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Sunday
Jun142009

Video: Vice President Biden Says "Wait and See" on Election But Will Talk with Iran

Talking to the political talk show Meet the Press this morning, Vice President Joe Biden maintained a cautious "wait and see" attitude on the Iran elections, uttering the general "we're doing everything in our power" to gather information and review the outcome. This, however, was the key statement on US-Iranian relations, whether or not Ahmadinejad remains in power: "Talks with Iran are not a reward for good behavior; they're only a consequence if the President makes the judgement that it's in the best interests of the United States of America.... to talk to the Iranian regime. Our interests are the same before the election as after the election." (See Chris Emery's analysis in a separate post.)



Sunday
Jun142009

A Note on Israel-Palestine-Syria

The situation in Iran has taken up much of our time this weekend. We have not forgotten, however, that there is an important ongoing situation in the Middle East. President Obama's envoy, George Mitchell, has followed up talks in Israel and the West Bank with visits to Beirut and Damascus, and there is a major speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.

We will try to get the video and/or transcript of the Netanyahu speech, and we will be posting a full analysis on Monday.
Sunday
Jun142009

Iran: Mousavi Letter to His Supporters (24 June)

English translation of the latest letter from Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi to his supporters:

Mousavi's Announcment - 24 June 2009 Mousavi's Announcment - 24 June 2009 bahramks Mir Hossein Mousavi's announcement of 14 June (24 Khrodad) calling upon people to organize and continue civil non-violent protests.
Sunday
Jun142009

Iran's Election: Reactions Around the World

microphone07After the purported re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the President of Iran, a selection of reactions both from inside Iran and from the rest of the world:

Mir Hossein Mousavi, Reformist Candidate:

“I'm warning I will not surrender to this dangerous charade. The result... will jeopardize the pillars of the Islamic Republic and will establish tyranny.”

Mehdi Karroubi, Reformist Candidate:

“Evidently the results and the institution coming out of such a vote count is illegitimate and unacceptable.”

Mohsen Rezai, Conservative Candidate:

“It is obvious that the person who has been declared president following the legal procedures is the president of all Iranian people. I will support him in a bid to prevent any delays in the provision of services to the people.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader:

“The chosen and respected president is the president of all the Iranian nation and everyone, including yesterday's competitors, must unanimously support and help him.”

Hamid Karzai, Afghan President:

“The selection of Dr Ahmadinejad with a definitive majority of the Iranian people's vote is a suitable selection for the continuous progress and welfare of the Iranian nation.”

Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli Foreign Minister:

“Given the continued Iranian policies, and particularly following the victory and continued rule of Ahmadinejad, the international community must continue to act in an uncompromising manner to stop Iran from going nuclear, stop its support for terror organisations and its undermining of Middle East stability.”

Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary-General:

“We hope that the next term will witness progress on the relations between Iran and the Arab world and co-operation in establishing peace in the Middle East.”

Bashar Al-Assad, Syrian President:

Expressed "his faith that relations and co-operation will be reinforced between Syria and Iran."

Ali Al-Dabbagh, Iraqi Government Spokesman:

“Iraq will deal with any choice that is decided by the Iranian people. Iraq hopes to maintain friendly relations with Iran.”

Fawzi Salloukh, Lebanese Foreign Minister:

“We hope that the success of President Ahmadinejad in Iran will be in the service of peace and calmness in the Middle East.”

Fawzi Barhum, Hamas Spokesman:

“The results of the Iranian election are a victory for Iranian democracy, the Iranian people, the leaders and all parties and factions that participated.”

Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State:

“We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran. But we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide. We obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of the Iranian people.”

EU Presidency:

“The presidency is concerned about alleged irregularities during the election process and post-election violence that broke out immediately after the release of the official election results on 13 June 2009. The presidency hopes that the outcome of the presidential elections will bring the opportunity to resume dialogue on the nuclear issue and clear up the Iranian position in this regard.”

French Foreign Ministry:

“We have noted the results of the presidential elections in Iran as announced by the Iranian authorities, which returned Mr Ahmadinejad for a second term as head of the Iranian government, and that they are contested by two of the candidates. We are continuing to follow the situation closely.”

Lawrance Cannon, Canadian Foreign Minister:

“Canada is deeply, deeply concerned by reports about voting irregularities in the Iranian election. We're troubled by reports of intimidation of opposition candidates' offices by security forces.”

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister:

“The violent actions of the security forces against demonstrators is not acceptable, nor is preventing peaceful protest. We will continue to monitor the situation on the ground very carefully.”
Sunday
Jun142009

Iran and the US: EA's Chris Emery in The Guardian

AHMADINEJAD3OBAMAThe Guardian of London has just posted an outstanding analysis by Enduring America's Chris Emery (who, along with Scott Lucas, appeared on BBC News 24 yesterday to evaluate the tensions in Iran and the effect on US-Iranian relations):

Facing Reality in Iran


In contrast to the drama unfolding on the streets of Iran, the key non-event outside the country is the lack of reaction from the Obama administration. Contrary to the position taken by the Bush administration in cases from the Ukraine to Georgia and Lebanon, there will be no welcoming or encouraging of a velvet revolution in Iran. The Obama administration is, instead, preparing itself to deal with whoever emerges as president. Despite the protestations of Mir-Hossein Mousavi's supporters, this will almost certainly be the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While the United States would have strongly preferred to be dealing with a Mousavi administration, the basic strategic and political rationale for US-Iranian rapprochement remains unchanged.

Read rest of article....