US Elections Encourage Atomic Iran: DBI

Friday's Daily Briefing on Iran.
As a result of the US elections: the Islamic Republic is encouraged to press ahead with its plans.

• Reuters reported that Iran 's press wrote with glee on Thursday about the drubbing President George W. Bush's Republicans received in U.S. elections but predicted it would only moderate, not radically change, U.S. foreign policy.

Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader warns NATO.

• Iran Focus reported that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic blasted NATO as an establishment designed to control the resources of other countries.

Islamic Republic warns Russia on sanctions.

• RIA Novosti reported that Iran's top nuclear negotiator said If Russia were to vote in favor of a draft UN Security Council resolution on sanctions against Iran, in its current form, it would be backing sanctions against itself.

Does the Rumsfeld Resignation Mark the End of the Bush Doctrine?

• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that President Bush's nomination of his father's second director of central intelligence to replace Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is being interpreted by hawks here as a signal of the end of Mr. Bush's foreign policy doctrine and of a new willingness to negotiate with America's enemies.

Arrest warrant issued for Rafsanjani. (Yes!)

• CNN News reported that an Argentine judge ordered international arrest warrants on Thursday for former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and eight others in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center.

India detains N Korea Ship bound for Iran.

• The New York Times reported that India has detained an empty North Korean cargo ship bound for Iran after it strayed into Indian waters, baffling coast guard officials and police about the purpose of its voyage.

Islamic Republic one step closer to gas rationing.

• Iol.com.za reported that Iran is launching a system of "smart cards" for purchasing gasoline to pave the way for possible fuel rationing in 2007.

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

• Reza Pahlavi.org published a recent speech by the son of the former Shah of Iran on the recent developments in Iran in which he warns of the danger of a nuclear Islamic Republic and the all-important question of which is winning – democracy or religious totalitarianism?
• Bridget Johnson, World Politics Watch reviewed the recent Holocaust cartoon contest in Tehran and argued why the contest shows that such justification is not just the domain of Iran and its mad mullahs, but an international propaganda effort that would make the Nazis proud, masquerading as legitimate Middle East discourse.
• The Jerusalem Post, in an Editorial, argued that with the US elections now past, the he sight of Bush and Pelosi reaching agreement on Iran policy would send a powerful message to Europe that America is not willing to live with a nuclear Iran, and would embolden these nations to toughen their own policies.

Thank you Doctor Zin and Team. You bring us the news that everyone else is afraid to print. And they call themselves reporters? HA!