Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [9/10/06 - 9/16/06] major news events regarding Iran. (The report is organized by various categories in chronological order, not by importance). Catch up on all the past week's news developments. READ MORE

Iran's Nuclear Program & The UN Security Council.

• The Wall Street Journal reported that European Union and Iranian officials met for a second day of talks Sunday which the two sides said the talks Saturday had been "constructive."
• Reuters reported that Iran will not accept any preconditions for talks on its nuclear program. Iranian spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said: "Suspension is an issue that is in the past. We cannot return to the past."
• International Herald Tribune reported that Condoleezza Rice insisted that the United States was not overplaying the potential threat from Iran's nuclear activities and that "The world is prepared to act."
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said that ignoring Iran's threats to destroy Israel, especially when it appears to be intent on developing nuclear weapons, could prove to be a historic mistake.
• Peter Brown, RealClearPolitics.com considered the question: Is History Repeating Itself in Iran?
• Danielle Pletka, Bitterlemons-international.org argued why the West must end Tehran's free ride for ignoring international concern over its nuclear program.
• Reuters reported that Condoleezza Rice said the United States might be willing to join negotiations with Iran if it temporarily suspended its nuclear program. "Suspension, verified suspension, that's the condition," she said.
• Aviation Week considered what it will take to slow Iran's development of a nuclear bomb and why it must be done soon.
• The Financial Times reported that Europe is poised to compromise on Iran’s nuclear program.
• Reuters reported that the State Department said Iran has not offered to temporarily suspend its uranium enrichment program.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that a senior U.S. envoy said the U.N. Security Council still intends to "move forward" toward sanctions if Tehran refuses to freeze uranium enrichment.
• Forbes reported that the six world powers abandoned attempts to issue a joint statement criticizing Iran's nuclear defiance.
• The Israel Project has created a petition so you may tell Kofi Annan in your own words why Iran should not get the nuclear bomb.
• Bridget Johnson, Daily News reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad penned a tome to new German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which he said: "The propaganda machinery after World War II has been so colossal that has caused some people to believe that they are the guilty party..."
• United Press International reported that Iran has taken measures to counter a U.S. decision to cut off the Iranian state-owned Bank Saderat from any dealings with the U.S. financial system.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Vladimir Putin, in a rare note of criticism, said he has also deplored Iranian calls for the destruction of Israel.
• New Press reported that key European nations called on Iran to negotiate its nuclear dispute with the international community, even as Washington said the time had come to punish Tehran with U.N. sanctions.
• Reuters reported that the UK's foreign office minister Kim Howells said punitive sanctions on Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions would likely prove ineffective and there is no military solution to the standoff.
• Reuters reported that Britain has little confidence that Iran will stop providing military and financial support to Lebanon's Hezbollah.
• The Australian reported that US envoy Gregory Schulte said "Given Iran's history of deception, lack of transparency, provocative behaviour and disregard for its international obligations, we must take further steps to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions."
• Bloomberg reported that France, whose lenders account for 24 percent of bank loans to Iran, may reject a U.S. campaign to sever financial ties with the Middle Eastern nation.
• Farhad Mansourian, National Review Online argued that the U.S. decision to enable former Iranian President Muhammad Khatami to visit to the US is an unfortunate reflection of the Bush administration’s continuing confusion about Iran. The Islamic Republic has convinced successive U.S. administrations that there is a dichotomy in Iran between reformers and hardliners. But the division within Iranian society is not between hardliners and reformers, but rather between the regime and the population.
• International Herald Tribune reported that an Iranian opposition group claims that Iran has secretly revived a program to enrich uranium using laser technology, reportedly with favorable results, at Lashkar Ab'ad, about 25 kilometers (about 15 miles) northwest of Tehran.
• Yahoo News reported that French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy warned "If the international community were to become divided, Iran would continue" its enrichment work.
• The Washington Post reported that U.N. inspectors investigating Iran's nuclear program angrily complained to the Bush administration and to a Republican congressman yesterday about a recent House committee report on Iran's capabilities.
• The Washington Post asked President Bush what he would say to the Iranian people if he had a chance. He answered.
• Reuters reported that Bush, who will travel to New York next week for meetings at the United Nations, said he would insist on the need to stay firm in the bid to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, NewsMax reported that Senator Santorum said the United States and its European partners "should end phony negotiations" with Iran over its nuclear program.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Giora Eiland, the recently retired head of Israel's National Security Council, "The political process vis-a-vis Iran has more or less exhausted itself," and "In the end, Iran will attain a nuclear capability. The international opportunities of a few years ago were not exploited, and today it's too late."
• The Washington Post reported that major powers are considering a joint meeting with Iran next week that excludes the United States as a way of bridging a divide over its nuclear program. They described the planning as extremely fluid and unlikely to result in any firm decisions until key officials confer in New York.
  

Ahmadinejad travels to Cuba and the UN.

• IranMania reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to hold talks next week in Venezuela to meet with Chavez who recently told cheering students that "we should unite and save humanity and get rid of the American empire."
• Assorted Babble reported that Cuba is hosting a summit September 11-16 with leaders of 116 developing nations. The presidents of Iran, Syria, representatives of N.Korea, etc. are expected to attend this week.
• Khaleej Times reported that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will seek strong backing from Non-Aligned Movement allies for his nuclear program at this week’s summit in Cuba.
• Reuters reported that Iran, Venezuela and other states opposed to U.S. policy sought to forge a common front on Friday at a Non-Aligned summit in Cuba.
• ABC News reported that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pledged that Venezuela will support Iran if it is invaded.
• Iran Focus reported that United States President George W. Bush ruled out meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York where world leaders will gather next week.
• Xinhua reported that the leaders of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) nations threw their weight behind Iran in its nuclear row with the West, saying Iran had the right to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes.
  

Former president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Khatami, speaks in the US.

