Top Stories
WSJ: "White House concerns that Iran's hand is being strengthened by recent events in the Middle East is central to its response to the turmoil, say U.S., European, and Arab officials. President Barack Obama's decision last week to use military force against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces was made in part by his administration's fear that Western inaction could further embolden Tehran, these officials say. Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia and Iran's Shiite government are locked in a battle for regional influence. U.S. military planners are also concerned Iran could benefit from an overthrow of the monarchy in Bahrain, home to U.S. naval operations that help control the Persian Gulf's oil flow. In Yemen, too, Washington's closest Arab allies, in particular Saudi Arabia, are worried the potential overthrow of President Ali Abdullah Saleh could strengthen Iran in the region." http://t.uani.com/hAL400
AFP: "Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei used his new year's message on Monday to slam the military intervention in Libya, back regional revolts, and accuse US President Barack Obama of lying. 'The US and Western (allies) claim they want to defend the people by carrying out military operations or by entering Libya... You did not come to defend the people, you've come after Libyan oil,' Khamenei said in a live broadcast from the holy city of Mashhad. 'Iran utterly condemns the behaviour of the Libyan government against its people, the killings and pressure on people, and the bombing of its cities... but it (also) condemns the military action in Libya,' he said." http://t.uani.com/eyxles
Reuters: "The United States expects Iran to take advantage of unrest in the Middle East, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said on Monday. 'We do expect that Iran will try to take advantage of events,' Rhodes said. 'We always monitor very closely.' Rhodes said Iran had shown an 'extraordinary level of hypocrisy' by expressing support for reform movements in the Arab world while engaging in a 'brutal crackdown' on its own protesters." http://t.uani.com/eZmgca
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
YnetNews: "Weapons were found on an Iranian cargo plane forced to land in southeast Turkey on Saturday, Turkish media reported Tuesday. According to reports, the arms plane left Tehran with military ammunition for Syria. Several crates containing weapons and ammunition were removed from the aircraft. Turkish media reported that the plane was forced to land in a military airfield at the United Nations' request following information indicating it was carrying nuclear materials. It was further reported that rocket launchers, mortars, rifles and explosive materials were found in one of the main cabinets on the plane." http://t.uani.com/e4cVvh
AFP: "An alleged Iranian Revolutionary Guard member on trial over a weapons shipment seized in Lagos told authorities he did not have a licence to export arms, a statement read at his trial said Monday. 'My IGTCC (International General Trading and Construction Company), registered in Gambia, does not have import licence by Iranian government or Nigerian government to import or export arms to Nigeria or the Gambia or any other country,' Azim Aghajani, 44, said in his statement read out in court. The statement was made at the secret police headquarters in Abuja on February 11, the court was told. The suspect, along with his Nigerian co-accused, Ali Abbas Jega, are standing trial over the alleged illegal importation of rockets, explosives and grenades seized at a Lagos port in October." http://t.uani.com/i9aXm3
Domestic Politics
LAT: "So what did Iranians think of Obama's speech? Babylon & Beyond asked people in Tehran. Ehsan, 24 , an engineer: 'First of all, it is in Obama's interest to boost his popularity among Iranians both in Iran and abroad, especially those Iranian expatriates based in the U.S. Secondly, his speech will lift the spirits of Iranians who are in the opposition camp. But on the whole, the Iranian Islamic regime does not care about the speech, and it may even provide some pretext for more suppression. They may say 'Aha, look, we've already said [the opposition protesters] are stooges of America, the great Satan.' Anyway, the speech is good lip service to reform in Iran, and it might be remembered in the collective psyche of Iranians... and it's good public relations." http://t.uani.com/hzv3H8
FT: "Iran has bought large amounts of gold in the international market, according to a senior Bank of England official, in a sign of how growing political pressure has driven Tehran to reduce its exposure to the US dollar. Andrew Bailey, head of banking at the Bank of England, told an American official that the central bank had observed 'significant moves by Iran to purchase gold', according to a US diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks and seen by the Financial Times. Mr Bailey said the gold buying 'was an attempt by Iran to protect its reserves from risk of seizure'. Market observers believe Tehran has been one of the biggest buyers of bullion over the past decade after China, Russia and India, and is among the 20 largest holders of gold reserves." http://t.uani.com/hZguKT
FT: "A decision by a leading publishing house to close a bookshop in central Tehran has sparked uproar among Iran's readers and media. The store in Karimkhan Street, which has been a haven for middle-class readers for about three decades, is reportedly due to become a coffee shop. The street houses about 15 bookshops, many of them owned by noted publishers such as Cheshmeh, Vistar and Sales... Authors and publishers identify growing pressure from departments of state, especially since Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad became president in 2005. Censors tend to target works of literature, philosophy, social science and politics, which may cross ill-defined 'red lines'. The authorities tend to be less concerned by school and university textbooks, non-academic psychological and religious books." http://t.uani.com/gcjnPm
Opinion & Analysis
Eli Lake in WT: "President Obama has reversed course on his administration's policy of limiting criticism of Iran's human rights abuses, speaking out Sunday in support of imprisoned dissidents seeking democracy in the Islamic republic... The 2011 Nowruz message contrasted sharply with the more conciliatory tone of the one Mr. Obama delivered on March 20, 2009. In that message, he said, 'On the occasion of your new year, I want you, the people and leaders of Iran, to understand the future that we seek. It's a future with renewed exchanges among our people, and greater opportunities for partnership and commerce.' The Obama administration has launched several diplomatic gambits since 2009 aimed at reaching out to the Tehran government, which took power in 1979 by ousting the shah, a longtime U.S. ally, in an Islamic revolution... The White House is still hoping for successful negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. The last meeting between U.S. and Iranian diplomats on the issue took place in January in Istanbul. Mohsen Sazegara, an Iranian dissident who helped found Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1979 and is now at the George W. Bush Institute at Southern Methodist University, said he is pleased with the change in tone from the White House. 'I think his message for Nowruz was a good one,' he said. 'It was quite different than a few years ago, when he sent the letter to Khamenei. I like that he named the names from every part of the opposition.' Mr. Sazegara added, 'I think President Obama has learned to support democracy.' Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the 2011 Nowruz message was the strongest language from Mr. Obama regarding human rights in Iran. 'The message was one of engagement with the Iranian people, not their government,' he said. Mr. Sadjadpour added: 'I think the White House appears no longer interested in making conciliatory overtures to a regime that is unwilling or incapable of reciprocating them.'" http://t.uani.com/h187a5
Ilan Berman in Forbes: "Is President Obama finally learning to love the idea of freedom in Iran? If the Administration's Persian New Year message is any indication, it is certainly starting to seem that way. That video greeting, issued on March 20th to mark Nowruz, took a serious stand in support of Iran's opposition forces-and against its repressive regime... That's a world apart from the Administration's previous Nowruz pronouncements, which have systematically reinforced the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic while skirting meaningful engagement with its captive population. And it suggests that, at long last, the White House has begun to realize that our problem with Iran has a great deal to do with the extremist religious ideology that prevails among its rulers. But what, exactly, can the United States do about it? So far, policymakers in Washington have shown precious little interest in understanding what makes the Islamic Republic tick, or identifying the best way by which the West can undermine it. Rather, for years, America and its allies have tried in vain to alter Iran's behavior, proffering diplomatic carrots and brandishing economic sticks in a futile attempt to moderate its policies without addressing the corrosive ideology that undergirds them. Here, a better understanding of Iranian history and culture can help. More than fifty years ago, the American philosopher Eric Hoffer famously observed that ideological mass movements, by their nature, are inherently competitive. They draw their adherents from the same groups of people, and hold out the same appeal of a different political order to their recruits. Therefore, Hoffer postulated, 'The problem of stopping a mass movement is often a matter of substituting one movement for another.' The current Iranian leadership understands this very well. It is the reason why, since taking power in the late 1970s, Iran's religious revolutionaries have waged a persistent ideological war on Persian culture and nationalism." http://t.uani.com/eMn50g
Benny Avni in the New York Post: "'I am with you,' President Obama said Sunday in his now-annual address for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. This time, however, he sidestepped the ruling ayatollahs he once tried to lure into 'engagement' and instead urged 'the young people of Iran' to imitate others in the region and rise up against their oppressors. Better late than never? Obama must realize that he's now in the regime-change business. Yes, that same enterprise he has dismissed so cavalierly since becoming a US senator. Deferring to the United Nations as he launched a Libya airstrike over the weekend only obscured his flip. Yes, the Security Council resolution defined the mission as an attempt to 'protect civilians,' and Obama's aides declare that removing Moammar Khadafy from power isn't part of their mission. But unless the Libyan tyrant is forced to 'leave' (as Obama said he must), no defense of civilians can realistically be sustained. And as Obama's switch on Iran shows us, this won't end with Libya. In the war for the Mideast's soul, the world will increasingly expect America to lead. Yet Libya, led by a universally hated madman, is easy compared to Iran -- which many Muslims revere, even as others hate it. The mullahs see themselves, and are still seen by many others (including Islamist Sunni rivals), as a model for the Mideast's future, one that's the antithesis of our hopes for the region. Worse, Tehran started building a winning momentum long before the December uprising in Tunisia that unleashed the rolling challenge to the decades-old regional order. Nor does that upheaval slow Iran's nuclear-weapons progress... Obama must do much more than issue the occasional Persian holiday greeting. Ultimately, the ayatollah regime must end. But even before that, we must return America's -- and the world's -- gaze to Iran's nuclear threat. Obama must reiterate and make sure the mullahs know it, too: that 'all options' mean all options. Because adding Iranian nukes to a Mideast already aflame would be much more catastrophic than losing just another battle for Arab democracy." http://t.uani.com/g8Po3Y
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