Caught via AOSHQ -I think we had a speculation report on this earlier on RB
Correct, we did.
A few weeks before dropping North Korea from the United States' list of countries that sponsor terrorism, the Bush administration thwarted a shipment of missile parts, possibly including gyroscopes for guidance systems, from the far eastern country to Iran, the weekly news magazine Newsweek reported Sunday, quoting US officials.
On August 4, an aircraft operated by Pyongyang's state-controlled airline was given permission by India to fly from Burma to Teheran, traversing Indian airspace.
On August 7, The Indian Express newspaper reported that the office of India's prime minister "hurriedly" asked authorities to withdraw the clearance. The US officials said that clearance was annulled following a request from Washington.
The US then removed North Korea from its state sponsor of terror status in October, after Pyongyang agreed to halt its nuclear program. However, what seemed a brisk start began to stutter as Japanese and South Korean officials publicly proclaimed that North Korea had stopped the process of decommissioning its reactor, and was not standing up to other sides of its agreement with the US.
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Posted by: Frank G ||
11/23/2008 16:38 ||
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Three men accused of carrying out a fatal bombing in a mosque in Iran have confessed to being brainwashed by a Western terrorist cell. The three confessed in a Saturday hearing at the Islamic Revolution court to 'being brainwashed into launching a terrorist attack in the country,' according to IRNA.
A further four individuals have also been charged over the incident.
Iran had initially detained 15 people in connection with April's deadly explosion in the southern city of Shiraz. However, seven people are currently charged with involvement in the fatal bombing. Later in May, Iran announced that Britain, Israel and the United States were responsible for the deadly blast, which killed 13 Iranians and injured more than 200.
Ali-Akbar Haidarifar, representing Tehran's prosecutor-general said, "The explosion in Shiraz was one of the country's most fatal terrorist acts, and I request punishment be mete out to the perpetrators at the scene of the crime [religious center]."
The Iranian judiciary official said the inquiry into other suspects as well as those outside the country and the countries which instigated this act of terror would continue.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced in May that the terrorist group's targets also included Iran's oil pipelines, Tehran's international book fair as well as other crowded locations in different cities such as scientific, religious and educational centers.
The Iranian judiciary spokesman, Alireza Jamshidi had earlier warned that the Islamic Republic might press charges against the United States, Britain and Israel over their involvement in the April 12 bombing.
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2008 00:00 ||
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A top Iranian commander says Iran will retaliate against any country that would aid and abet a potential strike against Iranian interests. Brigadier General Seyyed Mohammad Hejazi, the Chairman of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Saturday that Iran has drawn up plans to take retaliatory measures against potential aggressors and their accomplices.
This comes as Israeli echelons have stepped up their efforts to portray Iran as an international threat, claiming that the country seeks nuclear weaponry.
Tehran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) denies the Israeli claim, insisting that its enrichment program is solely directed at the civilian applications of the technology.
While maintaining that a nuclear Iran would pose an existential threat to Tel Aviv, Israeli officials argue that the use of military force is a legitimate option in halting Iran's nuclear progress.
Since the historic victory of Barack Obama in the US presidential election, Tehran has seen an explicit increase in Israeli threats against its nuclear program. Commander of Israeli Air Force (IAF) General, Ido Nehushtan, has said in a recent interview that his forces are 'ready' to attack Iran's nuclear sites whenever Tel Aviv gives a green light.
Bahrain is the home to the US Fifth Fleet, which is responsible for US naval forces in the Persian Gulf.
A senior politician and former top Israeli military official, Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon, declared last week that an attack on Iran would be in line with efforts to overthrow the Tehran government.
Iran, in response, has warned that should any of its national interests come under attack by either the US or Israel, its armed forces would target Israel and American bases in the region.
In a show of power, the Iranian military has recently test-fired its medium- and long-range missiles -- such as the advanced Shahab-3 and the newly-tested Sejjil missile.
On Saturday, Brig. Gen. Hejazi said in spite of a ballistic response, Iran, in times of war, would become 'an even bigger quagmire' than Iraq and Afghanistan for the US.
For Washington to assist Tel Aviv in a war against Tehran, its forces would have to use territories of the two US-occupied countries or Bahrain -- where the US 5th Fleet is stationed. "We have ensured that if any harm is inflicted on Iran, anyone who assists the aggressor will suffer hurtful retribution," warned Jazayeri.
The Iranian general also claimed that the IRGC naval forces are capable of destroying US warships in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz -- if the White House envisions a new military conflict in the oil-rich region.
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2008 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.
