Free Republic

JALLOWAL, India Within days, the monsoon will arrive in India. If generous, it will lend another year of survival to hundreds of millions of villagers. ...But now a country that long struggled to feed itself is making preparations to feed the world. Multinational companies from Wal-Mart to Rothschild Group to PepsiCo are wagering that India could parlay its tropical climate and the latent energies of hundreds of millions of farm dwellers into a position as an agribusiness powerhouse, exporting fruits and vegetables, spices, flowers, wine, ice cream, poultry, shrimp, fish and even pasta. "To my mind, this opportunity of agriculture...

Orumieh, Iran, May 26 – At least six anti-government protestors were killed by security forces during clashes late Thursday in the north-western town of Naqadeh, according to dissidents. The incident occurred as more than 1,000 Iranian Azeris took part in a rally outside the governor’s office. Angry protestors torched both the governor’s office and the local office of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. In the course of clashes between protestors and security forces, at least six people were killed and dozens injured. The deaths brought to at least nine the number of protestors killed by government forces since...

Southern Iraq, long touted as a peaceful region that's likely to be among the first areas returned to Iraqi control, is now dominated by Shiite Muslim warlords and militiamen who are laying the groundwork for an Islamic fundamentalist government, say senior British and Iraqi officials in the area. The militias appear to be supported by Iranian intelligence or military units that are shipping weapons to the militias in Iraq and providing training for them in Iran. Some British officials believe the Iranians want to hasten the withdrawal of U.S.-backed coalition forces to pave the way for Iran-friendly clerical rule. Iranian...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iran has ruled out for now proposed talks with the United States over the future of Iraq because of Washington's "negative" attitude, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Friday. "We had decided to have direct talks on the issue of Iraq with Americans," Mottaki, visiting Baghdad, said at a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshiyar Zebari. "Unfortunately, the American side tried to use this decision as propaganda and they raised some other issues. They tried to create a negative atmosphere and that's why the decision which was taken for the time being is suspended,"...

May 26, 2006 (by Harold C. Hutchison) - The threat by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez selling 21 of Venezuela's F-16 fighters to Iran, has gained press attention. However, this is a threat that is largely empty in terms of potential harm to the United States. The F-16s in question were acquired in 1983 and 1984, and are technically the F-16A/B Block 15 (F-16s currently in service with the US Air Force are F-16C/D Block 50s, with the F-16E/F Block 60 being built for the UAE). The planes in question are twenty years old – and for the F-16, that is...

AS UNPRECEDENTED Taleban violence sweeps across southern Afghanistan, four players in the region — Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and Nato — are locked in a tense standoff rather than cooperating to defeat the terrorists. At stake is the future survival of Afghanistan’s moderate government and stability in Pakistan. To prop up Afghanistan and combat the Taleban, the US and NATO may have to make major concessions to Pakistan’s military regime, but any concessions would anger the Afghans, encourage the extremists and allow the unpopular military to dominate Pakistanís political scene for another five years. More than 200 people were killed...

Russia's defence minister has confirmed that Moscow intends to honour a controversial deal to supply Iran with surface-to-air missiles. The contract for up to 30 missile systems would be fulfilled except in "extraordinary circumstances", Sergei Ivanov said, without elaborating. He stressed that, because of their technical characteristics, the missiles could not be used by terrorist groups. The $700m (£380m) deal, signed last year, has been condemned by the US. Washington wants all countries to stop exporting weapons to Iran. Russia insists its short-range Tor-M1 system is purely defensive. "As far as Russia's position is concerned, we strictly abide by all...

Iraq supports Iran's right to pursue nuclear research, its new foreign minister said today, taking a position at odds with that of the Bush administration. The foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, spoke during a visit to Baghdad by Iran's foreign minister, Manoucher Mottaki, that marked the reconciliation of two countries that fought a long and bloody war two decades ago. According to news service accounts, Mr. Zebari said that Iraq does not want "any of our neighbors to have weapons of mass destruction." But he also confirmed "the right of the republic of Iran and the right of any other state...

Top News Story Protests, Protests, and more Unrest in Iran over the past few days.Protests: Iran Press News reported on the protest and conflict at Najafabad University. A first hand account.Iran Press News reported that students from the Abbasspour University for Water and Power Industry protested against the regime's guards in their university.Iran Press News reported that an angry mob, protesting the violent and oppressive actions of the disciplinary forces of the regime, attacked governmental bureaus in the Province of Qeshm.SMCCDI reported that drivers of many Iranian Collective Buses refused to validate passenger's tickets, today, in order to protest...

Two recent reports from inside of Iran, if accurate, are very troubling. Iran's Government Seeks Agreement with 12th Imam - in hiding since 13th century?Kamal Tehrani, Rooz Online: a "reformist" website In a formal cabinet meeting chaired by Iran's new president’s first deputy, the ministers printed and ratified an agreement with the Shiites' 12th Imam. In his opening remarks, Parviz Davoudi, Ahmadinejad' first deputy suggested that the cabinet ministers should sign an agreement with 12th Imam, the same way they signed a pact with the new president. The ministers collectively agreed and so there is now an agreement between...

Top News Story Iranmania LONDON, October 16 (IranMania) -Iranian officials said on Sunday they suspected British involvement in a double bomb attack in the ethnic-Arab dominated city of Ahvaz, despite furious denials and condemnation of the attacks from London. Two bombs exploded outside a crowded market late Saturday in Ahvaz, capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan province adjacent to British-occupied southern Iraq. Five people were killed and more than 100 injured, according to the latest official toll. "Since there are British troops present alongside our border, there is a concern over their involvement in the explosions in Ahvaz," Alaeddin Borujerdi,...

Iran's hard-lines admit defeat in IraqIran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi The regime-run web site, BAZTAB, in a report admitted to the regime's political defeat in soliciting the support of the people of Iraq and the region where dozens of Arab-language media, backed by the regime, including Al Alam TV are being broadcast. BAZTAB wrote: "The Al Alam news channel was supposed to be the mouthpiece for the views of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Arab-speaking countries and was meant to compete with some of these immoral western TV networks, in order to restore the popularity of...

Top News Story UK 'sells' bomb material to Iran DTI is accused of approving controversial exports British officials have approved the export of key components needed to make nuclear weapons to Iran and other countries known to be developing such weapons. An investigation by BBC Radio 4 programme File on Four will disclose that the Department of Trade and Industry allowed a quantity of the metal, Beryllium, to be sold to Iran last year. That metal is needed to make nuclear bombs. Britain has had an arms embargo to Iran since 1993 and has signed up to an international...

Top News Story The al-Zawahiri Letter A window into the mind of the enemy.by Dan Darling 10/12/2005 7:20:00 PM THE FULL TEXT of the just-released letter from al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri to Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, dated July 9, 2005, makes it clear that not only are al-Zawahiri and bin Laden symbolic leaders to the global jihad, but they are still active in running their terror network, too. The letter includes references to the fighting in Afghanistan, a peripheral acknowledgement of ongoing al Qaeda-backed insurgencies in Chechnya and Kashmir, and a discussion of the steps the...

Top News Story Iran accused of training Iraqi bombers Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:50 AM BST LONDON (Reuters) - London has accused Iran of running training camps to teach militants how to carry out roadside bomb attacks on British troops in southern Iraq, according to newspaper reports on Wednesday.The government believes Iran's Revolutionary Guard has taught Shi'ite militia members from Iraq how to make armour-piercing devices, the Daily Mirror reported, citing an unnamed defence source."There is evidence that there are teaching camps in Iran, Lebanon and maybe Syria," the source was quoted as saying. "It means up to 10...

Two Under-reported Developments in Iran's Nuclear Programs. Iran Designs Nuke Warhead For Shihab-3 Middle East Newsline: Iran was said to have designed a nuclear warhead for the Shihab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile. The United States has briefed several nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency of an Iranian program to develop a nuclear warhead for the Shihab-3. Diplomatic sources said the U.S. briefers asserted that from 2001 to 2003 Iran designed and developed a circular warhead that could detonate at an altitude meant to ensure optimal damage. An empty nuclear warhead was said to have been installed on the Shihab-3...

Top News Story Now we know the truth about Iran, we must actBy Con Coughlin(Filed: 09/10/2005)It was not the outcome the Foreign Office had been planning. When it was announced early last week that a senior British diplomat in Baghdad was flying back to London to give a briefing on Iraq's constitutional referendum, the general expectation in Whitehall was that the following day's headlines would focus exclusively on whether sufficient numbers of Iraqis would turn out to validate the exercise.Imagine the surprise, then, of Jack Straw and his officials the following morning when they opened their newspapers to discover...

Top News Story Iran Focus A powerful Iranian cleric told Tehran’s Friday prayers worshippers the Islamic Republic was unwavering in its nuclear venture and unafraid of international sanctions. “We mustn’t be afraid of sanctions. Even though there is a loss, it also has benefits. We should not fear the losses”, Guardian Council chief Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said. “If we have made any headway these days, it is because of these sanctions against us. Otherwise, we would be like these Arab countries, who have to import everything”, Jannati said. “If we fear sanctions then we will have to accept submission”,...

Top News Story Rooz Online Is Iran about to make concessions on human rights? Arash Motamed The judiciary directive to release imprisoned student activists, which was initially requested by the "Association for the Defense of the Rights of Prisoners" that specifically called for the release of 34 prisoners, and the judiciary’s recent emphasis on the necessity of having juries for political trials are new initiatives from the ultra-conservatives now in the driving seat in Tehran that signal more than just simple administrative changes. In less than three months since it has come to power, the administration of president Ahmadinejad,...

Top News Story Blair links Iraq bombings to row over Iran's nuclear program Ewen MacAskill, Brian WhitakerFriday October 7, 2005The Guardian Tony Blair warned yesterday he will not be diverted from the debate over Iran's nuclear programme by Tehran's suspected involvement in a series of deadly bomb attacks on British soldiers this year. Speaking at Downing Street 24 hours after a British official pointed a finger of blame at Tehran, Mr Blair said: "There are certain pieces of information that lead us back to Iran."Such attacks would not prevent Britain continuing to press for Iran to abandon its alleged...