Tag Archives: Politics of Iran

Iran Linked to Al-Qaeda Bomb Plot in Toronto

Posted on by
Reply
Canadian Mounted Police Spokesman

Canadian Mounted Police Spokesman

By Ryan Mauro:

Two individuals linked to the Al-Qaeda network in Iran have been arrested in Canada, foiling a plot to derail a train from New York to Toronto. Though Canadian officials and media reports emphasize that there’s no evidence tying the Iranian regime to the plot, the Obama Administration confirmed in 2011 that Iran and Al-Qaeda had a “secret deal.”

“The individuals were receiving support from Al-Qaeda elements located in Iran,” said Royal Canadian Mounted Police official James Malizia.

An anonymous U.S. official influenced press coverage by telling Reuters that the Iranian regime does not protect the Al-Qaeda network in its territory. The official apparently believes the Iranian regime is capable of preventing another Green Revolution but is somehow unable to round up an Al-Qaeda network that the U.S. government has publicly identified.

In July 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department said, “By exposing Iran’s secret deal with al-Qaeda, allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through its territory, we are illuminating yet another aspect of Iran’s unmatched support for terrorism.” It said that the Al-Qaeda network in Iran serves as a “core pipeline” for the terrorist group to move personnel and resources from the Middle East to South Asia.

The leadership in Iran has been referred to as one of Al-Qaeda’s “Management Councils.” The network has been active in Iran since at least 2005. Al-Qaeda members in Iran are permitted to operate with restrictions. Terrorism expert Peter Bergen said it “was kept more or less under control by the Iranian government, which viewed it with suspicion.”

The U.S. government has sanctioned the two leaders of the Iran-based Al-Qaeda network: Muhsin al-Fadhil and Adel Radi Saqr al-Wahabi al-Harbi. The former took over the network after being released from Iranian detention. Al-Harbi is involved in Internet operations and oversees the movement of Al-Qaeda personnel and supplies to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Curiously, the Saudi national originally questioned for possible involvement in the Boston bombings may be related to Al-Harbi. The Saudi, Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi, is also reportedly on a terrorist watch list.

Read more at The Clarion Project

 

Related articles:

Iran’s Underground Nuke Site Struck?

Posted on by
Reply

imagesCAZ18BYABy Ryan Mauro:

The biggest blow in the covert campaign against Iran’s nuclear program may have just been delivered. It is reported that a mysterious explosion was set off inside the underground enrichment site at Fordo on Monday. The Iranian regime predictably denies the report. Anonymous Israeli officials have confirmed that an explosion took place, but the White House says it doesn’t believe the report is credible.

The original report was written by “Reza Kahlili,” a former CIA spy inside the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who is now in the U.S. and active in the Iranian opposition. His source is Hamid Reza Zakeri, a former Iranian intelligence officer who defected in 2001. Zakeri claims to have worked in Supreme Leader Khamenei’s Intelligence Office and his information helped convince Judge George Daniels to rule in December 2011 that Iran and Hezbollah hold responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.

The Fordo site is about 300 feet under a mountain in order to protect it from aerial attack. It can hold about 3,000 centrifuges, which is far from what is needed for a domestic nuclear program but adequate for nuclear weapons. This is the site drawing the most concern of those that have been publicly disclosed because it is also where Iran is storing the uranium it has enriched to 20 percent. Nuclear expert David Albright says that 20% enriched uranium can be brought to bomb-grade level in as little as six months using 500 to 1,000 centrifuges.

The explosion reportedly took place at about 11:30 in the morning inside the third centrifuge chamber that lies above the stock of enriched uranium. The blast disabled two elevators, leaving no way to rescue the 240 personnel stuck inside. The report says that traffic was blocked off for 15 miles and the Tehran-Qom highway was temporarily closed off. There was no evacuation of nearby residents.

A satellite image of Iran's Fordo nuclear enrichment facility (photo: credit AP/ DigitalGlobe)

A satellite image of Iran’s Fordo nuclear enrichment facility (photo: credit AP/ DigitalGlobe)

The Iranian regime denies that any explosion took place. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, “We have no information to confirm the allegations in the report and we do not believe the report is credible.” Anonymous Israeli intelligence officials, on the other hand, confirmed that an explosion took place and said that the damage is still being assessed.

