Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), always a friend to her sizable Iranian-American constituency, delivered the following speech yesterday on the floor of the House of Representatives.
At first glance, it might appear that Rep. Woolsey is uncharacteristically harsh when talking about how to deal with Iran. But I read this as a sign that the strongest supporters of direct diplomacy are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness. There is a lot riding on our outreach to Iran. And now that it is no longer a question of if we talk to Iran but when we talk, we need to make sure we do it right. It is because of members of Congress like Rep. Woolsey that the threat of war has abated, now we have the responsibility to make sure the diplomatic approach we supported so strongly can actually produce results.
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
HOUSE
PAGE H2809
Feb. 25, 2009
IT’S TIME TO TALK TO IRAN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak about the urgent need for the United States to begin direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program.
It’s possible you’re familiar with this story from some of NIAC’s previous reports, (background, 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6), but nearly 12,000 priceless artifacts from Takht-e Jamshid (Persepolis) are in danger of being auctioned off as punishment for Iran’s support for terrorist groups.
The University of Chicago is the current home for the only existing collection of tablets providing a first-hand account of daily life in the Persian Empire. Every other depiction of the great civilization that stretched across most of the known world 2500 years ago comes from Roman, Greek, Arab, or Biblical histories; the Persepolis artifacts represent the only inside glimpse into the society of Darius the Great. And it’s all currently in danger.
Families of the victims of terrorist attacks sued Iran in federal court because of Iran’s material support for Hamas and Hezboallah, and were awarded damages of more than $400 million. Not surprisingly, Iran has refused to pay, claiming a well-established international norm known as “sovereign immunity.” That’s where an enterprising lawyer comes in.
David Strachman of Rhode Island has made it his mission to seize the priceless artifacts to be sold to the highest bidder as remuneration for the victims’ families. According to Strachman, “All Iran has to do is pay the judgment. If they came to terms with us, we wouldn’t be here.”
But here we are.
Interestingly enough, the Department of Justice under President George W Bush repeatedly argued for the protection of the tablets. According to Matt Stolper, the chief caretaker of the tablets at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, “Here I am in this odd position of responsibility for something that could be destroyed on my watch. If it’s taken away or broken up, it’s completely irreplaceable.”
NIAC has worked since 2006 to preserve the integrity of this piece of ancient Persian heritage, and in the coming days we will be asking President Obama and the Justice Department to intervene in this case. The President has the power to prevent these tablets from being auctioned; President Clinton took similar action in 1998. You can help by writing President Obama and asking him to step in and protect this priceless bit of history.
The State Department, finally, announced the appointment of Dennis Ross, with the title “Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for The Gulf and Southwest Asia.” Ross’s portfolio seems, technically at least, to keep him from stepping on George Mitchell’s toes in Israel and Palestine, not that he won’t have his hands full with Iran and its neighbors, broadly defined.
According to State Department spokesman Robert Wood:
The Secretary is pleased to announce the appointment of Dennis B. Ross to the position of Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for The Gulf and Southwest Asia. This is a region in which America is fighting two wars and facing challenges of ongoing conflict, terror, proliferation, access to energy, economic development and strengthening democracy and the rule of law. In this area, we must strive to build support for U.S. goals and policies. To be successful, we will need to be able to integrate our policy development and implementation across a broad range of offices and senior officials in the State Department, and, in his role as Special Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador Ross will be asked to play that role.
Specifically, as Special Advisor, he will provide to the Secretary and senior State Department officials strategic advice and perspective on the region; offer assessments and also act to ensure effective policy integration throughout the region; coordinate with senior officials in the development and formulation of new policy approaches; and participate, at the request of the Secretary, in inter-agency activities related to the region.
Ambassador Ross brings a wealth of experience not just to issues within the region but also to larger political-military challenges that flow from the area and have an impact outside of the Gulf and Southwest Asia, and the Secretary looks forward to drawing on that experience and diplomatic perspective.
Bear with me while I completely geek out for a second.
Bloggingheads has Jeffrey Lewis and Jacqueline Shire debating whether Iran sanctions are an effective tool of US policy. Awesome.
Jeffrey is over at the New American Foundation and also runs the blog Arms Control Wonk (which I believe I mentioned earlier is required reading). He’s also someone for whom I have enormous respect.
