What is REALLY going on with the Malaysia Airline MH370 flight search?

With the recent finding of 'possible flight debris in the Indian Ocean' revealed by Chinese satellites 960mi SW of Perth, which coincided with Austrailian Maritime Safety`s update of visual identification of debris - is nothing but a PR stunt. 

First, these images are from commercial satellites. You have to already think, spy reconnaissance satellites with high-quality resolution imagery have already been to the relevant search areas and scanned it...and the results are - who knows?

If there is indeed underwater debris, once visual confirmation is made of a crash in the ocean, then lets get over there. This would be a great task for the numerous highly qualified underwater treasure hunters out there in the world, with their submersibles it won`t take long. This would also be a great calling for the legendary James Cameron to use his extensive maritime experience in the search of underwater wreckage.

Now, along with many I`ll be surprised if 'they' already don`t know what the debris that's been imaged really is. I mean license plate numbers can be seen from space. Digital Globe, a commercial company that specializes in space imagery with our U.S. federal agencies as customers, who produce high-quality images that are always used to show new prison labor camps in North Korea or military installations in Iran - why aren`t their services being utilized?

On the other side, if MH370 hasn`t crash - where could it have gone? No one is looking west or even north-west. Now the plane didn`t go north most likely as being touted in the media, because people just don`t know or realize it is one of the most heavily radared area in the world. The south - towards Antarctica, possibly no.

No one can imagine the sheer horror the families of the missing flight are in. They deserve the utmost truth but will be whitewashed as in other incidents, a la the TWA Flight 800 tragedy. The families should press heavily on their respected governments and then private investigators because at this point the truth is - complicated.

Lastly, to comprehend the whole chain of events into the MH370 missing flight, one must contend this was a very sophisticated operation, possibly well funded with no advanced publicly reported updates by the U.S. intel community. Interestingly, the Israelis are quiet. They have a lot to loose if this plane is still out there and no one wishes that upon anyone. We would appreciate to hear anything from Israel concerning the flight if any.

Only time will tell in unraveling the truth.

-RSA
March 23, 2014 0425CST

New Iraq-Iran alliance in boosting oil output to challenge reigning Saudi Arabia will be game changer

Iraq and Iran plot oil revolution in challenge to Saudi Arabia
Iraq's goal of pumping 9m barrels a day of crude could be a game changer for oil prices and British companies

By Andrew Critchlow
The Telegraph
Jan 28, 2014

Iraq sets its sights on the top spot of Middle East oil producers

Iraq is poised to flood the oil market by tripling its capacity to pump crude by 2020 and is collaborating with Iran on strategy in a move that will challenge Saudi Arabia's grip on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"We feel the world needs to be assured of fuel for economic growth," Hussain al-Shahristani, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy in Iraq told oil industry delegates attending a Chatham House Middle East energy conference.

Al Shahristani said on Tuesday that Iraq plans to boost its capacity to produce oil to 9m barrels a day (bpd) by the end of the decade as Baghdad rushes to bolster its economy, which is still shattered by war and internal conflict. Iraq was producing 3m bpd in December, according to the International Energy Agency.

Iraq's intention to challenge Saudi Arabia's status as the "swing producer" in the OPEC cartel could see a dramatic fall in oil prices if Baghdad decides to break the group's quotas and sell more of its crude on the open market.

"It's very difficult to predict actual world (oil) demand by 2020 because the world economy is unpredictable," said Mr al-Shahristani.

British oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell are also poised to benefit from Iraq's ambitious production plans. Both companies are already managing two huge oil fields in southern Iraq which are vital if Baghdad is to achieve its goal.

However, even if Iraq is able to achieve its target of boost production capacity it is unlikely to be able to put in place sufficient pipeline and port infrastructure to export the additional crude.
Iraq's main export terminal for loading oil tankers at Al Faw near Basra will require billions of pounds worth of improvements in addition to the refurbishment of its pipeline network.

Iraq's ambitious plan could see it clash increasingly with the regime in Saudi Arabia, which has used its influence in OPEC over the last decade to keep oil prices above $100 a barrel. Saudi itself is now under pressure to boost output to maintain market share. The kingdom pumped 9.8m bpd in December up by about 100,000 barrels from the previous month.

Experts say that attention within OPEC, which pumps 30% of the world's crude, could increasingly focus on compliance with more of the group's members tempted to pump more barrels to protect their share of the market as the cartel grapples with the rise of US shale oil production.

OPEC agreed in early December to renew for six months its 30M bpd output cap for the first half of the year to keep prices above $100. However, quotas have in the past proved difficult for OPEC as a group to enforce without any binding penalties for over-producing. Since its restoration to OPEC following the 2003 Gulf War, Iraq has been excluded from the group's quota system to allow its economy to recover but pressure is mounting for it to comply this year.

