Iran's Supreme Leader Names New Hardline Judiciary Chief: Via Voice of America.

As the Iranian judiciary prepares to try another wave of post-election protesters and opposition supporters, Sunday, government TV is announcing that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed a new hard-line head of the judiciary. The appointment was not unexpected, however.

The Iranian judiciary has taken a leading role in trying to quell opposition protests, with a series of recent trials of opposition leaders and protesters, and the nomination of a new judiciary chief will set the tone for where the process is heading.

Iranian government TV reports Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani as the new head of the judiciary to replace the stern-looking two-term veteran chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi.
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Iran Warning: Israel's Nuclear Sites Within Reach: Via Voice of America.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards corps is warning it will respond to any attack by Israel with a strike on nuclear sites in the Jewish state.

Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari told state-run media Saturday that Iran's missiles are now capable of hitting targets in Israel, and that any Israeli attack would be met with a "firm and precise" response.

Israel sees Iran as a threat because of its nuclear program, and has been widely reported to be considering a pre-emptive strike. Like the United States, Britain and other Western countries, Israel does not believe Iran's claims that its program is for peaceful purposes.
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How Iran's Disputed Election is Playing in Iraq: Via Newsweek International | Newsweek.com .

Iraq's leaders are trying to say as little as possible about Iran's post-election problems—in public, anyway.

It's been hard not to laugh at some Iraqi officials' poses of complete indifference to the upheaval in Tehran. They're trying their best to pretend they don't know or care what's happening there, unwilling to commit themselves until they know which side will prevail—but the act isn't very convincing. "Nothing is going on in Iran," says Sheik Jalal al-Deen al-Sagheer, a senior parliamentarian from Iraq's ruling Shiite coalition, the Unified Iraqi Alliance. And he says it with almost perfect seriousness. Some officials do admit when pushed hard enough that "nothing" may not be the precise term for street riots in Tehran, deaths, arrests, and signs of revolt among Iran's senior clergy. But beyond that, they don't want to say anything too specific. "The Iranian election is an internal issue," the Iraqi prime minister told local journalists a few days ago. "Any confusion that happens in it will affect Iraq because it is a neighboring country and its stability matters to us."

No matter what Iraq's leaders may think of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, they don't want to antagonize Iran's Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the man who makes the big decisions, and after six years of war and insurgency, Iraq is in no condition to challenge him and his armed forces.
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Who's Behind Tehran's Violence? | : Via Newsweek International | Newsweek.com.

There is no English equivalent for the Farsi words Efraat and Tafrit. They refer to the possibility of extremism on both sides of an issue, and they were much in use during the third day of peaceful marches in Tehran on Wednesday.

Despite official warnings against gathering, at least half a million people marched along a street in central Tehran Wednesday afternoon to protest the reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a vote that many believe was blatantly rigged. After three days of ignoring the demonstrators, who believe opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi was the true victor, state-run Iranian television showed some images of Wednesday's activities. But its reporters chose to talk only to the ordinary citizens on the sidelines, who complained about the Mousavi supporters as a nuisance who were creating traffic in the city and bringing businesses to a halt. The crowd was peaceful and quiet, as they have been in previous days. But a chant against the director of Iranian television, Ezatollah Zarghami, was one of the few slogans heard today. "Shame, Shame, Zarghami!" people intoned.
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