A Video Round-up of June 20-21 Protests in Iran

Instapundit found a good round-up of links to videos from Iran, at YouTube and Facebook: Fatima at Mideast Youth put this together.

Following the Revolution inside of Iran

For many years this site monitored the struggle of the Iranian people for freedom and democracy.

But, today the world is witnessing their struggle.

This site has been off line for some time now and recently our site has been hacked and many of our posts have been deleted.

So we are redirecting you to some of the best sites for more information on the unrest there.

You can of course follow the events using Twitter, here.

You Tube has the most recent videos, here.

Web searchers can now translate Persian/Farsi content, here.

One good Persian news sources is Iran Press News.

A few of the best blogs...

Michael Ledeen's Blog at Pajamas Media (PJM in solidarity with the Iranian democracy movement)

Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi's Facebook page (for Facebook users only)

Gateway Pundit

Michael Totten

Andrew Sullivan

We will be updating this list again very soon....

Bloggers, help spread the word about the Iranian Pledge on Iran. It is a simple was to show our support.

A few photos from today's protests

via Andrew Sullivan.

via Gateway Pundit.

Iran, Russia Sign Deal to Open Nuclear Plant

Ladane Nasseri, Bloomberg:

Iran's first nuclear power plant, a Russian-built project, will begin operating by September 2007, according to an agreement between the two countries.

The accord involving the facility near the southern city of Bushehr was announced today on Iranian state-run television after talks in Moscow between the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Qolam-Reza Aqazadeh, his Russian counterpart, Sergei Kiriyenko, and Russian Security Council chief Igor Ivanov. Russia also will provide enriched uranium to fuel the plant before its completion.

``Russia guaranteed that it will complete the plant by September and deliver the nuclear fuel to Iran in March,'' Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of the Iranian agency, said in a television interview. READ MORE

The power station is part of Iran's nuclear program, which the U.S. and its allies accuse of being a cover for the development of weapons. Iran failed to meet the United Nations Security Council's Aug. 31 deadline to suspend uranium enrichment. Russia is among the council's five permanent members. A push for UN sanctions against Iran will begin early next month if the Islamic Republic maintains its stance.

Diplomatic efforts aimed at getting Iran to end production of the nuclear fuel have included a proposal for Iran's uranium to be enriched on Russian soil and then shipped to Iran. Enriched uranium can also be used in a nuclear weapon.

Iranian officials who are involved in talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana won't discuss the possibility of freezing uranium enrichment, an unidentified official from Iran's nuclear agency was cited as saying today by Agence France-Presse after the announcement of the Bushehr deal. The proposal was for a three-month freeze, AFP said.

Iran has so far paid Russia $1 billion to build the plant, capable of generating about 1,000 megawatts of electricity. Iran had urged Russia to complete construction of the nuclear plant following numerous delays. Iran plans to build 20 nuclear power plants with a combined capacity of 20,000 megawatts.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at lnasseri@bloomberg.net.

Iran Close to Nuclear Suspension

Bill Gertz, The Washington Times:

Iran is close to an agreement that would include a suspension of uranium enrichment but wants the deal to include a provision that the temporary halt be kept secret, according to Bush administration officials. Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, has been working with Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on the enrichment-suspension deal that could be completed this week.

Disclosure of talks on the secret element of the arrangement comes as Mr. Solana and Mr. Larijani are set to meet today or tomorrow in Europe when the deal could be completed, said officials opposed to the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

According to the officials, the suspension of uranium enrichment by Iran would be for 90 days, so additional talks could be held with several European nations. READ MORE

Many U.S. officials are opposing the agreement as a further concession to Iran, which continues to defy a United Nations' call for a complete halt to uranium enrichment. A Security Council resolution had given Iran until Aug. 31 to stop its enrichment program or face the imposition of international sanctions. Tehran ignored the deadline, but diplomacy has continued.

Some in the State Department are supporting the deal, which they view as a step toward achieving a complete halt to uranium enrichment.

However, other officials said that keeping any suspension secret would be difficult and that it would drag the United States into further negotiations with Iran.

Iran is seeking to continue talks on its nuclear program while attempting to avoid the imposition of sanctions, something the Bush administration favors but that several other key states, including Russia, oppose.

The United States would then be faced with the difficult position of negotiating against the 90-day deadline, a position that favors Iran.

"The Iranians are very good negotiators," said one official close to the issue.

The officials opposed to the deal want any agreement on uranium suspension to be announced publicly.

Also, any suspension of enrichment would require International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections to verify that work has stopped at Iranian facilities. The inspections would likely be disclosed, exposing any secret arrangement with Iran on suspension.

Failing to publicly announce the suspension also would be a face-saving measure for the Iranian government.

Officials said President Bush is not happy with the secrecy demand, although he continues to support the use of diplomacy to solve the problem.

Asked about the pending deal, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in an e-mail, "The terms laid out by the Security Council are clear: Iran needs to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, and it needs to do so in a verifiable way. If it does, we can start negotiations. If it doesn't, we move to sanctions. It is a clear and unambiguous standard."

In New York yesterday, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that talks between European and Iranian officials were on track and that a negotiated settlement is possible.

"I think very soon they will have the next round of discussions," Mr. Mottaki told the Associated Press, noting that "there was good connection between the two sides" after Iran's Aug. 22 response to a package of incentives offered by six nations -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia -- for a halt in enrichment efforts.

A recent report by the IAEA said that as late as Aug. 24, Iran had continued to feed uranium hexafluoride into its 164-centrifuge cascade, which is used to enrich uranium. The report also said that Iran is building additional facilities, including a second 164-centrifuge cascade and that work on a plutonium-based heavy-water reactor is continuing.

The Bush administration is convinced that Iran's nuclear program is intended to develop weapons, contrary to repeated statements from Iranian leaders that the program is aimed at producing electrical power for civilian use.

The Bush administration wants to impose internationally approved economic sanctions on Iran in the next several weeks, based on the IAEA report and Iran's missing the deadline to halt enrichment.