Top Stories
AP: "Iran's president on Wednesday urged Barack Obama to
accept a nuclear fuel swap deal, warning the U.S. leader will miss a historic
opportunity for improved cooperation from Tehran if the offer is rejected." http://bit.ly/9WqG12
AP: "Congressional leaders putting together a new round
of U.S. sanctions against Iran said Tuesday they will defer bringing their
legislation to a vote to give the United Nations and the European Union a
chance to first impose multinational penalties against the Tehran government
over its pursuit of nuclear weapons." http://bit.ly/agpD5n
WP: "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner wrapped up extensive talks with Chinese
officials Tuesday without any significant progress on Iran, North Korea or
other key issues dividing the countries." http://bit.ly/ciCFa0
Nuclear Program
Reuters: "Under the deal agreed with Turkey and Brazil
last week, Iran would send 1.2 tons of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey
for safekeeping until Tehran received specially processed fuel for its medical
isotope reactor around a year later. But
Western critics said the accord, echoing one brokered by the U.N. nuclear watchdog
in October involving the same amount of LEU, would still leave Iran with enough
material for one bomb, if enriched to high purity, since it is estimated to
have almost doubled its LEU reserve with daily enrichment since then." http://bit.ly/b86CFB
AFP: "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday
Iran's letter of notification to the UN atomic watchdog on a nuclear fuel swap
deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil had 'a number of deficiencies.'" http://bit.ly/csSsFc
Reuters: "Boeing Co (BA.N) accused rival EADS (EAD.PA) of
having courted Iran and other countries at odds with the United States and said
this should figure in awarding a potential $50 billion U.S. Air Force refueling
plane contract. EADS, headquartered in Paris
and Munich, 'continues to do business with countries that are not friendly to
the United States,' Timothy Keating, Boeing's vice president of government
operations, told a small group of reporters." http://bit.ly/a6a8jC
Human Rights
Radio Farda: "The wife of an Iranian prisoner says her
husband has been sentenced to death for refusing to confess to an offense he
never committed, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. Roudabeh Akbari told Radio Farda on May 23 that her husband, Jafar
Kazemi, was taken into custody on his way home on September 18." http://bit.ly/cfxLRj
LAT: "Iran's puritanical guardians of morality have
stepped up their cultural war against those who dress too modern for their
tastes, sharpening class and social tensions just two weeks before the
anniversary of the nation's disputed presidential elections." http://bit.ly/b9EMCE
Opinion
Thomas Friedman in NYT: "So what this deal really does is
what Iran wanted it to do: weaken the global coalition to pressure Iran to open
its nuclear facilities to U.N. inspectors, and, as a special bonus, legitimize
Ahmadinejad on the anniversary of his crushing the Iranian democracy movement
that was demanding a recount of Iran's tainted June 2009 elections." http://nyti.ms/bmeXAd
Jaime Daremblum in The Weekly Standard: "For Brazilian
president Lula da Silva, mediating between the United States and Iran seemed
like a win-win proposition. American officials were moving slowly in pursuit of
a tough sanctions resolution at the United Nations Security Council, and Iran's
nuclear program was racing forward. If Lula tried to forge a new agreement and
failed, well, at least he had demonstrated his commitment to nuclear security
and peaceful diplomacy." http://bit.ly/aNnvHu
News Analysis
Selcan Hacaoglu for AP: "Turkey's attempts to mediate
Iran's nuclear standoff with the West have evolved into an aggressive effort to
forestall new U.N. sanctions. The assertive campaign is placing Turkey in
opposition to longtime allies Israel and the United States." http://bit.ly/azakie
George Lopez in World Politics Review: "The 'fog of
sanctions' has descended on Washington, obscuring what this week's proposed
U.N. Security Council resolution can accomplish in stifling Iran's drive to
nuclear weapons. No less perilous than the 'fog of war' that besets generals,
the 'fog of sanctions' prevents pundits and politicians from having a clear
view of the power and potential of this draft document (.pdf), which may be the
strongest set of smart sanctions ever developed by the Security Council." http://bit.ly/d7aj2l
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