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Saudi Says Iran Will "Pay the Price" for Alleged plot
October 13, 2011 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Parisa Hafezi and Jeremy Pelofsky
TEHRAN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia vowed on Wednesday that Iran would "pay the price" for an alleged plot to kill its ambassador in Washington and U.S. officials said there could be a push for a new round of U.N. sanctions.
Tehran angrily rejected the charges laid out by a number of top U.S. officials on Tuesday as "amateurish," but a threat nevertheless to peace and stability in the Gulf, a region critical to global oil supplies with a number of U.S. military bases.
"The burden of proof is overwhelming… and clearly shows official Iranian responsibility for this. Somebody in Iran will have to pay the price," senior Saudi prince Turki al-Faisal, a former ambassador to Washington, said in London.
Vice President Joe Biden echoed those hawkish sentiments, telling U.S. network ABC Iran would be held accountable. He said Washington was working for a new round of international sanctions against Iran, warning that "nothing has been taken off the table."
U.S. authorities said on Tuesday they had broken up a plot by two men linked to Iran's security agencies to assassinate Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir. One was arrested last month while the other was believed to be in Iran.
The motive for the alleged plot was not clear. Iran has in the past assassinated its own dissidents abroad, but an attempt to kill an ambassador would be a highly unusual departure.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are bitter regional and to some extent sectarian rivals, but they maintain diplomatic ties and even signed a security agreement in 2001. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Riyadh in 2007.
The United States has led a global effort to isolate Iran and pile on United Nations sanctions in recent years over Tehran's nuclear energy program which Washington and its regional allies including Israel and Saudi Arabia fear is a front for developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies nuclear arms ambitions.
Those allies fear Washington could take its eye off the ball on Iran. US diplomatic cables from Riyadh leaked by Wikileaks over the past year — in which Jubeir features prominently — show Riyadh repeatedly pushing the United States to take a tougher stand, including the possible use of military force.
Tensions rose between Riyadh and Tehran when Saudi Arabia sent troops to help Bahrain put down pro-democracy protests let by the island state's Shi'ite majority that both governments accused Iran, a non-Arab Shi'ite state, of fomenting.
This month Riyadh accused some among its Shi'ite Muslim minority of conspiring with a foreign power — a reference to Iran — to cause instability, following street clashes in the Eastern Province.
But Iranian analyst Saaed Leylaz said it was hard to see why Iran would risk involving itself in such a plot.
"Killing the Saudi envoy in America has no benefit for Iran," he said. "The consequences of this plot are dangerous … It could cause military confrontation in 2012 between Iran and America."
A Western diplomat in Riyadh said the charges would likely be discussed at the UN Security Council.
"The U.S. and Saudi Arabia and other allies are discussing the possibility of taking this to the Security Council because this is an assault on a foreign diplomat in the U.S," he said.
President Barack Obama, who seeks reelection next year, called the alleged conspiracy a "flagrant violation of U.S. and international law."
The United States said Tehran must be held to account and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped countries hesitant to enforce existing sanctions on Iran would now "go the extra mile."
But also seeking recourse in the world body, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations voiced outrage and complained of U.S. "warmongering" in a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. "The U.S. allegation is, obviously, a politically motivated move and a showcase of its long-standing animosity toward the Iranian nation," Mohammad Khazaee wrote.
Ali Larijani, Iran's parliament speaker, said the "fabricated allegations" aimed to divert attention from Arab uprisings Iran says were inspired by its own Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah — though Islam has not been the overt driving force for unrest across the Arab world.
"America wants to divert attention from problems it faces in the Middle East, but the Americans cannot stop the wave of Islamic awakening by using such excuses," Larijani said, calling the a "childish, amateur game."
"These claims are vulgar," he said in an open session of parliament. "We believe that our neighbors in the region are very well aware that America is using this story to ruin our relationship with Saudi Arabia."
The State Department issued a three-month worldwide travel alert for American citizens, warning of the potential for anti-U.S. action, including within the United States.
"The U.S. government assesses that this Iranian-backed plan to assassinate the Saudi ambassador may indicate a more aggressive focus by the Iranian government on terrorist activity against diplomats from certain countries, to include possible attacks in the United States," it said in a statement.
At a news conference, FBI Director Robert Mueller said a convoluted plot involving monitored international calls, Mexican drug money and an attempt to blow up the ambassador in a Washington restaurant smacked of a Hollywood movie.
Attorney-General Eric Holder tied it to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), guardian of Iran's 1979 revolution, and the Quds Force, its covert, operational arm.
"I think one has to be concerned about the chilling nature of what the Iranian government attempted to do here," he said.
The primary evidence linking Iran to the alleged conspiracy is that the arrested suspect is said to have told U.S. law enforcement agents that he had been recruited and directed by men he understood were senior Quds Force officials.
The Quds Force has not previously been known to focus on targets in the United States.
A plot against targets inside the U.S. "would be a first for the Quds Force," said Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA and National Security Council analyst who now heads the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
"I do want to hear more about what evidence (U.S. authorities) have and why they believe" that the Quds Force was involved, Pollack said.
U.S. officials said there had also been initial discussions about other plots, including attacking the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, but no charges for those were brought.
There are no formal diplomatic ties between the Islamic republic and Washington, which accuses Tehran of backing terrorism and pursuing nuclear arms, charges Iran denies.
Iran already faces tough U.S. economic and political sanctions and Washington slapped further sanctions on five Iranians, including four senior members of Quds.
U.S. officials identified the two alleged plotters as Gholam Shakuri, said to be a member of the Quds Force, and Manssor Arbabsiar, who was arrested on September 29 when he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport from Mexico.
Arbabsiar, 56, a naturalized U.S. citizen with an Iranian passport, initially cooperated with authorities after being arrested. He made calls to Shakuri after being arrested and acted as if the plot was still a go, court documents said.
Arbabsiar appeared briefly in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday where he was ordered detained and assigned a public defender. He appeared in blue jeans and a dress shirt, with thinning gray hair and a scar on the left side of his face.
Officials said the Saudi ambassador, who is close to King Abdullah and has been in his post since 2007, was never in danger. Obama was briefed in June about the alleged plot.
Court documents say a plot began to unfold in May 2011 when Arbabsiar sought help from an individual in Mexico who was posing as an associate of an unidentified drug cartel and who was in fact a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informant.
The unidentified paid informant tipped off law enforcement agents, according to the criminal complaint. Arbabsiar paid $100,000 to the informant in July and August for the plot, a down-payment on the $1.5 million requested.
Shakuri approved the plan to kill the ambassador during telephone conversations with Arbabsiar, the complaint said.
As part of the plot, the informant talked to Arbabsiar about trying to kill the ambassador at a Washington, D.C. restaurant he frequented, but warned him that could lead to dozens of others being killed, including U.S. lawmakers.
The criminal complaint said that Arbabsiar responded "no problem" and "no big deal."
In a monitored call, Shakuri told Arbabsiar to execute the plot, saying "just do it quickly, it's late," court papers say.
After Arbabsiar's arrest in New York, he gave U.S. authorities more details of Tehran's alleged involvement, Holder said.
Mueller, the FBI director, said that "individuals from one country sought to conspire with a drug trafficking cartel in another country to assassinate a foreign official on United States soil."
He added: "Though it reads like the pages of a Hollywood script, the impact would have been very real and many lives would have been lost."
The men face one count of conspiracy to murder a foreign official, two counts of foreign travel and use of interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire and one count each of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.
Authorities said no explosives were acquired for the plot and the weapon of mass destruction charge can range from a simple improvised device to a more significant weapon. The two men face up to life in prison if convicted.
(Additional reporting by Basil Katz in New York, James Vicini, Mark Hosenball, Tabassum Zakaria, Matt Spetalnick and Andrew Quinn in Washington and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
Ahmadinejad's Economic Savvy
September 1, 2011 by TMO · Leave a Comment
'He's giving back half of the 60 billion dollars in savings directly to the people in monthly deposits. So every Iranian, man woman and child, is eligible to receive the equivalent of 40 dollars a month.'
By Fareed Zakaria, CNN
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to worshippers before speaking at Friday prayers on Jerusalem Day in Tehran August 26, 2011. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl |
From the White House to London's House of Commons and beyond…few Westerners have anything nice to say about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
But there's one group that has glowing words of praise for Iran's President – and it's based not in Tehran, but in Washington.
The International Monetary Fund's latest report paints a pretty picture of Iran's economy.
It says growth has hit 3.2%, and will accelerate still further.
