Recently in Iran Category

Is the jihad in Nigeria a production managed from Tehran? Certainly Boko Haram is well equipped. Where did its weapons come from? "Nigeria court convicts Iranian of illegal arms shipment," from AFP, May 13 (thanks to Pedro):

A Nigerian court on Monday sentenced an alleged member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and his Nigerian accomplice to five years in jail each over an illegal arms shipment.

Azim Aghajani and Nigerian Ali Abbas Jega were detained in 2010 when authorities at a Lagos port discovered 13 containers of weapons that had been declared as construction materials.

“I now pronounce them guilty as charged,” said Federal High Court Judge Okechukwu Okeke, convicting the two on four of five criminal counts.

While the crimes in question carried a potential life sentence, the judge said he was swayed by a plea for leniency from the defence and by the conduct of the pair while in detention.

“In sentencing the accused I have taken into consideration the plea for mercy by the defence team, but the law has to take its course,” Okeke said.

The sentence will be counted retroactively from February 2011, when their trial began, meaning the men will walk free in under three years.

Iranian national Aghajani has denied having links with Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, insisting he was a private businessman conducting a legitimate transaction.

The United Nations added Aghajani to a blacklist last year, labelling him a Revolutionary Guard member tied to “Iranian support for terrorism and extremism worldwide”....

"You mean Allah's will for us is life in a Kenyan prison?"

"I shudder to imagine the amount of damage that could have been seen." "Iranians jailed for life in Kenya over terror charges," from the BBC, May 6 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Two Iranians have been sentenced to life in prison by a Kenyan court on terrorism-related charges.

Ahmad Mohammed and Sayed Mousavi were convicted last week of possessing explosives, which they allegedly planned to use for an attack.

"I shudder to imagine the amount of damage that could have been seen," Judge Kiarie Waweru Kiarie said, AFP news agency reports.

The Iranian government denied that it was part of any plot to target Kenya.

On Sunday, its ambassador to Kenya, Malik Hussein Givzad, said the embassy would help the families of Mohammed and Mousavi to appeal against the judgement.

"As an embassy, what we can do is to assist the families of the convicted to seek redress at the High Court, if the lawyers feel that there was no concrete evidence," Mr Givzad said, Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reports.

"Iran has cordial business relations with Kenya. This was a judicial process, which we respect," he added.

'Cry of victims'

The court said Mohammed and Mousavi were suspected to have links with a network planning bombings in the capital, Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa.

Judge Kiarie said he had decided to sentence them to life in prison because the "cry of victims of previous terrorist attacks is louder" than their pleas for leniency, AFP reports.

Defence lawyers alleged that Mohammed and Mousavi were interrogated by Israeli security officers while in detention.

The prosecution denied the allegation.

Mohamed and Mousavi were arrested in June 2012 and charged with possessing 15kg (33 pounds) of the powerful explosive RDX....

Yet another indication of the fear and suspicion directed toward women in the culture established by Sharia. A few salient ahadith establishing Muhammad's view of women as essentially evil and contemptible:

It was narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that women will form the majority of the people of Hell. It was narrated from ‘Imraan ibn Husayn that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I looked into Paradise and I saw that the majority of its people were the poor. And I looked into Hell and I saw that the majority of its people are women.”

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3241; Muslim, 2737)

With regard to the reason for that, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was asked about it and he explained the reason.

It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abbaas said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I was shown Hell and I have never seen anything more terrifying than it. And I saw that the majority of its people are women.” They said, “Why, O Messenger of Allaah?” He said, “Because of their ingratitude (kufr).” It was said, “Are they ungrateful to Allaah?” He said, “They are ungrateful to their companions (husbands) and ungrateful for good treatment. If you are kind to one of them for a lifetime then she sees one (undesirable) thing in you, she will say, ‘I have never had anything good from you.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1052)

It was narrated that Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri said:

“The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out to the Musalla on the day of Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Fitr. He passed by the women and said, ‘O women! Give charity, for I have seen that you form the majority of the people of Hell.’ They asked, ‘Why is that, O Messenger of Allaah?’ He replied, ‘You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religious commitment than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.’ The women asked, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, what is deficient in our intelligence and religious commitment?’ He said, ‘Is not the testimony of two women equal to the testimony of one man?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Is it not true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is the deficiency in her religious commitment.’”

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 304)

It was narrated that Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah said: “I attended Eid prayers with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He started with the prayer before the khutbah, with no adhaan or iqaamah. Then he stood up, leaning on Bilaal, speaking of fear of Allaah (taqwa) and urging us to obey Him. He preached to the people and reminded them. Then he went over to the women and preached to them and reminded them. Then he said, ‘Give in charity, for you are the majority of the fuel of Hell. A woman with dark cheeks stood up in the midst of the women and said, ‘Why is that, O Messenger of Allaah?’ He said, ‘Because you complain too much and are ungrateful to your husbands.’ Then they started to give their jewellery in charity, throwing their earrings and rings into Bilaal’s cloak.”

(Narrated by Muslim, 885)

"Iran Cleric: Women to Blame for Earthquakes," by Elizabeth Sheld for Breitbart, May 4 (thanks to CGW):

A senior cleric in Iran says that the immodesty and whorish dress of women is responsible for Earthquakes. 

“Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes,” Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi told Iranian media.

Sedighi claims Iranian women are "owning and using a giant earthquake machine."

Apparently Iran is an earthquake prone country. (California is an earthquake prone state so..maybe he is on to something?)

Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agrees: 

“As I have said before, the woes of Iran, and the earthquakes that threaten us in particular, can all be blamed on immodest women,” said Ahmadinejad.

