Recent news on the Arab-Israeli conflict

The Israeli navy intercepted yesterday an Antiguan vessel carrying hundreds of tons of Iranian weapons, including rockets, hand grenades, mortars and at least 3,000 missiles, allegedly intended for Hezbollah. The ship, Francop, was a 100 miles off the Irsaeli coast, and had "dozens of shipping containers, carrying numerous weapons, disguised as civilian cargo among hundreds of other containers on board". The crew was apparently unaware of the smuggling, and the Israeli military searched the Francop with the permission of its captain. A spokesperson said that "the weapons originate from Iran and were intended to reach the Hezbollah terror organization for use against the state of Israel and its citizens", but Iran and Syria have both rejected Israel's accusations. Hezbollah denied any link to the weapons, and accussed Israel of piracy in international waters.

Here's the link to the orginal article

BBC News - Israelis 'seize Iran arms ship'

Another article, where Hezbollah denies any link to the weapons.

BBC News - Hezbollah denies arms ship claims

Read More......

Obama's new problem: Iranian protesters

As you may know, the Iranian presidential election held in June was a very controversial one. To this day, there are thousands of protesters who come out and fight to take down the regime. However, Obama may have commited and enormous mistake when he manifested that he would be willing to give his support to the Iranian rebels.

Today, in the 30-year anniversary of the American embassy takeover in Tehran, protesters are asking Obama to stnd up to his word and help them. They yell such things as "Obama, Obama! Either with them or with us!" The "them" in the chant means Ahmadinejad (their president) and the regime that is in possession of the country.

Now Obama has a big problem, because in one hand he has a percentage of the population that are on his side, but only if he helps them. On the other hand, he has the authorities of the country who are negotiating a nuclear deal with the United States.

So... what will Obama do now?

To know more about this, please visit the page below...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/221114

Read More......

Death to America

Iranian reformists have chosen key anniversaries to protest the hardline government. Wednesday's was the biggest annual anti-American observance of all. On November 4, 1979, Islamic students stormed the U.S. Embassy. They held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Iranian protesters are seeking to continue their anti-government demonstrations into Wednesday night, despite what police says, violence and arrests.

The protests are timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy. Iran celebrates the embassy takeover as an official holiday, and tens of thousands showed up to hear anti-American speeches in front of the building that once housed the U.S. diplomatic corps. Many chanted "Death to America."

"We were running from the police in the alleys off of the main streets," said Soheil, an opposition protester, who gave only one name for security reasons. "Strangers were opening up their garages so we could hide until the police went away. I ran into a garage for about 15 minutes. When I went back into the main street, I saw riot police arresting a group of young men, then putting them inside a bank and locking the door.

People make this because of their rage to the US. They had had so many problems, they tried to demonstrate they don't appreciate the country at all. I think there are better ways to resolve problems rather than using violence all the time and causing people to get injured or deaths. They can do peaceful protests, agreements, etc. Only God knows how much anger they keep in their souls.

Read More......

Iran police crushes demonstrations

Yesterday, thousands of Iranian people went out on the streets of Tehran to demonstrate against the current regime. Outside the former US embassy, there was an anti-American rally to mark the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the embassy by Islamist students. In November 1979, 52 American diplomats had been taken hostage at the embassy, and kept there for over a year by supporters of the Iranian Revolution.

Wednesday, the occasion was seized by opposition supporters, who gathered in Haft-e Tir square to voice their discontent with the regime. Protesters, who claim that the June presidential elections were manipulated to ensure the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, were chased by security forces. Witnesses say that batons and tear gas were used to disperse the crowd as well as open fire. Since the elections, at least 30 protesters have been killed in clashes and thousands have been arrested, while 200 opposition activists are now in jail.

Here’s the original article, in case you want to read more:
BBC News - Iran police clash with protesters

Read More......

Iran smuggling arms into Syria and Lebanon

It was recently on the news that Israel's navy has intercepted a ship carrying hundreds of tonnes of Iranian weapons intended for Hezbollah in Lebanon. The arms were apparently intended to strike Israeli cities. Iran and Syria have both rejected the allegations of being receiving weapons illegally in order to attack Israel and the ship's crew were not thought to have been aware of the smuggling operation.

A spokesperson for the military said there were "dozens of shipping containers, carrying numerous weapons, disguised as civilian cargo among hundreds of other containers on board." The spokesperson added: "The weapons originate from Iran and were intended to reach the Hezbollah terror organisation for use against the state of Israel and its citizens."

Also, the Israeli military said an Iranian document had been found on the ship. A military spokesperson said: "All the cargo certificates are stamped at the ports of origin and this one was stamped at an Iranian port." Since Israel's offensive in Gaza last December and January, the Israeli navy and air force have been have conducting intense searches in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea for ships smuggling weapons either to Hezbollah or to Hamas in Gaza.

