International communities, especially Christians, it has become an excuse for the Islamic Republic to propagandize this issue and take utmost advantage of it to cover up the scandal caused by a senior diplomat of the regime when he molested girls in a mixed swimming-pool in Brazil.

Nader Talebzadeh, the pro-regime director and documentary maker is among those people who used this opportunity and promised to answer “the crazy American pastor in a documentary movie on Yousef Nadarkhani’s case”.

Regarding the Quran burning by Terry Jones, Talebzadeh told the government supported Fars news service, “It is not the first time that we overlook this issue. There have been similar cases in which a group was unjustly formed against us and harmed us because of our lack of attention.”

- Positive collaboration of the judicial system in making the documentary

Roundup of Today’s International News 07/05/12

IRAN AND DIPLOMACY

Iran sees no reason to close Fordo enrichment facility: IAEA envoy
The Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency has said that Iran sees no reason to close the Fordo uranium enrichment facility (…) “One thing is clear. The enrichment in Iran will never be suspended,” Soltanieh said.

World powers stress Iran cooperation with IAEA
“We stress the need and urgency for Iran to reach an agreement with the IAEA on a structured approach, including on access to relevant sites and information… to resolve all outstanding issues, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions” of Tehran’s nuclear programme, The United States, China, Russia, France and Britain said in a statement.

Access to Iran army site “priority” in talks: IAEA
Gaining access to a key Iranian military facility will be the priority for the U.N. nuclear watchdog when it resumes talks with the Islamic state in mid-May, agency head Yukiya Amano said on Friday.

Eye on Iran: U.S. Keeps India Waiting on Iran Sanctions Waiver

Top Stories

Reuters: ”U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaned harder on India on Monday to deepen cuts of Iranian oil imports, saying Washington may not make a decision on whether to exempt New Delhi from financial sanctions for another two months. Clinton, on a three-day visit to India, said the United States was encouraged by the steps its ally had taken so far to reduce its reliance on Iranian oil but that ‘even more’ action was needed. The oil issue has become an irritant in ties between India and the United States. India is unwilling to be seen to be bowing to U.S. pressure and is reluctant to become too reliant on Saudi Arabia for its oil needs, which officials say privately would be strategically unwise.” http://t.uani.com/JKSjBV

Reuters: ”The United States called on Iran on Monday to take ‘urgent practical steps’ to build confidence during nuclear talks with world powers, and the European Union said Tehran must suspend sensitive atomic activities. Iran and the six powers resumed discussions in mid-April in Istanbul after a gap of more than a year – a chance to ease escalating tension and help to avert the threat of a new Middle East war. The major powers – the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany – and Iran are to meet again on May 23 in Baghdad. ‘We remain concerned by Iran’s persistent failure to comply with its nonproliferation obligations,’ U.S. envoy Robert Wood told an international nuclear conference in Vienna, attended also by Iran. ‘We seek a sustained process that produces concrete results, and call on Iran to take urgent practical steps to build confidence and lead to compliance with all its international obligations,’ Wood added.”http://t.uani.com/IPpNVi

AP: ”President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s support in Iran’s parliament crumbled as final results released Saturday showed conservative rivals consolidating their hold on the legislative body in a runoff vote… The result is also a new humiliation for Ahmadinejad, whose political decline started last year with his bold but failed challenge of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the choice of intelligence chief… Ahmadinejad’s opponents had already won an outright majority in the 290-member legislature in the first round of voting in March. Of 65 seats up for grabs in Friday’s runoff election, Ahmadinejad’s opponents won 41 while the president’s supporters got only 13 seats. Independents won 11, according to final results reported Saturday by state media.”http://t.uani.com/IBSFvm

Nuclear Program  & Sanctions

 

Bloomberg: ”Iran is poised to lose at least 192,000 barrels a day of crude-supply contracts, or about 9.5 percent of its global exports, as Asian buyers curb purchases amid western sanctions targeting the nation’s oil trade. Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) and Essar Oil Ltd., India’s biggest buyers of Iranian crude, and China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co. have reduced or plan to cut purchases from the Islamic Republic by as much as 15 percent. China and India are Iran’s largest customers. In Japan, the only Asian country to get an exemption from U.S. sanctions after it demonstrated reductions in purchases, Cosmo Oil Co. plans to cut imports by 25 percent, while JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. suspended talks with the Persian Gulf nation over a 10,000 barrel-a-day contract.” http://t.uani.com/IBQLLj

