Top Stories
WashPost: "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton lobbied Arab governments on Monday to help tighten the screws on their Iranian neighbor, saying that sanctions and other measures are hurting Tehran and undermining its ability to acquire components for its nuclear program... Repeating a theme she has sounded frequently in trips to the region, Clinton warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would trigger an 'extremely dangerous' arms race, and she said Arabs should show common cause with Western powers by helping enforce economic sanctions. She said current sanctions already were having a significant effect, echoing claims made by other administration officials in testimony in recent weeks. 'Sanctions have been working,' Clinton said. 'They have made it much more difficult for Iran to pursue its nuclear ambitions.' Iran also is having unspecified 'technological problems' that have made it slow down its timetables, Clinton said, a possible reference to technical glitches believed to have been caused by a computer virus. 'But the real question is, how do we convince Iran that pursuing nuclear weapons will not make it safer and stronger, but just the opposite?' she asked." http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hfdiftcab&et=1104226565856&s=30860&e=001OIjEepfAIUUO3u-0JtvRFc6O6TK-hMd5ZjbhuGBvx30VVZ07pCMN8NlYZtZv3eonlb9GlyfuStPOtVWztYBsQQMBoyudHBBKylaD4SH9I1KFobUd3l6KYg==
AP: "Iran's intelligence chief said Tuesday that more than 10 people arrested in connection with last year's killing of a nuclear physicist were linked to the Mossad and he warned that Israel's spy agency was out to roll back scientific progress in Muslim nations. Heidar Moslehi revealed few new details to bolster the claim a day earlier that Iran's probe into the killing had led its agents to infiltrate the Mossad. He did not say exactly how many people were arrested but accused 'more than 10' of them of belonging to networks linked to the Israeli agency. Officials also displayed for reporters several handguns - one fitted with a silencer - that they said were seized from the suspects." http://wapo.st/gvn7md
JPost: "Despite new rounds of UN and EU sanctions in 2010, German-Iranian export and import trade showed increases last year, according to an examination of new German government trade statistics last week by The Jerusalem Post. The fresh data also revealed that Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration's approved 16 dual-use transactions with Teheran, which can be used for military and civilian purposes, and remain a major concern for the Israeli government because of the possibility that Iran can apply the equipment for a military application... Trade numbers from the German Federal Statistical Office reveal that German export trade to Iran increased from $4,159,920,000 between January and October 2009 to $4,175,687,000 during the same time period in 2010." http://bit.ly/etadql
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Der Spiegel: "A possible nuclear program in Iran, atomic weapons in North Korea and instability in Pakistan: It is not an easy time to be head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. SPIEGEL spoke with new IAEA head Yukiya Amano about the challenges he faces and the dangers emanating from Tehran." http://bit.ly/fTTyah
Reuters: "India is looking at making payments to Iran for oil shipments through the yen, euro and dirham currencies, R. Gopalan, secretary of financial services in India's finance ministry, told reporters on Tuesday. He also said an Indian delegation would visit Tehran, the Iranian capital, on Jan. 14. India is trying to end a payments dispute with Iran, which threatens to disrupt oil supplies after New Delhi fell into line with U.S. and international sanctions targeting Tehran's nuclear ambitions." http://bit.ly/gvApOd
AP: "Russia has not yet decided whether to accept Iran's invitation to tour its nuclear sites, but believes that such a visit could help ease concerns about the Iranian nuclear program, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday. Iran invited several countries - including Russia, China and Hungary, which currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency - to tour the sites ahead of the next round of international talks on its disputed nuclear program, now set for Jan. 21-22 in Turkey... Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday that Moscow received Iran's invitation 'with interest,' but had some questions about the proposed tour and was discussing them with the Iranians before making a decision." http://wapo.st/fIyVso
Bloomberg: "Iran's average daily demand for gasoline has fallen by 13 percent, three weeks after the government quadrupled the price of subsidized fuel, the Oil Ministry reported. Daily gasoline consumption last week averaged 55.4 million liters (14.6 million gallons), compared with 63.9 million liters the day before the Dec. 19 price increase, the ministry's official news website Shana reported. Iranians now pay 4,000 rials (40 cents) a liter for 50 liters a month and 7,000 rials a liter for larger volumes. They previously paid a subsidized price of 1,000 rials a liter for a monthly maximum of 60 liters." http://bit.ly/eSH2WF
AP: "A charity based in Portland and its founder have pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges involving an alleged violation of a U.S. embargo against Iran. Federal prosecutors said Monday that 53-year-old Mehrdad Yasrebi founded the tax-exempt charity Child Foundation in 1994 and served as its chief executive until his resignation last year. Yasrebi and the charity were charged with conspiring with Ahmad Iranshahi and a Texas couple, Dr. Hossein Lahiji and Najmeh Vahid, who face separate charges. Yasrebi and the Child Foundation were accused of conspiring to defraud the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the federal agency enforcing the Iranian embargo." http://wapo.st/hFCVBT
Human Rights
