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Eye on Iran: Slain Iranian Teenager Becomes Symbol Of Protests -- Russia Will Not Agree To ...

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:54:44 +0100

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The Los Angeles Times reported that "Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral Monday of 19-year-old Sohrab Aarabi, a quiet young man whose body was returned to his family after nearly a month of frantic searching by friends and relatives. He had disappeared June 15 during a protest against the disputed reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 'I won't remain silent,' said Aarabi's mother, Parvin Fahimi, according to the pro-reformist news website Norooznews.org, the online incarnation of the popular newspaper Norooz, which was closed by authorities in 2002. 'The authorities were playing with me all this time,' she added. 'My son had been killed, but they refused to tell me.' The story of Aarabi's death and his mother's quest is emerging as another emotionally potent narrative of the fledgling protest movement. It follows that of Neda Agha-Soltan, a 26-year-old aspiring tour guide shot dead June 20 during a demonstration, who has also become a symbol of the movement." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-sohrab14-2009jul14,0,3098746.story)

Reuters reported that "Russia will not agree to tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program in exchange for a new nuclear arms cuts deal with Washington, Interfax news agency quoted a foreign ministry source as saying Tuesday. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama's nuclear adviser suggested that progress on a U.S.-Russian nuclear arms pact could help persuade Moscow to be more cooperative on Iran. 'There are no reasons to link these issues or count on Russia being more cooperative in toughening sanctions against Iran if there is progress in talks with the United States on further cuts in strategic offensive weapons,' the source said...The sharp tone of the Russian comments contrasted with the positive mood that dominated last week during Obama's visit to Moscow aimed at 'resetting' thorny bilateral ties." (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE56D1CR20090714)

Reuters reported that "Iran's opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi will attend Friday prayers this week in his first official public appearance since last month's disputed presidential vote, a newspaper said on Tuesday. The Etemad daily said the prayers at Tehran University will be led by former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a rival of re-elected hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and one of the four Tehran Friday prayer leaders. Another former president and supporter of Mousavi, reformist Mohammad Khatami, will also attend, the newspaper said. 'Mousavi and Khatami will attend the prayers this week led by Rafsanjani. This will be their first public appearance in an official event after the (June 12) election,' said the daily, citing Mousavi's Facebook page. It also said Mousavi had urged his supporters to attend the sermon." (http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-41020320090714)

The New York Times reported that "Three prominent clerics criticized the Iranian authorities on Monday for failing to condemn the recent killing of Muslims in western China. Their comments often seemed aimed at the Iranian government's own conduct during the crackdown after the disputed June 12 presidential election. One of the clerics, Ayatollah Youssef Sanei, a reformist, drew a sardonic parallel, suggesting that Iran, which considers itself the defender of Muslims worldwide, could not criticize China's repressive tactics while it was doing the same thing. He also said Iran's silence was related to its commercial, military and political links with China. 'How could China suppress the Muslims so violently and seek good relations with Muslim countries, and sometimes dominate their markets?' Ayatollah Sanei wrote, in comments published on news services and reformist Web sites." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/world/middleeast/14iran.html)

AFP reported that "In a mass prison execution, Iran hanged 13 rebels from the shadowy Sunni insurgent group Jundallah as 'enemies of God' for a string of attacks, including kidnapping of foreigners. The official IRNA news agency said the insurgents were executed in prison in the restive southeastern border city of Zahedan, epicentre of a Sunni Muslim rebellion against the Shiite regime in Tehran...The rebels were accused of being 'mohareb' (enemies of God) and of 'kidnapping foreigners, killing innocents and of carrying out terrorist acts for the Jundallah group,' IRNA said, quoting a local judiciary statement. State media had announced on Monday that 14 members of Jundallah (Soldiers of God) would be publicly executed on Tuesday. 'After last minute consultations, the executions were carried out in a prison,' Hamidi said." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g9l3KgHxynfpg0rjWPBcBWKEa7eQ)

AFP reported that "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will take the oath of office before parliament in early August following his hotly-disputed re-election, the ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday. The hardline Ahmadinejad will be sworn in as the 10th president of the Islamic republic between August 2 and 6 after being confirmed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and will then unveil his new cabinet, it said." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iW2riuG8CZTitqDuLMTYo09EfR5Q)

The Guardian reported that "A detained British embassy employee in Tehran is to be put on trial as the supposed orchestrator of the mass protests that followed last month's bitterly disputed Iranian presidential election, despite Britain's insistence that the charges against him are false. Hossein Rassam, 44, is accused of being the 'kingpin' and key strategist behind a purported embassy attempt to foment street demonstrations after the 12 June poll, which resulted in the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. David Miliband, the foreign secretary, has dismissed as 'wholly without foundation' the notion of British involvement in the protests that brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets for 10 days after the election. The accusations against Rassam, the embassy's chief political analyst, are the most specific yet since his arrest on 27 June along with eight other employees, who have since been released." (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/12/embassy-iran-trial-hossein-rassam)

Reuters reported that "The United States called on Iran on Monday to release U.S. citizen Kian Tajbakhsh and said it was 'deeply concerned' about the scholar, who was detained in Tehran last week and has previously been accused of spying. Tajbakhsh, an Iranian American who holds a doctorate in urban planning from Columbia University, was arrested by Iranian authorities in May 2007, charged with spying and then released after more than four months in Tehran's Evin prison." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090713/wl_nm/us_iran_usa_scholar)

AFP reported that "An Iranian singer, Mohsen Namjoo, has been sentenced in absentia to a five-year jail term for ridiculing the Koran holy book in a song, reformist daily Etemad Melli reported on Tuesday...'He was sentenced on June 9 to five years in jail for insulting sanctities, ridiculing the Koran and dishonouring the holy book of the Muslims,' it quoted a Koran expert and plaintiff in the case, Abbas Salimi Namin, as saying...Namjoo, who fuses traditional Iranian music with pop and jazz, has also sang in solidarity with protesters who took to the streets after the Islamic republic's disputed June 12 presidential election." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ha0xGZv-wQxCwbCGCYCH6Mv-aSqQ)

Robin Wright wrote in today's Washington Post that "How much has changed for Iran in one occasionally breathtaking month. The erratic uprising is becoming as important as the Islamic revolution 30 years ago -- and not only for Iran. Both redefined political action throughout the Middle East. The costs are steadily mounting for the regime. Just one day before the June 12 presidential election, the Islamic republic had never been so powerful...But the day after the election, the Islamic republic had never appeared so vulnerable. The virtual militarization of the state has failed to contain the uprising, and its tactics have further alienated and polarized society. It has also shifted the focus from the election to Iran's leadership...The uprising has transformed Iran's political landscape. Over the past month, dozens of disparate political factions have coalesced into two rival camps: the New Right and the New Left...What was a political divide has become a schism. Many Iranian leaders served time together in the shah's jails; today, their visions of the Islamic republic differ so sharply that reconciliation would be almost impossible. What happens next will be determined by three factors: leadership, unity and momentum." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071302575.html)

David Waddington wrote in today's Independent that "After talks in L'Aquila last week, the leaders of the G8 nations said they were 'seriously concerned about recent events in Iran;' adding feebly that in September they would 'take stock of the situation.' How can it be right for our leaders to give more time to the mullahs to murder their people and build a nuclear bomb with which to threaten us all? Military action is not a solution, but we can stop paying the regime for blood-drenched barrels of oil. Sanctions need to be tightened by the EU and UN Security Council. Diplomatic ties with the regime must be severed until suppression is halted and political prisoners are freed." (http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/david-waddington-we-must-cut-our-ties-with-iran-until-the-suppression-is-halted-1744985.html)

UANI Calls On New York Area Hotels To Refuse To Host President Ahmadinejad And The Iranian ...

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:21:13 +0100

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 13, 2009
Contact: press@unitedagainstnucleariran.com
Phone: (212) 554-3296

UANI Calls On New York Area Hotels To Refuse To Host President Ahmadinejad And The Iranian Delegation During the Upcoming United Nations General Assembly

New York, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) today called on New York area hotels to refuse to host President Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Delegation during the 64th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) scheduled to begin in New York City on September 15, 2009.

"We call on the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the InterContinental Hotel and all New York area hotels to refuse to host and house President Ahmadinejad and the Iranian delegation during the upcoming UNGA," said Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, President of UANI. "These hotels must join the international community in condemnation of Iran's illicit nuclear program and for its brutal repression of the Iranian people. If President Ahmadinejad comes to the UNGA he should stay in the Iranian Mission to the UN as a testament to his international isolation and responsible entities should decline to host the Iranian delegation."

It has been reported that the Grand Hyatt Hotel and the InterContinental Hotel have done business in recent years with the Iranian regime. Because of their business dealings with the Iranian government UANI has included the Grand Hyatt and the InterContinental in the UANI Iran Business Registry (IBR). Please visit http://unitedagainstnucleariran.com/ibr/industry/hotels for more information.

UANI will work with these companies to ensure that they voluntarily declare themselves to be free of Iranian business by executing a pledge for publication in the Iran Business Registry. Please visit http://unitedagainstnucleariran.com/ibr for more information.

UANI urges every American to send a message to these companies asking them to stop doing business with the Iranian regime. Please visit http://www.capwiz.com/unitedagainstnucleariran/issues/alert/?alertid=13730726&type=CU for more information.

The events currently unfolding in Iran underscore the brutality of the Iranian regime. The suppression of those who have sought free and democratic elections underscores the thuggish nature of the regime while innocents like Neda Agha-Soltan have been murdered.

Now, more than ever, Iran relies on international companies that do business in Iran to support its fragile economy, its nuclear program and to perpetuate a brutal dictatorial theocracy. UANI urges these hotels to cease any current business with Iran and to forgo any future business with Iran at least until Iran abandons its unlawful nuclear program.

