Roundup of Today’s International News 31/05/12

IRAN

Iran urges West to drop ‘illogical’ uranium demand
Tehran says the West should withdraw its “illogical” demand that Iran halt production of uranium enriched to 20 percent.

Ahmadinejad sees no breakthrough at Moscow talks
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday he did not expect talks next month with six world powers in Moscow on Iran’s nuclear programme to yield any major breakthroughs, but hoped to improve confidence between the two sides.

Image shows buildings gone at Iran site: diplomats
U.N. nuclear inspectors displayed new satellite imagery on Wednesday indicating that some small buildings had been dismantled and other possible clean-up work undertaken at an Iranian military site they want to visit.

Defiant Iran Says It Won’t Halt Enrichment or Allow Parchin Access
As Iran and world powers prepare for another round of negotiations next month in Moscow, a senior Iranian official said Tehran would not stop enriching uranium and rejected the UN’s repeated demand to visit a military site suspected of hosting nuclear weapons-related activities.

Eye on Iran: Iran Has Enough Uranium for 5 Bombs

Top Stories

Reuters: ”Iran has significantly stepped up its output of low-enriched uranium and total production in the last five years would be enough for at least five nuclear weapons if refined much further, a U.S. security institute said. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a think-tank which tracks Iran’s nuclear program closely, based the analysis on data in the latest report by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which was issued on Friday… Friday’s report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a Vienna-based U.N. body, showed Iran was pressing ahead with its uranium enrichment work in defiance of U.N. resolutions calling on it to suspend the activity. It said Iran had produced almost 6.2 tons of uranium enriched to a level of 3.5 percent since it began the work in 2007 – some of which has subsequently been further processed into higher-grade material. This is nearly 750 kg more than in the previous IAEA report issued in February, and ISIS said Iran’s monthly production had risen by roughly a third. ‘This total amount of 3.5 percent low enriched uranium hexafluoride, if further enriched to weapon grade, is enough to make over five nuclear weapons,’ ISIS said in its analysis.” http://t.uani.com/JKCeTO

WashPost: ”In November, the tide of daily cable traffic to the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan brought a chilling message for Ambassador Matthew Bryza, then the top U.S. diplomat to the small Central Asian country. A plot to kill Americans had been uncovered, the message read, and embassy officials were on the target list. The details, scant at first, became clearer as intelligence agencies from both countries stepped up their probe. The plot had two strands, U.S. officials learned, one involving snipers with silencer-equipped rifles and the other a car bomb, apparently intended to kill embassy employees or members of their families. Both strands could be traced back to the same place, the officials were told: Azerbaijan’s southern neighbor, Iran. The threat, many details of which were never made public, appeared to recede after Azerbaijani authorities rounded up nearly two dozen people in waves of arrests early this year. Precisely who ordered the hits, and why, was never conclusively determined. But U.S. and Middle Eastern officials now see the attempts as part of a broader campaign by Iran-linked operatives to kill foreign diplomats in at least seven countries over a span of 13 months. The targets have included two Saudi officials, a half-dozen Israelis and – in the Azerbaijan case – several Americans, the officials say.”http://t.uani.com/LBx6ft    

Paris gallery to hang Derambakhsh’s cartoons

Source: Tehran Times

The Nicolas Flamel Gallery in Paris will hang a collection of works by the celebrated Iranian cartoonist Kambiz Derambakhsh in an exhibit from May 31 to June 24.

The exhibition, entitled “A Celebration for the Eyes”, will be held with the help the Paris Municipality.

The collection is composed of 40 cartoons, 6 postal cards and 2 posters, which all have been created with the theme of France or Paris.

The plan to hold the exhibit was made during his previous showcase in Paris last January, Derambakhsh said in a press release on Sunday.

Meet ‘Flame’, The Massive Spy Malware Infiltrating Iranian Computers

Map showing the number and geographical location of Flame infections detected by Kaspersky Lab on customer machines. Courtesy of Kaspersky

 

A massive, highly sophisticated piece of malware has been newly found infecting systems in Iran and elsewhere and is believed to be part of a well-coordinated, ongoing, state-run cyberespionage operation.

The malware, discovered by Russia-based anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab, is an espionage toolkit that has been infecting targeted systems in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, the Israeli Occupied Territories and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa for at least two years.

Dubbed “Flame” by Kaspersky, the malicious code dwarfs Stuxnet in size – the groundbreaking infrastructure-sabotaging malware that is believed to have wreaked havoc on Iran’s nuclear program in 2009 and 2010. Although Flame has both a different purpose and composition than Stuxnet, and appears to have been written by different programmers, its complexity, the geographic scope of its infections and its behavior indicate strongly that a nation-state is behind Flame, rather than common cyber-criminals — marking it as yet another tool in the growing arsenal of cyberweaponry.

The researchers say that Flame may be part of a parallel project created by contractors who were hired by the same nation-state team that was behind Stuxnet and its sister malware, DuQu.

Roundup of Today’s International News 28/05/12

IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAMME

After Talks Falter, Iran Says It Won’t Halt Uranium Work
Iran’s nuclear chief, reversing the country’s previous statements, said on state television on Sunday that the country would not halt its production of higher-grade uranium, suggesting that the Iranian government was veering back to a much harder line after talks in Baghdad with the West last week ended badly.

U.N. inspectors find high-grade uranium traces in Iran
The IAEA report said environmental samples taken in February at Iran’s Fordow facility – buried deep beneath rock and soil to protect it from air strikes – showed the presence of particles with enrichment levels of up to 27 percent. That is above the 20 percent enrichment level Iran has declared at the site, and takes it across the line from low-enriched to high-enriched uranium.

Iran has enough uranium for five nuclear weapons, claims US thinktank
Iran had produced almost 6.2 tonnes of uranium enriched to a level of 3.5% since it began the work in 2007 – some of which has subsequently been further processed into higher-grade material. This equates to nearly 750 kg more than in the previous IAEA report issued in February, and the thinktank said Iran’s monthly production had risen by roughly a third.

‘The Baghdad Conquest’: Iranian Reaction to Nuclear Talks

by MUHAMMAD SAHIMI

Press Roundup provides a selected summary of news from the Farsi and Arabic press and excerpts where the source is in English. Tehran Bureau has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Any views expressed are the authors’ own. Please refer to the Media Guide to help put the stories in perspective. You can follow breaking news stories on our Twitter feed.

Two days after the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group – the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany – ended in Baghdad, Iran’s mass media continues to react to the outcome. The headline of the Saturday issue of Kayhan, the hardline newspaper that is believed to reflect the views of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, read “Iran Did Not Budge.”

In an editorial titled “Resolution of the Problem, Stopping the Negotiations,” Kayhan’s hardline managing editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, warned that the P5+1 has pursued negotiations with Iran for political purposes, motivated by the distressed economic conditions in the West. “As far as we can tell, the West pursues the negotiations for the sake of negotiations, not for resolving the problems between the two sides and melting the ‘artificial ice’ that it has created and spread during the past decade over Iran’s nuclear program,” Shariatmadari wrote. “Thus, if this is true — and all evidence indicates that it is — then Iran’s agreeing to continue the negotiations in Moscow or any other place in the world needs serious reconsideration. There is concern that continuing the negotiations, at least without an agreed-upon modality and the commitment of both sides to move along this path, will be tantamount to playing in the enemy’s field.”

n-tv: Atomgespräche vorerst gescheitert – Der Westen droht Teheran

US-Außenministerin Clinton: “Alle unsere Sanktionen bleiben in Kraft und werden in dieser Zeit weiter vorangetrieben”(Foto: REUTERS)

Die wohlklingenden Worte vor den Atomverhandlungen mit dem Iran haben getäuscht. Teheran lässt den Westen kalt abblitzen. Die zweitägigen Gespräche gehen ohne konkretes Ergebnis zu Ende, denn die Islamische Republik pocht weiterhin darauf, selbst Uran auf mindestens 20 Prozent anzureichern.

Kurz nach dem vorläufigen Scheitern der Atomgespräche mit dem Iran hat der Westen den Druck auf Teheran erhöht. Die USA, Frankreich und Großbritannien drohen mit härteren Sanktionen. Man halte an dem zweigleisigen Modell von Verhandlungen und Strafmaßnahmen fest, sagte US-Außenministerin Hillary Clinton. “Alle unsere Sanktionen bleiben in Kraft und werden in dieser Zeit weiter vorangetrieben”, sagte sie.

Vor den Verhandlungen hatte es noch optimistische Äußerungen zum Verlauf gegeben.(Foto: REUTERS)

Auch der britische Außenminister William Hague und sein französischer Amtskollege Laurent Fabius ermahnten Teheran. Der Iran müsse “konkrete Schritte” unternehmen, damit Fortschritte möglich seien, sagte Hague. Ansonsten werde der “Druck anhand von Sanktionen zweifelsohne erhöht”. Fabius sprach von “neuen Maßnahmen”, sollte es in Moskau keine greifbaren Ergebnisse geben.

Iranian Ex-Diplomat: P5+1 ‘Wants Iran to Give Diamonds for Peanuts’

by NOAH ARJOMAND

Former nuclear negotiation spokesman foresees little progress until West offers “proportionate reciprocation.”

Dr. Seyed Hossein Mousavian is an Iranian career diplomat who served as ambassador to Germany during the Rafsanjani administration and then headed the Foreign Relations Committee of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council under the Khatami administration. From 2003 to 2005, he was the spokesman for the Iranian nuclear negotiation team led by Hassan Rowhani. Currently a visiting scholar at Princeton University, he is the author of the forthcoming book The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir.

Mousavian responded by email to questions from Tehran Bureau about the results of the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear activities held in Baghdad this week and the prospects for a deal that will resolve the standoff between the Islamic Republic and the West.

Ashton, Jalili Describe ‘Intense’ Talks; Next Round: Moscow in June

by MUHAMMAD SAHIMI

Press Roundup provides a selected summary of news from the Farsi and Arabic press and excerpts where the source is in English. Tehran Bureau has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Any views expressed are the authors’ own. 

3 a.m. IRDT, 5 Khordad/May 25 After the conclusion of two days of talks between Iran and the P5+1 group (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany) concerning the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, the chief negotiators for each side — European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Saeed Jalili, secretary-general of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council — spoke to a group of reporters in Baghdad. Ashton addressed the journalists first, then Jalili.

Azerbaijan Demands Apology From Iran Over Eurovision

Source: VOA

Azerbaijan has demanded a formal apology from Iran for its recent statements in connection with Baku’s hosting of the Eurovision song contest.

Eurovision Song Contest Baku 2012

A spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday called the statements “insulting” and said the government expects an apology from Tehran as soon as possible.

Iran Special: Statement By EU’s Catherine Ashton After E3+3 Talks

The E3+3 (sometimes known as the 5+1 Powers) talks with Iran about its nuclear program have ended in Baghdad. The parties haveagreed to meet in Moscow on 18-19 June to continue the discussions.

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STATEMENT BY CATHERINE ASHTON, HIGH REPRESENTATIVE
FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND SECURITY POLICY AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COMMISSION IN BAGHDAD ON 25th MAY 2012

First of all, I would like to thank the Iraqi government, and in
particular Foreign Minister Zebari, for the excellent hospitality and
organisation of these talks.

The E3+3 remain firm, clear and united in seeking a swift diplomatic
resolution of the international community’s concerns on the exclusively
peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme, based on the NPT, and the
full implementation of UN Security Council and IAEA Board of Governors
Resolutions.  We expect Iran to take concrete and practical steps to
urgently meet the concerns of the international community, to build
confidence and to meet its international obligations.

Iran Begins Talks with World Powers

Source: VOA

Talks between world powers and Iran have started in Baghdad in an effort to negotiate an agreement over disputes involving Iran’s controversial nuclear program.

Wednesday’s meeting brings together Iran’s nuclear negotiator with representatives of the so-called P5+1: Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany.

At issue is Iran’s production of highly-enriched uranium that Western nations fear could ultimately be used to make a nuclear bomb. Iran says its nuclear program is being developed for peaceful means.

The talks are being held in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone. It is the second meeting since diplomacy resumed in April after more than a year of delays. Amid increased hopes for a breakthrough, diplomats expect talks could go into a second, unscheduled day.

Orchestre Philharmonique de Paris Est ; حماسه خورشید | Khorshid

به ما بپیوندید: http://www.facebook.com/OrchestreBahar
توضیحات این اثر و این اجرا از زبان خود آهنگ ساز و رهبر:
آهنگ خورشید به این دلیل خورشید نامیده شد، چون خود شعر (اصل شعر بی پیش درآمد) با کلمه و نام خورشید آغاز و با نام خورشید به انتها میرسد. به لحاظ مفهوم، شعر بیان کننده خواست گاه ها و آرزوهای شاعر به عنوان یک عضو از جامعه بزرگ ایران زمین و یک قطره از کل دریاست که آرزویی جز رسیدن به پاکی و نور مطلق طلب نمیکند. شاعر قلبا باور به پیوستن و اتحاد ایرانیان به گرد هم چو زنجیر در آینده نزدیک دارد و معتقد است که بر طبق طبیعت جهان هستی، همدلی و همبستگی مردم در روز آزادی چون خورشیدی تابان طلوع خواهد کرد و ظلمت و بیچارگی مردمان سرزمین ما را به عقب خواهد راند. شاعر معتقد است که پرچم دار این روز، شیر زنی از خاک ایران خواهد بود که در این آهنگ، قبل از شروع شعر اصلی، صدای خانم سلین بورتهالیس خواننده اپرای پاریس نشان از آن شیر زن دارد.

Eye on Iran: US Won’t Ease Oil Sanctions at Iran Nuclear Talks

Top Stories

Bloomberg: ”Negotiators headed to Baghdad for a second round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program won’t be giving Iran the relief it is seeking from oil and financial sanctions hobbling its economy, according to Obama administration officials and Western diplomats. Instead, the U.S. and the five other major powers that will hold talks tomorrow with Iran in the Iraqi capital have agreed on confidence-building measures they may offer in response to Iranian concessions, said several U.S. officials and Western diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue… At the [May 17 House Foreign Affairs Committee] hearing, Mark Wallace, president of United Against Nuclear Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, said Congress should send a strong message to the administration by passing stronger sanctions on Iranian banking, insurance, disclosure and shipping. Wallace urged lawmakers to make sanctions more ‘airtight’ and said the administration can be more aggressive about enforcing an economic blockade on Iran and pressing EU allies ‘to not walk back those very important steps that they’ve taken.’” http://t.uani.com/Lcw75f

Fox News: ”Intent on weakening Iran economically, the Senate on Monday approved tough new penalties on the Tehran regime to thwart its nuclear ambitions. By voice vote, the Senate backed the measure ahead of talks between leading nations and Iran in Baghdad on Wednesday. The bill would target Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, require companies that trade on the U.S. stock exchange to disclose any Iran-related business to the Securities and Exchange Commission and would expand penalties for energy and uranium mining joint ventures with Tehran. The bill also would deny visas and freeze assets on individuals and companies that supply Iran with technology that could be used to crack down on its citizens, such as tear gas, rubber bullets and surveillance equipment. Both the Obama administration and the international community have imposed tough sanctions on Iran over its nuclear development program, which Iran maintains is for peaceful purposes only.”http://t.uani.com/Lycpqm

How to Engage Iran in Baghdad: Toward a Win-Win Strategy

by ANGIE AHMADI

Emphasize potential rewards rather than further punishments.

Angie Ahmadi is an associate at the National Iranian American Council.

