No, no, no, people, no pipelines anywhere without the approval of Bush. What are you not getting? We rule the planet.
In a world that runs on oil, the nation that controls the flow of oil has great strategic power. U.S. policy-makers want leverage over the economies of competitors -- Western Europe, Japan and China -- that are more dependent on Middle Eastern oil. #msg-4798276
-Am
Ammar Zaidi in Tehran / June 12, 2005 17:31 IST
Iran has agreed to explore possibilities of extending the 2600-km Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline to China, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who headed the Indian delegation at the ministerial level talks with Iran on natural gas imports, said.
During his discussions with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, Aiyar also asked for extension of the quantity of the liquefied natural gas Iran will export to India from 2009-10 to 7.5 million tons from the 5 million tones already agreed.
Iran has refused to give concession on price for an additional 2.5 million tonnes of the LNG New Delhi wants to buy over and above the 5 million tonnes per annum of LNG already agreed.
On the contrary, the Iranian side has proposed a hike in price.
India also wants the LNG composition to be similar to Qatar's as far as possible.
Since Qatar's LNG contains nearly 9.5% C2/C3/C4 components, Iran should at least commit 5% C2 as they are likely to extract most of the C3 and C4.
"You will know the outcome of all these discussions when we conclude the three-day ministerial talks on Monday," Aiyar said, but clearly indicated that a Sale Purchase Agreement for 5 million tones of LNG will be signed and additional quantities if agreed may be included.
He said he also briefed the Iranian side about the discussions he held in Pakistan just before his visit to Tehran on the pipeline issue.
India and Pakistan had last week formed a joint committee to work out modalities and thrash out technical, financial and legal issues for launching the 4.16-billion dollar project early in 2006.
Aiyar also prioritised Indian firms picking up stake in Iranian oil field development in lieu of buying LNG.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of ONGC, was to get 20% interest equivalent to 60,000 barrels per day, in Yadavaran field and 100% rights in the Jufeyr field for purchase of an additional 2.5 million tonnes.
"While we have progressed well on the LNG deal, Iran is yet to assign the equity in Yadavaran or Jufeyr fields," he said.
LONDON, June 13 (IranMania) - Iran was struck by a wave of deadly bombings in this restive southwestern city and the capital Sunday, with the Islamic regime accusing US-backed "terrorists" of seeking to destabilise the country just days ahead of presidential elections, according to AFP.
At least eight people were killed and 75 wounded by a series of four blasts outside several public buildings in Ahvaz, an ethnic Arab majority city close to the Iraqi border that is capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province.
Later Sunday, another blast hit a busy square in Tehran, killing two people and seriously wounding at least two others, official media said.
Two smaller home-made bombs were reported to have exploded in other parts of the capital, without causing any casualties.
"The terrorists of Ahvaz infiltrated Iran from the region of Basra" in southern Iraq, top national security official Ali Agha Mohammadi told AFP.
"These terrorists have been trained under the umbrella of the Americans in Iraq," he charged, adding that Iran suspected British troops across the border might also have links to the separatist group -- the London-based Ahvaz Arab People's Democratic-Popular Front.
"We call on the Americans and the British to condemn these attacks and hand over the terrorists in Iraq. Sadly, they have so far not said anything," Mohammadi said.
He said "several terrorists have been arrested", but gave no further details.
Ahvaz was hit by several days of ethnic unrest in April, with the 26-year-old Islamic regime then blaming "counter-revolutionaries".
Iran's main armed opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen, is based across the border in Iraq, and Mohammadi said he believed they were involved in some of Sunday's attacks in Tehran.
"The calls for a boycott of the vote had failed, so the terrorist groups based in Iraq are trying to use attacks to disrupt the election and prevent a strong voter participation," he said.
Iran is due to go to the polls to elect a new president on Friday.
"The attacks are a failure, because in the past the regime has been confronted by far worse," said Khuzestan's deputy governor, Gholam Reza Shariati.
An AFP reporter in Ahvaz said the area around the local governor's office, one of three public buildings targeted, was strewn with shards of glass and rubble.
Scores of police had sealed off the area, and by early evening municipal workers were already clearing the scene and mopping up pools of blood.
"It was inhuman, a horrible thing. There was a small child walking around looking for his dead mother," said Abdol Hossein Kord-Zanghaneh, a male nurse at an Ahvaz hospital where many of the casualties were taken.
"This is an American plot," he said, adding that many of the wounded had suffered concussion and blown ear drums.
The huge blasts occurred between 9:00 am and 11:00 am (0430 to 0630 GMT), hitting the governor's office, two other public buildings and a residential area which is home to the director of state television operations in Ahvaz.
The explosion in Tehran occurred at Imam Hossein square, interior ministry spokesman Jahanbaksh Khanjani told AFP. Witnesses said the blast was heard after 8:00 pm (1530 GMT), adding the bomb was hidden in a rubbish bin.
Ahvaz, situated 500 kilometres (320 miles) southeast of Tehran and 50 kilometres (32 miles) from the Iraqi border, was rocked by ethnic violence from April 15-18.
According to official figures, five people were killed in those clashes, which appeared to have been sparked by a forged letter, dating back seven years and attributed to then vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, calling for changes to Khuzestan's ethnic make-up.
On Friday, Iran is due to go the polls to elect a successor to reformist President Mohammad Khatami.
Informal opinion polls in the Iranian press suggest that none of the eight candidates will be able to secure the more than 50 percent of the vote needed to win. That means the top two would have to go into a run-off -- unprecedented in the 26-year history of the Islamic republic.
Tipped as the frontrunner is powerful ex-president and pragmatic conservative Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Trailing him are the main reformist candidate Mostafa Moin and the hardline former national police chief, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
The close-run campaign has been heating up, with regular reports of politicians suffering violent attacks.
But Iran vowed it would "shame" the United States by drawing a huge turnout in the polls and disprove predictions of a voter boycott. The United States has dismissed the election as rigged.
Meanwhile, terrorist elements, who had previously failed in their attempts to foment crises among the minority and majority of Iraq, have entered Iran through its eastern border in Sistan–Baluchistan Province and are currently targeting Iran’s national security, using obscure names for their organizations denoting ethnic division.
Special Forces from the US and Britain recently trained in the Pakistani port city of Karachi in areas that resemble Iranian cities, UPI reported quoting sources in the Pakistani intelligence.
During the exercise, the US and British troops showed particular interest in areas inhabited by Baluch tribesmen and Iranian refugees, where several key Al Qaeda terrorists are also believed to have taken refuge after escaping from Afghanistan following the US military operation against the Taliban in October 2001.
Pakistani police say that it was the same area where kidnappers of a Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl, had temporarily hidden him before killing him.
Culturally, this area is considered the closest in Pakistan to parts of eastern Iran and is also used by Iranian tribal smugglers who have ethnic and lingual affinities with the Baluch tribesmen living here.
Pakistani intelligence sources said that during the exercises, the troops also familiarized themselves with other Karachi neighbourhoods, roads and exit points, railway and bus stations and the airport.
Witnesses said some streets in Karachi, lined with shops on both sides with people living in the flats above, were made to resemble similar congested areas of major Iranian cities.
-Am
U.S. and terrorists form unholy alliance against Iran
By Hassan Hanizadeh Over the past few days, terrorist operations in Iran have claimed the lives of ten innocent civilians and injured many more.
The terrorist acts, coming after a decade of peace in the Islamic Republic, have captured the attention of foreign political analysts.
Although the bombings in Ahvaz, Tehran, Karaj, and Zahedan were totally different as far as the methods used to create the explosives, they all occurred at a very important and sensitive time.
The terrorist acts came as Iranians were enthusiastically following the election campaigns of presidential candidates.
