Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [8/28-9/03] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance)

Iran's Nuclear Program.

• Nasser Karimi, San Jose Mercury News reported that Iran on Sunday rejected what it termed conditional negotiations with Europe over Tehran's nuclear program.
• Itar-Tass News Agency reported that Iran does not count on Russia and China’s power of veto at the UN Security Council, should its nuclear dossier be taken to the Council.
• Chicago Tribune reported that this week Mohamed ElBaradei is expected to report to the agency's board of governors that Iran has failed to heed demands to halt its uranium-conversion activities, setting the table for a week or two of intense diplomatic poker.
• The Jerusalem Post responded to calls by some to respect Iran's honor in dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions.
• Claude Salhani, UPI, Monster & Critics reported that Iran's Revolutionary Guard commander met secretly with A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan`s atomic bomb, in an effort to acquire nuclear-capable missiles.
• Reuters reported that Chirac said Iran must suspend its nuclear plans or face UN referral.
• Yahoo News reported that Iran has made another breakthrough in its nuclear program by successfully using biotechnology to extract purer uranium from its mines.
• IranMania claims that the EU may hold off immediately calling for sanctions if Iran is brought before the UN Security Council.
• Iran Press News reported that Ali Larijani stated: "Mohammad El Baradei has requested that we suspend our nuclear activities in our Esfahan plant but since that is something that needs to happen voluntarily... he needs to accept that this is only our business."
• Iran Press News reported that the new Minister of Defense of Ahmadinejad's cabinet stated that the Shahab 3 Missile program would be expanded.
• The Financial Times reported that Britain, France and Germany are seeking international support to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council for a reprimand.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that European Union foreign ministers will assess the possibility of drawing Iran back into talks on its nuclear program during a two- day meeting opening Thursday.
• Reuters reported that Iran's top nuclear negotiator held talks with Indian leaders on Wednesday to garner support for Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
• Voice of America reported that U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says there is a "litany of questions" that need to be answered by Iran.
• Francois Murphy, Reuters reported that Iran obtained from China a substantial amount of a metal that can also be used in an atomic bomb.
• Daniel J. Gallington, The Washington Times anticipates elements to our evolving policy toward Iran's nuclear weapons program.
• Reuters reported that the IAEA's report is expected to confirm Iran has resumed sensitive nuclear work and is not convinced Iran's atomic ambitions are peaceful.
• The Associated Press reported the Bush administration is trying to rally other nations to agree to impose U.N. sanctions on Iran.
• The Associated Press reported that the European Union yesterday urged Iran to return to the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear program and threatened to take Tehran to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions if it did not.
• Times of India reported that Iran has resumed uranium enrichment which was suspended under a deal with the European Union.
• The LA Times reported that the IAEA's report on Iran documents the nation's continuing unwillingness to fully explain its nuclear activities.
• Politics.co.uk reported that Britain's Jack Straw told journalists: Nobody is proposing military action in regard of Iran.
• The New York Times reported that despite an intense two-and-a-half year investigation by the IAEA, key elements of Iran's nuclear program remain shrouded in mystery.
• The Associated Press reported that Iran has produced about seven tons of a gaseous compound that can be used for uranium enrichment since it restarted that process last month.

Akbar Ganji.

• Rooz Online reported that Akbar Ganji's wife said she is expecting her husband to be freed soon.
• Iranian blogger, Kamal Tehrani, Rooz Online reported that the new Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance issued a warning over reprint of some books such as those by Akbar Ganji and has ordered a publishing house's popular café and cyber café to shut down.
• Iranian blogger, Reza Bayegan, Ekbatan Observer argues that while we should support Akbar Ganji release from prison, we should not support some of his ideas.
• Iran Press News reported that Akbar Ganji's wife is once again concerned for her husband physical health and that her husband has been barred from receiving visitors.
• Patrick Devenny, FrontPageMagazine.com exposed Amnesty Internationals half hearted concern for Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji.
  

The unrest against the regime spreads in Iran.

