Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [12/25/05 -12/31/05] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance)

Ahmadinejad.

• Sara Esfahani, Rooz Online reported that the cabinet of president Ahmadinejad has embarked on a policy of fundamentally altering the national organization that selects applicants to national universities as an effort to control student life and access to higher education.
• Rooz Online reported on the conflicting reports given by the regime on the assassination attempt on Iran's Presidents life.
• Iran Focus reported that Ahmadinejad has asked for a committee to be set up to prove that the massacre of some six million Jews in Nazi Germany never took place.
• Cyrus Kadivar, Iran va Jahan criticized a recent article by Thomas L. Friedman entitled “A shah with a turban”.
• Matthias Kuntzel, Transatlantic Intelligencer, FrontPageMag.com reported on the problems with German's recent confrontation over Ahamdinejad's holocausts statements.
• Tino, Truck and Barter reported that the Iranian embassy in Sweden seems to be actively looking for holocaust deniers in Sweden. What is going on?
  

Power Struggle inside of Iran.

• Yahoo News reported that a reformist-funded satellite television channel plan to take legal action against Iranian authorities for allegedly banning their activities and broadcast into Iran.
• The Peninsula reported that the managers of a reformist-funded satellite television channel are to take legal action against Iranian authorities for allegedly banning their activities and broadcast funded by Mehdi Karoubi, a reformist cleric.
• Rooz Online reported on the Iranian government's battle over Azad University.
• Hamed Irani, Rooz Online reported that the Iranian government banned news reports about Saba TV.
• Meysam Tavvab, Rooz Online reported that the Iranian government had expressed concern that the reformist satellite broadcaster Saba might upset pious Muslim women, before banning the station.
• Hossein Bastani, Rooz Online argued that anyone surprised by the government ban on Saba TV is forgetting recent history, particularly leaders of the so-called "reformist movement."
  

Iran's Nuclear Program.

• The Jerusalem Post:Iran denied on Sunday that it had received from Russia a proposal for moving its uranium enrichment facilities to Russian territory.
• Efraim Inbar, The Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies published a report: The Imperative to Use Force Against Iranian Nuclearization.
• Rooz Online reported that the Iran-EU talks ended before they even began.
• Reuters reported that Iran's Foreign Minister said: Iran says does not need permission for nuclear work.
• Ray Takeyh, The Financial Times argued that diplomacy will not end Iran's nuclear program.
• Erik Schechter, The Jerusalem Post reported there are five options on the table for dealing with Iran and its suspected nuclear weapons program.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that Russia is waiting for Tehran's reply to a proposal to move Iranian uranium enrichment facilities to Russian soil.
• DW-World.de published an interview with German arms expert Oliver Meier about the chances of a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff.
• Reuters reported that Moscow's tensions with the West over Iran's nuclear program and its patchy record on democracy will test Russia's year at the helm of the G8.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Mossad Chief Meir Dagan said: "Iran is one to two years away, at the latest, from having enriched uranium."
• The New York Times reported that Iran hints at a warmer reception to Russia's nuclear proposal.
• Reuters reported that top Iranian and Russian officials agreed on Thursday to hold talks on a Russian proposal aimed a resolving Tehran's nuclear standoff.
• Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Monsters and Critics reported that the Russian Defence Ministry denied having agreed to nuclear talks with Iran.
• International Herald Tribune reported that Iran said that it needed talks with Moscow to clarify what it described as "ambiguities" in a Russian proposal.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that a high-ranking Russian diplomat said that Russia has no interest in Iran obtaining nuclear weapons and does not want a radical, Islamic nuclear power on its doorstep.
• Roland Flamini, United Press International reported on Iran's dangerous gamble.
• Washington Times reported that EU officials are concerned that U.S. sanctions against companies selling Iran weapons are hobbling a unified effort to end a nuclear standoff.
• TurkishPress reported that the Turkish Press claims CIA director Porter Goss told Ankara that Iran has nuclear weapons.
• UPI, Monsters & Critics also reported the Bush administration is preparing its NATO allies for a possible military strike against suspected nuclear sites in Iran.
• Spiegel Online asked is Washington planning a military strike on Iran.
• Reuters reported that a senior Iranian official said: Iran's agreement to discuss Moscow's plan to enrich uranium in Russia does not mean that Tehran has abandoned its drive to enrich uranium on its own soil.
• Reuters reported that Russia's foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that a top envoy had talked to Iranian officials to discuss a Russian proposal to enrich uranium for the Islamic Republic.
• Iran Focus reported that a top Iranian official said on Friday that Iran viewed the right to enrich uranium on its own soil as a “red line” not to be crossed.
• Itar-Tass reported that the Director of Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, is scheduled to visit Iran, in February.
  