Jacqueline is part of a team at ISIS (the Institute for Science and International Security) that provides one of the most valuable resources for anyone following Iran’s nuclear program: the ISIS papers that always accompany the quarterly IAEA reports. (check out their last one here)
From Gary Sick, two things to note in yesterday’s IAEA report:
1. Starting at about the time of the US presidential election, Iran dramatically slowed down its installation of operating centrifuges.* This led Mohammad al-Baradei, the director of the IAEA, to comment publicly that “They haven’t really been adding centrifuges, which is a good thing. Our assessment is that it’s a political decision.”
In other words, there was no technical obstacle preventing Iran from installing many more cascades of centrifuges, which produce enriched uranium. Instead, it appeared to be sending a positive signal to the Obama administration, possibly the precursor to a “freeze for freeze” agreement (Iran freezes its enrichment program at the current level in return for US freezing of any further punitive actions, while talks proceed), which has been proposed in some quarters.
2. The IAEA paper also reported that its inspection discovered that more uranium had been enriched than shown by Iranian estimates. It is important to note that Iran reports on the basis of ESTIMATES, while the IAEA does precise measurement once a year with precision instruments. The total production, however, is monitored regularly and is under IAEA supervision during regular (often surprise) inspections. Senior UN officials were at pains to note that the mistake was the result of an engineering miscalculation and not a deliberate attempt to mislead the IAEA. They also noted that no LEU (low enriched uranium) was at risk of diversion, and that the discrepancy will be corrected in future reports. In their report they say clearly that “the physical inventory as declared by Iran was consistent with the results of the [inspection], within the measurement uncertainties normally associated with enrichment plants of a similar throughput.” They confirmed that the uranium output was enriched at a level of 3.49% (it must be enriched above 90% to be usable in a nuclear weapon).
Update: Please. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you must read Jeffrey Lewis’ blog Arms Control Wonk. You’ve just got to do it.
Last Thursday, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence had an open hearing to discuss the top threats to American security in the world today. For those of you who think Congressional hearings are always an epic snooze-fest, I present to you evidence to the contrary.
The Obama administration since taking office has declared with some conviction that it believes Iran is probably pursuing a nuclear weapons cabability. This despite the intelligence community’s reaffirmation of its 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which declared that Iran halted its weapons program in 2003.
Obama, who was elected with a mandate for changing the policies of the previous administration, has trumpeted his new approach to dealing with Iran. But this is a pretty glaring contradiction–if it is still the consensus of all 16 US intelligence agencies that Iran halted its weapons program, then it would have to be a political decision to continue the Bush administration’s public line that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. So what’s going on here?
Tom Loughlin, an American-born lawyer-turned photographer visited Iran three times to capture Iranian life for his installation. In his artist’s statement he describes how he was inspired while taking pictures in the streets of Isfahan.
“I spotted a young Persian man wearing a Dixie Chicks t-shirt. I introduced myself, and I inquired whether his t-shirt was intended to signify his dislike for the American President Bush. He smiled, and replied that the shirt wasn’t just about President Bush. He explained that shortly after the Dixie Chicks criticized Bush on stage, bootleg Dixie Chicks shirts appeared in stores all over Iran’s major cities. He told me that the shirt represented the admiration that he and his compatriots had for Americans’ freedom of speech.” Read the rest of this entry »
Iranian mob attacks moderate ex-president Mohammed Khatami on anniversary
Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent
Iran’s former president was set upon by an angry stick-wielding mob today amid celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on the streets of Tehran.
The attack on Mohammed Khatami came just two days after the reformist cleric announced he would be running against the hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June’s presidential elections.
Mr Khatami, then a little known cleric, came to global attention when he was elected to the presidency in 1997, capturing almost 70 per cent of the vote. Succeeded in 2005 by Mr Ahmadinejad, he blamed hardline elements in the clerical establishment for obstructing his reformist agenda.
During the revolutionary celebrations, attackers waving sticks approached the cleric, shouting “Death to Khatami. We do not want American government.”
According to Mr Khatami’s Baran Foundation, the attackers were repelled by his own supporters, who chanted, “Khatami, Khatami, we support you.”
Mr Khatami was escorted from the street by his bodyguards who took him to shelter in a nearby building.
Sahimi: "The campaign against NIAC and Parsi by the Israel lobby and the
neocons, aided by Iranian monarchists and... http://fb.me/3RBd7Gg --3 hours ago
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), always a friend to her sizable Iranian-American constituency, delivered the following speech yesterday on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Posted by Patrick Disney 
Posted by Patrick Disney 
Posted by Patrick Disney 
The Obama administration since taking office has declared with some conviction that it believes Iran is probably pursuing a nuclear weapons cabability. This despite the intelligence community’s reaffirmation of its 
From 
