Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [2/13/06 -2/19/06] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance) READ MORE

Iran's Nuclear Program - The IAEA Reports Iran to the UN Security Council.

• CNN News reported that inspectors from the IAEA stripped most surveillance cameras and agency seals from Iranian nuclear sites and equipment as demanded by Tehran.
• Nasdaq reported that France's prime minister said: Europe is still willing to negotiate with Iran if it suspends all sensitive nuclear activities, adding: This is not about starting a push for regime change in Iran.
• Tehran Times reported that the second round of nuclear talks between Iran and Russia concerning a joint uranium enrichment project has been canceled.
• The Times reported that Iran has started to inject uranium feedstock gas into centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility, crossing an internationally agreed "red line" on the path to producing the material for atomic weapons.
• Reuters reported that Iran said talks with Russia this week to discuss proposals to process nuclear fuel for Iranian reactors on Russian soil had been postponed, not canceled.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel is confident neither Russia nor China will block the implementation of UNSC sanctions. It revealed the sanctions being discussed.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that Putin spoke with Angela Merkel about Iran and "Both sides expressed satisfaction with the high level of mutual understanding and emphasized the intention for continuing close coordination."
• Itar-Tass News Agency reported that Russia and France have made a joint statement, which calls on Iran to suspend the uranium enrichment process. “Russia and France are determined to resolve concerns about the Iranian nuclear program consequences for non-proliferation.”
• Yuri Zarakhovich, Time was less optimistic, saying: Moscow seeks cash and cachet from its interventions in the nuclear crisis. But it may end up isolated, unpaid and under threat.
• Rooz Online reported that according to their sources Russian and China have been offered deals that now put them in opposition to Iran's hardliners.
• The Washington Times reported that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned President Bush not to "escalate" tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that once again, Britain's foreign minister said the standoff with Iran over the country's nuclear program could only be resolved by diplomacy.
• Reuters reported that Tehran confirmed it had restarted work on uranium enrichment, but said it would take some time to crank up to industrial-scale production.
• ABC News reported that Iran's actions are reminiscent of N. Korea's.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that while the E.U. told Iran it wants to normalize relations, it reiterated Tehran's nuclear ambitions and shaky human rights record were making that impossible.
• Times reported that the leader of Britain's Tories said: attacks on Iran must remain an option.
• Yahoo News reported that U.S. senator Brownback said Russia and China have too much riding on commercial relations with Iran to help the West in curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
• Iran Press News reported that an MP of the Islamic regime said: "The Russians are just as scary as the rest of the west & even the U.S."
• Xinhuanet reported Iran officially notified Russia of plans to send a delegation to Moscow on Monday, February 20th, for nuclear talks.
• Scotsman reported that acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Iran's president is obsessed with hatred of the Jews and must be stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Iran poses a "central threat" to the Jewish state, adding that "Iran's plan is to engulf or destroy Israel in three ways."
• The Christian Science Monitor reported that once Iran masters the difficult technique of uranium enrichment, a nuclear bomb is not far away.
• The New Press reported that Ahmadinejad visited the Natanz uranium enrichment plant Wednesday, widely seen as a gesture of support and a morale boost for scientists involved.
• ABC News reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow will only host Iran's uranium enrichment program if Tehran agrees to re-impose an indefinite freeze on enrichment at home.
• RIA Novosti reported that Russia's most senior military officer said that a military escalation of the situation around Iran's controversial nuclear program was a possibility. "I do not rule [it] out, but military action is not the best option."
• Yahoo News reported that the House of Representatives, by a vote of 404 to four, passed a resolution condemning the government of Iran for resuming its nuclear program.
• Reuters reported that French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Iran was pursuing a clandestine military nuclear program. "No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. So it is a clandestine Iranian military nuclear program."
• Spiegel Online reported that while the West is quietly mulling the possibility of a military strike on Iran. The question of using force against the mullahs in Tehran is threatening to split the German government.
• Memri reported that extremist clerics from Qom, Iran had issued "a new fatwa," which states that "the shari'a does not forbid the use of nuclear weapons."
• Inter Press Service reported what to expect from the meeting between the Iranian and Russian governments in Moscow which may be the last chance for diplomacy before international sanctions.
• FOX News reported that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said the talks will be difficult and their outcome impossible to predict.
• Iran Press News translated a Le Monde report that "While Moscow says it is making an attempt to get the regime in Tehran to accept Russia's proposal for the enrichment of Uranium on Russian soil, Russian arms companies are involved in transaction and sales of arms to the Islamic regime."
• BBC News reported that US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice accused Tehran of being the central banker for terrorism around the world.
• Reuters reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged reluctant Arab nations to threaten to isolate Iran unless it bows to international pressure on the nuclear issue.
• Expatica reported that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the German government suspected Iran was seeking to build nuclear weapons.
• CNN News reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss Iran.
• Xinhuanet reported that Mohammed ElBaradei suggested a compromise on the Iranian nuclear issue, allowing Iran to conduct small-scale enrichment work. The Iranians welcomed this idea.
• Reuters reported that U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said: Delaying action against Iran's suspected nuclear capabilities allows Tehran to increase its uranium enrichment knowledge and step up threats of withholding oil.
• Asharq Alawsat reported that French President Jacques Chirac said France's position on Iran's nuclear program has not changed following the comments by his foreign minister this week that Iran's program was a cover for secret military activity.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that recently several German companies are under investigation for alleged involvement in Iran's disputed nuclear program.
• The Telegraph reported that Iran's hard-line spiritual leaders have issued an unprecedented new fatwa, or holy order, sanctioning the use of atomic weapons against its enemies.
  

Tehran Bus Strike - Growing International Support.

