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AFP: "Iran's President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday that an attack on his country's nuclear facilities
could spark a war with 'no limits.' Ahmadinejad also raised new questions about
the Holocaust as he raised more controversy on his visit to New York for the
annual UN General Assembly meetings. 'The United States has never entered a
real war, not in Vietnam, nor in Afghanistan, nor even World War II,' the
Iranian leader told American editors and reporters when asked about how Iran
would react to any US supported strike by Israel on Iran's nuclear facilities. 'War
is just not bombing someplace. When it starts it has no limits,' the New York
Times reported. 'Do you think anyone will attack Iran to begin with?' he said,
according to Atlantic magazine's website. 'I really don't think so. The Zionist
regime is a very small entity on the map, even to the point that it doesn't really
factor into our equation.'" http://bit.ly/9RpStH
WSJ: "Iran's President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad called for renewal of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on
Tuesday at a breakfast meeting with American journalists and said the only path
forward for the two nations was one of 'dialogue based on respect and justice.'
Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments lacked the usual fervor and mockery of American policies
typically associated with his speeches and interviews. Instead, he appeared
mild in manner and tone, repeating his offers of reconciliation while remaining
vague and defensive about internal politics in Iran. 'We have always been ready
for dialogue, and even now we are ready. I suspect negotiations will start in
the near future,' the Iranian leader said of talking with the Obama
administration." http://bit.ly/9fSD6C
NYT: "A
bombing on Wednesday killed 10 people, mostly women and children, and wounded
20 during a military parade in the northwest of the country to mark the start
of the Iran-Iraq war 30 years ago, state-controlled media outlets reported on
Wednesday. The governor of West
Azarbaijan Province, Vahid Jalalzadeh, said the attack in the Kurdish-majority
city of Mahabad had been carried out by opponents of the 1979 Islamic
revolution who 'have always carried out such brutal acts to take revenge on the
people,' state-controlled Press TV reported on its Web site. No group immediately
took responsibility for the attack, which came as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
was attending a United Nations meeting in New York." http://nyti.ms/dg9DiA
UNGA
AP: "Iran's president on Tuesday predicted the defeat of capitalism and
blamed global big business for the suffering of millions, but Germany's
chancellor said market economies were key to lifting the world's least
developed countries out of poverty... Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
however, never mentioned the Millennium Development Goals in his speech to the
192-member General Assembly. Instead, he took aim at capitalism and called for
the overhaul of 'undemocratic and unjust' global decision-making bodies, which
are dominated by the United States and other Western powers." http://bit.ly/bsqFFL
Nuclear
Program
Reuters: "Italian authorities
have seized 7 tons of powerful RDX explosive apparently being shipped from Iran
to Syria and believe that at least part of the cargo may have been intended for
Italy, police sources said on Wednesday. The cargo was found by anti-Mafia
police in a shipping container in the southern port of Gioia Tauro. They are
still trying to ascertain whether the explosives were in Italy because the ship
transporting them was making a technical stop, or whether part of the cargo was
intended to be unloaded in the port. RDX, also known as T4, is a
powerful high explosive designed for military and industrial use." http://bit.ly/dd8HCE
AFP: "Russia has dropped plans to
supply Iran with S-300 missiles because they are subject to international
sanctions, the chief of the military's general staff said, news agencies
reported on Wednesday. 'A decision has been taken not to supply the S-300 to
Iran, they undoubtedly fall under sanctions,' the chief of the general staff
Nikolai Makarov said in an apparent reference to UN sanctions, the ITAR-TASS
news agency reported." http://bit.ly/cLUCuf
AP: "Iran has displayed an
advanced missile capable of reaching Israel at a military parade on the 30th
anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war. The solid-fuel Sajjil has the
longest range of any missile in Iran's arsenal, more than 1,250 miles (2,000
kilometers). Iran has dramatically accelerated its missile program in recent
years, raising international concern that it could pose a threat to Israel and
U.S.-allied Arab nations, including some that are home to American military
bases." http://bit.ly/aSDW8P
AFP: "The six powers seeking to
curb Iran's nuclear ambitions prepared to meet Wednesday to review the latest
UN sanctions against Tehran and mull its appeals to enter negotiations. The
meeting in New York of the permanent five UN Security Council members -- the
United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- plus Germany comes as Iran
said it was ready to discuss its nuclear program soon. The talks were to
involve US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her counterparts from the
so-called P5-plus-1." http://yhoo.it/9wlTG3
AFP: "Iran is ready for talks
with world powers 'in the near future' on its nuclear drive, foreign ministry
spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters on Tuesday. 'Regarding the talks
with 5+1, the president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) has given frank views, and in
principle we are ready for it,' he said, in reference to talks between Iran and
the group composed of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council
(the US, Britain, France, Russia and China) plus Germany. 'We hope that, with a
right approach towards acknowledging the Islamic republic's rights in engaging
in peaceful (nuclear) activities, we will have talks in the near future,'
Mehmanparast added." http://bit.ly/9oB2cW
Human
Rights
AFP: "Iranian ex-president turned
opposition backer Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani met relatives of political prisoners
