{"id":2224,"date":"2020-12-13T08:12:24","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T14:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/?p=2224"},"modified":"2020-12-16T21:29:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T03:29:47","slug":"2224","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/2020\/12\/13\/2224\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

This is important.\u00a0 Repeatedly on this blog I state that Iran acts as it does (and not as a normal country) in support of its Islamic Revolution (and everything that Revolution entails).\u00a0 Here is another article, and this one is tied directly to the slain nuclear scientist.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a quote\u2014\u201cThe broadcaster said the first class Order of Nasr (\u201cVictory\u201d in Persian), bearing Khamenei\u2019s signature, was handed to the scientist\u2019s family by the armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri. \u201cThis is a decoration meant for dear ones who defend the Islamic Revolution and Iran\u2019s territorial integrity and independence,\u201d Bagheri said. He added that it is the highest medal awarded in recognition of logistics contribution and support of the troops. After Fakhrizadeh\u2019s death, Defense Minister Amir Hatami referred to him as his deputy minister and head of the ministry\u2019s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), focusing on the field of \u201cnuclear defense.\u201d\u201d\u00a0 See?\u00a0 Fakhrizadhe\u2019s work was nuclear, and in support of the Revolution.\u00a0 The Revolution is not about clean water and isotopes and electricity, by-products of a civilian nuclear program.\u00a0 See \u201cIran awards posthumous medal to assassinated nuke chief for \u2018defending nation\u2019,\u201d<\/a> Times of Israel, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

In November.\u00a0 \u201cIran Suspected After Massive Cyberattack on Israeli Firms Revealed,\u201d<\/a> Amitai Ziv, Haaertz, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime to bring perpetrators of Iran\u2019s 1988 massacre to justice,\u201d<\/a> Majid Rafizadeh, op-ed, Arab News, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

It is understandable that the IRI would be upset.\u00a0 But part of this is their own making.\u00a0 \u201cWhy did President Erdogan\u2019s poem infuriate Iranians?,\u201d<\/a> Maziar Motamedi, Al Jazeera, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran \u2013 the only country that has direct borders with both Azerbaijan and Armenia \u2013 especially since millions of Azeris and hundreds of thousands with Armenian origins live across the country. The poem recited by Erdogan laments how the Aras River has separated Azeri-speaking people in Azerbaijan and Iran and is a symbol of the pan-Turkism doctrine that seeks the unification of all Turks, including those living in Iran. To understand why the message infuriated Iranians so much, one must look at a treaty signed almost 200 years ago that concluded the Russo-Persian War and continues to be regarded as a source of shame brought on Iran by the Qajar dynasty that ruled until 1925. The Treaty of Turkmenchay ceded control of vast swathes of land in the South Caucasus to Russia and set the Aras River as the boundary between the two countries. Those lands now constitute large parts of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and even parts of Turkey. Millions of Azeri-descent Iranians still feel a close kinship and have relations with Azeris on the other side of the border.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know yet if the execution was televised, and whether they hung Zam using a crane\u2014strangulation, not hanging.\u00a0 \u201cIran hangs journalist over 2017 protests,\u201d<\/a> Jon Gambrell, Newcastle Herald, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

Actually, there is a long line of tolerance by Islam for persons of other faith, including Jews.\u00a0 There were, in various places and times, various conditions also for that tolerance.\u00a0 But Iran\u2019s blanket statement that Morocco\u2019s agreement to recognize Israel is certainly not a \u201cbetrayal of Islam.\u201d\u00a0 See \u201cIran says Morocco Israel deal \u2018betrayal of Islam\u2019,\u201d<\/a> AFP, December 13, 2020.\u00a0\u00a0Ali Akbar Velayati spoke on behalf of the Supreme Leader.\u00a0 Note also the threat by Iran to be involved in terror in those four countries\u2014\u201cVelayati said they will \u201cwitness popular uprisings in a not so distant future\u201d as their \u201cdependent, submissive and authoritarian leaders are unmasked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA British-Iranian anthropologist has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty of collaborating with a hostile state. The Foreign Office has been made aware of the case of Kameel Ahmady, who said he was detained for 100 days last year without access to legal representation. Unusually, he has not been sent directly to jail following the sentencing. Amir Raesian, Ahmady\u2019s lawyer, said: \u201c[On] Saturday my client Kameel Ahmady, a researcher and anthropologist, was sentenced to eight years in prison by branch 15 of the revolutionary court in Tehran on charges of \u2018collaborating with a hostile government\u2019. We will appeal this ruling and we still hope.\u201d In a statement released via friends in the UK, Ahmady said: \u201cIn autumn 2019, contrary to all legal strictures and hope of fair judgment, I was subjected to 100 days of detention and extrajudicial interrogation without access to a lawyer. \u201cThe judgment now handed down was issued after two non-expert court hearings in a legal process full of flaws.\u201d Ahmady has published several books and papers in Iran on issues such as child labour, female genital mutilation and child marriage . He said he was being targeted for his work. \u201cThe legal focus of the accusation goes back to my research on the most harmful traditions about children in disadvantaged minority areas of Iran, but the main intention of my accusers has been to link my research to the United Nations 2030 sustainable development goals, and to stop my activities with the target community of my research,\u201d Ahmady said. \u201cMy aim now is to appeal this verdict and hope for a fair trial in the appeal court.\u201d\u00a0 See \u201cBritish\u2013Iranian academic sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran,\u201d<\/a> Patrick Wintour, Guardian, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

Not a good move by Iran to execute a journalist and rights advocate on the eve of the Electoral College victory for the new U.S. President Joe Biden.\u00a0 See \u201cFrance, other European countries withdraw from Iran business forum over execution,\u201d<\/a> Euractiv, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

Helpful story by The Post about how Iran snatches persons, several after luring them to Turkey.\u00a0 \u201cTurkey says Iranian intelligence was behind elaborate plot to kidnap opponent in Istanbul,\u201d<\/a> Kareem Fahim and Erin Cunningham, Washington Post, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

And they fined him 700K.\u00a0 \u201cIran sentences British-Iranian researcher to 9 years in jail,\u201d<\/a> AP, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

Perhaps another Irainian limpet mine.\u00a0 \u201c\u2018External source\u2019 causes oil tanker blast off Saudi Arabia,\u201d<\/a> Jon Gambrell, AP, Seattle Times, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cIranian hackers claim to have broken into Israeli start-up Habana Labs,\u201d<\/a> Abigail Adler, Jerusalem Post, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe implications of a military figure as president of Iran,\u201d<\/a> Farhad Rezaei and Jason Brodsky, JNS, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

Iran says other countries shouldn\u2019t interfere in Iran\u2019s internal affairs.\u00a0 But when Iran snatches people from other countries or takes other countries\u2019 citizens hostage, then it is the business of other countries.\u00a0 See \u201cIran summons EU envoys for protesting reporter\u2019s hanging,\u201d<\/a> AP, Mercury News, December 13, 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is important.\u00a0 Repeatedly on this blog I state that Iran acts as it does (and not as a normal country) in support of its Islamic Revolution (and everything that Revolution entails).\u00a0 Here is another article, and this one is tied directly to the slain nuclear scientist.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a quote\u2014\u201cThe broadcaster said the first class … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2819,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2532],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-update"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2819"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2224"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2255,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2224\/revisions\/2255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}