• Nick Cohen, The Observer explained: Why the Striking Bus Drivers in Tehran are the real defenders of Muslim rights.
• The International Transport Workers Federation labor movement around the world is calling for an International Day of Protest over Tehran Bus Company Union - February 15, 2006.
• Iran Press News reported that the bus drivers union of Tehran sent a heartrending message to French Unions asking for solidarity and assistance.
• The Washington Post reported that labor unions in 18 capitals, including Washington, were taking part in demonstrations outside Iranian embassies and interest sections to protest the coercive treatment of bus drivers in Tehran.
• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that despite being ordered not to talk to the international media by the court, the wives of the country's striking bus drivers are appealing for food and money to support their families.
• Iran Press News reported that several of the detained bus driver’s union members were released on bail but warned against giving any interviews.
• Iran Press News reported that the new general manager of the Greater Tehran bus drivers company is offering new promises to the Tehran Bus Drivers.
  

Regime Attacks Sufi's.

• IranMania reported that clashes broke out between members of the Sufi sect and Iranian police in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Qom, when security forces used tear gas to break up the protest after local authorities decided to close the Sufi centre. Photos.
• Loes Bijnen, The Hague provided a Special Report from on the attack of the Sufi's in Iran.
• Reuters reported that Iranian police have arrested around 1,000 people in the central seminary city of Qom after violent clashes over the closure of a house of worship used by mystical Sufi Muslims, adding that 200 people were hurt.
• Rooz Online reported that a peaceful three-day sit-in of Nematollahi dervishes (Sufi's) in the religious city of Qom turned violent as police and plain-clothes forces arrested, rounded up and injured tens of the dervishes.
• Iran Press News provided an excellent report on the attack on the Sufi's.
• Iran Press News added that the regime alleged that "every one of the 500 arrested were armed with guns and knives and were dangerous." But the Sufi's are well known for their peaceful and non-violent ways.
• Iran Press News added that the Islamic regimes bulldozers destroyed the Sufi house of worship.
• Radio Free Europe reported that the scale and violence against Iran's Sufi minority "is unheard of."
  

Iranian Leaders On the Offensive.

• The New York Times reported that Ahmadinejad in a speech to tens of thousands of demonstrators he said: "I ask our dear people to prepare themselves for a great struggle." "Fasten your seat belts and pull up your sleeves."
• Khaleej Times reported that the European Union condemned the latest remarks by Ahmadinejad about Israel, in which he said that the Palestinians and “other nations” would eventually remove the Jewish state.
• Yahoo News reported that Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, said: "The repressive actions of the Zionist regime against the Palestinians are worse than the Holocaust."
• Iran Press News reported that Khamnei's newspaper calls for suicide bombings in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe.
• Iran Focus reported that a senior commander of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) vowed that the Islamic Republic’s suicide volunteers abroad were being placed on readiness alert to attack Unites States and Israeli interests.
• Iran Press News reported that Ahmadinejad website site called for abandoning security for various embassies in Tehran.
• Memri reported that extremist clerics from Qom, Iran had issued "a new fatwa," which states that "the shari'a does not forbid the use of nuclear weapons."
• Reuters reported that Iran's foreign minister called on Britain to pull its troops out of the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
• SundayTimes.za reported that British Prime Minister Tony Blair dismissed the Iranian demand as a tactic to try to divert attention from concerns over Tehran's nuclear program.
• The Telegraph reported that Iran's hard-line spiritual leaders have issued an unprecedented new fatwa, or holy order, sanctioning the use of atomic weapons against its enemies.
• Evening Echo News reported that a gathering of Iranians who claim the are dedicated to becoming suicide bombers warned the United States and Britain today of attacks on coalition military bases in Iraq if there were a strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
  

Rumors of War.

• The Telegraph reported that a major American attack on Iran's nuclear sites would kill up to 10,000 people and lead to war in the Middle East.
• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that Secretary of State Rice declined to deny that America has recently stepped up its planning to bomb suspected Iranian nuclear facilities.
• Monsters & Critics reported that Germany`s government is bickering over a possible military strike on Iran.
• Xinhuanet reported that Bulgaria as a NATO member will join a possible strike on Iran.
• Azerbaijani TV station ANS reported that the Azerbaijani-Iranian border is being reinforced in connection with a possible US attack on Iran.
• MosNews reported that Russian political expert Mikhail Delyagin is convinced: the U.S. will launch a missile attack against Iran this summer.
  

More Calls for an Internal Regime Change in Iran.

• Sarah Baxter, The Sunday Times reported that neoconservatives are urging President Bush to boost internal dissent and opposition forces within the Islamic regime.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that US officials stationed in Baku said: "The Azeris in Iran could possibly lead a coup and assist in overthrowing the current regime there."
• Nazenin Ansari, Open Democracy reported that Iran is on freedoms path. An interesting read.
• Count Down argued that the way out of this crisis is a concerted campaign to oust the regime.
• Yahoo News reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: The US administration will ask Congress for another 75 million dollars to boost democracy in Iran amid growing concern over Tehran's nuclear program.
• The Financial Times reported that the Bush administration announced a significant toughening of its policy towards Iran, but did not specifically use the words “regime change”.
• The State Department then published a Fact Sheet on how they plan to use the funds.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com examined the problems of current American broadcasts into Iran and what needs to be done to correct the problems. A must read.
• Times Online also reported that America has dramatically increased its funding for Iranian human rights groups and dissidents.
• Reuters reported that Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said: "They (the West) are trying to terrify us with a scarecrow called the Security Council. We are not scared ... They will be harmed more than Iran if they act unwisely."
• Iran Press News reported that the Islamic regime is assisting Venezuela with its allegedly peaceful nuclear technology.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran is trying to conclude a major deal with China before potential sanctions are imposed by the UNSC.
• The Wall Street Journal argued that while the $85 million the US plans to devote to democracy promotion in Iran is not enough, it is a positive step.
• CBS Broadcasting reported that while the US wants to fund Iranian pro-democracy efforts, the State Department acknowledged the difficulty of launching and supporting some of these programs, because the Iranian regime is very good at infiltrating them.
• Zaman Online reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Manucher Mouttaqi called the US administration’s earmarking of $75 million to finance opposition in Iran "a waste of money".
• NewsPress reported that Iran is seeking to use the media in Afghanistan to undermine US efforts there.
  

