Free Republic

Obama says US "is developing a significant regime of sanctions."As a defiant Iran began enriching uranium to a higher level on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama said the international community was “moving along fairly quickly” toward imposing new sanctions, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called for crippling sanctions “right now.”

“Hariri: Lebanon stands with Hizbullah in any war with Israel” By JPOST.COM STAFF 10/02/2010 05:41 SNIPPET: “The Lebanese government will stand with Hizbullah in the event of a war with Israel, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said overnight Tuesday in an interview with the BBC.”

Shi'ite rebels, despite agreeing to a ceasefire, resumed heavy fighting in northern Yemen. Yemeni sources reported attacks by the Iranian-backed Believing Youth in the northern province of Saada and near the border with Saudi Arabia. The sources said at least 23 Yemeni soldiers were killed in ambushes by Shi'ite rebels on Feb. 5.

The Obama administration is working on a series of sanctions that would take aim at the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran, publicly singling out the organization’s vast array of companies, banks and other entities in an effort to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

U.S. lawmakers are toughening their stance on Iran’s energy industry with new economic penalties, but experts doubt the Islamic regime will pay much attention and is more likely to open the doors even wider to other players eager to replace fleeing investors. Long on Congress’ radar screen, Iran is being targeted by two bills: The Senate’s Dodd-Shelby Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act passed in late January; and the House’s Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act approved in December. The bottom line is these bills, once signed into law by President Obama, will pursue financial institutions and businesses that do...

The U.S. should support an Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear installations if the Jewish state, fearing diplomacy has failed, ultimately takes that course of action, stated former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Asked whether the U.S. should support an Israeli strike, Huckabee replied, "Absolutely." Huckabee was speaking in a WABC Radio interview with Aaron Klein, WND's senior reporter, who has been hosting a weekend show on the New York mega-station.

LONDON (Reuters) - China has told Britain it is determined to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Tuesday. Russia sent its strongest signal yet on Tuesday that it could back a fourth set of U.N. sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme. But China -- one of the E3+3 powers dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue -- has argued that discussions about sanctions might make it harder to find a diplomatic solution.

Italy said dozens of members of Iran's hardline religious Basij militia had tried to attack its embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, but Iranian media described the incident as a student protest and did not mention any violence. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a Senate hearing: "About a hundred Basij dressed as civilians tried to assault the embassy shouting 'Death to Italy' and 'Death to (Prime Minister) Berlusconi'."

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran began enriching uranium to a higher level on Tuesday over the vociferous objections of the U.S. and its allies who fear the process could eventually be used to give the Islamic republic nuclear weapons. Even before the announcement U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believed the U.N. should slap new sanctions on Iran in "weeks, not months," according to his spokesman Tuesday. France and the U.S. said Monday Iran's action left no choice but to push harder for a fourth set of U.N. Security Council sanctions to punish Iran's nuclear defiance. Russia, which has close...

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran began enriching uranium Tuesday to the threshold at which it could set off a nuclear reaction, following through on a warning it had issued a day before, state media said. The enrichment was taking place at its Natanz facility under the surveillance of U.N. nuclear watchdog inspectors, Tehran said. An official with the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that a team of inspectors was on site. The United States and its allies fear Iran intends to build a nuclear bomb, while Tehran says its nuclear program is for civilian energy and medical use. On Monday,...

BBC Ex-USSR: Iran aiming to provoke regional military conflict - Russian exper 91) ☆ By enriching uranium to a higher grade, Iran is embarking on a deliberate course of provoking a military conflict in the Middle East due to its unstable domestic situation, Aleksey Arbatov, head of the International Security Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations, said in a live interview to Russian Defence Ministry-controlled Zvezda TV on 9 February. He also said that Tehran will suddenly announce it has developed a nuclear weapon, and noted that 20 per cent-grade uranium was...

President Obama said Tuesday that he's "bent over backwards" to engage Iran in "constructive" dialogue and said the U.S. will move to sanction the country, which has begun enriching uranium to levels capable of making an atomic bomb. Obama told reporters during a rare press conference Tuesday that the U.S. is developing a "significant regime of sanctions" in response to the Islamic Republic's move to enrich uranium to 20 percent purity level in defiance of world powers. "That indicates to us that despite their posturing that their nuclear power is only for, for civilian use that they in fact continue...

Rumour of Day (Week? Month?) — Rafsanjani “Ultimatum” to Supreme Leader. The Green site Rah-e-Sabz, without citing a source, makes the following claim: Authorities went to arrest the wife of Mir Hossein’s chief advisor Alireza Beheshti, who was already detained, on Tuesday, but could not find her. She then called Hashemi Rafsanjani from her hiding place and told him, “Look where we have got to that the grandchildren of Shahid Beheshti have to be on the run in dahey-e fajr (the 10-Day Dawn preceding the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution).” This allegedly upset Rafsanjani to the point to tears. During...

