Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Arabia

Head of UAE Police: No Burj Dubai Terrorist Plot

2009-09-17

[Asharq al-Aswat] A UAE official denied reports claiming that the UAE intelligence services foiled attempts to bomb Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building. Dubai Police Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim told Asharq Al-Awsat Tuesday that "these claims are unfounded and completely false." He stressed that the news "is completely fabricated." Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim highlighted that there no were such plots to bomb the world's tallest building, which is still under construction, and said, "If anything like this took place then I would have informed you." Israel's Maariv newspaper reported that it had received information from Western sources recently that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards plotted to blow up Burj Dubai and that eight people, including Syrians and Palestinians, had been brought in for questioning two months ago. A source from the Iranian embassy in Abu Dhabi denied having any knowledge on this issue, stressing that there was no information in this regard "because there is essentially nothing [to report]," the source told Asharq Al-Awsat by phone, Tuesday. According to official figures, there are less than 111,000 Iranians living in the UAE. The former Iranian ambassador to the UAE, Hamid Reza Asefi, however, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the number of Iranians living in the UAE is over 400,000. Maariv newspaper claimed that members of the network were in possession of tons of explosives, ready-to-use explosive belts and large amounts of automatic weapons that had been sent from Iran by plane. The newspaper added that it had information indicating that members of the network were also planning to target "a military base in the UAE." The Israeli newspaper also indicated that the UAE intelligence services were focusing their investigations on the involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in these terrorist plots; however they are also investigating the possibility of Al Qaeda and other extremist groups being behind the plots. It also claimed that the UAE government is treating the matter as completely confidential.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iranians Upset at Government's Financial Aid to Hezbollah in Lebanon

2006-08-22

Hattip Best of the Web. The Iranian government's pledge of 500 million dollars to Hezbollah has angered many Iranians who say they are still awaiting money to help rebuild their homes that were damaged by wars and natural disasters, informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. The anger is particularly fierce in the Khuzestan district, which sustained severe damage during the Iran-Iraq war, and in Bam, which was hit hard by an earthquake three years ago. Hezbollah is reportedly handing out wads of cash to residents of southern Lebanon to help rebuild their homes. The money is thought to originate from Tehran, but Iran is downplaying allegations that it has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Lebanon. Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Hamid Reza Asefi, said on Sunday that Iran was examining ways to help Lebanon, but added that “nothing has been decided yet.” “Informed sources” told Asharq Al-Awsat that spontaneous demonstrations were staged in Bam and in Khuzestan on Friday as protesters shouted slogans critical of Hezbollah and the government. They were demanding their homes be rebuilt instead of the government intervening in Lebanese affairs. Iran is reportedly Hezbollah's main benefactor, providing the organization with weapons, funding and fighters. But Tehran insists the support it provides to Hezbollah is moral, not material. Elsewhere, Hezbollah's representative in Iran has ruled out the disarmament of their Lebanese counterparts and said the group will buy new weapons if necessary. By someone named Ali Nouri Zadeh, which sounds like an Iranian name to me, giving the article a more interesting perspective, I think.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran says it won't halt atomic work

2006-08-21

Iran said yesterday it would not suspend uranium enrichment, ruling out the main demand of a nuclear package backed by six world powers that aims to allay Western fears that Teheran is seeking to build atomic bombs. Iran says it will formally respond by tomorrow to proposals made by the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. The six have offered incentives for Iran to suspend enrichment, a process that has both military and civilian uses. Teheran, which insists its nuclear aims are purely civilian, shows no sign of accepting the package. "We are not going to suspend (enrichment). The issue was that everything should come out of negotiations, but suspension of uranium enrichment is not on our agenda," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference. Western diplomats say Iran must halt the atomic work before talks can start. Any response that falls short of that is likely to be considered a rejection of the offer in Western capitals. Additional: Tehran, 21 August (AKI) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Tehran will pursue its nuclear programme "with force" state television reported Monday. Khamenei was speaking on the eve of the 22 August deadline set by Tehran for its response to a Western incentive package for it to roll back its nuclear programme and a day after extensive tests of Iran's surface to surface missiles in exercises near its borders with Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan. "In the nuclear dossier, with the help of God, of patience and commitment, Iran will continue on its path with force and will gather the fruits" Khamenei was quoted as saying by the broadcast. The five permanent members of the UN security council plus Germany offered to Iran on 6 June a package of economic, technology and diplomatic incentives in exchange for a freeze of uranium enrichment activities they fear are aimed at building nuclear weapons. Though Iran said it would respond by 22 August, the six countries decided mid July that Tehran was not considering the proposal seriously and referred the case back to the Security Council. The council voted its first legally binding resolution threatening Iran with economic sanctions if it fails to comply with the UN's request to halt enrichment by 31 August.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran to Offer 'Multifaceted Response' to Western Nuclear Incentives Package

