Iran in the World Press 16 Jan 2010 #Iranelection

Machtkampf nach Verbot von 500 Kandidaten BAGDAD (ag.). Vor der Parlamentswahl im März ist im Irak ein neuer Machtkampf ausgebrochen. Grund dafür: Eine Regierungskommission hat 500 Kandidaten, offenbar vorwiegend Sunniten, verboten, bei der Abstimmung anzutreten. Unter den von der Liste gestrichenen Kandidaten sollen sich auch Verteidigungsminister Abdul Kadir al-Obeidi und der Sunniten-Politiker Saleh al-Mutlak von der „Front der nationalen Eintracht“ befinden. AlMutlak und seine Partei wollten bei der Wahl gemeinsam mit dem bei den USA in Ungnade gefallenen ehemaligen schiitischen Premier Iyad Allawi antreten. „Verschwörung des Iran“ Die Regierungskommission für Rechenschaft und Gerechtigkeit, die das Kandidaturverbot ausgesprochen hat, hat ursprünglich Entbaathifizierungskommission geheißen. Ihre Aufgabe: Funktionäre der einstigen Baath-Partei des 2003 gestürzten Diktators Saddam Hussein sollen darin gehindert werden, erneut wichtige politische Ämter zu übernehmen. Al-Mutlak hatte in den Siebzigerjahren der Baath-Partei angehört, diese aber 197 Die Presse | 2010-01-16 | Austria | Page: 9 Obama’s foreign failings are putting U.S. at greater risk (Continued from yesterday) Adding to the problem, a U.S. government report claims the Chavez regime is turning a blind eye to FARC cocaine trafficking through Venezuela, which finds its way to the U.S. — and elsewhere. Chavez is leading, and in some cases bankrolling, Latin American, anti-U.S. authoritarians in Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia and even El Salvador, fancying himself the new leader of the Latin Left. Venezuela has also contracted f or US$6 billion worth of Russian weapons, setting the region on edge. More worrisome, Chavez is looking to get into the nuclear industry, courtesy of his Russian friends. Chazez is also pals with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, both having sworn an “axis of unity” to oppose the U.S. It would surprise no one if Tehran were to pitch in and help Caracas with its atomic ambitions. With press reporting a regular Venezuela-Syria-Iran flight, Caracas could be helping Tehran insert agents, military advisors and terrorists, such as Hezbollah, into the region for The China Post | 2010-01-16 | Taiwan | Page: 4 Iran’s police warns opposition on cell phone, e-mail use Iran’s police chief on Friday warned oppositi on s upporters not to use cell phones and e-mail messages to or gani z e prot e s t rallies against the government, saying those who do so will be prosecuted and punished. Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said spreading the word of the opposition through Internet or cell phone SMS is a crime that deserves severe punishment and that the authorities would continue monitoring those systems. The remarks are the latest reflecting the government’s frustration at various imaginative ways the opposition has sought to rally supporters following the disputed June presidential election. A harsh government crackdown has left the opposition with little means to make its voice heard. Almost all pro-reform newspapers have been closed since the June 12 vote in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. Those still in circulation have been openly threatened against publishing opposition statements. Iranian state media, controlled by hard-liners, regularly ignore t The China Post | 2010-01-16 | Taiwan | Page: 2 Regime supporters take over funeral Green movement branching out Supporters of Iran’s regime yesterday hijacked the funeral of a nuclear scientist killed in a mysterious bomb attack as it sought to bolster its claim that he was murdered by foreign agents. Hundreds of government loyalists surrounded Masoud Ali-Mohammadi’s body as it was carried from his home in northern Tehran. State-controlled television showed them waving Iranian flags and chanting anti-United States and anti-Israel slogans. Opposition websites reported scuffles between security forces and members of the so-called Green Movement, who also turned up to mourn but were held back. They believe that the regime killed AliMohammadi because he had switched his allegiance to Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition leader. Unconfirmed reports claimed security forces kept Ali-Mohammadi’s family away from the body. The regime has spent the past three days vigorously promoting the story that Ali-Mohammadi, 50, was killed by foreign enemies with the help of Iranian ‘‘mercenaries’’. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad descr The Press | 2010-01-16 | New Zealand | Page: 23 Newspaper Page Rising anger: An Iranian protester flashes the victory sign as he holds stones in his hands during clashes in central Tehran. The opposition protest movement appears to be spreading from Iran’s cities into the provinces, where the risks are greater. The Press | 2010-01-16 | New Zealand | Page: 26 Newspaper Page On show: The Crown Prince of Iran, Prince Reza Pahlavi inspects the guard at Christchurch International Airport at the start of hisNewZealand tour in January 1978. The Press | 2010-01-16 | New Zealand | Page: 37 IRAN DISSENT After Iran’s disputed election, protesters took to the streets of Tehran. Now the popular anger is spreading into the heartland of smaller centres. The Press | 2010-01-16 | New Zealand | Page: 2 ‘Miracle’ Prince visits C hristchurch was welcoming a young man with great expectations. Reza Pahlavi, the Crown Prince of Iran, was in town. ‘‘Officially, it is a private visit,’’ The Press reported. ‘‘Unofficially, his Imperial Highness is improving his education. ‘‘His father, the Shah of Iran, who visited New Zealand three and a half years ago, decided that a trip to a predominantly agricultural country would be good for his son, especially in view of his keen interests in farming.’’ Agriculture was probably less on the mind of the Prince than it was on the mind of his New Zealand hosts. Iran was a growing and important market for New Zealand sheep meat and the Government was keen to get on side with its rulers. The Shah was the only real Iranian ruler. He had dictatorial powers and he used them, and he was determined to pass on his authority undiminished to his son. Reza was the oldest child of the Shah’s third marriage – a miracle boy in the eyes of Iranian monarchists. The two previous marriages had been spectacularly d The Press | 2010-01-16 | New Zealand | Page: 37 Clotilde Reiss devant son juge le 16 janvier à Téhéran La Française Clotilde Reiss, arrêtée le 1er juillet en Iran après avoir participé à des manifestations contre le président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, comparaîtra à nouveau le 16 janvier devant le juge, a annoncé hier son avocat, en espérant que ce serait « la dernière audience » . Les autorités françaises ont toujours affirmé qu’aucune charge ne pouvait être retenue contre elle. Le Figaro | 2010-01-12 | France | Page: 6 Newspaper Page People carry the flag-draped body of slain Iranian physics professor Massoud Ali Mohammadi in his funeral ceremony Thursday in Tehran, Iran, Thursday. Mohammadi was killed when a bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded on Tuesday morning outside his home. The slain Iranian physics professor who had backed the country’s opposition leader was buried in a cemetery in northern Tehran. The Day | 2010-01-15 | USA | Page: 4 National insecurity Imagine. You have been sworn in as president of the United States and it is your first Christmas in the White House. What a year it has been. Now some worriedlooking aide enters the room. You wonder. Is it war in the Middle East? Unrest in Iran? Earthquakes in Peru? “Mr. President,” the worried aide says, “a passenger on Northwest Flight 253 into Detroit has set his pants on fire.” Nine years after 9/11. After billions upon billions of dollars sunk into antiterrorism funding. After enough planning paperwork to bury alleged state sponsors of terrorism under a foot thick layer of paper. You don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. We have employed hundreds of thousands for screening at airports. Spent an unknown amount of money on dubious technologies for more screening. And yet, when the names and intentions of terrorists are called in by their families, what saves us is that our attacker was more like Charlie Brown than an actual terrorist. Our intelligence agencies were told by his family to watch for him b The Covington News | 2010-01-15 | USA | Page: 5 UN bodyguard rescued from under the rubble HAITI: For a moment, there was joy. United Nations security officer Tarmo Joeveer walked out of the rubble of the flattened UN headquarters yesterday and raised a fist in triumph, nearly 40 hours after the earthquake that ravaged Haiti and taxed rescue workers from around the globe. Assisted by a United States Agency for International Development team that laboured five hours to free him, a dusty but beaming Estonian emerged from the wreckage of the six-storey building that now rises no higher than a single floor. Joeveer’s rescue was a moment to hang on to for a US team that says the damage is the worst they have ever seen – and they have been to quakes in Turkey, Taiwan and Iran. Relieved co-workers rushed to hug Joeveer, their happiness tempered by the knowledge that more than 60 UN employees – including the chief of mission, Hedi Annabi, whom Joeveer served as a bodyguard – remain missing and are feared dead. Appearing remarkably unharmed but for the dust and a scratched hand, Joeveer thanked the res The Dominion Post | 2010-01-16 | New Zealand | Page: 19 Briefly World Palin debut a ratings hit for Fox News Zionist methods used to kill Iran scientist, says Ahmadinejad TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that “Zionist” methods were used in the attack on a leading nuclear scientist, who was killed in a bombing outside his Tehran home, a report said. “One can see the level of enemy’s grudge in the way he was assassinated. The method of bombing was a Zionist one,” the Mehr news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. The scientist, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, died when a bomb strapped to a motorbike was triggered by remote control as he was leaving his home on Tuesday morning. Suicide bomber kills 20 in Afghanistan KABUL: A suicide bomber apparently planning to attack a meeting of NATO and tribal officials blew himself up in the town of Dihrawud, Uruzgan province, on Thursday, killing at least 20, officials said, making it the deadliest attack against civilians in more than three months. The attack came a day after the UN released a report showing that the number of Afghan civilians killed in w The Indian Express | 2010-01-15 | India | Page: 15 Duelling protests erupt at Iranian scientist’s funeral The funeral for an Iranian physics professor killed in a mysterious bomb attack turned into competing demonstrations by pro and anti-government supporters with hundreds of security forces standing by. Witnesses said half of about 1,000 people at the funeral for Masoud Ali Mohammadi yesterday were opposition supporters and there were minor scuffles with police during the burial. Some carried green banners, the colour symbolising their movement. The other side chanted “Down with the US” and “Death to Israel” as mourners carried the body shrouded in an Iranian flag on their shoulders. Some cameramen and photographers covering the funeral were taken to a police station, where their press IDs were checked. They were later released. The 50-year-old Tehran University professor was killed when a bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded on Tuesday morning outside his home. It remains unclear why the researcher with no prominent political voice, no published work with military relevance and no declared links to Iran’s nuclea South China Morning Post | 2010-01-15 | China | Page: 17 Luciana Echeverría en Cubox Una de l as nuevas act r i c es destacadas de Canal 13, Luciana Echeverría, es el nuevo rostro de Cubox. La joven, una de las protagonistas de la telenovela Corazón rebelde, que exhibió en 2009 la señal católica, será la encargada de r eal i z ar l os enlaces durante l os sábados y domingos de la franja de dibujos animados y programación infantil de la estación universitaria. je rojo y un peinado armado con una cinta de encaje. “Victoria l uci ó a ngulosa, p e r o su cara es demasiado extraña para un acercamiento... Y no tiene nada qué decir”. Beckham fue invitada al debut de la novena temporada de American idol, que logró el primer lugar de audiencia, con 30 millones de televidentes. La inglesa integra una lista de celebridades que se irán rotando en el jurado hasta que llegue Ellen DeGeneres, la conductroa de El show de Ellen, quien ocupará de manera estable el puesto de jueza. La Tercera | 2010-01-15 | Chile | Page: 70 Inversiones de Cencosud se enfocan al exterior Poco más de dos tercios del plan de inversiones de US$ 700 millones que ejecutará Cencosud este año se destinará a su operación fuera de Chile. El holding, controlado por Horst Paulmann (en la foto), informó que 35% del monto total, unos US$ 245 millones, irán a ampliar su operación en Chile. El resto de los países se llevará el 65% restante, siendo Perú el que más recursos captará (29%), seguido por Brasil (19%), Argentina (10%) y Colombia (7%). A septiembre del año pasado, Chile aportó el 48% de los ingresos del grupo, seguido por Argentina (32%), Perú y Colombia (10% cada uno). La Tercera | 2010-01-15 | Chile | Page: 33 Deadly bombings strike Iraqi holy city of Najaf NAJAF, IRAQ — Three bombs exploded in quick succession after sunset Thursday in the southern holy city of Najaf, killing up to 25 people and wounding scores of others, Iraqi Interior Ministry officials said. The blasts occurred in a crowded open-air fish and vegetable market near the landmark Imam Ali shrine, a popular pilgrimage destination for Shiite Muslims. The bombings shattered a yearlong lull in violence in Najaf that had allowed the religious tourism industry to flourish, with new hotels and restaurants packed most nights with pilgrims mostly from neighboring Iran. No firm death toll could be confirmed late Thursday. An Interior Ministry official in Baghdad said the central government had received figures of 25 dead and 72 wounded. Najaf authorities, perhaps fearful of political fallout from a security breach in such a sensitive place, also gave estimates of no more than 15 dead. Early reports from police and Iraqi state television said a homemade bomb exploded near the Imam Ali shrine at 5:25 p Houston Chronicle | 2010-01-15 | USA | Page: 10 Malaysia mister balancen SOM DET POLITISKE klima i Malaysia er lige nu, er det ikke længere muligt at skelne mellem radikale og moderate muslimer. På trods af at landet officielt bryster sig af sin mangfoldige befolkning og en stærk pluralisme, er islam og regeringen mere eller mindre smeltet sammen. Regeringspartiet, United Malays National Organization (Umno), har i de sidste 20 år brugt enorme offentlige ressourcer på opbygningen af et netværk af muslimske institutioner. Regeringens oprindelige hensigt var at aflede de radikale krav om en ekstrem udgave af et muslimsk styre. Men med årene har Umno’s forsøg på at overtrumfe kritikerne fået partiet til at føre islamiseringen for vidt. Regeringspartiets politiske program har indført sharialov, shariadomstole og et vidt forgrenet islamisk bureaukrati. Antallet af vedtagne islamiske love er firdoblet i løbet af ca. ti år. Bortset fra Iran og Saudi-Arabien er det malaysiske system af shariadomstole formentlig det største i den muslimske verden, og det bureaukrati, der følger med, er ik Politiken | 2010-01-15 | Denmark | Page: 22 Ingen är automatiskt skyldig BORTA BRA MEN HEMMA BÄST. Traditionsenligt bokstavsrimmat ordstäv, troligt ursprung någon semesteråtervändande, utschasad småbarnsmamma. Men varför låter plötsligt den hemkära ramsan som ett tal à la bekymrad Obama? Antagligen har det med de nya amerikanska flygrutinerna att göra. Nyligen meddelade ju myndigheten för USA:s flygsäkerhet (TSA) sina inskärpta reseregler. För den som flyger till USA från eller via en terrorstämplad eller bara allmänt suspekt nation väntar genomsökning av handbagage, omsorgsfull visitering och inte helt osannolikt en helkroppsröntgen. PÅ LISTAN ÖVER speciellt lömska länder finns både gamla trotjänare som Iran, Irak och Kuba, och tämligen färska utmanare i form av Nigeria, Jemen och Saudiarabien. Summan av kardemumman 14 skurkstater, och en uppmaning till människor i Afrika, Asien och Centralamerika att hålla sig på plats. Något som från strikt miljösynpunkt möjligen kunde framstå som vettigt, men ur ett människorättsperspektiv är helt vansinnigt. I vilken utsträckning står förrest Goteborgs-Posten | 2010-01-15 | Sweden | Page: 50 Iran zamyka gazetę Sąd w Teheranie wydał w środę zakaz publikacji tygodnika „Hemmat” za „szerzenie kłamstw w celu podburzenia opinii publicznej”. Według opozycji konserwatywna gazeta została zamknięta za ostrą krytykę byłego prezydenta Akbara Haszemi Rafsandżaniego. „Hemmat” był już czasowo zamknięty w zeszłym roku. Gazeta Wyborcza | 2010-01-15 | Poland | Page: 16 Newspaper Page Duel tussen Aabbassi (r.) en Asghaari. Onze nationale Futsalploeg (KBVB) leverde gisteravond een bemoedigende prestatie met het oog op het EK in Hongarije komende week. De Belgen bleven in de Lommelse heksenketel knap overeind tegen Iran. Het Belang Van Limburg | 2010-01-15 | Belgium | Page: 39 KUWAIT TOGET PINK TAXIS Kuwait is set to introduce women-only taxis within weeks. The pink taxis will be driven by female drivers and will be exclusively for women customers, the woman behind the project has said. “The ambitious new project will succeed because many women need to feel secure in their transportation. I hope to spare women the hassle they might face when a male driver takes them to their destinations,” Bedoor Al Mutairi said. Al Mutairi said the project, called Eve Taxi, follows the example of several Arab and Islamic countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Bangladesh. “A number of European countries implemented the new style of transportation this year, such as Britain, Spain and Mexico, even though they are known for being liberal,” Bedoor told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). The ambitious entrepreneur needed one year and a half to plan and develop the project and to complete the official documents. She praised the Kuwait Small Projects Development Company, a governmental body of the Gulf News | 2010-01-15 | UAE | Page: 13 Angry mourners bury slain