Iranians who chant slogans against Khamenei and the government are being arrested and charged as Moharebe (fighting against God). The penalty for this crime is death.

People tear the banner of Islamic Republic, Tehran Feb.1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx9OLPqDRQs

This banner was put on a bridge as a government propaganda effort prior to 22 Bahmam (Feb. 11). After an hour in place it had to be taken down due to being damaged by the people

Supporters of PMOI sat fire to Khamenei’s large banner;Tehran, Feb.2,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYSx7L65crc

This picture of Ali Khamenei was burned by supporters of the People’s Mujahadeen of Iran.

Analysis. The Iranian government is in deep trouble with its own people no matter what the news coming out of Tehran is. Foreign news agencies in Iran are very strictly controlled.

Click here for my latest article on FrontPage. This is about Hizb ut-Tahrir, a very well-organized jihadist group that, like Muslim Brotherhood, wants to have Islamic law replace capitalism and democracy wherever possible. The group actually had a conference in Illinois last summer. This group is more intelligent than Al-Qaeda in that they say they are non-violent, although some members do turn to violence and the group has expressed support for resurrecting the Caliphate (which means destroying Israel) and fighting Coalition forces in Iraq.

From MEMRI:

In Lebanon, a group of 90 former MPs, senior journalists, and artists announced its support for the Iranian opposition and for its struggle.

The group called for the implementation of the values of freedom, democracy, and pluralism, and for the abolition of the tyranny and repression in Iran.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Lebanon, February 3, 2010

From CAN:

The Muslims of the Americas’ newspaper, The Islamic Post, refers to the President as “Syed Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.” in a December 1 post on its blog. The newspaper says that a Pakistani newspaper has established that Obama’s father was a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, thus establishing the President as a Syed.

“The fact that President-elect Syed Obama is Christian does not, however, remove the spirit of mercy which descends from the Most High Almighty Creator to the lineage of the Holy Last Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), due to the love of the Almighty for His Messenger,” the editorial reads.

“Nor does it stop the spiritual inheritance from spreading through the family of a Syed, be they Muslims or non-Muslim.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Click here for my latest blog on NRB. The U.S. is expressing doubt about Iran’s honesty, and Germany basically dismissed this as another trick.

The IPT reports that the Egyptian media has a report about the Hamas leadership declaring its allegiance to the new Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood:

In the report made public on January 22^nd, authors Fathia al Dakhakhani and Tariq Salah illuminated the extent of the bond between the Brotherhood and Hamas, noting that “the leader of the de facto Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, proffered allegiance to the new Guide of the Brotherhood, Doctor Mohamed Badei…” What is lost in translation, however, is the significance of this pledge of allegiance, or bay’ah in its original Arabic.

IPT explains that bay’ah “is theologically demanded of all Muslims; it represents a declaration of who is the proper leader of Islam. Once a commitment is made, it is difficult to withdraw, and doing so would have serious implications for both the reputation of the individual or group who received the pledge and that individual or entity making it. Thus, a declaration of bay’ah requires full support and backing.”

Remember that when considering the Brotherhood’s ties to organizations in Europe and the United States.

As this article from the Times of India makes clear, the situation in Afghanistan is not all about Afghanistan. The article revolves around the events at the recent London Conference on Afghanistan.

Pakistan has pushed hard to remain in the driver’s seat on Afghan policy. And, at least for now, it appears to be winning by hard-selling the line that without the involvement of the ISI (Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Agency), re-integration will remain a non-starter. That was evident first at the Istanbul Af-Pak meeting leading up to the January 28 London conference , where Pakistan insisted India be kept out of the talks, and even a feeble attempt by Karzai to get India to the table was brushed off. India fretted and fumed impotently, but found itself completely dealt out of the game by Pakistan and the UK leading the charge, letting Karzai announce that he was going to draw his brothers back into the tent, and requesting the Saudis to mediate a ‘reintegration and reconciliation’ with the Taliban.

Here is the crux of the matter.

For India, global approval of the reconciliation process implies Pakistan, with its ISI and army, is likely to take a leading role. As Holbrooke told MK Narayanan, who was till recently NSA (National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister), and Nirupama Rao (current Foreign Minister) quietly during his last visit a couple of weeks ago, Pakistan has worked itself into a paranoia about India’s presence in Afghanistan; India would have to be removed from all decision-making on Afghanistan, they insisted. As London showed, Islamabad got its way. (Bold mine).

Please read the entire article.

Analysis. Not much analysis is required here. Hindus and Muslims have been mortal enemies since the first Muslim hordes invaded well over a thousand years ago. The conflict over the Ahyoda Temple makes it clear that this hatred exists today as much as a thousand years ago. Pakistan is deathly afraid of a two front war with India on two sides with the Indian Army or Afghani proxies. It will do all it can, including support and foster the Taliban and other Muslim Fundamentalist groups and make peace in Afghanistan impossible as long as India maintains influence there.

The moral of this story is simple. Either we convince Pakistan that the United States will be its ally in any war with India or we get out of Afghanistan. The first position is flatly untenable. Ergo, time to call it a war and beat feet.

From CAN:

The United Kingdom’s Secretary of Schools, Ed Balls, has refused to ban the use of physical discipline in the country’s estimated 1,600 Islamic schools called madrassas, The Daily Mail reports.

Although physically disciplining children including smacking is banned in state and private schools, the report says there is a loophole that leaves schools where students receive no more than 12.5 hours of education per week exempt from the ban. The madrassas teach during the night and on weekends, making such physical discipline legal.

Read the rest of this entry »

A chronology of the events of February Fifth. All times are Tehran local.

Plainclothes and SSF have been present in Behesht-e-Zahra Cemetery since 0700. Beginning at approximately 0900 a large number of people have gathered in sections 259 and 302 where those who died in the Ashura Uprisings are buried. BY 1030 sections 9, 302 and 304 are so filled with people that it is almost impossible to move.

By 1600 the Internet has gotten very slow and sometimes cut off. Cell phones are not working in the Behesht Zahra Cemetery and Imam Hossein Square. Skype and Short Message Services are cut off also.

In Lars Friday Prayers were not held due to demonstrations. Residents of Lars contend that the SSF forces are not Iranian and brutally beat whomever they come across. The people are still refusing to open their shops.

At 2000 families of political prisoners are gathering in front of Evin Prison to demand the release of their loved ones. The numbers are increasing every minute. At 2200 the Bassiji could not break up the demonstrations.

Analysis. Hold on to your hats.

The situation in Iran is worsening as i write this. On February second the people of Lars City southeast of Shiraz protested the destruction of public facilities as the regime attempted to turn Gerush Village into a township. The SSF used live ammunition and tear gas cannisters to break up the demonstrations. Approximately 120 people were arrested. The people of Lars City have gone on strike.

Beginning February Third, the regime began stationing SSF in Tehran in anticipation of demonstrations on February Fifth to commemorate the fortieth day of mourning for those who died in the Ashura uprisings. Several mullahs have expressed their fear that the Islamic state is falling. Mullah Shirazi pointed to the formation of three groups after the Presidential election and said, “one group were pro-election, the other protested the result and the third group were the Monafeghin (the name the regime has for the People’s Mujahadeen of Iran) and this group .. . is pursuing the destruction of the Islamic state.”

Mullah Poormohammadi said, “we must execute whoever is in Moharebe (fighting against God) with the System and we do not doubt that because it is amongst the logical and security principles.” Mullah Ibrahim Raeesi, the first deputy of the Judiciary, said, “The honorable leader of the Islamic Revolution has clearly taken position in regard with the closest and the masterminds. They must announce that they will comply with Supreme Leadership and will denounce the enemies.” This was in regard to the Rafsanjani family. Mullah Raeesi is one of three members of the death commission at the massacre of 30000 political prisoners in 1988.

Abolfazi Islami, the diplomat who resigned while stationed in Japan, addressed other diplomats saying, “I ask my colleagues at the Foreign Ministry not to stay any longer in the broken ship of Islamic republic.”

Pasdar (member of the RGC) Khorshidi, who is close to Ahmadinejad, said that “based on my knowledge the supporters of Dr. Ahmadinejad are vastly shedding.” (Rats leaving the sinking ship.)

The regime has arrested a lot of Sunni clerics.