The International Monetary Fund this week warned that Iraq's weak economy remains vulnerable to fluctuations in oil markets. Crude oil exports account for 93% of government revenues. The IMF estimated that Baghdad required an average oil price of $106.1 per barrel in 2013 to balance its budget, up from $95 in 2011 because of higher spending.

Despite Mr al-Shahristani's hopes for boosting Iraq's energy sector there are severe concerns over security amid fears the country may again be slipping toward a civil war between Sunni and Shia Muslim factions.

In a further challenge to Saudi Arabia, which is mostly closed to international oil companies, Mr al-Shahristani revealed that Baghdad is working with Iran to help it attract investment ahead of the possible lifting of sanctions. Oil companies are understood to be queuing up to win Iranian oil deals.

"Iran has been in touch with us," said Mr al-Shahristani. "They want to share our contracts model and experience."

Combined, Iran and Iraq hold greater reserves of oil than Saudi Arabia and the potential with the help of international investment to match its capacity to produce oil, which currently stands at around 12.5m b/d of crude.

© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2014

The declining power of the `ol American greenback...should we start panicking?

12 Reasons Why Gold Should Bounce Sharply Higher in 2014 
(Lorimer Wilson)
Munknee.com

edited excerpts by Jason Hamlin (goldstockbull.com) from his original article entitled: 12 Reasons Why Gold Will Rebound and Make New Highs in 2014.

[...]

#4 – Dollar Losing Status as World Reserve Currency

   The exorbitant privilege of being able to print the world reserve currency is coming 
   to end.

   --“It is perhaps a good time for the befuddled world to start considering building a de-   
   Americanized world,” said a statement by Xinhua, the state news agency of China — which 
   holds some $1.3 trillion in Treasury bonds.

   --“The United States will inevitably lose its reserve currency monopoly,” wrote economists 
   Hélène Rey of the London Business School.

   --Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas of the University of California, Berkeley, and Emmanuel Farhi of 
   Harvard University said. “It can only be a matter of time before the world becomes multipolar.”

   --The IMF echoed this sentiment, stating how “reserves concentration in the government debt 
   of one country introduces idiosyncratic risks to the international monetary system.

   Several nations now have bi-lateral trade agreements that bypass the dollar.

   --China has made arrangements to swap Yuan’s for for local currencies with Japan, Russia, 
   Australia, Iceland, South Korea, Malaysia, Brazil, India and South Africa. The BRICS nations 
   are emerging as a powerful economic force and they are intent on conducting affairs without 
   use of the U.S. dollar.

   --The growing rift with Saudi Arabia threatens the petrodollar.

   --Oil-rich countries that have attempted to sell their oil in currencies other than dollars include 
   Iraq and Libya, both bombed into submission.

   --Iran is now trading oil for gold, bypassing the U.S. petrodollar. This is likely the real reason 
   they are now in the crosshairs of the U.S. military.

   --Syria is seen as a stepping stone to attacking Iran, but widespread opposition from ally 
   countries and citizens alike stopped the recent war momentum.

   --As the influence of the petrol-dollar continue to wane, so too will the power of the U.S. dollar 
   as the world reserve currency. Without the ability to deficit spend and export our inflation, it   
   will come home to roost and the dollar will suffer or even collapse as have other debt-ridden 
   fiat currencies throughout history....

[Click here to read the full article]

Related articles:
--Learn how the 'petro-dollar' got started

1953 coup against the democratically-elected Iranian PM Mosaddeq none other than for - OIL...no real surprise there

US fomented 1953 coup to control Iran oil: William Beeman
Press TV
Aug 20, 2013

Press TV has conducted an interview with William Beeman, professor at University of Minnesota, about the US Central Intelligence Agency declassifying a document that confirms Washington’s role in the 1953 coup against the democratically-elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq.



What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: The released documents say the aim of the CIA operation was to cause the Mosaddeq government to fall. Just why did the CIA want to depose Mosaddeq?

Beeman: There were two reasons. The first reason had to do with the nationalization of oil. The United States and Great Britain were going to lose millions of dollars plus access to oil when the National Iranian Oil Company was nationalized by Mosaddeq.

Though the second reason is, however, for the United States. The United States was afraid and continued to be afraid all the way through the Carter administration that somehow Russia or the Soviet Union was going to invade Iran and push down to the Persian Gulf and gain a warm water port.

So the United States had to look right after World War II to the Soviet attempts to set up puppet states in Kurdistan and Azerbaijan and they were afraid that Mosaddeq was too weak to be able to withstand any kind of Soviet pressure.

So those were the two big reasons. One was control of oil and one was fear of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Press TV: Even now, the US government continues to allocate an annual budget for covert operations in Iran. How different are Washington’s aims today?

Beeman: Well they are a little bit different because there is no more Soviet Union. But there is no question that the United States is attempting to try to control politics within the Middle East.

     There is still a faction within Washington that continually want regime change in Iran and        there is also no question that the United States would like very much to have some kind of      control over the petroleum market in Iran.

In this regard, the fear that Iran is somehow a danger to Israel is merely a way of trying to sell US interference in Iran to the rest of the world.

AHK/KA

(video property and courtesy of Press TV)

Arm yourself with the truth - The Long History of Lies about Iran

credit: infowars

'If the lies about Iraq taught us anything, it is that we must pay attention to the massive campaign of lies about Iran'

By Muhammad Sahimi
ANTIWAR
April 3, 2012

There was a flood of articles and analyses on the tenth anniversary of invasion of Iraq on March 19, most of which focused on the lies, exaggerations, and half-truths that the War Party told the American people and the world in the run up to the war. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq have died as a result of the lies. Tens of thousands of people have also died as a result of the NATO aggression against Libya, as well as the war in Syria that is backed by the United States and its allies in that region, namely, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey, with the carnage still continuing with no end in sight.

If the lies about Iraq have taught us anything, it is that we must pay due attention to the massive campaign of disinformation and lies that has been waged against Iran for over three decades, in order to “justify” a war with that nation. The campaign began with the hostage crisis after the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was overrun by Islamic leftist students on November 4, 1979, and is still continuing. There are still disinformation and one-sided stories about the hostage crisis, the latest of which is the film Argo. The biggest lie about Iran, which has been perpetuated since at least 1984, is that Iran is only a few months or a year or two away from a nuclear bomb, which has not materialized after nearly 30 years.

The campaign is separate from the secret war that has been waged on Iran for at least a decade, consisting of assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientists, killing of many innocent people by terrorist groups, such as the Jundallah, and waging a cyberspace war against Iran’s nuclear facilities that even a recent NATO study recognized as being tantamount to the use of force and illegal. The campaign of lies about Iran is much deeper and broader than the Iraq campaign, far better organized, and much better funded, with the funding provided by not just the American administrations – such as $400 million provided by the GW Bush administration for destabilizing the Iranian regime – but also the Israel lobby and the War Party. The campaign also includes demonization of Iran by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has likened Iran to the Nazi regime, our era to 1938, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler, an outrageous claim that has been criticized even in certain pro-Israel circles.

Stephen Walt has already listed top ten media failures about Iran. Here is a list of some of the most outrageous lies about Iran, but the list is by no means complete.

1981: One of the most brazen lies is that the U.S. does not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs. From the CIA coup of 1953 that overthrew the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh and installing and supporting the dictatorship of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi for 25 years, to the aforementioned Bush budget for destabilizing Iran, the U.S. has always tried to interfere in Iran. On January 19, 1981, Iran and the U.S. signed the Algiers Accord to end the hostage crisis. In the Accord the U.S. promised that “it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran’s internal affairs,” and that it will remove all of its sanctions against Iran. Not delivering on legally-binding promises is by itself a terrible lie.

1984: Jane’s Defense Weekly reported that West German intelligence believed that Iran could have a nuclear bomb within two years. Twenty-nine years later, that bomb has not been produced.

1988: An Iranian passenger airliner carrying 290 people was shot down over the Persian Gulf by the cruiser USS Vicennes, killing all the passengers and crew, including 56 children. To cover up the crime, the U.S. lied twice. It claimed that its cruiser was in the international waters, and that the airliners had been mistaken with a jet fighter. The International Civil Aviation Organization put the cruiser in Iran’s territorial waters, and Admiral William J. Crowe, then Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, also admitted later that the cruiser was in Iran’s territorial water. Newsweek magazine accused the U.S. of a “sea of lies” about mistaking a passenger airliner with a fighter jet.

1996: The Khobar towers in Saudi Arabia were bombed, killing 19 U.S. servicemen. For years the U.S. accused Iran of sponsoring the terrorist attack. But, in his book, The Secret History of Al-Qaeda, Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of the London-based Al Quds Al Arabi, detailed the involvement of Al-Qaeda in the attack. The 9/11 Commission reported that Osama Bin Laden was seen being congratulated on the day of the bombing. William Perry, who was Defense Secretary at that time, said in 2007 that he believes al-Qaeda, rather than Iran, was behind the attack, and Saudi Arabia’s interior minister Prince Nayef absolved Iran of any role in the attack.

1998: In its indictment of Bin Laden, the U.S. declared that Al-Qaeda, “forged alliances . . . with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist group [the Lebanese] Hezbollah for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies.” The allegation of a working relation between Iran and Al-Qaeda was repeated by Steven Emerson and the infamous Islamophobe Daniel Pipes in May 2001.

2001: There were allegations that Iran played a role in the September 11 terrorist attacks. But, the fact is that the Sunni/Salafi Al-Qaeda hates the Shiite Iran, and aside from rabid anti-Iran figures, such as Kenneth Timmerman and Pipes, no one believes that Iran had any role in the terrorist attacks. Then Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was one of the first heads of state to send a message of condolences to the American people. Even George W. Bush and his then Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin said that, “There was no direct connection between Iran and the attacks of September 11,” and Western intelligence agencies believe that there is zero chance of Iran helping Al-Qaeda to stage the terrorist attacks. In fact, in 2003 Iran offered to exchange members of Bin Laden family, who had fled to Iran after the U.S. attacked that nation in the fall of 2001, with the leadership of the Mojahedin-e Khalgh (MEK), an Iranian dissident cult who were in Iraq at that time, but the U.S. rejected the offer because the Pentagon wanted to train and use the MEK as a pressure group against Iran.

2002: In January Israel seized a cargo ship, Karine A, and alleged that it was carrying weapons for the Palestinian Authority with Iran’s help, an allegation that was supported by Colin Powell, then Secretary of State. In addition to the fact that Israel changed its history several times, there were also many holes in the official statements and allegations. After sometime, the allegations faded away and were never mentioned again.

2002: George Bush made the moronic declaration about the “axis of evil,” making Iran a charter member of the axis, of which Iran’s archenemy Saddam Hussein and his regime were also member. The absurdity and sheer magnitude of the lie about an alliance between Iran and Hussein’s regime was mind boggling. It was meant to demonize Iran and Iranians.

2005: Shortly after Ahmadinejad was elected Iran’s President in June, it was alleged that he had taken part in the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Nothing could be farther from the truth. As I discussed elsewhere, Ahmadinejad had in fact been opposed to the takeover.

2005: In October it was claimed by the War Party and the Israel lobby, and aided by the U.S. mainstream media, that Ahmadinejad has threatened to “wipe Israel off the map.” This was used by the Party and Lobby to push for military attacks on Iran. But, it was shown by many (see here and here, for example) that it was simply a mistranslation of what he had really said. In 2011 even Dan Meridor, Israel’s minister of intelligence and atomic energy, acknowledged that Ahmadinejad never uttered those infamous words. But, the lie is still repeated.

2006: In May the National Post of Canada published an article by Amir Taheri, an exiled Iranian “journalist” who is close to the necons, claiming that the Iranian parliament approved a law that “envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, who will have to adopt distinct color schemes to make them identifiable in public,” hence likening it to the special dress code for Jews in the Nazi regime. The National Post even stated that Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, had said the report to be “absolutely true,” and that Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Center had also confirmed it (though Hier denied it later on). It turned out that the story was a pure fabrication by Taheri, who has a long track record of reporting fictions as facts. Even the National Post retracted the story and apologized for publishing it.

2006: The Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday Times of London alleged that Iran had tried to secretly import uranium from Congo, similar to George W. Bush’s infamous sixteen words, “The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,” which turned out to be a lie. The report turned out to be a fabrication.

2006: Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the then chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued a report in August that claimed, “Iran has conducted a clandestine uranium enrichment program for nearly two decades in violation of its IAEA safeguards agreement, and despite its claim to the contrary, Iran is seeking nuclear weapons,” an outrageous lie that prompted the IAEA to send a letter to Hoekstra, rebuking the report, calling it dishonest.

2006: The Daily Telegraph claimed that Iran had tried to get uranium from Somalia’s Islamic forces, another sheer fabrication.

2007: In his infamous diatribes, “The Case for Bombing Iran,” Norman Podhoretz, the Godfather of the Israel lobby, claimed that when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini said at one time that, “I say let this land go up in smoke, provided Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world,” he had meant Israel. This was sheer lie; the Ayatollah had never uttered the words. It was another fabrication by Taheri.

2007: In the same article Podhoretz also claimed that in 2001 former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had said, “A day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession … application of an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel, but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world.” This was another lie. I happened to be in Tehran, watching Rafsanjani on Iranian television when he uttered the alleged words. What Rafsanjani said was, “There will never be a nuclear exchange between Israel and the Islamic world, because a day will come when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession….” In other words, Rafsanjani was saying that Israel is wise enough not to want a nuclear war with Muslims, although even this correct observation of his was roundly criticized by Iran’s reformists and democratic groups.

2007: In another attempt to use Hollywood for demonizing Iran, the film 300, pitting Persians (Iranians) versus the Greeks, was produced, which was criticized for its clear anti-Persian stance, and making parallels between the ancient war and the present standoff.

2007: Senators Jon Kyle and Joseph Lieberman tried to declare the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran a terrorist organization. Then Senator Chuck Hagel, the current Defense Secretary, voted against it, saying it is unusual – I say an absurd lie – to declare the regular armed forces of a country a terrorist organization.

2008: The Daily Telegraph claimed that there were “fresh signs” that Iran had renewed work on developing nuclear weapons, which was again a fabrication. Two days later, the paper alleged that the IAEA could not account for 50-60 tons of uranium, which was supposed to be in Isfahan, where “Iran enriches its uranium.” Not only was the claim false, prompting the IAEA to reject theallegations, it was also erroneous in that there is no uranium enrichment site in Isfahan.

2009: The Times of London published a document – later on proved to be forged – that supposedly revealed “a four-year plan [by Iran] to test a neutron initiator [for triggering a nuclear reaction in the bomb." On the same day, the Times’ reporter Catherine Phillips quoted Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, saying brazenly, "Is this the smoking gun? That's the question people should be asking. It looks like the smoking gun. This is smoking uranium."

2010: One of the lies about Iran, perpetuated by successive U.S. administrations, is that the United Nations Security Council and the “international community” – which in reality means the governments of the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany – are “united” against Iran. In reality, two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, and a large number of two important international organizations, namely, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Conference of Islamic Countries do not support the unilateral sanctions against Iran by the U.S. and its allies, nor do they support the constant threats made against Iran. In 2010, when the U.S. began ratcheting up it sanctions, the lie was made more frequently than ever.

2011: Another anti-Iran film, Iranium, was produced by the same Islamophobe group that had produced the films “Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West” and “The Third Jihad.” Iranium was replete with exaggerations and half-truths, if not outright lies, promoted military attacks on Iran, and was criticized.

2012: Too many false claims on Iran’s nuclear program were reported by George Jahn of the Associated Press, and others. Steven Erlanger, a New York Times reporter, was caught lying about Iran’s nuclear program.

2013: There have already been many hysteric warnings by Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) - also known as Institute for Scary Iranian Stories - and its President David Albright, including a recent one in the Wall Street Journal on stopping an “undetectable Iranian [nuclear] bomb,” a totally absurd notion that anyone with the knowledge that Iran’s uranium enrichment program is under full inspection and monitoring of the IAEA knows is untrue.

2013: Edward Jay Epstein wrote in the Wall Street Journal that Iran can buy nuclear bombs from North Korea “overnight,” another totally absurd notion. The Israelis have also not been silent. They now claim that Iran can make a nuclear bomb in 4-6 months, another dire “prediction.” This is at least “better” than the claim in the Washington Post in 2011 that Iran could produce the bomb in 62 days.

The above list is by no means complete, but it demonstrates clearly that the campaign of lies and exaggerations about Iran has been moving forward with full speed for over three decades. The campaign has nothing to do with the nature of the Iranian regime, which does violate the rights of it citizens, though that is an internal matter for the Iranians, but has everything to do with what General James Mattis, the U.S. Central Command commander said recently, namely, bringing Iran to its knees and removing it as a regional power that can resist the hegemonic will of the U.S. and Israel in the Middle East.

Is the Rothschild’s final conquest to gain control of Iran’s central bank?

ROTHSCHILDS WANT IRAN’S BANKS
By Pete Papaherakles
American Free Press
FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Could gaining control of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) be one of the main reasons that Iran is being targeted by Western and Israeli powers? As tensions are building up for an unthinkable war with Iran, it is worth exploring Iran’s banking system compared to its U.S., British and Israeli counterparts.

Some researchers are pointing out that Iran is one of only three countries left in the world whose central bank is not under Rothschild control. Before 9-11 there were reportedly seven: Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, North Korea and Iran. By 2003, however, Afghanistan and Iraq were swallowed up by the Rothschild octopus, and by 2011 Sudan and Libya were also gone. In Libya, a Rothschild bank was established in Benghazi while the country was still at war.

Islam forbids the charging of interest, a major problem for the Rothschild banking system. Until a few hundred years ago, charging interest was also forbidden in the Christian world and was even punishable by death. It was considered exploitation and enslavement.

Since the Rothschilds took over the Bank of England around 1815, they have been expanding their banking control over all the countries of the world. Their method has been to get a country’s corrupt politicians to accept massive loans, which they can never repay, and thus go into debt to the Rothschild banking powers. If a leader refuses to accept the loan, he is oftentimes either ousted or assassinated. And if that fails, invasions can follow, and a Rothschild usury-based bank is established.

The Rothschilds exert powerful influence over the world’s major news agencies. By repetition, the masses are duped into believing horror stories about evil villains. The Rothschilds control the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the IMF, the World Bank and the Bank of International Settlements. Also they own most of the gold in the world as well as the London Gold Exchange, which sets the price of gold every day. It is said the family owns over half the wealth of the planet—estimated by Credit Suisse to be $231 trillion—and is controlled by Evelyn Rothschild, the current head of the family.

Objective researchers contend that Iran is not being demonized because they are a nuclear threat, just as the Taliban, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Libya’s Muammar Qadaffi were not a threat.

What then is the real reason? Is it the trillions to be made in oil profits, or the trillions in war profits? Is it to bankrupt the U.S. economy, or is it to start World War III? Is it to destroy Israel’s enemies, or to destroy the Iranian central bank so that no one is left to defy Rothschild’s money racket?

It might be any one of those reasons or, worse—it might be all of them.

New N.Korean leader Kim Jong Un plans first international trip - to IRAN

Kim Jong Un plans first international visit since taking power in North Korea… and he’s flying to IRAN
By ANTHONY BOND
DAILYMAIL
August 22, 2012

Trip: North Korean leader Kim 
Jong Un will make his first overseas 
visit next week by attending a 
summit attended by 40 world
leaders in Iran.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make his first overseas visit next week by attending a summit attended by 40 world leaders in Iran.

Kim will attend a Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran which is scheduled for August 26 - 31.

As reported by NBC News, It is his first foreign trip since taking over following his father's death in December.

Despite encouraging signs in recent months that he might reform strict social and economic structures in North Korea, his visit to Iran suggests he is not prepared to alter North Korea's foreign policy.

The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of countries which do not formally consider themselves aligned with a major power bloc.

It was founded in 1961 at the height of the Cold War by countries which did not want to side with NATO or the Warsaw Pact Nations.

The summit is held every three years and rotates around the 120 member nations.

Other member states include India, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba.

The movements of Kim have been keenly tracked since he became leader of the authoritarian regime in Pyongyang...

Visit: Kim will attend a Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran. It is his first foreign trip since taking over following his father Kim Jong-Il's death in December

(click here to continue reading the article on DailyMail)

Iran, the largest saffron producer in the world, exceeds exports of 100 tons

Iran's saffron exports exceed 100 tons
Press TV
Thu Apr 26, 2012

Saffron flowers, photo credit: PressTV

Iran's saffron exports have increased by more than 40 percent over the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 19, 2012), standing at over 130 tons.

Ali Safarzadeh, the head of Industry, Mines and Commerce Organization in the northeastern province of Khorassan Razavi, said on Thursday that Iran exported 133 tons of the precious spice worth $409 million last year.

He added that the figure indicated a 48-percent rise compared to the year earlier, which ended on March 20, 2011.

Iran, the largest saffron producer in the world, exports the spice to 46 countries all over the world.

Due to Iran’s diverse climate and fertile soil, the country’s agricultural products are rated among the best in the world, with its saffron standing second to none.

Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of the saffron crocus.

Some 300 tons of dried whole threads and powder are gleaned yearly worldwide, of which 50 tons is top-grade "coupe" saffron.

Iran, with its cultivation of different varieties, is the largest producer of saffron with more than 90 percent of the world's total production.

Saffron also has a long medicinal history as part of traditional healing. Several modern research studies have also hinted that the spice has possible anti-carcinogenic (cancer-suppressing), anti-mutagenic (mutation-preventing), immunomodulating, and antioxidant-like properties.

MP/HJL/IS

UK Deceit: British anti-arms campaign lists Iran in receiving £792 million pounds worth of arms but on closer look are actually civilian industrial parts

Deceit: UK issued £792m arms permits to Iran
The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT)  listed industrial parts as weapons components.

Press TV
Apr 22, 2012

A British anti-arms trade campaign group has launched a deception campaign claiming Iran imported £792 million worth of weapons or related parts from Britain in the past four years.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade included Iran in the list of countries, which have secured arms trade licenses from Britain since 2008.

However, the CAAT listed items such as chemicals, industrial gas turbines (used in power plants) and components of civil aircraft as the so-called arms Iran has sought to buy from Britain.

This is while other countries on the list, including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, have secured licenses for a host of military items including military aircraft and missile components as well as rifles and firearm silencers.

Western countries including Britain, regularly deny Iran access to material with industrial and medical use to Iran under the pretext that they could be used for military purposes.

This is while, the same list by the CAAT shows Britain has been selling real-life weapons to repressive regimes including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Yemen over the past few years.

AMR/MF/HE

Iran`s Khamenei issues fatwa against production and proliferation of nukes - most concrete answer and proof yet from the Iranian regime on nuke program

Fatwa against nuclear weapons political milestone

by Dr. Ismail Salami
Press TV
Thu Apr 19, 2012

The fatwa issued by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei forbidding the production, proliferation and use of nuclear bombs is to be considered a political milestone in Iranian history and one which can salvage the Islamic nation from the spate of external threats and plots.

Iranian soldier wearing gas mask during Iran-Iraq war, photo credit: PressTV

Fatwa is a religious decree issued by a Muslim leader against a specific issue and it is incumbent upon all Muslims to abide by it. However, in this particular case, the issuance of the fatwa has not only religious but political force as well as the leader in the Islamic Republic is the prime decision-maker.

The recent P5+1 talks, which the US officials hailed as “a step forward” and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton described as “constructive and useful”, were held in an ambience filled with optimism this fatwa inspired. Although the ten-hour talks between Iran and the six world powers apparently bore no tangible fruits, the two sides ended the talks with an air of sanguinity in a feel-good atmosphere. Further to that, the two sides seemed resolute to put an end to the long-standing dispute so stubbornly dragged on for years by the West.

Some Iranian officials have expressed hope and optimism the next round of talks slated to be held in Baghdad on May 23 will come to fruition.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in Zagreb, Croatia, on Wednesday, “We are optimistic about the future of negotiations and want the other sides to put their words into action.”

The western pessimistic glasses have cast a dark haze over Iran’s nuclear energy program, making long-standing efforts to inculcate that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapons program.

Be it as it may, there is no point in believing that Iran is seeking to produce nuclear weapons as there is no evidence whatsoever pointing to this notion. Besides, modern history has proved that Iran has never been an aggressor; rather it has become a victim of aggression. During the Iran-Iraq war in 1983, the Iraqis used mustard gas, and in March 1984, they used tabun, a nerve agent used for the first time in war. The corrupt regime of Saddam Hussein continued to use chemical weapons until the end of war in August 1988 in violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol on the use of chemical weapons. They also used the nerve agent sarin.

In March 1986, the then UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar formally announced that Iraq had used chemical weapons against Iran on the strength of the report of four chemical warfare experts sent to Iran in February and March 1986 by the UN. The report concluded that "Iraqi forces have used chemical warfare against Iranian forces"; the weapons used included both mustard gas and nerve gas. The report further stated that "the use of chemical weapons appear[ed] to be more extensive [in 1981] than in 1984." However, the regime of Saddam Hussein made pointlessly egregious efforts to deny the report; yet, the influx of badly wounded chemical victims from Iran to Europe for receiving medical treatment was not something the Iraqi regime could easily deny.

In 1984 Iraq became the first country to use a nerve agent on the battlefield. Around 5,500 Iranians died as a result of the nerve agent between March 1984 and March 1985. Tabun kills within minutes. Also, over 16,000 Iranians were killed by the toxic blister agent mustard gas between August 1983 and February 1986.

In spite of all these inhumane atrocities perpetrated by a US-backed coup regime, the Islamic Republic never did the same to retaliate.

Painful as it is, the US government threw all its intelligence, financial and military support behind a regime it knew thrived on evil and havoc. In 1982, the US government started supplying the regime with dual-use vehicles such as heavy trucks, armored ambulances as well as materials for producing chemical weapons.

The then US President Ronald Reagan announced that the US "could not afford to allow Iraq to lose the war to Iran", and that it “would do whatever was necessary to prevent Iraq from losing the war with Iran.” Then CIA Director William Casey personally spearheaded the effort “to ensure that Iraq had sufficient military weapons, ammunition and vehicles to avoid losing the Iran-Iraq war. Pursuant to the secret NSDD, the United States actively supported the Iraqi war effort by supplying the Iraqis with billions of dollars of credits, by providing US military intelligence and advice to the Iraqis, and by closely monitoring third country arms sales to Iraq to make sure that Iraq had the military weaponry required. The United States also provided strategic operational advice to the Iraqis to better use their assets in combat. For example, in 1986, President Reagan sent a secret message to Saddam Hussein telling him that Iraq should step up its air war and bombing of Iran. This message was delivered by Vice President George H. W. Bush who communicated it to Egyptian President Mubarak, who in turn passed the message to Saddam Hussein. Similar strategic operational military advice was passed to Saddam Hussein through various meetings with European and Middle Eastern heads of state” (quoted from the sworn court declaration of former NSC official Howard Teicher, dated 1/31/95, regarding 'Iraqgate).

Under the encouragement and direction of the US government, how many bombs fell on the Iranian cities while people were sleeping? How many youths lost their lives in a war that dragged on for eight years? How many women were widowed? How many children were orphaned? Is there no remission to this political insanity?

The US government is morally and financially indebted to Iran. What seems to be the right course of action to be taken by the US government is that Washington should make it clearly known to Iran that it entertains good intentions about the Iranian nation and that it is resolute to compensate for the agony and havoc it has wrought upon Iran. In other words, it is Washington which should take first steps to dispel ambiguities as to its intentions.

There seems to be little hope the upcoming talks will bear splendid fruits unless the US dismounts its mule of obstinacy, puts an end to its animosity towards the Islamic Republic, forsakes its morbid cynicism and acknowledges that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

The fatwa of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution can well serve as a beacon of light for Washington in order to find its way out of darkness and ignorance.

IS/MA

Iran captures Israeli-backed terrorist team

By Thomas Erdbrink,
Washington Post
Tuesday, April 10, 12:40 PM

photo credit: PressTV

TEHRAN — Iranian security forces have arrested an Israeli-backed “terrorist team” that was planning attacks inside Iran, the Intelligence Ministry announced Tuesday, four days before crucial nuclear talks with world powers.

The announcement, reported by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), said that “terrorists, backed by the Zionists,” were arrested after months of intelligence operations in central and border provinces and that the “Zionist regional headquarters” was discovered in another country in the region. The ministry did not specify when or where the arrests were made or say how many alleged terrorists were rounded up. In Iran’s ideological vocabulary, Israel is called the “Zionist state.”

Although the report did not name the regional country, Iranian media in recent months have quoted several officials as saying that neighboring Azerbaijan has sheltered operatives plotting attacks in Iran.

The Intelligence Ministry said security forces identified and arrested all of the team’s members before they implemented their plan, IRNA reported...

(click here to read the full article)

Related:
Iran busts Israeli terrorists in central, border provinces

Iran wins 'recognition' of right to nuclear energy none other than...Germany

Germany throws weight behind Iran’s nuclear energy program
Press TV
Mon Apr 9, 2012 5:20AM GMT

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, credit:PressTV

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has underlined Iran's right to develop its nuclear energy program as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

According to a commentary by the top German diplomat in the Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag, Westerwelle stressed "Iran's right to have nuclear energy for civilian use.”

He also made reference to his country's ongoing efforts for a diplomatic solution to the Western dispute over Iran’s nuclear issue.

The German foreign minister also called for the creation of a Middle East free from nuclear arms.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear program. Washington and Tel Aviv have time and again threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike against its civilian nuclear facilities.

Iran argues that as a signatory to the NPT and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

MP/GHN/HJL

Sy Hersh: U.S. Funded and Trained (on U.S. soil) Iranian Group on State Dept. Terror List

Alex Kane
Alternet
April 7, 2012

Seymour Hersh, the venerable investigative journalist, dropped another bombshell this morning in the New Yorker : the US military trained members of an Iranian terrorist group in Nevada in 2005.

What’s more, American intelligence continues to be transferred to the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) for use in operations that include the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.

Hersh reports that during the Bush administration, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), an elite Special Operations force, transferred funds, arms and intelligence to the MEK.

While this type of covert activity is standard practice for the US–see Iran-Contra–what makes this revelation shocking is that the MEK is still on the US terrorist list. Because of that fact, the training had to be conducted in secret, away from the eyes of the State Department, at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site.

The MEK has been implicated in the killing of Americans.

Here’s more from Hersh: 

The training ended sometime before President Obama took office, the former official said. In a separate interview, a retired four-star general, who has advised the Bush and Obama Administrations on national-security issues, said that he had been privately briefed in 2005 about the training of Iranians associated with the M.E.K. in Nevada by an American involved in the program. They got “the standard training,” he said, “in commo, crypto [cryptography], small-unit tactics, and weaponry—that went on for six months,” the retired general said. “They were kept in little pods.” He also was told, he said, that the men doing the training were from JSOC, which, by 2005, had become a major instrument in the Bush Administration’s global war on terror. “The JSOC trainers were not front-line guys who had been in the field, but second- and third-tier guys—trainers and the like—and they started going off the reservation. ‘If we’re going to teach you tactics, let me show you some really sexy stuff…’ ”

The training may have ended before Obama’s term began, but Hersh quotes a former senior intelligence officer as saying that US intelligence continues to be used by the MEK.

These revelations come two months after NBC News reported that the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, was training the MEK to carry out assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists. The Obama administration denied any involvement then.

Glenn Greenwald comments for Salon on the Hersh story:

If this report is true, it means the U.S. Government actively trained a group that the U.S. Government itself legally categorizes as a “foreign terrorist organization,” a clear felony under U.S. law…

That alone compels serious DOJ and Congressional investigations into these claims. Worse, this reportedly happened at the very same time that the U.S. aggressively prosecuted and imprisoned numerous Muslims for providing material support for groups on that list even though many of those prosecuted provided support that was far, far less than what the U.S. Government itself was providing to MEK. Meanwhile, right at this moment, America’s closest ally — Israel — is clearly a state sponsor of this designated Terrorist organization, providing training, funding and arms to it, and the U.S. may very well be as well (independent of all else, given that Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid, the U.S., at the very least, is financing a state sponsor of Terror).

At the same time, a glittering bipartisan cast of former Washington officials is receiving large payments from this designated Terrorist group, meeting with its leaders, and then advocating on its behalf — again, providing far more material support than many powerless, marginalized Muslims who have been and continue to be prosecuted under this law. All of this appears to be clearly criminal regardless of whether MEK belongs on the list — once a group is placed by the State Department on the list, whether justifiably or not, it is a felony to provide material support to it — but MEK appears to be doing exactly that which is typically considered Terrorism: assassinating civilian scientists (and severely wounding their wives) with bombs and causing other civilian-killing explosions on Iranian soil in order to induce fear.