Iran wins at S.Korea, both teams qualify for WCup

By JOHN DUERDEN, Associated Press
Tuesday, June 18, 2013

ULSAN, South Korea (AP) — Iran beat South Korea 1-0 on Tuesday in a match that secured both teams a spot at next year's World Cup, though the Asian hosts only just scraped through and had to wait until after the final whistle to know their fate.

Iran finished top of Group A in the final stage of Asian qualifying, with South Korea in second place - level on points with Uzbekistan but ahead on goal difference.

Uzbekistan came from behind to win 5-1 at home against Qatar. However, the storming finish ultimately came up just short, leaving the Uzbeks with a goal difference of plus-five and South Korea on plus-six.

Iran's winner came in the 60th minute, when Kim Young-gwon failed to clear a speculative ball forward down Iran's right wing. Reza Ghoochannejad robbed him of possession, sprinted clear and sent a curling left-foot shot beyond goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryeong.

South Korea, not wanting to put its fate in the hands of the game in Uzbekistan, pressed forward for the remainder of the game but failed to find an equalizer.

Kim almost made up for his mistake, but his close-range shot in the 86th minute produced a reflex save from keeper Rahman Ahmadi and Jang Hyun-soo's follow-up effort was also blocked.

"My team played with a realistic approach, to try and wait for a weak point in the Korean team and with a counter-attacking attitude," Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said.

"The goal came in one of those situations and fortunately, when Korea created opportunities, our players fought for our lives. The team played with fantastic team spirit with great practical discipline and enormous determination."

The win set off celebrations across Iran, where the government had given a rare approval for supporters to spill into the streets. Outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and president-elect Hasan Rowhani in separate messages congratulated the team for reaching the World Cup.

As Iran players and officials celebrated wildly on the pitch, the South Korean squad and fans were kept in suspense while the last couple of minutes of the Uzbekistan game were played out, before they knew they were also through to next year's tournament in Brazil.

"We qualified but didn't finish with a satisfactory result," said outgoing coach Choi Kang-hee. "Today was a disappointing defeat but the players gave their best and I wish them luck in Brazil."

South Korea, missing a number of European-based stars, dominated the first half and despite going close through Son Heung-min and Lee Myung-joo, were unable to break down a well-drilled Iranian backline.

Son, who recently joined German team Bayer Leverkusen for 10 million euros, shot over from close range while Lee broke free of the Iran defenders but was unable to dribble around the goalkeeper.

After Iran's successful smash-and-grab goal in the 60th, South Korea's players were made aware Uzbekistan was rapidly closing the goal-difference gap, so pushed forward relentlessly in search of an equalizer.

Though it never came, South Korea had done enough in earlier games to secure an eighth-straight World Cup appearance.

Iran's berth in Brazil will be its fourth appearance at football's main event, having last reached the final tournament in Germany in 2006.

Source: Westport News.
Link: http://www.westport-news.com/sports/article/Iran-wins-at-S-Korea-both-teams-qualify-for-WCup-4606902.php.

Regime hackvitists bring down Ahwazi websites

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Ahwazi Arab websites and blogs were hacked and brought down by Iran's cyber army during election day. In the run-up to the election, the websites of the Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz and the National Resistance of Al-Ahwaz were disabled by cyber attacks. On election day, the DSPA's website was brought down once again along with the Ahwazi Arab People's Democratic Popular Front by a group called the "Iran Cyber Army". The attacks were not confined to the Ahwazi movement, but also struck sites belonging to the Green Movement.

Although such attacks are illegal, the Iranian government has openly declared them to be part of its 'soft war' strategy. Deputy of the Supreme Leader's representative at the IRGC Brigadier General Mohammad Hossein Sepehr boasted earlier this year that Iran had the world's "fourth largest cyber army" whose remit includes "stop and foil cyberspace activity by opposition elements and opponents of Iran, for whom cyberspace is a key platform for communicating, distributing information, and organizing anti-Iran activities."

Opposition websites were offline for only a few hours, indicating that while the attacks were well-coordinated they were merely disruptive rather than fatal to website operations.

Source: Ahwaz News Agency.
Link: http://www.ahwaziarabs.info/2013/06/regime-hackvitists-bring-down-ahwazi.html.

Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad forces in Syria

SUNDAY 16 JUNE 2013

World Exclusive: US urges UK and France to join in supplying arms to Syrian rebels as MPs fear that UK will be drawn into growing conflict

Washington’s decision to arm Syria’s Sunni Muslim rebels has plunged America into the great Sunni-Shia conflict of the Islamic Middle East, entering a struggle that now dwarfs the Arab revolutions which overthrew dictatorships across the region.

For the first time, all of America’s ‘friends’ in the region are Sunni Muslims and all of its enemies are Shiites. Breaking all President Barack Obama’s rules of disengagement, the US is now fully engaged on the side of armed groups which include the most extreme Sunni Islamist movements in the Middle East.

The Independent on Sunday has learned that a military decision has been taken in Iran – even before last week’s presidential election – to send a first contingent of 4,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad’s forces against the largely Sunni rebellion that has cost almost 100,000 lives in just over two years. Iran is now fully committed to preserving Assad’s regime, according to pro-Iranian sources which have been deeply involved in the Islamic Republic’s security, even to the extent of proposing to open up a new ‘Syrian’ front on the Golan Heights against Israel.

In years to come, historians will ask how America – after its defeat in Iraq and its humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan scheduled for 2014 – could have so blithely aligned itself with one side in a titanic Islamic struggle stretching back to the seventh century death of the Prophet Mohamed. The profound effects of this great schism, between Sunnis who believe that the father of Mohamed’s wife was the new caliph of the Muslim world and Shias who regard his son in law Ali as his rightful successor – a seventh century battle swamped in blood around the present-day Iraqi cities of Najaf and Kerbala – continue across the region to this day. A 17th century Archbishop of Canterbury, George Abbott, compared this Muslim conflict to that between “Papists and Protestants”.

America’s alliance now includes the wealthiest states of the Arab Gulf, the vast Sunni territories between Egypt and Morocco, as well as Turkey and the fragile British-created monarchy in Jordan. King Abdullah of Jordan – flooded, like so many neighboring nations, by hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees – may also now find himself at the fulcrum of the Syrian battle. Up to 3,000 American ‘advisers’ are now believed to be in Jordan, and the creation of a southern Syria ‘no-fly zone’ – opposed by Syrian-controlled anti-aircraft batteries – will turn a crisis into a ‘hot’ war. So much for America’s ‘friends’.

Its enemies include the Lebanese Hizballah, the Alawite Shiite regime in Damascus and, of course, Iran. And Iraq, a largely Shiite nation which America ‘liberated’ from Saddam Hussein’s Sunni minority in the hope of balancing the Shiite power of Iran, has – against all US predictions – itself now largely fallen under Tehran’s influence and power. Iraqi Shiites as well as Hizballah members, have both fought alongside Assad’s forces.

Washington’s excuse for its new Middle East adventure – that it must arm Assad’s enemies because the Damascus regime has used sarin gas against them – convinces no-one in the Middle East. Final proof of the use of gas by either side in Syria remains almost as nebulous as President George W. Bush’s claim that Saddam’s Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

For the real reason why America has thrown its military power behind Syria’s Sunni rebels is because those same rebels are now losing their war against Assad. The Damascus regime’s victory this month in the central Syrian town of Qusayr, at the cost of Hizballah lives as well as those of government forces, has thrown the Syrian revolution into turmoil, threatening to humiliate American and EU demands for Assad to abandon power. Arab dictators are supposed to be deposed – unless they are the friendly kings or emirs of the Gulf – not to be sustained. Yet Russia has given its total support to Assad, three times vetoing UN Security Council resolutions that might have allowed the West to intervene directly in the civil war.

In the Middle East, there is cynical disbelief at the American contention that it can distribute arms – almost certainly including anti-aircraft missiles – only to secular Sunni rebel forces in Syria represented by the so-called Free Syria Army. The more powerful al-Nusrah Front, allied to al-Qaeda, dominates the battlefield on the rebel side and has been blamed for atrocities including the execution of Syrian government prisoners of war and the murder of a 14-year old boy for blasphemy. They will be able to take new American weapons from their Free Syria Army comrades with little effort.

From now on, therefore, every suicide bombing in Damascus - every war crime committed by the rebels - will be regarded in the region as Washington’s responsibility. The very Sunni-Wahabi Islamists who killed thousands of Americans on 11th September, 2011 – who are America’s greatest enemies as well as Russia’s – are going to be proxy allies of the Obama administration. This terrible irony can only be exacerbated by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adamant refusal to tolerate any form of Sunni extremism. His experience in Chechnya, his anti-Muslim rhetoric – he has made obscene remarks about Muslim extremists in a press conference in Russian – and his belief that Russia’s old ally in Syria is facing the same threat as Moscow fought in Chechnya, plays a far greater part in his policy towards Bashar al-Assad than the continued existence of Russia’s naval port at the Syrian Mediterranean city of Tartous.

