What's happening in Iran?

[Parliament 14,345]

Take your Cloak Room shitbaggery to the the other board.  

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-unrest/iran-calls-for-calm-after-water-protests-clashes-idUSKBN1JR1MS?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5b38e58704d301792fb428d2&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

“Our effort is to bring these protests to an end as soon as possible with restraint from police and the cooperation of authorities, but if the opposite happens, the judiciary and law enforcement forces will carry out their duties,” Rahmani Fazli was quoted as saying.

Shots could be heard on videos circulated on social media from the protests in Khorramshahr, which has been the scene of demonstrations for the past three days, along with the nearby city of Abadan. The videos could not be authenticated by Reuters.

State television showed banks with broken windows and footage appearing to shows an identified demonstrator armed with a rifle.

Police fired tear gas as protesters set fire to a bridge, and to a garden surrounding a museum which is a memorial to the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, state media said.

A number of protests have broken out in Iran since the beginning of the year over water, a growing political concern due to a drought which residents of parched areas and analysts say has been exacerbated by mismanagement.

And no talk about man made climate change.  No question it involves the climate.  Maybe even a change to the climate.  But the debate about the CAUSE is not for this thread.

[Neonmoon 38,130]

It seems like they are running out of water. 

 

[52-80 19,271]

The revolution will not be televised.

[closetojumping 62,894]

Paraphrasing the words of Sam Kinison (RIP): “ we realized there wouldn't BE a water problem if you people would live where the WATER IS! YOU LIVE IN A DESERT!! UNDERSTAND THAT? YOU LIVE IN A FUCKING DESERT!! NOTHING GROWS HERE! NOTHING'S GONNA GROW HERE! Come here, you see this? This is sand. You know what it's gonna be 100 years from now? IT'S GONNA BE SAND!! YOU LIVE IN A FUCKING DESERT! We have deserts in America, we just don't LIVE in them, assholes!"

[Whitman 694]

I'm old enough to remember Iran before the Ayatollas, and sometimes we forget that besides having some of the hottest women on the planet, the Persians were an advanced western like society.   Went to high school in DC with several Iranians (one whose dad worked for The Shah) and still can't believe the "revolution" hasn't been tossed aside all these years later.     

[Guest]

And Freddie Mercury...

[Neonmoon 38,130]

40 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

The revolution will not be televised.

What about pay per view?

[Macanudo 13,018]

1 hour ago, 52-80 said:

The revolution will not be televised.

It will be streamed on the platform of your choice.

[El Diablo 4,232]

42 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

It will be streamed on the platform of your choice.

Maybe Facebook? Like a Baylor game?

[po elvis 2,082]

Teh ran out of water.

[Shmitty 112]

The parents of Freddie Mercury were the greatest thing to come out of that country...... aside from some of the womenz

[Pato del Muerto 52,626]

Iran, so far away

[52-80 19,271]

1 hour ago, Shmitty said:

The parents of Freddie Mercury were the greatest thing to come out of that country...... aside from some of the womenz

His parents came from India

[bmbmd 1,027]

My senior resident on my VA medicine rotation in 1980 was an Iranian national.  Her dad had been  the Shah's personal physician.  She was amazingly competent, not to mention amazingly beautiful.  Her dad had escaped the purge, and was living in England.  She was consumed about her future, and the possibility of being deported.  She drove a yellow Mercedes.  I have no idea of what became of her.  CSB. 

[gsoda3 3,283]

One of my mom's best friends at University was a cousin of the shah. She said one day she just disappeared and no one heard from her again.

[Steel Shank 9,432]

Did you hit it?

[Parliament 14,345]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-gasoline-protests-idUSKBN1XT0X7

[MillerEP 30,501]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/13/iran-south-africa-ambassador-assassination-plot-413831?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email

EXCLUSIVE

Officials: Iran weighing plot to kill U.S. ambassador to South Africa
The Islamic Republic is still looking to avenge the death of Qassem Soleimani, officials said.

By NAHAL TOOSI and NATASHA BERTRAND

09/13/2020 08:07 PM EDT

The Iranian government is weighing an assassination attempt against the American ambassador to South Africa, U.S. intelligence reports say, according to a U.S. government official familiar with the issue and another official who has seen the intelligence.

News of the plot comes as Iran continues to seek ways to retaliate for President Donald Trump’s decision to kill a powerful Iranian general earlier this year, the officials said. If carried out, it could dramatically ratchet up already serious tensions between the U.S. and Iran and create enormous pressure on Trump to strike back — possibly in the middle of a tense election season.

U.S. officials have been aware of a general threat against the ambassador, Lana Marks, since the spring, the officials said. But the intelligence about the threat to the ambassador has become more specific in recent weeks. The Iranian embassy in Pretoria is involved in the plot, the U.S. government official said.

Still, attacking Marks is one of several options U.S. officials believe Iran’s regime is considering for retaliation since the general, Qassem Soleimani, was assassinated by a U.S. drone strike in January. At the time, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. killed Soleimani to re-establish deterrence against Iran.

An intelligence community directive known as “Duty to Warn” requires U.S. spy agencies to notify a potential victim if intelligence indicates their life could be in danger; in the case of U.S. government officials, credible threats would be included in briefings and security planning. Marks has been made aware of the threat, the U.S. government official said. The intelligence also has been included in the CIA World Intelligence Review, known as the WIRe, a classified product that is accessible to senior policy and security officials across the U.S. government, as well as certain lawmakers and their staff.

Marks, 66, was sworn in as the U.S. ambassador last October. She’s known Trump for more than two decades and has been a member of his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Critics of Trump have derided her as a “handbag designer,” but her supporters retort that she is a successful businesswoman — her eponymous handbags run as much as $40,000 — with numerous international connections. A personal friend of the late Princess Diana, she also was born in South Africa and speaks some of the country’s key languages, including Afrikaans and Xhosa.

The intelligence community isn’t exactly sure why Iranians would target Marks, who has few, if any, known links to Iran. It’s possible the Iranians took her long friendship with Trump into consideration, the U.S. government official said.

The Iranian government also operates clandestine networks in South Africa, the officials noted, and has had a foothold there for decades. In 2015, Al Jazeera and The Guardian reported on leaked intelligence documents that detailed an extensive secret network of Iranian operatives in South Africa. Marks may also be an easier target than U.S. diplomats in other parts of the world, such as Western Europe, where the U.S. has stronger relationships with local law enforcement and intelligence services.

Iran’s Islamist leaders have a history of carrying out assassinations beyond their country’s borders, as well as taking hostages, since seizing power following a popular uprising in the late 1970s. In recent decades, Iran has generally avoided directly targeting U.S. diplomats, although Iranian-backed militias have long attacked U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel in Iraq.

Trump alleged after Soleimani’s killing that the Iranian general had been plotting attacks on American diplomatic missions, although U.S. officials later cast doubt on his claims. “They were looking to blow up our embassy,” Trump said in January, referring to the massive, heavily fortified U.S. diplomatic compound in Iraq. Later, in a Fox News interview, he said, “I can reveal I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies.”

Days after Soleimani’s death, Iran launched a ballistic missile salvo at a military base in Iraq that housed U.S. forces, causing traumatic brain injuries among dozens of American troops. Trump declined to retaliate and said, “Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world” — though he announced fresh sanctions on the Iranian regime and warned it against further retaliatory moves.

Some analysts, however, said at the time that Iran likely would seek other ways to avenge Soleimani’s death. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, was at the top of Iran’s hit list earlier this year, according to media reports. McKenzie said last month that he expected a new “response” from Iran to America’s ongoing presence in Iraq.

“I do not know what the nature of that response will be, but we will certainly be ready for it, should it occur,” he said. On Wednesday, McKenzie confirmed plans to cut the U.S. troop presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 by the end of September.

During an online forum in August, McKenzie said Iran was “our central problem” in the region, and acknowledged that the danger from Iranian proxies in Iraq had complicated U.S. efforts against ISIS, the radical Sunni terrorist organization and movement. “The threat against our forces from Shia militant groups has caused us to put resources that we would otherwise use against ISIS to provide for our own defense and that has lowered our ability to work effectively against them,” he said.

