Geneive Abdo reports in Foreign Policy that Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s fence-sitting days are over; he is officially an ally of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei:

In exchange for Rafsanjani’s loyalty, the supreme leader appears to have given him power over a new bill that will establish a National Elections Commission to reform the electoral process. Not only is this issue at the heart of Iran’s political crisis, but the commission would also determine the eligibility of individuals to stand as candidates in elections. And the Expediency Council, which monitors legislation and is responsible for any conflicts that might result over Iranian laws, will also decide the members who serve on the National Elections Commission.

This significant change in the elections process will greatly reduce the power of the Guardian Council, a body of six hard-line clerics and six jurists appointed by Khamenei. Historically, this Guardian Council has banned many reformist candidates from running in elections, thus ensuring conservative control even in the face of growing public discontent. The guardians were also charged with hearing complaints about election fraud and complaints from banned candidates contesting their exclusion. Now, the National Elections Commission will hold some of these responsibilities.

By bringing Rafsanjani back into the fold, Khamenei appears to be trying to reduce the power of the hard-liners, including some of those who sit on the Guardian Council. It is true that reforming Iran’s electoral process is one step toward a less totalitarian regime. However, it is unlikely to pacify the millions of Iranians who consider themselves part of the opposition. If Khamenei had made this decision soon after the June election, its effects would have, perhaps, been different. But now, many in the opposition have far greater demands, including Ahmadinejad’s resignation.

[Read more...]

By Austin Knuppe – Threat Matrix
March 18th, 2010

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – A former Iranian vice president and prominent reform activist convicted of spreading propaganda against the ruling clerical establishment has begun a one-year prison sentence, a close relative said Friday.

An appeals court upheld Hossein Marashi’s conviction and sentence on Wednesday, one of many court rulings against activists and opposition figures rounded up in the turmoil triggered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election in June.

The prosecutions have dealt a major blow to a protest movement that was already hard to sustain with security forces delivering a punishing response at each attempt to rally support on the streets.

Earlier this weak, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was Ahmadinejad’s main challenger in the election, urged the movement to press on in the next Iranian year, which begins March 21.

Marashi was one of 10 vice presidents under Mohammad Khatami, whose agenda of greater political and social freedoms was largely blocked by hard-liners during his two terms as president, from 1997 to 2005.

Security forces took Marashi into custody on Thursday evening while he was walking in a park near his home, said the relative, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was afraid of government retribution for talking to a journalist about the case.

At the center of his case is an interview Marashi gave to a news Web site last year encouraging people to gather in front of Tehran’s Evin prison to protest the detention of political activists.

Marashi, 51, is a relative of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a vehement critic of Ahmadinejad who leads the influential Assembly of Experts, the only group with the authority to dismiss Iran’s supreme leader.

Marashi is a spokesman of the liberal Kargozaran political party and supported Mousavi in June’s election.

Wednesday’s court ruling included a lifelong ban on political activity for Marashi, according to the official news agency, IRNA.

Iranian authorities detained hundreds of political figures and activists during the crackdown on opposition supporters who claimed Ahmadinejad’s re-election was fraudulent.

Iran has already handed down verdicts for more than 80 of those on trial, sentencing nine of them to death and the rest to prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years.

[Read more...]

TEHRAN, (AFP) — A day after his apartment block was besieged by hardliners calling for his prosecution, defiant Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi lashed out at the government, saying it was “plagued with despotism”, his website reported on Tuesday.

The cleric, who continues to question the legitimacy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election, said it was still difficult for him to understand how the hardliner won the poll last year given his government’s track record.

“Unfortunately, the (Islamic) republic has been plagued with despotism and elections have become meaningless. It has become only a term,” Karroubi told a group of visitors from central province of Isfahan, according to his website Samannews.

“How can one believe that a president with so many objections against him such as inflation, unemployment… gets more votes than he got in his first election?”

Ahmadinejad has been accused of stoking inflation with a populist economic policy that has involved pumping large sums of money into the economy.

Karroubi’s remarks came two days after hardliners reportedly gathered outside his Tehran home, calling for him to be put to death.

