Oh, I think we all have a pretty good idea who that might have been.
Related: Were the three Jewish US citizens spying?
Occupation Iraq: Iranians Capture AmeriKan Spies
Who vacations in a war zone?
"Iran to free female American hiker; Says move an act of clemency to mark Ramadan" by Nasser Karimi, Associated Press | September 10, 2010
TEHRAN — Iran said yesterday that it will free Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans jailed for more than 13 months, as an act of clemency to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The imprisonment of the Americans has deepened tensions between the United States and Iran, a relationship already strained over Washington’s suspicions that Tehran is trying to manufacture nuclear weapons — something Iran denies....
Didn't take 'em long to swing around to that issue, did it?
The gesture could be a calculated move by Iran to soften international criticism of its judiciary. Iran has faced a growing storm of protest over a stoning sentence for a woman convicted of adultery....
Related: Stoning Spat
Also see: Globe Flogs Iran
I didn't know you could smoke in Iran.
Releasing prisoners and showing clemency is a common practice in the Muslim world during the fasting month of Ramadan....
Compassionate terrorists? Oh, that's rich.
During the American hostage crisis from 1979 to 1981, Iran first released women and African-Americans as a sign of respect for women and mercy toward minorities.
In Washington, Mark Toner, State Department spokesman, said US officials are in contact with Swiss diplomats who handle US affairs in Iran.
“We don’t know, frankly, what Iran is contemplating at this point,’’ Toner said. “If this turns out to be true, this is terrific news. The hikers’ release is long overdue.’’--more--"
The smirk gives the spy away.
"Iran delays freeing American woman" by Associated Press | September 11, 2010
TEHRAN — Iran yesterday postponed the planned release of an American woman jailed along with two friends, state media reported, dealing a setback to three US mothers who have pleaded for the trio’s release.
Iranian officials had said that Sarah Shourd, who was detained with her friends near Iran’s border with Iraq, would be released today.
But the IRNA state news agency quoted the deputy chief of communication for the Iranian president’s office, Mohammed Hassan Salilhimaram, as saying that would not happen.
He said details of the decision would be announced later, but Tehran’s chief prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, blamed the fact that “judicial procedures have not been done,’’ according to the semiofficial ILNA news agency.
It was the latest mixed message from Tehran in a case that has deepened tensions between the US and Iran, a relationship already strained over Washington’s suspicions that Tehran is trying to manufacture nuclear weapons — something Iran denies.
Shourd and two friends, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009, and Tehran has accused them of illegally crossing the border and spying. Their families say they were hiking in Iraq’s scenic north and that if they crossed the border, they did so unwittingly.
Yeah, I knew I was smelling something familiar.
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Iran will release American woman after $500,000 bail is paid
Bail cut sought for American held in Iran
"One of three hikers freed by Iran after $500,000 bail paid" by Thomas Erdbrink and John Pomfret, The Washington Post | September 15, 2010
TEHRAN — Iranian authorities released American hiker Sarah Shourd yesterday after more than a year of imprisonment and the posting of a $500,000 bond, leaving her American fiancé and a friend still in custody.
Shourd’s sudden departure on a private plane to the Persian Gulf nation of Oman was the latest wrinkle in the saga of the three Americans who were arrested last year hiking along the border between Iran and Iraq. The arrests have complicated US diplomacy in the region as President Obama’s administration has sought to pressure Iran to end its alleged nuclear weapons program. Iran said yesterday that it had no plans to release the two men anytime soon.
Speaking at an airport in Tehran before she left, Shourd, 32, thanked President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran “for this humanitarian gesture.’’ Shourd’s mother, Nora, who was reunited with her daughter in Oman, had said that Shourd was being denied medical treatment for a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.
Obama said he was “very pleased that Shourd was released’’ but added that her two companions — Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 28 — remain imprisoned although they have “committed no crime.’’ Shourd and Bauer became engaged in May while in custody. All three have been charged with espionage, which they have denied....
Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi told Iran’s English-language Press TV yesterday that the bail was paid at a branch of the government-owned Bank Melli Iran in Muscat, the capital of Oman. Unspecified “representatives’’ of Shourd paid the money, he said. It was also unclear who owned the plane.
I wonder if it was a rendition jet or not.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Bank Melli since 2007, and the European Union has done so since 2008, for the bank’s alleged involvement in Iran’s nuclear program. But a State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, said “we’re not aware of any information that would trigger sanctions in any way’’ regarding the payment of the $500,000 bail.
“The United States did not pay anything for her release,’’ Crowley told reporters. “Someone provided sufficient assurances to the government of Iran that satisfied, you know, their stipulations for release.’’
Gee, I WONDER WHO that could have been.
Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Crowley thanked the Swiss government and the Sultanate of Oman for securing Shourd’s release. Oman “in recent days and weeks became a key interlocutor to help us work this case with the Iranian government,’’ Crowley said. “And we are very grateful to the role that Oman has played.’’
Related: "Al-CIA-Duh" Active in Persian Gulf
Oman is one of their bases.--more--"
Also see: A Quick Hike Through Iran
The Nation Can Take a Hike
Oh, almost forgot about the stoning:
"Human rights group, EU increase pressure on Iran in stoning case; Ambassador says woman’s sentence could be eased" by Raf Casert, Associated Press | September 9, 2010
BRUSSELS — European Union nations and the continent’s biggest human rights organization slammed Iran yesterday for its plan to stone a woman convicted of adultery, while Iran’s ambassador to the Vatican said it is possible the punishment could be eased.
The plight of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, has cast a harsh light on Iran’s version of Islamic justice and caused a global outcry....
Of course, when the U.S. or Israel shreds some woman up in the hills of Afghanistan or Pakistan or in the deserts of Gaza and Iraq, it is no big deal.
The European Union Parliament in Strasbourg, France, passed a resolution yesterday condemning Tehran, a move that comes on the heels of EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso calling stoning “barbaric.’’ The resolution passed by a 658-to-1 vote with 22 abstentions. The vote against was an error and was to be amended in the parliamentary records later.
What Israel wants, they get in unanimous votes from western governments they control.
Sweden summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest the sentence.
“It is important that we are not passive in a case that — except for her own destiny — has become a symbol for the repression in Iran,’’ Sweden’s foreign minister, Carl Bildt, said. “We are against the death penalty in all cases, but stoning is a specifically vile form of the death penalty.’’
As opposed to drone missile strikes.
Germany’s foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, released a statement saying he was “deeply worried for Ms. Ashtiani’s life.’’
“Iran has to respect human rights, especially because it committed to do so under international law,’’ Westerwelle said. “It is not a question of religion, but a question of fundamental human dignity.’’
And what of ISRAEL, hanh?
***********
Some Western officials, including Foreign Minister Franco Frattini of Italy, have said they do not believe Iran will carry out the stoning following the international outcry.
But Iran has at times struck a defiant tone. Even an offer of asylum from Brazil — which is on friendly terms with Tehran — went nowhere.--more--"
Also see: IAEA Rejects Iran Nuke Deal
Speaking of the devil:
"Iran monitoring hampered, UN warns" by Associated Press | September 7, 2010
VIENNA — The UN atomic agency expressed alarm yesterday about Iran’s decision to bar some inspectors, suggesting that its efforts to monitor the country’s nuclear program are suffering as a result.
Remember, readers, the US used the UN teams to spy on Iraq.
And does ISRAEL ALLOW INSPECTIONS?
The unusually blunt International Atomic Energy Agency warning followed Iran’s recent decision to strip two experienced inspectors of access to monitor its nuclear activities after the two reported what they said were undeclared nuclear experiments.
Sorry, we are NOT BUYING IT after Saddam's nukular bombs.
And EVEN IF Iran were building a weapon it would be PERFECTLY UNDERSTANDABLE given the THREATS they are under fron USrael.
The Islamic Republic says the reporting by the two was inaccurate, but the IAEA stands by their findings. And the 11-page IAEA document issued yesterday devoted a special section to the complaint, reflecting the importance attached to it by IAEA chief Yukiya Amano.
Such a section was included in only one previous report, after Iran withheld access from dozens of inspectors in 2006 and 2007 — most of them in order to show displeasure over recently passed UN Security Council sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Yesterday’s report said that objections by Iran to some experienced inspectors “hampers the inspection process and thereby detracts from the Agency’s capability to implement effective and efficient safeguards in Iran.’’
One word: Dimona
Diplomats from three countries accredited to the agency echoed the IAEA’s concerns in comments to the Associated Press, saying Iran appeared keen to ban seasoned inspectors — particularly those from nuclear weapons countries with special skills that could help detect attempts to make nuclear arms.
Gee, I wonder what three countries those guys were from.
Iran rejected allegations of selective bans and intimidation of IAEA inspectors.
Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Tehran’s chief delegate to the agency, said the IAEA currently has 150 inspectors able to work in Iran and noted that the report mentioned the country’s approval of five additional inspectors. That, he said, “is a clear indication that we have cooperated.’’
Not good enough for Usrael and its toadies.
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