• Alan Dershowitz, The Boston Globe examined the ethical issues involved in inviting Khatami to speak in the US.
• Russell Berman, Telos reported on a Khatami's response at Harvard to a question from an Iranian in the audience who questioned him about the case of the suppression of free speech: the arrest, rape and murder of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi. Khatami's answer was very revealing.
• Yahoo News reported Khatami was met by protesters when he arrived at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Many angrily called on him to stand up for human rights where Harvard College Democrats teamed with their Republican peers for the protest.
• AzadeganIran.com published an article in the Washington Times September 11, 2006 entitled: Khatami’s US Visit Hides the Clerics’ Developing War Plans ...
• Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post reported that Harvard University's student newspaper ran as its top headline read, "Students plan to protest Khatami's visit." But ran a second headline, "Cheney visits Harvard Club through backdoor." On the surface, these stories seem to perfectly balance one another.
• Amir Taheri, New York Post reported that in his recent speeches in the US, Khatami used a vocabulary carefully designed to hoodwink the Americans. The trick was reinforced by the fact that he often said one thing in Persian, while the interpreter said something else in English for the benefit of the Harvard audience. A must read.

Rumors of War.

• Ardeshir Dolat reported that Iranian press are saying that the the head of Tehran Fire Brigade, stated, “There will be a necessity for volunteer fire fighters in Tehran to help the employed fire fighters.” Is the regime preparing for air strikes?
• Mario Loyola, The Corner argued that President Bush is promising preemption against Iran when he said in his 9/11 address to the nation: "If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons."
• The Corner published a rough transcript of Senator Santorum's speech from a Senate floor commented on Bush's 9/11 speech where he said: "We just can't get past the politics around here, just can't get past the partisan advantage around here, can't face the reality that we have a dangerous enemy out there, an enemy that wants to destroy everything we hold dear."
• Angus Reid reported that most Britons believe their government should not participate in any military effort against Iran.
• Fortune Magazine reported that Iran's auto industry commissioned a study of how to run their businesses in a war zone.
• Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post reported that President Bush said "It's very important for the American people to see the president try to solve problems diplomatically before resorting to military force." "Before" implies that the one follows the other. The signal is unmistakable.
• Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 54% say U.S. should strike militarily if necessary to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
  

Iranian dissident's.

• World Politics Watch published it most recent Iran Watch: Activists Arrested, Execution Scheduled. Under-reported translations of Iranian news reports.
  

Interesting reports inside of Iran.

• Daily News & Analysis India reported that a hardline Iranian newspaper on Monday described the September 11 attacks as a "black conspiracy inside the White House", publishing what it said was evidence the strikes could have been staged by US officials.
• Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported on Hezbollah’s Shi’ite youth movement, “The Imam al-Mahdi Scouts.”
• The Jerusalem Post published an interview with Voice of Israel Farsi broadcaster Menashe Amir who said the Iranian people "don't buy [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad's view" of the world and emphasized the urgency of American intervention to inspire insurgency in Iran.
  

Human Rights and Freedom of the Press in Iran.

• Dow Jones Newswires reported that the Islamic Republic closed the daily Shargh, the most prominent reformist daily opposed to the hard-line policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
• Reporters Without Borders reported that Iran is doing its utmost to isolate its citizens from the rest of the world by purging the Internet of independent content, noting that the authorities even brag about the success of their censorship. "We are filtering more than 10 million websites." They have made a special focus on censoring all political opposition and all information about the rights or the condition of women.
• Reuters reported that the United States took Iran to task for its "harsh and oppressive treatment" of religious minorities in its annual "Report on International Religious Freedom".
  

The Iranian Military.

• Los Angeles Times reported that U.S. military intelligence has determined that a video released by the Iranian government purporting to show a test of a new submarine missile is bogus. it matched a video of an earlier Chinese test. "It's the identical launch," a Pentagon official said. "The plume, everything, is the same."
  

The Iranian Economy.

• Market Watch reported that China's Sinopec Group is close to signing a deal with Iran for a 51% stake to develop the Yadavaran oil field in the southern area of the Middle Eastern country.
• Payvand reported that Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said that all preparatory requirements were arranged for launching Iran's oil bourse.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that three top Japanese banks will refrain from doing business with Iran's state-run Bank Saderat Iran in line with US financial sanctions.
  

Iran and Iraq.

• Reuters reported that the first official visit to Iran by Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, that was due to take place on Monday may be delayed.
• USA Today reported that Iraq's prime minister received a red-carpet welcome at the Iran's presidential palace on Tuesday.
• NewsOne reported that Iraq‘s prime minister made his first official visit to Iran on Tuesday, asking Tehran to prevent al-Qaida militants from slipping across the border to carry out attacks.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com reported on the latest Senate intelligence reports on the build up to the war with Iraq.
• The New York Sun reported that a deputy prime minister of Iraq offered a sharp contradiction of the conventional wisdom here that Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al Qaeda had no connection before the 2003 war. He said: "I know this at first hand. Some of my friends were murdered by jihadists, by Al Qaeda-affiliated operatives who had been sheltered and assisted by Saddam's regime."
• National Post reported the biggest threat to U.S. interests in Iraq comes not from al-Qaeda insurgents but Iran.
  

Iran and the International community.

• The Jerusalem Postreported a campaign to expel Iran from the United Nations.
  

The US Congress on Iran.

• DoctorZin reported that a number of bloggers had the opportunity to speak with Senator Santorum on a conference call. The Senator appealed to bloggers to support the passage of the Iran Freedom and Support Act. Write your Senators now.
• Yahoo News reported that US Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Mel Martinez (R-FL) hosted Reza Pahlavi of Iran who affirmed the world needed to focus on the big picture regarding the crisis facing his homeland and proposed an integrated three- pronged policy approach to the clerical regime of Iran.
  

The fallout from the Pope's statement on Islam.

• Stratforconsidered the political fallout from the Pope's speech in which he quoted 14th Century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II regarding the issue of jihad: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
  

Must Read reports.

• NDTV reported that French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that Iran had "made itself into an outlaw nation" and must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported on the attack on the US embassy in Syria.
• The New York Sun reported that historian Bernard Lewis warned that the U.S. may lose the war on terror. He said during the darkest days of the fight against Nazism he "had no doubt that in the end we would triumph." But he does not "have that certitude now."
• The Independent reported that Ahmadinejad's exhibition of cartoons about the Holocaust, some suggesting it was fabricated or exaggerated, has been a flop in Tehran. It attracts just 50 people a day.
• The Telegrah reported that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's government had authorized the release from jail of 2,500 Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters caught fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan.
  

The Experts.

• Natan Sharansky, Los Angeles Times reported that in 2000, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin told me a story that he has been unable to get out of his mind. The story involves a nephew, a suitcase, a train to Manhattan and a nuclear bomb.
• Amir Taheri, Gulf News considered where are we now in the war on terror?
• Amir Taheri, New York Post reported that in his recent speeches in the US, Khatami used a vocabulary carefully designed to hoodwink the Americans. The trick was reinforced by the fact that he often said one thing in Persian, while the interpreter said something else in English for the benefit of the Harvard audience. A must read.
• Ilan Berman in testimony before The U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission detailed the impact of the Sino-Iranian Strategic Partnership.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com reported on the latest Senate intelligence reports on the build up to the war with Iraq.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, NewsMax reported that Senator Santorum said the United States and its European partners "should end phony negotiations" with Iran over its nuclear program.
• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat argued that a mini cold war is likely to see a Western push for regime change in Syria.
• Amir Taheri, Arab News reported on Tehran’s plan to render sanctions ineffective, but the law of unintended results may operate in yet another way: If sanctions prove ineffective from the start, the US and its closest allies might decide that the only effective move against the Islamic republic is military action.
  

Photos, cartoons and videos.

• Chuck Asay, Townhall published a cartoon: Bin Laden, Ahmadinejad = Hitler?
• DoctorZin recently appeared on the Michael Reagan Show. You can listen to it by clicking here.
• Memri Films released an online film: Arab and Iranian Reaction to 9/11 Five Years Later, with Ron Silver.
• Jy99, Flicker published photos of the Harvard protest of Khatami.
• Bob Gorrell, Townhall published a cartoon: Remember.
• You Tube has a video of the protest of Khatami's Harvard speech.
• You Tube has a video on the Iranian treatment of dissidents.
• Paul Nowak, CNS News published a cartoon: Successful Iranian Negotiations.
• Cox & Forkum published another cartoon: Critical Mass.
  

The Quote of the Week.

United Press International reported that Ahmadinejad said :

America and Britain "may have won World War II" but they will most assuredly "lose World War III" because "Iran will win the coming war and America will be beaten."

Tags: iran, news, nuclear, lebanon, isreal, iraq,

Sunday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 9.17.2oo6

A mini cold war is starting in the Middle East.

• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat argued that a mini cold war is likely to see a Western push for regime change in Syria.

Bush won't meet Ahmadinejad at the UN. He has other plans.

• Iran Focus reported that United States President George W. Bush ruled out meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York where world leaders will gather next week.

Another meaningless meeting of the major powers and Iran.

• The Washington Post reported that major powers are considering a joint meeting with Iran next week that excludes the United States as a way of bridging a divide over its nuclear program. They described the planning as extremely fluid and unlikely to result in any firm decisions until key officials confer in New York.

Tehran's Oil Bourse ready to launch.

• Payvand reported that Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said that all preparatory requirements were arranged for launching Iran's oil bourse.

NAM Nations back Iran.

• Xinhua reported that the leaders of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) nations threw their weight behind Iran in its nuclear row with the West, saying Iran had the right to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

Tehran's plans to render sanctions ineffective and the unintended consequences.

• Amir Taheri, Arab News reported on Tehran’s plan to render sanctions ineffective, but the law of unintended results may operate in yet another way: If sanctions prove ineffective from the start, the US and its closest allies might decide that the only effective move against the Islamic republic is military action.

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

• The Jerusalem Post reported that three top Japanese banks will refrain from doing business with Iran's state-run Bank Saderat Iran in line with US financial sanctions.
• Cox & Forkum published another cartoon: Critical Mass.

Tags: iran, news, iraq, nuclear, military, IAEA,

Bush rules out meeting with Iran’s Ahmadinejad at UN

Iran Focus: a pro-MEK website

United States President George W. Bush ruled out meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York where world leaders will gather next week.

“Most nations recognise the threat of Iran having a nuclear weapon in the middle of the Middle East. And there's common consensus that we need to work together to prevent the Iranian regime from developing that nuclear weapons program”, Bush told reporters at the White House on Friday.

Asked whether he was willing to meet the radical Iranian President, Bush said, “No, I'm not going to meet with him. I have made it clear to the Iranian regime that we will sit down with the Iranians once they verifiably suspend their enrichment program. I meant what I said”.

“Imagine a Middle East with an Iran with a nuclear weapon threatening free nations and trying to promote their vision of extremism through Hezbollah”, he added. READ MORE

Bush said that he was concerned that Iran would try to win time to push ahead with its nuclear program. “My concern is that they'll stall, they'll try to wait us out”, he said. “So part of my objective in New York is to remind people that stalling shouldn't be allowed”.

A Mini Cold War is starting in the Middle East

Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat:

The way things look now, Lebanon may be at the start of a long trek towards where it has always wanted to be: a median position from which it can maintain its Arab personality but also forge strong ties with the West. That, in turn, means that all eyes will now be on Syria as the next nation in the region to have reached a crossroad. READ MORE

At first glance, Syria has already decided which direction to take. President Bashar al-Assad's address to the Syrian journalists last month sounded like a strategic agenda designed to crate a new "Rejection Front", this time called "The Front of Defiance", under Iranian leadership.

