Iranian Reporter Among Detainees in Italy

Hamid Masouminejad, the Rome correspondent for Iran’s state-owned national TV network was confirmed to be one of the two Iranians arrested in Italy on arms trafficking charges.

IRIB foreign news director Hassan Abedini said the network would hire a lawyer to defend Mr. Masouminejad.

Italian police said Wednesday that five Italians and two Iranians were detained in the case. They are accused to ship weapons to Iran through third countries despite a UN embargo on such shipments.

No New Sanctions - Iran Media

The reports in Iranian media indicate major failure by the US to convince the key members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to support any new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Kayhan reports that Russia is opposing any sanctions that directly or indirectly affect Iran’s ordinary people. The influential conservative newspaper also reports China’s opposition to any types of new sanctions against Iran [Kayhan, 4 March].

The media also is reporting the opposition to sanctions by key non-permanent members of the UNSC. Press TV reports that Turkish foreign minister, whose country is one of the current members of UNSC, opposes any new sanctions, saying imposing sanctions on Iran will have “catastrophic consequences” for the Middle East [Press TV, 4 March].

Fars New Agency reports that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has failed to convince the Brazilian president to support any sanctions against Iran [Fars, 4 March] Clinton just ended a visit to Brazil, which also holds a seat in the current session of the council.

To pass a new sanctions resolution at UNSC, the West needs to get at least nine votes in the 15-member chamber, with Russia and China not casting any veto. There are 10 non-permanent members at the council. Currently they include Brazil and Turkey as well as Austria, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Uganda, Gabon, Bosnia and Lebanon.

UOI at 3

By Nader Uskowi

Uskowi on Iran’s first post appeared on 3 March 2007. Three years and hundreds of thousands of visitors later, we love to stay around three more years and beyond!

On 19 April 2008, Mark Pyruz began posting on UOI and immediately lifted the blog’s quality and readership. Today, Mark’s posts and photo and video galleries on Iran’s military and security forces have become an authoritative source for the students of Iranian armed forces and visited by hundreds of people each day. Paul Iddon began his posts on UOI on 31 July 2009 alongside running his busy blog, pauliddon.net. Paul as a student of history has enriched this blog with his historical perspectives on many current issues in Iran.

We all have our day jobs and post during our spare time, not an easy task. Mark, Paul and I could not have continued our work at UOI without the encouragement and support of our readers throughout these years. To our readers: Thank you. We are looking forward to your active engagement, comments and criticism to make this blog more useful. And big thanks to all our fellow bloggers who have shown their support by providing links to our blog. Cheers to all!

China demands diplomacy on Iran's nuclear program

blogs.law.harvard.edu

In light of Russia and the west planning new sanctions on Iran with regard to it's nuclear program, China has come forward demanding that diplomacy with Iran be given more time.

China's latest statement came as a senior US diplomat, James Steinberg, arrived in Beijing on the highest level visit since relations when American and Chinese relations briefly tensed up two weeks ago.

Iran rejected a UN International Atomic Energy Agency claim it was not co-operating with its investigation.

World powers say Iran is enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons, but the Tehran government continually denounces this claim stating their program is for civilian purposes.

Iran Releases More Detainees; Closes Down Etemad

The Iranian authorities have freed on bail a number of political prisoners in the past two days. Among the detainees released were Mohammad Maleki, the first president of the University of Tehran after the revolution. Maleki, 75, was the oldest person detained during the post-election massive wave of arrest of journalists, academics, human rights activists and political figures and supporters of the Green movement.

Also released from the Evin prison on Monday, were Foad Sadeghi, the renowned journalist, as well as Mohammad Reza Maghsieh, Mahsa Jazini and Mehdi Motamedi Mehr. On Sunday, a group of other prominent journalists, including Mashallah Shamszaezin, Abdol Reza Tajik, Mohammad Jafar Mozaffar, Behrang Tonekaboni and Ali Hekmat, were released after posting heavy bonds.

On Monday, however, the authorities closed down the influential reformist newspaper, Etemad. Later that day, a renowned film director, Jafar Panahi, was arrested.

Panahi, Renowned Film Director, Arrested in Tehran

Iran’s renowned film director Jafar Panahi was arrested last night in Tehran. Panahi’s films, “Circle”, “Crimson Gold” and “Offside”, have won many awards at international festivals. Panahi is a supporter of Iran’s Green movement.

“About 10 on Monday evening, several plainclothes agents broke into the house,” Panah Panahi, the director’s son, told Rahesabz website.

Panahi, his wife and daughter as well as 15 guests were arrested and taken to an unknown location, Panah said, adding that the agents had searched the house and confiscated personal belongings and computers.

Kyrgyzstan Denies Rigi Was Removed from Its Aircraft

The Kyrgyz foreign ministry today denied that any foreign nationals had been removed from the flight between Dubai and Bishkek once it had been grounded in Iran.

"Information... published in some media about the detention of foreign nationals on board the Kyrgyzstan Airlines aircraft does not correspond with reality," the foreign ministry statement said [AFP, 1 March].

The strange denial by Kyrgyzstan adds to the mystery surrounding Rigi’s arrest. Iran’s interior minister had already contradicted the official version by saying that Rigi was arrested in a foreign country and then brought back to Iran. The Pakistani ambassador in Tehran has also claimed that Rigi’s arrest could not have happened without his country’s direct involvement.

Some Iran watchers now believe that Rigi was arrested by Pakistani ISI and transported to Iran aboard a Pakistani falcon corporate jet. The forced landing of the Kyrgyz jet in Bandar Abbas could then be a diversion tactic to mask the arrest by ISI.

In a related development, the Kyrgyz government launched a protest with Iran for forcing one of its passenger planes to land in its territory.

"Kyrgyz ambassador Medetkan Sherimkulov met with the deputy foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran and protested on the inadmissibility of such actions from the Iranian side," the Kyrgyz foreign ministry statement said.

Three Iran Air Force F-4 Phantoms brought down Rigi

File photo: IRIAF F-4E Phantom II strike fighters

More details have emerged concerning the Iranian Air Force's successful forced landing of a Kyrgyzstan Airlines B-737 carrying wanted terrorist leader Rigi. According to Fars News Agency there were actually three IRIAF F-4 Phantoms used in the operation:

Several Iranian F4 fighter jets stopped the plane carrying the ringleader of the Jundollah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi, from escaping the country's airspace, a senior Iranian official said on Monday, explaining Rigi's last-ditch efforts to escape Iranian authorities last week.

"The plane carrying the terrorist aimed to soar and escape from the hands of the Army's fighter jets," Supreme Leader's Chief of Staff in Political and Religious Affairs Hojjatoleslam Qolamreza Safayee said. 

He said Rigi did not even think of being identified by the Iranian security forces after boarding on the Kyrgyz airliner because he was wearing make-up to disguise his face and was using a fake passport. 

"After the Boeing jet carrying Rigi entered Iran's airspace at 1:40 am local time, an F-4 fighter jet took off to escort the plane and ordered the Kyrgyz airliner to land in Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas, but the pilot refrained to do so, Safayee continued. 

But the plane eventually landed after it saw two more Iranian F4 fighter jets were escorting it.

Recap: Rigi's passenger plane (likely B-737, Kyrgyzstan Airlines QH 454, operated by Eastok Avia), enroute from Dubai (DXB / OMDB) to Bishkek-Manas, Kyrgyzstan (FRU / UAFM), with 113 passengers onboard, was forced to land at Bandar Abbas/TFB.9 (BND / OIKB) by three intercepting IRIAF F-4E Phantom II strike fighters (likely 91 TFS).

On a related note, Iran's deputy foreign minister officially apologized for intercepting a Kyrgyz passenger plane in Iranian airspace, Kyrgyzstan's foreign ministry said on Monday.

File photo: Kyrgyzstan Airlines B-737 aircraft

File photos: Babak, Maksimov Maxim @ Airliners.net.

IAEA Chief: Iran Not Cooperating

Iran is not cooperating sufficiently with the UN atomic watchdog in its investigation into the country’s nuclear activities, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said Monday.

"The agency continues ... to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran, but we cannot confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary cooperation," Amano said in his opening address to the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna.

The Iranian program is on top of the agenda of the Vienna meeting. The board of governors can, for the fourth time, refer Iran to UN Security Council that can impose a new round of sanctions against the country.

The Iranian government rejects any claim that its nuclear program has any military dimensions. They believe they have cooperated with IAEA in the past, but the agency, under its new director, is taking side with the US and against Iran.

Iran Losing Race to Qatar in Developing Natural Gas Fields

Correction: The word “Losing” in this post’s original title was misspelled and is now corrected. Our apologies to our readers for the mistake.

South Pars/North Dome natural gas field is the world’s largest, located in the Persian Gulf and shared between Iran and Qatar. The huge field covers nearly 4,000 square kilometers inside Iranian territorial waters, known as South Pars. Qatari field covers 6,000 square kilometers and is known as North Dome. The field’s reserves are estimated at some 1,800 trillion cubic feet (tcf), making it the world’s biggest hydrocarbon accumulation (for comparison, the field’s volume of natural gas reserves is 360 billion barrels of oil equivalent).

The Qatari government so far has invested more than $400 billion in developing North Dome, including the construction of the world’s most modern liquid gas plant and terminal. Iran has invested only $40 billion on South Pars and associated investments in Assaluyeh. As a result, Qatar’s natural gas production from the field surpasses Iran’s by an order of magnitude.

Iranian efforts in developing the South Pars had been hampered by construction delays, which is led by Khatam-ol Anbia, the construction arm of IRGC. Only seven out of the planned 28 phases of construction has been finished so far. ILNA reports that Iranian experts do not expect completion of any additional phases in the next two years [ILNA, 1 March 2010]. Meanwhile Qataris are racing to further develop the North Dome.

As much as IRGC is regarded as the country’s most competent fighting force, their foray into business ventures, such as South Pars, is resulting in major problems for the country’s development projects.

The Iranian government’s economic policies have also greatly contributed to the problems in South Pars. In the first four years of Ahmadinejad’s administration, Iran was selling its crude oil at record prices, reaching $140/bbl. But the government allocated only a small portion of its fortune to develop country’s gas and oil fields. ILNA reports that last year, only 13% of oil revenues were earmarked for oil and gas field maintenance and investment projects [ILNA, 1 MARCH 2010].

It seems a combination of government’s resolve to invest in country’s future and IRGC incompetence in leading civilian development projects are the factors behind Iran’s loosing its race to Qatar in developing its natural gas resources.

Musharraf to Return to Pakistan

Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars reported today that former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf will soon return to Pakistan. Fars’ source is identified as Foad Hossein, Musharraf’s legal advisor.

Iran Frees Four Journalists

Four reformist journalists detained after last year's disputed presidential election in Iran were freed on bail on Sunday. Abdolreza Tajik, Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, Mohammad Javad Mozafar and Behrang Tonkaboni were freed from Tehran's Evin prison.

Khamenei: IAEA Lacks Independence

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today told a gathering in Tehran of Iranian ambassadors abroad that IAEA lacks independence and is influenced by the US. Khamenie alluded to a recent report by the IAEA director on Iran’s nuclear program as a sign of the agency’s lack of independence.

The IAEA Board of Governors will meet on Monday in Vienna to begin four days of discussion on the Iran report. On three previous occasions, the IAEA had referred Iran’s file to the UN Security Council, resulting in three rounds of UN sanctions against the country. The IEAE Board is expected to once again refer Iran to UNSC for its current nuclear program.

Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated Iran’s resolve to continue with its nuclear program. He accused US, Britain and Israel of spreading “lies” about the Iranian program.

Iran Issuing Bonds for Global Markets

Iranian Minister of Economy and Finance Safdar Hosseini announced Tehran would float bonds in foreign markets worth $1.4 billions to finance the development of the latest phases of the country’s huge South Pars natural gas fields in the Persian Gulf. The new bonds will be issued next week.

Iran has been unable to attract direct foreign investments needed to start construction activities in phases 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the South Pars fields, and is now relying on global markets to borrow the capital to develop the gas fields.

