Iran Nuclear Standoff

[Stephanie]

I think that a civil war will be the only way there will be a change. I just hope that the protestors prevail.

[Derek Ortt]

be very careful what you wish for. The last time the people there revolted... we ended up with the current iranian government!

[Ed Mahmoud]

be very careful what you wish for. The last time the people there revolted... we ended up with the current iranian government!

I don't see how a new government could be any worse than the current one which vows to destroy Israel, supports Shia terrorists in Iraq, founded, funds and leads, through the Republican Guards, the Arab Shia terror group Hezb'Allah (which up until 9/11 had killed far more Americans than al Qaeda), and, oh yeah, is apparently building nuclear weapons and cooperating to some degree with Syria and North Korea in advancing their missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Besides the embassy invasion and hostage crisis, other acts of war committed by Iran which could justify an attack include the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, done by Hezb'Allah, which, as I mentioned, is directly controlled by Iran, the destruction of the US embassy in Beirut, the murder of several US diplomatic and military personnel, the mining of the Persian Gulf which nearly sank the USS Samuel B Roberts, and the bombing of the al-Khobar towers in Saudi Arabia which killed dozens of US airmen.


No new government after a revolt or civil war could be any worse.

[Cyclenall]

No new government after a revolt or civil war could be any worse.

This reminded me of a quote from one of my history teachers that went like this; "usually when there is a desperate want of change from a bad government, a radical change by the people (either through a revolution or election) usually gets them an even worse government than before".

[TYNI]

No new government after a revolt or civil war could be any worse.

This reminded me of a quote from one of my history teachers that went like this; "usually when there is a desperate want of change from a bad government, a radical change by the people (either through a revolution or election) usually gets them an even worse government than before".

Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it. This is getting too political for me to post my opinions, I think...

[Stephanie]

be very careful what you wish for. The last time the people there revolted... we ended up with the current iranian government!

This one seems different though - better educated and informed citizens are taking to the streets. It is also not clerics and religious leaders that are seeking power.

[Stephanie]

No new government after a revolt or civil war could be any worse.

This reminded me of a quote from one of my history teachers that went like this; "usually when there is a desperate want of change from a bad government, a radical change by the people (either through a revolution or election) usually gets them an even worse government than before".

That didn't happen with the US.

[Derek Ortt]

be very careful what you wish for. The last time the people there revolted... we ended up with the current iranian government!

This one seems different though - better educated and informed citizens are taking to the streets. It is also not clerics and religious leaders that are seeking power.

it was the students taking to the streets the last time protesting the Shah

[cycloneye]

The authorities let them march with no violence.Around 5,000 participated.Read below.

Peaceful demonstration on Sunday by opposition

[cycloneye]

Only 10% of the ballots will be recounted.

Partial recount going on

[cycloneye]

Israel Submarine travels thru Suez Channel

Its a mystery about why they are going thru that route,unless they are going to have an attack on the nuclear plants in Iran.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite? ... 2FShowFull

[cycloneye]

Saudi Arabia gives nod to Israel to fly over to bomb Iran Nuke Plants

This is a big development as they give the green light to fly over their countrie to bomb the nuclear plants in Iran.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,530107,00.html

[brunota2003]

TEHRAN (Reuters) – A pro-reform Iranian clerical group said on Sunday the outcome of last month's presidential vote was "invalid," even though Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has upheld the result.

In a sign of a deepening rift among Shi'ite clerics, the Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers also called for the release of Iranians arrested in protests after the hardline president was declared winner of the June 12 vote.

"Other candidates' complaints and strong evidence of vote-rigging were ignored ... peaceful protests by Iranians were violently oppressed ... dozens of Iranians were killed and hundreds were illegally arrested," said a statement published on the Assembly's website. "The outcome is invalid."

Read more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090705/wl_nm/us_iran

[cycloneye]

Time is running out for Iran to use diplomatic means to resolve nuclear issue

If the diplomatic front doesnt work soon,then military action to bomb the plants will be closer than ever.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews ... 9020090707

[cycloneye]

Iran threats military action against Israel

I dont think they are going to do it as its only words,but if they go,then all bets are off.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Saturday the country would strike Israel's nuclear facilities if Tel Aviv attacked the Islamic state, Reuters reported state television as saying.

"If the Zionist Regime (Israel) attacks Iran, we will surely strike its nuclear facilities with our missile capabilities," Mohammad Ali Jafari, Guards commander-in-chief, said.

Jafari said Israel was entirely within the reach of Iran.

"Our missile capability puts all of the Zionist regime (Israel) within Iran's reach to attack," Jafari said.

Iranian leaders have said Iran would respond to any attack from Israel by targeting U.S. interests and Israel.

Jafari said Iran "was not scared" of Israel's military capabilities.

"It is part of the psychological war that the West has launched against Iran," Jafari said.




http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,534800,00.html

[cycloneye]

Israel say,no option is off the table

That means,they can strike the nuclear plants anytime.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,534898,00.html

[cycloneye]

Iran arrested 3 U.S. hikers for illegal entrance to country

Another case of negociations going on to assure the release of these three hikers.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast ... index.html

[brunota2003]

And now Iran is looking into charging the 3 of spying...I say we get our citizens back. Now.

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has arrested three Americans for illegally entering the country from neighboring Iraq and a prominent Iranian lawmaker said Tuesday that authorities were investigating whether to charge them with spying.

A U.S. official rejected the allegation, and a security official in Iraq said the three were merely backpackers who got lost while hiking in a mountainous region where the Iran-Iraq border is not clearly marked.

The case is the latest source of friction with Washington over the detention of Americans, following the espionage trial earlier this year of American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi. Such a confrontation could be especially thorny this time around, when Iran is mired in its worst political crisis in 30 years over the disputed June 12 presidential election.

The Americans — freelance journalist Shane Bauer, his girlfriend Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal — were hiking in a picturesque region of Iraq's northern Kurdish region near the Iranian border that is known for lush vegetation, pistachio groves and fruit trees.

The Iraqi regional security chief in Sulaimaniyah said the area is poorly marked and the three simply lost their bearings when they crossed into western Iran and were arrested on Friday. He urged Iranian authorities to free them.

"Our investigations proved there was no political or military reason for the border crossing. They simply made a mistake," said the Iraqi official, Hakim Qadir Humat Jan.

"They came as tourists. Nothing about the way they were traveling points to a possibility of spying. Their financial situation was also weak — they traveled in a crowded bus and stayed at a cheap hotel — and they entered Kurdistan legally."

"I call on the Iranians to set them free," Jan said, adding that the mountainous area where the Americans were arrested contains dense foliage and narrow trails, and it's difficult to make out where Iraqi Kurdistan ends and Iran begins.

An Iranian lawmaker and member of parliament's National Security Committee rejected the suggestion the Americans were tourists and said authorities were investigating whether to charge them with espionage.

"Surely we can say that they came as spies," said Mohammad Karim Abedi, a hard-line lawmaker, speaking on Iran's state-run Al-Alam TV. "The concerned authorities will decide whether they were spies or not. If it is proven that they were spies, the necessary legal procedures will be sought against them."

"The U.S. forces are trying to leave some security elements behind, after leaving Iraq," Abedi added. "It's unacceptable to penetrate Iran's borders this way. ... We condemn this."

He sought to compare the matter with a case involving British military personnel seized by Iran in March 2007 after Tehran said they had entered Iranian waters from Iraqi territory. The 15 sailors and marines were held for nearly two weeks, and some were paraded on Iranian television to deliver supposed confessions of trespassing.

State television said the latest case involving the Americans was being used by the West as anti-Iranian propaganda, and questioned whether they were hikers, saying they had been identified in Western reports as journalists.

U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Robert A. Wood dismissed the allegations of espionage and said U.S. officials were still trying to determine the fate of the Americans.

He said the Swiss ambassador in Tehran had met with Iranian officials on Washington's behalf "trying to ascertain the information and location of these individuals, but hasn't been able to do so. He's going to continue to push to try to get that information for us."

Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Iran because the two countries have not had diplomatic relations since the American hostage crisis of 1979.

Earlier, the hard-line Fars news agency, considered close to the elite Revolutionary Guard, quoted the deputy governor of Iran's Kurdistan province as saying the Americans entered Iran at the Malakh-Khor border point, near the town of Marivan, about 370 miles west of the capital Tehran, and were arrested.

The three had Iraqi and Syrian visas, said the official, Iraj Hassanzadeh.

The case against Saberi put new strains on the already rocky U.S.-Iran relationship at a time when President Barack Obama sought to reach out to Tehran for a dialogue over its contentious nuclear program.

Saberi, who had lived in Iran for six years and also had Iranian citizenship, was arrested on Jan. 31 and accused of spying. She denied the charges, but was sentenced to eight years in prison. An appeals court reduced that to a two-year suspended sentence and she was released on May 11.

Bauer, one of the Americans detained last week, identifies himself as a freelance reporter and photographer based in the Middle East and says he has reported from Iraq, Syria, Sudan's Darfur region and Yemen, according to his Web site.

He was in the region to cover the July 25 regional elections in Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish area, according to Pacific News Service Executive Director Sandy Close, who said she does not believe he ever intended to go to neighboring Iran.

In an e-mail, Bauer told Close he wanted to "feel out the situation (in Kurdistan) and get some ideas for deeper stories," she said.

"Kurdistan is the big story in Iraq now," Bauer wrote in the e-mail provided to The Associated Press. "I'm off to Kurdistan ... "

She said Bauer told her he planned to go backpacking with Shourd in a popular tourist area known for its scenery, where the pair met up with Fattal. All three were graduates of the University of California, Berkeley.

Close said Bauer would not have deliberately tried to enter Iran.

"He did not express any interest in going to Iran. He did not speak Farsi, his passion was Arabic," she said.

Bauer has traveled to the Middle East and North Africa and was most recently based in Damascus where he is working on a film about Darfur.

Shourd has written for a number of online publications, including Brave New Traveler. Ross Borden, founder of an online travel magazine that includes Brave New Traveler, described her as "very professional. She wrote a great story for us."

Fattal had been a teaching assistant with the International Honors Program from January to June, visiting Switzerland, India, South Africa and China on a global ecology program, according to program president Joan Tiffany said.

"He's a very thoughtful, caring person, soft-spoken, smart, bright. Has lots of travel experience," Tiffany said.

___

Keyser reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, Jason Dearen in San Francisco, Patrick Condon in Minneapolis, Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia and Michelle Locke in Berkeley, Calif. contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_ ... _americans

[x-y-no]

You know ... I enjoy hiking and love to appreciate the beauty of the wilderness, but I'd have to say that the Iranian border would be way, way down at the bottom of my list of places I'd like to do that.

At the very least, in this day and age I'd have a GPS on me and make real sure I didn't get any closer than a couple of miles to the border. Just seem to me like that would be common sense.

[vbhoutex]

You know ... I enjoy hiking and love to appreciate the beauty of the wilderness, but I'd have to say that the Iranian border would be way, way down at the bottom of my list of places I'd like to do that.

At the very least, in this day and age I'd have a GPS on me and make real sure I didn't get any closer than a couple of miles to the border. Just seem to me like that would be common sense.

You can't tell me these three didn't know how close to the border they were, beauty or not. It isn't like they were uneducated wanderers. Somewhat fishy to me.