Iran

[monster_gardener]

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Iran Will Become a 'Christian Country,' Says Evangelical Pastor

http://www.christianpost.com/news/iran- ... W0SsRTz.99

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An Iranian evangelical pastor has stated that eventually the Islamic Republic of Iran will become a "Christian country," even amid increased state-sponsored persecution.

Dr. Hormoz Shariat, founder of Iran Alive Ministries, told Family Research Council President Tony Perkins these things at an event sponsored by the FRC on Wednesday. "Iran will be a Christian country, and that's not up to me. It's Jeremiah 49:38 [that] promises that. We are moving in that direction fast," said Shariat.

"There is a spiritual vacuum in Iran and people are hungry spiritually. That's when we share the Gospel, share the Word of God through television people sit there for hours, take notes."

Shariat, who has a Christian broadcast that airs in Iran and has been dubbed "The Billy Graham of Iran," saw significant growth of Christianity in the nation.

"Iran is so open to the Gospel. So many people are come to Christ through our ministry in the US and in Europe, but especially in Iran," said Shariat. "As we share the Gospel through television, people come to Christ. And not just 'easy' believers, they have become dedicated followers of Jesus Christ."

Shariat's statements on the growth of Christianity in Iran correspond with a report by Open Doors USA, a persecution watchdog group. Open Doors reported in March that there was "explosive" growth of Christianity in the Islamic Republic, even while the regime of Iran is ranked by Open Doors as one of the worst persecutors of Christians.

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Religion , in reality, is, a, STATE OF MIND

Hindu or Buddhist or Christian or Jew or Muslim .. each of them, has their own peculiar state of mind .. they look at things differently, they look at life differently, their value, ethics, moral and and and differ

In that sense, anybody arguing, people with RUMI mindset would suddenly follow Erasmus von Rotterdam does not know the Iranians and their culture

in short, Dr. Hormoz Shariat does not know what he talking


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Thank you Very Much for your post, Azari.

How Much Room is there in the Mind of an Ayatollah like Khomeini etc. for Rumi ?..........

Or are their thoughts basically the same ......

If not who holds the upper hand in Iran .....

Read Khomeini Green Book ........

Was not very impressed .......

Lot's of funky ritual purity crap......

Plus he seemed absolutely obsessed with tax collection .......

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Thank you for that question, to answer, I must go back a bit in history

What was the dispute between Pomegranates and Hellen ? ?

How could Cyrus proclaiming "universal human right", explicitly proclaiming in his emporium there will be no slaves, and at the same time coexist with Athenian civilization based on slavery (free labor, a competitive advantage) ? ? .. Hellenic democracy meant democracy ONLY for citizens, did not include the slaves, same with Rome

Persian civilization & culture, starting 2600 years ago, adapted "Universal Human Right" and fought for it

"Universal Human Right" incorporates JUSTICE .. so said Cyrus .. hens, Rule by Justice

Cyrus, throughout 2600 yrs of Persian history, is in flesh and bone of Persian culture, transferred from one generation to next not by preaching, but by acting such

Many atrocities in Persia since Cyrus did not happen by Pomegranates but by new-comers invading Persia from all directions, ruling Persia .. Arab dynasties, Mogul dynasties, all sorts of Turkish-Tribe dynasties and and .. during that period, 800+ yrs, Persian culture and civilization endured many hardship, withstood Arabisation, Turkization, Mongolian genocide, but survived, AND, absorbed the invaders trying to make a Mensch out of them

Persian giants, Rumi, Khayam, Saadi, Hafez, Nezami, Atar and and and, helped to a renaissance of Persian culture and civilization .. these Giants of Persian literature and science used Cyrus platform of "universal Human Right" within the new environment, Sunni Islam .. Persian philosophers and literates were the ones who gave Islam (a primitive Arab tribal phenomena) a philosophical depth, Islamic philosopher in reality Persian philosophers

When Ottoman kahlifa (head of islam) threatening Persia, Iran decided to have own "Islam-Ajam" .. hens inventing Iranian Shia 12-Emami.