nuclear scientist Tehran (AFP) Angry mourners chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans joined a funeral procession yesterday for the Iranian nuclear scientist killed in a bomb attack Tehran blames on the US and Israel. An AFP correspondent said that some 2,000 people thronged the house in an affluent north Tehran neighbourhood of Masoud Ali Mohammadi, who died on Tuesday when a boobytrapped motorbike exploded as he was leaving home. Around 100 policemen were deployed in the area. Relatives and members of the elite Revolutionary Guards placed the body of Ali Mohammadi, a particle physics professor at prestigious Tehran University, in an ambulance which then took off for the burial at a nearby shrine. A military marching band led the procession to the shrine, followed by hundreds of mourners many of whom were chanting “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” Close links Some chanted, “Nuclear energy is our undeniable right” in an allusion to accusations by Iranian officials the killing was an attempt by Western pow Gulf News | 2010-01-15 | UAE | Page: 12 SPECIAL TIES As a predominantly Muslim nation, albeit with a secular constitution, as well as a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) military power, Turkey is a key ally for Israel in the Middle East. As well as providing security cooperation, Ankara has offered Israel diplomatic help in the past, notably mediating with Syria in 2008. But ties have become frosty since Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, which drew frequent public censure from Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Turkey was aligning itself with Muslim countries hostile to Israel, like Iran, prior to the Gaza war. There was similar outrage last year over a Turkish series which featured Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian children. Despite the row, a Turkish delegation is currently in Israel to wrap up the purchase of ten Heron drones, Turkish defence officials said. — Reuters Gulf News | 2010-01-15 | UAE | Page: 12 Syria, Saudi Arabia seek Palestinian unity Riyadh (Bloomberg) Syrian President Bashar Al Assad pledged to work with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz to promote a reconciliation between the Palestinian movements Hamas and US-backed Fatah. The two leaders, who met outside the Saudi capital, Riyadh, discussed the Palestinian issue and efforts to “strengthen ties of brotherhood and resolve Arab issues without outside interference,” the official Saudi Press Agency said. They stressed the “urgent need for ending the Palestinian division,” the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported. King Abdullah visited Syria in October after hosting Al Assad in March at a meeting of four Arab states aimed at persuading Syria to distance itself from its ally Iran. Both Syria and Iran, Saudi Arabia’s main rival in the region have close ties to Hamas. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ secular Fatah movement is backed by the US and its allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Hamas’s Damascus-based leader Khalid Meshaal held talks Gulf News | 2010-01-15 | UAE | Page: 12 Iran blames US and Israel over scientist’s assassination Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday “Zionist” methods were used in the bombing of a top atomic scientist, as angry mourners chanting antiUS and anti-Israeli slogans buried the slain professor. “One can see the level of the enemy’s grudge in the way he was assassinated. The method of bombing was a Zionist one,” the Mehr news agency quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying. Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a particle physics professor at prestigious Tehran University, died when a bomb strapped to a motorbike was triggered by remote control as he was leaving his home on Tuesday morning. “He was a Hezbollahi and pious university professor serving his people,” Mr Ahmadinejad said in a speech in Khuzestan province, using a term indicating a person’s dedication to the Islamic republic’s regime. “The enemies by killing the elite cannot take away the knowledge from the Iranian nation,” the President added. Iranian officials have accused the CIA and Mossad, the intelligence agencies respectively of the US and Israel, The Times, Malta | 2010-01-15 | Malta | Page: 16 China to send lower-level envoy for Iran talks China has decided to send a lower-level official to talks among major powers in New York tomorrow about possibly imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programmes, the US State Department said yesterday. The development caused consternation among others in the group, which includes Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany. Several diplomats said they did not know China’s motive, speculating it might be to illustrate Beijing’s resistance to punishing Iran further or its dismay at US arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province. The other nations are expected to send their foreign ministry political directors to the meeting, which the US and its Western allies hope will focus on discussing fresh sanctions to impose on Iran over its nuclear activities. Washington accuses Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian atomic program. Iran says its nuclear program is designed to generate electricity so it can export more of its valuable oil an The Times, Malta | 2010-01-15 | Malta | Page: 15 Claves del mensaje Grecia: “Ningún 1 gobierno puede esperar del BCE un tratamiento especial. Tenemos nuestros principios y los aplicaremos” Inflación: “Las 2 expectativas permanecen ancladas a medio y largo plazo en línea con el objetivo del BCE” Presidencia de la UE: 3 “Espero mucho de la presidencia española, pues va a ser un semestre importante” Liquidez: “Seguiremos 4 apoyando a la banca el tiempo que sea necesario, aunque se irán retirando las medidas extraordinarias” Disciplina fiscal: “El 5 problema no es la ayuda del BCE. El problema es tomar las decisiones correctas y aplicarlas. Hacer el trabajo” Créditos: “La concesión 6 de créditos a las empresas es negativa y ha empeorado en los últimos meses” Expansion | 2010-01-15 | Spain | Page: 19 Air NZ rated the best The identity of the European ‘‘client’’ who used a New Zealand company in an attempt to fly North Korean arms to Iran has been passed to police, an official of a tax haven company says. SP Trading Ltd, which hired a plane to fly the 35 tons of arms, was owned by Vicam (Auckland) Ltd, in turn controlled by Vanuatu-based GT Holdings. On December 12 the was seized in Bangkok. SP’s director is Lu Zhang whose registered residential address is 369 Queen St, Auckland, a serviced ‘‘virtual office’’ where 2496 companies are also registered. GT Group’s Ian Taylor in an email yesterday said on December 21, New Zealand detectives interviewed Mr Zhang. Mr Taylor, who is son of founder Geoffrey Taylor, said he flew to Auckland and on December 22 voluntarily met with four detectives. ‘‘During this meeting, Ian provided the information that GT Group had available regarding the client who it incorporated SP Trading Limited for,’’ Mr Taylor said of himself. ‘‘GT Group was in no way hiding any plane information from the Waikato Times | 2010-01-15 | New Zealand | Page: 11 U.K. conference will focus on Afghan priorities LONDON—This month’s U.K.-run international conference on Afghanistan will focus on directing international support based on priorities set by the Afghans themselves, and won’t be a platform to lobby for increases in troops and aid for the country, Britain’s foreign secretary said. “The conference is not a pledging conference,” David Miliband said in a briefing. “The test of the conference is whether or not it can fulfil its mission, which is to mobilize and coordinate international efforts for the priorities set out by the Afghan people,” he said. The U.K. is hosting the conference on Jan. 28, which will be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the foreign ministers of countries contributing aid and troops as well as ministers from Afghanistan’s neighboring countries. Mr. Miliband said he has invited Iran to attend, but hasn’t received a reply. The U.K. and Iran have clashed frequently over the past several months. The conference will set out a timetable fo The Wall Street Journal Europe | 2010-01-15 | Belgium | Page: 15 The Rome-Tehran Axis When it comes to appeasing the Islamic Republic, no other Western nation has stooped lower than Italy. Amid the international outrage over the Iranian regime’s brutalization of its own people, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini warned Europe “must not burn every bridge because Iran is a key figure” in the region. While rejecting any military action to stop Tehran’s nuclear weapons program, Mr. Frattini urged the West to “avoid those [sanctions] that are connected with Iranian national pride.” What may sound like a naïve appeal for more failed diplomacy may just as easily be thought of as a bid to secure lucrative business interests. To understand Mr. Frattini’s concerns for “Iranian national pride,” one has to know that next to Germany—where such bogus arguments against economic sanctions are also very popular—Italy is Iran’s most important European trade partner. The list of about 1,000 Italian companies active in Iran includes such household names as Eni—the energy giant is Iran’s biggest business pa The Wall Street Journal Europe | 2010-01-15 | Belgium | Page: 13 Deutschland und Japan für Abrüstung (ddp) Deutschland und Japan wollen sich gemeinsam für die weltweite Abrüstung einsetzen, das ergaben Gespräche beim Antrittsbesuch von Aussenminister Guido Westerwelle in Tokio am Donnerstag. Der japanische Ministerpräsident Yukio Hatoyama nannte im Gespräch mit Westerwelle 20 10 ein entscheidendes Jahr für die Abrüstung, wie aus Delegationskreisen verlautete. Auf der Tagesordnung seiner Gespräche mit Hatoyama und Aussenminister Katsuya Okada standen auch die internationalen Krisenherde Afghanistan und Iran. Zu Iran sagte Westerwelle, es müsse eine klare Absage an eine atomare Bewaffnung Irans geben. Hinsichtlich Afghanistan geht es laut Westerwelle um die Vorbereitung auf die internationale Konferenz Ende des Monats in London. Auch die japanischen Partner setzten auf eine politische Lösung des Konflikts und einen breiten Ansatz, sagte er. Westerwelle hatte zuvor wiederholt davor gewarnt, aus dem Treffen am 28. Januar eine reine Truppenstellerkonferenz zu machen. Im Gespräch mit Hatoyama sei eine enge Zusa Neue Zurcher Zeitung | 2010-01-15 | Switzerland | Page: 4 Dueling protests erupt at Iran professor’s funeral TEHERAN (AP) – The funeral Thursday for an Iranian physics professor killed in a mysterious bomb attack turned into competing demonstrations by proand anti-government supporters with hundreds of security forces standing by. Witnesses said half of about 1,000 people at the funeral for Masoud Ali Mohammadi were opposition supporters and there were some minor scuffles with police during the burial. Some carried green banners, the color symbolizing their movement, and shouted support for the opposition. The other side chanted “Down with the US” and “Death to Israel,” as mourners carried the body shrouded in an Iranian flag on their shoulders. Some cameramen and photographers covering the funeral were taken to a police station, where their press IDs were checked. They were later released. The 50-year-old Teheran University professor was killed when a bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded Tuesday morning outside his home as he was leaving for work. It remains unclear why the researcher, with no prominent political voi Jerusalem Post | 2010-01-15 | Israel | Page: 9 ‘Mournful mothers’ released in Iran TEHRAN // Iran has released 30 so-called “mournful mothers” who were arrested for protesting about the death or disappearance of their children in post-election unrest, an opposition website reported yesterday. Also released were an aide to the former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, as well as a brother-in-law of the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, Kaleme.org said. The National - News | 2010-01-15 | UAE | Page: 14 Iranian court bans publication for slander and lies TEHRAN // An Iranian court has banned the Hemmat weekly for slander and spreading lies, media reported, and one opposition website said it was for insulting the former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The Rahesabz opposition website said it was a conservative publication which had also been banned a year ago for insulting Mr Rafsanjani, who remains influential in Iran. The National - News | 2010-01-15 | UAE | Page: 14 Iranian physicist buried TEHRAN The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said yesterday “Zionist” methods were used in the bombing of a top atomic scientist, as angry mourners chanting anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans buried the slain professor. “One can see the level of the enemy’s grudge in the way he was assassinated. The method of bombing was a Zionist one,” the Mehr news agency quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying. It did not elaborate. Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a particle physics professor at the prestigious Tehran University, died when a bomb strapped to a motorbike was triggered by remote control as he was leaving his home on Tuesday morning. “He was a Hezbollahi and pious university professor serving his people,” Mr Ahmadinejad said, using a term indicating a person’s dedication to the Islamic republic’s regime. “The enemies by killing the elite cannot take away the knowledge from the Iranian nation,” the president added. Iranian officials have accused the CIA and Mossad, the intelligence agencies respectively of the Unite The National - News | 2010-01-15 | UAE | Page: 14

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