Georgetown Security Law Brief

Iran hangs two men for spying for Israel and US

05/19/13:  The BBC reports Iran has hanged two men convicted of spying for Israel and the US, the authorities there have said. Mohammad Heydari was found guilty of passing intelligence on "security issues and national secrets" to Israeli Mossad agents in exchange for cash. Kourosh Ahmadi was convicted of providing intelligence to the CIA, Tehran's prosecutor's office said. Iran has repeatedly accused Israel and the US of carrying out covert intelligence operations. It comes amid continuing tension over its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes but Western nations suspect is being used to build an atomic weapon. It is not clear when Heydari and Ahmadi were arrested or where they were tried. Their execution was handed down by Tehran's Revolutionary Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court, Iran's Fars news agency reported. It said the two men were hanged at dawn. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence given to Amir Mirzai Hekmati, an Iranian-American national accused of spying for the CIA. The judge found the verdict was "not complete" and ordered a retrial. Both Mr Hekmati and the US deny the spying allegations.

US imposes sanctions on those aiding Iran

05/10/13:  The New York Times reports the United States on Thursday expanded its roster of those violating Iran sanctions, blacklisting four Iranian companies and one individual suspected of helping the country enrich nuclear fuel. It also singled out two other companies, including a Venezuelan-Iranian bank, accused of helping Iran evade other Western-imposed prohibitions on oil sales and financial dealings.  The penalties announced by the Treasury and State Departments came a day after the Senate introduced legislation that could effectively deny the Iran government access to an estimated $100 billion worth of its own money parked in overseas banks, a step that proponents said could significantly damage Iran’s financial stability. That legislation, known as the Iran Sanctions Loophole Elimination Act, is expected to be integrated into a broader House measure introduced in February. The actions on Thursday appeared to signal an accelerated American effort to squeeze Iran economically over the lack of progress in negotiations on the disputed Iranian nuclear program, which Iran says is peaceful but the West has called a guise to achieve the ability to make atomic bombs. The latest round of negotiations last month ended inconclusively, and Western critics of Iran have accused it of stalling for time while it continues to enrich uranium.

US-led Gulf naval exercises underway

05/07/13:  The Miami Herald reports the US Navy says envoys from 41 nations have gathered in Bahrain to begin anti-mine drills in the Persian Gulf amid efforts by Iran to expand its naval presence there. The US-led exercises, which run through May 30, mark the second major show of maritime cooperation in the Gulf in less than a year. Although the Navy says the drills are not specifically tailored to counter Iranian threats, Iran has previously warned it could block critical Gulf oil routes in retaliation for Western sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran also has sought to expand its naval capabilities, including plans to launch new submarines. A Navy statement Monday says the drills will begin with onshore training and then move to the Gulf for maneuvers including mine-sweeping and search-and-seizure operations.

Will Iran's national internet mean no world wide web?

04/27/13:  The BBC reports eight years ago, when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad first took office, the Iranian government announced plans to develop a national internet network. The project attracted little attention at the time but now, with less than two months to go until the next presidential election, some analysts say it is so well advanced that the authorities could soon be in a position to cut off the entire country from the world wide web. When Iran's former Information Technology Minister Mohammad Soleimani complained last week about the difficulties he was having accessing the internet, he was expressing the frustrations of many. For months now, Iranian social media sites have been full of postings about slow download speeds and intermittent access. Internet 'demons' While some put the blame on the country's overloaded and outdated internet infrastructure, others have a more sinister explanation for what is going on.

US arms deal with Israel and two Arab nations is near

04/19/13:  The New York Times reports the Defense Department is expected to finalize a $10 billion arms deal with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates next week that will provide missiles, warplanes and troop transports to help them counter any future threat from Iran. A weeklong visit to the region by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will culminate a year of secret negotiations on a deal that Congressional officials said will be second only to the $29.5 billion sale of F-15 aircraft to Saudi Arabia announced in 2010. But the delicate balancing act that was necessary in weighing the differing interests of each nation made it among the most complex ever negotiated. While one goal was to ensure that Israel continues to field the most capable armed forces in the region to deter Iran and counter a range of threats, it was equally important to improve the capabilities of two important Arab military partners. Another challenge, senior administration officials said, was coming up with a package that could help Israel deal with various security challenges — but devised so it would not be viewed as an American endorsement of accelerated planning by Israel to strike alone at Tehran’s suspected nuclear facilities. Those other security risks, officials said, include the roiling civil war in Syria — a country with chemical weapons that could be used by the Assad government or seized by rebels — and militant violence in the Sinai Peninsula.

Report urges White House to rethink Iran penalties

04/18/13:  The New York Times reports a panel of former senior American officials and outside experts, including several who recently left the Obama administration, issued a suprisingly critical asssessment of American diplomacy toward Iran on Wednesday, urging President Obama to become far more engaged and to reconsider the likelihood that harsh sanctions will drive Tehran to concessions. In a report issued by the Iran Project, the former diplomats and experts suggested that the sanctions policy, rather than bolstering diplomacy, may be backfiring. As the pressure has increased, the group concluded, sanctions have “contributed to an increase in repression and corruption within Iran” and “may be sowing the seeds of long-term alienation between the Iranian people and the United States.” The critique comes as both Israel and Congress are urging the administration to go in the opposite direction, to put a sharp time limit on negotiations and, if necessary, to go beyond the financial and oil sanctions that have caused a tremendous drop in the value of the Iranian currency and sent inflation soaring.

