Sacred Defense Week

Today Iranian Armed Forces have begun the week long Sacred Defense week held to commemorate the defense of Iran during the eight year war with Iraq in the 1980's.

The parade, which began this morning will have the main branches of Iran's armed forces, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the Iranian Military, and the Basij voluntary force.

Also taking part was the IRIAF (Iranian Air Force) fighter jets, tactical planes, reconnaissance aircrafts and tankers.

President Ahmadinejad has stated also today that no power shall dare to attack Iran, he also stated that Iranians offer a message of peace for all nations.

"The Iranian nation seeks the establishment of peace and sustainable security based on justice. Our people are strong to defend their rights and land," he stated.

To Our Readers

I am on an extended work-related tour, unfortunately unable to post on the blog. These are important days in the country and I wish I could have been as active.

I am so happy that Paul Iddon could take some time off his busy schedule to post on the blog.

See you all soon.
Nader

Israel threatens Iran over it's air defence

Since 2007 there has been talk of Iran acquiring S-300 surface to air defensive missiles from Russia.

The S-300 system was developed by Russia to defend against aircraft and cruise missiles.

Iran have stated they will use them to defend their nuclear sites from air or missile attack from Israel.

Israeli air force chief Major-General Ido Nehushtan today has expressed concern:

"We need to make every effort to stop this system from getting to places where the IAF (Israeli Air Force) needs to operate or may need to operate in the future," he has stated.

He failed to emphasize how these missiles posed any threat to Israel.

Iran sets date for nuclear talks

It has been agreed by the Iranian government that talks regarding Iran's nuclear program with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Russia, China, Britain, France and the United States will commence on October 1st.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that he is ready to negotiate with the international community but has stated Tehran will not hold talks on Iran's right to nuclear power.

"We are ready to hold talks on international cooperation and ways to resolve ongoing economic and security problems in the world as we believe that such issues cannot be settled without collective participation," he stated.

new US and Iran nuclear talks

Talks between Iran and the United States over Iran's nuclear program have seen considerable progress today when it was agreed by President Obama to send a representative to talk to Iranian officials face to face over Iran's nuclear program and other political and economic issues.

This marks the first time since the revolution in 1979 that the US accepted to have diplomatic face to face talks with the current regime in Iran showing new developments between the two countries.

Iranian F-14 Tomcat achievements

The F-14 was only ever exported to Iran under the Shah, 79 were delivered between 1976 and 1979 and shortly after the Iranian Revolution and the seizure of American hostages in their embassy in Tehran, shortly afterwards the US and the west put aside the rules that govern how states behave by aiding Saddam Hussein in his bloody war against Iran and spreading propaganda one of the most famous ones to this day was the status of Iran's fleet of F-14's, which were told be sabotaged and left useless.

These lies changed from the whole IRIAF being inactive by 1984 and the air war remaining "uninteresting" according to US sources, however the post revolution Iranian air force the IRIAF had;

* scored the first kill for an F-14 in September of 1980 against an Iraqi Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship using it's Vulcan cannon!

* Managed to service and maintain the Tomcat's air frame and keep a hefty amount of the fleet active throughout the war, this was a big burden considering they were under complete arms embargo from most of the world and the F-14A's they had had the TF30 engines which were a problem even for the IIAF!

* Shot down over 159 adversaries, and saw more air to air combat than the entire USAF and US Navy saw in the Vietnam War!

However as the US mainstream media made several claims sometimes contradicting each other, for instance in 1987 stating Iran no longer even had an air force which was followed by an engagement (one of several over the course of the war) in which a single F-14 ambushed an Iraqi attack force of eight MiG-23's, downed one in plain sight and scared off the rest!

After nearly 20 years of declaring the IRIAF dead and not a threat the US Navy had all of their F-14's destroyed to ensure Iran didn't get spare parts required for their air force, proving how much of threat the US considers the "long dead" IRIAF to be!

Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat

Khamenei’s Intervention in Majlis Vote

Iran’s deputy speaker of parliament, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, told reporters in Tehran today that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, had to personally intervene to make sure that the Majlis approved Ahmadinejad’s cabinet. According to Bahonar, Khamanei sent a message to parliament members just prior to their votes, asking (ordering) them to cast yes vote during yesterday’s confidence vote [ISNA, 4 September].

Bahonar added that without Khamenei’s intervention, eight or nine nominees would have been rejected. Majlis did approve all but three nominees, including two women.

The episode is a blow to the independence of Majlis, and points to the growing power and influence being exercised by Khamenei.

Ahmadinehad Calls for Arrest of Opposition Leaders

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today called for prosecution of the opposition leaders over the street demonstrations and uprising that followed the presidential election. Ahmadinejad and his supporters have been accused by the opposition of staging a coup to prevent the victory of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iran’s former wartime premier and the presumed winner of the election.

“Serious confrontation with the leaders and key elements [of protests], against those who organized and provoked and carried out the enemy's plan, are needed," Ahmadinejad said. "They have to be dealt with seriously.”

In a bizarre part of his speech, Ahmadinejad accused the foreign enemies for mistreating the detainees after their arrest by security forces.

"These actions that were carried out in custody were part of the enemy's scenario," Ahmadinejad said. "Security, military and intelligence forces are free from these shameful acts."

The government crackdown on the demonstrations killed at least 69 people. Many detainees have been subjected to torture and there are credible reports that some died in prison from beatings and other abuse.

Israel: Crippling Sanctions against Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today called for "crippling sanctions" against Iran to stop its nuclear work.

"There is not much time" to halt Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Netanyahu said in a news conference in Berlin after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel [AFP, 27 August].

"I think the most important thing that can be put in place is what the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called crippling sanctions. It is possible to put real pressure, real economic pressure, on this regime if the major powers of the world unite."

Merkel told the same news conference that if Iran failed to meet international obligations by next month then "more serious steps" including energy sanctions would have to be considered.

IAEA to Release Report on Iran

Iranian ambassador to IAEA, Ali Asqar Soltanieh, told reporters that IAEA director will release his latest report on Iran as early as Friday [Fars News Agency].

The Western diplomats do not expect the report to contain any bombshells. The report would precede a meeting of Group 5+1 (the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany) on 2 September to consider a new round of sanctions against Iran if talks on the country’s nuclear program fail.

US Air Force to Speed Purchase of MOP

US Air Force said on Thursday that it was speeding the purchase of 10 to 12 precision-guided 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP), a.k.a bunker buster bombs.

Suspected Iranian and North Korean underground nuclear sites have been stated as the justification to acquire MOPs, built by Boeing, and to integrate them aboard long-range bombers. The MOP is designed to destroy deeply-buried targets beyond the reach of existing bombs.

Radar-evading B-2 bombers could be capable of the carrying the MOPs by July 2010, an Air Force spokesman told the reporters today [Reuters, 27 August].

On Mass Trials

“It was George Soros who conspired to say that the earth was round. I made a mistake studying and presenting theories.”

A cartoon by Nikahang Kowsa on Saeed Hajjarian reading his confessions during the mass trial in Tehran [nikahang.blogspot.com, 25 August].

Talks of New Iran Sanctions

France today followed the US and Britain in warning Iran of “severe” new sanctions if it does not stop its uranium enrichment activities. French president Nicolas Sarkozy emphasized lack of trust on Iranian leadership.

“These are the same leaders, in Iran, who tell us that the nuclear program is peaceful and that the elections were honest. Frankly, who believes them?” Sarkozy said in a speech delivered in Paris today [AFP, 26 August].

Yesterday, Britain warned Iran could face another round of sanctions if it did not halt its uranium enrichment program.

“If there is no further progress immediately then I believe the world will have to look at stepping up sanctions against Iran as a matter of priority," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters in London at a news conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Obama administration has already warned Iran of sanctions against the export of gasoline to the country. Iran imports some 40% of its daily gasoline use. An embargo could severely disrupt its economy.

