US Reassures Israel Over Security

Al Jazeera English /

Joe Biden, the US vice-president, and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, have held talks over the perceived threat posed by Iran and on reviving the Middle East peace process. After the meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Biden reassured Israel that the US stood alongside them in terms of security. "Progress occurs in the Middle East when everyone knows that there is simply no space between the United States and Israel," he said. "The is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel's security. And for that reason, and many others, addressing Iran's nuclear programme has been one of our administration's priorities." Netanyahu thanked the US administration for attempting to limit Iran's nuclear programme, which they claim is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, contrary to Iran's pronouncements that it is solely for civilian purposes, via sanctions.

He also reaffirmed that one of Israel's security priorities is to ensure that Iran does not build a nuclear arsenal. "The Iranian regime will have to chose between advancing its nuclear programme and advancing the future of its own permanence," Netanyahu said. Shadi Hamid, the deputy director of the Brookings Institute, told Al Jazeera that the point of Biden's visit was to show Washington's commitment to Israel's security and resistance to Tehran's nuclear programme. "That was something that Netanyahu and the Israeli public really wanted to hear from Biden in unequivocal terms. And Biden succeeded in getting across that message," Hamid said. Hamid said that the talks should calm recent Israeli portentousness concerning Iran. "It would be very difficult now for Israel to talk about a pre-emptive strike so soon after Biden's visit. There would be quite a bit of dissonance there if Israel did that." (Read more...)

World's Biggest Oil Trader Ends Supplies to IR Iran

AFP & Haaretz /

The largest oil trader in the world, Vitol, said Monday it had stopped dealing with Iran, following a report that traders were pulling out of the country as sanctions and US pressure took their toll. The Financial Times said Vitol and its fellow trading giants Glencore and Trafigura had stopped supplying petrol to Iran. A spokesman for Vitol told AFP: "I can confirm that our position is as covered in the Financial Times today." One unnamed executive familiar with Iran's trade told the newspaper that Vitol had "consciously decided not to participate in Iran's tenders". Another industry executive told the paper Switzerland-based Trafigura stopped selling to Iran about three months ago because "they have concluded that there's too much political and financial risk". Glencore distanced itself from Iran late last year. Although Iran is one of the world's largest oil producers, it is forced to import petrol because its refineries are dilapidated and it suffers from intense demand because of generous subsidies. A senior Iranian oil official said Sunday that increased gasoline rationing imposed late last year has failed to reduce domestic demand, an acknowledgment that reflects the OPEC nation's economic struggles as it faces possible new sanctions. Farid Ameri, the head of Iran's National Distribution Oil Products Company, said gasoline consumption had remained unchanged this year despite a 20 percent cut in fuel rations since December.

"To meet the shortage, we need to import 22 million liters per day of gasoline and nine million liters of gasoil per day," Ameri was quoted as saying on Shana, the Oil Ministry's Web site. The remarks highlight the challenges confronting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hard-line government as it struggles to rein in soaring fuel costs while also grappling with the possibility of new sanctions that could further hammer the country's faltering economy. Since December, Iranian drivers have had an 80 liter allotment of gasoline per month at a subsidized price of 1,000 rials - or about 10 cents per liter. Any volume over that costs roughly four-times the subsided price. Previously, each car received 100 liters per month. Iran is home to the world's second largest proven reserves of conventional crude and produces about 4.2 million barrels of oil per day. But a lack of refining capacity means that it produces roughly 44 million liters of gasoline per day - around only two-thirds of its of daily demand. Tehran must import more than 5 million gallons to meet its daily needs. The imports, coupled with the subsidy program, are a heavy drain on the state budget, which relies on oil sales for around 80 percent of its revenues.

Ex-President Khatami Barred From Leaving Iran

Reuters /

Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, a leading reformer, has been barred from travelling abroad, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday. Khatami supported opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in the Islamic Republic's disputed presidential election last June, which plunged the major oil producer into deep turmoil. Fars cited an unnamed intelligence official as saying Khatami, who was president in 1997-2005, had intended to leave Iran, without giving details. "Mohammad Khatami was barred from leaving the country," Fars said. Although a close ally of Mohammad Khatami denied a report by a semi-official news agency Tuesday that the reformist former president had been barred from leaving Iran. "No, it is not correct. Mr Khatami has not been barred from leaving the country," the ally told Reuters. Khatami supported opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in the Islamic Republic's disputed presidential election last June, which plunged the major oil producer into deep turmoil. Some Iranian hardliners have accused both Mousavi and Khatami of fuelling the unrest that erupted after the election, portraying it as a foreign-backed bid to undermine the clerical establishment. They have rejected the allegations.

The semi-official Fars News Agency, citing an unnamed intelligence official, earlier said Khatami had intended to leave Iran, without giving details. "Mohammad Khatami was barred from leaving the country," Fars said. But Khatami's lawyer Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai told the ILNA news agency: "For issuing a traveling ban for people, a judicial decision should be made and so far no such decision has been made for Mr Khatami." A pro-reform website, Parlemannews, quoted a source in Khatami's office as saying: "Mr Khatami has had no intention recently of traveling abroad." There was no immediate comment from the authorities. Several other people have also reportedly been prevented from traveling out of Iran since last year's election, but Khatami would be by far the most high-profile person affected. The pro-reform opposition says the June vote was rigged to secure hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. The government denies the accusation of vote rigging. Thousands of people were detained after the poll and scores of people have been sentenced to jail terms of up to 15 years, including several Khatami allies. Two people who were put on trial after the election have been executed.

