A Daily Briefing on Iran: Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [3/19/06 -3/25/06] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance) READ MORE

The Iranian New Year: messages and reports.

DoctorZin's Norooz greeting. Photo.
Reza Pahlavi's Message On the Occasion of Persian New Year 2006 (Nowrooz 1385).
Brooding Persian published a sober Norooz greeting. Photo.
Iran va Jahan examined Norooz and its symbolism.
SMCCDI reported the start of the Iranian New Year.
Iran Press News reported that families and friends of political prisoners gathered in front of Evin and Rejaiishahr prisons to celebrate Norooz with their loved ones. Photos.
Iran Press News reported that a UNESCO Committee declared this year to be "The Year of Pasargad". The fields surrounding Pasargad have been recognized as the birthplace for the concept of human rights and the first capitol of Persia.

Iran's Nuclear Program. The UN Security Council at an impasse?

The Washington Post reported that Monday top U.N. members will try to break the stalemate on Iran.
Reuters reported that senior foreign affairs officials from the five veto-holding U.N. Security Council powers and Germany meet on Monday in an effort to break the impasse over reining in Iran.
United Press International reported Iran is using its academic institutions to hide its nuclear programs.
The Telegraph reported that President George W Bush issued a stark warning to Iran that America's military would be ordered into action if Tehran carried out its threat to attack Israel.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Gary Berntsen, the former senior CIA operative believes the United States has the ability to easily destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, in two days.
ABC News reported that the U.N. Security Council postponed a meeting Tuesday on Iran's suspect nuclear program. The lack of any significant movement after 10 days could lead the Western nations to abandon the presidential statement, in favor of a resolution. This would force Russia and China to approve, abstain or veto action against Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reported that with Russia opposed to any punishment for Iran, Britain has privately suggested that Tehran be offered a new package of incentives. The letter warned, "We are not going to bring the Russians and Chinese to accept significant sanctions [on Tehran] over the coming months, certainly not without further efforts to bring the Iranians around."
The New York Times reported that drafters of a Security Council statement on Iran's nuclear program decided to revise it after a lengthy meeting of senior diplomats from six nations failed to overcome objections from China and Russia to terms being advanced by the United States and Europe.
Reuters reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was confident an international agreement would be reached on way to pressure Iran to stop enriching uranium. "Sometimes diplomacy takes a little bit of time..."
Reuters reported that Russia's foreign minister firmly rejected a draft U.N. Security Council statement aimed at pressuring Iran.
The Telegraph reported that nuclear inspectors have established a link between Iranian nuclear documents and the blueprint for a warhead bought by Libya on the black market.
Vital Perspective reported that the IAEA now has evidence that Iran's nuclear program is more advanced than previously thought.
The Guardian reported that inspectors of the IAEA revealed that the Iranians are in the process of achieving a "technological leap" by making operational a cascade of 164 centrifuges to enrich uranium for power plants or warheads.
Reuters reported that China said that Beijing and Moscow are in accord on Iran's nuclear standoff with the West.
Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com examined the question: why are the Russians so intent on helping Iran go nuclear? He believes, the key can be found in a 1995 Russian document.
The Globe and Mail reported that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission approved a shipment to Iran last year by a Canadian company of about 70,000 glow-in-the-dark lights containing tritium, a radioactive gas that can also be used as a component in hydrogen bombs.
FOX News reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a veiled warning to holdouts in a diplomatic impasse at the United Nations over Iran's disputed nuclear program. "There can't be any stalling."
Reuters reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed in the call that the sides' negotiators could work through the weekend to try to break the impasse.
Inter Press Service reported that a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote imposing sanctions on the Tehran government for its nuclear program could result in retaliatory executions.
The New Anatolian reported that visiting U.S. senators told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Iran's nuclear activities not only pose a threat for the U.S. but also for Turkey and the whole Middle East.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Iran is moving faster than expected and is just days from making the first steps toward enriching uranium.
Yahoo News reported that U.N. inspectors should know by next week how far Iran has advanced on the path to nuclear enrichment.
Khaleej Times reported that Ahmadinejad said Iran to go nuclear this year.

Iran's Dissidents.

Iran Press News reported that families and friends of political prisoners gathered in front of Evin and Rejaiishahr prisons to celebrate Norooz with their loved ones. Photos.
The Wall Street Journal in an editorial said that democratic revolutions tend to have iconic figures that become emblems of the suffering of their people and that in Iran; the iconic figure is Akbar Ganji.

Update on the March 14th "Festival of Fire" celebrations.

Rooz Online reported on last week's "Festival of Fire" and asked: So one wonders why has such a large armed force to watch out for just a few “thugs?” The answer may lie in their true but unexpressed intention of containing the whole event.

Iranian Leaders On the Offensive.

Adnkronos Internationalreported that daylight saving has been abolished by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the grounds that when the legal hour changes many faithful have difficulty in knowing when to pray.
TurkishPress reported that Iran's supreme leader accused Britain of conspiring to stop the country's development through sabotage.
Iran Focus reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader said the reach of the Islamic Republic’s ideology had spread from North Africa all the way through to Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Power Struggle inside of Iran?

Rooz Online reported that on the eve of the meeting of the Experts Assembly for Leadership the leaders of the regime met to forge unity between them.
Agence France-Presse reported that Iran's largest "reformist" party, the Participation Front said: "we are proposing a return to previous policies and the voluntary suspension of all nuclear fuel cycle work to resolve this crisis and re-establish confidence."
Radio Free Europe reported that despite a great deal of controversy preceded the semi-annual meeting of the Assembly of Experts in early-March, the body of 86 clerics that supervises and selects Iran's top political and religious leader. Rafsanjani told the assembly that this is the time for national unity.

Iranian regime leaders & the western media.

Iranian.ws reported that the Iranian regime has signed a huge ad campaign with the BBC.
Northeast Intelligence Network reminds us that very time the nuclear issue heats up and there is posturing by Iran and the United States over Iran's nuclear plans; Iran reaches into their bag of distractions and makes a play for the global media’s attention to shift the focus from the immediate threat.

The Unrest inside of Iran.

Rooz Online reported that a new wave of attacks on Iran’s university students is increasing, step by step.
Reuters reported that seven Iranian men taken hostage by a Sunni rebel group appeared in a video aired on Tuesday and urged Iran's authorities to help win their release.
Iran Focus reported that Islamist militiamen affiliated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have launched military exercises near the Iraqi border to “deal with possible unrest.”

Update: Bus Drivers Strike.

Iran Press News reported that the Bus driver's union board of directors was released from prison and then one was rearrested the next day.

Human Rights/Freedom of the press inside of Iran.

Iran Press News reported that residents of the town of Sardasht and surrounding villages have been arrested and charged with phoning into Iranian opposition radio and satellite TV talk shows outside Iran.
BBC News reported that as the international debate over Iran's nuclear program has intensified, some Iranian journalists say they have come under increasing pressure not to criticise their government on the issue.
Inter Press Service reported that a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote imposing sanctions on the Tehran government for its nuclear program could result in retaliatory executions.
Iran Press News reported that another Iranian woman is on the brink of execution for killing a man attempting to rape her daughter.

Iran's Oil Weapon.

Free Market News reported on the count-down to war with Iran and examined the mixed signals from crude oil, gold, and Tel Aviv.
TMC Net reported that Iran's OPEC governor said the use of oil as a weapon in the existing tension between Iran and the West over the Islamic regime's nuclear program won't be in the interest of either side.
RIA Novosti reported that the Iranian Oil Ministry denied media reports that it was to open a Euro-based oil exchange.

Rumors of War.

The Times Online reported that Britain is pushing for a military option to restrain Tehran.
John Sawers, a Leading British Diplomat, The Times Online published a confidential letter in full detailing the UK Diplomat's Iran strategy.
The Voice of America reported that the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, said Washington does not see military action against Iran as an immediate option to force the Iranian regime to scrap its nuclear program.

Support for Internal Regime Change in Iran.

The Boston Globe reported that approximately 100 students gathered in Harvard University's Leverett House last night for a concert and rally to denounce repression of students in Iran. More events are scheduled at other campuses.
Peter Brookes, Townhall argued why the Bush administration should support the Iran Freedom & Support Act.
House Appropriations Committee in a press release announced that the committee did not fund the $75 million requested by the Administration for the promotion of democracy in Iran because it was poorly justified. Instead, $56 million was provided through proven, existing programs that will have an immediate, positive impact on the fostering of democratic ideals in Iran.

Iran's Military.

Ilan Berman, American Foreign Policy Council reported that Yahya Rahim Safavi, commander of Iran's elite Pasdaran, told policymakers that, with the United States bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran is poised to become the natural inheritor of the Persian Gulf.
Iran Focus reported that Islamist militiamen affiliated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have launched military exercises near the Iraqi border to “deal with possible unrest.”

Iran's Troublemaking in Iraq. The US/Iran to talk?

Forbes.com reported that Gen. Casey, a top commander of U.S. forces expressed doubt that negotiations between the United States and Iran over Iraq would help bring peace and stability.
Reuters reported that President George W. Bush on Tuesday said the United States wants talks with Iran to make clear that attempts to spread sectarian violence in Iraq were unacceptable.
Amir Taheri, New York Post criticized the US willingness to talk with the Iranians on Iraq. He said this invitation bestows on it a stature that only a liberating power would normally have.
Michael Ledeen, AEI criticized President Bush's recent comments on Iran saying "there was no talk of democratic revolution. No mention that Iran is the leading sponsor of terrorism. No encouragement for the Iranian people."
BBC News reported that Iran's supreme spiritual leader backed talks with the United States on the instability in Iraq.
FOX News reported that the Bush administration questioned on Wednesday the motives of Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in approving U.S.-proposed talks on Iraq. No date has been set for the talks.
Xinhua News Agency reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she is "certain" that the United States will hold direct talks with Iran on Iraq "at an appropriate time."
The Washington Post reported that U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Iran is publicly professing its support for Iraq's stalemated political process while its military and intelligence services back outlawed militias and insurgent groups.
Strategy Page claimed that the U.S. told Iran that the Iraqi Shia militias being supported by Iran are going be taken apart soon, and Iran is well advised to back off.
Amir Taheri, Asharq Alwasat argued why the US invitation to talk to Iran on Iraq may be Washington's first major mistake.
Mehran Riazaty examined various Iranian new reports discussing the upcoming US/Iran talks on Iraq.
Iran Focus reported that Ahmadinejad announced that talks between the Islamic Republic and the United States over Iraq will be “conditional.”

Iran and the International community.

The Washington Post reported that Iran has embarked on a charm offensive in the Arab world aimed at expanding economic and political ties and circumventing efforts by the United States and its allies to isolate Iran over its nuclear program.
Radio Free Europe reported in an interview with Israeli President Moshe Katzav, he said: "If Iran does not change its policies in the near future, it... likely will have a negative impact on the Iranian people."
Jordan Times reported that Arab leaders overall are divided, and publicly squabbling, over how to defuse a crisis that has caused the West to haul Iran before the UN Security Council.
Reuters reported that the U.S. asked Japan to stop its planned development of a huge Iranian oil field.
Israel Hasbara Committee reported that Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said: “We know that Iran transferred in the last month $1.8 million to the Islamic Jihad organization in order to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel.”
Daily Star reported that in one of those revealing slips of the tongue, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul recently confessed that he feared the spread of Iranian influence.

Iran Poll: Most Iranians oppose a nuclear confrontation with the west.

Washington Times reported that the vast majority of Iranians are opposed to the theocratic regime's drive that has pushed their country to the verge of a military confrontation.

US Poll on Iran.

Harris Poll, The Wall Street Journal found that about 85% of Americans say the U.S. "should be concerned" about Iran's nuclear research activities.

Must Read reports.

The LA Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials are claiming that the Iranian regime is playing host to much of Al Qaeda's remaining brain trust and allowing the senior operatives freedom to plan future attacks.
The Times Online reported on Dr Wafa Sultan, whose appearance on Al-Jazeera where she denounced the teachings and practice of Islam as “barbaric” and “medieval” has caused an unholy stir in the Muslim world.
Colin Rubenstein, The Age argued why we must stop the Mullahs of Iran.
Adnkronos International reported that an Iranian source close to the reformists confirmed that "With the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad relations with al-Qaeda have been resumed and strengthened."
The New York Sun published the season's top 10 conspiracies in the Arab and Iranian press.
Joseph Klein, FrontPageMagazine.com argued that Iran has four aces in its hand to avoid any meaningful action by the UN Security Council.
The New York Sun reported that while Iran helped to invent modern-day terrorism, sometimes called asymmetrical warfare. Now the mullahs are engaging in asymmetrical diplomacy.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies reported that the US Treasury Dept. dealt a major blow to Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV designating it as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity.
Vital Perspectives reported that California State Controller Steve Westly called on state agencies to examine their pension holdings for investment in companies with ties to Iran.
Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that a former Democratic senator and 9/11 commissioner says a recently declassified Iraqi account of a 1995 meeting between Osama bin Laden and a senior Iraqi envoy presents a "significant set of facts," and shows a more detailed collaboration between Iraq and Al Qaeda.

The Experts.

Amir Taheri, New York Post criticized the US willingness to talk with the Iranians on Iraq. He said this invitation bestows on it a stature that only a liberating power would normally have.
Michael Ledeen, AEI criticized President Bush's recent comments on Iran saying "there was no talk of democratic revolution. No mention that Iran is the leading sponsor of terrorism. No encouragement for the Iranian people."
Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com examined the question: why are the Russians so intent on helping Iran go nuclear? He believes, the key can be found in a 1995 Russian document.
Amir Taheri, Asharq Alwasat argued why the US invitation to talk to Iran on Iraq may be Washington's first major mistake.
Michael Rubin and Patrick Clawson, Middle East Review of International Affairs examined the many similarities between the conditions that lead to the overthrow of the Shah and the current situation. A must read.