The recent nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.N. Security Council members plus Germany (the P5+1) in Istanbul sparked optimism that the decade-long dispute could be resolved. Positive anticipation of the next round of talks in Baghdad has been amplified by Tehran’s softened rhetoric. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi recently stated that Iran will work to improve relations with the West. Even more significantly, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s special adviser on international affairs, Ali Akbar Velayati, described the Istanbul meeting as a step forward: “We hope the following steps will be positive and the West’s positioning will not mutate.” These remarks indicate a degree of support from Khamenei. But how should Iran’s seeming appetite for compromise be utilized by the West to build what E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called “a sustained process of dialogue”?Parsing Iran’s recent behavior can help create a successful framework for negotiations in Baghdad. More than sanctions, Iran’s domestic political developments may offer a better explanation of Tehran’s posture. Iran’s political landscape has shifted in ways that could provide Khamenei with greater decision-making latitude, and factors often identified as impediments to engagement — factional rivalries within the ruling system and anti-Americanism as a fundamental element of the regime’s identity — may carry less weight than in the past. With an emasculated opposition and a curtailed President Ahmadinejad, Khamenei faces less political pressure at home, thereby removing some obstacles to compromise. Although it is widely believed that a deal with Khamenei is unlikely given his negative perception of the West and risk-averse personality, historical precedent suggests the contrary. Khamenei has been constitutionally authorized to block any foreign policy initiative, but he allowed attempts by former presidents Rafsanjani and Khatami to negotiate with the West. Hence, it may be more accurate to say that Khamenei is unlikely to support a deal unless he perceives it as fair and not undermining his own authority.

NATO: Missile Defense Shield for Europe is Up and Running

Source: VOA

NATO says its U.S.-led missile defense shield for Europe is up and running.

Ballistic Missile Defense

Negative Pulses from Vienna to Israel: Has the Green Light Been Given on Iran Attack?

By Ali Qaderi, Asriran News Website; translated by Iran Review

Representatives of the European Union’s member states at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have called on Iran in their latest statement to totally stop its uranium enrichment program as well as all activities at Fordow nuclear site.

Meanwhile, the US Ambassador to the IAEA has expressed concern over what he called Iran’s noncompliance with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). He also called on Iran to take immediate and rapid steps to build confidence with the international community.

Europäische Asylrechtsprechungsdatenbank

Am 17.02.2012 wurde in Dublin die mehrsprachige Europäische Asylrechtsprechungsdatenbank (European Database of Asylum Law – EDAL) gestartet. Sie enthält Entscheidungen zum Flüchtlingsrecht aus derzeit elf europäischen Ländern – darunter Deutschland – und ist allgemein sowie kostenlos zugänglich unter: www. asylumlawdatabase.eu . Eine Entscheidung wird jeweils in Englisch und der Sprache des Gerichtsstaates per Link und/oder pdf sowie – falls verfügbar – im Volltext nachgewiesen. Die Zahl der eingestellten Entscheidungen ist noch gering. Die meisten entfallen auf das Vereinigte Königreich (75), Frankreich (60) und Schweden (49); zu Deutschland finden sich 40 Entscheidungen.1 EDAL ist ein vom EFF gefördertes Projekt des Irischen Flüchtlingsrates.2 Nähere Informationen: www.asylumlawdatabase.eu/sites/asylumlawdatabase.eu/files/ aldfiles/EDAL%20Leaflet.pdf.

Roundup of Today’s International News 10/05/12

IRAN

New Satellite Image Shows Activity at Parchin Site in Iran
ISIS has acquired commercial satellite imagery of the Parchin site in Iran showing new activity that substantiates the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) stated concern regarding recent “activity” at the site. The new activity seen in the satellite image occurred outside a building suspected to contain an explosive chamber used to carry out nuclear weapons related experiments.

U.S. and Europe Press Iran Before Next Nuclear Talks
The United States on Monday injected a note of caution into the mood of optimism surrounding recently revived talks on Iran’s contentious uranium enrichment program, calling on the Iranians to take “urgent, practical steps” to prove their sincerity in complying with obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.

IAEA inspector killed in Iran car accident: media
A United Nations nuclear inspector working in Iran was killed in a car accident on Tuesday, Iranian media reported.

Iranian car industry weathers stormy year
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.

Iran to set date for launching nuclear power plant
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the Islamic republic will set a date for the official launch of Bushehr nuclear power plant, the semi- official ISNA news agency reported Monday.

Iran Bans Banks From Sending Statements To ‘Foreign’ E-Mail Addresses
Iran’s minister of communications and information technology, Reza Taghipour, has sent a letter to the head of the country’s Central Bank, Mahmud Bahmani, asking him to instruct banks to refrain from sending bank statements to e-mail addresses administered by foreign providers.

Rights situation in Iran troubles U.N.
Human rights experts reporting to the United Nations expressed concern over the “extremely harsh” sentences given to human rights defenders in Iran.

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EUROPE

EU tells defiant Iran it “must” suspend atom activity
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.

Britain seeks delay to EU’s Iran ship insurance ban
Britain is seeking to persuade fellow European Union members to postpone by up to six months a ban on providing insurance for tankers carrying Iranian oil, arguing that it could lead to a damaging spike in oil prices, European diplomats said.

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND CANADA

Biden: Time running out for diplomatic resolution of Iran nuclear standoff
Vice President Joe Biden warned Tuesday that the window of opportunity for peacefully resolving the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program was closing “in the near term.”

Clinton praises Indian refiners for Iran oil cuts
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton focused on Tuesday on India’s refiners for their cuts in crude imports from Iran in a shift from pressure on the New Delhi government, welcoming the steps the refineries had taken so far.

Baird says Iran could build nuclear bomb within months
Iran could build a nuclear bomb within months if it decides to weaponize its atomic enrichment program, according to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

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THE MIDDLE-EAST

Interview-Iran atom compromise “worse than no deal” – Israel
World powers must not yield in their demand Iran abandon sensitive nuclear projects, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday, arguing Tehran had been allowed to “dictate” terms despite being vulnerable to sanctions.

Mideast nuclear conference in jeopardy
Hopes dimmed Tuesday for staging major nuclear talks later this year between Israel and its Muslim rivals, as Iran and Arab countries at a 189-nation conference accused Israel of being the greatest threat to peace in the region and Egypt warned that Arab states might rethink their opposition to atomic arms.

Turkey ups Iran oil imports in March before embargo
Turkey’s crude oil imports from Iran rose sharply in March, providing the Islamic republic with much-needed oil revenues as Tehran struggles to sell its crude in the face of tightening Western sanctions aimed at slowing its nuclear program.

Iran funding smuggling of Libyan Arms into Sinai 
Egyptian security sources have informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the security apparatus in Cairo believe that Iran may be funding the smuggling of arms – belonging to the former Libyan arm – into the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. The source added that the lack of security along the Egypt – Israeli border has increased the concerns that a new attack on Israel could be launched from Egypt’s Sinai.

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ASIA

China buying oil from Iran with yuan
China is buying crude oil from Iran using its currency the yuan, an Iranian diplomat has said. Oil transactions are usually settled in dollars but US sanctions make it difficult for Iran to accept payments in the US currency.

Japan eyes guarantees for ships carrying Iran oil – Nikkei
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.

Afghan-US pact strains ties with Tehran
Relations between Afghanistan and Iran have been strained by Kabul’s strategic pact with the United States, officials said Tuesday, charging that Tehran has harassed Afghan diplomats in recent weeks.

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SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa Engen buys Saudi crude to replace Iranian supplies
Engen has turned to top oil exporter Saudi Aramco for additional crude after South Africa’s biggest buyer of Iranian crude halted imports from the Islamic Republic, trade sources said on Wednesday.

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LATIN AMERICA

Top Republican urges deeper engagement in Latin America
The Congress’ top Republican called on Tuesday for deeper economic engagement with Latin America as a bulwark against Iran’s attempt to gain influence in the region and the destabilizing effects of international drug cartels.

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ANALYSIS

Realite-EU’s latest analysis – IAEA: Talks with Iran to focus on access to key military facility
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) deplored the lack of a “positive response” from Iran regarding the Agency’s repeated demand to visit a key military facility suspected of hosting nuclear weapons-related activities, as the two sides prepare for another round of talks next week in Vienna.

Hollande and Iran
In the run-up to the French presidential election, the Iranian newspaper Tehran Emrooz wrote that “emphasis must be given to the advantages of a victory by François Hollande.”

If Iran had not supported the Syrian Baath regime
For years now, Iran has been supporting the Syrian Baath regime — the ideological cousin of the Iraqi Baath regime against whom Iran carried out the longest war of the century.

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Source: Réalité-EU

Calais – Letzte Station vor der Insel (England)

Die nordfranzösische Hafenstadt Calais liegt an der engsten Stelle des Ärmelkanals und somit nur 30 km von Großbritannien entfernt. Deshalb dient diese Stadt als Transitstation vieler Hundert Flüchtlinge, die sich quer durch Europa mit dem Ziel Großbritannien bewegen. Sie halten sich “illegal” in Europa auf und müssen sich deswegen durch das Sicherheitsnetz der britischen Grenzkontrollen schmuggeln. So schleichen sie sich Nacht für Nacht auf LKWs und Züge, in der Hoffnung nicht entdeckt zu werden. Bis dieser Versuch jedoch gelingt vergehen oft mehrere Monate, während denen die Flüchtenden starker Polizeirepression ausgesetzt sind.

Broschüre – Trying for England – Download

Quelle: Calais Migrant Solidarity

Call to Action: 20 June – International Day in Support of Political Prisoners in Iran

20 June is the anniversary of mass executions of political prisoners in Iran in 1981. It is also the date on which Neda Agha Soltan was killed during the 2009 uprisings in Iran. On 20 June 2011, the date was designated as the International Day in Support of Political Prisoners in Iran, and more than 50 cities around the world came out to demand the release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Iran.

On 20 June 2012, organizers again call for global demonstrations to support political prisoners in Iran. In addition to the essential demands of the day’s action, we will urge the European Parliament and the UN to officially recognize 20 June as the International Day in Support of Political Prisoners in Iran.

News Alert 23/04/12

IRAN

Internal IAEA information links the Supreme Leader to 1984 decision to seek a nuclear arsenal
“The Agency [IAEA] was informed that in April 1984 the then President of Iran, H.E. Ayatollah Khamenei declared, during a meeting of top-echelon political and security officials at the Presidential Palace in Tehran, that the spiritual leader Imam Khomeini had decided to reactivate the nuclear programme (…) Khamenei further declared during the meeting, that a nuclear arsenal would serve Iran as a deterrent in the hands of God’s soldiers.”

UN committee adds more names to Iran sanctions list
A U.N. Security Council committee has expanded its Iran blacklist to include two Iranian individuals and one firm for attempting to skirt U.N. sanctions by shipping arms to Africa in 2010 (…) the newly sanctioned individuals include Azim Aghajani, member of the IRGC elite Qods Force, and Ali Akbar Tabatabaei, whom it describes as a “senior officer responsible for IRGC Qods Force operations.

Neue Versionen des “Refugee Law Reader” erschienen

Die umfangreichste Online-Materialsammlung zum internationalen Flüchtlingsrecht, der “Refugee Law Reader”, ist in einer neuen englischsprachigen Version erschienen. Daneben liegt jetzt erstmals eine russischsprachige Version der Webseite vor. Dies teilte die Chefredakteurin Maryellen Fullerton in einer Mitteilung vom 23. März 2012 mit.

Der Refugee Law Reader bietet eine umfassende Sammlung von Texten völkerrechtlicher Normen, Begleittexten und Artikeln zu allen wesentlichen Aspekten des internationalen Flüchtlingsrechts. Die neue englischsprachige Version wurde darüber hinaus um die entsprechenden Materialien zu den regionalen Instrumenten des Flüchtlingsschutzes in Afrika, Asien, Europa sowie Nord- und Südamerika ergänzt.

Die meisten verfügbaren Materialien sind kostenlos und ohne Zugangsbeschränkung abrufbar, nur für einen kleinen Teil der Dokumente ist ein Passwort erforderlich, das bei den Herausgebern des Refugee Law Readers angefordert werden kann.

In einer aktualisierten Fassung abrufbar ist auch der Lehrplan (Syllabus), der konkrete Vorschläge enthält, wie die Materialien im Rahmen von Schulungen eingesetzt werden können.

Link zum Refugee Law Reader

Justice for Iran: IRGC’s Cyber Crime Office Must Be Placed on the List of Human Rights Targeted Sanctions

In its latest report, “Gerdab: A dictated Scenario,” Justice for Iran highlights the role of IRGC’s Center to Investigate Organized Crime in the severe violation of the rights of Iranian citizens. The Center to Investigate Organized Crime (Cyber Crime Office), a division of the IRGC, focuses on ensuring the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the cyber space. Upon its establishment in 2007, the first case file the Center worked on was a project titled Gerdab (Whirlpool), during the process of which 45 individuals were arrested and imprisoned under the title of Persian porn producers. Later on, in their televised confessions, the accused confessed that they intended to attack the cultural basis of the Islamic Republic through corrupting and driving the youth from the right path as well as having political agendas against the government or Islam and receiving money from the American government to establish and produce pornographic content.

A year and half later, a number of the detainees and their relatives broke their silence about the treatments and abuses that led to their confessions. They filed complaint to official judicial authorities regarding long stretches of time spent in solitary cells, continuous and severe physical and psychological torture to obtain and record false confessions, lack of respect of the authority for the right of due process from the moment of arrest throughout the entire duration of preliminary investigation phase,  and other such calamities endured by the detainees.

Israel Loves Iran – Part II

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Wir lieben Euch! Iran & Israel

 

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These iranians persons are not welcome – EU sanctions, the next part

The following text comes directly from the Official Journal of the European Union. It has been formatted (and, in the case of a few names, simply corrected or completed) to meet

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Elahi, Mousa Khalil Prosecutor of Tabriz. Responsible for directing grave human rights violations of the right to due process.

Farhadi, Ali Prosecutor of Karaj. Responsible for grave violation of human rights in demanding the death sentence for a juvenile.
Jafari, Reza Head of special prosecution of cyber crime. In charge of arrests, detentions, and prosecutions of bloggers and journalists.
Kazemi, Toraj Colonel of the technology and communications police, he recently announced a campaign for the recruitment of government hackers in order to achieve better control of information on the Internet and attack “dangerous” sites.

Larijani, Sadegh Head of the judiciary. The head of the judiciary is required to consent to and sign off every ghisas (retribution), hodoud (crimes against God), and tazirat (crimes against the state) punishment. This includes sentences attracting the death penalty, floggings, and amputations. In this regard, he has personally signed off numerous death penalty sentences, contravening international standards, including stoning (16 people are currently under stoning sentence), executions by suspension strangulation, execution of juveniles, and public executions such as those where prisoners have been hung from bridges in front of crowds of thousands. He has also permitted corporal punishment sentences such as amputations and the dripping of acid into the eyes of the convicted. Since Sadegh Larijani took office, arbitrary arrests of political prisoners, human rights defenders, and minorities have increased markedly. Executions have also increased sharply since 2009. Sadegh Larijani also bears responsibility for systemic failures in the Iranian judicial process to respect the right to a fair trial.
Mirhejazi, Ali Deputy chief of the Supreme Leader’s office and head of security. Part of the Supreme Leader’s inner circle, responsible for planning the suppression of protests which has been implemented since 2009.

Mortazavi, Seyyed Solat Deputy interior minister for political affairs. Responsible for directing repression of persons who speak up in defense of their legitimate rights, including freedom of expression.
Ramezani, Gholam Hossein Commander of IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] intelligence. Responsible for grave human rights violation of persons who speak up in defense of their legitimate rights, including freedom of expression. Heads department responsible for the arrest and torture of bloggers/journalists.
Ramin, Mohammad Ali Main figure responsible for censorship as vice minister in charge of the press up to December 2010, he was directly responsible for the closure of many reformi[st] newspapers (Etemad, Etemad-e Melli, Shargh, etc.), closure of the Independent Press Syndicate, and the intimidation and arrest of journalists.
Reshteh Ahmadi, Bahram Deputy prosecutor in Tehran. Runs Evin [Prison] prosecution center. Responsible for the denial of rights, including visits and other prisoner’s rights, to human rights defenders and political prisoners.

