country:islamic republic of iran

The ‘Hybrid War’ of Economic Sanctions
▻https://consortiumnews.com/2016/04/01/the-hybrid-war-of-economic-sanctions

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told a large group of people in the holy city of Mashhad on Sunday that “The Americans did not act on what they promised in the [Iranian] nuclear accord [the JCPOA]; they did not do what they should have done. According to Foreign Minister [Javad Zarif], they brought something on paper but prevented materialization of the objectives of the Islamic Republic of Iran through many diversionary ways.”

This statement during the Supreme Leader’s key Nowruz (New Year) address should be understood as a flashing amber light: it was no rhetorical flourish. And it was not a simple dig at America (as some may suppose). It was perhaps more of a gentle warning to the Iranian government to “take care” of the possible political consequences.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks to a crowd. (Iranian government photo)
What is happening is significant: for whatever motive, the U.S. Treasury is busy emptying much of the JCPOA sanctions relief of any real substance (and their motive is something which deserves careful attention). The Supreme Leader also noted that Iran is experiencing difficulties in repatriating its formerly frozen, external funds.

U.S. Treasury officials, since “implementation” day, have been doing the rounds, warning European banks that the U.S. sanctions on Iran remain in place, and that European banks should not think, even for a second, of tapping the dollar or euro bond markets in order to finance trade with Iran, or to become involved with financing infrastructure projects in Iran.

Banks well understand the message: touch Iranian commerce and you will be whacked with a billion dollar fine – against which there is no appeal, no clear legal framework – and no argument countenanced. The banks (understandably) are shying off. Not a single bank or financial lending institution turned up when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Paris to hold meetings with the local business élite.

The influential Keyhan Iranian newspaper wrote on March 14 on this matter that: “Speaking at the UN General Assembly session in September, Rouhani stated: ‘Today a new phase of relations has started in Iran’s relations with the world.’ He also stated in a live radio and television discussion with the people on 23 Tir: ‘The step-by-step implementation of this document could slowly remove the bricks of the wall of mistrust.’”

Keyhan continues: “These remarks were made at a time when the Western side, headed by America, does not have any intention to remove or even shorten the wall of mistrust between itself and Iran. … Moreover, they are delaying the implementation of their JCPOA commitments. Lifting the sanctions has remained merely as a promise on a piece of paper, so much so that it has roused the protest of Iranian politicians.

Après de nombreux rebondissements, la première livraison de missiles russes S-300 à l’Iran vient d’être effectuée :
1st delivery of Russian S-300 air defense system arrives in Iran - Iranian FM
RT / 11.04.16
▻https://www.rt.com/news/339153-iran-russia-s300-delivery

Hillary Clinton Email: Overthrow Assad, Destroy Syria For Israel
▻http://www.inquisitr.com/2922838/hillary-clinton-email-overthrow-assad-destroy-syria-for-israel-2

Clinton specifically mentions Iran’s nuclear program as threatening Israel’s atomic monopoly in the Middle East, and that other “adversaries” in the region could be encouraged to go nuclear as well and threaten the interests of the U.S. and Israel. In true realpolitik Machiavellian logic, this means that Syria must be destroyed.

“Iran’s nuclear program and Syria’s civil war may seem unconnected, but they are. For Israeli leaders, the real threat from a nuclear-armed Iran is not the prospect of an insane Iranian leader launching an unprovoked Iranian nuclear attack on Israel that would lead to the annihilation of both countries. What Israeli military leaders really worry about — but cannot talk about — is losing their nuclear monopoly.”

She goes on to detail the relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Syria through Iran’s alleged proxies and proposes toppling Assad will solve this problem.

“It is the strategic relationship between Iran and the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria that makes it possible for Iran to undermine Israel’s security — not through a direct attack, which in the thirty years of hostility between Iran and Israel has never occurred, but through its proxies in Lebanon, like Hezbollah, that are sustained, armed and trained by Iran via Syria. The end of the Assad regime would end this dangerous alliance. Israel’s leadership understands well why defeating Assad is now in its interests.”

Chillingly, she also mentions that bringing down the Syrian government by force may open the doors to military action against Iran.

“Bringing down Assad would not only be a massive boon to Israel’s security, it would also ease Israel’s understandable fear of losing its nuclear monopoly. Then, Israel and the United States might be able to develop a common view of when the Iranian program is so dangerous that military action could be warranted. Right now, it is the combination of Iran’s strategic alliance with Syria and the steady progress in Iran’s nuclear enrichment program that has led Israeli leaders to contemplate a surprise attack — if necessary over the objections of Washington.”

