It wouldn't take a war to overthrow Iran's mullahs

The Telegraph reports:

Whereas there was no chance of creating a functioning democracy in Iraq without direct intervention, there is reason to hope that, given the opportunity, Iranians would shake off their theocracy and join the modern world.

How might we catalyse such a revolution? In three ways.

First, we should cease our dealings with the mullahs. EU countries, in contrast to the Americans, have pursued a policy of "constructive engagement" with Teheran, exchanging state visits and sending Jack Straw on repeated visits. (Iranians take Britain especially seriously, perhaps imagining that we are still the power we were when we last occupied their country in 1941.)

That policy is now in shreds, as Iran's nuclear programme nears completion.

Second, we should give financial and political assistance to dissidents inside the country.

Third, we should back the main resistance group, the People's Mujahidin, which, until recently, we treated as a terrorist organisation in order to appease Khamenei.

As their exiled pretender, the Shah's heir Reza Pahlavi, reminds us, Iranians are not asking for our soldiers, merely for our active sympathy.

Give them the tools, and they will finish the job. more

I agree with all the suggestions, except the backing of the MEK. Support for the MEK by the US will only confuse and anger the pro American Iranian people.

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Elite Iranian agent arrested in Iraq

WorldNetDaily is reporting:

An agent of Iran's prestigious Jerusalem Force was arrested in Iraq carrying money and planning attacks against U.S. troops, sources said.

U.S. Coalition forces arrested members of an underground armed group operating in Iraq's eastern Diyala province Thursday. Among them was a senior member of the Jerusalem Force carrying $150,000 in cash, said the sources.

The Iranian agent, along with an Iraqi insurgent, reportedly revealed during interrogation the location of a group of other Iranian agents working with them and admitted to having smuggled the group and their weapons through the Iran-Iraq border, avoiding security controls. more

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Iraqi Ambassador to Iran: Coalition Forces Will Leave Iraq When They Are No Longer Needed

MemriTV.org provides excerpts from an interview with Muhammad Majid Al-Sheikh, Iraqi Ambassador to Iran: that was broadcast on Jaam-e-Jam 2 TV. Here is a sample:

Interviewer:
In your opinion, will the occupation forces leave Iraq after the elections?

Muhammad Majid Al-Sheikh: I believe that when all measures are taken, when the Iraqi army has been rebuilt, when the Iraqi police has been rebuilt and reorganized, and when the border police announces it is prepared to protect Iraq, we will ask the coalition forces to leave. Today, however, we need them in Iraq. If these forces are not there, Saddam's regime will regain power, and the terrorists will return. You will see. more

To View Video Click Here.

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PALTALK Internet Conference on US-Iran Relations with Dr. Michael Ledeen

The Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran invites you to join them in a PALTALK program designed to clarify and openly evaluate various proposals made to the Bush Administration on Iran and its Freedom Seeking Secular Movement.

Guest speaker will be Dr. Michael Ledeen; an imminent scholar, prominent political analyst and the Human Rights Chair of the Washington based "American Enterprise Institute" (AEI).

Date & Time:
Sunday January 23, 2005
From 01:00 PM US EST (10:00 AM Los Angeles local time)

Internet Location: The "PALTALK SERVER at www.paltalk.com (Voice and Type Chat).
Category: By Language/Nationality/Other
Chat Room Name: IRAN Daneshjoo Org (K. Hamahangui).

Interested participants can download the free software and register by visiting: http://www.paltalk.com/PalTalkSite/downloadcr.html

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Stakes are high in mission to bring democracy to Iran

The Telegraph reports:

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, who was watching President George W Bush's speech on television at his hotel in London, noted the language. He was relieved that the phrase "regime change" was not used. He believes that American military intervention in Iran would be wrong:

"Iranians are not willing to buy freedom at any cost. They do not want the freedom of an American general marching in. It is a matter of national pride. We do not need an American soldier to save us."

But Mr Pahlavi says that the rising against the regime must come from within. He looks to the Ukraine or Yugoslavia as a model and rejects comparisons with Iraq: "Iran has a different history, polity, totally different scenarios. Our society is more dynamic and capable. We don't need teachers from American universities to come and teach us about democracy." more

I agree that the US military action inIran is not the best option. Lets just hope there is time to see the people of Iran produce a regime change from within.

Listen to the BBC interview here. (requires Real Player)

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NATO stresses need for unity on Iran

The Jerusalem Post:

NATO's top diplomat Friday stressed the need for Europe and the United States to avoid divisions over Iran...

"It is of the utmost importance that the European Union and the United States of America see eye-to-eye on Iran," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters. more

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Russia backs initiative from Europe on Iran

The International Herald Tribune reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his French counterpart, Michel Barnier stated:

"We are working in parallel to the Europeans, we are backing their efforts," Lavrov told the International Herald Tribune after a press conference Thursday night, adding that his government was in contact with Iranian officials on a regular basis.

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Britain Says No Alternative To Iran Nuclear Talks

Radio Free Europe reports:

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said there is no alternative to diplomacy to persuade Iran to give up technology that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

In an interview in today's "Financial Times," Straw defended the policypursued by Britain, France, and Germany. The European Union's so-calledBig Three have offered Iran incentives like trade deals if it gives up plans to build nuclear weapons.

Straw's published comments come two days after U.S. President George W. Bush said he would not rule out military force against Iran over its nuclear program.

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US attack would destabilize world: Iran diplomat

Iranmania reports:

"The United States should take lessons from its past mistakes and adopt a more responsible attitude and have a more multilateral approach towards the world issues," Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli told BBC radio. more

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China's Choice

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at China and Iran:

China has a simple choice to make. It can continue to trade with the United States, a relationship upon which its prosperity is predicated, or it can undermine vital U.S. interests by helping Iran 's nuclear proliferation efforts. It is a binary decision, and both President George W. Bush and his new secretary of state have made this clear as a new term starts today. ...

But if China thinks it has a problem with the administration, it should really be concerned about the impact all this could have at the other end of Pennsylvania Ave. -- over at the U.S. Congress. ...

News that Beijing is arming an enemy of the U.S. at a time of war can only awaken the protectionist impulses that are always lurking below the surface in Congress. more

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Iran blog reacts to Bush

The Guardian published a famous Iranian blogger, Hossein Derakshan's post worrying that US intervention won't bring peace.

But some of the reply posts to the Guardian's story are also revealing:

As an Iranian student i'd say Iranians are love President Bush. President Bush will not attack Iran he has promised moral support for students. The people of Iran strongly support President Bush. It's the radical islamists who hate him. They're very small minority in control of government.
Comments posted by: Davoud Rezai at January 21, 2005 10:19 PM

Only the Ayatollahs, Hezbullahi and Hard-line Islamists hate President Bush in Iran. Everyone else loves him. The NY Times

Funnily enough, the one country on this side of the ocean that would have elected Mr. Bush is not in Europe, but the Middle East: it's Iran, where many young people apparently hunger for Mr. Bush to remove their despotic leaders, the way he did in Iraq.

An Oxford student who had just returned from research in Iran told me that young Iranians were "loving anything their government hates," such as Mr. Bush, "and hating anything their government loves." Tehran is festooned in "Down With America" graffiti, the student said, but when he tried to take pictures of it, the Iranian students he was with urged him not to. They said it was just put there by their government and was not how most Iranians felt.

Iran, he said, is the ultimate "red state." Go figure.
Comments posted by: Arya Bakhtiar at January 21, 2005 10:21 PM

Neville Chamberlain appeased the governments of Hitler and Mussolini, and attempted to do the same with Stalin's. He failed miserably.
Bill Clinton tried to appease North Korea, offering it money, assuming it would tow the democratic line. Subsequently, this money was plowed into nuclear weapons programs.
As is obvious, Clinton failed miserably.

In a post 9/11 world it is no longer satisfactory to merely talk with governments, hoping that what wouldn't work ten years ago would work now.
The neoconservatism of George Bush, Condoleeza Rice, and Paul Wolfowitz is the most pragmatic and suitable solution for tyranny in the twenty-first century.

Why do all the boorishly loquacious leftists refuse to adopt it?
Comments posted by: Irving Kristol at January 22, 2005 12:13 AM

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World press electrified by Bush vision

The BBC provides a quick looks at the world press's reaction to President Bush's speech:

"Hold on to your hats, this may be the most ambitious presidency ever." That's the message from one Israeli paper after President George W Bush's inauguration - a message echoed across the world's press.

For China's press his speech raises the question whether Washington will head further down a "unilateral" path in foreign relations.

One Polish paper heralds the speech as the dawn of a conservative revolution, while in Germany and Turkey there's a bleak forecast for the new Bush era. more

The US press is more predictable. For instance, the LA Times says, Bush's Iran Warning, Speech Get Cool Reception Globally. They quote Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko:

"Suppose someone or other didn't really want such 'freedom,' soaked in blood and smelling of oil?"...

Thank God, the LA Times has correspondents around the world to find statements like that.

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Journalist and weblogger arrested

Reporters Without Borders:

Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of journalist Arash Sigarchi who was arrested on 17 January 2005, after responding to a summons from the intelligence ministry in Rashat in the north of the country.

He had been updating a weblog that has been banned by the authorities, Panhjareh Eltehab (The window of Anguish), in which he had spoken out against recent arrests of cyberjournalists and bloggers. ...

Nearly 20 people have been arrested over the past three months in a crackdown against the online press...

At the start of January, Tehran's prosecutor-general, Said Mortazavi, ordered Internet Service Providers to block the main weblogs - Orkut, Nedstat, Blogspot, Persianblog, Blogrolling and others. Iranian Internet-users are now almost entirely cut off from the blogsphere. more

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Iranians cheer massively Mr. Bush's Inaugural speech

The Student Movement Coordianting Comittee for Democracy in Iran

Millions of Iranians have been reported as having stayed home, on Thursday night which is their usual W.end and outgoing night, in order to see or hear the Presidential speech and the comments made by the Los Angeles based Iranian satellite TV...

The speech and its package of hope have been, since late yesterday night and this morning, the main topics of most Iranians' conversations during their familial and friendly gatherings, in the collective taxis and buses, as well as, among groups of young Iranians who gather outside the cities on the Fridays.

