[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/09/art.amanpour.writer.jpg caption="Sr. Writer Tom Evans"]
Happy New Year! As we begin the first work week of the first year of the new decade, we have plenty to tell you about, beginning with today’s show which is all about Iran after the worst violence since last summer. After the government crackdown during the recent holy period of Ashura, how far will President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei go to forestall a velvet revolution? Are cracks appearing in the united front presented by the Islamic Republic? Or is change even possible in an Iran where the Revolutionary Guard has its own military-industrial complex and a steadfast devotion to the status quo? And how will the Iranian opposition persist in the face of the bullets and beatings at the hands of the Basij militia? Christiane sits down with opposition supporters to look at who is really leading the protest movement: the people or the politicians. And we are joined from Tehran by political analyst, Prof. Mohammad Marandi. That’s not the only topic in the news today. Here are some perspectives on some other stories making headlines that resonate across the globe.
Tom Evans
Sr. Writer, AMANPOUR.
YEMEN – Can the government there successfully crack down on Al Qaeda?
– France today joins the U.S. and Britain in closing its embassy in Yemen amid new Al Qaeda threates
– New threats follow alleged attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up a transatlantic airliner on Christmas Day. U.S. Pres. Obama linked man to Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen
– Head of U.S. Central Command, General David Petraeus, met Yemeni President on Saturday. Yemeni forces today kill two suspected Al Qaeda activists
QUESTION: Will U.S. become even more closely involved in campaign against Al Qaeda in Yemen?
IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN – Will the U.S. accelerate withdrawals from Iraq as war in Afghanistan escalates?
– NATO reports first combat deaths of New Year in Afghanistan, four American troops and a British soldier
– 2009 was deadliest year of the Afghan war for coalition forces so far, with 514 coalition troops killed
– In Iraq, December was first month of entire war there in which there were no American deaths in combat
QUESTION: Will the United States accelerate the deployment of reinforcements to Afghanistan if the violence in Iraq continues its downward track?
INTELLIGENCE – how close is the CIA to the Jordanian intelligence service?
– Washington Post reports a Jordanian intelligence officer was among eight people killed in a Taliban suicide bomb attack against a CIA post in Afghanistan
– Washington Post says Jordanian was a captain in Jordan’s General Intelligence Department
– Jordan praises the officer for his “humanitarian work” in Afghanistan as his casket returns home with full military honors
QUESTION: What was a Jordanian intelligence officer doing at a CIA base in Afghanistan?