Sunday, January 21, 2007

Ayatollah offers nuclear deal; Ahmadinejad loses grip

Sunday's Daily Briefing on Iran.
Iran’s strongman loses grip as ayatollah offers nuclear deal.
  • The Times Online reported that Iran 's supreme leader is considering a change of policy on the country’s nuclear program in an effort to defuse growing tension with the West.
Leading Senator Assails Bush Over Iran Stance.
  • The New York Times reported that Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the new chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Friday sharply criticized the Bush administration’s increasingly combative stance toward Iran.
This Holocaust will be Different.
  • Benny Morris, The Jerusalem Post argued that the second holocaust will not be like the first. One bright morning, in five or 10 years, perhaps during a regional crisis, perhaps out of the blue, a day or a year or five years after Iran 's acquisition of the Bomb, the mullahs in Qom will convene in secret session.
Iran’s second front: Latin America.
  • Boston Herald reported that Ahmadinejad cozying up to Latin American leaders hostile to the United States has sparked speculative comment about a replay of the Cuban missile crisis, if Iran bases missiles in those countries.
Here are two news items you may have missed.
  • The Jerusalem Post reported that Iran is ready to start assembling 3,000 centrifuges to produce enriched uranium - a possible pathway to nuclear arms - after finishing most preliminary work on an underground facility housing such machines.
  • Middle East Newsline reported that an Iranian delegation has arrived in North Korea for talks on ballistic missile development.
Thank you, Doctor Zin and Team, for bringing us this news. Wow. What's next? Have a nice day.

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