Joomla! site syndication http://ayahra.org/en/ Sat, 19 May 2012 16:45:27 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://ayahra.org/en//images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://ayahra.org/en/ Joomla! site syndication http://ayahra.org/en//content/view/1003/26/ 18 May 2012   AP -- Ahmadinejad said Thursday that he is eager to attend the Olympic Games in London to support Iranian athletes but that Britain doesn't want to host him.Ahmadinejad was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying he would like to be "beside Iranian athletes" during the Games but the British are reluctant to have him."I would like to be next to our young athletes at the 2012 Olympics but the host has a problem with this," Ahmadinejad said during a meeting with Iranian athletes who have qualified for the Olympics.So far some 50 Iranian athletes have qualified to participate in the Olympics in several sports, including weightlifting, wrestling, shooting, track and field, and table tennis.Ahmadinejad did not specify whether he has officially requested to attend the Games or say if Britain has refused him entry. NEWS - NEWS Sat, 19 May 2012 01:31:06 +0100 http://ayahra.org/en//content/view/1002/26/  05/18/2012   WASHINGTON (AFP)— US lawmakers on Thursday adopted a sharply worded resolution warning about the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and urging President Barack Obama to increase diplomatic and political pressure against TehranThe resolution, which passed by 401 votes in favor and 11 against, warned that “time is limited” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability and called for “continued and increasing economic and diplomatic pressure” to prevent that from occurring.It also rejected “any policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran.”In addition to the full suspension of all uranium-enrichment and reprocessing activities, the measure called for Iran’s complete cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. NEWS - NEWS Sat, 19 May 2012 01:20:40 +0100 http://ayahra.org/en//content/view/1001/26/ 17 May 2012   Iran Human Rights, May 17: According to the official and unofficial reports 26 prisoners were executed in three different Iranian prisons yesterday and today.Ten of the executions were announced by official Iranian media while 16 other executions were reported by a rights group.SEVEN PRISONERS, AMONG THEM ONE WOMAN, EXECUTED IN KERMANSHAH (WESTERN IRAN):According to the official site of the Iranian judiciary in Kermanshah seven prisoners were hanged in the central prison of this city early yesterday morning, May 16.All the prisoners were convicted of drug-related charges said the report.According to the report the prisoners executed yesterday in Kermanshah are identified as:"A. A." (woman) for keeping and carrying 27 kilograms of heroin, "R. A." for participation in keeping and carrying 100 kilograms of morphine and 254 kilograms of opium, "Kh. Sh." for participation in keeping and carrying 57 kilograms of opium, "M. B." for participation in keeping and carrying 69 kilograms of opium, "A. S." for participation in keeping and carrying 4 kilos and 548 grams of morphine, "M. S."For participation in keeping and carrying narcotics (not specified in the report), and "M. Kh." for participation in keeping and carrying 1529 grams of crack. NEWS - NEWS Fri, 18 May 2012 02:59:49 +0100 http://ayahra.org/en//content/view/1000/26/  05/17/2012   TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The negotiating stance from Iranian officials never varies: The Islamic Republic will not give up its capabilities to make nuclear fuel. But embedded in the messages are meanings that reach beyond Tehran’s talks with world powers.It points to the struggles within Iran’s ruling system as it readies for the next round of talks scheduled to begin next week in Baghdad.Iran’s Islamic leadership — which crushed an opposition groundswell nearly three years ago and later swatted back a power grab by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — has now staked its political credibility on its ability to resist Western sanctions and hold firm to its rights under U.N. treaties to enrich uranium.Any concessions — either too great or too fast — could risk internal rifts within Iran’s power structure. And that could draw powerful forces into the mix, including the Revolutionary Guard that acts as defender of the theocracy and overseer of the nuclear program. As talks deepen, so do the political considerations for an Islamic establishment that cannot afford to appear to come away empty handed. NEWS - NEWS Fri, 18 May 2012 02:12:54 +0100 http://ayahra.org/en//content/view/999/26/ 16 May 2012   Haaretz -- The word Iran appears only once in Wednesday's report in the Washington Post on American assistance to rebel forces in Syria, which includes coordination of larger and much improved arms shipments. That mention was buried at the end of the long piece, almost as an aside - but Tehran's address is written all over the report. Administration sources emphasized to the Post that it's not material aid either, the money and arms are coming from the Sunni Gulf states. What the U.S. is providing is "assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure" for the Gulf arms suppliers. Or in other words, America is the go-between, the crucial link ensuring that the most useful weaponry goes through to where the rebels need it most. Since it's not clear when the American aid began and from the wording of the report, it is clear that this was an officially-sanctioned leak, accurately timed to come out just a few days before senior American diplomats and other representatives of the five permanent Security Council members and Germany are to meet with a senior Iranian delegation in Baghdad. The Syrian rebellion has been ongoing now for fourteen months, in the course of which anywhere between 10,000-25,000 Syrians have been killed, at least three-quarters of them civilians. Arms have been coming in, financed by the Saudis and other Gulf governments, earlier in a trickle but now apparently flowing, for most of that time. Until now the Obama administration has been observing a hands-off policy, denouncing President Bashar Assad and calling upon him to leave, but doing nothing to actually make that happen. So why has the administration decided just now, not only to provide "nonlethal assistance" to the Syrian opposition, but also to announce it? The administration officials speaking with the Post went a step forward and reported that there were also discussions being held with leaders of the Kurdish community in eastern Syria, who have so far remained mainly on the uprising's sidelines. One of the ideas apparently floated in these talks was the possibility of opening up a "second-front," forcing Assad to split the forces still loyal to his regime and send part of them far away from Syria's urban centers. Assuming that nothing by now is going to force Assad out of power of his own free will, and the Gulf states obviously already know that the Americans are cooperating with them, the only player whom the administration is sending this message to is Iran - probably the country with the most to lose if and when the Assad regime goes down, taking with it a critical link in their strategic Shia chain of allies, which now includes also Iraq and Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon. Assad's downfall will not only mean the loss of an ally and the strategic "depth" that enabled Hezbollah to train and store advanced weaponry far away and relatively safe from Israel. It will serve as a major encouragement to the anti-regime elements within Iran, largely dormant for over two years since the suppression of the Green Revolution. What is the administration hoping to gain from this signal to Tehran? Are they hoping that the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will finally realize that the noose is beginning to tighten, and give up on the dream of nuclear weapons along with Iran's strategic vision of a Shia crescent stretching across the Middle East? Hardly likely. But could Barack Obama be playing a much more Machiavellian game? In its desire to prevent a war in the Persian Gulf, would the administration be willing to forego even this limited assistance to the Syrian opposition, in return for some flexibility over the uranium? NEWS - NEWS Thu, 17 May 2012 01:35:22 +0100