Free Republic

Iranian army's ground force will hold a military drill to test its missile power capacities, Commander of the Army's Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said. The military exercise dubbed "Beit ol-Moqaddas 27" will take place in Iran's central province of Esfahan on May 23-24, Pourdastan said, IRNA news agency reported. “Rocket and missile capabilities of the army's ground force are improved, the commander said, adding the capabilities will be evaluated in the two-day exercise. Tehran held a similar drill last May and tested a series of its newest domestically-made missiles. Iranian media outlets report that Iran has made...

According to first unconfirmed reports, central Tehran was hit Sunday night with massive blasts leaving many hundreds of people dead. Witnesses report heavy Revolutionary Guards and Basij forces speeding to the area. Thee are also reports of explosions in the southern Iranian town of Isfahan - also unconfirmed.

The Ayatollah’s Nuclear Gamble written by Khosrow B. Semnani, and published by the Hinckley Institute of Politics, University of Utah has concluded a strike would include four sites and irradiate up to 100,000 Iranian citizens and soldiers. The four locations include: Isfahan: The Nuclear Technology/Research Center in Esfahan (ENTC) is supposed to be the main location of the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Semnani predicts 1,000 workers here will be killed, and up to 70,000 casualties in the surrounding areas from toxic plumes: 71,000 Natanz: One-hundred miles north of Isfhahan, this location has been in use for about 12 years and...

The first clear pictures of Iran’s nuclear site near Isfahan have been published and analyzed following an explosion at or near the site on Nov. 28, and they provide another piece of the puzzle. But what happened there remains a mystery. -excerpt- ISIS analysts who looked at the images from Isfahan said there had been a dramatic change in the landscape around a tunnel leading down to a storage facility on the periphery of the uranium conversion site. Several structures above that storage facility, which had been there for 15 years and stood intact as recently as August, are gone....

'Huge explosion' heard in Iranian city Isfahan, Fars news agency reports - @BBCWorld eom

Demonstrations in Esfahan and Najafabad are evidence that the opposition movement has spread beyond Tehran to include a broad cross-section of people in central Iran. Esfahan and Najafabad were the "spiritual capitals" of the late Montazeri, said Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, a Tehran analyst and journalist who strongly supports the opposition movement. The harsh crackdown against Montazeri's supporters has the potential to drive them deeper into the opposition camp. "What has happened was a religious reaction out of devotion and conviction" to Montazeri, he said. "While on the surface the unrest has no relation with the political agenda of the green [opposition]...

Heavy clashes have been reported outside an Isfahan mosque where a memorial ceremony was due to be held in honor of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a founding architect of the Iranian Revolution and spiritual father of Iran's opposition Green Movement. The clashes come two days after a funeral ceremony for the 87-year-old Montazeri, who died on December 19 in his home in Qom, turned into a huge antigovernment protest in the holy city located southwest of the capital. Eyewitnesses tell RFE/RL that as mourners and opposition supporters arrived for today's memorial service, they found security forces and plainclothes agents...

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Note: The following blog entry is a quote: Blog Details Senior Iranian Official: We Did Not Stop Uranium Enrichment during Khatami's Presidency Hassan Rohani, who served as secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council during the Khatami administration, denied Ahmadinejad's accusations that the reformists had suspended Iran's uranium enrichment during Khatami's presidency. He claimed that one of the purposes of the nuclear dossier negotiations during that period was to buy time to complete the construction of the nuclear facilities in Esfahan and Natanz. He added that the Khatami government had not suspended for a single moment either the construction...

Reports from Inside Iran Armed revolt by Bakhtiari, Lor and Ghashghai tribes against the Islamic Regime has reportedly flared up. Yesterday, freedom seeking tribal fighters in the Isfahan and surrounding provinces and region began fighting local Islamic Regime forces and freeing their villages and townships from the Islamic Regime's control. The Semirom area, which is on the Ghashghai tribal migrations route, apparently saw heavy fighting and more clashes occurred in between Isfahan Province and Yassooj further south, which is the center of the Boyer-Ahmadi tribal territory. Local fighters from the various tribes, confronted Islamic Regime paramilitary forces – the IRGC...

Unrest in Esfahan SMCCDI (Information Service) Apr 3, 2004 Windows of several banks and public buildings were smashed in Esfahan during a protest demo which took place, today, in the Jey Avenue. Hundreds of residents defied the security forces and set tires ablaze in order to show their anger of the local Islamic funds' empty promises on the restitution of millions of Tomans (Iranian currency) of their deposited assets. The rumor of the bankruptcy of the local Islamic funds has resulted on massive withdraws and is leading toward its collapse. The situation is very tense and protesters have promised to...

<p>Let's imagine that Hizbollah's stated policy of "mega-terrorism" bears fruit, and a second Pi Glilot attack succeeds. Alertness and sharpened contingency plans mean that the blast and oil-fed fires kill fewer Israelis than expected, and "only" 2,500 die. Two weeks later, Hamas' new strategic direction bears fruit and they manage chemical attacks at several points in and around Tel Aviv. A couple thousand people are hospitalized, a couple hundred die. The total for both attacks is now 3,000 dead and 6,000 injured, many severely.</p>