Trilateral Meeting in Damascus

The Jerusalem Post /

Ahmadinejad, Nasrallah and Assad have dinner together, discuss "threats." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah met Thursday evening in Damascus along with their senior advisors, and discussed regional developments and “the zionist threat,” it was revealed Friday. The two were the guests of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who had dinner with the two and participated in the talks. According to Arab media reports, the meeting was not reported upon until after it had taken place for security reasons. On Thursday Ahmadinejad and Assad together unleashed vicious rhetoric against Israel, with Ahmadinejad declaring that the “criminal” state of Israel is doomed, and Assad charging that Israel “is capable of aggression at any point.” Visiting Damascus, Ahmadinejad vowed that Arab nations will usher in a new Middle East “without Zionists and without colonialists.” In remarks that extended to vicious criticism of the US, and made a mockery of Washington’s efforts to engage his Syrian hosts, Ahmadinejad said the United States should leave the Middle East and stay out of regional affairs. “[The Americans] want to dominate the region but they feel Iran and Syria are preventing that,” Ahmadinejad said during a news conference with Assad. “We tell them that instead of interfering in the region's affairs, to pack their things and leave.” He added that “if the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation.” Assad, for his part, said Syria was “facing an entity that is capable of aggression at any point, and we are preparing ourselves for any Israeli aggression, be it on a large or small scale.” He added that America should not dictate relationships in the Middle East.

"I find it strange how they talk about Middle East stability and at the same time talk about dividing two countries," Assad told reporters when asked about US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's call Wednesday for Syria to move away from Iran. Assad took a swipe at Clinton for making such a suggestion, saying he and Ahmadinejad "misunderstood, maybe because of translation error or limited understanding." In a show of unity, the two signed an agreement canceling travel visas between the their countries. US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, speaking to reporters in Washington on Thursday, said Assad "need only look around the region and recognize that Syria is increasingly an outlier." "We want to see Syria play a more constructive role in the region and one step would be to make clear what Iran needs to do differently. And unfortunately, there was no evidence of that today," he said. President Shimon Peres slammed the meeting between Ahmadinejad and Assad, warning that Iran’s true designs were for “hegemony over the Arab world in the Middle East.” “The time has come to tell the truth,” Peres said at a memorial service for Joseph Trumpledor in Tel Hai. “The problem in the Middle East is not the Palestinian problem, which will be solved in a peace process with Israel. The central problem in the Middle East is Iran’s attempt to take control of the Arab Middle East, which is why it is building an atomic bomb, and why it is supporting and developing terror organizations like Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza,” Peres said.

Is the Iranian Regime Collapsing?

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs /

To grasp Iran’s ambitions and foreign policy it is necessary to understand the Islamic Republic’s religious ideology which aspires to establish global Islamic rule – under Shi’ite leadership. This belief lies at the heart of Iran’s foreign policy, including its ambition to acquire nuclear weapons. Ayatollah Khomeini ruled that a Muslim mustn’t touch infidels, deal with them, or come into contact with them. Jews, in particular, are considered unclean. Iranian leaders call for the annihilation of Israel because these “unclean Jews” occupy the Muslim land of Palestine and hold the keys to the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.
When Ahmadinejad declared that Israel ought to be wiped off the map, he added that this was merely the first stage of the confrontation with the West, which means Christianity. Indeed, part of the animosity that Iranians express toward Judaism and Israel stems from the fact that they consider Judaism to be a pillar of the Christian faith. The Revolutionary Guards have taken over most of the economy, most of the political positions, and have infiltrated the judiciary system, though they continue to let Khamenei act as the face of their regime. Unlike the religious leaders of Iran, the Revolutionary Guards lack moral and religious values, with the exception of one very deep religious belief: that they are the messengers of the Mahdi, the vanguard of the messiah. In one possible scenario, the regime will collapse from the inside. Changes to the system of subsidies can only add to Ahmadinejad’s unpopularity. In this context, international pressure and sanctions on Iran will very much influence the continuation of the struggle against the regime. (Read more...)

US to Pursue Pressure Track on Iran: Petraeus

Agence France Presse (AFP) /

The United States is raising the stakes in its bid to halt Iran's nuclear program, putting the issue on a "pressure track," top US general David Petraeus said Sunday. The US and other world powers are drumming up support for a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran for its refusal to comply with repeated ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment and agree to a UN-backed nuclear fuel deal. President Barack Obama had talked about a dual-track approach to dealing with Iran's suspect nuclear activities, involving efforts to engage Iranian leaders backed up by the threat of further sanctions. "I think that no one at the end of this time can say that the United States and the rest of the world have not given Iran every opportunity to resolve the issues diplomatically," Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said. "That puts us in a solid foundation now to go on what is termed the pressure track. That's the course on which we are embarked now," he told NBC television's "Meet the Press" program. Petraeus said the administration intends to "send the kind of signal to Iran about the very serious concerns that the countries in the region and, indeed, the entire world have... about Iran's activities in the nuclear program." Concerns on Iran rose last week when the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, said it suspected that Tehran might already be trying to develop a nuclear warhead. A US intelligence report in 2007 said Iran halted such research in 2003, but the latest IAEA report gives credence to the belief held by some Western countries that the program continued.

