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WashPost: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received a public rebuff Wednesday when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, confirmed that the intelligence minister, whom Ahmadinejad had dismissed Sunday, is to keep his job. In a letter carried by all Iranian news agencies, Khamenei told Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi and his officials to 'continue their work,' effectively ending three days of uncertainty over Moslehi's fate and the reasons for his apparently forced resignation. It is rare for Khamenei, who generally supports the government's policies, to step in and modify the president's decisions. In a keynote speech marking the beginning of the Iranian new year in March, Iran's supreme leader publicly praised the government for implementing bold economic changes. The controversy over the key ministry post has flared against a backdrop of public tension about what high-ranked officials described as the growing influence of Ahmadinejad's closest aide, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, in the country's affairs." http://t.uani.com/gtViUP
AFP: "Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah confirmed on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi that Iranian diplomats accused of spying have been expelled amid heightened Gulf tensions. 'We kicked them out,' Sheikh Mohammed told reporters on the sidelines of a Gulf Cooperation Council-EU ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi when asked about Iranian diplomats Kuwait had said it would expel. He did not provide their names, nor the number of diplomats who were kicked out. Iranian state television had previously said three of Tehran's diplomats and an embassy employee were expelled from Kuwait, but Sheikh Mohammed's remark on Wednesday was the first official confirmation from the Kuwaiti side. Sheikh Mohammed had said on March 31 that Iranian diplomats were to be expelled for alleged links to a spy ring working for Tehran, reportedly ever since the invasion of Iraq." http://t.uani.com/hEDIn2
FT: "Oil and gas-rich Iran may shrug off the impact of US and European Union sanctions over its nuclear programme, but at the country's annual oil and gas exhibition it is clear that the measures are having an effect on its hydrocarbons sector. At the opening ceremony of the 16th International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition, which ended on Tuesday, Iranian officials boasted that 10 American companies had defied sanctions to attend the event. Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, the country's first vice-president, even urged the oil ministry to award the companies contracts to show appreciation for the risks they had taken. But journalists and industry observers could find neither any American brands nor track down their front companies at the exhibition. Oil analysts believe the claims of US attendance, whether or not a bluff, are an illustration of the country's desperation for western investment and technology to develop and maintain its oil and gas fields... Ahmad Ghalehbani, head of the National Iranian Oil Company, for the first time admitted at the exhibition that the country's oil production had fallen by 25,000 barrels a day compared with a year ago, while independent analysts say Iran's oil production capacity has fallen to between 3.7m and 3.8m b/d from 4.2m b/d six years ago." http://t.uani.com/eAZLtm
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
AP: "Gov. Terry Branstad has signed a bill into law requiring that the state treasurer, public retirement systems and the board of regents not invest public funds with certain companies doing business in Iran. Branstad signed the measure Wednesday. It restricts directly investing state funds in companies that provide power production-related services, mineral extraction activities, oil-related activities or military equipment to the government of Iran. The measure encourages, but does not require, that funds not be indirectly invested in those same areas. The Legislatives Services Agency estimates the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System has between $11.9 million and $81.4 million invested in prohibited companies." http://t.uani.com/ihmvQK
Human Rights
AFP: "Human rights groups called Wednesday on the United Nations to protect an Iranian exiles' camp in Iraq, after a deadly Iraqi army raid. 'The UN has acknowledged the death of 34 people but no efficient measure of protection has been taken,' said Nils de Dardel, from the Swiss lobby group Committee of Solidarity With The Ashraf Camp, which is located in the north of Baghdad. 'The situation of Ashraf is very worrying. Military vehicles are still bringing their armies towards the camp,' said Behzad Naziri, member of the National Council of the Resistance of Iran, the main external opposition movement against the Iranian regime. Warning of potential new attacks by Iraqi forces in coming days or weeks, the lobby groups called for a UN presence at Ashraf, claiming that 'the United States should never have returned the security of Ashraf to the Iraqis.'" http://t.uani.com/gR8p1Q
