Iran/U.S. Boat Incident Video

AP - Recordings Show Iran-US Clash in Gulf

Video and audio recordings clearly show Iranian boats confronting U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, and a voice speaking in heavily-accented English can be heard threatening that the American vessels were going to explode, military officials said Tuesday.

U.S. video: LiveLeak - Full 4:26 raw video of /US Iranian incident



Iranian video: LiveLeak - Press TV airs Persian Gulf incident



Other articles:

AP - Iranian TV: Pentagon Video, Audio Fake

Iran on Wednesday called video and audio released by the Pentagon showing Iranian Revolutionary Guards boats confronting U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz "fabricated," a state-run television station reported.

ABC - U.S.: Voices on Recording May Not Have Been From Iranian Speedboats

Just two days after the U.S. Navy released the eerie video of Iranian speedboats swarming around American warships, which featured a chilling threat in English, the Navy is saying that the voice on the tape could have come from the shore or from another ship.

A previous post: Pentagon: Iran Threatened U.S. Ships

Pentagon: Iran Threatened U.S. Ships

Reuters - Iranians threatened U.S. ships in Hormuz: Pentagon

Five Iranian boats made aggressive maneuvers and showed hostile intent towards three U.S. Navy ships at the weekend in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route in the Gulf, the Pentagon said on Monday.

The Pentagon said the incident was serious. It described the Iranian actions as "careless, reckless and potentially hostile" and said Tehran should provide an explanation.

In Tehran, the Iranian foreign ministry described the incident as ordinary.

"The example that happened on Saturday was similar to previous cases and is an ordinary and natural issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told Iran's official IRNA news agency.

"This is an ordinary issue that happens for the two sides every once in a while and, after the identification of the two sides, the issue is resolved."

Top 25 Censored Stories from Project Censored

Project Censored - Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008

#1 No Habeas Corpus for “Any Person”
#2 Bush Moves Toward Martial Law
#3 AFRICOM: US Military Control of Africa’s Resources
#4 Frenzy of Increasingly Destructive Trade Agreements
#5 Human Traffic Builds US Embassy in Iraq
#6 Operation FALCON Raids
#7 Behind Blackwater Inc.
#8 KIA: The US Neoliberal Invasion of India
#9 Privatization of America’s Infrastructure
#10 Vulture Funds Threaten Poor Nations’ Debt Relief
#11 The Scam of “Reconstruction” in Afghanistan
#12 Another Massacre in Haiti by UN Troops
#13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants
#14 Impunity for US War Criminals
#15 Toxic Exposure Can Be Transmitted to Future Generations on a “Second Genetic Code”
#16 No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11
#17 Drinking Water Contaminated by Military and Corporations
#18 Mexico’s Stolen Election
#19 People’s Movement Challenges Neoliberal Agenda
#20 Terror Act Against Animal Activists
#21 US Seeks WTO Immunity for Illegal Farm Payments
#22 North Invades Mexico
#23 Feinstein’s Conflict of Interest in Iraq
#24 Media Misquotes Threat From Iran’s President
#25 Who Will Profit from Native Energy?

Project Censored - Top 25 Censored news stories of 2007

#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo
#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region

Iran Stops Accepting U.S. Dollars for Oil

RIA Novosti - Iran stops accepting U.S. dollars for oil

Iran has stopped selling its oil for U.S. dollars, the Iranian ISNA news agency said on Saturday, citing the country's oil minister.

"In line with a policy of selling crude oil in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, the sale of our country's oil in U.S. dollars has been completely eliminated," ISNA reported Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari as saying.

Other related posts:

China Shifts to Euros for Iran Oil

Iran Replacing Dollar

Iran Wins Neighbors' Pledge Not to Help U.S. Attack

Bloomberg - Iran Wins Neighbors' Pledge Not to Help U.S. Attack

Iran, facing U.S. pressure over its nuclear program, secured a pledge from Russia and the other three nations that surround the Caspian Sea not to allow America or its allies to launch an attack on it from their soil.

The presidents of Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan signed a joint declaration in Tehran today to prohibit third countries from using their territory for attacks on one another "under any circumstances.''

John Bolton: Attack Iran

The Jerusalem Post - Bolton: Attack Iran, 'remove' its leader

Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told Tory delegates in Britain Sunday that efforts by the UK and the EU to negotiate with Iran had failed and that he saw no alternative to a pre-emptive strike on suspected nuclear facilities in the country.

Bolton said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was "pushing out" and "is not receiving adequate push-back" from the West.
"I don't think the use of military force is an attractive option, but I would tell you I don't know what the alternative is.

"Because life is about choices, I think we have to consider the use of military force. I think we have to look at a limited strike against their nuclear facilities."

He added that any strike should be followed by an attempt to remove the "source of the problem", Ahmadinejad.

"If we were to strike Iran it should be accompanied by an effort at regime change ... The US once had the capability to engineer the clandestine overthrow of governments. I wish we could get it back," he said.

Bolton said that the fact that only partial intelligence about Iran's nuclear activity existed should not be used as an excuse not to act.

"Intelligence can be wrong in more than one direction... Responding after they (nuclear devices) are used is unacceptable."
Bolton also said the UN was "fundamentally irrelevant".

The former envoy criticized Britain's "softly softly" approach to Iran's imprisonment of 15 British sailors in April.

They were released after Ahmadinejad announced he was making a "gift" to the British people. "They [Iran] got no response from the UK or the US. If you were the Iranian leader, what conclusion do you draw?"

Give this guy a gun and put him on the first plane there.

Here is another guy that can join him:

The Sunday Times - Neocon 'godfather' Norman Podhoretz tells Bush: bomb Iran

ONE of the founding fathers of neoconservatism has privately urged President George W Bush to bomb Iran rather than allow it to acquire nuclear weapons.

Norman Podhoretz, an intellectual guru of the neoconservative movement who has joined Rudolph Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign as a senior foreign policy adviser, held an unpublicised meeting with Bush late last spring at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.

The encounter reveals the enduring influence of the neoconservatives at the highest reaches of the White House, despite some high-profile casualties in the past year.

Karl Rove, who was still serving in the White House as Bush’s deputy chief of staff, took notes. But the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, was not logged on the president’s schedule.

“I urged Bush to take action against the Iranian nuclear facilities and explained why I thought there was no alternative,” said Podhoretz, 77, in an interview with The Sunday Times.

Man Pleads Guilty to Plot to Sell Weapons to Iran

Los Angeles Times - Man pleads guilty to plot to sell weapons to Iran (account required to view, full article posted below)

By Greg Krikorian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 30, 2007

A West Hills man has pleaded guilty to an audacious plan to buy as many as 100,000 Uzis in the United States and sell them to officials in Iran's government.

Under a plea agreement reached this week, Seyed Mostafa Maghloubi, 49, acknowledged that he tried to obtain submachine guns and night vision goggles and ship them to Iran, in violation of U.S. laws prohibiting such transactions.

According to the plea agreement, Maghloubi's plan dated to at least October 2005 when he approached an unidentified individual and said he was interested in buying the weapons and goggles.

The individual, who was identified only as a cooperating witness for the government, brokered a meeting between Maghloubi and an undercover Los Angeles police detective who Maghloubi believed was an arms dealer.

During that meeting in February, Maghloubi said that he was interested in buying the items for Iran and that he had high-level contacts with government officials in that country, according to the plea agreement.

Through several meetings and telephone conversations, the agreement says, Maghloubi and the undercover officer worked out details of the transaction. At one point, the defendant asked the purported arms dealer if he could ship the Uzis and goggles to Dubai so Maghloubi could bring them across the border to Iran.

The discussions eventually led to Maghloubi taking delivery of three fully automatic Uzis and one pair of night vision goggles.

At all times, the plea agreement says, Maghloubi -- who was born in Iran and is a naturalized U.S. citizen -- sought to deliver the military equipment to a faction within Iran's government that is aligned with a former president who is a political foe of the country's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In that light, Maghloubi's attorney said, his client was trying "to actually try and help a rapprochement between the U.S. and Iran."

"This had nothing to do with terrorism," Deputy Federal Public Defender Guy Iversen said.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office had no comment on the plea agreement.

greg.krikorian@latimes.com

Sarkozy Talks about Bombing Iran

Reuters - France's Sarkozy raises prospect of Iran airstrikes

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday a diplomatic push by the world's powers to rein in Tehran's nuclear program was the only alternative to "an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran."