Petraeus suggested that Iran's recent actions were leading US intelligence agencies to update their estimations. "There is no question that some of the activities have advanced during that time. There is also a new national intelligence estimate being developed by our intelligence community in the United States," he said. The IAEA also confirmed on Thursday that Tehran had begun enriching uranium to higher levels, theoretically bringing it closer to the levels needed for an atomic bomb. Iran has previously reached uranium enrichment levels of no more than five percent at its facility at Natanz, in defiance of UN orders for it to cease and despite three rounds of UN sanctions. Earlier this month, Iran announced it would begin enriching uranium to 20 percent, ostensibly to make the fuel for a research reactor that makes medical radioisotopes. Iranian officials have dismissed the IAEA report and the country's all-powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied on Friday that Tehran was seeking atomic weapons. Last year the IAEA proposed sending Iranian low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for further enrichment, denying Tehran refining capacity world powers fear could be used to help build an atomic bomb. The offer would have seen the uranium returned to Iran in a high-grade form for use in a medical research reactor, but Tehran rejected the plan. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted that the exchange had to be "simultaneous," an Iranian stance that has led to a deadlock over the deal.

Tough Sanctions Could See Iran 'Regime Change'

Agence France Presse (AFP) /

The United States is pressing for very tough new sanctions against Iran this month, a top US aide said Sunday, suggesting that the move could help bring about "regime change." "We're... going through the UN this month to present sanctions," President Barack Obama's national security advisor, retired general James Jones, told Fox News Sunday. While the US is not actively seeking to destabilize Iran, which has been rocked by months of anti-government protests since disputed elections last year, Jones said additional sanctions could nevertheless have that effect. "We know that internally there is a very serious problem. We're about to add to that regime's difficulties by engineering, participating in very tough sanctions, which we support," he said. "Not mild sanctions. These are very tough sanctions. A combination of those things could well trigger a regime change -- it's possible." Jones said that "the combination of internal and external problems are certainly not going to make life easier for the government of Iran." His remarks cane with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Middle East to build the US case for tougher sanctions over Iran's suspect nuclear activities in meetings with key Arab and Muslim leaders. Jones said there was already "tremendous support" for new sanctions against Iran, but admitted: "We need to work on China a little bit more. "Russia is supportive and is on board, and has been a steady friend and ally on this with president Obama," he said, warning: "I think Iran needs to weigh very carefully how it wishes to proceed."

With Russia having hardened its stance, China is the sole veto-wielding hold-out to further sanctions at the UN Security Council and is still pushing for further negotiations However US Vice President Joe Biden expressed confidence Sunday that the Chinese would ultimately join the other nations in backing measures to punish Iran. "I believe we'll get the support of China to continue to impose sanctions on Iran to isolate them, to make it clear that in fact they cannot move forward," he told NBC's "Meet the Press" program. There is strong backing for sanctions from Britain and France -- the remaining veto-wielding members -- as well as from Germany, which has also been involved in months of negotiations to try and get Iran to change tack. The West is trying to convince Tehran to sign on to an UN-brokered deal that calls for it to ship its stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for further processing. So far, Iran has defied three sets of UN Security Council sanctions, insisting its nuclear drive is peaceful. This week it boasted that it had begun enriching its uranium stockpile to the 20 percent level that would allow it to fuel its research reactor. Western powers believe Iran's eventual goal is to make the highly enriched uranium that would allow it to build a nuclear weapon and radically alter the balance of power in the already unstable Middle East and Central Asia. But analysts warn that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be exaggerating Iran's ability to advance its nuclear program in order to force the West to negotiate on his terms and reinforce his shaky position at home. (Read more...)

Attack on Iran Could Have 'Unintended Consequences'

Ynetnews /

During press briefing in Tel Aviv, US army chief hints strike on Iran possible if nuclear talks fail, but adds, 'We are not there yet'. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Israel on Sunday that the US administration is very serious regarding its plans to impose harsh sanctions on Iran and expressed hope that such a step would 'not end in violence." During a press briefing held at the US embassy in Tel Aviv, Mullen hinted that the US could attack Iran if negotiations failed and that such action could have "unintended consequences" throughout the volatile Middle East. “Of course, there are limits and this (military strike) option is on the table, but we are not there yet,” Mullen said, adding that it was important to let diplomacy and international pressure work before looking into military options. The US army chief, who accused Iran of destabilizing the entire Middle East, said the according to estimates, it will obtain a nuclear weapon within one to three years. Asked whether the US would prevent Israel from striking Iran, Mullen said IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi made it clear to him that Jerusalem backs the US administration's policy vis-à-vis Iran, adding that Washington was committed to Israel's security. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a quick visit to Persian Gulf allies Qatar and Saudi Arabia, said in a speech that Iran has not lived up to its nuclear obligations and has rebuffed US and international efforts to engage in serious talks.

