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AFP: "Iran has sent a letter to the United States seeking an 'apology' over allegations of an Iranian assassination plot on US soil, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday. 'A letter has been sent... It is our right to seek the official apology of the Americans in protest of this made-up scenario as these allegations are not true at all,' Mehmanparast told a news conference, quoted by the official IRNA news agency. He explained the Iranian letter was in response to a US one, whose contents he did not divulge. Mehmanparast did not give details on how the letters were transmitted. Iran and the United States have had no direct diplomatic channels for more than three decades. On October 11, US officials alleged Iran's Quds Force -- an elite wing of the Revolutionary Guards -- plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington by hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million. An Iranian-American car salesman accused of involvement in the plot pleaded not guilty in a New York court last week." http://t.uani.com/tDkXvc
AP: "Iran's internal political battles have reached this point before: Lawmakers demanding that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad become the first Iranian president hauled before parliament for a grilling on government policies. Each time, Ahmadinejad was given a reprieve by Iran's supreme leader, who apparently wanted to avoid an embarrassing spectacle. But there may be no such easy exit this time for the president. His ties have frayed badly with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who for months has been trying to put his upstart protege in his place. And the mood is increasingly cutthroat within Iran's leadership as its factions jockey for parliamentary elections fewer than five months away." http://t.uani.com/sVF09x
FT: "Iran's parliament on Tuesday began impeachment proceedings against economy minister Shamsoddin Hosseini over a $2.8bn financial scandal that has put the government of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad under unprecedented political pressure. Mr Hosseini apologised to MPs, but insisted he was not guilty in what has been described as the biggest fraud the country has seen. 'If my apologies heal all the injuries of the people, I take all the responsibility and apologise to you [the parliament] and the people,' Mr Hosseini said in an emotional speech to MPs. Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, who has also been called by the parliament to answer questions on the alleged illegal activities of his government, was also present at his speech and is expected to speak in defence of his minister later on Tuesday." http://t.uani.com/uwVewn
Domestic Politics
AFP: "Iran's football federation on Monday imposed indefinite bans on two players for their 'immoral acts' during goal celebrations, state television's website reported. The incidents, condemned by officials and commentators alike, took place during a league match between Persepolis Tehran and Damash Gilan, broadcast live on national television to millions of Iranians. Footage on YouTube shows Persepolis defender Mohammad Nosrati pinching his teammate Sheys Rezaei's bottom as they celebrated a goal against Damash. Rezaei, another YouTube video shows, squeezed an unidentified teammate during another goal celebration in the dying moments of the game, which Persepolis won 3-2. 'Nosrati and Rezaei have been banned indefinitely from all football activities for committing immoral acts,' said Ismail Hasanzadeh, head of Iranian football federation's disciplinary committee, quoted on the website." http://t.uani.com/s9lJR9
Foreign Affairs
Al Arabiya: "Iranian and U.S. government representatives have discussed ways to prevent Syria from descending into bloody chaos should the regime of embattled President Bashar al-Assad collapse, French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported on Sunday, quoting a Syrian opposition figure in exile. The paper said the back-channel diplomacy between American and Iranian diplomats occurred at two meetings, one at the end of August and one at the beginning of September, but it did not indicate where. 'They spoke about putting in place a high military council on the Egyptian model, with generals running the country and responsible for making senior strategic options,' the paper quoted the Syrian opposition figure as saying. According to a French diplomat in charge of the Syrian crisis quoted in the report, Iranian officials have adapted to the idea of a new government in Damascus and 'even to a change at the top of the regime.'" http://t.uani.com/sEuEjE
Radio Farda: "The Occupy Wall Street Movement has found an unlikely fan: Iran's government Basij force, whose thuggish members are thought to have been heavily involved in the crackdown that followed the disputed reelection of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in 2008. In their latest move in support of the movement, a number of young Basij members have launched a website that purports to cover news and developments about the movement in order to 'fill in the gap by Western media.' The Wall Street Fall website -- with content in both Persian and English -- was launched over the weekend by the head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naghdi. 'This news website can notably be influential in informing the people living under the sun specially those truth enthusiasts living in the west who are captives of universal Zionist media propaganda,' Naghdi was quoted as saying on October 30." http://t.uani.com/uaxydW
Globe & Mail: "A financier who fled from Iran to Canada during an embezzlement scandal is the subject of a citizenship-fraud investigation, but is not considered a criminal or an active security threat, top Canadian security officials say. The case of Mahmoud Reza Khavari was discussed in Canada's Parliament for the first time on Monday as federal officials were grilled on whether they adequately screen for problematic individuals before people are allowed into Canada. Until September, Mr. Khavari headed Bank Melli, a major Iranian lender that has been blacklisted internationally for alleged ties to Tehran's nuclear programs. 'There's something here that has to be looked at,' Conservative senator Daniel Lang said as he pressed for answers on how the banker found a haven in Canada." http://t.uani.com/s2aAnP
Opinion & Analysis
Avi Jorisch in JPost: "One of the world's most important international bankers currently resides in Toronto. After fleeing his country of birth Mahmoud Reza Khavari served until recently as head of Iran's Bank Melli, an institution notorious for assisting in Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and financing of terrorism. Canadian authorities have yet to take action against Mr. Khavari, who represents a potential gold mine of information about how Iranian banks raise and move money around the globe... Many of the companies and financial institutions Khavari has been affiliated with have been blacklisted by the United Nations and members of the international community... There are a number of steps Canadian authorities can take immediately. First, Khavari is apparently in violation of the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations for having worked and provided financial services on behalf of a designated Canadian entity. In all likelihood, Khavari is also in violation of Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act, along with Part II.1 of the Criminal Code (Section 83.05). This section has provisions that prohibit the financing of terrorism. It also lists individuals or entities which, there are reasonable grounds to believe, have participated in or facilitated terrorist activity, or knowingly acted on behalf of, or associated with, an entity involved in terrorism. Under Section 83.05, Canadian authorities may even have the right to freeze Khavari's assets. Canada should make a legal determination regarding whether to freeze his assets in the country. Once they have done this, authorities might be able to uncover the full extent of Bank Melli's involvement in Iran's proliferation of nuclear weapons and terrorism financing. Khavari possesses critical information on Iran's banking network and the extent to which Iran abuses the international financial sector for illicit purposes. The intelligence gathered from Khavari should be shared with international partners both on a bilateral basis and at the UN Security Council. While Canada has certainly been a staunch ally of members of the international community that have tried to implement sanctions against Iran to stop its nuclearization, it does appear that Canada is out of compliance with international law in this case. According to Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, all member states are obligated to blacklist Bank Sepah. Canadian lawmakers, and in particular, the governor in council, should rectify this loophole as quickly as possible; Bank Sepah was blacklisted by the UN as far back as March 2007. Through existing legislation, the Canadian government has made it clear that there is a cost for doing business with Iran. Going forward, Canadian policymakers should move expeditiously in regard to Khavari. As one of Iran's top bankers, he could be of great use to any nation that is intent on stopping Iran from getting the bomb." http://t.uani.com/u7jnHm
Michael Singh & Jacqueline Newmyer in FP: "The elections in Tunisia and the dramatic demise of former Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi have pushed the allegations of an Iran-sponsored plot to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington on U.S. soil from the headlines. But countering Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon and exploit the tumult in the Arab world for its own gain is vital to securing U.S. interests in a rapidly changing Middle East, and remains an urgent priority of U.S. diplomacy around the world. Inevitably, efforts to isolate Iran will refocus Washington and Europe's attention on Beijing. Past attempts to persuade China to support new measures against Tehran -- or even robust enforcement of existing ones -- have met with little success, in large part due to a misunderstanding of Chinese motivations. Whereas Washington tends to see Beijing as torn between conflicting priorities, Chinese strategists see the Islamic Republic as a potential partner in their strategic rivalry with the United States. Unless Beijing can be convinced that the costs of obstructing U.S. efforts on Iran outweigh the benefits of doing so, the Chinese will be of little help. Shifting China's calculus in this manner ultimately requires that the United States develop a credible military option to neutralize Iran's nuclear-weapons aims. For three decades, U.S. diplomats have failed to secure real Chinese cooperation