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

DoctorZin reports, 7.16.2006:

Ahmadinejad sought Arab support for the attacks on Israel?

RIA Novosti reported that just before the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah on Israel. Ahmadinejad addressed a high-profile Muslim forum held in Tehran saying "the main issue faced by the Islamic world is Israel's existence. The Islamic countries should mobilize their efforts to do away with this issue," and that "all the conditions for eliminating the Zionist regime" are currently in place."

Then he tries to compare Israel to the Nazi's for responding to the attacks.

Reuters reported that Ahmadinejad compared the behavior of Israel in launching an offensive against Lebanon to that of Nazi Germany. "Hitler sought pretexts to attack other nations... The Zionist regime is seeking baseless pretexts to invade Islamic countries."

Will the world now demand Hezbollah disarm?

The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel's campaign against Lebanon has reinvigorated debate among Hezbollah's Lebanese foes about disarming the group.
The Weekly Standard argued that it is time for Lebanon to make a decision whether or not it will finally disarm Hezbollah.
Dan Darling, The Weekly Standard reminds us that Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist organization, seems determined to maintain its reputation as the world's second most dangerous terrorist group. He added that the September 11 Commission's final report, discussed the cooperation between al Qaeda and Hezbollah's Iranian masters, "In late 1991 or 1992, discussions in Sudan between al Qaeda and Iranian operatives led to an informal agreement... for actions carried out primarily against Israel and the United States."
Dore Gold, The Telegraph reminded us that had UN resolutions on Lebanon been implemented, no Israeli soldiers would have been kidnapped in northern Israel this month and there would be no Hezbollah rockets raining on Israeli civilians. He offers some suggestions what to do next.

Update on the missile attack on an Israeli ship.

FOX News reported that a missile fired by Hezbollah, not an unmanned drone laden with explosives, damaged an Israeli warship off Lebanon. Israeli Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan said "We can confirm that it was hit by an Iranian-made missile launched by Hezbollah."
Reuters reported that the missile was an Iranian-made C802 radar-guided land-to-sea missile with a range of 60 miles.
DEBKAfile reported the attack on one of the Israeli Navy’s state of the art warships, Ahi-Hanit, was thoroughly planned in advance by an enemy which managed to take Israel’s military commanders by surprise.

Why this war is different from other Arab-Israeli wars.

William Kristol, The Weekly Standard considered why is this Arab-Israel war different from all other Arab-Israeli wars? Kristol responds, because it's not an Arab-Israeli war. Its an Iranian war.
The Weekly Standard published a recap of the week's major developments in the Middle East crisis saying this was the week the Dark Side went on the offensive.

Ledeen on the US response to the crisis.

Michael Ledeen, The Corner criticized the US response to the current Middle East crisis saying it was all about "I've called this one, he's called that one, we're talking, talking, talking all the time, not to worry." But we have not heard anything about "seizing the moment." He warned that if we dither through this one, the next one will be worse. Maybe much worse.

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

Newsweek published an interview with Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji.
IranMania reported that Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said India and Pakistan should forget buying Iran's gas at a low price.
The Washington Post reported that Bush failed to win Putin's support for sanctions against Iran's nuclear program.
Xinhua reported that an Iranian official said that the country's leadership was determined to refuse the West's request for a halt of sensitive nuclear activities.