After the withdrawal of his army from Lebanon last year, Syria's President Bashar al- Assad had an opportunity to switch sides, that is to say distance himself from Iran, join the emerging Arab mainstream, and use the United Nations investigation into Rafiq Hariri's murder as an opportunity for purging his regime of hard-liners.

Assad did not take that opportunity, but moved in the opposite direction. Last June, he dispatched his Defence Minister to Tehran to sign a military agreement with the Islamic Republic. We now know that the timing was not accidental. The war triggered by Hezballah started almost exactly a month later. President Assad also stalled the UN investigation, thus encouraging his regime's radical elements.

As things stand there is little likelihood that Syria will alter course to help the US impose its vision on the Middle East.

Syrian leaders speak with bitterness about the Bush administrations' alleged failure to offer them inducements to change course. They had hoped for a role in reshaping Iraq, but received none. They also wished to retain a major presence in Lebanon but found out that Washington sought their total exclusion. Worse still, Washington appeared tilting towards a policy of "regime change" vis-à-vis Damascus, as signalled by the passage of the Syria Accountability Act by the US Congress.

There were other signs that Washington wanted regime change in Damascus. Last June, State Department officials attended a series of meetings held in Brussels and London by Syrian opposition leaders in exile, ostensibly as observers but, as it turned out, as active participants.

The emerging coalition of Syrian opposition groups has already agreed on a six-month transition during which the constitution, imposed in 1973, would be replaced by the one in force in 1950. A caretaker government would prepare for elections. It would also free political prisoners, dissolve special tribunals, and lift the State of Emergency imposed in 1970.

The growing perception that Syria may be targeted for regime change has encouraged opposition groups inside the country as well. Ethnic Kurds have already flexed their muscles in a number of demonstrations while secular intellectuals have published petitions criticising the regime. Last month a hunger strike by 14 prominent political prisoners in Damascus received much publicity thanks to samizdat distributed throughout Syria.

As more and more people find the courage to hold anti-regime meetings in their homes, mosques, and the "zawiyah", places where Sufi fraternities meet, more of the darkness created since the mid-1960s begins to dissipate. Since 1960, successive military-dominated regimes have built a system modelled on the traditional Damascus houses. These are structures with high walls that isolate the inhabitants from the surrounding neighbourhood. In these houses, all windows open on an inner courtyard allowing the inmates no view of the outside. No wonder, the rising level of dissident activity both fascinates and frightens the Syrians.

Like neighbouring Iraq, Syria is a mosaic of ethnic and religious communities. The current regime is controlled by Alawites, a quasi-Shiite sect that accounts for some 11 per cent of the population but has dominated the army and the security forces since the 1950s. Arab Sunnis, accounting for 60 per cent of the population believe they can form an alliance with Christians, Kurds, Turcomans and other minorities to challenge the Alawite hold on power.

For years, Assad vacillated between endorsing reform and leading a new crackdown. Initially, he had convinced some that he might opt for reform- among them British Prime Minister Tony Blair who invited Assad and his British-born wife to a red carpet reception in London and a banquet with the queen.

Now, however, Blair is convinced that Assad is no longer a partner for the West in reshaping the Middle East. That view is shared by France's President Jacques Chirac who has campaigned to bring Hariri's assassins to justice. In July, Chirac broke diplomatic habits by publicly branding Assad as "an obstacle to peace and stability" in the region.

Why is President Assad taking such a gamble?

He appears to have bought into Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's strategy of "waiting Bush out" as discussed when the two met in Damascus last January. The current Iranian policy is based on the assumption that once Bush is out of office, the US will revert to its traditional policy of accommodating the status quo rather than seeking to change it.

Iran has thrown its support behind Assad by supplying him with cut-price oil, cash gifts worth $400 million, a range of weapons including missiles, and a contingent of Islamic Revolutionary Guards that could, if needed, act as a Praetorian Guard.

The Assad strategy is also backed by Russia, which is seeking special mooring rights for its navy in the Syrian port of Tartus to replace the base leased from the Ukraine in Sebastopol on the Black Sea. That lease will end in 2017 after which Sebastopol may become a NATO base. Incidentally, Tartus is the stronghold of the Alawites and the "capital" of the Alawite statelet that was briefly envisaged after the First World War.

"Israel's aggression against Hezballah is part of a broader strategy," President Ahmadinejad said last month. "Those who launched the aggression think that if Hezballah falls, other dominos will fall, including Syria."

The Syrian leaders share that analysis. This is why they will do nothing to "restrain" the Hezballah, as the UN's Secretary General Kofi Annan has demanded. They know that by helping disarm the Hezballah they would only encourage "regime change" against themselves.

A new version of the Cold War is taking place in the Middle East. The question is: how long will it last and how much damage it could do all those involved?

NAM backs Iran's peaceful use of nuclear energy

Xinhua:

Leaders of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) nations on Saturday threw their weight behind Iran in its nuclear row with the West, saying Iran had the right to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

The leaders attending the 14th NAM summit in Havana adopted a statement reaffirming "the basic and inalienable right of all states to develop research, production and use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes." READ MORE

They also called for the resolution of the Iranian nuclear dispute through diplomatic means and peaceful dialogue.

"The only way to resolve the issue is to resume negotiations without any preconditions," the statement stressed.

It also called on Iran to continue to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) so that a final settlement of the issue could be found as early as possible.

Major powers mull meeting to break logjam with Iran

Carol Giacomo, The Washington Post:

Major powers are considering a joint meeting with Iran next week that excludes the United States as a way of bridging a divide over its nuclear program, U.S. and European diplomats said on Saturday.

They described the planning as extremely fluid and unlikely to result in any firm decisions until key officials confer in New York Sunday and Monday on the fringes of the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. READ MORE

Concerns about Iran's nuclear program are expected to be a major focus of this year's General Assembly and multiple meetings and speeches on the subject are likely.

The question is "whether there could be a meeting -- not necessarily with the United States -- that would allow the Iranians to say there was a process of negotiations that had started and as result of this, they decided to resume the suspension of uranium enrichment," one diplomat said.

"The pressure is mounting for it to happen next week. That's an obvious opportunity," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials told Reuters an idea for such a meeting, possibly at the level of foreign ministers, had been raised but they were cautious about whether it might occur and produce results. "I'm not really sure" if it will take place, a senior U.S. official said of the proposed meeting.

The official said they would know more Sunday or Monday after they get to New York and hear the results of talks between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.

The U.N. Security Council demanded Iran suspend uranium enrichment as a condition for opening talks on a package of incentives including civil nuclear cooperation, and threatened sanctions if Tehran did not.

Iran ignored an August 31 U.N. deadline for the suspension but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck a softer tone on Thursday, saying Iran was ready for "new conditions."

Washington is pushing for major powers to ready sanctions against Iran if there is no breakthrough soon. But Russia, China and a number of European nations are hesitant about such penalties and want to give dialogue with Tehran more time.

While Solana did not offer details of his talks with Larijani, France confirmed Larijani told Solana in Vienna last weekend Tehran was ready to discuss suspending its uranium enrichment program.

But Iranian officials have indicated they could only discuss enrichment suspension once negotiations begin.

The major powers had said they would only hold negotiations after the suspension is declared and verified but the United States, which has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since after the 1979 Islamic revolution, has been most insistent on this point.

To break this logjam may "require to have others, including Britain, France and Germany, sit down at a senior level" with the Iranians next week, a European diplomat said.

President Bush raised concerns on Friday that Iran was playing for time in the nuclear dispute. "This is all theater. The Iranians have to do something" concrete, another senior U.S. official said.

Iran's oil bourse to be launched

Payvand:

Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said here on Friday that all preparatory requirements were arranged for launching the oil stock market in the country.

Speaking to the reporters at the Mehrabad International Airport upon arriving in Tehran from an OPEC conference in Vienna, Vaziri-Hamaneh said that all un-subsidized oil products can be offered in this stock market. READ MORE

He also rejected rumors about the preparation of a plan to gradually increase the gasoline price, but added that the cabinet had submitted a bill to the Majlis for importing gasoline.

"If the bill is ratified, the present condition will continue and rationing will be put into practice later."

Hamaneh further noted that the plan to issue fuel debit cards will be finalized within three months.

As for the decisions made during that OPEC conference, the minister said that the member countries were quite concerned for the downward trend of oil price, and so decided to maintain the present oil production ceiling.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Vaziri-Hamaneh referred to the development of the Azadegan oilfield and said that an agreement has been inked with the Japanese, granting to them a 15-day opening to meet their commitments.

He explained "the Total Company anyway stresses cooperating with the Japanese and is interested in starting the conduction of project after the cooperation contract is finalized with the Japanese contractor."

Answering a question about the development of the Arash oilfield, Iranian oil minister said that an Iranian delegation will head for Kuwait within 7 to10 days, adding that however, Iran and Kuwait are determined to jointly develop their joint oilfield.

Hamaneh said that a two-month opening has been also granted to the Chinese contractor to develop Yadavaran oilfield.

Elaborating on the development process of the Peace Pipeline, he said the consultant party is supposed to estimate and submit the gas price as soon as possible so that Iran can negotiate it with the Indian and Pakistani ministers.

Iran May Fall Victim to Law of Unintended Consequences

Amir Taheri, Arab News:

“We are putting up the sandbags and erecting the barbed wire fences,” says Dahbashi. “We expect the siege to start at any moment.” Dahbashi (not his real name) is a chubby wheeler-dealer with contacts all over the world. He is currently in Europe to find ways and means of helping the Islamic Republic of Iran escape the worst consequences of any sanctions that the United Nations might choose to impose on Iran over alleged secret nuclear plans.

Tehran’s plan to render sanctions ineffective, even before they are imposed, has three facets. The first consists of relocating Iranian assets in places where they cannot be seized or frozen. If Dahbashi is right, that task has already been largely achieved. Over the past few months, billions of dollars in Iranian assets have been transferred from Western banks to financial institutions less likely to heed any advice from Washington. READ MORE

The second facet consists of stockpiling dual-use products likely to be denied to Iranian importers when, and if, sanctions are imposed. Over the past few months, scores of Iranian businessmen in Europe and the United States have been contacted by Tehran officials to give a helping hand in speeding up the flow of sanction-busting goods. The massive increase in imports has led to a doubling of waiting tie for ships to unload at Iran’s principal ports, including Bandar Abbas, while a stream of lorries continues non-stop from Turkey. In most cases the import business is handled by the commercial wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in the manner of a military operation.

Finally, Iran’s sanctions-busting plan includes a strong diplomatic element. The Islamic republic has already won the express support of no fewer than 116 of the 192 members of the United Nations for its position regarding the nuclear issue. Although the Security Council may end up imposing some sanctions on the Islamic republic, it is not at all certain that its decisions would be respected by a majority of the UN member-states. One of the sanctions envisaged is to deny Islamic republic officials visas for foreign travel. However, even that symbolic measure is unlikely to be implemented in any effective way if only because a majority of UN members already have special visa waiver accords with Tehran regarding diplomatic and service passports. The idea of freezing the personal assets of leading Islamic republic officials is also a non-starter as most of them have had ample time to take precautionary measures.

Paradoxically, however, Tehran’s success in countering sanctions in advance may hasten their imposition by the Security Council. The reason is that Tehran’s friends in the council, especially Russia and China, might decide that it is not worthwhile to pick up a quarrel with the US to stop sanctions that would not hurt Iran in any case.

The law of unintended results may operate in yet another way: If sanctions prove ineffective from the start, the US and its closest allies might decide that the only effective move against the Islamic republic is military action. In other words, Tehran’s success in countering possible sanctions may render a military clash inevitable.

According to Tehran sources, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also “factored in” such a possibility.

