Iran Snap Analysis: Nuclear Postures and “War is Coming!”

The signal could not have been clearer or louder. Steve Forbes, one of America’s most prominent businessmen, has used the pages of his magazine to declare, “War with Iran is Coming!“

In the heat of battle the ayatollahs may not be able to contain themselves. Iran will also attempt to have its agents carry out terrorist acts around the world, particularly in the U.S….Israel will find itself embroiled in a horrific conflict….Much as the White House might wish otherwise, the U.S. will become involved. In fact, President Obama could well respond to the conflict the way he did when he went after Osama bin Laden: give U.S. forces the green light to do whatever is necessary on water and in the air to help the Israelis. 

Iran: journalists jailed

 

Adnan Hassanpour, Aso

Imprisoned: January 25, 2007

Security agents seized Hassanpour, former editor of the now-defunct Kurdish-Persian weekly Aso, in his hometown of Marivan, Kurdistan province, according to news reports.

In July 2007, a Revolutionary Court convicted Hassanpour on antistate charges and sentenced him to death. After a series of appeals and reversals, he was sentenced in May 2010 to 15 years in prison, defense lawyer Saleh Nikbakht told the Reporters and Human Rights Activists News Agency.

The government’s case against Hassanpour amounted to a series of assertions by security agents, defense attorney Sirvan Hosmandi told CPJ in 2008. Hassanpour’s sister, Lily, told CPJ that she believed his critical writings were behind the charges.

Journalist for Iranian media imprisoned in Azerbaijan

Anar Bayramli, Baku-based correspondent for Iranian broadcaster Sahar TV and news agency Fars, has been imprisoned for two months pending trial over drug charges. The Committee to Protect Journalists has determined the charges are fabricated and calls on authorities in Azerbaijan to release him immediately.

On Friday, Baku police visited Bayramli’s home, summoned him for interrogation, and detained him after declaring they found 0.387 grams of heroin in his jacket, Reutersreported. The journalist denied the accusations and said police planted the drugs. The next day, the Binagadinsky District Court ordered Bayramli’s pretrial imprisonment for two months on charges of drug possession and resisting police officers; the ruling was announced without his lawyer present. If convicted, Bayramli faces up to three years in jail.

Mehdi Khazali to Prison Authorities:”In the Event of my Death, I Ask That My Autopsy Be Performed by an International Entity”

February 22nd, 2012 [Kaleme]  In a letter addressed to prison authorities at Evin prison, Dr. Mehdi Khazali has announced that in the event that he dies while in prison and as a result of his hunger strike any autopsy or forensic examination take place only at the hand of medical examiners associated with International Organizations.

In this letter, Dr. Khazli reportedly points to the martyrdom of Hoda Saber while at Evin and the autopsy that took place at the time. Hoda Saber, journalist and political activist arrested after the 2009 presidential elections died at Evin prison after he launched a hunger strike protesting the martyrdom of Haleh Sahabi.  The day before he died, security agents finally transferred Saber to Modares Hospital after he suffered a stroke. Saber died because he did not receive adequate and timely medical attention.

UN Telecommunications Body Requires Iran to Stop Satellite Jamming

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2012/02/wrc-12/

Rights Groups Prompt Tougher International Laws Regarding Jamming

(22 February 2012) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today welcomed a new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) regulation requiring governments take “necessary action” to stop jamming of satellite broadcasts from within their jurisdiction.

The ITU and its member states should immediately start monitoring Iran’s compliance with the new regulation and take any additional steps needed to ensure Iranian authorities stop interfering with satellite broadcasts, the Campaign added.

“This is the first meaningful action taken by the ITU and the UN to make legal provisions to counter censorship of satellite programs within various countries,” said Aliakbar Mousavi, former Iranian MP who served as deputy head of the Parliamentary Telecommunications Committee.

At the ITU’s 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) last week, 153 of the 165 member states in attendance voted to amend their telecommunication regulations. The new amendment regarding jamming reads, “If an administration has information of an infringement [of the governing telecommunications regulations] committed by a station under its jurisdiction the administration shall ascertain the facts and take the necessary actions.”

Nasrin Sotoudeh’s 12 Year Old Daughter Denied Visitation with Her Mother

From the Facebook of Reza Khandan husband of Incarcerated Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh:

What would you do if after much preparation, you took your two young children to visit their mother behind bars (a mother who has been incarcerated without a reason for 18 months and has not been granted a moment of furlough from prison) only to find that your 12 year old daughter who attended dressed i…n her school uniform, a dress code that is without a doubt acceptable in Iran, is denied visitation along with her brother because the prison guard claims that her dress code is not in accordance with Islamic code? What would you do when your young daughter and her 4 year old brother both so young and sensitive are forced to spend thirty minutes in the extreme cold outside of Evin prison? What would you do…..?

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei receives “nuclear authorities and scientists.”

Diese Diashow benötigt JavaScript.

Iran News Round Up (Feb. 22)

Iranian leaders urge people to participate in upcoming parliamentary polls; Iranian MP cautions Baku about Israel’s ‘divisive plots’; Iran’s Army, IRGC review latest air defense tactics in drills; Russia, India to continue exports to Iran

Politics News stories about the parliamentary elections: Shafaf News publishes anti-parliament statements by Ahmadinejad and his supporters and asks: “Who does not like a powerful parliament?” Mehr News details statistics for candidates, eligible voters, and polling stations. Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi says it is a “sin” not to participate in the parliamentary elections unless there is a genuine reason based on the Islamic law. Gholam-Reza Mesbahi-Moqaddam, Parliament’s Economic Reform Committee chairman, accuses the government of trying to persuade the people to participate in the parliamentary elections by increasing the amount of the cash handout.

U4I: Iran prepares for staged elections with crackdown on dissent

Opposition boycotts poll and calls for free and fair elections 

فارسی

United for Iran is deeply concerned about the escalating crackdown by the Iranian government on expression and assembly ahead of the March 2 parliamentary elections.

Since the start of 2012, more than 100 Iranian citizens have been detained for non-violent political activism surrounding the elections and two have reportedly died in custody. Opposition parties, high profile political prisoners, and Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi have said the elections fail to meet international standards and have called for a boycott.

Local human rights activists have reported that 65 citizens of Iran’s Arab minority in the southwestern part of the country have been arrested in recent weeks. Mohammad Kaabi and Nasser Alboshokeh Derafshan were reported to have died as result of torture after being arrested in Iran’s Khuzestan province.

با سرکوب مخالفین ایران به پیشواز انتخابات می رود

مخالفین در ایران انتخابات را تحریم می کنند و برگزاری انتخابات آزاد و عادلانه را مطالبه می کنن

اتحاد برای ایران عمیقا از سرکوب آزادی های بیان و اجتماعات توسط دولت ایران ابراز نگرانی می کند، سرکوبی که در آستانه انتخابات مجلس در روز 12 هم اسفند ماه بر شدت آن افزوده شده است.

 

از آغاز سال میلادی جدید تا کنون بیش از صد تن از شهروندان ایرانی به علت فعالیت های مسالمت آمیز خود در رابطه با انتخابات پیش رو بازداشت شده اند و گزارش ها از کشته شدن دو تن در بازداشت گاه حکایت دارند. احزاب مخالف حکومت، زندانیان سیاسی سرشناس و همچنین شیرین عبادی، برنده جایزه صلح نوبل، اعلام کرده اند که انتخابات پیش رو را مطابق با شرایط و استاندارد های بین المللی نمی دانند و به همین منظور فراخوان به تحریم آن داده اند.

 

فعالین حقوق بشری محلی در طول چند هفته اخیر از بازداشت شصت و پنج تن از شهروندان عرب زبان ساکن در مناطق جنوب غربی ایران خبر داده اند. گزارش شده است که دو تن از این شهروندان خوزستانی به نام های محمد کعبی و ناصرالبوشوکه درفشان پس از بازداشت و به علت اعمال شکنجه در بازداشتگاه کشته شده اند.

American Sentenced to Death in Iran Visited by His Mother

The New York Times
By J. David Goodman
Feb. 21, 2012

The mother of an American man sentenced to death in Iran for espionage visited her gaunt and frightened son on death row in a Tehran prison this month, as his lawyers in Iran began an appeal of his conviction, an American lawyer representing the family said on Tuesday.

