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Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Tens of thousands in attendance as Raisi is buried in Iran’s Imam Reza shrine
2024-05-25
Expanding on an item mentioned in passing in this story from yesterday.
[IsraelTimes] Services fail to draw same crowds as those seen at funeral for Soleimani in 2020, in possible sign of country’s feelings; Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis meet on sidelines

Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
on Thursday interred its late president Ebrahim Raisi at the holiest site for Shiite Moslems in the Islamic Theocratic Republic, a final sign of respect after he was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this week along with foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six others.

Raisi’s coffin was flown to Mashhad in northeast Iran after a funeral procession was held for him on Thursday morning in the city of Birjand, in Iran’s South Khorasan province along the Afghan border, where thousands in black gathered along a main boulevard in the city.

A semi truck bore his casket down the street, with mourners reaching out to touch it and tossing scarves and other items to be placed against it for a blessing. A sign on the truck read: "This is the shrine."

Hours later, the plane carrying Raisi’s coffin arrived in Mashhad, his hometown, where he was laid to rest at the gold-domed Imam Reza shrine, the holiest Islamic site in Iran, revered by Shiite Moslems as the resting place of the 9th-century imam Ali al-Reza.

In 2016, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei appointed Raisi to run the Imam Reza charity foundation, which manages a vast conglomerate of businesses and endowments in Iran, as well as oversees the shrine. It is one of many bonyads, or charitable foundations, fueled by donations or assets seized after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

These foundations offer no public accounting of their spending and answer only to Iran’s supreme leader. The Imam Reza charity, known as "Astan-e Quds-e Razavi" in Farsi, is believed to be one of the biggest in the country. Analysts estimate its worth at tens of billions of dollars as it owns almost half the land in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.

Raisi is the first top politician in the country to be buried at the shrine, which represents a major honor for the holy man.

However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
 the services across the country did not draw the same crowds as those who gathered for services for Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani
 in 2020, slain by a US dronezap in Baghdad.

It was a potential sign of the public’s feelings about Raisi’s presidency during which the government harshly cracked down on all dissent during protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in police custody after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing her mandatory headscarf to authorities’ liking.

That crackdown, as well as Iran’s struggling economy, went unmentioned in the hours of coverage provided by state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
and in newspapers. Also never discussed was Raisi’s involvement in the mass execution of an estimated 5,000 dissidents at the end of the Iran-Iraq war, which had earned him the moniker "the Butcher of Tehran."

Prosecutors warned people against showing any public signs of celebrating Raisi’s death and a heavy security force presence has been seen in Tehran since the crash.

Raisi, 63, was widely seen as a candidate to succeed 85-year-old Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran. Mohammad Mokhber, who had been first vice president, is serving as interim president until a June election. For now, though, there’s no clear favorite for the position among Iran’s political elite — particularly no one who is a Shiite holy man, like Raisi.

Acting president Mokhber, a relatively unknown first vice president until Sunday’s crash, stepped into Raisi’s role following his death and even attended a meeting between Khamenei and Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
 leader Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
 on Wednesday.

In Tehran, meanwhile, former Iranian foreign ministers Mohammed Javad Zarif
...Persian foreign minister, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...
 and Ali Akbar Salehi and other officials and foreign dignitaries paid respects to Amir-Abdollahian at the Foreign Ministry, where his casket was put on display.

His body was later interred in Shahr-e Rey just outside of Tehran at the Abdol Azim shrine, another final resting place for those famed in Persian history.

"Give Soleimani our greetings," a religious singer said as Amir-Abdollahian’s body was placed inside its final resting place, referring to the slain general.

Ahead of Raisi’s funeral, the representatives of some 60 countries took part in a ceremony paying their final respects on Wednesday afternoon. Among those in attendance were Tunisian President Kais Saied and Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
i Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, as well as representatives from Belarus and Serbia, while countries of the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
 declined to attend.

Khamenei declared five days of national mourning in the wake of the helicopter crash.

Iran says no signs of foul play in wreckage of helicopter crash that killed Raisi

[IsraelTimes] Report by Iranian military says ‘no bullet holes or similar impacts’ found at crash site to indicate Iranian helicopter was attacked, flight did not sway from pre-designated route?

