Iran

TEHRAN, Iran — It wasn’t the news of the raid by the U.S. Army against the Iranian interests section in the northern Iraqi town of Arbil that set off the alarm bells. Nor the announcement by Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that “twice in the past two or three weeks . . . we’ve captured Iranians,” followed by former Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk threatening “serious consequences” as a result of Bush’s new strategy of escalation against Iran. The announcement that a second aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. John C. Stennis, would be moving [...]

Last week’s London Sunday Times exposé “Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran” has set the media buzzing. Given the probable source for the thrust of the article — the senior Israeli military — this is not surprising. But what underlies the furor is the disconcerting reality and approaching menace of the first “in anger” nuclear strike since 1945. The Sunday Times article itself was almost a re-run of the paper’s March 13, 2005, “Revealed: Israel Plans Strike on Iranian Nuclear Plant.” (URL for link) Both were written by the same journalist, but with one notable difference: the latter suggested [...]

TEHRAN, Iran — On the way down from Tehran’s main ski hill a few days ago I hitched a ride with two 22-year old university students and asked them whether they were planning to vote in the coming elections. “What elections?” they asked. Then, after they had phoned a friend to confirm that a nationwide vote is indeed to take place on Dec. 15, they said the same thing I have heard from almost every Iranian I have spoken to over the past month, from millionaires and pop stars to pastoralists and kebab sellers: Of course we won’t vote, we’re [...]