Government Email

That the Iranian government does not like the Internet is not news. Not much different than the Chinese government, Internet is seen a a threat to their domination and control of information to the populace. 

Offhand, I don't know of another despotic regime which has gone this far in creating a national Intranet.

Iran Kicks Off Its Internal Internet With Government Email

It’s no secret that Iranian authorities don’t trust or like the Internet.

This week, the Islamic Republic inaugurated the national email. A government assigned email address linked to your social security number that makes it easy to trace users and monitor their communication.

The minister of telecommunication and information technology, Mohamad Hassan Nami, even said on Tuesday that every Iranian “must” register for a nation email address upon entering elementary school. He added that official communication between government and citizens would eventually be redirected through the national email service.

Obtaining your own personal government-run email address, according to the minister, is as mandatory as having a Zip code.

Iranians can obtain their national emails through the state-run postal service. One must register online and fill out a lengthy form handing over personal information—date of birth, social security, home address, telephone number and so on.

Eventually there will also be a national Internet service, or what the government call “halal Internet’, which acts as a nation-wide intranet and could effectively cut Iran off from the world wide web if authorities deem fit.

FULL STORY - Wall Street Journal

Rhinoplasty (nose jobs) in Iran

Never really gave it much thought, rhinoplasty much less any type of plastic surgery in Iran. A country which insists on modesty for women, I a surprised a so many women going for the cosmetic surgery, where far as I am concerned is to make them more attractive.

Vanity and boredom fuel Iran's nose job boom

Surgical plaster encasing Goli Abadi's nose was the only blemish on a face of otherwise radiant beauty. One of a growing number of Iranians to fall prey to the national trend for cosmetic surgery, the 21-year-old

unemployed dental hygienist had a prosaic, if suspiciously defensive, explanation.

"I had a broken nose when I was a child at kindergarten," Ms Abadi said. "I was hit on the face by a swing and it left a small hump in my nose. Otherwise, I would never have had this operation."

The only flaw in Ms Abadi's tale was its familiarity. Another young woman, Laila, 23, her face bruised and eyes bloodshot from a similar nose operation, recounted an almost identical childhood story. "After my accident I had problems breathing," she said. "I couldn't sleep lying on my front and always had to lie on my back."

The parallel explanations represent a curious twist in one of modern Iran's most visible social trends. The streets of Tehran abound with young people - mostly, but not exclusively, women - with their noses in plaster from the effects of surgery.

The phenomenon reflects a competitive urge among fashion-conscious Iranians to put their cosmetic handiwork on display. According to doctors, some even wear nose plasters as a status symbol without actually having had the operation.

But that openness is not matched by frankness about the motivations for surgery. "They all come with the excuse that they have had an accident, that they have breathing problems, that they have a deviation inside," said one Tehran specialist.

Whatever her own reasons, Ms Abadi waxed effusive on those of her cohorts. "I call it a virus," she said. "Nearly all of my friends have had nose operations. It's just competition among the girls to look more beautiful. I think it's very stupid. It also helps people to pass the time."

the guardian

Iran/Hezbollah drone shot down over Israel

Should not come as any surprise, Iran gives their puppet terrorists, Hezbollah an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

Oh well, got some target practice for the Israel Air Force.

Downed drone: Iran testing Israel's capabilities

Unmanned aircraft shot down by F-16 jets in south Israel was apparently launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah, or perhaps even by the Iranians themselves; IDF looking into possibility aircraft was supposed to photograph Dimona reactor


IDF choppers in area where drone was
 intercepted (Photo: Haim Horenstein)


A few hours after two fighter jets shot down a small unmanned aircraft that penetrated Israeli airspace in the south Saturday morning, it is safe to say that an element operating in Lebanon under the auspices of Iran and with its support, apparently Hezbollah, activated the drone. The drone itself, which was downed in the south Mount Hebron area, was apparently made in Iran.