It is difficult to determine the impact of the alleged explosion on Iran’s nuclear ambitions because the program’s full extent is unknown. “Kahlili” has identified three other secret nuclear sites and a biological weapons site. His sources report that the regime is making progress in warhead production, uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing at these sites. He recently provided a briefing on these activities in a RadicalIslam.org webinar on Iran’s nuclear program.

Read more at Front Page

Related articles

Lies and a Conviction: Iran Mocks Justice – Convicts and Sentences American Pastor Saeed

Posted on by
Reply

298769_2123082796264_288265861_n

Petition to Save Pastor Saeed Abedini from Iranian Prison

ACLJ:

By Jordan Sekulow Jan. 27, 2013

Our worst fears have been realized. This morning in Tehran on an empty promise that American Pastor Saeed Abedini might be released, his lawyer came to court.  The lawyer had no formal notice that his presence was required, only the casual request less than 24 hours before from a court administrator to a family friend that the lawyer should come to the court because it was releasing Pastor Saeed.  But this was all a lie.

Upon arriving at the court, Dr. Naser Sarbazi, Pastor Saeed’s lawyer, saw his client. He knew he had been deceived.

Without family present, Judge Pir-Abassi of Branch 26 of the Iranian Revolutionary Court – known as the “hanging judge” - verbally convicted and sentenced Pastor Saeed to eight years in prison for threatening the national security of Iran through his leadership in Christian house churches.  The evidence provided was of Pastor Saeed’s Christian activities primarily during the early 2000s, when under President Khatami house churches were not perceived as a threat to Iran. Despite Iranian law requiring a written verdict, none was given.

Here’s the troubling reality: A U.S. citizen, who has been beaten and tortured since his imprisonment last fall, is now facing eight years in Evin Prison, one of the most brutal prisons in Iran.

We represent Pastor Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh, and her two children who live in the U.S. Upon hearing this injustice, Naghmeh, said: “The promise of his release was a lie.  We should not trust the empty words or promises put out by the Iranian government.  These false hopes amount to psychological torture.  You don’t want to trust them, but they build a glimmer of hope before the crushing blow.  With today’s development I am devastated for my husband and my family.  We must now pursue every effort, turn every rock, and not stop until Saeed is safely on American soil.”

We know that with the Iranian Revolutionary Court, Pastor Saeed’s conviction and sentence had to be approved at the very top – The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had to sign off.

Iran has not only abused its own laws, it has trampled on the fundamentals of human rights.  We call on the citizens of the world to rise up in protest.  We call on governments around the world to stand and defend Pastor Saeed.  As his wife has pleaded, starting with our own government, every effort must be pursued. We are calling on the State Department and the White House, which have both called for Pastor Saeed’s release, to engage further.

This is a real travesty. An U.S. citizen faces a lengthy prison term for simply because of his Christian faith.  Pastor Saeed now faces eight years in a harsh prison – likely facing life-threatening torture and abuse at the hands of the Iranian regime.

Please continue to pray for Pastor Saeed and his family. We will continue to utilize all of our efforts to see that justice is served and Pastor Saeed is safely in the arms of his loving wife and two children back home in the United States.

Jordan Sekulow is Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice.

Related articles

U.S. Pastor Seized in Iran May Face Death Penalty

Posted on by
Reply

Pastor Saeed

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today called for the immediate release of Saeed Abedeni, an Iranian-American pastor reportedly awaiting a January 21 trial on trumped-up national security charges that date back to 2000 when he lived in Iran.

According to sources familiar with the case, Mr. Abedini was arrested in Iran in September 2012 for his involvement with the underground house church movement.  Mr. Abedini’s lawyer was unaware of the charges until January 14, when he was informed the trial would be held on Monday, January 21.

Mr. Abedini married an American citizen in 2004 and has lived in the United States since 2005.  He became a U.S. citizen in 2010 and periodically travels back and forth to Iran.

“The national security charges leveled against Mr. Abedini are bogus and are a typical tactic by the Iranian government to masquerade the real reason for the charges: To suppress religious belief and activity of which the Iranian government does not approve,” said USCIRF chair Katrina Lantos Swett.  “USCIRF calls on the Iranian government to release Mr. Abedini immediately and unconditionally.”

Mr. Abedeni’s trial reportedly is scheduled to be heard by Judge Abbas Pir-Abbassi of Branch 26 of Iran’s Revolutionary Court.  “Judge Pir-Abbassi is notorious for conducting swift trials and imposing lengthy prison terms, as well as the death penalty, without any semblance of due process,” said Lantos Swett.

An Iranian news outlet reports that Abedeni wrote in a letter to his wife that he has been subjected to torture and threatened with death by hanging. He is being held in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran.

In 2011, under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (CISADA), USCIRF called on the U.S. government to impose travel bans and asset freezes on three “hanging judges” — Judge Pir-Abbassi, Judge Salavati and Judge Moghiseh — for committing serious human rights abuses against Iranian citizens, including religious minorities.  In April 2011, the European Union imposed sanctions for human rights violations on all three judges.  The U.S. government has not as yet followed suit.

Read more at Radical Islam

via US Commission Demands Iranian Pastor Saeed Abedini’s Immediate Release Days  Before Trial:

The ACLJ further reminded concerned citizens that although  President Barack Obama and the rest of the U.S. marked National Religious  Freedom Day on Jan. 16, pastors like Abedini and many other people of faith  remain imprisoned based on dubious charges, and the State Department needs to  step up and do everything possible to help them in their plight.

“Today, we also remember that religious liberty is not just an American  right; it is a universal human right to be protected here at home and across the  globe. This freedom is an essential part of human dignity, and without it our  world cannot know lasting peace,” Obama  wrote in a statement on Jan. 16.

The ACLJ says that over 100,000 people have signed a petition to the U.S. Congress calling for  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to personally speak up for Pastor Abedini’s  release.

White House Has No Statement on Trial of American Citizen in Iran

Go to ACLG to sign the petition to free Pastor Saeed

Violence Breaks Out in Iran as Economy Falters

Posted on by
1

Protest march in Tehran’s main bazaar

Don’t mistake the quieting of the Green Revolution as a sign of popular support for the Iranian regime. Those that risked their lives to protest in the summer of 2009 aren’t going to be won over by their oppressors. Since then, the economic situation has only gotten worse and with it, the anger of the Iranian people. All that is needed for Round Two is a trigger and the collapse of the Iranian currency over the past week might just be it.

The value of the rial has dropped by 40 percent in just one week, causing a panic that is sure to keep the downslide going. The country’s currency has fallen over 80% over the past year. The hysteria is causing Iranians to hold onto foreign currencies like the dollar and to get rid of their rials before they lose even more value.

Hundreds spontaneously protested in Tehran. The number may not be a jaw-dropper but it’s very meaningful. For every protester, there were many more that were too afraid to protest or were unable to join before the crackdown began. Some merchants in the Grand Bazaar went on strike and protesters put the blame for their misery where it belongs: On the regime.

The protesters didn’t burn American flags. They didn’t declare their devotion to jihad in retaliation for the economic warfare of the imperialist West. They spoke out against their own government. Slogans of the demonstrators included “Leave Syria Alone, Think of Us Instead” and even, “We Do Not Want Nuclear Energy.” The Iranian people are keenly aware that every rial spent on slaughtering Syrians, supporting terrorism and building a nuclear program is a rial that could alleviate their pain.

The security forces dispersed the crowd by firing tear gas and several protesters were arrested. They also stopped a march towards the central bank. Riot police arrested illegal money changers and closed shops. The regime has reportedly blocked access to Gmail and BBC’s Persian Service and additional measures to impose an information blockade are undoubtedly being implemented as you read this.

Shortly before the protests, it was reported that a petition to the regime signed by about 10,000 workers had been drawn up. A worker’s strike could prove fatal to the regime.

According to the regime’s own assessment, the situation is going to quickly get worse for the mullahs. An alleged classified intelligence report was leaked in early September that warned of a coming upheaval that will include riots in the border areas.

Within three months, the report says, the government won’t be able to pay the salaries of its employees. Starvation will become commonplace. The output of factories is only half of what it should be and foreign currency reserves will be used up within six months.

Another problem facing the regime is the rising domestic consumption of oil; oil it needs to sell abroad to survive. Oil exports account for about 85% of its budget.  Two studies concluded that Iran won’t have any oil to sell by 2015. Sanctions on Iran mean it will be exporting less oil, leaving more available to cope with this problem, but the fact is that this problem becomes greater for the regime every single day.

Read more at Radical Islam

Iran. 3.Oct 2012. Anti-regime Bazar protest. “if you have dignity then close your shops” 

 

Go to Freedom Messenger’s You Tube channel to see many more videos of the Iranian protests

Related articles

Iran – The Greatest Threat to Western Civilization

Posted on by
4

Published on Aug 28, 2012 by    

America is a relatively safe place. However, a regime halfway around the world could destroy our way of life.
From the beginning, the current Iranian regime made it clear that America is public enemy #1. One way to seriously damage America would be a nuke, and one terrifying scenario is a nuclear bomb detonated at high altitude. This is an issue that Congressional commissions and others have investigated, and concluded that it is a credible threat. This would cause severe damage or catastrophic destruction to the electric grid across America.
In this day and age, everything ultimately depends on electric power: communications, transportation, banking, finance, food and water. The result of such an attach would mean that within a short amount of time, it will be nearly impossible to get food and water, pump gas, provide medical care, withdraw money or use cellular phones.  Moreover, without electricity, nuclear power plants melt down.  If their containment buildings are breeched, the areas around them could become uninhabitable for centuries. Anarchy.  Starvation. Disease.
As long as the current Iranian regime is in power, we are NOT SAFE..

Take Action! Contact your representative: http://www.radicalislam.org/enriched/send-a-letter.php
Share this with friends & get a chance to win $1,000 http://www.radicalislam.org/enriched/#share

Also see previous article:

NIAC Loses Defamation Suit – Pro-Tehran group harshly criticized by judge, forced to pay attorney’s fees

Posted on by
2

By :

An Iranian-American advocacy group long suspected of concealing its illicit ties to the Iranian regime recently lost a four-year court battle aimed at silencing one of its principal critics.

The left-leaning National Iranian American Council (NIAC)—which describes itself as a nonprofit educational organization that advocates in favor of increased U.S. engagement with Iran—sued Seid Hassan Daioleslam in 2008. The group alleged Daioleslam defamed the organization by claiming that it clandestinely lobbied American government officials on behalf of the Iranian regime.

Federal District Court Judge John B. Bates cleared Daioleslam of the defamation charges last week after a protracted and oftentimes bitter battle between the two sides. Bates upbraided NIAC throughout his 23-page decision for failing to make its case and for intentionally hindering the discovery process.

“I believe they intentionally withheld documents,” Daioleslam told the Free Beacon. “The documents [NIAC has] not turned over not only hampered the legal proceedings, they deprived the American people from knowing what’s going on behind the scenes.”

Court documents show that NIAC officials inappropriately altered internal documents, withheld certain pieces of correspondence, and produced mysteriously incomplete records.

Daioleslam and other NIAC opponents maintain the organization is still camouflaging its pro-Tehran activity.

“It is a great pleasure to see [Daioleslam] vindicated at long last from the harassment suit brought by an individual and an organization whose lobbying agenda dovetails perfectly with the interests of the bloody dictators of Tehran,” Kenneth Timmerman, executive director of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran, told the Free Beacon.

“The court documents indicate that NIAC committed fraud by editing internal documents to illegally shield them from disclosure,” added Timmerman, a Maryland Congressional candidate who has long been involved in the case and is mentioned several times in the court documents.

NIAC has billed itself as a “nonpartisan” organization “dedicated to advancing the interests of the Iranian-American community” since its establishment in 2002.

However, critics such as Daioleslam, who heads the Iranian American Forum, accuse NIAC of carrying water for the Iranian regime.

The group, NIAC’s critics say, has lobbied lawmakers and the Obama administration to weaken economic sanctions on Iran and pursue a softer approach toward the regime’s clandestine nuclear arms program without disclosing its ties to the mullahs in Tehran.

The U.S. government requires that “persons acting as agents” of foreign countries publicly disclose their activities under what is known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The law applies mainly to lobbyists who petition American officials on behalf of foreign governments. Failure to disclose such activities can result in prosecution by the Department of Justice.

NIAC hailed the recent court decision as a “victory” in a statement on its website, claiming that Daioleslam could not prove that his statements “were correct and truthful.”

However, in determining whether Daioleslam actually defamed the group, Judge Bates initiated an exhaustive discovery process that granted the defense team access to scores of NIAC’s records dating back several years. Many of those records cast the group in an unfavorable light.

Diaoleslam called NIAC’s post-decision statement ridiculous, and maintained that he “never rescinded” any of his claims.

“I maintain they lobby in favor of the Iranian regime,” he said. “I believe it more and more, ten times more than before.”

Read more at Free Beacon

Related articles

Why Do American Feminists Support Iran?

Posted on by
Reply

Code Pink was formed to protest aginst America’s “violent” invasion of Iraq after 9/11

by Manda Zand Ervin:

Today, I received an email from an Iranian friend excited about the fact that at last American feminists seemed to be standing up for the women of Iran.

I was truly surprised recently upon hearing that Gloria Steinem finally decided to get involved and, after so many years of silence, is considering speaking out against the human rights violations that Iranian women have faced for 30 years.

For decades we have campaigned against the atrocities inflicted on the people of Iran, but American feminists have shown little interest in  addressing the ever-worsening plight of the Iranian women and children since the 1979 Khomeinist takeover. Their silence has been deafening.

As I read further into Steinem’s petition, I saw the name “Code Pink” and recognized the signature manipulations of that organization’s co-founder, the extremely wealthy Susan “Medea” Benjamin, who has been in bed with some of the most notorious promoters of the Iranian regime in the West.

Susan Benjamin

I first met Benjamin in front of the U.S. Congress when she tried Susan Benjamin vehemently to stop me from entering into the Capitol building. I gave her one of my cards and tried to discuss with her the fact that women in Iran lack the most basic human rights. I told her if she truly cared she could help us Iranian women in the U.S. assist women inside Iran. And instead of being open to listening she gave me nothing more than the self-interested Code Pink prescription for Iranians.

A month later I heard Ms. Benjamin was attending a conference on Iran set up by the most ill-reputed Iranian regime lobby, National Iranian American Council, NIAC.

Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, we discovered that Code Pink had taken one of the better-known photos of a women’s group protest inside Iran from 2006 and photoshopped it, erasing the original slogans of human rights and freedom written on a placard and replacing them with their own self-serving, anti-American message.

They put Cheshire cat smiles on the faces and mouths of these innocent Iranian women and added in dancing American Code Pinkos without hijabs, rather than leaving the original images of the protesting Iranian women. Code Pink’s efforts to show Iranian women happy, singing, with a “choice” of hijab, and protesting against America (and not the dictators of Iran) were clearly and obviously disconcerting to say the least.

After a coffee and cake party in New York that Penny Pritzker (her family owns the Hyatt chains) had for Ahmadinejad in September of 2008, Ms. Benjamin and Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evens received personal invitations by the Iranian president to travel to Iran as his guests. A few months later, while the members of Code Pink were merrily having meetings with the members of the ruling clergies and Revolutionary Guards Corps and sightseeing by private planes and special motorcades in Iran, Fatemeh Haghighatpajou was hanged to death for defending her daughter from a rapist.

Read more at Stop Radical Islam

Manda Zand Ervin is the founder and the president of the Alliance of Iranian women. She was the U.S. delegate to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2008.