MORE NUCLEAR PROGRESS IN TEHRAN...
Visiting the central Iranian city of Natanz on April 8th to mark the country's second annual National Day of Nuclear Technology, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled a new nuclear milestone. “Last year, tests were made on 3,000 centrifuges and we entered the phase of (uranium enrichment at) industrial level - and today the phase of installation of 6,000 new centrifuges has started,” the Iranian president announced publicly. The declaration, coming just days after statements by Iranian officials that their country's nuclear effort was non-negotiable, has sent a very clear message to the West. "[N]obody can stop this drive,” the Iranian president has defiantly told his supporters. "The nuclear issue (of Iran) is the most important political development in contemporary history... Iran’s victory in this biggest political battle will lead to new international developments.” (Reuters, April 8, 2008; Deutche Press Agentur, April 9, 2008; Tehran Fars, April 9, 2008)
...AND GREATER ATOMIC GENEROSITY ABROAD
Nor is Iran keeping its nuclear advances to itself. According to one leading Iranian lawmaker, Iran’s progress on the nuclear front is intended to further the prosperity and international standing of all Muslim states. “Iran is determined to make the best use of this technology not only for Iran but also for all Muslim states," the Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the head of Iran’s judiciary, told reporters in Doha during an official visit to Qatar. (Agence France Presse, April 10, 2008)
[Editor’s Note: Qatar currently serves as a major forward operating base for the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), and as an important logistical hub for Coalition operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. As such, Shahroudi’s offer of nuclear assistance appears designed at least in part to convince Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani of the prudence of lessened dependence on the United States – and closer cooperation with the Islamic Republic.]
A NEW PHASE IN THE WAR ON MEDIA
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s “cultural revolution” has claimed still more victims in recent days. In early April, Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance suspended the publication licenses of one newspaper and three magazines on charges of subversive activities. The shuttering of the daily newspaper Sobh-e Varzeshi and the magazines Imen Gostar, Gozidey-e Pazhouheshhay-e Jahan and Laleh comes just days after the banning of nine other publications by the country’s Press Supervisory Board.
The closures suggest the start of a larger anti-media effort on the part of the Iranian government. Last month, Saffar Harandi, Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, accused the country’s press of fomenting a “creeping coup” against the Islamic Republic by colluding with foreign interests. "The enemy, through its embassies, is deceiving our artists to undermine our nation's interests." (Tehran Rooz, April 12, 2008)
TEHRAN’S NEWEST COUNTERTERRORISM PARTNER
This coming week, the Turkish capital of Ankara will play host to the 12th meeting of the Iran-Turkey High Security Commission. The two-year-old security body is emblematic of the growing cooperation on national security and counterterrorism issues between Ankara and Tehran, and this year promises to be no different. The Commission meeting is expected to yield a commitment by both countries to renewed efforts against each other’s principal Kurdish threats; the PKK in the case of Turkey, and the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) in the case of Iran. (Tehran Fars, April 12, 2008)