Top Stories
AP: "Iran's president says upcoming talks with six world powers about its disputed nuclear program will fail if the West 'continues the previous path of arrogance.' The comments by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday cast doubt on any possible progress in talks that Iran has said it is ready to hold with the six powers - the U.S. Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - sometime after November 10... 'If you want to continue the previous path of arrogance ... these people (the Iranian nation) will pursue you until you end up in hell,' Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television. The crowd, in the city of Bojnord, responded with chants of 'death to the U.S.'" http://wapo.st/akJvi5
AP: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized Russia on Wednesday for banning the delivery of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Tehran, accusing Moscow of having caved in to 'Satan.' In comments broadcast on state TV, Ahmadinejad said the 2007 contract Tehran signed with Moscow for the S-300 remains valid and warned that Russia must pay compensation and penalties for unilaterally canceling the deal... 'Some people are influenced by Satan. They thought the Iranian nation will be harmed if they unilaterally and illegally stop or cancel defense contracts they signed with us,' Ahmadinejad said. He did not mention Russia by name, but it was clear that he was referring to Medvedev and the Russian leadership. Ahmadinejad said Moscow must pay compensation for canceling the deal." http://wapo.st/avnEqn
Reuters: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under unprecedented criticism from the Revolutionary Guards, the elite military force usually considered his staunch supporter. A harshly worded article in the Guards' monthly magazine echoes criticism of Ahmadinejad from other parts of the Iranian establishment and shows attempts to mend rifts within the Islamic Republic's ruling elite have yet to work. Ahmadinejad and his close aides have faced criticism from lawmakers, the judiciary and some powerful clerics for saying parliament is no longer at the centre of affairs and promoting an 'Iranian' rather than an 'Islamic' school of thought. In an article entitled: 'Is parliament at the centre of affairs or not?', the magazine, Payam-e Enghelab (Message of the Revolution), asked: 'Does being on top justify whatever action the government thinks is right, disregarding the law?'" http://bit.ly/aIxnSo
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
AP: "Israel's military intelligence chief says Iran possesses enough enriched uranium to build one nuclear bomb and soon will have enough to produce a second. Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin's statement coincides with previous assessments from both the CIA and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog... Yadlin spoke to parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee Tuesday. His remarks were reported by meeting participants who spoke on condition of anonymity because the testimony was delivered behind closed doors." http://fxn.ws/9VUNAl
LAT: "Western powers' strong new sanctions on Iran have so far failed to push Tehran's leaders toward compromise on their disputed nuclear program, a senior European diplomat said Tuesday. In a grim assessment, the official said that although the economic punishments clearly have inflicted pain on Iran, there has been no signal from the country's leaders that they are willing to yield ground to relieve the pressure. Though Iran officially has been calling for new talks on the issue, the diplomat said he had not seen a single statement to indicate a change in its leaders' political views on the nuclear program. Instead, some voices within Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government insist there is no way they will give ground and that 'there is no need for a meeting,' he said." http://lat.ms/cdnzpQ
Human Rights
AP: "Iran's foreign minister insists that no final decision has been made about a woman who could be stoned to death for adultery, France's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, amid reports her execution was imminent. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement that he has spoken to his Iranian counterpart about Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose case has sparked an international outcry. Kouchner says Manouchehr Mottaki assured him Wednesday that a final verdict in Ashtiani's case has not been issued yet and that reports 'about her eventual execution don't correspond to reality.'" http://wapo.st/bFnW4J
AFP: "Tehran accused the West of trying to pressurise it over the case of an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, as an exiled activist said the woman was not executed on Wednesday as feared. 'They (Western nations) have become so shameless that they have turned the case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, who has committed crime and treason, into a human rights case against our nation,' Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said. 'It has become a symbol of women's freedom in Western nations and with impudence they want to free her. Thus, they are trying to use this ordinary case as a pressure lever against our nation,' he was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency." http://bit.ly/aCyCBg
AFP: "London told Iran Tuesday that it would view the execution of an Iranian mother convicted of adultery as 'utterly unacceptable', amid reports that she could be killed imminently, officials said. Junior foreign minister Alistair Burt spoke with the Iranian charge d'affairs in London, who was unable to confirm if Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani was due to be killed shortly, a Foreign Office statement said. 'I asked for any information he might have on this to be made available to us, but took the opportunity to remind him that the UK government would regard the execution of Ms. Ashtiani as utterly unacceptable,' Burt said." http://bit.ly/brOkGY
Foreign Affairs
AFP: "Iran urged its citizens on Tuesday to avoid travelling to France, saying the protests against the pension reforms there had triggered 'serious unrest' in the country. 'We think the unrest in France has taken a more serious form and we advise our nationals to avoid non-essential travels to this country,' foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters at his weekly press conference. 'The unrest has reached a point where our citizens should be vigilant.'" http://bit.ly/cRqciZ
Opinion & Analysis
Moshe Kantor in WSJ: "Only days ago, Iran began loading uranium fuel rods into the core of its first nuclear power plant at Bushehr. While many in the international community played down the significance of Bushehr, it is emblematic of an illegal nuclear policy that could spell the end of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)-perhaps the most important pillar of global security. An Iranian bomb must be stopped not only for what it could physically wreak on its neighbors and the world at large, but for the paradigm-breaking order that could result if Iran is able to achieve nuclear weaponization. Many neighboring governments have already said that they will fast-track their own nascent nuclear programs toward weapons capability if Iran acquires the bomb. This domino effect could spread further around the globe, thus tearing the NPT to shreds. Nuclear weapons would become so commonplace that any of the more than 100 current conflicts around the world could come to a devastating conclusion with the flick of a switch. The nations soon to acquire nuclear weapons will not be decent democracies." http://bit.ly/ahFN86
Sahar Namazikhah in Asia Times: "While Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been trying to bolster his support by visiting senior members of the Shi'ite Muslim hierarchy in Qom, an influential ayatollah has spoken out against him 800 kilometers away in the city of Shiraz. Ayatollah Ali Mohammad Dastgheib, who has been dubbed the 'Green Ayatollah' - green being the color adopted by the opposition - raised doubts about the powers exercised by Khamenei in response to a question from one of his followers. The Supreme Leadership, a post first held by the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, is generally held to be above partisan politics and beyond criticism. Dastgheib effectively questioned both the man and his position when he said on September 29 that the Supreme Leader did not obtain his legitimacy from god - as the conventional conservative view holds - but was simply appointed by the Assembly of Experts to oversee the work of Iran's executive, legislature and judiciary and ensure they did not abuse civil rights." http://bit.ly/bsVmSg
Masoud Golsorkhi in The Guardian: "Recently a visitor from Iran assured me that her dog was staying at a five-star spa in Tehran for the duration of her trip. I had no idea she had a dog in the first place, but was struck that she had insisted in telling me such a thing. Over the past few years, dog ownership has become yet another unlikely arena for the social and political dispute within the tumultuous politics of Iran... Dogs are now as much symbols of safe, middle-class resistance as false eyelashes and green wristbands. Pooches have never had it so good, and rare breeds, especially small lap dogs, change hand for tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars... The industry booms further every time a firebrand preacher calls for their banning or admonishes dog owners from such platforms like the much loathed national radio and TV. Its been a long time coming, but Iranian dogs are having their day." http://bit.ly/av4BNI
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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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