Eye on Iran: 120 Nations Accuse US Top Court of Violating Law over Iran
Top Stories
AP: "The 120-nation Nonaligned Movement headed by Iran accused the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday of violating international law by ruling that nearly $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets can be paid to victims of attacks linked to the country. A communique issued by the NAM's Coordinating Bureau follows an Iranian appeal to the United Nations last week to intervene with the U.S. government to prevent the loss of their funds. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the ruling an 'outrageous robbery, disguised under a court order.' The NAM, comprising mainly developing countries, called the U.S. waiver of 'the sovereign immunity of states and their institutions' a violation of U.S. international and treaty obligations. It called on the U.S. government 'to respect the principle of state immunity' and warned that failing to do so will have 'adverse implications, including uncertainty and chaos in international relations.' It also warned that a failure would also undermine the international rule of law 'and would constitute an international wrongful act, which entails international responsibility.' The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 23 that the families of victims of a 1983 bombing in Lebanon and other attacks linked to Iran can collect nearly $2 billion in frozen funds from Iran as compensation. The court's ruling directly affects more than 1,300 relatives of victims, some who have been seeking compensation for more than 30 years. They include families of the 241 U.S. service members who died in the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut." http://t.uani.com/1TrSg26
WSJ: "British oil giant BP will open an office in Iran this summer, according to Rokneddin Javadi, chairman of the National Iranian Oil Company. Quoted on the state-owned oil news service Shana, Mr. Javadi said BP is looking to transfer technology and capital to Iran. BP declined to comment... BP's CEO Bob Dudley previously has been cautious on investing in the country. Speaking earlier this year, he said his company would choose opportunities carefully. Other Western oil companies that have made moves to return to Iran include Austria's OMV and France's Total SA. OMV earlier this week announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Company, giving it the opportunity to pursue a number of potential oil and gas projects in the country." http://t.uani.com/1WcD3Ix
MEMRI: "On May 14, 2016, the third Holocaust International Cartoon Contest is set to open in Tehran. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has denied that there is any connection between the Iranian government and this event. He told The New Yorker magazine, in an interview published April 25, 2016, that 'it's not Iran' that is holding the contest, and that it is organized by an NGO that is 'not controlled by the Iranian government. Nor is it endorsed by the Iranian government.' He added that the NGO 'doesn't need a permit to hold the function' but that '[w]e need to issue visas for people who come [to the exhibition], and we take into consideration that people who have preached racial hatred and violence will not be invited.' However, Massoud Shojaei Tabatabaei, the secretary of the contest and of the two previous contests, said that Zarif was speaking for himself alone. On April 27, in an interview with the Iranian website Nasimonline, Tabatabaei explained that the organization he heads 'cooperates with the Ministry of Culture' and that everyone in the regime 'knows that this exhibition is highly respected. Therefore, the foreign minister's statements are not in line with the [activity of] the Ministry of Culture.' He added that the exhibition was not aimed at proving or disproving the Holocaust, but at asking why the people of Gaza and Palestine should be the ones to pay for it. On April 29, exiled Iranian journalist Aida Qajar wrote, in an article titled 'The Holocaust Cartoons and Zarif's Lies' on Iranwire, a website of exiled Iranian journalists, that the foreign minister had either lied about or ignored the Iranian regime's and government's connection to the cartoon exhibition." http://t.uani.com/1T4NP3k
U.S.-Iran Relations
Al-Monitor: "In the latest attack, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who has always distrusted the United States while simultaneously giving the green light for the nuclear negotiations - accused the United States of being anti-Shiite, the predominant sect to which the majority of Iranians belong. 'Today, anti-Islam, anti-Iran and anti-Shiism are the definitive policies of America and the governments who are affiliated with it,' said Khamenei during a May 5 speech to administration officials, the heads of branches of the government and ambassadors from Islamic countries on the occasion of the anniversary of the day Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad received his first revelation. Khamenei criticized the United States, which he referred to with the religiously charged terms of 'ignorance and idolatrous,' for having dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima, killing hundreds of thousands but after many years 'still not ready to apologize.' He also blamed the United States for destroying the infrastructure of countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq and not being willing to accept responsibility for what they have done. According to Khamenei, 'reactionary Islam' - the violent jihadi movements taking over parts of the Middle East - and 'American Islam' - a softer and more liberal type of Islam promoted by Western countries - are two movements with the same goals. Khamenei also repeated an old claim that terrorists groups in the Middle East are supported by the United States, saying, 'Corrupt groups who committed the worst crimes in the name of Islam are supported and backed by the West.' He continued, 'In appearance the West forms an anti-Islamic State coalition, but in reality they support this group and within the anti-Islam framework refer to them as the Islamic State and ruin the image of Islam.' ... Iran's President Hassan Rouhani also addressed the crowd at the event, echoing many of Khamenei's criticisms of the United States. Rouhani said that anti-Islam Westerners and their mercenaries in the region are 'the two blades of a scissor.' While he did not blame the United States or the West for supporting terrorist groups in the region, he did criticize the US occupation of Afghanistan and invasion of Iraq, and the chaos those military campaigns created, saying, 'The responsibility for all of these crimes is [on] the Zionists and the Americans.' Rouhani's criticism of the United States is perhaps his strongest since taking office in 2013." http://t.uani.com/1ZmruN2
