iran

AR Republican offers insanely unconstitutional amendment to Iran bill

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:34:41 GMT

Source: www.diigo.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
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Computer Attacks On U.S. Energy Companies Traced To Iran

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:30:10 GMT

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
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Iran expanding nuclear activities: IAEA

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:14:26 GMT

Source: www.spacewar.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Vienna (AFP) May 22, 2013 - iran is making significant progress in expanding its nuclear programme, including in opening up a potential second route to developing the bomb, a new UN atomic agency report showed Wednesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency's latest quarterly update said that Tehran has accelerated the installation of advanced uranium enrichment equipment at its central Natanz plant. It also outlined further progress at a reactor under construction at Arak, also in central iran, which Western countries fear could provide iran with plutonium if the fuel is reprocessed. The US State Department said the report was an "unfortunate milestone" marking a decade of iran expanding its nuclear activities "in blatant violation of its international obligations". Highly enriched uranium and plutonium can both be used in a nuclear weapon. North Korea used plutonium in two tests in 2006 and 2009, while uranium was used in the "Little Boy" atomic bomb dropped by the US on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. The new IAEA report, seen by AFP, said iran has installed at Natanz almost 700 IR-2m centrifuges and/or empty centrifuge casings, compared with just 180 in February. None was operating, however. iran has said it intends to install around 3,000 of the new centrifuges at Natanz -- where around 13,500 of the older models are in place -- enabling it to speed up the enrichment of uranium. The UN Security Council has passed numerous resolu ...

US House panel backs stiff new Iran sanctions

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:14:26 GMT

Source: www.spacewar.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Washington (AFP) May 22, 2013 - iran could face tightened sanctions within months after a US congressional panel Wednesday adopted a measure targeting the nation's auto and mining industries as well as its foreign currency reserves. The House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously passed the Nuclear iran Prevention Act, which would extend existing sanctions to the auto and mining sectors and allow the US president to subject other Iranian industries, such as engineering, to similar restrictions. Today's US sanctions focus on iran's finance and energy sectors, notably its oil exports. Six countries and territories -- China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey -- still import Iranian oil, but they have reduced their imports since 2012, with Washington granting them exemptions. The new law, should it pass the House and Senate and be signed by President Barack Obama, would require further reduction of one million barrels per day over the next year as a condition of the exemption, amounting to a virtual embargo on iran's crude exports. "Now is the time to snap Tehran's Achilles' heel," the committee's chairman, Republican Ed Royce, said after the vote. "Simply put, without oil revenue there is no cash for atomic weapons or Hezbollah." The measure would also close a loophole in sanctions which the European Union imposed on iran's foreign currency reserves by punishing any institution that serves as an intermediary in facilitati ...

Iran on Edge - Winners and Losers in Iranâ€™s Presidential Election

Sat, 25 May 2013 00:04:29 GMT

Source: www.thecuttingedgenews.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Although iran will not hold its presidential election until June 14, the winners and losers are already clear. The biggest losers are Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; the biggest winner is former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Rafsanjani Winning before the Vote In mid-May, the Guardian Councilâ€”with Khameneiâ€™s consent, and perhaps even at his requestâ€”disqualified Rafsanjani from running in the election. However difficult the decision may have been, it was also essential for Khameneiâ€™s plans. Since 2009, Rafsanjani has become known as a vocal critic of the Supreme Leader and Ahmadinejad. In recent months, reformists began to support his candidacy because they knew that the Guardian Council would prevent their own prominent candidates from running. ...

Iran-linked hackers probe energy firms

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:29:36 GMT

Source: www.cnn.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Officials are investigating a 'barrage' of cyber attacks on U.S. utilities by iran-linked hackers. ...

US caught off guard by Iran hackers

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:04:31 GMT

Source: www.cnn.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Iranian hackers break into US energy companies, show new ability. CNN's Chris Lawrence reports. ...

Iran denies it has forces fighting in Syria

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:59:48 GMT

Source: www.dailystar.com.lb --- Friday, May 24, 2013
iran denied Friday it had forces in Syria supporting President Bashar Assadâs army, one day after foreign backers of his rebel foes demanded Tehran withdraw its fighters from Syrian territory. ...