Has Iran finally gone too far, pushing China into changing its mind about sanctions? Maybe not just yet. Tuesday, after Iran ratcheted up its uranium-enrichment program—elevating the purity of its enriched product to 20 percent—Beijing looked increasingly isolated in its calls to continue negotiations. "To talk about sanctions at the moment will complicate the situation and might stand in the way of finding a diplomatic solution," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said at a conference in Europe.Western countries have been lobbying China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, to join them in supporting increased sanctions against the Tehran...

Obama's Outreach to Iran Unprecedented, Gates Says The Obama White House has gone further than any administration to reach out to Iran, and is disappointed with the response, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. The Islamic Republic announced Tuesday that it began enriching uranium to 20 percent purity level in defiance of world powers but under the supervision of inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Iranian state media reported. Gates on Tuesday called the move "disappointing" and said Tehran is violating a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is refusing to sign off on an IAEA-brokered deal that would allow Tehran to...

Punch? The Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised to punch the West during the Thursday’s anniversary of the Islamic revolution. I hate to disappoint all the conspiracy theorists but it is not likely that Iran will strike somebody with a bomb. Iranian regime wants to punch us by showing they have no opposition. And they will do it with a parade.......... Growing up in the communist Eastern Europe I know a thing or two about parades and I even marched in many of those. There are few techniques that make a parade of people look especially great. The most...

Khamenei, whose public statements should be taken seriously, is promising some sort of devastating “punch” against the West on Thursday the 11th, the same day as the Green Movement is calling for a monster protest against his regime. What might he have in mind? I don’t know; they say a lot of things just for effect, but threats/promises from the supreme leader have a certain standing. If I were an Israeli official, I’d recheck my information on Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Some think he’s preparing some kind of attack against Israel. .....

They're back! The "Bomb Iran" crowd is making a big return to the political center stage after months of puzzlement over what to do about developments in the Islamic Republic. Hawks such as Daniel Pipes and John Bolton are arguing that Iran is dead-set on its pursuit of a nuclear arsenal -- and point to developments such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement this weekend that Iran would enrich its uranium stocks to 20 percent to argue that diplomatic avenues have reached a dead end. The would-be bombers fear that the mullahs will leverage their nuclear capability to expand Persian influence...

Yesterday Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance [Western powers] on the 22nd of Bahman [Feb. 11] in a way that will leave them stunned," Today, despite the objections of the US and its allies, Iran began enriching uranium to a higher level bringing the Islamic republic closer to having nuclear weapons. Meanwhile in the country Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says should be "wiped off the face of the earth", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for immediate and crippling sanctions against Iran

Iran says it has begun enriching uranium to a higher level, defying international efforts to curb its nuclear activity. Iranian state television quoted officials who said the process started Tuesday at Iran's Natanz facility in the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. Iran told the IAEA Monday of its plans to enrich uranium to 20 percent in order to fuel a medical nuclear reactor. Western powers are concerned that if Iran is able to enrich uranium to 20 percent, it could eventually produce weapons-grade uranium through the same process.

Dozens of members of Iran's religious Basij militia tried to attack Italy's embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said. “About a hundred Basij dressed as civilians tried to assault the embassy shouting “Death to Italy” and “Death to Berlusconi,” Mr. Frattini said referring to Italy's prime minister.

For the FReeper national security community -- Whereas the Iranians have promised/threatened something big on the 11th, and Whereas polar orbit satellites pass over the CONUS repeatedly, and Whereas satellite orbits can be willfully decayed to reach a given altitude at a given Long/Lat., and Whereas the US has no defense against or ability to recover from an EMP attack from near space, and Whereas the TOTUS is a FNG/REMF when it comes to serious national security; Do the Iranians or their proxies have a satellite in low-earth/ polar orbit at the present time?

Khamenei, whose public statements should be taken seriously, is promising some sort of devastating “punch” against the West on Thursday the 11th, the same day as the Green Movement is calling for a monster protest against his regime. What might he have in mind? I don’t know; they say a lot of things just for effect, but threats/promises from the supreme leader have a certain standing. If I were an Israeli official, I’d recheck my information on Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Some think he’s preparing some kind of attack against Israel. Surely there has been no shortage in...

Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. WITH Iran having notified the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency on Monday that any day now it will begin enriching its stockpile of uranium in order to power a medical reactor, we should admit that Washington’s approach to countering the Islamic Republic is leading nowhere. What’s needed, however, may be less of a change of plan than a change in how we view the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. Believe it or not, there are some potential benefits to the United States should Iran build a bomb. (I’m speaking for myself here, and in no...

The Iranian government on Monday stepped up military threats in advance of an anniversary celebration as major powers continued talks on a new round of sanctions. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in Tehran that his country would stun the Western world on Thursday, the 31st anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution. Iran's defense minister announced on Monday that its forces had conducted successful tests on new armed unmanned aircraft and advanced air defenses. "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance [Western powers] on the 22nd of Bahman [Feb. 11] in a way that...

Hitler threw off the shackles of Versailles. In this, he was remarkably successful. The world stood by silently – at first believing the illusion that Hitler was merely correcting an injustice. Today, Iran began enriching its existing nuclear fuel stockpile toward weapons grade strength. Buoyed by Obama’s commitment to appeasement, Iran formally announced the move on al Alam the Iranian state television. "Today we started to make 20 per cent enriched nuclear fuel... in the presence of the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors at Natanz," an unnamed official told al Alam. The move caused international alarm and gave new impetus...

Iran will make the political decision to enrich uranium to military-grade levels once it has accumulated enough fissionable material for a small arsenal of three to four nuclear devices, according to latest intelligence assessments. Iran, according to the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, has already accumulated 1.8 tons of uranium enriched to four percent. Iran has announced plans to begin enriching uranium to 20% levels for use as fuel in a research reactor it has in Teheran, which is expected to exhaust its present stock within the year. Although material for the fissile core of a nuclear warhead...

JERUSALEM: A senior Israeli minister called on Tuesday for the international community to adopt tough sanctions against arch-foe Iran over its controversial nuclear programme. "The coming month is decisive," Silvan Shalom, vice premier, told public radio. "It is time the international community imposes tough sanctions against Iran, even if Russia and China do not go along."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union said on Monday they feared the Iranian government may crack down on opponents during this week's anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Washington and the EU issued a rare joint statement on Iran, warning the country's leaders to live up to their international human rights obligations. "We are particularly concerned by the potential for further violence and repression during the coming days, especially around the anniversary of the Islamic Republic's founding on 11 February," they said. The Iranian opposition is expected to revive anti-government protests around the anniversary, raising the...

What if Iran's hardline leadership emerges from the current confrontations at home strengthened and emboldened? If so, the nuclear issue will be back with a vengeance. And three recent war games focused on the Iranian nuclear weapons issue suggest that the prospects for halting the regime's progress toward nuclear weapons are not good. The games -- conducted by highly respected Western think tanks -- explored various strategies for preventing the Iranian nuclear threat from becoming real. The results, unfortunately, were uniformly negative. Given that these were serious games played by serious people, officials who deal with the nuclear problem as...

The UAE (United Arab Emirates) have bought a thousand American AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles. These cost about $160,000 each. The UAE is getting the infrared version, which works well at night or in bad weather. Maverick is a "fire and forget" missile. Once the pilot picks out the target on a TV screen, the missile continues to home in on the designated target without any continued pilot assistance. The 300 kg (660 pound) missile can carry a warhead of up to 138 kg (300 pounds). The UAE will most likely use the Mavericks from their F-16s, which train to attack...

PING TO END TIMES, Dreams, Visions, Prophecy ping list and the UFO ping lists ########################### Dear Ones, Have been here so many times over the last decade or two . . . have resisted saying much of anything yet again to much of anyone. Nevertheless, the last week, reading multiple reports from Iran of their ever more pointedly put threats from AhmANutJob on down . . . has been more than a little sobering. And now yet another . . . Here's the FR thread about it: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2447187/posts A number of FREEPERS have communicated with me privately and some...

Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a "punch" that will stun world powers during this week's 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, AFP reported. "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman, February 11, in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel according to AFP.

Reporting from Beirut — Iranian officials trumpeted new nuclear and military ambitions Monday in the face of domestic political discord and stepped-up international talk of tightening economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran pressed ahead Monday with plans that will increase its ability to make nuclear weapons as it formally informed the U.N. nuclear agency of its intention to enrich uranium to higher levels. Alarmed world powers questioned the rationale behind the move and warned the country it could face more U.N. sanctions if it made good on its intentions.

Iran will soon unveil a domestically-made air defence system with at least the same capability as Russia’s S-300 anti-aircraft hardware, an Iranian air force commander told on Monday. Last month, Russia’s state arms trader declined to say whether it would go ahead with the sale of S-300 to Iran, which could protect the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities from air strikes. Iranian officials have expressed growing irritation at Russia’s failure so far to supply the missile system, which Israel and the United States do not want Tehran to have. “The only equipment we wanted to import from abroad was the S-300...

