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Increasingly irate over a delayed arms deal, Iran has threatened to manufacture an advanced missile system itself if Russia does not deliver it to Tehran soon. The warning, sounded by Alaeddin Bouroujerdi, a senior Iranian lawmaker, was the latest in a series of threats by Iranian officials angered at Russia for delaying delivery a much-vaunted missile sales agreement. "Iran is not a country to come to a halt in the face of non-cooperation of other countries," Bouroujerdi was quoted as saying in a local newspaper. "Naturally, and in light of Iran's capabilities, it will be able to produce missile defense...

Saudi Arabian troops and aircraft are now enforcing a ten kilometer deep "kill zone" on the Yemen side of their Yemen border. This is the first combat operation for Saudi forces since 1991 (during the liberation of Kuwait.) This is in support of a four month war between rebel Shia tribesmen and the Yemeni armed forces. Since November 5th, Saudi fighter bombers have flown over a hundred sorties against rebel targets just across the border. Hundreds of smart bombs and missiles have been used. Saudi artillery has fired hundreds of shells at the rebels, and Saudi helicopters and infantry now...

Russia should honor a contract to sell a missile defense system to Iran and not bend to outside pressure, the Islamic Republic's defense minister said in remarks published on Thursday. Russia, which is under Western pressure to distance itself from Iran, has not followed through on proposals to supply high-grade S-300 air defense missiles. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Russia last month for not providing the arms to Iran, which is at odds with the West over its nuclear and missile programs. Israel says the S-300 systems could be used to defend Iranian nuclear facilities against potential air strikes....

ISTANBUL (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday slammed capitalism for the global financial meltdown as he joined Muslim leaders at a summit in Turkey amid increasing pressure on his country over its nuclear drive. "The present economic crisis is due to the capitalist system. The world needs radical change," Ahmadinejad told a one-day economic summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Describing interest rates as the biggest and most fundamental problem of the capitalist system, the Iranian leader said through a translator: "The world system based on usury has collapsed, proving its failure." "We have to...

Iran is preparing to launch its second indigenous communications satellite aboard a Safir-2 (Ambassador) booster rocket, an event that will test the country's ballistic missile capabilities. And, if it's successful, it could impact significantly on U.S.-led negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear ambitions by demonstrating the Iranians' growing mastery of missile technology. Satellite launch vehicles such as the two-stage Safir-2, believed to be a modified Shehab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile, are generally considered to have a potential application as an intercontinental ballistic missile. Ten months ago Iran successfully launched the Omid 1 (Hope) satellite into orbit atop a 72-foot Safir from...

Obama: “wants to move beyond this past, and seeks a relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran” Obama Administration on Anniversary of Embassy and Hostage Seizure in Iran: We're trying to be Friends! By Barry Rubin thelastcrusade.com Will Rogers, the great American comedian of the 1920s and 1930s, famously said, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” The problem with the Obama Administration, at least so far, is that it has never met an enemy that it could identify as such.Of course, the story isn’t over yet. Indeed, one does see signs of change. But we are still...

Yesterday marked the 30th anniver sary of the capture by Khomeinist "stu dents" of the US Embassy in Tehran, triggering the 444-day hostage crisis. The Iranian public seized the chance to reject the regime -- even as the surviving hostage-takers have largely come to regret their actions. For months, Iran's state-controlled media had tried to build up the day as a "turning point" for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's troubled second term. The occasion was supposed to highlight Ahmadinejad's "victory over the American Great Satan" and Washington's implicit acceptance of Iran's nuclear project in recent talks in Geneva and Vienna.

The source of anti-American Islamic Terrorism started today, Nov 4, 1979, in Tehran, Iran. Thank You Jimmy Carter, for abandoning the Shah

Leaders of Iran's opposition movement are to make an unprecedented apology to the US on the 30th anniversary of the storming of the American embassy in Tehran. In a gesture likely to provoke fury among hardliners in the Tehran regime, they will apologise on Wednesday for the hostage crisis that gripped the world for 444 days and led to a decisive break between Iran and the US, which is now routinely denounced as "the Great Satan". Organisers of the Green Movement, the umbrella group that seeks to overturn the official result of the June presidential election, plan to use the...

In the deepening international stand-off over Iran's nuclear program, the Islamic Republic's quest for advanced air- and missile defense technologies could play a decisive role. "For years now, Tehran has been working hard to acquire sophisticated Russian antiaircraft missiles that would make it far tougher for Israeli planes to stage a successful attack on Iranian nuclear facilities," Christian Caryl wrote on October 2nd in the online edition of Foreign Policy magazine. That system is the S-300, an advanced interceptor array believed to be superior to the U.S. Patriot. Russia signed a deal to deliver units of the S-300 to Iran...

Iran To Seek ‘Important Changes’ In Nuclear Deal Move could unravel U.N. plan and open Tehran to harsher sanctions TEHRAN, Iran - Iran wants major amendments within the framework of a U.N. nuclear fuel deal which it says it broadly accepts, a move that could unravel the plan and expose Tehran to the threat of harsher sanctions. The European Union's foreign policy chief said on Tuesday there was no need to rework the U.N. draft and he and France's foreign minister suggested Tehran would expose itself to tougher international sanctions if tried to undo the plan. Among the central planks...

As the United States and its allies haggle with Iran over its nuclear program, Moscow has fueled Western unease about its military links to Tehran by pledging to continue selling arms to the Islamic republic. This has raised speculation that it may brush aside the strident objections of the United States and Israel and supply Iran with advanced S-300PMU surface-to-air missiles that would greatly enhance its defenses against airstrikes. The Russians, who have rejected the proposed imposition of economic sanctions on Iran as "counterproductive," are keeping the waters muddied with contradictory and ambiguous statements regarding the S-300s. On Wednesday, Russia's...

The IRNA news agency said the dead included the deputy commander of the Guard's ground force, Gen. Noor Ali Shooshtari, as well as a chief provincial Guard commander for the area, Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh. The other dead were Guard members or local tribal leaders. Dozens of others were wounded, the report said. The commanders were inside a car on their way to a meeting in the Pishin region near Iran's border with Pakistan when an attacker with explosives blew himself up, IRNA said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the region in Iran's southeast has been at the...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

A week ahead of crunch talks on Iran's nuclear program, the leaders of the U.S., France and the U.K. on Friday accused Tehran of building a covert uranium enrichment facility, a development they said directly challenges the world's non-proliferation rules. Later in the day, Iran publicly confirmed and strongly defended the nuclear fuel facility. Speaking at an overflowing news conference in New York Friday afternoon, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country has complied with rules of the U.N. nuclear agency that requires Tehran inform it of any new enrichment facility six months before any such facility becomes operational, the...

When senior officials from six of the world’s most important nations last sat down with Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, they were presented with a two-page document billed as Tehran’s proposal for negotiations. Written in English, it included spelling mistakes and dealt with a range of issues – except the one issue big powers wanted to talk about: Iran’s nuclear programme...Frustrated officials headed home empty-handed... An administration eager to talk to its enemies has taken over in Washington; in Tehran an election crisis has torn apart society and shaken the regime more severely than at any time since the...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's reported promise to Israeli President Shimon Peres that Moscow will reconsider the sale of powerful S-300 air-defense missiles to Iran could determine whether Israel - and the United States for that matter - launches pre-emptive strikes against Tehran's nuclear facilities. "President Medvedev promised to review this issue once again after I explained that it would have an impact on the balance of forces in our region," Peres said Wednesday following his meeting with the Russian leader in Moscow on Tuesday. Israel has been threatening to attack Iran's controversial nuclear program for many months because the Jewish...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Tehran and Islamabad should move in harmony to expand bilateral energy relations as Pakistan struggles to overcome a looming energy crisis, officials say. Islamabad and Tehran in June signed a bilateral deal for the proposed 1,724-mile Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline. Pakistan would receive 750 million cubic feet per day from the South Pars gas field in Iran to generate electricity under the terms of a 25-year deal. Mian Shaukat Masud, the president of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told a delegation from Tehran that Iran should increase energy exports to Pakistan, the...

While Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s inauguration ceremony was taking place inside the Majlis, people in Tehran were shouting in streets surrounding Baharestan Square – where Majlis building is located – “dwarf, come out” and “death to dictator,” in their 53rd day of protests against the election coup. Simultaneous with the inauguration ceremony in the Majlis building, and while Baharestan Street was in complete control of the military, clashes took place between the public and security forces in surrounding streets and other parts of the capital. Security and Basiji forces had occupied the Baharestan Square and surrounding streets from 7 am. Nevertheless, for...

DUBAI -- Iranian economists are predicting double-digit currency depreciation by year-end, amid expectations that already high levels of capital flight will increase over fears about Iran's economic direction. The government has managed to keep depreciation mostly under 5% a year since 2001, despite the U.S.-led sanctions that limit trade with and imports to the Islamic Republic. But economic problems snowballed after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2005. His lavish spending plans and subsidized loan programs to government insiders have exacerbated inflation and decreased currency reserves. As the president begins his new term, anecdotal evidence shows that the central bank...

Defense: As the failure of engagement with Iran grows more apparent, the administration that has talked very softly may be getting the mother of all sticks ready. Guess we need high-tech Cold War weapons after all.Western intelligence sources have told London's Times that Iran has perfected the means to develop and detonate a nuclear bomb and is merely awaiting word from its supreme leader to produce its first one. Should the order be given, it would take just six months to enrich enough uranium and another six months to assemble the warhead. Time's up. Recently, and perhaps not coincidentally, Defense...

TEHRAN, Iran — Witnesses say Iranian police and pro-government militia have attacked and scattered hundreds of protesters in Iran's capital. One of the witnesses says the protests were in response to demonstrations held around the world calling for the Iranian government to release opposition activists.

"Friday Prayers, another occasion to come out into the streets As with other such days, I felt a dual sense of fear and fervor, heightened by the uncertainty of whether people would turn out or not. I arranged to go with friends, because the past month’s experiences have taught me that going alone is unsafe. I remembered to put my name and number on a piece of paper in my pocket so if anything happens to me, my family can be notified. Two kilometers left to the venue: Tehran University, Prayer Hall" -- "Generosity has become commonplace in Tehran these...

Iran Human Rights, July 1: Six people were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison early this morning July 1. reported the state run Iranian news agency ISNA. None of those who were executed today were identified by name, age or details around what they were convicted of. The state run news site "young journalist’s club" also reported that one man identified as Alireza (28) was hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison convicted of murdering his friend. Jerusalem Post , quoting a source in Iran, reported that six poeple were hanged in Tehran in relation with the recent pro-democracy demonstrations in Iran. Iran...

Iran 'must free UK embassy staff' David Miliband: "Harassment and intimidation" The European Union has demanded the immediate release of Iranian staff at Britain's embassy in Tehran detained on Saturday over post-election unrest. EU ministers meeting in Greece warned that "harassment or intimidation" of embassy staff would be met with a "strong and collective" response. Iranian media reported the detention of eight local staff at the UK mission over their alleged role in the unrest. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband dismissed the allegations as baseless. Relations between the countries are strained since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the UK of stoking...

The doctor who tried to save an Iranian protester as she bled to death on a street in Tehran has told the BBC of her final moments. Dr Arash Hejazi, who is studying at a university in the south of England, said he ran to Neda Agha-Soltan's aid after seeing she had been shot in the chest. Despite his attempts to stop the bleeding she died in less than a minute, he said. Dr Hejazi says he posted the video of Ms Soltan's death on the internet and images of her have become a rallying point for Iranian opposition supporters...

Being Reported on TV - not yet online.