Diplomats: Iran ups nuke technology

04/18/13:  The Washington Times reports technicians upgrading Iran's main uranium enrichment facility have tripled their installations of high-tech machines that could be used in a nuclear weapons program to more than 600 in the past three months, diplomats said Wednesday. They say the machines are not yet producing enriched uranium and some may be only partially installed. Still, the move is the latest sign that 10 years of diplomatic efforts have failed to persuade Tehran to curb its uranium enrichment. Instead, Iran continues to increase its capacities. The installations also suggest that Iran possesses both the technology to mass-produce centrifuges that can enrich much faster than its present machines and the ability to evade international sanctions meant to keep it from getting materials it needs to do so. Iran insists it has no interest in nuclear weapons and says it’s enriching uranium only for nuclear power and other nonmilitary applications. Iran also asserts it has a right to do so under international law.

Iran's president visits uranium-rich Niger

04/16/13:  The Miami Herald reports Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting the uranium-rich West African nation of Niger, although officials discounted that the mineral was the reason for the visit. Niger's Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Bazoum downplayed international speculation that Iran had come in search of uranium, saying: "I don't think that's the goal of this visit." Niger obeys international regulations on selling uranium, said Bazoum, who added that it would not be legal to provide uranium to Iran. The Iranian leader arrived Monday in Niger's capital, where he was greeted by President Mahamadou Issoufou. The two-day stop in Niger is the second on Ahmadinejad's trip to West Africa. He already has visited Benin and is due to stop in Ghana before returning home. The West has imposed several rounds of punishing sanctions on Iran, hoping to force it to scale back its uranium enrichment program, suspecting it might aim to produce nuclear weapons. Iran has refused, insisting its program is for peaceful purposes.

Powerful earthquake strikes in Iran

04/16/13:  The New York Times reports a powerful earthquake that struck southeastern Iran was felt in several countries in Asia on Tuesday, rocking buildings in the Indian capital of New Delhi, sending panicked resident of Karachi, Pakistan, fleeing into the streets and causing tremors through Persian Gulf states. Iranian officials said they expected many deaths. The earthquake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was near Khash, Iran, not far from Iran’s border with Pakistan, the United States Geological Survey said. An Iranian official told state television that he expected hundreds of deaths because of the severity of the earthquake. The worst-hit area, along Iran’s southeastern border, is home to nearly 2 million people, who live in three main cities, Zahaedan, the provincial center, and the epicenter of the earthquake between the cities of Saravan and Khash, where roughly 400,000 people live, the semiofficial Tabnak Web site reported. The semiofficial Fars news agency quoted Iran’s seismology center as saying the earthquake was the worst in 40 years. The United States Geological Survey reported that the earthquake had a depth of 9.7 miles. Such deep earthquakes are rare and have greater destructive capability.

Former nuclear negotiator joins Iran's presidential race

04/11/13:  Reuters reports a former Iranian nuclear negotiator announced on Thursday he would run for president, the most moderate contender so far to bid to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a June election dominated by conservatives. Hassan Rowhani, 64, was head of the powerful Supreme National Security Council under presidents Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, considered a master of realpolitik rather than an ideologue, and Mohammad Khatami, who pushed for wide-ranging social and political reforms. Rowhani, a Muslim cleric, presided over talks with Britain, France and Germany that saw Iran agree to suspend uranium enrichment-related activities between 2003 and 2005. He resigned after Ahmadinejad took office in August that year. The nuclear work was resumed and Rowhani was derided for being too accommodating in negotiations. During Ahmadinejad's two terms in office, tensions with the West over Iran's nuclear program have worsened, with the United States and Europe imposing sanctions on its oil and a banks over suspicions Tehran is seeking atomic arms, which it denies. "We need a new management for the country but not based on quarrelling, inconsistency and eroding domestic capacity, but through unity, consensus and attracting honest and efficient people," Rowhani told a gathering of supporters on Thursday, Iran's Mehr news agency reported. The June election is Iran's first presidential poll since 2009 when mass street protests erupted against Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.

Defiant Iran goes forth with 2 nuclear projects

04/09/13:  The Washington Times reports Iran put the finishing touch on its latest round of nuclear talks with world powers with a symbolic face-slap and on Tuesday jumpstarted two key nuclear-related projects. Iran-run media reported that the nation has started operations at Saghand and at Ardakan. The Associated Press said the sites represent two of Iran’s biggest uranium operations: Saghand is a uranium mine, and Ardakan is an ore concentrate production plant. As AP reported, Iran already has mines and processing facilities in operation. But those other facilities are much smaller than the ones at Saghand and Ardakan. And the West fears starting operations at these two central Iran sites gives the country greater ability to make the materials needed to enrich nuclear fuel - to ultimately, warhead grade levels. Iran is perceived by the United States and U.S. allies as bypassing U.N. sanctions against its purchase of nuclear materials by developing its own nuclear enrichment program to a level that allows it to construct its own — a charge that Iranian officials deny. Iran maintains its nuclear enrichment is for peaceable, energy-related purposes only.