Benhaz Hekmati traveled alone to Tehran on Jan. 28 to visit her son, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, a former Marine who, according to rights activists, is the first American citizen sentenced to death in Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979. Mrs. Hekmati stayed with close relatives, and visited her son at Evin Prison three times, spending roughly an hour with him each time, before returning to the United States last week.

RSF: Concern about Treatment of Detained Journalists and Netizens in Iran

Reporters Without Borders is extremely concerned about the way that six journalists and netizens who were arrested in January – Said Madani, Ehssan Hoshmand, Mohammad Solimaninya, Parastoo Dokoohaki, Marzieh Rasouli and Sahamoldin Borghani – are being treated in detention.

According to the information obtained by Reporters Without Borders, they have been denied their most basic rights and have been placed in solitary confinement in Section 209 or Section 2A of Tehran’s Evin prison to get them to make televised confessions implicating foreign-based media and opposition groups. The intelligence ministry runs Section 209, while the Revolutionary Guards run Section 2A.

Stoning as punishment for adultery and the death penalty for apostasy

The situation in the new Iranian Islamic penal code

By: Mohammad Mostafaei

Recently, the parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran adopted a new Islamic penal code and it was subsequently confirmed by the Guardian Counsel. In the new penal code, there is no mention of stoning as punishment for adultery nor is the death penalty mentioned as the punishment for apostasy. The lawmakers have not directly addressed those subjects. This leaves some questions. Has the Iranian government eliminated these penalties from their legal provisions? Has the Iranian government responded positively to the protests of various international human rights organizations? Is Iran intending to change their human rights practices?

If we read Iran’s new Islamic penal code superficially, we might reach the conclusion that these crimes and punishments have been eliminated from Iranian law. But when we look more closely at this new penal code and think about the wording, we realize that the tragic use of stoning as punishment for adultery and the death penalty for apostasy is still in place. In the new penal code the lawmakers added dangerous language allowing judges to use barbaric punishments such as stoning and the death penalty.

According to Code 220, if a person commits an act on which the law is silent, judges must refer to Article 167 of the Constitution. Article 167 says that a judge is bound to endeavour to evaluate each case on the basis of the codified law. In case of the absence of any such law, he has to deliver his judgment on the basis of authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa. He, on the pretext of the silence of or deficiency of law in the matter, or its brevity or contradictory nature, cannot refrain from admitting and examining cases and delivering his judgment.

Opposition Leader Mir Hossein Mousavi : “Nothing Has Changed, I Remain Steadfast and True to my Positions”

February 22nd, 2012 – [Kaleme] In a recent telephone conversation with his daughters, Iran’s opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, reiterated that he remains steadfast and true to his positions.

It has been one year since the illegal house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and his spouse Zahra Rahnavard; a year that has been filled with pressure, concerns for their well being and long and arduous months in which there has been little to no communication with their family members and the outside world.  After months of silence and on the eve of the one year anniversary of their illegal house arrest the two steadfast companions of the Green movement were finally allowed a brief telephone conversation with their daughters.

According to reports received by Kaleme, at the onset of the telephone conversation and before engaging in small talk, in a strong and decisive voice,  Mir Hossein Mousavi repeatedly emphasized: “Nothing has changed!  My daughters I want you to know that I remain steadfast and true to my previous positions. For some reason, our sporadic communication to date and the limited news you have received from us every few months may also be discontinued.” 

The reasons behind why this communication may be discontinued remain unclear.

Iran to drastically upgrade uranium enrichment production at Fordo

The IAEA is visiting Iran on February 21-22, 2012[1]. The visit comes as Iran is ready to announce a drastic upgrade of the uranium enrichment program at Fordo, an underground site near Qom. This will permit the Fordo facility to enrich uranium to a 20%-concentration, very close to the amount needed for producing a nuclear weapon[2].

Fordo and the nuclear enrichment program

The IAEA in November 2011 said that “Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear device”[3]. Recent activities at Fordo support the conclusion that the Iranian enrichment program has military goals[4] .

Tehran originally claimed that Fordo was to be used for uranium enrichment of only 5%, but in January 2012 the Islamic Republic declared that it will install new centrifuges at Fordo, and use the plant to produce uranium enriched to 20% [5]. For technical reasons, the ongoing production of 20% uranium carries military significance as it enables an easy and quick shift to weapons-grade 90% enriched uranium[6].

Iran expert panel: Reflections on human rights sanctions

Justice For Iran—On the eve of March 8, 2012, an expert panel will meet at the European Parliament to discuss the effects of the human rights related targeted sanctions against Iran and the challenges of the sanctions’ implementation and effectiveness.

Confirmed guests on the panel, to take place at the European Parliament headquarter in Brussels, include McGill University professor of International law Payam Akhavan, Dutch representative in the European Parliament Marietje Shaake, and director of Justice For Iran Shadi Sadr and a representative from the EU External Action Service.

Justice For Iran is to unveil its report about the human rights related targeted sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran at this panel. The panelists will in turn offer their expert opinion about the degree of effectiveness so far demonstrated by the sanctions on the improvement of human rights condition in Iran and what they each consider to be challenges of implementing the sanctions as well as what their recommendations are in improving the sanctions to be more effective.

The panel is to take place between 16:00 and 18:00 on March 8, 2012 at the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels and be attended by Members of European Parliament and Iran Experts. Attendance is open to public.

 

Eye on Iran: Nuclear Inspectors Say Their Mission to Iran Has Failed

Top Stories

NYT: ”A visit by international nuclear inspectors to Iran ended in failure Tuesday. Tehran not only blocked access to a site the inspectors believe could have been used for tests on how to produce a nuclear weapon, they reported, but it also refused to agree to a process for resolving questions about other ‘possible military dimensions’ to its nuclear program. The announcement came in a terse press release from the International Atomic Energy Agency, a United Nations agency, which said its inspection team had left the country. The agency is expected to release its latest report on the status of Iran’s program in the next week.” http://t.uani.com/AaJZD5

ABC: ”An alleged Iranian hit squad used $27 portable radios to hide at least five bombs that Israeli and American authorities say they intended to use against Israeli targets in Bangkok, Thailand. Exclusive photos of one undetonated bomb, obtained by ABC News, show the inside of the radio packed with tiny ball bearings and six magnets. Bomb experts say the magnets indicate the bomb was designed to be stuck to the side of a vehicle.” http://t.uani.com/wm6q13

Iran Snapshot: The Difficulties of Getting Around Sanctions (Zeb Khan)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad & Pakistan President Asif Ali ZardariIn recent weeks, we have documented the increasing squeeze on the Iranian economy, including food supplies, of sanctions. Ships laden with grain have turned away, Indian traders have complained about money owed for basmati rice, and Malaysian suppliers have suspended shipments of palm oil. 

We have also detailed Iran’s efforts to get around sanctions through trade in non-dollar currencies and even barter arrangements. In a telling example from Pakistan, Mubarak Zeb Khan, writes for the newspaper Dawn of the difficulties that Tehran faces:

Sanctions-hit Iran has been offering new trading agreements to countries in an effort to skirt around the restrictions but it may be reluctant to extend the same to Pakistan, according to sources.

Iran Audio Feature: Scott Lucas with the BBC on “War” and the Nuclear Programme

I spoke with BBC Wales this morning about the current visit by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to Iran, assessing the signals — does this mean Tehran is ready to discuss its nuclear programme with the “West?” — and trying to damp down the white noise about an Israeli attack on Iran.

The discussion starts at the 33:20 mark.

Quelle: EA World

The Latest from Iran (22 February): Rafsanjani Far from Finished?

0615 GMT: For 2 1/2 years, politics in Iran has been filled with stories and speculation that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani is finished as a major figure. After all, his last Tehran Friday Prayer was in July 2009, he was displaced as head of the Assembly of Experts, and the Supreme Leader brusquely rejected his appeal for action over the abuse of political detainees.

Well, for someone who is finished, Rafsanjani is making a lot of appearances these days. On Tuesday, we noted that candidates across the political spectrum were invoking his name — some to defend him, some to declare that he and his family are unacceptable allies of sedition — and today we begin by noting his own intervention.

