Eye On Iran: U.S. Speeding Up Missile Defenses in Persian Gulf
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 11:31 | by uaniadminDid
You Know?
"What's so striking about the ruins of Persepolis in southern Iran, an
ancient capital of the Persian Empire that was burned down after being
conquered by Alexander the Great, is the absence of violent imagery on
what's
left of its stone walls," according to National Geographic. http://bit.ly/9qMN6Y
Top
Stories
NYT: "The Obama administration is accelerating the
deployment of
new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian
Gulf,
placing special ships off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in
at least
four Arab countries, according to administration and military
officials." http://bit.ly/b9LtW8
WSJ: "A top Hamas militant leader found dead in his
Dubai hotel
room on Jan. 20 was a key link in smuggling operations ferrying Iranian
weapons
to Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, and replacing him could take
months,
current and former Israeli security officials said on Sunday." http://bit.ly/bAUHJx
NYT: "A large shipment of North Korean weapons
seized here in
December was bound for an airport in Iran, according to a Thai
government
report submitted to the United Nations and leaked to news agencies." http://bit.ly/9kiS6b
Nuclear
Program
AFP: "The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said
Friday his agency
was still trying to negotiate a uranium enrichment deal with Iran amid
new
warnings to the Islamic state over its atomic program. 'Our
proposal is
on the table. Dialogue is continuing,' Yukio Amano, the director
general of the
International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters at the World
Economic Forum
in Davos." http://bit.ly/9o0ChT
Ria Novosti: "Tehran's decision to enrich uranium
for its research
reactor could impede the resolution of Iran's nuclear issue, a Russian
Foreign
Ministry spokesman said Friday. Andrei Nesterenko said the
international
community was concerned by Iran's statement that it would enrich
uranium to a
20% concentration to provide fuel for the Tehran research reactor." http://bit.ly/c9ZBSL
Politico: "As the diplomatic fallout from Beijing
over the $6.4
billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan is still being measured, rival Asian
power
Japan has emerged as an increasingly important player in international
negotiations on Iran, U.S. officials and foreign policy experts said." http://bit.ly/bK3i0O
Human Rights
Reuters: "Iran's top judge said Monday he would not
succumb to
political pressure from hardliners to carry out more executions against
anti-government protesters, saying any such decision would be based on
the
law." http://bit.ly/c2tZrv
Domestic Politics
Radio Farda: "Iran is marking the 31st anniversary
of the late
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's return from exile in Paris, an event that
triggered the 1979 Islamic revolution. Iranian President
Mahmud
Ahmadinejad, facing the worst political crisis in Iran since 1979, has
ordered
commemorative events during the next 10 days." http://bit.ly/9V5Fxi
Bernama: "Iran's longest urban tunnel opened in
Tehran Monday on
the first day of the Ten-Day-Dawn ceremonies which marked the victory
anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Iran's IRNA news
agency
reported. The 2,136-meter-long tunnel was constructed by
Tehran's
Municipality engineers and experts within 32 months." http://bit.ly/cQNgCx
Culture
AP: "Thousands of Iranians gathered at dusk against
a snowy
mountain backdrop to light giant bonfires in an ancient mid-winter
festival
dating back to Iran's pre-Islamic past that is drawing new interest
from
Muslims." http://bit.ly/9KQbxu
LAT: "Will the truth triumph over superstition and
dogma?
That was the question hovering in a Tehran theater Sunday afternoon as
14 men
and women in black clothes circled around the astronomer Galileo
Galilei in
director Dariush Farhang's sometimes nightmarish, politically loaded
rendition of
the 1943 play 'The Life of Galileo' by German playwright Bertolt
Brecht." http://bit.ly/ctvBQi
WSJ: "On Nov. 28, 1978, as Iran was hurtling toward
Islamic
revolution, zoologist Mike Van Grevenbroek landed at Tehran's Mehrabad
Airport,
coming from Tel Aviv, carrying a blow-dart gun disguised as a cane and
secret
orders from an Israeli general. His mission: to capture four
Persian
fallow deer and deliver them to Israel before the shah's government
collapsed." http://bit.ly/9jcp6O
Opinion
WP Editorial Board: "President Obama promised last year that if Iran did not respond to offers of high-level 'engagement' with the United States and negotiations on its nuclear program, he would seek international support for 'crippling' sanctions against the regime. Tehran did not respond, and true to its word, the administration has been engaged in a vigorous-looking diplomatic effort this month to win agreement on a new resolution by the U.N. Security Council." http://bit.ly/crjj0F
NY Daily News Editorial Board: "More than three weeks after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei whistled past the U.S. deadline for Iran to get serious in talks aimed at dismantling Iran's nuclear weapons program, President Obama spoke to the issue in his State of the Union address. He said: 'As Iran's leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: They, too, will face growing consequences. That is a promise.' A promise? Really? Then let's make good on it." http://bit.ly/drRlID
Geneive Abdo in Foreign Policy: "Over the last seven months, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's base of support appears to have steadily shrunk: Countless conservative politicians and clerics, such as former Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, have even parted ways with the Iranian president and joined the expanding group of his foes. But though his list of detractors is getting longer, a number of men continue to stand behind the president, ensuring his hold on power." http://bit.ly/9Ll5xq
Mahmood Delkhasteh in The Guardian: "Since the late 19th century, almost every generation of Iranians has seen at least one major upheaval or revolution. The first revolution for democracy in the Middle East took place in Iran in 1905, at a time when European countries (excepting the UK) were under various forms of dictatorship. No country has experienced so much constant turmoil and political unrest in the past century as Iran." http://bit.ly/9cJd4j
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