The heart of Iranians Shia is JUSTICE .. for Iranian-Shia INJUSTICE done to Ali is heart of the corruption of path Islam took since, justly so up to this day


qKYu0SD5Z-w



Iranian-Shia is built around JUSTICE , grass-root

Students go to seminary, study history, logic, theology and and and .. become Mullah .. must EARN goodwill from community to climb higher, must gather followers by being accepted by community as JUST and a MENSCH .. only by acceptance by community would they qualify as MARJA, Marja in reality "Moral beacon of the community", a moral model accepted by community, somebody who people VOLUNTARILY follow and pay their donations to

Iranian Ayatollahs, including Khomeini, following Persian tradition and culture and civilization, speak only from a point of view of Justice and not Allah ordered this or that (like the Arab Sunni do)

In that sense, Monster, all Ayatollahs are Rumi follower .. Rumi was no atheist, all his carrier was attesting his love to G_D, but to the real G_D, to Humanität , hens Rumi poem :

Old man
in darkness of the town
oil lamp in the hand, searching
asked
what he looking for
searching for a MENSCH

When Ayatollahs want something to sink in, they do not recite Moh, but a poem of Rumi


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Thank you Very MUCH for your post, Azari.

Many atrocities in Persia since Cyrus did not happen by Pomegranates

Really....... Including his son Cambyses for example..........

To be fair....... You said many......

And Many leaves room for Many More......

Students go to seminary, study history, logic, theology and and and .. become Mullah .. must EARN goodwill from community to climb higher, must gather followers by being accepted by community as JUST and a MENSCH

Again I have read the Mullah/Ayatollah Khomeini

If Ayatollah Khomeini is a good example of "Just and a Mensch"....

That don't impress me much.........

mqFLXayD6e8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFLXayD6e8

Persian giants, Rumi, Khayam, Saadi, Hafez, Nezami, Atar

Did Khayam when younger...... Liked him....... May do again...... Dangerous to do that though.....

May try Some of the others.... Some looked Somewhat interesting......

Problem may be time....... Here and Elsewhen.........

RE: The Video......... The fact that the Saudi King drinks booze is IMVHO a point in his favor.........

Less seriously It Might be better if he and Most Saudis and indeed Most Muslims were drunk Most of the Time......

And Hung Over otherwise

[Crocus sativus]

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Many atrocities in Persia since Cyrus did not happen by Pomegranates

Really....... Including his son Cambyses for example..........

To be fair....... You said many......

And Many leaves room for Many More......

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Students go to seminary, study history, logic, theology and and and .. become Mullah .. must EARN goodwill from community to climb higher, must gather followers by being accepted by community as JUST and a MENSCH

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Again I have read the Mullah/Ayatollah Khomeini

If Ayatollah Khomeini is a good example of "Just and a Mensch"....

That don't impress me much.........

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that's what happens when you rely on western media or WiKi for knowledge of things

Monster,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khomeini

On 26 October 1964, the day of the Shah's holiday celebrating 2,500 years of continuous monarchy, Khomeini denounced both the Shah and the United States. This time it was in response to the "capitulations" or diplomatic immunity granted by the Shah to American military personnel in Iran. The famous "capitulation" law (or "status-of-forces agreement") would allow members of the U.S. armed forces in Iran to be tried in their own military courts. Khomeini was arrested in November 1964 and held for half a year.

Upon his release, he was brought before Prime Minister Hasan Ali Mansur, who tried to convince Khomeini that he should apologize and drop his opposition to the government.

Khomeini refused.

In fury, Mansur slapped Khomeini's face.

Two weeks later, Mansur was assassinated on his way to parliament. Four members of the Fadayan-e Islam were later executed for the murder.

