Posted on 10/13/2004 10:15:33 PM PDT by DoctorZIn
The US media still largely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” As a result, most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East. In fact they were one of the first countries to have spontaneous candlelight vigils after the 911 tragedy (see photo).
There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. I began these daily threads June 10th 2003. On that date Iranians once again began taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Today in Iran, most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy.
The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.
In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.
This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.
I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.
If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.
If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.
DoctorZin
The topic: "Senator Kerry and the Islamic regime influence on US elections."
The world will be watching this potentially explosive Press Conference scheduled to take place on Thursday October 14, 2004, from 09:15 AM at the Washington DC's National Press Club located at 529 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20045.
Joining SMCCDI are two journalists: Insight Magazine's Kenneth Timmerman and the author of the bestselling "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry," Dr. Jerome Corsi who is writing a book based on the Kerry-Namazee nexus.
The press conference will be of interest to all those following the 2004 elections and the events in Iran.
The coordinates needed to view the satellite feed are as follows:
Live Broadcast Date: Thursday, October 14, 2004
Live broadcast time: 9:30am-11:00am EASTERN TIME
A Test Signal will start: 9:15am-9:30am EASTERN TIME
Ku-band analog satellite: AMC9, Transponder: 3K
Orbital Position: 85 west
Downlink Frequency: 11760 MHz Vertical
Transmission Contact: ConnectLive Communications, 202-513-1000.
New York Sun Staff Editorial
October 13, 2004
The press is full of trial balloons with respect to proposals for Europe or America to offer "incentives" for Iran agreeing to stop work on a nuclear weapon. The New York Times reported yesterday that "The package would lift a ban on exports to Iran of certain badly needed civilian aircraft parts, without which its fleet of civilian airliners has been virtually grounded."
One of the lessons of September 11 is that civilian aircraft in the hands of terrorists can do considerable damage. This is a point so obvious that it is painful to have to point it out. On what grounds does an officially designated terrorist regime get help from their target countries in flying civilian airliners? If the Europeans who are negotiating with the Iranians do not grasp this essential point, certainly the people of New York do.
Beyond that, it will be important in considering any proposed deal with Iran to focus on the fact that Iran's nuclear ambitions are not at the heart of America's dispute with Tehran. After all, India, Pakistan, Israel, and France all have nuclear weapons and America has full diplomatic and economic relations with them. There are a host of other issues on the table with Iran: its human rights record that includes executing a Canadian journalist, jailing student dissidents, and persecuting Jews, among others; its financial and logistical support for radical Islamist terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah that engage in suicide bombing attacks in Israel that kill Americans and Israelis; its harboring of Al Qaeda terrorists; and its aid to anti-American forces in Iraq.
Even were a deal reached in which the Iranians promised progress on all those fronts, there is no guarantee that the Iranians would not cheat on such a deal. Iraq cheated on its United Nations-supervised oil-for-food and disarmament arrangement. North Korea cheated on the nuclear disarmament deal that it cut with an overly credulous Clinton administration.
It is true that diplomacy is more likely to be successful when it is backed, as it is in the Bush administration, with a credible threat of the use of force. But count us as skeptical that America or its allies should send nuclear fuel or civilian airplane parts or anything else useful to Iran - other than aid to its democratic opposition - so long as the regime there is aiding and harboring terrorists and oppressing internal opposition.
Senator Kerry is on record as preferring a negotiated approach to the Persian problem. President Bush himself has been too willing to countenance a European approach. On the campaign trail, Mr. Bush has said of the terrorists, "You can't negotiate with them." This would be an excellent moment for the president and his diplomats to keep that in mind.
Listen to Leah Krakinowski's report (RealAudio) Krakinowski report - Download 314k (RealAudio)
An Iranian-American human rights group says the Iranian government has stepped up its campaign against pro-democracy dissidents, women and minorities with the staging of some 120 public hangings, and the arrest and imprisonment of more than 40 journalists. Members of the National Coalition of Pro-Democracy Advocates say that in the past year, the Islamic fundamentalist regime has been taking extreme measures to silence reform efforts.
The non-profit group cites as evidence of the government's tactics an Amnesty International report of the public execution of a 16-year-old girl for "acts incompatible with chastity." Atefeh Rajabi was reportedly hanged in the Northern city center of Neka on August 15.
