An Iranian security agent at the scene of a remote-controlled bomb explosion in which Professor Massoud Ali Mohammadi was killed outside his Tehran residence on January 12, 2010. Tehran's prosecutor told ISNA news agency he was climbing into his car when a nearby parked motorbike exploded.
TEHRAN -- A remote-controlled bomb killed a Tehran University nuclear scientist on Tuesday, state media reported, in an attack which Iran blamed on U.S. and Israeli agents.
The blast which killed professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi occurred at a time of heightened tension in the Islamic Republic, seven months after a disputed presidential election plunged the major oil producer into turmoil.
It also coincided with a sensitive time in Iran's row with the West over its nuclear ambitions, with major powers expected to meet in New York on Saturday to discuss possible new sanctions on Tehran over its refusal to halt its atomic work.
Such bombing attacks are rare in the Iranian capital.
The bomb which killed "Ali-Mohammadi, a nuclear scientist and a committed and revolutionary Tehran University professor, was detonated by a remote control," state broadcaster IRIB said on its website.
Officials blamed Israel and the United States for the bombing. "Signs of the triangle of wickedness by the Zionist regime (Israel), America and their hired agents, are visible in the terrorist act," the foreign ministry said....
Yeah, yeah, the "Axis of Evil" so now there is the 'Triangle of Wickedness."
KNOCK IT OFF !!!!
You did this, didn't you Mahmoud?
Right?
Yeah, ya did.
Don't tell ME you didn't. You were all too quick with the "Triangle of Wickedness."
You were ready for this propaganda stuff now.
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| Israel tight-lipped about mysterious death of Iranian nuclear physicist (click here)
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| By Yossi Melman and Barak Ravid | |
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Nice Work. Ya know, diplomacy gets tired of talking and broken promises, IF, this was the West. I doubt anyone will ever know. It was probably Russia, right Vladimir? It's okay, we don't mind. Look, it is about time the West took some heat that is normally leveled at Putin. Enough already.
Anyone getting the feeling as though Iran might be losing its sovereignty? Gee, what a shame. It would seem with all the unrest there are many countries rightfully concerned for the safety of the region and the people of Iran. Either way, this was not a bad thing. I have stated before the civil war casts grave concerns on the ability of the Iranian government to control its outcome in regard to its national security. Oh, well.
| Three men accused of exporting nuclear technology to Iran |
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| www.chinaview.cn |
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| LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Three men were accused in an alleged conspiracy to illegally export nuclear technology to Iran, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. The three suspects, a Los Angeles resident and two Iranians, violated trade sanctions imposed on Iran, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The technology intended to be exported to Iran could be used to produce nuclear fuel, prosecutors claimed. An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on Dec. 30 charges Jiraiir Avanessian, 56, a Los Angeles resident, and Farhoud Masoumian, 42, of Tehran, with multiple violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian trade embargo, including smuggling, money laundering and other crimes. The IEEPA prohibits U.S. citizens from exporting such technology to Iran without a license and federal authorization. Also, it is illegal to sell the technology to Iran from the United States. Avanessian was arrested at his home on Monday and a U.S. magistrate ordered him detained pending trial. An arrest warrant has been issued for Masoumian, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. A third man, Amirhossein Sairafi of Iran, was charged on Jan. 4 in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles for his alleged role in the scheme. He was arrested earlier this week in Frankfurt by German law enforcement authorities based on a provisional arrest warrant from the United States, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The Iran-born Avanessian, owner and operator of the XVAC firm in Los Angeles, is accused of conspiring with Masoumian and Sairafi to arrange the export of vacuum pumps and other sensitive equipment to Iran through a free trade zone in the United Arab Emirates. The indictment alleges that on various occasions, Avanessian received orders for the products sought by Masoumian on behalf of people in Iran. Avanessian bought the products and arranged to ship them to the UAE, making it appear the UAE was the final destination, and Sairafi would then send the material from there to Iran, prosecutors allege. The three men re-labeled the shipments as "spare parts" to mask their true contents and void interception, the U.S. government alleges. If convicted on all counts, Avanessian and Masoumian face maximum sentences of 615 years and 525 years in federal prison, respectively, prosecutors said. |
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/14/content_12809377.htm
Iran launches website on its nuclear program
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:09:53 GMT
| Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki |
Iran's Foreign Ministry has launched a new website to publish the latest developments about Iran's nuclear program.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki officially launched the website in a ceremony held in the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, IRNA reported.
