Iran's Nukes: The Latest IAEA Report (18 February)

The latest findings of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran's nuclear programme. The full text is available via Arms Control Wonk.

Snap reaction? For all the bluster you will get over this report in the next few days, there is nothing new here, only the same old questions. The lack of "proof" of Iran's misdeeds is in the Agency's reference to "non-diversion of declared nuclear material", but the IAEA still has concerns that it has not been able to carry out a comprehensive inspection. These are expressed in almost the exact same language as in the 2009 reports, except for the addition of Ahmadinejad's promise of "ten new enrichment plants". Instead of calling doubt on the feasibility of this ambition, the IAEA gets sucked into speculative worries about the extent of Iran's plans. Look for this to be jumped on by those advocating harsher action against Tehran:

Latest on Iran (18 February): Watching on Many Fronts

SUMMARY

46. While the Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran, Iran has not provided the necessary cooperation to permit the Agency to confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities.


47. Iran is not implementing the requirements contained in the relevant resolutions of the Board of Governors and the Security Council, including implementation of the Additional Protocol, which are essential to building confidence in the exclusively peaceful purpose of its nuclear programme and to resolve outstanding questions. In particular, Iran needs to cooperate in clarifying outstanding issues which give rise to concerns about possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme, and to implement the modified text of Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements General Part on the early provision of design information.

48. Contrary to the relevant resolutions of the Board of Governors and the Security Council, Iran has continued with the operation of PFEP and FEP at Natanz, and the construction of a new enrichment plant at Fordow. Iran has also announced the intention to build ten new enrichment plants. Iran recently began feeding low enriched UF6 produced at FEP into one cascade of PFEP with the aim of enriching it up to 20% in U-235. The period of notice provided by Iran regarding related changes made to PFEP was insufficient for the Agency to adjust the existing safeguards procedures before Iran started to feed the material into PFEP. The Agency’s work to verify FFEP and to understand the original purpose of the facility and the chronology of its design and construction remain ongoing. Iran is not providing access to information such as the original design documentation for FFEP or access to companies involved in the design and construction of the plant.

49. Contrary to the relevant resolutions of the Board of Governors and the Security Council, Iran has also continued with the construction of the IR-40 reactor and related heavy water activities. The Agency has not been permitted to take samples of the heavy water which is stored at UCF, and has not been provided with access to the Heavy Water Production Plant.

50. The Director General requests Iran to take steps towards the full implementation of its Safeguards Agreement and its other obligations, including the implementation of its Additional Protocol.

51. The Director General will continue to report as appropriate.

Iran Document: Today's Mousavi-Karroubi Meeting (18 February)

Khordaad 88 provides an English translation of the report on Mousavi's Kalemeh website of today's meeting at Mir Hossein Mousavi's house:

Last night Mehdi Karroubi met with Mir Hossein Mousavi for two hours. They appreciated people’s peaceful demonstration on 11 February (22 Bahman) and criticized those who wanted to use the presence of different sections of the society for their political agenda.

In this meeting, they also criticized the violent extremists in Tehran and other major cities of the country who denied the peaceful demonstration of people by violent means. They made it clear that, for the first time in the last 30 years on the day of the victory of the Revolution, which belongs to every Iranian, the country witnessed a complete militarized situation and an atmosphere of fear. They criticized the attack on the symbols that are a part of the country’s flag and emphasized that this is a sign of weakness in the violent extremists in the Green presence of people.


Karroubi and Mousavi emphasised the need for the execution of all the articles of the Constitution, especially those that are related to the rights of people and are violated or ignored today.

They stressed that the informed presence of people seeking of their rights and their effort to reform the current detour in the Revolution, which has highly damaged the national interest, are very important.

At the end of the meeting Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karroubi mentioned that they will talk to people in this regard very soon, and they will inform people of the matters and the ways to peacefully seek their rights and demands in the near-future.

Middle East Inside Line: Dubai Assassination, Ayalon Appeal to US, Washington's Man in Syria, and More

Uproar over Dubai Assassination: Discussions and accusations are running at full speed over the assassination of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room. Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim said that "it is 99 percent, if not 100 percent, that Mossad is standing behind the murder," and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday demanded Israel's full cooperation in investigating of the fraudulent use of UK passports by the killers. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised that his government would launch an inquiry into the matter.