Khomeini and Khamnei and all present "revolutionary" mad mullahs running Iran are not Ayatollahs (they have not been accepted and appointed as MARJA (Ayatollah)) - they are revolutionary, similar to that Cardinal who was assassinated in Latin America, or Che Guevara (but a smart one) .. very similar to if in South America or Africa the "revolutionary Catholic Priests" would have joined Che or Lumumba

Iranian Shia religion is a Persian Nationalist party disguised into a religion .. meaning Ayatollahs must supervise the politicians and are part of political leadership

FYI :

Khomeini as Mullah agitated against Shah, when arrested, to escape death, he was elevated to Ayatollah status (as Ayatollahs can not be executed) .. later on, Khomeini, only through his political leadership of revolt against the Shah, he earned his Ayatollahship by popular vote .. meaning, he not in par with Ayatollahs in Shia theology, way below it

similar with other present leaders in Iran .. they, sometimes, called in the media Ayatollahs, but they no Ayatollah, they professional revolutionary .. Khamnei is an alumni of Russian Patric Lumumba university

Iranian Ayatollah Sistani in Najaf (Iraq) is a good example of an Ayatollah .. all Shia in Iraq voluntarily accept him as their spiritual leader .. for them, his word as good as Mehdi`s

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RE: The Video......... The fact that the Saudi King drinks booze is IMVHO a point in his favor.........

Less seriously It Might be better if he and Most Saudis and indeed Most Muslims were drunk Most of the Time......

And Hung Over otherwise

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my rudimentary understanding from history of that time is, initially, drinking alcohol was not forbidden in Islam .. but one night when guys were drunk and fighting, Moh said better not to drink .. Omar later might have incorporated that into Koran

but

issue not drinking in Islam

issue is, when guardian of Islam, the Wahhabi King of Islam is an Alcoholic, how can he behead others drinking a Vodka-Tonic .. the hypocrisy is the issue .. most wife and daughter of these Sheiks genuflect with their drivers and bodyguards in London and Monte Carlo and Paris and New York , but @ home they are not allowed to leave home without their brother

mad mullahs love drinking .. highest alcohol consumption in Iran is in Ghom and Mashad , the 2 holly cities


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[Nonc Hilaire]

Curious, Azari. Why do you not include Kahlil Gibran in your litanies?

[Crocus sativus]

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Curious, Azari. Why do you not include Kahlil Gibran in your litanies ?

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Kahlil Gibran ?

Many of Gibran's writings deal with Christianity, especially on the topic of spiritual love. But his mysticism is a convergence of several different influences: Christianity, Islam, Sufism, Hinduism and theosophy. He wrote: "You are my brother and I love you. I love you when you prostrate yourself in your mosque, and kneel in your church and pray in your synagogue. You and I are sons of one faith—the Spirit."

[..]

He was influenced not only by his own religion but also by Islam, and especially by the mysticism of the Sufis .. He is admired by a vast audience among Christians and Muslims.

sofar so good

but

One of Gibran's acquaintances later in life, Juliet Thompson, reported several anecdotes relating to Gibran. She recalled Gibran had met `Abdu'l-Bahá, the leader of the Bahá’í Faith at the time of his visit to the United States, circa 1911[10]–1912. Barbara Young records Gibran was unable to sleep the night before meeting `Abdu'l-Bahá who sat for a pair of portraits. Thompson reported Gibran saying that all the way through writing Jesus, the Son of Man, he thought of `Abdu'l-Bahá. Years later, after the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá, at a viewing of a movie recording of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Gibran rose to talk and proclaimed in tears an exalted station of `Abdu'l-Bahá and left the event weeping. A noted scholar on Gibran is Suheil Bushrui from Gibran's native Lebanon, also a Bahá'í, published more than one volume about him and serves as the Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace at the University of Maryland and winner of the Juliet Hollister Awards from the Temple of Understanding.

.. No comment


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[Nonc Hilaire]

So Gibran was Baha'i and not a Sufi?

[Crocus sativus]

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So Gibran was Baha'i and not a Sufi ?
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Not expert on Gibran

but, seems Gibran must have been a follower of Rumi school : "You are my brother and I love you. I love you when you prostrate yourself in your mosque, and kneel in your church and pray in your synagogue. You and I are sons of one faith—the Spirit."

in a sense, that is what Rumi sayin :

Nb6nW1BV_H8


At his time, Bahaism was a new phenomena, he might have misjudged the whole thing, but not expert on Gibran knowing what he thought and his views of Bahaism .. Bahai lean a lot on Rumi (his school), that could have influenced Gibran


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[Crocus sativus]

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Iran selling Gas for Gold

Iran is trading gas for Turkish gold, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister has revealed, confirming recent discussions about an increase in the Turkey-Iran gold trade.

