Excerpts:: Iran rules out inspections. IS video 30 Egyptian Christians
executed. Khamenei urges increased military preparedness. Israel,Palestinian
accord on frozen taxes April 19, 2015


+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 19 April ’15:”Khamenei:Iran nukr weapons are
American myth” by Reuters and United Press
SUBJECT:Iran rules out inspections
QUOTES:”Khamenei has supported the talks but has continued to express deep
mistrust of the United States”, “ ‘Iran will not become a paradise for
spies’ “
FULL TEXT:Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday[19
April] the United States had created the "myth" of nuclear weapons to
portray Iran as a threat, hardening his rhetoric before nuclear negotiations
resume this week.
Khamenei has supported the talks but has continued to express deep mistrust
of the United States. As the highest authority in Iran, the withdrawal of
his support could cause the negotiations to collapse.
"They created the myth of nuclear weapons so they could say the Islamic
Republic is a source of threat. No, the source of threat is America itself,"
Khamenei said in comments cited by the semi-official Fars news agency.

"The other side is methodically and shamelessly threatening us militarily
... even if they did not make these overt threats, we would have to be
prepared," he said in an address to military commanders.
Iran and six world powers including the United States reached a framework
accord on Iran's disputed nuclear program this month and will resume
negotiations in Vienna this week aiming to reach a final deal by the end of
June.

Despite significant progress, the two sides still disagree on several
issues, including how quickly international sanctions would be lifted under
a final deal.

Meanwhile, a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Sunday[19
April] that inspectors would be barred from military sites under any nuclear
agreement with the world powers.

‘Humiliating a nation’

Gen. Hossein Salami, the Guard's deputy leader, said on state TV that
allowing the foreign inspection of military sites is tantamount to "selling
out."

"We will respond with hot lead (bullets) to those who speak of it," Salami
said. "Iran will not become a paradise for spies. We will not roll out the
red carpet for the enemy."

A fact sheet on the framework accord issued by the State Department said
Iran would be required to grant the U.N. nuclear agency access to any
"suspicious sites." Iran has questioned that and other language in the fact
sheet, notably that sanctions would only be lifted after the International
Atomic Energy Agency has verified Tehran's compliance. Iran's leaders have
said the sanctions should be lifted on the first day of the implementation
of the accord.

The fact sheet said Iran has agreed to implement the Additional Protocol to
the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would grant the IAEA expanded access to
both declared and undeclared nuclear facilities.

But Salami said allowing foreign inspectors to visit a military base would
amount to "occupation," and expose "military and defense secrets."

"It means humiliating a nation," Salami said on state TV. "They will not
even be permitted to inspect the most normal military site in their dreams."

Iran allowed IAEA inspectors to visit the Parchin military site in 2005 as a
confidence-building measure, but denied further visits, fearing espionage.

Western nations have long suspected Iran of secretly pursuing a nuclear
weapons capability alongside its civilian program. Tehran denies such
allegations, and insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful



+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 19 April ’15:”Daesh shows purported executions in
Libya of Ethiopia Christians”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT:IS video 30 Egyptian Christians executed

FULL TEXT:TRIPOLI — Daesh (the so called IS group) on Sunday[April 19]
[released a video purportedly showing the executions of some 30 Ethiopian
Christians captured in Libya.

The footage released online shows one group of about 12 men being beheaded
by militants on a beach and another group of at least 16 being shot in the
head in a desert area.

A text on the screen identifies the men as "followers of the cross from the
enemy Ethiopian Church". — AFP


+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 19 April ’15:”Iran Leader Urges Military to
Increase ‘Preparedness”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT:Khamenei urges increased military preparedness

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the armed forces on
Sunday[19 April] to increase their "defensive preparedness", hitting out at
a U.S. warning of possible military steps.

Khamenei told commanders and soldiers in a speech that Iran "will never
accept such stupid remarks", in a jab at General Martin Dempsey, chairman of
the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, though he did not name him.

SourceAgence France Presse



+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 19 April ’15:”Israel, Palestinians ‘reach accord’ on
frozen taxes”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Israel,Palestinian ‘accord on frozen taxes’

RAMALLAH — Israel has agreed to transfer in full hundreds of millions of
dollars in taxes collected for the Palestinian Authority but frozen in a row
over the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Palestinian premier said.

Rami Hamdallah, in a statement from his office late Friday[17 April], said
Israel pledged at a meeting with Palestinian officials to hand over the
taxes collected between December and March, amounting to almost half a
billion dollars.

Israeli officials on Saturday[18 April] confirmed an agreement was sealed on
the taxes, while the media said the transfer of 1.8 billion shekels would
take place on Monday[20 April].The UN special coordinator for Middle East
peace efforts, Nickolay Mladenov, welcomed the deal as an important step “in
the right direction”.

The Palestinians had threatened to turn to the ICC over Israel’s decision in
early January to retain the taxes in retaliation for the Palestinians
joining the ICC The monthly funds account for two-thirds of the Palestinians’
annual budget, excluding foreign aid.

Israel agreed at the start of April to release the funds after deducting
debts due for electricity, water and medical services, a proposal rejected
by the Palestinians who insisted on full payment.

Hamdallah said the PA, once the funds are received, will firstly pay the
April salaries of its 180,000 employees, who have been receiving only 60 per
cent of their wages since December.

The deficit will also be paid “as soon as possible”, the prime minister
said.

Under an economic agreement signed in 1994, Israel transfers to the PA tens
of millions of dollars each month in customs duties levied on goods destined
for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports.

Although transfer freezes have been imposed many times, they have rarely
lasted more than one or two months, except in 2006 when the Islamist
movement Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian legislative polls and
Israel withheld the funds for six months.

================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA