Top Stories
AP: "Iran acknowledged yesterday
that some personnel at the country's nuclear facilities were lured by promises
of money to pass secrets to the West but insisted increased security and worker
privileges have put a stop to the spying. The stunning admission by Vice
President Ali Akbar Salehi provides the clearest government confirmation that
Iran has been fighting espionage at its nuclear facilities... Yesterday's
revelation was the first public word that some personnel have engaged in
espionage, although Tehran has arrested suspects in the past. With the
announcement, Iran appears to be trying to raise public awareness about what it
says are plots by the United States and its allies to derail Iran's nuclear
activities." http://bit.ly/9Ocz4P
Reuters: "Iran is ready to hold
talks with six major powers over its nuclear program 'in late October or early
November,' Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Saturday. 'We think late
October or early November will be an appropriate date for the talks by the
representatives of Iran and 5+1 countries,' Mottaki told a news conference. He
gave no details about the venue of the talks. Western officials say they could
take place in Vienna or Geneva. 'If Iran is ready to hold talks, all they need
to do is pick up the phone and set a date,' U.S. State Department spokesman
P.J. Crowley said." http://nyti.ms/bYXvy6
NYT: "After
suppressing the political protests that followed last year's disputed
presidential election, Iran's security forces are now on the alert for a new
kind of domestic threat - strikes and civil unrest provoked by planned cuts in
fuel subsidies. Top police officials have issued a series of warnings this
month against the threat of an overflow of tensions following the cuts, which
some fear could set off a chain reaction of price increases and economic
hardships in a country already stricken by high inflation and widespread
unemployment." http://nyti.ms/dbjvIx
Nuclear
Program
WSJ: "Total SA (TOT) and Royal Dutch
Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) discreetly contacted Iranian authorities last week, seeking
to reassure the Islamic Republic after telling the U.S. they have no plans for
further investments for now, people familiar with the matter said in recent
days. Total and Shell contacted Iran as the U.S. announced commitments by the
companies 'to terminate their investments and avoid any new activity in Iran's
energy sector.' The disclosure was made by the State Department in a Sept. 30
press release, which also said Statoil ASA (STO) and Eni SpA (E) had made
similar commitments. Though the two companies are not breaching any sanctions
in communicating with Iran, the contacts suggest they have not renounced their
long-term ambitions in Iran, which hosts the world's second-largest natural gas
resources and stands as the fourth-largest global oil exporter." http://bit.ly/9GeoS2
AFP: "Iran is stronger after a
host of international sanctions, the country's finance minister Shamseddin
Hosseini asserted in Washington. 'After these sanctions we are a much stronger
country,' said Hosseini, striking a resolute tone amid international curbs on
trade with Islamic Republic and sanctions against firms and individuals linked
to the country's controversial nuclear program. He acknowledged that the
sanctions 'cause some kind of problem for us.' But he said, 'When people solve
problems, they get stronger. Today, we are much stronger,' he said. Hosseini
was speaking in the US capital on the fringes of a meeting of the International
Monetary Fund's 187 members." http://bit.ly/cMxANu
Daily Telegraph: "Jundallah
(Soldiers of God) said on its website junbish.blogspot.com late on Saturday
that it was holding hostage Amir Hossein Shirani, an 'employee at a nuclear
plant' in Iran's central province of Isfahan. 'Mr Shirani has important
information, especially about senior Iranian nuclear experts ... and release of
his confessions will cost the Iranian regime dearly,' it said in a statement,
without adding when Mr Shirani was abducted. Jundallah has demanded that Tehran
free what it said were more than 200 Sunni and Baluch political prisoners and
members of the group held in Iranian jails, the statement added." http://bit.ly/9KUne5
Reuters: "Iran on Friday accused
the World Bank of 'discriminatory behaviour' for refusing to authorise new
development assistance to the country. Iran's Economy Minister Shamseddin
Hosseini, in a speech to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund plenary
session, said development and humanitarian assistance was not part of U.N.
sanctions, imposed by major powers on Iran to curb its nuclear development. He
said the refusal by the global lender since 2005 to consider a new lending
strategy, known as the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), for Iran went against
the Bank's articles of agreement." http://bit.ly/bAO6bF
Reuters: "A company controlled by
Iran's Revolutionary Guards has been given a contract to build a major highway,
a newspaper reported on Sunday, the latest example of the elite military unit
expanding its economic influence. On
Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad marked the start of construction of the
highway, which will connect two of Iran's holy cities, calling it 'the biggest
project in the history of Iran and the region,' Arman daily reported." http://bit.ly/9nwLQi
Commerce
AP: "Iran boasted Monday its
proven oil reserves have risen by nine percent to 150.31 billion barrels, a
week after neighbouring Iraq claimed it had overtaken Tehran in terms of size
of crude reserves. The increased assessment was partly due to new discoveries,
Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi told a news conference, adding that the figure 'will
definitely go up' by the end of the Iranian year in March 2011. 'Our oil
reserves are today at 150.31 billion barrels,' Mirkazemi said, compared with a
previous figure of 138.0 billion barrels." http://yhoo.it/c7kJot
Bloomberg: "Iran Khodro, the
country's largest carmaker, plans to discuss joint venture plans with Turkey
after Malaysia pulled out of a project to build a car focused on Islamic
buyers. 'An economic and industrial delegation will come within two weeks to
Iran to start initial negotiations,' Mir Javad Soleimani, the company's deputy
chief executive officer for quality and product development, said in an
interview today. 'If we reach an understanding we will begin producing an
Islamic car.' The possibility for cooperation was brought up by Turkey's
industry minister during a recent visit by Iran's first vice- president, said
Soleimani." http://bit.ly/b1UcyO
Bloomberg: "Iran
Khodro, the country's largest automaker, aims to quadruple to 60,000 the number
of cars it assembles each year in a venture with the Venezuelan government, in
a sign of deepening commercial ties between two U.S. foes. Venirauto Industrias
CA is owned by the Venezuelans, Iran Khodro and Iran's second-biggest carmaker,
the Saipa Group, Iran Khodro's export deputy, Yaser Seifvand, said in an
interview yesterday at his company's headquarters outside Tehran. The South American
plant's current annual output is 16,000 vehicles, Seifvand said." http://bit.ly/dkdHnz
Human
Rights
AP: "An American hiker recently
freed by Iran said Saturday she is still haunted by images of her friend and
fiance in their cramped jail cells and won't have her life back until they have
been released. Sarah Shourd spoke at a gathering of friends and family in
Oakland, where she appealed to Iranian officials to show compassion and release
her fiance, Shane Bauer, and friend, Josh Fattal. 'I'm not free,' she said, as
she choked up with tears. 'My life will not resume until Shane and Josh are
with me.'" http://yhoo.it/dBdop2
Domestic Politics
Reuters: "Iranian security forces have killed two people
suspected on involvement in a shoot out with a police patrol that killed five
in the capital of Iran's Kurdistan province, a news agency reported on Friday. A
provincial official blamed Thursday's attack, in which nine others were
wounded, on 'anti-revolutionary' elements. Kurdistan province bordering Iraq is
the scene of frequent clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian security
forces." http://bit.ly/9JaKBi
Foreign Affairs
AP: "A visit to Lebanon this week
by Iran's president will give a welcome boost to powerful Shiite ally
Hezbollah, one of his country's most crucial sources of foreign influence, and
will include a provocative jaunt to the border with archenemy Israel. Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's trip is a bold demonstration by Iran that it is undeterred by
U.S. attempts to isolate it and roll back the clout Tehran has built up around
the Middle East through its alliances with militant groups like Hezbollah and
its accelerating nuclear program... 'I urge the Lebanese people and the
Palestinians to welcome the president of Iran,' Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan
Nasrallah said in a weekend speech, as Iranian flags and Ahmadinejad posters
popped up along Beirut's airport road." http://bit.ly/9DFdQQ
AFP: "The United States on Monday
urged its citizens in Lebanon to remain vigilant during the Iranian president's
high-profile visit to the country this week, warning of possible demonstrations
and violence. 'The embassy reminds US citizens that even peaceful gatherings
can turn violent and spread over neighborhoods with little or no warning,' the
US embassy in Lebanon said in a statement." http://bit.ly/aI79Jl
Culture
WSJ: "On April 27, 2006, the
Iranian-Canadian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo was arrested in Tehran on a
charge of fomenting a 'velvet revolution' against the Islamic Republic. Mr.
Jahanbegloo was placed in a 6-by-10-foot cell in Evin Prison. To keep his mind
active while in solitary confinement, he scribbled nearly 2,000 aphorisms on
the back of tissue boxes. Four months later, he was released on bail and fled
into exile. He surfaced late in 2007 in Istanbul at World Philosophy Day, an
annual gathering of intellectuals sponsored by Unesco to celebrate philosophy's
contributions to the 'principles and values on which world peace depends:
democracy, human rights, justice and equality.' Mr. Jahanbegloo, now a
professor at the University of Toronto, describes World Philosophy Day as 'a
great initiative,' which is why he is dismayed by Unesco's decision to hold
this year's main event in Tehran, a city where, he says, 'no free debate or
critical thinking is possible.'" http://bit.ly/ch5M1o
Reuters: "Salman Rushdie is
working on a memoir of his years in hiding after Iran's then supreme leader
Ayatollah Khomeini issued a death edict against him in 1989 for writing 'The
Satanic Verses,' deemed blasphemous to Islam... The 63-year-old said of the
memoir that there was an 'information vacuum' to fill, and that he finally felt
it was time to confront a difficult period in his life." http://nyti.ms/bTr0Cb
Opinion
NY Daily News Editorial Board: "Now and then, a voice pierces the fog and with moral
clarity. Such is the case of Arya Aramnajad, an Iranian singer imprisoned by
his nation's thugocracy for a protest song after last year's elections. Here is
what Aramnajad said at his trial for 'actions against the regime's security'
last week: ... 'The constitution has to be made clear. It gives me the right to
criticize. It gives me the right to take part in gatherings without carrying
weapons, it gives me the right to free speech and free thought. And because of
this constitution that our fathers voted for, I am free not to be indifferent
to the destiny of my country.'" http://bit.ly/dxdy7o
Caroline
Glick in JPost: "Ahmadinejad's visit
to southern Lebanon will be the highlight of his two-day visit. In preparation
for his arrival, in the border town of Maroun a-Ras, Hizbullah has built a
replica of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem festooned with an Iranian flag.
Ahmadinejad is scheduled to stand outside the structure and throw stones at IDF
forces patrolling what he has reportedly referred to as 'Iran's border with
Israel.' Many Israelis are rattled by Ahmadinejad's trip to our neck of
the woods. It is unsettling that the man who personifies the Islamist goal of
eradicating the Jewish people will be standing at our doorstep, provoking us. Before
we lose our composure, it is far from clear that Israel is Ahmadinejad's
primary audience... So what new message is Ahmadinejad bringing with him? Who is
he communicating with? Ahmadinejad's visit must be seen within the regional
context. Specifically, it must be seen against the backdrop of Lebanese
politics." http://bit.ly/cpmjHi
Roger Cohen in NYT: "Ahmadinejad is a one-trick pony. His thing is
double standards. Ask about the Iranian nuclear program, he'll retort with
Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal. Ask about Iran's economic difficulties,
he'll see you with September 2008. Ask about rampant capital punishment, he'll
raise you a Texas. Ask about Iranian lying, he'll counter with human rights and
Abu Ghraib... And what do all his words amount to? I'd say not a whole lot beyond
unnecessary misery for 71 million isolated Iranians. This guy is all hat and no
cattle." http://nyti.ms/aoo19r
Reza Aslan
in Daily Beast: "Farsi1, a Persian
language satellite station partly owned by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp, has
become the most popular entertainment network in Iran, with nearly half of the
country's population (some 35 million people) tuning in daily to keep up with
dubbed episodes of Fox favorites like 24 and How I Met Your Mother.
However, the real draw of the network is its dubbed versions of Latin American
Telenovelas, which have most of the country in their melodramatic grip. One
Telenovela in particular, Second Chance, has become such a national
obsession in Iran that it has inspired a hairstyle for women called 'the
Isabel,' named after the show's heroine... Still, the government is particularly
troubled over the meteoric rise of Murdoch's Farsi1. Maryam Ardabili, women's
affairs adviser to the governor of Fars province, summed up the government
position: 'There is no doubt that Farsi 1 is a tool of the extensive cultural
onslaught [of the West] against Iran.' Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, head of the
clerical faction in the Iranian parliament, accused Farsi1 of seeking 'to
destroy the chastity and morals of families and encourage young Iranians to
have sex and drink alcohol.'" http://bit.ly/aN2UyA
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