Iran did not threaten US ships in the Persian Gulf (The Full Video)

The full video of the Strait of Hormuz incident (about 40 minutes) can now be found on You tube. (thanks to Cernig for his post).

The full video shows that THERE NEVER WAS ANY THREAT FROM THE IRANIAN BOATS.

Pentagon's video in five parts:
Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:




IRGC video:



CONCLUSIONS by Cernig:

First observation - the first part of the radio exchange accords with the Iranian version released Friday and which the Pentagon had said was of an earlier incident.

The US vessels sound their warning horns several times, beginning at about 4.30 in. There's a 'copter in the air over the speedboats - possible from the US ships - something not seen in the US' original edited video release.

There's at least one other ship - it looks like a tanker - in the area.

At fifteen minutes in, the Iranian boats appear stationary and have dropped back so far as to be invisible, then in part three (19 mins+) a single Iranian boat comes in again and voices can be heard ordering "all ahead flank" on the US ship. That's about 38 knots for ships of these classes. At that point, there's an oil rig in the background of the shot. The Iranian boat keeps a long distance - several hundred yards at least - away from the US vessels. A US voice says "Are there any other contacts out there...just the one?" and shortly thereafter a second Iranian boat joins the first - still keeping way back. By 27 mins we're back to one boat just keeping pace at a goodly distance (at least half a mile, maybe more).

Part Four: the first few minutes are a repeat of some of part three - oops. At 7 mins in (37 mins total) there's a 'copter overhead (Iranian?). Still just one boat, though, and still keeping its distance. 8.43 of this chunk and there's an oil platform again.

Part 5 - 25 secs in, a dark object in the water, could be anything. Then some footage of what could be fishing boats (flocks of seagulls follow them) but aren't speedboats. An oil platform again. A flash of a 'copter. No speedboats in sight. US ships no longer in line astern. The end.

No multiple white boxes in the water.

No mysterious voice threatening explosions.

Strait of Hormuz incident

(please see my next post regarding this issue as well: Iran never threatened the US ships)

by Steve Bell (2007)

Watch the recently released video of the Sunday incident in the strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf:

Also donwload and watch the official DoD release (via Cernig).

The Iranian officials have called this video fake and fabricated:

"The footage released by the U.S. Navy was compiled using file pictures and the audio has been fabricated" an official in Iran's Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying by the state-run English-language channel Press TV.

I personally don't trust the released video (or, I should say, the audio) for the following reasons:

1) The guy doesn't seem to have an Iranian accent. The guy talks more like an Arab; he talks from the bottom of his belly. See this funny video: "Arabs vs. Persians" for dummies!

2) The so-called Iranian voice is unexpectedly very clear. Considering that he is on a speed boat at top speeds and exposed to open air, his voice should be very noisy. In this video, the American guy who is inside an enclosed cabin sounds a lot noisier than the guy on the speedboat.

3) The so-called Iranian guy talks very calm as if he is talking dirty: I ammmmm comminggggggg toooo youuuuuu..... (the American guy in a heavily-armed warship is more nervous than the so-called Iranian in a practically-defenseless speedboat!!)

4) The Bush administration has a history of fabricating evidence! (Remember Iraq's WMD evidence? Remember the American-style date-format on Iranians' Iraq-involvement evidence? Remember the stolen laptop that had information about Iran's non-existing Nuclear-Weapons-Program? And this)

5) THIS IS AN UPDATE: The full video of the incident reveals that Iranian boats never threatened the US navy ships.

Another use for US-backed MeK

It seems that MeK members have become useful one more time.

Well, as far as your Haji (dash-mashti slang for 'I') is concerned, MeK is recognized as a terrorist organization in the United States. But, they are free to hold press conferences, collect donation money in the streets, have offices, etc.. Furthermore, they are protected in their camp in Iraq and are still armed. And yet, it is Iran that supports terrorism. (This is a very interesting twist, isn't it?)

PS. I was googling 'MeK' and I came accross this website: Iran-interlink.org

Its mission seems to be to reveal the real nature of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq cult. It's got a very interesting/informative video archive too. One of the things I learnt was that Iran welcomes the returning MeK members and helps them to reunite with their families.

The source of the new intelligence report on Iran's Nuclear Program

THE AUSTRALIAN claims that the original source of the new NIE report on Iran's nuclear program is Ali Reza Ashgari, an Iranian general, who fled Iran to Turkey last February. This report, despite its minor inconsistencies with the realities on the ground, is a very interesting read.

By minor inconsistencies, I am referring to this sentence:

He [Ali Reza Ashgari] confirmed the regime had been building two nuclear plants in southern Iran, one in Arak and the other in Bushehr, and that both had been using centrifuges to enrich uranium.

There are no centrifuges in Arak or Bushehr. They are in Natanz.

Besides, I think the name of this person is mistyped; The correct name is probably Ali Reza Asghari (rather than Ashgari).

Seymour Hersh on the recent NIE

NIC report

National Intelligence Council (NIC) has recently published a report (PDF) entitled "Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities". This report has found its place in the media under two different sets of titles, depending on the political orientation of the author:

There are those who want to put Bush at fault and say "Report contradicts Bush on Iran nuclear program". And there are those who want to justify Bush's stance on Iran and say: "US: Iran halted weapons program in 2003".

But what is more important is that none of them discuss the content of that report.

The first key judgment of the report is that:

We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program.

And in another paragraph it says:

A growing amount of intelligence indicates Iran was engaged in covert uranium conversion and uranium enrichment activity, but we judge that these efforts probably were halted in response to the fall 2003 halt, and that these efforts probably had not beenrestarted through at least mid-2007.

