Washington can bide its time on Tehran’s nuclear ambition

The National--US and Israeli advocates of bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities may have claimed vindication when WikiLeaks cables revealed that some Arab regimes were singing the same tune behind closed doors, but that doesn’t make military action any more likely. It’s not for want of support from Arab capitals that the US refrains from actually exercising a military option that it insists remains "on the table" in dealing with Iran; it’s simply cold, hard strategic logic.

The US defence secretary Robert Gates last month stated bluntly that bombing Iran’s facilities would offer only a "short-term solution" that would, in fact, make a nuclear-armed Iran even more likely. Military action would at best set back Iran’s nuclear progress by two or three years, Mr Gates warned, but would "bring together a divided nation [and] make them absolutely committed to obtaining nuclear weapons" via programmes that would simply "go deeper and more covert". (The US intelligence assessment is that while assembling the means to build nuclear weapons, Iran has not yet decided to actually build them.) "The only long-term solution to avoiding an Iranian nuclear weapons capability," Mr Gates argued, "is for the Iranians to decide it’s not in their interest."

Needless to say, the hawks are not happy with Mr Gates. Alan Dershowitz, the most ferocious Israel advocate among America’s public intellectuals, branded the defence secretary "Iran’s favourite American facilitator". Not that Mr Gates, a Bush-appointee with a distinguished career of service at the head of the CIA who is due to retire next year, is bothered. And as Mr Dershowitz grumbled: "There are no signs... that his failed policies with regard to Iran’s nuclear programme will end with his too long tenure.” Continued..

Qatari emir arrives in Iran for talks

Press TV--Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has arrived in the Iranian capital of Tehran at the head of a high-ranking delegation on an official day-long visit.

The Qatari emir was officially welcomed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday. 
 During the ceremony, national anthems of Iran and Qatar were played and the two officials reviewed a guard of honor.
 The Qatari emir was welcomed by Iranian Foreign Ministry caretaker Ali Akbar Salehi at the Tehran Mehrabad International Airport upon his arrival in the Iranian capital.
 

During his stay in Tehran, Al Thani is scheduled to hold talks with senior Iranian officials, including President Ahmadinejad, on bilateral relations and the latest regional developments.
 The current visit by Qatari emir is his sixth visit to Iran.
 The Iranian chief executive paid an official visit to the Qatari capital city of Doha on September 5 at the official invitation of the Qatari emir.
 The two countries enjoy common stance on regional and international developments.
 In a telephone conversation between the Iranian president and Qatari emir on December 12, President Ahmadinejad congratulated Al Thani on the monarchy’s success to win a bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
 

The Iranian president said the selection of Qatar as the World Cup host was a great event in the world of sports.
 Indeed, with proper planning, these matches will be a source of pride for Qatar and the Middle East and will lead to improvement of football in the region,” President Ahmadinejad added.

Iranian parliament committee approve cut of ties with UK

ISNA--Iranian Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission approved complete cut of diplomatic ties with the UK on Sunday.

“The proposal of downgrading the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ties with British government was discussed in the Parliament in presence of Intelligence Forces, Foreign Ministry officials and other organizations,” said a member of the Parliament’s commission presidium, Mohammad Karami-Rad.

“The session mulled over hostile record of British government and its continuous interference in Iran’s domestic affairs,” he told ISNA.

The lawmaker also said other Iranian parliamentarians had called for breaking off ties with the UK completely following impudent remarks of ambassador of the European country on Iran’s human rights conditions.”

“The proposal will be delivered to the Parliament’s presidium after it is finalized in the commission,” he added.

Karami-Rad continued that the decision of the Parliament’s commission is a reaction to interventionist remarks of British government on Iran’s domestic matters.

In the recent remarks posted on the website of the British embassy in Tehran to mark the International Human Rights Day, British Ambassador to Iran Simon Gass claimed he was critical of the human rights situation in Iran.

Earlier last week, Rapporteur of the commission Kazem Jalali had said that the commission would discuss about a plan to reduce ties with Britain in response to the human rights remarks made by the British ambassador.

Iran increases gas prices in overhaul of subsidies

Washington Post -- Police patrolled the streets of Tehran and other cities as Iran on Sunday started a politically sensitive overhaul of the way state subsidies are handed out.

Gasoline prices were increased overnight by nearly 60 percent, but most Iranians were allocated a small amount of fuel at severely reduced prices for the coming month in order to soften the price shock.

New, increased prices for products such as bread, heating oil, water and other utilities were expected to be announced Sunday, officials told state media.

The overhaul is highly sensitive because it will raise the prices of nearly all daily commodities and is expected to increase inflation. More than 60 million Iranians have been given the equivalent of $80 as compensation.

Many Iranians believe that cheap fuel - which until some years ago was less costly than water in the Islamic republic - is a birthright. When Iran introduced a gasoline rationing system in 2007, dozens of gas stations were burned down in the capital, but generally people adapted quickly to the change.

No incidents were reported Sunday, but riot police were seen on standby near key squares and gas stations. "We were told this would happen, but I don’t know how to pay for fuel in the future," said Hamid-Reza, a young man driving an old SUV. He declined to give his family name.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during a live speech broadcast Saturday, announced the start of the plan, part of a key economic package aimed at creating a more equal division of wealth. He called it the "biggest surgery" to the nation’s economy in half a century.