Click here to send a message to these companies
Click here to read the letter sent to the Grand Hyatt
Click here to read the letter sent to Barclay's InterContinental
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BACKGROUND

The banquet hall of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in mid-town Manhattan had the feel of an extravagant Persian wedding on Wednesday night. A crowd of over one thousand guests, dressed in formal attire, sat around tightly packed tables munching on Iranian delicacies and chit-chatting casually in Farsi. But the occasion was a dinner hosted by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The guest list, all Iranian-Americans living in the tri-state area, had been drawn up from the database of Iran's mission to the United Nations and consulate in Washington D.C... Extreme security measures had to be taken so Mr. Ahmadinejad could host his dinner party at the Grand Hyatt that night. Dozens of burly American secret service members, dressed in plain suits with an ear-piece plugged into one ear, swarmed the hotel lobby and the banquet hall standing shoulder to shoulder with Iranian bodyguards. Elevators to the event's floor were shut down. Uniformed New York City police officers were also present in abundance. Police dogs sniffed around the area and at least 20 police cars lined up outside the hotel, in addition to an ambulance and a fire truck. This was in case of an attack against Mr. Ahmadinejad; one police officer said they had taken shifts securing the hotel all day long.
(Wall Street Journal, My Dinner With Ahmadinejad, Farnaz Fassihi, September 28, 2008)

The invitation was on creamy stationery with fancy calligraphy: The Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran "requests the pleasure" of my company to dine with H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The dinner is at the Intercontinental Hotel - with names carefully written out at all the place settings around a rectangular table. There are about 50 of us, academics and journalists mostly. There's Brian Williams across the room, and Christiane Amanpour a few seats down. And at a little after 8pm, on a day when he has already addressed the U.N., the evening after his confrontation at Columbia, a bowing and smiling Mahmoud Ahmadinejad glides into the room. (Time, My Dinner With Ahmadinejad, Richard Stengel, September 26, 2007)

Billed as a dialogue between American church leaders and President Ahmadinejad of Iran, the Religions for Peace event at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Thursday is shaping up as the focal point of this week's gathering of world leaders in New York City.
(New York Sun, Ahmadinejad Prepares To Steal The Scene, Benny Avni, September 22, 2008)

The warmer tone colored most of the approximately two-hour meeting, held at the Barclay Intercontinental Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Ahmadinejad then hosted a meeting for American religious figures from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim groups, and tonight he will meet with policy watchers and former U.S. officials in a meeting organized by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. The unusual efforts appear aimed at de-demonizing the hard-line Ahmadinejad's image in the West, and particularly in the United States, which is leading an effort to seek economic sanctions at the U.N. for Iran's defiance of a Security Council order to halt the enrichment of uranium.
(US News, Iran's Ahmadinejad: "Can't We Just Be Friends?", Thomas Omestad, September 20, 2006)

###

Eye on Iran: Political And Social Rifts Opened By Election Continue To Deepen

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:03:22 +0100

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The New York Times reported that "In an implicit rebuke to Iran's ruling elite, a conservative presidential candidate warned Sunday that the political and social rifts opened by the disputed June 12 vote and subsequent crackdown could lead to the nation's 'disintegration' if they were not resolved soon. The candidate, Mohsen Rezai, made his warning in a long statement about the election and its bloody aftermath, in which he called for reconciliation and spoke about the danger of 'imprisoning' the legacy of the Islamic Revolution in divisive and shortsighted politics...Mr. Rezai's statement is the latest sign that opposition to Mr. Ahmadinejad - despite the violent crackdown on street protests and stern warnings by government leaders - has not faltered. On Sunday, Iran's Expediency Council delivered a victory to opposition supporters by upholding a law that would prevent government officials from simultaneously serving on the powerful Guardian Council, which is responsible for approving candidates and certifying election results...Other conservative figures have made gestures in recent days indicating their displeasure with the government's tactics or their desire for more forgiving policies."

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/world/middleeast/13iran.html)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "A powerful cleric who has been a driving force behind the opposition movement challenging the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will lead Friday prayers this week after a two-month absence that was considered a sign of conflict within the Iranian establishment...Mousavi's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mousavi) said that he and his ally, former President Mohammad Khatami, would attend the prayer sermon. The Facebook page invited supporters who poured into the streets in recent weeks to attend, though Mousavi's website, Ghalamnews.ir, carried no such announcement. News of the return of reformists and moderates to the official Friday prayer ceremony could serve as a challenge to hard-liners, led by supreme leader Ali Khamenei, on their home turf. Alternately, it could be a sign that the two sides have brokered a truce in their continuing political conflict. The election and subsequent demonstrations, attended by hundreds of thousands of Iranians, have led to numerous deaths and arrests." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran13-2009jul13,0,2848040.story)

The New York Times reported that "One of Iran's most senior clerics issued an unusual decree on Saturday calling the country's rulers 'usurpers and transgressors' for their treatment of opposition protesters in recent weeks, in the strongest condemnation by a religious figure since the contested presidential election a month ago. The decree by Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a dissident who has often criticized Iran's ruling clerics, did not mention by name Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but was clearly aimed at the clerical leadership. Posted on the Web site of Mohsen Kadivar, a dissident cleric and former student of Ayatollah Montazeri, the ruling said the recent arrests and shootings of protesters were proof that Iran's leaders are unqualified to rule the community of Muslims."

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/world/asia/12iran.html)

The Wall Street Journal reported that "If Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei succeeds in stamping out the unrest, it will be in large part because of Mr. Moradani and his colleagues in the Basij militia, the Islamic Republic's most loyal foot soldiers. The story of Mr. Moradani, a midranking Basij member, offers a rare glimpse into one of the most mysterious and feared arms of Iran's regime -- and into the group's most significant mobilization since the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. This portrait of Mr. Moradani is based on interviews with him conducted in person and by phone, both before the uprising and after the crackdown began." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124726981104525893.html)

AP reported that "Hundreds of protesters, many of them Iranian-Americans, marched from Capitol Hill to the White House on Saturday, most holding Iranian flags and chanting demands for the U.S. to take more action after Iran's disputed election. After marching through several blocks of downtown Washington, more than 200 people rallied in front of the White House. They shouted demands for President Barack Obama and leaders of other countries to 'reject the sham elections, impose complete sanctions.' They also shouted 'death to Ahmadinejad,' referring to the Iranian president whose disputed June 12 re-election prompted days of street protests in Iran. Some carried pictures of Neda Agha Soltan, a young woman who bled to death in a Tehran street. She became a symbol of the postelection protest movement after videos of her death by gunfire were posted online." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090712/ap_on_re_us/us_iranian_americans_protest)

The Washington Post reported that "For months, the reports percolated in Washington and other capitals. Iran was constructing a major beachhead in Nicaragua as part of a diplomatic push into Latin America, featuring huge investment deals, new embassies and even TV programming from the Islamic republic. 'The Iranians are building a huge embassy in Managua,' Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned in May. 'And you can only imagine what that's for.' But here in Nicaragua, no one can find any super-embassy. 'The Iranian presence here, as elsewhere, is a concern to us,' a U.S. official in Managua said. 'So, naturally, we pay attention to what they're doing. But although they are here, we haven't seen a lot of activity on their part'...Analysts say Iran has not yet come through on multiple accords to invest billions of dollars in energy exploration, factories and other projects in Latin America...Since Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005, Iran has opened six new Latin American embassies -- in Colombia, Nicaragua, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay and Bolivia -- adding to embassies in Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/12/AR2009071202337.html)

AP reported that "Iran is preparing a package of proposals to present to Western powers that could be a basis for future talks, the country's foreign minister said Saturday. Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference that the package deals with political and economic issues as well as security and international affairs but did not say whether its proposals also covered Iran's nuclear activities." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD99CBI000)

AP reported that "Turkmenistan has agreed to build a new pipeline to supply natural gas to Iran from a field previously reserved for deliveries to Russia, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday. The deal appears to be part of an effort by the energy-rich Central Asian nation to reduce its dependence on Russia, the main market for its gas exports. Under the deal, Turkmenistan will increase its gas deliveries to Iran to 14 billion cubic meters a year, the ministry said. Iran currently buys up to 8 billion cubic meters annually from Turkmenistan under a 25-year contract dating back to 1997, when the 125-mile (200-kilometer) Korpeje-Kurt Kui gas pipeline began operating." (http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-as-turkmenistan-gas,0,1642416.story)

Reuters reported that "Iran has sought investment from Chinese oil firms to help build and upgrade its lagging refining sector, as the world's No.5 crude exporter seeks to cut gasoline imports, Beijing-based industry officials said on Monday. China's top three oil firms PetroChina, Sinopec Corp and CNOOC, and state banks such as China Construction Bank were briefed last week by senior Iranian oil officials in Beijing on a series of refining projects under Tehran's planning board, the officials said. Iran, the world's No.5 oil exporter, lacks refining capacity and must import large amount of costly gasoline to meet its domestic requirements, a vulnerable situation as the West seeks ways to put pressure on Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme." (http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSPEK33142220090713)

Reuters reported that "Iran will hang 14 members of a Sunni rebel group in public on Tuesday, including a brother of its leader Abdolmalek Rigi, a semi-official news agency reported on Monday. Predominantly Shi'ite Muslim Iran says Jundollah (God's Soldiers) is part of the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network and backed by the United States, Tehran's arch foe." (http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-40998020090713?sp=true)

Reuters reported that "Iran threatened the United States on Sunday with possible legal action for detaining five of its

officials for up to 30 months in Iraq. The five Iranians were given a hero's welcome home after their release last week, waving and smiling as they stepped from their plane at Tehran's Mehrabad airport to be met by their families. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who was also there to greet them, denounced their detention as 'inhumane.'"

(http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSLC372195)

AP reported that "An international human rights group said Sunday that an Iranian family only learned of the death of their 19-year-old son weeks after he was shot during a demonstration against the country's disputed presidential election. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said that raised concerns about the fate of what it said were dozens and possibly hundreds of other Iranians who went missing in the postelection turbulence and remain unaccounted for." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jGSJEAPs_r2T2wxsL5G3t4z-jajQD99D55E80)

AFP reported that "The murder of a Kurdish opposition leader in Vienna, in which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's name has been dragged, is still shrouded in mystery two decades on. Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan -- an Iranian opposition party outlawed by Tehran -- was killed in the Austrian capital on July 13, 1989 by commandos who were never apprehended. A number of witnesses have even linked Ahmadinejad to Ghassemlou's murder and those of two others but Tehran has persistently denied involvement." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iGCdVT1soqgleXfx6rEju8HqreHA)

The New York Times Editorial Board wrote on Saturday that "The world's wealthy nations have given Iran until late September to agree to restraints on its nuclear program. If there is no progress, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France declared at this week's Group of 8 summit, 'we will have to take decisions' on imposing tougher sanctions. We hope Mr. Sarkozy and the other G-8 leaders mean it. For seven years, the world powers have pursued a feckless strategy that failed to halt Iran's efforts to master nuclear fuel production, the hardest part of building a weapon. More deadlines, without any real follow-through, will send a dangerous message to nuclear wannabes who already see Iran and North Korea defying repeated demands from the United Nations Security Council to cease and desist...The United States must make clear to Iran the advantages of coming in from the cold. It must work with Europe, Russia and China to craft a tough package of sanctions that could make Iran's clerical and military elite rethink their destructive plans. Ten weeks is not a lot of time. And Iran's program is moving ahead." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/opinion/11sat3.html?_r=1)