For the Russians, of course, the ‘Middle East’ is not in the ‘east’ at all, but to the south of Moscow; and statistics are all-important. The Chechen capital of Grozny is scarcely 500 miles from the Syrian frontier. Fifteen per cent of Russians are Muslim. Six of the Soviet Union’s communist republics had a Muslim majority, 90 per cent of whom were Sunni. And Sunnis around the world make up perhaps 85 per cent of all Muslims. For a Russia intent on re-positioning itself across a land mass that includes most of the former Soviet Union, Sunni Islamists of the kind now fighting the Assad regime are its principal antagonists.

Iranian sources say they liaise constantly with Moscow, and that while Hizballah’s overall withdrawal from Syria is likely to be completed soon – with the maintenance of the militia’s ‘intelligence’ teams inside Syria – Iran’s support for Damascus will grow rather than wither. They point out that the Taliban recently sent a formal delegation for talks in Tehran and that America will need Iran’s help in withdrawing from Afghanistan. The US, the Iranians say, will not be able to take its armor and equipment out of the country during its continuing war against the Taliban without Iran’s active assistance. One of the sources claimed – not without some mirth -- that the French were forced to leave 50 tanks behind when they left because they did not have Tehran’s help.

It is a sign of the changing historical template in the Middle East that within the framework of old Cold War rivalries between Washington and Moscow, Israel’s security has taken second place to the conflict in Syria. Indeed, Israel’s policies in the region have been knocked askew by the Arab revolutions, leaving its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hopelessly adrift amid the historic changes.

Only once over the past two years has Israel fully condemned atrocities committed by the Assad regime, and while it has given medical help to wounded rebels on the Israeli-Syrian border, it fears an Islamist caliphate in Damascus far more than a continuation of Assad’s rule. One former Israel intelligence commander recently described Assad as “Israel’s man in Damascus”.  Only days before President Mubarak was overthrown, both Netanyahu and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia called Washington to ask Obama to save the Egyptian dictator. In vain.

If the Arab world has itself been overwhelmed by the two years of revolutions, none will have suffered from the Syrian war in the long term more than the Palestinians. The land they wish to call their future state has been so populated with Jewish Israeli colonists that it can no longer be either secure or ‘viable’. ‘Peace’ envoy Tony Blair’s attempts to create such a state have been laughable. A future ‘Palestine’ would be a Sunni nation. But today, Washington scarcely mentions the Palestinians.

Another of the region’s supreme ironies is that Hamas, supposedly the ‘super-terrorists’ of Gaza, have abandoned Damascus and now support the Gulf Arabs’ desire to crush Assad. Syrian government forces claim that Hamas has even trained Syrian rebels in the manufacture and use of home-made rockets.

In Arab eyes, Israel’s 2006 war against the Shia Hizballah was an attempt to strike at the heart of Iran. The West’s support for Syrian rebels is a strategic attempt to crush Iran. But Iran is going to take the offensive. Even for the Middle East, these are high stakes. Against this fearful background, the Palestinian tragedy continues.

Source: The Independent.
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-to-send-4000-troops-to-aid-president-assad-forces-in-syria-8660358.html.

Arab unrest if Rouhani fails to meet high expectations

Monday, June 17, 2013

President-elect Hassan Rouhani created high expectations among Ahwazi Arabs and other ethnic groups after he promised to end discrimination and enforce linguistic rights during his election campaign.

Official results show that Rouhani came second in the Ahwaz region with 34% of the vote, compared to Mohsen Rezaee on 46%, although these results are now in doubt due to evidence of electoral fraud by the regime.

The election contest offered the clearest sign yet that the Iranian regime is aware of Ahwazi Arab grievances. Presidential candidates spoke on issues that the Ahwazi movement has been raising for over a decade, but has faced persecution and accusations of separatism and foreign-inspired terrorism. Linguistic rights, poverty, discrimination in the workplace and environmental destruction were the top themes of the election debate in Arab districts as candidates tried to woo local support.

Raising hopes among some Ahwazis not already disillusioned with the political system could foment conditions for unrest in the future. The failure of the "reformist" administration of President Khatami to address grievances and instead sustain a program of ethnic cleansing against Ahwazi Arabs led to civil unrest in April 2005, a period known as the Ahwazi intifada. Many Ahwazis who had supported Khatami's administration and formed cultural associations seeking to boost Arab rights became disillusioned and were subsequently imprisoned with some sentenced to death.

Rouhani's 10-point plan for non-Persian ethnic groups

Rouhani attempted to win over several Arab sheikhs who were invited to meet him in Tehran and voice their concerns. At the meeting, he appeared to accede to their demands for a 10 per cent share of cabinet seats for members of the Arab minority. Already, his cabinet appointments appear to have fallen well short of this target.

Hailing from the north of Iran, the 'pragmatic conservative' sought to attract non-Persian vote with a list of 10 pledges to address ethnic discrimination, in accordance with neglected constitutional provisions. These included the right to learn in the native tongue, as stated in Article 15, and promoting a meritocratic economy based not on ethnicity or religion but personal strengths in order to leverage the best local human resources. Rouhani has also promised to promote local people into managerial positions.

The president-elect has failed to address some of the more urgent development issues that concern ordinary Ahwazi Arabs who feel increasingly estranged from their co-opted tribal leaders, namely the region's man-made environmental crisis and political issues. Rouhani's failure to engage with ordinary Arab workers and farmers indicates that his administration will continue to seek to use political and financial patronage to win the allegiance of tribal elites with little attempt to engage with the masses.

Candidates note problems, offer no solutions

Other presidential candidates appeared to have a greater understanding of the problems facing Ahwazi Arabs, although provided few policy solutions. In his rhetoric, Rezaee had made a notable ideological transition from a hardline principalist stance to a platform that stressed the economic and social marginalization of non-Persian ethnic groups. He also attacked those who referred to the indigenous population as "Arab-speakers", a term regarded as offensive by Arabs for playing down their ethnic identity. Chief among his vocal concerns was the destruction of the local ecology, particularly the province's controversial dam and river diversion program that has caused hardship and displacement for hundreds of thousands of local Arabs.

On a visit to Mohammareh/Khorramshahr, Mohammad Ghalibaf said that "Years after freeing the city, I feel ashamed of the failure... Khuzestan suffers from basic problems relation to water, the environment, employment and industry."

In a side-swipe against institutional racism, he said "considering ethnic groups as a threat is an unforgivable sin... When management and decision-making is centralized, there is a lack of appreciation of local capacities" and as a result it is a threat to national prosperity and security. However, Ghalibaf was short on answers.

Source: Ahwaz News Agency.
Link: http://www.ahwaziarabs.info/2013/06/arab-unrest-if-rouhani-fails-to-meet.html.

Iran's Rohani hopes all will seize chance of friendly ties

By Yeganeh Torbati and Jon Hemming
DUBAI | Mon Jun 17, 2013

(Reuters) - President-elect Hassan Rohani held out the prospect on Monday of better relations between Iran and the world, including the United States, and progress on resolving the nuclear dispute.

But the moderate cleric who scored a surprise election victory on Friday insisted Washington and the West must recognize what he said was Tehran's right to enrich uranium, not interfere in Iran's internal affairs and end their hostility.

Rohani said his new government, to be formed after his inauguration in August, would "revive ethics and constructive interaction with the world through moderation".

"I hope that all countries use this opportunity," he told his first news conference since his election win.

Asked if he would be prepared to hold direct talks with the United States, Rohani said: "The issue of relations between Iran and America is a complicated and difficult issue."

"It is an old wound that needs to be ... healed," he said.

Rohani set three conditions for direct talks.

"First of all the Americans have to say ... that they will never interfere in Iran's internal affairs. Second, they have to recognize all of the Iranian nation's due rights including nuclear rights, and third they have to put aside oppressive ... policies towards Iran," he said.

The White House said on Sunday the election of Rohani was a "potentially hopeful sign" if he lives up to what it said were his promises to "come clean" over the nuclear program.

Western countries believe Iran's nuclear program is cover for plans to develop the means to one day build an atomic bomb. Washington and the European Union severely tightened financial and trade sanction on Iran last year, forcing sharp cuts to its oil exports and causing serious harm to its economy.

Iran says its nuclear program is for energy and medical purposes only, and its sovereign right under international treaties which guarantee countries access to peaceful atomic technology if they forego weapons.

Rohani was Iran's nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 during which time he negotiated a suspension of Tehran's uranium enrichment. He said Iran would not halt those activities again.

"That period has ended," he said, but added that Tehran would be more transparent about its activities in the future.

"Our nuclear programs are completely transparent. But we are ready to show greater transparency and make clear for the whole world that the steps of the Islamic Republic of Iran are completely within international frameworks," he said.

REFORMIST OUTBURST

A close associate of hardline Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for more than 40 years, Rohani also received the backing of former presidents Mohammad Khatami, a reformist, and pragmatic political heavyweight Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Though a renowned bridge-builder, Rohani will have a hard task balancing the public demand for more openness and the likely resistance of the conservative establishment.

Underlining that challenge, the news conference ended when one man shouted a slogan in favor of reformist Mirhossein Mousavi, held under house arrest since 2011.

Mousavi ran for president in 2009 and led the "Green Movement" of mass demonstrations contesting his defeat, which became the biggest challenge to Iran's ruling system since its founding in the 1979 revolution.

"Rohani remember, Mirhossein must be (present)," the man shouted live on state television. Rohani left the dais and state television cut to scenes of people voting and music.

Rohani's predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had clashed with Iran's conservative establishment despite winning Khamenei's backing to suppress the Green Movement protests four years ago.

In a sign of the country's deep divisions, Ahmadinejad - who remains president until Rohani's inauguration in August - was summoned on Monday to appear before a court on unspecified criminal charges. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, whose powerful family Ahmadinejad accused of corruption, has made complaints against him.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday the Iranian election was evidence of popular discontent with the Tehran government, but said Rohani did not have the power to change nuclear policy, which is in the hands of Khamenei.

Iran's desire for better relations, Rohani said, only applied to countries with which Tehran recognizes, a category that would exclude Israel.

As well as the nuclear dispute, relations with the West and Iran's internal divisions, Rohani also has to cope with an economy damaged by international sanctions and mismanagement and a civil war in Syria where it backs President Bashar al-Assad.

Better relations with other countries and the recognition of Iran's nuclear rights through negotiation would lead to the lifting of sanctions and improvement of the economy, he said.

The civil war in Syria, the bespectacled grey-bearded cleric said, would be resolved "with the vote of the people of Syria ... that which worries our people is the civil war and the interference of foreigners, which must end."

(Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian and Marcus George; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Peter Graff)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/17/us-iran-election-relations-idUSBRE95G0G920130617.

Iran's new president hails 'victory of moderation'

By Zahra Hosseinian
DUBAI | Sat Jun 15, 2013

(Reuters) - Moderate cleric Hassan Rohani won Iran's presidential election on Saturday with a resounding defeat of conservative hardliners, calling it a victory of moderation over extremism and pledging a new tone of respect in international affairs.

Though thousands of jubilant Iranians poured onto the streets in celebration of the victory, the outcome will not soon transform Iran's tense relations with the West, resolve the row over its nuclear program or lessen its support of Syria's president in the civil war there - matters of national security that remain the domain of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But the president runs the economy and wields broad influence in decision-making in other spheres. Rohani's resounding mandate could provide latitude for a diplomatic thaw with the West and more social freedoms at home after eight years of belligerence and repression under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was legally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.

"This victory is a victory of wisdom, a victory of moderation, a victory of growth and awareness and a victory of commitment over extremism and ill-temper," Rohani told state television, promising to work for all Iranians, including the hardline so-called "Principlists" whom he defeated at the poll.

"I warmly shake the hands of all moderates, reformists and Principlists," he said.

The mid-ranking cleric seemed to strike a new tone in the way he talked about Iran's relations with the rest of the world.

Rohani said there was a new chance "in the international arena" for "those who truly respect democracy and cooperation and free negotiation".

Celebrating crowds sprang up near Rohani's headquarters in downtown Tehran and across the city and country as his victory was confirmed.

"LONG LIVE REFORM!"

"Long live reform! Long live Rohani!" chanted the throngs, according to witnesses at the scene. "Ahmadi, bye bye!" they added in reference to Ahmadinejad, the witnesses said.

"Tehran has exploded with happiness. I have never seen so many people so happy in my life," said Negin, a 29-year-old photographer.

Others flashed the victory sign and chanted slogans in favor of Mirhossein Mousavi, who reformist supporters believe was robbed of the 2009 election by what they say was vote rigging to return Ahmadinejad to office.

"Mousavi, Mousavi, I got back your vote!" and "Mousavi, Mousavi, congratulations on your victory!" the crowds shouted.

Another eyewitness named Mina told Reuters tearfully by phone: "I haven't been this happy in four years. I feel that we finally managed to achieve a part of what we have been fighting for since the past elections. They finally respected our vote. This is a victory for reforms and all of us as reformists."

Rohani will take up the presidency, the highest elected office in Iran's hybrid clerical-republican system, in August.

Several people were killed and hundreds detained when security forces crushed protests after the 2009 election, and Mousavi and his fellow reformist candidate are still being held under house arrest. Authorities say the election was free and fair.

BRIDGE-BUILDER?

Though an establishment figure, Rohani was known for his nuanced, conciliatory approach when he was Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.

He could act as a bridge-builder between hardliners around Khamenei who reject any accommodation with the West and reformers marginalized for the last four years who argue that the Islamic Republic needs to be more pragmatic in its relations with the world and modernize at home in order to survive.

Emphasizing political continuity, Khamenei congratulated both the people of Iran for the high turnout in the polls and Rohani for his electoral success.

"The true winner of yesterday's election is the great nation of Iran that was able to take a firm step with God's help," Fars news agency quoted Khamenei as saying.

But Rohani's wide margin of victory revealed a large reservoir of support for reform with many voters, undaunted by restrictions on candidate choice and campaign rallies, seizing the chance to rebuke the unelected elite over Iran's economic miseries, international isolation and security crackdowns.

Rohani's nearest rival was conservative Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a long way behind with less than 16 percent. Other hardline candidates close to Khamenei, including current nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, scored even lower.

Iran's rial strengthened about 4 percent against the U.S. dollar on Saturday after partial vote tallies pointed to an easy Rohani victory, web sites tracking the currency said.

Washington said it stood ready to engage with Iran to reach a "diplomatic solution" over its nuclear program, which the West suspects is intended to produce nuclear weapons - something Iran denies.

"We respect the vote of the Iranian people and congratulate them for their participation in the political process, and their courage in making their voices heard," the White House said in a statement.

"It is our hope that the Iranian government will heed the will of the Iranian people and make responsible choices that create a better future for all Iranians."

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/15/us-iran-election-idUSBRE95C1E120130615.

Iran's Rowhani seeks 'constructive interaction'

June 15, 2013

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Just weeks after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election victory in 2005, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani stepped down from the post after quarrelsome meetings with the new president.

The decision cemented Rowhani's reputation as a moderate who rejected Ahmadinejad's combative approach in world affairs in favor of the more nuanced philosophy of Ahmadinejad's leading political foe, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Rafsanjani was rejected by Iran's election guardians from Friday's presidential ballot. But for many reformists and liberals in Iran, the 64-year-old Rowhani is somewhat of a mirror image of the elder Rafsanjani by reflecting his outlook that Iran can maintain its nuclear program and ease tensions with the West at the same time.

Rowhani held a wide lead in early vote counting Saturday. "Rafsanjani was really the only choice to re-energize reformists," said Rasool Nafisi, an Iranian affairs analyst at Strayer University in Virginia. "Rowhani only got their support because he is seen as Rafsanjani's man and a vote for Rowhani was a vote for Rafsanjani."

This deep connection between the two men could give a potential Rowhani presidency a dual nature: Rowhani as the public face and Rafsanjani behind the scenes as its powerful godfather and protector. Although all key policies such the nuclear program are directed by the ruling clerics, the alliance with Rafsanjani may give Rowhani more latitude to put his stamp on Iran's negotiation tactics with world powers after four rounds of talks since last year have failed to make any significant headway.

At campaign rallies, Rowhani has pledged to seek "constructive interaction with the world" that includes efforts to ease Western concerns about Iran's program and lift punishing international sanctions that have pummeled the economy. The West and its allies fear Iran could be moving toward development of a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials, including Rowhani, insist that the country only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and medical applications.

"We won't let the past eight years be continued," Rowhani told a cheering crowd last week in a clear reference to Ahmadinejad's back-to-back terms. "They brought sanctions for the country. Yet, they are proud of it. I'll pursue a policy of reconciliation and peace. We will also reconcile with the world."

Rowhani — the only cleric in the six-candidate presidential field — started religious studies at a teenager. He soon established himself as an outspoken opponent of the Western-backed shah, traveling frequently for anti-monarchy speeches and sermons that caught the attention of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the eventual leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Rowhani later graduated from Tehran University with a law degree in 1972. He then went abroad to Glasgow Caledonian University for a master's degree in legal affairs, according to his campaign biography.

While outside Iran, the stirrings of the Islamic Revolution were growing stronger. Rowhani returned to Iran and stepped up his denunciations of the shah, but fled the country to avoid arrest. He then joined up with Khomeini, who was in self-exile in France, and the rest of his inner circle, including Rafsanjani.

After the revolution, Rowhani rose quickly with various roles, including reorganizing the military, serving in the new parliament and overseeing the state broadcaster, which became a valued mouthpiece for Khomeini.

He strengthened his ties to Rafsanjani during the 1980-88 war with Iraq and, later, as Rafsanjani's top national security adviser during his 1989-97 terms. Rowhani continued the role with reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who also appointed Rowhani as the country's first nuclear envoy.

Rowhani took over the nuclear portfolio in 2003, a year after Iran's 20-year-old nuclear program was revealed. Iran later temporarily suspended all uranium enrichment-related activities to avoid possible sanctions from the U.N. Security Council.

Ahmadinejad strongly opposed any such concessions and deal-making. He also had carry-over friction with Rowhani, who backed his mentor Rafsanjani against Ahmadinejad in the 2005 race. Rowhani resigned as nuclear negotiator and head of the Supreme National Security Council after a few testy postelection meetings with Ahmadinejad.

In his campaign stops, Rowhani had been careful not to directly confront authorities over crackdowns since Ahmadinejad's disputed 2009 election. But Rowhani was seen as clearly siding with Ahmadinejad's reform-minded opponent four years ago, Green Movement leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was placed under house arrest in early 2011 along with fellow opposition candidate Mahdi Karroubi.

Taking a page from Mousavi's color-branded campaign, Rowhani adopted purple for his run for the presidency. It also brought some backlash, including several supporters arrested at a rally that brought cries from the crowd for the release of Mousavi and Karroubi.

At Rowhani's final campaign event earlier this week, chants rang out: "Love live reforms."

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Iran's polls open in presidential vote

June 14, 2013

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — In the end, Iran's presidential election may be defined by who doesn't vote.

As polls opened early Friday, arguments over whether to boycott the ballot still boiled over at coffee shops, kitchen tables and on social media among many liberal-leaning Iranians. The choice — once easy for many who turned their back in anger after years of crackdowns — has been suddenly complicated by an unexpected chance to perhaps wage a bit of payback against Iran's rulers.

The rising fortunes of the lone relative moderate left in the race, former nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani, has brought something of a zig-or-zag dilemma for many Iranians who faced down security forces four years ago: Stay away from the polls in a silent protest or jump back into the mix in a system they claim has been disgraced by vote rigging.

Which way the scales tip could set the direction of the election and the fate for Rowhani, a cleric who is many degrees of mildness removed from being an opposition leader. But he is still the only fallback option for moderates in an election that once seemed preordained for a pro-establishment loyalist.

"There is a lot of interesting psychology going on. What is right? Which way to go?" said Salman Shaikh, director of The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. "This is what it means to be a reformist in Iran these days."

It's also partly a political stock-taking that ties together nearly all the significant themes of the election: the powers of the ruling clerics to limit the choices, the anger over years of pressures to muzzle dissent and the unwavering claims that the last election was stolen in favor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run for a third consecutive term.

Iran's presidency is a big prize, but not a crown jewel. The president does not set major policies or have the powers to make important social or political openings. That rests with the ruling theocracy and its protectors, led by the immensely powerful Revolutionary Guard

But for liberal-leaning Iranians, upsetting the leadership's apparent plans by electing Rowhani could open more room for reformist voices and mark a rare bit of table-turning after years of punishing reprisals for the 2009 protests, the worst domestic unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

"Rowhani raises a lot of interesting questions," said Scott Lucas, an Iranian affairs expert at Britain's Birmingham University. "Among them, of course, is whether he gets Iranians who have rejected the system to then validate the system by voting again."

And there are many other factors at play. Many Iranians say they are putting ideology aside and want someone who can stabilize the sanctions-battered economy — one of the roles that does fall within the presidential portfolio. This could boost candidates such as Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who is seen as a fiscal steady hand.

Also, the rest of the candidates approved to run by election overseers — from more than 680 hopefuls — are stacked heavily with pro-establishment figures such as hard-liner Saeed Jalili, the current nuclear negotiator. Among those blocked from the ballot was former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is one of the patriarchs of the Islamic Revolution.

The vetting appeared aimed at bringing in a pliant and predictable president after disruptive internal feuds with Ahmadinejad, who upended Iran's political order by trying to challenge the authority of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The desire for calm is also fueled by the critical months ahead, which could see the resumption of nuclear talks with the U.S. and other world powers.

But the presumed plans have met an obstacle in the form of Rowhani, who is a close ally of Rafsanjani and is now backed by other reformist leaders who had previously seemed resigned to defeat. In the span of 24 hours earlier this week, Rowhani received a major bump when a moderate rival withdrew to consolidate the support. Endorsements from artists, activists and others poured in.

At the final rallies, Rowhani's supporters waved his campaign's signature color purple — a clear nod to the now-crushed Green Movement and its leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has been under house arrest for more than two years. On Wednesday, the last day of campaigning, thousands of supporters welcomed Rowhani in the northeastern city of Mashhad yelling: "Long live reforms."

Some Rowhani backers also have used the campaign events to chant for the release of Mousavi and other political prisoners, including former parliament speaker Mahdi Karroubi, leading to some arrests and scuffles with police.

Rowhani is far from a radical outsider, though. He led the influential Supreme National Security Council and was given the highly sensitive nuclear envoy role in 2003, a year after Iran's 20-year-old atomic program was revealed.

But he is believed to favor a less confrontational approach with the West and would give a forum for now-sidelined officials such as Rafsanjani and former President Mohammad Khatami, whose reformist terms from 1997-2005 opened unprecedented social and political freedoms. Many are now a memory after clampdowns in the wake of massive protests claiming ballot fraud denied Mousavi victory in the 2009 election.

There are no credible voter polls in Iran, and supporters of each candidate claim their camp is leading. Yet Rowhani seems to be tapping into growing energy and could force a two-way runoff next week with one of the presumed front-runners: Jalili and Qalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guard commander.

Any significant boycott would likely hurt Rowhani the most. And a change of heart to vote by many liberal-leaning Iranians could push Rowhani toward the top. The worries appeared reflected Thursday in reported comments by Rafsanjani opposing the boycott.

"I urge them to vote," he was quoted as saying by several pro-reform newspapers. Rowhani's backers, meanwhile, have adopted a motto of "one for 100" — meaning every reformist should try to encourage 100 people to the polls.

It's not hard, though, to find Iranians promising to snub the election. On some Tehran streets, about every third person planned to stay away. "Why should I vote?" asked Masoud Abdoli, a 39-year old paramedic. "They have kept opposition leaders under house arrest. They barred Rafsanjani."

Samaneh Gholinejad, a psychology student, said she abandoned politics after the 2009 chaos. "Honesty left the country then," she said. On social media sites, Iranians have sparred round-the-clock over the boycott.

Supporters often quote Albert Einstein's definition of "insanity" to describe the futility of voting after the allegations of fraud in 2009: "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Responses on the other side note that great discoveries would never have occurred if people gave up.

While there are no current signs of street protests resuming, security forces are on high alert. The Revolutionary Guard's volunteer paramilitary force, the Basij, is present in virtually every neighborhood. Authorities have steadily boosted controls on the Internet, attempting recently to close off proxy servers used to bypass Iranian firewalls.

Last month, the U.S. eased restrictions on export of communications equipment to Iranian civilians in an attempt to counter the cyber-crackdowns. There is no evidence, however, of any major U.S. shipments opening new channels for Iranian Internet activists.

In California, meanwhile, Google said it stopped a series of attempts to hack the accounts of tens of thousands of Iranian users with a technique known as phishing. "The timing and targeting of the campaigns suggest that the attacks are politically motivated," said Eric Grosse, Google's vice president for security engineering, wrote on the company's blog Wednesday. He gave no other details.

Iranians traditionally have shown high interest in voting. The average reported turnout in the past 10 presidential election is more than 67 percent, with officials saying there was 85 percent participation in 2009. There are no independent election observers allowed to verify the numbers, but no major allegations of vote rigging emerged until 2009.

Khamenei has repeatedly called for a high turnout as a reply to Western governments that have strongly questioned the openness of Iran's elections — including the process of vetting candidates. Shortly after he cast his vote Friday morning, Khamenei had sharp words for overseas critics.

"Recently I have heard that a U.S. security official has said they do not accept this election. OK, the hell with you," he said in remarks broadcast by Iran's state television. Khamenei said if Iran was supposed to wait for U.S. approval, there would be controversy.

In Washington on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that while the U.S. does not think the Iranian election process is transparent, it is not discouraging the Iranian people from voting.

"We certainly encourage them to," Psaki said. "But certainly the history here and what happened just four years ago gives all of us pause." A prominent political Twitter activist, who goes by the handle Koroush, showed the inner conflicts of many Iranians. He posted a message Thursday saying he will stay home but prays he will regret it.

"I will not vote," he wrote. "But I hope I will be regretful if others vote and Rowhani wins."

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. AP writer Deb Riechmann in Washington contributed to this report.

Iran opens space monitoring center

Tehran (XNA)
Jun 11, 2013

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday inaugurated a space monitoring center in the country's central city of Arak, official IRNA news agency reported.

Ahmadinejad said the center will help make use of the space and manage the behavior of the satellites in orbit.

Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi told reporters that the project aims to provide security for the country's space systems as well as monitor the moving objects in the space, according to IRNA.

By launching this center, Iran can exchange data with other countries, Vahidi added.

In January, reports said Iran had sent a live monkey onboard a homemade rocket named Pishgam (Pioneer) into space. Shortly after, officials said Iran has taken the first major step to send a man into space.

Iran, a founding member of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, launched its first domestically-made data- processing satellite, the Omid (Hope), in 2009.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_opens_space_monitoring_center_999.html.

Iranian hardliner drops out of election, narrows field for allies

By Jon Hemming
DUBAI | Mon Jun 10, 2013

(Reuters) - A conservative former parliament speaker dropped out of the June 14 Iranian presidential election on Monday in a move to consolidate the hardline vote and lessen the chances of an upset favoring a moderate candidate.

The 12-man Guardian Council, largely under the sway of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had already barred all but eight of the 686 people who registered as candidates, including pragmatic ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

That left four hardliners, separated only by small differences on issues such as Iran's nuclear stand-off with the West, facing a lone independent outsider and two relative moderates who may be able to generate popular support.

Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, a close adviser to Khamenei related to him by marriage, had been one of three so-called "Principlist" conservative candidates alongside Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati before announcing on Monday he was dropping out.