Détail important:

It should be noted that the Wikileaks transcript of the email is incorrectly dated to December 31, 2000, which is an obvious error due to references in the text to the Syrian Civil War, which began in March 2011, as well as references to the May 2012 negotiations in Istanbul between Iran and the west over its nuclear program. Most likely the actual date of the email is December 31, 2012. At the time, Clinton was Secretary of State for President Barack Obama.

Le mail d’origine chez Wikileaks:
▻https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/18328

Ship insurers plug hole in Iran oil cover left by U.S. sanctions | Reuters
▻http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-iran-insurance-idUKKCN0WO1T2

Ship insurers have stepped in to help plug a shortfall in cover for transporting Iranian oil resulting from the fact that U.S. reinsurers are still restrained by Washington’s sanctions, according to officials involved in the initiative.
[…]
The gap in third-party liability insurance and pollution cover for vessels has been addressed through this week’s initiative by the International Group of Protection and Indemnity (P&I) clubs, which brings together leading marine insurers owned by shipping clients and reinsured internationally.

The International Group has created a “fall-back” of $500 million additional coverage per ship for Iranian oil at no extra cost to the members, the Japan P&I Club said on Tuesday. This raises the default insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian oil to $580 million per ship from $80 million.
[…]
Although $580 million coverage is still less than 10 percent of the normal liability coverage of $7.8 billion per ship, Asian shippers such as China, India and South Korea, and some shippers in Europe, may find that enough to transport Iranian oil, an official with Japan P&I Club said.

Japanese shippers, however, are more risk-averse and may continue to use the government’s special sovereign shipping insurance to import Iranian oil until normal P&I coverage becomes available again, industry officials have said.

Un email de Jared Cohen (juillet 2012), ancien du département d’État, expliquant que « son équipe » chez Google va lancer un outil, en coopération avec al-Aljazeera (qui récoltera et « vérifiera » les données » – oui c’est assez amusant), pour encourager les défections en Syrie :

▻https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/12166

Deputy Secretary Burns, Jake, Alec,

Please keep close hold, but my team is planning to launch a tool on Sunday that will publicly track and map the defections in Syria and which parts of the government they are coming from. Our logic behind this is that while many people are tracking the atrocities, nobody is visually representing and mapping the defections, which we believe are important in encouraging more to defect and giving confidence to the opposition. Given how hard it is to get information into Syria right now, we are partnering with Al-Jazeera who will take primary ownership over the tool we have built, track the data, verify it, and broadcast it back into Syria. I’ve attached a few visuals that show what the tool will look like. Please keep this very close hold and let me know if there is anything eke you think we need to account for or think about before we launch. We believe this can have an important impact.

Thanks, Jared

Oman Port Targets Bigger Iran Shipping Ties - gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/oman-port-targets-bigger-iran-shipping-ties

Oman aims to expand shipping and trade links with Iran and get ahead of rivals after the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran, leading port officials involved say.

Measures were lifted last month as part of a nuclear deal with world powers, ending years of isolation which saw the international shipping sector cut ties and disrupt supplies to import-dependent Iran.

The United Arab Emirates previously enjoyed greater shipping activity with Iran but Oman’s nearby Sohar port is looking at expanding ties.

Oman could also benefit from a spat between rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran which saw Riyadh cut ties last month and others like the UAE to downgrade relations. Annual UAE-Iran container trade pre-sanctions was estimated at 1.5 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units).

Reports cited by ship insurers pointed to a ban on all Iranian flagged ships calling at Saudi ports and neighbouring ally Bahrain.
[…]
Sohar, a 50-50 joint venture between the government of Oman and the Dutch port of Rotterdam, acts as the port authority and landlord and runs its 45 km freezone.

What Hezbollah stands to gain from Iran’s nuclear deal - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/iran-nuclear-deal-hezbollah-support.html

The Hezbollah official said Tehran has looked to enhance ties with Europe and China rather than Washington, which maintains a hostile stance toward the movement. This orientation, he believes, constitutes further evidence that Hezbollah has nothing to fear from Iran’s return to the global arena.

“Iran wanted to reach the nuclear agreement to open up and enhance ties with international players other than Washington,” he said confidently, citing the Chinese president’s visit to Iran on Jan. 23 and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s European tour, which included Italy and France, that directly followed.

Unlike Washington, Beijing has not designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization and hence is not restricted in communicating with the movement. The European Union designates Hezbollah’s “military wing” a terrorist organization while maintaining communication with what it calls the group’s “political wing.”

Read more: ▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/iran-nuclear-deal-hezbollah-support.html#ixzz415dBHAe5

Film: Zero Days, by Alex Gibney

▻https://www.berlinale.de/en/programm/berlinale_programm/datenblatt.php

In his new film, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney explores the phenomenon of Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer virus discovered in 2010 by international IT experts. Evidently commissioned by the US and Israeli governments, this malware was designed to specifically sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme.

However, the complex computer worm ended up not only infecting its intended target but also spreading uncontrollably. Although to this day officially denied, Stuxnet was created by two allied forces who were each pursuing their own agendas, and in doing so opened up the Pandora’s box of cyber warfare …

In Gibney’s film, insiders chronicle the development of a programme code-named ‘Olympic Games’ – a malware which can paralyse the infrastructure of entire states in a split second without leaving any trace of those responsible. This story of a source code that caused severe damage outside cyberspace becomes a cautionary tale about the dangers of unfettered technologies and uncontrolled political power.

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUQExJ0aOYA

During the reporting of “Zero days”, the existence of another programme was uncovered: Nitro Zeus:

U.S. Had Cyberattack Plan if Iran Nuclear Dispute Led to Conflict

▻http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/world/middleeast/us-had-cyberattack-planned-if-iran-nuclear-negotiations-failed.html

The plan, code-named Nitro Zeus, was devised to disable Iran’s air defences, communications systems and crucial parts of its power grid, and was shelved, at least for the foreseeable future, after the nuclear deal struck between Iran and six other nations last summer was fulfilled.

Nitro Zeus was part of an effort to assure President Obama that he had alternatives, short of a full-scale war, if Iran lashed out at the United States or its allies in the region.

#stuxnet
#malware
#cyber_warfare

Russia to sign contract this year to sell Su-30SM fighter jets to Iran: RIA | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-iran-idUSKCN0VQ0NF

Russia will sign this year a contract with Iran to supply a batch of its Sukhoi Su-30SM multi-role fighter jets to the Islamic Republic, RIA news agency on Wednesday quoted a senior official at Russia’s arms export agency as saying.

Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan is visiting Moscow this week. He met the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said, giving no further detail.

Iranian Crude - European To Import 300,000+ Barrels A Day - gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/iranian-crude-european-to-import-300000-barrels-a-day

Iran will start sending 300,000 barrels a day of crude to Europe, 54 percent of the total it shipped before authorities on the continent put an embargo in place.

Paris-based Total SA has agreed to buy about 160,000 barrels a day starting on Feb. 16, the ministry of oil’s Shana website reported, citing Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. The company also expressed interest in developing the South Azadegan oil field in western Iran near the border with Iraq and in a liquid natural gas project, Shana reported. Total asked for the necessary information to submit a proposal for the LNG plant.

Bon, ce n’est pas au meilleur moment, mais on peut se dire que les cours actuels fort bas avaient déjà anticipé la reprise des exportations iraniennes.

#Iran is world’s biggest emerging market since collapse of Soviet Union, says Lord Lamont
▻http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-is-worlds-biggest-emerging-market-since-collapse-of-soviet-union

The former Chancellor, Lord Lamont, the newly appointed trade envoy to Iran, is full of optimism about the money UK firms could make if they seize the opportunities opened up by the lifting of sanctions.

“Iran has the fourth-biggest oil reserves in the world, and the second-biggest gas reserves. Put the two together, and it is the most energy-rich country in the world,” he told The Independent. “And unlike some other oil producers, Iran has other aspects to its economy.

Will Iran support the intifada? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/12/iran-hamas-haniyeh-third-intifada-help.html#

However, there have been signs recently that Hamas is attempting to repair relations with Iran. After it was confirmed that Iran’s former ambassador to Lebanon, Ghazanfar Roknabadi, had died in the Mina stampede during the hajj in Saudi Arabia in September, a Hamas representative in Tehran, Khaled Ghadoumi, offered condolences on his “martyrdom.” His Nov. 29 letter read that Roknabadi was a “well-known and popular figure among the Palestinian resistance and Hamas.”

Ghadoumi had also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Dec. 7, and said there was “a need to develop this relationship” between Iran and Hamas. Ghadoumi praised Iran for taking a “principled position” with respect to Palestine since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Perhaps alluding to their differences in Syria, Ghadoumi said that this position is “not only a political position and it will not be influenced by side issues.”

Read more: ▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/12/iran-hamas-haniyeh-third-intifada-help.html#ixzz3u7Sn3yla

Iran and Saudi Arabia Clash Inside Syria Talks
▻http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-11-04/iran-and-saudi-arabia-clash-inside-syria-talks

Inside the nine-hour meeting, according to two Western officials briefed on it, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir got into a heated argument, during which Zarif blamed Saudi Arabian nationals for the 9/11 attacks. The comments startled the participants, who included Secretary of State John Kerry, and the room went quiet after Zarif’s remark.

Zarif confirmed to me that he made the remark and pointed out that he was not blaming the Saudi government for the 9/11 attacks, just Saudi nationals. Fifteen of the 19 attackers were Saudi citizens.

Je crois que c’est la bonne soirée pour te faire comprendre une bonne fois pour toutes la marche du monde :

1. selon Fox New, ce sont la Russie et la Chine qui organisent l’« invasion » de l’Europe par les réfugiés :
▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKUc16Ubmhg

2. le sénateur Lindsey Graham (Caroline du Sud) accuse l’Iran d’être derrière les attentats du 11 septembre 2001 : Lindsey Graham Blames Iran For 9/11 Attacks
▻http://www.lobelog.com/lindsey-graham-falsely-blames-iran-for-911-attacks

Graham is a high-profile hawk and, along with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), one of the Republican party’s most outspoken and influential foreign policy voices. So what he said next is truly surprising: Graham appeared to blame the 9/11 attacks on Iran:

I have no idea why you believe the Ayatollah doesn’t mean what he says, given they way he’s behaved. If they will shoot their own children down in the streets to keep power, what do you think they’ll do to ours? And the only reason three thousand people died on 9/11 is they couldn’t get the weapons to kill three million of us and they’re on course to do it now.

3. Mais Al Arabiya essaie de te faire penser très fort qu’en fait, c’est la faute à Bachar (ou alors, selon une logique qui m’échappe, Bachar fait rien qu’à provoquer les Américains en fêtant volontairement son anniversaire tous les ans le 11 septembre) : Happy Bday Bashar ? Syrian leader turns 50 as U.S. remembers 911
▻http://english.alarabiya.net/en/variety/2015/09/10/Happy-Bday-Bashar-Syrian-leader-turns-50-as-U-S-remembers-911-.ht

Syrian President Bashar al Assad will be celebrating his 50th birthday on Friday, on the same day the world remembers the deadly 9/11 attacks that hit the United States 14 years ago.

Parce que des fois que ça t’aurait échappé :
▻https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachar_el-Assad

Bachar el-Assad (en arabe : بشار الاسد), né le 11 septembre 1965…

(Et si ça c’est pas la preuve définitive que les mamelouks modernes sont diaboliques…)

Voilà, j’espère que ces excellentes sources t’éclairent sur la réalité de notre monde. (Ne me remercie pas, ça me fait plaisir.)

Wave of TV Ads Opposing #Iran Deal Organized By Saudi Arabian Lobbyist
▻https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/08/20/wave-anti-iran-deal-tv-ads-organized-saudi-arabian-lobbyist

Television stations across the country are being flooded with $6 million of advertisements from a group called the “American Security Initiative” urging citizens to call their U.S. Senators and oppose the nuclear deal with Iran.

Though the American Security Initiative does not reveal donor information, the president of the new group, former Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., is a registered lobbyist for Saudi Arabia. Coleman’s firm, Hogan Lovells, is on retainer to the Saudi Arabian monarchy for $60,000 a month. In July 2014, Coleman described his work as “providing legal services to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia” on issues including “legal and policy developments involving Iran and limiting Iranian nuclear capability.”

The co-chairs of the American Security Initiative include former Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., former Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and former Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. Chambliss works at DLA Piper, another #lobbying firm retained to influence U.S. policy on behalf of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia.

#Etats-Unis #Arabie_Saoudite #Saoud

Obama : Iran must play role in Syria (15 juillet)
▻http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-iran-syria-2015-7

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that Iran should play a role in any political solution to Syria’s ongoing civil war, signaling a significant shift in US policy with respect to Syria.

“I think it’s important for them to be part of the conversation,” Obama said during a press conference Tuesday that was largely focused on the US and world partners’ deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

How a weaker Iran got the hegemon to lift sanctions | Middle East Eye
▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/how-weaker-iran-got-hegemon-lift-sanctions-881135107

Gareth Porter : Les #Occidentaux n’auraient jamais levé les sanctions contre l’#Iran si ce dernier n’avait pas développé son programme #nucléaire.

The news media have adopted the Obama administration’s view that negotiations were the result of Iran responding to international sanctions. The problem with that conventional view is not that Iran wasn’t eager to get the sanctions removed, but that it was motivated to do so long before the United States was willing to negotiate. 

In fact, Iran had long viewed its nuclear programme not only in terms of energy and scientific advancement but also as a way of inducing the United States to negotiate an end to the extraordinary legal status in which Iran has been placed for so long. Even during the Bill Clinton administration Iranian strategists wanted to get the United States to move toward more normal relations, but Clinton was determined to be the most pro-Israeli administration in US history, and instead imposed a complete trade embargo on Iran. 

#Clinton eventually offered a “dialogue” with Iran but made it clear that he had no intention of giving up the sanctions against Iran. The lesson that Iranian strategists, including then secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and now President Hassan Rouhani, learned from the Clinton years was that the United States would only negotiate the end of its sanctions against Iran if was convinced that the cost and risk of refusing to negotiate was too high. 

It was during the second Clinton administration that Iranian strategists began to discuss the idea that Iran’s nuclear programme was its main hope for engaging the hegemonic power.

[...]

Only in 2013, during his second term, did Obama’s administration give up the aim of forcing Iran to end enrichment entirely and agree to actually negotiate with Iran on the nuclear issue. That decision came only after Iran had increased the number of centrifuges enriching uranium to more than 9,000, with another 9,000 centrifuges installed but never connected, accumulated a large stockpile of low enriched uranium, and – even more alarming to the United States - began enriching uranium to 20 percent.

[...]

The Iran nuclear agreement thus illustrates the elemental importance of the distribution of power but also the possibility of a weaker state achieving its vital interests in negotiations with the hegemonic power against what might appear to be very long odds by exploiting their source of leverage to the maximum with #patience, #courage and careful calculation.

#calcul

France voices concerns on Iran talks after Khamenei comments | Reuters | Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:38am
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/24/us-iran-nuclear-france-idUSKBN0P41L320150624

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that declarations from Iranian leaders appeared not to favor an international deal on the country’s nuclear program.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday ruled out freezing sensitive nuclear work in the country for a long time and said sanctions imposed on it should be lifted as soon it reaches a final deal with major powers, state TV reported.

Major powers - Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States - want Iran to commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear development work as part of a landmark atomic deal they aim to reach by June 30.
ADVERTISING

“France wants a deal but wants the deal to be robust, a good deal, but not a bad deal,” he said at a news conference alongside Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““
France, Saudi Arabia to sign contracts worth $12 billion : Fabius
Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:43am
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/24/us-france-saudi-contracts-idUSKBN0P41IN20150624

France and Saudi Arabia plan to sign $12 billion of deals on Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters during a visit by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in deals highlighting Paris’ growing commercial ties in the Middle East.

The contracts include 23 Airbus H145 helicopters worth $500 million, Fabius told reporters. The H145, previously known as the EC145, is a light twin-engined helicopter typically used for emergency services or border patrols. A military version is used by the U.S. Army.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said he was still discussing the price for a contract for French naval patrol boats, built by DCNS. Saudi Arabia also plans to sign a feasibility study for two EPR reactors built by Areva, Fabius added.

The contracts, the latest to be agreed between Paris and a Gulf Arab state, come after French President Francois Hollande was invited by Gulf Arab leaders in May to address their summit in Saudi Arabia, a rare privilege for a foreign head of state.

(This story corrects to say Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, not defence minister, in third paragraph)

▻http://en.mehrnews.com/news/107869/China-to-help-Iran-complete-National-Internet

« [Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi] who is currently in China at the head of a high-ranking delegation, attended a meeting on Friday with his Chinese counterpart Miao Wei [...] The two sides also highlighted the cooperation to develop and complete Iran’s National Information Network (National Internet) which is considered as a necessity in both countries, and to facilitate and expedite access of citizens to a safe and reliable network. »

De peur d’être espionné par les USA, l’Iran confie son Internet à la Chine. Comment on dit Charybde et Scylla en persan ?

