Sunday, December 24, 2006

UN Security Council Passes Iran Sanctions: DBI

Sunday's Daily Briefing on Iran.
UN Security Council Passes Iran Sanctions.
  • CBS News reported that the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Saturday imposing sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.
  • The Washington Post, in an editorial, argued that Russia has turned a U.N. sanctions resolution on Tehran 's nuclear program into a demonstration of Western weakness.
Iran calls U.N. resolution 'invalid' and 'illegal,' vows to continue enriching uranium.
  • USA Today reported that the Iranian regime described as "invalid" and "illegal" the U.N. Security Council resolution passed Saturday.
Iran's Spies in the West.
  • Sunday Herald reported that while it is an open secret that Iranian spies are operating with something approaching impunity in Iraq and also Afghanistan , the hidden story is the activity of Iranian intelligence operatives in western Europe and America . In Britain , France , Holland , Germany and the US, Iranian intelligence has run a relentless covert war against dissident Iranians and exiles from the religious regime for over two decades.
Plus: More evidence of fraud in the so called elections in Iran.

Tehran’s City Council: Reformists Are Knocked Out One By One.
  • Rooz Online reported that 2 websites associated with the Ahmadinejad Administration reported yesterday that the arrival of new “full ballot boxes” has “endangered the position of reformist candidates more than ever before.”
They Won’t Open the Ballots in the Presence of Observers.
  • Rooz Online spoke with Hossein Marashi, the spokesman for the Kargozaran party a minutes after he had spoken with Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the deputy Majlis ( Iran ’s Parliament) leader. While he is more pessimistic than other reformists about the integrity of the public votes, he still maintains his calm. When we asked him why, he said, “Because speaking violently during the recent years has hurt us a lot.”
Election Irregularities: What Is Happening to Tehran ’s Results?
  • Rooz Online reported on the Islamic Republic's the Ministry of Interior is allowing only certain reporters to visit tallying centers, and, for the first time in the Islamic Republic’s history, the task of securing election sites has been delegated to Basiji militiamen instead of regular police.
Here are three news items you may have missed.
  • Amir Taheri, Arab News reported that while the Iraqi city of Basra is calm, everyone assures us that “the Iranians” are there and all over the place. Only they are hiding themselves, practicing a physical version of their religious habit of “taqiyyah” (dissimulation) until the multinational forces leave Iraq.
  • Gulf Times reported that Iranian police have found a car packed with explosives in the volatile southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.
  • Another cartoon: The Return of James Baker.
Thank you, Doctor Zin and Team, for all the efforts you display by gathering this news. We really do need you. May G0d bless you this Christmas season.