Speaking to a memorial rally for Mabhouh in Gaza, Hamas political director Khaled Meshal said from Damascus, "We call on European countries to punish Israel's leaders for violating laws. Israel deserves to be placed on the terror list."

Iraq Snapshot: The Dispute over “Democracy” and Elections (Alaaldin)

Official "wanted" notices, with the faces of 11 suspected Israeli secret agents, were released Thursday by the Interpol website.



Ayalon's Play for US Support on Palestine: Speaking at the Jerusalem Conference on US-Israel relations, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon criticized the Palestinian Authority and then praised the "unique" relationship with Washington:

The Palestinians have signed agreements that have called on them to dismantle terrorist groups and collect illegal weapons while they focus on the issue of the settlements, this is wrong and the settlements should not be singled out.

We also call on Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas to cease the incitement against Israel. They should stop not only the incitement in the schools, mosques and websites but should also refrain from traveling to various capitals around the world and vilifying Israel and calling for Israel's relations with a third state or international organizations to be held hostage to the conflict.

We have excellent relations with the US and its uniqueness is that regardless of minor disputes, the overall relationship is never affected. Every facet of our relationship bodes well and is the cornerstone for stability in our region. We welcome the important work of Senator [George] Mitchell who came recently to the region and placed an offer on the table. Israel accepted and we are still waiting to hear from the Palestinians.

US Tops Up Relations with Damascus: Washington has formally named Robert Ford, a career diplomat, as its new ambassador to Syria. After meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, William Burns, the US Undersecretary of State, said: "I have no illusions about the challenges. But my meeting with President Assad made me hopeful that we can make progress together in the interest of both of our countries."

Bomb in Iraq: Outside an Iraqi government compound in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, a bomb exploded killing at least 13 people and wounding at least 20 people.

Afghanistan: The Latest on the US Military-Covert Offensive

Brian Downing offers this overview for Asia Times Online:

In the past week, American, British and Afghan troops launched a major campaign around the southern Afghan city of Marjah in Helmand province - part of the counter-insurgency program begun in earnest last year. Shortly thereafter, far to the south in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, a major Taliban figure was taken into custody. The two events may help bring about a negotiated settlement.

All go in Marjah

Operations began near the central Helmand town with little prospect of a large-scale battle with Taliban bands that had operated freely there. The much-publicized buildup to the operation might have been throwing down the gauntlet and challenging the Taliban to a major battle, but the Taliban know such engagements go badly for them as their levies are no match or a Western unit's cohesion and firepower - a lesson learned repeatedly over the years.


Marjah is not a large city but it is a large town. The 80,000 inhabitants lived under Taliban rule - an embarrassment to Kabul and Washington alike. Further, it is a major center of the opium trade - a source of Taliban revenue, though one often exaggerated.The town will become a logistical and administrative center for counter-insurgency programs: school construction, well-digging, medical and veterinary services, agricultural support, and the like.

The operation seeks to demonstrate the combat efficacy of the Afghan National Army (ANA). The West has made great efforts to build the ANA but has been disappointed by its performance in the field, which unfortunately ranges from desultory skirmishes with local insurgents to negotiated truces with them.

Perhaps most importantly, the Marjah operation is designed to stop the momentum the Taliban has been building over the past several years, which leads many Afghans to believe that the Taliban will once again rule the country and that they must sooner or later settle with them. Taliban success has come less from craft in the field than from blunders in Kabul and distractions in Washington, which left the country open to Taliban parleys with various tribal leaders.

Success over the years has left parts of the Taliban leadership with confidence that they can conquer most of Afghanistan, as they did in the mid-1990s. The campaign into Marjah, in conjunction with counter-insurgency programs and tribal diplomacy elsewhere, will seek to break that confidence and force the Taliban to a negotiated settlement.

Thus far, fighting has been relatively light. Most Taliban fighters fled the town during the buildup; others are putting up sporadic resistance, setting up explosive devices, and preparing to melt into the population if need be. They will also seek to bringWestern firepower down upon civilians - a tactic in which the Taliban have developed expertise over the years - making counter-insurgency programs in coming months less likely to take hold in aggrieved people.

Action in Karachi

More significant news comes out of Karachi, the Pakistani port city that has filled with Pashtun refugees over the years and to which the Taliban's chief council, fearing drone strikes, has fled from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, second to Mullah Omar in the Taliban leadership, was captured by Pakistani and American intelligence officials. Reports indicate that he is providing intelligence, though his colleagues would have changed locations on his disappearance.

