The Very Definition of an Iranian Moderate, The Washington Times, Editorial, June 1

… Maybe describing the new president as a moderate does make sense on an Iranian scale of political differences. But only on an Iranian scale. What is being touted as moderation should not be confused with such Western concepts as pluralism or freedom.

Mr. Khatami is not a democrat, nor is the great white hope for political and civil rights for Iraninans…

Mr. Khatami, it must be remembered, is first and foremost a cleric - and a cleric within Iran's theocracy, whose supreme ruler is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As president, Mr. Khatami is only responsible for domestic issues and even then, not uniquely. All issues of foreign and military policy are controlled by the supreme ruler….

… Meanwhile, in his first statements following his election, Mr. Khatami sounded exactly like his predecessor, another supposed "moderate," when he criticized relations between Egypt and the United States as well as the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. He added that Egypt and Iran should concentrate on facing the "main enemy, Israel" together. Obviously, Mr. Khatami is cut from the same cloth as every other leader since the revolution of 1979. Moderation in Iran will only come with a change in the basic political and religious structure of the country.

EU Says Too Early to Send Envoys Back to Iran, Reuter, June 2

LUXEMBOURG - European Union foreign ministers decided on Monday that the time was not yet right for members of the 15-nation bloc to send their ambassadors back to Iran.

"We noted that the conditions for the return of our ambassadors...have not yet been met," Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo told a news conference.

The EU withdrew its ambassadors from Tehran in April following the finding of a German court that senior figures in the Islamic republic's government ordered the assassination of three Kurdish dissidents and their translator in Berlin's Mykonos restaurant in 1992….

Tehran Urges Palestinian Group to Wage Attacks in Israel, The Washington Times, June 2 

A Palestinian group is preparing to carry out a new wave of terrorist attacks in Israel at the urging of Iran, according to Pentagon intelligence sources.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in early May began moving nearly a dozen terrorists into Israel, prompting Israeli security forces to launch search and anti-infiltration operations near the Gaza border, the sources said….

A U.S. intelligence official said the terrorist planning appears to be in response to pressure from the Iranian government on the PIJ to carry out more attacks inside Israel….

However, a former CIA official said the PIJ operation may be aimed at assassinating high-ranking Palestinian Authority officials to dramatize the PIJ's unhappiness with the ongoing peace process with Israel….

U.S. Confirms China Missile Sale to Iran, The Washington Post, May 31

The State Department has officially informed Congress that the Chinese government has sold to Iran cruise missiles that enhance Iran's ability to disrupt Persian Gulf shipping and challenge U.S. forces there.

The information is contained in an unclassified 25-page set of responses to questions presented to Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright in February by Rep. Gerald B.H. Solomon (R-N.Y.)….

A week ago, the administration imposed economic sanctions on two Chinese companies found by U.S. intelligence analysts to have sold Iran chemicals and chemical processing technology that enhanced Iran's effort to develop nerve gas weapons. Those companies are privately owned.

The missile sales are a different story, according to Albright's answers to Solomon. A "ministry-level corporation" known as China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp., or CPMIEC, is the "logical originator" of the missile sales, the paper said….

Some military analysts and think-tank papers have raised an alarm about Iran's acquisition of the C-802s, saying they contribute to Iran's ability to block the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane for much of the world's crude oil…

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