Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [7/02/06 - 7/08/06] 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.

• Yonhapnews.co.kr reported that ten Iranian missile engineers recently visited N. Korea, apparently to join the launch preparation for the long-range Taepodong-2 missile. Apparently, Iran wanted to collect information (on the equipments) in order to determine whether to purchase them from China.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that top Iranian and European envoys will meet Wednesday to discuss "ambiguities" in a package of Western incentives, but the ambiguities shouldn't there since the EU's Solana and Iran's Larijani are "in contact on a daily basis."
• The New York Times reported that Iran again rejected a deadline to respond to an international proposal to end the standoff over its nuclear program.
• Arab News reported that Iran has taken note of the mistakes of Saddam in dealing with the West in its nuclear development, but argues this is also a mis-guided strategy.
• Yahoo News reported that western powers have set July 12 as a deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and agree to talks on its nuclear program or face the threat of U.N. Security Council sanctions.
• ISNA reported that Iran's National Security Council Strategic deputy called the West's continue haste and pressure on Iran to answer the proposed nuclear proposal, suspicious. "Iran will not suspend its nuclear activities and believes that there is no need for negotiations... ."
• Reuters reported that Western diplomats and analysts said the West has no choice but to wait as Tehran plays for time. The latest "deadline" for Iran is July 12.
• Yahoo News reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Iran to accept an international package of incentives aimed at defusing the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program. He added he would like this to happen before next week's Group of Eight industrialized nation's summit in Russia.
• Yahoo News reported that crucial talks due on Wednesday between the European Union and Iran on incentives to a end a nuclear stand-off have been postponed for a week.
• Interactive Investor reported that Iran decided to delay today's meeting in Brussels with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana because of the possible presence in Brussels of an exiled opposition leader, Maryam Rajavi, leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran -- a banned opposition group.
• Yahoo News later reported that Iran postponed key talks in Brussels between its chief nuclear negotiator and the EU foreign policy chief until July 11 for fear of hit squads according to the Iranian news agency.
• Kuwait News Agency reported that the EU's Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana and Iran's Chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani met Thursday to settle the crisis.
• Yahoo News reported that the top Iranian and EU negotiators agreed to meet Thursday night for informal discussions but postponed until next week formal talks.
• Reuters reported Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told reporters he would give a "preliminary" response next week.
• Yahoo News reported that the European Union said talks with Iran late on Thursday on a package of incentives to end a nuclear standoff were constructive and laid the basis for a fuller response by Tehran at a second meeting due next week.
• Reuters reported that Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said he had a "positive impression" of the proposal for Iran to halt nuclear enrichment.
• BBC News reported that an EU official said that talks between the EU and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program have got off to a good start.
• Bloomberg reported that Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Iran won't be held to a deadline over an EU package of economic and political incentives to cease enriching uranium.
• Geostrategy-Direct reported that since Ahmadinejad has said Tehran would submit an answer by Aug. 22, the U.S. intelligence community thinks it may have figured out why Ahmadinejad chose that date.
• The Southern reported that President Bush expressed frustration with the slow pace of diplomacy in dealing with North Korea and Iran.
• Yahoo News reported that Condoleezza Rice spoke with Solana after his meeting with Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani and that "no response to the P5 plus one proposal was given."
• Khaleej Times Online argued that while the crucial talks between the European Union and Iran on Teheran’s nuclear program and incentives aimed at ending the stand-off have been postponed for a week, should Iran lose this opportunity and think that Baghdad and Pyongyang will take care of its problems, it would be making a grave mistake.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that among the missiles that North Korea test-fired this week were short-range Scud-C missiles and intermediate range Rodong missiles North Korea has sold to Iran.
• Bruno Schirra, writing for the German website Die Welt just published a report that the IAEA tried to stop entitled: Atomic Secrets: The man who knew too much. This is the first time the IAEA’s Chief Inspector, Chris Charlier, has spoken out publicly. We have just translated the report.
• IranMania reported that Mohamed Elbaradei said that there was still plenty of time to find a diplomatic solution to the the Iranian nuclear crisis.
• When will El Baradei be forced out of the IAEA? Write your representatives and demand hearings in this now.
  

Tehran's bloody Prosecutor a delegate to the UN's Human Rights body.

• The Japan Times argued that Iran's decision to include Tehran's prosecutor general, Saeed Mortazavi, in that country's delegation to the new United Nations Human Rights Council sends a wrong message and demonstrates the need for a mechanism within the Human Rights Council to prevent a similar thing from happening in the future.

Iran's leaders latest statements.

• Mehran Riazaty reported that the editor of a hard-line Iranian daily Keyhan newspaper, Hossein Shariatmadari, said a new front should be opened against Israel so that "Zionists" no longer feel safe anywhere in the world.
• JTA reported that Ahmadinejad said Israel is a "fabricated regime... I think the only solution would be for those who created it to wrap it up and take it away."
• Safa Haeri, Iran Press Service reported more on Ahmadinejad's statement: "Israel Must Be Removed."
  

