A Daily Briefing on Iran: Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [6/25/06 - 7/01/06] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance) READ MORE

Iran's Nuclear Program & The UN Security Council.

Yahoo News reported on the one-and-half page unofficial text supplied to Washington by the IAEA which gives their assessment that even reduced enrichment work would help Iran towards "successful long-term sustained centrifuge operation", needed to make enriched uranium that can be used for nuclear power reactor fuel or nuclear bomb material.
The Financial Times argued that the real issue is not what Iran agrees to with the Perm-5 but how determined it is to pursue a nuclear weapons program.
IRNA reported that the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani said concerning the nuclear issue, Iran believes in the win-win game and that attempts are made to this end.
Regnum reported that the Russian state company Atomstroy export started preparing to launch a water-conditioning system at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, the first step in starting the reactor.
Yahoo News reported that Germany's foreign minister said it was inconceivable that the six powers that made an offer of incentives to Iran should have to wait until August 22 for a response.
Yahoo News reported that Britain's new ambassador has appealed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to give an "early response" to the international package aimed at defusing concerns over Iran's nuclear program.
TurkishPress.com reported on Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s visit to Iran to start a process of negotiation between the West and Iran to solve the nuclear crisis.
The New York Times reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that talks with the United States would not benefit the Islamic Republic, which is embroiled in a dispute over its nuclear program with the West.
FOX News reported that Tony Snow said officials don't consider the supreme leader's comments to be an official response. Huh?
Reuters reported that Germany's defense minister said Iran should be allowed to enrich uranium for power generation provided there is close monitoring by U.N. inspectors to ensure that it is not trying to develop atomic weapons.
Yahoo News reported that a meeting between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator has been postponed until after Group of Eight foreign ministers meet on Thursday.
The Washington Post reported that Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations meet in Moscow on Thursday.
The Guardian reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to the Russian capital to join international talks on Iran's nuclear program as the world awaits Tehran's response.
The Guardian reported that Iran's foreign minister has indicated that his country may respond before mid-July to an international package aimed at resolving a standoff over its nuclear program.
Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com argued why the G-8 foreign ministers in Moscow need to demand a July 5th deadline for Iran to give an answer its offer of a nuclear deal.
Forbes reported that the United States, Russia and other industrial democracies said Thursday they expect Iran to answer "yes" or "no" by July 5th. Yes, Russia wants an answer now.
CBS News reported that Iran's foreign minister brushed aside the demand from the major industrialized nations to respond by July 5 th. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran had questions about the proposal that will be raised in talks expected early next month with Javier Solana.
The Financial Times argued that the West should play Iran at its game. They said: If the Iranian regime is playing a delaying game, the west should not abandon the waiting game. ... Mr Ahmadi-Nejad must be seen by his fellow Iranians to be dragging Iran into isolation rather than being pushed there by the US.
Los Angeles Times reported that the US, Russia and other key industrialized countries increased pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, declaring that Tehran's intentions would be judged based on its response next week to its proposal. Next week's meeting, they said, should "bring these discussions to a rapid conclusion."
Reuters reported that the US rejected Iranian calls for more time to study an offer of incentives to curb its nuclear activities, insisting Tehran must respond by a G8 deadline next week.
CBS News reported that now that the G-8 have given Iran a July 5th deadline for a response to its nuclear proposal there is fear that Iran attempt to accept part of the package but reject other parts.
News 24 reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Tehran will continue its uranium enrichment program, saying: "The Iranian government and the people have decided, and without any doubt with dignity and glory we will pass this phase."

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

Yahoo News reported that Iran rejected Canadian calls for the prosecution of Tehran chief prosecutor Said Mortazavi over the death in custody of a photo-journalist with Canadian citizenship, calling "The Canadian claims are "illogical." He added: "The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that a country which still has traces of British colonialism is not at a level at which it can make such illogical and illegal comments and expect to be listened to."
Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that an Iranian prosecutor, Mr. Mortazavi, who is accused of condoning the torture, rape, and murder of a Canadian photojournalist has eluded arrest after Canadian Prime Minister Harper made an appeal to the world to use "all manner of law" available to apprehend him. A preview of UN sanctions on Iran?
Eli Lake, The New York Sun argued why America could learn a thing or two from Canada on how to deal with Iran.

