“Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread skepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran , the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran ’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.

“Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready,” the official said.

The Jerusalem Post of July 13, 2008 reported:

“On Friday, sources in the Iraqi Defense Ministry told a local news network that IAF war planes were practicing in Iraqi airspace were landing on US airbases in the country as a preparation for a potential strike on Iran .”

Once again the most powerful forces of US corporate power – the military-industrial-petroleum complex -are using Israel as their proxy to threaten war on surrounding countries in the region.  Israel is armed, financed, and politically and diplomatically supported by Washington . It can not act on its own or without explicit permission from Washington .  U.S. tax dollars finance Israel wars against surrounding nations, and Israeli repression of the Palestinians, to keep the area “safe” for U.S. oil companies.

This is why it is vital to link the struggle against the war in Iraq and a potential war against Iran with the struggle of the Palestinian people for the right to return.

At the same time Washington is giving the Israeli military a go-ahead to bomb Iran , the U.S. Congress is moving ahead to escalate tensions in the region and possibly provoke an incident that would justify U.S. military action.  House Resolution 362 and Senate Resolution 580 both require that the President begin blockade of Iran . 

The House Resolution “demands” that the President impose “stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran .”  Enforcing this would require a U.S. Naval blockade of the Straits of Hormuz, which is an act of war according to international law.  Approximately one-fourth of the world’s oil, including that from Iran , Iraq , Saudi Arabia , Kuwait , Qatar and Bahrain , pass through the Straits of Hormuz, which is 21 miles across at its narrowest point (the shipping channel is less than 2 miles wide).

These two resolutions have received widespread bipartisan support from members of both Houses, and are expected to pass without debate or vote.  A staffer in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said that once the Resolution hits the floor, it will “pass like a hot knife through butter.”   Some have speculated that the bill will be put on the floor under suspension — meaning that it will pass without even a vote.

Both resolutions accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons, despite the fact that Washington ’s National Intelligence Estimate report last December that made it clear that every major U.S. intelligence agency believes that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program. 

Nor do the resolutions refer to the real nuclear threat in the region – the U.S. , which is the only country that has used nuclear weapons and currently has a massive nuclear-armed naval armada in the region.  It also does not mention the apartheid settler state of Israel , which is thought to have more than 200 nuclear weapons.

At the same time, two leading Senators announced on Tuesday, July 15, that they had reached a bipartisan agreement to expand economic sanctions targeting Iran .  Sens. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., called Iran “a threat to U.S. interests.”  Dodd, a former candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, said, “This bipartisan bill strengthens economic sanctions against Iran , and authorizes divestment from companies that do business with Iran ’s key oil sector.” 

Meanwhile, the U.S. is involved in “covert operations” – acts of terrorism – inside Iran .  In the July 7 New Yorker, Seymour Hersh revealed that Congress has approved $400 million to fund covert operations in Iran .  These operations include: providing support to armed groups opposed to the Iranian government, kidnapping members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and taking them across the border to Iraq for interrogation, the manipulation of Iran ’s currency, and other acts intended to destabilize the regime.  Hersh reports that these types of operations have been ongoing at least since last year, but the recent Congressional appropriation signals a significant expansion of these actions.

It is clear that the Bush Administration is determined to push forward with its agenda of endless war to control the oil reserves of the Middle East . It is equally clear that members of Congress – both Democrats and Republicans – are collaborating with the Administration, just as they collaborated in authorizing and funding the invasion and occupation of Iraq . 

It is imperative that progressive activists and organizations, particularly in the U.S. , mobilize to stop another brutal war, and to demand an end to the illegal sanctions and covert operations targeting Iran . 

Stop War on Iran , an international grassroots campaign, issued an Emergency Call to for protests, marches, and other actions on the weekend of August 2.  Response to the call has been enthusiastic, and local organizers are planning events in more than 50 cities, including Los Angeles, Tucson , San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Jersey City, Albuquerque, Buffalo, New York City , Charlotte , Raleigh/Durham, Cleveland , Oklahoma City, Philadelphia , Houston, Salt Lake City , Virginia Beach, Washington DC , and more – an updated list is available at www.StopWarOnIran.org.

Now is the time to take to the streets, because only a massive grassroots mobilization can stop another bloody and illegal war.  

In the next few days and weeks, we need to do everything we can to take to the streets to Stop a War on Iran.  We have a real opportunity to help build a massive grassroots movement to oppose the warmongers in Washington.

Also, please sign the online petition at http://stopwaroniran.org/petition.shtml and help us spread the word.  Signing the petition will send messages to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, the Board of Directors of Halliburton, and the media.

In the next few days, we will be preparing placards and banners, printing leaflets and educational materials, and holding organizing meetings to prepare for the August 2 protests.  Please consider making a donation at http://stopwaroniran.org/donate.shtml to help us with the enormous expenses of mobilizing a national response to Bush’s war threats.

Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask to speak with your member of Congress.

Feel free to use these talking points during your call:

1. H.Con.Res. 362 is a call for war. Section 3 calls on the President to prohibit “the export to Iran of all refined petroleum products and “demands” that the president impose “stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran.” To do this, the United States would have to impose a naval blockade- which is universally recognized under international law as an act of war. Passage of this resolution would signal to the world that the US would rather resort to war than invest in diplomacy.

2. By blocking all traffic entering or departing Iran, Congress is targeting the people of Iran, not the government. Sanctioning Iran’s refined petroleum imports lets the Iranian government off the hook for its own corruption and economic mismanagement. Tehran maintains its costly gasoline subsidies because it feels the Iranian people would not tolerate higher prices. This resolution would give the government of Iran the window it needs to raise the price of gas and put the blame on the United States.

Click here for a special video message from Dennis.

Happy Independence Day - Let’s put the
Constitution back on the table!

“As we once again celebrate our Independence as a nation, let us celebrate freedom from fear and pledge that government ‘of the people’ will survive in this land that we love.”
- Congressman Dennis Kucinich

Some Democratic Leaders say Impeachment is off the table.

So, let’s set a new table for our nation, upon which we place the Constitution and where we demand that all those who have taken an oath to defend it … keep their promise and protect our nation from the threat within.

Please go to kucinich.us now and sign the petition, which calls for impeachment. This is the one petition that will make a difference because I will be personally delivering it to your member of congress. Please circulate word of this petition far and wide, to all your friends and family. This is the one opportunity that we have right now to actually change events in this country.

Two hundred and thirty-two years ago, our nation was conceived in liberty. We have once again reached a moment of truth, one that Lincoln recognized at Gettysburg as to whether “this nation or any nation so conceived or so dedicated can long endure.”

Through the ashes of the civil war, Lincoln prayed that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom … and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

This Fourth of July, 2008, we face a different kind of war; one which is trying our souls … a war based on lies. But with the power of truth and the power of the people we can achieve a new birth of freedom, standing up for what is good in America, insisting on the rule of law, demanding adherence to the Constitution, and supporting the impeachment of a President who lied to take us into a war against Iraq.

Be the answer to Lincoln’s Prayer. Please pledge your support now to restoring the rule of law in America. As we once again celebrate Independence Day, let us celebrate freedom from fear and pledge that this government of the people will survive in this land that we love.

Please go to kucinich.us now. This is your opportunity to make a difference; truly celebrate Independence Day.

Thank you and Happy 4th of July.

Dennis Kucinich

Read More… 

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei says he will step down if major powers launch a military strike against Iran over its nuclear program.

According to Al Ahram, in an interview with Al Arabiya television, the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General, said, “A military invasion against Iran would pose great danger to the Middle East and the world,” Mehrnews agency reported.

Earlier this month, in his latest IAEA report over Iran’s nuclear program, ElBaradei certified the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in the country’s nuclear activities.

“Iran has provided the Agency with access to declared nuclear material and has provided the required nuclear material accountancy reports in connection with declared nuclear material and activities,” the report read.

The report of ElBaradei’s resignation comes amid widespread speculation that US President George W. Bush is drawing up secret plans with the help of Israel to launch a military strike on Iran before the end of his term in office.

With their blatant disregard for international reports conceding the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities, world powers have ramped up their rhetoric against the Islamic Republic, accusing the country of running a covert nuclear weapons program.

Iran has repeatedly asserted that as a signatory to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it is entitled to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, adding that the country does not seek nuclear bombs as such weapons have no place in its defense doctrine.

Tehran is a very big and extremely busy city, by any definition cosmopolitan and with great potential, and in such a place what is most missing for those who are the more well-traveled is a variety of good restaurants. We were delighted to learn that a new restaurant was opening and we went there on its opening night last week.

The restaurant is in a great location, on the corner of Kamranieh Street and Farmanieh Street in the north of Tehran, on the first floor of the Koohenoor shopping centre building.  It is a charming restaurant, exquisitely decorated.  The chairs are most comfortable and there is a variety of seating arrangements.  The staff were attentive, polite and friendly.

There is a mezzanine floor upstairs which we thought would be fantastic for birthday parties or small business events.  Touch is a new venture by three great guys Human Karimi, Makan Meshkati and Dr Hamid Ehtesham, who are also behind the Lounge restaurant and the Food Connection.

We were very impressed with the lovely cocktail drinks that they served, and as they had taken the trouble to serve them in cocktail glasses somehow it felt like the real thing. The food, as we expected, was excellent.  First we were served a lovely tomato and basil soup, followed by a wonderfully tasty salad course, with fresh vegetables wrapped in rice paper.  This was followed by a main choice of either fish with tamarind and ginger, served with wild rice, or a deliciously tasty marinated steak - we ordered one of each and shared (as always).  They were both well presented and excellently cooked - the fish was most divine.

The last course, of watermelon baby cuts, cherries and apricots, served with a chocolate sauce, was most welcomed by our young nephews who were there with their mum Tina, herself the queen of cakes and desserts in Tehran.

We found the opening well organized except that some of the invited guests did not turn up on time or at all. The restaurant is decorated wonderfully yet due to space there are no toilets there and the public ones two floors down are just not acceptable for such a chic restaurant.  We hope the managers will find a solution soon.

We learnt that from next week us that they will be serving breakfast with three options and next month they will start serving brunches on Thursdays and Fridays.  I am sure that it will be prove to be very popular and successful.

Touch: 12 Koohenoor Shopping Center, Kamranieh Avenue, Tehran.

021 22832258,  021 22832268

We were recently talking to some friends about good restaurants in Tehran.  They introduced us to a new place called The Lounge.  Last week, our two godsons, Pouya and Nima had birthdays very close to each other and although we had a small party for them, they invited us to experience this restaurant.

This is a cozy little place near Niavaran, even though it is not on the main street and is not easy to find, once you get there it is worth the effort.   First of all you are delighted with some lovely

flower tubs just outside and a doorman who also helps with the parking with a broad smile and good manners.  The restaurant is long and narrow.  It is well decorated and practical, despite its narrowness.

The menu is a delight just to look at and is very well presented.  The food is good and beautifully decorated.  There is a good variety for all different tastes.  In the introduction on their menu it says that the idea behind the Lounge is to have foods and tastes from different countries served in a modern ambiance.

They use many herbs and species and they try to make an unusual marriage between different ingredients by using them in an untraditional way.   These are very demanding goals, and I must admit that some of them have been achieved.  They have a special house drink that I suggest you try it first as it does not agree with all tastes.  The service was medium since only one of the three who were there to help seemed to do their job, which meant that one was rather rushed.

The restaurant was opened about 18 months ago by two cousins who lived in Denmark. One of them moved to Iran permanently and the other lives with her family back in Copenhagen and comes and goes as often as she can.  When we went there the first time she was there and we chatted a bit about the restaurant.  She told me that they do a lot of catering for parties as well.  The second time we met Homan the owner-manager and he also told us about the brunches that they have from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and we promised ourselves there and then that we shall try it soon, as we love the idea of brunches anywhere.  We were given a very elegant, beautifully designed brochure advertising their cookery courses.

In my opinion the whole idea behind the Lounge pleases young people more, may be it is the size, the shape or design.  But it is for sure a good place to visit and to take your guests or treat yourself and the family once in a while.

We give good marks for food presentation and taste, above average for service, pretty good marks for ambience and quality, and over all we give them 7 out of ten.

We have a few pictures for you to get a feel of it.  Bon appetit!

The Lounge, 17 Erfani Alley, Mojdeh Street, Niavaran Avenue, Tehran.

Telephone 22715953