MEDIA REACTION ON IRAN

UNCLAS AMMAN 006440

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR,
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN
USAID/ANE/MEA
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAN

Summary

-- Lead story in all papers today, August 11,
highlights the continued violence in Iraq, this time
claiming the lives of six American soldiers. Another
lead story reports on the signing of the bilateral
extradition treaty between Jordan and the United
Kingdom, with speculation that Jordan is going to ask
for the extradition of the Islamist Al-Qaeda leader
known as Abu Qutadah who is wanted in Jordan and who
lives in the United Kingdom.

Editorial Commentary

-- "Iran's nuclear issue and Israel's nuclear weapons"

Daily columnist Mohammad Amayreh writes on the op-ed
page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(08/11): "The controversial Iranian nuclear issue is
worrisome for Washington and its allies, and
Washington is trying to avoid any potential threats to
itself and its European allies, but mostly to its
foremost ally in the region, Israel. Washington's and
Tel Aviv's worry about Iran's nuclear activities is
unfounded and unjustified because both of them have a
large arsenal of nuclear weapons while it has not yet
been proven that Iran is capable of producing nuclear
weapons or that its nuclear program targets them.
Washington and its allies insist on placing the
Iranian nuclear installation under IAEA monitoring,
but, at the same time, they say nothing about the
nuclear bombs that exist Israel or about its very
ambitious nuclear program. This in itself reflects a
clear bias in favor of Israel and the use of double
standards in handling such a very sensitive issue, not
to mention the injustice that developing countries
feel when they see certain countries owning advanced
nuclear weapons while others are being denied this
right; and all this is being done in the name of
international legitimacy."
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