Top Stories
WSJ: "Egypt's uprising has captivated the Arab world, but in Iran-fresh from its own outpouring of antigovernment unrest-backers of the regime and supporters of the beleaguered opposition are competing for credit for inspiring the demonstrations in Cairo. Protests in Egypt calling for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak have also reinvigorated Iran's opposition, triggering calls to regroup... But on Sunday, the main student activist website, Daneshjoo News, issued a statement calling for a big opposition demonstration on the anniversary of the Islamic Republic on Feb. 12th. Bloggers also are calling on opposition leaders to rejoin the fray. 'The democracy movement we started is spreading in the region and today we are witnessing the awakening of the Arabs. It's time for us to once again join hands and prove to the world that dictatorship must end,' the Daneshjoo News statement said." http://uani.com/grfsrM
NYT: "Hopeful that the protests sweeping Arab lands may create an opening for hard-line Islamic forces, conservatives in Iran are taking deep satisfaction in the events in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, where secular leaders have faced large-scale uprisings. While the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confronted its own popular uprising two years ago - and successfully suppressed it - conservatives in Iran said they saw little similarity between those events and the Arab revolts, and instead likened the recent upheavals to Iran's own 1979 Islamic revolution. 'In my opinion, the Islamic Republic of Iran should see these events without exception in a positive light,' said Mohammad-Javad Larijani, secretary general of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights and one of the most outspoken figures among Iran's traditional conservatives." http://uani.com/g9UjrC
AP: "The Dutch government froze official contacts with Iran on Saturday to protest the hanging of a Dutch-Iranian woman, the Foreign Ministry said. Iranian Ambassador Gharib Abadi was informed of the sanctions after he confirmed reports that Zahra Bahrami, 45, was executed in Tehran Saturday. His embassy later said the hanging was 'an internal issue' that should have no impact on diplomatic relations. Iranian state television reported Bahrami was hanged for possessing and selling drugs. The report said that initially Bahrami was arrested for committing 'security crimes,' but it did not say what became of that case. Bahrami had been jailed in Iran since December 2009 after protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election." http://uani.com/gUiyBy
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
WSJ: "Tehran will face renewed international pressure over its involvement in arms smuggling when a trial scheduled to start today in Nigeria is set to reveal details of a botched Iranian operation to supply weapons to guerrillas in West Africa. Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747, which was passed in 2007, Iran is banned from the purchase or export of weapons. But a detailed investigation by Western intelligence officials following the seizure of weapons at the Nigerian port of Apapa last October has exposed a well-coordinated plot by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to supply a number of Islamic rebel groups in West Africa. These include Muslim militants in northern Nigeria and other militias battling the government in Lagos for a bigger share of the lucrative oil revenues from the Niger delta. Some of the weapons, which comprised rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and assault rifles, were also destined for rebel groups based in Senegal and Gambia. They were concealed in a cargo of construction materials in 13 shipping containers." http://uani.com/i4taEn
RCP: "If former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty decides, as expected, to run for president in 2012, he likely will talk about a unique national security qualification from 2007 in which he nudged an Indian company to drop its plans to invest in Iran. The 50-year-old Republican embarked on a trade mission to India in late October of 2007 to meet executives from Essar Group, a Mumbai-based international conglomerate that had just acquired Minnesota Steel the week before. Essar was moving forward with plans to construct North America's first mine-to-steelmaking plant in Minnesota's Iron Range, a venture worth $1.65 billion that would create about 700 permanent jobs. The new facility is under construction now and scheduled to reach capacity in 2012; it is estimated to bring in 2,000 additional construction jobs, as well as spinoff jobs. But there was a hitch: A U.S. Commerce Department official phoned Pawlenty during the trip to notify him of a Reuters report that had surfaced a few days earlier about Essar's potential investment in a $10 billion oil refinery in Iran. Had Essar pursued the investment, it likely would have meant the company was in violation of the Iran Sanctions Act. So it was Pawlenty who delivered the message to Essar that because of terrorist activity associated with Iran, it would not be permissible for the Indian company to do business in both countries. And within four days of Pawlenty's notice, Essar capitulated by way of a letter stating the company would abandon those interests in Iran, giving the Minnesotan a critical foreign policy line for his resume in the race for the White House." http://uani.com/fPWh9Y
AFP: "Iran said on Sunday it will showcase what it called a new range of rockets and satellites during annual celebrations marking the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic revolution. Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Safir 1-B and Kavoshgar 4 rockets and Rasad and Fajr satellites would be unveiled during the 10-day celebrations that start on Tuesday, according to state television website. Iran will mark on February 11 the 32nd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution which toppled the US-backed shah. Every year Tehran uses the occasion to tout its scientific and technological achievements." http://uani.com/fLeABV
Commerce
RIA Novosti: "Iran and Armenia have agreed to build a pipeline to carry Iranian oil derivatives to Armenia. The agreement was reached between Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi and Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan in Tehran on Saturday. A timeframe has yet to be set on the pipeline from the northwestern city of Tabriz to the Armenian border. Mirkazemi said the volume of exports of oil products will be finalized in the near future." http://uani.com/hgJ2M3
Human Rights
AFP: "Iranian courts on Sunday sentenced two people to death for running porn sites, prosecutor general Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said, quoted on the Islamic republic's official IRNA news agency. 'Two administrators of porn sites have been sentenced to death in two different (court) branches and (the verdicts) have been sent to the supreme court for confirmation,' Dolatabadi said, without naming the two convicts. Last December, Canada expressed concern over the reported death sentence handed down to an Iranian-born Canadian resident for allegedly designing an adult website. Saeed Malekpour, 35, was convicted of 'designing and moderating adult content websites,' 'agitation against the regime' in Tehran, and 'insulting the sanctity of Islam,' according to an online campaign calling for his release." http://uani.com/iaaQNQ
Reuters: "An American woman who was freed after more than a year in an Iranian jail on suspicion of spying has been summoned back to attend trial, the official IRNA news agency reported Monday. Sarah Shourd, 32, was arrested in July 2009 along with two male friends, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal who are still in jail in Iran. Shourd, who may opt to not return, a move which would delay any trial of Bauer and Fattal, said the trio were hiking in the mountains area of Iraq near the Iranian border and never intended to cross into Iran." http://uani.com/gtZ1VY
Reuters: "Iranians have found their access to major news websites even more restricted than usual as more foreign sites were blocked by a government filter, Reuters witnesses observed on Monday. Yahoo News and Reuters.com, both usually accessible in Iran, were unavailable, joining other long-blocked news sites such as the BBC and social networks Facebook and Twitter as beyond the reach of Iranians using a standard Internet connection. There was no official confirmation of new Internet restrictions. One Iranian government official contacted by Reuters said authorities were 'looking into the source of the problem' to remove it." http://uani.com/e1Dsnz
Domestic Politics
AP: "Iran's opposition leader expressed hope Saturday that protests engulfing Egypt can bring the kind of change that has so far evaded his own country. Mir Hossein Mousavi compared the uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen with the protest movement that followed the 2009 disputed presidential election in Iran. Mousavi, who claims to have been the real victor in the vote, said Iran's protest movement was the starting point but all aimed at ending the 'oppression of the rulers.'" http://uani.com/eaIllR
Reuters: "Iran's parliament on Sunday narrowly approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's choice of Ali Akbar Salehi as foreign minister after his predecessor was abruptly sacked during an official visit to Africa last year. The lawmakers' verdict on Salehi is seen as a test of the hardline president's support in parliament, after his disputed re-election in 2009 which caused a rift among the country's hardline rulers. 'Salehi secured the vote of confidence from the legislative body by getting 146 votes,' parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said. Parliament has 294 seats and 243 MPs were present for the vote on Sunday. The vote in favour of Salehi will be a relief to Ahmadinejad, who has faced growing criticism from lawmakers who mainly accuse him of concentrating power in his own hands and riding roughshod over the views of lawmakers." http://uani.com/dVM7Es
Reuters: "Iran briefly detained a son of an opposition leader on Saturday for criticising the government, the opposition Sahamnews website reported. 'Mohammad Hossein Karoubi was arrested today for disclosing information about the Kahrizak detention centre (where at least three detained anti-government protesters were killed),' said Sahamnews. In a later dispatch, it added: 'The son of Mr Karoubi has been released after answering some questions.'" http://uani.com/hlDjJs
Opinion & Analysis
Ambassador Mark D. Wallace in the New York Daily News: "In the next few weeks, Mayor Bloomberg's office is expected to announce the results of the Taxi of Tomorrow campaign. The winning vehicle design will become the exclusive New York City taxicab for at least a decade. In making this decision, officials are looking at obvious features like safety, comfort and reliability. But there is one question they have yet to consider: Do the values of the competing companies reflect the values of most New Yorkers? Many might be surprised to learn that two of the three finalists in the campaign, Karsan and Nissan, have had significant business dealings in Iran. Nissan has had a long partnership with Iranian car manufacturer Pars Khodro. They make no attempt to hide their business relationship, advertising it on their respective websites. Turkish auto company Karsan has partnered for several years with Iranian manufacturers, including the National Iranian Gas Co. Why should this matter to New Yorkers? Because companies doing business in Iran may well be facilitating Tehran's ability to acquire a nuclear weapon, oppress the democratic aspirations of its people and sponsor terrorism. The Iranian government directly profits from companies doing business in key sectors such oil and gas, which are controlled by the state." http://uani.com/gaHkDT
Thomas Joscelyn and Michael Ledeen in WT: "'How do you deal with al Qaeda?' former British Prime Minister Tony Blair asked rhetorically during a public hearing in London earlier this month. Mr. Blair quickly answered his own question: 'You can't deal with them unless you deal with the bigger picture, which includes Iran.' For many in the West, Mr. Blair's words must have seemed odd. After all, we've been told over and over again that Iran's mullahs and al Qaeda come from opposing versions of Islam that are so irreconcilable they cannot cooperate even in the face of common enemies. Mr. Blair knows better. For the second time in less than a year, Mr. Blair told the British Parliament's inquiry into the Iraq war that al Qaeda and Iran are allies. He learned this the hard way. From 2003 to 2007, when Mr. Blair left office, the British military repeatedly produced intelligence reports pointing to al Qaeda and Iran as the authors of Iraq's most deadly terrorist attacks. 'This was the game-changer,' Mr. Blair said. Without al Qaeda and Iran continually escalating the violence, Iraq would have been 'manageable,' but their actions 'almost tipped Iraq into the abyss.' Not only were British intelligence analysts surprised to learn that Iran and al Qaeda both had designs on Iraq, they were shocked to learn that the two worked in tandem." http://uani.com/e7173l
Jamsheed K. Choksy in World Politics Review: "Negotiators from the P5+1 countries and Iran failed to reach a breakthrough in Istanbul last week at the latest round of talks over Iran's nuclear program. Nevertheless, it seems that, once again, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants to keep negotiations alive with his seemingly never-ending bazaar-style haggling. The reason is simple: Ahmadinejad's administration requires a positive outcome, at least on paper, so that the U.S., its European allies and the United Nations Security Council lift the debilitating economic sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic. So despite last week's stalemate, the latest of many, Ahmadinejad is dangling the carrot of compromise to lure the West back to the table. In doing so, he has little to lose and much to gain. After all, for the West, signing a deal with Iran is only the first hurdle -- enforcing it within Iran will be an even greater battle. Ahmadinejad's expectation seems to be that, if only he can get both the P5+1 and his domestic political rivals to go along with a deal, he can have his Yazdi cookie -- the Iranian equivalent of the proverbial cake -- and eat it too. So, on Jan. 23, Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted public statements by both Ahmadinejad and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, who represented Tehran in Istanbul on Jan. 21-22, as saying that the meeting should not be seen in a negative light. They cast the outcome as simply one more maneuver in ongoing multilateral discussions. Ahmadinejad announced to a crowd at the Caspian port city of Rasht, 'Future rounds of talks between Iran and the [P5+1] could yield a good agreement.' Interestingly, the same news report also provided the bluntly negative assessments of the talks made by Western representatives." http://uani.com/eD69Kf
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