Rezvani, Gholam Ali Deputy governor of Rasht. Responsible for grave violations of the right to due process.
Rezvan Manesh, Ali Prosecutor. Responsible for grave violation of human rights in demanding the death sentence for a juvenile.
Sadeghi, Mohammad Colonel and deputy [commander] of IRGC technical and cyber intelligence. Responsible for the arrests and torture of bloggers/journalists.
Saeedi Shahroudi, Ali Representative of the Guide [i.e., Supreme Leader] for the Pasdaran [i.e., Revolutionary Guards] since 1995 after spending his whole career within the institution of the military, and specifically in the Pasdaran intelligence service. This official role makes him the key figure in the transmission of orders emanating from the Office of the Guide to the Pasdaran’s repression apparatus.
Sharifi, Malek Ajdar Head of the judiciary in East Azerbaijan. Responsible for grave violations of the right to due process.
Taghipour, Reza Minister for information and communications. As minister for information, he is one of the top officials in charge of censorship and control of Internet activities and also all types of communications (notably mobile phones). During interrogations of political detainees, the interrogators make use of the detainees’ personal data, mail, and communications. On several occasions following the last presidential election and during street demonstrations, mobile lines and text messaging were blocked, satellite TV channels were jammed, and the Internet locally suspended or at least slowed down.
Zarghami, Ezatollah As head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), he is responsible for all programming decisions. IRIB has broadcast forced confessions of detainees and a series of “show trials” in August 2009 and December 2011. These constitute a clear violation of international provisions on fair trial and the right to due process.

The Latest from Iran (23 March): The Sanctions All-is-Well Edition

1034 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Confirming the news that EA posted on Thursday, the Council of the European Union has added 17 Iranians ”responsible for serious human rights violations” to the list of individuals — now 78 in total — subject to a travel ban and an asset freeze.

The decision, endorsed in this morning’s meeting of Foreign Ministers, also banned exports of equipment and software intended for use in the monitoring or interception of internet and telephone communications by Iranian authorities.

The EU’s foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton issued a prepared statement:

 

The EU remains deeply concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. We deplore the continuing increase in executions and the widespread repression of Iranian citizens, including human rights defenders, journalists and members of the opposition. We renew our calls on the Iranian authorities to live up to their international human rights obligations and to protect all fundamental freedoms to which the Iranian people are entitled.

 

1004 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. More than 80 Iranian journalists have issued a statement of support for their colleague Masoud Bastani, who has been in prison for 999 days.

Bastani, arrested after the disputed Presidential election of June 2009, is serving a six-year sentence for propaganda against the government, creating unrest, and disturbing public order..

0808 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Are we seeing a shrinking base of support for the President?

After Zohreh Elahian’s criticism (see 0725 GMT), former Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham has said that principlists “never accepted Ahmadinejad as President“, voting for him with reservations in 2005 and tolerating him with “a lump in the throat”.

0805 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Labour activist Gholam Reza Hosseini has been given a nine-year prison sentence for “collaborating with foreign governments”.

0725 GMT: All the President’s Men. MP Zohreh Elahian, who has been supportive of President Ahmadiejad, has put out a warning to the Government. She said the Social Security Fund needs a “professional head”, not a “problematic figure” like Saeed Mortazavi, the Presidential aide who remains under fire over his alleged involvement in the Kahrizak detention centre abuses of summer 2009.

Elahian also said impeachment proceedings against the Minister of Labor will resume on 3 April.

0705 GMT: On a morning dominated by assurances over the economy  in Iranian State media, Press TV takes the award for Rosiest-Coloured Glasses:

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman has defended Beijing’s decision to keep importing Iranian crude despite the US sanctions on Tehran, insisting that the move is not in breach of the UN Security Council’s resolutions.

China’s oil imports from Iran were based on the country’s economic development needs and do not violate any UN resolutions or damage the interests of third parties, Hong Lei told reporters on Thursday.

“China opposes any country imposing its domestic law on another country. We oppose the practice of saddling unilateral sanctions on a third country,” he added.

So what’s missing? Perhaps the revelation on Thursday that China’s imports of Iranian oil had fallen 45% in February.

Press TV also frames a letter from the Indian Foreign Minister to Parliament as “India to Continue Purchasing Iranian Crude Oil“. State news agency IRNA’s lead story is on the same topic.

So what’s missing? This sentence from the Foreign Minister’s statement, which points to the US-led strategy to wean countries off reliance on Tehran’s crude: “India is also trying to diversify its sources of crude oil imports.”

Source: EA World

Iran Feature: A Beginner’s Guide to the Squeeze on Tehran’s Money (Recknagel)

 

Writing for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Charles Recknagel explains how today’s suspension by SWIFT of transfers of Iranian funds will work and how it will affect Tehran:

The world’s biggest interbank transfer network, SWIFT, says it will no longer handle transactions by Iranian banks blacklisted by the EU.

What is SWIFT and why is its ban a blow to Iran?

SWIFT is an acronym for an electronic process that is familiar to everybody who has transferred money overseas from one bank to another. To make the transfer, your bank asks you for the receiving bank’s SWIFT code, or electronic address.

The letters include the recipient bank’s identifying initials plus a country and city code telling where the bank is located. Without the SWIFT code, your bank cannot make the transfer.

Irak, Iran: “Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf) residents and the determination of their refugee status claims”

Quelle: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Irak, Iran: “Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf) residents and the determination of their refugee status claims”

Aktualisierte Fassung kurzer Anmerkungen zu BewohnerInnen des Camps New Iraq und der Überprüfung ihres Anspruchs auf Flüchtlingseigenschaft [ID 211398]

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Justice For Iran Monitoring Report of European Union’s Targetted Sanctions against Iranian Officials for Serious Human Rights Abuses

The European Union’s 12 April 2011 legislation and 10 October 2011 implementing decision levied targeted sanctions against 61 Iranian persons responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran. The list, as currently formulated, sanctions present and past government officials as well as those affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and its paramilitary wing, the Basij; members of the Iranian judiciary (including judges and prosecutors); and persons with leadership roles in Iran’s prison apparatus.

Justice for Iran (JFI) endeavors to provide a comprehensive and detailed assessment of what further measures the European Union Commission can take in its enforcement of targeted sanctions against Iranian officials for serious human rights abuses in Iran.

Activist Hossein Jafar Ali Jasbi Is the Latest on Billström’s Delivery List to the Islamic Butchers in Evin; Deportation Date of 6 March 2012 – TAKE ACTION!

Hossein Jafar Ali Jasbi was born on 22 September 1972 to a family is among the tens of thousands of families that have suffered in the hands of the “men of God” and their gallows in Evin and other slaughterhouses. By the time he was 10 years old, Hossein had lost his beloved older sister Mehri, age 27, and a brother Reza, age 25; they were among those tens of thousands executed in the 1980s.

Hossein’s father, who wasn’t even politically active, was put behind bars like the hundreds of mothers, fathers, and relatives who have been arrested, jailed tortured, forced to confess to activities that they had nothing to do with, and then even put on “trial” in Islamic “courts” and sentenced to years-long imprisonment or – as in so many cases – even executed. Hosein’s father not only lost 2 children to the gallows of the keeper of Evin, but spent many years in that hell too. He was released only in 1989.

Sanktionen der Vereinten Nationen und Europäische Union – Smart Sanctions

Rechtliche Grundlagen für die Verhängung zielgerichteter Sanktionen (“Smart Sanctions”) durch die Vereinten Nationen und die Europäische Union

pdf-Datei (95 KB)

 

Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006)

The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006) was established on 23 December 2006 to undertake the tasks set out in paragraph 18 of that same resolution. The mandate of the Committee has since been expanded to apply also to the measures imposed in resolutions 1747 (2007) and 1803 (2008) and to the measures decided in resolution 1929 (2010).

By its resolutions 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1929 (2010), the Council adopted certain measures relating to the Islamic Republic of Iran. These measures include but are not limited to:

• a proliferation-sensitive nuclear and ballistic missile programmes-related embargo;
• a ban on the export/procurement of any arms and related materiel from Iran and a ban on the supply of the seven categories, as specified, of conventional weapons and related materiel to Iran;
• a travel ban and an assets freeze on designated persons and entities.  The assets freeze also applies to any individuals or entities acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, the designated persons and entities, and to entities owned or controlled by them.

In addition, by its resolution 1929 (2010) the Council established, for an initial period of one year, a Panel of Experts to assist the Committee in carrying out its mandate and undertake the tasks, as specified.  A fact sheet explaining the respective roles of the Committee and the Panel can be foundhere.

View selected documents related to the work of the Committee.

Reports submitted by Member States, pursuant to the four above-mentioned resolutions, on implementation of the relevant measures can be found here. A hand-out to assist Member States in such implementation can be found here.

Formal and informal meetings of the Committee are announced in the Journal of the United Nations. The Committee adopted guidelines for the conduct of its work on 30 May 2007, which were revised on 24 April 2008 and again on 19 August 2011.

In accordance with paragraph 18(h) of resolution 1737 (2006), the Chairman of the Committee reports at least every 90 days to the Security Council on the work of the Committee.

The current Chairman of the Committee, for the period ending 31 December 2012, is His Excellency Mr. Néstor Osorio (Colombia). The Vice-Chair for 2012 is Togo.

URGENT: Sweden to Imminently Deport Christian Asylum-Seeker Facing Lashes & Prison on Apostasy Charges to Iran: Mohammadreza Hamedian Esfahani [INCLUDES LETTER-WRITING ACTION]

The Swedish government once again intends to illegally deport an Iranian human rights activist and convert to Christianity (punishable by death in Iran) back into the hands of the Islamic Republic. We provide the story and background documents for Mohammadreza Hamedian Esfahani and his family, and we have drafted an open letter to Sweden’s Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy protesting this illegal and lethal deportation to Iran. Please contribute by urgently participating in the letter-writing action, below.

Mohammadreza and his family – his wife and two young daughters – are 4 of Swedish Migration Minister Tobias Billström’s latest victims.

Schweden: Iraner ins falsche Land abgeschoben

Ins falsche Land abgeschoben wurde ein 53jähriger iranischer Asylsuchender mit irakisch-kurdischen Wurzeln. Der Betroffene hat jetzt eine Beschwerde beim schwedischen Ombudsmann für Justizangelegenheiten anhängig machen lassen, nachdem im Irak, wo er jetzt in Haft sitzt, bis zu 15 Jahren Haft drohen könnten. Der Betroffene ist im Irak geboren, wurde später iranischer Staatsbürger und floh aus dem Iran im Jahre 2002 nach Schweden, wo er Asylantrag stellte. Nach Angaben seiner Anwältin stand seine Abschiebung in den Iran nach endgültiger Ablehnung des Asylantrages bevor. Tatsächlich habe man ihn dann in den Irak ausgeflogen. Ihr Mandant sei Angehöriger einer kurdischen Minderheit, von denen viele zu Saddam Husseins Zeiten in den Iran ausgewiesen worden seien. Tausende seien in den 80er Jahren im Iran verschwunden. Die irakische Botschaft in Schweden hat nach Angaben von Familienangehörigen einen irakischen Pass ausgestellt, weil es eine Regelung gebe, dass kurdische Minderheitenangehörige ihre irakische Staatsangehörigkeit wieder erwerben könnten. Die Verwandten gehen davon aus, dass materielle Interessen im Spiel gewesen seien könnten, als die Botschaft einen echten Pass für die Abschiebung zur Verfügung stellte. (Quelle: Migration News Sheet, Dezember 2011)