Britain, Germany and France are now looking to implement sanctions which were negotiated away in Security Council Resolution 1803 to appease Russia and China. I wonder why Russia and China are dragging their feet, even supplying financial, military and technological support to the rogue regime of the Islamist Mullahs. Perhaps it’s the oil? Perhaps it’s a regional power play by Russia, whom without US financial assistance would have gone through even worse shortages of basic essential needs at the time of the fall of the USSR. Now oil rich themselves, and ripe with corruption and with Putin still calling the shots from the sidelines, are rattling their sabers again. If sanctions have any chance of working, both China and Russia had better change their ways. Without an about face by these two nations with horrendous human rights violations of their own, the option of a diplomatic settlement will be impossible.
Why the hell are we not boycotting the Olympics in China? Tibet anyone? Prisons filled with political dissenters?
I strongly favor John McCain’s proposal of a new world body comprised of democracies, and not the corrupt dictatorships of the non-aligned nations and the evil Tiger and Bear regimes. Perhaps the world would have a chance of truly becoming a better place. I mean the African Union can’t even get it together to fully condemn the madman Mugabi, or agree to arrest Bashir in Sudan. The UN has become a joke. Has been since the seventies. Time to wave farewell and begin anew. If I’m going to have my taxes pay for that building on the East River, it better have a health club and tennis courts for me to use.
“Britain, France, Germany and Italy wanted to be robust and go beyond (U.N. Security Council resolution) 1803 and implement what they had to sacrifice to Russia and China to get it through the Security Council,” he said.
The U.N. text calls upon states to “exercise vigilance in entering into new commitments for public provided financial support for trade with Iran”, but the EU regulation will urge member states to exercise “restraint”.
The U.N. resolution also mentions only inspection of cargoes to and from Iran of aircraft and vessels owned or operated by two named Iranian companies, whereas the EU rules will allow checks on all cargoes to and from Iran.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana asked Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili at a meeting on July 19 to give a clear answer within two weeks to the offer of formal negotiations if Tehran freezes uranium enrichment.
The West suspects the enrichment is designed to give Iran a nuclear weapons capability. Tehran insists it is purely to generate electricity for civilian purposes.
While EU diplomats said no formal reply had yet arrived, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed in remarks quoted by state radio on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic would pursue its nuclear path.
On July 29, 2008, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa reported that, according to “highly reliable sources,” Iranian authorities had begun construction of a secret nuclear reactor in the Al-Zarqan region close to the city of Ahwaz in southwest Iran, on the Iran-Iraq border.
The paper said that according to sources, Iran was working to distance its nuclear installations from international oversight. The English version of the report, published in the Kuwaiti Arab Times, said, “Disclosing [that] Tehran directed international A-bomb inspectors to other places, sources warned [that] the project poses a very serious threat to international security.”
IRGC Commander’s Letter to Construction Company: Maintain Complete Secrecy
In its report, Al-Siyassa included a letter dated April 7, 2008 from the office of the assistant of IRGC commander in Al-Ahwaz city Brig. Hassan Jalaliyan, marked “highly confidential,” to Mohammed Kayafir, manager of the Mehab Qudus Company for Construction and Supervision, which is building the reactor. The following is a translation of the letter:
“From the IRGC Commander in the city of Al-Ahwas to the director in charge at the Mehab Qudus company for Construction and Supervision Mr. Mohammed Kayafir
“Re: The nuclear reactor at Al-Zarqan
“Greetings,
“I thank you for the good services of the Mehab Qudus company, and at the same time I must remind you of the following items:
“1. All construction materials must be transported from the warehouses to the construction site in top secrecy.
“2. As part of the doctrine of caution, we reiterate yet again that during the transport of all required materials, you must ensure that this [transport] does not arouse the suspicions of any citizen in the region through which you are moving.
“3. In general, it is absolutely forbidden to hire any Arabic speakers or any citizen from Khozestan in the framework of the ‘Al-Zarqan Nuclear Reactor’ construction project. You must ensure that all manpower, including the driver, the accountant, the warehouse manager, the laborer, the technician, or the guard, comes from the northern provinces.
“In conclusion, we say yet again that all the construction work in this project must be carried out under absolute secrecy.
“From the aide to IRGC commander in the city of Al-Ahwaz, Hassan Jalaliyan.”
Below is an image of the document, as it appeared in the Al-Siyassa report:
The Iranian regime was given two weeks to respond to the latest offer by Western Powers in which a US Representative sat in on for the first time. Immediately following the session, Secretary of State Rice was less than optimistic that the Iranian regime would have any change of heart. With the two weeks coming to an end, what is the response from Khamenei?
Khamenei, quoted by state radio, said: “They (the West) know that the Iranian nation is after using nuclear energy to provide electricity but they say because this work gives you capability, we will not allow it.”
The West accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear warheads under cover of a civilian power program. Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil producer, denies the charge.
“The Iranian nation by depending on its useful experience and advantages of 30 years of resistance does not pay any attention to such talk and will continue with its path,” Khamenei said.
At the same time, British MP David Lidington on Monday held talks with Hojjatoleslam Sobhaninia of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on ways to expand parliamentary relations between Iran and Britain.
The British MP expressed his country’s interest to improve relations with the Islamic Republic. “Iran is a very important regional power and it is very important for us to boost ties with this country,” he added.
