Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Dec. 05 – Five individuals were executed in the southern Iranian province of Kerman on Wednesday, state media reported.
Five hanged in southern Iran
France sees Iran sanctions talks at UN next week
Reuters: France said on Wednesday there was “growing consensus” among world powers including China and Russia on moving talks on Iran’s nuclear program to New York next week to prepare a new U.N. sanctions resolution.
Bush says Iran must “come clean” on nuclear program
Reuters: U.S. President George W. Bush told Iran on Wednesday to “come clean” about its nuclear activities or else face isolation by the international community.
Monitoring agency praises U.S. report, but keeps wary eye on Iran
New York Times: The International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday publicly embraced the new American intelligence assessment stating that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons effort, but in truth the agency is taking a more cautious approach in drawing conclusions about Irans nuclear program.
Oil falls on Iran report
Reuters: Oil sank nearly a dollar on Tuesday after a U.S. report downplaying Iran’s nuclear program eased geopolitical concerns and economic worries in the world’s top consumer continued to weigh on demand growth prospects.
Rice says easing of pressure on Iran a “big mistake”
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.
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.