2006-08-20

Wonder if they have any fireworks planned for the announcement? TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will offer a "multifaceted response" to a Western package of incentives aimed at persuading it to suspend uranium enrichment activities, but insisted Sunday it would not cease enriching uranium. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said a compromise has to be achieved during future negotiations. "We won't suspend (uranium enrichment). Everything has to come out of negotiations. Suspension is not on our agenda," Asefi told a press conference Sunday. The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution last month calling for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment by Aug. 31 or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions. Iran has rejected as "illegal" the binding resolution, saying it had not violated any of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty. However, Asefi confirmed that Iran would offer its formal response on Aug. 22 to a package of Western incentives offered in June that calls on the Islamic Republic to suspend, not permanently halt, the enrichment program. "It will be a multifaceted response," he said. The package offers a series of incentives to Iran including promises that the United States and Europe will provide civilian nuclear technology and that Washington will join direct talks with Iran. Iran has said the package was an "acceptable basis" for a compromise. Asefi said part of the package was "convincing" but there still are ambiguities that need to be clarified in talks. He warned that Europe would be the "loser" if it followed the U.S. in imposing sanctions against Iran. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said Iran has lived with U.S. sanctions for nearly three decades and has made all preparations for tougher time. "We have prepared ourselves for all possibilities," he said. "If sanctions are imposed ... it will be easy (for us) to cope with it," the spokesman said, warning Europe it would be the one hurt by the measure. "If Europe imposes sanctions, it will destroy the bridges behind it and will deprive itself of work in the future," he said. Asefi insisted the world can't afford ignoring a powerful country like Iran and join the U.S. in imposing sanctions. "Iran's influence in the region is clear. A country like Iran has extensive political, economic and cultural capabilities. Will other countries ignore Iran's capabilities in their political and economic cooperation?" he said. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran has denied the charges saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity, not bombs. Iran has adopted a national plan to meet 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next 20 years. The Islamic republic has said it will never give up its right to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel, but has indicated it may temporarily suspend large-scale activities to ease tensions.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Arab FMs Meet in Egypt to Discuss Rebuilding Lebanon

