Q&A: Iranian Diplomat on Tehran’s Role in Iraq | Newsweek International

A Twitter Timeline of the Iran Election
6/26/2009 12:00:00 AM
The disputed June 12 Iran presidential election and the ensuing chaos were noteworthy not only for the swiftness with which the government cracked down on protesters but also for the role social media sites helped play in disseminating critical images and news. This was especially true after foreign journalists were essentially barred from reporting. Twitter, in particular, played a key role, allowing opposition supporters to communicate and organize protests, as well as to pass on information about what was happening on the ground to one another and the outside world. Below, we offer a rough timeline of events since the June 12 election, along with a daily sampling of tweets about events in Iran. (Note: Though we've made every effort to select tweets from informed posters, we have not been able to confirm the accuracy of the information contained in the posts. All times are ET, except where noted.)
The Laughing Radical
Babak Dehghanpisheh 5/23/2009 12:00:00 AM
Bearded and brooding, Massoud Dehnamaki hardly comes across like the director of a blockbuster comedy film. He spent three years fighting on the front lines of the Iran-Iraq War. After returning home, Dehnamaki joined an Islamic paramilitary group called Ansar-e Hizbullah, a militia accused of attacking theaters showing films that were deemed un-Islamic. That was then. His current film, Ekhrajiha 2, an Iranian Hogan's Heroes, has shattered all box-office records in the country, raking in a whopping $6.1 million as of last week.
THE LAST WORD
Our Main Enemy Is Al Qaeda
Kevin Peraino 4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM
Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has long governed a tinderbox. His party survived armed clashes with separatist rebels in the country's south and Houthi tribesmen in the north. Al Qaeda is also a growing threat. Last month a suicide bomber detonated himself at a crowded archeological site in Yemen, killing four South Korean tourists, and earlier this month CentCom chief Gen. David Petraeus warned that Yemen was becoming a safe haven for Qaeda militants. Saleh spoke with NEWSWEEK's Kevin Peraino at his palace in Sanaa. Excerpts:
Why Washington Worries
Fareed Zakaria 3/14/2009 12:00:00 AM
As George W. Bush's term came to a close, he had few defenders left in the world of foreign policy. Mainstream commentators almost unanimously agreed the Bush years had been marked by arrogance and incompetence. "Mr. Bush's characteristic failing was to apply a black-and-white mindset to too many gray areas of national security and foreign affairs," editorialized The Washington Post. Even Richard Perle, the neoconservative guru, acknowledged
What Makes Ahmadinejad Smile?
Fareed Zakaria 1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM
Explaining the size and scale of Israel's actions in Gaza, several prominent Israelis have argued that the real enemy they are taking on is not Hamas but Iran. The historian Michael Oren, who is currently serving as a press officer in the Israeli military, has argued along with Yossi Klein Halevi that "the operation against Hamas represents a unique chance to deal a strategic blow to Iranian expansionism." The logic is that Hamas is an Iranian client. Crush its military might and you will weaken Tehran and set back its agenda. But is that actually happening?
The Killing Ground

Ferocious as it is, the bombing campaign against Iraq is probably only the prelude to an even more monumental land battle. Unless air power forces Saddam Hussein to his knees, Operation Desert Storm will shift after a matter of weeks to a vast ground campaign to evict his forces from Kuwait. As key military sources sketch it for "Newsweek,' the plan drawn up by Desert Storm commander Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf is a modern blitzkrieg--the first test ever of the U.S. Army's post-Vietnam doctrine of "AirLand Battle." Says retired U.S. Marine Corps. Gen. George Crist: "It's going to be violent, Patton-like armored thrusts, perhaps an amphibious end run...We will (be) moving so fast that the Iraqis won't know what hit 'em."