Many were seen showing the " V " sign or their raised fists. Talks were focused on steps that need to be taken in order to use the first time ever favorable International condition. more

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The Hersh File

According to Michael Ledeen, Sy gets it wrong, again.

Tony Blankley thinks that Sy Hersh probably committed espionage with his latest article in The New Yorker, in which he breathlessly speaks of secret commando teams and joint American-Israeli efforts to target Iranian nuclear facilities. My pal Roger Simon rather suspects that Hersh was simply used by the Bush administration to make the mullahs even more nervous than usual. Hersh himself seems to think of himself as a seer, a prophet of upcoming military actions by the United States against a collection of terror-supporting enemies, starting with Iran. This is clear enough from his title, "The Coming Wars." ...

Still, "The Coming Wars" is ostensibly about Iran, so I thought it behooved me to take a look. But it was classic Hersh incoherence, almost from the beginning. Early on he says that he spoke to current and past defense and intelligence officials, but shortly thereafter he says, "The Defense Department and the White House did not respond to requests for comment on this story." more

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Is Rumsfeld on His Way out?

Debka is reporting Rumsfeld is on his way out:

How President George W. Bush fills the key post of secretary of defense will be one of the pivotal decisions defining the second term he inaugurates with pomp and pizzazz in Washington Thursday, January 20. Much as he may praise Donald Rumsfeld for his “excellent job”, the secretary is believed by DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s Washington sources to be on his way out. The timing of his resignation – certainly not before Iraq’s January 30 election - depends on a choice of successor, for which the White House has been holding discreet contacts for weeks. That choice in turn depends on the president defining his end-game for Iraq and laying it out in clear policy guidelines.

A Democrat might be appointed to the post, in the same bipartisan way in which Republican William Cohen served as President Bill Clinton’s defense secretary. more

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Russia, Syria work super-weapons deal

WorldNetDaily.com reports:

A source in Jerusalem told ... Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, observing with some suspicion Assad's plan to visit the Kremlin, became truly alarmed as intelligence reports accumulated showing Russia is not only interested in selling hardware to the Syrians, but that it was using as bait supposedly secretive growing technological and scientific ties with Israel.

One report reveals the Russians had offered similar proposals to the Iranians and by doing so were blatantly breaching one by one understandings and agreements achieved with Israel over the past five years. ... more

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FREEDOM AND IDEALISM

Victor Davis Hanson weighs into the debate:

This is the first time that an American president has committed the United States to side with democratic reformers worldwide. ... I wholeheartedly endorse the president's historic stance, but also accept that we live in an Orwellian world, where, for example, the liberal-talking Europeans are reactionary-doing realists who trade with anyone who pays and appease anyone who has arms-confident in their culture's ability always to package that abject realpolitik in the highest utopian rhetoric. But nonetheless the president has formally declared that we at least will be on the right side of history and thus we have to let his critics sort of their own moral calculus. more

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Democracy is the new name for peace.

Michael Novak writing for National Review:

Since leftists today rarely celebrate the dynamism of economic liberty, parties of the left are slow to become excited by the challenge of bringing liberty to other cultures. Their anti-capitalist tendencies are so powerful that they loathe the economic system of free societies. They tend to argue that peoples in other civilizations do not hunger for "our kind" of liberty, are not "ready" for it, cannot make it work.

By contrast, the first principle of the parties of the Center Right is the dynamic power of liberty — in culture, in politics, in economics. The parties of the Center Right aim to open the way to liberty in every culture and nation on the planet. They hold that liberty is written into the inner workings of three distinctively human activities — insight, judgment, and choice. All three are personal actions. All three are free. ...

A grasp of this background narrative — that liberty is the mainspring of history — is essential to a discussion of the Era of Terrorism. For in attacking terrorism, we must formulate an alternative — the state of the world we are trying to establish, a world in which free societies replace tyrannies. This end clarifies all the means, strategies, tactics, and actions deployed toward that end. The reason is that free societies tend to treat one another by way of persuasion, not force. more

A worthwhile read.

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Europe, Russia 'on same wavelength' on Iran nuclear program

Spacewar.com:

Russia and three western European countries share a view that Iran can be persuaded through talks to limit its nuclear activities to the civilian sphere and to fulfill its international obligations in this regard, a French official said here Thursday.

"We have kept the Russians informed on our negotiations from the beginning," an official close to the delegation of visiting French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told reporters, referring to European talks with Iran on its controversial nuclear program. ...

"The Americans know, and we are telling them, that the Russians are on the same wavelength as we are," the French official said. more

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The world reacts to Bush's speech

The Telegraph:

Mr Bush has repeatedly made clear that he sees "spreading freedom" as more than a slogan. For him it is a mission. The challenge for his aides now is how - and where - to act on his words. ...

"If he [Bush] leaves office with those two countries still with nuclear options, he will think he has failed." more

The Scotsman:

US President George Bush refuses to rule out war with Iran. ...

Perhaps the most pessimistic comment of all this week came from Democratic Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware.

