Iran Newsclips, January 27, 2015
david.cutler
Quick Links:
Menendez Urges Delay in His Own Iran Sanctions Legislation, Bloomberg
U.S. and Iranian Lawmakers Look to Take Nuclear Issue Into Their Own Hands, New York Times
Editorial: It's not time for Congress to play 'bad cop' on Iran, Los Angeles Times
Iran Nuclear Deal Prospects Fade as Israel Opposes Terms, Bloomberg
Slavin: Iran Talks Give US More Options, Voice of America
Iran says Israel crossed 'red lines', vows to respond: IRNA, Reuters
Nader: Iran & Region II: Salvaging Iraq, Iran Primer
Hadin: Iran & Region I: Search for Stability, Iran Primer
Nader: Iran & Region III: Goals in Syria, Iran Primer
Visiting Iranian FM Discusses Tehran-Yerevan Ties With Armenian Counterpart, RFE/RL
Rouhani’s “Anger and Exit;” Acknowledged or Denied? Rooz Online
Khamenei’s message to the West, Al-Monitor
Iran’s economy can grow by over 8% if sanctions lifted: minister, Tehran Times
Iran Is Ditching The Dollar In Foreign Trade, Business Insider
Menendez Urges Delay in His Own Iran Sanctions Legislation, Bloomberg, January 27, 2015
The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he will seek to delay action on legislation he’s sponsoring that would impose more sanctions on Iran if negotiations over its nuclear program fail. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey called for postponing a Senate floor vote until a March 24 deadline in talks between Iran and world powers. Menendez, a leading sanctions advocate, was backed by colleagues including Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate’s No. 3 Democrat, in a letter to President Barack Obama.
U.S. and Iranian Lawmakers Look to Take Nuclear Issue Into Their Own Hands, New York Times, January 27, 2015
When the House of Representatives opens hearings on Tuesday about imposing new sanctions against Iran — a step that President Obama said would undermine nuclear talks with Tehran — the Republicans seeking to hem in negotiators will have some unintended allies 6,000 miles away. Conservatives in the Iranian Parliament say they are working on a resolution of their own to counter the economic pressure aimed at forcing Tehran’s hand and prevent Iran’s negotiating team from agreeing to production limits on nuclear fuel. Like many in Congress, they would be happy to see the current negotiations collapse. … It has become an international game of chicken, with each country taunting the other to violate the terms of a 2013 pact that established the conditions under which the nuclear talks would take place.
Editorial: It's not time for Congress to play 'bad cop' on Iran, Los Angeles Times, January 27, 2015
Frustration about the protracted negotiations is understandable. The target date for a comprehensive agreement has been extended twice, and it's open to debate whether a further extension would be justified if the current deadline isn't met. But the diplomats who are actually conducting the negotiations insist that meaningful progress has been made and that Iran has abided by its commitment not to expand its nuclear program during the talks in exchange for limited relief from existing sanctions. If that's the case, legislation by Congress now could derail the diplomatic process. Why take that risk?
Iran Nuclear Deal Prospects Fade as Israel Opposes Terms, Bloomberg, January 27, 2015
U.S. officials have never said the chances of success were better than 50-50, and privately some American negotiators are much more pessimistic than that as the negotiations head toward a March 24 deadline to agree on a political framework. … The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee, said Tuesday that “the last thing” Congress should do is pass legislation now that lacks enough votes to overcome an Obama veto.
Slavin: Iran Talks Give US More Options, Voice of America, January 27, 2015
Contrary to the fear-mongers, Iran is not “on the march” in the region and is stretched rather thin propping up what is left of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, assisting the Iraqi government of Haider al-Abadi and supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon. Far from being “radical Islamic nutcases,” Iran’s leaders are realists who want to restore stability to their neighborhood but are opportunistic enough to take advantage of others’ missteps, such as the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Not surprisingly, Iran wants its neighbors to take its interests into account.
