Danger: Iranian Influence in Iraq - 16 April 2008
Last week, General David Petraeus and Admiral Ryan Crocker testified in Congress on the recent successes in Iraq when, interestingly, the focus of the hearing became Iran. The language used was strong, describing Iranian weapons found in Iraq and describing Iran as the greatest long-term threat to the viability of the Baghdad government. What General Petraeus may have been letting us know was that the Iraq war is manageable but now America has to see this clearly for what it is—a regional problem. Iran has everything to gain or everything to lose in this struggle and it is playing to win. While the United States wants and needs to have a stable government in Iraq, Iran just won’t want to live with a constitutional government next door and so it is doing everything it can to destabilize it -- sending in material, agents and insurgents. Genera Petraeus told Congress that he can handle Iraq itself and that the Iraqis are working with him, but the mullahs in Tehran loom large over the battlefield and what is at stake is not just the question of Iranian influence, but the very viability of the Iraqi regime and all that implies for the region. Read the full essay
Switzerland’s Shabby Deal with Iran
By Ronald S. Lauder - 04 April 2008
The ejection of the populist politician Christoph Blocher from the Swiss government in December 2007 gave rise to hope that Switzerland could restore its tainted image and that the country’s “splendid isolation” on the international stage might soon be over. In an opinion piece for “NZZ am Sonntag” on 30 December 2007 I wrote: “Switzerland will not have a glorious future by isolating itself from the European Union and the wider world. In our globalized world (…) you cannot isolate yourself if you want to be heard. Swiss diplomacy can only return to its former strength if the Federal Council and the parties supporting it once again represent an open-minded Switzerland.” Read the full essay
Iranian Ambitions - 31 March 2008
American energies have been focused on Iran’s activities in the Middle East but while we have been looking
across the sea, Iran has been working hard to expand its influence in many other places around the globe
(see article below, “Iran’s Global Ambition,” by Michael Rubin). It is important to look closely at what is
happening to our neighbors in the southern half of the hemisphere, in Latin America. Read the full essay
Iran’s Proxy War Against Israel - 13 February 2008
This week’s devastating attack on a Jerusalem yeshiva has shocked us back to reality, after a few years of respite from suicide attacks in Jerusalem. One has to wonder what kind of peace can ever be achieved with those who attack young people studying in school—the victims were mostly teenagers. The pictures of the carnage evoke images that can never be forgotten, while there was rejoicing in Gaza celebrating the deaths of kids. A terrorist with a Kalashnikov rifle carried out a murderous attack and his family set up a mourning tent at their home in east Jerusalem. Over it flies the flag of Hamas. Read the full essay
A Dictator’s Threat - 12 February 2008
Last week, Germany marked the 75th anniversary of Hitler’s rise to power, reminding us how racism can become ingrained in a society, resulting in a murderous ideology that can have the most tragic consequences. And just this past week, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad reiterated his belligerent promise that Iran would produce nuclear capability within a year and that Israel would be wiped off the map. “I warn you to abandon the filthy Zionist entity,” he said,”which has reached the end of the line.” It is no coincidence that this pronouncement was made at the same time that Iran-backed Hamas terrorists continued to rain an unabated barrage of Qassam rockets on the Israeli residents of Sderot, injuring, among others, Osher Tuito, an eight-year old boy whose legs were partially severed by the explosion. Read
the full essay
The Arab World and the Iranian Threat -02 August 2007
An expansionist and nuclear Iran would pose a serious strategic threat not just for Israel, Europe, and the U.S., but for most of the Arab world as well. Read
the full essay
The Language of the West -
19 July 2007
Defining the nature of the conflict and identifying the enemy is a necessary precondition for victory in war. Read
the full essay
Iran and Sunni Fundamentalism -
12 July 2007
This week’s revelation that Iran has turned into a communications and financial base for al-Qaeda operatives once again sheds light on Tehran’s overarching goals with respect to the Middle East and its ongoing battle against the West. Read
the full essay
Iran in Latin America -
05 July 2007
With Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ’s visit to Iran this past week, Tehran’s relations with Latin America require increased scrutiny. Read
