{"id":1409,"date":"2020-08-06T21:40:54","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T02:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/?p=1409"},"modified":"2020-08-26T00:56:43","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T05:56:43","slug":"1409","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/2020\/08\/06\/1409\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

This NYT op-ed cites bureaucratic incompetence, but says nothing of terrorism and Hezbollah.\u00a0 \u201cWhy Did Lebanon Let a Bomb-in-Waiting Sit in a Warehouse for 6 Years?,\u201d<\/a> Faysal Itani, op-ed, New York Times, August 5, 2020.\u00a0\u00a0The following article, on the other hand, makes the point that the US Treasury and Israel believe that the terror group controls Lebanon’s port where the blast occurred.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t just the ills of bureaucracy in a divided country without enough resources.\u00a0 First, after the ammonium nitrate was abandoned by Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin, they should have become the property of the Lebanese government via forfeiture, who could then sell them for fertilizer.\u00a0 But Hezbollah, who likes to stockpile weapons, undoubtedly wanted to hold on to free 2,750 tons of explosives.\u00a0 See \u201cWas Hezbollah connected to the explosives that devastated Beirut?,\u201d<\/a> Meira Svirsky, Clarion Project, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

I am disappointed by the Council on Foreign Relations and its framing of the U.S. and Iran relationship as starting in 1953, with the CIA and British involvement in the Iranian movement against PM Mossadeq.\u00a0 In actuality, the First Iranian Crisis was in 1945-47, and Pres. Truman stood up to the Soviets and their attempt to seize oil-rich territory in northern Iran.\u00a0 This was the first of the U.S. containment policy being put into place, and kept Iran from becoming another Soviet state.\u00a0 Starting with 1953 ignores the service the U.S. played in keeping Iran from becoming controlled as a communist territory after World War II.\u00a0 See \u201cU.S. Relations With Iran: 1953 \u2013 2020,\u201d<\/a> Council on Foreign Relations, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

Because of the importance of framing the issues by the media, and how this can influence Iran or how everyone else understands Iran, this blog entry covers how a headline can reflect a source\u2019s leaning.\u00a0 The first entry is from the NYT.\u00a0 See \u201cIran Envoy Brian Hook, a \u2018Survivor\u2019 on Trump\u2019s Team, to Quit,\u201d<\/a> David Sanger and Michael Crowley, New York Times, August 6, 2020.\u00a0 Here’s another–\u201cElliott Abrams, convicted of lying about Iran-Contra, named special representative for Iran,\u201d<\/a> Kathryn Watson, CBS, August 6, 2020.\u00a0 In contrast, here is a more reasoned, descriptive headline–\u201cU.S. Iran envoy Brian Hook stepping down as key U.N. arms embargo vote looms,\u201d<\/a> Humeyra Pamuk and Michelle Nichols, Reuters, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cUS ambassador says Iran is world No. 1 sponsor of terrorism,\u201d<\/a> AP, August 6, 2020.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe U.S. ambassador to the United Nations [Kelly Craft] is calling Iran \u201cthe world\u2019s number one sponsor of terrorism\u201d and warning Russia and China that they will become \u201cco-sponsors\u201d if they block a resolution to extend the U.N. arms embargo on Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIRGC says Iran to \u2018mobilize\u2019 to help Lebanon after blast,\u201d<\/a> Al-Monitor, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation in Iran and Russia regarding their interfering in the upcoming U.S. elections has gotten to the point where on Wednesday Secretary Pompeo announced the U.S. was now offering up to $10 million \u201cfor information leading to the identification or location of any person who, acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, interferes with U.S. elections by engaging in certain criminal cyber activities.\u201d Written in Farsi, the Iran text messages say: \u201cThe United States pays up to $10 million for any information on foreign interference in American elections.\u201d They carry a link to the U.S. Rewards for Justice Program, which offers cash bounties in return for information on threats to American national security.\u00a0 See \u201cIranians, Russians receive text messages seeking U.S. election hacking info,\u201d<\/a> Raphael Satter, Reuters, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorld\u2019s Biggest Methanol Plant Opens in Iran,\u201d<\/a> Tasnim News, The Iranian, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

