Iran Thread

[Correction]

I'd be very surprised if they end up killing him, since there tends to be behind closed doors maneuvering to get the charges lowered to the point where 'bail' is set at some millions of dollars and he get exile instead of death.

[Psion]

Honestly, why would they kill the spy anyways? If you know who a spy is, you can just feed them the information you WANT that spy to know. Now they're gonna have to deal with the new spy, trying to figure out who he is, etc.

[Andalusian girls]

to prove a point / Iran has a history of accusing civilians of espionage to use them as political bargaining chips / the Clerical establishment has never been known for their subtlety

[Lucavi]

Honestly, why would they kill the spy anyways? If you know who a spy is, you can just feed them the information you WANT that spy to know. Now they're gonna have to deal with the new spy, trying to figure out who he is, etc.

Hairbrained attempt to rile up the US?

[Cail]

Long article about more enrichment stuff

http://news.yahoo.com/un-agency-conf...200449341.html

[Kiehl]

Heard on CBS news on the way to work today that Iran's currency has already inflated 20% from our sanctions. Will there be a point that they just give up on nuclear anything to get the sanctions taken back?

[Cail]

Iran is jamming broadcasts by Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera, satellite operator Arabsat said in a statement received on Tuesday.

"Al-Jazeera is affected... from two different locations in Iran," near Tehran and near the northwestern city of Maragheh, it said, adding that the cause was located at the request of the pan-Arab news channel.

The satellite television on Sunday announced a new frequency for Arabsat viewers due to "continued interference."

"Over the past few months, Al-Jazeera has faced sustained interference to our satellite transmissions," it said in a statement.

"These occurrences will only strengthen our commitment to continue providing our award-winning coverage across the region 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said the broadcaster.

The influential channel has been criticised by many Arab governments for its coverage of the anti-regime uprisings which have swept the region since the start of 2011.

Officials in Iran's regional ally Syria, have repeatedly slammed Al-Jazeera's coverage of the deadly revolt in the country, which has largely remained sealed off from the foreign media.

The Qatari channel has relied for its coverage on footage of protests posted on the Internet from Syrian activists' mobile phones and webcams.

Egypt's Nilesat satellite operator suspended carrying Al-Jazeera on January 30, 2011 for its coverage of demonstrations before the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.

Last February, Al-Jazeera accused Libya's intelligence services of jamming its broadcasts in the country where a NATO-backed uprising ended the rule of dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

.

[Cail]

another sea rescue:

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/LKL...-ZZ999-004.jpg
American sailors have come to the rescue of distressed Iranian mariners for the second time in less than a week, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The United States Coast Guard cutter Monomoy "picked up six Iranian mariners after their vessel broke down" in the Persian Gulf Tuesday, the BBC reported.

At about 3 a.m. local time, the Coast Guard vessel "was hailed by flares and flashlights from the Iranian cargo dhow, Ya-Hussayn," the U.S. Navy Central Command/Fifth Fleet public affairs report said. The Iranian mariners asked for assistance from the Monomoy because the cargo dhow's engine room was flooding.

"Monomoy immediately launched their small boat and approached the Ya-Hussayn," the Pentagon report said. "Two persons were rescued from the vessel, and four from a life raft tied off to the dhow's stern."

The six Iranian mariners were taken aboard the Coast Guard ship and given water, blankets and halal meals, the Pentagon said. One Iranian mariner received medical treatment for minor burns. The Coast Guard then turned the six mariners over to an Iranian Coast Guard vessel at approximately 4:30 p.m. local time, the Pentagon said.

The Captain of the Iranian Coast Guard vessel, the Naji 7, speaking through a translator, thanked the Monomoy captain and crew "for assisting and taking care of the Iranian sailors," the Pentagon said.

The latest American rescue comes just five days after a U.S. Navy ship belonging to U.S.S. John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group freed 13 Iranian fishermen from Somali pirates in the Arabian sea. The American sailors gave clothes, food and water to the freed Iranian fishermen, who had been held hostage by their Somali captors for six weeks.

"It is like you were sent by God," one of the freed Iranian fisherman, Fazel ur Rehman, told the American sailors, the New York Times' C.J. Chivers reported.

Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday praised that Navy rescue effort, calling it "a humanitarian gesture."

Even Russia is concerned about Iran:

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia expressed regret and concern Tuesday about Iran's launch of an underground uranium enrichment facility, but urged all parties involved in the nuclear standoff with Tehran to avoid hasty moves.

