Excerpts: Iran rejects normal ties with U.S. Assad: Russia,Iran,Syria share
same goals. Yemen F.M. calls for Arab ground intervention. Saudi re
Hizbullah March 31, 2015


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 31 March ’15:”Iran seeks nuclear deal but not normal
ties with Great ‘Satan’, Reuters

SUBJECT : Iran rejects normal ties with U.S.

QUOTE: “Iran is not expected to normalize relations with the United States
even if Tehran reaches agreement with world powers on its nuclear program”

FULL TEXT:LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Iran is not expected to normalize
relations with the United States even if Tehran reaches agreement with world
powers on its nuclear programme, officials and analysts said.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China are trying to
reach a deal with Iran aimed at stopping Tehran being able to develop a
nuclear bomb in exchange for an easing of sanctions that are crippling its
economy.

Loyalists of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, drawn from among
Islamists and Revolutionary Guards who fear continued economic hardship
might cause the collapse of the establishment, have agreed to back President
Hassan Rouhani's pragmatic readiness to negotiate a nuclear deal, Iranian
officials said.

"But it will not go beyond that and he [Khamenei] will not agree with
normalizing ties with America," said an official, who spoke in condition of
anonymity.

"You cannot erase decades of hostility with a deal. We should wait and see,
and Americans need to gain Iran's trust. Ties with America is still a taboo
in Iran."

Tension between the hardline and pragmatic camps over the nuclear talks has
reduced in recent months since Khamenei publicly backed the negotiations.

However, Khamenei has continued to give speeches larded with denunciations
of Iran's "enemies" and "the Great Satan", words aimed at reassuring
hardliners for whom anti-American sentiment has always been central to
Iran's Islamic revolution.

Khamenei, whose hostility towards the Washington holds together Iran's
faction-ridden leadership, remains deeply suspicious of US intentions.

But despite disagreement over Iran-US ties, Iranian leaders, whether
hardliners or pragmatists, agree that a nuclear deal will help Iran to
rebuild its economy.

Relations with Washington were severed after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution
and enmity to the United States has always been a rallying point for
hardliners in Iran.

"As long as Khamenei remains Supreme Leader the chances of normalizing
US-Iran relations are very low. Rapprochement with the US arguably poses a
greater existential threat to Khamenei than continued conflict," said Karim
Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
in Washington.

"After three decades of propagating a culture of defiance against the US, it
will be curious to see whether and how Khamenei spins a nuclear compromise
as an act of resistance, not compromise."

"There are different views among top officials over the normalization of
ties with America when the nuclear dispute is resolved. But the supreme
leader is against it," said another Iranian official. "And he is the
decision maker."

Economically, the stakes are high, meaning that while Khamenei needs to keep
the hardliners on side, a nuclear deal is a price he seems willing to pay.

Iran is under UN, US and European Union sanctions for refusing to heed UN
Security Council demands that it halt all enrichment- and plutonium-related
work at its nuclear sites.

The sanctions have severely damaged the Iranian economy, halving oil exports
to just over 1 million barrels per day since 2012 while the country is also
struggling with a sharp decline in international crude prices.

Rouhani, who dealt with Washington during the sale of arms to Iran during
the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, has broken the taboo of engaging publicly with
the United States. But rapprochement will only go so far.

"Despite all the meetings over the nuclear issue, Iran and America both need
an enemy and I do not think ties will be normalised after the deal. But they
will keep the communication channel open," said Tehran-based political
analyst Saeed Leylaz.

"Iranian leadership needs chants of Death to America to keep hardliners
united. And opening an American embassy in Tehran is not going to happen, at
least in the near future."

Khamenei has been adept at ensuring that no group, even the hardliners,
becomes powerful enough to challenge his authority, so if Rouhani secures a
nuclear deal, it is likely to mean he is kept on a shorter leash when it
comes to internal reforms and human rights, analysts say.

"The prospect of a triumphant Rouhani and an ascendant centrist faction
could exacerbate the conservatives' fears of losing too much political
ground and provoke them to thwart Rouhani's economic, social, and political
reforms, should he pursue them," said Ali Vaez, an expert at the
International Crisis Group.

"Khamenei's ruling style is to wield power without accountability... In that
context he needs a Rouhani who is weak enough not to pose a threat, but
seemingly powerful enough to absorb popular blame for any shortcoming," said
Carnegie's Sadjadpour.

Rouhani is not the first president with a reform agenda to serve under
Khamenei. Greater social and political freedom was initially allowed under
Mohammad Khatami, but later Khamenei saw it as a threat.

Khatami's support was crucial in Rouhani's election win, but the president
can expect trouble ahead.

"To prevent Rouhani gaining more popularity and power inside Iran, the
pressure on the reformist camp has increased and will continue to increase,"
said Leylaz, the political analyst.



Common interests But even if Khamenei maintains a hard line, Tehran and
Washington have common interests and threats across the Middle East. They
have cooperated tactically in the past, including when Iran helped the
United States counter Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Daesh in Iraq.

