Iran begins vote to choose Ahmadinejad’s successor

Iranians began voting on Friday in a presidential election unlikely to result in seismic shifts in its troubled relations with the West and Gulf Arab neighbours, but which could bring a softening of the confrontational style personified by outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Iran’s Gulf Arab neighbours are also wary of Iran’s influence in Iraq next door and its backing for President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese allies Hezbollah in the Syrian civil war. The Sunni Arab kingdoms are backing the rebels in Syria.

Iran claims it captured U.S. drone

Drone number two.

Should this prove to be true, then these are either gifts, or every electronic component of US drones is compromised. Take your pick.

TEHRAN, Iran Iran claimed Tuesday it had captured a U.S. drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf — even showing an image of a purportedly downed craft on state TV — but the U.S. Navy said all its unmanned aircraft in the region were “fully accounted for.”

“The U.S. Navy has fully accounted for all unmanned air vehicles operating in the Middle East region,” Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, told CBS News. “Our operations in the Gulf are confined to internationally recognized waters and airspace.”

Iran Army stages exercise near Iraq border

“This maneuver was among the most spectacular drills ever held by the Iranian Army in which 55 airborne, helicopter and other units of the ground forces took part,” Brig. Gen. Manoucher Kazemi, head of the Army’s Western Command, said.

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Iranian state television showed footage from the exercise, said to have
taken place near the towns of Qaser Shirin and Sarpol Zahab. The footage showed Iranian troops parachuting from helicopters.

Pressuring Persia

Retired Adm. Gary Roughead, who stepped down a year ago as the top Navy officer, expressed concerns about the consequences of a U.S. or Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“I think a military strike into Iran would set off a whole set of events,” he said when asked about a possible Israeli or U.S. strike against Iran in the coming years.

Iran trumpets new naval warfare capabilities

And just to think, the Iranian navy during wartime will have thousands of speedboats taking off towards US Navy targets. The article also doesn’t take into account the thousands of missiles that could be launched upon naval vessels within the Persian Gulf. The stakes are quite high.

Iran’s speedboats can carry multiple kinds of anti-ship cruise missiles, and fire them while traveling at speeds higher than missile boats in any other navy in the world, an Iranian defense official claimed Monday.

Top Iranian Official: Iran Needs “24 Hours And An Excuse” To Annihilate Israel

A top Iranian official says that Iran will be able to annihilate Israel within a day.

Fighting Words

Iranian defense minister threatens to destroy Israel

Iran’s defense minister said on Thursday that the regime’s forces are now capable of destroying Israel and fulfilling its president’s pledge to wipe the country off the map.

Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, the defense chief, dismissed Israeli threats to attack Iran’s nuclear sites as a “bluff” during a meeting with reporters.

“The defense capability of the Islamic Iran against threats by the Zionist regime [Israel] has been developed to an extent that will wipe the [Israeli] regime off the scene,” Vahidi was quoted as saying during a visit to a Tehran mosque Sept. 19, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Vahidi said Iran would display new military equipment in the coming week including armored vehicles and naval and air weapons.

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Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps announced recently that they plan to hold large-scale military exercises near Tehran together with the Iranian military. The maneuvers are set to begin Oct. 11.

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Iran has threatened to target Israel in response to an Israeli strike and also to target 32 U.S. military bases in the region. Tehran also has threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

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Iran announced Sept. 9 that it plans to show off a new advance cruise missile with a range of 1,242 miles.

“The Meshkat cruise missile, which God willing, will be unveiled soon, has a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) and in fact is the long arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces,” Deputy Defense Minister and head of the ministry’s Aerospace Organization Mehdi Farahi told Fars news agency.

The new system would be part of other cruise missiles Iran has such as the Zafar, Nasir, Noor, Qadir, and Ghadir, Farahi said.

“So far, we have 14 types of cruise missiles either built or being developed and, God willing, the two cruise missiles of Ra’d and Meshkat will be unveiled soon,” Farahi said, adding that the missile can be fired from land, sea, or air.

Iran also has several types of medium-range missiles called Shehab, based on the North Korean Nodong missile.

“We are no longer concerned about quantity and have turned our attention to quality production and issues such as increasing accuracy, radar evading systems, tactical issues, and durability,” Farahi said of Iran’s missiles.

In a related development, an Iranian nuclear official said this week that Tehran has been supplying false information to foreign intelligence services.

Fereydun Abbasi, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told the Arabic newspaper Al-Hyat Sept. 21 that the disinformation was supplied to Britain’s MI-6.

“Sometimes we gave the wrong information to protect our nuclear centers and our achievement,” Abbasi was quoted as saying. “Misleading foreign espionage apparatuses is inevitable.”

“Sometimes we show weaknesses which we do not possess and other times we claim to have powers which we do not have,” he said.

The comments raise questions about whether the U.S. intelligence community was fed false information about Iran’s nuclear program that influenced the conclusion of a controversial 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that stated Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

The International Atomic Energy Agency stated in a recent report that it has obtained evidence that Iran’s nuclear arms work continued after 2003.

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Iran in recent days has boasted of several new weapons systems, including new air defense missiles

On Sept. 16, Iranian state-run press announced the production of a new unmanned aerial vehicle, the Shahed-129, which is capable of 24-hour combat and reconnaissance missions. The drone is said to be equipped with Sadid missiles that can hit targets from long distances.

IRGC Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari said on state media that the “Shahed 129 drone presents the IRGC’s latest advancement in this field. With its 24-hour-long non-stop flight capability, the drone can accomplish good missions in reconnaissance and combat fields.”

Full article: Fighting Words (Washington Free Beacon)

Tens of thousands of Israeli troops in surprise Golan drill. Khamenei: No bending to the West

Reservists drafted at no notice, Air Force, Central Command and other IDF units were flown to Israel’s northern Golan border early Wednesday, Sept. 19, for a surprise exercise called by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz under the codename “National Asset.”

The official IDF announcement tried to downplay its importance, describing it as a “planned, routine event.” However, debkafile’s military sources say the war game is the biggest the IDF has conducted in the eight years since the second Lebanon war on Hizballah in 2006, with tens of thousands of soldiers and senior officers, including the artillery and the air force taking part.

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Another sign of an impending conflict was provided by US diplomats who Monday began destroying classified documents and sensitive equipment at the Beirut embassy. As Islamist anti-US violence raged across Arab and Muslim countries, the State Department said this was a precautionary measure, without naming any specific threat. The trashing of embassy documents usually signifies preparations to evacuate an US embassy at short notice. It would be imperative in a war situation to keep them out of Hizballah hands.

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As the exhibition of colossal Western might got underway opposite Iranian shores, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted on his official website as saying: Iran will never bend to Western pressure The Islamic Republic, he told a military audience, “makes its decisions solely based on the interests of its people and the country, even if all of the world’s powers get angry at its decisions.”

It “does not accept the demands of any superpower,” he added.

Full article: Tens of thousands of Israeli troops in surprise Golan drill. Khamenei: No bending to the West (DEBKAfile)

Iran threatens to bring war to U.S. shores

The deputy chief commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned this past week that any aggression against Iran will expand warfare onto the turf of its enemies.“Our nation is ready to rub the enemies’ snout into dust and send thousands of coffins to their cities,” Gen. Hossein Salami told Fars News Agency.

“Any aggression against Iran will expand the war into the borders of the enemies,” he warned. “They know our power, and we won’t allow any aggression against our land.”

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As reported earlier this year, terror cells have been placed on high alert to attack targets in the U.S. and Europe should Iran be attacked. Hundreds of terror cells have infiltrated America and, in collaboration with Hezbollah, are awaiting orders to strike American targets.

Thousands of cells have also been placed in Latin America.“The Quds Force has established a command and control center in both Bolivia and Venezuela,” a former Iranian official with knowledge of the regime’s terror network recently revealed.

“Though it has presence in Europe and other parts of the world, it has focused on Latin America. Thousands of such cells have been placed in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Venezuela.”A recent report from within Nicaragua indicated that Iran has established a training base in the northern part of that country, where operatives, including Hezbollah terrorists, are being readied for an attack on U.S. and Israeli interests should a war break out with Iran.

Hassan Abassi, a former Guard commander and a current strategist, has stated that many of the cells are of Latin American origin, including from Mexico, and that several hundred targets have been identified in the U.S. for a possible attack.

“If America dares to destabilize the Islamic Republic of Iran, it should have no doubt that we will destabilize America,” Abassi said.Another senior commander of the Islamic regime, Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, recently warned America, “In the face of any attack, we will have a crushing response.

In that case, we will not only act in the boundaries of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf; no place in America will be safe from our attacks.”Khamenei has also warned America that any conflict will expand beyond the region. That same warning was issued days ago by Hassan Nasrallah, the general secretary of the terrorist group Hezbollah.

Full article: Iran threatens to bring war to U.S. shores (WND)

Iran Commander: Navy Ships to Deploy in Atlantic Soon

Iranian naval commander Habibullah Sayyari announced on Monday that Navy ships will be deployed in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean in the near future.

“The powerful presence of Iranian Navy in the high seas has proven the Islamic Republic’s [naval] might,” Sayyari said.

We have proved through continued presence of our vessels in free waters that we are capable of showing the country’s might in the international arenas, he added.

“Taking advantage of [available] potentialities in the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean is among the most important ways of promoting sustainable development of the country,” the commander noted.

Full article: Iran Commander: Navy Ships to Deploy in Atlantic Soon (Al-Manar)

Iran Infiltrates Canada, Calls to Attack America

Ironically, radical islam isn’t the only thing infiltrating Canada. One can run a search on Google for “Operation Sidewinder” and see they’ve been infiltrated by the Chinese — and decades ago. One such result from a Canadian source explains the findings in detail.

Mohammadi’s message drew the attention of U.S. terrorist experts, who noted that Canadians do not need visas to cross the border into the U.S.

Iran is expanding a “fifth column” in Canada. This warning, articulated by David Harris, former head of operations for the Canadian Intelligence Service and now a strategic intelligence expert, highlights some disturbing facts: many expatriates have been warning of the threat of Iranian diplomats conspiring in Canada; of the stealth workings of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, and there is evidence of Iranian infiltration in the school system.

Recent evidence bears out Harris’s warning, as does the news that Iran is using its embassy in Canada to mobilize loyalists of the Islamic Republic to infiltrate the Canadian Government and attack the United States.

The Toronto District school Board recently suspended the operating permit of an Islamic school that had been using teaching materials to encourage boys to keep fit for jihad and for disparaging Jews. Upon being exposed, the Islamic Shia Study Centre, which operated the East End Madrassah out of a Toronto high school, issued a public statement: ” Our curriculum is not intended to promote hatred towards any individual or group of people; rather, the children are taught to respect and value other faiths and beliefs, and to uphold Canada’s basic values of decency and tolerance”.

The school curriculum, however, referred to Jews as being: “crafty” and “treacherous,” with “plots” and “conspiracies,” while contrasting Islam to “the Jews and the Nazis.” These passages came from two books published by Iranian foundations, which also taught children about “unclean things,” including pigs, dogs and “a person who does not believe in Allah.”

So here one can see plainly the covert nature of how the Iranian “Fifth Column” manipulates diversity, multiculturalism, tolerance and even decency in a feeble attempt to cover up its agenda.

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An alarming article just released by Fox News revealed that Iran is using its embassy in Canada to mobilize Islamic Republic loyalists to infiltrate the Canadian Government and attack the United States, as can be seen in a chilling interview with Hamid Mohammadi and shown on an Iran-based website. In his interview, Mohammadi speaks of Iran’s plan to win the hearts and minds of Iranians living in Canada. He projects that by 2031, the total immigrant population of Canada will grow by 64%, and that, due to their birthrate, the number of Iranians should substantially increase.

His message drew the attention of U.S. terrorist experts, who noted that Canadians do not need visas to cross the border into the U.S.. Mohammadi also urged all Iranian-Canadians to “resist being melted into the dominant Canadian culture,” to aspire to “occupy high-level key positions,” and to “be of service to our beloved Iran.”

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A tight, organized network of Iranian terrorists seems to be using elementary schools, universities and government institutions — not to mention manipulating the multicultural system — to promote its messages of propaganda and hate, apparently with the ultimate goal of conquering the “infidel.” According to Shabnam Assadollahi, an Iranian-Canadian and anti-Iranian Regime activist, who helped translate the Mohammadi interview, “Multiculturalism is killing Canada. I am sick and tired of political correctness in this country.”

The good news is, this group has been identified by watchful eyes of its freedom-loving Iranian-Canadians and the diligence of security specialists.

The bad news is that there is a level of brazenness and sophistication from a terrorist regime that has the monetary backing and an apparent wish to hijack our institutions. Once such materials become discovered on elementary school premises, it is easily dealt with; the greatest threat remains on our campuses and in government institutions, which would do well to become more aware that multiculturalism and tolerance require a plan of implementation if we are to preserve our democracy.

Full article: Iran Infiltrates Canada, Calls to Attack America (Gatestone Institute)

Russia Is Massing Troops On Iran’s Northern Border And Waiting For A Western Attack

For those who enquire about what possible oucomes would stem from a war with Iran, war with Russia is a real possibility. Although this is not new news, it also gives insight into why (among many other reasons) Russia had manufactured justification and invaded Georgia in 2006: It provides strategic military access. As pointed out by the article, Georgia will likely have to be invaded again should war break out.

The Russian military anticipates that an attack will occur on Iran by the summer and has developed an action plan to move Russian troops through neighboring Georgia to stage in Armenia, which borders on the Islamic republic, according to informed Russian sources.

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Dmitry Rogozin, who recently was the Russian ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, warned against an attack on Iran.

“Iran is our neighbor,” Rogozin said. “If Iran is involved in any military action, it’s a direct threat to our security.” Rogozin now is the deputy Russian prime minister and is regarded as anti-Western. He oversees Russia’s defense sector.

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The implication of preparing to move Russian troops not only is to protect its own vital regional interests but possibly to assist Iran in the event of such an attack. Sources add that a Russian military buildup in the region could result in the Russian military potentially engaging Israeli forces, U.S. forces, or both.

Informed sources say that the Russians have warned of “unpredictable consequences” in the event Iran is attacked, with some Russians saying that the Russian military will take part in the possible war because it would threaten its vital interests in the region.

The influential Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper has quoted a Russian military source as saying that the situation forming around Syria and Iran “causes Russia to expedite the course of improvement of its military groups in the South Caucasus, the Caspian, Mediterranean and Black Sea regions.”

This latest information comes from a series of reports and leaks from official Russian spokesmen and government news agencies who say that an Israeli attack is all but certain by the summer.

Because of the impact on Russian vital interests in the region, sources say that Russian preparations for such an attack began two years ago when Russian Military Base 102 in Gyumri, Armenia, was modernized. It is said to occupy a major geopolitical position in the region.

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The Russians believe that Georgia would cooperate with the United States in blocking any supplies from reaching Military Base 102, which now is supplied primarily by air. Right now, Georgia blocks the only land transportation route through which Russian military supplies could travel.

Fuel for the Russian base in Armenia comes from Iran. Russian officials believe this border crossing may be closed in the event of a war.

“Possibly, it will be necessary to use military means to breach the Georgian transport blockade and establish transport corridors leading into Armenia,” according to Yury Netkachev, former deputy commander of Russian forces in Transcaucasia. Geography of the region suggests that any such supply corridor would have to go through the middle of Georgia approaching Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi given the roads and topography of the country.

Full article: Russia Is Massing Troops On Iran’s Northern Border And Waiting For A Western Attack (Business Insider)