As a result, Clinton told the US-Islamic World Forum that the US and others were working on "new measures" to try to persuade Iran to change its course. "We do not believe Iran should be a nuclear weapons power," Clinton said at a news conference before her address. She criticized Iran's defiance and said Tehran would not succeed in overcoming international opposition to it nuclear ambitions. In an exchange with the audience after the speech, Clinton said, "It's time for Iran to be held to account for its activities." The United States and some of its allies suspect Tehran is using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to build nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge and says it only has peaceful intentions. US President Barack Obama has said that work to broaden economic sanctions in the UN Security Council is moving along quickly, but he hasn't given a specific timeline. China, one of five permanent members of the Security Council, has close economic ties to Iran and can block a resolution by itself. Earlier Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will push for urgent "crippling sanctions" against Iran during talks in Moscow on Monday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "We will discuss a number of issues -- first and foremost, the Iranian issue," Netanyahu said on Sunday at the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting, before flying to Moscow. Mullen also addressed the major NATO-led offensive against a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan, saying it began well but its completion is difficult to predict. "It's off to a good start," he told reporters when asked about progress in the advance on the town of Marjah, now in its second day. "It's actually very difficult to predict (the end)," Mullen said. "We have from a planning standpoint talked about a few weeks, but I don't know that." (Read more...)

The Iranian Regime Jams Foreign Media Broadcasting

Agence France Presse (AFP) /

Three international broadcasters on Friday accused Iran of deliberately jamming their output. Britain's BBC, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and the Voice of America said the interference began on Thursday as Iran celebrated the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. They accused Iran of broadcasting freely around the world while denying the Iranian people programmes coming from outside the country. BBC World News was the latest TV channel to be jammed this week. "We condemn any jamming of these channels," said a joint statement by Peter Horrocks, Director of BBC World Service, Erik Bettermann, Director of Deutsche Welle and Dan Austin, Director of Voice of America. "It contravenes international agreements and is interfering with the free and open flow of international transmissions that are protected by international treaties. "The jamming violates article 45 of the constitution of the International Telecommunication Union that prohibits signal interference and we look to the international regulatory community to take a firmer stance on this deliberate act of jamming."

The broadcasters called on satellite operators and regulators to take "urgent action to put pressure on Iran to stop this activity". "The Iranian authorities are using the same satellite services to broadcast freely around the world including broadcasts in English and Arabic; at the same time they are denying their own people programmes coming from the same satellites from the rest of the world," they added. BBC Persian, the corporation's London-based Farsi-language TV channel, has angered Iranian authorities by broadcasting interviews and comment from opposition supporters. The contested re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June sparked the most serious unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The leader of prayers in Tehran on Friday insisted the Iranian people were putting on a show of solidarity for the Islamic revolution anniversary despite the attempts of "enemies" to wreck the event with protests.

Ex-IDF Chief: Israel Can't Handle Nuclear I.R. Iran Alone

Haaretz /

Israel may lack the military means for successful preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz told Channel 2 news on Saturday. While endorsing international efforts to pressure Tehran into curbing sensitive nuclear technologies, Israel has hinted it could resort to force. But some analysts say Israeli jets would be stymied by the distance to Iran and by its defenses. "We are taking upon ourselves a task that is bigger than us" Halutz, who stepped down in 2007, said when asked about Israeli leaders' vows to "take care" of the perceived threat. "I think that the State of Israel should not take it upon itself to be the flag-bearer of the entire Western world in the face of the Iranian threat," Halutz, a former air force commander, told Channel Two. "I'm not some passer-by ... I've filled a few positions that give me a different level of information to the average person," he said without elaborating. The United States and European nations are trying to enlist other world powers in stepping up sanctions against Iran for its uranium enrichment, a process with bomb-making potential.

Tehran denies having hostile designs but its anti-Israel rhetoric has stirred war fears. Halutz's comments came a day before the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Military was set to arrive in Israel for a meeting with the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff to discuss the situation in Iran. U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen is scheduled to meet with IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi as well as Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, and other senior IDF commanders to discuss joint defense issues between Israel and the U.S. and mutual security concerns. Admiral Mullen's meetings follow remarks made by the U.S. last week when they called Iran's nuclear intentions "anything but peaceful." Iran has rebuffed diplomatic overtures to resolve the issue and is in defiance of UN Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment. "Should Iran continue down the wrongful course that it's on there will be consequences," State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said. In addition to meetings with IDF personnel, Admiral Mullen also requested to meet with members from the IDF rescue delegation to Haiti and hear about their experience with rescue operations and field medical treatment.

I.R. Iran Showing 'Mounting Signs of Ruthless Repression'

The Voice of America (VOA)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Iran is showing "mounting signs of ruthless repression" in its treatment of opposition activists. Clinton says Iran's violent crackdown on opposition protests last month, and the arrests of leading reformists are deeply disturbing. She was speaking Monday at a Washington news conference. Iranian security forces cracked down on major anti-government protests in several cities on December 27, arresting more than 500 demonstrators. Eight people were killed in the unrest.

Since then, authorities have detained at least 20 high-profile opposition figures. Iran's Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi says those arrested include foreign nationals suspected of "pursuing psychological warfare." He said the foreigners were carrying cameras and other equipment. Their nationalities were not disclosed. Iran's government has repeatedly accused Western media and governments of fomenting the unrest. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, said Tuesday the detained foreigners will be set free if investigators find them not guilty.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.

The Iranian Regime Bans Contact with Foreign Organizations

guardian.co.uk / Robert Tait

Authorities in Iran intensified their campaign to blame the country's political turmoil on foreigners today by banning contact with more than 60 international organisations. The intelligence ministry said the blacklist included thinktanks, universities and broadcasting organisations identified as waging a "soft war" aimed at toppling Iran's Islamic system. It forbade Iranians from talking to or receiving aid from the proscribed organisations, including the BBC, which last year launched a Farsi satellite television channel, as well as two US government-funded outlets, Voice of America and Radio Farda, both of which broadcast in Farsi. Also on the list were Wilton Park, a British group that organises foreign policy conferences, Yale University and leading American thinktanks, including the Brookings Institution and the George Soros Open Society Foundation. While there have been previous cases of Iranians being arrested or harassed over involvement with some of the named organisations, there has never before been an extensive formal list. The ban also included an Iranian reformist website, Rah-e Sabz, which has been a news source for international media during the recent unrest, which foreign journalists have been restricted from covering. An unnamed deputy intelligence minister for foreign affairs was quoted by the state news agency, Irna, as describing Rah-e Sabz as "counter-revolutionary". Contact was "prohibited and considered as co-operation with foreign overthrowing organisations", he said. The minister said the contact ban was a response to what he said was a concerted western policy of undermining the Islamic system through reaching out to influential "special groups", including experts, artists and academics, under the cover of cultural and scientific exchanges.

"Our revolution has become a target to be overthrown by the intelligence services of some countries, particularly America and Britain, and they have established soft invasion and overthrow strategies against the Islamic republic of Iran," he said. "They have allocated extraordinary formal budgets to fulfil this aim." Iranians were also banned from unspecified "irregular contact" with foreign embassies or foreign citizens. The blacklist was published after the intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, said on Monday that foreign and dual nationals had been among those arrested amid violent disturbances that broke out during last month's Ashura ceremonies. No detained foreign citizens have been named, although one was said to have been carrying a British passport. Senior clerics and others have been urging the government to try opposition leaders as mohareb, or those fighting against God – a charge carrying the death penalty.The prospect of those identified as protest leaders being executed was heightened by the interior minister, Mostafa Muhammad Najjar, who told Irna: "After Ashura, anyone who takes part in riots will be considered as mohareb. Gholamhossein Elham, the official spokesman for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, raised the possibility of repeating the public mass trials of opposition activists which followed last June's disputed presidential election. "Holding an open trial for the leaders of the sedition will disgrace the leaders of the grand sin in history," he said. Separately, Ahmadinejad's website was unobtainabletoday after reportedly being hacked. Those trying to enter saw the message: "Dear God, In 2009 you took my favourite singer Michael Jackson, my favourite actress Farrah Fawcett, my favourite actor Patrick Swayze, my favourite voice Neda. Please don't forget my favourite politician Ahmadinejad and favourite dictator Khamenei [Iran's supreme leader] in the year 2010. Thank you."

I.R. Iran Lawmakers Reject Sen. Kerry Request to Visit

FOXNews.com

Iranian lawmakers have rejected Sen. John Kerry's request to visit their country, saying the United States needs to change its policies toward Iran before such talks can be effective, according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency. The Massachusetts Democrat's office has not confirmed that he asked to travel to the Islamic state. "Senator John Kerry has no plans to travel to Iran," spokesman Frederick Jones said in an e-mail Tuesday. But Iranian news outlets reported last month that Iran's parliament was considering a formal request from the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Fars reported Sunday that members of Iran's Foreign Relations Committee "voiced opposition" to the proposed visit after studying it. The request came in the midst of a bloody government crackdown on anti-regime demonstrators and as Iran defied the Obama administration's year-end deadline to accept a compromise agreement over its nuclear program. Iranian officials earlier expressed doubt that a visit from Kerry would mend the strained relations. "Iran-U.S. relations are not under such conditions that could produce results through a number of non-targeted meetings and talks," Iranian official Kazzem Jalali told Fars. Another official said Iran "has no plans" to negotiate with any U.S. official unless the United States "changes its policies." On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeated U.S. concerns that Iran will not negotiate on exchanging low-enriched uranium for its suspected weapons-grade high enriched uranium. "We have concerns about their intentions," she said. "We hope that there will be an opportunity for Iran to reverse course, to begin engaging in a positive way with the international community."

