The Iran Thread & Perso-Slavic Cooperation

[TsarSamuil]

Russia ready to help Iran trade, but not buy oil - Energy Minister.

RT.com
September 10, 2014 15:56

Russia is not planning to purchase Iranian oil, but its traders are ready to sell it, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said commenting on the Russia-Iran oil-for-goods deal.

"In fact we did not discuss it (the oil supplies from Iran to Russia). But in theory we cannot exclude it, such a possibility exists," the Russian minister said.

Iran is selling its oil and “we have proposals on how our traders can play a role in it,” the Minister added.

Novak’s comment followed media reports that Russia could buy Iranian oil under the oil-for-goods scheme.

Sources have not disclosed the amount of Iranian oil to be delivered in exchange for power plants, but the first stage of the contract is estimated to be worth up to $5 billion.

However, Novak confirmed that Russian state-run power utility Inter RAO and Inter RAO Export, as well as Technopromexport will be supplying equipment and help construct the power stations in Iran.

Following the Tehran meeting on Tuesday the countries agreed to cooperate in various sectors of the economy with investment worth $10.9 billion which will be processed in national currencies.

Experts believe that that is the most suitable mechanism for settlements that Russia and Iran could choose.

Earlier Novak said Russia is in talks with Iran to increase the trade turnover between the two countries through cooperation in the energy sector.

Russia's participation in the construction of power stations in Iran and the joint development of oil fields are seen in the context of increasing bilateral trade, and the possibility of expanding the presence of Russian companies in the Iranian market, Novak added.

The idea of a barter supply scheme comes amid the Western sanctions imposed against Iran that had significantly reduced its supply markets.

In July 1, 2012 the EU stopped buying Iranian oil. The US is putting political pressure on other countries, especially Japan and China, so they also refuse to buy oil from Iran.

[TsarSamuil]

Stop trading with the west then, the sooner they join SCO the better

Iranian Nuclear Chief Salehi: The West Seeks to Sabotage Our Nuclear Industry.

MEMRITVVideos
Sep 14, 2014

[Deleted]

Iran: We will not allow the fall of the Assad regime

Friday, 10 October 2014 11:06

Iran will not allow Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's regime to fall, the country's Deputy Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdul Abdollahian, stressed yesterday.

Speaking during a conference entitled Iraq and the international coalition against ISIS, he said: "The US informed Iran, before its attack on ISIS, that it does not have any plans to attack Iran, or the centres of Bashar Al-Assad's government, and it told the Syrian government the same thing, but we do not trust them in these matters. So we are following the developments closely."

The official said: "So I say that all incorrect attempts that may be carried out by the United States or any other country, such as imposing a no-fly zone, threatening the national sovereignty of Syria, or moving military units onto Syrian territory will lead to serious consequences."

Abdollahian said Iran had taken measures to help the Kurds in Kobani in the context of aid carried out by the Syrian regime, he says, without providing any information on what kind of aid he was referring to.

He added: "We are working with countries in the region to resolve the ongoing crisis in Kobani, we continue our discussions with our friend Turkey, and we believe that Turkey can play an important role in the return of Syrian refugees to their country."

www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/14584-iran-we-will-not-allow-the-fall-of-the-assad-regime

[TsarSamuil]

Who are the “Iranian dissidents?” US media promotes bizarre terrorist cult.

Caleb Maupin is a political analyst from New York City and is an activist with the International Action Center and Workers World Party. He has worked against police brutality and mass incarceration.

RT.com
October 15, 2014 12:46

The forgotten history of a group of “Iranian dissidents” being promoted in Western media shows the hypocrisy of the so-called “War on Terror.”

The Associated Press published an article entitled “Iran Dissident: Tehran Continues Nuke Arms Work” earlier in October. The piece quoted Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MEK) members, who insist that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

The claims are rather fantastic, as the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran have always declared extreme opposition to nuclear weapons, and endless inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirm that Iran is not pursuing them. Iran has every right, under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to pursue peaceful nuclear energy. These facts are largely unknown to the US public, and absent from discussion of Iran in the mainstream press.

The AP’s news report is not the only place the MEK has been given such polite treatment in the Western press. On September 17th, when the French government dropped money-laundering charges against the organization, the headlines reporting the case continued to refer to its members as “Iranian dissidents.” The articles in Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal contained nothing about what this “Mujahadeen-e-Khalq” organization is - or what kind of activities it has engaged in.

The most extreme example of hypocritical treatment for this organization comes from Murdoch-owned, ideologically neoconservative FOX News. FOX News hosts and commentators are known for stirring up rumors of US President Barack Obama’s alleged links to Marxism and Islamic radicalism. Recently, FOX News host Megyn Kelly interviewed Professor William Ayers, demanding to know why he wouldn't “take responsibility” after she listed various terrorist acts she claimed he was involved in. Kelly also recently berated Ward Churchill, Native American Professor at the University of Colorado, claiming words he wrote in a 2001 essay emotionally harmed the families of 9/11 victims.

However, on June 16, FOX News anchor and senior correspondent Eric Shawn sat down across from an actual, self-proclaimed “Islamic Marxist” named Maryam Rajavi, who is linked to the death of thousands of innocent civilians in Iran, as well as many Americans, who were killed by the MEK in the last few decades. While facing this real life, violent terrorist extremist, the FOX anchor threw softballs. He allowed the spokesperson for MEK to spew her rhetoric against the Iranian government without interruption. In his questions, Shawn even compared Rajavi to the resistance forces that fought the Nazis.

If cable news viewers and consumers of US print media knew who these “Iranian dissidents” actually were, they would begin to ask some serious questions about US foreign policy.

What is the Mujahadeen-e-Khalq?

The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (People’s Army of God) organization was founded in the 1960s as a student group opposed to the Shah. It eventually began work toward achieving its aims with isolated acts of violence such as assassinations, bombings, and kidnappings. Its beliefs included a bizarre mixture of Islam and Marxism. One of the group’s primary beliefs is in the brilliance of its founder and leader, Massoud Rajavi, who is worshipped in a cultish manner. At recent rallies in France, for example, placards carried by MEK members contained the simple slogan “Massoud Rajavi Is Our Leader.” Massoud Rajavi’s location is unknown, and he has not made a public appearance since 2003. Rajavi’s spouse, Maryam Rajavi, now acts as the primary public representative of the group.

In its early years, MEK primarily targeted people from the United States. The group attempted to kidnap the US ambassador to Iran. It carried out an attempted assassination of a US Air Force General. In 1976, the organization attacked a car and killed the three American hotel employees inside. These terrorist acts were done in the hope of damaging the US backed Iranian monarchy.

However, it was not the isolated acts of adventurist violence from MEK members, but a rather broad explosion of popular resistance that toppled the US-backed Shah in 1979. After Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, when it became clear that the MEK would not become the new ruling party, the organization responded with a vicious bombing campaign against the new government. In 1981, the group bombed a meeting of the Iranian Republican Party, killing 72 people, including many high-ranking government officials.

During the Iraq-Iran War, the group became very friendly with Saddam Hussein. With money pouring in from the Iraqi regime, the group formed an armed outfit called the “Iranian National Liberation Army.” They went through Iran committing war crimes, hoping that they could secure victory for the US-backed Iraqi invaders that used chemical and biological weapons against Iranian civilians.

In one particularly brutal war atrocity, the MEK group killed nearly all the residents of a village called Islamabad-e Gharb. The group staged this cowardly attack on July 26th, 1988 - six days after Imam Khomeini had announced he was accepting a ceasefire with Iraq.

The number of innocent civilians slaughtered by the MEK or its various front groups such as the Iranian National Council of Resistance, is likely to be in the tens of thousands, if you include the number of civilians killed during the bombing campaigns, the number of people MEK linked groups slaughtered during the Iraq-Iran War, and the number of victims of MEK terrorism against Iran throughout the 1990s and up to today. Human Rights Watch has issued condemnations of the group for routinely torturing those it holds captive.

The internal workings of the group are equally frightening. A Human Rights Watch report from 2005 describes how, within its various bases and camps, the group subjects members to summary execution for violations of its bizarre regulations and practices. According to ex-members of MEK, it functions as a very dangerous cult. All members are required to divorce their spouses, as family life is considered a distraction from the cause of overthrowing the Iranian state. The words of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi are interpreted as divine and infallible, and members are encouraged to seek martyrdom to advance the ideological and religious goals.

The coddling of dangerous extremists

Frequently, Iran is declared to be a “state sponsor of terror” by US officials and media outlets. However, it is leaders of the United States that are currently promoting the cause of the dangerous and violent MEK.

Hillary Clinton played an important role in removing the group from the official state department list of “Foreign Terrorist Organizations.” Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, promotes its cause by acting as MEK’s spokesman. Tom Ridge, former head of the Department of Homeland Security, has played a similar role for the group. Very few US media commentators have highlighted the irony of “America’s Mayor” embracing a group of “Islamic Marxist” militants - and the truth about MEK and its relationship with figures in Washington DC is largely unknown.

Occasionally, US officials will try to justify the coddling of this group of violent extremists with vague claims that it “renounced violence.” However, the group is very open about continuing its armed underground activities inside the Islamic Republic of Iran. Reports indicate that it was members of MEK, in cooperation with the Mossad that assassinated scientists working on Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy program in 2012.

While MEK denies it works with the Israeli government, a fact that should shatter the credibility of anyone claiming to be an “Islamic Marxist,” the truth was leaked to NBC by the Obama Administration.

The US press largely treats MEK like romantic pacifist freedom fighters. In her interviews, Maryam Rajavi seems frighteningly confident that she will be successful and her organization will someday come to power.

In her interview with FOX’s Shawn, she said, “I am confident the mullah’s religious dictatorship will not last and will be overthrown.” In the interview, a woman who oversaw the slaughter of thousands compared herself to Jefferson, Lincoln, and even pacifist civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. FOX’s Shawn sat in front of her nodding, never questioning her words or intentions.

If one looks at Libya after the US/NATO “regime change,” or the state of Syria after four years of US-funded civil war against the government, it should be clear what “regime change” in Iran will mean. The fact that the US media is openly promoting extremists like MEK - and their fantastic claims about nuclear weapons - should be a warning call to all who would support US efforts in the region.

The promises from US officials of “stability” made before the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, or the overthrow of Gaddafi, never materialized. Instead, the various US- and NATO-installed collaborators and extremists turned their guns against each other. With chaos and destruction in the region, the US and Israel remained secure in their control of the oil profits and world markets.

The poster children for the US/Israeli crusade against the Islamic Republic, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi are hardly capable of bringing peace and stability. The MEK is much like ISIS in Syria, or the US-backed insurgents in Libya. They are bloodthirsty extremists who would destroy Iran’s existing stability and independent economic development, replacing it with chaos, destruction, and death.

The promotion of such extremists, who unleash violence and chaos, fits perfectly with the realpolitik strategy laid out by former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski: “Maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together.” (Zbigniew Brzezinski “The Grand Chessboard,” p. 40)

The program of the United States and Israel for the Middle East is permanent civil war, chaos, and death. Part of implementing this program is the rallying cry of “regime change in Iran,” and the promotion of violent terrorists who oppose the Islamic Republic.

[TsarSamuil]

Iran: Russia's Shoigu signs military cooperation pact with Iran's Dehghan.

RuptlyTV
Jan 20, 2015



Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu signed a military cooperation pact with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehghan during a meeting in Tehran, Tuesday. The agreement is expected to strengthen military and technological collaboration between the two countries.

[TsarSamuil]

Iran, Russia to create ‘joint bank’ for trade in national currencies – ambassador.

RT.com
January 28, 2015 03:24

Iran and Russia are planning to switch their bilateral trade to national currencies for which the states will create a joint bank or a mutual account, Iran's ambassador to Russia, Mehdi Sanaei, has announced.

“Both sides plan to create a joint bank, or joint account, so that payments may be made in rubles and rials and there is an agreement to create a working group [for this],” Ambassador Sanaei told Sputnik on Tuesday.

“In order to do this, meetings need to be held between the deputy heads of the Central Banks of Russia and Iran,” Sanaei said. “I hope this visit will happen soon.”

Sanaei added that bilateral relations “are actively developing” and that 2014 was “a very fruitful year” for both countries.

Noting high tariffs on the exports of Iranian goods to Russia, Sanaei said that Tehran expects to sign an initial agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015.

“I think that in 2015 we need to work on this so that Iran has concrete economic contracts with the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union)…Iran plans to use this opportunity for its exports to Russia and other [countries],” Sanaei said.

Iranian producers, according to the ambassador, hope to gain approval to export dairy and meat products within the next two months. “I hope that this happens because it’s very important. We were promised that this would be resolved in the first quarter, by the end of March,” the ambassador said.

The ambassador also announced that Moscow and Tehran are considering the possibility of creating a visa-free regime by signing a memorandum of understanding in 2015.

“It’s difficult for our businessmen to get a visa to Russia, especially a long-term visa, but we are happy that in 2014 our [foreign] ministers, [Sergey] Lavrov and [Mohammad] Zarif, agreed on the easing of the visa regime, especially for businessmen and tourists,” Sanaei said.

Sanaei’s statements follow last week’s announcement that Iran is stopping mutual settlements in dollars with foreign countries.

After signing “bilateral monetary treaties” with several states, Iran is no longer planning to use the US dollar in trade with those states, Gholamali Kamyab, deputy head of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), announced earlier. “In trade exchanges with foreign countries, Iran uses other currencies, including the Chinese yuan, euro, Turkish lira, Russian ruble, and South Korean won,” he said.

Russia already has a currency swap agreement with China, which could potentially lessen the US dollar's influence on the global energy and other markets.

But Iran, Russia, China, and several Latin American countries are not the only ones looking to ditch the US dollar in their trade. The Eurasian Economic Union, which also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan, is planning to create a single market for financial services by 2025 which will simplify switching to dollar-free trading. Late last year, the Russian State Duma proposed the creation of a single area for payment in national currencies. Such measures are expected to minimize Western influence on the economy of the EEU.

Last July, the group of emerging economies signed the long-anticipated document to create the US$100 billion BRICS Development Bank, and a reserve currency pool worth over another $100 billion. Both will counter the influence of Western-based lending institutions and the US dollar.

[TsarSamuil]

China urges Iran to uphold its right to 'peaceful use of nuclear power'

RT.com
February 16, 2015 10:27

China has called on Iran to come to a long-awaited agreement with six world powers over its dubious nuclear program and "finish the last kilometer of the marathon talks well," without extending the deadline for the third time.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the talks between Tehran and the P5+1 powers (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France, plus Germany) were a "historic opportunity" to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear activities.

"The negotiations have seen positive progress," he said in Tehran, but "they have become more difficult and complicated" as they come close to a conclusion, AFP reported.

While Iran insists it has no nuclear weapons ambitions, it is subject to wide-ranging Western and United Nations sanctions. Disagreements in the talks revolve around the extent of nuclear activities Iran will be allowed to continue and the timetable for the lifting of the sanctions.

"Reaching comprehensive agreement is beneficial to Iran upholding its own legal rights, including the right to the peaceful use of nuclear power, and for the people of Iran to throw off the difficulties of sanctions as early as possible and focus on energetically developing the economy," Wang told his Iranian counterpart, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement issued on Monday.

Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif has agreed that "the opportunity must be seized" for a deal, adding that Iran was ready "to show flexibility to reassure the P5+1 group." Zarif stated that China was a “key” member in the six world powers group and Iran counted on its role in helping to reach a “good” solution to the nuclear issue, Tehran Times reported.

Chinese Foreign Minister meanwhile noted that the deal would also help Iran finally escape from sanctions allowing the country to "energetically develop the economy."

China and Iran have had close economic, trade and energy ties, as China's crude oil imports from Iran soared by nearly 30 percent last year to their highest level since 2011.

Wang said he saw "enormous space for cooperation" on more industrial projects, with China "willing to encourage even more Chinese companies to invest in Iran and build factories via the joint development of industrial parks in accordance with Iran's development needs and China's ability."

According to Wang, China was in favor of peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue.

"Whatever the circumstance, we firmly support talks, oppose the use of violence and disapprove unilateral sanctions," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

Two deadlines for a final agreement on Iran's nuclear program have been missed since an interim deal was reached in November 2013. Iran and P5+1 powers are expected to reach a basic framework agreement by the end of March, with a final accord due by June 30.

Earlier this month Iran’s parliament passed a bill asking the government to resume all nuclear activities if US imposes new sanctions.

“Naturally, if there is no agreement on the issue [Iran’s nuclear program] then both sides can return back to their previous positions,” the general director of Iran’s Foreign Ministry Political and International Security Department, Hamid Baedinejad, told reporters at the country’s embassy in Moscow. “Iran can continue to develop its nuclear program from the perspective that benefits the country’s national interests. Iran will continue its development and we will install more centrifuges.”

[TsarSamuil]

We saved Jews 3 times, Netanyahu should revise history lessons – Iranian FM.

RT.com
March 05, 2015 22:18

Iran has no intention of destroying Israel and has actually saved the Jews three times across history, but the current Israeli regime is a threat to Tehran, Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has said in an interview with American media.

Speaking with NBC, Zarif slamed the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after he once again said in his Monday’s speech before the US Congress that Iran openly threatened to wipe Israel off the map.

The Iranian FM urged Netanyahu to refresh his knowledge of history as his comments have not only “distort[ed] realities of today,” but also go against the Bible and Jewish sacred texts.

“He even distorts his own scripture. If you read the book of Esther, you will see that it was the Iranian king who saved the Jews…” Zarif said.

The Iranian Minister called Netanyahu’s accusations “truly regrettable” stressing that they refer to “an entire nation which has saved Jews three times.”

