Top Stories
Reuters: "President Barack Obama
will tell Iran the 'door is open' to better relations with the international
community, if it can demonstrate the peaceful intent of its nuclear program,
the White House said on Monday. With tough new U.N. sanctions in place, Obama
will use his address to the United Nations General Assembly this week to stress
to Iran the cost of its uranium enrichment program will escalate, if it fails
to meet its international obligations. 'The door is open to them having a
better relationship with the United States and with the international
community,' White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said." http://bit.ly/bwUSDd
Reuters: "Western powers pressed
Iran on Tuesday to enter
wide-ranging talks about its disputed nuclear program, with France
telling Tehran
this was the alternative to 'costly' sanctions on the major oil
producer. They
made clear at a meeting of the U.N. atomic watchdog that the Islamic
state must
address broader concerns about work the West suspects is a veiled quest
to
develop bombs, and not just seek more talks on a proposed swap of
nuclear
material." http://nyti.ms/apfNRm
Reuters: "U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that Iran
having a nuclear weapon would be a 'real problem' but he did not think military
action by Israel or the United States was the 'ideal way' to solve the crisis... 'We
continue to be open to diplomatic solutions to resolve this,' Obama told a
town-hall style meeting on CNBC. 'We don't think that a war between Israel and
Iran or military options would be the ideal way to solve this problem. But we
are keeping all our options on the table,' he said." http://bit.ly/dfaDMH
UNGA
CNN: "Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad is among the world leaders scheduled to speak Tuesday at a United
Nations summit on global goals to fight poverty, hunger and disease. Government
leaders and heads of state are discussing the Millennium Development Goals,
which they agreed to a decade ago. The goals have a deadline of 2015 and
include a target for halving extreme poverty. Ahmadinejad is on a public
relations offensive this week in New York, addressing the session on tackling
world poverty, giving interviews and speaking Thursday in the assembly's
general debate." http://bit.ly/9swkvk
NY Post: "The UN may be welcoming Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but that
doesn't mean that New York lawmakers are happy about it. A group of elected
officials, led by Gov. Paterson, spoke out against Ahmadinejad today just as
the Iranian president prepares to speak to the United Nations General Assembly.
Paterson was joined by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and other lawmakers in
Midtown to protest Ahmadinejad's regime during a news conference near the UN." http://bit.ly/aOfnsz
CBS: "One
of the world's most despised leaders was quite possibly the safest man in New
York City on Monday night. The city is going to great lengths to protect
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reports CBS 2's Rob Morrison... City
officials told Morrison that about 30 officers and two firefighters are
assigned exclusively to the Iranian president 24 hours a day. Boehm said that
can come at a cost to outlying communities and precincts. 'When you have to
take 30-plus officers for one person it really strains manpower. You feel it
all over the city. You do you feel it all over the city,' Broehm said." http://bit.ly/cbKPWX
Nuclear
Program
AP: "Iran's defense minister says the
country's powerful Revolutionary Guard has received its first batch of new
missiles with enhanced guidance systems to hit ground targets. Gen. Ahmad
Vahidi says the Defense Ministry supplied the Guard with the upgraded
surface-to-surface Fateh-110 missile, which was successfully test-fired last month.
The weapon was developed by Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization." http://bit.ly/cLMCep
McClatchy: "Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Monday that the
United States must be prepared to use military force to prevent Iran from
acquiring a nuclear weapon - and added that the last-resort step should be
taken with the goal of overthrowing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Graham,
a military lawyer and a senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services
Committee, became the first senator to support direct U.S. military
intervention in Iran, saying it should not involve ground troops but be
launched by U.S. warplanes and ships."
FT: "The Arab states of the Gulf
have embarked on one of the largest re-armament exercises in peacetime
history,
ordering US weapons worth some $123bn as they seek to counter Iran's
military
power. A package of US arms worth more than $67bn for Saudi Arabia
accounts for
the largest single component of this military build-up, providing a huge
boost
to the American defence industry. The first phase of this agreement -
soon to
go before the US Congress for approval - is estimated at about $30bn."
