ANTI-IRAN JUND-ALLAH TERRORIST GROUP
"Jund-Allah is an armed Islamic movement. Most members are from the religious Sunni Baluchi minority who live in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province, which lies in southeastern Iran at the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan... the leader of the group, Abd-al-Malik Righi, announced the change of its name from Jund-Allah (Soldiers of God) to the Popular Resistance Movement...
The Iranian regime maintains that the United States is behind Jundu'llah's terrorist activities, as a means of destabilizing or even partitioning Iran..."
http://www.juancole.com/2009/07/brief-history-of-sunni-jundullah.html
Monday, July 13, 2009
KHOMEINI TURNED SHIITE ISLAM INTO AN AUTHORITARIAN STATE
"... Throughout much of its history, the Shi’ite clergy have abstained from direct intervention in political life... Shi’ites await the promised return of the missing Twelfth Imam to rule a world of perfect peace and justice, but until that time no political authority is seen as fully legitimate.
"... as a religious radical... (Ayatollah) Khomeini... turned one thousand years of Shi’ite thought and practice on its head with the creation of his Islamic republic... a revolution carried out in the name of both Islam and democracy has been badly tarnished, perhaps forever...
"Khomeini... (made the) Islamic political system – revolutionary maslahat – the “most important of God’s ordinances”... so, he effectively cost the Islamic republic any claim on special religious or moral legitimacy and turned it into just another authoritarian state...
"Today, the damage Khomeini inflicted on the Shi’ite religious institution is on full display, as the system he left behind on his death in 1989 lurches from internal crisis to internal crisis... the Islamic republic seems headed – not today but eventually – for the dustbin of history."
http://www.juancole.com/2009/07/lyons-spectre-of-khomeini-as-religious.html
"... Throughout much of its history, the Shi’ite clergy have abstained from direct intervention in political life... Shi’ites await the promised return of the missing Twelfth Imam to rule a world of perfect peace and justice, but until that time no political authority is seen as fully legitimate.
"... as a religious radical... (Ayatollah) Khomeini... turned one thousand years of Shi’ite thought and practice on its head with the creation of his Islamic republic... a revolution carried out in the name of both Islam and democracy has been badly tarnished, perhaps forever...
"Khomeini... (made the) Islamic political system – revolutionary maslahat – the “most important of God’s ordinances”... so, he effectively cost the Islamic republic any claim on special religious or moral legitimacy and turned it into just another authoritarian state...
"Today, the damage Khomeini inflicted on the Shi’ite religious institution is on full display, as the system he left behind on his death in 1989 lurches from internal crisis to internal crisis... the Islamic republic seems headed – not today but eventually – for the dustbin of history."
http://www.juancole.com/2009/07/lyons-spectre-of-khomeini-as-religious.html
Sunday, July 05, 2009
BIDEN SAYS ISRAEL IS FREE TO ATTACK IRAN
"Vice President Joe Biden signaled that the Obama administration would not stand in the way if Israel chose to attack Iran's nuclear facilities... Biden said... that Israel, like the U.S., has a right to "determine what is in its interests..."
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/nation-world-news/biden-israel-free-to-set-own-course-on-iran-190800.html
"Vice President Joe Biden signaled that the Obama administration would not stand in the way if Israel chose to attack Iran's nuclear facilities... Biden said... that Israel, like the U.S., has a right to "determine what is in its interests..."
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/nation-world-news/biden-israel-free-to-set-own-course-on-iran-190800.html
Sunday, June 28, 2009
THE U.S. NED AGENCY, NIAC AND IRAN
"... One mechanism by which the U.S. interferes in the internal political affairs of other nations is the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a quasi-governmental agency with funding from both Congress and private individuals whose purpose is to support foreign organizations sympathetic to U.S. foreign policy goals...
"The idea behind NED was to create an organization to do overtly what the CIA had long been doing clandestinely, and the organization has developed its own history of foreign interference. “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA,” acknowledged Allen Weinstein, one of NED’s founders...
