[Cog]

I hope the sides will exchange some money and everyone will go back to doing whatever they were doing before this latest crisis occurred.

[AdamB]

Last week, as I reflected on my recent three-part series filled with bold predictions, I began to question whether or not I was being too negative. Upon hearing Trump’s Iran speech Friday, I became convinced that everything I wrote had merit. The speech was downright terrifying, serving to confirm all my worst fears about what he’s up to in the Middle East. There’s no way you can listen to that disingenuous rant and not recognize that he’s already made up his mind about war with Iran. What comes next will be a series of U.S. imposed redlines and demands, which Iran will eventually be said to violate, at which point the U.S. will escalate bigly. I expect the most wretched cretins in America to rally behind the coming war push, including much of the corporate media. We already saw evidence of this... Many ...

War With Iran..

[Tanada]

Realistically the Pentagon has a huge staff that spend all their working hours day in and day out coming up with plans to invade every foreign country on the globe, both individually and as groups. This is nothing new, the US Military had war plans to fights Germany or France or the UK in the 1930's or to fight an alliance of all three of them. After the Pentagon was built the plans simply became more frequently updated and detailed. I am quite confident there is a file somewhere in the Pentagon right now for invading Liberia or Argentina or the UK at need.

[SeaGypsy]

Any country with either resources or a threat which has not already been effectively enjoined to the list- easily found- search list of US military bases overseas.

What i find disgusting about Trump's rants against Iran very recently, is the complete lack of acknowledgement of Iranian help in the almost over war on ISIL. Throughout the Syrian war, the Iranians have fought, bled & died without mention by American leadership or allies. Now that ISIL is on the verge of total defeat, immediately US MIC switches target to this unacknowledged ally in this hideous war. Listening to Trump's bullshit recently you would think (if you were an average ignoramus) that Iran sponsored ISIL & there's no difference between Iran & ISIL, no Sunni Shia divide.

There are valid concerns about Iran, treatment of minorities, nuclear ambitions, threats against Israel & regional trade. However the rhetoric seems to suggest the MIC requires a fresh target & adrenaline shot for it's markets- Iran fits the bill, better than ', little rocket man' who it seems has been tucked under China's wing, at least for the time being.

[AdamB]

Iran has suggested isolating the US by ditching the dollar during a meeting yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran. Remonstrating against US threats to impose new sanctions and cancel the nuclear agreement, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei branded the US an enemy and urged Moscow to completely sever ties with the US currency: "By ignoring the negative propaganda of the enemies, that seek to weaken relations between countries, we can nullify US sanctions, using methods such as eliminating the dollar and replacing it with national currencies in transactions between two or more parties; thus, isolate the Americans.” As The Express reports, Putin met Iranian political leaders in an effort to nurture a warming relationship strengthened since Donald Trump recently threatened to abandon the international nuclear deal with Iran reached in 2015. The Russian premier criticised American interference in the region and described his country’s

Iran Urges Russia To Ditch The Dollar, Isolate America

[dissident]

Iran has suggested isolating the US by ditching the dollar during a meeting yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran. Remonstrating against US threats to impose new sanctions and cancel the nuclear agreement, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei branded the US an enemy and urged Moscow to completely sever ties with the US currency: "By ignoring the negative propaganda of the enemies, that seek to weaken relations between countries, we can nullify US sanctions, using methods such as eliminating the dollar and replacing it with national currencies in transactions between two or more parties; thus, isolate the Americans.” As The Express reports, Putin met Iranian political leaders in an effort to nurture a warming relationship strengthened since Donald Trump recently threatened to abandon the international nuclear deal with Iran reached in 2015. The Russian premier criticised American interference in the region and described his country’s

Iran Urges Russia To Ditch The Dollar, Isolate America

Poor little America installs a neo-Nazi regime in Kiev that continues to randomly shell civilians in the Donbass to this day, and then uses its NATO puppets to try and isolate Russia for not bending over and taking it. Iran does not need urge Russia to do anything. America is doing the real urging.

[AdamB]

Looking nervous and somber, the FBI’s star witness entered from the lockup and shuffled across the New York federal courtroom in a beige prison smock. The Turkish-Iranian gold trader took a seat at the witness stand for the hearing on Nov. 29, the second day of testimony in a money laundering and sanctions-evasion case brought by the U.S. government. Asked to state his name, he said he was Reza Zarrab. Not long ago, Zarrab’s life might have fit the description of a James Bond villain’s—he glided around Istanbul with his pop-star wife in Aston Martins and Range Rovers, flew on private planes, and sported around the Aegean with his own jetpack and submarine. He liked to carry a gold-plated pistol and kept an office at Trump Towers Istanbul. That all came to an end in March 2016, when Zarrab was arrested

How to Launder $1 Billion of Iranian Oil

[AdamB]

Demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans in several cities across Iran on Friday, Iranian news agencies and social media reports said, as price protests turned into the largest wave of demonstrations since nationwide pro-reform unrest in 2009. Police dispersed anti-government demonstrators in the western city of Kermanshah as protests spread to Tehran and several other cities a day after rallies in the northeast, the semi-official news agency Fars said. The outbreak of unrest reflects growing discontent over rising prices and alleged corruption, as well as concern about the Islamic Republic’s costly involvement in regional conflicts such as those in Syria and Iraq. An official said a few protesters had been arrested in Tehran, and footage posted on social media showed a heavy police presence in the capital and some other cities. Sponsored Washington criticized the arrests. ”The United States strongly condemns the arrest of peaceful protesters. We

Protests turn political in Iran as rallies spread

[dissident]

After the regime change they will be getting less food for higher prices and not making a single squeak.