And the last paragraph of the report reads as:

We assess with high confidence that Iran has the scientific, technical and industrial capacity eventually to produce nuclear weapons if it decides to do so.

Based on such important information in the report, I am going to ask a couple of questions, the answers to which, I presume, are obvious:

1. If Iran did have a nuclear weapons' program up until 2003, and NIC is so confident about its existence (not focusing on its discontinuance), how come IAEA isn't aware of it?

2. If IAEA is aware of such past program (assuming that this claim is not like those that were discredited by IAEA), but is unable to investigate, then it should probably be because of Iran's non-cooperation. Then how come such issue is not even mentioned in the list of questions (about outstanding issues) IAEA has asked Iran? (see PDF version of the latest IAEA report)

3. If Iran "has the scientific, technical and industrial capacity eventually to produce nuclear weapons", then Iran can start a clandestine program , as soon as tomorrow, somewhere in the central salt desert, or inside Alborz mountains in the north, or underneath the Urumia lake in the west. What is the point of asking Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program for its "not yet completed" nuclear reactors?

PS. Dave at the glittering eye has also written about this report: link

New pictures of British marines

BC Persian reports that Al-Alam TV (Official Iranian state television, but in Arabic) recently showed more pictures of the 15 British marines playing ping-pong and having fun. The new footage shows Lt Felix Carman joking around in front of the cameraman. The interesting part is that Lt Carman was the one who was complaining the most about the way he was being treated in Iran. (picture is taken from BBC's website)

My TV is on and I am switching between CNN and BBC to see if it is reported at all. It seems that it is not.

Update:
I found this page on the BBC website which only indicates that more videos are broadcasted, saying that the sailors were "socialising and relaxing".

Update2 (after 24 hours):
BBC didn't show the newly-released videos, but mentioned that more videos were broadcasted by Al-Alam. Nothing more. CNN, on the other hand, did show the footage.

Update3:
Jon Stewart has a funny show about these British marines:

What We Can Learn From Britain About Iran

VALI NASR and RAY TAKEYH have recently analyzed the British-Iranian standoff in an article they published in the New York Times. From the outcome of the standoff they conclude that:

"just as Iran will meet confrontation with confrontation, it will respond to what it perceives as flexibility with pragmatism"

This conclusion, in my opinion, is very well consistent with Iranians pride and prestige, inherent to their nationalistic disposition. This is something that is being ignored by most Iran analysts.

Tekyeh and Nasr even go further and provide solution to the current standoff between Iran and US, based on the conclusions they made from Iran-Britain standoff:

"After 28 years of sanctions and containment, it is time to accept that pressure has not tempered Iran’s behavior. The announced release of the British captives shows that the Islamic Republic is still willing to mitigate its ideology with pragmatism. A policy of patient engagement will change the context, and that may lead Iran to see relations with America to be in its own interest. Only then will Tehran chart a new course at home and abroad."

This is a well written article and a must-read for those interested in Iran affairs.

15 British marine in Iran

I can't tell whether the captured soldiers were in Iranian waters or not. (Read cernig's intensive follow-up on the story). Even if they were captured in Iranian waters, Iran has shown that her territories are well protected and there is no need to hold the captured soldiers.

I have no doubt that they will be treated well, and that they will be given souvenirs when they leave Iran, but they should be released as soon as possible.

Fun Side of the Story
My wife said something funny: The Iranians captured the Britons because there was a female soldier in their boat that was not wearing head scarf while sailing in the Iranian waters.

Update
The following two articles talk about a part of the story that is never discussed in the mainstream media: How humane the captured marines were treated. Instead, it is told that showing their pictures on TV is against Geneva Convention, something that is only applicable to prisoners of war. Iranians that are starving to have some news about their captured diplomats, think that it is moral to show that these 15 marines are in good conditions. It actually relieved at least one of the families. Even this good intention is downplayed in the western media.

A Peculiar Outrage: The treatment of Faye Turney is wrong - but not in the same league as British and US abuses

Call that humiliation? No hoods. No electric shocks. No beatings. These Iranians clearly are a very uncivilised bunch

Engineering an Empire - The Persians

History Channel aired a very interesting program about history of Achaemenid empire last Monday. I found it on YouTube:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:

Forget about Iran's non-existent nuclear b0mb. Focus on their new Google B0mb.

Forget about Iranian's non-existent nuclear weapon. Focus on their new weapon:
(by LegoFish)
Iran's next G000gle b0mb is about to explode.

The first Iranian G000gle b0mb project was about the non-existent arabian gulf. It was organized by one of the Iranian bloggers, LegoFish. The project was a success. Try it by G00gling arabian gulf and looking at the first result. It is a spoof page saying that "The Gulf you are looking for does not exist. Try Persian Gulf." The b0mb was so strong, the BBC employees heard it.

His or her new project is about 300 the movie. Iranian bloggers link to a certain page that challenges the way the great Persian army was portrayed. The page provides historical evidence spiced with a little bit of fun and art. (link to LegoFish's post in Persian).

Thanks for doing this LegoFish. I wish you all the best. This is my contribution:

300 the movie

If you want to conribute, copy this into the html of your blog:

<a href="http://300themovie.info">300 the movie </a>

Ahmadinejad for Dummies

Frankly, I was not was sure whether to call this post "Ahmadinejad for Dummies" or "Ahmadinejad in 60 Minutes".

Anyways, Mike Wallace interviewed the Iranian President Ahmadinejad in CBS' "60 Minutes".

• part 1 (RealAudio video)
  
• part 2 (RealAudio video)
• part 3 (RealAudio video)

The interview is quite informative.

Update:
Since the above links are now broken, I am posting the updated links here:

• part 1 (RealAudio video)
  
• part 2 (RealAudio video)
• part 3 (RealAudio video)