We would like to begin this issue by wishing all Muslims in the world a happy Eid Al-Azha and a healthy, peaceful and prosperous new year.  We would also like to wish everyone a joyous new year 2008 and thank all our subscribers and clients for all their support throughout the year. 

The year 2007 ended with some positive news for the Islamic Republic.  The United States decided to declassify and release the long awaited 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran.  This document which is signed off by a total of 16 different spy agencies of the US government gave a very different viewpoint than the previous 2005 NIE, and declared with high confidence that Iran is not currently pursuing a covert nuclear weapons program and that its leadership abandoned such efforts back in 2003.  However, the report states that Iran continues to enrich uranium and therefore can always restart a nuclear weapons program should it so desire.  Nevertheless this assessment has taken the wind out of the third round of sanctions talks by the UN Security Council members, and they have now been postponed till early next year.  What the United States and the international community need to do now is to keep up the pressure on Iran and to also show more flexibility in their diplomacy and negotiations so that they can cover all aspects of Iran's troubled relationships.  This is the only way forward to resolve this crisis and lengthy standoff that has brought the world very close to another major war in the Middle East and beyond.  The threat of war is still there and Iran is not home free; it must try harder to stand up to its international obligations while it returns to the negotiating table in 2008.

There are some other encouraging signs that relations between the government of President Ahmadinejad and its Arab neighbors may be warming further in 2008.  He was recently invited to attend the Gulf Cooperation Council conference in Qatar and he is also attending this year's Hajj ceremonies at the invitation of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.  Both of these events are a first in the history of the Islamic Republic since its inception in 1979.  Furthermore, the Egyptian deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Hussein Dirar, paid a visit to Tehran last month and had positive meeting with Iranian officials aimed at improving and expanding bilateral relations and cooperation.  The two countries have had a bumpy relationship for the last three decades.