Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [11/06-11/12] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance)

Ahmadinejad - The purges continue.

• Mark Dooley, Irish Independent said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes that he has been divinely ordained to bring about the final drama in the struggle for the world's soul.
• Iran Press News reported that Mullah Mehdi Karoubi exposed that Ahmadinejad's main cabinet posts are so far only being awarded to his friends and family members of friends.
• AME Info reported that Iran's Ahmadinejad has fired the directors of six state-owned banks.
• Iran Press News: Hamidreza Assefi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: we are amazed at the depth of the European Unions' ignorance toward the flow of the world.
• BBC News reported that for a second time a number of Iranian MPs have called on President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to withdraw his latest nominee for the post of oil minister.
• Iran Press News reported that the regime’s hardliners give Ahmadinejad a warning.
• The Guardian reported that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is steering his country in a reckless fashion and there is no guarantee that the engine of the Iranian state is equipped to take such rough handling.
• Yahoo News reported that Iran's nominee oil minister, Sadeq Mahsouli, on Wednesday informed parliament he had withdrawn his candidacy.
• The Financial Times reported that the second coming for the hidden Imam is primary focus of concern for the Iranian President. A must read.
• Rooz Online in a Special Report discussed an attack on several grand ayatollahs in Qom.
• Hamid Ahadi, Rooz Online reported that Ahmadinejad threatened the Majlis.
• Angus McDowall, The Independent reported that Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is already facing a crisis of public confidence.
• Islamic Republic News Agency reported that IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad answered the questions posed by reporters.
• Adnkronos International reported on the latest purges in the Iranian government. Ahmadinejad is now replacing regional governors with prison directors, with some asking if he is intent on turning Iran into a mega prison. He is also replacing bankers with IRGC commanders.
• Stephen Schwartz, The Weekly Standard reported that the new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran may unintentionally have helped undermine clerical rule in the country.

Iran's Nuclear Program.

• Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported that Russian Ambassador to Iran Alexander Sadonikov said that the deepening relations between the two nations of Iran and Russia could solve or at least minimize political problems.
• Reuters reported that the EU foreign ministers will review the bloc's policy of engagement with Iran.
• Khaleej Times reported that India said it has reached a broad understanding with China and Russia that Iran should not be referred to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran's top nuclear negotiator called for a renewal of nuclear negotiations.
• Agence France-Presse reported that a European Union diplomat said an Iranian request to resume nuclear talks with the EU was unacceptable since Iran refuses to suspend fuel work.
• Adnkronos International reported that the recent vote against Iran could have motivated the removal of Natwar Singh from his post as India's foreign minister.
• Khaleej Times Online reported that Iran on Tuesday rejected a demand by the European Union to halt all nuclear fuel cycle activities.
• Frances Harrison, BBC News interviewed Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.
• Mail & Guardian reported that South Africa on Monday denied that it proposed taking part in any uranium-enrichment activities in Iran.
• RIA Novosti reported that Iran's nuclear program would dominate talks between Russia and the European Union in Moscow Wednesday.
• Reuters reported that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Wednesday told Iran that referring it to the UN Security Council remained an option.
• RIA Novosti reported that the European troika of Britain, Germany and France is now against sending the Iranian "nuclear file" to the United Nations Security Council.
• AlJazeera reported that Iran offered to give the outside world a 35% share in its uranium enrichment program as a guarantee that its contentious nuclear project won't be diverted toward weapons.
• George Jahn, The Guardian reported that the United States and Europe have agreed on a compromise plan to accept expanded nuclear activities by Iran.
• Reuters, Khaleej Times Online reported that the Germany’s designated foreign minister said that Iran is not being fully open with UN inspectors about its nuclear programme and may still be hiding something.
• David E. Sanger, The New York Times reported that the Bush administration and three European allies have approved a new offer to be made to Iran.
• The New York Times reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice distanced the Bush administration from a new proposal to resolve the Iranian nuclear dispute, saying: There is no U.S.-European proposal to the Iranians ... I want to say that categorically. There isn't and there won't be.
• Los Angeles Times reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made clear it would not support any solution that would leave Tehran in control of even small amounts of nuclear fuel.
• CNN reported that Iran said on Friday it would not accept any proposal aimed at solving its nuclear standoff with the West that did not allow it to enrich uranium on its own territory.
• Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Asia Times reported that the US is driving a wedge between Russia and Iran.
• The New York Times reported that a stolen Iranian lap top reveals Iran's nuclear aims.
• Radio Free Europe reported that Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov met today with Iranian nuclear officials to discuss Russia's role in helping Tehran develop nuclear-power plants.
• BBC News reported that Senior Russian envoy Igor Ivanov arrived in Iran with a proposal aimed at resolving the international dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
• Telegraph reported that Iran has insisted upon its right to enrich its own uranium, rejecting a Russian proposal that the sensitive atomic fuel work be carried out abroad.
• MosNews reported that Russians are divided in their opinions on the nature of relations between Russia and Iran. Thirty-one per cent of those polled believe Iran to be friendly towards Russia, 25 per cent — unfriendly, while 43 per cent were undecided.
  

Who's Who.

• Shervin Omidar, Rooz Online reported that Ahmadinejad has appointed Mohammad Reza Naghdi, former intelligence commander of police forces as head of the committee to fight smuggling into the country. 70% of Iran's imports come into the country through the invisible and illegal ports which are under the control of former military-security officials, supporters of Ahmadinejad. This is the same commander that once said: the country would be cleared out of reformers if 100 of them were shot overnight.
• Rooz Online provided background information on the withdrawal of Ahmadinejad's second nominee Sadegh Mahsouli for the influential Oil Ministry.
  

Iranian Dissidents.

• Iran Press News reported that Massoud Mojiri, a journalist and student activist of the university of Esfahan was summoned to court in Esfahan to answer to charges of "printing corrupting material and action against the security of the regime".
  

The Unrest Inside of Iran.

• SMCCDI reported that hundreds of protesters clashed with Islamic regime's security forces, once again after a soccer game.
• BBC News reported that ethnic unrest has broken out in Iran's Arabic-speaking province of Khuzestan.
• Iran Press News reported that during the recent soccer protests, the regimes forces were overwhelmed and said to have been unable to control the crowds and stop the protest.
• Iran Press News reported on recent protests in Tehran and Dezfool.
• Iran Press News reported that hundreds of hungry workers protested in front of the Islamic Parliament’s Assembly saying: We’d rather die…take our lives. Photo.
• Morteza Abdolalian, Iran Watch Canada reported that political, economical and social unrest in Iran has entered to a new stage. The situation now seems uncontrollable and moving toward a disaster.
• Iran Focus reported that the chief of police in Greater Tehran announced that Iranian police are planning to boost a national security plan that will effectively increase a crackdown already in effect.
• Iran Press News reported that teachers and workers continue their protests all around Iran.
• IranMania reported that several teachers who were laid off in the southern province of Fars joined protests by hundreds of workers from the western province of Qazvin against their dismissal and poor working conditions.
  

