Tag Archives: iran

Business/Economics, International

President Ahmadinejad shuts down Iranian Oil Ministry, just follwing Iranian law

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the Oil Ministry, and says he will run Iran’s Oil Ministry himself: “The Iranian government and Parliament (Majlis) have consensus on the Oil Ministry merger…I am the caretaker for the Oil Ministry.”

Iran’s Five Year Development Plan requires the merger of several Ministries, to make the government more efficient.  Those mergers are Roads and Transportation with Housing and Urban Development, Energy with Oil, Industries and Mines with Commerce, and Welfare and Social Security with Labor and Social Affairs.

Despite the fact that the mergers are required by law, under the five year plan, Ahmadinejad is being criticized by those ministers who’ve lost their jobs.

Some Parliament members say Ahmadinejad was supposed to get their approval before merging the ministries.  Ahmadinejad says the Parliament did approve the Oil Ministry merger.

 

 

International, Opinion

Leaked UN report says Iran & China violated UN sactions against North Korea. Is this the “smoking gun” the U.S. is looking for?

In a suppossedly “leaked” United Nations report, Iran is accused of dealing with North Korea, for nuclear missile technology.  That violates UN sanctions against North Korea.

The report also suggests the deals were made through a third party, possibly China.

The report infers that Iran is trying to get nuclear weapons technology as well. It points out that North Korea’s nuclear program is mainly for weapons. The report is to be submitted to the UN Security Council.

This is obviously going to be used by the U.S. as the “smoking gun” reason for taking military action against Iran.

The problem with the accusations is that North Korea has a lousy record of ballistic missile tests, while Iran has enjoyed success with its own missile program.  So it’s probably not a case of Iran trying to get missile technology, but North Korea.

The other problem is that it doesn’t make sense that Iran and North Korea were going through China to do the deals.  China has much better missile technology, so why not deal directly with China?  It’s possible that China did not want to share its missile technology.

Also, if Iran was trying to get nuclear weapons technology, again, why not deal with the more reliable Chinese?

The panel of “experts” who put together the UN report included a representative from China, who reportedly refused to sign the report.

 

International, U.S.

former Blackwater founder setting up mercenary force in United Arab Emirates

New York Times reporting that former Blackwater founder, Erik Prince, has set up a mercenary force in U.A.E.  The force is mainly made up of Colombians, but includes South Africans, Germans, British and U.S. citizens.

United States officials say if the mercenary group does not have U.S. approval then the U.S. citizens involved could face criminal charges.

Reports say United Arab Emirates is using the mercenary force to build up its own military, in preparation for possible war with Iran.

 

 

Idaho, International

Idahoan interviewed by Iranian media, says U.S. foreign & domestic policy is two headed beast, not about democracy

An Idaho political commentator was interviewed by Iranian PressTV, which aired on May 13.

Controversial Mark Glenn, high school teacher turned political commentator,  stated that United States foreign policy is controlled by corporate America, and Israel: “…with Tel Aviv as well we have to keep in mind that this is a two-headed beast, it’s not just the U.S. and her political/business interests.”

Glenn also said that corporate capitalism and true democracy are not compatible: “Where there is freedom as far as capitalism goes where there is true freedom to choose, capitalism cannot thrive. Capitalism as much as we are told it is a supporter of a free market and competition, in true essence it is not. We do not want the people to have the opportunity to choose for themselves to make choices in their own best interests and so America at the highest political level is not in the least bit interested to have any form of democracy- it is the iron fist in a velvet glove.”

Events in the Middle East and North Africa will only make the U.S. government more aggressive:  “…if the U.S. and Israel manage to lose control of these governments in that part of the world they are going to up the ante as the saying goes and they are going to apply even more desperate measures to maintain the kind of control that they have enjoyed…”

 

International, U.S.

Another reason to stay in Iraq: U.S. has begun training troops to attack Iran

A U.S. base in Iraq is being used to train Iranian dissidents for attacks on Iran.

The base is called Camp Taji Contracting Center.  Iranian Arab separatists known as Khalq-e Arab, are given military training there.  The Iranian government learned of the training after arresting five members of the group after they tried to assassinate Iranian police.

The Khalq-e Arab separatists are trying to take control of Iran’s southwestern oil fields in Khuzestan.  Khuzestan has a large Arab population, and has been fought over in the past, by Iraq and Iran.

Fukushima

Closing Japan nuke plant will have direct affect on British nuke plant

The closing of Hamaoka nuclear plant in Japan, because of the danger of a massive earthquake, is having direct affect on a British nuclear plant.

Sellafield MOX plant, in north west England, supplies Hamaoka with the nuclear fuel it needs to make electricity.  Hamaoka uses MOX (mixed oxide) nuclear fuel, and Chubu Electric Power Company (operator of Hamaoka) has a contract with Sellafield as its only supplier.

On top of that the Hamaoka plant is the only user of MOX fuel from Sellafield.

Taxpayers in the United Kingdom shelled out 1.34 billion Pounds (U.S. $2.1 billion) for the Sellafield MOX plant, and the British government wants to build another one.

British officials are scrambling to work with CEPCo officials to figure out how to fulfill their contract.  Maybe the Brits can start selling MOX to the Iranians?

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Iran joins China in blaming U.S. Federal Reserve quantitative easing policy for bad economy

Iran is joining China in blaming the U.S. bank, Federal Reserve, for destroying the world economy.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says the “paper money” policy of the Federal Reserve is playing a part in the increase of poverty around the world, by forcing most international trades to use U.S. dollars.  He says the Federal Reserve injected into the world economies $32 trillion in “worthless” paper money.

President Ahmadinejad believes the Federal Reserve policy is part of a plan that forces poorer countries to pay the debts of the West.

International, U.S.

Iran says has proof Osama bin Laden died years ago, did U.S. kill bin Laden relative?

“If the U.S. military and intelligence apparatus have really arrested or killed bin Laden, why don’t they shown him (his dead body), why have they thrown his corpse into the sea?”-Heidar Moslehi, Iran’s Intelligence Minister

Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Heidar Moslehi, claims Osama bin Laden died from disease years ago.  Pakistani officials made a similar claim a few years ago.

Moslehi goes on explaining that the U.S. claimed that it was following Islamic law, when they dumped bin Laden’s body, but Islamic law does not approve of burial at sea, and does not have a specific timeline for burial.  He says this is a sign that the Obama Administration is lying about what they did with Osama bin Laden.

Moslehi says the claim by Obama that their DNA evidence is proof, is weak, because they are not giving details of the DNA process.  Also, it’s possible to get a 99.9% match through any close relative of Osama bin Laden, and the bin Laden family is big.

A University of California criminology professor points out that DNA testing is not that reliable: “If the DNA test compared the profile of the man shot in Pakistan with members of bin Laden’s family members, the results could properly be presented only as a likelihood ratio…”-William thompson, UCI In other words, DNA will not provide the actual identity of an individual, only a probability.  Is it possible the U.S. assassinated a close relative of Osama bin Laden?

Even though Iranian officials criticize the Obama Administration for weak evidence, Iran has not produced evidence for their claim that Osama bin Laden died years ago.

 

International

Iran & Cuba join forces to counter Hillary Clinton’s U.S. media war

“In line with the imperialistic interests of the U.S. and Europe, the American and European media outlets don’t reflect the exact reality of what happens in our nations.”-Ramin Mehman-Parast, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman

Recently Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Congress to spend more money on increasing pro-U.S. international media organizations.  She said the U.S. was losing out to foreign media.

Now the Iranians, and Cubans, have joined the international media war, by joining forces.

Besides wanting to show their side of the story, in Latin America, the Iranians say they need a more trustworthy source of Latin American news than the U.S. media.