Breaking News: China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan, in Quadripartite meeting, have urged the Taliban to dismantle terrorist camps on their soil, specifically targeting groups like the BLA, TTP, Al-Qaida, ETIM, Jaish ul-Adl, and ISKP. The four sides urged the afghan Taliban to take… pic.twitter.com/FeGklqivfn
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Including groups like the BLA, TTP, Al-Qaida, ETIM, Jaish ul-Adl, and ISKP. The four sides urged the afghan Taliban to take actions in fulfilling their commitments to dismantle and eliminate the terrorist groups and and to prevent recruitment, fundraising and their access to weapons as well as their collaboration with foreign terrorist fighters.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Israel-hating Labour government. Exactly on schedule.
[IsraelTimes] Liam O’Hanna, who was charged after wearing Hezbollah flag and shouting ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah!,’ says after ruling it was ‘always about Gaza,’ brands UK ‘guilty of terrorism’
A UK court on Friday threw out on a technicality a terrorism charge against a Northern Irish singer from the punk rap group Kneecap, after he had displayed a Hezbollah flag on stage.
Cheers erupted from supporters as the judge found there had been a technical error in the case against Liam O’Hanna and told him he was "free to go."
O’Hanna, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, and his two bandmates had arrived at court wearing keffiyehs and balaclavas in the colors of the Irish flag for the hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London.
In a statement issued after the case was thrown out, O’Hanna said: "This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public and never about ’terrorism,’ a word used by your government to discredit people you oppress.
"It was always about 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 a rusty 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... . About what happens if you dare to speak up," he added.
"As people from Ireland, we know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide. We have suffered and still suffer under ’your empire,'" the frontman added.
"If anyone on this planet is guilty of terrorism, it is the British state," he said, adding: "Free Paleostine!"
The statement ended with "Tiocfaidh ár lá," an Irish nationalist slogan meaning "Our day will come," that was coined during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and frequently invoked by groups such as the Irish Republican Army and Sinn Fein.
O’Hanna, 27, had denied the offense after being charged in May when a video emerged from a November concert in London, in which he was seen at a concert displaying a flag of the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and shouting: "Up Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... , up Hezbollah!"
Since the UK banned Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 2019, it has been an offense to show support for the group. The same clip showed the band singing "Maggie’s in a Box," celebrating the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Other videos showed a member shouting, "The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP," referring to politicians from the UK’s Conservative Party.
The band later issued a statement declaring they "do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah" and "condemn all attacks on civilians, always." The statement also included an apology to the families of several murdered Conservative MPs.
In the same post, the band accused "establishment figures" of trying to silence them because of their opposition to the "genocide" in Gaza. The group frequently leads anti-Israel chants, and performed at Coachella in front of video screens, reading "Fuck Israel."
O’Hanna’s legal team had challenged whether the charge was filed correctly.
"I find that these proceedings were not instigated in the correct form," chief magistrate Paul Goldspring agreed, adding that "consequently the charges are unlawful and null and the court has no jurisdiction."
The band had branded the legal process a "witch hunt." O’Hanna claimed in earlier interviews that he did not know what the Hezbollah flag was and that he was part of a sometimes satirical musical act not to be taken at face value. Kneecap has also said the video was taken out of context.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill welcomed the verdict, saying the charges were part of "a calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza."
"Kneecap has used their platform on stages across the world to expose this genocide, and it is the responsibility of all of us to continue speaking out and standing against injustice in Paleostine," she added.
[IsraelTimes] Defendants accused of targeting exiled journalists, aiding Iran’s intelligence services, plead not guilty to charges; trial set for October 2026
Three Iranian nationals, who arrived in the UK as irregular migrants colonists, on Friday denied spying in Britannia on behalf of Iran’s intelligence services.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, appeared at London’s Old Bailey court charged under the powerful National Security Act.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said the charges were serious and related to spying on journalists and organizations "known to be considered by the Iranian regime as hostile."
"These are extremely serious charges," said Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter-Terrorism command, when the men first appeared in court in May, adding that it had been a "very complex and fast-moving investigation."
All three were charged with "engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between 14 August 2024 and 16 February 2025," the police said.
Sepahvand was also charged with "surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research... intending to commit acts, namely serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom."
Manesh and Noori were also charged with "surveillance and reconnaissance with the intention that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom, would be committed by others."
The BBC reported in May that the men allegedly targeted UK-based journalists working for the Farsi-language 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 JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... International television news network, an independent media organization based in London that Iran has labeled a terror organization.
The Home Office said the suspects were all irregular migrants colonists having arrived in the UK by small boat or other means, such as hidden in a vehicle, between 2016 and 2022.
The three defendants, who appeared via videolink from Belmarsh prison, confirmed their identities speaking through a Farsi interpreter before entering not guilty pleas in English.
A trial has been set for October 2026, with an interim hearing in March.
Iran became the first country to be placed on the UK’s enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which aims to boost the UK’s national security against covert foreign influences.
Under the scheme, all people working inside the UK for Iran, its intelligence services or the Revolutionary Guard have to register or face jail.
BREAKING: The US is preparing possible military strikes on drug targets inside Venezuela, with options including drone attacks on traffickers and drug labs.
President Trump hasn’t approved any action yet, but strikes could begin within weeks.
…Washington is also considering regime change as a goal.
Source: NBC News
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1769 views]
Top|| File under: Narcos
#1
Imagine if we had some kind of Federal Institution focused on reducing demand for addictive substances and/or testing effectiveness of various treatments for addiction.