“There may be nothing we can do to persuade Iran not to develop weapons of mass destruction,” more

Turkish Press:

"The fact that the Americans are not excluding the use of military force is not new in principle, but doesn't necessarily indicate that there are concrete attack plans," said Karsten Voigt, Germany's point man for German-US relations. ...

"The United States has a hard line but I think its ultimate line is to have the European efforts succeed. It is a good cop-bad cop approach," said an Asian diplomat close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). ...

In Brussels, the European Commission said it would pursue diplomatic negotiations as long as possible.

"The goal is a militarily non-nuclear Iran. We are as Europeans working through a process of engagement to attain that goal... We hope that there will be no need to consider any other option," said spokeswoman Emma Udwin. more

iafrica.com:

A game of diplomatic bluff was underway, with Washington hopeful that the threat of military action might pressure Britain and other European Union nations to negotiate forcefully with a worried Tehran so as to head off war, he explained.

"In a way, the American threat to bomb Iran is also indirect pressure on Europe to do its very best, to achieve a diplomatic solution," he said, while adding that Bush would find it extremely difficult to find backing in Europe for military action. ...

"My guess is that the British government would at best be silent, at worst be opposed," more

Expatica:

A German official said that United States military pressure on Iran could help European diplomatic efforts to clinch a deal with Teheran over its nuclear programme.

"If the Iranians know that if this peaceful resolution does not work that the Americans will raise pressure with non-peaceful means, it could perhaps boost their readiness to make compromises and give up the nuclear weapons they are possibly planning," more

Reuters:

Iran on Thursday dismissed recent comments by U.S. officials about the Islamic state as psychological warfare and said Tehran would not be cowed by such remarks.

Speaking to state media in Uganda during a week-long tour of Africa with President Mohammad Khatami, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Washington was waging "a psychological campaign against Iran".

"We know our enemy and we are aware of its tactics," he said. "We will strongly respond to America's threats. We will naturally defend our rights and interests," he added. more

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President Bush's Inaugural Speech

The complete text can be found here. The most inspiring portion to me:

By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.

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Cheney puts Iran at top of trouble list

Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

Vice President Dick Cheney, in an interview hours before he and President Bush were sworn in for a second term, said Iran now tops the list of the world's potential trouble spots.

Iran is pursuing "a fairly robust new nuclear program" and "is a noted sponsor of terror," he said...

"You look around the world at potential trouble spots, Iran is right at the top of the list,"...

"Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards," ... more

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The fantasy of Iran's political factions

In a recent interview with the Islamic regime's own official newspaper:

Rafsanjani went on to confess that there is absolutely no difference between the various factions of the regime and that it is all nothing more than rhetoric, euphemisms and knowing how to play with words! He affirmed that what the so-called Reformists have been pitching ideas that ten, fifteen years ago hardliners had already begun considering. "For example, "he said, "the people who took over the U.S. Embassy used to have very specific discussions about how they were interested in pursuing various liberal movements; at that time, those people were among Leftists. Now, those very same leftists are taking a conservative stance." more

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Bush is in sync with his people and the neo-cons

Amir Taheri takes a look at Condi Rice and President Bush.

The new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was never regarded as a neo-con, and the new National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley has always been seen as a cautious operator. Robert Zoellick, the man chosen as Rice's deputy, has won plaudits from the Europeans as a moderate while Nicholas Burns, who will be Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, is identified as a multilateralist.

The State Department's most senior neo-con, John Bolton, has been shown the door and replaced by Robert Joseph, a cautious operator. More importantly, Bush did not promote Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, the best strategic brain of the neo-conservatives. ...

My reading is that Bush is a dynamic political leader both by temperament and conviction, and that he was the key inspiration for the so-called neo-conservative agenda rather than its unwitting salesman. more

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Has Iran decided to manufacture atomic warheads

Amir Taheri takes a look at Iran's intentions:

In 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini, who had seized power in Tehran, cancelled the nuclear programme after describing it as "a satanic plot against Islam". When Khomeini died in 1989, Tehran's new "strongman", Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, instantly revived the nuclear programme.

Iranian scientists who had been imprisoned were released and set to work. Some of those who had fled to exile were tempted back with promises of new challenges. ...

It looked as if the Islamic Republic did not want nuclear energy; it wanted nuclear weapons. ...

"One thing is certain," says Akbar Etemad, the man who headed the Iranian nuclear programme for 10 years, "Iran has the scientific capability to make nuclear weapons".

The question, therefore, is not whether Iran can, but whether Iran has decided to, manufacture atomic warheads. There is mounting evidence that the decision has been taken.

What is labelled "The National Islamic Defence Doctrine" clearly states that Iran must be in a position to make use of "all types of weaponry". ...

What is surprising in all this is the almost stoic attitude of the Bush administration on what is likely to be the biggest threat to Middle East stability in the decade to come. more

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Thomas Friedman of the NY Times on Bush's Popularity in Iran

The NY Times must have chocked on Thomas Friedman admission of Bush's popularity inside of Iran.

Funnily enough, the one country on this side of the ocean that would have elected Mr. Bush is not in Europe, but the Middle East: it's Iran, where many young people apparently hunger for Mr. Bush to remove their despotic leaders, the way he did in Iraq.