“A limited military clash would suit Ahmadinejad fine,” says a former Cabinet minister in Tehran. “The Americans will appear, fire a few missiles, and go away. Ahmadinejad would declare victory and pursue his grand plans with renewed vigor.”

The self-confident mood advertised by Ahamdinejad in his star appearance at the non-aligned summit in Havana, Cuba, and the fiery speech he is expected to deliver at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, indicate a firm belief that he has already won his first battle against the American “ Great Satan.”

Portraying his predecessors as weak men who gave in to American pressure, Ahmadinejad counts on his macho image to help his faction win the crucial elections in the autumn. The first set of elections will decide the control of local government authorities throughout the country. Ahamdinejad’s ultra radical faction already controls nearly half of the municipalities including in such major cities as Tehran and Mashhad. In many parts of the country, however, the more conservative faction of the Khomeinist movement is still in control with the help of local dignitaries.

The second set of elections is of even greater importance as it will determine the shape of the Assembly of Experts. This 92-man body of mullas elects and, if necessary, dismisses the “Supreme Guide”. At present, the conservative Khomeinist factions have a majority in the assembly and could, at least in theory, exert pressure on the current “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenehi to restrain Ahmadinejad. Lacking a credible candidate of their on for “supreme guide” the conservative Khomeinists, led by former President Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, may try to retain their majority in the assembly by backing Khamenehi.

The key question, therefore, is whether Ahmadinejad would choose to maintain his current alliance with Khamenehi or would try to get his own religious mentor, Ayatollah Muhammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi elected “supreme guide”. The balance or probabilities right now is that Ahmadinejad will decide to keep Khamenehi at least for the time being. Ahmadinejad’s ultra-radical faction still has a long way to go before it can purge the conservative Khomeinists from positions of political and economic power within the establishment.

What is certain, however, is that Ahmadinejad’s success in warding off external pressures and projecting an image of invincibility abroad would enhance his position at home. And, there, we may see yet another illustration of how the law of unintended consequences works: The US sets out to cut Ahmadinejad down to size by focusing on the nuclear issue, and ends up helping the ultra-radical president strengthen his position at home. And, that, in turn, would make it much harder for him or any other Islamic republic leader to accept the compromises needed to avoid a collision course.

Japan's Top Banks to Stop Business with Iran

The Jerusalem Post:

Three top Japanese banks, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., will refrain from doing business with Iran's state-run Bank Saderat Iran in line with US financial sanctions, Kyodo News agency reported Saturday.

The United States has imposed a ban on US bank transactions with Bank Saderat Iran, insisting that Iran is channeling funds to Hizbullah in Lebanon through the export bank. The three Japanese banks have branches in the United States and decided to suspend transactions under the US sanction, Kyodo said, citing unidentified officials from the banks.

Critical Mass

Cox & Forkum:

Saturday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 9.16.2oo6

Pakistan releases 2500 Al Qaeda and Taliban.

• The Telegrah reported that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's government had authorized the release from jail of 2,500 Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters caught fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Krauthammer: Bush preparing for war with Iran.

• Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post reported that President Bush said "It's very important for the American people to see the president try to solve problems diplomatically before resorting to military force." "Before" implies that the one follows the other. The signal is unmistakable.
• The Washington Post asked President Bush what he would say to the Iranian people if he had a chance. He answered.
• Reuters reported that Bush, who will travel to New York next week for meetings at the United Nations, said he would insist on the need to stay firm in the bid to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Poll: Majority of American support military action on Iran of necessary.

• Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 54% say U.S. should strike militarily if necessary to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran forges new alliance with rogue states.

• Reuters reported that Iran, Venezuela and other states opposed to U.S. policy sought to forge a common front on Friday at a Non-Aligned summit in Cuba.
• ABC News reported that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pledged that Venezuela will support Iran if it is invaded.

Santorum: End the phony negotiations.

• Kenneth R. Timmerman, NewsMax reported that Senator Santorum said the United States and its European partners "should end phony negotiations" with Iran over its nuclear program.

Former head of Israeli NSC: It's already too late.

• The Jerusalem Post reported that Giora Eiland, the recently retired head of Israel's National Security Council, "The political process vis-a-vis Iran has more or less exhausted itself," and "In the end, Iran will attain a nuclear capability. The international opportunities of a few years ago were not exploited, and today it's too late."

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

• Reporters Without Borders reported that Iran is doing its utmost to isolate its citizens from the rest of the world by purging the Internet of independent content, noting that the authorities even brag about the success of their censorship. "We are filtering more than 10 million websites." They have made a special focus on censoring all political opposition and all information about the rights or the condition of women.
• Reuters reported that the United States took Iran to task for its "harsh and oppressive treatment" of religious minorities in its annual "Report on International Religious Freedom".
• National Post reported the biggest threat to U.S. interests in Iraq comes not from al-Qaeda insurgents but Iran.
• Market Watch reported that China's Sinopec Group is close to signing a deal with Iran for a 51% stake to develop the Yadavaran oil field in the southern area of the Middle Eastern country.
• Stratfor considered the political fallout from the Pope's speech in which he quoted 14th Century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II regarding the issue of jihad: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
  

Tags: iran, news, iraq, nuclear, military

Senator Slams 'Phony Negotiations' With Iran

Kenneth R. Timmerman, NewsMax:

The United States and its European partners "should end phony negotiations" with Iran over its nuclear program, an influential U.S. senator up for re-election this November said Thursday.

Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., who has been trailing his Democratic challenger, Bob Casey, in opinion polls until recently, said the United States should "increase sanctions" on Iran and "fund, promote and support the pro-democracy movement, both inside and outside Iran." READ MORE

Speaking with Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and Reza Pahlavi, son of the former shah of Iran, Santorum called for "free and fair elections" in Iran, and blasted the Iranian regime for "continued action against our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Santorum is the original co-sponsor of the Iran Freedom Support Act, which passed the House overwhelmingly earlier this year and currently has 61 co-sponsors in the Senate. The bill calls for increased sanctions on Iran, and authorizes the State Department to spend up to $10 million per year to assist pro-democracy groups inside Iran and in exile.