The Cartoon Unrest.

• Yahoo News reported that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said violent protests in the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad could "spin out of control" if governments refuse to act responsibly.
• Forbes reported that Iran rejected Condoleezza Rice's charge of inflaming violence saying she should apologize.
• The Associated Press reported that an Iranian newspaper's contest for cartoons about the Holocaust, launched Monday in response to a series of caricatures about the Prophet Mohammed, has already drawn at least one entry.
• Reuters reported that about 200 demonstrators threw stones, firecrackers and at least two petrol bombs at the German and British embassies in Iran.
• Rooz Online reported that hardline bloggers in Iran claimed that Baseej Embassy attackers confessed that its leadership aided in the planning of the attacks.
• The Guardian reported that Iran demands an apology over a German cartoon.
• Chicago Sun Times reported that as a result of the uproar over the Danish cartoons, when Iranians, who love Danish pastries, look for the flaky dessert at the bakery they now have to ask for ''Roses of the Prophet Muhammad.''
• DW-World.de reported that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks calling the Holocaust into question have disappointed Muslims in Germany who remind us that at Auschwitz, 200,000 Muslims were also murdered there.
  

Iran's Dissidents.

• National Review Online published a conversation with Iranian Dissident Fakhravar.
• Iran Press News reported that a political prisoner in danger of being executed in Rejaiishahr prison in Tehran suburb of Karadj.
• Iran Press News reported that an Iraqi cleric was spurred by the Islamic regime to misrepresent dissident Ayatollah Montazeri's mental health.
• Radio Free Europe reported that Iranian opposition figure Hojat Zamani has been executed.
• Reporters Without Borders expressed concern over reports that imprisoned journalist Elham Afrotan was in a coma after a suicide attempt.
• Iran Press News also reported on Ehlam Afroutan adding that the regime's interrogators tortured and gang-raped her before she slipped into a coma and is said to have died.
  

The Unrest inside of Iran.

• Iran Press News reported that two hundred of the 620 miners from Sangrood (Province of Gilan) who have not been paid for an entire year made their way to Tehran to protest.
• SMCCDI reported that a fire of an unknown origin destroyed parts of the Tehran's Oil Refinery and there are suspicions that it was the result of sabotage.
  

Human Rights/Religious and Press Freedom inside of Iran.

• Reuters reported that Iran said it would continue to block the BBC's Persian-language Web site until Britain's public service broadcaster changed its "anti-Iranian tendency, " adding that the site was read by about one third of Iran's 7 million Internet users.
• Iran Press News reported that Mohammad Djaroui, warden of ward 6 of Gowhardasht prison; said: ‘In the case of the regimes referral to the Security Council each and every one of you will be put to death.’
• Kamangir, Archer reported on another victim of the regime commits suicide[?]: Elham Afrootan.
• The International Women's Day in Tehran ask people to join them in a peaceful march - March 8th. See poster.
• Rooz Online reported that after Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) instructed the Iranian media not to portray the country’s referral by the IAEA to the UN Security Council as a diplomatic failure, it has sent out another circular asking the press not to criticize Iran’s nuclear issue.
• Amnesty International reported that since Iran's new president came to power human rights violations remain widespread and the new government has failed to take any action to address the situation.
• Rooz Online provided more details on the unconfirmed reports about the suicide of Elham Afroutan, arrested for publishing an article insulting to Iranian hard-line government officials.
• Iran Press News reported on the firing and flogging of Iranian University Professors.
  

Iran's Economy.

• Rooz Online reported "dangerous" is the word that the Majlis Research Committee on the budget has used to explain Ahmadinejad's budget.
• Rooz Online reported that Ahmadinejad has ordered government agencies to limit the country's economic relations with Europe.
  

Iran's Military.

• Iran Press News reported on the widespread fear and distress among the Islamic regimes armed forces at the likelihood of a military strike.
  

Iran and the International community.

• Daily Star reported that Druze MP Walid Jumblatt attacked Hizbullah, saying it is "an armed force which controls the lawless South and which serves the best interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
• Reuters reported that Iran is open to helping Venezuela develop nuclear technology.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that Saudi Arabia is in sensitive talks with Iran.
• Iran Focus reported that a senior delegation from the radical Palestinian group Hamas will travel to Tehran on Monday to meet and hold talks with senior Iranian officials.
• News Channel 15 reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran not to fund Hamas.
  

Can you believe this?

• Yahoo Newsreported that even former US vice president Al Gore lashed out at Iran's clerical regime, denouncing it as a threat "for the future of the world."
• Contactmusic News reported that the religious edict condemning author Salman Rushdie to death for his controversial novel The Satanic Verses will remain "forever", Iran's official news agency reports.
• The Associated Press reported that House Republican Henry Hyde questioned the wisdom and potential effectiveness of American efforts to spread democracy.
  

Insight into the Iranian People.

• Reutersreported that Iran's Jews have sharply criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust, saying his remarks have sparked fears.
• Ladane Nasser, PBS reported that for Iran's young population, celebrating a solemn religious holiday while also gearing up for the excitement of Valentine's Day created an enthralling cultural dichotomy on the streets of Tehran last week. An interesting read.
  

Must Read reports.