Mark Dubowitz wrote in today's Wall Street Journal that "After three decades of an Islamic revolution that has neither upheld Islam's virtues nor brought revolutionary change from repression, many Iranians have had enough. But political transformation, if indeed that's what we're seeing the start of, won't necessarily be immediate...So while longer-term hope still exists for a free Iran, Europe and the United States must prepare for a more dangerous Iranian regime over the short- or even medium term. Their legitimacy wounded and their paranoia increased, Iran's leaders now may be more repressive at home and intransigent abroad. This raises a pressing question: What can be done to stop the regime's march to a nuclear bomb?...So Europe and her allies must be willing to peacefully exploit Iran's economic Achilles heel: the regime's heavy dependence on gasoline imports. Due to limited refining capabilities, Iran imports approximately 40% of its domestic gasoline consumption. Iran is the second-largest importer of gasoline in the world. That gasoline is supplied primarily by five companies: the Swiss-Dutch energy trading giants Vitol and Trafigura, the Indian multinational Reliance Industries, the Swiss trader Glencore and the French energy firm Total." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124742606453828901.html)

John Hannah wrote in Saturday's Wall Street Journal that "Today, Iran's burgeoning opposition is clearly angered by the country's dismal economy, ashamed of its status as an international pariah, and alarmed by the growing danger of military conflict. Opposition members will not accept the regime's efforts to scapegoat the U.S. Instead, their fury has been directed inward at the brutality, economic mismanagement, and outrageous behavior of the Islamic regime. As Mr. Obama reassesses his Iran policy in the wake of the Iranian protests, he could do worse than to incorporate at least a few pointers from Mr. Bush's playbook. That would mean an adjusted Iran strategy that sees the Iranian people as allies of the Free World, not the Islamic Republic. It would also mean spending less time trying to reassure Iran's despotic rulers of the U.S.'s benign intentions. Mr. Obama should instead spend more time on using his enormous international popularity to further mobilize the world against Iran's tyrants." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124726460465725425.html)

Alastair Crooke wrote in Saturday's New York Times that "The troubles that have followed the Iranian presidential elections have been generally misread by the Western media and policymakers. What we are witnessing is not a frustrated East European-style 'color revolution'; nor is presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi's movement an uprising of liberal, Westernized sympathizers against the principles of the Iranian Revolution -- although there are surely some who are hostile to the revolution among his supporters. Rather, what we have been seeing is a power struggle -- between factions of the 'Old Guard' clergy who all initially assumed power in 1979 -- that erupted into public view in the recent presidential election campaign. As that dispute is settled over the coming months, we can expect big changes in the top ranks of the power elite. But the revolution is not about to implode." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/opinion/11iht-edcrooke.html?_r=1&ref=global)

Reuel Marc Gerecht wrote in the July 20th issue of the Weekly Standard that "Revolutions tend to devour their own children, and Iran's has already consumed thousands. But even at its bloodiest moments, it pulled back from the savagery of the French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions. Iran's ruling elite doesn't like to spill the blood of its own. The Islamic republic's complex, traditional wiring--who owes loyalty to whom and who is married to whom--checks the brutality of the system. Iran's badly battered traditional culture, with its aversion to violence against women, can still constrain those who claim to defend Islamic values. It's a very good bet that few within President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hard-line circle shed a tear about the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, the beautiful, Westernized young woman gunned down and immortalized on the Internet. Yet the regime backpedaled rapidly on her death. Moral outrage within Iran, and abroad, had an effect." (http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/727ctxoc.asp)

Jon Meacham wrote in today's Washington Post that "Given the nature of life in Iran in 2009, the government's attempts to exert control over the country and over the world's impressions of the events unfolding there are understandable, if regrettable. But history tells us that the degree to which dissent is tolerated is a measure of a government's strength, not its weakness -- and Bahari was not demonstrating, only reporting. With respect, then, we ask the government of Iran to grant Bahari the rights he is guaranteed under Iranian law: that he be allowed to see a lawyer and, if there are no charges against him -- and we believe there should be no charges -- that he be released immediately. We say again: Maziar Bahari is a journalist whose fairness is evident in any reasonable survey of his work. His case is an opportunity for the government of Iran to show that it is a well-intentioned member of the family of nations, a country to be taken seriously and on its own terms. It is an opportunity, we respectfully submit, that should not be missed." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/12/AR2009071201532.html)

Zarah Ghahramani wrote in Sunday's Los Angeles Times that "I fear that the protesters who are being picked up by state security on the streets of Iranian cities right now will be forced to endure what I endured nine years ago. I fear they will be tortured, humiliated, made to sign false 'confessions.' It will seem to some of those who survive their ordeal that the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has such fearsome resources of repression at its disposal that all protests are futile. That's what I thought when I was released from Evin, and that sense of futility contributed to my rage. I think differently now. I remember my interrogator saying to me: 'We can do what we like. No one can help you.' Later, alone in my cell, I thought, 'It's true, they can do what they like.' But even as I said that, I was imagining freedom. That is something the interrogator and the regime he served don't dare to do. And in the long term, that is our advantage; our own fearsome resource. We can imagine freedom." (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-ghahramani12-2009jul12,0,3344749.story)

Iason Athanasiadis wrote in today's Washington Times that "What began as a planned, weeklong trip to cover Iran's

presidential elections had turned into a monthlong saga that included nearly three weeks of solitary confinement and a final indignity: a night in a jail cell at the airport for no apparent reason. Perhaps an alternative power center ordered that I be kept, or the same faction that had decided to release me had second thoughts...I thought I was not taking any exceptional chances as I covered Iran's June 12 presidential elections. Having lived in Iran for 2 1/2 years between 2004 and 2007, I thought I knew the red lines. But the turmoil that erupted after the Iranian government announced a 'landslide' victory for incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was like nothing Iran had experienced since the 1979 Islamic revolution. And the rules that had protected journalists, particularly foreign ones, no longer seemed to apply." (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/13/sad-departure-from-iran-after-weeks-in-prison/?feat=home_headlines)

Eye on Iran: Thousands of Protesters Take to Streets Despite Threats

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:55:51 +0100

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The New York Times reported that "Thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran on Thursday, clapping, chanting, almost mocking the authorities as they once again turned out in large numbers in defiance of the government's threat to crush their protests with violence.A s tear gas canisters cracked and hissed in the middle of crowds, and baton-wielding police officers chased protesters up and down sidewalks, young people, some bloodied, ran for cover, but there was an almost festive feeling on the streets of Tehran, witnesses reported in e-mail exchanges. A young woman, her clothing covered in blood, ran up Kargar Street, paused for a moment and said, 'I am not scared, because we are in this together.' The protesters set trash afire in the street, and shopkeepers locked their gates, then let demonstrators in to escape the wrath of the police. Hotels also served as havens, letting in protesters and locking out the authorities." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/world/middleeast/10iran.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast)

The Washington Post reported that "The protests were called to commemorate an attack on students at the university in 1999. The demonstrators are using such anniversaries and special occasions to rally people in public. Demonstrators and Web sites said the next possible date is the second-term inauguration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which is expected next month. Several national and religious celebrations also are coming up in the months ahead. At the same time, the authorities also showed their determination to prevent such protests." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/09/AR2009070901772.html)

AP reported that "Obama, speaking at the end of the Group of Eight summit of major economic powers, said world leaders had taken significant measures to address economic, environmental and global security issues...Obama told reporters that world leaders 'remain seriously concerned about the appalling events of Iran's presidential election,' including the government's crackdown on protesters. He said the world would 'take stock of Iran's progress' in coming days and watch its behavior. The president said world leaders have made clear that for Iran to take its 'rightful place' in the world, the country must adhere to international standards and behave responsibility." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5isOFwdbq0tsqatW6vJpkDRTI1gMgD99BJI904)

Bloomberg reported that "U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will discuss with officials in Europe and the Middle East the current international sanctions against Iran and the possibility of more, a Treasury official said. Geithner is visiting the U.K., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and France next week for discussions about the global economy, efforts to prevent terrorism financing and the threat Iran poses, two Treasury officials said in a briefing today with reporters in Washington." (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a69bruS9A7q4)

Reuters reported that "French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Israel on Thursday that any strike against Iran would be catastrophic for the world and told Tehran to expect more sanctions if it refused to discuss its nuclear program...'For the past 6 years we have extended our hand saying stop your nuclear armament program ... Do they want discussions or don't they want them? If they don't, there will be sanctions,' he told reporters." (http://www.reuters.com/article/joeBiden/idUSTRE56876820090709)

AFP reported that "US President Barack Obama expressed solidarity with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown over the 'unacceptable' jailing by Iran of a British embassy employee, their governments said Thursday...'The President expressed solidarity on Iran, where both leaders were clear that the detention of embassy staff by the Iranian authorities was unacceptable,' said the statement." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g-Vzm2ip97UgnrCx6EQi86rea9cg)

AP reported that "The State Department is worried that release of five Iranian officials suspected of aiding Shiite insurgents in Iraq could present a security threat to American troops there. Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters that the U.S. released the five to the Iraqi government because it was obliged to do so under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that took effect several months ago. Whether they are now set free is up to the Iraqis. He described the five Iranians as being 'associated with' the Quds force, an element of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. officials believe the five were involved in training Iraqi militant groups. Kelly said the possibility of the five creating further security problems in Iraq was a 'big concern.' And he said U.S. officials have communicated that concern to Baghdad." (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99B2QV81&show_article=1)

CNN reported that "Seven Baha'i prisoners face a death-penalty trial Saturday in Iran amid calls for their release from a U.S. panel on religious freedom. Responding to a letter from Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist who spent four months in an Iranian jail earlier this year, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) demanded the seven prisoners be freed rather than stand trial on charges of espionage and religious violations. If convicted, they could face execution...Leonard Leo, chairman of USCIRF, said the crackdown on protests after Iran's June 12 presidential elections 'have exposed the world to the cold realities about how the Iranian government regularly deals with dissent or views that are a perceived threat to the theocratic regime.'" (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/10/iran.bahais.jail.trial/)

Ian Buruma wrote in today's Real Clear World that "Mousavi's campaign, and its aftermath, showed clearly that those who professed to see no difference between the candidates, except in style and presentation, were wrong: even if the election was rigged, the voices of opposition to clerical authoritarianism were heard. The quiet dignity of the protests that followed did more for Iran's standing in the world than any amount of belligerent posturing by a populist president. There may have been a more important consequence. The election, the fraud, and the violent crackdown on the subsequent protests revealed, and clearly widened, deep rifts inside the regime. This is the best reason why in most cases it is best to contest elections, even in unpromising circumstances. They expose cracks in the wall of dictatorial power. Ahmadinejad won the election, but the regime is weakened as a result. Terror can prolong the agony, but in the end an illegitimate regime is doomed." (http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2009/07/10/dont_be_cynical_about_irans_uprising_96906.html)

Eye on Iran: Tehran Governor: New Protests Will Be "Smashed"