• Reuters reported that a gunman shot an Iranian judge in the eye and hand outside his Tehran home, seriously wounding him, a justice minister said on Sunday.
• Reuters reported that Iranian judges are to carry handguns after a judge was seriously wounded on Sunday in the fourth attack on a judiciary official in the last four weeks.
• Rooz Online published a brief history of assassinations of judicial Officials in Iran.
• Iran Focus reported that Iran’s State Security Forces have arrested 442 “trouble-makers” in the coastal province of Gilan.
• SMCCDI reported two members of the Bassij paramilitary force were stabbed to death yesterday in the Iranian Capital.
• SMCCDI reported an armed clash erupted, late afternoon, in Emamzadeh-Hassan area located in Greater Tehran.
• Iran Press News reported that one of the regime's Intelligence service agents stationed in Tehran was shot and severely injured.
• Iran Press News reported that Attorney General of the Islamic Republic, Saeed Mortazavi Effective said: immediately, coordinated efforts will be under way to purge Tehran from evildoers and elements of corruption.
• SMCCDI reported that several prisoners have been killed in another prison riot.
• Iran Press News reported that Tehran is preparing to install loud speakers and cameras in 140 neighborhoods throughout Tehran, meant to broadcast the call to prayers (5 times a day), but it is also meant to broadcast directives to the populace and photograph them during times of escalation of conflict in order to contain resulting hostilities.
• Iran Press News reported that Iranian citizens clashed with disciplinary forces in Sardasht, Province of Azerbaijan.
• SMCCDI reported that two more militiamen have been killed in the last two days in the provincial cities of Zabol and Sari.
• SMCCDI reported that three Oil Wells have exploded near the southeastern City of Ahwaz. The explosions which are act of sabotage.
• Iran Press News also reported on the explosions adding that the representative from the Dashazadegan region to the Parliament said: "These actions are planned and lead by 'London'."
• SMCCDI reported that several hundreds of individuals qualified as "trouble makers" have been arrested in the last days in Iran with the official ISNA announcing the official number of 1,000 for Tehran arrests alone.
• Daily Times confirmed earlier reports that small bombs damaged 15 pipelines and one oil well in restive southwest Iran on Thursday, but quick repairs meant crude output from OPEC’s second exporter was unaffected.
  

Ahmadinejad.

• Khaleej Times Online that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to present new Iranian proposals at the United Nations summit September 14-16.
• NY Press points out Amir Taheri's report that Ahmadinejad is planning on destroying 20,000 villages and relocating some 30,000,000 residents.
• Iran Focus reported that Ahmadinejad is planning to woo Iranian exiles living in the United States.
• WorldNetDaily reported that Ahmadinejad will pay respects to Castro, Chavez before going to U.N.
• The Billings Gazette reported that Iranian Americans are protesting the Iranian president's September visit to UN.
• World News Tonight, ABC News reported that the State Department says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a terrorist, but will grant him a visa anyway.
• WorldNetDaily, reported that U.S. "investigators" never bothered to interview any of the former hostages who made the charges against Ahmadinejad.
• Rooz Online says Ahmadinejad wants to propose the "International Year of Human Kindness".
• Albawaba reported that Ahmadinejad is planning to appeal to US-Iranian citizens in his upcoming appearance before the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York in September.
• The Economist cites evidence that Mr Ahmadinejad is a newcomer to Iran's treacherous national politics. It shows.
• SMCCDI announced the "Iran U.N. Protest 2005" coalition is going to hold a Telethon this Saturday and Sunday in Los Angeles (CA)to gather the necessary funds for the organization of a massive demo at the United Nations (UN) on September 14th.
• Khaleej Times reported that Iran's new government has adopted a high-risk policy: pursuing its controversial nuclear programme at the price of losing its European allies.
• Khaleej Times Online reported that Iran denounced as an ugly act the US decision to deny visas to an Iranian parliamentary delegation to attend the annual UN General Assembly session in New York.
  

Who is Who in Iran.

• Rooz Online disclosed the author of Hezbollah's statement of "slaughtering" the opposition. Surprisingly, it is a wealthy technocrat.
• Iran Focus reported that Ahmadinejad is planning to appoint his close confidante Ali Saeedlou as director of the country’s central bank, after he was denied the cabinet post of oil minister by the parliament.
• Forbes reported that Ahmadinejad has appointed an interim head of the oil ministry..
• Xinhuanet reported that the Chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Gholamreza Aqazadeh has been reappointed by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
  

The Power Struggle inside of Iran.

• Iranian blogger, Omid Memarian, Rooz Online reported that Emad Afrough, chairman of Majlis’(Parliament) Cultural Committee called it a risk to confirm Pourmohammadi, president Ahmadinejad’s nominee as the Minister of the Interior. Conservatists now fear Conservatists.
• Iranian blogger, Maryam Kashani, Rooz Online published an interview with Emad Afrough, one of the conservative MPs who spoke of the weaknesses of Ahmadinejad's cabinet candidates.
• Iranian blogger, Farnaz Ghazizadeh, Rooz Online reported that the hardline daily Keyhan has warned Mehdi Karrubi that he may join the other isolated clerics if he insists on launching his own satellite television network.
• The Financial Times reported that the Iranian government is facing a new security challenge from a small, armed Iranian Kurdish group, Pejak or the Party for a Free Life.
• Iranian blogger, Farnaz Ghazizadeh, Rooz Online reported that three figures of the Guardian Council have joined the new government. This is raising a new controversy regarding the separation of powers in the Islamic Republic.
  

Iran's Troublemaking.

• Iranmania reported that Iran's Supreme Leader hailed Palestinian militants for expelling the' Zionist regime from Gaza and called for the continuation and fortification of resistance and Jihad.
  

U.S. Policy.

• Center for Security Policy criticizes not only the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) projection but also the Director of National Intelligence's choices of Ambassador Kenneth Brill to run the newly created National Counter-Proliferation Center and Thomas Fingar, his senior Deputy for Analysis.
• Los Angeles Times reported that the US State Department says evidence indicates that Russia, Iran, North Korea and Syria all continue to maintain biological weapons programs.
• Robin Wright, The Washington Post reported that the Bush administration plans to launch a new effort at the United Nations this month to tighten the squeeze on Syria, backed by France along with new evidence of Syria's involvement in the murder of Hariri.
  

The Iranian Economy.

• The Christian Science Monitor reported that the Iranian government's plans to create an oil exchange fit into a strategy of weakening US economic hegemony.
• IranMania reported that the Minister of Iran's Economic Affairs and Finance Davood Danesh-Jafari said Iran's Parliament needs to help check inflation.
• Iran Press News reported Iran's central bank has announced that the total foreign debt in 2004 hit the $40 Billion mark.
• Iranian.ws reported that Larijani said here Friday: The issue of exporting Iran's Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) to India has been finalized.
• Hindustan Times also reported that ignoring objections from the US, India and Iran on Saturday decided to go ahead with the proposed $7.4 billion dollar pipeline project.
  

Human Rights/Freedom of the press inside of Iran.

• SMCCDIreported that social and political conditions are worsening in Iran as the Islamic republic regime is increasing the repression.
• Iran Press News reported that Iranian blogger, Majid Rezaii who was arrested by the regime's judiciary and was sentenced to 20 months.
• Iran Press News reported that Shuana Ghadri's brother, Aboubakr Esfrem, in Iraqi Kurdistan and spoke of the brutal torture that his brother endured.
• Sheffield Today reported that a 14-year-old Kurdish Iranian girl died after setting herself on fire in protest over her right not to wear the hijab headdress.
• Reporters Without Borders welcomed the release of online journalist Mojtaba Lotfi and Mohamad Reza Nasab Abdolahi. But voiced concern that both still have prison sentences hanging over their heads.
• Iran Press News reported on a proposal in Iran's parliament to fine women who are charged with improper veiling.
  

Protests inside of Iran.

• Iran Press News reported that a group of women who are permitted to teach gathered in front of the Islamic Assembly of the Parliament today.
• Iran Press News reported on a protest in Sanandadj for lack of pay.
• SMCCDI reported dozens gathered, today, at Khavaran cemetery located near Tehran in order to pay tribute to thousands of activists and dissidents executed in 1988 by the Islamic republic regime. Photos below.
  