Iran's leaders latest statements.

Tehran Times reported that Iran's Supreme Leader issued a decree establishing the Strategic Council for Foreign Relations and appointed Kamal Kharrazi as its chairman, tasked with setting up the council to assist in making major decisions and to seek new horizons in Iran’s foreign relations.
Rooz Online reported that Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, the spiritual mentor of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, "One cannot expect everyone in a country of 70 million people to be deserving and righteous, but 7 million believers can be raised from amongst them." Mesbah Yazdi himself spoke of the “forthcoming” Islamic government and described ways of forming it. A must read.
The New York Times reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that talks with the United States would not benefit the Islamic Republic, which is embroiled in a dispute over its nuclear program with the West.
A. Savyon*, MEMRI explains how Iran's Supreme Leaders announce of a new Foreign Relations Steering Council, whose official function is to set Iran's foreign relations policy and strategy is designed to limit the power of Ahmadinejad and his mentor Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi.
Rooz Online argued why Iran's new "Council on Foreign Relations" is unlikely help resolve Iran's foreign policy problems.

Iranian Dissidents.

Rooz Online reported Iran’s best-known imprisoned dissident journalist, Akbar Ganji, released last month who is touring Europe said Islamic democracy made no sense.

Iranian leaderships unity weakening?

Rooz Online interviewed, Ali Akbar Moinfar, member of the Revolutionary Council of Iran and former minister of oil who said that the current "unity" of the Iranian leadership "is only a pipe-dream in Iran."

Unrest in Iran.

IRNA reported that unofficial reports said four people were injured and five cars damaged as a result of a blast in the southern city of Shiraz.
SMCCDI also reported on the blast and that while authorities have attributed the blast to an incident that involved an oil tanker they added: the same type of strange reason has been advanced, in the past, in reference to strange explosions.
Iran Focus reported that there have been some 480 anti-government protests inside of Iran in the past month. But the Western media remains silent. Photo.
SMCCDI reported that a feared cleric was shot to death by a local resident in western Iran. The victim, Rahim Dastyar, was a representative of the regime' s supreme leader.
Rooz Online reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran spent $350 million to equip and arm 2 brigades of Baseej mass-mobilization forces with heavy weapons. These two brigades had been involved in crushing the student protests. (This is just the latest investment, but the US Senate still can't seem to approve the White House's request for $75 million to support the Iranian opposition.) A must read.
Reuters reported that suspected tribal militants, fighting for greater political and economic autonomy, blew up a railway line linking southwestern Pakistan to Iran early on Saturday.
Middle East Newsline reported that Iran was said to have been besieged by unrest. Iranian opposition sources reported a sharp increase in civil unrest throughout the country.

More troublemaking by the Iranian regime.

Mail & Guardian reported that Iran threatened to allow drug traffickers to flood Europe with narcotics unless its costly border-security operation is given a massive $500 million hike in United Nations funding.
WorldNetDaily.com reported that Senior Palestinian security officials said two Israeli soldiers were killed and another was kidnapped by terrorists trained by Iranian Revolutionary Guard units and tied to Al Qaeda.
The Guardian reported that intelligence agencies have warned ministers that Iran could launch terrorist attacks against British targets if the row over its controversial nuclear program escalates.

Human Rights and Freedom of the Press in Iran.

