Iran in Crisis After Cleric’s Murder
The Australian
The assassination of a prominent cleric in an oil-rich Iranian province, coinciding with violent protests in Tehran over the rationing of petrol, has plunged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into his biggest crisis since he was elected two years ago. The murder on June 24 of Hesham Saymary in Ahvaz, the centre of Iran’s oil-producing province in the south, was a blow to a regime that is already under pressure because of international condemnation of its nuclear program and the prospect of economic meltdown. The assassination, the third of a senior cleric this year, bore the hallmarks of a well-planned murder. According to witnesses, the gunmen waited outside Saymary’s house for him to arrive home about 10pm. They called out to the cleric as he was about to open his door and shot him three times. He died instantly. There have been other assassinations in Iran, notably in the Kurdish area, in the west near the Iraq border, but the Government is far more concerned about Saymary’s death because stability in the province is crucial for its oil revenues. Saymary was a member of the majority Arab population of Ahvaz, the focus of an Arabist separatist movement that follows the Wahhabi sect of Islam, linked to Osama bin Laden. He may have been targeted because he was a prominent supporter of the regime. Protests that followed shortly afterwards over the rationing of petrol convulsed Iran and its increasingly discontented citizens. The rationing is particularly damaging to Mr. Ahmadinejad because those worst affected are the constituency that elected him, the poor and disenfranchised.
Iran in Crisis After Cleric’s Murder
July 2, 2007 — budsimmonsExclusive: U.S. Soldier Reports Killing Iranian Revolutinary Guards In Iraq In I.M. Exchange With His Mother
July 2, 2007 — budsimmonsExclusive: U.S. Soldier Reports Killing Iranian Revolutinary Guards
In Iraq In I.M. Exchange With His Mother
First in a series.
You are going to have to take me at my word on this, but relatives, soldiers and officers have confirmed to me the presence of Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers in Iraq – for years now. I’m going to let it all out slowly, but want to share with you, as an initial sample, on email exchange between an American serviceman and his mother from October and May 2004. For the moment, their idientities are being protected by me, for obvious reasons.
This is an excert from an email sent to me by his mother:
I kept a journal of all of our emails and IM’s from Feb. ‘04-Feb. ‘05. This is an excerpt from an IM I got from my son around October ‘04. At the time, he was with (redacted ) at FOB (redacted).
Son: hi ma!
Son: no dice, eh ma?
Me: I was in the other room
Me: I’m here!!!
Son: shame on you
Me: for what?
Son: not being at my beck and call.
Son: I killed people today
Me: Bad guys?
Son: no, i really got into a nasty firefight today
Son: them + Iranian special forces
Me: I think you ROCK
Son: i got (redacted)’s highest confirmed kill coint now, standing at (redacted)
And then from 5/13/04, earlier:
Me: I can’t believe there is still so much trouble over there.
Son: me either
Me: Where so they all come from?
Son: syria
Son: iran
Iran, Venezuela In “Axis Of Unity” Against U.S.
July 2, 2007 — budsimmonsIran, Venezuela In “Axis Of Unity” Against U.S.
“Iran and Venezuela — the axis of unity,” read one of many official posters. “The two countries will united defeat the imperialism of North America,” a beaming Chavez told a news conference during an official visit to the Islamic Republic
By Parisa Hafezi
Monday, July 2
ASSALOUYEH, Iran (Reuters) – The presidents of Iran and Venezuela launched construction of a joint petrochemical plant on Monday, strengthening an “axis of unity” between two oil-rich nations staunchly opposed to the United States.
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who both often rail against Washington, also signed a series of other deals to expand economic cooperation, ranging from setting up a dairy factory in Venezuela to forming an oil company.
“The two countries will united defeat the imperialism of North America,” a beaming Chavez told a news conference during an official visit to the Islamic Republic, which the United States has labelled part of an “axis of evil”.
“When I come to Iran Washington gets upset,” he said.
Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian 
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