While he did not endorse any single candidate, Haddad-Adel urged voters to back his fellow Principlists, hinting that they were the ones also backed by Khamenei.

The Shi'ite clerical leader, the most powerful man in the Islamic Republic, has not publicly endorsed any candidate and insists he has only one vote in the election.

"With my withdrawal I ask the dear people to strictly observe the criteria of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution (Khamenei) when they vote for candidates," Haddad-Adel said in a statement carried by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

"I advise the dear people to take a correct decision so that either a Principlist wins in the first round, or if the election runs to a second round, the competition be between two Principlists," he said.

Friday's presidential vote will be Iran's first since 2009 when the excitement generated by large reformist election rallies turned to anger and protests when incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared winner.

Reformers, after two landslide presidential election wins in 1997 and 2001, said the 2009 results were rigged. Fearing a repeat, many of their supporters could stay home this time.

The only remaining moderates in the presidential race are cleric Hassan Rohani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator under reformist president Mohamed Khatami, and the lackluster Mohammad Reza Aref.

Despite the odds stacked against him, Rohani has still managed to rouse thousands of supporters in sometimes heated election rallies at which some of the old reformist slogans were chanted, such as calls for political prisoners to be freed. Several Rohani staffers and supporters were arrested afterwards.

But, with sanctions imposed on Iran over its disputed nuclear program compounding problems of economic mismanagement and corruption, the big issue overriding ideology for many voters is which candidate can best rescue the oil-based economy from a slow, grinding collapse that some analysts predict.

NO MORE CANDIDATES BARRED

Mehr news agency, citing an unnamed source, said on Sunday the Guardian Council would consider barring Rohani from the election for revealing what it said was classified information on Iran's nuclear activity during a televised debate, and for the slogans uttered by his supporters.

But the Guardian Council said on Monday that it was not considering barring any other candidate, denying the reports.

While Rohani only smiled when reporters asked him about the report that his candidacy may be up for review, he may have grasped that failure to curb his faithful could lead to him removal from the race. The report might also discourage a much-rumored withdrawal by Aref that could widen a vote for Rohani.

With nuclear issue and foreign affairs and national security all decided by Khamenei, there will be little substantial departure from current policy whoever becomes president, but the result could usher in a change of nuance and style.

During a televised presidential debate on Friday, candidates clashed on Iran's nuclear policy, with nuclear negotiator and potential election front-runner Saeed Jalili coming under fire from rivals over the lack of progress in talks with world powers.

Rohani said hardline stances taken since his time as nuclear negotiator had resulted in several rounds of U.N. sanctions.

"All of our problems stem from this - that we didn't make an utmost effort to prevent the (nuclear) dossier from going to the (U.N.) Security Council," said Rohani, who in 2003 negotiated a suspension in uranium enrichment with world powers, winning a relative respite in Western pressure on Tehran.

Enrichment activity resumed after the hardline populist Ahmadinejad became president in 2005.

"It is good to have centrifuges running, provided people's lives and livelihoods are also running," Rohani said, referring to Iran's campaign to develop advanced nuclear technology despite its worsening economic problems.

(Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-iran-election-idUSBRE9590M520130610.

In Iran vote, reformists struggle with few options

June 09, 2013

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Despite four years of non-stop pressure, arrests and intimidation, Iran's dissidents still find ways to show their resilience.

Protest messages still ricochet around social media despite Iran's cyber cops' attempts to control the Web. Angry graffiti pops up and then quickly painted over by authorities. Mourners at the funeral of a dissident cleric flashed V-for-victory gestures and chanted against the state.

But just a look at the sidewalks around Tehran's Mellat Park shows how far Iran's opposition has fallen as the country prepares for Friday's presidential election. Four years ago, girls on rollerblades sped around the park delivering fliers for the reform camp's candidate-hero Mir Hossein Mousavi. Emerald-colored head scarves and wrist bands representing Mousavi's Green Movement were in such demand that bloggers would list shops with available fabric.

This time, there are just a few subdued election placards for candidates considered fully in sync with Iran's ruling clerics. Security forces and paramilitary volunteers are never far away. Mousavi and other opposition leader, Mahdi Karroubi, are under house arrest and hundreds more activists, bloggers and journalists have faced detention as part of relentless crackdowns since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in 2009 brought accusations of vote rigging and something Iran has not seen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution: Huge crowds in the streets chanting against the leadership.

Iran's forces for reform are not so much crushed as now bottled up tightly. Now the election that marks the end of Ahmadinejad's eight-year era also brings another moment of political transition: Whether the loose affiliation of reformists, liberals and Western-leaning activists can somehow remain relevant in a time when the guardians of the Islamic establishment are consolidating their defenses.

"There is no shortage of people in Iran who would like to see a different way of being governed and a different world view from the leadership," said Theodore Karasik, a security and political affairs analyst at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. "Trouble for them is that they now fragmented and disorganized. This is exactly what Iranian authorities want to see."

The entire process has been derided by Western governments and rights groups as a farce after Iran's election overseers — all loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — blacklisted former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from the ballot despite his lofty status as one of the architects of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

For Iran's rulers, the relatively moderate Rafsanjani represents an unsettling force who could breathe some life into the battered opposition. Any momentum toward a backlash over Rafsanjani's barring quickly dissipated. He grumbled over the rebuff and Iranian reformist websites buzzed with complaints. But there have been no major street protests, suggesting — once again — there are only remote chances for a revival of the 2009 mass demonstrations. His backers have retreated to election boycott calls or drifted to other candidates who have no apparent intention to shake up the system.

The only significant public show of dissent before the election came in a coincidence of timing. Some mourners at the funeral procession of dissident Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri, who died last Sunday in the central city of Isfahan, used the march to revive the opposition chants from 2009 such as "death to the dictator," according to video clips posted on the Internet. But the outburst did not seem to inspire other rallies around the country.

"There is significant opposition in Iran to a lot of things, international relations, crackdowns on the Internet, but its dispersed over all classes of society and without a real focus," said Rasool Nafisi, an Iranian affairs analyst at Strayer University in Virginia. "There is opposition, but I doubt you can call it a movement."

Opposition voters now face the choice of whether to boycott the polls or turn to whatever they see as the least objectionable candidate. So far, the top figures of the reform movement, like former President Mohammad Khatami, have not given an indication to their supporters which avenue to take — meaning a unified strategy may only emerge at the last minute, if at all.

A likely major indicator in the final vote will be how many eligible voters stayed away, in comparison to a reported 85 percent turnout in 2009. It worries officials enough that Khamenei used one of the country's most somber occasions — the memorial ceremony marking the death of Islamic Revolution founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini — to say that a low turnout will only help Iran's "enemies" such as the U.S. and Israel.

Most of the eight hopefuls cleared to run are bathed in pro-establishment credentials, including such insider figures as top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Khamenei adviser Ali Akbar Velayati. Some reformists have migrated toward former nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani as a sort of default, since he is closely aligned with Rafsanjani. Khatami's former vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, has made a strong bid to draw reformist voters, speaking with the most passion about freedoms Wednesday during the second television debate among the eight candidates.

"An unprecedented security atmosphere has been imposed in recent years that caused lack of motivation among students," he said. "The solution is not confrontation, elimination or shutting down. We are living in the age of communications."

Others have gravitated to Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf in hopes his hands-on reputation could halt the downward slide of Iran's sanctions-wracked economy. But there is little sense left of the unified Green Movement that poured onto the streets in 2009 over claims that vote rigging robbed Mousavi of victory and handed re-election to Ahmadinejad. The protests — the worse domestic unrest since the Islamic Revolution — momentarily stunned authorities with once-unthinkable acts of rebellion, such as burning portraits of Khamenei, a full 18 months before even the first hints of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Mousavi and fellow candidate Karroubi have been under house arrest since early 2011. Security forces and intelligence units have been bolstered to the point where any form of dissent — in public or online — risks arrest. Most recently, several people were detained at a Rowhani rally after calling for Mousavi's release.

Iranian police chief, Gen. Ismail Moghadam warned: "Police will confront individuals who have counter-revolutionary behavior." Authorities have sharply limited visas for Western media to cover the election. Tehran-based journalists also face sweeping restrictions on street reporting and travel. On Thursday, the Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders accused Iranian officials of blocking coverage of the "government's suppression of fundamental freedoms, including freedom of information."

"The regime is showing its true colors," said Abdollah Mohtadi, a member of a London-based opposition group Unity for Democracy in Iran. "When Iranians cannot campaign or give voice to their political views without fear of persecution or prosecution, any claims the regime might make to democracy are shown to be a lie."

Farid Kia, 45, a university instructor in business administration who backed Mousavi four years ago, now says, "Voting is fruitless." Hossein Yekkeh, a 30-year-old engineer who voted for Mousavi, said he doesn't plan to vote because "none of current candidates represent reformists."

Prominent U.S.-based Iranian blogger Mehdi Saharkhiz — whose father Isa, a well-known journalist, has been jailed since 2009 — has engaged in online debates with Iranians on the value of a mass boycott. Saharkhiz encourages voters to stay away after the rejection of Rafsanjani and in protest of the vote-rigging claims four years ago.

"So you think they won't do it again this time?" he wrote. Another variable is the deepening Western sanctions over Iran's nuclear program, which may have the indirect consequence of boosting the vote.