2006-08-20

Seems they are a little concerned about that Iranian money. And, from english.aljazeera.net "Many Arab governments have expressed resentment over last week's speech by Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, in which he criticised fellow Arab leaders for not supporting Hezbollah. He said the war had revealed them to be "half men"." CAIRO, Egypt Aug 20, 2006 (AP)— Arab League foreign ministers convened for an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss how to fund reconstruction in war-ravaged Lebanon and defuse Mideast tensions amid rising discord between moderate Arabs and Syria, a main backer of Hezbollah. The Kuwaiti government plans to donate $800 million to Lebanon, Foreign Minister Sheik Mohammed Al Sabbah announced upon arrival in Cairo. Saudi Arabia said it already had donated $500 million, and other oil-rich nations have made pledges to chip in. Lebanese foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh urged his Arab counterparts to make further commitments. "Lebanon is looking for more help for its reconstruction," he said ahead of the meeting. Worried that the 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel has given a boost to radical militants and their Syrian and Iranian backers, Arab ministers were expected to review a plan to channel funds to Lebanon and to revive the stalled Middle East peace process with Israel. Diplomats said Arabs want to counter a flood of money that is believed to be coming from Iran to Hezbollah to finance reconstruction projects. An estimated 15,000 apartments were destroyed and 140 bridges hit by Israeli bombardment in Lebanon, along with power and desalination plants and other key infrastructure. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has pledged to help rebuild Lebanon, and social workers with the group have begun distributing money to pay rent and buy furniture for civilians who lost their homes paying out $12,000 in cash per person. Nasrallah did not say where the money would come from, but Iran, which helped create Hezbollah and is its strongest supporter, was widely believed to have opened its treasury for the rebuilding program. However, Iran which is not an Arab nation and is not part of the league denied on Sunday that it was sending money to Hezbollah. "Hezbollah is a legitimate body in Lebanon; they have their own economic resources and popular support there," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. Eighteen of the Arab League's 22 foreign ministers gathered in Cairo but in a sign of growing regional tensions, Syrian minister Walid Moallem skipped the meeting.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran denies aiding Hizbullah in fight with Israel

2006-07-31

Iran denied Sunday it was helping Hizbullah in its fight against Israel in Lebanon. "We haven't deployed any forces there (Lebanon)," said Hamid Reza Asefi, spokesman of Iran's foreign ministry. "We don't send weapons to the resistance. We don't support them militarily. "If we choose to give them future military support, we will announce it. We have no fear of Mr. Bush and company." Iran is a vocal backer of Hizbullah, which is battling Israel in its southern Lebanese strongholds after its guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others on July 12.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran: 'This war is our war'

2006-07-30

A former CSIS informant who once kept tabs on terrorists says the Iranian regime is "mentally and spiritually" preparing its people for war against Israel. The Ottawa man, now in Tehran, says the hate campaign against Israel is "everywhere" on the streets of the capital. "It is not good. It is sad," he told the Citizen. "There are posters at intersections of (Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah) saying Israel must be erased from the map." Opponents of the Iranian government in Canada say they have received similar reports describing huge posters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Hezbollah leader alongside the slogan: "This war is our war." "I had some reports where people said that they do not care what the government of Iran wants to do," said Shahram Golestaneh, president of Committee for Defence of Human Rights in Iran. "They are concerned about the possibility of more bloodshed in the Middle East and (concerned) that the government uses all Iran's money to help fight against Israel by its own Hezbollah." Iran, which backs Hezbollah, has repeatedly denied Israeli claims that it also arms the organization established in the 1980s to combat Israeli forces. "Our support has been spiritual. If we had military support, we would announce it. ... We don't have any hidden business," ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on state-run television yesterday, a day after U.S. President George W. Bush sharply criticized Iran's role in the bloody fighting. "They don't have any right to tell us why Iran supports Hezbollah at all. The question is, why do they support Israel?" Mr. Asefi said. Responding to statements from top Israeli officials that the fighting could continue for several weeks, Mr. Bush said Thursday that Iran is connected to Hezbollah, and now was the "time for the world to confront this danger." John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also has alleged that Iranians are Hezbollah's "paymasters, and they're calling the tune." He estimated that Iran contributes $100 million annually to the Shia Islamic militants, who have supplanted Lebanon's central government as the effective political and military force in the southern region bordering Israel. Yesterday, the 17th day of the conflict which began after Hezbollah crossed the border and captured two Israeli soldiers, Hezbollah launched a new kind of rocket that made its deepest strike into Israel yet. "With this, the Islamic Resistance begins a new stage of fighting, challenge and confrontation with a strong determination and full belief in God's victory," Hezbollah said in a statement. The militants said they used the new Khaibar-1 to strike the Israeli town of Afula, but Israel said the Khaibar-1 rockets were renamed, Iranian-made Fajr-5s. They have four times the power and range of Katyusha rockets, making them able to hit Tel Aviv's northern outskirts. Iran is also believed to have supplied Hezbollah with up to 120 of the Fajr-5 and the somewhat shorter-range Fajr-3. Earlier this week, about 60 Iranian volunteers left the country with the hopes of joining Hezbollah in the war against Israel. They called it a holy war, were unarmed and hoped to gain entry to Lebanon from Syria. According to Mr. Golestaneh, some Iranian dissidents were pleased to see the militants, ranging in age from teens to grandfathers, leave the country. "In one instance," according to the human rights worker "one person said 'In fact I rather they send all their loyalists to the war so we can breathe more easily.' '' The human rights group also had reports from one source on the ground who said: "Every time there is an outside war, the level of repression inside also increases dramatically to kill any type of dissent." In the past few days, according to the Canadian-based human rights group, the Iranian government has condemned 10 people to death. Earlier this week, the Iranian president, who publicly denied the Holocaust last year, said Israel ordained its own destruction. Mr. Ahmadinejad told clerical staff in Tehran that Israel and its supporters "should know that they cannot end the business that they have begun." "The occupying regime of Palestine has actually pushed the button of its own destruction by launching a new round of invasion and barbaric onslaught on Lebanon," the president said, Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Dan Gillerman, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, responded by asking the world to listen to the Iranian president's words. "President Ahmadinejad is a very dangerous and very destabilizing force in this world. He is a person who denies the Holocaust while very diligently preparing the next one," Mr. Gillerman told reporters in New York.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

