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| Iranian defector reports pro-U.S. sentiment in Iran military |
| 2004-03-03 |
| From Geostrategy-Direct, subscription req’d. We report, you decide, bring salt shaker for contingency.... A former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has defected to Azerbaijan. Col. Bakharali Bagiryan arrived in Baku last week and disclosed that Iran’s military is infused with pro-U.S. sentiment. "I came to Azerbaijan 40 days ago and was registered with the Azerbaijani representative office of the UNHCR as a political émigré," Bagiryan said at the Baku Press Club Feb. 23. Bagiryan said many Iranian military troops would like to defect. "In Iran, the military are not issued with passports, which deprives them of the opportunity to leave the country legally. I am sure that they can find someone that will make any type of passport that they would require. Everyone else in the area does not seem to have any problems. I have been sent to Azerbaijan in the capacity of a representative of those who want cardinal changes in Iran’s state structure." The IRGC are Islamic shock troops and are Teheran’s key liaison with international terrorist groups, such as Lebanese Hizbullah. Bagiryan said some 40 percent of servicemen in the Iranian army think as he does and are "waiting for the arrival of America in Iran." "The strengthening of the U.S. position in the region causes optimism among many Iranian servicemen and they secretly support the operation in Iraq. I think that many of them would back a similar U.S. operation in Iran," the colonel said. Bagiryan said Teheran’s claim that the Iranian army fully supports the government is groundless. He said he intended to stay in Azerbaijan and help those fighting for the national interests of southern Azerbaijan. His remarks appeared in the Baku newspaper Turan, an independent, non-governmental news agency close to the People’s Front of Azerbaijan. It would be interesting to get some other independent sources of this. At least two more would be nice to see if this situation is true and exploitable. |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |
| #10 There are Iranian Azerbaijanis who have organized to join divided Azerbaijan. The first Iranian Azerbaijani I met in Europe was a former Navy officer under both the Shah and the mullahs who had fought in the Iraq War. He was active in such an organization even before the breakup of the USSR. That's why the mullahs have worked hard to keep the (Former Soviet) Republic of Azerbaijan weak and ineffective. They supported Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh War and there was unrest in Tabriz in 1992 when the Iranian Azerbaijanis found out about it (the mullahs had controlled news of the war quite strictly). |
| Posted by: Minutus 2004-3-4 10:17:35 PM |
| #9 GK - Whoa! That's very interesting... His rank / position / privileged status certainly lends substance to the reports... Thx! Heh, tick tock Mullahfuckas! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-3-3 7:09:43 PM |
| #8 AP: Central Asian and Southern Caucasian Freedom of Expression Network (CASCFEN) has an independent, well written article on this event and situation. |
| Posted by: GK 2004-3-3 5:51:50 PM |
| #7 If this is true I hope it happens soon. Why do I suspect that the far left is cringing at the thought of Bush being able to take credit (at least in part) if the religous wackos in Iran are overthrown. |
| Posted by: Lurks Often 2004-3-3 5:35:13 PM |
| #6 At least two more would be nice to see if this situation is true and exploitable. This can be done without having to look to sources. All GWB needs to do is to make it clear that if the Iranian public decides they have had enough of the mullahs and want to end their rule, the U.S. will support them in whatever way we can. Subsequently, if the ruling mullah class tries to clamp down on unrest, the citizenry just might not be as cowed as they would be if American support for their goals were uncertain. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-3-3 5:17:10 PM |
| #5 I believe the Black Hats & Thugs are prime for tipping over -- and I believe it can be done without anything like invasion or booming. They're ripe. Mmmmm. Tasty SF Ops with TLAMs-&-cruise-missiles-On-Demand, y'know - that new Just-In-Time inventory management system that everyone is raving about, coordinated with local contacts would create the opportunity for the populace to do it themselves. Of course, we would maintain an independent menu of Nuke Facility Shutdown appetizers. Yummm. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-3-3 4:18:29 PM |
| #4 agreed it could become a very strong ally but there will always be that extra large threat the Iranian hardliners take with them where ever they go what ever century it may be. My point is basically it could be too risky not to Nuke Boom them, i'm not advocating doing it for no reason but i'm sure they'll fall into that trap soon enough if they already havn't started the fall with thier nuclear weapons games |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-3-3 3:16:13 PM |
| #3 "help those fighting for the for the national interests of southern Azerbaijan" -- I assume that by "southern Azerbaijan" he means NW Iran (up to 20 million Iranians speak Azeri as their first language). If this is evidence of Azeri nationalism in Iran, it is news to me. Jon Shep -- your solution is not good. A substantial majority of young Iranians seem to be pro-US. With regime change, Iran could again become our strongest ally in this region. |
| Posted by: closet neo-con 2004-3-3 3:06:43 PM |
| #2 "...but in the very long term perhaps not so due to the fact that any hardliners left behind will no doubt blame America for it..." America will be blamed regardless. While we are at it Mecca and Medina would be good targets along with Damascus. |
| Posted by: dataman1 2004-3-3 3:05:06 PM |
| #1 seems to me that if America and allies can tip the Iranian military balence of power in favour of the reformists then Iran could be on for a change of goverment, or a huge war. Be real nice to see a bloodless take over by reformists but somehow i doubt it, anyway it'd probably be good in the short term but in the very long term perhaps not so due to the fact that any hardliners left behind will no doubt blame America for it and carry out terror campaigns on both America and the reformists now in power. My solution is a mass bombardment using Trident missiles, it'll keep them quiet for a few centurys |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-3-3 2:45:22 PM |