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:07:38 +0100

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AP reported that "The governor of Tehran province warned that security forces will 'smash' any attempt at protests amid calls Thursday for the first significant opposition marches since a major crackdown more than a week ago. Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have called for new demonstrations at several locations in Tehran and other cities. The calls are a bid to revive street action after police, Revolutionary Guards and Basij militiamen crushed the dramatic mass protests that erupted over Iran's disputed June 12 presidential election...'If some individuals plan to have anti-security move through listening to a call by counter-revolutionary networks, they will be smashed under the feet of our aware people,' he said, according to the state news agency IRNA in a report late Wednesday...Ahead of Thursday's planned march, authorities appeared to have taken a number of other steps to prevent participation. SMS mobile phone messaging was down Thursday for a third straight day - a step believed to be aimed at thwarting protesters' communications." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jGSJEAPs_r2T2wxsL5G3t4z-jajQD99ATNR80)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "Protesters and security forces have begun to gather in the streets of downtown Tehran as the nation braces for a potential day of violent confrontations. By 4 p.m. Iran time, uniformed security forces on motorcycles wearing black helmets and in plainclothes had begun to gather in the streets around Enqelab (Revolution) Square, near the Tehran University epicenter of the protest. Police vans to haul away protesters could be seen parked along the roadways. Demonstrators have also begun to gather, walking nonchalantly as tension simmers around them. Despite the lack of formal organizers and leadership, thousands of people in cities across Iran are planning to march silently today in unauthorized demonstrations to show their discontent over the reelection last month of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and commemorate the 10th anniversary of a violent confrontation between students and security forces." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran9-2009jul09,0,3103406.story)

Reuters reported that "Iran will not back down 'even one step' over its nuclear work, a senior adviser to the country's top authority said in remarks published on Thursday, making clear Tehran's continued defiance in a row with the West." (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5681D720090709)

The Wall Street Journal reported that "The leaders of the eight largest industrial democracies issued a unanimous declaration Wednesday night expressing 'serious concern' about post-election violence in Iran, the 'unjustified' detention of journalists and the harassment of embassy staff in the Islamic Republic. It also condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his statements denying the Holocaust. But the group stopped short of setting deadlines for a halt to Iran's nuclear program or calling for specific action, instead stating the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September would provide the world an opportunity to take stock of options to halt Iran's suspected pursuit of a nuclear weapon." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124709081801314361.html)

AFP reported that "A top European court rejected on Thursday a bid by an Iranian-owned bank to stop the EU freezing its assets under sanctions imposed against the Islamic republic's nuclear programme. 'The court dismisses the action and upholds the fund-freezing decision,' the Luxembourg-based Court of First Instance said in its decision on Melli Bank, a British public limited company. Melli Bank is owned by Bank Melli Iran (BMI), an Iranian bank controlled by the Iranian state, and the court said it was possible that BMI could exert pressure on entities it owns to circumvent the sanctions. 'Freezing of the funds of entities owned or controlled by an entity engaging in nuclear proliferation is necessary and appropriate in order to ensure the effectiveness of the measures adopted,' it said in a statement." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h60lTSODN6WY-MAkgdj1XUa9x-Lw)

Reuters reported that "U.S. lawmakers expressed concern on Wednesday about the United Arab Emirates' ties with Iran as they debated a U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement with the moderate Gulf state that is expected to go into force in October. Iran is one of the UAE's biggest trading partners but lawmakers said the relationship also poses security risks. The West fears Iran's nuclear program could be used to build nuclear weapons but Tehran says it is solely for civilian power generation. Representative Howard Berman, who chairs the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said the main issue was 'the extent to which the UAE has been a reliable partner of the United States in working to prevent Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapons capability.' 'For many years, Iran has sought to use the UAE as a transit point to illicitly procure items to support its nuclear and other WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programs.' Although the UAE has taken steps over the last two years to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and to strengthen export controls, 'a nuclear cooperation agreement at this point...is one line some of us are not prepared to cross,' said Representative Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the panel." (http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN0839374420090708)

AP reported that "The White House says it is counting on Brazil to help convince Iran that it must keep its nuclear activities peaceful. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that President Barack Obama noted Brazil's close trading ties with Iran when he met Thursday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Gibbs says Obama told Silva that the relationship between Brazil and Iran offers a unique opportunity to reiterate the G-8's stance on Iran." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gEqirLWm7zY7uCh-ypndWcKGGm_gD99AS5C00)

The New York Times reported that "Interviews with more than a dozen Iranians here paint a picture of a nation deeply polarized by the results of the presidential election last month, and a government that, with a daunting display of security might from town to village, appears to be succeeding in silencing dissent...In Tehran, one resident said, protesters challenging the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seem to be running out of options, especially the ability to mobilize in large numbers on the streets as they did immediately after the election. Government forces are cracking down on any gatherings, he said. 'Guards are lurking everywhere in the city,' he said. But he said one form of protest persists. People are still taking to their roofs in several Tehran neighborhoods around 10 p.m. each night to chant 'Allahu akbar,' God is great, for about 20 minutes." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/world/middleeast/09border.html?ref=middleeast)

AP reported that "Iranian authorities are using beatings, sleep deprivation and long interrogations to force confessions from those detained in the country's postelection turmoil, an international human rights group said Wednesday. Human Rights Watch said in a report that the confessions appear meant to support claims by Iranian government officials that foreign powers were driving the unrest and that the protests were aimed at overthrowing the government, rather than holding a new election...The group said detainees whose accounts it collected included a 17-year-old boy detained on June 27 and coerced into signing a blank confession to be filled in later by authorities. He told the group he was forced to stand in a parking garage for 48 hours with other detainees that had been rounded up. With their hands tied behind their backs and their eyes blindfolded, they were beaten repeatedly with batons." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmnyliLX1cNkJ_6dh9OAIOaf5ddQD99AE9J80)

The New York Times reported that "Iranian officials said Wednesday that they had released 2,000 people who were arrested for participating in demonstrations after the nation's disputed presidential election, but continued holding an additional 500 prisoners who would be put on trial, according to the state-run Press TV news service...The announcement was made against a backdrop of rising anxiety and continued arrests." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/world/middleeast/09iran.html?scp=3&sq=iran&st=cse)

Reuters reported that "Iran said on Thursday five Iranian officials held by U.S. forces in Iraq for more than two years had been handed over to Iraqi authorities and were expected to be released soon. The detention of the five Iranians contributed to a rise in tension between Tehran and Washington, which are also embroiled in a row over Iran's disputed nuclear programme. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told state television they 'would be handed over to the Iranian embassy in the next hours.'" (http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSL9453509)

AFP reported that "France's ambassador to Tehran on Thursday met a French woman lecturer who has been detained in Iran's notorious Evin prison on charges of espionage, a diplomatic source told AFP. Ambassador Bernard Poletti met Clotilde Reiss at the prison for around 40 minutes, the source said, following her arrest on July 1 in the wake of the massive protests in Iran over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gDU1zlP06hYn7OTxyIpuyfzYaNkQ)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "For people around the globe, the images of club-wielding men on motorcycles beating demonstrators on the streets of Tehran was just another case of brutality in a far-off land. But as he watched the violence of recent weeks unfold on television and YouTube, Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, an exiled Iranian, recognized some of the attackers. They were once good friends. His life, encapsulating the betrayals and disappointments that followed Iran's tumultuous revolution 30 years ago, as well as the hopes and fears of Iranians now living abroad, had come full circle. Once a lonely young man in exile, a rejuvenated Ebrahimi is now using his experience as an insider within Iran's hard-line militias to 'out' members of the group." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-dissident9-2009jul09,0,4511872.story)

Bronwen Maddox wrote in today's Times that "It was clever of President Obama to tell Russia's leaders that US missile defence in Europe was intended to counter a threat from Iran. That puts the burden on Dimitri Medvedev, the President, and Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, to pitch in and try to persuade Iran to drop its nuclear ambitions. You help with that and maybe we drop our missile shield plans - that was Obama's barely coded offer. It would be a good deal for the US if the Russians take it: surrendering something that does not work yet and which the US only half wants to keep, but which Russian leaders really dislike. In return, the US would get help with Iran, its biggest foreign worry. Too good to be true, probably." (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/bronwen_maddox/article6662802.ece)

Daniel Henninger wrote in today's Wall Street Journal that "When the people of Iran filled the streets of their country demanding a fair election, the U.S. clutched for a week. Uncertain of whether U.S. interests lay with the nuke-building ayatollahs or the democracy-seeking population, the Obama team essentially mumbled sweet nothings through the first days of the most extraordinary world event in this young president's term. That moment of hesitation, when a genuine and strategically useful democratic moment needed support, could prove costly. When the Group of Eight nations tried to shape a response to the Iranian government's repression, its newest member, Russia, knew what to say about Iran. 'No one is willing to condemn the election process,' said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, 'because it's an exercise in democracy.' Behold the official dumbing down of democracy. Our purpose here is not to ridicule Foreign Minister Lavrov's absurd description of the Iranian elections. It is instead to show his statement the respect that anything dangerous deserves." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124708661429713969.html)

Eye on Iran: U.S. Military Chief: "Very Narrow Window" to Stop Iran -- Iran ...

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:57:31 +0100

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Reuters reported that "The top U.S. military officer warned on Tuesday that time is running out for dialogue with Tehran to avoid either a nuclear-armed Iran or a possible military strike against the Islamic Republic. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is critical for diplomatic efforts to reach a solution before Iran develops a nuclear weapon or faces an Israeli or U.S. strike to turn back its nuclear program. 'That window is a very narrow window,' Mullen told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank." (http://www.reuters.com/article/joeBiden/idUSTRE5666RM20090707)

The Wall Street Journal reported that "The three top leaders of Iran's opposition joined forces on Tuesday and their supporters began a three-day national strike, signaling a resurrection of protests even as Iran's president announced to the nation that the postelection turmoil was over...hundreds of opposition supporters quietly flocked to mosques or retreated to their homes to begin an unusual form of three-day strike boycotting workplaces, banks and the bazaar. In a novel attempt to outflank government restrictions, opposition supporters alerted one another to take advantage of an Islamic tradition rarely practiced in Iran called Etekaf. It calls for a retreat from worldly activities during these three days in the month of Rajab in the Islamic calendar. The strikes come just ahead of a protest planned for Thursday to commemorate 18 Tir, the 1999 student uprisings that led to dozens of students getting killed. 'By staying away from workplace, the brave people of Iran can show they will never accept this illegitimate government,' wrote an Iranian columnist in Iran on a news Web site." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124701049387008635.html)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "Keep quiet under all circumstances, the circular advises those planning to march in Thursday's unauthorized demonstrations in Iran cities. 'The heaviest weapon to carry is one rose in the hand,' it says. As Iranians prepare for what could be another violent day of confrontations Thursday between demonstrators and security forces, including pro-government plainclothes Basiji militias, supporters of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi have distributed instructions to try to keep any anticipated violence to a minimum...The marches, which are taking place amid continued political discord over the June 12 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are meant to mark the 10-year anniversary of the storming of Tehran University dormitories by pro-government militias and subsequent weeks of unrest. The circular urges marchers to avoid wearing the green that has become the official color of the Mousavi campaign, or 'flashy make-up,' in order to demonstrate the marchers' serious intent." (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/07/iran-protestors-advised-to-carry-roses-as-weapons.html)