"NED is also active in Iran, granting hundreds of thousands of dollars to Iranian groups. From 2005 to 2007, NED gave $345,000 to the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation (ABF). The group claims “no political affiliation” on its website, but is named for the founder of the National Movement of the Iranian Resistance (NAMIR), an opposition group to the clerical regime founded in 1980...
"Another recipient of NED grants is the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which received $25,000 in 2002, $64,000 in 2005, and $107,000 in 2006. The 2002 grant was to carry out a “media training workshop” to train participants representing various civic groups in public relations. The 2005 money was given in part to “strengthen the capacity of civic organizations in Iran,” including by advising Iranian groups on “foreign donor relations.” The 2006 grant was similarly designed to “foster cooperation between Iranian NGOs and the international civil society community and to strengthen the institutional capacity of NGOs in Iran.” The group’s president is Dr. Trita Parsi, whose parents fled political repression in Iran when he was four. He studied for his Doctoral thesis at the Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies under Professor Francis Fukuyama.
"Fukuyama wrote in 2007 that “Ahmadinejad may be the new Hitler,” but that the use of military force against Iran “looks very unappealing,” and that airstrikes “would not result in regime change,” which was “the only long-term means of stopping” Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program. The NIAC similarly opposes the use of military force against Iran, and instead “supports the idea of resolving the problems between the US and Iran through dialogue in order to avoid war.”
"Following the Iranian election and subsequent violence, NIAC issued a statement saying that “The only plausible way to end the violence is for new elections to be held with independent monitors ensuring its fairness...”
"NIAC president Trita Parsi explained the goal of the U.S. policy by saying, “The administration is trying to make regime change through democratization the policy, instead of making confrontation by military means the policy..."
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/06/23/has-the-u-s-played-a-role-in-fomenting-unrest-during-irans-election/
"... One mechanism by which the U.S. interferes in the internal political affairs of other nations is the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a quasi-governmental agency with funding from both Congress and private individuals whose purpose is to support foreign organizations sympathetic to U.S. foreign policy goals...
"The idea behind NED was to create an organization to do overtly what the CIA had long been doing clandestinely, and the organization has developed its own history of foreign interference. “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA,” acknowledged Allen Weinstein, one of NED’s founders...
"NED is also active in Iran, granting hundreds of thousands of dollars to Iranian groups. From 2005 to 2007, NED gave $345,000 to the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation (ABF). The group claims “no political affiliation” on its website, but is named for the founder of the National Movement of the Iranian Resistance (NAMIR), an opposition group to the clerical regime founded in 1980...
"Another recipient of NED grants is the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which received $25,000 in 2002, $64,000 in 2005, and $107,000 in 2006. The 2002 grant was to carry out a “media training workshop” to train participants representing various civic groups in public relations. The 2005 money was given in part to “strengthen the capacity of civic organizations in Iran,” including by advising Iranian groups on “foreign donor relations.” The 2006 grant was similarly designed to “foster cooperation between Iranian NGOs and the international civil society community and to strengthen the institutional capacity of NGOs in Iran.” The group’s president is Dr. Trita Parsi, whose parents fled political repression in Iran when he was four. He studied for his Doctoral thesis at the Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies under Professor Francis Fukuyama.
"Fukuyama wrote in 2007 that “Ahmadinejad may be the new Hitler,” but that the use of military force against Iran “looks very unappealing,” and that airstrikes “would not result in regime change,” which was “the only long-term means of stopping” Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program. The NIAC similarly opposes the use of military force against Iran, and instead “supports the idea of resolving the problems between the US and Iran through dialogue in order to avoid war.”
"Following the Iranian election and subsequent violence, NIAC issued a statement saying that “The only plausible way to end the violence is for new elections to be held with independent monitors ensuring its fairness...”
