Top Stories
WP: "Anti-government protesters took to the streets of
the Iranian capital Saturday for the first time in four months, commemorating
the anniversary of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed election victory a
year ago despite the cancellation of a planned mass rally." http://bit.ly/cwKObN
AP: "Iran's nuclear chief says his country will begin
construction of a new uranium enrichment plant by March of next year, a defiant
announcement days after the U.N. approved tougher sanctions. Ali Akbar Salehi is quoted by the official
IRNA news agency as saying construction will start by the end of the Iranian
calendar year in March." http://bit.ly/aoMMIQ
WSJ: "German prosecutors are investigating whether
Russia's main nuclear exporter broke European rules by routing Iran-bound cargo
through Europe-an incident that diplomats say turned into a major battleground
as world powers hashed out international sanctions against Iran." http://bit.ly/cjsDUi
Nuclear Program
AP: "Iran's most powerful military force, the
Revolutionary Guard, said Monday it was not worried by the latest U.N.
sanctions that seek to undercut its reach and stall the country's nuclear
program. The defiant remarks by senior
Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami were the group's first reaction since the
Security Council last week imposed the toughest sanctions yet in response to
Tehran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment." http://bit.ly/aI2zcd
NYT: "Senator John McCain called on the United States on
Thursday to support regime change in Iran, saying that the latest United
Nations sanctions are 'inadequate' and that it is unrealistic to expect the
current government in Tehran to stop pursuing nuclear weapons, supporting
terrorism and cracking down on its own people." http://nyti.ms/beS9Ul
WP: "Russia has frozen the sale of S-300 air defense
missiles to Iran, Russian news agencies reported Friday, in a victory for the
Obama administration in the wake of new U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran." http://bit.ly/akDXAO
AFP: "Iran's parliament is drafting a bill on downgrading
ties with the UN atomic watchdog, a lawmaker said Sunday after the Islamic
republic was slapped with fresh sanctions over its nuclear drive." http://bit.ly/abNsJ6
AFP: "The European Union is set to boost new UN sanctions
against Iran, over its nuclear program, with extra measures, notably in the key
energy sector, diplomats said Friday. The UN Security Council on Wednesday agreed new sanctions
against Iran, expanding an arms embargo and barring the country from sensitive
activities such as uranium mining." http://bit.ly/apOe6r
WSJ: "A defiant President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday
returned home from a five-day trip that included Turkey and China, as security
forces appear to have prevented any significant protests in Tehran marking the
one-year anniversary of last year's contested presidential election." http://bit.ly/c2A1c7
Commerce
AP: "Iran has finalized a contract to export natural gas
to Pakistan, state radio reported on Sunday, as the country home to the world's
second largest gas reserves looks to boost its role in the gas market. The signing of the export deal marks a
victory-of-sorts for Iran, which saw the U.N. Security Council last week pass
its fourth round of sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its
controversial nuclear program." http://bit.ly/9XIbFL
Human Rights
AP: "The son of a renowned Iranian dissident cleric says
authorities shut down his late father's office after it was stormed by
hard-liners. Ahmad Montazeri says the
office of Hossein Ali Montazeri in the holy city of Qom was sealed on Monday." http://bit.ly/9PBXCo
Opinion
WP Editorial Board: "A year ago on Saturday, a movement
was born that offers the best chance of ending the threat posed by Iran's
support for terrorism and pursuit of nuclear weapons. Millions of Iranians
turned out to vote against the extremist government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a
presidential election -- and were outraged when the regime announced an
improbable landslide victory for the incumbent. Since then, what is now known
as the Green Movement has swelled into the most consequential challenge ever
mounted to Iran's Islamic theocracy." http://bit.ly/c4IkJO
Mary Anastasia O'Grady in WSJ: "Brazil defended its U.N.
vote on the grounds that the 'sanctions will most probably lead to the
suffering of the people of Iran and will play into the hands of those, on all
sides, that do not want dialogue to prevail.' Unpack that statement and there's
nothing inside. The sanctions are directed, not at civilians, but at Iranian
nuclear and missile proliferation ambitions." http://bit.ly/bg8bEo
Michael Ledeen in WSJ: "Yet while there have been many
demonstrations this past year, the regime has brutally fought back, killing or
arresting hundreds if not thousands of real or suspected critics. Although not
a day goes by without protests (typically at universities), large, organized
demonstrations are too risky. So is the
new Iranian revolution fizzling? Has the regime taken firm control? The reality
is that the regime's leaders are frightened, and everyone from the Ayatollah
Khamenei down the dark labyrinths of this remarkably cheerless state knows that
the only hope for the regime's survival is to intimidate the opposition." http://bit.ly/cL1LyU
Doyle McManus in LAT: "Last week, after 16 months of relentless
effort, President Obama finally achieved one of his major foreign policy
objectives: a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing stronger
economic sanctions on Iran. But it
wasn't much of a victory. The resolution wasn't unanimous, which diluted its
intended message. And the sanctions themselves are modest, watered down to
secure support from Russia and China. Even Obama isn't promising much." http://bit.ly/9jnUl2
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