Operating a drone by remote control from such a long distance requires advanced capabilities, which Israel was not aware Hezbollah had acquired.

Hezbollah's drones have infiltrated Israeli airspace in the past, from the north, but their activation did not require any navigation system. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that infiltrated Israel on Saturday did require such a system. The incident showed that the Air Force has the ability to detect and intercept drones at any stage of their flight.

Ynet News

Morality Police Close Iranian Coffee Shops

Bad enough nobody in Iran is allowed to drink a glass of ice cold beer, but now the morality police close coffee shops.
Yep

Seems those who frequent such places flout Islamic Law. You know things like women smoking. Accessing the Internet. Maybe even boys and girls speaking to each other freely.

Iran shuts down coffee shops in morality crackdown

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian police shut down dozens of restaurants and coffee shops over the weekend, Iranian media reported, in a renewed crackdown on what the state sees as immoral and un-Islamic behavior.



Regular officers and members of the "morality police" raided 87 cafes and restaurants in a single district of the capital Tehran on Saturday and arrested women for flouting the Islamic dress code, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).


"These places were shut for not following Islamic values, providing hookah to women, and lacking proper licenses," said Tehran police official Alireza Mehrabi, according to ISNA. Women are not allowed to smoke hookah, water pipes, in public.


FULL STORY

The Telegraph shils for Iran

Whenever I read the BBC, my BS sensor is on high alert.

Here I have a warning about The Telegraph. Seems they are not above creative editing themselves. Doing a little checking on the story where the Iranian navy "saves" a US flagged vessel from pirates I found this discrepancy between two news sources.



Both Google News and The Telegraph used an AFP (Agence France-Press) story, but The Telegraph forgot something (highlighted in red).

Iran navy saves US freighter from pirates: report


TEHRAN — Iran's navy said Thursday it saved an American-flagged cargo ship that was being attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Oman.



An Iranian warship responded to a distress signal from the US-flagged Maersk Texas, a cargo ship of 150 metres (500 feet) and 14,000 tonnes, which was besieged by "several pirate boats," the navy said in a statement reported by the official IRNA news agency.

The cargo vessel "was saved by the navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran" on Wednesday, IRNA added.


The pirates "fled the scene as soon as they spotted the presence" of the warship. Maersk Texas "thanked the Iranian navy and sailed towards its destination safely," it added.


It was the first time the Iranian navy protected a US ship from pirates.


Maersk Line told AFP that its vessel, Maersk Texas, had "thwarted an attack by multiple pirate skiffs at noon local while transiting the Gulf of Oman, northeast of Fujairah" but denied it had been helped by the Iranian navy.


"Maersk Texas heard from the Iranian navy over radio to the initial distress call, but our vessel received no assistance from the Iranian navy," spokesman Kevin Steers said in an email sent to AFP in Washington.

"All hands onboard are safe and unharmed, and the vessel is proceeding on its voyage," he added.


Iran's navy keeps a presence in Gulf of Oman to protect cargo ships and transiting oil tankers and also defend the country against potential threats.


According to Iranian commanders, Iran's navy have carried out hundreds of anti-piracy operations, engaging in hundreds of armed clashes with pirates in the past three years.


The US navy patrolling the area have on a number of occasions rescued Iranian ships. The latest incident was in January when a US warship secured the release of 13 Iranian fishermen near the entrance to the Gulf who had been held captive by pirates for 45 days.


Google News

 The Telegraph

IRAN, KILL ALL JEWS

Israel has long been a target of Iran.

That country, Iran, blames Israel for a myriad of problems in the Middle East.

Why not? Scapegoating is easy. What a shock, coming from a Muslim nation they add world Jewry in their blame game.

Iran moves on from "Destroy Israel!" to "Destroy all the Jews!"