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
'Technical failure' caused Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crash
2024-05-21
[GEO.TV] As Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
mourns the unfortunate death of its president, Ebrahim Raisi — a potential successor to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
, in a helicopter crash on Sunday, the state-run Islamic Theocratic Republic News Agency (IRNA) has reported that the chopper faced an accident due to "technical failure".
i.e.: Its elevation was lower than the ground
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Friday Prayer leader of the city of Tabriz Mohammad Ali al-e Hashem and others including pilots and flight crew also died when the ill-fated aircraft crashed in mountain terrain amid poor weather on its way back from the East Azerbaijan province.

All passengers, including Raisi, were declared dead when charred wreckage of the Bell 212 helicopter was found early on Monday after an overnight search in blizzard conditions.

The funeral procession for President Raisi will be held in Tehran on Tuesday.

Khamenei, who holds ultimate power with a final say on foreign policy and Iran's nuclear programme, announced a five-day mourning period while naming Iran’s First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber as interim president and directing him to ensure the election of a new president within 50 days, as per the country’s constitution.

Though the crash came at a time of growing dissent within Iran over an array of political, social and economic crises, with Iran's holy manal rulers facing international pressure over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme and heightening tensions with Israel in the backdrop of war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, any indication of foul play was ruled out by Iran’s state TV.

However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
 former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
...Persian foreign minister, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...
 has held the United States responsible for Raisi’s death and "his entourage because of its sanctions on the country’s aviation industry".

"The Iranian nation has faced great events in these 45 years, and according to the Supreme Fearless Leader of the Islamic Revolution
...Iran's doddering head theocrat...
, they will overcome this tragic event," the state-TV quoted Zarif as saying
Link


Africa Subsaharan
How to fit Russian interests into Iran's African strategy
2024-05-04
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Viktor Vasiliev

[REGNUM] The second Iran-Africa International Summit took place last week. The Islamic Republic hosted economic ministers from more than 30 African states. Nevertheless, non-economic methods remain Tehran’s main means of influence on the Black Continent.

IRANIAN INTEREST
In recent years, Iran, along with Russia, has begun to pay significant attention to Africa. Thus, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi toured Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe in July 2023. The trip to the African continent was the first of its kind by an Iranian president to Africa since 2012.

Of course, Iran had and still has an African strategy. But its current activation became possible only after reconciliation with Saudi Arabia. Because until recently, the Iranian presence on the Dark Continent was largely a competition with the Saudis.

Thus, in March 2005, the country signed an “agreement on assistance for $1.5 million to the budget of the Ghanaian state.” In 2017, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif opened a hospital in Kampala, Uganda, partially funded by the Islamic Republic. The country also spends significant sums on building social and health infrastructure, particularly through the Red Crescent.
The Red Crescent originally being the Ottoman empire’s counterpart to the International Red Cross of Christendom. Iran used to have the Red Lion and Sun, but when the Mullahs took over they traded it in for the Ummah’s Red Crescent. It’s interesting that both Iran and Turkey are willing to beggar themselves tossing alms to indigent Moslem nations in competition with the oil sheikdoms, tossing bad money after worse.
Iran, which at one stage benefited from high oil prices, also provided financial and economic support to Sudan, Somalia, Senegal, Ethiopia and DR Congo.

Of course, Iran is rapidly developing economic relations.

Among the areas of cooperation between Iran and African countries are car assembly plants, oil supplies, gas production, electricity, and consumer goods. Iran is gradually increasing its trade with Africa.

According to Masoud Kamali Ardakani, former director general of the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Iran office for Arab and African countries, trade between Iran and Africa reached a record US$1.2 billion in 2017 and 2018.

But despite this growth, trade with Iran in 2018 accounted for only 0.12% of Africa's total trade with the world.

Iran's main market in recent years has been East Asia, especially China. Iran's Africa policy is a side project linked to the larger project of competing with the United States (and, until recently, Saudi Arabia).
The Soviet Union used to try to compete with America on spending. We all know how that went.
IRAN-AFRICA SUMMIT
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who attended the summit, addressed the African guests.

“It is necessary to develop a clear program both for the entire African continent and for each African country with a specific schedule. The first step between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the African continent is will, fortunately this will exists and this meeting is a symbol of the will of African countries and Iran to expand economic relations,” Raisi said.

The summit program, including the participation of guests in the 4-day exhibition of the export potential of the Islamic Republic of Iran "EXPO 2024", was quite practical.

According to Mohammad Nematzadeh, Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade of the Islamic Republic of Iran, trade between Iran and Africa could potentially reach $5 billion. Currently, relevant departments estimate the annual trade turnover between Iran and African countries at $1.278 billion.

Representative of the Trade Development Commission Hane Samat recorded that direct export of Iranian goods has been established with 39 countries of the African continent.

Among the systemic measures to intensify cooperation with African countries are the dispatch and work of 12 business consultants, the opening of Iranian houses of innovation and technology, as well as the opening of export centers on the African continent.

Iran and African countries also created a joint committee on agricultural cooperation.

The head of the foreign trade department of the Organization of Rural Cooperatives of Iran, Seyed Ruhollah Latifi, said during the summit: “ Iran can, given the African continent's need for fuel and energy, technology and mechanization of agricultural production, investment, design and construction of infrastructure such as mining, dams, road construction and construction projects, oil refinery overhauls, gas production, etc.”

IRAN'S TRADITIONAL STRATEGY IN AFRICA
The Islamic Revolution of 1979 was not only a turning point in the history of Iran, but also radically affected Tehran's relations with the African continent.

The new Iranian government sought to export the Islamic revolution and was distinguished by its ardent anti-imperialism.
Anti Christian imperialism, anyway. They’re just fine with Iranian imperialism.
These two factors were reflected in a special way in relations with African countries.

For a long time, Tehran’s African vector remained a continuation of the Cold War with Saudi Arabia. Iran, which has 25 embassies in Africa, has faced stiff opposition from the kingdom. The Sunni state has an extremely negative attitude towards the presence of Shiite Iran in Africa.

As a consequence, countries such as Egypt and Morocco also became concerned about Iranian proselytism. Morocco has twice severed relations with Iran. The first time in 2009, condemning Tehran's religious "activism"; the second in 2018, accusing Iran of supporting the Polisario rebel movement in Western Sahara through the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Senegal severed diplomatic relations with Iran after the seizure of an arms shipment in Lagos in 2010.

And after the execution by Saudi Arabia of the Shiite sheikh Nimr Bakr al-Nimr in 2016, Djibouti and Somalia also announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Iran. Sudan, Tehran's longtime ally, did the same.

As for anti-imperialism, the Islamic Republic participates in the non-aligned movement and acts as a defender of oppressed countries in the face of Western (primarily US) domination. Iran is trying to show that the country is not isolated on the international stage and that it is not the only country having problems with the United States.

There will definitely be points of contact between Pan-Africanism and the image of Iran as a fighter against Western hegemony. It can be predicted that the Pan-African public will soon have flags of Iran and portraits of Ayatollah Khomeini, along with the Russian tricolor and the image of Putin and Che Guevara.
Angels of light, all three.
It is these two key trends that are supported by Iran’s humanitarian and economic initiatives in Africa.

Among the areas of interest for Iran on the continent are agriculture, the security sector and religion (in Nigeria, for example, there is a Shiite community). Part of the conductor of Iran's interests is the Lebanese community, which is ubiquitous in African countries.

MATING POINTS
At the moment, there is a third characteristic feature of the Iranian presence on the Dark Continent: coincidence with Russian interests.

The most active actions of the Iranians practically coincide with Russian activity in Africa. In particular, the Alliance of Sahel States raised the flag of resistance to Western hegemony and objectively found itself in the same boat with Iran.

For the Islamic Republic, the emergence of new military authorities in Africa has opened up an opportunity to expand influence on the continent and support the overall process of returning to the international stage.

Given the threats of jihadism, arms exports are also relevant, especially against the background of the winding down of military partnerships with the United States and France.

The last track common to Russia and Iran fell on Niger.