The Iranian leader recently predicted that Tehran was in imminent danger of an earthquake from "a giant earthquake machine to hold our populace hostage"  

Everyone knows that the Islamic Republic of Iran is "extremist," but in fact, in Islamic terms stoning is not "extremist"; it is Islamic law for adulterous women. The caliph Umar, one of Muhammad's closest companions, even maintained that it was originally in the Qur'an:

'Umar said, "I am afraid that after a long time has passed, people may say, "We do not find the Verses of the Rajam (stoning to death) in the Holy Book," and consequently they may go astray by leaving an obligation that Allah has revealed. Lo! I confirm that the penalty of Rajam be inflicted on him who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if he is already married and the crime is proved by witnesses or pregnancy or confession." Sufyan added, "I have memorized this narration in this way." 'Umar added, "Surely Allah's Apostle carried out the penalty of Rajam, and so did we after him." (Bukhari, vol. 8, bk. 82, no. 816)

"Allah's Apostle" is, of course, Muhammad, who did indeed carry out stonings. Here is the hadith in which he challenges the rabbis about stoning, and in which there is amidst the barbarism and brutality a final act of love and compassion:

The Jews came to Allah's Apostle and told him that a man and a woman from amongst them had committed illegal sexual intercourse. Allah's Apostle said to them, "What do you find in the Torah (old Testament) about the legal punishment of Ar-Rajm (stoning)?" They replied, (But) we announce their crime and lash them." Abdullah bin Salam said, "You are telling a lie; Torah contains the order of Rajm." They brought and opened the Torah and one of them solaced his hand on the Verse of Rajm and read the verses preceding and following it. Abdullah bin Salam said to him, "Lift your hand." When he lifted his hand, the Verse of Rajm was written there. They said, "Muhammad has told the truth; the Torah has the Verse of Rajm. The Prophet then gave the order that both of them should be stoned to death. ('Abdullah bin 'Umar said, "I saw the man leaning over the woman to shelter her from the stones." (Bukhari, vol. 4, bk. 56, no. 829)

Even the monkeys practiced stoning, according to another hadith:

During the pre-lslamic period of ignorance I saw a she-monkey surrounded by a number of monkeys. They were all stoning it, because it had committed illegal sexual intercourse. I too, stoned it along with them. (Bukhari, vol. 5, bk. 58, no. 188)

Muhammad's example is, of course, normative for Islamic behavior, since "verily in the messenger of Allah ye have a good example for him who looketh unto Allah and the Last Day, and remembereth Allah much" (Qur'an 33:21).

Sharia Alert from the Islamic Republic of Iran: "Stoning Returns as Punishment," by Firoozeh Matin for Rooz, April 30 (thanks to Blazing Cat Fur):

The controversial “Islamic Punishment” law that was rejected by the Guardians Council returned and eventually was passed last week. To the disappointment of human rights activists and the promises of some Majlis representatives, not only stoning is not negated in the law, it is in fact emphasized.

Hamid-Reza Tabatabai, the vice-chairman of Majlis’s judiciary committee told the press, “Stoning is not negated in the new “Islamic Punishment” law. Its execution has been modified. This was requested by the Guardians Council. According to the law stones do not have to be used to implement the law and hanging, or other innovative methods by the judiciary, can be used to accomplish the same goal.”

He did not provide details about what those “innovative methods” of the judiciary could be. But recently, an extremist Muslim group in neighboring Iraq used an innovative method of the act by throwing blocks of cement on the head of the victim.

Recently the judiciary of the Islamic republic of Iran in the city of Shiraz unveiled an apparatus that had been built to dismember a person’s body organ. As reported by ISNA the tool is nothing but an electric saw made to cut off a person’s fingers. French news AFP compared the tool to the medieval torture tools.

With the new law in place, the judiciary is expected to come up with new “innovative methods” killing people.

The newly passed law had originally been drafted during ayatollah Hashemi Shahrudi’s term as the head of Iran’s judiciary and sent to the executive branch. It was subsequently rejected by the Guardians Council and sent back to the Majlis for changes, which were ultimately made, paving the way for its implementation.

In an interview during his term, Shahrudi had said at one point that the punishment of stoning had been removed from the law and that stoning had stopped being used as judges ruled on other methods of punishment. Just a few months ago on February 17, Shahrudi told Fars news agency that stoning had been removed from the new Islamic punishment law because of its negative international impact and that the final decision lay with the Guardians Council. He also restricted its legal basis to be only used against the most severe offences of adultery and applied only to women.

The spokesperson of Iran’s judiciary also acknowledged the negative domestic and international reaction to the practice. “The eight Majlis removed stoning as a judicial practice and this form of punishment was removed from the new Islamic Punishment law,” he is reported to have said. He did however qualify his remarks by saying that this was a divine concept that existed in the Sharia law.

But...but...Hamas-linked CAIR and Imam Rauf and Reza Aslan told us that Sharia was benign and perfectly compatible with Western legal systems! Are the Iranians yet again misunderstanding Islam?

So far! "Iranian Official: The Jews Use Sorcery Against Iran," from MEMRI, April 28 (thanks to Choi):

An Iranian regime official and a website close to the regime have recently accused the Jews of engaging in sorcery and of employing it against Iran.

Mehdi Taeb, who is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and heads Khamenei's Ammar Base think tank, said in April 2013 that the Jews are the most powerful sorcerers in the world today, and that they have used their powers to attack Iran – for instance by turning the U.S. into their tool and getting it to impose sanctions on Iran, and also through attempts, albeit failed, to interfere in the 2009 elections. He added that while Iran has so far withstood their assaults, they have not yet used the full scope of their powers against it.

