Selected Headlines

18 Feb 2010 20:174 Comments

Press Roundup provides a selected summary of news from the Iranian press, and excerpts where the source is in English. The link to the news organization or blog is provided at the top of each item. Tehran Bureau has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Please refer to the Media Guide to help put the story in perspective.

Tehran Bureau | Feb. 18, 2010

Mansour Osanloo has been returned to the general section of Iran's Rajai Shahr prison, the International Transport Workers' Federation reported today.

Word of his transfer to solitary confinement, in a section of the prison many observers describe as "medieval," sparked international outcry this week. "It's a relief that he is out of immediate danger," Mac Urata of ITF said today. "It also underlines the importance of international opinion and solidarity."

Osanloo is perhaps the most high-profile incarcerated trade-unions in the world, however, he is only one among many imprisoned labor activist in Iran. -- Ian Morrison

US may deliver strike against Iran: Russian CGS

Interfax | Feb. 17, 2010

The Russian Defense Ministry has not ruled out a possible US attack on Iran.

"At present the USA is carrying out two military operations, in Afghanistan and Iraq, a third operation will be its failure. This is why in the process of tackling its problems in Iraq and Afghanistan, the USA may deliver a strike against Iran," Chief of the Russian General Staff Army Gen Nikolay Makarov told journalists in Moscow on Wednesday.

He believes that, "the consequences of a strike like this would be terrible not only for Iran, but for the whole region".

"Iran is our neighbor, and we are watching the situation closely. The Russian top brass is taking the necessary effort in order to prevent this," Makarov said.

Answering questions from the audience, he said, "The Americans have said once and for all that there are plans to deliver a strike against Iran."

"In particular, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen has spoken about it," he added.

Russia delays missile delivery to Iran

AFP | Feb. 17, 2010

Russia has delayed the delivery of advanced air defense missiles to Iran for technical reasons, a top Russian official said Wednesday, in the latest sign of strained ties between Moscow and Iran.

The comments on the delay in Russia's controversial sale of S-300 missiles to Iran came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow in a bid to rally support for tougher action against Tehran.

"The delay is due to technical problems. The delivery will be carried out when they are resolved," Alexander Fomin, deputy head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, told the Interfax news agency.

Russia's S-300 contract with Iran has raised hackles in the United States and Israel, which believe that Tehran could use the sophisticated air defense missiles to defend its nuclear facilities against attack.

No schedule yet for Russian S-300 missile deliveries to Iran

Interfax | Feb. 17, 2010

The time frame for the delivery of S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran has not yet been defined, Mikhail Dmitriyev, head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said on 17 February, as reported by Interfax news agency that day.

"No decision has been made yet on when this system will be delivered to Iran," Dmitriyev was quoted as saying.

Iran understands the delays in the deliveries of the missile system, Aleksandr Fomin, first deputy head of the service, said on the same day in a telephone interview with ITAR-TASS news agency.

"There are difficulties in the deliveries [of the air defense system]. The Iranian side has been informed about that and treats the delays with understanding," Fomin was quoted as saying.

At the same time, he was reported as saying that "naturally, they complicate Russia and Iran's cooperation in the field of military-technical cooperation". "Any customer doesn't like it when problems arise," he said.

"The delays are objective and are occurring for technical reasons," Fomin was quoted as saying. "Delays with deliveries happen to everyone," he added.

Fomin declined to say how long the deliveries have been put off.

"It is difficult to say anything on that score," he was quoted as saying.

Moscow says both Russians arrested in Iran unrest now released, back home

RIA | Feb. 17, 2010

The two Russian nationals detained in Tehran during the unrest on 11 February have been released and are already back in their home country, deputy director of the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Igor Lyakin-Frolov told RIA Novosti over the phone on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Iranian news agency ISNA, quoting Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari-Dowlatabadi, reported that Iran's investigative bodies were handling the cases of two Russians detained during the unrest in Iran on 11 February. According to the prosecutor, one of the Russians was later released, while the second Russian citizen was charged with illegally crossing Iran's border.

According to Lyakin-Frolov, two businessmen who were in the Iranian capital on business were indeed detained in Tehran.

"They were in the area where an anti-government rally was being staged.

"They were apparently taking photographs, and the police noticed and detained them. The Russian embassy became aware of this, necessary measures were taken, and they were soon released. As far as we know, they are already in Russia now," the diplomat said.

Iran: 5 foreigners detained during Feb 11 rallies

Reuters | Feb. 17, 2010

Five foreigners, including a French national, a Japanese reporter and two Russians, were detained during the Feb. 11 rallies marking the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Tehran's prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Three of them were later released, but the cases of one of the Russians and of a detained Afghan national had been handed over to the judiciary, prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told the ISNA news agency

Dissident Iranian diplomat granted asylum in Norway

Reuters | Feb. 18, 2010

Norway has granted political asylum to a former senior Iranian diplomat who quit last month in protest at a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in Iran, immigration authorities in Oslo said on Thursday.

Mohammad Reza Heydari resigned as consul of the Iranian embassy and went into hiding along with his family after a December crackdown by Tehran on protesters disputing the results of last year's presidential election.

Eight people were killed in the clashes between security forces and opposition backers in the most serious bloodshed since the aftermath of the June vote, when dozens died.

Heydari is believed to be the first Iranian diplomat to resign in protest against the government's moves.

"He and his family have been granted political asylum in Norway," said Bente Engesland, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Immigration Directorate (UDI).

Iran TV says BBC Persian can be prosecuted for media offenses

IRINN | Feb. 17, 2010

Iranian TV's News Network (IRINN) carried a 3-minute analysis on Iran-UK ties, Iranian MPs decision to reduce ties with Britain and the British "financial and media support to the riot movement in Iran".

The report which was mainly focused on the BBC's reporting on Iran, particularly BBC Persian TV's activities, showed footage of BBC Persian and BBC World Service programs.

The analysis also accused Britain of "offering financial and supervisory support to terrorist activities inside Iran" and said that the "general dark track-record of British activities in Iran" was the reason why the MPs were discussing a plan to reduce ties with the UK.

"One of the contributing factors is the BBC Propaganda Center which has been used as the media arm for the British interference in Iran's internal affairs. With the opening of the Persian service, the network took on a more destructive and interventionist role. In other words, one should consider the BBC Propaganda Center as the frontline of the British soft war against the Iranian nation."

The report added that Britain has historically been the front-runner of waging soft wars against many nations.

"In order to achieve their anti-cultural objectives, British politicians have used the British Council and the Farsi service of the BBC Propaganda Center, which originally started work as a radio station, for the past 70 years," the analysis added.

The report said that the British were trying to provoke ethnic clashes and disunity inside the country while using foreign media to insinuate the need for change to the people of Iran.

Iran cooperative to establish first trade center in Iraq

IRNA | Feb. 17, 2010

First Iran trade center will be inaugurated in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, by the Iran cooperative chamber in a near future.

The secretary-general of the Iran cooperative chamber said on Wednesday [17 February] that the center aims to expand Iran foreign trade and non-oil export.

Hossein Rahmani said the second Iran trade center will be established in Africa or Central Asia in a near future.

"The share of cooperative sector in the nationwide economy will increase to 25 per cent from the current level of five per cent by 2014," he said.

Rahmani said some 150 cooperative centers, with 25 million members, are active across the country.

Target Iran's censors

NYT | Feb. 18, 2010

Here's what happens when a business linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) is targeted with sanctions. A representative of the Revolutionary Guards finds a lawyer in Dubai and says: "Look, I'm on this stupid U.S. Treasury list. I'll give you 10 percent. Help me set up a shell company in Dubai or Malaysia."

The Treasury Department enemy list ("Specially Designated Nationals") is easy to find. It's at www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sdn/. Revolutionary Guard tycoons in Tehran know that. Once they have a new shell company, say in a cousin's name, they circumvent the list. They go on reaping the heady profits open to the in crowd when sanctions distort an economy.

Iran has lived with sanctions for a long time; its immune systems are highly developed. As much as 20 percent of the gross national product of Dubai is linked to Iran trade. I don't see new "targeted" sanctions disrupting this traffic. Iran's economy, even in a slump, is too big, too diverse and too sophisticated: North Korea it is not.

Still, thanks to Iran's erratic response to President Obama's overtures and its ongoing nuclear nationalism (a more coherent political than weapons program), the United States finds itself in lockstep toward new sanctions.

I expect China, averse to conspicuous isolation, will eventually abstain on a new round of U.N. sanctions on Iran. They will be imposed. Stuart Levey, the under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence (and a household name in Iran), will burrow away in search of actionable U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime.

The sanctions will feel cathartic, satisfy the have-to-do-something itch in the Congress, and change nothing.