An Oxford student who had just returned from research in Iran told me that young Iranians were "loving anything their government hates," such as Mr. Bush, "and hating anything their government loves." Tehran is festooned in "Down With America" graffiti, the student said, but when he tried to take pictures of it, the Iranian students he was with urged him not to. They said it was just put there by their government and was not how most Iranians felt.

Iran, he said, is the ultimate "red state." Go figure. more

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Iran's Rafsanjani to stand in elections

Former Iranian President Rafsanjani apparently wants to run for president again. The problem? The last time he ran for a seat in parliament he suffered a humiliating defeat. He is no more popular now. He is also considered my many to be the "real" leader of Iran. more

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Survey: Americans oppose Iran invasion

The liberal website, World Peace Herald, reports on a recent survey on Americans attitude towards a US invasion of Iran.

42 percent would support the U.S. invasion of Iran to stop its nuclear program. ...

Nearly half -- 47 percent -- of U.S. voters would oppose such a move and 11 percent are unsure. more

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Another MemriTV video clip of the Iranian TV series "Zahra's Blue Eyes"

MemriTV provides the latest installment of the anti-semitic series:

"Zahra's Blue Eyes" - Episode 6: A Good Jew Helps Zahra, Before He is Murdered and transcript.

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Iran launched hunt operations to find US commandos

IPS reports:

Iranian authorities have launched a massive, but discrete operation aimed at finding and arresting possible American commandos that an American investigative journalist said are now operating inside Iran. more

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Democrats Support Bush’s Iran Policy

Recently, the Democratic Party’s rising “progressive” star Barack Obama said he would favor “surgical” missile strikes against Iran.

“[T]he big question is going to be, if Iran is resistant to these pressures [to stop its nuclear program], including economic sanctions, which I hope will be imposed if they do not cooperate, at what point ... if any, are we going to take military action?” ...

“[L]aunching some missile strikes into Iran is not the optimal position for us to be in” given the ongoing war in Iraq. “On the other hand, having a radical Muslim theocracy in possession of nuclear weapons is worse.” ...

Senator John Kerry said the Bush Administration has not:

“been tough on the [Iran] issue … which is the issue of nuclear weaponry, and again just like I said with North Korea, you have to keep your eye on the target.” ...

Howard Dean:

“The United States has to ... take a much harder line on Iran and Saudi Arabia because they’re funding terrorism.” ...

Foreign Policy expert Stephen Zunes wrote of the Democrats’ platform in Foreign Policy in Focus:

One possible target for American forces under a Kerry administration is Iran. The platform implies an American right to such military intervention by stating that “a nuclear-armed Iran is an unacceptable risk to us and our allies.” No concern is expressed, however, about the already-existing nuclear arsenals of Iran’s neighbor Pakistan or of nearby Israel. ...The Democrats, like the Republicans, believe that instead of pushing for multilateral and verifiable arms control treaties, the United States can effectively impose a kind of nuclear apartheid, unilaterally determining which countries can have nuclear weapons and which countries cannot. more

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Condoleezza Rice Voices Tough Line on Iran

Reuters reports on Condi's Senate confirmation hearing and of course Iran came up:

"It's really hard to find common ground with a government that thinks Israel should be extinguished." ...

"At some point Iran has to be held accountable for its unwillingness to live up to its international obligations," ...

"This is just a regime that has a really very different view of the Middle East and where the world is going than we do"...

"I think we would have to say that the relationship with Iran has more components than the nuclear side. But let's see how far the Europeans get and take a look at where we are." more

And the Australian adds a few more:

"In our world there remain outposts of tyranny and America stands with oppressed people on every continent in Cuba, and Burma, and North Korea, and Iran, and Belarus, and Zimbabwe," ...

"At some point Iran has to be held accountable for its unwillingness to live up to its international obligations." ...

"The time for diplomacy is now" more

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Ayatollah labels Rushdie an apostate who can be killed

Yahoo News reports:

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has labelled author Salman Rushdie an apostate whose killing would be authorised by Islam, according to message carried by Iranian media.

Khamenei's reference to Rushdie was made in a message to Muslims making the annnual pilgrimage to Mecca, and was part of a lengthy tirade against "Western and Zionist capitalists" and the US-led "war on terror".

"They talk about respect towards all religions, but they support such a mahdour al-damm mortad as Salman Rushdie," Khamenei said.

In the Sharia, or Islamic law, "mortad" is a reference to someone who has committed apostacy by leaving Islam while "mahdour al-damm" is a term applying to someone whose blood may be shed with impunity. more

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Iran, Calling Bush's Words 'Threats,' Says It Is Not Intimidated

The NY Times report Iranian responses to Bush's comments yesterday:

"We are not afraid of foreign enemies' threats and sanctions, since they know well that throughout its Islamic and ancient history, Iran has been no place for adventurism," Iran's former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, told the state news agency, IRNA.