Human Rights/Freedom of the press inside of Iran.

• Rooz Online in a special report claimed that a group of former Intelligence Ministry agents are back in action to control Iran’s news media. A must read.
• Iran Press News reported that thirty eight U.N. member nations lead by Canada are demanding the condemnation of the Islamic regime for continued and barbarous violation of human rights in Iran.
• Rooz Online published an interview with Shirin Ebadi.
• Iran Focus reported that Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security cautioned the heads of the various news organisations against publishing “unofficial news” regarding Tehran’s controversial nuclear work.
  

Iran and Al Qaeda.

• Dan Darling, The Weekly Standard reported on the German magazine Cicero and the insight it offeres into Iran's ongoing support for terrorism and Al Qaeda.
  

Iran's troublemaking.

• Iran Press News reported that the Republic of Azerbaijan’s intelligence service had identified an Iranian spy network in their country.
• Iran Press News reported that the director of “The National Affiliation of Youth” announced, “taking the ‘red’ path of the martyrs is the shortest path to the final destination”. Photo.
• MSNBC reported that a Hezbollah militant has been identified as the suicide bomber in Argentina who flattened a Jewish community center in 1994, killing 85 people .
  

U.S. Policy.

• Iran Press News reported that the US, in addition to closing down Iranian broadcasts into the US, the U.S. has limited the activities of the Islamic regime's journalists in New York.
• Bloomberg reported on Bush's Iran policy and recent efforts in Congress to weaken the Iranian government.
• US State Department released the 2005 International Religious Freedom Report.
• The Wall Street Journal reported on the recent U.S. State Department Survey On Religious Freedom.
• Office of the Press Secretary, The White House reported on a message to the Congress of the United States from President Bush.
• The White House released a transcript of President Bush's speech Friday, at the Tobyhanna Army Depot where he discussed the war on terror, with references to Syria and Iran.
  

The Iranian Military.

• Mehr News reported that Armed Forces commander Major General Ataollah Salehi said: If we manage to acquire acceptable faith and spirituality, we can undoubtedly acquire military power, too.
  

The Economy.

• Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Iran-China trade volume is expected to reach 10 billion dollars in 2005.
• Iran Focus added that capital flight in Iran over the past fortnight reached its highest recorded level since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
  

Efforts against the regime outside of Iran.

• The Associated Press reported that as many as 1,800 demonstrators rallied in LA outside a federal building to protest a statement by Iran's president about Israel.
• Iran Press News reported that following last week’s 15000 person strong anti-regime demonstration in front of the IRI embassy, in Rome, Khamanei’s newspaper called Italians, Mafiosi and corrupt evildoers.
• Karmel Melamed, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles reported that at a protest in Los Angeles, representatives of eight Southern California-based Persian language media outlets - two newspapers, four television programs and two radio stations, all owned by Iranian Muslims condemned the Iranian president. Photo.
  

The Iranian Regime Accuses the West.

• Reuters reported that Iran claimed it had found the wreckage of two U.S. unmanned spy planes on its territory.
• Iran Press News reported that the Iranian government responded saying: The government of Canada must be held accountable for its own human rights violations.
• The Associated Press reported that Iran's intelligence minister said yesterday that Tehran has proof of a British connection to suspects in bombings in southern Iran, but never provided evidence.
  

Iran and the International community.

• Dexter Filkins, The New York Times reported that Ahmad Chalabi met with senior Iranian leaders here on Saturday in what appeared to be an effort to distance himself from their Islamist government.
• Roee Nahmias, Ynetnews reported that in a leaflet published by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades expressed their identification with Ahmadinejad.
• Aljazeera reported that British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused Iran of supporting terrorism which was preventing political progress being made in the Middle East and elsewhere.
• Iran Press News reported that the government of Turkey has expressed fear and anxiety over the Islamic regime's production of a new class of the Shahab series, the Shahab 4 and 5.
• Iran Press News reported that the Australian government deported 43-year-old Mansour Laghaii, back to Iran, because he posed a threat to the security of Australia.
• Bloomberg reported that UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said Syria and Iran are helping insurgents in Iraq because they fear a stable and democratic neighbor would destabilize their own regimes.
• Iran Press News reported that coalition forces in Iraq prohibited the return of a commercial Iraqi plane from Tehran to Baghdad.
• Iran Press News reported that the Ping-Pong federation of the Islamic Republic announced the German Embassy refused visas to the regime's Ping-Pong team. Britain and Argentina also recently refused visas to other sports teams.
• Eli Lake, The NY Sun reported that Iraq's deputy prime minister, Ahmad Chalabi, is scheduled to meet with four American Cabinet secretaries and the national security adviser. Mr. Chalabi visited Tehran over the weekend, where he met with President Ahmadinejad and made clear that Iraq is a strategic friend with the United States.
• Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Iranian newspapers warned France that cracking down on unrest is not solution to the problem.
• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that the Al Qaeda bombings in Jordan have provoked mass demonstrations with calls for Zarqawi to 'Burn in Hell.'
• Erik Schechter, The Jerusalem Post reviewed Britain's Iranian problem.
• BBC News reported on the "hostage" taking of a British man, his wife and an Australian man by Iranian authorities.

Insight into the Iranian people.

• Iran Press News reported on a controversy in Iran over a destitute family's inability to receive their dead child's body from a hospital. The Iranian media is angry with the government.
  

Can You Believe This?

• Reuters reported that Iranian officials will submit a proposal to the United Nations for a peaceful solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Hint: it's a referendum.
• Iran Press News reported that the relief efforts to help victims of the Bam earthquake need massive financial support, but so far this year they have not received one dollar.
• Iran Focus reported that the radical group Ansar-e Hezbollah pledged to root out the “virus” of mal-veiled women, which they describe as more dangerous than the explosion of a nuclear bomb.
  

Must Read reports.

• Dan Darling, The Weekly Standard reported on the German magazine Cicero and the insight it offeres into Iran's ongoing support for terrorism and Al Qaeda.
• Abbas Milani, The International Herald Tribune reminds us of Iran's traditional support of the Jewish people and Iran.
• Rooz Online in a special report claimed that a group of former Intelligence Ministry agents are back in action to control Iran’s news media. A must read.
• Vahid Sepehri, Radio Free Europe discussed how a shift in power in Iran has left the "reformists" out in the cold.
• BBC News reported how Islam got political: Iran.
• Michael Young, Tech Central Station discussed Richard N. Haass's proposal for a new foreign policy doctrine which he calls "integration."
• The Epoch Times reported on the upcoming UN Summit to decide the future control of the Internet. Britain no longer supports the US position.
• The Telegraph UK published a first person account of the recent hostage taking of two British citizens and an Australian.
  

The Experts.

• Reuel Marc Gerecht, The Weekly Standard discussed Bush's great Middle East gamble and suggested that the US should work with dissident clerics in Iran as we champion religious freedom in Iran.
• Richard N. Haass, The New York Times advocated that the US jettison hopes for rapid change of regime in Iran and instead offer those countries security guarantees and substantial political and economic incentives.
  
