PUBLIC MEGILLAH READING HELD AT IRANIAN MISSION TO THE UN BY: FERN SIDMAN "Ahmadinejad: Remember What Happened to Haman" was one of the many signs held aloft on Sunday afternoon, March 20th, as close to 500 Jews gathered on Purim day for a public reading of Megillat Esther (the Book of Esther) that was held outside the Iranian mission to the United Nations on Manhattan's east side. Organized by Americans For A Safe Israel (AFSI), Amcha - the Coalition for Jewish Concerns, Z Street and the Jewish Political Education Council, the reading was held as a symbolic representation of the indefatigable nature of the Jewish people and G-d's intervention in their survival throughout the millenium. "Purim is a day that we celebrate the survival of the Jewish people against evil rulers who sought our complete annihilation in the city of Shushan in Persia. In every generation the names of our oppressors and their countries of origin may change, but they are driven by one common denominator and that is visceral hatred of the Jew", intoned Larry Domnitch, a freelance writer and designated reader of the megillah. "Today we will read about the plans for mass extermination of the Jewish people designed by the prototypes of evil, namely Achashveirosh and Haman. We are gathered here today to remind the modern day Haman who resides in Iran named Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that we will not be silent while he creates his plans to "wipe Israel off the map". As in the days of Queen Esther, we will raise our voices to G-d, seeking His divine intervention and we will boldly speak out against a regime that is not only a nemesis to Israel but to the entire free world," he added. Glenn Richter, long time Jewish activist and former leader of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, introduced the leaders of the sponsoring organizations as the crowd held specially made Purim groggers with the face of Ahmadinejad and a red line cancelling it out, along with other signs and Israeli flags. "The Obama administration is willfully deluding itself by touting the line that the source of all the problems in the Middle East is due to Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria", he declared. "It is clear that the source of anti-Western and anti-Israel terrorism today emanates from Iran; the very same government that sought to destroy us centuries ago", he added. During the megillah reading the sounds of acrimony could be heard from a small contingent of Neturei Karta counter-protestors who chanted, "Down, Down, the State of Israel" and held signslambasting Zionism as antithetical to against Judaism. One each occasion that the name of Haman was read aloud, the noise generated by the plethora of groggers and loud boos by those gathered to hear the megillah drowned out the hateful rhetoric of the protestors. Subsequent to the megillah reading, Helen Freedman of the Americans For A Safe Israel said, "We are putting the government of Iran on notice and we are here today to tell Ahmadinejad and other sponsors of terrorism against Israel and the Western world, that your fate is sealed. Learn from history. When you lift your hand against the Jewish nation, you will succumb to defeat, just as Haman did in Persia and all the others after him." Sending a strong message to President Obama, Rabbi Avi Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale declared, "When you weaken Israel, you weaken the United States. When the United States ambassador to the United Nations states that Jewish settlements are illegal you create an atmosphere in which the gruesome murders of five members of the Fogel family in Itamar can take place", he intoned. Udi Fogel, 37, his wife Ruth, 36 and three of their children, Yoav age 11, Elad 4, and a three month old daughter named Hadas were murdered in cold blood in the Israeli settlement of Itamar on Friday evening, March 11th by Palestinian terrorists connected to Fatah. Tears filled the eyes of those gathered as Rabbi Weiss delivered an impassioned and emotionally charged address when he listed the names of each member of the Fogel family and asked, "What kind of beasts could have carried out this heinous act of murder?" Speaking of the innocence and love of 11-year-old Yoav Fogel, ZTK"L, Rabbi Weiss read the words that hung over Yoav's bed: "May it be Your will, Lord God and God of our forefathers, that I love every one of Israel as myself, and to graciously perform the positive commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself. May it also be Your will, Lord God and God of my forefathers, that you cause the hearts of my friends and neighbors to love me fervently, and that I be accepted and desirable to everyone, and that I be loving and pleasant, and that I be gracious and merciful in the eyes of all who see me." "Our message to the remaining members of the Fogel family and to all our brothers and sisters living in Israel is the same message declared by Queen Esther who said, "gather all of the Jews', all decent people and cry out, "We stand with you!" He reiterated the words of devotion uttered by 12-year-old Tamar Fogel who said after the funerals of her parents and siblings; "Now, I will be the mother" and called upon all of the entire Jewish nation to become active participants in raising this family and all others who are suffering. "Just as we read in Megillat Esther, we have the power to turn this tragedy in Itamar around", said Rabbi Weiss. He spoke of a millionaire who told the Fogel family, "get used to having me around" as he made a committment to stock their pantry every Sabbath until the youngest child turns 18; and of those who organized the delivery of 108 shalach manos (food packages) to the families of Itamar and of his daughter's wishes to hold his granddaugher's Bat Mitzvah in Itamar as a sign of love and solidarity. "The message of the "brit", the covenant between the Jewish people and G-d is a simple one and that is, don't give up", said Rabbi Weiss as he led those gathered in rousing chants of "Am Yisroel Chai" (the people of Israel lives).