UN is dead: FM spokesman

2006-07-23

TEHRAN, July 23 (MNA) — "All international organizations, including the United Nations and the Security Council, are dead and are being exploited," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said here on Sunday, in reference to world bodies' failure to properly respond to the Zionists' atrocities in Lebanon. Over 30 anti-Israel resolutions of the Security Council have been vetoed by the United States so far, and this is actually a green light from the U.S. and international organizations to the Zionist regime to commit more crimes, he told reporters at his weekly press briefing. On Iran's nuclear dossier, Asefi said that if the 5 1 group changes its attitude, Iran will also make some changes in its policies. Of course, any unwise action by the 5 1 group will be followed by a proportionate response by the Islamic Republic of Iran, he added.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran Expects Russian, Chinese Support in Nuclear Crisis

2006-07-18

Iran has said that it was still counting on support from Russia and China over its disputed nuclear programme, and warned the referral of the issue back to the UN Security Council would derail any possible negotiations. "If the case goes to the United Nations Security Council, regardless of the kind of resolution adopted, the negotiations will be derailed," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters Sunday. "The Security Council path is not constructive," he added. "We expect Russia and China to defend our legitimate stances. Defending the rights of the Islamic republic means backing up international treaties and the Non-Proliferation Treaty." Asefi said Iran was also awaiting the outcome of a G8 summit in Russia, where the mounting nuclear crisis is set to be discussed. "We hope the G8 chooses the reasonable path. In this case, the Islamic republic is ready for any cooperation and negotiation," he said. Last week Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States decided to send Iran's case back to the Security Council after Tehran failed to respond to demands it freeze sensitive uranium enrichment work.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran Says Western Incentives 'Acceptable Basis' For Talks

2006-07-17

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Sunday that Western incentives to halt its nuclear program were an "acceptable basis" for talks, and it is ready for detailed negotiations. That was a pretty quick 180. They rejected them yesterday. They've already picked up on the fact that the Hezbies are going down? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice responded that Iran should talk directly to negotiators if it wants to discuss the six-nation proposal. Frustrated world powers agreed Wednesday to send Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible punishment, saying Tehran had given no sign it would bargain in earnest over its nuclear ambitions. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters in Tehran that, "We consider this package an appropriate basis, an acceptable basis (for talks). Now is an appropriate opportunity for Iran and Europe to enter detailed negotiations. Sending the dossier to the U.N. Security Council means blocking and rejecting talks." Asefi called on the eight major world powers meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, to choose dialogue with Iran. "We can achieve acceptable results in this path," Asefi said.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran warns Israel of 'unimaginable losses' if Syria hit

2006-07-16

Iran warned its arch-enemy Israel of "unimaginable losses" if it attacks Syria and vowed that it was standing by the Syrian people. "We hope the Zionist regime does not make the mistake of attacking Syria, because extending the front would definitely make the Zionist regime face unimaginable losses," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. "Iran is standing by the Syrian people," he said of the Islamic republic's sole regional ally. "We have offered and will offer Syria and Lebanon spiritual and humanitarian support," Asefi insisted, reiterating Iran's denial that it is providing military and financial assistance to the Hezbollah movement. The Israeli army has said Hezbollah militants had used an Iranian-built radar-guided anti-ship missile in an attack on Friday on an Israeli warship off Lebanon's coast. The attack marked the Lebanese militia's first successful strike on an Israeli warship, dealing an unprecedented blow to the Jewish state's military. One Israeli sailor was killed and three more were missing, feared dead. An Israeli military intelligence official has also alleged that around 100 members of Iran's powerful ideological army the elite Revolutionary Guards were in Lebanon, acting as military advisors to Hezbollah. Iran is a major backer of Hezbollah, but regularly insists that it only gives "moral support" to the Shiite movement. "We have no Guards there. It is not true that we have sent missiles. Hezbollah is capable enough. The Zionist regime is under pressure," Asefi said, repeating Iran's denial of any connection to the attack. He also hit out at the United States after President George W. Bush said Israel had "every right to defend itself". "The United States has had a destructive role by vetoing resolutions and hence encouraging the Israeli crimes," Asefi said, referring to Washington's use of its veto in the UN Security Council Thursday to block a resolution calling for a halt to an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. "The United States should reconsider its policies and correct its wrong attitude of supporting the Zionist regime." On Friday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boasted that Israel was not powerful enough to take on Iran and also warned against an attack against Syria. "Thanks be to God, despite its criminal and savage nature, the Zionist regime and its supporters in the West do not have the power to look in the same way towards Iran," the fiercely anti-Israeli president said. "If Israel commits another act of idiocy and aggresses Syria, this will be the same as an aggression against the entire Islamic world and it will receive a stinging response," Ahmadinejad said in a telephone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. The hardline president, who has calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map" or moved as far away as Alaska, has also compared Israel's military strikes on Gaza and Lebanon to tactics used by Nazi Germany's leader Adolf Hitler. "Their methods resemble Hitler's. When Hitler wanted to launch an attack, he came up with a pretext," Ahmadinejad said Saturday. "Zionists say they are Hitler's victims, but they have the same nature as Hitler," said Ahmadinejad, who has previously described the Holocaust of six million Jews in wartime Europe as "a myth." "We have two solutions for the crisis. One of them, which is a logical one, is that as you (Western nations) who imposed this regime by fabricating stories, you put an end to it and take it with you," he said. Ahmadinejad's second solution was to have a referendum in which only the "true Palestinians," decide their fate.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran blasts EU 'meddling' over detained intellectual

2006-07-14

TEHRAN: Iran accused the European Union on Thursday of "meddling" in its internal affairs by demanding that a detained intellectual accused of trying to undermine the government be given access to a lawyer. "The incoherent views and unusual sensitivity over the arrest of an Iranian is surprising and questionable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in response to EU pressure over the case of Ramin Jahanbegloo. Asefi said a statement issued on Monday by Finland, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, amounts to "meddling in Iran's domestic affairs." "We advise the Europeans to focus their concerns on the violation of human rights in Europe and the crisis in Palestine," he added. Jahanbegloo, a prominent thinker and writer on democracy and non-violence who has a doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris, was arrested in early May while trying to leave Iran to attend a conference in Brussels. "The EU is particularly alarmed about the continuing detention of ... Ramin Jahanbegloo, who is well known for his commitment to philosophical and moral principles, non-violence and dialogue," the EU's statement said. It also pointed to "the inherent unreliability of confessions made in prison without adequate legal safeguards," and called on the Iranian authorities to allow Jahanbegloo "immediate access to legal counsel."

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More