Iran Parliament: "Death to America!"

[DC09]

TEHRAN, Iran - To shouts of "Death to America," Iran's parliament unanimously approved the outline of a bill Sunday that would require the government to resume uranium enrichment, legislation likely to deepen an international dispute over Iran's nuclear activities.

Still, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian told The Associated Press there was a 50 percent chance of a nuclear compromise with European nations.

He ruled out an indefinite suspension of key enrichment activities — a concession that European negotiators have sought — but suggested Iran would consider calling a halt to building more nuclear facilities.

The talks with the Europeans aim at averting a standoff over Iran's nuclear weapons program at a Nov. 25 meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

The Europeans have offered to provide nuclear fuel and technology if Tehran reins in its ambitions to develop its own fuel — by creating enrichment facilities that can be used for peaceful purposes or for creating weapons.

Some lawmakers broke out with shouts of "Death to America!" after the conservative-dominated parliament after lawmakers voted to advance the nation's nuclear program, an issue of national pride that provides a rare point of agreement between conservatives and reformers.

Full Article

[Independent1]

Some lawmakers broke out with shouts of "Death to America!" after the conservative-dominated parliament after lawmakers voted to advance the nation's nuclear program, an issue of national pride that provides a rare point of agreement between conservatives and reformers.

Full Article

333315[/snapback]

Iran isn't a htreat to us. Neither was Hussien, who also wanted "Death to America."

[ROGER]

And as an American citizen I respond to the Iranian Paliament thus:

YOU FIRST!

Forward with my complements

[Babs]

Oh great_ "Death to America". ...Ah huh.

Edited November 1, 2004 by Babs

[Babs]

Hey, Iran, you're just buckin' for it. Golly, who's next on the axis of evil trail?

Edited November 1, 2004 by Babs

[riotboy555]

Iran is part two in the war on terror. USA! USA! USA!

[Fluffybunny]

Geez, if we can hurry up in Iraq we can just go for a quick drive to the north-eastand start all over again...

[Babs]

Geez, if we can hurry up in Iraq we can just go for a quick drive to the north-eastand start all over again...

333679[/snapback]

Iran is part two in the war on terror. USA! USA! USA!

333661[/snapback]

USA! USA! USA!

[alis]

Some lawmakers broke out with shouts of "Death to America!"

Iran is part two in the war on terror.  USA! USA! USA!

please, and you really think Iran will attack America , thats like wanting to believe WMD still might be found in iraq. it will never happen, they will however defend themselves if attacked. it is a large country. like zephyr said, i dont think the US will be moving across the border in a hurry given their current situation, even if the Bush cabinet are rather partial to a war or three, and i doubt Iran fancies a war any time soon either, it has clear memories from fighting saddam on its land

[Independent1]

Some lawmakers broke out with shouts of "Death to America!"

Iran is part two in the war on terror.  USA! USA! USA!

please, and you really think Iran will attack America , thats like wanting to believe WMD still might be found in iraq. it will never happen, they will however defend themselves if attacked. it is a large country. like zephyr said, i dont think the US will be moving across the border in a hurry given their current situation, even if the Bush cabinet are rather partial to a war or three, and i doubt Iran fancies a war any time soon either, it has clear memories from fighting saddam on its land

333682[/snapback]

They won't attack America. Instead, they will continue to harbor terrorist who aim to attack America. There is a large suspicion that they harbor Al Queda terrorists, including UBL's son. They also harbor Hamas, who has declared war on us (and who I believe will be responsible for the next attack on our soil). They harbor Hezzbollah. They harbor a lot of other terrorists. And now they want to build nukes, so they can give those nukes to these terrorists, who may use the nukes to attack America.

[Erikl]

Fluffy, Iran won't be anything like Iraq, for number of reasons:

A. there is a huge oposition to the Ayatolya regime among Iranian students. Infact, as we speak, there is another revolt against the regime. The problem is that these revolts aren't effective enough.

B. The Iraqi people see American invasion as part of it's anti-Arab policy, which makes it possible for so many Sunni Arabs to come into Iraq from neighboring countries. Iran is hated in the Arab world and the Iranian people dislikes Arabs in general.

C. the Iranian youth is very western, largely thanks to Israeli radio, run by Israeli Jewish Iranians, which bombards Iranian population with western ideas. This radio station is very similiar to the "Free Europe" radio of the cold war.

For all those reasons, American invasion won't be seen by the local population in the same way the local Iraqis saw it. Infact, it will probably be seen by the revolting youth as a liberating operation, similiar to how the American revolutioners saw the French when they came to their help against the British.

Edited November 1, 2004 by Erikl

[Erikl]

For example, here is an article published a year ago on an Israeli newspaper:

Israel Defense Minister Converses with Radio Listeners in... Iran

DEBKAfile Special Report

December 17, 2003, 5:57 PM (GMT+02:00)

This week, Israel’s Iranian-born defense minister Shaul Mofaz made the unique gesture of answering questions from listeners in Iran – in their own language - in a live broadcast over Israel Radio’s Farsi-language service.

The questions came thick and fast.

In answer to one, he promised everything would be done to protect the environment against radioactive fallout should Israeli forces destroy Iran’s nuclear capability.