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., blocked similar legislation earlier this year by convincing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to negotiate with Tehran, not impose sanctions.

"This regime has shown it cannot be trusted," said Pahlavi, who called on Congress to "send a signal" to Tehran and to the Iranian opposition by passing the Santorum legislation.

"We have given diplomacy every chance, and exhausted them," he said, referring to negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. "The only course that remains is to invest in the people of Iran."

Pahlavi urged the United States "not to cut any deals with the regime," and said that U.S. support for the pro-democracy movement would unleash "a dramatic change" inside Iran.

Just as Pahlavi was appearing at the U.S. Senate with Santorum and Martinez, less than a mile away George Soros and other opponents of the Bush administration were meeting at the Hyatt hotel to urge the administration to cut a deal with Tehran.

Addressing a conference he partially funded that was spearheaded by the New America Foundation, Soros spoke of a "grand bargain" with Tehran that would involve U.S. recognition of Iran, a negotiated end to the nuclear showdown, and a resumption of normal relations between the two countries.

Soros discussed the "grand bargain" with former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami at a private dinner this week in Boston, several sources told NewsMax Thursday.

"Khatami told us that the U.S. must start negotiations with Iran," an Iranian who was present at the dinner said. "He said that Iran was absolutely willing to suspend uranium enrichment - "but not as a precondition to talks."

Giora Eiland: Iran will get nuclear bomb

David Horovitz, The Jerusalem Post:

Iran will not be deterred from its nuclear program and will ultimately reach a nuclear capability, Giora Eiland, the recently retired head of Israel's National Security Council, has told The Jerusalem Post, in an assessment immediately refuted by the Prime Minister's Office.

"The political process vis-a-vis Iran has more or less exhausted itself," Eiland said in an interview this week. "The efforts being made now to try and reach some kind of agreement with the Iranians are really the final efforts. In my opinion, they will fail."

Speaking with the Post in his office at the council, where he is still working as he completes a transition period after stepping down as its head, Eiland added: "In the end, Iran will attain a nuclear capability. The international opportunities of a few years ago were not exploited, and today it's too late. I don't regard the [international diplomatic] processes unfolding now as being strong enough to stop them, or even to temporarily suspend them." READ MORE

But Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said that Olmert "doesn't accept this assessment."

"The prime minister doesn't see this [a nuclear Iran] as a given," she said. "He doesn't accept this assessment as fact, but feels that Iran can still be deterred." Eisin stressed that Olmert believes that the issue is a world problem, and that Israel "sees that the US is not about to back down."

In recent months there have been different assessments at the highest levels of Israel's policy making pyramid regarding whether US President George W. Bush would take military action against Iran to stop its nuclear march, with some saying he is too weak politically and over-extended in Iraq and Afghanistan to take such a dramatic step, and others arguing that he would not want to leave office with a nuclear Iran as one of his legacies to the world.

Traces of Eiland's comments about the inevitability of a nuclear Iran were evident in a statement Vice Premier Shimon Peres made at a 9/11 memorial service earlier in the week.

"Even if Iran gets the nuclear bomb, and I hope that it doesn't, we shall develop and can develop better technology to face them," Peres said.

This was the first time a senior Israeli official had publicly acknowledged that Israel might have to adapt to a reality where Iran has nuclear capabilities.

Eiland said that Israel, facing a nuclear Iran, would have "two terrible options." One is to do nothing [militarily], which is dangerous. And the other is to do something, which is dangerous. It is a very grave dilemma."

If Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became the next supreme leader of his country, and it attained a nuclear capability, "that's a problematic combination," Eiland said dryly. For now, he stressed, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, reports to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei." (In a briefer conversation with the Post three weeks ago, Eiland had warned that Ahmadinejad, if he ever became the supreme decision maker, would "sacrifice half of Iran for the sake of eliminating Israel.")

Eiland said Israel should not blame itself "too much" for the anticipated failure of the effort to thwart Iran. Israel had not been at the center of the diplomatic struggle, although "maybe we could have tugged at the sleeves of those who were making decisions" with suggestions for wiser policies, he said.

Specifically, he faulted the United States with a "double mistake" that had prevented a possible political solution.

On the one hand, he said, Washington "is not giving any credibility to the notion that it would weigh military action. Nobody takes such a notion seriously. It is not carrying out activities that would suggest any such readiness. So the stick is not big enough.

"On the other hand it is not prepared to offer a bigger carrot - in the form of a dramatic change in policy on Iran, to say that 'We'll speak directly to you.'" Direct US engagement "might make an impression on the Iranians. But the US is ideologically opposed to doing this.

"So the carrot is small and the stick is small, and there's no reason for the Iranians to be persuaded [to change course]. The more time passes, the clearer this becomes, to my sorrow."

He said Israel had always been unwilling to so much as suggest to the US that it might change tack in situations where Washington's policy was tougher than Israel's, on matters relating to "Iran, the Palestinians, the Syrians, whoever. We don't dare to suggest to them that perhaps something else would be better...

"Israel is very faithful to the American ideological position," he said. "If the US is right, who are we to say anything different?

"But politics isn't about being right or wrong. It's about being smart or not smart. Sometimes the thing to do is not necessarily the "right" thing but the thing that will ultimately bring the best result. And if we think the US is making a mistake, we should say so. We don't. We do go to the Americans with complaints when we think they're not being tough enough, but never in the other direction."

On the Iranian issue, he went on, "there have been grave missed opportunities over the years, because the US did not merely say that it wasn't prepared to speak to Iran. Until February 2005, the US said that it would not support anybody else speaking to Iran either. 'They're bad. Don't talk to them.' But that doesn't work. Neither Iran, nor Hizbullah, nor anybody else, surrendered. We're through with the era of the ultimatum."

