Eye On Iran: U.S. Commander in Iraq: Iran Threat Has Increased

For continuing coverage follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group. Top Stories AP: "The top U.S. military commander in Iraq says the threat to U.S. troops from Iran-backed militants has increased but that it will not disrupt the American drawdown. Gen. Ray Odierno says the overall number of attacks on U.S. military convoys has been 'fairly low' but that 'a very consistent threat' from Iran-backed groups has increased in the last two weeks." http://bit.ly/9mmCW6 NYT: "The Iranian government declared a sudden, two-day national holiday on Sunday and Monday, after a long-simmering dispute between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Tehran bazaar erupted last week, leaving one prominent merchant dead, according to opposition Web sites." http://nyti.ms/aZL4Ug WP: "A nuclear scientist, who Tehran says was kidnapped by the United States, has surfaced at the Iranian interest section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington, Iranian state media reported Tuesday. It is unclear if he sought refuge by himself at the mission or was handed over by U.S. officials." http://bit.ly/cYnt8l Nuclear Program AFP: "World powers have not formally agreed that Brazil and Turkey can sit in on talks over a nuclear fuel supply deal with Iran, but neither have they explicitly ruled out such an arrangement, diplomats said Monday. An Iranian news report on Sunday quoted Tehran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying that the so-called Vienna group 'has accepted' the presence of Brazil and Turkey in talks over a fuel swap." http://yhoo.it/9A6I8F BBC News: "Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri has been thrust into the centre of the fraught psychological tensions that dominate relations between Tehran and Washington." http://bit.ly/9ytouN Times of India: "The US says its expects India to enforce UN sanctions against Iran but left it to that country to decide on steps to "convince" the Persian Gulf state to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The Obama Administration also said Iran's controversial atomic program cannot be a situation of 'business as usual' since it is about the danger of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, which will have its implications outside the Middle East including India." http://bit.ly/c7vNZi Commerce LAT: "Chancellor Angela Merkel can warn companies all she wants to stop doing business with Iran. Yet commerce between German firms and the Islamic Republic keeps expanding, as businesses here continue longstanding relationships with Tehran. In the first four months of 2010, trade between Iran and Germany totaled nearly $1.8 billion, up 20% from the same period last year, according to the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce in Hamburg." http://bit.ly/aGWw4J Domestic Politics Radio Farda: "Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani has received support from religious figures in the holy city of Qom, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. The statements this weekend in favor of Larijani came in response to earlier verbal attacks against him. Larijani, a parliament deputy from Qom, had faced calls for his resignation as speaker 10 days ago from other conservative factions." http://bit.ly/d31qPw Foreign Affairs AFP: "Spain on Monday urged Iran to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear program, the Spanish foreign ministry said. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos called on his visiting Iranian counterpart Manoucher Mottaki to 'dispel the doubts generated over the aims of the Iranian nuclear program', the ministry said in a statement." http://bit.ly/aeAE2D Opinion John Bolton in WSJ: "Just days before, Congress passed more sanctions against Iran. But neither these, nor the recent Security Council sanctions, nor further EU measures will prevent Iran's progress toward becoming a nuclear state. CIA Director Leon Panetta admitted as much during ABC's 'This Week' on June 27 when asked about U.N. sanctions." http://bit.ly/aY61pM Arnaud de Borchgrave in The Washington Times: "The temptation for President Obama to double down on Iran will grow rapidly as he concludes that Afghanistan will remain a festering sore as far as anyone can peer into a murky future, hardly a recipe for success at the polls in November. With a war in Afghanistan, which is bound to get worse, and a military theater in Iraq replete with sectarian violence, the bombing of Iran may give Mr. Obama a three-front war - and a chance to retain both houses of Congress." http://bit.ly/aG9JRR Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.

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