Réalité-EU Analysis

Round up of Today’s International News
Compiled by Gerlinde Gerber: gerlinde.gerber@realite-eu.org
28/01/10

EUROPE

Siemens says to reject new orders from Iran
German engineering conglomerate Siemens said on Tuesday it would reject any further orders from Iran as world powers consider imposing wider sanctions on Tehran over its disputed nuclear activity. Germany, one of six countries seeking to persuade Iran to suspend its atomic work, is one of the biggest exporters to Iran despite three rounds of modest United Nations sanctions prompted by past Iranian evasions of U.N. nuclear monitoring.

German firms in no rush to follow Siemens Iran exit
Siemens' decision to wind down business with Iran found few followers among German companies on Wednesday, despite mounting pressure to cut ties over the Islamic Republic's sensitive nuclear work. While some sectors such as machinery and banking are already seeing a decline in business with Iran, others are seeking new trade there, including some keen to tap Iran's hold on the world's second-largest natural gas reserves.

Will Germany Get Tough On Iran?
Siemens, Europe's largest engineering group with sales of about €400 million a year to Iran, said Tuesday that it will sever its business ties with the Islamic Republic. […] So is Germany finally prepared to do its part in preventing a nuclear-armed Iran? Let's hope so. In 2008, Germany's exports to the Islamic Republic rose 9% over the previous year to €3.92 billion ($5.49 billion), according to Eurostat figures, cementing Germany's position as Iran's largest European export partner.

Iran Continues Focus on Outside Provocateurs, Now Blaming Germany
Iranian officials continued to cast blame for the nation’s recent political crisis on foreign interference on Wednesday, focusing their ire for the first time on Germany, one of the country’s closest trading partners, with an accusation that its diplomats and intelligence agents helped organize protests at the end of December.

German Leader Expects Iran Sanctions Push Next Month
The international community is poised to take significant steps next month to increase Iran's economic isolation over its disputed nuclear activities, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday. […] "The issue of sanctions on Iran will be on the agenda when France has the chair of the U.N. Security Council," the Xinhua News Agency quoted Merkel as saying. "February will be the crucial month."

Mohamed Ali Harrath, Islamic TV chief, is held over terror claims
The head of the Islam Channel, Britain’s most popular Muslim television station, has been arrested in South Africa and faces deportation to Tunisia over terrorism allegations. The Times disclosed more than a year ago that Mohamed Ali Harrath, a Scotland Yard adviser against Islamic extremism, was wanted by Interpol because of his alleged activities in his homeland.

IRAN

Iran Sentences 11 to Death, Hangs Two Over Protests
Iran hanged two of 11 people sentenced to death over their role in anti-government protests, the state-run Iranian Students News Agency said. […] The 11 people were convicted of offenses including seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic and being members of anti- revolutionary armed groups, including the monarchist Kingdom Assembly of Iran and the People’s Mujahedeen, ISNA said.

Iran leader predicts destruction of Israel
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is confident Islamic nations will one day watch the destruction of arch-foe Israel, his website Wednesday quoted him as saying. […] "Surely, the day will come when the nations of the region will witness the destruction of the Zionist regime... when the destruction happens will depend on how the Islamic nations approach the issue," Khamenei told Aziz, who arrived in Tehran on Monday.

U.N. Set to Receive Iran Sanctions Proposal
The United States plans this week to provide world powers with a list of Iranian citizens and entities who should be hit with new U.N. Security Council penalties over Tehran's disputed nuclear work, the Wall Street Journal reported (see GSN, Jan. 27). Washington believed the groups and people have close ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, an organization officials consider a major player in the nation's nuclear program.

Smaller banks used to avoid western sanctions
Iranian companies are getting round western financial sanctions by dealing with small banks around the world, a leading Iranian business figure has told the Financial Times. Mohammad Nahavandian, head of the Iranian chamber of commerce, said western sanctions, which have focused on the country's banks, had backfired as Iranian companies increasingly dealt with non-western financial institutions.

Malaysia emerges as regular fuel supplier to Iran
Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas has emerged as a regular supplier of gasoline to Iran, oil traders said, even as the threat of tougher U.S. sanctions has forced other companies to halt their business there. State-owned Asian firms have less exposure to U.S. political pressure to halt dealings with Iran and firms from energy-hungry China and India have continued to seek deals there, while Western companies have limited contacts.

