Iran Vows Revenge On US And UK After Attack

[pinkmandy]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor...00910315408261

Iran has warned it will take revenge against the US and Britain, accusing them of being involved in a suicide bombing that killed several Revolutionary Guard commanders.


General Noor Ali Shooshtari was among the Revolutionary Guard victims

Six senior commanders and dozens of civilians died in the attack.

The headquarters of the armed forces blamed the bombing on "terrorists" backed by "the Great Satan America and its ally Britain", the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

"Not in the distant future we (Iran) will take revenge."

Earlier, Iranian state television said Sunni rebels carried out the bombing.

It said the militant group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) had claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Iran in recent years.

State media cited sources as saying "Britain was directly involved" - a common tactic used to divert attention away from the country’s internal problems.

Pishin region of Iran

Attack was near border with Pakistan

The UK Foreign Office said it rejected "in the strongest terms" any assertion of British involvement.

"The British Government condemns the terrorist attack in the Province of Sistan and Baluchistan in Iran and the sad loss of life which it caused," it added in a statement.

The US also condemned the bombing and denied it had anything to do with it.

"We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives. Reports of alleged US involvement are completely false," US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.

The allegations of foreign involvement are likely to raise tension between Tehran and the West, a day before nuclear talks in Vienna.

The military commanders were inside a car on their way to a meeting with tribal leaders when an attacker with explosives strapped to his body blew himself up.

The victims include General Noor Ali Shooshtari, the deputy commander of the Guard's ground force, and Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh, the Guard's chief provincial commander, the IRNA news agency said.

Up to 30 other people, including civilians and tribal leaders, are reported to have been killed and more than 20 wounded.

The attack took place in the south-eastern Pishin region near Iran's border with Pakistan.

Iran's parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, condemned the assassination, saying the bombing was aimed at disrupting security in the region.

"We express our condolences for their martyrdom," he said.

"The intention of the terrorists was definitely to disrupt security in Sistan-Baluchistan Province."

iranian revolutionary guard

Revolutionary Guard soldiers

Over the past few years Jundallah has waged a low-level insurgency and has been at the centre of several violent attacks.

In May, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Shi'ite mosque that killed 25 people in Zahedan.

Thirteen members of the group were convicted for the attack and hanged in July.

Jundallah accuses the mostly Shi'ite government of persecution.

This latest bombing comes at a time when Iran is still reeling from the fallout of its disputed June presidential elections.

A successful attack on such a high profile target marks a significant victory for the attackers.

The Revolutionary Guard was created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution as an ideological and impenetrable wall to defend Iran's clerical rule.

The 120,000-strong elite force controls Iran's missile program and has its own ground, naval and air units.

Today the unit has evolved into a socio-military force with political and economic influence.

It is now an inextricable part of Iran's power structure.

[zach]

Well, that end of October pseudo-prophecy might be worth thinking about.

[pinkmandy]

Well, that end of October pseudo-prophecy might be worth thinking about.

I *almost* posted this in that thread instead.

[Reason]

YouTube - MOBILE BULLETIN - 1405GMT - 18 Oct 09

[catdd]

There's only 2 ways the US can get a homicide bomber to attack. They either promise that his family will receive a lot of money afterwards or they bribe a local leader. And I can guarantee that Iran will be checking into that very closely.

[ScoutsHonor]

Dammit!!

[pinkmandy]

Yes, there seems to be a lot of activity over there right now. I haven't checked to see what Israel and Lebanon are up to atm.

And do you think this is related:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...ow/5135818.cms

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: A Bangkok-bound chartered US plane in which American marines were among the 205 passengers was ordered by authorities to land
at Mumbai airport on Sunday for flying over Indian airspace without getting the mandatory military clearance.

After remaining grounded for a few hours, the Boeing 767 plane belonging to North American Airlines and on a flight from Fujiriah in the UAE to Utapao in Bangkok was allowed by Indian Air Force (IAF) to resume its flight following a probe.

IAF spokesperson Wing Commander T K Singha said the DGCA will decide when the airplane will take off.

But due to the pilot's Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) the aircraft is not likely to take off before Monday.

"A US aircraft with 205 passengers, including its crew and US troops on board, was made to land in Mumbai while flying over Indian airspace as there was some confusion about its call sign," a Mumbai airport official said.