Imagine if we placed it in well-funded digs in, say, Montgomery County, MD.
Imagine if we called it the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
And, wait for it (h/t KBJ), NIDA had actually accomplished something useful in the past 50+ years.
Imagine.
Maybe then there wouldn't be nearly as much demand for addictive substances.
Can you imagine?
Sadly, for decades now!! ,our NIDA could not have accomplished less
if the daily goal of the people who work there was to accomplish less. Year after year. Decade after decade.
Posted by: Prince Tristan ||
09/27/2025 5:22 Comments ||
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#2
...Well, it's clear we consider the narcos a Clear And Present Danger.
#3
We've all seen bookstores after a major mall gets looted -- untouched. Absolutely untouched.
IF our National Institute Of Drug Abuse had accomplished even a fraction of what it was supposed to do over the past 50+ years...
THEN the narcos would not be Dangerous to (almost) anybody -- because (almost) nobody would want what they're pushing.
Like a bookstore when a mall gets looted.
Nice.
Posted by: Prince Tristan ||
09/27/2025 11:47 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Voilà.
Posted by: Prince Tristan ||
09/27/2025 11:49 Comments ||
Top||
#5
It’s ok to miss and hit Columbia at this point.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/27/2025 13:04 Comments ||
Top||
#6
As the conflict with Venezuela grows hotter, few Americans are aware of the deep Cuban connections as well as those of Nicaragua. Cleaning us the hemisphere is a bit more complex given the Russian and more recently, CCCP players.
Wiki cite:"Intelligence and military support
For over two decades, Cuban military and intelligence personnel have played a central role in strengthening the Venezuelan regime against internal opposition.
Controlling dissent: Cuban advisers helped establish a system of surveillance and repression within the Venezuelan armed forces through the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM). This system quashes internal dissent through surveillance and instilling paranoia.
Training and torture: Cuban intelligence officers have trained Venezuelan officials in interrogation techniques, including torture, and have overseen torture sessions for political dissidents.
Political security: Cuban personnel are considered more loyal to Havana than to Maduro himself. They monitor the Venezuelan army at all levels and have helped coup-proof the regime since a failed attempt to overthrow Chávez in 2002.
Ideological and political alignment
The relationship is rooted in a shared socialist ideology and anti-American sentiment dating back to Chávez's presidency. "
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] On September 25, 2025, a Paris court found former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy in an investigation into his illegal receipt of funds from Libyan Jamahiriya leader Muammar Gaddafi.
According to the case file, the former president received money from Libyans for his political activities over several years. The funds included funding his 2007 campaign, when Sarkozy narrowly defeated Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal in the runoff (53% to 47%), bringing him to power.
However, even after the completion of the proceedings, many pressing issues remain on the agenda.
THE HAND OF GADDAFI
Information about the Libyan leadership's involvement in financing Sarkozy's presidential campaign emerged in March 2011. At that time, the son of the former Libyan leader, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, stated that Paris had "deceived Tripoli."
Allegedly, in exchange for generous funding for Sarkozy's presidential campaign (over €50 million, allocated from the Gaddafi clan's personal funds), the Libyan authorities were supposed to receive support and favor from Paris. In reality, they received an invasion and a stab in the back.
Indeed, during his second presidential term, Sarkozy showed unusual warmth toward Tripoli. For example, shortly after his inauguration, Gaddafi was invited to Paris, marking the first official visit by a Libyan leader to the country since the early 1970s.
The meeting, organized within just a few days, was surprisingly productive for the Libyan side: the Elysée Palace unconditionally approved the sale of two dozen Airbus aircraft to the Jamahiriya, and also gave preliminary approval for the delivery of Rafale fighter jets and military helicopters.
Moreover, Paris and Tripoli signed an agreement to develop cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, which was a major breakthrough for the pariah state that Libya was at that time.
Sarkozy's sudden kindness was not well received by other EU countries. Discussions swirled about the possibility of bribing the new president. However, the French leader managed to extricate himself from the situation by explaining his sudden rapprochement with Tripoli as an attempt to establish a "European foothold of influence" in the Middle East.
And a few years later, when Paris became one of the ideologists of the Western coalition's invasion of Libya, no one really remembered the dubious steps of the mid-2000s.
Nevertheless, in 2012, the scandal returned to the headlines. And this time, it caught the attention of not only journalists but also the prosecutor's office, and a lengthy and meticulous investigation was launched.
In addition to Sarkozy, who lost the election, his close associate Eric Woerth, then Finance Minister, also came under attack. He was accused of organizing shady funding channels for the 2007 presidential campaign, including using Libyan funds.
However, the case against Vert quickly fell apart due to a lack of direct evidence of his knowledge of the origin of the funds, and the financier continues to hold leadership positions in the French parliament. In September 2025, the final charges against him were dropped.
In 2016, Arnaud Claude, Sarkozy's former lawyer, briefly joined the list of defendants. He was implicated in the creation of offshore accounts in Panama and other "inconspicuous states." His involvement in Gaddafi's corruption scheme was never proven.
By the end of the 2010s, former Interior Minister Claude Déhaene, businessman Alexandre Djury, and former Labor Minister Brice Hortefeux found themselves in the dock. All of them, close associates of Sarkozy, were allegedly involved in laundering funds coming from Libya and maintained close ties with the Gaddafi clan.
ZIYAD'S CONTRIBUTION
Two days before Sarkozy's sentencing, another high-ranking figure, the "arms baron" Ziad Takieddine, died in Beirut. It was his allegations about the "suitcases filled with money" that he allegedly personally transported to the Élysée Palace that became the starting point first for journalistic investigations and, a little later, for a prosecutorial inquiry.
