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Brief On Iran
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Thursday, 11 May 2006 |
Washington Post Editorial
Tehran suggests the West abandon democracy; the West offers talks. Is this how to stop a nuclear threat?
BOI - IT WAS HARD not to be struck by the sequence of developments on Iran on Monday. First, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dispatched a letter to President Bush suggesting that the West give up on liberal democracy and join those who "are turning to the teachings of religion"; also, that it disclose what the Iranian leader supposes is the involvement of "intelligence and security services" in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and rethink its support for Israel. Hours later the Bush administration agreed to support a European plan to postpone action by the U.N. Security Council on Iran's nuclear program and reopen negotiations with Mr. Ahmadinejad's government. As the French foreign minister put it, "It seems stupid for us not to stretch out our hand."
We'll assume the new Western offer was not prompted by Mr. Ahmadinejad's letter. Still, in light of a manifesto that sounds more like those of Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi than of a government interested in detente, it's worth asking: What exactly do the Bush administration and its allies hope to achieve through the latest proffer? Iran brusquely rejected a previous European offer just last August; since then it has steadily ramped up its work on enriching uranium, even as its government has mobilized for a confrontation with the West. European governments loudly promised there would be consequences for such action. Now, faced with Russian and Chinese resistance to the first substantive step -- a binding Security Council resolution that would not mandate sanctions -- they have decided that bargaining should be tried again.
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EU lawmakers seek to ban Iran from World Cup |
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Thursday, 11 May 2006 |
By Darren Ennis - (Reuters)
BOI - BRUSSELS - European Union lawmakers will urge political leaders on Thursday to back a letter to FIFA calling for Iran to be banned from the World Cup finals because of controversial remarks by the country's president.
Members of the European Parliament will send a letter to the head of soccer's world governing body, Sepp Blatter, and EU leaders citing statements from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for the destruction of Israel and denying the Holocaust, as well as Iran's refusal to renounce its nuclear activity.
It was not clear how many MEPs would sign and FIFA has said it has no intention of banning Iran's team, which kicks off its campaign against Mexico on June 11 in Nuremberg, a city associated with Nazism.
"We have cross-party support for this and we will now go back to our governments and opposition parties and send them a letter, asking them to back our call," British Conservative Party MEP Chris Heaton-Harris told Reuters.
"We believe a precedent has been set in the past, in particular in cricket and rugby with South Africa and FIFA needs to do the same."
Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and has referred to the Holocaust as a myth. Denying the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis is a crime in Germany punishable by up to five years in prison.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the remarks were unacceptable and likened Iran's nuclear plans to the threat posed by the Nazis. However, she said she would not seek to ban Iran from the finals, which kick off in her country on June 9.
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Analysis: Ahmadinejad's letter to Bush |
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Thursday, 11 May 2006 |
By Claude Salhani - UPI International Editor
BOI - Middle East analysts will be burning the midnight oil for the next few days, trying to decide if the letter sent by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President George W. Bush represents a bold step by the conservative president of the Islamic republic; if it should be interpreted as a sign of weakness; or if it has ulterior motives.
"Ahmadinejad's letter to President Bush is an 11th hour ploy to evade United Nations Security Council sanctions and to buy time, while Iran speeds enriching uranium,"
Alireza Jafarzadeh, president of Strategic Policy Consulting and a former Washington spokesman for Iran's parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, told United Press International.
"The United States should not be beguiled by the masters of deception and evasion in Tehran," said Jafarzadeh, referring to the current regime.
Other observers, however, believe the letter is an effort by the Iranian president who hopes to defuse the rising tension between his country and the United States as the White House and its European allies have been working all angles to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capability. In any case, this is a highly unusual step for the president of the Islamic republic, with whom the United States has had no diplomatic relations since 1980.
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Don't underestimate the weakness of Iran's theocracy |
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Thursday, 11 May 2006 |
By Simon Scott Plummer - The Daily Telegraph
BOI - In the confrontation with Iran over nuclear weapons, there is much talk of the dangers that the West would run in imposing sanctions on the regime, let alone attacking it militarily. The heirs of Ayatollah Khomeini have a long reach, as demonstrated in the assassination of political opponents exiled in Europe or the car-bombing of a Jewish cultural centre in Argentina. Nearer to home, they sponsor terrorist groups such as Hizbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and are well placed to cause havoc in Iraq. To move the crisis beyond words to punitive action would be to court grave risks.
Yet, in assessing these risks, insufficient attention is paid to the fundamental weaknesses of the opponent. The first is ideological. In the 27 years since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has come full circle. The religious fervour of Khomeini gave way to Rafsanjani's economic pragmatism, which was in turn succeeded by mild liberalisation under Khatami.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who became president last August, is attempting to turn the clock back to 1979 at a time when the ayatollah's fanaticism is discredited and the population, two thirds of which was born since the revolution, hates its leaders for their oppression, corruption and incompetence.
