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AP: "U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to redouble efforts to implement sanctions against Iran, saying tougher action could slow the country's nuclear program and 'show Iran there is a price to pay for its deception.' ... Rice pointed to a report last month by the International Atomic Energy Agency which concluded that some alleged clandestine work by Iran could not be used for any other purpose than making nuclear arms. 'No one, after reading the November report, can reasonably believe Iran's contention that its continuing uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes only,' she said, adding that the IAEA board's censure of Iran showed that its 'illicit nuclear activities are unacceptable.' Rice called on the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against Iran and its panel of experts to act 'robustly' in implementing sanctions and investigating violations." http://t.uani.com/vjdFzv
Reuters: "Iran's navy will launch a 10-day war game in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, state television quoted Navy Commander Habibulah Sayari as saying on Thursday. The war game, named Velayat-90, will be carried out over an area extending from east of the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Eden, the report said. 'The manoeuvres will be carried out with the intention of displaying the determination, defensive and deterrent power of the Iranian armed forces as well as relaying a message of peace and friendship in the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman and the free waters of the Indian Ocean,' Sayari said." http://t.uani.com/uJLQlU
Bloomberg: "The Obama administration and European governments are seeking help from Arab and Asian allies to reduce Iran's oil revenue in the dispute over its nuclear program, while trying to avoid causing a surge in prices that may threaten the global economic recovery. The most wide-ranging effort to date to target Iranian income, the strategy includes a push by France and Britain for an embargo as soon as next month on imports of Iranian oil by the 27 European Union countries. EU nations, the U.S. and Asia- Pacific allies discussed possible measures in Rome yesterday and vowed to increase pressure on Iran, the world's No. 3 crude exporter in 2010, to abandon a suspected nuclear weapons program, according to an Italian Foreign Ministry statement. The Obama administration sent high-ranking officials to Saudi Arabia and Israel in the last few days to discuss targeting Iran's energy exports, and is developing plans to implement congressionally mandated sanctions on its central bank that complicate the international purchases of crude." http://t.uani.com/rXfa18
Nuclear Program & Sanctions AFP: "Former US president Bill Clinton said in a television interview to be shown Wednesday that President Barack Obama should not rule out military action on Iran, but there might be other ways 'to skin the cat.' Clinton also said a recent report by UN inspectors showed that Tehran's efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon 'seemed to be pretty far along the road,' and amounted to what 'was the biggest unkept secret in the world.' 'I mean, when you ask yourself what are your options here, I do not believe the president should take any military option off the table,' Clinton told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's 'The O'Reilly Factor' show, according to an excerpt. 'But there may be more than one way to skin the cat,' said former president Clinton, noting that a virus last year in systems at its nuclear facilities had pretty much 'gummed up their computer capacity.'" http://t.uani.com/uksuCE
Reuters: "If it were not for the light blue Persian-lettered sign outside, you might mistake Bank Saderat for just another foreign bank operating in the City of London financial centre. Sitting in a grey stone building in the heart of the City, the Iranian-owned bank counts the centuries-old Bank of England among its neighbours. Saderat is one of a handful of lonely Iranian banking outposts that have managed to hold out in Europe's financial hub despite escalating tensions with the West over Iran's nuclear programme. Hit by international sanctions, the banks linger on, unable to take on new business." http://t.uani.com/u7oiLS
Reuters: "Turkey's biggest crude oil importer Tupras has renewed its annual deal to buy crude oil from Iran for 2012, at almost the same volumes as this year, industry sources familiar with the matter said. They said Tupras had no plans for now to purchase extra amounts from the Islamic Republic. 'They have an annual contract with Iran for many years through which they buy crude. They renew that every year and it has been renewed for 2012,' one industry source said." http://t.uani.com/tMUrK2
Foreign Affairs
