"US SUPREME COURT PRECEDENT STATES THAT OBAMA IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO BE PRESIDENT.
The title of this article is correct. After having completed a more thorough review of the relevant US Supreme Court cases discussing the Constitution’s natural-born citizen clause, I have discovered precedent which states that a natural-born citizen is a person born in the jurisdiction of the US to parents who are citizens. Read that again. I said precedent, not dicta. The precedent holds that Obama is not eligible to be President of the United States.
Up until the publication of this report today, all discussion of the natural-born citizen issue (from both sides of the argument) agreed there had never been a precedent established by the US Supreme Court, and that the various cases which mentioned the clause did so in “dicta”.
Dicta are authoritative statements made by a court which are not binding legal precedent.
Black’s Law Dictionary defines “precedent” as a “rule of law established for the first time by a court for a particular type of case and thereafter referred to in deciding similar cases“.
Precedent that must be followed is known as binding precedent. Under the doctrine of stare decisis, a lower court must honor findings of law made by a higher court. On questions as to the meaning of federal law including the U.S. Constitution, statutes, and regulations, the U.S. Supreme Court’s precedents must be followed.
It can no longer be denied that there is controlling US Supreme Court precedent concerning the definition of a natural-born citizen according to Article 2 Section 1 of the US Constitution. I predict satori will overcome those of you who have labored over this issue. This is not a remote obscure reading. It is, when revealed, a clear undeniable holding and binding precedent established by the highest Court of our nation which specifically defines an Article 2 Section 1 natural-born citizen as a person born in the US to parents who are citizens.
Therefore, Obama – according to US Supreme Court precedent – is not eligible to be President.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
FORGERY QUESTIONS ABOUT OBAMA MANDATORY DRAFT REGISTRATION
EXCLUSIVE: Did Next Commander-in-Chief Falsify Selective Service Registration? Never Actually Register? Obama’s Draft Registration Raises Serious Questions
By Debbie Schlussel 2008
Did President-elect Barack Hussein Obama commit a federal crime in September of this year? Or did he never actually register and, instead, did friends of his in the Chicago federal records center, which maintains the official copy of his alleged Selective Service registration commit the crime for him?
It’s either one or the other, as indicated by the release of Barack Obama’s official Selective Service registration for the draft. A friend of mine, who is a retired federal agent, spent almost a year trying to obtain this document through a Freedom of Information Act request, and, after much stonewalling, finally received it and released it to me.
But the release of Obama’s draft registration and an accompanying document, posted below, raises more questions than it answers. And it shows many signs of fraud, not to mention putting the lie to Obama’s claim that he registered for the draft in June 1979, before it was required by law.
The official campaign for President may be over. But Barack Obama’s Selective Service registration card and accompanying documents show that questions about him are not only NOT over, but if the signature on the document is in fact his, our next Commander-in-Chief may have committed a federal crime in 2008, well within the statute of limitations on the matter.
If it is not his, then it’s proof positive that our next Commander-in-Chief never registered with the Selective Service as required by law. By law, he was required to register and was legally able to do so until the age of 26.
But the Selective Service System registration (“SSS Form 1″) and accompanying computer print-out (“SSS Print-out), below, released by the Selective Service show the following oddities and irregularities, all of which indicate the document was created in 2008 and backdated:
* Document Location Number Indicates Obama Selective Service Form was Created in 2008
As the retired federal agent notes:
Having worked for the Federal Government for several decades, I know that the standardization of DLNs have the first two digits of the DLN representing the year of issue. That would mean that this DLN was issued in 2008. The DLN on the computer screen printout is the exact same number, except an 8 has been added to make it look like it is from 1980 and give it a 1980 DLN number. And 1980 is the year Senator/President Elect Obama is said to have timely registered. So, why does the machine-stamped DLN reflect this year (2008) and the DLN in the database (which was manually input) reflect a “corrected” DLN year of 1980? Were all the DLNs issued in 1980 erroneously marked with a 2008 DLN year or does the Selective Service use a different DLN system then the rest of the Federal Government? Or was the SSS Form 1 actually processed in 2008 and not 1980?
It’s quite a “coincidence” . . . that is, if you believe in coincidences, especially in this case.
Far more likely is that someone made up a fake Selective Service registration to cover Obama’s lack of having done so, and that the person stamping the form forgot (or was unable to) change the year to “80″ instead of the current “08″. They either forgot to fake the DLN number or couldn’t do so.
And guess where the Selective Service registrations are marked and recorded? Lucky for Obama, it’s his native Chicago. From an article entitled, “Post Office Registration Process”, on the Selective Service website:
When a young man reaches 18 he can go to any of the 35,000 post offices nationwide to register with Selective Service. There he completes a simple registration card and mails it to the Selective Service System. This begins a multi-step process which results in the man’s registration.
Each week approximately 6,000 completed registration cards are sent to the Selective Service System’s Data Management System (DMC) near Chicago, Ill. At the DMC these cards are grouped into manageable quantities. Each card is then microfilmed and stamped with a sequential document locator number. The processed microfilm is reviewed to account for all documents and to ensure that the film quality is within strict standards. After microfilming, the cards are keyed and then verified by a different data transcriber.
The Document Locator Number (DLN) is an automatic function (Selective Service record-keeping, specifically the DLN is described on pages 7-8 of this Federal Register document), with the first two digits comprising the year, and it was not changed to “08″ in error. So if the form was filed and processed in 1980, how did it get a 2008 DLN?!
* Obama’s Selective Service Registration Form is Apparently 1990 Form Altered to Appear Like 1980 Form
On the SSS Form 1, in the lower left hand corner is the form number (SSS Form 1) and the month and year version of the form, labeled as “B“. On this particular Form 1, it clearly shows the month as “FEB” (February), and the year is either “80″ or “90″. The retired federal agent investigated further:
Magnification of the form both physically (with a 10x glass) or with different image software does not reflect a clear cut result of either a “80″ or a “90″.
But, checking the history of SSS Form 1 (see http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=198002-3240-001# ), it’s apparent that in February 1980, the Selective Service agency withdrew a “Request for a new OMB control number” for SSS Form 1 (see also, here) – meaning the agency canceled its previous request for a new form, and one was never issued in “FEB 1980″.
Since under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-511, 94 Stat. 2812 (Dec. 11, 1980), codified in part at Subchapter I of Chapter 35 of Title 44 a federal agency can not use a form not approved by OMB (Office of Management and Budget), it’s nearly impossible for Senator/President-Elect Obama’s SSS Form 1 to be dated “Feb 1980.”
And since that makes it almost certainly dated “Feb 1990,” then how could Barack Obama sign it and the postal clerk stamp it almost ten (10) years before its issue?! Simply not possible.
The lower right hand corner reflects that the Obama SSS form 1 was approved by OMB with an approval number of 19??0002, labeled as “C“. The double question marks (??) reflect digits that are not completely clear.
* Barack Obama’s Signature is Dated After Postal Stamp Certifying His Signature
![]()
Barack H. Obama signed the SSS Form 1′s “Today’s date” as July 30, 1980, labeled “D“. But the Postal Stamp reflects the PREVIOUS day’s date of July 29, 1980, labeled “E“. Yes, Obama could have mistakenly written the wrong date, but it is rare and much more unlikely for someone to put a future date than a past date. (Also note how Barry made such a “cute” peace sign with the “b” inside the “O” of his signature. Touching.)
* Postal Stamp is Incorrect, Discontinued in 1970
Then, there is the question as to whether the Postal Stamp is real. The “postmark” stamp–labeled “E“–is hard to read, but it is clear that at the bottom is “USPO” which stands typically for United States Post Office. However, current “postmark” validator, registry, or round dater stamps (item 570 per the Postal Operations Manual) shows “USPS” for United States Postal Service. The change from Post Office to Postal Service occurred on August 12, 1970, when President Nixon signed into law the most comprehensive postal legislation since the founding of the Republic–Public Law 91-375. The new Postal Service officially began operations on July 1, 1971.
Why was an old, obsolete postmark round dater stamp used almost ten (10) years after the fact to validate a legal document . . . that just happened to be Barack Obama’s suspicious Selective Service registration form?
![]()
* Form Shows Barack Obama didn’t have ID (F above)
The SSS Form 1 states “NO ID”, labeled “F“. Since that’s the case, then how did the Hawaiian postal clerk know that the submitter was really Barack H. Obama, who may have been on summer break from attending Occidental College in California. How would they determine whether the registrant was truly registering and not a relative, friend, or other imposter?
* The Selective Service Data Mgt. Center Stonewalled for Almost a Year on Obama Registration, Until Right Before the Election.
The retired federal agent who FOIA’d Barack Obama’s Selective Service Registration Form notes:
Early this year, when I first started questioning whether Obama registered I was told:
Sir: There may be an error in his file or many other reasons why his registration cannot be confirmed on-line. However, I did confirm with our Data Management Center that he is, indeed, registered with the Selective Service System, in compliance with Federal law.
Sincerely,
Janice L. Hughes/SSS
![]()
Then, they suddenly found the record on September 9, 2008 (prior to my October 13, 2008 request), and stated that his record was filed on September 4, 1980. Did they temporarily change the date on the computer database?
On the previous FOIA response, they stated that it was filed on September 4, 1980. In my second request I mentioned that Obama could not have filed it in Hawaii on September 4, 1980 as he was attending Occidental College in California, the classes of which commenced August 24, 1980.
* Other Questions: Missing Selective Service Number, FOIA Response Dated Prior to FOIA Request, Missing Printout Page
Where is Obama’s Selective Service number (61-1125539-1) on the card?
And the retired federal agent notes that the Selective Service Data Management Center prepared its response to his FOIA request prior to the request having been made:
The last transaction date is 09/04/80 [DS: labeled "G"], but the date of the printout is 09/09/08 [DS: labeled "H"]. My FOIA was dated October 13 so why did they prepare the printout BEFORE I submitted my FOIA? I gave them no “heads up” that I was sending it. In fact it was not mailed until late October–around the 25th.
Also, notice the printout was page 1 of 2 [DS: labeled "I"].
Hmmm . . . where is the other page, and what’s on it?
A lot of questions here. And a lot of huge hints that this government-released, official Barack Obama Selective Service registration was faked. Either he signed the fake backdated document, or someone else faked his signature and he never registered for the draft (and lied about it).
Which is it?
It’s incredible that our impending Commander-in-Chief either didn’t register for the draft or did so belatedly and fraudulently.
The documents indicate it’s one or the other.
*** UPDATE: Here’s another irregularity that points to fraud, as spotted by reader Joyce:
My husband printed the information provided on your web site regarding Barack Obama’s Selective Service registration discrepancies. I noticed that the DLN number in upper right corner (labeled “A“) has only ten (10) digits with the first two being 08 , but the DLN number shown on the computer screen printout has eleven (11) digits with the first two being 80. It clearly indicates that the “8″ was added at the beginning of the DLN number, in order to appear that it was issued in 1980 and wasn’t simply a reversal of the first two digits as the retired federal agent noted. This in itself appears questionable. I would think there is a standard number of digits in all DLN numbers.
**** UPDATE #2, 11/14/08: Retired Federal Agent Source Reveals Himself:
The recently retired federal agent has requested that I disclose his identity so that there is no question as to the source of the information.
His name is Stephen Coffman. He retired last year from the position of the Resident Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Galveston, Texas office. He has over 32 years of government service and has held a Secret or higher security clearance for the majority of those years.
He filed the FOIA with Selective Service and has the original letter and the attachments. He first notified the Selective Service of his findings and they ignored the questions.
He can be reached via email at retirediceagent@sbcglobal.net.
UPDATE #3, 11/17/08: Some Obamapologists are claiming this is a fake and want to see evidence that retired agent Coffman actually got these documents from the Selective Service System Data Management Center. Below are scans of the letter and envelope that accompanied Barack Obama’s fraudulent registration for the draft (I’ve cropped the blank white space):
![]()
First, there is the Document Location Number (DLN) on the form. In the upper right hand corner of the Selective Service form SSS Form 1, there is the standard Bates-stamped DLN, in this case “0897080632,” which I’ve labeled as “A” on both the SSS Form and the computer printout document.
On the form, it reflects a 2008 creation, but on the printout, an extra eight was added in front of the number to make it look like it is from 1980, when it was actually created in 2008.
As the retired federal agent notes:
Having worked for the Federal Government for several decades, I know that the standardization of DLNs have the first two digits of the DLN representing the year of issue. That would mean that this DLN was issued in 2008.
The DLN on the computer screen printout is the exact same number, except an 8 has been added to make it look like it is from 1980 and give it a 1980 DLN number.
And 1980 is the year Senator/President Elect Obama is said to have timely registered.
So, why does the machine-stamped DLN reflect this year (2008) and the DLN in the database (which was manually input) reflect a “corrected” DLN year of 1980?
Were all the DLNs issued in 1980 erroneously marked with a 2008 DLN year or does the Selective Service use a different DLN system then the rest of the Federal Government? Or was the SSS Form 1 actually processed in 2008 and not 1980?
It’s quite a “coincidence” . . . that is, if you believe in coincidences, especially in this case.
Far more likely is that someone made up a fake Selective Service registration to cover Obama’s lack of having done so, and that the person stamping the form forgot (or was unable to) change the year to “80″ instead of the current “08″. They either forgot to fake the DLN number or couldn’t do so.
And guess where the Selective Service registrations are marked and recorded? Lucky for Obama, it’s his native Chicago. From an article entitled, “Post Office Registration Process”, on the Selective Service website:
When a young man reaches 18 he can go to any of the 35,000 post offices nationwide to register with Selective Service. There he completes a simple registration card and mails it to the Selective Service System. This begins a multi-step process which results in the man’s registration.
Each week approximately 6,000 completed registration cards are sent to the Selective Service System’s Data Management System (DMC) near Chicago, Ill. At the DMC these cards are grouped into manageable quantities. Each card is then microfilmed and stamped with a sequential document locator number. The processed microfilm is reviewed to account for all documents and to ensure that the film quality is within strict standards. After microfilming, the cards are keyed and then verified by a different data transcriber.
The Document Locator Number (DLN) is an automatic function (Selective Service record-keeping, specifically the DLN is described on pages 7-8 of this Federal Register document), with the first two digits comprising the year, and it was not changed to “08″ in error. So if the form was filed and processed in 1980, how did it get a 2008 DLN?!
* Obama’s Selective Service Registration Form is Apparently 1990 Form Altered to Appear Like 1980 Form
On the SSS Form 1, in the lower left hand corner is the form number (SSS Form 1) and the month and year version of the form, labeled as “B“. On this particular Form 1, it clearly shows the month as “FEB” (February), and the year is either “80″ or “90″. The retired federal agent investigated further:
Magnification of the form both physically (with a 10x glass) or with different image software does not reflect a clear cut result of either a “80″ or a “90″.
But, checking the history of SSS Form 1 (see http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=198002-3240-001#), it’s apparent that in February 1980, the Selective Service agency withdrew a “Request for a new OMB control number” for SSS Form 1 (see also, here)–meaning the agency canceled its previous request for a new form, and one was never issued in “FEB 1980″.
Since under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-511, 94 Stat. 2812 (Dec. 11, 1980), codified in part at Subchapter I of Chapter 35 of Title 44 a federal agency can not use a form not approved by OMB (Office of Management and Budget), it’s nearly impossible for Senator/President-Elect Obama’s SSS Form 1 to be dated “Feb 1980.” And since that makes it almost certainly dated “Feb 1990,” then how could Barack Obama sign it and the postal clerk stamp it almost ten (10) years before its issue?! Simply not possible.
The lower right hand corner reflects that the Obama SSS form 1 was approved by OMB with an approval number of 19??0002, labeled as “C“. The double question marks (??) reflect digits that are not completely clear.
* Barack Obama’s Signature is Dated After Postal Stamp Certifying His Signature
Barack H. Obama signed the SSS Form 1′s “Today’s date” as July 30, 1980, labeled “D“. But the Postal Stamp reflects the PREVIOUS day’s date of July 29, 1980, labeled “E“. Yes, Obama could have mistakenly written the wrong date, but it is rare and much more unlikely for someone to put a future date than a past date. (Also note how Barry made such a “cute” peace sign with the “b” inside the “O” of his signature. Touching.)
* Postal Stamp is Incorrect, Discontinued in 1970
Then, there is the question as to whether the Postal Stamp is real. The “postmark” stamp–labeled “E“–is hard to read, but it is clear that at the bottom is “USPO” which stands typically for United States Post Office. However, current “postmark” validator, registry, or round dater stamps (item 570 per the Postal Operations Manual) shows “USPS” for United States Postal Service. The change from Post Office to Postal Service occurred on August 12, 1970, when President Nixon signed into law the most comprehensive postal legislation since the founding of the Republic–Public Law 91-375. The new Postal Service officially began operations on July 1, 1971.
Why was an old, obsolete postmark round dater stamp used almost ten (10) years after the fact to validate a legal document . . . that just happened to be Barack Obama’s suspicious Selective Service registration form?
* Form Shows Barack Obama didn’t have ID
The SSS Form 1 states “NO ID”, labeled “F“. Since that’s the case, then how did the Hawaiian postal clerk know that the submitter was really Barack H. Obama, who may have been on summer break from attending Occidental College in California. How would they determine whether the registrant was truly registering and not a relative, friend, or other imposter?
* The Selective Service Data Mgt. Center Stonewalled for Almost a Year on Obama Registration, Until Right Before the Election.
The retired federal agent who FOIA’d Barack Obama’s Selective Service Registration Form notes:
Early this year, when I first started questioning whether Obama registered I was told:
Sir: There may be an error in his file or many other reasons why his registration cannot be confirmed on-line. However, I did confirm with our Data Management Center that he is, indeed, registered with the Selective Service System, in compliance with Federal law.
Sincerely,
Janice L. Hughes/SSS
By Debbie Schlussel 2008
Did President-elect Barack Hussein Obama commit a federal crime in September of this year? Or did he never actually register and, instead, did friends of his in the Chicago federal records center, which maintains the official copy of his alleged Selective Service registration commit the crime for him?
It’s either one or the other, as indicated by the release of Barack Obama’s official Selective Service registration for the draft. A friend of mine, who is a retired federal agent, spent almost a year trying to obtain this document through a Freedom of Information Act request, and, after much stonewalling, finally received it and released it to me.
But the release of Obama’s draft registration and an accompanying document, posted below, raises more questions than it answers. And it shows many signs of fraud, not to mention putting the lie to Obama’s claim that he registered for the draft in June 1979, before it was required by law.
The official campaign for President may be over. But Barack Obama’s Selective Service registration card and accompanying documents show that questions about him are not only NOT over, but if the signature on the document is in fact his, our next Commander-in-Chief may have committed a federal crime in 2008, well within the statute of limitations on the matter.
If it is not his, then it’s proof positive that our next Commander-in-Chief never registered with the Selective Service as required by law. By law, he was required to register and was legally able to do so until the age of 26.
But the Selective Service System registration (“SSS Form 1″) and accompanying computer print-out (“SSS Print-out), below, released by the Selective Service show the following oddities and irregularities, all of which indicate the document was created in 2008 and backdated:
* Document Location Number Indicates Obama Selective Service Form was Created in 2008
As the retired federal agent notes:
Having worked for the Federal Government for several decades, I know that the standardization of DLNs have the first two digits of the DLN representing the year of issue. That would mean that this DLN was issued in 2008. The DLN on the computer screen printout is the exact same number, except an 8 has been added to make it look like it is from 1980 and give it a 1980 DLN number. And 1980 is the year Senator/President Elect Obama is said to have timely registered. So, why does the machine-stamped DLN reflect this year (2008) and the DLN in the database (which was manually input) reflect a “corrected” DLN year of 1980? Were all the DLNs issued in 1980 erroneously marked with a 2008 DLN year or does the Selective Service use a different DLN system then the rest of the Federal Government? Or was the SSS Form 1 actually processed in 2008 and not 1980?
It’s quite a “coincidence” . . . that is, if you believe in coincidences, especially in this case.
Far more likely is that someone made up a fake Selective Service registration to cover Obama’s lack of having done so, and that the person stamping the form forgot (or was unable to) change the year to “80″ instead of the current “08″. They either forgot to fake the DLN number or couldn’t do so.
And guess where the Selective Service registrations are marked and recorded? Lucky for Obama, it’s his native Chicago. From an article entitled, “Post Office Registration Process”, on the Selective Service website:
When a young man reaches 18 he can go to any of the 35,000 post offices nationwide to register with Selective Service. There he completes a simple registration card and mails it to the Selective Service System. This begins a multi-step process which results in the man’s registration.
Each week approximately 6,000 completed registration cards are sent to the Selective Service System’s Data Management System (DMC) near Chicago, Ill. At the DMC these cards are grouped into manageable quantities. Each card is then microfilmed and stamped with a sequential document locator number. The processed microfilm is reviewed to account for all documents and to ensure that the film quality is within strict standards. After microfilming, the cards are keyed and then verified by a different data transcriber.
The Document Locator Number (DLN) is an automatic function (Selective Service record-keeping, specifically the DLN is described on pages 7-8 of this Federal Register document), with the first two digits comprising the year, and it was not changed to “08″ in error. So if the form was filed and processed in 1980, how did it get a 2008 DLN?!
* Obama’s Selective Service Registration Form is Apparently 1990 Form Altered to Appear Like 1980 Form
On the SSS Form 1, in the lower left hand corner is the form number (SSS Form 1) and the month and year version of the form, labeled as “B“. On this particular Form 1, it clearly shows the month as “FEB” (February), and the year is either “80″ or “90″. The retired federal agent investigated further:
Magnification of the form both physically (with a 10x glass) or with different image software does not reflect a clear cut result of either a “80″ or a “90″.
But, checking the history of SSS Form 1 (see http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=198002-3240-001# ), it’s apparent that in February 1980, the Selective Service agency withdrew a “Request for a new OMB control number” for SSS Form 1 (see also, here) – meaning the agency canceled its previous request for a new form, and one was never issued in “FEB 1980″.
Since under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-511, 94 Stat. 2812 (Dec. 11, 1980), codified in part at Subchapter I of Chapter 35 of Title 44 a federal agency can not use a form not approved by OMB (Office of Management and Budget), it’s nearly impossible for Senator/President-Elect Obama’s SSS Form 1 to be dated “Feb 1980.”
And since that makes it almost certainly dated “Feb 1990,” then how could Barack Obama sign it and the postal clerk stamp it almost ten (10) years before its issue?! Simply not possible.
The lower right hand corner reflects that the Obama SSS form 1 was approved by OMB with an approval number of 19??0002, labeled as “C“. The double question marks (??) reflect digits that are not completely clear.
* Barack Obama’s Signature is Dated After Postal Stamp Certifying His Signature
Barack H. Obama signed the SSS Form 1′s “Today’s date” as July 30, 1980, labeled “D“. But the Postal Stamp reflects the PREVIOUS day’s date of July 29, 1980, labeled “E“. Yes, Obama could have mistakenly written the wrong date, but it is rare and much more unlikely for someone to put a future date than a past date. (Also note how Barry made such a “cute” peace sign with the “b” inside the “O” of his signature. Touching.)
* Postal Stamp is Incorrect, Discontinued in 1970
Then, there is the question as to whether the Postal Stamp is real. The “postmark” stamp–labeled “E“–is hard to read, but it is clear that at the bottom is “USPO” which stands typically for United States Post Office. However, current “postmark” validator, registry, or round dater stamps (item 570 per the Postal Operations Manual) shows “USPS” for United States Postal Service. The change from Post Office to Postal Service occurred on August 12, 1970, when President Nixon signed into law the most comprehensive postal legislation since the founding of the Republic–Public Law 91-375. The new Postal Service officially began operations on July 1, 1971.
Why was an old, obsolete postmark round dater stamp used almost ten (10) years after the fact to validate a legal document . . . that just happened to be Barack Obama’s suspicious Selective Service registration form?
* Form Shows Barack Obama didn’t have ID (F above)
The SSS Form 1 states “NO ID”, labeled “F“. Since that’s the case, then how did the Hawaiian postal clerk know that the submitter was really Barack H. Obama, who may have been on summer break from attending Occidental College in California. How would they determine whether the registrant was truly registering and not a relative, friend, or other imposter?
* The Selective Service Data Mgt. Center Stonewalled for Almost a Year on Obama Registration, Until Right Before the Election.
The retired federal agent who FOIA’d Barack Obama’s Selective Service Registration Form notes:
Early this year, when I first started questioning whether Obama registered I was told:
Sir: There may be an error in his file or many other reasons why his registration cannot be confirmed on-line. However, I did confirm with our Data Management Center that he is, indeed, registered with the Selective Service System, in compliance with Federal law.
Sincerely,
Janice L. Hughes/SSS
Then, they suddenly found the record on September 9, 2008 (prior to my October 13, 2008 request), and stated that his record was filed on September 4, 1980. Did they temporarily change the date on the computer database?
On the previous FOIA response, they stated that it was filed on September 4, 1980. In my second request I mentioned that Obama could not have filed it in Hawaii on September 4, 1980 as he was attending Occidental College in California, the classes of which commenced August 24, 1980.
* Other Questions: Missing Selective Service Number, FOIA Response Dated Prior to FOIA Request, Missing Printout Page
Where is Obama’s Selective Service number (61-1125539-1) on the card?
And the retired federal agent notes that the Selective Service Data Management Center prepared its response to his FOIA request prior to the request having been made:
The last transaction date is 09/04/80 [DS: labeled "G"], but the date of the printout is 09/09/08 [DS: labeled "H"]. My FOIA was dated October 13 so why did they prepare the printout BEFORE I submitted my FOIA? I gave them no “heads up” that I was sending it. In fact it was not mailed until late October–around the 25th.
Also, notice the printout was page 1 of 2 [DS: labeled "I"].
Hmmm . . . where is the other page, and what’s on it?
A lot of questions here. And a lot of huge hints that this government-released, official Barack Obama Selective Service registration was faked. Either he signed the fake backdated document, or someone else faked his signature and he never registered for the draft (and lied about it).
Which is it?
It’s incredible that our impending Commander-in-Chief either didn’t register for the draft or did so belatedly and fraudulently.
The documents indicate it’s one or the other.
*** UPDATE: Here’s another irregularity that points to fraud, as spotted by reader Joyce:
My husband printed the information provided on your web site regarding Barack Obama’s Selective Service registration discrepancies. I noticed that the DLN number in upper right corner (labeled “A“) has only ten (10) digits with the first two being 08 , but the DLN number shown on the computer screen printout has eleven (11) digits with the first two being 80. It clearly indicates that the “8″ was added at the beginning of the DLN number, in order to appear that it was issued in 1980 and wasn’t simply a reversal of the first two digits as the retired federal agent noted. This in itself appears questionable. I would think there is a standard number of digits in all DLN numbers.
**** UPDATE #2, 11/14/08: Retired Federal Agent Source Reveals Himself:
The recently retired federal agent has requested that I disclose his identity so that there is no question as to the source of the information.
His name is Stephen Coffman. He retired last year from the position of the Resident Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Galveston, Texas office. He has over 32 years of government service and has held a Secret or higher security clearance for the majority of those years.
He filed the FOIA with Selective Service and has the original letter and the attachments. He first notified the Selective Service of his findings and they ignored the questions.
He can be reached via email at retirediceagent@sbcglobal.net.
UPDATE #3, 11/17/08: Some Obamapologists are claiming this is a fake and want to see evidence that retired agent Coffman actually got these documents from the Selective Service System Data Management Center. Below are scans of the letter and envelope that accompanied Barack Obama’s fraudulent registration for the draft (I’ve cropped the blank white space):
First, there is the Document Location Number (DLN) on the form. In the upper right hand corner of the Selective Service form SSS Form 1, there is the standard Bates-stamped DLN, in this case “0897080632,” which I’ve labeled as “A” on both the SSS Form and the computer printout document.
On the form, it reflects a 2008 creation, but on the printout, an extra eight was added in front of the number to make it look like it is from 1980, when it was actually created in 2008.
As the retired federal agent notes:
Having worked for the Federal Government for several decades, I know that the standardization of DLNs have the first two digits of the DLN representing the year of issue. That would mean that this DLN was issued in 2008.
The DLN on the computer screen printout is the exact same number, except an 8 has been added to make it look like it is from 1980 and give it a 1980 DLN number.
And 1980 is the year Senator/President Elect Obama is said to have timely registered.
So, why does the machine-stamped DLN reflect this year (2008) and the DLN in the database (which was manually input) reflect a “corrected” DLN year of 1980?
Were all the DLNs issued in 1980 erroneously marked with a 2008 DLN year or does the Selective Service use a different DLN system then the rest of the Federal Government? Or was the SSS Form 1 actually processed in 2008 and not 1980?
It’s quite a “coincidence” . . . that is, if you believe in coincidences, especially in this case.
Far more likely is that someone made up a fake Selective Service registration to cover Obama’s lack of having done so, and that the person stamping the form forgot (or was unable to) change the year to “80″ instead of the current “08″. They either forgot to fake the DLN number or couldn’t do so.
And guess where the Selective Service registrations are marked and recorded? Lucky for Obama, it’s his native Chicago. From an article entitled, “Post Office Registration Process”, on the Selective Service website:
When a young man reaches 18 he can go to any of the 35,000 post offices nationwide to register with Selective Service. There he completes a simple registration card and mails it to the Selective Service System. This begins a multi-step process which results in the man’s registration.
Each week approximately 6,000 completed registration cards are sent to the Selective Service System’s Data Management System (DMC) near Chicago, Ill. At the DMC these cards are grouped into manageable quantities. Each card is then microfilmed and stamped with a sequential document locator number. The processed microfilm is reviewed to account for all documents and to ensure that the film quality is within strict standards. After microfilming, the cards are keyed and then verified by a different data transcriber.
The Document Locator Number (DLN) is an automatic function (Selective Service record-keeping, specifically the DLN is described on pages 7-8 of this Federal Register document), with the first two digits comprising the year, and it was not changed to “08″ in error. So if the form was filed and processed in 1980, how did it get a 2008 DLN?!
* Obama’s Selective Service Registration Form is Apparently 1990 Form Altered to Appear Like 1980 Form
On the SSS Form 1, in the lower left hand corner is the form number (SSS Form 1) and the month and year version of the form, labeled as “B“. On this particular Form 1, it clearly shows the month as “FEB” (February), and the year is either “80″ or “90″. The retired federal agent investigated further:
Magnification of the form both physically (with a 10x glass) or with different image software does not reflect a clear cut result of either a “80″ or a “90″.
But, checking the history of SSS Form 1 (see http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=198002-3240-001#), it’s apparent that in February 1980, the Selective Service agency withdrew a “Request for a new OMB control number” for SSS Form 1 (see also, here)–meaning the agency canceled its previous request for a new form, and one was never issued in “FEB 1980″.
Since under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-511, 94 Stat. 2812 (Dec. 11, 1980), codified in part at Subchapter I of Chapter 35 of Title 44 a federal agency can not use a form not approved by OMB (Office of Management and Budget), it’s nearly impossible for Senator/President-Elect Obama’s SSS Form 1 to be dated “Feb 1980.” And since that makes it almost certainly dated “Feb 1990,” then how could Barack Obama sign it and the postal clerk stamp it almost ten (10) years before its issue?! Simply not possible.
The lower right hand corner reflects that the Obama SSS form 1 was approved by OMB with an approval number of 19??0002, labeled as “C“. The double question marks (??) reflect digits that are not completely clear.
* Barack Obama’s Signature is Dated After Postal Stamp Certifying His Signature
Barack H. Obama signed the SSS Form 1′s “Today’s date” as July 30, 1980, labeled “D“. But the Postal Stamp reflects the PREVIOUS day’s date of July 29, 1980, labeled “E“. Yes, Obama could have mistakenly written the wrong date, but it is rare and much more unlikely for someone to put a future date than a past date. (Also note how Barry made such a “cute” peace sign with the “b” inside the “O” of his signature. Touching.)
* Postal Stamp is Incorrect, Discontinued in 1970
Then, there is the question as to whether the Postal Stamp is real. The “postmark” stamp–labeled “E“–is hard to read, but it is clear that at the bottom is “USPO” which stands typically for United States Post Office. However, current “postmark” validator, registry, or round dater stamps (item 570 per the Postal Operations Manual) shows “USPS” for United States Postal Service. The change from Post Office to Postal Service occurred on August 12, 1970, when President Nixon signed into law the most comprehensive postal legislation since the founding of the Republic–Public Law 91-375. The new Postal Service officially began operations on July 1, 1971.
Why was an old, obsolete postmark round dater stamp used almost ten (10) years after the fact to validate a legal document . . . that just happened to be Barack Obama’s suspicious Selective Service registration form?
* Form Shows Barack Obama didn’t have ID
The SSS Form 1 states “NO ID”, labeled “F“. Since that’s the case, then how did the Hawaiian postal clerk know that the submitter was really Barack H. Obama, who may have been on summer break from attending Occidental College in California. How would they determine whether the registrant was truly registering and not a relative, friend, or other imposter?
* The Selective Service Data Mgt. Center Stonewalled for Almost a Year on Obama Registration, Until Right Before the Election.
The retired federal agent who FOIA’d Barack Obama’s Selective Service Registration Form notes:
Early this year, when I first started questioning whether Obama registered I was told:
Sir: There may be an error in his file or many other reasons why his registration cannot be confirmed on-line. However, I did confirm with our Data Management Center that he is, indeed, registered with the Selective Service System, in compliance with Federal law.
Sincerely,
Janice L. Hughes/SSS
Sunday, June 12, 2011
OBAMA a.k.a. BOUNEL! BOTH SHARE THE SAME SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
A potentially false name tied to Barack Obama's Social Security number has become the object of a Facebook spoof.
Using the name "Harrison J. Bounel" – a suspected Obama alias, based on official records – a Facebook user has created a social media page lampooning the sitting president.
The Bounel name appeared earlier this year after a debt collector discovered a Harrison J. Bounel listed under the same address and using the same Social Security number as Obama.
Shortly thereafter, satirist Peggy Knutson of Oklahoma City created the "Harrison J. Bounel" Facebook page, which makes all sorts of digs at the president's past, politics and policies.
Get the inside details on what could be the most serious constitutional crisis in the nation's history, in "Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama is Not Eligible to be President."
Facebook's "info" page on Bounel, for example, includes the following:
•Under family, the page lists Stanley Ann Dunham as the mother and the father as "???"
•Bounel's employer is listed as George Soros, and his job is listed as "puppet." Under job description, the page reads, "The Muslim Brotherhood (the Bros for short) and I are cutting that uppity Israel down to size – 1967 size."
•Among "people who inspire" Bounel are Saul Alinsky, Frank Marshall Davis, Bill Ayers and Mao Zedong.
•Bounel's favorite games are listed as politics and charades.
•His favorite quotations are listed: "'We are the Ones we have been waiting for.' – Me; 'I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.' – Me; 'I won.' – Me, again."
Alan Note: she should add this photo to her page: Obama's version of the team that brought down Osama bin Laden.
He referred to himself 27 times in his brief after action report BUT mentioned Navy Seals only some six times!
Reality is that OBAMA did not give the final order to go ahead with the mission and was excluded from the decision, made without him by Secretaries Gates and Hillary Clinton, after procrastinating for weeks and weeks and finally being dragged off the golf course, in golf attire, to be present during the operation, which had started without him.
Knutson has kept up her spoof by posting comments on the Facebook page's "wall" under the "Bounel" name, claiming, "I look for patriots with a sense of humor."
For example, "Bounel" posted a picture of his "weiner" [sic]; in this case, Vice President Joe Biden.
"I don't think any other president has come close to my record of achievement," another "Bounel" post boasts, "71 rounds of golf in less than 29 months. I'm phenomenal!"
Referring to the now famous White House photo of Obama watching footage of the raid on Osama bin Laden's hiding place with Hillary Clinton and others, "Bounel" writes, "[CIA Director Leon Panetta] and Hillary dragged me away from a great round of golf. They told me we were gonna watch 'Survivor' and vote someone off the island."
Knutson told WND she's "generally rather mild mannered," but that she created the page as a sort of catharsis, a way relieve her frustration over Obama.
"I can't believe what's happening to our country and our world, and so many people seem to just accept it," Knutson said. "This is just my way of trying to be humorous about it. … I thought it would be funny to do."
Where did Bounel come from?
The name Harrison J. Bounel was discovered by a self-described debt collector named Al, whose full name is withheld at his insistence. Al told WND he had been researching someone in Chicago when he noticed the subject's neighbor was Michelle Obama.
A few curious clicks later, he found the record for Barack Obama at 5046 South Greenwood Avenue … and the mysterious Bounel, who happened to be listed at the same address and with the same Social Security number as the president.
Read more: President's newest scandal becomes laughing matter http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=309793#ixzz1P6eXsn4u
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
EYE ON IRAN 6/7/11
Courtesy UANI
Reuters: "Iran seems to have carried out nuclear-related work with possible military links until recently, the U.N. atomic watchdog chief said on Monday, citing new information adding to concerns about Tehran's activities. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made clear in a speech to the IAEA's 35-nation governing board his growing frustration at the Islamic state's failure to answer agency queries about its nuclear program. His remarks are likely to be welcomed by Western powers as a sign that he is gradually ratcheting up the pressure on Iran. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop an atomic weapons capability.
Iran rejects the accusation, saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more of its oil and gas. For several years, the IAEA has been investigating Western intelligence reports indicating Iran has coordinated efforts to process uranium, test explosives at high altitude and revamp a ballistic missile cone so it can take a nuclear warhead. Western diplomats believe Amano is in effect warning Tehran to cooperate or face a possible assessment by the IAEA on the likelihood it has conducted nuclear activity with possible military aspects. Such an assessment could lend weight to any renewed Western push to tighten sanctions on the major oil producer." http://t.uani.com/itNx8h
BBC: "Evidence is mounting that Iran is supplying weapons to the Taliban - and that British and other foreign troops are dying in Afghanistan as a result. 'Hypocritical, two-faced and highly dangerous.'Strong words from British Foreign Office Minister, Alistair Burt, referring to Iran's flouting of UN sanctions to sell arms to militant organisations like the Taliban. Mr Burt's fury was sparked by a consignment of powerful rockets which was discovered in February in the hands of insurgents on an Afghan battlefield. Investigators found the rockets were fitted with fuses which could only have come from Iran. 'Iran knows exactly what it's doing,' Mr Burt told the BBC. '
On the one hand it claims to want to come back into the international community, and the next thing they're doing something that it knows is contrary to what the international community has decided.' The BBC has seen a letter from the UK Mission to the United Nations, addressed to the chairman of the Security Council committee on Iran, which states without hesitation that Tehran supplied the rockets to the Taliban." http://t.uani.com/mHVieU
AP: "Iran has sent submarines to the Red Sea in the first such deployment by the country's navy in distant waters, a semi-official news agency reported on Tuesday. The deployment reflects Iran's efforts to show off its naval power. Iran has long sought to upgrade its air defense systems and navy to portray itself as a regional military superpower, as well as prepare for any possible future attacks against the country, saying they would most likely be air and sea-based. The Fars news agency, which is close to Iranian military officials, said the submarines would collect data in international waters and identify warships of other countries.
The report quoted an unnamed government official as saying the submarines accompanied Iranian warships on an anti-piracy route in the Gulf of Aden before they moved into the Red Sea earlier this month. Fars gave no details on the number or capabilities of the submarines. Iran has long had three Russian-made submarines and last year, four new small Iranian-built submarines were delivered to its navy." http://t.uani.com/mMWCFW
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "A top U.S. Treasury Department official is set to travel to Japan and South Korea this week to encourage tough implementation of international sanctions aimed at Iran's nuclear program. Acting Under Secretary David Cohen 'will emphasize the importance of continuing robust implementation of international sanctions to prevent Iran from accessing the international financial system to facilitate its illicit nuclear and weapons program,' the Treasury Department said in a statement. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop the means to make a nuclear bomb. Iran rejects the accusation, saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more of its oil and gas. Cohen, who oversees Treasury Department operations on terrorism and financial intelligence, will visit Japan and South Korea from Tuesday to Friday, the department said." http://t.uani.com/makrnb
AP: "Mideast turmoil, a faltering world economy and divisions on whether to raise crude production promise to make this week's OPEC meeting one of the more volatile in recent history. In the end, the 12-nation group will probably opt to increase output levels to reduce international concerns about the high price of oil. But some influential members are looking to raise the cost of crude... Once again, the Saudis - who account for around a third of OPEC production - will be the main champions of hiking the production ceiling to drive prices down, in line with their view that crude should be fetching between $70 and $80 a barrel. Opposing them is Iran, OPEC's No.2 producer, which argues that world inventories are already high and an increase in output targets would lead to a glut and a corresponding price drop." http://t.uani.com/k67Zga
Human Rights
Guardian: "Iran's supreme court has quashed the death sentence for Saeed Malekpour, a web programmer who was facing execution on charges of developing and promoting porn websites. The 35-year-old was convicted of designing and moderating adult materials online although his family said he was a web programmer whose photo uploading software was used by a porn website without his knowledge. Defence lawyers said the conviction was quashed after they provided the court with expert evidence. Malekpour, a Canadian resident who was arrested in October 2008 on arrival in Tehran, will remain in jail while a judicial review into his case is held.
Speaking from Toronto, his wife, Fatima Eftekhari, said: 'This a sigh of relief for me, I'm very pleased that his life is finally saved. It's unbelievable that someone in this world has spent three years of his life in jail for merely designing software and was until now facing execution for that.' According to Eftekhari, the campaign by human rights groups in support of her husband was crucial in saving Malekpour's life." http://t.uani.com/mAUvMb
Domestic Politics
Bloomberg: "Iran's Mohammad Aliabadi, appointed last week by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the nation's acting oil minister, will represent the nation when OPEC members meet this week, the ministry's news website Shana said. Aliabadi, former head of Iran's Physical Education Organization, will participate in the June 8 OPEC meeting, Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said today, according to Shana. Iran, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, holds the group's rotating presidency this year. Ahmadinejad appointed Aliabadi as a caretaker for the oil ministry on June 2, a day after Iran's parliament voted to ask the courts to review whether the president broke the law by failing to appoint a temporary oil minister after he fired the previous one and put himself in charge." http://t.uani.com/iRYldj
Bloomberg: "The Iran Mercantile Exchange has started trading fuel oil in the Persian Gulf's island of Kish, according to the Fars news agency. Fuel oil totaling about 35,000 metric tons was offered on June 1 on the free trade zone at a base price of $621.35 a ton, the report published today on the state-run news agency showed. Payments will be made in euros and dirham through accounts held overseas under the supervision of the National Iranian Oil Co., it said, without specifying details of the transactions." http://t.uani.com/jMhqbD
Foreign Affairs
AFP: "Three marathon runners from Taiwan and China allegedly had their drinking water spiked with 'date rape drug' Rohypnol while in Iran, their team and Taiwanese media said Tuesday. Taiwanese runner Kevin Lin was hospitalised along with two Chinese team mates Bai Bin and Chen Jun on Monday after the incident, the organiser of his trip said. 'The runners are fine now after hospital treatment and the Iranian government is investigating the incident,' the Home Expedition said in a statement, without elaborating. Taiwan's CTI cable news channel, which is covering Lin's trip, quoted a local hospital as saying that the trio were drugged with Flunitrazepam, better known as the powerful sedative Rohypnol." http://t.uani.com/lFPCR1
AP: "Iran's ambassador says FIFA's headscarf ban affecting the Iran women's team is 'inhumane' and 'politically motivated.' It is the first public Iranian comment since the team forfeited a 2012 Olympic qualifier against Jordan last Friday because it wouldn't play without the headscarves. FIFA says the ban on the Islamic scarf covering a women's neck is for safety reasons. Mustafa Musleh Zadeh says Iran will complain to the Asian Football Federation. He called FIFA's ban 'extremism,' similar to Afghanistan's Taliban restrictions on women in sports." http://t.uani.com/lk1DDE
Opinion & Analysis
Bret Stephens in WSJ: "When does a half-cooked notion, a conspiracy theory or a tissue of vaguely sourced and improbable claims become an item of journalistic 'fact'? If you're a person of normal intelligence, the answer is: never. If, however, you're a faithful reader of the New Yorker, it happens roughly every time investigative reporter Seymour Hersh commits a word to print, presumably after having undergone the rigorous review of the magazine's world-famous fact-checking department. So it was with some anticipation that I agreed last week to debate Mr. Hersh on CNN about his latest bequest to what the magazine likes to call its 'Annals of National Security': Several thousand words in the June 6 edition on the subject of 'Iran and the Bomb,' along with the portentous subtitle, 'How real is the nuclear threat?'
For readers who fail to grasp Mr. Hersh's point from the subtitle alone, his central contention is that there exists no 'irrefutable evidence of an ongoing hidden nuclear-weapons program in Iran'-which is surely right, since the word 'irrefutable' allows for no ambiguity. As for his subtext, this too was clear: By taking an increasingly hard line on Iran, the Obama administration risked blundering into another Iraq-style intelligence fiasco. Might this be true? Who knows: Mr. Hersh loves to affect the air of a journalist who has been brought into the loop of the most sensitive national security secrets. His expectation of readers is that they will take him at his word that the typically anonymous sources for his most explosive claims-often concerning highly specific descriptions of CIA operations in enemy nations-are credible and sober government officials (or former officials) who would never compromise vital secrets to our enemies.
Yet these same insiders, Mr. Hersh would have readers believe, would gladly see those secrets disclosed in the pages of the New Yorker... How, then, does this bear on Mr. Hersh's current reporting about Iran? The article makes much of a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that found that in 2003 Iran had halted its nuclear-weapons program. And he hints that an as-yet unreleased 2011 NIE says much the same thing. Yet what's mainly remarkable about Mr. Hersh's reporting is that it makes no mention of what the IAEA itself says about Iran's most recent nuclear progress. 'As previously reported by the Director General,' goes the May 24 report, 'there are indications that certain of these [undisclosed nuclear related] activities may have continued beyond 2004.'
Among those activities: 'producing uranium metal . . . and its manufacture into components relevant to a nuclear device'; 'testing of explosive components suitable for the initiation of high explosives in a converging spherical geometry'; 'experiments involving the explosive compression of uranium deuteride to produce a short burst of neutrons'; 'missile re-entry vehicle redesign activities for a new payload assessed as being nuclear in nature.' It is in the nature of the journalistic enterprise that most of what we think we know is subject to amendment and revision. In this sense, Mr. Hersh is no different from his peers.
But it is also the invariable mark of a crackpot to believe that truth, by its very nature, must be hidden; and that the simplest explanation is always suspect. Through this device, Mr. Hersh has led generations of readers-and policy makers, too-to believe fantasies while missing dangers that stand in plain sight. As for that TV appearance, Mr. Hersh, according to a CNN producer, backed out at the last minute on grounds that he would not debate me. Should he change his mind, I'm ready any time he is." http://t.uani.com/mRGxwc
Jeffrey Goldberg in Bloomberg: "The Iranian government, which is known neither for transparency nor candor, has insisted for many years that the goal of its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. And for many years, the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose motto is 'Atoms for Peace,' has tended to give the ayatollahs the benefit of the doubt on this question. The agency's former chairman, Mohamed ElBaradei, now a candidate for the presidency of Egypt, seemed to take the attitude that anxiety about Iran's nuclear objectives was motivated by the strategic self-interest, even the paranoia, of the U.S., Israel and the Arab states near Iran, rather than by the reality-based worry that bloody-minded mullahs bent on dominating the Middle East aren't the sort of people who should have the bomb.
The new chairman of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano of Japan, seems more skeptical of Iran's claim of nuclear virginity. He is, by many accounts, preparing a comprehensive indictment of Iran's nuclear program to be issued later this year. As an interim step, his agency recently issued a report on Iran's nuclear activities that might help concentrate the attention of a world that has lately been preoccupied by the revolutions in Libya, Yemen and Syria. These are important events, but an Iran with a bomb? This would bring about a nuclear arms race in the world's most volatile region. It would pose a serious threat to the smooth flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
And it would mean the end of American influence in the Middle East. Not to mention the potential for an actual nuclear exchange between Israel and Iran. The IAEA's new report makes for dry reading -- the agency doesn't turn out propulsive narratives -- but strongly suggests that the mullahs haven't gone into the nuclear business because of their keen interest in clean energy. Using information gathered from member states' intelligence agencies, it cites seven possible 'undisclosed nuclear related activities' on the part of Iranian nuclear scientists.
These include experiments to build atomic triggers, studies of the type of instruments needed for testing explosives underground, and the development -- this is a mouthful - 'of explosive components suitable for the initiation of high explosives in a converging spherical geometry.' Iran's nuclear scientists might be building atomic triggers as a weekend hobby, and they might have discovered a sports- related reason to initiate explosives in a converging spherical geometry. But if the IAEA's suspicions prove correct, then Iran is actively trying to make a nuclear warhead." http://t.uani.com/ipdzIW
Farideh Farhi in The Iran Primer: "Two years after his controversial re-election, President Ahmadinejad faces mounting pressure from the supreme leader, parliament and the Guardian Council on several issues. Is his presidency really in jeopardy? President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may or may not survive his second term. His political fate will depend on whether he continues to try to shift political power towards his office and coterie of loyalists in ways that challenge both the supreme leader and the predominantly conservative parliament. Tensions became public when Ahmadinejad fired the intelligence minister in April, only to have Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reinstate him. During the crisis, Ahmadinejad did not show up for work or key cabinet meetings for 11 days. Khamenei refused to coax or woo the president to return to office. Indeed, he even initially signaled his willingness to let Ahmadinejad resign for refusing his dictates, despite the potential political costs to the regime.
The same tensions are likely to play out for the remainder of Ahmadinejad's term. Khamenei apparently now wants the embattled president to serve out the final two years of his term, according to parliament's deputy speaker Mohammad-Reza Bahonar. Ahmadinejad also will no longer have the supreme leader's protection in political showdowns with the judiciary, parliament or Guardian Council. As a result, all three institutions have more aggressively challenged the president's recent actions, including cabinet appointments, merging ministries or disbursement of state funds. Ahmadinejad's future will depend on whether he persists in doing political battle or agrees to serve as a weakened lame-duck." http://t.uani.com/ltTg2J
Reuters: "Iran seems to have carried out nuclear-related work with possible military links until recently, the U.N. atomic watchdog chief said on Monday, citing new information adding to concerns about Tehran's activities. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made clear in a speech to the IAEA's 35-nation governing board his growing frustration at the Islamic state's failure to answer agency queries about its nuclear program. His remarks are likely to be welcomed by Western powers as a sign that he is gradually ratcheting up the pressure on Iran. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop an atomic weapons capability.
Iran rejects the accusation, saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more of its oil and gas. For several years, the IAEA has been investigating Western intelligence reports indicating Iran has coordinated efforts to process uranium, test explosives at high altitude and revamp a ballistic missile cone so it can take a nuclear warhead. Western diplomats believe Amano is in effect warning Tehran to cooperate or face a possible assessment by the IAEA on the likelihood it has conducted nuclear activity with possible military aspects. Such an assessment could lend weight to any renewed Western push to tighten sanctions on the major oil producer." http://t.uani.com/itNx8h
BBC: "Evidence is mounting that Iran is supplying weapons to the Taliban - and that British and other foreign troops are dying in Afghanistan as a result. 'Hypocritical, two-faced and highly dangerous.'Strong words from British Foreign Office Minister, Alistair Burt, referring to Iran's flouting of UN sanctions to sell arms to militant organisations like the Taliban. Mr Burt's fury was sparked by a consignment of powerful rockets which was discovered in February in the hands of insurgents on an Afghan battlefield. Investigators found the rockets were fitted with fuses which could only have come from Iran. 'Iran knows exactly what it's doing,' Mr Burt told the BBC. '
On the one hand it claims to want to come back into the international community, and the next thing they're doing something that it knows is contrary to what the international community has decided.' The BBC has seen a letter from the UK Mission to the United Nations, addressed to the chairman of the Security Council committee on Iran, which states without hesitation that Tehran supplied the rockets to the Taliban." http://t.uani.com/mHVieU
AP: "Iran has sent submarines to the Red Sea in the first such deployment by the country's navy in distant waters, a semi-official news agency reported on Tuesday. The deployment reflects Iran's efforts to show off its naval power. Iran has long sought to upgrade its air defense systems and navy to portray itself as a regional military superpower, as well as prepare for any possible future attacks against the country, saying they would most likely be air and sea-based. The Fars news agency, which is close to Iranian military officials, said the submarines would collect data in international waters and identify warships of other countries.
The report quoted an unnamed government official as saying the submarines accompanied Iranian warships on an anti-piracy route in the Gulf of Aden before they moved into the Red Sea earlier this month. Fars gave no details on the number or capabilities of the submarines. Iran has long had three Russian-made submarines and last year, four new small Iranian-built submarines were delivered to its navy." http://t.uani.com/mMWCFW
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "A top U.S. Treasury Department official is set to travel to Japan and South Korea this week to encourage tough implementation of international sanctions aimed at Iran's nuclear program. Acting Under Secretary David Cohen 'will emphasize the importance of continuing robust implementation of international sanctions to prevent Iran from accessing the international financial system to facilitate its illicit nuclear and weapons program,' the Treasury Department said in a statement. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop the means to make a nuclear bomb. Iran rejects the accusation, saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more of its oil and gas. Cohen, who oversees Treasury Department operations on terrorism and financial intelligence, will visit Japan and South Korea from Tuesday to Friday, the department said." http://t.uani.com/makrnb
AP: "Mideast turmoil, a faltering world economy and divisions on whether to raise crude production promise to make this week's OPEC meeting one of the more volatile in recent history. In the end, the 12-nation group will probably opt to increase output levels to reduce international concerns about the high price of oil. But some influential members are looking to raise the cost of crude... Once again, the Saudis - who account for around a third of OPEC production - will be the main champions of hiking the production ceiling to drive prices down, in line with their view that crude should be fetching between $70 and $80 a barrel. Opposing them is Iran, OPEC's No.2 producer, which argues that world inventories are already high and an increase in output targets would lead to a glut and a corresponding price drop." http://t.uani.com/k67Zga
Human Rights
Guardian: "Iran's supreme court has quashed the death sentence for Saeed Malekpour, a web programmer who was facing execution on charges of developing and promoting porn websites. The 35-year-old was convicted of designing and moderating adult materials online although his family said he was a web programmer whose photo uploading software was used by a porn website without his knowledge. Defence lawyers said the conviction was quashed after they provided the court with expert evidence. Malekpour, a Canadian resident who was arrested in October 2008 on arrival in Tehran, will remain in jail while a judicial review into his case is held.
Speaking from Toronto, his wife, Fatima Eftekhari, said: 'This a sigh of relief for me, I'm very pleased that his life is finally saved. It's unbelievable that someone in this world has spent three years of his life in jail for merely designing software and was until now facing execution for that.' According to Eftekhari, the campaign by human rights groups in support of her husband was crucial in saving Malekpour's life." http://t.uani.com/mAUvMb
Domestic Politics
Bloomberg: "Iran's Mohammad Aliabadi, appointed last week by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the nation's acting oil minister, will represent the nation when OPEC members meet this week, the ministry's news website Shana said. Aliabadi, former head of Iran's Physical Education Organization, will participate in the June 8 OPEC meeting, Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said today, according to Shana. Iran, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, holds the group's rotating presidency this year. Ahmadinejad appointed Aliabadi as a caretaker for the oil ministry on June 2, a day after Iran's parliament voted to ask the courts to review whether the president broke the law by failing to appoint a temporary oil minister after he fired the previous one and put himself in charge." http://t.uani.com/iRYldj
Bloomberg: "The Iran Mercantile Exchange has started trading fuel oil in the Persian Gulf's island of Kish, according to the Fars news agency. Fuel oil totaling about 35,000 metric tons was offered on June 1 on the free trade zone at a base price of $621.35 a ton, the report published today on the state-run news agency showed. Payments will be made in euros and dirham through accounts held overseas under the supervision of the National Iranian Oil Co., it said, without specifying details of the transactions." http://t.uani.com/jMhqbD
Foreign Affairs
AFP: "Three marathon runners from Taiwan and China allegedly had their drinking water spiked with 'date rape drug' Rohypnol while in Iran, their team and Taiwanese media said Tuesday. Taiwanese runner Kevin Lin was hospitalised along with two Chinese team mates Bai Bin and Chen Jun on Monday after the incident, the organiser of his trip said. 'The runners are fine now after hospital treatment and the Iranian government is investigating the incident,' the Home Expedition said in a statement, without elaborating. Taiwan's CTI cable news channel, which is covering Lin's trip, quoted a local hospital as saying that the trio were drugged with Flunitrazepam, better known as the powerful sedative Rohypnol." http://t.uani.com/lFPCR1
AP: "Iran's ambassador says FIFA's headscarf ban affecting the Iran women's team is 'inhumane' and 'politically motivated.' It is the first public Iranian comment since the team forfeited a 2012 Olympic qualifier against Jordan last Friday because it wouldn't play without the headscarves. FIFA says the ban on the Islamic scarf covering a women's neck is for safety reasons. Mustafa Musleh Zadeh says Iran will complain to the Asian Football Federation. He called FIFA's ban 'extremism,' similar to Afghanistan's Taliban restrictions on women in sports." http://t.uani.com/lk1DDE
Opinion & Analysis
Bret Stephens in WSJ: "When does a half-cooked notion, a conspiracy theory or a tissue of vaguely sourced and improbable claims become an item of journalistic 'fact'? If you're a person of normal intelligence, the answer is: never. If, however, you're a faithful reader of the New Yorker, it happens roughly every time investigative reporter Seymour Hersh commits a word to print, presumably after having undergone the rigorous review of the magazine's world-famous fact-checking department. So it was with some anticipation that I agreed last week to debate Mr. Hersh on CNN about his latest bequest to what the magazine likes to call its 'Annals of National Security': Several thousand words in the June 6 edition on the subject of 'Iran and the Bomb,' along with the portentous subtitle, 'How real is the nuclear threat?'