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Iran regime's meddling in Iraq Denounced by Euro MPs |
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Wednesday, 10 May 2006 |
BOI – In protest to mullahs' interference in Iraqi affairs, several members of European Parliament joined their colleagues in European countries and North America to raise their concerns with Iraqi authorities.
In their letters they strongly condemned the Iranian regime's campaign of misinformation against its main opposition, the People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI), which is protected by international conventions while based in Iraq.
Mrs. Piia-Noora Kauppi, head of the Finnish delegation in the European Parliament from Christian Democratic group wrote in her letter: "I have been irritated by many attempts of the Iranian government to disturb the new democratic process in Iraq." Her colleague from the same parliamentary group, Dr. Jaroslave Zverina, sent his protest letter saying: "The Iranian regime has asked Iraqi government to curtail the Mojahedin's right to freedom of speech, an indisputable right granted to them on the basis of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention," he then expressed hope that the Iraqi government would do everything in its power to uphold all the rights and protections accorded to the Mojahedin.
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Support for Mrs. Rajavi's solution to Iran problem, "The third option for democratic change in Iran" |
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Wednesday, 10 May 2006 |
Policy of appeasement with Iran regime has totally faild – Lord Fraser
BOI - In a meeting with Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, former cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher's government and Scottish Solicitor General, expressed his support to the Iranian Resistance and reiterated that the policy of appeasement with the Iranian regime has totally failed and it worked against Iranian people.
Lord Fraser who represented the United Kingdom at the Strasbourg's Human Rights Court and Europe's Court of Justice, stressed that People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran was labeled as a terror group in response to Iranian regime's demand while majority of the British Parliament are against this designation.
He also expressed his support to Mrs. Rajavi's third option for democratic change in Iran through people and their organized resistance and reminded that many of his colleagues from all three major political parties in both houses are campaigning to remove the terror label against the PMOI.
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Rice: Iran Letter Doesn't Resolve Standoff |
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Wednesday, 10 May 2006 |
By ANNE GEARAN
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed a letter that Iran's president sent to President Bush on Monday, saying the first direct communication from an Iranian leader in 27 years does not help resolve the standoff over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator called the surprise letter a new "diplomatic opening" between the two countries, but Rice said it was not.
"This letter is not the place that one would find an opening to engage on the nuclear issue or anything of the sort," the top U.S. diplomat said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It isn't addressing the issues that we're dealing with in a concrete way."
Rice said the letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was 17 or 18 pages long and covered history, philosophy and religion.
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Iran regime failed to win membership in UN rights body |
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Wednesday, 10 May 2006 |
Iranian regime, a major violator of human rights with high number of executions, failed to win membership in the initial round of voting.
BOI - Human Rights Council NCRI – The United Nations elected 44 of the initial 47 members of its new Human Rights Council in a first round of voting on Tuesday, including five nations named by rights groups as among the world's worst abusers. |
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Iran regime plans to dominate Iraq - Arab daily |
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Tuesday, 09 May 2006 |
BOI - A prominent Arab daily accused Iranian regime of trying to establish a “strategic position” in the Gulf region by dominating Iraq with the support of Iraqi political parties which it backs.
Tehran’s rulers were working relentlessly to take advantage of the political situation in Iraq by making sure that groups they support and fund come to power, the daily al-Hayat wrote in its Thursday edition.
The daily said that Iranian regime was hoping to dominate “the region which is known in the Western world as the Eastern Gate."
It charged that agents of mullahs' Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) had infiltrated Iraq after the fall of the country’s former regime in 2003.
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Iran regime's threats against its opposition condemned worldwide |
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Tuesday, 09 May 2006 |
BOI - Prominent personalities, jurists and lawmakers continue to express their outrage against the Iranian regime's interference in Iraq and its ploy to restrict freedom of expression of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the main opposition movement to the mullahs' regime, in Iraq.
In his letter to the Iraqi authorities, honorable Lord Slynn of Hadley, a prominent British judge said: "It is very disturbing to read a report of allegations said to have been made by the Iranian government to your Excellency's government about the activities of the people at Ashraf. These allegations made from time to time by the Iranian government have been strongly denied as being without foundation. There is not a jot of evidence that the people in Ashraf have been engaged in terrorist activities or that they have done anything to damage or to the detriment of Iraq."
In a similar letter, Congressman Lacy Clay, Democrat from Missouri and a member of House Committee on Democracy and Human Rights in Iran said: "It is my understanding that the Iranian regime is continuing its ongoing campaign to spread misinformation about the Mojahedin, as it also engages in the support of terrorism and violence in Iraq and throughout the region."
