Iranian Atomic Urgency
• In his first press conference since the elections, Hassan Rohami talked about moderation, but won’t halt Iran’s uranium enrichment. AP says Rohani also sidestepped a question about supporting Bashar Assad. Moderate, indeed.
• Hassan Rohami’s Glasgow university doctorate is under question. The Times of Israel rounds up what’s known.
• The Christian Science Monitor assesses what the election results mean for Israel:
The moderate image of the new Iranian president could recast Mr. Netanyahu – who repeatedly reminds the international community that Israel is ready to use force if necessary against Tehran’s nuclear program – as the leading proponent of armed conflict, the analyst said.
• For more commentary/analysis on Hassan Rohami’s election, see Avi Issacharoff, the Jerusalem Post, YNet, Christian Science Monitor, Bloomberg News, and Sohrab Ahmari (Wall St. Journal via Google News). See also staff-eds in the Times of London and The Independent.
Arab Spring Winter
• Dueling headlines.
• Imagine the outrage if Israel did this:
Turkish police adding chemicals (pepper spray) to water cannons
• For commentary/analysis, see McClatchy News, CNN, and Bloomberg News.
Rest O’ the Roundup
• The strike at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs escalated; Haaretz reports the newest sanctions effect Israelis living abroad.
The union of Foreign Ministry employees has decided to stop all issuance of passports outside Israel as part of its industrial action, after talks with the Finance Ministry deadlocked. The union also decided to immediately stop providing consular help for Israelis abroad, except in cases of emergency.
• For the latest on Al-Jazeera America’s planned August launch, see the Wall St. Journal (via Google News).
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream.
