Iranian TV reporter killed on air by Syrian rebel sniper in Damascus

Source: Russia Today

Iran’s Press TV claimed its Damascus correspondent was killed Wednesday by a rebel sniper while reporting on bombings in the Syrian capital. Two car bombs struck the Syrian Army’s command headquarters, setting one of the buildings on fire.

­Maya Nasser, a 33 -year-old Syrian national, was killed while reporting from the scene, Press TV said. Hussein Murtada – Press TV’s Damascus bureau chief and head of the Arabic-language Al-Alam TV network – was also reportedly injured in the attack.

In recent months, Nasser reported from the frontlines of the Syrian conflict. His video reports from war-torn Aleppo were a valuable source of on-the-ground information.

“Maya Nasser was a true professional, and his help to me was priceless while I was reporting from Syria,” RT’s Oksana Boyko said, recalling how Nasser gave her advance warning of which conflict zones were particularly dangerous.

Nasser maintained excellent relations with foreign journalists working in Syria, and was often cited by colleagues as the only source of reliable information on the conflict.

“In private he always stressed that it is the hardship of war that had fallen on the Syrian people is what disturbed him the most,” Boyko said. “Maya always stressed that ordinary people are those who suffer the most in the conflict.”

Nasser never hid his identity, and frequently debated political opponents on his Twitter account. Though he was threatened on the Web more than once, he was remembered as always being fearless about his work.

­Journalists in Syria killed in spate of rebel violence

Syrian rebels have targeted or kidnapped increasing numbers of foreign journalists in recent months as a way of striking the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.­

French journalist Gilles Jacquier was killed in January by 81mm mortar fire from a rebel-held area.

On June 27, seven journalists and four security guards were killed in a rebel attack on the pro-government Al-Ikhbaria TV station in the town of Drousha, south of Damascus. One building in the complex was nearly demolished.

Syrian state TV host Mohammed al-Saeed was kidnapped and executed on July 19; a militant Islamist group claimed responsibility for the killing.

Two more Syrian journalists were kidnapped on August 4: Talal Jinbakly, a camera operator for Syrian state TV, and Mohammad Ali Hussein, who worked for an educational channel in Syria. That same day, Syrian rebels attempted to seize a state-run radio and TV broadcasting complex in Aleppo, and reportedly raised a rebel flag on top of the building.

Three TV journalists and their driver were kidnapped while reporting from a Damascus suburb on August 10.

On August 11, the head of Syrian news agency SANA was killed in Damascus.

In a mid-August statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the “terrorist attacks against journalists” who “ensure the democratic rights of people to receive objective information, freedom of speech and opinion.”

Iran to build high-tech fighter jet

Iranian-made Saeqeh fighter bombers

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167253.html

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force has launched a project to design and build the country's most advanced fighter jet.

Brigadier General Mohammadreza Karshki told Fars news agency on Saturday that the Iranian Air Force is cooperating with the Defense Ministry in the project.

He further pointed out that the project is now in the initial phases.

The senior Iranian Air force commander added that the new fighter is a new generation of Iran's first domestically-manufactured jet Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) with enhanced features.

The Iranian fighter jet is similar to the US-built F/A-18, although its appearance is similar to F-5E/F Tiger II.

Iran unveiled its first squadron of Saeqeh fighter-bombers in an air show in September 2010.

The new single-seater bombers have the ability to track down enemy aircraft, engage in combat, target locations on the ground, and carry assorted weapons and ammunition.

Iran vows legal bid on Israeli terror

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159627.html


Iran says it will exploit all its resources to condemn Israel and bring the regime to justice over its terror efforts against Iranian nuclear scientists.

“The issue that we will actively pursue is the condemnation of this illegal regime (Israel) and its punishment as the perpetrator of crimes against humanity and our scientists,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly press briefing on Tuesday.

“We will definitely utilize all our means and capabilities to follow up the case in international legal bodies,” he said.

We will also pursue a legal case for the Israeli terror efforts using evidence and documentations compiled on the issue, he added.