Iranian authorities have also detained journalist and rights advocate Emadeddin Baghi and seized his passport at Tehran airport. As a result, Mr. Baghi is unable to come to New York this week to accept an award for civil courage.
Haydar Akbari is president of the National Coalition. He says human rights violations have increased since Iran's Islamic hardliners won control of the 290-member parliament by a landslide in the February 2004 elections.
"They closed the whole atmosphere of freedom regarding even the freedom of clothing and scarves, freedom of music, CDs, DVDs," he said. "The atmosphere is totally different from last year. Since January, more than 100 people were openly hanged, and many journalists, many writers, many intellectuals have been imprisoned and tortured."
Mohammed Alafchi, president of the New York Iranian-American Association, says that as the United Nations' General Assembly begins its sessions, his organization is trying to bring media attention to the escalation of human rights abuses.
"The hardliners are grabbing all the powers from all different parts of the country and they are consolidating their powers, and they are stepping up their campaign against any freedom that people have," he added.
Last November, a key United Nations committee approved a Canadian-drafted resolution rebuking Iran for human rights abuses, including torture, suppression of free speech and discrimination against women and minorities.
VOA was unable to get a response to the coalition's charges from the Iranian mission to the United Nations. But in the past, spokesmen for the Iranian government have routinely rejected such criticism, saying it fully supports the human rights of its citizens.
[ THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2004 12:37:39 AM ]
|
ALTHOUGH its desire to spread hard-line Islam abroad has waned somewhat since the Khomeni revolution a quarter century ago, Iran remains an ideological state. But apart from Islam, it is the Shia doctrine that defines Iran’s religious leadership and its worldview.
Before 9/11 and its immediate aftermath altered the regional balance of power irrevocably, Iran was well placed to project its influence beyond its borders. It was arming and funding the Shia Hazaras and Ahmed Shah Masood in their resistance against the Sunni Taleban in Afghanistan. Shia Muslims in Central Asia were being given scholarships to study theology in Iran’s seminaries, and Shia armed groups in Pakistan were being helped by Teheran in their fight against Sunni extremists.
In Iraq, the only other Muslim country with a Shia majority, the ayatollahs were content to play a waiting game, secure in the knowledge that Saddam Hussein, weakened after a decade of sanctions, no longer posed a threat. They had mended fences with the Gulf States, and were gradually becoming more acceptable to the West.
With 9/11 and the consequent American-led attack and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran was suddenly encircled by the world’s sole superpower. Worse, its President had branded the country one of the ‘axis of evil’ together with Syria and North Korea.
But the invasion of Iraq brought opportunities as well as dangers for Iran. For the first time since Iraq’s creation after the First World War, the majority Shia population was in a position to gain power. Teheran understood that if it played its cards right, it could wield enormous influence in Baghdad after the Americans left.
Basically, Ayatollah Khamanei seems to have decided to proceed along two tracks. The first track has the firebrand Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr leading his Mahdi army in an armed insurrection against the American occupiers. The idea is to make Iraq virtually ungovernable, forcing the Americans into an early exit. The second track consists of encouraging Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the hugely respected Iraqi cleric, to consolidate his power among the Shia community.
This policy is based on the expectation of a Shia majority in any reasonably fair Iraqi election. While the Americans are trying to finesse this possibility through safeguards for the Kurdish and Sunni minorities, it is a matter of time before Teheran’s waiting game pays off.
Should a Shia-dominated Iraq emerge from the embers of the Gulf War, it can be expected to cooperate closely with Iran. While the seniority of its hierarchy of ayatollahs would give it considerable independence, the two countries would consult closely on a wide range of matters from oil prices to diplomacy.
Close ties between the world’s only two Shia countries would make for a formidable alliance. Given their oil and gas reserves, as well as their land mass and literate populations, they would dominate the region, and pose a major threat to American and Israeli interests.
The current expressions of alarm over Iran’s nuclear programme should be seen in the context of the West’s growing concern at Teheran’s ambitions in Iraq. Similarly, its continuing improvement of the range and accuracy of its missiles is giving it the means to project its power far beyond its borders.
