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Iran says it agrees basic nuclear deal with Russia
Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:23 AM ET171

By Paul Hughes and Parisa Hafezi

BUSHEHR, Iran (Reuters) - Iran has reached a "basic" agreement with Russia on jointly enriching uranium, officials said on Sunday -- but there was no immediate sign that it would suspend home-grown enrichment to allay fears that it is developing nuclear weapons.

It was unclear what this basic agreement involved and both Russian and Iranian officials identified serious obstacles to a full deal.

These principally concerned a suspension of Tehran's home-grown uranium enrichment work, the main demand of Western powers who are threatening to press for UN sanctions.

The original Russian proposal had been for Iran's uranium to be enriched in Russia to defuse suspicions that Iran might divert some nuclear fuel into a weapons program.

However, Iran has always insisted upon its right to enrich the uranium it mines in its central desert on its own soil, and it was unclear how the original Russian proposal could be tailored to please Tehran.

"Regarding this joint venture, we have reached a basic agreement. Talks to complete this package will continue in coming days in Russia," Iranian nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh told reporters in the Iranian port town of Bushehr.

But Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's atomic energy agency, speaking at a news conference with Aghazadeh, said Iran still had to take "serious steps" before the deal could be completed.

He did not specify what these would be, but an unnamed Russian official in Bushehr told Interfax news agency that the deal could only go ahead if Iran suspended its own uranium enrichment -- something it has repeatedly refused to do.

IRAN WANTS ENRICHMENT AT HOME

Aghazadeh also stipulated that Iran would be setting an unspecified "precondition" to the deal.

One EU diplomat said this precondition was almost certain to be Tehran insisting upon its right to enrich its own uranium.

"Their idea of accepting the Russian proposal is to be able to enrich in Russia and Iran, not just Russia," he told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Europe and Washington have said they could not accept such a compromise.

Iran has already been reported to the UN Security Council -- which has the power to impose sanctions -- after failing to convince the world that its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful. Tehran flatly denies trying to develop nuclear arms.

Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign relations committee in Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, said the chances of an agreement were about 50-50.

"(Tehran) is now using the tactic of dragging out talks as long as possible. I do not think we can expect Iran to clarify its position any time soon. I would rather suggest that this will not happen before March 6," he told Interfax.

March 6 is the date when the board of the United Nations' watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), meets to discuss the IAEA's latest report on Iran's nuclear program.

The report may determine whether the United States and European powers push the Security Council to impose sanctions.

Diplomats said the talk of an agreement could be an attempt to soften the IAEA report. Kiriyenko said the issue could still be solved without Security Council referral.

"There are solutions to resolve Iran's issue within the framework of the IAEA," he said in Bushehr, where Iran is building its first nuclear power station with Russian help.

Aghazadeh said Iran would formally invite tenders in a month for contracts to build two further 1,000 megawatt power stations in Bushehr, and that Russian applications would be welcome.

Iran says it agrees basic nuclear deal with Russia (http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-02-26T162324Z_01_OLI642558_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-IRAN-RUSSIA.xml)

February 26, 2006

UN nuclear watchdog accuses Iran of making fuel for bombs

Peter Conradi
IRAN is believed to have begun small-scale enrichment of uranium, raising the stakes in its dispute with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the extent of its nuclear ambitions.

A report to be published by the United Nations nuclear watchdog tomorrow is expected to claim that scientists at Iran’s plant in Natanz have set up a “cascade” of 10 centrifuges to produce enriched uranium — the fuel for nuclear power plants or bombs.

Iran is a long way from the 50,000 centrifuges it would need for full-scale enrichment, but experts said that getting a small number of them to work together meant it had overcome some technical hurdles.

The report, by Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the IAEA, will also accuse Tehran of continuing to deny inspectors access to crucial people and sites linked to its 20-year-old nuclear programme.

ElBaradei’s findings will set the tone for discussions at the UN security council next month which American officials believe could lead to sanctions against Iran this summer.

Tehran’s relations with the international community hit a low point this month when the IAEA voted overwhelmingly to report it to the security council, expressing doubts that its nuclear programme was “exclusively for peaceful purposes”.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country’s volatile president, responded by vowing to resume “commercial scale” enrichment, suspended in 2004.

International concerns over Iran’s intentions have been increased by the emergence in recent weeks of documents that for the first time appear to provide scraps of evidence of a covert weapons programme.

Attention is focusing on the so-called Green Salt Project, a previously undeclared scheme to process uranium. The project was linked to tests on high explosives and missile design, suggesting a “military nuclear dimension”, the IAEA said. Inspectors travelled to Tehran this weekend to obtain more information.

It is thought that some of the clandestine work was done at a plant in Lavisan, near Tehran, under the auspices of a body known as the Physics Research Centre. Iran denied IAEA inspectors access to Lavisan until 2004 by which time the buildings had been demolished.

Tehran is believed to have persisted in its refusal to allow inspectors to interview up to five research centre officials. “This is a shame because we believe these are high-ranking military officials actively involved in a nuclear weapons programme,” said a US official.

Diplomatic efforts have continued to persuade Tehran to agree not to enrich uranium itself but to be supplied with the material by Russia. Iran wants to be allowed to conduct some enrichment on its territory.

UN nuclear watchdog accuses Iran of making fuel for bombs (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2058769,00.html)

Iran determined to acquire nuclear know-how: diplomat
Vienna, Feb 26, IRNA

Iran-Switzerland-Cooperation
Iran is determined to acquire peaceful nuclear know-how based on diplomatic norms and the nation's will, an Iranian diplomat said on Saturday.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Europe and American Affairs, Saeed Jalili, currently in Switzerland at the invitation of Swiss officials, met with chairman of of Switzerland's Parliamentary Foreign Policy Commission.

He pointed to Iran's confidence-building measures, saying, "Unfortunately, all these measures have been ignored."
Jalili said Iran stresses settlement of the Palestinian issue through diplomatic means, adding Tehran believes sustainable peace would be established in the region through return of refugees to their homeland and holding a referendum to determine the country's future government.

The Swiss official, for his part, said his country is quite independent from international political decision making and would not be influenced by any country.

He pointed to the West's incorrect evaluation of the Middle East problems and said the world is turning into a multipolar system which would prepare suitable ground for cooperation.

He expressed his country's willingness to expand parliamentary cooperation with Iran.

Meanwhile, in a meeting between Jalili and senior fellow of the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), Arnold Luethold, the two sides explored grounds for cooperation in various fields of research.

Luethold said the DCAF is responsible for study and providing strategic projects on new security approaches.

He outlined the DCAF cooperation with over 50 states including the Middle East countries such as Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He pointed to Iran's key role in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf regions and expressed his center's readiness to conduct studies on sustainable security and stability in cooperation with regional states.

Iran determined to acquire nuclear know-how: diplomat (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0602260267190353.htm)

Mar. 4, 2006 2:16
EU may allow Iran to enrich uranium
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Iran and the European Union inched toward a compromise Friday that diplomats said would allow Tehran to run a scaled-down version of a uranium enrichment program with potential for misuse to develop atomic weapons.

The development was significant because the Europeans and the United States have for years opposed allowing Iran any kind of enrichment capability - a stance that Russia, China and other influential nations have embraced in recent months.

Top European officials - including the foreign ministers of France and Germany - publicly described talks Friday in Vienna as failing because of Tehran's refusal to reimpose a freeze on enrichment.

"Unfortunately we were not able to reach an agreement," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters. He said the EU continues to demand "full and complete suspension" of uranium enrichment and related activities that have fed fears that Iran may be pursuing nuclear arms.

Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the meeting ended, after just over two hours, "without achieving a result."

But diplomats familiar with the talks told The Associated Press that after months of deadlock, the two sides explored possible agreement by discussing plans that essentially would allow Iran small-scale enrichment after reimposing its freeze for an undefined period.

The compromise would serve Iran, the European Union and Russia by allowing all of them to say they had achieved their main goals.

Iran would be able to run a program it insists it has a right to under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, even if it is only on a research basis instead of the full-scale enrichment.

The Europeans, who since 2004 have negotiated for Iran to scrap enrichment, could tolerate small-scale enrichment if Iran first agrees to their key demand - a freeze to re-establish confidence.

Moscow could benefit diplomatically and economically if Iran accepts its plan to move its enrichment program to Russia - except for activities defined as research and development that all sides agree on under any compromise plan.

One of the diplomats - who demanded anonymity in exchange for divulging the substance of the confidential discussion - said the impetus came from Moscow, which has taken the lead in talking to Iran since talks with the Europeans collapsed late last year.

He said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was to float the compromise plan in Washington on Monday and Tuesday to gauge American reaction.

Consensus on such a compromise by the Russians, Europeans and Iranians could leave the Americans with two unpalatable choices.

If Washington accepts the plan, it essentially leaves Iran in a position to develop technology that it could use to make fissile uranium for warheads.

If it refuses, it again could face diplomatic near-isolation on what to do about Iran after months of building the kind of international consensus that last month led the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board to put the UN Security Council on alert about Iran's suspect nuclear program.

By depriving the Iranians of domestic control of enrichment, the Russian plan - backed by most in the international community including the US and the Europeans - is meant to eliminate the danger that Tehran might misuse it to make the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

Small-scale enrichment under a compromise would deprive Iran of the chance to run the thousands of centrifuges needed to enrich in sufficient amounts to give them material for multiple weapons. But it would allow them to perfect the methodology, should they later decide to start industrial-scale enrichment.

Iran restarted some enrichment activities last month, two years after voluntarily freezing the program during talks with the Europeans. Those talks unraveled late last year.

A report last week by IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei showed Iran testing centrifuges - machines that spin uranium gas into enriched uranium.

And just a few months down the road, "commencement of the installation of the first 3,000 ... (centrifuges) is planned for the fourth quarter of 2006," the report said.

Experts estimate that Iran already has enough black-market components in storage to build the 1,500 operating centrifuges it would need to make the 20 kilograms (45 pounds) of highly enriched uranium needed for one crude weapon.

Tehran insists it wants enrichment only to generate electricity and that it does not seek nuclear arms, but a growing number of nations share US fears that that is not the case.

While Russia backed alerting the Security Council to Iran, it remains reluctant to press for tough action against Tehran, an economic and strategic partner. Lavrov said Friday that permanent council members were not united on a course of action.

"There is no collectively discussed and agreed strategy of what we all will be doing in the Security Council if the issue is there," Lavrov told foreign reporters, hinting at his country's opposition to increasing pressure on Tehran.

The IAEA's board is to discuss the Iran issue at a meeting beginning Monday, including the ElBaradei report. The board notified the UN Security Council Feb. 4, after Iran refused to heed requests to maintain a suspension on enrichment.

There had been little hope the Vienna meeting would achieve a breakthrough. Both sides had made clear before that they would not move from their positions; the Europeans demanded Tehran freeze all enrichment activities and Iran insisted it would not.

A Russian nuclear agency official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, confirmed the Moscow talks remained snagged over the same issue - Iran's refusal to freeze enrichment at home.

Still, Lavrov hinted at the chances of compromise detailed to the AP, saying Friday that a deal with Iran was still possible before the IAEA meeting.

"There always is an opportunity to reach an agreement," the Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as saying in Moscow.

In Vienna, ElBaradei said he was "hopeful" of a negotiated solution after meeting with Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, while the Iranian representative to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, described the talks with the Europeans as "fruitful."

EU may allow Iran to enrich uranium (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1139395531778&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

My note; And so my brothers, and sisters, it looks like it's happening soon...........

Iran Issues Warning Ahead of IAEA Meeting

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago

VIENNA, Austria - Iran threatened on Sunday to embark on full-scale uranium enrichment if the U.N. nuclear agency presses for action over its atomic program, and a top U.S. diplomat warned the Islamic republic of possible "painful consequences."

The comments came as the International Atomic Energy Agency's board prepared to meet Monday to discuss referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council, but delegates said whatever step the council might take would stop far short of sanctions.

John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday there was an urgent need to confront Iran's "clear and unrelenting drive" for nuclear weapons.

Iran "must be made aware that if it continues down the path of international isolation, there will be tangible and painful consequences," Bolton told the conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

But Iran's government cautioned that putting the issue before the Security Council would hurt efforts to resolve the dispute diplomatically.

"If Iran's nuclear dossier is referred to the U.N. Security Council, (large-scale) uranium enrichment will be resumed," Iran's top negotiator, Ali Larijani, told reporters in Tehran. "If they want to use force, we will pursue our own path."

He said Iran had exhausted "all peaceful ways" and that if demands were made contrary to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the nation "will resist."

Larijani said Iran will not abandon nuclear research, or back down from pursuing an atomic program that Tehran insists has the sole purpose of generating electricity with nuclear reactors.

IAEA delegates suggested the U.N. agency's board will not push for confrontation with Iran and said any initial decisions by the Security Council based on the outcome of the meeting will be mild.

They said the most likely action from the council would be a statement urging Iran to resume its freeze on uranium enrichment — an activity that can make both reactor fuel and the core of nuclear warheads — and to increase cooperation with the IAEA's probe of the Iranian program.

Even such a mild step could be weeks down the road.

Still, it would formally begin council involvement with Iran's nuclear file, starting a process that could escalate and culminate with political and economic sanctions — although such action for now is opposed by Russia and China, which can veto Security Council actions.

Bolton said a failure by the Security Council to address Iran would "do lasting damage to the credibility of the council."

"The longer we wait to confront the threat Iran poses," Bolton said, "the harder and more intractable it will become to solve."

Russia and China share the concerns of the United States, France and Britain — the three other permanent council members with veto power — that Iran could misuse enrichment for an arms program.

But both have economic and strategic ties with Tehran. While they voted with the majority of IAEA board members at a Feb. 4 meeting to alert the council to suspicions about Iran's nuclear aims, they insisted the council do nothing until after this week's IAEA meeting in Vienna.

Russia is unlikely to agree to strong action while it negotiates with Iran on a plan that would move Tehran's enrichment program to Russian territory as a way of increasing international monitoring and reducing the chances for misuse in arms work.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due in Washington and New York this week to discuss the status of those talks with Bush administration officials and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Both Tehran and Moscow have said new talks are planned; diplomats in Vienna, who demanded anonymity in return for discussing the situation, said no dates had been set.

In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Iran could reach an agreement with Russia or the
European Union within hours, but did not elaborate. Iran rejected an EU proposal last fall to end enrichment in return for the West providing reactor fuel and economic aid.

Past IAEA board meetings have ended with resolutions taking Iran to task for hindering investigations into a nuclear program that was kept secret for nearly 18 years and more recently urging it to reimpose a freeze on enrichment.

The Feb. 4 resolution asked IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to report those concerns and others to the Security Council and to formally hand over the complete Iran file to the council. It also asked him to provide the council with his latest report, drawn up for Monday's IAEA meeting.

That report, made available to The Associated Press last week, said Iran appeared determined to expand uranium enrichment, planning to start setting up thousands of uranium-enriching centrifuges this year.

Iran Issues Warning Ahead of IAEA Meeting (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/nuclear_agency_iran;_ylt=Avdnk6GtTh9kfdNNvh2GwV6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--)

Iran, EU on verge of deal
By Yossi Melman and Amos Harel

Tehran and the European Union appear poised to reach an agreement on Iran's nuclear program that would obviate the need for sanctions, diplomats affiliated with the International Atomic Energy Agency told Haaretz last night.

But a senior Israeli defense official was skeptical about the tentative agreement, saying it appeared to be just another Iranian effort to buy time to advance its nuclear program.

Under the emerging deal, Iran would declare a moratorium on most uranium enrichment, and would instead receive slightly enriched uranium suitable for civilian usage from Russia. However, it would be allowed to continue operating a cascade of some 20 centrifuges that it restarted at its Natanz facility about two months ago.

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Such a small cascade would make it virtually impossible for Iran to enrich sufficient uranium for a nuclear weapon. Nevertheless, many experts, especially in Israel, argue that allowing Iran to operate even a small cascade would enable it to work out all the technical bugs of uranium enrichment, after which it could begin large-scale production in secret. Thus, the proposal still enables Tehran to move forward with its nuclear program, the senior Israeli official said, and therefore, Israel would prefer to see the UN Security Council impose sanctions.

Until recently, this was also the European and U.S. position: Last Friday, when an Iranian negotiator raised a virtually identical proposal at a meeting with senior French, British and German officials, the Europeans, backed by the U.S., rejected it. The EU said that Iran must completely cease uranium enrichment, while Larijani said that Iran would accept a temporary moratorium on large-scale enrichment, but insisted on being allowed to proceed with research into the enrichment process.

Now, however, the Europeans and United States appear to have reversed themselves. At the opening session of the IAEA's board of governors' meeting yesterday, agency director general Mohamed ElBaradei said that he was very hopeful that an agreement would be reached in the coming week, and even U.S. officials struck an unusually conciliatory note on Iran in their briefing for reporters yesterday.

The board is scheduled to discuss Iran's nuclear program today. In light of the negotiations, however, this discussion may be postponed.

Iran, EU on verge of deal (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/690915.html)

U.S.: Iran Uranium Enrichment Unacceptable

By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer Tue Mar 7, 9:28 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration drew a hard line on Iran Tuesday, warning of "meaningful consequences" if the Islamic government does not back away from an international confrontation over its disputed nuclear program.

Edging toward the U.N. Security Council review it has long sought, Washington rejected any potential 11th hour compromise that would allow Iran to process nuclear fuel that could be used for weapons.

Vice President Dick Cheney said the United States and other nations are agreed that "we will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon." He said, "The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences."

Speaking to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, Cheney did not specify what the U.S. would do but said it "is keeping all options on the table." American officials have said the government has no plans for military force but will not rule it out.

The United States, Israel and several Arab nations fear development of an Iranian bomb would put Israel at risk or forever change the balance of power in the Middle East.

Russia, which has played middleman on Iran since the breakdown of talks between Tehran and European nations, reassured U.S. officials that it remains on board as the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency again took up the Iran case in Vienna. The Security Council could have full purview over the issue by week's end, but there is no timetable for action there.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States is not seeking sanctions against Iran "as a first matter."

Russia has proposed a joint venture in which it would enrich uranium on Iran's behalf, keeping that critical component of the nuclear fuel process from potential misuse in Iran. The United States supports the plan in principle, but Iran has not signed on.

Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected the notion of a separate compromise that would see Iran suspend full-scale uranium enrichment for up to two years but retain a small enrichment program.

"The United States has been very clear that enrichment and reprocessing on Iranian soil is not acceptable because of the proliferation risk," Rice said.

A diplomat told The Associated Press that Iran made the suspension offer during talks in Moscow last week. The offer reflected Tehran's attempts to escape Security Council action over the enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear arms. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was confidential.

"There is no compromise new Russian proposal," Lavrov said.

Russia, which has veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council, is perhaps Tehran's most important ally and business partner. Russia has gone along with U.S. efforts to refer the nuclear issue to the council but has never said it would support sanctions or other harsh punishment there.

"Have you seen a proposal for any sanctions?" Lavrov snapped at reporters following an Oval Office meeting with
President Bush on Tuesday. "This is a hypothetical question, yes?"

At the State Department earlier, Lavrov appeared to warn the United States not to push Iran so hard that it withdraws from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty or kicks out international inspectors.

The treaty allows for some U.N. oversight of a nascent nuclear program that Iran says is meant to one day produce nuclear energy, not bombs. The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency has accused Iran of violating the treaty and concealing the extent of its nuclear activities. A possible Security Council rebuke could be based on those findings, along with anything new that inspectors turn up.

"In our view, any solution should take into account the desirability, very high desirability, to continue to investigate into the past program of Iran so that all the questions which the international community has could be answered by the experts," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with Rice.

He spoke in the midst of two days of intensive diplomacy that illustrated the power Russia can hold as a broker or spoiler in the Middle East.

The Bush administration also wanted Russian assurances that Moscow will not coddle Hamas now that the Islamic militants have taken control of the Palestinian legislature.

Lavrov held multiple meetings with Rice, and was accorded the kind of White House welcome usually reserved for foreign heads of state or government, not foreign ministers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Hamas leaders to Moscow last weekend, a move that angered Israel and surprised the United States and Russia's other partners in the so-called Quartet of Mideast negotiators.

The United States, European Union and Israel consider Hamas a terrorist organization. The United States wants international unity to pressure Hamas to recognize Israel and renounce violence.

"The Quartet is not divided," Lavrov said after his White House meeting. "The Quartet has the common position on Hamas."

U.S.: Iran Uranium Enrichment Unacceptable (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060308/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iran;_ylt=Arv6JwmSi3AxepKiyX22qras0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-)

Russia denies Iran nuclear proposal

By Mark Heinrich and Parisa Hafezi Tue Mar 7, 4:55 PM ET

VIENNA (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday backed away from what EU diplomats said was a proposal to let Iran do some atomic research if it agreed to refrain from enriching uranium on an industrial scale for 7-9 years.

Russia abandoned the informal proposal, aimed at finding a compromise to the crisis over Iran's nuclear program, after Western rejection of the idea.

The United States and the European Union want Iran to shelve all work to enrich uranium because of suspicions that Tehran is secretly trying to make nuclear weapons.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Tuesday that Iran would be stopped from getting atomic bombs and faced "meaningful consequences" if it persists in defying calls to stop nuclear work which could lead to weapons.

In defying calls to halt all enrichment-related work, Iran seems to be counting on divisions in the U.N. Security Council over whether to resort to sanctions mooted by the United States.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied after talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he had made a new proposal to defuse a crisis over Iran's nuclear aspirations that the Security Council may soon tackle.

"There is no compromise new proposal," Lavrov said at a news conference with Rice, who added: "The Russians did not tell us of any new proposal ..."

EU diplomats said Russian officials informally raised the idea of a 7-9 year moratorium during consultations over the past week. U.S., British, French and German rejection came swiftly when word of the offer leaked on Tuesday.

"The Russians explored this idea with us," said a diplomat, who asked not to be identified, from one of the three EU states - Germany, France and Britain - working on the Iran issue, the so-called EU3.

The diplomat said when Lavrov "realized the EU3 and U.S. would not accept its elements, he decided to deny it to save face."

RUSSIA, WEST SHARED GOAL

In Moscow, a senior Kremlin aide said Russia shared the West's goal of keeping bomb-grade nuclear technology out of Iran but acknowledged it might be considering different approaches.

"There are divergences ... but the goal is a single one - that Iran should be a predictable partner and there is no threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," Sergei Prikhodko told RIA Novosti news agency.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), alluded to Moscow's reported formula when he held out hope on Monday for a deal to defuse the crisis without U.N. Security Council intervention against Iran. A council debate on Iran looms after an IAEA board meeting now in progress.

Iran says its nuclear program aims solely at generating electricity. But it concealed atomic research from the IAEA for 18 years and its calls for Israel's destruction alarm the West.

U.S. officials said any concession to let Iran feed uranium gas into a small cascade of centrifuges would inevitably give Tehran the know-how to make nuclear warheads.

Iran reacted coolly to reports of the Russian offer as well, with one diplomat saying Tehran could accept a two-year moratorium on industrial atomic fuel production, but not longer, in exchange for assurances it could do centrifuge research.

He said Iran's idea of research entailed running nearly 3,000 enrichment centrifuges, which the West would deem industrial-scale and could yield enough highly enriched uranium for one bomb in a year if operating at full capacity.

"Any moratorium of more than two years and any suspension of nuclear research activities (as the West demands) will make it difficult to reach a deal. The face-saving solution is to enrich uranium on a limited scale ... during the two years," he said.

While Moscow and Beijing also do not want Iran to acquire atom bomb technology, they want to protect big trade stakes with Tehran and could use their council vetoes to block sanctions.

Russia denies Iran nuclear proposal (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060307/ts_nm/nuclear_iran_dc_22;_ylt=Aj4u2L.rL_4mCRUUDBXA7W4b.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--)

My note; I'm sorry, I don't trust Russia, I remember the duck and cover drills.

Last update - 00:25 10/03/2006
Western sources: Iran has covert nuclear channel
By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent

In concurrence with growing diplomatic tension over Iran's nuclear program, on Thursday it emerged that intelligence services in the West are convinced that Iran is taking covert means to develop nuclear weapons, in addition to the nuclear program under the partial supervision of the IAEA. Russian intelligence is believed to agree with this assessment.

According to the IAEA interim report from late February, a document was found that alludes to Iranian attempts to create the components of an atomic bomb.

Speaking a day after it became clear that the UN Security Council would take up Iran's nuclear case, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Tehran would not be bullied or humiliated.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors decided Wednesday to hand the Iranian nuclear issue to the United Nations Security Council, which is expected to start deliberations next week.

Russia was quick to respond, as its foreign minister hinted Thursday that the move might have been too hasty.

Western countries are vulnerable
According to the Iranian president, Western countries are vulnerable and would suffer more than Iran if they continued to try to impede its attempts to develop nuclear technology, local media reported

"They (Western countries) know that they are not capable of inflicting the slightest blow on the Iranian nation because they need the Iranian nation," the semi-official ISNA students news agency quoted him as saying in a speech in western Iran.

"They will suffer more and they are vulnerable," he said, without elaborating.

"Our enemies will never succeed in forcing the Iranian nation to step back on its rights over peaceful nuclear technology because it never accepts humiliation," state television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

"This nation ... will not allow others to treat it with a bullying attitude, even if those who treat it with a bullying attitude are international bullies," he added, ISNA reported.

Russia: UN referral 'too hasty'
Russia's top diplomat criticized efforts to bring Iran and its disputed nuclear program before the U.N. Security Council, suggesting that the United States was too eager to take the issue out of the hands of the world body's nuclear watchdog.

In an interview broadcast Thursday on Russian state television, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Iran's referral to the Security Council an attempt to portray the International Atomic Energy Agency as unable to influence Tehran.

"This move is detrimental, and not one real problem can be decided with such a move," he said.

"We don't want to be the ones to remind (everyone) who was right and who was not in Iraq, although the answer is obvious," he said.

Nuclear arms developed in covert facilities
The intelligence assessments in the West reflect the conclusions that have been drawn in the past few years in the United States, Europe and Israel. Until now, most of the publications about Iran's nuclear program mentioned sites in Isfahan, Natanz, Arak and Tehran. The intelligence sources say these belong to the acknowledged part of the program and claim there is a secondary, smaller covert channel that is making steady progress toward creating a nuclear weapon for Iran.

A few intelligence services reportedly have information about these secret plants. Experts say that some of the facilities are about the same size as the secret structures built by the Pakistanis as part of their nuclear weapons program.

Some of the evidence of Iran's secret activities was mentioned in the IAEA's interim reports in recent months. The most suspicious item is a document found in Iranian possession that includes technical details about casting enriched and depleted uranium into hemispheres. This casting process is associated specifically with nuclear weapons production, as stated in the IAEA interim report of February 27. The report added that that existence of the document is disturbing.

According to experts, the document is unequivocal proof that Iran's nuclear project is involved in weapons production.

When asked by IAEA inspectors about the document, the Iranians declared that it had come from Pakistan but that they had never used it. The source of the document, as well as the centrifuges that Iran uses to enrich uranium, is apparently the network established by Pakistani nuclear arms pioneer Abdul Khader Khan, who admitted to assisting a number of Islamic countries with their nuclear programs.

Iran repeatedly refused to give the document, or a copy of it, to the IAEA.

The clandestine facility in Tehran's suburbs called Lavizan-Shian is another element attesting to Iran's nuclear ambitions. The site contains a nuclear development facility that was seen on the satellite photographs of IAEA and a number of states. The images revealed evidence of new excavation activity designed to conceal the underground facility. Later photographs showed only trees and gardens there.

Iran admitted to the West that a project is being carried out at the site, which it said was aimed at researching anti-nuclear defensive measures. At some point it became clear that the Iranian Defense Ministry had sold the facility to a private company, but control was transferred back to the ministry soon after. IAEA officials who asked to meet the facility's director were introduced to a university professor.

The uranium mine in Gauchin provides additional proof of the clandestine nuclear program. In the 1990s, Iranian publications announced that the mine was transferred from the Iranian Energy Committee to a private company. A few years later, a transfer back to the IEC - in effect, the Defense Ministry - was announced. The IAEA suspects that the private company is connected to the state military establishment.

The advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment that the Iranians are thought to possess are another part of the evidence. It is known that Iran purchased P1 centrifuges, made of aluminum. IAEA inspectors found documents on the faster and more advanced P2 centrifuges. The Iranians told the inspectors that they had not purchased the centrifuges. However, there is proof that Iran did buy a large number of magnets used in the P2 models.

The Iranians admitted about three years ago to separating small quantities of plutonium, which is clearly associated with atomic arms development. (The materials needed to build an atomic bomb can be acquired either by enriching uranium or by producing plutonium.)

Inspectors who examined the plutonium concluded, judging from the amounts found, that the Iranians must have started creating the plutonium in the mid-1990s and not three years ago.

Iran's clandestine Green Salt Project is another element in its nuclear program. The conversion of uranium dioxide into UF4 which takes the appearance of green crystals is a stage in the conversion of uranium ore into the UF6 gas, which is then placed into the centrifuges for enrichment. The IAEA stated that it is still waiting for convincing explanations from the Iranians about the uranium conversion, which is used to produce nuclear weapons.

The IAEA is mainly concerned with the manufacturing and supervision of nuclear materials. It does not concern itself with the development of ground-to-ground missiles, for example, which could carry a nuclear warhead.

In the past year, U.S. intelligence has provided the IAEA with blueprints of an Iranian warhead that could carry a nuclear weapon. This is additional evidence of the covert program.

The IAEA does not deal with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), to which both Israel and Iran are signatories. Israel followed CTBT directives and built two seismic stations to monitor for nuclear tests. Iran has not built the monitoring stations it is obligated to put into place.

The covert channel gives Iran a redundant system in the event of an attack on the country, but also gives it a way to give up its nuclear program ostensibly while continuing work secretly. This will be difficult if it returns to implementing the Additional Protocol allowing IAEA inspectors to carry out snap inspections anywhere in the country.

Western sources: Iran has covert nuclear channel (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/692094.html)

Iranian Rejects Proposal, Angering Russia

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Sun Mar 12, 3:59 PM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran ruled out a Russian proposal aimed at easing tensions over its nuclear program Sunday, drawing criticism from a senior lawmaker in Moscow who said the decision destroyed the last chance for compromise before the
U.N. Security Council takes on the issue this week.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also warned that Iran is considering large-scale uranium enrichment at home as a response to the International Atomic Energy Agency's decision to refer Tehran to the Security Council.

However, Tehran did back away from a threat to use oil as an economic weapon if the council should impose sanctions.

Russia had sought to persuade Iran to move its enrichment program to Russian territory, which would allow closer international monitoring. Iran reached basic agreement with Moscow on the plan, but the details were never worked out.

"The Russian proposal is not on our agenda any more," Asefi told reporters. "Circumstances have changed. We have to wait and see how things go with the five veto-holding countries (on the council)."

The comments effectively meant the Russian proposal was dead after the nuclear watchdog agency referred Iran to the Security Council, which can impose political and economic sanctions, last week.

"We are not afraid of the Security Council. What is important for us is defending our legitimate rights," Asefi said. "Iran is a powerful country and is able to defend its interests."

In Moscow, Konstantin Kosachev, the head of international affairs committee of the lower house of parliament, harshly criticized Iran, saying the decision meant the end of chances for a compromise on the issue, according to Russian news reports.

Kosachev also warned Tehran that its refusal to continue talks on the Russian offer could "radicalize" the Security Council debate on the issue.

The United States and its Western allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies any intention to build weapons, saying it only aims to produce energy.

A Western diplomat, who insisted on anonymity in detailing the confidential discussions, said a new meeting among the permanent council members — the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China — was planned Monday to look at a revised draft statement. The text was aimed at pressuring Tehran to resolve questions about its nuclear program, including demands that it abandon uranium enrichment.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran had no intention to use oil as a weapon in the confrontation, contradicting a statement a day earlier by Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to continue to provide Asia with the oil it needs as a reliable and effective source of energy and will not use oil as a foreign policy instrument," he said at a conference on energy and security issues in Tehran.

Iran is the No. 2 producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, after Saudi Arabia. It also has partial control of the narrow Straits of Hormuz, a key route for most of the crude oil shipped from the Persian Gulf nations to world markets.

Tehran, which only has an experimental nuclear research program, repeatedly has warned it will begin large-scale uranium enrichment if referred it the Security Council, which occurred last week.

Asefi suggested Tehran would wait for the outcome of the Security Council meetings to make a decision on whether to start large-scale enrichment, which scientists say would take months to do.

"Regarding industrial scale uranium enrichment, we are going to wait for two, three days," he said.

Uranium enriched to a low level produces fuel that can be used in a nuclear reactor, while higher enrichment produces the material needed for a warhead.

Iran has insisted it will never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel. It restarted research-scale uranium enrichment last month, two years after voluntarily freezing the program during talks with Germany, Britain and France.

Mottaki, the foreign minister, also reiterated a veiled warning that Iran may consider withdrawing from the NPT if its right to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel is not respected.

"If we reach a point that the existing rules don't meet the right of the Iranian nation, the Islamic Republic of Iran may reconsider policies," he said.

A report last week by IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran was testing centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched uranium, and had plans to begin installation of the first 3,000 centrifuges late this year. Iran will need to install about 60,000 centrifuges for a large-scale enrichment of uranium.

Iranian Rejects Proposal, Angering Russia (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060312/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear;_ylt=AvYwReISz0XifD.CR_yNkMqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-)

Russia, Iran to Talk Further This Week

By JUDITH INGRAM, Associated Press Writer 58 minutes ago

MOSCOW - Russia will hold another round of nuclear consultations shortly with Iran, which has rejected Moscow's demand to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday.

The Interfax news agency, citing an unidentified source in Russia's embassy in Tehran, said that the talks could take place in Moscow on Tuesday and Wednesday, and would be at the level of the deputy head of Iran's powerful National Security Council.

"Iran in the last day or two appealed to us again to hold consultations," Lavrov said at a briefing. "They will take place in the nearest future."

Earlier talks on Russia's offer to host the Iranian uranium enrichment program produced no results.

"We are very disappointed with the way Iran has been conducting itself in these negotiations, absolutely not helping those who want to provide for finding peaceful ways to resolve the whole situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear program," Lavrov said.

Before the U.N. Security Council takes up the issue this week, a Western diplomat, who insisted on anonymity in detailing the confidential discussions, said a new meeting among the permanent council members — the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China — was planned Monday to look at a revised draft statement.

The text was aimed at pressuring Tehran to resolve questions about its nuclear program, including demands that it abandon uranium enrichment.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Iran's leaders are taking the country in the "wrong direction," repressing their own people and pursuing confrontation abroad.

But Straw also said Britain wants the Security Council to go one step at a time, leaving the door open to restart negotiations with Tehran if it reverses course and expresses a willingness to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

"If the Iranian regime chooses not to heed the concerns of the international community, it's going to damage the interests of the Iranian people," he said in a speech.

Western governments and organizations should try to reach out to Iranians to emphasize that the international community does not oppose Iran's civilian nuclear power program, only its alleged efforts to build a nuclear bomb, Straw said.

Earlier Monday, Moscow's atomic energy chief, Sergei Kiriyenko, said a Kremlin proposal to enrich uranium for Iran on Russian territory remains open. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi had said Sunday that Tehran would no longer consider the Russian proposal.

"Russia believes that Iran, like any other state, has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but the global community has the right to demand guarantees of nonproliferation. Russia has made its offer to combine these two positions," Kiriyenko said.

"The Russian proposal has and will remain, and it's not going to change. Attempts to extract just certain fragments of it won't work."

Russia has made its enrichment offer contingent on Tehran suspending its own enrichment effort, but Iranian officials have rejected the link.

The text was aimed at pressuring Tehran to resolve questions about its nuclear program, including demands that it abandon uranium enrichment.

Tehran, which only has an experimental nuclear research program, repeatedly has warned it will begin large-scale uranium enrichment if referred it the Security Council, which occurred last week.

Iran has insisted it will never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel. It restarted research-scale uranium enrichment last month, two years after voluntarily freezing the program during talks with Germany, Britain and France.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Sunday reiterated a veiled warning that Iran may consider withdrawing from the NPT if its right to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel is not respected.

"If we reach a point that the existing rules don't meet the right of the Iranian nation, the Islamic Republic of Iran may reconsider policies," he said.

A report last week by International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran was testing centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched uranium, and had plans to begin installation of the first 3,000 centrifuges late this year. Iran will need to install about 60,000 centrifuges for a large-scale enrichment of uranium.

Iran insists its program is designed only to generate electricity, but the U.S. claims Tehran has been working to build a bomb for more than a decade. Britain and France are also skeptical of the Iranians, and the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, says it has serious questions about Iran's program.

In an interview with the daily Vremya Novostei, Lavrov also criticized the U.S. stance toward Tehran, accusing Washington of using the nuclear crisis "to solve some political tasks in their relations with the (current) regime."

Lavrov called again for the main players in the crisis — Russia, the United States, France, Germany, Britain and China — to meet with ElBaradei in Vienna and he insisted that the IAEA remain central to solving the crisis.

"But sometimes our Western partners propose acting according to this logic: since there's not clarity (in Iran's nuclear program) then let's put on pressure more quickly and impose sanctions," Lavrov said.

Russia, Iran to Talk Further This Week (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060313/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear;_ylt=AnFb4iLeaknn4BGGXm5Rq48LewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--)

U.N. Security Council Deadlocked on Iran

By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer 59 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - The five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council are deadlocked over the best way to pressure Iran into clearing up questions about its nuclear program, U.N. diplomats said Monday.

The divide between Russia and China on one side and Britain, France and the United States on the other makes it less likely the council will take a tough stance against Iran when it convenes later this week to discuss the issue for the first time, the diplomats said.

Ambassadors from the five veto-wielding council members met early Monday for the third time to debate language for a council statement on the issue.

Britain and France, backed by the United States, have proposed that the council demand Iran abandon uranium enrichment — a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for an atomic bomb — and adhere to its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Russia and China fear that going that far in a statement — which Iran is not legally bound to obey — would make negotiations more difficult.

"I think that we want a constructive statement," China's Ambassador Wang Guangya told The Associated Press as he left the meeting. "I think they want to be too tough."

The United States believes Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon and says a strong Security Council statement will put new pressure on Tehran to abide by its obligations under the nonproliferation treaty. Russia and China, allies of Iran, say that council involvement will lead Iran to expel nuclear inspectors and leave the treaty entirely.

The council has the power to impose economic and political sanctions on Iran.

A U.N. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Russians and Chinese showed little indication they would change their position or accept the proposals for wording a statement from the British, French and Americans.

The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the discussions, said Russia and China want the council only to underscore the primary role of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the
International Atomic Energy Agency, in handling the Iran issue.

The disagreement means the United States and its allies could elect to bypass the Security Council entirely in confronting Iran. Last week, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said a coalition might consider targeted sanctions if council action was not firm enough.

Despite the deadlock, Britain and France plan to circulate a draft text to the entire council Tuesday, the diplomat said. That is partly because other nations on the 15-member council have become increasingly angry about being excluded from the negotiations between the five veto-wielding members, the U.N. diplomat said.

Russia will hold another round of nuclear consultations shortly with Iran, which has rejected Moscow's demand to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday.

The Interfax news agency, citing an official in Russia's embassy in Tehran it did not identify, said the talks could take place in Moscow on Tuesday and Wednesday, and would be at the level of the deputy head of Iran's powerful National Security Council.

Underscoring just how cautiously Russia and China want to proceed, diplomats said there was even disagreement about how the council ought to ask the IAEA to report on Iran's compliance with its nuclear obligations.

Britain, France and the United States want the council to ask IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to report back to it in a short timeframe — possibly as little as two weeks — on whether Iran has taken steps to answer questions about its nuclear intentions.

Russia and China believe Elbaradei should not deliver that report to the council but to the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors, which could then inform the council of its findings, Russia's Ambassador Andrey Denisov said.

That seemingly minor distinction could actually be heavy with meaning. By reporting to the IAEA board, Elbaradei would implicitly return the issue of Iran to that body and take it out of the hands of the council. In turn, that move could make future council action even less likely.

"We have common objectives, but as far as messages are concerned, we are in the process of discussing," Denisov said.

U.N. Security Council Deadlocked on Iran (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060313/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_iran_1;_ylt=AhrRX8aWfyrlkbp.zxeqMaQUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--)

Iran protests to UN secretary-general against US threats
United Nations, New York, March 21, IRNA

Iran-UN-Zarif
Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Mohammad-Javad Zarif on Monday sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan protesting against recent US threats against Tehran.

Following is the full text of his letter:
"In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
"Your Excellency, Mr Kofi Annan,
"Upon instructions from my Government, I have the honor to enclose herewith the text of a note verbale dated March 13, 2006 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic addressed to the Embassy of Switzerland in Tehran (United States Interest Section).

"In the past several months, various senior officials of the United States have used false pretexts to make public and thinly- veiled threats of resort to force against the Islamic Republic of Iran in total contempt of international law and the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

"Statements delivered at the AIPAC meeting in Washington on March 5-7, 2006 by the US Vice-President and Permanent Representative to the United Nations threaten Iran with `tangible and painful consequences' and the `use of all tools at our disposal' to make it abandon its nuclear activities.

"Rest assured that although we do not rely on the Security Council as the only tool in our toolbox to address this problem and are already beefing up our defensive measures, the statements and publications are simply the latest and more vulgar in US threats to resort to unlawful, unacceptable and dangerous use of force (against Iran).

"The statements, furthermore, show the US' contempt for the UN Security Council and other multilateral mechanisms, and its intention to abuse the very same mechanisms are self-evident.

"Regrettably, such dangerous words go beyond callous statements before single-issue constituencies and include documents officially articulating US strategy. The list includes the draft "Doctrine of Joint Military Operations" issued by the US Joint Chief of Staff on March 15, 2005 and the "National Security Strategy" issued by the White House on March 16, 2006, both of which defiantly articulate US policies and intentions on pre-emption, the use of force and resort to nuclear weapons in contravention of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, the NPT and other US multilateral undertakings on negative security assurances.

"These statements and documents, in view of past illegal behavior of the United States, constitute matters of utmost gravity that require urgent, concerted and resolute response on the part of the United Nations and particularly the Security Council.

"It is indeed regrettable that past failures have emboldened senior US officials and even others to consider the threat or use of force, both of which are specifically rejected under Article 2(4) of the Charter as violations of one of the most fundamental principles of the Organization, as options available on the table.

"The United Nations has a fundamental responsibility to reject those assertions and to arrest this trend.

"It will be highly appreciated if this letter and its annex were circulated as a document of the General Assembly under Agenda Items 9, 82, 87, 94, 95, 97, 110 and of the Security Council.

"Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

(Signed) M. Javad Zarif

Iran protests to UN secretary-general against US threats (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0603218991094328.htm)

U.N. Iran statement still elusive

Tuesday, March 21, 2006; Posted: 1:44 a.m. EST (06:44 GMT)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- Russia, backed by China, blocked agreement on Monday on a U.N. Security Council statement aimed at quashing Iran's nuclear ambitions despite a ministerial meeting on Tehran's atomic programs, diplomats said.

Senior foreign affairs officials from Germany and the five veto-holding Security Council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- met for more than four hours to exchange information on how to handle Iran.

Their U.N. ambassadors joined them for discussions on a draft statement the Security Council has been unable to issue for nearly two weeks telling Iran to stop uranium-enrichment efforts the West believes are a cover for bomb making.

Still, Nicholas Burns, the U.S. undersecretary of state, told reporters after the meeting, "We remain convinced that we will see a presidential statement. It just may take a couple more days."

Both Russia and China are wary of action by the Security Council, which can impose sanctions, fearing threats might escalate and prompt Iran to cut all contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

Envoys close to the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Russia was toughest on provisions in a draft statement and that China backed Moscow.

France and Britain, authors of the draft statement, will take "another look at that text to see if we can refine it a little bit more," said Britain's U.N. ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, whose mission hosted the talks.

The full 15-member council consults late on Tuesday.

China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, was optimistic but his comments indicated no deal was reached yet.

"There are a number of areas where we have common points and these will be narrowed in the days ahead," he said. "We agreed to continue discussing it."

Nevertheless, Burns said the group had common aims.

"All agreed that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and is out of compliance with its international commitments," he said. "All agreed Iran is traveling down the road toward enrichment. All agreed that we should stay united, stay together, to send one message."
Next step

Envoys emerging from the talks said there had been no firm proposals from Britain and others on the next step.

The West has considered a resolution under mandatory Chapter 7 provisions of the U.N. Charter if Iran does not comply but only after a statement is adopted.

A statement needs the consent of all 15 council members while a resolution requires nine votes in favor and no veto from a permanent member. However, if there is no agreement on a statement, the Western powers could turn the draft into a resolution and dare Russia and China to veto.

Under a November 2004 agreement with Britain, France and Germany, negotiators for the European Union, Iran agreed to freeze any uranium conversion, enrichment and reprocessing activities in return for economic and political rewards.

That deal broke down last year and Iran restarted uranium conversion in August. The IAEA board agreed to report the issue to the Security Council, which received a dossier on March 8.

On the statement, Russia and China have objected to a section of the draft setting a two-week deadline for the IAEA to report whether Tehran has stopped enrichment activities, saying it is too short.

The Western powers, at the suggestion of China, also revised a text on Friday, saying that Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, would submit a progress report on Iran to the Security Council and the 35-member IAEA board at the same time. Earlier only the council was mentioned.

In addition to Burns attending the Monday session were political directors John Sawers of Britain, Michael Schaefer of Germany and Stanislas de la Boulaye of France. Also Sergei Kislyak, a Russian deputy foreign minister and China arms control director, Zhang Yan.

U.N. Iran statement still elusive (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/20/un.iran.nuclear.reut/index.html)

Iran warns Argentina ahead of Kirchner UN speech
Sat. 22 Sep 2007

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) — Iran has warned Argentina against joining the enemy camp if Argentine President Nestor Kirchner criticizes Tehran at the UN General Assembly, the Iranian ambassador said in an interview Friday.

Kirchner is expected to mention Argentina's probe into alleged Iranian involvement in a deadly attack on a Jewish association in 1994, a leading representative of the Argentine Jewish community told AFP.

Authorities have yet to convict anyone for the bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association that left 85 dead and 300 injured.

But if Kirchner accuses Iran of wrongdoing, "numerous countries will understand that Argentina is in favor of war," the Islamic republic's ambassador to Buenos Aires Moshen Baharvand told the daily Clarin.

Highlighting that the General Assembly meeting was "very important" for Iran this year, Baharvand said the session would "reveal which countries are for and against Iran."

But a source close to the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association said on condition of anonymity that Kirchner had "committed to bringing up the matter of the attack" against the group during his address to the world body.

Four relatives of victims from that attack also planned to travel to New York and attend the session with members of the Argentine delegation.

"It will be a strong signal from the Argentine government to the international community that light must be shed and the guilty must be punished," the source said.

Leaders of top Jewish associations in Argentina were also expected to travel to New York for the annual UN session, and Baharvand accused them of organizing "parallel diplomacy" and trying to "blackmail" the Argentine government.

In 2006, an Argentine judge issued an international arrest warrant for Iranian ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and other top Iranian officials in connection with the bombing.

Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral told AFP he had asked the government of Iran as well as Interpol to hand over the former president on a warrant issued for "crimes against humanity" in the bombing attack.

No one has ever been convicted for the bombing, Argentina's worst terrorist attack, which occurred on the morning of July 9, 1994.

Another attack in 1992 on the Israeli embassy, in which 22 people were killed and 200 were wounded, also remains unsolved.

Argentina has the largest Jewish community in South America with about 300,000 people.

Iran warns Argentina ahead of Kirchner UN speech (http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=12511)

Iran shows off new missile, taunts Israel

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran on Saturday warned the West of the "serious consequences" of launching any attack against the Islamic republic after showing off a new longer-range missile in public for the first time.

"Military aggression against Iran is no longer a case of 'you hit and you run away,'" said supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "Anyone who launches an aggression will seriously suffer the consequences of this aggression."

His comments, broadcast on state television, were the first such intervention by Iran's undisputed number one since French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned the world last week to brace for war against Tehran.

Iran earlier showed off its military prowess at the annual military parade to mark the start of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, taunting its arch enemy Israel with a host of slogans calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.

A longer range missile labelled Ghadr-1 (Power) -- which had been said to be in development by Western experts -- was shown at the parade for the first time in public.

The official announcer at the parade told reporters that the weapon had a range of 1,800 kilometres (1,100 miles), sufficient to put US bases in the Middle East and Iran's arch enemy Israel within reach.

The Ghadr missile, which has a "baby bottle" style nose for extra aerodynamic efficiency, is seen as an improved version of Iran's existing longer-range Shahab series, which was also paraded.

Officials have said in the past that the Shahab-3 could reach 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles), but the announcer said it had a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) range.

The head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Jaafari, echoed Khamenei's message: "My message to the enemy is that they will regret it (an attack). Do not do it."

The parade came amid growing tensions over Iran's nuclear programme, which the United States alleges is cover for a nuclear weapons drive but which Tehran insists is aimed solely at producing electricity.

Khamenei however brushed off the Western warnings of conflict, saying "they talk like an illiterate person who is showing their biceps and fists against a learned person."

"The people and the officials have never been afraid of the threats and have increased their preparation," he added.

The parade was marked by a litany of slogans calling for "Death to America" and "Death to Israel." Western military attaches, apparently warned of this in advance, boycotted the rally for the second year running.

"Israel should be eliminated" and "No Iranian Muslim, no Muslim recognises Israel," were among the slogans borne on the back of military vehicles, quoting the words of Iran's revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

"Israel has to be wiped off the map," read another Khomeini quote which aroused worldwide controversy when it was repeated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005.

Iran's military, especially its air force, has been hit by the US trade embargo, and General Jaafari admitted that the Islamic republic would need to outsmart its enemies using means other than technology.

"Their material capabilities are better than us, everyone knows it and we admit it. We are responding to technology not with technology but with special methods and tactics," he told reporters.

Officials said that only weapons built by Iran were shown at the parade, in a bid to emphasise the country's self-sufficiency in military technology.

