Today's News

Allies of Iran’s President Heading For a Majority in Parliament
by Thomas Erdbrink (The Washington Post)

Iranian politicians from the same faction that backed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared set to win a majority of seats in parliamentary elections, according to preliminary results released Sunday.

The latest figures reported by state television showed that 113 of the seats already decided in voting for the 290-member parliament were won by candidates belonging to this group.

Posted on: 03/17/08
Iran Big Focus of Cheney’s MideastTrip
by The Associated Press

High gasoline prices and prospects for an Israeli- Palestinian peace deal headline Vice President Dick Cheney’s trip to the Mideast, but fears about Iran’s rising influence will be a key topic of his private talks at each stop.

Cheney left Sunday on a 10-day trip that includes visits to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Turkey. His trip coincides with the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which has tainted the U.S. image in the Mideast and changed the balance of power in the region.

Posted on: 03/17/08
Ahmadinejad Faces Sharper Scrutiny
by Agencies

Iran’s reformists on Saturday hailed their performance in parliamentary elections as a "remarkable success," saying they would hold around 20 percent of seats despite the mass vetoing of their best candidates. …

Reformists had bitterly complained in the run-up to Friday’s election that the disqualification of hundreds of their candidates in pre-election vetting had wrecked their chances of wresting control of parliament from conservatives. Reformists were only able to compete for less than half the seats in the 290-member parliament, a virtual re-run of the fate they suffered in 2004.

Posted on: 03/17/08
Threats to Israel Are Threats to Us – Merkel
by Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed solidarity with Israel in the face of threats to the Jewish state yesterday, on the eve of a three-day visit to the country, and said Iran must halt its nuclear program.

"The threats to which the Israeli state is exposed are also threats to us," Merkel said in her weekly podcast. She said she would underline on the trip that "the Iranian nuclear program cannot continue and Iran must finally play to international rules."

Posted on: 03/17/08

Setting the Record Straight

There You Go Again

“Given the nature of Iran’s rulers, the declarations of the Iranian president, and the trouble the regime is causing throughout the region … our country and the entire international community cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its most aggressive ambitions."
–Vice President Richard Cheney, former ranking member, House Select Committee on the Iran-Contra Affair, at Weinberg Founders Conference, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, October 21, 2007

VS.

"Diplomacy requires a degree of strategic flexibility for all parties. … We must always remind Iran of the benefits of engagement and the costs of isolation. We should work for stronger, tougher sanctions and intrusive inspections without delay. Military action can remain our big stick while we speak a bit more softly.”
–Lee H. Hamilton, co-chairman, Iraq Study Group, former chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee, former chairman, House Select Committee on the Iran-Contra Affair, “A Plan to Deal with Iran,” October 8, 2007

Middle East Analysis

Khomeini Kin Backs Reformer
by The Associated Press

She is a granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the 1979 Islamic revolution, but Zahra Eshraghi has long been a leader of reformers seeking to liberalize Iran. She sees dark days for the country, at least in the short run, given the hard-liners’ lock on power. To break that hold, she says, former reformist President Mohammad Khatami must run against hard-line leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad next year. …

Reformists are crippled because most of the 1,700 candidates disqualified by Iran’s

Continue Reading Khomeini Kin Backs Reformer

Posted on: 03/17/08

Background Basics

Iranian Parliamentary Election Results

For information on how Iran’s electoral system is structured and earlier events in the election, click here.

Candidates
Conservative political leaders sought to limit opposition prior to parliamentary elections, disqualifying 2,200 reform candidates from contention, although 850 were subsequently reinstated. Disqualifications are often based on “lack of political coherence to Islam,” or other subjective political measures. This method of candidate censorship has been a trend under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s reign in the past two

Continue Reading Iranian Parliamentary Election Results

Posted on: 03/17/08

Heard on the Street

World Powers Committed to Resolving Iran Nuclear Issue

Statement by the Foreign Ministers of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the support of the High Representative of the European Union, March 4, 2008:

“We remain committed to an early negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue and we reaffirm our commitment to a dual-track approach. We reconfirm the proposals we presented to Iran in June 2006 and are prepared to further develop them. Our proposals will offer substantial opportunities for political,

Continue Reading World Powers Committed to Resolving Iran Nuclear Issue

Posted on: 03/17/08

Upcoming Events

No End in Sight: Conversations on Iraq

Keynote Address:
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)

Introduction by:
Rudy deLeon, Senior Vice President of National Security and International Policy, Center for American Progress

Featured Speaker:
Charles Ferguson, author, No End in Sight

Moderated by:
Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

When: March 13, 2008, 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Where: Center for American Progress, 1333 H St, NW, Washington, DC. 20005

RSVP for event or click here for more information

Posted on: 03/10/08