US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to break with US policy on Tuesday when she discussed Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah on the Charlie Rose show, identifying only the organization’s “military wing” as a terrorist concern.

Tags: Charlie Rose, Hezabollah, Hillary Clinton, Iran, Lebanon, Sharmine Narwari, UN

On the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, external yet powerful actors continued giving statements on Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was welcomed by Egyptian officials and U.S. Mideast special envoy George Mitchell in Cairo on late Tuesday. On the same day, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband held talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Milliband criticized the construction of settlements in the West Bank and stated that these “illegal” settlements represent an “obstacle” on the path of peace. On the two-state solution, which requires East Jerusalem as the Palestinians’ capital, Milliband said:

The current situation is obviously particularly tense in respect to Jerusalem. We view events there with considerable concern, along with our EU and international partners.

Any alternative to a two-state vision as a solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would be dark and unwelcome.

King Abdullah called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its “unilateral actions” in East Jerusalem. However, the tone of Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s statement went further, calling on the international community to protect Jerusalem from the “racist steps” being taken by Israel to change the demographics of the city. Indeed, it was reported by Haaretz that a Foreign Ministry spokesman appealed to the United Nations Security Council with the complaint that Israel has been trying to change the demographic in all Palestinian territory.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Ahmed Aboul Gheit, David Milliband, Egypt, George Mitchell, Ha'aretz, Hillary Clinton, Israel, Jerusalem, King Abdullah of Jordan, Palestine, UN, United Nations Human Rights Council, United Nations Security Council

Here is the full speech of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN General Assembly:

Tags: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, New York, UN, United Nations General Assembly, video

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

1630 GMT: So Twitter Doesn’t Matter? The pro-Government newspaper Kayhan is most irritated at a “twitition”, promoted via social media, for Mehdi Karroubi to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is, apparebtly, the work of agents of the “West” and “Zionists” (and it is in a separate entry on EA).

1500 GMT: Ahmadinejad’s away but his Government is still trying to play the enforcer at home. Fereshteh Ghazi reports that Majid Khorami, another member of the reformist Islamic Participation Front and head of Campaign 88 in northern Khorasan province, has been arrested.

1230 GMT: Another example of Red Herring Analysis. Meir Javedanfar is one of the most prominent US-based analysts of Iran, but he also foregoes consideration of the important dynamics inside Iran for the superficial of the President’s performance today: “Ahmadinejad’s words at the United Nations this week should therefore not be dismissed too quickly. They are a valuable reflection into the thinking of a regime that could soon become a nuclear power. On the contrary, President Ahmadinejad’s words should serve as a blueprint for how a nuclear Iran might behave.”

1115 GMT: Another Arrest. Confirmation today from various sources that Azar Mansouri, the political deputy to the Secretary General of the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front, Mohsen Mirdamadi, has been detained. Mirdamadi himself has been under arrest since soon after the 12 June election.

1015 GMT: And here is Ahmadinejad’s summary, from the AP interview, of who is to blame for the post-election conflict:

“These were our citizens who were killed, and they were not at fault. Those who were at fault were a group of politicians who basically instigated the events that transpired. I’ve asked the judicial system … to find out who the perpetrators of those acts were.

“The government has no role in these events … Undoubtedly, some foreign governments had a role to play in it … It is all very regrettable … Some European and American politicians took a wrong position and basically helped that happen.”

1000 GMT: Associated Press has published extracts from their interview with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Its main significance is to bear out what we projected this morning about the media coverage of the President’s forthcoming speech. Attention is paid to the Holocaust, Iran’s nuclear programme, and the three detained US “hitchhikers”. There is only one brief reference to Iran’s internal situation.

0600 GMT: At 5 p.m. New York time (2100 GMT) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will address the United Nations General Assembly.

And to be honest, both for personal interest and for analysis, I really don’t care. I can guess most of Ahmadinejad’s script, and the way he’ll deliver it, and how it will be treated. The one proviso is that, if there are large demonstrations — involving not pro-Israeli groups but those protesting the internal situation in Iran — it could dent Ahmadinejad’s self-portrayal to his folks back home as confdient and secure leader.

The main action is in Tehran. We’ve got a separate analysis of Hashemi Rafsanjani’s speech yesterday, and we’re watching for reactions and manoeuvres.

Meanwhile, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri has linked up publicly with Mir Hossein Mousavi in a new challenge to the Government. A Mousavi statement has been followed by a Montazeri letter denouncing the false confessions of show trials.

One of the detention cases has been highlighted by the blogger Fereshteh Ghazi (iranbaan on Twitter). She notes that fellow journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi is under heavy pressure in Evin Prison to confess. The interrogator has told him: “We have orders to crush you. If you don’t work with us we’ll do anything we want to you, and if you don’t sign the confession papers we’ll make you eat them.” Zeidabadi’s wife said that the interrogator has severely beaten her husband.

One of Zeidabadi’s charges is that in an open letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he called him the “Leader” and not “Supreme” Leader. The interrogators have told Zeidabadi to apologise to Khamenei.

Tags: Ahmad Zeidabadi, Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Azar Mansouri, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran, Iran Elections 2009, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Majid Khorami, Mir Hossein Mousavi, New York, UN, United Nations

Below is the full transcript of President Obama’s address to the UN General Assembly, delivered today. We’ll try to post a video as soon as possible.

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, fellow delegates, ladies and gentleman: it is my honor to address you for the first time as the forty-fourth President of the United States. I come before you humbled by the responsibility that the American people have placed upon me; mindful of the enormous challenges of our moment in history; and determined to act boldly and collectively on behalf of justice and prosperity at home and abroad.

I have been in office for just nine months, though some days it seems a lot longer. I am well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world. These expectations are not about me. Rather, they are rooted – I believe – in a discontent with a status quo that has allowed us to be increasingly defined by our differences, and outpaced by our problems. But they are also rooted in hope – the hope that real change is possible, and the hope that America will be a leader in bringing about such change.

I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. This has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for our collective inaction.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: address, Barack Obama, Obama, UN, UN General Assembly, United Nations

UPDATE (10 June – 11:22 GMT): The death toll in the attack is now at least 17, including two UN employees, with 64 wounded. There were three attackers, who shot their ways onto the hotel grounds and detonated a car bomb.

A huge bomb has exploded at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan, partially destroying the building and killing or injuring many. The death toll is currently 11, though the Telegraph reports that this is likely to “more than double“. One report suggests that a United Nations children’s agency worker may be among the fatalities. It is believed that gunmen opened fire on the security post at the hotel’s gate before “a bomb brought in a vehicle in the garb of hotel supplies” was detonated in the car park. Some reports state that the bomb may have weighed as much as 500kg.

Tags: bomb, bombing, hotel, Pakistan, Pearl Continental Hotel, Peshawar, UN, United Nations

Yesterday, we reported on the presentation of a report to the Human Rights Council of a report by UN investigators on Israel’s operations in Gaza. We have finally found an advance copy of the report into the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories. We publish it in full below without further comment. You can also download a pdf copy of the report at the HRC’s website.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Arab territories, Gaza, human rights, Human Rights Council, Israel, Palestine, report, UN, UN HRC, UN report, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council