Bloomberg: ”India barred an Iranian bank from opening a branch in the country because of U.S. pressure, making it harder for the Persian Gulf state to settle oil trades with its second-biggest crude customer, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Parsian Bank, based in Tehran, had sought approval for a Mumbai office to facilitate trade transactions in rupees, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is confidential. An official at Parsian Bank in Tehran who declined to be identified said the lender was yet to be granted a permit. A person who answered the telephone at India’s finance ministry in New Delhi said D.S. Malik, a spokesman, was unavailable to comment.” http://t.uani.com/JKQ9lL

Bloomberg: ”India plans to cut its oil imports from Iran by 20 percent this financial year, four Indian government and refinery officials with direct knowledge of the matter said. Asia’s third-biggest importer of crude will curtail its purchases from the Persian Gulf to 14 million tons from 17.5 million tons in the 12 months ending March 31, the officials said. They asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak on the subject.” http://t.uani.com/IS0v3B

Reuters: ”Japan is considering a new law to provide sovereign guarantees for its ships to allow them to continue importing Iranian crude oil after EU sanctions come into effect in July, the Nikkei business daily said. The European Union has already prohibited European insurance coverage on hull and machinery for Iranian crude shipments, which has significantly limited Japan’s lifting of Iranian crude from April. The European Union in March, however, extended European insurance for oil spills on Iranian oil shipments until July 1, responding to calls for exemptions by Japan and South Korea.”http://t.uani.com/J7Ps9p

Commerce

AFP: ”A big Iranian trade mission will arrive in India on Sunday to explore commercial opportunities on the same day as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton starts her official visit, officials said. The six-day Iranian trip comes as Washington has been pressuring India to reduce its oil purchases from Iran in a bid to coax the Islamic republic to abandon its disputed nuclear programme. ‘The timing of the visit with Mrs Clinton’s arrival is a coincidence,’Anand Seth, a spokesman for the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), a quasi-government body under the Indian trade ministry, said Saturday. ‘They’re returning our visit. We invited them when we were there (in Iran),’ he told AFP. An 80-member Indian trade mission spent five days in Iran in March.”http://t.uani.com/JP7zSz

Domestic Politics

Reuters: ”A committee of Iranian lawmakers has rejected a government plan to increase prices for subsidized food and fuel in a move that threatens to derail a drive to rein in the country’s sanctions-squeezed budget, Iranian media reported late on Saturday. International sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear program have sharply reduced the amount of money Tehran earns from oil, upping pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to push through cuts in government spending worth tens of billions of dollars by scaling back subsidies for the population. But a parliamentary committee examining this year’s budget – which the overall parliament has yet to approve – rejected the size of the proposed cuts, setting the stage for a possible compromise deal that may force the government to sign up to far less ambitious cost-savings.”http://t.uani.com/IEOJPl

Reuters: ”Iran’s government denied on Monday it would treble the price of gasoline as part of subsidy reforms that have been commended by the IMF but caused anger at home among a population struggling under Western trade sanctions. In a statement carried by the Fars news agency, the office of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said talk of a threefold price increase – broadcast on Friday by Ahmadinejad’s bitter critic, the speaker of parliament – was ‘entirely false’. Speaker Ali Larijani had said the government was looking to triple petrol prices and to double the cost of natural gas as part of a further stage of efforts to reduce spending on subsidies while trying to target relief at the poorest Iranians. In the statement, Ahmadinejad’s office said: ‘Comments published saying the government has decided to sell gasoline at 2,000 toman per litre are entirely false.’”http://t.uani.com/Lv1exu

Human Rights

AFP: ”Iran on Monday hanged nine men in a prison in Tehran after they were convicted of trafficking ‘glass’, or methamphetamine, a statement from the Tehran prosecution office said. Seven of the men had been sentenced to death after a consignment of 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of the drug was seized in a cargo ship bound for southeast Asia, the statement carried by local media said… London-based Amnesty International said in its annual review of death sentences and executions worldwide published in March that Iran had executed at least 360 people in 2011, three-quarters of them for drugs offenses, up from at least 252 in 2010.” http://t.uani.com/KHvyA8