In March 2013, the Rasanews.ir website, which is associated with the religious seminaries in Qom, posted an article about the status of sorcery and numerology in Jewish mysticism. According to this article, Jews cherish the knowledge of sorcery, pass it down from generation to generation, and believe that it can be used to control mankind, nature and even God's decisions.

The following are excerpts from Taeb's statements and from the article on Rasanews.ir.

Mehdi Taeb, Official Close to Khamenei: 'So Far, [The Jews] Have Not Used The Full [Scope Of] Their Sorcery Against Us'

Speaking on April 20, 2013 to students at a religious seminary in Ahwaz, Mehdi Taeb noted: "The Jews are currently subjecting us to an unprecedented trial. As you read in the Koran, [King] Solomon ruled the world… and God ordered a group of sorcerers to come out against him. The Jews have the greatest powers of sorcery, and they make use of this tool.

"All the measures that have been brought against us originate with the Zionists. The U.S. is a tool in their hands. So far, they have not used the full [scope of] their sorcery against us. Sorcery was the final means to which they resorted during the Ahmadinejad era, but they were defeated. This ability of the Jews was eliminated by Iran. Five years ago they tried to oust Ahmadinejad [by this means]."[1]

Rasanews.ir, Website Associated With Qom Seminaries: The Jews Believe They Can Use Sorcery To Control God's Decisions

The article on Rasanews.com, published March 7, 2013, stated: "The Jews have always tended to resort to divination, [a practice] that has its roots in astronomy, astrology and sorcery, [which they picked up] when they consorted with various peoples in the course of history. They cherished this [knowledge] like a treasure, generation after generation. In most cases, they base their predictions on the holy book [the Old Testament], especially on the book of Daniel, and they create an ideological climate in which the appreciation of sorcery and the yearning for it increase.

"The [Jewish] people think that ruling over man, nature, and divine traditions can be achieved only by means of sorcery. They believe that it is possible to conquer nature and control the world, and even to control God's decisions, by using sorcery methods…

"Sorcery is known to be a practice of which the divine books [i.e., the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran and] and the monotheistic religions disapprove. But Jewish mysticism regards it as a [legitimate] means to uncover the secrets of the holy book [the Old Testament]."[2]

AP calls them "German-Iranian dual nationals." In what sense were they German, beyond legal technicalities? What kinship or loyalty did they have to their adopted country? From the looks of this, they were in Germany to aid the Iranian jihad, aided by a non-Muslim whose care was apparently only for the bottom line. "Germany Charges 4 With Sending Iran Reactor Parts," from the Associated Press, April 29:

BERLIN (AP) — Federal prosecutors say they have charged three German-Iranian dual nationals and a German man with breaking export laws for allegedly supplying Iran with parts needed to build a nuclear reactor in violation of the country's trade embargo.

Prosecutors said in a statement Monday suspect Hamid Kh., 80, set up contact for Gholamali Ka., 70, and his son Kianzad Ka., 25, with German businessman Rudolf M., 78, whose Thuringia firm produced valves needed for a nuclear reactor's construction. Their last names were not released in accordance with German privacy laws.

The group is accused of supplying Iran with 92 German-made valves, and another 856 Indian-made valves, in 2010 and 2011.

They're accused of supplying the parts through front companies in other countries in deals worth millions of euros in total.

"The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with 'Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death)." -- Bukhari 7.62.88

Muslims take this seriously and imitate Muhammad in this. Article 1041 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran states that girls can be engaged before the age of nine, and married at nine: "Marriage before puberty (nine full lunar years for girls) is prohibited. Marriage contracted before reaching puberty with the permission of the guardian is valid provided that the interests of the ward are duly observed."

The Ayatollah Khomeini himself married a ten-year-old girl when he was twenty-eight. Khomeini called marriage to a prepubescent girl "a divine blessing," and advised the faithful: "Do your best to ensure that your daughters do not see their first blood in your house."

The Qur'an also allows for marriage to pre-pubescent girls, stipulating that Islamic divorce procedures “shall apply to those who have not yet menstruated” (65:4).

"Gender and Society In Iran – Part 1: The Debate Over Child Marriage, Including Child Brides Wed To Adult Men," by Y. Mansharof and A. Savyon for MEMRI, April 24:

...Under Iranian law, girls may marry at 13 and boys at 15, and children under 10 may marry with the approval of their guardian and the court.[1]According to official statistics, about one million children, even under age 10, are married. The statistics also show that 85% of these one million married children are girls – meaning that most of them are married to grown men.[2]

Child Marriage Is Growing, And Poses Great Risk To Society – But It's Permitted By Islamic Law

Public figures – sociologists, Majlis members, activists, and others – have warned that the number of children marrying is on the rise, and with it the great health and social risks this poses for society, and have called on the regime to tackle it with legal and cultural reforms.[3] According to one sociologist, arranging marriages for children, especially girls, is common among poor and uneducated urban families that seek a way out of dire financial straits; he adds that the girls themselves are severely damaged both physically and psychologically.

Regime spokesmen have denied the extent of the phenomenon, and have also shrugged off the matter, saying that child marriage is legal and that preventing it is against Islamic law.

The following are facts, figures, and main arguments in the debate on child marriage in Iran.

The Statistics On Child Marriage In Iran

Marriage At Ages 10-15

According to regime statistics, from March through June of 2012, 1,805 children under the age of 15 were married legally and with the permission of the court; that number for the period from March 2011 to March 2012[4] was 7,440.

