Zitat:Iran Outmaneuvers U.S. in the Syrian Proxy War
By Vali Nasr Jun 5, 2013 12:00 AM GMT+0200

Syria’s uprising offered the possibility of a strategic defeat of Iran. In this scenario, Iran would be weakened by the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, its single Arab ally and a vital link to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia. Isolated, Iran would become more vulnerable to international pressure to limit its nuclear program. And as Iran’s regional influence faded, those of its rivals -- U.S. allies Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia -- would expand.

Instead, events in Syria are spinning in Iran’s favor. Assad’s regime is winning ground, the war has made Iran more comfortable in its nuclear pursuits, and Iran’s gains have embarrassed U.S. allies that support the Syrian uprising. What’s more, Iran has strengthened its relationship with Russia, which may prove to be the most important strategic consequence of the Syrian conflict, should the U.S. continue to sit it out.
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Russia shares Iran’s fear of the rising Sunni tide sweeping across the Arab world. This trend, Kremlin officials think, will fuel Islamic radicalism in Russia’s Muslim regions. They see Syria through the prism of the war in Chechnya and fault Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia for supporting Sunni extremism first in the Caucasus and Central Asia and now in the Middle East. They see themselves fighting alongside Iran, against America’s allies, in a war against Sunni radicals.

If successful in Syria, the Russian-Iranian bloc will seek greater influence in new areas, such as the Persian Gulf. It’s worth noting that Russia invited Bahrain’s Shiite opposition party, al-Wifaq, to visit Moscow in February.

Zitat:Iran to ‘deploy 4,000-strong force’ to Syria as US military set to stay in Jordan
Edited time: June 16, 2013 22:53

Iran will deploy 4,000 Revolutionary Guards to Syria to bolster Damascus against a mostly Sunni-led insurgency, media reported. Meanwhile, US F-16s and Patriots will stay in Jordan – speculatively, to help establish a no-fly zone to aid Syrian rebels.
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Zitat:Iran Denies Plans to Send Troops to Help Syria’s Assad

TEHRAN, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Iran has no plans to send troops to aid Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in the ongoing civil war there, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, rejecting media reports claiming Tehran was set to intervene directly in the fighting.

“We categorically deny this information,” Seyed Abbas Araqchi said, adding Tehran has never and would never send its troops to Damascus. Syria’s government forces have all the necessary means to fight against “terrorists acting in Syria,” and “Iran has no need to provide military aid to Syria’s authorities,” he said.
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Zitat:Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:25PM GMT
Mukhtar Army claims attack on Camp Liberty in Iraq

The Iraq-based militant group known as the Mukhtar Army has claimed responsibility for a recent rocket attack on Camp Liberty in the Iraqi capital that killed two members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).

Leader of the Mukhtar Army Wathiq al-Battat said on Monday that a total of 18 rockets were fired at the camp, vowing that his group would continue to attack the MKO members until they leave Iraq.

On June 15, Iraqi police sources reported that at least two MKO members were killed and more than 17 wounded after a number of mortars hit inside and near Camp Liberty in western Baghdad.

Battat further said, “We are giving them a 10-day deadline to leave; otherwise they will be attacked again.”
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Zitat:US not a trustworthy partner, Jalili tells Afghan official
Tue Jul 9, 2013 12:4PM

Secretary of Iran Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili has held talks with Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Ershad Ahmadi on bilateral ties
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“The nature of US policies in the region indicates that it (US) is opposed to unity, stability and progress in the Muslim world,” Jalili further said in a meeting with the visiting Afghan official in Tehran on Tuesday.

“For the international community, particularly the people of the region [stretching] from Afghanistan to Egypt, the US claims of opposing terrorism and favoring democracy have more than ever been proven to be false,” added Jalili, who represents Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in SNSC.

He noted that “supporting terrorism and opposing democracy” form the foundation of US policy in the region.
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Zitat:US-Israel created Stuxnet to hurt Iran civilian N-program: Analyst
Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:35PM GMT

In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel published on Monday, US surveillance whistleblower, Edward Snowden, said the US National Security Agency and Israel created Stuxnet to target Iran’s nuclear installations, adding that the virus was used to change the speed of thousands of gas-spinning centrifuges at the Iranian nuclear sites."
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Political commentator Gordon Duff says Israel and the US created the Stuxnet computer virus in an attempt to sabotage Iran’s nuclear energy program [...] “…There is a real story here, the real story is that this virus was released against Iran in 2010, yet in 2007, the CIA had discovered that Iran had no weapons program at all,” Duff continued.