June 24, 2009 Saeed Mortazavi: butcher of the press - and torturer of Tehran? Jenny Booth and James Hider The Iranian regime has appointed one of its most feared prosecutors to interrogate reformists arrested during demonstrations, prompting fears of a brutal crackdown against dissent. Relatives of several detained protesters have confirmed that the interrogation of prisoners is now being headed by Saaed Mortazavi, a figure known in Iran as “the butcher of the press”. He gained notoriety for his role in the death of a Canadian-Iranian photographer who was tortured, beaten and raped during her detention in 2003. “The leading...

That seems to be the word coming from Twitter today. Major demonstrations were broken up by tear Here are some of the examples. Lalezar Sq is same as Baharestan - unbelevable - ppls murdered everywhere ... Heavy conflict between protestors and special guards at Sa'adi cinema intersection

Nov. 4 will mark the 30th anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history. A horde of Iranian militants poured down Taleghani Street in Tehran, crashing through the gates of the U.S. embassy, taking 52 Americans hostage. Bound and blindfolded, our countrymen were paraded in front of TV cameras and threatened for 444 days. It took more than five months for the emasculated Jimmy Carter presidency to hatch a rescue attempt. -SNIPPeople said at the time: What good does this do? America cannot chip away at totalitarianism with mere words! How wrong they were. An American president's words...

Okay, stumbled upon this via the interesting Tehran thread at Skyscrapercity.com . Purportedly from June 17 in Tehran a woman steps into traffic without mandatory hijab and with an rather un-islamic dress. The folks in the car filming repeatedly ask whether Revolution has broken out. LOL. This took guts. Hope they don't find her. Video at Youtube

In Cairo, three weeks ago, President Obama credited Islam with the “enlightenment” of Europe, post Dark Ages. After praising Muslim innovation — algebra, pen and compass — (Babylonians, Chinese and Chinese) he credited his father's clan with the inception of the European Renaissance, misappropriating credit mainly due the Dark Age, Irish monks of the Catholic Church. He then blamed western “colonialism” for the disaffection of modern-day Muslims, when it was the Ottoman Muslims, themselves, who were the great subjugators of the Middle East; in fact, the entire history of Islam has been a colonization bathed in blood. From the fall...

A judiciary official says tribunals will process hundreds of 'rioters' and 'thugs' caught in security sweeps during the unrest after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was reelected president. Reporting from Tehran -- Iran's judiciary will set up a special court to try protesters arrested in the surge of civil unrest since the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a judiciary official said on state television, as the government continues its crackdown aimed at crushing its greatest domestic challenge in 30 years.

An Iranian philosophy professor protesting the elections in Iran has revealed in his personal diary on Facebook.com scenes that vary from surreal comedy to all-too-real brutality. After the beating of a riot policeman, he admits, “We’re not beasts! We’re not like them!’ I think, ‘But the bastard deserves it.’ I don’t recognize myself and my feelings anymore.”

Iran's Basij force: the shock troops terrorising protesters Protesters marching the streets of Tehran feared one thing more than any other: a sudden attack by the plain-clothed toughs of the Islamic Basij militia. By Angus McDowall 21 Jun 2009 Armed with sticks, motorbike chains, knives and axes, the more extreme members have long been used as shock troops by the regime to cow demonstrators with brutal displays of violence. Mounted on motorbikes, the militia's standard strategy is to charge the crowd, one man driving and another riding pillion using a truncheon to lash out at stragglers. They have also been...

Basij shots to death a young woman in Tehran's Saturday June 20th protests At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi St. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Thousands of protesters defied Iran's highest authority Saturday and marched on waiting security forces that fought back with baton charges, tear gas and water cannons as the crisis over disputed elections lurched into volatile new ground. In a separate incident, a state-run television channel reported that a suicide bombing at the shrine of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed at least two people and wounded eight. The report could be not independently evaluated due to government restrictions on journalists. If proven true, the reports could enrage conservatives and bring strains among backers of opposition...

Thirty years ago, the Ayatollah Khomeini used audio cassettes and videotapes to spread his message of dissent and Islamic revolution across Iran. The old theocrat and his followers knew how to exploit the audio-visual media available to them to stoke rebellion. A generation later, young Iranians have again taken to the streets, this time to protest the "landslide" re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a vote that his reformist opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, insists was rigged. But this is a very different media environment. The Iranian government can ban and restrict the professional journalists who are trying to cover the demonstrations....

As dawn emerges over Tehran, the world awaits the outcome of the latest, great struggle for liberty.While none of us born in the US can quite grasp either the fear or exhilaration experienced by those on the streets of Tehran, they should know that we, the PEOPLE of the United States of America stand with them.To our great shame, our government does not.One day this historic injustice will be rectified.

Demonstration and Protests to Election Results – The 5th Day•17 June, 2009 • 50 Comments Tehran, 2009/6/17 Iranian protestors to 2009 Presidental election results, had a “silent demonstration” at the 5th day of protests. They moved from 7tir square to Enqelab square. The protestors want to revoke this elections. P.S: Many websites and news agencies linked to this website and photos. Thanks to everybody for supporting me and protestors. Sueddeutsche.de has write an article about me and some other media that reports the news from Tehran. It’s available Here.

Iranian government officials warned Wednesday that they would seek the death penalty for detainees who have been arrested for organizing post-election opposition rallies in Tehran and elsewhere around the country. The Iranian Fars news agency quoted Mohammadreza Habibi, an Iranian provincial prosecutor as saying the "few elements" behind the unrest could face the death penalty under Islamic law. The prosecutor-general of the central province of Esfahan said "these few elements" were controlled from outside the country and warned them to stop their "criminal activities." Thousands of Iranians planned to protest for a fifth day in the capital against the skewed...

There is a reason mothers everywhere get apoplectic when their children stick their hands out the car window. Barack Obama, who is determined to “extend a hand” to nasty regimes snubbed by the previous administration, has already received two hard lessons in this maternal wisdom.

I heard several disparate reports from around Tehran today that claimed the real instigators of the violence were arabic speaking goons imported from Lebanon and/or Syria. Any info?

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) – Seven people were killed when a military post was attacked near a rally held a day ago in Tehran to protest the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, radio Payam announced. "Several thugs wanted to attack a military post and vandalise public property in the vicinity of Azadi Square," the radio said referring to the site of the rally held on Monday. "Unfortunately seven people were killed and several others wounded in the incident." However, a source told AFP that the emergency services department had information that eight people were killed and several wounded in the incident.

Note: The following blog entry is a quote: Blog Details Russian Official: Iran, Russia – Regional Powers The vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia said yesterday that Iran and Russia are the two leading regional countries that play an important role in ensuring stability in the region. Georgy Petrov told IRNA that the two countries enjoy amicable cooperation that benefit the Caspian Sea littoral countries, the Caucasus, and the Central Asian states. He said that the "Tehran-Moscow cooperation threatens no country," and added that gas cooperation between Iran and Russia is not only within the framework...

BLOG: Note: The following blog entry is a quote: Iran, Venezuela to Expand Defense Ties Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, heading a high-ranking defense delegation, arrived in Caracas on Monday to promote Tehran-Venezuela relations. During his three-day visit, Mohammad Najjar is slated to attend meetings with senior Venezuelan political and defense officials. The visit to Caracas by the Iranian defense minister is the first since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Source: Fars, Iran, April 27, 2009 Posted at: 2009-04-28

<p>The Obama administration has asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit against Iran filed by Americans held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran 30 years ago.</p> <p>The request comes in a $6.6 billion class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. Fifty-two American diplomats and military officials were held captive for more than a year at the end of Jimmy Carter's presidency by a group of Islamist students who supported the Iranian revolution.</p>

Blogger becomes casualty of Iran cyber-wars The Associated Press - ‎Apr 11, 2009‎ He was Iran's first known casualty in the skirmishes between bloggers challenging the Islamic regime and authorities striking back with the tools they know ...

<p>WASHINGTON - At least 80 wealthy liberals have pledged to contribute at least $1 million each to fund a network of think tanks and advocacy groups, to compete with the potent conservative infrastructure built up during the last three decades.</p>