Do You Believe In Iranian Magic?

It looks like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on his way out as Iran’s president. You know you’re in real trouble when they start arresting your staff for witchcraft.

Ahmadinejad allies charged with sorcery

Close allies of Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an increasingly bitter power struggle between him and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Several people said to be close to the president and his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent days and charged with being “magicians” and invoking djinns (spirits).

Ayandeh, an Iranian news website, described one of the arrested men, Abbas Ghaffari, as “a man with special skills in metaphysics and connections with the unknown worlds”.

See also:
Ahmadinejad Staffers Accused of Sorcery
Ahmadinejad’s Advisers Jailed for Practicing Witchcraft
Close aide to Ahmadinejad arrested
Ahmadinejad supporters arrested
In Iran, do they burn witches too?
Internal strife emerges as Tehran looks westward
Trouble at the top
Ahmadinejad in the Crosshairs
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to resign as Iranian president?
Breaking: Ahmadinejad to resign

The bizarre arrests seem to have something to do with the production and distribution of the Iranian end times documentary The Coming. Is Ahmadinejad being sacked for his fervent belief that the return of the 12th Imam is near? Will his ouster be a positive development for the West’s relations with Iran? Who knows?

/although, as long as Iran’s theocracy is still in power, I doubt it

Add Hornet’s Nest, Stir

So, do you think it’s a coincidence that all these Muslim countries suddenly descended into open street unrest all at once? Guess again, it’s a coordinated transnational effort by dedicated, hardcore Islamists to press for the Caliphate, destroy Israel, and defeat the West. As much as the West tries to downplay or ignore these recent developments, rest assured, Muslims worldwide are sitting up, paying attention, and drawing inspiration.

Iran: Riots sign of Islamic awakening

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says recent anti-government riots in Tunisia and Egypt are “a sign of the awakening of Islam inspired by the Islamic Revolution’s victory in Iran.”

In a sermon delivered Friday morning at a Tehran mosque, Khamenei said that “the Americans and Zionists are more concerned than anyone else about the situation in Egypt, but they are helpless and will not succeed in finding a remedy for the situation.”

He accused Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of “cooperating with the Zionists” and helping Israel impose its siege on the Gaza Strip.

. . .

The Iranian supreme leader said the events in Egypt would have far-reaching implication on the entire Middle East. “This is an earthquake, and if the Egyptian people carry on they will defeat the American policy in the region. The Zionist enemies are more concerned than anyone else, as they are aware of what might happen if Egypt cut off the alliance with them.”

See also:
Islamic Awakening has been Aroused among Muslims
Egyptians rising up against servitude to U.S.: Leader
Iran’s Khamenei praises Egyptian protesters, declares ‘Islamic awakening’
IRAN: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Egyptian uprising is an Islamic ‘awakening’
Waves of Islamic Awakening Sweep Across the Region
Arab uprisings sign of ‘Islamic awakening’: Khamenei
Tehran supports ‘justice-seeking’ Egypt protesters
Larijani Calls Tunisia, Egypt Uprisings an “Islamic Awakening”

Will Islam sweep the globe and establish a Caliphate in the next two weeks? No, but they’re off to a pretty good start in the last month, don’t you think? Remember, they have a much longer time horizon than we do, they live by incremental steps towards their goals.

You don’t think they’re serious or capable of achieving their goals? Remember, they’re already seriously affecting our transportation regime, have you tried to fly recently? Remember the 1979 Iran revolution, the Islamic regime on the brink of becoming a nuclear power today? We’re still paying in blood and national treasure for that one.

Islam has always had a long term plan for world domination and the establishment of a Caliphate and it’s as old as time, well at least as far back as the 7th century. Dar al-Harb (House of war) and Dar al-Islam (House of Islam).

You’ve been warned.

/continue to whistle past the graveyard or prepare to defend yourself and your way of life, your pick

It’s Starting To Look Like All Or Nothing In Iran

It appears that both sides are now painting themselves into two irreconcilable, mutually exclusive, opposite corners in this zero sum game for control of Iran, the country isn’t big enough for the both of them. There can only be one winner here.

Iran opposition leaders face threat of prosecution

Iran’s opposition leaders faced new threats Thursday with the state prosecutor warning they could be put on trial if they do not denounce this week’s anti-government protests – the worst unrest since the immediate aftermath of the disputed June election.

Police firing tear gas and wielding batons dispersed opposition supporters trying again Thursday to gather in two locations in central Tehran, said an opposition Web site called The Green Road. Police detained many of them, it said. The information could not be independently confirmed due to restrictions barring journalists from reporting on opposition activity in the streets.

The confrontation between Iran’s clerical rulers and their opponents has returned to the streets in recent weeks, after a harsh crackdown immediately following the election had all but put an end to demonstrations. Despite a continuing tough response from security forces, the opposition movement has regained some momentum.

Opposition Leader Strikes Back in Iran

Iran’s most prominent opposition leader launched a defiant broadside at the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday, striking back after two days of heavy criticism by supporters of the regime.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the former presidential candidate who has become the opposition movement’s de facto leader, criticized a harsh government crackdown on protesters Sunday, and said he was willing to die in the fight to allow the Iranian people to express their religious and civic rights.

Mr. Mousavi, in his Internet posting Friday, said he “has no fear of becoming one of the martyrs” for the cause, and he challenged regime officials who have threatened to prosecute him and other leaders of the opposition.

The statement comes after two days of outpourings by government supporters against the opposition and Mr. Mousavi personally. On Wednesday, tens of thousands of regime backers demonstrated, sometimes raucously, in solidarity with Mr. Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. During some rallies, government supporters chanted against Mr. Mousavi and his opposition partner, Mahdi Karroubi, another unsuccessful candidate in the June 12 presidential elections, calling for Mr. Mousavi’s death and the execution of protesters.

On Thursday, Iran’s state prosecutor warned that opposition leaders could face charges if they didn’t renounced recent protests.

On Friday, Iran’s deputy head of the judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, called pro-opposition protesters enemies of God, or mohareb in Farsi, a crime punishable by death under Iranian law, according to the Associated Press.

See also:
Iran prosecutor threatens opposition with trials
Repent or else’ … Iran vows to crush protesters
Iran opposition leaders face threat of prosecution
Iran: Legal prosecution against the opposition leaders
Standoff in Iran Deepens With New Show of Force
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Dissent
Iran steps up crackdown on Opp after violent protests
Iranian authorities demand halt to protests
Iran Arrests Dissidents, Sites Report
Iran arrests hundreds of dissidents
Iranian regime rounds up relatives of opposition leaders in bid to stop protests
Trial over people arrested in Iran on Ashura Day to be held on Sunday
Divided Iran enters 2010 after a year of deadly protests
Mousavi supporters say Iran ordered murder of his nephew
Opposition leader Mousavi denounces Iran’s crackdown
Mousavi “ready to die” but green wave calls for Khamenei’s end
Mousavi: Not afraid to be a martyr
World Digest: Iranian opposition leader Mousavi ‘not afraid’ to die
Mousavi Anticipates His Own Death, Ctd
Mousavi arrest would have ‘catastrophic consequences’: dissident
Late cleric’s son warns of more Iran turmoil: report
New revolution challenges old

This is the best opportunity for a regime change in Iran that the West is ever going to get. While I agree that direct intervention would be the wrong course of action, the United States and the rest of the West need to do something to take advantage of this situation, we just can’t remain neutral and sit idly by.

/at a bare minimum, if Obama hasn’t authorized our intelligence community to provide the Iranian opposition with secure communication equipment and suitcases full of cash, he’s committing Presidential malpractice

Hoping For The Worst

Is it true this time? Who knows, we can only hope.

Iran awash with rumors of Supreme Leader Khamenei’s death

Iran’s blogosphere has been awash with rumors since Monday that the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has died.

The rumors, spread on the micro-blogging Web site Twitter and other sites across the country, have been given credence by claims that security forces have surrounded Khamenei’s home in Tehran, and that only the leader’s sons are allowed access to him.

There has, however, been no formal confirmation of the reports or any reference to them in Iran’s main news outlets.

The rumors were cited on a number of relatively prominent blogs in the United States on Wednesday.

See also:
Khamenei in Coma?
Khamenei Said to be in Coma
Rumors say Ayatollah Khamenei in coma
Iran: Blogs Stirring, “Ayatollah Khamenei Is In Coma”
Is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Dead or in a Coma?
Ayatollah Khamenei In Coma Or Dead, Rumors Say
Is Khamenei Dead?
Khamenei: Dead or Alive?
Ayatollah Khamenei dead? How rumours start
If Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei dies, then what?
Iran rejects reports Khamenei is dead
Iranian website: No truth to rumors that Khamenei is in a coma

You know, if this turns out to be true, the ensuing power vacuum and struggle for succession would present an excellent opportunity for U.S. and other Western intelligence services to exploit the situation and bolster the more Western friendly Iranian opposition.

/it would be a good turn of events for U.S. and Western national security interests, not to mention good for the freedom of the Iranian people as well, a win win scenario