Duff went on to say that a virus was released against Iran should not be the main focus of attention, as “the issue should be, not that Israel and the CIA were working together but both were working together as terrorists against a peaceful nuclear program.”
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In June 2012, The New York Times revealed that US President Barack Obama had secretly ordered the cyber attack with the Stuxnet computer virus.
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Zitat:13. Juli 2013 17:27
Atomprogramm
USA wollen angeblich mit iranischer Führung verhandeln

Mit dem neu gewählten iranischen Präsidenten Ruhani kommt offenbar Bewegung in die Verhandlungen über das umstrittene Atomprogramm des Landes. Einem Medienbericht zufolge wollen die USA direkte Gespräche mit der Führung in Teheran führen.
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Zitat:Sonntag, den 14. Juli 2013 um 15:10 Uhr | Clemens Wergin | <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ncr-iran.org/de/geheime-nuklearprojekte-othermenu-68/textmaterial-othermenu-70/6089-oppositionsgruppe-will-atomanlage-entdeckt-haben">http://www.ncr-iran.org/de/geheime-nukl ... eckt-haben</a><!-- m -->

Eine exilierte iranische Oppositionsgruppe behauptet den Bau einer weiteren Atomanlage im Iran. Das National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) will “Informationen über die Entstehung einer neuen, geheimen unterirdischen Atomanlage“ erhalten haben. Verifizieren lassen sich die Angaben bisher nicht.

Zitat:Sat Jul 13, 2013 3:18
Trade Official: Iran's Petchem Exports Rise despite Sanctions
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exports of Iran's petrochemical products were increased during the past Iranian year despite international pressures and sanctions imposed
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By increasing non-oil exports, the Iranian economy moves towards fulfilling Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei's call for closing oil wells
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Iran's total exports including oil and oil condensates hit $96bln in the past year, showing a 5 percent fall compared to the previous year.
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Iran's trade deficit improved by 30 percent in the previous year
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Washington and its western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
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Zitat:US bans yogurt company for transaction with Iran
Tue Jul 16, 2013 4:10PM

The US has banned a Dubai-based company running local outlets of Yogen Fruz, chain of frozen yogurt and smoothie stores, over its transactions with Iran.
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Zitat:Sun Jul 21, 2013 6:56
Top Commander Visits Fordo N. Site to Inspect Air Defense Systems

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli visited the air defense systems of Fordo nuclear site on Sunday in a bid to assess their preparedness against possible air raids.
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Both Israel and the US have repeatedly declared pending intentions for attacking Iran's nuclear sites, specially Fordo.
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Last year, Iran conducted tactical air defense drills at its vital nuclear sites, including the Fordo and Natanz enrichment plants and Arak Heavy Water nuclear facility, to assess the preparedness and combat capabilities of the artillery and missile systems deployed in these sites.
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Zitat:CIA admits role in 1953 Iran coup against democratically-elected Mosadeq
Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:2AM GMT

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has for the first time published a document that confirms Washington’s role in the 1953 coup d’état against the democratically-elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosadeq.
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"The military coup that overthrew Mosadeq and his National Front Cabinet was carried out under CIA direction as an act of US foreign policy," read a brief segment from an internal report by an in-house CIA historian in the mid-1970s.

The document, published on the National Security Archive website, was initially released in 1981, but most of it was blacked out at the time, including an entire section on the coup.

On August 15, 1953, the British and US intelligence agencies initiated a coup by the Iranian military (known as 28 Mordad coup), setting off a chain of events including riots in the streets of Iran’s capital, Tehran, that led to the overthrow and arrest of Mosadeq four days later.

Mosadeq, convicted of treason, served three years in prison and died under house arrest in 1967.
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Zitat:CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup
Documents Provide New Details on Mosaddeq Overthrow and Its Aftermath
National Security Archive Calls for Release of Remaining Classified Record
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 435

Posted – August 19, 2013

Edited by Malcolm Byrne

Washington, D.C., August 19, 2013 – Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, the National Security Archive is today posting recently declassified CIA documents on the United States' role in the controversial operation. American and British involvement in Mosaddeq's ouster has long been public knowledge, but today's posting includes what is believed to be the CIA's first formal acknowledgement that the agency helped to plan and execute the coup.

