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Reuters: "Revolution in Iran appears to be a matter of time, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta predicted on Tuesday, saying the Iranian reform movement was learning from revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria. Panetta, a former CIA director who took over the Pentagon's top job in July, was asked on the Charlie Rose television show whether the Arab Spring might spread to non-Arab Iran. Panetta responded: 'Absolutely.' 'I think we saw in evidence of that in the last election in Iran that there was a movement within Iran that raised those very same concerns that we're seeing elsewhere,' Panetta said. 'And I think in many ways, it's a matter of time before that kind of change and reform and revolution occurs in Iran as well.' Iranian security forces crushed mass protests in the wake of Iran's disputed June 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Panetta acknowledged the difficulties supporting such protests given the potential for backlash. 'We should try to take every step to try to support their effort but at the same time, we've got to analyze each situation to make sure that we do nothing that creates a backlash or that undermines those efforts,' he said." http://t.uani.com/n6wYMM
AFP: "Iran clarified Tuesday that its offer of allowing 'full supervision' of its atomic program in return for lifting of sanctions does not include snap checks by U.N. inspectors of its nuclear units. Iran's nuclear chief Fereydoun Abbasi Davani told the ISNA news agency Monday that Tehran was prepared to give the International Atomic Energy Agency 'full supervision' of its controversial nuclear program for five years if U.N. sanctions are lifted. ISNA asked the nuclear official Tuesday whether this offer includes the implementation of the additional protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which calls for tougher and snap inspections of atomic activities of its signatories. Abbasi Davani said the offer does not include such inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities. 'We will not accept any more obligations,' he told ISNA." http://t.uani.com/qtP4e7
PC World: "An attack on a Dutch company that issues certificates used to authenticate websites was state-sponsored, according to the chief executive of Comodo, a company that also issues digital certificates and suffered a similar setback in March. Asked by PC World to characterize the DigiNotar attack, Melih Abdulhayoglu, president and chief executive of Comodo, said in an e-mail, 'We believe this is state-sponsored.' 'It seems that they need these certificates, as we stated in March, they will not stop attacking,' he added. Evidence suggests Iran is the state behind the attacks. An analysis by Trend Micro of the rogue SSL certificates issued by the DigiNotar hackers led that security firm to conclude that the attack was 'used to spy on Iranian Internet users on a large scale.'" http://t.uani.com/oB7Lo8
Nuclear Program & Sanctions
AFP: "Iran must meet international obligations over its nuclear activities before any sanctions are lifted, the EU said Tuesday, after Tehran said the UN could supervise the program if sanctions are removed. 'Iran still has to comply with its international obligations, despite today's announcement,' said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Earlier, Iran said it was ready to give the International Atomic Energy Agency 'full supervision' of its nuclear program for five years if UN sanctions are lifted, as it alleged a rise in 'sabotage' of its controversial work." http://t.uani.com/o0z1DV
Bloomberg: "Russia isn't currently planning to build any new nuclear stations in Iran after operations start at the Persian Gulf state's first atomic plant in Bushehr, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said. The Bushehr power plant is due to be fully operational soon, Bogdanov said yesterday in a written reply to e-mailed questions from Bloomberg. It's 'premature' to speak about further plans for Russian-built atomic facilities in Iran. Russia last month made proposals to break the impasse over Iran's disputed nuclear program under which the country would cooperate more closely with the United Nations' atomic watchdog and be rewarded by gradual removal of international sanctions." http://t.uani.com/no97rW
Bloomberg: "Tehran-based Bank Mellat showed the biggest increase in profits among all banks active in Turkey over the first six months of the year, even amid sanctions against Iranian financial institutions, Star newspaper reported. Bank Mellat reported profits in Turkey of 32.6 million liras ($18.5 million) in the first half, a 217 percent increase over last year's figure for the same period of 10.3 million and the biggest increase among banks in Turkey, Star said. The U.S. government called on Turkey to 'isolate' the branches of Bank Mellat in April, saying it was providing financial support for Iran's nuclear program, the Turkish press had reported then citing U.S. officials." http://t.uani.com/pDKH5n
Human Rights
Independent: "Iran's judiciary have executed three men for sodomy in a case that sheds new light on the official persecution of gay men and women in the authoritarian Islamic Republic. According to a news report carried by the Iranian Student News Agency, the men were put to death by hanging on Sunday morning at Karoun prison in the south western city of Ahvaz. The agency quoted Abdolhamid Amanat, an official at the prosecutor office in Khuzestan Province, as the source of the announcement. In total six people were executed. According to the published charges, two men were put to death for robbery and rape and one was executed for drug trafficking. But in an unusual announcement the prosecutor office also admitted that three other men were sentenced for 'lavat', the phrase used in Islamic law for sodomy. The names of the three men have not been given - only their initials M.T, T.T and M.Ch. Human rights groups have said the case is significant because gay men that come before the courts are usually charged with acts such as sexual assault and rape - crimes that convey an element of coercion rather than consensual sex between two willing participants. The recent Ahvaz executions, however, specifically refer to sections 108 and 110 of the Iranian penal code." http://t.uani.com/qaogan
