Iran Enters Age of Model Rocketry

For anyone who, as a kid, enjoyed launching Estes model rockets, the latest show from Iran looks like fun. Iranian rocketeers sent a 10-foot missile carrying a rat, two turtles and a can of worms into the sky. However, no one seems to know anything about its payload following the launch. The Iranians claim it was shot into orbit. But that is comical. A 10-foot solid-fuel rocket cannot put a payload into orbit. In fact, it is unlikely the rocket is capable of sending its capsule out of Iran. Forget leaving the atmosphere.

But that's how it goes for muslims. Like Baghdad Bob during the US invasion of Iraq. He manned his radio broadcasting booth, ranting as though the War of the Worlds was underway and Iraq was destroying the invaders. His performance was inspired. A Wizard of Oz showing. But there was nothing unusual about it in the muslim world. That same form of fictional reporting occurs in Palestinian regions of the West Bank every day. Muslims seem to believe every word they hear, that they are under attack by Israeli forces even when they can look out their windows and see a tranquil landscape.

Iran Unveils New Satellite Capabilities on Eve of Revolution

DUBAI—Iran test-fired a new satellite rocket and unveiled a series of what it said were home-grown advances in a space program that has worried Western officials because of possible cross-over applications in the country's weapons program.

In addition to the test-firing, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled on Wednesday three new telecommunications satellites and a new satellite-carrier engine, according to state media.

The test firing comes as the Islamic Republic celebrates its 31st anniversary. Commemorations began earlier this week and culminate on Feb. 11, the day in 1979 that the shah's forces capitulated during the Iranian revolution. During the same commemoration period last year, Iran launched its first domestically made and propelled satellite.

Tehran has long said its space program, like its nuclear program, is aimed at peaceful purposes. Wednesday's rocket carried a capsule of living organisms—a rat, two turtles and worms—into space for experimentation, the state-run English-language Press TV reported.

Iranian claims of technological advances, especially in weapons development, are often viewed skeptically by outside analysts.

Still, the test-firing could raise fresh alarms about Iran's weapons development. Many of the same technologies used in satellite development can be applicable to missile-delivery systems.

The satellite announcement comes a day after Mr. Ahmadinejad surprised many Western observers by suggesting in a televised interview late Tuesday that Tehran no longer objected to a long-stalled nuclear-fuel deal at the heart of current efforts by Western capitals to rein in the country's nuclear ambitions.

Iran Is Ready for Nuclear Deal, Leader Says

Washington is pushing for fresh economic sanctions against Iran after being frustrated by Tehran's response to the draft deal, hammered out between Iran, Western powers and the International Atomic Energy Agency last year. The deal calls for Iran to ship out the bulk of its low-enriched uranium, to be refined overseas and then returned for use in a medical-research reactor. Western officials see the deal as a way of delaying any Iranian effort to develop a nuclear weapon.

After Iranian negotiators agreed to the proposed deal, several Tehran officials spent months criticizing it, and appeared to rule out the deal in its current form in December. But Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments late Tuesday night suggested Tehran's position has changed once again. U.S. officials remain wary, saying that if Iran has agreed to the deal, Tehran should officially notify the IAEA.

Mr. Ahmadinejad's satellite announcement comes after U.S. defense officials disclosed this weekend American efforts to bolster defensive capabilities among its Arab allies in the Persian Gulf. It also comes as opposition protesters gird for planned demonstrations on Feb. 11.

Opposition leaders have used state-sanctioned holidays as cover for their antigovernment protests, which first erupted after disputed June 12 presidential elections.

Both sides—the government and the opposition—have hardened their rhetoric recently ahead of Feb. 11. The government has vowed a harsh crackdown and swift justice to demonstrators who turn out. Similar threats, however, failed to deter large-scale protests on Dec. 27, a holy day in Shiite Islam, which saw some of the worst violence since the summer.

Obama -- Even Muslim Nuts have Nuke Rights

Obama, speaking of democracy, is quoted as saying "there is a danger when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture."

Someone needs to remind him that we imposed -- in the most violent and punitive way -- on Japan and Germany with stunning success.

Meanwhile, in his usual conciliatory and appeasing manner, he said Iran has as much time as it wants before admitting it wants nuclear power for bombs rather than electricity production.

How about this: We send inspectors to Iran today to see for ourselves? Is there any reason to believe the Iranian leadership when Ahmadinejad has already threatened to destroy Israel with the nuclear weapons he says Iran is not planning to build?

Based on the following article, Obama is becoming a great ally to muslim terrorists


Obama says Iran's energy concerns legitimate

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 9:24 AM

LONDON -- President Barack Obama suggested that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it proves by the end of the year that its aspirations are peaceful.

In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, he also restated plans to pursue direct diplomacy with Tehran to encourage it set aside any ambitions for nuclear weapons it might harbor.

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. But the U.S. and other Western governments accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons.

"What I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations," Obama said, adding that the international community also "has a very real interest" in preventing a nuclear arms race.

The president has indicated a willingness to seek deeper international sanctions against Tehran if it does not respond positively to U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama has said Tehran has until the end of the year to show it wants to engage with Washington.

"Although I don't want to put artificial time tables on that process, we do want to make sure that, by the end of this year, we've actually seen a serious process move forward. And I think that we can measure whether or not the Iranians are serious," Obama said.

Obama's interview offered a preview of a speech he is to deliver in Egypt this week, saying he hoped the address would warm relations between Americans and Muslims abroad.

"What we want to do is open a dialogue," Obama told the BBC. "You know, there are misapprehensions about the West, on the part of the Muslim world. And, obviously, there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West."

Obama leaves in the evening on a trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia aimed at reaching out to the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. He is due to make his speech in Cairo on Thursday.

Obama sounded an optimistic note about making progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although he offered no new ideas for how he might try to secure a freeze on new building of Israeli settlements. The United States has called for a freeze, but Israeli leaders have rejected that.

Asked what he would say during his visit about human rights abuses, including the detention of political prisoners in Egypt, Obama indicated no stern lecture would be forthcoming.

He said he hoped to deliver the message that democratic values are principles that "they can embrace and affirm."

Obama added that there is a danger "when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture."