CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN IRAN

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN IRAN

By Reza Pahlavi 01/21/12

My Dear Compatriots and Freedom loving citizens of the World,

Today I am submitting the following report to the United Nations Security Council on crimes against humanity, ordered by Mr Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and carried out on the people of Iran. The focus of the attached "Report on Crimes Against Humanity Committed in Iran on the Orders of Mr. Ali Khamenei Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran" are the crimes against humanity committed to suppress popular dissent after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fraudulent re-election in June 2009. The evidence in this report provides sufficient cause for the United Nations Security Council to take up this matter and refer it quickly to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. However, for the past thirty-three years, the Supreme Leaders of the Islamic Republic have had in place a policy and record of oppression against ethnic communities and religious minorities. I intend to file further supporting reports documenting the abuses of these Iranian citizens and will summarize these crimes in another report.


This attached report along with the cover letter is addressed to the following recipients:

The Right Honorable President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China
The Right Honorable President Nicolas Sarkozy of the French Republic
The Right Honorable President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia
The Right Honorable President Barack Obama of the United States
His Excellency Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom


His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco
Her Excellency Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany
His Excellency Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho of Portugal
His Excellency Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India
The Right Honorable President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan
The Right Honorable President Juan Manuel Santos Calderan of Colombia
The Right Honorable ... Read More

Pay for Your Subscriptions to Keep the Voice of Iran Alive

Keep the "Voice of Iran" Alive

For over 20 years KRSI (Radio Sedaye Iran) has been in pursuit of exposing the true identity and nature of the Islamic Regime. Our resolve has been to give a voice to the people of Iran in order to achieve freedom from the plague that has ravaged our country for the past 30 long years. As you know the events from the previous year will only intensify and so will our determination. By continuing our efforts as well as the support from readers, listeners and freedom loving people such as your self we hope that the end to this struggle is near.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta

Israel could attack Iran over nuclear program as early as April: U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta

War hysteria continues to grip the Middle East, as heightened anxieties over Iran's surreptitious nuclear program have the U.S. Defense Secretary on edge.

Leon Panetta said Thursday that Israel could launch attacks against Iran as early as April or May in effort to stop Tehran from building a nuclear bomb.

Panetta made the initial remarks to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who said Israelis are worried the Iranians have enough enriched uranium and only the U.S. could stop them militarily.

When asked in Brussels if he disputed the report, Panetta said, "No I'm just commenting," adding "What I think and what I view, I consider that to be an area that belongs to me and nobody else." He noted the U.S. has "indicated our concerns."

Panetta's comments come after Israel issued a harsh warning that time was running out to stop Iran's ambitious nuclear program.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at a news conference that the country should confront Iran to keep its nuclear program from continuing to grow and argued that foreign governments would support such an attack.

And Yoram Cohen, head of Israeli security agency Shin Bet, added fuel to the fire, insisting Iranian agents were attempting to attack Israeli targets in retaliation for the assassination of four Iranian nuclear scientists since November 2010.

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chimed in on Friday, promising to help any nation or group that wants to confront Israel and vowed to continue its nuclear program.

He called Israel a "cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut," blasting Western-backed oil sanctions and warning the U.S. will be defeated if Washington decides to use military force to halt the country's program.

A statement by Intelligence Director James Clapper, delivered to the Senate earlier this week, said U.S. intelligence agencies to do not think Iran is currently developing nuclear weapons, but Iranian ... Read More

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran Threatens to Strike Back Against Sanctions, Attack

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Friday that Iran will retaliate against Western-backed oil sanctions and threats of attack, as media reports say U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta fears Israel could strike Iran in the next few months.

Israel's intentions

A report Thursday in The Washington Post, later backed by other news outlets, said Panetta worries Israel could attack Iran as early as April to stop Tehran's progress on a possible nuclear bomb. Iran insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes.

Panetta was not directly quoted in the report and has not commented on it.

Khamenei's comments came in a speech on state television Friday as he marked the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Sanctions

Khamenei said sanctions will have no effect on Iran's determination to continue its controversial nuclear program. He also said Iran will back any nation or group that intends to confront Israel.

Israel is among the nations, including the United States, that suspect Iran may be enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons. Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, while the United States is pushing for increased international sanctions instead.

In retaliation for any further action, Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world's oil is shipped.

Iran reports launch of small satellite into orbit

Iran reports launch of small satellite into orbit

Iran successfully launched a new small satellite into orbit early Friday, state media reported, the latest in the country's ambitious space program that has raised concerns because if its possible military applications.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called in to the launch site, saying he was "hopeful this act will send a signal of more friendship among all human beings," the state IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA said the home-made satellite, Navid, or Gospel, was designed to collect data on weather conditions and monitor for natural disasters.


It said the satellite weighs about 110 pounds and would orbit the earth at an altitude of up to 234 miles, circling the planet 15 times a day. It's of a type known as miniaturized or microsatellites, which are cheaper to produce and allow for less costly launch vehicles.

Navid, produced at an Iranian engineering university, is the third small satellite that Iran launched over the past years and is expected to remain in orbit for about two months. The two earlier satellites -- Omid, launched in 2009, and Rasad, sent into orbit in June 2011 -- lasted three weeks and 82 days, respectively. IRNA said Navid has advanced control technology, a higher resolution camera and photocells to generate power.

The satellite was sent into orbit by a missile launch-vehicle dubbed Safir, or Ambassador in Farsi, which IRNA described as having 20 percent more launch power, compared to earlier versions of satellite carrier missiles.

An Iranian website, Irannuc.ir, claimed Safir was a ballistic missile that can be converted into an intercontinental missile. State TV showed footage of the launch, with a rocket sent off and turning into a light point in the darkness of the skies.

Iran's decade-old space program has raised alarms in the West, because the same technology that allows missiles to launch satellites can be used to fire warheads.

Israel, the U.S. and others charge that Iran is trying ... Read More

BBC accuses Iran of "bullying and harassment" of its staff and their relatives

BBC accuses Iran of "bullying and harassment" of its staff and their relatives

The head of the BBC on Friday accused Iran of intimidating staff members of its Persian service through slander, snooping and the arrest of their relatives.

BBC director-general Mark Thompson said "a campaign of bullying and harassment" against the broadcaster had worsened in recent months.

Thompson said in a blog post that last week the sister of a BBC Persian staff member was detained and held in solitary confinement in a Tehran prison. She has since been released.

He said it was one of several occasions on which employees' relatives have been detained and "urged to get their relatives in London to either stop working for the BBC, or to "cooperate" with Iranian intelligence officials."

Thompson said staff members' email and Facebook accounts had been hacked, and they had faced false accusations of sexual assault, drug trafficking and financial crimes in official Iranian media outlets.

Britain's Middle East minister, Alistair Burt, said Iranian officials' deplorable tactics illustrate again the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, and the desperation of the Iranian regime to silence any independent voices."

"The international community has repeatedly called on the Iranian authorities to cease harassment and intimidation of journalists and to prevent illegal jamming of broadcasts," he said. "We will continue to do so."

Diplomatic relations between Britain and Iran have deteriorated as tensions mount over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Britain downgraded ties with Iran following a major attack on its embassy in Tehran in November, which it insists was sanctioned by the Islamic republic's ruling elite.

After the attack, Britain pulled all of its diplomats out of Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats from U.K. soil.

Iran has repeatedly jammed the broadcasts of BBC's Persian-language service and other international broadcasters, and last month Britain's broadcast regulator revoked the ... Read More

Iran policy not swayed by phone firm, S.Africa says

Iran policy not swayed by phone firm, S.Africa says

By David Dolan

South Africa denied on Friday it had been pressured by MTN Group into backing Tehran's nuclear programme and aiding its military when the Johannesburg-based mobile operator was bidding for a telephone licence in Iran.

"South Africa's foreign policy is independent and it cannot be influenced by anyone," Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela said.

MTN is the latest South African company to come under scrutiny for its dealings in Iran. Petrochemical group Sasol said in November it may sell its operations there.

The spotlight on South Africa's relations with Iran is uncomfortable for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) government of President Jacob Zuma.

While Pretoria has been reluctant to join the West in imposing sanctions, it has stopped short of open support for Iran, which supplies a quarter of its crude.
MTN, Africa's biggest mobile operator, is facing a lawsuit in a U.S. court from rival Turkcell over its licence in Iran.

Turkcell, which unsuccessfully bid for the Iranian licence awarded to MTN in 2004, confirmed on Friday its case against MTN was under way.

"Talks between our company and MTN have been conducted for some time and these talks are continuing. As a sign of our company's goodwill and desire to continue these talks, a statement will not be made about this issue until the said talks are completed," Turkcell said.

Turkcell planned to allege that MTN encouraged South Africa to take a favourable stance towards Iran's nuclear development programme, MTN said.

The leading Turkish mobile firm will also accuse MTN of asking Pretoria to provide military equipment to Iran and bribing officials of both governments in order to win the licence, MTN said.

MTN dismissed the allegations as having no legal merit, but its shares tumbled as much as 4.4 percent before recouping some losses. The shares were also hit by a downgrade from brokerage Credit ... Read More

Syrian protesters burn a portrait of Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei (left) during a protest in Kfar Nubul

Iran bans nationals from road travel to Syria

Iran banned its citizens on Friday from travelling to Syria by road following the abduction of nearly 30 Iranians in the escalating uprising in its key Middle East ally, state media reported.

"Due to the terrorist acts against Iranian pilgrims who are taking road trips to the holy sites in Syria, from Friday and until further notice road trips to this destination are forbidden," the head of Iran's passport and immigration police, Mahmoud Sadeqi, told the official IRNA news agency.

Sadeqi appealed to nationals to travel to Syria, a major pilgrimage destination for Iran's Shiite majority, only by plane.

Eleven Iranian pilgrims were kidnapped last Wednesday in the central Syrian city of Hama, IRNA reported. Another 11 were reported abducted on January 26.

A group of seven Iranian engineers were kidnapped near the central city of Homs in late December, bringing the total to 29, according to IRNA.

Last week, the rebel Free Syrian Army claimed to have captured five Iranian military officers in Homs, and urged Tehran to withdraw any other troops it may have in Syria. It was not clear whether the five referred to were among the seven abducted engineers or were a separate group.

Tehran has called on Damascus "to use all means... to release" the captive Iranians.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranian pilgrims travel to Syria each year to visit Sayyeda Zeinab, a revered Shiite shrine just south of Damascus.

Syria is also Iran's principal ally in the Middle East. The United States and France accuse Iran of supplying Syria with arms to put down a rebellion that has seen more than 6,000 people killed since last March, according to human rights groups.

Iraq eyes waiver on U.S. Iran sanctions

Iraq eyes waiver on U.S. Iran sanctions

By Patrick Markey

Iraq could seek a waiver from the United States on sanctions on Iran because of its high trade with the neighboring country and to protect its foreign reserves from penalties, an Iraqi government spokesman said on Friday.

The U.S. government in December signed a law imposing sanctions on financial institutions dealing with Iran's central bank, the main channel for its oil revenues and the European Union has also announced a ban on Iranian oil shipments.

Iraq's Shi'ite-led government has moved closer to Tehran since the 2003 invasion and Iran is now Iraq's main trade partner after neighboring Turkey.

Tehran said last year it planned to boost bilateral trade to $10 billion in 2011 from $6 billion in 2010.

"Iraq is considering a waiver from the United States in order not to violate any sanctions," Iraq government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. "We are exposed to any penalties on countries not following U.S. sanctions."

Japan is also weighing a possible waiver on the new U.S. sanctions and is seeking ways to reduce its reliance on Iranian crude shipments.

DELICATE ISSUE

Under the U.S. law, the White House can exempt institutions in a country that has significantly reduced its dealings with Iran and in situations where a waiver is in U.S. national security interest or necessary for energy market stability.

Iraq has $60 billion in foreign reserves, most of which are generated by its oil revenues. Countries and companies trading with Iran risk being barred from the U.S. financial system under the terms of the sanctions.

The U.S. government has so far not been officially contacted on the waiver by Iraq, a U.S. embassy spokesman said.

The Iranian sanctions are a delicate issue for Baghdad, which has strong political ties with neighboring Iran and Syria, which is also facing international penalties.

The Islamic Republic now provides Iraq with fuel and electricity for its ... Read More

EU planning sanctions against Iran telecoms sector

EU planning sanctions against Iran telecoms sector

By Justyna Pawlak and Julien Toyer

European Union governments could ban the sales of some telecommunications equipment to Iran in the coming months under plans for new sanctions discussed by EU experts in Brussels.

EU diplomats said on Friday the bloc's 27 governments have reached an agreement in principle to target equipment that could be used by the Iranian authorities for monitoring of anti-government dissent.

The new round of sanctions could also raise the number of officials affected by asset freezes and visa bans under the EU's program to target human rights abuses in the country.

Diplomats stressed that the measures were separate from EU efforts to ratchet up pressure against Tehran over its disputed nuclear program with sanctions against its oil industry and financial sector.

"There is a political deal to include in the next round of sanctions a mechanism to ban the purchase and sale of telecommunications equipments which could be used to carry out interceptions or to spy," one EU diplomat said.

Discussions on the measures at an expert level will continue in the coming weeks, diplomats said, and there was no target date yet for reaching a final agreement or for implementation.

One diplomat said the EU could try to introduce the new package in April, when an initial round of sanctions related to human rights abuses comes up for renewal.

But others said there were still disagreements among some EU members states over which officials could be included.

The EU already has imposed sanctions against 61 Iranian officials under its human rights sanctions program. Some capitals are cautious about extending the list given concerns as to whether there is sufficient evidence to name individuals.

Iran has come under increased criticism from the United Nations in recent months over human rights violations.

The U.N. General Assembly's rights committee passed a resolution in November expressing ... Read More

Iran to raise jet fuel exports

Iran to raise jet fuel exports

Iran said on Friday it planned to increase its jet fuel exports to neighbouring countries by launching a new pipeline this month, the state-run Press TV quoted an oil official as saying.

"The 12.5 kilometer-long pipeline, aimed at increasing the exports of jet fuel, will come on stream in Bandar Abbas, the capital of southern Hormozgan province, in February," the English-language Press TV quoted Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami as saying on Friday.

Zeighami did not make clear to which countries Iran planned to export the fuel, but Iranian officials have previously said the Islamic state will start exporting jet fuel to Afghanistan in 2012.

Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil producer, has been slapped by international sanctions over its disputed nuclear activities, which the West suspects are aimed at making atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Iranian officials have repeatedly shrugged off the impact of sanctions, saying the Islamic state had become more self-reliant.

Energy officials said in September the Islamic state had started exporting jet fuel, and Zeighami said on Friday a new jet fuel production unit had been launched at Kermanshah refinery in western Iran, without giving more details.

Once the pipeline becomes operational, Iran's loading capacity of oil products in the Persian Gulf will increase, he said.

In January Washington and the EU imposed the toughest sanctions yet in a drive to force Tehran to provide more information on its nuclear programme. The measures take direct aim at the ability of OPEC's second-biggest oil exporter to sell its crude.

EU leaders agreed to implement their own embargo on Iranian oil by July and to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank, joining the United States in a new round of measures aimed at deflecting Tehran's nuclear development programme.

Iran's standoff with the West over its nuclear programme has complicated Tehran's oil exports and prompted ... Read More

German Chancellor Angela Merkel inspects a guard of honour during an official welcoming ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing February 2, 2012

Germany's Merkel urges China to use influence on Iran

By Lucy Hornby and Andreas Rinke

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged China on Thursday to use its influence to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program, at the start of a three-day visit when she will also seek China's support for the ailing euro.

Merkel is expected to make the case for tighter sanctions on Iran, originally proposed by the United States and designed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. She said she has already had "long discussions" with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on Iran sanctions.

"If we talk about the European sanctions against Iran, the question is how China can make better use of its influence to make Iran understand that the world must not have another power with nuclear weapons," Merkel told an audience at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Merkel's China visit illustrates the delicate nature of EU-China relations, where Europe pushes China to sacrifice its commercial interests to help on Iran while at the same time asking for its help in resolving a worsening debt crisis.

Indeed, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao appeared to reject the pressure to do more on Iran, telling journalists later in the day that China objected to Western nations politicizing the "normal commercial relationship" it has with the Islamic Republic, echoing language China has used before.

Wen also said that China was considering greater involvement in the stability funds that have been set up to help pull Europe out of its deepening debt crisis.

China, with its $3.2 trillion worth foreign exchange reserves, is often seen as a potential source for the funds that are needed to bail out some European governments.

RELUCTANT ON IRAN

Merkel said she hoped the U.N. Security Council could pass a unanimous resolution on the Iran issue.

The United States imposed the harshest sanctions on Iran when President Barack Obama, on December 31, signed into law sanctions on ... Read More

General Aviv Kochavi, Israel's chief of military intelligence

Iran has material for 4 nuclear bombs: Israeli general

Iran has enough radioactive material to produce four nuclear bombs, Israel's chief of military intelligence, General Aviv Kochavi, asserted at a security conference on Thursday.

"Today international intelligence agencies are in agreement with Israel that Iran has close to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of uranium enriched to 20 percent, which is enough to produce four bombs," he told the annual Herzliya conference.

"Iran is very actively pursuing its efforts to develop its nuclear capacities, and we have evidence that they are seeking nuclear weapons," he said.

"We estimate they would need a year from when the order is given to produce a weapon."

Israel and much of the international community have long accused Iran of using its nuclear programme to mask a drive for weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

The Jewish state has pushed for tough sanctions against Iran and warned that it retains the option of a military strike if necessary to prevent Tehran from obtaining atomic weapons.

Israel has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, which international experts believe contains between 100 and 300 nuclear warheads, but has never confirmed or denied such reports.

Speaking at the same conference, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon said Iranian nuclear facilities, believed to be underground and heavily reinforced, were not immune to attack.

"In my military experience, any site protected by humans can be penetrated by humans," said Yaalon, a former head of Israel's armed forces, in comments broadcast on Israeli public radio. "At the end of the day all their sites can be hit."

"We argue that one way or another the Iranian military nuclear programme must be stopped," he added. "Such an unconventional regime must not have an unconventional (weapons) capability.'

"A combination of tools are available to the West," Yaalon said. "That combination must include diplomatic isolation of the regime; the ... Read More

EU Parliament Calls on Iran to End Threats of Hormuz Blockade

EU Parliament Calls on Iran to End Threats of Hormuz Blockade

By Jonathan Stearns

The European Parliament urged Iran to back down from threats to block shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the disruption to trade could stoke international tensions.

"Such an act could lead to a regional conflict and trigger retaliation by the international community," the 27-nation European Union assembly said in a resolution approved today in Brussels.

Iran has threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of globally traded oil passes, as the EU prepares to ban imports of Iranian petroleum starting on July 1. The European plan, approved by EU governments last month, stems from concerns that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

The EU Parliament said the oil embargo could help persuade the Iranian government "to accept and respect" United Nations resolutions on the country's nuclear activities. The Iranian regime says its atomic program is for civilian purposes including electricity production.

In its resolution, the 754-seat EU Parliament also said it "regrets" the refusal of China and Russia in the UN Security Council to back sanctions against Iran.

Defense minister warns that Iranian nuclear facilities will soon be too heavily fortified for military action to succeed; says sanctions cannot be called successful until they stop Tehran's nuclear progress.

Barak: Iran's nuclear program nearing 'immunity zone'

By YAAKOV KATZ

Iran's nuclear program is nearing the stage when it will enter the so-called "immunity zone" when it will be too heavily fortified for a military strike to succeed, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned on Thursday night.

Barak was referring to Iran's recent decision to activate the Fordow enrichment facility which is buried close to 100 meters under a mountain near the city of Qom. Barak has said in the past that Fordow could not be destroyed in a conventional military strike.

Speaking at the Herziliya Conference, Barak said that there was a consensus around the world that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon and posed a severe threat to the future of the Middle East and particularly to Israel's security.

"Many analysts estimate that a nuclear Iran will be more complicated to deal with, more dangerous and more costly in blood than if it is stopped today," Barak said. "Whoever says later might find that it will be too late."

Barak said that the sanctions were a "step in the right direction" but that they could not be called a success until they succeeded in obtaining the desired goal - a stop to Iran's nuclear program.

Iranian-American Amir Hekmati has been sentenced to death by Iran’s Revolutionary Court on the charge of spying.

Why many Iranian-Americans are wary of Tehran, and vice versa

By Howard LaFranchi

When, in early January, Iran sentenced Arizona-born Iranian-American Amir Hekmati to death for allegedly spying for the CIA, the case cast a spotlight on a prosperous American community that had long lived under the radar. Not anymore.

With US-Iran tensions rising over recent months to what some fear is the brink of war, a community that long shunned politics in favor of professional and academic advancement is ramping up its profile.

And signs are growing that the Iranian regime has taken notice and is acting to chill the trend. Activists in the United States cite the Hekmati case, but also warnings in the form of Facebook and other electronic messages sent to Iranian-Americans who have gone public with pro-democracy views.

Even the mysterious mid-January murder in Houston of a young Iranian-American woman, Gelareh Bagherzadeh, who had converted to Christianity and taken up the cause of human rights in Iran, has some Iranian-Americans wondering who is behind a killing that has stumped police. She was shot in her car five days after Iran vowed to retaliate for the killing of a nuclear scientist in Tehran.

For years after the advent of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iranian-Americans kept their heads down, focusing on professional practices and business pursuits in enclaves in northern New Jersey and in Washington, D.C.; Dallas; and "Tehrangeles" which boasts the largest concentration of Iranians outside Iran. But Iran's captivating yet ultimately unsuccessful "Green Revolution" in June 2009 awakened a hope for change that has led to a rise of political activity in the US, many Iranian-Americans say. Increasingly, the activity of a community that maintains very close ties to Iran is aimed at influencing US-Iran relations.

The case of Mr. Hekmati, age 28, a former US Marine and video-game specialist who, according to his family, went to Tehran last summer to visit his grandmothers, suggests the close-knit ... Read More

A few members of the Senate Banking Committee

U.S. lawmakers urge SWIFT to drop Iranian banks

By Roberta Rampton

Senators agreed on Thursday to a plan that would pressure a global electronic platform used by the world's banks to stop providing services to Iranian banks blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury.

The proposed measure is part of a package of new sanctions passed by the Senate Banking Committee that lawmakers hope will further crimp revenues that they say Tehran is using to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies seeking nuclear arms.

If accepted, the provision would push the White House to press SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, to shut out Iran's central bank and its other financial institutions from the infrastructure used for moving money between banks around the world.

"It is inconsistent and troubling that financial communications services providers continue to service those financial institutions" in Iran that are otherwise subject to sanctions, said the text of the measure, proposed by Democratic Senator Robert Menendez.

If the services provider failed to act, the measure would allow the Treasury Department to sanction Belgium-based SWIFT and the banks that own it 90 days after enactment. The final decision on sanctions would be left to the White House.

A SWIFT spokeswoman said earlier this week that the company is "neutral and apolitical" and noted it complies with all sanctions laws.

Cutting Iranian banks out of SWIFT would have a "very disruptive impact" on the banks' ability to do business, said Jeanne Archibald, partner with Hogan Lovells law firm in Washington, who advises international clients on sanctions compliance.

"SWIFT messages are kind of the glue for the worldwide banking system," Archibald said in an interview.

Iran's currency has fallen sharply in recent weeks because of sanctions from the United States and other Western nations, many of which target its ability to sell oil.

The SWIFT provision was part of a broad package ... Read More

Stranded grain ships diverting from Iran ports

Stranded grain ships diverting from Iran ports

By Jonathan Saul

Up to five ships carrying grain to Iran have been diverted to new destinations as European Union sanctions hold up payments and start to hamper staple food supplies to the Islamic Republic, ship tracking data showed on Thursday.

Around 400,000 tonnes of grain has been held up on at least 10 vessels for as long as three weeks outside Iranian ports, trade sources told Reuters.

AIS live vessel tracking on Reuters showed on Thursday up to five vessels had diverted to destinations including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore after waiting mainly outside the Bandar Imam Khomeini, one of Iran's largest grain terminals.

The EU agreed last week to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank as part of further sanctions aimed at stepping up pressure on Iran's disputed nuclear programme.

The tougher trade embargo has meant major EU banks have pulled back from financing grain shipments to Iran, a major importer of foodstuffs and animal feed.

"While the primary objective of U.S. and European sanctions was to hit the Iranian regime's oil revenues, it was not lost on anyone that the targeting of Bank Markazi (Iran's central bank) would have ripple effects across the country's economy -- including the facility with which Iran can import not just grain, but also other staples like sugar," said J. Peter Pham, with the Atlantic Council, a U.S. think-tank.

"Given that these food imports only account for about 15 percent of the Iranian market, there is no danger of starvation or other humanitarian catastrophe. But it is gravely inconvenient and will force increasingly unattractive choices on the regime."

A trade source said at least two vessels carrying an estimated 70,000 tonnes of grain had left for Singapore. AIS tracking showed a further three dry bulk vessels were on their way to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

"There is no prohibition on discharging cargoes (in Iran) but they can't because ... Read More

Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for a former CIA operative in Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the author of the award winning book, "A Time to Betray"

Ex-CIA spy: History of failed negotiations shows Iran won't deal

By Reza Kahlili

President Obama, in his State of the Union Address, said he will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons and that all options to prevent that are on the table.
More importantly, Obama said the Islamic regime, which fuels terrorism worldwide and oppresses its own people at home, could still rejoin the international community "if it changes course and meets its obligations." That is not going to happen despite glimmers of hope after a trip of UN nuclear inspectors to Iran this week.

As a former CIA spy in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, I wrote a cautionary, open letter to President Obama when he took office three years ago. I said I was worried that he failed to see the realities of the regime's fanaticism.

In offering to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program, Mr. Obama must have believed that the aggressive policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, were to blame for the lack of progress. But I reminded the new president of the long history of attempted rapprochement by every US administration, each attempt ending in failure.

I explained that the very ideology of Iran's Islamic leaders was the sole reason for no progress in a negotiated settlement. They simply would not close an honest deal with infidels.

In the 1980s, the Reagan administration was involved in deep negotiations with Iran over arms sales and normalization of US-Iranian ties. National Security Council staffer Oliver North could barely contain himself over the prospect of peace with Iran.

Hashemi Rafsanjani, then speaker of Parliament, promised American authorities resumption of diplomatic relations once the founder of the Islamic regime, Ayatollah Khomeini, was dead. In exchange, he asked for arms and America's help in diminishing Saddam Hussein's Iraqi military machine.

I was in the Revolutionary Guard then, but as a CIA spy. My Guard commander mocked the Americans for believing Speaker Rafsanjani's promises. The ... Read More

Herman Nackaerts, head of a delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), talks to journalists on his way to Iran at the international airport in Vienna

IAEA, Iran to meet again after "good" talks

By Michael Shields

Senior U.N. nuclear inspectors plan another trip to Iran later this month after holding what both sides described as good talks on the Islamic state's disputed atomic program.

The Jan 29-31 talks in Tehran were a rare direct dialogue in the long-running international stand-off, which has worsened in recent weeks as the West pursues a punitive embargo on Iranian oil and Tehran threatens retaliation.

"The Agency is committed to intensifying dialogue. It remains essential to make progress on substantive issues," Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a statement.

Tehran says its uranium enrichment program is solely for peaceful electricity generation and has dismissed allegations that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons as baseless.

Led by the U.N. agency's global head of inspections, the IAEA team returned on Wednesday from three days of meetings in Iran to try to end three years of deadlock in efforts to resolve the questions about Tehran's nuclear work.

The fact both sides said talks would resume suggested the round just completed at least created some basis for progress.

"We are committed to resolve all the outstanding issues and the Iranians said they are committed too," Herman Nackaerts, IAEA deputy director general, told reporters after returning from Tehran.

"But of course there is still a lot of work to be done and so we have planned another trip in the very near future."

Asked if he was satisfied with the talks, Nackaerts said: "Yeah, we had a good trip."

He described the talks as "intensive discussions" with their Iranian counterparts but declined to give any more details, saying he first needed to brief his boss, Amano.

Later, the IAEA issued a brief statement saying another meeting would take place from Feb 21-22 in Tehran.

The U.N. agency said it had explained to Iran its "concerns and identified ... Read More