Iran Newsclips, January 6, 2015
david.cutler
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Iran nuclear talks with six powers to resume Jan. 18 in Geneva: IRNA, Reuters
New Iran Sanctions Bill Would Tie Penalties to Progress in Nuclear Talks, CQ
News Analysis: Rohani Makes His Move, RFE/RL
Iranian President Rouhani's referendum warning to hardliners, BBC
Why Iran's economy won't be opening anytime soon, CNBC
How oil price slump is putting a squeeze on Hezbollah, Iran's Shiite ally, Christian Science Monitor
France 'will not yield' on Iran nuclear demand: Hollande, AFP
Iran, top general saved Baghdad from falling to IS: Iraq MP, AFP
Marandi: The fantasy of an Iran-US partnership, Al Jazeera
Shelton: Iran is a dangerous 'ally' in Syria and Iraq, Los Angeles Times
Iran FM survives snap vote on handling of nuclear talks, AFP
Sixteen Hanged In Iran This Year, RFE/RL
Iran Accuses Saudis of Oil Conspiracy, Voice of America
Iran ‘Won’t Give In’ After 60% Decline in Oil Exports, Bloomberg
Iran nuclear talks with six powers to resume Jan. 18 in Geneva: IRNA, Reuters, January 6, 2015
he next round of nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers will begin on January 18 in Geneva, Tehran's chief negotiator was quoted by the official news agency IRNA on Tuesday as saying. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the talks would be held at the deputy foreign ministerial level and that the Iranian negotiating team would hold bilateral discussions with the U.S. and Russian delegations on Jan. 15.
New Iran Sanctions Bill Would Tie Penalties to Progress in Nuclear Talks, CQ, January 6, 2015
A revamped version of legislation to impose tougher sanctions on Iran is expected to be conditioned on the outcome of ongoing multinational negotiations aimed at blocking the regime's progress toward developing nuclear weapons. The new proposal by Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark S. Kirk, R-Ill., would mandate many of the same financial penalties spelled out in legislation blocked in the Senate last year, including tighter restrictions on an Iranian oil industry already damaged by the collapse of world petroleum prices. Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., bottled up sanctions legislation in the last Congress. “The sanctions you will see in the updated Kirk-Menendez [bill] will mirror that you saw [in the earlier version] but they will be linked to progress or lack of progress in negotiations” with the six world powers, according to a senior congressional. The bill is expected to be filed “much sooner rather than later” and sent to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, where Menendez and Kirk are both members, the aide said.
News Analysis: Rohani Makes His Move, RFE/RL, January 6, 2015
After being subjected to relentless attacks by conservatives for months, Iran's president has finally dropped his soft line and lashed out at his critics. In a remarkable speech on January 4, Hassan Rohani called for taxing huge economic enterprises and conglomerates that currently are exempted from taxation but constitute close to half of Iran's economic turnover. Rohani also criticized the monopolistic nature of these enterprises, calling for an open and competitive economic system.
Iranian President Rouhani's referendum warning to hardliners, BBC, January 6, 2015
Talking to hundreds of Iranian economists and business leaders at a conference on Sunday, Mr Rouhani asked for an end to Iran's isolation in the world, harshly criticised those who opposed the nuclear negotiations - and said he might start putting important issues to referendums. "By God, by Lord, it is impossible: the country cannot have sustained [economic] growth when isolated," he told a congregation that applauded his words, businessmen who have suffered significantly under international sanctions.
Why Iran's economy won't be opening anytime soon, CNBC, January 6, 2015
At first glance, expanding trade may appear at odds with Iran's so-called resistance economy, a 12-point stratagem laid out by Ayatollah Khamenei that has sought to reduce the effects of sanctions by making the country more self-reliant. But many of those principles are not inconsistent with globalization, Salehi-Isfahani said. What's more, the concept of the resistance economy is fairly vague, so Khamenei could support greater openness without being seen to have compromised his values, he added.
