Excerpts: Norway's Muslims rally against Islamic militants. Iran seeks to
repair relations with Saudi.Lebanon army finds 5 launch pads that targeted
Israel. Iran threatens to 'arm Palestinians'.Iran nuclear,uncertainties
remain August 26, 2014

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 26 Aug.’14:”Norwegian Muslims rally against
Islamic militants”, Associated Press
SUBJECT: Norway’s Muslims rally against Islamic militants
QUOTES:”Muslim leaders and thousands of other people demonstrated against
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Oslo” ; “at least 50 people have left
Norway to become foreign fighters for militant groups in Syria”

FULL TEXT:Norway’s prime minister and other politicians have joined Muslim
leaders and thousands of other people for a demonstration in Oslo against
radical Islamists.

Monday’s rally was an initiative by young Norwegian Muslims who wanted to
show a united front against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq and
their sympathizers in Norway.

Mehtab Afshar, head of the Islamic Council in Norway, told the crowd: “They
stand for terrorism, they stand for terror ... and we condemn that in the
strongest terms.”

A small radical group in Norway has expressed support for Islamic State
militants, angering moderate Muslims in immigrant communities in the
country.

According to the Norwegian security service at least 50 people have left
Norway to become foreign fighters for militant groups in Syria.



+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 26 Aug.’14:”Top Iran Official Visits Regional
Rival Saudi”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Iran seeks to repair relations with Saudi
FULL TEXT:A senior Iranian official is in Saudi Arabia to try to repair
strained relations between the regional rivals in the Gulf, Iranian media
reported on Tuesday[26 Aug.].

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian flew to the desert kingdom
on Monday[25 Aug.] to meet Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and
discuss "matters of common interest", the reports said.

No further information was immediately available about the trip, the first
by a high-level official from Shiite Iran to Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia since
Hassan Rouhani became the Islamic republic's president in August last year.

"It is a step towards improving relations between Tehran and Riyadh," Iran's
financial daily Donya-e Eghtessad wrote.

Amir Abdollahian had visited Riyadh in June, but that was for a meeting of
the Saudi-based Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The authorities in Saudi Arabia had invited Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif, but he declined, citing the ongoing nuclear
negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 powers.

Donya-e Eghtessad also quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying a Zarif trip to
Riyadh should "be prepared and protocol must be respected".

Rouhani has stated his wish to improve relations with Iran's neighbors,
especially Saudi Arabia, the Gulf's other regional heavyweight.

The two countries are on opposite sides in the Syrian conflict, with Tehran
backing President Bashar Assad and Riyadh supporting the rebels trying to
topple him.

In June, Rouhani warned that Muslim states which funnel petrodollars to
jihadist Sunni fighters wreaking havoc in Iraq will become their next
target.

"I advise Muslim countries that support the terrorists with their
petrodollars to stop," Rouhani said, referring to Saudi Arabia and Qatar
which Tehran accuses of financing the jihadists.

"Tomorrow you will be targeted... by these savage terrorists. Wash your
hands of killing and the killing of Muslims," he added.

Tehran also supports protests by Bahrain's Shiite majority while Riyadh
backs its Sunni rulers.

Saudi Arabia is also concerned about Iran's nuclear program and fears a
rapprochement between Tehran and the United States in the context of an
agreement on the nuclear issue.

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 26Aug.’14: Army Finds More Launchpads that
Targeted Israel”

SUBJECT: Lebanon Army finds 5 launchpads that targeted Israel

On Monday[25 Aug.] night, the Lebanese Army found three launchpads in the
southern Marjeyoun al-Jarmaq area that were used to launch missiles into
Israel, the state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday[26 Aug.].

After a close investigation, the army said that only two rockets were fired
from the platforms while a third suffered malfunction and was dismantled
later by the Lebanese army weapon engineers.

Israel intensified its patrols along the border line starting from
al-Adaysseh extending to the Shebaa and Kfarshuba hills which triggered
tension.

Meanwhile the UNIFIL executed patrols along the blue line.

Unmanned Israeli surveillance planes and helicopters continue to hover above
Shabaa.

On Sunday[24 Aug.], two rocket launchpads were found in the southern region
of Tyre, from which two rockets were fired overnight Saturday[23 Aug.] at
northern Israel.

The two rockets were fired on the 47th day of an Israeli war against the
Islamist movement Hamas in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 26 ’14:”Iran ‘will arm Palestinians’ after Israel
drone downed”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Iran threatens to ‘arm Palestinians’

QUOTE:”undated photo released on Monday[25 Aug.] by the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards claims to show the wreckage of an Israeli drone which
Iran claims it shot down near an Iranian nuclear site”

EXCERPT:TEHRAN — Tehran will “accelerate” arming Palestinians in retaliation
for Israel deploying a spy drone over Iran, which was shot down, a military
commander said on Monday [25Aug.]. [IMRA “accelerate arming Palestinians”
since Iran already arms them.]

Iran, which does not recognise the existence of Israel, has confirmed it
supplied Palestinian fighters from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad with the
technology for the rockets being fired relentlessly into Israel from Gaza
since July 8.

“We will accelerate the arming of the West Bank and we reserve the right to
give any response,” said General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, commander of aerial
forces of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, in a statement on their
official website sepahnews.com.

Last month, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the Islamic
world to arm Palestinians to allow them to counter what he called Israel’s
“genocide” in Gaza.. . .




+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 26 Aug.’14:”Iran says’completing’ nuclear steps
agreed with IAEA”,No author shown.

SUBJECT: Iran nuclear,uncertainties remain

QUOTE:”U.N. watchdog’s investigation into suspected atomic bomb research by
Iran appeared to be making only limited headway”

FULL TEXT:VIENNA/DUBAI — Iran is "in the process" of completing measures on
transparency in its nuclear research that were agreed with the UN atomic
agency, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying, suggesting Tehran
had at least partly met a Monday[25 Aug.] deadline for cooperation.

Atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi did not give details in remarks
reported by the official IRNA news agency. Those remarks came a few days
after diplomatic sources in Vienna told Reuters the UN watchdog's
investigation into suspected atomic bomb research by Iran appeared to be
making only limited headway.

Western officials say Iran must address the questions of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). They say that would be an important boost for
parallel diplomatic efforts to end the dispute over a nuclear programme the
country says is peaceful.

Under an accord reached by the UN agency and Iran in November in an attempt
to revive the long-stalled investigation, Tehran agreed in May to carry out
five specific steps by August 25 to help allay international concerns.

They include providing information about two issues — for example, alleged
explosives experimentation — that are part of the IAEA's inquiry into what
it calls the possible military dimensions of Iran's atomic activities.

"They have five questions and demands... some are completed and others are
in the process of being completed," IRNA quoted Salehi as saying, without
elaborating on what these were.

The IAEA earlier said it would not comment on the issue on Monday[25 Aug..
Diplomats say it may only release details of any Iranian response in its
next quarterly report, expected next week.

Washington and its allies have accused Iran of seeking to develop an atomic
weapons capability. Iran has dismissed the accusations, saying its work is
focused on generating electricity and other peaceful projects.

The Islamic republic has promised to cooperate with the IAEA since Hassan
Rouhani, widely seen as a pragmatist, was elected Iranian president in
mid-2013.

But diplomatic sources said on Friday[22 Aug.] that they did not believe
Iran had given the IAEA the requested information yet, casting doubt on
whether Iran would take all of the agreed action by this week's deadline.

They said there was still time for Iran to respond to the questions, noting
that it had occasionally waited until the last minute to make concessions in
the past, and that Tehran might also provide the information a few days
late.

Western diplomats say Iran needs to help clear up the IAEA's suspicions if
it wants to reach a broader diplomatic deal in the separate negotiations
with the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia.

Those talks — which in July were extended until November 24 — are focused on
persuading Iran to curb its atomic activities. In exchange, the West would
lift sanctions that are hurting Iran's oil-dependent economy.

==========================================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA