How Iran Attempts to Cloak Its Oil Exports

Via JPost:

Oil tankers departing from Iran have been "cloaking" their movements by turning off their global transponders, says Samir Madani who co-founded TankerTrackers with Lisa Ward.
   
Many tankers connected to the National Iranian Tanker Company have been spotted going into port but not coming out, Madani says. "Then you look at the export terminal with a satellite and see the tanker's no longer there."

    "Today, nearly the entire fleet [trading with Iran] is working in this manner in order to throw off the trackers."

Iran Tests 'New Weapon'

The Muslim War Machine raises the ante. From Fox News:

Iran tested a new weapon for use at sea and says it can "easily" close a major oil passageway, the chief of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted Monday as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

The commander, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, claimed the new marine weapon is "unique in the world" and has a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles).

The report provided no further details and didn't say when or where the weapon was tested, but it quoted Jafari as saying that there is "no similar weapon in the service of armies in the world." The alleged new weapon's range indicated it may be some type of torpedo.

The Revolutionary Guards chief said Iran would easily be able to close the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, if the country were attacked over its nuclear program.

Iran Becomes Member of Durban II Inner Drafting Circle

EYEontheUN reports that Iran has become a member of the "Group of Friends of the Chair", an informal group of states charged with taking the first steps towards producing a Durban II manifesto. Anne Bayefsky, Editor of EYEontheUN says: "the travesty of Durban II as a vehicle for getting serious about combating racism is more obvious than ever, as a regime whose President is a Holocaust-denier acquires an important role in shaping the result."

Durban II - known formally as the UN Durban Review Conference - will be held next April in Geneva. It is charged with implementing the notorious 2001 Durban Declaration which found Israel guilty of racism and gave no other country even a passing mention.

The role of his "friends" is described by Armenian Chairman Zohrab Mnatsakanian as "engaging in brainstorming and consolidating inputs." Other members of the behind-the-scenes group are Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Egypt. Bayefsky adds, "one shudders to imagine the brainstorming among such human rights paragons."

The "friends of the Chair" have already met twice in July 2008 and intend to meet again shortly.

By creating this informal group, UN states have deliberately created a forum which excludes NGOs for the first time from the Durban II process.

The first contribution of the "Group of Friends" will be filed at the next stage of the process, the 'Intersessional Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group' session to be held in Geneva September 1-5, 2008.

"The authority figures surrounding Durban II remind us once again that this forum is an instrument serving those states bent on defeating human rights not protecting them," said Bayefsky.

German-Iranian Gas Deal Criticized

Germany once again rears its ugly head and assists in cultivating a Jew-hating regime. This is not to be believed, from German-Iranian Gas Deal Criticized:

The Simon Wiesenthal Center on Wednesday urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to block a $156 million deal between Germany's Steiner and the Iranian government to build three gas liquefaction facilities, saying it would "embolden" an anti-Semitic regime.

"It is an outrage that bureaucrats would be allowed to concoct a deal that thwarts the stated policies of the government of Germany," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Vienna-based center.

"This deal...helps Iran in this sensitive sector and makes a mockery of the international community's efforts to isolate a nuclearizing Iranian regime."

Iran Ordered to Pay $12 Million for 1991 Assassination in France

From Iran Ordered to Pay $12 Million for 1991 Assassination in France:

A federal judge in Washington is ordering Iran to pay $12 million for the emotional distress incurred by the wife of a prominent Iranian dissident assassinated in France in an operation investigators there blamed on the Iranian government. Judge Henry Kennedy ordered the award in a lawsuit brought by Shahintaj Bakhtiar, who was married to Chapour Bakhtiar when he was stabbed to death and mutilated at his Paris home in 1991. Bakhtiar was a longtime critic of the Shah's regime who briefly served as Iran's prime minister. American courts have awarded at least $8.6 billion in default judgments against Iran for terrorist acts carried out by groups it sponsors, such as Hamas, Hizbullah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The awards are rarely collected, because Iran has few assets in America.

