Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [9/25-10/01] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance)

Ahmadinejad.

• Iran Press News reported that in a meeting with the Islamic regime's assembly today, Ahmadinejad said: The 3 European countrieswho are being manipulated from behind the scenes by their allies are racists and are looking to take the world back to the dark ages.
• Hamid Ahadi, Rooz Online points out the focus in Iran is now turning towards the failure of president Ahmadinejad’s first major international policy .
• Winston, The Spirit of Man reported that the head of religious school of clerics in Qom has sent an appreciation letter to Ahmadinejad saying: The speeches of Pres. Ahmadinejad had the original message of the Islamic Revolution which meant to draw attention of people around the world to the readiness of mankind for the presence of the 12th Imam of Shiites ...
• Hamid Ahadi, Rooz Online reported that while the president and his cabinet are busy making changes, major changes are also under way in the judiciary, the armed forces, and the national TV network. They add: conditions are set for the departure of Saeed Mortazavi, the notorious prosecutor of Tehran.
• Iran Press News reported that a Friday prayer leader said: European governments have shown us [with their recent actions] that they're nothing more than a bunch of delivery boys for the Americans.
• Iranian blogger, Ahmad zidabadi, Rooz Online questioned the lack of open debate on Iran's nuclear program.
  

Iran's Nuclear Program.

• Iran Press News reported that Al Arabiya Television in a report announced: Ahmadinejad has demanded that the authorities of the previous team of nuclear negotiators of the regime, headed by Mullah Hasan Rowhani be prosecuted.
• Iran Press News reported a leading Iranian newspaper saying: Referral of the regime's dossier to the U.N. Security Council will take place with a delay and that way, our 'trigger mechanism' will become operational.
• Iran Press News reported that the Austrian Newspaper, DER STANDARD, thinks a showdown between the European Union and Tehran's regime is inevitable.
• News Max reported that the Bush administration said the United Nations Security Council must review Iran's nuclear record.
• The Sunday Herald reported that Iran’s quest to become a nuclear power may involve the Balkan mafias, after security sources discovered potentially lethal nuclear enrichment material in the region.
• Iranian blogger, Mehdrad Sheibani, Rooz Online reported that Iranian parliament member from Tabriz cleric Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini said “That Britain is leading this effort, makes it even more suspect in our eyes, because it follows the US, while both have been the long-time enemies of the Iranian people.”
• Arash Motamed, Rooz Online reported that Iran was hoping that Russia, China or India who has appeared sympathetic to Iran’s position and reasoning, would stop the resolution from passage.
• Masoud Behnoud, Rooz Online reported that The Iranian nuclear issue is getting more complex and that Iranian rulers cannot live without creating a crisis.
• The Telegraph UK reported Iran Sunday threatened to halt spot inspections of its nuclear sites in retaliation for a harshly worded resolution that brought Teheran a step closer to being reported to the United Nations Security Council.
• Scott Gearity, Export Control Blog asked if the military option and sanctions really off the table now, it's not clear to me what sticks the Europeans have got left. I have an idea.
• Rediff.com reported that Congressman Tom Lantos hailed India's about-face in Vienna in aligning itself with the United States and the European Union and voting to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council.
• MEMRI provided excerpts from a speech by Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani where he said: You have accepted North Korea's nuclear technology in the field of uranium enrichment. So accept ours now.
• Khaleej Times Online reported that Iran's reformist opposition criticized the nation's nuclear policies.
• Parisa Hafezi, Reuters reported that Iran threatened on Tuesday to use trade ties to punish countries that voted against it at the U.N. atomic watchdog.
• Iran Press News reported that Larijani, the Secretary of the High Council of National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran said: We do not accept the Board of Governor's resolution and added the European trio were: among the most savage nations on earth.
• Sify News reported India on Tuesday briefed Iran on the reasons for supporting the IAEA resolution.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that Iran will consider reducing its trade with those countries, particularly India that voted for Saturday's U.N. nuclear agency resolution to refer Tehran to the Security Council.
• Radio Free Europe reported that Iran's parliament will hold a closed-door session today to discuss whether to block unlimited inspections of its nuclear facilities.
• The Associated Press reported that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Iran was asking the Europeans Britain, France and Germany and the IAEA for two things: First, they should not insist (on the terms of the resolution). Second, they should correct it. If the other parties' reaction is not along these lines, the Islamic Republic of Iran will take these measures.
• Reuters reported that Iran on Monday threatened to restart uranium enrichment saying: Unless the resolution is corrected or if its implementation is insisted upon, Iran will be forced to cancel all its voluntary and temporary measures including implementation of the Additional Protocol.
• Financial Times reported that Iran threatened to end “voluntary and temporary” agreements over its nuclear program unless the United Nations' nuclear watchdog amended a resolution condemning Tehran.
• The NY Times reported that the Bush administration played every card it held to win the split decision on Iran's nuclear program before the International Atomic Energy Agency.
• Pyotr Goncharov, Insight Magazine argued that in its relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the EU3, Iran is clearly staking everything.
• Deccan Herald reported India's Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran saying: India actually helped Iran buy time for “negotiations and consultations” thereby avoiding a major diplomatic crisis.
• The Washington Post in an editorial said the Bush administration and its European allies have managed to take a small step toward holding Iran accountable for its secret and illegal steps aimed at the production of nuclear weapons.
• Maryam Kashanim, Rooz Online published an interview with Ahmad Shirzad is a physicist, a former official at Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization who questions the economic soundness of Iran’s nuclear programs and attributed the strong international pressure against it to Iran’s concealments.
• Iran Press News reported that the German Newspaper, Die Welt said: In the most recent session of the IAEA's board of governors in Vienna, Tehran's regime was palpably defeated.
• Ray Takeyh, The Financial Times reported many in the US and European capitals seem to think that a mere invocation of threats and tentative IAEA resolutions will cause Iran to capitulate and but he argues this is a gross misreading of Iran’s newly inaugurated government.
• Reuters reported that Iran's parliament voted to speed discussion of a bill that would force the government to scale back its cooperation with the U.N. atomic watchdog.
• The Christian Science Monitor argued that the EU can do more to block an Iranian bomb.
• BBC News reported that India says Iran has given no indication that it is reviewing ties after Delhi's support for Iran's nuclear programme to be referred to the United Nations. The denial followed reports that Iran had scrapped a $22bn gas deal with India.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported once again that the U.K.'s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that military action against Iran was inconceivable.
• The Wall Street Journal reported why the Iranians aren't worried by their escalation of the nuclear crisis?
  
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Russia's minister of atomic energy said Iran does not have the immediate capacity to enrich uranium, despite warning it may do so.
• Rooz Online reported that many within the Iranian government and its hardline supporters outside have not yet reached a consensus on how to deal with the IAEA’s warning to Iran.
• Middle East Newsline reported that Israel has determined that Iran would not be stopped in its drive to produce nuclear weapons.
• JTA Daily Briefing reported that Israeli lawmakers on a visit to Washington hinted that Israel one day could resort to military force to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.
• Safa Haeri, Asia Times reported that Iran is backpedaling on its threats, for now.
• Eurasia Security Watch, American Foreign Policy Council reported that officials in Tehran are warning of potentially devastating global consequences if Iran is sanctioned for its nuclear ambitions. Major-General Yahya Rahim Safavi, Commander of Iran’s clerical army, the Pasdara said Iran: can retaliate accordingly and has the power to attack enemies’ interests in the furthest reaches [of the world].
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that Cuba, Syria and Belarus joined the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board Thursday.
• Alistair Lyon, Reuters reported that for all its hardline posturing, Iran is likely to play a cautious hand in its drawn-out nuclear game with the West to avoid isolation.
• Iranian.com reported that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed Venezuela's "brave and judicious" vote against the EU-proposed resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors.
• Iran Press News reported that Hadad Adel, the Director of the Parliament of the Islamic regime, said: If we are forced to surrender to the international scene's blackmail [this time], who knows how far the blackmailing and impositions will go.
• Iran Press News reported that Aladin Boroujerdi, the Director of Islamic Parliamentary's commission on security and foreign affairs said: In the face of the regime's nuclear dossier's referral to the Security Council, it is impossible to expect that China and Russia to veto and opt out of a their relations with the west...
• Outlook India reported that the US took the "unusual step" of sharing highly classified intelligence data on Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear-capable missile to secure India's support for the IAEA resolution against Tehran's controversial atomic program.
• Vivienne Walt, Slate discussed her personal observation from inside of Iran and argued, Why America is Powerless to Stop Tehran's Nuclear Ambitions.
• IranMania reported that Deputy Syrian Prime Minister Abdullah al-Dardari praised Iran's firm and logical diplomacy regarding its peaceful nuclear policies.
• Voice of America News reported that White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the IAEA resolution put Iran on notice that "it is time to come clean."
• Reuters reported that former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said Iran's nuclear impasse could be resolved through diplomacy not confrontation.
• The Washington Times reported that three senior Israeli lawmakers from across the political spectrum warned that the U.S. and its allies must act to stop Iran's nuclear programs -- by force if necessary -- because conventional diplomacy will not work.
• Iranian.ws reported that Judiciary Chief mullah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi referring to Europeans' conduct regarding Iran's nuclear dossier, said the: EU should bear in mind if its conduct would lead to depriving Iran of its natural rights it would definitely have negative effects on our mutual ties.
• Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the head of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said that referral of Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council is unlikely.
• The Hindu reported that intense US pressure didn't prompt India to support the resolution that has placed Iran on the verge of referral to the U.N. Security Council, India's ambassador to the United States said.
• Times of India reported that despite liberal anger at the government's support for sending Iran to the UN Security Council, the Indian government is sticking to its guns on the issue.
• Arash Motamed, Rooz Online discussed three options for the current crisis in Iran: war, talks with the US or a referendum.
• Khaleej Times Online reported that Iran would consider using oil as a weapon and denial of access to international nuclear inspectors if the United Nations Security Council is pressured by the US and allies to impose sanctions against it.
• European Voice reported Russian President Putin will be pressed next week to back Iran's referral to the United Nations' Security Council.
  

Iranian Dissidents.

• Iran Press News reported that activist & political prisoner, Arjang Davoodi is to be exiled to Bandar-Abbass prison.
• Iran Press News reported that political prisoners, Behrooz Javid-Tehrani, Bina Darab-Zand and Hodjat Zamani who have been on hunger strike for a month, were threatened by the Islamic Republic's judiciary.
• Mori Jex, Iran Watch Canada reported that Mr. Ahmad Saraji, a blogger from the city of Tabriz who is now in Tabriz central prison, is in great danger! He has been accused of publicity against the system.
• Eli Lake, The NY Sun reported that the wife of Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji went public this weekend with a letter to the head of her country's judiciary, asking the whereabouts of her husband, whom she has not seen since August 26.
• Iran Press News reported that Abdolfatah Soltani, one of the lawyers representing the family of murdered photo-journalist Zahra Kazemi, has not been heard from for over 58 days after his arrest by the regime.
• IranMania reported that Iranian dissident student leader Ali Afshari has been sentenced to six years in jail for attacking national security.
• Iran Press News reported that 23-year-old Kianoosh Sanjari, popular and diligent member of the "United Student Front" is still being inexplicably detained in Evin prison. He has yet to be charged or see an attorney.
• Iranian blogger, Amil Imani, ThinkAndAsk.com interviewed a former Iranian student arrested for protesting the regime. The student provides insight into the methods used against dissidents in Iran.
• Iran Press News reported that the Islamic regime has falsified charges against detainees of recent clashes in Kurdistan.
• Iranian blogger, Korosh, The Price of Freedom reported Iranian dissident and blogger, Ahmad Seraj is in danger.
  

Who's who in Iran.

• Soheyl Asefi, Rooz Online in an interview with cleric Dr Tey Hashemi, considered a moderate among the Majlis (Parliament) hardliners, Tey said: It is possible that the new government here may become active to have a direct dialogue with the Americans, and begin talks with them.
• Iran Press News reported that various regime-run media outlets are saying Mohammad Khatami, the ex-president of the Islamic republic was honorably retired.
  

The Unrest & Power Struggle inside of Iran.

• Iran Press News reported that Reza Jalaali, a member of the "People's Leadership" Party which is faction of the now defunct ruling Reformist's said: The conjecture emerging from the authorities of the Islamic regime, vis a vis the nuclear issues, is confusing and disconcerting to the world. If things continue in this vein, everyone will be consumed.
• Iran Focus reported that Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, announced their plan to fight trouble-makers, or dissidents, in the Iranian capital and extended the campaign by one month.
• SMCCDI reported that two more militiamen were killed and another wounded, yesterday, near the City of Yazd located in central Iran.
• Mission Centered News reported that more than 3,000 satellite dishes have been confiscated in Iran as the government cracks down on what they're calling "trouble makers" in the country's capital city and more than 12,000 "social polluters" have been arrested.
• Iran Press News reported that Mohammad Kasraii, 35-year-old shopkeeper, resident of the village of Kaani-Sepilkeh, suburb of the town of Marivaan was shot and killed by the regime's agents.
• Tehran Times reported that Ayatollah Shahrudi called on the authorities to provide the Judiciary with a list of students kept in prisons immediately to free them or grant leave of absence to them.
• Iran Focus reported that Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi called for a “decisive” crackdown on “trouble-makers”, a term commonly used by authorities to refer to dissidents or ordinary Iranians deemed to act un-Islamic ways.
  

