Wednesday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 9.7.2005:

Transatlantic Divide Deep, Not So Wide, Poll Finds

Sebastian Rotella, Los Angeles Times:

Europeans and Americans have often starkly different views of each other and the world, but agree on some major issues such as promoting democracy and avoiding war with Iran, according to a survey being released today. ...

About 74% of European respondents, compared with 51% of Americans, want their governments to help establish democracy in other countries. The breakdown in responses among Americans was 76% among Republican voters and 43% of Democrats, probably because the latter associate the "democracy promotion" phrase with Bush, Glenn said. ...

The public on both continents backs the EU diplomatic approach to the dispute with Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Only 5% of Europeans and 15% of Americans support a military solution. READ MORE

I believe the Bush administration has known the EU attitudes for some time know and this poll confirms my belief that the Bush administration is preparing an international campaign to support an internal regime change in Iran.

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

• News Max reported that Iran offered to send the United States 20 million barrels of crude oil in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina if Washington waived trade sanctions, but a State Department official said the offer was rejected.
• Reuters reported that the United States granted a visa to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
• Reuters reported that Seoul acknowledged that a South Korean firm had nearly sold Iran a substance that can be used to boost a nuclear explosion.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that a senior European Union diplomat said two years of talks with Iran are basically in the rubbish bin.
• Asia Times Online reported that in the high-stakes nuclear poker game between Iran and the EU-3, Tehran has decided to call the EU's bluff and turn the game around.
• Frederick W. Stakelbeck, FrontPageMagazine.com reported that energy is bringing China and Iran closer together.
• Reuters reported that Iran's top nuclear negotiator's visit to Pakistan sought to soothe growing international unease over its nuclear program.
• Mehr News reported that Iran has held negotiations with Austria, Swiss, and France to export gas to these countries.
• The Peninsula reported that the speaker of Iran's parliament yesterday cancelled plans to visit New York for a UN meeting because of delays in receiving a US visa.
• Gulf Daily News reported that top deputies in Iran's parliament have threatened to limit UN inspectors' access to nuclear sites and even revoke its commitment to an additional protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• Iran Mania reported that assets held by Iranian nationals residing in the United States reached $800 bln last year.
• Arnaud de Borchgrave, The Washington Times said for those the say: If Iran wanted, it could make Iraq hell for the United States. He responds: Well, Iran not only wants to, it already has.
• Reuters reported that Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said: China will be increasingly in conflict with the United States if it continues to pursue energy deals with countries like Iran and is unlikely to gain the energy security it seeks.
• And finally, IranMania.com reported that Iran's stock market chief dismissed reports that the proposed oil bourse will use the euro.