The Journal of Turkish Weekly reported today that Turkey is paying for gas purchases from Iran in Turkish lira, and the Islamic Republic is buying Turkish gold with that money and transferring it to Iran.

[..]

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan told parliament on November 22: “As Iran could not transfer the payment to [its own banks] in foreign exchange, the country buys gold with the lira and then takes the gold to its country. I do not know how Iran transports the gold, but this is the root of the matter. The gold export to Iran in reality becomes a kind of payment for the natural gas we buy from Iran in deed.”

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that in the first nine months of the current year, Turkey sold $6.4 billion in gold to Iran.

Iran supplies 18 percent of Turkey’s gas and 51 percent of its oil needs.

Oil and Gas should be traded in Gold .. U$ just paper, same with Euro, any moment their respective governments could make it worthless just by a decree, not so Gold



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[Crocus sativus]

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WSJ

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Fixing the budget happens to be essential for America's strength abroad as well as at home. "The first year still needs to be largely concerned with the budget," says Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who is finishing a book on how America's foreign policy should start by solidifying the home front. "Putting this country on a sustainable trajectory economically is a bigger priority than Iran or Syria or anything else."

Overseas, the Obama priorities are ending the war in Afghanistan and pivoting American policy more toward Asia, the region that represents the economic and security challenges of the future.

But Iran has the ability to disrupt much of that. Every president since Jimmy Carter has found that Tehran's mad mullahs have the ability to disrupt best-laid plans and frustrate the desire to break away from the morass of the Middle East.

Indeed, it's telling that Mr. Obama had to interrupt his postelection trip to Asia to deal with the mess in Gaza. There could be no more apt metaphor for how hard it will be to execute a pivot toward Asia when Iran and the Islamists it inspires have the ability to create crises elsewhere.

Moreover, Iran's leaders have every reason to keep the Palestinian pot stirring, which will compel Mr. Obama to invest time and energy trying to get something going on the moribund Palestinian-Israeli diplomatic front. Iranians also will continue to do whatever is necessary to preserve their lone Arab ally, Syria's bloodstained Bashar al-Assad, pushing Mr. Obama closer to a decision on whether to recognize and help arm the Syrian opposition.

Broadly speaking, Iran benefits from a boiling pot; indeed, it recruits its allies from amid the turmoil it creates. "There's a symbiotic relationship between Arab popular anger and misery and Iranian influence in the Middle East," says Mr. Sadjadpour. "The former fuels the latter, the latter fuels the former."

Nor do America's moves toward greater energy independence and away from dependence on Middle East oil give Mr. Obama the luxury of washing his hands of such problems.

Regardless of America's own direct need for Middle Eastern oil, the world still looks to the U.S. as the military power best able to ensure the stable and steady flow of that oil to the world economy.

As Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes, the only alternative to the U.S. as guarantor of security in the region is China, which isn't a choice anyone in the West should relish.

All of that, of course, comes before even considering the biggest problem of all, which is Iran's nuclear program. President Obama's dreams for a second term will be of other things, but his nightmares may well be about Iran.

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well ,

Hussein (Barak)

Why not pay price Iran asking

NO, Rhubarb not the price,

Iran does not care about Israel, Israel not within what Iran talking, Israel just to bug west to pay the price

Come on, Hussein (Barak), come on .. send Colin (Powell) cake in hand to leader (Khamnei) to get rid of all your headache with one handshake .. it ain't gettin any cheaper

As Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes, the only alternative to the U.S. as guarantor of security in the region is China, which isn't a choice anyone in the West should relish.

Iran will be the guarantor of security in the region and nobody else


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[Crocus sativus]

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A war with Iran, according to the study, could cost up to $1.8 trillion in the first three months, while new sanctions that Congress is considering passing before year's end would set the economy back $64 billion.
At the same time, the study finds that a deal that ratcheted down sanctions and military tensions would benefit the global economy by adding $60 billion.

The study, which aggregated the estimates of eight experts in the field, examined six different scenarios and limited their estimates to the first three months after the scenario began. The scenarios were: an escalation of sanctions ($64 billion), further isolation and a blockade of the Persian Gulf ($325 billion), surgical strikes ($713 billion), a comprehensive bombing campaign ($1.2 trillion), and a full-scale ground invasion ($1.7 trillion). The last scenario assesses the economic benefits of the de-escalation of sanctions and the pulling back of military assets in the Persian Gulf, which the study said would provide gains of $60 billion for the global economy.

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The results raise two significant points. The first is the sheer size of even the median costs of actions currently being considered in Congress. Again, increasing sanctions would cost $63 billion, and a comprehensive bombing campaign would total over $1 trillion. And these numbers are for the first three months of the actions. The second point is that the vast majority of these costs were due to financial shock and increases in the price of oil, not direct military and damage costs.

The costs created by uncertainty in the financial markets are especially worrying. This variable had the widest range in estimated costs, but that range comes with a caveat from James Bartis, an analyst at the RAND Corporation and one of the experts that contributed to the study. During the study, he said, “those in the room who were most familiar with financial markets were pushing towards the higher levels.”

The data also shows that military escalation causes large surges in estimated costs. Oil prices, for instance “increase significantly with the onset of kinetic action in the ‘surgical strikes’ scenario from the estimated effect in the event of a Persian Gulf blockade.”

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[Ibrahim]

So Gibran was Baha'i and not a Sufi?

Gibran was raised and educated as a Maronite Christian, was not a Muslim of any kind, though he was influenced by Sufi poetry. I've heard that he met the Baha'i founder, and the Baha'i organization has tried to claim him as a member, but I don't know if he ever committed himself to that religion either. These seem to be influences, nothing more.

Not sure why he's being discussed in this thread, he was emphatically Lebanese, or should I say Lebanese-American.

[monster_gardener]

So Gibran was Baha'i and not a Sufi?

Gibran was raised and educated as a Maronite Christian, was not a Muslim of any kind, though he was influenced by Sufi poetry. I've heard that he met the Baha'i founder, and the Baha'i organization has tried to claim him as a member, but I don't know if he ever committed himself to that religion either. These seem to be influences, nothing more.

Not sure why he's being discussed in this thread, he was emphatically Lebanese, or should I say Lebanese-American.

Thank you Very Much for your post, Ibrahim.

Not sure why he's being discussed in this thread, he was emphatically Lebanese, or should I say Lebanese-American.

Because Gibran & Possibly similar Poets are being discussed in Posts that you can't see.......

Just like you can't see this one........

By your own choice........

Wonder if Ghosts play Games like this with us......

[Crocus sativus]

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"If Israel's intention of provoking this war was to use it as a prelude for an attack on Iran, then it was a complete failure mainly because the war ended in a victory for Hamas, Iran, and [the Lebanese] Hezbollah, a triumvirate of power that poses a formidable challenge to any war scenario against Iran," said a Tehran University political science professor who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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"At a minimum, the Gaza war's windfall for Iran has been a wider opening of the diplomatic window, which should translate into a greater flexibility and mood for compromise by the Western governments," said the Tehran professor.

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Another important development affecting the talks' environment in Iran's favor has been the US's decision to force the postponement of the much-anticipated conference in Finland on a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.

The US's decision, widely perceived as a concession to Israel, the main proliferator in the region, has been strongly condemned by Iran and a number of Arab countries, who have pointed at the US's double standard of selective counter-proliferation exonerating Israel. Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, has lambasted the US over this matter, and Iran and Russia have now joined hands in pushing for an early date next year for such a conference.

BTW , nice to watch


D61uriEGsIM


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[Azrael]

Here's another nuclear hoax, this time targeting Iran. It has so many errors that it should be an obvious hoax to just about anyone, but the Yellowcake Document hoax should have been, too. I hope Americans learned from the Iraq War to no longer be so lazy and cowardly that they accept whatever is spoon fed to them by Likudnik scum, but I'm not hopeful.