In a related development, the Iranian parliament, Majlis, authorized the government to issue additional foreign bonds worth $7 billions to raise capital for the country’s oil industry in the coming Iranian calendar year that starts 21 March. Majlis also authorized the government to issue bonds worth $2.8 billions for the defense and transportation industries.

Experts believe Iran would not be able to raise more than $11 billions in major global markets in the next year. Its ability to raise the capital in the more expensive secondary markets is also not certain.

The government did not announce issuance of any rial-dominated bonds for the Iranian citizens to directly participate in South Pars development.

Devastating Earthquake in Chile

Devastations in Chile

AP Photo

A devastating earthquake rattled Chile early today, toppling homes and collapsing bridges. The 8.8 magnitude quake killed at least 82 people, but the death toll was rising rapidly. President Michele Bachelet declared a "state of catastrophe."

A tsunami set off by the quake is threatening every nation around the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii.

Update (Sunday 28 February): 2 million people are affected by the devastations as the death toll rises above 300.

Inflation Rate Drops to 11.5%

Iran’s Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani announced in Tehran that the annual rate of inflation in the country for the past 12 months dropped to 11.5 percent, the lowest in four years.

Last year, the inflation hit an all-time high of 25 percent. Bahmani attributed the dramatic drop to the Bank’s monetary policies, especially the tightening of available cash. Last year’s dangerously high rates had been attributed to record high prices for oil, the country's main source of income, and converting the petrodollars into rial and injecting it directly into the economy.

The Central Bank’s ability to cut the inflation in half is a major victory for Iran and Bahmani’s leadership at the Central Bank ("Bank-e Markazi").

Iran Releases Number of Reformist Leaders

Iranian authorities on Thursday released a number of reformist leaders arrested in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election. Among freed detainees are Jahanbakhsh Khanjani of Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s Kargozaran party, Laila Tavasoli and Mohammad Naimpour of Freedom Movement and Reza Khandan, a former high-ranking IRGC officer.

Ebrahim Yazdi, one of the founders of the Islamic Republic and former foreign minister under Ayatollah Khomeini, was also released on a 10-day furlough and was immediately transferred to a Tehran hospital.

There are still tens of reformist leaders, journalists and human rights activists behind bars. But in the past few days, many moderates in the conservative camp have joined reformist leaders calling for the release of all political prisoners.

In a related story, new videos of the attacks by uniformed security officers as well as plainclothes Bajij members on University of Tehran’s dormitories have been released. The images show beatings of university students by government agents during the unrests that followed last June’s election.

Iranian laws prohibit the entry of police and security forces into university campus. Few days after the attack, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly denied reports of any involvement by the security forces in the attacks. He called the attackers “unknown elements.” IRGC commander, Maj. Gen. Jafari, had also said that no Basij members were involved in the attacks.

President Ahmadinejad in Damascus, Syria

Nasrallah, Assad and Ahmadinejad meet in Damascus

President Ahmadinejad delivered a speech while visiting President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. This is part of what he had to say:

“The news indicates that they (the Israelis) are about to repeat their past mistakes. President Assad and I know it, the Syrian and Iranian people as well as the other people of our region know it, … if The Zionist entity wants to repeat its mistakes once again [go to war] such a move will lead to its inevitable demise. This time all the people of the region, particularly the people of Syria, Iran, Lebanon and Iraq, and all others will stand against this entity” -President Ahmadinejad

According to Professor Joshua Landis @ Syria Comment: "Interestingly, Lebanon and Iraq are singled out as members of the resistance front. Ahmadinejad is promising that Iraq will be among the nations that will respond to Israeli aggression."

During President Ahmadinejad's visit with President Bashar al-Assad, it was formally agreed to waive visa requirements between Iranian and Syrian citizens.

Photo: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)

'US Supports Terrorism Against Iran': Rigi

From the YouTube channel 91177info:

Captured ringleader of the Jundallah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi, confesses that the Obama administration had assured him of unlimited military aid and funding for waging an insurgency against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The following is the detailed transcript of Rigi's confession, stated in Farsi, as broadcast on Press TV:

"After Obama was elected, the Americans contacted us and they met me in Pakistan. They met us after clashes with my group around March 17 in (the southeastern city of) Zahedan, and he (the US operative) said that Americans had requested a meeting."

"I said we didn't have any time for a meeting and if we do help them they should promise to give us aid. They said they would cooperate with us and will give me military equipment, arms and machine guns. They also promised to give us a base along the border with Afghanistan next to Iran."

"They asked to meet me and we said where should we meet you and he said in Dubai. We sent someone to Dubai and we told a person to ask a place for myself in Afghanistan from the area near the operations and they complied that they would sort out the problem for us and they will find Mr. Rigi a base and guarantee his own security in Afghanistan or in any of the countries adjacent to Iran so that he can carry on his operations.

"They told me that in Kyrgyzstan they have a base called Manas near Bishkek, and that a high-ranking person was coming to meet me and that if such high-ranking people come to the United Arab Emirates, they may be observed by intelligence people but in a place like Bishkek this high-ranking American person could come and we could reach an agreement on making personal contacts. But after the last major operation we took part in, they said that they wanted to meet with us.

"The Americans said Iran was going its own way and they said our problem at the present is Iran not al-Qaeda and not the Taliban, but the main problem is Iran. We don't have a military plan against Iran. Attacking Iran is very difficult for us (the US). The CIA is very particular about you and is prepared to do anything for you because our government has reached the conclusion that there was nothing Americans could do about Iran and only I could take care of the operations for them.

"One of the CIA officers said that it was too difficult for us to attack Iran militarily, but we plan to give aid and support to all anti-Iran groups that have the capability to wage war and create difficulty for the Iranian (Islamic) system. They reached the conclusion that your organization has the power to create difficulties for the Islamic Republic and they are prepared to give you training and/or any assistance that you would require, in terms of telecommunications security and procedures as well as other support, the Americans said they would be willing to provide it at an extensive level."

Iran's security forces arrested Rigi on Tuesday by bringing down his plane over Iranian airspace, as he was onboard a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Kyrgyzstan.

Rigi Capture Operation: Graphic & Video- Part 2

click to enlarge

Graphic depicting Rigi capture operation. Rigi's passenger plane (likely B-737, Kyrgyzstan Airlines QH 454, operated by Eastok Avia), enroute from Dubai (DXB / OMDB) to Bishkek-Manas, Kyrgyzstan (FRU / UAFM), with 113 passengers onboard, is forced to land at Bandar Abbas/TFB.9 (BND / OIKB) by two intercepting IRIAF F-4E Phantom II strike fighters of 91 TFS.

VEVAK commandos stormed the aircraft and apprehended Rigi. From Bandar Abbas/TFB.9, he was placed onboard an IRIAF Dassault Falcon (Mystere) 20E, flown to an undisclosed location (likely Mehrababd/TFB.1) and incarcerated.

New video. Quick translation: Rigi went to a US military base in Afghanistan; he traveled to Dubai and boarded a plane to Kyrgyzstan; from there he planned to travel to Europe. While in Iranian airspace, Rigi's plane was forced to land in Iran.

Clinton: China to Back Iran Sanctions

Secretary of States Hillary Clinton said today in Washington that in recent days China has moved closer to US position on imposing further economic sanctions against Iran [AP, 24 February]. Clinton now expects China to back a new set of UN sanctions against Iran.

Clinton said the US has pursued an approach to Iran "that has exposed its refusal to live up to its responsibilities and helped us achieve a new unity with our international partners."

"Iran has left the international community little choice but to impose greater costs and pressure in the face of its provocative steps," Clinton said. "We are now working actively with our partners to prepare and implement new measures to pressure Iran to change its course."

Clinton also said that the US Congress might impose its own set of economic sanctions against Iran, tougher than the UN sanctions. But the US prefers UN sanctions, she said, for their powerful symbolism.

In a related story, Iran today formally filed its response to IAEA proposal made five months ago on enriched uranium swap arrangement. Iran’s response has set additional conditions for simultaneous swap inside the Iranian territory. The six major powers are expected to reject Iran’s conditions. Washington called Iran’s response as “red herring.”