The New York Times reported that "The streets of Iran have been largely silenced, but a power struggle grinds on behind the scenes, this time over the very nature of the state itself. It is a battle that transcends the immediate conflict over the presidential election, one that began 30 years ago as the Islamic Revolution established a new form of government that sought to blend theocracy and a measure of democracy. From the beginning, both have vied for an upper hand, and today both are tarnished. In postelection Iran, there is growing unease among many of the nation's political and clerical elite that the very system of governance they rely on for power and privilege has been stripped of its religious and electoral legitimacy, creating a virtual dictatorship enforced by an emboldened security apparatus, analysts said. Among the Iranian president's allies are those who question whether the nation needs elected institutions at all. Most telling, and arguably most damning, is that many influential religious leaders have not spoken out in support of the beleaguered president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/world/middleeast/08clerics.html?_r=1&hp)

Reuters reported that "In the late 1990s, a computer specialist from Israel's Shin Bet internal security service hacked into the mainframe of the Pi Glilot fuel depot north of Tel Aviv. It was meant to be a routine test of safeguards at the strategic site. But it also tipped off the Israelis to the potential such hi-tech infiltrations offered for real sabotage. 'Once inside the Pi Glilot system, we suddenly realized that, aside from accessing secret data, we could also set off deliberate explosions, just by programming a re-route of the pipelines,' said a veteran of the Shin Bet drill. So began a cyberwarfare project which, a decade on, is seen by independent experts as the likely new vanguard of Israel's efforts to foil the nuclear ambitions of its arch-foe Iran. The appeal of cyber attacks was boosted, Israeli sources say, by the limited feasibility of conventional air strikes on the distant and fortified Iranian atomic facilities, and by U.S. reluctance to countenance another open war in the Middle East. 'We came to the conclusion that, for our purposes, a key Iranian vulnerability is in its on-line information,' said one recently retired Israeli security cabinet member, using a generic term for digital networks. 'We have acted accordingly.'" (http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Iran/idUSTRE5663EC20090707)

The Washington Post reported that "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged continued defiance of Western powers Tuesday and blamed foreigners for unrest following his disputed reelection, as opposition leaders demanded an end to a government crackdown and the release of detained protesters. 'Our arrogant enemies tried to interfere in our domestic affairs in order to undermine these great elections,' Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television. 'What they did was very wrong, and some of our people were, unfortunately, hurt.' He was referring to post-election violence in which at least 20 protesters were reported killed and more than 100 injured by security forces. Three opposition leaders warned Tuesday that the bloodshed and hundreds of arrests would radicalize the opposition...'Iran has a shining future,' Ahmadinejad concluded. But in Tehran's neighborhoods, his half-hour speech was met with rooftop shouts of 'Allahu akbar' (God is great) and 'Death to the dictator,' the opposition's rallying cries." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/07/AR2009070700559.html)

Bloomberg reported that "Iran's crackdown on dissent over the June 12 election suggests the leadership may be unwilling to consider curbing its nuclear ambitions, a position that would prompt the U.S. to call for tougher international sanctions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. 'Even though we are cautiously pursuing a policy of engagement, we are doing it with our eyes open,' Clinton said in an interview with Venezuela's Globovision network. 'We understand that, given the problems Iran has just demonstrated, it may not be possible -- in which case we would ask the world to join us in imposing even stricter sanctions on Iran to try to change the behavior of the regime.'" (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a_AnSxDuWGHM)

AFP reported that "US President Barack Obama strongly denied in an interview on Tuesday that the United States had given Israel a green light to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. Asked on CNN television whether Washington had given Israel the go-ahead for such an attack, Obama said: 'Absolutely not.' In the interview with the US network broadcast from Russia where he is on an official visit, Obama added that Washington could not 'dictate' the security interests of other countries and would seek to settle the dispute through diplomacy." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090707/pl_afp/mideastisraelusnuclearobama)

The Washington Times reported that "They wear no uniforms and, so far, they have not been held accountable for their deeds. But in the aftermath of Iran's disputed June 12 presidential elections, the spotlight is focusing on security agents known in Farsi as Lebas Shakhsiha - plainclothes security agents. They are thought to be responsible for the deaths of more than a dozen protesters, including Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman who was fatally shot on the streets of Tehran on June 20 - an event captured on video and viewed by millions around the world via the Internet. Mehdi Karroubi, a cleric and defeated reformist candidate, on Sunday urged Iranian authorities to investigate the shooting and not blame outsiders. Instead, he said, plainclothes agents were likely at fault." (http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/08/plainclothed-brutality/)

AFP reported that "Iran's defiant stance over its nuclear programme will dominate dinner table talk on the first night of the G8 summit of the world's most powerful leaders, diplomats said Tuesday. Presidents and heads of government from the Group of Eight industrialised powers will hold a working dinner late Wednesday after talks in the Italian mountain town of L'Aquila, and relations with Tehran will top the agenda." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gRc8dpue479N7hMVj7FqiSX3p59A)

The New York Times published an excerpt of "Myths, Illusions, and Peace" by former UANI Co-Chair Dennis Ross and David Makovsky. "Of all the policy myths that have kept us from making real progress in the Middle East, one stands out for its impact and longevity: the idea that if only the Palestinian conflict were solved, all the other Middle East conflicts would melt away. This is the argument of 'linkage'...Since the origins of so many regional tensions and rivalries are not connected to the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is hard to see how resolving it would unlock other regional stalemates or sources of instability. Iran, for example, is not pursuing its nuclear ambitions because there is an Arab-Israeli conflict." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/books/excerpt-myths-illusions-peace.html?scp=2&sq=dennis%20ross&st=cse)

The New York Times Editorial Board wrote today that "Expectations are low as this year's Group of 8 summit meetings open Wednesday in the earthquake-damaged Italian city of L'Aquila...But inexcusably lax planning by the host government, Italy, and the political weakness of many of the leaders attending, leave little room for optimism. If this session is going to justify the time and effort, President Obama will have to lead the way. It is time for him to turn the diplomatic credit he has been earning over the past six months into diplomatic capital...He will need to begin leveraging his more nuanced approach toward Iran to build the kind of unity against nuclear adventurism that predictably eluded George W. Bush. Mr. Obama's offer to engage with Tehran is welcome but still only half a policy. It needs to be reinforced with firm commitments by the other G-8 economies, Russia included, to apply tough and meaningful sanctions if Iran refuses to constrain its nuclear appetites." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/opinion/08wed1.html?scp=8&sq=iran&st=cse)

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote today that "In his comments in Moscow, Mr. Obama emphasized that Russia and the U.S. will set an example that the rest of world will follow. 'It's naïve for us to think...that we can grow our nuclear stockpiles,' he said, 'and that in that environment we're going to be able to pressure countries like Iran and North Korea not to pursue nuclear weapons themselves.' Call us realists or even cynics, but we doubt Mr. Obama's performance in Moscow will matter at all to Iranian and North Korean nuclear ambitions. These and other rogues want the bomb to project their own power, not to defend against ours." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124701402471809161.html)

Rosemary Righter wrote in today's Times that "Carrots do not work with either Ayatollah Khamenei, or with Mr. Ahmadinejad, who since stealing the election has declared the nuclear programme non-negotiable. What then?...increased economic pressure now would chime with the accusations, levelled at Mr. Ahmadinejad by his main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, that mismanagement and 'adventurism' have led to economic misery and international disrepute. Since Iran depends on Europe for 40 per cent of its imports, mainly from Germany, Italy and France, a sharp temporary trade freeze would be devastating - particularly if it included petrol, which Iran imports for lack of refining capacity. Sanctions would hit the wealth of Revolutionary Guard commanders, who control vast tracts of the economy. They would also reveal Mr. Ahmadinejad's North Korean-style 'self-sufficiency' rhetoric for the economic rubbish it is. The Europeans, however, will not move unless they can be convinced that sanctions form part of a coherent Obama strategy. The L'Aquila summit needs at the least to convince them that the US is getting its ducks in a row." (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/rosemary_righter/article6662197.ece)

Eye on Iran: Ayatollah Khamenei: Iran Will React As "United Fist"

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:43:08 +0100

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The New York Times reported that "Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned foreign governments on Monday that Iranians would react as a 'united fist' to meddling in domestic affairs, after officials in the elite Revolutionary Guards had warned Iranians that they would be treated as enemies of the state if they did not line up behind the leadership. Speaking before a supportive audience of Basij militia members, prayer leaders and students gathered at a mosque in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei aimed his remarks at his home audience, seeking to heal his sharply divided nation by promoting unity in the face of what he insisted was a foreign enemy." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/world/middleeast/07iran.html?ref=global-home)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "A day after commanders of the Revolutionary Guard warned there was no middle ground in the dispute over the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the political party of one of Iran's most powerful clerics Monday defiantly issued a statement dismissing the vote. The statement by the Kargozaran party all but cleared away weeks of ambiguity about the stance of the cleric, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Rafsanjani, who heads two government councils that oversee the supreme leader and mediate disputes between branches, openly backed presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. But he has not spoken definitively about the June 12 vote, which was validated after a partial recount by the powerful Guardian Council. 'we declare that the result is unacceptable due to the unhealthy voting process, massive electoral fraud and the siding of the majority of the Guardian Council with a specific candidate,' the party's statement said." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-security7-2009jul07,0,2303204.story)

The Washington Post reported that "Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, appearing in public for the first time in nearly three weeks, vowed Monday that protests against the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 'will not end' and predicted that the new government would encounter problems because it lacks legitimacy. But the former presidential candidate, who maintains he was denied victory in the June 12 election by massive vote-rigging on behalf of Ahmadinejad, stopped short of calling for new street demonstrations, which the government has declared illegal and largely crushed in a massive crackdown. Instead, Mousavi indicated that the opposition would adopt new tactics, pursuing protest 'within the framework of the law.'" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/06/AR2009070602962.html)

The Washington Times reported that "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top deputies have not formally asked for U.S. aid or permission for possible military strikes on Iran's nuclear program, fearing the White House would not approve, two Israeli officials said. One senior Israeli official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, told The Washington Times that Mr. Netanyahu determined that 'it made no sense' to press the matter after the negative response President Bush gave Mr. Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, when he asked early last year for U.S. aid for possible military strikes on Iran. Israel is increasingly nervous that Iran is developing the capability to build a nuclear weapon, an intention Iran denies. However, Israel is unlikely to attack Iran without at least tacit U.S. approval, in part because that would require cooperation from the United States. At the very least, Israel likely would have to fly over Iraqi airspace, which is still effectively controlled by the U.S. Air Force." (http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/07/israel-fears-us-would-foil-iran-strike/)