Sanctions Relief
FT: "Python & Peter, a leading Swiss law firm, has opened an office in Tehran in a further sign of the country opening for business in the wake of the groundbreaking nuclear agreement signed last year. The new office will aim to advise foreign multinationals on how to operate in a country slowly awakening from years of international isolation and numerous economic downturns. In February, Germany's CMS was the first international law firm to open an office in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution... Iranian law firms with international standards are also rare. But a new generation of lawyers has been encouraged with the entrance of foreign law firms into the country, said Encyeh Seyed Sadr, partner and attorney at law in Bayan Emrooz, a new local law firm. Lack of trust in Iran's judicial system, fears of bias and corruption as well as often lengthy proceedings and high tariffs means many foreign companies are wary of losing their investments should they run into difficulties with their local partners... In a further sign of the growing international interest in setting up business in Iran, a team from the Swiss Chambers' Arbitration Institution visited Tehran last week, offering fair, independent and flexible arbitration services in any potential future disputes between Iranian and foreign companies." http://t.uani.com/1O2LBz4
Press TV (Iran): "The 21st International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition of Iran - Iran Oil Show 2016 - opened in capital Tehran on Thursday. Around 1,900 companies - 900 from Iran and 880 from 38 countries - are showcasing their latest achievements in the Show which will continue until 8 May. Figures on participants show that Europeans outnumber others in this year's exhibition - the first after the removal of multiple-year sanctions against Iran. Overall, the number of companies attending this year's exhibition shows an increase of 60 percent compared to last year in what Iran's oil officials say is a sign of the growing interest of global industries to invest in the country's oil projects now after the removal of the sanctions. Companies from the United States that include Lincoln Electric are also participating in the Show through their European representatives. Major corporations that have been listed by the media include Siemens, Lukoil, Gazprom, OMV and Saipem." http://t.uani.com/1WNLol2
BusinessKorea: "Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. ., a major South Korean builder, announced on May 4 that it had meetings with officials at major Iranian contractors and won two tentative deals worth US$11.5 billion (13.29 trillion won) in Tehran on the 3rd to construct a petrochemical plant and road infrastructure. The company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bahman Geno Co., a local energy company, to build a large refinery plant for about US$10 billion (11.56 trillion won) along with Hyundai Engineering & Construction... Bahman Geno issued a letter of intent to Hyundai E&C and Daewoo E&C in April for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and financing deal and it will add local companies to carry forward the project according to the Iranian government regulations. Daewoo E&C also signed a MOU for Tehran Shomal Freeway Lot 3 construction." http://t.uani.com/24xyRYY
Reuters: "The central banks of India and Iran have reached an arrangement to use European banks to process pending oil payments to Tehran, India's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Reuters, unlocking $6.4 billion in stalled funds... Indian refiners have been holding 55 percent of its oil payments to Iran after a route to make payments through Turkey's Halkbank was stopped in 2013, although payment of some of those funds was allowed after an initial temporary deal to lift the sanctions. 'There is an agreement between (India and Iran's) central banks. European banks will be the clearing agent. They will be dealing with Iranian banks and we have to pay those European banks,' Pradhan told Reuters in an interview... Indian government sources said during Pradhan's visit to Tehran last month Iran had asked India to consider clearing the oil payments through Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank (EIH) of Germany, Central Bank of Italy and Halkbank of Turkey." http://t.uani.com/1Zmpog4
Human Rights
ICHRI: "Iran's Intelligence Ministry officials are increasingly harassing and threatening independent journalists in an apparent move to dissuade them from feeling emboldened by reformist and centrist candidates' gains in the county's recent Parliamentary elections. 'I received calls on my mobile phone two or three times a day from an unknown number. After three days I finally answered and a man who introduced himself as an agent of the Intelligence Ministry asked me to go to the Laleh Hotel's restaurant for a friendly meeting,' one journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. The agent then reminded the journalist about the 'red lines' journalists should not cross, the source told the Campaign. 'He told me not to be deceived by promises. My place is not in prison, he said, and he told me not to assume something significant has happened with the change in Parliament's make-up [which has tilted] in favor of the reformists,' said the journalist. 'He said I'm under surveillance and warned me that [while I] may not be arrested, my articles would be saved as evidence,' added the journalist. The intimidation of journalists has been a long-standing practice of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Yet these recent incidents involved the Ministry of Intelligence, which is under the direct authority of President Rouhani." http://t.uani.com/1T2nQGD
IHR: "Five prisoners hanged in northern Iran in the span of two days: one in public on murder charges and four at Ghezel Hesar Prison on drug charges." http://t.uani.com/1Xclzvq
Opinion & Analysis
John Podhoretz in NYPost: "Congratulations, liberals of the Washington press corps and elite organizations: You're a bunch of suckers. We all know this because the Obama White House just told us so. In an astounding New York Times piece by David Samuels, senior White House officials gleefully confess they use friendly reporters and nonprofits as public relations tools in the selling of President Obama's foreign policy - and can do it almost at will because these tools are ignorant, will believe what they're told, will essentially take dictation and are happy to be used just to get the information necessary for a tweet or two. Their greatest triumph, according to Samuels, was selling a misleading narrative about the nuclear deal with Iran - the parameters of which were set a year before the administration claimed and which had nothing to do with the fact that a supposedly more accommodating government had risen to power. The mastermind of the Obama machine is Ben Rhodes, a New Yorker who joined the Obama campaign as a speechwriter in 2007 and has risen to become the most influential foreign-policy hand in the White House. Rhodes drips with contempt for almost everyone but his boss. He consigns all those who do not share every particular of the Obama-Rhodes foreign-policy perspective to a gelatinous mass called 'The Blob' - including, Samuels writes, Hillary Clinton... A foreign-policy reporter named Laura Rozen, the most credulous conveyor of pro-Iran-deal news last year, is given a specific shout-out by White House digital guru Tanya Somanader. 'Laura Rozen was my RSS feed,' Somanader tells Samuels. 'She would just find everything and retweet it.' The Iran deal, you may recall, was wildly unpopular with the American people. To ensure senators didn't cast a two-thirds vote against it and kill it, the White House set up a digital response 'war room' whose purpose was relentlessly to make the case that a vote against the deal was a vote for war. It could only work if water-carriers did the White House's job for it, and nonprofit water-carriers did their faithful duty. 'We created an echo chamber,' Rhodes tells Samuels about the journalists and think-tankers who were discussing the Iran deal based almost entirely on information given to them by the White House. 'They were saying things that validated what we had given them to say.' Little did these denizens of Rhodes' echo chamber know their loyalty would be seen as servility and would become the subject of post-victory gloating. 'We had test drives to know who was going to be able to carry our message effectively, and how to use outside groups like Ploughshares, the Iran Project and whomever else,' Rhodes says. 'So we knew the tactics that worked.' The storyline they peddled was that the Iran deal had been negotiated in a furious round of back-and-forthing in 2014 and 2015, with the United States getting far better terms out of Iran than it expected due to the flexibility of a newly moderate government in Tehran. It was, Samuels says, a deliberately misleading narrative. The general terms were actually hammered out in 2012 by State Department officials Jake Sullivan and William Burns, rooted in Obama's deep desire from the beginning of the administration to strike a grand deal with the mullahs... What the Samuels piece shows is that the Obama administration chose to attempt to get its way not by winning an argument but by bringing an almost fathomless cynicism to bear in manipulating its own clueless liberal fan club." http://t.uani.com/1OgNseD
Aida Qajar in IranWire: "On May 14, Iran will host the second Holocaust Cartoons contest, a competition that was widely condemned around the world when it was first launched a decade ago. In an interview with the US magazine The New Yorker published on April 25, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied that the Iranian government had anything to do with the competition and the accompanying exhibition. 'It's not Iran,' he told the journalist Robin Wright. 'It's an NGO that is not controlled by the Iranian government. Nor is it endorsed by the Iranian government.' But Zarif was not telling the truth, or at least not the whole truth. The fact is that this competition has the official backing of the Iranian government, and the government has helped with its preparation. The Holocaust Cartoons competition and festival was first launched in 2006, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the president of Iran. After the Danish cartoon scandal, when the newspaper Jyllands-Posten published several cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad, the Islamic Republic retaliated by organizing a two-day International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust. Manouchehr Mottaki, Ahmadinejad's foreign minister, opened the conference proceedings. Holocaust deniers from around the world attended, including David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader. The newspaper Hamshahri, published by the office of Tehran's mayor, sponsored the event, and Ahmadinejad had strong links to the office since prior to becoming president he had served as mayor. His press advisor, Mohammad Ali Ramin, was among the officials who publicly supported the exhibition... This chain of command leaves no doubt that the government of the Islamic Republic directly supports the Holocaust Cartoons competition. And the government has played other roles as well. Zarif told the New Yorker that the exhibition did not need a permit but the fact is that any exhibition or conference in Iran needs a permit from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. A condition for such a permit is that the exhibition or conference must not insult beliefs through 'sight, sound, paintings or caricatures.' When asked about Zarif's statements, cartoonist and organizer Shojaei Tabatabaei told Nasim news agency,'We are coordinating [the competition] with Ministry of Culture and officials...have been kept informed about the event.'" http://t.uani.com/1TMsVmj
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Fri, 05/06/2016 - 14:07