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Post by TsarSamuil on Sept 4, 2012 14:28:28 GMT -5
Iran plans to deploy warships off US coast.
RT.com
4 September, 2012, 19:15
Iran says it will counter US presence in its waters by sending ships to the international waters off the US coast, says Iranian Navy chief Admiral Sayyari.
No specifics were mentioned, but during an interview broadcast on state TV, Sayyari said the plans were aimed for “the next few years.”
In the past two years Iran has broadened the range of its navy, sending ships to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Sayyari did not deny that the proposed measure was a response to the increase in the number of US vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil passageway off the coast of Iran, which Tehran previously threatened to shut off.
“We will not allow anyone to trespass our country’s waters. There is no need for anyone else to establish security in our region,” said Sayyari.
The US Fifth Fleet is currently located in Bahrain, on the southern coast of the Strait of Hormuz.
More than a third of all the seaborne oil in the world passes through the narrow waterway.
Due to US and EU-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic, which the West suspects of covertly developing nuclear weapons, Iran’s export of oil has halved in the past year.
Financial data company Bloomberg reports that the country is missing out on $130 million a day in lost sales as a result.
In response to the sanctions, Tehran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz. A majority of Iranian parliamentarians voted in favor of the blockade in July, and although the vote was seen as largely symbolic, the option is still on the table.
The US then upped its presence, and currently has two aircraft carriers in the region, also scheduling extensive war games for later this month.
Iranian high command has previously claimed that it will send its ships towards the US, but the threats have not yet resulted in actions.
Tension between the two countries are at a high, as speculation mounts that Washington’s close ally Israel may carry out a (possibly US-supported) strike on Iran to derail its incipient nuclear program.
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Post by CHORNYVOLK on Sept 13, 2012 0:20:22 GMT -5
Iran Attack Could Spark Caucasus War and Economic Trouble
by Robert Bruce Ware, September 13, 2012
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Russias Kavkaz-2012 strategic military training exercise later this month in the North Caucasus region may portend economic problems for the West. This is because the exercise is strategically linked to Russian expectations that Iran will be destabilized by the end of this year. If Iran is destabilized, Russia will uphold its obligations to Armenia under the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Russia could cut a military corridor through the center of Georgia, taking control of all oil and gas lines leading westward from the rich fields of the Caspian Sea. If this is combined with fighting in the Persian Gulf, energy prices may spike.
While some Russian training exercises have preceded major combat operations (Chechnya 1999, Georgia 2008), they are routinely conducted in order to test ongoing reforms. Kavkaz-2012 is the first major exercise to be held in Russias Southern Military District since December 2010, when Russia introduced fundamental changes to its Ministry of Defense and joint strategic commands. Georgian officials are protesting that the exercise is intended to influence their parliamentary elections on Oct. 1. Less than a month after Kavkaz-2008, Russian troops fought a five-day war in Georgia. Russia recognized the independence of two Georgian breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, immediately after that August 2008 war.
Russian officials insist that Kavkaz-2012 is a routine exercise, unrelated to events in other countries. They emphasize that the exercise will occur entirely on Russian territory and that they deliberately excluded units from Russian military bases in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Armenia. Armenia is a member of the CSTO along with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In Armenia, from Sept. 3-8, the CSTO will hold its own Rapid Reaction exercise dubbed Interaction-2012.
According to Col.-Gen. Alexander Postnikov, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Interaction-2012 is entirely separate from Kavkaz-2012, despite the fact that they are being held barely a week apart on opposite sides of Georgia. During Interaction-2012, representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross will participate in a CSTO exercise for the first time. According to Postnikov, their role will be to work out issues related to humanitarian assistance in areas where, according to the plan of exercise, a conflict situation will appear.
Russian officials anticipate that Irans nuclear program will be attacked by Israel or the United States prior to the end of 2012. Last winter, Russia evacuated civilians from its 102nd military base near the Turkish border in Armenia. Because it has poor relations with Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, Armenia depends upon Iran for energy and other basic supplies. Since Russias 2008 war with Georgia, Russia has supplied its 102nd base by air.
A sustained Israeli or American attack will lead to serious instability south of Armenias border. Armenian supplies likely will be cut, and Armenia may see an influx of refugees. Russian military officials doubt that a swift Israeli strike can eliminate Irans nuclear facilities.
An attack on Iran probably will be followed by provocations in areas disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan. Since the early 1990s, the two countries have been engaged in a frozen conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Azerbaijani government is increasingly aligned with both Israel and the United States, apprehensive about Moscow, and covetous of traditional Azeri territory in northern Iran along with Armenian-controlled territory to the west.
In the event of fighting in Iran or Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani refugees probably will move northward to Russia. In March, Russia moved over 20,000 troops to positions within 100 miles of its border with Azerbaijan.
In the event of instability in Iran, a Russian push to Armenia could be motivated partially by CSTO obligations, along with humanitarian concerns. Nevertheless, this would give Russia control of the Baku-Ceyhan energy corridor, bringing oil and gas from the Caspian region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Because Russia controls the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline, the Wests only other energy corridor from rich Caspian hydrocarbon fields, Russian control of nearly all Caspian energy, together with fighting in the Persian Gulf, could lead to unprecedented energy costs and economic instability in the West.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Sept 15, 2012 5:07:47 GMT -5
U.S. Removes Countries from Sanctions List over Iran Crude.
06:58 15/09/2012
WASHINGTON, September 15 (RIA Novosti)
The United States has extended an exception to its sanctions list affecting a few European countries over their purchases of crude oil from Iran by 180 days, State Secretary Hillary Clinton said in a statement.
“I am pleased to announce that Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom have again qualified for an exception to sanctions outlined in Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, as amended [NDAA], based on reductions in the volume of their crude oil purchases from Iran,” Clinton said on Friday.
In June, China, Singapore, India, Malaysia, South Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan were removed from the sanctions list for 180 days as well.
The West led by the United States suspects Iran of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program, but the Islamic Republic says it needs nuclear power solely for electricity generation.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Sept 22, 2012 9:03:10 GMT -5
Vid, www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5cV27GYHKwIran shows off new air defense system. By NASSER KARIMI | Associated Press – 22 hrs ago TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Friday displayed a new, all-Iranian-made air defense system, saying it was designed to confront American warplanes in case of a U.S. attack on the country. The system was on show during a military parade in Tehran commemorating the start of the Iraq-Iran war 32 years ago. The semi-official Fars news agency said the Raad, or Thunder, is more advanced than its Russian predecessor and is designed to confront fighter jets, cruise missiles, smart bombs, helicopters and drones. Tehran has tried to build a self-sufficient military program since 1992. More recently, Iran's military leaders have said they believe future wars will be air- and sea-based and Tehran has sought to upgrade its air defense systems and naval power in anticipation of such a possibility. Both the United States and Israel have not ruled out a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, which the West suspects are aimed at building a nuclear weapon. It's a charge that Iran denies, insisting its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. At Friday's parade in Tehran, Gen. Ami Ali Hajizadeh, who heads the Revolutionary Guard's airspace division, warned that the system was ready in case of an attack on Iran. "This system is built with the aim to confront American warplanes," Hajizadeh said, adding that Raad carries missiles with a range of 50 kilometers (30 miles), capable of hitting targets at 22,000 meters (75,000 feet). He also warned Israel, saying a war against Iran will lead to the destruction of the Jewish state. "The Zionist regime is capable of starting the war" he said. "But the final moment (of the war) will be in our hands. In that case, there will be no Zionist regime anymore." President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who also attended the parade, defended Iran's right to pursue a nuclear program. "Let's the world know that Iran's great nation will defend its rights, implementation of justice and well as human dignity," he said. Also on display at the parade were Iranian missiles Sajjil-2 and Ghadr F-1, both with a range of about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) and capable of reaching Israel, U.S. bases in the region and parts of southern Europe. The parade took place as U.S.-led naval exercises are under way in the waters of the Persian Gulf. They are the largest such maneuvers aimed at countering sea mines ever to take place in the region. American officials insist the exercises are defensive in nature and not directed at any particular country. But the U.S.-led drills are seen as a response to Iranian warnings earlier this year it could close the strategic oil route in the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for tighter Western sanctions. Tehran has since stepped back from those threats. Iran's chief of staff, Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, said Friday the country does not feel threatened by the U.S. drill, describing it as a "refreshment" exercise for naval forces "that have not moved for months." |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Sept 22, 2012 9:07:35 GMT -5
State Dept to Remove Iranian Rebel Group From Terror List - Years of Pricy Lobbying Gets Inaugural Group Off Foreign Terrorist Organization List.
Antiwar.com
by Jason Ditz, September 21, 2012
Adding hope to every other group that had found itself labeled a terrorist organization after a decade of bloody anti-US attacks and killing a number of US military officers, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MeK), one of the inaugural members of the US State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, has been ordered removed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The MeK was founded in the 1960′s as a Marxist-Islamist sect, called a cult by many, with designs on ousting the Shah of Iran and replacing him. After the Shah was ousted, they allied with Saddam Hussein in his invasion of Iran, and remained in exile in Iraq for decades.
How did this group manage to turn around its fortunes and find a way off the US terror list? Money, and lots of it. The MeK has been soliciting top US officials for years to give them paid endorsements, and has been quite successful in buying praise, though former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell’s endorsement did get him investigated for terrorist ties.
In the end, with so many officials not only excusing the MeK’s past attacks but openly endorsing them as a replacement regime in the event of a war with Iran, officials said it was “politically difficult” for Clinton not to sign off on their removal.
Reflecting just how successful the “advertising” campaign has been for the group, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R – CA) praised the move, saying the group desires a “secular, peaceful, and democratic government.”
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Post by TsarSamuil on Oct 26, 2012 14:44:46 GMT -5
Mujahadin-e Khalq: America’s protected terrorists gearing up against Iran (Op-Ed) RT.com 26 October, 2012, 13:02 Unsatisfied in "crippling" Iran with sanctions, the US looks to be set for active operations there - and already has an in: a group called the Mujahadin-e Khalq, which in the near future could become the Persian equivalent of the Free Syrian Army. On September 21, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton passed Public Notice 8050, de-listing the Mujahadin-e Khalq (MEK) from the State Department’s Specially Designated Global Terrorist list, effective September 28. What is MEK? Mujahadin-e Khalq is an Iranian Islamic militant organization in exile that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since its inception in 1965 in Iran, the group conducted assassinations of US military personnel and civilians working in Iran in the 1970s, jubilantly supported the takeover of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and opposed the release of American personnel, calling for their execution instead, fought against the Islamic Republic together with Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran War (1980-1988) and set up headquarters in Iraq at Camp Ashraf. In recent years, according to various sources including NBC, MEK teamed up with the Israeli secret service to kill Iranian nuclear scientists. NBC reported that US officials confirmed that “the Obama administration is aware of the assassination campaign but has no direct involvement”. In 1994, the State Department sent a damning 41-page report to Congress on why the MEK is a terrorist organization; that designation was enacted in 1997. The report concluded: “It is no coincidence that the only government in the world that supports the Mujahadin politically and financially is the totalitarian regime of Saddam Hussein.” Well, the MEK’s mission to overthrow Iran’s leadership has not changed since, but the US agenda has: In a vertiginous about-face, Washington became the powerful protector of the Mujahadin-e Khalq. Over the past few years, a formidable fundraising operation and campaign to de-list MEK from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist register gathered some high-caliber US supporters including General James Jones, President Obama's National Security Advisor from 2009 to 2010; Bill Richardson, Energy Secretary and UN ambassador in the Clinton administration and Obama's Special Envoy to North Korea; Tom Ridge, the first Secretary of Homeland Security; General Wesley Clark, former supreme commander of NATO; Louis Freeh, former director of the FBI; three former directors of the CIA – Michael Hayden, James Woolsey and Porter Goss; Rudolph Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City; former UN Ambassador John Bolton; General Hugh Shelton, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002; and many others. Top Washington lawyers and lobbyists made the case for the terrorist group as well: Akin Gump, Strauss Hauer & Feld, Patton Boggs and others. Robert Strauss, of the firm of the same name, was US Ambassador to the Soviet Union during the critical months of August 2, 1991, through December 26, 1991. A senior member of the firm Tobi Gati was also head of the intelligence branch of the US State Department. When speaking about terrorist groups, one might think of MEK as a ragtag bunch of cutthroats in shreds and tatters, confined to an unsanitary tent city. The truth is nothing of the sort. Watch this report by CNN’s Michael Ware dating back to 2007: You will see a marching army in crisp brand-new white-and-blue and khaki uniforms, entering a spacious parade ground framed by sculptures of lions. Camp Ashraf itself is one of the best-kept military facilities in Iraq and a sprawling city of 4,000 people, with shopping centers and hospitals, gardens, monuments, fountains and illuminations quite unexpected in the war-torn deserts of Iraq. The MEK is also armed with more than 2,000 well-maintained tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft guns and armored personnel carriers. Its supplies are guarded by US military police, and the camp itself is guarded by the American military. Indeed, “The coalition remains deeply committed to the security and rights of protected people of Ashraf,” US Major General Gardner said, according to a Headquarters Multinational Force Iraq document dated March 11, 2006. Michael Ware calls the MEK “the US’ officially protected terrorists.” Another film of Australian origin shows Camp Ashraf’s own parliament and hundreds of tanks on the camp’s parade ground. Well-versed in American political mores, the MEK’s leadership says the group is ‘pro-democracy.’ However, even the New York Times disagrees: In the middle of the 2011 de-listing campaign, it described MEK as “a repressive cult despised by most Iranians and Iraqis.” ‘Totalitarian cult’ is indeed the most frequent label applied to the MEK by people who come in contact with the group. And American support for MEK is not limited to military protection. Seymour Hersh, in his New Yorker piece“Our Men in Iran?” revealed that beginning in 2005, MEK fighters were trained in Nevada by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Why is Washington backing the MEK? As General Shelton said at a conference in February 2011, “When you look at what the MEK stands for, when they are antinuclear, separation of church and state, individual rights, MEK is obviously the way Iran needs to go. … By placing the MEK on the FTO [Foreign Terrorist Organizations] list we have weakened the support of the best organized internal resistance group to the most terrorist-oriented anti-Western world, anti-democratic regime in the region.” In an interview with Germany’s WDR TV back in 2005, ex-CIA operative Ray McGovern explained the logic: “Why the U.S. cooperates with organizations like the Mujahadin, I think, is because that they are local, and because they are ready to work for us. Previously, we considered them a terrorist organization. And they exactly are. But they are now our terrorists and we now don't hesitate to send them into Iran …. for the usual secret service activities: attacking sensors, in order to supervise the Iranian nuclear program, mark targets for air attacks, and perhaps establishing secret camps to control the military locations in Iran. And also a little sabotage.” Karen Kwiatkowski, formerly with the Department of Defense, makes a long story short for WDR TV: “MEK is ready to do things over which we would be ashamed, and over which we try to keep silent. But for such tasks we'll use them.” Now is the time for Russia and the world community to take active political measures preventing the United States from launching another proxy war in the Middle East. The MEK is much better trained and prepared for war than the Syrian rebels were at the beginning of the conflict, or even today. The MEK has all the necessary capabilities to become the military arm of an American attack against Iran. This time – unlike in Syria – the world should not ignore the march to war, and must take steps to prevent it from happening again. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSm24lSrvNAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=XyKBjDLvGI4&feature=related |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Nov 18, 2012 6:21:59 GMT -5
Iran “ready to double uranium enrichment”
Deutsche Welle
World | November 17, 2012 | 16:00
VIENNA -- The latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Friday shows that Iran is ready to double its uranium enrichment capacity.
According to the report, Iran installed the remaining 644 centrifuge machines at its Fordo underground facility in August, increasing its capacity for uranium enrichment.VI
Iran has now completed the nearly 2,800 centrifuges that the Fordo site was designed for, and is set to double the number of them operating from 700 to 1,400 according to the Vienna-based IAEA.
The IAEA report also said Iran continues to block access to sites, experts and documents linked to potential nuclear weapons development.
Western leaders are concerned Iran could increase the level of uranium enrichment to a level that allows for the quick production of nuclear weapons. Iranian officials deny they are pursuing weapons, and say their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Another concern in the West is that according to the IAEA, Iran is decreasing the amount of uranium it converts into civilian reactor fuel since the previous report.
Iran's stockpile of uranium gas refined to a 20 percent fissile concentration has thus increased by half to 135 kilograms. But that level is still well below the 200-250 kilograms experts say would be sufficient for an atomic bomb if refined further.
Iran has produced 233 kilograms of higher-grade enriched uranium since 2010, including a 43-kilogram increase since August, the IAEA says. Of that amount, 96 kilograms have been converted into fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran.
Using the uranium for such purposes makes it more difficult to process into 90 percent, or weapons grade, enriched uranium.
UN investigators suspect past and possibly ongoing military nuclear activity on the part of Iran, despite the country denying such claims. The report says "extensive activities" - alluding to possible evidence removal - at the Parchin military compound would undermine an agency investigation into potential nuclear weapons research.
It is "necessary to have access to this location without further delay," the report said.
The IAEA report gives more "troubling evidence that Iran is … slowly enhancing its nuclear weapons breakout potential," said the Arms Control Association, a Washington-based research and advocacy group. "However, Iran remains years, not months, away from having a workable nuclear arsenal if it were to choose to pursue that capability."
