Parliament Wants to Shorten Ahmadinejad's Term: DBI

Monday's Daily Briefing on Iran.
Iran: Parliament Wants to Shorten Ahmadinejad's Term.

• YnetNews reported that Ahmadinejad's term may be cut short. The Iranian parliament voted on Sunday to unite the presidential elections with the upcoming parliamentary ones.

Islamic Republic shuts down major websites.

• The Guardian reported that Iran yesterday shut down access to some of the world's most popular websites. Users were unable to open popular sites including Amazon.com and YouTube following instructions to service providers to filter them.

Russia Could Back Sanctions on Iran.

• Zaman.com reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared that the U.N. Security Council might allow “conditional approval” for a sanction package related to Iran ’s nuclear program.

Islamic Republic Fears Popular Unrest Over Problems with FIFA.

• Chicago Tribune reported that when it comes to a threat of international sanctions, FIFA, the worldwide soccer federation, has made the Islamic Republic tremble in ways that the United Nations' nuclear agency could only envy.

Middle East Nations Fear Lebanon May Become First Iranian Proxy State.

• Ha'aretz reported that Israel and several Arab states are increasingly worried that Fouad Siniora's government in Lebanon will fall, resulting in a Hezbollah takeover that would turn the country into what an Israeli government source termed "the first Arab state to become an Iranian protectorate."

UN Report cites Iran 's shipment of arms to Somalia.

• Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia to UNSC included Iran 's role in shipping arms and medical supplies in exchange for the exploration of Uranium.

Here are three news items you may have missed.

• AlJazeera.net reported that the Turkish prime minister has held talks in Tehran with Iranian leaders on bolstering bilateral relations and stabilizing the situation in their violence-ridden neighbor Iraq.
• Philip Sherwell, The Sunday Telegraph reported that Sunni-Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran , are lining up behind their warring religious brethren in Iraq in a potentially explosive showdown.
• News24.com reported that the Israeli government on Sunday approved the creation of a new ministry for strategic affairs, to be headed by a controversial ultra-nationalist and deal mainly with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Thank you, Doctor Zin and Team, for gathering this news about Iran. We understand how difficult it is to gain access to information from within a closed society. Have a great day.