The Reports of US and/or Israeli Contingency Plans for an Attack on Iran.

• Arab Monitor reported that Turkeys Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul dismissed reports about an alleged US offer to permit Turkey to take out PKK bases in Iran in exchange for Turkeys support of US military strikes against Iran.
• Aljazeera reported that General Dan Halutz, Israel's chief of staff, has ruled out the prospect of a pre-emptive strike against Iran.
• Adnkronos International reported that the Iranian government will set aside funds in its next annual budget to prevent what it says are "American plots."
  

The Unrest inside of Iran.

• Breaking News.iereported that some of Tehran’s bus drivers stopped work today in protest, despite the arrest of their associates just days ago for a similar protest. Traffic in Tehran reportedly ground to a halt.
• SMCCDI reported that tens of the Greater Tehran's bus drivers have been arrested in the last 24 hours.
• Shahram Rafiizadeh, Rooz Online reported that this past week's union strike of Bus drivers in Tehran is the most serious confrontation between workers and government officials during the last two decades.
• SMCCDI reported that workers of the Greater Tehran's Subway Company were able to cut off the electrical power of Tehran's subway lines, on Tuesday afternoon, in support of arrested union brothers.
• Safa Haeri, Iran Press Service reported that the leaders of Tehran Bus Company have been arrested and the Union dissolved.
• SMCCDI reported that a tentative [execution of] a political prisoner resulted, today, in a violent riot at the Oroomiah (former Rezai-e) prison.
• Reuters reported that a little-known Sunni rebel organisation says it has abducted nine Iranian soldiers to pressure Tehran to free imprisoned members of the group.
• SMCCDI reported that hundreds of Bassji and militiamen have been deployed in the central City of Shiraz and were on maneuvers for taking back the city from 'unidentified' forces.
• Iran Focus reported that some 200 workers from the Miral glass factory held a demonstration and set fire to tyres south of Tehran Saturday morning in protest to their employers’ refusal to pay their overdue salaries. SMCCDI also published a report.
  

The Iranian Economy.

• The Economic Times reported that Iran thinks the OPEC oil cartel should cut its production ceiling by 1 million barrels per day when it meets on January 31.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that an India-Iran joint working group Wednesday resumed talks in New Delhi on a proposed natural gas pipeline project.
• IranMania.com reported that Pakistan will take a final decision about the multi-billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project in two months.
  

Human Rights/Religious and Press Freedom inside of Iran.

• Rooz Online reported that Iranian satirist, Ebrahim Nabavi received the Prince Claus Award for Culture and Development in the Netherlands. Nabavi 58 is an accomplished writer with 31 published books, including his Prison Memoirs.
• Radio Free Europe reported that Tehran's prayer leader recently said: "we consider ourselves pioneers of human rights."
• Rooz Online reported that in a public letter, Ms Shafiee, the wife of imprisoned journalist and writer Akbar Ganji has called the recent statements of Mahmud Salarkia, the deputy prosecutor of Tehran to be laughable.
• Shahram Rafizadeh, Rooz Online reported that a member Iran’s Parliament says a committee in the Ministry of Culture plans to control Iranian fashion and clothes people wear.
• SMCCDI reported that two young men qualified as "Enemy of God" were hanged in the central square of the southern City of Ahvaz.
• Bahram Rafiee, Rooz Online reported that the Iranian Ministry of Culture has not issued any licenses to publishers for the publication of any new books, and officials will review all licenses for current books.
• Ardeshir Dolat reported that a young Iranian girl has been sentenced to death by hanging.
• Radio Free Europe hosted a roundtable discussion in December about "women and power" in Tajikistan, Iran, and Afghanistan.
  

Iran's troublemaking.

• Iran Focus reported that thousands of Iraqis turned out to demonstrate in Baghdad against Iranian meddling in December 15 parliamentary elections.
• DEBKAfile reported on a recent meeting in Iran where Iran, Hezbollah and Palestinians agreed on launching a second front against Israel.
  

Iran's Military.