In his first major foreign policy speech, Sarkozy emphasized his existing foreign policy priorities, such as opposing Turkish membership of the European Union and pushing for a new Mediterranean Union that he hopes will include Ankara.

Iran Shells Villages in Iraq

The Guardian - Kurds flee homes as Iran shells villages in Iraq

Iraqi Kurdish officials expressed deepening concern yesterday at an upsurge in fierce clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces in the remote border area of north-east Iraq, where Tehran has recently deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards.

Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran.

Iran: British Captives Freed

AP - Iran says 15 British captives free

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a surprise move that defused escalating tension in the Middle East, announced the release of 15 captive British sailors and marines Wednesday in what he called an Easter gift to the British people.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said the Britons had been released, added that he bore "no ill will" toward the Iranian people following the 13-day standoff.

The breakthrough eased tensions that have been increasing steadily, raising fears of military conflict in the volatile region and prompting a spike in oil prices. It suggested that Iran's hard-line leadership had decided Tehran had demonstrated its strength in the standoff but did not want to push the crisis too far.

Despite the announcement, however, the crew members had not arrived at the British Embassy as of 9 p.m local time in Tehran.

Iran: U.S. Violated Airspace

AFP - Iran accuses US jet fighters of violating airspace

US warplanes have violated Iranian airspace in the southwestern oil province of Khuzestan, the Arabic language channel of Iranian state television quoted a local military chief as saying on Sunday.

However, a US military spokesman said he had checked into reports of an airspace violation and denied that any took place.

"Two US aircraft trespassed into Iranian airspace northwest of (the port city of) Abadan before flying southwest into Iraq," a Revolutionary Guards commander in Abadan identified only as Colonel Aqili was quoted as saying by the Al-Alam channel's website.

U.S. Rejects Prisoner Exchange

BBC - US rejects Iran captives exchange

US officials have ruled out a deal to exchange 15 Royal Navy personnel captured in the Gulf for five Iranians seized by American forces in Iraq.

State department spokesman Sean McCormack rejected suggestions that a swap could be made.

Here is my post on the 5 captured Iranians.

My other posts on this whole situation can be seen here.

Craig Murray on Iranian Borders

Craig Murray has some interesting posts on his website (www.craigmurray.co.uk) about the Iran/Iraq border not being as clear as the UK is trying to make it seem.

March 30 - Iraq/Iran Maritime Boundaries

March 29 - Both Sides Must Stop This Mad Confrontation, Now

March 28 - Fake Maritime Boundaries

March 27 - Captured Marines (Again)

March 26 - British Marines Captured By Iran

Iran Releases a Second Video

BBC - Iran airs second sailor 'apology'

A second member of the Royal Navy crew captured in the Gulf has apologised for "trespassing" in Iranian waters, in a broadcast on Iranian television.

The crewman, who introduces himself as Nathan Thomas Summers, says: "I would like to apologise for entering your waters without permission."

The video can be seen at the BBC link or by clicking here.

Here is my post containing the first video.

Here are my other related posts:

Iran Captures 15 British Sailors and Marines

Iran Says British Sailors Admit Illegal Entry

Will British Sailors Be Charged With Espionage?

UK Reveals Evidence Against Iran

BBC - UK reveals Iran dispute evidence

Satellite data proves 15 navy personnel being held in Iran were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters when they were seized, UK defence officials say.

Reports suggest the only woman among the group will be freed shortly.

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman is quoted as saying Faye Turney, 26, would be released either later on Wednesday or on Thursday.

Iran has insisted the group were in its waters when they were taken last Friday.

Iran's embassy in London also issued a statement in response to the UK data, in which it said the sailors and marines had been 0.5 km inside Iranian waters at the time they were seized.

There has been a video released showing the captured personnel and what looks like a forced statement made by one of them.

Metro - Iran releases tape of captured servicemen (UPDATE - March 31: This link no longer goes to the article that it used to.)

Footage of the 15 British service personnel taken captive by Iran was broadcast tonight.

The tape shows the group being arrested, eating food in captivity, together with an interview with Faye Turney.

They have now said Turney will be released with a letter for her parents saying the group were 'apparently' in Iranian territory.

The video:

LiveLeak - Footage Of British Sailors Broadcast By Iran W/ Audio



Here are my previous posts on this situation:

Iran Captures 15 British Sailors and Marines

Iran Says British Sailors Admit Illegal Entry

Will British Sailors Be Charged With Espionage?

China Shifts to Euros for Iran Oil

Reuters - China shifts to euros for Iran oil

China's state-run Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, the biggest buyer of Iranian crude worldwide, began paying for its oil in euros late last year as Tehran moves to diversify its foreign reserves away from U.S. dollars.

The Chinese firm, which buys more than a tenth of exports from the world's fourth-largest crude producer, has changed the payment currency for the bulk of its roughly 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) contract, Beijing-based sources said.

Japanese refiners who buy about 500,000 bpd of Iranian crude, nearly a quarter of Iran's 2.2 million-bpd shipments, continue to pay in dollars but are willing to shift to yen if asked, industry sources and officials said separately.

Iranian officials have said for months that more than half the OPEC member's customers switched their payment currency away from the dollar as Tehran seeks to diversify its reserves, but news of the Zhenrong change is the first outside confirmation.

Will British Sailors Be Charged With Espionage?

The Sunday Times - Iran ‘to try Britons for espionage’

A website run by associates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, reported last night that the Britons would be put before a court and indicted.

Referring to them as “insurgents”, the site concluded: “If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they can expect a very serious penalty since according to Iranian law, espionage is one of the most serious offences.”

The penalty for espionage in Iran is death. However, similar accusations of spying were made when eight British servicemen were detained in the same area in 2004. They were paraded blindfolded on television but did not appear in court and were freed after three nights in detention.

Here are my previous posts on the captured sailors:

Iran Says British Sailors Admit Illegal Entry

Iran Captures 15 British Sailors and Marines

New Sanctions on Iran

BBC - UN backs fresh sanctions on Iran

The UN Security Council has unanimously voted in favour of new sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme.

The decision broadens the limited sanctions imposed in December 2006.

The new sanctions block Iranian arms exports and freeze the assets of individuals and companies involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.

Here is my post about the old sanctions.

Iran Says British Sailors Admit Illegal Entry

Here is my first post about the captured sailors.

AFP - Iran says British sailors admit illegal entry

Iran said on Saturday that 15 British service personnel detained by its navy off Iraq had admitted to violating its territorial waters, rejecting demands from London for their swift release.

The semi-official Fars news agency said the 15 naval personnel, who include a woman, had been brought to the capital Tehran for questioning about what they were doing during what Britain insists was a "routine" anti-smuggling patrol on Friday.

Armed forces general staff spokesman General Alireza Afshar said the 15 had admitted to their interrogators that they knew they were inside Iranian waters, contrary to the insistence of the British defence ministry that they had remained in Iraqi waters.

"They are currently being questioned and have admitted to violating the territorial waters of the Islamic repubic," Afshar told the Fars agency.

Iran Captures 15 British Sailors and Marines

AP - Britain protests Iran seizure of sailors

Iranian naval vessels on Friday seized 15 British sailors and marines in disputed Persian Gulf waters off the coast of Iraq, British and U.S. officials said. The detentions come at a time of high tension between the West and Iran, which accused the British of intruding on its territory.

The British government protested immediately, saying the 15 were taken captive in Iraqi waters and summoning the Iranian ambassador in London to the Foreign Office: "He was left in no doubt that we want them back," Britain's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said after the meeting.

Vali Nasr, a senior fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, suggested that the latest detentions may be Iranian retaliation for the arrest of five Iranians in a U.S.-led raid in northern Iraq in January. The U.S. said the five included a Revolutionary Guards general.

"I think Iran sees this as retaliation for the arrest of their own personnel. They have repeatedly said that they want their personnel released," Nasr said. "So they are either signalling that they can do the same thing or they are trying to bring attention to it."

Here is my previous post on the 5 captured Iranians.

Here is an article on the effects of the capture of the British personnel on oil:

Reuters - Oil higher after Iran captures UK navy personnel

Oil rose above $62 to a three-month high on Friday after Iran seized 15 British navy personnel, raising concerns about renewed tension between the oil-producing nation and the West.

U.S. crude climbed 64 cents at $62.33 a barrel by 1335 GMT, adding to gains of more than $2 on Thursday. The session high of $62.50 was the strongest level since December 26 last year.

London Brent crude also rose to a three-month high of $63.50 and was trading 78 cents higher at $63.29 by 1335 GMT.