The Iranian spokesperson also condemned Western support of the Israeli regime in sponsoring and carrying out acts of terrorism.

“That the Zionist regime (Israel) officially announces that it has had a hand in such terror efforts is indicative of an ongoing state terrorism and we regret that Western countries support such illegitimate acts by Israel.”

Mehmanparast's remarks came in response to a question about Iran's legal pursuits against the assassination of Iranian nuclear physics scientist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi.

Dr. Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at the University of Tehran, was killed when a remote-controlled bomb detonated near his house in the north of the Iranian capital, Tehran, in July 2010.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry said in a statement released on Monday that it has arrested the main perpetrators in connection with the assassination and dismantled a network comprising of Israeli-trained spies and terrorists following extensive security operations.

It said that Israeli intelligence service Mossad has used bases in certain European and non-European countries as well as some of Iran's neighboring states in an attempt to achieve its inhumane, anti-Islam and anti-Iranian objectives, including the assassination of Dr. Ali-Mohammadi.

Nuclear scientists hitmen trained by Mossad

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159527.html


Senior Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kowsari says the assassins of an Iranian nuclear scientist have confessed to being supported by the Israeli intelligence service.

In July 2010, Iranian nuclear physics scientist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was killed when a remote-controlled bomb detonated near his house in the north of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Following security operations, Iran finally succeeded in arresting the main agents behind the terrorist incident and dismantled a network comprising of spies and terrorists commissioned by Israel, Intelligence Ministry announced on Monday.

Long before the assassination of Ali-Mohammadi, the intelligence officials of Israel, the UK and the US had publicly threatened to kill our nuclear scientists, Kowsari said on Monday.

“These [arrested] people have confessed that they had received assassination training from [Israeli inrtelligenece agency] Mossad; and Mossad had provided all their equipment,” Fars News Agency quoted deputy head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission on Monday.

Kowsari added that the confessions of the detainees could be helpful in the arrest of the perpetrators of Dr. Majid Shahriari's assassination.

On November 29, unknown terrorists detonated bombs in the vehicles of Majid Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi -- both professors at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran.

Shahriari was killed immediately, but Abbasi and his wife sustained minor injuries and were transferred to a hospital and later released.

“Certainly these people are not the perpetrators of Dr. Shahriari assassination, but given the fact that all these terrorists take orders from Mossad, the confession of the detainees could be helpful in the arrest of agents behind the assassination of Dr. Shahriari and Dr. Abbasi,” Kowsari concluded.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry said in its statement that the Israeli intelligence service Mossad has used bases in certain European and non-European countries as well as Iran's neighboring states in an attempt to achieve its inhumane goals.

Iran urges UN action on Asgari case

Iran's Foreign Ministry Caretaker Ali Akbar Salehi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157935.html


Iran's caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has urged the United Nations to help determine the fate of an Iranian national who reportedly died in an Israeli prison.

Ali-Reza Asgari, a former deputy defense minister, mysteriously disappeared in Turkey in 2007. He was believed to have been abducted and transferred to Israel.

A Ynet report on Tuesday stated that a prisoner had committed suicide in solitary confinement in Israel's Ayalon prison.

The Eurasia Review website claimed that a source within the “inner circle” of the Israeli Defense Ministry had identified the prisoner as Asgari and that his death could have been murder and not suicide.

“Publication of such reports strengthens suspicions over the abduction of aforementioned individual [Asgari] by the Zionist regime [of Israel],” Salehi said in a message to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday.

Salehi said Israel must therefore be held accountable for the health and safety of the former Iranian deputy defense minister, a Foreign Ministry statement added.

Asgari's abduction has taken place “against all recognized principles of international law and is an explicit example of the Zionist regime's state terrorism,” the Iranian official said.

The matter calls for proper reaction from the international community especially from institutions responsible for maintaining international peace and security, Salehi added

'If Israel attacks, Iran's response instantaneous'

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122618&sectionid=351020101


A senior Iranian official warns of immediate retaliation against Israel, should it dare to launch an attack on Iran.