• Opinion Journal argued that a better response to Iran's threats is to invite Israel into NATO.
• William R. Hawkins, The Washington Times thinks that in referring Iran to the UNSC, the US is walking into a trap.
• USA Today reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to USA TODAY's Barbara Slavin in an hour-long interview.
• USAToday reported on a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll which found that Americans are deeply worried about the possibility that Iran will develop nuclear weapons and use them, they also fear that the Bush administration will act prematurely, but also that the United States won't do enough.
• The Wall Street Journal argued that as Iran plays a growing role in Iraq, it is complicating Bush's strategy for the Middle East.
• Mort Kondracke, RealClear Politics argued that Iran, Iraq, and Hamas make 2006 the year of crisis for President Bush.
• The Christian Science Monitor reported that once Iran masters the difficult technique of uranium enrichment, a nuclear bomb is not far away.
• Radio Free Europe reported on an interview with Dr Mohsen Sazegara who argued that Iran's return to revolutionary values is temporary.
• Ha'aretz reported that while the Iranian government appears confident, all is not well with the regime.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that the Iranian threat to the international financial sector is finally getting the world's attention.
• Dan Darling, The Weekly Standard published a must read review of the ties of Iran and Al Qaeda, based on the 9/11 Commission Report and major mainstream US and European sources.
• DW-World.de reported that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks calling the Holocaust into question have disappointed Muslims in Germany who remind us that at Auschwitz, 200,000 Muslims were also murdered there.
  

The Experts.

• Amir Taheri, The New York Post warned Western leaders, how Neo-Islam is hijacking Islam around the world and most dangerously in the West.
• Mehdi Khalaji, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy reported on the miscommunication between Iranian Society and the West on Iran's nuclear program. A must read.
• Michael Ledeen, National Review Online reported on how the leaders of the Iranian regime see the West’s strength and resolve and why they appear so confident. A must read.
• Mahan Abedin, Asia Times examined a key question, whether Ahmadinejad and his inner circle believe that military confrontation serves their long-term political and socio-economic agenda.
• Victor Davis Hanson, National Review Online gave six good reasons why Iran should not have nuclear weapons.
• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat reported that Iran is seeking censorship in "The Name of Dialogue."
  

Photos, cartoons and videos.

• Photos of Washington DC Union's support for Tehran Strikers.
• Photos of the attack of the Sufi's in Qom by security forces.
  

And finally, The Quote of the Week.

The New York Times reported that Ahmadinejad in a speech to tens of thousands of demonstrators he said:

"I ask our dear people to prepare themselves for a great struggle." "Fasten your seat belts and pull up your sleeves."

Sunday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 2.19.2006:

ElBaradei Tries to Undo Western Unity on Iran?

• Xinhuanet reported that Mohammed ElBaradei suggested a compromise on the Iranian nuclear issue, allowing Iran to conduct small-scale enrichment work. The Iranians welcomed this idea.

Western Nations Hold Firm on Iran.

• Reuters reported that U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said: Delaying action against Iran's suspected nuclear capabilities allows Tehran to increase its uranium enrichment knowledge and step up threats of withholding oil.
• Asharq Alawsat reported that French President Jacques Chirac said France's position on Iran's nuclear program has not changed following the comments by his foreign minister this week that Iran's program was a cover for secret military activity.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that recently several German companies are under investigation for alleged involvement in Iran's disputed nuclear program.

Iran's Nuclear Fatwa, revised?

• The Telegraph reported that Iran's hard-line spiritual leaders have issued an unprecedented new fatwa, or holy order, sanctioning the use of atomic weapons against its enemies.

Hamas Leaders To Arrive in Tehran, Monday. Seeking $?

• Iran Focus reported that a senior delegation from the radical Palestinian group Hamas will travel to Tehran on Monday to meet and hold talks with senior Iranian officials.
• News Channel 15 reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran not to fund Hamas.

Responses to US Plans to Fund Pro-Democracy Efforts in Iran.

• CBS Broadcasting reported that while the US wants to fund Iranian pro-democracy efforts, the State Department acknowledged the difficulty of launching and supporting some of these programs, because the Iranian regime is very good at infiltrating them.
• Zaman Online reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Manucher Mouttaqi called the US administration’s earmarking of $75 million to finance opposition in Iran "a waste of money".
• NewsPress reported that Iran is seeking to use the media in Afghanistan to undermine US efforts there.

Iran Protects Al Qaeda.

• Dan Darling, The Weekly Standard published a must read review of the ties of Iran and Al Qaeda, based on the 9/11 Commission Report and major mainstream US and European sources.

Sabotage in Tehran?

• SMCCDI reported that a fire of an unknown origin destroyed parts of the Tehran's Oil Refinery and there are suspicions that it was the result of sabotage.

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

• DW-World.de reported that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks calling the Holocaust into question have disappointed Muslims in Germany who remind us that at Auschwitz, 200,000 Muslims were also murdered there.
• Evening Echo News reported that a gathering of Iranians who claim the are dedicated to becoming suicide bombers warned the United States and Britain today of attacks on coalition military bases in Iraq if there were a strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat reported that Iran is seeking censorship in "The Name of Dialogue."

Fire destroys parts of Tehran's Oil Refinery

SMCCDI (Information Service):

A fire of an unknown origin destroyed parts of the Capital's Oil Refinery, on Saturday morning, despite the existing security measures.

Officials are attributing the fire to a leak in one of the master cylinders of the facility. But suspicion exists on the sabotage of part of the installation due to the increasing deterioration of the conditions in Iran.

Tens of fire trucks and hundreds of fire workers and security forces' members rushed to the area in order to block the accesses and to extinguish the fire. READ MORE

The today's incident follows another strange one which happened, on Thursday, due to the 'accident' of an oil tanker on the "Karaj-Ghazvin" highway. It resulted in road blocks and a heavy traffic jam following the intervention of hundreds of security force's members and fire workers.

Official sources are confessing that a 'tragedy' was avoided due to the rapid intervention of emergency forces as the tanker was carrying thousands of liters of fuel.

Senior Hamas delegation to visit Iran on Monday

Iran Focus: a pro-MEK website

A senior delegation from the radical Palestinian group Hamas will travel to Tehran on Monday to meet and hold talks with senior Iranian officials including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the news agency Fars, run by the Office of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reported Saturday evening. READ MORE

The chief of Hamas’ political bureau Khalid Mash’al will lead the delegation to Tehran, the report said.