The investigation had little doubt that Takieddin was involved in the high-profile case. Especially since the "baron" had a long-standing history of corruption.
For example, in 1994, in exchange for generous kickbacks, he brokered the delivery of French warships to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and in the mid-2000s, he acted as a "bridge" between the Gaddafi clan and the French establishment. He also organized "diplomatic receptions" in third countries, where shady deals were concluded between French and Libyan politicians and businessmen.
Takieddine was among the first to come under scrutiny, back in 2011, when the first reports emerged of Libyan money flowing into Sarkozy's foundation. However, he managed to evade the investigation for 14 years.
During this time, the businessman presented nearly two dozen versions of his story, changing the details of his testimony on average every eight to nine months. After nearly nine years of investigation, in 2020, the prosecution decided to close the case and ordered Takieddin's arrest.
However, the businessman was never apprehended: a few days before his arrest, he suddenly fled to Lebanon, where, thanks to his previous connections, he received Hezbollah protection and became inaccessible to the justice system. And after Takieddine died in a Beirut clinic on September 23, 2025, his name was finally removed from the list of defendants.
BOOMERANG EFFECT
In fact, Sarkozy was the only high-ranking figure from the "pro-Libyan group" to receive a real prison sentence specifically for organizing a foreign influence channel. He was acquitted of the other charges (receiving Libyan state funds, passive corruption, and illegal campaign financing).
Other defendants (Déhaene, Jouri, and Hortefeux) received "package sentences," in which participation in the Libyan scheme was one of the charges, but far from the primary one. Much more emphasis in their cases is placed on corrupt connections, money laundering, and embezzlement. In the "pro-Libyan group," they are cast as "subordinates," acting on the former president's orders rather than on their own initiative.
Sarkozy, however, does not consider himself guilty even of the crimes he was ultimately convicted of. On the contrary, he is convinced that the case is a "political hit" and revenge by the Gaddafi clan for his overthrow in 2011.
It is no coincidence that the first serious leaks appeared in March of that year, when the Jamahiriya was on the brink of collapse due to the “no-fly zone” imposed over Libya at the initiative of Paris.
Subsequently, the “drivers” of the case were exclusively figures associated with the former Gaddafi government: the chief of staff of the government, Bashir Saleh, the former Libyan oil minister, Shukri Ghanem, and others, who were interested parties in the case.
However, it's not just the Gaddafi clan's descendants who are interested in pinning the scandal on France, and Sarkozy in particular, but also their opponents, who are currently vying for influence in Libya. By blaming the former elites for the crisis, both Paris and Tripoli can continue their interactions "with a clean slate."
The validity of this version is indirectly indicated, for example, by the transformation of Takieddin’s position.
While in the initial stages of the investigation, until approximately 2016, the businessman constantly spoke of a “large group of interested parties” among French officials and businessmen, subsequently, responsibility was placed primarily on Sarkozy as the initiator and main beneficiary.
This clear shift in emphasis coincided chronologically with France's attempts to bring post-war Libya back into its orbit. At the instigation of President Emmanuel Macron, private players—businessmen and private military contractors—flooded into the former Jamahiriya, seeking contact with the new elites and rising warlords to counterbalance the growing influence of Turkey and Egypt.
Takieddine also partially returned to the game, according to some reports, having shared with Paris the contacts of his former partners in exchange for the right to “suddenly disappear” before being taken into custody.
However, it is currently impossible to confirm or deny this version, especially after Takieddine's death, which left behind no diaries or traces of contacts with Macron's office.
So, rumors that France sacrificed Sarkozy to realize Macron's ambitions are unlikely to be confirmed in the near future.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] On September 24, Hungarian authorities declared the Antifa movement a terrorist organization. This was announced by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
"The government made a decision at a meeting on Wednesday. It declared Antifa a terrorist organization," the politician said on Kossuth Radio.
Orban added that the country would create a national list of terrorist organizations and promised that the strictest measures would be taken against them.
On September 18, US President Donald Trump declared Antifa a terrorist organization. The move was prompted by the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on September 10. Bullets engraved with slogans, including those associated with the Antifa movement, were found in the magazine of the rifle used in the shooting.
On September 20, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó sent a letter to European Union Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas, calling on the EU to follow the US example and designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. The Hungarian Foreign Minister also recommended imposing restrictive measures against individuals associated with the movement and coordinating this effort with US authorities.
On September 22, Trump signed an executive order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. The document characterized the movement as a militaristic, anarchist organization that openly calls for the overthrow of the US government, law enforcement, and the legal system.
[Ynet] Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, has been engaged in sensitive ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Meanwhile, his sons Alex and Zach have been working to raise billions of dollars from sovereign wealth funds in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait — countries directly involved in those same diplomatic efforts.
An investigative report by The New York Times outlines how the younger Witkoffs sought to capitalize on their proximity to power, with Alex pitching a multibillion-dollar real estate fund to Gulf nations, including Qatar, while Zach pursued investors for a cryptocurrency venture linked to both the Witkoff and Trump families.
[FoxNews] The move follows Petro's call for criminal investigation against Trump over Caribbean strikes
The Trump administration announced late Friday it is revoking the U.S. visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro
…he claims to be a Democratic Socialist, but really he’s a hardline Marxist and proud former member of the M19 terrorist guerrilla group…
over alleged "reckless and incendiary actions" in New York City.
"Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence," read a post on the U.S. State Department's X account. "We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions."
The visa revocation comes on the heels of the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City this week.
Videos circulating online show the Colombian president addressing a crowd gathered at a demonstration against Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in New York City Friday to address the assembly.
In a fiery speech earlier this week, Petro called for a criminal investigation against President Donald Trump and other administration officials over deadly strikes on boats in the Caribbean that the White House said were carrying drugs.
#1
200% tariffs and start zapping Colombian drug boats. Dude went full Victoria Nuland. He needs the full treatment not some VISA revolution. Take his Mastercard as well.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/27/2025 10:48 Comments ||
Top||
[GEO.TV] Federal Minister for Power Awais Leghari on Friday vowed that Pakistain's circular debt crisis will be eliminated within six years under a landmark financing agreement with 18 banks, secured on favourable terms without adding any burden on consumers.
Addressing a presser, the minister strongly criticised the previous government for worsening the circular debt problem.
He said that when the Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) left office in 2018, the debt stood at Rs1,100 billion, but it surged to Rs2.28 trillion during the PTI-led government's tenure by 2022.
[IsraelTimes] Database of 158 firms accused of enabling settlement activity now spans 11 countries, from construction suppliers to global travel platforms
The United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... has added nearly 70 more companies to a blacklist of firms from 11 countries that it claims are complicit in violating Paleostinian human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... through their business ties to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The new list spotlights companies that do business that’s deemed supportive of the settlements, which are considered by many to be illegal under international law. It includes an array of companies like vendors of construction materials and earth-movers, as well as providers of security, travel and financial services.
The list, formally known as a "database of companies," now contains 158 companies — the vast majority Israeli. The others are from the United States, Canada, China, Britannia, La Belle France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Newcomers to the list include German building-materials company Heidelberg Materials, Portuguese rail systems provider Steconfer, and Spanish transportation engineering firm Ineco. Among those still on the list are travel-sector companies US-based Expedia Group, Booking Holdings Inc. and Airbnb, Inc.
While 68 new companies were added Friday, seven were taken off. A total of 215 business enterprises were assessed in this round, but hundreds more could get a look in the future.
"Businesses working in contexts of conflict have a due diligence responsibility to ensure their activities do not contribute to human rights abuses," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson of the UN human rights office. "We call on businesses to take appropriate action to address the adverse human rights impacts of their activities."
She said countries also have a responsibility to make sure that companies operating in such areas aren’t contributing to rights abuses.
The companies in the updated list are active mainly in sectors like construction, real estate, mining and quarrying. The UN human rights office, which compiled the list, has advised the companies of their listing and given them a right of reply.
Among the seven companies taken off the list were transportation company Alstom of La Belle France, and travel service providers eDreams of Spain and Opodo of Britannia.
The UN’s main human rights body passed a resolution nearly a decade ago to create the list, and Israel has sharply criticized it since. The revision could further isolate Israel at a time when some of its European allies have recognized an independent Paleostinian state over Israel’s conduct of its war against Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... 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 a rusty 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... following the October 7, 2023, massacre in which some 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken hostage.
Months in the making, the revised list comes as Israel has made veiled threats to annex parts or all of the West Bank and has approved plans to build thousands of new settlement homes there.
The government approved a controversial settlement project last month that would effectively split the West Bank in two, a step that would all but bury hopes for establishing a Paleostinian state in the territory. Gaza is not covered by the list, because Israel no longer has settlements there.
The international community says dividing the territory as part of a two-state solution would leave Israel as a country with a solid Jewish majority and allow the Paleostinians to realize their dreams of self-determination.
The alternative, many say, is an apartheid-like country divided roughly evenly between Israelis and Paleostinians in which Jews would rule over the Paleostinians.
This is the first revision to the list since 2023, when 97 companies were listed — down from 112 in the original list published in 2020. Among those 15 taken off last time were US-based food and cereal giant General Mills.
The blacklist was born of a vote by the UN’s Human Rights Council, which has no legal authority or ability to force companies to act: Its main goal is to name and shame businesses with ties to the settlements. It is not clear what impact inclusion on the blacklist has had on the companies’ bottom lines.
The council decided that 10 business activities in the settlements could merit inclusion of a company in the list, such as dumping pollution in Paleostinian areas; supplying bulldozing equipment, surveillance gear, and even helping people book travel or lodging in the settlements.
The UN has budgeted enough funding for a single full-time staffer to handle the painstaking, sensitive work of gathering and assessing claims and communicating with companies in question. Claims about hundreds of other companies are awaiting assessment.
With broad international backing, the Paleostinians claim the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza for a future independent state.
Israel, which captured all three areas in the 1967 Mideast war, has annexed East Jerusalem — a step that is not internationally recognized — and today claims the entire city as its united and eternal capital. The Paleostinians seek East Jerusalem, home to the city’s most important holy sites, as their capital.
Israel has said it has no intention of dismantling any of its West Bank settlements.
Over 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank. The postwar future of Gaza, which has suffered massive destruction, remains unclear, though Netanyahu has ruled out an independent Paleostinian state.
Israel and the US regularly accuse the Human Rights Council of anti-Israel bias, and the Trump administration withdrew the United States in 2018 — faulting the UN for accepting autocratic governments that the administration said have repeatedly violated human rights.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Many delegates at the UN General Assembly booed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and walked out en masse before his speech.
Footage from the broadcast of the meeting showed dozens of diplomats, particularly representatives of Arab countries, rising en masse from their seats and leaving the room when the Israeli leader was called to the podium. Furthermore, boos began to emanate from the audience. As a result, Netanyahu was forced to speak to a half-empty hall.
A similar situation occurred in September 2024.