The explicit reference to the CIA's role appears in a copy of an internal history, The Battle for Iran, dating from the mid-1970s. The agency released a heavily excised version of the account in 1981 in response to an ACLU lawsuit, but it blacked out all references to TPAJAX, the code name for the U.S.-led operation. Those references appear in the latest release. Additional CIA materials posted today include working files from Kermit Roosevelt, the senior CIA officer on the ground in Iran during the coup. They provide new specifics as well as insights into the intelligence agency's actions before and after the operation.
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Zitat:US blasted for supplying cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia
Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:45PM GMT

The US Defense Department announced on Tuesday that Textron Defense Systems won a contract valued at $641 million to build the bombs for Saudi Arabia.The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) has denounced the United States for planning to supply 1,300 cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia.

“We are disappointed with the US decision to export cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia as both countries acknowledge the negative humanitarian impact of these weapons on civilians,” CMC Director Sarah Blakemore said on Thursday.

“Cluster munitions have been banned by more than half the world’s nations so any transfer goes against the international rejection of these weapons,” she added.
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Zitat:U.S. arrests man from Sierra Leone in Iran uranium sting
MIAMI | Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:04pm EDT
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he was arrested in New York with a sample of the toxic material hidden in his luggage.
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He allegedly responded to an ad in May 2012 on the website Alibaba.com seeking to purchase uranium that was placed by an undercover U.S. agent posing as an American broker representing persons in Iran, according to an affidavit by Homeland Security Investigations agent Louise Miller.
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Zitat:US yellow cake scenario seeks to hamper Iran-P5+1 talks: Iran MP
Sat Aug 24, 2013 9:40AM GMT
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Chairman of Iran's Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi described on Saturday the new “US scenario” as a “joke.”

He argued that the Islamic Republic does not need to buy yellow cake from the citizens of other countries, noting, “Iran is among the producers of yellow cake; therefore, the claim has been designed with the aim of affecting Iran’s talks with the P5+1 group (permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) under the new administration.”

“Instead of waging a psychological war, Washington should seize the emerging opportunity in the new Iranian administration and pursue constructive dialog for putting an end to the issue of Iran’s nuclear energy program,” Boroujerdi pointed out.
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Zitat:New Details On How U.S. 'Helped Saddam As He Gassed Iran'
August 26, 201310:21 AM

Newly declassified CIA documents "combined with exclusive interviews with former intelligence officials, reveal new details about the depth of the United States' knowledge of how and when Iraq" used chemical weapons against Iran in the 1980s, .

According to the magazine:

"In 1988, during the waning days of Iraq's war with Iran, the United States learned through satellite imagery that Iran was about to gain a major strategic advantage by exploiting a hole in Iraqi defenses. U.S. intelligence officials conveyed the location of the Iranian troops to Iraq."

For several years before that, CIA documents show, U.S. officials were aware that Iraq had been using chemical weapons in its long war against neighboring Iran and likely would again.

That's just what happened, according to Foreign Policy:

"The Iraqis used mustard gas and sarin prior to four major offensives in early 1988 that relied on U.S. satellite imagery, maps, and other intelligence. These attacks helped to tilt the war in Iraq's favor and bring Iran to the negotiating table, and they ensured that the Reagan administration's long-standing policy of securing an Iraqi victory would succeed."
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Zitat:...
generation ago, America's military and intelligence communities knew about and did nothing to stop a series of nerve gas attacks far more devastating than anything Syria has seen, Foreign Policy has learned.

In 1988, during the waning days of Iraq's war with Iran, the United States learned through satellite imagery that Iran was about to gain a major strategic advantage by exploiting a hole in Iraqi defenses. U.S. intelligence officials conveyed the location of the Iranian troops to Iraq, fully aware that Hussein's military would attack with chemical weapons, including sarin, a lethal nerve agent.

The intelligence included imagery and maps about Iranian troop movements, as well as the locations of Iranian logistics facilities and details about Iranian air defenses. The Iraqis used mustard gas and sarin prior to four major offensives in early 1988 that relied on U.S. satellite imagery, maps, and other intelligence. These attacks helped to tilt the war in Iraq's favor and bring Iran to the negotiating table
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