Foreign Affairs
WSJ: "The Dutch government Tuesday sought to contain a hacking scandal officials believe originated in Iran that has forced segments of this country to return to the fax and paper age. Prosecutors said they would investigate the company that was providing digital security for DigiD, a Dutch government site that allows citizens to access a large number of services, including filing taxes, signing up for university and donating organs. The provider-U.S.-owned, Netherlands-based DigiNotar-was dismissed by the government last week as officials disclosed the hacking... The Dutch government believes that the perpetrators of the hacking were in Iran, based on information it received from a security consultancy, Fox-IT. The government said Monday that 300,000 Internet users in Iran had been spied on using the fake certificates. It didn't mention any other victims." http://t.uani.com/pJaMIn
FT: "Iran has eclipsed Russia to become the biggest buyer of beef from Brazil, the world's top exporter of the meat, strengthening the countries' controversial ties and deepening Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's foreign policy dilemma. Brazil sold $61.7m of beef to Iran in August, making the Middle Eastern country the biggest market for Brazil's key beef exports for the first time on record, the Association of Brazilian Beef Exporters (Abiec) told the Financial Times. 'Iran has become a very important commercial partner for Brazil; we've become much closer over the last few years,' said Fernando Sampaio, Abiec's executive director." http://t.uani.com/q38xxK
Bloomberg: "Iran will start exporting jet fuel to neighboring states and Eastern Asian countries within days, the state-run Press TV news channel said, citing Jalil Salari, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Co. The fuel will be transported via a pipeline, Salari said, without providing details of the route or naming the countries to which Iran will be exporting, according to a report published late yesterday on the channel's website." http://t.uani.com/p6GshF
Opinion & Analysis
WashPost Editorial: "Iran has taken two more steps toward producing a nuclear weapon. According to a report released Friday by the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has begun to use a new, more advanced centrifuge to enrich uranium, which could allow it to produce bomb-grade material in a much shorter time period, should it choose to do so. It also has begun installing centrifuges in a facility dug into a mountain near the city of Qom, which could be nearly invulnerable to a U.S. or Israeli air attack. Iranian officials say those centrifuges will be used to triple the production of uranium enriched to 20 percent, creating a stockpile for which Tehran has no plausible legitimate use. The report underlines the fact that, contrary to the impression often promoted by the Obama administration, the danger that Iran will become a nuclear power is growing, not diminishing. Administration spokesmen often speak of what they say has been the crippling effect on the Iranian economy of sanctions that have been stepped up during the past two years. Extensive media reports have told the sensational stories of computer viruses that may have disabled 1,000 or more Iranian centrifuges and assassinations that have eliminated several Iranian scientists. The administration deserves credit for the diplomatic effort that produced stricter sanctions. But the grim reality is that Iran's leaders have not been deterred from their goal of producing a weapon, and the project is making steady progress." http://t.uani.com/oZ3gK7
The Iran Primer: "The Islamic Republic has held 29 elections since its inception in 1979. Legislative, presidential, Assembly of Experts, local council elections and referendums have provided the electorate with a platform to exercise political participation. The degree to which this platform is perceived to be democratic, free and fair is intensely debated-particularly in the aftermath of the June 2009 presidential election. Yet, it is impossible to evaluate the nature and the outcome of any particular election in Iran without accurate knowledge and proper understanding of the country's electoral system. For example, the century old precedent of a 'litmus test' for candidates in Iran's electoral system, which in the absence of a full-fledged party system served to filter out unqualified nominees, has become an instrument for political exclusion under the Islamic Republic. Vague candidate eligibility criteria set out in the law for presidential, parliamentary and local council elections coupled with a multi-layered vetting process have led to the rejection of thousands of candidates and contributed to limited political pluralism. The Iranian electoral system, in parallel to the numerous transmutations of the Islamic Republic, has undergone tremendous change over the past three decades. Estimates suggest that over 40 amendments and modifications have changed the rules of the electoral game in Iran's post-Revolution era. In the aftermath of the June 2009 presidential election, Iran faced its most significant crisis since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. In 2012, Iranians will go to the polls for the first time since the 2009 disputed elections to elect the members of the 9th Majlis. The upcoming elections will be a litmus test which will determine the future of electoral politics in Iran." http://t.uani.com/qBV02n
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