This year, candidates have created a pleasant atmosphere of real democracy in the country through their campaigns, fostering enthusiasm among the people.
This completely democratic atmosphere is unrivaled in the region and most of the Third World. The presence of eight candidates, each with different ideas and representing different groups in society, is a promising sign that the freest election yet will be held in Iran.
Naturally, this is not very pleasant for some regional countries and the United States, and has prompted efforts to reduce public participation in the poll.
A low turnout would put into question the legitimacy of the Islamic system and sully Iran’s reputation in the international arena, which is exactly what the U.S. and some regional states want, since they fear Iran’s religious democracy.
This has led the U.S. to order some of its mercenaries and agents from Iraq and southern Iran to create tension and provoke insecurity in sensitive Khuzestan Province.
Khuzestan was purposefully chosen as a target, first of all to terrify and alarm the people and decrease voter turnout and secondly to provoke ethnic strife in the important oil-rich region, which borders Shia majority regions of Iraq.
Meanwhile, terrorist elements, who had previously failed in their attempts to foment crises among the minority and majority of Iraq, have entered Iran through its eastern border in Sistan–Baluchistan Province and are currently targeting Iran’s national security, using obscure names for their organizations denoting ethnic division.
In fact, the U.S. and non-Iranian terrorist groups are attempting to spread ethnic and sectarian strife from Iraq to Iran by provoking insecurity in Iran through an unholy alliance. Will the U.S. eventually realize its evil goals in Iran?
Definitely not, because, despite its ethnic diversity, Iran’s various ethnic groups enjoy equal rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Therefore, they have no reason to cast their eyes upon any source of hope beyond the borders.
Its provision of equal rights to people of all religious and ethnic groups is one of the most progressive aspects of the Iranian Constitution, which has united the entire nation in a strong bond that is unbreakable, despite the conspiracies of foreign powers.
A clear example of Iran’s national solidarity was observed during the eight-year imposed war with Iraq, during which Kurds, Turks, Arabs, Shias, and Sunnis fought shoulder to shoulder against Saddam Hussein’s Baathist troops.
Iran has always faced foreign invasions over the course of history, and each time the Iranian nation has resisted these attacks with strong resolve, bringing the enemies to their knees.
Thus, the tactical alliance the United States and certain terrorist groups forged to destabilize Iran will face defeat, since the Iranian nation is determined to astonish the world yet again through active participation in the June 17 presidential election.
Ousted Iranian prince calls to establish democracy in Tehran
Last update - 02:25 16/06/2005
By Haaretz Staff
Ousted Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi called on Iranian citizens late Wednesday to boycott Thursday's elections and demand democracy, Israel Radio said.
The ousted prince spoke to Israel Radio reporters from his current home in Virginia. He said that the Iranians have come to the conclusion that there is no point in taking part in undemocratic elections, which include only those candidates selected by the Ayatollahs.
Pahlavi called to establish a democracy in Tehran, through non-violent protest. He also expressed hope that the international community would support the Iranian nation and won't cooperate and close deals with the Ayatollah regime in Tehran.
Pahlavi said a nuclear Iran under the Ayatollahs would compromise peace and stability in the world. He said if the issue is discussed in the UN Security Council, Russia and China will most likely block any decision to halt Iran's nuclear activity.
The ousted prince also said that should the Ayatollahs be removed from their post, he would be willing to take on any role offered to him, including a senior position as part of a secular constitution-based monarchy.
Iran is claiming to be under attack by the U.S. from its eastern border in Sistan–Baluchistan Province and its western border from Iraq.
From Iran’s western border Ahvaz has been the target.
"It has become clear that several counter-revolutionary groups in Iraq have been dispatched to Iran from the region where the Americans and the British are deployed," he said on Monday.
Gholamreza Shariati, the deputy provincial governor for security affairs, suggested that the reason for the attacks was the destruction of Iran's territorial integrity and the deterrence of voters from participating in the upcoming presidential elections. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2EA85595-A597-4786-85F6-2CF185776D7D.htm
On April 15, a letter, which was said to be written by Iran's former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi to promote a coercive migration of Arabs in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, touched off riots in the provincial capital of Ahvaz.
Iran disclaimed the letter and reined in the unrest, claiming "some foreign agents" were behind the incident. #msg-6489463
On June 12, bomb explosions target Iranian elections in Ahvaz the same place we were supposed to have touched off the Arab riots. #msg-6647963
From Iran’s eastern border.
Meanwhile, terrorist elements, who had previously failed in their attempts to foment crises among the minority and majority of Iraq, have entered Iran through its eastern border in Sistan–Baluchistan Province and are currently targeting Iran’s national security, using obscure names for their organizations denoting ethnic division.
In fact, the U.S. and non-Iranian terrorist groups are attempting to spread ethnic and sectarian strife from Iraq to Iran by provoking insecurity in Iran through an unholy alliance. Will the U.S. eventually realize its evil goals in Iran? #msg-6689087
There are signs of estrangement between the cautious father and the crusading son: last year, veterans of the first Bush administration, including Baker, Scowcroft and Lawrence Eagleburger, warned publicly against an invasion of Iraq without authorisation from Congress and the UN. #msg-927977
Former Secretary Of State. Lawrence Eagleburger, "If George W. Bush takes military action against Iran and Syria, he should be impeached". Eagleburger, interview is 15 minutes 11 seconds into the program. CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN Context: BBC Interview 04/13/03 The British government is on record as being against the idea of military action being taken against them (Iran and Syria ), but many of the so-called hawks in Washington have made it pretty clear that unless they change their ways, Tehran and Damascus should be next in line for compulsory regime change.
The British will take heart from the more cautious voices coming out of Washington. Lawrence Eagleburger was Secretary of State for Bush's father, the first President Bush, and he and other leading veterans of the first Bush administration warned last summer about the dangers of attacking Iraq. In fact they were thought to be acting as proxies for their old boss, who was said to be privately unconvinced of his son's policies. Now that the military campaign seems to be drawing to a close, we ask Mr Eagleburger if it is true that winning the peace will be much harder.
In an impassioned interview, Mr Eagleburger also tells us that if George W. Bush were to take military action against Iran and Syria, he should be impeached.
US close to testing massive ‘bunker-busting’ missile #msg-6983844
U.S. involvement in the recent bombing of Iran #msg-6647963
Philip Giraldi, a former intelligence officer in the CIA (and DIA), claims that the United States is developing a plan for the bombing of supposed military targets in Iran, which would include the use of NUCLEAR WEAPONS. The US strike would take place after a 9/11-type terrorist attack on the US. However, the US attack would not depend on Iran actually being involved in the terrorism. In short, the planned attack on Iran would be analogous to the unprovoked attack on Iraq.
Could this criminal insanity be possibly true? Would the United States really launch an unprovoked nuclear attack? Giraldi is a reputable source and has provided information on Iran to Seymour Hersh in the past. Moreover, other articles have come out indicating that the United States has developed contingency plans to use nuclear weapons to attack military installations in Iran and North Korea. (I have included an article by William Arkin from the Washington Post). Giraldi adds that a terrorist attack on the US would serve as the pretext for putting the plan into action.
Now could it be implemented? Certainly, the 9/11 terrorism led to the eventual attack on Iraq (neocons wanted to attack Iraq immediately after September 11), so another terrorist attack could be used as a pretext to attack Iran. I (along with knowledgeable people such as Scott Ritter) expected the United States to either have attacked Iran by now, or at least be far advanced in its propaganda offensive. While the Bush administration has talked about the danger of Iran, the propaganda offensive has not approached the intensity achieved during the 2002-2003 build-up for the attack on Iraq. Undoubtedly the problems in Iraq and war weariness of the American people have made such a propaganda offensive less viable at this moment. Also, many Americans now realize the war lies the Bush administration has relied upon, so any propaganda offensive, by itself, might be counterproductive. However, a new catastrophic terrorist event could so traumatize and anger a large sector of the American public as to provide a window of opportunity to launch an attack on Iran. The terror attack would be immediately followed by a massive propaganda barrage linking Iran to the terrorism. The idea that Iran is behind all terrorism has already appeared in the writing of neocons Michael Ledeen, Kenneth Timmerman and others. I have attached an article on the current effort to demonize Iran. http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/ft01.html
Perhaps the most extreme propaganda piece is "Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians," by Jerome R. Corsi, which appears to be for average and sub-average IQ types and has been made into a video. It involves the nuclear bombing of the US by terrorists who are equipped by Iran. "The scenario described in ‘Atomic Iran’ shows that a 150-kiloton IND exploded in New York would reduce much of the city to rubble. Some 1.5 million people would be killed instantly, with another 1.5 million certain to die over the next few days." http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43766 (I have attached this article too)
Naturally, Israel and its supporters are spearheading the move to attack on Iran. It should be emphasized that Israel has for some time regarded Iran as a serious threat. It is a threat to Israel's nuclear monopoly in the Middle East and it provides support to Hezbollah in Lebanon and to a number of Palestinian resistance groups. My article "The future of the global War on Terror: Next stop, Iran" www.thornwalker.com/ditch/snieg_future.htm provides information on this issue. My article came out in October 2004, but Israel continues to voice its serious concerns. Some recent comments follow. The Jerusalem Post of June 29 reported a presentation by the head of the IDF Intelligence Corps research division that Iran is committed to building a nuclear bomb, which would help it spread the Islamic revolution across the Middle East. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer&cid=1119925651633&p=....
In late June, Israeli ambassador to the US Daniel Ayalon emphasized that Iran must be stopped from developing nuclear weapons. "The clock is ticking, and time is not on our side," Ayalon said. http://ap.lancasteronline.com/4/israel_iran
Sharon has supposedly handed Bush photographs of what are supposed to be Iran's nuclear installations - http://www.counterpunch.org/nimmo04132005.html –which are certainly as accurate as the Israeli intelligence information on Saddam's threatening WMD.
And Richard Perle was the big hit of this May's AIPAC conference in Washington with his call for an attack on Iran. The danger of Iran was featured in an AIPAC multimedia show, "Iran's Path to the Bomb." As the Washington Post's Dana Milbank described the multimedia show: "The exhibit, worthy of a theme park, begins with a narrator condemning the International Atomic Energy Agency for being ‘unwilling to conclude that Iran is developing nuclear weapons’ (it had similar reservations about Iraq) and the Security Council because it ‘has yet to take up the issue.’ In a succession of rooms, visitors see flashing lights and hear rumbling sounds as Dr. Seuss-like contraptions make yellowcake uranium, reprocess plutonium, and pop out nuclear warheads like so many gallons of hummus for an AIPAC conference." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/23/AR2005052301565_pf.html
Since a terrorist attack on the United States is, according to experts, almost inevitable, the Bush administration would likely be given the pretext to launch an attack on Iran. Would a propaganda offensive bring about public support for such an attack? With a Republican Congress it seems quite likely that there would be some type of congressional approval for a strike (not a declaration of war, of course). Maybe the Bush administration would not even seek congressional approval and launch the attack on the basis of alleged self-defense.
Iran is not going to stand around and take it. It is considerably stronger than Iraq. An American attack on Iran using conventional weapons would cause chaos in the Middle East. The use of nuclear weapons would have all types of terrible international ramifications—World War IV against Islam, global terrorist strikes, Sino-Russian reaction, etc.
As Giraldi points out, some Air Force officers are appalled by the nuclear strike plan "but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections." Perhaps, no respectable person would want to risk his career to prevent a nuclear war. But this must be done if the United States, and planet Earth, is going to avoid a catastrophe.
_________________________________________
Philip Giraldi, Deep Background
The American Conservative August 1, 2005 p. 27
In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing—that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack—but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.
Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is a partner in Cannistraro Associates
Note: The United States are training 20 thousand Kurds in Iraq, in the camps arranged in the territories under the control of Jalal Talabani. The training is aimed at involving the units of Kurd soldiers in the struggle against the Irani regime.
According to the CNN-Turk, the trainings are carried out with the participation of the Kurd fighters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey.
CNN-Turk reported about the termination of the first stage of training. According to the TV channel, the officers of the Talabani guard are involved in the trainings. 500 Kurd fighters have already finished military training and crossed the border of Iran . They allegedly have delivered control blows on three objective points on the border of Iran . #msg-6273446
Iran’s Kurdish city under de facto martial law Thu. 21 Jul 2005
Iran Focus
Tehran, Iran, Jul. 21 – The Kurdish city of Mahabad, north-west Iran, was brought under de facto martial law as the paramilitary police, the Revolutionary Guards, and plainclothes agents of the secret police, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, moved in to take control of the city after a week of unrest and deadly clashes between residents and local security forces.
The move came after extra police reinforcements brought in from neighbouring towns to put down the ongoing anti-government protests failed to restore calm in the city.
Anti-government demonstrations and unrest in the mainly Kurdish cities and towns in western Iran have alarmed the authorities. Protests and clashes have been reported in Bonab, Sanandaj, Orumieh, Naqadeh, and Miandoab.
In Mahabad, the city’s main stadium, the local radio and television headquarters, and the Central Post Office have been commandeered as temporary bases for security forces and troops.
Heavy police presence has been reported at every major junction, square, and highway in and around Mahabad. A large number of policemen and undercover agents have been patrolling the area around Heyvanat Square, where much of the hit-and-run clashes took place.
Many of those arrested by security agents were being taken to the nearby city of Orumieh for interrogation, according to Mahabad residents.
A demonstration started on Wednesday evening in the nearby town of Piranshahr in support of “the resistance by the people of Mahabad”. People there chanted slogans against the Iranian regime. The protest lasted for several hours and at least 10 people were arrested, eye-witnesses said.
The mass protests were sparked by the cold-blooded murder of a young Kurdish man, Shovan Qaderi, who had been involved in recent anti-government demonstrations in Mahabad. Security forces shot the unarmed political activist at point blank, tied his body to a Toyota jeep and dragged him in the streets “to teach a lesson” to the local people.
Since then, protests have been continuing every day. At least one local police commander was killed and several hundred people have been arrested during the numerous hit-and-run clashes and house-to-house raids.
Seyyed Maarouf Samadi, the governor of Mahabad, said on Wednesday that reinforcements had been brought in to help “in the interrogation of suspects”. He added that intelligence obtained by the agents would be transmitted to their headquarters in Tehran for evaluation.
Reference: Bush has a history and an agenda of using one faction or ethnic group against another.
Dividing the Arabs is the same strategy Bush has been trying in the Persian Gulf Island Dispute. #msg-3136614
Where the details of the operation with the participation of Azerbaijanis against Iran are being considered. #msg-6273446
To head off this threat of a Shi'ite clergy-driven religious movement, the US has, according to Asia Times Online investigations, resolved to arm small militias backed by US troops and entrenched in the population to "nip the evil in the bud".
Asia Times Online has learned that in a highly clandestine operation, the US has procured Pakistan-manufactured weapons, including rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, ammunition, rockets and other light weaponry. Consignments have been loaded in bulk onto US military cargo aircraft at Chaklala airbase in the past few weeks. The aircraft arrived from and departed for Iraq.
The US-armed and supported militias in the south will comprise former members of the Ba'ath Party, which has already split into three factions, only one of which is pro-Saddam Hussein. They would be expected to receive assistance from pro-US interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord. #msg-5461656
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