Where is the UN on this? I find it ridiculous that the so called Human rights commission of the UN spends the vast majority of it’s time condemning Israel on it supposed human rights violations.
The commission, redesigned in 2006 to combat it’s blatantly anti-Israel platform has only continued it’s pattern of routine attacks on the Israel, while ignoring the heinous and barbaric crimes committed under Sharia law in many Muslim nations, most notably Iran.
In 2006 and 2007 this biased commission has passed 19 resolutions against Israel. Many without even voting. Any discussion or attempt by parties to bring Arab or Iranian abuses to the discussion are usually forbidden under a ruling which forbids the introduction of religion into the debate. Please visit the website unwatch.org
For a list of the Anti Israel resolutions link here
As reported by the BBC on July 20th eight women and one man have been sentenced to death by stoning in Iran. This horrific practice of stoning to death has been reported on before here and if anyone has any doubts of the barbaric nature of this punishment they need only to go to the archive here at this website to see for themselves. How can the world stand by as the Mullah’s continue this awful inhuman punishment.
And once again it is the women of Iran, especially the poor and uneducated who are “sacrificed” to fulfill the blood lust of the Iranian extremists. Eight of the nine are women, I’m not one bit surprised.
Shadi Sadr from the Volunteer Lawyers’ Network, which is representing the women, said: “We are very worried as there are at least eight women and one man with a definitive verdict which can be carried out any moment.
Please help stop this horrific facet of Iranian Sharia Law!
“There are no guarantees that the punishments will be halted or commuted.”
She called on the international community to back their efforts, adding: “We are in close touch with human rights organisations and many of them have supported our campaign.”
Fellow defence lawyer Mariam Kian-Arsi said: “Our specific and clear demand is to have the stoning sentence stopped by Ayatollah Shahroudi since the defendants are liable to be stoned at any moment.”
Women ‘poorly represented’
In theory the penalty of stoning to death applies to both men and women.
But the lawyers say that in practice, many more women than men receive the sentence because they are less well educated and often poorly represented in court.
Human rights group Amnesty International earlier this year called on Iran to abolish “this grotesque punishment” and said many facing execution by stoning were sentenced after unfair trials.
Under Iran’s strict penal code, men convicted of adultery should be buried up to their waists and women up to their chests for stoning. The stones used should not be large enough to kill the person immediately.
With only a little more than 5 months before the Bush administration is to leave office, both the Iranian and Syrian regimes are stalling any plans for an attack by their proxies Hezbollah and Hamas. Their thinking is twofold, one, they know an attack with Bush still in office will most likely bring a ferocious response from the USA and Israel. Second, they need time to install their Russian supplied air defense systems which may be up and operational as soon as early 2009.
The Israeli intelligence assessment has determined that Damascus and Teheran believe that Bush’s successor would either reject or suspend any U.S. plan to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure. The assessment said Iran and its Middle East allies were rooting for the victory of Sen. Barack Obama.
Yadlin said Iran and Syria have not completed their rearmament effort. He said both countries were acquiring advanced Russian platforms and weapons and would need until at least 2009 to absorb them into their militaries.
Over the last year, Iran and Syria have been deploying a range of Russian air defense systems. Officials said they included the S-300 for Iran, the TOR-M1 and the Pantsyr-S1E.
Yadlin said the prisoner exchange with Israel in mid-July could encourage Hamas and Hizbullah to stage a provocation. He said Hizbullah could again try to abduct Israeli soldiers along the Lebanese border.
“We have intelligence indicating terror activities are possible both on the northern and southern fronts,” Yadlin told the Cabinet. “Hizbullah may choose to use one of their still disputed subjects, such as the Shebaa Plateau or [Hizbullah operational chief] Imad Mugniyeh’s assassination.”
For me, this only makes it even more imperative that Ahmadinejad and the Mullah’s be removed before the chance of an Obama victory. It may be the only thing I’ll ever agree on with the Iranian Theocracy, but I too believe that Obama will follow a path to appeasement. This would lead to a nuclear armed Iran and at that point the chances of regime change will diminish drastically.
An Obama victory could very well bring on the Nuclear Armageddon the Iranian Mullah’s and Ahmadinejad crave. If you have any doubts about the ideology of this crazed Theocracy than you must read this article by Matthias Kuentzel.
Polygamy already exists under Iranian Sharia Law. Now it may become much easier. As I watched British and American Feminists walk arm in arm with Iranian backed Hezbollah during the 2006 war against Israel, I wondered if they knew or just didn’t care they were supporting an organization which hopes to push the advances made by women back to the 7th Century. After all of the brave sacrifices made by the suffragette’s in the UK and the feminist movement in the US, I was appalled and shocked to watch these women holding placards calling for Israel’s destruction. Israel, possibly the most gender equal society in the world continues to be attacked by feminists in the West. Perhaps they should heed the call of their sisters in Iran and protest the Islamic Governments and their armies instead.
The bill deals with a variety of issues including the Islamic practice of polygamy. Under current legislation in Iran, a man has to get the consent of his current wives before he marries another. Under the new law, this consent is no longer required. “The new law on the family will take our country back centuries,” said the Iranian feminist Nahid Mirhaj, in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI).
“We will not accept this return to the Middle Ages under any circumstances,” she said. [Source]