But this overt muscle flexing is making it vulnerable to a joint pre-emptive strike by Israeli and American forces. Although its nuclear and missile-related assets are scattered and hidden, they are not completely immune. If the Americans can obtain a UN resolution based on the IAEA findings that Iran is in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, they can justify military action.
Thus, Iran may be in danger of overplaying its hand. If it waits patiently, the sheer demographic realities in Iraq virtually assure it of a major say in that country, together with the strategic and economic implications that flow from Shia rule in Iraq. If, however, it continues to exert pressure on the Americans through Moqtada Al Sadr and his Mahdi army, while also defying world opinion by acquiring nuclear arms, it will be risking all its gains on one roll of the dice.
The ongoing negotiated disarming of the Mahdi army is a subtle sign that Teheran’s ayatollahs understand the stakes. They are aware that they and their fellow Shias in Iraq would be the biggest losers if the January elections were disrupted through violence.
In the post-9/11 world, nuclear proliferation is a tough sell. Iran can ill afford a confrontation with the world’s sole superpower on an issue that isolates it, as none of its neighbours are happy with the thought of militant clerics with a nuclear arsenal. After the American elections, no matter who wins, the pressure on Teheran to roll back its uranium enrichment programme can only mount. The fact is that it is difficult to believe the official claim that Iran’s nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and is aimed at overcoming the country’s power shortage.
All too often, revolutionaries miscalculate the reaction of pragmatic leaders to their actions. The ayatollahs in Teheran should try and put themselves in Bush and Sharon’s place: the former will not accept Iran’s dominance over the world’s biggest oil-producing region, while the latter would never countenance its sworn enemy’s possession of nuclear warheads and the missiles to deliver them.
There are times when it pays to tread softly, specially when you live in a rough neighbourhood.Irfan Husain is a Pakistani political analyst
|
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran made Europe an offer Tuesday: Stop pressuring us on nuclear energy and we'll guarantee not to make a bomb. European and U.S. governments were discussing an alternate proposal -- to buy Iran out of its nuclear ambitions. Teheran's offer was not new, but given UN pressure on Iran to stop work on enriching uranium and a bill in parliament aimed at intensify such work, it came at a vital moment. "The time has come for Europe to take a step forward and suggest that our legitimate right for complete use of nuclear energy is recognized [in return for] assurances that our program will not be diverted toward weapons," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said. The offer is unlikely, however, to ease international pressure on Iran. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iran was already obliged by the International Atomic Energy Agency to stop uranium enrichment. |
Keep it comming!
Thanks!
10/12/2004 4:01:00 PM
To: Assignment and National desks, Daybook Editor
Contact: Aryo Pirouznia of Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran, smccdi@daneshjoo.org or 972-504-6864 or Fax: 972-491-9866
News Advisory:
When the Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) -- http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_8640.shtml -- and its coordinator, Aryo Pirouznia, uncovered evidence that totalitarian Iran's American propagandists were channeling hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Kerry campaign, SMCCDI shouted it from the cyber mountain tops. The Kerry Campaign is now desperately trying to distance itself from one of its Iranian-American "Trustees" and his highly questionable lawsuit against SMCCDI.
These propagandists know that the best defense is a good offense, and Hassan Nemazee filed a $10 million suit against SMCCDI and Pirouznia in Texas in March and immediately adopted a strategy of delay until after the presidential elections. Perhaps because it knows the suit would embarrass the Democrat nominee, Nemazee has sought to postpone if not avoid answering questions about his suit in a deposition. Thanks to a counter-suit, faith in democracy, and a clear-headed judge in Texas who refused the delay, SMCCDI is going public with the evidence.
Joining SMCCDI are two journalists: Insight Magazine's Kenneth Timmerman and the author of the bestselling "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry," Dr. Jerome Corsi -- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895260174/104-0642313-4295949 -- who is writing a book based on the Kerry-Namazee nexus.
Corsi, Timmerman, SMCCDI, and their legal counsel will hold a press conference, "The current Iranian Regime's Influence on Senator John Kerry's Presidential Campaign," -- http://www.regimeinfluence.com/ -- at the National Press Club on Thursday, October 14, 9:15 AM, in the First Amendment Room on the 13th floor.
The event is scheduled to be satellite uplinked for US-based TV and radio networks. Those interested must call 214-906-8181, on Wednesday, in order to obtain the downlink references or to check the SMCCDI's Website -- http://www.daneshjoo.org ("Public Statements" section).
