Once a rogue state, always a rogue state: The Central Intelligence Agency, backed by bodies including the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Defense Intelligence Agency, determined in August 1974 that Israel had nuclear “weapons in being,” a “small number” of which it “produced and stockpiled.” Israel was also suspected of providing…
Showing all posts tagged Iran
Not the greatest threat to world peace
After telling the world that Iran was provocatively pursuing American warships in international waters, the Pentagon is forced to backtrack: Today, the Navy acknowledged that the verbal threat made in the tape may not have been Iranian: “We’re saying that we cannot make a direct connection to the boats there,” said the spokesperson. “It could…
Truth or lies?
BBC, January 8: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has described the actions of Iranian vessels which confronted the US Navy as provocative and dangerous. Iran played down the event, calling it an “ordinary occurrence”, but Ms Rice told the BBC there was “nothing normal” about the incident. The US says five Iranian speedboats challenged…
More than Mahmoud
The Guardian’s Iran correspondent, Robert Tait, was kicked out of the country last week. His final dispatch paints an appropriately complex picture of the Islamic Republic: The scenes of boisterous revelry would not have been out of place in a crowded nightclub. In time to a throbbing beat, men and women of varying ages danced…
Journalism class 101
How about this for a page one yarn in today’s Independent? Voters in the United States may have switched their attention to the contest to find his successor, but George Bush will embark on an ambitious nine-day tour of the Middle East tomorrow in a last desperate effort to salvage a legacy from two terms…
The farting Ayatollahs
Kamangir, January 6: When I wrote a piece about how the Islamic Republic benefits from turning the Ayatollahs into holy figures, in my Persian blog [Persian], I had no idea about the backlash it would create. The reactions, however, offer a good insight into what the main problem in Iran is. It is not Ahmadinejad…
Persian web obsession
Iranian blogger Kamangir investigates the Iranian blogosphere and discovers, despite the best efforts of Western multinationals such as Yahoo and Microsoft to restrict access to services, a thriving scene of web activity.
The blogging revolution, part 5432
Citizen media – or networked journalism, a much better term – has revolutionised the media environment. Numerous citizens from the world can now better engage with their environment thanks to the internet. Rising Voices is a project to help this along. The latest recipients are fascinating. Take one: Shaghayegh Azimi and fellow veteran Iranian videobloggers…