A Daily Briefing on Iran: Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [6/04/06 - 6/10/06] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance) READ MORE

Iran's Nuclear Program & The UN Security Council.

Time reported that an IAEA report on Iran's activities is expected next week will include "potentially incriminating" details about traces of highly enriched uranium recently found by inspectors.
The Chicago Tribune reported the debate inside of Iran over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his nuclear ambitions.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Japan is considering imposing sanctions on Iran if it continues to reject international calls to scrap its nuclear program.
Hindu Times reported that the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have backed global efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff between Tehran and Western countries over its controversial nuclear program.
The Washington Post reported that a senior Iranian official said: "What we need is an American president who will follow the example of Richard Nixon going to China."
Reuters reported that the incentives to be offered on to Iran include a proposal to allow Tehran to purchase aircraft parts from Boeing Co. and Airbus.
SFGate reported that the U.S. is counting on China as mediator with Iran.
Yahoo News reported that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana handed Iran an international proposal on the nuclear crisis and the two sides held "good" talks.
Bloomberg reported that President George W. Bush said Iran's response to a U.S.-backed initiative aimed a resolving a standoff over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program is a "positive" first step.
New York Post reported that while the Bush administration offered to join the negotiations with Iran, Ahmadinejad quickly rejected any cessation of enrichment. But the U.S. government is refusing to take no for an answer.
Reuters reported that oil dipped, then steadied below 73 dollars a barrel after Iran said world powers had made positive proposals to end a crisis over its nuclear program.
Yahoo News reported that a package of incentives presented Tuesday to Iran includes a provision for the United States to supply Tehran with some nuclear technology.
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.
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.
Vital Perspective reported that Hans Blix denied the existence of a 'Technological Point of No Return' in regards to Iran's nuclear program.
The New York Post reported that Iranian researchers began a new round of nuclear enrichment on the same day that a European proposal for ending the crisis over Iran's nuclear program was presented in Tehran.
The Guardian reported that diplomats believe that Iran will reject the Int'l. offer in the end.
The Washington Post reported that Reza Pahlavi said if Iran accepts the nuclear proposal, Iran would have to backtrack on its propaganda, which he called the "glue" holding the regime together. Should it reject the offer, Tehran would face an "economic shock" from potential U.N. sanctions.
Reuters reported that Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said: "The package they [the Perm-5] have brought is a package that is good for themselves and is not appropriate for the Iranian people."
Fox News reported that President Bush warned Iran has "weeks, not months" to suspend its nuclear weapons research and accept a U.S.-backed package of incentives.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that French President Jacques Chirac said "We cannot accept that it has launched and pursued a process that could, notably through enrichment, .... lead to the creation of a nuclear weapon."
SFGate reported that Iran given June 29 deadline to respond to anti-nuke offer.
The Financial Times reported that John Bolton said Washington has no intention of striking a comprehensive "grand bargain" with Tehran.
Reuters reported that Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran may send its own nuclear package in response to proposed incentives agreed by six world powers that seek to persuade Tehran to stop its atomic fuel work.
RIA Novosti reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry was shocked by comments from the US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, who accused the Russian leadership of being split over the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran and the World Cup.

Times Online reported that President Ahmadinejad has jangled German nerves by announcing that he may cheer on his country’s team in person at the World Cup.
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.
Bloomberg reported that Iranian Vice President Mohammad Aliabadi will travel to Germany for the soccer World Cup. Ahmadinejad may attend future matches.
The Prospect reported that while Ahmadinejad, the Iran President, continues his “will he, won’t he” game with the West, the country’s footballers are adopting a different approach, a charm offensive.
The Observer reported that Iran's Football team will be met with a series of protests across Germany during their World Cup campaign as anger mounts against the country's viciously anti-semitic President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Spiegel Online reported that in Bavaria, where Iran is set to play its first match in Nuremberg on Sunday, the state's interior minister has expressed concerns that Iranian intelligence agents may seek to stage what he described as a "provocative action" aimed at intimidating Iranian opposition members living in exile in Germany.

