Monday's Daily Briefing on Iran

Monday's Daily Briefing on Iran.
Growing world oil production a serious problem for Iran.

• Philadelphia Inquirer reported that as crude-oil prices have dropped more than 25 percent from their summer peak, a continuing decline could spell trouble for oil-producing countries, especially for Iran and Venezuela , which have used their oil wealth to stick a finger in the eye of U.S. foreign policy.
• Khaleej TImes reported that a senior Iranian oil official said on Sunday OPEC would need to consider a new step if a recently agreed production cut did not stem the rise in world crude stocks.

Iran criticizes Western military exercise in the Persian Gulf.

• International Herald Tribune reported that Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday criticized the United States military presence in the region and slammed a US-led military exercise due to begin in the Persian Gulf.

Israeli's building nuclear bomb shelters.

• The Times Online reported that amid mounting fears that Iran is planning to obliterate their country, wealthy Israelis are shelling out on underground nuclear shelters in the gardens of their luxury homes.

Will UK police question Khatami this week?

• The Times Online reported that Khatami faces possible police questioning when he arrives in Britain this week to accept an honorary degree from St Andrews University.

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• OmahaNews argued that Iran's threats to close oil shipments through the Persian Gulf may be more difficult than believed, but a holistic appraisal of the Hormuz threat will certainly indicate it as Iran's "suicide option."
• The Times of India reported that the early Iranian revolutionaries inevitably rebuilt the religious seminaries along lines suggested by the Iranian opposition's most powerful pre-revolutionary discourse: Communist ideology.

Thank you, Doctor Zin and team, for all the hard and dangerous work that you do to continue bringing us news we can use. You certainly one of a kind.