• Ilan Berman, The American Foreign Policy Council reported on Iran's new favorite Iraqi politician, Ahmad Chalabi.
• Gordon Cucullu, The New York Post reviewed Peter Brookes new book, "A Devil's Triangle," a comprehensive, highly readable and fact-filled summary of the threats that confront America and the West.
• Amir Taheri, The Jerusalem Post reported that Ahmadinejad believes Iran can win in a clash with the U.S.
• Amir Taheri, The New York Post examined Jordan's "not taking sides" policy towards Iraq.
  

Photos, cartoons and videos.

• Peykeiran.com provided a peek into the Iranian majlis (Parliament).
  

And finally, The Quote of the Week.

Iran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi

Hamidreza Assefi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the regime reacting to a European Union statement said:

"...we are amazed at the depth of the European Unions' ignorance toward the flow of the world. The Europeans need to first and foremost start by criticizing themselves..."

Sunday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 11.13.2005:

Stolen Laptop reveals Iran's Nuclear Aims

Willian Broad and David Sanger, The New York Times:

In mid-July, senior American intelligence officials called the leaders of the international atomic inspection agency ... and unveiled the contents of what they said was a stolen Iranian laptop computer [with] more than a thousand pages of Iranian computer simulations and accounts of experiments, saying they showed a long effort to design a nuclear warhead, according to a half-dozen European and American participants in the meeting.

... the intelligence has sold well among countries like Britain, France and Germany, which reviewed the documents as long as a year ago, it has been a tougher sell with countries outside the inner circle.

The computer contained studies for crucial features of a nuclear warhead, said European and American officials who had examined the material, including a telltale sphere of detonators to trigger an atomic explosion. The documents specified a blast roughly 2,000 feet above a target - considered a prime altitude for a nuclear detonation. ...

... nuclear analysts at the international atomic agency studied the laptop documents and found them to be credible evidence of Iranian strides, European diplomats said. A dozen officials and nuclear weapons experts in Europe and the United States with detailed knowledge of the intelligence said in interviews that they believed it reflected a concerted effort to develop a warhead. "They've worked problems that you don't do unless you're very serious," said a European arms official. "This stuff is deadly serious." READ MORE

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

• Adnkronos International reported on the latest purges in the Iranian government. Ahmadinejad is now replacing regional governors with prison directors, with some asking if he is intent on turning Iran into a mega prison. He is also replacing bankers with IRGC commanders.
• Iran Focus added that capital flight in Iran over the past fortnight reached its highest recorded level since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
• Radio Free Europe reported that Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov met today with Iranian nuclear officials to discuss Russia's role in helping Tehran develop nuclear-power plants.
• BBC News reported that Senior Russian envoy Igor Ivanov arrived in Iran with a proposal aimed at resolving the international dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
• Telegraph reported that Iran has insisted upon its right to enrich its own uranium, rejecting a Russian proposal that the sensitive atomic fuel work be carried out abroad.
• MosNews reported that Russians are divided in their opinions on the nature of relations between Russia and Iran. Thirty-one per cent of those polled believe Iran to be friendly towards Russia, 25 per cent — unfriendly, while 43 per cent were undecided.
• The Telegraph UK published a first person account of the recent hostage taking of two British citizens and an Australian.
• Stephen Schwartz, The Weekly Standard reported that the new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran may unintentionally have helped undermine clerical rule in the country.
• And finally, The White House released a transcript of President Bush's speech Friday, at the Tobyhanna Army Depot where he discussed the war on terror, with references to Syria and Iran.

Russia Takes Nuclear Plan to Iran

BBC News:

Senior Russian envoy Igor Ivanov has arrived in Iran with a proposal aimed at resolving the international dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme. Russian officials say the plan allows Iran to engage in uranium conversion while shifting enrichment to Russia.

They say that if Iran accepts, it will not be referred to the UN Security Council, which can impose sanctions. READ MORE

Tehran - which says its nuclear programme is peaceful - has so far insisted it wants to do the enrichment.

The West fears that the process could enable Iran to produce nuclear weapons-grade uranium.

In August Tehran rejected European proposals for resolving the crisis and resumed the processing of uranium.

Unnamed European officials told the Associated Press news agency that both the EU and the US would endorse the deal outlined by Moscow.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in September paved the way for Iran's referral to the Security Council - which could impose sanctions - but the agency has not set a date for this.

The agency's board of governors is due to discuss the issue on 24 November.

President Bush Discusses War on Terror

The White House:

Tobyhanna Army Depot
Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania

THE PRESIDENT: Excerpts

The war came to our shores on September the 11th, 2001. That morning, we saw the destruction that terrorists intend for our nation. We know that they want to strike again. And our nation has made a clear choice: We will confront this mortal danger to all humanity; we will not tire or rest until the war on terror is won. (Applause.)

In the four years since September the 11th, the evil that reached our shores has reappeared on other days, in other places -- in Mombasa and Casablanca and Riyadh and Jakarta and Istanbul and Madrid and Beslan and Taba and Netanya and Baghdad, and elsewhere. In the past few months, we have seen a new terror offensive with attacks on London and Sharm el-Sheikh, another deadly strike in Bali, and this week, a series of bombings in Amman, Jordan, that killed dozens of innocent Jordanians and their guests.

All these separate images of destruction and suffering that we see on the news can seem like random, isolated acts of madness -- innocent men and women and children who have died simply because they boarded the wrong train, or worked in the wrong building, or checked into the wrong hotel. Yet, while the killers choose their victims indiscriminately, their attacks serve a clear and focused ideology -- a set of beliefs and goals that are evil, but not insane.

Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; and still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision: the establishment, by terrorism, subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom. These extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against Christians and Hindus and Jews -- and against Muslims, themselves, who do not share their radical vision.

Many militants are part of a global, borderless terrorist organization like al Qaeda -- which spreads propaganda, and provides financing and technical assistance to local extremists, and conducts dramatic and brutal operations like the attacks of September the 11th. Other militants are found in regional groups, often associated with al Qaeda -- paramilitary insurgencies and separatist movements in places like Somalia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Chechnya, Kashmir and Algeria. Still others spring up in local cells -- inspired by Islamic radicalism, but not centrally directed. Islamic radicalism is more like a loose network with many branches than an army under a single command. Yet these operatives, fighting on scattered battlefields, share a similar ideology and vision for the world.

We know the vision of the radicals because they have openly stated it -- in videos and audiotapes and letters and declarations and on websites.

First, these extremists want to end American and Western influence in the broader Middle East, because we stand for democracy and peace, and stand in the way of their ambitions. Al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, has called on Muslims to dedicate, their "resources, their sons and money to driving the infidels out of our lands." The tactics of al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists have been consistent for a quarter of a century: They hit us, and expect us to run.

Last month, the world learned of a letter written by al Qaeda's number two leader, a guy named Zawahiri. And he wrote this letter to his chief deputy in Iraq -- the terrorist Zarqawi. In it, Zawahiri points to the Vietnam War as a model for al Qaeda. This is what he said: "The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam -- and how they ran and left their agents -- is noteworthy." The terrorists witnessed a similar response after the attacks on American troops in Beirut in 1983 and Mogadishu in 1993. They believe that America can be made to run again -- only this time on a larger scale, with greater consequences.

Second, the militant network wants to use the vacuum created by an American retreat to gain control of a country -- a base from which to launch attacks and conduct their war against non-radical Muslim governments. Over the past few decades, radicals have specifically targeted Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and Jordan for potential takeover. They achieved their goal, for a time, in Afghanistan. And now they've set their sights on Iraq. In his recent letter, Zawahiri writes that al Qaeda views Iraq as, "the place for the greatest battle." The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity. We must recognize Iraq as the central front in our war against the terrorists. (Applause.)

Third, these militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia. Zawahiri writes that the terrorists, "must not have their mission end with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq." He goes on to say: "[T]he jihad ... requires several incremental goals. ... Expel the Americans from Iraq. ... Establish an Islamic authority over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraq. Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries neighboring Iraq."

With the greater economic, military and political power they seek, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction; to destroy Israel; to intimidate Europe; to assault the American people; and to blackmail our government into isolation.

Some might be tempted to dismiss these goals as fanatical or extreme. They are fanatical and extreme -- but they should not be dismissed. Our enemy is utterly committed. As Zarqawi has vowed, "We will either achieve victory over the human race or we will pass to the eternal life." (Applause.) And the civilized world knows very well that other fanatics in history, from Hitler to Stalin to Pol Pot, consumed whole nations in war and genocide before leaving the stage of history. Evil men, obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience, must be taken very seriously -- and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply.

Defeating the militant network is difficult, because it thrives, like a parasite, on the suffering and frustration of others. The radicals exploit local conflicts to build a culture of victimization, in which someone else is always to blame and violence is always the solution. They exploit resentful and disillusioned young men and women, recruiting them through radical mosques as pawns of terror. And they exploit modern technology to multiply their destructive power. Instead of attending far-away training camps, recruits can now access online training libraries to learn how to build a roadside bomb or fire a rocket-propelled grenade -- and this further spreads the threat of violence, even within peaceful democratic societies.

The influence of Islamic radicalism is also magnified by helpers and enablers. They've been sheltered by authoritarian regimes -- allies of convenience like Iran and Syria -- that share the goal of hurting America and modern Muslim governments, and use terrorist propaganda to blame their own failures on the West, on America, and on the Jews. READ MORE

This week the government of Syria took two disturbing steps. First, it arrested Dr. Kamal Labwani for serving as an advocate for democratic reform. Then President Assad delivered a strident speech that attacked both the Lebanese government and the integrity of the Mehlis investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister.

The government of Syria must do what the international community has demanded: cooperate fully with the Mehlis investigation and stop trying to intimidate and de-stabilize the Lebanese government. The government of Syria must stop exporting violence and start importing democracy. (Applause.)

The radicals depend on front operations, such as corrupted charities, which direct money to terrorist activity. They are strengthened by those who aggressively fund the spread of radical, intolerant versions of Islam into unstable parts of the world. The militants are aided as well by elements of the Arab news media that incite hatred and anti-Semitism, that feed conspiracy theories, and speak of a so-called American "war on Islam" -- with seldom a word about American action to protect Muslims in Afghanistan and Bosnia and Somalia and Kosovo and Kuwait and Iraq; or our generous assistance to Muslims recovering from natural disasters in places like Indonesia and Pakistan. (Applause.)

Some have also argued that extremism has been strengthened by the actions in Iraq -- claiming that our presence in that country has somehow caused or triggered the rage of radicals. I would remind them that we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001. (Applause.) The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an issue, and it will exist after Iraq is no longer an excuse. The government of Russia did not support Operation Iraqi Freedom -- and, yet, the militants killed more than 150 Russian schoolchildren in Beslan.

Over the years these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence: the Israeli presence on the West Bank, the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand years ago. In fact, we're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with inalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world. No act of ours invited the rage of killers -- and no concession, bribe, or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans for murder. On the contrary, they target nations whose behavior they believe they can change through violence. Against such an enemy, there is only one effective response: We will never back down, we will never give in, we will never accept anything less than complete victory. (Applause.)

The murderous ideology of the Islamic radicals is the great challenge of our new century. Yet in many ways, this fight resembles the struggle against communism in the last century. Like the ideology of communism, Islamic radicalism is elitist, led by a self-appointed vanguard that presumes to speak for the Muslim masses. Bin Laden says his own role is to tell Muslims, "what is good for them and what is not." And what this man who grew up in wealth and privilege considers good for poor Muslims is that they become killers and suicide bombers. He assures them that this road -- that this is the road to paradise -- though he never offers to go along for the ride. (Applause.)

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy teaches that innocent individuals can be sacrificed to serve a political vision. And this explains their cold-blooded contempt for human life. We have seen it in the murders of Daniel Pearl and Nicholas Berg and Margaret Hassan and many others. In a courtroom in the Netherlands, the killer of Theo Van Gogh turned to the victim's grieving mother and said, "I don't feel your pain ... because I believe you're an infidel." And in spite of this veneer of religious rhetoric, most of the victims claimed by the militants are fellow Muslims.

Recently, in the town of Huwaydar, Iraq, a terrorist detonated a pickup truck parked along a busy street lined with restaurants and shops, just as residents were gathering to break the day-long fast observed during Ramadan. The explosion killed at least 25 people and wounded 34. When unsuspecting Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast are targeted for death, or 25 Iraqi children are killed in a bombing, or Iraqi teachers are executed at their school, this is murder, pure and simple -- the total rejection of justice and honor and morality and religion. (Applause.)

These militants are not just the enemies of America or the enemies of Iraq, they are the enemies of Islam and they are the enemies of humanity. And we have seen this kind of shameless cruelty before -- in the heartless zealotry that led to the gulags, the Cultural Revolution, and the killing fields.

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be an aggrieved party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies. In truth, they have endless ambitions of imperial domination -- and they wish to make everyone powerless, except themselves. Under their rule, they have banned books, and desecrated historical monuments, and brutalized women. They seek to end dissent in every form, to control every aspect of life, to rule the soul itself. While promising a future of justice and holiness, the terrorists are preparing a future of oppression and misery.

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples -- claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent. Zarqawi has said that Americans are, "the most cowardly of God's creatures." But let us be clear: It is cowardice that seeks to kill children and the elderly with car bombs, and cuts the throat of a bound captive, and targets worshipers leaving a mosque.

It is courage that liberated more than 50 million people from tyranny. It is courage that keeps an untiring vigil against the enemies of rising democracies. And it is courage in the cause of freedom that will once again destroy the enemies of freedom. (Applause.)