CNN: "The United States said Monday it is 'dismayed' by the 11-year prison term reportedly handed down for an Iranian human rights lawyer and urged her immediate release. Nasrin Sotoudeh's sentence included five years for 'acting against national security,' another five years for not wearing a hijab -- a headscarf worn by Muslim women -- during a videotaped message, and an additional year for 'propaganda against the regime,' the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported over the weekend. In a statement released Monday evening, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley called Sotoudeh 'a strong voice for rule of law and justice in Iran.' 'The United States strongly condemns the unjust and harsh verdict against human rights activist and respected lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh in Iran, and calls for her immediate release,' Crowley said." http://bit.ly/fTtSTa
LAT: "The sentencing of a leading Iranian human rights lawyer to 11 years in prison has resulted in a chorus of international condemnation... A representative of France's Foreign Ministry said Monday that Sotoudeh's sentence was 'deeply shocking' and called for her release. 'The only known fault of Nasrin Sotoudeh is of specializing in the defense of human rights, particularly those of women, minors and journalists,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. After Sotoudeh's arrest, her case was taken up by fellow activists and even Britain's ambassador in Tehran, moves that appear to have further enraged authorities." http://lat.ms/eaBSG1
Opinion & Analysis
Ilan Berman in WSJ: "Are Iran's democratic stirrings truly a thing of the past? Ever since the so-called Green Movement coalesced in the wake of the country's fraudulent June 2009 presidential vote, Western observers have rushed to write its epitaph. Over the past year, more than a few Iran watchers have argued that the internal contradictions within Iran's opposition movement doom it to failure and that, as a result, Washington has no alternative but to engage with Iran's ayatollahs. Similarly, some media outlets, in reporting the Green Movement's lackluster showing during Ashura celebrations in mid-December, have suggested that Iran's once-vibrant democracy drive has run out of gas. Still others have concluded that, at least when it comes to mobilization and mass protest, the Green Movement should now be considered largely defunct. But is it? Unquestionably, the wave of opposition that swept over Iran in the summer of 2009 has receded significantly. Organizationally, Iranian democrats' lack of sustained leadership and the absence of a unifying common vision have served to undermine their long-term cohesion. Practically, these opposition activists gradually have been cowed into passivity by the widespread brutality of the regime's domestic militia, the Basij. Any yet, if the Iranian government's recent machinations are any indication, the powers-that-be in Tehran are far less certain than are Western foreign-policy experts that Iran's democratic impulses have withered on the vine." http://on.wsj.com/hcVXvY
Fredrik Dahl in Reuters: "Sanctions and possible sabotage may be slowing Iran's nuclear drive, making it less likely Israel will try to launch military strikes against the Islamic Republic's atomic sites, at least for now. Technical glitches and other woes for Iran's uranium enrichment programme could also help create more space for diplomatic efforts by major powers to convince Tehran to curb work the West fears is aimed at making bombs. 'I do believe people are a bit more relaxed now ... the technical problems the Iranians have are much more severe than expected,' Oliver Thraenert, senior fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said. 'It appears that we have much more time for a diplomatic solution.' This could help ease persistent speculation in recent years that Iran's foes, especially Israel but also the United States, could soon resort to military action to prevent the major oil producer from acquiring nuclear weapons. Israel, whose jets bombed an Iraqi reactor in 1981 and what U.S. officials said was a Syrian nuclear facility in 2007, sees a nuclear-armed Iran as an 'existential threat' and has hinted it could use force to deny it the means to develop such arms. But Israeli intelligence assessments published last week said the Jewish state now believes Iran will not be able to produce a nuclear weapon before 2015 and that a top Israeli official had counselled against pre-emptive military steps. It signalled new confidence in U.S.-led sanctions and covert action designed to discourage or delay Iran's nuclear work." http://reut.rs/f3xwja
George Friedman in STRATFOR: "The P5+1 talks with Iran will resume Jan. 21-22. For those not tuned into the obscure jargon of the diplomatic world, these are the talks between the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia), plus Germany - hence, P5+1. These six countries will be negotiating with one country, Iran. The meetings will take place in Istanbul under the aegis of yet another country, Turkey. Turkey has said it would only host this meeting, not mediate it. It will be difficult for Turkey to stay in this role. The Iranians have clearly learned from the North Koreans, who have turned their nuclear program into a framework for entangling five major powers (the United States, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea) into treating North Korea as their diplomatic equal. For North Korea, whose goal since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the absorption of China with international trade has come down to regime survival, being treated as a serious power has been a major diplomatic coup. The mere threat of nuclear weapons development has succeeded in doing that. When you step back and consider that North Korea's economy is among the most destitute of Third World countries and its nuclear capability is far from proven, getting to be the one being persuaded to talk with five major powers (and frequently refusing and then being coaxed) has been quite an achievement." http://bit.ly/fDAK8U
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