UANI

The New York Times reported that "Iran's beleaguered opposition movement struggled to reassert itself on Wednesday, as tens of thousands of protesters braved police beatings and clouds of tear gas on the sidelines of a major, government-sponsored anti-American rally...Even some government authorities seemed to grudgingly concede that the opposition had - for the first time - disrupted the annual anti-American rally. The official IRNA news agency reported in midafternoon that 'rioters,' many wearing the opposition's signature green color, had gathered in front of its offices on Valiasr Street chanting "Death to the dictator" and other antigovernment slogans."  http://bit.ly/21HXJ0
 
Reuters reported that "Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is only intended to generate electricity, is an attempt to force the world to acknowledge it as a regional power, U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Wednesday.  'They believe that the nuclear know-how brings prestige, brings power, and they would like to see the U.S. engaging them,' he told a forum on nuclear disarmament. 'Unfortunately that holds some truth. Iran has been taken seriously since they have developed their program.'  Saying Iran's nuclear program was a 'means to an end,' ElBaradei said Tehran 'wants to be recognized as a regional power.'" http://bit.ly/3ncnzu
 
The AP reported that "Hezbollah is denying any links to a ship carrying hundreds of tons of weapons that Israel says was bound for the Iranian-backed guerrilla group.  Israel intercepted the ship Wednesday and said the vessel was carrying weapons from Iran for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas.  In a statement faxed to The Associated Press on Thursday, Hezbollah said it 'categorically denies' any connection to the weapons. The statement also said Israel's actions amounted to 'piracy.'" http://bit.ly/1GaoRk
 
AFP reported that "The news agency Agence France Presse says one of its journalists has been detained by Iranian security forces.  The AFP's acting bureau chief in Tehran says Iranian reporter Farhad Pouladi was taken into custody Wednesday as he headed to cover a state-sanctioned rally to mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover. Anti-government protesters also clashed with police in counter marchers.  The acting bureau chief, Jay Deshmukh, says the reporter's whereabouts were not known Thursday.  Iran has imposed wide-ranging restrictions on media that include bans on firsthand reporting of street demonstrations and other events not authorized by authorities." http://bit.ly/14kZcw
 
The Wall Street Journal reported that "The departing director of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency declared Wednesday that efforts to curb nuclear proliferation were in 'tatters,' but he held out hope that current talks over Iran's nuclear program could open 'a new era' between the West and Tehran.  Mohamed ElBaradei, who leaves Dec. 1 after 12 years as director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Council on Foreign Relations that 50 years of mistrust threatens the proposed deal for Iran to ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for processing into medical isotopes.  Iran has balked over issues of timing and amounts to be shipped, but talks could still succeed, he asserted. 'If I can do that by the end of the month, I'd leave as a very happy man,' he said." http://bit.ly/1DwwjO
 
The Guardian reported that "The Iranian opposition movement resumed mass street protests today and faced a violent crackdown by the security forces, as official rallies mark the 30th anniversary of the storming of the US embassy in Tehran. Follow how the day unfolded..." http://bit.ly/18fc9P
 
The Wall Street Editorial Board today wrote that "For this broad coalition of democrats, America is a beacon of hope and the Iran of the street arguably the most pro-American place in the world. Earlier this year, before the huge demonstrations in the wake of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's brazen theft of the June presidential election, one popular opposition chant was, 'O ba ma!'-in Farsi a play on the new American President's last name that translates as, 'He with us!'  But the opposition's dreams of American support, moral as much as anything, have been dashed. Mr. Obama was slow and reluctant to speak out on their behalf and eager to engage the Iranian regime in nuclear talks as soon as the summer of protest tapered off. Iran's democrats are now letting their disappointment show. The new chant passed around in Internet chat rooms and heard in the streets yesterday was, 'Obama, Obama-either you're with them or with us.'" http://bit.ly/1NADPC
 
The National Editorial Board today wrote that "Bob Dylan may not be hugely popular in the Islamic Republic of Iran, but the grey beards of the revolution must be shaking their head and saying: the times they are a-changin'. Thirty years after that group of now-famous students stormed the US embassy, the revolution isn't what it used to be.   For three decades Iranians have gathered outside the embassy building to celebrate the overthrow of the Shah and chant 'death to America'. This year the rally was marred by election protesters chanting 'death to the dictators' and clashing with Iranian security services. Wednesday's violence and the post-election unrest are the visible symptoms of a regime in the midst of an identity crisis." http://bit.ly/16CJZm
 
James Rubin wrote in today's New York Times that "Take nuclear negotiations with Iran. Washington, London, Paris and Berlin are in full agreement on the importance of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. They are united in their willingness to engage directly with Tehran, to pursue flexible solutions short of demanding that Iran immediately stop its enrichment of uranium, and to back their diplomacy with real economic incentives and disincentives. But Western unity is just not enough. China and Russia don't share the West's fear that Iran is determined to build nuclear weapons and thus won't support the kind of economic sanctions that have any chance of affecting Tehran's decision-making." http://bit.ly/2kBgbu
 
Ray Takeyh wrote in today's Washington Post that "As the Obama administration grapples with the conundrum of Iran, it must balance its proliferation concerns with its moral responsibilities. Iran's post-election tremors have hardly subsided; in fact, the regime is systematically eviscerating its democratic opposition. Amid their merciless efforts to consolidate power, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his allies see discussion of the nuclear program as a means to silence the criticism that their domestic behavior merits. In the coming months, Iran will no doubt seek to prolong negotiations by accepting and then rejecting agreed-upon compacts and offering countless counterproposals. The United States and its allies must decide how to approach an Iranian diplomatic stratagem born out of cynical desire to clamp down on peaceful dissent with relative impunity" http://bit.ly/4gXdl4
 
Babak Dehghanpisheh wrote in Wednesday's Newsweek that "So why would the opposition chant the slogan 'Either with them or with us!' now? Because they are exasperated by months of opacity by the Obama administration, and with a nuclear deal on the table, they're frightened. As the sticky negotiations with Western powers over Iran's nuclear program stumble forward, these protesters fear that human-rights issues within Iran may become a bargaining chip. In other words, they're worried they'll be sold out as part of a deal to contain the regime's nuclear aspirations. If the West-particularly the United States-stops bringing up human-rights abuses in exchange for concessions on the nuclear program, they will give Tehran a free hand to deal with dissenters and effectively close the book on the protests. (The U.S. wasn't the only foreign country targeted in today's slogans. Antigovernment protesters also chanted, 'The Russian embassy is the den of spies,' a jab at Russia's close ties with the regime.)" http://bit.ly/36tx03
 
Mehdi Khalaji wrote in yesterday's Foreign Policy that "Nearly six months after the demonstrations that followed June's disputed presidential election, Iran's pro-democracy 'green movement' is as strong as ever. Rallies took place in downtown Tehran today, having been in the works for months through Twitter, blogs, and word of mouth. Iran, it seems, is on the verge of having a new, unified opposition party.  But the solidarity on the streets hides wide -- and growing -- splits within. The ostensible leaders of the movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mohammad Khatami, and Mehdi Karroubi, are former high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic who would likely keep much about the Islamic Revolution in place. Contrast this with the young men and women on the streets, and you see differences that go beyond the generational. The protesters are aiming to bring down the very system of which their leaders are a part." http://bit.ly/b0ZER