WarSclerotic

Iran building four petrochemical plants in Arvand free zone, Trend, February 20, 2014

(See earlier report on el Supremo’s desire for more petrochemical exports. — DM)

The construction of four petrochemical plants has begun in Iran’s Arvand free zone in the southwest of the country, IRIB quoted zone Director Esmaeil Zamani as saying on February 18.

Some 622 billion rials, about $25 million, will be invested in the projects, he added. The plants will produce various types of thinner, paint, glue, anti-freeze and solvent.

The four plants have a total capacity of producing 78,000 tons of chemical compounds and petrochemicals per year, he noted.

Iran’s petrochemical exports surpassed $9.19 billion during the first 10 months of the current solar year (started on March 21, 2013), the country’s customs administration reported on Jan. 25.

The country’s petrochemical exports stood at $8.116 billion during the first nine months of the current solar year which indicates a 2.3 percent decrease compared to the same period of the preceding year.

Western countries suspended certain sanctions against Iran as the Geneva nuclear deal came into force on Jan. 20.

The prohibition on the import, purchase or transport of Iranian petrochemical products and related services was suspended as a result of the nuclear deal implementation.

Exports of Iran’s gas condensates stood at $8.520 billion for the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year, according to the country’s custom administration’s report.

Same truth, different speaker, Israel Hayom, February 19, 2014

Supreme leader: Iran to create ‘economy of resistance’, Times of Israel, February 19, 2014

(Khamenei, along with many in the West, expects the P5+1 negotiations eventually to end in failure. Putting Iran’s export mechanisms in good order while sanctions relief persists will continue to be an obvious strategy for Iran for as long as P5+1 try to negotiate. — DM)

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Western sanctions “a full-fledged economic war” and said Iran is determined to force the West to retreat.

In this picture released by the official website of the Iranian supreme leader’s office, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, President Hasan Rouhani, right, and outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sit, in an official endorsement ceremony for Rouhani, in Tehran, Iran on Saturday, August 3. (photo credit: AP Photo/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader)

TEHRAN (AP) — Iran’s top leader ordered the government Wednesday to create an “economy of resistance” to counter sanctions imposed over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Western sanctions “a full-fledged economic war” and said Iran is determined to force the West to retreat.

Iran has been hit hard by sanctions that have hit, among other targets, its vital oil sector. The program requires the government to diversify Iran’s exports, reduce dependence on sales of raw materials and promote knowledge-based high-tech industries.

“If (Iran) pursues … an economy of resistance, we will overcome economic problems and will defeat the enemy … that has imposed a full-fledged economic war against this great nation,” he said in his order which was posted on his website leader.ir.

Under the program, the government must take action to expand production and export of knowledge-based products, increase domestic production of strategic goods and develop markets in neighboring countries. It also encourages greater privatization and increased exports of electricity, gas, petrochemical and oil by-products instead of crude oil and other raw materials.

Iranian officials say it will be harder to target oil byproducts with sanctions that it will be to target crude.

Western sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program also shut Iran out of the international banking system, making it hard for its remaining customers in Asia and elsewhere to pay.

An interim nuclear deal reached in November with world powers has eased some sanctions but the core remains in place — including measures targeting Iran’s oil exports, the pillar of its economy.

Crude oil exports account for nearly 80 percent of Iran’s foreign revenue but have been reduced by half in the past two years due to stepped up sanctions. It currently exports about 1 million barrels a day — compared to 2.2 million in 2011.

Iran says its non-oil exports have increased to about $40 billion a year, showing an annual 20 percent increase.

Iran and the six-nation group — the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany — began talks for a final deal in Vienna Tuesday.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, has said he had accepted the talks but doubts they will succeed, saying Washington is using the nuclear issue as an “excuse” to pressure the country.

In his order, Khamenei has asked the government to closely monitor sanctions and impose costs on the “enemy,” a reference to the US

The West suspects that some Iranian nuclear activities are intended to give it the ability to build a weapon. Iran denies this, saying its program is for peaceful purposes.

Large explosion rocks southern Beirut, killing four and wounding 19 | JPost | Israel News.

By REUTERS

02/19/2014 10:22

Security sources said the explosion near an Iranian cultural center appeared to have been caused by a car bomb and a motorcycle laden with explosives.

A large explosion near an Iranian cultural center in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Wednesday killed at least four people and wounded 19, security sources said.

Security sources said the explosion appeared to have been caused by a car bomb and a motorcycle laden with explosives.

The area is controlled by the Shi’ite political and militant movement Hezbollah. Iran’s embassy in the same area was targeted by a bomb attack in November, one a series of car bombs in southern Beirut since July.

The Kuwaiti embassy is also located in the same area.

Lebanese television footage showed fire trucks and Lebanese soldiers standing in the streets. A wounded man was carried away on a stretcher and a young girl was being evacuated by two men. Glass covered the road and nearby buildings were damaged.

Radical Sunni Islamists have pledged to attack Hezbollah on Lebanese soil for its intervention in Syria to help Syrian President Bashar Assad, a member of the Alawite offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, in his war against majority Sunni rebels.

Washington critics sound alarm as Iran talks resume | The Times of Israel.

