'Fight in Iraq Vital to Stopping Iran' : Hilary Leila Krieger

US President George W. Bush strongly defended his Iraq policy in a press conference Thursday, warning that a swift American withdrawal would threaten allies in the region and strengthen forces calling for Israel's destruction. "The fight in Iraq is part of a broader struggle that's unfolding across the region," he said, singling out groups including Hizbullah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad and countries including Syria and Iran. "The same regime in Iran that is pursuing nuclear weapons and threatening to wipe Israel off the map is also providing sophisticated IEDs [improvised explosive devices] to extremists in Iraq who are using them to kill American soldiers," he told reporters at the White House as part of an assessment on the situation in Iraq. "All these extremist groups would be emboldened by a precipitous American withdrawal, which would confuse and frighten friends and allies in the region," he said, countering calls from Democrats and an increasing number of Republicans that America begin to withdraw from Iraq. Declaring that "nations throughout the Middle East have a stake in a stable Iraq," Bush said his administration was "enhancing our military presence, improving our bilateral security ties, and supporting those fighting the extremists across the Middle East." He cautioned that the reaction to the chaos stemming from weakened American support in Iraq would particularly strengthen Iran. "Such chaos and violence would send a mixed signal to the Iranians, who have stated that they believe Israel ought to be wiped off the map," he said. "People would begin to wonder about America's resolve. Al-Qaida would certainly be in a better position to raise money and recruit." He also said that a report showing al-Qaida returning to its 2001 capabilities was being misunderstood, as it referred to 2001 after 9/11. "Because of the actions we have taken, al-Qaida is weaker today than they would have been," he said, returning to the podium after concluding the press conference in order to take a question on the subject. "They are still a threat. They are still dangerous. And that is why it is important that we succeed in Afghanistan and Iraq and anywhere else we find them."




Ahmadinejobless :July 12, 2007 Foreign Policy Monica Maggioni : http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2007&m=07&d=12&a=13
Iran’s radical president is sinking fast, and he knows it. Now, there’s only one man who can keep Mahmoud Ahmadinejad out of the unemployment line: George W. Bush. In Tehran, the mood is quickly shifting. And it’s easy to feel it every time you stop to buy a newspaper, have a coffee, or wait in line at the grocery store. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s star is fading fast.

Under Fire from US, Iran Reacts by Cracking Down at Home : July 13, 2007 The Christian Science Monitor Scott Peterson
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The government has put restrictions on the media, targeted academics, and detained 150,000 – including four Iranian-Americans. Istanbul, Turkey -- While running for president of Iran in 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went out of his way to counter charges from opponents that his victory would bring to power "Islamic fascism" and the "Iranian Taliban." The archconservative said Iran had bigger issues to deal with – economic, nuclear, and growing threats from the US and the West – than the status of women's head scarves, and the extent of personal freedoms that had grown under his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami.

Inside Iran: Ordinary Lives In Tehran : July 13, 2007 Sky News Tim Gallagher
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Sky News Producer Tim Gallagher explains what it's like to be part of a TV crew filming in the Iranian capital Tehran: (Watch 'We Don't Need Friends In The West') Fuel rationing is beginning to biteFor a capital city in the crosshairs of the West, there is much that is familiar about Tehran. The coffee shops full of young couples, the queues outside ice cream parlours, Michael Owen's face peering down from billboard hoardings. Not quite the dark heart of the Axis Of Evil. Yet much is confusing. As a television crew, we needed written permission from the Ministry Of Islamic Guidance for everything. Our movements and behaviour were closely monitored. The joke in Tehran is that if you want to get a new suit, get yourself arrested. This is a reference to the group of Royal Marines and sailors who were taken prisoner earlier in the year who were given fresh attire before being paraded on TV alongside President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We had no intention of being given new suits. The past few weeks have seen a clampdown on un-Islamic dress. It's an annual purge. But among the style-conscious, middle class north Tehranis you still see plenty of headdresses worn casually back on the head, almost in defiance of the Ayatollahs. The hottest black market DVD at the moment features underground fashion shows, where young women parade in Western-style clothes. Of course, it's a different story outside the big cities. At his gym we met Mostapha Nikbakht, a large man in his early 50s. Once a week he and his friends come to work out, to the accompaniment of chanting and drums. "It's like a second mosque for us," he tells me. These gyms have existed in Iran for hundreds of years. Ritualistic workouts passed down through generations; a demonstration of muscular faith in a deeply religious country. Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has been run by clerics. The stronghold of the revolution is still Tehran University where thousands gather for Friday prayers. Here we meet Karim, a retired teacher and now a visitors' guide. He's welcomed many nationalities to his country. "There is no problem between Iranians and the Americans or Europeans," he says. "The main problems are between us and their governments." Petrol here is cheaper than water, but the road accident rate is the worst in the world. We met Fatima who's recently signed up as a driver with the Women's Taxi company, a rare example of a company run by and for women in this male-dominated culture. The company's picking up more trade than expected. Partly because fuel rationing is starting to bite. Iranians are now limited to 100 litres a month - an attempt to cut fuel consumption, a heavily subsidised vice costing the government billions every year. The rationing is likely to hit unlicensed taxi drivers particularly hard. As many as 100,000 people in Tehran make extra cash this way, according to another of our subjects, Hamid, a photojournalist who told us about the difficulty of working in Iran. Eye-wateringly high inflation means people often have two or three jobs just to make ends meet. In many senses Iran is a country closed off from the rest of the world. Journalists are not exactly welcomed with open arms, by the authorities at least. Consequently, the stories of ordinary Iranians are seldom told on British television.

Iranian Forces, Kurdish Guerrillas Clash
July 12, 2007 The Associated Press Guardian
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SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq -- Iranian artillery shelled near Iraqi Kurd villages Thursday as Iranian troops clashed with Kurdish guerrillas making an incursion across the border, officials in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan said. It was the third day of shelling in two areas along the border in northern Iraq, said Jabbar Yawer, spokesman for the Kurdistan protection forces, or Peshmerga.

Residents of the areas said the bombardment had not caused casualties but had killed farm animals and started a fire on a mountain. Iranian shelling in the Peshdar region, 60 miles northwest of Sulaimaniyah, hit areas as far as 18 miles from the border, said the regional governor, Hussein Ahmed. He said many of the area's 1,000 families had fled for protection. The other region hit by shelling lay farther north, near the Hajji Umran border crossing, 65 miles north of the city of Irbil, Yawer said. He said the shelling began with an incursion by Kurdish guerrillas into Iran on Tuesday that sparked clashes with Iran's Revolutionary Guards. ``We are not with either side, and we will not allow the lands of Iraqi Kurdistan to become a battlefield in which civilians in Kurdish villages are the victims,'' he said. The Free Life Party is a breakaway faction of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, also known as PKK, which is dominated by Turkish Kurds but also had Iranian Kurd branches. Its fighters have sparked Iranian shelling into Iraq several times over the past two years, most recently in June. Turkey has increasingly threatened to take action in northern Iraq, complaining that the Kurdistan government and U.S. forces are not doing enough to stop PKK fighters carrying out attacks on Turkish soil.