Iran News and Discussions

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Re: Iran News and Discussions

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Iran Claims It’s Rolled out a Stealth Fighter Jet — But Is it Real?
Few weeks back, they displayed a US drone that they claimed was brought down in one piece. Not sure how big that drone is, but somehow I have a feeling, they used that for their claim after 'significant engineering work'.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Prem »

Iran "Pooran' singing in Bigharar
Is this Zend avesta Pooran or Vedic Pooran

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Iran offering reeling Egypt 'big credit line'
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the proposal during the first trip to Egypt by an Iranian leader since 1979. It came at a time when his own economy is staggering from the effects of Western sanctions over Iran's suspect nuclear development program, and it was unclear how he could spare funds or credit for his new ally.
Egypt's government had no immediate reaction to Ahmadinejad's offer, made in an interview with the state-run Al-Ahram daily.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by ramana »

Maybe they will wait for a larger offer from Sunni Arabs who will increase oil prices to fund it! Even then Iran will be doing the dorry E gyp tians a favor.

Gyp=One who gets cheated. American slang
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by RajeshA »

The Iranian Theocracy is really desperate to hang on to some semblance of Pan-Islamic leadership role. The problem is that others don't really "throw them any grass"!

But if any Sunni Arab regime requires some cash, then all they need to do is ring Iran's doorbell. Iran doesn't have much for the sake of some echandee, they will sell some of gran'ma's jewelry. That is the level of desperation, a bit like the Soviet way of funding world communism even though they were broke.

Of course there is also the three-some tango between Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt), Salafis (Saudi Arabia) and Shi'ite Leadership (Iran).

Shi'a and Salafis don't really get along, except may be outwardly to bitch about the Kufr but on immediate strategic interests it is difficult. That gives Muslim Brotherhood some leeway.

Egypt gets to get some of Iran's gran'ma's jewelry as well as more indulgence from the Saudis, who want to keep the most important Sunni Arab country, Egypt, in their corner.

Not only did Iraq after Saddam break off from the House of Saud, now Egypt too has broken off. Turkey is filling some of the vacuum. Saudis are also busy consolidating GCC. But Saudis are looking for some more muscle.
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Somewhat older article

Published on July 11, 2012
By A Durai
India and the Persian Connection: Geek at Large (IBN Blog)
There is a whole lot of talk about how India does not have a robust enough strategic culture. So "Geek at Large", in its own small way, has decided to start hosting guest posts, bringing to the fore varied perspectives in the realms of geopolitics and military affairs.

Today's post deals with the ongoing crisis in the Persian Gulf and the complex Indian response to it where Ananth Durai explains India's understated role in managing the crisis and how it has actually thrown up new opportunities for both widening and deepening our engagement with various players in the region.

India and the Persian connection

Much has been made of the recent move by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to extradite a terrorist who was involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks - many press reports cited the growing relationship in security and intelligence matters between the two countries. It is indeed true that the growing high-level intelligence interaction between Indian and Saudi counterparts has led to arrests of other wanted terrorists in the Kingdom (not just Lashkar terror operatives). But this is just one part of the multi-faceted relationship between the Kingdom and India.

One of the chief drivers of the growing relationship between the India and Saudi Arabia is the perceived Iranian threat to the latter. Over the past 15 years, Iran has managed to expand its influence into countries that were once perceived to be less of a security threat towards the Saudi Kingdom. Today, Iran is believed to have major control over Iraq - via influence over the politico- religious system (with Gulf leaders referring to the Iraqi PM as an "Iranian stooge"), and the two major Shia Iraqi militias (Mahdi Army and the SCIRI - Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq). Iran also has in place a strong alliance with the Alawite-led Syrian leadership and the oft-spoken-about relationship with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

With the removal of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt - a staunch ally of the Saudis and one who was relied upon as a strong pillar of support especially on the security and defence side of things - the Kingdom sees itself surrounded by emergent problems. The newly elected President of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi, is overtly promising to strengthen ties with Iran and when you couple this with the continuing instability in Bahrain and Yemen, it is completely understandable why the KSA in particular and the Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) states in general are looking increasingly nervous.

Indeed, one can but imagine the effect that a nuclear Iran would have on the security affairs of the various Gulf Kingdoms. As a result of this KSA has no choice but to build strong ties with regional powers such as India, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey. It is also a time when the GCC with KSA, UAE and Qatar at its core is taking proactive steps to defend its security. One standout example of the same would be these countries lending support to Syrian rebels - by providing arms, finances as well as diplomatic support in order to break the Iranian alliance framework in Syria and Lebanon.

With all this happening in the Saudi neighbourhood, the last thing that the GCC needs is an Indo-Pak war which would remove two regional powers who have the capability to intervene favourably in the event of a war between itself and Iran. KSA of course also relies heavily on Pakistani military personnel to man its own armed forces in exchange for the transfer of military equipment, and perhaps for financing up to 30 per cent of the Pakistani military budget. However, it is likely that Pakistan would request these personnel to return in the event of a war with India, which would make the Gulf security situation even more precarious.

The quiet visitors to New Delhi

Last December saw some quiet visits by a few Gulf dignitaries to Delhi - one of whom was Prince Turki Al-Faisal (the former Saudi Intelligence chief) and another was a senior advisor to the Kingdom of Kuwait. Officially they were in India to interact with sundry mandarins in South Bloc and visit the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) but truth be told these visits were probably of much greater importance than is readily understood.

As it turns out, the GCC has been seeking a mediator with Iran for some time over the nuclear issue. Initially, the Sultanate of Oman was chosen due to its relatively close ties with Iran. However, as one Gulf official put it, "No big nation listens to a small nation". This then led to Turkey being asked to mediate between the Iranians and the Arabs. However, the Gulf Kingdoms have been disappointed as Turkey has been unable to deal with the Iranians effectively.

The message conveyed from these visits was that the Gulf leadership is impressed with the way India has been able to deal with the Iranians - particularly, the mechanism created to deal with the subject of Afghanistan (where all difficult issues are discussed) and also India's ties with the entire spectrum of the Iranian leadership. The Gulf Kingdoms, it seems, want India to utilise its relationship with Iran in order to mediate on the nuclear issue. In reference to this, sources have confirmed that India has indeed opened a channel with the Iranians although how effective this has been is, as yet, unclear.

As a quid pro quo, there is an expectation in Indian quarters that the Gulf Kingdoms who have considerable influence in Pakistan can help moderate Pakistani behaviour on terrorism (and other areas of concern), increase investments in Indian infrastructure which will help develop the economy (as it did for the US), growth in all areas of the strategic relationship and pave the way for a FTA to be signed shortly.

Afghanistan

While the Gulf nations are pushing us to help settle the Iranian nuclear file amicably - we can't obviously forget our very real interests in Iran. Since Pakistan has blocked India's access to Central Asia and Afghanistan, India has no choice but to build close relations with Iran. Iran is central to our trade with Central Asia and Afghanistan. Our interests there are not merely trade-oriented but also involve security and defence matters in Eurasia which have a direct impact on us.

The development of the Iranian port of Chabahar and multi-modal transport (rail and road) into Afghanistan as well as Central Asia will allow us access to a highly resource rich region that can be utilised to support our economy. It will also serve as a shorter route for Indian goods heading towards Europe, thus helping to increase the competitiveness of Indian goods.

However, there is also a military aspect to such infrastructure. Having access to roads and rail will give us the capability, should the need arise, to intervene in a large way (subject to Russian and Iranian support of course). All this suggests that India has tough decisions ahead in order to balance our interests in the Gulf with our interests in Iran.

The nuclear file: what lies ahead

Gulf sources acknowledge that sanctions need time to work and a long-term solution is required to fully resolve the issue. It appears there is both a short-term and a long-term strategy at play here with Gulf states, Israel and the west in agreement on these aspects. The short-term strategy is to do all that is possible to delay the Iranian nuclear project by any means possible (including a last resort military strike on Iranian nuclear sites). The long term one, that of regime change (without the need to intervene militarily), can delay the prospects of a nuclear Iran indefinitely if it ever comes to fruition.

A former chief of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, acknowledged that air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites will only delay the project by two years at the most. However, in a recent interview, Dagan admitted that an air strike or regional war will result in people getting behind the regime and hence extending its life. Many US, GCC and Israeli officials agree with the view expressed by Dagan and conclude that the Iranian regime is under deep pressure to deliver results to the Iranian people. Dennis Ross (former Special Advisor to the Obama Administration on the Persian Gulf), in a recent conference, described Iran as similar to the Soviet Union in 1981 where ideology is no longer believed and the veneer is wearing thin. Therefore it is clear that all sides consider a regional war is not the best option although it may get sparked of suddenly as we shall see below.

Concurrently, the aim of the sanctions regime on Iran is to force the Iranian leadership to give up their nuclear weapons programme. If they don't, the pressure on the economy and the Iranian people will result in some sort of Arab spring-type revolution. The use of cyber weapons by western and Israeli intelligence has been particularly successful in the case of Iran with US officials suggesting that they have managed to delay the programme by a couple of years. Going forward, we can expect to see the collective use of sanctions, cyber attacks as well as a naval blockade by the west and Israel.

Why a naval blockade?

A nuclear Iran is not going to be in the interests of either Russia or China as Iran would naturally compete in the same sphere of influence of these two nations, particularly what Russia considers as its back yard, Central Asia. As a result, a blockade imposed by the west will not be really opposed by these two and it will mean that the Iranians will have no option but to cooperate with the world powers on their nuclear programme. After all, attacking your only allies, Russia and China, will not help the Iranians.