In January, while in Damascus, Ahmadinejad told Mash’al, “If the occupiers stay on even one inch of Palestinian soil, the goal of Palestine will not be realised”.

“We must not let our guard down now for even one moment against the enemies’ plots. Belittling the goal of Palestine is a great plot that the enemies are after”, he said.

In December, Mash’al met and held talks with Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran. During the meeting, Khamenei dismissed the United States-backed roadmap to peace in the Middle East and called for “resistance” against the state of Israel as the only path to “liberation” in the troubled region.

“The only way to ensure the liberation of Palestine and the future of its people is continued resistance along with force, unity, and adherence to Islam's statutes”, Khamenei said.

“Experience of the past 50 years shows that surrender the face of the Zionist occupiers and negotiations with them will only make the situation worse”, the Supreme Leader added.

He said that he hoped that “Palestinian resistance groups” would force the “occupiers” out of Jerusalem.

“Despite its false superficial show of force, the United States has been met with defeat in the Middle East and is in the process of retreating. Palestinian people and resistance groups must take this situation into consideration and vigilantly continue in their path of Jihad”, Khamenei added.

It is interesting that the regime schedule this meeting on the day the world will be focused on the negotiation with Iran in Moscow.

Iran's Rhetoric on Holocaust Anger German Muslims

DW-World.de:

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks calling the Holocaust into question have disappointed Muslims in Germany, who do not share his anti-Semitic views.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called the massacre on six million Jews during the Nazi dictatorship a "myth." His statements may have provoked outrage around the world, but neo-Nazi and radical Islamic groups found in Ahmadinejad a new spokesperson.

Not all Muslims, however, share Ahmadinejad's anti-Semitic views.

Journalist Mohammed Salim Abdullah, a prominent figure at the Islamic Archives Foundation of Germany, firmly believes that Iranian president Ahmadinejad's suggestion that the Holocaust did not occur is scandalous.

The members of the Islamic Archives, which was established in 1927, say it is the oldest of its kind in Germany. The institute was destroyed during World War II, and then rebuilt after the war. Abdullah describes the work of the foundation as historical documentation.

"We research the history of Islam in Germany and publish a 40-50 page study each year," he said. "We encourage dialogue with other religions, just as the Koran tells us to do -- dialogue with Jews and Christians. We also try to help persecuted minorities," he said.

Muslims suffered under Hitler

Holocoust denial is an offense against Muslims as wellBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Holocoust denial is an offense against Muslims as well

Abdullah says Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments about the Holocaust are not only an affront to Jews, but to the Sinti, Roma and Arabs who were also murdered under Hitler. Furthermore, Abdullah said, such statements by Ahmadinejad are damaging to the reputation of other Muslims.

Abdullah suggested that Ahmadinejad travel himself to the former Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. There, he would see not only where millions of Jews were killed, but also many Muslims.

"I thought it would be a good idea for him to go there and see all of the fences and feel the atmosphere," Abdullah said.

"He should keep in mind that in the so-called 'gypsy camp' at Auschwitz, 200,000 Roma Muslims from South-East Europe died. A lot of Arabs who came from North Africa to Germany were also killed there. This part of history has never been addressed in Islamic society. There are no monuments about it, nothing," he said. READ MORE

A forgotten history

Arab history and school books also make no mention of the Holocaust. The Islamic Archives Foundation in Germany, however, is trying to change that.

"For the first time ever, the Central Council of Sinti and Roma in Germany invited us to pray with them. We also offered them a wreath to commemorate the tens of thousands of Muslims who were killed by the Nazis at Auschwitz," Abdullah said.

Abdullah believes that Iranian president Ahmadinejad is deliberately trying to mislead Iranians to serve his own political agenda. Abdullah sees it as a technique to distract Iranians from domestic issues by lying about historical events.

"It is incredibly sad when an Islamic leader uses the martyrs who died (in the camp) for his own political purposes," he said.

Mouttaqi Asks US not to Waste its Money on Iran

Zaman Online:

The American administration’s earmarking of $75 million to finance opposition in Iran has been interpreted by Iranian Foreign Minister Manucher Mouttaqi as "a waste of money".

The minister told IRNA news agency that if one looks at American history, it can easily be seen that such measures do not work out.

Mouttaqi suggested the administration in Washington to use this money for more important projects that American people can benefit from. READ MORE

The US administration asked the Congress a $75 million supplementary budget for "strengthening democracy in Iran".

Diplomatic relations between Iran and the United Stated were damaged after the 1979 Revolution in Iran.

Iran hails IAEA chief's suggestion on enrichment

Xinhuanet:

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Saturday hailed as "a step forward" a recent suggestion to allow Iran to perform small-scale uranium enrichment by the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief to break the deadlock over the issue.

"We welcome our friend's positive view toward the issue of enrichment inside Iran and regard it as a step forward," Mottaki said.

Some western media recently quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had recently expressed worry that it would be hard to reach a compromise on the Iranian nuclear issue unless the Islamic Republic is allowed to conduct small-scale enrichment work. READ MORE

According to ElBaradei, a deal could be made by permitting Iran to operate a pilot enrichment plant for small-scale work in exchange for Tehran's withdrawal from industrial-scale enrichment.

Mottaki said Iran was ready to continue negotiations on the compromise plan and was determined to find "a suitable formula for building confidence on Iran's peaceful nuclear activities that would at the same time preserve its nuclear right."

"We find the view that upholds enrichment in Iran as a step forward. Iran is ready to continue talks with its friends to reach a comprehensive formula," Mottaki stressed.

On Friday, the Iranian Embassy in France said in a statement that Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani had made a new proposal on guaranteeing the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities.

