Doc's Talk: Iran Early Bird -april 27

Monday, April 27, 2009

Iran Early Bird -april 27

Political and Diplomatic Affairs

1. Ahmadinejad calls for explicit framework for talks with the United States – In an interview with U.S. television network ABC, the Iranian president said that his country was not willing to hold unconditional talks with the United States, and called for an explicit framework and protocol for such negotiations. Ahmadinejad (to the West) - "If you want to correct your mistakes, the world will help you in this concern; but if you have not learned how to speak to other nations, practice some more." The Iranian president stressed that those powers have no alternative but to humble themselves and accept the Iranian nation’s [peaceful nuclear] rights.
3. Iranian FM Mottaki meets Washington's Friday prayers leader, Faisal Rauf, in Tehran – Speaking during a meeting with Washington's interim Friday prayers leader, Feisal Rauf, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that "the United States is in charge of maintaining security in Iraq until a referendum on the presence of occupiers in the country, and therefore it is responsible for the two terrorist attacks against Iranians in Iraq.” For his part, Feisal asserted that the American society had accepted Islam as a reality and that despite Israeli attempts to paint an inappropriate image of Islam after the September 11 attacks, more people had been attracted to Islam.
4. Iranian FM: International relations need literature based on Koran – Speaking at a seminar on the Koran and international relations, Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said “there is an urgent and pressing need for fresh theories and literature based on the Koran and Islamic teachings to be used in international relations… Iran was naturally expected to pioneer in introducing Koran teachings to the whole world as well as in international relations (Source: IRNA).
5. Israeli FM remarks are extensively covered by official Iranian media – Statements made by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman are getting extensive play in the Iranian media. A number of Iranian websites are reporting that “the Zionist foreign minister” has admitted that even if the international sanctions against the Iranian nuclear program fail, Israel will not attack Iran. Lieberman is also quoted as saying that Iran constitutes and international threat and asking the United States to take responsibility for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue. According to the Iranian media, Lieberman also commented on the Iran-Venezuela relations and defined the cooperation between the two countries as diabolical and malicious.

6. Iranian media banned from criticizing Ahmadinejad’s Durban II address – According to the RoozOnline opposition website, following Ahmadinejad’s address at the Durban II conference in Geneva, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance issued a warning to all media outlets not to publish criticism of the president’s speech. According to the Rooz website, all governmental and non-governmental news agencies received a “confidential and urgent” letter warning them not to criticize the conference or the contents of the president’s address.
7. Foreign Ministers of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to meet in Kabul today - Manouchehr Mottaki, Rangin Dadfar Spanta and Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi will today (April 27) hold talks on regional problems and their possible solutions, the campaign against terrorism and narcotics, and the boosting of trilateral cooperation. (Source: Fars News)
8. Polish Deputy Foreign Minister in Iran – Poland’s deputy foreign minister is in Iran and met yesterday with his Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Domestic Affairs

9. Candidates begin registering for June 12 presidential election – Candidates can register on the Internet, at www.sabtename10.ir, where they can enter their names and other particulars. The presidential election headquarters announced (April 24) that the candidates must finalize their decisions in person or by means of a representative before May 5 at the Interior Ministry.
10. Debate on proposal to lower voting age postponed until after elections – The Majlis did not vote on the government’s proposal to lower the voting age to 15, and the debate on the proposal has been put off until after the elections.
11. Conservative support for Ahmadinejad ahead of elections – The Conservative Islamic Revolution faction has announced its support for Ahmadinejad in the upcoming presidential elections. The faction currently comprises more than 90 Majlis members.
12. Presidential candidate Razaei heads to Qom to meet with sources of emulation – Presidential candidate and secretary of the Expediency Council Mohssen Razaei will go to Qom this morning to meet with senior sources of emulation in the city. Razaei will meet with Ayatollah Javadi Amoli, Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani and others.
13. “Zionist oranges” affair continues – Iran’s deputy trade minister today informed the public that the oranges sold over the past few days in Tehran, Hamedan and Esfahan were produced in China; in some markets, he added, they were sold after individuals had stuck fake stickers of Zionist companies on them. The deputy minister stressed that the Chinese company had assured the Iranians that the oranges were from China. According to the deputy minister, the forgers did not do a good job with the stickers and it is plain to see that the “Jaffa” labels are fake.