E.U. Lawmakers Call-Off Iran Trip

The Jerusalem Post / Benjamin Weinthal

A delegation of EU legislators canceled a planned trip to Iran after US congressmen sent a letter of protest to Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament, EU Parliament spokesman Thomas Dudrap confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Monday. A parliamentary source, however, told the Post on Tuesday that "the authorities in Iran" canceled the meeting. He cited an Islamic Republic News Agency report in which an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman announced the cancellation of the joint parliamentary meeting. According to media reports, officials on both sides are accusing each other of terminating the visit. The EU delegation still wanted to travel this week to Teheran, but the meeting has been called off for now. Yet there were sharp disagreements within the delegation, and two legislators from Holland and the United Kingdom pulled out of the planned trip because of Iran's crackdown on the pro-democracy movement and its jingoistic foreign policy. In the letter the congressmen wrote, "We believe that such a visit, especially at this critical juncture, is counterproductive and potentially damaging to the international community's efforts to stop Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. "As you know, Iran's leaders have been relentlessly pursuing nuclear capabilities for several years, in violation of their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). They have threatened their neighbors as well as the United States and the European Union. "As prime funders of Hamas and Hizbullah, they have threatened Western targets, sought to destabilize a critical region in the world, and dedicated themselves to the destruction of the State of Israel." The letter was signed by 15 members of Congress. Asked if it prompted the EU delegation to cancel its January 8 visit, Dudrap said he did not know.

He referenced, however, a wire service report that "after a storm of protest," the EU canceled the trip. Dudrap said the EU-Iran meeting was meant to discuss Teheran's nuclear program and human rights. When questioned about the EU seeking to expand its economic relations with Iran, he said it "could probably be one" of the topics on the agenda. A parliamentary source added that the delegation had wished to discuss "the election turmoil following the June election with their Iranian counterparts and human rights activists." The congressional letter noted that "no delegation from a Western parliament has visited Iran in over a year, precisely to demonstrate to Iran that their behavior is unacceptable to the international community. We believe that a visit from the EP would send the wrong message to the Iranian government and undermine the international efforts to end their nuclear program." The letter condemned Iran's "sham elections" last June and the arrest and torture of protesters following the vote. According to a report on Monday in the state-controlled Iran Press TV, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said that "the visit would take place another time... The decision is aimed at making the utmost use of constructive parliamentary cooperation between the two sides and drawing up necessary plans." In 2008, the EU was Iran's No. 1 trade partner, with imports and exports totalling €25.4 billion. The trade relationship has raised security alarm bells because many European firms, due to lax export control laws, are able to deliver so called dual-use equipment that can be used for the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons program. In December, German energy giant Siemens AG was reported to have delivered sophisticated technology to Iran for its atomic weapons program.

Support Iran's Dissidents

Pensacola News Journal (PNJ)

We're pleased to see President Obama taking a stronger line on the Iranian crackdown on internal protests. We need to hear more. This week Obama "condemned" the crackdown against protesters, which is about the strongest diplomatic language heads of state use. The Iranians definitely heard him. "The United States joins with the international community in strongly condemning the violent and unjust suppression of innocent Iranian citizens," Obama said. "We call for the immediate release of all who have been unjustly detained within Iran." By now it should be clear to Obama that there is nothing to be gained from trying to engage Iran in mutually beneficial negotiations. We appreciate his efforts, but Iran is simply using negotiations to buy time. Does that mean we endorse calls for an attack on Iran's nuclear infrastructure? No. That is another dead-end road; the last thing we need is another war in that region. We are militarily and economically exhausted. And the oil-price shock following a fight with Iran could pitch the world into another deep recession. Attack Iran, and it becomes a shootout in the Persian Gulf, with potentially disastrous consequences. If Israel wants to attack Iran's nukes, we probably can't stop it; the Israelis will find a way. But the best course for the United States is to accept the fact that Iran could eventually become a nuclear power, and count on the same pressure that has kept nuclear weapons from being used by others: self-preservation. Nuclear weapons were used by the United States when we were the only nation to have them. Since then, any nation that has obtained them has understood that using them against a nuclear-armed foe is tantamount to suicide. Iran's leadership knows that, too. To make sure, we should send a diplomat — Swiss, if necessary — to deliver the message that if they use a nuclear weapon we will incinerate Iran, requiring only a small fraction of our arsenal to do so. Meanwhile, Obama should stop worrying about seducing Iran's leadership and offer full-throated support for human and political rights in Iran. He should rally other world leaders to do the same, and to impose the heaviest economic and diplomatic sanctions available. There is a growing belief that revolution is brewing in Iran, one strong enough to unseat the Islamic dictatorship. That would be the best outcome for U.S. interests.

Gordon Brown to Ask I.R. Iran to Stop Taliban Support

The Daily Telegraph

The Prime Minister is also planning to ask China to take a larger role in rebuilding Afghanistan’s shattered economy. The new approach to Iran’s neighbours is part of a new diplomatic strategy that British officials hope will accelerate the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan. British sources have told the Daily Telegraph that Iran has been invited to the London conference on Afghanistan in January and will be asked to play a more “constructive” role in the country. Tehran has not yet replied to the invitation. Mr Brown has invited the Iranians to London despite growing international concern over their nuclear programmes, and public accusations from Britain and the US that hardline elements in Tehran are supporting the Taliban. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, told MPs in December that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is “training, equipping and supplying” groups including the Taliban. UK intelligence agencies say that since 2006, the Guards have been supplying some Taliban commanders with small arms, explosives and other weapons. Tehran denies supporting the Taliban and publicly supports the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai. British diplomats believe the conference could be used to put international pressure on Iran to cut of military support for the Taliban. Diplomats believe that the Iranian regime is “sensitive” over the issue and could be shamed into ending its backing for the Afghan insurgents. British officials also think that parts of the Iranian elite are deeply uncomfortable about helping the Taliban, who are Sunni Muslims. One source said the “The Iranians have to be very careful – they can’t be seen to be supporting the Taliban and they can’t hand the Taliban any major victories. They’re in a difficult situation, and that’s a point that could be made in London.” The Revolutionary Guards have links to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, but also have considerable autonomy from the Iranian regime. Twice in the last two years, Guard units have captured British sailors in the Persian Gulf.

Mr Miliband said the Guards’ interference in Afghanistan “further undermines international confidence in the Iranian regime's intentions, and is at odds with the regime's claims to the international community and its own people to want to work for stability, security and prosperity.” Douglas Henderson, a former Labour defence minister who has visited Afghanistan for talks with Nato commanders, said that any attempt to bring long-term stability to Afghanistan will require an “understanding” with Tehran. He said: “There are issues in western Afghanistan that can only be resolved by having an understanding with Iran. It is clear to me that in Western Afghanistan there needs to be some co-operation with Iranian intelligence and the Iranian military.” Before Parliament rose for Christmas, Mr Brown told MPs the London meeting would attempt to draw Afghanistan’s neighbours into the international process there. The summit “must encourage a new set of relationships between Afghanistan and its neighbours,” the Prime Minister said. Dennis Blair, the US Director of National Intelligence told a US Senate committee earlier this year that Iran is covertly supplying arms to Afghan insurgents while publicly posing as supportive of the Afghan government. He said: “Shipments typically include small arms, mines, rocket propelled grenades, rockets, mortars, and plastic explosives.” According to US intelligence agencies’ monitoring of Afghanistan, Taliban commanders have publicly thanked their Iranian supporter for successful operations against Nato forces. Despite strained relations over the Copenhagen climate deal, China has also been invited to send a foreign minister to the London talks. The London conference, on January 28, will bring together more than 60 countries in all. China has investments in Afghanistan including a $3 billion copper mine in Logar province near Kabul. Some diplomats think China should be doing more to support the Nato mission in Afghanistan.

Mullen: 'Concerned' About I.R. Iran's Influence in Iraq

The Associated Press

The top U.S. military officer quizzed Iraqi leaders Friday about the influence and motives of next-door Iran as national elections approach, but made no promises when his hosts asked for surveillance equipment and other help to keep an eye on their neighbors. Hours before Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited the southern Iraqi city of Basra, near the Iranian border, Iranian troops crossed into Iraqi territory and seized an oil well in a disputed area along the border, Iraq's deputy foreign minister said. Such incidents have happened before along the border, which was never clearly delineated after the extended war between the two countries in the 1980s. Mullen was not specific in his comments, but the United States accuses Iran of training, arming and financing Shiite militias like the one in Basra that was the target of a fierce military crackdown last year. U.S. and Iraqi leaders are watching for signs that Iran is trying to meddle in the upcoming Iraqi elections, and keeping tabs on what they describe as an Iranian goodwill campaign in southern Iraq. Mullen also emphasized throughout a day of meetings in Iraq that the U.S. will stick to its plan to rapidly withdraw forces beginning almost immediately after the election on March 7. "That draw down from 115,000 to 50,000 is going to happen, no doubt in my mind," Mullen told a group of enlisted men and women at a U.S. base in Basra. The election was postponed from January, but Mullen said that will not change U.S. plans. A Shiite cleric, Abdul Aziz Moosawi, greeted Mullen warmly and told the American he was grateful for U.S. help despite earlier skepticism.

Mullen asked the cleric and a senior Iraqi Army general for their views on Iranian influence and how they see Iran in the future, "because Iran worries me a great deal." The cleric bluntly explained the calculus of life next door to powerful and influential Iran. Iran's influence is inevitable and sometimes works in positive ways, Moosawi said. "But I think we feel the negative impact more," he said. Western and Arab analysts long had feared that a Shiite-governed Iraq inevitably would fall under the sway of its far larger Shiite neighbor, enabling the Iranians to expand their influence westward into a crucial Arab country in the Middle East. Iran and Iraq maintain close commercial and cultural ties, from Iranian consumer goods in the markets of Basra and Najaf in southern Iraq to the tens of thousands of Iranian pilgrims who visit Shiite religious sites here every year. But Iran appeared to be the loser in separate regional elections in Iraq last year, in which Iranian-linked candidates did poorly. Suspicion of Iran and an undertone of Iraqi nationalism surfaced in Mullen's discussions in Basra and Talil. "Iran is trying to dominate not only in Basra ... Iran is trying to dominate in many provinces in southern Iran," Maj. Gen. Aziz Swady told Mullen. In Talil, several speakers invited to a discussion session with Mullen asked for help protecting the border with Iran. Iran is trying to meddle in the election, Mullen was told. Iraqis asked for equipment such as monitoring towers and high-tech surveillance gear. Mullen did not commit.

Ahmadinejad: Obama Following in Bush Footsteps

Agence France Presse (AFP)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Barack Obama of following the footsteps of George W. Bush since entering the White House, saying he had missed a chance to make a clean break. Ahmadinejad, in Copenhagen for a UN climate change summit, said he had welcomed the "slogans" of change when Obama was elected US president a year ago but he had not lived up to expectations. "He has not used the possibilities, making decisions similar to the previous (Bush) administration," he told a press conference. "We see they are sending more troops to Afghanistan, that's a continuation of the policy of the former administration and the situation has not changed in Iraq and Palestine," he added.

Ahmadinejad said that there were "many politicians in the United States who see themselves as the masters and owners of the world", adding that Obama's behaviour had "made us concerned." Obama came to power offering dialogue with Iran's hardline Islamic regime, but the administration's attitude has hardened in recent months over Tehran's nuclear programme. The Obama administration has given Iran until the end of the year to seize its offer of engagement to end the stand-off with the focus now increasingly moving towards tougher sanctions against Tehran.

Official: U.S. Will Not Ignore Iran Protests

Cable News Network (CNN)

The United States will not sit silently by and ignore what happens on the streets of Tehran, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary for Iran at the State Department said Thursday. John Limbert, who was among diplomats held hostage by radical students at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran 30 years ago, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour, "We believe as we have always believed that the Iranian people deserve decent treatment from their government." His comments came on the same day that U.S. President Barack Obama, during a lecture in Oslo, Norway, after he received his Nobel Peace Prize, declared the world is bearing witness to the struggle for rights and justice in countries such as Iran. The president, in a departure from his prepared remarks, said, "These movements of hope and history, they have us on their side." He used the word "us," while the text of his speech said, "hope and history are on their side." Obama's Nobel address came in the same week that tens of thousands of Iranian students took part in the biggest anti-government demonstrations in months, in a new indication that the protest movement remains defiant.

Limbert said he found it remarkable that the young people of Iran are willing to come back to the streets again and again. "Iranians have been seeking a voice in their own affairs and decent treatment from their government now for well over 100 years," he said. "Most of that 100 years, I would add, has been a history of frustration and defeat." Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, who won the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival for her film, "Women Without Men" and is now a voice of protest outside Iran, expressed strong disappointment that the U.S. is not criticizing Iran in stronger terms. "I feel that the students in Iran, the people of Iran, and the people of Iran outside of Iran are setting a great example of people who are truly fighting for democracy," she told Amanpour. "And this creates a sense of hope for the rest of the region, the entire world. But we don't feel that we have the sufficient support or the protection that is necessary." (Read more...)

Int'l Conference Urges Aggressive Iran Sanctions

The Jerusalem Post

Two-thirds of Iran's industry, including its energy sector, is dependent on German equipment, and that is where the Islamic Republic is vulnerable to sanctions, the spokesman for a German pro-Israel group said earlier this week. Michael Spaney, who represents the Mideast Freedom Forum Berlin (MFFB), pointed this out in a speech to a Berlin conference titled "Time to Act," which took place Saturday and Sunday and was organized by the MFFB. The conference, a Who's Who of academics and policy makers, urged Europe to embrace a tougher approach to modify the jingoistic behavior of the Iranian regime. The panel speakers also sought intensified support for the Iranian democracy movement. Scholars and think-tank experts from the United States, Europe and Israel pushed for the European Union to reinvigorate the sanctions strategy against Iran. Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi , head of the Transatlantic Institute in Brussels, termed the current diplomacy track with Iran a "dead end" because deadlines are being ignored by the parties. Ottolenghi advocated a potent mix of crippling economic sanctions on the Iranian energy sector, and a global human rights campaign championing the pro-democracy and free tradeunion movement in Iran. He cited the imprisonment of the Teheran bus union leader Mansour Osanloo as a pressing human rights cause. The regime incarcerated Osanloo in 2007 for his efforts to organize an independent laborunion.

Daniel Schwammenthal, an editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal Europe, said at the session on Israel's security that "a fanatical religious regime and one of the world's biggest sponsors of terror is threatening to wipe Israel off the map while it is racing toward acquiring the means to carry out this apocalyptic vision. While denying the Holocaust, it is simultaneously threatening another genocide, and yet Germany and much of the rest of the West is idly standing by." He added that "what we are witnessing is not just a betrayal of Israel but of Western values and interests" in not confronting the Iranian threat. Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, spoke about the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which the US designated in 2007 as a global terrorist group. He told the Post that there is a need for a systematic analysis of companies and subsidiaries trading with the terror entity. In his talk, he noted that the Revolutionary Guards are the second national military to be named a global terror group by the US; the first was the Nazi SS. The German-Iranian sociologist Saba Farzan sharply criticized Volker Perthes, the director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) as "half-educated" regarding his understanding of repression in Iran. (Read more...)