in their efforts to prevent Iran from going nuclear. Although Beijing has formally supported U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions against Iran since 2005, it has at the same time actively undermined those measures by watering them down in council deliberations and then implementing them only weakly and unevenly. According to the Washington Post, a senior U.S. official handed over to his Chinese counterparts in October 2010 a 'significant list' of Chinese firms thought to be aiding Iranian proliferation in violation of U.N. sanctions. The effects are pernicious. Increasing Chinese trade with Iran -- projected to reach $40 billion in 2011, up from $30 billion last year, according to the Chinese ambassador to Iran -- eases the pressure on Tehran and provides the Iranian regime with revenue, expertise, and other resources. It also leads to howls of protest by European and Asian firms that have curtailed their business with Iran only to see it backfilled by Chinese competitors. Chinese trade with Iran is driven in large part by Beijing's growing need for energy imports, and its desire to secure them by participating in oil and gas exploration, development, and other 'upstream' activities of its overseas energy suppliers. Indeed, from a security perspective, Iran's geographic position is unique -- it is the only Gulf supplier that China can reach by both pipelines and sea routes. This diversification of supply lines helps reassure those in Beijing who most fear a foreign interdiction campaign or blockade that would cut China off from its energy supplies. But the Chinese-Iranian love affair is not all about oil and gas. China has also provided Iran with substantial strategic and military assistance, through official and non-official channels. China provided critical support to the development of Iran's nuclear program during the 1980s and 1990s and emerged in the 1980s as one of Iran's principal arms suppliers, with transfers including cruise missile and ballistic-missile capabilities. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the value of these transfers reached more than $3.6 billion during those decades." http://t.uani.com/rrnFj1
Vali Nasr in Bloomberg: "Iran is once again in America's cross hairs. Even before the allegations of an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, concerns about Iran were high, with an impending U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq possibly leading to increased Iranian influence there. U.S. opinion and decision makers are expanding their estimate of Iran's adventurousness and calling for new containment measures. In both exercises, there is room for misjudgment. In fact, Iran has not become more ambitious of late; rather, its aspirations have been underestimated. As for attempting to rein in Iran, that could prove both counterproductive and unnecessary. Until recently, the U.S. government regarded Iran as subdued, weakened and relatively isolated. There was considerable evidence for this view. Iran's leadership is deeply divided. Its economy is reeling as a result of economic sanctions, which have reduced trade and therefore contact with the Arab world. What's more, Iran's standing in the Middle East appeared to be declining after the Arab Spring. The 'Arab street,' once enamored with Iran's bluster, is now turned off by the country's suppression of dissent at home and its support for the oppressive Syrian regime. Iran's Revolutionary Guards are helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad put down a growing uprising. The possibility of a collapse of the Assad regime threatens to confound Iran's plans for regional domination. Syria is Iran's main Arab ally and its conduit for aid to Hezbollah, the militant, Islamist Lebanese group that Iran has used as a proxy to menace Israel, the U.S., Lebanon itself and others. From Tehran, however, the situation looks quite different. For one thing, Iran is not as worried about losing sway in a post-Assad Syria as many in the West think. Iran calculates that until Syria gets back the Golan Heights, a plateau captured by Israel in the 1967 war, any government in Damascus will need Hezbollah as a force to pressure Israel. And with Hezbollah comes Iranian influence. Iran's leaders are clearly preparing for the possibility of Assad's fall. Even while claiming nefarious outsiders are fomenting the unrest in Syria, they have begun to add veiled criticisms of the regime's brutal crackdown, an obvious means of pandering to the street. What's more, Iran's leaders perceive that it is the U.S. position, not theirs, that has weakened in the region. They see U.S. troops withdrawing precipitously from both Iraq and Afghanistan; U.S. relations with Pakistan turning ever more sour; and Arab dictators who have been propped up by America for years under threat or already gone. The brazen nature of the Washington assassination plot supports the idea that Iran sees the U.S. as soft. Given this perception, Iran is asserting itself. In the past two years, it has eschewed serious engagement with the U.S. on the Iranian nuclear program, Afghanistan or anything else. Rebuffing the U.S. idea of a hot line to avoid conflict in the Persian Gulf, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, Iran's navy commander said, 'The presence of the U.S. in the Persian Gulf is illegitimate and makes no sense.'" http://t.uani.com/u9WOTP
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