12/29/2009 Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Ir…

Front Page
Greater China Middle East
China Business Mar 22, 2006
South Asia
Southeast Asia
Japan THE ROVIG EYE
Korea A frenzied Persian new year
Middle East By Pepe Escobar
Central Asia
World Economy TEHRAN - March 20 was to have been the day that Iran was China
Asian Economy attacked by either the United States or Israel, according to
Book Reviews
countless doomsday predictions. The fateful date has come and Travel
Letters
gone, and there has been no replay of "shock and awe".
Forum
March 20 was also meant to see the inauguration of the Kish oil China
bourse, on which Iranian oil will be traded in a basket of
currencies, including the euro. But because of "technical Tours
Yangtze
glitches", according to the Ministry of Petroleum, the launch has
been postponed, with no new date set. River
Regional vultures
No shock and awe, no oil-bourse shock. Iran, anyway, has come circling Iraq Cruise
to a standstill. Not because of geopolitics; it is just reconnecting (Mar 21, '06)
with its rich, pre-Islamic history.
Iran and irrationality Great
Hardly anything has moved in Iran since Monday night, except a (Mar 21, '06)
reduced staff at the Ministry of Foreign Relations and a special Wall of
cell at the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) monitoring Irreversible Iranians
the nuclear debate at the United Nations Security Council, where (Mar 18, '06) China
members can't agree on how to respond to Iran.

It's ironic that this heated debate in New York happens exactly at China, India and
China
the onset of Nauroz (literally "new day"), the Persian New Year.
This is not only a celebration for all Iranians, but for all the Iranian
Asia
Get your free
Airline
world, from the Caucasus to Central Asia, and for Kurds in report on Asia's
Turkey, Syria and Iraq as well. Fifteen centuries after the arrival of
Islam, the rhythm of time remains influenced by Zoroastrianism.
rising powers and
regional balance
Map of
And more than 27 years after the Islamic Revolution, clerics gave
up fighting with tradition; this past weekend they were all hitting
China
reports.worldpoliticsreview.com

the shops buying gifts and sweets.

Ultimate Iraq
Nauroz in Iran is the beginning of the legal year in the solar War Website
calendar. Practically the whole country shuts down, in many 48 video clips. In-
cases until early April. Everybody buys new clothes and cleans depth analysis. N ew delhi H otels
Bush claims vs M aldives H otels
up his house. Families gather around a ritual table where seven Sri lanka H otels
fruits, dishes or objects with names starting with an "s" are facts.Free M anila H otels
disposed; vegetables are always present, or lentils, which should downloads Bali H otels
www.leadingtowar.com Korea H otels
be thrown into a waterway on the 13th day of the new year. On
this particular day, every family sets out in a sort of massive
national picnic.
Iran
The destabilization game Clashes mar
Just before Nauroz, the political temperature was no picnic; it was anniversary of US
atimes.com/atimes/…/HC22Ak01.html 1/3
12/29/2009 Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Ir… anniversary of US
as feverish as the shopping. A terrorist attack convulsed one of embassy takeover.
Iran's sensitive borders, the desert province of Sistan-Balochistan, www.France24.com/Iran
with at least 23 dead, six injured and 12 missing.

Journalist Akbar Ganji, a freedom-of-expression icon, was

released after six years in prison and quite a few hunger strikes - Iranian
although the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) was Revolution Music
reporting that would only happen at the end of the month. This Human rights
past Saturday, the combative newspaper Shargh printed a musician rages
magnificent photo on its front page of an emaciated Ganji smiling against the
alongside his wife. Ganji is not making any political comments; he mullahs on Iran
said he could be again thrown in jail. His early release was later NTV worldwide!
www.TimeForRevolution.com
spun as a "compassionate leave", so he could be with his family
for Nauroz.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, trying to defuse the nuclear

tension, was saying that the government expected "fair, logical
and comprehensive decisions" from the Security Council over its
handling of Iran's nuclear dossier, while SNSC Secretary Ali
Larijani acknowledged Iraq's call, via the leader of the Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Abdul Aziz al-
Hakim, of a high-level dialogue between the US and Iran on Iraq.

Larijani, along with his brother, are extremely influential on high-

level policy and close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Larijani is like an anointed prince, although he lacked the
charisma to muster enough votes and win last summer's
presidential elections. But in matters of supreme national interest,
he wields more power than President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

The proposed Iran-US talks on Iraq have done nothing to erase

suspicions on both sides. In diplomatic and government circles in
Tehran, the chronology making the rounds is telling. Afghan-born
Zalmay Khalilzad, the powerful US ambassador in Iraq, wrote a
letter to Iranian high-level officials requesting a negotiation. The
letter was written in Persian; Khalilzad speaks Dari, a Persian
dialect. Only afterward, SCIRI leader Hakim publicly invited Iran to
hold talks with the Americans.

The point is that Iran does not need to destabilize Iraq or to

perform an "unhelpful role" - as the White House, the Pentagon
and the State Department claim non-stop. Iranian influence
remains strong whichever of the Islamic parties - SCIRI or Da'wa -
leads the next Iraqi government. Hakim's move, nonetheless,
entails the possibility of the SCIRI positioning its prime-ministerial
candidate, Abdul Adel Mahdi, in opposition to the current preferred
United Iraqi Alliance candidate, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Mahdi has been
to Washington and has good US connections. Unlike Jaafari, he
would be acceptable to both Kurds and Sunnis.

Larijani has already stated that the Iranians will appoint a

delegation to talk to Khalilzad. But that implies the Iranians will
negotiate in a position of force. Government spokesman Gholam-
Hussein Elham stresses that "the Americans have long been
asking us to hold talks on Iraq" - not exactly the spin coming from
Washington. He adds that "what is important for us is to bring an
end to the Iraqi occupation".

Though certainly not on an Iraqi scale, Iran is also a victim of

terrorism. Last Thursday, a heavily armed group disguised as
policemen set up a mock roadblock on the Zabol-to-Zahedan road
in Sistan-Balochistan, near the sensitive borders with Afghanistan
and Pakistan, and attacked an official convoy. People were
dragged out of their cars and gunned down.

atimes.com/atimes/…/HC22Ak01.html 2/3
12/29/2009 Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Ir…

The Iranian government is playing down the possibility of a drug-

related raid. Hardline Interior Minister Mostafa Purmohammadi
said the perpetrators were the same ones who conducted a series
of bombings in Ahvaz, in oil-rich Khuzestan province, months ago.
The minister told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) that
"according to our reports, US and British security chiefs met with
rebel leaders and provoked them to commit the attacks". Iranian
officials are adamant that British and US operatives are active in
destabilizing Khuzestan - which Saddam Hussein called
Arabistan - in a series of black operations, although Washington
and London have rejected the accusations.

Separatist Arabs and Balochis provoking unrest looks like a

classic "divide and rule" tactic of trying to destabilize the central
government in Tehran. When the long Nauroz party is over, one
wonders whether the players in the Iran-US talks on Iraq will really
address the hard questions - who's helping whom in the regional-
destabilization game.

(Copyright 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and republishing .)

www.ts2.pl Ads by Google

All material on this w ebsite is copyright and may not be republished in any form w ithout w ritten permission.
© Copyright 1999 - 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd.
Head Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong Kong
Thailand Bureau: 11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110

atimes.com/atimes/…/HC22Ak01.html 3/3