Sweden Concerned Over Less IAEA Nuclear Monitoring Of Iran

Shargh Daily, a reformist and relatively independent newspaper in an article urging the government to be more tolerant of media and criticism pointed out that currently four major international broadcasters are the most popular sources of news and information for the people in Iran.

The BBC Persian Service, Iran International, Manoto and the Voice of America are influential the article said, “with Iran International getting ahead by employing anchors and journalists who left Iran and having an impact on public opinion in the country.”

The article, penned by Ghader Bastani and coinciding with Iran’s ‘Journalist Day’ has urged the government to give freedom to media “as the most effective way to fight corruption and improve government efficiency.” Increasing pressures on journalists and the closure of many independent publications have pushed many talented reporters to leave Iran, Shargh has argued. These journalists have gone to work for foreign-based Persian media and have become opponents of the Islamic Republic, it said.

In fact, government media outlets and those controlled by pro-government conservative groups are not considered as reliable sources of news and foreign-based media have stolen the spot, Shargh said, and urged the government to encourage and help “professional journalism.”

Iran International is the newest member of foreign-based Persian broadcasters. It was established in May 2017 and last year an opinion survey conducted among Iranians showed that it has gained the largest percentage of news audience in Iran.

A poll conducted by Gamaan polling agency in the Netherlands in 2021 found Iran International TV (33% audience) and Manoto TV (30%), both based in London, as the most popular media outlets in Iran.

The poll with a representative sample of over 27,000 individuals, 92 percent of those who took part said they get their news and information about Iran and the world from social media, 41% from satellite television stations, 32% from news websites and 14% from the Iranian state television on a daily basis.

Iran has one of the world’s worst media and internet censorships, with tens of thousands of websites blocked since the early 2000s and most social media platforms banned. In the absence of free media and the very high level of censorship, many Iranians turn to social media for political news and information.

Some 60 percent of those contacted by Gamaan said they never watch the news on the Iranian state-run television, the agency said, adding that generalization of the results of the survey to the general public are valid by a 95% coefficient.

Those taking part in the survey were literate Iranians over 19 years of age, representative of 85 percent of the adult population in Iran.

According to the findings of the survey, 33% respondents in the poll said they watch the Iran International TV daily. This makes the network the most popular Persian speaking foreign based news channel in Iran.

Next on the popularity ladder were Manoto TV with 30%, BBC Persian TV with 17%, both London-Based, as well as Jam TV, based in Turkey, with 16.5%, followed by the Iranian state TV at 16 percent, the Washington-based VOA TV also known as PNN with 11 percent popularity.

Retirees in several cities, including Esfahan and Arak in central Iran as well as southern cities of Shush, Shushtar, Hafttapeh, and Ahvaz, gathered outside governors' offices or provincial offices of Iran’s Social Security Organization to denounce the government's move to ignore decrees by the Supreme Labor Council, which had stipulated a 38-percent increase in the minimum wage. They are demanding pension increases on par with rising prices of essential foods. 

The protests took place as temperature has risen to more than 50 degrees Celsius – about 122 in Fahrenheit scale – in many cities across the southwestern oil-rich Khuzestan province. 

A union for contract workers of the oil sector said on August 6, that 35 workers of Abadan refinery in southern Iran passed out due to the heat, and were taken to hospital.

Amid a dire economic situation in Iran that has been worsening in recent months, at least 10 workers have committed suicide in the last three months due to dismissal from their jobs and "livelihood problems".

With food prices rising faster after four years of United States’ ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions, Iranian workers and retirees have been holding regular protests or strikes to demand higher salaries. In June, Iran’s currency fell to a historic low of 333,000 rials to the US dollar.

During the past weeks, widespread protests by workers,shop owners, and teachers protesting against poverty, inflation, and low wages, have been met with heavy-handed crackdown and numerous arrests by the security forces.

State media was quick to point out Monday, as four days of EU-moderated negotiations between Iran and the United States ended in Vienna, that Iran did not regard a text presented by Enrique Mora, the talks coordinator, as a finished agreement on restoring the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

Javad Karimi Ghodousi, a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Javan newspaper that Iran’s position in negotiations had been strengthened by the recent preparation of additional centrifuges, used for enriching uranium, including relative advanced models barred under the JCPOA.

Ghodousi contrasted the “admirable” actions of the government of President Ebrahim Raisi, in office a year, with the previous administration of President Hassan Rouhani, under which “Iran’s nuclear centers were closed and the growth of nuclear science and technology in the country was stopped…”

Nour News, affiliated to the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said the aim of the Mora text was to “force Iran to accept proposals under pressure.” Nour suggested the EU as talks coordinator “lacked the authority to present proposals as a final text.”

The official news agency IRNA reported a Monday phone-call between Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Josep Borrell, the European Union foreign policy chief, in which Amir-Abdollahian said Iran expected all parties to talks to “show seriousness and resolve in order to achieve the final text of the agreement.” IRNA portrayed Borrell being willing to continue efforts to bring the viewpoints of all parties closer.

‘Behind every technical issue…’

As American and Iranian negotiators prepared to leave Vienna Monday, Borrell tweeted that “what can be negotiated has been negotiated.” He added that “behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals.”

A US State Department spokesman said Monday that Washington was waiting for Iran’s reaction: “They repeatedly say they are prepared for a return to mutual implementation of the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Let’s see if their actions match their words.”

IRNA reported Monday that the Iranian negotiators would convey Iran’s “opinions and observations” in due course on what it called “some ideas concerning some of the remaining issues.”

Mora’s text has not been made public, although there have been various reports as to where agreement may have been broadly reached, and where gaps remain between Iran and the US.

The four days in the Austrian capital, with European diplomats shuffling between the Iranians and Americans in different hotels, came after Borrell in late July circulated a text designed to bridge gaps over restoring the JCPOA.

‘Fuel in 500 centrifuges…’

Critics of the JCPOA in the US have argued Iran has dragged out negotiations– which ran April 2021-March 2022 with world powers in Vienna, followed by June’s bilateral US-Iran meeting in Qatar – as it expands its nuclear program. Tehran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent purity, far above the 3.67 percent JCPOA limit and close to the 90 precent deemed ‘weapons grade.’

Iran’s decision over the Mora text – to accept it, reject it, or seek further talks – apparently rests with the SNSC, in which Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei presides. Some politicians say Iran has the best deal available and urgently needs US sanctions eased, while Ghodousi’s argument that “putting fuel in 500 centrifuges strengthened Iran’s position” could be an argument for holding out or declaring ‘victory.’

Oil prices dropped $1 a barrel Tuesday, apparently reflecting some highly guarded market optimism of JCPOA restoration, which traders anticipate would bring around 1m barrels extra of Iranian oil exports. But oil prices have been declining since early July as prospects of lower economic growth could lower demand.

In phone call with Josep Borrell, Amir-Abdollahian reiterated that all parties involved in the talks must take serious steps toward reaching the final text of an agreement, while four days of talks in Vienna ended with a “final” text presented by the EU to all parties.

Iran insists that the text offered for renewing the 2015 nuclear deal is not a final agreement but European officials described the document to journalists as a ‘take it or leave it’ offer for both sides. American and Iranian diplomats left Vienna Monday after the European chair of talks offered a fresh and “final” text for renewing the deal.

“Iran’s views and considerations on the ideas offered by [Borrell’s deputy] Enrique Mora have been conveyed to him and all parties [to the deal] are expected to show seriousness and resolve in order to achieve the final text of the agreement,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

Expressing hope that the path to a final agreement would be paved through realism, he added that any final agreement must meet the rights and interests of the Iranian nation and guarantee sustainable and effective removal of sanctions on the Islamic Republic. 

According to IRNA, Borrell said he believes that relative progress has been made during the latest round of the talks, which he described as positive. Borrell also said he would continue efforts to bring the viewpoints of all parties closer to reach a good result.

According to a document released on Monday, the Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement issued an administrative charging letter against Far East Cable on July 29, 2022. 

"The Charging Letter alleges that Far East Cable signed contracts with Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation (ZTE), and Iranian telecommunications companies to deliver US-origin equipment to Iran as part of an effort to conceal and obfuscate ZTE’s Iranian business from US investigators," the document read, charging Far East Cable with 18 violations of Export Administration Regulations.

From September 2014 to January 2016, Far East Cable served as a cutout between ZTE which was under investigation by the US government for connections with Iranian telecommunications companies. 

In March 2017, ZTE pleaded guilty for its conduct related to these charges and broader violations of US export controls. ZTE paid a combined penalty of $1.19 billion in criminal and administrative fines at the time.

In July, the US Treasury issued sanctions on a new array of individuals and entities that help the Islamic Republic of Iran sell its petroleum and petrochemical products, and in June, the US sanctioned several Chinese, Emirati and Iranian firms over exporting the country’s petrochemicals.