Iran
hints it may use oil weapon in nuclear row
Sun Jun 4, 2006. By Alireza Ronaghi
http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-06-04T100005Z_01_L13443169_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-IRAN.xml
TEHRAN
(Reuters) - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme
leader of the world's fourth largest oil
exporter, said on Sunday that if the United
States makes a "wrong move" toward Iran, energy
flows in the region would be endangered.
Iranian officials have in the past ruled out
using oil as a weapon in Iran's nuclear standoff
with the West, but Khamenei's comments suggested
Iran could disrupt supplies if pushed.
His remarks, which are likely to unsettle wary
oil markets, come days before EU foreign policy
chief Javier Solana is due to deliver a package
of incentives agreed by six world powers and
designed to persuade Iran to abandon plans to
make nuclear fuel.
"If you (the United States) make a wrong move
regarding Iran, definitely the energy flow in
this region will be seriously endangered,"
Khamenei, who has the last word in all matters
of state, said in a speech which discussed the
dispute.
Washington
accuses Tehran of seeking to develop atomic
weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear power
program, a charge Tehran denies.
The United States says it wants a diplomatic
solution but has refused to rule out military
action.
Washington
has offered to join European countries in talks
with Iran about the nuclear program, but says
Iran must first suspend uranium enrichment. Iran
has so far rejected the demand, saying
enrichment is a national right.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday
Iran would consider the proposals from the
United States, Russia, China, France, Germany
and Britain but also insisted that the crux of
the package was unacceptable.
The incentives being offered have not been
publicly announced, but diplomats have been
working on themes ranging from offering nuclear
reactors to giving security guarantees.
A date for Solana's visit to Iran to deliver the
package has yet to be announced. Iranian
officials said the visit was expected in the
next few days.
"BRAVE MOVE"
Khamenei did not explicitly refer to enrichment
in his speech that marked the anniversary of the
death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the
founder of the Islamic Republic.
But he said: "We are committed to our national
interests and whoever threatens it will
experience the sharpness of this nation's
anger."
He also praised the efforts of the country's
nuclear scientists in developing home-grown
nuclear technology as a "brave move" and
dismissed what he said was the West's campaign
against the country's atomic program.
"Today our nation has taken a step forward and
has bravely resisted," he said. "There is no
international consensus against Iran's nuclear
program except by some ... monopolist countries
and this consensus has no value."
Khamenei spoke from a podium emblazoned with
Khomeini's words "America cannot do a damn
thing". His speech listed what he said were U.S.
failures in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Palestinian
territories and elsewhere in the area.
"You (the United States) are not capable of
securing energy flows in this region," he said,
addressing the crowd who were packed into
Khomeini's mausoleum, south of Tehran.
Those gathered chanted back "Death to America"
and "Nuclear energy is our obvious right".
International oil prices have stayed near record
highs, above $70 a barrel, partly because of
fears Iranian exports could be disrupted if the
nuclear dispute escalates. Iran produces about
3.85 million barrels of oil a day.
The Gulf Cooperation Council, a group of six
Gulf Arab states including oil giant Saudi
Arabia, said on Saturday they were "deeply
worried about the developments in Iran's nuclear
program", after a meeting in Riyadh.
Two months ago, Iran staged naval wargames in
the Gulf, a shipping route that accounts for
roughly two-fifths of all globally traded oil.
Analysts interpreted the military maneuvers,
which included test firing missiles, as a
message that Iran could disrupt vital oil supply
lines if it came under international pressure.
(With additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi)
Supreme Leader: Iran Must Not Give in to
'Threats and Bribes'
June
04, 2006
Agence France Presse
Yahoo News!
link to original article
Iran's
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has
declared that the Islamic republic must not give
up its "scientific goals" in the face of
"threats and bribes". "We have achieved a lot of
scientific goals, and this is a resource that
our late imam had saved for us," Khamenei said
in a speech marking the 17th anniversary of the
death of Iran's Islamic revolutionary leader,
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
"This is a historic investment. It represents
our political independence and national self
confidence. It is due to the bravery of our
people and officials, and we should not sell out
this precious resource because of the enemies'
threats and we should not be fooled by enemy
bribes," he said Sunday.
The five permanent members of the UN Security
Council plus Germany on Thursday agreed to
present Tehran with a package of incentives and
the prospect of fresh multilateral talks on the
condition that Iran first suspends uranium
enrichment.
That activity is at the centre of fears the
country could make nuclear weapons. Iran insists
it only wants to make reactor fuel -- and not
bombs -- and that enrichment is a right
enshrined by the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"There is no consensus against Iran. It is only
the Americans and some of their allies,"
Khamenei said, asserting that Iran had won
support from members of the Organisation of
Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement.
"This is all about a political monopoly of
energy. They want others to beg for energy," he
fumed.
"American and Zionist propaganda claims that
Iran is a threat to the world. But everyone
knows that Iran is no threat to anyone. We have
friendly relations with all the region and Asia.
We have good and healthy relations with Europe,
and in the close future, because they need our
gas, these relations will become even better,"
Khamenei reasoned.
"They accuse us of developing nuclear bombs.
This is an absurd lie. We do not need nuclear
weapons and bombs. We don't have any target to
use them on. Using nuclear weapons is against
Islamic rules," he said.
"We will not impose the costs of building and
maintenance of nuclear weapons on our people.
Our explosive source is the power of our faith."
He also fired off a staunch warning against the
United States.
"You threaten Iran. You say you want to direct
energy in the region. If you make a single
mistake about Iran, the supply of energy will
definitely be put in serious risk," added
Khamenei.
Iran is OPEC's second producer.
"In Iraq, you failed. You say you have spent 300
billion dollars to bring a government in office
that obeys you. But it did not happen. In
Palestine, you made all attempts to prevent
Hamas from coming to power and again you failed.
