Iran: Karroubi Responds to Government Threats "Bring. It. On."

Iran: The Latest on Mehdi Karroubi
The Latest from Iran (15 October): Restricting the Movement
The Latest from Iran (13 October): Government Threatens Karroubi

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Enduring America, 14 October: "We’re wondering, 'Does Karroubi back down?', and we’re thinking, 'No.' His response to the Government’s ham-fisted warning, which following similar threats over the last two months — may not come today, but I would look for a clear signal from the cleric by the weekend."

We were wrong. Karroubi did not wait until Saturday or even the Iranian weekend on Friday. He has welcomed the promise of Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie, Iran's General Prosecutor, to “take [Mir Hossein] Mousavi and Karroubi to court when the time is right”, with the unsubtle hint that he can now bring out some very heavy evidence (English summary via Facebook page linked to Mousavi):

I very much welcome this event so that if during... these years due to some considerations I have not raised some issues, I could do so in detail.

Unfortunately in these years the authorities who, according to Imam Khomeini should be the servants of the nation, have not paid any attention to this advice. Instead of being responsible and taking fair positions, they have confirmed the positions of extremist media to hide their unjust behaviour and also insult and falsely accuse others who do not have any media [to defend themselves].

This time not only I am not concerned about the “trial” but also I very much welcome it so that by this means I can emphasise my concerns that arise from national and religious beliefs of the Iranians and Imam Khomeini’s ideas, and clearly reveal those who are oppose to these concerns.

Israel-Palestine: No UN Progress on Goldstone Report on Gaza

Transcript: The Palestinian Authority Draft to UN Human Rights Council (15 October)

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On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council discussed the Goldstone Report. Any movement, however, was limited by the United States, Britain, and France, who all tried to return the matter of illegal military activity in Gaza to the Israelis.

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Alejandro Wolff underlined Washington's concern over "the unbalanced focus on Israel". He declared, "We take the allegations in the report seriously", but added, "Israel has the institutions and the ability to carry out serious investigations of these allegations and we encourage it to do so." British Ambassador John Sawers supported the American lead, "We urge the Israeli government to carry out full, credible and impartial investigations into the allegations," while French Ambassador Gerard Araud urged both Israel and Hamas to initiate "independent inquiries in line with international standards".

Meanwhile, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev criticized the Security Council for even considering the matter, "Instead of discussing the real and worrying questions facing the Middle East, the UN is focusing on the Goldstone report, which Israel believes legitimizes terror organizations."
She returned fire on Libya, which brought the issue to the Security Council:

An ordinary person would think that an emergency UN session would be called when Gazan and Lebanese terrorists fire missiles into Israeli territory, or because of the Iranian nuclear threat.

The pretense of urgency in this session is an attempt to "hijack" the council's agenda to promote the report, a move supported by none other than Libya - a country that has only recently celebrated the return of the Lockerbie bomber.

Transcript: The Palestinian Authority Draft to UN Human Rights Council (15 October)

Israel-Palestine: No UN Progress on Goldstone Report on Gaza

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Haaretz has obtained a copy of the draft resolution that the Palestinian Authority will present to the United Nations Human Rights Council today. Here is the full transcript of the draft:

The Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

A

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

Affirming the responsibility of the international community to promote human rights and ensure respect for international law,

Emphasizing the particularity of The Occupied East Jerusalem in its rich religious and cultural heritage,

Recalling all relevant United Nations resolutions including Security Council resolutions on Occupied East Jerusalem,

Deeply concerned also at the Israeli policy of closure and severe restrictions, including the permit regime, that continue to be imposed on the movement of Palestinians hindering their free access to their Christian and Muslim holy sites, including Al Aqsa Mosque,

1 - Strongly condemns al policies and measures taken by Israel, the occupying power, to limit access of Palestinians to their properties and holy sites particularly in Occupied East Jerusalem, on the basis of nation origin, religion, sex, age or any other status, which are in grave violation of the Palestinian People's civil. political, economic, social and cultural rights;

2 - Demands Israel, the occupying power, to respect the religious and cultural rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Hague convention and the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and to allow Palestinian citizens and worshippers unhindered access to their properties and religious sites;

3 - Demands also Israel, the occupying power to immediately cease all digging and excavation works and activities beneath and around Al Aqsa Mosque and its vicinity, and refrain from any acts or operations that may endanger the structure or foundations or change the nature of holy sites both Christian and Islamic in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in addition to articles 23, 25, 46 of the Hague Conventions;

B

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the principles and objectives of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Considering that the promotion of respect for the obligations arising from the Charter and other instruments and rules of the international law is among the basic purposes and principles of the United nations,

Reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the inadmissibility of the acquisition of land by use of force, as enshrined in the charter of the United Nations,

Acknowledging that peace, security, development and human rights are the pillars of the United Nations system,

Affirming the applicability of the international human rights law and the international humanitarian law, namely the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

Expressing serious concern at the lack of implementation by the occupying power, Israel, of previously adopted resolutions and recommendations of the council relating to the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

Recalling its resolution A/HRC/S-9/L.1 of 12 January 2009, in which the Council decided to dispatch an urgent, independent international fact-finding mission, and its call upon the occupying power, Israel, not to obstruct the process of investigation and fully cooperate with the mission,

1 - Condemns the non-cooperation by the occupying power, Israel, with the independent international fact-finding mission;

2 - Welcomes the report of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission;

3 - Fully endorses the recommendations contained in the report, and calls upon all concerned parties including UN bodies, to ensure their immediate implementation in accordance with their respective mandates;

4 - Recommends the General Assembly to consider the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, during the main part of its 64th session;

5 - Requests the United Nations Secretary General to submit to the 13th Human Rights Council's session, a report, on the status of implementation of Paragraph 3. above;

C

The Human Rights Council,

Emphasizing that international human rights law and international humanitarian law are complementary and mutually reinforcing,

Recalling the obligations of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention,

Reaffirming that each High Contracting Party to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War is under the obligation to respect and ensure the respect for the the obligations arising from that Convention,

Stressing that the right to life constitutes the most fundamental of all human rights,

Recognizing that the Israeli siege imposed on the occupied Gaza Strip, including the closure of border crossings and the cutting of the supply of fuel, food and medicine, constitutes collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and leads to disastrous humanitarian and environmental consequences,

1 - Welcomes the first periodic report of the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights on the implementation of the Human Rights Council resolution S-9/1;

2 - Fully endorses the recommendations contained in the first periodic report of the High Commissioner, and calls upon all concerned parties including UN bodies to ensure their implementation in accordance with their respective mandates;

3 - Requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit to the 13th Human Rights Council's session, a report, on the status of implementation of this report;

4 - Decides to follow up on the implementation of the present resolution at its 13th session;

Violence, Unis Closed, Corruption: It's Not Iran (Try Next Door)

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Juan Cole brings the latest, with Al Jazeera video, on the power politics in Iraq:

Mortars were fired in Baghdad, killing 7, and three bombs went off in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, killing 4 and wounding 48. The bombings were near to holy Shiite shrines, which is extremely dangerous. The bombing of the golden dome at Samarra in February of 2006 set off a vicious Sunni-Shiite civil war that killed thousands each month. The shrine of Imam Husayn, the Prophet's martyred grandson, in Karbala is among the holiest sites of Shiite Islam.

Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered the closing for one week of Mustansiriya University in downtown Baghdad and the banning of partisan political activity on campus. The moves alarmed the PM's critics, who worry that he is gradually abolishing the freedom of speech in the new Iraq and making himself a strongman.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE8vxv1zWSo[/youtube]

Mustansiriya's student government and administration has been dominated by the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) and by the Sadr Movement, two Shiite religious parties that are rivals of the Islamic Mission (Da'wa) Party of PM al-Maliki. Although Western reporters for some odd reason want to depict Da'wa as more secular than the others, it is not. It is, however, less puritanical than the Sadrists and led by lay fundamentalists rather than by clerics, in contrast to ISCI. Since ISCI and the Sadrists are part of the National Iraqi Alliance coalition contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections, and Maliki's Da`wa is running against them on the Government of Laws slate, there is bad blood among the Shiite fundamentalist parties at the moment.

Mustansiriya U.'s president was Imad al-Husayni of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. Then Minister of Higher Education Abd Dhiyab al-`Ujayli dismissed al-Husayni and appointed Taqi al-Musawi as university president. But al-Husayni refused to step down. So Mustansiriya U. limped along with two administrations that were constantly fighting with one another.

Read rest of article....

UPDATED Iran-US-Russia Deal on Enrichment, The Sequel

UPDATED Iran: The Washington-Tehran Deal on Enriched Uranium?

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UPDATE 15 October 0835 GMT: Finally! An unnamed journalist picks up on the third-party enrichment story at yesterday's State Department briefing by Philip Crowley:

QUESTION: The meeting coming up, the technical talks in Vienna about the low-enriched uranium – who is the U.S. sending, and how far do you expect to get in those meetings? What’s the sort of agenda and hopes for an outcome?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, it’s – we haven’t decided. Those arrangements are still being worked as to what the representation will be....These are technical talks, really, to work through the practical issues of how to ship the fuel out of Iran, and then provide the fuel that – for this research reactor....

QUESTION: But your understanding is that the Iranians are going forward with this, you know, a hundred percent. [Are the talks] actually just about implementing it right now, or is [the meeting] about in theory how it would work?

MR. CROWLEY: ...This is a confidence-building measure. There is the research reactor. It’s running out of fuel. And we think there’s a mechanism that can be put in place so that we can see that the shipment out of some of the existing Iranian stocks and then fuel for this particular reactor provided. I mean, it really is about working through the technical aspects of this. And...we believe that the meeting will go forward on October 19, and we’re working through the appropriate representation.


UPDATE 15 October 0730 GMT: The Hole in the Middle. Michael Slackman of The New York Times has a good but ultimately curious article this morning. In "Some See Iran as Ready for Nuclear Deal", he quotes analysts such as Trita Parsi, Flynt Leverett, and Juan Cole, as well as past statements from top Iran officials, to build his case.

The curiosity? Slackman never mentions the "third-party enrichment" proposal that proves his point.


UPDATE 1855 GMT: If you're clued up on the real story, then this statement by Vladimir Putin, former President and now Prime Minister of Russia, makes sense: "There is no need to frighten the Iranians. There is a need to reach agreements; there is a need to search for compromises." Stay the course on the ongoing, quieter discussions on third-party enrichment and Iran's second enrichment facility near Qom.

If you're not clued, then you're the ideal receptive audience for Press TV's spin on Putin's statement --- The Russians Are With Us Against the "West" --- "Putin Warns against Intimidation".

The story so far: last weekend we picked up on a scoop by Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post that, for four months, the US had been developing a plan for "third-party enrichment" by Russia of 80 percent of Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium. The processed uranium, now at 20% enrichment, would be used in Iran's medical research facilities. The proposal was presented to Iran before the Geneva talks at the start of October, and Tehran has accepted it as a basis for discussions.

We noted that, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Moscow this week, the proposal was likely to be at the forefront of US-Russian talks on Iran. After all, the technical talks on enrichment between Iran and the 5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China, Germany) are next Monday. At the same time we wondered if the media, dazzled by the surface issue of sanctions, would take any notice.

Well, Clinton has had her meetings with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and no one --- as far as we know --- figured out the real diplomatic game, as opposed to the diversionary one.

During the midst of Clinton's talks yesterday, news services were so at sea that they were blaring, almost at the same time,"Yes, the Russians Will Support Sanctions; No, the Russians Won't Support Sanctions", without giving a passing thought to enrichment.

Today is no better. The New York Times, still stuck on Lavrov's public posture that sanctions would be "counterproductive", headlines, "Russia Resists U.S. Position on Sanctions for Iran". The Guardian of London swallows the opposite PR line, "Clinton hails US-Russian co-operation on Iran", and the BBC, thrilled to get an interview with Clinton, nods its head as she declares, "Clinton: Russia Sees Iran Threat".

But the top prize for media dizziness goes to Mary Beth Sheridan of The Washington Post, who clearly doesn't read the stories published in her story (or at least those by Glenn Kessler). She expends more than 500 words shouting, "Russia Not Budging On Iran Sanctions". Buried well within them is the single line, "Under heavy international pressure, the Islamic republic agreed to admit inspectors and send much of its uranium to Russia for enrichment," which --- to say the least --- is a hydrogen bomb's distance from the account Kessler gave of the US-Iran talks.

And it is not as if Clinton didn't offer a clue to the real story to anyone sharp enough to listen: "Iran has several obligations that it said it would fulfill. We believe it is important to pursue the diplomatic track and to do everything we can to make it successful."

What are those obligations? "[Iran will] fulfill its obligation on inspections, in fact, open up its entire system so that there can be no doubt about what they're doing, and comply with the agreement in principle to transfer out the low-enriched uranium."

At which point a journalist on his/her game would have said, "Secretary Clinton, can you confirm that the agreement in principle concerns the plan developed since June for Iran to transfer uranium to Russia, enriching it from 3.5 to 20 percent?"

Unfortunately, the journalist who was called on to ask the final question ignored that possibility in favour of the "Oh Yes, The Russians Will. Oh No, The Russians Won't" script:"It sounds like you did not get the commitment from the Russian side in terms of sanctions or other forms of pressure that could be brought to bear on Iran. Could you comment on that?"

And who was that journalist? Take a bow, Mary Beth Sheridan of The Washington Post.