Iran Update

These events have been reported to World Threats.

These 17 people have been detained by the regime during the Ashura and Tasua uprisings.

These detainees are:

1-Bahram Moosivand, 27years old, air force seargent,
2-Mahsa Yadollahi Razavi, 24years old, arrested under Hafez bridge,
3-Roojan Noorian, 31 years old, arrested in Vali-e-Asr Sq.
4-Ashkan Saeedi, 24 years old, arrested in Vali-e-Asr Sq.
5-Majid Poor Abed, 29years old, arrested in Imam Hossein Sq in Tasua,
6-Seyyed Aliraza Hosseini, 25years old, arrested in Enghelab. He was attacked by plainclothes and while two Plainclothes dragged him they threw him in SSF’s van and transferred him.
7-Amir Amir Entezami, 30 years old, arrested in Hafez St.,
8-Hamed Asgharpoor, 22years old, arrested in Imam Hossein,
9-Mohsen Hakimi, 30 years old,
10-Arin Nezam Abadi, 23 years old, arrested in Tohid,
11-Ahmadreza Ghasempoor Najafabadi, 28years old, arrested in Vali-e-Asr intersection,
12-Aref Naseri, 21years old, arrested in Keshavarz Blvd.,
13-Ali Zolanvar, 36 years old, arrested in Azadi,
14-Farshid Karimi, 27years old, arrested in Azerbaijan St.,
15-Mehdi Vaezi , 24years old,
16-Mostafa Arab, 32years old, arrested in Vali-e-Asr Sq.,
17-Kamal Heydardost, arrested in Ferdosi.

Jan. 5 - Thirty six members of the Majlis (Parliament) who are also former torturers and RGC commanders have demanded that the detainees of the uprising be executed as soon as possible.

They are characterizing the detainees as Mohareb (presuming this is some kind of negative religious term).

Jan. 5 - The deputy head of the Parliament has demanded the suppression of members of the opposition who are out of the country.

Jan. 5 - To spread an atmosphere of terror, the regime is hanging people in different cities on a daily basis.

Analysis. The mullocracy is not doing well. Considering the size of the demonstrations during the ten days of Ashura, it is highly doubtful that even mass hangings will cause any diminution of the hatred for the regime.

Attempts to get at the PMOI in Iraq will not go over well with the Iraqis. Attempts to get at the PMOI in France and other parts of Europe will go over even less well.

The Europeans are already unhappy with Iran over their nuclear programs. Should expatriate Iranians start turning up dead the Europeans will consider taking a lot more serious action against Iran.

World Threats

Iran Update

These events have been reported to World Threats.

Tehran 6:10 PM - In the area of Tohid Square, Chamran and Dr. Gharib Street approximately 1500 people have gathered. Special Guards forces are attacking the protesters.

Tehran - Saadat Abad 7:15 PM - According to an eyewitness the sounds of bullets can be heard on the streets of this area and the atmosphere is very tense.

Tehran 12:00 PM - In the area of Valiasr an eyewitness reported that in the morning during the clashes between protesters and security forces, a truck driver emptied his load of bricks in the area close to Engelab Street and asked the protesters to use them against the security forces.

He started breaking the bricks in to pieces himself and the protesters took them to Engelab and Valiasr to use against government forces.

Two more films about the events of today’s demonstration:
Khamenei’s element video tapping the protesting students Dec 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvubbT_wXKU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUZwTROg6wE

Tehran 2:00 PM - An eyewitness in Tehran University said that those who were beating the students were black clad Special Guards forces and Bassij forces. State security forces beat the protesters less than they do. A police officer was heard saying, “I am tired of this”. Outside the mosque in the university protesters raised an Iranian flag without the Allah (religious symbols) in the middle but plainclothes agents attacked them with bottles.

This particular film shows clashes between police and protesters. It show that the demonstrations of December Seventh are not all students only.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHurY9B88Uo

Analysis. There is little doubt that the mullahs have a serious revolution on their hands.

So far, based on the information that we have received, I have to say that this revolution is majority lead and populated by university students across Iran.

Later indications are that more of the general populace is beginning to take part. Until we have more information on the distribution of participants by parts of society, it is impossible to tell the depth of the revolutionary movement in Iran.

This revolutionary push to end government by religion may be part of the reasons behind the continued and expedited push by the government for nuclear weapons.

If indeed the end game of this government is the creation of the chaos necessary for the reappearance of the Hidden Imam, then internal chaos may be part of the necessary mess. The flip side of that is that the government must keep the internal revolution suppressed long enough for the external chaos, regional war in the Middle East, to occur.

