Iran Newsclips, January 14, 2015
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Case of US journalist goes to Iran revolutionary court, AFP
Report: Iran court studies case of detained Washington Post bureau chief, Washington Post
Kerry and Iran's Zarif resume nuclear talks unexpectedly, Reuters
US House preps its own Iran sanctions bill, Al-Monitor
Congress Moves Against Obama on New Iran Sanctions, Bloomberg View
State Department: New Iran sanctions violate deal, will be vetoed, Jerusalem Post
How Foreign-Policy Hawks Empowered Iran, The Atlantic
Iran’s nuclear site in Syria? Obama administration won’t make it an issue in Geneva, World Tribune
Ex-Marine held in Iran says no interest in prisoner swap, AP
How much has Iran helped Iraq against Islamic State? The answer is political. Christian Science Monitor
Iran’s shallow influence in Yemen, Al-Monitor
Iran reacts to oil price drop: 'They’ve made fools of us,' The Guardian
Iranian foreign minister voices concern about anti-Muslim protests in Europe, Washington Post
Plunging oil prices cost Iran billions, Radio Zamaneh
Action needed to reform Iranian banks, Al-Monitor
Khabar-on-line rebuked for blog posting about corruption, Radio Zamaneh
Case of US journalist goes to Iran revolutionary court, AFP, January 14, 2015
"With the investigation closed, the charge sheet has been drawn up and the case of Jason Rezaian has been sent to the revolutionary court," said Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, quoted by Fars news agency, without giving details or any date. The US State Department reacted swiftly by renewing calls for his release. "We are aware of Iranian press reports stating that US citizen Jason Rezaian's case has been referred to a court," said spokeswoman Jen Psaki. "We continue to monitor the situation closely and are seeking further information. We continue to call for his immediate release," she said in a statement, also calling for other Americans held in Iran to be freed. Iran's revolutionary court normally handles cases involving political or national security crimes.
Report: Iran court studies case of detained Washington Post bureau chief, Washington Post, January 14, 2015
A statement by Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, cited by the semiofficial Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA), said the court file on Jason Rezaian has moved to the Revolutionary Court for “processing.” The phrase suggests that the charges against him, which have not been made public, could be studied by the court before it decides whether to set a trial date or keep the case in a holding pattern. The Revolutionary Court handles Iran’s most sensitive cases.
Kerry and Iran's Zarif resume nuclear talks unexpectedly, Reuters, January 14, 2015
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif unexpectedly resumed talks on Tehran's nuclear program in Geneva on Wednesday evening, officials said. "Secretary Kerry is returning to Mandarin Hotel for another meeting with Foreign Minister Zarif," a senior State Department official said. Reporters saw Kerry arrived back at the hotel, where the pair had earlier held five hours of talks on Wednesday, including an impromptu 15-minute walk along the Rhone River in central Geneva.
US House preps its own Iran sanctions bill, Al-Monitor, January 14, 2015
The US House of Representatives has begun working on its own Iran sanctions bill rather than simply agreeing to pass whatever the Senate comes up with, Al-Monitor has learned. The dual-track effort presents an additional challenge for the White House, which has repeatedly warned Congress that new sanctions could derail nuclear talks. It could, however, end up buying time for negotiators to strike a final agreement, since both chambers must pass the same bill for legislation to become law.
Congress Moves Against Obama on New Iran Sanctions, Bloomberg View, January 14, 2015
The Obama team has made it clear they oppose Congress voting on a new law before the negotiations are complete, even though the actual sanctions implementation would be delayed. The new Republican Senate leadership, however, is committed to moving forward, setting up a political brawl that could peak just as the negotiations enter their crucial final stages. “I don’t think the administration really would like for Congress to weigh in in any regard on any issue relating to foreign policy, but Congress will weigh in on this,” Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told me Tuesday. “In the very near future there will be a markup on a bill that will give the Congress the ability to weigh in.” In addition to the Kirk-Menendez bill, Corker is preparing his own legislation that would mandate that the Senate vote on a joint resolution of disapproval of any final nuclear deal with Iran.
State Department: New Iran sanctions violate deal, will be vetoed, Jerusalem Post, January 14, 2015
"Even with a trigger, if there's a bill that's signed into law, and it is US law, in our mind it is a violation of the Joint Plan of Action— which, as we've said, could encourage Iran to violate it," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Tuesday. "A sanctions bill, trigger or not, that is passed and signed into law by the president, which we've said we will not do... would be a violation of the JPOA," she continued. If a deal does not come to pass, Harf said, "we could put initial sanctions on Iran in 24 hours."
How Foreign-Policy Hawks Empowered Iran, The Atlantic, January 14, 2015
All these years later, it's clear that hawkish analysis and the conventional wisdom that it shaped was dead wrong. Invading Iraq did not strengthen America's hand with Iran. Rather, it gave Iran geopolitical leverage over the United States even as it enabled that country to contribute to the deaths of U.S. troops with impunity. As AP reports that Iran's influence in the region is reaching unprecedented levels, the foreign-policy lesson isn't that hawks were wrong, though they were, or that Iran's new strength imperils America.