AP reported that "Iran's top three reformist leaders are calling for an end to the 'security state' imposed after the disputed June 12 presidential election and the release of all those detained over the postelection turmoil." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jGSJEAPs_r2T2wxsL5G3t4z-jajQD999HC2O0)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "The top leaders of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard publicly acknowledged they had taken over the nation's security during the post-election unrest and warned late Sunday, in a threat against a reformist wave led by Mir-Hossein Mousavi, that there was no middle ground in the ongoing dispute over the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the elite military branch, said the guard's takeover of the nation's security had led to 'a revival of the revolution.' 'These events put us in a new stage of the revolution and political struggles, and all of us must fully comprehend its dimensions,' he said at a Sunday press conference, according to reports that surfaced today." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran7-2009jul07,0,1530538.story)

AFP reported that "Iran has released an eighth member of the local British embassy staff in Tehran, Downing Street said on Monday, amid signs that the remaining employee still in detention could face trial over post-election violence. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, meanwhile, warned Iran the European Union was ready to act in response to the embassy staff detentions and expulsion of diplomats in the wake of the disputed election. 'If this action continues and we are forced to act, we will act together with our European partners,' Brown said at a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the Alpine resort of Evian-les-Bains. Sarkozy said France was 'in total solidarity' with Britain over the arrests, as the two leaders met in France ahead of the G8 summit in Italy later this week." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iizqmc7DG5OjmmibO7lfteZtxR2A)

AP reported that "The updates shot quickly onto the Tehran Bureau Web site as postelection chaos gripped Iran: angry street protests, random police beatings, a defiant warning from the ayatollah of more violence to come. In a matter of weeks, Kelly Golnoush Niknejad's news outlet became a must-read for many who closely followed the disputed re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Yet Niknejad is not operating from a clandestine office in the Iranian capital, but from a laptop in the quaint living room of Niknejad's parents' suburban Boston home." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jIije50e8VMgf5-egLyONADGFycgD9996UQ00)

Abbas Milani and Larry Diamond wrote in today's New York Times that "Notices of the demise of Iran's Green Revolution are premature. Without question, the tyrannical triumvirate - Ayotallah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Revolutionary Guard - have dealt a crippling blow to the popular movement protesting their electoral coup of June 12. Thousands of Iranians have been arrested and savagely tortured - from street protesters to election campaign organizers for Mir Hussein Moussavi, the likely victor in that contest. Many are now being forced to 'confess' to having been agents of the United States or Britain...Despite the rush to bury Iran's reformist movement as another lost cause, Iran remains at a possible political tipping point. Democracies around the world have a duty - not simply to themselves, but to their strategic interests - to weigh in. They must not be deterred by threats to shun talks over Iran's nuclear program." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/opinion/07iht-edmilani.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=iran&st=cse)

Michael Petrou wrote in today's Maclean's that "Barack Obama began his presidency with a speech that implied a new relationship between the United States and Iran. 'To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history,' he said during his inaugural address, and then added, 'but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your ﬁst.' Now Obama has his answer. Iran will not unclench its ﬁst." (http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/07/06/how-to-help-iran/)

Eye on Iran: Despite Crisis, Obama Calls For Engagement -- Clerical Leaders Defy Ayatollah On ...

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:45:55 +0100

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The New York Times reported that "President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in separate interviews this weekend, said that the accelerating crackdown on opposition leaders in Iran in recent days would not deter them from seeking to engage the country's top leadership in direct negotiations. In an interview with The New York Times, a day before his scheduled departure for Moscow on Sunday, Mr. Obama acknowledged the arrests and intimidation of Iran's opposition leaders, but insisted, as he has throughout the Iranian crisis, that the repression would not close the door on negotiations with the Iranian government. 'We've got some fixed national security interests in Iran not developing nuclear weapons, in not exporting terrorism, and we have offered a pathway for Iran to rejoining the international community,' Mr. Obama said...But in a rare foray into one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East, the vice president argued that the United States could not order Israel not to strike the plants at the heart of Iran's nuclear program if Israeli leaders determined 'that they're existentially threatened' by the prospect that Iran would gain nuclear weapons capability." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/world/middleeast/06policy.html?_r=1&hp)

The New York Times reported that "An important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country's supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country's clerical establishment. A statement by the group, the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum, represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult. 'This crack in the clerical establishment, and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi, in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,' said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. 'Remember, they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.'" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html?scp=2&sq=iran&st=cse)

AP reported that "Vice President Joe Biden signaled that the Obama administration would not stand in the way if Israel chose to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, even as the top U.S. military officer said any attack on Iran would be destabilizing. Biden's remarks suggested a tougher U.S. stance against Iran's nuclear ambitions. Nonetheless, administration officials insisted his televised remarks Sunday reflected the U.S. view that Israel has a right to defend itself and make its own decisions on national security...'Look, Israel can determine for itself - it's a sovereign nation - what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else,' Biden replied. He added that this was the case, 'whether we agree or not' with the Israeli view. Biden was then asked more pointedly whether the U.S. would stand in the way if the Israelis, viewing the prospect of an Iranian nuclear bomb as a threat to the existence of the Jewish state, decided to launch a military attack against Iranian nuclear facilities. 'Look, we cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do,' he said." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090705/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_iran_israel_6)

CNN reported that "The United States was founded on the idea that 'history has a right side and a wrong side,' Arizona Sen. John McCain said in the weekly Republican address broadcast on the Fourth of July. 'We share a kinship of ideals with every man and woman on earth who struggles for their God-given rights. The world must never doubt where we stand in the liberation struggles of our time...' he said, in the address broadcast on radio and the Web Saturday. 'Today, we stand with the millions of Iranians who brave batons, imprisonment and gunfire to have their voices heard and their votes counted. They do not ask us to arm them or come to their assistance with anything other than public declarations of solidarity, and public denunciations of the tyrants who oppress them. We have a moral obligation to do so.'...The Declaration of Independence represented 'not only the bold assertion that 13 former British colonies were and forever would remain free and independent states, but also the once radical idea that history has a right side and a wrong side, and that Americans stood and would always stand on the right side,' said the Arizona senator." (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/04/mccain-history-has-a-right-side-and-a-wrong-side/)

The Jerusalem Post reported on UANI Advisory Board Member Irwin Cotler's recent remarks in Germany. "The former Canadian justice minister and Liberal Party MP Irwin Cotler has urged the German government to take a leadership role within the EU and impose tough multipronged sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. 'Germany is uniquely placed to take leadership... Germany can speak with moral authority born out of its understanding of state-sanctioned incitement to genocide,' he said, speaking Thursday at a forum at the Berlin Jewish Community Center entitled 'Western Democracies, Iran and the prevention of Genocide.'...'Here is an opportunity for leverage,' said Cotler about Germany's $5.7 billion-dollar trade relationship with Iran. Cotler slammed Daniel Bernbeck, the head of the German-Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Teheran, who told the AP that he saw 'no moral question here at all' about commencing business deals with Iran during its suppression of the popular opposition against the ostensibly rigged Iranian election results...An 'important role for civil society is to hold the Daniel Bernbecks to account,' said Cotler." (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443717126&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

AP reported that "Iran's supreme leader warned Western governments on Monday of a 'negative impact' on relations over what he called their meddling in Iran's post-election riots, state television reported. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments reflect continued efforts by the regime to blame Western powers such as the U.S. and Britain - not internal anger - for unrest following the country's disputed presidential election. They also come one day after the American vice president said the U.S. is still open to negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program. 'Some leaders of Western countries at the level of president, prime minister and foreign minister openly intervened in Iran's internal affairs that had nothing to do with them. Then, they said they don't intervene in Iran's internal affairs,' the television quoted Khamenei as telling thousands of Iranians during a ceremony to commemorate a revered Shiite saint." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090706/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_election)

The Washington Post reported that "Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading opposition candidate in last month's disputed election, released documents Saturday detailing a campaign of alleged fraud by supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that assured his reelection, while an adviser to Iran's supreme leader accused Mousavi of treason. Hossein Shariatmadari, a special adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused Mousavi of being a 'foreign agent' working for the United States and a member of a 'fifth column' determined to topple Iran's Islamic system of governance. The accusation of treason was the highest and most direct issued by an Iranian official since the June 12 election. Many in Iran say that government forces are laying the groundwork for arresting Mousavi, who has not been seen in public in more than a week." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/04/AR2009070402685.html)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "The top figure of Iran's nascent political reform movement, opposition presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, will launch a political party to pursue his goals, a reformist newspaper reported Sunday." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran6-2009jul06,0,744104.story)

Reuters reported that "The European Union on Sunday denounced Iran for a recent spate of executions, highlighting Saturday's hanging of 20 drug traffickers. The rebuke, issued by Sweden days after assuming the EU's rotating six-month presidency, comes as the 27-nation bloc searches for a unified response to Tehran following its post-election crackdown and detention of British embassy staff. 'The Presidency strongly condemns the executions in Iran during the past few days, in particular the execution of 20 persons in Iran on 4 July,' Sweden said in the statement, adding Iran should abolish the death penalty entirely. (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE5642H320090705)

The Times reported that "The head of Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran's nuclear sites...'The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of both Israel and Saudi Arabia,' a diplomatic source said last week." (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6638568.ece)

AFP reported that "Sanctions against Iran triggered by Western fears over its nuclear drive would only inflame tensions, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview broadcast Saturday. Medvedev told Italian Rai television, ahead of this week's G8 summit of world leaders, that Moscow backs what he said was Washington's policy of seeking rapprochement with Tehran after decades of suspicion. 'If I understand correctly, the United States would like to establish more open and more direct relations with Iran,' Medvedev said. 'We support this choice. It would be counter-productive to resort to other sanctions.'" (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i0B_4CDylRZrVc-k2Sl_8Zslqgdg)

Reuters reported that "Brazil's state oil company Petrobras expects exploration of an Iranian block will yield disappointing results, a company director said on Friday, adding another Iranian block has shown similarly dim prospects. Petrobras International Director Jorge Zelada said in an interview that the offshore Tusan block in the Gulf that the company won rights to in a 2003 bidding round was geologically unappealing...Petrobras invested around $100 million to drill two wells in Tusan and in February said it had found signs of oil." (http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSN0317110720090703)

Reuters reported that "Total's negotiations with Tehran on a multi-billion dollar contract to develop a major Iranian gas field are at a standstill, the head of the French oil major said on Friday. 'They (negotiations) have not been broken and they have not been resumed either. They are not in a very advanced state,' Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie told journalists on the sidelines of an economic forum in southern France. Last month, the official Iranian news agency IRNA said Tehran had signed a $4.7 billion contract with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to develop phase 11 of South Pars, replacing Total which it had accused of delays." (http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINL313689820090703?sp=true)

