Doc's Talk: Iran weekly highlights

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Iran weekly highlights

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
Highlights of the week

A Hollywood production designed to divert attention from the Goldstone Report: Iranian reactions to the interception of the “Francop” cargo ship
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Different voices in Tehran over the rapprochement with Turkey
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Yet another example of the Revolutionary Guards’ increasing involvement in the economy: Khatam-ol Anbiya Corporation won a railway network construction tender
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The internal security forces chief calls for stricter monitoring of web surfers
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Picture of the week: the biggest check in the history of the Iranian economy

A Hollywood production designed to deflect criticism from the Goldstone Report:
Iranian reactions to the interception of the “Francop” cargo ship

Last week, Iran rejected Israel’s claims that the “Francop” cargo ship, seized by Israel one week earlier, carried weapons from Iran to Hezbollah, accusing Israel of an attempt to take advantage of the arms ship affair to avoid the repercussions of the Goldstone Report. An announcement issued by the Iranian mission to the UN stated that Israel’s allegations were meant to deflect public opinion from the Goldstone Report, and that Iran strongly rejected the allegations brought up by Israel against it (ISNA, November 7).

Last weekend, IRNA, Iran’s official news agency, referred to Israel’s allegations as a “public relations trick” to divert attention from the Goldstone Report and to prevent it from influencing public opinion on the issue of Israel (IRNA, November 9).

Francop

Asr-e Iran, a website associated with the pragmatic conservative bloc, rejected Israel’s claims as well, saying that the affair was a “Hollywood production” designed to let Israel avoid the dangerous repercussions of the Goldstone Report. The report could jeopardize Israel’s international status after years of influencing Western media; therefore, Israel had to produce alternative news stories to push aside media reports on the Goldstone Report. The website also rejected the claims that the documents seized on board the vessel indicated that the weapons had originated in Iran. There had never been an incident, according to the website, in which a weapons-smuggling country left behind incriminating documents that could attest to its involvement in the smuggling operation.

Furthermore, even if the ship did carry Iranian weapons to Syria, that is not an argument in favor of Israel’s position, since Israel, which was accused of perpetrating war crimes by the UN, holds advanced, modern weaponry, including nuclear arms, without anyone objecting. What is a few missiles and grenades compared to the nuclear arms in the possession of a country that has not signed the NPT, Asr-e Iran says. Just as the US sells weapons to Israel, Iran has the right to maintain the regional balance of power and its status, engaging in a defensive cooperation with its allies. Israel had better give up its claims, which do nothing but hinder it, and contact international lawyers to defend it from being put to trial for the war crimes it had committed (Asr-e Iran, November 7).

The Tabnak website came up with another possible explanation for Israel’s claims, saying that the interception of the ship by Israel and its allegations against Iran were meant to allow Israel to enlist the support of the American administration against Iran, just as it had done in the Karine-A affair in early 2002. In January 2002, Israel took advantage of the Karine-A affair to have Iran included in the “Axis of Evil” by former President George W. Bush. Now, Israel is trying to make use of a similar affair to exert pressure on President Obama following his political initiatives towards Iran. Similarly to what is happening now, the website says, it soon became apparent that Iran was in no way involved in the Karine-A affair, but it was blamed anyway. Therefore, Israel is once again attempting to derail the American initiatives towards Iran, and to persuade the administration to take a hostile stance vis-à-vis Iran (Tabnak, November 6).

Different voices in Tehran over the rapprochement with Turkey

During his visit to Turkey last week as part of an international Islamic economic convention, Iran’s president said during a meeting with Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan that a further increase could be expected in the cooperation between Iran and Turkey (IRNA, November 9).

However, different voices were heard last week in Iran over the rapprochement between the two countries, particularly from members of the reformist bloc. In an interview granted by Dr. Bahram Amir Ahmadian to the “Iranian Diplomacy” website, the expert on Turkish affairs warned against a possible Turkish attempt to improve its regional status at Iran’s expense. Ahmadian did note that the relations between Iran and Turkey were beneficial; he added, however, that they mostly served Turkish economic and political interests. He said that Turkey was interested in becoming a center for transferring energy from Iran to Europe, strengthening its regional status in order to convince the European Union to admit Turkey as a member and a bridge between Europe on one hand and Asia and the Middle East on the other. That Turkish policy, Ahmadian said, did not serve Iranian interests, since it could come at the expense of Iran’s position in the regional balance of power. With a population not larger than Iran’s and without energy sources of its own, Turkey’s GDP is now three times that of Iran. Ahmadian noted that the recent suggestion to transfer enriched uranium from Iran to Turkey could be a Turkish attempt to boost its position as a mediator between Iran and the West. Iran may benefit from its relations with Turkey, Ahmadian concluded, but in order to do that it must formulate an internal policy based on the cooperation between all of Iran’s national forces to better position itself on the international scene (Diplomasi-ye Irani, November 9).

In an editorial published on November 3, the conservative daily Keyhan also addressed the changes in Turkey’s policy and its deteriorating relationship with Israel. The daily noted that the change in the Turkish attitude towards Israel could not be brushed off as a short-term tactical adaptation in order to meet temporary objectives. According to the article, the change in Turkey’s policy is rooted in its internal politics and the strengthening Islamic faction. The daily noted, however, that Turkey was still governed by a secular constitution, that it was a member of NATO, and its army was under the control of a group which saw itself as the “defender of secularism”; therefore, an all-encompassing change in its policy towards the West should not be expected. In the near future, Turkey is likely to maintain its relations with the Western bloc and even with Israel. Nevertheless, the daily’s assessment is that the strategic change led by the Islamists will likely put an end to Turkey’s absolute affiliation with the West, leading to the adoption of a new attitude towards the regional resistance bloc. The strengthening of Turkey’s commercial ties with Islamic countries, mainly Iran, may empower the Turkish Islamic movement and lay the groundwork for more significant changes in Turkey in the future.

Different voices in Tehran over the rapprochement with Turkey

Meanwhile, in recent days Iranian officials have stepped up their criticism of the energy agreement signed during the Turkish prime minister’s visit to Iran approximately two weeks ago. Last week, several Iranian Majles members complained that the Petroleum Ministry had not yet briefed the Majles about the details of the agreement, expressing their concern that the agreement could jeopardize Iranian economic interests. One of the arguments was that Iran’s agreement to transport significant quantities of gas to Turkey in exchange for Turkish investments in the development of the South Pars gas field contradicted the recommendations made by Iranian experts in recent years that Iran must avoid exporting gas to other countries in the near future due to the shortage of gas for internal consumption. Moayed Hosseini-Sadr, a member of the Majles Energy Committee, said last week that the committee intended to summon the Petroleum Minister and have him brief the committee on the details of the energy agreement between Iran and Turkey (Khabar Online, November 8).

Last week, the reformist daily Aftab-e Yazd addressed the Turkish PM’s announcement according to which Iran had given Turkey the right to export more than 50 percent of its gas production. An editorial published by the daily strongly criticized the fact that no official Iranian source had commented on or denied that announcement. If Iran did give Turkey such a right, the article said, then it was an unprecedented, troubling development. The daily mentioned that only five years ago, Iran’s conservatives had fiercely contested agreements signed by Khatami’s government with Turkey in the spheres of telecommunications and development of the new international airport in Tehran, claiming that Turkish companies were under Zionist influence (Aftab-e Yazd, November 5).

Yet another example of the Revolutionary Guards’ increasing involvement in the economy: Khatam-ol Anbiya Corporation won a railway network construction tender

Last week, Khatam-ol Anbiya, the Revolutionary Guards’ construction corporation, won a 2.5-billion dollar tender for the construction of a railway network in the free trade zone in Chabahar, south-eastern Iran. Transportation Minister Hamid Behbahani, who gave the announcement on the corporation’s victory in the tender, said that the project would be carried out in three stages. Other participants in the railway network construction tender included Iran’s Port and Shipping Organization, an Iranian-Japanese consortium, an Iranian-Chinese consortium, and three other foreign companies (various news agencies, November 10).

Owned by the Revolutionary Guards, Khatam-ol Anbiya is a corporation which employs about 40 thousand workers. It underwent tremendous growth following the Iran-Iraq War, expanding into construction, transportation, industry, agriculture, oil, and gas. In recent years it won billions of dollars’ worth of tenders in such areas as dam construction, water supply systems, highways, tunnels, gas lines, and oil and gas field development.

It should be noted that Tose’e-ye E’temad-e Mobin, a corporation some of whose companies are affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards’ Cooperation Fund, has recently won the largest transaction ever to take place on the Iranian stock exchange—a public offering of 50 percent plus one share of the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI).

The internal security forces chief calls for stricter monitoring of web surfers

Internal security forces chief Esma’il Ahmadi-Moqaddam announced last week that the internal security forces intended to increase the monitoring of web surfers in Iran. Ahmadi-Moqaddam noted that stricter control of Iran’s cyberspace and Internet was one of the security forces’ jobs. He complained that the efforts to step up monitoring had so far been unsuccessful due to the opposition of some self-styled intellectual media and civilians, who forced the security forces to back down from their intention to take steps on that issue. During a convention about the war on drugs, Ahmadi-Moqaddam said that the Internet was a fertile ground for many kinds of crime, including smuggling drugs into Iran, and that the internal security forces therefore intended to step up the enforcement of web surfing in the coming years (ISNA, November 9).

Meanwhile, the reformist website Rooz Online reported that in recent days, Iranian website operators had received e-mails and text messages from the authorities, threatening them to cease using the Internet for transferring information that is illegal or information that compromises state security. The operators were warned that unless they cease and desist, legal action would be taken against them (Rooz Online, November 10).

Over the course of the past year, the internal security forces have stepped up the monitoring of Iranian websites and blogs after the Majles passed a computer crime bill and the judiciary announced the establishment of a special court for computer and Internet offenses. Within that context, more effort is put into filtering websites and blogs, while arrests of citizens involved in operating illegal websites have become more commonplace.

According to the computer crime bill recently passed by the Majles, a special committee has been established whose role is to determine the criteria for website filtering. Its members include the morality police chief in the internal security forces, the ministers of education, telecommunications, justice, science, culture, Islamic guidance or their representatives, chairman of the Islamic Information Organization, chairman of the Iranian Broadcasting Authority, an expert on computers and communications technology, and a Majles representative.

Picture of the week: the biggest check in the history of the Iranian economy

The sale of 50 percent plus one share of the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) to the Tose’e-ye E’temad-e Mobin corporation was completed last week.

The corporation transferred 15,638,329,212,448 rials (over 1.5 billion dollars) in cash to the Tehran stock exchange for 20 percent of the company’s shares. Fars News Agency, which published a photograph of the historic check, noted that it was the biggest check ever written in the history of the Iranian economy. The total sum of the TCI share offering was about 7.8 billion dollars.

the biggest check in the history of the Iranian economy

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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.

Doc's Talk