Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [10/09-10/15] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance)

Ahmadinejad.

• Farid Pouya, Webgardian reported that Ghalibaf, the new Mayor of Tehran recently said former Mayor of Tehran, Ahmadinejad, did not do any thing important for city.
• Omid Memarian, Rooz Online examines the implications of the new role of the Expediency Council to oversee the government and Rafsanjani's powerful new role as its Chairman.
• Hamid Ahadi, Rooz Online reported the Supreme Leader cautions the President and his Cabinet.
• Bill Samii, Radio Free Europe reported that Ahmadinejad's diplomacy is sparking controversy at home and abroad.
• Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor reported that Iran's new president, more than 100 days into his term, faces persistent discontent at home.
• The Economist reported that since Ahmadinejad took office in August, parliament, influential unelected bodies and even members of his own cabinet have set out to blunt his egalitarian instincts and revolutionary zeal.
  

Iran's Nuclear Program.

• Philip Sherwell, The Telegraph UK reported that Iran's new hardline president has placed his country's nuclear program under the control of militant commanders of the Revolutionary Guards.
• Kuwaiti News Agency reported that Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said: Why is the United States not destroying its nuclear weapons if these are bad? Why does it not start a global campaign to destroy nuclear weapons?
• Forbes reported that Iran's top nuclear negotiator said Washington is not in a position to go to war against Tehran.
• The Financial Times reported that Iran's top security official yesterday accused international bodies of treating Tehran worse than North Korea.
• Middle East Newsline reported that Iran was said to have designed a nuclear warhead for the Shihab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile.
• Safa Haeri, Iran Press Service reported that Iran’s top nuclear negotiator said that Tehran would leave the Additional Protocol but not the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• Reuters reported Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will hammer out a joint strategy with European powers over how to curb Iran's suspected nuclear arms programs on a trip later this week to France and Britain.
• Reuters reported Kurt Volker, a senior official responsible for Europe and Eurasia in the U.S. State Department, said I don't think we [U.S./EU3] are going to be diverted, or distracted or divided by half-steps or small steps or probing of our position.
• Anupama Narayanswamy, The Washington Times reported that IAEA vote is seen as hurting India-Iran ties. A detailed report.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that Iran signaled it may grant access to sites linked to possible work on nuclear weapons and other demands from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
• Reuters reported that Prime Minister Tony Blair said Iran needed to comply with the IAEA resolution and stop its support for terrorism. He added: I think they would make a great mistake if they thought the international community lacked the will to make sure that is done.
• Reuters reported that Britain and France put new pressure on Iran on Tuesday.
• BBC News reported that the future of the UK's Trident missile deterrent could be affected if Iran develops nuclear weapons.
• Africasia reported that UN nuclear watchdog number two Olli Heinonen left for Iran, where he is "paying a visit to certain officials."
• Arash Mottamed, Rooz Online described the recent crisis between the hard-liners in Tehran and Washington to a game of ping pong.
• Xinhuanet reported that the world waiting for Iran's "constructive proposals."
• Safa Haeri, Iran Press Service reported that Iran now claims it is ready to approve the additional protocol... just in case.
• Dr. Jerome Corsi, WorldNetDaily reported that the Israelis are preparing for a military strike on Iran.
• Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor reported on why the EU and Iran are still far apart over nukes.
• Amir Oren, Ha'aretz reported that on the eve of Yom Kippur, the surprise for which Israel is vigilant is no longer an Egyptian and Syrian air and armor attack, but Iranian missiles.
• BBC News reported that British officials have approved the export of key components needed to make nuclear weapons to Iran.
• Iran Press Service reported that Iran wants to restart the nuclear negotiations without preconditions, except their precondition of having the right to develop the full nuclear cycle.
• Reuters reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lobby Russia to pressure Iran over its suspected nuclear arms program.
• Reuters reported that two Pentagon consultants said: Can the United States live with a nuclear-armed Iran? Despite its rhetoric, it may have no choice.
• Nazila Fathi, The New York Times thinks there was a shift in Iran when it said they would agree to resume nuclear talks.
• Iran Press News reported that Mohammad El Baradei said: The regime in Tehran must know that the international community's patience where their nuclear program is concerned has run out.
• Gareth Smyth, The Financial Times reported Mohammad Atrianfar, editor-in-chief of Shargh newspaper questioned whether Iran should have a comprehensive nuclear program saying radicals are using the nuclear issue for domestic reasons.
• CNN.com reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strongly encouraged Iran to restart dialogue with the European Union to avoid being referred to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program.
• News From Russia reported that Iran's foreign minister said Friday that he won Beijing's support for his nation's efforts to develop nuclear energy.
• People's Daily reported that Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong urged the Iranian's to take active action for unfreezing the current stalemate and resume its negotiations with the European Union at an early date.
• Reuters reported that Iran reiterated that despite global concerns about its nuclear program it welcomes foreign investment in the sector.
• Reuters reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice courted Russian support saying: We and Russia have found common cause in our attempts to help the Europeans and other countries to get the Iranians to first of all remove the many questions ... about their programs.
• ABC News reported US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton has accused Iran of spending 18 years trying to develop nuclear weapons, while lying to the world about its intentions.
  

El Baradei and the Iranians.

• Safa Haeri, Iran Press Service reported that Iran denounced the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to El Baradei.
• Iran Press News reported that Mohammad Kiareshi, the previous representative of the Islamic regime at the IAEA claimed: The purpose for bestowing the Nobel Peace Prize on El Baradei is to publicize his image to the world, deceive and bamboozle world opinion...
• Iran Press News reported that El Baradei's deputy traveled to Iran Sunday.
• The Washington Times discussed Iran's novel attempt to claim Mohamed ElBaradei is a hawk.
  

Iranian Dissidents.

• Iran Press News reported that blogger, Omid Sheikhaan's trial began on Saturday. He was originally charged with blogging and internet related activities, the sentence is being passed on charges completely unrelated to those issues.
• Iran Press News reported that the trial of Dr. Farzad Hamidi reopened Saturday. He is charged with "Action Against National Security."
• Iran Press News reported that the trial against student human rights activist Davoud Jafarpour will begin on December 14th, 2005. He has been charged with "Action Against National Security."
• Iran Press News reported that the popular and diligent activist Kianoosh Sanjari has been temporarily released from prison.
• Iran Press News reported that the three Kurdish journalists, who were arrested and charged with being party to the incitement of the July/August protests in Kurdistan, have been found guilty of "Combat against God."
• Iran Press News reported that Bina Darab-Zand, member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Front of Iran who had been ordered to appear in court for a hearing, refused to attend.
• Rooz Online reported on that Ganji was still not being permitted visitors, is apparently in solitary confinement and the spokesman for Iran's Judiciary admitted: We have tried to put Mr. Ganji off the spotlight...
  

The Unrest Inside of Iran.

• SMCCDI reported that several students were injured, on Sunday evening, by brutal Bassij Force's elements who attacked them with knives and clubs. Iran focus and Iran Press News have more details.
• SMCCDI reported that an Islamist judge was wounded by an individual who had planned to burn his victim and himself in sign of protest against the Islamic regime's judiciary system.
• Iran Press News reported that the Commander of the Area Basiji Resistance of greater Tehran have equipped the ASHURA Battalions with semi-heavy and heavy artillery.
• Reuters reported that in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, two bombs set off minutes apart killed four people and wounded dozens of others.
• Gulf Times, Reuters reported that Iran’s new police chief has vowed to crack down on illicit alcohol, music CDs and parties where people of the opposite sex mingle, months after promising a policy which would respect people’s privacy.

Iran's troublemaking.

• The Scotsman reported that a team of military specialists has been dispatched to Iraq to compile a comprehensive dossier of evidence that "Iranian elements" have been arming insurgents engaged in a brutal struggle with British forces around Basra.
• Reuters reported that London has accused Iran of running training camps to teach militants how to carry out roadside bomb attacks.
• Iran Focus reported that in a case of tit-for-tat: Iran is now accusing Britain of weapons smuggling into Iran.
• The Sun reported that British troops have obtained two of the infrared detonators (believed to be Iranian made) intact.
• Iran Focus reported that at least 1,300 Iranians remain in Iraqi prisons of which 98 percent are undercover military or intelligence agents to Iraq under the cover of pilgrims.
• Reuters reported that UK Defense Secretary John Reid stepped up accusations on Thursday that Iranians were behind a series of roadside bomb attacks on British troops in southern Iraq.
• Martin Sieff, United Press International reported that suddenly, Iran's growing influence in Iraq is top of the national security agenda again in Britain and America. The question is, what to do about it?
• Iran Press News reported that Iran's hard-lines admit defeat in Iraq in their efforts to win arab support.
• Iran Focus reported that ten Iranian agents have been arrested in Iraq. The agents were arrested along with 88 other insurgents.
  

U.S. Policy.

• The Los Angeles Times reported that while Colin L. Powell and his team faced off against administration and usually lost, Condi is winning.
• The Associated Press reported that the relatives of a former U.S. hostage were awarded $91 million in a lawsuit filed against Iran.
  

The Iranian Military.

• Iran Press News reported that Revolutionary Guard Kowsari, the Director of the office of the Armed Security Forces said: We know all of our various enemie's weak spots and we know just how to deal with them. Today we are equipped with people who are martyrdom-seekers, who can seriously damage these weak spots.
• Bill Gertz, The Washington Times reported new worries about Iranian military forces' deploying new specialty weapons that threaten oil supplies.
  

The Economy.

• Nazila Fathi, The NY Times reported that Iran's plummeting stock market, where prices have declined nearly 30 percent since Sept. 24.
• Iran Press News reported that the commission responsible for fighting smuggled goods and currency has been dissolved.
• Yasser, Under Underground said "its a fact" that 30 years before Turkey’s economy was about less than half of Iran’s economy but today Iran's is less than of half that of Turkey.
• AME Info reported that Iran has shut down production from two oil fields because of difficulties selling the heavy oil the sites produce.
• Mehr News reported that Iranian and French auto part manufacturers have recently signed a number of joint venture contracts.
  

Human Rights/Freedom of the press inside of Iran.

• Iran Press News reported that the regime has refused to stop the execution of yet another teenager.
• Iran Press News reported on the abusive and violent treatment of the disciplinary guards toward the youth of Iran.
• Nazanin Namdar, Rooz Online reported that Iran's press court will resume its work next week to publicly review the case of more than 130 publications that have been closed.
• Gulf Times reported that the European Union severely criticized Iran’s human rights record yesterday, saying its performance on the death penalty, freedom of expression and religious liberty had deteriorated.
• Shahram Rafizadeh, Rooz Online reported on the current offensive against Human Rights Groups in Iran.
• Shirin Ebadi, Rooz Online said that based on Iran’s constitution, all court hearings are to be public, except in very rare legal situations. ... but this a measure that has not been observed in many of the judicial cases.
• TechWeb News reported that Secure Computing said that it is taking steps to prevent Iran from illegally downloading its software the regime is using to restrict Internet access by the Iranian people.
• TheStar reported that an Iranian woman has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.
  

Protests inside of Iran.

• Iran Press Newsreported that hundreds of protesting workers of the FARNAKH and MEHNAKH thread factory once again gathered in protest for continued non-receipt of their wages and blocked the road between the towns of Qazveen and Shahreh San'ati.
• Iran Press News reported that a group of hospital employees from Mahdee'yeh Hospital, in the city of Kermanshah traveled to Tehran to protest non-receipt of 10 months worth of their wages.
• Iran Press News reported that hundreds of West Alborz Coal miners and employees gathered to protest in Tehran.
• SMCCDI reported that students of Najaf-Abad University protested, today, against the increase of Gender Apartheid policy.
  

Iran and the International community.

• IranMania reported that the Spanish translation of Imam Khomeini's biography was recently published in Venezuela.
• Iran Press News reported that Manouchehr Mot'taki, the foreign minister of the IRI will travel to China to discuss the relationship between China and the Islamic Republic.
• Arabic News reported that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz renewed his warning to Iran of becoming "a bulwark in the path of peace and security in Iraq."
  

Insight into the Iranian people.

• Maryam Kashani, Rooz Online asked: Is Being Young, in Iran, a Crime?
  

Can You Believe This?

• Forouzan Asef Nakhaie, Rooz Online reported that the government has announced there are 90 million ID for 70 million people and they have a theory why.
• Iran Press News reported that Iran's Airports and airlines offices all across Iran will be forced to eliminate foreign words and characters.
• Farnaz Ghazizadeh, Rooz Online reported on the growing call for a national dress code by hard-liners in Iran.
• Iran Press News reported that Hezbollah established a TV Channel for the United States and Europe.
• CNN News reported that Syria's interior minister, who was head of the country's military intelligence in neighboring Lebanon for nearly 20 years, has committed suicide. Hmmmm. Isn't this convenient.
• Reuters reported that female civil servants at Iran's Culture Ministry and female journalists must be out of the office by dusk to be with their families.
  

Must Read reports.

• Con Coughlin, The Telegraph UK exposed the real story behind Jack Straw's appeasement of the Iranians.
• Simon Henderson, The Washington Institute provided an analysis of Saudi Foreign Policy and the insurgency in Iraq.
• Dan Darling, Regnum Crucis published Michael Ledeen's thoughts on Iran's so-called rogue elements in Iraq.
• Dan Darling, The Weekly Standard reported important new evidence of the Iran/Al Qaeda connection. The al-Zawahiri Letter.
• Iran Focus reported that members of Britain’s House of Commons from the country’s three major political parties took turns to lambaste Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his government. Read the transcript of the debate.
• Jahangir Amuzegar, Middle East Policy Council produced an appraisal of Iran's Third Development Plan. For instance, the report criticizes Iran's centralized planning of the economy.
  

The Experts.

• Michael Rubin, The Observer said that the UK's the 'softly-softly' approach to Iran is a model no more, adding that only threat of force will tame Tehran.
• Michael Ledeen, The National Review suggested we use a powerful weapon against the terror masters: fun.
  

Photos, Cartoons, Audio and Video of the week.

• Winston, The Spirit of Man provided links to music by an Iranian Rapper who sings on Freedom, Democracy and Regime Change in Iran.
• Cox & Forkum published another cartoon on terrorism: Their Perspective.
• Cox & Forkum published another cartoon about the Mullahs: En Garde.
• Cox & Forkum published another cartoon: Outside Influence.
  

And finally, The Quote of the Week.

Con Coughlin, The Telegraph UK quoted a diplomat's response to the earth shattering revelation about Jack Straw's gag order on British Diplomats in regards to Iran.

"It was all very amusing,...For years diplomats have been under strict instructions not to say anything in public that might upset the Iranians. And then someone gives it to them straight between the eyes."

Saturday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 10.15.2005:

Bolton Says Iran Lying About Nuclear Weapons

ABC News:

US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton has accused Iran of spending 18 years trying to develop nuclear weapons, while lying to the world about its intentions. Tehran insists that its nuclear programs are designed to generate energy purely for civil purposes. Mr Bolton says diplomatic pressure is needed to stop Iran from achieving its alleged nuclear ambitions.

"The real issue is whether the international community is going to accept an Iran that violates its treaty commitments under the non-proliferation treaty," he said. READ MORE

Is Condi finally letting Bolton loose on Iran?

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

• Iran Focus reported that ten Iranian agents have been arrested in Iraq. The agents were arrested along with 88 other insurgents.
• Reuters reported that in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, two bombs set off minutes apart killed four people and wounded dozens of others.
• SMCCDI reported that students of Najaf-Abad University protested, today, against the increase of Gender Apartheid policy.
• The Economist reported that since Ahmadinejad took office in August, parliament, influential unelected bodies and even members of his own cabinet have set out to blunt his egalitarian instincts and revolutionary zeal.
• TheStar reported that an Iranian woman has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.
• Gulf Times, Reuters reported that Iran’s new police chief has vowed to crack down on illicit alcohol, music CDs and parties where people of the opposite sex mingle, months after promising a policy which would respect people’s privacy.
• And finally, Reuters reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice courted Russian support saying: We and Russia have found common cause in our attempts to help the Europeans and other countries to get the Iranians to first of all remove the many questions ... about their programs.

10 insurgents from Iran arrested in Iraq - TV

Iran Focus: a pro-MEK website

Ten Iranian agents have been arrested in Iraq, according to an Iraqi television channel.

The agents were arrested along with 88 other insurgents, al-Diyar reported on Thursday, quoting the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

The ten Iranians had entered Iraq illegally, the report added.

Iraqi officials frequently accuse Tehran of dispatching undercover military or intelligence agents to Iraq disguised as pilgrims.

Bombs kill four in SW Iran, dozens wounded

Reuters:

Two bombs set off minutes apart killed four people and wounded dozens of others in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz, local officials said on Saturday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, which were the latest in a string of attacks and violence this year in Khuzestan province, the heartland of Iran's oil industry.

Officials said the two blasts, five minutes apart, occurred on Saturday afternoon close to a shopping center in central Ahvaz.

"The bombs were in two garbage cans 50 metres (yards) apart," said deputy Ahvaz governor Rahim Fazilatpour. "Four people were killed and more than 70 were injured," he told the official IRNA news agency. READ MORE

Ahvaz Governor Mohammad Jafar Sarami said some of the wounded were in critical condition. "It's a terrorist act," he told state television.

Khuzestan, which borders Iraq, contains most of Iran's Arabic-speaking minority.

Officials have blamed the violence on exile-based separatist groups and have suggested that some of the perpetrators may have received British training. London denies the charge.

Violence erupted in Khuzestan in April when at least five people were killed during several days of anti-government demonstrations. A string of bomb attacks followed just ahead of national elections in June, killing seven people in Ahvaz.

Small bombs damaged 15 pipelines and one oil well in Khuzestan in September.

Najaf-Abadi students protest against Gender Apartheid

SMCCDI (Information Service):

Students of Najaf-Abad University protested, today, against the increase of Gender Apartheid policy.

The students were denouncing the decision of the Board of Administration which is looking to separate the students of different sex.

This repressive and discriminatory measure is expected to take place in all Iranian universities. It's conform to the state promoted backwarded Islamic ideology which is already prevailing in all Iranian schools.

Already students have faced harsher social measures and what has been qualified as "fight against non observance of Islamic veil" since the beginning of the current academic year having started last month.

Fighting Among Themselves

The Economist:

“A knife without a blade” is how Mehdi Bazargan, who headed Iran's first revolutionary government, described himself in 1979, and his words may strike a disagreeable chord with the new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Since he took office in August, parliament, influential unelected bodies and even members of his own cabinet have set out to blunt his egalitarian instincts and revolutionary zeal. At least Bazargan, a liberal, had the comfort of knowing that he was hemmed in by ideological opponents; when Mr Ahmadinejad speaks of “people who put spokes in the wheels”, he is referring to his friends. READ MORE

Though they are, in the main, animated by the same conservative ideals as the president, many members of parliament backed rival candidates in the presidential election in June; they have been brazenly obstructive ever since. They started by withholding votes of confidence from four cabinet nominees whom they knew to be close to Mr Ahmadinejad. They decry his “security-based” approach to home affairs. And, on October 4th, they slowed the passage of two bills the government wanted to rush through parliament; one of them, which aims to dole out public-sector profits to struggling young couples, is the mainstay of the president's social policy.

Perhaps most ominous of all is the helping hand that Iran's “supreme leader”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is widely believed to have endorsed Mr Ahmadinejad's elevation, seems to be lending his tormentors.

Last month, Mr Khamenei arranged for Muhammad Baqer Ghalibaf, a fellow conservative whom Mr Ahmadinejad defeated to become president, to become mayor of Tehran, the capital. (Defying convention, the president has not invited Mr Ghalibaf to cabinet meetings.) Then, earlier this month, Mr Khamenei gave the Expediency Council, an appointed body headed by a second defeated presidential candidate, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, “supervisory” powers over all branches of government. One council member pointedly observed that “everyone is obliged to abide by [the council's] conclusions.”

No one is sure how often the Expediency Council will intervene in everyday politics or what the constitutional implications will be. What is clear is that, in many conservatives' eyes, the president is too inexperienced and too exuberantly ideological to be trusted with all the powers that are theoretically his. Some have also been particularly unnerved by his attempts to crack down on corrupt officials. For his part, Mr Khamenei may be transferring power and influence, often from elected institutions, to bodies he appoints. The result may be confusion, but of a stable kind.

For stability is needed after the shock of last month's meeting of the governing board at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear guardian, which was dominated by discussion of Iran's contentious nuclear programme. Board members confounded Iranian expectations by declaring Iran to be non-compliant with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and by raising the likelihood of referral to the UN Security Council. In Iran, Mr Ahmadinejad was blamed for alienating supporters on the board with a tough speech that he had delivered before the UN's General Assembly. In Mr Rafsanjani's caustic words, the need is for “diplomacy, not slogans”.

Step forward Mr Rafsanjani. As a former president who favours negotiations over confrontation, he seems the ideal man to lower tensions and prepare Iranians for the concessions that may be necessary if UN referral is to be avoided. While Mr Ahmadinejad was hectoring in New York, Mr Rafsanjani was quietly assuaging fears in Saudi Arabia that Iran is trying to turn Iraq into an aggressively Shia state. His trip was apparently successful—and the Saudis obligingly snubbed Mr Ahmadinejad's foreign minister by suddenly postponing the visit that he had been scheduled to make.

In the run-up to the next IAEA board meeting, in November, Mr Rafsanjani will urge Mr Khamenei to rein in his hardline nuclear negotiator and to resume stalled negotiations with Iran's European interlocutors, who insist that Iran must re-suspend its nuclear work at Isfahan before the talks can start again.

At the same time, the Iranians are serving notice of the chaos that they can sow, should they choose, in Iraq. Britain detects Iranian expertise in armour-piercing explosives that have cost, so far, eight British lives, and suspects Iran of training militants that are now active there.

Iranian Adultress Sentenced to Death by Stoning

TheStar:

An Iranian woman has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, local media reported on Saturday, although Tehran maintains it no longer executes women in this way. The woman, named only as Soghra, was found guilty of having an affair with her husband's friend, the Etemad daily reported. She was also given a separate 15-year jail sentence for helping her lover kill her husband. READ MORE

Iran has met international criticism for handing out stoning sentences for adultery. The penalty involves victims being buried up to their midriffs and then pelted to death with stones that are not big enough to kill instantly.

Judiciary officials say no woman has been executed by stoning for several years and that stoning sentences are routinely changed to other forms of execution, such as hanging, or lighter sentences.

"The Islamic code obliges the judge to issue the stoning sentence in adultery cases, however the head of the judiciary may change the final sentence," a judiciary official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

"He might even use his jurisdiction to change execution to lashes," he said.

The Party's Over: Iran Police Chief

Gulf Times, Reuters:

Iran’s new police chief has vowed to crack down on illicit alcohol, music CDs and parties where people of the opposite sex mingle, months after promising a policy which would respect people’s privacy...“The crackdown will be on corruption centres where mixed parties are held and gangs distribute alcohol and CDs,” Isna student news agency yesterday quoted Ismail Ahmadi-Moqaddam as saying.

“Young Iranians are victims of moral corruption. We will strongly react against it,” he said.

Ahmadi-Moqaddam had promised when he took office in July an ethical and modern police force which would respect people’s privacy, countering fears he may roll back fragile social freedoms. READ MORE

He was appointed after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected, replacing Mohamed Khatami’s eight-year presidency during which enforcement of social restrictions such as dress codes for women relaxed.

Iran’s police have in the past raided houses in search of satellite television receivers, which are banned. Parties where people of the opposite sex mingle or drink alcohol are regularly raided by police or Basij militia.

Ahmadi-Moqaddam is a former member of the hardline Revolutionary Guards and acting commander of its militia wing, the Basij.

Rice Fails to Gain Russia Support on Iran

Saul Hudson, Reuters:

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice courted Russian support on Saturday for the U.S. hard line over Iran's nuclear programme, but there was no public sign Moscow was shifting to back Washington's policy.

Rice was later to press President Vladimir Putin to commit to backing U.S.-led efforts to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council if it continues to reject talks with European powers and keeps up sensitive nuclear-related activities, diplomats said.

The top U.S. diplomat's visit was announced late on Thursday and squeezed into a planned trip to France and Britain in a gesture that plays to Russia's sense of pride and reflects an increasing U.S. awareness it needs Moscow's help on Iran.

"We and Russia have found common cause in our attempts to help the Europeans and other countries to get the Iranians to first of all remove the many questions ... about their programmes," Rice told reporters after talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. READ MORE

The United States and European Union want the 35-member board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, to report Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions.

Lavrov on Saturday argued for more time, saying the IAEA should be allowed longer to inspect Iran's nuclear sites.

"We think the current situation allows us to actively work with Iran through the IAEA," he said. "We do not see grounds for passing this (issue) to other organs."

Russia was the second of three countries with Security Council vetoes where Rice was due to hold talks over three days in an effort to build support against Iran before a vote in the IAEA board next month on Tehran's nuclear programme.

Curbing Tehran's nuclear programmes is a top foreign policy priority for Rice due to American fears an Iranian nuclear bomb would threaten U.S. allies across the Middle East.

Iran denies U.S. charges it wants to build nuclear bombs and says its programmes are aimed at the peaceful generation of electricity.

TEHRAN ACCUSED

Raising the U.S. rhetoric against Iran, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton accused Tehran of spending the last 18 years trying to develop nuclear weapons to intimidate the Middle East and "possibly to supply to terrorists".

In an interview with the BBC broadcast late on Friday, he said Iran had lied about its nuclear programme and urged the international community to react.

"I think that the Iranians have been pursuing a nuclear weapons programme for up to 18 years," he said. "They have engaged in concealment and deception and they've engaged in threats before.

Russia's strong commercial ties give it leverage over Iran but also mean it stands to lose more than most should a Security Council referral lead to sanctions against the Islamic republic.

Russia has bowed to U.S. pressure and put strict conditions on a nuclear reactor deal it has with Iran.

But in September it disappointed the United States and the EU by abstaining at an IAEA vote on a resolution requiring that Iran be referred to the Security Council at an unspecified date.

Now Rice, who met French President Jacques Chirac on Friday and will see Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday, wants to see what it will take for Putin to back an actual referral.

(Additional reporting by Oliver Bullough)

US Ambassador Says Iran Lying About Nuclear Weapons

ABC News:

US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton has accused Iran of spending 18 years trying to develop nuclear weapons, while lying to the world about its intentions. Tehran insists that its nuclear programs are designed to generate energy purely for civil purposes. Mr Bolton says diplomatic pressure is needed to stop Iran from achieving its alleged nuclear ambitions.

"The real issue is whether the international community is going to accept an Iran that violates its treaty commitments under the non-proliferation treaty," he said. READ MORE

"That lies about its program and is determined to get nuclear weapons deliverable on ballistic missiles, that it can then use to intimidate not only its own region, but possibly to supply to terrorists."

He dismissed the suggestion that the United States, the United Nations or any other body was powerless to prevent Iran from building a nuclear arsenal.

Earlier in Paris, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated a warning to Iran to restart negotiations over its nuclear program or risk being taken before the UN Security Council.

Mr Bolton, renowned for his criticism of the United Nations, agreed that a multilateral approach to Tehran was the correct approach.

"We think the international pressure that the Security Council can bring on Iran may be what is necessary to get them to reverse the decision that they have made to pursue nuclear weapons," he said.

"Or, if it is not possible, that other steps we could consider through the Security Council can increase other kinds of pressure on Iran to get them to that point."

Friday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 10.14.2005:

Iran's hard-lines admit defeat in Iraq

Iran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi

The regime-run web site, BAZTAB, in a report admitted to the regime's political defeat in soliciting the support of the people of Iraq and the region where dozens of Arab-language media, backed by the regime, including Al Alam TV are being broadcast. BAZTAB wrote: "The Al Alam news channel was supposed to be the mouthpiece for the views of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Arab-speaking countries and was meant to compete with some of these immoral western TV networks, in order to restore the popularity of the Islamic Republic among Arabs; however, unfortunately not only has it failed to find a place among the Arabs, it has completely failed in satisfying the supporters of the Islamic regime."

This regime-run site in this report explicitly demanded that the Islamic Republic cease and desist from further meddling in the internal issues of Iraq and wrote: "To establish our aims in Iraq is a very difficult and labor-intensive process; we should not act in a way such that in a few years from now we would end up regretting those choices and be left wondering how we lost Iraq as well."

You won't read this in the mainstream media.

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

• Iran Press News reported that the Commander of the Area Basiji Resistance of greater Tehran have equipped the ASHURA Battalions with semi-heavy and heavy artillery.
  
• Iran Press News reported that Mohammad El Baradei said: The regime in Tehran must know that the international community's patience where their nuclear program is concerned has run out.
• TechWeb News reported that Secure Computing said that it is taking steps to prevent Iran from illegally downloading its software the regime is using to restrict Internet access by the Iranian people.
• Bill Gertz, The Washington Times reported new worries about Iranian military forces' deploying new specialty weapons that threaten oil supplies.
• Gareth Smyth, The Financial Times reported Mohammad Atrianfar, editor-in-chief of Shargh newspaper questioned whether Iran should have a comprehensive nuclear program saying radicals are using the nuclear issue for domestic reasons.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Germany's Social Democrats chose a close associate of departing Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as the country's next foreign minister. Schroeder hopes this will maintain Germany's "independent" foreign policy.
• CNN.com reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strongly encouraged Iran to restart dialogue with the European Union to avoid being referred to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program.
• Arabic News reported that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz renewed his warning to Iran of becoming "a bulwark in the path of peace and security in Iraq."
• Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Britain's main opposition Conservative Party challenged Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to clarify whether he had authorized UK troops in Iraq to cross the border into Iran.
• News From Russia reported that Iran's foreign minister said Friday that he won Beijing's support for his nation's efforts to develop nuclear energy.
• People's Daily reported that Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong urged the Iranian's to take active action for unfreezing the current stalemate and resume its negotiations with the European Union at an early date.
• Mehr News reported that Iranian and French auto part manufacturers have recently signed a number of joint venture contracts.
• And finally, Reuters reported that Iran reiterated that despite global concerns about its nuclear program it welcomes foreign investment in the sector.

Anti-riot forces being armed with semi-heavy artillery

Iran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi

The regime-run news agency, FARS, reports that the Commander of the Area Basiji Resistance of greater Tehran have equipped the ASHURA Battalions with semi-heavy and heavy artillery. Revolutionary Guard Mohammad Aqameer said: "According to our assessments 30% of the battalions are already armed and by March all the battalion will be fully equipped with all the necessary artillery, given the generosity of the Parliament which has dedicated the necessary budget for this project. At present 120 armed anti-riot ASHURA battalions have been established and organized."

Regime-run web site admits to the regime's political defeat in soliciting support from Arabs

Iran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi

The regime-run web site, BAZTAB, in a report admitted to the regime's political defeat in soliciting the support of the people of Iraq and the region where dozens of Arab-language media, backed by the regime, including Al Alam TV are being broadcast. BAZTAB wrote: "The Al Alam news channel was supposed to be the mouthpiece for the views of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Arab-speaking countries and was meant to compete with some of these immoral western TV networks, in order to restore the popularity of the Islamic Republic among Arabs; however, unfortunately not only has it failed to find a place among the Arabs, it has completely failed in satisfying the supporters of the Islamic regime."

This regime-run site in this report explicitly demanded that the Islamic Republic cease and desist from further meddling in the internal issues of Iraq and wrote: "To establish our aims in Iraq is a very difficult and labor-intensive process; we should not act in a way such that in a few years from now we would end up regretting those choices and be left wondering how we lost Iraq as well."

El Baradei: "The international community's patience with the regime in Iran has run out"

Iran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi

Mohammad El Baradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency in an interview with Al Jazeera said: "The regime in Tehran must know that the international community's patience where their nuclear program is concerned has run out. Tehran's regime has violated it's commitments to the NPT and if they do not show more willingness to cooperate, their dossier will be referred to the U.N. Security Council."

El Baradei stressed that the Islamic Republic kept it's nuclear pursuits a secret for 20 years and said: "The problem with the regime's nuclear issues is that it's like the top of the mountain...we do not see the rest of the mountain."

Secure Computing Tries to Block Illegal Downloads in Iran

K.C. Jones, TechWeb News:

Secure Computing said Friday that it is taking steps to prevent Iran from illegally downloading its software. The announcement comes after OpenNet Iniative released the latest in a series of reports on authoritative governments restricting free communications online. ONI has shown that several countries, including Burma, China, Singapore and Iran, are restricting Internet access. ONI has found that some are using American software to do it.

In a report released earlier this year, ONI stated that Iran used software from Secure Computing, based in San Jose, Calif. to operate "one of the world's most substantial censorship regimes" in 2004 and 2005.

Secure Computing Public Relations Manager David Burt said Friday that the company is actively trying to stop Iran from using its software.

"It's illegal to sell to them, so we're not selling to them," Burt said. "They're essentially stealing our products. We're blocking attempts to download from IPs that we know originate in Iran."

Iranian Militants in Power Stir Fears

Bill Gertz, The Washington Times:

The rise of militants to power positions in Iran is raising new worries about Iranian military forces' deploying new weapons that threaten oil supplies or future long-range nuclear or chemical missile strikes.

Military specialists say the Islamist regime in Tehran has not invested heavily in the past decade in new tanks, armored vehicles or warplanes, but instead focused defense spending on "asymmetric" warfare capabilities.

These include Iran's covert nuclear program and new Shahab-3 and older Scud missiles that could deliver nuclear, chemical and biological weapons hundreds of miles away.

Iran's military power is under scrutiny after new Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently placed the country's nuclear arms program under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which are charged with protecting the regime.

Iranian forces also have purchased and built large coastal forces equipped with high-speed, anti-ship cruise missiles that could be used to disrupt strategic oil supplies throughout the Persian Gulf.

"Their might comes not from large conventional forces but from asymmetric capabilities that are very robust and rooted in the ability to engage in subversion and terrorism," said Michael Eisenstadt, director of security studies at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

A defense intelligence official said Iran's military has two parts. One is the conventional armed forces and the second is the Islamic shock troops that are the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

"Iran's military is formidable enough to protect its borders [during conventional war] within the Gulf region states but would have difficulty against a larger superior Western force or to undertake operations beyond its borders," the official said.

"They have looked at ways to enhance and modernize their warfighting capabilities to defeat a superior conventional force," said the official, noting that Iranians have been developing new naval weapons.

The official said Iran feels pressured by the presence of U.S. military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan "but will avoid direct conflict with the U.S. while exerting their influence in other Gulf Arab states."

Anthony Cordesman, a military specialist with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said advanced conventional forces are expensive and difficult to operate for states such as Iran.

