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Thanks for your prayers. I’m back home from The Joshua Fund-sponsored pastors conference in Iraq last week and hard at work finishing the edits for my forthcoming novel, The Twelfth Imam, coming out this fall. In a few days, I’ll post a report on the Iraq trip. It was amazing.

But first: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is doing everything he can this week to turn international attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons program and Iran’s repeated threats to annihilate the U.S. and Israel by trying to get the world to focus on Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons stockpile instead. His objective during his visit to New York City: to persuade the U.N. to force Israel to disclose and dismantle all of her defensive weapons even as Iran completes its own offensive weapons.

“The Zionist regime continues to threaten the countries of the Middle East with its arsenal,” said the Iranian leader. “It continues to threaten the world’s countries with acts of terror and invasion, and even gets the necessary assistance for its nuclear program.”

John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., told the Israeli media that he believes the Obama administration is warming to the Iranian argument.

 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday that the U.S. would not be side-tracked by the tactics of the Iranian delegation. “I think they’re coming to try to divert attention and confuse the issue,” she said. “[But] there is no confusion.  They have violated the terms of the NPT, they have been held under all kinds of restrictions and obligations that they have not complied with by the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, by the U.N. Security Council.  So we’re not going to permit Iran to try to change the, the story from their failure to comply and in any way upset the efforts we are in the midst of, which is to get the international community to adopt a strong Security Council resolution that further isolates them and imposes consequences for their behavior.”

Tough talk, but the fact remains the U.S. still has not persuaded the U.N. to pass tough new sanctions against Iran and it’s not clear even a weakened new round of sanctions will be passed by the Security Council before summer.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad is turning his rhetorical firepower against the U.S. “Ahmadinejad on Monday called for states that threaten to use atomic weapons to be punished, a clear reference to a new U.S. nuclear strategy released last month,” reports Reuters. Ahmadinejad also rejected allegations that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, reported AP, saying the U.S. has produced “not a single credible proof.”

* Register today for the 2010 Epicenter Conference in Philadelphia June 25-26. Come hear an exclusive briefing by Israel’s Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon (he is also the former chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces) on the Iranian nuclear crisis. Also hear evangelical Christian leaders discuss how to bless Israel as the crisis intensifies.

* Yes, I’d like to financially support The Joshua Fund as you bless Israel and her neighbors with food, clothing, medical supplies and other humanitarian relief.

HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• Amb. John Bolton in the WSJ: Get Ready For A Nuclear Iran
• Why are Iran and Syria still members in good standing at the NPT conference?
• Iran to hold 8-day military exercise in the Persian Gulf
• Officials increasingly see international link in Times Square bomb attempt
• British Torie (conservative) leader David Cameron Pushes for Majority as Polls Suggest He’ll Fall Short in Thursday’s election
• Aquino Pulls Ahead in Philippine Presidential Race