[Crocus sativus]

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Here's another nuclear hoax, this time targeting Iran. It has so many errors that it should be an obvious hoax to just about anyone, but the Yellowcake Document hoax should have been, too. I hope Americans learned from the Iraq War to no longer be so lazy and cowardly that they accept whatever is spoon fed to them by Likudnik scum, but I'm not hopeful.


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"level of scientific sophistication" to draw the diagram "corresponds to that typically found in graduate or advanced undergraduate-level nuclear physics courses."



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[Ibrahim]

Here's another nuclear hoax, this time targeting Iran. It has so many errors that it should be an obvious hoax to just about anyone, but the Yellowcake Document hoax should have been, too. I hope Americans learned from the Iraq War to no longer be so lazy and cowardly that they accept whatever is spoon fed to them by Likudnik scum, but I'm not hopeful.

The idea that the US and/or Israel know exactly what levels of enrichment and exactly how close to "bomb making" capability the Iranians are is somewhat comical to me. I'd almost prefer a good hoax attempt to the ongoing game of Yahu saying what somebody at the Mossad maybe said to him, or not. Then the US chimes in with a satellite photo of a mountain with "we think there could be some bomb stuff in there" as the caption. It all smacks of 2003 and the anthrax lab truck fleet.

[Doc]

Here's another nuclear hoax, this time targeting Iran. It has so many errors that it should be an obvious hoax to just about anyone, but the Yellowcake Document hoax should have been, too. I hope Americans learned from the Iraq War to no longer be so lazy and cowardly that they accept whatever is spoon fed to them by Likudnik scum, but I'm not hopeful.

The idea that the US and/or Israel know exactly what levels of enrichment and exactly how close to "bomb making" capability the Iranians are is somewhat comical to me. I'd almost prefer a good hoax attempt to the ongoing game of Yahu saying what somebody at the Mossad maybe said to him, or not. Then the US chimes in with a satellite photo of a mountain with "we think there could be some bomb stuff in there" as the caption. It all smacks of 2003 and the anthrax lab truck fleet.

Yeah I guess they should ask whoever it was that made Stuxnet.

[Ibrahim]

Here's another nuclear hoax, this time targeting Iran. It has so many errors that it should be an obvious hoax to just about anyone, but the Yellowcake Document hoax should have been, too. I hope Americans learned from the Iraq War to no longer be so lazy and cowardly that they accept whatever is spoon fed to them by Likudnik scum, but I'm not hopeful.

The idea that the US and/or Israel know exactly what levels of enrichment and exactly how close to "bomb making" capability the Iranians are is somewhat comical to me. I'd almost prefer a good hoax attempt to the ongoing game of Yahu saying what somebody at the Mossad maybe said to him, or not. Then the US chimes in with a satellite photo of a mountain with "we think there could be some bomb stuff in there" as the caption. It all smacks of 2003 and the anthrax lab truck fleet.

Yeah I guess they should ask whoever it was that made Stuxnet.

I submit that it is easier to break things than learn things.

[Crocus sativus]

Here's another nuclear hoax, this time targeting Iran. It has so many errors that it should be an obvious hoax to just about anyone, but the Yellowcake Document hoax should have been, too. I hope Americans learned from the Iraq War to no longer be so lazy and cowardly that they accept whatever is spoon fed to them by Likudnik scum, but I'm not hopeful.

The idea that the US and/or Israel know exactly what levels of enrichment and exactly how close to "bomb making" capability the Iranians are is somewhat comical to me. I'd almost prefer a good hoax attempt to the ongoing game of Yahu saying what somebody at the Mossad maybe said to him, or not. Then the US chimes in with a satellite photo of a mountain with "we think there could be some bomb stuff in there" as the caption. It all smacks of 2003 and the anthrax lab truck fleet.

Yeah I guess they should ask whoever it was that made Stuxnet.

