IRAN: A week of war cries, sanctions talk and protests begins

A perfect storm of controversy and uproar over Iran's nuclear program is coming together this week, with three big events coinciding that could dramatically escalate tensions in the Middle East.

The biggest event, of course, is the United Nations General Assembly meeting, where both Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Bush are scheduled to speak on Tuesday and a bunch of protests and campaigns against Iran are scheduled to begin.

The board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, is also scheduled to meet this week, with Iran a top item on its agenda.

In Iran, Jerusalem Day is coming up Friday. It's also  Sacred Defense Week, marking the Iraqi invasion of Iran and the beginning of the 1980-88 conflict that shaped the country, as well as annual Army Week. (Iran is keen on such commemorations.)

It's typically a period when Iranian leaders ramp up militaristic, anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian rhetoric that should give those opposed to Tehran's ambitions plenty of rhetorical ammunition to make the case that Iran is a menace to the region.

Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons, and its leaders say they don't want them. But Western and Israeli officials, as well as most arms-control experts, suspect the country is trying to obtain at least the capacity to become a nuclear power quickly if it so chooses.

Iran also has what human rights experts describe as a very poor record on maintaining rights for women, ethnic and religious minorities, juvenile criminals and political opponents of the government. Iran says its human rights record is no worse than other countries in the region and considers the issue a ploy to put pressure on Iran.

Swarms of protesters will greet Ahmadinejad's arrival in New York. Some decry Iran's human rights record while others, like the ill-fated "Stop Iran" rally that was forced to pull invitations to elected officials after Sen. Hillary Clinton canceled her scheduled appearance, will oppose its aspirations to obtain advanced nuclear technology.

Several "grassroots" campaigns have also begun, including United Against a Nuclear Iran, a self-described coalition of unnamed human rights, labor and humanitarian groups. They are led by a group of that include neo-conservative Iraq war advocates R. James Woolsey, Fouad Ajami and Leslie Gelb, who pushed for the invasion "as the best medicine for anti-Americanism around the world I can imagine."

For its part, Iran is leading a drive to get a voice on the IAEA's 35-member governing board, demanding seats for itself or for its ally Syria. Today IAEA general secretary Mohamed ElBaradei voiced "serious concern" about Iran's failure to clear up questions about alleged nuclear weapons activities that apparently took place up until 2003.

At the U.N., Iran has shored up its support from Security Council members China and Russia, which announced on Saturday that it would not support an additional round of economic sanctions on Iran.

European diplomats in the know have long whispered to The Times that they didn't think they could get another round of sanctions against until early next year, especially after heightened tensions between the West and Moscow following the short war in Georgia.

Meanwhile, the tough talk continues. It's hard to figure out what's real and what's bluster.

Ahmadinejad said Sunday that if any country attacked Iran, "the country's armed forces will cut his hand before he can pull the trigger."

In Israel, former general and army chief Moshe Ya'alon called war with Iran "inevitable," likening Ahmadinejad's Iran to Hitler's Germany.

Israel and its friends are trying hard to paint Iran as a dire threat to the world, and not just a strategic challenge for the Jewish state. But they continue to find themselves out on a limb, with international inspectors, Europe, China, Russia and even the cash-strapped, militarily overextended America taking a more nuanced view.

-- Borzou Daragahi in Beirut

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Photos, from top to bottom:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boards a plane at Tehran's Mehrabad airport on Sunday as he leaves Iran for New York to address the U.N. General Assembly. Credit: STR / AFP / Getty Images

An Iranian Kurd living in the Iraqi city of Erbil protests with her mouth bound in front of the U.N. headquarters in support of Iranian Kurdish prisoners being held in neighboring Iran on Sunday. Credit: Safin Hamed / AFP / Getty Images

Iran's Shahab-3 medium-range missile with a maximum range of 1,200 miles has caused international concern, especially in Israel, as the missiles could reach all parts of the Jewish state, at a military parade marking the Iraqi invasion in 1980. Credit: Abedin Taherkenareh / European Pressphoto Agency

Director General of the IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei, left, and Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh arrive for the International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting at Vienna's International Center, on Sept. 22. Credit: Hans Punz / Associated Press

Comments

[Francisco Osuna]

Stop another conflict and resolve this. We can't handle another conflict. Im a 48 year old Iraq War Vet. I am now serving in Afghanistan, because we don't have enough troops! Why don't you listen to the troops in the trenches, who interact with the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, we will tell you that these "police actions"
are pointless. These people will never change and they do not want us here. I am tired of leaving my family,my home, and my civillan job for pointless Wars.I tired of seeing my troops getting "Dear John" letters from their signifcant others and seeing the pain they go through.
Finally, im tired of seeing the injuries and deaths of our brave men and women.
Let us go home and take care of our country and deal with our own "Domestic Terrorists" (gangs and drug dealers) have the world leaders do their jobs and avoid another pointless conflict with Iran.

[GE Poole]

Hmmmmm.......so it's perfectly fine for Israel to have dozens of nuclear weapons, but not Iran? At last we get it. Reason: because Israel's nukes are 'good' nukes, but Iran's nukes are 'bad' nukes. USA has 'good' nukes too and so does UK and France. Russia used to have 'bad' nukes, then their nukes turned 'good' and now they're turning 'bad' again. Very logical. But aren't all weapons of mass destruction inherently evil? Until everyone is safe, no one is safe. Give them up before we move into a 'unit veto' system where everyone has nuclear weapons and they inevitably get used. Wake up and shift course people.

[ARDESHIR]

i do belive most youngsters in Iran hate islam and the goverment but they will defend Iran against invaision and ho knows if the story for USA or IRAN will end like the Roman emperor Valerian

LOVE TOO AL NATIONS FROM PERSIA

[John from Melbourne Australia]

I am constantly shaking my head at the arrogance of a country that has one set of rules for one group of people and another for another group. India and Pakistan can have nuclear support butIran cannot. Iran has constantly noted that there nuclear program is peaceful. Iran has never started a War. As someone outside the boundaries of the U.S. I am amazed how the propaganda on Irans activites. People start to think, start to study and watch/read other media than just U.S and Jewish Media.

Iran, like every country has this right to develop Nuclear power.

[calypso catteraugus]

quick! attack now while everyone's paying attention to the economy!

[Steven Scott]

Last time I checked, this was not the United States Of Israel.

When will the arrogance of the pro-jewish lobby and AIPAC end?

Haven't they stolen enough U.S. taxpayers money to pay for their holy war?

Enough already, people.

[Saint Michael Traveler]

President of Iran:
What does Iran want?

I think more than anything to be able to defend their country. Iran wants the same things as Israel, security. Who can they trust?

They remember 1979; Arabic nations who supported Iraq against Iran. The integrated financial, technical, and armaments that were provided by many Arab countries to support Arabic Iraq against non-Arab Iranians was responsible for death of about 500,000 Iranians and injury of several millions.

They remember our financial and technical support of Sadam Hossein to use chemical bombs against Iranians.

They remember 1988 unprovoked attack of the United State on a civilian Iranian airliner.

An Airbus A300
Iran civilian airliner Flight 655 was shot down by the US Navy's guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes on Sunday July 3, 1988, killing all 290 passengers, including 66 children, and crewmembers onboard.

The civilian airliner, carrying passengers from Iran, Italy, the UAE, India, Pakistan and the former Yugoslavia, was en route from Iran's southern city of Bandar Abbas to Dubai when it was hit by two SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles launched from the warship commanded by Captain William C. Rogers III.

The aircraft was flying within the Iranian airspace and did not have an attack profile. The plane was identified by Vincennes crew as a passenger aircraft. The objective was to teach Iran to capitulate in war with Iraq; otherwise more punishments were to be expected, such as U.S. Attacks on Iranian Oil Platforms in 1987-1988.

The Vincennes crew received combat-action ribbons. Lieutenant Commander Scott Lustig, air-warfare coordinator on the Vincennes, was awarded with the Commendation Medal for 'heroic achievement'.

Iranians remember summer of 1953.

President George Bush often states that Iran is threatening the interests of the Unites States in Persian Gulf! What are the interests of England and the United States in Persian Gulf, the Persian front door to Iran?
A primer for discussion of these issues must start with review of British and the United States policies relative to the Persian Gulf region. Stephen Kinzer, a veteran New York Times correspondent, in his book “All the Shah’s Men, an American coup and the roots of Middle East Terror”, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003, brilliantly reconstructs the events leading to the present dilemma of the United States in the Middle East. The events described in this marvelous book are not fiction; the events actually happened during the summer of 1953 in Tehran, Iran.

The United States Central Intelligence Agency operation Ajax staged coup d’état in 1953 against democratically elected Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh. Democracy was substituted with the despotic regime of Mohammad Reza Shah. The dawn of democracy in Iran, started in late 1880, flickered by democratically elected Mossadegh, was extinguished. This was the beginning of Iranian servitude once more to the interests of England and the United States. During his last years, Shah did not trust Iranian people; his inner palace was guarded by Israel commandos. Since 1979, the United States has been punishing Iranian people for ousting the immature, weak, despotic Mohammad Reza Shah. This punishment, Iranian assert, included Iraq invasion of Iran instigated by President Regan. During this war, the United States and her satellite nations helped materially and logistically Iraqi military forces to invade Iran and use chemical and biological weapons on Iranian population.

In the preface of his book, Kinzer recalls his conversation with an Iranian lady about Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh. He asked her: “What do you remember…about the coup against him?” She responded:

“Why did you Americans do that terrible thing? We always loved America. To us, America was the great country, the perfect country, the country that helped us while other countries were exploiting us. But after that moment, no one in Iran ever trusted the United States again…”

This un-American act was instigated by Winston Churchill-Anthony Eden of England and two American brothers John Foster Dulles (US Secretary of State) and Allen Dulles (Director of Central Intelligence Agency). The primary reason for this regime change was to subordinate Iranian people and exploit the Iranian natural resources.

Harry Truman once said: "There is nothing new in the world except the histories you do not know.” Have we learned from our past mistakes committed during 1953 not to repeat it once more? This time the price would be much greater for both the Iranian and our American societies!

Please read Persian Paradox
http://www.geocities.com/stmtraveler/PersianPardox.htm

Israel, cool it!
Israel let USA diplomatically talk to Iran.

We have taken the first step toward diplomacy. Undersecretary of State William J. Burns, attending in meeting with the top Iranian nuclear negotiator is just a first step toward diffusing the conflict. Iran has already asked USA to participate in an international consortium for nuclear fuel production in Iran. We should accept their invitation.