http://bit.ly/bLWQ3N
Commerce
AP: "The Obama administration says the latest round of
sanctions appears to have succeeded in bringing additional pressure against
Iran's nuclear program. But private experts question whether the penalties will
achieve their goal of compelling Tehran to give up any nuclear ambitions. In a
speech Monday, the Treasury Department's point man on Iran sanctions, Stuart
Levey, said U.S. and international sanctions are 'dramatically isolating Iran
financially and commercially'... Analysts generally agree sanctions are taking a
toll. But will they stop Iran from getting the bomb? Probably not, says Ray
Takeyh, a Mideast expert at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former State
Department adviser on Iran policy." http://bit.ly/9A7Ljf
WSJ: "Turkey's president questioned
the effectiveness of sanctions as a tool to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions and
indicated his country's relations with Israel won't improve until the Jewish
state apologizes for its deadly May raid on a flotilla trying to reach Gaza. President
Abdullah Gul said Monday that Turkey is determined to prevent the spread of
nuclear weapons and is pushing for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear
standoff. Turkey 'is engaged in very active cooperation both visible and
invisible' with the U.S. and others in an effort to reach a deal that would
prevent Iran from developing an atomic arsenal, he told The Wall Street
Journal." http://bit.ly/arrlaO
Reuters: "Wary
that Chinese oil companies could be undermining new U.S. sanctions against Iran,
the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said he would push the
Obama administration to investigate... Representative Howard Berman told the Reuters
Washington Summit on Monday that he and the top Republican on the foreign
affairs committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, will meet administration officials soon
over concerns foreign oil companies, some of which have U.S. subsidiaries, are
violating the new law. 'China is first and foremost on my mind here,' said
Berman, one of the authors of the sanctions law, of potential violators." http://bit.ly/bJQvAi
Human
Rights
AFP: "The United States on Monday dismissed a suggestion by President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad to free Iranians in exchange for two detained hikers as Washington
drums up pressure on the Islamic republic... State Department spokesman Mark
Toner rejected any link. 'We would just say that there is no equivalent between
these individuals who have been either charged or tried and afforded due
process in a court and these hikers who crossed an unmarked border and have yet
to be charged,' Toner told reporters." http://bit.ly/aM9BWD
Domestic Politics
AP: "Iran's foreign ministry on
Tuesday criticized two Iranian diplomats who defected this month in Europe,
saying they chose to stay abroad for 'personal interests.' The two diplomats
have themselves said their decisions were politically motivated and they left
their positions because of the government's crackdown on citizens protesting
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 2009 re-election. The remarks by foreign
ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast were Iran's first official confirmation
of the defections, which were seen as a new sign of fissures within Iran's
establishment." http://bit.ly/dv7Xxs
Reuters: "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
list of enemies is long, spreading from his feud with the West to reformists at
home to emerging rivals in his own hardline camp. But support from Iran's
strong Revolutionary Guards and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei still
ensures him the upper hand. Discord among the hardline rulers in the Islamic
Republic has never been so public. The rift has little to do with Iran's
nuclear row with the West or the pro-reform opposition, which rejects
Ahmadinejad's 2009 re-election as rigged." http://bit.ly/cSfMpo
Foreign Affairs
FT: "The president flew to New
York last weekend, preparing to seize the annual chance offered by the general
assembly meeting to attack the US on its own soil. At home, however, Mr
Ahmadi-Nejad gives a very different impression. Analysts have noted signs that
he may be seeking to ease tensions with the US... All these moves are interpreted
in Tehran as an effort by Mr Ahmadi-Nejad to open a channel of communication
with the US. One western diplomat in Tehran describes Mr Ahmadi-Nejad as 'desperate'
for negotiations with the US." http://bit.ly/bi5X3K
Opinion
Boston Globe Editorial Board: "The
Obama administration is preparing to notify Congress of a deal to sell $60
billion worth of advanced fighter jets and helicopters to Saudi Arabia, the
biggest foreign sale of American arms ever negotiated. Although there are
obvious risks in such a transfer of American military hardware and technology
to the Saudi monarchy, the need to deter and contain Iran's pursuit of nuclear
arms makes the sale of conventional weapons to the Saudis the least of several
evils... Boeing and other defense companies are touting the Saudi arms deal
for its potential to create over 70,000 jobs in 44 states. But ultimately the
security argument for the sale has to outweigh the economic argument. And it
does - if only because other options for coping with Iran's nuclear program
look much more dangerous." http://bit.ly/chZOzh
Benjamin Weinthal in NRO: "Where
does the musical film Cabaret, which depicts the rise of German fascism,
intersect with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's appearance at the United Nations this
week? 'It is clear the future belongs to Iran,' said Ahmadinejad in an AP
interview on Sunday, which conjures up the eerie beer garden scene in Cabaret
in which a young Nazi stirs up jingoism with the song 'Tomorrow Belongs to Me.'
Ahmadinejad and Iran's clerical rulers are closing in on the development of a
nuclear bomb. That helps to explain his supremely self-confident attitude." http://bit.ly/dwunao
Steve Clemons in FT: "The Obama
administration's $60bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia is already being touted a
domestic 'jobs generator' for Americans. Instead, it should be seen as a
strategically savvy deal - and one at the heart of a changed US strategy in the
Middle East that seeks to confront Iran through proxies and allies. By pushing
helicopters and fighters to the Saudis, the US is stealing the scene from Iran,
and removing the perception that it is the only rising power in the region.
Given global concerns about Iran's nuclear course, along with doubts about US
power in the Middle East and fear about Israel striking Iran on its own,
President Barack Obama and King Abdullah have raised the ante in a high stakes
effort to create a new, stable balance of power." http://bit.ly/aPO2J6
Harsh V. Pant in WSJ: "In the
wake of the International Atomic Energy Agency's recent report raising fresh
concerns about Iran's nuclear capabilities, American allies from France to
Japan have added their voices to the chorus asking Tehran to come clean. Not
India, which not only supported a strongly worded statement from the 118-member
Nonaligned Movement criticizing the report but also moved to exempt one of its
joint shipping ventures in Iran from the latest round of United Nations
sanctions... When in the past India had to choose between Iran and the United
States, it always sided with the latter. But the shifting strategic landscape
may be forcing New Delhi to rethink its approach." http://bit.ly/cw4QWt
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