Friday, November 18, 2005

Saturday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 11.19.2005:

Iran gives UN paper diplomats call atom bomb outline

Mark Heinrich and Francois Murphy, Reuters:
Iran has told the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it received a black-market document which diplomats said on Friday contained partial instructions for making the core of an atomic bomb. READ MORE
Here are a few other news items you may have missed.
  • Amir Taheri, Arab News reported why Iran cannot be trusted and the problems with UN sanctions.
  • Reuters reported that a U.N. General Assembly committee narrowly approved on Friday a resolution expressing serious concern over a long list of human rights abuses in Iran.
  • The Times of India reported that India's Left resigned to India voting in favor of the US resolution if voting is resorted to again.
  • CNET News.com reported on Iran's recent effort to remove control the internet from the US.
  • Hossein Bastani, Rooz Online provided more background information on Mesbah Yazdi.
  • Michael Rubin, The Daily Star warns that a serious problem for democracy in the Middle East is the corruption of its leaders and the hopelessness it creates.
  • Avigdor Haselkorn, FrontPageMagazine reported on Iran's current war on Israel.
  • Gianfranco Fini, Italy's FM The Wall Street Journal said: We are convinced that an Iran finally liberated from the shackles of radical fundamentalism can play an essential role in ensuring the stability of the entire region.
  • The Associated Press reported that an Israeli diplomat claims Iran has supplied Hezbollah with more than ten-thousand short-range rockets.
  • The Washington Times reported that the discovery of a secret Iraqi Interior Ministry torture chamber confirms what has been an open secret in Baghdad for months: Pro-Iranian militia have deeply infiltrated the ministry and are acting as a law unto themselves.
  • Reuters reported that Bush backed an initiative by Russian President Putin to end a stalemate over Iran's nuclear project
  • The Guardian reported that Ahmadinejad faces a range of critical problems with the west. But the Iranian president's handling of these flashpoints is also creating internal problems - reaching the highest levels in Tehran.
  • The Guardian reported that Iran is facing political paralysis as its newly elected president purges government institutions.
  • Islamic Republic News Agency reported that UK Foreign Office Minister Lord Triesman said that the "evidence is compelling" about the sequence of events that led the UK to proscribe the MKO as a terrorist group.
  • Reuters reported that Iran on Friday took the highly unusual step of running a costly full-page ad in the New York Times defending its nuclear activities.
  • ET, A View from Iran reported that isolating Iran is what the Fundamentalists want inside of Iran. An interesting debate between to Iranians.
  • Iran Mania reported that Iran's volunteer Islamic militiamen known as 'Bassijis' are vowing to form a human chain along the length of the country's borders as a show of force. Sounds like a good day for a demonstration.
  • And finally,
  • Winston, The Spirit of Man published a photo of Iran's radicals having fun destroying an American symbol.