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES OF WOMEN IN IRAN SPOTLIGHTED NEAR THE U.N. BY: FERN SIDMAN Graphic depictions of the most egregious forms of human rights abuses against women in Iran took center stage at a special seminar in New York City on March 3rd. Sponsored by "Iran180", an organization dedicated to spotlighting the litany of human rights abuses that take place on a daily basis in Iran, the seminar was entitled, "Securing Gender Equality: Iran and the CSW". Held at 777 UN Plaza, a building directly across the street from the United Nations, the objectives of the gathering included raising awareness of Iran's violations of women's rights and the staging of symbolic protests against the welcoming of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the newest member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women at its 56th session. Among the speakers were the Honorable David Kilgour, J.D., co-chair of the Canadian Friends of a Democratic Iran - Shabnam Assadollaki, host and producer of Hamseda Persian Radio in Canada - Fakhteh Luna Zamani, CEO and co-founder of the Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran - Renee Redman of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center - Reza Khalil, former Iranian Revolutionary Guard member and author of "A Time To Betray", winner of the 2010 National Best Books Award - Fariba Davoodi, a formerly imprisoned Iranian women's rights activist, and Mertash Rastegar, an Iranian blogger and international law expert. Quoting the findings of exiled Iranian lawyer, Zohreh Arshadi, Mr. David Kilgour, co-chair of the Canadian Friends of a Democratic Iran intoned, "the Iranian penal system is a principal means of sustaining inequality of genders. Its ludicrous premise is that women are deficient in abilities." He added that Arshadi stresses that Iranian women, "have managed to achieve equality in one field only: equal right to imprisonment, exile, torture, being killed and now being slaughtered..." Speaking of the many Iranian women who are unjustly imprisoned, tortured and often sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit, Mr. Kilgour relayed the narrative of Sakineh Ashtiani, a mother of Turkic descent (a minority known to be targeted for human rights abuses, especially in Teheran) who did not speak Farsi or understand her charge of alleged adultery. "She was incarcerated and beaten, then humiliated in front of her family by a public lashing. Her plight and narrow escape from death by stoning became a successful test case for the global community's response to the regime's misogyny," he said. Mr. Kilgour also spoke of Irwin Cotler, a Canadian member of parliament and chair of the Inernational Responsibility to Protect Coalition who recently warned that Iran is on an "execution binge", while engaging in a "wholesale assault on the rights of its own people." He added that, "in 2011 alone, the Iranian regime has already executed at least 120 people. It now leads the world in per capita executions, many of which are in secret, taking place after arrests, detentions, beatings, torture, kidnappings, disappearances, and brief trials in which no evidence is presented." Calling for the disqualification of Iran's membership in the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Mr. Kilgour suggested that the CSW convene a special session to discuss women's rights in Iran and act in its capacity to stop the repression of women. "It is our responsibility to act in robust solidarity with the struggle for women's rights everywhere across Iran," he concluded. Addressing the issues facing ethnic minority women in Iran, Fakhteh Zamani of the Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP) said, "In Iran, as throughout the world, women are victims of violence on a daily basis but Iran's justice system provides little or no remedy to the obstacles and violence facing women and girls." She noted that women are not encouraged to bring complaints against their attackers for fear of bringing, "dishonor" on the family as well as reprisals from the attacker and relatives. Quoting the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Ms. Zamani said, "discriminatory law in both the civil and penal codes in Iran play a major role in enpowering men and aggravating women's vulnerability to violence. In particular, discriminatory provisions in the civil code relating to the areas of marriage, child custody, freedom of movement and inheritance may lead to, perpetuate or legitimize violence against women perpetrated by private actors." Highlighting the ubiquitous phenomenon of trafficking in or girls and women, Ms. Zamani said that the UN Special Rapporteur reported that, "most of the trafficking is said to occur in the eastern provinces, which are mainly Baluchi areas, where women are kidnapped, bought or entered into temporary marriage in order to be sold into sexual slavery in other countries." Concluding with an oft quoted phrase used amongst Iran's women human rights defenders, she said, "We are both women and minorities; so, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, we are doubly accused." "I am absolutely opposed to the imposition of Sharia law," declared Shabnam Assadollahi, the producer and host of the Canadian based Hamseda Persian radio program. "Sharia law tells us that female hair has evil energy and those women's rights activists in Iran who refused to wear head coverings were beaten and tortured while their children watched," she said. She detailed gruesome accounts of torture of women in Iran saying, "young girls and virgins were raped prior to being executed and after execution their bodies were burned and electrocuted." Fulminating at the decision to include the Islamic Republic of Iran on the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Ms. Assadollahi said, "There is no place for Iran on this commission. Just think about the arrogance of this regime to judge others concerning gender equality and human rights." Speaking in her native Farsi with an interpreter, Fariba Davoodi, an Iranian women's rights activist told of her incarceration in Iran and the barbaric tortures that were inflicted upon her by her captors. "It is the common aspiration of all Iranian women to be free", she said. "When the regime came to arrest me for my activism on behalf of women's rights, they beat me up in front of my children and brought me to their notorious prison where I was kept in solitary confinement in a tiny cell where I was interrogated for long periods of time; where tey kept the lights on all the time and forced me to shower in front of them." "The fear that women's rights advocates in Iran have is not only from the repressive government but from male family members including husbands, fathers and brothers," she said. Trying to remain optimistic about the future of Iran as it pertains to women's rights is a daunting challenge for women such as Ms. Davoodi. "We hope that very soon we will live in a free and democratic Iran, but so long as the regime stays in power, our hopes will not be realized," she said.
 By: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury Just for criticizing the undemocratic activities of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian reformist journalist Bahman Ahmadi Amoui was sentenced to over seven years imprisonment and 34 lashes by Tehran Revolutionary Court on January 4, 2010. Amoui was an editor for the prominent economic newspaper Sarmayeh, which was closed by the government in November, and had been in prison since 20 June 2009.The same day, 36 parliamentarians supportive of Ahmadinejad drafted a bill that would require the execution of government critics detained as "Mohareb" [enemies of God] within five days of their arrest. The bill also calls for the period of time allotted for appeals in cases of public order disturbances or "Moharebeh" [war against God] to be brought down from 25 days to five days. It is no strange that Iranian Mullah’s are putting Ahmadinejad into the position of ‘God’ by passing this notorious bill. I don’t know how the Arab ‘brethrens’ of Iran as well other Muslim nations will now react when Iranian Mullahs are already putting their President into the position of ‘God’ and onwards critics of Ahmadinejad will be treated as ‘enemies of God’. Meanwhile, Iran's Intelligence ministry has prepared a list of 60 foreign organizations and news outlets that would be banned from the country for alleged involvement in rioting or incitement. The list included Voice of America, BBC, Human Rights Watch, National Endowment for Democracy, National Republican Institute, Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Search For Common Ground Organization, New American Foundation, British Center for Democratic Studies, East European Democratic Center, YALE, Ford Foundation, Foundation for Democracy in Iran, MEMRI, U.S. National Defense University, The Smith Richardson Foundation, Wilton Park, and Brookings Institute. Any Iranian in contact with a news outlet on the list could be arrested. Iranian missions abroad are already warned not to have minimal contacts with any of the organizations and media outlets, which are already in the list. A prominent Tehran-based professor of law, Mahmud Akhundi, told Radio Farda that the Intelligence Ministry’s list and warning have no legal basis. "It is in clear contradiction with human rights principles and with international principles of law. It doesn’t even have any Sharia-based justification,” Akhundi said. Nobody has the right “to define an action that has not been defined previously as a crime, as being criminal,” he added. Activists and opposition supporters say Iranian authorities have been intensifying efforts to limit the free flow of information in and out of Iran in the wake of mass protests against June's disputed presidential election. In late November, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran was facing a "soft war" with its enemies abroad, who were fomenting the street protests that hit the country following the disputed June 12 vote. "Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has always been trying to prevent contacts between Iranians inside the country and international organizations,” says Faraj Sarkuhi, a prominent Iranian exiled writer and journalist. “In the past they accused the publication 'Adineh,' of which I was the chief editor, of espionage over contacts with International PEN [writers' organization] and said it is illegal.” According to media reports, Iran has become the country with the largest number of imprisoned journalists following the sentencing of two journalists to prison terms of at least six years each, bringing the total number of journalists currently detained in the Islamic republic to 42. The 2009 winner of the World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award, Ahmad Zeydabadi was also sentenced to five years banishment in Gonabad, a remote northeastern town over 600 miles [1000 kilometers] from Teheran, to be served following his prison term. He was also banned for life from political activity and is currently held in solitary confinement in the infamous Evin prison, under pressure from Iranian authorities to issue a public confession. Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontiers [Reporters Without Borders] says Iran has earned the dubious distinction of being the number-one assailant of press freedoms in the world, after several sentences were handed down. RSF termed Iran as the ‘biggest prison in the world for journalists’. In a statement, Reporters Sans Frontiers said, “We are very disturbed by the calls repeatedly made by the most senior officials for Iran to impose the ‘supreme punishment’ on detainees, including journalists. The danger is imminent. The regime hardliners are capable of having the crackdown’s witnesses executed. There is an urgent need for international bodies to take action before a tragedy takes place, before political prisoners begin being executed. An intelligence ministry representative said at a news conference on 4 January: “Several agents from foreign countries have been arrested with cameras and video cameras.” The ministry also released a list of 60 NGOs and news media regarded as having incited and participated in rioting. “The intelligence ministry and Revolutionary Guards began rounding up government opponents and journalists again after further opposition demonstrations on 27 December. Around 20 people have been arrested in the latest wave, including a dozen or so journalists and cyber-dissidents. The relatives of the detained journalists are still lining up outside Evin prison in an attempt to get news of those believed to be held there.” Vienna based International Press Institute [IPI]’s press freedom manager Anthony Mills said, it is unacceptable that the Iranian authorities are responding to criticism in the media by arresting journalists and handing down prison sentences. The crackdown on the media must end immediately and the journalists imprisoned simply for doing their job must be freed. IPI has repeatedly condemned the intensified crackdown by the Iranian authorities on journalists. New York based Committee to Protect Journalists [CPJ] in a statement said; “Iranian authorities have arrested at least three more journalists in their ongoing campaign to suppress critical reporting and commentary, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrests and calls on the government to release all imprisoned journalists, who number more than 30. “Behrang Tonkaboni, editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Farhang va Ahang, and Kayyvan Farzin, a reporter for the publication, were arrested at their office on Monday, according to local news reports. Police searched Tonkaboni’s home, confiscating his computer and documents belonging to his mother, the prominent author Lili Farhadpour, news reports said. Authorities also seized Farzin’s computer hard drive. “Parisa Kakaee, a journalist for the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, was arrested Sunday after being summoned by the Ministry of Information, the reformist news Web site Kalame reported. Kakaee writes regularly about political and human rights issues on her two blogs. Since the disputed presidential elections in June, Iranian authorities have launched a relentless assault on opposition and independent media. CPJ has documented numerous cases in which authorities have shut down newspapers, blocked Web sites, arrested and sentenced journalists to lengthy prison sentences. Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator said, Iranian authorities have apparently decided to arrest as many independent and opposition journalists as they possibly can. We call on the Iranian authorities to reverse this regrettable course and release all detained journalists.
 Click here for my latest article on FrontPage. Iraq is going through its greatest crisis since the pre-surge days of unimaginable violence and chaos, and it deserves much more attention than is being received. The March 7 parliamentary elections will have a profound impact on the region and the U.S. plan to withdraw from the country. With stakes so high, it’s remarkable that this isn’t making the headlines.
 What do Alyssa Milano, Sandra Bullock, Lance Armstrong, Gisele Bundchen, the country of Senegal and — very possibly — you have in common? All — including you — have donated more funds to the Haitian relief effort than oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia and Iran. That's right ... if you personally have donated money to help the earthquake-stricken people of Haiti, then you have contributed more money than the governments of Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose combined dollar donation is a big fat zero. As Haiti slowly recovers from last week's earthquake, nearly $400 million has been donated by countries, individuals and organizations to the devastated nation, accordign to United Nations documents. But the goodwill has been far from balanced. India, which has one of the world's largest gross domestic products, has donated $1 million, a figure matched or eclipsed by much smaller economies like the Czech Republic ($1.1 million), Botswana ($1.1 million) and Senegal ($1 million). And those donations have been matched or topped by individuals like Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The United States leads the way among developed nations with $114.5 million donated as of Wednesday, according to the U.N. That's more than 28 percent of the $397 million donated to rebuild the impoverished Caribbean nation. The United Kingdom and France are next with more than $30.9 million and $16.8 million donated, respectively. Australia ($13.4 million) and Italy ($8.7 million) round out the top five donating countries. Another $951 million has been pledged from other nations. Click here to see how much the world has given. More at FoxNews
 Back in December, one report stated: "The [Obama] administration had given a rough deadline of the end of 2009 for Iran to respond to an offer of engagement and show that it would allay world concerns about its nuclear program." It's 2010 now, and Operation "Don't Just Do Something, Sit There!" continues. "Iran rejects heart of nuclear proposal," by George Jahn for the Associated Press, January 19: VIENNA - Iran has told the head of the U.N. nuclear agency that it does not accept an international proposal committing it to quickly export most of the material it would need to make a nuclear warhead, diplomats said Tuesday. For months, Iranian officials have used the media to criticize the plan backed by most of the world's major powers and to offer alternatives to one of its main conditions -- that the Islamic republic ship out most of its stock of enriched uranium and then wait for up to a year for its return in the form of fuel rods for its Tehran research reactor. While critical of such statements, the United States and its allies noted that Iran had yet to respond to the International Atomic Agency regarding the plan, first drawn up in early October in a landmark meeting in Geneva between Iran and the six world powers, and then refined later that month in Vienna talks among Iran, the U.S., Russia and France. But Iran now also has told the IAEA -- which chaired the Vienna talks -- that it wants an alternative to the plan. Its version effectively rejects the key demand that it agree to a tight timetable in shipping out most of its enriched uranium supply, said the diplomats. The talks in Vienna came up with a draft proposal that would take 70 percent of Iran's low-enriched uranium to reduce its stockpile of material that could be enriched to a higher level, and possibly be used to make nuclear weapons. That uranium would be returned about a year later as refined fuel rods, which can power reactors but cannot be readily turned into weapons-grade material. Iran maintains its nuclear program is only for the peaceful purpose of generating energy. The Geneva talks grouped the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany around the negotiating table with Iran. Diplomats from three of those big powers said Tuesday that Iran's counterproposal to the IAEA was essentially a rehash of an already publicly floated offer that fell far short of the six nations' expectations.... But hey, it bought them more time. With thanks to JihadWatch 
 These events have been reported to World Threats. It is always a pleasure to report on Iranians who see the light and decide the theocracy isn’t worth supporting. Members of regime’s reactionary parliament and elements of regime’s intelligence are seeking asylum in west after regime’s diplomatic body has done so.