the full essay
Letter from President Ahmadinejad to Ayatollan Khamanei -
31 May 2007
My dearest Supreme Leader,
It is with great pleasure that I submit to you and the nation a status report on our recent strategic victories. Read
the full essay
Dithering Diplomacy -
14 June May 2007
In the face of two UN Security Council resolutions and two lapsed deadlines for compliance, Iran continues to publicly dismiss the very idea of a temporary suspension of its uranium enrichment work and rapidly advances down the path towards an independent nuclear capability. Read
the full essay
The Newest Front -
31 May 2007
Lost amid the violence of Iraq and the diplomatic crisis over Iran’s nuclear program, Afghanistan is poised to become the most recent front in Tehran’s escalating confrontation with the West in general and the U.S. in particular. Read
the full essay
The Oil Threat -
17 May 2007
The global oil market and open access to the strategic waters of the Persian Gulf are recurring areas of concern in the debate surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. The common assumption is that Iran’s oil sector is a powerful policy lever in Tehran’s favor should the crisis escalate into harsher sanctions or military conflict. In reality, however, Iran’s capacity to retaliate against the West through the global oil market is severely limited. Read
the full essay
A Change in France -
10 May 2007
This past weekend’s election of Nicolas Sarkozy as France’s new president has the potential to positively affect French policy on Iran. While there is room for optimism, Sarkozy will have to adhere to his election slogan of change and reform in order to reverse France’s historic enablement of Tehran.Read
the full essay
A Shortening Timeline -
03 May 2007
The central question preoccupying international intelligence agencies, proliferation watchdog organizations, and policy makers everywhere with respect to Iran’s nuclear program is this: How long will it take Tehran to develop a nuclear weapon?
Read
the full essay
Human Rights in Iran -
26 April 2007
Especially over the last five months, but increasingly since the rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, the Iranian government has conducted a wide-ranging campaign of political and social repression against its own people.
Read
the full essay
Iran and the Global Rise in Anti-Semitism -
19 April 2007
2006 saw the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents worldwide since 2000, with a twofold increase in physical attacks against Jews from the year before. The two prime events largely responsible for this rise were “the efforts invested by Iran to delegitimize Israel by denying the Holocaust, and the Second Lebanon War,” according to a new global study by the Stephen Roth Institute.
Read
the full essay
One Year On -
12 April 2007
This issue marks the beginning of the second volume of Iran Update, which began as a modest bi-weekly publication one year ago to inform Jewish communities around the world of the Iranian threat.
Read
the full essay
Iran and the International Community -
29 March 2007
The passage this week of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 was an important additional step for the international community in its efforts at forcing Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program and enter into negotiations regarding its controversial nuclear program.
Read
the full essay
The Venezuelan Connection -
22 March 2007
Top officials of the World Jewish Congress and Latin American Jewish Congress are convening in Caracas, Venezuela this week to head an international conference of Jewish leaders, in a show of solidarity with the local Jewish community.
Read
the full essay
Essay -
15 March 2007
Domestic criticism of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regarding his handling of Iran’s economy and nuclear program is growing. Condemnation from reformists, moderate conservatives, and even some ultra-conservatives in the president’s own camp is a reflection of real dissatisfaction among the ruling elite over Ahmadinejad’s charged rhetoric and confrontational approach.
Read
the full essay
Questionable Allies -
08 March 2007
In a recent speech delivered in Munich, Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear that Moscow increasingly views its interests as divergent from the West’s. This growing chasm is most evident in Russia’s policies towards the Middle East and Iran.
Read
the full essay
Saudi Influence -
28 February 2007
Iran’s dangerously destabilizing actions have awoken the concern not just of the United States, Europe, and Israel, but also Saudi Arabia. Rising Iranian influence and a growing Sunni-Shi’a divide have forced the Saudis to increase their diplomatic involvement in various crises and conflicts in the region.