Instead, Iran is shifting to specialty weapons. READ MORE

"Iran very clearly is structuring its revolutionary guards, some elements of its conventional forces and a good part of its navy for asymmetric warfare," he told a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing.

"And that includes the ability to at least temporarily threaten oil facilities in the Gulf and Iran's neighbors."

Mr. Eisenstadt said Iran has emerged as a key regional power without the forces that have defined such power in the past.

With a few exceptions, the Iranians have not built up large ground forces with tanks and armored vehicles.

The one exception is Iran's long-range unguided rockets, which have been built indigenously. Some of the new long-range rockets can travel up to 124 miles.

Daniel Byman, director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies, told the House hearing that Iran's development of a nuclear weapon is likely to be completed in the next 10 years.

Although Iran might not use its nuclear weapons, "the danger is that Iran can become more aggressive in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf states, more aggressive in supporting terrorists against Israel, secure in the knowledge that the nuclear weapon protects it from U.S. retaliation," he said.

Beginning in the 1990s, Iran began buying and building fast-attack boats, including some equipped with Chinese-made C-802 anti-ship cruise missiles.

North Korea also has sold Iran large numbers of patrol boats and semi-submersibles, vessels that can be used as part of Iran's covert-action military capabilities.

Iran also has three Russian-made Kilo-class submarines that could be used to sink large ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, where most oil from the Persian Gulf passes.

Large-scale mine warfare capabilities also have been developed that could be used against shipping in the Gulf.

Iran also uses its clandestine support for international terrorism, through arming and supporting such groups as Hezbollah, as power projection and deterrence, Mr. Eisenstadt said.

"You don't need a lot of that to cast a very long shadow in that area."

Edward Walker Jr., president of the Middle East Institute, said Iran poses the greatest challenge to the U.S. in the region.

"But Iran is not going to be challenging us unless we actually take military action in Iran," Mr. Walker told the House hearing. "At that point, all bets are off."

Iran's ground forces are thought to include about 350,000 regular troops, up to 1,600 tanks, 1,400 other armored vehicles and as many as 3,000 artillery pieces, including multiple rocket launchers.

Call for Openness Over Iran Nuclear Program

Gareth Smyth, The Financial Times:

Life goes on for Mohammad Atrianfar, who recently broke a public taboo in questioning whether Iran should have a comprehensive nuclear programme. “Radicals are using the nuclear issue for domestic reasons,” Mohammad Atrianfar, editor-in-chief of Shargh newspaper, told the FT. “If the west pushes on human rights or Palestinian-Israeli peace, many Iranians might agree. But people strongly support Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy.” READ MORE

So does Mr Atrianfar. But he questions whether it is in Iran's national interest to pursue a full nuclear fuel cycle. The country faces international opposition and the likelihood that the IAEA - which found Tehran in "non-compliance" with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty - will refer Iran to the UN security council next month for possible sanctions.

"We need to discuss this openly," he said. "There has been a failure to clarify what will happen if we insist on this technology."

An IAEA team was in Tehran this week seeking greater transparency in Iran's nuclear programme, including access to military sites. But hopes for renewed talks between Tehran and Europe remain stuck due to the insistence of fundamentalist president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad’s new government that Iran has a "national right" to enrich uranium. The enrichment of uranium is a process that could produce the technology for a bomb.

Mr Atrianfar has been no stranger to controversy since he was jailed by the Shah before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Shargh was briefly closed last year after publishing an open letter from reformist parliamentarians questioning the role of supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mr Atrianfar supports Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president defeated by Mr Ahmadi-Nejad in June's election, but is careful not to portray Mr Rafsanjani as a saviour in the current crisis.

He believes those in charge can be persuaded to change course. "This is a matter both of public opinion and officials," he said.

Not all Rafsanjani allies share his optimism. Growing pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme and role in Iraq has confirmed their fears of a drift towards confrontation, said an official close to the former president. "Speaking out on the nuclear issue seems to break a consensus here," he said.

Since his election defeat, Mr Rafsanjani has been cautious. In late September, he warned Europe and the US that “the field is mined and dangerous if you fail to move through it properly, you will inflict a heavy cost on yourself, the region and world”.

But he also advised Iran to "avoid sloganeering and focus on wisdom (and) negotiations".

Such scepticism suggests that Mr Ahmadi-Nejad and his fundamentalist allies are not able to impose their will on Iranian policy.

Disagreements between Mr Ahmadi-Nejad and Mr Rafsanjani have many sources.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad represents a younger generation, strong in the Revolutionary Guards, and resentful of the economic sway of the Rafsanjani camp, which they argue has subverted the egalitarianism of the Islamic Republic. The new president speaks of fighting an "oil mafia" and distributing oil income among the people.

Politically, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad dislikes the pragmatism of Mr Rafsanjani and his allies. The president replaced Iran's nuclear negotiators because he believes two-year talks with Europe produced no benefit.

But while Mr Ahmadi-Nejad has dismissed the threat of UN sanctions as "not important" private business, which generally supported Mr Rafsanjani in June's election, he expresses concern.

Hossein Salimi, of Iran's chamber of commerce, recently said “a glance at North Korea, Cuba and Libya will indicate the effect sanctions could have”.

“This is not a question of left versus right,” said Mr Atrianfar. “It's a question of being realistic.”

Schröder Ally is Foreign Minister Nominee

The Wall Street Journal:

Germany's Social Democrats chose a close associate of departing Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as the country's next foreign minister, raising questions about how much conservative Chancellor-designate Angela Merkel will be able to mold foreign policy.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Mr. Schroeder's chief of staff, was chosen by his party colleagues for the post, one of eight the party has in the new cabinet under a power-sharing deal struck with Ms. Merkel.

In other top picks, Social Democratic party chairman Franz Muntefering will serve as Germany's vice chancellor and labor minister, party officials said. Peer Steinbrück, the former governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state, is the Social Democrats' choice as finance minister to replace Hans Eichel as the official in charge of Germany's strapped state finances.

Mr. Steinmeier, a 49-year-old lawyer, has been a powerful but relatively low-profile figure in Mr. Schroeder's government. He has worked for Mr. Schroeder for 14 years, beginning when Mr. Schroeder was governor of Lower Saxony. It fell to Mr. Steinmeier to hear out then-U.S. Ambassador Dan Coats in a 2002 meeting in which Mr. Coats expressed U.S. concerns about Mr. Schroeder's heated campaign rhetoric against the possibility of war in Iraq.

The choice of a close Schroeder associate as foreign minister underscores the limits Ms. Merkel may face in putting her stamp on foreign policy. She has vowed to reinvigorate ties with the U.S. frayed by Mr. Schroeder's opposition to the Iraq war, and to balance Mr. Schroeder's close partnership with France with improved relations with other neighbors such as Poland. But she had to bargain away key ministries in order to get the Social Democrats to join in a coalition. READ MORE

In a Sept. 21 speech, Mr. Steinmeier listed the government's "clear public positioning against the Iraq war" as one of its foreign policy achievements, along with the U.S.-supported diplomatic effort by Germany, France and Britain to persuade Iran to give up its uranium-enrichment program.

Mr. Schroeder himself called Wednesday for the new government to maintain his "independent" foreign policy and back the use of force to counter international terrorism only as a last resort and with United Nations backing, as with Germany's deployment of troops to Afghanistan.

Germany's inconclusive Sept. 18 election has forced Germany's two largest parties of the right and left toward sharing power in a so-called grand coalition with Ms. Merkel as chancellor of a 16-member cabinet divided equally between the two parties.

Rice Urges Iran to Restart Talks

CNN.com:

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday strongly encouraged Iran to restart dialogue with the European Union to avoid being referred to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program. "We talked about Iran where the EU three continue to seek to use a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue and where we strongly encourage Iran to take advantage of that possibility," Rice said after meetings with French President Jacques Chirac and his foreign minister.

She was referring to talks Britain, France and Germany have held with Iran.

Saudi King Renewes his Warning to Iran

Arabic News:

The Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz vowed to fight terrorism but he said he does not understand why there is such a focus on Saudi Arabia regarding this, while the matter is connected to a phenomenon taking place in many countries.

King Abdullah described, in a meeting with the journalist Barbara Walters of ABC News to be broadcast today, that the attacks of September 2001 is madness and al-Qaida is an epidemic. He said that Saudi Arabia is ready to fight terrorism for 30 years in order to exterminate it.

However, the Saudi king regretted, in a clear remark to the USA, the focus on Saudi Arabia in fighting terrorism at a time when "extremism is in each and every country in the world."

He also denied that his country backs religious sides that encourage extremism, recalling that Saudi Arabia has re-organized the work of the charities and stopped support for establishments which are viewed as extremist while school curricula has been changed in this regard.

Concerning the nuclear issues, King Abdullah told ABC News that his country like many other countries in the region "reject any country to have nuclear weapons, especially in the Middle East region."

He renewed his warning to Iran of becoming "a bulwark in the path of peace and security in Iraq." However his tone was less sharp than that of the Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal when he openly accused Tehran of practicing sectarianism in Iraq, and the accusation against Washington of facilitating Iran's goals in Iraq. READ MORE

Concerning human rights, including women's rights, King Abdullah expressed confidence of continued reforms and expected "women to be allowed to drive cars one day."

He told ABC News that one of the things that made him accept his first press interview since he assumed the throne is that his partner in the interview is a woman, a reference to journalist Barabar Walters who did the interview.

King Abdullah said Saudi Arabia is ready to make more efforts in order to control the increasing oil prices, noting that Saudi Arabia increased its production to more than 10 million barrels daily because it considers that the prices benefited Saudi Arabia financially, but inflected heavy damages in other countries.

Two weeks before, the Saudi oil minister Ali al-Nueimi refused to comment on whether Saudi Arabia will increase its oil production during this month up to 9.6 million barrels of oil daily saying that there are no buyers for the Saudi oil if Riyadh pumps more oil.

Straw Warned Against Sending Troops into Iran

Islamic Republic News Agency:

Britain's main opposition Conservative Party Thursday challenged Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to clarify whether he had authorized UK troops in Iraq to cross the border into Iran [...].

"Sending our Armed Forces across an international border clearly is a major political decision, with profound implications for Britain's international relations," shadow Foreign Secretary Liam Fox said.

"It is inconceivable that military commanders would permit their troops to cross an international border without explicit political authorization to do so. That clearly would be a decision solely for your Government," he said in a letter to Straw. READ MORE

Fox, who is a candidate to be the next Tory leader, said that he was "shocked and disturbed" at the Foreign Secretary telling the BBC's Newsnight on Wednesday that it was "not for him to speculate" when asked if British troops would be allowed to `cross into Iran.' Straw was being challenged about what Britain would do in response to its own unsubstantiated allegations of Iranian involvement in the killing of UK troops.

"In view of recent events, you must tell the British people whether political authorization has been given for our troops to cross the border into Iran?" the shadow Foreign Secretary said in his letter, published by the Conservative Party.

"If so, when was it given? If not, why did the Foreign Secretary suggest it was a matter of `tactics'? Above all, our Armed Forces should expect nothing less than absolute clarity from the Government over how they should act," he said.

Fox's warning came as Defence Secretary John Reid stepped up the war of words with Iran, asserting the country could be playing "a risky game" by getting involved in Iraq, even though he repeated there was no conclusive proof.

"We believe that there are elements of Iranian society - I put it no higher than that - who may well be associated with the attacks on British troops," he said despite his warning.

Reid made no mention of British troops invading Iran but insisted "It was not acceptable. It is not something we can tolerate." "British troops will do everything necessary to defend themselves.

Anyone who is involved in this sort of thing is involved in a risky game," he said.