The White House-based National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did an Iranian official with Iran’s mission at the United Nations, nor a South African embassy official in Washington. Spokespeople for the State Department, the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

The U.S. and Iran have been bitter foes for decades, openly confronting each other at times — and gingerly engaging in diplomacy at others — but more often waging a shadowy battle for power and influence across the broader Middle East. Under Trump, the two countries have veered toward outright military conflict on more than one occasion.

Last summer, the U.S. blamed Iran and its proxies for a series of explosions aimed at oil tankers. Iran took down a U.S. drone, and the U.S. later managed to take down an Iranian drone.

Trump acknowledged that, after Iran took down the U.S. drone, he nearly authorized a direct attack on Iranian soil, but he held off after being told 150 people could die — a toll he said was disproportionate.

The countries’ dispute deepened in the months afterward, especially in Iraq, where America and the U.S. have long engaged in proxy warfare. In December, an American contractor was killed in Iraq after an attack by an Iranian-allied militia. The U.S. reacted by bombing sites held by the group, killing around two dozen of its fighters. Soon afterward, protesters believed linked to the militia breached parts of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad.

Then, in early January, the United States staged an airstrike that killed Soleimani as he was visiting Baghdad. It was a major escalation given Soleimani’s importance in Iran, although U.S. officials described it as a defensive measure.

Soleimani led the Quds Force, a unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that oversees much of the country’s military activities outside its borders. Americans blame him for the death of numerous U.S. troops in the region.

Iran vowed to retaliate. Its first major move was the Jan. 8 missile attack on the al-Asad military base in Iraq. But around the same time, an Iranian missile took down a civilian airliner, killing 176 people and leading to fury inside Iran at the regime’s incompetence and shifting explanations for the incident, along with condemnation abroad.

Iran and South Africa have cooperated on a number of fronts in recent decades, including at the United Nations, where South Africa has at times advocated for Iran. South Africa’s uranium deposits are believed to have been a major interest for Iran as it was ramping up its nuclear program, which Tehran has always insisted was meant for peaceful energy purposes, not a bomb. The pair also have a military relationship, having signed some basic defense pacts.

Strange Iran-connected plots have been uncovered before.

Almost a decade ago, the U.S. arrested and eventually sentenced to prison an Iranian-American man who was alleged to have tried to hire Mexican drug cartel assassins to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States as he dined in Cafe Milano, a swanky Washington restaurant frequented by the city’s wealthy and powerful. The U.S. accused Soleimani of overseeing the plot.

FILED UNDER: IRAN,

[Samson's Wig 3,195]

On 7/1/2018 at 11:59 AM, Whitman said:

I'm old enough to remember Iran before the Ayatollas, and sometimes we forget that besides having some of the hottest women on the planet, the Persians were an advanced western like society.   Went to high school in DC with several Iranians (one whose dad worked for The Shah) and still can't believe the "revolution" hasn't been tossed aside all these years later.     

Bad things tend to happen when ideologues take over.  Iran isn't alone.

[clapclapclap 9,000]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/large-fire-breaks-out-in-factory-outside-tehran/

Spoiler

A large fire erupted in an Iranian dairy factory near Tehran on Tuesday night, Iranian State television reported.

The cause of the fire was under investigation and no casualties were reported.

The fire is the latest in a series of mysterious blasts and blazes that have occurred in recent months throughout Iran.

The most recent occurred on September 11, when a huge explosion in a battery workshop southwest of Tehran killed one person and damaged dozens of cars and buildings, according to Iranian media.

While many of the incidents have been blamed on Iran’s crumbling infrastructure, speculation has swirled that Israel or the US could have been behind some of the blasts, particularly a July 2 explosion at the Natanz nuclear facility.

That explosion damaged an advanced centrifuge development and assembly plant. It has been reported by some experts to have significantly set back Iran’s nuclear program.

According to a New York Times report, the blast was most likely the result of a bomb planted at the facility, potentially at a strategic gas line. The report did not rule out the possibility that a cyberattack was used to cause a malfunction that led to the explosion.

 

[Jerry Callo 8,747]

On 9/16/2020 at 5:09 PM, Samson's Wig said:

Bad things tend to happen when ideologues take over.  Iran isn't alone.

Bad things happen when M16 with the assistance of the CIA stage a coup in 1953.

[atomheartbevo 89,847]

Didn't know milk could burn like that.

Some of this stuff sounds like internal sabotage/resistance.

[Rip76 4,969]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/10/politics/us-navy-warning-shots-iranian-fast-boats-strait-of-hormuz/index.html
 

 

[crash_davis 23,115]

we just seize a shitload of weapons from a ship in the region. the weapons were believed to be provided by iran (russia) destined to the houthi rebels in yemen. i guess this is iran's response, or beginnings of a reponse. iran has used drone bombs. would they risk poking the bear?

geopolitics is fun stuff.

[BabaYaga 15,331]

11 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

we just seize a shitload of weapons from a ship in the region. the weapons were believed to be provided by iran (russia) destined to the houthi rebels in yemen. i guess this is iran's response, or beginnings of a reponse. iran has used drone bombs. would they risk poking the bear?

geopolitics is fun stuff.

Iran has been waging a proxy war with the US since the CIA interventions of the 50's.  After the revolution in '79 it's been tit for tat with them all over the globe, especially in the ME

[atomheartbevo 89,847]

4 hours ago, crash_davis said:

we just seize a shitload of weapons from a ship in the region. the weapons were believed to be provided by iran (russia) destined to the houthi rebels in yemen. i guess this is iran's response, or beginnings of a reponse. iran has used drone bombs. would they risk poking the bear?

geopolitics is fun stuff.

They'll just keep fucking with Iraq, the Saudis and those in Yemen.  And maybe fuck with our folks in Afghanistan.

 Hell, in the aftermath of the the invasion we captured plenty of Iranian and Saudi agents fucking around in Iraq to keep it destabilized.

[Schulz2.0 29,019]

7 hours ago, Rip76 said:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/10/politics/us-navy-warning-shots-iranian-fast-boats-strait-of-hormuz/index.html
 

 

They like to fuck with us when we go through the straits. I got out in 2013 and they were doing the same shit then. 

[Parliament 14,345]

If they were to start shooting back, or launching suicide attacks or something, we'd start sending their little shitdingey's to the bottom of the gulf.  I don't see Russia or China stepping in to help.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,971]

Second warning shot should have gone through the bridge

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

On 9/23/2020 at 4:15 PM, clapclapclap said:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/large-fire-breaks-out-in-factory-outside-tehran/

  Hide contents

A large fire erupted in an Iranian dairy factory near Tehran on Tuesday night, Iranian State television reported.

The cause of the fire was under investigation and no casualties were reported.

The fire is the latest in a series of mysterious blasts and blazes that have occurred in recent months throughout Iran.

The most recent occurred on September 11, when a huge explosion in a battery workshop southwest of Tehran killed one person and damaged dozens of cars and buildings, according to Iranian media.

While many of the incidents have been blamed on Iran’s crumbling infrastructure, speculation has swirled that Israel or the US could have been behind some of the blasts, particularly a July 2 explosion at the Natanz nuclear facility.

That explosion damaged an advanced centrifuge development and assembly plant. It has been reported by some experts to have significantly set back Iran’s nuclear program.

According to a New York Times report, the blast was most likely the result of a bomb planted at the facility, potentially at a strategic gas line. The report did not rule out the possibility that a cyberattack was used to cause a malfunction that led to the explosion.

 

Yes "dairy factory".........  wink wink nudge nudge.............

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

On 9/23/2020 at 4:50 PM, Jerry Callo said:

Bad things happen when M16 with the assistance of the CIA stage a coup in 1953.

Why do you hate the game of dominoes so much ?

[Nolacycling 893]

1 hour ago, Parliament said:

If they were to start shooting back, or launching suicide attacks or something, we'd start sending their little shitdingey's to the bottom of the gulf.  I don't see Russia or China stepping in to help.

Mr. Lahey approves.

[InkaUtexas 26,184]

17 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Yes "dairy factory".........  wink wink nudge nudge.............