Read
the full essay
Implications of Dealing with North Korea -
22 February 2007
With Britain ruling out military strikes on Iran, diplomacy might receive renewed attention. The recent agreement to denuclearize North Korea and the reasons it was finally reached might provide substantial lessons for dealing with Iran and its nuclear program.
Read
the full essay
The Worst Option -
08 February 2007
As long as there is a chance of preventing a nuclear Iran through non-military means, any option is preferable to military force. However, though it is an option of last resort, military force to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons capability is both practical and viable. Read
the full essay
Iran v. Democracy -
25 November 2006
Iran already controls the foreign policy activities of the Syrian government. Now, evidence is mounting that the Iranian regime is on the verge of creating a civil war in Lebanon to have the minority Shi’a control the government there, while commanding a deadly role in the war against coalition forces and the government in Iraq. Read
the full essay
Russian Roulette II -
02 November 2006
The resumption of negotiations at the United
Nations Security Council over Iran’s nuclear program
highlights the obstructionist global position
of Russia. Ostensibly an ally of the West and the
civilized world, Russia’s recent foreign policy
choices have undermined world security. Iran is
just one highly consequential symptom of this
larger Russian epidemic.Read
the full essay
A Matter of Time -
16 November 2006
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s declaration that his country will achieve “full nuclearization” by March 2007, if true, dramatically alters the point of no return when Iran can independently produce material for a nuclear bomb and reveals the imminence of the Iranian threat. Previously, timelines for Iran’s nuclearization ranged from twelve months to ten years. Now it is four months.Read
the full essay
War Games Warning -
09 November 2006
The timing and scope of Iranian war games held this week again demonstrates the growing threat emanating from Tehran. The provocative exercises and Iran’s recent expansion of its nuclear program give further action to the regime’s violent rhetoric, making the Iranian threat to the civilized world increasingly evident. With a progressively more sophisticated military capability, it is only a matter of time until Iran’s capacity to inflict destruction equals its stated ambition to do so. The international community must actively confront this threat and end its internal discord. Read
the full essay
Russian Roulette II -
02 November 2006
The resumption of negotiations at the United
Nations Security Council over Iran’s nuclear program
highlights the obstructionist global position
of Russia. Ostensibly an ally of the West and the
civilized world, Russia’s recent foreign policy
choices have undermined world security. Iran is
just one highly consequential symptom of this
larger Russian epidemic.Read
the full essay
Russian Roulette -
20 October 2006
The Russian government recently imposed a
series of harsh sanctions on the Republic of
Georgia in retaliation for Georgia’s brief arrest of
four Russian officials it accused of espionage.
The sanctions include a ban on certain travel
between the two countries, constraints on
telecommunications and mail, a shipping blockade,
a crackdown in Russia on Georgian owned
businesses, and mass deportations from Russia
of Georgian immigrants, including taking children
out of school.Read
the full essay
A Great Debate -
28 September 2006
A Great Debate
Like Hitler and Mussolini, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is using boldfaced rhetoric
and self-described rational argument to support
his tyrannical rule, racist policy and militant
position. Too often no one seems willing to
counter or condemn his outrageous statements
from fear of dignifying them and him. In an
enclosed vacuum, this would not be a mistake.
However, as Ahmadinejad’s views of history,
opinions of the present and threats for the future
get beamed to the four corners of the Earth,
leaving his proclamations unchallenged is dangerous
and wrong.Read
the full essay
Khatami V. Khatami -
14 September 2006
Iranian President Mohammed Khatami visited the United States this week to promote “dialogue,” and obfuscate Iran‘s record of nuclear development, support for terror and human rights violations. Judged by those goals, Khatami‘s visit was a success. On the day Khatami left the US, the Boston Globe editorialized: “Khatami’s visit to America has embodied the spirit of dialogue that he preaches. President George W. Bush’s decision to grant Khatami a visa for his visit reflects a wise, if belated, realization that the former Iranian president represents a reformist current in Iran’s politics that should not be discouraged. Ineffective as Khatami may have been at protecting and defending Iran’s truly ardent reformists during his time in power, he is utterly different from Ahmadinejad.”1
Read
the full essay