• Iran Press News provided more details of the massacre of the innocent people of Kurdistan and added that one of the commanders of the massacres was Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, Ahmadinejad's Minister of Defense.
  

Iran and the International community.

• Kenneth R. Timmerman, The National Review Online The Mullah's old friend, German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, is twenty points down in the polls just one month before the September 18 general election, and he is up to his old tricks.
• Safa Haeri, Asia Times Online reported that Pakistan and Israel dealt Iran an historic blow. The foreign ministers of Israel and Pakistan met in Istanbul in what Prime Minister Ariel Sharon described as a setback for Iran. Others suggest this could be the beginning of a political current in the region that could result in all other Arab and Muslim nations recognizing the Jewish state.
  

Can You Believe This?

• Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzzi, Iran Press reported that Mullah Khamnei said: Women's hijab must be much more severe than those of men's. Why? Because nature and women’s softness was at the core of 'creation' and IF we do not want society to lead to corruption and degenerate, we must keep these "goods" in their wrapping.
• Reuters reported that Iran is to create a $1.3 billion "love fund" to encourage poor young people to marry.
• Iran Press News the regime's media outlets wrote today that the residents of the bigger cities in Iran will now only have permission to use running tap water a few hours a week.
  

Must Read reports.

• Dan Darling, WindsOfChange.net responded to the claim that the evidence was pretty thin that al-Qaeda leaders are in Iran directing operations.
• The Telegraph UK takes a look at Dan Fried, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, and reconsiders US efforts to support democracy in the Middle East.
• F. Michael Maloof, The Washington Times sees parallels with Iran's ancient assassins and the present.
• Harlan Ullman, The Washington Times suggested that if the nation is to be safer and more secure, the president must be even bolder.
• The Washington File, Embassy of the U.S., London published the State Department’s Daniel Fried lecture in France on how America and Europe must work together to support democratic development throughout the broader Middle East, just as they supported the democratic aspirations of pro-democracy movements in central and Eastern Europe.
• The Washington Times reported that since last February, the Bush administration and France set aside the ill feelings created by the war in Iraq and began to work together for reform in the Muslim world.
• Marzeporgohar.org suggested that if there is one thing that the Western countries need to realize, it is that they best not interfere with the Persian pride.
  

The Experts.

• Amir Taheri, Newsweek International reported on the world wide intentions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, calling it a Clash of Civilizations. A Must Read.
• The Heritage Foundation argued that Iran is simply too radical, unstable, and contemptuous of both international law and basic standards of decency to be allowed into the nuclear club.
• Michael Barone,senior writer for U.S.News & World Report supports the Iranian pro-democracy movement in Iran and this blog.
• Amir Taheri, NY Post reported that the recent tragic deaths of 1000 Iraqi's trampled under foot in a stampede or drowned in the Tigris River is having an unexpected result. Sunnis watching from the neighboring Azamiyah district of Baghdad jumped into the river to save the screaming Shiites from drowning. It appears to be drawing Shiite and Sunni's together.
• Dr. Jack Wheeler, To The Point News reported that the war between Persia and the West is very ancient, well over a thousand years older than the war between Islam and Christianity. It is a valuable brief history of Iran's war with the west and why a civil war in Iran is not in Iran's best interest.
  

Photos and cartoons of the week.

• Rooz Online has another cartoon: The regime fighting Satellite TVs.
• Rooz Online published another cartoon, this time on: The demise and death of Publications & Papers in Iran.
• Iranian.com published: Pictures of a gathering at Khavaran cemetry.
  

And finally, The Quote of the Week.

Iran Press News reported that Iran's Supreme Leader doubts Islamic terrorists exist, saying:

We are very doubtful of the existence of people who are supposedly followers of a backward form of Islam... bombing buses and metros... adding: do these groups and elements actually exist?

A Personal Note: As a result of the tremendous outpouring of support from my fellow bloggers and readers, I now have a new laptop. It will make this work much easier. Thank you very much!