[Cog]

I had not seen anything in the news about this until today. A true reform movement to remove the clerics from power would be quite a game changer in Iran. Something that bears watching.

More at link:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42524610


They began three days ago - initially in protest at falling living standards - and are the biggest show of dissent since huge pro-reform rallies in 2009.

Demonstrators have ignored a warning by Iran's interior minister to avoid "illegal gatherings".

Two demonstrators are reported dead in Dorud after sustaining gunshot wounds in a video posted on social media.

Videos filmed elsewhere in the country show protesters setting fire to a police vehicles and there are reports of attacks on government buildings.

Although small, the anti-government protests on Saturday took on a much greater importance than the government-sponsored rallies.

It's not every day that there are thousands of people voicing opposition to the government.

As night fell, reports were still coming of protests in at least nine cities. There have been clashes with the police in some places.

The common factor in all of them has been protesters' demand for an end to clerical rule in Iran.

Widespread discontent is not limited to complaints about rising prices or widespread unemployment.

It has been an eye-opening three days for the government, which has been careful not to provoke the protesters too much

[Cog]

The protestors want an end to the rule of the clerics. Something any rational person would want I would think.

[AdamB]

The US State Department has issued a formal condemnation of the Iranian government following two days of economic protests centering in a handful of cities, calling the regime "a rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos" while announcing support for protesters. It fits a familiar script which seems to roll out when anyone protests for any reason in a country considered an enemy of the United States (whether over economic grievances or full on calling for government overthrow). Map via The Daily Mail The statement by spokesperson Heather Nauert, released late on Friday, further comes very close to calling for regime change in Iran when it asserts the following: On June 14, 2017, Secretary Tillerson testified to Congress that he supports "those elements inside of Iran that would lead to a peaceful transition of government.Those elements are there, certainly as we

US State Department Hints At Iran Overthrow: Are We Witnessing The Early Stages Of Regime Change?

[dissident]

https://twitter.com/ferozwala/status/947400433781395458

Typical propaganda to push the narrative.

[M_B_S]

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018 IRAN ?!



https://www.commentarymagazine.com/fore ... l-dignity/


Iran is convulsing with the largest mass uprising since the 2009 Green Movement. Demonstrations that began last week in the city of Mashhad, home to the shrine of the eighth Shiite imam, have now spread to dozens of cities. And while the slogans initially addressed inflation, joblessness, and graft, they soon morphed into outright opposition to the mullahs. As we write, the authorities have blocked access to popular social-media sites and closed off subway stations in the capital, Tehran, to prevent crowd sizes from growing. At least 12 people have been killed in clashes with security forces.

***********************


THE REVOLUTION starts with blood....

2018 <=> 1918 ?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-agiAnRYrrU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5pyOApYPMc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5pyOAp ... pYPMc&t=83

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNa_4Ox ... 5pyOApYPMc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj7uPolcbsc

VIVE LA REVOLUTION

MUSIC ON!
One Hour of Music - International Brigades
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PAClWb86YE
More:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/d ... 48238.html

[dissident]

A phony colour revolution designed to install another Shah. The west lost all credibility regarding Iran's democracy in 1953 when it subverted a real democratic government installed its cookie-cutter banana republic despot. The 1979 Salafi revolution was the direct fault of the west and its meddling in 1953. The west's two-faced meddling is clearly apparent now.

Compare the coverage of Iran to all the coddling that Saudi Arabia receives. And you expect to be taken for your word?

[Cog]

A phony colour revolution designed to install another Shah. The west lost all credibility regarding Iran's democracy in 1953 when it subverted a real democratic government installed its cookie-cutter banana republic despot. The 1979 Salafi revolution was the direct fault of the west and its meddling in 1953. The west's two-faced meddling is clearly apparent now.

Compare the coverage of Iran to all the coddling that Saudi Arabia receives. And you expect to be taken for your word?

Would you want to be ruled by Ayatollahs and subject to arrest by religious police for violating religious laws?

[M_B_S]

HUNGRY FOR CHANGE


http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle ... he-streets

The BBC's Rana Rahimpour explains what the protesters are demanding and how the government has responded amid shifting international attitudes to the country.....

[AdamB]

The world Is watching and so is oil as the death toll rises in the streets of Iran, where the people revolt against a terrible economy and the lack of any real freedoms and rights. At least 19 people were reported killed in street protests in Iran, while President Hassan Rouhani on one hand defended their right to protest but on the other hand warned he would show "no tolerance" for those who incite unrest. Many arrests have been made and the government of Iran says it may seek the death penalty, for what they say are crimes against God, in demonstrations that have gone on for over 5 days in a row. President Trump tweeted that ”Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed

Oil And Iran

[dolanbaker]

It appears that the protests have been snuffed out using the same tactics that succeeded in Turkey last year, call for the people to go out onto the streets and support the government.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42556729
The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has declared the defeat of the "sedition" in the country, referring to a wave of anti-government protests.

Maj Gen Mohammad Ali Jafari made the announcement as tens of thousands of people attended pro-government rallies called to counter the unrest.

[AdamB]

According to Arab paper, former leader's comments against Rouhani government amid rallies have led authorities to seek to place him under house arrest Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been arrested by authorities for allegedly inciting unrest against the government, the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported Saturday, citing “reliable sources in Tehran.” The newspaper said that Ahmadinejad, during a visit to the western city of Bushehr on December 28, said, “Some of the current leaders live detached from the problems and concerns of the people, and do not know anything about the reality of society.” He supposedly added that Iran was suffering from “mismanagement” and that the government of President Hassan Rouhani “believes that they own the land and that the people are an ignorant society.” According to Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Ahmadinejad’s comments, which came as anti-government protests over the economy were heating up, led

Ex-Iranian president Ahmadinejad arrested for inciting unrest