The Coordination Council Warns: Repsonsibility for the Lives of Political Prisoners Lies with the IR’s Highest Ranking Officials

February 21st, 2012 – [Kaleme] In a statement published today, while condemning the gross violations of the basic human rights of Iranian citizens, Ardeshir Amir Armomand, the spokesperson for the Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope warned that the responsibility for the health and lives of all incarcerated political activists and in particular Dr. Mehdi Khazali and other political prisoners behind bars currently deprived of medical care and in dire physical condition,  lays with the highest ranking officials within the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Bahá’í im Iran :“Unterdrückt und kriminalisiert”

In der Sendung Tag für Tag im Deutschlandfunk aus Köln berichtet Marie Wildermann heute über die Situation der Bahá’í im Iran. Auskunft gibt ihr Dr. Wahied Wahdat-Hagh von der European Foundation for Democracy, dessen Vater am 28. Februar 1982 wegen seiner Zugehörigkeit zur Bahá’í-Religion hingerichtet wurde. Auch seine Mutter wurde inhaftiert, konnte aber nach Deutschland fliehen.

Sein Vater hatte sich, als pensionierter Ingenieur, beim Aufbau einer Berufsschule für junge Bahai engagiert, denn schon gleich nach dem Beginn der Machtübernahme durch Ayatollah Khomeini wurden die Bahai von den Universitäten ausgeschlossen.

Die Bahai seien seit Beginn der islamistischen Revolution Menschen zweiter Klasse, berichtet  Marie Wildermann. Zugang zu Bildung und Arbeit werde extrem erschwert, in 25 – meist akademischen – Berufen herrsche praktisch Berufsverbot.

Auf staatliche Anordnung von Khamenei sollen die iranischen Bahai am Rande des Existenzminimums gehalten werden und in der ständigen Angst, bei geringster Gesetzesübertretung mit drakonischen Strafen rechnen zu müssen. Viele werden unter absurden Anschuldigungen verhaftet. Häufig sind die Familien gezwungen, gigantische Kautionsforderungen zu zahlen – und verlieren dadurch ihre Lebensgrundlagen. Die iranische Hetzpropaganda erklärt die Bahai zu Staatsfeinden, Verschwörungsbestrebungen werden ihnen unterstellt – Muster, die wir aufgrund unserer eigenen deutschen Geschichte gut kennen.

Frau Wildermann lenkt den Blick auch auf die protestantische Hauskirchenbewegung im Iran. Einer der spektakulärsten Fälle sei der des Pastors Youcef Naderkhani, der seit mehr als zwei Jahren in der Todeszelle sitzt. Bislang wurde die Todesstrafe noch nicht vollstreckt, “wohl auch als Warnung an alle potentiellen Apostaten”.

Den Beitrag können Sie hier in voller Länge nachhören:

DLF

Quelle: Bahá’í Deutschland Büro

 

Open Letter to Tobias Billström, Sweden’s Minister of Migration and Asylum

Mr. Billström! Stop Deporting Marxists, Christians, Women’s Rights Activists, Journalists and Bloggers to the Prisons and Gallows of the Islamic Terrorists in Iran!

Mr. Billström! If anyone has forgotten, you should certainly remember that last year we, the international human rights activists, stopped the Swedish Migration Office from committing a number of “mistakes” which could lead to personal or even social tragedies for us Iranians, and of course a political scandal for your government.*

We stopped the Swedish government from deporting a number of Iranian political activists, among them a number of very well known personalities such as Marzieh Kamangar. Your migration office only realized that they were about to break international laws and conventions when international human right activists went so far as to organize international campaigns and demonstrations. In some cases, we even brought in European trade unions such as CGT in support of demands to stop those strange and very irrational decisions.

Empty chairs at the Islamic Resistance Front’s debate at Tarbiat Modarres University in Tehran.

Diese Diashow benötigt JavaScript.

Iran News Round Up (Feb. 21)

Iran seeks restoration of diplomatic ties with Egypt; Iran warns of preemptive attack to preserve national interest; Iranian intelligence official says Stuxnet virus affected 16,000 computers; Iran’s foreign minister optimistic about nuclear talks with world powers; Iran stops oil exports to Britain, France

Politics The Revolutionary Tribunal opens legal proceedings against 32 individuals allegedly involved in the Saderat Bank $1.5 billion embezzlement case. The key individuals involved are the owners of the Aria Investment Company, the four sons of Mansour-Khan Amir-Khosravi, landowner from Amarlou area in Roudbar. Also,here.

