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London-based Daily Telegraph reports of mysterious blast in military convoy leaving Revolutionary Guards Base last weekend. At least 15 people killed in explosion, but Iranian authorities seeking to silence incident Was sabotage responsible for disrupting a shipment of arms from Iran to Hizbullah? The London-based Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Friday of a mysterious explosion which devastated an Iranian supply convoy intended to reach Hizbullah. According to the report, the strong blast took place in one of Tehran's suburbs as a military convoy left a Revolutionary Guards' ammunition storehouse. At least 15 people were killed in the explosion. Western sources reported...

For an organisation that prides itself on being a well-run administrative machine, the leadership of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards is having a rather testing time. It’s not just last Saturday’s mysterious explosion in a suburb of Tehran that killed 15 people that is causing the leadership sleepless nights, although the nationwide news black-out imposed immediately afterwards does suggest the Revolutionary Guards, the storm troops of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, are rattled. Details are only now starting to reach the outside world, and it looks increasingly like sabotage was responsible for devastating a military convoy as it travelled through Khavarshahar. The company responsible...

The US plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years as part of a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush. The Guardian has learned that an announcement will be made in the next month to establish a US interests section - a halfway house to setting up a full embassy. The move will see US diplomats stationed in the country. ~ snip ~

Cheney hits out at Iran, Syria as he wraps up Mideast peace push Mar 24, 2008 JERUSALEM (AFP) - US Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday hit out at Iran and Syria as he wrapped up a Middle East peace push, saying they were undermining the renewed but faltering Israeli-Palestinian talks. Iran and Syria "are doing everything they can to torpedo the peace process," Cheney told reporters in Jerusalem as he wrapped up a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories before heading to Turkey. During his talks with Israeli and Palestinian leadership, "I reaffirmed the president's commitment to help...

A prayer leader in Tehran last week urged all Islamic countries to sever their ties with Denmark and with all “those who desecrate Prophet Muhammad.” According to a report in the Tehran Times, Ayatollah Khatami of the Assembly of Experts believes that the Danish cartoons depicting the religious figure are insulting and part of a plot to stop the spread of Islam in the world. “In Denmark, where the cartoons were published, the Quran became the best seller book, therefore they should know such actions will not serve their purpose,” Ayatollah Khatami told worshippers. Last month, newspapers in Denmark reprinted...

Israel's Channel 10 News said the Jewish state has sent a letter to Hizbullah threatening to wage war against Lebanon if the Shiite group launched a massive retaliatory attack to avenge the killing of Imad Mughniyeh. It said Israeli security forces were put on high alert "inside and outside" Israel over fears of possible attacks by Hizbullah at the end of the 40-day mourning period for Mughniyeh, who was assassinated by a car bombing in Damascus Feb. 12. In response to a question about the likelihood of a Hizbullah reprisal, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said: "We are ready on...

I've long been a proponent of military intervention against Iran, though not a ground forces invasion. As evidence builds that Iran is interfering in Iraq and is a major player behind terrorist groups like Hezbollah, we need to consider action. The newest development is that Iran isn't only behind Hezbollah, but they're training fighters for the terrorist group Hamas: The Hamas commander, however, confirmed for the first time that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has been training its men in Tehran for more than two years and is currently honing the skills of 150 fighters.The details he gave suggested that, if...

A Hamas commander confirmed to the Times of London what most people assumed: Iran has made Hamas its proxy against Israel.  Since the Hamas coup in Gaza in 2006, Iran has provided funding and training to Hamas.  The Revolutionary Guard has trained over 150 Hamas fighters, further implicating the Iranian military directly in terrorism: Last week Yuval Diskin, the head of the Israeli internal security service Shin Bet, said as much when he claimed that Hamas had “started to dispatch people to Iran, tens and a promise of hundreds”. He provided no evidence.The Hamas commander, however, confirmed for the first...