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.. read while ago, CIA interviewing truck drivers crossing from Iran into Afghanistan to know what is going on in Iran

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[Hoosiernorm]

Intersting if true

[Endovelico]

Iranian TV shows off 'captured US ScanEagle drone'

Iranian state television has showed images of what it says is an unmanned US drone captured in its airspace.

The Revolutionary Guards said they had brought down a ScanEagle - one of the smaller, less sophisticated drones employed by the Americans.

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi told the Fars news agency that the drone had conducted several reconnaissance flights over the Gulf in recent days.

But the US Navy said none of its drones was missing in the Middle East.

Other nations in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, also operate ScanEagles - low-cost, long-endurance aircraft with a 10ft (3m) wingspan, Associated Press says.

Rear Adm Fadavi said that "such drones are usually launched from large warships".

Fars said the drone was captured "in the last few days" without giving further details.

A spokesman for US Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain said: "The US Navy has fully accounted for all unmanned air vehicles operating in the Middle East region.

A year ago, Iranian TV broadcast pictures of an American RQ-170 Sentinel drone

"Our operations in the Gulf are confined to internationally recognised water and air space.

"We have no record that we have lost any ScanEagles recently."

Last month, the US said Iranian warplanes had shot at a US surveillance drone flying in international airspace. Iran said the aircraft had entered its airspace.

November also saw Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaee, write to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to complain about what he said were repeated US violations of Iranian airspace near the Bushehr power station, describing them as "illegal and provocative acts".

A year ago, Iranian TV broadcast pictures of an American RQ-170 Sentinel surveillance drone that Iran said had been brought down using electronic warfare. The US said it had malfunctioned.

Iran rejected a US call for the return of the drone. It subsequently claimed to have developed its own unmanned drone.

Washington and Tehran are engaged in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme.

The Revolutionary Guards are an elite unit of the Iranian military which operate their own naval forces.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20591336

X_vEWpfsc7U

What surprises will Iran have in store for the US if ever there is a confrontation?...

[Crocus sativus]

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Iran and Pakistan moving closer


Pakistani Shashmir docked Thursday carrying nuclear arms ready to meet with two Iranian warships for joint naval drills on the Red Sea


Chairman of the Pakistani parliament's Defense Commission Mushahed Hussain lashed out at the western countries' double-standard policies against Iran's peaceful nuclear program, and underlined Islamabad's full support for Tehran


Pakistan in negotiation to exchange a squadron of nuclear capable F-16 with Iranian Pistachio (and Gas)



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[Crocus sativus]

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CSM


Inside the mind of Iran's Khamenei

Deep inside an old Tehran political prison, three turns off a dark corridor and through a small gap, lies a bleak cell for solitary confinement. Too narrow for a prisoner to extend his arms, it was once the cell of the man who today holds the official title in Iran, "God's deputy on earth."

Khamenei, whose black turban denotes a direct line of descent from Islam's prophet Muhammad, remains an enigma. A bookish revolutionary cleric with a passion for poetry, who years ago wore his clerical collar in the style of the "chic sheikhs," he was once considered a liberal, and on one occasion in the late 1980s even challenged the absolute power of the post he now holds.

interesting article


but, it`s not him


Is it Iran's leader -- or Iran ?

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is known as "God's deputy on earth." He is Iran's ultimate powerbroker. Understanding what makes him tick is crucial to understanding Iran. But it isn't enough. You also have to understand Iran.

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[Crocus sativus]

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Mohammad Jafari

Iranian National Security Council


It's clear that over the past three decades the Islamic Republic has left no attack without a response. ... You will not find a single instance in which a country has inflicted harm on us and we have left it without a response. So if the United States makes such a mistake, they should know that we will definitely respond. And we don't make idle threats. Our past has demonstrated this. Just as we made Saddam Hussein forever sorry he attacked Iran, anyone else who attacks Iran will be very sorry.


old PBS interview .. but interesting


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[Crocus sativus]

5fnd5uUXDqk

[Azrael]

Iran mourns America's dead



September 18, 2001: Iranian women light candles in Tehran's Mohseni Square in memory of the victims of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC.

Just in case anyone forgot . . .