The aftermaths of accelerating downfall of the clerical regime has reached its diplomatic body. High ranking elements of the system do not want to participate in suppression, execution and assassination of people especially after Ashura Uprising.
Al Siasa news paper has written that the government of Turkey has refused to accept the asylum of 4 elements of regime’s intelligence who work in Kurdish regions of Iraq because its relations with regime is improving; Syria having a role in it.
These men wanted to go to Ankara with the help of a Kurd leader and reach Europe from there.
They were able to run away and go to Italy last week.
Jan. 17 - Let’s Get Physical (with apologies to Donna Summer.) Hossein Nagavi, a member of the Majlis from a faction close to Khamenei, beat the Governor of a district from Varamin. Jan. 17 - Five SSF vans and 100 officers did their best to prevent the group Mothers of the Uprising from gathering in Laleh Park. Thirty of these ladies were arrested and taken to Evin Prison where they were held fro 72 hours. Jan. 17 - Eighty-five Christians were arrested on Christmas Eve in various parts of Iran. Jan. 18 - The assassination of Dr. Mohammadi may be the result of disputes withing the regime and not action by external forces. Jan. 18 - There has been a 93% reduction in foreign investment in Iran. The OECD rates Iran as risk level 6 of 7 levels. Only $822 million was invested in Iran during 2009. (Still too much.) Jan. 18 - Dr. Abbas Shakeri a member of the Scientific Board of Kashan University who was amongst a group of students and political activists said: “in these days it is the duty of all sectors of the society to keep united against oppression. The duty of master minds of the country is to lead the march of Feb.11th. This march is an opportunity for disclosing the murderers of the nation”.
In another part of his speech Dr. Shekari pointed to the rumors about Khamenei’s sickness and added: “RCG and Intelligence are parted. Disunity is obvious amongst supporters of Ahmadinejad.
I have connection with some informed sources in the state and I know that the heads of the state even Khamenei himself admits that Feb.11th of this year is the test of death and life for the state”.
At the end of the session some students talked about ways to conduct the flood of protesting people on Feb.11th.
Dr. Shekari emphasized on the initiatives by youths and students for forming leading groups to conduct the marchers.
Jan. 18 - Escalation of laborers’ strikes these days in governmental or semi-governmental factories and enterprises are worrying regime’s administration.
Tehran and other cities of Iran are facing labor crisis due to Ahmadinejad’s economical policies. As a result of these policies a great number of factories are broke and a great number of workers are fired rising the ratio of unemployment. The largest strikes have occurred so far in Ahwaz, Shiraz, Bandar Abbass and Abadan repeatedly. Iran’s greatest oil refinery is located in Abadan. Jan. 17 - In a raid of the agents of regime’s notorious Intelligence Ministry at a house in Shiraz 6 of our Christian compatriots were arrested accused of the mullah-made crime of becoming Christians.
They were transferred on Jan.8th to Fars’ Intelligence Bureau’s detention centers and there is no news of them since. Six others were summoned to the bureau and arrested there. There is no news of them too.
Two other Christians have been arrested in Rasht and one in Shiraz before this event. Compulsory arrests of our Christian compatriots by fascist Khamenei is increasing these days. World Threats
 The Jerusalem Post is reporting here that the Jordanians believe that Iran was responsible for the bombing of an Israeli diplomatic convoy last week. The sources said the GID was investigating the possibility that the explosives used in the attack had been smuggled into the kingdom by Iranian diplomats. The attack itself was apparently carried out by local al-Qaida supporters who received money and explosives from Iran, the sources said. Analysis. The explosives were just as likely “imported” from Syria. King Abdullah II still has fond memories of the attempted El Queda poison gas event on New Year’s Eve a few years ago. If the Jordanian intelligence services lay this at Bashar’s feet, His Majesty will no doubt be suitably angered. I can’t think of a better way to drive Jordan into the undercover coalition to waste Iran. Several months ago there was an advertised meeting of the intelligence chiefs of Egypt, Jordan and Israel. I said at that time that the senior planners would be meeting shortly thereafter. Although no public statements have been forthcoming about such meetings, my gut tells me they are ongoing. The recent Saudi attempts at Palestinian factional peace making having been thwarted by Iran’s influence over Hamas, there is zero chance that their will be any kind of final status talks in the near future. The recent rocket and mortar attacks are perhaps a hint of what is to come. At the same time, as reported here earlier, the Houthi Rebellion is back on again. This the Saudis do not need. George Mitchell is spinning his wheels. To what end are the Iranians throwing their weight around? One reason may be to convince the Arab governments not to provide aid to the Iranian revolutionaries.
The next post will contain the resignation statement of the Iranian Counsel to Norway. The recent resignations and requests for asylum by Iranian diplomats is not going over well in Tehran. It may well have been for the assassination of the Iranian nuclear scientist. Even though the Iranians are blaming the Mossad and CIA, the Israelis and we get blamed for so much it is difficult to tell what we really did and what we are being scapegoated for. And the Iraqi elections are in March. World Threats
 The failure of the six key powers at the UN to levy new sanctions on Iran was hailed on Monday by Iran as a sign of increased rationality in the discussion over its disputed nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters in a press conference that the lack of a decision over new sanctions means that Iran can continue working with the international community to allay concerns over the program. Iran is "hopeful and ready to contribute to this rationality so that it will move in the right direction and reach the appropriate results," he said. Mottaki added that "we now observe narrow stripes of rationality" by the foreign powers over the nuclear issue. Iran argues that its nuclear program is aimed at creating a peaceful energy network to serve its growing population. The US and other nations believe the goal of theprogram is to create weapons. The five members of the security council - the US, Britain, France, China and Russia - as well as Germany met on Saturday, but could not agree on levying a fourth round ofsanctions on Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki delivers a speech at a conference on the Persian Gulf, in Teheran, Monday.
The United States and its Western allies have been pushing for the new sanctions. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday warned that Iran will face new sanctions if it doesn't change tune on its nuclear program. But Russia, and especially China, are skeptical of any new sanctions and have been holding out for further talks with Iran. As a result, the six powers have had to tread carefully to preserve a unified position. The US and its allies are concerned at Iran's lack of cooperation with the UN nuclear agency and with its response to a resolution adopted by the agency's board of governors on November 27 which demanded that Teheran immediately stop building a secret uranium enrichment plant in Qom and halt further enrichment efforts. The six nations are also concerned "at Iran's failure to take up the IAEA proposed agreement" to ship most of its uranium - up to 2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms) - abroad. The uranium would then be enriched to higher levels in Russia, turned into fuel rods in France and returned to power a research reactor in Teheran that produces medical isotopes. The material in the fuel rods cannot be enriched to higher levels, denyingIran the ability to use it to make weapons. JPost
 Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reprinted the Muhammad cartoons to illustrate a story about the attack on Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. Both Iran and Pakistan condemned the publication. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast: "Such acts are against the sanctity of religious values and are strongly condemned." "One cannot harm the religious sentiments of over one billion Muslims under the banner of freedom of speech," he said. "Such blasphemous acts will not contribute to the establishment of world peace. They will only make the Norwegian government liable before the international community for failing to prevent provocative behaviors that are in violation of human rights." The Pakistani Foreign Office also strongly condemned the reprinting of the cartoons, and urged Norway to take appropriate measures and ensure that the people who committed this blasphemous act were appropriately reprimanded. Aftenposten's chief editor, Hilde Haugsgjerd, says they did not get any direct responses from Muslim groups. They have got some reactions from individuals but nothing serious. Pakistani organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is on the UN's terror list, called on Muslims to protest. A small group of Islamists protested in Lahore last Friday, carrying a sign saying that "anyone who kills Kurt Westergaard will be hero of Islam" and calling to boycott all Norwegian products. Professor Tore Bjørgo of the Police University College in Oslo doesn't expect any violent responses. Aftenposten is just one of many newspapers who have reprinted the cartoons. Laila Bokhari of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs says that it all depends on how the news spreads and who will pick up on it and use it. Norwegian Parliamentarian Ulf Erik Knudsen (Progress Party) posted the cartoon on his Facebook page, leading to further rage in Pakistan, but later removed the image. At least 6 other newspapers in Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Portugal and Suriname published the cartoons following the attacks. Norwegian site Nettavisen published the cartoon for a short time before removing it. In Belgium, the ex-Muslim group "People Against Islam" announced a Muhammed cartoon contest on their site, saying they were inspired by Aftenposten. Meanwhile, more details are coming out about the US plot against Jyllands-Posten. The American-Canadian terrorists planned to blow up a truck outside the Jyllands-Posten offices. A Pakistani terror group put the two in touch with associates in European countries, who could supply them with money, weapons and manpower for the attack. Following the attack on Westergaard Danish authorities decided to provide him with additional security. The 30 agents needed for round-the-clock cover are expected to cost about 19.5 million kroner a year. Sources: PressTV, DAWN, Washington Times, Copenhagen Post 1, 2 (English), NRK, Nettavisen, VG, Aftenposten (Norwegian), Fyens Stiftstidende (Danish), Standaard (Dutch)
 An Iranian university professor killed last week by a blast from a remote-controlled bomb strapped to a parked motorcycle may have been the victim of an Arab hitman, according to opposition groups. The murder of Masoud Ali Mohammadi, 50, a supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition leader, has been blamed by the Tehran regime on “mercenaries” financed by Israel and Washington because of his role as a nuclear physicist. However, opposition groups who monitor Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese movement, in Tehran, claim that a member of the group, known by his pseudonym “Abu Nasser”, was photographed at the scene of the explosion in Tehran’s affluent Gheytarih suburb. A German-based opposition group released a photograph of a man of similar appearance who, it alleges, was one of the pro-regime demonstrators who stormed Mousavi’s office in Tehran after disputed presidential elections last June. The opposition claims the Revolutionary Guard uses Hezbollah operatives for some bloodthirsty tasks because they have a reputation for ruthlessness, and are outsiders and can always be blamed as opposition sympathisers. Tehran has gone to great lengths to suggest that Mohammadi was killed because he was a nuclear scientist, implying that he was part of Iran’s program to develop nuclear weapons. However, Majid Mohammadi, a visiting scholar at the Institute for Global Studies at Stony Brook University, New York, and also a friend, said: “He was not a nuclear physicist. He was just a physicist. I believe the Iranian [official] media highlight this word ‘nuclear’ to imply he was killed by the Israelis or Americans.” Click here for more from the Sunday Times. FoxNews
 by Kamal Hasani Within the Iranian government and its mob of followers, fractures have begun to appear. Iranian theoretical physics professor, Masud Alimuhamadi, was killed by a remote-control bomb at his house in north Tehran on January 12. Iran’s clerical dictatorship, headed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, quickly blamed the U.S. and Israel for the terrorist crime, and described Alimuhamadi as a “martyr.”
They presented no credible evidence for their accusation, and an American official dismissed the allegation of U.S. involvement as absurd. Alimuhamadi was not involved in Iran’s nuclear industry; he did not work for the country’s Atomic Energy Organization. Two days later, on January 14, hundreds of mourners for the assassinated professor filed through Tehran. They were joined by groups who chanted slogans against America and Israel.