“It is truly, truly regrettable that bigotry gets to the point of making allegations against an entire nation which has saved Jews three times in its history: Once during that time of a prime minister who was trying to kill the Jews, and the king saved the Jews; again during the time of Cyrus the Great, where he saved the Jews from Babylon, and during the Second World War, where Iran saved the Jews,” he said.

“We’re not about the annihilation of Jews,” Zarif stressed, reminding the channel that 20,000 Jews reside in Iran “in peace” and even have their own representative in parliament.

“We have a history of tolerance and cooperation and living together in coexistence with our own Jewish people, and with Jews everywhere in the world. If people want to espouse fear mongering to fan such hysteria in the world, that’s to their detriment,” Zafir said.

On the contrary, he stressed, the current Israeli regime “is a threat” to Iran as it’s a regime “that engages in the killing of innocent children, a regime that engages in acts of aggression.”

“Israel threatens to use force against Iran almost on a daily basis… Of course, if they did use force against Iran, we would defend ourselves, as we have done with great sacrifice in the past. But we are not invading, we are not threatening anybody. We have not threatened anybody for 250 years,” the Iranian FM said.

While Netanyahu only has “a record full of infanticide, full of killing of innocent people, full of aggression against his neighbor, full of occupation,” he added.

Tehran and the P5+1 powers (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France, plus Germany) are currently in the decisive stage of talks, hoping to reach compromise over Iran’s controversial nuclear program by mid-summer.

Zarif has once again turned down accusations by the West that the Iranian authorities are trying to develop nuclear-weapons capabilities, but Tehran insists that its program is for peaceful purposes.

“We never had the bomb. We will never have a bomb. We’re not looking to have a bomb. We do not believe a bomb is in our interest. Whereas [Netanyahu] does have a bomb. He has 200 nuclear weapons,” he said.

Zarif then went on to say that Israeli Prime Minister “has stood against a Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction” and he still accuses Iran of preparing one.

“He’s in no place to do that. He doesn’t have the authority, the moral authority, to do that,” Zarif said.

According to the FM, Iran and the six world powers are “very close” to reaching a deal, but “there are details that need to be worked out.”

On Tuesday the Israeli Prime Minister once again voiced his fierce opposition to Iran’s nuclear program in front of a joint session of the US Congress, calling Tehran “the foremost sponsor of terrorism” that threatens not only the Israel and the Middle East, but the world, including the America.

Netanyahu urged for Iran to cease a “march of conquest, subjugation and terror.”

Yet, on Monday, US President Barack Obama defended nuclear negotiations with Iran and maintained that a favorable settlement was still possible.

While Iran is still “more likely than not” to reject a deal, Obama stressed to Reuters that the odds of success are better today than three or five months ago.

The so-called P5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany is amid negotiation hoping to strike a framework deal with Iran before a late March deadline.

[Deleted]

I think it's a misjudgment from Israeli side, that Iran constitutes its main enemy in the region. But it's nice how Iran manages to alienate Washington and Jerusalem from each other. At the same time it stays loyal to Russia and Assad. Great.

[TsarSamuil]

Iran, Hezbollah left off US terror threat listing.

RT.com
March 17, 2015 18:23

Iran and Hezbollah were left out of an annual terrorism threat assessment report offered in late February to the US Senate by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Iran and Hezbollah had been fixtures on the annual report before 2015.

Iran’s efforts to fight Sunni extremists, including the so-called Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL or ISIS), were touted in the unclassified version of the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Communities, released recently.

While a US-led coalition has targeted Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the report noted Tehran’s push to keep “ISIL from gaining large swaths of additional territory” in Iraq. Iran is allied with both the Iraqi and Syrian governments. So, with the US, it has a common foe in Islamic State.

In the Middle East, Iran has “intentions to dampen sectarianism, build responsive partners, and deescalate tensions with Saudi Arabia,” the report noted, though it warned that some Iranian actions to “protect and empower Shia communities are fueling growing fears and sectarian responses,” which could hinder regional stability.

Hezbollah, a Shiite group based in Lebanon and funded by Iran, has also fought Islamic State militants in both Syria and Iraq, though they are not part of the US-led coalition of 26 nations that has used airstrikes to counter Islamic State’s sprawl in the region.

Both Iran and Hezbollah were included in the ‘Terrorism’ section of the 2014 version of the threat assessment report, which said both “continue to directly threaten the interests of U.S. allies. Hizballah [sic] has increased its global terrorist activity in recent years to a level that we have not seen since the 1990s.”

Iran was included in the ‘Terrorism’ section of previous threat assessments, in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

The ongoing negotiations between Iran and the US, among other world powers, regarding Tehran’s nuclear program are likely another reason Iran was not included in the threat assessment.

The National Intelligence report said Tehran has “overarching strategic goals of enhancing its security, prestige, and regional influence [that] have led it to pursue capabilities to meet its civilian goals and give it the ability to build missile-deliverable nuclear weapons, if it chooses to do so.”

The report did not say whether Iran would seek nuclear weapons, but it did say that if Iran should decide to do so, it faces no “insurmountable technical barriers to producing a nuclear weapon.”

Tehran’s exclusion from the terror threat designation is part of Washington’s strategy, Max Abrahms, a member at the Council of Foreign Relations, told Newsweek.

“I think that we are looking at a quid pro quo, where Iran helps us with counter-terrorism and we facilitate their nuclear ambitions and cut down on our labelling of them as terrorists,” says Abrahms. “The world has changed. The Sunni threat has gotten worse, the Islamic State is a greater danger than Al-Qaeda ever was, and the Iranians have really come up big in terms of helping us out in combating the Islamic State.”

According to the Times of Israel, Israeli think tank Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center pointed out that Iran and Hezbollah were considered terror threats in a separate report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency.

“Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Lebanese Hezbollah are instruments of Iran’s foreign policy and its ability to project power in Iraq, Syria, and beyond,”the US Defense Intelligence Agency told the US Senate in an assessment also offered on February 26.

“Hezbollah continues to support the Syrian regime, pro-regime militants and Iraqi Shia militants in Syria. Hezbollah trainers and advisors in Iraq assist Iranian and Iraqi Shia militias fighting Sunni extremists there. Select Iraqi Shia militant groups also warned of their willingness to fight US forces returning to Iraq.”

Meanwhile, talks regarding Iran’s nuclear program are set to resume in Switzerland in the coming days. Little is known about the deal being negotiated, but leaked information over the past several weeks indicates that it would allow Iran to develop a civilian atomic program under strict supervision, which would make it very difficult to build a nuclear weapon.

[TsarSamuil]

Tehran and world powers reach solutions on Iran nuclear program.

RT.com
April 02, 2015 17:19

Iran and international powers have reached “solutions on key parameters” of Tehran’s nuclear program following eight-day talks in Switzerland, according to a joint statement issued by the negotiators on Thursday.

During the media conference EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the deal achieved as a result of the talks creates the basis of a future comprehensive nuclear agreement between Iran and six powers which is to be concluded by a June 30 deadline.

The agreement envisages the Fordow facility being converted into a nuclear physics center with no fissile material. It was agreed that the Natantz facility would remain as the only nuclear power plant in the country. Under the deal Tehran was obliged to refrain from creating nuclear weapons.

"An international joint venture will assist Iran in redesigning and rebuilding a modernized Heavy Water Research Reactor in Arak that will not produce weapons grade plutonium. There will be no reprocessing and the spent fuel will be exported," according to the joint statement.

US and EU are to lift Iran sanctions after the signing of the deal on June 30 and after IAEA verification, said Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

“The EU will terminate the implementation of all nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions and the US will cease the application of all nuclear-related secondary economic and financial sanctions, simultaneously with the IAEA-verified implementation by Iran of its key nuclear commitments,” the joint statement said.

UN Security Council resolutions on Iran will be also terminated under the future comprehensive deal, Zarif added.

“It will be an end to all UN resolutions against Iran,” Zarif said clarifying the exact numbers of the documents – from 1696 to 1929.

“Iran and the US relations have nothing to do with this,” said Zarif answering a reporter’s question on the strained relations between the two countries. “We have built mutual mistrust in the past,” he said adding the he hopes “some of that mistrust could be remedied” through the implementation of the nuclear agreement.

“We have discussed a reciprocal mechanism” if there is a “material breach” or significant “incompliance” with the agreement, he said. “The elaborate mechanism will not allow excuses,” he added.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier said on Twitter that drafting of the agreement is to start immediately, with a June 30 deadline for finishing the process.

“Found solutions. Ready to start drafting immediately,” Zarif wrote on his Twitter ahead of the press conference on the results of the talks in Switzerland on Thursday.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has also stayed in Switzerland, said that the framework deal with Iran is a “big, decisive step forward.”

The deal would help the security situation in the Middle East, partly because Tehran would now be able to take more active part in efforts to solve conflicts in the region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the agreement brokered in Lausanne could “enable all countries to cooperate urgently to deal with the many serious security challenges they face.”

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, US President Barack Obama said that a historic deal has been reached over Iran's nuclear deal. He said the deal is based not on trust, but on "unprecedented verification" and called it "the best deal by far."

US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the deal by saying that a political understanding has been reached and it is a solid foundation for “good deal we are seeking” between Iran and world powers.

France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that the framework agreement with Iran is a “positive step”, but questions and details still need to be resolved.

The group of countries known as “P5+1” – the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – have been trying hammer out an accord with Iran to restrict the country’s nuclear program in return for a lifting the economic blockade imposed by the UN for nearly 18 months.

The talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne finished on their eighth day on Thursday.

The talks are a big step forward towards rapprochement between Washington and Tehran, who have had uneasy relations since Iran’s 1979 revolution.

However, the White House has been criticized by the Republican-led Congress over the Iran talks. In March, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to address Congress without White House approval, and blasted the talks in his speech continuing on his mission to derail a much sought-after agreement with Iran.

The Israeli PM, who is implacably opposed to a nuclear Tehran, has in the recent past tried to involve the US Congress to impede a diplomatic solution offered by the P5+1 negotiations. Following his visit to Washington, 47 Republican senators signed a letter written by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, which threatened to pull any nuclear deal reached with Iran, once President Barack Obama leaves office.

In February, Obama’s cabinet publicly voiced discontent with Israeli’s “selective sharing of information” and “cherry-picking” concerning the P5+1 talks.

While Israel has never publicly admitted to having a nuclear arsenal, maintaining the policy of “nuclear ambiguity,” it is widely believed to be the only power possessing the atomic bomb in the Middle East.

[TsarSamuil]

Just after Minsk agreement, Russia got new sanctions by the EU, was the ink even dry?

EU reinstates sanctions on major Iranian bank & 32 shipping companies.

RT.com
April 08, 2015 16:04

The European Union has restored sanctions on an Iranian bank and 32 shipping companies on Wednesday, days after an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program was reached, according to the EU’s Official Journal.

The move comes despite Europe’s second-highest court order to end the asset freeze on Iranian institutions in January when it found fault with the legal grounds given by the EU. However, the EU relisted Iran’s Bank Tejarat and 32 Iranian shipping firms using new legal grounds, a statement said Wednesday.

All those listed are regarded by EU as involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities and providing support to the Government of Iran. However, eight firms were not put back on the list. The regulation should come into force on the date of publication, the statement said.

In its reasons for restoring the asset freeze on Bank Tejarat, the EU said that the bank “provided significant support to the Government of Iran by offering financial resources and financing services for oil and gas development projects.” It also added that Bank Tejarat could be identified as being involved in the “procurement of prohibited goods and technology.” The listed shipping firms are owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which was previously put under sanctions.

Bank Tejarat is the third-largest bank in Iran and has offices in the UK, Germany and France. The bank's assets in these countries have been frozen as part of the sanctions. Millions of US dollars spent to manufacture the chemical concentrate of natural uranium passed through Bank Tejarat in 2011, according to the EU.

The European Union’s measures signal that it will keep up sanctions pressure on Iran until a final nuclear deal scheduled for June 30 is sealed. Last week in Switzerland, Iran and the international powers reached an agreement in the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iran and six world powers signed a framework deal to restrict the country’s nuclear program in return for lifting the economic blockade imposed by the UN. Under the deal Tehran is obliged to refrain from creating nuclear weapons.

Tehran insists that it’s not pursuing a nuclear capability, but some nations have accused it of having a clandestine military nuclear program.

Several rounds of sanctions in recent years have targeted Iran's key energy and financial sectors, crippling its economy.

The US and EU imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors to prevent other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran, at the beginning of 2012. Later, EU foreign ministers reached an agreement on another round of sanctions against Iran.

--------------

CrossTalk: The Iranian Deal.

RT
Apr 8, 2015



An historic agreement that could trigger a geopolitical realignment in the Middle East. There is no final agreement yet between the P5+1 countries and Iran regarding its nuclear program – but what we do know gives reason to be cautiously optimistic. Can the parties of war still prevail over hopes for peace? CrossTalking with Mohammad Marandi, Fred Fleitz, and Massoumeh Torfeh.

--------------

President Rouhani: Iran won't sign final nuclear deal unless all sanctions lifted.

RT.com
April 09, 2015 06:25

Iranian President said Tehran won’t sign a final nuclear deal unless economic sanctions against the country are lifted first. The comments contradict Washington’s statement that sanctions would be lifted gradually, subject to Iran compliance.