Many former Green Movement backers have put ideology aside and have fallen behind candidates, such as Tehran Mayor Qalibaf, seen as capable fiscal managers as the economy reels under 30 percent unemployment and prices rising more than threefold on goods such as chicken and beef. The only sporadic protests in the past years, in fact, have been over pocketbook issues and not the squeeze on political freedoms.

"Is there still an organized Green Movement? No," said Scott Lucas, an Iranian affairs expert at Britain's Birmingham University. "Whatever was there, the authorities have been successful in breaking it up with detentions and crackdowns. But the issues the protesters raised — accountability, political transparency, reforms, openness — are still there and very much alive. They just have no cohesive expression."

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.

Canada slaps new sanctions on Iran

Ottawa (AFP)
May 29, 2013

Canada's top diplomat announced Wednesday more sanctions against Iran, including a total ban on all trade with the Islamic republic, ramping up pressure on Tehran to scrap its nuclear program.

Ottawa also added 30 individuals and 82 companies to its Iran sanctions blacklist, accusing them of supporting Tehran's nuclear efforts and helping the country avoid international sanctions.

"Canada's grave and sincere concern over Iran's nuclear program again compels us to act decisively," Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said.

"In round after round of talks with both the International Atomic Energy Agency and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), Iran has failed to engage meaningfully while the risk posed by its enrichment activities only increases.

"The absence of progress... leads Canada to ban, effective immediately, all imports to and exports from Iran," he added.

The move is part of an apparent coordinated effort by Western governments to isolate Iran.

Western powers have demanded that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment program, fearing that Tehran would use the material to build a nuclear bomb.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and intended solely for civilian energy purposes.

The sanctions blacklist bans Canadian entities and individuals from any financial or commercial relations with those named.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Canada_slaps_new_sanctions_on_Iran_999.html.

Iran sees new voter interest in June contest

May 29, 2013

TEHRAN, May 29 (UPI) -- More than 1.5 million voters are expected to cast ballots for the first time in June's presidential election, the Iranian Interior Ministry reports.

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said more than 50 million people are eligible to vote June 14. It will be the first voting opportunity for more than 1.5 million people, Iran's state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.

Iranian leaders have said a high voter turnout would send a strong signal about the resiliency of the Islamic republic. Presidential elections in 2009 were marred to violence following the controversial victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ineligible to compete in June because of term limits.

Mohammad-Najjar said there would be more than 130,000 ballot boxes open domestically on Election Day and 285 polling stations overseas.

There are eight candidates qualified for the election. Most of them are considered conservative leaders allied with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei told lawmakers Wednesday that candidates should campaign honestly.

"The words of the candidates should be real, friendly, (and) based on accurate and true information," he was quoted as saying.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/05/29/Iran-sees-new-voter-interest-in-June-contest/UPI-22841369832965/.

Outside View: What to make of Rafsanjani's disqualification

by Alireza Jafarzadeh
Washington (UPI)
May 28, 2013

The Iranian regime's presidential election, which is scheduled for June 14, took several dramatic turns last week when the Guardian Council disqualified former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who had surprised everyone by standing in for the elections.

In the theocratic regime of Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei holds absolute power and ultimate authority on all matters relating to foreign policy and national security, including the nuclear file.

Still, the candidacy of Rafsanjani posed perhaps the greatest challenge to the ruling clique since the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic in 1989.

But Rafsanjani is no light weight and the decision to bar him will have serious implications for the totality of the regime.

Since the inception of the clerical regime in 1979, Rafsanjani has always been the No. 2 figure after Khomeini. At that time, Khamenei was a low-ranking cleric from the city of Mashhad.

Rafsanjani, as he recently reminded everyone, almost singlehandedly raised Khamenei's profile and secured his presidency in 1981. After Khomeini's death, Rafsanjani was instrumental in installing Khamenei as the new supreme leader.

Rafsanjani has always been a kingmaker in the regime and he wants to make sure that Khamenei never forgets the immeasurable debt he owes to him.

The 2009 post-election uprisings were brutally suppressed by the regime in large measure due to the West's misguided reluctance to proactively side with the Iranian street. Nevertheless, the regime failed to put a lid on its deepening divisions.

Since then, Khamenei's authority has been significantly eroded and the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began to challenge him openly. Ahmadinejad handpicked Rahim Mashaei as his successor to keep the presidency within his own faction, only to be stymied by the Guardian Council.

This widening internal rift, coupled with the crippling impact of international sanctions on Iranian economy and the faltering state of the Assad regime in Syria, which is Tehran's main strategic regional ally, has significantly dented the Supreme Leader's aura and authority, thereby accelerating the regime's ultimate demise.

This explains why Rafsanjani, who until now was marginalized and driven into the shadows, had once again felt emboldened to make a last ditch effort to claim his share of power.

Indeed, anticipating Ahmadinejad's defiance and Rafsanjani's ambitions, the Khamenei faction had unleashed an extensive propaganda blitz to discredit and, at the same time, threaten the current and former presidents, calling Mashaei "deviant" and Rafsanjani "seditious." But these efforts failed to dissuade Rafsanjani from pushing ahead with his challenge.

So, the regime, which had emerged out of the 2005 elections relatively unipolar and monolithic, is now fragmented as never before, splitting into three major irreconcilable camps. Khamenei's cronies in the Parliament and elsewhere vociferously urged the Guardian Council to disqualify Rafsanjani and Mashaei, days before this unelected watchdog made its announcement.

In reality, when Rafsanjani stood for the elections, Khamenei was caught between a rock and hard place. None of the options seemed appealing, either to disqualify Rafsanjani outright or swallow his pride and in effect share power with Rafsanjani as president.

Khamenei finally chose to take the "nip in the bud," option, which seems to be, on the surface at least, the less risky option.

By disqualifying Rafsanjani, however, the Supreme Leader further eroded the regime's power base and delegitimized the regime and its election in the eyes of the most inner circles of the regime.

The bad news for Khamenei is that the windfall gains of four major regional conflicts -- the 8-year Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, the first Persian Gulf War in 1991, the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and the foolhardy invasion of Iraq in 2003 -- which had him to not only attack the regime's democratic opposition but also consolidate power internally, have receded.

One thing is for sure: Whatever the outcome, Khamenei and the ruling clique will emerge much weaker and more vulnerable. The regime's political star is dimming and this will significantly improve the prospects of democratic change by the Iranian people and their organized opposition. As such, the United States can ill-afford to be a passive bystander and squander the opportunity this time around as it did in 2009.

Instead of investing in either of the regime's factions, Washington should shift gears altogether,and evolve its policy from seeking behavioral change to standing with the millions of Iranians who have lost faith in the ballot box long ago, and are longing for a democratic, non-nuclear and peaceful Iran.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Outside_View_What_to_make_of_Rafsanjanis_disqualification_999.html.

Iran unveils new attack drone

Tehran, Iran (AFP)
May 09, 2013

Iran unveiled on Thursday a new drone, dubbed the Epic, capable of carrying out both surveillance and attack missions, the Mehr news agency reported.

Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi was quoted as saying the Epic, which can fly at high altitudes, is a "stealth aircraft that cannot be detected by enemies."

On April 18, Iran made public three other models.

The Throne, also a stealth model, has a long range and is equipped with air-to-air missiles, said General Amir-Farzad Esmaili, commander of anti-aircraft operations.

Esmaili said Iran had already produced and used dozens of them.

The Hazem-3 (Solid) and Mohajer-B (Migrator) are "tactical and combat" models and also capable of reconnaissance, the general said.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_unveils_new_attack_drone_999.html.

Daughter of Iran's Rafsanjani freed

March. 20, 2013

TEHRAN, March 20 (UPI) -- The daughter of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was released from prison after serving a six-month term, her lawyer said.

Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of the former president, was imprisoned in late 2012 for making propaganda against the state. She was banned from political activity for five years.

Gholamali Riahi, her lawyer, said she was released from prison after serving a six-month term, state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.

Rafsanjani was criticized by the conservative leadership for backing opposition leader and former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi during 2009 elections. Post-election violence that year sparked unrest not seen since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Iranian presidential elections are scheduled for June. Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is ineligible to run due to term limits.

Rafsanjani, who served two consecutive presidential terms beginning in 1989, said last year he was "no longer ready for this job (of president)."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/03/20/Daughter-of-Irans-Rafsanjani-freed/UPI-88811363786065/.

Poll Finds Mounting Hostility Among Arabs towards Iran

By Katelyn Fossett

WASHINGTON, Mar 6 2013 (IPS) - A poll released Tuesday shows a stark decline in favourability among Arab and Muslim citizens regarding the Iranian government and its policies.

Some who follow the issue are warning that tensions between Shia- and Sunni-led governments could ultimately be driving these shifts in attitude.

The poll, released by Zogby Research Services, is the latest in a series of surveys that charts public opinion in the Arab world on Iran. It polled 20,000 citizens in 17 Arab countries and three other non-Arab Muslim countries (Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan), and was conducted over the course of several weeks beginning in September.

An earlier poll, conducted in 2006, had indicated skyrocketing public opinion in the Arab world on Iran, with favourability ratings around 75 percent. Six years later, the new poll shows those same rates plummeting to around 25 percent, a decline that is being attributed to shifting perceptions towards both the United States and Iran, as well as growing Sunni-Shia tension.