Well we blew the shit out of a dairy factory in Sudan a while back, why not do it again. 

[Parliament 14,345]

Iran seems they're similar to Cuba, in that they're a great Nation, ruled by despotic assholes.  Also they have hot women.  

 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/23/we-cannot-blame-the-people-over-irans-water-crisis-khamenei

[MillerEP 30,501]

Protests are spreading all over Iran, over the death of a young woman who was beat to death by the morality police for not wearing a Hijab:

 

[MillerEP 30,501]

 

[Trey3216 15,378]

5 minutes ago, MillerEP said:

 

[Brisketexan 105,461]

Man.....this planet right now.  Things fall apart slowly, then all at once.

And we are seeing diametrically opposed ethos, in a hot war: authoritarianism vs. self-determination.  Russian invaders vs. Ukranian resistance, repressive Iranian dictatorship vs. fed-up Iranian people, peaking authoritarian movements in Hungary and the US vs. strong resistance, etc.

If you want to see a chess board set up for some sort of globe-spanning war......some chess pieces have been moved to some precarious positions as of late.

[Trey3216 15,378]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Man.....this planet right now.  Things fall apart slowly, then all at once.

And we are seeing diametrically opposed ethos, in a hot war: authoritarianism vs. self-determination.  Russian invaders vs. Ukranian resistance, repressive Iranian dictatorship vs. fed-up Iranian people, peaking authoritarian movements in Hungary and the US vs. strong resistance, etc.

If you want to see a chess board set up for some sort of globe-spanning war......some chess pieces have been moved to some precarious positions as of late.

I’m not gonna comment right now, because I agree.   But I think the authoritarian leans in the US are being looked at in slanted manner.  I hate authoritarians of all salts, and we’ve got plenty of all of them.  At least we can vote them out and dictate laws for a period without the others swaying things too far.   We’re not perfect, but don’t lump us into that shit. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Trey3216

[Bevo 13,602]

8 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

I’m not gonna comment right now, because I agree.   But I think the authoritarian leans in the US are being looked at in slanted manner.  I hate authoritarians of a salts, and we’ve got plenty of all of them.  At least we can vote them out and dictate laws for a period without the others swaying things too far.   We’re not perfect, but don’t lump us into that shit. 

Although they may be authoritarian, people don't like Trump or Sanders because they are authoritarian. People like them because they voice their opinion without the whitewash of typical politicians. People get sick of watching Bush act like Republican lite and Clinton acting like Democrat lite.

[MillerEP 30,501]

 

[MillerEP 30,501]

 

[The Original Greaser Bob 2,851]

43 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

If you want to see a chess board set up for some sort of globe-spanning war......some chess pieces have been moved to some precarious positions as of late.

Fuck you.  Play me.

[MillerEP 30,501]

 

[MillerEP 30,501]

Graphic pictures on twitter of dead protestors and children with bullet wounds from the revolutionary guard

[MillerEP 30,501]

 

[Brisketexan 105,461]

1 minute ago, MillerEP said:

 

In matters of internal Iranian politics, we should probably STFU for the time being.  Don't give the regime the excuse  to say they are quelling "American-orchestrated protests" or some bullshit like that.

[SimonBolivar 10,961]

I need to read Then the Fish Swallowed Him again. Good novel about Iran's shitty police state 

Edited September 20, 2022 by SimonBolivar

[Bevo 13,602]

6 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

In matters of internal Iranian politics, we should probably STFU for the time being.  Don't give the regime the excuse  to say they are quelling "American-orchestrated protests" or some bullshit like that.

The problem was the same one we had previously (Was it Trump or Obama?). The protesters need weapons.

[Nivek 16,994]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Man.....this planet right now.  Things fall apart slowly, then all at once.

And we are seeing diametrically opposed ethos, in a hot war: authoritarianism vs. self-determination.  Russian invaders vs. Ukranian resistance, repressive Iranian dictatorship vs. fed-up Iranian people, peaking authoritarian movements in Hungary and the US vs. strong resistance, etc.

If you want to see a chess board set up for some sort of globe-spanning war......some chess pieces have been moved to some precarious positions as of late.

May you live in interesting times