The full panoply of Iran's armed forces were on display, with thousands of goose-stepping members of the regular army and the Revolutionary Guards saluting Ahmadinejad and top military leaders in a march-past.

The United States and its ally Israel have never ruled out using military action against Iran for its defiance in the nuclear standoff.

Iran has said it will never initiate an attack, but has warned of striking US bases in the Arabian peninsula, Iraq and Afghanistan -- as well as Israel itself -- as a response to any aggression.

Iran shows off new missile, taunts Israel (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlmNUjNrjKFWAywDdKXRBTfg7RLg)

Iranian shelling of Kurdish region of Iraq continues

Sep 22, 2007, 13:36 GMT

Baghdad - Iranian shelling of the border areas of the Kurdish autonomous region resumed Saturday at dawn in northern Iraq after a week-long cessation of fire, local Kurdish officials said.

No casualties have been reported so far.

In August and during the first two weeks of September, Iranian forces had systematically bombed the border areas with the Kurdish region, targeting the bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Party for Freedom and Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) from Iran.

However, officials and observers in the Kurdish region believe that Saturday's overnight shelling is in response to the arrest of an Iranian national who was visiting the northern city of Sulaymaniyah as a member of an Iranian trade convoy.

US forces had arrested the citizen claiming that he was a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps - Quds Force. The forces charged him with facilitating the smuggling of weapons into Iraqi territories.

Meanwhile, Gamal Abdullah, spokesman for the Kurdish autonomous region, told Deustche Presse-Agentur dpa Saturday that his government is engaged in efforts to secure the release of the Iranian citizen.

The Kurdish government deemed the arrest 'illegitimate' and called on the US forces to immediately set the man free.

According to Abdullah, the Kurds are already in contact with President Jalal Talabani urging him to negotiate the release with both the US forces and the US embassy in Baghdad.

Abdullah denied that the Iranian was a member of the Quds Force.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini had justified attacks on Iraqi territory last month by saying that Iran was hunting terrorists and weapons smugglers in northern Iraq who were responsible for the killing of a large number of Iranian border soldiers and for the illegal transfer of weapons into Iran.

The Kurdish parliament had called on the United Nations and the US-led coalition forces to exert pressure on Iran to stop bombing Kurdish areas.

Iranian shelling of Kurdish region of Iraq continues (http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1358644.php/Iranian_shelling_of_Kurdish_region_of_Iraq_continues)

Iran President Ahmadinejad rips U.S.

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 22, 4:52 PM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - A day before flying to New York to speak directly to the American people, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck a confrontational tone Saturday with a parade of fighter jets and missiles and tough warnings for the United States to stay out of the Mideast.

Three new domestically manufactured warplanes streaked over the capital during the parade marking the 27th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Iran, which sparked a 1980-88 war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The parade also featured the Ghadr missile, which has a range of 1,120 miles, capable of reaching Israel.

Some of the missile trucks were painted with the slogans "Down with the U.S." and "Down with Israel." The parade also featured unmanned aerial surveillance drones, torpedoes, and tanks.

Tensions are high between Washington and Tehran over U.S. accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and helping Shiite militias in Iraq that target U.S. troops. Iran denies the claims.

Washington has said it is addressing the Iran situation diplomatically, rather than militarily, but U.S. officials also say that all options are open.

"Those (countries) who assume that decaying methods such as psychological war, political propaganda and the so-called economic sanctions would work and prevent Iran's fast drive toward progress are mistaken," Ahmadinejad.

Iran launched an arms development program during its war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own jets, torpedoes, radar-avoiding missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers.

"Those who prevented Iran, at the height of the war from getting even barbed wire must see now that all the equipment on display today has been built by the mighty hands and brains of experts at Iran's armed forces," Ahmadinejad said.

He is expected to address the American people directly in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" airing Sunday, and through appearances at the U.N., Columbia University and several other events.

His request to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site was denied and condemned by Sept. 11 family members and politicians. Protests against his Columbia appearance are planned at the university and the United Nations by demonstrators angry at his questioning of the Holocaust and declarations that Israel will cease to exist.

Iran and the U.S. have not had diplomatic ties since militants took over the U.S. Embassy following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Since then, the cleric-led regime has vilified the United States as the "Great Satan."

Despite Ahmadinejad's frequent anti-U.S. rhetoric, he has tried to appeal to the American people before. Recently, he told a live satellite television show that his country wanted peace and friendship with the U.S. Since coming to power in 2005, Ahmadinejad has also sent letters to the American people in which he criticized Bush's Mideast policy.

He is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Tuesday — his third time attending the New York meeting in three years. Last year, Ahmadinejad was harshly critical of U.S. policies in Iraq and Lebanon and insisted that his nation's nuclear activities were "transparent."

At the parade, Ahmadinejad repeated his demand for foreign forces to leave the region and urged the United States to acknowledge it has failed in Iraq. Outside the 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, there are 40,000 troops on U.S. bases in Persian Gulf countries and another 20,000 in Mideast waters.

"Nations throughout the region do not need the presence of the foreigners to manage their own needs. Foreign presence is the root cause of all instability, differences and threats," he said.

On the sidelines of the parade, the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said the event highlighted the "might of Iran's armed forces to its enemies," adding that Iran is ready to retaliate if attacked.

"Iran has drawn up plans to confront enemies in the face of any possible attack," the official IRNA news agency quoted Jafari as saying.

The Bush administration is expected to soon blacklist a unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, subjecting part of the vast military operation to financial penalties. The step would be in response to Iran's involvement in Iraq and elsewhere.

The U.S. is also leading a push in the U.N. Security Council for a third round of economic sanctions against Iran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes including generating electricity. The Security Council is not expected to take up the issue before October.

"Learn lessons from your past mistakes. Don't repeat your mistakes," he said in a warning to the United States over its push to impose more sanctions.

Iran President Ahmadinejad rips U.S. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_us;_ylt=AphiK7xLiT3pVJxgvF24fV.s0NUE)

Iran shows off new missile, taunts Israel

by Stuart Williams Sat Sep 22, 8:06 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Saturday showed off a longer-range missile in public for the first time and proclaimed a string of anti-Israel slogans, in a military parade held amid warnings of conflict with the West.

The missile -- labelled Ghadr-1 (Power) -- was said to be in development by Western experts, but its appearance at the annual military parade to mark the start of Iran's 1980-1988 war with Iraq was its first public showing.

The official announcer at the parade told reporters that the weapon had a range of 1,800 kilometres (1,100 miles), sufficient to put US bases in the Middle East and Iran's arch enemy Israel within reach.

"The Iranian nation is ready to bring any oppressive power to its knees," read a slogan from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei inscribed on a massive board on a truck.

The head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Jaafari, warned bluntly: "My message to the enemy is that they will regret it (an attack). Do not do it."

The Ghadr missile, which has a "baby bottle" style nose for extra aerodynamic efficiency, is seen as an improved version of Iran's existing longer-range Shahab series, which was also paraded.

Officials have said in the past that the Shahab-3 could reach 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles), but the announcer said it had a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) range.

The parade was marked by a litany of slogans calling for "Death to America" and "Death to Israel." Western military attaches, apparently warned of this in advance, boycotted the rally for the second year running.

"The Western attaches did not come. It was because of the slogans about Israel and the United States," said one foreign representative who declined to be named.

"Israel should be eliminated" and "No Iranian Muslim, no Muslim recognises Israel," were among the slogans borne on the back of military vehicles, quoting the words of Iran's revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

"Israel has to be wiped off the map," read another Khomeini quote which aroused worldwide controversy when it was repeated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005.

The parade came amid growing tensions over Iran's nuclear programme, which the United States alleges is cover for a nuclear weapons drive but which Tehran insists is aimed solely at producing electricity.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has warned that the world should brace for war against Tehran if it keeps defying the UN Security Council by pressing on with sensitive nuclear work.

Iran's military, especially its air force, has been hit by the US trade embargo, and General Jaafari admitted that the Islamic republic would need to outsmart its enemies using means other than technology.

"Their material capabilities are better than us, everyone knows it and we admit it. We are responding to technology not with technology but with special methods and tactics," he told reporters.

Officials said that only weapons built by Iran were shown at the parade, in a bid to emphasise the country's self-sufficiency in military technology.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meanwhile said in a speech that warnings of military action and further UN sanctions would have no effect on Tehran's nuclear drive.

"Those who think that with outmoded instruments like psychological warfare and economic sanctions they can stop Iran's march towards progress are making a grave mistake," Ahmadinejad said.

The full panoply of Iran's armed forces were on display, with thousands of goose-stepping members of the regular army and the Revolutionary Guards saluting Ahmadinejad and top military leaders in a march-past.

The United States and its ally Israel have never ruled out using military action against Iran for its defiance in the nuclear standoff.

Iran has said it will never initiate an attack, but has warned of striking US bases in the Arabian peninsula, Iraq and Afghanistan -- as well as Israel itself -- as a response to any aggression.

Iran shows off new missile, taunts Israel (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070922/wl_mideast_afp/iranuspoliticsmilitary_070922115732)

Iran has no need for nuclear weapons: Ahmadinejad

34 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AFP) - Iran has no need of nuclear weapons and is not on a path to war with the United States, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview with CBS television to be broadcast later Sunday.

Ahmadinejad, who is due to arrive in New York Sunday for the United Nations General Assembly, said Tehran's nuclear ambitions were open and being conducted in accordance with the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.

"You have to appreciate we don't need a nuclear bomb. We don't need that. What need do we have for a bomb?" the Iranian leader said in the interview, according to a transcript released by CBS television.

He added that there was no reason to think that the United States and Washington were on a collision course to war over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, which have been roundly condemned by the international community.

"It's wrong to think that Iran and the US are walking towards war. Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing."

"Our plan and program is very transparent. We are under the supervision of the agency. Everything is on the table. We have nothing to hide," he said, adding: "Our activities are very peaceful."

"The time of the bomb is passed," he added.

Iran's nuclear ambitions have been under international scrutiny and put Tehran under a raft of United Nations-backed sanctions, especially due to the Islamic regime's attitude towards Israel.

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map and called into question the scale of the Holocaust.

Iran earlier bluntly warned the United States against launching an attack, saying that US forces in the region were well within the reach of its missiles.

"Today, the United States must know that their 200,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are within the reach of Iran's fire," said Yahya Rahim Safavi, the top military adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"When the Americans were beyond our shores, they were not within our reach but today it is very easy for us to deal them blows," he said according to the Mehr news agency.

His comments came at the start of an annual defense week, which Iran marked on Saturday by showing off its military prowess at a parade in Tehran -- including a new longer-range missile that could reach Israel.

The Islamic republic's arch foes the United States and Israel have never ruled out military action against Iran, although US officials say they want to solve the current crisis diplomatically.

Iran has no need for nuclear weapons: Ahmadinejad (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070923/wl_mideast_afp/undiplomacyiranusnuclearweapons_070923194141;_ylt=AlBQst4KugaGlOyvwD.gM9cUewgF)

Iran promises missiles will fly if US attacks

By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 1:00am BST 23/09/2007

Iran has threatened to retaliate with missile attacks if Western forces launch raids against the Islamic state's nuclear programme — putting on a defiant show of military force to back up the message.
The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressed a military parade in Teheran

The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressed a military parade in Teheran and mocked threats from the United States, while the head of the Revolutionary Guards said Iran would "pull the trigger" if attacked.

Their bellicose intervention came as officials in Washington warned that time was running out for the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, to "get a result" from diplomacy or hand the initiative to White House hawks who want military action.

Mr Ahmadinejad spoke out as he led a parade to mark Iran's war with Iraq, which included a flypast by three Saegheh jet fighters and armoured vehicles, one of which bore the slogan "Death to America".

In a message directed at Western diplomats, he told the crowds: "Those who think that by using such decayed tools as psychological warfare and economic sanctions, they can stop the Iranian nation's progress are making a mistake."

The parade also featured medium-range ballistic missiles which are capable of hitting Israel or US bases in Iraq and the wider Gulf region.

Asked how Iran would respond if any country allowed its territory to be used as a base for an attack, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, said: "You have seen the -missiles. Just pull the trigger and shoot."

He added: "Our message to the enemies is: Do not do it. They will regret it, as they are regretting it in Iraq."

Mr Ahmadinejad today arrives in New York for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly where the US, Britain, France and Germany are drawing up plans for new sanctions against Iran.

Diplomats are conscious that firm action is needed this week to bolster the position of Miss Rice, who wants to show that diplomacy can isolate Iran and constrain Teheran's weapons programmes.

One official in Washington said: "Condi really needs to get a result to show other members of the administration that it's working."

He said that some officials believe the vice-president, Dick Cheney, has given her "just enough rope to hang herself" by pursuing the diplomatic route.

A state department source who wants the diplomacy to succeed, said that administration hawks had closely studied the international fallout from Israel's clandestine raid on Syria the week before — which US officials say was targeted at nuclear materials sold by North Korea — as a guide to how military action against Iran would be received.

"Their attitude is: where was the fuss? Some of them think they would get away with it in Iran," the source said.

UN Security Council members Russia and China have refused to back tougher action on Iran, so the Bush administration is assembling a diplomatic "coalition of the willing" — a phrase widely use before the war in Iraq — to set up US and European sanctions against the Iranian regime. These would punish banks and companies that deal with Iran.

A Western diplomat said: "The Americans are hugely frustrated that they can't get any more from the Russians and Chinese."

Iran promises missiles will fly if US attacks (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/23/wiran123.xml)

Iran criticizes Canada's human rights record
Steven Edwards, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

UNITED NATIONS -- In a bid to discredit Canada at the United Nations, Iran is equipping world diplomats with a 70-page booklet on Canada's alleged human rights violations.

Written by Iran "in the name of God," the document asserts that the Canadian government denies its people food, clean water and the right to work.

"Routine unlawful strip and beatings by Canadian police has been a matter of concern for international community," notes the booklet, entitled Report on Human Rights Situation in Canada, adding that "the practice of police is alarming simply because ... it is functioning as if there is no need to have judges."

The publication, which claims its allegations are drawn from "objective and factual information released by authentic and credible international sources," alleges that a range of human rights violation occur in Canada, especially toward aboriginal peoples, refugees and immigrants.

"To the great dismay of the international community, it is a great concern that the rights of women are violated, and no serious attention has been paid in promotion and protection of women's rights in Canada."

Moreover, the document concludes, "Canada's position as a self-declared standard-bearer on human rights has been demoted to a blind-folded-and-bullied follower of the new school of unilateralism and the axis of derailment of international human rights law."

The booklet emerges on the eve of the UN's annual summit, to be attended by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier.

Part of the two men's efforts will be to convince other world leaders to stay on side with a resolution Canada drove through the UN General Assembly in 2006, denouncing Iran's poor human rights record.

Iran's anti-Canadian booklet signals that its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who will also be in New York for the summit, will argue that Canada is guilty of hypocrisy.

"It may well [win Iran support], and Canada will have to stand in the General Assembly and explain its position," said Max Morrison, a former Canadian diplomat at the UN who is now president of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies.

Other countries poor human rights records may also cite the Iranian publication.

"For those states that are only too happy to avoid closer examination of their disregard for such issues as freedom of speech and non-discrimination, the Iranian ploy provides an excellent opportunity to turn the spotlight elsewhere," said Anne Bayefsky, Canadian editor of the New York-based monitoring group EyeontheUN.org.

Canada has long led scrutiny of Iran at the world body, but tensions between the two countries erupted after the 2003 torture and murder of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in an Iranian jail.

Iran typically positions itself as the victim, and last year came within two votes of winning enough UN support to throw out the Canadian-led condemnation of 2006.

Attempts to reach a spokesman for Iran's mission to the UN were unsuccessful Friday.

In Ottawa, Bernier said he was unaware of the booklet but dismissed its charges. "We have a Charter of Rights and we respect the rule of law, democracy and human rights."

Bernier added that Canada is "concerned about the situation in Iran," and will seek support from other UN members to keep the spotlight on Iran's human rights record.

The booklet says Iran calls on the Canadian government to "comply with its international commitments before ... find faulting [sic] against others at the international community."

It draws from reports issued by various human rights and other committees of the UN as well as activist groups such as Amnesty International and even the Canadian government itself.

Canada and other advanced democracies submit their societies to scrutiny in numerous UN reports, in part to encourage other countries to do the same. Many of the world's worst human rights violators, by contrast, refuse to admit UN inspectors.

While there is an enormous gulf between Canada's and Iran's human rights records, many of the economic and social rights Iran highlights in the booklet are viewed by a significant number of developing countries as more important than civil rights.

Harper will address the UN's high-profile summit on climate change Monday. Meanwhile, the Iranian president is scheduled to speak at Columbia University after New York authorities rebuffed his request to lay a wreath at the site of the former World Trade Centers.

The next day, Ahmadinejad delivers an address at the opening of the General Assembly summit, while Harper speaks at the respected Council on Foreign Relations, where he is expected to argue that middle powers like Canada are regaining influence in the world.

Bernier arrives in New York Sunday for a high-level meeting on Afghanistan. He will speak to the General Assembly Oct. 2, also focusing on the need for the world to help Afghanistan.

Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, represented Canada at gathering Friday focused on Sudan and the crisis in Darfur. He'll do the same at a gathering today on international help for Iraq.

Iran criticizes Canada's human rights record (http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=da30561d-1747-4bcb-bc11-8c9a9ef49f09&k=34281)

Iranian president hits out at Israel, U.S.

By Claudia Parsons Mon Sep 24, 5:46 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with an American university president who called him a "petty and cruel dictator" at a forum on Monday where Ahmadinejad criticized Israel and the United States and said Iran was a peaceful nation.

Ahmadinejad also said in an appearance at Columbia University that Iran's nuclear program was purely peaceful, and his country was a victim rather than a sponsor of terrorism.

Challenged over his past comments that Israel should be wiped off the map and questioning the Holocaust, he said his concern was for Palestinian suffering.

Ahmadinejad, who was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, received a caustic welcome at the Ivy League university, which had come under fire from critics who said it provided a platform to a Holocaust denier.

Security was tight at the hall holding around 700 people, 80 percent of them students -- dozens of whom wore T-shirts saying "Stop Ahmadinejad's Evil."

Introducing the Iranian president, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger said Ahmadinejad behaved as a "petty and cruel dictator" and that his Holocaust denials suggested he was either "brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."

Bollinger asked a string of pointed questions, most of which Ahmadinejad ignored in a speech that dwelt at length on science as a gift from God and the importance of using knowledge and learning purely and in a pious way.

Asked about his views on the Holocaust, Ahmadinejad said "a different perspective" was needed given the impact on the Middle East of those events. Six million Jews were killed in the Nazi genocide of World War Two.

"I'm not saying that it didn't happen at all," he said. "I said, granted this happened, what does it have to do with the Palestinian people?"

Sen. John Kerry, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said: "Calls for 'research' and 'study' don't change the fact that this man is a Holocaust denier who trades in anti-Semitism. It is long past time for the world to renounce this bigoted revisionist history."

NO GAYS IN IRAN

Ahmadinejad also rejected criticism of human rights in his country, notably persecution of homosexuals: "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country," he said, drawing loud laughter from the audience.

Protesters thronged the streets outside holding signs reading: "Pure evil" and "Hitler lives?" One man's sign said: "You liar, denier, I'm a holocaust survivor."

In Washington, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, was among many who denounced Columbia for giving Ahmadinejad a platform to speak.

By opening its gates to Ahmadinejad's "hateful" ideology, "Columbia University is offering him a golden opportunity to spread it," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

Esther Lifgotcha2z, 20, a Columbia University student and member of a campus Jewish group, said it was a "tragic irony" that Ahmadinejad was speaking at Columbia, while institutions in his own country don't have the same academic freedom.

Earlier, Ahmadinejad took aim at Israel.

"We do not recognize that regime because it is based on occupation and racism. It constantly attacks its neighbors," Ahmadinejad said in a video news conference from New York with the National Press Club in Washington, citing recent Israeli military action in Syria and Lebanon.

"It kills people. It drives people from their homes."

He also took a swipe at Washington: "We oppose the way the U.S. government tries to manage the world. We think this method is wrong. It leads to war, discrimination and bloodshed."

But the Iranian leader played down talk of conflict with the West over Iran's nuclear program, which the United States says it is using to try to build nuclear weapons.

"We think talk of war is a propaganda tool. People who talk have to bring a legal reason for war," he said.

Ahmadinejad is a vocal opponent of U.S. policies but ultimate responsibility for shaping Iran's nuclear policy lies with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

New York police last week denied Ahmadinejad's request to visit the World Trade Center site of the September 11 attacks. He said on Monday he meant only to pay his respects.

(Additional reporting by Stuart Grudgings and Mohammad Zargham in Washington, and Arshad Mohammed, Mark Egan and Michael Erman in New York)

Iranian president hits out at Israel, U.S. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070924/ts_nm/iran_ahmadinejad_dc)

Iran strengthens South America ties

By ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 27, 2:43 PM ET

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Vilified by world leaders wary of his nuclear ambitions, Iran's president arrived in Bolivia on Thursday to strengthen ties with South American leftists who are embracing him as an energy and trade partner and counterweight to U.S. influence.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in the Amazon region city of Santa Cruz, then shifted to a Venezuelan government jet and flew to the capital of La Paz to establish first-time diplomatic relations with the Andean nation.

The visit comes on the heels of a U.N. General Assembly appearance in which Ahmadinejad said Iran will ignore demands by "arrogant powers" to curb its nuclear program.

Morales, a strident leftist, joins Venezuela's Hugo Chavez as one of Iran's allies. He called the visit a historic event, saying the two nations "will work together from this day on, for our people, for life and for humanity."

Ahmadinejad called Morales his "dear brother" and said his trip will be "the start of deep relations between both governments."

Ahmadinejad and Morales were expected to sign accords that Bolivian officials say could help them better tap the continent's second-largest natural gas reserves after Venezuela's and drum up urgently needed agricultural investment.

Ahmadinejad then heads to Caracas to meet Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who has defended Iran's claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes.

Ahmadinejad's trip south underscores his strengthening links to Latin American nations that also include Nicaragua and Ecuador even as the United States tries to isolate him internationally.

"It's a connection that is growing stronger all the time," said Alberto Garrido, a Venezuelan writer and political analyst. "It's Iran's answer to the United States on its own home turf. The United States is in the Middle East, so Iran is in Latin America."

Energy experts doubt the new Bolivia-Iran alliance will let Morales deliver on his promise of using gas profits to ease grinding poverty in South America's poorest nation. But by opening diplomatic ties, Iran and Morales' "anti-imperialist" administration appear to be on the same political page.

The growing closeness between Iran and Chavez-allied governments is viewed with alarm by the opposition in Venezuela and Bolivia, and by Washington, which calls Iran a sponsor of terrorism.

The move reminds Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., "of the relationship that Fidel Castro had with Russia."

"Ahmadinejad recognizes that if he can get a foothold in Latin America, he can continue to spread his hatred for the United States," Mack said, adding that it is now imperative for Washington to reach out more to a region analysts say it largely ignored post-Sept. 11, 2001.

"You don't want to have your enemy at your backdoor."

Chavez has promised more than $8.8 billion in aid, financing and energy funding to Latin America and the Caribbean this year, prompting a group of U.S. senators and congressmen to back a bipartisan aid plan to counter Chavez.

The bill being introduced Thursday would establish a 10-year, $2.5 billion program aimed at reducing poverty. It would require recipient countries to contribute and encourages matching funds from businesses and non-governmental organizations.

While Morales' opponents say the stronger ties could threaten regional security, Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia says his government doesn't endorse nuclear proliferation and the two nations simply want to build commercial ties.

Bolivia is forging "diplomatic relations with Iran to improve the country's economic situation, not to hurt or offend anyone," Garcia said while Morales was in New York this week at the U.N.

Bolivian and Iranian officials declined to offer details on what sort of energy agreements are in the works, but analysts say Iran alone can't give Bolivia the massive investment it needs to boost gas output in the face of potential domestic shortages and looming commitments to its big clients, Argentina and Brazil.

"I think the fact that Morales is talking to the Iranians is a sign of desperation," said Christopher Garman, who heads Latin American research at the Eurasia Group political risk consultancy. "Bolivia is not going to have a white horse saving its energy needs."

But Bolivia-Iran trade can hardly go anywhere but up.

Bolivia exported nothing to Iran between 2000 and 2006, and Iranian exports to Bolivia totaled only $10 million last year, according to government statistics, down from $24 million a year earlier.

Meanwhile, ties between Caracas and Tehran are strong and growing. Iran and Venezuela have signed more than 180 trade agreements since 2001, worth more than $20 billion in potential investment between the two, according to Iran's official news agency, IRNA.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa also wants closer ties with Tehran, and Iran's PressTV reported last month that Iran will for the first time open an embassy in Quito.

President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua last month accepted promised Iranian aid of funding for 4,000 tractors, milk-processing plants, 10,000 houses, piers and the construction of a farm equipment assembly plant. In exchange, Nicaragua agreed to export coffee, meat and bananas to Iran.

Chavez is a vocal defender of Iran's nuclear program, accusing the United States of trumping up unfounded concerns about possible nuclear weapons as a pretext to attack a regime it opposes.

"Iran isn't making an atomic bomb, not at all," Chavez said Monday. "They just want to develop nuclear energy. Venezuela will do it also someday."

Iran strengthens South America ties (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070927/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/south_america_iran;_ylt=Ah2gLzBtbCD53gKIM.qVtha3IxIF)

Iran Wins 2-Month Reprieve From New U.N. Sanctions Over Nuclear Program

Friday , September 28, 2007

AP
NEW YORK —
In a setback for the United States, Iran won a two-month reprieve from new U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program on Friday. The Bush administration and its European allies ceded to Russian and Chinese demands to give Tehran more time to address international concerns.

An agreement reached in talks here between six key nations and supported by the European Union gives Iran until November to make progress in answering questions about the program that the United States and others alleged is a cover for nuclear weapons development.

The decision marks another blow for Washington in its diplomatic struggle to toughen existing U.N. sanctions on Iran, whose leader this week declared to the U.N. General Assembly that the nuclear issue was "closed" and vowed to defy attempts to add new penalties.

The Bush administration had hoped to capitalize on growing international frustration with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hardline stance in refusing to halt uranium enrichment and reprocessing that he insists are purely for peaceful civilian energy use.

But despite increasing support for new sanctions in Europe — particularly from Britain, France and Germany — Russia and China refused to yield, insisting on giving Tehran more time to accept an offer for negotiations in exchange for suspending its nuclear activities.

After talks hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, backed by the E.U.'s top diplomat, agreed to delay a new sanctions resolution.

A joint statement from the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany said they would finalize the new resolution and bring it to a vote unless reports in November from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog and the E.U. foreign policy chief "show a positive outcome of their efforts."

At the same time, Rice said, they would continue work on a new sanctions resolution so if there were no progress, the resolution would be ready to be introduced in the Security Council for a vote.

"We'll be working to finalize the text and we will be watching to see what progress takes place ... in the November timeframe so that we can move to Security Council sanctions should there not be progress," Rice told reporters after the meeting in a New York hotel.

She also noted that the United States and the European members of the so-called "P5+1" group would pursue bilateral financial sanctions against Iran and Iranian government entities. For its part, the United States is considering imposing such measures against elements of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Rice denied that the agreement was tantamount to a U.S. cave-in to Russia and China although her top negotiator in the matter, the State Department's No. 3 diplomat Nicholas Burns, allowed that "the alchemy of this group is such that anything is going to be a compromise."

Burns, who will meet at least twice with his counterparts in the P5+1 before November to produce a new draft sanctions resolution, maintained that the statement sent "a very tough and strict message to Iran."

He said the U.S. saw the statement as a commitment by all signatories to back a third sanctions resolution if there is no positive Iranian response. But U.N. diplomats cautioned that what constitutes a positive response may differ, especially between the U.S. and Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who exchanged sharp words with Rice on the sanctions matter earlier this week, appeared to confirm that thinking by saying Friday's agreement did not automatically mean new sanctions in November.

"The statement is very unambiguous," Lavrov told reporters. "What we discussed today is to concentrate on doing everything to help negotiations to succeed."

In the statement, the ministers and E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana welcomed a July agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency to answer questions about 20 years of nuclear activity — most of it secret until just over four years ago.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei is expected to present a report to the agency's board of directors in late November on the status of his investigation, which the United States has downplayed because it only relates to past, and not current or future, actions.

"We call upon Iran, however, to produce tangible results rapidly and effectively by clarifying all outstanding issues and concerns on Iran's nuclear program including topics which could have the military nuclear dimension," the statement said.

"Full transparency and cooperation by Iran with the IAEA is essential in order to address outstanding concerns," it said.

The other report to be considered will come from E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana who has been charged with cajoling Iran into accepting a June 2006 offer of negotiations on a package of economic and political rewards in exchange for suspending its enrichment program.

The statement urged Iran "to engage in a dialogue to create the conditions for negotiations" and asked Solana, who attended Friday's meeting, to meet with Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, "to lay the foundation for future negotiations."

Two U.N. resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran have failed to persuade it to suspend uranium enrichment and in a Tuesday address to the U.N. General Assembly, Ahmadinejad said the nuclear issue is "closed" and vowed to defy any U.N. Security Council move for more sanctions.

No specific date was set for submitting the new sanctions resolution to a vote in the Security Council because the six nations want to give Solana and ElBaradei some flexibility in producing their reports, Burns said.

The ministers wanted to "threaten to vote the resolution, but not foreclose the diplomatic opportunity that may be ahead," he said.

Iran Wins 2-Month Reprieve From New U.N. Sanctions Over Nuclear Program (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,298492,00.html)

Iran Ordered Terrorist Bombing in the Americas

Thursday , September 27, 2007

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The Iranian government directly ordered an act of terrorism in the Americas after being frustrated in its secret nuclear ambitions, a former chief of Argentine intelligence tells FOX News in an exclusive interview.

Miguel Angel Toma, the former head of the Argentina's intelligence service, tells FOX News' Dan Senor that the Iranian government directly ordered a terror bombing on a Buenos Aires Jewish community center in 1994. The interview will air on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on FOX News Channel.

Toma's investigation into a Middle East-style terrorist bombing targeting Argentinean Jews found that the orders for the attack were given at the highest levels of the Iranian government in response to the ending of secret nuclear and missile agreements between Iran and Argentina.

On March 17, 1992, a homicide bomber drove an explosive-filled truck into the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring hundreds more. Two years later, on July 18, 1994, an attack on a Buenos Aires Jewish community center killed 85.

Click here to watch a clip from the documentary. (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,298300,00.html#)

"The attacks in the '90s against the Jewish community center and the Israeli embassy brought up many distinct questions because they came from many thousands of miles away and obviously were plotted from many thousands of miles away," Toma told FOX News.

Responsibility for both bombings was pinned on Hezbollah, but Toma's investigation into the community center bombing found the decision for that bombing came straight from Tehran.

The Iranian President at the time, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of the Iranian Supreme Council of Security met in Mashhad, Iran, on Aug. 14, 1993 to plan the second bombing, Toma said.

"It's a mistake to think those operations do not reach the highest levels of the Iranian government," Toma told FOX News. "They study them at the highest levels case by case."

Arrest warrants were issued for nine Iranian officials and Hezbollah leaders, but they all remain at large.

Iranian involvement came as a shock for the South American nation, which had enjoyed active trading with Iran to the tune of $400 million in the 1970s and '80s.

"During the '80s the government of Argentina signed agreements with them in the areas of technological investigation with the purpose of a nuclear and missile programs," Toma said.

The replacement of Argentina's military dictatorship soured the nation's relationship with Tehran. In 1989, a new civilian government headed by Carlos Menem took power and cancelled nuclear and missile development treaties.

"We never thought in Argentina this would be a factor for determining a terrorist attack," Toma told FOX News. "We found out that later after the two bombs exploded in Buenos Aires."

Iran Ordered Terrorist Bombing in the Americas (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,298300,00.html)

Iran labels U.S. 'terrorist organization'
Tehran parliament signs nonbinding resolution tagging CIA, U.S. Army

Iran's parliament on Saturday approved a nonbinding resolution labeling the CIA and the U.S. Army "terrorist organizations," in apparent response to a Senate resolution seeking to give a similar designation to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The hard-line dominated parliament cited U.S. involvement in dropping nuclear bombs in Japan in World War II, using depleted uranium munitions in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, supporting the killings of Palestinians by Israel, bombing and killing Iraqi civilians, and torturing terror suspects in prisons.

"The aggressor U.S. Army and the Central Intelligence Agency are terrorists and also nurture terror," said a statement by the 215 lawmakers who signed the resolution at an open session of the Iranian parliament. The session was broadcast live on state-run radio.

The resolution, which is seen as a diplomatic offensive against the U.S., urges Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government to treat the two as terrorist organizations. It also paves the way for the resolution to become legislation that — if ratified by the country's hardline constitutional watchdog — would become law.

The government is expected to wait for U.S. reaction before making its decision. In Washington, the White House declined to comment Saturday.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted 76-22 in favor of a resolution urging the State Department to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. While the proposal attracted overwhelming bipartisan support, a small group of Democrats said they feared labeling the state-sponsored organization a terrorist group could be interpreted as a congressional authorization of military force in Iran.

The Bush administration had already been considering whether to blacklist an elite unit within the Revolutionary Guard, subjecting part of the vast military operation to financial sanctions.

The U.S. legislative push came a day after Ahmadinejad told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly that his country would defy attempts to impose new sanctions by "arrogant powers" seeking to curb its nuclear program, accusing them of lying and imposing illegal penalties on his country.

He said the nuclear issue was now "closed" as a political issue and Iran would pursue the monitoring of its nuclear program "through its appropriate legal path," the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated over Washington accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and has been supplying Shiite militias in Iraq with deadly weapons used to kill U.S. troops. Iran denies both of the allegations.

Millions of Iranians hold nation-wide rallies to mark Jerusalem Day

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has observed the last Friday of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, as Jerusalem Day with a way of expressing support to the Palestinians and emphasizing the importance of Jerusalem to Moslems.

This year, millions of Iranians attended nationwide rallies in support of the Palestinians even as the Iranian president said that Israel's continued existence was an insult to human dignity and that the occupation of Palestine is not limited to one land, the Zionist issue is now a global issue. In Tehran, hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets as they chanted "Death to Israel" and as they burned Israeli flags. The Iranian President Ahmadinejad said, together with other nations, Iran would continue the resistance until the Palestinian lands are liberated from Israel.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad's continued radical rhetoric, focused on the Jewish state of Israel, has a very significant prophetic aspect for the End Times according to Bible prophecy.

The statement during Jerusalem Day rallies in Iran that the creation, continued existence, and unlimited support of Israel is an insult to human dignity is a blatant example of the radical rhetoric by Iran's President Ahmadinejad that is impacting the world. Over the last two years, Ahmadinejad has denied that the Holocaust of the Jews ever took place, that Israel must be removed from the Earth and that the end of the Jewish existence is close at hand, has been a rallying cry for Israel haters to join together to accomplish Ahmadinejad's goals.

Calling your "holy" day, Jerusalem Day, and celebrating the total demise of the Jews from their God-given land is inline with the prophetic scenario for the Last Days that is found in Bible prophecy. A number of the ancient Jewish prophets addressed the issue of attempts by Israel's enemies to try and remove them from the Earth as is the case in Daniel11, Ezekiel 38 and Psalm 83. Zechariah points out that Jerusalem will be on the agenda of Israel's enemies as well, Zechariah 12:2-3 and Zechariah 1:14-16. The death of a large number of Jews, eight million of them, is also predicted, Zechariah 13:8, Revelation 12:13-17.

As Iranian President Ahmadinejad ratchets up his rhetoric, these prophecies come closer and closer to being fulfilled.

Iranians chant 'death to Israel' in mass protest
Oct 5 04:07 AM US/Eastern

Tens of thousands of Iranians marched through Tehran on Friday proclaiming solidarity with Palestinians and chanting "Death to Israel" in the Islamic republic's annual protest against the Jewish state.

Iranians of all ages began the march through the centre of the capital to Tehran University to mark Quds Day, calling for Jerusalem and Israel to be handed to the Palestinians.

Coloured bibs were handed out to protestors with the legend "Death to Israel, Death to United States" while "Palestine will only be free with fighting and faith" was the slogan on one banner.

Despite the heavily politicised nature of the demonstration, there was a festive mood with the numerous children present having their faces painted as cats and rabbits in entertainment laid on by the municipality.

"I come every year because the Palestinians are helpless and they cannot defend themselves. I come here to here to attract the world's attention to their plight," said Somayeh Salim, 27.

She was carrying an Israeli flag in her rucksack: "I am going to burn it."

The protest was due to be echoed in similar demonstrations up and down the country. The Tehran demonstration was due to culminate in a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the university.

Ahmadinejad provoked an international outcry shortly after his election in 2005 when he called for Israel to be "wiped from the map" and also described the Holocaust as a "myth".

Although he subsequently toned down his rhetoric slightly, Ahmadinejad has still repeatedly predicted that Israel is doomed to disappear and questioned the scale of the mass slaughter of Jews in World War II.

The Islamic republic however insists that its nuclear programme is solely aimed at generating electricity for a growing population whose giant oil and gas reserves will eventually run out.

Iranians chant 'death to Israel' in mass protest (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071005080651.03rs1f47&show_article=1)

Irans "Final Response" to US and Israel on October 12

by Ezra HaLevi

Iran has promised a devastating “final response” to supporters of the Jewish State on October 12, the Islamic Republic’s Quds (Jerusalem) Day.

“Supporters of the Zionist regime will receive their response during the world Quds Day's rallies,” Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said at a weekly press conference Wednesday.

According to the state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Elham was describing Iran's planned response for US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit “to the occupied Palestine [sic].”

"The US loses all opportunities to cooperate with regional and other world states by trying to support a regime (the Zionist regime) which is now at its weakest political and social position," Elham said. "Supporters of the Zionist regime will definitely receive the final response for their support on Quds day."

Quds Day is held each year on the last Friday of the Islamic month of Ramadan. It was instituted in 1979, following the Islamic revolution by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

“I ask all the Muslims of the world and the Muslim governments to join together to sever the hand of this usurper and its supporters,” Khomeini said when proposing the day. “I call on all the Muslims of the world to select as Quds Day the last Friday in the holy month of Ramadan - which is itself a determining period and can also be the determiner of the Palestinian people’s fate - and through a ceremony demonstrating the solidarity of Muslims world-wide, announce their support for the legitimate rights of the Muslim people. I ask G-d Almighty for the victory of the Muslims over the infidels.”

On Quds Day in 2000, Khomeini’s successor Khamenei called for Israel’s destruction, saying it is “the only way to solve the problems of the Middle East.”

Open Threats of War
One of Khamenei’s top advisers, Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, declared Tuesday that Iran would strike “in shortest possible time” in case of any strike on its nuclear facilities. He referred specifically to the army of suicide-bombers and child-soldiers active during the Iran-Iraq war. "The enemy will face strong armed forces especially the Basij [suicide-bombers and child soldiers] if it unleashed a military attack on Iran," he said. He claimed that the Basij army has 20 million members.

According to IRNA, “He said that the US has been entangled in a quagmire in Iraq and cannot easily survive.”

Iranian Embassy: US Carried Out the Worst Holocaust
Responding to US President George W. Bush's recent statement that a nuclear Iran would place the region under threat of nuclear holocaust, Iran's embassy in Mexico released the following statement Tuesday: "The term used by President George W. Bush should be referred to what the US carried out in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the World War II when it destroyed the two Japanese cities with atomic bombs." It added that Bush “implicitly admitted that what Washington had done in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a crime worse than Hitler's crimes."

Irans "Final Response" to US and Israel on October 12 (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123724)

Every year now, it seems, we go through the big Iranian Armageddon scare. Last year it was the August 22nd debacle, this year it was a report from Iranian media about the “final response” that was coming to Israel and its supporters on world Quds Day, listed in the Iranian news story as falling on October 12. Tips have been trickling in all week quoting this passage:

Quote

“The US loses all opportunities to cooperate with regional and other world states by trying to support a regime (the Zionist regime) which is now at its weakest political and social position,” [Iranian spokesman Gholam-Hossein] Elham said.

He warned that Washington’s insistence on its wrong policies and arrogant approaches would have no result “but further political disgrace” for itself.

Referring to the approaching World Qods Day, the spokesman stressed, “Supporters of the Zionist regime will definitely receive the final response for their support on that day.”

Websites have been pimping this bluster for the past month and it was even picked up by Fox News, which quoted the “final response” line — without also quoting the lead from the Iranian story: “Supporters of the Zionist regime will receive their response during the world Qods Day’s rallies, government spokesman, Gholam-Hossein Elham, said Wednesday.” That makes it sound like they were talking about a verbal response, not some surprise attack. And the punchline? As far as I can tell, the Iranian story got the date of Quds Day wrong. It was last Friday, not today, unless they’re doing some special Quds thing in Tehran. Which, judging from the newswires, they aren’t.

Hawks need to do better about crying wolf over this stuff. The media, thankfully, mostly held off on this one but every time some saber-rattling gets tagged as the signal for the Iranian Pearl Harbor and then doesn’t pan out, it gives the left something new to point to as “evidence” that the threat doesn’t exist at all. It cuts to the heart of the debate over Iran: are they so fanatic that they’d telegraph the date of a surprise attack by either announcing it beforehand or coordinating it with some Shiite holiday, or are they pragmatic enough that they’d keep mum in order to retain the advantage of surprise? I’m guessing the latter but your mileage may vary.

Iranians, Solana to meet with Prodi

By ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago

ROME - Iranian negotiators said Wednesday that progress could be made on resolving the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, even as their president vowed to keep enriching uranium and dismissed U.N. Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions as "worthless papers."
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Iran's delegation held two days of talks with Western officials in Rome that marked the international debut of its newly appointed top negotiator, Saeed Jalili, a 42-year-old diplomat seen as a loyalist of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Jalili was accompanied by his predecessor, Ali Larijani, who is considered more moderate within Ahmadinejad's hard-line camp. It was Larijani who spoke to reporters Wednesday, not Jalili, and he appeared to take the lead in the closed-door nuclear talks, officials said.

Larijani said constructive ideas that could yield progress over the impasse on his country's nuclear program had been introduced during talks Tuesday with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and at a meeting Wednesday with Italian Premier Romano Prodi.

"In the last part of the talks with Mr. Prodi and Mr. Solana, ideas were introduced that were constructive and that might lead to further progress," Larijani said. He did not elaborate.

After Tuesday's EU-Iran session, Larijani did almost all the talking, answering several questions from reporters. Jalili said only that Tehran was committed to dialogue but also would not change its stance in the talks.

Solana also characterized Tuesday's session as "constructive," and said more talks would probably be held by the end of November.

While Wednesday's talks were under way in Rome, the Iranian president belittled the two Security Council resolutions that imposed sanctions on Iran for failing to obey a U.N. demand to halt uranium enrichment.

"The so-called dossier at the Security Council is a pile of papers that have no value. They can add to those worthless papers every day because it has no effect on the will of the Iranian nation," Iranian state television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Saying sanctions only make Iran more self-reliant, he vowed Iran would not give up its right to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel.

"We are for talks, but we won't negotiate over our rights because it means giving up part of the rights of the nation," Ahmadinejad said.

The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons in violation of its commitments under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Iran says it is enriching uranium only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity.

The replacement of Larijani as Iran's top nuclear negotiator raised questions about whether Tehran had decided to take an even more defiant position in the standoff with the West.

The U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, which are leading negotiations with Iran, agreed last month to delay until November any new U.N. resolution to toughen sanctions, giving Tehran more time to cooperate with a U.N. investigation into its past nuclear activities.

Iranians, Solana to meet with Prodi (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071024/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear;_ylt=Apc5qpbRFuESvHu9xeIxRl8LewgF)

Iran says U.N. decisions on atomic plans worthless
Oct 24, 2007

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will not abandon its atomic goals because of U.N. sanction resolutions that are "just a pile of papers", President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday.

The Security Council has imposed two sets of limited sanctions because of Iran's failure to heed a demand to halt nuclear work the West believes is aimed at building atomic bombs. Tehran denies any such military plans.

"Some people tell us Iran's case is at the (U.N.) Security Council but we tell them those (decisions by the Council) are just a pile of papers. They don't have any value for us," Iran's ISNA news agency reported Ahmadinejad as saying.

Iran's new chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, held talks in Rome on Tuesday with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who is representing world powers in a bid to end the atomic row.

Both sides described those talks as "constructive". Further discussions are expected by the end of November.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran works in the framework of the law. As we have said we want to talk and negotiate and we are ready to answer if there are any questions or ambiguities," Ahmadinejad told reporters after a cabinet meeting, ISNA said.

Six world powers have agreed to delay any further U.N. penalties until at least November. They want to see if Iran is cooperating with the U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, in answering questions about Tehran's nuclear intentions and to await a report by Solana.

In comments carried by Iran's Mehr News Agency, Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to consider "constructive" proposals from Europe but said they should not adopt the "devilish behavior" pursued by the United States, Iran's arch foe.

The United States says it wants a diplomatic solution to the standoff but has not ruled out military action if that route does not work.

The president does not have the final say in nuclear policy or other matters of state in Iran. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ultimate authority and has also said in the past that the Islamic Republic would not buckle under pressure.

Iran says U.N. decisions on atomic plans worthless (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSHAF44158620071024)

Iranian delegation holds joint press conference with Solana and Prodi
Rome, Oct 24, IRNA

Iran-Italy-EU
Iranian high ranking delegation held a press conference here Wednesday with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana.

At the beginning, Prime Minister Prodi said, "Dialogue is the only way to find a solution for Iran's nuclear program in the UN Security Council and Italy encourages this way."
He invited Iran to determine a date for agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), so that ElBaradei can present a positive report on the case in November.

Prodi asked Saeed Jalili and Ali Larijani to consider the UN Security Council requests on stopping uranium enrichment as a prelude to acceptance of Additional Protocol of Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

He said meeting with Iranian delegation here in Rome is very important and useful for peace in the region.

The Italian PM underlined, "Tehran should accept that it is a regional power and play a constructive role for peace and stability in the region." Ali Larijani, for his part, said, "At the end of today's discussions, new points of views were presented which may cause advancement in the talks." He noted that IAEA's inspectors are in Tehran now.

Former Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani said, "Mr. Prodi has a deep and vast knowledge on international and regional issues and we have always benefitted from his viewpoints."
He also appreciated Italian government for hosting the talks.

European Union (EU) Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana also thanked Italian government for its role in mediating the issue of Iran's nuclear program.

He called relations between Rome and the Middle East 'important' and noted that Iran's government intends to advance the talks.

Iranian delegation holds joint press conference with Solana and Prodi (http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0710247768231036.htm)

Iran's Revolutionary Guard controls embassy in Baghdad

Iran's Revolutionary Guard is using Iran's Embassy in Baghdad to coordinate covert operations in Iraq, an Iranian opposition group has claimed.

Mohammad Mohadessin, a spokesman for the Paris-based National Council Resistance of Iran, or NCRI, also said the guard had taken over some of Iran's most lucrative companies and was profiting from trade with the European Union.

"The Iranian regime is run by senior (Revolutionary Guard) officers and their role is growing," Mohadessin said in a statement received Saturday.

Citing information obtained by resistance sources in Iran, Mohadessin claimed the Guard had transformed Iran's embassy in Baghdad "into the most important center for coordinating its terrorist and intelligence activities against Coalition forces."

He named five diplomats at the embassy who, he said, were actually senior Guard officers.

An official at the Iranian Embassy in Brussels declined to comment on Mohadessin's allegations.

It was not possible to independently verify the NCRI claim, but the group has provided relatively accurate information on developments in Iran over the past several years, including details on the country's secretive nuclear program.

The NCRI is the political wing of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, an opposition group that advocates the overthrow of government in Tehran.

The Mujahedeen have been designated a terrorist group by Iran, and by both the United States and the European Union.

"Over the years the (Guard) has created financial sources which do not fall under the control of the government," Mohadessin said.

Because large chunks of Iran's non-oil exports and imports are conducted by companies controlled by the Guard, "a major portion of the US$40 billion in EU trade is now done with (the Guard), its affiliates and its front companies."

But Christiane Hohmann, spokeswoman for EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, noted that the 27-nation bloc had not slapped sanctions on Iran.

"There is no economic embargo against Iran in place and no economic sanctions, (but) there are export restrictions in place with regard to dual-use goods," Hohmann said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard controls embassy in Baghdad (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380664346&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran accuses US, Israel of supporting Kurdish rebels

Islamic republic's foreign minister tells reporters in Tehran at that 'terrorist activities' have increased in northern Iraq since 'foreign forces' arrived there

Associated Press
Published: 10.28.07, 11:54
Israel News

Iran's foreign minister on Sunday accused the US and Israel of supporting Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, but his Turkish counterpart distanced himself from the claim, saying he didn't think Washington was behind the Iraq-based rebels but stressed that Ankara would do what was necessary to stop them.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters in Tehran at a news conference with Ali Babacan, Turkey's foreign minister, that "terrorist activities" have increased in northern Iraq since "foreign forces" arrived there.

"From our point of view, efforts by Israel and the US are behind some terrorist activities. Most probably, some secret agreements have caused a lack of confrontation against terrorism," Mottaki said, referring to Iraq-based Kurdish rebels.

"We hope this part of the US policy would be corrected," he said.

But Babacan, who was in Iran to lobby for support for the Turkish side in its conflict with the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, expressed gratitude for Iran's cooperation but did not back Mottaki's accusations against the US and Israel, which are allies of Ankara. "I don't like to think that the US supports a terrorist group," Babacan said.

The Turkish foreign minister instead stressed that Turkey would use whatever necessary to combat the PKK. "Turkey in fighting against terrorism and will use and support all mechanisms," Babacan said. "International cooperation and solidarity is the only way to fight terrorism."

Mottaki offered vague support for Turkey against the PKK but did not elaborate on exactly what Iran would support. "Iran insists on the necessity of using required activities for stopping such terrorist operations," Mottaki said.

Turkey has demands more action
Babacan's comments echoed those of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who on Saturday said Turkey will fight the Iraq-based Kurdish rebels when it is needed, regardless of international pressure.

