Reuters: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday it would be a “big mistake” to ease world pressure on Iran just because a U.S. intelligence report said Tehran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
Rice says easing of pressure on Iran a “big mistake”
Mulling the nuclear intent of Iran’s mullahs
Christian Science Monitor – The Monitor’s View: The world shouldn’t rely on US spies right or wrong but on Iran’s full compliance with the IAEA. Why did Iran stop if it really did stop a nuclear-bomb project four years ago, as American spy agencies now estimate? Was it the US invasion of Iraq, economic sanctions, Iranian doubts, or what? Should the answer really affect the next steps for further pressure on Iran?
The Gulf States and Iran
Wall Street Journal: The release of the new National Intelligence Estimate will provide more fodder for those who claim that “neoconservative ideologues” and the “Israel lobby” are overly alarmed about the rise of Iran. In reality, some of those most worried about the mullahs wear flowing headdresses, not yarmulkes, and they have good cause for concern, notwithstanding the sanguine tilt many news accounts put on the NIE.
The report changes nothing: Iran is still a threat, says defiant George W. Bush
The Times: President Bush yesterday insisted that Iran remained a genuine threat to world peace, despite a new US intelligence report concluding that the Tehran regime had halted its nuclear weapons programme four years ago.
Canada-Iran relations worsen after diplomat’s expulsion
AFP: Difficult relations between Canada and Iran have deteriorated further after the expulsion of Canada’s envoy to Tehran, analysts said Tuesday.
Relax? Don’t. Iran can still build its bomb
The Times: Iran says that a newly published US intelligence report proves that its intentions for its nuclear programme are benign. So does Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the United Nations watchdog, who has greeted the report as if it confirms what he has always maintained that a resolution of the row with Iran is within reach. However, the offers no reassurance; on the contrary, it supports fears that Iran could soon have nuclear weapons.
Politics & Policies: Counter intelligence?
Middle East Times: Who does one turn to for intelligent intelligence in the absence of comprehensive intelligence from the intelligence community?
China’s U.N. envoy says “things have changed” on Iran
Reuters: China’s U.N. ambassador said on Tuesday a U.S. intelligence report’s finding that Iran had halted its nuclear arms program had changed the situation for Security Council consideration of new sanctions on Tehran.
A dangerous fantasy
The Guardian: Last December the Iraq Study Group, led by James Baker, recommended direct talks with Iran and Syria. Tony Blair responded that there was little purpose unless those parties were “prepared to be constructive”. He termed Iran “a major strategic threat to the cohesion of the entire region”. The activities since then of Iran’s proxies and its client state, Syria, amply confirm Blair’s diagnosis.
In Iran, group of mothers criticizes nuclear policy
New York Times: More than 500 Iranian women calling themselves mothers of peace have signed a letter to senior officials expressing their fear that there will be a war over Irans nuclear program.