AP: "Iran has blocked access to a British government website aimed at Iranian audiences in a new act of aggression against the U.K., Britain's Foreign Secretary said Thursday. William Hague claimed that the website - the online presence of Britain's now shuttered embassy in Tehran - had been deliberately targeted by the Iranian regime. The decision to disrupt access to the site follows the violent storming of Britain's embassy by demonstrators last month, when a mob trashed rooms, damaged furniture, scrawled graffiti and tore up a portrait of Queen Victoria, as staff took shelter." http://t.uani.com/vUCYg0
Opinion & Analysis
Emanuele Ottolenghi in WSJ: "Would a U.S. military strike against Iran kill anti-regime sentiment inside the country? That seems to be the conviction of U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. In September, discussing domestic opposition to the regime on the Charlie Rose show, Mr. Panetta said that Washington '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.' Then, in a speech he delivered recently at a conference hosted by the Brookings Institution, Mr. Panetta enumerated the negative consequences of a military strike against Iran, including that 'a regime that is isolated would suddenly be able to reestablish itself, suddenly be able to get support in the region, and suddenly instead of being isolated would get the greater support in a region that right now views it as a pariah.' Although Mr. Panetta has repeatedly insisted that 'no options are off the table' on Iran's nuclear program, the Obama administration's efforts are more devoted to delaying Iran's efforts until some sort of internal revolution topples the current regime, rather than to destroying Iran's capabilities once and for all. This would be a sensible policy if Iran's internal opposition enjoyed cohesion, if its message were coherent and if it were united in its purpose. Unfortunately, two and a half years after the Green Movement took to the streets to protest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fraudulent re-election, the opposition's chances of changing the course of Iranian history are slim. Witness that, almost a year after its leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, were put under house arrest, there has hardly been any effort in Iran to support their release. Therefore, concerns that a military attack might undermine the possibility of an internal revolution are exaggerated. The single piece of evidence usually cited to justify this argument is the nationalistic fervor that convulsed Iran in response to Saddam Hussein's invasion of the country in September 1980. The late Iraqi dictator thought, mistakenly, that Arabs living in southern Iran would side with him. They did not." http://t.uani.com/tBAr0p
Admiral James Lyons in WT: "Now that the last U.S. troops have withdrawn from Iraq, the question of how to deal with Iran's aggression and its drive to develop a nuclear weapon remains less than clear. At the White House meeting on Dec. 12 between President Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, only passing recognition was given to these two issues. Mr. Obama warned Iran not to meddle in Iraq. I am sure the fanatic mullahs will view the president's warning as just another hollow gesture. The Iranian rulers know that when they directly confront the United States, they have nothing to fear because our leaders have shown they lack the political will to respond. Regretfully, this has included every administration from President Carter's to Mr. Obama's. The political tenure of Mr. al-Maliki's regime is dependent on his main ally, the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who spends most of his time in Iran. One of the key conditions for his support, as dictated by Iran, was that there would be no U.S. military remaining in Iraq after Dec. 31. Furthermore, the Hezbollah-trained cleric has declared U.S. Embassy personnel as an 'occupation force' that Iraq rightly should attack. So much for democracy in Iraq. How comforting. After the U.S. has suffered more than 4,400 troop fatalities and tens of thousands injured, plus expending almost $1 trillion, why have we not been able to negotiate future arrangements with Iraq that better serve U.S. interests? The answer lies with Mr. al-Maliki's and President Obama's agenda. Mr. al-Maliki's uncooperative actions should come as no surprise. He fled Iraq on July 16, 1979, and spent most of his exile for 24 years in Iran and Syria as a 'guest' of the regimes. Mr. al-Maliki has been in the service of the Dawa Islamic Party since his college days in Iraq. The Dawa Party was an organization of secret military cells with close links to the fanatical revolutionary regime in Iran. As a political officer for Dawa, Mr. al-Maliki developed close ties with the terrorist group Hezbollah and particularly with Iran. We can expect Mr. al-Maliki to do just enough to keep our dollars flowing." http://t.uani.com/s3aj3Q |
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