[Iran Press TV Latest] Jundullah ringleader Abdulmalek Rigi decided to establish the terrorist group after becoming familiar with al-Qaeda and Taliban, his brother Abdulhamid says.
"After Abdulmalek got to know al-Qaeda and Taliban in 2003, he decided to establish a cell and rebel against the Islamic Republic and Shia Islam," Abdulhamid told reporters on Sunday.
"Abdulmalek and his group had a purpose to sow discord among Shia and Sunni based on the orders received from the US," he added.
"I went to school for two year and after that I went to a seminary in [the southeastern Iranian city of] Zabol. After that I became a vender," Abdulhamid explained about his background.
The remarks by the Jundullah ringleader's brother came after the public relations office of the judiciary in Sistan-Baluchestan Province announced that thirteen people confirmed to have been loyal to the terrorist group, including Abdulmalek's relatives, had been executed on Tuesday.
With a sharp lookout for Jundullah ringleader, Iran handed down on Sunday the death penalty to two other members of the notorious terror group.
Abdulhamid went on to say that his brother would receive a punishment befitting his heinous crimes.
"I urge Abdulmalek, as my elder brother, to quit his evil acts and refrain from committing further crimes. I ask him to stop playing with people's lives," the apprehended brother of the Jundullah top man said.
The Pakistan-based Jundullah has staged a torrent of bombings and terrorist attacks in Iran, one of which left at least 25 Iranians dead in early June. Jundullah militants are believed to be closely affiliated with the notorious al-Qaeda organization.
The Asia Times reported in May that al-Qaeda militants had sought to establish an alliance with the exiled Jundullah to fulfill longstanding plans of creating a strategic corridor in the region and lay the foundation for joint regional operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
In a recent interview, Abdulhamid Rigi told Press TV that his brother had held several "confidential" meetings with FBI and CIA agents in Karachi and Islamabad.
He added that during one of the meetings, two female US agents had offered weapons, safe bases in Afghanistan and professional trainers and had attempted to recruit volunteers.
Two years ago, the Sunday Telegraph claimed that Jundullah was a CIA brainchild engineered to achieve the Bush-era goal of "regime change in Iran".
Abdulhamid, who has been convicted of cooperation in acts of terrorism, awaits imminent execution.
Lebanese intelligence forces have arrested another man on suspicion of spying for Israel amid an anti-espionage crackdown in the country.
The man identified as Kamal Assaf was arrested in the southern region of Bekaa valley on charges of spying for Israel's notorious intelligence agency, Mossad on Saturday, Naharnet reported.
Since the beginning of a major crackdown on spy networks earlier this year, Lebanese security forces have dismantled several Israeli espionage rings and arrested dozens of suspects on charges ranging from providing Israel with information to help its armed forces to visiting "the enemy country" -Israel -- without permission.
Most of the detainees were reportedly equipped with high-tech espionage apparatus.
Last week, a Lebanese car dealer was sentenced to life in prison for providing Israel with intelligence on Lebanese Army's positions and the country's resistance movement, Hezbollah. He could face a death penalty.
The security forces say that they will continue to identify and arrest the people who spy for Israeli intelligence agencies.
#2
All the Christians, 90% of the Muslims (including half of the members of Hezbullah), and 75% of the "furriners" in Lebanon ALL spy for Israel. Not to mention the dogs, cats, and spurned or badly used goats that report EVERYTHING, whether it's true or not. The only people NOT spying for Israel are you and your partner, and I ain't exactly sure about YOU!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/20/2009 6:36 Comments ||
Top||
Iran's security services have foiled an attempt by terrorists to assassinate defeated presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, a report says.
Jahan News quoted an unnamed source that five hit squads, had entered Iran as part of a concerted effort with the aim of assassinating the two opposition figures.
In the event, the report says, "with the vigilance of the intelligence and security bodies," these plans were foiled when four of the hit-squads were arrested and one fled.
According to the report, the would-be assassins were from the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) and had entered the country from the southwestern province of Khuzestan, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
They were reported to have received training at the MKO-run Camp Ashraf in Iraq.
The main intention of the operation was to attribute the assassination of Mousavi and Karroubi to the Iranian government, the report added.
The report notes that in the run-up to the June 12 presidential election, "a number of anti-revolutionary groups had intended to carry out a similar plan by placing a bomb in the aircraft carrying [former President] Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, which was foiled by the flight security forces."
Jahan News did not reveal the identities or genders of the terrorist detainees, or whether the assassination plan was foiled before or after the election.
Amid widely-debated political developments in Iran, influential cleric and politician Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani visits the holy city of Mashhad to confer with senior Iranian clerics.
Hashemi-Rafsanjani -- a two-time former president who heads both the top political arbitration body, the Expediency Council, and the clerical body, the Assembly of Experts - paid a visit to Iran's holy city of Mashhad on Saturday to meet with top clerics in the city and discuss the latest political ferment in the country. The visit comes a day after Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani led the Friday prayers at Tehran University which was attended by hundreds of thousands of people. During his sermon, Hashemi-Rafsanjani criticized authorities for their handling of the country's presidential election and the post-vote unrest.
Following the address, opposition supporters took to the streets of Tehran, chanting slogans against the incoming administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Clashes erupted outside Tehran University campus as security forces reacted to the illegal gatherings by using tear gas to disperse protesters.
Meanwhile Hashemi-Rafsanjani's insistence on removing public doubts about the veracity of the election results and his focus on popular legitimacy has drawn fierce criticism from certain political figures in the country. A member of Iran's electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi reacted to Rafsanjani's remark by saying that mere acceptance of people will not ensure the legitimacy of the government. "In Islam, the legitimacy of a government is granted by God and its acceptance by the people,"he said adding "While without the people's acceptance no Islamic government can function, this does not give the establishment its legitimacy... this important principle has been overlooked by Mr. Hashemi."
Tehran lawmaker Bijan Nobaveh has also criticized Ayatollah Rafsanjani for saying that the election dispute had thrown the country into a crisis. "The so-called crisis is Mr. Rafsanjani's personal interpretation of the situation," Nobaveh said.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11133 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Someone please remind me. Is he the shark or the alligator?
Posted by: ed ||
07/20/2009 7:49 Comments ||
Top||
#3
guardian reports 36 army officers were arrested to stop them from attending rafsanjani's sermon in uniform.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
07/20/2009 11:06 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Rafsanjani was, at one time, one of the wealthiest people in Iran. Its possible the money he accumulated by looting the treasury is being relooted by others. If so, he would naturally be ticked off.
Posted by: Lord garth ||
07/20/2009 12:31 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Or else he's positioning himself to pick up all the pieces after he maneuvers the various presidential candidates into destroying each other and Khamenei in the bargain. Try to remember, Rafsanjani's a world-class bastard. A Magnificent Bastard, in point of fact.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/20/2009 13:17 Comments ||
Top||
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's choice as first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, has walked away from the job, state media reported on Sunday. Mashaie, a controversial politician and confidant of Ahmadinejad, has "resigned three days after his appointment" as first vice president, state-owned English-language channel Press TV reported.
The channel initially sourced its report to the Education Ministry-funded news agency, Pana. In its news item, Pana said, "The content of his resignation letter will be published soon." There was no immediate independent confirmation of Mashaie's resignation. The appointment was strongly opposed by lawmakers and clerics among Ahmadinejad's own support base.
Mashaie, whose daughter is married to Ahmadinejad's son, is an outspoken figure who last year earned the wrath of many Iranians, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for saying Iran is a "friend of the Israeli people". In his current role as vice president in charge of tourism he sparked ire among MPs for reportedly watching a group of women dance at a congress in Turkey in 2007.
Since the announcement of Mashaie's appointment on Friday, there has been a chorus of criticism from hardliners. "It is imperative to terminate the appointment of Mashaie as first vice president in order to respect the wishes of the majority of the people," said Hossein Shariatmadari, managing director of the Kayhan newspaper. "When people found out about the appointment, they viewed this move as one taken not just in bad taste... but as one which shows indifference," he wrote in an editorial.
Leading cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami also slammed Mashaie's nomination. "This appointment has been made in defiance of the members of the Assembly of Experts, the majlis (parliament) and several leading figures who have often mentioned that the post is a sensitive one," the Jam-e Jam newspaper quoted Khatami as saying.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11136 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's choice as first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, has walked away from the job, state media reported on Sunday. Mashaie, a controversial politician and confidant of Ahmadinejad, has "resigned three days after his appointment" as first vice president, state-owned English-language channel Press TV reported.