Referring to Iran as a ballistic missile power, Hojat. Mojtaba Zolnour, the acting representative of the Leader in the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC), said in a Monday address in the holy city of Qom that despite the difficulty some foreigners have in accepting Iran's advances, they should be reminded that as a country that has developed and produced satellite carrier rockets, Iran has become a ballistic power, Fars News Agency reported today.

"They know that, if they try their luck and lob a single missile towards Iran, before the dust clears here, the dust of our missiles will rise from the heart of Tel Aviv," Zolnour emphasized.

Turning to the post-presidential protests, he expounded on enemy's efforts in waging a 'soft war' through the use of the Internet and other electronic gadgets by fabricating facts to foment divisions and unrest in the country.

"If today the enemy uses the arena of the 'soft war' it is because we have not clarified the grounds and the tools of the soft war for our people," Zolnour continued.

Ahmadinejad warns Israel against second Gaza war

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122339§ionid=351020101


Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned against an alleged Israeli plan to launch a second military offensive against Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli deputy prime minister Silvan Shalom said Friday that a military operation will soon be launched in response to rocket attacks from Gaza, which involve home-made rockets that usually carry little or no explosive warhead.

On Thursday, a single Qassam rocket landed near the Israeli town of Ashkelon on Thursday and caused some minor damages but no casualties.

Although the Palestinian Resistance movement of Hamas did not claim responsibility for the attack, Israel nevertheless responded to the incident by carrying out six waves of air raids overnight.

"If this rocket fire against Israel does not stop … it will force us to launch another military operation," Shalom told public radio.

Hamas has emphasized that it is looking to calm the situation. In an April 1 phone conversation with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the Chairman of Hamas Political Bureau Khaled Mashaal said: "Hamas is not interested in the escalation of tensions and is taking corresponding measures to prevent missile strikes from the Gaza," reported ITAR-Tass News Agency.

President Ahmadinejad, in a formal speech at the inauguration of the Middle East's biggest iron ore pellet factory in the southern city of Sirjan, warned Israel against making plans for a new offensive against Gazans, who are still reeling from the devastating attack by Tel Aviv two years ago.

Ahmadinejad condemned Israel's continued crimes in Palestine and Lebanon, stressing that the Tel Aviv regime is the sole obstacle to the establishment of peace and security in the region.

Referring to Israel's use of foreign passports to assassinate senior Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, Ahmadinejad said Israel has “clearly been given carte blanche by Western powers “to commit whatever crime it pleases and violate whatever law it deems necessary.”

On a different note, Ahmadinejad said the rising tide of terrorism in the Middle East is a direct result of US military presence in the region over the past decade.

“The ever-increasing presence of US coalition forces in region has contributed to the growing rate of terrorism and violence,” he noted.

The Iranian President said he found the US campaign to isolate Tehran in the region and in the world “most amusing” because he seriously believes that Washington, due to decades of hegemony and political missteps, has grown to become one of the most isolated countries to date.

"We think that those are isolated that cannot talk to nations directly, those who are afraid of nations."

President Ahmadinejad said it was the US not Iran which was isolated, reasoning that American officials only paid unannounced visits to the regional countries.

"They want to visit their military base in a country where they have deployed 160,000 military troops and they go there without announcing in advance. Who is isolated?"

He dismissed US accusations regarding an “Iranian intention to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels,” adding such claims are highly ironic coming from countries which possess and continue to develop vast nuclear arsenals that have been tested and even used in military confrontations.

Under international law, Ahmadinejad said, Western countries are obliged to provide Iran — without out preconditions — with the specified amount of fuel it requires for the Tehran research reactor, which plays the vital role of producing medical isotopes.

Due to their refusal, Ahmadinejad continued, Iran reserves the right to domestically-enrich uranium up to 20 percent in order to meet the demands of thousands of Iranian patients, who desperately need post-surgery drug treatment with nuclear medicine.

With regards to US efforts to rally worldwide support for gasoline embargoes against Iran, Ahmadinejad said such a move would fail to bring Washington's desired results because the country will soon reach the refining capacity to produce its own gasoline.

Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter but, according to US estimates, the country relies on gasoline imports to meet 40 percent of its domestic demand.

China to continue diplomacy over Iran

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122188§ionid=351020404


Amid US-led efforts for fresh sanctions against Tehran, China said Thursday that it would continue to work towards a "peaceful resolution" of the Iranian nuclear case.

"On the Iranian nuclear issue, China will continue to endeavor toward a peaceful resolution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

"We have always and will continue to push for a peaceful settlement of this issue," Qin said, adding that the standoff should be resolved by "diplomatic means".

Qin's remarks come as US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Wednesday that "China has agreed to sit down and begin serious negotiations" over imposing fresh sanctions against Iran.

The US, which accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, has been lobbying for more UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Tehran.

US-led calls have, however, received a chilly reception mainly from China, one of the five veto-wielding members of the UNSC, which insists that diplomacy can still work to solve the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran says any punitive measures against the country are legally baseless as Tehran's peaceful nuclear energy program is being fully monitored by UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA.

This comes as Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili is now in China to discuss with Chinese officials a range of issues, with Tehran's nuclear work high on the agenda.

'Myth of imperialism will soon be shattered'

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120238§ionid=351020101


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the myth of imperialism will soon be shattered.

The myth of imperialism will soon shatter as more and more nations are waking up to restore their independence, and military threats and methods of intimidation can no longer benefit the hegemonic powers, Ahmadinejad told visiting Ecuadorian First Vice President Lenin Moreno in Tehran on Saturday.

“Ecuador and a number of other countries are the standard-bearers of honor, justice, and independence in Latin America. This is due to the revolutionary movements which have emerged in them. Tehran and Quito regard the dominant governing system in the world as unjust and seek to create a world alive with justice, peace, and friendship,” he noted.

“Although Iran and Ecuador are geographically very distant from each other, the two nations share the same areas of interest and concern and are determined to develop reciprocal ties in all areas,” the Iranian president added.

Moreno described Iran as a forerunner in the campaign against world imperialism and called for the expansion of ties between the two countries in the economic, cultural, and political spheres.

The Ecuadorian first vice president also said his country fully supports the Iranian nuclear program, adding that Quito regards Tehran's nuclear activities as legal and legitimate.

It is Time For Obama to meet Ahmadinejad

By: Marwan Bishara - Al Jazeera's senior political analyst.

Source: Al Jazeera
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/imperium/2010/02/27/it-time-obama-meet-ahmadinejad

The two-day visit by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, to Syria and his warm meetings with his Syrian counterpart as well as with the leaders of the Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas have ruffled many feathers in the US, Europe and Israel.

Although they said much about the future of the region, including the end of the 'Zionist regime', the anti-Israeli gathering has sent a primarily strategic not polemical message: We stand united - an attack on one of us is an attack on all.

A deterrent message to both Israel and the US, it comes against the backdrop of increased war speculation in Israel and mounting pressures to pass a new round of tougher sanctions against Iran.

It is also a wake up call for US diplomats who reckoned that Washington's rapprochement with Damascus, including the reopening of its embassy, should lead to a severing, or at least cooling, of Syrian relations with Tehran.

But while such public posturing has not deterred Israel or worried Washington in the past, it does complicate attempts to isolate Iran or its allies.

Diplomatic assault, military preparations

Since the White House shifted its Iran strategy from accommodation to confrontation, Washington's coercive diplomacy has been going at full speed.

The Obama administration has been lobbying the Middle East and the world's influential capitals in the hope of isolating Iran and passing another UN Security Council resolution that would include biting sanctions against Tehran.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, escalated US rhetoric against the Iranian regime during a visit to the Gulf where she warned of a Revolutionary Guards takeover and the militarisation of the Iranian government.

General Petraeus made a similar visit to the Gulf and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, travelled to Russia, followed by Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to convince Moscow to abandon Iran.

However, Washington seems frustrated by either the lack of positive response or the slow pace of international reaction to Tehran's persistence in enriching uranium and expanding its nuclear and missile programme.

Russian hesitance, Chinese objection

Russia seems to have softened its rejection of the US strategy of sanctions, but has not agreed to them either. Moscow thinks it is too early to carry out such escalatory actions when the issue is still being discussed at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

If and when such sanctions come to be voted on at the UN Security Council, Russia insists that they should be focused solely on the nuclear programme, not the country or its regime which Moscow does not consider to be a dictatorship.

Beijing is as sceptical of Washington's motives and more reluctant than Moscow to slap Iran with tough new sanctions.

Moscow's approach is defined primarily by security considerations, especially the loss of whatever strategic leverage it has with Tehran and the probable escalation on its southern borders. China's thinking, however, is molded on geo-economics grounds, particularly the prospect of losing Iran as an important energy supplier and economic partner.

The Chinese and Russian leadership are both uneasy with the new American escalation in the Islamic world after US entanglements in Afghanistan and Iraq.

They worry that the political and security overspill from widening the landscape of confrontation in the Muslim world could end up affecting their substantial Muslim minorities and eventually their internal stability.

Washington's attempt to make up for the loss of Iran's energy supply (through Saudi Arabia?), and its persistent warning to Russia about the alternative to sanctions (war!) do not seem to have, yet, convinced the two key veto carrying members of the UN Security Council to come on board.

Neither side believes sanctions will bring a solution to the impasse with Iran and both consider protracted geopolitical tensions with Iran to be terribly destabilising.

Anxious Saudi, aggressive Israel

Regionally, the two relevant powers, Saudi Arabia (to a far less extent, Egypt) and Israel are keen to stop Iran's nuclear programme and to curtail Tehran's influence.

However, as Israel nudges its US patron to move speedily towards imposing new tough sanctions and to prepare for war, Riyadh is worried about a new protracted American strategy and insists on a speedier end to the tensions with Tehran.

The Gulf states are the first to be affected by long-term tensions or military escalation between the US and Iran.

Recent US naval deployments in the Gulf and its sales of sophisticated weapons to Gulf countries have not calmed their fears that an escalation of those tensions could bring down their economies and affect their security.

The same could apply to other parts of the 'Greater Middle East' such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine which could be affected by an escalation between the US and Iran.

US bold, Iran confident

Who will blink first is the whole point of this dangerous diplomatic exercise.

Iran reckons that China and Russia will not sacrifice their relations with Iran and will object to another American escalation in the Middle East. They also realise that new punitive measures will not suffice to curtail Tehran's programme.

For its part, the Obama administration calculates that Chinese/Russian cooperation is indispensable, but that it will take substantial political capital and major quid pro quo for them to come on board.

If Iran continues to defy Washington publicly and successfully, the political price demanded by Russia and China could only increase, all of which puts extra pressure on Washington to act promptly.

But what can the Obama administration offer its fellow UN Security Council members that is worthy of isolating Iran, aside from threatening the alternative - war?

And there is no doubt that war will be either horribly destructive or terribly protracted. Either way, Washington has the most to lose, not Moscow or Beijing.

All of which should send the Obama administration back to the drawing board. Has President Obama truly exhausted the diplomatic track before the US attends to sanctions or war?

In other words, has the Obama administration truly extended a hand or unclenched its fist for the sake of a peaceful resolution to the Iranian Middle East impasse?

The answer is an unequivocal NO.
It is time to remind Barack Obama of his willingness as a candidate to meet with his Iranian counterpart as president if that can protect US interests, and remind President Ahmadinejad of his welcoming of the extended US hand for peace last spring.
Well Mr Presidents, it is time.

I shall discuss the context, nature and implications for such a breakthrough next ... as promised.

To be continued ...

Ahmadinejad in Syria for talks on Israel

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119446§ionid=351020101


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in Damascus to discuss with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad the threat that Israel poses to the Middle East and beyond.

