Irancove @ November 30, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Via Reuters
A Gulf oil industry source said the charters suggested there would be high naval activity, possibly including a demonstration to Iran that the U.S. Navy will protect the Strait of Hormuz oil shipping route during tensions over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Irancove @ November 30, 2007 # No Comment Yet
George Galloway on Iran:
Irancove @ November 30, 2007 # No Comment Yet
This article touches on Richard Perle and the AEI’s attempts to prop up “regime-toppling mideast dissidents who lack credibility.” Excerpt below on Amir Abbas Fakhravar for Iran. Perle is also backing Syria’s Farid Ghadry.
People such as 32-year-old Amir Abbas Fakhravar, an Iranian dissident now living in exile in the United States. In a 2006 Washington […]
Irancove @ November 29, 2007 # No Comment Yet
via Juan Cole:
McCain is so confused that he thinks Shiite Iran is supporting “al-Qaeda.” When I think that people who say these crazy things serve in the US senate and are plausible as presidents of our Republic, I despair a little. (When I see a nut job like Tancredo on the podium, he of ‘let’s […]
Irancove @ November 29, 2007 # One Comment
Source: CASMII
Top Democratic and Republican leaders absolutely believe that Iran is planning to develop nuclear weapons. And one of their seemingly strongest arguments involves a process of deduction. Since Iran has so much oil, they argue, why develop nuclear power?
In an op-ed commentary former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote that “for a major […]
Irancove @ November 28, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Below is Trita Parsi’s response to Michael Rubin’s op-ed in the Washington Post (and continuing provocation) arguing in favor of government sponsored programs that fund groups pushing for regime change in Iran.
Parsi—who is president of NIAC—along with most respected Iranian dissidents like Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, and jailed journalist Akbar Gangi oppose such legislation, because […]
Irancove @ November 28, 2007 # No Comment Yet
via The Christian Science Monitor
For seven months, millions of Iranians have turned on their television sets Monday at 10 p.m. to watch a World War II drama that challenges stereotypes about Iran and Judaism.
The story line could not be less likely in the Islamic Republic, whose […]
Irancove @ November 28, 2007 # No Comment Yet
New laws about more media concentration are being considered for decision by this December. Stop Big Media has an interesting page about the debate, including a handy chart of who owns the media today.
Irancove @ November 28, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Source: NIAC
By: Farideh Farhi
Washington DC - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) November 2007 report on Iran was much anticipated because of the agreement on a work plan regarding a time frame for the resolution of “outstanding issues” that had remained regarding Iran’s past activities. Based on this agreement Iran was expected to cooperate and […]
Irancove @ November 27, 2007 # No Comment Yet
There is an interesting post in Cato about Rudy Giuliani’s dense understanding of America’s image problem abroad.
GIULIANI: We’ve got to have a State Department that understands that we have a reputation that needs to be defended and respected… We don’t want to force things on anyone in the world–we’d like to share it with them. […]
Irancove @ November 27, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Source: Alternet
by Marjorie Cohn
Rhetoric flowing out of the White House indicates the Bush administration is planning a military attack on Iran. Officials in Saudi Arabia, a close Bush ally, think the handwriting is on the wall. “George Bush’s tone makes us think he has decided what he is going to do,” according to Rihab Massoud, […]
Irancove @ November 27, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Will the US and Israel bomb Iran? Buy or sell here.
Irancove @ November 27, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Daniel Levy has an excellent—and lengthy—briefing about Israeli considerations.
Irancove @ November 26, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Via TPM Muckraker:
As noted by Spencer Ackerman, a permanent US presence in Iraq goes against the sentiments of the American public—not to mention Iraqis.
So it begins. After years of obfuscation and denial on the length of the U.S.’s stay in Iraq, the White House and the Maliki government have released a joint declaration of “principles” […]
Irancove @ November 26, 2007 # One Comment
Source: Reuters
TEHRAN, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday the U.N. nuclear watchdog had closed two major issues relating to the scope of its nuclear programme, which the West suspects is aimed at acquiring atomic bombs.