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 5, 2013 15:46:08 GMT -5
Vid, Sound might be a bit annoying, but it's in Farsi so one wouldn't understand it anyways.. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECFHlZT_yOcIran Unveils Copycat Arsenal. wired.com/dangerroom By David Axe01.04.136:30 AM Iran’s newest gunship helicopter, unveiled Wednesday, might look awfully familiar to aviation historians. And it’s not unique in that regard. Almost all of Iran’s “new” weaponry — including jet fighters, ‘copters, warships, tanks, missiles and other equipment — is a copy of a much older American, British, Russian, Chinese or North Korean design. But that doesn’t mean all of Tehran’s weapons suck. Far from it. While some of the sillier Iranian gear is obviously meant mostly for fleeting propaganda purposes, the main hardware is grounded in experience and hardship. Driven by desperation and shaped by the isolation that comes with widening external sanctions, Tehran’s copycat arsenal could contain a few nasty surprises for the U.S. and its allies in the unlikely event that tensions over Iran’s nuclear program come to blows. For one, low-tech weapons force the users to fight creatively. “There’s a chance they’ll catch us by surprise,” Air Force Lt. Col. Dan Ward, an engineer and acquisitions expert and prolific writer (.pdf), tells Danger Room in an e-mail. Equally importantly, Iran’s tendency to produce slightly evolved versions of classic weapons means it doesn’t spend billions of dollars developing, say, a brand-new warplane and all its associated technologies from scratch. “One of the benefits of this ‘frugal innovation’ approach is that it allows a greater quantity of aircraft to be purchased (as opposed to the infamously small fleet of F-22s, for example),” Ward explains. The Iranian air force maintains around 500 manned warplanes, making it one of the biggest in the region. But it’s not just planes benefiting from Tehran’s secondhand weapons-development strategy. The Toufan 2 attack helicopter, which first appeared in public during a military exercise this week, is an upgraded version of the American AH-1, a Vietnam War-era copter that Iran originally purchased from U.S. manufacturer Bell back in the 1970s, before the Islamic Revolution transformed Tehran from America’s close ally to one of its most bitter enemies. Aviation blogger David Cenciotti notes what appear to be the Toufan 2′s improvements over the original American-made ‘copter. “The main difference from the version already in service is the electro-optical surveillance and tracking system that is believed to use FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared) technology, visible electro-optical imagery, as well as laser designation and illumination to provide target identification, ranging and tracking capability.” That approach — adding new electronics to an old, sometimes copied, vehicle — is characteristic of Iran’s arms industry. Among other hardware, Iranian technicians have also reverse-engineered and enhanced: the American F-5 jet fighter; American, British and Russian tanks; British patrol vessels; and Chinese and North Korean ballistic missiles. The Iranian version of the F-5, known locally as the Saeqeh, made the news a few years ago when state media claimed the obviously non-stealthy jet could evade enemy radar. The government-controlled press has made equally risible boasts regarding the Iranian navy’s new Jamaran “destroyer,” which is in fact a copy of a copy of a decades-old British light frigate, albeit with relatively modern weapons based on U.S. designs. Tehran’s Zulfiqar tanks and Dehlaviyeh missiles are likewise knock-offs. Iran also copies American Unmanned Aerial Vehicles — or so Tehran claims. Iran’s homemade drones (there are lots of them) could combine broad design elements taken from U.S. UAVs that have crashed, with surprising frequency, in or near Iranian territory in recent years. Fitted with electronics built at home or sourced from Iran’s few remaining allies, new hybrid drones might look like knock-offs but boast unique abilities. Unexpected sensor combinations, for instance. Iranian lawmaker Avaz Heidarpour said last month that his country had figured out how to build its own versions of a U.S. stealth spy drone that crashed on the Iran-Afghanistan border in December 2011. There are good reasons to doubt that, even with the RQ-170 Sentinel’s wreckage to study, Tehran’s engineers possess the technical know-how to perfectly duplicate the radar-absorbing materials that are one key to American stealth warplanes. But considering Iran’s decades of experience tearing down, copying, manufacturing and upgrading old designs of foreign origin, it’s not inconceivable that a rough approximation of the Sentinel — emphasis on “rough” — could soon appear in the skies over Iran and its neighbors. If history is any guide, the Iranian done-clone could add customized systems to an airframe modeled on the lines of the crashed RQ-170. Meanwhile, Iran is also enhancing old U.S.-built F-4D Phantom fighters. Originally acquired from the American plane-maker McDonnell Douglas in the early 1970s, the twin-engine jets quickly fell behind the latest F-15s, F-16s and other U.S. warplanes that entered service in subsequent decades. Blocked from buying new jets, Iran has begun upgrading around 10 of its remaining F-4Ds plus dozens of newer F-4Es with new radars, radios, cockpit displays and missiles sourced from China. The F-4s aren’t terribly maneuverable and they’re anything but stealthy, but with new sensors and weapons they could still put up a fight. Germany, Turkey and Japan certainly think so: they, too, still use F-4s fitted with new gear. And Iran’s lack of cutting-edge equipment means its pilots must adapt, improvise and emphasize skill and tactics over technology. “It’s been said the greatest swordsman in the world has nothing to fear from the second greatest swordsman,” Ward notes. “He should be worried about some idiot who’s never picked up a sword before and acts in a completely unpredictable manner. Iranians flying refurbished and upgraded F-4s will, out of necessity, fly them differently than a pilot in a more advanced fighter.” “We’ll learn and adapt, of course,” Ward adds, “but that first hit could hurt more than we think.” |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 4, 2013 12:52:06 GMT -5
Carrots & Sanctions: Iran non-oil exports boom amid tough times. RussiaToday Mar 3, 2013 www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tSYIza2aXsOf all the economic penalties imposed on Iran over its nuclear energy program, the oil export ban has hit the country the hardest. But despite the fact it's undoubtedly damaged the economy overall - it's also helped strengthen other industries in Iran. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 12, 2013 13:38:39 GMT -5
I still despise those Paki bastards.. ------------- US threatens Pakistan with sanctions over Iran gas pipeline. RT.com March 12, 2013 10:11 The US has threatened Islamabad with sanctions over Pakistan’s partnership with Iran to construct a section of a gas pipeline. Washington said that the much-delayed $7.5-billion project violates sanctions on Iran, a claim denied by Pakistan. Iran and Pakistan expect the completed pipeline will deliver 21.5 million cubic meters (760,000 million cubic feet) of gas per day to Pakistan from its giant offshore South Pars field in the Persian Gulf by December 2014. Iranian contractors will construct the pipeline, which crosses Pakistani territory. Tehran has agreed to lend Islamabad $500 million, one-third of the estimated $1.5 billion cost of the 750-kilometer pipeline, according to Fars news agency. After Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari launched the project on Monday on the Iran-Pakistan Border, the US threatened to respond with sanctions if the project “actually goes forward.” “We have serious concerns if this project actually goes forward that the Iran Sanctions Act would be triggered,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said, commenting on the so-called ‘peace pipeline.’ Iran has completed 900 kilometers of the pipeline’s segment on its side of the border with Pakistan. Monday's ceremony marked the beginning of work on the Pakistani segment, which will start at the Iranian town of Chahbahar near the border. “We've heard this pipeline announced about 10 or 15 times before in the past. So we have to see what actually happens,” Nuland said. Conceived in 1990s, the project initially involved Iran, Pakistan and India. However, India pulled out of the project in 2009, citing cost and security issues. The United States has persistently opposed Pakistani and Indian involvement in the project, insisting it would violate sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear activity. Nuland reiterated that the US is working to increase Pakistan’s energy supplies through other means: “This pipeline project, if it actually goes forward – we've seen that promise many times – would take Pakistan in the wrong direction right at a time that we're trying to work with Pakistan on better, more reliable ways to meet its energy needs.” The US is "supporting large-scale energy projects in Pakistan that will add some 900 megawatts to the power grid by the end of 2013," she added. With Pakistan currently facing energy shortages, Washington appears reluctant to keep its pledge despite its assurances. “The Americans have only given promises and signed some kind of memorandum of understanding on this issue, but nothing has been implemented on the ground,” RT’s Tariq Mahiyuddin, who is currently in Pakistan, said. Pakistan sees the pipeline as a way of easing severe energy shortages, which have sparked demonstrations and battered a weak government. At the same time, Islamabad needs the financial aid it receives from the US. In response to Washington’s threats of sanctions, President Ahmadinejad accused "foreign elements" of using Iran’s nuclear program as a pretext to thwart Iran-Pakistan relations, saying they have no grounds to oppose the pipeline project since it deals with natural gas. "With natural gas you cannot make atomic bombs. That's why they should have no excuse to oppose this pipeline," Reuters reported, quoting a translation of a televised statement by Ahmadinejad. "I want to tell those individuals that the gas pipeline has no connection whatsoever with the nuclear case." ‘Pipeline undermines US hegemony in the region’ The Iran-Pakistan pipeline could undermine US hegemony in the Middle East and South Asia, Eric Draitser, an independent geopolitical analyst and founder of StopImperialism.com wrote for RT: “The pipeline brings the two countries closer together and, in so doing, helps to solidify a relationship united by a common mistrust of the US.” Anthony Skinner, director of British-based Maplecroft risks consultancy, echoed the idea that Pakistan wants to show its place on the international stage by daring to make decisions that “defy the US.” "The Pakistani government wants to show it is willing to take foreign policy decisions that defy the US,” Skinner said, according to Reuters. "The pipeline not only caters to Pakistan's energy needs, but also lodges brownie points with the many critics of the US amongst the electorate." Draitser also believes that the “peace pipeline” will be a success, especially if China decides to become involved: “In this very plausible scenario, China would finally get the ‘holy grail’ it has sought for years: land-based access to energy imports from the Middle East. For China, an energy-starved economy that continues to grow, this would greatly enhance their regional position.” “It would also transform the balance of power in Asia, as the era of US domination of energy resources in the Middle East would be over,” he added. “So, were the project to be extended to China, the pipeline would become the focus of a new power paradigm, making it one of the most important economic development projects in the world.”  Irani workers weld the pipeline during a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the inauguration of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, in the city of Chahbahar in southeastern Iran March 11, 2013. (Reuters/Jason Lee) |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 17, 2013 20:33:07 GMT -5
Albania offers asylum to opposition Iranian group.
Tanjug
Region | March 17, 2013 | 14:01
TIRANA -- The Albanian government has offered asylum to 210 members of an Iranian opposition group that currently live at a former U.S. military base near Baghdad.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha said Saturday after meeting with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf, the U.N. envoy in Iraq, Martin Kobler, and other officials that asylum was offered to the group dubbed Mujahedeen-e-Khalq for "humanitarian reasons," AP has reported.
Iraq's government is eager to have the group, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq , out of the country.
The group opposes Iran's clerical regime and carried out assassinations and bombings in Iran until renouncing violence in 2001, AP points out.
Its members fought in the 1980s alongside Saddam Hussein's forces in the Iran-Iraq war.
The UN says over 3,000 group members live at the former U.S. base. They refuse to leave Iraq.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Apr 8, 2013 15:02:20 GMT -5
Chinese tanker takes in 2 million barrels of crude at Iranian terminal.
presstv.ir
Sun Apr 7, 2013 2:43PM GMT
A Chinese supertanker with the capacity to carry two million barrels of crude has docked and embarked at an Iranian port, the first such move since the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil in July.
According to data from IHS Fairplay, a research company based in England, the Chinese vessel, belonging to the country’s biggest shipping company China Ocean Shipping, was seen at Kharg Island, Iran’s largest export terminal, on March 21, Bloomberg reported.
Since July 2012, when the EU imposed new bans on Iran to prevent its member states from purchasing, trading and insuring the Iranian oil, it is the first time that a Chinese tanker has visited a port in Iran, the company said.
“As far as I can see, this is the first confirmed visit to an Iranian port by a Chinese-owned crude oil carrier since the ban,” said Richard Hurley, senior maritime data specialist at IHS Fairplay.
The ship has been insured by Skuld, a company based in Oslo, for protection and indemnity risks, according to the insurer. The company said its cover for any vessel would terminate if it had to face sanctions due to EU laws regarding Iran’s oil. However, Skuld did not verify if its cover for the Chinese oil carrier has been excluded.
“We insure ships on a yearly basis and do not usually know what particular activity a ship is engaged in at any one time,” Skuld said in its statement. “In general we only become aware of a particular ship’s location and cargo if there is an incident giving rise to a claim. An owner is not obliged to inform Skuld about the trade he is conducting with the vessel.”
China has frequently announced its opposition to the unilateral sanctions that the US and the EU have imposed on Iran over allegations that the Persian Gulf country is seeking to militarize its nuclear technology, a claim Iran has vehemently rejected.
“China maintains normal and transparent energy cooperation with Iran in accordance with its own energy requirements,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
“We obviously oppose some country imposing sanctions against another country according to their own domestic laws,” he added.
Over the past six months, China has depended on National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) for the delivery of Iran’s crude oil to its refineries.
Official figures show that China imported nearly 410,000 barrels of crude from Iran in January and February this year, up two percent from a year ago.
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Post by TsarSamuil on May 24, 2013 14:19:24 GMT -5
Iran Arrests MKO Terrorists.
19:14 | 2013-05-24
TEHRAN (FNA)- An Iranian security official said that the country's security forces have arrested several terrorists led by Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCRI) who planned to sabotage the election in Iran.
"Following the identification of active members of several groups linked to the MKO grouplet, several simultaneous sting operations were conducted in Tehran and several other cities and serious blows were dealt to those groups," the security official said on the condition of anonymity on Friday.
Despite using alias names and titles, most of the identified groups had a history of association with the MKO grouplet and many of the arrestees had been previously jailed for similar activities, press tv reported.
Two of the arrestees had recently entered Iran to instruct their agents inside the country on how to spark turmoil during the election, the source reiterated.
The remarks came two days after campaigning for the June 14 presidential election kicked off in Iran after the Guardian Council released the list of qualified candidates.
Under Iran's Election Law, the Guardian Council, the body responsible for vetting hopefuls, is required to announce the list of approved hopefuls within five days after the end of registration. This period can be extended for another five days if necessary.
On Tuesday night, the council okayed Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and the country's Chief negotiator Saeed Jalili, former Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Hadad-Adel, Expediency Council Secretary and former IRGC top commander Mohsen Rezayee, former chief negotiator Hassan Rouhani, former Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref, former Communications Minister Mohammad Qarazi, Senior Advisor to the Supreme Leader for International Affairs Ali Akbar Velayati and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf as qualified candidates for the June election.
The eight qualified candidates represent a wide range of political streams from Principlists to reformers.
Candidates officially started election campaigning this morning after the official announcement of the eligible candidates. Campaigning will continue up to June 13, that is 24 hours before the start of the election.
Iranian voters will go to over 66,000 polling stations inside and outside the country on June 14 to elect their next president.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jun 17, 2013 13:34:18 GMT -5
Did that same MP rule out military scenario for Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya?..wouldn't surprise me, some people in Russia, Putin incl need reality checks... It was US that destroyed Iranian democracy by putting Mossadegh out of power in 1953. ----------- Russian MP Rules Out US ‘Military Scenario’ for Iran. MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) – The victory of reformist candidate Hassan Rouhani in Iran's presidential election will make it harder for the United States to opt for a military action against Tehran, a senior Russian lawmaker said Sunday. “Rouhani’s victory in Iran will greatly hinder the US military scenario for Iran. How can one bomb a country run by a reformist president?” Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian lower house of parliament’s international affairs committee, said on Twitter. US President Barack Obama said in March that “all options are on the table” to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. “When I say all options are on the table, all options are on the table, and the US obviously has significant capabilities,” he said. “For those who don’t know: a military scenario for solving the Iranian problem has been prepared in the United States for 6 or 7 years,” Pushkov said. Rouhani, 64, a former lead Iranian negotiator on nuclear issues, gained more than 50 percent of the votes in the country’s presidential elections held on Friday. He will replace outgoing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose presidency has seen sharp deterioration in ties with Europe and the United States and the imposition of economic sanctions provoked by international opposition to Tehran's nuclear program. Western countries suspect Iran of using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons capability, a claim Iran has consistently denied. Tehran claims it needs atomic technology for producing electricity, although it has some of the world's largest reserves of oil and gas. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jun 17, 2013 14:08:37 GMT -5
Putin Congratulates Iran’s Rouhani with Election, Offers Cooperation.  MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Hassan Rouhani with his election as Iran’s new president and confirmed Russia’s readiness to develop bilateral cooperation, the Kremlin press office reported on Sunday. Moderate cleric Rouhani gained more than 50 percent of the votes in the country’s presidential elections held on Friday. Rouhani, 64, a former lead Iranian negotiator on nuclear issues, will replace the outgoing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose presidency has seen sharp deterioration in ties with Europe and the United States and the imposition of economic sanctions provoked by international opposition to Tehran's nuclear program. In his congratulatory telegram, Putin said he was confident Rouhani’s work as Iran’s president “will contribute to the prosperity of friendly Iran and further strengthening of Russian-Iranian relations,” the Kremlin press office said. “The Russian president also confirmed readiness for consistent development of mutually advantageous cooperation with Iran in very diverse fields in the interests of ensuring regional security and international stability,” the Kremlin press office said. Russian senator Mikhail Margelov who heads the international committee in the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, said Rouhani’s election as the Iranian president would make the West look for the peaceful methods of resolving the Iran nuclear problem. Rouhani is a “moderate liberal by Iranian standards” and the presence of the liberal president in the [Iranian] leadership will force the West to look for the ways of peacefully resolving the [nuclear] problem, without any hints at possible bombardments of [Iranian] nuclear facilities,” Margelov told RIA Novosti. Western countries suspect Iran of using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons capability, a claim Iran has consistently denied. Tehran claims it needs atomic technology for producing electricity, although it has some of the world's largest reserves of oil and gas. |
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