Israeli threats stiffen Iran's resolve

Iran's seemingly positive response to the latest international initiative on its nuclear program is attributed in some Western capitals to Tehran buckling under the threat of an attack. This is unlikely. Iranian leaders are already looking beyond the George W Bush presidency to an administration they feel they can deal with, be it Democratic or Republican. - Trita Parsi (Jul 8, '08)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JG09Ak01.html

London: French energy group Total will not invest in Iran because the political risk is too high, the company's chief executive Christophe de Margerie told the Thursday edition of the Financial Times. "Today we would be taking too much political risk to...
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/France/10227676.html
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=240718&s=b&i=&t=Total_chief_says_too_risky_to_invest_in_Iran
http://www.startribune.com/world/24307824.html?location_refer=World
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1901053

* Rice says U.S. will defend allies against Iran
* Iran says missile tests a "lesson for enemies"
* Israel favours sanctions but "not afraid to take action"
* French oil firm Total won't invest in Iran gas deal now

By Alistair Lyon
TEHRAN, July 10 (Reuters) - Iran tested more missiles in the Gulf on Thursday, state media said, and the United States reminded Tehran that it was ready to defend its allies...
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINL109563120080710?rpc=611

By David Gollust
Washington
10 July 2008
The State Department confirms that Iran could enter negotiations on its nuclear program without initially meeting the demand of the United States and other major powers that it suspend its uranium enrichment program. U.S. officials say they are amenable to a so-called pre-negotiation in which Iran would only be required to stop adding to its enrichment capacity. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-10-voa59.cfm

Yeah! here we go again. Let's get in a fight with another batch of sand monkeys. We can't take care of the problems we have with Iraq. Now Rice wants to get us into another war. Screw Isreal!!!!! Let em fight their own damn battles. It's nothing but geopolitical BS. If we didn't need to have access to their real estate, we wouldn't have anything to do with these buttholes.

As a political statement to world leaders gathered in Japan, Iran's test-firing on Wednesday of nine long-and-medium range missiles was impeccable. But even if Iran had the physical means to deliver the nuclear warheads it does not possess, these tests do not mean it has mastered the capability to do so. Iran's real deterrence against an attack comes from the reorganization of its military, giving it effectively 30 armies spread across the country. - Pepe Escobar (Jul 10, '08)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JG11Ak01.html

Cairo is seething over a film from Iran depicting former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat as a "traitor" for signing the 1978 peace accords with Israel. The spat comes at the height of Iranian efforts to win allies in the Arab and Muslim world, both to penetrate the array of pro-American states in the region, and use them to lobby against a possible Israeli attack. - Sami Moubayed (Jul 10, '08)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JG11Ak05.html

Despite all the warnings, alarms, rumors and panicky pieces coursing through the international media, an attack on Iran is less likely than ever to happen. For small, vulnerable Israel, an air assault on Iranian nuclear facilities, alone or with the backing of the US, is literally inconceivable, given the disastrous fallout that would follow. - Tom Engelhardt (Jul 10, '08)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JG11Ak03.html

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
11 July 2008
The United States and Russia continue sparring over a Central European missile defense system, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says America is committed to protecting its allies from a possible Iranian missile attack, and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, claiming Tehran's missiles do not have sufficient range to justify the controversial system. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky has this report from the Russian capital.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-11-voa16.cfm

By David Patrikarakos and Anouk Lorie
Published: July 3 2008 19:06

Chronology of Iran's nuclear programme:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/635130b4-4911-11dd-9a5f-000077b07658.html

Gerard Baker | July 12, 2008


WHEN governments undertake grand gestures in the full glare of public attention, the only thing you can be sure of is that they do not mean what they appear to mean. That's a useful rule of thumb to apply to any exercise in public diplomacy but it's especially helpful when trying to fathom the volatile politics of the Middle East..

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24005720-17062,00.html

BAGHDAD, July 11: Iraq’s defence ministry on Friday denied any Israeli air force drills had taken place in its airspace after a report that the Israelis were preparing there for a possible strike on Iran. An Israeli military spokesman also described the report, carried on the website of the Jerusalem Post as “utterly baseless”. In Washington, the Pentagon...
http://www.dawn.com/2008/07/12/top11.htm

TEHRAN: Iran said Friday that its top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Salona will hold talks on ending the atomic standoff on July 19 in Geneva, the official IRNA news agency reported. "They are to continue their negotiations about the package on Saturday, July 19," IRNA quoted Ahmad Khadem al-Melleh, spokesman for the secretariat of Iran's supreme national security council, as saying. World powers last month presented Iran with a package...
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/july/12/yehey/world/20080712wor1.html

My friend Yunowu you have certainly stirred up a hornet's nest here regarding Iran...I am not sure if you know this, but the missile tests were frauds:

According to Drudge, the New York Times Sunday will quote military sources that say the missile tests were bogus. The missiles - the article will allege - are old (from the 1990s and out of production), and have only a 768Km range. Also, there were not several missiles test fired, but only one, filmed from different angles.

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashim.htm

Also, one photo has already been shown to be doctored:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080711/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_missiles_photos;_ylt=AtRkvK1r4b5ZAVB2OeU2jU4LewgF


Iran is all bluster...like Iraq was before the US moved in

President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.
“Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready,” the official said. But the Israelis have also been told that they can expect no help from American forces and will not be able to use US military bases in Iraq for logistical support.
Nor is it certain that Bush’s amber light would ever turn to green without irrefutable evidence of lethal Iranian hostility. Tehran’s test launches of medium-range ballistic missiles last week were seen in Washington as provocative and poorly judged, but both the Pentagon and the CIA concluded that they did not represent an immediate threat of attack against Israeli or US targets.
“It’s really all down to the Israelis,” the Pentagon official added. “This administration will not attack Iran. This has already been decided. But the president is really preoccupied with the nuclear threat against Israel and I know he doesn’t believe that anything but force will deter Iran.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4322508.ece

williambedloe wrote:My friend Yunowu you have certainly stirred up a hornet's nest here regarding Iran...I am not sure if you know this, but the missile tests were frauds:

According to Drudge, the New York Times Sunday will quote military sources that say the missile tests were bogus. The missiles - the article will allege - are old (from the 1990s and out of production), and have only a 768Km range. Also, there were not several missiles test fired, but only one, filmed from different angles.

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashim.htm

Also, one photo has already been shown to be doctored:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080711/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_missiles_photos;_ylt=AtRkvK1r4b5ZAVB2OeU2jU4LewgF


Iran is all bluster...like Iraq was before the US moved in

Thanks WB for the update in regarding to the doctored photos !! I thought I posted the info already. Obviously already assimilated too much information in the last two weeks, I forgot to update certain information. I thought it would be useful to the IIF members if I group all the fragmented information into one thread. Hopefully, I did not cause too much trouble. Great post Brother Poke. Good to have you back.