Thursday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 8.4.2005:

Iran sends in troops to crush border unrest

The Guardian:

The Iranian government has deployed large numbers of troops in cities in the northwestern region which borders Iraq in an effort to quell three weeks of civil unrest that has left up to 20 people dead and more than 300 wounded, according to reports from dissident groups.

They said as many as 100,000 state security forces, backed up by helicopter gunships, had moved into the region to crack down on pro-Kurdish demonstrations. READ MORE

Finally, the major media is picking up the story of the unrest in Iran's western border. The unrest now extends beyond the Kurdish areas down into the Khuzistan region.

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Middle East Newsline reported Iran's strategic weapons programs were expected to significantly increase the prospect of a nuclear war according to a study, conducted by Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Richard Lugar.
  
• Iran Focus and SMCCDI both reported that Iranian security forces are using helicopters to fire on demonstrators.
• Iranian blogger, Windsteed, Iran Hopes reported that police say they are still investigating the assassination of Moghaddasi which took place last Tuesday in Tehran. But speculation is rampant.
• Reporters Without Borders released their Iran - 2005 annual report. It said, press freedom shrank daily during 2004 in Iran and that Iran has for years been the Middle East's biggest prison for journalists.
• SMCCDI reported that a heavy explosion rocked a militia camp located in the northwestern City of Marivan by resulting in tens of wounded among Islamic republic's security forces.
• SMCCDI reported that for the first time several Iranian militiamen were injured by an IED.
  
• Fred Pruitt, Rantburg responded to suggestion that the U.S. should "nuke Mecca" if the U.S. suffers a major attack.
• Iranian blogger, Sa‘id Farzaneh, Iran Scan reported on the Islamic regime‘s absolute determination to present Ganji‘s saga as no big deal.
• Roozonline reported that the head of the Basij militia said sweeping changes will be taking place in Iran.
• Dan Darling, WindOfChange.net discussed NBC's report on the capture of truckloads of IED's into Iraq from Iran. I was told that there were over thirty tons of IED's.
• Iran Focus, an MEK website, reported that a prominent women’s rights activist in Iranian Kurdistan was arrested in the Kurdish region.
• The Washington Post reported that the International Crisis Group warned that the consolidation by hard-liners marks a new challenge for the rest of the world.
• The Financial Times reported that Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator said the decision to resume uranium conversion activity was irreversible.
• The Washington Times asked, can Eurocrats stop the Iranian Atomic Bomb?
• The Christian Science Monitor explored why pressing Iran over nukes is a difficult road.
• Iranmania reported that a number of journalists and media personalities held a protest gathering in Tehran and a symbolic hunger strike in support of Ganji
• Iranian.ws reported that U.S. Ambassador John Bolton urged all nations "to meet their obligations to stop the flow of terrorist financing and weapons, and particularly on Iran and Syria."
• And finally, Little Green Footballs reported on an amazing press conference in Esfhan. Photo and video.