But members of the Iranian reformist Green Movement, who also participated in the funeral march, are not convinced: Dissidents believe the slaying was carried out by the clerical regime, probably using its most extreme supporters, to demonstrate that the rulers and their fanatical adherents have the capacity and determination to keep power. Alimuhamadi was a partisan of opposition-cleric, Mir Hossein Moussavi, in last year’s presidential election -- which the reformists allege was won by Moussavi but stolen by Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. The assassinated physicist was a public speaker, a leader in the June 15 demonstration at the Tehran University campus against fascist thugs and police, who attacked the campus dormitory and killed several students. Reform activists increasingly reject Tehran’s claims that all the country’s problems are caused from abroad as just crude efforts to silence the Green Movement, divert criticism of Iran’s economic failures, and neutralize the widening demands for real democracy and freedom of expression. Reformists suspect the killing of Alimuhamadi was a specific response -- from within the regime and its periphery of violent defenders -- to the January 11 revelation that three dissidents had been beaten to death after large protests in July, with other people subjected to inhumane treatment in the Kahrizak Prison south of Tehran . The Iranian parliament had then ordered Kahrizak Prison shut down, and blamed the deaths there on former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, an Ahmadinejad supporter and opponent of closing the prison. Mortazavi was discharged from his government position as an investigator of corruption and smuggling -- but opposition activists say that Khamenei and Ahmadinejad are afraid of the consequences if Mortazavi were arrested and tried for the Kahrizak Prison murders. A legal proceeding against Mortazavi might reveal even more shocking facts and lead to even more arrests. The assassination of physics professor Alimuhamadi is therefore perceived as a too-convenient distraction from the government’s crisis of credibility. The decision to close Kahrizak Prison is ascribed to Khamenei, who spoke from the religious center of Qom against “irresponsible groups interfering in the legal and judicial process.” Reformists warn that the ruling circle will pursue an “Iraq strategy,” in which violent street elements spread fear and insecurity. But the reformists also believe that the regime fears that Khamenei’s most radical allies will escape his control. The hardliners, however, wish to increase public fear by encouraging judges to answer protests with violent repression through the courts. Less than two weeks before the Alimuhamadi assassination, the opposition Green Movement was threatened with mass murder by the clerical government: Iranian attorney general Golamhossein Mohseni Ezjei declared, “We have decided to execute at least three of the people arrested in the demonstrations on the afternoon of Ashura [December 27, 2009], because we consider them ‘fighters against God’ (mohareb).” This threat obviously preceded any trial for the participants in the Ashura events. Although Ashura is always a major commemoration for Shia Muslims around the world, recalling the martyrdom for social justice of Imam Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, the recent Ashura observance had a special resonance: it came soon after the death of Grand Ayatollah Ali Hossein Montazeri, the leading Iranian opposition religious figure and a sharp critic of the regime of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. Clerics serving the political establishment formulated the charge that protestors are “fighters against God” (mohareb), and should be sentenced to death.” The first to proclaim this was apparently Ayatollah Alam Al-Hoda, who during a pro-government march in Tehran on December 30, said “among the protestors, some are sheep and some are goats;” he then called for the execution of Green Movement leaders. Ahmad Jannati, president of the government’s Guardian Council, during a Friday sermon on January 1, repeated and emphasized that harsh punishment should be imposed on those who are “against the Islamic Revolution and against velayat-e-faqih,” or clerical governance. Interior minister Muhammad Najjar warned protestors that if new demonstrations took place, the police would deal decisively with them, and also called them mohareb, or “fighters against God.” At the same time, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, the head of the national police, said there would be no tolerance toward those arrested on Ashura, especially if they had fought police. Member of Parliament Ruhollah Hosseinian, planner of and a key figure in the “Cain Murders,” when at least 28 intellectuals were assassinated under the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, Ahmadinejad’s predecessor, said a law would be introduced for “summary execution of any mohareb.” In reply, another member of parliament, Ali Motahhari, son of Murtaza Motahhari, a leading theorist of the Islamic Revolution who was assassinated in 1979 soon after the Islamic Republic was proclaimed, rejected Hosseinian’s proposal. Ali Motahhari commented that “Hosseinian loves executions too much.” Motahhari then went on Iranian television and said, “even those who do not accept the Supreme Leader or who oppose the current system should have freedom to present their viewpoint in a peaceful manner.” Mohareb, or “fighters against God,” are clearly defined in Shiism as criminal killers, bandits, or those who disturb public security and spread fear through military action. Thus, the accusation applies more to Iran’s present rulers than to the protestors. But those in power want it to be thought that anybody who rejects the government or the leadership -- and openly expresses such views -- will be sentenced to death. For this reason, the physicist Masud Alimuhamadi is logically believed to have been the victim of an extrajudicial execution. Center for Islamic Pluralism Hudson New York
 An Egyptian daily newspaper has published an article praising Israel for preventing Iran from completing its proposed nuclear facilities.
The article claims the Israeli intelligence service Mossad has carried out assassinations and acts of sabotage in recent years to prevent the facilities being completed.
The daily newspaper Al-Ahram, in its Saturday edition, says Mossad chief Meir Dagan has led the charge against Iran, and without him the Islamic Republic's nuclear plants would have been completed years ago.
"Over the past seven years, he has worked in silence, away from the media," the op-ed article says. "He has dealt painful blows to the Iranian nuclear program, he is the Superman of the Jewish state."
The Egyptian newspaper cited assassinations, inciting of opposition protests, the carrying out of acts to embarrass Iran's leaders, and covert attacks against nuclear facilities, among the list of achievements by the Mossad chief.
The article also lauds Dagan for his, "many bold victories," against Syria, Hezbullah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and praises the Israeli intelligence service's wisdom for not admitting its involvement in the various acts it orchestrated.
 I was waiting for the crew at my local car wash to finish drying my car when a young man approached and asked where he could get the US Army decal that I display on the rear window.
“The Army gives them to people who have served, veterans, and I assume to active duty members as well,” I told him.
“You were in the Army?” he asked. Oh yes, a very long time ago before you were born, I replied, noticing a distinct accent.
