Strategic & Geopolitical News

[NEWUSER]

Iranian scientist wins ISESCO 2010 prize

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

An Iranian scientist has been awarded the prestigious Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) 2010 Prize for Science and Technology.

Hossein Baharvand is a leading scientist at Iran's Royan Research Institute with major achievements in the field of stem cell research.

ISESCO Secretary in Iran Gholam Reza Karimi told ISNA that the organization gives prizes annually to leading Muslim scholars working in the fields of technology and science.

Baharvand will receive the prize, a certificate, a gold medal, and 5,000 dollars cash at the 5th meeting of the Islamic countries' science and research ministers, which is to be held from October 19 to 21 in Malaysia.

Iran scientist wins ISESCO 2010 prizes - Royan Institute

It is worth mentioning; Dr. Hossein Baharvand - from Iran - won the ISESCO prize in biology for his achievements in the field of stem cell technology last year, and Dr. M Qassim Jan - from Pakistan - won the ISESCO 2010 award in Geology.

[Aban]

Iran Assists Its Ally Syria

Iranian leaders echo the Syrians' description of protesters who are demanding their freedom as being instigated by foreign enemies.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States is "watching very closely what Iran is doing in the region. ... We hear Iran praising the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, except it doesn’t praise what happens inside Iran, and it doesn't praise what is happening in Syria," said Secretary of State Clinton. "It is a further example of the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime. And we want people in the region to understand that the Iranian Government's motive here is to destabilize countries, not assist them in their democratic transitions. ... After all," she said, "their 1979 revolution was derailed, and it has unfortunately evolved into a totalitarian state where the government is trying to control the thoughts, the speech, the actions of the citizens on every front."

Iran Assists Its Ally Syria | Editorials | Editorial

[Harry]

Here it is folks. Yet, another gift by the our zionist and zionist-loving congress to the Iranian people. Don't ever say that the ZOG didn't do anything for you:

Begin Article

New Legislation Targets Iranian Civilian Flights
Thursday, April 21, 2011
By: NIAC Staff

Washington, DC - When President Obama told Iranians this past Norooz, “though times may seem dark, I am with you,” NIAC presented several small but significant steps the President could take to support a brighter future for the Iranian people.

Meanwhile, Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) was busy working on legislation to turn out the lights on hopes of building goodwill between the U.S. and ordinary Iranians.

On Friday, Sherman unveiled the fruits of his labor—H.R. 1655, a bill that would strip the President’s authority to allow civilian aircraft parts and repairs to be sent into Iran to prevent humanitarian tragedy.

Flying is already a dangerous affair for Iranians (Iran's "Flying Coffins"), thanks in part to a U.S. embargo that has left the country’s civilian aviation fleet in disrepair. In the past decade, over 1,000 people have been killed in at least fifteen plane crashes in Iran, including seventy-seven passengers who were killed just three months ago in a Boeing 727 crash.

But for Sherman, these tragedies represent an opportunity.

Under current law, the President may bypass the embargo on a case-by-case basis to allow the sale of parts and repairs for Iranian civilian. This humanitarian waiver has been used only once, by President Bush in 2006.

But on March 16, President Obama notified Congress that he would use this authority to allow Iran to repair fifteen General Motors engines used in civilian planes that were recently deemed a safety risk by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Sherman responded almost immediately, sending a letter with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) condemning the move and calling for the President to pull the plug. According to Sherman, the U.S. should not allow repairs for Iranian civilian planes “until Tehran grounds its nuclear weapons program.”

Leveraging human suffering against an Iranian government that continues to abuse the human rights of its own people is unlikely to change Tehran’s calculus regarding its nuclear program. But using Iranians as pawns in a dispute with Iran’s government is likely to diminish the United States’ standing among the Iranian people.

Given Sherman’s stated belief that sanctions should punish ordinary Iranians (Rep. Sherman wants to help Ahmadinejad punish innocent Iranians), and his dismissal of warnings from Green Movement leaders that such measures hurt the democracy movement and help hardliners in Iran’s government, H.R. 1655 should come as no surprise.

Unfortunately, Sherman is not a lone voice in Washington. Five Members of Congress, two Republicans and three Democrats, are original cosponsors of H.R. 1655. And while Ros-Lehtinen declined to sign-on to Sherman’s bill, she is reportedly working to advance her own sanctions legislation that may also revoke Obama’s humanitarian waiver.