Expressing concern about the increase, anti-child-bride activist Farshid Yazdani, a member of the Association for the Defense of Children's Rights in Iran, noted that while in 2006 child marriages constituted 2.3% of all marriages, by 2010 that figure had grown 45%, to 4.9%. He warned the regime about the ramifications of child marriages, including divorce and domestic violence, and noted that in 2006, statistics showed that Iran had 25,000 divorced children aged 10-15.[5]

Marriages Under Age 10

According to Islamic law, girls reach maturity at age nine; in 2011, in Tehran province alone, 75 girls and boys under 10 were married.[6] Warning about the increase in marriages of children under 10, Yazdani noted that in 2010, in all of Iran 716 children under 10 wed – twice as many as in 2007.[7]

In an attempt to explain the increase in child marriages in Iran, Amanollah Gharai-Moghadam, who heads the Sociology Association of Iran, pointed at the economic difficulties afflicting Iranian society. He said that in Tehran province many destitute families accept any marriage proposal for their daughters regardless of the girls' ages – and regardless of their rights – so as to reduce the family's expenses. He added, "In some cases, poor families are forced to sell their daughters; in others they are forced to marry off their sons and daughters after the children conduct relations that are forbidden... and in still others, the girl is given to an elderly man in lieu of payment of a debt... In a society rife with poverty, [large] gaps in status, inflation, and unemployment, people act crudely."[8]...

He also reiterated the claim that to resist the Islamic Republic was to go to war against Allah: "If anyone rejects the verdict of the Supreme Leader who has been chosen by Imams, he is actually rejecting the words of those who have been chosen by God. Based on the commands of the Imams, opposing the Supreme Leader is profanity towards God, and God forbid if this shortcoming is for personal gains."

"Cleric defends medieval punishments and decrees opposing Khamenei is 'evil,'" from the National Council of Resistance of Iran, April 9 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

NCRI - Opposing the views of Iranian regime's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is 'blasphemous and evil' a high-ranking regime cleric has decreed.

Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi - a member of powerful Assembly of Experts - also defended medieval punishment including being hurled off a cliff, stoning, public hanging, mutilation, taking out eyes, juvenile execution and torture.

Yazdi said in a speech: "If anyone rejects the verdict of the Supreme Leader who has been chosen by Imams, he is actually rejecting the words of those who have been chosen by God.

"Based on the commands of the Imams, opposing the Supreme Leader is profanity towards God, and God forbid if this shortcoming is for personal gains.

"Those who have studied in our religious schools believe that ...punishment verdicts cannot be carried out in the modern era. This kind of belief is blasphemy and the beliefs of these people is evil."

And yet the U.S. is allowing Turkey and China to ignore the sanctions on doing business with Iran. As long as that continues, the sanctions themselves are toothless, and actions like this one are just window dressing.

"U.S. targets companies accused of evading Iran sanctions," by Timothy Gardner for Reuters, April 11:

(Reuters) - The United States on Thursday slapped financial penalties on an Iranian businessman, a Malaysian bank and a network of companies it accused of attempting to evade international sanctions on Iran's nuclear program through money laundering.

The Treasury Department blacklisted Babak Zanjani and First Islamic Investment Bank for providing financial and other support to the National Iranian Oil Company.

It said Zanjani and a network of companies had moved billions of dollars on behalf of the Iranian government, including tens of millions of dollars to an engineering unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

"As international sanctions have become increasingly stifling, Iran has resorted to criminal money laundering techniques, moving its oil and money under false names and pretenses," said David S. Cohen, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at Treasury.

The measures are the latest by Washington to crack down on Iran's nuclear program. U.S. and European sanctions on Iran's oil industry aim to choke funding for its nuclear program, which the West says is being used to develop weapons. Iran says the program is for civilian purposes.

The sanctions have slashed Iran's oil exports, devalued its currency, and pushed up inflation.

Based in the United Arab Emirates, Zanjani is the chairman of the Sorinet Group, a group of companies and banks. He told Reuters late last year his network did not work for Tehran after the European Union forbade companies and individuals from doing Iran-related business with him.

NETWORKS

Last month Treasury imposed financial sanctions on Dimitris Cambis, a Greek businessman it said secretly operated a shipping network on behalf of Tehran to evade the oil sanctions.

"Whether through Babak Zanjani, Dimitris Cambis, or tomorrow's chosen accomplice, we will be relentless in exposing and thwarting Iran's attempts to evade international sanctions and abuse the global financial system," Cohen said.

By taking the action against Zanjani, the bank and the network of companies, the Treasury Department prohibited transactions between them and any U.S. citizen and freezes any assets they have under U.S. jurisdiction, it said....

"'America should not think that with some diplomatic dialogue it can solve its dossier (problem) with the nation of Iran,' Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi said. 'The path of this land is directed by the martyrs. America with its hollow slogans … thinks the Iranian nation will believe it.'" But no one in Washington is willing to listen to this statement or consider its implications.

"Iran: 2013 will be 'fall of American empire,'" by Reza Kahlili for WND, March 31:

The “American empire” will fall this year, the head of Iran’s Basij forces claimed Sunday, a message that was approved by the Islamic regime’s supreme leader.

“America should not think that with some diplomatic dialogue it can solve its dossier (problem) with the nation of Iran,” Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi said. “The path of this land is directed by the martyrs. America with its hollow slogans … thinks the Iranian nation will believe it.”

The Basij commander was speaking to an audience of the 10th conference of “Journey of Enlightened Land” commemorating the “martyrs” of the eight-year war with Iraq, according to the Journalist Club, an outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards intelligence division.