Erdogan said he would not be constrained by other nations - despite concerns from the United States, Iraq and other countries that an incursion would destabilize northern Iraq. The conflict in southeastern Turkey between government forces and guerrilla fighters has claimed nearly 40,000 lives since 1984. PKK fighters have killed at least 42 people in the past month, including some 30 Turkish soldiers killed in ambushes.

In recent months, Turkey has demanded more action from the US and Iraq in the fight against the PKK - which Washington and the European Union have labeled a terrorist group. The sharp escalation in the fighting has brought Turkey to the brink sending troops south across the border into Iraq.

Iran has its own problems with Kurdish opposition groups, particularly the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, known by its Kurdish initials PEJAK.

An offshoot of the PKK, PEJACK is struggling for autonomy for Iran's Kurds due to alleged government discrimination, and the mountainous Iran-Iraq border region has been the scene of sporadic clashes between PEJAK and Iranian forces in recent years.

PEJAK and PKK bases in Iraq's Mount Qandil region, right on the border with Iran and Turkey, have long been a sore point in relations between the three countries. Babacan also visited several Arab countries in recent weeks to gauge their support for a Turkish offensive into northern Iraq.

Both the Egypt and Jordan have cautioned Turkey against unleashing a troop offensive against the rebels and urged dialogue. Alone among Arab countries was Syria, an Iran ally which has come out in support of Turkey.

Iran accuses US, Israel of supporting Kurdish rebels (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3464808,00.html)

Iran steps up preparations for US war

Tim Shipman in Washington and Kay Biouki in Teheran
Last Updated: 1:03am GMT 28/10/2007

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is stepping up preparations for possible war with America by replacing a string of moderate regime officials with hardliners who more closely share his views.

After months in which his government has played down the risk of war over Iran's nuclear programme, officials have also begun making bellicose pronouncements in an apparent attempt to ready public opinion for a military clash.

Last week's resignation of Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, and his replacement by Saeed Jalili, an Ahmadinejad ally who is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, was merely the most visible of a series of discreet personnal changes, diplomats have revealed.

In recent weeks Mr Ahmadinejad has fired ministers responsible for oil and heavy industry, and forced out the governor of Iran's central bank for refusing to back his policies. Last week he also quietly brought in hardliners to the justice and foreign ministries. "We don't need people with specialities, we need people who are devoted," he said.

But the lack of worldly experience among his appointees has unnerved US officials.

The new nuclear negotiator speaks little English and had not travelled to the West before Mr Ahmadinejad was elected president, according to Mehdi Khalaji of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Western diplomats have also been alarmed by the appointment of General Mohammad Ali Jafari, who took part in the storming of the US Embassy in Teheran in 1979, as head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, one of the most powerful institutions in Iran. A Pentagon adviser compared him to the US general in charge of forces in Iraq. "He is the Iranian Petraeus. He has studied counter-insurgency warfare."

CIA and Pentagon analysts are fearful that Gen Jafari's views are reflected among the other senior appointments made by Mr Ahmadinejad. He has declared his wish to identify "martyrdom-seeking individuals in society" and warned: "Each of our suicide volunteers equals a nuclear bomb."

Last week, Gen Jafari announced changes in the structure of the Revolutionary Guards and the feared Basij paramilitary forces, to make them better able to "defend the revolution against any kind of threat, whether domestic or foreign".

At the same time a Revolutionary Guards general, Mahmoud Chahar Baghi, threatened to "fire 11,000 missiles at US targets in the region in the first few minutes of the conflict", and it was announced that Iran has signed a deal with China to purchase 24 J-10 fighter jets by 2010, which have the range to hit Israel.

Michael Rubin, who was an adviser on Iran to the former US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said: "I don't think they fully understand the West.

They have become overconfident about their strength and underestimate the US."

Mr Rumsfeld's successor, Robert Gates, confirmed that "routine" planning was under way to give President George Bush options for striking at Iran. At the same time the president sought $88 million of congressional funding to modify B2 stealth bombers to carry a 30,000lb bunker-buster bomb, capable of damaging Iran's underground nuclear facilities.

Iranian police has also shut and sealed several Teheran bookshops which also provide coffee and snacks to readers, telling one owner: "All the corruption in the country comes out of these cafés."

Iran steps up preparations for US war (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/28/wiran128.xml)

Iran defiant ahead of nuclear talks with Russia
Tue Oct 30, 2007 9:40am EDT

By Fredrik Dahl

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will not back down in a nuclear dispute with the West and is not interested in talks with the United States, its president said on Tuesday ahead of a previously unannounced visit by Russia's foreign minister.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking hours before he was due to meet Russia's Sergei Lavrov in Tehran, dismissed U.S. offers of broader negotiations between the two foes if Tehran first halts atomic work which Washington fears is aimed at building bombs.

"This nation will not negotiate with anyone over its obvious and legal rights," Ahmadinejad told student members of the Basij religious militia, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"We are not even interested in negotiating with you (the United States) and the Iranian nation does not need America."

In Moscow, a spokesman said Lavrov would discuss nuclear and bilateral issues during a working visit to the Iranian capital. Iranian officials said he would meet Ahmadinejad.

Russia says dialogue, not more penalties or military action as mooted in the United States, is the way to ease an escalating international stand-off over Tehran's atomic ambitions.

The Lavrov visit coincides with a crucial round of talks in Tehran between officials from Iran and the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog on implementing an August deal meant to resolve questions about past secret Iranian activity.

The current talks were meant to clarify Iran's efforts to develop centrifuges which enrich uranium.

IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei will report to the agency's 35-nation board of governors in mid-November. If Iran has not answered sensitive questions by then, Western powers say they will move to have harsh U.N. sanctions adopted against Iran.

TIME RUNNING SHORT

"We are now collecting remaining information and doing the assessment for the report," said a diplomat close to the IAEA. "There's little time for more meetings. But we have a number of issues beyond centrifuges so we might still have to meet again."

Tension has been rising between Iran and the United States, which has not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails in stopping Iran's sensitive atomic work.

But visiting Tehran two weeks ago, President Vladimir Putin told Washington that Russia would not accept military strikes against Iran.

Putin, who was the first Kremlin leader to travel to Iran since World War Two, has also criticized new U.S. sanctions on the Islamic republic.

The United States last week broadened its own longstanding sanctions on Iran to include part of the Revolutionary Guards and accused the most important wing of Tehran's military of spreading weapons of mass destruction.

Putin said on Thursday that such moves only forced Iran into a corner over its nuclear program.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said Lavrov's trip to Tehran was planned in advance but only announced earlier on Tuesday for technical reasons.

"The visit is being seen as a continuation of the high-level contacts that took place in Tehran between the Russian president and the Iranian president," Kamynin said.

"It is for synchronizing watches, and developing (what was discussed) at the recent summit," he said.

It was not clear whether Lavrov and Ahmadinejad would hold a news conference after their discussions, which Iranian official said were due to start at 12:00 p.m. EDT.

The U.N. Security Council has already imposed two sets of limited sanctions on Iran for its refusal to halt enrichment, a process to make fuel for nuclear power plants that can also, if refined further, provide material for bombs.

Ahmadinejad made clear Iran would defy Western pressure:

"The enemies have retreated step by step and the Iranian nation is getting closer to the peaks of glory step by step ... Today, from our viewpoint, the nuclear issue has ended."

Iran defiant ahead of nuclear talks with Russia (http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL3037509120071030?sp=true)

Supreme Leader: Bright prospects awaiting Iran
Tehran, Oct 31, IRNA

Supreme Leader-Student Day
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that prospects of the country is bright and promising.

The Supreme Leader said in his address to several thousand students and members of Basij (volunteer forces) that Iran's dignity, independence and strength are dependent on boosting might, religious faith, scientific efforts in parallel with initiative of every individual especially the youth.

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized the need for national solidarity and unity between the nation and government.

The Supreme Leader recalled the events which took place on November 4 including speech of late Imam Khomeini in 1963 and his exile, opening fire on students rally on November 4, 1978 by deposed Shah's secret police and said that though the US puppet regime inflicted blows on the Iranian nations twice on November 4, the revolutionary students took over the US embassy which was den of espionage on November 4, 1979.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that fate of nations always depends on their own decision whether to bow to hegemony and keeping silent to bullying or stand up to the arrogant powers.

"The Iranian nation opted for the second way and that victory of the Islamic Revolution led by late Imam Khomeini dealt a blow to US bullying and its humiliating approach," the Supreme Leader said.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the Iranian nation has already paid hefty price for its independence and dignity during the eight-year Iraqi-imposed war (1980-1988) and Iranian youth are proponent of dignity and independence for the Islamic nations. So Iran's status and prestige are incomparable to the past, he added.

The Supreme Leader appreciated hard work of Basij members and said that the Basij has undertaken to serve independence and prosperity of the nation and it is in full alert to insure the invulnerability of the country.

The Supreme Leader made it clear that the US opposition to Iranian nuclear program is because it is an example of progress for Iran and that it does not like to see the Iranian nation making advances. "A nation acquiring scientific power can no longer be bullied."
Ayatollah Khamenei ruled out alleged Iranian complicity in killing of US troop as 'great lie' and said that it is the madness of the US administration which sends US troops to abyss.

The Supreme Leader once again strongly dismissed the US allegation about death of US troops and said that the US administration is under fire in the international community for its wrong policy, so it is accusing Iran in desperation.

The Supreme Leader said that US is responsible for lack of security in the Middle East and intervention in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

"The world nations are aware of the US administration's practices and US officials face public protest wherever they visit. It is clear example of their isolation in the international community," the Supreme Leader said.

Supreme Leader: Bright prospects awaiting Iran (http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-24/0710312748172949.htm)

Ahmadinejad says U.S. remains Iran's enemy
15:44 12/ 11/ 2007

TEHRAN, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that the resumption of talks with Washington on security issues in Iraq did not reflect any changes in Tehran's attitude toward the U.S.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini earlier said that Tehran was ready to continue talks with the U.S. on Iraq security after the successful completion of negotiations last summer.

"The talks with the Americans are related to security in Iraq and are being held at the request of the Iraqi people and government," Ahmadinejad said, addressing a group of students at the Science and Industry University in Tehran.

"Our position toward the United States remains unchanged, however - the U.S. is conducting a vengeful and hostile policy against the interests of the Iranian people," he said.

The first round of official negotiations between Tehran and Washington took place in Baghdad in late May, and were the first direct talks between the two countries for 27 years. The main issues discussed were the situation in Iraq and the release of Iranian diplomats seized by the U.S. in January in Iraq on suspicion of aiding Iraqi militants.

The second round was held in July, also in Baghdad, and the three sides agreed to set up a trilateral committee on Iraqi security.

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said at the time that Tehran might consider consultations between the countries deputy foreign ministers "if the United States files an official request".

However, Iran remains the subject of international concern over its controversial nuclear program. The U.S. and Europe suspect Iran of pursuing a clandestine weapons program. Tehran says it needs the program for energy.

Two sets of UN Security Council sanctions are currently in place against Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment that could be used in both electricity generation and weapons production. A further round of more stringent sanctions has been blocked by China and Russia so far.

Ahmadinejad, who has recently faced growing domestic criticism over his no compromise attitude, largely seen as to blame for subsequent U.N. Security Council sanctions, called on Monday his critics "traitors," and pledged to expose them if they continued to apply pressure over Tehran's nuclear enrichment.

"We are not exposing them right now because of some sensitive issues, but upon closure of the nuclear issue, we will reveal everything," Ahmadinejad said.

"These people are traitors," he said without specifying any names.

Ahmadinejad says U.S. remains Iran's enemy (http://en.rian.ru/world/20071112/87659421.html)

'Iran nuke weaponry still full speed ahead'
Israel official cites 'incriminating information,' slams U.S. intel as 'politically charged'

Israel has "incriminating" information Iran has continued its nuclear weapons program, directly contradicting last week's U.S. intelligence report stating Iran suspended its ambition in 2003.

"The Iranians continue their push for nuclear weapons in specific ways, including the acquisition and development of missiles," said a senior Israeli security official who has access to classified Israeli defense material and intelligence reports on Iran.

"Iran hides its nuclear weapons program but it continues nonetheless," he told WND, indicating the U.S. estimate may have been "politically motivated."

The security official said Israel possesses "incriminating" information that Iran continues its purported drive to obtain nuclear weapons.

But he said the government here has not yet decided what to do regarding the information and material Israel purportedly possesses.

The official said the U.S. estimate has "many holes in it." He said Israel is "gravely concerned" the report may remove the U.S. military option against Iran from the table, and is likely to be the foundation for Russian and Chinese vetoes against further sanctions on Iran scheduled to be discussed tomorrow at the United Nations.

The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate, which represents the consensus view of all 16 American spy agencies, released its report last week judging with "high confidence" that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

The report judged with "moderate confidence" that Iran has not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007.

"But we do not know whether [Iran] currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," stated the NIE report.

The report totaled nine pages. The first page was a colored cover with no information. Four pages gave the background history of the NIE, with one page focusing on the scope of the report on Iran and another page including a coded chart on how to read the report. One page compared the report to a previous estimate.

Only two pages focused on the report's key judgments on Iran, which were worded as blanket statements and which were not backed up by any specific information released in the report.

The NIE report said some agencies judged Iran could produce enough enriched fissile material to make a nuclear weapon within two years – in line with some Israeli estimates – while other agencies, including the State Department's Intelligence and Research office, believe the earliest likely time Iran could have enough highly enriched uranium would be 2013.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today delicately criticized the NIE report, stating in a Knesset briefing Israel's stance on the Iranian nuclear issue would not change despite the American report.

He said Israel would continue to work alongside the International Atomic Energy Agency to "expose covert Iranian activities" and investigate its military program to develop nuclear weapons.

Olmert raised some questions about the U.S. report: "According to the assessment, Iran had a nuclear weapons program until at least 2003 and there is no positive report giving any explanation of where this program has disappeared to," he said.

Olmert's speech was a major departure from his previous public composure toward Israel's relationship with the U.S. The Israeli prime minister routinely states his government is "on the same page" with the Bush administration.

Israeli security officials, speaking to WND, said there were enormous holes in the NIE report that are very easy for the Jewish state to point out. One official said he was confident that "in time" the report would be "exposed as faulty."

Numerous news reports in recent days have attempted to punch holes in the NIE report.

London's Sunday Telegraph quoted a senior British official stating the UK believes Iran deliberately fed misinformation to the U.S. about its nuclear program.

The official expressed skepticism about the findings in the NIE report.

"We are skeptical about the report's findings. It's not as if the American intelligence are regarded as brilliant performers in that region," the official was quoted as telling the Telegraph.

"[The Iranians] say things on the phone because they know we are up on the phones. They say black is white," the official was quoted as saying.

In an interview today with Israel's Haaretz newspaper, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, said the report ignored Iranian uranium enrichment activities at the Iranian city of Natanz because that project was not secret.

Editorials in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times also questioned the NIE report. The Los Angeles Times quoted an expert questioning whether the report sufficiently stressed Iran's enrichment activities.

Meanwhile, at today's Knesset session, lawmakers here blasted the report and questioned America's commitment to Israel and its front against Iran.

"It cannot be that Bush is committed to peace as was declared at Annapolis, and then the Americans propagate such an intelligence report which contradicts the information we have proving Iran intends to obtain nuclear weapons," stated Minister Yitzhak Cohen, a member of the Shas party, a key coalition partner in Olmert's government.

Cohen compared the NIE report to what he said were faulty reports released by the U.S. during the Holocaust that Jews were not being killed in spite of information possessed by American intelligence of the existence of concentration camps.

"In the middle of the previous century the Americans received intelligence reports from Auschwitz on the packed trains going to the extermination camps. They claimed then that the railways were industrial. Their attitude today to the information coming out of Iran on the Iranians' intention to produce a nuclear bomb reminds one of their attitude during the Holocaust," stated Cohen.

Iran students break campus gate in protest denouncing Ahmadinejad
Dec 9 08:24 AM US/Eastern

Iranian students staged a new demonstration at Tehran University on Sunday, damaging the main gate to allow outsiders into the campus and denouncing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, news agencies reported.

The protesters chanted slogans against the president and carried banners calling for the release of three fellow students who have been held since May in a high-profile case, the Fars news agency and state-run IRNA reported.

The reports did not disclose the number of students involved. Both news agencies said that the demonstration had been called by the radical wing of the Office to Foster Unity, a reformist student group.

"The students marched on the gate and damaged it, and this allowed several non-students to enter the campus. The students chanted slogans and carried protesting placards," IRNA reported.

"Ahmadi-Pinochet, Iran will not become Chile!" chanted the protesters, playing on the names of the Iranian president and late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, Fars reported.

The students also burned a copy of Kayhan newspaper, the mouthpiece of the clerical establishment that is bitterly critical of the Iranian reformist movement, it said.

According to IRNA, anti-riot police were stationed outside the campus but did not intervene.

There has been a string of demonstrations at Tehran universities in past months as students protest against the replacement of liberal professors, pressure on activists by the authorities and the detention of three students.

The demonstration on Sunday was at least the second within a week at Tehran University after dozens of students held a similar protest on Tuesday.

Mehdi Arabshahi, a member of the central board of the Office to Foster Unity, said that 1,500 people joined the latest protest, although there was no confirmation of this figure from Iranian media.

Arabshahi told AFP that university security officials had initially shut the main gate in a bid to prevent large numbers gathering for the protest.

"But the students forced their way in and broke the gate so that others could enter.

"They protested against the detention of the students, the oppressive policies of the government and advocated rights for all Iranians," he added, saying that the participants included liberals and ethnic Kurds.

Arabshahi said the protest lasted for more than two hours after starting at 12:00 pm (0830 GMT) and that it was peaceful.

"We are gathered here to say students are alive and are critical of wrong polices," IRNA quoted another unnamed student as saying.

The demonstration came a day after the intelligence ministry said it had arrested an unspecified number of people using "fake student cards to hold an illegal demonstration" at Tehran University.

The timing of those arrests was not given, but it is likely that they took place before Friday which was annual students' day in Iran.

The case of the three detained students from Tehran's Amir Kabir University has become a major issue for the protesting students.

Detained since May, the trio were given jail sentences of up to three years in October on charges of printing anti-Islamic images in four student newspapers -- accusations they vehemently deny.

Reformist leaders such as former president Mohammad Khatami have openly called for the three to be released, but hardliners have said the gravity of their crimes means they must stay behind bars.

Meanwhile, a group of Islamist students held a counter-demonstration outside the offices of the Iranian judiciary to protest against the Tehran University gathering, Fars reported.

"We condemn the demonstrations by the liberals at Tehran University, which are supported financially and morally by the opposition and the enemies," one demonstrator told the agency.

"We are astonished that this is not prevented when they are growing bolder by the day."

Iran students break campus gate in protest denouncing Ahmadinejad (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071209122906.ydxg6hkk&show_article=1)

Iran, IAEA in new talks to clear nuclear doubts
Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:09am EST

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran and a team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog started a fresh round of talks on Monday in Tehran to resolve doubts about the Islamic Republic's nuclear work, Iranian media reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation arrived in Iran's capital on Sunday, less than a week after a U.S. intelligence report said Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

Iran denies ever having had such a military program but welcomed the report that contradicted the U.S. administration's assertions that Tehran was actively working on a nuclear bomb.

"The nuclear negotiations started on Monday morning and will last three days," the semi-official news agency Fars reported.

Iran and the U.N. body agreed in August on a timetable to answer outstanding questions about nuclear activities which Tehran says are aimed at generating electricity.

Previous rounds of talks dealt with centrifuges used to enrich uranium and other issues. The new talks are expected to focus on questions about particles of arms-grade enriched uranium found by IAEA inspectors at Tehran's Technical University.

"The talks will be focused on the source of contamination," the report said without elaborating.

Enriched uranium can be used both for fuelling power plants and, if refined much further, for making bombs. But Iran says it wants to refine uranium only as an alternative source of electricity so it can export more of its oil and gas.

The IAEA said in a report last month Tehran was cooperating but not proactively. IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran was making "good progress" in solving questions about its plans.

The U.N. Security Council has imposed two sets of limited sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to halt enrichment, the part of Iran's program that most worries the West.

Last week's U.S. report released by the 16 intelligence agencies is expected to complicate U.S. efforts to push through new U.N. sanctions against Iran over its atomic work.

U.S. President George W. Bush said after the report that Iran still remained a danger because it was mastering technology with a military use.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters in Brussels that the bloc would pursue its line of offering negotiations to Iran over inducements to halt uranium enrichment while backing moves towards U.N. sanctions.

Iran, IAEA in new talks to clear nuclear doubts (http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USSAL02659220071210)

Exile group says Iran still pursuing nuclear arms
Tue 11 Dec 2007, 15:30 GMT

By Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An Iranian exile group accused Tehran on Tuesday of pursuing efforts to develop nuclear weapons, dismissing as incomplete a U.S. intelligence report that Iran's nuclear arms programme was frozen in 2003.

Sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a study published on December 3 that Iran had stopped activities aimed at making nuclear weapons in 2003, though it continues to enrich uranium for nuclear fuel.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which first exposed Iran's nuclear fuel programme in 2002, said it published information three years ago alleging that Tehran had restarted weapons-related work after a short break.

NCRI officials said they checked back with sources inside Iran after the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) was released, and those informants reported that work on nuclear weapons was still being pursued at three sites.

"The clerical regime is continuing its drive to obtain nuclear weapons," Mohammad Mohaddessin of the France-based group, listed as a terror organisation in the United States, told a news conference in Brussels.

Iran's president, who denies his country is seeking the atomic bomb, rejected the NRCI allegations.

"This group cannot be the basis for correct information," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference in Tehran.

The NIE report concluded that Iran had not restarted its nuclear weapons programme as of mid-2007. The halt applied to work on explosive device components and to uranium conversion activities, it said.

That conclusion contradicted earlier assertions by the Bush administration that Tehran was determined to develop the bomb.

Analysts say it could complicate the U.S. drive for a new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

Tehran welcomed the report as proof Bush wanted to deceive the world about a nuclear arms programme it has denied pursuing. But major powers said their policy remained one of seeking negotiations with Tehran over inducements to suspend uranium enrichment, while threatening it with sanctions.

NEW SITES

Mohaddessin said the NCRI agreed with the NIE assessment that activities were suspended in 2003, and specified that in March 2003 Iran closed down a weaponisation site in Lavisan, northeast Tehran, fearing it might be detected.

But it transferred the weapons activities to a new site in Lavisan and later to two additional sites, information the NCRI had made public from November 2004 onwards, he said.

Asked how Washington's entire intelligence community and the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, could have missed evidence of this, he said: "Exactly as they missed Natanz (Iran's uranium enrichment plant) and (the original) Lavisan."

Mohaddessin said the new Lavisan site hosted research on laser enrichment of uranium, while two whole-body counters -- used for detecting radiation -- were in use at a university in the central city of Isfahan and a hospital outside Tehran.

He said Iran continued research after 2003 on a bomb initiator and on other technologies that could be used in a nuclear bomb.

Mohaddessin acknowledged that some of those technologies had civilian uses but concluded: "It is very obvious that the clerical regime resumed its military activities in 2004."

NCRI officials said their sources included people with contacts with high-ranking Iranian officials, military officers and the Revolutionary Guard, as well as individuals working inside the new Lavisan facility.

The NCRI's armed wing, the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), is banned in the United States and the EU.

The PMOI has bases in Iraq. It began as a leftist-Islamist opposition to the late Shah but fell out with Shi'ite clerics who took power after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Western analysts say the PMOI has little support in Iran because of its collaboration with Iraq during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Exile group says Iran still pursuing nuclear arms (http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnN11462124.html)

Uranium found at Tehran university
Tue. 11 Dec 2007

The Press Association

Iranian and United Nations nuclear officials began a new round of talks after traces of weapons-grade uranium that were found at a university in Tehran, it was reported.

Meanwhile, in Washington, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said the US and European allies Britain, France and Germany would continue to press Russia and China on the need to boost pressure on Iran to halt its controversial uranium enrichment.

It was not clear from Monday's IRNA news agency report how or when the weapons-grade uranium contamination was discovered at the Technology Faculty of a state university.

The meeting between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation and its Iranian hosts comes in the wake of a surprising US intelligence report last week that concluded Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons programme in late 2003 and had not resumed it since.

Quote from: Pastor Roger on December 10, 2007, 06:39:43 PM

Mohamed ElBaradei is the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is sympathetic to the cause of islam. This is just another cover up/delay tactic that they are helping Iran with.

The weapons programme is separate from uranium enrichment, which Iran continues to undertake and which experts say could make it possible for Tehran to still develop a nuclear weapon between 2010 and 2015.

The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons, but Tehran has denied the charges, saying the uranium enrichment is only geared towards generating electricity, not a nuclear bomb.

Monday's talks also follow an IAEA report last month which stated Iran had been generally truthful about its past uranium enrichment activities. Much of the 10-page report focused on Iran's black-market procurements and past development of uranium enrichment technology.

But the talks in Tehran focused on the university find. It is believed this was the first time the incident was discussed.

The IAEA's mandate obliges it to investigate a country's nuclear activities and probe all suspicious findings, such as the traces at Tehran university.

In 2003, the IAEA revealed other incidents where traces of weapons-grade uranium were found elsewhere in the country, but Iran at the time said those traces came from imported equipment that had been contaminated before it was purchased.

Uranium found at Tehran university (http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=13521)

Russia makes 1st nuke shipment to Iran
Bushehr plant at center of international tensions over program

Russia has made its first shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr plant, which is at the center of the international tensions over Tehran's nuclear program, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.

Iran contends the nuclear power plant operation in Bushehr is strictly for civilian purposes, but the project concerns the United States and others who fear Tehran could use it to advance efforts to build nuclear weapons.

Construction at Bushehr had been frequently delayed. Officials said the delays were due to payment disputes, but many observers suggested Russia also was unhappy with Iran's resistance to international pressure to make its nuclear program more open and to assure the international community that it was not developing nuclear arms.

"All fuel that will be delivered will be under the control and guarantees of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the whole time it stays on Iranian territory," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Moreover, the Iranian side gave additional written guarantees that the fuel will be used only for the Bushehr nuclear power plant."

Russia announced last week that its construction disputes with Iran had been resolved and said fuel deliveries would begin about a half year before Bushehr was expected to go into service.

Iran confirmed that it had received the shipment, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

"The first nuclear fuel shipment for the Bushehr atomic power plant arrived in Iran Monday," IRNA quoted Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh as saying.

Two weeks ago, a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate report concluded that Iran had halted efforts to develop nuclear weapons in 2003 and that the program had been frozen through at least the middle of this year.

Although Russia has resisted drives to impose sanctions on Iran, it also repeatedly has urged Tehran to cooperate with the Vienna, Austria-based IAEA to resolve concerns over the nuclear program.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined that position last week after a meeting in Moscow with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki.

Lavrov said resolving the controversy is possible "solely on the basis of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, IAEA rules and principles and, certainly, with Iran proving its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy."

Officials at Atomstryexport, the Russian contractor for Bushehr, raised the prospect last week of creating a Russian-Iranian joint venture "to ensure security" at the Bushehr plant, according to the RIA-Novosti agency.

That could indicate Russian interest in ensuring that enriched uranium at the plant is not stolen or diverted. Depleted fuel rods also could be reprocessed into plutonium.

Iran: U.S. report a 'declaration of surrender'
'It was a positive action ... to change their attitude and it was a correct move'

Iran's president said on Sunday the publication of a U.S. intelligence report saying Iran had halted a nuclear weapons program in 2003 amounted to a "declaration of surrender" by Washington in its row with Tehran.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also dismissed in an interview with state television the prospect of new U.N. sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt sensitive atomic work.

"It is too far-fetched," he said when asked whether he expected the U.N. Security Council to impose fresh sanctions on Iran following two such resolutions since last December.

Ahmadinejad, who often rails against the West, told a rally earlier this month that the December 3 publication of the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate was a "victory" for Iran.

He said on Sunday: "It was in fact a declaration of surrender ... It was a positive action by the U.S. administration to change their attitude and it was a correct move."

Washington is still pushing for more sanctions on Iran despite the U.S. intelligence report, which also said Tehran was continuing to master skills needed to make nuclear weapons. U.S. President George W. Bush said Iran was still a danger.

An exiled opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), last week said Iran shut down its nuclear weapons program in 2003 but said restarted it a year later, dispersing equipment to thwart international inspectors.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and designed to make electricity. It says it has never had a nuclear weapons program.

"It would be beneficial for both Iran and them (the West) to cooperate with Iran," Ahmadinejad said. "Of course it would be more to their benefit than Iran's."

Iran regularly calls for a change in behavior from the United States, which cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 1980 after radical students seized the U.S. embassy and took diplomats hostage during the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran making push into Nicaragua

Web Posted: 12/17/2007 12:35 PM CST

Todd Bensman
Express-News

MONKEY POINT, Nicaragua — The second military helicopter in as many days hovered over the jungle and then landed to a most unwelcome reception from several dozen angry Rama Indian and Creole villagers.

Rupert Allen Clear Duncan, a leader of some 400 Creole who live along the shoreline, confronted the foreigners dressed in suits and military uniforms that day in March and demanded to know the purpose of their aerial trespasses.

"This is our land; we have always lived here, and you don't have our permission to be here," Duncan spat, when refused the courtesy of an explanation.

Not until Duncan threatened to have his machete-waving followers damage the aircraft did they learn that some of the men were from the Islamic Republic of Iran and had come promising to establish a Central American foothold in the middle of their territory.

As part of a new partnership with Nicaragua's Sandinista President Daniel Ortega, Iran and its Venezuelan allies plan to help finance a $350 million deep-water port at Monkey Point on the wild Caribbean shore, and then plow a connecting "dry canal" corridor of pipelines, rails and highways across the country to the populous Pacific Ocean. Iran recently established an embassy in Nicaragua's capital.

In feeling threatened by Iran's ambitions, the people of Monkey Point have powerful company. The Iranians' arrival in Nicaragua comes as the Bush administration and some European allies hold the threat of war over Iran to force an end to its uranium enrichment program and alleged help to anti-U.S. insurgents in Iraq.

What worries state department officials, former national security officials and counterterrorism researchers is that, if attacked, Iran could stage strikes on American or allied interests from Nicaragua, deploying the Iranian terrorist group Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guard operatives already in Latin America. Bellicose threats by Iran's clerical leadership to hit American interests worldwide if attacked, by design or not, heighten the anxiety.

"The bottom line is if there is a confrontation with Iran, and Iran gets bombed, I have absolutely no doubt that Iran is going to lash out globally," said John R. Schindler, a veteran former counterintelligence officer and analyst for the National Security Agency.

"The Iranians have that ability, particularly from South America. Hezbollah has fronts all over Latin America. That is not new. But it's certainly something we're starting to care about now."

American policymakers already had been fretting in recent years over Tehran's successful forging of diplomatic relations, direct air routes and embassy swaps with populist South American governments that abhor the U.S., such as President Hugo Chávez's Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. But Iran's latest move places it just a few porous borders from Texas, where illegal Nicaraguan laborers routinely travel.

The disquiet with this proximity is rooted in Iran's track record and Bush administration saber rattling that has gone unabated despite a recent National Intelligence Estimate report that concluded Iran could build nuclear weapons if it wanted but had ended a clandestine weapons program.

Diplomats or terrorists

Four consecutive American administrations have designated the Islamic theocracy a State Sponsor of Terrorism since 1984 for ordering Hezbollah and Iranian intelligence operatives, sometimes posing as diplomats, to conduct bombings, assassinations and kidnappings worldwide.

Among the more indelible of these were the suicide bombings of Marines in Beirut, the 1996 Kobar Tower bombing in Saudi Arabia and assassinations from Beirut to Washington.

Few Nicaragua observers believe Iran seriously plans to follow through on any of its $500 million promises or has any obvious need for trade ties with one of Latin America's poorest countries.

Opposition politicians say they understand why Iran might want relations with oil-rich Venezuela and Bolivia but wonder aloud if Iran really is so interested in Nicaraguan bananas as their return on investment.

Those who view Iranian intentions with suspicion point to the new Iranian diplomatic mission in Managua as one reason for all the promises.

"They use their embassies to smuggle in weapons. They used them to develop and execute plans," said Oliver "Buck" Revell, who served as associate deputy director over FBI intelligence and international affairs. "Diplomats have immunity coming and going. It is a protected center for both espionage and, on occasion, for specific operations. So an embassy in Managua is definitely an area that will be of concern to our national security apparatus."

Front and center on many minds is Argentina's contention that Iran, using its embassy as cover, orchestrated two Hezbollah bombings of Israeli and Jewish community targets in Buenos Aires in the early 1990s.

cont'd

This year, Argentina secured Interpol arrest warrants for five former Iranian officials, most of them who worked as diplomats in the Buenos Aires embassy. Iran denies Argentina's charges.

Also in recent months, the U.S. military repeatedly has accused Iran's Revolutionary Guard of using diplomatic cover in Iraq to help insurgents kill American soldiers. Iran denies that charge too. In October, the Bush administration and Congress designated the Revolutionary Guard and its elite arm, the Quds force, as global terror organizations.

Israel is worried about Nicaragua, too, noting the Israeli business community in next-door Costa Rica, Jewish populations throughout Latin America and Iran's repeated vows to militarily destroy the Jewish state. Israel has promised to take action alone if diplomacy fails to halt Iran's nuclear programs.

Said one Israeli envoy in the region who requested anonymity, "It's just that they could use their diplomatic infrastructure to repeat Argentina. They'll promise millions, they won't send a penny. But they will send a delegation."

Publicly so far, U.S. administration officials, who opposed Ortega's bid for the presidency last year, aren't saying much. But privately, State Department officials in Washington hint that Iran's move to Nicaragua — and Ortega's warm reception — isn't being taken lightly.

Some intelligence experts presume the Iranian move to Nicaragua already has stepped up foreign espionage operations to an extent not seen since in that country since the Cold War.

To be sure, not everyone views the Iranian move to Managua as nefarious. Some foreign policy analysts depict Iran's outreach to anyone offering a welcome mat as a logical response to defeat two rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions and gain voting U.N. friends as more rounds are contemplated.

"Iran has its own foreign policy. They're just trying to extend their influence," said Peter Rodman, a senior fellow in foreign policy for the Brookings Institute. "They'll stick to economic activity."

Other analysts see as entirely logical that Iran would project a deterrent in America's backyard to make Washington think twice about military action.

"When you've got Washington calling you evil, and there's a steady stream of reports from Washington about bombing campaigns, what would you do if you were an Iranian strategic planner?" said Dennis Jett, dean of the International Center at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "These guys have a track record of using diplomats and diplomatic missions as a mechanism for terrorism, so why wouldn't they be making that calculation now?"

A mystery compound

Twelve-foot-high concrete walls topped by neat rolls of razor-sharp concertina wire protect the manicured grounds of a mansion inside. The compound is not unlike many others in the affluent Managua suburb of Las Colinas, except for a telltale identifier.

From the street outside, through the wire at just the right angle, can be seen the top half of the distinctive red, white and green flag of Iran. This is the temporary embassy of Iran's new envoy to Nicaragua, Akbar Esmaeil-Pour.

The envoy, however, hasn't been in a talking mood lately, since local media stirred just the sort of questions that fuel Yankee fears. Last month, the country's largest-circulation newspaper, La Prensa, published leaked government documents that showed Nicaragua's chief immigration minister personally authorized 21 Iranian men to enter the country, without visas that would have left a record.

Officials denied the report until confronted with the document but refused to explain why the men were let in that way or what became of them.

Another report named as Revolutionary Guard operatives several men who accompanied the Iranian envoy to his new digs. A Honduran newspaper in June reported that Iranians had entered that country without permission from Nicaragua.

Knocks on embassy gates over four days recently drew Nicaragua national police guards and two polite aides but no interview. A call to Esmaeil-Pour's private cell phone showed how much curiosity his presence has stoked lately.

"I've had hundreds of requests for interviews, and yours is only one! I'm very busy," the ambassador snapped before hanging up.

The Ortega government also wouldn't talk as internal criticism mounts about the country's new alliance. But politicians from his Sandinista Party were quick to defend the country's right to relations with Iran or any other country willing to invest in Nicaragua. Several predicted Iran would follow through and said Nicaragua never would knowingly allow terrorist activity.

"Nicaragua's agenda in its international relations does not depend on whether a third country has good or bad relations with x or y country," said Walmaro Gutierrez, a Sandinista Party congressmen. "To identify a country as terrorist just because of nationality, race, ethnicity or religion is discriminatory. I want to make clear we have signed the (U.N.) international convention against terrorism. We are very responsible."

Opening the door

No one disagrees that old grudges and American neglect helped open the door for Iran. From 1980 to 1988, the CIA clandestinely fielded the Contra rebels for a guerilla war on Ortega's Soviet-backed regime, at one point funding them from secret arms sales to a Sandinista ally at the time, Iran.

Ortega boasts solid anti-American credentials, aligning in the old days with Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, and more recently defending Iran's right to develop nuclear bombs.

U.S. relations with Ortega's successors improved during the 1990s, but did not entail much in the way of foreign aid that could be leveraged now.

Nicaragua remains neglected, with the western hemisphere's third-lowest per-capita income, a vast foreign debt and energy shortages so profound that electricity must be rationed.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saw opportunity in Ortega's election. He was in Managua talking about hydroelectric and oil projects the week of Ortega's January inauguration. By August, Ahmadinejad had committed to fantastic promises that, along with Monkey Point, include fixing the Pacific port of Corinto and building 10,000 houses.

Ortega's alignment with Iran and Venezuela is causing some political blowback that may erode his thin public support. Some opposition leaders and reform-minded Sandinistas don't like that Nicaragua has taken sides in a fight that doesn't involve it.

Recent presidential candidate Eduardo Montelegre, who finished as the runner-up to Ortega, said Ortega is "irresponsible" to risk Nicaragua's rebounding trade and good standing with the West by providing Iran a possible staging ground — even unwittingly.

"This is very simple. You draw a line between democracy and terrorist countries, and we don't want to be on the wrong side of the line," Montelegre said. "If the U.S. goes to war on Iran, those who are on the wrong side are not going to fare well."

But most Nicaraguans hardly can afford to consider such intrigue. They are living hand-to-mouth existences in slums or squatting on bits of land. Sufficient numbers of them voted to elect Ortega and don't seem to particularly care who he brings to the dinner table.

Neglected port

A pile of scrap metal, rusted to a brownish orange, is all that remains of oil tanks that CIA-led Contras blew up in a 1983 speedboat raid on Nicaragua's port town of Corinto. The shrapnel-riddled tanks stood until just four months ago, when new Sandinista port directors decided to tear them down.

The pile symbolizes a new dawn for Nicaragua, insisted Absalón Martínez Navas, the neglected port's newly installed Sandinista vice manager.

"We have investors," Navas announced. "It's nothing concrete yet. But we're making studies. We're making plans, not only to develop the port but also the community."

One of the biggest backers, he said, is going to be the Iranian government. Probably. Two months earlier, the Iranians signaled they were serious when they sent a top transportation official to tour the port's crumbling surfaces, decommissioned warehouses and out-of-date machinery.

cont'd

The Sandinista government's hope for Corinto is a $100 million upgrade and two new wharfs, to then be connected by the dry canal to Monkey Point. This scheme, Navas explained, would enrich Nicaragua by drawing Venezuelan oil and shipping business from the Panama Canal, Costa Rica and El Salvador.

The dry canal has been around on paper for nearly 100 years. But it found new life in a drive by Venezuela's Chávez to wean his country's huge oil industry from loathed dependence on U.S. refineries, transportation and markets.

This comes as good news on the streets of Corinto's many barrios and at City Hall, where Mayor Ernesto Mendez adorns his office walls with Chávez posters and Sandinista propaganda.

Many of the town's 18,000 people live with no electricity or plumbing, and depend on the port for meager sustenance. Alphonso Jose Estrada, who spent 30 years working at the port, wishes the Iranians the best of luck.

"Even the U.S. is accused sometimes of being terrorists," he said. "Just because the Iranians are coming here doesn't necessarily mean they're going to cause terrorism. We'll see more ships. That's going to mean more jobs."

That's a much-shared sentiment in a town where the port is so decrepit that only a ship or two a week docks.

One recent evening, word went out over an invisible grapevine that a ship was coming. Hundreds of men wearing yellow hard hats converged in waves of bicycles to vie for shifts as stevedores or forklift operators. The pay: a precious $8 per 12-hour shift.

After an hour or two of anxious waiting, only a few dozen were picked, the rest consigned to pedaling home with bad news. Many who land one or two shifts a month welcome any plan — by anyone — to bring more.

Some of the bicyclists stopped long enough to talk about the Iranian proposal but wouldn't give names, for fear of not getting selected to work.

"It's a bad friend," one young bicyclist said of the Iranians. "But if the bad friend builds the port, then they're a good friend!"

A land rights clash

Feelings about the Iranian promises mostly break a different way at Monkey Point, on Nicaragua's other coast. The Rama and Creole here mostly live on Nicaragua's political margins, subsisting on fish and jungle animals in isolation. Time is still told by sun and tides.

Because of their separateness, a more contrarian streak prevails that may, in the end, prove more than just an irritant to the Ortega government's partnership with the Iranians. Many Monkey Point young men fought with the Contras against Ortega's Sandinistas. They've been feeling rebellious again since the helicopters came.

The Monkey Point community wants legal rights to roughly a half-million acres where generations have lived. Twice in the past 10 years, people there have resisted development proposals.

Pearl Watson, the self-styled community president who travels the globe raising awareness, said the community made substantial progress under previous governments, including a new law under which it can stake a formal claim. That's why Watson said people felt especially pained when the Iranians and Venezuelans showed up with another port proposal that did not seem to recognize all that had gone before.

"They don't want to tell the people nothing; they just want to show up and do what they want," Watson said in her office in the bustling coastal town of Bluefields, a 30-mile boat ride from Monkey Point. "Our people don't like the way the government is imposing development on us, with no guarantees of how the people will benefit."

Lately, she's been reaching out to human rights organizations to help fight Ortega, and considering filing a case in international courts if the port idea progresses before their land boundaries are decided. A successful campaign could throw quite a wrench in the Monkey Point plans.

But the fear of forcible removal by their old enemies, the Sandinista Party, if all this fails is palpable where jungle and beach meet. Frustration is on the rise. Lately, some of the young men have begun talking about reminding the Sandinistas that this same community once fought with the Contras, that they might not have turned in all the weapons.

"It gonna be total destruction for us if them build it down here," said Rupert Allen Clear Duncan, the community leader who confronted the helicopter delegation. "Here we have a beautiful life, man. We never find us living anywhere else."

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/randers/IranLatinAmerica.jpg)

Women excluded from sports in the name of Islam

Tehran, 19 Dec. (AKI) - The vice president of the Iranian Olympic Committee, Abdolreza Savar, has announced new rules to fight what he defines as the sport's "subjugation to western customs and practices"

In a memorandum sent to all sporting federations, Savar, who is in-charge of the "proper behaviour of male and female athletes" said that "severe punishment will be meted out to those who do not follow Islamic rules during sporting competitions" both local and abroad.

The memorandum also said that "no male coach can train or accompany the athletes when they travel abroad."

"If female trainers are not found, our female teams will not participate in international competitions," said Savar.

Iran's athletes are considered among the best in the Middle East, but due to severe restrictions imposed by the government, women are sometimes excluded from competition and prevented from fully exploiting their potential.

An example of this is the Iranian volleyball team, which has not been able to qualify to any international competition, as it does not have a trainer.

"In volleyball there aren't any female trainers capable, and the Olympic committee does not allow us to employ males to train the female team," said Saiid Derakhshandeh, president of the Iranian Voleyball Federation.

Iran's voleyball team was once considered to be among the best in Asia.

The memorandum also referred to new rules regarding the attire worn by the athletes, saying that if these rules are not followed, the athletes will be severely punished and will not be able to participate in future national or international competitions.

Savar also made reference to a Tae-Kwon-Do competition held on the island of Macau, in China when a male referee grabbed and raised the arm of a female Iranian player who had won a tournament.

He said that Iran's sportswomen will not participate at the next Olympic games, in any discipline, where there will be any sort of physical contact with the referee, if it is a man.

Iran's objective, says Savar "is not just to win medals, but to promote Islamic culture, and thus we have decided to inaugurate an exhibition dedicated to Islamic values during the Olympic games in Beijing" in 2008.

Other women in Iran have also been prevented from pursuing their sporting activities.

Iranian rally car champion driver Laleh Seddigh was banned for 12 months from participating in any race. :'( She is a good driver too!!

She was accused of having tampered with her car's engine during her last race in Iran.

In a telephone interview with Adnkronos International (AKI) Seddigh says "It's a conspiracy, I did not commit any irregularities. They simply want to exclude me from racing because I'm a woman."

Seddigh, known as the "Schumacher of the East", in reference to the now retired seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher.

"They probably did not appreciate the fact that I am a woman and at the same time the most famous racecar driver in the Middle East," she said. "They would prefer to see a woman with a frying pan or an iron in her hand."

Women excluded from sports in the name of Islam (http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Sport/?id=1.0.1687961175)

Internet Cafes Shut Down In Drive Against Un-Islamic Behavior
By Farangis Najibullah

Police in Tehran have raided more than 430 Internet cafes and other shops during the first days of the latest campaign against what they say is inappropriate and un-Islamic conduct.

Iranian state media quote the police as saying that in the past few days, they have closed down 25 Internet cafes and given warnings to 170 cafe owners for "using immoral computer games and storing obscene photos," and for the presence of women without "proper hijab" on the premises.

At least 23 people -- including several women -- have been detained for similar reasons.

The owner of one of the Tehran Internet cafes that was inspected and temporarily closed down by police, who gave his name as Hessam, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that police started questioning him when they found some family photos -- with a female member of the family among them -- on a computer.

"We had a few family photos in our system. They asked, 'Who is this girl that is sitting close to you?'" Hessam said. "Just because of those private photos, they closed this place for three or four days. [The police pressure] has reached that level! It has become a headache, a problem for everybody. We don't know what to do."

Independent Information

The Internet, and Internet cafes, have become increasingly popular in Tehran and other Iranian cities in recent years.

According to official state figures, 60 percent of the country's population has access to the Internet. However, independent sources say that figure is exaggerated, given the fact that many Iranians villages do not even have electricity. International estimates say that some 20 percent of Iranians have access to the Internet.

Most of the customers at Internet cafes are young people who come to play computer games, check their e-mail, or take part in website chat rooms and blogs.

Some Iranian journalists describe the latest campaign as an attempt by the authorities to limit access to a major source of alternative news and information and restrict Iranian's intellectual and social freedom.

Badrolsadat Mofeedi, an independent journalist and a campaigner for media rights, told RFE/RL from Tehran that the latest assault on Internet cafes is no surprise. Mofeedi said that "in addition to a crackdown on independent media, every now and then the Iranian authorities put pressure on all other sources of news and information, such as satellite dishes, the Internet, and even bookshops."

In October, several Tehran bookstores were given a 72-hour ultimatum to close down coffee shops that were operating inside their stores. Amaken-e Omomi, a state body that controls retail trade, said that operating a cafe inside a bookshop is an "illegal mixture" of trades.

"Some Internet sites have been filtered. A variety of measures has been taken to restrict the political and social atmosphere for those who are involved in the distribution of the information," Mofeedi said.

'Immoral' Internet

The Iranian authorities say they have blocked access to "immoral websites" such as pornographic sites.

According to Iranian independent journalists, however, many political websites -- including personal weblogs or blogs -- and many independent news sources are blocked with a filter so that Iranians cannot access them. Those sites includes radiofarda.com.

Hassem, the Internet-cafe owner, says the "heavy filtering of the websites has slowed down the Internet in Iran, reducing its speed by almost 50 percent."

The clampdown has coincided with the ongoing police campaign against anyone who violates a strict Islamic dress code.

The police have even installed mobile stations on Tehran's busiest streets to stop women who disobey the dress code, for instance by wearing a hat instead of a head scarf or by tucking their pants inside of their boots.

Isa Saharkhiz, an independent journalist and a member of the Association for Press Freedom in Iran, told RFE/RL from Tehran that enforcing these restrictions -- on everything from dress to the Internet -- has been part of the Iranian government's policy since President Mahmud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005.

Saharkhiz said the closure of the cafes was partially aimed at preventing young people and intellectuals from getting together, as well as trying to restrict the free flow of information.

"None of these practices brought any results in the past," Saharkhiz says. "No one is able to put barriers on news and information and, especially, no one can shut down the Internet -- in Iran or elsewhere in the world."

Cafe owner Hassem said that no matter how hard the authorities try to block access to websites, young Iranians will succeed in circumventing the filter and find their way to the prohibited sites.

Internet Cafes Shut Down In Drive Against Un-Islamic Behavior (http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/12/d08d2c1a-1569-4361-a2f8-ebd3c8df6789.html)

Iran Rejects Suspension of Uranium Enrichment

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran on Tuesday reiterated its rejection of suspending uranium enrichment.

Deputy Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Saeedi said that some people said Iran no longer needs to enrich its uranium after the delivery of the nuclear fuel, but the notion about Iran's suspension of uranium enrichment was an "outdated analysis."

"The issue of the nuclear fuel has nothing to do with the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment activities," he said, adding that delivery of the nuclear fuel was a "success" for the Iranian nation after a long time.

He noted that Iran should adopt a policy that enables the country to produce at least part of the nuclear fuel it needs.

Tehran has decided to build a new 360-megawatt nuclear power plant in Darkhowein in southwestern Khuzestan province, Saeedi said, adding that Iran would seek to build more medium-sized nuclear power plants in the future.

Russia delivered the first shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran on Monday for Bushehr power plant in southern Iran which is being built by the Russian contractor company Atomstroiexport.

A total of 163 main and 17 reserve assemblies of U-235 enriched to 3.62 percent would be delivered for the first loading, the company said in a statement. All the deliveries will be made in several stages over two months.

Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, on Monday also rejected the notion that the delivery of nuclear fuel from Russia to the Bushehr nuclear power plant meant Iran did not require enrichment.

"We are constructing a nuclear power station with the capacity of 360 megawatts and this power station needs fuel," Aghazadeh said.

Aghazadeh said that the power plant is being built in Darkhowein in southwestern Khuzestan province.

"The construction of the power station will last some years. And in parallel to the progress, Natanz enrichment site also needs to be expanded," Aghazadeh said.

Iran Rejects Suspension of Uranium Enrichment (http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8609280352)

Iran Educates Children to 'Seek Martyrdom'
By Erick Stakelbeck
CBN News Terrorism Analyst
December 19, 2007

CBNNews.com - During Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s, Ayatollah Khomeini sent thousands of Iranian children directly into minefields.

He promised that they'd see heaven as their reward.

Today's Iranian leadership is quite unpopular with its growing younger generation -- the Mullahs are attempting to reclaim this group one textbook at at a time.

This is becoming a common scene in Iran. Pro-democracy Protests against the ruling regime. Just last weekend Tehran University students waved signs that said "live free or die."

In some ways, this is the new face of Iran-- 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30. Many of these Iranians are hungry for the kind of freedoms Americans enjoy. But the Iranian government has other ideas.

"Imagine 225,000, 250,000 even 100,000 kids who have been taught to hate America, hate the West, get ready for martyrdom," Shayan Arya said.

Shayan Arya's family left Iran when he was a teenager. He says the government's educational curriculum teaches children as young as first grade to prepare for war and seek martyrdom.

"You are responsible for learning it--you get tested on it, you have to study it, you have to write papers on it, you have to answer to your teachers, he said.

The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance recently gave CBN News an exclusive look at some Iranian textbooks. All non-Muslims are portrayed as evil -- especially the U.S. and Israel.

A seventh-grade textbook encourages students to "not cease.until the redeeming message of 'there is no god but Allah' is realized throughout the whole world."

These books also teach war between Iran and the west is inevitable. Iranians must either bring about a global Islamic victory or else.

"Victory is not guaranteed, according to the books. It's either victory or collective martyrdom," said Dr. Arnon Groiss.

Eighth grade texts hammer that message home. One section reads "either we shake one another's hand in joy at the victory of Islam in the world, or all of us will turn to eternal life and martyrdom."

"Gradually they build on it so that by 10th or 11th grade, children should be ready to be martyred," Arya said.

Dr. Arnon Groiss has studied Iran's educational system extensively. He views the Iranian curriculum as extreme even for the Middle East.

"If you're dealing with such people, such a regime, that tries to instill in young children or schoolchildrens' minds the idea of global war to the end, this is frightening," Groiss said. "And you will not find this in Syrian textbooks or Saudi Arabian textbooks or Egyptian textbooks."

The radical message of the Islamic Revolution has fallen on deaf ears for many young Iranians. But president Mahmoud Ahamdenijad isn't giving up without a fight.

He says Iran's educational curriculum has become too secular and must be cleansed.

Iran Educates Children to 'Seek Martyrdom' (http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/289970.aspx)

Iran Wants Talks With US Ambassador
Dec 24 02:01 PM US/Eastern
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and BRADLEY BROOKS
Associated Press Writers

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iran wants to renew high-level talks with U.S. officials on security in Iraq, insisting that discussions take place between ambassadors and not lower-level functionaries, Iraqi officials said Monday.

The Iranians also want a clear-cut agenda for the meeting, which the American side has not yet provided, according to Sami al-Askari, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a member of parliament. Three Iraqi officials confirmed his account, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the press.

There was no immediate comment or confirmation from Iran's Foreign Ministry or state media.

A May 27 meeting concerning security in Iraq between U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze between the two countries.

A planned Dec. 18 meeting between Iranian and American security, military and diplomatic experts was canceled a few days before it was to be held. At the time, Iranian officials said it was a scheduling problem while U.S. officials referred questions to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

American officials have since pointed out that Dec. 18 was the day Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq, which forced the postponement of the meeting. For security reasons, they said they could not disclose Rice's arrival date ahead of time.

Since then, top Iranian officials in Baghdad have asked their Iraqi counterparts to push the Americans to hold a fourth-round of talks between Crocker and Qomi, an Iranian official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The two last met in August, shortly after the first and only meeting of low-level experts, which produced no concrete results.

Iran has long been accused by Washington of training, arming and funding Shiite extremists inside Iraq to kill American troops.

But in the past month, U.S. officials have said Tehran appears to have slowed or halted the flow of illegal weapons across the frontier. Iran has denied the arms smuggling accusations, insisting that it is doing its best to help stabilize its embattled western neighbor.

Crocker told reporters during a Sunday briefing in Baghdad that he would be willing to meet Qomi again, but said no date had been set for a meeting at any level.

"I would be open to this. We could do it at the experts' level or we could do it at my level. I would definitely see that as a possibility," he said. "We're looking at what we might talk about, which I think is the first and necessary step before deciding who talks about it."

Crocker said there were "some signs, some indicators that the Iranians are using some influence to bring down violence from extremist Shiia militias." They included a drop in the number of attacks that use high-tech shaped charge bombs, which American officials allege are made in Iran.

"How lasting a phenomenon that will be, and how Iran will define and play its role in Iraq in 2008 will be very important to the long-term future of the country," he said.

Crocker said any talks with the Iranians would focus solely on Iraqi security and would not extend into the explosive issue of U.S. accusations that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Al-Askari said a top Iranian diplomat complained to him in recent days that U.S. officials are not providing enough information about what a new round of talks at any level will achieve.

"They told us that the Americans are vague and that they want to know what is the goal, what is the purpose of these talks," al-Askari said. "They said they do not want to talk on the level of experts—that at a minimum, it should be at the ambassadorial level or even higher."

Al-Askari added that the Iranians were also upset that although they contributed to the improving security situation in Iraq, U.S. officials have not done enough to acknowledge it.

"The Iranians will not stand anymore going to talk with the U.S. one day, and the next day watch the Americans speak badly about them in the press—by saying Iran is supporting militias and supplying weapons," he said.

The Iranian Embassy in Baghdad was closed Monday for the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Iran Wants Talks With US Ambassador (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TO05B04&show_article=1&catnum=0)

Iran gets 2nd Russian fuel shipment

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Fri Dec 28, 3:17 AM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran received the second shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia on Friday for a power plant being constructed in the southern Iranian town of Bushehr, the official news agency IRNA reported.

The delivery signaled continued momentum toward beginning operations at the long-delayed 1,000 megawatt light-water reactor, which the Russians are helping to construct and the Iranians say will come online in 2008.

Ahmad Fayazbakhsh, deputy head of Iran's nuclear organization, said the fuel was delivered according to a schedule agreed with the Russians, which IRNA indicated would bring 82 tons of nuclear fuel in eight shipments.

"The amount of fuel delivered to Bushehr was equal to the previous shipment," Fayazbakhsh was quoted as saying by IRNA. "It was delivered within a specified timetable."

The Russian firm helping build the Bushehr reactor, Atomstroyexport, confirmed the delivery.

Iran received the first shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia on Dec. 17 after months of dispute between the two countries, allegedly over delayed construction payments for the reactor.

Tehran heralded the initial shipment as a victory, saying it proved its nuclear program was peaceful, not a cover for weapons development as claimed by the U.S. and some of its allies.

The U.S. downplayed the first delivery, and both Washington and Moscow said the supply of nuclear fuel meant Iran had no need to continue its uranium enrichment program — a process that can provide fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a bomb.

Iran insisted it would continue enriching uranium because it needed to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it was building in the southwestern town of Darkhovin.

Iranian officials have said they plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next two decades.

The U.S. initially opposed Russian participation in building the Bushehr reactor and supplying it with fuel but reversed its position about a year ago to obtain Moscow's support for the first set of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

Washington also was influenced by Iran's agreement to return spent nuclear fuel from the reactor back to Russia to ensure it doesn't extract plutonium to make atomic bombs.

Russia's decision to begin shipping nuclear fuel to Iran followed a U.S. intelligence report released earlier this month that concluded Tehran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in late 2003 and had not resumed it since. Iran says it never had a weapons program.

The U.S. has pushed through two sets of U.N. sanctions against Iran demanding it suspend uranium enrichment and has been urging Security Council members to pass a third set.

Iran has defied U.N. demands, and Washington's effort to impose harsher measures has been complicated by the recent intelligence report and resistance from Russia and China.

Iran gets 2nd Russian fuel shipment (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_russia;_ylt=AmIVMdOf0SMGsmh1S0VY4wILewgF)

Iranian boats threaten U.S. Navy gunships
Reportedly came within 200 yards of each other in Strait of Hormuz

Iranian boats harassed and provoked three American Navy ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, threatening to blow up the vessels, U.S. officials said Monday.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday the confrontation was “something normal” and was resolved, suggesting the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the Bush administration urges Iranians “to refrain from such provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident in the future.”

Military officials told NBC News that two U.S. Navy destroyers and one frigate were heading into the Persian Gulf through the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz when five armed "fast boats" of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard approached at high speed, darting in and out of the formation.

At one point a radio message from one of the Iranian boats warned, "You are going to blow up within minutes."
Story continues below ↓advertisement

The Navy warships went into defensive mode, radioed the usual warnings to steer clear, and in the end no shots were fired. U.S. military warships believe the Revolutionary Guard boats were "testing our defenses," the officials said.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman called it a “serious incident.” Another U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it “the most serious provocation of this sort that we’ve seen yet.”

Bush visiting region next week
The incident raised new tensions between Washington and Tehran as President Bush prepared for his first major trip to the Middle East.

A statement issued by the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain said the incident occurred at about 8 a.m. local time Sunday as Navy cruiser USS Port Royal, destroyer USS Hopper and frigate USS Ingraham were on their way into the Persian Gulf and passing through the strait — a major oil shipping route.

Five small boats began charging the U.S. ships, dropping boxes in the water in front of the ships and forcing the U.S. ships to take evasive maneuvers, said the Pentagon official. The boxes floated by, and officials said they didn’t know what was in them because U.S. sailors didn’t pick them up.

There were no injuries but the official said there could have been, because the Iranian boats turned away “literally at the very moment that U.S. forces were preparing to open fire” in self defense.

The official, who asked to speak on grounds of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said he didn’t have the precise transcript of communications that passed between the two forces, but said the Iranians radioed something like “we’re coming at you and you’ll explode in a couple minutes.”

At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack said he was not aware of any plans to lodge a formal protest.

“Without specific reference to this incident in the Strait of Hormuz, the United States will confront Iranian behavior where it seeks to do harm either to us or to our friends and allies in the region,” McCormack told reporters. “There is wide support for that within the region and certainly that’s not going to change.”

Whitman said the Pentagon will work with State and National Security Council officials to determine “the appropriate way to address this with the Iranian government.”

Iran's response
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini played down the incident, suggesting it was an issue of misidentification. He did not comment on the U.S. claims of the Iranian boats’ actions.

“That is something normal that takes place every now and then for each party, and it (the problem) is settled after identification of the two parties,” he told the state news agency IRNA.

The incident was “similar to past ones” that were resolved “once the two sides recognized each other,” he said.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard official also described the incident as nothing unusual.

“No unusual confrontation has taken place between the Guard’s patrol vessels and U.S. ships,” state-run television quoted the official as saying. The official was speaking on customary condition of anonymity. The Guard official said the Guard’s vessels were conducting normal patrols in the Strait of Hormuz when they saw three U.S. ships enter the waters of the region.

“The Guard’s navy vessels, as usual, asked the ships to identify themselves and they did so and continued their path,” the TV quoted the official as saying.
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'Potentially hostile intent'
At the Pentagon, Whitman said the U.S. vessels were in international waters, making a normal transit into the Gulf. He said the Iranian boats were operating at “distances and speeds that showed reckless and dangerous intent — reckless, dangerous and potentially hostile intent.”

The episode lasted 15 to 20 minutes, Whitman said, but he wouldn’t say whether officials know for certain whether the were vessels were Iranian Revolutionary Guard or regular Iranian navy. The Revolutionary Guard forces have been known to be more aggressive than the regular navy.

“At least some were visibly armed. Small Iranian fast boats made some aggressive maneuvers against our vessels and indicated some hostile intent,” Whitman said.

Historical tensions between the two nations have increased in recent years over Washington’s charge that Tehran has been developing nuclear weapons and supplying and training Iraqi insurgents using roadside bombs — the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.

At about this time last year, Bush announced he was sending a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf region in a show of force against Iran. The U.S. Navy quietly scaled back to one carrier group several months later. But while the two were there, they staged two major exercises off Iran’s coast.

As one of the world’s most vital chokepoints for oil shipping, the 30-mile-wide Hormuz strait has been the subject of previous armed confrontations between the United States and Iran, most notably during the eight-year Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s.

The United States expressed concern when the Revolutionary Guard forces took over Iranian naval operations in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz from Iran's regular navy more than five months ago.

However, Sunday’s incident was the first significant one since then.

In another incident off its coast, Iranian Revolutionary Guard sailors last March captured 15 British sailors and held them for nearly two weeks.

The 15 sailors, including one woman, were captured on March 23. Iran claims the crew, operating in a small patrol craft, had intruded into Iranian waters — a claim denied by Britain.

Israel to brief George Bush on options for Iran strike

ISRAELI security officials are to brief President George W Bush on their latest intelligence about Iran’s nuclear programme - and how it could be destroyed - when he begins a tour of the Middle East in Jerusalem this week.

Ehud Barak, the defence minister, is said to want to convince him that an Israeli military strike against uranium enrichment facilities in Iran would be feasible if diplomatic efforts failed to halt nuclear operations. A range of military options has been prepared.

Last month it was revealed that the US National Intelligence Estimate report, drawing together information from 16 agencies, had concluded that Iran stopped a secret nuclear weapon programme in 2003.

Israeli intelligence is understood to agree that the project was halted around the time of America’s invasion of Iraq, but has “rock solid” information that it has since started up again.

While security officials are reluctant to reveal all their intelligence, fearing that leaks could jeopardise the element of surprise in any future attack, they are expected to present the president with fresh details of Iran’s enrichment of uranium - which could be used for civil or military purposes - and the development of missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.

In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot this weekend, Bush argued that in spite of the US intelligence assessment, Iran still posed a threat.

“I read the intelligence report carefully,” Bush said. “In essence, what the report said was that Iran had a secret plan to develop nuclear weapons.

“I’m saying that a state which adopted a nontransparent policy and had a secret plan for developing nuclear weapons could easily develop an alternative plan for the same purpose. So to conclude from the intelligence report that there is no Iranian plan to develop nuclear weapons will be only a partial truth.”

Israeli security officials believe the only way to prevent uranium enrichment to military grade is to destroy Iranian installations. Many Israelis are eager to know whether America would give their country the green light to attack, as it did last September when Israel struck a mysterious nuclear site in Syria.

Bush refused to be drawn when asked whether he would support an Israeli attack. “My message to all countries in the region is that we are able to solve the problem in a diplomatic way,” he said, “but all options are on the table.”

Ahmadinejad loses favor with Khamenei, Iran's top leader
By Nazila Fathi
Monday, January 7, 2008

TEHRAN: A rift is emerging between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suggesting that the president no longer enjoys the full backing of Khamenei, as he did in the years after his election in 2005.

In the past, when Ahmadinejad was attacked by political opponents, the criticisms were usually silenced by Khamenei, who has the final word on state matters and who regularly endorsed the president in public speeches. But that public support has been conspicuously absent in recent months.

There are numerous possible reasons for Ahmadinejad's loss of support, but analysts here all point to one overriding factor: the U.S. National Intelligence Report last month, which said that Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003 in response to international pressure. The report sharply decreased the threat of a military strike against Iran, allowing the authorities to focus on domestic issues, with important parliamentary elections looming in March.

"Now that Iran is not under the threat of a military attack, all contradictions within the establishment are surfacing," said Saeed Leylaz, an economic and political analyst. "The biggest mistake that Americans have constantly made toward Iran was adopting radical approaches, which provided the ground for radicals in the country to take control."

Iran had been under increasing international pressure for its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program, which could be pursued for either peaceful or military purposes. In separate speeches last year, American and French officials did not rule out military attack against Iran if it continued its defiance. Those threats have stopped since the National Intelligence Report was released.

While the pressure was on, the leadership was reluctant to let any internal disagreements show. Senior officials, including Khamenei, constantly called for unity and warned that the enemy, a common reference to the United States, could take advantage of such differences.

The Iranian presidency is a largely ceremonial post. But Ahmadinejad used the office as a bully pulpit, espousing an economic populism that built a strong following among the middle and lower classes and made him a political force to be reckoned with. That popularity won him the strong backing of the supreme leader.

But the relationship began to sour even before the National Intelligence Report was released. A source close to Khamenei, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said Khamenei had been especially disappointed by Ahmadinejad's economic performance, which had led to steep inflation in basic necessities, from food to property values.

"Mr. Khamenei supported Mr. Ahmadinejad because he believed in his slogans of helping the poor," the source said. "But his economic performance has been disastrous. Their honeymoon is certainly over."

Economists have long criticized Ahmadinejad's economic policies, warning that his reliance on oil revenues to finance loans to the poor and to buy cheap imports would lead to inflation and cripple local industries. Inflation has risen from 12 percent in October 2006 to 19 percent this year, according to figures released by the Iranian Central Bank.

Khamenei said Thursday in a speech in the central city of Yazd that "the government has certain unique characteristics, but like any other government there are mistakes and shortcomings."

He added that continuous criticism could undermine the government, but he refrained from praising it as he had in the past.

Recently, the supreme leader appointed a hard-line military leader, Mohammad Zolghadr, as deputy head of the armed forces for Basij, which is a volunteer militia force.

Ahmadinejad dismissed Zolghadr last month as deputy interior minister for security affairs. Ahmadinejad appeared angered last week by interference from Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, who visited Egypt as Khamenei's representative at the Supreme National Security Council. Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that his government had a Foreign Ministry that determined the country's foreign policy, and a ministry spokesman said that Larijani's trip had been personal.

Larijani's trip was important because Tehran cut ties with Egypt, a major Sunni country, when Cairo signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979 and provided asylum for the deposed Shah of Iran. Larijani, who is a close aide to Khamenei, announced that his talks with the Egyptian authorities had gone well.

In the face of rising criticism, Ahmadinejad has for the first time acknowledged that Iran was suffering from rising prices. Previously, he had called inflation a fiction invented by his political enemies.

But he blamed previous governments, Parliament and what he called a 36-percent increase in the prices of goods in international markets.

Mohammad Reza Katouzian, a conservative and onetime supporter of Ahmadinejad, said the president "should offer solutions instead of explaining past mistakes," the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Hassan Rassouli, head of Baran, a nongovernment organization created by the previous president, Mohammad Khatami after Khatami left office, said that Ahmadinejad tried only to justify inflation, not do anything about it.

"Either the president has no idea how inflation has affected people's lives or he prefers to talk unprofessionally, without referring to figures," he said, according to the Mehr press agency.

Alireza Mahjoub, a member of Parliament and the leader of a workers union, dismissed the government's claim that it had lowered the unemployment rate to 9.9 percent and said the real figure should be more than 16 percent, the Fars news agency reported.

"There are 4 million jobless in the country but a 9.9 percent unemployment rate suggests the figure is 2.2 million, out of the 21 million active population," he added. "The figure has only decreased on paper."

The coming parliamentary elections will provide a stark test for Ahmadinejad and his popularity among the poor. The conservative politicians who supported him in 2005 have, in many cases, turned into his fiercest critics and are now worried chiefly that they will be disqualified as candidates before the vote, a power that the government has exercised in the past.

Ahmadinejad loses favor with Khamenei, Iran's top leader (http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=9063096)
~~~~~~~~

This may be more important than at first glance. The President in Iran only holds power through the religious (read Shi-ite) leaders. This could mean trouble down the road............

Iran Urged to Stop Stoning People to Death
By Susan Jones
January 15, 2008

(CNSNews) - Human rights activists are demanding that Iran abolish its practice of stoning people to death.

A new report, published Monday, comes as nine Iranian women and two Iranian men are now awaiting that "cruel and unusual" fate, Amnesty International said.

AI calls stoning a "grotesque and unacceptable penalty" that should be halted immediately.

The head of Iran's judiciary in 2002 issued a moratorium on stoning, and the country's Penal Code is due to be amended, Amnesty International said. But the moratorium on stoning is not always observed.

Amnesty International said it welcomes Iran's recent "advances toward reforms," said Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA executive director. But Cox also called on the Iranian government to ensure that the new Penal Code does not allow stoning to death or other means of execution for adultery.

Iran's current Penal Code prescribes execution by stoning. According to Amnesty International, Article 102 of Iran's Penal Code says that men should be buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts for before the stoning begins.

Article 104, which refers to the penalty for adultery, says the stones used should be large enough to cause pain but not so large as to kill the victim immediately.

Amnesty International noted that "serious failings" in Iran's justice system "commonly result in unfair trials," and that includes capital cases.

"Despite the moratorium imposed in 2002 and official denials that stoning sentences continued to be implemented in Iran, deaths by stoning have been reported," AI said Monday in new release publicizing its new report.

The group mentions one man, Ja'far Kiani, who was stoned to death on July 5, 2007 after being convicted of committing adultery with a woman who bore him two children and who was also sentenced to death by stoning. The stoning was carried out despite a stay of execution ordered in his case and in defiance of the 2002 moratorium, AI said.

Another couple is "known to have been stoned to death" in May 2006, AI said. And more Iranians await such a fate.

Women most affected

Amnesty International said most of the Iranians sentenced to death by stoning are women, who are "not treated equally before the law and the courts."

Amnesty International said Iranian women are more likely than men to be illiterate -- and that makes them more likely to sign confessions to crimes they did not commit.

"Discrimination against women in other aspects of their lives also leaves them more susceptible to conviction for adultery," Amnesty International said.

Amnesty International said there is reason to hope that death by stoning will be completely abolished in Iran in the future.

It noted the "courageous efforts" of local human rights defenders in Iran who launched a "Stop Stoning Forever" campaign in May 2006. The campaign is credited with saving four women and one man, and a fifth woman has had her stoning sentence temporarily stayed, AI said.

"The Iranian government should pay attention to its civil society activists who are working courageously to end stoning," said Elise Auerbach, Amnesty International USA Iran country specialist. But the activists are often harassed, arrested or otherwise intimidated by Iranian authorities, AI said.

Amnesty International says that human rights defenders in Iran believe that international publicity and pressure can help bring about change in the country.

Iran Urged to Stop Stoning People to Death (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200801/CUL20080115b.html)

Iran Plans on Destroying Tomb of King Cyrus, Friend of the Jews

by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) Iran is planning on submerging the tomb of King Cyrus (Coresh), the Persian King known for authorizing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Holy Temple.

According to a report by Omedia, an Iranian organization is demanding that the International Criminal Court take action against those responsible.

The Iranian ayatollahs are planning on destroying the tomb as part of a general campaign to sever the Persian people from their non-Islamic heritage; Cyrus was thought to be a Zoroastrian and was one of the first rulers to enforce a policy of religious tolerance on his huge kingdom. Journalist Ran Porat quoted a young Iranian who said that the measures being taken by the Islamic Republic’s regime include the destruction of archaeological sites significant to this heritage.

“The government is in the final stages of constructing a dam in southern Iran that will submerge the archaeological sites of Pasargad and Persopolis – the ancient capital of the Persian Empire,” the report states. “The site, which is considered exceptional in terms of its archaeological wealth and historical importance, houses the tomb of the Persian King Cyrus.”

Cyrus, who lived from 576-530 BCE, liberated Babylonian Jewry from their exile in the famous Declaration of Cyrus (mentioned in the book of Ezra in both Hebrew and Aramaic).

A group of Iranian academics opposed to the regime’s policies founded a group called the Pasargad Heritage Foundation with hopes of getting the United Nations involved in protecting the historical site. Most recently, the foundation filed a petition with the International Criminal Court against the Iranian official in charge of maintaining the sites, charging him and his bureau with "crimes against humanity, due to the systematic state-sanctioned destruction of the culture of the ancient Iranian world and its historical heritage."

Though the city of Pasargad is a ruin, Cyrus’s Tomb has remained largely intact and it has been partially restored to counter its natural deterioration over the years.

Cyrus was praised in the Tanach (Isaiah 45:1-6), though he was also criticized for believing the false report of the Cuthites, who wanted to halt the building of the Second Temple. They accused the Jews of conspiring to rebel, so Cyrus in turn stopped the construction of the temple, which would not be completed until 516 BCE, during the reign of Darius the Great, the grandson of Queen Esther.

Iran Plans on Destroying Tomb of King Cyrus, Friend of the Jews (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124898)

Israel "would not dare attack Iran": Ahmadinejad
Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:44pm EST

By Firouz Sedarat

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Israel "would not dare attack Iran", after Israel said it tested a missile and warned against Tehran's nuclear program.

"The Zionist regime ... would not dare attack Iran," Ahmadinejad told Al Jazeera television in remarks translated into Arabic, referring to Israel. "The Iranian response would make them regret it, and they know this."

"It knows that any attack on Iranian territories would prompt a fierce response," he added.

Israel tested a missile on Thursday and urged the West to work harder to prevent "the appearance of a nuclear Iran".

Israel Radio said the missile tested was capable of carrying an "unconventional payload" -- an apparent reference to the nuclear warheads Israel is assumed to possess, though it has never publicly confirmed their existence.

Ahmadinejad said Israel was a "criminal regime" which would not gain legitimacy through threats. "It has lost its philosophical reason to exist," he said, adding that regional countries rejected Israel for occupying Palestinian territories.

The Iranian president also said Iran was also prepared for any possible U.S. military strike.

"But we are not worried about this kind of talk...because it is aimed at American domestic consumption as they need it in the upcoming presidential elections," he said.

NEW U.N. SANCTIONS?

Ahmadinejad said new United Nations sanctions against Iran would only discredit the U.N. Security Council as they would be based on political pressure, not legal issues.

"If the world realizes that the council takes illegal measures ... it would destroy the reputation of the council," Ahmadinejad said.

"It would better for them (world powers) to ... drop the issue from the Security Council's agenda," said Ahmadinejad, whose country has agreed with the U.N. atomic watchdog to answer outstanding questions within a month about past covert nuclear work that had military applications.

Germany said on Thursday a meeting of six big powers it is hosting next Tuesday aims to show international resolve not to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons technology.

The West fears Tehran is secretly seeking an atom bomb. Iran says its nuclear program is only for power generation. A recent U.S. intelligence estimate that it had stopped an active nuclear arms drive in 2003 has compounded disagreement among the six powers over the next steps in the stand-off.

Israel "would not dare attack Iran": Ahmadinejad (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL1781409020080117?sp=true)

Iran receives 6th shipment of Russian nuclear fuel

IRNA reports 11-ton load of enriched uranium transferred to the light-water Bushehr nuclear power plant
Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran received a sixth shipment of nuclear fuel Thursday from Russia, destined for a power plant being constructed in the southern port of Bushehr, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The report said the 11-ton load of enriched uranium arrived in Iran and was transferred to the light-water Bushehr nuclear power plant Thursday morning. The remainder of the fuel will arrive in two separate shipments in the coming weeks, it said.

"Of 82 tons of initial fuel needed for the Bushehr nuclear power plant, 66 tons have been shipped to Iran so far," the agency reported.

Iran received the fifth shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia on Tuesday. The first shipment arrived on Dec. 17 after months of dispute between the two countries, allegedly over delayed construction payments for the reactor.

Iran has said Bushehr, the country's first nuclear reactor, will begin operating in the summer of 2008, producing half its 1,000-megawatt capacity of electricity. Russia's decision to ship nuclear fuel to Iran follows a US Intelligence report released last month that concluded Tehran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in late 2003 and had not resumed it since. Iran says it never had a weapons program.

It also came after the UN Nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran had been truthful about its past uranium enrichment activities. The United States and Russia have said that by supplying Iran with nuclear fuel, the Islamic state has no need to continue its own uranium enrichment program - a process that can provide fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a bomb.

Iran has insisted it would continue enriching uranium to fuel a 300-megawatt light-water reactor in the country's southwest.

Iranian officials have said they plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next two decades.

Iran receives 6th shipment of Russian nuclear fuel (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3498232,00.html)

'Iran producing 300 tons of UF6'
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 27, 2008

An Iranian official said Sunday that the Islamic republic has increased its production to more than 300 tons of a gas used for uranium enrichment, a semi-official news agency reported.

The announcement comes as the UN Security Council is deciding whether to impose new economic sanctions against Iran for refusing to roll back its nuclear activities.

"The Isfahan uranium conversion facility is active, and it has produced more than 300 tons of UF6," otherwise known as uranium hexaflouride gas, the Fars news agency quoted Javad Vaidi, deputy of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as saying in meeting to members of the Revolutionary Guards. The Fars news agency is considered close to the elite branch of Iran's military.

The central Iranian cities of Isfahan and Natanz house the heart of the Iran's nuclear program.

In Isfahan, a conversion facility reprocesses raw uranium, known as yellowcake, into uranium hexaflouride gas. The gas is then taken to Natanz and fed into the centrifuges for enrichment.

Centrifuges spin uranium gas into enriched material, which at low levels is used to produce nuclear fuel to generate electricity. But further enrichment makes it suitable for use in building nuclear weapons.

A report by UN nuclear watchdog in November confirmed that Iran had stockpiled nearly 270 metric tons of the precursor gas used in enrichment.

The UN Security Council has been trying to pressure Iran to freeze uranium enrichment. But Iran has repeatedly refused, and officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency have privately said Teheran is expanding the program.

The Security Council is considering a new draft resolution that calls for additional sanctions against Iran, including bans on travel. Two sets of sanctions have already been imposed on Iran for refusing to halt enrichment.

The five veto-wielding members of the council - the US, Britain, France, China and Russia - along with Germany, agreed last week on the basic terms of the new resolution. Diplomats have said the full, 15-nation Security Council will likely approve it next month.

Iran insists its enrichment activities are intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity, but the US and others suspect Teheran's real aim is to produce nuclear bombs. A US intelligence report released last month concluded Teheran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in late 2003 and had not resumed it since.

Iranian officials have said they plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next two decades.

'Iran producing 300 tons of UF6' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201367880579&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran Upgrades Production Of Gas For Uranium Enrichment

1/27/2008 8:27:00 AM ET

TEHRAN (AP)--An Iranian official said Sunday the country has increased production to more than 300 metric tons of a gas used for uranium enrichment, a semiofficial news agency reported.

The announcement comes as the U.N. Security Council is deciding whether to impose new economic sanctions against Iran for refusing to roll back its nuclear activities. 'The Isfahan uranium conversion facility is active, and it has produced more than 300 tons of UF6,' otherwise known as uranium hexaflouride gas, the Fars news agency quoted Javad Vaidi, deputy of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as saying in meeting to members of the Revolutionary Guards. The Fars news agency is considered close to the elite branch of Iran's military.

The central Iranian cities of Isfahan and Natanz house the heart of the Iran's nuclear program. In Isfahan, a conversion facility reprocesses raw uranium, known as yellowcake, into uranium hexaflouride gas. The gas is then taken to Natanz and fed into the centrifuges for enrichment.

Centrifuges spin uranium gas into enriched material, which at low levels is used to produce nuclear fuel to generate electricity. But further enrichment makes it suitable for use in building nuclear weapons.

A report by U.N nuclear watchdog in November confirmed Iran had stockpiled nearly 270 tons of the precursor gas used in enrichment.

The U.N. Security Council has been trying to pressure Iran to freeze uranium enrichment. But Iran has repeatedly refused, and officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency have privately said Tehran is expanding the program.

The Security Council is considering a new draft resolution that calls for additional sanctions against Iran, including bans on travel. Two sets of sanctions have already been imposed on Iran for refusing to halt enrichment.

The five veto-wielding members of the council - the U.S., the U.K., France, China and Russia - along with Germany, agreed last week on the basic terms of the new resolution. Diplomats have said the full, 15-nation Security Council will likely approve it next month.

Iran insists its enrichment activities are intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity, but the U.S. and others suspect Tehran's real aim is to produce nuclear bombs. A U.S. intelligence report released last month concluded Tehran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in late 2003 and had not resumed it since.

Iranian officials have said they plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next two decades.

Iran Upgrades Production Of Gas For Uranium Enrichment (http://www.stockhouse.ca/MediaScan/news.asp?newsid=10054843)

Iran says it is close to resuming ties with Egypt cut in 1979
By Reuters
28/01/2008

Iran is close to resuming full diplomatic relations with Egypt, its foreign minister said on Monday, but did not say when the ties that have been cut for almost three decades would be re-established.

Iran broke ties with Egypt in 1979 after then Egyptian President Anwar Sadat let in the deposed shah of Iran. The two countries now have diplomatic representation through interest sections and not full embassies at ambassador level.

"We are on the verge of resuming official political ties with Egypt," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference in Tehran.

Egyptian officials have previously been more cautious about the timing of resuming ties.

Cairo has said a Tehran street named after the assassin of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat should be changed and murals in the Iranian capital of the assassin removed. Some security issues also need to be resolved, Egyptian officials have said.

"Now my representative is in Egypt and he has taken my special message to my counterpart and now Iran and Egypt's relationship is going ahead in a natural way," Mottaki said without giving further details.

Ali Asghar Mohammmadi, an assistant Iranian foreign minister for Middle East and North Africa affairs, is visiting Cairo and held talks on the Palestinian issue, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

There were no immediate details about a special message.

Mottaki's comments follow the first direct talks between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The two discussed the Palestinian issue and other regional matters in a telephone call last week.

Iran offers to help Egypt deal with chaos at Gaza Strip border

Iran on Sunday offered to help Egypt deal with growing chaos on its breached border with Gaza, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said.

The offer came during Mohammadi's visit to Cairo.

Mohammadi offered Iran's cooperation with Egypt to provide help to the
Palestinians, said Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki. He did not give details of the Iranian offer, but said Egypt welcomes cooperation between the two countries through their Red Crescent branches.

Five days ago, militants blew apart the border fence separating Egypt and the Gaza Strip, allowing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flow into Egyptian territory. The situation has garnered regional attention, with Arab foreign ministers holding an emergency meeting late Sunday about the matter.

Iran says it is close to resuming ties with Egypt cut in 1979 (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948559.html)

The world must accept Israel's imminent collapse

Speaking to a large crowd in Iran's Southern port city of Bushehr, the site of Iran's nuclear facility, Iranian President Ahmadinejad called on the world to acknowledge Israel's imminent collapse. The Iranian president told world leaders to stop supporting the Zionists, that their regime had reached its final stages and that the Palestinians and regional nations will confront and eventually bring to an end to the Israeli atrocities.

Iran does not acknowledge Israel and Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust of Jews in WWII a myth and has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and their name to be forgotten forever.

The scenario that Iranian President Ahmadinejad describes as the imminent collapse of Israel with the Middle East nations destroying the Jewish state does fit Bible prophecy; however, it has a different conclusion.

Standing near the nuclear facility located in Iran's port city of Bushehr, Iranian President Ahmadinejad has warned the world of the imminent collapse of the Jewish state of Israel. This warning is a continuation of his radical rhetoric focused on Israel and the claims that Israel is an illegitimate state and will soon be wiped off the map.

Ahmadinejad's statement that the Palestinians and other Middle East nations will eventually attack to help speed Israel's collapse is a page out of Bible prophecy. Daniel 11, Ezekiel 38 and Psalm 83 all lay out the scenario that brings these Middle Eastern nations, including Iran, to attack the Jewish state. Psalm 83:4 reveals that the plan for these attacks is to wipe the nation of Israel off the map and that the name Israel be forgotten forever. Daniel 12:1 and Ezekiel 39:2 says that God will intercede and all of the attacking nations will be destroyed.

Ahmadinejad's claim of the imminent collapse of Israel does indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Egypt and Iran hold first high-level meeting in decades

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held talks with Iran's parliament speaker Gholam Ali Hadad Adel on Wednesday, the first such high-level meeting since the two nations froze ties almost 30 years ago.

Hadad Adel hailed his "very good" meeting with Mubarak, who he said had insisted on rejecting any pressure from Washington aimed at stopping the resumption of diplomatic ties.

"The fact that I'm here is proof of the improvement in relations between the Islamic republic and Egypt," Hadad Adel told journalists.

"Maybe some people think the US is putting pressure to stop the return of relations between Egypt and Iran but President Mubarak has said he does not accept any pressure from the US and that his positions are based on Egypt's interests."

US President George W. Bush, whose administration is spearheading the campaign against Iran's controversial nuclear drive, has branded the Islamic republic a threat to world peace.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday that Tehran was on the threshold of restoring diplomatic ties with Cairo but was awaiting a signal from Egypt.

Diplomatic ties were broken in 1980, a year after the Islamic revolution, in protest at Egypt's recognition of Israel, its hosting of the deposed shah and its support for Iraq during its 1980-1988 war with Iran.

Relations have warmed recently, with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week making a telephone call to Mubarak -- the first contact between the presidents.

In a rare visit to Egypt earlier this month, Iran's former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani met Egyptian officials and said relations between the two countries were improving.

Hadad Adel said that during their meeting, Mubarak "talked about his positive point of view on increasing cooperation and we also gave him our positive point of view and told him that the Iranian position is in favour of reinforcing the economic ties."

He said Mubarak had told him that he had "always advised the US not to intervene militarily in Iran because this will not be in their favour."

Asked when diplomatic ties might be resumed, Hadad Adel said that "the situation just needs time and this is the only obstacle."

"At the present time, despite the fact there are no diplomatic ties there are bilateral links on all levels."

Hadad Adel said that unspecified remaining differences "could be solved in negotiations and we don't consider them obstacles that cannot be solved."

The two men also discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Iraq, he said.

Speaking about the long-running political crisis in Lebanon, Hadad Adel said he welcomed an Arab League initiative aimed at finding a solution "which must ensure the rights of all Lebanese parties."

Lebanon's opposition headed by the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, is at loggerheads with the Western-backed government over the choice of a new president.

Egypt and Iran hold first high-level meeting in decades (http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=mideast&item=080130110556.ffrtrexl.php)

ImaNutjob: Israel's days are numbered
01.30.08

Iranian president says, 'It's time to end the puppet theater of the fake regime'; adds his country is approaching nuclear 'peak'

Dudi Cohen and Reuters

Iran is approaching the "peak" in its nuclear program and will not yield to Western pressure to halt its activities, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday.

Ahmadinejad was speaking in the southwestern town of Bushehr near the site of Iran's planned first nuclear power plant, being built with Russian help, and predicted the country would have nuclear electricity by this time next year.

"If you (Western powers) imagine that the Iranian nation will back down you are making a mistake," he said in a televised speech.

"On the nuclear path we are moving towards the peak," he said without elaborating.

Turning his attention to Israel, Ahmadinejad said, "The religious Palestinian people will bring down the last screen with its powerful hand on the Zionists' puppet theater. It's time to end the puppet theater of this fake regime."

The Iranian president noted that Israel's days were numbered and that it has reached its end.

Turning to the Western powers supporting Israel, he said, "Those who remain silent in light of this regime's crimes and support it should know that they are taking part in the bloodshed of the Palestinian people and will be tried in the future.

"The world's states will never forget these crimes," the Iranian president was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Defying international pressure, Iran has been working on producing its own nuclear fuel, technology the West fears will be used to make atomic bombs. Tehran says its work is peaceful and has refused to stop.

He was speaking two days after Iran received the eighth and final consignment of nuclear fuel from Russia for the Bushehr plant. Tehran has said the plant will start in mid-2008, though past deadlines have slipped.

"Next year at this time ... nuclear electricity should flow in Iran's electricity network," he told the crowd.

Russia delivered the first shipment of uranium fuel rods on December 17 and urged Tehran to scrap its efforts to produce nuclear fuel. Tehran says its work is peaceful and has refused to stop.

Iran, the world's fourth-largest crude producer, says it wants to build a network of nuclear plants so it can preserve more of its oil and gas for export. It says it wants to make nuclear fuel itself to guarantee its supplies.

World powers last week agreed the outline of a third UN sanctions resolution against Iran which calls for mandatory travel bans and asset freezes for specific Iranian officials and vigilance on banks in the country.

ImaNutjob: Israel's days are numbered (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3500573,00.html)

Iran sends defiant message to West on revolution day

By Hossein Jaseb Mon Feb 11, 7:48 AM ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran aims to send a satellite into space next summer and will not retreat in a nuclear row with the West, its president said on Monday, in a defiant speech on the anniversary of the country's 1979 Islamic revolution.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed a major rally in Tehran a week after Iran sparked international concern by test-launching a rocket designed to carry its first domestically made research satellite into orbit.

"God willing, next summer the first 100 percent Iranian-made satellite will be positioned in orbit," he said.

The West fears Tehran is covertly trying to obtain nuclear bombs. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, says it needs nuclear energy to meet booming electricity demand.

The technology used to put satellites into space could also be used for launching weapons, analysts say, and both the United States and Russia have expressed concern about the rocket test.

Russia, which has long argued there is no evidence Tehran is seeking atomic weapons, and which is supplying fuel for its Bushehr nuclear power station, said the test raised suspicions about the real nature of Iran's atomic program.

But Ahmadinejad made clear Iran would press ahead with its satellite work, signaling it would carry out two more such tests to prepare for the real launch.

State media last week said the research satellite, called Omid (Hope), would be launched by March 2009.

NO RETREAT

Ahmadinejad also said Iran would not back down in the nuclear dispute with the West, despite the threat of a third round of U.N. sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its refusal to halt sensitive atomic work.

"They should know that the Iranian nation will not retreat one iota from its nuclear rights," he told the crowd which had gathered in the capital for the 29th anniversary of the revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah.

Iranian officials had called on people to turn out in large numbers to show their unity in the face of Western pressure. State television broadcast footage of rallies held across Iran.

The official IRNA news agency said Ahmadinejad was addressing a "million-strong gathering" but it was not immediately possible to confirm this figure.

"America should understand and believe that the Iranian nation will not back down from its rights," demonstrator Leila Jafari told Reuters.

Others at the rally burnt effigies representing Uncle Sam.

Iran has an array of medium-range missiles. It says its longest-range missile can reach 2,000 km (1,250 miles), meaning it could hit Israel and U.S. military bases in the Gulf.

U.S. officials have accused Iran of aiming to equip its missiles with nuclear warheads. Iran says its nuclear program is designed only to generate electricity and preserve its oil and gas for export.

Coinciding with the revolution anniversary, Iran displayed one of three British patrol boats which were seized in the Gulf in 2004, Iranian media reported. They were previously shown to the public three years ago.

Iran sends defiant message to West on revolution day (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080211/wl_nm/iran_nuclear_ahmadinejad_dc_3;_ylt=AuYf8quzt9x75J74aw4sPDFSw60A)

Ahmadinejad: Iran Won't Stop Enrichment
Monday, February 11, 2008 2:00 PM

TEHRAN, Iran -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck a defiant tone Monday on the 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, vowing not to slow Iran's nuclear program and announcing plans to launch more rockets into space as part of its drive to orbit a domestic satellite.

Like Iran's nuclear activities, the country's space program has provoked unease abroad because the same technology needed to send satellites into space can be used to deliver warheads.

Iranian officials insist both the space and nuclear programs are intended for peaceful purposes, and Ahmadinejad rallied Iranians against U.N. Security Council demands that Iran stop enriching uranium.

"I ask the people's view. Would you agree if I ... gave in, surrendered or compromised over the nuclear issue? Would you agree to give up one iota of your nuclear rights?" Ahmadinejad asked hundreds of thousands at a gathering in the capital.

The crowd chanted in response: "No!" and "Nuclear energy is our definite right."

State TV said millions took to the streets across Iran to mark the anniversary of the 1979 revolution that toppled a pro-U.S. monarchy and brought hard-line clerics to power. Hundreds of thousands marched in Tehran shouting "Death to America" and burning effigies of President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Washington has led the push for a third round of sanctions against Iran for ignoring U.N. demands that it suspend uranium enrichment, a technology that can produce nuclear reactor fuel or material for an atomic bomb. Last month, the five permanent Security Council members _ the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France _ agreed on a draft resolution for new sanctions.

Ahmadinejad said Monday that Iran won't be frightened by the threat of more sanctions. He also warned the Security Council that it risked losing credibility by relying on U.S.-led questions about Iranian nuclear intentions.

"If (Security Council) powers make any decision against the Iranian nation, they in fact decide against their own credibility," he said.

He was alluding to a U.S. intelligence report in December that concluded Iran stopped a nuclear weapons program in late 2003 and had not resumed it. U.S. officials, however, continue to warn that Iran's enrichment work could easily allow Tehran to resume weapons development.

Ahmadinejad also dedicated Monday's speech to promoting Iran's space program, saying two more research rockets will be fired into space before the first Iranian-made satellite is put into orbit, hopefully by this summer.

Earlier this month, Iran said it launched its first research rocket into space and unveiled its first major space center and an Iranian-built satellite _ called the Omid, or Hope.

"Today, we possess all the fundamental sections needed to launch a satellite into space," said Ahmadinejad. "We built all ourselves."

The U.S. called the Feb. 4 rocket launch "just another troubling development" amid concerns about Iran's development of medium- and long-range missiles.

Despite the anxiety over the space program, it is not clear how far along Iran really is, and analysts have expressed doubts about previous Iranian announcements of such technological achievements.

On Monday, Ahmadinejad offered the first details about the Feb. 4 launch. He said the first section of the rocket _ the Kavoshgar-1, or Explorer-1 _ detached after 90 seconds and returned to earth by parachute. The second segment entered space for about five minutes, he said, and the final section was sent "toward" orbit to collect data.

Iran says it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve telecommunications. Iranian officials also point to U.S. use of satellites to monitor Afghanistan and Iraq and say they need similar security abilities.

Iran launched its first commercial satellite on a Russian rocket in 2005 in a joint project with Moscow, which appears to be the main partner in transferring space technology to Iran.

Ahmadinejad: Iran Won't Stop Enrichment (http://newsmax.com/newsfront/iran_revolution_anniversary/2008/02/11/71795.html)

Iranian hangings 'hit new record'
Tue. 12 Feb 2008
BBC News
By Jon Leyne

Early morning in Tehran, and two mobile cranes are being manoeuvred into place. They are to act as temporary gallows for a public execution.

Already the crowd are out in force, some of them in a remarkably cheery mood. A few are getting ready to photograph the scene on their mobile phones. There are even one or two young children around.

Amid this strangely everyday scene, the black-masked hangmen begin their work. They attach nooses to the cranes, check they are secure.

As the sentence is read out, the two criminals are brought out.

They have been convicted of bank robberies and murders, including the murder of a senior judge, close to this very spot in Tehran.

But there is no sign of remorse. In fact, one of the two men can't stop smiling, even as the noose is put around his neck. Then swiftly the stool is pulled from under their legs.

The bodies are left dangling - a lesson for everyone to see.

'Executions necessary'

Under the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the number of executions has increased dramatically.

Amnesty International says the figures are up from 200 executions in 2006 to about 300 last year, and there have been more than 30 in the first month of this year alone.

The Iranian government says the executions are necessary to deter hardened criminals - murderers, drug dealers and rapists.

Ayatollah Mahdi Hadavi, a professor of Islamic law based in the holy city of Qom, explained this interpretation of Islam.

"In Islam, punishment is very harsh," he said. "Because the philosophy of punishment is to prevent the people from committing a crime."

In future that may include fewer public executions. The most recent was held in January.

But now Iran's chief judge has ordered that none should be held without his personal authorisation.

However, a similar edict stopping the punishment of stoning to death does not seem to have been obeyed.

Legs amputated

One man was stoned to death in Iran last year, after being convicted of adultery.

Human rights groups say two sisters, Zohreh and Azar Kabiri, now face the same penalty, after they were also convicted of adultery. Both are mothers, each with one child.

To add to this challenging list of punishments, the Iranian Nobel peace prize winner and human rights lawyer, Shirin Ebadi, has warned of a revival of the practice of amputation.

She said that several criminals in the remote province of Sistan-Baluchistan had recently had hands and legs amputated.

The violation of human rights in Iran had found new dimensions, warned the group of lawyers that she heads.

Ms Ebadi says she believes that there is a political dimension to the growing number of executions: "I see this as way of putting fear into society. They want to use this to frighten people, to make people afraid of voicing criticism."

Western liberals

It's not a charge that's likely to concern President Ahmadinejad.

His government has turned to a strict interpretation of Islam as a way of reviving the revolution and controlling the population.

It's hard to say how many people in Iran support these policies, though they are certainly more popular with Mr Ahmadinejad's poorer, more conservative, rural supporters.

On this 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, the government of the Islamic republic is prouder than ever of its difference from Western liberal countries.

It thrives on a confrontation with the West, not just on matters of foreign policy, but on basic questions of religious and social values.

Nowhere are these differences more stark than in Iran's increasingly tough attitude to crime and punishment.

Iranian hangings 'hit new record' (http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=14140)

Imanutjob: Iran 'number one world power'
Feb 28 06:54 AM US/Eastern
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared on Thursday that Iran was the world's "number one" power, as he launched a bitter new assault on domestic critics he accused of siding with the enemy.

"Everybody has understood that Iran is the number one power in the world," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to families who lost loved ones in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

"Today the name of Iran means a firm punch in the teeth of the powerful and it puts them in their place," he added in the address broadcast live on state television.

Ahmadinejad's comments come amid renewed Western efforts on the UN Security Council to agree a third package of sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to suspend sensitive nuclear activities.

They also came a day after former top nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani launched an unprecedented attack on Ahmadinejad's foreign policy, accusing him of using "coarse slogans and grandstanding".

"You can see how some people here... try to materialise the plans of the enemies and by showing that Iran is small and the enemy is big," added Ahmadinejad.

"These are the people who put the enemies of humanity in the place of God," said the deeply religious president.

He also told the families of the "martyrs" of the war that their loss was not in vain as the message of the Islamic revolution of 1979 that ousted the pro-US shah was spreading all over the world.

"Today the message of your revolution is being heard in South America, East Asia, in the heart of Europe and even in the United States itself," he said.

Ahmadinejad said he talked with people everywhere he travelled in the world and "it is like I am in district 17 in Tehran", referring to the low-income area in the south of the Iranian capital where he was giving his speech.

Ahmadinejad is due to travel to Iraq on Sunday in the first visit by a president of the Islamic republic to its western neighbour.

Imanutjob: Iran 'number one world power' (http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=080228105322.ylw1j5ia&show_article=1)
~~~~~~~~

Imanutjob, is getting nuttier by the day. I think it's time to up Imanutjob's meds, his delusions of grander continue.

Iran celebrates election by ending nuclear talks
Sun. 16 Mar 2008

The Sunday Telegraph

By Kay Biouki in Tehran and Gethin Chamberlain

Hardliners in the Iranian regime celebrated victory in parliamentary elections by toughening their stance against the West, firmly rejecting any possibility of talks over the country’s controversial nuclear programme.

Buoyed by the early results from Friday’s parliamentary elections, the government said talks with the group of five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany were at an end.

The statement will come as a blow to those who believed the group could still broker a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis, but reflects the strength of the conservative vote.

With more than half the results counted for the 290 seat parliament, conservatives had taken a 108 to 33 seat lead over their reformist opponents.

If the results are repeated in the remaining seats, it would mark a significant victory for the hardliners aligned with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

After months of jostling for position among the ranks of rival conservatives, the IRGC is now poised to take over from Iran’s clerics as the dominant force in the country’s parliament.

In recent weeks some more moderate clerics have found themselves the subject of unprecedented public criticism over their lifestyles, undermining their electoral chances.

Many reformist supporters boycotted the polls, complaining that their candidates had been barred from standing, but the government claimed that turnout still amounted to more than 60 per cent of those entitled to vote.

For Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president who faces elections next year, the results offered a mixed message.

The rise of the IRGC is generally regarded as being in his favour - although he has faced some criticism from its ranks for backsliding - but there were also gains for more moderate conservatives, who have been critical of his handling of the ailing Iranian economy.

Their success could increase the chances of an alternative conservative challenge to Mr Ahmadinejad next year, with Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, and Ali Larijani, the former nuclear negotiator who left his job after falling out with the president, both mentioned as possible rival candidates.

Reformists were hoping to at least form an effective minority bloc, larger than their approximately 40 seats in the outgoing parliament, but the results pointed to how deeply the movement was hurt when the unelected Guardian Council used its powers to disqualify 1,700 candidates on grounds of insufficient loyalty to Islam or Iran’s 1979 revolution.

Many of their supporters did not bother to vote but others said they felt they had to make an effort.

“The situation in the country has gone from bad to worse,” said Araman Mohebi, a 25 year old businessman in Tehran’s main bazaar.

“I voted for the reformists because something is better than nothing and I hope they could bring some changes to the suffering of the people.

"I don’t like Ahmadinejad and I will never vote for him in the next presidential election either. He has made us face danger with the world and also suffer from high inflation inside the country.”

Those concerns about the state of the economy may account for the failure of the hardliners to secure a more resounding victory.

With the Iranian New Year just around the corner, people busy making final preparations for the festive season could not fail to notice the increase in prices.

“Look at the prices at this new year,” said Hossein Hashemi, 55, outside a polling station in Tehran.

“How many times can they go up in a short while? I have great difficulties to buy new clothes and presents for my wife and children and they want me to vote for some people who I don’t know at all. What difference would this make?

"We all know that the results have been fixed before and the conservatives will win the election. They only want to use us and nothing else.”

Iran celebrates election by ending nuclear talks (http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=14601)

Ahmadinejad's Nuclear Mandate Strengthened After Iran Election

By Mark Bentley and Ladane Nasseri

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Defenders of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nuclear policy won parliamentary elections in Iran, strengthening his hand as he pursues a program of uranium enrichment in defiance of the United Nations.

Iran's most devout Islamists, who backed Ahmadinejad as he ignored the West's opposition to his nuclear ambitions, swept the nationwide ballot on March 14 with about 70 percent support, according to preliminary results. A pro-democracy group opposed to the president won less than a quarter of the vote after clerics barred most of the group's candidates.

Ahmadinejad, 51, has made Iran's nuclear program the centerpiece of a presidential term that is up for renewal next year. The U.S., which has pushed three sets of economic sanctions against Iran through the UN, says the country, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, is seeking to build nuclear weapons.

``The nuclear rhetoric could get worse now,'' Meir Javedanfar, co-author of ``The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran,'' said in a telephone interview from New York. ``The election victory may bring tougher UN sanctions, making Iran's economic situation all the more difficult.''

The president, backed by Iran's religious leaders, has stoked tensions with the U.S. and its allies in Europe since his election three years ago. At the same time, he has pursued economic policies at home based on spending, subsidies and price controls that have contributed to nationwide fuel shortages, a 21 percent youth unemployment rate and the highest inflation in eight years.

Voting `Cooked'

The U.S. said on the day of the election that voting was ``cooked'' in favor of the theocratic regime established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in an Islamic revolution in 1979.

Vice-President Dick Cheney, who left Washington yesterday for a 10-day trip to the Middle East, will discuss with Arab leaders how to engineer a peaceful resolution to the dispute with Iran.

In a combative mood the day after the election, Ahmadinejad said the poll had ``stamped a mark of shame and despair on the forehead of Iran's enemies.''

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking on state television, characterised the UN sanctions as ``evil tricks'' that failed to sway voters.

Iran has been under investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2003, after the UN discovered the country had hidden nuclear work from its inspectors for 18 years in contravention of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Producing Electricity

The Iranian government says its nuclear program is aimed purely at producing electricity for its expanding population.

Ahmadinejad will now forge ahead with the program in defiance of the UN, said Mashaallah Shamsolvaezin, an adviser to the Tehran-based Center for Scientific Research and Middle East Strategic Studies.

``Iran will proceed in a radical manner on the nuclear dossier,'' he said, adding that Ahmadinejad has the full backing of Ayatollah Khamenei.

Ali Larijani, Iran's former nuclear negotiator, said the election proved the regime had widespread support from Iranians to defend its rights to nuclear power.

``The Iranian nation has reaffirmed the Islamist system and frustrated the enemies,'' he said in a statement carried by state-run Press TV yesterday. He labelled U.S. policy toward Iran as ``hostile and provocative.''

Larijani leads a pro-regime group that has broken away from the main pro-Ahmadinejad United Principlist Front. He said two days ago that differences with the president were more on style than substance, the state-run Fars news agency reported.

Iraq, Lebanon

The U.S. says that under Ahmadinejad's presidency Iran also supports insurgents in Iraq and sponsors the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, which the U.S. and Israel consider terrorists. The Iranian president has also denied Israel's right to exist.

Cheney raised concerns about the threat from Ahmadinejad's Iran to Israel before heading to the Middle East.

``Tehran may increasingly be turning its sights to inflaming the situation in the Gaza Strip,'' Cheney said in a March 11 speech to the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, seized control of Gaza last June. Israel has exerted military and economic pressure on Gaza in a bid to stop cross-border rocket attacks from the Strip.

Ahmadinejad believes he has strong support among neighbors for his foreign policy, and the election results will do nothing to alter that, according to Mohammad-Reza Djalili, a professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

``Since coming to power the president has pursued an aggressive and intransigent foreign policy,'' Djalili said in a telephone interview. ``I don't see why he would change course.''

Ahmadinejad's Nuclear Mandate Strengthened After Iran Election (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGUPH1VLn.7c&refer=home)

Please note; this is not the conspiracy theory site CuttingEdge.
~~~~~~~

Iran Mulls the Death Penalty for Apostates—Perhaps with Worldwide Jurisdiction
Joseph Griebowski March 17th 2008

Life for so-called apostates in Iran has never been easy, but it could become literally impossible if Iran passes a new draft penal code. For the first time in its history, Iran is considering the death penalty for apostates. In the past, authorities have executed apostates. But punishment by death has never before been set down in law.

The text of the draft penal code uses the word Hadd, which explicitly sets death as a fixed punishment that cannot be changed, reduced or annulled. The rest of the code is little better. By using ill-defined terms, other provisions also open the door to abuse Iran’s already beleaguered religious and ethnic minorities.

Article 225-1 states “Any Muslim who clearly announces that he/she has left Islam and declares blasphemy is an Apostate.” Article 225-2 adds that “Serious and earnest intention is the condition for certainty in apostasy.” So an accused person could claim that he made his statement reluctantly, or ignorantly, or while drunk, or through the slip of a tongue, and he would not be considered an apostate.
The penal code also identifies two types of apostates: innate (Fetri) and parental (Melli). An innate apostate has at least one parent who was a Muslim at conception, who declares himself a Muslim after maturity, then later leaves Islam. Maturity occurs at puberty, usually around 12 or 13. By contrast, both the parents of a parental apostate were non-Muslims at his conception. A parental apostate becomes a Muslim at maturity, then “later leaves Islam and returns to blasphemy.”

The code adds another condition for the parental apostate: anyone who has “at least one Muslim parent at the time of conception but after the age of maturity, without pretending to be a Muslim, chooses blasphemy is considered a Parental Apostate.”

To dispel any confusion over the required punishment for apostasy, the draft code says outright that “punishment for an Innate Apostate is death.” However, parental apostates do receive a slender reprieve: After sentencing, they have three days to recant their beliefs. If not, they will be executed according to their sentence.

Interestingly, the punishment for women is lighter than that for men. Punishment for a woman, whether innate or parental, is life imprisonment with hardship “exercised on her.” If a woman recants, she will be freed immediately. In a side note, the code’s authors said religious laws would determine “the condition of hardship.”

The code would also further erode the rights of minorities such as Bahá’ís or Christians by labeling them apostates. “False prophets”—a term undefined in the code—are to be sentenced to death. Any Muslim who “invents a heresy” or a sect contrary to Islam is also an apostate.

Also worrying for minorities is Article 133-3, which declares that anyone who uses a minor to commit a crime will be punished. As past experience shoes, parents of Bahá’í or Christian youth who share their teachings with children other than their own could find this article applies to them. Also, two or more people who get together to commit a felony constitute a group or band. This reference can be used for any organized action by a group of people, including any activity carried out by groups the government considers dangerous, such as Bahá’ís, Christians, or Azeris.

The code’s authors go even further, extending its jurisdiction beyond Iran’s borders to those acting “against the government, the independence and the internal and external security of the country.” The law does not define the term “security.” This means that groups around the world that Iran’s regime consider dangerous could be liable for actions they take outside the country.

Iran already has an abysmal record when it comes to oppressing religious minorities and political dissidents. The current draft penal code only provides more scope to abuse the fundamental rights of Iranians. For anyone who dares question the regime’s religious ideology, there could soon be no room to argue—only death.

Iran Mulls the Death Penalty for Apostates—Perhaps with Worldwide Jurisdiction (http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=371)

Iran's Influence on the Rise - McCain

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU – 10 hours ago

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, expressed fresh concern Tuesday about Iran's influence in Iraq and rising sway in Mideast.

McCain, who has just completed his eighth visit to Iraq, said the U.S. military had just discovered a large new cache of "the most lethal" copper explosive devices there, and hinted the explosives had been provided by Iran.

McCain voiced concern that Tehran is bringing militants over the border into Iran for training before sending them back to fight U.S. troops in Iraq, and also blamed Syria for allegedly continuing to "expedite" a flow of foreign fighters.

"We continue to be concerned about Iranian influence and assistance to Hezbollah as well as Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons," McCain said.

He added that, if elected president, he would coordinate better with Europe to impose a "broad range of sanctions and punishments" on Tehran, to "convince them that their activities, particularly development of nuclear weapons, is not a beneficial goal to seek."

McCain declined to comment on whether he could back an eventual decision to strike Iran if Tehran doesn't cease its nuclear activities.

In response to a question about possible U.S. strikes against Tehran, McCain only said: "At the end of the day, we cannot afford having a nuclear armed Iran."

He warned that any hasty pullout from Iraq would be a mistake that would favor Iran and al-Qaida.

"We continue to be very concerned about the Iranian influence in Iraq and in the region," McCain said.

McCain ran into trouble last year when he joked about bombing Iran, giving a campaign audience in South Carolina a rendition of the opening lyrics of the Beach Boys rock classic "Barbara Ann," calling the tune "Bomb Iran" and changing the words to "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, anyway, ah ..."

McCain, who has linked his political future to U.S. success in Iraq, was in the wartorn country on Monday for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials.

"We were very encouraged by the success of the surge and the reduction in U.S. casualties," McCain told reporters in Jordan, where he stopped on the next leg of a congressional visit that will also take him to Israel, Britain and France.

"We are succeeding, but we still have a long way to go," he warned. "Al-Qaida is on the run, they're not defeated."

A "major battle" remains to be fought to reclaim the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, he said, stating it was a success for the U.S. that Iraqi troops were now "taking the lead in that struggle" against al-Qaida.

Later Tuesday, McCain received a celebrity welcome in Jerusalem, beginning a two-day visit to Israel with a stop at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. As his motorcade pulled up dozens of tourists greeted him and chanted "Mac is back," as he shook their hands and posed for photographs.

His visit to Iraq was the Arizona senator's first since emerging as the presumed Republican nominee. He was accompanied by Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., two of his top supporters in the race for president.

He promised that, if elected president, he would uphold a long-term military commitment in Iraq as long as al-Qaida in Iraq is not defeated.

McCain, who is the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the trip to the Middle East and Europe was for fact-finding purposes, not a campaign photo opportunity.

He is expected to meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the first time, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy for the third time. He met and corresponded with Sarkozy both before and after the French president was elected. They last saw each other last summer.

McCain has told U.S. reporters he worries that insurgents might try to influence the November presidential election by stepping up their attacks in Iraq.

McCain is a supporter of the 2003 invasion and President Bush's troop increase last year.

McCain: Iran's Influence on the Rise (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5SFyWmW2LU8nH7JxUsaNb4fFqCQD8VFUKNO1)

Iran Schoolbooks Teach Jihad, Martyrdom, Study Shows
By Fred Lucas Staff Writer

Washington (CNSNews.com) - When third grade school children in Iran turn to page 113 of their textbook "Let's Read," they find a passage that says, "At that time, the Israeli officer pounded (three-year-old) Muhammad's head with the rifle's stock and his warm blood sprinkled upon his (six-year-old brother) Khaled's hands."

The Iranian textbook was published in 2004, before the controversial Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president of Iran in 2005. In another third-grade text, "Gifts of Heavan," an illustration of a monster wearing the Star of David is seen going through a tidy Muslim town leaving garbage everywhere.

While those examples could seem shocking to some, it gets worse, said Arnon Groiss, director of research at the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, who recently completed a study of 115 Iranian school textbooks. (Most of the books reviewed in the study had been published in 2004.)

"Indoctrination is less felt in the lower grades and increases in the higher grades," Groiss said, speaking at a forum Monday on the topic at the conservative Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C.

The books are part of an overall indoctrination effort aimed at school children. This effort includes rewritten Iranian history and the inclusion of Jihadist political views in science and geography texts, he said.

The seventh grade text "Islamic Culture and Religious Instruction," which refers to the West and Israel as the "Arrogant Ones," tells students that war is unavoidable and victory is guaranteed "in order to continue with all our power our revolution against the Arrogant Ones and the oppressors."

An eighth grade text says the "army of Islam would make the Arrogant Ones fall in holy Jihad and heavy attack."

"This is a form of child abuse rejected by all civilized countries," said Groiss, who for 30 years was an Arab-language journalist and is currently deputy director at Israel Broadcasting Authorities Arabic Radio. "This pictures a regime bent on global war to the point of self-destruction."

On page 20 of the high school textbook "Humanities," the United States is described as an "imperialist country" that "does not refrain from massacring people, from burying alive soldiers of the opposite side and from using mass-destruction weapons. It makes use of atomic bombs. ... It creates the greatest dictatorships and the violent and torturous security-oriented regimes, and defends them."

The good news could be that most Iranian families dismiss the teachings in the books, telling their children to simply memorize the material for the test, but nothing else, said the Iranian-born Shayan Arya at the forum.

"To the Iranian youth, America is the most popular country," said Arya, a member of the Constitutionalist Party of Iran - an international group of one-time Iranian citizens pushing for the establishment of a liberal democracy in that country. However, even a small number influenced by the books could be damaging, he said.

"The Islamist regime does not need to be 100 percent successful, only a small portion," Arya said. "If 10 percent are exposed, that's 5 million. If 1 percent is exposed, that's 500,000. If it's a half of a percent, that's 250,000. That's more troops than we have in Iraq."

Iran Schoolbooks Teach Jihad, Martyrdom, Study Shows (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200803/CUL20080312a.html)

Iranian, Syrian missiles to pound Israel in next war

Secret report paints grim picture: Thousands of casualties, nationwide power outages

Itamar Eichner
Published: 03.24.08, 13:46
Israel News

Hundreds of dead, thousands of injured, missile barrages on central Israel, full paralysis at Ben-Gurion Airport, constantly bombed roads, nationwide power outages that last for long hours, and whole regions' water supply being cut off – this is what the next war could look like.

A secret report recently distributed among government ministries and local municipalities details various wartime scenarios. The report deals with very harsh possibilities, including some that are downright horrifying, formulated as part of the lessons drawn in the wake of the Second Lebanon War.

Notably, the document does not aim to predict future developments with certainty, but rather, only aims to serve as a guideline for civilian war preparations. The above assessment is characterized as a "severe reasonable scenario" – that is, it is not the gravest scenario, but also not the most favorable.

According to this scenario, the war will last for about a month and will include the participation of Syria (military operations on the Golan Heights front and the firing of many Scud missiles at the home front,) Lebanon (the firing of thousands of Hizbullah rockets at the Galilee and Haifa as well long-range missiles at central Israel,) and the Palestinian Authority (relatively limited conflict that would include short-range rockets fired from Gaza and the West Bank as well as terror attacks such as suicide bombings within Israel.)

Mass evacuation in case of chemical attack

According to this scenario, Iran will also get involved in the war, but will only fire a limited number of missiles rather than non-conventional weapons. In addition to missile barrages, the scenario includes aerial strikes on military and strategic targets, attacks on infrastructure facilities, and attempted abductions of civilians and soldiers.

Such hypothetical war, according to the assessment, will leave 100-230 civilians dead, and 1,900-3,200 Israelis wounded. However, should Israel be attacked with chemical weapons, the number of killed and wounded Israelis would skyrocket to 16,000.

Under such circumstances, as a result of missile damage, chemical contamination, and the razing of homes the State would have to evacuate as many as 227,000 Israelis from their homes. According to the assessment, about 100,000 people would seek to leave the country should such scenario materialize.

Iranian, Syrian missiles to pound Israel in next war (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3522937,00.html)

Iran: Parliament to discuss death penalty for converts who leave Islam

Tehran, 19 March (AKI) - In its first session since last week's general elections, the new Iranian parliament is expected to discuss a law that will condemn to death anyone who decides to leave the Muslim faith and convert to other religions.

The parliament, also known as the Majlis, will debate the new law which has been presented by the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Under the proposed law, anyone who is born to Muslim parents and decides to convert to another faith, will face the death penalty.

Currently converts, particularly those who have decided to leave the Muslim faith for Evangelical churches, are arrested and then released after some years of detention.

The new legislation, which has caused concern in Iran and abroad, was proposed mainly because of fears of proselytising activities by Evangelical churches particularly through the use of satellite channels.

There has also been concern over fact that many young people in Iran have abandoned Islam because they're tired of the many restrictions imposed by the faith.

According to unofficial sources, in the past five years, one million Iranians, particularly young people and women, have abandoned Islam and joined Evangelical churches.

This phenomenon has surprised even the missionaries who carry out their activities in secret in Iran.

An Evangelical priest and former Muslim in Iran told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the conversions were "interesting, enthusiastic but very dangerous".

"The high number of conversions is the reason that the government has decided to make the repression of Christians official with this new law," said the priest on condition of anonymity.

"Often we get to know about a new community that has been formed, after a lot of time, given that the people gather in homes to pray and often with rituals that they invent without any real spiritual guide," he told AKI.

"We find ourselves facing what is more than a conversion to the Christian faith," he said. "It's a mass exodus from Islam."

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, at least eight Christians have been killed for their faith.

Seven of them were found stabbed to death after they were kidnapped while only one, Seyyed Hossein Soudmand was condemned to death.

Iran: Parliament to discuss death penalty for converts who leave Islam (http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=1.0.1988866222)

Two Israeli politicians on the opposite sides of the political spectrum agree on one thing - Iran

On a recent trip to the Middle East, US Vice-President Dick Cheney stopped in Israel to try and keep the Middle East peace process on track; and Vice-President Cheney met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to encourage each side to make the hard concessions to accomplish a peace agreement.

The United States Vice-President met with Israel's President Shimon Peres; and also the opposition leader of the government, Likud Party leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with both men, both from opposite sides of the political spectrum, both men agreeing on the issue of Iran and it's danger to the Jewish state of Israel.

Both politicians agreeing on the Iranian threat.

Two opposing political leaders of Israel, agreeing on one issue, the Iranian threat, is significant politically; but very significant prophetically.

As Dick Cheney met with the leaders of Israel on a recent Middle East trip, he heard from two Israeli politicians on the opposite sides of the political spectrum that there is something that they agree on today.

Both men, Israeli President Shimon Peres and opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, agree that Iran is the major threat to the Jewish state of Israel.

President Peres says that Israel can not give back the Golan Heights to Syria, that would allow for Syrian-Iranian control of the "high spot" in northern Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu says that a divided Jerusalem would allow for the Hamas-Iranian element to take control of the old city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

Israeli intelligence reports that Iran is orchestrating a take-over of all of Israel and in particular, the Golan Heights and the Temple Mount. Actually, there is nothing new in this intelligence report. Bible prophecy foretold this scenario some 2500 years ago in the biblical books of Daniel, Ezekiel and the Psalms.

These passages of prophecy reveal an alignment of nations who rise up to destroy the Jewish state in the last days, with Iran center focus in this alignment, Ezekiel 38:5 and Psalm 83:6.

Political agreement on Iran is indeed evidence that Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

Iranian missile development site revealed

The Times reports new satellite photographs show secret site where Iran is suspected of developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching targets in Europe; expert says recent launching of Kavoshgar missile from site did not demonstrate any significant advances in Islamic Republic's ballistic missile technology
Ynet

New satellite photographs have revealed the secret site where Iran is suspected of developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching targets in Europe, The Times reported on Friday.

According to the British newspaper, the imagery pinpointed the facility from where the Iranians launched their Kavoshgar 1 “research rocket” on February 4, claiming that it was in connection with their space program.

Experts who analyzed the photos, which were taken by the Digital Globe QuickBird satellite four days after the launch, said they revealed a number of intriguing features that indicate that it is the same site where Iran is focusing its efforts on developing a ballistic missile with a range of about 6,000km (4,000 miles), The Times said in its report.

The Kavoshgar 1 rocket that was launched in the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said Iran was in need of an "active and influential presence in space".

'An important strategic facility'

The Times quoted one expert as saying that said the Kavoshgar launch did not demonstrate any significant advances in ballistic missile technology “but it does reveal the likely future development of Iran's missile program”.

The report said that the site, about 230km southeast of Tehran, and the link with Iran's long-range program, was revealed by Jane's Intelligence Review after a study of the imagery by a former Iraq weapons inspector.

Geoffrey Forden, a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was quoted by The Times as saying that there was a recently constructed building on the site, about 40 meters in length, which was similar in form and size to the Taepodong long-range missile assembly facility in North Korea.

According to Forden, the examination of the launch site revealed that it was part of a large and growing complex “with very high levels of security and recent construction activity”. It was clearly “an important strategic facility”, he said.

Jane's Intelligence Review claimed that the satellite photographs prove that the Kavoshgar 1 rocket was not part of a civilian space center project but was consistent with Iran's clandestine program to develop longer-range missiles.

The Time reported that during a meeting on February 25 between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Iranians, UN inspectors confronted them with evidence of design studies for mounting nuclear warheads on long-range missiles. The Iranians denied any such aspirations.

Iranian missile development site revealed (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3530438,00.html)

'We can speed up enrichment 5-fold'
GIL HOFFMAN and AP
THE JERUSALEM POST
Apr. 8, 2008

Iran has for the first time tested an improved centrifuge that works five times faster than the current version, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday evening, following his earlier announcement that Iran had begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz.

Ahmadinejad toured the Natanz facility in ceremonies marking the second anniversary of the day Iran first enriched uranium in 2006. On that day, "Iran stepped into a path that will put the country in a more deserving position in the world," Ahmadinejad said, according to state-run television.

"The president announced the start of the phase of installing 6,000 new centrifuges in Natanz," state television reported.

Later in a nationally televised speech, he announced the testing of the new, more effective centrifuge.

Ahmadinejad said a "new machine was put to test" that is smaller but five times more efficient than the P-1 centrifuges that are currently in operation at Natanz. He provided no further details on the new device or on how many Iran had.

He called the development a "breakthrough" and the "beginning of a speedy trend to eliminate the big powers" dominance in nuclear energy.
The Iranian president lauded Iran's achieved proficiency in the cycle of nuclear fuel despite UN sanctions and pressures imposed by the world's big powers.

The announcement of the installation of the new centrifuges, which Western officials said could not be immediately confirmed, represented a major bid to expand enrichment, a process that can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead. Iran currently operates 3,000 centrifuges at its underground nuclear facility in Natanz.

A diplomat following Iran's nuclear program at the Vienna, Austria-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said Ahmadinejad's statement appeared to be "a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing."

"It seems to be little more than a publicity stunt," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized comment publicly.

But Western nations appeared divided on how to respond. France called for UN sanctions already imposed on Iran to be "reinforced."

But Russia, an ally of Iran, said the West should instead put forward a new package of economic incentives aimed at persuading Teheran to halt enrichment. Teheran rejected one such European package last week.

A source in the Prime Minister's Office responded by calling on the world to take whatever steps were necessary to prevent the nuclearization of Iran.

"Unfortunately the reckless language of the Iranian leadership is matched by their reckless behavior," the source said. "The international community must act today. Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Iran to accept a deal and halt enrichment.

"Iran faces continued isolation in the international community because it will not take a reasonable offer from the international community to have another way," she said in Washington. "The six parties have put forward, I think, a very generous set of incentives should Iran agree to live up to the obligations that any state has when a Security Council resolution is passed."

Gregory Schulte, the US representative to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tuesday's announcement by Iran "reflects the Iranian leadership's continuing violation of international obligations and refusal to address international concerns."

"This approach has not brought Iran international respect or accolade, but rather increasing censure and sanction," he said in a written statement.

The UN has passed three sets of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. Teheran insists its nuclear program is focused on the peaceful production of energy, not the development of weapons as claimed by the US and many of its allies.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called the announcement of new centrifuges "dangerous" and said UN sanctions should be increased.

"If that continues, we must reinforce sanctions, but we also must continue dialogue," Kouchner told a news conference in Paris. "I fear that we will have to continue on the road toward sanctions if we do not encounter responses from the Iranians."

But Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said there was no need for new sanctions. Instead, he told Ekho Moskvy radio that diplomats from the US, Russia, China, Britain and France, along with Germany, would offer Iran new economic, energy and security incentives to halt uranium enrichment.

"We must focus on drafting new positive proposals now," Lavrov said.

He also reaffirmed Moscow's strong warning opposing the use of force against Iran, saying that it would exacerbate the crisis in the Middle East and make a peace settlement impossible.

"A negotiated settlement is the only possibility," Lavrov said. "Any attempt to use force will trigger a series of unsustainable crises in the Middle East."

Britain's Foreign Office said Iran had "chosen to ignore the will of the international community," accusing Teheran of "making no effort to restore international confidence in its intentions."

The workhorse of Iran's enrichment program is the P-1 centrifuge, which is run in cascades of 164 machines. But Iranian officials confirmed in February that they had started using the IR-2 centrifuge, which can churn out enriched uranium at more than double the rate.

Iranian state television didn't say if the installation of the 6,000 new centrifuges included the older P-1 or the advanced IR-2 centrifuges.

A total of 3,000 centrifuges is the commonly accepted figure for a nuclear enrichment program that is past the experimental stage and can be used as a platform for a full industrial-scale program that could produce enough enriched material for dozens of nuclear weapons.

Iran says it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that ultimately will involve 54,000 centrifuges.

'We can speed up enrichment 5-fold' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207486220655&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran to open uranium processing plant
Thu. 10 Apr 2008

The Associated Press

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran will inaugurate a new uranium ore processing plant in less than a year in Ardakan, central Iran, a top nuclear official said Wednesday.

The nuclear facility will complete one of the early stages necessary for uranium enrichment — a process that can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead. Iran is looking to dramatically expand its enrichment program despite U.N. demands that it stop.

Hossein Faghihian, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran in charge of nuclear fuel, said the Ardakan Yellowcake Production Plant would open before the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which is March 20, 2009.

The plant will process ore extracted from uranium mines into uranium ore concentrate, known as yellowcake.

In the next stage, at the Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan, central Iran, the yellowcake is processed into uranium hexaflouride, a gas that is the feedstock for enriching uranium. The gas is taken to the Uranium Enrichment Plant in Natanz, where it is injected into centrifuges for enrichment.

Iran announced Tuesday that it had begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges for enrichment, a move that would triple its number of centrifuges.

Faghihian said the new plant at Ardakan is to have a capacity to produce 70 tons of yellowcake a year.

Iran has a smaller ore concentrate plant near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, which opened in 2006. Authorities have not said how much ore the Bandar Abbas plant can produce, though it is believed to be less than the planned new facility.

"With the inauguration of the facility, the country's needs for uranium ore concentrate will be met," the state television's Web site quoted Faghihian as saying Wednesday.

Uranium enriched to low grades is used for fuel in nuclear reactors, but further enrichment makes it suitable for atomic bombs.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but Tehran has denied the accusation. It says its nuclear program is geared solely toward generating electricity with reactors.

The U.N. Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

Faghihian said Iran has so far pumped out about 360 tons of the gas it needs for uranium enrichment and keeps the materials at the Isfahan facility.

Iran has discovered at least three other uranium reserves in central parts of the country. The largest discovered reserve is at its Saghand Uranium Mine in central Iran, not far from the Ardakan facility.

Faghihian said officials were preparing a comprehensive map of Iran's uranium reserves to pave the way for thorough exploitation.

Iran to open uranium processing plant (http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=14836)

Iran complains to UN about Ben-Eliezer
Jpost.com staff and AP
THE JERUSALEM POST
Apr. 11, 2008

Iran has lodged a complaint with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer's remarks this week that Israel would destroy Iran if it were attacked first.

"An Iranian attack will prompt a severe reaction from Israel, which will destroy the Iranian nation," Ben-Eliezer said on April 7, as the nation conducted the largest home front security drill in its history.

Teheran, the minister added, "is definitely aware of our strength. Even so, they are teasing us with their alliances with Syria and Hizbullah, and supplying them with many weapons, and we have to deal with that."

In a letter to Ban, Iran's UN envoy, Muhammad Khazei wrote that "The Israel regime continues to make impudent threats against Iran...[Ben-Eliezer], in his April 7 remarks, which blatantly violated international law and the UN Charter, threatened the Iranian nation with destruction." Khazei's letter did not mention Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statement that Israel should be "wiped off the map," or any other Iranian threats against Israel. The Iranian leader has also denied the Holocaust.

These "shameless remarks," Khazei's letter continued, followed earlier claims by other Israeli officials and constituted a serious breach of the United Nations Charter. The charter forbids the use of force by a country against another nation, Khazei pointed out.

The Iranian envoy urged the Security Council to respond to Ben-Eliezer's remarks and keep Israel from "threatening" another state in the future.

The Iranian ambassador told the Security Council that Israel "has continued with its insolent, outrageous and unprovoked threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran ... in yet another manifestation of the terrorist, aggressive and criminal nature of the Israeli regime" and in violation of the UN Charter.

"The inaction of the Security Council in this regard, has emboldened the regime to pursue this dangerous course," Khazee said.

"Therefore, the Security Council should react to these vicious statements by unambiguously condemning them and calling on the regime to cease and desist immediately from the threat of using force against members of the United Nations," he added.

Iran complains to UN about Ben-Eliezer (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207649990504&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)
~~~~~~~~

Iran threatens to wipe Israel off the map and Israel responds with a "defensive" statement and Iran cries foul. And people wonder why, I call Ahmadinejad "ImaNutjob".

Deadly blast strikes Iran mosque
12 April 2008

At least nine people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in an explosion at a mosque in Iran, local media reports say.

The blast reportedly occurred during an address by a prominent local cleric in the southern city of Shiraz.

The city's Law Enforcement Force commander, Col Zamani, told the semi-official Fars news agency that the explosion had been caused by a bomb.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

Fars quoted a hospital official as saying at least nine people had been killed and 105 injured. An initial Iranian TV report said scores had been killed, but later revised its death toll to "several".

Weekly meeting

A police official said a home-made bomb had been planted in the mosque, Fars reported.

The agency said the explosion occurred at around 2100 (1630 GMT) and could be heard a mile (1.5km) away. The Irna news agency said it broke the windows of many nearby houses.

Most of those inside the Hoseyniyeh Shohada mosque were young boys and girls affiliated to the Rahpoyan-e Vesal Association, which "holds weekly meetings every Saturday regarding misguided groups, including Wahhabis and Bahais", Fars added.

Wahhabism is a strict version of Sunni Islam practised throughout the Arabian Peninsula, most notably by Saudi Arabia's ruling family, while the Bahai faith is viewed as heretical by Iran's religious authorities.

Members of the Law Enforcement Force and the Basij militia have placed a cordon around the mosque. Ambulance and fire crews are said to be at the scene assisting the victims.

Television channels urged people in Shiraz to donate blood for the injured, adding that all nurses in the city had been called in on duty.

Shiraz, about 900km (560 miles) south of the capital Tehran, is a major tourist destination because of its closeness to a number of important ancient sites.

It has not been, however, a target of the isolated bomb attacks which have occurred in Iran in recent years.

The last major bombing, in the south-eastern city of Zahedan in February last year, is believed to have been carried out by the Sunni Baluchi militant group, Jundallah.

Thirteen members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed when a car bomb exploded next to the bus in which they were travelling.

The south-western city of Ahwaz, close to the Iraqi border, has seen sporadic anti-government violence since 2005, allegedly by its ethnic minority Arab population.

Deadly blast strikes Iran mosque (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7344780.stm)

Ahmadinejad: Israel weak, collapsing

Iranian president calls on Muslim countries to support Palestinians, slams 'Israeli crimes'

Dudi Cohen
Published: 04.10.08, 17:51
Israel News

Eternal optimist: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that the State of Israel is weak and collapsing, Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

"The time has come to see the weakness and collapse of the Zionist regime and its supporters," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying. "They are doing everything in order to save it, but they will not succeed."

In a meeting with Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, Ahmadinejad called for Muslim countries to support the Palestinians and added that "the most despicable crimes against humanity are taking place in Palestine today."

"The crudest trampling of rules is being undertaken in an inhumane manner," he said.

The Iranian president has made his views on the Palestinian issue known numerous times in the past and expressed his support for the armed struggle waged by Palestinian terror groups. In his meeting with Senegal's president he stressed that the Palestinian issue was the most important and complex in the world.

"The only solution to the Palestinian question is in turning to the voices of the Palestinian people," Ahmadinejad said. President Wade reportedly agreed with the remarks and emphasized the need for a united Muslim front in backing the Palestinians and condemning "Zionist crimes."

Earlier, the Iranian President slammed Western powers and said that the "corrupt global leadership" must be wiped out.

"The Iranian people will not surrender until the corrupt global leadership will become extinct," he said. "Our enemies should know that threats, sanctions, political pressure and economic pressure would not force us to step back."

The Iranian president again characterized United Nations Security Council decisions as no more than "pieces of paper."

Ahmadinejad: Israel weak, collapsing (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3530229,00.html)

Iran smuggling arms into Gaza by sea
Yaakov Katz and Herb Keinon
THE JERUSALEM POST
Apr. 17, 2008

Iran has stepped up its efforts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip by using floatable devices that it drops near the waters off the Gaza coast to be picked up by Palestinian fisherman, senior defense officials have told The Jerusalem Post.

According to defense officials, Iran is now sending rockets and other advanced weaponry to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip by sea as well as via tunnels dug under the Philadelphi Corridor and connecting the Sinai peninsula with Rafah.

Officials said that the Navy is doing a fairly effective job in curbing the smuggling by sea, but that there are some shipments Israeli forces did not succeed in intercepting.

"They throw the weapons overboard in waterproof, sealed tubes which then float into the Gaza waters and are picked up by fishermen," one official said. "Sometimes Navy boats intercept them and sometimes they get through."

In recent months, the IDF has noticed an increase in Iranian-made weaponry in the Gaza Strip, including rockets and mortars. Terror groups in Gaza recently were equipped by Teheran with two different types of mortar shells made in Iran - one 120 mm with a range of 10 kilometers like a Kassam rocket and another with a range of six kilometers. Defense officials told the Post that in recent weeks thousands of mortars have been smuggled into Gaza.

Officials in Jerusalem said some of the weaponry now in Gaza was far too large to have been smuggled through tunnels burrowed from Sinai into Gaza, and that there was obviously an alternative route that was being used to smuggle weaponry into the area.

In addition to providing weaponry, Iran is also training Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists, who have used the periodic openings at the Rafah Crossing with Egypt, as well as the collapse of the border with Egypt in January, to travel to Iran and train there in terror and guerrilla warfare.

Officials said the weapons could take several routes from Iran to Egypt. One possibility is that the weapons are taken by boat from Iran to Egypt and then are smuggled into Gaza through tunnels or thrown into the waters off the coast and near the border.

Another possible route is that the weapons are transferred by Iran to Syria, and then to Lebanon, where Hizbullah ships them by boat to Egypt.

A branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards - called the Quds (Jerusalem) Force - is believed to be responsible for overseas operations, such as training Hizbullah and Palestinian terrorists and providing them with weapons.

Meanwhile, a full closure was imposed Thursday on Gaza and the West Bank, effective midnight Thursday, for the duration of Pessah.

A terror infiltration into the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Gaza was thwarted on Thursday by the IDF. Military sources said that three armed terrorists were spotted on their way to the crossing - the main conduit for food and medical supplies transferred to Gaza - and were intercepted by a force from the Bedouin Desert Battalion that was stationed nearby.

One terrorist was killed and another was wounded in an ensuing gunfight.

The foiled infiltration followed heavy violence on Wednesday when three IDF soldiers and close to 20 Palestinians were killed in clashes in Gaza.

On Thursday, 10 rockets were fired into Israel, including a Grad-model Katyusha rocket that hit an open field south of Netivot. No one was injured in the attacks.

Earlier in the day, two Islamic Jihad operatives were shot dead in the West Bank town of Kabatiya near Jenin. The IDF said troops surrounded a home in which the operatives were hiding and called on them to come out. The suspects refused and were killed in an ensuing exchange of fire.

Iran smuggling arms into Gaza by sea (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208422633228&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Ahmadinejad Says Oil at $115 a Barrel is Too Low, Calls for Higher Prices

Saturday , April 19, 2008

TEHRAN, Iran —
Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted Saturday as saying crude oil prices at $115 a barrel are too low, and that oil must "discover its real value."

Oil prices have hit all-time highs above $115 a barrel in recent weeks, amid reports that oil and gasoline stocks in the United States were lower than expected and as the dollar sinks to record lows.

"The oil price of $115 a barrel in today's global markets is a deceiving figure. Oil is a strategic commodity that needs to discover its real value," the Web site of Iran's state-run television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

The Iranian president made the remarks during a visit to an oil and gas exhibition in Tehran late Friday.

Crude oil futures surged to a new trading record of $117 a barrel Friday following an attack on a key pipeline in Nigeria. The rise capped a week of record highs fueled by supply woes and the dollar's weakness relative to other major currencies.

Ahmadinejad said despite the surge in oil prices, the economic value of crude oil is currently less than what it was in 1980.

"While the price of other commodities have increased, the economic value of the current oil price is even less than 1980," he said.

Ahmadinejad accused Western industrialized nations of "selfishness" in their quest for cheaper oil.

"When they get hold of oil, they assume that oil is a free commodity and belongs to them and has wrongly been placed in other territories... This is the spirit of selfishness and arrogance," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

A host of supply and demand concerns in the U.S. and abroad, along with the dollar's weakness, have bolstered oil prices, even as record retail gasoline prices in the U.S. appear to be dampening demand.

A stronger dollar makes commodities such as oil less attractive to investors as a hedge against inflation, and it makes oil more expensive to investors overseas. Analysts believe the weaker dollar is the primary reason oil has soared well past $100 a barrel this year. But the effect tends to reverse when the greenback gains ground.

Ahmadinejad called the U.S. currency "a handful of paper" without any global support.

Iran has stopped using the U.S. dollar in its oil transactions with the outside world, switching to other non-dollar currencies such as Euro.

"The dollar is not money any longer but a handful of paper distributed in the world without commodity support," the Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Ahmadinejad Says Oil at $115 a Barrel is Too Low, Calls for Higher Prices (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,351789,00.html)

A Washington insider says that an Iran with nuclear capability would set the Middle East for nuclear war

Anthony Cortisman, a former director of intelligence assessment for the Secretary of Defense, who is now a top strategic guru at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that if Iran achieves it's goal of a nuclear weapon of mass destruction the entire power-balance in the Middle East will be changed and it will set the stage for a nuclear war in the region.

Cortisman says that theoretically it is possible that the Israeli State, economy and organized society would survive such an almost mortal blow; however, Iran would not survive in the normal sense of the term.

The possibility of a nuclear war in the Middle East, should Iran acquire a nuclear weapon of mass destruction, is very viable says one strategic planner; however, Bible prophecy has additional information about this possible scenario for the Middle East as well.

Anthony Cortisman the strategic guru in Washington says that a nuclear confrontation between Iran and Israel would kill millions of Iranians and leave Israel crippled, but the Jewish State would survive.

This scenario that at this point in time is possible, if all intelligence from the region is correct is only in the mind's of the analyst. But from the pages of Bible prophecy this potential war, nuclear or not, will take place according to the ancient Jewish prophets.

Ezekiel mentioned Iran specifically as a nation that till form a coalition with other nations to attack Israel and endeavor to destroy the Jewish State, that's in Ezekiel 38:5 where Iran is referred to as Persia.

Bible prophecy does not mention that nuclear weapons will be used but the prophets do say that the total destruction of the Jewish State is on the agenda of the alignment of nations against Israel in the last days, as found also in the prophetic books of Daniel, Joel and Micah.

The assessment that there could be a nuclear war in the Middle East ans soon is close to what Bible prophecy calls for in the last days. Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

A landmark archaeological discovery found in the British museum gives proof of Old Testament truth

An expert on ancient Babylon, Dr. Michael Jersey of Vienna, has discovered a small clay tablet located in the British museum that is a landmark archaeological discovery and provides proof of the Old Testament's veracity.

Though the tablet was unearthed near Baghdad in 1920, only recently has it been deciphered by Dr. Jersey which led to the discovery of the records of a donation of gold by the chief eunuch of King Nebuchadnezzar. Dr. Jersey quickly consulted Jeremiah 39 where he found the man's name listed a s one of Nebuchadnezzar's top ministers who actually took part in the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem some 2,500 years ago.

An ancient Babylonian tablet found in the British museum is evidence that the nation of Iraq will be destroyed forever according to Bible prophecy.

A recent discovery in the British museum by an expert on ancient Babylon gives a direct link to the Bible and the Babylonian history under King Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian tablet gives the name of one of Nebuchadnezzar's top ministers which is the same name of Nebuchadnezzar's men found in Jeremiah 39. This old Testament passage used by the archaeologist is the account of King Nebuchadnezzar's siege of the city of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 586 BC.

It was that destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem 2,500 years ago that God said would be the reason He would destroy the Babylonians, the modern-day Iraqis, forever, Jeremiah 50:28, 51:11. However, before the Babylonians and the literal city of Babylon are destroyed, this nation and the city of Babylon will become the headquarters for the one-world, economic, political, governmental system led by Antichrist, Revelation 18.

Of course, that war-torn nation must be rebuilt and become the power center of the world before the destruction as recorded in Revelation 16:17-21.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "ImaNutjob" revels in Iran's new belligerence
By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor
Last Updated: 1:03PM BST 11/07/2008

Bombastic President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran terrifies the world ... but his career hangs in the balance

Of all the leaders who have cast a chill over the world with threats and bravado, only Iran's bombastic president can boast a doctorate in traffic management.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the "over-promoted municipal politician" – as one former envoy in Tehran calls him – once fretted over the pitiful state of the capital's clogged and grimy streets when he served as mayor.

Yet he will glory in his country's missile tests this week. Mr Ahmadinejad, revelling in his unofficial status as the world's leading firebrand, has previously claimed that Iran is the world's "number one power" and its very name means a "hard punch in the teeth" for America and her allies.

When it comes to verbal belligerence, no one can outdo him. Shortly after he became Iran's president in 2005, he achieved global fame by calling the Holocaust a "myth" and inviting a motley collection of deniers and anti-semites to a conference in Tehran.

His guests ranged from a former chief of the Ku Klux Klan to a raft of pseudo historians.

Most notoriously of all, Mr Ahmadinejad later told a cheering crowd that Israel should be "wiped off the map". His acolytes have since disputed this translation – although it was good enough for the official news agency, IRNA, when it reported his speech.

A more accurate rendition may be that Mr Ahmadinejad merely called for Israel to be "wiped from the pages of history". Phew. So no threat there then. What lies behind this outpouring of rage? Mr Ahmadinejad was born in 1956 to a humble family in rural Iran. Most accounts say that his father was a village blacksmith.

The son was bright enough to gain admission to the Science and Technology University in Tehran, where he arrived in 1976. Iran's Islamic revolutionaries were on the march against the increasingly unpopular Shah Reza Pahlavi. As a pious young man from a modest background, Mr Ahmadinejad was a natural recruit to their ranks.

He joined a revolutionary militia and played some part in the Shah's downfall in 1979. Exactly what Mr Ahmadinejad was up to during this crucial period is still disputed. He may have performed a leading role in the incident that seared Iran into the consciousness of the world – the storming of the US embassy and the abduction of its staff.

Three Americans who were among the 52 diplomats held for 444 days have testified that Mr Ahmadinejad was among the hostage-takers. A photograph has emerged showing a bearded youth, bearing some resemblance to Iran's president, standing beside a blindfolded American captive.

But the likeness is far from exact and the memories of the witnesses may have faded with the passing of almost 30 years. Whether or not Mr Ahmadinejad helped storm the US embassy, his ideological devotion to the cause was beyond doubt.

When Saddam Hussein's Iraq tried to strangle Iran's revolution at birth by invading in 1980 and starting an eight-year war, Mr Ahmadinejad was soon at the front as a soldier with the Revolutionary Guards. He joined a special forces unit and took part in at least one sabotage raid deep into Iraqi territory.

After the war, Mr Ahmadinejad went into politics, rising to become a provincial governor and mayor of Tehran. Yet few took him seriously. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's president between 1989 and 1997, viewed him with disdain as a semi-educated ingénue with a shaky grasp of reality.

Moreover, Mr Ahmadinejad's views were hard-line even by the standards of Iran's leaders. He wanted no compromise with liberal reformers, however much popularity they commanded in a country where two thirds of the population of 70 million are below the age of 30.

As mayor of Tehran, Mr Ahmadinejad ordered the arrest of women wearing make-up and couples seen holding hands in the streets. He denounced burger bars as a symbol of Western decadence.

Yet he also won genuine popularity. In contrast to many of Iran's leaders, he was personally incorruptible and possessed the common touch. Mr Ahmadinejad would regularly walk to work or spend a day with Tehran's street cleaners. When ordinary people had complaints, he would see them personally.

During the presidential election of 2005, Mr Ahmadinejad came from nowhere to defeat Mr Rafsanjani, his key rival. Exactly why this happened is still mysterious.

The most powerful man in Iran is not the president but the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Whoever receives his favour is also likely to win a presidential election. It seems that Ayatollah Khamenei alighted on Mr Ahmadinejad as one of the few hardliners with some popular appeal.

In the shifting sands of Iranian politics, the president's true importance is open to debate. Under the Islamic Republic's labyrinthine constitution, he runs the government and makes key appointments.

But he has no power over Iran's armed forces or the Revolutionary Guard. They answer directly to the Supreme Leader. This week's missile tests were not ordered by Mr Ahmadinejad – although he would certainly have approved of them. Instead, they were certainly Ayatollah Khamenei's handiwork.

When it comes to foreign policy, the situation is less clear. Since Mr Ahmadinejad won power, Iran's stance has become more confrontational in substance as well as in rhetoric. The country began enriching uranium – the vital process that could be used to produce the essential material for a nuclear weapon – within a year of Mr Ahmadinejad's election victory.

The chief negotiator on the nuclear issue, Ali Larijani, was replaced by Saeed Jalili, a hard-line acolyte of the president. Former ministers have testified that Mr Ahmadinejad brooks no opposition in cabinet and rules with an authoritarian streak.

There seems little doubt that Mr Ahmadinejad has an independent power base – and so his fire-breathing belligerence does matter.

The central question is what the Supreme Leader thinks of his president. Ayatollah Khamenei's real opinions are the most important of Iran's many riddles. He has variously described Mr Ahmadinejad as the "best president" since the revolution – and chided him for mismanaging the economy and squandering the oil revenues.

The parliamentary elections this year saw Mr Ahmadinejad's hard-line critics win a bare majority. All this means that he may not be able to seek re-election when his term ends next year. On the other hand, if war looms larger on the horizon, Mr Ahmadinejad might be seen as just the man to rally Iranians – and petrify the world – with his own brand of threatening fervour.

Like peace in the Middle East, Mr Ahmadinejad's career hangs in the balance.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "ImaNutjob" revels in Iran's new belligerence (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/2283113/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-revels-in-Iran%27s-new-belligerence.html?service=print)

ImaNutjob speaks of "peace and security"
July 9, 2008

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran test-fired a long-range missile on Wednesday in response to what it says are threats from Israel and the United States, Iranian officials said.