The Russian Foreign Ministry's statement mixed cautious criticism of Iran, an important trading partner, with a call for more talks — a fine line Moscow has walked in the past.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the launch of the facility near Iran's holy city of Qom demonstrated that Tehran was continuing to ignore international concerns about its nuclear program. It added, however, that Iran had notified the International Atomic Energy Agency in due time of the launch of the bunker facility.

"We hope that Tehran will listen to our opinion about the need for a further close cooperation with the agency and a quick start of serious six-way talks on the Iranian nuclear program without any preconditions," it said.

The ministry said Russia was urging all parties involved in the Iranian nuclear standoff to avoid "ill-considered and abrupt moves," which could undermine prospects for talks with Iran, an important trading partner.

"We confirm that all problems linked with the Iranian nuclear program must be solved exclusively through talks and dialogue based on mutual respect, gradual movement and reciprocity," it said, adding that Russia is ready to help the negotiations.

Russia had treaded a similar path over recent years, alternating criticism of Iran's intransigence with praise for some of its moves and readiness to continue the dialogue. Iran has insisted that its uranium enrichment program is aimed at civilian power generation and research, but Western nations suspect it of serving as a cover for a nuclear weapons bid.

Moscow backed some of the previous U.N. sanctions against Iran, but in recent months has firmly rejected imposing any new sanctions and called for dialogue.

Russia built Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern port of Bushehr, which began producing electricity in September. Russia's nuclear chief said last November that Iran would like more Russian-built reactors.

Britain's Middle East minister Alistair Burt on Tuesday called on nations opposed to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons to increase pressure against Tehran.

"A few weeks ago the British government imposed tough new financial restrictions against Iran. These new sanctions make it illegal for any financial institution in the U.K. to have any dealings with any institution in Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran," Burt said, in a speech to the Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel.

"They are the toughest of their kind. And we will build on them, getting others to follow suit. We are working with the EU on sanctions against Iranian oil," he said.

Italy's foreign minister on Tuesday said his country would support a gradually imposed embargo on Iranian oil.

Guilio Terzi di Sant'Agata met with his French counterpart, Alain Juppe, in Paris. Afterward, Terzi said his government favors an embargo imposed gradually, "over several months."

President Barack Obama approved new sanctions against Iran a week ago, targeting the central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad. The U.S. has delayed implementing the sanctions for at least six months, worried about sending the price of oil higher at a time when the global economy is struggling.

Iran has responded to the Western pressure with threats and military posturing. A senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard force was recently quoted as saying Tehran's leadership has decided to order the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic oil route, if the country's petroleum exports are blocked.

[Kuya]

Are they doing this on purpose? (the rescuing iranians thing)

[Correction]

Are they doing this on purpose? (the rescuing iranians thing)

Maybe they're just fucking terrible at this naval blockade business :D

[Kuya]

Iran started the blockade?

[Mazmaz]

And suddenly all Iranian sailors turned into retards at the most convenient timing ever.

Iran started the blockade?

no

[archibaldcrane]

Iran started the blockade?

Their version of "blockade the entire US Navy" means "distract all their ships with our not-seaworthy vessels".

[Kuya]

Sometimes, good foreign policy gets served to you on a silver platter.

[Kuya]

Another iranian nuclear scientist killed:

A nuclear scientist who supervised a department at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility has been killed by a magnetic bomb placed on his car by two assailants in northern Tehran, Iranian media reported.

The attack strongly resembles earlier killings of scientists working on the country's controversial nuclear programme.

The bomb explosion killed Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz facility in central Iran, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Roshan, 32, was inside the Iranian-assembled Peugeot 405 car together with two others when the bomb expoded near Gol Nabi Street, Fars reported.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...848691713.html

[Kerberoz]

Fuckin' magnets.

[Ragnus]

Well, there is a reason why there is a job available to check the undersides of cars for bombs for people in restaurants in that area of the world.

Pretty sure if I was in a position of power in that place all of my pre-drive checks would include checking for extra cargo I didn't bring with me.

[Mazmaz]

No doubt he was killed by Iran's government so they can use him as martyr "SEE! AMERICA AND ISRAEL ARE ATTACKING US! YOU SHOULDN'T BE OPPOSING US AS THE GOVERNMENT!"

[Kuya]

That sounds like the argument that the USG did 9/11. Sounds like a lot of wasted resources for barely tangible gains.

[Mazmaz]

Yea except that shit actually does go down in Iran.