UANI

Bloomberg reported that "The president of a foundation that owns a 60 percent stake in a 36-story New York office tower that U.S. prosecutors say belongs to the Iranian government was arrested for destroying documents." "Farhsid Jahedi is president of the Alavi Foundation, the successor to a foundation created in the 1970s by the Shah of Iran. Alavi has majority control of the building at 650 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan. The U.S. on Dec. 17 sought to seize part of the building, claiming the Iranian government's Bank Melli co- owns the building through ASSA Co., a Channel Islands-based corporation." Read More

The Washington Post reported that "Iranian authorities on Sunday closed the office of the country's main human rights organization, headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi." "Dozens of plainclothes detectives and local police officers entered the Center for the Defense of Human Rights in Tehran and shut it down hours before a ceremony was to take place commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Read More

 

In a New York Times Op-Ed, Oded Eran, Giora Eiland, and Emily B. Landau wrote that Russian is "the key to a tougher Security Council resolution" against Iran, and President-elect Obama "should offer Moscow a grand bargain." "Russia would give up its weapons and some commercial sales to Iran, but there is much more profit for Moscow to be made trading with a respectable Iran than a pariah state. The American reversal on missile defense would be portrayed as a victory for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Moscow would gain international respectability by helping to avert the serious crisis that would occur should Iran develop the bomb. Iran, in exchange for relinquishing its nuclear dreams, would avoid painful sanctions, be readmitted to the international community and eventually gain the economic and political benefits of being recognized as a regional power." Read More
 

AFP reported that "Iran is using its warm relations with Venezuela to dodge UN sanctions and use Venezuelan aircraft to ship missile parts to Syria, an Italian newspaper reported Sunday." "Citing US and other Western intelligence agencies, La Stampa said Iran is using aircraft from Venezuelan airline Conviasa to transport computers and engine components to Syria for use in missiles." Read More

 

Iranian press reported that "Iran has called for the release of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at the U.S. president." "'Historical memory won't forget the current U.S. president because of the violent crimes of the U.S. occupiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and his support for the Israeli regime and hundreds of other crimes,' the statement noted. 'The shameful incidents and horrible tortures used in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Israel, and other prisons through the support and on the orders of the United States are sufficient to bring George W. Bush to trial in international courts as a war criminal. While the Iraqi and Afghan people face insecurity, poverty, the flouting of their basic human rights, and the plunder of their national resources, Bush the younger calls himself the upholder of these people's rights and speaks about freedom and human rights.'" Read More

 

Reuters reported that "Russia has begun delivering S-300 air defense systems to Iran which could help repel any Israeli and U.S. air strikes on its nuclear sites, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday." "'After few years of talks with Russia ... now the S-300 system is being delivered to Iran,' IRNA quoted Email Kosari, deputy head of parliament's Foreign Affairs and National Security committee, as saying." Read More

 

The Washington Post reported that "Iraqi officials say they intend to expel members of an Iranian exile group living in a camp north of Baghdad that is protected by the U.S. military." "The expulsion, which the Shiite-led government has long sought, is expected to become feasible once the U.N. mandate that regulates the presence of U.S. troops -- and which gave the Iranian opposition group protected status -- expires at the end of the year." Read More

 

Iranian press reported that "The Islamic Republic has reportedly arrested several BBC reporters for spying in the wake of the latest espionage activities against Iran." "In a Saturday interview with ILNA news agency, a member of the Foreign Policy and National Security Commission of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad-Karim Abedi said the spy cell was identified and dismantled before carrying out any operations against the country." Read More

 

The Wall Street Journal covered last week's US government announcement about the 650 Fifth Avenue building. "The Treasury Department last week named one of the owners of the skyscraper at 650 Fifth Avenue as a front company for an Iranian bank that has helped fund Tehran's nuclear program. Bank Melli, which is owned by the Iranian government, was previously designated as a proliferator by the U.S. and European Union for its role in Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Treasury said last week that Bank Melli created ASSA Corp. 'as a vehicle' to hold the bank's interest in 650 Fifth Avenue and that ASSA 'repeatedly transferred' rental income to Bank Melli." Read More

 

CNN reported that "A group of Iranian warships steamed into the Gulf of Aden, joining an expanding list of navies sent to protect shipping routes from Somali pirates, state-run media reported Saturday." Read More

 

The Boston Globe profiled Iran's upcoming Presidential election. "Although Ahmadinejad is still popular with the rural poor, his reputation has soured among some conservatives because of the country's ailing economy. He has long been despised by Iranian liberals for rolling back social freedoms and cultivating a confrontational image in the West. This has prompted an unusual effort to unite both conservatives and liberals behind a compromise candidate to try to unseat him." Read More