Iran to Target Heart of Israel, 32 U.S. Bases If Attacked

More Muslim hubris from Mahmoud Admadinejad, the astoundingly fugly, misshapen irreligious pig. From Iran to Target Heart of Israel, 32 U.S. Bases If Attacked:

"In case the United States and Israel dare to shoot a bullet, Iran will target the heart of Israel and 32 U.S. bases in the region imminently," said Mojtaba Zolnoor, an aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Saturday.

Iran Missile Test Bluff: Old Rockets, Bogus Video

Many of Iran's claims related to missile tests during "Great Prophet III" war games -- appear to be smoke and mirrors!

The missiles tested DID NOT not have 2,000-kilometer range, the NEW YORK TIMES is planning to report on Saturday.

Iran DID NOT launch a Shahab-3 missile, able to reach Israel.

It was an older missile that was out of production, newsroom sources tell Drudge.

And a video showing what appeared to be many missiles being fired -- is actually one missile, filmed from different angles!

NYT's Bill Broad is planning to quote military insiders.

Update: FoxNews

Developing...

Nervous Arab States Fear War in Gulf, But a Nuclear-Armed Iran Is an Even Greater Concern

As Iran's Muslim war machine heats up, neighboring arab states wring their paws. From Nervous Arab States Fear War in Gulf, But a Nuclear-Armed Iran Is an Even Greater Concern:

Arab governments are deeply worried about the prospect of war between Iran and Israel and/or the U.S. since several of them would be directly in the firing line if hostilities erupted.

Even without the threat of war, Iran's Arab neighbors have long lived in fear of another Chernobyl: the Bushehr nuclear reactor, two miles from the Gulf coast, is closer to six Arab capitals (Kuwait, Riyadh, Manama, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Muscat) than it is to Tehran.

Tehran is mistrusted in almost every Arab capital. None believe the claim that it is interested only in civilian nuclear power and has no military ambitions. It is seen as working to establish its hegemony across the Middle East, setting the agenda through allies or "non-state" proxies such as Hizbullah and Hamas.

"Perhaps the objective of Iran's frequent threats is to stir up fear among the Gulf states over the repercussions of any U.S. strike against it so that they in turn may pressure Washington into preventing any military action," observed Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed in the Saudi-owned Asharq Alawsat. "But this is having an opposite effect from the desired one."

Iran Fakes Missile Launch Picture After Misfire

More Muslim hubris from Iran. Via Iran Fakes Missile Launch Picture After Misfire:

A picture from the Iranian news website Jamejam clearly shows three airborne missiles and one that has failed to take off. But a second image released by the PR arm of the Revolutionary Guard seems to have digitally wiped away the embarrassing dud, replacing it with a fourth successful launch, complete with billowing clouds of exhaust and desert dust.

Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, said, "It's ironic - Iran launches these missile tests to demonstrate might, and instead what they demonstrate is foolishness."

"They come across as amateurs by doctoring it. It's laughable."

Muslims continue to lie about Jews in America

This is really not to be believed, but the sad fact is that what you're about to read is true: Muslims are profane bigots, losers really, and worse, are insufferable miserable hateful bastards, who will go to any length no matter how foolish they come off, to villify Americans and Jews.

Does the word Ryan sound like the word Zion to you?

It does to Muslim misanthropes. To be honest, it's astonishing that Islam still thrives considering how backward and myopic and superstitious it is, but then again, that it still exists after 1,400 years of its own barbarism, cruelty, raping, pillaging, killing, murdering, and thieving, it merely proves that there are a lot more stupid people in this world than previously estimated.

Following are excerpts from an episode of an Iranian documentary series on Hollywood cinema, alleging Zionist conspiracies in the film, "Saving Private Ryan," which aired on IRINN – the Iranian News Channel on May 27, 2008.

Via MEMRI:

Narrator: The concentrated efforts of the Zionist lobbies in America have led the U.S. government to be the greatest supporter of the regime occupying Jerusalem. In recent years, following the exposure of certain information, hatred towards the Zionists has developed and intensified among various sectors of society in this country. Therefore, some of the efforts of the Zionist propaganda machine are intended to improve the image of Zionism, and to paint a false picture of the historical role of the Zionists in American society.
[...]
Dr. Majid Shah-Hosseini, an Iranian film critic: [In "The Matrix"], Zion symbolizes the utopian Jewish Zionist land. These are the roots of Zionism. How come in such a popular and seemingly fictional American film, the utopia of liberty and humanity, which heralds the era of modernity – in the technical, rather than theoretical sense – is symbolized by a Zionist name – "Zion"? Moreover, names may be selected for their rhyming value. "Zion" sometimes becomes "Ryan," as in "Saving Private Ryan." They exploit even the similarity of names. The Jewish Steven Spielberg, whose previous film, "Schindler's List," reflected Zionist goals, and who turned the false story of the holocaust into an influential movie, is now making a new movie, about Private Ryan.
[...]
Murtaza Ali-Abbas Mirzai, an Iranian documentary filmmaker: In "Saving Private Ryan," one sees that they are the ultimate plunderers. The scene in which the officer puts some earth from various countries into cans was just a preview of what they are doing now – taking the land of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the European countries.
[...]
Narrator: While the blacks and other minorities protest the fact that Hollywood ignores their role in American history, but to no avail, prominent films like "Saving Private Ryan" highlight the role of Jewish soldiers. By exaggerating this role, the Zionists seem to be trying to achieve legitimacy for their post-war actions. In the military cemetery shown in the opening scene of the film, the picture has been edited to draw attention to the Jewish graves among others.
[...]
Among the more unpleasant scenes of the film are the scenes in which a Jewish soldier directs his rage towards German POWs. When he sees some German soldiers wearing jewelry with symbols of his religion, this soldier has a fit of rage and attacks them. In these scenes, the film director presents a completely sympathetic view of this soldier's rage towards the helpless POWs. It seems as if this cry of rage is the cry of Zionism validating the crimes perpetrated by Zionism after the world war.

Click here to see the actual footage showing fugly bloated Muslims fake scholarship as they expound on how Israeli lobbyists exploited the film, Saving Private Ryan.

Ahmadinejad Calls for U.S. Bases to be "Eradicated"

The real son of apes and pigs, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is oiling his Muslim War Machine. Iran has test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles, including a Shahab 3, which it previously said could reach Israel and U.S. bases in the region, and yesterday, the stupid ape called for U.S. military bases across the world to be "eradicated."

"The military bases in the whole world should be eradicated and removed," he told a press conference after a summit of the "D8" group of developing nations in Malaysia.

Somebody better crush Mahmoud Ahmadinejad soon. One of the obstacles in accomplishing this will be if Obama becomes president; no doubt if that should happen, Ahmadinejihad will be wined, dined, and hero-ified, just like other Muslim leaders have been by arabists, leftists, progressive socialists and palestiniasts.

The Iranian Roots of Hizbullah

The Iranian Roots of Hizbullah(1)

By: Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli*

Iran/Lebanon #448 June 17, 2008

Table of Contents:

<#1>Introduction
<#2>Akhteri's Background and Proselytizing Activity
<#3>Facing the First Crisis
<#4>The Splintering of Amal and the Creation of Hizbullah
<#5>Syria Allowed the Passage of Military Aid to Hizbullah
<#6>The Establishment of Al-Manar TV
<#7>Hizbullah's Social Institutions ñ Identical To Iran's
<#8>Refusal to Pay for Electricity
<#9>The Shi'ization of Syria
<#10>Conclusion
<#11>Notes

"Iran is the only country that does not interfere in Lebanon." - Mahmoud Ahamdinejad(2)

Introduction

Ahmadinejad's absurd statement coincided ironically with the publication in the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat of an extensive interview with Mohammad Hassan Akhteri, who has recently completed a total of 14 years as Iran's ambassador to Syria. By his own admission, Akhteri was the most senior Iranian liaison official with Hizbullah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, and the architect of the special relationship between Iran and Syria. Akhteri was also the founder in Damascus of the Palestinian-Iranian Friendship Society.

In the interview, published in two parts on May 14 and May 15, 2008, Akhteri distinguishes between the spiritual father (al-ab al-rouhi) of Hizbullah, the one who initiated the idea, and the "field father" (al-ab al-midani). Akhteri considers himself the latter, while his predecessor in Damascus, Ali Muhtashemi, was the former.(3)

Akhteri's Background and Proselytizing Activity

Akhteri was born in Qom in 1928, and came to diplomacy from his position as Friday preacher at the Samnan mosque, north of Tehran. He studied religious jurisprudence at a hawza (a Shi'ite religious center) in Qom. Concurrently with his role as ambassador to Damascus, Akhteri has served for the last four years as the head of the International Society of aal-al-beit, the Prophet Mohammad's descendents, who are viewed by the Shi'ite branch of Islam as the legitimate rulers of Islam. The Aal-al-beit Society is also engaged in spreading "Shi'ite Islamic consciousness," essentially a proselytizing organization which seeks converts to Shi'ite Islam.

Akhteri served two terms as ambassador to Damascus: the first, longer term from 1986 to 1997, and the second from 2005 to January 2008. But before serving as ambassador, he had accumulated a record as a proselytizer: He spent some time in Homs, Syria in 1969, and from there he went to Lebanon for two and a half years, through 1972, to carry out religious activities and tabligh (spreading of Islam).

Facing the First Crisis

Akhteri arrived in Syria in 1986, at a time of conflict between the Palestinians and the Shi'ite Movement ñ Amal ñ that was created by Imam Moussa al-Sadr in the 1960s as a social-service organization intended to improve the living conditions of the Shi'ite community in southern Lebanon, one of the poorest communities in the country. Al-Sadr, born in Iran and educated in Qom, also established the Shi'ite Supreme Islamic Council in 1969. Al-Sadr flew to Tripoli, Libya on August 25, 1978 and there he disappeared. His disappearance, six months prior to the success of the Iranian revolution, was a key factor in the marginalization of the Amal Movement, and the birth of Hizbullah.

The Splintering of Amal and the Creation of Hizbullah

The Islamic regime of Iran after the revolution regarded the Amal Movement with suspicion because it seemed insufficiently religious, and lacking the suitability or will to be an instrument of spreading the Iranian revolution. In addition, it was led by politicians, many of them were secular, rather than by clerics. In fact, the very name Amal (Hope) lacked religious ring. On its part, Amal was disenchanted with Iran because during its conflict with the Palestinians Iran supported the latter.

As a result, Iran encouraged elements from the Amal Movement to splinter and establish a religious party that would be more in tune with the concept of wilayat al-faqih, [the Rule of the Jurisprudent] introduced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual and political leader of the Islamic Republic. Once that party, Hizbullah, was established, Khomeini ordered elements of the Revolutionary Guards to go to Lebanon to train its young cadres.

The Iranian ambassador to Damascus from 1982-85, Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, was quoted by Al-Sharq Al-Awsat as telling an Iranian newspaper that Hizbullah gained part of its battle experience through its participation in the war against Iraq. According to Mohtashemi, more than 100,000 young Lebanese received military training both in Lebanon and in Iran in groups of 300 fighters. Akhteri has also conceded that elements of Hizbullah fought in the war with Iraq "either within our ranks or by themselves."

Akhteri recalls that five planeloads of Revolutionary Guards and Basij (youth militia) landed in Damascus to stand with Hizbullah during the 1982 Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, but Khomeini stopped any further dispatch of Iranian forces to Lebanon because of logistical problems. According to Akhteri, supplying a military contingency in Lebanon would have been difficult with the war raging between Iran and Iraq. The only other alternative would have been to go through Turkey, but Turkey was a member of NATO. Hence, the real alternative was to train Hizbullah's cadres in Lebanon itself.