Ironically, the calls for new and severe sanctions against Iran come at a time that IAEA reports no increase in the number of centrifuges in Natanz, the country’s uranium enrichment plant.

“There has been no increase in the number of centrifuges enriching uranium since the end of May," Reuters quoted a senior Viennese diplomat familiar with the issue. The diplomat said the reason for the slowdown was mainly technical, adding that some of the centrifuges had been taken down for repair and maintenance [Reuters, 25 August].

Prosecutors Call for Death Penalty for Leading Reformists

Iranian prosecutors called for the death penalty for leading reformists during their mass trial today in Tehran. Today's show resembled the Stalin-era trials of the leading Communist Party ideologues and operatives and the people’s courts of China’s Cultural Revolution, with confessions read aloud by or for leading Communist Party leaders.

In Tehran, leading figures and luminaries of the Islamic revolution, such as Saeed Hajjarian and six former government ministers, were confessing to their crimes of wanting to reform the system and suppporting a candidate who was himself Iran's prime minister during the eight-year war with Iraq.

Today’s mass trial and the prosecutors’ call for death penalty against some of the early supporters of the Islamic revolution must be one of the darkest days in the history of the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Arms Seized in Yemen

The Yemeni army has seized Iranian-made weapons used by Huthis Shia rebels, AFP quoted a Yemeni official on Sunday.

"The troops have discovered six storehouses for weapons that belong to the Huthi rebels and contain some Iranian-made weapons, including machine guns, short-range rockets and ammunition," the official said.

The weapons were found near the rugged mountainous city of Saada, where the army launched an offensive against the rebels two weeks ago.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh pledged last week to crush the Shiite rebellion after the fighting that began in the Saada province on the border with Saudi Arabia spread to the Amran province to the south. The rebels, led by Abdul-Malek Al-Huthi, have been engaged in fighting with government forces on and off since 2004.

Iran: Largest Oil Find in Five Years

Iranian oil minister Qolam Hossein Nozari today told reporters in Tehran that over 8.8 billion barrels of crude oil has been discovered in four new layers at the Sousangerd oilfield, the largest find in five years [IRNA, 24 August].

"Drilling all layers of this field was successfully finished in the depth of 5,026 metres and as expected the amount of in-place oil reserve is about 8.83 billions of barrel," Nozari said.

Vahidi: Wanted

The Interpol search result on Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, Iran's Defense Minister-designate.

Charged with "Crimes against life and health, hooliganism/vandalism/damage."

Arrest warrant issued by Argentina

(Click on the image to enlarge)

News footage of the Iranian made "Saegheh" fighter jet

The Saegheh is an impressive aircraft designed and made solely by Iran, it is used mainly in the air to ground attack role!

Majlis to Start Deliberations of Proposed Cabinet

Majlis, the Iranian parliament, will start its deliberation of Ahmadinejad’s proposed cabinet on Sunday. The government is required to obtain votes of confidence for individual ministers. Approval of at least 11 of the 21 proposed ministers is necessary to form the cabinet.

Top photos by ISNA show yesterday’s session of Majlis and the bottom photo by IRIB shows the 21 proposed ministers.

IRGC Military Operation in Northwest Iran

IRGC is undertaking a major military operation against the Kurdish militant group PJAK in northwest Iran.

UPDATE (6 pm Iran time): IRGC Brig. Gen. Pakpour told reporters in Tehran that during the extensive operation, some 26 members of PJAK, Komouleh and Democratic Party of Kurdistan have been killed. As of yet, no reports from the independent or Kurdish sources were available.

Karrubi to Launch Satellite TV

Ayatollah Mehdi Karrubi will soon launch his own satellite TV channel. The station, to be called Saba, will be based in Dubai.

Karrubi planned to open the channel four years ago after loosing his first presidential bid. Reports at the time indicated that Karrubi was prevented to launch the channel by the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

Karrubi's relations with Khamenei has gone sour in the aftermath of the recent election fiasco and the nationwide popular uprising that followed. Karrubi has become one of the leading figures of the opposition.