The leader of the Iraqi bloc that came first in elections accused Iran on Sunday of trying to destabilize Iraq and manipulate the political process as he jeered at rival politicians seeking Tehran's blessing for forming the next government.
Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, narrowly won the most seats in the March 7 vote with strong Sunni backing but did not get nearly enough to control the government outright. That allowed his chief rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, to sideline the Iraqiya political party that Allawi heads by forming a Shiite-dominated alliance similar to the current government and close to Iran.
"I won't be begging Iran to agree upon my nomination," Allawi told the Al-Arabiya satellite TV channel.
He added that Iran should get out of Iraqi politics and "not impose or support one faction over the other."
Allawi's remarks were a clear jab at al-Maliki, who heads to Iran on Monday as he scrambles for enough Shiite support to keep his job. There were also new indications that al-Maliki's efforts to enlist Sunni allies in the region are falling short. The king of neighboring Jordan pointedly avoided endorsing the Iraqi prime minister for a second term in a statement Sunday.
The developments injected new doubt that Iraq's political mess will be resolved any time soon. It has been more than seven months since parliamentary elections that failed to produce a clear winner and the country is still without a government.
Allawi has threatened to boycott the next government if al-Maliki remains in office, although U.S. diplomats are trying to broker a detente that would give the Iraqiya leader some power and key ministry jobs if he backs down.
Al-Maliki recently clinched support from hardline Shiite political parties close to Iran. With that, and assuming he is backed as expected by a key Kurdish coalition, he will have enough allies to remain in office.
In a second television interviews aired Sunday, Allawi accused Iran of fomenting unrest in Iraq, Lebanon and among Palestinians. He said Mideast nations are "falling victim to ... terrorists who are definitely Iran-financed."
"We know that unfortunately, Iran is trying to wreak havoc on the region," Allawi said. "And definitely in Iraq, I can say categorically that Iran is trying even to bring about change to the political process according to their wishes and requirements," he told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."
Al-Maliki will meet Monday with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But the prime minister dearly wants support from Sunnis too — in part because of strong pressure from the United States to foster a new government that represents all Iraq's major political factions. He will visit Turkey and Egypt next week.
But his trip Sunday to Amman fell flat after Jordan's King Abdullah II withheld public endorsement for al-Maliki's bid for a second term in office.
A royal palace statement said Abdullah told al-Maliki in a closed-door session that it was "necessary to form a government that would reflect the aspirations of the Iraqi people and would effectively build a better future for them."
But Abdullah clearly sought to remain neutral, emphasizing to al-Maliki that it was up to Iraqis to pick their government.
"Jordan supports anything that would lead to achieving reconciliation between the Iraqi people and would consolidate their national unity," Abdullah added, according to the statement.
Arab states have been deeply concerned about the influence of Shiite power Iran in Iraq and across the Middle East. Jordan's ruler has been a particularly vocal critic of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. In 2004, Abdullah warned about the emergence of a "Shiite crescent" including Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad called the Jordanian king last Tuesday. The state media said discussions focused on Iraq and other regional matters, but did not elaborate. Government officials declined to say if Ahmadinejad asked Abdullah to support al-Maliki.
In other developments, a brazen midday heist on three jewelry stores and at least four bombings in Baghdad left nine Iraqis dead and 13 injured in a fresh round of brutal crime that has swept the Iraqi capital over the past year as political violence has ebbed. Iraqi authorities have frequently blamed insurgents for the devastation, saying they are hard up for cash and have turned to crime to raise money for other types of attacks.
Additionally, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued a new warning Sunday that Americans and other Westerners who live and work in Iraq — and especially in Baghdad — may be kidnapping targets. The statement followed similar warnings on Sept. 14 and Sept. 25 that cautioned U.S. citizens from traveling in Iraq's mostly Shiite south.
The new warning "applies to all parts of Iraq, especially Baghdad," the statement said. It comes a day after an Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman warned of threats against local and foreign journalists working in Iraq.
By AP
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Ahmadinejad taunts Israel from border with Lebanon
Courtesy of AP
Iran's president taunted archenemy Israel on Thursday from just across the tense border in Lebanon, rallying tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters as Israeli attack helicopters buzzed in the skies nearby.
"The world should know that the Zionists will perish," declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, echoing previous verbal attacks in which he has said Israel should be wiped off the map.
"Occupied Palestine will be liberated from the filth of occupation by the strength of resistance and through the faith of the resistance," the Iranian leader vowed as cheers went up from the crowd, waving a sea of Lebanese, Iranian and Hezbollah flags.
The fiery speech was delivered in the border village of Bint Jbeil, which was nearly destroyed by Israeli bombs in the 2006 war with Hezbollah and rebuilt with the help of Iranian cash. A stronghold of the Shiite militant group, Ahmadinejad's visit to the southern Lebanese area was denounced by Washington and Israel as a provocation.
The Iranian president's first state visit to Lebanon, it was turned into a show of strength by Hezbollah, Iran's close ally in Lebanon, which shares power in a fragile unity government with a Western-backed coalition.
Hezbollah organized a rapturous welcome Wednesday in Beirut's streets, which were bedecked with billboards and signs bearing photos of Ahmadinejad.
By contrast, Lebanon's pro-Western leaders have been pushed to the background, underscoring their eroding position_ and suggesting the competition over influence in Lebanon may be tipping in favor of Iran and its ally Syria, away from the United States and its Arab allies, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Ahmadinejad's border visit by saying Israel knows how to protect itself.
"We heard today the cursing and invectives from the Lebanese border. The best answer to the deriders was given here 62 years ago — the state and all that we've built and created since," Netanyahu said.
"Look what a nation, what a state and what an army the state of Israel has. We will continue building, we will continue to create our state and we will know well how to defend ourselves."
While Ahmadinejad received a hero's welcome from Hezbollah's Shiite supporters, his visit intensified fears among Sunnis and Christians that Iran and Hezbollah are seeking to impose their will on Lebanon and possibly pull it into a conflict with Israel.
Van loads of Shiites organized by Hezbollah made their way Thursday to Bint Jbeil's stadium, traveling along roads lined with Iranian flags. Located just two miles from the Israeli border, the village has a special significance for Shiites.
Dubbed "the capital of resistance" during Israel's two-decade occupation of the south, Hezbollah's leader gave a victory speech here after Israel withdrew in 2000, calling Israel "weaker than a spider's web" — a phrase that adorns a stadium wall along with photographs of weeping Israeli soldiers.
During Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, Bint Jbeil was targeted by Israeli troops, who met stiff resistance from dug-in Hezbollah guerrillas. The close-quarter fighting was among the fiercest of the monthlong war and much of the town was destroyed or damaged.
Now, with an influx of Iranian money, it looks brand-new, with freshly built roads and apartment buildings.
Addressing the roaring crowd in Bint Jbeil's stadium, Ahmadinejad said: "You proved that your resistance, your patience, your steadfastness, were stronger than all the tanks and warplanes of the enemy."
"You are the mighty mountain, and I am proud of you," he said.
Ali Daboush, a 35-year-old Shiite who works in Saudi Arabia, said he came home to Lebanon just to see the Iranian leader.
"He liberated this land. It was thanks to him," Daboush said. "No Arab leader has done what he has done."
Nearby, two Israeli attack helicopters could be seen hovering above the Israeli border town of Moshav Avivim.
Iran, whose ties to Hezbollah date back nearly 30 years, funds the militant group to the tune of millions of dollars a year and is believed to supply much of its arsenal. Hezbollah boasts widespread support among Shiites and virtually runs a state-within-a-state in Shiite areas of Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad met late Thursday with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and held talks earlier in the day with Lebanon's pro-Western prime minister Saad Hariri.
Throughout his visit, the Iranian leader has stressed unity among Lebanese, aiming to depict Iran as an ally of the entire nation, not just Hezbollah.
But the strains have been clear.
The Western-backed coalition has warned that Ahmadinejad is seeking to transform Lebanon into "an Iranian base on the Mediterranean." And among Shiites, mentions of Hariri were roundly booed during Ahmadinejad's speeches.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev slammed the trip.
"Iran's domination of Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah has destroyed any chance for peace, has turned Lebanon into an Iranian satellite and made Lebanon a hub for regional terror and instability," he said.
Hezbollah has nearly quadrupled its arsenal since the 2006 war to more than 45,000 rockets and missiles, including weapons that are more accurate and more powerful than the past, Israeli ambassador Michael Oren said in Washington.
Washington also came out strongly against the Iranian leader's visit, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterating American concerns about Iran's nuclear program and its "support of terrorism."
"So when the Iranian president goes to Lebanon, and we know that they are supporting financially and in every other way Hezbollah, which is on the border of Israel and the border of the Palestinian areas, then that is a volatile situation," she said in an interview aired Thursday on ABC.
Still, Israeli residents of Avivim, a farming village that looks across the border at a makeshift stage and replica of the Dome of the Rock built in honor of Ahmadinejad, showed little interest.
"We're not excited about his visit. ... Ahmadinejad is a big coward," said resident Rafi Peretz. "Why does he come only 300 meters from us? Why doesn't he come here?"
Iran's president taunted archenemy Israel on Thursday from just across the tense border in Lebanon, rallying tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters as Israeli attack helicopters buzzed in the skies nearby.
"The world should know that the Zionists will perish," declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, echoing previous verbal attacks in which he has said Israel should be wiped off the map.
"Occupied Palestine will be liberated from the filth of occupation by the strength of resistance and through the faith of the resistance," the Iranian leader vowed as cheers went up from the crowd, waving a sea of Lebanese, Iranian and Hezbollah flags.
The fiery speech was delivered in the border village of Bint Jbeil, which was nearly destroyed by Israeli bombs in the 2006 war with Hezbollah and rebuilt with the help of Iranian cash. A stronghold of the Shiite militant group, Ahmadinejad's visit to the southern Lebanese area was denounced by Washington and Israel as a provocation.
The Iranian president's first state visit to Lebanon, it was turned into a show of strength by Hezbollah, Iran's close ally in Lebanon, which shares power in a fragile unity government with a Western-backed coalition.
Hezbollah organized a rapturous welcome Wednesday in Beirut's streets, which were bedecked with billboards and signs bearing photos of Ahmadinejad.
By contrast, Lebanon's pro-Western leaders have been pushed to the background, underscoring their eroding position_ and suggesting the competition over influence in Lebanon may be tipping in favor of Iran and its ally Syria, away from the United States and its Arab allies, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Ahmadinejad's border visit by saying Israel knows how to protect itself.
"We heard today the cursing and invectives from the Lebanese border. The best answer to the deriders was given here 62 years ago — the state and all that we've built and created since," Netanyahu said.
"Look what a nation, what a state and what an army the state of Israel has. We will continue building, we will continue to create our state and we will know well how to defend ourselves."
While Ahmadinejad received a hero's welcome from Hezbollah's Shiite supporters, his visit intensified fears among Sunnis and Christians that Iran and Hezbollah are seeking to impose their will on Lebanon and possibly pull it into a conflict with Israel.
Van loads of Shiites organized by Hezbollah made their way Thursday to Bint Jbeil's stadium, traveling along roads lined with Iranian flags. Located just two miles from the Israeli border, the village has a special significance for Shiites.
Dubbed "the capital of resistance" during Israel's two-decade occupation of the south, Hezbollah's leader gave a victory speech here after Israel withdrew in 2000, calling Israel "weaker than a spider's web" — a phrase that adorns a stadium wall along with photographs of weeping Israeli soldiers.
During Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, Bint Jbeil was targeted by Israeli troops, who met stiff resistance from dug-in Hezbollah guerrillas. The close-quarter fighting was among the fiercest of the monthlong war and much of the town was destroyed or damaged.
Now, with an influx of Iranian money, it looks brand-new, with freshly built roads and apartment buildings.
Addressing the roaring crowd in Bint Jbeil's stadium, Ahmadinejad said: "You proved that your resistance, your patience, your steadfastness, were stronger than all the tanks and warplanes of the enemy."
"You are the mighty mountain, and I am proud of you," he said.
