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Fifth Column

Slain Jewish Couple Were Practicing Christians

2025-05-27

They’re just as murdered for standing with Israel, but it’s interesting.

[RichardPollock] The Killer Didn't Care If They Were Christians - They Attended A Jewish Event

Last week, when alleged killer Elias Rodrigues

…the stereotypical Red Diaper Baby English major whose name is alternately spelt Elias Rodriguez…

bumped off Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim outside the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., he thought he was killing Jews.

It was clearly a targeted liquidation of Jewish participants at an American Jewish Committee’s event for young professionals.

Tough guy Rodrigues fired 21 slugs into the unarmed a couple. A maimed Sarah reportedly tried to crawl away from him, but he continued to shoot her until she was lifeless.

As he was being led away from the museum, he proudly chanted, "Free, Free Paleostine."

But what Rodrigues didn’t know is that for most of last year, his targets were regular Sunday attendees at the Episcopal Church, Ascension and Saint Agnes Church in downtown Washington.

Before he came to the United States, Lischinsky also attended the Anglican Christ Church in Jerusalem.

And the "Jewish" event he targeted was an ecumenical meeting between young professionals who were interested in humanitarian solutions to the Middle East conflict.

Rodrigues didn’t realize it, but his hateful blindness serves as a warning: this unforgivable violence may begin with Jews, but their rage is directed toward all of Western Judeo-Christian civilization.

Many of the ugly, in-your-face anti-Israel protests we have witnessed since October 7 have been led by so-called pro-Paleostinian "anti-imperialists." They regard all of the West as their enemy. Since October 7, the pro-Paleostinian movement regularly dubbed President Biden "Genocide Joe."

There is an old saying that the Jewish people have always served as the canaries in the coal mines. They serve as a warning to others living in free societies that senseless hate is coming their way.

Washington Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde and the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, Dean of the Washington Cathedral understood that the murders of Yaron and Sarah were filled with "brutal irony" since the two were attending a multifaith gathering.

"We cannot ignore the brutal irony of where and when these murders occurred: Yaron and Sarah had just attended an event that brought together multifaith attendees to discuss humanitarian initiatives," the two religious leaders said in a statement they issued after the murders.

Of course, this "fact" didn’t matter to the killer.

The Episcopal leaders further wrote about the couple, "Their attraction to Christ seemed to have deepened their love for their Jewish sisters and brothers as well as their commitment to serve the people of Israel."

In their reporting about last week’s killing, much of the mass media, especially the New York Times

...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
, emphasized in their headlines that Yaron and Sarah worked at the Israeli Embassy. The "unstated" message was that they died because of the 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 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...
. The two young people simply were collateral damage to that war. End of story.

But life is more complicated and profound.

On Sunday, I attended the majestic Ascension and Saint Agnes Church where the local Rector movingly eulogized the couple as more than 100 perishioners looked on. The main sanctuary displayed a picture of the two with candles below and a cross of Jesus.

Although I’m Jewish and wore a yarmulka to the church, I was warmly welcomed by many congregants and by the clergy.

Father Dominque Peridans, in his remembrances for the two at the end of the liturgy, he observed that "Yaron, is a Hebrew name which means ’full of joy.’" Rather than a Jew, "He was dedicated to the Christ, Jesus. He worshipped with the community of Messianic Jews."

Messianic Jews combine Christian theology with select elements of Judaism. Its adherents consider themselves to be a form of Judaism, but it’s generally considered to be a form of Christianity. Messianic Jews are deep believers in Israel.

Father Peridans told the congregants that Yaron was respectful of all other religious faiths, "He actively participated in interfaith dialogue and was dedicated to bridging cultural and religious divides."

The same could be said of Sarah. Prior to joining the Israeli Embassy, she went to Israel for five weeks to work at Tech2Peace, an organization that brought together young Israelis and Paleostinians for joint projects.

The Jewish News Syndicate reported, "She focused on the experiences of 12 Israeli and Paleostinian participants in a seminar organized by Tech2Peace at Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, a Jewish-Arab village halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, documenting their stories and the complexities of the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.

She also worked at the United States Institute for Peace in Washington, D.C., a federal agency that studies peaceful resolution to conflicts around the world. Rodrigues never wanted to bother himself with such niceties.

