Iran Talks, Bahrain Repression, Summit of Americas

GARETH PORTER, porter.gareth50 at gmail.com

American and Iranian negotiators are scheduled to meet this weekend in Istanbul regarding Iran's nuclear program. Porter is an investigative journalist and historian specializing in U.S. national security policy. He just wrote the piece "U.S.-Israel Deal to Demand Qom Closure Threatens Nuclear Talks."

REEM KHALIFA, reem.khalifa at alwasatnews.com, @Reem_Khalifa

Today, AP is reporting "Formula One's governing body says the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead as planned," see: "Human Rights Abuses Aside, Formula 1 Racers Head to Bahrain."

InterPress Service reported earlier this week "White House Expresses Growing Concern Over Bahrain."

Khalifa is a noted independent journalist in Bahrain who has written for the AP and other outlets. Today, she reports on large protests including 10,000 people attending a funeral of a citizen journalist. She also reports that the Bahraini government is resorting to weapons they have not used since last year and protesters are denouncing the U.S. and Saudi governments as well as the Bahraini monarchy. Khalifa is scheduled to be interviewed by The Real News today.

MOHAMMAD ALI NAQUVI, alinaquvi at yahoo.com

Ali Naquvi is an attorney and activist with the American Council for Freedom in Bahrain. He said today: "The protests today show that the demands of the Bahrani people have not been met. With the courage of Mr. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja's hunger strike, now over 60 days, the morale of the people continues to stay high. Even though the Formula One association says that they are going ahead with the race, many individual teams have expressed concern."

ALEX MAIN, via Dan Beeton, beeton at cepr.net

Main is senior associate for international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He just wrote the piece "Obama in Cartagena: No Change, Dwindling Hope," which states: "Whether on Cuba policy, 'free trade,' the 'war on drugs' or relations with left-wing governments in South America, the administration's current policies are nearly indistinguishable from those of Bush. As a result, Obama's reception in Cartagena is likely to be lukewarm at best; and the Summit of the Americas itself may well be seen as increasingly irrelevant by most of Latin America and the Caribbean."

SANHO TREE, stree at igc.org

Director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, Tree said today: "As the violence caused by drug prohibition threatens governments throughout the region, the demand for ending prohibition will intensify. Previously, it had been only retired politicians and officials who spoke openly of their views. Now, sitting heads of state are joining the discussion." See a recent interview here.