Archive
Hey USA, open your eyes!
Armada of British Naval Power Massing in the Gulf as Israel Prepares an Iran Strike
September 17, 2012
‘Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.
Western leaders are convinced that Iran will retaliate to any attack by attempting to mine or blockade the shipping lane through which passes around 18 million barrels of oil every day, approximately 35 per cent of the world’s petroleum traded by sea.
A blockade would have a catastrophic effect on the fragile economies of Britain, Europe the United States and Japan, all of which rely heavily on oil and gas supplies from the Gulf.’
Read more: Armada of British Naval Power Massing in the Gulf as Israel Prepares an Iran Strike
The real terrorists
Iran Begins Stockpiling Three Months Food Supply
Sunday, 29 July 2012
‘An Iranian news agency is reporting the country has begun to stockpile a three-month supply of foodstuffs for its population.
The Friday report by semi-official Mehr quotes deputy industry minister Hasan Radmard as saying the country has been buying wheat, cooking oil, sugar and rice for the food reserve.’
PC malware hits Iranian nuclear facilities: Report
Jul 26, 2012
TEHRAN: Iranian nuclear facilities have reportedly been stuck by a computer worm that plays AC/DC’s hit song Thunderstruck repeatedly, and at full volume.
There has been no confirmation of the attack from Tehran, but the evidence stems from a series of e-mails purporting to be from the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran.
An unnamed Iranian scientist e-mailed Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer for Finnish Internet security firm F-Secure, saying that the facilities at Natanz and Fordo, near Qom, were hit by a worm, the Daily Mail reports.
According to the report, the malware not only disables the automated network at both sites, but also seemed to have an interesting side effect of blaring out AC/DC at any given moment.
US Ship Fired Without Warning, Surviving Indian Fishermen Say
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
‘The Indian fishermen who survived a deadly attack by a US Navy ship in the Persian Gulf say they received no warnings before a .50-caliber gun opened fire on their boat.
The incident occurred on Monday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. “We had no warning at all from the ship, we were speeding up to try and go around them and then suddenly we got fired at,” 28-year-old Muthu Muniraj told Reuters from a hospital in Dubai on Tuesday.’
Read more: US Ship Fired Without Warning, Surviving Indian Fishermen Say
US Navy ship fires on boat in Gulf
July 16, 2012
A US ship has fired on a boat off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), US officials say.
The USNS Rappahannock fired on a vessel after it ignored warnings and rapidly approached the ship, the US Navy says.
There is no confirmation of casualties although a UAE official said an Indian fisherman had been killed and three more wounded.
The US has increased its presence in the Gulf after Iran renewed threats to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement, the US Navy in Bahrain said that a security team on board the refuelling ship fired on a small motor boat after it disregarded warnings and “rapidly approached” the US ship off the coast of Jebel Ali, near Dubai, UAE.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18862480
Russia Is Massing Troops On Iran’s Northern Border And Waiting For A Western Attack
Wednesday, 11 April 2012 06:36
‘The Russian military anticipates that an attack will occur on Iran by the summer and has developed an action plan to move Russian troops through neighboring Georgia to stage in Armenia, which borders on the Islamic republic, according to informed Russian sources.
Russian Security Council head Viktor Ozerov said that Russian General Military Headquarters has prepared an action plan in the event of an attack on Iran.’
Read more: Russia Is Massing Troops On Iran’s Northern Border And Waiting For A Western Attack
Iran To Shut Down Internet Permanently; ‘Clean’ National Intranet In Pipeline
Millions of Internet users in Iran will be permanently denied access to the World Wide Web and cut off from popular social networking sites and email services, as the government has announced its plans to establish a national Intranet within five months.
In a statement released Thursday, Reza Taghipour, the Iranian minister for Information and Communications Technology, announced the setting up of a national Intranet and the effective blockage of services like Google, Gmail, Google Plus, Yahoo and Hotmail, in line with Iran’s plan for a “clean Internet.”
The government is set to roll out the first phase of the project in May, following which Google, Hotmail and Yahoo services will be blocked and replaced with government Intranet services like Iran Mail and Iran Search Engine. At this stage, however, the World Wide Web, apart from the aforementioned sites, will still be accessible.
The government has already started the registration procedure to apply for procuring Iran Mail ID, which mandates authentic information pertaining to a person’s identity, including national ID, address and full name. Registration will be approved only after verifying it against the government data on the particular applicant.
The second and final stage of the national Intranet will be launched in August, which will permanently deny Iranians access to the Internet.
“All Internet Service Providers (ISP) should only present National Internet by August,” Taghipour said in the statement.
For a country like Iran that exercises high levels of government control across sectors, establishing an insulated Internet shouldn’t be too much of a technical hassle. The new system would be more or less similar to the corporate intranet, where one can only access pages approved by the system administrators.
Iranian ISPs already face heavy penalties if they fail to comply with the government filter list. By establishing the Intranet, the government control is set to become stricter.
Foreign sites can still be accessed over the Intranet provided they are mentioned in a “white list” set up by the government. The government is also believed to be planning for better control on proxy servers which allow users to access banned sites.
Unveiling a six-point plan to implement the Iranian Intranet, Taghipour said last March that the Internet “promotes crime, disunity, unhealthy moral content, and atheism,” and that government’s goal is to eliminate the online “scourges.” In October last year, an Iranian official – who called Facebook users a threat to Islamic values – expressed concern that expansion of social media networks was harming the nation and society.
Describing the blogosphere as one of the “most effective elements of soft war” against Iran, Mehdi Jafari, head of the technology and intelligence section of the Pupil’s Basij militia, said arrogant and imperial powers (like the US) were using social-media sites to push their agenda.
Internet censorship has been in place for quite a long time in Iran as the authorities fear an anti-government revolution like the Arab Spring that rocked countries like Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain and Jordan. The Islamic regime of Iran has a bad track record with regard to Internet freedom as it has made several attempts in the past to temporarily deny access to the Internet.
Taghipour was added to the European Union sanctions list on Mar. 23, due to his involvement in the human rights violations during the 2009-2010 Iranian election protests. According to the EU, the Iranian Communications minister was one of the top officials in charge of censorship of the Internet and Internet-based activism.
By creating a complete blockade on free Internet, Tehran could be setting a dangerous precedent for authoritative nations that may harbor similar plans in the future. In fact, the Iranian government has already announced its plans to “export” the winning formula for an isolated Intranet to the rest of the world.
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