Iran to skip Afghan conference in London
Iran said on Wednesday it would not take part in an international conference on the future of Afghanistan in London this week, a news agency reported. […] "Because this meeting's approach is towards increasing military action in Afghanistan ... and because it does not take into consideration the region's capacity to solve the problems, Iran does not consider as useful attending this meeting," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

THE MIDDLE EAST

Iranian Marjas Responsible for Financing Huthis- Yemeni Official
At the same time that the international conference on Yemen is taking place in London in the attendance of international and Arab Foreign Ministers, Yemeni Minister of Information Ahmed al-Lozi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Iranian Marjas are responsible for financing the Huthi insurgency, and that the Iranian State is a threat to the Arab world.

Iran's Al Alam TV says taken off air by Arab operator
Iran's Arabic-language television network Al Alam said on Wednesday it has again been taken off air by a Saudi-based satellite operator amid simmering tensions between Shi'ite Iran and U.S.-allied Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia. Analysts say Riyadh and several other Arab governments allied to the United States are worried about a rise in Tehran's influence in the region through Shi'ite minorities.

Do Exit Programs for Islamists Actually Work?
It sounds like a promising idea: Instead of confronting the Taliban on the battlefield, why not pay them to give up violence? But such programs have been tried before, and they have one major disadvantage: They tend only to work when the insurgents are already losing.

ISRAEL - PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

Iran a ‘Danger to World,’ Peres Says on Holocaust Day
Israeli President Shimon Peres said Iran poses a global threat and must be confronted, warning in a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day that tragedy can result from “procrastination in taking action.” […] “Like our neighbors, we identify with the millions of Iranians who revolt against dictatorship and violence,” Peres said, according to the English text of his speech delivered in Hebrew. “Like them we reject a fanatic regime, which contradicts the United Nations Charter.

HRW claim Hamas 'did target civilians in Gaza war'
Human Rights Watch on Thursday rejected Hamas claims that the Islamists did not target civilians during Israel's devastating Gaza offensive just over a year ago. […] HRW pointed out that most of the rocket attacks on Israel hit civilian areas. "Civilians were the target," the rights group said, adding that "deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime."

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Iran faces consequences over nuclear program: Obama
In his State of the Union address to Congress on Wednesday, Obama touched on some of the thorniest foreign policy issues he has faced in the past year, including his effort to develop a new approach toward Iran and North Korea as they expand their nuclear programs. […] "And at April's Nuclear Security Summit, we will bring 44 nations together behind a clear goal: securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists."

White House Seeks New Iran Sanctions
The Obama administration is preparing to circulate proposed tough new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program as early as this week at the United Nations, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The proposed measures, which would target elements the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps under fresh penalties as well financial institutions under existing U.N. sanctions resolutions, are being finalized and prepared for debate in the U.N. Security Council, the officials said.

Senate hopes to take up Iran sanctions soon
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday he hopes the chamber can take up legislation within the next few weeks that would authorize sanctions on companies that provide gasoline to Iran."The act will create new pressure on the Iranian regime to help stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," he said on the Senate floor.

Business urges Obama resist Iran sanctions bill
U.S. business groups warned the White House on Tuesday that congressional plans to expand U.S. sanctions on Iran threaten to significantly undermine U.S. economic and security interests. […] The business groups told White House national security adviser James Jones and senior economic policy adviser Lawrence Summers they agreed with the goal of stopping Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. But they expressed concern about provisions of the House and Senate bills that "could prohibit any U.S. company from transacting routine business with critical partners from around the globe, even if these transactions have no bearing on business with Iran."

RUSSIA

Russia warns 'will not wait forever' on Iran
Iran cannot keep the world waiting forever in the standoff over its nuclear programme, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Wednesday after talks with his US counterpart Hillary Clinton. […] "It is clear that it is not possible to wait for ever," Lavrov said after the talks in London, where both he and Clinton are to attend an international conference on Afghanistan on Thursday.

Head of Russian state arms trader says no obstacles to weapons sales to Iran
Russia still considers Iran a valuable customer for its weapons, a top arms trade official said Thursday, issuing a reassuring message to Tehran despite recent indications of Moscow's support for tougher Western sanctions. Anatoly Isaikin, the head of the state arms trader Rosoboronexport, said no international agreements bar Russia from selling weapons to Tehran. The statement marked another step in a delicate diplomatic game Moscow has been playing in a hope of maintaining good ties with Tehran without angering the West.

Arms exports defy recession
Russia’s top arms exporter said Thursday its sales last year grew 10 per cent despite the economic crisis, as it looked to add new clients like Saudi Arabia, Libya and possibly even Afghanistan. The export sales of state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport amounted to US$7.4 billion dollars (S$10.4 billion) in 2009, up 10 per cent on the previous year, the company's head Anatoly Isaikin said.

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