Since September 21, the authorities of Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Portugal, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, and Malta have recognized Palestinian statehood. The leaders of these countries have declared their commitment to a conflict resolution based on political recognition of both states.
Netanyahu promised to respond to the recognition of Palestine by several Western countries. Leaders who recognize a Palestinian state "give terrorism a huge reward," he stated, emphasizing that Jewish development in the region will continue.
[IsraelTimes] PMO asserts loudspeakers will only be along border, but IDF confirms they were placed inside Strip; hostage families note captives may hear PM.
[IsraelTimes] States pledge at least $170 million, as cash-strapped Palestinian Authority struggles to stay afloat after Jerusalem cuts off most of its budget in bid to strangle PA economy
The Paleostinian Authority on Friday welcomed foreign fund pledges it said would help it keep government services going while Israel withholds tax revenues it collects on the PA’s behalf.
Donor countries pledged at least $170 million to finance the budget of the Ramallah-based PA in New York on Thursday, according to PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa’s office.
The announcement came as world leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly, with a recent string of recognitions of a Paleostinian state by countries including La Belle France and Britannia.
The PA had sought $400 million a month for six months, and the prime minister’s front man Mohammad Abu al-Rob told AFP it was unclear whether the pledged funds would be renewed.
A European diplomat told The Times of Israel last weekend that Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... , La Belle France, Norway and Spain had agreed to donate $200 million a month to the PA for six months, but were hoping that other countries would help share the burden.
Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the effort was particularly noteworthy, as Riyadh previously was one of PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> ’s biggest critics, accusing him of corruption.
In the West Bank, services provided by the PA have deteriorated in recent months, with Israel stopping tax revenue transfers amounting to 68 percent of the authority’s budget, according to Abu al-Rob.
"Who can continue working while losing 60 percent? Which country can continue offering services?" he said.
Because of the cuts, schools in the West Bank opened late this year, and were still only opening three days a week, he added.
The cuts have also "reduced work to the lowest limit for emergency cases and operations," while also hitting medicine stocks, he said.
Paleostinians living in poverty were also affected, Abu al-Rob said, with their numbers rising by over 150 percent since the start of the 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 a rusty 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... war, and with cash assistance not paid out in over two months.
ISRAEL HAS WITHHELD TAX REVENUES FOR FOUR MONTHS NOW
The Paleostinian economy is largely governed by the 1994 Gay Paree Protocol, which granted sole control over the territories’ borders to Israel, and with it the right to collect import duties and value-added tax for the PA.
Over the past five years, Israel has deducted around NIS 500 million ($150 million) annually from these revenues over controversial PA payments to families of slain terrorists, in a policy the Authority says it has since overturned.
Since the Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... -led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked a crackdown on bully boyz in the West Bank, Israel has withheld additional PA revenues as well.
It no longer transfers the monthly sums the PA once directed to Gaza, including pensions for ex-employees who served under the PA, and payments for electricity and water supplied to the Strip. Those funds totaled some NIS 120 million (nearly $36 million) per month.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who stopped all payments to the PA four months ago, has said he would pursue the collapse of the Paleostinian government through "economic strangulation" to prevent the creation of a Paleostinian state.
Beyond tax transfers, two other pressures are squeezing the Paleostinian economy: Israel’s strict limits on the entry of Paleostinian workers into Israel since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, and a liquidity crisis with Israeli banks.
DONOR STATES: PA FACES ’EXISTENTIAL THREAT’ FROM BUDGET CRISIS
In a letter reported by the Times of Israel to potential donor countries last week, the effort’s four core nations — Saudi Arabia, title='France'>La Belle France, Norway, and Spain — wrote that the Authority is facing an "existential threat" due to the withholding of the funds.
"A viable Paleostinian state capable of fulfilling the needs and aspirations of the Paleostinian people will be essential for a future of peace and security in the Middle East," the letter said.
"We therefore need to urgently mobilize to prevent a financial collapse of the Paleostinian Authority, with severe implications for Paleostinian society, regional stability, and international security," it continued.
"We need to act now, and with this objective, we propose to swiftly coordinate in the coming days an emergency coalition for Paleostine," the states wrote.
[IsraelTimes] Report says tech giant told army that unit 8200 ‘violated terms of service’ in storing of phone recordings; military officials say unit backed data up ahead of time, no info lost
Microsoft recently terminated the Israeli military’s main signals intelligence unit’s access to some of its services, after it allegedly used the Azure cloud platform for expansive surveillance of Palestinians, according to a Thursday report.
Suckers succumbed to the pressure from their leftwing activist (read as Black Bloc fellow travelers) employees instead of doing the smart thing and firing all who insubordinately reared up on their hind legs to dictate to management who they may and may not do business with — especially not those icky Joooooos.
According to the UK’s The Guardian, Microsoft told Israeli officials last week that the IDF’s Unit 8200 had “violated the company’s terms of service by storing the vast trove of surveillance data” on Azure.
A report last month conducted by the Guardian and the far-left activist outlet +972 Magazine said Microsoft’s Azure software was used by Unit 8200 to store countless recordings of mobile phone calls made by Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
In response to that report, Microsoft ordered an external review of its relationship with Unit 8200. According to the Guardian, the findings have led Microsoft to cancel the unit’s access to “some of its cloud storage and AI services.”
Place your bet, dear Reader: how many days before an indigenous Israeli replacement is up and running? How much longer thereafter before the indigenous Israeli program is sold commercially?
The Guardian added that the decision to cut some of the Azure services to Unit 8200 has not affected Microsoft’s wider relationship with the IDF, and the Israeli military will retain access to other services.
There was no official comment from Microsoft or the IDF in response to the report.
Following the report, military officials told The Times of Israel that Unit 8200 had prepared ahead of time and backed up its data before Microsoft terminated its access to the cloud services, and therefore, no information was lost.
In that case, dear Reader, you’ll want to shorten your above prediction by about a week.
“There is no damage to the operational capabilities of the IDF,” one official said.
Microsoft’s ties to Israel have been the subject of several protests at the company’s offices, including sit-ins and demonstrations led by the No Azure for Apartheid protest group.
Last month, the company fired four employees who participated in protests on company premises. Microsoft said the terminations followed serious breaches of company policies and said recent on-site demonstrations had “created significant safety concerns.”
Earlier this year, The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about Microsoft’s close partnership with the Israeli Defense Ministry, which uses Azure to transcribe, translate and process intelligence gathered through mass surveillance. The AP reported that the data can be cross-checked with Israel’s in-house, AI-enabled systems to help select targets.
Following the AP’s report, Microsoft said a review found no evidence that its Azure platform and artificial intelligence technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza. Microsoft did not share a copy of that review, but the company said it would share factual findings from the further review prompted by The Guardian’s report when complete.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
Israel’s subsequent campaign against the terror group in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians — including over 20,000 terror operatives, according to the IDF — caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population, and prompted accusations of war crimes and mounting international pressure to end the war.
…all of which should be laid at Hamas’s door according to the Geneva Conventions, not Israel’s — but the Jew-haters don’t care.
[FoxNews] The DEA Atlanta Field Division opened a new lab in May to process all federal drug seizures in Georgia. The lead DEA agent in Atlanta said the lab is already making agents more efficient as they go after the violent "Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG)."
In the past, the DEA in Atlanta would call in chemists from labs in other cities to test drugs, a process that took a few days to complete. Now that the lab is in house, the agency can test drugs within minutes.
[GEO.TV] 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 JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... was set to come under sweeping UN sanctions late Saturday for the first time in a decade — barring an unexpected last-minute breakthrough — after nuclear talks with the West floundered.
The UN nuclear watchdog on Friday said that inspectors had been allowed to return to Iranian sites, but Western powers did not see enough progress to agree to a delay after a week of top-level diplomacy at the UN General Assembly.
European powers set the clock ticking a month ago for the "snapback" of the UN sanctions, accusing Iran of failing to come clean on its nuclear program — including through countermeasures it took in response to Israeli and US bombing.
Iran on Saturday recalled its envoys in Britannia, La Belle France and Germany for consultations, after the three European countries triggered the mechanism, Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said.
The sanctions are set to go into effect at 0000 GMT on Sunday (8:00pm on Saturday in New York).
They will set up a global ban on working with companies, people and organizations accused of developing Iran's nuclear program or ballistic missiles.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said there was no reason to reach a deal when, in his view, Israel and the United States were seeking to use the pressure to topple the Islamic republic.
"If the goal had been to resolve concerns on the nuclear program, we could easily do that," Pezeshkian told news hounds, as he insisted again that Iran will never pursue nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2025 10:55 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Terrorist organization projects images of Nasrallah, Safieddine on iconic arched Raouche rock after obtaining permit for gathering but not aerial show
Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered at a scenic overlook on Beirut’s coast Thursday and projected images of the group’s former longtime leader and his successor on the iconic arched Raouche rock to commemorate their deaths in Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s nearly a year ago.
The move came despite an apparent attempt by Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... ’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to halt the planned light show.
Salam issued a circular earlier this week pointing to "the recent recurrence of the exploitation of national monuments for propaganda purposes and to hold activities in which partisan and political slogans are raised."
He directed public bodies to "strictly prohibit the use of public land and sea areas, archaeological and tourist landmarks, or those that bear a unifying national symbolism before obtaining the necessary licenses and permits from the relevant authorities."
His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> , the longtime leader of the terrorist organization and political party, was killed in a series of massive Israeli strikes on a site in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27, 2024, that destroyed an entire block under which Nasrallah was meeting with an Iranian general and some of his top military commanders.
Days later, Nasrallah’s successor, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in another series of airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Salam said in a post on X that a gathering permit was issued by the governor of Beirut to the organizers of the demonstration, but "clearly stipulated that the Raouche rocks shall not be illuminated at all, whether from land, sea, or air, and no light images shall be broadcast on them."
He said he had asked the ministers of interior, justice and defense to take "appropriate measures, including arresting the perpetrators and referring them for investigation" and that the incident "negatively impacted [Hezbollah’s] credibility in dealing with the logic of the state and its institutions."
A Hezbollah representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with the group’s procedures, confirmed that the organizers had only requested permission for the gathering.
He said it was unclear which agency had the authority to give permission for the light show on the rock and that they considered it was covered by "freedom of expression" under Lebanon’s constitution.
The event was a show of force by the Shiite terrorist organization and political party, which suffered serious blows in last year’s war with Israel and has been under domestic and international pressure to give up its remaining arsenal since then.
[IsraelTimes] A year since Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination, Jawad Nasrallah describes his father’s anger and despair as the organization he had built crumbled under Israel’s onslaught
This time last year, Hezbollah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> was consumed by rage over Israel’s detonation of pagers worn by members of the terror group throughout Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... , according to his son.
Days later, Nasrallah himself was killed. The pager explosions and Nasrallah’s killing turned out to be the opening salvos of an Israeli assault that killed the terror group’s top leadership, destroyed much of their arsenal and fortifications built along the border.
Those developments were unimaginable a year ago when Hezbollah’s then-leader was confronted with the major intelligence breach in the communication devices that killed dozens of the group’s members and maimed thousands of others.
"He was upset, angry, resentful — there was a lot of resentment and thinking, ’How could this happen?’ He considered himself entrusted with those lives," Jawad Nasrallah, Nasrallah’s second-oldest son, told Rooters in an interview at his father’s grave.
Security was tight around Nasrallah at the time. Jawad, like more than a million Lebanese, had been displaced by Israeli air strikes and had not seen his father for three months.
"You can say we took it day by day. Nothing was certain," Jawad said.
Nasrallah’s last televised speech was on September 19. Eight days later, he was killed in a series of massive Israeli strikes on a site in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27, 2024, that destroyed an entire block under which the Hezbollah leader for more than 30 years was meeting with an Iranian general and some of his top military commanders.
"We found out on the news like everyone else. It was shocking, but we couldn’t cry — no one in the house could scream or express their feelings," Jawad said, explaining that other tenants in the apartment building where they were temporarily staying were unaware of their links to the Hezbollah leader.
At the time, Israeli strikes targeted largely Shiite Hezbollah strongholds across southern Lebanon, raising the specter of civil war as Sunni or Christian towns regarded fleeing Shi’ite Moslems with open suspicion.
"We felt a moment of alienation like everyone else, in addition to the horrors of that time, which was terrible for everyone: war, bombing, brutality — and on top of that, alienation," Jawad said.
With Israel escalating strikes across Lebanon and sending ground troops into its south, Nasrallah’s body could not be moved into a morgue for several days before a temporary burial. A formal ceremony was held months later during a truce.
The Israel-Hezbollah conflict began a day after the deadly Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... -led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that triggered the ongoing war in the 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 a rusty 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... Strip. Hezbollah began firing near-daily rockets across the border in a "support front" for Hamas and Paleostinians in Gaza. Israel responded with Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s and shelling, and the two sides were locked in a low-level conflict that escalated into a full-on war in September 2024.
It ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November, but Israel has continued to carry out near-daily airstrikes in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah violations of the agreement and aiming at preventing Hezbollah from regrouping.
The war with Israel that left Hezbollah badly weakened was followed by the toppling of the group’s Syrian ally, Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... , and a new government in Lebanon that has pledged to enforce a state monopoly on all arms.
Hezbollah has refused to give up its arsenal — a stance that Jawad, a businessman with no formal position in the group but who is sanctioned by the US, reiterated.
"Never in your fantasies or dreams," he said, adding that he still asks his father for guidance.
"I ask him to solve some dilemmas. I tell him: ’You have to solve this problem for us and help me with it,'" he said.
[IsraelTimes] Officials say Syrians rejected a request for a corridor to the Druze city Sweida, saying it would violate their sovereignty; renewed demand derails plan to announce deal this week
Efforts to reach a security pact between Syria and Israel have hit a last-minute snag over Israel’s demand that it be allowed to open a "humanitarian corridor" to Syria’s southern province of Sweida, four sources familiar with the talks said.
Syria and Israel had come close in recent weeks to agreeing on the broad outlines of a pact after months of US-brokered talks in Baku, Gay Paree and London that accelerated in the lead-up to the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... General Assembly in New York this week.
The pact was intended to create a demilitarized zone that would include the province of Sweida, where sectarian violence in July killed hundreds of people from the Druze, an offshoot of Islam.
ISRAEL SAYS IT WILL PROTECT SYRIA’S DRUZE
Israel, which has a 120,000-strong Druze minority whose men serve in the Israeli military, has said it will protect the sect and carried out military strikes in Syria under the banner of defending it.
In earlier talks in Gay Paree, Israel asked to open a land corridor to Sweida for aid, but Syria rejected the request as a breach of its illusory sovereignty.
Israel reintroduced the demand at a late stage in the talks, according to two Israeli officials, a Syrian source and a source in Washington briefed on the talks.
The Syrian source and the source in Washington said the renewed Israeli demand had derailed plans to announce a deal this week. The new sticking point has not been previously reported.
The State Department, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syria’s foreign ministry did not respond to questions on the contours of the deal or the sticking points.
NO TALKS SINCE LAST WEEK
US envoy Tom Barrack, who has been brokering the talks between Syria and Israel, said on Tuesday the longtime foes were close to striking a "de-escalation agreement" in which Israel would stop its attacks and Syria would agree not to move any machinery or heavy equipment near the border with Israel.
He said it would serve as the first step towards the security deal that the two countries have been negotiating. One diplomat familiar with the matter said it appeared that the US was "scaling down from a security deal to a de-escalation deal."
Speaking shortly before Barrack at an event in New York, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda leader who led rebel forces that seized Damascus last year, expressed concern that Israel may be stalling the talks.
"We are scared of Israel. We are worried about Israel. It’s not the other way around," he said.
A Syrian official told Rooters that conversations before the UN General Assembly began were "positive," but there had been no further conversations with Israeli officials this week.
Addressing the UN General Assembly on Friday, Netanyahu said, "the very idea of peace between Israel and Syria seemed unimaginable" for decades, but that "we have begun serious negotiations with the new Syrian government. I believe an agreement can be reached that respects Syria’s illusory sovereignty and protects both Israeli security and the security of the minorities in the region, including the Druze minority."
He referred to the Druze as Israeli Jews’ brothers in arms. "That’s why I couldn’t sit idly by, nor could Israel sit idly by, while the Druze were being slaughtered by jihadists [in Syria]," he said. "I instructed our forces to stop the massacre, which they promptly did."