Why do you not admit that you are weak and your
razor is blunt," he insisted.
"We do not want war... but you should know that
whoever threatens our interests, they will see
the sharpness of our wrath."
Copyright © 2006
Report: Japan Eyeing Sanctions Against Iran in
Nuclear Weapons Dispute
Sunday , June 04, 2006
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,198080,00.html
TOKYO — Japan
is considering imposing sanctions on
Iran
if it continues to reject international calls to
scrap its nuclear program and controversial
uranium enrichment efforts, a news report said
Sunday.
The
sanctions would ban the remittances of money to
Iran from Japan, the Yomiuri newspaper said,
citing unidentified sources.
CountryWatch: Iran
Japan
has tried to seek a diplomatic solution to the
standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions, but with
Iran still uncommitted to a package of
incentives offered by other nations, the
Japanese government is considering stronger
measures, the report said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary
Shinzo Abe,
when asked about Iran on a Sunday morning talk
show, declined to say whether Japan was
considering sanctions and said the government is
still pushing for a diplomatic resolution.
But
he said he doubted whether sanctions would be
effective against Iran, given the windfall
profits the country is making on the currently
high price of oil.
"It
might not damage Iran, but could cause confusion
in the world economy," Abe said on TV Asahi's
Sunday Project.
On
Thursday, Foreign Ministry Taro Aso urged Iran
to accept a U.S. offer for direct talks in
return for suspending its controversial uranium
program, but said Tokyo was not considering
economic sanctions.
Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately
available for comment Sunday afternoon.
Local news reports have said the United States
is urging Japan to consider restricting
financial transactions with Iran should
diplomatic efforts fail to break the diplomatic
impasse. Some have said Washington is pressuring
Japan to freeze plans to develop oil fields in
Iran, although both sides have denied the
reports.
Japan,
a top U.S. ally that also imports much of its
oil from Iran, has been keen to play a mediating
role in resolving the standoff.
Japan
has started to curb crude oil imports from Iran
amid the nuclear controversy. Oil shipments from
Iran fell by 20 percent in April compared to a
year earlier, according to Trade Ministry data.
Khamenei Warns U.S. Against Attacking Iran
June
04, 2006
The Associated Press
Ali Akbar Dareini
link to original article
Iran's
top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned
Sunday that energy supplies from the Gulf region
would be disrupted if Iran came under attack
from the United States and insisted his country
would not give up the right to produce nuclear
fuel. "If you make any mistake (and invade
Iran), definitely shipment of energy from this
region will be seriously jeopardized. You have
to know this," Khamenei said in a speech
broadcast live on state-run radio.
Khamenei warned that the U.S. and its allies
would not be able to provide security for all
oil shipments that cross the strategic Hormuz
Strait near Iran should a disruption occur.
"You will never be able to protect energy supply
in this region. You will not be able to do it,"
he said, addressing the West.
Iran
Is a Leader in Terror, Rumsfeld Tells Defense
Group
June
03, 2006
The New York Times
Michael R. Gordon
link to original article
SINGAPORE
-- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a
gathering of defense experts here on Saturday
that Iran was “one of the leading terrorist
nations in the world.” Mr. Rumsfeld also
questioned why Russia and China would allow Iran
to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, a regional organization that
includes Russia, China and Central Asian
nations.
Iran has observer status in the group, and the
Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is
expected to attend a summit meeting that the
organization is holding in Shanghai this month.
“It strikes me as passing strange that one would
want to bring into an organization that says it
is against terrorism one of the leading
terrorist nations in the world: Iran,” Mr.
Rumsfeld said.
His pointed comments were made at an important
moment in American diplomacy. This week, the
Bush administration reversed a refusal to hold
direct talks with Iran that had lasted decades.
The administration said it was willing to join
European allies in negotiations over Iran’s
nuclear program if Teheran first suspended its
efforts to enrich uranium.
At the same time, Washington has been seeking
Russian and Chinese cooperation in fashioning a
common negotiating strategy. Both nations are
members of the United Nations Security Council,
which the United States would like to impose
punitive measures if Iran does not accept a
package of incentives and suspend its nuclear
enrichment activities.
The United States and its European allies
recently agreed on the package of incentives,
which are to be conveyed to Iran in the coming
days. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has
said that Iran must respond within weeks.
President Ahmadinejad has rebuffed the offer,
but America officials said this may not be the
final word.
In his comments, Mr. Rumsfeld said that
President Bush had presented Iran with the
opportunity to defuse the confrontation over its
nuclear program through diplomacy and that more
time was needed to assess the prospects for a
diplomatic settlement.
“The information has just been communicated to
them, and it seems to me the appropriate thing
now to do is to wait and see which path the
Iranian government will take,” he added.
But he painted a dark picture of Iran, saying
that it had a long history of “being engaged in
terrorist activities” and, thus, was not an
appropriate participant in the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization. The Russian- and
Chinese-dominated organization was established
in 2001 and one of its stated goals is to
counter separatist and terrorist groups.
Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong ,
said Friday that Iran’s role in the Shanghai
organization was a way for Russia and China to
demonstrate their influence. Iran, he said, had
applied to upgrade its presence to full-fledged
member. By agreeing to consider this, he said,
“Russia and China have reminded the West of
their combined influence on world-turning
events.”
India, which also has observer status in the
organization, said Iran’s participation in the
upcoming summit as an observer was a matter for
Iran to decide. “Who am I to decide on their
behalf?” said the Indian defense minister,
Pranab Mukherjee.
One of the main themes in Mr. Rumsfeld’s address
here was the need for more inclusive
institutions. The United States was concerned
last year when an East Asian summit was held
that included 10 members of the Association of
South East Asian Nations, as well as China,
Korea, Japan and other countries, but which
excluded the United States.