"We want to tell the world that those who conduct their foreign policy by using the language of threat against Iran have to know that our finger is always on the trigger and we have hundreds and even thousands of missiles ready to be fired against predetermined targets," Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guard ground forces, said on state TV.

"We will chase the enemies on the ground and in the sky and we are able react strongly to enemy's threats in shortest possible time."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps test-fired a Shahab-3 missile and several other missiles during war games in the Persian Gulf called the Great Prophet III, according to Iran's state-run media and a U.S. military source.

William Burns, a senior U.S. State Department official, said Iran is "as serious ... a problem as any we face today."

The exercise comes a month after Israel conducted a military drill in the eastern Mediterranean involving dozens of warplanes, and the latest Iranian activities prompted concern from Israel and condemnation from the United States.

Iran occasionally tests missiles, but this firing comes amid international tensions over its nuclear aspirations.

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said "the war game was aimed at improving the combat readiness of Iran's armed forces. The 2,000-kilometers-range Shahab-3 missiles were tested to demonstrate Iran's capability in hitting its enemies accurately at the early stages of their probable attacks against the Islamic Republic."

Video Watch footage of the missiles being fired (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/09/iran.missiles/index.html#cnnSTCVideo)

The agency added: "Domestic and foreign political and military analysts believe that Shahab-3 is able to reach targets in the occupied lands in case of the Zionist regime's probable attacks against Iran's nuclear sites."

Iran's Press TV said the military "successfully test-fired new long and mid-range missiles." It mentioned the Shahab 3, "which can hit any target within a range of 2,000km." It said the missile was equipped with a one-ton conventional warhead.

"Nine highly advanced missiles with improved accuracy were simultaneously tested including the Zelzal and Fateh missiles with ranges of 400km and 170km respectively."

Press TV said troops were also involved in the maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz areas.

A U.S. military official with knowledge of the testing counted the firing of seven missiles, one Shahab-3 and six shorter-range ballistic missiles. The testing took place over land, the official said.

The official, who noted that these kinds of tests had occurred before and were not unexpected, said the tests were tracked by U.S. intelligence.

Another military source said another Iranian exercise is under way inside the Persian Gulf with surface ships and submarines.

World powers, who suspect Iran is intent on building nuclear weapons, have offered economic and other incentives in exchange for the suspension of its enrichment program.

Iran, which says its nuclear program is strictly to produce energy, defends its right to proceed with enrichment.

There are worldwide worries that Israel, which is concerned by Iran's plans, is pondering a unilateral strike.

Israel's recent aerial military exercise was in part an effort to send a message that it has the capability to attack Iran's nuclear program.

The distance involved in the exercise was roughly the same as would be involved in a possible strike on the Iranian nuclear fuel plant at Natanz, a U.S. military official said.

In 1981, Israel attacked a nuclear facility in Iraq. Israel also struck a site in Syria that some say was a nuclear reactor under construction.

One Israeli Cabinet member, Shaul Mofaz, recently said it "will attack" Iran if the nuclear program was not halted.

Last week, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, Gen. Mohammed Ali-Jaafari, said any strike against Iran's nuclear facilities would be regarded a the beginning of war.

At the same time, Iranian leaders are discounting the possibility of war. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Malaysia this week for a conference, told reporters Iran was trying to prevent a confrontation.

"We are making all-out efforts to expand peace and security in the world. You should not be concerned about a new war," he said on Tuesday.

Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said it did not want conflict with Iran.

"But the Iranian nuclear program and the Iranian ballistic missile program must be of concern for the entire International community," Regev said.

The White House reacted strongly to the Iranian test-firing.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "Iran's development of ballistic missiles is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and completely inconsistent with Iran's obligations to the world."
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Johndroe mentioned that the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany "are committed to a diplomatic path, and have offered Iran a generous package of incentives if they will suspend their uranium enrichment activities."

"They should also refrain from further missile tests if they truly seek to gain the trust of the world. The Iranians should stop the development of ballistic missiles, which could be used as a delivery vehicle for a potential nuclear weapon, immediately."

ImaNutjob speaks of "peace and security" (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/09/iran.missiles/index.html)

Iran briefs ally Syria on standoff with West

By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 17, 3:28 PM ET

DAMASCUS, Syria - Iran's foreign minister briefed Syria's president Thursday on the international standoff over his country's nuclear program.

The meeting in Damascus signaled Syria's willingness to act on a request by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to try to help resolve the crisis by pushing Iran to cooperate with the international community.

Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, welcomed a Syrian role in trying to ease the tension, Syria's official SANA news agency reported. Speaking at a news conference, he added that Iran has always kept the Syrians informed of developments in the standoff with the United States and its European allies.

Sarkozy met with Syrian President Bashar Assad at a summit of European nations and other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea last weekend in Paris. The French president asked Assad to step in and persuade Iran to offer proof that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.

Iran's assurances that it only wants nuclear technology for the production of energy have failed to quell suspicions that it is seeking a pathway to an atomic bomb.

Assad promised to relay the request from France to Tehran, but expressed doubts that his intervention would help, despite his country's close ties with Iran.

On Thursday, Assad stressed his view that "dialogue and diplomacy are the only way to settle this issue," SANA reported.

The visiting Iranian foreign minister also met with his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Moallem, who said at a joint news conference that Iran's peaceful intention "was confirmed to us by our brothers in Iran."

Al-Moallem was also asked by a reporter how his country's indirect peace negotiations with Israel might impact Syria's relations with Iran, whose president has called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Al-Moallem said the "strategic alliance" between Syria and Iran was strong and would not be shaken by the possibility of a peace treaty with Israel.

Mottaki expressed Iran's support for Syria's aims in the Turkish-mediated peace talks, namely the return of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war.

"We support the Syrian president's stand in recovering the occupied land," Mottaki said.

Iran briefs ally Syria on standoff with West (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080717/ap_on_re_mi_ea/syria_iran;_ylt=AuOLPhxQYGOduHGfPdKHtwgLewgF)

Iran hangs 29 people

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 27, 5:12 AM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran hanged 29 people at dawn on Sunday after they had been convicted of murder, drug trafficking and other crimes, state run television reported.

All were hanged inside Evin prison, north of the capital. The hangings were carried out after the death sentences were ratified by Iran's Supreme Court, the television report said.

A separate report on the television station's web site quoted Tehran Chief Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi as saying the men had records of repeated crimes, including rape, armed robbery and murder. The web site also said some of the convicts had "smuggled thousands of kilograms of various kinds of narcotics" in and out of Iran.

The hangings brought to about 150 the number of people executed in Iran so far this year.

International human rights groups have accused Iran of making excessive use of the death penalty, but Iranian officials say capital punishment is an effective deterrent carried out only after all judicial proceedings are exhausted.

The Rome-based Hands Off Cain, which campaigns to stop the death penalty, said last week that at least 355 people were put to death in Iran last year, compared with 215 in 2006. The group said the actual figure may be even higher because Iran does not publish official statistics on the number of executions.

The 355 executions placed Iran second only to China as the world's biggest executioner.

The group said China alone accounted for at least 5,000 executions based on reports by the media and other human rights groups.

Iranian rights activists said earlier this month that authorities have sentenced eight women and one man convicted of adultery to death by stoning.

Iran hangs 29 people (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080727/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_hanging;_ylt=AmEGdDA7FDIWRWIPHxG.C.YLewgF)

Iran to get new Russian air defences by '09
23 Jul 2008 15:32:52 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Dan Williams

TEL AVIV, July 23 (Reuters) - Iran is set to receive an advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft system by year-end that could help fend off any preemptive strikes against its nuclear facilities, senior Israeli defence sources said on Wednesday.

First delivery of the S-300 missile batteries was expected as soon as early September, one source said, though it could take six to 12 months for them to be deployed and operable -- a possible reprieve for Israeli and American military planners.

Iran, which already has TOR-M1 surface-to-air missiles from Russia, announced last December that an unspecified number of S-300s were on order. But Moscow denied there was any such deal.

Washington has led a diplomatic drive to deny Iran access to nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential, while hinting that force could be a last resort. Israel, whose warplanes have been training for long-range missions, has made similar threats.

But the allies appear to differ on when Iran, which denies seeking atomic arms, might get the S-300. The most sophisticated version of the system can track 100 targets at once and fire on planes 120 km (75 miles) away.

"Based on what I know, it's highly unlikely that those air defence missiles would be in Iranian hands any time soon," U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said in a July 9 briefing when asked about the S-300 -- also known in the West as the SA-20.

An Israeli defence official said Iran's contract with Russia required that the S-300s be delivered by the end of 2008. A second source said first units would arrive in early September.

The official agreed with the assessments of independent experts that the S-300 would compound the challenges that Iran -- whose nuclear sites are numerous, distant, and fortified -- would already pose for any future air strike campaign by Israel.

TIME TO LEARN

Israel does not have strategic "stealth" bombers like the United States, though the Israeli air force is believed to have developed its own radar-evading and jamming technologies.

"There's no doubt that the S-300s would make an air attack more difficult," said the official, who declined to be named.

"But there's an answer for every counter-measure, and as far as we're concerned, the sooner the Iranians get the new system, the more time we will have to inspect the deployments and tactical doctrines. There's a learning curve."

Israel, which is assumed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, carried out a large-scale air force drill over the Mediterranean last month which was widely seen as a "dress rehearsal" for a possible raid on Iran. Some analysts also described it as a bid to pressure the West to step up sanctions.

The exercise involved overflying parts of Greece, which is among a handful of countries to have bought and deployed S-300s. But Greek media quoted Athens officials as saying that the system's radars were "turned off" during the Israeli presence.

According to the Israeli official, it would take a year for Iran to deploy the S-300s and man them with trained operators.

Robert Hewson, editor of Jane's Air-Launched Weapons, said: "The minimum work-up time to be comfortable with the system is six months, but more time is preferable."

Hewson said the Iranian S-300 deal was being conducted via Belarus to afford discretion for Russia, which is already under Western scrutiny for helping Iran build a major atomic reactor.

"Belarus is the proxy route whenever Russia wants to deny it is doing the sale. But nothing happens along that route without Moscow saying so," he said

Iran to get new Russian air defences by '09 (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21512727.htm)

Iran tests naval weapon with 300 km range

Revolutionary Guards say they have tested Iranian-built missile that could destroy any vessel in range of 190 miles
Reuters

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Monday they had tested a naval weapon that could destroy any vessel in a range of 300 km (190 miles), Iranian media reported.

The comments are likely to stoke tensions over Iran's disputed nuclear program after Tehran failed to meet Saturday's informal deadline to respond to a package of nuclear incentives offered by six world powers to defuse the row.

The West accuses Iran of seeking to build an atomic bomb, a charge Tehran denies. The United States has not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to end the row, prompting Iran to warn it would target US bases if attacked.

"The Revolutionary Guards have recently tested a naval weapon with a 300 km range in which no vessel would be safe and would be sent to the depths," Guards Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.

He said it was Iranian built but did not give details.

US forces are stationed in several countries around the Gulf, including Bahrain where the US Navy Fifth Fleet is based. Iran says US forces are in range of its weapons and has threatened to impose controls on shipping in the Gulf if pushed.

Around 40% of globally traded oil leaves the region through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point at the southern end of the Gulf, flanked by the coastlines of Iran and Oman.

Western capitals had set an informal deadline of Saturday for Iran to freeze expansion of its nuclear work in return for a halt to measures to impose more UN sanctions.

The freeze was aimed at getting preliminary talks going, before formal negotiations on a package of nuclear, trade and other incentives start once Tehran suspends uranium enrichment, a process that can have both civilian and military uses.

Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, has dismissed the idea of a deadline and refused to suspend enrichment, saying it only wants to master the technology to generate electricity.

The United States said on Sunday that Iran had left the UN Security Council no choice but to increase sanctions on the Islamic Republic for failing to respond to the offer.

The incentives package was backed by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. Moscow opposed the idea of setting a deadline but also told Tehran not to drag its feet with any response.

Iran tests naval weapon with 300 km range (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3577436,00.html)

Iranian woman to be executed for alleged ties with Israel

Local media report one woman, three men to receive death sentences for involvement in Shiraz mosque blast, 'connections with Zionist regime'

Dudi Cohen
Published: 08.03.08, 15:39 / Israel News

An Iranian woman accused of involvement in the blast at a Shiraz mosque a few months ago will be executed, a local news agency reported, saying she received a life sentence for a connection she had with Israeli intelligence organizations.

Aside from this woman, whose name was not released, three other Shiraz residents arrested in this case will be executed.

According to the report in Iran, 25 people were arrested for alleged involvement in a blast that took place at a Shiraz mosque on April 12, while a religious ceremony was being conducted by a local sermonizer.

The explosion took 14 lives, and dozens of other worshippers were injured.

A month after the incident, the Iranian president blamed Israel, the United States and Britain for involvement in the blast.

“These three countries announced that they plan on attempting to kill Iranian elements and a short time afterwards, the blast occurred in Shiraz,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in the Iranian official news agency, IRNA.

According to him, “due to the calculated effort made by Iranian intelligence officials, the people who caused this blast were arrested quickly and admitted their connection to the Zionist regime, America and England.”

This is not the first time Iranian civilians were accused of ties with Israel. On Sunday, an Iranian newspaper reported that seven people of the Bahai faith were arrested and admitted to organizing illegal activity and receiving instruction from Israel and other countries.

The report said that the seven, who are most likely leaders in the Bahai community and arrested in May, tried undermining the Islamic rule in the country.

Just a little over a month ago, an Iranian citizen was sentenced to death for spying for Israel. The accused, a 43-year old Muslim from Tehran named Ali Ashtari, was arrested a year and a half ago by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and according to the Iranians, admitted he was guilty in court.

It should be noted that the Iranians are known for the severe pressure they inflict on their suspects to admit to the accusations ascribed to them, using “announcements” for propaganda.

Lately, Iran has magnified its efforts to prevent attempts to spy on its territory and has expressed so publicly in order to deter its citizens from being enticed to spy.

Iranian woman to be executed for alleged ties with Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3577089,00.html)

Iran 'promises final response'
06/08/2008 11:44

Washington - Six world powers are to confer by telephone on Wednesday on whether to seek new sanctions or keep talking to Iran after its ambiguous response to their offer to resolve the dispute over its allegedly arms-targetted nuclear programme.

Iran promised in a letter on Tuesday a final response to the offer, but said it first needed some clarifications about the proposals, an EU source said.

Negotiators from United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China "have scheduled a conference call for tomorrow", said US State Department spokesperson Gonzalo Gallegos.

Iran's demand for more information came in the form of a letter to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana that was also circulated late on Tuesday to the five UN Security Council permanent members and Germany, who are seeking to persuade Tehran to end its uranium enrichment programme.

The Iranian authorities "say there will be a response but that clarification is needed on certain points of the offer", the European source told AFP.

"They've hit the ball back. We must analyse whether it's just another way to gain time or if it's serious," she added.

The Iranian letter was received three days after an initial weekend deadline set by the United States and its allies.

'We are going to have no choice...'

A source with Iran's Supreme National Security Council told AFP that a message had been handed over to Solana, who has been leading negotiations on behalf of the six world powers, but confirmed it did not contain the awaited final response.

"The message delivered today is not Iran's response to the six countries," the source said.

The six powers had offered Iran negotiations on a package of technological incentives if it suspends the sensitive process of uranium enrichment, which the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons.

Tehran has steadfastly refused to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, which it says are only aimed at producing fuel for nuclear power for a growing population.

The United States said Iran faced "additional measures" if it did not respond clearly, indicating it risked further UN Security Council sanctions.

"If we are not going to receive a clear response, a clear message from them, we are going to have no choice but to pursue additional measures," Gallegos said.

Along with the threat of further sanctions, Washington has warned that the option of military action against Iran remains open if Tehran sticks to its defiant line.

Anti-ship missile

In seeking new UN sanctions, Washington is assured the support of Britain and France, both of whom have used stronger language in dealing with Iran, but its unclear whether the other three powers would follow suit.

Russia and China, two of Iran's biggest trading partners, are usually reticent in adopting sanctions and have not commented on Iran's letter to Solana.

Germany, one of whose companies recently signed a controversial contract to build three liquefied natural gas plants in Iran, is also keeping its cards close to its chest.

Amid the continued tensions, Iran said on Monday it had successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile with a range of 300km that would allow it to close the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman.

"Given the equipment our armed forces have, an indefinite blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would be very easy," said the commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari.

But Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said that any move by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz would be "self-defeating" because its economy is so heavily dependent on income from oil exports.

Iran 'promises final response' (http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2370594,00.html)

Iran Olympics swimmer in protest against Israel

Alirezaei pulls out of Olympic Games men's 100m minutes before competing against Israeli rival.

BEIJING - An Iranian swimmer pulled out of the Olympic Games men's 100m breaststroke heats on Saturday, just minutes before he was due to compete against an Israeli rival.

Mohammad Alirezaei's lane one was empty when the field left the starting blocks while Israel's Tom Beeri, starting in lane seven, finished fourth.

Alirezaei had clocked 28/31 seconds in the Golden Bear 2008 which was held in Croatia last June.

Israel, the Middle East region's sole if nuclear power, often attracts Iranian criticism because of Tel Aviv’s treatment of the Palestinian people under illegal Israeli occupation for more forty 40 years.

During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Iran's judo world champion Arash Miresmaeili, one of the country's prominent gold medal hopes, refused to compete against Ehud Vaks of Israel in the first round out of solidarity for the Palestinian cause.

Miresmaeili, twice a winner of the flyweight world title, still received a 5,000-dollar award the Iranian National Olympic Committee had promised to medal winners and he was hailed by former President Mohammad Khatami for his stance.

Beeri made no mention of Saturday's non-appearance of Alirezaei post-race.

"It was okay for me, I have to be happy with that. It was a PB (personal best) for me and a national record, I am focusing on the 200 metres," he said.

"I wasn't nervous, I just came here ready and I wasn't nervous at all."

There had been reports that Iran would compete against Israel at these Olympic Games for the first time since the 1979 revolution.

The Iranian National Olympic Committee (INOC) had said that as there was "no face-to-face situation" in swimming there would be no problem in attending the competition.

"Alirezaei swims in lane one and the representative of the Zionist regime (Israel) in lane seven, so they will not face each other," INOC secretary Ali Kafashian told ISNA news agency prior to the race.

According to ISNA, the country's sports organisation had confirmed that there would no be boycott in the race.

Iran Olympics swimmer in protest against Israel (http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=27347)

Hit squads training in Iran

By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer Fri Aug 15, 7:07 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Iraqi Shiite assassination teams are being trained in at least four locations in Iran by Tehran's elite Quds force and Lebanese Hezbollah and are planning to return to Iraq in the next few months to kill specific Iraqi officials as well as U.S. and Iraqi troops, according to intelligence gleaned from captured militia fighters and other sources in Iraq.

A senior U.S. military intelligence officer in Baghdad described the information Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

The officer on Wednesday provided Iraq's national security adviser with several lists of the assassination teams' expected targets. He said the targets include many judges but would not otherwise identify them. Iraq's intelligence service is preparing operations to determine where and when the special group fighters will enter the country and is to provide an assessment to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The U.S. official acknowledged disclosing the information in an attempt to pressure Iran to suspend the training and prevent the militia fighters from returning to Iraq. The U.S. military also wants the Iraqi government to take steps to protect the targets. "Wanted" posters picturing men believed to be heading the special groups are being posted around Baghdad, the military officer said.

The U.S. also is encouraging the Iraqi government to confront Iran with the information in diplomatic channels, and it wants Iraq to continue pumping money into its own reconstruction. By building stability and Iraqis' confidence in their government, internal support for militia groups should decline, making it more difficult for them to operate.

The fighters are expected to return to Iraq between now and October, but the officer said there's no intelligence suggesting they are actually in Iraq yet. The information came from militia fighters captured in Iraq and other sources in the country that the officer would not describe.

Many of the fighters fled to Iran this spring after Iraqi government forces cracked down first on militia sanctuaries in Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City district, then in Amarah and now in Diyala province, the military officer said.

One of the reasons the U.S. believes the special groups moved out during that period is the sharp decline in the number of deadly roadside bombs bearing Iran's signature explosive design. In March, there were 55 such attacks. By July, that number had dropped to around 18, the officer said. U.S. intelligence believes those sophisticated bombs can be traced back to Iran.

Iran, Hezbollah's benefactor, denies giving any support to Shiite extremists in Iraq.

The officer said training is going on in at least four locations in Iran: Qom, Tehran, Ahvaz and Mashhad. The number of "special group criminals" — the U.S. name for Iraqi fighters sponsored by Iran — is unknown but is estimated in the hundreds and possibly more than 1,000.

According to the officer, the training camps are operating under the direction of Quds force commander Brig. Gen. Ghassem Soleimani, with the knowledge and approval of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The elite Quds Force is a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

The training includes how to conduct reconnaissance to pinpoint targets, small arms and weapons training, small unit tactics and terrorist cell operations and communications. They are also learning how to use bombs packed with explosive penetrators that can rip through U.S. armored vehicles, along with other improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades, including the RPG-29 used by Lebanese Hezbollah and the Quds force. They are also receiving training on assassination techniques, employing RPGs, small arms or explosives, the officer said.

Lebanese Hezbollah conducts much of the training in the camps because they speak Arabic. Iranians are Persian and speak Farsi. Lebanese Hezbollah also has credibility with the Iraqis, given the successful 2006 uprising in Lebanon, the officer said. The U.S. officer said there are no confirmed reports of Lebanese Hezbollah members crossing into Iraq.

That conflicts with what Iraqi Shiite lawmakers and a top Iraqi army officer told the AP last month: Hezbollah trainers were running training camps in southern Iraq until April, when they were pushed into Iran by the Iraqi crackdown.

The trainees in the Iranian camps include three Iraqis already wanted by the Iraqi government for terrorist attacks: Haji Mahdi, Haji Thamir and Baqir al Sa'idi, the officer said. He identified two Iraqi Shiite militia groups in Iran by name: "The League of the Righteous," or "Asaib al Haq," and the "Kataib al Hezbollah."

Foot soldiers and cell leaders are physically separated for most of the training, the officer said. Leaders are trained in Tehran and cell members are in separate camps where Quds trainers attempt to indoctrinate them without competition from their Iraqi leaders.

The "special group criminals" are offshoots of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Jaysh al-Mahdi militia. They spun off their own groups after al-Sadr declared a cease-fire with the Iraqi government in August 2007 and are not thought to be under his control now.

Hit squads training in Iran (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080815/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_assassination_teams;_ylt=AnuX9469mB3rRL4NagTmZAKs0NUE)

Ahmadinejad prays for advent of Lord of Time
Tehran, August 14, IRNA

Iran-President-Mahdaviat
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday prayed for reappearance of the Lord of Time (May God Hasten His Advent).

Ahmadinejad, who is well interested to propagate the philosophy of Mahdaviat, a belief in reappearance of Imam Mahdi (May God Hasten His Advent) cherished by Shia Muslims, elaborated on the philosophy in the Fourth International Seminar on Mahdaviat Doctrine.

He said that the philosophy of Mahdaviat has focused on virtue of mankind and accomplishment of humanity.

He said that the modern world is in dire need of justice promised by reappearance of Imam Mahdi.

Muslims believe that Imam Mahdi (May God Hasten His Reappearance) will bring justice to humanity by his advent.

Ahmadinejad said that nobody is satisfied with the current situation in the world, owing to the chaos emanated from brutal acts of illegitimate governments.

Turning to Iraq as a pattern for crimes perpetrated by the present rulers, he noted that criminals have assaulted the civilized country under the pretext of fighting weapons of mass destruction, but they continue with occupation, in the war-torn country although the dictatorship has gone.

Ahmadinejad said that the ambition of establishing the fake Zionist regime had roots in a historical desire by western powers to dominate the Muslim nations in the Middle East.

"The UN Security Council, which is tasked with creating tranquility in the world, has turned into means for fomenting differences in nations and paving the way for the occupying and looting powers," he said.

He said that the bullying powers misuse the international community and organizations to press ahead with their own illegal agenda.

Ahmadinejad prays for advent of Lord of Time (http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0808140461181030.htm)
~~~~~~~~

Justice?? He has no idea how ironic that statement will be to him, if his Mahdi returns.....

Iran warns any attack would start 'world war'
Aug 30 05:48 AM US/Eastern

A senior Iranian military commander has warned that any US or Israeli attack on the Islamic republic would start a new world war, the state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.

"Any aggression against Iran will start a world war," deputy chief of staff for defence publicity, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, said in a statement carried by the agency.

Iran is under international pressure to halt uranium enrichment, a process which lies at the core of fears about Iran's nuclear programme as it can make nuclear fuel as well as the fissile core of an atom bomb.

"The unrestrained greed of the US leadership and global Zionism... is gradually leading the world to the edge of a precipice," Jazayeri said, citing the unrest in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan and Georgia.

"It is evident that if such a challenge occurs, the fake and artificial regimes will be eliminated before anything," he said, without naming any countries.

Iran does not recognise Israel, which is often described by officials in Tehran as a "fake regime."

The United States and its staunch ally Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear armed nation, accuse Iran of seeking atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme.

Iran has vehemently denied the allegations, insisting its nuclear drive is aimed solely at providing electricity for a growing population when its reserves of fossil fuels run out.

The United States has never ruled out military action against Iran over its defiance of international demands for an enrichment freeze, but so far is pursuing the diplomatic route with calls for more sanctions.

Iran has repeatedly vowed a crushing response to any attacks and it has flexed military muscles in recent years by holding war games and showing off an array of home-grown weaponry and missiles.

Another top military commander said Iran was prepared to "take the enemies off-guard" and would unveil more weapons in case of an attack.

"Some of the equipment of our armed forces have been announced but there are important things hidden whose effect would be shown on the day (of any attack)," deputy army commander Abdolrahim Mousavi told Fars news agency.

During war games in July which provoked international concern, aides to the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Iran would target US bases and US ships in the Gulf as well as Israel if it was attacked.

Iran also test-fired its Shahab-3 missile which it says puts Israel within range.

Iran is under three sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to freeze enrichment and risks further sanctions for failing to give a clear response to an incentives package offered by six world powers in return for a halt to the sensitive work.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said they have no intention of freezing enrichment and that the country is currently operating about 4,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges and installing several thousand more.

Iran warns any attack would start 'world war' (http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=080830094819.pcrrm00f&show_article=1)

Iran bill to ease polygamy angers women

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 4, 2:22 PM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - A bill that would allow Iranian men to take additional wives without the consent of their first wife has angered women and the country's top justice official, who say it would undermine women's rights and could be a government attempt to more deeply enshrine its strict Islamic interpretation into law.

Outcry over the bill forced parliament to postpone a vote scheduled for Tuesday so lawmakers could debate it further in a committee.

Under Islam, a man can have up to four wives, and countries around the Mideast allow polygamy. However, Iran is one of the few — along with Syria and Tunisia — that require the consent of the first wife before a husband can take another. Still polygamy is rare in Iran, where most people frown on the practice.

The government of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposed amendments last year to legislation drawn up by the judiciary that was supposed to be a landmark bill to allow women judges for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Opponents said the government is trying to impose an even stricter version of Islamic law in Iran, especially toward women. The complaints were enough to force the parliament speaker to send the bill back to committee before it was to be put to a vote for the first time Tuesday.

Under Iran's Islamic Republic, women are required to wear headscarves and conservative clothing. A woman needs her husband's permission to work or travel abroad and a man's court testimony is considered twice as important as a woman's.

Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005 in part on a platform of restoring "Islamic values" that hard-liners say were eroded under the reform program of his predecessors. In 2006, Iranian activists launched a campaign to try to change laws that deny women equal rights in matters such as divorce and court testimonies — sparking a crackdown in which a number of women activists were arrested.

Despite the current restrictions, Iran's 35 million women have greater freedoms and political rights than women in most neighboring Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia. There are numerous women in parliament and other political offices, though they are barred from the presidency and the more powerful, clerical post of supreme leader.

Earlier this week, dozens of women's rights activists, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, went to parliament to protest the polygamy bill.

"That the parliament postponed the vote is a significant victory for women in Iran," said women's rights activist Farzaneh Ebrahimzadeh. "But we have to fight on. The bill may return to the parliament for a vote but we have to make sure that articles reducing the rights of women are deleted."

Hard-line lawmaker Fatemeh Alia said in remarks published Thursday that she and other conservative lawmakers won't give in and will fight for a vote in the parliament soon.

"Lawmakers will never give up drawing up Islamic laws ... and won't give in to mudslinging by a group of secularists gathered around those obtaining gifts from aliens," Alia was quoted as saying by the daily Etemad-e-Melli. She was referring to Ebadi, who hard-liners accuse of working for the interests of Iran's enemies.

The government amendments were added to the Family Protection Bill soon after it was drawn up last year by the judiciary. Aside from allowing some female judges, the bill imposes prison sentences for men who marry girls before they have reached legal age. The bill had sat in parliament's judiciary committee since its submission to parliament.

Another government amendment that has drawn objections from the judiciary would introduce a tax on the dowry grooms pay to wives upon marriage under Islamic law. Opponents say the government should not be allowed to get its hands on that money.

Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi criticized the government's amendments as harmful to women. He said the proposed changes have overshadowed the pro-family articles in the original bill drawn up by the judiciary.

"The dowry tax was unnecessary. It is harmful to women," he told judges Monday. He also signaled his opposition to the polygamy amendment, saying it should be "amended and debated, away from public controversy."

The bill is now the focus of family discussions in Iran. At an "iftar" dinner Thursday ending the daily fast in the holy month of Ramadan, a family hotly debated the issue.

"A man taking another wife will give financial protection to the second woman. This will help fight social vices in the society," said Reza Khodakarami. His wife, Mahtab, strongly disagreed. "No. It only tramples women's rights," she said, as other family members clapped and whistled in support of her comments.

Iran has refused to ratify the U.N. convention on women's rights, and the country's senior clerics in Qom, Iran's main center of Islamic learning, have rejected the convention as un-Islamic.

But women's rights got a boost with the 1997 election of former President Mohammad Khatami, a reformist who appointed a female vice president. Since then, other women have held positions within the government but have not been Cabinet ministers. And while women in Iran can run for parliament, they are prohibited from running for president.

Iran bill to ease polygamy angers women (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_polygamy;_ylt=AlPmdgvRqLekFlQUnR3m1EsLewgF)

Iran Parliament Requires Death for 'Apostates' As Crackdown Continues
Son of 1990 martyr among Christians arrested last month.
Compass Direct News | posted 9/30/2008 07:11AM

Two Iranian Christians were charged with "apostasy" and several others arrested as Iran's parliament approved a bill making the death penalty mandatory for those so convicted.

The measure is part of a new penal code that easily passed in parliament in a 196-7 vote on September 9. Christian and Baha'i communities are most likely to be affected by the bill.

But one source told Compass Direct News that when he discussed the apostasy section with some members of parliament, they said they were unaware of it. The source argued that the Iranian government was trying to bury the bill in the 113-page penal code.

Current Iranian law considers apostasy (leaving Islam) a capital offense, but punishment is left to the discretion of judges.

The Guardian Council, Iran's most influential body, must approve the penal code before it becomes law. Sources say they expect the council, which comprises six theologians and six jurists, to approve it.

Under the past three decades of Iran's Islamist regime, hundreds of citizens who have left Islam and become Christians have been arrested for weeks or months, held in unknown locations, and subjected to mental and physical torture.

The government last executed an Iranian Christian convert from Islam in 1990, though six other Protestant pastors have been assassinated since the execution of Assemblies of God pastor Hossein Soodmand.

Now Soodmand's 35-year-old son, Ramtin Soodmand, is among five Christians arrested in three cities in August. Authorities have not said what the charges are, but sources say they may be charged with spying for foreign powers—a less serious offense than apostasy. Hossein Soodmand was similarly accused of being an American spy.

"Christians are viewed as potential spies allied with Israel or America," said a source who works closely with Iranian refugees, adding that the overwhelming number of Iranian Christians he counsels have been intimidated by police, leading them to flee Iran.

He also believes that the rapid growth of Christianity frightens Iran's government. "They see it as something they cannot control," he said, "so they are afraid of house churches."

Another expert on Iran believes Christians outside the country are partly responsible for the persecution. When Christians claim there are thousands of house churches throughout the country, he said, Iranian authorities feel threatened.

"[The police] are obligated to crack down on Christian activities when these activities become too public," one Iranian Christian said.

The timing of the penal code debate and the arrests are not coincidental, said Joseph Grieboski, founder of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. While the international community is focused on Iran's nuclear activities, he said, the Iranian government appears to be taunting the West with deliberate human rights violations.

"Because of the nuclear issues, ones like these get put on the back burner, which means that the regime can move with great liberty to install legislation like this with impunity, because the nuclear issue gives them cover," said Grieboski.

But the acts also may signal desperation, he said. "I have to say the Iranian regime is tightening severely its control over as many aspects of the lives of Iranian people as they possibly [can]. And that, I think, is the sign of a weakening regime."

Iran Parliament Requires Death for 'Apostates' As Crackdown Continues (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/septemberweb-only/140-21.0.html)

Jews, Christians Working to Indict Ahmadinejad
Friday, October 17, 2008

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – A number of prominent American Christians are joining forces with Jewish efforts to indict Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on charges of incitement to genocide, Jews and Christians said in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Ahmadinejad has called Israel a “fake regime” that “must be wiped off the map.” He has called the murder of six million Jews during World War II a “myth.” In September he said that Israel was “on a definite slope to collapse” and there was no way out of the “cesspool” it had created for itself. He recently he called the Jewish State a “stinking corpse.”

His comments, coupled with Iran’s aggressive civilian nuclear program, which the West believes is a cover up for obtaining nuclear weapons, has prompted the grassroots effort to indict the Iranian leader. Several rounds of international sanctions have not stopped Iran’s enrichment of uranium, which can be used to make a nuclear bomb.

“It is disturbing to see the inactivity of the international community in reacting appropriately to the alarming threat that grows day by day,” said Malcolm Hedding, executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.

Hedding compared the comments of Ahmadinejad to those of former German dictator Adolf Hitler, who used “similar words” and “caused the destruction of the Jewish people.” At the time, there were those who rushed to meet with him and appease him, even declaring “peace in our time,” Hedding told journalists here.

“There has to be a grassroots movement that sends a message to politicians and leaders in Europe that there are millions of people who are demanding action on this issue [Iran],” said Hedding.

During the United Nations General Assembly session in September, the ICEJ delivered a petition to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, signed by more than 55,000 Christians from more than 120 countries, demanding the indictment of Ahmadinejad for incitement to genocide against Israel.

Since then a number of prominent American Christians have joined the effort, including Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson, former U.S. presidential hopeful Gary Bauer and Catholic League President Bill Donohue.

“The nation of Israel is experiencing the most maximum danger since its founding. Without question the fanatical extremists in Tehran have made clear their intention to annihilate Israel,” Robertson said in a statement. “Idle threats have so far proved fruitless. The time to act is now.”

“This is a moment of great testing for all free men and women around the world,” said Bauer, president of American Values. “Silence and inaction are unacceptable. He must be brought to justice, and he must be prevented from obtaining nuclear weapons.”

Prevent genocide

The effort to indict Ahmadinejad was launched about two years ago by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. It has been endorsed by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, and Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations – an umbrella organization that includes many large Jewish groups.

Nearly 60 years ago, the international community established the “Convention to Prevent and Punish the Crime of Genocide,” said Dr. Dore Gold, president of the JCPA and former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations.

It is intended not only to try those who have committed genocide but to prevent genocide before it happens. The sign that genocide is intended is the incitement that precedes it, Gold told journalists in Jerusalem on Thursday. The convention describes incitement to genocide as a punishable act, he added.

According to Gold, experts involved in the international tribunal for the Rwanda genocide say that Ahmadinejad’s statements are tantamount to incitement to genocide.

“It’s not a political judgment as part of an Israeli struggle, it’s actually a legal determination made by experts,” Gold said.

Excuses

Gold said that there have been two disturbing developments in recent weeks: A decision by Australia to withdraw its support for indicting Ahmadinejad as well as the decision of several Christian groups to host a dinner for Ahmadinejad when he was in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly.

Australia decided against taking Ahmadinejad to the International Court of Justice in favor of tougher sanctions against its nuclear program.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said while the government found Ahamdinejad’s anti-Semitic comments appalling, it believes legal action could draw attention away from addressing Iran’s nuclear program.

Gold admitted that the Australian decision was a blow to the efforts and said he did not buy Australia’s reasoning.

“The Iranian nuclear program deals with Iranian capabilities, while the efforts to indict Iranians on incitement to genocide has to do with Iranian intentions. They’re separate matters. [It was] indeed a setback,” said Gold.

Gold said there are many excuses that countries could give not to pursue the indictment Ahmadinejad, including international economics, fear of Iranian reprisals in the form of terror attacks, and greed. Therefore, the issue must be raised as a moral one. The only way to do so is at a grassroots level, he said.

Gold said that many people were shocked at the “horrible dinner” sponsored by the Christian groups (among them the American Friends Service Committee, Mennonite Central Committee, Quaker UN Office and the World Council of Churches). But the decision of other Christian groups to protest the Iranian president was the best answer to that dinner.

“This voice coming out of Jerusalem is the true voice of Christianity,” Gold said.

Attorney and ICEJ spokesman David Parsons said that either the U.N. itself or a member state that has signed the statute creating the International Criminal Court in The Hague can make a referral to bring an indictment against Ahmadinejad under the 1951 convention.

The U.S. is not a signatory to that treaty because it was afraid of “too many frivolous and retaliatory prosecutions” against its political and military leaders, Parsons said.

The U.S. House of Representatives last year unanimously passed a resolution to indict Ahmadinejad. But Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has refused to bring that resolution to a vote in the Senate, saying he did not want to give President Bush an excuse to attack Iran, said Parsons.

Canada and Australia are among the signatories to the ICC statute that could initiate a formal investigation, but they are looking for the U.S. to take the lead, said Parsons.

Incitement to genocide is called an “inchoate crime,” said Parsons, meaning that no genocide has to occur before the perpetrator is found guilty of the crime, which has now been defined as a “crime against humanity.”

Parsons likened it to the crime of conspiracy to commit murder, where the conspiracy itself is a crime, whether or not the murder ever takes place.

Parsons said that the breadth of Christian-Jewish cooperation on the indictment issue was unprecedented. He said that even if Ahmadinejad is not actually physically brought to The Hague, the idea that the world will hold him accountable for what he says sends a “strong message.”

Iran denied Security Council seat

Iranian bid to secure non-permanent Security Council seat denied by huge majority; Japan wins Asian seat with 158 votes, compared to Iran's 32. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni lauds UN's decision

Associated Press
Published: 10.17.08, 19:48 / Israel News

Iran and Iceland failed Friday to win non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security council.

Austria and Turkey beat Iceland in the battle for the two non-permanent European seats on the 15-member council in voting at a meeting of the UN General Assembly while Iran lost out to Japan for the council's Asian seat.

The other two seats went to Mexico, which will represent Latin America, and Uganda, which will represent Africa; both ran unopposed.

Kadima Chairman Tzipi Livni lauded the decision, congratulated Japan for being elected, and added that "Iran's very candidacy was unthinkable."

Livni added that the UN averted disgrace by preventing Iran from joining the Security Council, stressing that international activity vis-à-vis Iran and the threat it represents "must continue at all levels and with greater force."

Iran receives 32 votes

General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann said after the balloting that Austria received 133 votes, Turkey 151 votes, Japan 158 votes, Uganda 181 votes and Mexico 185.

Iran received only 32 votes from the U.N. members, Iceland, which had been considered by many to be a strong candidate until the recent economic crisis, received only 87 votes.

The five new non-permanent members of the council will serve two-year terms.

Ten of the council's 15 seats are filled by the regional groups for two-year stretches. The other five are occupied by its veto-wielding permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The five countries elected to the Council will take their seats on Jan. 1, 2009, replacing Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa. The five countries elected last year - Libya, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica and Croatia - will remain on the Council until Jan. 1, 2010.

Iran denied Security Council seat (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3610060,00.html)

Iran enters next stage of aerial drill
October 19, 2008

The Iranian air force has launched the second stage of a large scale aerial maneuver to test its fighters' gunnery and bombing tactics.

""F-14, F-4, F-5, Sukhoi-24, and Saegheh fighters displayed their offensive capabilities in tactical operations, which involved shooting at preset targets,"" spokesman for the maneuver, air force pilot, Brigadier Hossein Chitforoush said on Saturday morning.

""Gunnery competitions between air force fighters and air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles are conducted on a yearly basis with the aim of raising the quality of our young pilots' flight capabilities and testing smart bombs made by our domestic experts,"" he added.

Domestically-manufactured drones, photo reconnaissance aircraft, and electronic surveillance planes were also tested during the first stage of the exercise, which was carried out throughout the country on Thursday and Friday.

Interceptor aircraft and bombers of the Islamic Republic Air Force also participated in the first two days of the aerial drill.

The Iranian maneuver, one of many conducted in the past few months, comes amid growing speculations about a possible Israeli attack against the country.

In mid-July, Israeli Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz repeated pervious threats against Iran and said Israel must be ready to take military action against the country over its nuclear program.

""All options are on the table. If there won't be a choice other than a nuclear Iran or a military option, it's clear what our decision has to be,"" he said.

Tel Aviv claims Tehran's nuclear program poses a threat to its security. This is while Iran's activities have been inspected more than any other program by the UN nuclear watchdog and nothing has been found to justify Israeli concerns.

Unlike Tehran, Tel Aviv is Middle East's sole nuclear warhead holder and one in only four regimes in the world not to have signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

In June, over 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s took part in an aerial maneuver over the Eastern Mediterranean. According to Pentagon officials, the exercise was a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Since then, the U.S. Defense Department has been installing a powerful radar system for Israel in the Negev Desert, although the U.S. administration has apparently not given its approval for a strike against Iran.

The Pentagon has also agreed to equip the regime with the Guided Bomb Unit-39 (GBU-39), 'bunker-buster' bombs, which has been developed to penetrate fortified facilities located deep underground - such as Iran's nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has also begun its own measures to prepare for an attack on Iran.

Already equipped with the Arrow and Patriot missile systems, Tel Aviv has now started developing the Iron Dome and Magic Wand systems to respectively shoot down short-range and longer-range rockets.

Meanwhile, it has not abandoned political efforts to impede Iran's defensive capabilities.

Early in October, the then Israeli premier Ehud Olmert embarked on an unsuccessful trip to Russia hoping to dissuade Moscow from entering into a deal to sell Iran the S-300 missile defense system, which could create serious difficulties for Tel Aviv in event of an attack against Iran.

Iran enters next stage of aerial drill (http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=180345)

Iran promises no mercy against aggressor
Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:53:06 GMT

Any decision to attack Iran would be an 'irreversible error' unforgivable until the fall of the enemy, says a senior Iranian commander.

"Mistake can be rectified but the launch of an invasion of Iran would be an irreversible error that we will respond to until their collapse," said top Iranian Army commander, Major General Ataollah Salehi.

"Being a bully with powerful equipment and many offshoots does not signify superiority. The greatest weakness of the enemy is its large size and powerful appearance," he added in his interview with Iran's official military journal.

His remarks come as Israel is intensifying war preparations and lobbying world powers for anti-Iran sanctions as well as the receipt of aggressive weapons.

According to a late September report by The Guardian, Tel Aviv had long been dead serious about launching airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities but failed to receive the green light from President George W. Bush in May.

Pentagon officials revealed in mid June, however, that Israeli warplanes had taken to the skies in the first week of June in what was later cited to be a 'dress rehearsal' for an attack on Iran.

The Israeli Air Force employed over a hundred F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, tactical bombers in the maneuver held 900 miles west of Israel off the southern Mediterranean island of Crete, roughly covering the distance from Israeli airfields to an Iranian uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.

The US then revealed that it would equip Israel with advanced weapons, including a powerful missile radar system.

In September, the US Defense Department also agreed to equip Tel Aviv with the Guided Bomb Unit-39 (GBU-39), a form of 'bunker-buster' bomb, designed to penetrate fortified constructions deep underground - such as Iran's nuclear facilities.

Tel Aviv and its staunch ally, the US, have also vocally threatened to attack Iran, claiming that Tehran's nuclear program poses an existential threat to Israel.

While the UN nuclear watchdog has found no evidence in support of the nuclear allegations against Tehran, Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory Iran continues to cooperate with world powers to clarify the nature of its nuclear program.

"Enemy threats considering their military power are serious, but we also possess military power," declared the Iranian commander regarding recent threats.

Iran promises no mercy against aggressor (http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=72701&sectionid=351020101)

Senior Iranian Official Recommends that Iran Mark London as a Target – In Order to Deter Bush from Attacking Iran in Last Months of Presidency

In an October 18, 2008 article on the Iranian website Aftab, Wahid Karimi, director of the Europe and U.S. department in Iran's Foreign Ministry, recommends that Iran mark London as a target, since it is the capital of the country that is the U.S.'s closest ally in Europe. This, says Karimi, would be with the aim of ensuring that the Bush administration does not attack Iran in its final weeks, after the U.S. presidential election next month and before Bush officially leaves office on January 20, 2009.

Following are the main points of Karimi's article:

Karimi: "The Most Appropriate Means of Deterrence that Iran Has, in Addition to a Retaliatory Operation in the [Gulf] Region, Is to Take Action against London"

"... It is clear to everyone that George Bush will remain the official president of the United States until January 20, 2009. U.S. presidents are usually adventuresome in their second terms... [among them Richard] Nixon, disgraced by the Watergate scandal; [Ronald] Reagan, with the Irangate adventure; [and Bill] Clinton, with Monica Lewinsky - and perhaps George Bush, the sitting president, will create a scandal connected to Iran's legitimate nuclear activity so as not to be left behind.

"In the past, Iran has marked as a target the U.S. military bases in the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, so as to deter American adventurism. Shortly after that, it gave the requisite warnings regarding [a possible Iranian move to] paralyze 'the Jerusalem-occupying regime [i.e. Israel],' so as to deter American adventurism...

"Although a U.S. military attack on Iran's nuclear installations is not likely... the last two months of Bush's presidency, from late November 2008 to January 20, 2009, will be the worst possible days of his presidency [for Iran, and during them he can] exploit his power to carry out political adventurism and a ill-conceived operation. If so, how can we restrain him?

"It is possible that after the next president of the United States is determined in November - that is, [either John] McCain or [Barack] Obama - Bush and the president-elect will reach an agreement about an ill-conceived operation against Iran.

"In the worst-case scenario, George Bush may perhaps persuade the president-elect to carry out an ill-conceived operation against Iran, prior to January 20, 2009 - that is, before the regime is handed over and he ends his presence in the White House. The next president of the U.S. will have to deal with the consequences...

"If we agree that such a scenario - with America, England and Israel at its center - is conceivable, then it would seem that the most appropriate means of deterrence that Iran has, in addition to a retaliatory operation in the [Gulf] region, is to take action against London. Experience proves that the [part played] by politicians in Tel Aviv and in London, in the [fanning of the] flames against Iran and in the urging of America to strike Iran, is no less than [the part played] by Bush."

Senior Iranian Official Recommends that Iran Mark London as a Target (http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD208808)

Breaking: Iran Officials Recommend Preemptive Strike Against Israel

Senior Tehran officials are recommending a preemptive strike against Israel to prevent an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear reactors, a senior Islamic Republic official told foreign diplomats two weeks ago in London. The official, Dr. Seyed G. Safavi, said recent threats by Israeli authorities strengthened this position, but that as of yet, a preemptive strike has not been integrated into Iranian policy. Safavi is head of the Research Institute of Strategic Studies in Tehran, and an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The institute is directly affiliated with Khamenei’s office and with the Revolutionary Guards, and advises both on foreign policy issues.

Safavi is also the brother of Yahya Rahim Safavi, who was the head of the Revolutionary Guards until a year ago and now is an adviser to Khamenei, and holds significant influence on security matters in the Iranian government. An Israeli political official said senior Jerusalem officials were shown Safavi’s remarks, which are considered highly sensitive. The source said the briefing in London dealt with a number of issues, primarily a potential Israeli attack on an Iranian reactor. Safavi said a small, experienced group of officials is lobbying for a preemptive strike against Israel. “The recent Israeli declarations and harsh rhetoric on a strike against Iran put ammunition in these individuals’ hands,” he said. Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said in June that Israel would be forced to strike the Iranian nuclear reactor if Tehran continues to pursue its uranium enrichment program. Safavi said Tehran recently drafted a new policy for responding to an Israeli or American attack on its nuclear facilities.

While the previous policy called for attacks against Israel and American interests in the Middle East and beyond, the new policy is to target Israel alone. He added that many Revolutionary Guard leaders want to respond to a U.S. attack on Iranian soil by striking Israel, as they believe Israel would be partner to any U.S. action. Safavi said that Iran’s nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes only, and that Khamenei recently released a fatwa against the use of weapons of mass destruction, though the contents of that religious ruling have not yet been publicized. Regarding dialogue with the United States and the West, Safavi said Iran’s decision would be influenced by the results of the U.S. presidential elections next month, as well as by the Iranian presidential elections in June and the economic situation in the Islamic Republic. Safavi also said that a victory by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would pave the way for dialogue with Washington, while a John McCain presidency would bolster Iran’s extreme right, which opposes dialogue. If conditions are favorable following the U.S. election, he said, Iran could draw back from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s declaration that “the nuclear case is closed,” and put it back on the agenda.

Safavi said he believed that U.S. sanctions on Iran have run their course, and that there would be no point in strengthening them. Tehran would therefore demand “firm and significant” U.S. measures in return for stopping uranium enrichment. He also said Ahmadinejad is not guaranteed victory in the June 2009 elections, particularly given the dire economic situation in Iran. Still, Iranian experts believe his only real competition is former president Mohammad Khatami, who has not yet joined the race. Safavi said the inflation rate in Iran is similar to that before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but that unrest among civilians today is not as strong. This is because the current government uses oil revenues to help the poor, he said.

_________________

Preemptive strike my eye. This is definitely not a preemptive strike. This is a strike, period. Iran has wanted to escalate a war between them and Israel for quite some time now and are just using this as an excuse to do so. I still think that they are much further ahead in their nuclear program than others think they are.

Hijacked Iranian Ship Contained 'Dirty Bomb' for Israel

by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Web blogs all over the Internet are continuing to buzz about an Iranian ship that was hijacked last August by Somali pirates and which Russian sources warned contained a dirty bomb intended for Israel.

The hijacking passed largely unnoticed in the mainstream media, save a brief mention in the news on August 22 that reported that three vessels – Iranian, Japanese and German – and their 57 crew members were hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia. Several pirates died after they forced open part of the cargo. (This was posted on CU forum though DW)

The waterway connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Somalia, host to the longest coastline in Africa (1,880 miles), is an international piracy and terrorist hotspot. Foreign vessels are often seized by pirates in the area, who hold the ships and their crews for ransom.

According to its manifest, the MV Iran Devant had departed Nanjing, China on July 28 and was headed to Rotterdam to deliver 42,500 tons of iron ore and "industrial products" to an unidentified "German client." But the Iranian bulk carrier with 29 crew members, owned and operated by the U.S.-sanctioned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), was apparently transporting cargo considerably more significant than the average contraband.

The 40 pirates, armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) brought the ship to Eyl, a fishing village in northeastern Somalia, according to numerous bloggers. There a larger contingent of pirates took control of the vessel – 50 on board and 50 patrolling on the beach.

Initial attempts to inspect the ship's seven cargo containers failed. The pirates could not break into the holds and the crew swore they did not have access codes to the locks. The captain and engineer of the vessel evaded answering questions about the contents of the holds, despite threats by the pirates to blow up the ship. They first said the containers held crude oil, but then changed the story to say there were "minerals" in the holds.

When at last the pirates succeeded in opening one of the containers, they allegedly discovered packets of what they later reported to be "a powdery fine sandy soil." The pirates who had any exposure to the powder were reportedly struck down by illness and within days began to exhibit strange symptoms, including skin burns and hair loss. Sixteen of them died. Andrew Mwangura, director of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, was quoted by the South Africa Sunday Times in a September 28 interview, "There is something very wrong about that ship."

The vessel was released by the pirates on October 10, announced the IRISL public relations office, "after seven weeks of negotiations with Somali pirates." All 29 members of the crew were reported safe. Iran criticized world powers for its indifference toward the lack of security in international waters. IRISL, which is run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, added in its statement that the vessel was sailing towards international waters and it is not clear where the ship has gone since the report.

Russian Intelligence: Ship Was a Dirty Bomb Sent to Israel

U.S. and Israeli intelligence officials maintained a tight-lipped silence on the alleged incident. However, Russian intelligence sources reportedly said the ship was "an enormous floating dirty bomb, intending to detonate after exiting the Suez Canal at the eastern end of the Mediterranean and in proximity to the coastal cities of Israel.

"The entire cargo of radioactive sand," said the Russian sources, " [was] obtained by Iran from China (the latter buys desperately needed oil from the former) and sealed in containers which, when the charges on the ship are set off after the crew took to the boats, will be blasted high into the air where prevailing winds will push the highly dangerous and radioactive cloud ashore."

Several military web blogs have noted that had the ship's crew succeeded in reaching Israel's coastal waters with their deadly cargo, it would have been quite easy to escape the vessel in small boats and then detonate explosives on the vessel. The radioactive powder, which would have been blown into the air, would have been carried by the wind straight to Israel.

'Logically Not Reliable, But Nothing Impossible in the Middle East'

Dr. Ephraim Kam, deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), told Israel National News that the entire incident could easily have been a fiction -- or not. "Nothing is impossible in this region," said Kam, an IDF Colonel (res.) and former deputy director of the Research Division in the IDF's Military Intelligence, "but logically [the report] doesn't seem to be very reliable."

The reason, he said, is that such an attack on Israel would cost the Iranians dearly -- and he said they know it.

"First of all, because it could fail, and this would be the worst thing for them. I think that if at all, the timing is very bad for them, while they are trying to acquire their own nuclear weapons, when there is international pressure on them on that issue… It could give Israel the best excuse to attack their nuclear facilities.

"Also, if such an operation is successful, the outcome could be an Israeli strategic attack against the Iranians, which could be very costly for the Islamic Republic. Since the Iranians believe that Israel does have a nuclear arsenal, they have to take into account that Israel would respond by nuclear attack," he pointed out.

"If it is true, this incident could give Israel the best pretext to attack an Iranian nuclear site," said Kam. "Rationally, I tend to think it is no more than a good story."

Israeli government officials could not be reached for comment.

Hijacked Iranian Ship Contained 'Dirty Bomb' for Israel (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128033)

US intelligence: Iran will be able to build first nuclear bomb by February 2009

US intelligence’s amended estimate, that Iran will be ready to build its first bomb just one month after the next US president is sworn in, is disclosed by DEBKAfile’s Washington sources as having been relayed as a guideline to the Middle East teams of both presidential candidates, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.

The information prompted the assertion by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Biden in Seattle Sunday, Oct. 19: “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.”

McCain retorted Tuesday, Oct. 21: “America does not need a president that needs to be tested. I’ve been tested. I was aboard the Enterprise off the coast of Cuba. I’ve been there.”)

DEBKAfile’s military sources cite the new US timeline: By late January, 2009, Iran will have accumulated enough low-grade enriched uranium (up to 5%) for its “break-out” to weapons grade (90%) material within a short time. For this, the Iranians have achieved the necessary technology. In February, they can move on to start building their first nuclear bomb.

US intelligence believes Tehran has the personnel, plans and diagrams for a bomb and has been running experiments to this end for the past two years. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna last week asked Tehran to clarify recent complex experiments they conducted in detonating nuclear materials for a weapon, but received no answer.

The same US evaluation adds that the Iranian leadership is holding off its go-ahead to start building the bomb until the last minute so as to ward off international pressure to stop at the red line.

This development together with the galloping global economic crisis will force the incoming US president to go straight into decision-making without pause on Day One in the Oval Office. He will have to determine which urgent measures can serve best for keeping a nuclear bomb out of the Islamic republic’s hands - diplomatic or military – and how to proceed if those measures fail.

His knowledge of the challenge colored Sen. Biden’s additional words in Seattle: “Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

Israel’s political and military leaders also face a tough dilemma that can no longer be put off of whether to strike Iran’s nuclear installations militarily in the next three months between US presidencies before the last window closes, or take a chance on coordination with the next president.

Waiting for the “international community” to do the job of stopping Iran, as urged by governments headed by Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert - and strongly advocated Tzipi Livni, foreign minister and would-be prime minister - has been a washout. Iran stands defiantly on the threshold of a nuclear weapon.

Inside Iran: Signs of the Apocalypse
By George Thomas
CBN News Sr. Reporter
October 31, 2008

There is video on this website.

QOM, Iran - Whether it is his belief that Israel should be wiped off the map, denials of the Holocaust, obsession with going nuclear, or support for radical Islamic terrorist groups, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a man on a divine mission.

To understand him and that mission, you have to travel to a small dusty village called Jamkaran that is tucked into a corner of Iran's holy city of Qom.

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, CBN News made that journey, heading south from Iran's capital of Tehran. Some 95 miles and a couple of wrong turns later, we arrived at the Jamkaran mosque on the outskirts of Qom.

Behind the Jamkaran mosque, there is a well. And according to many Shiite Muslims, out of this well will one day emerge their version of an Islamic savior.

They call him the Mahdi, or the 12th Imam. Ron Cantrell has written a book about him.

"The Mahdi is a personage that is expected to come on the scene, by Islam, as a messiah figure. He is slotted to come at the end of time, according to their writings -- very much like how we think of the return of Jesus," said Cantrell.

Cantrell said the Mahdi, a descendent of the Prophet Mohammed, vanished in the middle of the 9th century. No one knows what he really looks like.

"The 12th Imam disappeared around the age of 9," said Cantrell, "with a promise that he would return and bring Islam to its total fruition, as the world's last standing religion."

Enter Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since becoming the president of Iran in August 2005, Ahmadinejad has emerged as the Mahdi's most influential follower.

"He has stated that his mandate is to pave the way for the coming of this Islamic messiah," Cantrell explained.

In almost all his speeches, the president begs Allah to hasten the return of the Mahdi.

During one speech, he is talking to soldiers at a military parade in Tehran, which was also attended by CBN News.

"Oh, Allah, please facilitate Imam Mahdi's early return and make us one of his supporters," said Ahmadinejad.

He said something similar last September, just before ending a speech at the United Nations in New York.

"Oh mighty lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace," Ahmadinejad prayed.

A few days later in Iran, Ahmadinejad told a group of religious leaders that, during his UN speech, he felt a bright light around him.

His reactions were captured on video and later posted on a conservative Iranian Web site. "I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn't move an eyelid, I'm not exaggerating. They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes to the message of the Islamic Republic," Ahmadinejad recalled.

Ahmadinejad is reportedly tied to a radical Islamic society in Iran that believes man can hasten the appearance of the Mahdi by creating chaos in the world.

Ahmadinejad has stated that this chaos must take place before the Mahdi can come on the scene.

Some wonder if Ahmadinejad believes these are the end times. And, whether his calls for the destruction of Israel and nuclear pursuits are ways to accelerate the divine timetable.

"With him, it is a win-win situation," Cantrell said. "If we attack him, he wins because chaos happens. If we don't attack him, he gets to create the chaos, which he has said he is willing to do."

In Shiite Muslim belief, the Madhi's second coming will be marked by apocalyptic times. Wars, famines, and floods will ravage the Earth -- followed by Judgment Day and a battle between good and evil.

On this Tuesday, as the sun dips behind the mountains that surround Jamkaran, the faithful -- many of whom voted for Ahmadinejad -- arrive by the thousands from across Iran to pray for the Mahdi's return.

Ezatallah Alimoradi, a follower of the Mahdi, said, "I feel so refreshed in my spirit when I come here to Jamkaran."

"This day belongs to the Mahdi," said another follower, Akram Alsadat Emmami, "and I've come to share my heart with him."

The night begins with a visit to the sacred well. CBN News was given a rare opportunity to film people praying there. The opening of the well is covered by a green-like metal box to prevent people from jumping in.

Most of the time here is spent praying and kissing the metal box. Others scribble prayer requests to the Mahdi on pieces of paper that are then dropped into the well.

One man asks the Mahdi to forgive his sins. "If you ask in the right way, your prayers will be answered," he explained.

Another seeks healing for family members. "I don't come here just to pray for myself," he said. "I also ask the Mahdi to take care of my family and their needs."

Many, like one young boy with a flashlight, believe the Mahdi is actually hiding at the bottom of the well, reading those prayer requests.

"I was looking into the well with my flashlight," the boy said, "hoping to see the Mahdi -- but not tonight."

Shia tradition teaches that if you come to Jamkaran 40 weeks in a row, you will "see" the Mahdi.

A woman said, "I have not had the privilege to see him yet, but I've had many dreams about him. In one of my dreams, I saw a big bright light in the sky and this figure standing over me."

The next few hours are spent praying inside the Jamkaran mosque.

At the Jamkaran mosque, I've been told that, as a non-Muslim, I am not allowed to go inside. The truth is, though, every day tens of thousands of men and women come through the mosque to say their prayers -- and also to pray that one day soon the Mahdi would return.

Nadal, a follower of the Mahdi, said, "And because we believe that he is going to come back soon, we can believe in heaven and hell and we can believe in the life after death."

Ahmadinejad's government reportedly gave $20 million to help renovate the Jamkaran mosque. There are rumors that he is planning to build a railway line connecting Tehran and Jamkaran, to ferry the faithful.

And apparently, Ahmadinejad has also drawn up plans for the road that the Mahdi will take when he returns.

"That will actually serve as the red carpet rolled out in Iran for the Mahdi to appear," Cantrell said.

And if all this wasn't mystical enough, there is also the belief that when the Mahdi comes back, he will be accompanied by Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the prophet Isa.

"The Mahdi will take Jesus to Mecca," Cantrell explained. "They will circumambulate the Kabah together. The Mahdi will teach Jesus to pray, at which time Jesus will then replace the Gospel with the Koran, and then all of us -- as Christians -- wherever you are on the face of the Earth, will convert to Islam because Islam will be deemed the one lasting pure religion."

As the West drifts closer to a potential showdown over Iran's nuclear program, followers of the Mahdi are getting ready for Judgment Day.

And many of them are convinced that President Ahmadinjead, who is considered by some as Allah's shadow on Earth, will fulfill his divine mission to prepare the world for the coming of the Islamic savior.

Inside Iran: Signs of the Apocalypse (http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/474198.aspx)

Report warns of covert Iranian bid to expand nuke program

Islamic Republic secretly tested more uranium enrichment methods, according to intelligence assessment obtained by AP; American official says effort may eventually be used to produce nuclear weapons

Associated Press
10.30.08
Israel News

Iran has recently tested ways of recovering highly enriched uranium from waste reactor fuel in a covert bid to expand its nuclear program, according to an intelligence assessment made available to The Associated Press.

The intelligence, provided by a member of the 145-nation International Atomic Energy Agency, also says a report will soon be submitted to the Iranian leadership for a decision on whether to go ahead with the project.

The alleged tests loosely replicate Saddam Hussein's attempts to build the bomb nearly two decades ago. But experts question the conclusion by those providing the intelligence that Tehran, too, is trying to reprocess the fuel to make a nuclear weapon.

They note that the spent fuel at issue as the source of the enriched uranium is not enough to yield the approximately 30 kilograms of weapons-grade material needed for one simple warhead.

Still, they say that the alleged experiment appears plausible – if not as a fast track to weapons capability then as an incremental step that could move it further along that path.

The laboratories and the Tehran Nuclear Research Center, where the research reactor is located, have figured in numerous experiments that have raised the suspicion level about Iran, including plutonium separation attempts that Iran owned up to only after it was pressed by IAEA experts probing its nuclear past.

'Iran trying to get nose in tent'

If the information is accurate then Iran is "trying to get their nose in the tent" of reprocessing material potentially suitable for a warhead, said David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security tracks suspect secret proliferators.

"On the surface it may have nothing to do with making a bomb, but in the end that's what it could be about."

For the US and others, Iran is a top proliferation concern because of suspicions it had at least drafted concepts of nuclear weapons programs during nearly two decades of covert atomic activities discovered six years ago.

Tehran denies past, present or future nuclear arms ambitions. But it is stonewalling IAEA attempts to probe alleged past weapons program experiments and continues to expand its uranium enrichment program.

Iran has shrugged off UN Security Council sanctions prompted by fears that through enrichment, it may want to produce the fissile core of nuclear warheads instead of the fuel the Islamic Republic says it needs for a future civilian program. Those fears are stoked by Iran's refusal to consider foreign nuclear fuel deliveries.

"It's the idea that Iran wants to slowly develop nuclear weapons capability under the tent and it does it slowly so that people will accept it," said Albright. "It's (a matter of) keeping your head down, moving slowly and deliberately and winning at each step."

Report warns of covert Iranian bid to expand nuke program (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3615574,00.html)

Iranian Paper Shut Down for Obama Cover

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A Tehran news weekly was shut down by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week after featuring President-elect Barack Obama on its front cover and asking the question, "Why doesn't Iran have an Obama?"

The news magazine Shahrvand-e Emrouz [Today’s Citizen] went too far for the hardline president, who quickly had Iran's Press Supervisory Board ban the publication, the Times of London reported.

The closure of the propular reformist weekly suggests that Ahmadinejad is determined to silence his critics as he prepares for elections next June that could hand him a second-four year term.

The Iranian media has blamed numerous problems in recent weeks on Ahmadinejad. His expansionary budget is blamed for rampant inflation, oil prices have plummeted, aides have admitted that he suffers from strain and exhaustion, and an embarrassing forgery scandal claimed the scalp of his interior minister last week, the Times reported.

This week, however, Ahmadinejad collected support from some newspapers for his message of congratulations to Obama, which several newspaper commentaries on Tuesday presented an important opportunity.

Ahmadinejad's message, sent last Thursday, was the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to the winner of a U.S. presidential election since the two countries broke off relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy.

Most recently, the two nations have been deeply at odds over Iran's nuclear program and what Washington says is Iran's support for Shiite militias in Iraq -- a charge that Iran denies.

The state-owned Khorshid newspaper said Ahmadinejad's message "shattered America's incorrect view" that the Iranian president is not open to the world.

The independent Etemaad newspaper said, "The message could create an important opportunity for both sides."

Another independent newspaper, Etemad-e Melli, reported that Ahmadinejad's press adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, expected Obama to give "a deserving answer to the message as soon as possible."

The American president-elect on Friday confirmed having received Ahmadinejad's letter and said he would review it and "respond appropriately."

In his first news conference since last week's election, Obama declined to say Friday what proposals he might pursue in connection with Iran, but called the country's alleged efforts to develop nuclear weapons unacceptable.

"We have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening," Obama said.

Iran says its nuclear program is intended only for peaceful purposes such as energy production.

Ahmadinejad's outreach to the United States' next president did have some critics at home among hard-line newspapers and lawmakers who said it made Iran appear weak.

Iranian Paper Shut Down for Obama Cover (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,449945,00.html)

Iran accuses Israel of abusing U.N. interfaith meeting
Friday, November 14, 2008
By Patrick Worsnip

Iran's U.N. envoy on Thursday accused Israel of abusing a Saudi-sponsored U.N. interfaith conference for political purposes and suggested the Jewish state had no right to take part.

Speaking on the second day of the meeting, which earlier heard U.S. President George W. Bush call for worldwide religious freedom, Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee did not name Israel, but left no doubt what country he had in mind.

"The representative of a regime (whose) short history is marked with ... aggression, occupation, assassination, state terrorism and torture against the Palestinian people, under the pretext of a false interpretation of a divine religion, has tried to abuse this meeting for its narrow political purposes," he said.

Khazaee was referring to Israeli President Shimon Peres, who took the rare opportunity of being in the same room as Saudi King Abdullah on Wednesday to praise a Saudi peace initiative that he said brought hope to the Middle East.

"The participation of such a regime not only has no benefit to our common purpose, but, as proved in this very meeting, will give them a chance to try to disrupt the current process to divert our attention from our mandate" to improve dialogue between different religions, Khazaee said.

Iran believes the Jewish state has no right to exist and opposes peace talks. Israel considers Iran a threat to its existence and, along with the United States and other countries, accuses it of developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge.

Khazaee's speech stood out at the two-day meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, convened at the request of the Saudi monarch, not only because of its accusatory language, but because it failed to praise Abdullah.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal reacted coolly to Peres' remarks. "The disappointing side of President Peres' comment is that he chose parts of the Arab peace plan and left other parts untouched," he told reporters.

Earlier Bush, in what was almost certainly his last U.N. address, proclaimed religious freedom as the foundation of a healthy society and defended the U.S. record in protecting Muslims caught up in foreign conflicts.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

The U.N. meeting, attended by leaders and diplomats from some 75 countries, was opened by King Abdullah, who on Wednesday denounced terrorism as the enemy of all religions.

In a closing statement, participants "affirmed their rejection of the use of religion to justify the killing of innocent people and actions of terrorism, violence and coercion." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a news conference that was "a strong message to the world."

Bush, a Methodist who said faith sustained him through his presidency, which ends in January, praised Abdullah for initiating the meeting but also implicitly criticized countries that restrict religious practice. Saudi Arabia forbids public non-Muslim worship.

Noting that the United States had been founded by people fleeing religious persecution, Bush said that "Freedom is God's gift to every man, woman, and child -- and that freedom includes the right of all people to worship as they see fit."

He was speaking a short way from the site of New York's former World Trade Centre, destroyed in 2001 by planes piloted by Islamist al Qaeda militants. Some Muslim critics have called his subsequent "war on terror" a crusade against Islam.

"Our nation has helped defend the religious liberty of others, from liberating the (World War Two) concentration camps of Europe to protecting Muslims in places like Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq," Bush said.

"Religious freedom is the foundation of a healthy and hopeful society. We're not afraid to stand with religious dissidents and believers who practice their faith even where it is unwelcome."

Iran accuses Israel of abusing U.N. interfaith meeting (http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=17814209)

Iran increases stockpile of uranium

By Daniel Dombey in Washington and James Blitz in London

November 19 2008

Iran is forging ahead with its nuclear programme, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog reported on Wednesday, deepening the dilemma facing US president-elect Barack Obama over his campaign promise to engage with Tehran.

The latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency reveals that Iran is rapidly increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium, which could be rendered into weapons-grade material should Tehran decide to develop a nuclear device.

The agency says that, as of this month, Tehran had amassed 630kg of low enriched uranium hexafluoride, up from 480kg in late August. Analysts say Iran is enriching uranium at such a pace that, by early next year, it could reach break-out capacity – one step away from producing enough fissile material for a crude nuclear bomb.

“They are moving forward, they are not making diplomatic overtures, they are accumulating low enriched uranium,” said Cliff Kupchan, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy in Washington. “These guys are committed to their nuclear programme: if we didn’t know that, they just told us again.”

The IAEA report also says there has been a breakdown of communication between the agency and Iran over alleged research on an atomic weapon. “The Iranians are making good progress on enrichment but there is absolute stone-walling on past military activities,” said Mark Fitzpatrick of the International institute for Strategic Studies. “It’s very disappointing.”

The progress chalked up by Iran increases the difficulties for Mr Obama, who campaigned on promises of talking to America’s enemies, although during the election he scaled down his initial vow to meet Iran’s leaders to a more general commitment to consider doing so if it advanced US interests.

“Obama faces a real dilemma,” said the Eurasia Group’s Mr Kupchan. “He must decide whether to pursue diplomacy quickly in light of rapid Iranian progress or whether to wait in the hope of a more moderate Iranian leadership after Iran’s June presidential election.”

European diplomats have responded favourably to Mr Obama’s suggestion of US engagement with Iran, although they are keen to avoid unilateral US actions that would rip up the approach fashioned by the permanent five members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

IAEA officials said relations between the organisation and Iran had deteriorated so much there had been no contact between them for over two months, UN officials said on Wednesday.

”We had gridlock before but then at least we were talking to each other. Now it’s worse. There is no communication whatsoever, no progress regarding possible military dimensions in their programme,” a senior UN official said.

Ahead of Wednesday’s report, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the Iranian president, signalled that his country would press ahead with its nuclear program.

In a speech broadcast on TV, he said the US and its major allies wanted to deprive Iran of “honor and independence” by pressuring the country into halting its uranium enrichment work.

“Now the great powers are disappointed, as they have not the least bit of hope to break the Iranian people down,” he said. “If great powers seek to take over Iran’s rights, Iranian people will slap them so hard that they won’t find their way back home.”

Iran increases stockpile of uranium (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4eeacd78-b663-11dd-89dd-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1)

Iran said to have enough nuclear fuel for one weapon
By William J. Broad and David E. Sanger
Thursday, November 20, 2008

Iran has now produced roughly enough nuclear material to make, with added purification, a single atom bomb, according to nuclear experts analyzing the latest report from global atomic inspectors.

The figures detailing Iran's progress were contained in a routine update on Wednesday from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been conducting inspections of the country's main nuclear plant at Natanz. The report concluded that as of early this month, Iran had made 630 kilograms, or about 1,390 pounds, of low-enriched uranium.

Several experts said that was enough for a bomb, but they cautioned that the milestone was mostly symbolic, because Iran would have to take additional steps. Not only would it have to breach its international agreements and kick out the inspectors, but it would also have to further purify the fuel and put it into a warhead design — a technical advance that Western experts are unsure Iran has yet achieved.

"They clearly have enough material for a bomb," said Richard Garwin, a top nuclear physicist who helped invent the hydrogen bomb and has advised Washington for decades. "They know how to do the enrichment. Whether they know how to design a bomb, well, that's another matter."

Iran insists that it wants only to fuel reactors for nuclear power. But many Western nations, led by the United States, suspect that its real goal is to gain the ability to make nuclear weapons.

While some Iranian officials have threatened to bar inspectors in the past, the country has made no such moves, and many experts inside the Bush administration and the IAEA believe it will avoid the risk of attempting "nuclear breakout" until it possessed a larger uranium supply.

Even so, for President-elect Barack Obama, the report underscores the magnitude of the problem that he will inherit Jan. 20: an Iranian nuclear program that has not only solved many technical problems of uranium enrichment, but that can also now credibly claim to possess enough material to make a weapon if negotiations with Europe and the United States break down.

American intelligence agencies have said Iran could make a bomb between 2009 and 2015. A national intelligence estimate made public late last year concluded that around the end of 2003, after long effort, Iran had halted work on an actual weapon. But enriching uranium, and obtaining enough material to build a weapon, is considered the most difficult part of the process.

Siegfried Hecker of Stanford University and a former director of the Los Alamos weapons laboratory said the growing size of the Iranian stockpile "underscored that they are marching down the path to developing the nuclear weapons option."

In the report to its board, the atomic agency said Iran's main enrichment plant was now feeding uranium into about 3,800 centrifuges — machines that spin incredibly fast to enrich the element into nuclear fuel. That count is the same as in the agency's last quarterly report, in September. Iran began installing the centrifuges in early 2007. But the new report's total of 630 kilograms — an increase of about 150 — shows that Iran has been making progress in accumulating material to make nuclear fuel.

That uranium has been enriched to the low levels needed to fuel a nuclear reactor. To further purify it to the highly enriched state needed to fuel a nuclear warhead, Iran would have to reconfigure its centrifuges and do a couple months of additional processing, nuclear experts said.

"They have a weapon's worth," Thomas Cochran, a senior scientist in the nuclear program of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a private group in Washington that tracks atomic arsenals, said in an interview.

He said the amount was suitable for a relatively advanced implosion-type weapon like the one dropped on Nagasaki. Its core, he added, would be about the size of a grapefruit. He said a cruder design would require about twice as much weapon-grade fuel.

"It's a virtual milestone," Cochran said of Iran's stockpile. It is not an imminent threat, he added, because the further technical work to make fuel for a bomb would tip off inspectors, the United States and other powers about "where they're going."

The agency's report made no mention of the possible military implications of the size of Iran's stockpile. And some experts said the milestone was still months away. In an analysis of the IAEA report, the Institute for Science and International Security, a private group in Washington, estimated that Iran had not yet reached the mark but would "within a few months." It added that other analysts estimated it might take as much as a year.

Whatever the exact date, it added, "Iran is progressing" toward the ability to quickly make enough weapon-grade uranium for a warhead.

Peter Zimmerman, a physicist and former United States government arms scientist, cautioned that the Iranian stockpile fell slightly short of what international officials conservatively estimate as the minimum threatening amount of nuclear fuel. "They're very close," he said of the Iranians in an interview. "If it isn't tomorrow, it's soon," probably a matter of months.

In its report, the IAEA, which is based in Vienna, said Iran was working hard to roughly double its number of operating centrifuges.

A senior European diplomat close to the agency said Iran might have 6,000 centrifuges enriching uranium by the end of the year. The report also said Iran had said it intended to start installing another group of 3,000 centrifuges early next year.

The atomic energy agency said Iran was continuing to evade questions about its suspected work on nuclear warheads. In a separate report released Wednesday, the agency said, as expected, that it had found ambiguous traces of uranium at a suspected Syrian reactor site bombed by Israel last year.

"While it cannot be excluded that the building in question was intended for non-nuclear use," the report said, the building's features "along with the connectivity of the site to adequate pumping capacity of cooling water, are similar to what may be found in connection with a reactor site." Syria has said the uranium came from Israeli bombs.

Iran said to have enough nuclear fuel for one weapon (http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=17986277)

Iran, Syria tauten grip on Lebanon, Tehran woos Christian president

Tehran and Damascus are going all out to get their hooks into Lebanon’s Christian politicians and wean them away from their’ traditional ties with the West. President Michel Suleiman this week accepted an Iranian invitation to visit Tehran this month, while another Lebanese Christian leader, Hizballah’s ally Gen. Michel Aoun, arranged to visit Damascus.

DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources report that the Iranians are forging ahead with a campaign to bind the region’s Christian minorities to their Shiite wagon for challenging Sunni domination. Their first quarry is Lebanon’s powerful community.

Arrangements were finalized Monday with the Iranian ambassador in Beirut Reza Shibani for president Suleiman to spend two days in Tehran on Nov. 24-25. Aoun will visit Damascus at the same time. Their country is meanwhile encircled by Syrian military forces, a factual pointer to Bashar Assad’s real intentions regarding peace.

Although these developments bode ill for Israel too, they was left out of the sweeping 2009 prognosis which the Israeli Military Intelligence chief Maj. Amos Yadlin delivered in Tel Aviv Monday, Nov. 17. Neither did he look ahead to the likelihood that Iran would be able to assemble a nuclear weapon next year, notwithstanding more than a decade of international diplomacy and sanctions.

Senior Israeli intelligence circles commented that the evaluations heard from Yadlin Monday were less attuned to reality than to the estimated positions of the incoming US president Barack Obama’s Middle East team and Olmert-Livni policies. Like them, he omitted to address the agendas which Tehran and Damascus are actively pursuing.

Tehran launched its pursuit of Christian minorities by inviting the Lebanese Maronite leader Aoun to Tehran on Oct. 13, through Hizballah’s good offices.

The gambit worked: The Lebanese leader returned home proclaiming Iran the strongest world power between the Persian Gulf and China and predicting that his trip would bear fruit in six months. In the first week of November, Tehran heaped full honors on the Lebanon’s ex-president, the pro-Syrian Christian Emil Lahoud, when he arrived with a 60-man retinue.

Michel Sleiman can expect no less.

The assumption in Israeli ruling circles that Syria as peace partner will deliver a “Lebanese dowry” is therefore fallacious. Assad plans to squeeze whatever he can from Israel and the new US administration in the coin of territory and backing for his regime, while not giving up an iota of his schemes with Tehran. For now, no one is paying attention to the Syrian-Iranian jaws snapping shut on Lebanon.

Iran reports rocket launch amid nuclear tension
Wed Nov 26, 2008 1:05pm EST
by Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has successfully launched a rocket called "Kavosh 2," Iran's state media reported on Wednesday, displaying the Islamic state's advances in ballistics at a time when the West is worried about its nuclear ambitions.

The launch follows an announcement earlier this month that Iran had test-fired a new generation of surface-to-surface missile, saying the Islamic Republic was ready to defend itself against any attacker.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have been running high in recent months amid speculation of possible U.S. or Israeli strikes against Tehran's nuclear facilities, which the West suspects form part of a covert weapons program.

Tehran insists its nuclear work is aimed at generating electricity to meet Iran's booming demand.

State television did not give any further details about "Kavosh 2," which means "Explorer 2," saying details about the home-made rocket will be announced later. "The rocket was launched to register and send correct environmental data and (to test) separation of the engine from the body," state radio said.

The long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into space can also be used for launching weapons.

Iran caused international concern in February by testing a domestically made Explorer 1 rocket as part of its satellite program. Tehran said it needed two more similar tests before putting a domestically made satellite into orbit.

The United States, the Islamic Republic's arch foe, called the February rocket test "unfortunate" and said it would only further isolate Tehran from the international community.

On August 17, Iran said it had put a dummy satellite into orbit on a domestically made rocket for the first time. U.S. officials said the attempted launch was a failure.

Western experts say Iran rarely gives enough details for them to determine the extent of its technological advances, and much Iranian technology consists of modifications of equipment supplied by China, North Korea and others.

Iran reports rocket launch amid nuclear tension (http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USTRE4AP2KP20081126)

Nov. 26, 2008
HERB KEINON and YAAKOV KATZ , THE JERUSALEM POST

Iranian claims Wednesday that it now has some 5,000 centrifuges up and running underlines the danger posed by the extremist Iranian regime and the need to stop its nuclear march, senior diplomatic officials said in Jerusalem.

The comment came when one of the officials was asked to respond to Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, Iran's nuclear chief, who said Iran had more than 5,000 centrifuges operating at its uranium enrichment plant and would continue to install centrifuges and enrich uranium to produce nuclear fuel for the country's future nuclear power plants.

Uranium enriched to low level is used to produce nuclear fuel. Further enrichment makes it suitable for use in nuclear weapons.

"At this point, more than 5,000 centrifuges are operating in Natanz," said Aghazadeh, who is also the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. He spoke to reporters during an exhibition of Iranian nuclear achievements at Teheran University.

The new number of working centrifuges is a significant increase from the 4,000 Iran said were up and running in August at the plant in the central Iranian city of Natanz. Iran has said it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that will ultimately involve 54,000 centrifuges.

Israeli officials have said in the past that Iranian claims of nuclear technological advances are often exaggerated, to create the impression that its nuclear program is so far down the line that nothing can be done to stop it.

Also Wednesday, Iran successfully launched a rocket into space. State television called the rocket the "Kavoshgar 2" (Explorer 2) and reported that it returned to earth 40 minutes after launching on a parachute after performing its functions in the lower reaches of space.

Teheran unveiled the first Iranian-made satellite, called Omid (Hope) and inaugurated its first space center earlier in February when it launched a research rocket.

Tal Inbar, a Research Fellow & Secretary of the Space Research Center at the Fischer Brothers Institute in Herzliya, said that the research rocket was launched from a launcher that resembled the type used to launch the Zelzal missile that Iran supplied Hizbullah before the Second Lebanon War.

Inbar said that the rocket worked on solid fuel and was a two-stage research rocket that could "scratch" the outskirts of space, but was not capable of carrying a satellite.

Iran: More than 5,000 centrifuges are now up and running (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702330039&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran showing 'utter disrespect' for UN nuclear watchdog
By Reuters
27/11/2008

Iran is showing "utter disrespect" for the UN nuclear watchdog by ignoring unanswered questions about its atomic program, European powers said on Thursday.

Officials close to the International Atomic Energy Agency said last week its inquiry into suspected atom bomb research by Iran had degenerated into a standoff with neither side speaking since September, soon after Iran asserted "the matter is over".

"(This has been) two months of utter disrespect for the agency and members of this board," Britain, France, and Germany said in a statement to the IAEA's 35-nation governing body.

British Ambassador Simon Smith, delivering the "EU-3" statement, said some on the UN nuclear executive were originally confident Iran would cooperate with the probe.

"Iran's dismissive response to these expressions of confidence is all too starkly set out in the report before this board, with its unmitigated record of refusal to cooperate," the statement said.

Iran's denial of an IAEA request to check design details at a research reactor under construction and its failure to provide preliminary design data for a nuclear power plant planned at Darkhovin were of particular concern, he said.

Iran's program was dangerous because it "continues and intensifies a threat to the stability of a troubled region", the statement said.

Iran says it is enriching uranium only to generate electricity. The West suspects Iran's program is a front for efforts to develop atomic bomb fuel.

The IAEA has struggled to get to the bottom of U.S. intelligence suggesting that Iran in the past melded projects to process uranium for atomic fuel, test high explosives at unusually high altitudes and revamp the cone of a long-range Shahab-3 missile in a way that would fit a nuclear warhead.

A previous IAEA report in September detailed the Islamic Republic's non-cooperation with requests for documents and access to sites and officials and physicists for interviews.

The investigation has not advanced an inch since then, with no letters, meetings or even talks by phone, UN officials say.

Iran says the U.S. intelligence is forged and sites the IAEA wants to visit are conventional military facilities that any nation would keep off-limits on security grounds. It argues they are therefore beyond the remit or competence of UN inspectors.

Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh again rebuffed Western criticism, saying Iran had given the IAEA all assurances it needed of its peaceful intentions.

He was alluding to more than 200 pages of documents it turned over in June, but which the IAEA judged inadequate.

Condemning Western pressure on Iran, he add: "(We) warn that the authority, independence, credibility and integrity of the IAEA are at high risk and urge an end to the dangerous process and status quo before it is too late."

Iran showing 'utter disrespect' for UN nuclear watchdog (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1041718.html)

Iran launches massive naval maneuver
Dec. 2, 2008
ap and jpost staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Iran launched a large-scale, six-day naval maneuver in the Sea of Oman on Tuesday, the official news agency reported.

About 60 warships were set to participate in the maneuver, which will cover 129,500-sq. kilometers of Iranian territorial waters, the agency, IRNA, said.

This type of "maneuver has been rare in the past 30 years both in its size and commissioning of new weapons," IRNA quoted the maneuver's spokesman, Adm. Ghasem Rostamabadi, as saying.

Aircraft from Iran's air force will also participate in the war game, dubbed "Unity-87" in reference to the current year 1387 in the traditional Persian calendar. No other details were immediately available.

Iran regularly holds war games in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Linking the two bodies of water is the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway where 40 percent of the world's oil passes through.

Teheran has repeatedly warned that it would close the narrow strait if the US or Israel attacked it over Teheran's disputed nuclear program. In October, Iran's navy inaugurated a new naval base on the eastern part of the Strait in the port town of Jask.

Ephraim Sneh, leader of the new Israel Hazaka party and former deputy defense minister said "Iran's unprecedented naval activity is actually a preparatory drill to taking over the Gulf and the world's most important oil route.

"The Iranian aggression is a threat to the entire world and should not be passed over quietly."

Iranian officials frequently talk about Teheran's military capabilities amid concerns that the US or Israel is considering a strike against the country's nuclear facilities. Washington and Israel say they prefer a diplomatic solution, but have not ruled out any options.

In June, Israel's military sent warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean in for a large military exercise that US officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Iran launches massive naval maneuver (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702402767&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran holds massive anti-Israel rally