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Still slouching toward appeasement? |
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Tuesday, 09 May 2006 |
EDITORIAL
The Washington Times - With extraordinary clarity, President Bush made clear in an interview published over the weekend that he has no illusions about the behavior of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or what is at stake in the nuclear crisis with Iran. "When he says that he wants to destroy Israel, the world needs to take it seriously," Mr. Bush said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag, a German newspaper. According to an unofficial transcript of the Bild interview, Mr. Bush also said: "This is a serious threat, aimed at an ally of the United States and Germany. What Ahmadinejad also means is that if he is ready to destroy one country, then he would also be ready to destroy others. This is a threat that needs to be dealt with."
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Iran and Clinton policy debacles |
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Sunday, 07 May 2006 |
BOI - Washington Times, letters - The editorial, "Iran and the Clintonistas" (Wednesday), was spot-on in writing about the Iran policy debacle presided over by the Clinton administration when Mohammad Khatami became president in 1997. Unfortunately, this fiasco was not limited to "making conciliatory statements" and "relaxing sanctions on Iran," including "an end of the ban on imports of products such as caviar and rugs."
The most disastrous aspect of that policy was to blacklist the only effective and organized internal opposition to the tyrants in Iran, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK). Senior Clinton administration officials acknowledged that the move was "a goodwill gesture" to Tehran. Ironically, conciliation led not to moderation, but to the ascension of the most extremist faction of the Iranian theocracy, which is also hell-bent on derailing the democratic process in Iraq.
The world is now faced with the prospect of the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism arming itself with the world's most dangerous weapon. How does one thwart this threat? The solution, as the Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi articulated during an address at the Council of Europe last April, lies neither in appeasement nor in a foreign war. It is democratic change by the Iranian people and their organized resistance.
Labeling the main component of the resistance, the PMOI, as "terrorist," however, has hamstrung its potentials and seriously impeded democratic change in Iran. A majority in Congress and thousands of lawmakers in Europe have demanded the removal of the "terror" tag.
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World Cup ban threat on Iranian president |
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Sunday, 07 May 2006 |
Allan Hall, Berlin, and Tom Walker - The Sunday Times
BOI - PRESSURE is growing on Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, to bar Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, the president of Iran, if he tries to attend the World Cup.
Ahmadinejad has referred to Israel as a “tumour” and said that it should be “wiped from the map”. His presence in Germany, where Holocaust denial is illegal and carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, is potentially embarrassing. But he is a football fan and is thought to be anxious to see Iran’s first game against Mexico in Nuremberg on June 11.
There is little in theory that Merkel can do to stop Ahmadinejad from coming as he is a head of state with diplomatic immunity. But Germany’s politicians hope the issue can be dealt with quietly by European foreign ministers. One newspaper, the Rheinische Post, said there had been “clear signals” that the so-called “EU3” of Britain, France and Germany, which have been involved in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme, will ask the European Union to impose a travel ban on Iran’s political elite
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Iran's Jews face growing climate of fear |
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Sunday, 07 May 2006 |
ANNETTE YOUNG - Scotsman
BOI - FOR the dwindling Jewish community in Iran, a sacred ritual is observed at 6.30 every evening as shortwave radios are switched on to listen to the daily Farsi broadcast from Israel.
Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power last June, life for Iran's 25,000 Jews has become even more precarious as the president defiantly pursues a nuclear policy while declaring Israel should be "wiped off the world map".
Israel has long identified Iran as its biggest threat, and these concerns have grown amid repeated calls by its hard-line president for Israel's destruction.
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Concerns over Iran regime's meddling in Iraq grow |
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Saturday, 06 May 2006 |
BOI – In pursuit of an international campaign against Iranian regime's export of terrorism and fundamentalism to Iraq, more European and North American lawmakers, Jurists and human rights organizations as well as Iraqi tribal leaders and Sheikhs expressed their concerns in letters addressed to Iraqi foreign minister and the president and the American officials. In their letters they strongly condemned Iranian regime's campaign of misinformation against its main opposition, the People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI).
In a letter to the Iraqi foreign ministry, the clerical regime's embassy in Iraq made false allegations against the PMOI and called for restrictions to be imposed upon the organization based in Camp Ashraf.
US Congressman, Ed towns from New York raised his concern in a letter to Iraqi foreign Minister and said: "It was brought to my attention that the Iranian government has again started a fierce propaganda campaign against the Mojahedin-e-Khalg opposition organization (MEK). This campaign will assist them to further their brutal agenda in Iraq and in other countries…I have confidence that the MEK is truly behind supporting the Iraqi people for establishing peace and security in their country. The people of Iraq are aware of it and that is exactly the reason that 2.8 million of them signed a petition supporting the Mojahedin and their continued stay in Iraq.
"According to the Iraqis and US military officers who have been in Camp Ashraf in the last three years, MEK also known as PMOI has excellent relationship with the people in neighboring towns who have come in contact with them."
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Brief On Iran 