#Internet #sécurité_réseau #gouvernance_Internet #espionnage #surveillance #Iran #Chine

#France says will oppose #Iran nuclear deal without military site inspections
▻http://www.globalpost.com/article/6562287/2015/05/27/france-says-will-oppose-iran-nuclear-deal-without-military-site

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday that France would oppose a nuclear deal with Iran if it did not allow inspections of military sites.

An agreement “will not be accepted by France if it is not clear that verifications can be made at all Iranian facilities, including military sites,” Fabius told parliament.

#nucléaire

Iran aims to use NPT conference to renew international pressure on Israel - Diplomacy and Defense - Israel News | Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.653836

Having achieved a framework deal with the P5+1 powers en route to a permanent agreement, Iran will try to utilize the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which opened Monday in New York, to renew international pressure on Israel to sign the treaty and expose its nuclear capabilities.

The Iranians believe the progress being made in its negotiations with the West on their own nuclear program will make it easier for them to divert the conference debate to Israel’s nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who came to the conference opening, told Iranian media upon landing in New York that as far as Iran is concerned, Israeli nukes will be the top priority of the conference, which continues through May 22. He added that during the conference Iran will demand progress on processes to turn the Middle East into a nuclear weapons-free zone.

“Unfortunately, Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons and its refusal to engage with the international community has become the greatest impediment to the universality of this treaty,” Zarif said. “Israel is the single [worst] violator of this international regime [the NPT] … and one of the most important issues in the NPT review process is to look into ways and means of bringing about the Israeli compliance with NPT.”

Zarif later reiterated the demands of Israel in a speech he gave ahead of the conference, on behalf of the non-aligned movement.

U.S. to oppose anti-Israel moves

The U.S. administration has made it clear it will oppose anti-Israel initiatives at the conference. U.S. President Barack Obama’s special representative for nuclear nonproliferation, Adam Scheinman, told reporters during a briefing a few days ago that the United States is interested in a meeting on keeping the Middle East free of nuclear weapons, but that the administration doesn’t want the review conference to turn into an anti-Israel gathering.

The NPT Review Conference takes place every five years and all the countries that are signatories to the treaty attend. Many foreign ministers other than Zarif will be at the conference opening, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, EU Foreign Minister Frederica Mogherini, and the foreign ministers of Russia, China, Great Britain, France, Germany, Egypt and other countries.

During the last review conference, in May 2010, Egypt succeeded in forcing the United States to include a paragraph dealing with Israel’s nuclear capabilities in the final communiqué. Israel was the only state mentioned by name in the communiqué, in contrast to countries like India and Pakistan, which have nuclear weapons and have not signed the NPT, or countries like Iran that are suspected of developing nuclear weapons clandestinely, in violation of the NPT.

The concluding statement at that meeting called on the UN secretary general to convene a conference of all the Middle Eastern countries in 2012 to work toward making the region a nuclear weapons-free zone. Western diplomats at the time explained that this section was meant as a call to Israel to divest itself of its nuclear weapons. The statement also demanded that Israel allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit its nuclear installations and put them under the “comprehensive inspection” of the United Nations.

Israel was infuriated by the statement, arguing that the U.S. administration had violated previous commitments it had made to Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded “American compensation” and received it during a visit he made to Washington in July 2010. During his meeting with Obama in the White House, the U.S. president insisted that there had been no change in America’s policy with regard to Israel’s nukes and Washington would not undermine Israel’s policy of ambiguity over its nuclear program.

Israel to show ’positive attitude’

In an exceptional move, Israel is expected to attend Tuesday’s conference opening as an observer for the first time in 20 years. A senior Israeli official said that the Israeli decision to attend was meant to demonstrate Israel’s positive attitude and to clarify that it is the Arab countries that are blocking progress toward convening a conference on a nuclear weapons-free Middle East. “We hope that following our move, the Arab countries will make a similarly positive move and support direct talks with Israel on the security situation in the Middle East,” the senior official said.

After the 2010 conference there was a series of meetings in an effort to put together a conference on nuclear weapons in the Middle East that was to take place in Helsinki in 2012. Israel objected to holding the conference, which was one of the main reasons it didn’t take place.