Mr. Rumsfeld repeated a theme from last year’s
address — that China needed to be open about how
much it was spending on its military and what
the funds were being used for.
Russia, he said, had sought “to constrain the
independence and freedom of action of some of
their neighboring countries.” Defense officials
said this was a reference to the pressure that
Moscow has put on Central Asian nations to
curtail military ties with the United States as
well as to Russia’s difficult relationship with
Georgia and Ukraine.
Mr. Rumsfeld’s presentation and that of other
defense officials were made at an annual
conference organized by the International
Institute for Strategic Studies. Neither China
nor Russia sent high-level officials to the
conference. Iran has made its own forays into
the region. Last month, President Ahmadinejad
visited Indonesia where, Mr. Lee noted, he
received a hero’s welcome from Indonesian
students.
“This showed how successfully Iran has portrayed
itself as a leading Muslim country, its nuclear
program as a project in which Muslims worldwide
should take vicarious pride, and the issue as a
nationalist struggle,” Mr. Lee said. “We have to
refocus on the core issue, which is nuclear
proliferation and Iran’s obligations under the
Nonproliferation Treaty.”
A Talk at Lunch That Shifted the Stance on Iran
June
03, 2006
The New York Times
Helen Cooper and David E. Sanger
link to original article
WASHINGTON -- On a Tuesday afternoon two months
ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sat
down to a small lunch in President Bush's
private dining room behind the Oval Office and
delivered grim news to her boss: Their coalition
against Iran was at risk of falling apart.
A meeting she had attended in Berlin days
earlier with European foreign ministers had been
a disaster, she reported, according to
participants in the discussion. Iran was neatly
exploiting divisions among the Europeans and
Russia, and speeding ahead with its enrichment
of uranium. The president grimaced, one aide
recalled, interpreting the look as one of
exasperation "that said, 'O.K., team, what's the
answer?' "
That body language touched off a closely held
two-month effort to reach a drastically
different strategy, one articulated two weeks
later in a single sentence that Ms. Rice wrote
in a private memorandum. It broached the idea
that the United States end its nearly
three-decade policy against direct talks with
Iran.
Mr. Bush's aides rarely describe policy debates
in the Oval Office in much detail. But in
recounting his decisions in this case, they
appeared eager to portray him as determined to
rebuild a fractured coalition still bearing
scars from Iraq and find a way out of a
negotiating dynamic that, as one aide said
recently, "the Iranians were winning."
Mr. Bush gradually grew more comfortable with
offering talks to a country that he considers
the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism, and whose
president has advocated wiping Israel off the
map. Mr. Bush's own early misgivings about the
path he was considering came in a flurry of
phone calls to Ms. Rice and to Stephen J.
Hadley, his national security adviser, that
often began with questions like "What if the
Iranians do this," gaming out loud a number of
possible situations.
Mr. Bush left open the option of scuttling the
entire idea until early Wednesday morning, three
senior officials said, speaking on the condition
of anonymity because they were describing
internal debates in the White House. He made the
final decision only after telephone calls with
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and the
chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, led him to
conclude that if Tehran refused to suspend its
enrichment of uranium, or later dragged its
feet, they would support an escalating series of
sanctions against Iran at the United Nations
that could lead to a confrontation.
Even after Mr. Bush edited the statement Ms.
Rice was scheduled to read Wednesday before she
flew to Vienna to encourage Europe and Russia to
sign on to a final package of incentives for
Iran — and sanctions if it turns the offer down
— Ms. Rice wanted to check in one more time. She
called Mr. Bush. Was he sure he was O.K. with
his decision?
"Go do it," he responded.
She did, but the results remain unclear. Iran
has given no indication it will agree to Mr.
Bush's threshold condition, suspending nuclear
fuel production. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said on Friday that he would oppose "any
pressure to deprive our people from their right"
to pursue a peaceful nuclear program.
The IRNA news agency reported that Iran's
foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said
Saturday that Javier Solana, the European
Union's foreign policy chief, was expected to
arrive in Tehran in the next few days with the
new package of incentives.
"Iran will examine the proposal and announce its
opinion after that," Mr. Mottaki said. Mr.
Bush's aides now acknowledge that the approach
they had once publicly described as successfully
"isolating" Iran was in fact viewed internally
as going nowhere. Mr. Bush's search for a new
option was driven, they say, by concern that the
path he was on two months ago would inevitably
force one of two potentially disastrous
outcomes: an Iranian bomb, or an American attack
on Iran's facilities.
Conservatives, even some inside the
administration, are worried that Mr. Bush may be
forced into other concessions, including
allowing Iran to continue some low level of
nuclear fuel production. Others fear that the
commitments Mr. Bush believes he extracted from
other world leaders may erode.
But the story of how a president who rarely
changes his mind did so in this case — after
refusing similar proposals on Iran four years
ago — illustrates the changed dynamic between
the State Department and the White House in Mr.
Bush's second term. When Colin L. Powell was
secretary of state, the two buildings often
seemed at war. But 18 months after Ms. Rice took
over, her relationship with Mr. Bush has led to
policies that one former adviser to Ms. Rice and
Mr. Bush said "he never would have allowed Colin
to pursue."
It is unclear how much dissent, if any,
surrounded the decision, which appears to have
been driven largely by the president, Ms. Rice
and Mr. Hadley, with other senior national
security officials playing a more remote role.
Both White House and State Department officials
say that Vice President Dick Cheney, long an
opponent of proposals to engage Iran, agreed to
this experiment. But it is unclear whether he is
an enthusiast, or simply expects Iran to reject
suspending enrichment — clearing the way to
sanctions that could test the Iranian regime's
ability to survive.
