Ahmadinejad in fresh attack on Obama shuts door on multilateral nuclear diplomacy
June 27, 2009, 5:00 PM (GMT+02:00)
Ahmadinejad swings back at US president
The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck back Saturday, June 27, barely 24 hours after US president Barack Obama poured scorn on him and warned that "direct dialogue or diplomacy with Iran" would be "affected by the events of the last several weeks."
Clearly the Iranian president will not let Obama have the last word in their slanging match. This time he included Europe in his verbal offensive.
The Iranian president repeated his allegation that Obama and leaders of European countries had "insulted the Iranian nations with interference in internal matters" and went on to threaten: From now on we will push to a court of justice in every international meeting. This time the reply by the Iranian nation will be decisive and harsh and make you regret and be ashamed."
This is taken by DEBKAfile's sources as a hostile rejoinder to Obama's statement Friday, June 26, alongside German chancellor Angela Merkel, that direct dialogue would be delayed, but the talks "compered by the P5-plus-1 group on Iran's nuclear program would likely continue." The world, said the US president, needs to recognize that the prospect of Iran with nuclear weapons was a "big problem."
Tehran appears to be preparing to downgrade its ties - not only with the UK - but with other European states such as France and Germany for criticizing the June 12 election - which reelected Ahmadinejad by a wide margin - after both Obama and Merkel condemned the regime's crackdown on the protest movement as "outrageous."
Both the Guardian Council and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini have rejected allegation of voter fraud. A senior Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami, at a Friday sermon in Tehran, accused Iranian demonstrators of waging war against God, a crime punishable by death.
The official death toll from post-election violence is 17, but witnesses say it is much higher.
Iran's crackdown has included heavy restrictions on reporting and the arrest of university professors, journalists and ordinary citizens. The street rallies against the regime subsided towards the end of the week.
Obama admits dialogue with Iran delayed indefinitely, derides Ahmadinejad
June 26, 2009, 10:04 PM (GMT+02:00)
Obama pours scorn on Ahmadinejad
In another toughening of tone, US president Barack Obama admitted for the first time that "direct dialogue or diplomacy with Iran" would be "affected by the events of the last several weeks." After White House talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel, Friday, June 26, he said "the talks "compered by the P5-plus-1 group on Iran's nuclear program would likely continue." he said, because the world needs to recognize that the prospect of Iran with nuclear weapons was a "big problem."
DEBKAfile notes that Obama while praising opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, poured scorn on Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad s demand for an apology and accusations that the US president had meddled in Iran's internal affairs.
He stressed the US had gone out of its way not to interfere with the election process in Iran. "I would suggest that Mr. Ahmadinejad think carefully about the obligations he owes to his own people. And he might want to consider looking at the families of those who've been beaten or shot or detained…That's where I think he and others need to answer their questions."
In Tehran, a senior cleric called for the execution of dissidents for "declaring war on Allah."
Obama said Mousavi had "captured the imagination or spirit" of those within Iran who are "interested in opening up." He has become a representative of the people who've been demonstrating in the strees of Tehran with "extraordinary bravery."
Insider rifts cast a lengthening shadow on Iran's popular protests
DEBKA-Net-Weekly Exclusive Report
June 26, 2009, 9:34 PM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKA-Net-Weekly's this week out Friday offered a short guide to the backstage rivalries at the top of the regime, together with their impact the extraordinary battle of wills in the streets of Tehran.
Netanyahu folds under US pressure, pulls out of West Bank towns before peace talks
DEBKAfile Special Analysis
June 25, 2009, 9:17 PM (GMT+02:00)
Binyamin Netanyahu welcomed by Nicolas Sarkozy
Despite his pledge to keep security considerations uppermost in his dealings with the Palestinians, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is buckling under pressure from the US administration aimed at softening Israel up ahead of Middle East peace talks.
This pressure turned Netanyahu's first official visits to Rome and Paris sour.
He had hoped to outmaneuver the Obama administration's insistence on a total settlement freeze by winning the support of friendly Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozy for a compromise formula, which would be presented as a European-Israel deal.
To achieve this, he promised the Italian and French leaders that Israeli forces would soon be pulled out of West Bank Palestinian towns. But he failed to anticipate that the Obama administration would outflank him and get there first. So his arrival in Rome and Paris was preceded by Italian and French officials parroting the Washington line on a settlement freeze, including East Jerusalem
When he met Berlusconi Monday, June 22, the Israeli prime minister saw that he had already talked to Obama on the phone and promised that the Italian boot would toe the American line.
In Paris, he found the same trap had been laid at the Elysee.
In these circumstances, Netanyahu should never have gone through with his visits to Italy and France. And defense minister Ehud Barak should call off his trip to Washington Monday for the interview with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell which the prime minister postponed. He has little hope of persuading the administration to change its tune or head off the impending clash between his administration and the Obama White House.
Netanyahu's promise to the Italian and French leaders to pull the IDF out of the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho and Qalqilya, has meanwhile gone on record, for no gain in Rome in Paris. But he can no longer capitalize on this major concession for a quid pro quo from the Palestinians. The IDF has also been ordered to reduce to the number of checkpoints on the West Bank to 10 active facilities to allow the Palestinians to travel from town to town free of holdups for searches – another concession to US demands.
These concessions are tantamount to the handover of the main West Bank towns to Palestinian security control.
It is the most sweeping redeployment of Israeli security forces since their unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria four years ago as part of Ariel Sharon's disengagement policy.
To make the gesture palatable to the Israeli public - who have not forgottenthat years of Palestinian suicide bombing attacks from the West Bank were finally stemmed by the IDF presence in terrorist city strongholds - Netanyahu told the army spokesman to announce Thursday, June 25, that the measures were being given a one-week trial run before being finalized.
However, once in place, these measures will be practically impossible to withdraw.
The Obama administration has thus cornered the Netanyahu government into giving away valuable assets to the Palestinians before negotiations have even begun. This diplomatic dexterity has not been displayed in Washington's dealings with Iran.
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