Iran's defense minister, Ali Shamkhani, made some vague threats of his own, saying, "We have developed a might that no country can attack us because they do not have accurate information about our military capabilities," according to the Mehr news agency. "We have produced equipment at a rapid pace with the minimum investment that has resulted in the greatest deterrent force." more

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Straw says Iran nuke talks the only way forward

Reuters reports:

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says there is no alternative to Europe's approach of using diplomacy to try to persuade Iran to give up any technology that could be used make nuclear weapons. ...

"Those who said we'd be split apart by the Iranians are wrong," said Straw.

"Those who said we would not be able to negotiate any substantial text are wrong. Those who said we could not build up a degree of trust with Iranians, at the same time as building up a strong consensus with the U.S. and the non-aligned countries, are wrong.

"It has taken a phenomenal amount of work, but so far so good. And it is a better strategy than the alternative." more

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U.S. Warns Iran Over Missiles, Punishes Chinese Firms

Reuters reports:

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush will work with European allies "to find a diplomatic resolution to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons."

"They made some very clear commitments and we will see by their actions whether or not they are finally serious and willing to follow through on those commitments," McClellan said.

"We have a number of concerns about Iran, including their pursuit of nuclear weapons and their interest in longer-range ballistic missiles, and we've expressed those concerns," McClellan added. more

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Rice Urges World Unity in Pressing Iran and North Korea to End Their Nuclear Programs

The Voice of America reports:

Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice Tuesday urged international unity in insisting that Iran and North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. She said if the current European initiative with Iran falters, the matter should go to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Ms. Rice says the world is sending a message to Iran that it cannot be a legitimate participant in the international system and politics and at the same time pursue a nuclear weapons program. more

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British commanders fear reaction to American aggression

The Scotsman reports:

REPORTS of an increasingly hard-line US policy towards Iran are starting to worry British generals and diplomats, who fear the 9,650-strong UK garrison in southern Iraq would be targeted by Tehran in retaliation to any strike by the Bush administration. more

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Atomic Iran: How The Terrorist Regime Bought The Bomb And American Politicians

Jerry's long awaited book is now at the publishers and I will be publishing my thoughts on it soon. In the mean time I thought you might like to see how to get a copy as soon as it is available. more

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Peace Requires Action on Iran and Syria Too

US Senator Jon Kyl writes:

Since its revolution in 1979, Iran has never ceased its calls for the destruction of Israel. Now, it has become the primary ideological, financial and logistical supporter to the terrorists attempting to translate ideology into practice. According to Israeli sources, Iran now spends, on average, $40,000 per terrorist. This money is sent from Iran to Damascus, Syria - the home of the operational headquarters for almost all Palestinian terror groups. From there the money flows to a special unit in Beirut, Lebanon - a country virtually occupied by Syria - charged with operating Palestinian terrorists.

Using banks and even Western Union, the money makes its way to the local terror groups in the West Bank and in Gaza. Eventually money and training from Iran are used to launch a suicide bomber, set off a truck or car bomb, or plant an improvised explosive device (IED) designed to kill civilians and soldiers alike, and sabotage efforts at peace. more

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Setting Sights on Syria

Barbara Lerner writing for the National Review Online outlines how to win in Iraq, and regionally.

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Tehran denies US nuclear spy missions in Iran

Iran on Tuesday dismissed a report that US commandos were carrying out secret missions inside the country and lashed out at US policy in Iraq. ...

“The entry of American commandos for espionage is not that easy. It would be naive to believe it,” he told Iran's state radio. ...

“Americans now leak such stories to adversely affect Iran-EU talks which are progressing now. This is to exert more pressure on Iran and to imply that they are pursuing their own methods. It is part of their carrot and stick policy,” the official told the Financial Times. more

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Video Proof: Iran funding Iraqi Insurgents

MemriTV.org has just released another important video:

Commander of Saddam Hussein's "The Army of Muhammad" Confesses: We Received Aid in Money and Arms from Syria and Iran and transcript.

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IAEA has Iran site it'd like to check

The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency is pushing for a fresh look at an Iranian military complex linked by the United States to possible atomic arms research just days after being granted limited access, diplomats said Tuesday. ...

"The inspectors want to go back to another explosives bunker" that they apparently were not granted access to last week, the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. more

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Rice reshapes the foreign policy apparatus

DanielDrezner.com provides an encouraging report on Condi Rice's new team she is forming at the state department.

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Iran judges back off from Ebadi arrest

The Financial Times:

Iran's judiciary retreated yesterday from its threat to arrest Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist, for failing to obey a summons to appear before the country's Revolutionary Court.

The head of Tehran Province Justice Department, Abbas-Ali Alizadeh, told reporters that "most probably" the case would not be pursued. more

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Bush blocks Euro plan to woo Iran over nuclear freeze

The Telegraph reports:

America has hobbled an effort by Britain and other European countries to persuade Iran to freeze its nuclear programme.

Senior officials said privately that the US would not offer economic or political concessions to woo Teheran. ...