Still, other American Leftwing krazed killer groups hailed the killer.

A group that describes itself as "anti-imperialist" called, "The Bronx Anti-War" posted that what Rodriguez "did is the highest expression of anti-Zionism" and "We need more Elias Rodriguez in this world" in a pair of social media posts Thursday.

And of course, the Iranians heralded the killing. Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the Iranian news outlet Kayhan predictably wrote, "Any news of our dear brother Elias Rodriguez, who sent two Zionist wild animals in Washington to hell with a bullet?"

Israel’s "Law of Return" never defined who is a Jew. But the State recognizes people in which one parent is Jewish. Both Yaron and Sarah had one parent who was Jewish.

Yaron’s parents live in Israel where he was buried just outside of Jerusalem. The Israeli Foreign Ministry accepted the body upon his return to the country.

Sarah was born into a family that is tied to reform Judaism. Her funeral will be held on Tuesday at Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, Kansas. The Israeli Ambassador to the United States is expected to attend.

Link

Iraq

Representative of Iran’s Khamenei calls on Iraqis to attack ‘spy den’ US embassy

2019-10-07

Such a clever move, guys.

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Hossein Shariatmadari, one of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
...the actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
’s representatives, and the head of Iran’s hardline Kayhan newspaper, called on Iraqis to "occupy the US embassy like the Iranians did in 1979," following major protests that gripped Baghdad in recent days.

In an editorial that featured in the newspaper on Saturday, Shariatmadari reiterated accusations by top Iranian officials claiming that the protests were instigated "by America and foreign elements."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Who killed the Revolutionary Guards in Ahwaz?

2018-09-25

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Who murdered and injured dozens at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s military parade a few days ago in the Ahwaz region in Iran: The Arab region that has revolted against Tehran’s oppressive authorities for years?

The attack – as it is known – was shocking as it was captured live on television. It killed 29 people and injured many others.

The enemies of the ruling Khomeini regime are many on both the domestic and foreign levels.

There is the Mojahedin-e Khalq organization, the largest real Iranian opposition network. There is also of course the Arab-Ahwazi opposition in all it colors, those who adopt the military option and those who reject it and those who want complete independence and those who reject it, while settling fora formula that guarantees the Ahwazis’ identity and interests.

The Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz is one of the Ahwazi operating factions that adopted the operation, just like the mysterious ISIS. Of course, there is the opposition inside Iran from within the Republic’s tent, the sons of the Green Movement and last but not least, there are the Kurds. We here note the recent shelling of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s headquarters in Iraq by Iranian missiles.

WHY IS ISIS’S RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ATTACK DOUBTED?
Because the Iranian regime’s accusation of it is flawed with the suspicion of political exploitation of the Ahwaz attack, especially as Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quick to hint that Saudi Arabia and other regional countries, as he described them, and of course the US stand behind the attack through ISIS.

And as they said: “The Ahvazi struggle movement” or perhaps the Kurds. What’s important is that they are “agents” of Riyadh or Washington or Abu Dhabi. This is the Iranian regime’s narrative especially towards Riyadh as the daily newspaper Kayhan’s headline, and its editor-in-chief Hossein Shariatmadari, who is Supreme Leader Khamenei’s consultant, vowed retaliate in Riyadh!

Of course, accusing Riyadh is nonsense, and so is accusing Abu Dhabi. They’ve never done this before, neither with Tehran nor with a country other than Iran, and they will not do it now and will not do it in the future. This terrorist militant behavior is the nature of the Iranian regime and its affiliates. May God have mercy on the soul of Rafiq Hariri as now the whole world knows who killed him and his comrades on that sad Lebanese day!

Tehran’s regime is cornered due to American pressure, and President Trump promised to do more. He will dedicate a part of his UN speech to talk about the Iranian regime.

Trump’s friend and attorney, New York’s former mayor Rudy Giuliani said during a meeting a few days ago that American sanctions on Iran will lead to a “successful revolution.”

Did the demons of the Revolutionary Guard in the dark secret world plan this operation?

We cannot go in this direction, although the Revolutionary Guard experts have previously sacrificed Shiites in terror operations in Iraq to make bigger political gains. The real threat on the Iranian regime is the collapse of the economy and the people’s anger at the regime, including the oppressed Ahwazis.

The real enemy of Tehran’s rulers is their evil policies, and not any other party.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran's H2O crisis may be bigger threat than the Joos and "Great Satan"

2013-07-14

A former agriculture minister has said Iran's water shortage is a bigger threat to the country than either Israel or the United States, Al-Monitor reported this week citing local media. According to Al-Monitor, Issa Kalantari, the minister of agricultural under president Hashemi Rafsanjani
... the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until he was eased out in 2011 He continues, for the moment, as Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council. In 2005 he ran for a third term as president, ultimately losing to rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Khamenei's graces back then. In 1980 Rafsanjani survived an assassination attempt, during which he was seriously injured. He has been described as a centrist and a pragmatic conservative without all that much reason. He is currently being eased out of any position of actual influence or power and may be dead by the end of 2012...
, told Ghanoon newspaper this week that the water crisis is the "main problem that threatens" Iran, adding that it is more dangerous "than Israel, America or political fighting" among the Iranian elite.

Kalatantari is not the only Iranian official who is concerned about the water shortages in the country. Mohammad Hossein Shariatmadari, a former Iranian trade minister, said in April that he believes the water issue is reaching an alarming level. The following month a deputy energy minister similarly warned that the country would soon face a water crisis. Even the U.S. intelligence community sees water shortages as one of Iran's primary challenges in the coming decades. In its Global Trends 2030 report, the National Intelligence Council said Iran "has no notable watersheds and is therefore heavily dependent on fossil and imported water, including 'virtual water' imports-- such as agricultural goods like meat, fruit, and vegetables using high levels of water to produce."

And while the water crisis is set to worsen considerable in the coming years and decades, it has already resulted in notable unrest. After a drought earlier this year, hundreds of farmers in a town in Isfahan province clashed with police after destroying a pipeline that was carrying water from the Zayandeh Rood River in their town to the city of Yazd in a neighboring province. Agriculture in the country has already been suffering in recent years, but increased water shortages are likely to make the Islamic Theocratic Republic's goal of self-sufficiency increasingly elusive. Lack of farming opportunities will also force more people to artificially migrate to the cities, where, among other things, the government will need to supply them with water. This will inevitably force the government to divert more of the already dwindling water supplies from rural agricultural communities to the cities, provoking anger and potential unrest from the impacted farmers.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Powerful Iran body works on new elections law

2010-02-23

[Al Arabiya Latest] A powerful Iranian legislative body is drafting a new vote law in an attempt to avoid violence in future elections, but conservative hardliners warned the legislation would likely usher in a new era of political unrest, Al Arabiya TV reported late on Sunday.

The Expediency Council, presided by former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, aims to annul the condition on all presidential candidates to be committed to the absolute power of the supreme leader.

Rafsanjani prepares the draft legislation in coordination with Hassan Rowhani, the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei at the Supreme National Security Council, and Mohsen Rezaee, Secretary of the Expediency Council and former Chief Commander of the Revolutionary Guard.

Reformists hope that the law, if passed, would somehow open the political environment by cutting down the powers of the Guardian Council, which exercises full control on both presidential and legislative elections in the country.

The Guardian Council is in charge of approving presidential nominees and candidates to the Assembly of Experts and the parliament. It is also the body that interprets the constitution as well as Islamic laws.

But conservative hardliners h have warned the legislation could pave the way for renewed political crisis and social unrest.

Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan, one of the most influential newspapers in Iran, lashed out at the draft law and said the supreme leader would likely reject it, especially since it diminishes the influence of the Experts Council and gives more power to the Expediency Council in upcoming elections.

Reformists, including Rafsanjani and Rezaee, blamed the Assembly of Experts for the political unrest that swept the country in the aftermath of the 2009 presidential elections, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a second term in office.

Last June, the Assembly of Experts expressed its support for the Supreme Leader without conducting an evaluation of his performance as the rules of the assembly stipulate. The reading of the support statement was reportedly interrupted by Rafsanjani.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Shariatmadari denounces referendum call

2009-07-22

[Khaleej Times] A top Iranian hardliner on Tuesday denounced a call by leading reformists for a referendum to resolve the nation's deepening political crisis, branding it a Western plot to trigger more "havoc" in the Islamic republic.

The Association of Combatant Clerics, a reformist clerical group led by former president Mohammad Khatami, on Monday urged a referendum to resolve the turmoil gripping Iran since the June 12 disputed presidential election. "They have suggested a yet another Western plot to raise havoc by proposing a referendum," said Hossein Shariatmadari, managing director of the hardline newspaper Kayhan who is appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "The main idea of this plan is to trigger tension. Their proposal is illegal amd impractical," Shariatmadari wrote.

He also said that if the referendum did take place, the result would be "more crushing" for the reformists than the presidential poll which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected by a landslide.

Khatami's group voiced concern that "public confidence in the system has been damaged" by the election and its aftermath, which exposed deep divisions among Iran's elite in the worst crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Khatami himself was a strong supporter Iran's main opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi who lost to Ahmadinejad in a vote he charged was marred by widespread fraud.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Ahmadinejad's first vice president pick walks away

2009-07-20

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's choice as first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, has walked away from the job, state media reported on Sunday. Mashaie, a controversial politician and confidant of Ahmadinejad, has "resigned three days after his appointment" as first vice president, state-owned English-language channel Press TV reported.

The channel initially sourced its report to the Education Ministry-funded news agency, Pana. In its news item, Pana said, "The content of his resignation letter will be published soon." There was no immediate independent confirmation of Mashaie's resignation. The appointment was strongly opposed by lawmakers and clerics among Ahmadinejad's own support base.

Mashaie, whose daughter is married to Ahmadinejad's son, is an outspoken figure who last year earned the wrath of many Iranians, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for saying Iran is a "friend of the Israeli people". In his current role as vice president in charge of tourism he sparked ire among MPs for reportedly watching a group of women dance at a congress in Turkey in 2007.

Since the announcement of Mashaie's appointment on Friday, there has been a chorus of criticism from hardliners. "It is imperative to terminate the appointment of Mashaie as first vice president in order to respect the wishes of the majority of the people," said Hossein Shariatmadari, managing director of the Kayhan newspaper. "When people found out about the appointment, they viewed this move as one taken not just in bad taste... but as one which shows indifference," he wrote in an editorial.

Leading cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami also slammed Mashaie's nomination. "This appointment has been made in defiance of the members of the Assembly of Experts, the majlis (parliament) and several leading figures who have often mentioned that the post is a sensitive one," the Jam-e Jam newspaper quoted Khatami as saying.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iranian editorial shows deepening clerical rift

2009-07-19

[Al Arabiya Latest] A hard-line editor considered to be close to Iran's top authority accused a powerful cleric on Saturday of backing "law-breakers," in comments highlighting the deepening divisions in the Islamic Republic after a disputed election.

Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the Kayhan daily, also criticized former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for saying Iran was in crisis during a sermon on Friday.

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi RafsanjaniIn apparent defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Rafsanjani said many Iranians had doubts about the official result of the June 12 vote and he also took issue with the way the authorities had handled the poll and its aftermath.

As he led Friday prayers at Tehran University for the first time since the election, tens of thousands of protesters outside used the event to stage the biggest show of dissent for weeks.

"Most certainly Mr. Rafsanjani is familiar with the definition of a crisis...[t]he most meaningful word to describe the current conditions is a conspiracy," Shariatmadari said in an editorial.

He said Rafsanjani, a moderate who backed Mousavi's election campaign, had done nothing to prevent the gathering of Mousavi supporters inside and outside Tehran University, where prayers are held each Friday and broadcast live on state radio.

Clashes erupted near the university between police and followers of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who came second and still contests official results that showed President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had been re-elected by a wide margin.

The government has portrayed post-election mass protests last month as the work of local subversives, or "rioters," and Western powers seeking to topple the Islamic establishment.

"Supports law-breakers"

" Rafsanjani...not only disregarded what he had said but openly supported the law-breakers "

Hossein Shariatmadari

"At the same time he used every opportunity available to challenge the outcome of the election," wrote Shariatmadari, who earlier this month called for Mousavi and another leading reformist to be put on trial for "terrible crimes."

Noting Rafsanjani had urged everybody to abide by the law, the editorial added in a clear reference to Mousavi supporters, who have continued to defy a ban on demonstrations, that Rafsanjani "not only disregarded what he had said but openly supported the law-breakers."

