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Iran Super Thread- Merged

Rifleman62 said:
Force:

You are kidding? You believe that?
Did you watch the video? From where are we getting information to say that iran will have a bomb in 8 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, etc. 30 years passed and we're still 8 months away from the construction of the first bomb. These claims are worthless and history proves it. Thats the only reason why I have doubts.
 
Force said:
The usa wants to pressure iran because of its revolution that kicked out usa's Shah, making usa lose its biggest regional vassal. As to iran wanting to make the bomb well... maybe in 200 years?
http://youtu.be/a2Ve4HrRpvs

Force; I was watching your comments with interest and an open mind. After this pearl of wisdom, I will put you on ignore.
 
Jed said:
Force; I was watching your comments with interest and an open mind. After this pearl of wisdom, I will put you on ignore.
I just stated history facts and asked legitimate questions.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi came to power during World War II after an Anglo-Soviet invasion forced the abdication of his father Reza Shah. During Mohammad Reza's reign, the Iranian oil industry was briefly nationalized under the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh before a U.S. and UK-backed coup d'état deposed Mosaddegh and brought back foreign oil firms
Source :http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi

It is a normal reaction to be hostile towards iran since usa's shah got kicked out..
Also The USA backed Saddam Hussein during the 8 year war while he was using chemical weapons on Iranians. No questions should be asked there? All I'm saying is that the USA/Iran conflict is way bigger than the question of nuclear weapons.. It's a question of influence in the middle east. Syria/Yemen/Bahrain/Lebanon/Iraq are all conflicts that USA and Iran have differences on.. And I think that those conflicts hide a clash of interests between USA and Iran. I might be all wrong but that's how i see the middle east : A clash of interests between USA/Iran/Russia. Am I stupid to think like that? Maybe....

It is true that iran is hostile towards israel, howerver how can they nuke them? They will wipe out the palestinians that they are protecting at the same time and cause a huge disaster. It is illogical... Unless they are planning to conquer the land regardless of its inhabitants. And anyways if they nuke israel they will get nuked also and Iran will just get wiped out.. So I don't and I can never imagine ANY government starting a nuclear war because it is only madness and suicide. It is in the interests of absolutely no one.
 
Instead of S-300s, Iran is considering Antey-2500 SAMs...

Reuters

Russia offers Iran latest anti-aircraft missiles: TASS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has offered Iran its latest Antey-2500 missiles, the head of Russian state defense conglomerate Rostec said on Monday according to media reports, after a deal to supply less powerful S-300 missiles was dropped under Western pressure.

Sergei Chemezov said Tehran was now considering the offer, TASS news agency reported.

Russia scrapped a contract to supply Iran with S-300 surface-to-air missiles under Western pressure in 2010, and Iran later filed a $4-billion international arbitration suit against Russia in Geneva, but the two countries remain allies.

(...SNIPPED)
 
Iran's revolutionary council is nuttish enough to consider nuking Israel, although I suspect nuking the Saudi's might be preferable. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG) however may have different ideas, although they used to be subservient to the Revolutionary Council, it appears they march to their own drum and have taken over large swaths of the economy.  The IRG is now corrupt and interested in making themselves rich, so they will have no interest in a direct war with Israel, but will happily support proxy wars. The Ayatollah's know their position is weak and dependent on the IRG support. The population demographics is young and unhappy, Iran faces internal stress from the Kurds and the Balachs, which will force Iran to always maintain most of it's forces at home.
Events are forcing the IRG and the US to meet a common enemy, a better President would take advantage of that in secret and use it to get concessions behind closed doors. That will not happen. The Iraqi Shias are wedded to Iran, even though they don't fully trust Iran either, the Kurds look for a partner to help them achieve their nationalistic goals and the ISIS crisis will likely be the vehicle to do that. Turkey and Saudi have been playing two sided games and no one trusts them, same with Pakistan. Iran and the west actually share a similar goal in a stable Afghanistan, but Iran is to wedded to having Kabul or Herat beholden to them at any price.
The west needs to support the Kurds and Israelis, they are without doubt the most reliable people in the region, Iran will not rest till it achieves being a nuclear armed power, more to intimidate it's neighbours than the US and to protect itself from the consequences of it's regional meddling. If the west really wanted to put the screws to Iran, stoking the Balchs to revolt would be the best way and that would threaten it's oil reserves.
Meanwhile Sunni Iraq needs to contained and allowed to wither under ISIS. Letting the Sunni world see what a real caliphate looks like will wean them off that fantasy. Sooner or later the Sunni tribes will stab them in the back and pick a regional strongman to run them, at which point the world can re-engage. Iraq is a failed experiment.     

Oh and Force you are selective, Saddam was backed to the hilt by France, China and the Soviets, all whom he owed massive amounts of money to, which is why they did not want him toppled as Iraq would refuse to pay. The US backed Saddam but not with the weapons he used to attack Iran, those were mainly French, Russian and Chinese.
 
For those wondering what ever happened to that Iranian mockup of a US aircraft carrier spotted a year or so ago:

Canadian Press

Iran's Revolutionary Guard targets mock US aircraft carrier in war games near mouth of Gulf

By Ali Akbar Dareini And Adam Schreck, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 4 hours ago

Iranian%20mockup%20of%20USN%20carrier.jpg


TEHRAN, Iran - With rockets roaring and guns blazing, more than a dozen swarming Iranian speedboats assaulted a replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier Wednesday during large-scale naval drills near the strategically vital entrance of the Persian Gulf.

The nationally televised show of force by the country's elite Revolutionary Guard comes just weeks ahead of a deadline for Iran and world powers to forge a historic deal on the fate of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

Iranian live-fire war games are not uncommon. But by simulating for the first time an attack on the ultimate symbol of American naval power, hard-liners hoped to send a message that Iran has no intention of backing down to the U.S. — whichever way talks over its contested nuclear program go.

(...SNIPPED)
 
More on Iran's Hollywood spectacular:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/world/middleeast/in-mock-attack-iranian-navy-blasts-away-at-replica-us-aircraft-carrier.html?action=click&contentCollection=Middle%20East&region=Footer&module=MoreInSection&pgtype=article

Iran’s Navy Blasts Away at a Mock U.S. Carrier
By THOMAS ERDBRINKFEB. 25, 2015

TEHRAN — Iran’s navy may pale in comparison to that of the United States, but on Wednesday it inflicted serious damage on an American aircraft carrier — a mock-up of one, to be exact.

The replica, which seemed to have been built on top of a barge, took some nasty hits, just as a real carrier would in a real war situation, Iranian commanders boasted.

“A unique power has been created, and we do not like to put it into practice,” Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the highest commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, told the local news media. “But if, God forbid, such a day comes, Iran’s navy will have the complete control over the Sea of Oman, the Hormuz Strait and the Persian Gulf.”

The simulation, called Great Prophet 9, was the centerpiece of an exercise by the naval branch of the Revolutionary Guards, and it was carried out in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which more than 20 percent of the world’s oil passes.

State television showed images of missiles striking a “ship” resembling a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, similar to the ones permanently patrolling the blue waters of the Persian Gulf. Enveloped in smoke, the ersatz warship was swarmed by dozens of Iranian speedboats, as a presenter described the types of missiles, torpedoes and rockets blowing holes in its sides.

Military officials could be heard shouting “praise the lord” each time the replica was hit.

“That is the Fateh-110 missile hitting its target,” the presenter said, as more smoke belched from the fake aircraft carrier. “God will guide those who fight in line with his wishes,” he added, quoting a line from the Quran.

Though Iran and the United States are engaged in nuclear talks, Iran has often threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for any attack on its nuclear sites.

Wednesday’s make-believe attack is part of Iran’s strategy to show military might, despite being engaged in direct talks with its archenemy, the United States.

The United States’ presence in the Persian Gulf has long vexed Iran’s leaders, who have said there is no reason for the American Navy to project power so far from its borders. In addition, Iranian officers say, its very presence presents a danger to the region.

“American aircraft carriers are very big ammunition depots housing a lot of missiles, rockets, torpedoes and everything else,” the Revolutionary Guards’ navy chief, Adm. Ali Fadavi, said on state television, adding that a direct hit by a missile could set off a large secondary explosion. Last month, Admiral Fadavi said his force was capable of sinking American aircraft carriers in the event of war.

The mock carrier bore a striking resemblance to a model that the United States military noticed when it was under construction in a shipyard in the port of Bandar Abbas last year. It quickly became known as the Target Barge. The United States did not seem overly concerned about the exercise or the implied threat to its carriers.

“We are aware of a recent exercise by Iranian naval forces involving a mock-up of a vessel similar to an aircraft carrier,” said Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a Defense Department spokeswoman. “We are confident in our naval forces’ ability to defend themselves against any maritime threat.”

Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, the spokesman for the Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, echoed that confidence, adding in remarks to The Associated Press, “It seems they’ve attempted to destroy the equivalent of a Hollywood movie set.”