According to the statement, Larijani told French media that the guarantees could be provided by Iran's admittance of IAEA's inspections and the appliance of centrifuges which are restricted to produce low-enriched uranium.

The statement also said in case the new proposal be accepted, Iran would submit the additional protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to the Majlis (Parliament) for ratification, which the Iranian government signed in late 2003 but failed to be approved by the Majlis.

Tensions over Iran's nuclear program reached a critical stage after Tehran took retaliative measures recently in reaction to the decision of the IAEA board of governors on Feb. 4 to report its nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council.

Iran has suspended what it defined as "voluntary measures" to build confidence, ceasing the implementation of the additional protocol and resuming some small-scale uranium enrichment work for research purpose.

Uranium enrichment is a key step for constructing nuclear fuel cycle, but highly enriched uranium can be used for building nuclear weapons.

Iran and Russia will hold negotiations on Monday in Moscow to discuss a Russian proposal that the two countries establish a joint venture in Russia to enrich uranium for Iran.

Iran has vowed that it must enrich uranium on its own soil but said Moscow's proposal is negotiable.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, and the European Union holds that Iran's full mastery of nuclear fuel cycle technology will possibly lead to military usage.

However, Iran rejects the allegation as politically motivated, insisting that its nuclear program is fully peaceful and aimed at meeting rising domestic demand for electricity.

Delays in action on Iran could hurt - Bolton

Evelyn Leopold, Reuters:

Delaying action against Iran's suspected nuclear capabilities allows Tehran to increase its uranium enrichment knowledge and step up threats of withholding oil, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said on Friday. READ MORE

In a compromise reached February 4, countries on the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency called for the Iranian controversy to be referred to the U.N. Security Council by March 6.

Bolton, this month's council president and a longtime critic of Iran's nuclear activities, was asked about the significance of a one- or two-month delay in taking action.

"It allows them to increase the sophistication and extent of their knowledge about enrichment activities," he said. "And it gives them time to make use of the oil weapon, which they have with a number of countries that have high and growing energy demands."

IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei is to report to the council in March on Iran's response to demands that it suspend its enrichment activities and cooperate with the agency.

Iran and Russia plan talks on Monday on Moscow's proposal to enrich uranium on Iran's behalf, thereby helping to alleviate fears that Tehran was trying to divert atomic fuel for bomb-making.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the talks and said if the crisis is not resolved, it will have "negative consequences for regional and international security and for the future of the nuclear nonproliferation regime itself."

He said he expected Tehran would use the Moscow talks "to take the necessary steps to rebuild confidence that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes."

The Security Council probably will not have the votes to impose severe sanctions on Iran but could take lesser steps, such as a diplomatic embargo or strengthening the inspection powers of the IAEA.

Nevertheless, Iran has struggled against a council referral, presumably because it would give it a pariah status.

Bolton said the United States and European negotiators were contemplating a number of steps he did not disclose.

This week, Iran restarted work at its pilot enrichment plant at Natanz after a 2 1/2-year suspension. Natanz is 100 feet (30 metres) underground and encased in concrete.

Hans Blix, former head of the IAEA, also recently questioned Iran's motives, saying its aims to seek self-reliance in nuclear fuel could "hardly be economic."

"Sweden, which has 10 nuclear power reactors, finds it more economic to import low enriched uranium than to do the enrichment itself," he wrote in the online magazine Maxim.

Iranian fatwa approves use of nuclear weapons

Colin Freeman and Philip Sherwell, The Telegraph:

Iran's hardline spiritual leaders have issued an unprecedented new fatwa, or holy order, sanctioning the use of atomic weapons against its enemies.

In yet another sign of Teheran's stiffening resolve on the nuclear issue, influential Muslim clerics have for the first time questioned the theocracy's traditional stance that Sharia law forbade the use of nuclear weapons. READ MORE

One senior mullah has now said it is "only natural" to have nuclear bombs as a "countermeasure" against other nuclear powers, thought to be a reference to America and Israel.

The pronouncement is particularly worrying because it has come from Mohsen Gharavian, a disciple of the ultra-conservative Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, who is widely regarded as the cleric closest to Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Nicknamed "Professor Crocodile" because of his harsh conservatism, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi's group opposes virtually any kind of rapprochement with the West and is believed to have influenced President Ahmadinejad's refusal to negotiate over Iran's nuclear programme.

The comments, which are the first public statement by the Yazdi clerical cabal on the nuclear issue, will be seen as an attempt by the country's religious hardliners to begin preparing a theological justification for the ownership - and if necessary the use - of atomic bombs.

They appeared on Rooz, an internet newspaper run by members of Iran's fractured reformist movement, which picked them up from remarks by Mohsen Gharavian reported on the media agency IraNews.

Rooz reported that Mohsen Gharavian, a lecturer based in a religious school in the holy city of Qom, had declared "for the first time that the use of nuclear weapons may not constitute a problem, according to Sharia."

He also said: "When the entire world is armed with nuclear weapons, it is permissible to use these weapons as a counter-measure. According to Sharia too, only the goal is important."

Mohsen Gharavian did not specify what kinds of "goals" would justify a nuclear strike, but it is thought that any military intervention by the United States would be considered sufficient grounds. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi has previously justified use of suicide bombers against "enemies of Islam" and believes that America is bent on destroying the Islamic republic and its values. The latest insight into the theocracy's thinking comes as the US signals a change in strategy on Iran, after the decision earlier this month to report it to the United Nations Security Council for its resumption of banned nuclear research.

While Washington has made it clear that military strikes on Iran's nuclear sites would be a "last resort", White House officials are also targeting change from within by funding Iranian opposition groups.

The secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, said the Bush administration would seek an extra $75 million (£43 million) from Congress to help to support Iran's fractured pro-democracy movement and fund Farsi-language satellite broadcasts.

The announcement is the clearest public indication that Washington has adopted a two-track approach to Iran, combining the diplomatic search for a united international condemnation of its illicit nuclear programme with efforts to undermine the regime's status.

