The Latest News

"Kayhan": Iran's Reformists Are Collaborating With U.S. Today's editorial in the Iranian daily Kayhan, which is affiliated with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, warned that reformists in Iran are collaborating with the Americans to topple Iran's current Islamic regime in the upcoming March '08 parliamentary (Majlis) elections. The editorial based its position on the U.S.'s NIE report, which it said stated that the U.S. preferred a toppling of the Iranian regime via activity by internal forces. In contrast, today's editorial in the Iranian reformist daily Aftab-e Yazd stated that the attempt by the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to present itself as friendly and rational in the international arena was endangering Iran, because "this policy of finding favor" presents concessions to the lusts of countries such as India, Russia, China, Bahrain, and Indonesia, which sometimes take anti-Iran stands. Sources: Kayhan, Aftab-e Yazd, Iran, January 1, 2008-Read full entry
Human Rights Group: Iranian Government Intensifying Repression, Killing In Province
Following the December 31 arrest of 150 residents of Ahwaz province in southern Iran, the Central Authority for Human Rights in the province announced that the Iranian authorities had stepped up repression and killing in Ahwaz. The group reported that five residents were executed, the bodies of three long-term prisoners were discovered, and two prisoners' bodies were handed over to their families last week. Other families in the province claimed that family members had been executed by the authorities and that their bodies had been hidden. The human rights group has asked Arab and international organizations to step in to prevent the continuing massacre of residents and to stop the arrests. Source: Al-Siyassa, Kuwait, January 2, 2008 - Read full entry
"Sobh-e Sadeq": U.S. Agreeing To Negotiate With Iran Without Preconditions Due To Defeats
An article in the Iranian weekly Sobh-e Sadeq, the mouthpiece of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei circulated among Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, stated that the defeat of the U.S. in Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq versus the impetus of Iran's relations with the Arab countries – manifested by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's participation in the GCC conference in Doha and by Ali Larijani's visit to Cairo – had forced the U.S. State Department to announce recently that the U.S. was agreeing to negotiations with Iran without preconditions. Source: Sobh-e Sadeq, Iran, December 31, 2007 - Read full entry
Iranian Report: Most Important Outcome Of 9/11 – Rise In Central Asia's Status In U.S. Foreign Policy
A report by Iran's Majlis (Parliamentary) Strategic Research Center stated that the most important outcome of 9/11 has been the rise in Central Asia's geopolitical status in U.S. foreign policy. It also stated that the U.S. is aspiring to prevent the rise of an again-powerful Russia as well as Iranian and Chinese influence in the region. The report concludes that the first item on the U.S. agenda is obtaining the energy resources of the Caspian Sea, and recommends that Iran resist any foreign presence in the region by drawing closer to China and Russia by using the Shanghai alliance. Source: Aftab-e Yazd, Iran, January 1, 2008Read full entry
"Sobh-e Sadeq": Bhutto Assassination Brings Opportunity – For U.S. In Pakistan, For Iran In Afghanistan
The Iranian weekly Sobh-e Sadeq, the mouthpiece of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei circulated among Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, wrote that the assassination of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto "is likely to serve the U.S. as a pretext for direct military intervention" because of the fear that Pakistan's nuclear bomb would fall into the hands of extremist Islamists.An article on the Iranian website Alef, which is affiliated with conservative MP Ahmad Tavakkoli, director of the Majlis Strategic Research Center, stated that Bhutto's assassination had shifted the U.S.'s focus to Pakistan from Iran. It also noted that the assassination would bring about a drop in the power of the Sunnis in the Islamic world, and would give Iran an opportunity to strengthen its position in Afghanistan following a weakening of Pakistan there. Sources: Sobh-e Sadeq, Iran, December 31, 2007; Alef, Iran, January 1, 2008Read full entry
Contest Between International Zionism, Offspring Of Khomeini Will Affect World's Future
At the weekly meeting of the conservative Iranian group Ansar Hizbullah, Mojtaba Rahmandoust, secretary-general of the Iran-based Society in Defense of the Palestinian Nation, stated, "The contest between international Zionism and the offspring of the Imam Khomeini will be the focus of the political processes that will affect the future of the world."
He said that the U.S., Europe, and Israel would step up their pressure as the armed struggle bore fruit, and that the current Israeli and U.S. pressure on Egypt was evidence of the success of the armed Palestinian struggle. He added that the Palestinians were now producing longer-range missiles than in the past. Source: ISNA, Iran, December 31, 2007Read full entry
On Ahmadinejad's Orders, Iran's Center For Intercultural Dialogue Disbands
Iran's Center for Intercultural Dialogue between Islam and Christianity has been disbanded, on orders of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In its stead, the National Center for Globalization Studies has been established, under Ahmadinejad's direct oversight.Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London; Aftab-e Yazd, Iran, December 31, 2007 Read full entry
What Did Ahmadinejad's 41 Trips To Neighboring Countries Accomplish?
An article on the Tabnak website, which is affiliated with Iranian Expediency Council secretary Mohsen Rezai, demanded that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad give details on the contribution to Iran of his 41 trips to neighboring countries. Hinting that Ahmadinejad's trips were pointless, the article stated, "The countries in the region are more impertinent towards Iran than in the past, and are taking anti-Iran stands." Source: Tabnak, Iran, December 27, 2007Read full entry
Larijani: Weakening Of U.S. Role In Region Encouraging Egypt-Iran Relations; Iran Will Help Egypt With Nuclear Technology
At a meeting with intellectuals and writers during his visit in Egypt, Ali Larijani, representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Iran's Supreme National council, stated that international circumstances and regional changes, including "the weakening of the exclusive role of America in the region," are encouraging Egypt and Iran to increase their mutual cooperation.
Larijani added that Iran is ready to help Egypt develop nuclear technology, in accordance with International Atomic Energy Agency regulations. Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, December 31, 2007Read full entry
Unrest At Universities Across Iran
The online Iranian reformist daily Rooz reports on unrest in universities across Iran because of increasing rumors that over 30 students, detained since early December, have been tortured in order to extract confessions, and because of the delay of the release on bail of the three students from Amir Kabir university even after their bond was posted. At Isfahan University, students who have barricaded themselves since December 24 are continuing with their hunger strike against the repression of the student movement and the restriction of freedom of expression.
The student movement issued a communiqué protesting against the arrest of over 100 students in the past nine months. Source: Rooz, Iran, December 30, 2007Read full entry
Iranian Prisoners' Rights Organization Chairman Back In Jail After Second Heart Attack
Iran's Prisoners' Rights Organization chairman Emad Baghi, who has been under arrest for 80 days, was returned to Evin prison after being rushed to the hospital following his second heart attack since Decemberf 26. Dissident journalist 'Issa Saharkhiz said sarcastically that this policy towards Baqi and others was Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s way of putting Shi'ite justice into action. Source: Rooz, Iran, December 30 and 31, 2007 Read full entry
Shirin Ebadi: "Kayhan" Newspaper Making Up Stories About Me
At a conference of reformist journalists, Iranian Nobel Prize laureate and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi referred to that claims by the Iranian daily Kayhan that she was acting to increase economic sanctions against Iran and that she had called the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) "terrorists."Ebadi said that the paper was making up stories, and that she had called for political sanctions against the Iranian government, not for economic sanctions that harmed the entire people. Source: Kayhan, December 23, 2007; Rooz, Iran, December 31, 2007Read full entry
Iranian Ayatollah Montazeri Urges Iranian Reformists To Act For Free Elections
In a meeting with reformist activists in Iran, Ayatollah Hossein 'Ali Montazeri, one of the senior Iranian clerics critical of the Iranian regime, said that the regime was acting illegally by approving candidates for the March 2008 Majlis (parliamentary) elections based on the candidates' political proximity to the regime. Montazeri encouraged activity to pressure the regime to hold free elections, and reiterated that the slogan of Iran's Islamic Revolution was "independence, freedom, and Islamic revolution." Source: Montazeri's blog, Iran, December 28, 2007 Read full entry
Iran Gets Second Russian Fuel Shipment
Russia has delivered a second consignment of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr power plant, said Iranian Atomic Energy Organization deputy head today, December 28. He said that the delivery was the same amount as was supplied in the first consignment, which arrived December 17. Russia is to deliver a total of 82 tons of nuclear fuel to Iran, over two months and in eight separate consignments. Source: Fars, Iran, December 28, 2007Read full entry
Tehran Friday Sermon: Ayatollah Jannati Blasts U.S. For Lebanon Political Crisis, Says Christ Would Have Fought Oppression, Labels Israel "Cancerous Tumor" Planted By U.S.
In his sermon today, Tehran interim Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati congratulated all "real believers" in Christianity on the new year, and said that Jesus should be considered among the oppressed prophets "because certain individuals who allege to be an advocate of Christ, such as U.S. President George W. Bush, kill innocent people and trigger crisis among the world nations." He lambasted those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ while committing murders in different parts of the world, and said that of the three options of silence, supporting the oppressors, and fighting with the oppressors, Jesus Christ would have certainly chosen the third if he was present among us. He went on to slam the U.S. administration for sowing discord in Lebanon, saying that the ongoing political crisis there had been created and exacerbated by Washington. He said, "America has planted the occupiers of Quds [Israel] as a cancerous tumor in the heart of the Arab countries in order to create crises in Palestine and Lebanon." He also said that Iran's upcoming March 2008 parliamentary elections would "show the world that religion and democracy are not incompatible." Source: IRNA, IRIBnews.ir, Fars, Iran, December 28, 2007Read full entry

Brown says he won't rule out military action in Iran - but sanctions are still best

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today he would not rule out military action against Iran, but believed a policy of sanctions could still persuade Tehran to drop its disputed nuclear programme.

"I firmly believe that the sanctions policy that we are pursuing will work, but I'm not one who's going forward to say that we rule out any particular form of action,"

Brown told a news conference, when asked if he would rule out a military strike against Iran.

The United Nations Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions since December on Iran for failing to halt uranium enrichment, a process which can produce fuel for power plants or material for warheads. A third sanctions resolution is being considered. Western powers suspect Iran's activities are secretly aimed at producing atom bombs. Tehran says its nuclear programme is for purely peaceful ends, such as electricity generation. Iran held talks with the U.N. watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this month to clear up outstanding questions about its nuclear activity and improve IAEA inspectors' access to its enrichment plant. This, say some European diplomats, has prompted the six big powers working on the issue - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - to quietly put off until September efforts to toughen existing sanctions, in hopes Iran's improved cooperation with the IAEA may defuse the standoff.

Brown said he believed the current sanctions were having an effect, but he thought there would still be a third resolution. "There will probably be a third resolution in relation to Iran soon ... I appeal to the Iranian authorities to understand the feelings that other countries have about the development of a nuclear weapons programme," he said. French Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Denis Simonneau told an online briefing it was necessary to maintain "a message of firmness" until Iran suspended sensitive activities. "This new (U.N. sanctions) resolution, which we would like to be firm, should clearly indicate to Iran that its obstinacy is leading to its increased isolation, which is bad for its economy, its population and its openness to the world."

How stupied can some people get....

Padraig Reidy Of Guardian , who the fuck are you calling the " wickedness of the reign of the Peacock Throne " - YOU IGNORANT SON OF A BITCH !
YOU INDEED ARE THE " vacuous posturing MASS MEDIA & the western intelligentsia who helped to bring the bloody Mullah Fascist Terrorists to power in Iran...

DO US A FAVOURED AND SHUT UP YOUR BIG MOUTH NOW BEFORE WE ALL GET BLOWN TO BITS....... YOU CUNT..... HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THIS LAST WEEK'S ATTEMPTS OF BOMBINGS IN LONDON AND GLASGOW.... WHO DO YOU THINK THEY GET THEIR ORDERS FROM? YOU IDIOT.....

CC. GUARDIAN NEWS PAPER.

Hostage Crisis Repeated : by jalil bahar

The Mullahs in Iran are planning to do to Blair what they did to Jimmy Carter! The arrest of 15 British sailors was a very carefully orchestrated effort on the part of the Mullahs to extract the same concessions they received from the United States in 1980 - that kept their regime alive! Remember? In 1980, the Mullahs carefully stretched out the crisis right up to November, to the heart of the Presidential election season. One mediator after another approached them on behalf of Jimmy Carter, while they also secretly negotiated with Reagan’s camp. In the end, they managed to receive assurances from both Democrats and Republicans not to ‘interfere in Iran’s domestic affairs’. They played one side against the other, brought Jimmy Carter to his knees and went so far as to meet George Bush Sr. (then Vice-President Elect) secretly in Paris to receive his personal security assurances that the U.S. ‘will not interfere with Iran’s domestic affairs’.Jimmy Carter in turn, tried to bring the Mullahs to their knees too, by getting Saddam Hussein to invade Iran. Carter’s nudge created an 8 year war that not only resulted in millions of casualties, but planted the seeds for Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait and the current quagmire in Iraq.
The Mullah’s have however prevailed - for almost 30 years!!
They have emerged as the shrewdest political operators in the world today. They have played their hands beautifully having turned the “West’s” invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan into a ‘grandiose’ win for themselves. They have cleverly placed their own political allies in power in Iraq (the Shiites) and in Afghanistan (Northern Alliance)! They have also caused enough chaos in Iraq to have humiliated ‘the invaders’… who now wish they had never gone there to begin with. They precipitated America and Britain’s imminent troop reductions and stand ready to take all the spoils. This is after the United States expended more than $300 Billion dollars and over 3,000 war casualties. The Mullahs did all this without shedding a drop of blood or much money. Wow!!Maybe Bush and Blair have figured all this out! Understandably America and Britain are pissed. And the mullahs understand the situation and know that their security is not assured and that they are very vulnerable. In addition to Bush and Blair, virtually the whole world is hoping for regime change of some sort in Iran. So adding insult to injury, the Mullahs have cleverly continued down the path of acquiring nuclear technology. It is not a far leap to say that Iran’s energy related nuclear activity was always designed to establish nuclear capacity that could be used for other purposes. Why did they retrofit unfinished European light water reactors that the Shah had originally contracted for into heavy water reactors? Why establish a parallel military program to assist the ‘peaceful’ nuclear energy effort? The Mullahs naturally fear an indirect U.S. inspired move for regime change in Iran. They see the Brits as proxy fighters for Bush… who can not (and will not) take on Iran directly given his father’s promises. And the Brits after all have been fomenting dissent in Southern Iran, and have partnered with both the U.S. and the Europeans in putting economic pressure on Iran.
So why not extract similar promises from the Brits that they were able to extract from the Americans, last time they took hostages. Why not nuetralize Blair? Make Britain sign the same documents that promise ‘no interference in Iran’s internal affairs’. This way, without the threat of either American or British military actions, the Mullahs can continue with their Nuclear ambitions, and keep their stranglehold on the people …without any stoppage.
This will only leave Israel as a serious threat, but right now Iran can counter anything Israel throws at it. The Mullahs, after all, have long range missiles that can hit Israel too!
All the clues to the Mullah’s calculations are now out there for us.
First of all, they are under no rush to ‘wrap’ it up. Read the press reports. Iran is in the midst of its national “Persian New Year” holidays… so nothing can happen quickly (unless you are planning to abduct a bunch of British Sailors). Or, they seem to be “waiting for a response” from the British Government. This is all double talk for a plan to ‘stretch’ it out.Then, there is today’s news that Iran’s foreign minister told Ban Ki-moon (UN General Secretary) that “all Britain has to do is admit that their ship was in Iranian waters.” Remember there was a previous abduction of British soldiers at Iran’s frontier with Iraq some months ago. Britain apparently provided a short apology and that did the job. The point is, the Foreign Minister’s statement is a code statement for “the Mullah’s not only want an apology, BUT, written promises of no more ‘excursions’ into Iran. Or in other words, a written commitment that Britain will NOT interfere inside Iran !There is also the statement by another Senior Iranian military commander that they might trade the hostages for the diplomats that the U.S. arrested for ‘fomenting’ terrorism in Iraq. This is another tactic for delaying the settlement. First of all this is NOT, the deal that the Foreign Minister was referring to. This is really a ploy to confuse the situation by making things more complicated and involving the US, and thus simply delaying any possible settlement (or release). Again another clue they want to stretch this out!
Then, the timing is very strange. Both Bush and Blair are lame ducks, waiting to be knocked over. Neither of them have any remaining political capital to take on the Mullahs. What a great time for the Mullahs to pick a fight?
If the Mullahs can stretch this one out into next year, this will also have a huge impact on elections both in the UK and the US. They have already started establishing backroom channels with the Democrats (in the US) with meetings in Davos, Switzerland with Kerry and Biden… All the above has to be considered in light of Britain’s traditional role as a double player. On the one hand, they have maintained close trade ties with Iran (and even assisted the Mullahs in toppling the Shah) and on the other they generally act as a proxy for US strategic objectives.
We must never lose sight of the fact that although the UK is a member of the EU, it is also the world’s No.2 oil trading nation, with the 2nd and 3rd largest oil companies, Shell and BP, (which by the way, have investments in Lukoil, now the world’s 6th largest oil company).
The US above all would like to maintain the petro-dollar as the world’s fiat currency and by doing so it can support its massive public sector debt and control the world’s economy while forcing the EU and its other competitors (notably China) into line. The UK has carefully avoided joining the Euro currency club and has continued to support the petro-dollar as long as US institutions float funds through the British banking system. There clearly are benefits for the Brits to act as US proxies. In effect the Brits can leverage US assets and resources by acting as a US proxy. (Let’s not forget that the Brits put up 10,000 troops while the US put up 100,000 troops in Iraq … yet the Brits are ‘overseeing’ Southern Iraq where 50% of Iraq’s Oil reserves sit….what a heavy price US is paying for needing a friend? (Dumb Americans)!!Now that North Sea oil is dwindling, nothing would make the Brits happier than helping to destabilize the regime in Iran and possibly breaking up the country to grab a big chunk of Iran’s oil reserves (as in Iraq). The Mullahs have read Britain’s hands and are doing everything they can do to survive. They are ready for another 444 days of hostage captivation. There will be countless ‘false intermediaries’ put up by the Iranians with ‘imminent’ promises of a release. There will be a great deal of ‘bravado’ and ‘rhetoric’ from both sides. Given their survival so far and their sheer political brilliance … maybe the Mullahs will come out with one over the Brits! They want a repeat of 1980! Then again, maybe not! Blair is no Jimmy Carter. He is not a fool. He has already hit the Mullah’s hard by asking Turkey to mediate. The Mullahs in turn rejected Turkey’s participation. If relations between Turkey and Iran are impacted by this crisis, Iran’s whole ‘ground supply route’ from Europe that runs through Turkey will be threatened … which could be disastrous for Iran. The saga will go on for sure. Put on your seatbelts and hang on tight for another ride.
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