He was joined by another young man. “Did you fight in the Middle East?” No, I said, but there has never been an absence of wars for America. We have never been free to ignore the rest of the world even if we wanted to.
In a similar fashion, as much as Israel may yearn for peace, they have never been permitted to function as a normal nation. From the hour that Israeli sovereignty was proclaimed, the nation was attacked by its “neighbors” and has, for all intents and purposes, been on a war footing ever since.
The two young men talking with me said they were Palestinians. Both came to America to find peace.
I think that tells you everything you need to know about the reality of Israeli-Palestinian relations—--if one can call the one-sided determination of the Palestinian leadership to “drive the Israelis into the sea.” Or the Iranian pledge to “wipe Israel off the map.” Or the Hezbollah forces in Lebanon being re-armed by the Iranians for whom they are a proxy army against Israel.
In the course of our chat, they said they were both from Gaza and I was reminded that the Israelis, in their futile quest for peace, had forced out their own people from the Gaza strip and turned the area over to Fatah, also known as the Palestinian Liberation Authority.
What they got in return was an endless cascade of rockets from Gaza, not just for a few weeks, but for months and years. Meanwhile, in Gaza, Hamas forced Fatah to retreat to the West Bank where they could have the protection of the Israelis who continue to desperately look for anyone with whom to negotiate a real peace.
In January of last year, the Israelis initiated Operation Cast lead in which their military targeted the sources of the Gaza rockets and looked for Hamas leaders who cravenly hid in the midst the population. The rocketing has largely stopped since then, though ugly individual attacks on Israelis have continued.
The Israeli solution has been to build a very high wall between them and the Palestinians and to maintain tight control over who passes through it. To do otherwise would be to subject their people to suicide bombers and other killers.
“Would you accept peace with Israel?” I asked. I was greeted with broad smiles. Yes, Palestinians want peace I was told, but “Hamas will not permit it.”
So, there you are. It has nothing to do with Washington’s foreign policy with regard to Israel and it has everything to do with the bad intentions of those who continue to use the Palestinian people as pawns of resistance to any Western presence in what they regard as their sacred lands.
The Islamic jihad knows no boundaries, killing Jews, Christians, Hindus and even Muslims with abandon. It took President Obama a year to say out loud that the U.S. is at war with al Qaeda. It took three days to say anything about the Christmas bomber.
Israel was sacred to the Jews for two thousand years before there ever was an Islamic religion. It was sacred to Christians for a thousand years before Islam existed. Jerusalem is never mentioned even once in the Koran, but, for reasons known only to Israel’s “neighbors”, they cannot find any reason to make peace with them.
The two young Palestinians were very happy to be living and working in America. They treated me with the greatest of respect and with good will. That’s the way it should be.
 Michael Ledeen reports some interesting events from inside Iran: - “I have learned that the Deputy Commander of the Guards in the Greater Tehran area, Brigadier General Azizollah Rajabzadeh, is in intensive care following an axe attack to his cranium by one of his crack troops. This follows the shooting of General Ahmad Reza Radan by one of his men, about which I reported earlier.”
- Ledeen says that the assassination of the pro-Mousavi nuclear scientist is a foreshadowing of a greater crackdown on the way. “…Khamenei’s personal spokesman and representative to the Guards, Ali Saeedi, who, we hear from Scott Lucas at Enduring America, has reportedly declared that the the deaths of 75,000 people will be worthwhile if the Islamic Republic is thereby preserved.”
- Planet Iran’s report on the assassination says that two known members of Lebanese Hezbollah were photographed at the scene of the crime.
Also, on January 12, a senior Khamenei representative said on T.V. that “We have manufactured missiles that allow us, when necessary, to replace (sic) Israel in its entirety with a big holocaust.” World Threats
 According to an article on Debka.com, Saudi King Abdullah has failed to put together a coalition similar to the coalition that allowed the current Lebanese government to be formed.
The articlemakes several points none of which are particularly good for the United States and the Middle East. 1. For the second time in three months, he embarked on an action that required Riyadh to publicly concede that nothing can be achieved in the Middle East these days without Iran’s nod. (Bold mine.) The Saudi monarch went ahead with his Palestinian maneuver, after listening politely to the visiting US National Security Adviser James Jones expounding on administration policy on Iran in Riyadh Tuesday, Jan. 13. Then too he was not convinced Washington would pursue any effective policy against Iran and its nuclear program, any more than he had trusted the assurances given him last year by President Barak Obama in person, defense secretary Robert Gates or presidential envoy Dennis Ross. This mistrust was summed up in Abdullah’s recent remark: “We have heard enough words from you [Washington]. Action we have yet to see.” (Bold Mine.) Analysis. The Saudis have severe problems on all of their borders as well as internally. DEBKAfile’s Saudi experts report that the Saudi military has meanwhile returned to the Yemen battlefield against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the north, less than a month after striking a deal guaranteed by the Syrian president for a Saudi troop pull-out from Yemen to be matched by a Houthi withdrawal from Saudi territory. Abdullah made the mistake of counting on Assad’s word binding Tehran too as the Yemeni rebels’ sponsor. But the departing Houthis turned round and quickly regained their former positions in the southern Saudi provinces. The Saudis are doing their best to get the “Palestinians” unified so that they can negotiate with Israel over a Palestinian state. They really want to put an end to that festering sore. But Iran will not accept any Palestinian coalition that does not put the “rejectionist” faction foremost in the PLO. It is doubtful that the Fatah faction under Abbas would accept this and there is a whole lot of doubt that Israel would negotiate with Khaled Mashaal siting across the table from Benyamin Netanyahu. What the Saudis want to see is some action from the United States that implies American willingness to take a risk to shut down the Iranian nuclear program. Not from this administration.
This is not an administration that is willing to consider the judicious use of force when it is absolutely required. Nor is this administration willing to challenge the People’s Republic of China where their national interests in the form of energy are at stake.
There are news reports that the PRC is sending a low level diplomat to the advisors level 5+1 talks at the UN this weekend. The PRC has made its position quite clear that it does not support anything that resembles effective sanctions. The PRC will not support any actions that might cause the Iranians to even threaten to close the Straits of Hormuz. As long as the Saudis see Iran as the eventual winner in the contest between the United States and Israel against Iran, they will defer to the Iranians. The Saudis realize that this is a dangerous move for them in both secular and religious terms. The Wahabbist Saudis certainly do not want the Shiites to become the ascendant sect of Islam.