Herb Keinon contributed to this report. A full interview with Giora Eiland will appear in the Post next week.

Chavez Vows Aid for Iran Against Attack

ABC News:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pledged Thursday that Venezuela will support Iran if it is invaded as a result of the Middle Eastern nation's high-stakes nuclear standoff with the United Nations Security Council.

"Iran is under threat; there are plans to invade Iran, hopefully it won't happen, but we are with you," Chavez told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a meeting of the Group of 15 developing nations. READ MORE

The U.N. has demanded that Iran suspend uranium enrichment amid concerns by some nations that it could be used for nuclear weapons. Iran insists that its enrichment efforts are peaceful, aimed solely at producing electrical energy.

Chavez said Venezuela stands with Iran in this time of crisis, just as it has with Cuba, where Fidel Castro handed over power to Raul while recovering from intestinal surgery. If they don't defend each other, no one else will, Chavez said.

"Under any scenario we are with you just like we are with Cuba," Chavez said. "If the United States invades Cuba, blood will run… We will not have our arms crossed while bombs are falling in Havana or they carry Raul off in a plane."

China's Sinopec reportedly set for 51% stake in Iran oil field

Market Watch:

China Petrochemical Corp., better known as Sinopec Group, is close to signing a deal with Iran to develop the Yadavaran oil field in the southern area of the Middle Eastern country, the Shanghai Securities News reported Friday.

Sinopec will secure a 51% stake in Yadavaran, with India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (500312.BY) taking a 29% interest and local Iranian companies holding the remainder, the report said.

A deal would not only grant China access to a field with estimated reserves of more than 30 billion barrels of oil, but also represent the latest alliance between Sinopec and India's ONGC. READ MORE

Last month, the two companies teamed up to buy a 50% stake in Omimex de Colombia Ltd., which has oil and gas-producing assets in the South American country and is owned by U.S.-based Omimex Resources Inc.

China and India are often seen as rivals in the race to secure energy supplies as their domestic consumption climbs, with state-owned firms bidding against each other for assets in Africa and central Asia.

However, they have recently embarked on working together, with officials from the two countries signing a framework agreement for cooperation in January.

In 2004, Iran and China signed a memorandum of understanding in which Iran would allow Sinopec Group to develop Iran's Yadavaran oil field. In exchange, China signed an agreement to buy 10 million metric tons a year of Iranian liquefied natural gas for 25 years, although it didn't say when the first deliveries would be made.

According to the report, talks have recently involved Sinopec agreeing to provide equipment and services as part of the development of Yadavaran.

Iran, Venezuela Try to Forge Anti-US Front at Summit

Matthew Bigg, Reuters:

Iran, Venezuela and other states opposed to U.S. policy sought to forge a common front on Friday at a Non-Aligned summit that Cuban leader Fidel Castro was too ill to chair. The anti-U.S. drive could displease other summit countries such as India and Pakistan who have forged closer relationships with Washington since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The question of whether Castro would make his first public appearance since undergoing emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding in late July and ceding power temporarily to his brother Raul Castro loomed over the summit.

State television showed the 80-year-old greeting friend and ally Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, fueling talk that he might make a dramatic entrance.

Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told delegates on Friday that Castro's health was "improving continuously" but said "the doctors have insisted that he continue resting and thus he will not lead the Cuban delegation at the summit."

In his absence, Raul Castro chaired the meeting in a rare appearance for one of Cuba's most powerful but least visible figures. But he was often upstaged by Chavez, whose banters and controversial speeches appeared to show him as Fidel Castro's heir apparent.

More than 40 heads of state and government and leaders from countries including North Korea are due to debate a document that backs Iran's right to nuclear technology and another sharply critical of Israel's recent war in Lebanon.

Leaders avoided most of those topics, using their speeches to salute the movement and press for greater cooperation between non-Western nations.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praised Cuba's "outstanding role ... in advancing the objectives of our movement, the liberation struggle and the fight against imperialism." READ MORE

"There is a need to strengthen or revitalize our movement more than ever," he said, in a speech that did not mention Tehran's stand-off with the West over its nuclear policy.

SCOURGE

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said fighting terrorism must also be on the summit's agenda.

"It (the summit) cannot afford to equivocate on the subject of terrorism. A message must emanate from us that we are united in our desire and determination to find and eliminate the scourge of terrorism," Singh said in a speech.

Chavez quoted poetry and joked with Raul Castro, calling Fidel: "an example of resistance and dignity against the constant aggression from the north."

The Non-Aligned Movement, called a relic of the Cold War by critics, is trying to refine its role in a world where the United States is increasingly dominant, and unpopular among many Third World countries.

Even without Castro the summit offers Cuba a rare chance in the post-Cold War period to project itself on an international stage after more than 40 years of U.S. sanctions, drawing on its strong alliances with oil producers Venezuela and Iran.

A giant poster on Havana's waterfront showed U.S. President George W. Bush with the word 'murderer' below.

"The ... (summit) is more important to Cuba than to other countries because of Cuba's constant effort to demonstrate that it is not isolated diplomatically in spite of U.S. efforts," said Phil Peters of the U.S. Lexington Institute think tank.

Washington slammed Cuba's acting president on Friday and called for a referendum in Cuba on a transition to democracy.

"Virtually the entire hemisphere stands ready to welcome a democratic Cuba back into the inter-American fold," U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, a Cuban American, said in a speech at a Latin American economic conference in Miami.

The movement includes 116 nations and a wide range of agendas. Venezuela used the summit to lobby for votes to win a seat on the U.N. Security Council in the face of U.S. opposition and South African President Thabo Mbeki also used his speech to press for U.N. reform.

Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf were due to hold talks in Havana on Saturday, hoping to ease tensions after a year of recriminations over terror attacks and Kashmir.

(Additional reporting by Tom Brown in Miami and Anthony Boadle and Marc Frank in Havana)