Washington Times: The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran is unprecedented in the way it is likely to change U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic. Repercussions of the report go well beyond the Persian Gulf. They may influence U.S. relations with Russia and Europe and affect American standing in the world.
Making history
Iran remains potential threat, Gates warns
The Guardian: Claiming Iran may secretly have resumed efforts to build a nuclear weapon, the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, called for intensified international pressure on Tehran and urged Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to develop a joint air and missile shield to ward off future threats.
Iranian students protest jailings
New York Times: Iranian students held a protest on Sunday at Tehran University to demand the release of fellow students who have been jailed in recent months.
Iran, China’s Sinopec sign oil-field deal
Reuters: Iran said China’s Sinopec would invest around $2 billion under a deal signed on Sunday to develop the huge Yadavaran oil field, the kind of energy deal the United States has been trying to prevent.
Iran aims to end gasoline rationing by March 2009
Reuters: Iran aims to end gasoline rationing by March 2009 through expanding domestic production of fuel and encouraging the use of vehicles powered by natural gas, an Iranian oil official said on Monday.
EU says “no question” for now of changed Iran policy
Reuters: The European Union will pursue its line of offering negotiations to Iran over inducements to halt uranium enrichment while backing moves towards U.N. sanctions, the bloc’s negotiator with Tehran said on Monday.
Iranian students protest at university
AP: Hundreds of Iranian students expressed their anger over a government crackdown on activists in a protest Sunday at Tehran University, the second such demonstration in less than a week, witnesses and state radio said.
The limits of intelligence
Wall Street Journal: On one of our several trips together to Iraq, a senior intelligence official told us how she wrote her assessments — on one page, with three sections: what we know, what we don’t know, and what we think it means. Sound simple? Actually, it’s very hard.
Gates says Iran seeks to cause chaos
AP: Pentagon chief Robert Gates lashed out at Iran on Saturday for seeking to cause chaos “everywhere you turn” regardless of the blood spilled and said its neighbors must demand that Tehran renounce any intention of pursuing nuclear weapons.
Iraq plans next Iran-US talks in January: Tehran
AFP: The Iraqi government has proposed hosting the next round of talks between Iran and the United States over security in Iraq in January, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.