How oil price slump is putting a squeeze on Hezbollah, Iran's Shiite ally, Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 2015
A Beirut-based diplomat with extensive contacts in Syria estimates that Iran funnels between $1 billion to $2 billion a month into Syria to keep Mr Assad in power. Of that, some $500 million is spent on military assistance, mostly for the National Defense Force, a 70,000-strong loyalist militia commanded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to this diplomat and others who monitor Syria closely. … “I think people will go hungry in Tehran before Iran will cease its investments in this so-called ‘axis of resistance’,” says Sadjadpour.
France 'will not yield' on Iran nuclear demand: Hollande, AFP, January 5, 2015
French President Francois Hollande said on Monday his country would stand firm on its demand that Tehran vow not to pursue nuclear weapons ahead of fresh international negotiations. "If there is no clear statement from Iran on giving up nuclear weapons, there will be no agreement," Hollande said on France Inter radio. "France will not yield on that point. It will remain absolutely firm," he added.
Iran, top general saved Baghdad from falling to IS: Iraq MP, AFP, January 6, 2015
Hadi al-Ameri, a former minister who commands the Badr militia, said support from Iran and General Qassem Suleimani had been crucial after Iraqi government forces collapsed in the face of the IS assault. "If it were not for the cooperation of the Islamic republic of Iran and General Suleimani, we would not today have a government headed by Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad," Ameri told a memorial service south of Tehran Monday for an Iranian officer killed in Iraq last month.
Marandi: The fantasy of an Iran-US partnership, Al Jazeera, January 6, 2015
Western pundits who blithely assert that the Islamic Republic of Iran can or will cooperate with the United States in Iraq against ISIL ignore a basic problem; how can the US be a serious partner in fighting a terrorist movement that Washington may have played a critical role in creating?
Shelton: Iran is a dangerous 'ally' in Syria and Iraq, Los Angeles Times, January 5, 2015
Aiding and abetting Iran's destructive role in Iraq or Syria would be a strategic mistake for the U.S. that only exacerbates a profound crisis. It is a dangerous irony to even consider allying with Iran — which the U.S. State Department still considers the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism — to fight the terrorism inspired by ISIS.
Iran FM survives snap vote on handling of nuclear talks, AFP, January 6, 2015
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was backed in a hastily convened vote Tuesday over his handling of long-running nuclear talks, after he was heavily criticized in a stormy parliamentary session. Zarif, who is leading Iran’s negotiations with world powers aimed at ending international concern over Tehran’s nuclear program, was answering questions from lawmakers when he came under fire. Barely half the 229 lawmakers present supported him in a vote ordered after a hardline conservative MP said he was “not convinced” by Zarif’s answers. Some 125 lawmakers backed Zarif but 86 voted against him, eight recorded no preference and 10 abstained.
Sixteen Hanged In Iran This Year, RFE/RL, January 5, 2014
Reports say at least 16 people have been hanged in Iran since the start of this year. Iran's Fars news agency reported on January 4 that three men convicted of rape had been hanged in the northeastern town of Torqabeh.
Iran Accuses Saudis of Oil Conspiracy, Voice of America, January 6, 2015
Iranian hard-liners are lashing out at Saudi Arabia, accusing it of conspiring with the West to keep oil prices low in a bid to harm the Islamic Republic’s economy and pressure the country to conclude a nuclear deal with West. In retaliation, Iranian hawks are urging restive Shia Muslims in eastern Saudi Arabia to rebel against the ruling House of Saud. Iranian hawks’ accusations have mounted over the Saudi’s refusal to cut production – in an effort to maintain its share of the global oil market – fueling the precipitous slide in prices. Crude oil prices have fallen by more than half since June, from $115 a barrel to below $50.
Iran ‘Won’t Give In’ After 60% Decline in Oil Exports, Bloomberg, January 5, 2015
Iran’s oil exports have fallen 60 percent to 1 million barrels a day, the Tehran-based Shargh newspaper reported, citing comments by Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. Iran, constrained by international sanctions on its energy and financial industries, “won’t give in over 1 million barrels a day,” the paper reported Zanganeh as saying yesterday at a conference in Tehran. The minister didn’t elaborate, nor did he specify dates for the 60 percent cut in the nation’s exports, according to Shargh.