Without US support, the Europeans believe their initiative is doomed and it will be only a matter of time before the Iranians resume their nuclear activities. more

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Iran spent over $1 billion on meddling in Iraq: Defence Minister

Iran Focus:

The Iraqi Defence Minister, Hazem al-Shaalan today accused Iran of interference, saying, "Iran has spent more than $1 billion on meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq". more

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Bush won't rule out action vs Iran over nukes

CBN reports:

"I hope we can solve it diplomatically, but I will never take any option off the table," more

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US Congress targets Iran for regime change

The Financial Times reports:

Support for “regime change” in Iran is growing in Congress, encouraging new exiled opposition groups supported by Washington's neoconservatives to spring up in the hope of receiving US funding. ...

In Congress, the proposed Iran Freedom and Support Act calls on the Bush administration to back “regime change” and promote alliances with opposition groups that renounce terrorism. more

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Orange Iran

Marc C. Johnson writing for Tech Central Station discusses the obstacles we may face before we will see a free Iran.

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Bloggers respond to Seymour Hersh

A few of the best:

Roger L Simon:

Is Seymour Hersh Being Played?

I thought "Here he goes again, leaking top secret information!" But then I thought - duh, what top secret information? Is it possible that any US administration, Democrat or Republican, at this juncture in history would not be directing its intelligence agencies to take a long hard look at Iranian nukes and game plan how to deal with them? Of course not. In fact it would be at the very top of anybody's agenda. more

One hand clapping:

It's not often the Pentagon calls a reporter a liar...
... but that's what Rumsfeld's spokesman-type people did to Seymour Hersh today. more

Protein Wisdom:

9 OTHER military secrets intelligence officials have recently entrusted to Seymour Hersh. more a little humor...

Plus: DanielDrezner and Belmont Club.

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The War Against World War IV

Norman Podhoretz writing for Commentary magazine takes a sober look at The War Against World War IV.

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Violent clashes rock Pars Abad

SMCCDI reports:

Violent clashes between Pars Abad civilians and the Islamic regime's savage and inhumane militiamen occurred near the western town of Ardabil. Reports have been received stating that tens have been injured and possibly some deaths occurred when angry civilians retaliated against unwarranted brutal attacks by the Islamic regime's militiamen.

Oppressed and physically abused, civilians despising the Islamic regime and anything that it represents damaged several public buildings and burned security patrol cars. Shouting and chanting slogans against the regime's leaders, disobedient civilians infuriated the Islamic regime's militiamen with their insolence and impertinency. more

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Statement from Pentagon Spokesman Lawrence DiRita on Latest Seymour Hersh Article

The Department of Defense has released a biting response to his article, the Coming Wars of Symour Hersh.

The Iranian regime’s apparent nuclear ambitions and its demonstrated support for terrorist organizations is a global challenge that deserves much more serious treatment than Seymour Hersh provides in the New Yorker article titled “The Coming Wars.”

Mr. Hersh’s article is so riddled with errors of fundamental fact that the credibility of his entire piece is destroyed.

Mr. Hersh’s source(s) feed him with rumor, innuendo, and assertions about meetings that never happened, programs that do not exist, and statements by officials that were never made. more

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The Coming Wars

Seymour M. Hersh writing for the New Yorker alleges US Special forces are 'on the ground' in Iran.

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Human Rights Watch can’t claim the high ground.

Denis Boyles writing for the EuroPress Review column for NRO, takes on Human Rights Watch:

Human Rights Watch may complain that the country now prosecuting its own soldiers for breaking the law is guilty of a "betrayal of human rights principles in the name of combating terrorism." But by making such a stupendously frivolous, rhetorical, bombastic charge against the U.S., while ignoring the routine atrocities committed by the U.N.'s army of rapists and crooks, organizations like Human Rights Watch can no longer claim the high ground and pretend to lead by example. They've reduced themselves to moral telemarketers. But in a way it's even worse: It's a betrayal of charity scams in the name of combating human-rights abuses. more

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Conventions wisdom is useless vs. jihadists

Mark Steyn's latest:

Democrats seem to have decided that the very concept of an "enemy" is dubious, cheerfully cranking up their sanctimonious preening for CNN...

To be covered by Geneva, a combatant has to have (a) a commander who is responsible for his subordinates; (b) formal recognizable military insignia; (c) weapons that are carried openly, and (d) an adherence to the laws and customs of warfare.

Islamist terrorists meet none of these conditions, and extending the protection of the conventions to them would simply announce to the world that, from a legal point of view, there's no downside to embracing terror. more

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Iraqi insurgents send action report to Iran's military chiefs

Sources within the Iranian opposition have confirmed to Iran Focus that they were able to obtain a classified document from within Iran's intelligence and security apparatus showing Iran's connections to insurgents carrying out attacks in Iraq. more

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Iran says samples from military site will prove nuclear program is peaceful

The Iranian government said Sunday that environmental samples taken from a military complex this weekend by United Nations nuclear inspectors will prove that the country's atomic program is for peaceful purposes.

"We know what the result will be. Since we have never done any illegal activity, definitely the result will prove our declarations," Asefi told reporters. more

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US Special forces 'on the ground' in Iran

American special forces have been on the ground inside Iran scouting for US air strike targets for suspected nuclear weapons sites, according to the renowned US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.