His wife, Fatemeh, charged that a group of “thugs” paid by “corrupt” government officials had vandalised the apartment block where the family lives.

Iran’s Fars news agency described the small but vocal crowd which gathered outside the flats as “students and families of martyrs” of the Iran-Iraq war.

Pictures carried by the pro-government Borna news agency showed the building defaced with red colouring while slogans pronouncing “Death to Karroubi” were scribbled on the walls.

Karroubi and former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi have led a protest movement against Ahmadinejad since his June re-election, which they reject as massively rigged.

Karroubi was attacked by hardliners during Iran’s commemoration of the Islamic revolution of 1979 on February 11 and his car was shot at in January in the city of Qazvin, west of Tehran.

[Read more...]

TEHRAN, (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States a “big fabrication” that was used to justify the U.S. war on terrorism, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Ahmadinejad, who often rails against the West and Israel, made the comment in a meeting with Intelligence Ministry personnel.

It came amid escalating tension in the long-running dispute between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme, with the United States pushing for new U.N. sanctions against the major oil producer.

Ahmadinejad described the destruction of the twin towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 as a “complicated intelligence scenario and act,” IRNA reported. He added: “The Sept. 11 incident was a big fabrication as a pretext for the campaign against terrorism and a prelude for staging an invasion against Afghanistan.” He did not elaborate.

Nearly 3,000 people died in the hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington, which were carried out by al Qaeda operatives.

In January, Ahmadinejad termed the Sept. 11 attacks “suspicious” and accused the West of seeking to dominate the Middle East.

Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, was re-elected in a disputed presidential vote last June that stirred the largest display of internal unrest in the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

[Read more...]

Cairo – Sources from the Jundallah organization cast doubt on the validity of the confession made by Jundallah leader Abdol Malek Rigi that was broadcast by Iranian media recently. In the confession, Rigi stated that he has ties to the US and that he “committed a number of crimes against Iranian civilians.”

The sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat by phone from eastern Iran, refusing to disclose their whereabouts for security reasons, said that the content broadcast by Iran regarding Rigi was an attempt to tarnish the image of the Jundallah organization which, in the past, denied having any ties to any regional or international intelligence apparatus.

The sources described what they called a false confession as a “failed attempt by Iranian security and intelligence apparatus to link Jundullah to US-Iranian disputes,” indicating that Tehran wants to manipulate Rigi’s arrest in order to suggest that the US is behind the series of military operations that the organization carried out on Iranian territory. The sources added: “Everybody knows how false confessions such as these are fabricated. The confessions are made under torture and psychological pressure. Therefore, we do not consider it as representative of us or of the heroic face of Rigi.”

The sources added: “Anyone who saw that footage that showed our leader Rigi will certainly realize that he is not composed and not in a natural state. It is certain that they subjected him to torture or drugged him in order to extract such lies from him, which they want the world to believe.”

According to the video broadcast by the official Iranian television channel Press TV on Thursday evening, Rigi appeared in carefully prepared footage saying that US officials provided his organization with different kinds of arms, bombs and communication equipment and told him that there is no problem between the US and the Al Qaeda organization.

As part of the false confession broadcast by different Iranian media, Rigi also stated “that the head of the CIA provides support to all anti-Iran organizations and has the ability to create difficulties for this country because it is too difficult for America to launch military attacks.”

He stated that during his meeting with CIA [officials] in Dubai, they promised him extensive support and that a base, as well as arms, will be at his disposal near the area, indicating that this base was to be set up in Manas near Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.

While the US State Department denied Iran’s claims on Thursday that Washington has ties to the Jundallah organization that is headed by Rigi and described these claims as “Iranian propaganda,” the UAE Foreign Ministry denied Friday that the leader of the Jundallah group entered Dubai before he was arrested by Iranian authorities. The UAE authorities confirmed that he was at [Dubai International] airport for two hours only on his way from Afghanistan to Kyrgyzstan.

The statement issued by the UAE Foreign Ministry said that “what is being reported by Iranian media about the arrest of a man called Abdol Malek Rigi in the Islamic Republic of Iran after he returned from Dubai is inaccurate and lacks any credibility.”