Tehran agreed with the International Atomic Energy Agency in August to answer outstanding questions by December about its atomic […]
Irancove @ November 26, 2007 # No Comment Yet
American artist and critic Robert C. Morgan, a member of the jury at the fifth Tehran Contemporary Sculpture Biennial, has said that he has been enthralled by the works on show. Morgan believes that Iranian artworks are worthy of review and analysis by critics at an international level so that they can be introduced world-wide.
Some […]
Irancove @ November 24, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Juan Cole offers indispensable behind the story of a petition authored by Shiite Tribal Sheikhs—and backed by terrorist organization the MKO—to evict Iran from southern Iraq.
The tribal sheikhs of southern Iraq who have gotten up a petition against Iranian influence in their region should be viewed with some suspicion. I heard supporters of the […]
Irancove @ November 24, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Via The Real News, Noam Chomsky on Democrats and Iran:
Irancove @ November 24, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Via Payvand:
Tehran, Oct 31, IRNA - Enthusiastic stem-cell researchers in Iran face plentiful funding but a shortage of equipment, Nature weekly journal of science said quoting American scientist Rudolf Jaenisch.
“During my time in Tehran, I encountered only enthusiasm and hospitality. Other Westerners, such as Emory University’s Sarah Berga, who has spoken at this conference […]
Irancove @ November 24, 2007 # No Comment Yet
This is an interesting clip from Fox and Friends where Janeane Garofalo counters the idiotic arguments of Brian Kilmeade just prior to the invasion of Iraq—the same Fox News host who is now calling for the US to support terrorists to detonate car bombs in Tehran.
Irancove @ November 23, 2007 # No Comment Yet
More on fighters in Iraq coming from US allies Saudi Arabia and Libya:
Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United States in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve as suicide bombers or to facilitate […]
Irancove @ November 23, 2007 # No Comment Yet
via Juan Cole:
Iran is negotiating with Iraqi authorities to increase the number of pilgrims coming to Shiite shrines in Iraq from the present 500,000 to 2 or 3 million. You know, if 500,000 Iranians are passing through Iraq every year, and the US has never captured any of them under arms, then Iran can’t possibly […]
Irancove @ November 22, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Norman Solomon at the Guardian:
The political feasibility of waging these tragic wars can be largely traced to the US media’s reflexive capitulations to the administration in Washington - providing stenographic services far more often than tough scrutiny.
Irancove @ November 22, 2007 # One Comment
Source: Common Dreams
Until late October, the accepted explanation about the Sep. 6 Israeli airstrike in Syria, constructed in a series of press leaks from U.S. officials, was that it was prompted by dramatic satellite intelligence that Syria was building a nuclear facility with help from North Korea.
But new satellite evidence has discredited that narrative, suggesting […]
Irancove @ November 21, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Speaking to an audience at the neoconservative think thank The American Enterprise Institute, John Bolton declared that regime change and targeted military strikes are the only two options facing the US in regards to Iran.
Bolton—who was appointed by President Bush as US Ambassador to the UN though he never received Senate approval to confirm his […]
Irancove @ November 21, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Via the Real News, Noam Chomsky discusses Iran with Paul Jay:
PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR: ElBaradei, is the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stated quite definitively there is no evidence of a nuclear weapons program in Iran. The recent resolution—the Kyle-Lieberman amendment—and the recent U.S. sanctions against Iran, which one of the charges is […]
Irancove @ November 21, 2007 # No Comment Yet
The following was submitted by a reader as a response to a New York Times article claiming “Iran was blocked from buying nuclear materials at least 75 times.”
On Nov 16, The New York Times published an article entitled “Iran Blocked from Buying Nuclear Materials at Least 75 Times, Group Reports”. Has Iran been knocking […]
Irancove @ November 21, 2007 # 2 Comments
Scholar Shaul Bakhash recently discovered that a quote used by radical neoconservative Norman Podhoretz to claim that Iran is “undeterrable” (a variation of the “mad mullah” theory) came from known fabricator Amir Taheri. Mother Jones’ Jonathan Schwarz has compiled a short summary of some of Taheri’s other fabrications:
The Amir Taheri Story
Amir […]
Irancove @ November 21, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Adrian Levy on Democracy Now!:
Up until 1979, the whole of the world – the western world - was against Pakistan’s program and did everything it could to inderdict that program, fearing instability of Pakistan; fearing a nuclear arms race between Pakistan and India. In fact, at one point, the CIA and the Pentagon looked at […]
Irancove @ November 21, 2007 # One Comment
Source: AFP
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran said on Tuesday it has agreed to a new round of talks with the United States on improving security in Iraq, despite mounting tensions between the two arch foes over Iran’s nuclear drive.
The announcement came after the United States said Iran has stemmed the flow of weapons and militants across […]
Irancove @ November 20, 2007 # One Comment
Source: Payvand
The Bush administration’s latest unilateral sanctions on Iran are likely to fail. The debate over whether or not these sanctions will work has so far focused on econo-mic considerations. Psycho-logical and political factors, however, are more important.
Historically, Iranian national sentiment soars in the face of foreign pressure. Like the leaders of the past, the […]
Irancove @ November 19, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Jim Lobe weighs in on an article by Michael O’Hanlon and Fred Kagan with “mind-blowing” suggestions such as sending in troops to Pakistan to remove their nuclear weapons and move them to New Mexico:
It’s unquestionably premature to conclude that Pakistan may displace Iran as the most urgent foreign-policy challenge likely to be faced by the […]
Irancove @ November 19, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Thomas Friedman in the NYT:
Vice President Cheney is the hawk-eating hawk, who regularly swoops down and declares that the U.S. will not permit Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Trust me, the Iranians take his threats seriously. But Mr. Cheney’s Dr. Strangelove imitation is totally wasted with President Bush and Secretary of State Condi […]
Irancove @ November 18, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Via Josh Marshall at TPM:
Remember Manuel Miranda? He was the judicial nominations ‘counsel’ to then-Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) who got busted and subsequently canned for hacking into senate Democrats’ computers up on Capitol Hill. Seems we’ve sent him to Baghdad to be in charge of teaching Iraqi legislators democracy.
The State Department has hired him […]
Irancove @ November 17, 2007 # 2 Comments
Iranian Scholar Shaul Bakhash did some digging about a quote ostensibly by Khomeini and used by neoconservative extremist Norman Podhoretz to base his claim that Iran is undeterrable—and therefore, should be bombed—to discover that the quote is a falsehood from infamous fabricator, Amir Taheri.
Norman Podhoretz, among others, believes that Iran is undeterrable, and this is […]
Irancove @ November 17, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Via the Real News Network, watch Aijaz Ahmad’s appraisal of the new IAEA report, the possibility of new security council resolutions, China’s stance and the Russian decision to carry on providing enriched fuel to Iran.
According to Ahmad’s reading of the report, “Iran has not lied on any issue whatsoever, it’s behavior has been transparent.”
Watch the […]
Irancove @ November 17, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Farideh Farhi has a good post at the ICGA blog with her assessment of the new IAEA report on Iran’s nuclear energy program. The IAEA has found no evidence that any nuclear material has been diverted for weapons production. Iran is being criticized by the western press for not suspending enrichment—an extra measure that is […]
Irancove @ November 17, 2007 # No Comment Yet
LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A meeting of world powers on tougher sanctions on Iran has been cancelled after China pulled out, European diplomatic sources said on Friday, revealing tensions after a key report into Tehran’s atomic activities.
Political directors from Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China were due to meet […]
Irancove @ November 17, 2007 # No Comment Yet
A group of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives is repeating concerns about the possibility of military conflict with Iran. VOA’s Dan Robinson reports, lawmakers met with reporters, at the start of a two-week break, to signal that Congress will demand that President Bush seek congressional authorization before launching any military strikes against Iran.
Irancove @ November 16, 2007 # One Comment
Source: Slate
On a related note, this article has more on Iraqi refugees in general. This post by Riverbend recounts the personal experiences of the author adjusting to life in Syria.
Bush’s outrageous neglect of Iraqi refugees:
One of the great looming disasters of the war in Iraq, a moral abdication of immense proportion, is the Bush administration’s […]
Irancove @ November 16, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Cyrus Safdari has a nice series of posts on the distortion from the press on the new IAEA report about Iran’s nuclear activities.
Irancove @ November 16, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Reacting to a positive IAEA report—dismissed by the US—on Iran’s nuclear program, Germany is considering unilateral sanctions against Iran for not suspending its enrichment process—a right all NPT signatories have.
BERLIN, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Germany would consider the possibility of separate EU measures against Iran if the U.N. Security Council fails to agree on a […]
Irancove @ November 15, 2007 # One Comment
Vienna, Nov 15, IRNA - US resorted to present 10-page additional questions to make recovery from the blow it suffered from transparent cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Following continued US pressure on IAEA, the US, France and UK have presented a 10-page additional question to IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei.
They made the action […]
Irancove @ November 15, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Paul Pillar (a 28-year veteran of the CIA) sees good “grounds for assessing that the risks of major damage to US interest from any such action are substantial—and the probability that such damage would occur is high.”
Irancove @ November 15, 2007 # No Comment Yet
This NIAC memo by Bahram Rajaee examines Ahmadinejad’s recent comments, accusing his political opposition of treason. Rajaee sees these comments as a sign of Ahmadinejad’s falling approval ratings and gain in power by opposition figures pointing to the diversity of political opinion within the Iranian government.
Dr. Bahram Rajaee
Washington DC - This week witnessed two […]
Irancove @ November 14, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Source: CASMII
INTRODUCTION
Five years into the US-UK illegal invasion of Iraq and its consequent catastrophe for Iraqi people, peace loving people throughout the world are appalled by the current Iran-US standoff and its resemblance to the run-up to the invasion of Iraq . The hawks, headed by Dick Cheney in Washington , are now shamelessly calling […]
Irancove @ November 14, 2007 # No Comment Yet
This article by Reuters presents some reactions from those pushing for more sanctions and war with Iran. In anticipation of the soon to be released IAEA report, Shaul Mofaz has already called for Mohammad ElBaradei to be fired.
Similarly, the Reuters article cites “some diplomats” who are accusing the Iranians of just cooperating enough to […]
Irancove @ November 14, 2007 # No Comment Yet
In this clip about John Bolton by TPM, Josh Marshall explains why “saying stupid things on TV talk-shows means never having to say you’re sorry.” Bolton is a conservative hardliner who has been involved in a variety of neoconservative groups including: American Enterprise Institute, Project for a New American Century and Council for National […]
Irancove @ November 13, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Jim Lobe has an interesting post on the recent ease in tensions as more opposition builds to an Iran-attack favored by Cheney. He cites a Financial Times article with Adm. Fallon’s statements, but also notes that even staunch pro-war advocates like Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute on Near East Policy are saying that […]
Irancove @ November 12, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Admiral Fallon’s recent comments about Iran policy:
“None of this is helped by the continuing stories that just keep going around and around and around that any day now there will be another war which is just not where we want to go,” he said.
“Getting Iranian behaviour to change and finding ways to get them to […]
Irancove @ November 12, 2007 # No Comment Yet
In this article for the WaPo, Ephraim Halevy—the former head of Mossad—criticizes Israel’s posture toward Iran. Halvey claims that even a nuclear armed Iran is deterrable, and calls for more “sophisticated and nuanced” policies. Halvey’s description of Ahmadinejad’s desire to destroy Israel is perhaps exaggerated, but his sober analysis is interesting to read. […]
Irancove @ November 12, 2007 # No Comment Yet
A staff writer at the Mehr News Agency in Iran reacts to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister’s suggestions that the head of the IAEA, Mohammad ElBaradei, be fired from his post just before a new IAEA report on Iran is due. Shaul Mofaz accused ElBaradei of pursuing policies which “endanger world peace.” Israel, Pakistan, India and […]
Irancove @ November 12, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Robert Fisk discusses genocide denial in the White House motivated, oddly enough, by considerations imposed by the “war on terror.”
Source: The Independent
How are the mighty fallen! President George Bush, the crusader king who would draw the sword against the forces of Darkness and Evil, he who said there was only “them or us”, who would […]
Irancove @ November 12, 2007 # No Comment Yet
At the ICGA site, Farideh Farhi comments on an interview in Newseek (pasted below) with Sadegh Kharazi, Iran’s former ambassador to France who is reported to have authored the 2003 offer of dialog with the US to resolve outstanding issues. As noted by Farhi, Kharazi’s comments are a good measure of how some Iranian […]
Irancove @ November 12, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Source: Payvand
The findings of two opinion polls published this week give an emphatic message that the public in the US, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany are opposed to any military action against Iran. A third survey, due to be published this month, demonstrates that this view is also held by large majority of members […]
Irancove @ November 12, 2007 # No Comment Yet
ElBaradei: “I have not received any information that there is a concrete, active nuclear program [in Iran] going on right now.”
This clip by The Real News Network examines the substandard coverage of the Iranian nuclear issue by the American media, and clarifies some points which are muddled by the reporting. Aijaz Ahmad claims “The […]
Irancove @ November 11, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Source: The Guardian
Even at Harvard, that bastion of east coast intellectual liberalism, a dangerous mixture of ignorance and belligerency towards Iran swirls through the hallways of America’s premier university.
Although the Middle East geopolitical focus shifted east to the Gulf in 2003, most policy talks at Harvard still focus on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Well-informed insights on […]
Irancove @ November 11, 2007 # No Comment Yet
This article in the Guardian explains how the US—with the cooperation of Britain and Germany—is pressuring European companies to stop doing business with Iran.
European operators are facing threats from Washington that they could jeopardise their US interests by continuing to deal with Tehran, with increasing evidence that European governments, mainly France, Germany and Britain, are […]
Irancove @ November 10, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Source: The Guardian
US military officials are putting huge pressure on interrogators who question Iraqi insurgents to find incriminating evidence pointing to Iran, it was claimed last night.Micah Brose, a privately contracted interrogator working for American forces in Iraq, near the Iranian border, told The Observer that information on Iran is ‘gold’. The claim comes after […]
Irancove @ November 10, 2007 # No Comment Yet
This article describes Cheney’s attempts to impede any opposition that exhibited a view of Iran’s nuclear program not aligned with the menacing threat Iran-war advocates were pushing.
A former CIA intelligence officer who has asked not to be identified told IPS that an official involved in the NIE process says the Iran estimate was ready […]
Irancove @ November 10, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Source: Digital Journal
As U.S. sanctions against Iran begin to heat up, Web companies are following suit: Yahoo Mail and Hotmail removed Iran from the list of countries available for their webmail services. Does this send the right message to Iranians?
Irancove @ November 10, 2007 # No Comment Yet
According to this article, the results of war games which predicted the destruction of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in the event of an attack on Iran are intentionally being ignored by Iran-war advocates in hopes that the devastation will galvanize a full-scale war with Iran. (Link via Payvand)
by Michael E. Salla, M.A., Ph.D.
The Bush administration […]
Irancove @ November 10, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Jim Lobe has a great post summarizing the possible easing of tensions with Iran starting with the release of some Iranians detained by the US military. Lobe notes on the disparity between Bush/Cheney and others like Senators Hagel, Dodd, Biden—and Centcom commander Adm. William Fallon who “made it abundantly clear that he strongly opposes a […]
Irancove @ November 9, 2007 # No Comment Yet
There was a problem with this video from an earlier post. It has been uploaded in 2 parts on Youtube.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Irancove @ November 9, 2007 # No Comment Yet
In the following clip via the Real News Network , Jonathan Kay presents some of the more vacuous arguments Iran-war advocates use to state their case—although even he agrees that attacking Iran would be “folly.” Watch the whole clip to see Leo Panich’s response.
Is the US call to isolate Iran motivated by opposition […]
Irancove @ November 9, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Iran’s alleged support for the Taliban is cited as an important reason for the new unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran by the US. This charge raises some eyebrows because Iran, a Shiite nation is ideologically opposed to the Sunni Taliban. Iran helped the US overthrow the Taliban and had been supporting the Northern […]
Irancove @ November 8, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Via the NIAC:
Washington DC - Buried in the $196.4 billion supplemental war spending proposal that Bush submitted to Congress on October 22 is a request for $88 million to modify B-2 jets to carry 30,000-pound bombs, or “bunker busters.”
The Pentagon program would arm the B-2 stealth bomber with the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a […]
Irancove @ November 8, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz has called for Mohammad ElBaradei to be fired from his post just before the IAEA’s new report on Iran is to be published. Mofaz declared that ElBaradei’s policies “endanger world peace.”
So far, the IAEA has found no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. Iran is […]