on Tuesday and promised to discuss their fate with the country's supreme
leader, his website reported. 'Families of political prisoners met Ayatollah
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Tuesday morning and discussed with him the problems of
the detainees and the judicial hardships they are facing,' the report said." http://yhoo.it/9NeGUw
AP: "Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticized Western media for having a double
standard in reporting on the case of an American woman facing the death
penalty, a news agency reported Tuesday. Ahmadinejad accused the West of
launching a 'heavy propaganda' campaign against the case of an Iranian woman
who had been sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery but failing to react
with outrage over the imminent execution of Teresa Lewis in Virginia, according
to state-run IRNA." http://bit.ly/cDFlMs
Domestic Politics
Reuters: "Many Iranian householders have been stunned by huge electricity bills
after the government suddenly withdrew fuel subsidies without warning exactly
when the cuts would fall. Consumers said on Tuesday their bills were as much as
1,000 percent higher than last month -- the first hit from President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's sweeping plan to save the state the $100 billion it currently
pays to subsidise essential goods. Ahmadinejad calls the subsidy reform 'the
biggest economic plan in the past 50 years' and while Western economists say it
is a necessary step to reduce waste, they have warned that any sudden price
hikes risk igniting public unrest." http://bit.ly/ahiQea
Opinion
Daily Telegraph Editorial Board: "While
we debate this country's defence requirements almost exclusively within the
context of the need for public spending cuts, military decisions being taken in
Washington and the Middle East are a response to the direct threat to security
posed by Iran. The announcement that the Gulf Arab states have embarked on the
world's largest peacetime rearmament exercise, placing orders for US weapons
valued at £79 billion - including missile defence systems - marks a new
development in America's strategy towards Tehran's nuclear programme." http://bit.ly/d2GQ4l
Mohamad Bazzi in The National: "The
Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is visiting New York this week to
address the UN General Assembly. In what has become an annual ritual, Mr
Ahmadinejad's arrival has stirred a media circus... Can Mr Ahmadinejad win back
some of his lost lustre? That is likely to be the major goal of his United
Nations address. Many in the Arab World still admire Mr Ahmadinejad's man-of-the-people
persona, which contrasts with other leaders in the region who are more distant.
He has struck a chord with the Arab masses as no other Iranian leader has since
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the charismatic cleric who led the 1979 Islamic
Revolution." http://bit.ly/bKHJAs
Massoumeh Torfeh in The Guardian: "The
arrival of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York for the UN general assembly has
brought a predictable media frenzy. Iran's disputed president has already done
interviews with a few experienced US journalists such as Christiane Amanpour
and is due on the usual round of American TV studios with the Charlie Rose show
on PBS, and CNN's Larry King Live. Ahmadinejad cherishes these moments as he is
keen to use every chance to publicise his political designs. The BBC even went
so far as to call him a 'master of spin'; others say he has 'become more
articulate and polished'. And now a debate is developing about why such
experienced journalists rarely manage to crack his defences or get anything new
out of him. One reason is that interviewers seem unable to get away from a
fixed set of questions and a specific mindset they have of Ahmadinejad." http://bit.ly/brzSAz
Mohsen Milani in Foreign Affairs: "Iraq
is the focal point of a strategic competition between Iran and the United
States. Ever since U.S. forces invaded Iraq in 2003, Iran has relentlessly
sought to impose its will on the country and expand its power in the region.
Although not entirely successful, it has gained strategic depth in Iraq and has
been able to use the support it garners from Iraqi Shias and Kurds to disrupt
those U.S. operations that run counter to its agenda. And when U.S. and Iranian
interests overlap, the Islamic Republic has been able to support the United
States in ways that enhance its own power. The apparent contradiction in Iran's
activities makes Iran what I call a 'spoiler power' in Iraq; it is
insufficiently powerful to impose its own agenda on Iraq but influential enough
to disrupt U.S. operations through asymmetrical means. Over time, Iran's
behavior as a spoiler power has also undermined the United States' ability to
contain it." http://bit.ly/b7ayKk
Meir Javedanfar in The Diplomat: "Anyone
who has read Western tabloid newspapers will be familiar with one portion of
the typical diet they serve up for readers-extramarital affairs by actors,
sportsmen and politicians... The Iranian press, in contrast, almost never reports
on such news... So it's interesting now that a recent friendly peck on the cheek
between two men has managed to attract the attention of the media. Who is it
that's had the media chattering? Ayatollahs Mesbah Yazdi and Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani... So why has something that millions of Iranians do on a regular
basis been getting so much attention now? Iranian satirists would say that it's
because it was the first kiss of its kind-between a crocodile and a shark." http://bit.ly/dhqBPR
Thomas P.M. Barnett in Esquire: "Ah, U.N. Week -
that time of year when Fox News sounds the alarm bells and The National
Review starts making musical-theater references to impending speeches from
Dictators with an Important Audience. And when the rest of us realize that
Thursday's session with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be quite the
opposite: another round of comic relief sure to sabotage his own attempts to be
taken seriously, followed by another round of (mostly) effective sanctions. The
Obama administration already rolled one eye on Monday by refusing a detainee
swap, so let's see just how far one man's stubbornness can be leveraged, shall
we?" http://bit.ly/abdu3n
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