In an IPS article published almost two years ago, in July 2011, journalist Barbara Slavin noted that favourability ratings toward Iran in the region were already in steep decline. In an extreme case, the Egyptian attitude fell from an 89 percent rating to just 36 percent.

In 2012, the most favorable views of the United States were expressed in Saudi Arabia (30 percent) and Lebanon (25 percent). The least favorable views were found in Jordan (10 percent) and Egypt (six percent).

Numbers indicating favourability toward the United States were generally lower and more volatile than those toward Iran, in the five to 40 percent range.

Meanwhile, Iran was viewed most favourably in Lebanon, with 61 percent, and Egypt further behind with 38 percent.

Iranian favourability ratings began much higher in 2006 and fell in all countries over the next six years. Public opinion fell the least in Lebanon, where favourability toward Iran was the highest out of all the countries (65 percent) in the last year.

In virtually every question, including two on Iranian roles in Bahrain and Syria in which other countries’ favourability ratings severely dropped, Lebanese participants answered with favourability rates above 70 percent.

Different explanations for the results were discussed at the Wilson Center here on Tuesday.

James Zogby, director of the Arab American Institute, said that in 2006 Iran had benefited from the perception that it was the center of resistance against both the West, whose occupation of Iraq was then in its third year, and Israel, which had just fought a brief but very destructive war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Zogby suggested that Turkey was now supplanting Iran in this role, while the latter is perceived as stoking divisiveness in Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon and Syria. The U.S. profile in the region, he noted, has also been reduced by its withdrawal from Iraq.

But analysts who responded to the poll cautioned against reading the results too optimistically and confusing anti-Iranian and anti-Shia sentiment.

“What we’re seeing is entrenched in a really quite frightening spread of sectarianism,” Marc Lynch, a Middle East expert and international affairs professor, said Tuesday. The results of the poll, he noted, need to be read as much as a “cautionary tale about the future of the Middle East as a feel-good tale of declining Iranian influence”.

Hisham Melham, head of the Washington bureau of Al Arabiya News Channel, also expressed concern over growing sectarianism in the region, going so far as to say that the Sunni-Shia divide is the worst it has ever been in the region.

Syria factor

The civil war in Syria also appears to be playing a significant role in this dynamic. Marc Lynch warned that some of the events that have proved crucial in undermining Iranian influence in the region, including the ongoing conflict in Syria, are creating new opportunities for expanding Iranian influence.

“Iranian influence in Syria is not going to go away,” he cautioned, “and one can easily imagine an insurgency fighting against what appears to be a Western-backed government in Damascus” when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad falls.

Middle East observers have been increasingly expressing concern over the region’s deepening sectarianism, especially as it exacerbates the conflict in Syria. After the removal of former president Saddam Hussein in Iraq, sectarian conflict and perception of a threat posed by Shi’ism has grown in the region.

Baghdad has been led by a predominantly Shia government since Hussein’s ouster and subsequent execution.

In the Syrian conflict, the government of President al-Assad has been backed primarily by Iran and the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah, while the rebels, who are predominantly Sunni, are supported primarily by the Sunni-led Gulf kingdoms and, to a lesser extent, Turkey. The Shia-led Iraqi government has also provided backing for al-Assad.

According to the new polling data, Palestinians hold particularly unfavorable views toward Iran, with favourability ratings in the 20 percent range. That compares, for instance, with relatively favorable polling outcomes towards the United States, with two-thirds of Palestinians responding that the U.S. contributed to stability in the Arab world.

Barbara Slavin, now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, expressed particular surprise at the Palestinian results, but likewise attributed the finding to the Syrian conflict.

“Iran and Hezbollah are rallying to the side of Assad in Syria, while Arab countries are funneling money and weapons to the largely Sunni rebels in Syria,” she told IPS.

Pan-Islamic image

One of the most striking results of the new poll was a change in Arab public opinion over the past half-dozen years regarding Iran’s efforts to expand its nuclear power program, producing enriched uranium that could be used for military purposes – a change Tehran denies.

In Saudi Arabia in 2006, for example, only about 15 percent of those polled believed Iran had nuclear weapons ambitions, compared with 78 percent in 2012. In Jordan, that number jumped from eight percent in 2006 to 72 percent in 2012.

The number increased in every country polled, albeit by smaller margins in the other six countries.

Although experts disagree on the underlying drivers of the shifting sentiments, it was clear that the polling results could potentially pose major problems for the Iranian government.

“Iranians have tried to project a pan-Islamic image of themselves since the 1979 revolution,” Slavin said, “which doesn’t work if they’re seen as a narrow sectarian power.”

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/poll-finds-mounting-hostility-among-arabs-towards-iran/.

Analysis: Khamenei mobilizes loyalists to swing Iran's election

By Marcus George
DUBAI | Tue Mar 19, 2013

(Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader may have helped Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to win two presidential elections, but he is now bent on stopping his turbulent protege from levering his own man into the job.

Time was when even reformist presidents would defer to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the ultimate authority in the Islamic Republic's clerical system. Ahmadinejad changed all that.

Ahmadinejad's relentless quest for power and recognition has led him into direct confrontation with Khamenei, the man to whom he arguably owes his second term, if not his first.

And as Iran's first non-clerical president since 1981, he has not stopped short of challenging the power of the clergy.

Even though he cannot stand for a third term, Ahmadinejad is widely seen as determined to extend his influence by backing his former chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie for president.

Khamenei loyalists accuse Mashaie of inspiring a 'deviant' trend that favors strong nationalism over clerical rule.

"So magical is the political prowess attributed to Mashaie and Ahmadinejad's populist appeal that Mashaie's prospective candidacy causes much concern in the Khamenei camp," said Shaul Bakhash, professor at George Mason University in the United States, weighing prospects for the election in mid-June.

Voters, preoccupied by bread-and-butter issues in an economy battered by Western sanctions imposed over Iran's nuclear program, may only have conservatives to choose from.

Reformists are unlikely to get a look in. Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, who ran against Ahmadinejad in a 2009 election they denounced as rigged, languish under house arrest.

The reformist movement "has no organizational capacity and no recognized candidate right now," said Scott Lucas of EA worldview, a news website that monitors Iranian media.

CLOSING RANKS

Iran's rulers, keen to avert any repeat of the mass protests and violence that shook Iran after the 2009 poll, will try to ensure that only obedient candidates pass the vetting process.

And to block Mashaie or any other pro-Ahmadinejad candidate, Khamenei is turning to a three-man alliance of principalists - hardliners loyal to him - to unite behind one candidate to secure a quick and painless election win, say diplomats and analysts.

The driving force behind this appears to be the supreme leader's foreign policy adviser Ali Akbar Velayati, who is one of the three possible contenders, along with Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and lawmaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel.

"If principalists are divided ... and the presidency is not in the hands of principalists in the future, we will have a tragedy," Velayati said last month.

"From these three people one person will be introduced as a candidate, so we can finish the job in the first round."

Analysts agree that Khamenei, deeply concerned about the election outcome, has given the nod to the initiative.

"Ayatollah Khamenei has systematically and effectively concentrated both power and authority in his person. No one in Iran today can become president without his approval," said Ali Ansari, an Iran scholar at St Andrew's University in Scotland.

Velayati appears to be leading a drive to eradicate Ahmadinejad's power and unite all principality's behind a single candidate - despite their own virulent political divisions.

A U.S.-trained doctor who served as foreign minister for 16 years until 1997, Velayati is now regarded as one of Khamenei's most influential advisers, often deployed to carry out high-level initiatives on the leader's orders.

Velayati's partners in the anti-Ahmadinejad alliance are established politicians, but less well known abroad.

Haddad Adel is the father-in-law of Khamenei's third son, Mojtaba, the gate-keeper of access to the leader himself. An MP and former parliament speaker, he commands influence in the assembly and much respect for his academic credentials.

His family ties to Khamenei have strengthened his position within the leader's inner circle, but have opened him to accusations that he is little more than a pawn of the leader.

The third member of the trio, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, is a former commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

He is regarded as a pragmatist who "reaches out to more moderate conservatives", said Scott Lucas of EA World view.

Popular, charismatic and boasting support from the Guards, Qalibaf's inclusion in the alliance may be intended to stifle any threat he might pose by running as an independent candidate.

"He is too popular in his own right and may represent IRGC constituencies that the supreme leader is nervous about," said a European diplomat who focuses on Iran policy.

DEMOCRATIC VENEER

Khamenei can tighten his grip on the poll via the Guardian Council, which can veto candidates - although barring too many would risk destroying public interest in a vote which, however circumscribed, bolsters Iran's claims to democratic legitimacy.

"Without these elections and high participation, even the pretence of democracy would fall apart," said Trita Parsi of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council.

But allowing an Ahmadinejad-backed contender - or dark-horse independents - to run has risks for the ruling establishment.

"Ahmadinejad has shown he isn't going quietly," said the European diplomat. "The danger will be if his candidate doesn't get in amid voter fraud speculation - then we've got a 2009 situation, involving regime insiders."

Tensions are already rising.