[Read more...]

By Khaled Mahmoud
27/02/2010

Just three days after Iran captured Abdul Malik Rigi, the government is claiming that the US supports Jundallah, Rigi’s terror group, which conducts suicide and other attacks in southeastern Iran. Here is what Rigi said during an interrogation, according to the Iranian-government owned and operated PressTV:

“After Obama was elected, the Americans contacted us and they met me in Pakistan.They met us after clashes with my group around March 17 in (the southeastern city of) Zahedan, and he (the US operative) said that Americans had requested a meeting.”

“I said we didn’t have any time for a meeting and if we do help them they should promise to give us aid. They said they would cooperate with us and will give me military equipment, arms and machine guns. They also promised to give us a base along the border with Afghanistan next to Iran.”

“They asked to meet me and we said where should we meet you and he said in Dubai. We sent someone to Dubai and we told a person to ask a place for myself in Afghanistan from the area near the operations and they complied that they would sort out the problem for us and they will find Mr. Rigi a base and guarantee his own security in Afghanistan or in any of the countries adjacent to Iran so that he can carry on his operations.”

There is more at the link. To summarize the account, Rigi was traveling to the US base in Manas in Kyrgyzstan to seal the deal; the US is supporting Jundallah and other groups because it cannot defeat Iran militarily; Iran is the prime target in the Middle East, and not al Qaeda or the Taliban; etc.

But there is a major problem with Abdul Malik’s story. His brother, Abdul Hamid Rigi, was captured last year by Iran. And according to statements made by Abdul Hamid Rigi at the time , the US has been meeting with Jundallah since 2005, and the latter accepted support then.

Abdul Hamid Rigi said that in 2005 he himself had met with the Americans once in Islamabad, where they had asked about the activities Jundallah was carrying out in Iran, their numbers, their positions and their requests.

After the meeting, he added, Malik had called the Americans to only contact him not any other ring members.

Abdul Hamid said that from 2005 onwards Malik had held several “confidential” meeting with FBI and CIA agents in Karachi and Islamabad.

He added that during one of the meetings in the Pakistani capital, two female US agents had offered weapons, safe bases in Afghanistan, and professional trainers, while inquiring about how many people the group could gather for military training.

“We said we could bring two to three thousand, but we can’t fund them,” said Abdul Hamid Rigi, adding that they had finally accepted the US proposal.

So which is it? Did the US begin supporting Jundallah in 2005, as Abdul Hamid “said”? Or only after President Obama took office, as has brother Abdul Malik has now “said”?

[Read more...]

By Bill Roggio
February 26th, 2010

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan has offered to enrich uranium for Iran to allow the Islamic republic access to nuclear power while allaying international fears it might be seeking an atomic weapon, according to a report Wednesday.

Tehran has not yet given a concrete response to the US-backed proposal, which was made when Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili visited Tokyo in December, the Nikkei business daily said.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Wednesday held talks with Iran’s visiting parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani. But in a press briefing afterwards, Japanese officials neither confirmed nor denied the Nikkei report.

Okada told his guest that “Japan strongly hopes Iran’s nuclear issue will be resolved peacefully and diplomatically … and that Iran considers a related UN Security Council resolution seriously”, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

The United States and European powers suspect Iran is enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons under cover of its civilian energy programme, a charge Tehran denies.

Iran is at loggerheads with world powers for not accepting a deal drafted by the International Atomic Energy Agency that would supply it with nuclear fuel for a research reactor if it transfers the bulk of its low-enriched uranium.

Iran has so far failed to take up the IAEA offer, under which Russia would enrich its uranium and France would process it. Tehran this month said it had begun enriching uranium itself to a higher level.

[Read more...]

How Washington Can Really Help the Greens in Tehran
For the Obama administration, there are dangers in doing too much and too little to help the pro-democracy movement in Iran. Here is how to chart a safe, effective third way.
BY ALIREZA NADER, TRITA PARSI www.forgienpolicy.com
FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Ever since last June’s disputed presidential election, Iran has been in the throes of change, with the nascent “green movement” protesting against an ever-more-authoritarian state. For months, Washington has asked itself: Should the United States actively push for regime change? Torn between the fear of ending up on the wrong side of history by being too cautious and the fear of ending up undermining the pro-democracy movement by being too aggressive, Barack Obama’s administration is playing a difficult balancing act.

