Top Stories
AFP: "A German computer security expert said Thursday he believes the United States and Israel's Mossad unleashed the malicious Stuxnet worm on Iran's nuclear program. 'My opinion is that the Mossad is involved,' Ralph Langner said while discussing his in-depth Stuxnet analysis at a prestigious TED conference in the Southern California city of Long Beach. 'But, the leading source is not Israel... There is only one leading source, and that is the United States.' There has been widespread speculation Israel was behind the Stuxnet worm that has attacked computers in Iran, and Tehran has blamed the Jewish state and the United States for the killing of two nuclear scientists in November and January. 'The idea behind Stuxnet computer worm is really quite simple,' Langner said. 'We don't want Iran to get the bomb.' The malicious code was crafted to stealthily take control of valves and rotors at an Iranian nuclear plant, according to Langner." http://t.uani.com/fDgLJP
WSJ: "Four years after a retired FBI agent mysteriously vanished inside Iran, U.S. officials have received irrefutable proof he is alive, a dramatic development that has sharply intensified secret negotiations to bring him home. The U.S. had lacked reliable information about whether Robert Levinson was alive or dead since he disappeared in March 2007 from the Iranian island of Kish. It remains unclear who exactly is holding Mr. Levinson or where he is, but the proof that he is alive is a hopeful sign in a case that had seemingly gone cold. The State Department issued a three-sentence statement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Thursday saying there were indications Mr. Levinson was in southwest Asia and asking Iran for help. Iran has repeatedly said it has no information about Mr. Levinson, but U.S. diplomats and investigators have long said they believed he was taken by Iranian government agents." http://t.uani.com/gi3cRN
AFP: "US officials have 'discussed' concerns that Venezuela may be breaching international sanctions on Iran, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Thursday. 'We have had discussions with Venezuela regarding the Iran Sanctions Act,' Crowley told reporters in referring to the US laws that places economic sanctions on firms doing business with Iran. Washington is closely examining whether Venezuela's cooperation with the Islamic republic on energy issues violates international sanctions on the Tehran regime over its nuclear program, which Western powers fear is a cover to build nuclear weapons. The scrutiny comes after Venezuela and Iran, two major oil producers and longtime US foes, signed 11 deals in Tehran focused on energy cooperation in October." http://t.uani.com/hO77XC
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
AP: "Prosecutors say an Arizona man has been sentenced to home confinement and probation for exporting items he thought were headed for Iran. Thirty-four-year-old Vikramaditya (vick-rah-mah-DEET-ya) Singh of Fountain Hills, Ariz. was sentenced this week to six months of home confinement, three years probation and a $100,000 fine. Prosecutors say Singh caused and attempted to cause the export to Iran, of digital microwave radios, without the required authorization from the Office of Foreign Asset Control." http://t.uani.com/evBGOX
Human Rights
Radio Farda: "Workers at two factories in Iran are reported to have protested their employment conditions in recent days, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. The protests drew in workers of the Alborz tire factory near Tehran and a major petrochemical plant in the northern city of Tabriz. A labor activist in Tehran who spoke on condition of anonymity told RFE/RL that several Alborz workers gathered in front of the factory on March 2 to protest unpaid wages. This followed a protest at the plant two days earlier, when hundreds of workers along with their families gathered in front of the factory, according to the opposition website Sahamnews." http://t.uani.com/fRoaQx
Domestic Politics
AFP: "The daughters of Mir Hossein Mousavi claimed Thursday they were barred from visiting him and their mother despite top judiciary officials saying Iran's opposition leader was at home and not jailed. In an open letter posted on Mousavi's website, Kaleme.com, the daughters said they were not allowed by security personnel to meet their parents when they went to the opposition leader's Tehran residence on Wednesday. 'We read the news that our parents are not under house arrest and they are not prisoners... which meant that we, their children, can see them,' the letter from the unnamed daughters said." http://t.uani.com/er3NRW
Foreign Affairs
AP: "George Steinbrenner often compared himself to powerful, iron-fisted leaders. Assuredly, the late New York Yankees owner never had the Iranian president in mind. An American diplomat did, calling Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the 'The George Steinbrenner of Iran' in a leaked U.S. cable detailing the president's meddling with his country's national soccer team. Steinbrenner's name showed up among the thousands of State Department documents released by Wikileaks... The confidential cable described how Ahmadinejad tried to use the popularity of Team Melli to improve his standing with the Iranian people ahead of the 2009 elections. The diplomat predicted the team's struggles could affect the president's results at the ballot box." http://t.uani.com/eWvVbA
Bloomberg: "Saudi Arabia has watched revolts unfold in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. When it comes to Bahrain, the world's largest oil exporter may not be a mere spectator. Protests on the neighboring island, where the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet guards Gulf oil supply, are being overshadowed by the challenge to Libya's Muammar Qaddafi. Yet they underscore the sectarian divide in the Muslim world between Shiites and Sunnis that puts Iran on one side and Saudi Arabia on the other in a region that holds about 55 percent of the world's crude. 'Saudi Arabia is concerned about the expansion of the Shiite crescent,' said Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis... 'Bahrain is the front line in the conflict between the Gulf states and Iran,' Alani said in a telephone interview." http://t.uani.com/hEyYFp
Opinion & Analysis
Dalia Dassa Kaye in WashPost: "The unprecedented revolts across the Middle East prompt an obvious question: Will Iran benefit from a new strategic order? From one perspective, it sure looks like it. Iran has allies in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria. Two longtime major American allies - Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia - are off the scene. Unrest is deepening in Bahrain, the Persian Gulf home to America's Fifth Fleet. But the emerging narrative of an Iranian win may be premature. The recent unrest may not be undermining U.S. policies toward Iran as much as some suggest, and Iran may have much to fear from the tumult in Middle East politics. Take, for instance, what's happened in Egypt. While Mubarak certainly viewed Iran with alarm, Egypt's role in countering Iran was limited to assisting the blockade of Gaza, a failing policy that certainly was not the linchpin to curbing Iran's influence. Egypt's regional clout has been declining steadily for years, as Mubarak's regime focused inward, on domestic troubles, and smaller Arab states such as Qatar assumed more activist roles in regional diplomacy... Moreover, uprisings in the Arab world have revitalized Iran's opposition movement, which many had left for dead. Since the unrest following Tehran's disputed presidential election in 2009, Iranian hard-liners have been consolidating their control within the regime and are holding on to power through brute force. Now the regime is facing more internal pressure than many thought possible just weeks ago... In light of their recent experiences, new Arab leaders and restive populations may find the Islamic Republic's repression of its people repulsive. Indeed, it may be easier to forge a more genuine anti-Iran coalition in the Arab world based on support for opposition forces fighting for reforms, human rights and freedoms than by trying to build a coalition based on military agreements with leaders who lacked legitimacy. Over the past decade, and certainly since Saddam Hussein was removed from Iran's enemies list, Iranian regional influence has increased as U.S. leverage has declined. Iran will try to capitalize on recent events to further this trend. But the United States, too, could capitalize on recent changes and the widespread desire for democratic reforms among Middle Eastern youth. Standing with the people isn't just consistent with American democratic values. It's also good strategy in blunting Iranian influence." http://t.uani.com/gIXePJ
Haroon Siddiqui in the Toronto Star: "The 2011 Arab Awakening had a Persian beginning, in Iran's Twitter Revolution of 2009. That uprising against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rigged presidential election was brutally beaten back by the clerical regime. But it's back in the streets and facing yet another crackdown. Can it topple the ruling ayatollahs? In the long run, yes. The prospects for democracy in Iran are much stronger than elsewhere in the region. But for now, the Green Movement faces daunting challenges. Unlike Libya, Tunisia, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, etc. - artificial constructs with boundaries drawn in the sand by colonials - Farsi-speaking Iran is a distinct and historic civilization. And while Egypt dates back to antiquity, its modern rulers, like so many in the Arab world, have been propped up by outsiders. What happens in Iran is indigenous. Outsiders have little influence - in particular, the U.S. Iran does not get foreign aid, nor is it dependant on western tourism. What the Arab masses are doing now, the Iranians did 30 years ago. (That doesn't mean the Arab revolts will descend into clerical despotism. There's no appetite for it anywhere). The Iranian mass movement is as non-violent and inter-religious as the Arab ones. But unlike them, it has a history. And leadership. And deep roots in a civil society that's stronger than any in the region. Its discourse - led by writers, poets, filmmakers, theologians - is highly literate and sophisticated, its slogans redolent of religious and political history, its insults sugar-coated in couplets from Rumi, Saadi and Hafez. It has a strong feminist component as well, with perhaps the most vibrant websites and blogs challenging centuries-old male readings and interpretation of religious texts and Islamic laws. But the movement faces an entrenched and sophisticated enemy. More than just being ruthless - as Hosni Mubarak's and Moammar Gadhafi's autocracies - Iran's mullahcracy is layered." http://t.uani.com/e6UBkG
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment