IRAN
Iranian President Ahmadinejad Could Face Impeachment
Golnaz Esfandiari, Radio Free Europe – June 25, 2011
In a single day earlier this week, the Iranian parliament dealt three blows to the presidency of Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who has become a political punching bag as the result of a continuing power struggle with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ahmadinejad and his entourage, which counts among its ranks former Revolutionary Guard members who fought in the Iran-Iraq war, are under attack from Khamenei’s camp, comprising senior clerics, conservative politicians, and rival Revolutionary Guard commanders. On June 21, the parliament launched impeachment proceedings against Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi . . .
A pioneering US aerospace entrepreneur is accused of helping Iran’s satellite program
AP – June 27, 2011
WASHINGTON — Growing up in a provincial town in Iran, Nader Modanlo was fascinated by the flickering TV images of astronauts walking on the moon.A federal grand jury indicted the Potomac, Md., resident last year on charges he secretly brokered the launch from Russia of the first Iranian-owned satellite in 2005, in violation of the U.S. sanctions against Iran. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to 65 years in prison and ordered to pay $10 million. Five Iranian nationals were also indicted, but none are in custody.
IAEA chief ties possible Iran visit to progress on resolving differences on nuclear activities
AP – June 24, 2011
VIENNA — The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed being invited to visit Iran. But he says he will go only if there is hope of resolving major differences over the Islamic Republic’s atomic activities. Yukiya Amano says the prospect of “a constructive, concrete result is needed” for him to take up the invitation issued Tuesday by Iran’s nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi.
Iran and regional powers ‘to fight terrorism’
Aljazeera – June 25, 2011
The leaders of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan have pledged to work together to combat terrorism, following three-way talks in the Iranian capital, Tehran. The three presidents agreed to work towards “eliminating extremism” during their talks, ahead of a six-nation counterterrorism summit in Tehran on Saturday.
NORTH KOREA
U.S. and North Korea: The land of lousy options
John Kerry, Los Angeles Times – June 26, 2011
Sixty-one years ago this weekend, North Korean artillery opened fire along the 38th Parallel, and a war began that claimed the lives of more than 33,000 American soldiers, 100,000 Chinese “volunteers” and 2 million Koreans. Today, the goal of building a lasting peace remains elusive. In fact, the peninsula is more dangerous than ever. North Korea has twice tested nuclear weapons and is developing missiles to carry them. The U.S. response to all of this has been measured but firm. It has also been inadequate.
Sung Kim, Obama’s choice for stable management of NK, public diplomacy
Lee Chi-Dong, Yonhap News – June 26, 2011
WASHINGTON, June 25 (Yonhap) — With the pick of Sung Kim, a Korea-born career diplomat, as his new ambassador to Seoul, U.S. President Barack Obama aims to handle the North Korean nuclear issue in a more professional way and step up public diplomacy with South Koreans, officials and experts here said. Kim, 51, is on a path to become the first person of Korean origin to serve as U.S. ambassador to Seoul, a historic nomination comparable to Obama’s naming of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke of Chinese descent as top envoy to Beijing.
S. Korea separates apology demand from nuclear talks with N. Korea: official
Yonhap News – June 27, 2011
SEOUL, June 27 (Yonhap) — South Korea is willing to hold a bilateral meeting with North Korea on a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula before resuming multilateral denuclearization talks, separating it from its adamant demand for an apology over last year’s deadly attacks, a senior government official said Monday.
LIBYA
Hague Court Issues Warrant for Qaddafi for War Crimes
Marlise Simons, New York Times – June 27, 2011
PARIS — The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants on Monday for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi , his son Seif al-Islam and his chief of intelligence, Abdullah Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution, stemming from the first two weeks of the uprising in Libya that led to a NATO bombing campaign. At a 30-minute hearing, the presiding judge said that there were “reasonable grounds” to hold the three men criminally responsible for killing, injuring and imprisoning hundreds of civilians after demonstrations against the regime broke out in February.