According to many experts, it was Niger’s decision to get closer to Iran that led to a conflict situation with the United States and the decision to quickly curtail military-technical cooperation with Washington. Allegedly, according to intelligence data, the American side learned that Tehran was negotiating with Niamey to purchase 300 tons of uranium.

Africa Intelligence in a recent publication reveals confidential negotiations between the Nigerian junta and the Iranian government on the supply of 300 tons of uranium.

As is known, the US attempt to limit Niamey in the choice of partners ended with the demand of local authorities to leave the country and the simultaneous arrival of military specialists from the Afrika Korps of the Russian Defense Ministry.

DIVISION OF LABOR
At the moment, there is no coordination between Tehran and Moscow in the African direction. But this could be a logical step.

Because both Russian and Iranian strategies are quite niche, but at the same time not conflicting with each other - in some places they are competing, and in others they are complementary.

In a narrow circle of allies (including Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea), Russia could build an extremely effective and independent strategy, completely “working” and interesting for all African countries.

From a distance, this could resemble the activities of the Warsaw Pact countries on the Dark Continent.

Yes, there was strong competition between the countries, not to mention friction with communist China or Yugoslavia. But overall, this provided a good range of opportunities for African countries and effective tools to counter the influence of France and other Western states.

Such cooperation can give a synergistic effect by using the strengths of each of the countries friendly to Russia.

For example, Iran is excellent at organizing the formation and subsequent effective work with proxy forces - we are talking about the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Africa, this niche can be filled by certain groups of pan-African activists.

And even the military-technical side of Iran’s presence may be familiar to us from the Northern Military District. It is also necessary to understand that the UAV market in Africa will be occupied, if not by Iran, then by Türkiye. The first partner, of course, is more preferable for us.

Link


Home Front: WoT
High-Level Iranian Spy Ring Busted in Washington
2023-10-03
A taste:
[TabletMagazine] The trail that leads from Tehran to D.C. passes directly through the offices of Robert Malley and the International Crisis Group.

The Biden administration’s now-suspended Iran envoy Robert Malley helped to fund, support, and direct an Iranian intelligence operation designed to influence the United States and allied governments, according to a trove of purloined Iranian government emails. The emails, which were reported on by veteran Wall Street Journal correspondent Jay Solomon, writing in Semafor, and by Iran International, the London-based émigré opposition outlet which is the most widely read independent news source inside Iran, were published last week after being extensively verified over a period of several months by the two outlets. They showed that Malley had helped to infiltrate an Iranian agent of influence named Ariane Tabatabai into some of the most sensitive positions in the U.S. government—first at the State Department and now the Pentagon, where she has been serving as chief of staff for the assistant secretary of defense for special operations, Christopher Maier.

On Thursday, Maier told a congressional committee that the Defense Department is “actively looking into whether all law and policy was properly followed in granting my chief of staff top secret special compartmented information.”

The emails, which were exchanged over a period of several years between Iranian regime diplomats and analysts, show that Tabatabai was part of a regime propaganda unit set up in 2014 by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The Iran Experts Initiative (IEI) tasked operatives drawn from Iranian diaspora communities to promote Iranian interests during the clerical regime’s negotiations with the United States over its nuclear weapons program. Though several of the IEI operatives and others named in the emails have sought to portray themselves on social media as having engaged with the regime in their capacity as academic experts, or in order to promote better understanding between the United States and Iran, none has questioned the veracity of the emails.

The contents of the emails are damning, showing a group of Iranian American academics being recruited by the Iranian regime, meeting together in foreign countries to receive instructions from top regime officials, and pledging their personal loyalty to the regime. They also show how these operatives used their Iranian heritage and Western academic positions to influence U.S. policy toward Iran, first as outside “experts” and then from high-level U.S. government posts. Both inside and outside of government, the efforts of members of this circle were repeatedly supported and advanced by Malley, who served as the U.S. government’s chief interlocutor with Iran under both the Obama and the Biden administrations. Malley is also the former head of the International Crisis Group (ICG), which directly paid and credentialed several key members of the regime’s influence operation.

The IEI, according to a 2014 email from one Iranian official to one of Iran’s lead nuclear negotiators, “consisted of a core group of 6-10 distinguished second-generation Iranians who have established affiliation with the leading international think-tanks and academic institutions, mainly in Europe and the US.” The network was funded and supported by an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) official, Mostafa Zahrani, who was the point of contact between IEI operatives, and Iran’s then-Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

According to the correspondence, the IEI recruited several U.S.-based analysts, including Tabatabai, Ali Vaez, and Dina Esfandiary, all of whom willingly accepted Iranian guidance. These Middle East experts were then subsequently hired, credentialed, supported, and funded by Malley and the ICG where he was president from January 2018 until January 2021, when he joined the Biden administration. Malley was also ICG’s program director for Middle East and North Africa before the Obama administration tapped him in February 2014 to run negotiations for the Iran nuclear deal. Vaez joined the ICG in 2012 and served as Malley’s top deputy.

Emails quoted in the stories show that even once in government, Malley directed Vaez’s actions at ICG, sending him to Vienna where the Iranian and U.S. teams held nuclear negotiations. “Following the order of his previous boss Malley, Ali Vaez will come to Vienna,” Zahrani reportedly wrote Zarif in an April 3, 2014, email. “Who from our group do you instruct to have a meeting with him?”
Related:
Robert Malley: 2023-09-28 Report: Top Officials on Biden's Iran Team Acted Under Directions From Tehran
Robert Malley: 2023-09-27 Has the Biden Admin Been Infiltrated by Iranian Sleeper Agents?
Robert Malley: 2023-07-16 Report: Biden Already Has ‘Unwritten' Nuclear Deal with Iran- A new ‘Iran deal’ may already be in place ‐ without Senate approval, just like the last.
Related:
Iran International: 2023-09-27 Has the Biden Admin Been Infiltrated by Iranian Sleeper Agents?
Iran International: 2023-09-17 Mahsa Amini's father arrested by Iranian police on her death anniversary
Iran International: 2023-08-20 Report: Russian drone experts took cover in Tehran hotel during alleged Mossad strike
Related:
Christopher Maier: 2020-12-02 Head of US fight against Islamic State quits in further defense jolt
Related:
Iran Experts Initiative: 2023-09-28 Report: Top Officials on Biden's Iran Team Acted Under Directions From Tehran
Iran Experts Initiative: 2023-09-27 Has the Biden Admin Been Infiltrated by Iranian Sleeper Agents?
Related:
Javad Zarif: 2021-08-20 'US, NATO have clear obligation to compensate in Afghanistan'
Javad Zarif: 2021-06-19 As Violence Intensifies, Abdullah Asks Taliban to Engage in Talks
Javad Zarif: 2021-06-04 Rouhani, Khomeini Levy Notion of 'Islamic Republic' against Taliban-Styled' Caliphate'
Related:
Ali Vaez: 2022-04-16 Fake DHS Agents - More details
Ali Vaez: 2017-02-02 Trump administration 'officially putting Iran on notice', says Flynn
Ali Vaez: 2014-06-11 Rouhani Says Iran to 'Do its Best' to Secure Nuclear Deal
Related:
Dina Esfandiary: 2014-06-05 Analysis: Iran at Crossroads 25 Years after Khomeini
Dina Esfandiary: 2013-04-30 Syria: Al-Qaeda's battle for control of Assad's chemical weapons plant
Dina Esfandiary: 2012-07-14 UK spy chief's Iran warning may go too far: analysts
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
'US, NATO have clear obligation to compensate in Afghanistan'
2021-08-20
[EN.MEHRNEWS] In a tweet on Wednesday, Mohammad Javad Zarif
...foreign minister of the Medes and the Persians, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...
 wrote, "For all their talk of democracy & War on Terror, events in Afghanistan & statements by US & NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure....
 officials prove: They invaded & occupied Afghanistan & elsewhere ONLY to pursue their own interests—but couldn't even achieve that.""US/NATO now have clear obligation to compensate," he added.

Meanwhile,
...back at the desert island, Bert climbed the cocoanut tree, looking for ships. He saw none. He looked in the other direction and saw Irene, vigorously scrubbing her backside...
 in a tweet on Sunday night, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif welcomed the establishment of a Coordination Council by Afghan leaders. "Violence & war—like occupation—never solve problems. Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
welcomes the announcement by @KarzaiH on forming a Coordination Council by Afghan leaders."

He also stressed that Iran is ready to continue its efforts for the spread of peace in Afghanistan.



Link


Afghanistan
As Violence Intensifies, Abdullah Asks Taliban to Engage in Talks
2021-06-19
[ToloNews] Abdullah Abdullah
...the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against both Karzai and Ghani. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun. He also held the meaningless salaried sop position as CEO of Afghanistan, while Ghani was president...
, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, in an address to Antalya Diplomacy Forum in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
 on Friday called on the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
 to engage in talks, reiterating that there is a "real opportunity" for peace in the country that should be utilized.

"There is a real opportunity for peace, and it is our collective obligation to make the most of it," Abdullah said. "The Afghan crisis has no military solution; hence I urge the Taliban to engage in good faith in talks and negotiations with the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Afghanistan as soon as possible and help bring an end to the violence."

Abdullah said that the world spent 20 years in Afghanistan, not only to contain terrorism but also prevent a breeding ground from re-emergence.

"We are thankful for that generous and costly global endeavor. We are now at a point where we not only need to end our internal conflict through political means, but we still need to be vigilant and assure resilience as well as containment as part of a paradigm shift that can assure peace and an acceptable and inclusive end-state for the people of Afghanistan," he said.

This comes as violence has intensified following the start of the withdrawal of US and coalition forces from Afghanistan. A parliamentary committee on Thursday reported fighting on 200 fronts across the country in just a day. Moreover, at least 30 districts have fallen to the Taliban in the last two months.

The negotiations in Doha have stalled after the announcement of the withdrawal of US and coalition forces by President Joe Biden
...... 46th president of the U.S. Old, boring, a plagiarist, fond of hair sniffing and grabbing the protruding parts of women, and not whatcha call brilliant... or is that an act?......
. The negotiating teams from the Afghan Republic and the Taliban held a meeting later this week, discussing ways to hold future meetings, but the high level of violence has diminished hopes for a progress in the negotiations.

Moreover, top Pentagon officials on Thursday said that turban groups like al Qaeda could pose a threat from Afghanistan to the United States and American allies in two years after the full withdrawal of international troops from the country.

While in Turkey, Abdullah met with foreign ministers of Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and Pakistain.

In meeting with Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif
...foreign minister of the Medes and the Persians, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...
, Abdullah said they exchanged views on the Afghan grinding of the peace processor, intra-Afghan talks, the latest political and security developments, and the two countries bilateral relations.

Abdullah said in another tweet that he had a "detailed and frank discussion" with Pakistain Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi
...a Pak political shape-changer. He is undistinguished except for his habit of periodically needing to have his lips reattached...
 and that they exchanged views on the grinding of the peace processor and bilateral relations.

Abdullah said that Qureshi assured him of "Pakistain’s full support for the acceleration of peace talks and stability in Afghanistan."
Another Tolo News article adds:
The remarks come as a UN report in January said there are at least 500 al Qaeda gunnies in Afghanistan and that the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
 maintains a close relationship with the group. The Taliban has denied having ties with al Qaeda.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Rouhani, Khomeini Levy Notion of 'Islamic Republic' against Taliban-Styled' Caliphate'
2021-06-04
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Two days ahead of the first 2021 Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
presidential election debate, President Hassan Rouhani
...Iran's moderate president, which he is, relative to his predecessor, which doesn't mean he's anything but a puppet of the nearest holy man...
 reiterated his desire to hold a national referendum. At the same time, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif
...foreign minister of the Medes and the Persians, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...
 implicitly warned against undermining "legitimacy" derived from the popular vote.

Hassan Khomeini, the most prominent grandchild of Iran’s founding supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, also joined Rouhani in criticism of attempts to swap the current "Islamic Theocratic Republic" for a Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
-styled "Islamic Caliphate."

Benefiting from the holy man-led country marking the 33rd anniversary Khomeini’s death on June 3, Rouhani slammed the incumbent electoral process for slashing the eligibility of some candidates who applied to run for the presidency.