After the surprise election of Mr. Ahmadinejad
last summer, Iran ended its suspension of
uranium enrichment, and the United States and
Europe won resolutions at the International
Atomic Energy Agency to move the issue to the
United Nations Security Council. But it took
weeks over the winter to get the weakest of
Security Council actions — a "presidential
statement." Russia, which has huge financial
interests in Iran and is supplying it with
nuclear reactors, was particularly reluctant to
push the Iranians too hard.
At a private dinner on March 6 at the Watergate
with Ms. Rice, Mr. Hadley and Sergey Lavrov, the
Russian foreign minister, Mr. Lavrov warned that
Iran could do what North Korea did in 2003 —
throw out inspectors and abandon the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty. That would close the
biggest window into Iran's program, making it
hard to assess the country's bomb capability —
the same issue that had led to huge errors in
Iraq.
On March 30, Ms. Rice traveled to Berlin for
what turned into a fractious meeting with
representatives of the other four permanent
members of the Security Council and Germany. She
questioned what kind of sanctions would be
effective. The conversation went nowhere.
That led to Ms. Rice's warning to Mr. Bush over
lunch, on April 4, that the momentum to confront
Iran was disintegrating. Mr. Bush, one aide
noted, was receiving special intelligence
assessments every morning, some on Iran's
intentions, others examining Mr. Ahmadinejad's
personality, still others exploring how long it
would take Iran to produce a bomb.
On Easter weekend, Ms. Rice sat in her apartment
and drafted a two-page proposal for a new
strategy that pursued three tracks: the threat
of "coercive measures" through the United
Nations, negotiations with Iran that included
what Ms. Rice has called "bold" incentives for
Iran to give up the production of all nuclear
fuel and a separate set of strategies for
economic sanctions if the Security Council
failed to act.
For the first time, her proposal also raised a
question the administration had long avoided:
Had the time arrived for the United States to
play what she and Mr. Bush, both bridge players,
called their biggest card — offering to talk
with Iran?
The idea intrigued Mr. Bush, White House
officials say, and on May 8, Ms. Rice met with
him just hours before flying to New York for a
meeting with her European counterparts.
She asked him what kind of body language to
display at the United Nations meeting. Should
she signal that the United States was
considering negotiations with Iran? "Be
careful," he said, according to officials
familiar with the conversation. "I haven't made
up my mind."
That same day, an 18-page letter from Mr.
Ahmadinejad arrived. It declared liberal
democracy a failure, although it also was
perceived by many as an effort to reach out and
start a dialogue.
Ms. Rice and Mr. Hadley read the letter on the
flight to New York, but dismissed it. "It isn't
addressing the issues we're dealing with in a
concrete way," Ms. Rice said that day.
Her meeting in New York with her European
counterparts turned testy, particularly an
exchange with Mr. Lavrov, who was still smarting
from a speech by Mr. Cheney denouncing Russia
for its increasingly authoritarian behavior. But
the discussion, while fractious, convinced her
that the only way to break the stalemate was to
offer to join the negotiations.
While Mr. Bush was intrigued, he was intent on
secrecy, and so when the National Security
Council met on the subject on May 17, he warned
against leaks. The session was notable because
Mr. Cheney said the offer might work, largely
because it would force the choices back on Iran.
And while the council had dismissed the letter,
it used the meeting to discuss whether to
respond.
While Mr. Bush initially told Ms. Rice that
others could work out the final negotiations,
Ms. Rice told the president that "only you can
nail this down," apparently a reference to
keeping Ms. Merkel and Mr. Putin on board. Mr.
Bush made the calls.
But Mr. Bush, led by Ms. Rice, is taking a
significant risk. He must hold together
countries that bitterly broke with the United
States three years ago on Iraq. And now, he
seems acutely aware that part of his legacy may
depend on his ability to prevent Iran from
emerging as a nuclear power in the Middle East,
without again resorting to military force.
Nazila Fathi contributed reporting from Tehran
for this article.
Rumsfeld Sees Iran as Terrorist Sponsor
June
03, 2006
The Associated Press
USA Today
link to original article
SINGAPORE
-- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld branded
Iran as the world's leading terrorist nation yet
hoped Tehran seriously would consider incentives
from the West in exchange for suspending suspect
nuclear activities.
Rumsfeld, attending an annual security
conference, also took aim Saturday at Russia and
China for allowing Iran's involvement in a group
that he said has stated opposition to terrorism
and extremists.
Iraq was on Rumsfeld's mind, too, as he
expressed concern the war could alienate Muslims
in Southeast Asia. Upcoming stops on his trip
include Indonesia and Vietnam.
The U.S. and five other world powers decided
last week to offer incentives to Iran if it
gives up uranium enrichment. Under that
condition, the Bush administration said it would
join talks with Iran.
"The information has just been communicated to
them, and it seems to me the appropriate thing
now to do is to wait and see which path the
Iranian government will take," Rumsfeld said on
the sidelines of the security conference.
The Pentagon chief said he hoped Iran would
"recognize the seriousness and substance" of the
offer. He added that the U.S. agreed to the
proposals because progress in talks involving
Iran and Britain, Germany and France had
"arrived at a point where it seemed not to be
moving forward."
The United States and other Western nations
suspect Iran's nuclear program is intended to
produce weapons. Tehran insists it is for
peaceful energy purposes.
Iran's president told U.N. chief Kofi Annan on
Saturday that a breakthrough in negotiations
over the nuclear program was possible and that
he welcomed unconditional talks with all
parties. Iran's foreign minister said officials
were waiting to receive the proposals and would
"make our views known after studying the
package."
Despite the diplomatic efforts, Rumsfeld did not
retreat from his assessment of Iran. In doing
so, Russia and China came under criticism for
allowing Iran's involvement in the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization.