The election stirred the most striking display of internal unrest in Iran, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, since the 1979 revolution and exposed deep rifts in its ruling elite.

It has also further strained ties between Iran and the West, already at odds over Tehran's nuclear program. Western powers criticized the crackdown. Iran accused them of meddling.

Rafsanjani, who heads the Assembly of Experts -- a powerful body that can in theory dismiss the supreme leader -- in his sermon also demanded the immediate release of people detained in the unrest and called for press curbs to be relaxed.

The call for the lifting of media restrictions was welcomed by the United States on Friday. "There are universal principles that we feel are very important here... as Mr. Rafsanjani himself reflected today, freedom of the press and the ability of the media to fairly report what is happening there," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.

Rafsanjani however did not go as far as Mousavi in denouncing the conduct of the vote, but his remarks still posed a clear challenge to Khamenei, who has upheld the election result and accused foreign powers of fomenting the unrest.

According to Iranian media, at least 20 people died in post-election violence but some human rights groups say the actual number could be in the hundreds.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran hardliners round on Rafsanjani in election row

2009-07-19

TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Iranian hardliners hit back at former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Saturday for criticizing the conduct of last month's election and its aftermath, highlighting deepening establishment divisions. An editor seen as close to Iran's top authority said Rafsanjani was backing "law-breakers," a reference to opposition protesters, and a senior cleric accused him of creating rifts in the Islamic Republic and hinted he should face legal action.

In apparent defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Rafsanjani said in a sermon on Friday that many Iranians had doubts about the official result of the June 12 vote, which showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won. Leading Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time since the election, the powerful cleric also declared that Iran was in crisis after the poll, which opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi says was rigged in the hardline incumbent's favor.

Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, an Ahmadinejad ally and a member of Iran's top legislative body, rejected Rafsanjani's remarks. "Who planted the seeds of doubt in the election in the minds of people? ... Isn't this sowing discord?" Yazdi told a news conference, according to the official IRNA news agency.

He added, according to Fars News Agency: "Those who planted doubt in society and those who irrigated it to make it sprout out of the soil and pour into the streets to violate people's lives and property ... should be dealt with legally."

The election stirred the most striking display of internal unrest in Iran, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, since the 1979 revolution and exposed deep rifts in its ruling elite. At least 20 people died in post-election violence. Mousavi and the authorities blame each other for the bloodshed. Riot police and religious Basij militia eventually suppressed the street demonstrations, but Mousavi has remained defiant.

Post-election events have also further strained ties between Iran and the West, already at odds over Tehran's nuclear program. Western powers criticized the crackdown. Iran accused them of meddling.

Rafsanjani's robust stance appeared to set him on collision course with Khamenei, who has openly backed Ahmadinejad in a departure from the supreme leader's accepted role as a lofty clerical arbiter above the political fray.

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters used the Friday prayers led by Rafsanjani, a moderate who backed Mousavi in the election, to stage the biggest show of dissent in weeks. Clashes erupted near the university between police and followers of Mousavi, who came second and still contests the official election results.

The government has portrayed post-election mass protests as the work of local subversives, or "rioters," and Western powers seeking to topple the Islamic establishment.

Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the Kayhan daily, said Rafsanjani had done nothing to prevent the gathering of Mousavi supporters inside and outside Tehran University, where prayers are held each Friday and broadcast live on state radio. "At the same time he used every opportunity available to challenge the outcome of the election," wrote Shariatmadari, who earlier this month called for Mousavi and another leading reformist to be put on trial for "terrible crimes."

Noting Rafsanjani had urged everybody to abide by the law, his editorial added in a reference to those who defied a protest ban: "Mr Rafsanjani ... not only disregarded what he had said but openly supported the law-breakers."

Shariatmadari is seen as a close ally of Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure with the final say on all matters of state.

Rafsanjani, who heads the Assembly of Experts -- a powerful body that can in theory dismiss the supreme leader -- in his sermon demanded the immediate release of people detained in the unrest and called for press curbs to be relaxed. Rights groups say hundreds of people, including senior pro-reform politicians, journalists, activists and lawyers, have been detained by the authorities since the election.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Khamenei aide: Mousavi is a US agent

2009-07-04

Political tension in Iran following a tumultuous election ratcheted up a notch when a top aide of Iran's supreme leader called the country's main opposition figure a US agent and accused him of committing crimes against the nation in an editorial published Saturday.

Supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi , wearing green wristbands, rally in downtown Teheran, Sunday.

World The editorial marked the first time that Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was the main challenger to incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's presidential elections on June 12, has been publicly called a US agent.

Weeks of demonstrations erupted in Iran after Mousavi lost to Ahmadinejad, claiming the election was rigged; authorities maintain that the protests were instigated by foreign elements.

"It has to be asked whether the actions of [Mousavi and his supporters] are in response to instructions by American authorities," said Hossein Shariatmadari in an editorial appearing in the conservative daily Kayhan.

Shariatmadari, who holds no official position but is a close adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, added that Mousavi was trying to "escape punishment for murdering innocent people, holding riots, cooperating with foreigners and acting as America's fifth column inside the country."

He called for Mousavi and former reformist president Mohammad Khatami to be tried in court for "horrible crimes and treason."

The editorial added that there were "undeniable documents" proving Mousavi's foreign links.

When Iran's incumbent president was re-elected by a landslide, Mousavi and other opposition candidates cried foul sparking weeks of giant protests across the country that were eventually crushed.

Police said 20 "rioters" were killed during the violence as well as seven or eight members of the paramilitary Basij militia tasked with putting down the protests.

But the crackdown included severe limitations on press freedom, significantly against international news agencies and foreign reporters in the country. The number of dissidents killed or jailed cited by Iranian officials can therefore not be corroborated independently.

There have been no street protests since Sunday, but Mousavi has maintained his opposition to the results, issuing a defiant statement on Wednesday that he considered the government "illegitimate" in a posting on his Website, and demanded political prisoners, which he called "children of the revolution," be released.

He has been maintaining a low profile, however, and made no public appearances for days amid calls by many hard-liners for him to be prosecuted.

Link

China-Japan-Koreas

Chicom ruler banking on Olympics glory, but Iran strategy matters more

2008-08-08

From Geostrategy-Direct, subscription. Excerpts:
Since the collapse of the USSR, China is steadily increasing its ties with the mullahs and is now one of Iran's strongest allies as a buffer on the UN Security Council and as a major supplier of technology and other assistance.

In the Asian world of gaining, saving and above all not losing face, Hu Jintao is having a roller coaster of a year. With the Olympics set to open, Chinese the world over are feeling strong surges of pride in their people and nation. As the man presiding over China's communist party and its growing military and economic power, Hu is also hosting the summer games.

But the omens this year have not been particularly good for the boyish-looking dictator what with the uprisings in Tibet and other western provinces, multiple devastating earthquakes, public relations nightmares with the likes of Steven Spielberg disassociating himself from the Olympics over human rights outrages stemming from China's policies in Tibet and Sudan. And then there is the pollution.
And don't forget the water. Beijing is sucking its aquifers dry and moving water from other areas long distances to support the Olympic Spectacle.
As a good communist, Hu has no worries about his rating in public opinion polls. What he does have to worry about is the capitalist revolution thrust upon him by Deng Xiaoping which is shaking the world's economy but, more to the point, raising the expectations of the Chinese people.
Raising expectations is a dangerous thing, when you cannot deliver to everybody.
Therefore a top priority for Hu is keeping the rapid economic growth on track. Another fundamental necessity is keeping the United States from growing overly-concerned about China's rapidly-expanding strategic and military force. In other words, Beijing needs alliances to counterbalance the United States.

Enter Iran.
Iran, North Korea, Burma, Sudan, Zimbabwe/ The list of fine, upstanding allies grows long....*sigh*
Soon after the Ayatollah Khomeini ousted the Shah and took power, the Soviet Union emerged as Iran's strategic and military partner. Currently Russia has been completing work on the nuclear reactor at Bushehr that has been the focus of international scrutiny and diplomacy.
And possible targeting.
But since the collapse of the USSR, China is steadily increasing its ties with the mullahs and is now one of Iran's strongest allies as a buffer on the UN Security Council and as a major supplier of technology and other assistance, as the REALITE-EU newsletter pointed out in a recent report.
Since Iran is a BIG supplier of crude oil to the Chicoms and their economic miracle.

