Kenyan Court Convicts Two Iranian of Terror Plot

UPDATE: The Kenyan court on Monday 6 May sentenced the two Iranian men to life in prison for planning to carry out bombings in Nairobi and other cities last year. (Reuters)

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Two Iranian nationals, Mansour Mousavi and Ahmad Abolfathi Mohammadi, were found guilty Thursday by a Kenyan court of plotting to attack Western targets inside Kenya. They were arrested last June and reportedly led the officials to a 15-kilogram (33-pound) stash of the explosive RDX.


Magistrate Kaire Waweru Kiare said the prosecution “has proved beyond reasonable doubt all counts against the two.” Kiare will sentence them on Monday. Prosecutors had accused the two of having explosives “in circumstances that indicated they were armed with the intent to commit a felony, namely, acts intended to cause grievous harm.” (AFP, 2 May)



Kenyan security officials had claimed the two Iranians were members of IRGC’s Quds Force.

“The police have information that the applicants (suspects) have a vast network in the country meant to execute explosive attacks against government installations, public gatherings and foreign establishments,” Police Sgt. Erick Opagal, an investigator with Kenya’s Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, in an affidavit.

The two Iranians arrived in Kenya on June 12, 2012, and traveled to the coastal city of Mombasa on the same day to receive the explosives, Opagal’s affidavit said. They traveled back to Nairobi after receiving the explosive from an accomplice who is still at large, it said. Opagal said the two were arrested on June 19 in Nairobi and led officers to some of the explosives hidden at a Mombasa golf course.

Photo credit: Iranian nationals Mansour Mousavi, center, and Ahmad Abolfathi Mohammadi, right, in the magistrates court in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP/Khalil Senosi)

Fresh Round of Iran Nuclear Talks in Istanbul

The EU's top diplomat Catherine Ashton will meet chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in Istanbul on 15 May.

“The talks are a follow-up to the last round of negotiations held in Almaty,” Ashton’s office announced today. (AFP, 2 May)

The Almaty talks were held on 5 and 6 April but produced no accord. Ashton said after those talks that the two sides remain “far apart.” In her talks with Jalili, she will represent the P5+1 countries -– United States, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany as well as the EU.

File photo: EU’s Catherine Ashton (Spiegel)

Senior Iranian Diplomat Detained in Tehran

Iranian Foreign Ministry today confirmed an earlier report by Reuters that the security agents in Tehran have detained a senior Iranian diplomat. Bagher Asadi, who was a senior member of Iran's U.N. mission in New York and was most recently a director at the secretariat of the D8 group of developing nations in Istanbul, was arrested in mid-March.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) said in its news broadcast today that a senior Foreign Ministry officer has confirmed the arrest and detention of Mr. Bagheri. (IRINN, 2 May)

The authorities have not revealed the charges against Bagheri. In January 2004, he wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times supporting the reformist policies of then-President Khatami. He warned of the potential negative consequences of a conservative victory in the 2005 presidential election. Ahmadinejad won that election.

File photo: Bagher Asadi (right) with Kamal Kharazi, then Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., and Kofi Annan, then the U.N. Secretary General, in an undated photo (g77.org/BBC)

Iran Oil Exports at 26-Year Low

Iran’s oil exports totaled $69 billion in 2012, a 27 percent decline from $95 billion in 2011, U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) reported today. The DoE estimates put Iran’s oil exports in 2012 at 1.5 million bpd, a 26-year low, and 25 percent lower than the 2.5 million bpd in 2011. (UPI, 1 May)

With payments for oil exports effectively blocked, Iran has begun trading oil in local currencies, like the rupee in India, using them to purchase local goods.

The trend of lower oil exports is expected to continue in 2013, with exports at significantly less volume than last year. The Financial Times observes, “at some point Tehran will be forced to cut already low production.”

File photo: Iran's main oil export terminal at Kharq Island (Getty Images)

Iran Election 2013: List of announced candidates, to date

Registration of presidential candidates takes place from 7 to 11 May 2013. After the registration step, registered candidates qualified by the Guardian Council will be placed on the ballot.

Persons that have publicly announced their intention to run for president:

Conservatives

Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister of Foreign Affairs (2005–2010)

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Minister of Interior (2005–2008)

Mohsen Rezaee, Secretary of Expediency Discernment Council (since 1997)

Ruhollah Ahmadzadeh, Head of Cultural Heritage Organization (2011-2012)

Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi Fard, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament (2010–2011)

Yahya Ale Eshaq, Minister of Commerce (1993–1997)

Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament (since 2011)

Ali Fallahian, Minister of Intelligence (1989–1997) 

Kamran Bagheri Lankarani, Minister of Health (2005–2009)

Alireza Zakani, Member of the Parliament (since 2004) 

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Mayor of Tehran (since 2005)

Reformists

Mohammad-Reza Aref, First Vice President (2001–2005)

Mostafa Kavakebian, Member of the Parliament (2004–2012)

Mohammad Shariatmadari, Minister of Commerce (1997–2005).

Hossein Kamali, Minister of Labor (1988-1997)

Hassan Rouhani, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (1989–2005)

Akbar A'lami, Member of the Parliament (2000–2008)

Independents

Hooshang Amirahmadi, Academic and political analyst 

Mohammed Bagher Kharrazi, Leader of Hezbollah of Iran (since 1990)

Mohammad Saeedikia, Minister of Housing and Urban Development (2005–2009)

Hassan Sobhani, Member of the Parliament (1996–2008)

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Potential

Gholam-Hossein Elham, Minister of Justice (2006–2009)

Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, Speaker of the Parliament (2004–2008)

Eshaq Jahangiri, Minister of Mines (1997–2005)[citation needed]

Saeed Jalili, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (since 2007)

Mohammad Khatami, President (1997–2005)
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, President (1989-1997)

Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Parliament (since 2008)

Mohsen Mehralizadeh, Head of the National Sports Organization (2000–2005)

Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Chief Staff of the President (since 2009)

Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, First Vice President (since 2009)

Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, Governor of West Azerbaijan (1990–1994)

Ali Akbar Salehi, Minister of Foreign Affairs (since 2010)

Ali Nikzad, Minister of Transportation (since 2011)

Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad, Deputy Minister of Interior (1981–1995)

Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Minister of Petroleum (1997–2005)

Habibollah Bitaraf, Minister of Energy (1997–2005)

Abdolali Bazargan, Leader of Freedom Movement (since 2011)

Ali Akbar Velayati, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1981–1997)

Mehdi Chamran, Chairman of City Council of Tehran (since 2003)

Source: Wikipedia