UANI

AFP reported that leaders in Iran declared "the end of capitalism." "Iranian leaders say the world financial crisis indicates the end of capitalism, the failure of liberal democracy and divine punishment -- marking the superiority of the Islamic republic's political model. The school of Marxism has collapsed and the sound of the West's cracking liberal democracy is now being heard,' supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday, recalling the fate of the Soviet Union." Read More

Iranian press said "Iran's Air Force is set to test the country's state-of-the-art military equipment and flight tactics in a large-scale aerial maneuver." "The upcoming military exercise is scheduled to be launched in Iran's northwestern city of Tabriz on Thursday and will resume in different Iranian cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Hamedan, and Dezfoul." Read More

Iranian press carried Russian minister Lavrov's comments that sanctions against Iran won't work. "Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic will have 'counterproductive' results.  In a Wednesday meeting with Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman, Lavrov said 'the West's policy of adopting anti-Iranian sanctions' has been nothing but a forlorn attempt." Read More

The Australian reported that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd "has dumped his election campaign promise to take Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the world court for inciting genocide and threatening Israel." Read More

New York Times reported that "More than 20 members of Parliament petitioned their colleagues on Wednesday to impeach the interior minister after investigations indicated that he did not hold several academic degrees that he had claimed." Read More

Iranian press covered Larijani's remarks that the September U.N. resolution about Iran showed that nuclear talks haven't worked. "'The new UN Security Council resolution against Iran showed that Iran's trust in nuclear talks as a way to remove ambiguities about its nuclear program has been baseless,' Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said in a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Geneva on Wednesday." Read More

AP analyzed the prospects of former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami regaining power. "The shape of the race is far from clear, with only one minor candidate officially in the hunt. Yet a heavyweight like Khatami could be a booster shot to Iran's dispirited reform movement _ rallying young voters and others troubled by the country's unraveling economy and increasing isolation over Iran's nuclear ambitions and Ahmadinejad's venom toward Israel." Read More

AFP reported that "Iraq criticised as 'inappropriate' on Wednesday comments by US commander General Raymond Odierno accusing Iran of trying to bribe Iraqi MPs." "'The Iraqi government expresses its deep concern after the statements attributed to General Raymond Odierno,' said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, describing the remarks as 'inappropriate.' 'These kind of remarks are likely to tarnish the good relations between Iraq and the forces of the international coalition.'" Read More

Washington Post reported that Gen. Petraeus has launched "a major reassessment of U.S. strategy" towards Iran and some other nations. "Gen. David H. Petraeus has launched a major reassessment of U.S. strategy for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and the surrounding region, while warning that the lack of development and the spiraling violence in Afghanistan will probably make it 'the longest campaign of the long war.'" Read More