Navy deploying laser weapon prototype near Iran

04/09/13:  The New York Times reports the Navy is going to sea for the first time with a laser attack weapon that has been shown in tests to disable patrol boats and blind or destroy surveillance drones. The Navy is going to sea for the first time with a laser attack weapon that has been shown in tests to disable patrol boats and blind or destroy surveillance drones. The laser will not be operational until next year, but the announcement on Monday by Adm. Greenert, the chief of naval operations, seemed meant as a warning to Iran not to step up activity in the gulf in the next few months if tensions increase because of sanctions and the impasse in negotiations over the Iranian nuclear. The Navy released video and still images of the laser weapon burning through a drone during a test firing. The laser is designed to carry out a graduated scale of missions, from burning through a fast-attack boat or a drone to producing a nonlethal burst to “dazzle” an adversary’s sensors and render them useless without causing any other physical damage. The Pentagon has a long history of grossly inflating claims for its experimental weapons, but a nonpartisan study for Congress said the weapon offered the Navy historic opportunities.Navy officials acknowledge that the first prototype weapon to be deployed is not powerful enough to take on jet fighters or missiles on their approach. That capability is a goal of researchers.

Talks on Iran’s nuclear program ‘remain far apart’

04/06/13:  The New York Times reports negotiations over Iran’s disputed nuclear program broke off on Saturday without signs of even incremental progress, much less an agreement on tighter controls and tougher international oversight demanded by six world powers in exchange for some easing of sanctions that now have a stranglehold on the Iranian economy. The failure to reach any accord was a serious setback for the talks, which have become complicated by the Iranian presidential election now just 10 weeks away. After the conclusion of two days of tense bargaining, Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said that after “long and intense discussions” it was clear that the sides “remain far apart on the substance." No future negotiations were announced and Ms. Ashton said that she would be "in touch very soon" with the top Iranian negotiator, Saeed Jalili, "in order to see how to go forward.” Russia’s lead negotiator at the talks, Sergei Ryabkov, also sounded a dark note but said there was still hope for future discussions.

Iran says it offers new plan for nuclear program

04/05/13:  The New York Times reports as negotiations resumed here on Friday between Iran and the six world powers demanding that it curb its nuclear program, Iran said it had put forward a new “comprehensive proposal” that it hoped would “establish a new bedrock for cooperation.” In a sign that the talks could be headed toward a quick dead-end, the Iranian statement was depicted as a bewildering surprise to the other negotiators, who said they had not received any concrete new proposal. A Western official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Iranian remarks essentially echoed a position articulated at talks in Moscow last June. "We are somewhat puzzled by the Iranians’ characterization of what they presented at this morning’s plenary,” the official said. “There were some interesting but not fully explained general comments on our ideas.” Talks continued in the afternoon.

Double-digit inflation worsens in Iran

04/02/13:  The New York Times reports Iran’s double-digit inflation rate worsened for the sixth consecutive month in March, the government said on Monday, in what appeared to be an implicit acknowledgment that international sanctions linked to the disputed Iranian nuclear program are causing some economic harm. The government’s statistics office said the rate increased in March to an annualized 31.5 percent, compared with 30.2 percent in February and 26.4 percent a year earlier, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported. The Mehr report did not offer an explanation for the increase except to specify that much of it was in the categories of food, beverages and tobacco. Many economists say the real rate could be at least double the official rate, partly because it does not fully take into account the prices of many imported goods, which have become prohibitively expensive. The main reason is the severe depreciation of the rial, Iran’s national currency, as the sanctions that have limited Central Bank activities and oil exports have taken hold. Some experts believe the Iranian inflation calculation deliberately understates the actual rate in order to present a public face of resistance to the coercive pressures inflicted by the sanctions, which have been imposed largely by the United States and European Union.

Iraq says will increase searches of Iran-Syria flights in its airspace after US criticism

04/01/13: The blog Space War reports Iraq will step up searches of Iranian flights over its airspace to Syria, days after US Secretary of State John Kerry publicly criticized Baghdad for turning a blind eye to them.  But while Prime Minister Nuri al-Malik’s spokesman spoke of newly tightened restrictions, the head of Iraq’s civil aviation authority acknowledged that no planes had been searched since October.  “Because of a lot of information which referred to transportation of weapons, we have increased the activity of inspections,” Maliki spokesman Ali Mussawi said Saturday.  “We will carry out more random searches, to be assured that there is no weapons transfer.”  Kerry said in Baghdad that he “made very clear to [Maliki] that the overflights from Iran are in fact helping to sustain [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad and his regime.”

First direct Cairo-Tehran flight in 34 years

03/31/13: Al Jazeera reports The first commercial flight between Egypt and Iran in thirty-four years took off Saturday, the latest step towards restoring ties broken following the 1979 Iranian Revolution.  Egypt and Iran agreed to resume direct flights in October 2010 before President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power, but no flights were made.  “A flight by Air Memphis, owned by Egyptian businessman Rami Lakah, took off from Cairo to Tehran earlier on Saturday carrying eight Iranians including diplomats,” an airport official said.  Diplomatic relations between Iran and Egypt were cut in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian revolution in Tehran when the government in Cairo gave sanctuary to the deposed Shah.  But ties improved over the years and have become significantly better since the election of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in June 2012.

Corporate cyberattacks seem meant to destroy, not just disrupt

03/29/13:  The New York Times reports the assault, which took American Express offline for two hours, was the latest in an intensifying campaign of unusually powerful attacks on American financial institutions that began last September and have taken dozens of them offline, costing millions of dollars. JPMorgan Chase was taken offline by a similar attack this month. And last week, a separate, aggressive attack incapacitated 32,000 computers at South Korea’s banks and television networks. The culprits of these attacks, officials and experts say, appear intent on disabling financial transactions and operations. Corporate leaders have long feared online attacks aimed at financial fraud or economic espionage, but now a new threat has taken hold: attackers, possibly with state backing, who seem bent on destruction. “The attacks have changed from espionage to destruction,” said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a cybersecurity training organization. “Nations are actively testing how far they can go before we will respond.” Security experts who studied the attacks said that it was part of the same campaign that took down the Web sites of JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and others over the last six months. A group that calls itself the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters has claimed responsibility for those attacks. The group says it is retaliating for an anti-Islamic video posted on YouTube last fall. But American intelligence officials and industry investigators say they believe the group is a convenient cover for Iran. Just how tight the connection is is unclear. Government officials and bank executives have failed to produce a smoking gun. North Korea is considered the most likely source of the attacks on South Korea, though investigators are struggling to follow the digital trail, a process that could take months. The North Korean government of Kim Jong-un has openly declared that it is seeking online targets in its neighbor to the south to exact economic damage.

 

 

UN treaty to control arms sales hits snag

03/29/13:  The New York Times reports the global effort to regulate the sale of conventional weapons suffered a significant but not fatal setback on Thursday after Iran, Syria and North Korea opposed the draft Arms Trade Treaty, blocking the consensus needed for passage after years of arduous negotiations. Achieving consensus among all 193 member states of the United Nations is considered a monumental task, but it was hoped that it would be possible in this case because so many countries supported the idea of trying to regulate the $70 billion annual industry at the root of much death and destruction. The treaty would require states exporting conventional weapons to develop criteria that would link exports to avoiding human rights abuses, terrorism and organized crime. It would also ban shipments if they were deemed harmful to women and children. After Iran and North Korea voted against the draft treaty, Peter Woolcott, the Australian ambassador who was the president of the treaty conference, suspended the meeting. When it resumed, Syria voted against the treaty as well. In the absence of consensus, it was expected that the treaty would be sent to the General Assembly as early as next week for approval. That is considered a weaker, but no less binding, manner of getting it passed. After General Assembly passage, the treaty would still require ratification by 50 member states before it could take effect.

 

NATO manual: Stuxnet attack on Iran nuclear facilities was act of force

03/25/13: The Washington Times reports a new manual commissioned by NATO’s cyberwarfare center says the cyberattack by the US and Israel that crippled Iran’s nuclear program by sabotaging industrial equipment constituted “an act of force” and was possibly illegal under international law.  The Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare says, “Acts that kill or injure persons or destroy or damage objects are unambiguously uses of force.”  The international group of researchers who wrote the manual were unanimous that Stuxnet — the self-replicating cyberweapon that destroyed Iranian centrifuges that were enriching uranium — was an act of force, but were divided on whether its effects were severe enough to constitute an “armed attack,” which would trigger hostilities under the UN Charter and allow Iran to retaliate in self-defense.  Neither Israel nor the United States has publicly acknowledged being behind Stuxnet, but they are widely believed to have been responsible.

In surprise visit, Kerry warns Iraq on Iran flights

03/24/13: The Associated Press reports Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the US has made clear that Iraq shouldn’t allow Iran to use its airspace to ship weapons and fighters to Syria.  Following private discussions with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during an unannounced trip to Baghdad, Kerry said the two had a “very spirited discussion” on the subject of Iranian overflights.  The US believes the Iranian shipments are aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and undermining Western-backed opposition groups.  “I made it very clear that for those of us who are engaged in an effort to see President Assad step down ... anything that supports President Assad is problematic,” Kerry said.  Kerry also said lawmakers and the American people are “increasingly watching what Iraq is doing and wondering how it is a partner.”

Iran indicts 18 over killing of nuclear scientists

03/18/13: The Miami Herald reports Iran’s judiciary has indicted eighteen suspects on charges of involvement in the killing of nuclear scientists.  Since 2010, at least five Iranian nuclear scientists, including a manager at the Natanz enrichment facility, have been killed.  Tehran has accused Israel’s Mossad, the CIA, and Britain’s MI6 of being behind the assassinations; Washington and London have denied the allegations, while Tel Aviv has not commented.  Iranian state media said Sunday that authorities have issued indictments against the eighteen suspects, who will be tried in the coming months.  In 2012, Iran hanged a man for the 2010 killing of a nuclear physicist.

Iran launches destroyers in Caspian Sea

03/17/13: The Miami Herald reports Iran on Sunday launched its domestically built destroyer in the Caspian Sea, the nation's first heavy military presence in the oil-rich sea.  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the guided-missile destroyer Jamaran-2 in the port city of Anzali, about 150 miles northwest of Tehran.  Iran launched a previous version of the Jamaran destroyer in 2010 in the Persian Gulf.  Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, the nations surrounding the Caspian, have not reached an agreement on exploitation of its resources.  Iran supports equally sharing the sea, but the other four countries have reached agreements on exploiting the resources through mutual pacts, putting Iran's share at about 12% of the resources of the sea.

Iranian group rejects Albania asylum offer

03/17/13: The Miami Herald reports an Iranian opposition group Saturday turned down Albania's offer of asylum to 210 of its members who are living at a former US military base near Baghdad.  Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha made the offer after meeting with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf, UN envoy in Iraq Martin Kobler, and other officials.  Berisha said the offer of asylum for the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq members was made for humanitarian reasons.  Shahin Gobadi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which oversees the Mujahedeen, said that while they "really appreciate the [Albanian] government's helping hand," they couldn't accept an offer of asylum for such a small portion of the group.  The UN says more than 3,000 members (nearly fifteen times Albania's offer) live at the former US base.

Iran chases US drone over Persian Gulf

03/15/13:  The New York Times reports an Iranian jet fighter pursued an American surveillance drone over the Persian Gulf this week but ended the chase after a radio warning from an American escort plane, Pentagon officials said Thursday. The chase, which occurred Tuesday, followed a more serious encounter in November, when Iranian warplanes fired on, but missed, a Predator drone carrying out a similar classified surveillance mission. Pentagon officials said that in both instances the drones were in international airspace. Even so, the episodes illustrate the chance of unintended hostilities arising from encounters between remotely piloted surveillance craft and Iranian warplanes in the heavily militarized Persian Gulf. The Pentagon press secretary, George Little, said that in the episode on Tuesday, an Iranian F-4 jet fighter approached within 16 miles of the Predator, which was being escorted by a pair of American military aircraft. United States officials did not say what type of American planes were involved.

Iran nuclear weapon to take year or more, Obama says

03/15/13:  The New York Times reports President Obama told an Israeli television station on Thursday that his administration believed it would take Iran “over a year or so” to develop a nuclear weapon, and he vowed that the United States would do whatever was necessary to prevent that from happening. Less than a week before his first visit as president to Israel, Mr. Obama pledged to continue diplomatic efforts, but he promised that the United States would keep all options on the table to ensure that Iran did not become a nuclear threat to its neighbors. Mr. Obama’s estimated timeline contrasts with Mr. Netanyahu’s stated belief that Israel and its Western allies are likely to have to intervene by the spring or summer, when, he says, Iran’s scientists will have enriched enough uranium to become a nuclear threat. Iran denies that its nuclear program has any military aim. Mr. Obama has rarely been so specific about how long American intelligence agencies estimate it will take Iran to build a bomb. In defining the problem as he did — when Iran could get a weapon, rather than when it could have the capability to build one — he subtly indicated that he and Mr. Netanyahu still saw the problem in very different terms.

 

EU tightens Iran sanctions over human rights violations

03/11/13: The Miami Herald reports the European Union is tightening sanctions against Iran, concerned about alleged violations of human rights in the country.  EU foreign ministers, meeting Monday in Brussels, added nine people they said were “responsible for serious human rights violations” to the list of those subject to a travel ban and an asset freeze, bringing the number of people sanctioned in this way to eighty-seven.  The foreign ministers also decided to freeze the assets of one “entity,” meaning a company or organization.  The measures will be valid until April 13, 2014; the names of the targets will be published Tuesday.  Iran carried out at least fifty-five public executions in 2012, UN spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly has said.  Some 400 people were reportedly put to death in the country last year.

France, Israel express support for stronger Iran sanctions

03/10/13: The Space War blog reports French President Francois Hollande and his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres said on Friday sanctions on Iran over its contested nuclear program are biting but need to be strengthened further.  “I have said how much we want the sanctions to be beefed up, which are already efficient,” Hollande said after meeting Peres.  Iran last month held talks with the five UN Security Council permanent members, plus Germany, in Kazakhstan.  “I was very glad to hear from [President Hollande] that he plans to take more measures because if we can end this danger without military use, it will be better,” Peres said.  Although Hollande and Peres both hold the title “President,” the latter is a figurehead; the real power in Israel lies with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Peres’ former political rival.

IAEA head seeks access to Iranian military facility

03/04/13: The New York Times reports the head of the United Nations’ nuclear regulatory body urged Iran on Monday to permit access by international inspectors to a military site near Tehran to ascertain whether tests have been carried out there on nuclear bomb triggers.  International Atomic Energy Agency director Yukiya Amano spoke just weeks after IAEA inspectors returned from talks in Tehran that failed to obtain access to the Parchin site, twenty miles south of Tehran.  “I request Iran once again to provide access to the Parchin site without further delay,” Amano said.  The talks about Parchin are separate from the negotiations Tehran is conducting with six global powers on the broader question of its disputed nuclear program.  Western powers suspect that Iran is seeking the technology for nuclear weapons.

Iran and Syria criticize US decision on aid for Syrian rebels

03/03/13: The New York Times reports the foreign ministers of Syria and Iran on Saturday harshly criticized the United States’ decision to provide aid to rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying that such assistance would only prolong the conflict.  The remarks were the first official statements from Tehran and Damascus since US Secretary of State John Kerry’s announcement last week that Washington would begin providing nonlethal aid directly to Syria’s rebels.  Speaking at a joint news conference in Tehran, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem and his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Saleh, said that Assad’s fate would be determined by Syrian voters in a presidential election scheduled for next year.  Iran is a staunch ally of Syria’s government and has stood by Assad throughout Syria’s nearly two-year-old conflict.

Iran says it has 3,000 advanced centrifuges

03/03/13: The Miami Herald reports Iran’s nuclear chief says his country has produced more than 3,000 advanced centrifuges which are used to enrich uranium.   Fereidoun Abbasi said Sunday that the old generation of IR-1 centrifuges will be phased out soon.  Iran has more than 12,000 IR-1 centrifuges enriching uranium at its main Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran.  Abbasi said last month that Iran has begun installing the newer IR-2 centrifuges, which can produce more enriched uranium in a shorter period of time.  He said the production line of the new, advanced centrifuges has been completed but did not elaborate.  The US and its allies fear that Iran may eventually be able to develop a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran denies.  Iran has repeatedly been hit with sanctions over the program.

Pakistan-Iran pipeline work 'to begin on 11 March'

03/01/13:  The BBC reports work on a gas pipeline between Iran and Pakistan will begin on 11 March, Pakistani officials say. The project has led US officials to warn that it may fall foul of sanctions on Iran's nuclear programme. The long-delayed project is seen in Pakistan as a way of combating the country's chronic energy shortages with supplies of Iranian gas. Officials told Pakistani media they hoped the presidents of both countries would attend a ceremony on 11 March. Officials say the pipeline on the Iranian side of the border has been completed, and that this month will see the start of work on the project in Pakistan. On Wednesday, the US warned Pakistan to "avoid any sanctionable activity" in connection with the project. Power shortages have become a major issue in Pakistan, with the government ordering an investigation into a nation-wide power cut on Sunday blamed on a technical fault in a plant in south-western Balochistan province.

Lawmakers introduce bipartisan measure to toughen Iran sanctions

02/28/13:  The New York Times reports as Iranian negotiators spoke in positive tones about their resumed nuclear negotiations with the big powers, Congressional lawmakers in Washington introduced legislation on Wednesday that would greatly expand the sanctions on Iran, amounting to what both supporters and critics said would be like a commercial trade embargo if fully carried out. The bipartisan measure, which was expected to pass both the House and the Senate, would build on existing laws that restrict business dealings with Iran, widen the list of blacklisted Iranian companies and individuals and potentially block Iran’s access to its foreign bank assets held in euros. That access has been one of the country’s few remaining avenues for repatriating profits that are not held in dollars, which have been greatly constricted by other sanctions. The legislation, named the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act, also would penalize foreign companies and individuals that violate the American sanctions by threatening them with restrictions on doing business with the United States, a coercive tactic integrated into earlier, narrower sanctions.

Iran nuclear crisis: New talks open in Kazakhstan

02/26/13:  The BBC reports a new round of talks between world powers and Iran over its controversial nuclear programme has opened in the Kazakh city of Almaty. The discussions are the first since talks in July 2012 ended without a breakthrough. Negotiators from Iran are meeting counterparts from the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany - the P5+1. International powers suspect Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons - a charge Iran strongly denies. Iran insists its purposes are purely civilian, asserting it needs enriched uranium to make medical isotopes. Since 2010, Iran has been enriching uranium to a level of 20%, an important technological step towards being able to produce more highly enriched weapons-grade material. By curious practice, each new round of nuclear talks with Iran is held in a new place. So, the well-travelled collection of nuclear negotiators now finds itself amid the wide avenues and frozen pavements of Kazakhstan's largest city.

Israel, US successfully test missile defense system

02/25/13: The Miami Herald reports Israel and the US on Monday carried out a successful test of the next-generation Arrow 3 missile defense system, for the first time sending an interceptor into outer space, where it could destroy missiles fired from Iran.  The Arrow 3 is part of a multilayered system that Israel is developing to protect against a range of missile threats, from short-range rockets in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon to medium and longer-range missiles in the hands of Syria and Iran.  The Arrow is designed to stop sophisticated Iranian-made Shahab ballistic missiles.  Israel’s Defense Ministry said it was the first flight test of the Arrow 3 interceptor.  It was conducted at an Israeli test range over the Mediterranean Sea.  The system is about three years away from becoming operational.

Iran to be offered sanctions relief in exchange for shutting down nuclear plant

02/25/13: Reuters reports major powers will offer Iran some relief from crippling sanctions during talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan, this week if Tehran agrees to curb its nuclear program.  However, a US official said the Islamic Republic could face more economic pain if the standoff remains unresolved.  Reports indicate the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany, and France will offer to ease sanctions on trade in gold and precious metals if Iran closes its Fordow underground uranium enrichment plant.  Iranian officials have indicated, however, that this will not be enough.  The US hopes the Almaty meeting February 26-27 will lead to follow-up talks, and the United States may also be prepared to hold bilateral talks with Tehran if it was serious about it.

Iran claims capture of enemy drone

02/24/13: The New York Times reports Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Saturday that they had captured a foreign unmanned aircraft during a military exercise in southern Iran.  General Hamid Sarkheili, a spokesman for the military exercise, said the guards’ electronic warfare unit spotted signals indicating that foreign drones were trying to enter Iranian airspace.  General Sarkheili said experts took control of one drone’s navigation system and brought it down near the city of Sirjan.  “While probing signals in the area, we spotted foreign and enemy drones which attempted to enter the area of the war game,” Sarkheili said on the state news agency.  “We were able to get one enemy drone to land.”  General Sarkheili did not say whether the drone was American, and a CIA spokeswoman in Washington declined to comment on the report.

Iran selects 16 sites for new nuclear power plants

02/24/13: The Washington Times reports Iran has selected sixteen locations as suitable for new nuclear power plants it intends to build to boost its energy production over the next fifteen years.  Tehran says it needs twenty large-scale plants to meet its growing electricity needs.  It currently operates a 1,000-megawat nuclear power plant at Bushehr, a coastal town on the Persian Gulf, and is planning to build a 360-megawatt nuclear power plant in the southwestern town of Darkhovin.  A statement released by his organization said the sites were chosen in part for their resistance to earthquakes and military air strikes.  The US and some of its allies fear that Iran could ultimately be able to develop a nuclear weapon.  Iran says its nuclear program is geared toward peaceful purposes such as generating electricity nuclear medicine.

Iran announces uranium finds days before nuclear talks

02/23/13:  Reuters reports days before resuming talks over its disputed atomic program, Iran said on Saturday it had found significant new deposits of raw uranium and identified sites for 16 more nuclear power stations. State news agency IRNA quoted a report by the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) which said the reserves were discovered in northern and southern coastal areas and had trebled the amount outlined in previous estimates. There was no independent confirmation. With few uranium mines of its own, Western experts had previously thought that Iran might be close to exhausting its supply of raw uranium.

Iran appears to advance in construction of Arak nuclear plant

02/22/13: Reuters reports Iran appears to be advancing in its construction of a research reactor Western experts say could offer the Islamic state a second way of producing material for a nuclear bomb, if it decided to embark on such a course, a U.N. report showed. Iran has almost completed installation of cooling and moderator circuit piping in the heavy water plant near the town of Arak, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a confidential report issued to member states late on Thursday.  Nuclear analysts say this type of reactor could yield plutonium for nuclear arms if the spent fuel is reprocessed, something Iran has said it has no intention of doing. Iran has said it "does not have reprocessing activities", the IAEA said. In its previous report on Iran, in November, the Vienna-based U.N. agency said installation work at Arak was continuing, without giving any indication of how far advanced it was.

Iran installing new uranium centrifuges, says IAEA

02/21/13:  The BBC reports Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuge machines for enriching uranium at its nuclear plant at Natanz, says the UN's nuclear watchdog. The IAEA said it suspected Iran may have also held explosives tests relevant to nuclear weapons. The step will concern world powers ahead of a resumption of talks with Tehran next week, analysts say. Tehran has denied the accusation, and says it is refining uranium only for peaceful energy purposes.

Commentary: Iran is just too dysfunctional to cut a nuclear deal

02/21/13:  Foreign Policy published an article by Patrick Clawson arguing the slow pace of nuclear negotiations with Iran are only the beginning of the reasons to be discouraged about resolution of the standoff. More worrying is that political infighting in Tehran is so bad that Iran might not be able to bring itself to accept unilateral U.S. unconditional surrender were it to be offered. By their actions, Iranian leaders are giving the strong impression that they are so preoccupied by their internal differences that they cannot agree on, well, a damn thing. Disunity helps the enemy, Khamenei frequently says. But the world powers negotiating with Iran would be glad to see more unity in Tehran, because a more unified Iranian government would be better able to reach a deal and then implement it. That seems less and less likely. The time is rapidly approaching when the big powers, or at least the United States, need to set out a stark choice for Iran's leaders: Either accept a generous offer to resolve the nuclear impasse or be prepared for the consequences.

