A diplomatic shuffle on Iran17 Apr 2008Summary: If the US’s intention is to hit at Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps inside Iran, perhaps as a trigger for attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities as a follow-up step, such dubious reports of Iran-al-Qaeda connections serve a political and propaganda purposes, just as similar accusations against Saddam played a role in paving the road for the US’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. source: Asia Times Onlineread more
Report reveals British sailors not seized in Iraqi waters17 Apr 2008Summary: TurneyFifteen British sailors and Marines were seized by Iran in internationally disputed waters and not in Iraq?s maritime territory as Parliament was told, according to new official documents released to the Times. Iran maintains that it arrested the Britons for violating its territorial integrity. The report states “It was the British who apparently raised their weapons first before the Iranian gunboats came alongside.” source: Times on lineread more
Talks on Iran end in China with no resolution16 Apr 2008Summary: Talks on whether to offer stronger incentives to Iran to curb its nuclear program ended in the Chinese city of Shanghai on Wednesday without “all problems being resolved”, the Chinese delegate said. “For China, economic and energy sanctions are out of the question,” said Shen. “Whatever role China plays, there won’t be a breakthrough, because the other players just aren’t ready.” source: Reutersread more
Iran as the New Official Enemy in Iraq16 Apr 2008Summary: Why would U.S. officials begin shifting people?s mindsets to Iran as the new official enemy in Iraq? Who knows? But we can only hope that the reason is not to generate support for a bombing campaign against Iran. source: The Future of Freedom Foundationread more
Iran says U.S. aids rebels at its borders16 Apr 2008Summary: Zahedan bus bombBAGHDAD ? A series of conflicts with insurgent groups along Iran’s borders may be impelling Tehran to back its own allies in Iraq in what it regards as a proxy war with the U.S., according to security experts and officials in the U.S., Iran and Iraq. source: LA Timesread more
American Hegemony Is Not Guaranteed15 Apr 2008Summary: RobertsExactly as the British press predicted, last week’s congressional testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and Green Zone administrator Ryan Crocker set the propaganda stage for a Bush regime attack on Iran. On April 10 Robert H. Reid of AP News reported: “The top U.S. commander has shifted the focus from al-Qaeda to Iranian-backed ‘special groups’ as the main threat. ? The shift was articulated by Gen. Petraeus who told Congress that ‘unchecked, the special groups pose the greatest long-term threat to the viability of source: antiwar.comread more
Attitudes Toward US Worsen in Arab World15 Apr 2008Summary: Despite renewed U.S. efforts to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement this year, popular views of the United States in the Arab world have actually worsened since 2006, according to a major new survey of public opinion in six Arab states. source: antiwar.comread more
Tough New Iran Sanctions Could Backfire, Experts Warn15 Apr 2008Summary: AkhaviIn the more than five years since the George W. Bush administration’s misdirected adventurism in Iraq, the fundamental balance of power in the Middle East has shifted. source: antiwar.comread more
US and Iran holding ‘secret’ talks on nuclear programme14 Apr 2008Summary: PickeringIran and the United States have been engaged in secret “back channel” discussions for the past five years on Iran’s nuclear programme and the broader relationship between the two sworn enemies, The Independent can reveal. source: The Independentread more
Iran’s Struggle for a More Equitable World Order14 Apr 2008Summary: Rostam PourzalIran does not deserve the hostility of, and is no threat to, the United States. In fact, the West’s current obsession with Iran is fueled by little more than Iran’s rejection of double standards in international relations. Accusations that Iran will develop nuclear weapons come most forcefully from sources that lied about Iraq. Even the US intelligence agencies’ claim that Iran had a clandestine nuclear weapons project until 2003 fails for lack of evidence. source: CASMIIread more
Turkey as a US Security Partner: RAND Corporation report13 Apr 2008Summary: While it does not perceive an existential threat from a nuclear-armed Iran, Ankara fears that Iran?s acquisition of nuclear weapons could destabilize the Gulf region. However, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan?s government is strongly opposed to a military strike against Tehran, which it believes could further destabilize the region. Thus, the United States could not count on the use of Turkish bases in any military operation against Iran. source: RAND Corporationread more
Iran Reiterates Support for Iraq’s Political Process13 Apr 2008Summary: HosseiniTEHRAN (FNA)- Iran on Sunday dismissed US allegations about Tehran’s negative role in Iraq, with its foreign ministry spokesman saying that Tehran fully supports the political process in Iraq. source: Fars newsread more
African-American Perspective12 Apr 2008Summary: Despite the revelation by U.S. Intelligence agencies that Iran stopped exploring the possibility for nuclear weapons some years ago, the Bush administration has continued to engage in an amazing display of factual denial. The revelation resulted in a temporary toning down of the rhetoric of war because of the embarrassment. Certainly Bush and Cheney did not expect to be caught with their pants down, which is precisely what happened. source: The Black Commentator read more
Iraq Testimony from a Different General12 Apr 2008Summary: ?As an aside, it gives me pause to learn that our vice president and some members of Congress are aligned with Al Qaeda on spreading the war to Iran.? source: North Star Writersread more
Running Out the Iraq Clock12 Apr 2008Summary: Speculation that Bush might yet attack Iran before the end of his term, which had been mostly silenced after the publication last December of the intelligence community’s assessment that Iran had suspended a key part of a nuclear-weapons program in 2003, was raised anew this week by the Petraeus-Crocker testimony and Bush’s equation of the threats posed by al-Qaeda and Iran. source: AntiWar.com read more
King George and Iran’s Inalienable Rights12 Apr 2008Summary: UN Security Council“The Security Council has never determined Iran’s Nuclear Program as a threat to international peace and security under Article 39 of the UN Charter and, thus, it could not adopt any measures against the Islamic Republic of Iran under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.” source: AntiWar.com read more
Petraeus Points to War With Iran11 Apr 2008Summary: BuchananNo, it is not Iran that wants a war with the United States. It is the United States that has reasons to want a short, sharp war with Iran. source: AntiWar.com read more
Petraeus: the view from Iran10 Apr 2008Summary: While the big international TV networks focused on Petraeus and how he thought things were getting better, the concern here in Iran was that both the general and the diplomat said the US would stay in Iraq long after the UN mandate expires. That and something called “AQI” which we didn’t immediately understand before a presenter explained that it stood for al-Qaida in Iraq. Given that the US has paid off the Sunni insurgency to become the spooky “Awakening Council”, it’s not easy to see who now comprises AQI. source: Guardianread more
The Roving Eye: Evil Iran, the new al-Qaeda10 Apr 2008Summary: The war on Iraq ended five years ago today. No: the war on Iraq actually started five years ago today. For those who still live under the spell of a Bush “we create our own reality” administration, the Lieberman-Graham piece is soothing. For McCain supporters, it’s confirmation of the road map ahead – The Hundred Year War plus “bomb, bomb, Iran”. As for the majority of the American public, which has had enough of an endless war that has torn the country apart, it’s nothing but an insult to their collective intelligence. source: Asia Times Onlineread more
Iran calls U.S. commander’s Iraq report justification of “false strategies and failure”10 Apr 2008Summary: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said that such statements have got its roots in the lack of insight into the current realities in Iraq. He highlighted this report disclosed that U.S. forces have failed to attain their aims in Iraq in spite of the increase in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. source: Xinhuaread more
Iran expands nuclear enrichment9 Apr 2008Summary: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during a visit to the Natanz nuclear facility on Tuesday, told Iranian state television that the installation of the centrifuges had already begun. Natanz ? a city 100 km from Isfahan ? already hosts 3,000 centrifuges. source: The Hinduread more
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)