Rouhani’s criticism came despite the Guardian Council approving the candidacy of his close ally, former Central Bank Governor Abdel Nasser Hemmati.

In his seemingly impartial critique, the president cited Khomeini’s teaching several times.

Attending a weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Rouhani stated that Khomeini considered the people’s awareness as a primary character for building a just republic.

"Everyone is proud of their constructive dealings with the world today, and no one wants confrontation," he said.

"Today, everyone is talking about negotiations, but what is important is the understanding that negotiating is the keyway for dealing with the world," he stressed.

At the ministerial meeting, Rouhani also slammed those fearful of holding a national referendum, building his argument on the country’s history.

He recounted how five referendums and electoral elections were held in the first year after the 1979 revolution.

The last time Iran had held a referendum dates back to July 1989; it followed a constitutional amendment and was supported by 97% of the population eligible for voting.

During his years in office, Rouhani repeatedly called for holding public referendums on Tehran’s foreign policy and power distribution.

He called for a public poll regarding the nuclear agreement, joining the international FATF agreement for combating terrorist financing and money laundering, and reshaping executive authority in the country.
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
What to expect from Zarif's next visit to Baku and Yerevan?
2021-05-25
Direct translation of the article
[Regnum] The head of the press service of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Said Khatibzade said that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, he did not name the purpose of the visit and the issues that will be discussed during Zarif's Transcaucasian tour. The last time the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry passed this route was at the end of January this year.

But then Tbilisi, Ankara and Moscow were added to Baku and Yerevan, which looked like a probing trip. It was important for Tehran not only to assess the changes in the region that occurred after the signing by Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of the peace agreement on November 9, 2020, which ended the second Karabakh war, but also to find its place in the new regional geopolitical reality.
Link


Home Front: Politix
Republicans Urge Biden to 'Immediately' End Negotiations with Iran
2021-05-15
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] US Republicans on Thursday stepped up calls on President Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem mschine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family...
 to end talks to return to a nuclear agreement with Iran.

In a letter to Biden, Republican senators said that any sanctions relief would let Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
step up funding for Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.

"We call on you to immediately end negotiations with Iran, and make clear that sanctions relief will not be provided," said the letter led by Senator Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida...
 and signed by all but six Senate Republicans.

"Doing so would demonstrate a firm commitment to our closest ally in the region and to our own security interests."

They also pointed to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
...Persian foreign minister, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...
, who "controls" Iran’s negotiating team in Vienna, while Tehran supports terrorism in the world.

Republican senators detailed the attacks by Paleostinian terrorist groups — more than 1,000 missiles fired at Israel in the past few days.

"This includes the first missiles aimed at Jerusalem since 2014," they reminded the president.

"The United States engaging in active negotiations with Iran and potentially providing billions of dollars in sanctions relief will no doubt contribute to Iran’s support of Hamas and other terrorist organizations who attack Americans and our allies," the Senators wrote.

"In the wake of Hamas’ recent attacks on Israel, the United States should take all necessary measures to hold Tehran accountable and not ease sanctions on Iran under any circumstances," they wrote.

In the same context, a group of US senators sent a letter to the international business community, warning companies against resuming trade with Iran if the Biden administration removes sanctions on Tehran to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal.

"Your member companies may see this potential removal of US sanctions on Iran as a lucrative opportunity. Trust us, they should not," the letter read.

"If US sanctions on Iran were temporarily lifted and these firms decided to re-enter the Iranian market, they would be investing in ventures doomed to fail.

Any agreement that does not receive the broad and bipartisan support of Congress will not survive if a Republican is elected president in 2024. "Any sanctions relief will also be severely limited if Republicans win back majorities in Congress in 2022," the group stressed.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Revolutionary Guards
Raid President and Foreign Minister's Offices
2021-04-30
[IRANWIRE] IranWire sources report that this morning officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Unit raided the offices of President Hassan Rouhani
...Iran's moderate president, which he is, relative to his predecessor, which doesn't mean he's anything but a puppet of the nearest holy man...
 and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
...Persian foreign minister, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...
After a short altercation with the security guards of the president’s office and the Foreign Ministry, the Guards took a number of documents from the premises.