Opinion & Analysis

Hassan Hassan in The National: ”In a recent talk in Bahrain about national security in the GCC, Dubai’s police chief, Lt Gen Dhahi Khalfan, listed Iraq’s subordination to Iran as one of the top five potential security threats to the Gulf. It is not news that Iran’s influence in Iraq is growing. But there is a misplaced assumption in the Gulf that because of sectarian tendencies and proximity, Iraq’s political tilt towards Iran is inevitable and natural. In light of such assessments, the Gulf has been reluctant to expand diplomatic relations with Baghdad. Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, told me in a recent interview that a ‘breakthrough’ is being reached in relations with the Gulf. During meetings last Monday in Baghdad, he said, progress was made towards resolving outstanding disputes. Qatar, he said, pledged to consider resumption of diplomatic relations within the year. Saudi Arabia is likely to open its Arar border crossing to boost trade with Iraq. The remaining states already have diplomatic representation in Iraq. But even if diplomatic breakthroughs are reached, the Gulf’s outlook towards Iraq is still marred by distrust and suspicion (which has only deepened during the premiership of Nouri al Maliki, who lived in Iran for a decade). Saudi Arabia appointed a non-resident ambassador to Baghdad in February but refused (along with other Gulf states) to send top-level delegations to the Arab League summit there in March. Yet there are considerable reasons for the GCC to move closer to Iraq than to push it away. First is the potential downfall of the Syrian regime; when this happens, Iraq will need to reengage with the Gulf – not only because of the $2 billion (Dh 7.34 billion) in annual trade between Iraq and Syria, but because the post-Assad regime will likely be friendlier to the Gulf. Then there is economics. Iraq is projected to become the second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, surpassing Iran, by the end of this decade. If that happens, power dynamics will change and it will be difficult for Iran to exert influence in Iraq. Until that happens, Iraq needs its Gulf neighbours, who are well-positioned to invest in the country.” http://t.uani.com/ITBEzQ

Experten-Mehrheit lehnt Wohnkostenpauschalen bei Hartz-IV-Empfängern ab

Berlin: (hib/MLA) In einer öffentlichen Anhörung zur Berechnung von Wohn- und Heizkosten von Hartz-IV-Beziehern im Ausschuss für Arbeit und Soziales äußerten sich zwölf geladene Experten. Vorausgegangen war der Antrag der Fraktion Die Linke (17/7847). Die Abgeordneten kritisieren in ihrem Antrag das Recht der Länder, Kreise und kreisfreie Städte zu ermächtigen, monatliche Pauschalen für die Höhe von Miet-und Heizungskosten bei Hartz-IV-Beziehern festzulegen. Durch Pauschalen würden sich letztlich bei den Kommunen „die Kosten nicht verringern, sondern erhöhen“, argumentiert die Linksfraktion. Schon um den Vorgaben des Bundesverfassungsgerichts zu entsprechen, müssten Pauschalen sehr hoch angesetzt werden, um „bedarfsdeckend“ zu sein. Schließlich dürfe kein Hartz-IV-Bezieher gezwungen sein, „Teile seines Regelsatzes für die Kosten der Unterkunft zu verwenden.“ Stattdessen sollten neue Mindeststandards für Wohn-und Heizungskosten eingeführt werden.

Zudem spricht sich die Die Linke gegen „Zwangsumzüge“ im ersten Jahr des Hartz-IV-Bezuges aus. Die gesetzliche Regelung sieht vor, dass Hartz-IV-Empfänger nach maximal sechs Monaten umziehen müssen, wenn ihre Wohnkosten zu hoch sind. Da sich Hartz-IV-Bezieher vor allem darum kümmern sollten, eine neue Arbeit und nicht eine neue Wohnung zu finden, sei die Sechs-Monatsregel kontraproduktiv, argumentiert die Linksfraktion. Sie fordert, die Bleibedauer in der angestammten Wohnung bei Hartz-IV-Bezug auf 12 Monate auszudehnen.

Die Sachverständige Alexandra Frank-Schinke lehnt bedarfsgerechte Pauschalen ab, weil sie „zu teuer“ sind. „Das würde nur dazu führen, dass die, die eine geringere Miete haben, trotzdem die volle Pauschale bekommen.“ Potenzial für Einsparungen durch Pauschalen sieht Frank-Schinke kaum, da eine Einzelfallprüfung ohnehin stets erfolgen müsse. „In der Praxis würden die Kommunen daher so gut wie nie auf Pauschalen zurückgreifen“, sagte Frank-Schinke.

