Iran Focus: Baghdad, Mar. 04 Border-police in the central Iraqi province of Wassit said that they have arrested 1,500 Iranians who had entered the country illegally with the intention of distributing illegal drugs. The group had entered onto Iraqi soil via the Badra region, on the border with Iran, without any identity cards, passports or travel documents, according to a border-police source.
Iraqi security forces stop drug smugglers from Iran
U.S. May Aid Iran Activists
Los Angeles Times: The Bush administration is considering a more aggressive effort to foster opposition inside Iran and seeking ways to use a new $3-million fund to support activists without exposing them to the risk of arrest. The approach would represent a change since President Bush’s first term, when the administration was more wary of such potentially dangerous moves, officials said.
Iran wants to widen atomic machine tests-diplomats
Reuters: Iran says it wants to break U.N. seals and test “essential” parts for machines for nuclear work, diplomats said, adding this showed Iran’s freeze on activity which could produce atomic weapons would be short-lived.
A Better Iran Strategy
Washington Post – Editorial: THE CHANCES that the West will succeed in peacefully restraining Iran from building nuclear weapons have been looking dismal at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency this week. The agency’s staff reported that Iran was still not fully cooperating with its investigation into the secret uranium enrichment program Tehran began 18 years ago.
On Iran, Bush Weighs a Joint Strategy With the Europeans
New York Times: President Bush, working to define a common strategy with Europe to get Iran to dismantle its suspected nuclear weapons program, conferred Thursday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about what the Iranian government must do as its part of any agreement, according to American and European officials.
U.S. Wants Guarantees on Iran Effort
Washington Post: The Bush administration is now seeking guarantees from Europe that allies will back punitive measures against Iran if diplomatic talks do not result in agreement by the Islamic republic to permanently abandon any ambitions of developing a nuclear weapon, according to U.S. and European officials.
Iran shows no sign of interest in nuclear talks: Rice
AFP: Iran has shown “no indication” it is interested in a European-brokered deal to renounce its suspected nuclear arms ambitions, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday. Speaking to reporters after talks with Danish Foreign Minister Stig Moeller, Rice backed the initiative by France, Germany and Britain to offer Tehran incentives if it will give up its suspected nuclear program.
Realism on Iran
Boston Blobe – Editorial: PRESIDENT BUSH should travel more. After recent discussions in Europe with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Bush told his foreign policy advisers to come up with incentives that the French, Germans, and British could offer to Iran if its clerical regime were to renounce, verifiably, its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
U.S. concerned over Iran meddling in Iraq
UPI: The White House accused Iran Thursday of trying to
shape Iraq’s transitional government and said such actions needed to stop. Spokesman Scott McClellan did not detail how that influence was being exerted. “We have had increasing concerns about Iran trying to influence the shape of the transitional government,” he said. “This must be an Iraqi process free from outside interference, especially from those
in the neighborhood.”
White House: Iran nuclear tunnels another worrying sign
AP: The White House says it’s another worrying sign — word from a U-N nuclear agency that Iran is building tunnels to shield its nuclear facilities. Diplomats in Vienna, where the agency’s headquartered, report the tunnels would protect key elements of Iran’s program from air attacks by America or Israel. Press Secretary Scott McClellan says the report raises fresh concerns about Iran’s “behavior” and “intentions.”