The significance of China-Iran ties could be summarized as follows:

Beijing is indirectly helping Iran's nuclear program by refusing to back hard-line economic sanctions put forward by the UN. China backed limited UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, but like Russia insisted that sanctions be limited to nuclear trade, not general trade including arms and energy. Therefore, China has in effect negated the Security Council's ability to check Iran's nuclear agenda.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has the power to veto any measures that put pressure on Iran and its joint interests with China. In 2004, for example, Zhang Yan, China's ambassador to the UN, said: "The Iran nuclear issue should and is completely capable of being resolved within the IAEA's framework, through dialogue, and China is opposed to referring the issue to the UN Security Council." In November 2005, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing similarly told reporters that sanctions "would only make the issue more complicated and difficult to work out."
No teeth, no actions. The UNSC bureaucrats should gobble it up, most of 'em.
As Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the Iranian newspaper Kayhan put it: "Sanctions are not effective nowadays because we have many options in secondary markets, like China."
A true statement.
It is on the energy front where, for bilateral ties, the rubber meets the road. China's rapidly growing economy means that its energy needs are rapidly increasing, and the expanding consumer economy with more and more private ownership of automobiles is a trend that Hu needs to make sure continues. Hu and the Chinese Communist Party will do almost anything it takes to secure its growing oil supply needs.
Including making deals with axis of evil chaps.
As the second largest oil exporter to China after Saudi Arabia, Iran now sells China about $5.8 billion in oil and petrochemical products, according to the REALITE-EU report.

Over the next seven years, the International Energy Agency projects China relying on the Middle East for 70 percent of its oil imports, up from 44 percent in 2006.
So the Chicoms are setting themselves up with the oil ticks just like the US and Japan have been doing.
China's Sinopec Group has signed a deal worth $100 billion with Iran in what has been called the "deal of century". Sinopec is to buy 250 million tons of natural gas from Iran over 30 years, and will help Iran develop its massive Yadavaran oilfield in exchange for Iran selling 150,000 oil barrels per day to China for 25 years at market prices.

China is also taking advantage of the Iranian market as an outlet for Chinese exports and technology. More than 100 Chinese state companies are operating in Iran to develop infrastructural projects including dam building, cement plants, steel mills, railways, shipbuilding, highways, airports and even public transportation.

It is in Iran's missile development, that China has provided a major boost to Iran.

In the late 1980s, China reportedly transferred HY-2 (Silkworm) anti-ship cruise missiles to Iran, resulting in a U.S. freeze on high-tech transfers to China.

Iran and North Korea reportedly worked together to improve the accuracy of the Chinese C-802, an anti-ship cruise missile with a range of 80 miles that Iran bought from China during the mid-1990s. The Washington Times reported that China signed an $11 million contract with Iran to upgrade Iran's FL-10 anti-ship missile.

In April 2004, despite China's application to join the Missile Technology Control Regime (a voluntary group of 34 countries that share the goal of non-proliferation of WMD delivery systems), the State Department sanctioned five Chinese companies, including Norinco and the China Precision Machinery Import/Export Corporation, for transferring cruise and ballistic missile components and technology to Iran.
Fine, sanction these companies. The Chicoms will just make new ones. I swear, some State folks are dumb or delusional (clinical), or traitors.
In August 2007 leaders from China, Iran and Russia warned the U.S. not to interfere in strategic, resource-rich Central Asia. The implied threat came at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, told the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Near East and South Asian affairs in 2007 about four recent Chinese technology transfers to Iran: anti-ship missiles, air surveillance radars, a fusion reactor and a uranium prospecting operation.

Let the games begin.
The Chicoms think that they can use the Jihadis as a tool against us, but this could also blow up in their faces.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iranian Op-ed Calls For Worldwide Attacks

2008-01-28

In a January 26 op-ed in the Iranian daily Kayhan, the paper's editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, who is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, called on Muslims to unite in a retaliatory attack on American, European, and Israeli "sensitive centers" because of "the war crimes that these countries are committing in the Gaza Strip" and because of their support for Israel.

In his op-ed, Shar'iatmadari stressed that American and European civilians must be harmed in these attacks, so as to make the U.S. and the European countries change their policy towards Israel. He further called for harming Israelis worldwide, and explained that Islamic regimes that prevent an Islamic attack on Israel must be toppled, because they are defending the enemy.

Link

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