Aus den gleichen Gründen sprach sich der Sachverständige Dr. Andy Groth gegen Wohnkosten-Pauschalen aus. Auch der Experte Joachim Rock sagte, dass Kostenersparnisse in der Verwaltung durch Pauschalen nicht zu erwarten seien.

Die Forderung nach neuen Mindeststandards bei der Berechnung der Aufwendungen für Wohn-und Heizungskosten wies Regine Offer vom Deutschen Städtetag zurück. Es herrsche kein Handlungsbedarf, da es bereits „sehr dezidierte Regelungen“ gebe. Neue zentrale Vorgaben seien „nicht zielführend“.

Kontroverser diskutiert wurde das Thema „Zwangsumzug“: Der Experte Dr. Stefan Schiffersdecker hält die im Antrag vorgeschlagene Fristverlängerung von sechs auf 12 Monate für zu lang. Er sieht die Gefahr von Missbrauch. Auch werde Harz-IV-Empfängern ein Anreiz genommen, sich der neuen Situation anzupassen. Laut dem Sachverständigen Holger Gautzsch könnte eine Fristverlängerung auf 12 Monate jedoch Sinn machen. Aufgrund der dreimonatigen Kündigungsfrist bei Wohnungen bliebe den Empfängern gegenwärtig kaum Zeit, sich eine neue Wohnung zu suchen.

Das Argument der Linksfraktion, die Wohnungssuche würde die Jobsuche behindern, ließ Michael Schweiger von der Bundesagentur für Arbeit nicht gelten. Dazu gebe es keine validen Erhebungen.

UANI Profiled on Israel’s Channel 10 News

Watch Video at: http://youtu.be/1nz57Aj-p0Q

 

United Against Nuclear Iran lobby group does everything it can to give the Iranian President a hard time, and stop Teheran’s nuclear program. Now they are pushing for a legislation initiative that will ban doing business with vessels entering Iranian sea ports and working to stop car sales in the Islamic Republic. “The world is uniting to isolate Ahmadinejad and his thugs”, says the group’s chairman to Channel 10 news.

Every year, Ahmadinejad arrives in New York fearing he will not have a place to stay. These worries are afflicted by a group called UANI – United Against Nuclear Iran.

Mark Wallace, the group’s chairman: “It’s a little message, that the world is coming to isolate him and his thugs.”

Wallace, an attorney, held a senior post in the Bush administration and helped the former president with the Florida election battle in 2000. In his first interview with the Israeli media, the man who’s been leading UANI for the last 4 year reveals the arsenal of sanctions planned for Iran.

The next step, where UANI is concerned, is stopping vessels entering Iran’s ports.

“We’re proposed a law, that if a vessel embarks or disembarks from an Iranian port, that it will be barred from making a port of call, or port of entry, or doing business in an American port, and hopefully in a European port,” Wallace says. “That effectively sinks that vessel’s value. That vessel owner will make a decision not to do business in Iran.”

One of the big successes of this group and its kind is cutting off Iran from the international money clearing system SWIFT. The next targets are international auto-makers. Three big car manufacturers have stopped selling new vehicles in the Islamic Republic.

“The Persian automobile sector is the 13th largest in the world,” says Wallace. “It’s the fastest growing portion of the Iranian economy. And the Persian automotive sector is replete with control by the IRGC, so we have to do our best to cut off the international automotive sector from doing business with Iran … Hyundai announced that it was ending its business in Iran, Porsche as well. “

In between the lines, Wallace is critical of the Obama administration, which–in his opinion–doesn’t do enough to stop Iran.

“Every administration from 1978 forward could do more,” he says. “This President has taken certain steps and we’ve — applauded the steps that he’s taken, and we’ve called for far more action than has currently been taken.”

“There should be no Iranian bank that is allowed to transact international business. You can cut off the ability to insure or reinsure products and services for are major infrastructure projects: the shipping. If you want to do business, sell goods or services to the United States, you have to certify that you don’t do business in Iran.”

Wallace is appalled by the possibility of an Israeli military attack aimed at stopping Iran’s nuclear program. “[Instead of unilateral action], hopefully the community of nations will all join together and say: ‘A nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable, too dangerous, and will spark a Middle East nuclear arms race.’ And then all those countries will come together and there will be a strong coalition, God forbid, in a military action against Iran.”

 

Click here to view the package on Channel 10′s website.