Free Republic

Top News Story Iran Denies Receiving Russian Nuke Offer The Jerusalem Post:Iran denied on Sunday that it had received from Russia a proposal for moving its uranium enrichment facilities to Russian territory, a compromise Europe is seeking to resolve controversy over Iran's nuclear program. Russia announced a day earlier that it had formally put the proposal to Teheran. Iran has so far insisted it would not agree to moving enrichment abroad, and it was not clear if Teheran's denial was an attempt to gain time without directly rejecting a proposal from Moscow, a longtime ally. "We have not received...

Top News Story Friedman on The Real Iran Myths Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times:I'd like to thank Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for his observation that the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews was just a "myth." You just don't see world leaders expressing themselves so honestly anymore — not about the Holocaust but about their own anti-Semitism and the real character of their regimes. But since Iran's president has raised the subject of "myths," why stop with the Holocaust? Let's talk about Iran. Let's start with the myth that Iran is an Islamic "democracy" and that Ahmadinejad was...

Top News Story Senate Democrats Soften Iran Resolution BY BRIAN McGUIRE - Staff Reporter of the Sun December 23, 2005 WASHINGTON - A Senate resolution condemning the president of Iran for anti-Semitic comments he made earlier this month is riling its Republican sponsors on Capitol Hill. They claim Senate Democrats forced them to strip language from the document expressing support for self-determination and a national referendum in the country.Senator Santorum, a Republican of Pennsylvania, drafted the resolution after a December 14 speech in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Holocaust a "myth" and suggested Israel be relocated to Europe, Canada,...

Top News Story Americans demand the US Senate schedule hearings on Iran. DoctorZin: So after receiving yesterday'’s report on the situation, several Iranian satellite broadcasters (NITV and SOS Iran) asked their listeners, which include millions of Iranians, to call Chairman Lugar'’s office and their own Senator'’s office demanding hearings on the Iran Freedom and Support Act. Blog Update:The Corner warned that Senate democrats were playing politics with the future of the people of Iran.Dean'’s World called "“deplorable"” the US Senate's "“betraying democratic values." Ed Driscoll appeared shocked, saying: Regime Change Iran? I'm In Favor.Atlas Shrugs asked her readers to...

Top News Story MEMRI The following are excerpts from a TV discussion with Iranian political analysts Dr. Hasan Hanizadeh(1) and Dr. Ali-Reza Akbari, which aired on Jaam-e Jam 2 TV on December 20, 2005. The discussion began with the subject of the denial of the existence of crematoria at Auschwitz, and went on to explain in detail how Jewish rabbis in Europe used to kill children and take their blood for use during the Passover holiday. TO VIEW CLIP, VISIT: Ali-Reza Akbari: "Historians and eye-witnesses, some of whom are still alive... There are still many people who saw with...

Top News Story Underreported US Senate Resolution on Iran reveals a lack of conviction DoctorZin:Last Friday, the day after millions of Iraqi's voted in an historic election, the US Senate passed a resolution condemning the recent alarming statements by Iran's President. Surprisingly, the mainstream media ignored the resolution while the international press has been avidly covering similar resolutions adopted by countries around the world. Unfortunately, the story behind the resolution revealed a disturbing lack of conviction by some in the US Senate. The resolution, authored by US Rick Santorum, was in his words "a mild condemnation" version of the...

Top News Story New Limits on Travel Abroad Adnkronos International:Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued a circular warning all ministers and state bodies that "no official may go abroad, on a mission or for personal reasons, without prior authorisation and without coordinating with the foreign ministry". In the circular, signed by the deputy president Parwiz Davoodi, no reason is given for the decision. "The aim is to avoid misunderstandings," a presidential source told the Iranian news agency Fars. Since the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last July, there has been an increasing flow of financial and human capital to neighbouring...

Top News Story What is behind Ahmadinejad’s anti-Israel remarks? Mehran Riazaty: a former Iran analyst for the Central Command of the Coalition Forces in Baghdad in the office of Strategic Communication. Ahmadinejad could not tie his shoe-laces without supports of powerful Ayatollahs such as Khamenei, Rafsanjani, Janati, Kashani, Mesbah Yazdi his mentor, and many others in Iran. The main question is why Ahmadinejad made these comments? These comments are not definitely made by accident. During Khatami’s presidency, Hassan Rohani, who used to be Iran’s Supreme National Security Chief, wrote a letter to him and explained Iran’s Political Strategy: Creating...

Top News Story Deutsche Presse-Agentur German Intelligence Warns That Iran Has New Missiles Deutsche Presse-Agentur:German intelligence believes Iran has now bought 18 longer-range missiles from North Korea, giving Teheran the capability to attack targets in central Europe, the German daily newspaper Bild reported Friday. The study by the foreign intelligence service BND said the BM-25 missiles were being purchased from Pyongyang in the form of kit sets. The mobile missiles, which are based on the Russian SS-N-6 missile for submarine launch, will have a nominal range of 2,500 kilometres. However it was possible to upgrade them to hit targets...

Top News Story Ministers of Murder: Iran's New Security Cabinet Human Rights Watch: Iran’s new Minister of Interior is implicated in grave human rights violations over the past two decades, possibly including crimes against humanity in connection with the massacre of thousands of political prisoners, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. Human Rights Watch also said that the new Minister of Information should be investigated for his possible involvement in a dissident’s killing. The briefing paper, Ministers of Murder: Iran’s New Security Cabinet, details credible allegations that Minister of Interior Mustafa Pour-Mohammadi and Minister of...

Top News Story Denying the Holocaust for Political Advantage? Michael Scott Moore, Spiegel Online:Should Israel move to Alaska? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again called for Israel to be moved on Wednesday. And this time, he went ahead and denied the Holocaust as well. But why? SPIEGEL ONLINE went to Iran expert Ali Ansari for answers. Once again, the international response was swift and unequivocal. "Shocking and totally unacceptable," said Germany's new foreign minister Franz-Walter Steinmeier. "Thank God Israel has the means to end the extremist regime in Iran," said Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon....

Top News Story State Dept. Rules Out Guarantee on Iran Barry Schweid, The Associated Press:The Bush administration is ruling out a guarantee not to attack Iran to induce it to halt development of nuclear weapons. Iran must first act like a responsible member of the international community and stop violating its agreements, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Monday. "That would represent a sea change in its behavior," Ereli said. "Then maybe other kinds of notions might be more palatable." "But right now, I don't think people should be asking the United States, 'Why don't you do this or...

Top News Story State Department: Iran's referral to UNSC "just a matter of time" The Jerusalem Post:Reporting Iran to the UN Security Council for defiantly pressing ahead with its suspect nuclear program is just a matter of time, a senior US State Department official suggested Monday. "Clearly our patience is limited. We're now talking 'when' or 'how' rather than 'whether' we will report them to the Security Council," which has the power to slap Iran with sanctions, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with journalists. Iran is engaged...

Top News Story Israel readies forces for strike on nuclear Iran Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv, and Sarah Baxter, Washington ISRAEL’S armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed. The order came after Israeli intelligence warned the government that Iran was operating enrichment facilities, believed to be small and concealed in civilian locations. Iran’s stand-off with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over nuclear inspections and aggressive rhetoric from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, who...

Top News Story Iranian Ayatollah Supports His President The Jerusalem Post:Iran's supreme ruler came out in support of his maligned president on Saturday, who created an international storm by demanding Israel be moved to Europe and casting doubt on whether the Holocaust happened. "The unusual sensitivity of Zionists and their American supporters toward Iran's stance over the Zionist state reveals their increased weakness and fear about the level of attention given by Islamic nations to the Palestinian issue," state-run Iranian radio quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying. "Despite the Zionist's campaign, the struggle against the occupiers has become an...

Top News Story Iran’s strategic role in the Islamic world Mehr News:Iran’s active participation at the third extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which was held last week in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, once again showed that the Islamic Republic of Iran always has strategies to resolve the impasses the Islamic world faces from time to time. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his delegation offered a series of proposals at the December 7-8 summit that drew the attention of Islamic leaders. Ahmadinejad proposed establishing an Islamic common market, an Islamic rapid reaction military force to respond...

Top News Story Opposition in Iran Showing Signs of Unity By ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the Sun December 8, 2005 CAIRO, Egypt - In the aftermath of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ascendancy to the presidency of Iran, the country's opposition is beginning to show signs of unifying as the clerical regime wages a war against internal dissent.Yesterday, the regime closed all schools in Tehran, citing poor air quality, after word leaked of the first major demonstrations since the summer. Nonetheless, a rally at Tehran University attracted 300 demonstrators amid a heavy police presence on campus. Of note is that...

Top News Story Iran's Ahmadinejad says Israel should be moved to Europe Dec 08 11:51 AM US/Eastern Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that if Germany and Austria feel responsible for massacring Jews during World War II, a state of Israel should be established on their soil. Ahmadinejad, who sparked an international outcry in October when he said Israel "must be wiped off the map", also repeated his view Thursday that the Jewish state was a "tumour". "Now that you believe the Jews were oppressed, why should the Palestinian Muslims have to pay the price?" the hardline president asked...

Top News Story Ticking Tehran Bomb An Excerpt: Wall Street Journal:Once Iran gets its uranium enrichment plant at Natanz up and running, it will likely be months away from having a nuclear weapon. So said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei this week in an interview with The Independent newspaper of London. We were surprised enough by the quote from the hyper-careful Mr. ElBaradei that we called his spokeswoman Melissa Fleming to confirm. While she cautioned that it would probably take two years before Natanz was fully operational, she said the IAEA assumed that any country that...

Top News Story U.S. Army report: Israel can't stop Iran nukes The World Tribune:Geopolitical limitations render Israel's air force militarily incapable of halting Iran's nuclear weapons program according to a new report published the by U.S. Army War College. The report asserts Israel lacks the military capability to locate and destroy Iranian nuclear assets. The report said the Israel Air Force cannot operate at such long distances from its bases. "The Israeli Air Force has formidable capabilities and enjoys unchallenged supremacy vis-a-vis the other Middle East air powers, but Israel has no aircraft carriers and it cannot use airbases...