More… History shows that intervention is easier said than done. Past U.S. attempts to sway Iranian internal affairs — such as the CIA-fomented 1953 coup d’état against a democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh — have proven costly for U.S. interests. Most notably, Washington’s support for the shah fueled the 1979 Islamic Revolution, inspiring anti-Western movements in Pakistan, Egypt, and beyond.

To make matters worse, due to its absence from the scene during the last 30 years, the United States is not sufficiently equipped to understand and shape what appears to be a titanic struggle between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his opponents.

But between the extremes of doing nothing and doing everything, there is a middle ground: providing the Iranian pro-democracy movement with breathing space, rather than engaging in risky and imprecise exercises that would directly involve America as an actor on the Iranian scene. The United States can achieve this through a few simple steps.

First, the United States should tread carefully when it comes to issuing military threats. Under the shadow of a foreign military threat, the uphill battle of the Iranian pro-democracy movement becomes even steeper, as the Iranian regime is quite adept at exploiting foreign threats to stifle criticism at home. Moreover, the possibility of military conflict between Iran and the United States, or their respective “proxies,” might allow the Iranian regime to distract the population from the internal crisis.

Second, the United States should avoid sanctions that put a burden on the Iranian people, rather than the Iranian government. Broad-based sanctions that hit the entire economy hurt common citizens far more than the powerful elites. Any new sanctions should demonstrate not only international discontent with the conduct of the Tehran government, but also an effort by the United States to keep from harming average Iranians.

U.S. Expanding Missile Defenses In The Persian Gulf
The Drudge Report
February 1, 2010

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has expanded land-and sea-based missile defense systems in and around the Gulf to counter what it sees as Iran’s growing missile threat, U.S. officials said.

The deployments include expanded land-based Patriot defensive missile installations in Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain, as well as Navy ships with missile defense systems within striking distance in and around the Mediterranean, officials said.

General David Petraeus, who as head of U.S. Central Command is responsible for military operations across the Middle East, said this month that the United States has stationed eight Patriot missile batteries in four Gulf countries, which he did not identify.

The buildup began under the Bush administration, but has expanded under President Barack Obama, who is pushing for a new round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

Officials said the expansion was meant to increase protection for U.S. forces and key allies in the Gulf.

The chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said last month the Pentagon must have military options ready to counter Iran should Obama call for them.

“The chairman has made it clear many times that he remains concerned about the ballistic missile threat posed by Iran, but it would be inappropriate to discuss any mitigation or defense measures we might have in place to deter/defeat that threat,” a spokesman for Mullen said.

Obama announced a revised missile defense system last year that included the deployment of Aegis ships equipped with missile interceptors to help defend Europe and U.S. forces against Iranian rockets.

The Pentagon said it envisioned keeping three ships at any given time in and around the Mediterranean and the North Sea to protect areas of interest, with the possibility of sending additional ships to the region as needed.

The Obama administration said the decision to change plans was based mainly on technological developments and a shift in intelligence assessments to meet short- and medium-range missile threats posed by Iran.

Pentagon officials said deploying ships with SM-3 interceptors, made by Raytheon Co., would provide the flexibility to move U.S. missile defense capabilities as may be needed.

Ships with Aegis interceptor systems are capable of blowing up ballistic missiles above the atmosphere. The system can track over 100 targets, military officials said.

Watchdog Group: Iran Unrest ‘Full-Blown Rights Crisis’
January 24, 2010
(AP) FoxNews.com

Where is President Obama? He is woefully MIA during a time when the people of Iran are trying to throw off the yoke of a degenerate Islamic government. And I use the word government very, very loosely; they are more like a bunch of thugs that control the population and not a viable government.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s postelection unrest is a “full-blown human rights crisis,” a watchdog group said Sunday, calling on Tehran to free government critics detained during the crackdown.