In February Israel said a vessel detained off Cyprus was carrying Iranian weapons to Hamas in Gaza. Iran denied the claim.

Who are the Hezbollah?

Hezbollah - or the Party of God - is a powerful political and military organisation in Lebanon made up mainly of Shia Muslims.

It emerged with financial backing from Iran in the early 1980s and began a struggle to drive Israeli troops from Lebanon.

Hostility to Israel has remained the party's defining platform since May 2000, when the last Israeli troops left Lebanon due in large part to the success of Hezbollah's military arm, the Islamic Resistance.

Hezbollah also adopted the tactic of taking Western hostages, through a number of freelance hostage taking cells.

In 1983, militants who went on to become members of Hezbollah are thought to have planned a suicide bombing attack that killed 241 US marines in Beirut.

"Who are Hezbollah?." BBC News (2008): n. pag. Web. 4 Nov 2009. .

Read More......

Women's Rights in Iran

Persepolis is a wonderful movie that won the Prix du Jury at 2007's Cannes Film Festival. Written by Marjane Satrapi, this film is a nautobiographical work that shows the life of a girl who grows up in Iran and experiences the changes of her country after the revolution of 1979. Needless to say, Iran made its complaints against the presentation of the movie at the film festival and accused France of being biased and using cinema as a political weapon. Persepolis is based on the comic strip made before by Satrapi and neither the film nor the comic are allowed in Iran. You may be wondering why is it rejected by Iranian authorities. Well, it is actually very simple. In the film, you can easily perceive the deceipt of the Iranian society and the discomfort that grew after the foundation of the Islamic republic in Iran for, after the fall of the Shah, the people did not receive the "independence and freedom" they were promised to have. There is plenty of information you can take out from the movie and it really helped me understand a little bit more the situation in Iran (the influence of the United States and the UK during all the process of the revolution, the communist ideas that were drowned, the mind control over youngsters by the Islamic forces, the war between Iraq and Iran, etc.), as well as to get interested in the country. However, what impressed me the most was the repression suffered by women.

I guess it was because I am a woman and the whole movie comes from a feminine perspective of the facts. I would've expected Iran to have more rights for the citizens after the revolution, but it seems it all happened the other way around... and that I find unconceivable, but there it is, it's true. We can see at the beginning how women are active in the revolution, how they follow western fashion, and how they behave more freely before the new government seized control. All of the sudden, their rights are embarrasingly reduced. Women began to dress up, completely covered from head to toe, specially if they were in front of a man. There is even a scene were Marjane is running and the police stops her, claiming her derrière moves indecently down her clothes. And if you didn't know, Iran is one of the top countries where more nose jobs are done. The main client? Women. If their face is what the only thing they can show, of course they'll try to make the best out of it., to feel as beautiful as far as the law permits it. Women were banned from singing in public and "western degradation" was prohibited by the law. You can see in the movie how Marjane has to illegaly buy Iron Maiden music and how some of her male friends had to escape from the police since they were partying with girls, with techno, alcohol, and western clothes. Women were turned into submissive creatures.
Surely, Marjane's story is not the only one. Women all across Iran might have suffered injustice due to the Islamic reforms and Iran can send some secret service police right now to kill me for saying all of this stuff, but I cannot tolerate this cruelty and tyranny. The actions of this regime have not only stayed in the surface, but it has psychologically penetrated women. In the West we have the media controlling our minds and in Iran they have religion-based codes making decisions for us. And I am not against Islam, but I'm in favor of human rights. So think about it. I know I wouldn't like to be left with little pieces of myself, of my body, my freedom and my mind and neither I can stand happily here knowing there's people, women, like me, forced to endure that kind of life.

Read More......

The Full Story of Iran's Nuclear Program...

Here is a video I found that explains the truth behind Iran's nuclear program. It talks about their motives and it makes us ask ourselves if Iran should really be punished so severely for having nuclear weapons, if they have never invaded anyone.

It was made by journalist Robert Fisk, who has recently been fighting for equality and comprehension for the people of the Middle East.

The only thing that we sould ask ourselves is: is it so wrong for them to have weapons, even if they have been invaded before and they have been attacked by the biggest and most powerful countries?

Read More......