"We will not sign any deal unless all sanctions are lifted on the same day ... We want a win-win deal for all parties involved in the nuclear talks," Rouhani said in a televised speech on Thursday.

The President's comments come as a blow to US President Barack Obama’s efforts to sell the deal to its opponents, both in the US and abroad.

Supporters of the deal, which was negotiated last week at marathon talks in Switzerland and is to be finalized in June, say the sanctions relief for Iran would be gradual, and implemented in response to Iran’s moves to scale down its nuclear program. They could be reversed in case of non-compliance, they argue. Obama has called the plan the best deal possible at the moment.

The UN Security Council, the US, the EU and several other countries had imposed several rounds of sanctions against Iran due to its controversial nuclear program.

Lifting of the sanctions in exchange for a scaling-down of nuclear enrichment activities and a degree of international control over the Iranian nuclear industry is at the core of the deal. Agreeing exact terms on how quickly the sanctions will be lifted and how the program will be curtailed was a tough task for the nuclear negotiators.

"Our goal in the talks is to preserve our nation's nuclear rights. We want an outcome that will be in everyone's benefit," President Rouhani said in a ceremony to mark Iran's National Day of Nuclear Technology.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said not reaching a nuclear deal would be better than reaching a bad deal for Iran, and Tehran’s position in that regard had not changed.

Khamenei added that Tehran would not consider a postponement of the June 30 deadline for reaching a final nuclear deal “the end of the world.” He also said that Iran would not allow international inspections, which the deal is expected to include, as these could compromise its military secrets.

“Based on past experience, I was never optimistic about negotiating with the United States,” Khamenei said.

Previously, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif questioned on his Twitter account the statements from Western leaders that claimed the sanctions would be lifted gradually.

[TsarSamuil]

President Obama calls Iran terror sponsor just weeks after nuclear deal headway.

IN THE NOW
May 13, 2015



The U.S. President told an Arab newspaper "Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and the Gulf are right to worry." He was speaking ahead of a meeting on Thursday with Gulf leaders. Tehran responded saying the comments bear no value and are merely repetition of previous unfunded claims. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Obama is trying to please Washington's allies in the region. Seyed Mostafa

[TsarSamuil]

President Rouhani Points to Bulgaria as Possible Bridge between Iran, Europe.

Novinite.com
Politics » DIPLOMACY | May 12, 2015, Tuesday // 20:59

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pointed to Bulgaria's strategic geographical location in Southeastern Europe and the possibility for the country to act as a bridge between Iran and Europe in all areas, including the transfer of energy.

Rouhani said this on Tuesday during his meeting with the new Bulgarian Ambassador to Tehran Christo Polendakov, Fars news agency reports.

He expressed the readiness of Iran to expand its economic, political and cultural cooperation with Bulgaria.

The Iranian President said that both Bulgaria and Iran had many cultural and natural attractions and called on the countries to become more active in their cooperation, especially in the field of tourism.

According to him, the two countries have maintained good relations for over a century, Tasnim news agency reports.

Polendakov similarly described Bulgaria's favourable position at the gateway of Europe and the possibility of the country to act as a route for transfer of energy and goods between Iran and Europe.

The diplomat revealed that Bulgarian officials were eager to consolidate relations with Iran in all areas.

The ambassador committed himself to broadening the relations between the two countries in all areas, especially in the fields of culture and economy.

Polendakov highlighted that Iran possessed many historical, cultural and architectural attractions, which could make it a desirable destination for visitors from European countries.

[TsarSamuil]

6 Iranian food companies get access to Russian market.

RT.com
May 26, 2015 09:17

Russia has given the green light for six Iranian companies to export food to Russia, the country’s food inspector Rosselkhoznadzor has said. Additional conditions guaranteeing complete safety are yet to be signed.

“Two of the companies are poultry and meat producers and the other four are dairy products producers (including cheese). The companies will be allowed to start deliveries only after Iran’s Veterinary Service signs an additional number of protocols on safety conditions due to concerns about bird influenza, Newcastle disease and murrain in the country,” Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement on Tuesday.

There’s nothing new in the request for food safety guarantees, it’s common practice in Russia for all food suppliers, Rosselkhoznadzor’s press secretary, Yulia Melano, told RIA Novosti. She added two additional protocols have to be signed in the near future.

The permission comes at a time when exports of meat, fish, dairy products, fruit and vegetables from the EU, US, Canada, Australia and Japan are banned. Also, Iran is expected to see some trade relief this summer after it signs a landmark final deal with the P5+1 powers (China, France, Russia, UK, US and Germany) on its nuclear program.