Nor do Arabs think highly of Persians. Both sides realize that eventually there must be another religious war on the order of Mutawiya against Ali. That war will not remain within the confines of the Middle East. World Threats
 A veteran Iranian diplomat based in Norway has resigned from his post, denounced his government and urged colleagues around the world to do the same after the regime’s brutal suppression of huge opposition demonstrations last month. Mohammed-Reza Heydari, Iran’s consul in Oslo, is the first Iranian diplomat to publicly quit and condemn the regime.
He revealed that it sought to lure him back to Tehran after rumors of his defection surfaced last week. At the time, the Iranian Foreign Ministry insisted that the rumors were baseless. In an interview with the Norwegian television channel NRK, Heydari said that he decided to resign after Iranian security forces killed a dozen demonstrators on Dec. 27. “I hope my friends and colleagues in other parts of the world who see and hear me now and know me will move in the same direction as their people. I hope they will manage to sacrifice some personal interests and rather think of what is in the interest of their people and their nation,” he said. Heydari said that he did not fear for his life, but in the past the regime has arrested the relatives of those, such as Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel peace laureate, who criticize it from abroad. Opposition Web sites said that Heydari’s brother was a well-known Iranian television presenter. More on this story from the Times of London. Fox News
 SUPPORTERS of Iran's regime yesterday hijacked the funeral of a nuclear scientist killed in a mysterious bomb attack as it sought to bolster its claim that he was murdered by foreign agents. Hundreds of government loyalists surrounded Masoud Ali-Mohammadi's body as it was carried from his home in northern Tehran.
State-controlled television showed them waving Iranian flags and chanting anti-American and antiIsraeli slogans. Opposition websites reported scuffles between security forces and members of the so-called Green Movement, who also turned up to mourn but were held back. They believe that the regime killed Dr Ali-Mohammadi, on Tuesday because he had switched his allegiance to Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition leader. Unconfirmed reports claimed that security forces kept Dr Ali-Mohammadi's family away from the body. The regime has spent the past three days vigorously promoting the story that Dr Ali-Mohammadi, 50, was killed by foreign enemies with the help of Iranian "mercenaries". On Wednesday Ali Larijani, the parliamentary speaker, blamed America and Israel for the attack. "We had clear information that the intelligence apparatus of the Zionist regime and the CIA wanted to implement terrorist acts," he said. However, the regime's narrative is undermined by the lack of any evidence that Dr Ali-Mohammadi was contributing to Iran's nuclear programme, as well as by his declared support for the opposition. Dr Ali-Mohammadi, who taught at Tehran University, specialised in particle physics and was not known to Western officials or agencies which monitor Iran's nuclear programme. He was one of 420 academics who signed a statement of support for Mr Mousavi during the presidential election campaign last June. Two former presidents, the reformist Mohammed Khatami and Hashemi Rafsanjani, have issued statements calling Tuesday's bombing an act of terrorism - but by not blaming Israel or America they gave the clear impression that they were blaming the regime. The Australian
 Saudi and Yemeni forces announced that they have fought renewed battles with Houthi rebels on the border between the two states. They claim to have driven the Shia rebels out of the last Saudi frontier area that they had been holding. Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the Saudi Assistant Defence Minister, said that Houthi forces had been given two days to withdraw from the border post area of al-Jabri but did not comply with the ultimatum. “All of them have been destroyed,” he said, claiming that hundreds of the rebels — named after their leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi — had been killed. There was no independent verification of the numbers of casualties in the area, which is closed to the outside world, with only a few aid groups allowed to enter. The Saudi military said that it had lost four soldiers in the clashes, bringing total losses for the kingdom to 82, with 21 missing, since Riyadh launched its offensive against the rebels in November. “They have to go back to reason and realise that their capabilities” remain modest compared to Saudi Arabia, he said. But senior Yemeni officials, as well as other Arab intelligence agencies, believe that Iran is backing the Houthis, who are fellow Shias but of a different branch of the sect. They are however united with Iran by their visceral hatred of the United States. Yemen has also hinted they may have logistical links with al-Qaeda-related groups operating in the Horn of Africa, across the narrow Gulf of Aden. In a separate battle, Yemeni troops said that they had killed 19 Houthi fighters in a battleinside the country’s borders. The Houthi insurgency, inspired by a perceived lack of political and economic freedoms by the rebels, is seen by Yemen’s Government as the most pressing threat to national security, although the United States is leaning on it heavily to devote more resources to fighting al-Qaeda militants who are rallying in the southeast of the country. The Government is also facing growing secessionist calls in the south, which was a separate state until 1990 and whose citizens complain that their natural oil and gas reserves are enriching the regime which has neglected the interests of the south. Times Online
 IRANIAN nuclear scientist Massoud Ali Mohammadi was killed today in a rare bomb attack in Tehran which state media quickly blamed on "counter-revolutionaries" and foreign powers. MrMohammadi, a lecturer at Tehran university, died when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle was triggered by remote control outside his home in the northern Tehran neighbourhood of Qeytariyeh, state media said. Iran's state broadcaster said Mr Mohammadi was "assassinated in a terrorist act by counter-revolutionaries and agents of the arrogance," without naming any sources. Iranian officials usually refer to the United States and some other Western powers as the "global arrogance". Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told the ISNA news agency that Mr Mohammadi was a lecturer in nuclear energy and said the booby-trapped bike was parked outside his house and exploded as he was getting into his car. Bomb attacks are rare in Iran although several security officials and members of the elite Revolutionary Guards have been killed in bombings by rebels in restive Sistan-Baluchestan province in eastern Iran. A witness said today's explosion was a "strong blast breaking window glasses in neighbouring houses and cars." Iran's state-run Arabic-language TV Al-Alam identified Mohammadi as a "hezbollahi" teacher -- a term used for staunch supporters of the Iranian regime. "This assassination may have been carried out by the Hypocrites (Iran's exiled People's Mujahedeen opposition) or planned by the Zionist regime," Al-Alam said. Iranian authorities have consistently accused arch foes the United States and Israel of seeking to ferment unrest in Iran. Hardliners have also accused the People's Mujahedeen of infiltrating anti-government protests and carrying out attacks. The Australian
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