Iranian Dissidents.

• Radio Free Europe reported that dissident Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji has threatened to organize a hunger-strike "movement" in several Western cities if the government does not release three Iranian political prisoners and has called on all freedom-loving Iranians and human rights defenders to join him.
  

Iranian leaderships unity weakening?

• Rooz Online reported that even though the leader of the Islamic regime recently formed the Foreign Relations Council of Iran, the actual wording used by the leader regarding the formation of this center is to ‘assist long-term decision" making, not actual decision-making or any executive functions.
• Rooz Online argued that Iran's Supreme Leader's recent decree for reducing the size of the government and selling government stocks and shares in its commercial enterprises is evidence of his grasping for the executive functions of the government. It appears he is trying to follow the Chinese model, but there are problems with this approach.
  

Unrest in Iran.

• Mehr News.ir reported that Iranian Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei saidthat the Intelligence Ministry has devised various strategies to combat internal and external measures taken against Iran’s Islamic system and is closely monitoring foreign "subversives" activities.
• Iran Focus reported that Iran’s State Security Forces (SSF) are setting up several hundred police checkpoints across Tehran. It is believed this is in response to the regime's fear of protests inside Iran starting this coming weekend. July 9th is the anniversary of the 1999 bloody crackdown of the regime against Iranian students. Each year the students have sought to commemorate the crackdown with demonstrations. . Let's hope the Western media is poised to report on any demonstrations this weekend.
  

Rumors of War.

• Symour M. Hersh, The New Yorker published his latest Iran report based on his "anonymous" sources. While he illustrates the problems with the military options in dealing with the Iranian nuclear crisis, he offers few solutions.
  

Human Rights and Freedom of the Press in Iran.

• News.com.au reported that the Iranian intelligence ministry accused prominent Iranian intellectual Ramin Jahanbegloo, who is currently imprisoned, trying to "instigate a velvet and soft revolution in Iran."
• Mehr News.ir reported that Iranian Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei saidthat the Intelligence Ministry has devised various strategies to combat internal and external measures taken against Iran’s Islamic system and is closely monitoring foreign "subversives" activities.
• A petition Online addressed to the United Nations, European Union, and other international bodies asking for help in saving Malek Qorbani from stoning in Iran.
• Rooz Online reported that a week after the banning of the Student Association of Amir Kabir University (a major university student organization in Iran) the student crackdown has been rising. He reported on the many protests throughout Iran.
• Rooz Online reported that a group of students advising President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on student issues was dismissed because of its criticism of the performance of the government in the sphere of higher education. He didn't like being criticized.
• Yahoo News reported that Shirin Ebadi finally demanded the "unconditional" release of all political prisoners, despite official denials that such a category of detainee exists.
  

Support for an internal regime change in Iran.

• Adm. James Lyons, The Washington Times reminded us that over the past 25 years, the regime founded by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini has declared war on the United States several times, the only real solution is the elimination of the current Khamenei regime. How? He argued that we should help the Iranian people eliminate the current regime and take Iran back.
• Telegraph reported that an Iranian student leader, Amir Abbas Fakhravar, who was imprisoned and tortured before fleeing to the United States in May, is to meet Vice-President Dick Cheney and deliver his message about the need for "regime change" in Teheran.
• The Guardian reported that the "children of the Iranian revolution" are resisting the hardline direction of the regime.
• Mercury News reported that an Iranian student leader, Amir Abbas Fakhravar, who was imprisoned for years until he recently fled his homeland arrived in Southern California in hopes of uniting Iranian opposition groups.
• Amir Taheri, Arab News reported that recently Iranian exiles have held a series of meetings, most recently in Berlin and London, to harmonize their activities. The emerging consensus within the opposition appears to be based on at least six points. A must read.
  

Iran's Oil Weapon.

• Iranian.ws reported that Iran will start the initial phase of its planned Iranian oil bourse at the end of September.
  

The Iranian Economy.

• Regnum.ru reported that Tehran is proposing to accelerate construction of Iran-Ukraine oil pipeline.
• The Washington Times reported that while Iran plans to halt gasoline imports and introduce rationing, similar attempts to lift subsidies on key commodities in other countries have sparked widespread unrest.
• Reuters reported that cheap fuel is seen as a national right inside of Iran. Drivers are bitter about the government's assertion that rationing could be imminent. This report explains how this crisis came to be.
• The Financial Times reported that Iran issued an executive order for the privatization of 80 per cent of several state-owned companies. But it unlikely to succeed without massive foreign investment.
• Gulf Times reported that Iran won’t discount the price of its natural gas due to flow through a proposed pipeline to Pakistan and India because of global demand. Europe wants to purchase it instead. Hmmm.
• Rooz Online reported on the signing of an agreement for $7 billion between Iran’s Oil Ministry and a firm belonging to the elite Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps, now the largest business and economic trust in the country. Many fear this new arrangement may again produce the same kind of criminal activities that took place in the past.
• Iranian.ws reported that Iran may run out of gasoline by the end of August, one month earlier than expected.
• Rooz Online reported that although Iran's Supreme Leader has ordered the "privatization" of the Iranian economy, in reality, Iran's "Private Sector" = The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC).
  

Signs of desperation inside of Iran.

• Rooz Online reported how healthy Iranians are selling their Kidney's on the black market in Iran, providing further evidence of the desperate economic conditions there.
• Rooz Online reported on the rise of suicide in Iran, the vast majority from young women. Further evidence of the desperation of Iranian young people.
• Iran Focus reported that the U.S. State Department put Iran among the main countries engaged in human trafficking. The report described Iran as a “source, transit, and destination country for women and girls trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude”.
  

Iran and Iraq.

• World Tribune.com reported that a new Shi'ite insurgency group has emerged in Iraq and has pledged not to attack civilians. The group, called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq-Abbas Brigades, was said to be aligned with Iran and the Lebanese-based Hizbullah. Already the group has pledged to battle the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
• Iran Focus reported that Iraq’s military has launched a new operation to secure the country’s porous border with Iran.
• The New York Times reported that U.S.-led forces arrested a regional commander for a pro-government Shi'ite militia, Adnan al-Unaybi, suspected of smuggling SA-7 surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles and spying for Iran.
• Yahoo News reported on the two-day regional conference on security in Iraq is to open in the Iranian capital Tehran.
  

Can you believe this?

• Adnkronos International reported that a 'nuclear symphony' composed at the request Ahmadinejad will open in Tehran next week. Ahmadinejad has called on Iranian composers to honour with their talent "national pride."
  

Iran and the International community.

• San Francisco Chronicle reported that Iran is using its Shiite bonds to position itself in Lebanon. But not all Shiite's in Lebanon are happy about it.
• Reuters reported that U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said North Korea's test-firing of a long-range missile may have been aimed at stealing the nuclear spotlight away from Iran.
• Time Magazine asked: Will Hizballah Go To War for Iran?
• Mehran Riazaty pondered why some 60,888 Iranian tourists visited Lebanon in the first half of 2006.
  

US Government on Iran.

• George W. Bush, WhiteHouse.gov in his weekly radio address said: "Today, all who live in tyranny and all who yearn for freedom can know that America stands with them."
  

Must Read reports.

• Joel Mowbray, The Washington Times reported that in a stunning move, Karen Hughes sided with the Democratic members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors earlier this month in shooting down the Republicans' preferred candidate to head up U.S. radio services who would like to return to the principles that proved so effective during the Cold War, namely targeting key decision makers with serious programming laced with the values and ideals inherent to free societies. What's up with Karen?
• The Wall Street Journal reminded us of the history of North Korea efforts to sell missile technology to Iran and the problem our these nations developing nuclear weapons.
• Bruno Schirra, writing for the German website Die Welt just published a report that the IAEA tried to stop entitled: Atomic Secrets: The man who knew too much. This is the first time the IAEA’s Chief Inspector, Chris Charlier, has spoken out publicly. We have just translated the report.
• Rooz Online reported that while Ahmadinejad claims to be battling corruption in the Iranian regime, his brother has been accused of embezzling $2 Million dollars in contracts with the IRGC. His brother is currently the head of the president’s inspector's office whose responsibility is to track and investigate government corruption and fraud.
  

The Experts.

• Michael Herzog, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy published a report on.
• Amir Taheri, Gulf News reported on the future of coalition in Iraq.
• Michael Rubin, The National Review Online reviewed the reasons for the failure of US and international efforts to find diplomatic solutions for North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.
• Amir Taheri, Arab News reported that recently Iranian exiles have held a series of meetings, most recently in Berlin and London, to harmonize their activities. The emerging consensus within the opposition appears to be based on at least six points. A must read.
• Michael Rubin, Bitter Lemons International, while critical of the Bush administrations equivocation about its democratization policy, warned that the Islamic Republic's leadership would not likely survive should it push the White House into conflict over Israel or, for that matter, over Washington's allies in the Persian Gulf.
  

Photos, cartoons and videos.

• Rooz Online published a cartoon of Ahmadinejad "sleeping on the job."
• Current TV published a video cartoon: "Iran: Deal Or No Deal?" A little humor.
  

The Quote of the Week.

JTA reported that Ahmadinejad said Israel is a

"fabricated regime... I think the only solution would be for those who created it to wrap it up and take it away."