Human Rights Watch asked Iran’s judiciary to rescind the death sentences of at least 10 Iranians of Arab origin convicted of plotting against the state, and retry them before courts that meet international fair trial standards.
Rooz Online reported that as the regime pursues its policies of confronting student activists, the center for activities of protesting students, the Islamic society of Isfahan University was shut by official order.
Rooz Online reported that activists of the women’s movement in Iran have been under interrogations by security agents since their last rally in Tehran on June 12.
SMCCDI reported that students of the Ashtian Azad University protested against the arrest and pressure made on a female students.
The Guardian reported on how some Iranian Jews are learning to live with Ahmadinejad.
Los Angeles Times reported that in what call Iranian students call a "purge," more than 40 professors at Tehran University were last week unexpectedly forced to retire.
Macleans reported that two months have passed since the Iranian-Canadian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo was locked in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, Canada is making so little headway in securing his release. His wife said: "He is in poor shape and has lost a lot of weight."
Adnkronos International reported that an Iran court has sentenced a Kurdish woman, Malak Ghorbany, found guilty of committing adultery to death by stoning. Photo. See also a video of a stoning if you have a strong stomach.
Amnesty International said that as the annual Babek Castle cultural gathering of Iranian Azeri Turks approaches on 30 June 2006, they are urging the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint while policing the gathering.
Rooz Online reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran spent $350 million to equip and arm 2 brigades of Baseej mass-mobilization forces with heavy weapons. These two brigades had been involved in crushing the student protests. A must read.
Rooz Online reported on a gathering to protest the detention of a former Majlis MP.
Kuwait Times reported that a human rights group said Syria detained several leading Iranian Arab rebel leaders yesterday. The human rights group fear they will send them back to Iran.
Amnesty International claimed that Sayed Ali Akbar Mousavi-Kho’ini is a prisoner of conscience in Iran. Sayed is a former student leader and former member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Majles (Iran’s parliament) who was reportedly arrested during a peaceful demonstration in the capital, Tehran.

Iran's Oil Weapon.

Yahoo News reported that Iran's oil minister warned that Iran would use oil as a weapon if its interests are attacked, state television has reported. "If the country's interests are attacked, we will use all our capabilities and oil is one of them."
Mehran Riazaty reminded us that the head of energy commission in Iran’s Parliament, Kamal Danesshyar, said that the real price of oil is $100 a barrel and it has not yet reached its real price.
Lawrence Kudlow, The New York Sun responded to the West's fear that the Iranian crisis may lead to sky rocketing oil prices. He argues we may instead be looking at a downward correction that will have oil prices dropping more than anyone imagines possible. A must read for those who fear Iran's "oil weapon."

The Iranian Economy.

Strategiy.com reported that Iran expects to earn 60 billion dollars from oil exports in its current financial year that ends on March 20, 2007. This is $10 billion more than last year.
RIA Novosti reported that Russia's Gazprom and Iran have agreed to study the possibility of forming a joint enterprise to develop oil and gas deposits.
Ilan Berman, AFPC reported that Ahmadinejad is weathering growing domestic discontent with his rule as he has failed to make good on his pre-election promises of economic prosperity. He said that more than 100,000 jobs have been lost since March and inflation is currently at some 17 percent and is expected to rise.
Rooz Online interviewed Hadi Zonooz, one of the authors of the letter signed by 50 Iranian economists wrote to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warning him of serious problems. He said the administration responded to the letter politically, and not economically.
Yahoo News reported that Iran's Revolutionary Guards are set to enter the oil and gas sectors. "The Revolutionary Guards have obtained the contract to develop phases 15 and 16 of South Pars," a huge offshore gas field. The contract was worth 2.09 billion dollars.
Rooz Online reported that fearing international sanctions, the Iranian regime has encouraged massive imports. The volume imports are so great that Iranian ports cannot handle the volume. But economists warn that these imports are having a crushing effect on the Iranian economy.

Iran and Iraq.

The Telegraph published the first picture of an Iraqi insurgent mine manufactured inside of Iran, believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 17 British soldiers.
Adnkronos International reported that Ahmadinejad will visit Iraq soon to meet with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, and Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
World Tribune.com reported that Iranian-sponsored Shi'ites have launched an offensive in Iraq, a day after U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, accused Iran of being a leading source of instability in Iraq.
Stratfor argued that Ahmadinejad's planned visit to Iraq in the near future strongly suggests that Tehran is close to consolidating its position in Iraq.
Excite News reported that Iraqi and U.S. troops battled Shi'ite militiamen in a village northeast of Baghdad on Thursday. Iraqi security officials said Iranian fighters had been captured in the fighting.
Michael Ledeen, National Review Online examined the recent report that Iranian fighters had been captured in the fighting inside of Iraq and answers the question: Who’s an Iraqi? Who’s a Shiite? What’s the Iranian threat, anyway?

Iran and the International community.

Robert T. McLean, Spectator reported on the return of the Non-Aligned Movement and its support for Iran.
RIA Novosti reported that Russia's defense minister denied reports that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp missile specialists were trained at an aerospace university in southern Russia.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the presidents of Iran and Venezuela took advantage of a summit of African leaders Saturday to declare solidarity with the impoverished continent and to lash out at the West.