White House defends negotiations in Vienna amid warnings by conservative groups; ballistic technology tops agenda

By Rebecca Shimoni Stoil February 19, 2014, 9:47 am

Catherine Ashton and Javad Zarif before talks began in Vienna Tuesday. (Screen capture)

Islamic world must attain its rightful position: Rouhani, Tehran Times, February 18, 2014

President Rouhani called for measures to improve security and boost the economy in the Islamic world in order to bring about “lasting peace and sustainable development” and to promote the Islamic culture.

TEHRAN – The ninth session of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (PUIC) kicked off in Tehran on Tuesday, with the attendance of representatives from 47 OIC member states.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani took over the rotating presidency of the conference from Sudanese National Assembly Speaker Al-Fateh Ezzedin for one year.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Larijani, and Ezzedin delivered speeches during the opening ceremony of the conference.

Twenty-eight parliament speakers and 14 deputy speakers of OIC member states are attending the conference, which is being held on the theme of “Islamic parliaments: Solidarity, Progress, and Justice”.

In his speech, President Rouhani called for measures to improve security and boost the economy in the Islamic world in order to bring about “lasting peace and sustainable development” and to promote the Islamic culture.

He added that the Islamic Republic of Iran “wishes the best” for all Muslim countries and regards their “progress” and “glory” as its own.

Rouhani also expressed hope that the conference would find tangible solutions for the problems facing Muslims.

He also said that he was optimistic that the conference would increase cooperation and common understanding between Iran and all other Islamic countries.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani said that today, Muslims are facing various challenges, including security problems, economic crises, the Syria crisis, and the Palestine question.

However, in light of Muslims’ enormous economic wealth and their countries’ critical geopolitical position, they should have a more proper role in the world, he added.

Rouhani asked if it is fair that the Islamic world is torn by “extremism and terrorism” and sectarian and tribal conflicts that lead to the death of Muslims, and that Islam, which is the religion of mercy and kindness, is being presented to the world through the prism of Islamophobia.

He also said that Muslim nations, by virtue of their possession of abundant natural resources and their control of sensitive geostrategic locations in the world, should be enjoying a much better situation in the world in comparison to other nations.

‘Arrogant powers use terrorism to threaten Muslims’

In his speech to the conference, Larijani said that the arrogant powers make “tactical” use of “terrorism” in order to threaten various Muslim nations, such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

But if Islamic countries utilize their vast potential in various areas, they will acquire an honorable position vis-à-vis the arrogant powers, he noted.

The Iranian Majlis speaker also hailed the recent wave of Islamic Awakening in regional Muslim countries, underlining that such democratic movements will strengthen unity in the Islamic ummah (community).

‘Extremism a major challenge for Islamic world’

The Sudanese parliament speaker, who is the former rotating president of the union, also delivered a speech in which he described “extremism” as one of the biggest challenges facing the Islamic world.

Ezzedin called for more unity among Muslims and said the PUIC should convey the message of Islam to the world.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he touched on the union’s objectives and said that the PUIC should take measures to promote scientific research and bridge scientific gaps in Muslim countries.

The PUIC was established in 1999 and consists of 53 members and 22 regional, international, and parliaments observers. Its permanent headquarters is in Tehran.

It seeks to strengthen parliamentary cooperation among Islamic countries in order to solve challenges facing the Islamic world.

According to the PUIC website, one of the objectives of the union is to provide a framework for comprehensive and fruitful cooperation and coordination among parliaments of OIC members.

The eighth meeting of the PUIC was held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in January, 2013.

▶ Netanyahu: The Syrian butchery shows the true face of Iran. – YouTube.

The Syrian victims being cared for by IDF doctors shows the true heart of Israel and the Jewish people.

–

Rouhani: Zionist regime benefits most from upheaval in Muslim world, Jerusalem Post, February 18, 2014

(The bases for his thesis that “the “Zionist regime” gains the most benefit from the current upheaval in the Muslim world” must be self-evident. Peaceful, highly intelligent charmer that he is, might he have referred to reduced attacks on Israel as those in the Muslim world kill each other?– DM)

In meeting with Arab MPs, Iranian president calls on Muslim countries to show unity with Iran against Western threats.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Photo: SCREENSHOT DAVOS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday called on Arab parliamentarians to show Muslim unity and support Iran against threats from the West.

Addressing visiting MPs from Arab countries at the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Tehran, Iran’s Press TV quoted Rouhani as saying that the “multifaceted” threats against Iran would eventually have a negative impact on all Muslim nations.

Rouhani attacked Israel, saying that the “Zionist regime” gains the most benefit from the current upheaval in the Muslim world.

The Iranian president condemned using violence against Muslims in the name of anti-terror activities.

Netanyahu: Iran remains ‘brutal’ and ‘aggressive’ | The Times of Israel.

By Lazar Berman and Aron Dónzis February 18, 2014, 6:36 pm

PM says field hospital treating Syrians shows ‘true face of Israel’ while casualties are proof of ‘true face’ of Tehran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits an IDF field hospital for treatment of wounded from the civil war in Syria, in Ramat ha Golan, Northern Israel. February 18, 2014. (photo credit: Kobi Gideon /GPO/FLASH90)

 

WATCH: Iranian Film Shows ‘Nuclear Attack’ on Israel – Israel National News.

(Could they make their intentions any clearer? You see an atomic blast and someone trampling on the word ‘Holocaust’ on the floor. – Artaxes)

Latest in a series of digital saber-rattling illustrates aggressive Iranian response to theoretical military strike on nuclear program.

By Ari Soffer