Iran’s nuclear site in Syria? Obama administration won’t make it an issue in Geneva, World Tribune, January 15, 2015
“The upcoming talks are about the Iranian nuclear program,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said. “We don’t discuss other issues with them at those talks, as you all know.” In a briefing on Jan. 12, Ms. Harf said Washington was looking into a report in the German weekly Der Spiegel that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah were guarding a secret Syrian nuclear facility near the Lebanese border. Der Spiegel said the discovery of the nuclear facility, transferred from Damascus in 2013, took Washington, Israel and NATO allies by surprise. Ms. Harf did not deny the Spiegel report. At one point, she said Washington was closely monitoring any suspicion of Syrian nuclear activity.
Ex-Marine held in Iran says no interest in prisoner swap, AP, January 14, 2015
A former U.S. Marine imprisoned in Iran says in a letter to Iran’s president that he rejects any prisoner swap proposals. Amir Hekmati’s family in Michigan on Wednesday released a copy of the letter he dictated to relatives via prison phone. Hekmati’s Iranian lawyer sent the letter this week to President Hassan Rouhani. It’s not clear if it was received. Hekmati was arrested in 2011 and sentenced to death for spying. Authorities overturned that sentence and imprisoned him for 10 years. Hekmati’s letter asserts he wouldn’t agree to a swap because he “committed no crime” and isn’t connected to other prisoners. U.S. officials say no swap has been discussed.
How much has Iran helped Iraq against Islamic State? The answer is political. Christian Science Monitor, January 13, 2015
The closer one gets to Iraq’s front line with the Islamic State, the more evidence one finds of Iran’s deep involvement in Baghdad's battle against Sunni jihadists. Last June, after IS swept across the Syrian border into Iraq, Shiite Iran was the first to provide guns, ammunition, and military advisers. It drew on its decades-long experience in organizing Shiite militias in foreign lands to bolster Iraq’s beleaguered armed forces. Two to three Iranian military aircraft now arrive daily in Baghdad; Iran sold Iraq nearly $10 billion in weapons and hardware in 2014, the Associated Press reported Monday. But Iraqi perceptions of Iran’s military assistance are often colored by sectarian politics. And while many credit Iran’s role as decisive on the ground, assessments vary of its military value, particularly when compared with a US-led air campaign that the Pentagon says has struck more than 3,200 IS targets in Syria and Iraq.
Iran’s shallow influence in Yemen, Al-Monitor, January 12, 2015
In the past, the Yemeni state was weak and was founded on a wide network of tribal loyalties guaranteeing that it would not collapse. The tribes had their historical norms and customs in times of peace. However, the Yemeni state has collapsed, and in its place, chaos and bloody sectarian strife have thrived. Tribal norms are no longer strong, and they cannot guarantee social peace. Under these chaotic circumstances, it seems a bit too soon to talk about a dominant Iranian influence in Yemen.
Iran reacts to oil price drop: 'They’ve made fools of us,' The Guardian, January 14, 2015
“They’ve made fools of us,” says Hojat. “They’re telling us to prepare for hardship, so that when it happens they can tell us ‘don’t say we didn’t tell you so.’ Not that we’re in a great situation to start with. That’s what happens in a country whose government is entirely dependent on oil money.” The nosedive in global crude oil prices to around $50 a barrel places additional strain on next year’s state budget, which reckoned with a projected rate of $72 per barrel. The budget for this fiscal year, which ends in March, assumes a rate of $100 per barrel. While the general population has yet to feel the impact of the resulting spending cuts, it makes for foreboding news at the currency bazaars as well as supermarkets.
Iranian foreign minister voices concern about anti-Muslim protests in Europe, Washington Post, January 14, 2015
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed concern Wednesday about “extremely dangerous” anti-Muslim demonstrations in Europe and called for people’s beliefs to be respected in the wake of last week’s massacre at the offices of a Paris newspaper.
Plunging oil prices cost Iran billions, Radio Zamaneh, January 14, 2015
The fall in the price of oil has led to a $5.2-billion decline in Iran’s oil revenues. The Tasnim website reports that according to OPEC, the price of Iranian oil has fallen by $60 a barrel since last June.
Action needed to reform Iranian banks, Al-Monitor, January 13, 2015
The banks have now been faced with a massive number of non-performing loans (NPLs) due to the combination of government’s lending directives to support failing enterprises and harsh depreciation of the rial in 2013 against major foreign currencies. The latter left many of the borrowers — especially those receiving loans in US dollars — paralyzed and unable to make interest or principal payments as contracted. Commercial banks are now in a desperate situation as their NPL ratio, which pertains to the amount of bad loans computed against the total credit portfolio, is 15.6%, almost four times as much as the international standard of 4%.
Khabar-on-line rebuked for blog posting about corruption, Radio Zamaneh, January 14, 2015
The Iranian judiciary announced that the Khabar-on-line website has been charged with provoking public anxiety by publishing an article about corruption in the Revolutionary Guards Corps. The Deputy Prosecutor General told the Fars News Agency on January 13 that the Cyber Crimes Supervisory Committee has acted very leniently by merely giving a warning to the website. Khabar-on-line has defended itself, saying the item under dispute was written on a blog which is not directly monitored by the director.