Urgent Protest Action to Oppose Imminent Execution of Political Prisoners in Iran and Saudi Arabia

Mission Free Iran is organizing an urgent protest action in Washington DC on Saturday 25 February, to demand a halt to the imminent executions of 4 political prisoners in Iran – Saeed Malekpour, Zanyar and Loghman Moradi, and Shirko Moarefi.

Included in the action is a protest outside the Saudi Embassy to demand an immediate halt to the execution of 23-year-old blogger Hamza Kashgari from Saudi Arabia, who is to be executed for a comment made on Twitter that was deemed “blasphemous” by the Saudi authorities.

UANI Calls on Allied Engineering Group, Lebanese Central Bank to Close Lebanese Electronic Gateway for Iranian Funds

New York, NY - Continuing its SWIFT campaign, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on the Allied Engineering Group S.A.R.L. (AEG) and Lebanon’s Central Bank to end their relationships with Iranian banks and financial institutions, and prevent Iran from using Lebanon as a banking hub to avoid sanctions.

AEG is SWIFT’s Beirut-based Regional Partner for the Middle East and Africa, and provides SWIFT services for more than 400 banks in more than 40 countries. AEG offers additional add-on electronic services to such institutions through its Beirut, Bahrain, and Egypt-based Service Bureaus (SB’s).

UANI is concerned that AEG and its SB’s will serve as a continuing gateway and electronic work-around for Iranian funds. UANI called on AEG to confirm unequivocally that it will not allow Iranian institutions to use it and its SB’s as a work-around following the expected termination of Iranian SWIFT access.

Do., 23.2. – bundesweite Schweigeminute

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, liebe Brüder und Schwestern, 
 
der Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund und die Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände planen für den 23.02.2012 eine Aktion zum Gedenken an die Opfer rechtsextremistischer Gewalt. Beide Verbände rufen daher die Menschen in Deutschland dazu auf, am 23.02.2012 um 12.00 Uhr für eine Schweigeminute innezuhalten und so ein Zeichen der Trauer und des Mitgefühls, ein Zeichen der Verurteilung von Fremdenhass, Rassismus und rechtsextremer Gewalt sowie ein Zeichen für die Vielfalt und Offenheit Deutschlands zu setzen. 

DGB-Chef Sommer hat die Verbände der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege um Unterstützung dieser Aktion gebeten. Ich leite daher beigefügten Aufruf mit der Bitte um Beachtung an Sie weiter. 
 
Mit herzlichen Grüßen 
 
Johannes Stockmeier
Präsident

Iran’s human rights abuses condemned at national events

WASHINGTON D.C., U.S.A., 21 February 2012 (BWNS) – Recent national-level events held in the United States, Bulgaria and Canada reflect the ongoing global outcry at the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on Baha’is.

A hearing in the U.S. Capitol building on 15 February brought together some 100 Congressional staff, US agency officials, and representatives of human rights and religious NGOs.

The hearing sought to promote the passage of House Resolution 134 and Senate resolution 80, which condemns the 20-year imprisonment of Iran’s seven Baha’i leaders. It also calls for sanctions against Iranian officials who are “directly responsible for egregious human rights violations in Iran, including against the Baha’i Community.”

Eye on Iran: Iran Warns of Pre-Emptive Action in Nuclear Dispute

Top Stories

NYT: ”As tension grew in its nuclear dispute with the West, Iran was reported on Tuesday to have struck an increasingly bellicose tone, warning that it would take pre-emptive action against perceived foes if it felt its national interests were threatened… Without mentioning Israel directly, Mohammed Hejazi, the deputy armed forces head, said on Tuesday: ‘Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran’s national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions,’ Reuters reported. Divisions in Iran’s leadership make it difficult to interpret the government’s intentions, but the statement showed a new level of aggressiveness in Iran’s rhetoric.” http://t.uani.com/z1rzQt