Indications are that other parties in the Middle East are not prepared to just allow the Iranians to continue their nuclear programs and associated missile developments without taking action against them.

This then becomes a race between the internal revolutionaries to bring down the mullahocracy and the requirement of the external targets of the mullahocracy to defend themselves, by preemption if necessary.

In either case, it behooves all of us to be prepared for a major, and probably nuclear, war in the Middle East and the disruptions that such a war will cause.

World Threats

Iran Opposition: Government More Brutal Than Shah

TEHRAN, Iran — The showdown between Iran's clerical leaders and a resilient protest movement sharpened Saturday, as opposition leaders accused the government of becoming more brutal than the shah's regime and authorities announced a new Internet crackdown.

Two of Iran's top pro-reform figures said in a Web statement that police used excessive force against anti-government protesters who took to the streets last week on the sidelines of state-sanctioned rallies to mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover.

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, who lead the protest movement rejecting the legitimacy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June re-election, said authorities wielding batons even struck women on their heads.

They called such treatment an ugly act that was not even seen during Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's response to the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled him.

"I can't understand why they should treat people like this," Karroubi was quoted as saying by several opposition Web sites. "... I struggled against the Pahlavi regime for 15 years ... but there were no such crackdowns."

Such Web statements have been the mainstay of an opposition movement struggling to stay alive despite being brutally swept off the streets in the weeks after the June 12 election. Mousavi and his supporters contend that he was the rightful winner of the vote, but that Ahmadinejad was fraudulently declared the winner.

In a clear effort to silence the opposition's Internet outlet, Iranian authorities announced they were deploying a special police unit to sweep Web sites for political material and prosecute those deemed to be spreading lies, Iranian media reported Saturday.

Many opposition Web sites are already banned, but the opposition has continued to set up new Web sites within days of the old ones being blocked.

The new 12-member police unit will report to the prosecutor's office, signaling an intention to bring offenders to trial.

"Authorities know that the Internet is one of the few available channels for the opposition to make its voice heard. They want to silence opposition voices," said reform-minded journalist Akbar Montajabi, who described the measure as the latest set of restrictions imposed on media in the country.

Iran also pushed ahead Saturday with another key component in its battle with the opposition, sentencing a student activist to eight years in prison, according to the pro-opposition Web site Mowjcamp. More than 100 activists and some senior pro-reform figures have been on trial since August on charges of participating in rallies and plotting to overthrow the country's clerical rulers.

Foxnews

Guardian: Iran Testing Advanced Nuclear Warhead Designs

Some troubling news has come out from the British Guardian. According to sources in the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iranian scientists have been working on a nuclear warhead design which makes it easier to miniaturize the bomb.

This allows the warhead to be placed on a missile for deployment.

Western weapons experts say there are no such civilian applications, but the use of co-ordinated detonations in nuclear warheads is well known. They compress the fissile core, or pit, of the warhead until it reaches critical mass.

If true, this would mean that Iran is far, far ahead of previous estimations of their nuclear program.

Miniturization is one of the most difficult steps in the nuclear weapons process and even North Korea has not accomplished this.

This would also mean that UN action must be accelerated to force an end to the program. Nothing short of crippling sanctions can now be contemplated and the military plans must be put squarely on the table.

In fact, with the people of Iran protesting again against the theocracy, it is time for the United States to finally force out the mullahs.

Source: World Threats

Military Option on the Table

Debka.com is reporting here that the United States is apparently taking moves to be prepared for war in the Middle East.

DEBKAfile’s US intelligence sources report indications of impending war preparations against Iran after Tehran’s rejections of the UN-brokered proposal to ship its enriched uranium overseas for further enrichment.

These sources reveal that the administration is seeking congressional authorization to open America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

Furthermore, the US-Israeli joint US-Israel Juniper Cobra ballistic exercise is in full swing. Finally, US and Israel officials have been instructed to warn Moscow that the military option is still on the table if Iran’s nuclear program is not halted by diplomatic means.

These actions are apparently in response to Iran’s negative reply to sending the bulk of its enriched uranium to Russia and France for reprocessing into fuel rods.

Analysis. Iran is button pushing again. They want the war and chaos it creates to provide the conditions for the “Hidden Imam” to reappear.

They also want to be the defender in this scenario. They are willing to absorb whatever attack the Israelis , and others, may deliver against them to get that to happen.

Expect Iran to continue the present course as long as the mullahocracy remains in power.

At some point the Israelis primarily and most likely in consultations and cooperation with their neighbors who will also be effected will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and other military targets. Six months?

Source: World Threats

Amil Imani: President Obama’s Policy Disaster

Is history repeating itself? Is President Obama reenacting President Carter’s tragic policy blunder toward Iran? Is Mr. Obama going to sacrifice the Iranian people at the altar of a misguided expediency as did Jimmy Carter some three decades ago? To what end?

America’s enemies bleat that sacrificing any people to further America’s interests is a standard operating procedure for American administrations – Republican or Democrat.

These ill-wishers claim that America is not a democracy, but a plutocracy run by a cabal of big money in collaboration with Zionists.

It is true that self-interest is the motivating force for the individual and groups as well as nations. Thus, it is understandable that President Obama is taking serious steps to further America’s interest by negotiating with Iran’s Mullahs in the hope of stopping them from building nuclear weapons.

This is an admirable objective. However, a number of troubling issues immediately come to mind.

For one, stopping the Mullahs from their pursuit of making the bomb is an unlikely possibility. That achievement treats a symptom rather than eliminates the virulent disease of Shi’a’ Islamism.

It is bad enough to have the end-of-the-worlder zany Mullahs’ itchy fingers on the nuclear trigger. The idea brings to mind images of the long-prophesied and dreaded Armageddon.

What is worse is to be lulled into believing that the ever-dishonest Mullahs are actually sincere in honoring their commitment to abandon the quest for their nuclear holy grail while they continue to do so and reap the huge side benefits for their “concession.”

What benefits? A great many. Leading the list is giving the Mullahs—wolves masquerading as sheepdogs of Allah—free hand to mercilessly decimate internal opposition. These villains have several millions of equally zany and rabid followers and hired thugs who are regularly unleashed on the secularists in Iran.

For another, the Mullahs are anything if not ambitious. They have their interests also. They are not content with what they are doing to Iran. They have their black heart set on a much bigger prize.

First, they have the Middle East, and then the entire world in their crosshairs. And they have the foot-soldiers and mules to do their bidding both internally and worldwide.

Recall that not long ago the Mullahs called for volunteer suicide bombers.

Read more here,,,,

Source: Amil Imani

Iran Update, 12 Sep

These events have been reported to World Threats.

Informed sources in Tehran say that Khamenei has issued an arrest warrant for former presidential candidate Karrobi.

Ayatollah Rafsanjani has resigned from the Expediency Council(?). Rafsanjani also expressed his concern that the RGC (Revolutionary Guards Corps) has gained control of everything.

Karrobi continues to publicize the torture of persons arrested in anti-government protests.

In his Friday sermon, Ali Khamenei attacked the opposition. “Confronting the System’s principles … has a severe answer.” The shaking Supreme Leader complained that they want to turn “the Islamic Republic’s System” that is a “religious system” into “a system that does not believe in religion.”

Laying the foundation for the arrest of Karrobi and Mousavi, Khamenei said, “Revolution’s principles are not something we like or dislike …. If someone defies the principles, confronts the people’s security, the System has no choice other than to hardly answer back…. So the point is that we must all be careful. The Islamic Republic’s System is an Islamic system. It is a religious system. It is proud that it works within the framework of canon (Sharia) law and Islam and the Qoran. This shouldn’t turn into a system that does not believe in religion, as they say a secular system ….”

In a speech on September Tenth, President Ahmadinejad (RGC member) reaffirmed the continuation of torture and suppression. He said, “the SSF (Special Security Forces) and the security forces are the iron fist of the Iranian nation against those who undermine the security.” He also praised the fraud in the recent Presidential Elections.

Member of the RGC Firooz Adabi, Chief of the General Headquarters of the Iranian armed forces, insisted on the continuation of the regime’s atomic activities and said, “despite all of the confrontations the Islamic Republic insists on achieving atomic techniques and producing atomic fuel which is necessary for progressing.”

In a speech at the Ministry of defense, Adabi revealed the mullahs intentions to meddle in Lebanon and Palestine. He said, “when the Islamic Republic helps Lebanon or Palestine this is not only a political issue but also provides the interest of our country. If we don’t help the countries in the forefront of the war with the Zionist regime we must fight them in the future in our own borders.”

Analysis. The hint even of an arrest warrant for a popular former presidential candidate is a good indication that all is not going well for the mullahocracy.

Note Rafsanjani’s statement that the IRGC controls everything. this portends continued interference in not only Lebanon and Palestine, but Iraq as well. Adabi’s statements indicate that the Iranian nuclear program will continue and that it is not at all for peaceful purposes.

Source: World Threats