Ali Daboush, a 35-year-old Shiite who works in Saudi Arabia, said he came home to Lebanon just to see the Iranian leader.
"He liberated this land. It was thanks to him," Daboush said. "No Arab leader has done what he has done."
Nearby, two Israeli attack helicopters could be seen hovering above the Israeli border town of Moshav Avivim.
Iran, whose ties to Hezbollah date back nearly 30 years, funds the militant group to the tune of millions of dollars a year and is believed to supply much of its arsenal. Hezbollah boasts widespread support among Shiites and virtually runs a state-within-a-state in Shiite areas of Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad met late Thursday with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and held talks earlier in the day with Lebanon's pro-Western prime minister Saad Hariri.
Throughout his visit, the Iranian leader has stressed unity among Lebanese, aiming to depict Iran as an ally of the entire nation, not just Hezbollah.
But the strains have been clear.
The Western-backed coalition has warned that Ahmadinejad is seeking to transform Lebanon into "an Iranian base on the Mediterranean." And among Shiites, mentions of Hariri were roundly booed during Ahmadinejad's speeches.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev slammed the trip.
"Iran's domination of Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah has destroyed any chance for peace, has turned Lebanon into an Iranian satellite and made Lebanon a hub for regional terror and instability," he said.
Hezbollah has nearly quadrupled its arsenal since the 2006 war to more than 45,000 rockets and missiles, including weapons that are more accurate and more powerful than the past, Israeli ambassador Michael Oren said in Washington.
Washington also came out strongly against the Iranian leader's visit, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterating American concerns about Iran's nuclear program and its "support of terrorism."
"So when the Iranian president goes to Lebanon, and we know that they are supporting financially and in every other way Hezbollah, which is on the border of Israel and the border of the Palestinian areas, then that is a volatile situation," she said in an interview aired Thursday on ABC.
Still, Israeli residents of Avivim, a farming village that looks across the border at a makeshift stage and replica of the Dome of the Rock built in honor of Ahmadinejad, showed little interest.
"We're not excited about his visit. ... Ahmadinejad is a big coward," said resident Rafi Peretz. "Why does he come only 300 meters from us? Why doesn't he come here?"
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Iran at the center of NATO-Russia missile defense talks
A new and advance proposal on a missile defense plan for Europe will be presented to Moscow at a Russia-North American Treaty Organization (NATO) Council summit in November.
The summit will take place in Lisbon on November 20.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called for the creation of missile defenses in Europe, but Russia says a serious assessment of missile risks should be carried out before starting on the project.
Rasmussen has said a new Euro-Atlantic missile defense system would liven up the EU allies’ ties with the United States and the alliance’s relationship with Russia.
The leaders of 28 NATO countries should invite Russia to participate in the project at the November summit, he told journalists in September.
But the U.S.’s plans to deploy an anti-ballistic missile shield in Eastern Europe remains a bone of contention between Moscow and NATO. The U.S. says it would defend NATO territories against a possible missile threat from Iran, but Russia says there is no threat.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Ahmadinejad calls for U.S. leaders to be buried
Iran's president Sunday called for U.S. leaders to be "buried" in response to what he says are American threats of military attack against Tehran's nuclear program.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is known for brash rhetoric in addressing the West, but in a speech Sunday he went a step further using a deeply offensive insult in response to U.S. statements that the military option against Iran is still on the table.
"May the undertaker bury you, your table and your body, which has soiled the world," he said using language in Iran reserved for hated enemies.
Several top U.S. officials including Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have said in recent months that the military option remains on the table and there is a plan to attack Iran, although a military strike has been described as a bad idea.
The crowd of military men and clerics in the town of Hashtgerd just west of the capital chuckled at the president's insult and applauded.
The speech was broadcast by both state television and the official English-language Press TV, but the latter glossed over the insult in the simultaneous translation.
Ahmadinejad's remarks come in sharp contrast to ones he made to Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel in August in which he offered the U.S. Iran's friendship.
In Sunday's speech, Ahmadinejad also questioned once more who was behind the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. and said they gave Washington a pretext for seeking to dominate the region and plunder its oil wealth.