Interestingly, the US military has apparently conducted a number of joint exercises off the coast of North Carolina with their Russian and European counterparts, dealing with the "repulsion of an attack by small-sized vessels, helicopter rescue operations, personnel transfer procedures and joint manoeuvring" - operational scenarios that could well describe an asymmetric naval showdown with the Iranian Navy.

After a strike

Some alarming estimates say that Iran is only 8 months away from achieving the capability to build a nuclear weapon and hence Israel as well as the west may be pressured to act militarily before then. In the event of such a scenario, India will have to prepare contingency plans to evacuate the millions of Indians in the region as well as secure energy supplies for itself in the event Iran chooses to retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Gulf forces are already on red alert in the region as war between the US/west and Iran could take place by miscalculation on either side, not to mention the high concentration of military vessels/aircraft in the Arabian Gulf where the chances of accidental shots being fired and escalating into a conflict are rather high. Contingency measures have been put in place for the last 6 months by the GCC fearing the worst.

One hopes preparations for such a scenario are being made by Indian military planners as well.

Summing it all up

The growing threat of war would mean that India will have to source oil from more stable neighbourhoods. Africa and South America are possible solutions. India will also need to develop its own shale oil and gas resources. The threat of war will also mean that oil prices will remain sticky at least for the next one to two years and the New Delhi will have to take this into consideration when drawing up its financial plans.

(Ananth Durai is a London-based commentator on regional affairs with a special interest in West Asian political and security issues. He currently works for an accounting firm and has worked extensively within the financial industry. The views expressed by him are personal. You can catch him on Twitter@ADurai)
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

Iranis love a tear-jerker.
رحیمی: نمی‌گویم در کشور چه خبر است تا دشمن شاد نشود
Mohammad Reza Rahimi, first deputy to Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad, said today that he has maintained silence regarding the state of the nation, and that he exercises restraint with regard to the political condition inside Iran.

Mr. Rahimi mentioned that a few people "within" were acting as "termites", and added, "I don't like to say out loud what the internal condition is, for it may gladden the enemy."

He waxed further, "Problems have increased so much that a person has to shed tears in solitude," and, "The state of the nation has become cause for silencing a person and making him put his head into a well."

In recent days the government of Mr. Ahmadinejad has been under pressure from the tumultuous demonstrations of Abdolreza Sheikh-ol-Eslami (Deputy Minister for Employment & Public Welfare) demanding an explanation for the revelations against the brothers of Mr. Larijani, and it appears that the words of Mr. Rahimi were in reference to these criticisms.

The severest example of bringing such pressure onto faces close to Ahmadinejad has been the recent arrest and imprisonment of Saeed Mortazevi (Head of the Organization for Public Security). ...

Mr. Rahimi emphasized the sanctity of the law of Iran, and said, "Some live in violation of it," and he criticized the new limitations put on the powers of the president of the republic. ...
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

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Iranian leader Ahmadinejad targeted with shoe in Egypt
Security guards have seized a man who tried to hit Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a shoe as he visited a mosque in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Video of the incident shows a man shouting "coward" as he strikes out. It is not clear what the motive was - some reports suggested it was against Iran's support for Syria's government.
Persian news report adds:
The attacker shouted slogans such as "Iran must be made abject (i.e. violently made to submit as a slave)", and "[Ahmadinejad] must leave."
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Hiten »

footage as captured by the Sentinel's IR turret camera that the Iranians captured
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8R5FnlCNhg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isvi2LPJ4fQ
i thought the footage gets relayed back home. They're also stored onboard, it appears. Redundancy, perhaps

Persian report on how it was captured
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHZZXR7Av_k
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

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Organizations Call for Obama to Allow Medicine and Humanitarian Trade with Iran
Washington, DC - Twenty-five organizations called on President Obama yesterday to ensure that existing U.S. sanctions on Iran do not block access for medicine, food, and basic humanitarian goods for Iranian civilians. In a letter led by the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) {A Quaker lobby!} and signed by NIAC {Nat'l Iranian American Council - the most active proponent of 'diplomacy' versus war against Iran, and strongly opposed to the re-vitalization of even covert ops including MeK} and other anti-war, human rights, and humanitarian organizations, the groups urged the President to exempt humanitarian transactions from sanctions against Iran’s banking sector.
The full list of orgs is:
American Friends Service Committee
Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy
Campaign for Peace and Democracy
Center for Interfaith Engagement—Eastern Mennonite University
Church of the Brethren
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Havaar: Iranian Initiative Against War, Sanctions and State Repression
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Just Foreign Policy
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
National Iranian American Council
Orthodox Peace Fellowship
Peace Action
Peace Action West
Peace X Peace
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Progressive Democrats of America
The Peace Alliance
The Student Peace Alliance
United Methodist Church—General Board of Church & Society
Women’s Action for New Directions
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

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Iran Confiscates Buddha Statues To Quell The Spread Of Buddhism
Buddha statues have been added to the growing list of items that are banned in Iran. Officials have begun confiscating the statues from shops in the capital city of Tehran in order to stop the promotion of Buddhism.