Iran A Democracy? Not Even Close

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:13:34 GMT

Source: forums.liveleak.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
http://world.time.com/2013/05/22/ira...al-candidates/ irans Supreme Leader Tightens Grip After Disqualifying Two Top Presidential Candidates Quote: For the cleric who runs iran, theres no such thing as a pleasant surprise, especially on election day. Ayatullah Ali Khamenei was not pleased when a librarian named Mohammed Khatami was swept into the Presidents office in 1997, leading a wave of reformists who challenged the status quo in which Khamenei, as the unelected Supreme Leader of the Revolution, was most heavily invested. In every election cycle since, the self-appointed portion of irans government has done all it can to winnow the choices placed before Iranian voters. On Tuesday, that system tightened the screen once more, disqualifying the only two prominent candidates who dared to differ with the Supreme Leader. When Iranians go to the polls on June 14 to choose a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the ballot will run from Khameneis former policy director to the man who married his daughter. We see in retrospect, the system was absolutely terrified at the possibility of a Gorbachev phenomenon, says Ray Takeyh, who follows iran at the Council on Foreign Affairs in Washington. He refers to Mikhail Gorbachev, who engineered the demise of the Soviet empire that its politburo selected him to protect. Because of Khatami. They dont want a repeat of that performance. Consider the two most prominent candidates barred by th ...

‘Even a soccer match needs two teams’: US questions credibility of Iran’s poll, sees ‘troubling signs’ of Internet denial

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:07:03 GMT

Source: www.demdigest.net --- Friday, May 24, 2013
The disqualification of candidates for iran’s presidential election confirms that the country’s leaders are trying to consolidate their regime rather than giving citizens a meaningful choice of candidates, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said today. “Even a soccer match … ...

Iran’s Bogus “Election” Process

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:30:33 GMT

Source: blog.heritage.org --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Newscom Iranian authorities on Tuesday announced the approval of eight candidates who will be allowed to compete in the June 14 presidential election. The Guardian Council, which vetted the candidates, made sure that iran’s next president will be a pliable servant of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The regime hopes to repair its sagging popular legitimacy and avoid a rerun of the disastrous 2009 presidential election , which provoked widespread protests against vote-rigging when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was awarded a second term. This time the authorities eliminated all candidates even remotely connected to the opposition Green Movement and approved only 8 of the almost 700 declared contenders. Among those eliminated was former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pillar of the 1979 revolution who had criticized the 2009 crackdown, and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a protégé of current President Ahmadinejad, who is barred from seeking a third term. Both candidates were considered threats to the power of hard-liners backed by Khamenei. Six of the eight remaining presidential candidates are closely linked to the Supreme Leader. The frontrunner appears to be Saeed Jalili, a longtime adviser to Khamenei who now serves as iran’s negotiator on the nuclear issue. Jalili is an uncompromising revolutionary who lost a leg in the iran–Iraq war. A western diplomat noted that Jalili “specializes in monologue”—not dialogue. Ot ...

Iran Prepares Itself for June Presidential Vote By Stepping Up Security Measures

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:49:31 GMT

Source: www.rferl.org --- Friday, May 24, 2013
iran's establishment has prepared itself for the June 14 presidential election by upping intelligence-gathering efforts, disrupting the Internet, and launching special units intended to help it prevent the type of mass unrest seen after the 2009 vote. ...

Investigative Reporting Takes RFE/RL to Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, Georgia and Russia

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:49:14 GMT

Source: www.bbg.gov --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has been busy investigating several stories involving political scheming from Iraq to Russia. The Swedish-based telecommunications giant TeliaSonera has been under investigation for allegedly paying massive bribes to Uzbek presidential daughter Gulnara Karimova. Correspondents Daisy Sindelar and Farruh Yusupov report that Read more » The post Investigative Reporting Takes RFE/RL to Uzbekistan, iran, Iraq, Georgia and Russia appeared first on BBG . ...

Is legal status impacting outcomes of group therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder with male asylum seekers and refugees from Iran and Afghanistan?

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:09:07 GMT

Source: www.biomedcentral.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Background: Legal status and other resettlement stressors are known to impact mental health of asylum seekers and refugees. However, the ways in which they interact with treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with these populations is still poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine whether legal status and other resettlement stressors influence outcomes of a trauma-focused group PTSD treatment within a day-treatment setting with asylum seekers and refugees. Methods: Sixty six male Iranian and Afghan patients with PTSD residing in the Netherlands were assessed with self-rated symptom checklists for PTSD, anxiety and depression, and a demographic questionnaire one week before and two weeks after the treatment. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to examine the impact of legal status and living arrangements on the treatment outcomes per symptom domain. Results: The results suggest that both asylum seekers and refugees can be helped with their mental health complaints with a trauma-focused group therapy for PTSD regardless of their legal status. Obtaining a refugee status in a course of the treatment appears to improve the treatment outcomes. Conclusions: Legal status is impacting outcomes of group therapy for PTSD with male asylum seekers and refugees. Asylum seekers may benefit from group treatment regardless of unstable living conditions. ...

Iran filmmaker gets standing ovation for secret film at Cannes

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:00:00 GMT

Source: www.consumerelectronicsnet.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
By Mike Davidson CANNES (Reuters) - An Iranian director who was jailed for anti-government propaganda in 2010 emerged at the Cannes film festival on Friday to premiere a new film about state oppression that he shot in secret in his home country. Mohammad Rasoulof was ... ...

Iran: Questions Of Free And Fair Elections

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:56:59 GMT

Source: www.eurasiareview.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Serious electoral flaws and human rights abuses by the Iranian government undermine any meaningful prospect of free and fair elections on June 14, 2013, said Human Rights Watch. Dozens of political activists and journalists detained during the violent government crackdown that followed the disputed 2009 presidential election remain in prison, two former presidential candidates are [...] The post iran: Questions Of Free And Fair Elections appeared first on Eurasia Review . ...

Great article: Enlisting Iran Support on Syria will backfire

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:51:20 GMT

Source: iranian.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Excerpt: Violent sectarianism, Islamic extremism, and terrorism are stamped in the DNA of the Islamic Republic. It leads an anti-American coalition throughout the region. Its allies, Assad foremost among them, are the sworn enemies of the allies of the United States. Fruitful cooperation between Washington and Tehran is impossible.More importantly, it is also harmful to American interests. The Supreme Leader of iran, Ali Khamenei, entertains no reciprocal dream of friendship. He wisely recognizes that he is locked in a zero-sum game with the United States... The Islamic Republic is the primary external enabler of Assad’s murderous policies. By seeking Tehran’s help, if only indirectly, at the Geneva conference, the United States would simply be embracing the role that Iranian propaganda has assigned it... The Geneva conference itself is already being read in the Middle East as a sign of American backsliding. When Assad ignored explicit American red lines on chemical weapons, the Obama administration responded by calling on the Syrian opposition to sit down with his representatives. It reacted, that is, with what everyone in the Middle East sees as a gesture of renewed respect for a murderous regime. Many in the Middle East see America’s erasing of its own red lines as part of a pattern of capitulation to iran.... http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/iran-at-saban/posts/2013/05/22-doran-syria-geneva?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social& ...

Iran's clerical leaders cut presidency down to size

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:01:57 GMT

Source: www.independent.co.uk --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Even before a vote is cast, the Iranian presidential election on 14 June is effectively over as a process for choosing who holds power in iran. ...

Iran Has Hacked US Energy Companies

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:00:03 GMT

Source: www.gizmodo.co.uk --- Friday, May 24, 2013
According to the WSJ, iran has hacked US oil, gas and power companies. The hackers were able to gain access to control-system software “that could allow them to manipulate oil or gas pipelines”. Basically, the hackers are far enough inside that people are starting to get worried. US officials say that these break ins from [...] ...

Miyaneh mountains - Tabriz, Iran (by Ali Shokri)

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:51:02 GMT

Source: vurtual.tumblr.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
Miyaneh mountains - Tabriz, iran (by Ali Shokri ) ...