In an article in the latest edition of the New Yorker, Mr Hersh, who was the first to uncover the US human rights abuses against Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison last year, reports that Pakistan, under a deal with Washington, has been supplying information on Iranian military sites and on its nuclear programme, enabling the US to conduct covert ground and air reconnaissance of Iranian targets should the escalating row over Iran's nuclear ambitions come to a head. ...

The report in the New Yorker said the Americans have been conducting secret reconnaissance missions over and inside Iran since last summer with a view to identifying up to 40 possible targets for striking should the dispute over Iran turn violent. more

CNN's report features a more detailed response by the White House.

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An Iranian Cleric Turns Blogger for Reform

The NY Times reports:

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a vice president of Iran until his resignation last fall in protest against the new hard-line Parliament, is that rare reformist who has kept alive the movement's promise for open communications with the public.

For more than a year, Mr. Abtahi, a midranking cleric who has been a close ally and confidant of President Mohammad Khatami, has kept a Web log to share his views and reach out to others who use the Internet. ...

His blog, webneveshteha.com (the name means Web log writings in Farsi), has become one of the most popular Iranian sites. It has been attacked by hackers several times, apparently in some instances by people who take issue with its content. more

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Transition 2005: U.S. Policy Toward Iran

The Council on Foreign Relatons has released a new report.

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Iranian Judicary Denounced by International Community

Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights activist and lawyer who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize refused to appear in court on Saturday, saying the summons had failed to state the charge against her. ...

The case of Mrs. Ebadi resulted in a national and international wave of anger and condemnation. While hundreds of Iranians denounced the action of the Judiciary, the State Department said the action against Mrs. Ebadi showed the disrespect of the Iranian regime for human rights activists. more

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Iran says EU nuclear talks going well

Iran has voiced optimism about negotiations with the European Union on its nuclear programme and a possible trade deal and says there is no need to involve Washington in the talks right now.

"There is no need for the Americans to join the (Iran-EU) talks. Negotiations are progressing well", said Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi." more

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Iran conditions nuclear talks on US attitude

"The most explicit demand of Iran for entering into dialogue with the United States is that it changes its behavior and attitude toward the Islamic Republic," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted as saying.

"Iran has clear-cut policies in regard to this matter, and we do not really consider the negotiations necessary," Asefi said, pointing out Iran and the United States are actually holding talks through various intermediaries.

"Since the United States has shown no change in attitude and any such talks would render no positive outcome, there is no need for direct talks," Asefi added. more

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Iranian web writers plead to Kofi Annan

Iranmania is reprting:

Iran’s Association of Web Writers in an open letter to UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan called on the world body to warn the Iranian regime against frequently trampling on the basic rights of Iranian people, Iran Emrooz reported.

“According to Article 19 of the UN Human Rights Charter everyone can enjoy freedom of expression, but the Iranian regime deprived the Iranians from their very basic rights as regards dissemination of information. It bans the papers and breaks the pens. Detaining and torturing journalists and authors and accusing them of the crimes they have never committed have tuned into a common practice for the Iranian government. And now that they have become apparently weary of papers and books, they have begun their anti-democratic moves against Internet sites.” more

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Ebadi: I Won't Obey Iran Court Summons

The Gaudian reports:

Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi said Saturday she won't obey a summons by the hard-line Revolutionary Court even though she could be arrested, a challenge to the powerful body that has tried and convicted many intellectuals.

Ebadi, the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel peace prize, received the summons Thursday.

``The manner in which the summons has been arranged is illegal. I won't go to the court,'' Ebadi told The Associated Press. ``A summons has to specify the reason. That a summons is issued for somebody without specifying the reason and subject is illegal.'' more

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Iraqi official accuses Iran

UPI reports:

A senior Iraqi official Saturday accused Iran of channeling money into Iraq to "achieve sectarian objectives" and destabilize the country.

Waset Gov. Mohammad Ridha said $18,987.30 in Iranian tomans were seized and found to have been sent to a resident in the province "to try to entice sectarian extremism and ruin the elections process."

While he did not specify Iran by name, referring only to its currency allegedly seized, Ridha insisted there were "hidden hands trying to destabilize the province by focusing on sectarian allegiance over allegiance to the homeland." more

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Jordan King receives photo of al-Zarqawi, Iran military chiefs

A photo showing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian born mastermind behind the latest spate of bombings in Iraq, standing with senior commanders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was seen by Jordan's King Abdullah II last month, according to an Algerian journalist.

"The Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister did not attend the Amman conference of Iraq's neighbors in response to accusations made by Jordan's King Abdullah II", Atwan Tazakrat on Thursday told US-based Radio Farda.

"Fifteen days earlier, Jordanian intelligence services gave King Abdullah II documents along with a picture of a number of heads of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards standing next to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who was welcomed by Iran's Revolutionary Guards upon arrival from Afghanistan to Iran after the US attack on Afghanistan" he said.

He added, "al-Zarqawi stayed in Iran for three to four months, and Iranian officials did not deny his presence. They provided him with a fake passport with which he traveled to Syria where in mid-2002 he plotted the assassination of an American citizen".

In response to a question on whether or not the photo had been published, Tazakrat said, "This photo was never publicly distributed but I was able to see it. The source who confirmed to me that the Jordanian King had seen the photo is credible".

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