The raids took place after government front man Ali Rabiei had stated that Iran’s intelligence ministry was investigating the source of a recently-leaked interview with Zarif.

The IRGC Intelligence Unit is a rival organization to the Ministry of Intelligence, which is the country’s equivalent of the CIA and the FBI.

In the recorded interview, which was leaked to Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
International last weekend, Zarif had told journalist and economist Saeed Leylaz that he believed Iranian diplomacy had been "sacrificed" to the regime's military interests.

He described alleged efforts by former IRGC Quds Force commander Ghasem Soleimani and Russia to sabotage the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and shared new details about the Quds Force's regional operations.

The leak sparked widespread controversy, with various parties calling for Zarif's resignation or impeachment. Zarif has been touring Arab countries since the tape surfaced and was in Kuwait on Thursday.

The interview was one of 33 conducted by the Presidential Center for Strategic Studies for a planned oral history project. It was set to focus on the achievements of the country's 11th and 12th governments and was in its post-production phase at the time of the leak.

Earlier Thursday, the government announced that the head of the Center, Heshamoddin Ashena, who was overseeing the project, had "resigned" and been replaced by Rabiei.

Ashena took to Twitter to castigate the "professional bandidos with political ambitions" he said were involved in sharing the tape, saying it had caused "an informative, methodical and non-confidential programming to be abused politically and in the media... It appears to be a political and security dilemma."

Tehran Prosecutor's Office also confirmed a lawsuit had been filed in connection with the audio file's publication.

Iranian state media reported on Thursday that 15 people involved in the production had been barred from leaving the country while investigations are ongoing.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
After Leaked Audio, Zarif Favors 'Adjustment' Between Military, Diplomacy
2021-04-29
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday he favors a "smart adjustment" between the military and diplomatic spheres, in his first public reaction to leaked audio of him bemoaning the military's influence.

Mohammad Javad Zarif
...Persian foreign minister, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...
 also said he regretted that the leak had triggered "domestic infighting," amid a furious reaction from conservative figures and media outlets.

"I was very sorry that a secret theoretical talk regarding the need for synergy between diplomacy and the (military) field ... turns into domestic infighting," Iran's top diplomat said on his Instagram account.

"Honest and passionate" argument in a private setting had been misconstrued as "personal criticism," AFP quoted him as saying.

But Zarif also appeared to stick by the core argument that he made in the leaked audio.

He said on Wednesday that the "main point" of his remarks in the audio -- in which he says the military has too much influence on diplomacy -- is emphasizing "the need for a smart adjustment of the relationship between" diplomacy and the military.

Zarif also said on Wednesday he saw a need for "setting priorities through legal structures and under the great purview of the supreme leader," Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani
...Iran's moderate president, which he is, relative to his predecessor, which doesn't mean he's anything but a puppet of the nearest holy man...
 has ordered a probe to identify who leaked the "stolen" three-hour recording.

His moderate government has sought to downplay the remarks, which were leaked ahead of the June elections and as Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and world powers discuss ways to revive a 2015 nuclear accord.

In Iran "the military field rules," Zarif said in the audio tape, published by several media outlets outside Iran on Sunday. "I have sacrified diplomacy for the military field rather than the field servicing diplomacy".

Comments he made about Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm who was killed in a US Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
 last year, especially hit a nerve, with Zarif specifically addressing that in his Instagram post.

"I have had the honor of deep friendship and cooperation with haj Qasem (Soleimani) for more than two decades," he wrote, noting that he has repeatedly reminded the world of Soleimani's "humanity, peacefulness and courage".

He also defended his track record by stressing that he has "always followed the country's internally agreed policies and strongly defended them".

"Safeguarding the country's interests and... (those of) the patient and valiant people of Iran is an oath I will stand by until the last moment," Zarif pledged.

"But I have considered appeasement and self-censorship in expert opinion to be a betrayal," he added.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Orders Probe into 'Conspiracy' of Leaked Zarif Audio
2021-04-28
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Iran's government said Tuesday an investigation had been ordered into leaked audio of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
...Persian foreign minister, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values...
 bemoaning the military's influence, after its emergence stirred controversy ahead of presidential elections.

President Hassan Rouhani
Link



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