"NIAC president Trita Parsi explained the goal of the U.S. policy by saying, “The administration is trying to make regime change through democratization the policy, instead of making confrontation by military means the policy..."
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/06/23/has-the-u-s-played-a-role-in-fomenting-unrest-during-irans-election/
Monday, June 22, 2009
ANALYSIS OF VOTE FRAUD IN IRAN
• In two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, a turnout of
more than 100% was recorded.
• At a provincial level, there is no correlation between the increased
turnout and the swing to Ahmadinejad. This challenges the notion that
Ahmadinejad’s victory was due to the massive participation of a
previously silent conservative majority.
• In a third of all provinces, the official results would require that
Ahmadinejad took not only all former conservative voters, all former
centrist voters, and all new voters, but also up to 44% of former
Reformist voters, despite a decade of conflict between these two
groups.
• In 2005, as in 2001 and 1997, conservative candidates, and
Ahmadinejad in particular, were markedly unpopular in rural areas.
That the countryside always votes conservative is a myth. The claim
that this year Ahmadinejad swept the board in more rural provinces
flies in the face of these trends.
The summary of "Preliminary Analysis of the Voting Figures in Iran’s 2009 Presidential Election", published by Chatham House and the Institute of Iranian Studies, University of St Andrews.
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/14234_iranelection0609.pdf
• In two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, a turnout of
more than 100% was recorded.
• At a provincial level, there is no correlation between the increased
turnout and the swing to Ahmadinejad. This challenges the notion that
Ahmadinejad’s victory was due to the massive participation of a
previously silent conservative majority.
• In a third of all provinces, the official results would require that
Ahmadinejad took not only all former conservative voters, all former
centrist voters, and all new voters, but also up to 44% of former
Reformist voters, despite a decade of conflict between these two
groups.
• In 2005, as in 2001 and 1997, conservative candidates, and
Ahmadinejad in particular, were markedly unpopular in rural areas.
That the countryside always votes conservative is a myth. The claim
that this year Ahmadinejad swept the board in more rural provinces
flies in the face of these trends.
The summary of "Preliminary Analysis of the Voting Figures in Iran’s 2009 Presidential Election", published by Chatham House and the Institute of Iranian Studies, University of St Andrews.
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/14234_iranelection0609.pdf
Monday, June 15, 2009
OR - NOT FRAUDULENT
"Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin... Conducted by telephone from a neighboring country, field work was carried out in Farsi by a polling company whose work in the region for ABC News and the BBC has received an Emmy award. Our polling was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund...
"Iranians view their support for a more democratic system, with normal relations with the United States, as consonant with their support for Ahmadinejad. They do not want him to continue his hard-line policies. Rather, Iranians apparently see Ahmadinejad as their toughest negotiator, the person best positioned to bring home a favorable deal...
"Allegations of fraud and electoral manipulation will serve to further isolate Iran and are likely to increase its belligerence and intransigence against the outside world... Consider all independent information. The fact may simply be that the reelection of President Ahmadinejad is what the Iranian people wanted."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061401757_pf.html
"Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin... Conducted by telephone from a neighboring country, field work was carried out in Farsi by a polling company whose work in the region for ABC News and the BBC has received an Emmy award. Our polling was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund...
"Iranians view their support for a more democratic system, with normal relations with the United States, as consonant with their support for Ahmadinejad. They do not want him to continue his hard-line policies. Rather, Iranians apparently see Ahmadinejad as their toughest negotiator, the person best positioned to bring home a favorable deal...