Nigeria secret police say terror group broken up

02/21/13:  The Miami Herald reports Nigeria's secret police said Wednesday they broke up a terrorist group backed by "Iranian handlers" who wanted to assassinate a former military ruler and gather intelligence about locations frequented by Americans and Israelis. The State Security Service, responsible for domestic spying in Africa's most populous nation, offered no details about who actually controlled and bankrolled the group. However, it said it had arrested three suspected terrorists, including the group's leader, before they could launch attacks. The service identified the leader as Abdullahi Mustaphah Berende, a 50-year-old leader of a local Shiite sect in Ilorin. Ogar said Berende was arrested along with two other suspected members, while another remains at large. Iran has previously been involved in police actions in Nigeria. In 2010, authorities at Lagos' Apapa Port found a hidden shipment of 107 mm artillery rockets, rifle rounds and other weapons from Iran.

Iran: Pistachio exports suspended

02/16/13:  The New York Times reports Pistachio nuts, one of Iran’s most profitable products, appear to be latest victim of domestic inflation, so much so that the government has ordered a moratorium on exports as part of an effort to increase the supply at home and reduce the price, which has doubled just in the past month. The Associated Press quoted Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi as saying the export ban would last for six months. But it was unclear whether the move, which he announced Friday, would reduce domestic prices, particularly in time for Nowruz, the coming New Year holiday when pistachios are in especially high demand. It was also unclear to what extent the higher price reflected the declining value of the rial, Iran’s currency, which has been weakened by the effects of Western sanctions and what critics call the government’s economic mismanagement. The chairman of Iran’s chamber of exports, Asadollah Asgaroladi, was quoted by the Fars News Agency as calling the export moratorium a mistake that would do little to ease the price and probably cost Iran more than $500 million in lost export revenue.

North Korea 'upgrading rocket launch site'

02/15/13:  The BBC reports North Korea appears to be upgrading one of its two rocket launch sites, US experts say, perhaps in a move to test bigger rockets.  "Important progress" had been made at Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground since October 2012, the analysis from the 38 North website said.  Activities around the new launch pad also revealed possible evidence of assistance from Iran, it said.  Pyongyang used a three-stage rocket to put a satellite into space last year.  That launch - condemned by the UN as a banned test of missile technology - took place at the Sohae launch site.  But previous unsuccessful attempts in 2006 and 2009 took place at the Tonghae site, which is also known as Musudan-ri.

Iranian scientists believed to have attended North Korean nuclear test, report says

02/15/13:  The Washington Times reports Iranian scientists may have been on hand to witness North Korea’s underground nuclear test, according to one Western diplomat.  The source, unnamed but described as having knowledge of inside Iran-North Korea talks and ties, according to United Press International, said an Iranian presence would mean the international community is likely right — that Iran is actively and aggressively pursuing development of nuclear weapons.  According to UPI, the source said that Iran may have paid Pyongyang tens of millions of dollars — in Chinese currency — to obtain access to the test.

Nuclear watchdog says no deal reached with Iran

02/14/13:  The New York Times reports a senior official of the United Nations nuclear supervisory body said on Thursday that talks a day earlier in Iran had ended inconclusively and international inspectors had not been given access to a site that they suspect may have been used for testing bomb triggers.  The Tehran talks coincided with conflicting signals suggesting that Iran is pressing ahead with the modernization of part of its program to enrich uranium to less than 5 percent purity while potentially slowing the expansion of a stockpile of more highly enriched uranium.

Iranian official reported killed near Syrian border

02/14/13:  The New York Times reports at least one senior Iranian official was reported killed in an attack while driving from Syria to Lebanon on Wednesday, in separate and at times conflicting reports that drew attention to suspicions of Iran’s role in the Syrian civil war.  The Iranian Embassy in Lebanon reported that Hossam Khosh Newes, an Iranian development official working in Lebanon, was killed by “armed terrorist groups”.  Separately, an independent Iranian Web site reported that Gen. Hassan Shateri, a senior official of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was killed in a similar-sounding attack it attributed to Israel or its allies. Iran’s Fars news agency reported that a man of a similar name had been killed Wednesday, though it did not detail his military affiliation. There were varying reports about which side of the border he was killed on, and it was unclear whether he was in the same car or convoy as Mr. Newes.

Iran converts enriched uranium to reactor fuel, report says

02/12/13:  The New York Times reports as it prepares for two sets of negotiations with outsiders on its disputed nuclear program, Iran said on Tuesday that it was converting some of its enriched uranium into reactor fuel, the state news agency IRNA reported, potentially limiting the expansion of stockpiles that the West fears could be used for weapons.  Iranian officials are to meet on Wednesday in Tehran with Herman Nackaerts, the deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, who has been pressing for access to a restricted military area at Parchin, 20 miles south of Tehran. International inspectors suspect the site may have been used for testing bomb triggers.  Later this month, Iranian negotiators are to meet in Kazakhstan with representatives of six powers — the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — for a further round in a series of long-running and inconclusive talks about curbing Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program.

Obama visit to Israel to focus on Iran, Syria, Palestinians

02/10/13: The Miami Herald reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama will focus on Iran’s nuclear program, the violence in Syria, and the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.  Speaking at a government meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said he had agreed with Obama on the issues to be discussed.  Obama is expected to visit Israel along with the Palestinian Authority and Jordan next month.  The visit has raised expectations that peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which collapsed about four years ago, can be resumed.  Netanyahu welcomed Obama’s trip, his first visit to Israel as president.