The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said on Monday he would pursue an investigation into intelligence reports that say Iran secretly studied how to make atom bombs.Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said the intelligence was fake and said an IAEA report on February 22 showed Iran had answered all outstanding questions and certified its nuclear intentions were wholly peaceful.IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei disputed this, saying that while improved Iranian transparency had settled some doubts about its activities, intelligence suggesting Tehran sought to “weaponize” nuclear materials remained a pressing issue. “Iran continues to maintain that these alleged weaponization studies...

Old paradigm: Iranian nuclear program no threat to the West. New paradigm: Iran lied about its weaponization and may still be pursuing weapons. The IAEA now wants Iran to prove it isn’t developing weapons, and this time the Europeans have taken the lead in demanding answers: Last Monday, the chief United Nations nuclear inspector gathered ambassadors and experts from dozens of nations in a boardroom high above the Danube in Vienna and laid out a trove of evidence that he said raised new questions about whether Iran had tried to design an atom bomb. For more than two hours, representatives...

ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq (AP) -- Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch is a West Point graduate with a master's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT. In Iraq, he's also a fish farmer. Violence in the region Lynch commands, including the so-called ""Triangle of Death"" south of Baghdad, has dropped nearly 80 percent from a year ago. That, Lynch says, allows him and his troops to spend less effort chasing insurgents and more on helping the citizens rebuild their economy. ""I used to go to patrol bases and plan military operations. Now I walk around and talk to people,"" Lynch said on a visit...

Mohammed ElBaradei has issued a new IAEA finding that states Iranian explanations of its nuclear activities -- with one glaring exception --are "consistent" with the agency's own findings. Danielle Pletka and Michael Rubin slam ElBaradai in today's Wall Street Journal for his agenda in assisting Iran in hiding the true nature of its nuclear activities, and of hiding behind his Nobel Peace Prize to do so: The report represents Mr. ElBaradei's best effort to whitewash Tehran's record. Earlier this month, on Iranian television, he made clear his purpose, announcing that he expected "the issue would be solved this year." And...

an Iranian magazine called Zanan ("Women," in Farsi). Written by Haleh Esfandiari of the Wilson Center, who was imprisoned in Tehran for several months last year, "Iranian Women, Please Stand Up" told the tale of Shahla Sherkat, who bravely courted controversy as the founder of a glossy women's magazine that covered topics both political and personal. Despite harassment from government officials, periodic censorship, and budget woes, Sherkat managed to keep the magazine open for 16 years. But last week the government shut down Zanan, this time for good. Iranian authorities, according to an editorial in the New York Times, claim...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got out-populisted by his masters yesterday in a rare public display of disagreement between the Iranian president and the real power, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini. Khameini ordered his president to obey the legislature and fund subsidies for natural gas in a cold winter. Ahmadinejad had previously refused, claiming that the move would not be fiscally responsible: The political authority of the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, suffered a serious blow today after the country's most powerful figure sided with MPs by ordering him to supply cheap gas to villages undergoing power cuts amid an unexpectedly harsh winter. In...

They come so frequently, it's hard to get worked up, but there's a dead giveaway this time. The teaser for the piece reads, "At the risk of sounding like an apologist for the Islamic Republic..." The author is Hooman Majd, who accuses the Pentagon of manufacturing the incident with Iran in the Gulf this week. The Pentagon's version of the encounter in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday morning, involving U.S. Navy warships and Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats is, at the very least highly suspicious. On Tuesday, the Navy released video footage and an audiotape to back its claims...

I don't think President Bush is going to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, not before the presidential election next November 4, and not between then and the day he leaves office the following January 20, either. As reckless as he is, I don't think he's that reckless. He wouldn't make a move that could set off WMD missile wars, invasions, coups, Islamic revolutions and whatnot all over the Middle East, then just fly back to the ranch and let somebody else clean up the mess. If Bush was at the beginning of his term, he might do it, but not with...

Iran hostage crisis, in U.S. history, events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979. The overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of Iran by an Islamic revolutionary government earlier in the year had led to a steady deterioration in Iran-U.S. relations. In response to the exiled shah's admission (Sept., 1979) to the United States for medical treatment, a crowd of about 500 seized the embassy. Of the approximately 90 people inside the embassy, 52 remained in captivity until the end of the crisis.

Thousands of Iranians chanted "Death to America" and vowed not to yield to U.S. pressure over Iran's nuclear program at a demonstration on Sunday marking the 28th anniversary of the seizure of the American embassy.

In the years after 9/11, Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann worked at the highest levels of the Bush administration as Middle East policy experts for the National Security Council. Mann conducted secret negotiations with Iran. Leverett traveled with Colin Powell and advised Condoleezza Rice. They each played crucial roles in formulating policy for the region leading up to the war in Iraq. But when they left the White House, they left with a growing sense of alarm -- not only was the Bush administration headed straight for war with Iran, it had been set on this course for years. That...

US Democratic candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have expressed their intention to engage in “unconditional negotiations” with Iran, should either of them attain the presidency. The question is: Negotiate over what? Are the conflicts in the Middle East a result of a crisis in Washington-Tehran relations; or rather, does it revolve around Iran’s expansion ambitions and its interference in the internal affairs of Arab states for over 20 years? Is the Washington-Tehran crisis a result of the absence of dialogue, or is it by reason of Iran’s aspirations to destabilize the region? Iran occupies the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE)...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad celebrated Al-Quds Day today by calling Israel's existence an "insult to human dignity". Backed by chants of "Death To America!", the Iranian president and recent guest of Columbia University challenged Europe to give land to the Jews and to oppose Israel and the United States: Millions of Iranians attended nationwide rallies Friday in support of the Palestinians, while the country's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel's continued existence was an "insult to human dignity." "The creation, continued existence and unlimited (Western) support for this regime is an insult to human dignity," Ahmadinejad said. "The occupation of Palestine is...

Tehran - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards will step in to stop any "cultural aggression" that threatens the country, one of the country's top generals said on Tuesday. General Yahia Rahim Safavi, military adviser to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and former head of the Guards, said the Guards had a priority to guarantee the "internal security" of the country. "Guaranteeing internal security is delegated to ordinary police but if the situation worsens, the Revolutionary Guards will step in to restore order," he said. Speaking at Sharif University in Tehran, he said "if the situation worsened, the guards had the...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The shops are full of Western pop music and movies — the latest Harry Potter film, even "The Simpsons." Young women stroll the streets in skinny jeans and short coats, their heads barely covered, arm-in-arm with boys in muscle shirts and spiky hair. This is affluent north Tehran, where clerics are rare, lifestyles are relatively liberal and Iran's growing isolation from the world is a source of deep anxiety. Not far to the south, though, in a dilapidated bureaucratic building near the city's government center, and farther to the south in Tehran's sprawling poorer neighborhoods, things...

NEW DELHI: India is skipping a crucial official level talks on the USD-7.4-billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline beginning in Tehran this week, saying it will not attend tri-nation meetings unless transit fee issue is resolved with Islamabad. Iran had called a meeting of technical experts and lawyers from the three nations during September 24-26 to exchange views on the gas-supply contract that India and Pakistan, as consumers, would have to sign with fuel supplier Iran. Officials of the three countries were to then discuss the issue on September 27. "There are crucial bilateral issues that need to be resolved first before...

The nuclear Iranian crisis forces the world "to prepare for the worst" which "is war," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday evening, while emphasizing that negotiations should still be the preferred course of action. Kouchner, quoted by French daily Le Figaro, added that "Iran does whatever it pleases in Iraq ... one cannot find in the entire world a crisis greater than this one."

Psychic Takes 500 Hostage in Tehran University TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- A masked man took hostage 500 people attending an academic meeting in the Convention Hall of Tehran University here Tuesday morning. Witnesses said that the man who carried a Kalashnikov rifle merely intended to inform the audience of his personal problems. Eye-witnesses also said that the man intended to show some CDs and documents to the hostages. According to the reports the hostage-taker used to be a member of the Iranian police and was upset with the way he had been treated by his former department. Following the attack,...

Excerpt - ANKARA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - A Turkish passenger plane heading for Istanbul from northern Cyprus was hijacked on Saturday and forced to land for refuelling in southern Turkey, local media reported. It was not clear how many hijackers were on board, but they said they wanted to fly to Tehran, media said. ~ snip ~

Iran authorities lash man for having bible in car - report Mon. 13 Aug 2007 Iran Focus Tehran, Iran, Aug. 13 – Iranian authorities in Tehran lashed a man on his back earlier this year for having a bible in his car, an Iranian Christian group said in a report on its website on Friday. The man was only identified by the initials A. Sh. On 5 May, the man, driving his vehicle, was involved in a road accident with a car belonging to security guards for a government official in Tehran. A bible and a video of Jesus Christ...

Clooney Company Working on Tehran Film August 13, 2007 A/P KNOXVILLE, Md. -- George Clooney's production company is writing a script for a movie based on the true story of a CIA fake-identity expert who smuggled six Americans out of Iran while dozens of others were being held hostage there. "Escape From Tehran" is in development but hasn't been approved for production, Stan Rosenfield, a spokesman for Smoke House productions, told The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail for a story published Monday. The trade journal Variety has reported that the script will be a "dramedy" — a humorous drama — and that Clooney...

It's clearly necessary to begin thinking about what form deterrence will take against future terrorist attacks on the U.S. At least 5 such attacks have been prevented at the operational stage by Bush administration policies over the last six years. What is needed is more serious consideration of the value of policies that deter such attacks. This is likely to become a more pressing concern, as America's ability to interrupt such attacks, if a Democrat becomes President, will be severely eroded. The Democrats are profoundly indifferent to national security, and have even managed to convince themselves that terrorism is some...

<p>On July 2, 2007, the Iranian news agency Mehr, reported that Michael Moore will be invited to Iran by the Documentary and Experimental Film Center for a screening of his new film "Sicko" at an Iranian festival for documentary films called Reality Cinema. The festival is set to take place in Tehran from October 15-19.</p>

According to Brian Ross and ABC news, NATO officials claim "they have caught Iran red-handed, shipping heavy arms, C4 explosives and advanced roadside bombs to the Taliban for use against NATO forces in what the officials say is a dramatic escalation of Iran's proxy war against the United States and Great Britain." I suspect it is only a matter of time before the ever-predictable American media will suggest NATO is lying to get us into a war with Iran. While daily evidence builds of Iran's support of terrorism, the world sits idly by and does nothing. Not even a harsh...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 5/24/07 - Gulf of Oman, Gharah Ghayah, Tehran,Natanz, Isfahan, New London BREAKING: Gulf of Oman - USS Nimitz, USS Bonhomme Richard, USS John C. Stennis BREAKING: Gharah Ghayah - Iranian equestrian women BREAKING: Isfahan - Insane uranium conversion facilities and centrifuges BREAKING: Natanz - Notorious Nightmare looming BREAKING: Tehran - Vulnerable refinery QFN ==== YE OLDE QUAGMIRE-FREE NEWS Exclusive to FReerepublic PICTURES YOU MAY NEVER SEE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ========= Gulf of Oman ========= USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) and the USS John C. Stennis (CVN...

May 9, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Iranian officials have jailed a prominent American-Iranian scholar after banning her departure from the country, according to the U.S.-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Haleh Esfandiari, the director of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center in Washington, had undergone periodic interrogations by Iranian intelligence officials for four months before being taken to Tehran's Evin prison on May 8, according to center President and Director Lee Hamilton. Wilson Center Details The Case Iranian officials have not commented on Esfandiari's reported arrest, and it is unclear whether she has been formally charged with...

TEHRAN (AP) — The Tehran city council defied government pressure on Wednesday, re-electing a moderate-leaning mayor who is seen as a potential rival to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The government had been campaigning to keep Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf from being picked again as mayor of the capital city. But the city council vote appeared to indicate waning support for Ahmadinejad, especially in the city he used to lead. "Mr Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf once again was elected as Tehran mayor," state-radio reported, saying he received eight of the 15 council votes. Qalibaf's reelection would be seen here as a victory for "moderate...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Having repeatedly vowed to "cut off the hand" of any attacker, Iran's president shifted to the leg on Friday to underline his determination to resist Western pressure over its nuclear program. "You, the enemies of the Iranian nation, know that this nation will break the leg of anyone who wants to violate its rights," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in the southeastern province of Kerman. "We will not be harmed by your opposition and it will be you who ... will be harmed," Ahmadinejad, known for his fiery anti-Western speeches, said according to the official IRNA...

Iran labour protest against president, "Death to the oppressors" By Shahriar, N. - Persian Journal May 1, 2007 Hundreds of Iranians took part on Tuesday in a demonstration in Tehran to mark labour day, accusing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government of failing to improve their working conditions. The workers converged on a stadium in central Tehran in the officially sanctioned demonstration to mark May Day but were dispersed by anti-riot police when the march moved out into the street, witnesses said. "Some 600 workers demonstrated at the exit to the stadium and shouted slogans against the minister of labour," Mohammad Jahromi,...

When I told my friends and family I was going to Tehran, they looked at me as if I were taking a short break in Mordor, and expected that the next time they saw me I would be being paraded by Revolutionary Guards after confessing to espionage, and then publicly hanged from a large crane at a busy traffic intersection. Well, not quite. The people of Iran are probably the most pro-Western in the world, though that will not stop them fighting like hell if we are foolish enough to attack them. Not that they will do so with nuclear...

When I told my friends and family I was going to Tehran, they looked at me as if I were taking a short break in Mordor, and expected that the next time they saw me I would be being paraded by Revolutionary Guards after confessing to espionage, and then publicly hanged from a large crane at a busy traffic intersection. Well, not quite. The people of Iran are probably the most pro-Western in the world, though that will not stop them fighting like hell if we are foolish enough to attack them. Not that they will do so with nuclear...

MOSCOW - Tehran agreed Sunday to a financing plan for the remaining construction of a nuclear power plant near Iran's southern port of Bushehr, the state-run Russian company leading the project said. Amid Iran's defiance of international pressure to halt uranium enrichment activities, Russia earlier this year delayed the launch of the plant, which had been set for September, saying Tehran was behind scheduled on payments. The international community fears Iran could be seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its uranium enrichment is meant only for nuclear energy purposes. Iranian officials denied any payment delays under the $1 billion...

TEHRAN (Press TV) -- U.S. political critic Scott Ritter believes that introducing Iran as a threat to the world is an ideology developed by the Bush administration. "Washington leaders have not yet provided any solid proof for their baseless accusations against Iran," the Austrian daily "Der Standard" quoted him as saying in an article published on Saturday. Referring to the White House claims on the violation of human rights in Iran, Ritter stated that the Iranian nation enjoys plenty of freedom compared to other countries in the Middle East. "The U.S. is already facing many problems regarding its own human...

TEHRAN, Iran - Fifteen British sailors and marines released by Iran arrived at Tehran's airport early Thursday and were expected to board a commercial flight to London, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. The 15, whose release from nearly two weeks in Iranian captivity was announced Wednesday by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arrived in a convoy of sedans that drove directly to the presidential VIP section of the airport, the reporter said.

Since day one of the planned operation to snatch British sailors from Iraqi (or international waters), the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) "Kitchen" in Tehran, had already drawn multiple scenarios for the following weeks and potentially months to come. Indeed the regime, reacting to significant rising pressures from sectors of its own population and from the US-UK led coalition, engineered an "escalating" incident.The main scenario, as projected inside the minds of the Iranian "Jihadi-cooks," is based on one request from the Khamenei-Ahmadinijad regime: wasting time, as much time as possible. To the Khomeinist Mullahs and their men in power, it is crucial...

Almost exactly five years ago I was lucky enough to be granted a journalist visa to Iran. I am not being facetious. Iranian women must be careful when it comes to clothing Journalist visas are like gold dust and Iran is a memorable country to visit. There's the majesty of Isfahan with its blue mosques, giant squares and scented bazaars; the ancient courtyard mansions of Kashan; the sophistication of Tehran, where beautiful women are forced to wear headscarves and anoraks in public and look like supermodels masquerading as spies. Like all other journalists I made my weekly pilgrimage to...

ABC News Learns Aircraft Carriers Sent to Region 'Hastily' After British Solders Were Seized March 27, 2007 ? The U.S. Navy is offering a huge show of military might near the location where Iran seized 15 British sailors and marines five days ago, in what is seen as a clear effort to send a message to Iran, a senior military official told ABC News' Martha Raddatz in Bahrain. Twelve ships, 100 aircraft and 12,000 sailors are taking part in the war games designed to get the attention of Iran. The naval exercise went on all day today and will continue...

Amir Mizroch, THE JERUSALEM POST Several foreign embassies in Teheran are updating their emergency evacuation plans should a Western or Israeli attack on Iran occur. According to foreign sources, foreign diplomats believe a possible attack would take place before the end of 2007. By that time, Iran might have enough enriched uranium to cause a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe from radioactive fallout should its nuclear facilities be damaged or destroyed in an attack. Embassies in all countries generally have evacuation plans for their staff, but foreign sources describe the general atmosphere in Iran as one of heightened preparedness. Recently, several...

Washington had the opportunity at the turn of 2007 to isolate and neutralize the Mahmud Ahmadinejad regime in Tehran, but through stupidity and arrogance has made war the most probable outcome. Misreading Russia (see Russia's hudna with the Muslim world, February 21) may have been the irreparable blunder. Meddling in the Muslim-majority states of the former Soviet Union and expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization prompt Russia to step on Washington's toes in the one place that hurts, namely West Asia. Russia drags its feet on United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran to send Washington a message of...

The chief U.N. nuclear inspector said Monday his agency cannot guarantee that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful despite four years of investigations and that doubts will persist until Tehran decides to cooperate with his experts. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke as board member nations of the IAEA gathered for a session on approving the suspension of dozens of technical aid programs to Iran as part of Security Council sanctions meant to punish Tehran for its nuclear defiance. Although the issue is not expected to come up until Tuesday at the earliest, the focus of the...

Teheran agents smuggled in missile that shot down RAF helicopter in Iraq, inquiry finds By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 12:48am GMT 04/03/2007 A missile which brought down an RAF Lynx helicopter and killed five British Service personnel was smuggled into Iraq by Iranian agents, an official inquiry into the attack will reveal. The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that a British Army Board of Inquiry (BOI) into the events surrounding last May's attack will state that the weapon, a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile known as an SA14 Strella, came from Iran. The attack, which was also responsible for...

With the addition of more than 21,000 combat troops being sent to Iraq plus the president's recent declaration to kill or capture Iranian Revolutionary Guard-Quds members these actions could be seen as a first step in addressing the Iranian problem. Further, the raid and capture of Iranian agents in the compound of Iraqi Shia leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim certainly reinforces that premise. The Iranian problem has been building for more than 27 years, manifested by the regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini conducting numerous attacks against the United States. First in November 1979, the radical "students" and possibly the current Iranian...