Iran hiding nuclear plant

Iran fired missiles during a military exercise of the Revolutionary Guards, their military elite, because they want to test these missiles. The USA demanded Iran so they can prove its intentions after knowing the existence of a new underground nuclear plant that was construct secretly. General Hossein Salami, Revolutionary Guard’s boss, affirm that it is the first time that Iran do a missile test. In some TV images, some voices that are saying “Alá Akbar” (that means God is big) can be heard while the missiles are firing. Salami said that this test were with the intentions so the other countries that try to intimidate them, sees that they are prepare. Unites States have its doubts about this. They think that this was not for a good intention. Now the US and other countries question is: If they were hiding a nuclear plant secretly, they are hiding something else? In my opinion, I think that they are hiding many things. But they are just looking for protection. I don’t believe that Iran attack other countries, it is still not a very powerful countries like other.

Read More......

Missile Defence

• Mixed response was seen by Europe because of Presidents Barack Obama's decision to end the plans for the missile defense system made in the Czech Republic and in Poland.

Barack Obama made the decision toterminate the U.S. missile defense made by Bush in Poland and the Czech Republic. The reaction of the Russians was positive, they said that they always thought this was an inappropriate way to deal with the issues in Iran.
Unfortunately the reaction wasn't the same with Poland and the Czechs, because they saw this as military force and as a bond with the U.S and NATO.
One of the reasons the U.S. made this was to lessen confrontations with Russia.
This is not the end of the missile defence on that areas, because its thought that they will focus more on bringing the missile defences to their full capabilities to be able to compete with new technological missiles.
image from: http://risingpowers.foreignpolicyblogs.com/category/iran/page/3/
http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/op-eds/first-take-obamas-missile-defense-rethink

Read More......

More News About Iran

The West just gave Iran Three months to prove that it does not want nuclear weapons.
If Iran doesn't prove this, the western powers will definitely make tougher sanctions in the United Nations. The meeting in which Iran and the Western Powers will meet in Geneva will be the last chance to come to a settlement over the programme or start negotiations.
But where are Russia and China?
"Russia reacted critically to the disclosure of Iran's latest secret programme, but China has shown no willingness to shift from its previous opposition to more sanctions." (Nick Meo and Richard Spencer in Dubai Published: 5:38PM BST 30 Sep 2009, telegraph)

The IAEA said that Iran broke the law by not telling that they were making a nuclear facility
What did Iran say about this?
Well they said that is was not their obligation to tell the IAEA about this facility until 6 months before they started to produce something.

But what can be the sanctions?
Well of course it wont be war. What they were thinking was restrictions on financial services, for oil.

Read More......

Iran Tests Long-Ranged Missile

First North Korea, Now IRAN... Who's Next?

Iran tested his long ranged missiles on Monday. They say those missiles can reach any place that threatens Iran, this includes parts of Europe, Israel and U.S. military bases in the Mideast.
The western countries feel that this tests are a provocation.
With these tests and the nuclear facility that was secretly built, has made an urgency to have a meeting between the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council w/Germany and Iran.

The tests were made after the Western Powers warned Iran about facing sanctions if they didn't open the uranium enrichment facility to an international inspection...
So was this a provocation? or was it only military exercises routine like Iran says?

At the beginning of this year, Korea was performing underground nuclear tests, now Iran is performing missile tests and is making a uranium enrichment facility.
So whats happening?, are we getting closer to a 3rd World War?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33041226/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Read More......

They Want Negotiations With Iran


On Thursday, the top diplomats from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany will meet Iran's nuclear negotiator at Geneva.

Iran said it would soon offer a timetable for inspectors to visit a hitherto secret facility, but was not prepared to debate its “rights” to operate the plant.
In exchange for a suspension of the nuclear activities and more cooperation with the inspectors of the U.N., the six mayor powers of the world want Iran to respond to the offer of trade and political incentives.

The western powers are suspecting that Iran since it has an atomic programs, is developing the capability to make nuclear weapons. Eventhough they deny making nuclear weapons, Iran doesn't want to cancel the uranium enrichment campaign.

"The United States and its allies accuse Iran of working to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes, to generate electric power. " ( By VOA News
27 September 2009)




http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-27-voa1.cfm
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE58S14520090929

Read More......

Liberalism vs. Realism or maybe both

Right after I left the classroom I opened my laptop and took a look at today's news. For my surprise I saw an interesting topic. The Article is called: "Iran has 'updated nuclear package'; ready to hold talks” And after reading it, it got me thinking that maybe the world has more liberals than we thought. In the UN they are seeking to get to an agreement in the limits of the nuclear program in Iran.

And why is Iran willing to talk to the UN? The only reason they are willing to talk to the UN is because Germany threaten Iran if they did not meet to talk and reach an agreement.

So it gets me thinking maybe we are not just Realist nor Idealist; but maybe just a combination of both. Is this really what we need right now?, or is it the future of International Relations.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/09/01/iran.nuclear.talks/index.html

Read More......