In October 2013, after lengthy negotiations, representatives of Israel and Arab countries convened in Switzerland to discuss the conditions under which such a conference might be held. All told there were five rounds of talks on the issue.

Israel proposed that the basis for convening the conference would be direct talks between Israel and the Arab states, and that the sessions not deal just with the nuclear issue, but with other regional security issues like terror, missiles and rockets, and weapons smuggling. Israel also demanded that all decisions at the conference be made by consensus and not by either side coercing the other. The Arab representatives rejected the Israeli proposal and essentially abandoned the talks.

Erdogan rethinks sectarian politics - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/turkey-is-erdogan-steering-to-middle-ground.html#

Others point to Erdogan’s recent wavering between Iran and Saudi Arabia, with strong criticism of the one, and pledges of support for the other, and the fact that he was not in a position to follow up on these positions given Turkey’s delicate place in the region. As things turned out, Erdogan changed tack on Iran, and there is no more talk of logistical support for the Saudi-led operation in Yemen.

There also was confusion in Erdogan’s initial strong support for the Saudi-led operation against Yemen given that this puts Turkey in alliance with Egypt, which is led by Erdogan’s nemesis Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. It also puts Turkey in an alliance that is determined to repress the Muslim Brotherhood. Erdogan remains a strong backer of the Brotherhood.

Given the complexity of the Middle East, which has landed Turkey in a number of tight spots from Syria to Egypt, and now Yemen, Ankara appears to have little choice left but to try and move toward a middle ground and strive for a regional role from there.

Read more: ▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/turkey-is-erdogan-steering-to-middle-ground.html##ixzz3XMbN9PJL

Tensions rise as Iran condemns Saudi air strikes against Yemen
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Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday accused Saudi Arabia of “genocide” in Yemen and urged the Arab monarchy to stop its “disastrous crimes as soon as possible,” as escalating rhetoric compounded regional tensions.

Iranian foreign minister joins Pakistan’s national security adviser in demanding a Yemen ceasefire
▻http://www.news786.in/article.php?id=MTUyODg=

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called for a ceasefire in Yemen, which is being bombarded by Saudi warplanes since late March.

“Yemen’s issue only has a Yemeni solution,” Zarif said at a joint press conference with Sartaj Aziz, the Pakistani premier’s adviser on national security and foreign affairs, in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday.

“The people of Yemen should not have to face aerial bombardment,” he added, calling for an urgent ceasefire.

The Iranian foreign minister noted that all countries “including Iran, and Saudi Arabia” should help to end the war against the impoverished country.

Israel’s questions about nuclear deal are being echoed in Iran
As Israel and many Arab states express concern about the framework nuclear agreement, not everybody is dancing in the streets of Tehran, either.
By Zvi Bar’el | Apr. 5, 2015 Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.650582

Iranian MP Alireza Zakani has at least 12 tough questions for Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif when he reports on Sunday to present the principles of the framework nuclear agreement.

Zakani, an expert on nuclear medicine and a professor at Tehran University, publicized his questions on Mehr (Iran’s version of YouTube). Among other things, he wants to know all the details regarding the precise interpretation of the cessation of work at the Fordo site; what will be implemented in Natanz; and, mainly, what “red lines” the Iranian negotiating team violated in order to reach an agreement.

Zakani belongs to the conservative wing and a few months ago declared, “After Yemen, it will be Saudi Arabia’s turn.” However, he is not the only one who has been systematically criticizing the negotiations and the agreement reached by Iran and the six world powers last Thursday.

Hussain Naqvi al-Hussaini, the speaker of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in the Iranian parliament, demanded “to reexamine the Lausanne declaration, since the Iranian people will not recognize any agreement that doesn’t include a complete lifting of all the sanctions.”

Another committee member, Mohammad Ismail Kothari, was angry that “the United States achieved all its objectives, while Iran did not succeed in achieving the basic objective of lifting the sanctions.”

These words of criticism, which are very similar to what is being said by the Israeli government or Republican members of Congress, are, for the time being, slipping on the fortified wall of support granted by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the agreement and negotiating team.

The spontaneous public joy that greeted the negotiating team on its return from Lausanne, and treated Zarif like a conquering hero returning from the battlefield, also makes it clear to opponents of the agreement that their efforts to prevent it are liable to encounter an undesirable reaction in the street.

In fact, the problem does not lie in selling the Lausanne declaration to the general public, but in convincing the radical elites and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard – who oppose the future agreement for ideological and political reasons.