A Special Christmas Story: Our Iranian Freeper Is Finally Safe!

Our Iranian Student Freeper who recently escaped Iran is finally safe!

For the past few months it has been a roller coaster of emotions. We have experienced many small miracles and many disappointments. Until a few hours ago we didn't know if our Iranian Freeper would actually make it to freedom or be sent back to Iran. We are all very relieved to hear he finally made it.

He was exhausted and is now sleeping. But I am pleased to report that he has a great place to stay for the time being and will be guided through the upcoming legal processes from other Iranians who have gone through them themselves. He is in great hands.

We will publish more details when it is appropriate. Please be patient.

What a wonder Christmas gift.

We have a lot to be thankful for tonight. Thanks for all your prayers.

PS Joseph Katzman posted a short and touching Christmas report of this good news!

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We’re engaged in a regional war.

Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute discusses Iraq's “insurgency” and the future of the Middle East. He dispels several dangerous myths that have been adopted by the main stream media. more

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The Struggle for the Middle East

The American Enterprise Institute's Reuel Marc Gerecht has published a valuable report on the the US struggle in the Middle East.
I consider it a must read.

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Iranians lying, cheating for nukes

Jerry Corsi of the bestselling "Unfit for Command" is getting the word out on Iran's effort to go nuclear by January. I like the way he tells the story. By the way, he is currently writing a new book titled, "Atomic Iran."

BTW, Jack Wheeler just republished my version of the story on his website, To The Point.

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Iranian TV Drama Series about Israeli Government Stealing Palestinian Children's Eyes

MEMRI TV Project provides a glimpse into Iranian propqaganda in their most recent Special Report: Iranian TV Drama Series about Israeli Government Stealing Palestinian Children's Eyes. To view click here.

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Iran will join WTO next time: official

Former director general of World Trade Organization (WTO) Mike Moore said Wednesday that Iran is on its way to joining WTO. It will reach the aim although it may take quite a while, he said. more

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Iran's Military no match for U.S.

Anthony Cordesman, a senior researcher at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Whatever plans have been announced and whatever grandiose reports have sometimes surfaced, Iran has not been able to acquire significant numbers of modern aircraft," ...

"It has not been able to reconfigure and rebuild its major surface ships. It has imported surface-to-air missiles, but some of those missiles are more than a quarter of a century old in terms of design and technology." more

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Iran orders military to 'stand ready': Fears of attack on nuclear sites

The Iranian military has been ordered to stand ready to defend the country's nuclear sites in case of attack.

"The air force has been ordered to protect the nuclear sites, using all its power," Mr Salimi said, quoted by the government daily Iran. "The air force has temporarily suspended all its manoeuvres and focused its means on patrolling the sky," he added.

"All our forces including land forces, anti-aircraft, radar tactics ... are protecting the nuclear sites and an attack on them will not be simple," the general said. more

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Iran's Military Power

The Center for Strategic & International Studies has generated an extensive analysis of Iran's military. For the full report, click here.

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Nuclear Iran: Race Against Time

Ryan Mauro a geopolitical analyst for Tactical Defense Concepts reports on Iran's nuclear program. Click here.

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Follow up comments on Iran becoming a nuclear power

Winds of Change discussed yesterday's post Iran is just weeks away of being a nuclear power. It generated some interesting comments about how the United States ought to respond. Take a look at the discussion here.

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Iran - A New Approach

The Committee on the Present Danger Policy has just released a new paper on Iran. Here are a few excerpts:

The administration should announce clearly a new approach to U.S. policy and be prepared to pursue it in a sustained manner. The highest profile announcement would be a speech by the President. ...

We should announce our willingness to reopen our embassy in Tehran. At the same time, one of our highest-ranking officials should be designated as the key person in our new policy toward Iran. ...