Amid international and Israeli controversy over whether or not to attack Iran's nuclear program, the rulers of the Islamic Republic have just "upgraded" their strategic objective of wiping Israel off the map and extended it for the first time to the more ambitious one of annihilating the Jews worldwide. A virulently anti-Semitic book and film were released for nationwide distribution on orders from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They draw heavily on the infamous Elders of Zion fiction of a Jewish world conspiracy.


Two weeks ago, as their nuclear bomb moved menacingly up the pipeline, the ayatollahs in Tehran and Qom unleashed a virulent campaign of anti-Semitic propaganda in their sermons. A new book and a film were released for wide distribution on orders from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They draw heavily on the infamous Elders of Zion fiction to accuse the Jews and their rabbis of conspiring to corrupt and rule the world.

FULL STORY HERE-DEBKAfile

Israel to Nuke Iran?

This isn't going anywhere, but to me is interesting to whatch.

A military war of nerves against Iran: The US leads, Israel and UK go along

The sudden rush of military news Wednesday, Nov. 2, was part of an orchestrated Western performance to persuade Tehran that the US, Britain and Israel are on the verge of a military operation against its nuclear installations. The show, directed from Washington, was meant to warn Iran that military punishment was in store unless it gives up its drive for a nuclear weapon. If Tehran continues to hold out, President Barack Obama may decide to strike Revolutionary Guards Corps, the bulwark of the Islamic regime, as well as its strategic infrastructure, thereby removing key props holding up the regime of the ayatollahs.

This is from

DEBKA FILE

Contributing to the menacing climate hanging over Iran were four headline events involving Israel – all on the same Wednesday: Israel conducted a successful test launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, Jericho 3, which foreign sources report is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead 7,000 kilometers.

Really good reading.

Muslim Iran to Execute Christian Pastor

What hell is it to live in a Theocracy?

Much of the Western World experienced that, centuries ago. Somehow we overcame that. It was called it an ENLIGHTENMENT.


My experience has shown me that to categorize all Muslims as a single practice, as defined by many is unfair to say the least. The horrors of Christianity past brought should make my point clear.


So how long is it going to take for Muslim Theocracies to get it?

Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s potential execution rallies U.S. Christians

WAHSINGTON — Religious freedom advocates rallied Wednesday (Sept. 28) around an Iranian pastor

 who is facing execution because he has refused to recant his Christian faith in the overwhelmingly Muslim country.



The pastor was found guilty of apostasy last year, and the conviction has been upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court. If carried out, the execution would mark the first time since 1990 that an Iranian pastor was killed for his Christian faith.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Iran Like a Train

"The train of the Iranian nation is without brakes and a rear gear," the radio quoted Ahmadinejad as telling a gathering of Islamic clerics. "We dismantled the rear gear and brakes of the train and threw them away sometime ago."

European Weather Weapon Used against Iran

I always knew Europe is evil and would stop at nothing and to pursue its own selfish ambitions and use any devious weapon to affect nations which stand in its way.

If you can't believe Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who could you trust?

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Europe 'stealing Iran's rain'

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused Western countries of plotting to "cause drought" in Iran by using high tech equipment to drain the clouds of raindrops.

Moments after the Iranian president made the startling claim at the inauguration of a dam in a central province, it started to rain.

"Western countries have designed plans to cause drought in certain areas of the world, including Iran," Mr Ahmadinejad said in the city of Arak in Markazi province.

The Daily Telegraph

VIDEO from MEMRI

Advice from Iran to Egypt

This is hilarious, Iran knows all about the will of the people.


Iran tells Egypt to listen to the people’s voice

TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has advised Egyptian officials to avoid resorting to violence in dealing with the popular demonstrations in the country.


“The demonstrations of the Muslim Egyptian nation are a movement seeking the realization of justice and Egyptians’ national and ideological demands. Egyptian officials are expected to avoid the use of violence in dealing with the people,” Mehmanparast said in a statement.


He also advised the Egyptian government to listen to “this Muslim nation’s voice,” to accept the “Islamic awakening” and to submit to the people’s demands.

TEHRAN TIMES


IN THE NEWS


Report: Iran hangs 2 men who made videos of post-election turmoil

By the CNN Wire Staff
January 24, 2011

Iran hanged two men Monday for their actions during post-election unrest in 2009, state media reported, months after the United States' secretary of state called for Iran to drop the "imminent" executions. Iran's Press TV described the men as terrorists and members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO). Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aqaei were hanged on Monday "for distributing placards and photos of the terrorist group, making videos and images during the post-election unrest in Iran in 2009 and chanting slogans in favor of the MKO," the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

STORY:IRAN HANGS men who made videos

Iran’s Political Hanging

Two men were hanged in Iran, one supposedly for selling military secrets to Israel's intelligence Mossad. The other just because he bellyached over the lousy economy.

Gotta blame somebody, allege spies and activists work.
I wonder why hanging? Do they save stoning for women?

Iran hangs allege spy, militant

The two were arrested years ago. Critics say the executions are part of an attempt by the government to send a message as the public outcry increases over cutbacks in fuel and food subsidies.

Ali Saremi
allegedly distributing CDs and leaflets promoting an outlawed opposition group.

Iran on Tuesday executed a man accused of spying for Israel and another for allegedly distributing CDs and leaflets promoting an outlawed opposition group. The hangings come amid a crackdown on activists that has coincided with unpopular economic austerity measures.

Ali Akbar Siadat was accused of peddling military secrets to Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel. Ali Saremi was an alleged member of the militant group Mujahedin Khalq. Both were hanged at dawn in Tehran's Evin Prison, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

I fully understand executing somebody convicted of spying, but for handing out information critical of the government?

It was not released just where or how Mr Ali Akbar Siadat alleged spy got such information to sell. But then I suppose nobody asked, why risk ones neck for that?

The men were arrested and accused of their crimes years ago, and activists said the government executed them now probably as part of an attempt to send a message to the opposition. Public discontent is growing in the wake of a drastic reduction in fuel and food subsidies that has sent prices skyrocketing.

Those who question the reduction have been accused of "economic sedition" meant to undermine the Islamic Republic.

FULL STORY HERE

Crisis In Iran

Reductions of subsidies for basic needs create turmoil.

One would think that the Mullahs would think more of their domestic problems than fabricating enemies so to pursue nuclear weapons.

Subsidy Cuts Quadruple Gas Prices in Iran
TEHRAN — Gasoline prices nearly quadrupled on Sunday and riot police guarded filling stations around the capital as deep cuts in subsidies on fuel and other essential goods took effect.

And they are sitting atop one of the richest oil reserves on the planet.

After midnight on Sunday, the price of subsidized gasoline jumped to 38 cents a liter from 10 cents a liter. Similar increases went into effect for compressed natural gas and diesel fuel, with subsidy reductions for other commodities expected to be phased in gradually.

Security forces with riot shields took positions at gas stations in Tehran, bracing for a possible repeat of the unrest that followed the introduction of gasoline rationing in 2007, but there were no reports of violence.
______________________________________________________________

He said that the prices of water, electricity and natural gas would increase “gradually,” and that the subsidy for bread would also be gradually eliminated. He predicted that the bottom 60 percent of income earners would be better off under the new plan while the wealthier 40 percent would “need to economize.”

That is a revolutionary concept new to me.

The government tried to cushion the blow by making a one-time payment to each household of about $77. Although the funds were deposited in October, Iranians were not allowed to withdraw the money until Sunday, the day the reductions took effect.

Despite Mr. Ahmadinejad’s call for Iranians to refrain from spending the money immediately in order to help prevent a sharp jump in inflation, witnesses reported that many customers were withdrawing the full amount at once.

“I want to spend it on living costs,” said one bank customer quoted by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency. “I know that prices haven’t risen yet but I know for sure that they will.”

FULL New York Times STORY

Funny how those kind of gimmicks never seem to work out as expected.

This will be interesting to watch.

Arabs and Israel vs. Iran

I dunno if it is a Persian vs. Arab or Shia vs. Sunni or just regional differences.
My suspicions is it is the religious thing.

What is truly curious is for the "The Enemy of My Enemy" concept breaks down when it comes to cooperation between Arab states and Israel.

So that only adds fuel to my suspicion that it is less an Iran vs. Arabs as Shia vs. Sunni religious sects of Islam.

Iran, Israel and the Arab Contradiction

The WikiLeaks cables reveal that Egypt and Saudi Arabia can't decide if they fear a Shiite bomb more than they hate the Jewish state..

Speaking recently to the heads of his country's major media outlets, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to contain his glee at the revelations from the latest WikiLeaks documents (a reaction that elicited a private protest from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv).



The main reason for Mr. Netanyahu's satisfaction was that the highly classified State Department documents present a picture of an Arab world that despises Hamas, believes that Hezbollah is a danger to Lebanon, and fears Iran. Arab leaders take the last matter so seriously that they even appear to be doing their best to persuade the United States to attack Iran's nuclear installations.


Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, for example, "hates Hamas, and considers them the same as Egypt's own Muslim Brotherhood, which he sees as his own most dangerous political threat," states one February 2009 memorandum to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Another memo, dated July 2008, reports that Mr. Mubarak informed Sen. John Kerry that the Iranians "are big, fat liars and justify their lies because they believe it is for a higher purpose."

Dark green Shia, light green Sunni

Transcripts of meetings between Gulf Arab leaders and U.S. officials show that while Arab hatred and fear of Iran is considerable, hostility toward Israel is just as great. In addition, because the Palestinian problem has not been solved, open Arab-Israeli cooperation is a nonstarter. The documents do confirm the existence of covert intelligence contacts between Israel and certain Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, but the ties are tenuous and cooperation is strictly ad hoc.

Iran, Israel and the Arab Contradiction

Iran's Lost Fortune

How happy are people in Iran?

Rationing Fuels Discontent In Iran

Ahmadinejad Tries To Curb Gas Subsidy

TEHRAN, June 30 -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who swept to power promising that every family would benefit from the nation's oil wealth, now faces growing domestic discontent over newly imposed fuel rationing and skyrocketing consumer prices.
Rationing Fuel in Iran

How happy would you be if living on a sea of Oil you would be if fuel is rationed? Would seem to me something is going/gone wrong.

Tehran’s pollution menace, déjà vu all over again


By Salman Ansari Javid

Twelve years ago I returned to Tehran after a long extended trip abroad. I was surprised to see people walking in masks on the streets of Tehran. At that point plans for the inauguration of the Tehran Metro along with introduction of Bus Rapid Transportation (BRT) system were being finalized and despite the smog there was hope in the air.

More than a decade later, after the implementation of these plans, Tehran’s traffic remains a nightmare and its pollution levels dangerously high. As a result until recently elementary schools remain closed and many government offices and banks were running on skeleton staff.

Tehran Pollution

Seems odd to me a country rich in oil must conserve that product, much less with that profits from that oil it should be getting to invest in basic quality of life like in breathable air.

Very Busy Iran

In Iraq, a Very Busy Iran

No kidding

Also supporting Syria in its hegemony in Lebanon.

BAGHDAD—Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables provide new details on the U.S. assessment of how Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps has promoted Tehran's influence in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The demise of archenemy Saddam Hussein, with whom Tehran fought an eight-year war in the 1980s, presented the Iranians with an unprecedented opportunity, and they appear to have exploited it from Day One.
The leadership of the Qods Force—the Guards' paramilitary and espionage arm—"took advantage of the vacuum" in the aftermath of the fall of Mr. Hussein's regime to begin sending operatives into Iraq when "little attention was focused on Iran," according to an April 2009 dispatch from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The cable was part of a trove of classified U.S. diplomatic communications made public this week by WikiLeaks.

In Iraq, a Very Busy Iran