Head of Iran's Nuclear Agency, Mousavi Backer, Resigned in June

From Associated Press
July 16, 2009

TEHRAN, Iran — The head of Iran's nuclear agency has resigned, an Iranian news agency reported Thursday, a move that may have been connected to the country's postelection turmoil.

Gholam Reza Aghazadeh gave no reason for his resignation, according the semi-official ISNA news agency. But Aghazadeh has long been close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to be the victor in June 12 presidential elections and says the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is illegitimate.

Aghazadeh is quoted as telling ISNA that he submitted his resignation from Iran's Atomic Energy Organization 20 days ago to Ahmadinejad, who accepted it. In the ISNA report Thursday, Aghazadeh says he also resigned from his other post, as one of Ahmadinejad's vice presidents.

Aghazadeh and other nuclear officials could not immediately be reached for comment. ISNA is a semi-official news agency, but Iranian officials use it occasionally to leak sensitive information.

In his post, which he held for 12 years, Aghazadeh has pushed steadily ahead with Iran's nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies that charge, saying it wants only to generate electricity, and it rejects U.N. demands it halt uranium enrichment.

Aghazadeh in the past year has announced several times Iran's advances in manufacturing centrifuges, a key component of the enrichment program. According to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Iran has nearly 5,000 centrifuges currently enriching uranium and another 2,000 others ready to start enriching.

AP notes that Aghazadeh was not included in Iran's negotiations with the West over the nuclear program and that "ultimately all decisions on nuclear policy lie with supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei."

And, it would appear, one more piece of deadwood has been cleared off the deck.

Khamenei Draws the Line in Iran

It's Breaking News all over the MSM, here's FOX's take:


Iran Supreme Leader Says Vote Was 'Definitive Victory' as Crowd Chants 'Death to America'


TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's supreme leader said Friday that there was "definitive victory" and no rigging in disputed presidential elections, offering no concession to protesters demanding the vote be canceled and held again.

In his first public address since demonstrators flooded the streets, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said protests should cease and the opposition must pursue its complaints within the confines of the cleric-led ruling system.

He blamed Great Britain and Iran's external enemies for trying to foment unrest but said Iran would not see a second revolution like those that transformed the countries of the former Soviet Union.

"The enemies (of Iran) are targeting the Islamic establishment's legitimacy by questioning the election and its authenticity before and after (the vote)," Khamenei said.

Press TV, an English-language version of Iranian state television, broadcast images from the crowded hall where Khamenei was speaking as the crowd and thousands of people assembled outside cheered.

At several points during Khamenei's speech, the crowd broke out into loud, seemingly-orchestrated chanting. Cameras panned across the sea of supporters as they shouted "death to America" and "death to the UK."

Khamenei said protesters would be "held responsible for chaos if they didn't end" days of massive demonstrations. The unrest has posed the greatest challenge to the system since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought it to power.

Khamenei said official results showing a landslide for hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were beyond question.

"There is 11 million votes difference, Khamenei said. "How one can rig 11 million votes?"
He remained staunch in his defense of Ahmadinejad, saying his views were closer to the president's than to those of Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful patron of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Khamenei told the defeated candidates: "I am urging them to end street protests, otherwise they will be responsible for its consequences, and consequences of any chaos."


There's lots more everywhere. This may be the start of a very long day.