The group, which includes Russia, China and four
Central Asian nations, was founded to build
confidence among the member nations and grapple
with militant Islamic groups.
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was
invited to the annual summit in Shanghai this
month. Iran is an observer to group and has
applied for full membership.
Rumsfeld said he finds it "passing strange" to
bring the "leading terrorist nation in the world
into an organization that says it's against
terror."
When Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
announced in mid-May that Ahmadinejad would
attend the summit, he said, "We cannot isolate
Iran or exert pressure on it. Far from resolving
this issue of proliferation, it will make it
more urgent."
On Iraq, Rumsfeld told military leaders at the
conference that opposition to the U.S. presence
in Iraq will not force the U.S. to leave the
country prematurely. He said the world
eventually would understand that American troops
are not in Iraq to take over oil fields, as some
critics have suggested.
Iran:
Authorities Detain Student Activists
June
02, 2006
Radio Free Europe
Bill Samii
link to original article
As unrest among ethnic Azeris in Iran settles
down, disturbances involving university students
are picking up. In the past week several student
leaders have been detained by plainclothes
security personnel and are being held at unknown
locations. Such incidents follow protests
triggered by the Iranian government's increasing
interference in campus affairs. There are
roughly 2.4 million university students in Iran,
and student affairs will therefore have an
impact on national politics for some time.
Plainclothes
And Disappearances
The Iranian government's involvement in
university affairs includes dismissing popular
professors, appointing unqualified individuals
to administrative positions, and manipulating
student elections. The most recent incidents
involve the detention of student activists by
security forces. Much is made of these forces
being in plainclothes -- rather than in uniform
-- because this makes it difficult to determine
the security institution with which they are
affiliated. Similarly, the detainees are
frequently held incommunicado at unknown
locations.
Student activists told Radio Farda that on the
morning of May 31 plainclothes security forces
detained Abdullah Momeni, spokesman of the
majority wing of the Office for Strengthening
Unity (Daftar-i Tahkim-i Vahdat, DTV). Reza
Delbari, another DTV member, told Radio Farda
that the security forces have been after the
organization's members for some time. The
security forces, he continued, see no need to
operate within a legal framework because any
action on the part of the students prompts a
disproportionate reaction.
On the same day, students at the Amir Kabir
University of Technology in Tehran held a
lunchtime rally to protest the detention of two
classmates, ISNA reported. Yashar Qajar, the
head of the Islamic Students Union at Amir Kabir
University, and blogger Abed Tavancheh, who
wrote about recent campus protests on his
weblog, were detained the previous week.
Student Abbas Hakimzadeh told Radio Farda on May
30 that there is no news of Qajar's whereabouts
and no one answers calls to his mobile
telephone. The authorities told Tavancheh's
family that he would be released after answering
a few questions, Hakimzadeh said, but that was
days ago. Hakimzadeh claims that the University
Basij wants to bring the hard-line pressure
group Ansar-i Hizbullah onto the campus.
Hakimzadeh predicted that the situation will
quiet down with the approach of exams and the
summer holiday.
A Week Of
Unrest
The detentions in Tehran follow
violent demonstrations at Tehran University
and Amir Kabir University on May 22-23.
Demonstrating students at Tehran University
objected to "the prevalence of a police
atmosphere at the university," "Mardom Salari"
reported on May 23. This has been a concern for
some time. Last November there were accusations
of universities becoming "garrisons" if the
personnel responsible for physical security of
the facilities were given more extensive powers
that might relate to intelligence-gathering.
More recently, students objected to
plans to bury veterans of the Iran-Iraq war
on campuses.
Tehran police chief Morteza Talai said on May 24
that some 20-30 people were behind the previous
night's unrest at Tehran University, and he
estimated that some of these people were not
students, IRNA reported. Eyewitnesses reported
some injuries and damage to parked vehicles, and
Talai said 40 police were hurt. Students told
Radio Farda that some students are missing and
others were injured when police and
paramilitaries attacked them.
Tehran police spokesman Mohammad Turang said on
May 26 that eight people were arrested for
damaging dormitories. Turang referred to "thugs"
who make trouble, and added that foreigners are
involved: "Investigations show that a current
from outside the university was involved in the
recent turmoil in the Tehran University
dormitory. It seems that these people are
related to foreign sources."
Tehran was not the only place where disturbances
involving university students occurred during
the last week in May. Students at Chamran
University in Ahvaz and at Kermanshah University
complained of interference in campus elections.
The ones in Ahvaz also complained that
university authorities would not allow outside
speakers who were critical of the government,
ISNA reported on May 23. Kermanshah University
students also complained that the university
authorities refused to permit a seminar at which
pro-reform politicians would discuss the
economic situation, "Aftab-i Yazd" reported on
May 23.
In other incidents, students in Kerman reported
cases of harassment, students in Zanjan and
other places demonstrated over the publication
of the "cockroach" cartoon deemed insulting to
Azeris, and those in Shiraz reported
restrictions on their activities.
The protests continued in the last days of the
month. Students at the Iran University of
Medical Sciences staged a sit-in on May 29 to
protest against the refusal of the chancellor's
office to permit elections for the Islamic
Students Union. Students Union head Mustafa
Vafai said efforts to hold the election began
seven months ago. He added that on May 28 the
union was advised that it cannot hold elections
until its activities conform with "the
regulations regarding Islamic organizations."
Vafai said the union was told at an earlier
meeting that its Student Day rallies, its
statements on the 2005 presidential election,
and its publications are objectionable.
Anger Over
Election Interference
The main concern at Amir Kabir University
related to elections in the DTV, which now has
two wings -- the more radical majority in the
Neshast-i Allameh and the more traditional
minority in the Neshast-i Shiraz (on student
politics in Iran, see
"Youth Movement Has Untapped Potential").
