US storms Iran consulate in Arbil

US troops arrested five staff members at the Iranian consulate in Arbil, northern Iraq [EPA]

US forces, backed by helicopters, have raided the Iranian consulate's offices in Arbil, the Kurdish capital in northern Iraq.

A number of arrests were made and computers and documents seized during Thursday's raids.

An Iranian foreign ministry official said US troops arrested five staff members, including diplomats and staff.

Mohammad Ali Hosseini, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman condemned the raid and said it was a violation of international law.

"There is no justification for this behaviour of the Americans, particularly because Iraqi officials were not informed about this move."

Mohammad Ali Hosseini, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman
"The activity of all those people at our office in Arbil was legal and was in co-operation with, and had the approval of, the Iraqi side," Hosseini told Iran's state-owned Arabic language satellite channel Al-Alam.

"There is no justification for this behaviour of the Americans, particularly because Iraqi officials were not informed about this move," he added.

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Published on 7 Mar 2005 by MuseLetter.com. Archived on 7 Mar 2005.

Onward to Iran
by Richard Heinberg
MuseLetter 155 (March 2005)

Iran has spent the past few years cementing economic and military ties with Russia, China, and the EU, and such efforts have intensified dramatically within past weeks. These nations, to varying degrees, view the US as a superpower that has outlived much of its usefulness to the rest of the world. The US is now a liability in many respects: its immense national debt and trade deficits weigh down the global economy; its profligate consumption of resources leaves less to go around for other nations; its refusal to sign the Kyoto accord ensures a century of environmental collapse; and its arrogant militarism serves to undermine any hopes for cooperative solutions to future contests over dwindling resources. No government wants to take on the US militarily. But Washington appears determined to control the chokepoints of global resource flows. Thus the leaders of China, Russia - and to a lesser extent even those of the EU - would in their own view be acting in self-defense by drawing a line in the sand around Iran.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. contingency planning for military action against Iran's nuclear program goes beyond limited strikes and would effectively unleash a war against the country, a former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Friday.

"I've seen some of the planning ... You're not talking about a surgical strike," said Wayne White, who was a top Middle East analyst for the State Department's bureau of intelligence and research until March 2005.

"You're talking about a war against Iran" that likely would destabilize the Middle East for years, White told the Middle East Policy Council, a Washington think tank.

...

North Korea is helping Iran to prepare an underground nuclear test similar to the one Pyongyang carried out last year.

Under the terms of a new understanding between the two countries, the North Koreans have agreed to share all the data and information they received from their successful test last October with Teheran's nuclear scientists.

"The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein."

Interesting article linked above by the "Telegraph UK." I'm not familiar with this source. Can someone tell me what kind of news source this is? What's its reputation? What's its political bent?