Iran's troublemaking.

• Al Mendhar reportef that more than 4000 of the Iranian National Guard, Al Quds Corps and the Intelligence Ministry are in Iraq.
• Iran Press News reported that Hazem Sha'lan, Minister of Defense of the Iraqi interim government said: Abu-Mussab Al-Zarqawi, the head of the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda is in direct collaboration with the security and intelligence apparatus of the Islamic regime.
• Champress reported that Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zybari said: Iran has a clear influence in Iraq no one can deny.
• New York Post reported that investigators uncovered the secret funneling of millions of dollars from Iran and Saudi Arabia to groups like Hamas in the West Bank.
  

U.S. Policy.

• Adnkronos Internationalreported that the Iranian media has reported a decision by the United States to finance radar stations in the central Asian republic of Azerbaijan. Tehran says this is part of a military strategy by Washington to encircle the Islamic Republic.
• Marc Perelman, Forward Magazine reported that the Bush administration appears to have backed Tehran in a fight over the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in Argentina.
• Middle East Newsline reported that a presidential commission has determined that U.S. intelligence had few assets in Iran as well as little direct knowledge of Teheran's missile and nuclear programs.
• Canoe News reported that NASA's top official said that the future of U.S participation in Russian space flights is in doubt due to a congressional measure that aims to punish countries that co-operate with Iran.
• Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State published Secretary Rice's recent speech at Princeton University.
  

The Iranian Military.

• SMCCDI reported that the Islamic regime is making more changes in its top military command. The regular Iranian Army is falling completely in the hands of commanders of the IRGC.
• IranMania reported that Iran's Supreme Leader appointed six commanders to new posts in shake up in the hierarchy of Army of the Islamic Republic.
• The Dawn reported a Pakistani, convicted of exporting missile parts to Iran almost 20 years ago, is being accused in a San Diego court of conspiring to smuggle jet engine components. The Los Angeles Times reported that the Iranian Air Force has both T-38s and F-5s.
  

Human Rights/Freedom of the press inside of Iran.

• Rooz Online reported that Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, said his country had prepared a new resolution to condemn human rights violations in Iran and would propose it to the United Nations General Assembly.
• Shirin Ebadi, Rooz Online argues that Iranian women deserve better laws!
• Yahoo News reported that Canada's Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew launched a new warning to the Iranian government not to try to produce enriched uranium.
• IAEA released the text of the resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors on Iran.
• VOA News reported that Iran is calling an international resolution on its nuclear program politically motivated and illegal.
• The Times of India reported the overt and transparent shift in alignment in support of the U.S. regarding Iran's nuclear program.
• The New York Times reported that a Western diplomat said: The fact that Peru, Singapore, Ghana, India and Ecuador voted to support this resolution undercuts Iran's argument that this is purely Western political pressure.
• Louis Charbonneau, Reuters reported background information on the UN Nuclear Watchdog meeting on Iran.
• Human Rights First called for support of Kurdish Iranian women activists recently detained by the regime.
• Farnaz Ghazizadeh, Rooz Online discuussed 25 Years of unpopular and mandatory head covering by Iranian women.
• Shirin Ebadi, Rooz Online argued that woman's rights are the foundation of human rights and values.
• Morteza Abdolalian, Iran Watch Canada reported that the head of the Tehran appeal court: No political motive in Zahra Kazemi's court file!
• Farah Karimi, Rooz Online discussed Kofi Annan's proposal for creating a "Council of Human Rights" to overview human rights situations in different countries and provide it with sufficient and necessary executive authority to implement its decisions.
  

Protests inside of Iran.

• Iran Press News reported that more than 1600 workers and retirees from the city of Qazveen's thread company gathered in front of the gates of the factory to protest non-receipt of their wages.
• The Media Line reported that Arab opposition groups in Iran's Ahvaz region began a 'full boycott' on Monday against what they called the "Iranian occupier."
• Iran Focus reported that at least two people have been killed during clashes between demonstrators and State Security Forces (SSF) in the city of Ahwaz.
  

The Pro-Democracy Forces Outside of Iran.

• Iranian.com published a call to international artists and activists to perform guerilla street theatres in Tehran.
  

Iran and the International community.

• Iran Press News reported that the regime's representative at the Islamic Parliamentary Assembly said: The British are in the process of putting other operations in action to weaken the Islamic Republic of Iran however what they don't seem to comprehend is that they cannot do a damn thing.
• Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Davoud Danesh-Jaafari and his Chinese counterpart in a meeting on Sunday examined ways of bolstering economic collaboration.
• Iran Press News quoted Arab reports that Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister said that the government of Jordan is strictly against the intrusion and encroachment of any of Iraq's neighboring countries, including the Islamic Republic, in Iraq's internal matters.
• Islamic Republic News Agency reported that UK Cabinet ministers made it clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair that they will not support any US military strike against Iran.
• The Hindu reported that Iran has informed India that the five-million-ton a year Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export deal, is off.
• Iran Press News pointed out that an Italian Daily called the Islamic regime a two-headed monster with one head inside Iran and the other inside Iraq.
• MosNews reported that Russia is intensifying efforts to sell weapons to Iran while such sales remain legal amid mounting pressure on the Islamic state over its controversial nuclear program.
• India Times reported that Iran on Wednesday asserted that all its agreements with India are still in force.
• SMCCDI reported that about 300 Islamists and members of the repressive para-military Bassij force hurled stones, tomatoes and smoke bombs over the walls of the British embassy compound in Tehran.
• Iran Press News reported that an exhibition entitled "Iran's Science" which was planned to be opened in the Palais des Decouvertes in Paris, was suddenly and unexpectedly cancelled.
• National Post reported an Iranian prosecutor claimed that Canada had trained and supported bombers in southern Iran. Canadian officials denied the report.
  

Insight into the Iranian people.

• Mehdrad Sheibani, Rooz Online discussed the recent discussion of a "change of views" in Iran and what to expect.
  

Can You Believe This?

• Jim Hoagland, The Washington Post argued that North Korea and Iran are getting aid from unexpected allies in the international negotiations over their illicit nuclear weapons programs. Meet the new superpowers of diplomacy: Katrina and Rita.
• The Globe and Mail reported that Sweden has rejected the asylum case of an Iranian journalist who played a key role in revealing the circumstances of the death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.
• Iran Focus reported that Hassan Abbasi, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, warned: oil prices on the international markets would shoot up to $400 a barrel if an attack were to be carried out on Iran.
• Free2innovate.net warned that France pushed the European Union to propose a new Internet Governance plan which calls for a government-run body to control the Internet and hand over the future of the Internet to countries such as Iran, Syria and China.
  

Must Read reports.

• Sherrie Gossett, Assyrian International News Agencyreported that Al Qaeda plans a series of spectacular terrorist strikes in October. A chilling read.
• Michael Barone, The Washington Times reminds us that despite the bad news in the media we need to keep the big picture in focus saying: Mr. Bush was right - MuslimIranian blogger, Mr. Bedhi said: If you want sanctions, I am not with you.s and Arabs, like people everywhere, want liberty and self-rule.
• Michael Rubin, Ha'aretz asked: Who Killed the Bush Doctrine? One example: Condolezza Rice appointed an ExxonMobil advisor who advised against aiding dissidents to cover the State Department's Iran policy planning portfolio.
• Bill Samii, Radio Free Europe reported Iran's Basij Resistance Force appears to be experiencing a revival which could also be connected with preparations for possible civil unrest. A valuable report.
• Michael Rubin, Middle East Review of International Affairs argued that the pessimism regarding Iraq's future is unwarranted. A long but valuable read.

The Experts.

• Amir Taheri, The NY Post thinks that Ilan Berman new book was so well written that it is as if Berman already knew what was going on in the minds of the new ruling elite in Tehran.
• Amir Taheri, Gulf News reported the flight of capital is a wake-up call for Iran.
• Amir Taheri, The NY Post asked: Are Arabs Anti-American?
  

Photos, Cartoons, Audio and Video of the week.

• Iranian Student News Agency published photos of American Muslim Woman in Tehran.
• Rooz Online latest cartoon on Ahmadinejad: Out on a limb.
• Rooz Online published another cartoon: Larijani headed for battle.
• Mock Photo of Ahmadinejad: Iran Gets Wild.
  

And finally, The Quote of the Week.

Iran Press News reported that Ahmadinejad said:

The prophetic mission of the Islamic revolution is global and we as the standard-bearers of the "Velayateh Faqih" (Shiite version of khalifa) will be ready for responding to the world's needs.