Thousands of peaceful protesters, including students, lawyers and prominent human rights activists have been detained following the June presidential election. That has made Iran’s reaction to political dissent “a human rights disaster,” New York-based Human Rights Watch said in its annual report on violations and abuses worldwide.

Human Rights deputy Middle East director Joe Stork described the “systematic and brutal targeting” of protesters and government critics by security forces. He said it marked “the worst crackdown” in the Islamic Republic in decades, and called on Tehran to release whose who were captured in peaceful protests or otherwise demonstrating their right to free expression.

“Iran’s postelection unrest is now a full-blown human rights crisis,” Stork said.

He called it “nothing but an attempt to silence voices of dissent.”

Iranian officials have acknowledged that at least 30 protesters died as a result of attacks by the riot police and the hard-line militia group, the Basij. Human Rights Watch believes the death toll is much higher.

The chapter on Iran — one of 15 Middle East countries reviewed in the report — was released in Dubai on Sunday along with findings in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In Iraq, human rights conditions remain “particularly poor for the displaced people, religious and ethnic minorities, women and girls and men suspected of homosexual conduct,” Samer Muscati, Iraq researcher for Human Rights Watch, told reporters in Dubai.

Civilians remain targets of attacks as the United States starts to withdraw combat forces from Iraq, Muscati said. He mentioned reports of “widespread torture practices” in Iraqi jails as officials struggle to assume responsibility of about 30,000 detainees who currently are in U.S. custody.

Human Rights Watch urged Iraq’s government to make sure national elections in March are “free and fair, with full participation of all parties, regardless of their political or sectarian affiliation.”

The call comes amid international concern over Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government to ban hundreds of candidates from the ballot because of suspected links to Saddam Hussein’s regime.

In the UAE, the human rights situation worsened in 2009, the group said. Migrant workers particularly suffered as the economy — especially in the boomtown of Dubai — dove deep into the red. the report cited tens of thousands of migrant workers who were forced to go home after construction was either halted or canceled.

Some companies have sent home migrant workers on unpaid “leave” as a way to avoid compensation required in their contracts.

Additionally, the report described female domestic workers who remain deprived of wages and food, endure forced confinement and physical or sexual abuse. And it said foreign residents and UAE citizens have been jailed on debt and corruption allegations.

The report also accused UAE and Bahrain authorities of continued harassment of human rights defenders and government critics. It also cited attempts to stifle media that are critical of the official policies in the two Gulf countries.

Iran Vows Revenge On US And Israel For Assassination
January 18th, 2010

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran vowed Monday to take revenge on Israel and the United States for the slaying last week of a physics professor in a mysterious bomb attack, the official news agency reported.

Iranian officials have blamed the bombing on an exiled opposition group known as the People’s Mujahedeen, accusing it of acting on behalf of Israel and the U.S. The armed opposition group and Washington have denied involvement, while Israel has not commented.

A week after Masoud Ali Mohammadi’s death, it remains unclear why the 50-year-old Tehran University professor would have been a target for assassins who left a bomb-rigged motorcycle outside his home on Jan. 12. Ali Mohammadi had no prominent political voice, no published work with military relevance and no declared links to Iran’s nuclear program, though his work included some aspects of nuclear theory.

“Rest assured that Iran will take revenge for the blood of martyr Ali Mohammadi from you,” Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said, addressing Israel and the U.S.

“Such a blind move, which is the result of acts by the Mossad, the CIA and enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s system, shows their weakness,” Najjar said. His comments were reported by the official IRNA news agency.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has described the assassination as having been carried out in a “Zionist style,” saying it showed their “grudge” against the Iranian nation.

Key figures among both Iran’s pro-reform opposition and hard-line government supporters have condemned the professor’s killing.

Ali Mohammadi had few apparent links outside the academic community.

He was not known to have any key roles in the opposition movement, although his name appeared on a university petition pledging support for pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi before June’s disputed presidential election.

Mousavi claimed he was deprived of the presidency through fraud, triggering months of street protests and a harsh crackdown by the authorities.