Syria Allowed the Passage of Military Aid to Hizbullah

The arming of Hizbullah could not have been possible without the support of Syria. When Hizbullah was established, Syria was in control of Lebanon, and no one could come and go without the approval of the Syrian regime. In fact, Akhteri admits that throughout his "diplomatic" mission to Syria he coordinated his activities in Lebanon with Ghazi Kandan, who was chief of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon from 1982-2001, and who became minister of interior in October 2003 and who in 2005 allegedly committed suicide. (Kandan may have been involved in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri. As the international investigation of the assassination was beginning to implicate the Syrian regime, Kandan may have been silenced by a staged ñ unexplainable ñ suicide.)

In his interview with Al-Asharq Al-Awsat , Ambassador Akhteri stated with evident pride that Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas are the "legitimate children of the Iranian revolution," and that Iran has supported them financially, politically, and morally. There was coordination between Iran and each of these organizations, but Akhteri argues that any final decisions were taken by these groups themselves.

The Establishment of Al-Manar TV

To solidify its control over its supporters and to spread Shi'ite Islamic fervor, Hizbullah needed its own television station, but Lebanon was reluctant to approve an independent station for Hizbullah. According to former Syrian vice president Abdul Halim Khaddam, now living in exile in France, the Iranian president at the
time, Hashemi Rafsanjani, called Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad to obtain a license for Al-Manar TV. Assad told then-Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri to grant the permit, and the permit was granted. The establishment of Al-Manar was one of the steps that, Akhteri stresses, "strengthened the independence of Hizbullah on the Lebanese political scene."(4)

Hizbullah's Social Institutions ñ Identical To Iran's

In addition to Al-Manar TV, Hizbullah was able, with Iran's financing, to establish a wide range of social, financial, and economic institutions that strengthened the loyalty of the Shi'ites in Lebanon to Iran. One of the significant financial arms of Hizbullah is the Shahid Foundation (Martyrs Foundation), an Iran-based organization established in 1982 in Iran to assist victims of the Iran-Iraq war. In 2007, the U.S. Treasury targeted "Iran-based Martyrs Foundation," including its U.S. branch, and the finance firm Al-Qardh al-Hassan (Good Deed Loan) as front organizations for Hizbullah. According to the Treasury, the Martyrs Foundation branches in Lebanon provided financial support to the families of killed or imprisoned Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad members, including suicide bombers in the Palestinian territories. Al-Qardh al-Hassan created the Goodwill Charitable Organization (munatzamat al-niyya al-hasana al-khairiya) in Dearborn, Michigan as a fundraising office for the Martyrs Foundation.

According to the U.S. Treasury, Hizbullah used the Al-Qardh al-Hassan's financial arms as cover to manage its financial activity. Al-Qardh al-Hassan is run by Hussein al-Shami, a senior Hizbullah leader who has also served as a member of Hizbullah's Shura Council and as head of several Hizbullah-controlled organizations.(5)

Hussein Raslan, in charge of the social functions in the Martyrs Foundation, told Islamonline on August 13, 2006, that the idea for the Foundation originated with Khomeini, who provided the financing from zakat (alms contributed by Muslims). Raslan said that the first Hizbullah school was established in Beirut in 1988, but that eventually the school was incorporated into the Imam al-Mahdi Foundation in 2002. The flow of funds [from Iran], Raslan said, nabled Hizbullah to establish a series of enterprises including those dealing with food supply, gasoline and printing houses. Hizbullah schools in Lebanon, either under Khomeini or al-Mahdi Foundations, follow the Iranian curriculum.

Hizbullah has also established a network of hospitals (dispensing Iranian-made medicines), banks, and cultural organizations. Finally, there are the Hizbullah police, who are responsible for maintaining "good manners" on the street ñ meaning, among other things, that women are always veiled in public. Money from Iran keeps this massive apparatus running.

Refusal to Pay for Electricity

One of the least-known facts about the dominance of Hizbullah in parts of Lebanon is the refusal of its members to pay their electric bill. Without the means to force them to do so, the Lebanese government is left with one of its largest budgetary problems ñ the growing subsidy the government has to pay to the national power company, Electricite du Liban.

The Shi'ization of Syria

The International Aal-Al-Beit Society, which operates under Iran's supreme leader, currently Ali Khamenei, and whose primary function is to spread Shi'ism (tashayu') in the rest of the Muslim world, took advantage of Iran's special relations with Syria in order to establish Shi'ite religious seminaries in Damascus. In fact, Damascus has now at least three hawzas (religious centers,) and is considered the third largest Shi'ite center in the world after Najaf and Qom. While Akhteri minimizes the proselytizing functions of the Aal Al-Beit society in Syria, there are concerns sounded in both Syria and the Arab world about the tashayu' effort ñ not only in Syria but in other countries, such as Egypt and Sudan.

Conclusion

This paper highlights two significant facts: first, Hizbullah was created and sustained by Iran. Iranian financial support has made it possible for this political organization to build a network of schools, hospitals, social welfare organizations and above all, military prowess. It now serves as an extension of Iran's strategic
expansion into the Mediterranean.

Second, it is absolutely evident that Iran's extended arm into Lebanon would not have been possible without the collusion or approval of the Syrian regime. Syria is also the main conduit of arms from Iran to Hizbullah.

*Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli is the Editor of The MEMRI Economic Blog,
http://www.memrieconomicblog.org.

Notes

(1) This dispatch is based on a presentation made by the author at a
panel on "The Iranization of Lebanon?" at the Potomac Institute on
May 23, 2008.
(2) Press conference in Tehran, May 13, 2008.
(3) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), May 14 and May 15, 2008.
(4) Manal Lutfi, "The Limits of the State of Hizbullah," Al-Sharq
Al-Awsat (London), May 20, 2009
(5) http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/200772410294613432.htm,
July 24, 2007.

MEMRI
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
www.memri.org

Ahmadinejad Proposes Trial for Leaders of Countries Sanctioning Tehran

The egocentric and deficient mongrel tyrant of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has proposed the formation of a special court to punish alleged world"tyrants" for their attempt to thwart Iran's nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad told a group of judges that "a court should be formed to try and punish all world criminals who invade the rights of the Iranian nation."

All world criminals that are not Muslim, that is. See, anything goes as long as you are a tyrant and can politically identify with Islam's inherent homicidal and genocidal commandments.

Palestinian Rockets Hit Ashkelon, One Wounded

Fakestinians doing what they do best. From Palestinian Rockets Hit Ashkelon, One Wounded:

Palestinians in Gaza fired two Grad-type rockets at the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Monday. One person suffered shrapnel wounds in the neck, and several others suffered from shock. Israel has charged that Iran has supplied Hamas with Grad rockets, smuggled into Gaza from Egypt.

Tehran University to Host International Conference on "Israel's End"

Before you click on the following link, note that it's from Iran's own public relations website. Also, to any blogger that has Support Iran's Students badges on their sidebars, I would ask them to review their intentions and question the integrity of their decision to support a culture and a regime that would accept a scheme that would permit Arabs to have an ethnically cleansed geographical region where no Jews can live. From Tehran University to Host International Conference on "Israel's End":

Iranian students are sponsoring an International Conference on Israel's End on May 26, 2008, to discuss "supporting the Palestinian nation's righteous liberation movement and signs of the illegitimate Zionist regime's upcoming downfall."

Exclusive: Hizballah received 35 new Iranian speedboats shortly before current crisis

DEBKAfile's military sources report that three weeks before Hezballah seized western Beirut, the Shiite terrorist group took delivery of 35 fast speedboats for use with explosives from Iran. The craft can threaten US Sixth Fleet and Israel Navy shipping close to Lebanese shores, reach Israel's Haifa and Ashdod Mediterranean ports and raid its coastal oil installations.

The speedboats were tailor-made for Hizballah by Iranian Revolutionary Guards shipyards at Bandar Abbas as the only marine terror fleet operating in Mediterranean waters. Our military sources report the boats are capable of carrying chemical, biological and radiological weapons systems.

They were delivered in mid-April by an Iranian freighter at the Syrian port of Latakia and trucked to Naimah port south of Beirut. There they were hidden in the subterranean hangars belonging to Ahmed Jibril, head of the Palestinian Liberation Front-General Command. Today, the PLF-GC is financed and directed by the Revolutionary Guards. The hangars were constructed in the seventies by East Germany engineers with a protected Mediterranean anchorage and made virtually impenetrable by sea or air.

Indian Export Firm Caught Trying to Send Nuclear Material to Iran

Hey, Corporate America, still want to outsource from a country that is assisting Iran in acquiring nuclear material? From Indian Export Firm Caught Trying to Send Nuclear Material to Iran:

An alert customs officer in Mumbai became suspicious of an export consignment by Nickunj Eximp Enterprises of 1,150 kg. of graphite to Ward Commercial Company in Tehran. Bhabha Atomic Research Center experts, who were asked to take samples, confirmed that it was nuclear-grade graphite. One more consignment of graphite of Nickunj Eximp headed for Dubai was stopped. The graphite was imported by local dealers at Rs 50 per kg. from China and was being exported to Iran at Rs 2,000 a kg.

See also Nuclear Iran, which states that the seizure of 1,150 kg. of nuclear-grade graphite in Mumbai on the eve of its export by air to Iran has demonstrated beyond all doubt where India stands in respect of Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear weapon capability.

Iran cannot sustain its uranium enrichment program without continuing support from European industry. The most effective way of halting Iranian nuclear weapon proliferation is tightening up the controls over European nuclear industries, while enlisting the cooperation of Russia and China in this effort.

The Child and the Invader - An Iranian Cartoon Series

Via MEMRI:

During February and March 2008, Iran’s Sahar TV, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’s (IRIB) foreign language channel that broadcasts in Urdu, French, English, and other languages, aired cartoons as fillers throughout the day. The cartoon soundtrack is highly reminiscent of Disney's The Lion King and of Warner Brothers' "Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner" and other Loony Tunes cartoons, and characters' exclamations sound like those of Homer Simpson and other well-known cartoon characters.

To view a 28 minute comilation of segments of this series, visit this MEMRI TV link.

French banks release Iran's frozen assets

"The Zionist Regime." Via Iran news agency:

Presidential Advisor for legal and parliamentary affairs Majid Jafarzadeh said on Tuesday that the assets of Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which were seized by French banks, have been released. Speaking to IRNA, he said that the move followed continued efforts by Presidential department for legal and parliamentary affairs on Monday. CBI assets were frozen by Bank of French Banque Populaire. "In the past, the US and the Zionist regime had enacted illegal laws which ran counter to international law to encourage their nationals to lodge unfounded and baseless financial charges against our country's officials and had issued judgment by default to seize Iranian assets at foreign banks butdue to hard efforts of the Iranian judiciary officials, their plots failed and resulted in the issuance of a verdict on January 24, 2008 that nullified all these baseless accusations and unfounded charges." The case is regarded as a significant achievements for Iran, Jafarzadeh said.

Iran Students Put Bounties on Heads of Israeli Leaders

The Iranimals are getting desperate. From Iran Students Put Bounties on Heads of Israeli Leaders via DailyAlert:

Iranian hardline students have offered rewards totaling a million dollars for the "execution" of three Israeli military leaders, the student news agency ISNA reported on Monday. The group is even encouraging Iranians to donate their kidneys to increase the bounties on the heads of Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Mossad spy agency director Meir Dagan, and military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin. A banner was displayed bearing pictures of the three Israelis with rifle sights stenciled onto their foreheads.