Key statements by the Kerry Campaign on Iran
Before the Council on Foreign Relations in December 2003, Kerry announced "As president, I will be prepared early on to explore areas of mutual interest with Iran, just as I was prepared to normalize relations with Vietnam a decade ago."
Then the Kerry Campaign sent out an email that somehow made its way to the government-controlled Mehr News Agency in Tehran, where it was trumpeted as evidence of his resolve to patch things up with the mullahs. "It is in the urgent interests of the people of the United States," the message read, "to restore our country's credibility in the eyes of the world. America needs the kind of leadership that will repair alliances with countries on every continent that have been so damaged in the past few years, as well as build new friendships and overcome tensions with others."
Kerry's senior foreign affairs advisor, Rand Beers, confirmed the message was genuine, saying: "I have no idea how they got hold of that letter, which was prepared for Democrats Abroad. I scratched my head when I saw that. The only way they could have gotten it was if someone in Iran was with Democrats Abroad." (R. Beers' statement was made in an interview with K. Timmerman which was published by Insight Magazine on March 1, 2004.)
Then in the first Presidential Debate Kerry said, "I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes."
Statement by Hassan Nemazee at AIC Fundraiser
Hassan Nemazee spoke at an American Iranian Council (see page 6) dinner declaring that the AIC "does not attempt to explain or rationalize the position of the government of Iran, nor does it attempt to do so for the government of the United States. Its mission is to educate both sides and to attempt to establish the basis and the vehicle for a dialogue which will ultimately lead to a resumption of relations." (Nemazee's statement was made on June 1, 2002, at the San Francisco Ritz-Carlton Hotel in presence of Sen. Kerry during an AIC event organized for boosting relations with the Mullahs' regime).
If Kerry registered any protest against this assertion that the United States should normalize relations with one of the worlds bloodiest dictatorships, it was not recorded.
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/© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
These are interesting times we live in.
The effects that Iraq has in Iran will justify the treasure spent in lives and property of the U.S and it's allies.
Iran will make it, or break it.
Tehran John: Pro-Iranian lobby funding Kerry
Whistleblowers disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars given candidate
By Aaron Klein
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been given to Kerry from the pro-Iranian lobby, possibly influencing the presidential candidate's startling call to provide Tehran with the nuclear fuel it seeks, according to Iran's Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy chairman Aryo Pirouznia.
With top Iranian officials openly calling for the development of nuclear weapons within the next four months and overwhelming intelligence indicating Iran is seeking to create a nuclear arsenal, Kerry has been insisting as president he would provide Tehran with nuclear fuel as long as it is used for peaceful purposes only, a position that has many Middle East analysts baffled.
During the first presidential debate, Kerry said, "I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes."
The same policy of accommodation toward Iran's nuclear aspirations is clearly outlined on Kerry's campaign website as well.
Under the heading: "Prevent Iran From Developing Nuclear Weapons," the Kerry campaign states: "Iran claims that its nuclear program is only to meet its domestic energy needs. John Kerry's proposal would call their bluff by organizing a group of states to offer Iran the nuclear fuel they need for peaceful purposes and take back the spent fuel so they cannot divert it to build a weapon. If Iran does not accept this offer, their true motivations will be clear ..."
Pirouznia, who is holding a press conference in Washington, D.C., this morning, is disclosing the details of Kerry's financial ties to backers of the mullah government in Iran that have been seeking to moderate America's harsh line with regard to Tehran's nuclear aspirations.
Most prominent among them is Hassan Nemazee, 54, an investment banker based in New York who has joined the board of the American-Iranian Council, a U.S. lobbying group that consistently has supported lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran and accommodating the Tehran regime. Nemazee has raised more than $100,000 for the senator's campaign.
Nominated to become U.S. ambassador to Argentina by President Clinton in 1999, Nemazee eventually withdrew his nomination after a former partner raised allegations of business improprieties, WND previously reported.
As well, a Nemazee friend in Silicon Valley, Faraj Aalaei, has raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the Kerry campaign.
Last year, Aalaei married a 35-year-old recent immigrant from Iran named Susan Akbarpour, who has also raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the campaign.