"The website will gather and update information about different political, legal, historic and geographical developments in the nuclear sphere," Mottaki said.
He added that the website will show that "there is a minority in the world that eyes maximum interests through monopolizing everything, including science and technology."
Iran's top diplomat also stated that there is also a majority in the world that could achieve their goals only after gaining permission from the minority.
He stressed that Iran has adopted a rational and transparent policy to defend its nuclear rights and will continue to do so.
MGH/RE
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116093§ionid=351020104
Panel Ties Ally of Iran Leader to Protester Deaths
By NAZILA FATHI
Published: January 10, 2010
An Iranian parliamentary panel said Sunday that Tehran’s prosecutor, an ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was responsible for the beating deaths of three imprisoned protesters last summer, state news agencies reported.
The panel’s investigative report said the prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, who has since been promoted, was responsible for the violence against protesters in the notorious Kahrizak detention center, where at least three young men, including the son of a former Revolutionary Guards commander, were killed.
The allegation was a rare criticism of a senior official involved in the government’s crackdown on the protest movement that erupted in June over disputed election results. It also exposed the internal rift between Mr. Ahmadinejad’s faction, which favors a severe response to the protesters, and his conservative opponents, led by the speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, who favor compromise.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html
Iran bans weekly for spreading "lies" - media
Thu Jan 14, 2010 3:17pm IST
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian court has banned a weekly for slander and spreading lies, media reported, and one opposition website said it was for insulting former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The official IRNA news agency, in a report on the court's move late on Wednesday, did not mention Rafsanjani, who backed opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in last year's disputed presidential election.
IRNA said a Revolutionary Court in Tehran decided to ban the Hemmat weekly due to "slander and dissemination of lies with the intention of agitating public opinion."
The Rahesabz opposition website said it was a conservative publication which had been banned also a year ago for insulting Rafsanjani, who remains influential in the Islamic Republic.
There was no official comment on the Rahesabz report.
The latest issue of Hemmat -- the sixth since the previous ban was lifted -- carried a front-page picture of Rafsanjani, surrounded by known critics and opponents of the Islamic state, with the headline "All the disciples of Hashemi."…
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-45393020100114
Angry mourners bury slain Iran nuclear scientist
(AFP) – 1 hour ago
TEHRAN — Angry mourners chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans joined a funeral procession Thursday for the Iranian nuclear scientist killed in a bomb attack Tehran blames on the US and Israel.
An AFP correspondent said that some 2,000 people thronged the house in an affluent north Tehran neighbourhood of Massoud Ali Mohammadi, who died Tuesday when a booby-trapped motorbike exploded as he was leaving home.
Around 100 policemen were deployed in the area.
Relatives and members of the elite Revolutionary Guards placed the body of Ali Mohammadi, a particle physics professor at prestigious Tehran University, in an ambulance which then took off for the burial at a nearby shrine.
A military marching band led the procession to the shrine, followed by hundreds of mourners many of whom were chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America."
Mourners also chanted slogans against the so-called "hypocrites" -- the Islamic republic's term for the outlawed People's Mujahedeen.
Some chanted, "Nuclear energy is our undeniable right" in an allusion to accusations by Iranian officials the killing was an attempt by Western powers to disrupt Iran's controversial nuclear programme….
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iEcFiIxV6U7-eL8D6d3m4_lIFp1Q
'Saudi claims against Iran part of US plot'
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:56:26 GMT
| Ali Al-Ahmed |
A Saudi scholar says Riyadh's allegation that 'Iran is meddling in Yemen's domestic affairs' is part of a US conspiracy against the Islamic Republic.
Ali Al-Ahmed, the founder and director of an independent think-tank in Washington told Press TV that Saudi Arabia follows the United States' policy and fuels the West "anti-Iran wave" in the region.
According to the political analyst, Saudis' three month offensive against Houthi fighters has no justification. He added that the Saudi war in the region is doomed to failure.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal had previously accused Iran of interfering in Yemen's internal affairs.
Iran, however, rejects the allegations. It has condemned Riyadh's military intervention in northern Yemen, calling on the kingdom to play the role of a mediator instead of bombing fellow Muslims.
Riyadh joined Yemen's offensive against Houthis after accusing them of killing a Saudi border guard and occupying two border villages on November 3. Houthi fighters, however, has denied Saudi's claims.
Saudi jets began bombing Yemen's northern villages the following day and still continue their raids on the region.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116104§ionid=351020206