"Allegations of fraud and electoral manipulation will serve to further isolate Iran and are likely to increase its belligerence and intransigence against the outside world... Consider all independent information. The fact may simply be that the reelection of President Ahmadinejad is what the Iranian people wanted."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061401757_pf.html
Saturday, June 13, 2009
FRAUDULENT ELECTION THEORY
"... on Friday, it became clear that Mousavi was winning. Mousavi's spokesman abroad, filmmaker Mohsen Makhbalbaf, alleges that the ministry even contacted Mousavi's camp and said it would begin preparing the population for this victory. The ministry must have informed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has had a feud with Mousavi for over 30 years, who found this outcome unsupportable. And, apparently, he and other top leaders had been so confident of an Ahmadinejad win that they had made no contingency plans for what to do if he looked as though he would lose. They therefore sent blanket instructions to the Electoral Commission to falsify the vote counts. This clumsy cover-up then produced the incredible result of an Ahmadinejad landlside in Tabriz and Isfahan and Tehran... The regime's legitimacy will take a critical hit, and its ultimate demise may have been hastened, over the next decade or two..."
http://www.juancole.com/2009/06/stealing-iranian-election.html
"... on Friday, it became clear that Mousavi was winning. Mousavi's spokesman abroad, filmmaker Mohsen Makhbalbaf, alleges that the ministry even contacted Mousavi's camp and said it would begin preparing the population for this victory. The ministry must have informed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has had a feud with Mousavi for over 30 years, who found this outcome unsupportable. And, apparently, he and other top leaders had been so confident of an Ahmadinejad win that they had made no contingency plans for what to do if he looked as though he would lose. They therefore sent blanket instructions to the Electoral Commission to falsify the vote counts. This clumsy cover-up then produced the incredible result of an Ahmadinejad landlside in Tabriz and Isfahan and Tehran... The regime's legitimacy will take a critical hit, and its ultimate demise may have been hastened, over the next decade or two..."
http://www.juancole.com/2009/06/stealing-iranian-election.html
Friday, June 12, 2009
IRAN OPINION POLL
"More than three out of every four Iranian citizens favour improved relations with the United States... Just over half (52 percent) of the pool of 1,001 respondents also said they believed Tehran should develop nuclear weapons, although more than 70 percent said they would support a deal by which the government would agree to forgo that option in exchange for outside aid and investment... Only one in four respondents said they favoured a peace treaty recognising the Jewish state, even with the creation of an independent Palestine alongside it. Sixty-two percent said they opposed any such treaty, while nearly two out of three respondents said they supported Tehran's provision of military and financial aid to Palestinian resistance groups... however, 52 percent said they would support a peace treaty recognising Israel if it were part of a larger deal leading to better relations with Washington..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47141
"More than three out of every four Iranian citizens favour improved relations with the United States... Just over half (52 percent) of the pool of 1,001 respondents also said they believed Tehran should develop nuclear weapons, although more than 70 percent said they would support a deal by which the government would agree to forgo that option in exchange for outside aid and investment... Only one in four respondents said they favoured a peace treaty recognising the Jewish state, even with the creation of an independent Palestine alongside it. Sixty-two percent said they opposed any such treaty, while nearly two out of three respondents said they supported Tehran's provision of military and financial aid to Palestinian resistance groups... however, 52 percent said they would support a peace treaty recognising Israel if it were part of a larger deal leading to better relations with Washington..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47141
Monday, June 08, 2009
IAEA: IRANIAN ENRICHMENT OUT OF CONTROL
"According to the... International Atomic Energy Agency in its new report, Iran will be able to produce one nuclear bomb by the end of this year, doubling that figure in 2010... The IAEA admits its investigations are stalled in Iran... Iranian officials insist their nuclear program is peaceful and refuse to answer questions or cooperate in any way with UN inspectors. At one point in its new report, the IAEA asked for cameras with different wide-range angles for Natanz, indicating that even there, the Iranians are playing cat and mouse to conceal the real scale of their activities from view..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6111
"According to the... International Atomic Energy Agency in its new report, Iran will be able to produce one nuclear bomb by the end of this year, doubling that figure in 2010... The IAEA admits its investigations are stalled in Iran... Iranian officials insist their nuclear program is peaceful and refuse to answer questions or cooperate in any way with UN inspectors. At one point in its new report, the IAEA asked for cameras with different wide-range angles for Natanz, indicating that even there, the Iranians are playing cat and mouse to conceal the real scale of their activities from view..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6111
