Tuesday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 12.13.2005:

State Department: Iran's referral to UNSC "just a matter of time"

The Jerusalem Post:

Reporting Iran to the UN Security Council for defiantly pressing ahead with its suspect nuclear program is just a matter of time, a senior US State Department official suggested Monday.

"Clearly our patience is limited. We're now talking 'when' or 'how' rather than 'whether' we will report them to the Security Council," which has the power to slap Iran with sanctions, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with journalists.

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

• Safa Haeri, Iran Press Service published a report: Who is Ahmadinejad and what is he up to?
• Iran Focus reported that Iran is setting the grounds to influence Thursday’s parliamentary elections in Iraq by sending its agents across the border in large numbers.
• Aljazeera reported that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stood by his latest attack on Israel and asserted the world was "on the verge of change."
• EUbusiness reported that Germany will ask EU leaders to sign up to a joint declaration condemning the latest anti-Israeli statement from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
• The Associated Press reported that Mohamed ElBaradei said the United States will need to give Iran a security guarantee before a final agreement can be reached.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that European Union foreign ministers called on Iran Monday to show greater respect for human rights.
• RIA Novosti reported that Ahmadinejad's recent statement on Israel is unacceptable to Russia.
• Israelinsider.com reported that Iran commissioned its second domestically built submarine, a craft that can fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.
• Daily Times Pk reported that Iran has successfully tested surface-to-sea missiles with a range of 110 kilometres.
• Yahoo News reported that Iran's outspoken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged a "serious investigation" into the crash of a military plane in central Tehran.
• Saul Singer, The National Review warned the Europeans that by failing to deal with Iran, and wrapping themselves most tightly in international law are actually those responsible for turning that law into a dead letter.
• Shervin Omidvar, RooZ Online reported that Abdol-Fattah Soltani the lawyer defending a group of student activists will remain behind bars.
• Morteza Mohseni, Rooz Online reported that the minister of intelligence is curbing reporting on the air crash.
• Omid Memarian, Rooz Online reported that air crash victims families are complaining about the government response.
• Hamed Irani, Rooz Online warned that Ahmadinejad’s new diplomats are incompetent and lack basic language skills.
• Hossein Bastani, Rooz Online reported that Ahmadinejad is claiming to be in touch with the 12th Imam.
• The Telegraph reported that an Iraqi insurgent group has kidnapped four Iranians.
• And finally, Cox & Forkum published another cartoon about the Weblog Awards and they endorsed this blog for best Middle East blog.