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

DoctorZin reports, 6.8.2006:

The Perm-5 +1 offers Iran "the world," but fails to give Iran what it really wants.

Michael Ledeen, National Review Online pointed out that while some have suggested that we send Bill Clinton to negotiate with the mullahs on our behalf, it isn’t necessary; we’ve just adopted his methods.
Khaleej Times Online reported that the United States and other world powers have offered possible guarantees for Iran’s ”terroritorial integrity” as part of its nuclear proposal.
Times Online thinks that the world’s latest offer to Iran — a "clever one" — has prompted the most civil response from Tehran in a year. A UK perspective.
VOA News reported that the exiled son of Iran's late shah sharply criticized diplomatic negotiations by the West to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear program saying the United States and Europeans will get nowhere in their efforts to coax Iran to abandon its nuclear program through dialogue.

But Russia wants a formal Iranian answer this month.

Monsters & Critics reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Iran has until the end of June to give a decisive response to new international proposals to defuse the crisis around its nuclear program.

Iran's "Oil Weapon" cuts two ways.

Ilan Berman, National Review Online explained why Iran's threat to use the "Oil Weapon" is a double-edged sword.

Blix denies there is an Iranian "Technological point of no return" on its nuclear program.

Vital Perspective reported that Hans Blix denied the existence of a 'Technological Point of No Return' in regards to Iran's nuclear program.

Iran threatens Europe with the "Illegal Drug Weapon."

Asia News reported that Dori Najafabadi, currently Iran’s Attorney General and a close ally to Supreme Leader Khamenei, warned Europe that if “Western states continue their pressures on Iran over its nuclear program, Iran can allow the transit of drugs and narcotics through its waters and other areas.”

Iranian Exiles to meet in Washington DC this month.

Iranian Solidarity Congress announced its World’s Conference scheduled for June 19-20, 2006 in Washington D.C.

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

Mehran Riazaty reported that Iranian Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, said that the security of the world’s energy is depended on the security of Persian Gulf and Iran.
Vali Nasr, The New Republic examined Iranian Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi's troubled history.
Ali M. Koknar, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy reports on the tens of thousands of Iranian Azeris took to the streets for several days of demonstrations and the implications for U.S. and Western policy toward Tehran.
Simon Henderson, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy reports on the Iranian supreme leader's recent threat on the shipment of oil through the Persian Gulf and raises questions about the strength of the Iranian military and how the United States could counter it, using military power, alternative export routes, or a combination of both.
Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat reviewed the book: Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center asked people to sign its petition urging German Chancellor Angela Merkel to keep the holocaust-denying president of Iran out of Germany.
A Poster calling for Iranian women call to protest the misogynist rule of Mullahs, June 12th in Tehran.