A Daily Briefing on Iran: Monday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 6.26.2006:

Iran admits it has influence over Al Qaeda.

RIA Novosti reported that Tehran is prepared to assist in releasing four Russian diplomats abducted by Al Qaeda insurgents in the Iraqi capital. By making this statement, Iran has admitted it's over Al Qaeda.

Iran's Holocaust Conference scheduled for October.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that Iran is to hold its controversial proposed conference on the Holocaust in October.

Iran warns the West of its Oil Weapon.... again.

Yahoo News reported that Iran's oil minister warned that Iran would use oil as a weapon if its interests are attacked, state television has reported. "If the country's interests are attacked, we will use all our capabilities and oil is one of them."
Mehran Riazaty reminded us that the head of energy commission in Iran’s Parliament, Kamal Danesshyar, said that the real price of oil is $100 a barrel and it has not yet reached its real price.

Iran slams Canada.

Yahoo News reported that Iran rejected Canadian calls for the prosecution of Tehran chief prosecutor Said Mortazavi over the death in custody of a photo-journalist with Canadian citizenship, calling "The Canadian claims are "illogical." He added: "The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that a country which still has traces of British colonialism is not at a level at which it can make such illogical and illegal comments and expect to be listened to."

IAEA admits Iran pursuit of enrichment can lead to a nuclear weapon.

Yahoo News reported on the one-and-half page unofficial text supplied to Washington by the IAEA which gives their assessment that even reduced enrichment work would help Iran towards "successful long-term sustained centrifuge operation", needed to make enriched uranium that can be used for nuclear power reactor fuel or nuclear bomb material.

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

The Telegraph published the first picture of an Iraqi insurgent mine manufactured inside of Iran, believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 17 British soldiers.
The Financial Times argued that the real issue is not what Iran agrees to with the Perm-5 but how determined it is to pursue a nuclear weapons program.
Alan Peters, AntiMullah believes he knows why Iran Chose Mid-August to respond to the Perm-5 nuclear offer.