International negotiators softened Western positions on Iran's nuclear program in a February round of talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The P5+1 negotiating partners proposed that Iran could keep enough 20 percent enriched uranium to fuel a research reactor - a step back from an earlier proposal that Iran's entire stock of 20% uranium be shipped out of the country. The P5+1 also proposed that enrichment activities at the fortified underground Fordow facility be suspended; an earlier proposal had called for Fordow to be shut down. In return, sanctions on gold, precious metals and petrochemicals would be eased.
News Briefs
February 23, 2013
Iran announced the discovery of new raw uranium deposits in coastal areas. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) reported the new deposits tripled the amount of raw uranium in the country from previous estimates.
-- Reuters
February 21, 2013
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran has begun installing more advanced IR-2 centrifuges at its Natanz facility. This centrifuge is based on Pakistan's second-generation model, but has been modified by Iran: its rotor is made of carbon fiber rather than high-strength steel. According to the IAEA, Iran has also installed an additional 2,255 older centrifuges at Natanz.
-- New York Times
February 13, 2013
Iran attempted to procure 100,000 ring-shaped magnets from China in 2011, according to purchase orders obtained by nuclear researchers. The magnets are made of barium strontium ferrite and their dimensions appear to match those used in Iran's IR-1 gas centrifuge. The magnets are on a U.N. list of goods Iran is prohibited from importing. It is unclear whether this procurement attempt succeeded.
-- Washington Post
February 6, 2013
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a number of Iranian entities responsible for human rights abuses and restrictions on free speech, including Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), and its director Ezatollah Zarghami, the Iranian Cyber Police, the Communications Regulatory Authority, and Iran Electronics Industries (IEI). Treasury also announced the implementation of new restrictions on Iran's ability to repatriate earnings from oil sales.
-- New York Times
February 6, 2013
Shahab Ghasri, 31, was found guilty and given a three-month suspended jail sentence in Lund, Sweden, for violating international sanctions against Iran. The Swedish national, of Iranian decent, was accused of attempting to sell 11 advanced valves to Iran, and to evade international sanctions by shipping the items through Dubai. Experts said the non-corrosive valves could be used in uranium enrichment.
-- Agence France-Presse
February 5, 2013
Tahmasp Mazaheri, a former head of Iran's Central Bank (ICB), is being investigated for smuggling by German authorities after failing to declare a $70 million check from Banco de Venezuela. The check was seized by customs officials at Dusseldorf Airport, where Mazaheri arrived from Iran via Turkey. The check was allegedly destined for Kayson Company, an Iranian construction firm, for work carried out in Venezuela.
-- Wall Street Journal
January 29, 2013
Iran's space agency launched a monkey into space using the Kavoshgar-5 rocket, according to Iranian media reports.
-- NBC News
January 28, 2013
Yemeni authorities seized a boat containing money, weapons, and explosives, including surface-to-air missiles, C-4 explosives, 122-mm shells, rocket-propelled grenades, and bomb-making equipment such as electronic circuits and remote triggers. The weapons were made in Iran, according to U.S. officials, and may have been destined for insurgents inside Yemen. The surface-to-air missiles may be the Iran's Misagh-2.
-- New York Times
January 23, 2013
Three employees of Ben Line Agencies Japan, a Tokyo-based shipping firm, have been accused of illegally transferring $158,000 to a company in Singapore associated with the sanctioned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL). The three employees were arrested by Japanese Police in January, 2013.
-- Reuters