LATEST: “No Quick Fix to Economic Problems”

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SUMMARY: Delegations from Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, Britain, France, Germany, and China) will meet today in preliminary talks before Tuesday’s resumption of high-level discussions on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The negotiations in Geneva are the first since discussions in Almaty in Kazazhstan made little progress in February and April. Since then, President Rouhani’s election in Iran, on a platform of “engagement” with the West, has raised hopes that advance can be made over Tehran’s uranium enrichment and the US-led sanctions hampering the Islamic Republic’s economy.

Iran has again set out its core demands in the past week. It is offering to limit uranium enrichment to 5%, with a system of inspection and supervision, provided 1) the 5+1 Powers recognize its right to enrichment; 2) it has a guaranteed supply of 20% uranium for its Tehran Research Reactor; and 3) major sanctions are lifted.

So far, the US has not indicated whether it will moves toward any of those demands. This spring, Washington insisted on “Stop, Shut, and Ship” — Iran closing its Fordoo enrichment plant, halting all 20% enrichment, and shipping the 20% stock out of the country — before any offer to ease sanctions.

However, there are indications that Britain and Germany — and possibly the European Union’s Catherine Ashton, the lead negotiator for the 5+1 Powers — are concerned about an inflexible US approach and are seeking some reciprocal step in exchange for Iran’s move towards 5% enrichment.

Latest Updates, Most Recent First

“No Quick Fix to Economic Problems”

Peter Kenyon of US National Public Radio summarizes the Islamic Republic’s economic difficulties, with an appearance from EA in his audio report:

“They’ve got a real problem in that some of the production sectors are badly limited, need a lot of investment, need re-fitting [and] retooling, especially the energy sector, which is where they’re really scrambling to get foreign investment back in,” [Scott] Lucas says.

“And then beyond all this, they got this really horrible budget from March from the Ahmadinejad administration, because Ahmadinejad in the last couple years didn’t really give a damn about how much he ran up in terms of a government deficit,” he adds.

Rouhani: “An Empty Treasury and a Heap of Problems”

Hassan Rouhani makes a frank admission in a speech to students at Tehran University:

Rouhani also said authorities should not restrict academic freedoms and should give Iranian scholars more opportunity to take part in international conferences.

Head of Revolutionary Guards Restates “Material Support” for Assad

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Mohammad Ali Jafari, has repeated that the Guards will continue to provide assistance to the Syrian regime.

Claiming that Western countries have failed in their military intervention, Jafari said, “They know well that the Islamic Republic provides material, spiritual and intellectual support for Syria.”

The commander said last September that the Guards were providing logistical assistance and were helping train 50,000 members of the People’s Defense Militias in Syria.

Footage taken from an Iranian cameraman, killed amid an insurgent ambush in Syria’s Aleppo Province in August, showed Iranian officers training militia and accompanying them in the field when they were attacked by an opposition brigade.

See Syria Video: More on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, A Shia Militia, & The Veteran Who Died Making a Film

Today’s All-Is-Well Oil Propaganda

National Iranian Oil Company official Mohsen Qamsari has declared that Iranian underwriters provide insurance coverage for almost all the country’s oil exports: “Currently, more than 90 percent of crude oil cargos are insured by Iranian insurance consortiums and our customers have been satisfied with us so far.”

Last July, the European Union banned insurance for tankers carrying Iranian oil. The measure affected almost 95% of the coverage for Tehran’s shipments.

In the months following the ban, which reinforced US-led sanctions, the Islamic Republic’s oil exports fell to a historic low of less than 800,000 barrels per day. They have since recovered to about 1.3 million bpd, but that is still 40% below the oil shipping in 2012.

Almost all of Iran’s exports now go to four Asian countries — China, South Korea, Japan, and India. Japan has arranged its own insurance for shipments, but South Korea and India have struggled, leading to short-term cut-offs of their purchases.

Qamsari, undeterred by this reality, “also stated that the world refineries are interested in Iran’s crude oil because of its quality”.

State Media Promotes Kerry’s Optimism on Nuclear Talks

State outlet Press TV gives a headline boost to the nuclear discussions, “Window for Iran Diplomacy Opening Up: Kerry“.

The website promotes US Secretary of State John Kerry’s remarks on Sunday:

Right now, the window for diplomacy is cracking open. While we seek a peaceful resolution to Iran’s nuclear program, words must be matched with actions.

Nor does Press TV make any derogatory comment about Kerry’s audience — the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.