Afshin Molavi wrote in Saturday's Washington Post that "In recent weeks, courageous Iranians have been writing, tweeting, text-messaging and telephoning the outside world with an almost universal message: Please bear witness, please stand with us...We may split on what Obama should say or do, fearing the effects for the protesters or our nation, but that should not stop Americans from demonstrating solidarity. Last month I attended a candlelight vigil to honor those who died fighting for freedom. The gathering was somber yet hopeful, but it was still too narrowly Iranian. We need more Americans -- African Americans, Asian Americans, conservative Americans, liberal Americans, red-state Americans, blue-state Americans. If there is one issue that politically polarized America ought to be able to rally around, it is the gallant struggle of Iranians...Iranians are pushing to change Iran and to taste freedom. It is an authentic struggle shaped by Iran's history. There is only one right side, and that is with the Iranian people." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/03/AR2009070301688.html)

David Ignatius wrote in Sunday's Washington Post that "Given what they see as American disdain for their interests, the Russians drag their feet on U.S. security worries such as the Iranian nuclear program. 'Iran is an American mania,' says another Putin adviser dismissively. 'Maybe it goes back to your fear of the Indians [in the Wild West]. We don't know. Iran is a problem of yours, not of ours.'" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/03/AR2009070301127.html)

Clive Crook wrote in yesterday's Finantial Times that "Before the Iranian election, US opinion on Barack Obama's foreign policy divided on predictably partisan lines. Now the picture is more complicated...Iran's stepped-up repression has made the conservative critique harder for Mr Obama's supporters to shrug off. In fact it has split them. Give the new approach more time, some say. Others have just gone quiet. And many are actually echoing the conservatives' charge: vacillation in the face of outrage. Mr Obama is dodging a friendly fire of neocon ideas: this stolen election cannot stand. The president must get on the right side of history. The Middle East is at a turning point: a firm push now and everything changes. All that." (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/98a08404-6990-11de-bc9f-00144feabdc0.html)

Eye on Iran: Obama: Iran Cannot Be Permitted To Be Nuclear Power -- Iran Continues Protest ...

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:23:20 +0100

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AP reported that "President Barack Obama says he is 'not reconciled' to the idea of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon within a year. The president told The Associated Press in an interview that U.S. government planning is running in precisely the opposite direction. He said a nuclear-armed Iran would likely trigger an arms race in the already volatile Mideast and said that would be 'a recipe for potential disaster.' Obama also said Thursday that opposing a nuclear weapons capacity for the Persian Gulf nation isn't simply 'a U.S. position.' He said 'the biggest concern is not simply that Iran can threaten us or our allies, like Israel or its neighbors.' The president said that Iran must not be a nuclear power, although he conceded that the challenge ahead is formidable." (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D996DQF01&show_article=1)

AP reported that "Iran on Thursday announced more arrests in the post-election turmoil, detaining seven alleged provocateurs of violence it says were linked to Iranian exiles. The move underlines authorities' drive to portray protests as the work of outsiders rather than a reflection of widespread popular dismay. The arrests continue a heavy crackdown that has squashed the mass protests that erupted over the disputed June 12 presidential vote. Iran's top police chief has said 20 people were killed in violence during the protests, and that 1,032 people were detained. In another move to push the government's depiction of the protests, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Thursday that families of the 'innocent victims' of bloodshed during demonstrations would receive government compensation. Fars said 'terrorists infiltrated among protesters to foment unrest,' causing the violence. There was no word on who would receive compensation and how much - but it appeared to refer to eight members of the Basij who were reportedly killed." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jGSJEAPs_r2T2wxsL5G3t4z-jajQD996E7FG0)

The New York Times reported that "Brushing aside British and European efforts to seek the release of local British Embassy staff members held in Tehran, the Iranian authorities indicated Friday that they planned to put some of them on trial - a move that could deepen a crisis in diplomatic relations with the European Union and provoke the withdrawal of ambassadors. In London, the Foreign Office said it was urgently checking reports that the Iranian authorities planned to put two of its local employees on trial. Nine staff members were seized after the unrest sparked by Iran's disputed presidential elections on June 12 and as many as eight of them were subsequently reported to have been released. But the precise number still detained was not clear." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/world/middleeast/04iran.html?_r=1&hp)

AFP reported that "The United States imposed financial sanctions Thursday on an adviser to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a Iraq-based Shiite group Kata'ib Hezbollah, branded a foreign terrorist outfit. The US Treasury Department said it froze the assets of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to the commander of Iran's Qods Force, an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Shiite "extremist" group Kata'ib Hezbollah for being a security threat in Iraq. Al-Muhandis was identified also with 19 aliases." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gRFukb_mQxUe-bbNC-bnTWNIj1QQ)

The Wall Street Journal reported that "The governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency voted to choose Japan's Yukiya Amano to head the sensitive United Nations watchdog, in another step toward the end of a months-long selection process. Mr. Amano's selection by a one-vote margin in a secret ballot is a significant success for the group of U.S.-led Western governments that back his candidacy for director general. The IAEA is pivotal to their efforts to counter nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea. The process isn't over yet. On Friday, the IAEA's 35-member board is expected to confirm the nomination. Then, in September, the Vienna-based IAEA's most important governing body, the 146-nation IAEA General Conference, must give its final approval. That is usually a rubber-stamp process, but this time, the selection has been particularly contentious...Mr. Amano's opponent has been Abdul Minty of South Africa. Mr. Minty has been popular with board members from developing nations, which tend to be more sympathetic to demands from non-nuclear-weapons states -- including Iran -- that they should be able to enjoy their legal right to make nuclear fuel." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124654805549486339.html)

Reuters reported that "Iranian Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi called on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday to appoint a personal envoy to investigate human rights abuses in Iran. In a letter also signed by the rights groups International Federation for Human Rights and the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights, Ebadi asked Ban to appoint the envoy to look into abuses in Iran following June's disputed presidential election." (http://www.reuters.com/article/gc08/idUSTRE5616C220090702)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can in one instant appear the diplomatic equivalent of damaged goods and in the next a confident leader whose bellicose speeches leave the West wondering how to deal with him and his perplexing nation now that he's won a much-disputed reelection. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev publicly greeted Ahmadinejad at a recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, but did not grant him a private meeting as he had the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Belarus, the Iranian leader was met not by President Alexander Lukashenko, but by the speaker of the upper house of parliament. A similar pattern has emerged in the Middle East, where Arab regimes have long been wary of Iran's ambitions. Authorities in Jordan withdrew licenses for two Iranian news organizations this week and the sultan of Oman reportedly canceled a trip to Tehran following the unrest after Iran's June 12 election. Snubs and slights in the diplomatic world are common, sometimes almost imperceptible. But as long as Ahmadinejad remains in power, with the support of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, there are concerns about how the messy fallout over his reelection will influence diplomacy regarding Iran's nuclear program, regional stature and relations with the U.S. and Europe." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-ostracize3-2009jul03,0,3454095.story)

The Times reported that "British calls for a mass walkout of European Union ambassadors from Tehran were shot down by more cautious nations led by Germany and Italy yesterday as the carefully constructed European consensus on responding to Iran came under intense strain. Britain, backed by the outgoing Czech presidency of the EU, had pushed for the dramatic step of a temporary withdrawal of ambassadors to pile pressure on Tehran to free local British Embassy staff from custody." (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6626649.ece)

Reuters reported that "EU countries were studying steps to protest at Iran's crackdown on dissent on Friday, including a coordinated summoning of Tehran's ambassadors in Europe and visa bans on Iranian officials, diplomats said. 'There is no decision yet on either of those two options,' an EU diplomat said after political directors from the 27-nation bloc met in Stockholm on Thursday." (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L3530320.htm)

The Wall Street Journal reported that "Supporters of Iran's regime are taking a cue from the opposition's strategy: They're mounting an online offensive...But Internet experts see clues in certain patterns of use. In the case of Vagheeiat, the user biography on Twitter says the person who sent the message is a member of a unit of the Revolutionary Guard, which oversees the Basij. The user's profile links to the Web site of the Revolutionary Guard unit. Vagheeiat used Twitter on only one day, last Thursday. On Twitter, users can receive the messages of others by choosing to 'follow' them, or joining in conversations on a certain topic. Many of the Iranian users sending pro-government missives opened accounts only a few days ago, and have few, if any, followers -- nor are they following anyone else, Mr. Silverstone said. Also pointing to an orchestrated effort, some pro-regime messages are simultaneously blasted from different online accounts at regular intervals. Among them: 'Mousavi the Instigator is in custody,' referring to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124658422588090107.html)

The New York Times Editorial Board wrote today that "Tragically, Iran's government appears to have driven back the most significant challenge to its repressive rule since the 1979 revolution...The difficult challenge now for the United States and other major powers is to come up with policies that give hope to the opposition and reinforce the doubts of Iran's political elites - without provoking a backlash. The European Union is debating whether to withdraw all of its 27 ambassadors from Tehran to protest the detention of two Iranian employees of the British Embassy. We don't believe in permanent isolation, but that kind of unified action would send an important message." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/opinion/03fri1.html?ref=opinion)

Meir Javedanfar wrote in today's Real Clear World that "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad´s absence at the African Union summit was a bit conspicuous...This is a major setback for the Iranian President, as his government's relations with Africa are an important part of his 'South - South' strategy...What should worry the President even more is the warning sent by Europeans that during Ahmadinejad´s speech in Libya they would either stay quiet, or walk out. According to the Tehran-based news web site Iranian Diplomacy, they did not say which one of these options they would follow. Either of these would be interpreted as clear sign of deterioration between EU and Iran. These events will not bode well for Iran's foreign policy. Already battered by Ahmadinejad´s denial of the Holocaust, and calls for the elimination of Israel, any more damage could erode Iran's standing in important places such as the Middle East and Europe. Such damage could reduce Iran's leverage, especially when it comes to negotiating with the United States. This could mean a weaker hand, thus leading to Tehran coming off worst." (http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2009/07/03/irans_tarnished_foreign_policy_96871.html)

Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com

The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran should concern every American and be unacceptable to the community of nations. Since 1979 the Iranian regime, most recently under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership, has demonstrated increasingly threatening behavior and rhetoric toward the US and the West. Iran continues to defy the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations in their attempts to monitor its nuclear activities. A number of Arab states have warned that Iran's development of nuclear weapons poses a threat to Middle East stability and could provoke a regional nuclear arms race. In short, the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran is a danger to world peace.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.