Domestic Politics
CNN: "Recent protests in Iran have failed to gain traction -- despite growing demonstrations in neighboring countries and Iran's own 2009 massive protest movement. What's the status of the Iranian opposition movement, what challenges does it face and could a regime change ever happen peacefully? A blogger from Iran weighs in. Peyman Bagheri is a blogger whose articles against the Iranian government have prompted him to flee his native land for fear of being arrested and imprisoned. He recently spoke via phone from Europe with CNN's Asieh Namdar." http://t.uani.com/eiroxk
Bloomberg: "Iranians who receive government grants aimed at easing the impact of cuts in fuel subsidies are now getting 2.25 percent more. The payments are now 455,000 rials ($43) a month, an increase of 10,000 rials, and were deposited in bank accounts today, the state-run Fars news agency said. Iran, which is grappling with international economic and sanctions over its nuclear program, in December started a five- year plan to eliminate subsidies on fuel, electricity and basic consumer goods. Payments to compensate for the plan's inflationary repercussions were previously made bimonthly." http://t.uani.com/eX9bvH
Foreign Affairs
AFP: "Iran should respect the unity of its Arab neighbours in the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates foreign minister said on Wednesday at a time of heightened regional tension. 'Iran should reconsider its policies in the region,' Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Gulf Cooperation Council, told a news conference in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi. And it 'should respect the unity and sovereignty of Gulf countries,' he said at the end of an annual GCC-European Union ministerial meeting. 'I'm trying to choose my words carefully. I don't want to act like some Iranian officials who throw their words in an abrasive and indecent way,' Sheikh Abdullah said. 'All I wish for is that Iran view its neighbours with responsibility and respect.'" http://t.uani.com/gYsChk
AFP: "Egypt's top cleric on Tuesday admonished the rulers of Libya, Syria and Yemen against spilling Muslim blood and warned Iran to stay out of Arab affairs, the official MENA news agency reported. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the government appointed sheikh of Al-Azhar, urged the leaders of the three Arab countries that face popular revolts to respect 'the sanctity of Muslim blood.' Tayeb, who was a senior member of ousted president Hosni Mubarak's disbanded National Democratic Party, also warned Shia Iran to "not interfere in Arab countries' internal affairs" to avoid tensions with Sunnis. Several Arab countries have blamed Iranian involvement in regional political unrest, especially in Bahrain, where a Sunni monarchy dominates a Shiite majority that is demanding political reforms." http://t.uani.com/dXNxma
AFP: "Twelve Iranian engineers kidnapped in western Afghanistan have been released along with three Afghan colleagues, police and officials in the two countries said on Wednesday. The men, who were working on a road construction project, were snatched at gunpoint on Monday in the Post-i-Road district of Farah province, which borders Iran. 'All the 12 hostages were released at around 5:00 pm (1230 GMT) today. They were released with the help of local elders who acted as mediators,' said Farah police chief Sayed Mohammad Roshandel. 'They are in a safe place in Farah.'" http://t.uani.com/frL5HS
Opinion & Analysis
Les Gelb in The Daily Beast: "Here's what America's worst enemies like Iran and North Korea are spouting on the international circuit about Libya: If the vaunted and mighty NATO and the U.S. can't humble that weirdo Col. Gaddafi and his pint-size army, 'what do we have to worry about?' To be sure, NATO and the U.S. haven't hit Gaddafi with all they have for fear of killing civilians. But they have hit him hard and on the open desert-presumably ideal terrain to show off the West's devastating air power, as opposed to the muck-like guerrilla war in Afghanistan. And while the West's enemies know well NATO's self-imposed restrictions on air attacks, they assume that NATO and the U.S. would put such limitations on themselves no matter where they fought. Thus, to Tehran and Pyongyang, the lesson of Libya is that the West can't do decisive harm to them. NATO leaders are well aware that their credibility and power are on the line. That's what drove President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday to say: '[S]o long as Gaddafi is in power, NATO must maintain its operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds.' In other words, they still intend to get rid of the Q-ball. Yet, they also recognize that their hands are tied by the U.N. mandate, which in their own words is 'to protect civilians... not to remove Gaddafi by force.' ... Western leaders fully appreciate the box they're in, and often ask their staffs to examine if and how they can do more to incite rebellion in Gaddafi's ranks. Have no doubt, however, that though NATO's use of force