Meanwhile, Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) claimed last week that the way to support the Iranian people is through increased sanctions, arguing that Iranians ”will be more inclined to suffer the consequences” of sanctions if the U.S. says they are meant to “assist” them. (Senator Kyl Calls for Harsher Sanctions to "Assist" Iranians)

Now, if Sherman gets his way, those consequences will likely include more airplane accidents and civilian deaths in Iran. The President should focus on building goodwill with Iranians and reject shameful proposals to make the U.S. complicit in such tragedies.

End Article

This issue MUST concern all Iranians, those who would like to see at least a semblance of normalization between Iran & U.S. and those who oppose the zionist stranglehold of our legislative bodies and "representatives."

PLEASE ACT

Read the articles in the links provided above.

Become familiar with H.R. 1655 (linked above) which these taitors have penned.

Contact these duche-bags and let them know that you will not support them or their parties. It won't do any good, b ut it will make you feel better.

Contact your so-called representative (as above).

Go to NIAC site for form letters and how to contact these guys. Their site makes this quite easy.

If you are Iranian or are concerned about Iran-related issues, JOIN NIAC.

I know for a fact that Dr. Ron Paul will oppose this. Support him for Presidency. Obami can't stand up to these guys, but Ron Paul can.

Long Live IRAN

[Harry]

And now we will start your week off with these barks from yet another rabid israeli ( a rabid rabbi):



Israel Can Annihilate Iran in a Second

National Union party Chairman MK Yaakov ("Ketzaleh") Katz pushed the envelope of official ambiguity Monday regarding Israel's offensive nuclear capabilities. MK Katz said that Israel has the ability to destroy enemies like Iran and Syria "in a second's time."

The statement is most likely a reference to military nuclear capabilities, which Israel has never officially admitted to possessing.

Speaking at a session of a Knesset lobby dedicated to teaching the lessons of the Holocaust, the fiery, Biblically-bearded MK Katz said the greatest revenge against the Germans, who desired to annihilate the Jewish people, is the Jewish nation's fertility and natural growth.

Ketzaleh opined that Israel should end the custom of bringing visiting heads of state to Holocaust memorial museum Yad VaShem. Such visits, he said, show the dignitaries a humiliating, Diaspora side of the Jewish nation.

Instead, he said, Israel should show visitors the pinnacles it has reached since the Holocaust and despite it.

"We must show them that we have the capability to destroy Iran within a second's time, and Syria in a minute's time, should they dare lift a hand to us," he said.

... the rest of his whine

[Aspahbod]

Iranian President to Send Special Envoy to Qatar Tomorrow

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's special envoy will visit Qatar on Tuesday to submit a written message to the Qatari Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, diplomatic sources announced on Monday.

"The Iranian president's special envoy and Deputy Foreign Minister for Middle-East and Commonwealth Affairs, Mohammad Reza Sheybani, will arrive in the Qatari capital city of Doha to submit a written message from the Islamic Republic of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad" to the Qatari leader, Tehran's Ambassador to Doha Abdollah Sohrabi said on Monday.

"During the visit, the Iranian president's special envoy will meet with Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to submit President Ahmadinejad's written message," Sohrabi said, adding that the message is about the two countries' bilateral ties and a number of issues of mutual interest.

According to the envoy, the Iranian deputy foreign minister is also due to attend meetings with other senior Qatari officials to discuss bolstering of ties and exchange views over certain regional and international issues, specially the status quo in a number of Arab states.

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was in Qatar earlier this month, where he met with top officials of the Arab country, including the Emir and his crown prince, and exchanged views over the latest developments in the region.

After a meeting with Salehi, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani described his negotiations with the Iranian top diplomat as "constructive and fruitful", and stressed Iran's effective and important role in the region and the world.

He also stressed that further consolidation of relations with Tehran is highly important for promoting the stability and security of the region.

Iran and Qatar have recently augmented efforts to further expand ties and cooperation in all the different political, economic, defense and security fields.

The two Persian Gulf littoral states recently signed several protocols to increase mutual cooperation, specially in different areas of security.

Qatari Emir in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in February stressed the importance of improving ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"Qatar will never forget Iran's helps to this country during difficult times," al-Thani said during the meeting in Doha.

[Borakk]

Since George Bush took office in January 2001, efforts to oust Chavez failed three times:

> In April 2002 for two days, aborted by mass street protests and support from Venezuela's military, notably its middle-ranked officer corps;

> The 2002 - 2003 general strike and oil management lockout, causing severe economic disruptions; and

> The failed August 2004 national recall referendum, Chavez prevailing with a 59% majority.

Nonetheless, disruptive activities continue, including malicious propaganda, CIA subversion, funding opposition forces, sanctions, and militarizing the region, notably in Colombia as well as gunboat diplomacy by reactivating the Latin American/Caribbean Fourth Fleet for the first time since 1950 despite no regional threat.

Ignoring America's appalling human rights record, on April 11, the State Department issued its 2010 Human Rights Report: Venezuela, claiming Chavez government responsibility for largely uncorroborated, exaggerated or falsified abuses, including:

"Unlawful killings, including summary executions of criminal suspects; widespread criminal kidnappings for ransom; prison violence and harsh prison conditions; inadequate juvenile detention centers; arbitrary arrests and detentions; corruption and impunity in police forces; corruption, inefficiency, and politicization in a judicial system characterized by trial delays and violations of due process; political prisoners and selective prosecution for political purposes; infringement of citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of expression; government threats to sanction or close television stations and newspapers; corruption at all levels of government; threats against domestic NGOs; violence against women; trafficking in persons; and restrictions on workers' right of association."

Then on May 24, the State Department imposed sanctions for the first time against Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state owned oil company for "deliver(ing) at least two cargos of reformate (a hydrocarbon product for gasoline) to Iran between December 2010 and March 2011, worth approximately $50 million."

They "prohibit the company from competing for US government procurement contracts, from securing financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and from obtaining US export licenses."

They don't apply to PDVSA subsidiaries (including US-based CITGO) or prohibit crude oil exports to America. In 2010, according to US Energy Information Administration data, Venezuela was America's fifth largest supplier after Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. In fact, Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, including its heavy and extra-heavy oil.

Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg called sanctioning PDVSA a "clear message" to companies violating America's 1996 Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), renamed the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) in 2006, now the 2010 Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act (CISADA), warning they'll "face serious consequences."

The action came a day after Obama signed an Executive Order, authorizing new sanctions on Iran, as well as giving the State and Treasury Departments more latitude in targeting companies dealing with its energy sector.

Hard-line Rep. Connie Mack (R. FL), Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman, said Washington "needs to move quickly to cut off Chavez's source of revenue, and bring to an end both his influence in Latin America and his dangerous relationship with the terrorist-supporting Iranian regime before it's too late."

Along with extremist Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R. FL) and Jeb Bush (former FL governor and Bush family member), Mack got President GHW Bush (in 1990) to pardon Orlando Bosch's criminal downing of Cubana flight 455 with Luis Posada Carriles, killing all 78 passengers on board.

As part of their hard-line agenda, Ros-Lehtinen and Mack now wage war on Chavez, failing in 2008 to designate Venezuela "a state sponsor of terrorism" through HR 1049.

In October 2009, Mack again tried unsuccessfully through HR 872, "Calling for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to be designed a state sponsor of terrorism for its support of Iran, Hezbollah, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC)."

Mack also called Ecuador's Raphael Correa "a pawn for his fellow friend and thugocrat, Hugo Chavez."

Allied with bipartisan extremists in Congress, today's Republican controlled House is infested with others like him.

So is the Obama administration, including former National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair, naming Chavez in his Annual 2010 Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, calling him a "leading anti-US regional force" by:

> "Impos(ing) an authoritarian populist political model that undermines democratic institutions (a convoluted oxymoron)" and

> Allying with "radical leaders in Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and until recently, Honduras," adding that he opposes "nearly every US policy initiative in the region." For sure, all imperial ones.

Responses to Venezuelan Sanctions

Venezuela rejected them, saying:

"The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela....expresses its strongest rejection to this decision (it calls a) hostile action on the fringes of international law that violates (UN Charter) principles..."

Calling Washington's action "imperialist aggression," it "calls on all the Venezuela people, laborers and especially the oil workers, to stay alert and mobilized in defense of our PDVSA and the sacred sovereignty of the homeland."

An official statement said a "general assessment of the situation (will) determine how these sanctions affect the operational capacity of our oil industry, and therefore, the supply of 1.2 million barrels of oil per day to the US."

Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said:

"We are not afraid of these sanctions, nor are we going to debate the reasons that the North American government may have, but Venezuela is sovereign in making its decisions."

Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez added:

"The imperialist powers are hoping to dictate the rules to us. They will have to go without, because we are going to keep advancing towards creating unity between oil-producing countries."

Responding, Chavez tweeted:

"Sanctions against the homeland of Bolivar? Imposed by the US imperialist government. Bring it on, Mr. Obama. Do not forget that we are the children of Bolivar," telling over 1.5 million followers that "the true impact of this latest US aggression is the strengthening of our nationalistic and patriotic morale in Venezuela!"

In other tweets he added:

"We don't just have the largest oil reserves in the world. We also have the most revolutionary oil company in the world."

"So, they wanted to see and feel the flame of the people of Bolivar defending the independence of the Venezuelan homeland? Well, there you have it!"

Majority members in Venezuela's National Assembly also rejected US sanctions, warning Washington to halt hostile actions or face possible oil shipment recriminations.

On May 25, PDVSA workers rallied across Venezuela against US sanctions, supporting their government, president and company. Women's groups, peasant organizations, communal councils, and alternative media also organized a Caracas march.

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA) also condemned US sanctions, its member countries "express(ing) our indignation and reject(ion) in the strongest terms....in the framework of its unilateral policy of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran."

"Faced with this hostile measure, (ALBA members) express our absolute backing to (Venezuela), which, guided by a solid conviction of solidarity, has promoted mechanisms of energy cooperation aimed at strengthening the unity between our peoples."

ALBA nations include Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Venezuela. Before Washington's June 2009 coup ousted President Manuel Zelaya, Honduras was also an ALBA member.

Friends of Venezuela issued a "Declaration of Rejection to US Sanctions," responding to Washington's unilateral action, asking US individuals and organizations to oppose it.

Denouncing "a grave and dangerous move by Washington to justify further aggression against the Venezuelan people," they "unequivocally reject this latest attempt....to demonize (Venezuela) and undermine the vibrant democracy of the Venezuelan people."

Using its oil wealth responsibly, over 60% of it goes for healthcare, education, job training, subsidized food and housing, community media, reducing poverty, and supporting thousands of communal councils engaged in grassroots participatory democracy.

"We find it outrageous that (Washington) demonize(s) the one (country that's put) people before profits. And we call on our representatives....to suspend these sanctions....immediately."

They'll remain, and so will determined millions against them, weakening Washington's corrosive influence everywhere.


Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected].

Source: Washington's War on Chavez ~ Terminal X

[Aban]

TEHRAN: Iran yesterday welcomed Bahrain’s decision to lift a state of emergency but said its problems will remain until foreign forces are withdrawn from the Gulf state.

“We consider the lifting (of emergency law) to be a positive step forward and in line with fulfilling the demands of Bahrain’s people,” said Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, quoted by official Irna news agency.

“The problems Bahrain has faced are its internal affair and they should be resolved domestically and after the withdrawal of foreign forces from that country,” Salehi said. Bahrain on Wednesday lifted the state of emergency it imposed in mid-March during a crackdown on pro-democracy Shia-led street demonstrations, which erupted a month earlier.

But Bahrain’s royal family, drawn from its Sunni minority, has not called for a pullout of Arab troops from neighbouring Gulf states brought in to help deal with the unrest.

Predominantly Shia Iran, which has vocally supported most of the uprisings across the Arab world, harshly condemned the violent crackdown in Bahrain, which in turn accused Tehran of meddling and fanning confessional unrest. Salehi called for dialogue between Bahrain’s rulers and the opposition, Irna reported.

Bahrain’s main Shia opposition group, the Islamic National Accord Association (Al-Wefaq), yesterday welcomed an offer of dialogue from the Sunni royal family which crushed Shia-led protests in March.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/mid...ency-rule.html

[Aban]

Evidence grows Iran aiding Syria's Assad - UPI.com



Iran is aiding Syria, while Saudis are aiding Bahrain. Business everywhere.

[Aban]

Osama is dead, and so the job is done. Foreign forces need to leave Afghanistan to the people Afghanistan.

TEHRAN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania Affairs, Mohammad-Ali Fathollahi said foreign forces in Afghanistan undermine the stability and security of Afghanistan as well as the region, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Thursday.

Speaking at a meeting with the United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, in Tehran on Wednesday, Fathollahi said, "Iran has always supported the transfer of security responsibilities to the Afghan government."

However, "Signing of a strategic security deal between the U.S. and Afghan government is a security challenge in the region and an obstacle in the way of peace in Afghanistan," Fathollahi was quoted as saying.

He also expressed concern over growing violence and the recent spike in civilian casualties in Afghanistan and said the current trend of insecurity was to the region's disadvantage.

The UN official also expressed concern over the mounting insecurity in Afghanistan and said the country's neighbors, especially Iran, play an important role in developing and rebuilding the country, said the report.

Iran says foreign forces cause of Afghanistan instability

[Roshangar]

From the Armed Forces Journal:
The Empire's New Middle East Map: ethnic cleansing and petroleum geography

Cheers.