Two Chinese Navy warships docked at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas in advance of four days of joint naval exercises in the Persian Gulf. One of the vessels, the Changchun, is a guided-missile destroyer. According to Iranian media, the joint exercises will focus on safety and anti-piracy operations. A Chinese fleet commander said the visit was intended to "enhance exchanges between our two countries' navies."
News Briefs
September 21, 2014
-- New York Times
September 6, 2014
Iran failed to address concerns about the possible military dimensions of its nuclear program by an August 25 deadline, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report. Specifically, Iran did not provide the IAEA with information regarding experimentation with high explosives and calculations on nuclear detonation yields. Discussions on these two issues only began at an August 31 meeting in Tehran.
-- Reuters
August 29, 2014
The Obama administration announced new sanctions against several Iranian organizations, including the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research. This organization was created three and a half years ago by Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who is believed to direct Iran's nuclear weapons research. The United States also sanctioned Iran's Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute for helping build the Arak reactor.
-- New York Times
August 27, 2014
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), announced that Iran is preparing to launch a new generation centrifuge called the IR-8. According to Salehi, the IR-8 is capable of producing 24 separative work units (or SWUs), in contrast to Iran's first-generation IR-1 centrifuge, which yields less than 2 SWUs. Salehi said the IR-8 machines have undergone mechanical tests but have not been injected with uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas.
-- Fars News Agency
August 9, 2014
Iran received the last installment of the $4.2 billion in frozen assets it was promised under the interim nuclear deal signed in November 2013. In return, Iran either converted or diluted its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium. The $4.2 billion in frozen assets were released in eight installments. The most recent tranche was paid by India and received by the Central Bank of Iran through the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates.
-- Fars News Agency
July 18, 2014
Iran and the P5+1 countries (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States) agreed to extend talks on Iran's nuclear program for four months. The extension ends on November 24. U.S. officials argued in favor of the extension, saying that progress had been made on the future of the Arak heavy water reactor and the Fordow enrichment plant. Under the extension, Iran will receive access to an additional $2.8 billion in frozen assets, though oil sanctions will remain in place. In exchange, Iran has agreed to dilute additional stocks of nuclear material or convert some into reactor fuel. Restrictions on Iran's uranium enrichment work that were part of the original agreement will also remain in effect.
-- New York Times
July 14, 2014
The General Court of the European Union overturned EU sanctions against the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC). The Court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that NITC is controlled by the Iranian government or that it provides financial support to the government. The Court's ruling was suspended for approximately two months, to allow for appeal. NITC has a fleet of 37 supertankers and 14 smaller tankers, with an overall carrying capacity of about 86 million barrels of oil. According to shipping experts, NITC is unlikely to benefit immediately from the annulment because insurance providers and banks remain wary of covering the Iranian oil trade given the temporary nature of sanctions relief provided to Iran under the interim nuclear deal.
-- Reuters
July 9, 2014
The U.S. Department of Defense no longer assesses that Iran could flight-test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the United States by 2015, which had been the judgment held by U.S. intelligence since 1999. Instead, an unclassified summary of the Pentagon's annual report to Congress on Iranian military power from January 2014 noted that Iran has publicly stated it may deploy a space launch vehicle by 2015, and that such a space launch vehicle could be capable of ICBM ranges if configured as a ballistic missile.
-- Inside Defense
July 8, 2014
In an interview with Iranian television, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), stated Iran would need a minimum uranium enrichment capacity of 190,000 separative work units (SWUs) once Russia's contract to provide fuel for the Bushehr reactor expires in eight years. Salehi said that this figure takes into account the annual fuel needs of the Tehran Research Reactor and the Arak Heavy Water Reactor. The number of centrifuges Iran would need to operate would depend on the capacity of each machine. According Salehi, the first generation IR-1 has a capacity of less than two SWUs per machine; the IR-2m and the IR-4 have a capacity of nearly six SWUs; and the IR-6 has a capacity of 10 SWUs. Iran is only enriching uranium in IR-1 centrifuges.
-- Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 2
July 3, 2014
The General Court of the European Union overturned the E.U.'s sanctions on Iran's Sharif University of Technology, ruling that the European Council had failed to provide enough evidence linking the university to Iran's nuclear activities. The Court's decision gave the Council two months to provide a different justification for sanctions before the asset freeze on Sharif University of Technology is lifted.
-- Wall Street Journal