"Iran and the United States have some common enemies and also a clash of
interests in the region. Therefore, they will continue to share intelligence
and keep this back channel open," said Leylaz.

But on the other side of the equation, Iran's rival Saudi Arabia fears a
nuclear deal might embolden Tehran to tighten its grip in the Middle East
and step up its efforts to dominate Arab countries such as Lebanon, Syria
and Iraq.

And like Washington's other Middle Eastern ally, Israel, Saudi Arabia fears
that President Barack Obama has in the process allowed their mutual enemy to
gain the upper hand.


+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 31 March’15:”Assad Says Russia,Iran,Syria
Share Same Vision”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:Assad: Russia,Iran,Syria share same goals

FULL TEXT:Syrian President Bashar Assad says he shares the same goals as
Iran and Russia when it comes to the brutal war tearing apart his country.

Assad, speaking on PBS television in excerpts of an interview airing
Monday[30 Mar.], insisted that close allies Russia and Iran "want to have
balance in the world." "It's not only about Syria. I'm (a) small country.
It's not about having a huge interest in Syria. They could have it anywhere
else," he told the U.S. public television network.

"So, it's about the future of the world. They want to be a great power that
has their own say in the future of this world."In Syria, he said, "they want
stability, and a political solution.""Syria and Iran and Russia see eye to
eye regarding this conflict," Assad added,-- Also aired on 60 Minutes.

Iran-backed Shiite militias are fighting the Islamic State group, which has
seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq, declaring an Islamic
"caliphate" and committing widespread atrocities.

Russia operates a naval base in Tartus along Syria's western shores that
includes warships, barracks and warehouses.

Set up under a 1971 security agreement, Moscow has called its Tartus
presence "a supply and technical point for the Russian navy."

Last week, Assad told Russian news channels that he would welcome an
increased Russian military presence at Syria's seaports.

More than 215,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began,
and half the country's population has been displaced.

SourceAgence France Presse



+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 31 March ’15:”Yemen FM calls for Arab ground
intervention”, by Staff Writer
SUBJECT:Yemen F.M. calls for ground intervention

FULL TEXT:Yemen’s foreign minister called on Tuesday[31 Mar.] for Arab
ground intervention against the Houthis “as soon as possible.”

Asked in interview by Al Arabiya News Channel’s sister channel Al Hadath
whether he sought Arab ground intervention, Riad Yassin said: “Yes, we are
asking for that, and soon as possible, in order to save our infrastructure
and save Yemenis under siege in many cities."

Yassin also revealed that Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi will be
officially asking to join the Gulf Cooperation Council within the coming
days.

Yassin added that the war that has plagued Yemen is the doing of the Houthi
rebels.For six days, a Saudi-led coalition of ten regional countries has
bomed Iran-allied Houthi fighters and army units linked to former president
Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Saudi Arabia has vowed to keep up the raids until the rebels abandons their
insurrection against Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh and whose last bastion in
the southern city of Aden was heavily shelled overnight.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal also reiterated on
Tuesday[31 Mar.] that the air campaign, dubbed “Operation Decisive Storm,”
will continue until Yemen is “stable and unified.”

“Operation Decisive Storm will continue to defend legitimacy in Yemen,”
al-Faisal said during his speech at the weekly meeting of the Shura Council
in the capital Riyadh.“We are not advocating war, but we are ready for it,”
he said.

Yassin also revealed that his ministry is resuming its work in the Saudi
capital Riyadh for the time being, and that it is working tirelessly to find
solutions for some Yemeni citizens who are stranded in some countries.



+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon)31 March ’15:”Asiri Says Nasrallah’s Remarks
Reflected ‘Psychological Crisis’”, by Naarhanet Newsdesk
SUBJECT:Saudi re Hizbullah
FULL TEXT:Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri on Monday[30 Mar.] hit
out anew at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah over the latter's
criticism of Riyadh's military intervention in Yemen, noting that his fiery
speech reflected a “psychological crisis.”

Asked about his interpretation of Nasrallah's speech, Asiri told MTV: “The
only explanation I have is that, unfortunately, there is a psychological
crisis.”

“What is being said by some Lebanese leaders is inappropriate and the Yemeni
issue is not a Lebanese affair or the affair of any leader in Lebanon,” he
added.

On Sunday[29 Mar], Asiri issued a statement accusing Nasrallah of misleading
the public over the Yemeni crisis and defaming the kingdom.

“The sides that are supporting Nasrallah and mobilizing the Huthis do not
wish well for Yemen,” Asiri remarked of Yemen's rebel Huthi movement that is
backed by Iran, Hizbullah's key backer.

…… “We're not fighting Iran but rather its policies. We do not approve of
its approach, as it is supporting a certain sect and trying to disrupt the
Yemeni situations,” he added.

“The reason is Iran's public support that was pouring into Yemen through
funds and arms,” he went on to say.
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA