JAN. 2 – It is being suggested that a New Year ultimatum issued on Iranian state television by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, that the West has one month to accept Iran’s counter proposal for enriching its nuclear fuel stockpile, is but an effort to “push a confrontation with the West to divert public attention from political and social troubles at home.” So reports Michael Slackman in his dispatch today for the New York Times.