Before leaving Tehran on Thursday morning, the Iranian president announced that his talks with Assad in the Syrian capital would focus on regional and global developments.

Ahmadinejad added that Israel's efforts to destabilize the region would also be one of the main topics of their discussions.

He mentioned that Iran and Syria already share the same stance on regional and global issues, noting that both countries stood in “the front line of standing up to” Israel.

“These days, the Zionists are constantly threatening countries and nations surrounding Palestine. They intend to drag the region into an atmosphere of serious tension,” he said

“That is why it is necessary for our two countries to begin a new series of negotiations,” he added.

Winding up, the Iranian president pointed out that talks on economic cooperation and joint investment projects would also be a part of his discussions with his Syrian counterpart.

Ahmadinejad Says Finish Israel Off - If Repeats Mistakes

Source: PressTV
By Sam K. Parks-Kia
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119024§ionid=3510303


In a telephone conversation with the Hezbollah secretary general, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, "In the event of recurrence of [the past] mistakes the Zionist regime [of Israel] must be finished off." He went on to say that "the Iranian nation will stand side by side of the nations of the region and Lebanon in this regard."

A statement appearing on the official website of the Iranian president read that President Ahmadinejad's Thursday telephone conversation with the secretary general of Hezbollah Resistance Movement, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, was aimed at discussing the latest developments in Lebanon and the region.

"Stressing on the importance of maintaining readiness in the face of potential threats by the Zionist regime [of Israel], the president said: The level of readiness should be to such an extent that if they (the Israelis) ventured upon repeating their past mistakes, they will be finished off and the region will rid them for once and for all, and the Iranian nation will stand side by side of the nations of the region and Lebanon in this regard," read the statement dated Thursday, February 18, 2010.

Although one could argue that the remarks are merely a show of solidarity and moral support, the comments could be roughly taken as an indication that the Islamic Republic is wiling to offer military support to Lebanon in the event of another Israeli aggression.

During the last Israeli-waged war on Lebanon — which was the second of its kind — more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, were killed, more than 4,000 others were injured and Israeli landmines and cluster bombs planted in southern Lebanon continues to claim innocent lives to date.

Eventually after 33 days of fire, Israel was forces to retreat without achieving any of its objectives as a result of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.

Ever since what became to be commonly known as "Israel's humiliating defeat in Lebanon," Tel Aviv has been threatening Beirut with another military offensive, while Israeli fighter jets have been conducting regular overflights in violation of Lebanese airspace.

Recently officials in Tel Aviv have adopted a harsher and more aggressive tone, saying that another conflict with Lebanon could be imminent.

Yossi Peled, an Israeli cabinet minister and a former army general who has experienced the conflict on the northern border, said on Saturday, January 23, that another confrontation with Hezbollah was almost inevitable but he could not say when it would happen.

The minister without portfolio said that according to his "estimation, understanding and knowledge," it was "almost clear" to him that another conflict on the border with Lebanon was imminent.

"It does not necessary have to be between us and Hezbollah, other elements may be involved in this," Peled said.

The Israeli minister's use of the term "other elements" could be interpreted that Tel Aviv already knows that it has drawn the ire of the whole region and that any other act of aggression that it conducts could have a united response from the countries in the Middle East.

Iran, Lebanon and Syria, along with a number of other states in the Middle East, see Israel as the main obstacle on the region's path towards peace and stability, and the heads of these states have made no efforts hiding their views.

The most recent of such expressions came from Syrian President Bashar al Assad, who said on Wednesday, February 17, that he believed "stability will not be established [in the Middle East region] under Israel's disingenuous approaches toward peace."

The Hezbollah Resistance Movement in Lebanon, and its charismatic leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, have on numerous occasions remarked that Israel is the most dangerous — if not the only — threat in the Middle East.

The movement says Tel Aviv threats are the reason behind the fact that Hezbollah is maintaining its weapons despite the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls on the group to lay down its arms.