Fri, 12 Dec 2008

Millions of Iranians have held rallies across the country in condemnation of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip against Palestinians.

Demonstrators chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" in the capital Tehran and carried banners, denouncing Israel's atrocities in the Gaza Strip run by the democratically-elected Palestinian government of Hamas.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also joined ralliers in Tehran on Friday.

President Ahmadinejad, speaking with reporters, strongly condemned Israel's blockade of Gaza, saying Tel Aviv is increasing pressure on Palestinians to hinder their upcoming election.

Incumbent Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas' four-year term expires on January 9. However, it is unclear when the elections will be held.

A recent Israeli National Security Council assessment has urged Tel Aviv to hinder "elections in the Palestinian Authority, even at the cost of a confrontation with the US and the international community."

At the end of Friday's rallies, a statement was issued in strong condemnation of international silence on Israel's siege of the region as well as the attacks in the West bank city of al-Khalil.

The Gaza Strip is facing a humanitarian crisis as Israel has imposed an economic blockade on the coastal area, turning it to an 'open prison' and putting lives of almost 1.5 million residents at stake.

The Islamic movement does not recognize Israel as a legitimate state.

The siege has resulted in the shortage of fuel for the strip's only power plant, which could lead to a complete blackout.

The residents are also suffering from the shortage of basic supplies including food and medicine.

Hundreds of right-wing Jewish hardliners have been attacking and hurling rocks at Palestinians and vandalizing their homes in al-Khalil since November.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has urged Israel to end Palestinians' suffering.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah has also criticized the international community for keeping silent, calling for an end to 'Israel's crimes' committed against people in the coastal region.

Iran holds massive anti-Israel rally (http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=78210&sectionid=351020101)

Iran's ImaNutjob: Merry Xmas, bullying powers
By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writer David Stringer, Associated Press Writer 24 mins ago

LONDON – Merry Christmas, "bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers."

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will deliver a Christmas Day broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 television, occupying a slot used to provide an often controversial counterpoint to Queen Elizabeth II's traditional annual message, the station said Wednesday.

In his recorded message, Ahmadinejad offers seasonal greetings to Christians and says he believes that if Jesus were alive, he would "stand with the people in opposition to bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers," an apparent reference to the United States and its allies.

According to a transcript of the broadcast released in advance, Ahmadinejad says most of the world's problems stem from leaders who have turned against religion. He doesn't refer to rival nations or leaders by name or raise the issue of Israel, despite his previous calls for the removal of the Jewish state.

"If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would hoist the banner of justice and love for humanity to oppose warmongers, occupiers, terrorists and bullies the world over," Ahmadinejad said, according to the text.

The U.S., Britain and others suspect Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists its uranium enrichment program is intended solely for a civilian energy program.

Ties with the U.K. were further strained in 2007 over the detention by Iran of 15 British sailors and marines, who were held for 13 days.

The Israeli ambassador to London condemned Ahmadinejad's speech as a "bogus message of good will" and said the broadcast was a disgrace.

"That (Channel 4) should give an unchallenged platform to the president of a regime which denies the Holocaust, advocates the destruction of the sovereign state of Israel, funds and encourages terrorism, executes children and hangs gay people is a disgrace," Ron Prosor said. "Outrage doesn't begin to explain it."

Ahmadinejad's message follows similar Christmas broadcasts on Channel 4 by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sharon Osborne and the animated TV character Marge Simpson of "The Simpsons." Last year's message was delivered by Sgt. Maj. Andrew Stockton, a British soldier badly wounded in Afghanistan.

Ahmadinejad spoke in Persian, with subtitles in English, the channel said.

Dorothy Byrne, head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, said Ahmadinejad had been selected because relations between Iran and the West are likely to be a key global issue in 2009.

"As the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad's views are enormously influential. As we approach a critical time in international relations, we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view," Byrne said.

The channel's news program broadcast an interview with Ahmadinejad in September 2007, when the Iranian leader insisted his nation wasn't seeking to develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran's ImaNutjob: Merry Xmas, bullying powers (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081224/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_iran/print;_ylt=AjsaDRl_uq7AQlCX8nCVUD9bbBAF)

Iran nuclear weapon could start regional war
By The Associated Press
17/01/2009

U.S. National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell on Friday said that Iran is two to three years away from having a long-range missile that could reach Europe and is continuing to produce low-enriched uranium, the raw ingredient for the fissionable material needed for a warhead.

As he prepares to leave office, McConnell told reporters that U.S. intelligence agencies lack enough evidence to prove Iran has decided to build a nuclear warhead, but he shares the alarm of outgoing CIA Director Michael Hayden that the possibility may come soon.

"I'm very concerned Iran will continue down a path that will result in a nuclear weapon," he said.

He is especially worried about the effect it would have in the Middle East, either kicking off a regional arms race or a war.

McConnell said that protection of U.S. computer networks - government, military and commercial - is another major worry.

"Cyber-security is the soft underbelly of this country," he said.

His fear is less that information would be stolen off the networks by hackers or spies but that they would destroy it outright.

"It could have a debilitating effect on the country," he said.

The federal government is still building its cyber protection plan, with the Homeland Security Department nominally in charge. McConnell said the spy agencies, especially the National Security Agency, have to play a principal role in protecting domestic computer networks. That prospect alarms privacy and civil liberty advocacy groups, who oppose giving agencies meant to spy on foreign powers access to private citizens' data and activities on the Internet.

Breaking down walls among the 16 intelligence agencies to force cooperation and sharing is among the central functions of the national intelligence director. He said a new policy that will require sharing of all finished intelligence and much of the raw information that feeds it across the agencies will be signed in the next few days.

"I believe we failed the nation at 9/11. There was sufficient information in the system that had it been properly recognized, shared and considered, we probably would have reacted in a different way," McConnell said. "It's the policy to hope that we would never repeat 9/11."

Iran nuclear weapon could start regional war (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1056187.html)

Iran green lights 'escalation'
Fears Hamas will be severely damaged if truce not reached
Posted: January 16, 2009
11:50 pm Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – Palestinian organizations in Lebanon were given a green light by Iran, Syria and by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia to escalate tension along Israel's northern border if a truce is not reached over the weekend and if Israel's continued war in Gaza begins to severely damage Hamas in the coming days, according to informed Israeli defense sources.

Hamas' chief Kheled Meshaal announced yesterday at an Arab conference his group will not accept Israeli conditions for a cease-fire in Gaza and would continue attacking the Jewish state until the Israeli offensive in Gaza ends.

Meshaal joined Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a surprise visit to a Doha conference aimed at dealing with the Gaza crisis. But Hamas sources said the terror group will send representatives to Egypt this weekend to continue truce talks with Israel.

Israeli officials have made no secret of their desire to reach a cease-fire in the near future.

"I hope we are entering the end game and that our goal of sustained and durable quiet in the south (of Israel) is about to be attained," government spokesman Mark Regev said.

According to Jerusalem diplomatic sources, Israel has demanded in the truce talks a complete halt to Hamas rocket-fire against Jewish communities outside Gaza; international monitors along the Egypt-Gaza border – the site of rampant Hamas weapons smuggling; and the reinstatement in key Gaza areas of security forces from the U.S.-backed Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Up for talks is some sort of armed international contingent to patrol Gaza.

Hamas rejects any Fatah presence in Gaza and demands the opening of crossings along the Israel-Gaza border as well as the extension of any truce to the West Bank, which is said to be dominated by Fatah.

Meanwhile, according to informed Israeli defense sources, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah are concerned that if a cease-fire is not reached, the IDF will be allowed to continue the third phase of its offensive – a large-scale ground effort to sweep clean Gaza's terrorist infrastructure.

The IDF has launched two portions of a planned assault on Gaza. The first stage was Israel's continuing aerial bombardment of Hamas targets, which the terror group admits dented its government infrastructure. Israeli sources said it resulted in some damage to the group's military capabilities. The second stage began last week, with some ground troops entering Gaza, taking up peripheral positions in central and northern Gaza and mounting small offensives within Gaza City and select northern Gaza camps.

But defense sources say to deal a decisive blow to Hamas, the IDF must embark on an extensive, large-scale ground operation that would clean out central and northern Gaza of Hamas' intact military wing.

The sources said Syria, Iran and Hezbollah have given a green light to Palestinian groups in Lebanon to attempt to escalate tensions along the northern border with rocket and mortar fire or with shootings along the Israel-Lebanese border.

Two days ago, at least three Katyusha rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, prompting the IDF to fire eight shells back at the source near the village of Kfar Hamam in southern Lebanon. The IDF immediately sent warplanes and gunships to fly reconnaissance missions into southern Lebanon in a clear warning signal to Hezbollah, which largely controls the territory. Also, according to local reports, the U.N., which maintains a 13,000-strong force in south Lebanon, sent out patrols to seek out the source of fire.

The shelling ignited immediate fears from pundits speaking to the Israeli media of the opening of a second front outside Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Although no group has yet taken responsibility for the rocket-fire from Lebanon, it is extremely unlikely any rockets can be launched from Lebanon without coordination with Hezbollah.

Defense officials in Tel Aviv earlier this week told WND that Israel estimates the rockets were fired by Palestinian groups on behalf of Hezbollah.

But the defense officials said Israel doesn't believe either Hezbollah or its Syrian patron are looking to engage in any direct conflict with the IDF. They said they estimate Hezbollah, backed by Iran, is trying to prompt Israel into fortifying its northern border with Lebanon in a bid to draw some Israeli forces out of fighting the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.

Currently, a large contingent of the Golani Brigades, the elite force charged with protecting northern Israel, is fighting inside Gaza or stationed along the Israel-Gaza border.

Last Thursday, two Israelis were lightly wounded in a rocket attack from Lebanon. Later, small arms fire was reported along Israel's border with Syria. Defense officials said in both cases Israel estimated Syria and Hezbollah were looking to draw Israeli troops from Gaza back to the north but that Israel's foes in the north were not interested in engaging the IDF.

Two weeks ago, WND was the first to report Hezbollah may allow Palestinian groups in south Lebanon to launch rockets into Israel. An Egyptian intelligence official told WND at the time the probability is low Hezbollah would directly engage Israel. But the official said Hezbollah is considering allowing Palestinian groups in south Lebanon to launch Katyusha rockets into Israel in hopes of complicating the IDF focus on Gaza.

Iranian Army General Commander Ataollah Salehi: It Will Take Us 11 Days "To Wipe Israel Out of Existence"

Following are excerpts of statements by Iranian military commanders, from a TV report which aired on LBC TV on May 3, 2009.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2099.htm.

"I Do Not Think We Will Need More Than 11 Days to Wipe Israel Out Of Existence"

Voiceover: "Nothing can prevent Iranian missiles from targeting the heart of Israel, if Iran is subjected to a military strike by Israel. This was the response of the Iranian military commanders to the Israeli statements about a possible military strike against Iran, because of its insistence on obtaining nuclear energy. Yet an [Israeli] attack seems improbable to the Iranians, because Tel Aviv does not have the ability to go through a war with Tehran."

Iranian Chief-of-Staff General Hassan Firouzabadi: "We are fully prepared to confront any attack that would threaten the interests of Iran. We have sufficient means and the necessary force to defend our territory."

General Ataollah Salehi, general commander of the Iranian army: "The truth is that Israel does not have the courage to attack us. If we are subjected to any attack by Israel, I do not think we will need more than 11 days to wipe Israel out of existence."

Voiceover: "Tehran denies that its military preparations are aimed at attacking any neighboring country. Iran justifies its military preparedness as a means to defend Iran and the region, which may alleviate the fears and concerns of countries in the region."

"Our Military Capabilities Are Not Meant to Threaten the Neighboring Countries - But Only to Defend Iran"

General Yahya Rahim Safavi, Khamenei's chief advisor on military affairs: "Our military capabilities are not meant to threaten the neighboring countries, but only to defend Iran. Iran strives for peace, security, and stability with the countries in the region."

General Reza Pourdastan, commander of the Iranian army ground forces: "The neighboring countries can rest assured that by no means will we attack any country."

Voiceover: "But fears about Iran's missiles remain, especially among Western countries, concerned that Iran might arm its missiles with nuclear warheads, since the superpowers doubt that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful. This is categorically denied by Tehran, which says that according to the shari'a and the law, it is forbidden to obtain a nuclear bomb."

Iranian Army General Commander Ataollah Salehi: It Will Take Us 11 Days "To Wipe Israel Out of Existence" (http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP233809)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memri is an amazing source of info... For those who don't know, they translate Arab media to English, which really exposes the hypocrisy and motivations of those who claim in English that want Peace, and then say in Arabic, "Death to Israel"...

I don't think Iran has a chance against Israel. Given that God has promised to protect Israel, though Iran's fate is already known.

Tehran preparing for attack on its nuclear sites

Saudi media quotes top Iranian official as confirming Revolutionary Guard has recently deployed anti-aircraft missile batteries in Persian Gulf following reports of imminent US-Israeli attack on country's nuclear facilities

Roee Nahmias
Published: 05.12.09, 10:49
Israel News

Saudi daily 'Al-Watan' is reporting that over the past several weeks Iran's Revolutionary Guard has deployed several mobile surface-to-air and anti-ship missile batteries in the Strait of Hormuz and other areas in the Persian Gulf.

The paper attributed to the information to a high-ranking Iranian official. The source added that the decision to deploy the missile batteries was made following recent "secret reports" indicating the United States and Israel are preparing to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

According to the official, Tehran alerted neighboring Arab states of the move and stressed that it should not be seen as an act of aggression against them.

Noting that internal threats should not be ignored, the commander reiterated that Iranian armed forces are always ready to combat enemies and "this readiness has foiled their plots".

In comments reported by the Fars news agency, Revolutionary Guards chief, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, discussed both the military and non-defense related threats facing Iran over the coming period, considered particularly sensitive due to the upcoming presidential elections next month.

"Enemies led by the US could try to subvert the Islamic Republic through soft tactics," he warned.

Jafari has said in the past that "the most important and main mission of Basij (volunteer forces) is confronting the soft threats and cultural invasion which are stealthily targeting (Iranian) youth," Jafari added at the time.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned last week of Washington's tough response if the Islamic Republic rejects the US dialogue proposal. In his testament before the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier in May, Gates said however that a military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would not be enough to remove the threat.

"(It) will only buy us time and send the program deeper and more covert," he said. "Their security interests are actually badly served by trying to have nuclear weapons," Gates said. "They will start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and they will be less secure at the end than they are now."

Tehran preparing for attack on its nuclear sites (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3714537,00.html)

Iran to procure Chinese defense system
May. 10, 2009
The Media Line News Agency , THE JERUSALEM POST

Iran will turn to China instead of Russia to acquire an advanced air defense system after relations between Iran and Russia hit rock bottom, the official Iranian news agency PressTV reported.

For years Iran has been trying to purchase the S-300 anti-aircraft missile, which is considered to one of the most advanced systems available on the market and would dramatically increase Iran's air defense capabilities against any attacks on its nuclear installations.

The S-300 surface-to-air missile system, which can track targets and fire at aircraft 75 miles away, features high jamming immunity making it harder to incapacitate the system electronically, and is able to engage up to 100 targets simultaneously.

Teheran will now turn to China for the HongQi-9/FD-2000 system which reportedly combines elements "borrowed" from the Russian S-300 and the American MIM-104 Patriot system, according to the Iranian news agency.

The negotiations between Teheran and Moscow began in 2007, but neither side has ever issued an official confirmation of the deal.

The Russian sale of arms to Iran is a thorn in Moscow's relationship with Washington, which opposes Iran's quest for nuclear weapons and labels it "a sponsor of state terrorism," according the United States State Department.

In addition to American pressure on Russia not to sell weapons to Iran, Israel is also trying to persuade Russia not to export the system.

It is believed that when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu meets with US President Barack Obama in Washington on May 18 that Iran's nuclear program will top the agenda.

In April, London's Times reported that Israeli military forces were in the final stages of preparation for launching a "massive aerial raid" on Iranian nuclear facilities "within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government."

The paper cites the acquisition of three AWACs (early warning system) platforms and planned civil defense drills in support of its theory. The Times quoted an unnamed Israeli defense official as saying that Israel's "message to Iran is that the threat is not just words."

However, an airstrike against Iran's nuclear installations will be much tougher than the bombing raid that Israel launched in 1981 to destroys Iraq's nuclear reactor in Osirak, since the Iranian installations are not only further away from Israel but also spread out all over Iran in addition to being heavily fortified.

Iran to procure Chinese defense system (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1241773221488&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran deploys missiles in Persian Gulf
May. 12, 2009
The Media Line News Agency , THE JERUSALEM POST

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have begun deploying mobile launchers for surface-to-air and surface-to-sea missiles in the Strait of Hurmuz and other areas in the Gulf, it has been revealed.

An Iranian official, quoted anonymously in the Saudi daily Al-Watan, said Iranian forces deployed the missile bases following secret reports that the United States and Israel were working on a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Iran's preparations for a potential military strike are not new. The republic has conducted several military exercises over the past few years, some with the explicit intention of preparing the armed forces for a possible confrontation with the West.

The source said the missiles were deployed a few weeks ago. Iran is said to have informed Arab countries in the region of its activities and reassured its neighbors that the missiles were not aimed at states in the region, a reference to Sunni Arab states such as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which has a Shi'ite majority but Sunni government.

Sunni Muslim Gulf states are allied with the US in and share Western concerns over Shi'ite Iran's nuclear plans.

Bahrain, for example, is closer to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant than the Iranian capital Teheran. Any strike on the facility will affect Bahrainis more than Iran's center of power.

Hady 'Amr, Director of the Brookings Doha Center, said there were too many variables at play in the region to draw conclusions as to the deployment's underlying meaning. 'Amr spoke of the Obama administration's disposition towards dialogue with Iran, shifting alliances in the US dialogue with Syria, the Iranian presidential elections and the global financial crisis which has made both Iran and the Gulf states less secure.

On several occasions Iran has expressed its displeasure over potential US bases in its Arab neighbors' territories. "This may be part of their muscle-flexing in that regard," 'Amr told The Media Line, "to make sure that the Gulf states hosting American and French bases understand that there will be a price to pay."

The reports of missile deployments coincide with the US's declared intentions to bridge the rift with Iran.

US President Barack Obama is attempting a dialogue with Teheran to defuse tensions built up during the Bush Administration over Iran's controversial nuclear program.

The release of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi from Teheran's Evin prison on Monday could be a response to US overtures.

Saberi, 31, was originally sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of espionage and had been held in prison since January, 2009. An appeals court in Iran reduced her sentence to a two-year suspended term and a five-year ban on reporting in Iran.

Iran has been under international pressure to abandon its nuclear program and uranium enrichment activities since 2002. The US, Israel and other countries are concerned that Iran is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons, although Teheran vociferously denies these accusations and claims its program is for peaceful purposes.

The US has not ruled out the possibility of a military strike on Iran.

Iran has threatened to retaliate to any aggression on its soil by closing down the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which will disrupt global oil supplies.

Last year Iran opened a new naval facility in Jask, in the entrance to the Gulf, the declared aim of which was to enable Iran to block the enemy from entering Iran in the event that the country were attacked.

Gulf countries, including Iran, hold more than half of the world's crude oil reserves and more than 40 percent of the world's proven gas reserves.

Iran deploys missiles in Persian Gulf (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242029504871&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran-Syria Alliance in Harmony

www.globalpolitician.com

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and President Bashar Assad of Syria reconfirmed the close alliance between their two countries during the Iranian president's visit to Damascus this week.

Ahmadinejad's visit came on the eve of the return of two senior US officials, Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro, to Damascus. Their visit is part of ongoing US efforts at engagement with Syria. The tone struck by Ahmadinejad and Assad this week, however, did not suggest a mood for compromise.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, in his address to the joint press conference held by the two presidents after their meeting, accurately summed up the Iranian-Syrian alliance as based upon both "principles and interests."

It is sometimes suggested that the Syrian-Iranian alliance is a marriage of convenience between two essentially incompatible regimes. This view is incorrect. The alliance is of long standing, is rooted in shared interests and expresses itself in a shared ideological conception - that of the idea of muqawama (resistance) to the supposed ambitions of the West and Israel in the region.

Ahmadinejad's and Assad's statements following their meeting offer evidence of the depth and nature of the alliance.

The Iranian president mocked US attempts at engagement, saying "We don't want honey from bees that sting us. Efforts must be made to rid the region of the presence of foreigners." He went on to demand US withdrawal from "Afghanistan and the borders of Pakistan."

Ahmadinejad's speech radiated the sense that Iranian defiance was bringing results. The Iranian president noted that those who once sought to put pressure on Syria and Iran were now obliged to seek the assistance of these countries.

"Harmony and steadfastness," he said, "are the secret of victory." He went on to demand reform of the United Nations, reiterating a claim he made in his recent Geneva speech that the international body failed to reflect a world in which the balance of forces was changing.

The Syrian president struck a similar tone. Assad said that Ahmadinejad's visit confirmed once more the "strategic relationship" between the two countries. He expressed the support of Syria and Iran for Palestinian "resistance."

Assad then detailed Syria and Iran's common satisfaction regarding current developments in Iraq, and noted Syria's support for the Iranian nuclear program. He also cast an eye over the history of the relationship between the two countries. He noted that Syria had supported Iran at the time of the Islamic Revolution and in the subsequent Iran-Iraq War, and that Damascus had in return benefited from Iranian support when under pressure in recent years.

The words of the two presidents, for those listening closely, are instructive in grasping both the principles and the interests underlying the Syrian-Iranian alliance.

Regarding principles - the two speeches reflect the joint adoption of a secular language of nationalist, anti-Western assertion which is reminiscent of earlier times.

These ideas may have faded from view in the West in recent years, but they retain popularity among broad populations in the Arab world. The Iranians - non-Sunnis and non-Arabs - want to enlist this appeal to their own banner, presenting themselves as the natural representative of all those countries and forces opposing the West in the region.

Syria, meanwhile, has long been the chief guardian among the Arabs of the archaic slogans of third-worldism and defiance. Iranian rhetoric of this kind sits well with the Syrians. The Assad regime, of course, is committed ultimately to its own survival, and not to any ideological path. But there is no sense that an alliance based on an appeal of this kind is in any way unnatural or uncomfortable for the Syrians. On the contrary, it fits perfectly the defiant stance that has enabled the Syrian Ba'athists to punch above their weight in the region for a generation.

Regarding interests, Assad's whistle-stop tour through the history of the relationship reminds us of its longevity.

The mullahs in Teheran and the Ba'athist family dictatorship in Damascus have stuck together for a long time.

The Syrian dictator's expressions of quiet satisfaction at the current turn of events in Iraq, and Ahmadinejad's characteristic tone of triumphalism confirm that the partnership continues to bear fruit.

The next arena for the meeting point of Syrian and Iranian principles and interests is Lebanon, which may shortly be added to the regional alliance headed by these countries. Next month's Lebanese elections formed the backdrop to Ahmadinejad's visit, and perhaps explain the hurried return of Feltman and Shapiro. No doubt the two US officials will reassert the need for noninterference in the upcoming polls, which the Hizbullah-led alliance is favored to win.

Lebanon has long been the ideal arena for the meeting of Iranian and Syrian principles and interests. It is worth remembering that as far back as 1982, it was Syrian facilitation of the entry of 1,500 Iranian Revolutionary Guards into the Lebanese Bekaa which made possible the subsequent foundation of Hizbullah. This long investment may be about to pay off.

In any case, the general direction of events in the region appears to the liking of the two good friends from Damascus and Teheran - offering the prospect of many good years of friendship to come.

Report: Iranian missile threat on US by 2015

ynetnews.com/

The US Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center, in a new report, says Iran, with support from outside sources, within six years could produce an ocean-leaping missile capable of hitting the United States.

The report, made available by the Federation of American Scientists, said North Korea's Taepodong 2 missile also could be developed as an intercontinental ballistic missile that could put the United States in range and said the weapon "could be exported to other countries in the future."

The Obama administration has asked Congress for $7.8 billion for missile defense in fiscal 2010, down about $1.2 billion from 2009. Congress is considering adding more funds.

Joining forces with North Korea

Meanwhile Thursday, the head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said that Iran and North Korea have worked together and made significant progress on ballistic missiles that could carry deadly warheads.

"It really is an international effort going on out there to develop ballistic missile capability between these countries," Army Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly told a forum on Capitol Hill.

Iran and North Korea each are at odds with their neighbors and with much of the international community over nuclear programs. Each has demonstrated a capability to launch missiles that fired through their second stages this spring.

They represent the most pronounced example of a kind of international "coalition" sharing know-how on avionics, propulsion and materials among other things, O'Reilly said.

"We've seen it for years and it continues," he said of such cooperation between North Korea and Iran.

Their ability to fire missiles with a stable ignition and launch a second stage represents "a significant step forward" for both of them, O'Reilly said.

Asked which was further along in missile development, he said it could be described as a "horse race" with no clear leader.

"Iran has ambitious ballistic missile and space launch development programs and, with sufficient foreign assistance, Iran could develop and test an ICBM capable of reaching the United States by 2015," the report released Thursday said.

All Eyes On Iran

wordpress.com/

All eyes are on Iran today. Please be praying for the Iranian people. Humanly speaking, it’s almost impossible for anything good to come out of today’s rigged “elections.”

First, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his cabinet of clerics (the “Guardian Council”) have already chosen four presidential contenders. They denied another 450 or so applicants from even being considered. This gives you a little taste of what democracy means in Iran. Thus, Khamenei and the Radical mullahs around him have already chosen four people they want the country to know would be acceptable to them — that is, people who are loyal to the Revolution, will follow the wishes of the Supreme Leader, and will prepare the way of the coming of the Islamic Messiah known as the Twelfth Imam or the Mahdi.

Second, no matter who “wins,” it doesn’t really matter in any practical sense. In Iran’s Sharia-law driven legal system, all authority is vested in the hands of the Supreme Leader. The role of the president in many ways is to be the public face and voice of the Supreme Leader to the nation and the world. For the last four years, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been been that face and voice precisely because Khamenei wanted him to be.

Third, the system really is rigged. Iranians will feel like they are exercising their right to choose their next leader. But Khamenei is pulling strings behind the scenes to engineer the “choosing” of his preferred candidate. The only drama is finding out whom Khamenei wants to be the face and voice of Iran for the next four years, and whether he believes Ahmadinejad has outlived his usefulness.

Fourth, that said, the God of the Bible — the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — is in control. The Lord God Himself is all sovereign and He ultimately will determine who will run Iran, and will do so for His own purposes. Daniel 2:21 tells us that “He removes kings and establishes kings.” While humanly speaking all seems to be lost in Iran, this isn’t really the case. The truth is that Jesus Christ is drawing millions of Iranians away from Islam to become His followers. As I describe in Inside The Revolution in detail, the Lord is using radio broadcasting, satellite TV technology and the Internet to get the good news of salvation to the Iranian people. Jesus is also appearing to many personally, telling them to, “Come, follow Me” — and they are. Iranian Christian leaders tell me they expect more than 10,000 house churches to be planted in Iran in the next 12 to 18 months because Christianity is growing so fast in that country. And one of the main reasons people are abandoning Islam and becoming followers of Jesus is because of the tyrannical leadership of the country. Starting with the Ayatollah Khomeini, and right up to the present with the Ayatollah Khamenei, such cruel, Radical dictators are causing Iranians to become deeply disillusioned with Islam and eager to search for true peace. They are finding it in the Prince of Peace. So, let us pray earnestly for the Iranian people that no matter who wins, they will choose Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords this year.

Alireza Jafarzadeh is a leading Iranian pro-democracy dissident. He is based in Washington. He gives a summary of the background of the four “candidates” running for president in Iran today. Even this brief snapshot shows how Radical any one of them will be.

“Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, by his own admission, was part of the quintet of the Central Committee of the Office of the Unity which led and operationally oversaw the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979. He was the special operations officer in the 6th special corps of IRGC’s Qods Force, responsible for sabotage and cross-border missions. In his current hat, he oversees his government’s expanding drive to perfect the nuclear fuel cycle and acquire the ultimate weapon.

“Mir Hossein Moussavi is the current reincarnation of the moderate political animal in Iran. He was a founding member of the Islamic Republic Party - think of it as the mullahs’ Third Reich. Among honors on his resume, he lists: 144 extraterritorial assassinations during the premiership, the massacre of nearly 30,000 political prisoners on the eve of the signing of the 1988 UN Iran-Iraq cease-fire accord, and the 1983 embassy and marine barrack bombings in Beirut.

“Mohsen Rezai ranks high in the pantheon of terror. He commanded the IRGC during the disastrous war with Iraq, with ultimate responsibility for sending tens of thousands of under-aged adults to their death in the battle fronts as human mine sweepers, many of whom were shrouded in army-issued blankets to prevent their body parts from splattering. Rezai played a decisive role in coordinating and directing the 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires, for which he was implicated by an Argentine court and for whom, in 2007, Interpol issued an arrest warrant.

“Mehdi Karoubi is the least consequential. Nevertheless, he occupies a special place among the regime hierarchy. For, he is a permanent member of the Expediency Council, chaired by former president, Rafsanjani.”

Violence flares as Ahmadinejad wins Iran vote
Official results show landslide for incumbent; pro-reform rival alleges fraud

June 13, 2009

TEHRAN, Iran - Opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with police in the heart of Iran's capital Saturday, pelting them with rocks and setting fires in the worst unrest in Tehran in a decade. They accused the hard-line president of using fraud to steal election victory from his reformist rival.

The brazen and angry confrontations — including stunning scenes of masked rioters tangling with black-clad police — pushed the self-styled reformist movement closer to a possible moment of truth: Whether to continue defying Iran's powerful security forces or, as they often have before, retreat into quiet dismay and frustration over losing more ground to the Islamic establishment.

But for at least one day, the tone and tactics were more combative than at any time since authorities put down student-led protests in 1999. Young men hurled stones and bottles at anti-riot units and mocked Ahmadinejad as an illegitimate leader. The reformists' new hero, Mir Hossein Mousavi, declared himself the true winner of Friday's presidential race and urged backers to resist a government based on "lies and dictatorship."
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Authorities, too, pushed back with ominous measures apparently seeking to undercut liberal voices: jamming text messages, blocking pro-Mousavi Web sites and Facebook and cutting off mobile phones in Tehran.

Reformist leaders arrested
The extent of possible casualties and detentions was not immediately clear. Police stormed the headquarters of Iran's largest reformist party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front, and arrested several top reformist leaders, said political activists close to the party.The activists spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Mousavi did not appear in public, but warned in a Web message: "People won't respect those who take power through fraud."

Many backers took this call to the streets. Thousands of protesters — mostly young men — roamed through Tehran looking for a fight with police and setting trash bins and tires ablaze. Pillars of black smoke rose among the mustard-colored apartment blocks and office buildings in central Tehran. In one side road, an empty bus was engulfed in flames.

Police fought back with clubs, including mobile squads on motorcycles swinging truncheons.

The scuffles began when protesters gathered hours outside the Interior Ministry around the time officials announced the final election results showing a nearly 2-to-1 landslide for Ahmadinejad. Demonstrators chanted "the government lied" and waved the ribbons of Mousavi's "green" movement — the signature color of his youth-driven campaign.

"I won't surrender to this manipulation," said a statement on Mousavi's Web site. "The outcome of what we've seen from the performance of officials ... is nothing but shaking the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran's sacred system and governance of lies and dictatorship."

No compromise
The door for possible compromise was closed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He could have used his near-limitless powers to intervene in the election dispute. But, in a message on state TV, he urged the nation to unite behind Ahmadinejad, calling the result a "divine assessment."

There are no independent election monitors in Iran. Mousavi's claims, however, point to some noticeable breaks with past election counting.

The tallies from previous elections — time-consuming paper ballots — began to trickle in hours after polls closed. This time, huge chunks of results — millions at a time — poured in almost immediately from a huge turnout of about 85 percent of Iran's 46.2 million voters. The final outcome: 62.6 percent of the vote to Ahmadinejad and 33.75 for Mousavi, a former prime minister from the 1980s.

Click for related content
Iranian expats in U.S. cast ballots
CFR: Why Iran's election may not matter
Q&A: The issues, the candidates
Dateline: Behind the veil — Inside Iran

The U.S. refused to accept Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.

U.S. watching outcome
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she hoped the outcome reflects the "genuine will and desire" of Iranian voters. At a joint appearance with Clinton, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said his country was "deeply concerned" by reports of irregularities in the election.

Past Iranian elections were considered generally fair. In 2005, when Ahmadinejad was first elected, the losing candidates claimed irregularities at the polls, but the charges were never investigated.

"The majority of Iranians are certain that the fraud is widespread," said Tehran-based analyst Saeed Leilaz. "It's like taking 10 million votes away from Mousavi and giving them to Ahmadinejad."

cont'd next post

Cont'd from last post

Much depends on how much they are willing to risk. The heartland of Iran's liberal ranks is the educated and relatively affluent districts of north Tehran. It's also the showcase for the gains in social freedoms that began with the election of President Mohammad Khatami in 1997: makeup, Internet cafes, head scarves that barely cover hair and satellite dishes that are technically illegal but common.

The ruling clerics tolerate all that to a point — part of a tacit arrangement that the liberties stay as long as reformists remain politically meek. A real protest movement could threaten their coveted Western-looking lifestyle and risk a brutal response from groups vowing to defend the Islamic system.

The political chief of the powerful Revolutionary Guard has warned it would crush any "revolution" against the Islamic regime by Mousavi's "green movement" — drawing parallels to the "velvet revolution" of 1989 in then-Czechoslovakia.
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Foreign media blamed
Ahmadinejad accused the foreign media of producing coverage that harmed the Iranian people, saying "a large number of foreign media ... organized a full-fledged fight against our people."

Authorities also called foreign journalists with visas to cover the elections, including members of The Associated Press, and told them they should prepare to leave the country. Italian state TV RAI said one of its crews was caught in the clashes in front Mousavi's headquarters. Their Iranian interpreter was beaten with clubs by riot police and officers confiscated the cameraman's tapes, the station said.

"The massive demonstrations of police and army presence on the streets was designed to show that they were quite ready to kill protesters if they had to in order to impose order," said Patrick Clawson, deputy director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "On the whole, these guys in north Tehran who are terribly upset about what is happening are not ready to die."

Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, denounced the outcome as "a Tehran Tiananmen" — a reference to China's brutal 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists — and urged the international community not to recognize the result.

There were also protests by Mousavi supporters in the southern city of Ahvaz in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan who shouted, "Mousavi, take our votes back!" witnesses said.

Talking tough
Mousavi called on his backers to avoid violence, but he is still talking tough about pressing his claims of election fraud. He charges the polls closed early but has not fully outlined all of his fraud allegations.

Unlike his ally Khatami, Mousavi is a hardened political veteran who led the country during the grim years of the 1980-88 war with Iraq. He also could join forces with the powerful political patriarch Heshemi Rafsanjani, who strongly opposed Ahmadinejad's re-election during the intense monthlong campaign.

Amjad Atallah, a Washington-based regional analyst, called it "one of the most existential moments" in Iran since 1979 Islamic Revolution.

"You can't overstate how important what is happening now is for Iran," he said.

In Tehran, several Ahmadinejad supporters cruised the streets at dawn waving Iranian flags out of car windows and shouting "Mousavi is dead!"

They were quickly overwhelmed by the Mousavi backers.

The protesters — some hiding their faces with masks — still wandered the streets after nightfall as some fires still burned. The pungent smell of burning rubber and smoldering trash lingered in some parts of the city.

Hundreds of anti-riot police blocked the streets leading to Tehran University's dormitory, home to thousands of students and the site of the 1999 student riots that marked the biggest disturbances in post-revolution Iran. University exams nationwide were postponed until next month.

Normal life amid clashes
Oddly, normal life was interspersed with the anger. People continued shopping and stores remained open.

With the Internet and mobile texting down, some Iranians turned to Twitter to voice their views.

"Very disappointed with Iran elections," said one entry."Apparently still a backward regressive nation."

Another: "Elections in Iran: stayed tuned as it gets interesting (& maybe scary)."

Ahmadinejad addressed a crowd in Tehran, but did not mention the unrest, saying only "a new era has begun in the history of the Iranian nation."

But there were no hints of any new policy shifts on key international issues such as Iran's standoff over its nuclear program and the offer by President Barack Obama to open dialogue after a nearly 30-year diplomatic estrangement. All high-level decisions are controlled by the ruling theocracy.

Violence flares as Ahmadinejad wins Iran vote (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31238321/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa//)

Iran police use tear gas, clubs to crush protest
Associated Press Writer Brian Murphy
Wed Jun 24, 7:13 pm ET

EDITOR'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.

___

A flood of security forces using tear gas and clubs quickly overwhelmed a small group of rock-throwing protesters near Iran's parliament Wednesday, and the country's supreme leader said the outcome of the disputed presidential election will stand — the latest signs of the government's growing confidence in quelling unrest on the streets.

As the election showdown has shifted, demonstrators are finding themselves increasingly scattered and struggling under a blanket crackdown that the wife of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi compared to martial law. In Wednesday's clashes, thousands of police crushed hundreds of Mousavi supporters.

The statement by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the June 12 election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would not be reversed was accompanied by a vow that the nation's rulers would never yield to demands from the streets.

Since last week's protests, the government has unleashed days of escalating force, including the full weight of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and its feared civilian militias on the opposition.

Social networking sites carried claims of brutal tactics by police such as savage beatings with batons, but the report could not be independently confirmed.

In the battle for public opinion, the leaders also ramped up a familiar smear campaign: that the opposition was being aided by the United States and other perceived foes of Iran.

What began as groundswell protest of alleged vote fraud increasingly appears to be splintering into random acts of rage and frustration against emboldened and well-armed security forces determined to hold their ground.

Many experts in Iranian affairs do not believe the dwindling street protests signal an end for the challenges to Khamenei and the regime. Many foresee lower-risk — but still potent — acts of dissent such as general strikes, blocking traffic with sit-ins, and the nightly cries of protest from rooftops and balconies.

"It will carry on until the regime changes: Weeks, months, years. You'd be a fool to predict," said Robert Hunter, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO and head of Middle East Affairs in the Carter administration. "But the beast of the desire for something different is on the prowl."

Senior Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad told The Associated Press that he sees no "signs of Ahmadinejad's regime collapsing any time soon."

"The intelligence community worldwide were surprised by the protests," he said.

There are still signs of life in the protest movement. Small groups battled police Wednesday and there were calls on reformist Web sites for a gathering Thursday at the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

But Mousavi has increasingly turned his back on mass street demonstrations, fearing the likelihood of more violence or deaths.

Wednesday's unrest showed the lopsided odds. Groups of protesters — perhaps several hundred — tossed rocks and trash at riot police in running clashes outside parliament. The demonstrators fled as police used tear gas and fired in the air, possibly with live ammunition.

Throughout the day, black-clad security agents and police watched main streets and squares to prevent any major gatherings — a stark difference from last week when authorities generally stood aside and allowed a series of marches that brought more than 1 million people streaming through Tehran.

Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard — a former university dean who campaigned beside her husband — said on a Web site that the crackdown is "as if martial law has been imposed in the streets."

It also could be an indication of what's ahead — unless the protest movement can recapture its momentum.

The fallout may leave Khamenei and the ruling theocracy battered by once-unthinkable defiance of their leadership. But they still control the Revolutionary Guard and its vast network of volunteer militias that watch every corner of Iran.

The Guard — sworn to defend the Islamic system at all costs — has been steadily expanding its authority for years to include critical portfolios such as Iran's missile program, its oil pipelines and other energy infrastructure, and some oversight of the nuclear program.

Their stake in the Islamic system is deep and they appear now to have the green light to move against any perceived threats.

Their militia wing, known as the Basij, can operate like a neighbor-by-neighbor intelligence agency.

"The Revolutionary Guard may well emerge as the big winner of all this," said Patrick Clawson, deputy director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

State television aired a documentary Wednesday lauding the Revolutionary Guard and another show about the dangers of the Internet and claiming that "Iran's enemies" were using the Web to whip up dissent.

Dozens of activists, protesters and Iranian journalists — and at least one foreign reporter — have been detained since the election, human rights groups say. The overall death toll is not clear; state media said at least 17 people have been killed. Amateur video showed the death Saturday of a woman identified as Neda Agha Soltan, who has become a worldwide symbol of the bloodshed.

A 53-year-old Tehran woman described the intense security around Baharestan Square near parliament: "There was a lot of police, riot police and Basiji everywhere." The woman spoke by phone to the AP, asking for anonymity because of fears of reprisals from authorities.

The chief of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, Meir Dagan, told a closed session of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that he believes the demonstrations in Iran would die down and Ahmadinejad would stay in power.

He also said the Mossad expects Iran to have nuclear weapons by 2014. Meir's statements were recounted by a participant in the meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

The United States and its allies worry that Iran's program could lead to nuclear weapons, but Iran insists it only seeks peaceful reactors to produce electricity.

President Barack Obama has offered to open talks with Iran's leaders to ease a nearly 30-year diplomatic estrangement. But he sharpened his rhetoric Tuesday, saying he was "appalled and outraged" by Tehran's heavy hand against protesters.

It's not clear how the unrest — Iran's worst internal turmoil since the Islamic Revolution — would influence possible talks with Washington. It's clear, however, that the leadership has no intention of abandoning Ahmadinejad.

An offer for Iranian envoys around the world to attend U.S. Embassy Fourth of July parties has been rescinded "given the events of the past many days," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. The invitation was part of a U.S. outreach to Iran, but so far no Iranian officials had accepted.

Khamenei said the government would not buckle to pressures over the election, closing the door to compromise over Mousavi's claim that the vote was rigged and he was the rightful winner.

"On the current situation, I was insisting and will insist on implementation of the law. That means, we will not go one step beyond the law," Khamenei said on state television. "For sure, neither the system nor the people will give in to pressures at any price." He used language that indicated he was referring to domestic pressures.

A conservative candidate in the disputed election, Mohsen Rezaie, said he was withdrawing his complaints about vote fraud for the sake of the country, state TV reported. Rezaie is a former commander of Revolutionary Guard and his decision suggests the Guard seeks to avoid possible rifts as Ahmadinejad begins his second, four-year term.

State TV reported that Ahmadinejad would be sworn in between July 26 and Aug. 19.

Khamenei also reinforced Iran's accusations that the United States, Britain and other foreign powers were encouraging the unrest — apparently part of a coordinated strategy to disgrace Mousavi and his followers.

State television showed detained demonstrators whose faces were blurred out. Some of them made "confessions," saying they had been incited by the British Broadcasting Corp. and Voice of America. They said demonstrators, not security forces, had used violence.

"We torched public property, threw stones, attacked cars and smashed windows," said one woman, who was not identified.

State-run Press TV also said police raided a building it identified as a Mousavi campaign office and allegedly used as a base to promote unrest. The report said the suspected plotters had been arrested and placed under investigation.

Iran police use tear gas, clubs to crush protest (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090624/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_election/print;_ylt=AqKmHYM8f8C8qbN8t3G2gDQUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTB1MjgxN2UzBHBvcwMxNARzZWMDdG9vbHMtdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA--)

U.S. military chief says clock ticking on Iran nuke

in.reuters.com/

The top U.S. military officer warned on Tuesday that time is running out for dialogue with Tehran to avoid either a nuclear-armed Iran or a possible military strike against the Islamic Republic.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is critical for diplomatic efforts to reach a solution before Iran develops a nuclear weapon or faces an Israeli or U.S. strike to turn back its nuclear program.

"That window is a very narrow window," Mullen told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

"There's a great deal that certainly depends on the dialogue and the engagement," he said. "I'm hopeful that that dialogue is productive. I worry about it a great deal if it's not."

Mullen noted that some forecasters believe Iran could be as little as a year away from developing a nuclear bomb, adding: "The clock has continued to tick."

The Obama administration hopes to coax Tehran into negotiating over its nuclear program. Washington and its allies say the program is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, but Iran insists it is a civilian electricity program.

Israel has said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to its existence and points to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's calls for Israel to be wiped off the map.

That has raised concerns that Israel could ultimately carry out a military strike against Iranian nuclear sites.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview the United States had "absolutely not" given Israel a green light to attack Iran over its nuclear program, but he said Washington cannot "dictate to other countries what their security interests are."

"It is the policy of the United States to try to resolve the issue of Iran's nuclear capabilities in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels," Obama told CNN during his trip to Russia.

Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC's "This Week" program on Sunday that Israel had a sovereign right to act in its best interest in dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions. The comment was seen by some as giving Israel a green light to attack.

Mullen told his audience that Washington must keep all options on the table as it pursues dialogue with Iran, "including certainly military options."

But he said a military strike -- like the development of an Iranian nuclear bomb itself -- would be "very destabilizing" for the Middle East and pose unpredictable consequences for U.S. allies and interests.

"It (a military strike) is a really important place to not go, if we can not go there in any way, shape or form," the admiral said.

Iran speeds up mass production of long-range surface missiles

debka.com/

Iran is slowing down the manufacture of the Shehab-3 surface missile in favor of mass production of the more accurate two-stage 2,000-kilometer range Sejil II ballistic missile powered with solid fuel, which was successfully tested on May 20, DEBKAfile's military and Iranian sources report.

More than 1,000 new Sejil IIs are projected to come off production lines in five years, at the rate of 200 a year.

Western sources say the Iranians are over-ambitious and can deliver no more than 10-15 missiles a year at present, although with a huge multi-billion dollar investment they might raise output to 30.

Liquid-fuel missiles like the Shehab take hours to prepare for firing, during which time they are exposed to oversight by US and Israel spy satellites, whereas the Sejil because it is powered by solid fuel has the huge advantage of stealth. It can only be detected by military satellites and early warning radar systems like the American FBX-T posted in the Israeli Negev after it is airborne and winging towards target.

Iran has also recruited Chinese missile experts to assist in the production of mobile launchers for the Sejil II. The combination of the solid-fuel Sejil mounted on mobile vehicles will give an Iranian missile attack the advantage of surprise, because of the difficulty of tracking and targeting them from space or the air.

DEBKAfile's military sources add that Iran is going all out to fill its arsenal with Sejil II missiles for outwitting Israel's Arrow interceptors if and when they attack Israel. Western missile experts calculate that if Iran lets loose against Israel a simultaneous barrage of dozens of Shehab-3 and a handful of Sejil II, the Arrow will only intercept some of them; the rest will reach their targets.

Iran's arms industry is driving forward at top speed to attain this capability. Israel has entered the arms race by stepping up production of the Arrow anti-missile systems.

At some point, Israel strategists had hoped the surge of unrest in Tehran sparked by the disputed June 12 presidential election would result in the regime pulling funds out of nuclear and missile industries and investing in projects for improving the lives of the disaffected populace. But the challenge to its authority has had the opposite effect. The Islamic rulers have opted for speeding up weapons production and maximizing their tools of war rather than home benefits.

Iran edges close to capacity for building first nuke, fitting a missile's nuclear warhead

debka.com

Barack Obama has been in the White House for nine months and Binyamin Netanyahu in the Israeli prime minister's office six months. Both have spent precious time batting the numbers of settlement apartments to and fro instead of taking resolute steps to thwart Iran's spectacular advances on the road to a nuclear weapon. DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources note that Tehran has made good use of this time for the longest strides towards its objective than at any time since its program was surreptitiously launched.

The progress confirmed by our sources consists of four major steps:

1. Iran has succeeded in secretly combining uranium processing, airborne high-explosive tests and work on designing a missile cone to fit a nuclear warhead, according to Western intelligence updates.

2. The conflicting reports on the amount of uranium enriched and number of fast centrifuge machines in operation obscure the following hard facts: The Iranians have doubled the number of ever faster centrifuges that are working at their enrichment plants.

They are moreover completing tests on a more advanced homemade centrifuge, the IR4, which will halve the time taken for converting low-grade enrichment uranium into weapons-grade material.

3. By February 2010 - and some say sooner - Tehran will have stocked enough high-grade enriched uranium for two nuclear bombs.

4. Iran has also gone into home production of nuclear fuel rods for plutonium.

Barack Obama' repeatedly held up his plan to engage Tehran in dialogue - first until the June 12 presidential election (hoping a more rational president would replace Mahmoud Ahmedinejad); then, until the popular unrest following the disputed poll died down (for fear of being accused of interfering); and finally on the assumption that the turmoil would divide and weaken the Islamic regime and make it easier to engage constructively.

The six world powers, US, Russia, China, France, the UK and Germany accordingly gave Iran until Sept. 15 to start talks.

It turned out that these delays, instead of weakening Iran's rulers, hardened their position.

Reacting to the new intelligence presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran's delegate Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Friday, Sept. 4: "The government of the United States has not handed over the original documents to the agency since it does not in fact have any authenticated documents and all it has are forged document"

An anonymous US official in Vienna said Soltanieh's accusations were baseless and the IAEA itself "had accepted the material as credible."

But by then, the Iranian delegate had come up with a new self-serving initiative: a proposal for the agency's board of governors to ban member states from attacking the nuclear facilities of other nations.

Then on Saturday, Sept 5, Soltanieh, made it clear that Tehran was virtually scrapping the Western powers incentives offer which has been gathering dust since last year as the basis for talks and was about to put forward its own "comprehensive package on issues, including nuclear and economic cooperation as well as concerns about the proliferation of atomic weapons."

The Iranian package will be handed in this week.

What do Washington and Jerusalem propose to do now in the face of Iran's aggressive nuclear and diplomatic offensives? Will the foot-dragging continue until Iran conducts its first nuclear test?

Four years ago, prime minister Ariel Sharon said Israel must meet US demands on containing West Bank settlement "because we would need the Americans on the Iran issue."

His successor, Ehud Olmert and foreign minister Tzipi Livni held off Israeli action by reiterating it was up to the "international community" to stop Iran's advance toward a nuclear bomb.

Has anything changed in Washington and Jerusalem?

Iran to Test-Fire More Missiles That Could Hit Israel, U.S. Bases
Sunday , September 27, 2009
FOXNews

After claiming to successfully test-fire two short-range missiles during drills Sunday by the elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran will test-fire a missile on Monday that could have the capability to hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf region, Reuters reported.

The drills are a show of force days after the U.S. and its allies condemned Tehran over a newly revealed underground nuclear facility that was being constructed secretly

The Guards on Monday will test-fire the surface-to-surface Shahab 3 missile, which Iranian officials say has a range of around 1,240 miles, potentially putting Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf within reach, according to state radio. It has been tested several times before.

English-language Press TV reported that on Sunday, the first day of exercises, the solid-fuel Fateh-110, Tondar-69 and Zelzal missiles were test fired, but did not give specifics on range or other details. Both are short-range, surface-to-surface missiles.

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, told reporters Iran tested for the first time a multiple missile launcher. Press TV showed pictures of at least two missiles being fired simultaneously and said they were from the latest drill.

The powerful Revolutionary Guard defends Iran's clerical rulers. It has its own ground, naval and air units and its air force controls the country's missile program.

The Guards said "the drill aims to maintain and boost the country's armed forces deterrent capabilities," Reuters reported. Salami said the missile tests and military drills were meant to show Iran's strong resolve to defend its national values.

The tests came two days after Western intelligence officials and diplomats disclosed that Iran had been secretly developing a previously unknown underground uranium enrichment facility. The site in the arid mountains near the holy city of Qom is believed to be inside a heavily guarded, underground facility belonging to the Revolutionary Guard, according to a document sent by President Barack Obama's administration to lawmakers.

After strong condemnations from the U.S. and its allies, and a demand to open the site to international scrutiny, Iran said Saturday it will allow U.N. nuclear inspectors to examine the site.

Reuters reported Iran's ambassador to the U.N.'s nuclear agency watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, as saying Sunday that "fabricated Western clamor" over the facility would, however, negatively affect its talks with world powers.

Nuclear experts said the details that have emerged about the site and the fact it was being developed secretly are strong indications that Iran's nuclear program is not only for peaceful purposes, as the country has long maintained.

By U.S. estimates, Iran is one to five years away from having a nuclear weapons capability, although U.S. intelligence also believes that Iranian leaders have not yet made the decision to build a weapon.

Iran also is developing a long-range ballistic missile that could carry a nuclear warhead, but the administration said last week that it believes that effort has been slowed. That assessment paved the way for Obama's decision to shelve the Bush administration's plan for a missile shield in Europe, which was aimed at defending against Iranian ballistic missiles.

Salami said Iran would test medium-range Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 missiles on Sunday night and long-range Shahab-3 missiles on Monday, during drills set to last several days.

Salami said Fateh, Tondar and Zelzal missiles were test fired on Sunday, but did not give specifics on range or other details. All are short-range, surface-to-surface missiles.

He told reporters Iran had reduced the missiles and their ranges and enhanced their speed and precision so they could be used in quick, short-range engagements. He also said they are now able to be launched from positions that are not as easy to hit.

Salami claimed Iran has started "running into difficulties storing so many missiles" with its recent progress on its missile program.

Iran has had the solid-fuel Fateh missile, with a range of 120 miles, for several years. Fateh means conqueror in Farsi and Arabic. It also has the solid-fueled, Chinese-made CSS 8, also called the Tondar 69, according to the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a private group that seeks to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The Tondar, which means thunder, has a range of about 93 miles.

State media said the Revolutionary Guard tested a multiple launcher for the first time, designed for the Zelzal missile. Tehran has previously tested the Zelzal — versions of which have ranges of 130-185 miles — but only single launch.

In July 2006, Israeli military officials said their jets had destroyed a missile in Lebanon named Zelzal, which they said Hezbollah had received from Iran and could reach Tel Aviv. Zelzal means earthquake.

Iran's last known missile tests were in May when it fired its longest-range solid-fuel missile, Sajjil-2. Tehran said the two-stage surface-to-surface missile has a range of about 1,200 miles — capable of striking Israel, U.S. Mideast bases and Europe.

The revelation of Iran's secret site has given greater urgency to a key meeting on Thursday in Geneva between Iran and six major powers trying to stop its suspected nuclear weapons program.

The U.S. and its partners plan to tell Tehran at the meeting that it must provide "unfettered access" for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, within weeks.

The facility is Iran's second uranium-enrichment site working to produce the fuel that could eventually be used in a nuclear weapon.

A close aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday the site will be operational soon and would pose a threat to those who oppose Iran.

"This new facility, God willing, will become operational soon and will blind the eyes of the enemies," Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani told the semi-official Fars news agency.

Evidence of the clandestine facility was presented Friday by Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. On Saturday, Obama offered Iran "a serious, meaningful dialogue" over its disputed nuclear program, while warning Tehran of grave consequences from a united global front.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Saturday the revelation was firm proof Iran was seeking nuclear weapons.

Israel considers Iran a strategic threat with its nuclear program, missile development and repeated calls by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel's destruction. It has not ruled out a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear sites.

In 1981, Israeli warplanes bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reaction and in 2007, Israel bombed a site in Syria that the U.S. said was a nearly finished nuclear reactor built with North Korean help that was configured to produce plutonium — one of the substances used in nuclear warheads.

Israel's Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on the missile tests.

Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who heads the country's nuclear program, said Saturday that U.N. nuclear inspectors could visit the nuclear site. On Sunday, he told Press TV Iran and the IAEA would work out the timing of the inspection.

The small-scale site is meant to house no more than 3,000 centrifuges — much less than the 8,000 machines at Natanz, Iran's known industrial-scale enrichment facility, but they could still potentially help create bomb-making material.

Experts have estimated that Iran's current number of centrifuges could enrich enough uranium for a bomb in as little as a year. Washington has been pushing for heavier sanctions if Iran does not agree to end enrichment.

Iran May Use Hezbollah to Hold the US Hostage

canadafreepress.com

A Middle East terrorism expert has warned that Iran may use a terrorist group to strike the United States if it becomes threatened. “If Iran’s regime is in trouble, either from the outside or even from a democratic uprising, it may order Hezbollah to attack the U.S.” said Dr. Walid Phares during an appearance on FOX News last week.

This reiterates what Hezbollah themselves have said. “We have 2,000 volunteers who have registered since last year,” Hezbollah spokesman Mojtaba Bigdeli told Reuters in a 2006 interview. “They have been trained and they can become fully armed. We are ready to dispatch them to every corner of the world to jeopardize Israel and America’s interests. We are only waiting for the supreme leader’s green light to take action. If America wants to ignite World War III … we welcome it.”

While many in the U.S. are concerned with al Qaeda, the Lebanese-based and Iranian-funded Hezbollah poses the greater threat. Excluding the 9/11 attacks, Hezbollah has killed more Americans than any other terrorist group. Phares has stated previously that Hezbollah is “well funded, very well organized, and we assume that their penetration of the U.S. is deeper than al Qaeda’s.”

In addition to their activity in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, Hezbollah is operating in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, and other countries in Central and South America.

Following news in 2006 that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Hezbollah’s military commander Imad Mugniyeh (who until his death would have likely commanded attacks against Western targets), investigations were conducted on Hezbollah cells in 14 U.S. cities. FBI and Justice Department probes revealed about a dozen hard-core supporters of Hezbollah in New York City alone. Another cell was discovered in Detroit, which has become the center for Hezbollah’s fundraising operations. San Antonio reportedly has Hezbollah-linked groups.

There have been multiple instances in recent years where personnel from the Iranian mission to the United Nations were expelled for monitoring New York City subways, bridges, tunnels, and other potential targets. According to testimony from former CIA director James Woolsey, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “says that he knows of the 29 sensitive sites in the U.S. and the west which he has spied out and is ready to attack in order to, quote: ‘End Anglo-Saxon civilization.’”

It is likely that the attacks Ahmadinejad mentions would be executed by members of Hezbollah.

In 2000, members of a North Carolina cell were convicted for providing “material support” to Hezbollah. In addition to sending profits from a cigarette smuggling ring to Hezbollah, one group member was ordered by a Hezbollah member in Lebanon to obtain night-vision equipment, surveying equipment, global positioning systems, mine detectors, radar, and other dual-use technology to send to Lebanon.

In Canada, intelligence officials disclosed that Hezbollah mobilized as many as four of their sleeper cells following Mugniyeh’s assassination last year. Up to 20 Hezbollah suspects were tracked as they conducted reconnaissance on synagogues and the Israeli embassy in Ottawa. Members of the cells were also instructed to send their family members back to Lebanon. Toronto has become a hub of activity for Hezbollah, despite the Canadian government declaring Hezbollah a terrorist organization in 2002.

If Hezbollah's weapons can go south, what is to stop them from being brought into the U.S. through a porous border?

In 2006, FBI director Robert Mueller confirmed that the FBI busted a Hezbollah cell that smuggled operatives across the Mexican border. In 2001, Mahmoud Kourani, who according to his indictment is a Hezbollah “member, fighter, recruiter and fund-raiser,” illegally entered the U.S. through Mexico before being convicted for providing material support to Hezbollah. Kourani’s brother is Hezbollah’s chief of military security in Lebanon.

Hezbollah operatives also infiltrate the U.S. through the Canada. An associate of Kourani smuggled 20 to 30 Hezbollah members into the U.S. across the Canadian border.

In South America, the strategic partnership between Iran and Venezuela have provided a base of operations for Hezbollah activity in the Western Hemisphere. Venezuelan cells are part of the “Special Operations Command,” the group tasked with overseas attacks, such as the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina and another bombing in 1994 of a Jewish community center in the same city. U.S. Treasury officials alleged last year that two Venezuelans had “facilitated the travel” of Hezbollah members and “discussed operational issues with senior officials” of the terrorist group. The import of operatives and material were further eased as the State Department noted that Venezuelan border officials in the airport did not stamp passports and rarely entered passengers into the immigration database.

Hezbollah operatives and equipment could reach South America through Venezuela, migrate to the U.S. through Mexico, and await their orders from Teheran.

Although Hezbollah has not yet attacked targets in the U.S., the terrorist group clearly has the capability, and has announced their intention to strike. Their presence on our soil serves to hold the American people hostage with the threat of terrorist attacks in order to protect Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Therefore, it is essential that America become increasingly vigilant in order to stop the threat from Hezbollah.

Big powers hamper progress of world nations
Tehran, March 28, IRNA

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Sunday that the big powers are making efforts to hamper progress and development of world nations.
He made the remarks in a meeting with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, who arrived here to attend the Nowruz Celebrations.

President Ahmadinejad regretted that the big powers only think about their own interests.

Both Iran and Turkey shoulder great responsibilities with regards to other nations since the world is facing a new situation, he added.

Referring to Tehran-Ankara amicable ties, he said progress and development of each of these two countries would benefit both nations and the entire globe.

The Islamic Republic of Iran considers progress of Turkey as its own progress, the President noted.

Underlining the need for expansion of cultural relations between the two neighboring states, he called for a boost in all-out bilateral cooperation.

Cicek, for his part, stressed that Ankara attaches great importance to its ties with Tehran. Cooperation with Iran is Turkey’s fundamental and principled policy, he added.

He said further expansion of all-out ties between the two states would bring about peace, stability and security to the region.

Ankara is trying to boost ties with Tehran to its highest possible level, he added.

The presidents of Iraq, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan as well as the Azeri foreign minister and Turkish deputy premier attended the Nowruz Celebrations.

Meaning 'new day,' Nowruz is celebrated by over 300 million people worldwide.

Nowruz was registered on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on September 30, 2009.

Big powers hamper progress of world nations (http://www.irna.ir/En/View/FullStory/?NewsId=1026575&idLanguage=3)

Iran says Muslims must act over Jerusalem
03.26.10

Foreign Minister Mottaki says, 'Expansion of Israeli settlements, destruction of Islamic and Christian sites and wide-scale construction of new synagogues show the Zionist plans to accelerate Judaization of east Jerusalem'
Reuters

Iran attacked Israel's construction plans in east Jerusalem on Friday, saying Muslims around the world needed to take action.

Announcements by Israel's right-wing government of new building projects in east Jerusalem – which the Jewish state seized in a 1967 war – have spoiled US plans to get Palestinians and Israelis back into peace negotiations.

"Expansion of Israeli settlements, destruction of Islamic and Christian sites and wide-scale construction of new synagogues ... show the Zionist plans to accelerate Judaization of east Jerusalem and unfortunately it is approved by American officials," Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in comments reported on Iranian state radio.

"This has raised the alarm for all people around the world and doubled the need for Muslim and other countries to act seriously," he said, adding that the 22-nation Arab League should take a strong stance at its meeting in Libya this weekend.

US officials have sought to coax Israel into suspending further east Jerusalem projects and discussing core issues such as borders and the status of Jerusalem as part of indirect talks with the Palestinians that have been blessed by the Arab League.

Iran is locked in dispute with the United States and its allies, including Arab states, over its nuclear energy program which they fear will allow Tehran to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it has no such intention.

Israel says it considers a nuclear Iran as an existential threat and analysts say Israel, itself regarded as a nuclear power, could carry out raids on Iranian sites.

Iran, a major oil and gas producer, sees itself as the main champion of the Palestinian cause among Muslim countries.

Iran says Muslims must act over Jerusalem (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3868505,00.html)

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Theology => Prophecy - Current Events => Topic started by: Shammu on February 26, 2006, 06:26:52 PM