IRAN UPDATE

News and comment on the diplomatic movements over Iran's nuclear programme

No. 107 - 17 October 2007

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SUMMARY

• Rohani attacks Ahmadinejad's alienation of potential allies abroad
• No US military action on Iran without consent of congress
• Putin's diplomacy with Iran- death threat issued ahead of conference.
• Hillary Clinton: a confused policy towards Iran.
• French push EU for further sanctions against Iran

In a frank and scathing attack on President Ahmadinejad's rhetoric, Hojjatoleslam Hasan Rohani pointed out that Iran was more isolated than ever, with European countries siding with the United States, a situation that was dangerous and damaging. Rohani is the Supreme Leader's personal Representative on the Supreme Council on National Security, a member of the Expert's Assembly and Head of the Expediency Council's Centre for Strategic Studies. He is a former nuclear negotiator, predecessor to Ali Larijani. His attack followed a comment from the Supreme leader himself that "backing the Government does not mean all its undertakings are approved by the Leader and supporting the Government does not mean opposing critics".

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, said that she did not believe that President Bush had the power to take military action against Iran without the consent of Congress, unless Iran attacked the US first. Pelosi also said that she has no plans to bring up for a vote a Senate-approved measure that would label Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization: "This has never happened before that a Congress should determine one piece of someone's military is (a threat)… If it's a problem to us and our troops in Iraq, they should deal with it in Iraq."

Vladimir Putin is visiting Iran this week in an effort to sooth relations between Iran and Russia before his presidency expires, and to discuss the nuclear question. This is the first visit of a Russian (or Soviet) premier to Tehran since 1943, and in the context of efforts by the West to isolate Iran, signals an independent Russian foreign policy. Putin will attend the 2nd annual Summit of Caspian Sea littoral states, taking place in Tehran on October 16. The Kremlin revealed on Sunday that a bomb-plot to assassinate Putin while in Iran this week had been uncovered, but this has not prevented the visit.

US Presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, is reported to have said she was willing to talk to Iran without preconditions. In June, this year she criticized fellow candidate, Barrack Obama, for having that exact position on Iran. Clinton's position on Iran remains ambiguous; this week she voted in favor of a motion to apply more diplomatic pressure on Iran, including naming the Iranian National Guard a terrorist organization.

France's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, has said that the EU needs to begin work putting together unilateral EU sanctions against Iran and that they need to be ready ahead of UNSC sanctions. Kouchner stressed that: "we have to find a peaceful solution" to the conflict with Iran.

Ita O'Sullivan, BASIC

STORIES AND LINKS

Iran's Supreme Leader calls for boycott of peace talks, IHT, 13 October
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for all Muslim countries to boycott an American-sponsored meeting for Middle East peace that is planned for late November.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/13/africa/14mideast.php

Iran Arrests Prisoners' Rights Activist, AP, 15 October
The head of an Iranian human rights group was arrested on charges of violating national security, official media reported on Sunday. The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said members of Emadeddin Baghi's family had taken part in meetings that were arranged by the opposition to topple Iran's Islamic regime.
http://ap.google.com/article/
ALeqM5gHiJHzwEpwNN2vNsy9DzyIh965oAD8S9CC1G0

California bill to divest Iran investments signed, Reuters, 14 October
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill on Sunday to bar the two biggest U.S. public pension funds from investing in companies doing business in Iran.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=fundsFundsNews
&storyID=2007-10-14T231521Z_01_N14271162_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL
-CALIFORNIA-IRAN-DIVEST.XML

Israel Struck Syrian Nuclear Project, Analysts Say, NYT, 14 October
A senior Israeli official, while declining to speak about the specific nature of the target, said the strike was intended to "re-establish the credibility of our deterrent power," signaling that Israel meant to send a message to the Syrians that even the potential for a nuclear weapons program would not be permitted. But several American officials said the strike may also have been intended by Israel as a signal to Iran and its nuclear aspirations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/washington/
14weapons.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

Comments, Editorials and Analysis

Solidarity With Iran, Wall Street Journal Online, 15 October
On the debate over the US government's funding of opposition groups within Iran.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119241007980458767.html?mod=googlenews_wsj