Members of the two DTV wings got in a brawl at
Amir Kabir University on May 22, state
television reported. The next day, the
conservative "Kayhan" newspaper reported that
the Allameh wing was trying to hold an illegal
election and its members attacked another
student group.
The Shiraz wing of the DTV at Amir Kabir
University submitted a letter to the Ministry of
Science, Research, and Technology in which it
claimed that the other wing is trying to
dominate the student organization, "Kayhan"
reported on May 23. It accused the rival group
of "denying the Islamic nature of Islamic
associations and questioning the principles of
the Islamic Revolution and the religion of
Islam." It added that the Allameh wing has "been
taking positions in conflict with the Iranian
nation's national interests and in accordance
with the country's foreign enemies at different
junctures and during the country's political
crises." The letter added, "they invite
foreigners to interfere and meddle in Iran's
internal affairs."
Two University of Tehran students who were
members of the DTV central council explained in
a letter to university Chancellor Ayatollah
Abbas Ali Amid-Zanjani that because neither wing
of the DTV could gain a majority in campus
elections in spring 2005, they signed an
agreement in which five of the traditionalists
and four of the reformers would serve on the
student council. Since that time, however, the
traditionalists have squeezed out the reformers,
"Sharq" reported on May 30.
U.S.
Studying Iran's Retaliation Options
June
03, 2006
The Associated Press
Katherine Shrader
link to original article
If
cornered by the West over its nuclear program,
Iran could direct Hezbollah to enlist its
widespread international support network to aid
in terrorist attacks, intelligence officials
say. In interviews with The Associated Press,
several Western intelligence officials said they
have seen signs that Hezbollah's fundraisers,
recruiters and criminal elements could be
adapted to provide logistical help to terrorist
operatives.
Such help could include obtaining forged travel
documents or off-the-shelf technology — global
positioning equipment and night goggles, for
example — that could be used for military
purposes.
The senior officials spoke only on condition of
anonymity because of the sensitive positions
they occupy.
Hezbollah was responsible for the 1983 bombings
of the U.S. Embassy and the Marine barracks in
Beirut, Lebanon. The group's Saudi wing, in
coordination with the larger Lebanese Hezbollah,
is blamed for the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi
Arabia in 1996 that killed hundreds of American
servicemen.
Tensions between Iran and the U.S. and its
allies have grown over Iran's expanding nuclear
program. Iran insists its aims are peaceful;
leading U.S. officials say they are convinced
the Iranians intend to develop a nuclear weapon
within the next decade.
John Negroponte, head of the U.S. intelligence
network, suggested in an interview aired Friday
by the British Broadcasting Corp. that an
Iranian bomb could be a fact in as little as
four years away, although he admitted, "We don't
have clear-cut knowledge."
The U.S. and five other world powers agreed
Thursday on a plan designed to persuade Iran to
give up its nuclear ambitions. Iran's president,
without directly mentioning the proposal,
pledged Friday that the West would not deprive
his country of nuclear technology.
The Bush administration and U.S. allies know
Iran could order attacks. Some officials believe
that threat is a bargaining chip worth more to
Iran if kept in reserve.
Given that diplomacy could fail to defuse the
nuclear standoff, U.S. intelligence agencies are
studying Iran's options to retaliate: using oil
as a weapon, attacking Americans in Iraq and
elsewhere, unleashing Hezbollah or deploying
other tactics.
To the State Department, Hezbollah is a militant
Lebanese group classified as a terrorist
organization. Its terrorist wing, the Islamic
Jihad Organization, is a global threat with
cells in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South
America, Asia and North America. Before the
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hezbollah was
responsible for more American deaths than any
other single terrorist organization.
Yet in many countries, Hezbollah is praised for
providing education, medical care and housing,
particularly in Lebanon's south, and raising
money for it is legal.
So far there are no signs the Iranian-backed
group is planning an imminent attack on U.S.
interests. But that possibility has
counterterrorism agencies keeping close watch as
the friction with Iran grows.
U.S. analysts believe the potential is greater
for Iran to use terrorism to retaliate, rather
than to strike first. But they have considered
scenarios under which Iran may view its own
pre-emptive attack as a deterrent.
One senior official said that if Iran was backed
into a corner and considered U.S.-led military
action as inevitable, the Iranians might
calculate that terrorism could break
international unity, increase pressure on the
U.S. or shift American public opinion.
U.S. analysts, however, are cautious in their
judgments about what might lead Iran to order
strikes.
Hezbollah, which means Party of God, was founded
in 1982 to respond to Israel's invasion of
Lebanon. The radical Shiite organization
advocates for Israel's elimination and the
establishment of an Islamic government in
Lebanon modeled after the religious theocracy in
Iran.
With some exceptions, Hezbollah has not targeted
the United States in recent years — a strategic
decision that gives the group more freedom to
operate, according to one U.S. counterterrorism
official.
On orders from Iran, Hezbollah was tied to a
string of kidnappings and assassinations of
Westerners in the 1980s, including the abduction
of the CIA's station chief in Tehran, William
Buckley, in 1984.
Hezbollah is accused of bombing the Israeli
Embassy and a Jewish community center in
Argentina in the early 1990s, killing more than
100. The group denies the charges.
A former chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee said before and right after the Sept.
11 attacks that Hezbollah was believed to have
the largest embedded terrorist network inside
the U.S. "I have no reason to believe that there
has been a dismantlement of that capability,"
said former Sen. Bob Graham (news, bio, voting
record), D-Fla.
Steven Monblatt, the head of the Organization of
American States' Inter-American Committee
Against Terrorism, said tensions with Iran could
lead Hezbollah to take steps to prepare attacks
on Western interests in Latin America and
elsewhere.
"I think it is legitimate to be concerned about
situations where terrorist groups will not have
an operational base, but will have made the
preparations to establish one," said Monblatt, a
former State Department official. "I don't know
anyone alleging an operational cell right now.
Now, how do you distinguish an operational cell
from a sleeper operation — a more kind of
logistical base?"
Leadership in Hezbollah is exercised by Sheik
Hassan Nasrallah, a Shiite Muslim cleric who
took over after Sheik Abbas Musawi was killed in
southern Lebanon in an Israeli helicopter strike
in 1992.
Hezbollah gets significant support from Iran,
Shiite communities and particularly the Lebanese
diaspora. One official said the group has access
to several hundred million dollars a year, much
of it going to the social service network in
southern Lebanon.
The organization has been linked to all kinds of
organized crime, including drug trafficking,
drug counterfeiting and stolen baby formula. The
substantial profits are thought to be funneled
almost entirely back to the Middle East.
Kevin Brock, a career FBI agent who is now
deputy director of the National Counterterrorism
Center, recently told reporters that the U.S.
has active investigations into Hezbollah around
the world.
"The prioritization obviously has been al-Qaida,
but that doesn't mean Hezbollah has dropped off
the screen by any stretch of the imagination,"
Brock said.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have
had success in breaking up Hezbollah-linked
crime rings, including a cigarette-smuggling
operation in North Carolina.
This year, the Justice Department announced an
indictment charging 19 people with a global
racketeering conspiracy to sell counterfeit
rolling papers, contraband cigarettes and
counterfeit Viagra. Portions of the profits, law
enforcers allege, went to Hezbollah.
Extensive operations have been uncovered in
South America, where Hezbollah is well connected
to the drug trade, particularly in the region
where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. The
area has a large Shiite Muslim immigrant
population.
Solana to Deliver Iran Proposals
June
03, 2006
BBC News
BBCi
link to original article
The
European Union foreign policy head will visit
Iran in the next 48 hours in the latest
diplomatic effort to persuade Iran to halt
nuclear research. Javier Solana will deliver
proposals agreed by six world powers in Vienna
on Thursday, Iran's foreign minister said.
Manouchehr Mottaki said a breakthrough was
possible but insisted Iran would not suspend its
uranium production as a condition to talks.
He said Iran would have to study the plans
before giving a formal response.
The proposals have not been made public but
sources say they could include giving Iran a
nuclear reactor and an assured supply of
enriched uranium.
Preconditions
Mr Mottaki said Iran had given the go ahead for
Javier Solana to travel to Tehran in the next
two days.
"We think that if there is good will, a
breakthrough to get out of a situation [the
European Union and US] have created for
themselves... is possible," Mr Mottaki said.
However, he added: "Negotiations must be without
preconditions. No condition for negotiations is
acceptable, especially the condition that has
been set."
The US has previously made it clear it will not
enter into negotiations until Iran suspends its
uranium enrichment programme.
Washington believes Iran is trying to make
nuclear weapons while Tehran says its programme
is for peaceful energy purposes.
Iranians are awash in crude, but gasoline is
another story
It's a key reason country is eager to avoid
sanctions
By BRIAN MURPHY
Associated Press
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/3924383.html
TEHRAN,
IRAN - Iran is flush with huge oil reserves and
cash, but a refinery shortage leaves it heavily
dependent on imported gasoline and diesel to
keeps its cars and trucks rolling.
That's one reason the country — already beset
with economic troubles — is desperate to avoid
U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program.
"Oil is where Iran
is most vulnerable," said Behzad Nabavi, a
former lawmaker who also headed a state-directed
oil company, Petropars. "It's one of the great
economic paradoxes."
Concern over fuel
supplies has become so serious that energy
planners are considering an unpopular two-tier
pricing system. The plan would limit the amount
of gasoline motorists can buy at the state
subsidized price of about 32 cents a gallon and
establish an unspecified market price for larger
purchases. Planners believe that would help
offset the cost of imports and curb consumption.
Moderate drop
would hurt
Even a moderate
drop in gasoline or diesel imports as a result
of sanctions would be a punishing blow for an
economy with many soft spots — double-digit
inflation, chronic unemployment and cumbersome
state controls among them.
Iran
has no shortage of oil in the ground or cash in
hand. Its oil reserves are estimated at second
only to Saudi Arabia's, and Iran is OPEC's
fourth-biggest producer of crude. Rising prices
pushed Iran's special petrodollar fund to a
record $24 billion earlier this year.
What Iran lacks
are sufficient refineries to keep pace with its
thirst for fuel. Iran is almost fully dependent
on trucks to move goods. The number of cars is
rising each year as drivers from the baby boom
decade after the 1979 Islamic Revolution take
the wheel.
Iran
imports more than 40 percent of its gasoline and
diesel needs. It comes mostly from the Middle
East but also from as far away as Venezuela.
Closing the import
tap could force Iran to either impose rationing
— as it did during the 1980-88 war with Iraq —
or raise prices and risk a backlash from a
public accustomed to paying more for bottled
water than gasoline.
No alternative
supplies
Making up the
refinery shortage would take years, meaning Iran
would have no alternative fuel supplies if hit
by U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program.
"Iran really does
not have a lot of room to maneuver on the basic
issue of refinery capacity and demand," said
Narsi Ghorban, an independent energy consultant
based in Tehran.
At least 80
percent of the economy is under the thumb of the
ruling clerics, whose legacy includes hundreds
of false starts such as unfinished bridges and
roads. Official unemployment is about 16
percent, but some analysts place it above 30
percent. An estimated 25 percent of the nation's
65 million people live below the poverty line.
Strategic planning
— plotted in Soviet-style five-year blueprints —
is only now starting to warm up to privatization
and foreign investment. But Iran has proven an
unreliable partner in deals with French
automaker Renault and Turkish mobile phone
network operator Turkcell, for example, with
whom big plans fell through because of
bureaucratic or security intransigence in
Tehran.
Many other
investors have pulled out of the Iranian market
or put plans on hold on fears the nuclear
standoff could lead to U.N. punishments or
possible military action.
Yet that hasn't
stopped everyone. Suitors keep knocking at the
door for a piece of Iran's energy wealth,
including its vast natural gas reserves. China's
state energy company has signed deals for
natural gas. India and Pakistan are negotiating
for a possible pipeline from Iran's natural gas
fields.
Iran boosts Hezbollah’s reach
http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2006/06/03/news/israel/tahezbollah0602.txt
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Hezbollah reportedly has
rockets putting most of Israel’s cities within
range.
Ha’aretz reported Monday that Iran had supplied
its Lebanese proxy with rockets that have a
range of 125 miles, meaning a potential reach of
as far south in Israel as Beersheba. Israel
fears that Iran could try to distract from
international scrutiny on its nuclear program by
sparking a flare-up in fighting between
Hezbollah and Israel. On Sunday, the two sides
traded fire in the fiercest clash along the
Israel-Lebanon border in years
|
Unrest in northwestern Iran provinces
continue |
|
|
|
Saturday, 03 June 2006
|
|
Following the uprising of Azeri
population in north western Iran, the
Youth in Ardebil, torched a center known
for its plundering of local people.
Ardabil's mayor, Yaqoub Aziz-Zadeh said:
"The city has lost over seven billion
rials, equivalent of $765,000 during
last Saturday's riot where buildings and
government properties were torched.
Damages were done to road signs,
telephone boxes, traffic lights, ticket
distributing stands, commuter buses and
even rubbish bins throughout the city.
According to sources on the ground, the
government cut off all cell phone
communications in Ardebil for five days
to prevent any news break out.
People in Jolfa and Hadi City joined the
Ardebil uprising and clashed with the
suppressive forces.
People in Tabriz, the provincial capital
of Eastern Azarbaijan took part in a
large demonstration to honor those
killed last week during the uprising.
They also clashed with the security
forces. |
Iran
seeks unconditional talks on nuclear program
By Christine
Spolar
Tribune foreign correspondent
Published
June 4, 2006
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0606040341jun04,1,7491755.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
TEHRAN -- Days
after the United States opened the possibility
of talks with Iran over its nuclear program,
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad indicated Saturday
that he was looking for a "breakthrough" in
negotiations, but only if the talks were
unconditional.
Ahmadinejad's statement came as a top deputy at
Iran's Supreme Security Council outlined in an
interview the reasons that Iran wants a nuclear
energy program and is looking for compromise
with Western powers intent on hindering the
effort.
Both men's remarks appeared to be part of an
orchestrated effort by Iranian officials to keep
open the possibility of talks with the United
States. Ahmadinejad's comments Saturday came
first on state-run television during a report
about a phone conversation with UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan. Ahmadinejad elaborated that
night during a speech marking the anniversary of
the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the
republic's founder.
In that televised speech, Ahmadinejad reiterated
that he is unprepared to abandon the nuclear
program to begin the talks.
"We are after negotiations, but fair and just
negotiations. They must be without any
conditions," he said.
The United States has offered to join the direct
talks only if Iran suspends its nuclear
activity. Iran insists it is pursuing peaceful
objectives; Western powers suspect Iran wants to
develop nuclear weapons.
Javad Vaeidi, a top deputy at Iran's Supreme
Security Council, spoke emphatically during an
interview Saturday about Iran's interest in
peaceful energy. As Ahmadinejad did, Vaeidi said
Iran wants to preserve its right to develop
nuclear energy.
"We do not need a bomb," Vaeidi said. "We are a
regional power now. We have security without a
bomb. ... The bomb would cause us to lose our
power because other countries in the region
would then pursue it."
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also told
reporters Saturday that a package of proposals
designed to win Iranian cooperation would arrive
in the next few days. The five members of the UN
Security Council and Germany came up with the
package Thursday. It includes incentives and
possible punishments if Iran refuses.
"We will make our views known after studying the
package," Mottaki said. He also ruled out talks
if conditions were attached.
Vaeidi, when asked about the U.S. demand to halt
nuclear activity so talks could begin, said that
such a requirement is seen as a "humiliation"
because Iran has the right under current
treaties to a nuclear program.
He skirted direct questions about whether a
delay--a suspension for a guaranteed time--could
be worked out.
Vaeidi, the deputy chief of international
affairs, was most clear when responding to
questions about Iran's nuclear ambitions. He
said Iran does not want to be a nuclear power
for warlike purposes. Nuclear energy has become
a global business, he said, and Iran wants to
preserve its interests.
Vaeidi said Iran is suspicious of Western offers
to help its nuclear efforts. As global oil
supplies decline, all countries will be pursuing
other energy sources, he said. That's why Iran
wants to develop nuclear fuel.
"They want to prevent us developing a nuclear
industrial program in Iran but they are willing
to sell us this product," he said about a
previous debate over whether Iran could buy
enriched uranium from the West. "It's business."
Vaeidi also said that achieving a nuclear bomb
would not be in Iran's interest for other
reasons: Iran wants stability and to attract
investors. And pursuing nuclear weapons would
only legitimize Israel's existing nuclear
program.
"It would also mean the United States would
increase its military presence and influence in
the region," he said.
"Iran is looking for compromise and we are
trying to restart talks. This is the reality,"
Vaeidi said. "We're not after confrontation.
We're not after adventure. We're not after
conflict."