Friday, June 05, 2009
IRAN NOT COOPERATING WITH IAEA
"The IAEA... says Iran is continuing to enrich uranium in defiance of the UN Security Council... the IAEA says Iran now has about 7,000 centrifuges - the machines used for enriching uranium. The agency says that Tehran is running almost 5,000 of them. It also says that Iran has boosted its stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) by 500kg to more than 1,300kg in the last six months... the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security think-tank has said that Iran now had enough LEU to convert into high-enriched uranium (HEU) to make one atomic bomb... (however) Iran would need to overcome some technical hurdles to achieve this - a process that could take several years or more. A senior official close to the IAEA says the agency has made little progress in its investigations in Iran and in Syria. The agency has urged both countries to co-operate with its inspectors."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8086565.stm
"The IAEA... says Iran is continuing to enrich uranium in defiance of the UN Security Council... the IAEA says Iran now has about 7,000 centrifuges - the machines used for enriching uranium. The agency says that Tehran is running almost 5,000 of them. It also says that Iran has boosted its stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) by 500kg to more than 1,300kg in the last six months... the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security think-tank has said that Iran now had enough LEU to convert into high-enriched uranium (HEU) to make one atomic bomb... (however) Iran would need to overcome some technical hurdles to achieve this - a process that could take several years or more. A senior official close to the IAEA says the agency has made little progress in its investigations in Iran and in Syria. The agency has urged both countries to co-operate with its inspectors."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8086565.stm
Friday, May 29, 2009
TERRORISTS IN IRAN HIRED BY U.S.
"A provincial official in Iran has accused the United States of being behind Thursday's bombing of a mosque that killed at least 19 people.... Jalal Sayah, deputy governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province, said three people had been arrested following the attack. "According to the information we obtained they were hired by America"... (BBC says) it is an open secret that former US President George W Bush directed large amounts of money to try to destabilise Iran and there is no sign the policy is any different under President Barack Obama..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8073336.stm
"A provincial official in Iran has accused the United States of being behind Thursday's bombing of a mosque that killed at least 19 people.... Jalal Sayah, deputy governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province, said three people had been arrested following the attack. "According to the information we obtained they were hired by America"... (BBC says) it is an open secret that former US President George W Bush directed large amounts of money to try to destabilise Iran and there is no sign the policy is any different under President Barack Obama..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8073336.stm
Thursday, May 28, 2009
TERRORISM BOMBING IN IRAN
"A bomb in a mosque in south-east Iran has killed at least 15 people and wounded 50, the governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province said. The explosion happened in Zahedan, the provincial capital... members of a terrorist group had been arrested... There are a number of militants in the area... Two years ago at least 11 people, including members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, were killed by a bomb in Zahedan.... the Iranian government also accuses the US and Britain of supporting the militants..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8072795.stm
"A bomb in a mosque in south-east Iran has killed at least 15 people and wounded 50, the governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province said. The explosion happened in Zahedan, the provincial capital... members of a terrorist group had been arrested... There are a number of militants in the area... Two years ago at least 11 people, including members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, were killed by a bomb in Zahedan.... the Iranian government also accuses the US and Britain of supporting the militants..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8072795.stm
IRAN-PAKISTAN IP PIPELINE FOR CHINA AND RUSSIA
US policy toward Iran has directed a critical resource to Pakistan, China and Russia
"A silent, reptilian war had been going on for years between the US-favored Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline and its rival, the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, also known as the "peace pipeline". This past weekend, a winner emerged. And it's none of the above: instead, it's the 2,100-kilometer, US$7.5 billion IP (the Iran-Pakistan pipeline), with no India attached.... Iran and Pakistan finally signed a deal this week in Tehran, by which Iran will sell gas from its mega South Pars fields to Pakistan for the next 25 years... The last 250 km of a 900-km pipeline stretch in Iran between Asalouyeh and Iranshahr, near the border with Pakistan, still needs to be built. The whole IP pipeline should be operational by 2014..."
