Always a good thing in my mind.
"Iran’s supreme leader dismisses direct US talks" Associated Press August 14, 2014
TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday dismissed the value of direct talks with the United States, his first comments touching on meetings that officials from the Islamic Republic had with Americans dating back to secret talks that began in 2012.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say over all state matters in Iran, did say that nuclear talks with world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program will continue.
Addressing Foreign Ministry officials Wednesday, Khamenei criticized the United States, saying direct talks with its diplomats didn’t help reduce sanctions or decrease its animosity toward Tehran.
‘‘Some pretended that if we sit down with Americans at the negotiating table, many of the problems will be resolved. We knew that won’t be the case but developments in the past year proved this reality once again,’’ Iranian state television quoted Khamenei as saying. ‘‘Americans not only didn’t reduce animosity but increased sanctions. They say these are not new sanctions but in fact they are new. Talks about sanctions didn’t bear any benefits.’’ they were never meant to.
As we have seen so often, they were designed to fail with more demands following cooperation so that the US can proclaim we tried for peace, but you know.... had to wage war and bomb, you know.
Khamenei called ties and negotiations with United States harmful outside of very specific cases. He did not elaborate.
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Related:
"Iran’s president has promised to back a United Nations inquiry into suspicions that the country secretly worked on nuclear arms, the UN’s chief nuclear inspector said Sunday after talks in Tehran. The optimistic note came a day after two diplomats said that the inquiry was deadlocked."
See: Iran: Nuclear deal by November deadline unlikely
I'm willing to wait that long and more.
So what will make Iranians look bad in Amerikan eyes so they will be all gussied up to make war on them?
"Iran’s parliament dismisses moderate minister" by Ali Akbar Dareini | Associated Press August 21, 2014
TEHRAN — In a move led by hard-line lawmakers, Iran’s Parliament dismissed the country’s science minister Wednesday for his alleged support for pro-Western voices at universities, dealing a blow to moderate President Hassan Rouhani.
The no-confidence vote against Science, Research, and Technology Minister Reza Faraji Dana was a sharp rebuke of Rouhani, who was elected last year on promises of greater openness and diplomatic engagement with the West.
The vote was also the first time a minister in Rouhani’s Cabinet was impeached. Out of 270 lawmakers who were present at the session, 145 voted to oust Dana, 110 voted to keep him, and 15 abstained. The chamber has 290 seats.
Ahead of the vote, Rouhani — who was on a provincial tour in northwestern Iran — called on lawmakers to reaffirm their confidence in the science minister.
‘‘I really wish I could be there in Parliament, next to the polite and knowledgeable minister . . . and support this serving scientist,’’ Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on state television.
The conservative lawmakers were apparently irked by Dana’s support for teachers seen as pro-Western or those who were involved in opposition rallies following the disputed 2009 presidential election that gave Rouhani’s predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term in office. They also accused Dana of tolerating student publications that question Islamic teachings.
Dana’s ouster underscored the growing political rift between Rouhani and his hard-line opponents in Parliament who accuse him of giving ground to pro-Western voices in the name of moderation.
Hard-liners are also opposed to an interim nuclear deal that Rouhani’s government signed with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany last year, saying he gave too many concessions in return for too little. After the interim deal last November, some of the US and European Union sanctions imposed over Iran’s controversial nuclear program were lifted.
Wednesday’s dramatic impeachment was the most direct attack by the conservative-dominated Parliament against Rouhani’s government.
Dana’s critics accuse him of mismanagement, rehiring professors kicked out of universities for ‘‘moral or security reasons,’’ and allegedly inciting students to riot.
Dana failed to cool his critics, even after promising he would ‘‘correct’’ some of his ‘‘mistakes.’’
‘‘I am ready to use the lawmakers’ friendly advice. . . . This is the path to reformation,’’ he told the house.
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Nice try, but....
"Iran reports downing Israeli drone" Associated Press August 25, 2014
TEHRAN — Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said Sunday its forces shot down an Israeli drone as it approached an Iranian nuclear site, recovering major parts of what it described as an advanced aircraft. Israeli officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
The incident comes as Iran negotiates with world powers over its nuclear program and hard-liners press moderate President Hassan Rouhani to demand more concessions before limiting its atomic capabilities. Israel has not ruled out taking military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities if its capability to build an atomic weapon progresses.
The Guards issued a statement Sunday on its website saying its forces fired a missile at the drone as it neared its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, some 150 miles south of the capital, Tehran. The statement did not say when it shot down the drone.
Guards spokesman General Ramazan Sharif later told Iranian state television that officials believed it to be a ‘‘new generation’’ drone used by Israel.
‘‘Major parts of the devices of the drone are intact and have been received by our friends that can be used for further information,’’ Sharif said.
Sharif did not say when the aircraft was shot down, but said it was ‘‘identified upon arrival in Iranian airspace.’’
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That story was quickly dispatched down the memory hole, as was this one:
"Iranian plane crashes, killing 39" Associated Press August 11, 2014
TEHRAN — An Iranian passenger plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Tehran on Sunday, killing 39 people and reviving questions about the safety of a cash-strapped aviation sector left hobbled by international sanctions.
Then in my mind the international community is guilty of murder.
President Hassan Rouhani quickly ordered an investigation into the crash and grounded similar planes operated by Iranian carriers until the inquiry is complete.
The plane, built by an Iranian company, was based on a relatively obscure Ukrainian design that has been involved in previous Iranian air disasters.
The Sepahan Air regional airliner, bound for the eastern town of Tabas, went down in a residential area shortly after takeoff at 9:20 a.m. from Tehran’s Mehrabad airport.
State TV said the plane’s tail struck the cables of an electricity tower before it hit the ground and burst into flames. The official IRNA news agency said the plane suffered an engine failure. Whatever the ultimate cause, quick thinking by the pilot may have saved some lives.
‘‘We should be thankful to God that the pilot did all he could to steer the plane away from residential buildings and fortunately did not crash into them,’’ said Jalal Maleki, spokesman of Tehran’s Fire Department.
Initial reports said all passengers and crew were killed, but, according to the BBC, state media later reported that some injured passengers were taken to a hospital.
Known as an IrAn-140 or Iran-140, the twin-engine turboprop is a version of the Antonov An-140 regional plane and is assembled under license in Iran.
A Ukranian-made An-140 crashed near the central Iranian city of Isfahan in 2002, killing 46 mostly Ukranian and Russian experts traveling to witness the maiden flight of the Iranian version of the plane.
Interesting coincidence and connection considering MH-17 has fallen off the radar again.
A similar Iranian-made version crashed during a training flight in Isfahan in February 2009, killing five onboard.
Why are they still using that design? Sanctions?
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Okay, the attack on Israel doesn't get me going because what is an Israeli spy plane doing in Iranian airspace to begin with? Imagine the reaction were the situation reversed.
As for the plane crash, could be terrorism but we will never know. The Iran government could not admit it if it were since that would convey vulnerability and weakness.
Could be as described, too. I don't distrust their media like I do my own when it comes to explanations for plane crashes. And if it were terror, my agenda-pushing media would hide that covert hand.
So what will get the war-weary, damn-near pacifist American people primed for war again?
"Iran policeman gets 3 years over death of blogger" Associated Press August 08, 2014
TEHRAN — A policeman convicted of the death of a detained blogger in 2012 has been sentenced to three years in jail and another two in internal exile, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported Thursday.
What? Policeman convicted for death of a citizen?
Thankfully, bloggers are protected in AmeriKa.
Blogger Sattar Beheshti, a little-known activist, was detained Oct. 30, 2012, for alleged cybercrimes and taken to the Evin prison in Tehran the next day, where he was handed over to cyberpolice for interrogation. He died Nov. 3 and had ‘‘signs of wounds’’ on his body, according to an official report released by Iran’s judiciary in 2012.
I'm thinking he was a US hacker, folks.
ISNA said the policeman was sentenced to three years in jail, 74 lashes, and two years of internal exile in the remote southern town of Borazjan. The prison time was for assaulting Beheshti and the lashes were for insulting and cursing the blogger.
Maybe Americans can learn something from Iran. They put to death spies and punish corruption most harshly, but.... could it be, could it, that everything I'm been taught and told was an upside-down, inside-out distortion or outright lie?
The policeman stood trial on charges of ‘‘semi-premeditated murder’’ and assault. Beheshti’s mother believed he should have been charged with premeditated murder.
I'm just wondering if the folks in Ferguson might be interested in this.
All quiet there today.
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Also see: NATO needs strong policy against cyber threats
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Report: Iran redesigning reactor as part of deal" Associated Press August 28, 2014
TEHRAN — Iran’s nuclear chief said Wednesday workers have begun redesigning its nearly completed Arak heavy water reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it can make as part of the country’s interim deal over its nuclear program with world powers.
A video posted on Iranian state television’s website showed nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi saying the work had begun as part of routine maintenance at the reactor in Arak in the country’s northwest.
Officials have said redesigning the reactor will delay its launch by about three years.
As originally designed, the reactor at Arak could have produced substantial amounts of plutonium, material that can be used as the core of a nuclear weapon. Iran has offered to redesign it to produce only a fifth of the plutonium it could have made. However, the West has asked Iran to replace the Arak reactor with one capable of making only minuscule amounts of plutonium.
Iran has opposed that, saying a heavy water reactor is needed to produce medical radioisotopes while a light water reactor, such as the one Iran has at Bushehr, is used to generate electricity.
The Arak reactor remains one of the sticking points between Iran and world powers as they try to negotiate a permanent deal over Iran’s nuclear program. Last year, they struck an interim deal that saw Iran agree to limit its uranium enrichment in return for the easing of some economic sanctions. Negotiators now face a November deadline to come to a final deal.
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Iran doing everything they can to avoid a war. Remember that in the days ahead.