The Unrest in Iran.

Rooz Online reported that a large number of writers and journalists were among those arrested during the recent popular protests in the province of Azarbaijan.
Ali M. Koknar, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy reports on the tens of thousands of
Iran Press News published a photo of Iranian women demanding equal rights in Iran. Plus an announcement for the June 12th Women's protest in Tehran.
Rooz Online reported that five women Nobel Peace Prize winners came out in support of the rally in Tehran on June 12th, 2006 against legal discrimination of women.
Iranian Azeris took to the streets for several days of demonstrations and the implications for U.S. and Western policy toward Tehran.
SMCCDI reported that tens have been arrested, in the last days, in several Iranian cities with the approach of Iran-Mexico World Cup soccer game on Sunday June 11th in an effort to avoid any massive popular unrest to take place following the game.

Iran's leaders latest statements.

The Herald reported that the Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said attempts to punish Tehran would jeopardize the world's oil supply.
Yahoo News reported that Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned: "If you make any mistake (and invade Iran), definitely shipment of energy from this region will be seriously jeopardized."
Yahoo News reported that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared that the Islamic republic must not give up its "scientific goals" in the face of "threats and bribes".
CNN News reported that oil prices have surged above $73 after Iran's supreme leader warned the United States that any "misbehavior" directed at his country could endanger oil movements in the Persian Gulf.
Rooz Online reported that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s advisor Mohammad Ali Ramin said of the Jews: "they were the source for such deadly disease as the plague and typhus. This is because the Jews are very filthy people."
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.”
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.
Breitbart.com reported that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, discussing the West's nuclear proposal, said that the "international monopolists have been defeated."

Iranian leaderships unity weakening?

Rooz Online reported that Rafsanjani was subjected to so much criticism while speaking in Qom that he left the stage and has since canceled all public events.
Rooz Online reported that the six individuals arrested on charges of disrupting Rafsanjani's speech in Qom were clerics and members associated with hardline Qom cleric Mesbah Yazdi and they were quickly released.

Iranian Dissidents.

Moscow Times reported that Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji arrived in Moscow to receive this year's Golden Pen of Freedom award.
Payvand published the full text of Akbar Ganji's 2006 Golden Pen of Freedom Acceptance Speech.
Rooz Online reported on Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji's acceptance speech in Moscow where he received the prestigious Golden Pen of Freedom award.
Radio Free Europe reported that Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji continued his current international tour and said that he is determined to keep up his struggle for "democracy and human rights."
Adnkronos International reported that Iranian journalist Iraj Jamshidi, editor in chief of financial daily Asia, has been awarded the International Freedom Prize of the city of Milan.
Nora Boustany, The Washington Post reported on the famous Iranian poet Simin Behbahani and her support for human rights in Iran describing her as a Poet Who 'Never Sold Her Pen or Soul.'
Rooz Online reported on the absurd praise of Ahmadinejad by some in Iran.

Human Rights and Freedom of the Press in Iran.

BBC News reported that the United States has added Iran to its list of countries that could face sanctions over their failure to tackle trafficking in people.
Rooz Online reported that Iran's hardline ministry of culture recently announced that the private sector would be responsible for book reviews and censorship of books through controlling what is published.

Rumors of War.

Ha'aretz reported the US is "cementing" the plans for an assault on Iran.

Support for Internal Regime Change in Iran?

Chicago Tribune reported on recent US efforts to use radio and TV broadcasts to foment change in Iran.

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.

US/Iran talks?

DEBKAfile reported that despite the tough talk between the US and Iran, a secret dialogue is afoot somewhere in the world.
Rooz Online reported the first reactions in Iran to the US proposal for direct talks with the regime.
Forward reported that the Bush administration's offer to open direct talks with Iran and reward Tehran if it stops enriching uranium is exposing a policy rift between neoconservatives on one hand, and the Israeli government and Jewish organizations on the other.
The Financial Times reported that rival Iranian opposition groups in exile have condemned the Bush administration’s conditional offer to begin negotiations with the Islamic republic.
Middle East Newsline reported that Reza Pahlavi said: "Mr. Ahmadinejad's harsh and venomous rhetoric brought the toughest U.S. president in the life of the Islamic republic to the [negotiations] table," and "The lesson is that harshness and radical talk pays."