is limited, it is significant and sustained. Over the past four weeks, NATO has conducted over 3,600 sorties, more than 1,600 of them strike sorties. These strikes, averaging nearly 60 per day, have destroyed about one-third of Gaddafi's ground armor, as well as most of his fixed air-defense sites and aircraft. They've also seriously depleted Gaddafi's communication capabilities, a big part of military operations. Nonetheless, given strictures on killing civilians, NATO pilots patrolling above Tripoli last week could only watch as Gaddafi toured its streets in an open-top car. Also in recent days, NATO hasn't been able to protect rebels in Misrata, because Gaddafi's troops now use civilian vehicles and other civilian cover... Most certainly, NATO can feel good about saving innocent Libyan lives. But it is very hard to have a good feeling about how and when NATO's humanitarian intervention will end. And as time passes inconclusively in Libya, it becomes harder still to convince Iran and North Korea that NATO is not a paper tiger." http://t.uani.com/hX6VtJ
Jonathan Schanzer in YnetNews: "The government of Sudan recently accused Israel of incinerating a car with a Hellfire missile near the coastal town of Port Sudan along the Red Sea. The aerial attack killed two people. President Omar al-Bashir's government pointed a finger at Israel, because the country is the only one in the region equipped with that ordnance... But the attack fits a larger pattern. In early 2009, Israel appears to have launched three airstrikes in Sudan, targeting Iranian weapons shipments meant for Hamas in Gaza. One of those attacks reportedly targeted a 17-truck convoy, killing as many as 39 people. The Iranian press alleges that, in all, these three aerial assaults killed 119 people. Israel, as is often the case, neither confirmed nor denied the reports. The events in Sudan should come as no surprise. The country has long served as a hub for Iranian-sponsored terrorist activity. Sudan's opposition press even reported last year that Iran runs an illicit weapons factory in Sudan, providing arms to Hamas. The Sudanese, however, are acting as if they are the aggrieved. In an interview with Iran's Press TV. Foreign minister Ali Karti stated that, 'Sudan reserves its right to react' to what he described as an Israeli provocation. However, in all likelihood, Sudan will not take action. This recent activity in Sudan yields several observations: First, there can be no doubt that these activities in Sudan bear Iran's fingerprints. Not long after the Muslim Brotherhood took control of the country in 1989, then-Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani began delivering military assistance and training to its new government. This included the help of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Sudan, over the years and under successive presidents, has remained an important outpost for Iran's terror operations, in both the Palestinian territories and East Africa. Second, the weapons coming out of Sudan are the same ones that traverse Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, and are ultimately delivered to Hamas in Gaza by way of sophisticated tunnels, which Iran finances. This is well-documented." http://t.uani.com/g9iakE
Abdullah Iskandar in Dar Al Hayat: "Does Iran wish to engage in war in the Gulf? We cannot give a decisive answer although all sorts of war drums are resonating in Tehran, and despite the ongoing preparations and military maneuvers by land, sea and air, the repeated announcements of new weapons and long range missiles and the development of the combat techniques. But what is certain is that the Iranian leaders wish to try out military power in the Gulf, in light of the convergence of numerous factors pushing in that direction... For a very long time, the confrontation with Israel allowed Iran to vent out its strength through its allies. Now however, it has become difficult for Tehran to use this outlet, considering that the main concern of Hamas - the ally in the Gaza Strip - is to consecrate the truce with Israel not to engage in war with it, while Hezbollah - the other ally in Lebanon - and despite all the statements and announcements, has become restrained by the presence of UNIFIL in Lebanon and can no longer repeat the July 2006 war with ease. And if we were to take into consideration the Syrian preoccupation on the domestic arena, the immediate front with Israel seems prone to witness calm that will prevent Tehran from heading a major military confrontation. With the retreat of the commotion over the Iranian nuclear file, the American threats to stage direct interference to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons have also retreated, or at least are no longer on the agenda on the short run. It is maybe due to these reasons that Iran re-shifted its attention toward the Gulf front which it seemed to have relinquished for some time, especially during the stage that followed the reinstatement of the relations with the Arab Gulf countries upon the end of the war with Iraq." http://t.uani.com/guhlbU
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