UANI

The LA Times reported on President Ahmadinejad's comments yesterday on relations with the US. "In some of his most conciliatory remarks to date, Iran's president said Tuesday that Tehran is prepared to talk with the United States but gave no indication that negotiations might yield changes to the Islamic Republic's nuclear program or support of militant groups opposed to Israel.... 'It's clear that the Iranian nation will welcome genuine changes" to U.S. policy, Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast on national television. "The Iranian nation is prepared to talk. However, these talks should be held in a fair atmosphere in which there is mutual respect.'" (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-iran-parade11-20...)

Reuters reported that "U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday a final decision on deployment of a missile shield in eastern and central Europe hinged in part on Iran's willingness to curb its nuclear ambitions." (http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINN1028215320090210)

AFP reported that "Iran displayed a 'rudimentary' space launch capability when it put a satellite into orbit last week, but is now on a path to having a long-range missile, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday. General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the launch of the Omid (Hope) satellite was of concern because the technologies involved were 'compatible with, commensurate with, an intercontinental ballistic missile-type capability.'" (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gRtiNe1gVJze2f58Gi3ax...)

Reuters reported that "Iran dismissed on Wednesday a British newspaper report that the Islamic Republic was running short of raw uranium for a nuclear program the West fears has military aims." (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE51A24A20090211)

AFP reported that "Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki flew in to Baghdad on Wednesday for talks with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari on boosting links between their two states, a foreign ministry official said. Mottaki had left Tehran on Tuesday but his plane was forced to turn back from Baghdad because of high winds and dust storms, Zebari told AFP." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hsATF51bDY7CwgVzDy5EQ...)

CBS News reported that IRNA, an Iranian news outlet, "has officially asked for an interview with President Barack Obama as a direct response to Mr. Obama's call for opportunities to engage." (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/10/world/main4789038.shtml)

Michael Ledeen wrote on the recently launched Iranian satellite and the future of the administration in Tehran. "Any serious person looking at Iran today, however, would be more likely to conclude that their doom, not their triumph, is right around the corner. No country has been hit harder by the global economic crisis. Nearly 90% of Iran's national revenues come from oil, which has crashed to $40 a barrel from $140. Suddenly the mullahs are short of cash. And while the mullahs boast of a glorious victory in Gaza, most everyone in the Middle East knows that their proxy, Hamas, was badly battered, and that neither Iran nor its favorite terrorists in Hezbollah risked any of their own to challenge the Israeli Defense Forces. Moreover, Iran's considerable support for al Qaeda in Iraq was doubly defeated, first on the battlefield and last week at the ballot box." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123414344863961949.html?mod=rss_topics_o...)

In the International Herald Tribune, David Sanger said that " there is no question a new dynamic is afoot [in Iran], one that seems likely to become even more complicated after the election Tuesday in Israel is settled. If the government that emerges veers to the nationalistic - even more determined to end the Iranian nuclear program by any means necessary - Obama might find himself trying to negotiate with one of America's most determined enemies while restraining one of its closest allies.... Obama's task over the next few months will be to demonstrate that he can simultaneously make progress with the Iranians and buy a little time from the Israelis. That will require some hard decisions, first of all whether the United States will stick to its insistence that the entire nuclear infrastructure in Iran - down to the last centrifuge - be dismantled. It is almost inconceivable, some Obama aides acknowledge, that the Iranians will be willing to give up everything needed to produce a weapon." (http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=20088314)

Roger Cohen wrote in the International Herald Tribune that "Iran, on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, is full of defiance and suspicion of President Obama's motives in reaching out to Tehran. But it is equally full of longing. Most people are under 30 and, like these soldiers, they thirst for contact with the outside world and, above all, an America that looms with all the power of myth." (http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/11/opinion/edcohen.php)