The regime is mixing water with gasoline to stretch the supply. The gasoline imported from Venezuela is very low quality.

The volume of the war drums beating in the Middle East has gone to forte. Debka is reporting here that the Syrians are receiving massive loads of missiles via air from Iran.

Fresh supplies also reached the Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas in Gaza. Wednesday, Feb. 3, Syrian president Bashar Assad accused Israel of seeking war, while his foreign minister Walid Moallem boasted: “You know that war at this time will come to your cities.” They spoke after taking delivery of 100 new medium-range surface-to-surface missiles from Iran in January.
Moallem’s threat was comprehensive: “….Syria calls on Israel to halt directing threats once against Gaza, another against South Lebanon, then Iran and now Syria.”

Part of the Israeli response was

Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu commented nonchalantly that he does not understand what the Bashar Assad wants, confiding to his aides that his goal is to gain international goodwill before Israel decides to attack Iran. Next day, Feb. 4, hardline foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman was more outspoken: “Assad must be told bluntly,” he said, “that in the next war, not only will Syria be beaten but he and his family will lose power. You will not remain in power, and neither will your family.”

Please read the entire article.

Analysis. The last time that the Israelis came close to removing the Assad family from power we almost went to nuclear war. Lieberman is not the only leader in the Middle East that would like to see Bashar’s head removed from his body. Both President Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah II of Jordan have no love for the Assad family and the Baath movement in general.

What has changed is the Syrian threat to launch its missiles should Israel repeat its “Cast Lead” operation to stop Hamas from shelling southern Israel. In combination with Hezbollah Syria has basically told Israel they they are surrounded and must absorb the attacks without retaliation or there will be regional war.

There will be regional war anyway. The only question right now is who pulls the trigger first. Both sides would like the other to be labeled the aggressor. However, the internal situation in Iran may push the mullahs to begin the war before they loose power to the revolutionaries. Updates on the situation in Iran will be posted shortly. Suffice it to say the situation in Iran is deteriorating at an increasing pace.

United Against Nuclear Iran has a press release out to put pressure on Caterpillar for selling heavy machinery including tunneling equipment to Iran that can be used to make underground nuclear sites and used for other military applications. There can be no defense for this and the public must make them pay. Click the link for the full release.

Click here for my latest post on NewsRealBlog. The Iraqi parliament is now having an emergency session to discuss the matter and hopefully find a compromise. If this ban hadn’t been overturned, you’d see widespread Sunni disenchantment, a boycott by both Sunnis and some Shiite parties, a dramatic drop in faith in democracy and the legitimacy of the government, and possibly violence. As I write in the post, this checks-and-balances in motion actually is a testament to the strength of Iraq’s nascent democracy.

From CAN:

A Senate report says up to three dozen Americans who converted to Islam while in prison have traveled to Yemen, possibly to join Al-Qaeda’s forces there, The Associated Press reports. The report says that the converts say they are going to Yemen to study Arabic but may have more devious goals.

The report, written by staff members for Senator John Kerry, the current Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says that another ten Americans without any links to Yemen have moved the country and got married there so they could not be deported.

“Described by one American official as ‘blond-haired, blue eyed-types,’ these individuals fit a profile of Americans whom al-Qaida has sought to recruit over the past several years,” the report states.

Read the rest of this entry »

From CAN:

A man from Virginia named Lloyd Woodson was subdued and arrested in New Jersey on January 25 and was found to be in possession of weapons including a rocket launcher and also had a Middle Eastern headdress, reports The Star Ledger. He also had a map of a neighborhood and of Fort Drum in New York.

When Woodson was arrested following a phone call from a convenience store worker who reported his suspicious behavior, he was wearing a bulletproof vest and had an assault rifle on him. The authorities then found additional weapons at his motel room, along with ammunition, police scanner and night-vision goggles.

“We determined it wasn’t a terrorism thing,” FBI Special Agent Bryan Travers told ABC News. Other press outlets have reported that the FBI has not found any evidence that Woodson has links to terrorists.

Woodson previously served in the Navy but deserted and was on the run for eight years. He was discharged afterwards in 1997.

He is currently in jail in Somerset County and a judge has set his bail at $75,000.