For readers who fail to grasp Mr. Hersh's point from the subtitle alone, his central contention is that there exists no 'irrefutable evidence of an ongoing hidden nuclear-weapons program in Iran'-which is surely right, since the word 'irrefutable' allows for no ambiguity. As for his subtext, this too was clear: By taking an increasingly hard line on Iran, the Obama administration risked blundering into another Iraq-style intelligence fiasco. Might this be true? Who knows: Mr. Hersh loves to affect the air of a journalist who has been brought into the loop of the most sensitive national security secrets. His expectation of readers is that they will take him at his word that the typically anonymous sources for his most explosive claims-often concerning highly specific descriptions of CIA operations in enemy nations-are credible and sober government officials (or former officials) who would never compromise vital secrets to our enemies.
Yet these same insiders, Mr. Hersh would have readers believe, would gladly see those secrets disclosed in the pages of the New Yorker... How, then, does this bear on Mr. Hersh's current reporting about Iran? The article makes much of a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that found that in 2003 Iran had halted its nuclear-weapons program. And he hints that an as-yet unreleased 2011 NIE says much the same thing. Yet what's mainly remarkable about Mr. Hersh's reporting is that it makes no mention of what the IAEA itself says about Iran's most recent nuclear progress. 'As previously reported by the Director General,' goes the May 24 report, 'there are indications that certain of these [undisclosed nuclear related] activities may have continued beyond 2004.'
Among those activities: 'producing uranium metal . . . and its manufacture into components relevant to a nuclear device'; 'testing of explosive components suitable for the initiation of high explosives in a converging spherical geometry'; 'experiments involving the explosive compression of uranium deuteride to produce a short burst of neutrons'; 'missile re-entry vehicle redesign activities for a new payload assessed as being nuclear in nature.' It is in the nature of the journalistic enterprise that most of what we think we know is subject to amendment and revision. In this sense, Mr. Hersh is no different from his peers.
But it is also the invariable mark of a crackpot to believe that truth, by its very nature, must be hidden; and that the simplest explanation is always suspect. Through this device, Mr. Hersh has led generations of readers-and policy makers, too-to believe fantasies while missing dangers that stand in plain sight. As for that TV appearance, Mr. Hersh, according to a CNN producer, backed out at the last minute on grounds that he would not debate me. Should he change his mind, I'm ready any time he is." http://t.uani.com/mRGxwc
Jeffrey Goldberg in Bloomberg: "The Iranian government, which is known neither for transparency nor candor, has insisted for many years that the goal of its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. And for many years, the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose motto is 'Atoms for Peace,' has tended to give the ayatollahs the benefit of the doubt on this question. The agency's former chairman, Mohamed ElBaradei, now a candidate for the presidency of Egypt, seemed to take the attitude that anxiety about Iran's nuclear objectives was motivated by the strategic self-interest, even the paranoia, of the U.S., Israel and the Arab states near Iran, rather than by the reality-based worry that bloody-minded mullahs bent on dominating the Middle East aren't the sort of people who should have the bomb.
The new chairman of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano of Japan, seems more skeptical of Iran's claim of nuclear virginity. He is, by many accounts, preparing a comprehensive indictment of Iran's nuclear program to be issued later this year. As an interim step, his agency recently issued a report on Iran's nuclear activities that might help concentrate the attention of a world that has lately been preoccupied by the revolutions in Libya, Yemen and Syria. These are important events, but an Iran with a bomb? This would bring about a nuclear arms race in the world's most volatile region. It would pose a serious threat to the smooth flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
And it would mean the end of American influence in the Middle East. Not to mention the potential for an actual nuclear exchange between Israel and Iran. The IAEA's new report makes for dry reading -- the agency doesn't turn out propulsive narratives -- but strongly suggests that the mullahs haven't gone into the nuclear business because of their keen interest in clean energy. Using information gathered from member states' intelligence agencies, it cites seven possible 'undisclosed nuclear related activities' on the part of Iranian nuclear scientists.
These include experiments to build atomic triggers, studies of the type of instruments needed for testing explosives underground, and the development -- this is a mouthful - 'of explosive components suitable for the initiation of high explosives in a converging spherical geometry.' Iran's nuclear scientists might be building atomic triggers as a weekend hobby, and they might have discovered a sports- related reason to initiate explosives in a converging spherical geometry. But if the IAEA's suspicions prove correct, then Iran is actively trying to make a nuclear warhead." http://t.uani.com/ipdzIW
Farideh Farhi in The Iran Primer: "Two years after his controversial re-election, President Ahmadinejad faces mounting pressure from the supreme leader, parliament and the Guardian Council on several issues. Is his presidency really in jeopardy? President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may or may not survive his second term. His political fate will depend on whether he continues to try to shift political power towards his office and coterie of loyalists in ways that challenge both the supreme leader and the predominantly conservative parliament. Tensions became public when Ahmadinejad fired the intelligence minister in April, only to have Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reinstate him. During the crisis, Ahmadinejad did not show up for work or key cabinet meetings for 11 days. Khamenei refused to coax or woo the president to return to office. Indeed, he even initially signaled his willingness to let Ahmadinejad resign for refusing his dictates, despite the potential political costs to the regime.
The same tensions are likely to play out for the remainder of Ahmadinejad's term. Khamenei apparently now wants the embattled president to serve out the final two years of his term, according to parliament's deputy speaker Mohammad-Reza Bahonar. Ahmadinejad also will no longer have the supreme leader's protection in political showdowns with the judiciary, parliament or Guardian Council. As a result, all three institutions have more aggressively challenged the president's recent actions, including cabinet appointments, merging ministries or disbursement of state funds. Ahmadinejad's future will depend on whether he persists in doing political battle or agrees to serve as a weakened lame-duck." http://t.uani.com/ltTg2J
Monday, June 06, 2011
EYE ON IRAN 06/06/11
Courtesy UANI
AFP: "The UN atomic watchdog opens a week-long meeting Monday, with the United States and its western allies looking to pass a resolution against Syria over its alleged illicit nuclear activity... But it will once again be the long-running investigations into illicit nuclear programmes in both Iran and Syria that will be the main focus of attention. While Iran has tended to be the dominant issue at board meetings in the past, Syria looks set to take the hot seat this time round after IAEA chief Yukiya Amano stated unequivocally for the first time his conviction that a remote desert site that was flattened by Israeli bombs in September 2007 was 'very likely' to have been an undeclared covert nuclear reactor... ran, too, will be in the spotlight after Amano, in his latest report, complained that the Islamic republic is continuing to stockpile low-enriched uranium, in defiance of multiple UN sanctions, and refusing to answer allegations of possible military dimensions to its contested nuclear programme. Iran responded at the end of last month, but diplomats who said they have seen the six-page reply said it contained nothing substantively new and, in the view of one diplomat, only confirmed that Tehran is 'unwilling to change course from its policy of non-cooperation.'" http://t.uani.com/msMZJk
AP: "Venezuela's relations with the U.S. are frozen and President Hugo Chavez's government sees no possibility of improving them after its state oil company was hit with sanctions by Washington, the country's top diplomat said Sunday. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Venezuela had been trying to establish a dialogue with U.S. officials since Barack Obama assumed the presidency after George W. Bush, but those attempts were spurned... The U.S. imposed sanctions on PDVSA and six companies from other countries for doing business with Iran that helps finance the Iranian nuclear program. The State Department said PDVSA delivered at least two cargoes of refined petroleum products worth about $50 million to Iran between December and March. Venezuela's close ties with Iran have raised concerns among officials in Washington, who believe Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is meant only to generate electricity using nuclear reactors. Chavez has persistently defended Iran's nuclear energy program, saying it is for peaceful uses." http://t.uani.com/k0f7mn
Daily Telegraph: "Senior Foreign Office sources said that there is 'credible information' that Tehran is providing riot control gear and paramilitary training to Syrian security forces. Moreover, members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard have been providing technical advice and equipment to forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, the sources said. The accusation comes as the Assad regime's policy of shooting down protesters on the streets of Syria's major cities shows no sign of let-up. A Syrian human rights group said 38 people had been killed in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour, 10 on Saturday and 28 on Sunday. With 65 people also reported killed in the town of Hama on Friday, the number of dead since the uprising began in March is now estimated at 1,200." http://t.uani.com/iuJiiE
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Bloomberg: "Iran's nuclear program is raising new concerns at the United Nations atomic agency after inspectors received information showing work on weapons may have gone on longer than suspected. The International Atomic Energy Agency 'received further information related to possible past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities' that 'may have continued until recently,' Director General Yukiya Amano said today in a statement in Vienna. The IAEA's 35-member board convened for a one-week meeting. The agency, which has been investigating alleged Iranian nuclear-weapons work since 2003, is assessing new data it received on high-explosive, electronic and missile warheads, it said in a May 24 report. Amano sent a June 3 letter to Iranian Vice President Fereydoun Abbasi reiterating the IAEA's desire to gain access to suspected sites and speak with scientists." http://t.uani.com/iGcwPP
YnetNews: "The Iranian regime is closer than ever before to creating a nuclear bomb, according to RAND Corporation researcher Gregory S. Jones. At its current rate of uranium enrichment, Tehran could have enough for its first bomb within eight weeks, Jones said in a report published this week. He added that despite reports of setbacks in its nuclear program, the Iranian regime is steadily progressing towards a bomb. Unfortunately, Jones says, there is nothing the US can do to stop Tehran, short of military occupation. The researcher based his report on recent findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), published two weeks ago. Making the bomb will take around two months, he says, because constructing a nuclear warhead is a complicated step in the process... According to Jones, Tehran has produced 38.3 kg of uranium enriched at 19.7%. If its centrifuges continue to work at the current capacity, it will take around two months for the Iranian regime to produce the 20 kg of uranium enriched to 90% required for the production of a nuclear warhead." http://t.uani.com/kgAepr
AP: "An Iranian man who lives near Philadelphia has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for shipping banned products and equipment to his native country. A federal judge in Philadelphia on Friday sentenced 43-year-old Mohammad Reza Vaghari (vuh-GAIR'-ee) of Broomall to 33 months behind bars. Prosecutors say Vaghari and another man sent laboratory equipment, laptops and other products to Dubai, where co-conspirators forwarded them to Iran. Vaghari was convicted of conspiracy and other offenses in February for the scheme that authorities say ran from 2002 to 2005. Deportation proceedings will begin after he serves his time. Vaghari's attorney says he conceded the items were shipped to Dubai but denied they ever reached Iran." http://t.uani.com/mh9pJE
JPost: "Defense Minister Ehud Barak criticized former Mossad chief Meir Dagan on Monday, saying his recommendation against attacking Iran was a serious offense, and could likely jeopardize Israel's deterrence capabilities, Army Radio reported. According to Barak, several options for action against Iran remain open, and Israel's discretion on the matter is key in maintaining optimum deterrence. The defense minister did tell Israel Radio, however, that Israel has made no decision to strike Iran or any of its nuclear reactors. Also on Monday, former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit also spoke out against Dagan and former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi's statements." http://t.uani.com/mlX9EB
NYDN: "A rug store owner convicted of violating the Iran Trade embargo was sentenced Friday to a relatively light 10 months in prison. Reza Safarha, 56, helped a government informant send nearly $300,000 of what he thought was stolen money to Iran. Safarha faced as much as 20 years in prison after he was convicted in a bench trial before Federal District Judge Richard Sullivan in February. Federal guidelines called for him to be sentenced to as much as eight years. But Sullivan noted that Safarha had no record, was not a terrorist, was far less culpable than others who had broken the embargo and had struggled to support his family since immigrating to the U.S. from Iran after the fall of the Shah." http://t.uani.com/ioMU8R
Human Rights
AFP: "Iranian security forces on Saturday fired in the air to disperse several hundred people protesting against the death at her father's funeral of political and social activist Haleh Sahabi, witnesses said. The protesters had tried to gather to gather in silent groups outside the Hosseini Ershad mosque in northern Tehran, a traditional site for reformists in the Iranian regime, the witnesses told AFP. Security forces used batons and fired shots in the air to disperse them, and made around 15 arrests, they said. AFP was not able to confirm the information directly, as the foreign media are forbidden from covering opposition demonstrations in Iran. There had been calls on Facebook and several opposition websites for a protest at the mosque against the death of Sahabi, daughter of veteran opposition figure Ezatollah Sahabi." http://t.uani.com/lkv0Te
AP: "Friends and colleagues of Josh Fattal gathered in Oregon at the weekend to celebrate his 29th birthday and mark his second one in prison in Iran. He is one of two young American hikers the Iranian government has been holding since July 2009 on espionage charges. Before he went hiking near the Iraq-Iran border, Fattal worked on sustainable farming practices at the Aprovecho Research Centre in Cottage Grove, south of Eugene. Fattal's brother Alex said about 40 friends gathered in Cottage Grove, at one point exchanging gifts that had relevance to his brother. The other hiker is Shane Bauer." http://t.uani.com/mf35vi
LAT: "During the nearly 14 months Sarah Shourd spent in an Iranian prison cell, she went on a hunger strike four times. It was the only way she had to protest her prolonged detention. On Friday, she fasted again, this time in solidarity with the two fellow UC Berkeley graduates left behind in Tehran's Evin Prison when she was freed in September on $500,000 bail: her fiance, Shane Bauer, and their friend Joshua Fattal. 'They have committed no crime,' Shourd said between media appearances in Los Angeles to promote their cause. 'They have done nothing wrong, and they don't deserve to be there a minute longer than I was.' Shourd and Bauer had been living in Damascus, Syria, for a year when Fattal came to visit them in July 2009. Shourd, 32, was teaching English to Iraqi and Palestinian refugees and Bauer, 28, was working as a photojournalist." http://t.uani.com/lsC1Y1
Domestic Politics
AFP: "Ruling conservatives in Iran kept up their criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inner circle on Monday, despite a plea for calm by all-powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the latest broadside, Hojatoleslam Mojtaba Zolnour, Khamenei's deputy representative to the elite Revolutionary Guards, accused Ahmadinejad's entourage of seeking to weaken the foundations of the Islamic republic. 'The current of deviation seeks to weaken the foundations of the Islamic establishment... I believe this movement is the gravest danger in the history of Shiite Islam,' Mehr news agency quoted Zolnour as saying. 'Current of deviation' is a term coined by Ahmadinejad opponents to define an ideological movement they believe to be too liberal, nationalist and not nearly religious enough to coexist with the ruling conservatives in Iran. The conservatives accuse Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a close Ahmadinejad relative, confidant and chief of staff, of leading the movement. 'The head of this new sedition should be removed if the government wants to be clean... We hope this problem will be resolved, but it seems very unlikely such a thing will happen in the near future,' Zolnour was quoted as saying. On Saturday, on the 22nd anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death, Ayatollah Khamenei called on the ruling conservatives to end the crisis, urging respect for diversity of political opinion within the regime." http://t.uani.com/iw4sqJ
Reuters: "Iran has yet to decide who will head its delegation at this week's meeting of OPEC oil producers, its OPEC governor was quoted as saying on Sunday by the Fars news agency. OPEC meets on Wednesday and may consider raising output to dampen prices but ahead of the meeting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sacked his oil minister, leaving a question mark over who would represent the group's second-largest producer nation. Iran's envoy to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, told the semi-official Fars agency the decision had yet to be finalised. 'Because I was travelling abroad I do not have any information about the announcement of the new caretaker of the Oil Ministry,' Khatibi told Fars." http://t.uani.com/kmzkOz
Foreign Affairs
WSJ: "Several Persian Gulf countries favor an increase in OPEC's oil output, setting the stage for a public fight with Iran when the group meets this week. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Vienna... Iran's OPEC governor, Muhammad Ali Khatibi, said a move to boost output was 'difficult to understand' in light of high inventories and the recent drop in oil prices. 'We should respond based on facts and figures, not based on rumors or expectations from OPEC,' Mr. Khatibi said in a telephone interview." http://t.uani.com/jQB1Qe
AFP: "Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday repeated his assertion that there will be no tranquillity in the Middle East as long as Tehran's archfoe, Israel, continues to exist. 'As long as the Zionist regime exists, if only on a small piece of land in Palestine, the region will not see tranquillity' he said to a crowd gathered at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on the eve of the 22nd anniversary of the revolutionary leader's death. 'So all the people of the region shall move towards the disappearance of American domination in the region and the disappearance of the Zionist regime,' Ahmadinejad said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state radio. The hardliner has drawn international condemnation for his vitriolic attacks on the Jewish state and his dismissal of the Holocaust as a 'myth.'" http://t.uani.com/lFtIhS
AP: "FIFA says its match officials were right to stop Iran's women's team from playing a 2012 Olympic qualifier wearing Islamic head scarves. Iranian officials were 'informed thoroughly' before Friday's match against Jordan that the hijab scarf covering a women's neck is banned for safety reasons, FIFA says. Iran's soccer association has said it will complain about the FIFA delegate from Bahrain who ordered the match abandoned. Jordanian officials accepted the rule and 'decided not to select a number of players,' FIFA says. FIFA banned the hijab in 2007 and has extended the safety rule to include neck warmers." http://t.uani.com/lWsUYk
WashPost: "In honor of the two-year anniversary of the Iranian elections, hacker collective Anonymous conducted an attack on Iran's foreign ministry, according to a report from The Next Web. Not content with its standard procedure of executing a denial-of-service attack, the group also took about 10,000 e-mails containing scans of Iranian passports. The group says it has something big planned for the actual anniversary of protests over the results of the Iranian elections in 2009. 'For the election's anniversary, we have a complete DDoS attack day' planned, an Anonymous member told The Next Web. The attack will be targeted against a branch of the Iranian government, but the Anonymous member said the group will not target the media." http://t.uani.com/k2UHP8
Opinion &Analysis
Tony Karon in TIME: "The Arab Spring has, over the past five months, largely eclipsed the Iran nuclear standoff on the global agenda -- and that may have come as a relief from a strategic headache for Western decision-makers. Because as the issue begins to make its way back into the headlines, the stalemate is more entrenched than ever. New sanctions legislation is currently making its way through Congress, and the U.S. is expected to push for a tightening of U.N. Security Council measures aimed at forcing Iran to suspend enrichment of uranium in order to satisfy the transparency requirements of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA's latest report raises new questions about aspects of Iran's program, warning that failure to cooperate in resolving them would prevent the agency from allaying suspicions of possible military intent in a nuclear program Tehran insists is simply for energy purposes. But Russia is pressing in the opposite direction, urging an easing of sanctions in order to create a climate for a diplomatic solution. Despite the unprecedented sanctions the Obama Administration has put in place, Iran is not backing down. Successive rounds of negotiation between Western diplomats over the past year have yielded no progress, and no further talks are currently scheduled. Despite the economic pressure of sanctions and domestic policy mismanagement, Tehran's ability to withstand economic pressure buoyed by rising oil prices -- and by its expanding economic ties with some of the more dynamic centers of the global economy right now, such as China, Turkey and Brazil. Except in the case of the challenge to its Syrian ally, President Bashar al-Assad, the Arab Spring has been welcomed in Tehran. It has weakened pro-Western Arab autocrats allied with the U.S.-Israeli narrative of Iran as a rising danger to the Arab world, while the newly empowered Arab public has never bought into that schema. Egypt's decision to restore diplomatic relations with Iran may be emblematic of where things are headed in the region: Not that Egypt has become an ally of Iran, or accepts Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons, but that it has followed the example of Turkey in breaking from the U.S.-led strategy to resolve the issue. So, Iran believes -- not without reason -- that time is on its side in the stalemate." http://t.uani.com/jID35p
Daniel Dombey in FT: "The US and its allies are pushing the UN to declare that Iran has operated a nuclear weapons programme in the past and that related activities are continuing, despite Tehran's assurances to the contrary. Such a move would heighten the pressure on the Islamic republic at a time when its nuclear programme is rebounding from the effects of the Stuxnet computer virus and international attention has been focused on the Arab uprising. 'Many countries, including the US, have urged the International Atomic Energy Agency [the UN's nuclear watchdog] to draw some conclusions,' said a senior US administration official, in comments echoed by counterparts from the UK and France. 'In the absence of real co-operation and real transparency, the agency will have no choice on Iran but to proceed with its own assessment.' Iran's nuclear programme, which Israel depicts as a threat and the US as deeply destabilising for the region, has already been subjected to sanctions by the UN, the US and the European Union. But the IAEA has never formally found the programme is militarily oriented. Instead, the agency says it has been unable to verify that it is exclusively peaceful - and despite the sanctions Tehran has continued to enrich uranium, a process that can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material. Yukiya Amano, IAEA director-general, wrote last month to Iran demanding answers to questions about possible military-related nuclear activities, issues he says Tehran has failed to address since August 2008. US officials say Mr Amano's letter could pave the way for a formal finding about Tehran's programme. In total the IAEA has identified seven areas of concern about possible military dimensions to the programme, which Iran has long insisted is purely peaceful." http://t.uani.com/j5kOyQ
AFP: "The UN atomic watchdog opens a week-long meeting Monday, with the United States and its western allies looking to pass a resolution against Syria over its alleged illicit nuclear activity... But it will once again be the long-running investigations into illicit nuclear programmes in both Iran and Syria that will be the main focus of attention. While Iran has tended to be the dominant issue at board meetings in the past, Syria looks set to take the hot seat this time round after IAEA chief Yukiya Amano stated unequivocally for the first time his conviction that a remote desert site that was flattened by Israeli bombs in September 2007 was 'very likely' to have been an undeclared covert nuclear reactor... ran, too, will be in the spotlight after Amano, in his latest report, complained that the Islamic republic is continuing to stockpile low-enriched uranium, in defiance of multiple UN sanctions, and refusing to answer allegations of possible military dimensions to its contested nuclear programme. Iran responded at the end of last month, but diplomats who said they have seen the six-page reply said it contained nothing substantively new and, in the view of one diplomat, only confirmed that Tehran is 'unwilling to change course from its policy of non-cooperation.'" http://t.uani.com/msMZJk
AP: "Venezuela's relations with the U.S. are frozen and President Hugo Chavez's government sees no possibility of improving them after its state oil company was hit with sanctions by Washington, the country's top diplomat said Sunday. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Venezuela had been trying to establish a dialogue with U.S. officials since Barack Obama assumed the presidency after George W. Bush, but those attempts were spurned... The U.S. imposed sanctions on PDVSA and six companies from other countries for doing business with Iran that helps finance the Iranian nuclear program. The State Department said PDVSA delivered at least two cargoes of refined petroleum products worth about $50 million to Iran between December and March. Venezuela's close ties with Iran have raised concerns among officials in Washington, who believe Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is meant only to generate electricity using nuclear reactors. Chavez has persistently defended Iran's nuclear energy program, saying it is for peaceful uses." http://t.uani.com/k0f7mn
Daily Telegraph: "Senior Foreign Office sources said that there is 'credible information' that Tehran is providing riot control gear and paramilitary training to Syrian security forces. Moreover, members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard have been providing technical advice and equipment to forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, the sources said. The accusation comes as the Assad regime's policy of shooting down protesters on the streets of Syria's major cities shows no sign of let-up. A Syrian human rights group said 38 people had been killed in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour, 10 on Saturday and 28 on Sunday. With 65 people also reported killed in the town of Hama on Friday, the number of dead since the uprising began in March is now estimated at 1,200." http://t.uani.com/iuJiiE
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Bloomberg: "Iran's nuclear program is raising new concerns at the United Nations atomic agency after inspectors received information showing work on weapons may have gone on longer than suspected. The International Atomic Energy Agency 'received further information related to possible past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities' that 'may have continued until recently,' Director General Yukiya Amano said today in a statement in Vienna. The IAEA's 35-member board convened for a one-week meeting. The agency, which has been investigating alleged Iranian nuclear-weapons work since 2003, is assessing new data it received on high-explosive, electronic and missile warheads, it said in a May 24 report. Amano sent a June 3 letter to Iranian Vice President Fereydoun Abbasi reiterating the IAEA's desire to gain access to suspected sites and speak with scientists." http://t.uani.com/iGcwPP
YnetNews: "The Iranian regime is closer than ever before to creating a nuclear bomb, according to RAND Corporation researcher Gregory S. Jones. At its current rate of uranium enrichment, Tehran could have enough for its first bomb within eight weeks, Jones said in a report published this week. He added that despite reports of setbacks in its nuclear program, the Iranian regime is steadily progressing towards a bomb. Unfortunately, Jones says, there is nothing the US can do to stop Tehran, short of military occupation. The researcher based his report on recent findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), published two weeks ago. Making the bomb will take around two months, he says, because constructing a nuclear warhead is a complicated step in the process... According to Jones, Tehran has produced 38.3 kg of uranium enriched at 19.7%. If its centrifuges continue to work at the current capacity, it will take around two months for the Iranian regime to produce the 20 kg of uranium enriched to 90% required for the production of a nuclear warhead." http://t.uani.com/kgAepr
AP: "An Iranian man who lives near Philadelphia has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for shipping banned products and equipment to his native country. A federal judge in Philadelphia on Friday sentenced 43-year-old Mohammad Reza Vaghari (vuh-GAIR'-ee) of Broomall to 33 months behind bars. Prosecutors say Vaghari and another man sent laboratory equipment, laptops and other products to Dubai, where co-conspirators forwarded them to Iran. Vaghari was convicted of conspiracy and other offenses in February for the scheme that authorities say ran from 2002 to 2005. Deportation proceedings will begin after he serves his time. Vaghari's attorney says he conceded the items were shipped to Dubai but denied they ever reached Iran." http://t.uani.com/mh9pJE
JPost: "Defense Minister Ehud Barak criticized former Mossad chief Meir Dagan on Monday, saying his recommendation against attacking Iran was a serious offense, and could likely jeopardize Israel's deterrence capabilities, Army Radio reported. According to Barak, several options for action against Iran remain open, and Israel's discretion on the matter is key in maintaining optimum deterrence. The defense minister did tell Israel Radio, however, that Israel has made no decision to strike Iran or any of its nuclear reactors. Also on Monday, former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit also spoke out against Dagan and former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi's statements." http://t.uani.com/mlX9EB
NYDN: "A rug store owner convicted of violating the Iran Trade embargo was sentenced Friday to a relatively light 10 months in prison. Reza Safarha, 56, helped a government informant send nearly $300,000 of what he thought was stolen money to Iran. Safarha faced as much as 20 years in prison after he was convicted in a bench trial before Federal District Judge Richard Sullivan in February. Federal guidelines called for him to be sentenced to as much as eight years. But Sullivan noted that Safarha had no record, was not a terrorist, was far less culpable than others who had broken the embargo and had struggled to support his family since immigrating to the U.S. from Iran after the fall of the Shah." http://t.uani.com/ioMU8R
Human Rights
AFP: "Iranian security forces on Saturday fired in the air to disperse several hundred people protesting against the death at her father's funeral of political and social activist Haleh Sahabi, witnesses said. The protesters had tried to gather to gather in silent groups outside the Hosseini Ershad mosque in northern Tehran, a traditional site for reformists in the Iranian regime, the witnesses told AFP. Security forces used batons and fired shots in the air to disperse them, and made around 15 arrests, they said. AFP was not able to confirm the information directly, as the foreign media are forbidden from covering opposition demonstrations in Iran. There had been calls on Facebook and several opposition websites for a protest at the mosque against the death of Sahabi, daughter of veteran opposition figure Ezatollah Sahabi." http://t.uani.com/lkv0Te
AP: "Friends and colleagues of Josh Fattal gathered in Oregon at the weekend to celebrate his 29th birthday and mark his second one in prison in Iran. He is one of two young American hikers the Iranian government has been holding since July 2009 on espionage charges. Before he went hiking near the Iraq-Iran border, Fattal worked on sustainable farming practices at the Aprovecho Research Centre in Cottage Grove, south of Eugene. Fattal's brother Alex said about 40 friends gathered in Cottage Grove, at one point exchanging gifts that had relevance to his brother. The other hiker is Shane Bauer." http://t.uani.com/mf35vi
LAT: "During the nearly 14 months Sarah Shourd spent in an Iranian prison cell, she went on a hunger strike four times. It was the only way she had to protest her prolonged detention. On Friday, she fasted again, this time in solidarity with the two fellow UC Berkeley graduates left behind in Tehran's Evin Prison when she was freed in September on $500,000 bail: her fiance, Shane Bauer, and their friend Joshua Fattal. 'They have committed no crime,' Shourd said between media appearances in Los Angeles to promote their cause. 'They have done nothing wrong, and they don't deserve to be there a minute longer than I was.' Shourd and Bauer had been living in Damascus, Syria, for a year when Fattal came to visit them in July 2009. Shourd, 32, was teaching English to Iraqi and Palestinian refugees and Bauer, 28, was working as a photojournalist." http://t.uani.com/lsC1Y1
Domestic Politics
AFP: "Ruling conservatives in Iran kept up their criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inner circle on Monday, despite a plea for calm by all-powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the latest broadside, Hojatoleslam Mojtaba Zolnour, Khamenei's deputy representative to the elite Revolutionary Guards, accused Ahmadinejad's entourage of seeking to weaken the foundations of the Islamic republic. 'The current of deviation seeks to weaken the foundations of the Islamic establishment... I believe this movement is the gravest danger in the history of Shiite Islam,' Mehr news agency quoted Zolnour as saying. 'Current of deviation' is a term coined by Ahmadinejad opponents to define an ideological movement they believe to be too liberal, nationalist and not nearly religious enough to coexist with the ruling conservatives in Iran. The conservatives accuse Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a close Ahmadinejad relative, confidant and chief of staff, of leading the movement. 'The head of this new sedition should be removed if the government wants to be clean... We hope this problem will be resolved, but it seems very unlikely such a thing will happen in the near future,' Zolnour was quoted as saying. On Saturday, on the 22nd anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death, Ayatollah Khamenei called on the ruling conservatives to end the crisis, urging respect for diversity of political opinion within the regime." http://t.uani.com/iw4sqJ
Reuters: "Iran has yet to decide who will head its delegation at this week's meeting of OPEC oil producers, its OPEC governor was quoted as saying on Sunday by the Fars news agency. OPEC meets on Wednesday and may consider raising output to dampen prices but ahead of the meeting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sacked his oil minister, leaving a question mark over who would represent the group's second-largest producer nation. Iran's envoy to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, told the semi-official Fars agency the decision had yet to be finalised. 'Because I was travelling abroad I do not have any information about the announcement of the new caretaker of the Oil Ministry,' Khatibi told Fars." http://t.uani.com/kmzkOz
Foreign Affairs
WSJ: "Several Persian Gulf countries favor an increase in OPEC's oil output, setting the stage for a public fight with Iran when the group meets this week. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Vienna... Iran's OPEC governor, Muhammad Ali Khatibi, said a move to boost output was 'difficult to understand' in light of high inventories and the recent drop in oil prices. 'We should respond based on facts and figures, not based on rumors or expectations from OPEC,' Mr. Khatibi said in a telephone interview." http://t.uani.com/jQB1Qe
AFP: "Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday repeated his assertion that there will be no tranquillity in the Middle East as long as Tehran's archfoe, Israel, continues to exist. 'As long as the Zionist regime exists, if only on a small piece of land in Palestine, the region will not see tranquillity' he said to a crowd gathered at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on the eve of the 22nd anniversary of the revolutionary leader's death. 'So all the people of the region shall move towards the disappearance of American domination in the region and the disappearance of the Zionist regime,' Ahmadinejad said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state radio. The hardliner has drawn international condemnation for his vitriolic attacks on the Jewish state and his dismissal of the Holocaust as a 'myth.'" http://t.uani.com/lFtIhS
AP: "FIFA says its match officials were right to stop Iran's women's team from playing a 2012 Olympic qualifier wearing Islamic head scarves. Iranian officials were 'informed thoroughly' before Friday's match against Jordan that the hijab scarf covering a women's neck is banned for safety reasons, FIFA says. Iran's soccer association has said it will complain about the FIFA delegate from Bahrain who ordered the match abandoned. Jordanian officials accepted the rule and 'decided not to select a number of players,' FIFA says. FIFA banned the hijab in 2007 and has extended the safety rule to include neck warmers." http://t.uani.com/lWsUYk
WashPost: "In honor of the two-year anniversary of the Iranian elections, hacker collective Anonymous conducted an attack on Iran's foreign ministry, according to a report from The Next Web. Not content with its standard procedure of executing a denial-of-service attack, the group also took about 10,000 e-mails containing scans of Iranian passports. The group says it has something big planned for the actual anniversary of protests over the results of the Iranian elections in 2009. 'For the election's anniversary, we have a complete DDoS attack day' planned, an Anonymous member told The Next Web. The attack will be targeted against a branch of the Iranian government, but the Anonymous member said the group will not target the media." http://t.uani.com/k2UHP8
Opinion &Analysis
Tony Karon in TIME: "The Arab Spring has, over the past five months, largely eclipsed the Iran nuclear standoff on the global agenda -- and that may have come as a relief from a strategic headache for Western decision-makers. Because as the issue begins to make its way back into the headlines, the stalemate is more entrenched than ever. New sanctions legislation is currently making its way through Congress, and the U.S. is expected to push for a tightening of U.N. Security Council measures aimed at forcing Iran to suspend enrichment of uranium in order to satisfy the transparency requirements of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA's latest report raises new questions about aspects of Iran's program, warning that failure to cooperate in resolving them would prevent the agency from allaying suspicions of possible military intent in a nuclear program Tehran insists is simply for energy purposes. But Russia is pressing in the opposite direction, urging an easing of sanctions in order to create a climate for a diplomatic solution. Despite the unprecedented sanctions the Obama Administration has put in place, Iran is not backing down. Successive rounds of negotiation between Western diplomats over the past year have yielded no progress, and no further talks are currently scheduled. Despite the economic pressure of sanctions and domestic policy mismanagement, Tehran's ability to withstand economic pressure buoyed by rising oil prices -- and by its expanding economic ties with some of the more dynamic centers of the global economy right now, such as China, Turkey and Brazil. Except in the case of the challenge to its Syrian ally, President Bashar al-Assad, the Arab Spring has been welcomed in Tehran. It has weakened pro-Western Arab autocrats allied with the U.S.-Israeli narrative of Iran as a rising danger to the Arab world, while the newly empowered Arab public has never bought into that schema. Egypt's decision to restore diplomatic relations with Iran may be emblematic of where things are headed in the region: Not that Egypt has become an ally of Iran, or accepts Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons, but that it has followed the example of Turkey in breaking from the U.S.-led strategy to resolve the issue. So, Iran believes -- not without reason -- that time is on its side in the stalemate." http://t.uani.com/jID35p
Daniel Dombey in FT: "The US and its allies are pushing the UN to declare that Iran has operated a nuclear weapons programme in the past and that related activities are continuing, despite Tehran's assurances to the contrary. Such a move would heighten the pressure on the Islamic republic at a time when its nuclear programme is rebounding from the effects of the Stuxnet computer virus and international attention has been focused on the Arab uprising. 'Many countries, including the US, have urged the International Atomic Energy Agency [the UN's nuclear watchdog] to draw some conclusions,' said a senior US administration official, in comments echoed by counterparts from the UK and France. 'In the absence of real co-operation and real transparency, the agency will have no choice on Iran but to proceed with its own assessment.' Iran's nuclear programme, which Israel depicts as a threat and the US as deeply destabilising for the region, has already been subjected to sanctions by the UN, the US and the European Union. But the IAEA has never formally found the programme is militarily oriented. Instead, the agency says it has been unable to verify that it is exclusively peaceful - and despite the sanctions Tehran has continued to enrich uranium, a process that can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material. Yukiya Amano, IAEA director-general, wrote last month to Iran demanding answers to questions about possible military-related nuclear activities, issues he says Tehran has failed to address since August 2008. US officials say Mr Amano's letter could pave the way for a formal finding about Tehran's programme. In total the IAEA has identified seven areas of concern about possible military dimensions to the programme, which Iran has long insisted is purely peaceful." http://t.uani.com/j5kOyQ
Friday, June 03, 2011
EYES ON IRAN 06/03
Reuters: "Iran has rebuffed a request by the U.N. nuclear chief for prompt cooperation with a probe into possible military aspects of Tehran's atomic activities, in a defiant letter underlining increasingly strained ties. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog, is voicing growing concern about allegations Iran may have carried out military-related atomic work -- a charge the Islamic Republic denies. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano wrote to the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation on May 6, asking Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani to help answer the agency's queries and provide access to locations, equipment, documents and officials. The IAEA, tasked with ensuring that nuclear technology is not diverted for military aims, says Iran has not engaged with the agency in substance on these issues since mid-2008. For several years, the IAEA has been investigating Western intelligence reports indicating Iran had coordinated efforts to process uranium, test explosives at high altitude and revamp a ballistic missile cone so it can take a nuclear warhead. In a five-page response to Amano's letter, dated May 26 and obtained by Reuters on Friday, Abbasi-Davani reiterated Iran's often-stated position that the allegations were 'fabricated and acts of forgery'. It gave no indication that Iran would be prepared to heed Amano's demands, referring instead to a 'work plan' agreed between Iran and the agency in 2007, which it said envisaged no inspections, meetings, or interviews with officials."