Iran: Incredibly, the Bush national security team's sole holdover has announced Peace in Our Time as the only hope against a nuclear Tehran. There is no defense for Secretary Robert Gates. Appearing in Paris with the French defense minister on Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made an announcement to the world that will astonish our friends and embolden our enemies. "We must still try and find a peaceful way to resolve this issue," Gates said of the never-ending defiance of the free world by Iran's Islamofascist regime as it moves ever closer to becoming a nuclear weapons power. "The...

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a "punch" that will stun world powers during this week's 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution. "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel. The country's top cleric was marking the occasion when Iran's air force gave its support to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a key event which led to...

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a "punch" that will stun world powers during this week's 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution. "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel. The country's top cleric was marking the occasion when Iran's air force gave its support to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a key event which led to...

Self-confessed bulldog with lipstick and conservative hero Sarah Palin has started her 2012 campaign on a combative note. War with Iran and soon. This comes in the wake of Tehran yet again getting up the West’s noses with regard to their uranium enrichment programme. Palin advocated war with Iran in a recent interview with Fox news and added that the war card may well be Obamas safest bet for re-election in 2012. "Say he decided to declare war on Iran or decided really to come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to...

Thirty-one years ago this week, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran after 15 years in exile. The anniversary is usually marked by triumphant rallies. Not this time: protesters are planning mass demonstrations against a regime they say has betrayed Islamic ideals.

"It is not possible that only one person run the country. There have to be laws and the Supreme Leader is also in the law. There have to be a law because one person cannot rule 70 million people." Ayatollah Dastgheyb, senior religious figure and a member of the Assembly of Experts, for the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution while criticizing the current situation of the country said: Armed force should not interfere in political affairs, but it seems like today all the affairs of the country is in the hands of Revolutionary Guards and police and people have no...

Mottaki says 'Zionist regime is in its weakest position' following Goldstone Report, Lebanon and Gaza wars, but warns entire region 'must be prepared for crazy operations against us' Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday referred to Israel as "a mad nation led by insane people". In an interview to the al-Jazeera network, Mottaki said that the Islamic Republic was not taking the Jewish state's threats to launch a military attack on its nuclear facilities seriously, but stressed that Tehran must be prepared for an Israeli attack. According to the Iranian minister, "The Zionist regime in the region is in...

(AFP) – 29 minutes ago TEHRAN — Iran's all powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution would be a "punch" to the world's "arrogant" powers that would stun them. "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel.

Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor who ran with Sen. John McCain against the Obama-Biden ticket, said on Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama can win again if he starts backing Israel and decides to attack Iran.

Call it a case of defense-press diplomacy: An Iranian colonel this week spoke publicly about a "special weapon" that was tailor-made to destroy U.S. Apache attack helicopters. The government-run Iranian news agency also released images of the shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile. In the photo, the launcher is to the left, in green, and the grey missile is also to the left, with a white cap covering the seeker at the tip. The straight black piece sticking out is a simple aiming device, similar to those found on other shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. "The enemy should not assume that if it attacks Iran,...

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today ordered Iran's atomic energy organisation to begin enriching its uranium stockpile to a higher level, further raising fears over the country's nuclear ambitions. Ahmadinejad was shown on Iranian television ordering the uranium, which is currently enriched to the level of 3.5%, to be further refined to 20% purity. State media said the work would start on Tuesday. Iran said it needs the more concentrated fuel for a research reactor in Tehran which makes isotopes for medical uses. However, western officials pointed out tonight that Iran does not possess the specialised technology for turning the enriched uranium...

Sarah Palin may not be running for president. But would it be okay if she flirted with the idea publicly for a few years to help keep her Tea Party-loving fans tantalized by the idea? Oh, you betcha. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace the morning after her aggressive speech to the Tea Party Nation convention in Nashville, Palin didn't do anything to dispel the hopes and dreams of whatever small slice of the electorate still wants her to be in charge of America's nuclear launch codes. "I would," she answered, when Wallace asked her if she'd run....

Iran has successfully tested a radar-evading aircraft, a commander said on Sunday, in the country's latest announcement of technological advances as it marks the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

As Israel keeps threatening the regional countries with war, Egyptian maritime sources say the Israeli navy has deployed two missile ships to the Persian Gulf. Citing the sources, Yediot Ahronot reported Saturday that two Israeli missile ships passed through the Suez Canal en rout to the Red Sea on Thursday morning. The sources said the ships are expected to reach the Persian Gulf within the next four days. According to the report, Cairo adopted tight security measures to ensure the safe passage of the Israeli ships through the canal.