 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-fatal-flaw-in-the-iran-deal/2015/02/26/9186c70e-bde1-11e4-8668-4e7ba8439ca6_story.html

The fatal flaw in the Iran deal

By Charles Krauthammer Opinion writer February 26 at 8:06 PM

A sunset clause?

The news from the nuclear talks with Iran was already troubling.
Iran was being granted the “right to enrich.” It would be allowed to retain and spin thousands of centrifuges. It could continue construction of the Arak plutonium reactor. Yet so thoroughly was Iran stonewalling International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors that just last Thursday the IAEA reported its concern “about the possible existence in Iran of undisclosed . . . development of a nuclear payload for a missile.”

Bad enough. Then it got worse: News leaked Monday of the elements of a “sunset clause.” President Obama had accepted the Iranian demand that any restrictions on its program be time-limited. After which, the mullahs can crank up their nuclear program at will and produce as much enriched uranium as they want.

Sanctions lifted. Restrictions gone. Nuclear development legitimized. Iran would reenter the international community, as Obama suggested in an interview in December, as “a very successful regional power.” A few years — probably around 10 — of good behavior and Iran would be home free.

The agreement thus would provide a predictable path to an Iranian bomb. Indeed, a flourishing path, with trade resumed, oil pumping and foreign investment pouring into a restored economy.

Meanwhile, Iran’s intercontinental ballistic missile program is subject to no restrictions at all. It’s not even part of these negotiations.

Why is Iran building them? You don’t build ICBMs in order to deliver sticks of dynamite. Their only purpose is to carry nuclear warheads. Nor does Iran need an ICBM to hit Riyadh or Tel Aviv. Intercontinental missiles are for reaching, well, other continents. North America, for example.

Such an agreement also means the end of nonproliferation. When a rogue state defies the world, continues illegal enrichment and then gets the world to bless an eventual unrestricted industrial-level enrichment program, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is dead. And regional hyperproliferation becomes inevitable as Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others seek shelter in going nuclear themselves.

Wasn’t Obama’s great international cause a nuclear-free world? Within months of his swearing-in, he went to Prague to so declare. He then led a 50-party Nuclear Security Summit, one of whose proclaimed achievements was having Canada give up some enriched uranium.

Having disarmed the Canadian threat, Obama turned to Iran. The deal now on offer to the ayatollah would confer legitimacy on the nuclearization of the most rogue of rogue regimes: radically anti-American, deeply jihadist, purveyor of terrorism from Argentina to Bulgaria, puppeteer of a Syrian regime that specializes in dropping barrel bombs on civilians. In fact, the Iranian regime just this week, at the apex of these nuclear talks, staged a spectacular attack on a replica U.S. carrier near the Strait of Hormuz.

Well, say the administration apologists, what’s your alternative? Do you want war?

It’s Obama’s usual, subtle false-choice maneuver: It’s either appeasement or war.

It’s not. True, there are no good choices, but Obama’s prospective deal is the worst possible. Not only does Iran get a clear path to the bomb but it gets sanctions lifted, all pressure removed and international legitimacy.

There is a third choice. If you are not stopping Iran’s program, don’t give away the store. Keep the pressure, keep the sanctions. Indeed, increase them. After all, previous sanctions brought Iran to its knees and to the negotiating table in the first place. And that was before the collapse of oil prices, which would now vastly magnify the economic effect of heightened sanctions.

Congress is proposing precisely that. Combined with cheap oil, it could so destabilize the Iranian economy as to threaten the clerical regime. That’s the opening. Then offer to renew negotiations for sanctions relief but from a very different starting point — no enrichment. Or, if you like, with a few token centrifuges for face-saving purposes.

And no sunset.

That’s the carrot. As for the stick, make it quietly known that the United States will not stand in the way of any threatened nation that takes things into its own hands. We leave the regional threat to the regional powers, say, Israeli bombers overflying Saudi Arabia.

Consider where we began: six U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding an end to Iranian enrichment. Consider what we are now offering: an interim arrangement ending with a sunset clause that allows the mullahs a robust, industrial-strength, internationally sanctioned nuclear program.

Such a deal makes the Cuba normalization look good and the Ukrainian cease-fires positively brilliant. We are on the cusp of an epic capitulation. History will not be kind.
 
A growing headache for the diplomats at Foggy Bottom since US-Israeli ties are the worse they have been in years...partially due to the fact that Pres. Obama also won't meet Netanyahu when he arrives.

Reuters

U.S.-Israel ties fraying over Netanyahu's planned Iran speech
By Matt Spetalnick and Dan Williams

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Signs are growing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned speech to Congress against a possible nuclear deal with Iran could damage his country's broad alliance with the United States.

The right-wing leader's acceptance of a Republican invitation to address the U.S. legislature already brought Netanyahu's long-strained relations with President Barack Obama to a new low due to the overture's partisan nature.

And while U.S. and Israeli officials insist that key areas of cooperation from counter-terrorism to intelligence to cyber security will remain unaffected, the deepening divide over the Iran talks is shaping up as the worst in decades.

(...SNIPPED)
 
S.M.A. said:
A growing headache for the diplomats at Foggy Bottom since US-Israeli ties are the worse they have been in years...partially due to the fact that Pres. Obama also won't meet Netanyahu when he arrives.

Reuters

edited. If can't say something nice don't bother saying it.
 
There's more than enough blame for everyone to share in the current Israel/US dust-up.

No one should blame Israel for considering a nuclear capable Iran to be an existential threat to Israel ~ it is each nation-state's right and duty to define such threats, and nothing that the US or the UN might say can or should change Israel's 'considered opinion' about what does or does not constitute a threat, existential or otherwise.

It appears, to me, anyway, that president Obama is embarked on a "legacy" issue and I, personally, don't blame Israel/PM Netanyahu for mistrusting Obama. But, and it's a big BUT, considering the importance of bipartisan US political support for Israel, I think Netanyahu is thrashing about like a bull in a china shop - I get that he doesn't like or trust Obama but he appears to be both using the US Congress as a tool in Israeli partisan politics and inserting himself and Israel into US partisan politics: neither is a good idea.

I think President Obama is strategically wrong about Iran; I think PM Netanyahu is equally strategically wrong about America. I doubt wither will escape unscathed.
 
This will surely be an interesting week not only for US-Iran relations, but US-Israeli relations, since Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is addressing the US Congress over the Iran issue today (March 3, 2015):

Reuters

Iran calls Obama's 10-year nuclear demand 'unacceptable'
Tue Mar 3, 2015 8:43am EST

By Arshad Mohammed

MONTREUX, Switzerland (Reuters) - Iran on Tuesday rejected as "unacceptable" U.S. President Barack Obama's demand that it freeze sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years, but said it would continue talks aimed at securing a deal, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"Iran will not accept excessive and illogical demands," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by Fars.

"Obama’s stance ... is expressed in unacceptable and threatening phrases ... ," he reportedly said, adding that negotiations underway in Switzerland would nonetheless carry on.

(...SNIPPED)
 
Netanyahu lays it all out clearly in front of the US Congress:

Reuters

Israel's Netanyahu warns Obama against Iran nuclear deal
BY DAN WILLIAMS AND MATT SPETALNICK
WASHINGTON Tue Mar 3, 2015 1:58pm EST

(Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday against accepting a nuclear deal with Iran that would be a "countdown to a potential nuclear nightmare" by a country that "will always be an enemy of America".

"If the deal now being negotiated is accepted by Iran, that deal will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons - it will all but guarantee that Iran will get those nuclear weapons, lots of them," the Israeli leader said in a 39-minute speech to the U.S. Congress that offered a point-by-point critique of Obama's Iran diplomacy.

In an appearance that strained U.S.-Israeli relations and was boycotted by dozens of Obama's fellow Democrats, Netanyahu said Iran's leadership was "as radical as ever," could not be trusted and the deal being worked out with world powers would not block Iran's way to a bomb "but paves its way to a bomb."

(...SNIPPED)
 
S.M.A. said:
For those wondering what ever happened to that Iranian mockup of a US aircraft carrier spotted a year or so ago:

Canadian Press

Of course they didn't have to run the gauntlet of escorts and aircraft that protect a carrier, like killer bees protecting their queen.

THAT would be worth watching. ;D
 
Yesterday's speech by Prime Minister Netanyahu not only laid out the dangers of a nuclear Iran, but also threw the Democrat party into disarray (which may have been the strategic aim; making it unpaletable for America to give more concessions or ensuring the Senate will vote against any bad treaty).

http://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/234543-fiery-netanyahu-speech-divides-dems

Netanyahu speech divides Dems
By Mike Lillis - 03/03/15 08:47 PM EST

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday delivered a blistering rebuke of President Obama’s Iran strategy, warning in an address to Congress that the nuclear disarmament talks would “all but guarantee” a march to war.

The fiery takedown of one of Obama’s top foreign policy priorities split leading Democrats, with some hailing the speech as a thoughtful warning from America’s closest ally in the Middle East and others condemning it as an underhanded attack on the White House.

More than 50 Democrats boycotted the speech to protest both Netanyahu’s censure of Obama’s policies and Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) decision to invite the prime minister without first consulting the White House or Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who attended the speech, issued a scathing statement afterward.

“I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the [negotiating] nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation,” Pelosi said.

That view wasn’t shared by other top Democrats, who praised Netanyahu’s message as both powerful and necessary amid a time of rising terrorist threats in the Middle East.

Rep. Joseph Crowley (N.Y.), vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said it was “a very strong speech” in defense of Israel’s position.

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, called it a “powerful, strong, factual, inspiring” address that “sent a very strong message to the entire world.”

And Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, said it was “a brilliant speech” that did “a very effective job” warning Congress of the risks surrounding Obama’s Iran negotiations.

“I was skeptical about the deal going in, I’m just as skeptical after the speech, and I think a significant number of my colleagues are where I am,” Rep. Israel said. “He changed minds. The question is: How many minds did he change?”

Joined by leaders in a handful of other Western nations, Obama has sought a diplomatic approach to dismantling Iran’s nuclear program in lieu of the tougher sanctions being pushed by Netanyahu and Republicans on Capitol Hill. The deadline for those negotiations is March 24, and Obama has urged Congress to hold off on any new sanctions legislation while administration officials try to finalize a deal.

In his 40-minute speech Tuesday, Netanyahu hammered that approach, arguing that Iran simply can’t be trusted to negotiate a nuclear deal faithfully. The result of a deal, he warned, would be a nuclear-armed Iran that would escalate tensions and leave the world facing “a countdown to a potential nuclear nightmare.”

A deal that’s supposed to prevent nuclear proliferation would instead spark a nuclear arms race in the most dangerous part of the planet,” Netanyahu said. “It won’t be a farewell to arms; it will be a farewell to arms control.”

Netanyahu received thundering applause and multiple standing ovations throughout the speech, and he was given a rock-star reception upon his entry to the chamber, with a crush of lawmakers moving in to shake his hand and wish him well.

Anticipation for the speech was so high, leadership offices said, that there was no way to accommodate the demand for tickets.

Obama — who has declined to meet with Netanyahu this month, citing Israel’s coming elections — was less enthusiastic, saying he had read the transcript of the speech and found “nothing new” in it.

“The prime minister appropriately pointed out that the bond between the United States of America is unbreakable, and on that point I thoroughly agree,” Obama said.

“But on the core issue, which is how do we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, which would make it far more dangerous and would give it scope for even greater action in the region, the prime minister didn’t offer any viable alternatives.”

A long list of liberal Democrats echoed that message on Tuesday, accusing Boehner and Netanyahu of using Congress as a vehicle for staging a high-profile attack on Obama to score political points in the U.S. and Israel alike.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) characterized the speech as “political theater worthy of an Oscar.”

“I believe the prime minister was successful in probably getting reelected,” Cohen said. “I’m sure this will play well in Israel.”

Other liberals piled on. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), noting that no pact with Iran has been reached, accused Netanyahu of “smacking down a straw-man deal that doesn’t exist.”

And Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) accused Netanyahu of undermining the historically strong, bipartisan bond between the United States and Israel.

“The biggest long-term mistake … the prime minister made was embracing a Boehner-led effort while he snubbed, very directly, the president of the United States,” Welch said.
 
Thucydides said:
Yesterday's speech by Prime Minister Netanyahu not only laid out the dangers of a nuclear Iran, but also threw the Democrat party into disarray (which may have been the strategic aim; making it unpaletable for America to give more concessions or ensuring the Senate will vote against any bad treaty).

http://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/234543-fiery-netanyahu-speech-divides-dems

Well good on him if this is the case. The current Administration seems to be stuck on Autopilot and does not seem to be responding to the voice of the people.
 
Iran makes its presence felt in Yemen through its agents:

Military Times

Iranian special operatives free diplomat held in Yemen

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Thursday that a team of special operatives has freed an Iranian diplomat abducted more than 19 months ago in Yemen, a rare acknowledgement by Tehran of an intel operation carried out on foreign soil.

The official IRNA news agency quoted deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian as saying that intelligence officers undertook a "difficult and complicated operation" to secure Nour Ahmad Nikbakht's freedom from the "hands of terrorists."

(...SNIPPED)
 
tomahawk6 said:
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has died from prostrate cancer.

pros·trate
ˈprästrāt/
adjective
1.
lying stretched out on the ground with one's face downward.
synonyms: prone, lying flat, lying down, stretched out, spread-eagled, sprawling, horizontal, recumbent; rareprocumbent
"the prostrate figure on the ground"

Seems a fitting death  ;D
 
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