Reuters: "The U.N. nuclear agency urged Iran on Thursday to join a 72-nation atomic safety convention, as the earthquake-prone Middle East country prepares to bring its first nuclear power station into service. The 1996 Convention on Nuclear Safety was designed to boost safeguards after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, an issue that has gained fresh urgency following Japan's Fukushima nuclear crisis this year, through a system of peer review and mutual oversight. Denis Flory, deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran would be the only country operating a nuclear power plant not to belong to the convention. 'Our first wish would be that all (IAEA) member states operating nuclear power plants in the world are parties to the convention on nuclear safety,' Flory told a news conference. Iranian media reported in early May that final tests were being conducted at the Bushehr plant and that it was expected to start generating electricity in the next two months... A London-based think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said in a report after the Fukushima accident that Bushehr's location on the Gulf coast made the safety of Iran's nuclear programme a 'regional security concern.' It noted that Bushehr, like Fukushima, is in an earthquake zone. But Iran does not need to fear a tsunami of the size that knocked out the electricity and back-up cooling systems at Fukushima, as Bushehr is not located by an ocean." h
AP: "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad withdrew as the caretaker chief of the country's vital oil sector and named an ally to run the ministry, state TV reported on Thursday. A day after Iran's parliament voted to take Ahmadinejad to court for taking over the ministry, the president handed the job to 54-year-old Mohammad Aliabadi. He has served as head of Iran's national Olympic committee, vice president in charge of physical education and head of the fishery organization. The threat to take Ahmadinejad to court reflected the escalating power struggle between the president and the hard-line establishment that has turned on him in advance of parliamentary election next March and the presidential vote in mid-2013... Also on Thursday, cleric Mojtaba Zolnour, a top official with Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, indirectly warned Ahmadinejad that the force might withdraw its support for him should he continue his disobedience of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters."
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "The Obama administration told Congress on Thursday it strongly supported a Southern Corridor pipeline to bring natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe, which would reduce the role of Russian supplies... Three pipeline consortiums are competing to bring natural gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas field to Europe, and the investment decisions to make that possible should be made by the end of this year, Morningstar said... However, the United States does not want the pipeline to move gas from Iran, Morningstar reiterated. Morningstar said the United States faces a difficult decision if it chooses to sanction the Shah Deniz gas project because a subsidiary of Iran's national oil company owns 10 percent of the operation. 'The unintended consequence is the resources, which are absolutely necessary for the Southern Corridor, wouldn't go to Europe,' he said. Instead, the gas would likely go to Russia, China or Iran, Morningstar said. He said Iran would probably benefit if the project were hit with sanctions, because Iran needed gas. 'It's a serious policy issue,' he said."
AP: "An Israeli billionaire at the center of a recent scandal involving trade with Iran died Friday in Tel Aviv. He was 89. Shipping magnate and philanthropist Sammy Ofer was listed last year by Forbes as Israel's richest person, and appeared as number 109 on the magazine's list of the world's richest people. Ofer's family released a statement saying he died Friday morning at his Tel Aviv home after a long illness. A funeral will be held Sunday in Tel Aviv, a family spokesman said. Ofer's name had been in the news since the U.S. government sanctioned his company, Ofer Brothers Group, last month for selling an oil tanker to Iran's national shipping company through a Singapore subsidiary. The move violated U.S. trade restrictions on Iran... The Ofer brothers did not comment publicly on the U.S. charge. A spokesman said the $8.5 million deal, small for the massive conglomerate, was conducted unwittingly with an Iranian shell company. Nonetheless, the company said it was embarrassed."
Human Rights
CNN: "The three Iranian security officers rang the doorbell, politely informed the man of his arrest, thoroughly searched the house, confiscated high-tech gear and books, and whisked him away to the nation's notorious Evin Prison. The early Sunday morning raid took three hours. Now, every second seems like an eternity for the man's anguished family members, praying for his physical safety, hoping for his release, and getting their heads around the prospect of a long stint in prison, his relatives told CNN. His family says the reason for his arrest is his religion. The man is one of 16 Baha'is swept away in raids on or after May 21 targeting educators dedicated to teaching members of their community who are denied entry to universities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Of those 16, nine have since been released. But this educator remains in prison, a Baha'i official told CNN. The crackdown is the latest example of the Shiite Muslim regime's relentless persecution of those who adhere to a faith deemed heretical by the ruling ayatollahs."
Domestic Politics
Reuters: "The man President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has appointed oil minister is the 'worst choice' who will damage Iran's vital energy sector, the head of parliament's energy committee said on Friday. The stinging criticism comes after Ahmadinejad finally relinquished the role of caretaker oil minister himself -- a role the both parliament and Iran's constitutional watchdog said was illegal -- and appointed Mohammad Aliabadi, one of his close allies, to the post. 'Selecting Mr Aliabadi might be the best choice for Mr Ahmadinejad, but, from the national perspective, this is the worst choice for the oil and gas industry in the current situation and these kinds of decisions will jeopardise the country,' Hamid-Reza Katouzian was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency... By appointing Aliabadi, head of Iran's Physical Education Organisation and its Olympic Committee, Ahmadinejad may have hoped to shake off the criticism, but Katouzian was unequivocal that he was not the right person for the job. 'In my opinion, this is an unjustifiable choice and the oil and gas (industry) will be harmed by these kind of decisions.' 'Oil and gas is a completely professional field of which Mr Aliabadi does not have any experience,' he continued. 'It is not right to introduce someone even as a caretaker of the Oil Ministry who does not know the language of communication with the body of the Oil Ministry.'"
Guardian: "With soaring fuel costs, chronic traffic jams and the devil-may-care recklessness of fellow drivers, Iranian motorists probably thought they already had enough to contend with. Now a new hazard has appeared to further complicate matters: rising camel prices. Insurers, motorists and even President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have got the hump over a decision to link compensation payments for accidents on the country's notoriously high-speed roads to the market price of the slow-moving beasts more commonly associated with desert travel. Iran's judiciary - which is independent of Ahmadinejad's government - has decreed that from next week compensation or 'blood money' for relatives of fatal road accident victims should equal the price of 100 camels. That will have the effect of doubling compensation payouts from 450m to 900m rials (�52,000).
Opinion & Analysis
Amb. Mark Wallace & Frances Townsend in WT: "Many Americans understandably look at Iran's nuclear weapons program and its support of terrorist groups in the Middle East as problems to be solved by Washington and, of course, the broader international community. It may come as a surprise, however, to learn that some U.S. businesses are indirectly playing a part in Iran's attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon and its sponsoring of terrorist groups like Hamas - groups publicly mourning the death of Osama bin Laden. Consider the French-based shipping giant CMA CGM. This company has its U.S. headquarters in Norfolk, Va. What makes CMA CGM so special is that it has become the de facto shipping carrier of choice for Iran and other terrorist states, such as North Korea, for evading international sanctions. This was highlighted in March when the Israeli navy stopped the Victoria, a cargo ship carrying a 50-ton shipment of weapons, including sophisticated land-to-sea missiles, destined for Hamas in Gaza. Upon seizure of the weapons, CMA CGM quickly attempted to absolve itself of any responsibility by proclaiming that the 'ship's manifests do not show any cargo in contravention [of] international regulations.' This is not the first time CMA CGM has fallen victim to a false cargo declaration. In October, Nigerian authorities seized 13 shipping containers carrying artillery shells, explosives and rifle ammunition labeled as glass wool and pallets of stone. The vessel MV CMA CGM Everest had picked up the containers from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. In July 2009, the United Arab Emirates stopped another CMA CGM shipment of weapons from North Korea destined for Iran in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, which bans all North Korean arms exports. This time, CMA CGM apparently was fooled (again) by a false manifesto declaring the shipments to be 'oil boring machines.'
The international security implications of these incidents are obvious, as is the need for private-sector companies like CMA CGM to stop helping serial proliferators such as North Korea and Iran from arming the world. In the case of the North Korean shipment to Iran, it is believed that it also contained parts for the BM-25, a nuclear-capable missile based on original Russian technology with a presumed range of 2,400 miles. This puts Western Europe and Moscow, not to mention Israel and U.S. forces in the Gulf, well within Iran's cross hairs. It is irresponsible for CMA CGM to be doing business with a brutal regime that threatens world peace, and it is even worse that the business it is doing is facilitating the worst of Iran's behavior... Iran's deceptive ways do not give private shipping companies a free pass or absolve them of responsibility. Indeed, they reinforce why the companies should stop doing business there.
More broadly, the U.S. Congress should hold hearings to determine exactly how and why such lapses occur, particularly because CMA CGM has been the recipient of lucrative U.S. government contracts in the past. The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia should immediately launch an investigation into why CMA CGM's compliance record is so abysmal. Americans in Virginia and across the country can lend their voices to this effort and let corporate executives in Norfolk know that CMA CGM's irresponsible business in Iran is unacceptable. The danger of Iran is international in scope, but by acting locally, it's possible to put pressure on CMA CGM to change course... It is simply unacceptable for a company to hide behind the excuse of false words written on a piece of paper, especially with the stakes so high. Ultimately, ship owners must partner with governments to enforce sanctions, and that includes being held accountable for what they transport."
WSJ Editorial Board: "Starting with Jimmy Carter, successive U.S. Administrations have tried to exploit rifts within Iran's ruling theocracy to boost supposed liberals. It always ended in disappointment. Iranian elites are feuding again, but this time there's no room for misunderstanding the nature of the regime. The free world and millions of Iranians who dream about joining it don't have a dog in the fight between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran will remain a repressive state and a terrorist and nuclear threat no matter which side prevails. But we can hope this spectacle continues for as long as possible, and in the meantime the West can keep up the heat on the regime. The dispute is over power and its spoils. President Ahmadinejad will see his second-and by Iranian law last-term end in 2013. He serves at the pleasure of Mr. Khamenei but wants to hold on longer. There's talk among his supporters of dropping the term limit, or taking a page out of Vladimir Putin's Russian playbook by installing an Ahmadinejad cipher in the presidency. These intrigues pose a threat to the cleric's supreme, supposedly divine political authority.
Mr. Khamenei sprung to the president's defense in 2009, after millions came out to protest the blatant fraud used to re-elect Mr. Ahmadinejad. But now the clerics, along with their allies in the security services, want to put the president in his place. Mr. Ahmadinejad's ambitions and appeals to a new type of Iranian nationalism challenge the legacy of the 1979 Islamic Revolution... As both sides trade charges of corruption and misrule, Iran's public is getting a useful education. Iranians might better understand why their oil-rich nation is economically destitute and politically repressive. It further weakens an unpopular and vulnerable regime. Though violently repressed, the democratic movement isn't dead.
A protest is planned for Sunday, the second anniversary of the stolen presidential election. The Obama Administration wasted nearly two years 'extending a hand' to Tehran. As talks got nowhere, the U.S. and Europeans moved to turn the screws on the regime. Economic sanctions have hit them where it hurts most-in the pocketbook. That's the one policy that works with Iran: To keep the pressure on the regime, support the movement for freedom and hope the Iranian people summon the courage again to rise up and bring the regime down.
James Phillips in Heritage: "According to unconfirmed reports, two missile warheads capable of being armed with a nuclear weapon have been acquired by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Reza Kahlili, a former member of the Revolutionary Guards who became a spy for the CIA before defecting to the United States, charged in an article posted on FoxNews.com that the missile warheads were produced by a 'joint military-industrial project' that included Iran, Pakistan, China, and Ukraine.
According to Kahlili, 'The Ukrainians provided the design for the warheads, while the Chinese and Pakistanis delivered the technology, machining and tooling. The Iranian Ministry of Defense coordinated the interface with all three.' It would be surprising if the governments of these disparate countries would directly enter into such a high-risk joint venture to help Iran in violation of U.N. sanctions, but companies and proliferation networks from all three countries separately have sold Iran sensitive technologies in the past. And Iran has established a global smuggling network to acquire technology for its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. On Tuesday, an Iranian businessman operating in California pleaded guilty to conspiring to illicitly export missile parts from the United States to Iran.
Kahlili based his charges on reports from a mysterious group, the 'Green Experts of Iran.' Curiously, North Korea, which is known to work closely with the Iranian regime on its ballistic missile program, is missing from the list of countries reportedly involved in the joint project. Last month, a U.N. panel of experts submitted a confidential report to the Security Council that charged that Iran and North Korea had regularly been exchanging ballistic missile technology, often trans-shipped through China.
There is no doubt, however, that the transfer of nuclear warhead technology for a ballistic missile delivery system to Iran, let alone intact warheads, would be a grave development. Accordingly, the U.S. and its allies would be foolish to discount the possibility of such transfers. Circumstantial evidence, if anything, suggests that the U.S. government should look more deeply into this possibility. Iran's missile development program appears to be even more aggressive than its nuclear weapons program. It is hard to believe that Iran would go to all the effort it is putting into its missile program-particularly for developing intermediate- to long-range missiles-only to arm the missiles with conventional warheads."
ISIS: "Much has been made in the media about the power struggle between Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei-with the backing of the Iranian parliament (Majles)-and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The struggle may make less likely the prospect that Iran will be able (if it is indeed willing at all) to negotiate a diplomatic deal over the nuclear crisis in the near future, though it may still be willing to meet with the P5+1. Iran has thus far been unwilling to suspend its enrichment program as called for by the United Nations Security Council or answer questions about its past work on nuclear weapons.
President Ahmadinejad may want to negotiate a weakened deal while the Supreme Leader may not want a deal at all, preferring the status quo. A weakened deal could involve Iran attempting to convince the international community to abandon its demand that Iran suspend enrichment, with the ultimate goal of legitimizing continued enrichment in Iran. Yet, since the Supreme Leader has shown a willingness to publicly and forcefully assert his authority over Ahmadinejad, and appears unwilling to negotiate an end to the nuclear issue, any deal is unlikely. This could make any meetings with the P5+1 simply an empty exercise on Iran's end."
Courtesy Mark Wallace http://t.uani.com/
Reuters: "The U.N. nuclear agency urged Iran on Thursday to join a 72-nation atomic safety convention, as the earthquake-prone Middle East country prepares to bring its first nuclear power station into service. The 1996 Convention on Nuclear Safety was designed to boost safeguards after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, an issue that has gained fresh urgency following Japan's Fukushima nuclear crisis this year, through a system of peer review and mutual oversight. Denis Flory, deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran would be the only country operating a nuclear power plant not to belong to the convention. 'Our first wish would be that all (IAEA) member states operating nuclear power plants in the world are parties to the convention on nuclear safety,' Flory told a news conference. Iranian media reported in early May that final tests were being conducted at the Bushehr plant and that it was expected to start generating electricity in the next two months... A London-based think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said in a report after the Fukushima accident that Bushehr's location on the Gulf coast made the safety of Iran's nuclear programme a 'regional security concern.' It noted that Bushehr, like Fukushima, is in an earthquake zone. But Iran does not need to fear a tsunami of the size that knocked out the electricity and back-up cooling systems at Fukushima, as Bushehr is not located by an ocean." h
AP: "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad withdrew as the caretaker chief of the country's vital oil sector and named an ally to run the ministry, state TV reported on Thursday. A day after Iran's parliament voted to take Ahmadinejad to court for taking over the ministry, the president handed the job to 54-year-old Mohammad Aliabadi. He has served as head of Iran's national Olympic committee, vice president in charge of physical education and head of the fishery organization. The threat to take Ahmadinejad to court reflected the escalating power struggle between the president and the hard-line establishment that has turned on him in advance of parliamentary election next March and the presidential vote in mid-2013... Also on Thursday, cleric Mojtaba Zolnour, a top official with Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, indirectly warned Ahmadinejad that the force might withdraw its support for him should he continue his disobedience of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters."
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "The Obama administration told Congress on Thursday it strongly supported a Southern Corridor pipeline to bring natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe, which would reduce the role of Russian supplies... Three pipeline consortiums are competing to bring natural gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas field to Europe, and the investment decisions to make that possible should be made by the end of this year, Morningstar said... However, the United States does not want the pipeline to move gas from Iran, Morningstar reiterated. Morningstar said the United States faces a difficult decision if it chooses to sanction the Shah Deniz gas project because a subsidiary of Iran's national oil company owns 10 percent of the operation. 'The unintended consequence is the resources, which are absolutely necessary for the Southern Corridor, wouldn't go to Europe,' he said. Instead, the gas would likely go to Russia, China or Iran, Morningstar said. He said Iran would probably benefit if the project were hit with sanctions, because Iran needed gas. 'It's a serious policy issue,' he said."
AP: "An Israeli billionaire at the center of a recent scandal involving trade with Iran died Friday in Tel Aviv. He was 89. Shipping magnate and philanthropist Sammy Ofer was listed last year by Forbes as Israel's richest person, and appeared as number 109 on the magazine's list of the world's richest people. Ofer's family released a statement saying he died Friday morning at his Tel Aviv home after a long illness. A funeral will be held Sunday in Tel Aviv, a family spokesman said. Ofer's name had been in the news since the U.S. government sanctioned his company, Ofer Brothers Group, last month for selling an oil tanker to Iran's national shipping company through a Singapore subsidiary. The move violated U.S. trade restrictions on Iran... The Ofer brothers did not comment publicly on the U.S. charge. A spokesman said the $8.5 million deal, small for the massive conglomerate, was conducted unwittingly with an Iranian shell company. Nonetheless, the company said it was embarrassed."
Human Rights
CNN: "The three Iranian security officers rang the doorbell, politely informed the man of his arrest, thoroughly searched the house, confiscated high-tech gear and books, and whisked him away to the nation's notorious Evin Prison. The early Sunday morning raid took three hours. Now, every second seems like an eternity for the man's anguished family members, praying for his physical safety, hoping for his release, and getting their heads around the prospect of a long stint in prison, his relatives told CNN. His family says the reason for his arrest is his religion. The man is one of 16 Baha'is swept away in raids on or after May 21 targeting educators dedicated to teaching members of their community who are denied entry to universities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Of those 16, nine have since been released. But this educator remains in prison, a Baha'i official told CNN. The crackdown is the latest example of the Shiite Muslim regime's relentless persecution of those who adhere to a faith deemed heretical by the ruling ayatollahs."
Domestic Politics
Reuters: "The man President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has appointed oil minister is the 'worst choice' who will damage Iran's vital energy sector, the head of parliament's energy committee said on Friday. The stinging criticism comes after Ahmadinejad finally relinquished the role of caretaker oil minister himself -- a role the both parliament and Iran's constitutional watchdog said was illegal -- and appointed Mohammad Aliabadi, one of his close allies, to the post. 'Selecting Mr Aliabadi might be the best choice for Mr Ahmadinejad, but, from the national perspective, this is the worst choice for the oil and gas industry in the current situation and these kinds of decisions will jeopardise the country,' Hamid-Reza Katouzian was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency... By appointing Aliabadi, head of Iran's Physical Education Organisation and its Olympic Committee, Ahmadinejad may have hoped to shake off the criticism, but Katouzian was unequivocal that he was not the right person for the job. 'In my opinion, this is an unjustifiable choice and the oil and gas (industry) will be harmed by these kind of decisions.' 'Oil and gas is a completely professional field of which Mr Aliabadi does not have any experience,' he continued. 'It is not right to introduce someone even as a caretaker of the Oil Ministry who does not know the language of communication with the body of the Oil Ministry.'"
Guardian: "With soaring fuel costs, chronic traffic jams and the devil-may-care recklessness of fellow drivers, Iranian motorists probably thought they already had enough to contend with. Now a new hazard has appeared to further complicate matters: rising camel prices. Insurers, motorists and even President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have got the hump over a decision to link compensation payments for accidents on the country's notoriously high-speed roads to the market price of the slow-moving beasts more commonly associated with desert travel. Iran's judiciary - which is independent of Ahmadinejad's government - has decreed that from next week compensation or 'blood money' for relatives of fatal road accident victims should equal the price of 100 camels. That will have the effect of doubling compensation payouts from 450m to 900m rials (�52,000).
