Top Stories
AP: "The militant Islamic Hamas group that rules Gaza has recovered from a war against Israel two years ago and looks 'much like an army,' thanks in part to direct assistance from Iranian and Hezbollah agents operating in the Gaza Strip, a senior Israeli military official has told The Associated Press. The official said Hamas now has a 'vast amount' of anti-tank and anti-aircraft rockets, a 'very big arsenal' of rockets that can strike deep inside Israel and a sophisticated communications system. He did not give numbers to back up his claims. He says Hamas could not develop this expertise without foreign help. The official, a senior officer in Israel's Southern Command, spoke to The Associated Press late Wednesday on condition of anonymity under military guidelines barring publication of his name." http://t.uani.com/hLBts2
AFP: "Agence France-Presse deputy bureau chief in Tehran was expelled on Friday by Iranian authorities, who gave no official explanation for their decision. Jay Deshmukh, a 40-year-old Indian national who had been in the country since January 2009, was stripped of his press card along with 10 other correspondents on February 15, a day after a major Tehran protest. The demonstration was the most significant one in the Iranian capital in a year and was covered by AFP and most of the international media. 'Jay is a highly professional and experienced journalist. His expulsion is incomprehensible and unacceptable,' said AFP global news director Philippe Massonnet." http://t.uani.com/dX4Nf6
Reuters: "Iran will issue 3 billion euros worth of bonds domestically to develop its giant South Pars Gas field in the south of the country, an official said on Friday, according to the Oil Ministry's website SHANA. 'From Saturday, for five days we will issue bonds inside the country for the first time in order to develop the gas field,' Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Qalebani said. Iran has the world's second-largest gas reserves after Russia but international sanctions on the country over its disputed nuclear plans and other factors have slowed the development of exports." http://t.uani.com/hQO67O
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
Orlando Sentinel: "Four members of one family have been charged with agreeing to sell 22 jet engines that were supposed to go to Iran, an embargoed nation, federal authorities say. Felipe Echeverri and three of his relatives were charged this month with conspiring to sell the aircraft engines for $320,000 and help export them from Miami to Iran, violating U.S. embargo laws, according to a criminal complaint in federal court. 'Directly or indirectly' exporting goods or technology to Iran is illegal because Iranian government actions and policies have been considered a threat to U.S. national security since the 1990s, the complaint said." http://t.uani.com/hZp58W
Human Rights
European Parliament: "The execution of Dutch-Iranian citizen Zahra Bahrami was firmly condemned by Parliament in a resolution voted on Thursday. Future EU relations with Iran - including possible further sanctions - should focus not only on the nuclear dispute but also on human rights abuses since the 2009 presidential elections, they added. Firmly condemning the execution of Dutch-Iranian national Zahra Bahrami in Tehran on 29 January, MEPs are 'dismayed that the Iranian authorities denied consular access to Ms Bahrami and did not ensure a transparent and fair judicial process', says the resolution, drafted by Bastiaan Belder (EFD, NL). MEPs also call on EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Catherine Ashton to raise the cases of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and Zahra Bahrami with the Iranian authorities. MEPs believe that the time has come for the EU to devise a new, broader, strategy towards Iran, which goes beyond the nuclear issue and addresses Iran's human rights record and regional role, say MEPs, who call on EU foreign ministers to impose sanctions targeting Iranian officials responsible for serious human rights abuses since the disputed presidential election of June 2009, in line with similar measures taken by the USA last September." http://t.uani.com/gzAMoe
Domestic Politics
Reuters: "Iranian security forces have killed three people in the western province of Kurdistan who were behind an attack on a group of environmental workers, the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday. IRNA said the three had killed four environmental workers near the city of Sanandaj last Friday. 'Three terrorists ... were killed in clashes with security forces Wednesday night. Another terrorist was also injured and later arrested,' it said. Security forces in the west of Iran often clash with guerrillas from PJAK, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which took up arms in 1984 for an autonomous ethnic state in southeast Turkey and shelters in Iraq's northeastern border provinces." http://t.uani.com/hfXLgX
Foreign Affairs
Haaretz: "The United States will suffer the same defeat as that experienced by despotic Mideast regimes, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying by Iran's Fars news agency on Thursday, as the country's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared the era of worldwide 'hegemonic powers' was over. In a meeting with Iranian officials in Tehran, Khamenei, referring to recent Mideast turmoil, which had seen regimes changes in both Tunisia and Egypt, said that it was God's will that the United States would too be defeated by what he sees as an Islamic revolution. 'Not only corrupted and despotic rulers but the United States and other world powers with an aggressive nature will finally suffer a defeat by nations and God's promises will come true,' Khamenei said." http://t.uani.com/dX6DTb
Opinion & Analysis
Peters Brookes in the NYPost: "With the turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East obsessing world leaders and the public, Iran has used the distraction to up its involvement in Afghanistan a notch. News broke this week that NATO forces last month seized some 50 Iranian rockets concealed in a truck convoy. The weapons were on their way to the Taliban in support of its expected spring offensive. The 122mm rockets are significant in that they are the most powerful, and have the greatest range, of any weapons that Iran has passed to the Taliban so far -- as best we know, of course. The rockets, while not known for their accuracy, allow the Taliban to target US and Coalition forces over the horizon from some 15 miles away. They could also be used as terror weapons against population centers. The Taliban also reportedly visited Tehran recently to ask for even more lethal weapons, including portable surface-to-air missiles for use against aircraft, including more vulnerable helicopters. But Iranian involvement in Afghanistan and support for the Taliban -- a one-time enemy of Tehran -- is not new. Iran has been working to bloody our nose there for years. Publicly, Tehran plays nice with the Afghan government, including the passing of vast amounts of cash to buy influence, while hedging against a number of possible outcomes in Afghanistan. But Afghanistan is just one of the pieces that Iran is playing on the chessboard in its shadowy game to dominate the region. Unfortunately, the game seems to be going the mullahs' way at the moment. They've seen Arab adversaries in places like Egypt fall. And, depending on how things play out in Cairo, the Camp David Accords -- which have kept the peace between Israel and Egypt for decades -- could be broken." http://t.uani.com/f8NrA2
Jacob Dayan in HuffPo: "We've all seen it before. It's the fourth quarter of the championship basketball game. With only seconds left the winning team aimlessly passes or dribbles the ball mid-court to run out the clock. When it comes to international relations the game is not so dissimilar. With a deftness that we are accustomed to only in competitive sports, the high stakes game of international diplomacy is fast-paced and combative. With definite winners and losers, the score can shift dramatically from one moment to the next, and the leading team can lose its advantage with one misstep. That's why the coach always says, 'keep your eye on the ball.' That's wisdom we should all remember today as we look at the shifting balance of power in the Middle East. Watching the changes over the last several weeks in Tunisia, Egypt, and now Libya, we see historic events taking shape. On the road to the future this moment in time offers the people of the Middle East many divergent routes. While Israel stands as the singular example of true democracy in the region we also champion the universal principles of freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship, and equal rights for all regardless of race or ethnicity. Those who have fought and toppled their governments in an effort to secure these fundamental rights must choose their future path carefully and the international community must be vigilant, always keeping its eyes on the ball. The context of these recent events is critical while we focus our attention on a key influential player: the Islamic Republic of Iran. Bottom-up regime change in these states brings with it great risk for future stability, especially considering the predatory tendencies of Iran. It is no coincidence that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently urged Middle East leaders to listen to their people and heed calls for change. For President Ahmadinejad a change in decades-old leadership offers a new opportunity for expansion, with weak or failing states serving as prime targets for a new Islamic franchise." http://t.uani.com/fBnGWm
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment