Free Republic

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A senior Shi'ite Muslim cleric who has challenged Iran's system of clerical rule was arrested on Sunday after his supporters clashed with police outside his house in the Iranian capital, Iranian news agencies reported. Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeini Boroujerdi was detained with several supporters, Iran's student news agency ISNA quoted the deputy governor of Tehran, Abdollah Rowshan, as saying. The Iranian authorities are wary of any challenge, particularly from top clerics, to the system of clerical rule that was established after the 1979 Islamic revolution by revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

U.S. wins a united front on Iran Nicholas Kralev WASHINGTON TIMES October 3,2006 The United States is confident that Russia and China will join it in pushing for U.N. sanctions against Iran if it does not agree to suspend enriching uranium this week, a senior U.S. official said yesterday. R. Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, also said the U.N. Security Council will insist on a clear answer to its demand that Iran suspend its enrichment activity. A "maybe" will be considered a "no," he said. "For four months now, we've been waiting for an answer," Mr. Burns...

One hears not an encouraging word about US President George W Bush these days, even from Republican loyalists. Yet I believe that Bush will stage the strongest political comeback of any US politician since Abraham Lincoln won re-election in 1864 in the midst of the American Civil War. Two years ago I wrote that Bush would win a second term as president but live to regret it. Iraq's internal collapse and the president's poll numbers bear my forecast out. But Bush's Republicans will triumph in next November's congressional elections for the same reason that Bush beat Democratic challenger John Kerry...

The chief of staff of the Iranian army, General Atallah Salhi, said on Friday that Tehran has detected signs that the "Zionist regime" is falling apart. "Over the last few months we saw an offensive by the enemy against the Lebanese people and Hizbullah and we then saw signs that the Zionist regime is collapsing, and now we saw signs that the American leadership is collapsing," he said, warning that Iran can defeat Israel. Salahi spoke during a parade in Tehran to mark "The Holy Defense Week" which marks the start of the Iran-Iraq war. He addressed Israel and the...

MEDFORD, Mass.IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM has displaced Iraq as America's most serious foreign-policy problem. The question is whether we can live with nuclear weapons controlled by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the mullahs.President Ahmadinejad said that Iran would not be deprived of its "inalienable right" to develop nuclear power, and does not seek nuclear weapons. Despite these assurances, the ominous conclusion is that Tehran is arguably producing fissile material for nuclear weapons and defying the United Nations Security Council, as recent events suggest:On Aug. 22, Iran refused to allow inspectors from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog group, the International Atomic Energy...

PARIS-French President Jacques Chirac suggested Monday that the international community renounce referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council during nuclear talks-and that Iran, in return, suspend uranium enrichment. "I don't believe in a solution without dialogue," Chirac said on Europe-1 radio, suggesting that the international community suspend the threat of U.N. sanctions in exchange for Iran's suspension of enrichment during negotiations. "I am not pessimistic," Chirac said. "I think that Iran is a great nation, an old culture, an old civilization, and that we can find solutions through dialogue." He suggested that, firstly an agenda for talks be set forth...

Reza Pahlavi Offers Senators Three-Pronged Approach on Iran; Confront and Pressure the Regime, Support the People 9/14/2006 WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Hosted by US Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Mel Martinez (R-FL) Reza Pahlavi of Iran affirmed the world needed to focus on the big picture regarding the crisis facing his homeland, proposing an integrated three- pronged policy approach to the clerical regime of Iran. Offering his views to US law makers, he said "the best way to deal with the Iranian regime is by confronting it, pressuring it, at the same time supporting the Iranian people." Elaborating...

<p>In his televised 9/11 address, President Bush said that we must not ``leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons.'' There's only one such current candidate: Iran.</p> <p>The next day, he responded thus (as reported by Rich Lowry and Kate O'Beirne of National Review) to a question on Iran: ``It's very important for the American people to see the president try to solve problems diplomatically before resorting to military force.''</p>

"Iran is under threat; there are plans to invade Iran, hopefully it won't happen, but we are with you," Chavez told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a meeting of the Group of 15 developing nations. The U.N. has demanded that Iran suspend uranium enrichment amid concerns by some nations that it could be used for nuclear weapons. Iran insists that its enrichment efforts are peaceful, aimed solely at producing electrical energy. Chavez said Venezuela stands with Iran in this time of crisis, just as it has with Cuba, where Fidel Castro handed over power to Raul while recovering from intestinal...

Iran: Why the Secrecy? Die Welt welt.de September 04, 2006 European Union foreign ministers met in Finland, at Lappeenranta, on Saturday to back High Representative Javier Solana's continued discussions with Iran. 'Solana said he would not need extensive sessions with Iran to clarify the remaining questions, but did not provide any timetable nor was one set by the EU Foreign Ministers.' Britain, France and Germany each received a secret letter in response to the demand that Iran cease producing nuclear fuel. 'Some of the other EU states are growing impatient with the secretive handling of the Iran issue by foreign...

Annan: Sanctions will not solve Iran nuclear issue By News Agencies and Haaretz Service United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met on Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran. Annan is expected to press Iran to help shore up the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, but diplomats say the talks will also cover Iran's nuclear standoff with the West. Annan said in a newspaper interview before arriving that he hoped for a diplomatic solution that would "avoid another conflict in a region already subjected to a great stress at this moment." Asked about indications that the United States...