Eye on Iran: Iranian Opposition Leaders Refuse to Accept Ahmadinejad Government -- Khatami ...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:25:12 +0100

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The Washington Post reported that "Three opposition leaders, including a former president, openly defied Iran's top political and religious authorities Wednesday, vowing to resist a government they have deemed illegitimate after official certification of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection. Rather than dropping his complaints of extensive vote-rigging, leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi took his fight to a new level Wednesday, risking arrest by urging followers to continue their protests. After formal certification of the election results Monday night by the Guardian Council, a top supervisory body of Shiite Muslim clerics and jurists, Iranian authorities warned that no further protests would be tolerated. Mousavi, 67, a former prime minister, was joined in his dismissal of the official results by two other opposition leaders: presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, 71, a cleric and former speaker of parliament, and Mohammad Khatami, 65, a cleric who served as president for eight years before Ahmadinejad, now 52, was first elected in 2005. They also called for the annulment of the June 12 vote and the continuation of protests, although Khatami's remarks were not as tough as those of the two candidates." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR2009070100522.html)

AP reported that "Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami is calling the outcome of disputed elections a 'velvet coup' against democracy...The reformist Khatami says the harsh crackdown after the election has undermined the confidence in the nation's rulers. The statement Wednesday accused Iran's leadership of a 'velvet coup against the people and democracy.'" (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jGSJEAPs_r2T2wxsL5G3t4z-jajQD995OTV00)

The Wall Street Journal reported that "Increasingly, the government has been seeking to cast its opponents as outlaws. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has been blamed for the blood spilled during the clashes between protestors and security forces over the outcome of the presidential election, in which the government says he came in a distant second to the incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. On Wednesday a student wing of the Basij -- plainclothes militia responsible for crushing protestors with guns, batons and chains -- asked Tehran's chief prosecutor to investigate Mr. Mousavi's role in 'destabilizing national security.' If charged and convicted, Mr. Mousavi could face a maximum 10 years in prison." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124645684118480021.html)

The New York Times reported that "Iran risked diplomatic isolation from the European Union, as European officials discussed whether to withdraw the ambassadors of all 27 member nations in a dispute over the detention of the British Embassy's Iranian personnel. European diplomats said Wednesday that they had made no formal decision to order their envoys home, but that the measure was an option as the European Union - Iran's biggest trading partner - tried to work out how to defuse the dispute in a way that would shield other embassies in Tehran from similar action. Withdrawing all 27 ambassadors would be a rare and unusually forceful display of European anger at Iran's crackdown on dissent after the June 12 presidential election, and several diplomats said the European Union would prefer to avoid such a move." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/world/middleeast/02iran.html?ref=middleeast)

The Washington Post reported that "For decades, hard-line members of Iran's cleric-led government controlled the judiciary, military, intelligence and state media. But reformists also had wide public support and room to push for more moderate social and political policies. That delicate balance worked for both sides, providing an outlet for people who chafed at the Islamic regime's austerity and isolationism, while ensuring that the core system, created after the 1979 revolution, would not be seriously challenged. The reformists did not advocate a revolutionary overhaul. The general view was that Iranians did not want another revolution. But the recent protests attracted hundreds of thousands into Iran's streets, resulting in at least 17 deaths and many more injuries. The hard-liners have tightened their grip, leaving the reformists to decide whether they should keep playing the old game or whether the rules have changed so much that the game no longer exists." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR2009070103952.html?sid=ST2009070101809)

The New York Times reported that "It's impossible to say, of course, how the Iranian case will unfold, and whether the public will come to accept the official version of the recent election, which is that it was won in a landslide by Mr. Ahmadinejad and that reports of voter fraud were themselves fraudulent. For that matter, it's impossible to know whether he actually was preferred by 62 percent of Iranian voters. Even so, the Iranian handling of the election looks more and more like a repeat of the Chinese model - violent suppression followed by a concerted propaganda effort to shape the way recent events will be perceived. The foreign press has been expelled; efforts to control Internet communications continue, the mass demonstrations are being blamed on pernicious foreign and Zionist plots, and the deaths of protesters are being attributed not to the paramilitary Basijis or other security forces but, as Mr. Ahmadinejad himself put it, to unnamed 'terrorists' and 'vandals' - a bit like the 'small number of hooligans' that, in China's official view, were responsible for the violence at Tiananmen." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/us/02iht-letter.html?scp=4&sq=Iran&st=cse)

The New Jersey Jewish News reported that "An opponent of Iran's nuclear program urged the Jewish community to step up economic pressure against the regime in Tehran - and take advantage of 'a groundswell' of popular outrage at its violent treatment of dissidents. 'We think the best way to address this issue is through concentrated economic pressure,' said David Ibsen, coalitions director at the New York-based United Against Nuclear Iran. 'The time to act in relation to Iran's nuclear aspirations is now. It has obviously been helped along by developments in regard to the elections.'...Ibsen's group was formed as a coalition of Jewish and non-Jewish groups in hopes of expanding awareness of the Iranian nuclear threat beyond the Jewish and pro-Israel community." (http://www.njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/070209/njActivistIranVulnerable.html)

AFP reported that "Responding to Iran's political crackdown and nuclear program will be 'at front and center' of President Barack Obama's visit to Russia and the G8 summit in Italy next week, a US official said." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g9nzHDXrj1pFnvabHIYHqYl2ZzxA)

Reuters reported that "Iran has hanged six people for murder, but the lives of two others due to be executed at the same time were spared by the families of their victims, an Iranian newspaper reported on Thursday. The execution of a ninth convicted murderer, who was 16 at the time of his crime in 1992, was postponed on the order of judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, the Etemad newspaper said. Rights groups have criticised Iran for executing people who committed crimes when they were under the age of 18." (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE56115B20090702)

AP reported that "After his capture, Saddam Hussein told the FBI that he falsely allowed the world to believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction because he feared revealing his weakness to Iran, the hostile neighbor he considered a bigger threat than the U.S." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ga0V4oZJWsvX-2PoK941zTTEPtkQD996AA7O0)

The Los Angeles Times reported that "The young man waved a pistol at them. 'I am your judge,' he said as he aimed his weapon at the faces of the prisoners, who were protesting their innocence and loudly complaining about their treatment. 'If you shout again, I can shoot,' he continued. 'If you are brave enough to go out on the streets to protest, you should have the guts to be brave here too.' The book publisher, who had been arrested at his office, said he was speechless...The middle-aged book publisher, who was detained in a crackdown against dissidents and alleged rioters, asked that his name be withheld for fear of retribution. Though he supported Mousavi, he denies taking part in any protests. His tale of a week of detention, recounted in an interview Sunday, jibes with accounts of other detainees, many of whom have been released." (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-evin2-2009jul02,0,1238456.story)

The Washington Post reported that "Facebook activism, the trendy process by which we do good by clicking often, was in its full glory last week after the death of Iranian student Neda Agha Soltan, killed by gunfire in the streets of Tehran...But whether our virtual virtuousness will result in real-world action is unpredictable, and has as much to do with human nature as it does with amassing enough numbers. This is the problem with activism born of social networking sites. The numbers are impressive. News outlets cited the groups, with names like 'Angel of Iran,' as examples of public outcry, potential signs of a turning point in the disputed Iranian elections. The largest of these groups, called simply 'Neda,' currently has nearly 36,000 members; dozens more had 1,000, or 100, or 10. Click click click. It was so simple to join. And...now what? Are we done? Was clicking an end unto itself? Do our Facebook groups -- which are today often treated as the official barometer for a cause's importance; more members must signify more gravitas -- ever translate into significant change?" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR2009070103936.html)

AP reported that "A federal judge sentenced a retired University of Tennessee professor to four years in prison Wednesday for passing sensitive information from a U.S. Air Force contract to two research assistants from China and Iran...The case marked the first time the government used the export control act to crack down on the distribution of restricted data, not hardware, to foreigners in a university setting. Prosecutors said Roth allowed the two graduate students to see sensitive information while they researched a plasma-guidance system for unmanned aircraft." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gTZVz4iyO1z6yfDX48yRzzh-1zYwD995PAKO1)

Adrian Hamilton wrote in today's Independent that "The pronouncement by Iran's Guardian Council this week that the vote was fair and Ahmadinejad has been duly re-elected has been the signal for a gathering of clerical ranks behind the decision. And yet the waters are clearly not going to close over this event. Forget all the western commentary talking about the irreconcilable splits in the establishment and genies let out of the bottle. Iran has always had splits and occasional revolts and returned to a period of uneasy, conservative suppression. It may well do so again now. What is different on this occasion is that there is now an open stand-off between two opposing dynamics. On the one side has been the radical technocrat and militia forces led by Ahmadinejad, formed by the Iran-Iraq war and hostile to the old clerical establishment. On the other side is the new, educated generation with no recollection of that war, who seek a more open society, especially the women who make up 60 per cent of those in higher education...That matters in Iran's dealings abroad, not just with the West but in the region, but it also matters internally. The Islamic Republic was set up to ensure clerical rule with popular backing. That system has broken down, at least for the time being. With two different forces pulling in opposite directions, it is difficult to see how it can be put back together." (http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-how-can-iranians-mend-their-broken-islamic-republic-1727948.html)

Ambassador John Bolton wrote in today's Washington Post that "Iran's nuclear threat was never in doubt during its presidential campaign, but the post-election resistance raised the possibility of some sort of regime change. That prospect seems lost for the near future or for at least as long as it will take Iran to finalize a deliverable nuclear weapons capability...He [Obama] still wants 'engagement' (a particularly evocative term now) with Iran's current regime. Last Thursday, the State Department confirmed that Secretary Hillary Clinton spoke to her Russian and Chinese counterparts about 'getting Iran back to negotiating on some of these concerns that the international community has.' This is precisely the view of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, reflected in the Group of Eight communique the next day. Sen. John Kerry thinks the recent election unpleasantness in Tehran will delay negotiations for only a few weeks. Obama administration sources have opined (anonymously) that Iran will be more eager to negotiate than it was before its election in order to find 'acceptance' by the 'international community.' Some leaks indicated that negotiations had to produce results by the U.N. General Assembly's opening in late September, while others projected that they had until the end of 2009 to show progress. These gauzy scenarios assume that the Tehran regime cares about 'acceptance' or is somehow embarrassed by eliminating its enemies. Both propositions are dubious." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR2009070103020.html)

Alan Dershowitz wrote in today's Wall Street Journal that "The current turmoil in Iran may strengthen the Obama administration as it seeks to use diplomacy, sanctions and other nonmilitary means to prevent the development of nuclear weapons. But if these tactics fail, the military option, undesirable and dangerous as it is, must not be taken off the table. If the Obama administration were to shift toward learning to live with a nuclear Iran and attempt to deny Israel the painful option of attacking its nuclear targets as a last resort, that would be troubling indeed. Thankfully, the Obama administration's point man on this issue, Dennis Ross, shows no signs of weakening American opposition to a nuclear-armed Iran." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124649366875483207.html)

Roger Cohen wrote in today's New York Times that "Think of normalized relations with the United States as the big prize. Who gets to deliver it? One thing is certain: Iran's ruthless usurpers are determined to ensure reformists are never in a position to claim the breakthrough." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/opinion/02iht-edcohen.html?pagewanted=1&sq=Iran&st=cse&scp=3)