Iran and the International community.

Kuwait News Agencyreported that a prominent Austrian security official said Austrian custom authorities have busted highly sophisticated missile equipment stranded for Iran.
Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister The Washington Post warned "it is necessary that Iraq's neighbors not interfere in its internal matters."

Zarqawi Dead!

DoctorZin's sources informed us of the death of Zarqawi an hour before the Iraqi announcement. We were one of the very first to report it.
Dan Darling, The Weekly Standard published an excellent report on the end of Abu Musab Zarqawi.
Michael Ledeen, The National Review Online discussed the importance of the elimination of Zarqawi. The intelligence community was savaged after 9/11 for its failure to connect the dots, and it would be truly embarrassing and very dangerous, to leave the Iranian dot out there apart from the rest of the network we have uncovered and shattered.
Richard Miniter & Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, The Weekly Standard discussed the often overlooked connection between Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his role model, Nur ad-Din Zanki (1118-1174) which should provide a note of instruction for the future in dealing with the Iraq insurgency.

The coming battle in the US Senate on Iran.

The Hill reported that Senators Santorum and Lugar are headed for clash on Iran sanctions bill. A Must Read.

Must Read reports.

Alan Peters, AntiMullah considered what group will fill the power vacuum left after the regime falls.
Rooz Online reviewed the past year since Ahmadinejad came to power and the two-pillar approach taken by the Iranian hardliners.
The Economist reported on Iran's uppity minorities.
Reuters reported that U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said the world economy could handle any theoretical cutoff of Iranian oil exports "for a while."
The Washington Post reported on the legal case against Iran.
Ian Bremmer, RealClearPolitics examined the question: Are there limits to the Iranian leadership's resolve?
Vali Nasr, The New Republic examined Iranian Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi's troubled history.
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.
Asia News reported on the significance of the November 17th election of 86 “Experts” will take place in Iran.
The Guardian published a movie review of "Offside" a football comedy about Iranian female football fans.

The Experts.

Ilan Berman, AFPC released an Iran Strategy Brief: Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?
Amir Taheri, Gulf News examined why Condi Rice pushed for direct talks with Iran and considered the question: Will the Rice gambit work in Iran?
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.
Ilan Berman, National Review Online explained why Iran's threat to use the "Oil Weapon" is a double-edged sword.
Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat reviewed the book: Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran.
Victor Davis Hanson, RealClearPolitics answered the question: Why did the United States suddenly reverse course and agree to negotiate directly with the Iranians?
Michael Rubin, Prospect reported that in response to the US offering Iran a deal: suspend nuclear enrichment in exchange for a package of incentives; Iran is becoming conditioned to associating concessions with non-compliance.
Michael Ledeen, The National Review Online discussed the importance of the elimination of Zarqawi. The intelligence community was savaged after 9/11 for its failure to connect the dots, and it would be truly embarrassing and very dangerous, to leave the Iranian dot out there apart from the rest of the network we have uncovered and shattered.
Richard Miniter & Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, The Weekly Standard discussed the often overlooked connection between Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his role model, Nur ad-Din Zanki (1118-1174) which should provide a note of instruction for the future in dealing with the Iraq insurgency.
Ilan Berman, The Washington Times reported that the U.S. intelligence community has failed to accurately forecast every single major international WMD incident of the past decade.
Kenneth R. Timmerman, News Max reported that a magistrate judge in the District Court of Washington, D.C. has dismissed a lawsuit by the survivors and families of victims of the June 25, 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, that sought millions of dollars in damages against the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Photos, cartoons and videos.

Aryamehr reported on a video clip of the recent massive anti-regime demonstrations in Tabriz.
A Poster calling for Iranian women call to protest the misogynist rule of Mullahs, June 12th in Tehran.
Cox & Forkum published a cartoon: Message From Above.

The Quote of the Week.