• Iran Focus reported the Commandant of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) warned of the “threats” by foreign and domestic enemies.
  

Iran and the International community.

• Methan Demir, The Jerusalem Post reported that a Turkish court declared on that terrorism is the instrument of Iran's foreign policy and that Teheran will not hesitate to use terrorism against its rivals in order to achieve its goals.
• Azizullah Khan, Daily Times reported on the most recent reports on the Pakistan/Balouch military conflict. It appears that Iranian intelligence in also involved.
• Morteza Mohseni, Rooz Online reported that the Saudi government has complained about the disregard for protocol by president Ahmadinejad of Iran during his recent trip to the Kingdom.
• Daily Times reported that Pakistan has dismissed speculations of Iran being behind the deteriorating situation in Balochistan.
• Iran Focus reported that Iran’s Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said the Islamic Republic wanted Islamic nations to unite.
• MEMRI reported that Iraqi reformist Dr. Abd Al-Khaleq Hussein criticized the Iranian and Syrian regimes and their actions in Iraq and Lebanon. He wrote that these regimes were fascist.
• China Daily reported that a Frenchman was in good health after being picked up along with a German man in the Straits of Hormuz.
• Rasha Saad, Al-Ahram looks at the Arab reaction to the new Iranian President.
  

Inside Iran.

• Radio Free Europe published an interview with Kaveh Basmenji to discuss his book, "Tehran Blues," and prospects for Iranian youth.
• Radio Free Europe published an excerpt from "Tehran Blues," a new book by Kaveh Basmenji. An interesting read.
• Golnaz Esfandiari, Radio Free Europe published an interview with a 19-year-old Iranian named Arash, who delivers pizzas for a Tehran pizzeria. He said young people in Iran are worried about the future.
• Nibras Kazimi, The New York Sun reported on what he calls the retro-revolutionaries in Iran.
• USA Today reported that the author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran" is preparing an international online book club.
• SMCCDI reported that the Iranian National Soccer Team has been re-selected for the upcoming June's World Cup in Germany. Each of its scheduled games are believed to lead to more hostile demos against the Islamic republic regime, both inside and outside the country.
  

US Policy on Iran.

• Dafna Linzer, Washington Post reported that the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC has begun to sharply criticize the White House over its handling of Iran's nuclear program.
• Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) Senate Majority Leader, The Los Angeles Times published a statement on the need to rein in Iran.
• The Washington Times reported that several Chinese companies involved in selling missile goods and chemical-arms materials to Iran have been hit with U.S. sanctions.
• The New York Times reported that new U.S. sanctions against state-owned Chinese companies accused of aiding Iran's missile and chemical programs could signal a harder line toward Tehran.
• Los Angeles Daily News reported that U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman is making Iran his mission.
• Bill Gertz, The Washington Times reported that China's government yesterday demanded that the Bush administration lift sanctions imposed on six companies on charges of illicit sales to Iran.
• WSTM-TV reported that the Bush administration will be looking to 2006 for the fulfillment of its foreign policy goals.
  

US Sentate on Iran.

• The American Thinker reported that there’s no clue yet as to who induced the Dems to put the kibbosh on the portions of the Senate resolution supporting democracy in Iran.
  

Must Read reports.

• Hossein Bastani, Rooz Online published Iran's Other Senior Leaders Threats: A Sampling.
• Christopher Hitchens, Slate argued that Iran is meddling in Iraqi affairs, but maybe the influence works both ways.
• Mustafa al-Ani, Al-Hayat considered Iran's leaders having learned the lesson of the "Stupid Tree."
  

The Experts.

• Amir Taheri, The New York Post warned of the fantasies of the 'Realists.'
• Ken Timmerman, The Daily Star asked: Is Iran's Ahmadinejad a messianic medium?
  

Photos, cartoons and videos.

• TheIranian Labour News Agency published photos of the Tehran bus drivers on strike.
• The Intelligence Summit published: The Extraction Of The Stone Of Iranian Madness. (I wish dealing with Ahmadinejad were this easy)
• Fars published some photos of Iran's Parliament hard at work.
• Fars News Agency published photos of a Glass workers protest in Tehran.
  

And finally, The Quote of the Week.

Reuters reported that Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, told a news conference that Iran was ready to discuss its programme and then added:

"But that does not mean that we are waiting for any country's permission for the right of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic to enjoy nuclear technology."