During his speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said a majority of people in the U.S. and around the world believe the American government staged the attacks, drawing a strong rebuke from President Barack Obama.
Ahmadinejad often resorts to provocative statements to lash out enemies. He has already compared the power of Iran's enemies to a "mosquito," saying Iran deals with the West over its nuclear activities from a position of power and he has likened the United States to a "farm animal trapped in a quagmire" in Afghanistan.
Iran also condemned the latest U.S. sanctions slapped on eight Iranian officials Wednesday, saying they show American interference in Tehran's domestic affairs.
Washington this week imposed travel and financial sanctions on the eight Iranians, accusing them of taking part in human rights abuses during the turmoil following Iran's June 2009 presidential election.
Source: AP
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is known for brash rhetoric in addressing the West, but in a speech Sunday he went a step further using a deeply offensive insult in response to U.S. statements that the military option against Iran is still on the table.
"May the undertaker bury you, your table and your body, which has soiled the world," he said using language in Iran reserved for hated enemies.
Several top U.S. officials including Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have said in recent months that the military option remains on the table and there is a plan to attack Iran, although a military strike has been described as a bad idea.
The crowd of military men and clerics in the town of Hashtgerd just west of the capital chuckled at the president's insult and applauded.
The speech was broadcast by both state television and the official English-language Press TV, but the latter glossed over the insult in the simultaneous translation.
Ahmadinejad's remarks come in sharp contrast to ones he made to Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel in August in which he offered the U.S. Iran's friendship.
In Sunday's speech, Ahmadinejad also questioned once more who was behind the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. and said they gave Washington a pretext for seeking to dominate the region and plunder its oil wealth.
During his speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said a majority of people in the U.S. and around the world believe the American government staged the attacks, drawing a strong rebuke from President Barack Obama.
Ahmadinejad often resorts to provocative statements to lash out enemies. He has already compared the power of Iran's enemies to a "mosquito," saying Iran deals with the West over its nuclear activities from a position of power and he has likened the United States to a "farm animal trapped in a quagmire" in Afghanistan.
Iran also condemned the latest U.S. sanctions slapped on eight Iranian officials Wednesday, saying they show American interference in Tehran's domestic affairs.
Washington this week imposed travel and financial sanctions on the eight Iranians, accusing them of taking part in human rights abuses during the turmoil following Iran's June 2009 presidential election.
Source: AP
Friday, October 1, 2010
New Conference
The United Against Nuclear Iran Puerto Rico Chapter
Presents
Iran’s Nuclear Economic Reality
For more than a decade, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been pursing a clandestine nuclear weapons program at the expense of, not only the condemnation of the international community, but of its own economic well being.
Iran’s Nuclear Economic Reality is a comprehensive study of the immense investment of financial resources invested by the country’s elite in an effort to develop an atomic arsenal.
Overview: Iran’s 2010 economic situation and the out look for 2012.
Investment: An estimate of the massive investments in capital made by Iran in their nuclear program during the past decade.
Problems: The economic strain the development and eventual maintenance of a nuclear weapons program would place in the Republic’s already stagnant financial system.
Guess Speaker: Local economist, Jean Carlos Almodovar
There will be interactive activities to thrill and challenge the minds, so don’t miss out!
Location: Red China Restaurant
Date: October 7, 2010
Hour: 7PM to 8PM
Presents
Iran’s Nuclear Economic Reality
For more than a decade, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been pursing a clandestine nuclear weapons program at the expense of, not only the condemnation of the international community, but of its own economic well being.
Iran’s Nuclear Economic Reality is a comprehensive study of the immense investment of financial resources invested by the country’s elite in an effort to develop an atomic arsenal.
Overview: Iran’s 2010 economic situation and the out look for 2012.
Investment: An estimate of the massive investments in capital made by Iran in their nuclear program during the past decade.
Problems: The economic strain the development and eventual maintenance of a nuclear weapons program would place in the Republic’s already stagnant financial system.
Guess Speaker: Local economist, Jean Carlos Almodovar
There will be interactive activities to thrill and challenge the minds, so don’t miss out!
Location: Red China Restaurant
Date: October 7, 2010
Hour: 7PM to 8PM
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