The United States has opportunities to develop relations with the military and various services in Iran and should seek to do so. ...

we should develop sanctions that target the Supreme Leader and his close circle of support, so that the sanctions are not seen by the people as harmful to them. ...

we could seek the cooperation of like-minded governments, leading toward creation of an international tribunal to try Khamenei. more

Since there are many conservative policy makers involved in this, it may be a close to what Condi Rice will propose once in office.

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Escaped Journalists reveal the latest confession extraction techniques

The Marze Por Gohar Party, provides a brief overview of Iran's most recent methods of extracting confessions from journalists and political dissidents. more

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Special Analysis: A Window Into al-Qaeda

Dan Darling just returned from a counter-terrorism conference in New York City. This is a report of what he learned. He concludes with a report on Al Qaeda and Iran.

"I learned a great deal both from the presentations and in conversation. None of the information that was shared at the conference was classified... Still, I figure that this may all be valuable to you, perhaps because it runs against some of what I have argued."

Al-Qaeda Command & Control

Al-Qaeda Training Facilities & Infrastructure

Al-Qaeda in General

Iraq and al-Qaeda

Iran & al-Qaeda

As always, an excellent read.

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"Dead Men Walking" members of MKO repatriated to Iran

MKO members who have recently renounced the grouplet in Iraq arrived home in Tehran on Monday. ...

the group consisted of MKO veterans who had ideological challenges with their high ranking figures and voiced readiness to come back home. more

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Is Iran just weeks away from being a nuclear power?

Last month I warned that Iran must shut down all of its uranium enrichment centrifuges, including the twenty "experimental" centrifuges. Why? Because Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had demanded

"We must have two bombs ready to go in January or you are not Muslims."

I explained that western intelligence can identify when enrichment centrifuges are running because the produce a unique "noise" or "signature." Thus, I argued that Iran would never shut these last centrifuges down. Iran needed these last centrifuges to run in order to mask a "hidden" lab of centrifuges needed in order to meet this deadline.

Unfortunately, when the issue came up at the EU3/Iran negotiations, Iran "compromised" by allowing these centrifuges to continue running "empty" but under the supervision of an IAEA video camera. In other words, Iran was able to continue it's secret program.

Now we discover that Iran is willing to violate the spirit of even this agreement with the EU3 by continuing to prepare raw uranium for enrichment. According to today's NY Times:

``The Iranians have decided to continue UF4 (uranium tetrafluoride) production until the end of February.''

UF4 is a precursor to uranium hexafluoride (UF6), the gas that is fed into centrifuges which spin at supersonic speeds to purify it for use as fuel in civilian nuclear power plants or in atomic weapons. ...

the IAEA said the deal between the EU's ``big three'' and Iran actually permitted Tehran to convert an entire batch of 37 tonnes of yellowcake...

nuclear experts said that 37 tonnes of yellowcake could yield enough uranium for up to five nuclear weapons, if it was later enriched to bomb grade purity. ...

It now appears Iran may be just a matter of weeks from declaring itself a nuclear power.

Time is running out, our intelligence services understand this. The only question now is whether or not we will be forced to act or accept the inevitable.

President Bush, faster please.

Update:

The blogosphere is helping get the word out. Thanks to: Adventures of Chester, The American Thinker, Winds of Change, The Command Post, The Collossus, Doug Hanson, FratersLibertas, and Roger L Simon. They deserve our thanks.

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Breaking: Iran says U.S. wants talks

Iran is claiming:

"The United States wants negotiations with Iran and definitely doesn't like having a mediator in between, even if the Europeans want to mediate," the official IRNA news agency quoted Mousavian as saying on Tuesday.

"But they are after comprehensive and conclusive talks which cover all disputed issues," he said. more

Lets hope this report is not true. US negotiations with the Iranians will kill the popular resistance inside of Iran.

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U.N. denounces Iran abuses

The U.N. General Assembly has criticised Iran for public executions, torture, arbitrary sentencing, flogging, stoning and systematic discrimination against women. ...

The resolution also said there was a "worsening situation with regard to freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of the media and noted the "targeted disqualification" of reformists in Iran's parliamentary elections. ...

"We brought forward this resolution because we believe that concerted international attention was necessary to send the message to Iran that change is necessary and that it must meet its human rights obligations." Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew said in a statement from Ottawa. more

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Iraqi's Protest Syria, Iran ‘role’ in recent bombing

About 100 Iraqis protested yesterday outside Syria's interest section in Baghdad, blaming the neighbouring country for the wave of bombings plaguing Iraq.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, as well as Iraq's eastern neighbour Iran.

"Bashar stop your car bombs", "Baath and Qaeda equals terrorists", "Tehran and Damascus equals terrorists", they shouted. more

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Excellent Briefing on the Iran-E.U. Agreement on Iran's Nuclear Activity

The Middle East Media Research Institute has produced an excellent briefing on the EU/Iran nuclear agreement. A must read.

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Iranians Start Questioning Role Of Religion In Politics

Throughout history, it has been a frequent occurrence for countries to switch political systems, from feudal states to kingdoms and back again. It has been equally common for a country to change from a republic-based hierarchy, to the equally disputed democratic system. What is much more rare is for a nation to alter is approach to religion. ...

Such is the case in Iran today. While many in the country still adhere willingly to the strict Islamic rule, others are questioning the overwhelming role of religion in politics and daily life. ...

Everywhere I went I met people who were growing increasingly tired of the firebrand rhetoric and lack of substantive development coming from the government. more

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Iran: Israel, U.S. Rigging Iraq Election

Iran's Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday regarding Sunday's car bombings in Najaf and Kerbala, which killed 66 people:

"I am sure Israeli and American spy services were behind these events. This is a plot which aims at keeping the Iraqis so busy that they will miss the exceptional chance to participate in the January 30 elections," more

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Freedom in Farsi blogs

Tens of thousands of Iranians have embraced weblogs as a way to access the forbidden and challenge the sanctioned. more

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Iranian daily asks government to freeze nuclear talks with EU

A conservative Iranian daily on Monday called on the government to pull out from negotiations with the European Union over nuclear issues unless the Europeans relinquished "policies of demands and new terms." more

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Iraq detains 45 illegal visitors from Iran

Iraqi police detained 45 people claiming to be Iranian, Afghani and Bangladeshi after illegally crossing from neighbouring Iran...

The 45 detainees were captured at Mandali, on the Iranian border 97 kilometres east of Baghdad, on Saturday, Iraqi Police said.

The detainees, all men ranging in age from early 20s to 60s, claimed to be Muslim pilgrims and entered Iraq from Iran without any identity documents. more

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Tehran Accuses Israel after FBI Catches Iranian Surveillance Teams Red-handed

Debka reports:

Iranian and Iran-sponsored surveillance teams has been discovered hanging about outside Israel’s diplomatic missions in the United States, South America, West Europe and the Middle East. Team members rounded up by the American FBI and Egyptian intelligence in the last ten days admitted under interrogation that they were collecting information for Iranian intelligence. ...

Iranian spy teams have been spotted outside Israeli missions in various parts of the world, including one nabbed by the FBI watching Israeli consulates in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Houston. It was made up of Iranian Americans, Arab and Pakistani students - some of them US citizens, and all activists belonging to Muslim fundamentalist groups. ...

US intelligence sources have learned that Khamenei in person has created a new clandestine umbrella organization for bringing together as an arm of his bureau all the al Qaeda-linked groups and likeminded movements. ... more

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Attacking Iran would be ‘catastrophic’: Mubarak

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview published on Saturday by the German weekly Der Spiegel:

“If the United States were really to attack Iran, that would be a mistake of catastrophic proportions,” ...

“Terror and violence in the Middle East and, shortly afterward, in the whole world, would then overshadow everything we have seen so far,” he added. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.” more

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