The new tactic amounts to the pursuit of regime change by peaceful means, although that phrase is still not stated as official US policy. Washington hopes that a dedicated satellite channel beamed into Iran will encourage domestic dissent, such as the current strike by bus drivers - the most significant display of organised opposition since the 1999 and 2003 student protests.

Ms Rice unveiled the change of tactics a week after a visit to Washington by a senior British delegation that pressed for a co-ordinated Western policy on using satellite television and the internet to bolster internal opposition. The State Department had previously been wary of the two-track strategy.

As the Sunday Telegraph reported last week, Pentagon strategists have been updating plans for a another policy of "last resort" - blitzing Iranian nuclear sites in an effort to stop the regime gaining the atomic bomb.

The bus strike, which has led to the jailing of more than 1,000 drivers, was originally sparked by an industrial dispute over unpaid wages benefits. But the robustness of the state response has indicated the nervousness of the Ahmadinejad regime over any internal dissent.

Reports from Iran say that Massoud Osanlou, the leader of the bus drivers' union, was arrested at his home by members of the Basij, the pro-regime militia, and had part of his tongue cut out as a warning to be quiet.

But the dispute already risks disillusioning Mr Ahmadinejad's core of working class support - among them municipal workers - who voted him into power on his promises to improve the lot of Iran's poor.

Iran Seeks to Use Media to Attack U.S. Influence in Afghanistan

Kathy Gannon, NewsPress:

Reporters and writers in Afghanistan say Iran tries to recruit them to craft reports painting the U.S. presence in the worst light and threatens some who have criticized Iran. A journalist with Afghanistan's first commercial television station, Tolo TV, Mohammed Reza Shirmohmadi said Iran tried to recruit him to get inside U.S. military bases to report on the activity of the military personnel.

''They said we can make you the boss of a filmmaking company that we will set up in Herat. They told me you can make a reality film from the American base, from any foreign base and show what they are doing in this area and what they are doing in other areas,'' Shirmohmadi said. READ MORE

''I said to them, 'It is right (what you say) that our country right now is in the hands of foreigners, but we are getting benefits from them,' and then they left me alone.''

Iranian television, which disparages the United States and its policies, is widely watched in western Afghanistan, where people speak Persian, the language of Iran.

''Iranian television programs say Afghanistan is being controlled by America and it shows programs about the mistakes that Americans are making with people, searching women. Iranian television says that the constitution you made was an American constitution and against the Quran,'' Shirmohmadi said.

''The programs tell us that if Iranian soldiers were in Afghanistan they would not behave like American soldiers. They say you can't go on the same roads as American soldiers and you can't talk to them because they will attack Afghans who approach them.''

Nasser Ahmed Raha, head of Enlightened Youth of Afghanistan, a small group of young people in Herat dedicated to building a civil society, said he received death threats after writing editorials warning of Iranian interference in western Afghanistan.

In early January the phone rang at his home in Herat, and on the other end of the line was a senior Afghan intelligence official, Raha said. ''He warned me: 'Don't go against Iran. They will kill you.'''

The threat came after two editorials were published in his organization's newsletter.

One editorial, written last June, warned that the election of conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's new president could reverberate in the region and particularly in Afghanistan in the form of increased interference.

''Because of Iran's politics today other countries, particularly Afghanistan, its neighbor, should be particularly cautious about Iran's concentration in Afghan politics,'' Raha wrote.

Raha's second editorial, published in December, accused Ahmadinejad of stirring international unrest with his statements against Israel.

''Calling for a country, recognized by others, to be wiped off the map is the kind of talk that comes from a general or a government at war with another. It should not come from the mouth of a president when the world is trying to put an end to these old enmities,'' Raha wrote.

Shirmohmadi said he was barraged by telephone calls from Shiite Muslim clerics following a round-table discussion on Tolo Television that debated Ahmadinejad's comments on Israel.

''I got some telephone calls from mullahs who said it was part of a secret agenda against Iran. The mullas called me directly and said Tolo Television was working for America,'' he said.

Iranian Suicide Bombers Threaten Britain and US

Evening Echo News:

A gathering of Iranians who claim the are dedicated to becoming suicide bombers warned the United States and Britain today of attacks on coalition military bases in Iraq if there were a strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities. “With more than 1,000 trained martyrdom-seekers, we are ready to attack the American and British sensitive points if they attack Iran’s nuclear facilities,” said Mohammad Ali Samadi, spokesman of Esteshadion (Martyrdom Seekers). READ MORE

“We have registered more than 52,000 people who willingly are ready to defend their country.”

“If they strike, we have a lot of volunteers. Their (US and British) sensitive places are quiet close to Iranian borders,” Samadi said after a gathering of about 200 students for a seminar on the suicide-bombing tactics at Tehran’s Khajeh Nasir University.

Samadi reviewed the history of the suicide bombing as a weapon, praising it as the most effective Palestinian tactic in their confrontation with Israel.

The organisers also showed video clips of suicide attacks against Israelis, including one in the Morag settlement near Rafah in Gaza strip in February 2005. One settler, three Israeli soldiers and the two attackers were killed in the attack.

Hasan Abbasi, the main speaker also praised suicide-bombers, but denounced attacks against “innocent people as al-Qaida did in New York".

Abbasi told the audience of potential martyrs that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons as claimed by the United States and some of its allies.

“Our martyrdom-seekers are our nuclear weapons,” said Abbasi, a university instructor and former member of the elite Revolutionary Guards.

After his speech, about 50 students filled out membership applications.

“This is a unique opportunity for me to die for God, next to my brothers in Palestine. That was why I signed up,” said Reza Haghshenas, 22, an electrical engineering student.

A 23-year-old woman student, Maryam Amereh, said: “We are trying to defend Islam. It’s a way to draw the attention of others to our activities.”

