Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [2/13/06 -2/19/06] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance) READ MORE

Iran's Nuclear Program - The IAEA Reports Iran to the UN Security Council.

• CNN News reported that inspectors from the IAEA stripped most surveillance cameras and agency seals from Iranian nuclear sites and equipment as demanded by Tehran.
• Nasdaq reported that France's prime minister said: Europe is still willing to negotiate with Iran if it suspends all sensitive nuclear activities, adding: This is not about starting a push for regime change in Iran.
• Tehran Times reported that the second round of nuclear talks between Iran and Russia concerning a joint uranium enrichment project has been canceled.
• The Times reported that Iran has started to inject uranium feedstock gas into centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility, crossing an internationally agreed "red line" on the path to producing the material for atomic weapons.
• Reuters reported that Iran said talks with Russia this week to discuss proposals to process nuclear fuel for Iranian reactors on Russian soil had been postponed, not canceled.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel is confident neither Russia nor China will block the implementation of UNSC sanctions. It revealed the sanctions being discussed.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that Putin spoke with Angela Merkel about Iran and "Both sides expressed satisfaction with the high level of mutual understanding and emphasized the intention for continuing close coordination."
• Itar-Tass News Agency reported that Russia and France have made a joint statement, which calls on Iran to suspend the uranium enrichment process. “Russia and France are determined to resolve concerns about the Iranian nuclear program consequences for non-proliferation.”
• Yuri Zarakhovich, Time was less optimistic, saying: Moscow seeks cash and cachet from its interventions in the nuclear crisis. But it may end up isolated, unpaid and under threat.
• Rooz Online reported that according to their sources Russian and China have been offered deals that now put them in opposition to Iran's hardliners.
• The Washington Times reported that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned President Bush not to "escalate" tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that once again, Britain's foreign minister said the standoff with Iran over the country's nuclear program could only be resolved by diplomacy.
• Reuters reported that Tehran confirmed it had restarted work on uranium enrichment, but said it would take some time to crank up to industrial-scale production.
• ABC News reported that Iran's actions are reminiscent of N. Korea's.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that while the E.U. told Iran it wants to normalize relations, it reiterated Tehran's nuclear ambitions and shaky human rights record were making that impossible.
• Times reported that the leader of Britain's Tories said: attacks on Iran must remain an option.
• Yahoo News reported that U.S. senator Brownback said Russia and China have too much riding on commercial relations with Iran to help the West in curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
• Iran Press News reported that an MP of the Islamic regime said: "The Russians are just as scary as the rest of the west & even the U.S."
• Xinhuanet reported Iran officially notified Russia of plans to send a delegation to Moscow on Monday, February 20th, for nuclear talks.
• Scotsman reported that acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Iran's president is obsessed with hatred of the Jews and must be stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Iran poses a "central threat" to the Jewish state, adding that "Iran's plan is to engulf or destroy Israel in three ways."
• The Christian Science Monitor reported that once Iran masters the difficult technique of uranium enrichment, a nuclear bomb is not far away.
• The New Press reported that Ahmadinejad visited the Natanz uranium enrichment plant Wednesday, widely seen as a gesture of support and a morale boost for scientists involved.
• ABC News reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow will only host Iran's uranium enrichment program if Tehran agrees to re-impose an indefinite freeze on enrichment at home.
• RIA Novosti reported that Russia's most senior military officer said that a military escalation of the situation around Iran's controversial nuclear program was a possibility. "I do not rule [it] out, but military action is not the best option."
• Yahoo News reported that the House of Representatives, by a vote of 404 to four, passed a resolution condemning the government of Iran for resuming its nuclear program.
• Reuters reported that French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Iran was pursuing a clandestine military nuclear program. "No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. So it is a clandestine Iranian military nuclear program."
• Spiegel Online reported that while the West is quietly mulling the possibility of a military strike on Iran. The question of using force against the mullahs in Tehran is threatening to split the German government.
• Memri reported that extremist clerics from Qom, Iran had issued "a new fatwa," which states that "the shari'a does not forbid the use of nuclear weapons."
• Inter Press Service reported what to expect from the meeting between the Iranian and Russian governments in Moscow which may be the last chance for diplomacy before international sanctions.
• FOX News reported that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said the talks will be difficult and their outcome impossible to predict.
• Iran Press News translated a Le Monde report that "While Moscow says it is making an attempt to get the regime in Tehran to accept Russia's proposal for the enrichment of Uranium on Russian soil, Russian arms companies are involved in transaction and sales of arms to the Islamic regime."
• BBC News reported that US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice accused Tehran of being the central banker for terrorism around the world.
• Reuters reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged reluctant Arab nations to threaten to isolate Iran unless it bows to international pressure on the nuclear issue.
• Expatica reported that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the German government suspected Iran was seeking to build nuclear weapons.
• CNN News reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss Iran.
• Xinhuanet reported that Mohammed ElBaradei suggested a compromise on the Iranian nuclear issue, allowing Iran to conduct small-scale enrichment work. The Iranians welcomed this idea.
• Reuters reported that U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said: Delaying action against Iran's suspected nuclear capabilities allows Tehran to increase its uranium enrichment knowledge and step up threats of withholding oil.
• Asharq Alawsat reported that French President Jacques Chirac said France's position on Iran's nuclear program has not changed following the comments by his foreign minister this week that Iran's program was a cover for secret military activity.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that recently several German companies are under investigation for alleged involvement in Iran's disputed nuclear program.
• The Telegraph reported that Iran's hard-line spiritual leaders have issued an unprecedented new fatwa, or holy order, sanctioning the use of atomic weapons against its enemies.
  

Tehran Bus Strike - Growing International Support.

• Nick Cohen, The Observer explained: Why the Striking Bus Drivers in Tehran are the real defenders of Muslim rights.
• The International Transport Workers Federation labor movement around the world is calling for an International Day of Protest over Tehran Bus Company Union - February 15, 2006.
• Iran Press News reported that the bus drivers union of Tehran sent a heartrending message to French Unions asking for solidarity and assistance.
• The Washington Post reported that labor unions in 18 capitals, including Washington, were taking part in demonstrations outside Iranian embassies and interest sections to protest the coercive treatment of bus drivers in Tehran.
• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that despite being ordered not to talk to the international media by the court, the wives of the country's striking bus drivers are appealing for food and money to support their families.
• Iran Press News reported that several of the detained bus driver’s union members were released on bail but warned against giving any interviews.
• Iran Press News reported that the new general manager of the Greater Tehran bus drivers company is offering new promises to the Tehran Bus Drivers.
  

Regime Attacks Sufi's.

• IranMania reported that clashes broke out between members of the Sufi sect and Iranian police in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Qom, when security forces used tear gas to break up the protest after local authorities decided to close the Sufi centre. Photos.
• Loes Bijnen, The Hague provided a Special Report from on the attack of the Sufi's in Iran.
• Reuters reported that Iranian police have arrested around 1,000 people in the central seminary city of Qom after violent clashes over the closure of a house of worship used by mystical Sufi Muslims, adding that 200 people were hurt.
• Rooz Online reported that a peaceful three-day sit-in of Nematollahi dervishes (Sufi's) in the religious city of Qom turned violent as police and plain-clothes forces arrested, rounded up and injured tens of the dervishes.
• Iran Press News provided an excellent report on the attack on the Sufi's.
• Iran Press News added that the regime alleged that "every one of the 500 arrested were armed with guns and knives and were dangerous." But the Sufi's are well known for their peaceful and non-violent ways.
• Iran Press News added that the Islamic regimes bulldozers destroyed the Sufi house of worship.
• Radio Free Europe reported that the scale and violence against Iran's Sufi minority "is unheard of."
  

Iranian Leaders On the Offensive.

• The New York Times reported that Ahmadinejad in a speech to tens of thousands of demonstrators he said: "I ask our dear people to prepare themselves for a great struggle." "Fasten your seat belts and pull up your sleeves."
• Khaleej Times reported that the European Union condemned the latest remarks by Ahmadinejad about Israel, in which he said that the Palestinians and “other nations” would eventually remove the Jewish state.
• Yahoo News reported that Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, said: "The repressive actions of the Zionist regime against the Palestinians are worse than the Holocaust."
• Iran Press News reported that Khamnei's newspaper calls for suicide bombings in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe.
• Iran Focus reported that a senior commander of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) vowed that the Islamic Republic’s suicide volunteers abroad were being placed on readiness alert to attack Unites States and Israeli interests.
• Iran Press News reported that Ahmadinejad website site called for abandoning security for various embassies in Tehran.
• Memri reported that extremist clerics from Qom, Iran had issued "a new fatwa," which states that "the shari'a does not forbid the use of nuclear weapons."
• Reuters reported that Iran's foreign minister called on Britain to pull its troops out of the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
• SundayTimes.za reported that British Prime Minister Tony Blair dismissed the Iranian demand as a tactic to try to divert attention from concerns over Tehran's nuclear program.
• The Telegraph reported that Iran's hard-line spiritual leaders have issued an unprecedented new fatwa, or holy order, sanctioning the use of atomic weapons against its enemies.
• Evening Echo News reported that a gathering of Iranians who claim the are dedicated to becoming suicide bombers warned the United States and Britain today of attacks on coalition military bases in Iraq if there were a strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
  

Rumors of War.

• The Telegraph reported that a major American attack on Iran's nuclear sites would kill up to 10,000 people and lead to war in the Middle East.
• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that Secretary of State Rice declined to deny that America has recently stepped up its planning to bomb suspected Iranian nuclear facilities.
• Monsters & Critics reported that Germany`s government is bickering over a possible military strike on Iran.
• Xinhuanet reported that Bulgaria as a NATO member will join a possible strike on Iran.
• Azerbaijani TV station ANS reported that the Azerbaijani-Iranian border is being reinforced in connection with a possible US attack on Iran.
• MosNews reported that Russian political expert Mikhail Delyagin is convinced: the U.S. will launch a missile attack against Iran this summer.
  

More Calls for an Internal Regime Change in Iran.

• Sarah Baxter, The Sunday Times reported that neoconservatives are urging President Bush to boost internal dissent and opposition forces within the Islamic regime.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that US officials stationed in Baku said: "The Azeris in Iran could possibly lead a coup and assist in overthrowing the current regime there."
• Nazenin Ansari, Open Democracy reported that Iran is on freedoms path. An interesting read.
• Count Down argued that the way out of this crisis is a concerted campaign to oust the regime.
• Yahoo News reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: The US administration will ask Congress for another 75 million dollars to boost democracy in Iran amid growing concern over Tehran's nuclear program.
• The Financial Times reported that the Bush administration announced a significant toughening of its policy towards Iran, but did not specifically use the words “regime change”.
• The State Department then published a Fact Sheet on how they plan to use the funds.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com examined the problems of current American broadcasts into Iran and what needs to be done to correct the problems. A must read.
• Times Online also reported that America has dramatically increased its funding for Iranian human rights groups and dissidents.
• Reuters reported that Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said: "They (the West) are trying to terrify us with a scarecrow called the Security Council. We are not scared ... They will be harmed more than Iran if they act unwisely."
• Iran Press News reported that the Islamic regime is assisting Venezuela with its allegedly peaceful nuclear technology.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran is trying to conclude a major deal with China before potential sanctions are imposed by the UNSC.
• The Wall Street Journal argued that while the $85 million the US plans to devote to democracy promotion in Iran is not enough, it is a positive step.
• CBS Broadcasting reported that while the US wants to fund Iranian pro-democracy efforts, the State Department acknowledged the difficulty of launching and supporting some of these programs, because the Iranian regime is very good at infiltrating them.
• Zaman Online reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Manucher Mouttaqi called the US administration’s earmarking of $75 million to finance opposition in Iran "a waste of money".
• NewsPress reported that Iran is seeking to use the media in Afghanistan to undermine US efforts there.
  

The Cartoon Unrest.

• Yahoo News reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said violent protests in the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad could "spin out of control" if governments refuse to act responsibly.
• Forbes reported that Iran rejected Condoleezza Rice's charge of inflaming violence saying she should apologize.
• The Associated Press reported that an Iranian newspaper's contest for cartoons about the Holocaust, launched Monday in response to a series of caricatures about the Prophet Mohammed, has already drawn at least one entry.
• Reuters reported that about 200 demonstrators threw stones, firecrackers and at least two petrol bombs at the German and British embassies in Iran.
• Rooz Online reported that hardline bloggers in Iran claimed that Baseej Embassy attackers confessed that its leadership aided in the planning of the attacks.
• The Guardian reported that Iran demands an apology over a German cartoon.
• Chicago Sun Times reported that as a result of the uproar over the Danish cartoons, when Iranians, who love Danish pastries, look for the flaky dessert at the bakery they now have to ask for ''Roses of the Prophet Muhammad.''
• DW-World.de reported that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks calling the Holocaust into question have disappointed Muslims in Germany who remind us that at Auschwitz, 200,000 Muslims were also murdered there.
  

Iran's Dissidents.

• National Review Online published a conversation with Iranian Dissident Fakhravar.
• Iran Press News reported that a political prisoner in danger of being executed in Rejaiishahr prison in Tehran suburb of Karadj.
• Iran Press News reported that an Iraqi cleric was spurred by the Islamic regime to misrepresent dissident Ayatollah Montazeri's mental health.
• Radio Free Europe reported that Iranian opposition figure Hojat Zamani has been executed.
• Reporters Without Borders expressed concern over reports that imprisoned journalist Elham Afrotan was in a coma after a suicide attempt.
• Iran Press News also reported on Ehlam Afroutan adding that the regime's interrogators tortured and gang-raped her before she slipped into a coma and is said to have died.
  

The Unrest inside of Iran.

• Iran Press News reported that two hundred of the 620 miners from Sangrood (Province of Gilan) who have not been paid for an entire year made their way to Tehran to protest.
• SMCCDI reported that a fire of an unknown origin destroyed parts of the Tehran's Oil Refinery and there are suspicions that it was the result of sabotage.
  

Human Rights/Religious and Press Freedom inside of Iran.

• Reuters reported that Iran said it would continue to block the BBC's Persian-language Web site until Britain's public service broadcaster changed its "anti-Iranian tendency, " adding that the site was read by about one third of Iran's 7 million Internet users.
• Iran Press News reported that Mohammad Djaroui, warden of ward 6 of Gowhardasht prison; said: ‘In the case of the regimes referral to the Security Council each and every one of you will be put to death.’
• Kamangir, Archer reported on another victim of the regime commits suicide[?]: Elham Afrootan.
• The International Women's Day in Tehran ask people to join them in a peaceful march - March 8th. See poster.
• Rooz Online reported that after Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) instructed the Iranian media not to portray the country’s referral by the IAEA to the UN Security Council as a diplomatic failure, it has sent out another circular asking the press not to criticize Iran’s nuclear issue.
• Amnesty International reported that since Iran's new president came to power human rights violations remain widespread and the new government has failed to take any action to address the situation.
• Rooz Online provided more details on the unconfirmed reports about the suicide of Elham Afroutan, arrested for publishing an article insulting to Iranian hard-line government officials.
• Iran Press News reported on the firing and flogging of Iranian University Professors.
  

Iran's Economy.

• Rooz Online reported "dangerous" is the word that the Majlis Research Committee on the budget has used to explain Ahmadinejad's budget.
• Rooz Online reported that Ahmadinejad has ordered government agencies to limit the country's economic relations with Europe.
  

Iran's Military.

• Iran Press News reported on the widespread fear and distress among the Islamic regimes armed forces at the likelihood of a military strike.
  

Iran and the International community.

• Daily Star reported that Druze MP Walid Jumblatt attacked Hizbullah, saying it is "an armed force which controls the lawless South and which serves the best interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
• Reuters reported that Iran is open to helping Venezuela develop nuclear technology.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that Saudi Arabia is in sensitive talks with Iran.
• Iran Focus reported that a senior delegation from the radical Palestinian group Hamas will travel to Tehran on Monday to meet and hold talks with senior Iranian officials.
• News Channel 15 reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran not to fund Hamas.
  

Can you believe this?

• Yahoo Newsreported that even former US vice president Al Gore lashed out at Iran's clerical regime, denouncing it as a threat "for the future of the world."
• Contactmusic News reported that the religious edict condemning author Salman Rushdie to death for his controversial novel The Satanic Verses will remain "forever", Iran's official news agency reports.
• The Associated Press reported that House Republican Henry Hyde questioned the wisdom and potential effectiveness of American efforts to spread democracy.
  

Insight into the Iranian People.

• Reutersreported that Iran's Jews have sharply criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust, saying his remarks have sparked fears.
• Ladane Nasser, PBS reported that for Iran's young population, celebrating a solemn religious holiday while also gearing up for the excitement of Valentine's Day created an enthralling cultural dichotomy on the streets of Tehran last week. An interesting read.
  

Must Read reports.

• Opinion Journal argued that a better response to Iran's threats is to invite Israel into NATO.
• William R. Hawkins, The Washington Times thinks that in referring Iran to the UNSC, the US is walking into a trap.
• USA Today reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to USA TODAY's Barbara Slavin in an hour-long interview.
• USAToday reported on a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll which found that Americans are deeply worried about the possibility that Iran will develop nuclear weapons and use them, they also fear that the Bush administration will act prematurely, but also that the United States won't do enough.
• The Wall Street Journal argued that as Iran plays a growing role in Iraq, it is complicating Bush's strategy for the Middle East.
• Mort Kondracke, RealClear Politics argued that Iran, Iraq, and Hamas make 2006 the year of crisis for President Bush.
• The Christian Science Monitor reported that once Iran masters the difficult technique of uranium enrichment, a nuclear bomb is not far away.
• Radio Free Europe reported on an interview with Dr Mohsen Sazegara who argued that Iran's return to revolutionary values is temporary.
• Ha'aretz reported that while the Iranian government appears confident, all is not well with the regime.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that the Iranian threat to the international financial sector is finally getting the world's attention.
• Dan Darling, The Weekly Standard published a must read review of the ties of Iran and Al Qaeda, based on the 9/11 Commission Report and major mainstream US and European sources.
• DW-World.de reported that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks calling the Holocaust into question have disappointed Muslims in Germany who remind us that at Auschwitz, 200,000 Muslims were also murdered there.
  

The Experts.

• Amir Taheri, The New York Post warned Western leaders, how Neo-Islam is hijacking Islam around the world and most dangerously in the West.
• Mehdi Khalaji, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy reported on the miscommunication between Iranian Society and the West on Iran's nuclear program. A must read.
• Michael Ledeen, National Review Online reported on how the leaders of the Iranian regime see the West’s strength and resolve and why they appear so confident. A must read.
• Mahan Abedin, Asia Times examined a key question, whether Ahmadinejad and his inner circle believe that military confrontation serves their long-term political and socio-economic agenda.
• Victor Davis Hanson, National Review Online gave six good reasons why Iran should not have nuclear weapons.
• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat reported that Iran is seeking censorship in "The Name of Dialogue."
  

Photos, cartoons and videos.

• Photos of Washington DC Union's support for Tehran Strikers.
• Photos of the attack of the Sufi's in Qom by security forces.
  

And finally, The Quote of the Week.

The New York Times reported that Ahmadinejad in a speech to tens of thousands of demonstrators he said:

"I ask our dear people to prepare themselves for a great struggle." "Fasten your seat belts and pull up your sleeves."