Iran Using Gaza Crisis To Position Self As "Regional Superpower" & Maximize Leverage -- 2 Executed By Stoning For Adultry In Iran
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 19:00 | by uaniadmin<!--[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]-->The New York Times reported that "While the fighting continues in Gaza and negotiations for a cease-fire take place in Egypt, officials in Iran are treading carefully because they, too, have a great deal at stake. Iran is trying to position itself as the regional superpower, while also trying to generate maximum leverage before expected talks with the incoming Obama administration. To achieve those goals, though, Iran needs Hamas to declare at least a moral victory in its war with Israel. Then, Israel and Washington's Arab allies would be weakened, and without Iran's having to get involved in battle. Iran's leaders are leery of siding publicly with Hamas because of the potential consequences of an Israeli victory. A Hamas defeat by Israel would deprive Iran not only of a valuable proxy force on the border with Israel but of a trump card to play with Washington, and it would further alienate it from the leadership of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia." Read More
The BBC reported that 2 men convicted of adultry in Iran were executed by stoning. "Several stoning sentences are said to have been suspended or commuted, and the last reported execution by stoning was in July 2007." Read More
Reuters reported that "The U.S. State Department said on Monday it had slapped sanctions on 13 individuals and three private companies because of their involvement in the nuclear-proliferation network associated with Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan." Read More
In an article on the incomming administration's foreign policy advisory, The New York Times mentioned UANI Advisory Board Co-Chair, Dennis Ross. "Those dispensing the advice - Mr. Miller, Dennis B. Ross, Martin S. Indyk and Daniel C. Kurtzer - are the same Middle East hands who advised Mr. Clinton in his long, futile pursuit of a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.... Mr. Ross, who has been an important player on Middle East issues since the Reagan administration, is the most prominent member of the group.... Mr. Ross, 60, is expected to receive a senior post at the State Department, officials said, directing policy on Iran and advising on the rest of the Middle East." Read More
Richard Haas of the Council on Foreign Relations wrote about the threat of a nuclear Iran in the Sydney Morning Herald. "Aside from Gaza, Barack Obama's next foreign policy crisis after taking office may be Iran and its nuclear program. Iran is well down the path of being able to enrich uranium on a large enough scale to produce a nuclear weapon.... it is possible Iran will reject any diplomatic compromise, even one put forward directly by the US. Obama and the world would then have to choose between tolerating an Iran with nuclear weapons or using military force to prevent this outcome. It is the worst sort of choice, as neither option is attractive. For that reason, it is all the more important that diplomacy be recast and given one last chance." Read More
The LA Times reported that "a rally against the ongoing violence in Gaza was forcibly broken up by security agents in Tehran on Sunday. The International Campaign for Human Rights said in a statement that activists from the Iranian independent group Mothers for Peace were attacked by security agents in plainclothes as they gathered in front of the building that serves as the de facto embassy for Palestinian interests in Iran. The organization did not explain why authorities stopped the protest but said that protesters were calling for an immediate end to armed confrontation and for peace in Gaza." Read More
AP reported that "Four Iranians have been tried on charges of seeking to topple Iran's Islamic government with the alleged support of the U.S. State Department and the CIA, a judicial official said Tuesday. Ali Reza Jamshidi, a judiciary spokesman, said the four were detained and tried in Tehran. Jamshidi claimed they planned to recruit others to be trained in anti-Iranian activities abroad. Read More
Reuters reported that Emirates Telecom would pay 300,000,000 euros "to acquire a mobile phone licence in Iran and was in talks to buy an operator in Iraq. The group would invest at least $1 billion into building infrastructure in Iran and was looking to begin operations within nine months, possibly earlier, said Jamal al-Jarwan, chief executive of Etisalat International Investments." Read More
Iranian Press reported that "The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that Tehran will surely respond in an 'appropriate' way to any change in new U.S. administration's behavior toward the country." Read More
Iranian press reported that the Iranian administration has sent a bill to parliament that would "hold liable any firm that directly or indirectly aids or abets Israel. The bill, finalized by the Ahmadinejad administration on Sunday, will impose sanctions on any foreign firms dealing with Israel or monetarily supporting Israeli interests." Read More
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