Iran’s top nuclear negotiator released a vague statement Tuesday indicating that Iran will soon offer a diplomatic proposal concerning the standoff over its refusal to abide by its commitments under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Saeed Jalili, who also heads the country’s Supreme National Security Council, told reporters that: Iran has prepared to present its revised package of proposals . . . and is ready to hold talks with world powers . . . in order to ease common concerns in the international arena. This statement, made on the eve of …
Millions of Afghans yesterday risked their lives to vote in a presidential election despite blood-curdling Taliban threats to kill or chop off the ears, noses, or fingers of anyone that dared to vote. Despite at least 135 attacks that killed 26 people, the elections proceeded as scheduled, in defiance of Taliban threats. Voter turnout was dampened in areas where Taliban forces were strong enough to make good on their threats, primarily in southern areas that voted heavily in favor of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2004. This could prevent Karzai …
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz yesterday published a disturbing report alleging that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.’s “nuclear watchdog”, has willfully suppressed evidence that Iran is continuing efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Citing anonymous Israeli officials and “senior Western diplomats”, reporter Barak Ravid wrote that controversial IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei “was refraining from publishing evidence obtained by [his] inspectors over the past few months that indicate Iran was pursuing information about weaponization efforts and a military nuclear program.” If true, such irresponsible efforts to cover up …
President Barack Obama meets Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the White House today amid an upswing in bilateral relations caused by a mutual interest in containing Iran, defusing Israeli-Palestinian tensions, and reducing the destabilizing threat posed by Islamist extremist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and al-Qaeda. Relations between Cairo and Washington had soured during the Bush Administration because of the Iraq war and the fact that Bush’s Freedom Agenda clashed with Mubarak’s restrictive approach to political freedom and lack of tolerance for political dissent. Although President Obama has backpedaled away …
A large crowd of opposition supporters today transformed an official prayer ceremony in Tehran into a show of strength, chanted “azadi, azadi” (“freedom”), and voiced continued support for Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who defiantly continues to criticize the ruling regime. Mousavi made his first official public appearance since the election when he attended the Friday prayer led by one of his key supporters, former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. While Rafsanjani sternly criticized the rigging of the elections and violent repression of the security services, police fired tear gas …
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, often described as the U.N.’s “nuclear watchdog,” criticized NATO earlier this week for encouraging nuclear proliferation. He urged NATO to drop any reference to nuclear deterrence in its new strategic statement, saying it encouraged proliferation: “You are sending a message to anyone around the world who reads your concept that they too need nuclear weapons,” he said. “The idea that nuclear is the supreme guarantee should be dropped because it’s absolutely the wrong message to the rest of the world.” ElBaradei …
Yesterday Iraqis celebrated a new national holiday, National Sovereignty Day, which marked the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities. This partial pullback, which is a vindication of the Bush Administration’s surge strategy, has gone relatively unnoticed in Washington, perhaps because many members of the Obama Administration opposed the surge and remain ambivalent about progress in Iraq. Thanks to Bush’s surge, which enabled an Iraqi surge, violence in Iraq is down by 90 percent from its peak in 2007. Iraqi security forces have made great strides in improving their …
What are Iranians protesting? Many Iranians were outraged by the alleged landslide re-election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad’s prime challenger, charged that the regime had tampered with the ballot count and had stolen the June 12 election from him and the Iranian people. Over time, the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have shifted their focus from protesting the widely-doubted election results to denouncing the legitimacy of the regime itself. Chants of “Death to the dictator” have replaced “Death to America” on Iranian streets. …
Demonstrations and violent police actions on the streets of Tehran continued late into Saturday night and state television reported at least 10 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when police clashed with “terrorists.” Witnesses reported that the police used live ammunition, batons, tear gas and water cannons to disrupt demonstrations and prevent protesters from assembling in large crowds. The official reports, which cannot be confirmed, accused “rioters” of setting two gas stations and a mosque ablaze in protest at a disputed poll result. Meanwhile, Iran’s most senior dissident, …
Iran’s clerical dictatorship cracked down on opposition protests today and is sure to mount an even more forceful response to the reported bombing of the mausoleum of the founder of Iran’s Islamist revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini. A suicide bomber apparently blew himself up inside the shrine, wounding two people. It is unclear from initial reports if a group is responsible or if the man acted alone. But the regime is likely to exploit the bombing, which will enrage Khomeini’s many admirers in Iran, and use it as a pretext for a …