Ask yourself, why would Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri send separate messages to Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces General Joseph Aoun and to Hezbollah Secretary General Seyed Hassan Nasrallah?\u00a0 Does Iran consider them equals?\u00a0 \u201cTop General: Iran Armed Forces Ready to Assist Lebanon,\u201d<\/a> Tasnim News Agency, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

Grotesque, but all too common.\u00a0 \u201cNew information from inside Iran indicates that Iranian protester Mostafa Salehi who was hanged on August 5, 2020, in Isfahan had been subjected to vicious tortures to confess the killing on an IRGV member. He never accepted the charges but was still hanged despite the lack of evidence. A source said that Mostafa Salehi had been severely tortured in the past two years to confess the killing of Sajjad Shahsanaei a member of the IRGC Basij forces. \u201cMostafa\u2019s hand and both legs had been broken during interrogations. Agents also used needles to puncture under his nails,\u201d the source said. \u201cThe tortures were so severe that his neck and spinal cord became injured. They tortured him to confess but he never did,\u201d the source said.\u201d\u00a0 See \u201cExecuted Iranian Protester Tortured to Make False Confession,\u201d<\/a> Iran HRM, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201c3 Iranian planes landed in Beirut after explosion \u2013 what did they bring?,\u201d<\/a> Seth Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, August 6, 2020.\u00a0\u00a0If Iran was moving medical supplies, as Iran\u2019s leaders have said they would like to provide, then why not have photos and news media on hand to document the delivery of the Iranian aid?<\/p>\n

\u201cPrison Authorities Incite Attacks on Political Prisoners in Iran Jails,\u201d<\/a> Iran HRM, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cKhamenei should be blamed for Iran\u2019s financial crisis,\u201d<\/a> Majid Rafizadeh, op-ed, Arab News, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

Died on Wednesday.\u00a0 \u201cCoronavirus claims another 174 lives in Iran,\u201d<\/a> Ahmet Dursun, AA, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

I am disappointed but not surprised by the Council on Foreign Relations and its framing of the U.S. and Iran relationship as starting in 1953, and with its decision to highlight the CIA and British involvement in the Iranian movement against PM Mossadeq.\u00a0 In actuality, the First Iranian Crisis was in 1945-47, and Pres. Truman stood up to the Soviets and their attempt to seize oil-rich territory in northern Iran.\u00a0 This was the first of the U.S. containment polidy against the USSR being put into place, and kept Iran from becoming another Soviet state.\u00a0 The CFR starting with 1953 ignores the service the U.S. played in keeping Iran from becoming controlled as a communist territory after World War II.\u00a0 See \u201cU.S. Relations With Iran: 1953 \u2013 2020,\u201d<\/a> Council on Foreign Relations, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran sees disaster as opportunity to advance regional interests,\u201d<\/a> Shahar Kleiman, Israel Hayom, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cFormer Obama Official Says Despite ‘Maximum Pressure’ Iran Not Closer To Talks,\u201d<\/a> Maryam Sinaiee, Radio Farda, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn July 14, 2020, Kurdish language teacher and civil society activist, Zara (also Zahra) Mohammadi was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Courts. Zara was first arrested in her hometown Sine (also known as Sanandaj), in the Kurdistan Province of Iran, on 23 May 2019. Prior to her arrest, she had been subject to several lengthy interrogations by Iran\u2019s Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. She was later released on bail in December 2, 2019, after some six months in prison, where she said she endured Kafkaesque interrogations and was tortured to make false \u201cconfessions.\u201d What was Zara\u2019s \u2018crime\u2019? Teaching Kurdish, her mother tongue. The 10 year verdict was precisely calculated by the Islamic revolutionary judge: each year of teaching was punished by a year of imprisonment.\u201d\u00a0 See \u201cIran: how to kill a language,\u201d<\/a> Haidar Khezri, Open Democracy, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cFormer Obama Official Says Despite ‘Maximum Pressure’ Iran Not Closer To Talks,\u201d<\/a> Maryam Sinaiee, Radio Farda, August 6, 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This NYT op-ed cites bureaucratic incompetence, but says nothing of terrorism and Hezbollah.\u00a0 \u201cWhy Did Lebanon Let a Bomb-in-Waiting Sit in a Warehouse for 6 Years?,\u201d Faysal Itani, op-ed, New York Times, August 5, 2020.\u00a0\u00a0The following article, on the other hand, makes the point that the US Treasury and Israel believe that the terror group … <\/p>\n

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