"For Beijing, IP could not be more essential. Iranian gas will flow to the Balochistan province port of Gwadar... which China itself built, and where it is also building a refinery... Gwadar is supposed to be connected to a proposed pipeline going north, mostly financed by China... (through) Pakistan (which) is the absolutely ideal transit corridor for China to import oil and gas from Iran and the Persian Gulf. With IP in place and with multi-billion-dollar, overlapping Tehran-Beijing gas deals, China can finally afford to import less energy via the Strait of Malacca, which Beijing considers exceedingly dangerous, and subject to Washington's sphere of influence. With IP, not only China wins; Russia's Gazprom also wins. And by extension, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) wins. Russian deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yankovsky told the Kommersant business daily, "We are ready to join the project as soon as we receive an offer..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KE29Df02.html
US policy toward Iran has directed a critical resource to Pakistan, China and Russia
"A silent, reptilian war had been going on for years between the US-favored Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline and its rival, the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, also known as the "peace pipeline". This past weekend, a winner emerged. And it's none of the above: instead, it's the 2,100-kilometer, US$7.5 billion IP (the Iran-Pakistan pipeline), with no India attached.... Iran and Pakistan finally signed a deal this week in Tehran, by which Iran will sell gas from its mega South Pars fields to Pakistan for the next 25 years... The last 250 km of a 900-km pipeline stretch in Iran between Asalouyeh and Iranshahr, near the border with Pakistan, still needs to be built. The whole IP pipeline should be operational by 2014..."
"For Beijing, IP could not be more essential. Iranian gas will flow to the Balochistan province port of Gwadar... which China itself built, and where it is also building a refinery... Gwadar is supposed to be connected to a proposed pipeline going north, mostly financed by China... (through) Pakistan (which) is the absolutely ideal transit corridor for China to import oil and gas from Iran and the Persian Gulf. With IP in place and with multi-billion-dollar, overlapping Tehran-Beijing gas deals, China can finally afford to import less energy via the Strait of Malacca, which Beijing considers exceedingly dangerous, and subject to Washington's sphere of influence. With IP, not only China wins; Russia's Gazprom also wins. And by extension, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) wins. Russian deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yankovsky told the Kommersant business daily, "We are ready to join the project as soon as we receive an offer..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KE29Df02.html
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
IRAN HOSTS ANTI-EXTREMIST SUMMIT MEETING
"... Tehran is not wasting any time in deepening its ties with Pakistan and Afghanistan. A trilateral mini-summit in Tehran over the weekend brought the leaders of the countries together and culminated in a comprehensive "Tehran declaration"... It could be termed an anti-extremism summit, as the primary focus of the Tehran talks was regional coordination in the fight against terrorism and extremism... The three presidents are scheduled to meet again in the near future in the Pakistani capital Islamabad..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KE27Ak02.html
"... Tehran is not wasting any time in deepening its ties with Pakistan and Afghanistan. A trilateral mini-summit in Tehran over the weekend brought the leaders of the countries together and culminated in a comprehensive "Tehran declaration"... It could be termed an anti-extremism summit, as the primary focus of the Tehran talks was regional coordination in the fight against terrorism and extremism... The three presidents are scheduled to meet again in the near future in the Pakistani capital Islamabad..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KE27Ak02.html
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
SAJJIL-2 MISSILE TEST SUCCESSFUL
"Iran says it has successfully test launched a mid-range surface-to-surface missile... described by officials... as a highly accurate "defensive" weapon... the Sajjil-2 missile used "advanced technology" and had "landed exactly" on the unspecified target... (the) two-stage missile... with a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles)... used solid fuel and was "able to go beyond the atmosphere then come back and hit its target". Solid-fuel missiles are reputedly more accurate than liquid-fuel missiles, which make up the majority of Iran's long-range arsenal..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8059104.stm
"Iran says it has successfully test launched a mid-range surface-to-surface missile... described by officials... as a highly accurate "defensive" weapon... the Sajjil-2 missile used "advanced technology" and had "landed exactly" on the unspecified target... (the) two-stage missile... with a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles)... used solid fuel and was "able to go beyond the atmosphere then come back and hit its target". Solid-fuel missiles are reputedly more accurate than liquid-fuel missiles, which make up the majority of Iran's long-range arsenal..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8059104.stm
Monday, May 11, 2009
IAEA REPORT ON IRAN RELATED TO U.S. PROPOSED FUEL SANCTIONS
Because Iran has not satisfied the IAEA
Verification of Nuclear Non-Proliferation.