Last month Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani - also a principalist - was pelted with shoes and stones by Ahmadinejad supporters in the holy city of Qom, where he had come to make a speech on the 34th anniversary of Iran's revolution.

It was the latest skirmish in a personal feud that had exploded into public days earlier when the president accused Larijani's family of using its position for economic gain.

Larijani's brother, Fazel, described Ahmadinejad's behavior as a conspiracy carried out by "Mafia-like individuals".

Such public wrangling among Iran's conservative political elite is an embarrassment to the Supreme Leader.

"Khamenei no longer seems able to impose discipline eve among his own lieutenants when it comes to those fierce political rivalries," said Bakhash.

Among independents to throw their hats in the ring are former Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaie, a losing candidate in 2009. Both are conservatives who could disrupt Velayati's campaign to close ranks for Khamenei and shut out any Ahmadinejad proxy.

A president loyal to Khamenei might prove slightly less adversarial than Ahmadinejad in relations with the West, but would still be unlikely to accept a major nuclear compromise.

"Since they are beholden to the supreme leader, I can't see much change other than a reduction in some of the rhetoric," said Ansari of St Andrew's University. "Although this would help, at least on a superficial level."

(Reporting By Marcus George; Editing by Alistair Lyon and Janet McBride)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/19/us-iran-election-idUSBRE92I0HY20130319.

Pakistan, Iran leaders inaugurate pipeline project

March 12, 2013

GABD, Iran (AP) — The leaders of Pakistan and Iran are pushing ahead with a pipeline to bring natural gas from Iran despite American opposition, and the Iranian president has declared the West has no right to block the project.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke alongside his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, in Iran near the Pakistani border during a ceremony Monday intended to mark the beginning of construction of the Pakistani side of the pipeline.

The Iran-Pakistan pipeline is designed to help Pakistan overcome its mushrooming energy needs at a time when the country is facing increased blackouts and energy shortages. But there are serious doubts about how Pakistan could finance the $1.5 billion needed to construct the pipeline and whether it could go through with the project without facing U.S. sanctions, which Washington has put in place to pressure Iran over its nuclear program.

"Today is a historic day. The gas pipeline project is the beginning of a great work," said Ahmadinejad, speaking to dignitaries from both countries. "The Westerners have no right to make any obstacles in the way of the project."

Monday's ceremony comes just days before the Pakistani government's term is set to expire and could be designed to win votes by making the ruling Pakistan People's Party look like it's addressing the energy crisis. It also allows the government to thumb its nose at the United States, which is widely unpopular in Pakistan despite billions of dollars in U.S. military and civilian aid.

Zardari praised Iran for its help in the project and said the pipeline was a vital part of his country's development. "In order to help ourselves we've got to be economically sound," he told the crowd.

The U.S. has opposed the project, instead promoting an alternative pipeline that runs from the gas fields of Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and then to India. The U.S. has also championed a number of electricity generation projects within Pakistan, such as helping renovate hydropower dams.

Iran's deputy oil minister, Javad Owji, told Iranian state television that Tehran already built 900 kilometers (560 miles) of the pipeline, with about 320 kilometers (200 miles) remaining to be built inside Iran.

The Pakistan segment of the pipeline is expected to be about 780 kilometers (500 miles). Owji said Iranian contractors will be involved in building the Pakistani portion of the pipeline. Gas is supposed to start flowing in by the end of 2014, although few see that deadline as realistic, considering the delays so far.

The U.S. has repeatedly raised questions about the project although a state department spokeswoman pointed out the multiple stops and starts to the pipeline so far. "We have serious concerns if this project actually goes forward that the Iran Sanctions Act would be triggered," Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington on Monday. "All of that said, we've heard this pipeline announced about 10 or 15 times before in the past. So we have to see what actually happens."

Under American regulations, a wide-ranging list of business-related activities with Iran can trigger American sanctions. Certain sales of technology or equipment that allow Iran to develop its energy sector are barred, as are most transactions involving gasoline or other fuels, according to a January statement by the Congressional Research Report. The regulations also bar business dealings with Iranian financial institutions.

Possible penalties include barring the offending entity from receiving American military equipment or making it essentially impossible to do business with American banks. Iran also faces separate European Union and U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program, which the West believes may be geared for building nuclear weapons. Tehran denies that, insisting the program is purely for peaceful purposes.

"The pipeline has nothing to do with the nuclear issue. You can't build an atomic bomb with a natural gas pipeline," Ahmadinejad said on Monday. Rhetoric aside, it remains to be seen whether Pakistan would ever actually face American sanctions. The PPP government led by Zardari likely has only days left leading the country, because elections are expected to be called by the end of the week.

"That timing is very important for the People's Party because they are building their campaign on this," said Hussain Yasar, a senior energy analyst at KASB Securities in Karachi. One of the chief complaints of Pakistanis with the current government is over the widespread blackouts that have only gotten worse since it took over five years ago. The government seems to be promoting its commitment to the pipeline as a way to prove it is committed to solving the energy crisis despite its track record, and it has emphasized that it is going forward with the project in the face of U.S. opposition.

One of the biggest challenges for cash-strapped Pakistan is how to come up with the money needed to build the pipeline. Few countries have been willing to risk American ire by financing the project. In a statement Monday, Pakistani officials said Iran will give Pakistan a $500 million loan to build part of it.

The Pakistanis said they will finance the rest of the project - roughly $1 billion - through a $500 million Chinese loan and an fee added to customers' bills. But that is a tough proposition, considering how few Pakistanis actually pay for electricity.

It's unclear whether Pakistan's commitment to the project will continue if the ruling party loses the upcoming election. The PPP's main contender is the Pakistan Muslim League-N, headed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who spent years living in exile Saudi Arabia.

The oil-rich gulf kingdom, a Sunni Muslim country with deep suspicion of Iran's Shiite Muslim rulers, is believed to also be adamantly opposed to any deal that would benefit Iran. "It will be a tricky situation for the PML-N," said Yasar.

Santana reported from Islamabad.

Associated Press writer Ali Akbar Dareini contributed to this report from Tehran, Iran.

Iran Takes First Step to Send Man to Space

Tehran (FNA)
Jan 31, 2013

Sending a biocapsule to the space and retrieving it successfully was Iran's first step on the path to sending a human to the space, Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said after his agency announced on Monday that it had sent a monkey to the orbit, brought it back to the Earth and retrieved the animal and the relevant data successfully.

"Sending Explorer and retrieving it was the first step for sending human to the space in later stages," Vahidi said, adding that he would soon announce some good news in the same regard.

He further pointed to the mission of the Explorer, and said, "Explorer Pioneer fulfilled its mission at 360,000 feet (120km) altitude well."

Vahidi, whose ministry's space organization was in charge of the project, said the biocapsule which contained a living creature (a monkey) came back to Earth safe and sound and at the planned speed and velocity.

He said Iran will soon inaugurate a space observation base.

The Defense Ministry's Aerospace Industries Organization announced that it has sent a monkey into the space on the back of Pishgam (Pioneer) explorer rocket, and that it has brought back and recovered the living cargo.

The Aerospace Industries Organization said it had sent the living creature into space aboard an indigenous biocapsule as a prelude to sending humans into space.

The Aerospace Industries Organization said the capsule was sent to an orbit beyond 120km in altitude and carried out telemetry of the environmental data records.

The explorer rocket was launched by the Aerospace Industries Organization and it returned to the Earth after reaching the desired speed and altitude, and the living creature (monkey) was retrieved and found alive.

In mid-March 2011, Iran's Space Agency (ISA) announced the launch of the Kavoshgar-4 rocket carrying a test capsule designed to house the monkey.

The capsule had been unveiled in February 2011 by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with four new prototypes of home-built satellites.

At the time, Director of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli called the launch of a large animal into space as the first step towards sending a man into space, which Tehran says is scheduled for 2020.

Iran has already sent small animals into space - a rat, turtles and worms - aboard a capsule carried by its Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010.

The Islamic republic, which first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, has outlined an ambitious space program and has, thus far, made giant progress in the field despite western sanctions and pressures against its advancement.

Iran has taken wide strides in aerospace. The country sent the first biocapsule of living creatures into space in February 2011, using its home-made Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in 2010 that Iran plans to send astronauts into space in 2024. But, later he said that the issue had gone under a second study at a cabinet meeting and that the cabinet had decided to implement the plan in 2019, five years earlier than the date envisaged in the original plan.

Omid (hope) was Iran's first research satellite that was designed for gathering information and testing equipment. After orbiting for three months, Omid successfully completed its mission without any problem. It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks and reentered the Earth's atmosphere on April 25, 2009.

After launching Omid, Tehran unveiled three new satellites called Tolou, Mesbah II and Navid, respectively. Iran has also unveiled its latest achievements in designing and producing satellite carriers.

A new generation of home-made satellites and a new satellite carrier called Simorgh (Phoenix) were among the latest achievements unveiled by Iran's aerospace industries.

The milk-bottle shaped rocket is equipped to carry a 60-kilogram (132-pound) satellite 500 kilometers (310 miles) into orbit.

The 27-meter (90 foot) tall multi-stage rocket weighs 85 tons and its liquid fuel propulsion system has a thrust of up to 143 tons.

Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), which was set up in 1959.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Iran_Takes_First_Step_to_Send_Man_to_Space_999.html.