Naghdi called President Obama’s actions deceitful, saying, “Obama in letters sent to the Islamic Republic promised to put an end to the Iranian nuclear dossier but … reacted in a different way.”

As reported in January 2012, Iranian officials revealed the contents of an Obama letter to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that indicated a deep desire by the U.S. president for a dialogue with the radical leaders of Iran. Iranian officials also claimed that a subsequent oral message by Obama delivered through the Swiss ambassador in Tehran was even more revealing than the letter delivered to the Iranian supreme leader.

Hossein Ebrahimi, the vice chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said last year that in a meeting between Swiss Ambassador Livia Leu Agosti and Iranian Foreign Ministry officials, Agosti informed the Iranian officials that Obama recognizes Iran’s right of access to and use of nuclear technology.

Ebarhimi also disclosed another important point that the Swiss diplomat delivered: Obama said that “I didn’t want to impose sanctions on your central bank, but I had no options but to approve it since a Congress majority had approved the decision.”

The Basij commander called Obama the most seditious president in the history of America: “Within this period, nothing but betrayal has been witnessed by Obama as the president of America. … America with its enmity toward Iran … has surrounded the country with sanctions.” Under the supreme leader’s request, Naghdi warned that “The epic political movement this year will be the fall of the American empire and the revealing of its true face of cruelty by its politicians.”

Naghdi was born in Iraq and moved to Iran after the Iranian Revolution, joining the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. He later joined the Quds Forces, which is involved in international terrorism.

In October 2009, Khamanei appointed Naghdi to command the Basij paramilitary forces. Naghdi has been sanctioned by the U.S. as a violator of human rights for having participated in the suppression of the Iranian people.

Naghdi previously had threatened to kill American generals in response to the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists.

He said at the time, “We will mark the hanging sites of the American and Zionist generals and we will identify which hanging was in retaliation for the blood of our great martyr.”

At Sunday’s ceremony, Naghdi, as promised, presented “The Wet Gunpowder” award to first lady Michelle Obama. The award is given to those who “unknowingly and unwillingly” have contributed greatly to the Islamic Revolution. The prize was sent to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran to be handed over to American officials for delivery to Mrs. Obama.

They could have read that the chief beneficiary of our misguided Wilsonian adventure in Iraq is Iran at Jihad Watch since at least 2006:

June 27, 2006: "Of course, Ahmadinejad may be jumping the gun a bit as far as that is concerned, but he is certainly doing all he can to bring into being a Shi'ite client state in Iraq."

September 13, 2006: "Here we see looming in Iraq the Shi'ite client state of Iran that the U.S. has unwittingly helped put into place with its short-sighted democracy project."

October 31, 2006: "Is al-Maliki on the road to creating the Shi'ite client state that the Iranians have been trying to foster in Iraq for quite some time now?"

February 11, 2007: "Iran continues its efforts to create a Shi'ite client state in Iraq."

June 10, 2008: "Or are U.S. troops the main obstacle to Iraq's becoming a full-fledged client state of Iran?"

November 12, 2008: "Very soon now the President of the United States and the President of Iran will sit down, without preconditions, and hash this out, and clear everything up before Iraq turns fully into the Shi'ite client state that the Iranians covet."

July 1, 2009: "Their goal of creating a Shi'ite client state is closer than ever to being realized."

July 30, 2009: "Was this what we have been fighting for in Iraq all these years? An Iranian Shi'ite client state in Baghdad?"

"Ten years after Iraq war began, Iran reaps the gains," by Ned Parker for the Los Angeles Times, March 28 (thanks to all who sent this in):

BAGHDAD — Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the geopolitical winner of the war appears to be their common enemy: Iran.

American military forces are long gone, and Iraqi officials say Washington's political influence in Baghdad is now virtually nonexistent. Hussein is dead. But Iran has become an indispensable broker among Baghdad's new Shiite elite, and its influence continues to grow.

The signs are evident in the prominence of pro-Iran militias on the streets, at public celebrations and in the faces of some of those now in the halls of power, men such as Abu Mehdi Mohandis, an Iraqi with a long history of anti-American activity and deep ties to Iran.

During the occupation, U.S. officials accused Mohandis of arranging a supply of Iranian-made bombs to be used against U.S. troops. But now Iraqi officials say Mohandis speaks for Iran here, and Prime Minister Nouri Maliki recently entrusted him with a sensitive domestic political mission.

Iran's role reinforces its strategic position at a time when the world looks increasingly hostile to Tehran, the capital. It faces tough international sanctions for its disputed nuclear program and fears losing longtime ally Syria to an insurgency backed by regional Sunni Muslim rivals.

Western diplomats and Iraqi politicians say they are concerned that the Islamic Republic will be tempted to use proxies in Iraq to strike at its enemies, as it has done with Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

American officials say they remain vital players in Iraq and have worked to defuse tension between Maliki and his foes.

During a visit to Baghdad on Sunday, however, Secretary of State John F. Kerry was unable to persuade Maliki to stop Iranian flights crossing Iraqi airspace to Syria. The U.S. charges that Iranian weapons shipments are key to propping up Syrian President Bashar Assad; Maliki says there is no proof that Tehran is sending anything besides humanitarian aid. Kerry's visit was the first by a U.S. Cabinet official in more than a year.

Overall, Iraqi officials and analysts say, Washington has pursued a policy of near-total disengagement, with policy decisions largely relegated to the embassy in Baghdad. Some tribal leaders complain that the Americans have not contacted them since U.S. troops left in late 2011.

Iraq's political atmosphere has deteriorated. Maliki has ordered the arrest of his former finance minister, a Sunni. Disputes in the north between the central government and leaders of the semiautonomous Kurdish region are unresolved.

"The Americans have no role. Nobody listens to them. They lost their power in this country," said Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Mutlaq, a Sunni, commenting on the disappearance of the Americans as a broker for most of Iraq's disputes....

Maliki and Kerry, Maliki and Ahmadinejad: Compare and contrast

I've been predicting this since at least 2006: the chief beneficiary of our misguided Wilsonian adventure in Iraq is Iran. But no one in Washington has noticed yet.

June 27, 2006: "Of course, Ahmadinejad may be jumping the gun a bit as far as that is concerned, but he is certainly doing all he can to bring into being a Shi'ite client state in Iraq."

September 13, 2006: "Here we see looming in Iraq the Shi'ite client state of Iran that the U.S. has unwittingly helped put into place with its short-sighted democracy project."

October 31, 2006: "Is al-Maliki on the road to creating the Shi'ite client state that the Iranians have been trying to foster in Iraq for quite some time now?"

February 11, 2007: "Iran continues its efforts to create a Shi'ite client state in Iraq."

June 10, 2008: "Or are U.S. troops the main obstacle to Iraq's becoming a full-fledged client state of Iran?"

November 12, 2008: "Very soon now the President of the United States and the President of Iran will sit down, without preconditions, and hash this out, and clear everything up before Iraq turns fully into the Shi'ite client state that the Iranians covet."

July 1, 2009: "Their goal of creating a Shi'ite client state is closer than ever to being realized."

July 30, 2009: "Was this what we have been fighting for in Iraq all these years? An Iranian Shi'ite client state in Baghdad?"

"Kerry warns Iraq on Iran flights to Syria," by Matthew Lee for the Associated Press, March 24 (thanks to all who sent this in):

BAGHDAD (AP) — Just days after the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confronted Baghdad for continuing to grant Iran access to its airspace and said Iraq's behavior was raising questions about its reliability as a partner.

Speaking to reporters during a previously unannounced trip to Baghdad, Kerry said that he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had engaged in "a very spirited discussion" on the Iranian flights, which U.S. officials believe are ferrying weapons and fighters intended for the embattled Syrian government.

Kerry said the plane shipments — along with material being trucked across Iraqi territory from Iran to Syria — were helping President Bashar Assad's regime cling to power by increasing their ability to strike at Syrian rebels and opposition figures demanding Assad's ouster.

"I made it very clear that for those of us who are engaged in an effort to see President Assad step down and to see a democratic process take hold ... anything that supports President Assad is problematic," Kerry said at a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after meeting separately with Maliki at his office. "And I made it very clear to the Prime Minister that the overflights from Iran are, in fact, helping to sustain President Assad and his regime."...

How is it that the government of the Islamic Republic misunderstands Islam so spectacularly as to be this intolerant? Could it be that Islam doesn't actually teach that non-Muslims should be treated as equals? Naaah -- that couldn't be!

"Nursing mothers imprisoned: UN report details Iranian persecution of non-Muslims," by Benjamin Weinthal for FoxNews.com, March 22 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Iran’s hard-line regime has intensified its violent crackdown on Christians and other religious minorities, even imprisoning nursing mothers for practicing their faith, according to a new UN report.

The March report provides a rare, detailed view into the shocking treatment of Christians in Iran, where American Pastor Saeed Abedini is serving an eight-year sentence for his alleged work with Christians.

“The persecution of Christians has increased,” said Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s expert on human rights in Iran. “It seems to target new converts and those who run house churches.”

At least 13 Protestant Christians are currently in detention centers across Iran, and more than 300 Christians have been arrested since June 2010, according to the report. In addition to Christians, the nation’s 350,000 Bahai, who form Iran’s largest non-Muslim faith, have suffered under Tehran’s repression.

While most of the cases have not made headlines, the report spotlighted some examples.

Iran’s judicial authorities sentenced Christian Pastor Behnam Irani in 2011 and church leader Farshid Fathi in 2012 to six-year prison terms. Irani was convicted of “actions against the state,” because he preached Christianity, while Fathi was convicted of “religious propaganda.”

Abedini was sentenced in late January to eight years in Iran’s Evin prison for practicing Christianity in Iran.

Fathi was accused of distributing Persian-language Bibles and coordinating trips for church members to attend religious seminars and conferences outside the country, the report stated.

Iran’s regime shut down the home-based Janat Abad Assemblies of God Church in Tehran last year.

“Fundamentally, it is an issue of intolerance of different views,” Shaheed said.

There is a “new Islamization in part of the government” that might explain the spike in repression targeting Christians, he added.

The UN report is the latest evidence that Iran’s clerical leaders seek to stamp out religious freedoms for minorities and dissent in the authoritarian Islamic Republic....

These genocidal threats are becoming routine, but the world still directs its opprobrium toward Israel, not the jihadists who have vowed to destroy the Jewish state.

"Iran will destroy Israeli cities if attacked: Khamenei," from Reuters, March 21 (thanks to all who sent this in):

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's most powerful authority said the Islamic Republic would destroy the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if Israel launched a military attack against it.

"At times the officials of the Zionist regime (Israel) threaten to launch a military invasion but they themselves know that if they make the slightest mistake the Islamic Republic will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during an address, broadcast live on state television.

Israel has threatened military action against Iran unless it abandons nuclear activities which the West suspects are intended to develop nuclear weapons, allegations Tehran denies.

Here yet again we see why there isn't a large number of genuine Muslim reformers. "Liberal Iraqi Shi'ite Scholar Sayyed Ahmad Al-Qabbanji Calls For Reason In Islamic Discourse and Jurisprudence," by Yotam Feldner for MEMRI, February 21:

Introduction

On February 18, 2013, the Iraqi media reported that the liberal Iraqi Shi'ite scholar Sayyed Ahmad Al-Qabbanji had been arrested the previous day in Qom,[1] Iran, while visiting family.[2]

Sayyed Al-Qabbanji's revolutionary ideas, especially his focus in the last few years on the need to rationalize Islamic religious discourse and jurisprudence, have made him the bane of the powerful Shi'ite clergy in Iraq, and have sparked accusations of heresy against him there – particularly in the months prior to his arrest in Iran.

The news of the arrest was received with mixed reactions by the Iraqi intelligentsia. While his supporters and fellow liberal scholars and politicians have called for his immediate release,[3] some among the Shi'ite clergy have demanded that Iran prosecute him for "his violations of the sanctity of his [Shi'ite] denomination."[4]

Following the arrest, Iranian intelligence services deputy director Mohammad Mosajadi was quoted as telling Tehran Radio that Al-Qabbanji was spying for Israel and transmitting "coded information" to it. If found guilty of this, he said, Iran would cooperate with the Iraqi government in carrying out the death penalty.[5]

Meanwhile, in the five days since Al-Qabbanji's arrest, the Iraqi authorities have refrained from commenting on the matter.

The following is a review of the philosophy of Sayyed Ahmad Al-Qabbanji.

Who Is Sayyed Ahmad Al-Qabbanji?

Sayyed Ahmad Al-Qabbanji is perhaps the most innovative of modern Islamic scholars. His defiance of conventional Islamic beliefs has made him persona non grata in Iraqi television studios. Eventually, Al-Qabbanji turned to the Internet, launching a series of weekly public lectures, which were filmed and posted on a dedicated YouTube channel.[6]

Born in Najaf, Iraq in 1958, Al-Qabbanji studied Islamic jurisprudence at the Shi'ite Hawza of his hometown in the 1970s. In 1979, when Saddam Hussein became president, he left Iraq for Syria and Lebanon, and eventually settled in the holy city of Qom, Iran, where he continued his religious education. After returning to post-Saddam Iraq in 2008, he founded and headed the Liberal Islamic Movement in Iraq.[7] He translated into Arabic several books by the renowned Iranian scholar Abdolkarim Soroush, and authored many of his own books presenting his views.

According to some accounts, Al-Qabbanji fought for Iran in the Iran-Iraq war when he was a believer in the Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and lost the use of his right arm during that time.[8]

Since returning to Iraq, Al-Qabbanji has been provoking Islamist ire, challenging the basic precepts of Islam, and demanding that they be modified in accordance with modern-day reason. In October 2012, he clashed with his elder brother, Sadr Al-Din Al-Qabbanji, who is the Friday prayer imam of Najaf and a leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. The latter issued a fatwa declaring that "the ideas promoted by Sayyed Ahmad Al-Qabbanji are distorted and un-Islamic... these ideas are part of the war waged by the enemies of Islam, in order to cast doubt on the Islamic religion and its principles."[9]

Soon after the fatwa was made public, Al-Qabbanji responded, saying: "My honorable [brother] was right. I have deviated from his religion, every bit of which I reject. Let them say that I am an apostate and a heretic. It is true. I am an apostate from their religion, which stirs nothing but hatred of the other – a religion devoid of beauty, devoid of love, devoid of humanity... You have made people hate Allah and Islam. You have turned yourselves into Allah's police, proclaiming who is a deviant and who is an apostate…"[10]...

Can a sitting president of Iran be stoned to death? "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused of 'heresy,'" from the Telegraph, March 15:

A senior Iranian cleric has accused Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of "heresy" after saying Hugo Chavez would be resurrected with the 12th imam.

Ayatollah Ahmed Janati, the hardline chief of the Guardians Council, told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran: "Those comments on Chavez's return with Christ were heresy."

Janati was referring to comments by Ahmadinejad on March 6 in which he called Chavez a "martyr" who would "return, along with the righteous Jesus and the perfect human."

The last was an allusion to Shia Islam's 12th imam that Iran's majority faith believes will return with Christ to bring peace and justice to the world.

Janati said Iran's clergy had been "upset" by the remarks.

"Should people say whatever comes to mind? I wish (Ahmadinejad) had spent a few days in a seminary before discussing such issues," he said.

You gotta be kidding me

And American traitor Kevin Barrett writes up this farrago for Iran's state-controlled PressTV. Argo an intelligence op? It's beyond absurd, but Kevin Barrett is no stranger to absurd and paranoid conspiracy theories. And so here yet again, we see that Islamic supremacists simply cannot handle the slightest criticism, and do all they can to crush those who dare to utter it.

"Ben Affleck could be hanged for war crimes: US intelligence expert," by Kevin Barrett for PressTV, March 13 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):

If the makers of Argo are deposed under oath, they may be forced to reveal that their film -- like the fictitious film-within-the-film -- is a covert operation disguised as a movie. One of America's leading experts on covert operations believes that Argo is the propaganda project of an intelligence agency or agencies, and that its purpose is to convince the American people to go along with Israel's plan to drag America into a war on Iran."

Is Argo “just a movie?” Or is it a disguised intelligence operation - maybe even a war crime?

These questions may soon be answered in court. Well-known French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre has met with Iranian officials planning a lawsuit against the makers and distributors of the controversial film.