Ali Mohammadi’s assassination took place at a time of high tension in Iran, as authorities grapple with how to contain a resilient opposition movement that has moved from just challenging the election result to confronting Iran’s clerical leadership.

Iran has accused the West — and Britain in particular — of fomenting the unrest, and on Monday it warned is reconsidering its ties with the country. Britain denies interfering.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the ties have been under a “magnifying glass” over the past six months. He did not elaborate.

Also Monday, Iran’s judiciary put five people on trial over their alleged roles in anti-government protests in December that sparked the worst street violence in months. If found guilty, they could face the death penalty.

The five, who were not identified, have been accused of cooperating with the People’s Mujahedeen, the same group Iran is blaming for the bombing that killed the professor. A broadcast on state TV from inside the courtroom showed the defendants, but their faces were not visible.

At least eight people died in the clashes late last month between security forces and opposition supporters across Iran, including a nephew of Mousavi, the opposition leader. It was the worst bloodshed since the height of the unrest immediately after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election.

A prosecutor read out a lengthy indictment against the five, accusing them of a crime against Islam and the state known as moharebeh, which is punishable by death. The word is Farsi for defying God.

The June election has polarized Iran, with moderates withdrawing support for or being dismissed by the hard-line government and others resigning in protest. Among those resigning was an Iranian diplomat in Norway.

Mottaki urged the diplomat, Mohammad Reza Heidari, to get back to service. Mottaki said Monday that his resignation was not acceptable and that “he should continue his job either in Norway or the ministry.”

Heidari told Voice of America’s Farsi service Sunday that he resigned to protest the bloody crackdown against the opposition. VOA said he has defected to Norway.

Obama Is MIA During Iran’s Right Time In History
by Marc Stockwell-Moniz ChandlersWatch.com
January 11, 2010

With the recent political protests in Iran, events that can easily be construed as the beginnings of a revolution, President Obama is willingly missing in action. There have been noticeably few words from the administration during this crisis. And the words that have come from the Obama administration have rung hollow in the ears of Iranians who are fighting for their liberty. There are hardly any words of encouragement from Obama to the people of Iran, who desperately want to overthrow the tyrannical Islamic regime in Tehran. The soft or so called careful approach, to this Iranian crisis which Obama is pursuing, is only working in the favor of the despotic Mullahs who rule Iran with an iron fist. Mr. Obama would also be protecting The United States and doing the world a great service by supporting the people of Iran with policies that would help strangle this repressive theocracy. Remember this; that no matter what President Obama ends up doing or not doing, visa-a-vis Iran, they will always blame The United States and the West for all their problems.

The people of Iran wait. They wait for an ally who should be front and center on the world stage helping to over-throw their dictatorial rulers. That ally should be The United States. The United States should call for immediate and total economic sanctions against Iran and encourage her NATO allies to break off diplomatic relations with Tehran.

The United States should be doing everything short of an act of war to help bring down the Iranian bully of the Middle East. With the despots gone in Iran, the world would not have to worry about an Israeli preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear sites. The nations of the world would also not have the worry about Iran’s insane desire to wipe Israel off the face of the world map. That problem would be gone. The world does not need a nuclear war in the Middle East now or at any time between Israel and Iran. Now is the time to put that potential nightmare to rest.

The discord fomented by the Mullahs and the holocaust-denier, Iranian President Achmajinadad would be gone from the tumultuous Middle East if only Mr. Obama would show up and finally do the right thing for a pleading Iranian people. And the right thing to do is to support the friendly people of Iran who want to be a successful part of a peaceful world and not an outcast nation which is their Iran today.

Marc Stockwell-Moniz is the Official Historian for Chandlers Watch.
The opinion offered in this article is the sole opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of Chandlers Watch (although it probably is.)

Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs

Date: 12.29.2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Iraqi forces, aided by U.S. advisors, arrested nine suspected terrorists today in Iraq, military officials reported.

In western Baghdad, Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched two residential buildings for a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq leader in the Karkh region. The forces arrested two suspected criminal associates of the targeted leader.

North of Baghdad, Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors arrested four suspects.

Northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers arrested two suspects. The security team also discovered two grenades, which were safely destroyed.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces arrested a suspected terrorist today during an operation in northern Baghdad.

The suspect is linked to providing weapons, including improvised explosive devices, for terrorists' use.

via Digital Video & Imagery Distribution System.

(AP) FoxNews.com

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Tuesday accused Western countries of fomenting deadly anti-government protests in the capital this week and said it was summoning Britain’s ambassador to file a complaint.

The comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mahmanparast added to growing tensions between Iran and the West, which is threatening to impose tough new sanctions over Iran’s suspect nuclear program and has criticized the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in Tehran.

Iran has said as many as eight people were killed in Sunday’s clashes in Tehran. There was no serious violence reported Tuesday, but opposition Web sites said several activists were arrested, including a prominent journalist and the sister of Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Speaking to reporters, Mehmanparast said the deadly clashes in Tehran were the work of a tiny minority, and he accused outside countries, including the U.S. and Britain, of “miscalculating” by siding with the protesters.

“Some Western countries are supporting this sort of activities. This is intervention in our internal affairs. We strongly condemn it,” he said. “In this regard, the British ambassador will be summoned today.”

He gave no further details, and there was no immediate reaction from Britain.

Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. have all criticized Iran’s violent response to the protests, the bloodiest confrontations between the government and reformist activists since June’s disputed presidential election.

On Monday, President Barack Obama praised “the courage and the conviction of the Iranian people” while condemning Iran’s Islamic government for attacking demonstrators with “the iron fist of brutality.”

Traveling with Obama in Hawaii, U.S. National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough also said the White House is reaching out to international partners to build support for a new round of sanctions against Iran. He said the U.S. was exploring both unilateral or U.N. sanctions.

The sanctions are to punish Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment and accept a U.S.-backed plan to curb its nuclear program. The West suspects Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb — a charge Tehran denies.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, said the U.S. support for the protesters would only harm their cause. “The praise … will damage your reputation and clarifies the motives of this anti-religious group,” he told state radio.

The exact death toll from Sunday’s violence is still not clear. The government had said eight people were killed, but on Tuesday, Tehran’s chief prosecutor said he was investigating only seven deaths.

One reason for the confusion is that the government has taken the bodies of five slain protesters, including the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, in what appears to be an attempt to prevent activists from using their funerals as a platform for more demonstrations. The government says it is conducting autopsies.

In Sunday’s protests, groups of emboldened demonstrators chanted slogans against ruling clerical establishment, casting aside a traditional taboo in the country.

In outbursts of fury rarely seen in past street confrontations, they burned squad cars and motorcycles belonging to security forces who had opened fire on the crowds, according to witness accounts, opposition Web sites and amateur videos posted on the Web.

State-run television reported eight deaths and 60 people injured. But independent confirmation of the casualties has been virtually impossible because of state restrictions on media coverage. Iranian authorities have said 300 people were arrested in the protests, but did not specify where they were detained.

Since then, authorities have restricted Internet access and SMS services, and arreested at least 10 prominent opposition activists, including a former foreign minister and a top aide to Mousavi.

The opposition Web site Greenroad reported seven more arrests overnight Tuesday: Among them were Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, a journalist who frequently criticizes the government, and university professor Noushin Ebadi, the sister of the Nobel winner. Others included the son of a prominent ayatollah, a reporter for the opposition ILNA news agency, and several activists.

Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel peace prize for her human-rights efforts in Iran, told the The Associated Press in a phone interview from London that she called her sister on Monday, and that the sister was being punished because of the conversation.

“She was warned not to contact me,” she said. ” “She is detained for the sake of me. She was neither politically active nor had a role in any rally.”

A Dubai television company said Monday that it had not heard from its correspondent in Iran since he disappeared near his Tehran house on Sunday.

Dubai Media Inc. said it was in touch with Iranian officials about the fate of Redha al-Basha, a 27-year-old Syrian. Dubai Media is the government-owned parent of a handful of television stations in the emirate.

Mahmanparast, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said he was unaware of any arrests of foreigners. But he said it was possible that foreign journalists who did not have proper credentials had been detained.