Iranian police arrested mourners who gathered at a Tehran cemetery to commemorate victims of the unrest that followed the country's disputed June presidential election, witnesses said on Thursday.
The police forced Mirhossein Mousavi, a defeated candidate at the election, to leave the cemetery.
"Hundreds have gathered around Neda Agha-Soltan's grave to mourn her death and other victims' deaths ... police arrested some of them ... dozens of riot police also arrived and are trying to disperse the crowd," a witness told Reuters.
The witness saw police detaining three mourners. Officials were not available to comment on the number of detainees. Later the witness said: "Police forced Mousavi to return to his car and leave the cemetery. Police also are warning mourners to leave the place or face the consequences."
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Posted by: ed ||
07/30/2009 09:24 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] More than a month after Neda Aqa-Soltan was killed in the post-election frenzy in Iran, a key witness to the incident moves to set the record straight.
Neda, 26, was shot dead on June 20 in an alley away from the scene of clashes between security forces and demonstrators in Tehran.
She immediately became an international icon after graphic videos of her bleeding to death in a matter of seconds, grabbed the attention of world media outlets.
Hamid Panahi, Neda's friend and music teacher who was by her side in her final moments, dismissed the slew of eyewitness accounts of the sad incident -- particularly the one given by Arash Hejazi.
Arash Hejazi, an Iranian physician currently studying in England, told the BBC that he had witnessed a member of the Basij shooting Neda.
His comments were a contributing factor in the Western-led media campaign against the Ahmadinejad government.
Panahi said contrary to Hejazi's account of the incident, 'there were no security forces of Basij members nearby'.
"In his interviews with foreign media outlets, Mr. Hejazi said that the culprit behind Neda's death was arrested on the spot. I saw nothing of the sort. There were only about a dozen people present at the scene. No one was arrested," he said.
To prove his point, Panahi said that new revelations have found that Neda was in fact shot not in the chest, but in the back.
Panahi is not the first to dismiss Hejazi's account of Neda's death. Earlier in June, the man who drove Neda to hospital had also said that there were no Basij members around at the time.
Iranian security forces have dismissed the reports out of hand, asserting that they did not open fire on protestors during the sporadic unrest.
While Media outlets in the West blame Neda's death on Iranian security forces, new revelations show that she was murdered by a small caliber pistol-- a weapon that is not used by Iranian security forces.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked Judiciary chief Ayatollah Hashemi-Shahroudi to conduct a through investigation into the incident.
Lebanon accused Israel of trying to preempt an investigation into a recent explosion in a building containing weapons and ammunition by blaming Hezbollah for storing the arms cache in violation of a UN resolution.
In letters to the Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon circulated Monday, Lebanon's charge d'affaires Caroline Ziade said the Lebanese Army has concluded that the weapons and munitions were left over from the 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel in the summer of 2006. That's because they included 100mm Israeli tank shells with Hebrew writing and ammunition for 130mm artillery, which Hezbollah does not possess but which was used by a Lebanese militia that collaborated with Israel prior to its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, she said.
All weapons and munitions at the site were also "of types used during the July 2006 war." Ziade said Israel's allegation that Hezbollah was putting civilians at risk by storing weapons in residential areas "is intended to justify intentional targeting of Lebanese civilians by Israel in the future." She said a joint investigation by the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL began two days after the July 14 explosion in the village of Khirbat Silm in southern Lebanon because explosives experts from the two bodies determined the site was not safe to approach the following day.
"That refutes false Israeli allegations that the Lebanese Army deliberately delayed the deployment of UNIFIL at the explosion site and the start of the investigation," she said. Lebanese Army officers in the investigating commission determined that the building where the explosion took place contained a variety of munitions and weapons "and that the cause of the explosion had been a fire that broke out in the unfinished non-residential building," Ziade said.
"In view of the close cooperation between the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL in investigating the cause of the explosion, Israel has attempted to pre-empt the results of the investigation by leveling accusations of arms smuggling in the force's area of operations south of the Litani River," she said. "Those accusations are false and a blatant attempt to interfere with the investigation in order to influence its conclusions," she said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is mulling seeking the re-activation of an armistice commission with Lebanon in order to talk to its northern neigh our with which it remains technically at war, a report said on Wednesday.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran has arrested three people, including a Jewish woman, in the northwestern province of Ardabil for promoting "Satan worship", the Fars news agency reported on Wednesday. "Two men and a Jewish woman, who were promoting the cult of Satan worship among the youth of Parsabad town, have been arrested," the news agency quoted the judiciary provincial office as saying. More than 100 items, including goats' heads and jewellery in the form of human skulls, have been seized from the trio, the report. In May, Iran arrested 104 "Satan-worshippers" in a raid on a concert in the southern city of Shiraz where people were drinking alcohol and "sucking blood", the Jam-e Jam newspaper reported. Over the past two years, police and security officials have warned against the emergence of "Satanist" cults accused of corrupting the young, amid a tough crackdown on "un-Islamic" attire and behaviour.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Since when is it against the law to worship Nancy Pelosi?
[Iran Press TV Latest] A Turkish lawyer has claimed that his Iranian client has transferred an $18.5-billion treasure from Iran to Turkey through courier services. Senol Ozel told Turkey's independent "Kanal D" channel that his client, "Esmael Safarian-Nasab," is a respected Iranian businessman and has transferred the money to Turkey through legal means.
The container-load of US dollars and gold bullion was delivered to Ankara Customs Office on October 7, 2008, Ozel said. He noted that the container contained $7.5 billion and 20 metric tons of gold.
In a recent speech, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had boasted of the huge fund transfer as an indictor of his government's success in attracting foreign investment despite the economic downturn in the world. Erdogan had not revealed anything about the origin of the wealth.
Ozel says Turkish government's move to adopt new regulations to facilitate foreign investment in the country had encouraged his client to take his wealth to Turkey.
According to Kanal D, the Turkish government had adopted a new regulation dubbed as the "Suitcase Law" to alleviate the harsh effects of the economic crisis on the country. The new law allowed anybody to take any amount of foreign currencies into the country from anywhere without being scrutinized.
Now the problem is that Safarian-Nasab wants his money back from Turkey, which could create a big hole in the Turkish Central Bank's balance-sheet. Ozel said his client will arrive in Turkey in the near future to discuss the issue with the Turkish Central Bank.
There is no word yet from Iranian authorities as to the source of the funds and the circumstances surrounding its export to Turkey.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
07/30/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Give it back in those T bonds confiscated at the Italian border.
Posted by: ed ||
07/30/2009 8:56 Comments ||
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After years of failed diplomacy no one will be able to call an attack precipitous. By John Bolton
Legions of senior American officials have descended on Jerusalem recently, but the most important of them has been Defense Secretary Robert Gates. His central objective was to dissuade Israel from carrying out military strikes against Irans nuclear weapons facilities. Under the guise of counseling patience, Mr. Gates again conveyed President Barack Obamas emphatic thumbs down on military force.
The public outcome of Mr. Gatess visit appeared polite but inconclusive. Yet Irans progress with nuclear weapons and air defenses means Israels military option is declining over time. It will have to make a decision soon, and it will be no surprise if Israel strikes by years end. Israels choice could determine whether Iran obtains nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future.
Mr. Obamas approach to Tehran has been his open hand, yet his gesture has not only been ignored by Iran but deemed irrelevant as the country looks inward to resolve the aftermath of its fraudulent election. The hardliner winner of that election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was recently forced to fire a deputy who once said something vaguely soothing about Israel. Clearly, negotiations with the White House are not exactly topping the Iranian agenda.
Beyond that, Mr. Obamas negotiation strategy faces insuperable time pressure. French President Nicolas Sarkozy proclaimed that Iran must re-start negotiations with the West by Septembers G-20 summit. But this means little when, with each passing day, Irans nuclear and ballistic missile laboratories, production facilities and military bases are all churning. Israel is focused on these facts, not the illusion of tough diplomacy.
Israel rejects another feature of Mr. Obamas diplomatic stance. The Israelis do not believe that progress with the Palestinians will facilitate a deal on Irans nuclear weapons program. Though Mr. Gates and others have pressed this fanciful analysis, Israel will not be moved.
Worse, Mr. Obama has no new strategic thinking on Iran. He vaguely promises to offer the country the carrot of diplomacyfollowed by an empty threat of sanctions down the road if Iran does not comply with the U.S.s requests. This is precisely the European Unions approach, which has failed for over six years.
Theres no reason Iran would suddenly now bow to Mr. Obamas diplomatic efforts, especially after its embarrassing election in June. So with diplomacy out the door, how will Iran be tamed?
Mr. Gates mission had extraordinary significance. Israel sees the political and military landscape in a very inauspicious light. It also worries that, once ensnared in negotiations, the Obama administration will find it very hard to extricate itself. The Israelis are probably right. To prove the success of his open hand, Mr. Obama will declare victory for diplomacy even if it means little to no gains on Irans nuclear program.
Under the worst-case scenario, Iran will continue improving its nuclear facilities and Mr. Obama will become the first U.S. president to tie the issue of Israels nuclear capabilities into negotiations about Irans.
Israel understands that Secretary of State Hillary Clintons recent commitment to extend the U.S. defense umbrella to Israel is not a guarantee of nuclear retaliation, and that it is wholly insufficient to deter Iran from obliterating Israel if it so decides. In fact, Mrs. Clintons comment tacitly concedes that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons, exactly the wrong message. Since Israel, like the U.S., is well aware its missile defense system is imperfect, whatever Mr. Gates said about the defense umbrella will be politely ignored.
Relations between the U.S. and Israel are more strained now than at any time since the 1956 Suez Canal crisis. Mr. Gatess message for Israel not to act on Iran, and the U.S. pressure he brought to bear, highlight the weight of Israels lonely burden.
Striking Irans nuclear program will not be precipitous or poorly thought out. Israels attack, if it happens, will have followed enormously difficult deliberation over terrible imponderables, and years of patiently waiting on innumerable failed diplomatic efforts. Absent Israeli action, prepare for a nuclear Iran.
Mr. Bolton is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/30/2009 00:00 ||
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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.
Iran has arrested three people, including a Jewish woman, in the northwestern province of Ardabil for promoting "Satan worship", the Fars news agency reported on Wednesday. "Two men and a Jewish woman, who were promoting the cult of Satan worship among the youth of Parsabad town, have been arrested," the news agency quoted the judiciary provincial office as saying. More than 100 items, including goats' heads and jewellery in the form of human skulls, have been seized from the trio, the report. In May, Iran arrested 104 "Satan-worshippers" in a raid on a concert in the southern city of Shiraz where people were drinking alcohol and "sucking blood", the Jam-e Jam newspaper reported. Over the past two years, police and security officials have warned against the emergence of "Satanist" cults accused of corrupting the young, amid a tough crackdown on "un-Islamic" attire and behaviour.