Security Affairs

14. Intelligence Minister: Terrorist cell whose members comprised duped elements linked to Zionist agents have been identified and arrested – According to Intelligence Minister Mohseni-Ezhe'i: “A terrorist cell comprised of duped elements who had links with Zionist agents were identified and arrested due to the vigilance and intelligence expertise of the Unknown Soldiers of the Lord of the Age [Ministry of Intelligence and Security]. They planned to carry out a series of explosions across Tehran on the eve of the 10th presidential elections, with the purpose of creating insecurity and chaos.”
15. Iranian Space Agency (ISA) head: Iran's space agency and academic centers are working on a 10-year plan to send a man into space – The head of the Iranian Space Agency, Reza Taghipour, said that different aspects would be examined in this project, including life in space and changes in the human body in high-speed spacecrafts. In addition, some famous Iranian universities, including Amir Kabir, Elmosanat and Sanatisharif, are working on building satellites capable of studying meteorology, pooling information about the earth surface, monitoring forest conditions and managing natural resources. There is no doubt that Iran would launch remote sensing satellites into orbit by 2011, but the type of satellite had not been clarified yet, he said.

Economic Affairs

16. Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TOPI) director: Germany, Switzerland, Italy, England, and France were Iran’s top five European trade partners in 2008; Germany is Iran's major European trade partner and its third worldwide - Mehdi Ghazanfari, Trade Promotion Organization of Iran director, said that official statistics indicated that the European Union members states were inclined to boost their trade ties with Iran despite global economic pressures. According to the director, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, England, and France were Iran’s top five European trade partners in 2008, with over $15.4 billion worth of transactions in total. With $5.55 billion in trade, Germany is Iran's major European trade partner and its third worldwide. Switzerland ($3.53 billion), Italy ($2.25 billion), England ($2.08 billion) and France ($2.01 billion) ranked fifth, eighth, ninth, and tenth respectively.
17. Iran allows 10 European and joint Iranian-European companies to bids for tenders to expanding six oil fields in the country under buy-back conditions - Ali Reza Zeigham, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company for Central Regions said: “Some 35 domestic and foreign companies have declared they are ready to take part in bids for the development of six oil fields including Alborz, Boushkan, Koukan and Kouhmound. Iran will provide them with the required documents for bids within the next two months… Seven oil fields, including Gordan, Assalouyeh, Mokhtar, Salakh and Kavir Kouh, are among the ones ready for the bid and if they are expanded, they can help raise the NIOC's oil output to 85 million cubic meters.”
18. Iranian Deputy President: Foreign banks expected to open branches in Iran – First Deputy President Parviz Davoodi says that the same countries that imposed sanctions on Iranian banks are now asking to open bank branches in the country. This, he claims, is evidence of the security of capital investments in Iran.
19. Iranian-Finnish cooperation in copper field – The National Iranian Copper Industries and Outotec of Finland have signed a cooperation agreement that will see the Finns provide engineering services to the copper smelting plant in Iran.
20. Iranian Minister of Economy: IMF and World Bank "should not merely follow decisions by the G20" - Iranian Economics Minister Shamseddin Hosseini has called for amending the structure and functions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Speaking at the IMF and World Bank meeting in Washington, he asserted that the two international organizations should not merely follow decisions by the G20, and should instead seriously look into the economic models of developing countries.
21. Iran to begin work on its first oil well in the Caspian Sea - Iran plans to start excavation in its northern oil-rich region, in the Caspian Sea, on May 15. The operation would be Iran's first oil exploration project in the Caspian Sea, said North Drilling Company managing director Asghar Rafiei, who added that Ahmadinejad would attend the inauguration either in person or via a videoconference. According to the managing director, Iran will first drill two exploration wells in the area and will then develop the oil field in the hope of finding significant oil and gas reserves in the sea.
22. Iran expecting economic growth of 3.2 percent – According to an IMF report, Iran’s economic growth in 2009 is expected to surpass that of 140 other countries. The report examines economic growth in 182 countries and predicts negative growth for 80 of them. Economic growth in Iran, the report says, is expected to reach a rate of 3.214 percent, thus placing the country 42nd on the list.
23. Banks banned from establishing and developing companies without Central Bank approval – In keeping with new regulations, Iranian banks are not allowed to set up any kind of company or develop existing capital companies without the approval of the Central Bank. In addition, banks are required to sell off the non-vital assets.
24. Committee for Monetary and Credit Affairs most influential – According to Abas Ali-Noura, a member of the Planning and Budgetary Council, the Majlis Committee for Monetary and Credit Affairs is the country’s most influential body when it comes to economic issues and policy formulation. The re-establishment of the committee (expected only after the elections) could help to resolve numerous problems in the fields of production and unemployment.
25. Need for investors for Tehran urban projects – Expediency Council Chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani has stressed the need to recruit Iranian and foreign investors for the purpose of carrying out municipal projects in Tehran.
26. Iranian exports to Armenia total $200 million – The chairman of the joint Iranian-Armenian Chamber of Commerce has announced that Iran’s 11th Economic Fair will take place in Armenia in the summer. At present, the chairman said, Iranian exports to Armenia totaled $200 million, with Armenia selling some $30 million worth of goods to Iran.
27. Iranian loan to Pakistan – Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has asked the National Security Committee to review the government’s decision to loan Pakistan $300 million without prior parliamentary approval. Larijani’s request comes on the backdrop of harsh criticism of the decision from various Majlis members who charged that the Pakistani government was not cooperating with Iran on the matter of security along its eastern borders and thus there was no justification for the loan.
28. International carpet export fair – The head of the National Carpet Center has announced that 25 countries, including China, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, will participate in an international carpet fair on the island of Kish. Iranian carpet exports this year are expected to total some $420 million. According to head of the center, most Iranian carpets are exported to the United States and Europe, but Iran is trying to find new markets for the goods too.

Human rights, religion and social affairs

29. Another Baha’i-minority citizen detained – Another Baha’i-minority Iranian citizen, Vahdat Dana, was arrested yesterday in the city of Shiraz. Dana’s current whereabouts are unknown.
30. More partygoers arrested – The Moral Police in the area of Semnan have arrested 34 men and women who were at a mixed nighttime party. According to the police, the partygoers were inappropriately dressed and “in an unnatural state.” Police seized alcohol, drugs music equipment and pornographic films found at the location.
31. Teachers protest employment conditions – Dozens of non-tenured teachers have staged another protest outside the Majlis. The teachers are protesting against the Education Ministry’s failure to give them tenure despite their years of experience and the degrees they hold. The non-tenured teachers receive very low wages and do not get any pay at all during the summer holidays.
32. Rise in divorce rate among elderly population – According to a researcher at Iran’s Population Study Center, recent years have seen a slight rise in the divorce rate among the 60+ population in the country. The researcher said that the trend was bound to have a negative effect on Iranian society, particularly on women who are dependent on their spouses for their livelihood.

Upcoming events:

33. April 28, Iranian Judiciary chief due in Belarus – The head of the Iranian Judiciary will head a high-ranking delegation to Belarus on Tuesday. The visit by Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi aims to expand judiciary ties and cooperation with Belarus and exchange views on judicial and legal issues with Belarusian officials. Shahroudi also recently paid a visit to South Korea to expand mutual judiciary cooperation between the two Asian nations.

34. May 2, Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone to make two-day visit to Iran – Japan’s foreign minister will meet with his Iranian counterpart and other Iranian officials.

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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