But Rahim Hasanlu, a 22-year-old industrial management student, sipped his orange juice and declared himself not interested in joining. “I just attended to learn what they’re saying, that’s all.”

Esteshadion was formed in late 2004, calling for members on a sporadic basis at Friday prayer ceremonies, state-sponsored rallies and at the group’s occasional meetings.

Those who join have three choices: To train for suicide attacks to defend Iran’s national interests, for suicide attacks against Israel or the assassination of British author Salman Rushdie, who was sentenced to death by former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for his 1989 book, “Satanic Verses”.

Chirac: No Change in French Stance on Iran Nuclear Work

Asharq Alawsat:

French President Jacques Chirac said Saturday that France's position on Iran's nuclear program has not changed. The remark followed comments by his foreign minister this week that the program was a cover for secret military activity. "The position of France has absolutely not changed," Chirac told a news conference in Bangkok after talks with Thai officials. READ MORE

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on Thursday in Paris called Iran's nuclear activity a "clandestine military nuclear program" and accused Tehran of ignoring the international community's demand to suspend all nuclear activity.

It was France's most direct attack on Tehran in an escalating international dispute.

Iran earlier this month resumed small-scale uranium enrichment, insisting the program is for nuclear energy, not arms.

German Cos Probed Over Ties to Iran Nuclear Program

Dow Jones Newswires:

Several German companies are under investigation for alleged involvement in Iran's disputed nuclear program, a German magazine reported Saturday. Police searched the premises of eight firms as well as private homes on Feb. 8 as part of the investigation, the Spiegel weekly said in an article released ahead of its publication on Monday. READ MORE

Horst Salzmann, a spokesman for federal prosecutors, declined to comment on the report.

According to Spiegel, one firm from Cologne was involved in a planned delivery to Iran of equipment to detect radiation contamination on clothes and human skin.

Infiltrating Iran

Charles M. Wolfson, CBS Broadcasting:

Senior officials in Washington may not see it this way but programs announced this week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice certainly appear to be designed to undermine, if not overthrow, the regime in Tehran. Clearly, Rice and other senior officials in her department don’t want to talk about advocating regime change using that term, but what else can the aim be?

In testimony before several Congressional committees, Rice asked for an additional $75 million to go with $10 million already available to promote democracy and democratic reforms in Iran. An excerpt from Rice’s testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said "The United States will actively confront the aggressive policies of the Iranian regime. At the same time, we will work to support the aspirations of the Iranian people for freedom and democracy in their country."

On the one hand, no one -— including Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -— should be surprised. On the other hand, he was elected by the Iranian people and sees this as an effort to remove him. Meanwhile, at every opportunity, Bush administration officials question the legitimacy of the election since perhaps as many as a thousand candidates were not allowed to have their names on the ballots.

The $85 million dollars requested would be used for a variety of programs ranging from increased hours of radio and television broadcasts beamed into Iran by the VOA, Radio Farda and possibly other outlets which would broadcast in Farsi; for the organization of civil society and non-governmental groups which would promote democratic ends, and for scholarships and fellowships to bring Iranian students to the United States to study.

Senior officials who briefed reporters at the State Department acknowledged the difficulty of launching and supporting some of these programs, because the Iranian regime is very good at infiltrating them. "It is probably impossible right now to find a group inside Iran that you could be confident wasn’t infiltrated," said one official who worked to develop the program. "We understand very well that people we begin to work with will become targets and so, I think you will see us as not being as public as we might otherwise be about specific individuals we’re working with," the official said. READ MORE

There is almost nothing the Bush administration likes about the regime in Tehran. At the top of the list of complaints is Iran’s effort to gain the capability, as Washington sees it, to build nuclear weapons. For many years now, Iran has been at the top of America’s list of state sponsors of terrorism because of its support for Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups.

As if these two problem areas were not enough reason to be unhappy with Iranian policy, another senior official this week expressed what he said was "acute concern" not only over the first two issues but also another which he and Rice call a "democracy deficit" in Iran. It is to address this last concern that Rice asked for the extra money from Congress this week.

The patient yet persistent diplomatic effort by the administration over the past year has made very good progress, especially its effort to persuade most of the rest of the world that Iran’s nuclear aim is military, not civilian. To that end, the United States was joined not only by its European allies, but also by Russia, China, Egypt, Brazil and others in a move to take Iran before the U.N. Security Council, where more pressure and the possibility of sanctions confront the regime. In an interview with CBS News, Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said Iran’s action this week to resume work on uranium enrichment crossed what he called an "international red line."

There are analysts in Washington who say the diplomatic successes of the past year have come in part, precisely because of such moves by the Iranian regime, which, together with bellicose and outrageous statements made by Iran’s Ahmadinejad related to Israel’s existence and a denial of the Holocaust, have helped the Bush administration drive Iran to the point where it faces security council restrictions, which is why some found the administration’s new programs to support democracy announced this week counterproductive.

"It is unfathomable," said Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "they would essentially announce they were trying to overthrow the Iranian government. If there’s anything that would harm the coalition more, I don’t know what it is."

For the Bush administration, it is all about applying pressure on the regime in Tehran. And the effort isn’t going to stop simply with Washington’s actions. Efforts are being discussed to get the Europeans to threaten the placement of economic restrictions on their trade with Iran and late in the week, Rice herself signaled an effort to get Iran’s regional neighbors to play a role.

Speaking to Arab-based media in Washington before her departure next week for the Middle East and Persian Gulf, Rice, according to wire reports, said "I would hope that those states who are worried about this (the potential of Iran’s nuclear weapons capability)… are prepared to really say to the Iranians: 'You are going to be isolated from us too if you continue down this road.'"

Perhaps the full court press is on because Washington wants to seize the moment at a time it perceives Tehran vulnerable to outside pressure. Or maybe it’s just another way to wield the administration’s democracy hammer against a regime it not only doesn’t like, but also refuses to talk to.