And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom -- by distrusting human creativity and punishing change and limiting the contributions of half a population -- this ideology undermines the very qualities that make human progress possible, and human societies successful. The only thing modern about the militants' vision is the weapons they want to use against us. The rest of their grim vision is defined by a warped image of the past -- a declaration of war on the idea of progress itself. And whatever lies ahead in the war against this ideology, the outcome is not in doubt. Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation and decline and collapse. Because free peoples believe in the future, free peoples will own the future. (Applause.)

We didn't ask for this global struggle, but we're answering history's call with confidence, and with a comprehensive strategy. Defeating a broad and adaptive network requires patience, constant pressure, and strong partners in Europe and in the Middle East and North Africa and Asia and beyond. Working with these partners, we're disrupting militant conspiracies, we're destroying their ability to make war, and we're working to give millions in a troubled region a hopeful alternative to resentment and violence.

First, we're determined to prevent attacks of the terrorist networks before they occur. We are reorganizing our government to give this nation a broad and coordinated homeland defense. We're reforming our intelligence agencies for the incredibly difficult task of tracking enemy activity -- based on information that often comes in small fragments from widely scattered sources, both here and abroad. And we're acting, along with governments from other countries, to destroy the terrorist networks and incapacitate their leadership.

Together with our partners, we've disrupted a number of serious al Qaeda terrorist plots since September the 11th -- including several plots to attack inside the United States. Our coalition against terror has killed or captured nearly all those directly responsible for the September the 11th attacks. We've captured or killed several of bin Laden's most serious deputies, al Qaeda managers and operatives in more than 24 countries; the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, who was chief of al Qaeda's operations in the Persian Gulf; the mastermind of the bombings in Jakarta and Bali; a senior Zarqawi terrorist planner, who was planning attacks in Turkey; and many of their senior leaders in Saudi Arabia.

Because of this steady progress, the enemy is wounded -- but the enemy is still capable of global operations. Our commitment is clear: We will not relent until the organized international terror networks are exposed and broken, and their leaders are held to account for their murder. (Applause.)

Second, we're determined to deny weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes, and to their terrorist allies who would use them without hesitation. (Applause.) The United States, working with Great Britain and Pakistan and other nations, has exposed and disrupted a major black-market operation in nuclear technology led by A.Q. Khan. Libya has abandoned its chemical and nuclear weapons programs, as well as its long-range ballistic missiles.

And in the past year, America and our partners in the Proliferation Security Initiative have stopped more than a dozen shipments of suspect weapons technology, including equipment for Iran's ballistic missile program. This progress has reduced the danger to free nations, but it has not removed it. Evil men who want to use horrendous weapons against us are working in deadly earnest to gain them. And we're working urgently to keep the weapons of mass murder out of the hands of the fanatics.

Third, we're determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes. State sponsors like Syria and Iran have a long history of collaboration with terrorists, and they deserve no patience from the victims of terror. The United States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor them, because they're equally guilty of murder. (Applause.)

Fourth, we're determined to deny the militants control of any nation, which they would use as a home base and a launching pad for terror. This mission has brought new and urgent responsibilities to our armed forces. American troops are fighting beside Afghan partners and against remnants of the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies. We're working with President Musharraf to oppose and isolate the militants in Pakistan. We're fighting the regime remnants and terrorists in Iraq. The terrorist goal is to overthrow a rising democracy, claim a strategic country as a haven for terror, destabilize the Middle East, and strike America and other free nations with increasing violence. Our goal is to defeat the terrorists and their allies at the heart of their power, so we will defeat the enemy in Iraq. (Applause.)

Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving forward with a comprehensive plan. Our strategy is to clear, hold, and build. We're working to clear areas from terrorist control, to hold those areas securely, and to build lasting, democratic Iraqi institutions through an increasingly inclusive political process. In recent weeks, American and Iraqi troops have conducted several major assaults to clear out enemy fighters in Baghdad, and parts of Iraq.

Two weeks ago, in Operation Clean Sweep, Iraq and coalition forces raided 350 houses south of Baghdad, capturing more than 40 of the terrorist killers. Acting on tips from local citizens, our forces have recently launched air strikes against terrorist safe houses in and around the towns of Ubaydi and Husaybah. We brought to justice two key senior al Qaeda terrorist leaders. And in Mosul, coalition forces killed an al Qaeda cell leader named Muslet, who was personally involved in at least three videotaped beheadings. We're on the hunt. We're keeping pressure on the enemy. (Applause.)

And thousands of Iraqi forces have been participating in these operations, and even more Iraqis are joining the fight. Last month, nearly 3,000 Iraqi police officers graduated from 10 weeks of basic training. They'll now take their places along other brave Iraqis who are taking the fight to the terrorists across their own country. Iraqi police and security forces are helping to clear terrorists from their strongholds, helping to hold onto areas that we've cleared; they're working to prevent the enemy from returning. Iraqi forces are using their local expertise to maintain security, and to build political and economic institutions that will help improve the lives of their fellow citizens.

At the same time, Iraqis are making inspiring progress toward building a democracy. Last month, millions of Iraqis turned out to vote, and they approved a new constitution that guarantees fundamental freedoms and lays the foundation for lasting democracy. Many more Sunnis participated in this vote than in January's historic elections, and the level of violence was lower.

Now, Iraqis are gearing up for December 15th elections, when they will go to the polls to choose a government under the new constitution. The new government will serve a four-year term, and it will represent all Iraqis. Even those who voted against the constitution are now organizing and preparing for the December elections. Multiple Sunni Arab parties have submitted a list of candidates, and several prominent Sunni politicians are running on other slates. With two successful elections completed, and a third coming up next month, the Iraqi people are proving their determination to build a democracy united against extremism and violence. (Applause.)

The work ahead involves great risk for Iraqis and for American and coalition forces. We've lost some of our nation's finest men and women in this war on terror. Each of these men and women left grieving families and left loved ones at home. Each of these patriots left a legacy that will allow generations of fellow Americans to enjoy the blessings of liberty. Each loss of life is heartbreaking. And the best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission and to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come. (Applause.)

The terrorists are as brutal an enemy as we've ever faced, unconstrained by any notion of our common humanity or by the rules of warfare. No one should underestimate the difficulties ahead, nor should they overlook the advantages we bring to this fight.

Some observers look at the job ahead and adopt a self-defeating pessimism. It is not justified. With every random bombing, with every funeral of a child, it becomes more clear that the extremists are not patriots or resistance fighters -- they're murderers at war with the Iraqi people themselves.

In contrast, the elected leaders of Iraq are proving to be strong and steadfast. By any standard or precedent of history, Iraq has made incredible political progress -- from tyranny, to liberation, to national elections, to the ratification of a constitution -- in the space of two-and-a-half years. (Applause.)