Inflation has dropped from 25% to 12% in just two years.
And Tehran has managed to do what every major oil exporter can only dream of accomplishing: It's slashed subsidies on gas to recoup 60 billion dollars in annual revenue. That one-sixth of Iran's entire GDP.
Why is this happening? And how can it be despite years of economic sanctions?
What in the world is going on?
Some say the IMF's numbers can't be right.
But we have no reason to doubt their work. The fund reasserted this week that its projections were independent of the government.
The real story here is that Iran has actually begun implementing some economic reforms. For decades now, Iranian leaders have tried to wean its people off cheap oil – oil that is subsidized by the government.
Cheap oil that has no connection to real market prices is not sustainable. Iran knows it, and so does every country from Saudi Arabia to Venezuela. But in the same way that any talk of tax increases here in America is considered heresy, people in oil-rich countries believe as an article of faith that they deserve cheap oil.
So how did Iran finally cut out the freebies?
The backstory is a complex game of chess between Ahmadinejad and someone much more powerful – the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
One theory goes like this: The Ayatollah thought cutting subsidies would make Ahmadinejad deeply unpopular. An ensuing revolt would then remove the one man who's come to challenge the Supreme Leader's power.
Another theory is that Ahmadinejad felt confident enough to go ahead with the reforms because he's crushed the opposition Green Movement.
Either way, he's played a smart hand. He's giving back half of the 60 billion dollars in savings directly to the people in monthly deposits.
So every Iranian, man woman and child, is eligible to receive the equivalent of 40 dollars a month.
That kind of money won't make any difference to Tehran's upper classes.
But that's not Ahmadinejad's constituency.
On the other hand if you're poor, if you have many children, and if you make sure the whole family signs up for the deposits, you'll probably be saying "Thanks, Mr. President".
The key thing to note here is that President Ahmadinejad had no choice, and neither did the Ayatollah.
Iran could not afford the subsidies anymore. Its economy is highly dysfunctional with many massive distortions and subsidies. And Washington's recent targeted sanctions are beginning to bite.
It is now harder than ever before for Iran to do business with the world. Most of the major international traders of refined petroleum have stopped dealing with Iran. Tehran now has to rely on much costlier overland shipments for its exports.
And it is now almost impossible to conduct dollar-denominated transactions with Iran. So we were left with the bizarre case last month of China resorting to the barter system to pay Iran for 20 billion dollars worth of oil.
The IMF has a point. Iran is implementing some needed reforms and as a result its economy is doing better. The irony is that it's happening – in some part – because of our sanctions. Talk about unintended consequences.
Gas Pipeline to Reach Border Next Year: Iran
July 21, 2011 by TMO · Leave a Comment
The Newspaper
TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that Tehran was hopeful of completing its section of the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline by the end of next year.
"Construction of the pipeline to export Iranian gas to Pakistan is under way, and we hope it will reach the frontier by the end of 2012," he said of the multi-billion-dollar project after a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari.
President Zardari, who arrived in Tehran on a day-long visit, held two rounds of talks with President Ahmadinejad — first delegation-level talks and then a one-on-one meeting.
The two leaders also reviewed progress on a proposal for the transmission of electricity from Iran to Balochistan.
They expressed confidence that joint efforts would prove helpful in countering terrorism, terming the menace a common enemy for the region and the world.
Mr Ahmadinejad said his country looked forward to a new era in relations with Pakistan.
"Iran is ready to reinforce its cooperation with Pakistan in every field," the Iranian president said.
Mr Zardari said relations between the neighbours should be strengthened, and proposed that "trade between the two countries be conducted in local currency, and not the dollar, to curb smuggling". He also proposed a bilateral free trade agreement.
The President said Pakistan was already in negotiations with Turkey, Sri Lanka and China for the currency swap arrangement.
He denounced "efforts by our enemies who seek to show that the Pakistan government is unstable by provoking trouble," saying that those responsible would face justice.
President Zardari praised Iran's constructive engagement in the trilateral process, recalling last month's Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan summit hosted by Tehran.
He urged the Iranian government to consider the creation of an integrated border management regime for tackling militancy and extremism. He said Pakistan and Iran had vital interests in stability and peace of the region.
Mr Zardari called for developing coordination between governments to curb narcotics and human trafficking in the region. He said Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan faced a common menace of drug trafficking and expressed the hope that a trilateral initiative would help counter the curse.
The President said Pakistan and Iran had the potential to undertake joint economic projects in Afghanistan to enhance connectivity, build infrastructure, rail and road links.
Mr Zardari said there was a need to raise bilateral trade to four billion dollars from one billion dollars. He called for working together to identify impediments to implementation of the Pakistan-Iran Preferential Trade Agreement, signed in 2006.
The Iranian president agreed to take full advantage of geo-strategic locations for "ushering in a new era of progress".
About the Afghanistan issue, President Zardari said Pakistan supported the process initiated by President Hamid Karzai for reconciliation and peace. He said Pakistan supported a reconciliation process which must be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned, adding that Islamabad was ready to provide all possible assistance to Kabul in reconstruction efforts.
It was Mr Zardari's second visit to Iran in less than a month. He visited Tehran last month to attend the counter-terrorism summit, on the sidelines of which the two countries and Afghanistan reached an agreement to augment cooperation in the fight against militancy.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain and presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar accompanied Mr Zardari.
KHAMENEI LAMBASTS US: Later Mr Zardari called on Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Fars news agency quoted Ayatollah Khamenei as telling the President: "The principal enemy of the Pakistani people and the unity of the country is the West, headed by the United States."
Iranian officials have been vocal in their criticism of the prolonged US troop deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which are now set to be drawn down.—Agencies
Pakistan 'Punished' in Pipelineistan
July 14, 2011 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Pepe Escobar
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) meets his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari during an official meeting in Tehran June 24, 2011. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi |
Before the end of 2011, Pakistan will start working on its stretch of the IP (Iran-Pakistan) gas pipeline – according to Asim Hussain, Pakistan's federal minister for petroleum and natural resources. The
1,092 kilometers of pipeline on the Iranian side are already in place.
IP, also known as "the peace pipeline", was originally IPI (Iran-Pakistan-India). Although it badly needs gas for its economic expansion, faced with immense pressure by the George W Bush – and then Barack Obama – administrations, India still has not committed to the project, even after a nearly miraculous agreement for its construction was initialed in 2008.
More than 740 million cubic feet of gas per year will start flowing to Pakistan from Iran's giant South Pars field in the Persian Gulf by 2014. This is an immense development in the Pipelineistan "wars" in Eurasia. IP is a major node in the much-vaunted Asian Energy Security Grid – the progressive energy integration of Southwest, South, Central and East Asia that is the ultimate mantra for Eurasian players as diverse as Iran, China, India and the Central Asian "stans".
Pakistan is an energy-poor, desperate customer of the grid. Becoming an energy transit country is Pakistan's once-in-a-lifetime chance to transition from a near-failed state into an "energy corridor" to Asia and, why not, global markets.
And as pipelines function as an umbilical cord, the heart of the matter is that IP, and maybe IPI in the future, will do more than any form of US "aid" (or outright interference) to stabilize the Pakistan half of Obama's AfPak theater of operations, and even possibly relieve it of its India obsession.
Another 'axis of evil'?
This Pipelineistan development may go a long way to explain why the White House announced this past Sunday it was postponing US$800 million in military aid to Islamabad – more than a third of the annual such largess Pakistan receives from the US.
The burgeoning Pakistan-bashing industry in Washington may spin this as punishment related to the never-ending saga of Osama bin Laden being sheltered so close to Rawalpindi/Islamabad. But the measure may smack of desperation – and on top it do absolutely nothing to convince the Pakistani army to follow Washington's agenda uncritically.
On Monday, the US State Department stressed once again that Washington expected Islamabad to do more in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency – otherwise it would not get its "aid" back. The usual diplomatic doublespeak of "constructive, collaborative, mutually beneficial relationship" remains on show – but that cannot mask the growing mistrust on both sides. The Pakistani military confirmed on the record it had not been warned of the "suspension".
No less than $300 million of this blocked $800 million is for "American trainers" – that is, the Pentagon's counter-insurgency brigade.
Moreover, Islamabad had already asked Washington not to send these people anymore; the fact is their methods are useless to fight the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked jihadis based in the tribal areas. Not to mention the preferred US method is the killer drone anyway.
The wall of mistrust is bound to reach Himalaya/Karakoram/Pamir proportions. Washington only sees Pakistan in "war on terror", counter-terrorism terms. Since the coupling of the AfPak combo by the Obama administration, clearly Washington's top war is in Pakistan – not in Afghanistan, which harbors just a handful of al-Qaeda jihadis.
Most "high-value al-Qaeda targets" are in the tribal areas in Pakistan – and they are, in a curious parallel to the Americans, essentially trainers. As for Afghanistan, it is most of all a neo-colonial North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) war against a Pashtun-majority "national liberation" movement – as Taliban leader Mullah Omar himself defined it.
Asia Times Online's Saleem Shahzad – murdered in May – argued in his book Inside al-Qaeda and the Taliban (full review coming later this week) that al-Qaeda's master coup over the past few years was to fully relocate to the tribal areas, strengthen the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistani Taliban), and in a nutshell coordinate a massive Pashtun guerrilla war against the Pakistani army and the Americans – as a diversionist tactic. Al-Qaeda's agenda – to export its caliphate-bound ideology to other parts of South and Central Asia – has nothing to do with the Mullah Omar-led Afghan Taliban, who fight to go back to power in Afghanistan.
Washington for its part wants a "stable" Afghanistan led by a convenient puppet, Hamid Karzai-style – so the holy grail (since the mid-1990s) can be achieved; the construction of IP's rival, the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline, bypassing "evil" Iran.
And as far as Pakistan is concerned, Washington wants it to smash the Pashtun guerrillas inside their territory; otherwise the tribal areas will keep being droned to death – literally, with no regard whatsoever to territorial integrity.
No wonder the wall of mistrust will keep rising, because Islamabad's agenda is not bound to change anytime soon. Pakistan's Afghan policy implies Afghanistan as a vassal state – with a very weak military (what the US calls the Afghan National Force) and especially always unstable, and thus incapable of attacking the real heart of the matter: the Pashtunistan issue.
For Islamabad, Pashtun nationalism is an existential threat. So the Pakistani army may fight the Tehrik-e-Taliban-style Pashtun guerrillas, but with extreme care; otherwise Pashtuns on both side of the border may unite en masse and make a push to destabilize Islamabad for good.
On the other had, what Islamabad wants for Afghanistan is the Taliban back in power – just like the good old days of 1996-2001. That's the opposite of what Washington wants; a long-range occupation, preferably via NATO, so the alliance may protect the TAPI pipeline, if it ever gets built. Moreover, for Washington "losing" Afghanistan and its key network of military bases so close to both China and Russia is simply unthinkable – according to the Pentagon's full-spectrum dominance doctrine.
What's going on at the moment is a complex war of positioning.
Pakistan's Afghan policy – which also implies containing Indian influence in Afghanistan – won't change. The Afghan Taliban will keep being encouraged as potential long-term allies – in the name of the unalterable "strategic depth" doctrine – and India will keep being regarded as the top strategic priority.
What IP will do is to embolden Islamabad even more – with Pakistan finally becoming a key transit corridor for Iranian gas, apart from using gas for its own needs. If India finally decides against IPI, China is ready to step on board – and build an extension from IP, parallel to the Karakoram highway, towards Xinjiang.
Either way, Pakistan wins – especially with increasing Chinese investment. Or with further Chinese military "aid". That's why the Pakistani army's "suspension" by Washington is not bound to rattle too many nerves in Islamabad.
Ahmadinejad: US Plans to Sabotage Pak Nuclear
June 9, 2011 by TMO · Leave a Comment
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during a news conference in Tehran June 7, 2011. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi |
TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday accused Washington, Tehran's arch-foe, of planning to sabotage Pakistan's nuclear facilities, during a media conference in Tehran.
"We have precise information that America wants to sabotage the Pakistani nuclear facilities in order to control Pakistan and to weaken the government and people of Pakistan," the hardline president said.
The United States would then use the UN Security Council "and some other international bodies as levers to prepare the ground for a massive presence (in Pakistan) and weaken the national sovereignty of Pakistan," he added, without elaborating.
Pakistan is the only Islamic nation with nuclear weapons, and has close relations with Iran.
In order to fight al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents in Pakistan, Washington has intensified its aerial operations in Iran's southeastern neighbor.
Pakistani Islamist groups have at the same time multiplied their assaults on Pakistani military convoys and also on transport and fuel convoys through Pakistani territory intended for NATO troops in Afghanistan.
Is Iran Running a Bluff?
February 18, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Did Robert Gibbs let the cat out of the bag?
Last week, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the world that Iran, unable to get fuel rods from the West for its U.S.-built reactor, which makes medical isotopes, had begun to enrich its own uranium to 20 percent.
From his perch in the West Wing, Gibbs scoffed: He [Ahmadinejad] says many things, and many of them turn out to be untrue. We do not believe they have the capability to enrich to the degree to which they now say they are enriching.
But wait a minute. If Iran does not have the capability to enrich to 20 percent for fuel rods, how can Iran enrich to 90 percent for a bomb?
What was Gibbs implying?
Is he confirming reports that Irans centrifuges are breaking down or have been sabotaged? Is he saying that impurities, such as molybdenum, in the feed stock of Irans centrifuges at Natanz are damaging the centrifuges and contaminating the uranium?
What explains Gibbs confidence? Perhaps this.
According to a report last week by David Albright and Christina Walrond of the Institute for Science and International Security, Irans problems in its centrifuge program are greater than expected. Iran is unlikely to deploy enough gas centrifuges to make enriched uranium for commercial nuclear power reactors [Iran's stated nuclear goal] for a long time, if ever, particularly if [UN] sanctions remain in force.
Thus, ISIS is saying Iran cannot make usable fuel for the nuclear power plant it is building, and Gibbs is saying Iran lacks the capability to make fuel rods for its research reactor.
Which suggests Iran's vaunted nuclear program is a busted flush.
ISIS insists, however, that Iran may still be able to build a bomb. Yet, to do that, Iran would have to divert nearly all of its low-enriched uranium at Natanz, now under UN watch, to a new cascade of centrifuges, enrich that to 90 percent, then explode a nuclear device.
Should Iran do that, however, it would have burned up all its bomb-grade uranium and lack enough low-enriched uranium for a second test. And Tehran would be facing a stunned and shaken Israel with hundreds of nukes and an America with thousands, without a single nuke of its own.
Is Iran running a bluff? And if Gibbs and Albright are right, how long can Iran keep up this pretense of rapid nuclear progress?
Which brings us to the declaration by Ahmadinejad on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which produced this headline in the New York Times: Iran Boasts of Capacity to Make Bomb Fuel.
Accurate as far as it went, this headline was so incomplete as to mislead. For here is what Ahmadinejad said in full:
When we say that we dont build nuclear bombs, it means that we wont do so because we dont believe in having it. The Iranian nation is brave enough that if one day we wanted to build nuclear bombs, we would announce it publicly without being afraid of you.
Right now in Natanz we have the capability to enrich to more than 20 percent and to more than 80 percent, but because we dont need to, we wont do so.
On Friday, Ahmadinejad sounded like Ronald Reagan: We believe that not only the Middle East but the whole world should be free of nuclear weapons, because we see such weapons as inhumane.
Now, if as Albright suggests, Tehran cannot produce fuel for nuclear power plants, and if, as Gibbs suggests, Iran is not capable of enriching to 20 percent for fuel for its research reactor, is Ahmadinejad, in renouncing the bomb, making a virtue of necessity?
After all, if you cant build them, denounce them as inhumane.
Last December, however, the Times of London reported it had a secret document, which intelligence agencies dated to early 2007, proving that Iran was working on the final component of a neutron initiator, the trigger for an atom bomb.
If true, this would leave egg all over the faces of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies whose December 2007 consensus was that Iran stopped seeking a bomb in 2003.
The Times credited an Asian intelligence service for having ably assisted with its story.
U.S. intelligence, however, has not confirmed the authenticity of the document, and Iran calls it a transparent forgery. When former CIA man Phil Giraldi sounded out ex-colleagues still in the trade, they, too, called the Times document a forgery.
Shades of Saddam seeking yellowcake from Niger.
Are the folks who lied us into war on Iraq, to strip it of weapons it did not have, now trying to lie us into war on Iran, to strip it of weapons it does not have?
Maybe the Senate should find out before voting sanctions that will put us on the road to such a war, which would fill up all the empty beds at Walter Reed.
Mothers of Captured Young Hikers Encouraged
October 22, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
New America Media, Mary Ambrose
Reporter Shane Bauer |
The wait for the release of three young Americans arrested on July 31 for allegedly crossing the border illegally into Iran continues, but their families hope they have made some progress towards bringing them home.
On Friday, Nora Shroud, Laura Fattal and Cindy Hickey, the mothers of Sarah Shroud, Josh Fattal, and Shane Bauer, met in New York City to deliver a petition to the Iranian trade mission. The 2,500 signatures and appeals were collected at the families' site, Free The Hikers, and at vigils held across the country. They all want the same thing: release the hikers from jail and allow them to leave Iran.
The trade mission accepted the petition, which the women viewed as a good sign, as were encouraging noises from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but they want action.
About a month ago, a Swiss diplomat was granted the first consular access visit to the hikers. Switzerland represents U.S. diplomatic interests in Tehran, since the U.S. doesn't have diplomatic relations with Iran. The diplomat phoned the parents and reported that their children were in good shape. The diplomat gave them chocolate and assured each of them that their companions were well. It's assumed they are not being held together.
It's been three weeks since Ahmadinejad said that the hikers entered the country illegally, which he noted was "considered a crime everywhere," and despite insisting he has no control over the judiciary or the case, he told the Associated Press that he could ask that "the judiciary expedite the process and give it its full attention … and basically look at the case with maximum leniency." The families want him to deliver on that promise.
Laura Fattal said they see this as a humanitarian issue and on CNN said she thinks that as a father, Ahmadinejad can "easily imagine how difficult it is for the families of the hikers."
Six Reasons Why Iran
July 9, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
Cannot Be Explained in a Twitter Feed
New America Media, News Analysis, Jalal Ghazi
A policeman stands guard in front of the British embassy during an anti-Britain protest gathering in Tehran, April 1, 2007. Picture taken April 1, 2007. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/Files |
The world's attention is on Iran. But the rhetoric of reformists vs. conservatives and students vs. mullahs cannot capture the complexity of what is happening on the streets of Tehran. Here are six reasons why the situation in Iran cannot be reduced to simplistic headlines or Twitter feeds.
First, the post-election crisis in Iran is not only a reflection of divisions between conservatives and reformers. Perhaps more importantly, it has brought divisions within the conservatives to the forefront.
"It is true that most of the armed forces, especially the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij, support the Supreme Leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the decision making in Iran is not exclusive to these two men," said human rights activist Ghanim Jawad on the London-based (ANB-TV) Arab News Broadcast. He pointed to a "vertical division," not only within the government but also within the society.
Ghanim added, "This vertical division is more dangerous to the Islamic revolution than the eight years of war between Iran and Iraq." That war, he said, united Iranian society. Now Iranian society is split and there are divisions within the Expediency Council, the Guardian Council, the parliament and the Assembly of Experts -– all important decision-making institutions.
Most significantly, he added, the religious authority in the holy city of Qom is also divided.
Second, the disputed election results provided the spark that ignited the street demonstrations, but there were many other important reasons that pushed hundreds of thousands of Iranians into the streets.
The widely read journalist Fahmi Huwaidi wrote on Al Jazeera.net that "one must acknowledge that this is the first time since the Islamic revolution that people held such large demonstrations to express their anger toward the regime and the supreme leader."
Huwaidi added, "It is hard to categorize all protesters under one title, but all have anger as a common denominator." There is anger over the election results, lack of individual freedoms, tense relations with the West, high unemployment and inflation, government support of Hezbollah and Hamas, and lack of rights for Arab, Kurdish and Sunni minorities.
Third, presidential candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi has become the symbolic leader of the reformist movement, but that does not mean that he is the one who created this movement.
During his election campaign he was accompanied by former President Muhammad Khatami everywhere he went because Mousavi was not a good public speaker, wrote Huwaidi.
Many Iranians also question his alliance with pragmatic conservatives who are suspected of corruption, such as the head of the Expediency Council, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Arab author Azmi Bishara wrote on Al Jazeera.net that "corrupt conservatives within the regime such as Rafsanjani rely on reformists such as Mousavi and Khatami as a way to renew their appeal, weaken the Supreme Leader, promote a more pragmatic policy and create better relations with the West." Bishara, however, warned that the pragmatic conservatives may temporarily agree to reforms, but reverse their position once they are in power.
Fourth, the street demonstrations are not necessarily an indication that Iran is an oppressive government or less democratic than neighboring Arab states.
"The position taken by the Iranian society toward claims of discrepancies in the elections is much better than the position of Arab societies toward similar claims," wrote Huwaidi. Iranians at least protested on the streets and clashed with police and security forces for 10 days. Arab populations have now accepted election fraud as a fact of life and given up on trying to change it, wrote Huwaidi.
Political writer Ahmad Asfahani told ANB that he was impressed by the "vigorous Iranian society" that gave birth to three populist revolutions in less than 60 years: the uprising that followed the overthrow of Iranian Premier Mohammad Mossadeq in 1953, the Islamic revolution in 1979, and now, the 2009 street demonstrations.
Fifth, not all of the 20 people who were killed during the demonstrations were protesters. According to Ghanim, at least eight security force members were also killed. This shows that the security forces were not the only side that used violence.
Ghanim told ANB that in this situation it is hard to control either side. He added that this raised questions about who really killed the young Iranian woman Neda Agha-Soltan who became a symbol for the street demonstrations. Ghanem said that it is possible that she was killed by "some groups who wanted to escalate the situation."
Sixth, the strong divisions within the major governing institutions in Iran show that the Iranian system is more similar to the American system than Arab regimes, whether they are ruled by presidents or monarchs. For example, the strong criticism that the Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has made against the interior ministry as well as the criticism by Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri in Qom of the Guardian Council shows that Iran has its own system of checks and balances which does not exist in most Arab countries. This also was evident in the televised debates in which Ahmadinejad made strong accusations against senior Iranian officials, including Rafsanjani.
The Iranian system has many discrepancies but the same can be said about the American system. Bishara wrote that the differences between the Republicans and Democrats in the United States are not much bigger than the differences between the conservatives and reformists in Iran. There seems to be no fundamental change in many respects. Iranian mullahs have used their positions to become very wealthy, much as American corporations have used lobbyists to pass laws in Congress that benefit them.
The real question is how Iran will emerge from all of this. If it comes out more powerful, it will be a vindication of the political process in Iran and proof that its system works better than those of its Arab neighbors. That is what really makes Arab countries nervous.
Iran Says to Free 100 More People Held in Unrest
July 9, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Two thirds of people detained during post-election unrest in Tehran last month have already been freed and another 100 will soon be released, Iran's police chief was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
"One hundred more will be released in the next two days," state broadcaster IRIB quoted Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam as saying in the northwestern city of Qazvin.
The same official last week said 1,032 people were detained in the capital following the disputed June 12 presidential election, but that most had since been let go.
Official results of the vote showing hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won by a landslide triggered days of mass street protests by supporters of defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, a moderate who says the election was rigged.
State media say at least 20 people were killed as protesters clashed with riot police and members of the Basij militia. The authorities and Mousavi blame each other for the bloodshed. Hardliners have called for Mousavi to be put on trial.
Rights activists have said 2,000 detained during the vote's turbulent aftermath may still be held across Iran, including leading reformers, academics, journalists and students.
But a reformist member of parliament quoted Iran's general prosecutor as saying 2,000 out of 2,500 detained had been freed and that the remaining cases would be referred to the judiciary.
The MP, Mohammadreza Tadesh, was quoted by a reformist website as making the statement on Wednesday after a meeting with the prosecutor, Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi.
Mousavi has demanded the release of "children of the revolution," referring to many detained establishment figures.
They include a former vice president and other former officials who held senior positions during the 1997-2005 presidency of Mohammad Khatami, who backed Mousavi's campaign.
The authorities accuse the West, particularly the United States and Britain, of inciting unrest in the Islamic Republic following the election, which led to the most widespread street protests in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Security forces quelled the demonstrations but Mousavi and allies have refused to back down, saying Ahmadinejad's next government would be illegitimate.
The authorities reject vote rigging allegations. Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday it had been the world's "freest" election.
Iran's main moderate party, Islamic Iran's Participation Front, called on Wednesday for the immediate release of its detained members and other people arrested because of their activities in support of moderate candidates in the election.
In a statement on its website, it expressed deep concern about the health situation of some of those held.
"Whatever happens to them, those who in the name of law and sharia arrested them will be responsible," the party said.
The Kargozaran party, seen as close to former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, earlier this week also called for the release of those detained and rejected the election result.
In Geneva, six U.N. human rights experts sought permission to visit Iran, saying they were concerned that political opponents of Ahmadinejad were continuing to be targeted.
"The legal basis for the arrests of journalists, human rights defenders, opposition supporters and scores of demonstrators remains unclear," they said in a joint statement.
"Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly continue to be undermined and the situation of human rights defenders is increasingly precarious," the statement said.
(Additional reporting by Geneva bureau; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
Iranian Elections: The 'Stolen Elections' Hoax
July 2, 2009 by TMO · 2 Comments
By Prof. James Petras, Global Research, Financial Times Editorial
"Change for the poor means food and jobs, not a relaxed dress code or mixed recreation… Politics in Iran is a lot more about class war than religion."
There is hardly any election, in which the White House has a significant stake, where the electoral defeat of the pro-US candidate is not denounced as illegitimate by the entire political and mass media elite. In the most recent period, the White House and its camp followers cried foul following the free (and monitored) elections in Venezuela and Gaza, while joyously fabricating an 'electoral success' in Lebanon despite the fact that the Hezbollah-led coalition received over 53% of the vote.
The recently concluded, June 12, 2009 elections in Iran are a classic case: The incumbent nationalist-populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (MA) received 63.3% of the vote (or 24.5 million votes), while the leading Western-backed liberal opposition candidate Hossein Mousavi (HM) received 34.2% or (13.2 million votes).
Iran's presidential election drew a record turnout of more than 80% of the electorate, including an unprecedented overseas vote of 234,812, in which HM won 111,792 to MA's 78,300. The opposition led by HM did not accept their defeat and organized a series of mass demonstrations that turned violent, resulting in the burning and destruction of automobiles, banks, public building and armed confrontations with the police and other authorities. Almost the entire spectrum of Western opinion makers, including all the major electronic and print media, the major liberal, radical, libertarian and conservative web-sites, echoed the opposition's claim of rampant election fraud. Neo-conservatives, libertarian conservatives and Trotskyites joined the Zionists in hailing the opposition protestors as the advance guard of a democratic revolution. Democrats and Republicans condemned the incumbent regime, refused to recognize the result of the vote and praised the demonstrators' efforts to overturn the electoral outcome. The New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, the Israeli Foreign Office and the entire leadership of the Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations called for harsher sanctions against Iran and announced Obama's proposed dialogue with Iran as 'dead in the water'.
The Electoral Fraud Hoax
Western leaders rejected the results because they 'knew' that their reformist candidate could not lose…For months they published daily interviews, editorials and reports from the field 'detailing' the failures of Ahmadinejad's administration; they cited the support from clerics, former officials, merchants in the bazaar and above all women and young urbanites fluent in English, to prove that Mousavi was headed for a landslide victory. A victory for Mousavi was described as a victory for the 'voices of moderation', at least the White House's version of that vacuous cliché. Prominent liberal academics deduced the vote count was fraudulent because the opposition candidate, Mousavi, lost in his own ethnic enclave among the Azeris. Other academics claimed that the 'youth vote' – based on their interviews with upper and middle-class university students from the neighborhoods of Northern Tehran were overwhelmingly for the 'reformist' candidate.
What is astonishing about the West's universal condemnation of the electoral outcome as fraudulent is that not a single shred of evidence in either written or observational form has been presented either before or a week after the vote count. During the entire electoral campaign, no credible (or even dubious) charge of voter tampering was raised. As long as the Western media believed their own propaganda of an immanent victory for their candidate, the electoral process was described as highly competitive, with heated public debates and unprecedented levels of public activity and unhindered by public proselytizing. The belief in a free and open election was so strong that the Western leaders and mass media believed that their favored candidate would win.
The Western media relied on its reporters covering the mass demonstrations of opposition supporters, ignoring and downplaying the huge turnout for Ahmadinejad. Worse still, the Western media ignored the class composition of the competing demonstrations – the fact that the incumbent candidate was drawing his support from the far more numerous poor working class, peasant, artisan and public employee sectors while the bulk of the opposition demonstrators was drawn from the upper and middle class students, business and professional class.
Moreover, most Western opinion leaders and reporters based in Tehran extrapolated their projections from their observations in the capital – few venture into the provinces, small and medium size cities and villages where Ahmadinejad has his mass base of support. Moreover the opposition's supporters were an activist minority of students easily mobilized for street activities, while Ahmadinejad's support drew on the majority of working youth and household women workers who would express their views at the ballot box and had little time or inclination to engage in street politics.
A number of newspaper pundits, including Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times, claim as evidence of electoral fraud the fact that Ahmadinejad won 63% of the vote in an Azeri-speaking province against his opponent, Mousavi, an ethnic Azeri. The simplistic assumption is that ethnic identity or belonging to a linguistic group is the only possible explanation of voting behavior rather than other social or class interests.
A closer look at the voting pattern in the East-Azerbaijan region of Iran reveals that Mousavi won only in the city of Shabestar among the upper and the middle classes (and only by a small margin), whereas he was soundly defeated in the larger rural areas, where the re-distributive policies of the Ahmadinejad government had helped the ethnic Azeris write off debt, obtain cheap credits and easy loans for the farmers.
Mousavi did win in the West-Azerbaijan region, using his ethnic ties to win over the urban voters. In the highly populated Tehran province, Mousavi beat Ahmadinejad in the urban centers of Tehran and Shemiranat by gaining the vote of the middle and upper class districts, whereas he lost badly in the adjoining working class suburbs, small towns and rural areas.
The careless and distorted emphasis on 'ethnic voting' cited by writers from the Financial Times and New York Times to justify calling Ahmadinejad 's victory a 'stolen vote' is matched by the media's willful and deliberate refusal to acknowledge a rigorous nationwide public opinion poll conducted by two US experts just three weeks before the vote, which showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin – even larger than his electoral victory on June 12. This poll revealed that among ethnic Azeris, Ahmadinejad was favored by a 2 to 1 margin over Mousavi, demonstrating how class interests represented by one candidate can overcome the ethnic identity of the other candidate (Washington Post June 15, 2009). The poll also demonstrated how class issues, within age groups, were more influential in shaping political preferences than 'generational life style'. According to this poll, over two-thirds of Iranian youth were too poor to have access to a computer and the 18-24 year olds "comprised the strongest voting bloc for Ahmadinejad of all groups" (Washington Porst June 15, 2009).
The only group, which consistently favored Mousavi, was the university students and graduates, business owners and the upper middle class. The 'youth vote', which the Western media praised as 'pro-reformist', was a clear minority of less than 30% but came from a highly privileged, vocal and largely English speaking group with a monopoly on the Western media. Their overwhelming presence in the Western news reports created what has been referred to as the 'North Tehran Syndrome', for the comfortable upper class enclave from which many of these students come. While they may be articulate, well dressed and fluent in English, they were soundly out-voted in the secrecy of the ballot box.
In general, Ahmadinejad did very well in the oil and chemical producing provinces. This may have be a reflection of the oil workers' opposition to the 'reformist' program, which included proposals to 'privatize' public enterprises. Likewise, the incumbent did very well along the border provinces because of his emphasis on strengthening national security from US and Israeli threats in light of an escalation of US-sponsored cross-border terrorist attacks from Pakistan and Israeli-backed incursions from Iraqi Kurdistan, which have killed scores of Iranian citizens. Sponsorship and massive funding of the groups behind these attacks is an official policy of the US from the Bush Administration, which has not been repudiated by President Obama; in fact it has escalated in the lead-up to the elections.
What Western commentators and their Iranian protégés have ignored is the powerful impact which the devastating US wars and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan had on Iranian public opinion: Ahmadinejad's strong position on defense matters contrasted with the pro-Western and weak defense posture of many of the campaign propagandists of the opposition.
The great majority of voters for the incumbent probably felt that national security interests, the integrity of the country an d the social welfare system, with all of its faults and excesses, could be better defended and improved with Ahmadinejad than with upper-class technocrats supported by Western-oriented privileged youth who prize individual life styles over community values and solidarity.
The demography of voting reveals a real class polarization pitting high income, free market oriented, capitalist individualists against working class, low income, community based supporters of a 'moral economy' in which usury and profiteering are limited by religious precepts. The open attacks by opposition economists of the government welfare spending, easy credit and heavy subsidies of basic food staples did little to ingratiate them with the majority of Iranians benefiting from those programs. The state was seen as the protector and benefactor of the poor workers against the 'market', which represented wealth, power, privilege and corruption. The Opposition's attack on the regime's 'intransigent' foreign policy and positions 'alienating' the West only resonated with the liberal university students and import-export business groups. To many Iranians, the regime's military buildup was seen as having prevented a US or Israeli attack.
The scale of the opposition's electoral deficit should tell us is how out of touch it is with its own people's vital concerns. It should remind them that by moving closer to Western opinion, they re moved themselves from the everyday interests of security, housing, jobs and subsidized food prices that make life tolerable for those living below the middle class and outside the privileged gates of Tehran University.
Amhadinejad's electoral success, seen in historical comparative perspective should not be a surprise. In similar electoral contests between nationalist-populists against pro-Western liberals, the populists have won. Past examples include Peron in Argentina and, most recently, Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia and even Lula da Silva in Brazil, all of whom have demonstrated an ability to secure close to or even greater than 60% of the vote in free elections. The voting majorities in these countries prefer social welfare over unrestrained markets, national security over alignments with military empires.
The consequences of the electoral victory of Ahmadinejad are open to debate. The US may conclude that continuing to back a vocal, but badly defeated, minority has few prospects for securing concessions on nuclear enrichment and an abandonment of Iran's support for Hezbollah and Hamas. A realistic approach would be to open a wide-ranging discussion with Iran, and acknowledging, as Senator Kerry recently pointed out, that enriching uranium is not an existential threat to anyone. This approach would sharply differ from the approach of American Zionists, embedded in the Obama regime, who follow Israel's lead of pushing for a preempti ve war with Iran and use the specious argument that no negotiations are possible with an 'illegitimate' government in Tehran which 'stole an election'.
Recent events suggest that political leaders in Europe, and even some in Washington, do not accept the Zionist-mass media line of 'stolen elections'. The White House has not suspended its offer of negotiations with the newly re-elected government but has focused rather on the repression of the opposition protesters (and not the vote count). Likewise, the 27 nation European Union expressed 'serious concern about violence' and called for the "aspirations of the Iranian people to be achieved through peaceful means and that freedom of expression be respected" (Financial Times June 16, 2009 p.4). Except for Sarkozy of France, no EU leader has questioned the outcome of the voting.
The wild card in the aftermath of the elections is the Israeli response: Netanyahu has signaled to his American Zionist followers that they should use the hoax of 'electoral fraud' to exert maximum pressure on the Obama regime to end all plans to meet with the newly re-elected Ahmadinejad regime.
Paradoxically, US commentators (left, right and center) who bought into the electoral fraud hoax are inadvertently providing Netanyahu and his American followers with the arguments and fabrications: Where they see religious wars, we see class wars; where they see electoral fraud, we see20imperial destabilization.
James Petras is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by James Petras
June 27, 2009 by TMO · 2 Comments
By Sumayyah Meehan MMNS
She stepped out of the car for just a moment to catch her breath. And in the blink of an eye she was shot dead by government forces in the middle of an Iranian street. The lone bullet hit Neda Agha-Soltan right in the chest. The 26-year-old university student began bleeding from her nose and mouth as her eyes rolled back into her head and her body became still. The woman whom friends have described as a loving friend and engaging companion was buried the next day. Her family was not even allowed to hold a memorial service or hang a black banner on the front door because the government feared it would only further incense protestors and cause more havoc on the Iranian streets.
Neda's death was captured on a cell phone video camera and uploaded to the Internet before her body was even removed from the street. Millions of Internet users have viewed the footage of Neda's final moments online and her death has served as a catalyst for the continuation of protests against perceived voting irregularities, which resulted in the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
For thousands of Iranians, Neda has become the symbol of the fight against the oppressive Iranian regime. She was an innocent victim who was targeted simply because she attended a public protest against the government. There have been many innocent victims of the Iranian government's crackdown on so-called unlawful protests. Both men and women alike have been beaten by merciless government forces, with many losing their lives in the battle.
Neda's death has, specifically, reached out to the hearts and minds of Iranian women who have been emboldened to let their voices be heard. Some women walk down the streets adorned with the Islamic headscarf while holding placards skyward. Others throw stones and chant anti-government slogans. While others yet have used themselves as human shields to protect the injured from further atrocities or helped the wounded get off the streets and away from government forces.
The current protests in Iran have been likened to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, however there has been a drastic change that runs along gender lines. The revolution that took place 30 years ago was comprised almost exclusively of male protestors whereas today female protestors are clearly outnumbering the men on the Iranian streets. It has taken years for Iranian women to find their voices. Their coming of age can be seen in screen grabs from cable news program and in video footage uploaded to the Internet.
No matter what the outcome of the current protests turns out to be or how many innocents are beaten and battered. There is one thread of truth that runs through it all and makes Neda's assassination anything but in vain. And that truth is that the Iranian women are the new pioneers for change in their country. With every step that they take or stone that they hurl, Iranian women are fighting the good fight for change, democracy and freedom in their country.
Study: Iran Vote Suspect
June 27, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
A new analysis of voting figures in Iran's disputed presidential election published Sunday found "irregularities" in the turnout and "highly implausible" swings to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Independent British think tank Chatham House found that in two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, the turnout was more than 100 percent a trend that it said was "problematic," although admittedly not unprecedented in Iran.
The analysis of Interior Ministry figures also found that overall, there was a 50.9 percent swing to Mr. Ahmadinejad, with official results suggesting that he won the support of 47.5 percent of those who had backed reformist candidates in the2005 election.
"This, more than any other result, is highly implausible and has been the subject of much debate in Iran," the study said.
Mr. Ahmadinejad was re-elected in the June 12election, but his main challenger, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, complained of irregularities, and thousands of his supporters have taken to the streets demanding a recount.
The analysis edited by professor Ali Ansari, director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of St. Andrews challenges the suggestion that Mr. Ahmadinejad's victory was due to the massive participation of a previously silent conservative majority.
It says his support in the countryside has been overstated, and the scale of his win in many areas would have required a massive and "highly unlikely" defection by voters who backed reformists in 2005.
The president received about 13 million more votes in this year's election than the combined conservative vote in 2005, according to official data.
In 10 of the 30 provinces, Mr. Ahmadinejad would have had to win over all new voters, all former centrist voters and up to 44 percent of former reformist voters to reach the totals recorded by the Iranian authorities, the analysis said.
In many of these provinces, reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi did well in 2005, but the official results suggest that this year, his supporters did not back the main reformist challenger, Mr. Mousavi, but hard-line conservative Mr. Ahmadinejad instead.
"To many reformists, this situation is extremely unlikely," the report said, noting that Mr. Karroubi is "of polar opposite views to Ahmadinejad on issues of political and cultural freedoms, economic management and foreign policy."
Likewise, the analysis noted that Mr. Karroubi commanded strong support in rural areas in 2005 over Mr. Ahmadinejad; yet this year's figures show strong support in the countryside for the incumbent.
Mr. Karroubi's vote appeared to have collapsed entirely this year, even in his home province of Lorestan, where his share of the vote went from 55.5 percent in 2005 to just 4.6 percent in 2009.
Mr. Ahmadinejad's supporters explain the trend by claiming that Mr. Karroubi and Mr. Ahmadinejad have a similar appeal as "men of the people [Note] which explains the trend [/NOTE] ," Chatham House noted.
Turkey FM Urges Iranians to Accept Election
June 27, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu |
ANKARA – Breaking a week's silence on the deadly rift in Iran following the recent controversial events, Turkey has contradicted the Western position and advised Iranian people not to overshadow "the dynamic and well-attended" political elections.
FM urges Iranians to accept election "We believe that the problems in Iran will be solved via its inner mechanisms, with the best possible result. In this context, we truly hope that the dynamic and well-attended political election will not be shadowed by the recent developments, and we send our best regards to the people of Iran with the strong conviction that they will reach the best conclusion in a short time," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told reporters Monday during a meeting with visiting United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdallah bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan.
Turkey has become one of the first countries to congratulate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in the general elections, where he defeated reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, without considering the opposition's assertions of fraud in the vote counting. It has been tight-lipped since the beginning of the demonstrations in Iran, where at least 10 protesters have died. Davutoğlu, known as a Middle East expert, in his first statement late Sunday, said he discussed regional developments with his Azerbaijani counterpart at a surprise meeting in Istanbul.
"Iran is of utmost importance to us. It is one of our most important neighbors with which we share common history. We believe that Iran will solve its problems within itself in the framework of healthy consultation and one-on-one negotiations. Iran's stability is vital for the entire region's stability. Turkey will respect all decisions made in this respect," he said.
Davutoğlu did not touch on the fact that the police were using disproportionate force against protesters and the rights of assembly and to demonstrate were disregarded by Ahmadinejad's regime. The foreign minister's statement reveals that Turkey's sole interest is in maintaining regional stability through favoring the status quo in Iran, according to diplomatic sources. For many, Turkey's current foreign policy does not prefer a change of regime in Iran for strategic purposes.
According to Semih İdiz, a columnist for daily Milliyet, President Abdullah Gül's "reflexive" congratulation call to Ahmadinejad just after the elections has raised many questions.
"Those who are skeptics are not only the Westerners. The diplomats of countries who are closely observing the recent developments with concern, like Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Egypt, are also curious about the same things," he wrote in his column on Monday.
Grasping developments
"By this approach Turkey has been doomed to a position where it hasn't been able to grasp the recent developments in Iran. Our ignorance of this neighboring country is clearly seen when we observe the fact that most of our people choose to state the most common and simple argument, yet once again, that suggests that the United States and EU are involved in the recent developments in Iran."
"Where's My Vote?"
By Sumayyah Meehan, MMNS Middle East Correspondent
"The tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
–Thomas Jefferson
United by the common rallying cry composed of a mere three words, "Where's my vote?", enraged Iranian protestors hit the streets this past Saturday in a show of defiance against the reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They numbered in the millions as they filled the streets to march against perceived election fraud. The popular candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, was seemingly robbed of certain victory as he received overwhelming support during his candidacy. Over the course of less than a week protestors have clashed with security personnel and pro-Ahmadinejad supporters on a daily basis. The result has been several horrendous and often vicious encounters that have played out on live TV and social networking sites on the Internet. Many protestors have been beaten to a bloody pulp and some have lost their lives in this unwinnable battle of hearts and minds. Iranian security forces show no mercy as they beat anyone, including women, with their batons. There have also been several recent reports of protestors being shot at with live ammunition, with at least seven protestors having been shot to death.
One would expect the commander in chief of any nation to calm the storm until cooler heads prevailed. Not Ahmadinejad, who is relentlessly holding on to his stifling reign of dictatorship. Instead of rising above the controversy, he is stirring the pot to keep the tensions at a fever pitch. Perhaps his strategy is to keep his detractors busy so that no one can challenge his win or recount the ballots. Why else would he clamp down so hard on media reports in Iran? Some journalists have been arrested while others have been forbidden from filming the bloody protests, Iranian reformists have been detained and telecommunications have been blocked.
But somehow, some way, the information keeps flowing. The battle has moved into cyberspace where it began and has taken on a life of its own to tell the world about the injustice being meted out to an innocent populous. Once again social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have been fundamental in uniting pro-Mousavi Iranians into a central force as well as harnessing global condemnation regarding the brutality in which demonstrators have been dealt with. Not since President Obama's candidacy for the White House has there been such a political revolution been played out in cyberspace. In this case, American-operated websites have been vital in keeping the stream of information running. Twitter cancelled a scheduled site maintenance and rescheduled it to coincide with the Iranian time zone, which came at the request of no other than President Obama. YouTube has also been a willingly ally and has kept video footage of demonstrations up on its website. Normally, YouTube's policy is to remove violent videos, but plans to leave the Iranian protest videos up for their "documentary" value.
As of press time, it seems that a minuscule wind of hope is beginning to blow into the Iranian capital of Tehran. The Ayatollah Khameni has promised a partial recount of the votes in question under the auspices of representatives of both parties. Meanwhile, the fight goes on in the Iranian streets with both sides refusing to coalesce. Rallies for both sides were held on Tuesday. Touting a ban on public gatherings, opposition leaders have scheduled even more rallies in the coming days.


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What's That Wednesday: A Venezuelan Sweet Corn Pancake
A sweet corn pancake with cheese and crispy pork on the side make up the cachapa con queso y cochino frito dish at La Taguara
Cachapa con Queso y Cochino Frito
La Taguara
3502 E. Washington Ave.
721-9100, lataguara-madison.com
How Much
What's In It
-Sweet corn pancake (cachapa) with queso de mano, a traditional Venezuelan cheese similar to queso fresco and resembles mozzarella
-Crispy pork (cochino frito) with house seasonings, grilled to start and then fried
-Nata (a cream sauce) and guasacaca (a green sauce with cilantro, onion, garlic, green pepper and a little bit of avocado), for dipping
Why This Dish?
To start, the guasacaca sauce is amazing. Get it with anything you order at this charming and authentic restaurant, which opened this summer and is Madison's only Venezuelan eatery. The sauce goes especially well with the cachapa con queso, a tasty treat in its own right with just enough cheese inside to consider it comfort food but not too much to overwhelm you. Dipping each bite of the cachapa, which is made in-house, into both sauces adds flavor and texture. The crispy pork makes this dish a meal, but the real star is the cachapa. Order it with a Venezuelan beer, like a Polar, or a delicious fresh fruit juice.
In addition to the cuisine, the La Taguara staff is friendly and always willing to help navigate the menu as your order up at the counter. If unfamiliar with Venezuelan cuisine, try an arepa, whether it comes with your dish or you order it as a side. These doughy buns can come plain or filled with a number of ingredients—meats, cheese, vegetables—and are a staple of the Venezuelan diet.
What's That Wednesday is a new madisonmagazine.com series in which we choose a food or drink item from the Madison area and break it down. Have an idea for a tasty drink or dish we should feature? Email firstname.lastname@example.com or tweet your idea to @gmedquist using the #WhatsThat hashtag.

subset: commoncrawl


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Big Asian tits are not only something I like, they are an obsession. Coco has a killer pair of big beautiful heavy Asian tits. It took me a while but once I got past her tits I noticed she has a pretty good face too. Inside XLAsians they have a scene of these big full tits getting groped on and oiled by some lucky white guy. If I was in his shoes and had the chance to to knead and squeeze all over her big glorious tits I think I would stay there all day and try to convince her to let me rest my head on those big soft boobs. Coco is definitely a well put together package and after I post this I'm going to go back to the members area to check out one of the videos of those big titties before I go to sleep.
Asian BBW Kelly Shibari dressed in a tight black corset and fishnet stockings dominates this pathetic white guy! She puts his little cock on a leash and makes him beg her to cum. Does he have what it takes to make it through a session with this big beautiful Asian woman? To see more of Kelly and her big asian tits click one of the links below.
Asian SSBBW Cassie from XLAsians is incredible! Her face is breathtaking… I think the most beautiful fat Asian girl I have seen. On the site,they claim Cassie has the biggest ass in Asia! From looking at the rest of her, I think I believe them. I'm happy to finally see a site showcasing ONLY thick, chubby and fat Asian girls!
This post updated: Now links to free photo gallery of Cassie from XLAsians.
If you are looking for fat Asian girls you have come to the right place. I know there are not a lot of places out there showcasing fat Asian girls or Asian girls with big Asian tits but now you have found it. I recommend XLAsians.com if your into fat Asian girl.
Fat Asian Sites


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We are so very very pleased to have this opportunity to offer you the latest from one of the premier producers of Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley, if not the world. Maison Huet has been a leading force in the Vouvray appellation for quite sometime now. Founded in 1928, the estate now covers 35 hectares, which are divided up between three properties: Le Mont, Le Haut-Lieu and Le Clos du Bourg - throughout the region that have been farmed in the biodynamic method since 1990. These wines are stunning and are worth being in your cellar. Legends in the making here! Stretching 9 hectares Le Haut-Lieu provides extremely deep limestone and brown clay soils. Due to the rich heavy soils the wines from this site tend to have a richer rounder character, deep nuances of stone fruit and finish off with a mouthwatering, juicy finish.
Below is a listing of the wine review scores we frequently reference in our notes. While these sources remain an excellent source of information, we always recommend that you trust your own palate. Scores in these publications often represent the personal taste of an individual critic, which may not always coincide with your own. We have a huge team of excellent wine professionals that can match wines you've had in the past with new arrivals that meet your flavor profile.
The item you have chosen is not in stock in our retail stores or within our main warehouse.
1989 Joël Taluau "Cuvée de Domaine" St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil $34.99
2010 Domaine de la Fontainerie Vouvray Demi-Sec $19.99
2009 Josmeyer "Le Dragon" Riesling (Previously $43) $21.99
2004 Le Clos du Château L'Oiselinière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine $25.99
2010 Eric Morgat "L'Enclos" Savennières $43.99


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PurseN Organizer
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PurseN® Organizer
Price: $56.00
Item: AM1855
An insert that makes it easier to switch bags
As you switch purses for the day to match your outfit, you can transfer everything inside in one fell swoop by simply moving the PurseN Organizer from bag to bag. This sleek insert offers 11 compartments for all your essentials and accoutrements.
6 pouch pockets (2 with elastic openings) for electronics and keys
Zip pocket for change and tokens
Exterior front and back stash pockets
Pen sleeve
Large interior for wallet and eyeglass case
Unzip along the front and back to give it even more capacity
Lift by the dual interior handles
Black nylon with leopard lining
Goldtone hardware
8 1/2W x 3D x 6H
PurseN Organizer
Creates Order in any type of bag
I purchased this PurseN Organizer for the St. Tropez bag and it made a world of difference INSIDE the bag. It was put to an unexpected "stress" test yesterday, and made my many hours of waiting and having important items (pens, pads, phone, keys, parking pass, etc.) available instantly when needed. It is a psychological balm to know where everything is and accessible. Wonderful, wonderful!
September 12, 2014
Great Organizer
I received an organizer purse from a discount website and loved it so much that I wanted an organizer for every purse I have. (Being "purse-addicted, I have many!) I decided to research online for purse organizers and came upon the Levenger website. I purchased the PurseN Organizer and was not disappointed. It seems to be well constructed and has many slots/pockets for all the goodies I use in my purse. The cost is a smidge expensive but is doing the job I want so it is worth it. I plan to purchase the other pattern of purse organizer in the future. The goldtone hardware gives it a rich look.
January 11, 2015
Love It!
I am a "purse/briefcase" lover and have tried every imaginable type of organizer, including one specially made. None have worked well UNTIL this one. I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary - just a new one that would hopefully be better than previous purchases. I was surprised and extremely pleased....room for everything and well made! Worth the money. I am going to buy a second one to save for when the present one wears out - just in case the organizer is not in stock at that time.
January 7, 2015
Everything I'd hoped!
This is a great product. All I hoped for when I ordered it. So much so, that I ordered one for my daughter-in-law too.
December 25, 2014
stylish & useful
gift for my mother-in-law, a business woman. She loves the look of it and the convenience. Great pick. Thanks Levenger
December 18, 2014
Love the organizer! It has enough pockets and spots for my most needed items, and I can use it in not only my red Levenger purse, but others too. I highly recommend this for anyone who like to an organized purse. I've even used it in an overnight bag. Very versatile.
November 2, 2014
I finally feel halfway organized!
This is a great accessory, especially for unstructured bags where every little thing tends to fall to the bottom! I just feel WAY more organized now!
October 31, 2014
Nice Purchase
The organizer is a great idea but as all products do, it does have its flaws - while they may be minor, they can be aggravating - at least for me. I dislike purses and related items to begin with so my review may not be objective. I have yet to find a structured functional satchel and so have been eyeing the PurseN Organizer for some time to hopefully resolve issue. Bought it when it was recently offered at 25% discount and it was promptly delivered in such an oversized box I did not know what to think. My immediate reaction upon finding it under the tons (some exaggeration here) of wadded brown paper was a loud laugh! I immediately planned to return it but after some thought decided it to pull it out of its package and give it a try. I gave it five stars for quality of fabric and construction but four stars for everything else. My current satchel is six inches deep and twelve inches wide and I am not able to reach into the PurseN to grab or put in what I need with ease. It may be that my expectations are too high and so will make do and adjust as needed. Would recommend to a friend with reservations and offer to try the one I own before buying.
September 4, 2014
I am shocked to have received an item like this one from Levenger. It is just an awful piece...the fabric is cheap and slippery, and cardboard is inserted in the walls to give it any heft at all. I have an old leather Levenger Shuffle which I still use and love for the same purpose, and I hoped that this was the next generation I could give to a friend who loves my Shuffle. No way! It is an awful execution of a great idea.
September 2, 2014
purse organizer
Great item to help change my bags all the time. Size could be a bit bigger than this to accommodate more little items.
August 14, 2014
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Now $129.00


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Market Lessons
"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes." Oscar Wilde
As such, there has been a lot of talk about the experiences learned from volatile markets. What's often said is that we should, "learn from our mistakes." To assist you in learning from 'mistakes made' due to the volatile markets, here's a list of 12 lessons that may help you in planning your market strategies in the future:
- There is no such thing as "short-term investing." The term "short-term investing" is an oxymoron. Put bluntly, a short-term financial focus is speculation, not investing. Investing is a fundamental commitment of your capital to the pursuit of the greater goals in your life - a dignified and independent retirement, the education of your children or grandchildren, a legacy for your heirs or your community.
- Valuation still matters. If you begin to believe "it's different this time," you are wrong - it's not. When valuations are far above their historic levels, there is good reason to be concerned. Good companies may remain good companies, but they may not continue to be good stocks. When this basic principle of investing is ignored, you will eventually pay the price.
- Markets go through cycles. Effective investing during market cycles requires decisions that may be uncomfortable. When markets are most optimistic and exuberant, we should be cautious and ask "why?" When they are most pessimistic, we should see opportunity for the long-term investor. At all times, we should have a written plan as a discipline to guide our decisions and help us through the tough times. Sir John Templeton, one of the founders of modern international investing, believes that the real buying opportunities are at the time of maximum pessimism - "when the blood is in the streets."
- Asset allocation is a diversification strategy that helps manage risk. It cannot offer a guarantee against market losses, but it offers you an investment risk management tool. Sector concentration, the process of investing in a single industry - no matter how attractive the sector may appear, no matter how compelling the arguments - is still speculation.
- Return vs. risk. If you don't see or understand the risk, keep looking. It's there. Once you find it and understand it, it may be acceptable. But until you identify the risks, they are unacceptable.
- Most dollars flow into high-performing investments AFTER the performance has occurred. The single most abused tactic is for investors to chase last year's performance. A disciplined investment plan and investment selection criteria are critical if you want to avoid making this mistake.
- Market indexes can tell a very distorted story. They don't really measure "the market." The performance of an unmanaged index is not indicative of the performance of any particular investment. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. The success or failure of your investment plan should only be measured by whether or not it is meeting your long-term goals over a full market cycle. If it is, it's succeeding. If it is not, it may be failing.
- A well-balanced portfolio should be diversified among the major asset classes. Cash. Fixed Income. Large and small companies. Growth and value. Domestic and international. The only guarantee is that some of these areas will periodically disappoint you. But you never know which ones or when. Significant differences exist in risk among investment asset classes. Be aware that some investments have principal and yield that will fluctuate, some with extreme volatility. You should stick to your plan and remain invested across several asset classes.
- Years of high returns can be completely reversed by one bad year. That's why you shouldn't use short-term criteria to judge long-term results as past performance is not indicative of future results. That can lead you to unknowingly creating a very high-risk portfolio. Ultimately, consistency is more important than an occasional "home run."
- The traditional rules of investing are still true. While they can be adjusted periodically to fit some of the finer points of the current economic environment, you should never abandon the core principles of diversification, sound values, patience, following a sound plan and maintaining a long-term perspective. Know the rules and know when you are breaking them. Keep in mind your long-term investment objectives and risk tolerance.
- Raw information is not knowledge - and just knowing the facts won't necessarily make you any wiser. The financial media in all of its forms - television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the Internet - survives on stimulating emotion and fostering the belief that "every second counts," that the ability to react and trade instantly is an improvement over patience, discipline and a sound investment plan. Warren Buffett, the well-known value investor, believes that the daily movements in the stock market don't reflect the true value of companies, but rather the emotional temperature of investors.
- Market timing doesn't work. Moving into and out of markets based on any anticipated changes in price as opposed to fundamental changes in value is speculation - not investing. Peter Lynch, the former manager of The Fidelity Magellan® Fund believes, "Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections or trying to anticipate corrections than has been lost in corrections themselves."


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I love to cook, to read and to spend time with my family! I have two wonderful children, a girl and a boy who are growing up way too fast.
My husband and I are venturing into the world of being "bikers"! Ha Ha! I love being on the back of my hubby's Harley and we have been trying to make more and more opportunities to ride!
I have to admit that I love to cook comfort food and mexican food the most. I am trying to branch out and try new recipes and this site has really helped us expand our dinner menu.
I love to cook for a crowd and entertain groups of people. The best feeling is when all conversation stops at the table and you realize that the silence is because everyone is busy enjoying their food!
I love Mexican, Chinese and especially comfort food!
I like to have quick recipes for busy evenings and sometimes I like to make recipes that take "extra work"