"…Weapons are the result of the Resistance's existence and the Resistance [Movement of Hezbollah] is there because of the presence of the enemy (Israel)," Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Saturday, February 6.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad has his own fair share of opinions about Israel. Perhaps one of his most quoted comments about the Tel Aviv regime is that Israel should be "wiped off the map" — a comment which he later on explained was misunderstood and that what he actually meant was that Israel would "disappear" the same way that Apartheid and the Soviet Union disappeared.

President Ahmadinejad maintains that "The Zionist regime [of Israel] is an artificial regime — a fictitious regime. You brought people from different parts of the world and you have built this state. No, that cannot last, it is not sustainable. If they do not listen to our solution, this will happen one day."

In his recent conversation with the Hezbollah secretary general, however, President Ahmadinejad said he highly doubted that Israel would dare launch another attack on Lebanon.

"The Zionists are extremely afraid of the Resistance [Movement of Hezbollah] and the people of Lebanon and the region. But they seek to make up for their previous defeats in the Gaza [Strip] and Lebanon, because they feel that their dignity and existence is threatened. Yet they dare not do this (launching another attack on Lebanon) either, because they fear the consequences," Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling Nasrallah by the statement on the official website of the Iranian president.

The statement goes on to quote the Hezbollah secretary general as saying that "strategically speaking, the Zionist regime [of Israel] is in no position to initiate a new war; however, it seeks to spread fear and intimidation through its threats and psychological warfare — although, at any rate, it will not achieve anything [through such efforts]."

It remains to be known whether Israel will dare to launch another attack on the Lebanese territories or not. However, one thing is for sure: In the even of such an aggression the regional states will form a united front against Israel — at least that is what Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa believes.

"If a new attack or aggression is in the process of being prepared, they (Israel) will not get away with it easily," Moussa said after meeting with the Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali Shami in Beirut on Wednesday, February 17.

"We learned the lessons of 2006, and the Arab position is to stand by Lebanon," he said.

'Iranian weapon ends Apache copters' air supremacy'

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117711§ionid=351020101


A senior Iranian military official says Iran has developed a special weapon that can bring down Apache helicopters.

Col. Nasser Arab-Beigi, the director of the self-sufficiency organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), told the Fars news agency on Tuesday that the “special weapon” can also target advanced tanks.

He noted that the new weapon will put an end to the battlefield supremacy of the United States' Apache helicopters.

“The enemy should not assume that if it attacks Iran, its Apache helicopters will perform as satisfactorily as they do in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Arab-Beigi stated.

He noted that the IRGC self-sufficiency organization has focused its research on the enemies' threats, adding that the organization closely studies the enemies' capabilities and singles out those that could be a threat to Iran.

Nasser-Beigi said that the organization then establishes research teams to develop the weapons necessary to fend off the threats.

US senators urge action on Iran Internet

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116700§ionid=3510203


Five US Senators publically urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to expedite aid flow to fight Internet restrictions in Iran, amid accusations that Washington interferes in Iran's internal affairs.

In a letter made public on Wednesday, the senators urged Clinton to swiftly spend $45 million that has been earmarked over the last two years to fight Internet restrictions in countries like Iran, the New York Times reported.

In July 2009, the US Senate ratified a plan to curb what it called "censorship" in the Islamic Republic.

A bill dubbed the Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act is aimed at funding measures "to counter Iranian government efforts to jam radio, satellite, and Internet-based transmissions."

It also allocates $30 million for the US government to expand activities of Radio Free Europe's Persian-language radio broadcasts into Iran.

Washington will also take measures to counter Tehran's "efforts to block, censor, or monitor the Internet in Iran" with another $20 million, the ratification said.

Republican Senator John McCain, one of the sponsors of the bill, said the VOICE Act would help to open up the Iranian society "by providing assistance for broadcasting and new Internet and communications technologies."

The move comes amid an assertion by Iranian officials that Washington has not changed its approach toward Tehran, and it continues to meddle in the country's internal affairs.

Ahmadinejad urges unity among regional states

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116616&sectionid=351020101

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stresses the importance of strengthening unity among regional countries to foil enemies' plots in the region.

"Maintenance of unity and integrity among regional countries will be the only way to thwart the conspiracies of enemies," Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi in Tehran on Tuesday.

"The enemies know that if the Iraqi nation enjoys welfare and security, their equations in the region will change. So, they are making efforts to inflict damage on Iraq," Mehr News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

The Iranian president called on Iraqi authorities to remain vigilant and move toward establishing and strengthening the Iraqi government.

The Iraqi vice president, for his part, praised Iran's role in regional developments and called for enhanced relations between Tehran and Baghdad.

Bomb blast kills Iranian professor

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/01/201011273050938177.html


An Iranian nuclear physics professor has been killed in a bomb blast in the north of the capital, Tehran, state media has reported.

Massoud Mohammadi, a professor at Tehran University, was killed on Tuesday when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle was triggered by remote control outside his home.

"The explosion took place near the professor's home in Qeytariyeh neighbourhood, in northern Tehran," the state-run Press TV said.

It said Mohammadi was a "staunch supporter" of Iran's 1979 revolution and that he was "assassinated in a terrorist act by counter-revolutionary elements".

The broadcaster said police and security officials have launched an investigation.

Iranian media reports described Mohammadi as a nuclear energy professor, citing Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor.

"Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was a professor in the nuclear field and there has so far been no arrests of those behind this incident," the Fars News Agency reported.

Disputed nuclear programme

Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said Mohammadi might have had links to Iran's disputed nuclear programme.

"Authorities who decided to remain unnamed tell me that Mohammadi had some connections with Iran's nuclear programme and this could be related," he said.

He said it was unclear who might have been behind the bombing.

"Anyone who is connected to Iran's nuclear programme could be an easy target for [foreign] intelligence services.

"Iran tries to protect its nuclear scientists very well but sometimes things get out of hand, and incidents like this happen."

Baqer Moin, an Iranian author and journalist in London, said Iranian media have accused "Zionist agents" as being behind the blast.

"They are looking towards people who are interested in delaying the Iranian nuclear programme. Websites close to the [Iranian] authorities are making these statements," he told Al Jazeera.

"There have been in the past reports that many nuclear scientists or people who wanted to join the Iranian nuclear organisation have been intimidated.

"There also were claims of other assassinations. But this is the first time in recent months that in Tehran such an occurrence has happened."


Western powers, including the US, accuse Iran of covertly seeking to develop atomic weapons.

They demand that Iran accept a UN brokered offer that would delay Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon as well as engage in broader talks with the ultimate goal of persuading it to stop its enrichment programme.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.

Tehran blast kills nuclear physics scientist

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115934§ionid=351020101


An Iranian nuclear physics scientist has been killed in a remote-controlled bomb attack in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Dr. Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at the Tehran University and a staunch supporter of the Islamic Revolution, was killed in booby-trapped motorbike blast on Tuesday.

The explosion took place near the professor's home in Qeytariyeh neighborhood, in northern Tehran.

Iran's police and security bodies are investigating the terrorist case to identify those behind it.

Press TV correspondent Amir Mehdi Kazemi, reporting from the scene of the assassination, quoted security officials as saying that the equipment and system of the bomb used in the attack had been related to a number of foreign intelligence agencies, particularly Israel's Mossad.

Meanwhile, Tehran's Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi confirmed the assassination of the university lecturer on Tuesday morning and said that he taught neutron nuclear physics at the University of Tehran.

"No suspect has been arrested yet," he told the Iranian Students News Agency.

He added that Ali-Mohammadi was killed when a motorbike parked near his car exploded.

The terrorist attack came as Shahram Amiri, an Iranian nuclear scientist, went missing in the Saudi holy city of Medina while on a pilgrimage visit in June 2009.

In December, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said Tehran had information that authorities in Riyadh had delivered Amiri to the United States.

He added that Amiri is among eleven Iranian nationals held in detention in US prisons.

It seems the kidnap and assassination of Iranian scientists is on the agenda of the United States.