Iranian Alert -- December 20, 2003 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

Aussie Planes Spy on Iran

December 20, 2003
AAP
The Age

Australian aircraft have reportedly followed US military orders to spy on Iran without first getting approval from Defence Minister Robert Hill.

The Sun-Herald says two specially equipped RAAF Orion P3C planes flying surveillance missions over Iraq were diverted by US military commanders earlier this year to gather electronic intelligence on Iran.

Senator Hill was angered by the RAAF's agreement to fly the mission against Iran without clearing it with him first, according to the newspaper's sources in Canberra.

Senator Hill declined to answer questions from The Sun-Herald about the controversial decision, which would normally require ministerial approval.

"Hill was entitled to be consulted from the start on such a politically delicate decision even if he was expected to eventually agree," a senior defence source told the newspaper.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/21/1071941590101.html

Mofaz: No Casualties if we Strike at Iranian Nukes

December 21, 2003
Ha'aretz
Amir Oren

An operation to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities if necessary is under consideration, according to Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. Speaking in Persian last week on Israel Radio, Mofaz said that if the need arises to destroy Iran's nuclear capability, "the necessary steps will be taken so that Iranian citizens will not be harmed."

The bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdad in 1981 was carried out on a local holiday when it was assumed that the facility would be empty or nearly empty, and one person, a French technician, was killed in the attack.

In the two decades since, air attacks have become more sophisticated, to allow precise hits without collateral damage.

In his visit to Washington last month, Mofaz called Iranian nuclearization "insufferable," and he said that Israel would take steps to prevent it.

In a report to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Mossad head Meir Dagan recently described the Iranian threat as the greatest one Israel has ever faced, but did not say how Israel would counter it.

Senior Israeli officials have been less direct than Mofaz in their pronouncements regarding Iranian nuclear capability - the defense minister's radio statements were the first of their kind by a high-ranking Israeli.

A radio listener had asked about the statement of Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Hussein Dahakan that Iran sees Israel and the U.S. as a "principle threat" that is essentially technological, and the response to it is by means of "other tools."

Mofaz, who was born in Iran and left with his family at age nine, said that Israel bears no animosity toward the Iranian people. The two countries had good relations until a few years ago, he noted, saying Israel has no aggressive plans against Iraq. However, if Israel is attacked, Mofaz said, it will use all means to defend its territory and its citizens.

Dahakan said last week that Iran had neglected the development of its long-range Shihab 4 missile and is moving ahead in upgrading the Shihab 3, but experts in Israel say that the change is in terminology, and not in development. The effective range of the Shihab 3, estimated until last summer at 1,300 kilometers, has been extended to make it possible to hit Israel even from central Iran.

In a military parade in Tehran a few weeks ago, a model of the Shihab 3 was presented with the claim that its range was 1,700 kilometers, "straight into the heart of the enemy."

According to Israel Radio Persian programming director Menashe Amir, many listeners called the station and asked Mofaz for Israel to "save them the way Cyrus the Great did 2,500 years ago when he allowed the Babylonian exiles to return to their homeland, and as President Bush helped the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan to liberate themselves from tyrants."

Mofaz was careful not to promise aid of this type, but said he sympathized with the Iranian people and wished them success in its struggle. Mofaz said that the U.S. had more work ahead after Afghanistan and Iraq, and hinted that the work included Iran and Syria. He insinuated that the regime of Saddam Hussein presented a "more urgent threat" to Israel than Iran.

Mofaz refused to answer the question of a listener from the Kurdish region of northern Iraq about Israel's stand regarding the Kurds.

Mofaz told listeners he had heard about an Iranian Jew, one of 12, who had disappeared eight years ago in an attempt to escape to Pakistan and that Israel "saw an obligation to protect Jews wherever they are."

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/374030.html

Libya's Fatal Blow to Axis of Evil

December 21, 2003
Sunday Herald
David Pratt and Trevor Royle

The end of the threat posed to world peace and secure oil supplies by the “axis of evil” is emerging this weekend as the real prize that Tony Blair and George Bush have secured for Christmas.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took the decision to renounce all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) on Friday night, but while at first it was thought this only had implications for Libya it is now clear that his decision has scuppered a secret partnership between Libya, Iran and North Korea formed with the intention of developing an independent nuclear weapon.

New documents revealed yesterday show that the three were working on the nuclear weapons programme at a top-secret underground site near the Kufra Oasis of the Sahara in southeastern Libya. The team was made up of North Korean scientists, engineers and technicians, as well as some Iranian and Libyan nuclear scientists.

North Korea and Iran, originally dubbed by Bush as the axis of evil along with Iraq, avoided detection by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) inspectors by each member farming out vital sections of its projects to its fellow members.

Iran, which is now in the final stages of uranium enrichment for its program, is badly hit, having counted on fitting into place key parts of its WMD project made in Libya. North Korea may also be forced to scale back the production of nuclear devices as well as counting the loss of a lucrative source of income for its Scuds and nuclear technology.

Yesterday, Tripoli acted swiftly to prove its commitment to the world at large when the head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, met a senior Libyan official in Vienna to discuss eliminating the programme.

Almost 15 years to the day since Gaddafi’s agents brought down a PanAm jet over Lockerbie and eight months after US and British troops toppled Saddam Hussein, the Libyan leader has now opened the prospect of an end to sanctions and a return of US oil firms.

The news has delighted three American oil companies, Marathon, Amerada Hess, and ConocoPhillips whose Libyan leases were about to expire. They all pulled out of Libya in 1986 after the US imposed strict sanctions against the regime.

Tripoli’s announcement on Friday was the culmination of secret talks with Britain and the US launched around the time of the Iraq invasion. The initial approach to discuss how to bring Libya in from the cold was made by Libya’s chief of intelligence, Musa Qusa, who contacted the British government in March, amid preparations for war on Iraq.

“You could say that these discussions followed on from the Lockerbie contacts,” a spokesman for Blair said yesterday. It was in March that the deal was done by Libya to settle with the families of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103.

Months of secret diplomatic activity followed which led to the clandestine three-week visit to at least 10 sites in Libya. British and US weapons experts who inspected laboratories and military factories in October and early December established that Libyan scientists were “developing a nuclear fuel cycle intended to support nuclear weapons development.” The British team also saw “significant quantities of chemical agent” and “bombs designed to be filled with chemical agent.”

Following the visit, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Blair’s national security adviser, and Condoleezza Rice, Bush’s national security adviser, held intense negotiations with Libyan officials in the days leading up to Friday’s declaration.

Blair had his first-ever telephone conversation with Gaddafi on Thursday, in which they discussed the declaration.

Libya finally transmitted the statement to British officials at about 9pm and, after trans lation and an “assessment” on both sides of the Atlantic, it was released to the press at about 10.15pm.

The breakthrough capped a week of positive developments for London and Washington that began with the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and followed with a pledge from Iran to submit to unfettered inspections of its nuclear industry.

Bush implied in his remarks at the White House on Friday that there would now be reciprocity. “As the Libyan government takes these essential steps and demonstrates its seriousness, its good faith will be returned. Libya can regain a secure and respected place among the nations, and over time, achieve far better relations with the United States.”

Gaddafi’s move also sounds a warning for Israel. If Washington manages to dispose of Iran’s nuclear program and Syria’s unconventional weaponry, attention will focus on Israel as the only remaining Middle Eastern nuclear power.

http://www.sundayherald.com/38834

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