I have said, as Iraqis stand up, Americans will stand down. And with our help, the Iraqi military is gaining new capabilities and new confidence with each passing month. At the time of our Fallujah operations a year ago, there were only a few Iraqi army battalions in combat. Today, there are nearly 90 Iraqi army battalions fighting the terrorists alongside our forces. (Applause.) General David Petraeus says, "Iraqis are in the fight. They're fighting and dying for their country, and they're fighting increasingly well." This progress is not easy, but it is steady. And no fair-minded person should ignore, deny, or dismiss the achievements of the Iraqi people. (Applause.)

And our debate at home must also be fair-minded. One of the hallmarks of a free society and what makes our country strong is that our political leaders can discuss their differences openly, even in times of war. When I made the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, Congress approved it with strong bipartisan support. I also recognize that some of our fellow citizens and elected officials didn't support the liberation of Iraq. And that is their right, and I respect it. As President and Commander-in-Chief, I accept the responsibilities, and the criticisms, and the consequences that come with such a solemn decision.

While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. (Applause.) Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs.

They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein. They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction. And many of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this way: "When I vote to give the President of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat, and a grave threat, to our security." That's why more than a hundred Democrats in the House and the Senate -- who had access to the same intelligence -- voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power. (Applause.)

The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges. (Applause.) These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them. (Applause.) Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. (Applause.) And our troops deserve to know that whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united, and we will settle for nothing less than victory. (Applause.)

The fifth element of our strategy in the war on terror is to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East. This is difficult, and it's a long-term project, yet there is no alternative to it. Our future and the future of the region are linked. If the broader Middle East is left to grow in bitterness, if countries remain in misery while radicals stir the resentment of millions, then that part of the world will be a source of endless conflict and mounting danger, in our generation and for the next.

If the peoples of that region are permitted to choose their own destiny, and advance by their own energy and participation of free men and women, then the extremists will be marginalized, and the flow of violent radicalism to the rest of the world will slow and eventually end. By standing for hope and freedom of others, we make our own freedom more secure.

America is making this stand in practical ways. We're encouraging our friends in the Middle East, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to take the path of reform, to strengthen their own societies in the fight against terror by respecting the rights and choices of their own people. We're standing with dissidents and exiles against oppressive regimes, because we know that the dissidents of today will be the democratic leaders of tomorrow. We're making our case through public diplomacy -- stating clearly and confidently our belief in self-determination, and the rule of law, and religious freedom, and equal rights for women -- beliefs that are right and true in every land and in every culture. (Applause.)

As we do our part to confront radicalism and to protect the United States, we know that a lot of vital work will be done within the Islamic world itself. And the work is beginning. Many Muslim scholars have already publicly condemned terrorism, often citing Chapter 5, Verse 32 of the Koran, which states that killing an innocent human being is like killing all of humanity, and saving the life of one person is like saving all humanity. (Applause.) After the attacks July -- on July 7th in London, an imam in the United Arab Emirates declared, "Whoever does such a thing is not a Muslim, nor a religious person." The time has come for responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends, and defiles a noble faith. (Applause.)

Many people of the Muslim faith are proving their commitment at great personal risk. Everywhere we've engaged the fight against extremism, Muslim allies have stood up and joined the fight, becoming partners in this vital cause. Afghan troops are in combat against Taliban remnants. Iraqi soldiers are sacrificing to defeat al Qaeda in their country. These brave citizens know the stakes -- the survival of their own liberty, the future of their own region, the justice and humanity of their own tradition -- and the United States of America is proud to stand beside them. (Applause.)

With the rise of a deadly enemy and the unfolding of a global ideological struggle, our time in history will be remembered for new challenges and unprecedented dangers. And yet this fight we have joined is also the current expression of an ancient struggle -- between those who put their faith in dictators, and those who put their faith in the people. Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision -- and they end up alienating decent people across the globe. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure -- until those societies collapse in corruption and decay. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent -- until the day that free men and women defeat them.

We don't know the course of our own struggle will take, or the sacrifices that might lie ahead. We do know, however, that the defense of freedom is worth our sacrifice, we do know the love of freedom is the mightiest force of history, and we do know the cause of freedom will once again prevail. (Applause.)

Thank you for coming. May God bless our veterans, may God bless our troops in harm's way, and may God continue to bless the United States of America. (Applause.)

The President of Iran Versus the Diplomats

Stephen Schwartz, The Weekly Standard:

The new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, may unintentionally have helped undermine clerical rule in the country with his recent outrageous speeches and remarks against Israel. READ MORE

Ahmadinejad's scandalous comments came on an Iranian holiday instituted by Ayatollah Khomeini at the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan and known as Jerusalem Day; it is intended to agitate Iranian Muslims against the Jewish state and the Zionist concept. This year it fell on October 26. A former Revolutionary Guard who had already stirred new global anxieties about the Iranian theocracy by his intractable promotion of the country's nuclear ambitions, Ahmadinejad used the opportunity to declare that Israel "must be wiped off the map," as fulfillment of the official Iranian vision of "a world without Zionism."

Suddenly, many Iranians felt they had been thrown a quarter of a century backward, to the worst excesses of Khomeini's rule. A United Nations Security Council resolution was almost immediately passed, condemning Ahmadinejad's rhetoric. The Israeli government called on the U.N. to expel Iran. Western governments--but also Iranian and other Shiite Muslims--began expressing their disgust with Tehran.

Not only that, but opposition to Ahmadinejad's posturing was expressed by the most vulnerable sector of the Iranian state itself, the diplomatic corps. Like Saudi Arabia and various Latin American tyrannies, Iran in recent years has often sent potential dissenters and "reformers" abroad as ambassadors. This has the dual advantage of removing individuals who might oppose the government's whims and presenting an ameliorative image of the Iranian power structure to a justly suspicious world.

Already, numerous Iranian diplomats had expressed concern about Ahmadinejad at the time of his election in June. Some of them had described the new chief executive as an uneducated, bumptious, immature, and rather stupid individual who can only reflect badly on Iranians. Notwithstanding the indignities to which they have been subjected by the governing clerics over the past 26 years, Iranians feel pride in their ancient culture and a profound desire for the world's respect, and they are embarrassed and repelled by so primitive a presidential style.

The first indication of the current rift between Ahmadinejad and the ambassadors came several weeks before the president's threats to Israel, when the official Islamic Republic News Agency announced that Javad Zarif, Iranian ambassador to the United Nations and head of the country's nuclear negotiating team, had resigned from the latter post. Zarif is a cosmopolitan individual with a reputation for moderation and a professed commitment to reform. Some Shiite Muslims close to the Iranians predicted that Ambassador Zarif would soon leave his U.N. post as well, but sources in Tehran say Ahmadinejad and others have beseeched him to stay. Rumors began to circulate that Iranian diplomats would resign en masse.

Ahmadinejad beat them to the punch. Soon after he repeated his diatribe against the Jewish state, four leading Iranian ambassadors were removed from their jobs: ambassador to France Sadegh Kharrazi (whose brother, Foreign Minister Kemal Kharrazi, had resigned after Ahmadinejad was elected), who comes from a clerical family that cannot be touched by reprisals; Shamsedin Khaghani in Germany; Hossein Adeli in Britain; and Mohammed Alborzi in Switzerland. Germany and Britain had gone furthest to sanitize Iran's image in Europe, with trade relations as their argument, but they had also expressed firm opposition to Tehran's acquiring nuclear weapons or, in the British case, interfering in Iraq.

Ahmadinejad's purge was widened to comprise a roster of 40 ambassadors and other senior diplomats by the end of October (although their assignments will officially end next March). The dismissed expressed frustration that they had not gone ahead and quit as a group. Others who anticipate the same fate insist privately that they will resign rather than let the Iranian authorities fire them, reiterating their distaste for serving the new president.

Meanwhile, top officials in Tehran, as well as some diplomats, tried to soften the impact of Ahmadinejad's belligerent comments. Some claimed that Iran would accept a peace process supported by Palestinians, and that Iran wants peace, not war. But this is not credible, given the absence of accountability in a theocracy that allows no alternation in power of competing political parties. Ahmadinejad's predecessor, Mohammed Khatami, who prides himself on his international reputation as a reformist, went so far as to equate the new president's ideological outlook with "fascist values and principles in the name of Islam," which Khatami said were unacceptable.

Muslim leaders and intellectuals outside Iran also began protesting. Ali Alyami, an intrepid Saudi dissident in Washington, stated that his Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia rejects "the repulsive call by the extremist Iranian president to annihilate a whole people from the surface of the earth," and exhorted "all Arab and Muslim governments, the decent Iranian people, and all people to condemn this deadly dissemination of hate." Alyami's observation that "the 60 million Iranian people deserve better representatives" was echoed by Saudi Shia dissidents prominent in the West.

Also in the United States, Shiite community activist Nawab Agha of the American Muslim Congress unequivocally repudiated Ahmadinejad. Among Albanians, the only European Muslim community with an important Shiite component, the government of Kosovo supported the U.N.'s anti-Iran resolution. Pakistani journalist Husain Haqqani, a Sunni Muslim affiliated with the Hudson Institute, commented, "The Iranian president's call for wiping Israel off the map comes at a time when governments of several Muslim countries are considering recognition of Israel. Mr. Ahmadinejad is clearly trying to fuel hatred. . . . The legacy of hatred against Israel and its people is immoral and contrary to the universal humanitarian principles that Islam also invokes."

Touchingly, a 29-year-old Iranian woman student at a Budapest university, whose name was not released, was reported to have written to the Israeli embassy in Hungary to offer her apologies for Ahmadinejad's gross comments.

Predicting Iranian outcomes is an unproductive endeavor. But it is clear that the majority of Iranians do not want to continue living as they are, and it may be that the clerics can no longer rule as they have. There is certainly no harm in hoping this to be the case, and in encouraging Iranian diplomats and other responsible personnel to defect and unburden themselves of their involvement with this hateful regime.

Stephen Schwartz is a frequent contributor to The Weekly Standard.

Bullish Iran Rejects Nuclear Compromise

Telegraph:

Iran has insisted upon its right to enrich its own uranium, rejecting a Russian proposal that the sensitive atomic fuel work be carried out abroad. Tehran is now facing referral to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions after failing to convince the international community its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

After talks with senior Russian officials Gholamreza Aghazadeh, Iranian nuclear chief, said: "Iran's nuclear fuel must be produced inside the country."

Britain, France and Germany had drafted a proposal offering Iran the chance to transfer its uranium enrichment activities to Russia to soothe fears its nuclear programme is intended for use in warheads.

They argue that Iran's insistence on processing uranium is tantamount to an admission that it wants nuclear weapons and not a peaceful nuclear energy programme since processing in Russia would be much cheaper and less controversial.

The European Union and the United States are now likely to push for Iran to be sent to the Security Council at a board meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog on Nov 24. READ MORE

Iran insists it has every right to enrich uranium and argues the enriched uranium is needed only to run power stations.

Russians Divided on Moscow's Relations with Tehran

MosNews:

Russians are divided in their opinions on the nature of relations between Russia and Iran. Thirty-one per cent of those polled believe Iran to be friendly towards Russia, 25 per cent — unfriendly, while 43 per cent were undecided.

Four years ago more Russians considered Iran a friend (42 per cent), while 27 per cent held an opposing view, according to the Public Opinion Foundation, which conducted the survey this November among 1,500 respondents, the Interfax news agency reported.

The survey shows that Russians are also divided on the subject of nuclear cooperation between Moscow and Tehran. Twenty-seven per cent of those polled view this cooperation positively, while 20 per cent disapprove of it. Others either said they did not care about this (27 per cent) or were undecided.

Brits taken Hostage by Iran - In their own words

Linda Davies, The Telegraph:

A year ago, my husband and I and our three young children - aged one, five and seven - left London to live in Dubai. Life here is good. The heat is seductive, the crime-free streets a wondrous relief and the sea, just five minutes from our door, is a new playground for us to explore.

This is the perfect place to learn to sail, we said to ourselves - no cutting north wind and driving rain. This is the perfect place for an adventure.

And so we bought a boat, a 38ft catamaran, and named it Sinbad. Like the prudent people we think ourselves to be, we decided to take her for an overnight sea trial before we took the children on any outings. Being novice sailors, we also took along the man who had just sold us the boat - a charming Aussie with 20 years of sailing experience and a reassuring manner.

My husband picked out an island, 60 miles off the coast. "It's military," he said. "But it says here" - and he quoted from the guidebook - "that you can moor up perfectly safely as long as you don't try to go ashore."

The idea was that we would enjoy a day's sail, moor up overnight by this tranquil island, drink a few whiskies, play a few rounds of cards and gaze at the stars as our boat bobbed gently at its moorings off a deserted beach.

Our friend checked out the island with four "experienced" local sailors, who all claimed to have sailed around it and moored off its coast. It was a great place, they all said. Within 24 hours, we were damning those people to hell. READ MORE

We set sail an hour early on a perfect Dubai morning: the searing heat of summer was abating and there was a promising breeze.

The boat moved like a dream and we soon left the coast far behind. Once in the open sea, we found ourselves in the midst of international shipping lanes. Great behemoths powered past us carrying oil, building materials, foodstuffs.

We negotiated them all and by 3.40pm, we were approaching Abu Musa island. My husband took out his binoculars. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed. "This place is seriously tooled up. I can see three gun emplacements just from here." Now, that should have told us to get the hell out and run as though we had the devil himself on our tails.

But I didn't think like that two weeks ago. I was well aware that the world was far from perfect. I'd been mugged in front of my then four-year-old son in broad daylight outside the back door to my house in Notting Hill. But, like most people, I believed that nothing truly bad could ever happen to me. It took just moments to prove me wrong.

Suddenly, two gunboats came screaming out of the harbour. I hurriedly covered up, throwing a T-shirt and sarong over my bikini.

Seconds later, at least 10 men, many of them armed, swarmed on to our boat. I sat there in astonished, terrified silence. This was the sort of thing that happened only in movies.

I tried to stay calm as the men herded us together and searched our boat, their jackboots trampling over our shining decks. As I looked at those black boots and black guns and remorseless faces, I decided that I had to try to engage with these people as soon as possible. So I spoke to them, forcing myself to smile.

By then, they were examining my old camera, gesturing at it and shooting questions at me in Farsi.

Thinking it would help, I took out the film and gave it to them. This was, I later discovered, a huge mistake. In every subsequent interrogation, I was asked: "Why did you deliberately expose the film? What were you covering up?"

We were interrogated until darkness fell by several men who spoke limited English. Then our cat was escorted out to a marker buoy 1,000 yards from shore. At this point, we felt it was equally likely that they would release us or shoot us. There was much arguing among the 20 or so Iranian Navy officers.

Then, abruptly, we were ordered to turn around and sail into port. We moored up alongside a pontoon, flanked by the gunboats and guards.

None of us slept. The next morning, we emerged in time to see a military plane roar over us and land on the island. Soon afterwards, a jeep pulled up and two Navy officers were ushered on board. They spoke English and seemed civilised. We didn't know it then but they were to become our friends. But not just then.

First, they interrogated us on the boat. Next, they did it all over again and filmed it. After disappearing, they returned a few hours later to tell us they would probably soon be sending us on our way. But then, in one of the sudden reversals that was to become common over the next two weeks, we were told that, no, we could not go.

Higher authorities had decreed that we must board a military plane and fly to Bandar Abbas for further interrogation.

"What about your promise to release us?" I asked. They smiled and apologised. "We cannot make those decisions," they answered. "We are just following orders."

Before letting me off the boat, they gave me a chador and a headscarf. I soon grew to loathe wearing them.

We boarded the decrepit military plane and I thought to myself: how will anyone ever be able to explain to my children that I threw my life away? I had, in my blithe ignorance, threatened their future.

We landed and for the first time in my life, I was met by a car at the foot of the steps which descended from the aircraft. Revolutionary guards patrolled the airport, resplendently sinister in their green uniforms. In the days to come, I realised that they are the ones you should truly fear.

Some time ago, I lived for while in Peru. I have also worked in the Eastern bloc countries, so I am used to seeing extreme poverty and the mindless ugliness of socialist economies. Here, though, just 30 minutes from the wealth of the United Arab Emirates, was a brutal poverty and ugliness which - in a country that produces three-and-a-half million barrels of oil a day - was obscene.

On the terrifying drive from the airport, I was thinking: intellectualise, distance yourself. Be the Oxford economist, not the prisoner.

We were deposited in a safe house on a naval compound. The doors were locked, the windows barred, and a guard shadowed us everywhere.

We had set sail on Friday and arrived at the interrogation house on Saturday. This was to be our home for the next eight days.

Each day, we were questioned - sometimes together, sometimes separately. Our story was simple: we were not spies or terrorists. We were videoed and photographed, we signed statements saying that we had not been ill-treated, and we were promised, almost daily, that we would soon be released.

These broken promises were far harder to deal with than the interrogation, which was quite civilised. I did learn, however, from a charming and erudite admiral, that if we had sailed up to the island in the dark, we would have been shot.

Our interrogators never shook hands with me and scarcely made eye contact. I was at once grateful for and resentful of the dictates of a religion which forbids a man from touching another women unless she is his wife.

Some of the men professed sympathy with my plight as a mother separated from her children. They allowed me almost daily telephone contact with my brood - a gift and an ordeal. To hear the voices of my children was a kind of sublime torture. But all requests for contact with the British embassy were denied.

We soon came to realise that unless the embassy knew where we were, we were invisible. Fortunately, we have a switched-on nanny, who managed to interpret the subtle hints I was able to give while surrounded by Navy and Intelligence personnel.

I had been told to say we had technical difficulties with our boat and would be delayed for a few days - nothing more. But, after a few days, I realised that we probably had nothing to lose and blurted out our location - much to the consternation of the guards. Our nanny contacted the embassy. Suddenly, after eight days of incarceration, we were told we were being "expelled".

We were driven down a dirt track to a rundown building which looked, to my novelist's mind, like an execution chamber. Miraculously, inside we found men and woman from the British and Australian Embassies. I have rarely been so glad to see anyone.

After being sped off to the airport, we were marched through passport control - we were being expelled, with the full force of the Islamic Republic of Iran behind us. But, sod's law, the plane was full.

"Pull people off," I said -autocracy can be contagious. Sadly, they could not and did not and we were sent, glumly, to a hotel in Bandar Abbas.

The next morning, when we tried to leave, plain-clothes men appeared from nowhere and tried to stop us. Our embassy personnel resisted.

They got us into taxis. At the airport we checked in, whereupon a large man from "the Judiciary" appeared and said that we were now prohibited from leaving. He held out a scrap of paper to that effect. The British and the Australian diplomats argued; he threatened them with arrest. He called in scores of policemen, who strutted around. He pushed around the diplomats. And he was insistent: we had to fly to Teheran. The diplomats, however, could not fly with us.

Again, the flight was full. So we whiled away a day in the airport, smoking and playing Boggle. Never, as an adult, had I been so powerless.

Before we were separated from our embassy officials, we were told that the British ambassador and his wife would meet us at Teheran airport. Alternately confident and fearful, we flew off.

When we arrived at Teheran, we were ushered down the steps into a minibus. Once inside, we heard the doors being ostentatiously locked. The windows were curtained, and all attempts to discover where we were being taken were vigorously rebuffed. The driver sped off at breakneck speed, only to slam on the brakes theatrically five minutes later.

We were then frogmarched into the cold Teheran air and ordered into another minibus. Again, the curtains were pulled. But not completely: a crack enabled me to see the rain sluicing down the windows, the razor wire that flanked the quiet road. I did think then that I was on the way to my own execution.

On and on went the nightmare journey as rain froze to snow. After 50 minutes, we turned and slowed. The doors were thrown open and the first thing I saw was expensive topiary. My hopes soared. We were led into a five-star hotel, bustled past reception, past the International Mining Conference, past the Delegation of Pakistan, into the lifts and up to our rooms.

"Hey," I felt like shouting. "I'm being held hostage here by the government. Tell our embassies!" But who would believe this raving woman in a chador and veil, blue eyes flashing with desperation?

The next four days were spent incarcerated in the hotel. We were questioned again; but by then, even the interrogators seemed bored. We had recited our story perhaps 40 times. In between interrogations, we played more Boggle and bridge.

After two weeks, we were freed. We arrived home at 4am yesterday. I woke my sleeping sons and squeezed them hard. Then I crept into my baby's room, woke her and wept.

I had always been blasé about freedom and democracy.

No more: what I have taken for granted, I now treasure. Amnesty International has a new donor.