Iran says Israel crossed 'red lines', vows to respond: IRNA, Reuters, January 27, 2015
Iran has told the United States that an Israeli air strike which killed an Iranian general in Syria last week had crossed "red lines" and the Islamic Republic will respond, a senior official was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency on Tuesday. "We told the Americans that the leaders of the Zionist regime should await the consequences of their act," deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said.
Nader: Iran & Region II: Salvaging Iraq, Iran Primer, January 26, 2015
Both the United States and Iran also share an interest in preserving the Iraqi state. But their goals are not totally aligned. In neighboring Syria, the Islamic State poses a serious threat to the Assad regime, which Iran supports and the United States opposes. Tehran has also pursued a sectarian agenda in its support of Shiite militias, which contributed to greater Sunni dissatisfaction and complicating the fight against ISIS. In contrast, Washington has pushed for an inclusive, multi-ethnic and multi-sectarian government in Baghdad to address Sunnis grievances.
Hadin: Iran & Region I: Search for Stability, Iran Primer, January 26, 2015
In the beginning, Iran’s view of the world was idealist, and in action it was principlist. As time passed, Iran became more realist. Iran was idealist throughout the hostage crisis, but in the end acted pragmatically. In the war with Iraq, Iran was still idealist and acted with principlist tendencies. But by the end of war, Iran was realist – no longer idealist. And Iran acted pragmatically to end it. So in terms of foreign policy, Iran was idealist and acted principlist, and as time passed, Iran became realist in its views and then acted pragmatically. The trajectory of both has been moving from idealism and principlism to realism and pragmatism.
Nader: Iran & Region III: Goals in Syria, Iran Primer, January 26, 2015
But in the past few years, Iran has played an active role in Syria that few could have imagined before the civil war. “The deep, strategic and historic relations between the people of Syria and Iran ... will not be shaken by any force in the world,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said shortly after his 2013 inauguration. Tehran appears to be willing to spend billions of dollars to prop up the Assad regime despite its own floundering economy. For now, Iran is fully committed to the fight.
Visiting Iranian FM Discusses Tehran-Yerevan Ties With Armenian Counterpart, RFE/RL, January 27, 2015
Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on January 27 discussed bilateral ties with his Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandian. At a joint press conference after the talks in Yerevan, Zarif said Armenia's joining Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union this month had opened new opportunities for Tehran to develop ties with Russia via Armenia. Zarif said Iran hopes a problem related to Russia's delivery of S-300 air defense missile systems to Tehran will be solved soon.
Rouhani’s “Anger and Exit;” Acknowledged or Denied? Rooz Online, January 26, 2015
Close associates of President Hassan Rouhani deny that he stormed out of a meeting of Iran’s Supreme Cultural Revolution in anger and protest but the issue continues to be debated among the country’s media and officials.
Khamenei’s message to the West, Al-Monitor, January 27, 2015
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Jan. 21 posted an open letter to Western youth on his website, asking them to “gain direct and firsthand knowledge” about Islam instead of information based on “resentments and prejudices.” It might be the first time a senior Islamic cleric has directly addressed the youth of the West about his religion. The timing appears to have been an important factor in issuing the letter just two weeks after the Jan. 7 attack by Islamist extremists on the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that set off a new wave of Islamophobia in the West, with anti-Islamization movements already gaining momentum, particularly in Germany and France.
Iran’s economy can grow by over 8% if sanctions lifted: minister, Tehran Times, January 26, 2015
Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia said on Monday that the Iranian economy can grow by over eight percent if the sanctions against the country are lifted. Achieving this goal requires making use of all economic capacities in the country, the Fars news agency quoted Tayyebnia as saying.
Iran Is Ditching The Dollar In Foreign Trade, Business Insider, January 27, 2015
Iran is no longer using the US dollar in foreign-trade transactions and is replacing it with other currencies, the deputy governor at the Iranian Central Bank Gholami Kamyab said, according to Sputnik News. "In trade exchanges with the foreign countries, Iran uses other currencies including Chinese yuan, euro, Turkish lira, Russian ruble, and South Korean won," Kamyab reportedly said.