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"The Agency has been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran, including all declared low enriched uranium. As the Report states, contrary to the request of the Board of Governors and the Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities, or its work on heavy water related projects. Nor has Iran implemented the Additional Protocol, which, as with other countries with comprehensive safeguards agreements, is a prerequisite for the Agency to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities. Iran has not permitted the Agency to perform the required design information verification at the IR-40 reactor currently under construction, and it has not implemented the modified text of its Subsidiary Arrangements General Part on the early provision of design information.
The Agency regrettably was unable to make any progress on the remaining issues which give rise to concerns about possible military dimensions of Iran´s nuclear programme because of lack of cooperation by Iran. For the Agency to be able to make progress, Iran needs to provide substantive information and access to relevant documentation, locations and individuals in connection with all of the outstanding issues.
Unless Iran implements the transparency measures and the Additional Protocol, as required by the Security Council, the Agency will not be in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran. I again urge Iran to implement all measures required to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme at the earliest possible date and to unblock this stalemated situation...
Finally, I am hopeful that the apparent fresh approach by the international community to dialogue with Iran will give new impetus to the efforts to resolve this long-standing issue in a way that provides the required assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran´s nuclear programme, while assuring Iran of its right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
--From Introductory Statement to the Board of Governors, 2 March 2009, Vienna, Austria, by IAEA Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2009/ebsp2009n002.html
Because Iran has not satisfied the IAEA
Verification of Nuclear Non-Proliferation.
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"The Agency has been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran, including all declared low enriched uranium. As the Report states, contrary to the request of the Board of Governors and the Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities, or its work on heavy water related projects. Nor has Iran implemented the Additional Protocol, which, as with other countries with comprehensive safeguards agreements, is a prerequisite for the Agency to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities. Iran has not permitted the Agency to perform the required design information verification at the IR-40 reactor currently under construction, and it has not implemented the modified text of its Subsidiary Arrangements General Part on the early provision of design information.
The Agency regrettably was unable to make any progress on the remaining issues which give rise to concerns about possible military dimensions of Iran´s nuclear programme because of lack of cooperation by Iran. For the Agency to be able to make progress, Iran needs to provide substantive information and access to relevant documentation, locations and individuals in connection with all of the outstanding issues.
Unless Iran implements the transparency measures and the Additional Protocol, as required by the Security Council, the Agency will not be in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran. I again urge Iran to implement all measures required to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme at the earliest possible date and to unblock this stalemated situation...