In just six years since coming to the United States on a tourist visa from Iran, Akbarpour has started a newspaper, a magazine, and, most recently, a trade association whose goal is to get sanctions lifted and promote U.S. business and investment in Iran.
Kerry has embraced the political agenda of Akbarpour and other wealthy Iranian-Americans lobbying for Tehran. Aside from nuclear accommodation, other key positions include ending the finger printing of Iranian visitors to the U.S; expanding "family reunion" visas to allow extended family members of Iranians living in the U.S. to immigrate here legally and in large numbers; offering a "dialogue" with the hard-line, terrorist-supporting clerics in Tehran; and help Iran join the World Trade Organization.
Pirouznia will be working closely with Dr. Jerome Corsi, co-author of the New York Times best selling "Unfit to Command," on a new book about the Iranian-Kerry connection titled, "Atomic Islam," which will be published by WND Books in 2005.
"America is incredibly popular with the Iranian masses, so this is a grave mistake for a short-term benefit," Pirouznia says. "To the regime, [Kerry's policy] sends a message that America is willing to make a deal despite the blood of Americans who were murdered in Dhahran [Saudi Arabia] and are being killed today in Iraq by so-called foreign elements. And to Iranians, it shows that the old establishment may be back in power, a return to the Carter era."
Dr. Corsi said, "Not surprisingly, Iran has publicly accepted Kerry's 'offer' in the last few days."
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged his country's weapons developers to step up work on making a nuclear bomb, a U.S. official recently said, according to Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence news service.
Citing an authoritative source in the Iranian exile community, the official said Khamenei met recently with senior government and military leaders regarding the nuclear weapons program.
Khamenei told the gathering, "We must have two bombs ready to go in January or you are not Muslims," the official said.
Tehran has said the recent International Atomic Energy Agency resolution calling on Iran to halt uranium enrichment could lead to the country's withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Khamenei has in the past told many newspapers that nuclear weapons would be used to "destroy the Zionist regime."
Middle East Expert Craig Smith of Swiss America, who wrote the introduction to the forthcoming Atomic Islam book, said, "During the Presidential Debates, many of us were baffled as to why Senator Kerry unabashedly promised that as President he would give the totalitarian government of Iran nuclear fuel, but now it all makes sense. He knew who took him to the dance and he had no choice but to attempt to waltz American technology over to his newfound friends in Tehran."
Tehran John: Pro-Iranian lobby funding Kerry
Whistleblowers disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars given candidate
Posted: October 14, 2004
By Aaron Klein
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1244574/posts?page=13#13
"Stop pressuring us on nuclear energy and we'll guarantee not to make a bomb."
LOL
"Khamenei told the gathering, "We must have two bombs ready to go in January or you are not Muslims," the official said."
""Stop pressuring us on nuclear energy and we'll guarantee not to make a bomb." "
Hmmmm.....Which one is it?
| Russia finishes Iran nuke plant MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's top nuclear authority has finished construction of an atomic power plant in Iran -- a project the United States fears Tehran could use to make nuclear arms. "We're done. All we need to do now is work out (with the Iranians) the agreement on sending spent fuel back to Russia," said a spokesman for Russia's Atomic Energy Agency (RosAtom) on Thursday. To allay U.S. concerns, Russia has promised not to start up the Bushehr plant in southern Iran until Tehran guarantees to return to Russia all spent nuclear fuel, which can be used in making weapons. The signing of the document has been delayed repeatedly in past years, raising speculation that Moscow, under severe U.S. pressure to ditch the project, could shelve it until the U.N. nuclear agency declares Iran's nuclear programme peaceful. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian Parliament's Foreign Affairs and National Security Commission, was in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian nuclear and foreign affairs officials. RosAtom head Alexander Rumyantsev is due to visit Iran in late November, but industry sources have said signing of the key document could be delayed again. The 1,000-megawatt, $800 million (445 million pounds) Bushehr plant is due to be launched in the next year or so and reach full capacity in 2006. The RosAtom spokesman said work still remained to be done on assembling some security and control equipment. Russia has been building the Bushehr plant since the early 1990s. Both Moscow and Tehran maintain Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful. |
Russia finishes Iran nuke plant
Thursday October 14, 12:23 PM
MOSCOW (Reuters)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1244574/posts?page=19#19
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