Opinion & Analysis
Amb. Mark Wallace & Frances Townsend in WT: "Many Americans understandably look at Iran's nuclear weapons program and its support of terrorist groups in the Middle East as problems to be solved by Washington and, of course, the broader international community. It may come as a surprise, however, to learn that some U.S. businesses are indirectly playing a part in Iran's attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon and its sponsoring of terrorist groups like Hamas - groups publicly mourning the death of Osama bin Laden. Consider the French-based shipping giant CMA CGM. This company has its U.S. headquarters in Norfolk, Va. What makes CMA CGM so special is that it has become the de facto shipping carrier of choice for Iran and other terrorist states, such as North Korea, for evading international sanctions. This was highlighted in March when the Israeli navy stopped the Victoria, a cargo ship carrying a 50-ton shipment of weapons, including sophisticated land-to-sea missiles, destined for Hamas in Gaza. Upon seizure of the weapons, CMA CGM quickly attempted to absolve itself of any responsibility by proclaiming that the 'ship's manifests do not show any cargo in contravention [of] international regulations.' This is not the first time CMA CGM has fallen victim to a false cargo declaration. In October, Nigerian authorities seized 13 shipping containers carrying artillery shells, explosives and rifle ammunition labeled as glass wool and pallets of stone. The vessel MV CMA CGM Everest had picked up the containers from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. In July 2009, the United Arab Emirates stopped another CMA CGM shipment of weapons from North Korea destined for Iran in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, which bans all North Korean arms exports. This time, CMA CGM apparently was fooled (again) by a false manifesto declaring the shipments to be 'oil boring machines.'
The international security implications of these incidents are obvious, as is the need for private-sector companies like CMA CGM to stop helping serial proliferators such as North Korea and Iran from arming the world. In the case of the North Korean shipment to Iran, it is believed that it also contained parts for the BM-25, a nuclear-capable missile based on original Russian technology with a presumed range of 2,400 miles. This puts Western Europe and Moscow, not to mention Israel and U.S. forces in the Gulf, well within Iran's cross hairs. It is irresponsible for CMA CGM to be doing business with a brutal regime that threatens world peace, and it is even worse that the business it is doing is facilitating the worst of Iran's behavior... Iran's deceptive ways do not give private shipping companies a free pass or absolve them of responsibility. Indeed, they reinforce why the companies should stop doing business there.
More broadly, the U.S. Congress should hold hearings to determine exactly how and why such lapses occur, particularly because CMA CGM has been the recipient of lucrative U.S. government contracts in the past. The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia should immediately launch an investigation into why CMA CGM's compliance record is so abysmal. Americans in Virginia and across the country can lend their voices to this effort and let corporate executives in Norfolk know that CMA CGM's irresponsible business in Iran is unacceptable. The danger of Iran is international in scope, but by acting locally, it's possible to put pressure on CMA CGM to change course... It is simply unacceptable for a company to hide behind the excuse of false words written on a piece of paper, especially with the stakes so high. Ultimately, ship owners must partner with governments to enforce sanctions, and that includes being held accountable for what they transport."
WSJ Editorial Board: "Starting with Jimmy Carter, successive U.S. Administrations have tried to exploit rifts within Iran's ruling theocracy to boost supposed liberals. It always ended in disappointment. Iranian elites are feuding again, but this time there's no room for misunderstanding the nature of the regime. The free world and millions of Iranians who dream about joining it don't have a dog in the fight between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran will remain a repressive state and a terrorist and nuclear threat no matter which side prevails. But we can hope this spectacle continues for as long as possible, and in the meantime the West can keep up the heat on the regime. The dispute is over power and its spoils. President Ahmadinejad will see his second-and by Iranian law last-term end in 2013. He serves at the pleasure of Mr. Khamenei but wants to hold on longer. There's talk among his supporters of dropping the term limit, or taking a page out of Vladimir Putin's Russian playbook by installing an Ahmadinejad cipher in the presidency. These intrigues pose a threat to the cleric's supreme, supposedly divine political authority.
Mr. Khamenei sprung to the president's defense in 2009, after millions came out to protest the blatant fraud used to re-elect Mr. Ahmadinejad. But now the clerics, along with their allies in the security services, want to put the president in his place. Mr. Ahmadinejad's ambitions and appeals to a new type of Iranian nationalism challenge the legacy of the 1979 Islamic Revolution... As both sides trade charges of corruption and misrule, Iran's public is getting a useful education. Iranians might better understand why their oil-rich nation is economically destitute and politically repressive. It further weakens an unpopular and vulnerable regime. Though violently repressed, the democratic movement isn't dead.
A protest is planned for Sunday, the second anniversary of the stolen presidential election. The Obama Administration wasted nearly two years 'extending a hand' to Tehran. As talks got nowhere, the U.S. and Europeans moved to turn the screws on the regime. Economic sanctions have hit them where it hurts most-in the pocketbook. That's the one policy that works with Iran: To keep the pressure on the regime, support the movement for freedom and hope the Iranian people summon the courage again to rise up and bring the regime down.
James Phillips in Heritage: "According to unconfirmed reports, two missile warheads capable of being armed with a nuclear weapon have been acquired by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Reza Kahlili, a former member of the Revolutionary Guards who became a spy for the CIA before defecting to the United States, charged in an article posted on FoxNews.com that the missile warheads were produced by a 'joint military-industrial project' that included Iran, Pakistan, China, and Ukraine.
According to Kahlili, 'The Ukrainians provided the design for the warheads, while the Chinese and Pakistanis delivered the technology, machining and tooling. The Iranian Ministry of Defense coordinated the interface with all three.' It would be surprising if the governments of these disparate countries would directly enter into such a high-risk joint venture to help Iran in violation of U.N. sanctions, but companies and proliferation networks from all three countries separately have sold Iran sensitive technologies in the past. And Iran has established a global smuggling network to acquire technology for its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. On Tuesday, an Iranian businessman operating in California pleaded guilty to conspiring to illicitly export missile parts from the United States to Iran.
Kahlili based his charges on reports from a mysterious group, the 'Green Experts of Iran.' Curiously, North Korea, which is known to work closely with the Iranian regime on its ballistic missile program, is missing from the list of countries reportedly involved in the joint project. Last month, a U.N. panel of experts submitted a confidential report to the Security Council that charged that Iran and North Korea had regularly been exchanging ballistic missile technology, often trans-shipped through China.
There is no doubt, however, that the transfer of nuclear warhead technology for a ballistic missile delivery system to Iran, let alone intact warheads, would be a grave development. Accordingly, the U.S. and its allies would be foolish to discount the possibility of such transfers. Circumstantial evidence, if anything, suggests that the U.S. government should look more deeply into this possibility. Iran's missile development program appears to be even more aggressive than its nuclear weapons program. It is hard to believe that Iran would go to all the effort it is putting into its missile program-particularly for developing intermediate- to long-range missiles-only to arm the missiles with conventional warheads."
ISIS: "Much has been made in the media about the power struggle between Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei-with the backing of the Iranian parliament (Majles)-and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The struggle may make less likely the prospect that Iran will be able (if it is indeed willing at all) to negotiate a diplomatic deal over the nuclear crisis in the near future, though it may still be willing to meet with the P5+1. Iran has thus far been unwilling to suspend its enrichment program as called for by the United Nations Security Council or answer questions about its past work on nuclear weapons.
President Ahmadinejad may want to negotiate a weakened deal while the Supreme Leader may not want a deal at all, preferring the status quo. A weakened deal could involve Iran attempting to convince the international community to abandon its demand that Iran suspend enrichment, with the ultimate goal of legitimizing continued enrichment in Iran. Yet, since the Supreme Leader has shown a willingness to publicly and forcefully assert his authority over Ahmadinejad, and appears unwilling to negotiate an end to the nuclear issue, any deal is unlikely. This could make any meetings with the P5+1 simply an empty exercise on Iran's end."
Courtesy Mark Wallace http://t.uani.com/
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
EYE ON IRAN
Courtesy Mark Wallace - UNITED AGAINST NUCLEAR IRAN (UANI)
AP: "Iran's parliament voted on Wednesday in favor of taking Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to court over what lawmakers say is a violation of the country's constitution stemming from the president's move last month to declare himself caretaker oil minister. The vote in the conservative-dominated assembly is its latest action against Ahmadinejad since the president in April publicly challenged Iran's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei... The confrontations appear to be part of a power struggle ahead of parliamentary elections next year and the vote for Ahmadinejad's successor in mid-2013. It's unclear whether Wednesday's vote in the 290-member parliament will actually be followed by charges or a a lawsuit against Ahmadinejad, but it clearly pits the majority of the lawmakers against the president. The legislators voted 165-1 to refer Ahmadinejad to the country's judiciary after a parliament committee report concluded his action in taking over the oil ministry was an 'obvious violation of the constitution.' Remaining lawmakers were either absent or abstained from the vote. Lawmakers were upset after Ahmadinejad last month restructured the Cabinet by combining eight ministries into four without seeking the lawmakers' approval. The president has the power to dismiss ministers and put caretakers in place for up to three months without parliament's approval. But when Ahmadinejad declared himself caretaker oil minister, the lawmakers said it was an illegal move, some even alleging the president sought personal control of Iran's most moneymaking body. Iran also holds the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' rotating presidency this year." http://t.uani.com/muPtOy
JPost: "Leading US congressmen are urging the the US Treasury Department to consider sanctions against the world's third-largest container shipping company - France's CMA CGM - for possible violations of sanctions on Iran that entail significant instances of weapons smuggling, according to letters obtained by The Jerusalem Post. In March, the CMA CGM operated container ship MV Victoria was seized by the Israel Navy in the Mediterranean and escorted to Ashdod Port. More than 50 tons of weapons from Iran were aboard. They included anti-ship missiles, 3,000 mortar shells and almost 70,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns... In December, Rep. Peter King (R-New York) wrote to Philippe Souli�, CEO of the shipping company. King said he was 'deeply concerned' about the French firm's trade relationship with the regime in Iran. King is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee." http://t.uani.com/ihunLI
BBC: "Bolivia has apologised to neighbouring Argentina for inviting Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi for a visit. General Vahidi is wanted by Argentina for allegedly masterminding the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca wrote to his Argentine counterpart, saying Mr Vahidi would be leaving immediately. Iran has long denied any involvement in the bombing. On Tuesday, Gen Vahidi attended a military ceremony in the city of Santa Cruz, in the presence of Bolivian President Evo Morales. The Argentine authorities reacted immediately to news of Gen Vahidi's visit, notifying Bolivian officials that they had sought his arrest since 2007. Guillermo Borger, head of the Amia, the Jewish association whose building was destroyed in 1994, called Gen Vahidi's presence a 'provocation.'" http://t.uani.com/kDyola
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "Iran is not planning to import petrol and diesel in its current financial year as it has stepped up domestic gas usage, a senior official at NIOC said on Tuesday. 'Iran is not planning to import petrol and diesel in its current financial year as it has stepped up gas usage,' Seyed Mohsen Ghamsari, executive director for international affairs at NIOC, told reporters here. He said Iran's current gas output is 650 million cubic metres a day. Iran, the world's fifth-biggest crude oil exporter, had long depended on imported gasoline for 30-40 percent of its consumption. But after Western sanctions were tightened last year to make it harder for Iran to find gasoline suppliers -- targeting Tehran's chronic lack of refining capacity -- the Islamic Republic made an emergency push to increase its own gasoline production, including converting petrochemical plants to make the fuel." http://t.uani.com/m4nq6y
Reuters: "An Iranian national pleaded guilty in Chicago on Tuesday to federal charges of trying to illegally export missile parts and radio test sets from the United States to Iran. Under the terms of his plea deal, Davoud Baniameri, 38, who lived in Los Angeles, faces up to four years in prison for violating the Arms Export Control Act and the U.S. embargo against Iran by conspiring to arrange such shipments. Baniameri initially arranged for three radio test sets to be shipped to Iran through the Persian Gulf state of Dubai at the behest of an Iranian citizen in Iran, Syed Majid Mousavi, who first contacted him in October 2008, according to court records in the case. Responding to a subsequent Mousavi request the following August, Baniameri sought to buy 10 connector adapters for anti-tank guided-missile systems that he would export to Iran through Dubai, the court documents said." http://t.uani.com/k7tArD
WSJ: "A parliamentary hearing on U.S. allegations of Israeli commercial ties with Iran was shuttered without explanation, amplifying a firestorm that has embarrassed the government and one of the country's largest business conglomerates. The chairman of the Knesset's economic affairs committee opened the hearing by noting the announcement by the U.S. State Department last week that included sanctions against Israel's The Ofer Group for conducting business with Iran. The legislator also cited subsequent media claims of additional Israeli business activity with Iran amid lax public oversight. Those publications 'injure very deeply our ability to lobby foreigners to block Tehran's nuclear program,' said committee chair Carmel Shama, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party. Mr. Shama was followed by Knesset Member Nachman Shai of the parliamentary opposition who called on the government to open an investigation into the matter. Within 15 minutes, Mr. Shama dismissed the meeting saying only that he had received notification that the hearing could not be held in public. He said that a note came neither from a politician or a business concern. A spokesperson for the committee, Lior Rotem suggested that national security considerations were behind the self-imposed gag order." http://t.uani.com/jnOkct
AP: "President Hugo Chavez mocked U.S. concerns about Venezuela's ties with Iran on Tuesday, joking that while his adversaries worry about Iranian-made missiles lining his country's coast his government is actually erecting windmills there. The socialist leader at first said missiles could be launched at Washington and other U.S. cities, then held up a photograph of windmills along the South American country's coast, saying 'here they are.' 'They are pointing directly at Washington,' Chavez joked during a meeting with top government officials that was broadcast on state television." http://t.uani.com/jjRMQc
Commerce
Reuters: "$513 million takeover of South Korea's Daewoo Electronics Co Ltd has collapsed, leaving its creditors-turned-shareholders to tap reserve bidder Swedish electronics firm Electrolux AB. Officials from major shareholders Korea Asset Management Corp and Woori Bank told Reuters they had decided to drop the deal to sell the unlisted electronics maker to Iran's Entekhab Industrial Group. A source who declined to be named said Entekhab made a request to cut the price by about 60 billion won ($55.4 million), but the request was not accepted. The move is the latest setback to the sale process, which creditors had hoped to wrap up after a series of failures. The unlisted Iranian appliance maker was named preferred bidder for Daewoo last year, beating rival Electrolux, but it has repeatedly failed to satisfy creditor demands for a detailed funding plan, resulting in several months of delays to the final agreement." http://t.uani.com/lw8By5
Human Rights
AP: "Government media said the daughter of a prominent Iranian dissident died of a heart attack while attending her father's funeral Wednesday, but opposition websites said she died in a scuffle with security forces. Haleh Sahabi, 54 and a prominent activist and rights campaigner herself, collapsed and died Wednesday at the funeral of her father. He died on Tuesday. The official IRNA news agency said Haleh Sahabi, 54 and a prominent activist and rights campaigner herself, died of 'cardiac arrest' during the funeral. It said the activist was already suffering from high blood pressure and blood sugar. Opposition websites, however, said she fell to the ground and died during a scuffle with security forces." http://t.uani.com/mcnkCK
Foreign Affairs
Bloomberg: "Diners at Shayan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, are assured by a sign near the cash register that they can enjoy the restaurant's Persian food without worrying about Iranians profiting. The establishment is Saudi- owned, it says. Saudi fulmination against Iranian interference in the Persian Gulf finds its mirror image in Tehran. There, buses bring doctors and schoolgirls to join protests outside the Saudi embassy, as clerics, ministers and state-run media denounce the deployment of Saudi troops to Bahrain. The Gulf, home to three-fifths of the world's oil reserves, has largely escaped the violence that accompanied uprisings in Egypt, Libya and other countries this year. The main exception, though, carries the risk of a wider conflict. Bahrain's Saudi- backed rulers are using force to suppress an opposition that mostly shares Iran's Shiite faith -- exacerbating the rivalry between the region's two most powerful and oil-rich countries." http://t.uani.com/kntest
Reuters: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Egypt on Wednesday to rebuild diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, saying the emergence of a new 'great power' would force 'Zionists' to leave the region. At a meeting with Egyptian academics, clerics and media representatives in Tehran, Ahmadinejad pushed his plan to rebuild links with Cairo after the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February. 'I proudly announce that we are ready to give all our experiences to the Egyptian nation ... if there is an investment opportunity in Egypt we are proudly willing to do that,' state broadcaster IRIB quoted Ahmadinejad as saying." http://t.uani.com/iQ1o1A
Opinion & Analysis
Alireza Nader & Joya Laha in RAND: "Iran's support for the Taliban belies its close cultural and historical ties to Afghanistan and its legacy of support for the Afghan central government led by President Hamid Karzai. Indeed, Iran's national interests in Afghanistan often coincide with U.S. objectives of defeating the Taliban and establishing a viable Afghan government. Nevertheless, hostile relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, currently framed by Iran's pursuit of a potential nuclear weapon capability, have prevented closer cooperation in Afghanistan. Iran's strategy of balancing U.S. and allied (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan) power in the region and deterring a U.S. attack on its nuclear facilities have instead facilitated measured Iranian support for the Taliban. Much of Iran's behavior in Afghanistan is shaped by its traditional and historical ties to Afghanistan. Iran has historically supported Tajik and Shi'a Hazara groups that now dominate the Afghan government and are battling the Taliban for control of the country. However, Iran's national security concerns, especially its perception of the threat posed by the United States and regional allies, such as Saudi Arabia, have led it to provide measured military assistance to Taliban insurgents. Tensions over Iran's nuclear program and the possibility of U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities have further raised Afghanistan's importance in Iran's national security calculations. Hence, Iran's policies toward Afghanistan range from overt, peaceful cooperation with the national government in Kabul to covert support to Taliban insurgents. Iran's aid to the Taliban could also stem from Iranian perceptions that the United States is attempting to infringe on its territorial integrity through support for anti-Iranian Baluchi insurgents. The Baluchi insurgency, along with traditional sources of tension between Iran and Afghanistan, such as water disputes, narcotics trafficking, and the question of Afghan refugees, have motivated the Iranian government, especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, to provide military assistance to the Taliban; it does so despite Iran's significant economic development activities and strong support for the Karzai government." http://t.uani.com/lT4CNx
Dina Temple-Raston in NPR: "Intelligence officials say no one in al-Qaida worries them more right now than a man named Saif al-Adel. A former colonel in the Egyptian army, al-Adel served in its special forces before joining the terrorist group. Soon after he became a member, U.S. officials say, he was put in charge of the group's intelligence training. He ran a six-month course for promising operatives to teach them how to track people, gather information and lose someone who might be trailing them. 'He's not an amateur when it comes to terrorism,' says Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University. 'At almost every pivotal point in al-Qaida's history, he's been the go-to guy - the hands-on guy who assisted in making the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa happen; while he was in his exile in Iran, he was instrumental in mounting a series of potentially catastrophic attacks, had they continued, in Saudi Arabia. So he's a key player and he's also an extraordinarily accomplished fighter, and someone therefore who is extremely dangerous.' Al-Adel was in Iran because he was among of a handful of al-Qaida operatives who fled there from Afghanistan right after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. Some of the arrivals in Tehran were allowed to come and go - they were on a kind of Iranian catch-and-release program. Others, like Saif al-Adel, were put under more stringent house arrest, with little hope of being released. And that's where al-Adel's story takes another interesting turn. In 2008, an Iranian diplomat was kidnapped in Pakistan. According to U.S. officials familiar with the case, al-Qaida had a hand in the abduction. His disappearance was followed by two years of negotiation and then a trade. The Iranian diplomat was swapped for key al-Qaida members, including al-Adel. U.S. intelligence picked up on the group in North Waziristan late last year - they reunited with al-Qaida and took up key leadership roles." http://t.uani.com/lboF3V
Reza Kahlili in Fox News: "According to reports from Iran, two missile warheads with nuclear capability have been delivered to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Based on reports received by the Green Experts of Iran, the range of the missiles, produced by the Ministry of Defense Industries, has also been boosted and can now travel a distance of 2,000 miles. Simultaneously, a joint military-industrial project with Iran, Pakistan, China and the Ukraine has begun to produce nuclear warheads, including the first manufactured nuclear-capable warheads. These are now in the possession of the Revolutionary Guards. The Ukrainians provided the design for the warheads, while the Chinese and Pakistanis delivered the technology, machining and tooling. The Iranian Ministry of Defense coordinated the interface with all three. Recently, the U.S. warned the Pakistani government that further cooperation with the Iranian nuclear industries would result in various members of the Pakistani political and military ranks being added to the list of the internationally sanctioned. The U.S. has previously sanctioned several companies from China and the Ukraine for providing material aid to the weapons of mass destruction program in Iran. Also, reports from last October revealed that the Obama administration concluded that Chinese firms were helping Iran with the improvement of its missile technology and the development of nuclear weapons, and asked China to stop such activity. Reports from the Iranian Green experts indicate that the technical and laboratory departments of the Amir Kabir and Shaheed Beheshti Universities in Iran also participated in this collaborative effort. According to the agreement between the Revolutionary Guards and the Ministry of Defense, eight more nuclear warheads will be produced and delivered to the IRGC within the next ten months. A number of the missiles have also been developed in cooperation between the defense industries and the Esfahan Industrial University... For years I have worked very hard to bring awareness to Western leaders that the Iranian regime is determined to acquire a nuclear bomb. This is a messianic regime that truly believes it is their duty to Allah to destroy Israel and America. They believe it is their calling to bring about and to create the needed circumstances for the reappearance of the last Islamic Messiah. Negotiations and sanctions won't work; Appeasement won't work." http://t.uani.com/kPNmZe
Scott Peterson in CSM: "As Arab uprisings sweep the Middle East, few images will likely unsettle Iran's leadership more than that of their flag being burned by Syrian protesters angry with the Islamic Republic's deep ties with Syria's dynastic regime. Activists shouted 'freedom' as they torched the flag in a protest broadcast online. It was just one of the many demonstrations against Bashar al-Assad's government that have shaken Syria for months and led to at least 1,000 deaths. Of all the regional revolts, Syria's presents the biggest dilemma for Iran. Syria is the linchpin that connects Iran to the powerful Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah, along with Palestinian militant group Hamas, form the so-called 'Axis of Resistance' against Israel and Western aims throughout the Middle East. But if Mr. Assad is forced from power, that axis - and Iran's 'soft power' reach in the region - could be in jeopardy. 'If the Syrian regime [falls], that will be a major blow to Iran's foreign policy, in terms of ideological aspirations, projecting its power in the eastern Mediterranean, [and] trying to participate - whether substantially or symbolically - in the Arab-Israeli conflict,' says Jubin Goodarzi, a Mideast specialist at Webster University in Geneva, Switzerland. Iran has portrayed the Arab Spring as an 'explosion of sacred anger' and an 'Islamic awakening' since it brought down pro-Western dictators in Tunisia and Egypt. But the unrest is a double-edged sword for Iran: Two years ago it put down its own pro-democracy Green Movement and now seems unable to sell its message to a region swept up in change that has little to do with religion or anti-Western hatred and much to do with freedom. And for Arab revolutionaries, that brutal 2009 crackdown further diminishes Iran's legitimacy in the new Middle East." http://t.uani.com/iFfVo4
AP: "Iran's parliament voted on Wednesday in favor of taking Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to court over what lawmakers say is a violation of the country's constitution stemming from the president's move last month to declare himself caretaker oil minister. The vote in the conservative-dominated assembly is its latest action against Ahmadinejad since the president in April publicly challenged Iran's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei... The confrontations appear to be part of a power struggle ahead of parliamentary elections next year and the vote for Ahmadinejad's successor in mid-2013. It's unclear whether Wednesday's vote in the 290-member parliament will actually be followed by charges or a a lawsuit against Ahmadinejad, but it clearly pits the majority of the lawmakers against the president. The legislators voted 165-1 to refer Ahmadinejad to the country's judiciary after a parliament committee report concluded his action in taking over the oil ministry was an 'obvious violation of the constitution.' Remaining lawmakers were either absent or abstained from the vote. Lawmakers were upset after Ahmadinejad last month restructured the Cabinet by combining eight ministries into four without seeking the lawmakers' approval. The president has the power to dismiss ministers and put caretakers in place for up to three months without parliament's approval. But when Ahmadinejad declared himself caretaker oil minister, the lawmakers said it was an illegal move, some even alleging the president sought personal control of Iran's most moneymaking body. Iran also holds the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' rotating presidency this year." http://t.uani.com/muPtOy
JPost: "Leading US congressmen are urging the the US Treasury Department to consider sanctions against the world's third-largest container shipping company - France's CMA CGM - for possible violations of sanctions on Iran that entail significant instances of weapons smuggling, according to letters obtained by The Jerusalem Post. In March, the CMA CGM operated container ship MV Victoria was seized by the Israel Navy in the Mediterranean and escorted to Ashdod Port. More than 50 tons of weapons from Iran were aboard. They included anti-ship missiles, 3,000 mortar shells and almost 70,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns... In December, Rep. Peter King (R-New York) wrote to Philippe Souli�, CEO of the shipping company. King said he was 'deeply concerned' about the French firm's trade relationship with the regime in Iran. King is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee." http://t.uani.com/ihunLI
BBC: "Bolivia has apologised to neighbouring Argentina for inviting Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi for a visit. General Vahidi is wanted by Argentina for allegedly masterminding the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca wrote to his Argentine counterpart, saying Mr Vahidi would be leaving immediately. Iran has long denied any involvement in the bombing. On Tuesday, Gen Vahidi attended a military ceremony in the city of Santa Cruz, in the presence of Bolivian President Evo Morales. The Argentine authorities reacted immediately to news of Gen Vahidi's visit, notifying Bolivian officials that they had sought his arrest since 2007. Guillermo Borger, head of the Amia, the Jewish association whose building was destroyed in 1994, called Gen Vahidi's presence a 'provocation.'" http://t.uani.com/kDyola
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Reuters: "Iran is not planning to import petrol and diesel in its current financial year as it has stepped up domestic gas usage, a senior official at NIOC said on Tuesday. 'Iran is not planning to import petrol and diesel in its current financial year as it has stepped up gas usage,' Seyed Mohsen Ghamsari, executive director for international affairs at NIOC, told reporters here. He said Iran's current gas output is 650 million cubic metres a day. Iran, the world's fifth-biggest crude oil exporter, had long depended on imported gasoline for 30-40 percent of its consumption. But after Western sanctions were tightened last year to make it harder for Iran to find gasoline suppliers -- targeting Tehran's chronic lack of refining capacity -- the Islamic Republic made an emergency push to increase its own gasoline production, including converting petrochemical plants to make the fuel." http://t.uani.com/m4nq6y
Reuters: "An Iranian national pleaded guilty in Chicago on Tuesday to federal charges of trying to illegally export missile parts and radio test sets from the United States to Iran. Under the terms of his plea deal, Davoud Baniameri, 38, who lived in Los Angeles, faces up to four years in prison for violating the Arms Export Control Act and the U.S. embargo against Iran by conspiring to arrange such shipments. Baniameri initially arranged for three radio test sets to be shipped to Iran through the Persian Gulf state of Dubai at the behest of an Iranian citizen in Iran, Syed Majid Mousavi, who first contacted him in October 2008, according to court records in the case. Responding to a subsequent Mousavi request the following August, Baniameri sought to buy 10 connector adapters for anti-tank guided-missile systems that he would export to Iran through Dubai, the court documents said." http://t.uani.com/k7tArD
WSJ: "A parliamentary hearing on U.S. allegations of Israeli commercial ties with Iran was shuttered without explanation, amplifying a firestorm that has embarrassed the government and one of the country's largest business conglomerates. The chairman of the Knesset's economic affairs committee opened the hearing by noting the announcement by the U.S. State Department last week that included sanctions against Israel's The Ofer Group for conducting business with Iran. The legislator also cited subsequent media claims of additional Israeli business activity with Iran amid lax public oversight. Those publications 'injure very deeply our ability to lobby foreigners to block Tehran's nuclear program,' said committee chair Carmel Shama, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party. Mr. Shama was followed by Knesset Member Nachman Shai of the parliamentary opposition who called on the government to open an investigation into the matter. Within 15 minutes, Mr. Shama dismissed the meeting saying only that he had received notification that the hearing could not be held in public. He said that a note came neither from a politician or a business concern. A spokesperson for the committee, Lior Rotem suggested that national security considerations were behind the self-imposed gag order." http://t.uani.com/jnOkct
AP: "President Hugo Chavez mocked U.S. concerns about Venezuela's ties with Iran on Tuesday, joking that while his adversaries worry about Iranian-made missiles lining his country's coast his government is actually erecting windmills there. The socialist leader at first said missiles could be launched at Washington and other U.S. cities, then held up a photograph of windmills along the South American country's coast, saying 'here they are.' 'They are pointing directly at Washington,' Chavez joked during a meeting with top government officials that was broadcast on state television." http://t.uani.com/jjRMQc
Commerce
Reuters: "$513 million takeover of South Korea's Daewoo Electronics Co Ltd has collapsed, leaving its creditors-turned-shareholders to tap reserve bidder Swedish electronics firm Electrolux AB. Officials from major shareholders Korea Asset Management Corp and Woori Bank told Reuters they had decided to drop the deal to sell the unlisted electronics maker to Iran's Entekhab Industrial Group. A source who declined to be named said Entekhab made a request to cut the price by about 60 billion won ($55.4 million), but the request was not accepted. The move is the latest setback to the sale process, which creditors had hoped to wrap up after a series of failures. The unlisted Iranian appliance maker was named preferred bidder for Daewoo last year, beating rival Electrolux, but it has repeatedly failed to satisfy creditor demands for a detailed funding plan, resulting in several months of delays to the final agreement." http://t.uani.com/lw8By5
Human Rights
AP: "Government media said the daughter of a prominent Iranian dissident died of a heart attack while attending her father's funeral Wednesday, but opposition websites said she died in a scuffle with security forces. Haleh Sahabi, 54 and a prominent activist and rights campaigner herself, collapsed and died Wednesday at the funeral of her father. He died on Tuesday. The official IRNA news agency said Haleh Sahabi, 54 and a prominent activist and rights campaigner herself, died of 'cardiac arrest' during the funeral. It said the activist was already suffering from high blood pressure and blood sugar. Opposition websites, however, said she fell to the ground and died during a scuffle with security forces." http://t.uani.com/mcnkCK
Foreign Affairs
Bloomberg: "Diners at Shayan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, are assured by a sign near the cash register that they can enjoy the restaurant's Persian food without worrying about Iranians profiting. The establishment is Saudi- owned, it says. Saudi fulmination against Iranian interference in the Persian Gulf finds its mirror image in Tehran. There, buses bring doctors and schoolgirls to join protests outside the Saudi embassy, as clerics, ministers and state-run media denounce the deployment of Saudi troops to Bahrain. The Gulf, home to three-fifths of the world's oil reserves, has largely escaped the violence that accompanied uprisings in Egypt, Libya and other countries this year. The main exception, though, carries the risk of a wider conflict. Bahrain's Saudi- backed rulers are using force to suppress an opposition that mostly shares Iran's Shiite faith -- exacerbating the rivalry between the region's two most powerful and oil-rich countries." http://t.uani.com/kntest
Reuters: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Egypt on Wednesday to rebuild diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, saying the emergence of a new 'great power' would force 'Zionists' to leave the region. At a meeting with Egyptian academics, clerics and media representatives in Tehran, Ahmadinejad pushed his plan to rebuild links with Cairo after the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February. 'I proudly announce that we are ready to give all our experiences to the Egyptian nation ... if there is an investment opportunity in Egypt we are proudly willing to do that,' state broadcaster IRIB quoted Ahmadinejad as saying." http://t.uani.com/iQ1o1A
Opinion & Analysis
Alireza Nader & Joya Laha in RAND: "Iran's support for the Taliban belies its close cultural and historical ties to Afghanistan and its legacy of support for the Afghan central government led by President Hamid Karzai. Indeed, Iran's national interests in Afghanistan often coincide with U.S. objectives of defeating the Taliban and establishing a viable Afghan government. Nevertheless, hostile relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, currently framed by Iran's pursuit of a potential nuclear weapon capability, have prevented closer cooperation in Afghanistan. Iran's strategy of balancing U.S. and allied (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan) power in the region and deterring a U.S. attack on its nuclear facilities have instead facilitated measured Iranian support for the Taliban. Much of Iran's behavior in Afghanistan is shaped by its traditional and historical ties to Afghanistan. Iran has historically supported Tajik and Shi'a Hazara groups that now dominate the Afghan government and are battling the Taliban for control of the country. However, Iran's national security concerns, especially its perception of the threat posed by the United States and regional allies, such as Saudi Arabia, have led it to provide measured military assistance to Taliban insurgents. Tensions over Iran's nuclear program and the possibility of U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities have further raised Afghanistan's importance in Iran's national security calculations. Hence, Iran's policies toward Afghanistan range from overt, peaceful cooperation with the national government in Kabul to covert support to Taliban insurgents. Iran's aid to the Taliban could also stem from Iranian perceptions that the United States is attempting to infringe on its territorial integrity through support for anti-Iranian Baluchi insurgents. The Baluchi insurgency, along with traditional sources of tension between Iran and Afghanistan, such as water disputes, narcotics trafficking, and the question of Afghan refugees, have motivated the Iranian government, especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, to provide military assistance to the Taliban; it does so despite Iran's significant economic development activities and strong support for the Karzai government." http://t.uani.com/lT4CNx
Dina Temple-Raston in NPR: "Intelligence officials say no one in al-Qaida worries them more right now than a man named Saif al-Adel. A former colonel in the Egyptian army, al-Adel served in its special forces before joining the terrorist group. Soon after he became a member, U.S. officials say, he was put in charge of the group's intelligence training. He ran a six-month course for promising operatives to teach them how to track people, gather information and lose someone who might be trailing them. 'He's not an amateur when it comes to terrorism,' says Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University. 'At almost every pivotal point in al-Qaida's history, he's been the go-to guy - the hands-on guy who assisted in making the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa happen; while he was in his exile in Iran, he was instrumental in mounting a series of potentially catastrophic attacks, had they continued, in Saudi Arabia. So he's a key player and he's also an extraordinarily accomplished fighter, and someone therefore who is extremely dangerous.' Al-Adel was in Iran because he was among of a handful of al-Qaida operatives who fled there from Afghanistan right after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. Some of the arrivals in Tehran were allowed to come and go - they were on a kind of Iranian catch-and-release program. Others, like Saif al-Adel, were put under more stringent house arrest, with little hope of being released. And that's where al-Adel's story takes another interesting turn. In 2008, an Iranian diplomat was kidnapped in Pakistan. According to U.S. officials familiar with the case, al-Qaida had a hand in the abduction. His disappearance was followed by two years of negotiation and then a trade. The Iranian diplomat was swapped for key al-Qaida members, including al-Adel. U.S. intelligence picked up on the group in North Waziristan late last year - they reunited with al-Qaida and took up key leadership roles." http://t.uani.com/lboF3V
Reza Kahlili in Fox News: "According to reports from Iran, two missile warheads with nuclear capability have been delivered to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Based on reports received by the Green Experts of Iran, the range of the missiles, produced by the Ministry of Defense Industries, has also been boosted and can now travel a distance of 2,000 miles. Simultaneously, a joint military-industrial project with Iran, Pakistan, China and the Ukraine has begun to produce nuclear warheads, including the first manufactured nuclear-capable warheads. These are now in the possession of the Revolutionary Guards. The Ukrainians provided the design for the warheads, while the Chinese and Pakistanis delivered the technology, machining and tooling. The Iranian Ministry of Defense coordinated the interface with all three. Recently, the U.S. warned the Pakistani government that further cooperation with the Iranian nuclear industries would result in various members of the Pakistani political and military ranks being added to the list of the internationally sanctioned. The U.S. has previously sanctioned several companies from China and the Ukraine for providing material aid to the weapons of mass destruction program in Iran. Also, reports from last October revealed that the Obama administration concluded that Chinese firms were helping Iran with the improvement of its missile technology and the development of nuclear weapons, and asked China to stop such activity. Reports from the Iranian Green experts indicate that the technical and laboratory departments of the Amir Kabir and Shaheed Beheshti Universities in Iran also participated in this collaborative effort. According to the agreement between the Revolutionary Guards and the Ministry of Defense, eight more nuclear warheads will be produced and delivered to the IRGC within the next ten months. A number of the missiles have also been developed in cooperation between the defense industries and the Esfahan Industrial University... For years I have worked very hard to bring awareness to Western leaders that the Iranian regime is determined to acquire a nuclear bomb. This is a messianic regime that truly believes it is their duty to Allah to destroy Israel and America. They believe it is their calling to bring about and to create the needed circumstances for the reappearance of the last Islamic Messiah. Negotiations and sanctions won't work; Appeasement won't work." http://t.uani.com/kPNmZe
Scott Peterson in CSM: "As Arab uprisings sweep the Middle East, few images will likely unsettle Iran's leadership more than that of their flag being burned by Syrian protesters angry with the Islamic Republic's deep ties with Syria's dynastic regime. Activists shouted 'freedom' as they torched the flag in a protest broadcast online. It was just one of the many demonstrations against Bashar al-Assad's government that have shaken Syria for months and led to at least 1,000 deaths. Of all the regional revolts, Syria's presents the biggest dilemma for Iran. Syria is the linchpin that connects Iran to the powerful Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah, along with Palestinian militant group Hamas, form the so-called 'Axis of Resistance' against Israel and Western aims throughout the Middle East. But if Mr. Assad is forced from power, that axis - and Iran's 'soft power' reach in the region - could be in jeopardy. 'If the Syrian regime [falls], that will be a major blow to Iran's foreign policy, in terms of ideological aspirations, projecting its power in the eastern Mediterranean, [and] trying to participate - whether substantially or symbolically - in the Arab-Israeli conflict,' says Jubin Goodarzi, a Mideast specialist at Webster University in Geneva, Switzerland. Iran has portrayed the Arab Spring as an 'explosion of sacred anger' and an 'Islamic awakening' since it brought down pro-Western dictators in Tunisia and Egypt. But the unrest is a double-edged sword for Iran: Two years ago it put down its own pro-democracy Green Movement and now seems unable to sell its message to a region swept up in change that has little to do with religion or anti-Western hatred and much to do with freedom. And for Arab revolutionaries, that brutal 2009 crackdown further diminishes Iran's legitimacy in the new Middle East." http://t.uani.com/iFfVo4
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