Singha told PTI in New Delhi that the transport aircraft had "civilian clearance from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to fly over Indian airspace.

"However, it was carrying military personnel, for which the aircraft should have obtained Air Operation Routing clearance (AOR), needed for a military aircraft," he said. Foreign military aircraft have to obtain two sets of clearances before flying over India.

Once the aircraft entered Indian air space, the IAF ordered it through radio communication to land in Mumbai, to which it complied with, Singha said.

A Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) spokesperson told PTI in Mumbai, "The aircraft will not take-off today as the pilot has crossed his flying duty hours."

The plane landed at Mumbai airport at 0752 hours and was parked at a remote bay and all the passengers remained inside till the inquiry was completed.

The US Embassy was arranging for visa documents of the 205 passengers on-board. "The US Embassy is arranging for visa, immigration and staying facilities for all the passengers," the MIAL spokesperson said.

A US embassy spokesperson termed the issue as a "routine matter" and said "we are in touch with relevant officials to resolve" it.

This is the fourth incident of a foreign aircraft violating rules relating to obtaining of clearance to fly over Indian airspace or other disputes since June this year.

On June 20, a Ukrainian-made military cargo aircraft AN-124, operated by a Russian private airline Volga-Dnepr and chartered by US defence forces for flying out military equipment from its base in Diego Garcia island to Kandahar in Afghanistan, was caught in a similar situation.

The IAF had ordered it to land in Mumbai as the aircraft did not have AOR clearance. It was detained for 24 hours and was asked to fly out after it obtained necessary clearance.

On August 27 this year, the IAF radar in Punjab had picked up an Air France aircraft (A-343) flying from Paris to Bangkok, as it did not have a proper identity.

The IAF scrambled MIG-29 fighter jets to intercept it and it was asked to identify whether it was a friend or a foe.

In the first week of September, a China-bound cargo plane of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force was detained and its ten crew members including the pilot were questioned after customs officials found arms and ammunition on board the aircraft. The plane had made a scheduled transit landing at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport, Kolkata.

The crew members had not informed in the routine declaration submitted to authorities that arms and ammunition were in the plane.

[Liberty Star]

Looks like we posted about the same time, I just read the BBC report too:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=215221

[pinkmandy]

This could also be something that rallies the Iranian people behind the Iranian President. I know there's a lot of discord there right now.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...cle%2FShowFull

A former Iranian vice president who is backing the opposition's challenge to the Teheran regime warned the US and Israel on Saturday against attacking Iran over its nuclear program.


Ataollah Mohajerani, the Islamic republic's former vice president for parliamentary affairs, also cautioned that military force as well as sanctions would hurt the proponents of the "Green Revolution," a diverse coalition of opponents to the current regime that emerged following the flawed presidential elections in June and the ensuing crackdown on dissidents.

He took an equivocal approach to the US efforts at engaging the Iranian leadership, but was categorical that the use of force would only rally the country around the current regime.

"It will strengthen the government in Iran," Mohajerani, said in an address to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "It will crush and stop the pro-democracy movement, which will die."

He said that the majority of reformers would, like himself, defend the leadership "just to protect our sovereignty."

He added that when it came to the military-intelligence sector, any attack would "expand their dominance over the Iranian society."

Noting his ties to opposition leader Mehdi Karoubi, one of the candidates who challenged Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the controversial June elections, and former president Muhammad Khatami, he said neither would support an attack or use it to indict those in charge.

"They're not going to say that Ahmadinejad created this problem so he will have to face it," he asserted. "No, they're not going to say that."

Mohajerani argued that for the Green Movement to thrive, it needed the support of a secure middle-class economic base, and contended that sanctions being considered by the West would hurt those very people and their financial prospects.

"Sanctions will rob the Iranian people of this opportunity and other people will reap the benefit from it," he said, though some opposition leaders have said that sanctions would hurt the regime more and should be supported on that basis.

But according to Mohajerani, creating a long-term sustainable atmosphere for reformist efforts is key.

"The Green Movement is not a 100-yard dash to determine the leader after a few seconds, it's a long marathon," he said.

Because he predicted that the road to change was a long one, he said it would be "unrealistic" to expect that other countries like the United States refrain from talking to and even making deals with the current regime.

Calling the Obama administration's outreach a "greeting card given from your administration to the Iranian government," he suggested that talks could "ease tensions" between the US and Iran, which he supported.

But he expressed concern that what he termed the "six minus five" powers - the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and German, the so-called P5+1 who are negotiating with Iran - would take advantage of a "weak" Teheran to achieve a deal that the pro-democracy movement would later perceive as "unfair."

Mohajerani, who wouldn't speak to Israeli media outlets after his speech, quoted from British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel as well as referenced the tragedy of the Holocaust during his lengthy speech.

"In the case of the Holocaust, even if only one Jewish child was burned or killed, that would have been a catastrophe," he said, before noting the millions exterminated.

Questioned on Iran's support of terrorism in the Middle East and attempts to thwart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Mohajerani said that that "we should not be more Palestinian than the Palestinians … We should not be more Catholic than the pope."

But pressed on Iranian-sponsored attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets, he said, "It cannot be addressed in a short conversation. It takes a longer analysis."

And asked for a yes-or-no answer of whether Israel has a right to exist, he replied, "This is a very, very difficult question. Let me answer this question later."

[pinkmandy]

From last year but interesting read. Funny, had to stop posting to check out the Apaches flying over my house in VA, heading southeast.

Seymour Hersh: US Training Jundullah and MEK for Bombing Preparation

According to an interview with Seymour Hersh, the US is training terrorist groups to cause chaos inside Iran, provoking an aggressive reaction from the Iranians, which will serve as a pretext for military action from the US.

Source: CASMII

Seymour Hersh: US Training Jondollah and MEK for Bombing preparation

In an interview with NPR on his latest New Yorker Article, titled ‘Preparing the battlefield’, the renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reveals more striking details of his findings on the aim of the $400 million budgeted US covert operations inside Iran. He provides valuable information on US military preparations to strike the country, on the total expansion of the Bush Administration’s executive power, about the US recognition of Iran’s overall positive role in Iraq and on the US support for the anti-Iran terrorist organisations Jondollah, PJAK and MEK.

Hersh explains that the aim of the US covert operations inside Iran is to create a pretext for attack with the goal of regime change. “The strategic thinking behind this covert operation is to provoke enough trouble and chaos so that the Iranian government makes the mistake of taking aggressive action which will give the impression of a country in acute turmoil”, he said. “Then you have what the White House calls the ‘casus belli’, a reason to attack the country. That is the thinking and it is very crazy.”

On Iran’s role in Iraq, Hersh points out: “There is absolutely no clear evidence known to the American government that the Iranian leadership has any interest in provoking trouble with the United States in Iraq by sending in people to cause mayhem or kill Americans. There is just no evidence for it.” He continues further on: “Frankly, the guys I know in the inside– in the Special Forces, high up in DoD, high up in the intelligence community–if you push them hard enough, they tell you that Iran has been more of a force for stability in Iraq than negative”.

Hersh comments that the decision to launch these covert operations was prompted by the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate’s verdict that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons programme and that the approval by the US Congress leadership of the $400 million budget for the operations “is totally an expansion” of the executive powers of the Bush Administration.

He explains how the Bush Administration’s policy of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” has led the US to support the Baluchi organisation Jondollah and the MEK (Mujahideen-e-Khalq a.k.a PMOI), both of which have clear track records of terrorist activities including against the US. He reiterates that the US has been giving arms and cash to the terrorists in the MEK for years and reveals that “most of the [MEK] leaders have been taking our money and cashing it in an awful lot of bank accounts in London.” He also reveals for the first time that the US has trained MEK teams in the state of Nevada and that “they do a lot of crazy stuff inside Iran”.

Hersh warns that “we have been moving cruise missiles there for a few months now”, and that the US military is ready. “Our submarines are there, our destroyers are there with cruise missiles aboard, our aircrafts are there, our soldiers are there” to attack Iran within “10 to 12 hours” of the go-ahead order by President Bush, he says, stressing that troops have to go on the ground in Iran in order to destroy Iran’s defensive systems.

He finally points out that Bush “is going to be a very active president, I am afraid, until 11:59:59 seconds on January 20, 2009” and raises the alarm about an “October surprise”, a military attack on Iran, in particular if Obama continues to have a lead in the polls.

Listen to the whole interview here .

For more information or to contact CASMII please visit http://www.campaigniran.org

[BlackTerrel]

Revenge how? He didn't give any specifics?