Mohammad Lesani, General Secretary of Monday's Hoax of Hollywood conference in Tehran, announced, "Argo is made by three film-producing companies in Hollywood...the Islamic Republic of Iran is going to sue all those who have been active in the anti-Iran domain, including directors and producers.”

If the makers of Argo are deposed under oath, they may be forced to reveal that their film -- like the fictitious film-within-the-film -- is a covert operation disguised as a movie. One of America's leading experts on covert operations believes that Argo is the propaganda project of an intelligence agency or agencies, and that its purpose is to convince the American people to go along with Israel's plan to drag America into a war on Iran.

That expert, Barbara Honegger, was a Special Assistant to the President as well as White House Policy Analyst (1981-83), and worked for over a decade as Senior Military Affairs Journalist with the Naval Postgraduate School, the premiere science, technology and national security affairs graduate research university of the US Department of Defense. The author of October Surprise, she is one of America's leading experts on ultra-secretive covert operations or “black ops.”

In a radio interview Tuesday on the Kevin Barrett Show, Honegger stated that filmmaker Ben Affleck might one day be hanged for war crimes and treason - not only for Argo, which she said is designed to pave the road to war on Iran, but also for his role in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor, an earlier intelligence operation designed to pave the road to the 9/11 “New Pearl Harbor.” According to Honegger, Affleck - like his character in Argo - appears to be a covert operator posing as a filmmaker.

Not surprising at all. "State Department ducks hearing on American pastor imprisoned in Iran," by Judson Berger for FoxNews.com, March 15 (thanks to Lookmann):

The State Department ducked a hearing Friday that will focus on the case of imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini, just days after the leading U.S. representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council declined to specifically address the pastor’s case during a meeting on Iran’s human rights record.

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., chairman of the Capitol Hill commission holding the hearing, slammed the Obama administration for turning down the invitation to testify.

“It is amazing,” Wolf told FoxNews.com. “I can’t, almost, believe it.”

The hearing, which began Friday morning, focuses on the plight of religious minorities in Iran. Slated to testify are the group representing the Abedini family in the U.S. as well as Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh.

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission reached out to the State Department last Friday in a bid to bring in a State Department witness to speak on the lead-off panel.

A Wolf aide said despite repeated attempts they didn’t hear back from the department until Thursday, when the department said no one was available.

Wolf voiced skepticism at the excuse. “The building is loaded with people,” he said of the State Department.

“The very fact that the United States government is not speaking out sends a very powerful message,” Wolf said.

Abedini converted from Islam to Christianity in 2000 and became a U.S. citizen in 2010 after he married his American wife. The Iranian government does not recognize his American citizenship, though it had enabled him to travel freely between both countries until this past summer, when he was pulled off a bus and placed under house arrest, according to his supporters.

The Obama administration has publicly called for Abedini’s release. But Naghmeh Abedini recently told Fox News that she has not received a phone call from President Obama or the secretary of state.

In prepared testimony for Friday’s hearing, she plans to say she is “disappointed” with the U.S. government.

“I am disappointed that our president and our State Department have not fully engaged this case – disappointed that this great country is not doing more to free my husband, a U.S. citizen. We are both proud to be American citizens. And I expect more from our government,” she plans to say....

Wolf said he can only assume the State Department’s message to Americans abroad is: “Just don’t get arrested in a foreign country.”

Or "Just don't cross the mullahs," or "Just don't violate Sharia laws regarding apostasy and proselytizing."

Of course! It is the kuffar's place to pay the jizya! (Cf. Qur'an 9:29)

An update on this story. "Iran: Detained Christians face exorbitant bail demands," from the ASSIST News Service, March 13 (thanks to Twostellas):

Five members of the Church of Iran denomination appeared before a judge at the 14th Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz, Fars Province on March 10 and were handed exorbitant bail terms.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Mohammad Roghangir, Surush Saraie, Eskandar Rezaie, Shahin Lahooti and Massoud Rezaie are charged with disturbing public order, evangelising, action against national security and an internet activity against the system.

Their trial was expected to commence on March 10; however, during their court appearance, Judge Sadati set bail for Mohammed Roghangir at US$ 200,000, while the others were asked for US$ 80,000 each. No date was set for the continuation of the trial.

CSW says that the five Christians were among seven people arrested on 12 October 2012 during an evening raid by the security services on a house in Shiraz where a prayer service led by Mr Roghangir was underway. They were initially held in Plaque 100, the Intelligence Ministry's notorious detention centre, before being transferred to Adel-Abad Prison, where they are held separately from other prisoners....

Are you sensing a pattern?

This week:

#MyJihad in Kentucky: Two Muslims sentenced to prison dawah for plot to export aircraft to Iran

#MyJihad in Texas: Two Muslims arrested for misunderstanding Islam, shipping $12 million worth of computers to Iran

"Report: Iranians with nuclear components arrested," by Ariel ben Solomon for the Jerusalem Post, March 11 (thanks to Mackie):

Germany and Turkey arrested seven suspected Iranian smugglers who were transporting materials for that country’s nuclear program from India and Germany, according to a UPI report about an article in the Turkish Haberturk newspaper.

The components were to be delivered to the Iranian nuclear facility in Arak, Iran.

According to the report, Turkey apprehended two of the suspects at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. One was an Iranian with Turkish citizenship and the other was an Iranian, who was suspected of being one of the leaders of the operation.

Security officials also captured a trove of documents related to the operation.

Germany arrested five Iranians, according to the report.

All together it is estimated that the smugglers shipped 900 deliveries of nuclear material to Iran using front companies in Turkey. The search continues for others suspects.

This follows a report in February by The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) that Iran was trying to smuggle magnet components for its nuclear program from China.