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Iran Analysis: The "Now What" Moment (Farhi)

Farideh Farhi writes for Inter Press Service:

After eight tumultuous months, during which attention from all sides of Iran's political spectrum as well as anxious watchers around the world focused on a series of street clashes between protesters and the government's security forces, an eerie calm has taken hold in Iran.

The government's ability to control the aesthetics of street demonstrations on the occasion of the revolution's 31st anniversary on Feb. 11 has once again confirmed the robust nature of the Iranian state, which used its long experience with government-sponsored demonstrations to stage what it now claims was a decisive "show of unity" involving "50 million" people "to bury the corpse of sedition."

Iran: Another Rethink on Green Opposition (Ansari)
Latest on Iran (18 February): Watching on Many Fronts

This is a significant development insofar as it disabuses policymakers outside Iran, as well as a large number of Iranian exiles, of the fantasy of the impending doom of the Islamic Republic or the belief that substantive change in Iran can or will come quickly.



Yet, despite the government's proclaimed unity, nothing that happened on Feb. 11 suggests that the fundamental cleavages that have rocked Iran in the past few months have been overcome. Indeed, the only message of Feb. 11 is that, by spending a tremendous amount of resources and energy on security, arrests and mobilisation, the government can control the crowds.

Reports from a variety of participants suggest that many supporters of the opposition that has come to be known as the Green Movement did come out, but simply did not know what to do or how to make their presence felt in the streets. In addition, the regime's deployment of abundant numbers of security personnel ensured that anyone who did make his or her presence known was swiftly pulled out of the crowd, led away or arrested.

In other words, the security and intelligence organisations managed the stage so effectively that, despite the attendance of more than 400 foreign journalists and photographers, the presence of the government's supporters
dominated the coverage. This was achieved not only by the massive security presence, but also by limiting the movement of foreign journalists; restricting - and, at times, even preventing - access to the Internet and cellular communications networks; the pre-emptive arrest of suspected protest organisers; and preventing the participation of recognised Green leaders, notably Mir Hussein Mousavi and his spouse Zahra Rahnavard, Mehdi Karroubi and former president Mohammad Khatami, through intimidation and pre-meditated mob attacks. The fact that, unlike the protests during Ashura on Dec. 27, no one was killed last week added to the impressiveness of the government's efficiency in controlling the streets, a striking contrast to the eight months that followed the disputed June elections.

But managing the stage and controlling the crowds on any given day are not the same as actually resolving the problems and grievances that have repeatedly brought protesters into the streets. Unless some of these are addressed, the Iranian state will remain on edge, vigilant, and engaged in a permanent crackdown that will effectively undermine the country's economic and regional ambitions.

The fact that some Green Movement activists may now be less inclined to use official holidays to mount their protests - or even be pushed underground --- will make dissent less predictable and thus significantly more difficult to control without the expenditure of even more state resources for the purposes of repression.

It is this dilemma that the Iranian leaders must address in the coming months. Even if it is accepted that the Green Movement is disheartened and the government "victorious," the country's multi-voiced and faction-ridden leadership cannot simply walk away from the events of the past eight months and avoid the "what now" question.

The country, after all, remains the same as before Feb. 11. Iran's political system, with its bickering elites, remains as dysfunctional as ever. And President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration is still perceived as incompetent even by many of its conservative backers at a time when the government faces the dual challenge of embarking upon what it calls the "economic surgery" of reforming the country's unwieldy subsidy system and thwarting growing foreign pressures to curb the country's nuclear programme.

To be sure, facing simultaneous economic and external challenges is nothing new for the Iranian leadership. During the Iran-Iraq War, the government did precisely that by relying on the post-revolutionary spirit of sacrifice and unity in the face of extreme adversity.

But, as pointed out by the conservative editor of Ayandenews, Fouad Sadeghi, the still-unaddressed internal divisions have turned Iran's dual challenge into a triple one, making overcoming the first two unlikely, if not impossible, without addressing the third.

It must be considered a sign of the raw nerve this conundrum struck that Sadeghi, whose brother was killed in the Iran-Iraq War and who was himself  an active member of Basij militia while studying at the highly politicised Amir Kabir Technical University in the 1990s, was arrested on the very eve of the anniversary celebration, soon after publishing his commentary.

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