US Government on Iran.

George W. Bush, The White House said that ten years ago yesterday, in an attack on the Khobar Towers apartment complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 19 members of our Armed Forces were killed, and hundreds of other Americans were injured, by terrorists who we believe were working with Iranian officials.

Must Read reports.

RIA Novosti reported that Tehran is prepared to assist in releasing four Russian diplomats abducted by Al Qaeda insurgents in the Iraqi capital. By making this statement, Iran has admitted it's over Al Qaeda.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that Iran is to hold its controversial proposed conference on the Holocaust in October.
Alan Peters, AntiMullah believes he knows why Iran Chose Mid-August to respond to the Perm-5 nuclear offer.
The Telegraph reported the belief amongst most intelligence agencies is that a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attack, using a so-called dirty bomb, is now inevitable.
Potkin Azarmehr, Azarmehr Weblog said the Islamic Republic think tank units expertly target the Western newspaper journalists who have the potential of opinion making. Through their "officials" they feed these "experts" with their "sources" of information. A must read.
Rooz Online reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran spent $350 million to equip and arm 2 brigades of Baseej mass-mobilization forces with heavy weapons. These two brigades had been involved in crushing the student protests. (This is just the latest investment, but the US Senate still can't seem to approve the White House's request for $75 million to support the Iranian opposition.) A must read.
RIA Novosti reported that Russia's defense minister confirmed a Ukrainian firm supplied China and Iran with six long-range cruise missiles in 2000-2001. The missiles were the Soviet Kh-55 Granat missiles (NATO reporting name AS-15 Kent) with nuclear capacity.
Reuters reported that as many as 30,000 Iranian exiles affiliated with the NCRI/MEK rallied near Paris on Saturday, calling on Western powers to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb and urging democratic change in Tehran. The NCRI/MEK is considered a terrorist group by the US government.

The Experts.

Peter Hoekstra and Rick Santorum, The Wall Street Journal asked, why is our intelligence community holding back the evidence of Saddam's WMD's?
Richard Perle, The Washington Post asked, why did Bush blink on Iran?
DoctorZin, 5 Reasons you should not believe the media's favorite "Iran Experts."
Amir Taheri, Gulf News argued that as the Arab world considers what they should do to meet the challenges they face in a world not made by, and for, them? Taheri provides methods for testing the worth of the various governmental systems in Arab world.
The Heritage Foundation published the testimony of James Phillips before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on: U.S. Policy and Iran's Nuclear Challenge.
Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com argued why the G-8 foreign ministers in Moscow need to demand a July 5th deadline for Iran to give an answer its offer of a nuclear deal.
Michael Ledeen, National Review Online examined the recent report that Iranian fighters had been captured in the fighting inside of Iraq and answers the question: Who’s an Iraqi? Who’s a Shiite? What’s the Iranian threat, anyway?
Reza Bayegan, American Jewish Committee reviewed the anti-Semitism of the Islamic Republic of Iran's leadership and contrasted it with Iran's opposition leadership.
American Enterprise Institute hosted a panel discussion with Michael Connell, Danielle Pletka, and AEI scholars Nicholas Eberstadt, Michael Rubin, and Gary Schmitt to discuss the U.S. offer to join Britain, France, and Germany in meeting with Iranian representatives if Iran suspended uranium enrichment. A video.

Photos, cartoons and videos.

Iran Focus reported that there have been some 480 anti-government protests inside of Iran in the past month. But the Western media remains silent. Photo.
Adnkronos International reported that an Iran court has sentenced a Kurdish woman, Malak Ghorbany, found guilty of committing adultery to death by stoning. Photo. See also a video of a stoning if you have a strong stomach.
Cox & Forkum published another cartoon: Unrequited War.
American Enterprise Institute hosted a panel discussion on the U.S. offer to join Britain, France, and Germany in meeting with Iranian representatives if Iran suspended uranium enrichment. A video.

The Quote of the Week.

Rooz Online reported that Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, the spiritual mentor of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hopes for 10% support from the Iranian people:

"One cannot expect everyone in a country of 70 million people to be deserving and righteous, but 7 million believers can be raised from amongst them." Mesbah Yazdi himself spoke of the “forthcoming” Islamic government and described ways of forming it.