Finally, I am hopeful that the apparent fresh approach by the international community to dialogue with Iran will give new impetus to the efforts to resolve this long-standing issue in a way that provides the required assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran´s nuclear programme, while assuring Iran of its right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
--From Introductory Statement to the Board of Governors, 2 March 2009, Vienna, Austria, by IAEA Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2009/ebsp2009n002.html
Thursday, May 07, 2009
RUSSIAN MISSILE SALES TO IRAN
"Belarus fronts Russian Iskander-M surface missile sale to Iran, Syria... the Iskander-M (advanced cruise missile) sale to Tehran has gone through and negotiations are ongoing for Iran and Syria for another transaction: the sale of Russia's advanced S-300 anti-air anti-missile multi-targeting shield systems as well..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6055
"Belarus fronts Russian Iskander-M surface missile sale to Iran, Syria... the Iskander-M (advanced cruise missile) sale to Tehran has gone through and negotiations are ongoing for Iran and Syria for another transaction: the sale of Russia's advanced S-300 anti-air anti-missile multi-targeting shield systems as well..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6055
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
RECANTED CONFESSIONS ARE ROUTINE
“Delara Darab.... was an Iranian woman executed ... initially confessed to the crime but later recanted... persuaded her to confess by convincing her she would not be executed...”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delara_Darabi
“Damaging Forced Confessions... there is an all too familiar ring about the supposed confessions of arrested journalist Roxana Saberi... They had promised to release her after the confessions and she denies all of her confessions... Forced confessions made before television cameras by high profile detainees are routine in Iran...”
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46713
“Delara Darab.... was an Iranian woman executed ... initially confessed to the crime but later recanted... persuaded her to confess by convincing her she would not be executed...”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delara_Darabi
“Damaging Forced Confessions... there is an all too familiar ring about the supposed confessions of arrested journalist Roxana Saberi... They had promised to release her after the confessions and she denies all of her confessions... Forced confessions made before television cameras by high profile detainees are routine in Iran...”
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46713
Friday, May 01, 2009
IRAN TO SUPPLY NATURAL GAS TO WEST
"Iran is about to become a major fuel supplier to the West... For the sake of dialogue and cooperation, Washington is ceding Tehran the chance to feed its natural gas into the 3,000 kilometer-long Nabucco pipeline project (from the Caspian to the EU via Turkey). The strategic-economic consequences of the Obama administration's (action is a) major perk for Iran..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6047
"Iran is about to become a major fuel supplier to the West... For the sake of dialogue and cooperation, Washington is ceding Tehran the chance to feed its natural gas into the 3,000 kilometer-long Nabucco pipeline project (from the Caspian to the EU via Turkey). The strategic-economic consequences of the Obama administration's (action is a) major perk for Iran..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6047
IRANIAN CORRIDOR FOR U.S. TO AFGHANISTAN
"Talks on Iranian corridor for US troops, supplies to Afghanistan on fast track... Barack Obama's plans to ... (ask) Tehran to permit the passage to Afghanistan of fresh US troops, weapons and supplies across Iranian territory... the US Air Base at Al Udeid in Qatar would be the main hub for the air corridor taking US transport planes over the Persian Gulf, crossing the Iranian border and flying over southern and central Iran up to their destination, the US airbase near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. The sea route would hinge on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' main naval base at Chah-Bahar, which is situated on the Arabian Sea near Iran's border with Pakistan... an ideal port of call for US provisions to reach Afghanistan by a predominantly sea route. From this Arabian Sea port, consignments would head north through Iran's Sistan-va-Baluchistan up to the Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan border intersection and then turn east by convoy to their destination at Kandahar..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6048
"Talks on Iranian corridor for US troops, supplies to Afghanistan on fast track... Barack Obama's plans to ... (ask) Tehran to permit the passage to Afghanistan of fresh US troops, weapons and supplies across Iranian territory... the US Air Base at Al Udeid in Qatar would be the main hub for the air corridor taking US transport planes over the Persian Gulf, crossing the Iranian border and flying over southern and central Iran up to their destination, the US airbase near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. The sea route would hinge on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' main naval base at Chah-Bahar, which is situated on the Arabian Sea near Iran's border with Pakistan... an ideal port of call for US provisions to reach Afghanistan by a predominantly sea route. From this Arabian Sea port, consignments would head north through Iran's Sistan-va-Baluchistan up to the Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan border intersection and then turn east by convoy to their destination at Kandahar..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6048
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