Iran

May 1, 2007

The Islamic Republic of Iran is really, really, really and again really very different from what you hear in the West.
—S. Rahim Mashaee, VP of Iran speaking to the delegation

A few weeks ago (February 28 to March 13) I had the rare opportunity of visiting Iran. I say “rare” because few US activists - and few policymakers - know that controversial and fascinating nation firsthand. Despite being urged to do so by key Republicans, Mr. Bush refuses even diplomatic relations with Iran.

Bush and Company deny that their interest in Iran, like that in Iraq, is all about its vast oil reserves. No, they would have us believe they might attack Iran because that nation is part of the “axis of evil” — because Iran is a “terrorist state” and a “nuclear threat.”

Such constantly repeated accusations are part of a grotesque double standard, and an exercise in the Big Lie. Who is really on any axis of evil?

March 9, 2007

By Milan Rai
Foreign Policy

Exclusively to ukwatch.net an interview with Milan Rai, activist and author on the continuing disaster in Iraq and the likelihood of an anglo/american assault on Iran.

Read the Interview on ukwatch.net

A Justice Not Vengeance Note
By Milan Rai
download the PDF

12 February 2007

SUMMARY

On Sunday 11 February, anonymous US officials presented roadside bombs, and components and fragments of bombs, and other weapons used by Iraqi insurgents, claiming that they had been manufactured in Iran and smuggled into Iraq on the orders of the highest levels of the Iranian Government. The language used by US d Secretary Robert Gates, and by the briefers themselves, however, was tentative rather than conclusive. Dramatic ‘evidence’ that had been promised failed to materialize.

Claims that the serial numbers and quality of machining of weapons and components could only have originated in Iran were not substantiated with any detail. No evidence was produced that the weapons and components had come via government channels rather than through criminal markets or informal and irregular contacts with Iranian military units. The Iraqi party and militia closest to Iran has actually been recognized for its support for the US occupation. One previous claims as to the Iranian provenance of insurgent technology actually traces back to the IRA, who apparently acquired the bomb-triggering capability with the knowledge and facilitation of the British Government. Curiously, none of the British national ‘quality’ dailies reports the admission of one of the US briefers that there was ‘no “smoking gun” linking Tehran and Iraqi militants’.

January 24, 2007

Will the US attack Iran?

The question is obscene. But when the U.S. government is so bellicose and when its target sits on one of the world’s larger oil reserves, we need to prepare ourselves for the unthinkable. One way to do that is to be much better informed.

Bush, Inc. may know its weapon systems. But it seems oblivious to the history, culture and people of Iran (formerly Persia). It’s oblivious to the human factors that will likely upset its grandiose schemes.

Aware of my own vast ignorance, I’ve been reading up on Iran. In the following I want to mention some books that other Voices folks might also find fascinating. Each provides a unique window on Iran.

January 10, 2007

Did President Bush this evening just signal that the U.S. is preparing to expand the war in the Middle East to include Syria and Iran?

While the Iraq Study Group advocated diplomatic engagement with Iran and Syria, President Bush is evidently continuing to walk down the road of military engagement.

The elements are falling into place for an expansion of the war:

[VCNV Note: As the U.S. pursues action against Iran, it is well worth pausing to consider the role which the U.S. continues to play in exporting Highly Enriched Uranium.]

Bomb-grade Bazaar: How Industry, Lobbyists, and Congress Weakened Export Controls on Highly Enriched Uranium

By Alan J. Kuperman
March/April 2006 pp. 44-50 (vol. 62, no. 02)
© 2006 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

“The responsibility falls to us, to take necessary action to prevent the horrors of 9/11 being replayed, but on a nuclear scale,” declared Spencer Abraham, then-U.S. energy secretary, at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in May 2004. [1] Taking up the cudgels, he announced that Washington was establishing a Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), “to secure, remove, or dispose of an even broader range of nuclear and radiological materials around the world that are vulnerable to theft … ensuring they will not fall into the hands of those with evil intentions.” The plan was applauded by many who felt the United States was not acting quickly enough to safeguard bomb-grade highly enriched uranium (HEU) from terrorists. [2]

Yet, no sooner did the U.S. government take an important step forward than it took a giant leap back. Barely a year after Abraham’s announcement, President George W. Bush signed into law the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which includes an amendment that loosens restrictions on the export of HEU. Driven by a purported need to assure the domestic supply of medical isotopes, which was never actually at risk, the new statute retreats from more than a quarter-century of U.S. efforts to phase out HEU commerce and its catastrophic risks.

Continue Reading Article at Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists website

By Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker
Issue of 2006-04-17 Posted 2006-04-10

The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack. Current and former American military and intelligence officials said that Air Force planning groups are drawing up lists of targets, and teams of American combat troops have been ordered into Iran, under cover, to collect targeting data and to establish contact with anti-government ethnic-minority groups. The officials say that President Bush is determined to deny the Iranian regime the opportunity to begin a pilot program, planned for this spring, to enrich uranium.

Read the complete article in the April 17, 2006 issue of the New Yorker or online at the New Yorker.