The Islamic republic has long waged a ware against items such as Barbie dolls i order to limit western influence, but this appears to be the first time that authorities have shown hostility towards symbols from the east.

According to a report in the independent Arman daily, Saeed Jaberi Ansari, an official for the protection of Iran's cultural heritage, has deemed the Buddha statues as symbols of "cultural invasion."

Ansari reportedly said that authorities would not permit a specific belief to be promoted through items like Buddha statues. He did not indicate how many Buddha statues had been seized, but noted that the "cleansing" would continue.

Apparently, some Iranians buy the statues to decorate their homes and cars, but few actually care about Buddhism and simply thought that they were beautiful as decorations.

Iran's constitution recognizes Christian and Jewish beliefs as well as Zoroastrianism alongside Islam, the nation's official religion. The law states that in general, the rights of all non-Muslims should be observed. However, there are some Islamists who do not promote the production of any kind of statue as they view it as a way of promoting idols.
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Iran Can’t Agree to a Damn Thing
political infighting in Tehran is so bad that Iran might not be able to bring itself to accept unilateral U.S. unconditional surrender were it to be offered.
Iranian leaders fight about everything, even where vital national security interests are at stake. In many respects, a divided Iran is nothing new. The Islamic Republic has from its beginning been characterized by sharp internal divisions. And that has long influenced debate about policy toward the United States. For at least 20 years, the rule in Iran has been: Whoever is out of power wants talks with the United States, which they know would be popular, while whoever is in power moves haltingly if at all toward talks. Several times, those on the outs became the ins and then quickly shifted position on relations with Washington. When Mohammad Khatami was running for president in 1997, he was all in favor of talks with the Great Satan, but then once in power, he did little if anything and refused to speak clearly on the issue. And so too with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: When he was riding high, he only had disdain for the United States, but as he got into trouble at home, he called for talks with Washington.
But now, the situation is much worse than before. It used to be that once Khomeini's successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke, that ended the debate, but no longer. Khamenei no longer enjoys the respect nor commands the power to stop the infighting.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Virupaksha »

This is not good. These internal divisions seem to be a cover for the clergy to again be both sides of the divide.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

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So this is the shameless response of Iran's regime to the merciless genocide of Shi'as in neighboring Af-Pak?

Massacres of Pakistani Shias meant to sully image of Islam
The recent terrorist attack in a Hazara neighborhood of the city of Quetta in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, in which 90 Hazara Shias were killed, raised many questions about whether the move was only meant to undermine the rule of the central government in Islamabad or was part of a plot devised outside Pakistan, which was formulated and supported by foreign governments in order to create a broader impact in the region.

The reemergence of terrorist attacks in Pakistan on such a grand scale is a sign that certain regional and extra-regional players have resumed their support for extremists in the country. The main aim of this measure is to sully the image of Islam and to create a general sense of fear about the rise of Islamists to power in the Arab world. The attacks could also intensify the sectarian disputes between Shia and Sunni communities in various Muslim countries, which would certainly serve the interests of the anti-Islamic front in the West. ...
The author "Sadreddin Mousavi is a political analyst and an expert on the Indian Subcontinent based in Tehran."
----------

Egypt courting Iranians for tourism
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Philip »

Iran's alleged "B" route to N-weapon ststus.

Of course the allegations and accompanying pic are from a dyed-in-the-wool western paper,but the news that a deal is on the cards where a drawback of the sanctions regime in exchange for Iranian going slow on production of enriched N-fuel is being discussed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/?source=refresh

Exclusive: Iran is developing a second path to a nuclear weapons capability by operating a plant that could produce plutonium, satellite images show for the first time.
Spies, bombs, and a virus: heading off nuclear Iran
Iran's nuclear plan: Arak's air defences revealed
Iran's nuclear developments: the satellite images
West offers underground complex sanctions deal
Analysis: two paths to making a nuclear weapon
Iran 'crosses first hurdle' to plutonium production
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

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Virupaksha wrote:This is not good. These internal divisions seem to be a cover for the clergy to again be both sides of the divide.
Exactly. Infiltration and purges are being carried out at every level. Yesterday Ahmedinejad was whining about how the IRGC had even interfered in the election to the standards body of the national medical system. The budget bill was passed in the Majles without the presence of Ahmedinejad.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by arun »

X Posted from the Islamism thread.

Mohammadden Cleric Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani claims that some Hindu spiritual leaders are actually Jewish :rotfl:
The Jews forged ties between their small global population and the large population of Buddhists and Hindus, and took roots among them by exploiting their own economic power and the poverty [of the Buddhists and Hindus]. They even set up Jewish figures as spiritual leaders of some Buddhist and Hindu sects, and built centers and temples in India and other countries in its vicinity
From here:

MEMRI
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Kati »

India should step in to provide cheap medicine to Iran...
It can help the matter at diplomatic front....and sends a message to the
west ("it's humanitarian gesture" onlee - the way the west justifies its help to TSP).

March 1, 2013


Blocking Medicine to Iran

By SIAMAK NAMAZI, New York Times


Patients in Iran are dying of treatable diseases because of shortages in life-saving medicines. The past year has been nothing short of catastrophic for the Iranian health-care sector: Imports from American and European drug makers in 2012 were down by an estimated 30 percent since 2011, and they continue to fall.

Over the past three months, I led a group of independent business consultants with expertise in Iran to evaluate the problem. After conducting extensive interviews in Tehran and Dubai with Iranian importers and manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment and their Western counterparts, we concluded that even though in theory the sanctions regime imposed on Iran by the United States and the European Union is supposed to allow humanitarian trade, in reality it impairs the delivery of drugs and medical equipment to Iran.

Although the Iranian government deserves firm criticism for incompetence in handling the crisis, poor allocation of scarce foreign currency resources and failing to crack down on corrupt practices, the main culprit are the U.S. and European sanctions that regulate financial transactions with Iran.

The system is irrational: There is a blanket waiver to the sanctions to facilitate humanitarian trade, but other laws restricting financial transactions with Iran make it impossible to implement that exception. So the trade of medical supplies is legal in theory and virtually impossible in practice because Iran cannot pay for the Western medicine it needs.

One problem is that when sanctions were tightened in 2012, Iran’s ability to sell oil was further limited and its main source of hard currency restricted. Another problem is that Iran’s main banking infrastructure — including the Central Bank of Iran and Bank Tejarat, Iran’s main trading bank — is blacklisted by Washington.

Sanctions have also choked-off Iranian banks from the global financial arena by putting draconian restrictions on international banks that deal with Iran, including by cutting them off from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Penalties for violating U.S. sanctions are so stern as to discourage most international banks, which are generally risk-averse anyway, from engaging in humanitarian trade.

A senior representative from a reputable Iranian pharmaceutical company told our study group that when he presented a French bank in Paris with documentation showing that a deal to ship vaccines to Iran was fully legal, he was told, “Even if you bring a letter from the French president himself saying it is O.K. to do so, we will not risk this.” Today, only one international bank — in Turkey — is willing to take the chance.

In simple terms, even when Iran can get its hands on dollars or euros to buy medical supplies, it cannot find a banking avenue to clear the trade. A senior representative at one American pharmaceutical company told me about a $60 million order for an anti-rejection drug for liver-transplant patients that fell through even though the sale was fully legal, all the needed licensing from the U.S. Treasury was in place, and Iran had allocated the needed hard currency. No bank would perform the transaction.

To compensate, Iran has been importing more drugs, or the active ingredients for them, from China and India. But these products are usually of inferior quality and more limited effectiveness than the equivalent from American and European manufacturers. And in the highly patented world of pharmaceuticals, substitution often isn’t an option at all, particularly when it comes to advanced medicines used to treat complex diseases like cancer and multiple sclerosis.

There are solutions. With fewer than 100 American and European companies holding patents to the most advanced medicines needed, it should be possible to craft narrow exemptions authorizing Iranian and international banks to do business with those companies for the exclusive purpose of providing medication to Iranian patients without undermining the sanctions regime overall.

This would mean carving out special exceptions for at least some of the 20 or so Iranian banks that the U.S. government currently blacklists wholesale, at least for the narrow purpose of purchasing medical drugs and supplies.

Washington must also reassure international financial institutions by clarifying existing regulations and stating unambiguously that no sanctions will be imposed on international banks that facilitate licensed or exempted humanitarian trade with Iran.

Another solution would be to narrowly adjust the terms of the exemptions allowing foreign countries and companies to purchase Iranian crude oil.

Despite existing restrictions, Iran currently sells around one million barrels of oil annually. But the terms of these special sales translate into a complex bartering system that ultimately leaves Tehran short of U.S. dollars and euros. For example, Iran’s oil sales to China are bought in renminbi, which it must keep in Chinese banks and can only use to pay Chinese companies for imports into Iran.

Iran should be allowed to convert some of its current holdings in Chinese, Indian and other banks around the world into hard currencies for the exclusive purpose of buying medical supplies. European states could also be authorized to buy small quantities of Iranian oil and hold the funds in escrow for Iran to use solely to that end.

The West must relax and rationalize the terms of its sanctions regime against Iran to allow more medical goods into the country. If it doesn’t, more Iranian men, women and children will suffer needlessly.


Siamak Namazi is a Dubai-based business consultant and a former Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.


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Sanctions against Iran will gradually ease from today: Salehi
Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has announced that the US-engineered sanctions against the Islamic Republic will be gradually removed from today, March 3.


“With the measures devised by the [Iranian] diplomatic apparatus, from today we will witness the gradual removal of the sanctions,” Salehi told reporters on Sunday, IRNA reported.

“The enemies claimed last year that crippling sanctions against Iran were on their way; however, they themselves have admitted that sanctions have not had much impact in Iran.”


“If the enemy has spent USD 100 to impose sanctions on Iran, it has not benefitted and reaped even USD 10 [in return],” the minister added.

He noted that the sanctions only caused problems for Iran in accessing foreign exchange, while the country earned USD 100 billion in revenue from oil sales every year.

Salehi said that Iran’s initiatives over the past 34 years have succeeded in tempering the adverse effects of the pressures exerted on the country.

He noted that Iran’s economy is not export-based and the value of the country’s annual economic exchanges stand at around USD one trillion based on purchasing power parity.

The Iranian minister explained that the country had succeeded in thwarting a major part of sanctions and said that Iran has 15 neighbors by land and sea and it is hard to impose sanctions on such a country.
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Raid on Iran boat reveals new Chinese missiles
An Iranian boat seized off the Yemeni coast was carrying sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft missiles, a development that could signal an escalation of Iran's support to its Middle Eastern proxies, alarming other countries in the region and renewing a diplomatic challenge to the US.

Among the items aboard the dhow, according to a review of factory markings on the weapons and their packing crates, were 10 Chinese heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles, most of them manufactured in 2005.

The missiles were labelled QW-1M and bore stencils suggesting they had been assembled at a factory represented by the state-owned China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation, which is sanctioned by the US for transfers of missile technology to Pakistan and Iran.

The analysis of the weapons' markings and origins was based on photographs taken when Yemeni officials briefly displayed the weapons to journalists.

In 2008, late in the Bush administration, the US complained to China about two similar anti-aircraft missiles that were recovered from Shiite militants in Iraq, according to a diplomatic cable made public by WikiLeaks.

''We have demarched China repeatedly on its conventional arms transfers to Iran, urging Beijing to stop,'' a cable noted.

The Chinese missiles were part of a larger shipment interdicted by US and Yemeni forces in January, which US and Yemeni officials say was intended for Shiite Houthi rebels in north-western Yemen.

The shipment, which officials portray as an attempt to introduce sophisticated new anti-aircraft systems into the Arabian Peninsula, has raised concerns in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen, as the weapons would have posed escalated risks to civilian and military aircraft alike.

And it has presented the Obama administration with a fresh example of Iran's apparent transfer of modern missiles from China to insurgents in the larger regional contest between Sunni-led and Shiite-led states, in which the US military has often been entwined.

The US has previously accused Iran of sending weapons to the Houthis, who follow an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Saudi Arabia, a US ally, is considered the leading Sunni power in the region.

Both sides have aided and equipped groups or governments they deem aligned with their interests, helping to fuel violence in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Sudan and elsewhere.

Iran has rejected the allegations as ''baseless and absurd''. Neither the Iranian government nor the Chinese company that markets QW missiles answered written requests for comment.

The government of Yemen has asked the United Nations to investigate the shipment and report the findings to the Security Council. Yemeni news media reported that UN experts were in Yemen last week.
RajeshA
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by RajeshA »

So if Iran is receiving military aid from China in their conflict with USA and the Sunnis, whose strategic interests do we think Iran would support - India's or China's?
Agnimitra
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

The Chinese shadow on Iranian society is long and penetrating, sometimes the butt of jokes of the dissident youth. Cheap (price-wise and quality-wise) Chinese goods have flooded the Iranian market for the last few years, too. Does Iran's next generation want Chinese style one party rule and do they think they can emulate China's model of economic development while being isolated from the West? Or would they prefer to emulate Indian democracy and our style of development along with greater relations with the West as well as other parts of the world?
Aditya_V
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Aditya_V »

Chinese can support Saudis, pakis and Iranians and get away with it. Thats far better than Uncle's foreign policy.
Agnimitra
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

Rare clash between peasants and police in a town outside Esfahan a few days back. Some farmers had damaged a pipe carrying water to Yazd. Later authorities came to repair it and clashes broke out. Tear gas and some shots were fired. Several wounded.
Philip
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Philip »

Once more we are witnessing "fimal warnings" from Israel,a joint US and Saudi threat too that timelines for Iran to disarm itself in the nuclear sense are not infnite.The Saudi joker is supposed to have said that the time is over to "argue as to how many camels can fit on one pinhead",or words to that effect!

What is new this time? O-Bomb-er his second innings-no threat of elections to stop him now,along with the fact that there are new Secs. of State and Defence,both of whom are itching to get their "rocks off' -pun intended.The Saudis want the Shiite threat exterminated once and for all in their neighbourhood,and the Israelis want to see Assad's downfall asap.,where he is being supported by the Iranians.So round 3 of the Arab Spring is being hatched and funded by the Saudis-as the US Def. budget is going south,with the hope that a military attack against Iranian nuclear and military installations will send the Iranian programme back into the stone age.
"Man proposes,God disposes..."
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Prasad »

Can the US realistically mount any sort of attack on Iran with 3 of their carriers in their home port right now? Something unprecedented from what I hear.
Austin
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Austin »

Obama Administration is not keen for any military action against Iran and the economic situation wont allow such liberty , Chances are we may not see any Military Action against Iran for the next 4 years.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

دولت ایران به اسفندیار رحیم مشایی نشان فرهنگ و هنر اعطا می‌کند
Govt. of Iran confers medal of honour on Esfandiyar Rahim Masha'ei for his contribution to culture and art
The Govt of Iran has approved a recognition of honour for Esfandiyar Rahim Masha'ei, one of the faces very close to Mahmoud Ahmedinezhad. A government spokesman said it was for his defence and contribution to Iranian civilizational culture.

According to the bill passed by the government, recognition of cultural and arts contributions from the government is given to anyone who uses his thought, enthusiastic avocation and feeling to better express the understanding of worthy concepts of Islamic, humanistic and cultural publications.

...

Mr. Ahmedinezhad had once run into the opposition from Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Khamenei for appointing Mr. Masha'ei as his deputy...

...

Mr. Masha'ei had once created controversy by his remarks about "friendship between Iran and Israel" and "the end of the era of Islamism".

...

For some time after a distance developed between Mr. Ahmedinejad's government and the establishment, Mr. Masha'ei was sidelined and almost disappeared from public media coverage and discourse. But ever since Mr. Ahmedinejad returned from his trip to Egypt, Mr. Masha'ei has begun to be given the spotlight again.

Mr. Ahmedinejad's different interactions with foreign dignitaries at various fora have been creating news and Mr. Masha'ei has been a part of those.

The attitude displayed by Mr. Masha'ei in recent weeks have been interpreted as preparation with an eye on the next election.

Recently Mr. Ahmedinejad was at a tree-planting function at a public hall in Sa'dabad, where the speeches were begun by foreign representatives, and in that function a special place was given to Mr. Masha'ei present there, and only after Mr. Masha'ei's address did Mr. Ahmedinejad speak.

Mr. Ahmedinejad began his speech by saying, "After the deeply evocative and meaningful discussion by my dear brother Mr. Masha'ei, there is no space remaining for other words."

The photo that was released and published from this function shows Mr. Ahmedinejad at the tree-planting site, handing over his own spade to Mr. Masha'ei.
Image

Not clear which "foreign" representatives have been involved in helping Mr. Masha'ei come out into the public view again...
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Prem »

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 859990.cms

8 India revives Iran rice trade boom with oil rupees
DUBAI: Iran's oil export revenues are helping rice exporters to claw back some of the lucrative business lost to cross-border truckers in Pakistan as a result of Western sanctions.Rice exports direct to Iran have bounced back, thanks to shippers being paid up front in rupees from a huge pool of oil money owed to Iran by refiners."Now business is being done directly because Iran is allowed to open letters of credit in Indian rupees because the government has to pay money to Iran for the oil," said Suresh Manchanda, marketing director of a Delhi-based company which exports rice, wheat and sugar globally."For the importers back in Iran, Indian rupees are easily available to them via the government, so they can do business in a much easier way than doing business in any other currency," Manchanda told Reuters at the Gulf Food trade show in Dubai."For all practical purposes the money never leaves anywhere, the money is already in India."India is Tehran's biggest rice supplier but shipments were held up in early 2012 after Iranian buyers defaulted on payments. Many suppliers then stopped sales on credit.
Tightened sanctions on shipping and bank transfers between Iran and India started a boom in Pakistani rice trucked across the remote border into Iran by groups based in Quetta, grains traders from Pakistan and India said at the world's biggest food show last week.Before Western sanctions aimed at stopping Tehran's disputed nuclear programme began to bite, official data show rice sales to the Islamic Republic were surging.They more than doubled in the financial year of 2009-2010 and also rose in value by nearly 35 per cent to over $600 million from April 2011 to the end of March 2012, but this was a period when India's overall rice export earnings almost doubled in value globally.Dubai's role in the India-Iran rice trade has withered since oil pool payments started.From April 2011 to the end of March 2012, $821 million of rice was shipped to the United Arab Emirates, more than anywhere else. But in just nine months from April to December last year Iran imported over $725 million of rice, up 20 per cent on the previous 12 months, while exports to the UAE slumped to $287 million, official figures show.There is effectively no limit to how much rice exports to Iran can be funded by the oil money pool, because even when oil imports from Iran fell more than 40 per cent from January 2012 to 2013, their value was still nearly $1 billion in one month."The new payment mechanism has been helping rice exporters. Competitors in Pakistan don't have any such facility," M P Jindal, president of the All India Rice Millers Association said.
Agnimitra
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

Persian pu$$y meows at the Shi'a genocide in neighboring Pakistan. They blame "enemies of Islam", of which they are prepared to name only two - UK and US. What do they intend to do? - the mullas and student mullas at Qom took a day off in "protest". But the rest of the establishment is desperate to do business with Pakistan.

Enemies of Islam behind Pakistan Shia killings: Iran MPs
A total of 234 members of Iran Majlis (parliament), in a statement released on Sunday, censured the targeted killing of Pakistani Shias.

“The repeated brutal slaying of innocent Pakistani Shias is undoubtedly a plot hatched by the enemies of Islam -- particularly the US, Britain and their regional accomplices -- and undertaken by pseudo-Muslim Takfiri mercenaries,” the statement read.

“Muslim public opinion, especially [that of] the Iranian nation, naturally expects the Pakistani government, parliament and intelligence agencies to counter such anti-human plots targeting Pakistan’s national security.”

The statement added that the silence of international organizations and the states claiming to advocate human rights shows that rights issues have become a political tool in the hands of major powers, such as the US.

On Saturday, Iranian clerics and seminary students strongly condemned the silence of the international community on the massacre of Shia Muslims in terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

All seminaries in Tehran and Qom were closed for one day in protest, with teachers and students taking to the streets to show their outrage.
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by arun »

Carl wrote:Persian pu$$y meows at the Shi'a genocide in neighboring Pakistan. They blame "enemies of Islam", of which they are prepared to name only two - UK and US. What do they intend to do? - the mullas and student mullas at Qom took a day off in "protest". But the rest of the establishment is desperate to do business with Pakistan.

Enemies of Islam behind Pakistan Shia killings: Iran MPs ..........{Snipped}.........
The Persian Pu$$y has certainly been reduced to meowing at the Shia genocide in neighbour and fellow Islamic Republic, Pakistan. It would appear that even in a Shia Mohammadden Cleric run country like Iran, religion inspired sectarian solidarity can be sold down the river for the right price :roll: .

Meanwhile X Posting my post dealing with Iranian hypocrisy from the "Oppression of Minorities in Pakistan" thread:
arun wrote: Iran clerics slam world silence on Shia genocide in Pakistan

The Mohammadden clerics in Iran will sound significantly less Taqiyyaish /Kitmanish if rather than castigating the world at large for silence on the Green on Green Intra-Mohammadden religion inspired violence in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan targeting Shia’s, they castigated their own Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for collaborating with Government of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan by agreeing to supply gas to Pakistan (Minister: Iran, Pakistan to Complete Gas Pipeline Project as Scheduled) besides setting up a refinery in Gwadar in Pakistan (Iran to set up $4bn oil refinery in Gwadar).
RajeshA
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by RajeshA »

Carl wrote:Persian pu$$y meows at ...
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Image

Image

Here you have two cuddly Persian Pu$$ies smooching! Can these Pu$$ies be expected to save the Shi'as from being slaughtered in Pakistan or elsewhere! Aack-thooo!
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Amber G. »

Powerful (7.8 ) Earthquake near pak-iran border... (Looks like they are having quite a few earthquakes and aftershocks..)

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... x7#summary
Event Time

2013-04-16 10:44:20 UTC
2013-04-16 15:14:20 UTC+04:30 at epicenter
2013-04-16 06:44:20 UTC-04:00 system time
Location

28.107°N 62.053°E depth=82.0km (51.0mi)

Nearby Cities

83km (52mi) E of Khash, Iran
168km (104mi) NE of Iranshahr, Iran
192km (119mi) SE of Zahedan, Iran
232km (144mi) SSW of Rudbar, Afghanistan
606km (377mi) NE of Muscat, Oman
Agnimitra
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by Agnimitra »

X-posting from Islamism & Islamophobia thread:
Iran's PressTV actually appears pleased with Paki Islamism, even though it entails Shi'a genocide.

Most Pakistanis favor Islam over Western democracy: Poll
RajeshA
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Re: Iran News and Discussions

Post by RajeshA »

Published on Apr 23, 2013
By ET Bureau
India may propose preferential trade deal with Iran: Economic Times
NEW DELHI: India is likely to propose a preferential tariff arrangement to Iran to boost the bilateral trade between the two countries, hoping higher exports will help it pay for crude oil imported through the rupee payment mechanism set up last year.

The US led sanctions on Iran have made it difficult for India to make payment for crude oil India purchases from Iran resulting in a drop in share of Iranian crude to about 7% from 11% in 2011-12.

A delegation led by commerce secretary SR Rao arrived in Tehran on Monday to pitch for a trade agreement and also sort out the issues relating to the payments mechanism.

"The import duty on Indian imports into Iran makes purchases from India less favourable among Iranian importers, therefore Indian wants Iran to sweeten the deal for purchases from India," a person familiar with developments told ET.

New Delhi will pitch this as a win-win deal that will allow India to import more crude from Iran. Under the rupee arrangement, India makes part payment for crude it buys from Iran into a rupee account maintained with UCO Bank.

Iran uses this account to import goods from India, reducing the need for routing dollar payments through third country. However, because of limited imports from Iran of Indian goods, the mechanism has not worked as expected.

"Since Pakistan has a preferential trade arrangement with Iran, Iranian importers prefer to buy rice from there instead of the Indian basmati rice," the person said.
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