The prime minister’s office said on Wednesday that concluding ongoing negotiations was "contingent on ensuring the interests of Israel, which include, inter alia, the demilitarization of south-western Syria and preserving the safety and security of the Druze in Syria."
Syria and Israel have been foes since Israel’s founding in 1948. A disengagement agreement in 1974 created a narrow demilitarized zone monitored by the United Nations.
But since rebels toppled Syria’s then-leader Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... last December 8, Israel has carried out unprecedented strikes on Syria’s military assets across the country and sent troops into a buffer zone on country’s south.
Israel has expressed open hostility towards Sharaa, citing his former links to al Qaeda, and has lobbied the United States to keep Syria weak and decentralized.
In months of talks, Syria had been advocating for a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement. In mid-September, Sharaa described the deal to journalists as a "necessity." He said then that Israel would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity, but raised the possibility of Israeli breaches.
"We could reach a deal at any moment, but then another problem arises which is: will Israel commit to and implement it? We will see this in the next phase," he said.
[IsraelTimes] Launch pad shows scorch marks characteristic of solid-fuel missile launch, after social media lit up with sightings of a projectile on Sept. 18; lawmaker says Iran tested ICBM
Iran likely carried out an undeclared missile test at its Imam Khomeini Spaceport, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Thursday, underlining Tehran’s effort to maintain its weapons program despite the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran has not formally acknowledged last week’s test at a circular pad that has hosted other major launches by the country’s civilian space program. A single lawmaker in Iran’s parliament, however, claimed, without offering evidence, that Tehran tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The test and the claim raise concerns that Iran may be trying to expand the reach of its missiles as tensions remain high ahead of United Nations sanctions, which are likely to be reimposed this weekend over Tehran’s nuclear program, as it also repairs missile sites that were struck by Israel.
“Israel’s successes in the 12-day war against Iran’s missile attacks reinforced for Tehran the importance of developing more ballistic missiles and qualitatively better versions of them,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an analyst at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“Consider this part of Tehran’s efforts to build back better, and as quickly as possible,” he added.
On September 18, Iranian social media users posted images of the sky over Semnan province, showing what appeared to be a rocket’s contrail at sunset. Iranian officials did not acknowledge what caused the contrail, nor did Iranian state media report on the incident.
Satellite photos taken prior to that by Planet Labs PBC show the circular pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport — about 230 kilometers (145 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran, in Semnan — painted blue, ringed with red, white and green lines — the colors of the Iranian flag.
But in satellite images since September 18, the pad appeared discolored, though it wasn’t fully clear until a more-detailed Planet image requested by the AP was taken this Wednesday.
That image showed significant scorch marks, the pattern of which resembled scorching seen at the pad following past launches. When rockets launch, the flames from their engines pour down onto pads.
Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, who studies missiles, said the scale of the scorching suggested Iran launched a solid-fuel missile, as burning aluminum oxide particles cause such marks.
The north-south marks suggest a blast deflector being used as well to channel the flames, he said.
CLAIM OF AN INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE
Iranian parliament member Mohsen Zanganeh, appearing on Iranian state television on Saturday, claimed that the Islamic Republic had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday. He portrayed it as a sign of Iran’s strength as it faces challenges from Israel and the West.
“We have neither abandoned [nuclear] enrichment, nor handed uranium over to the enemy, nor backed down from our missile positions,” said Zanganeh, a member of parliament’s budget committee from Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province.
“The night before last we tested one of the country’s most advanced missiles, which until now had not, so to speak, been trialed — and that test was successful,” he said.
“In other words,” he added. “I mean to say that even under these conditions, we are conducting a security test of an intercontinental-range missile.”
Zanganeh did not elaborate on where he had received his information, nor did he provide any evidence to support his assertion. Iranian parliament members have made exaggerated claims in the past.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles typically have ranges greater than 5,500 kilometers (3,415 miles). That would extend far beyond the range reportedly allowed by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which is 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles).
The range of 2,000 kilometers encompasses much of the Middle East, including Israel and American military bases in the region. An intercontinental missile would at least put all of Europe in range.
The US military’s Central Command, which oversees its Mideast operations, did not respond to a request for comment.
QUESTIONS REMAIN OVER THE LAUNCH
Despite the lawmaker’s claims, many questions remain surrounding the launch — including just what Iran sent into the sky.
Iran has in the past used the pad to launch solid-fueled missiles called Zuljanah, named after a horse of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and a key figure in the Shiite faith who was massacred with his fighters at Karbala in the 7th century.
The Zuljanah can launch satellites into space. However, the fact that it uses solid fuel and is capable of reaching space has raised concerns by the US government that Iran could potentially build an intercontinental ballistic missile.
“If, as is increasingly being alleged, the test was of a space-launch vehicle, it represents a desire by Tehran to potentially threaten targets outside the Middle East, like the European continent and even the American homeland,” Taleblu said.
Such missiles can deliver nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, but it has also enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Israel has also said that Iran, shortly before the June war, took steps toward weaponization.
With Iran not formally acknowledging the launch and the erratic contrail that was left behind, the likelihood is that the launch may have failed. There’s also no acknowledgment by US space officials of Iran putting any new satellites into space on September 18.
Iran may also have used the launch to signal to the West that it will continue its missile program, despite sanctions and pressure — though without a formal confirmation, it remains unclear just what Tehran was trying to do.
“The problem is that so much happens with Iran,” Hinz said. “It’s hard to say what is coincidental and what is a pattern.”
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...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 
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...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 
...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade....
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