Shaul Mofaz was only six when his family emigrated from Iran to Israel. His knowledge of Farsi is rudimentary at best. But that didn’t stop the Israeli defense chief from getting his message across to a stream of callers from the Islamic Republic who appealed to him for help on Israel Radio’s Farsi service this week.

One caller from a city in central Iran asked when Israel and the Jews would finally repay their historical debt to Cyrus the Great and rescue the Iranian people from the dread ayatollahs, just as US President George W. Bush had helped the people of Iraq and Afghanistan throw off their oppressors.

(It was in 538 BC that Cyrus, king of Persia, fulfilling the word of God as spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah, issued a proclamation allowing the Jews to return to Zion from their exile in Babylon and rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem.)

Mofaz, admitting he was not in the miracle business, wished the Iranian people success in their struggle for freedom. But then a stream of callers pleaded for Israel to intervene to help overthrow the Islamic regime. The defense minister replied it was up to the Iranian people to determine its fate. But he also mentioned the United States role in the region and said the Americans still had much work to do after prevailing in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran and Syria were still there as key elements of Bush’s axis of evil.

This reply brought forth a chorus of listeners who wanted to persuade the Israeli minister that the Teheran regime was more of a danger to the region and the world than Saddam Hussein had ever been.

Mofaz gently parried these demands. He also refrained from answering a listener, apparently calling from the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, who wanted a rundown of Israel’s attitude on the Kurdish question and Iraq’s future.

Many of the questions focused on Iran’s nuclear weapons program. One caller wanted to know how Israel would respond to Iran’s efforts to build an atomic bomb or stage a nuclear attack. Mofaz said that, should it became necessary to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities, Israel would take steps to ensure the safety of Iranian civilians.

Some callers asked for a response to the Iranian defense minister Hossein Dehghan’s statement on Sunday, December 14, that Iran had no choice but to develop increasingly powerful weapons to overcome the technological threats posed by its strongest enemies, the United States and Israel. Mofaz denied any threat. The Jewish state had no offensive intentions towards Iran; nor did it nurture any hostility toward the Iranian people. In the past, Iran and the Jewish states had enjoyed warm and productive relations. But if Israel came under attack, he emphasized, it would defend itself with all the measures it deemed necessary.

A woman caller, a Muslim, then recalled tearfully the disappearance eight years ago of the son of Jewish neighbors who had never been heard of since being caught in flight across the border with Pakistan. In the last decade, 12 Iranian Jews have been caught fleeing by way of Pakistan and never seen again.

Mofaz reiterated Israel’s commitment to protect Jews all over the world. He promised to investigate these cases and see what could be done to help.

At the end of the 50-minute program, Mofaz said he would never have imagined the depth of sympathy for Israel entertained by ordinary Iranians - in sharp contrast to the violence and hate emitting from the rulers of the Islamic Republic. The gap between regime and people was dramatic. A lot of this sympathy is born of the Iranian people’s historic resentment of their Islamic rulers and the Arabs, who invaded their country 1,400 years ago, destroyed Iranian culture and forced the populace to embrace Islam.

Israel Radio’s Farsi service has become a byword among a wide audience in Iran. Just last week, an Iranian legislator who voiced sharp criticism in parliament of the Iranian government was asked sarcastically whether he was not Menashe Amir, director of Israel Radio’s Farsi service, in disguise.

Mofaz’s warm dialogue with ordinary Iranians occurred in the same week as harsh comments from Iran’s supreme leader and strongman, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the capture of Saddam Hussein last Saturday December 12. The ayatollah voiced the wish that “Bush and Sharon” share the same inglorious fate suffered by the former Iraqi dictator. Cynically parroting the words of President George Bush about Saddam, Khamenei thundered, “The world would be a better place without them.”

Tehran’s hostility is not confined to belligerent language.

DEBKAfile’s military sources reported on December 15 that Russia has sold Iran advanced 300-A air defense missile systems – over Washington’s objections - to defend its controversial nuclear reactor in the southern town of Bushehr. Their deployment was discovered by chance Sunday, when two of the missiles while being installed flew out of control. One hit a minibus, killing two bus passengers and injuring 20; the second caused heavy damage to town buildings – far more extensive than admitted by Tehran. The official Iranian news agency IRNA, reporting on the incident, said a self-targeting weapon – which it did not identify -- failed to trigger its auto-destruct mechanism and slammed into the minibus.

The diplomatic fallout from this discovery will be considerable.

Israel too is watching Iran’s constant weapons upgrades with a wary eye.

On Tuesday, December 16, Israeli Shin Beit director Avi Dichter, in a rare public appearance, named Iran as the world’s No. 1 terror state and Israel’s most dangerous security threat. Tehran, he said, targets both Israel and Jews everywhere. He cited Tehran’s hand behind the 1994 bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish community in which 85 died and more than 200 were wounded. Dichter accused the Iranians of continually hatching trouble right up to the present. Beyond backing, financing and arming the virulently anti-Israel Lebanese Shiite terror group, the Hizballah, Tehran has marked out Israel’s Arab citizens for exploitation as a potential fifth column. He described Iranian agents are actively recruiting hirelings in the Arab community.

[Scorpius]

Iran will probably end up making some hidden WMD, and will end up claiming that Al Queda stole it, when in reality they made the Nuclear Site a little too vulnerable for robbery... That may just be my imagination or is it

Hold the Patriotism. When you finally lose a child in war, or a child who realizes that this "war on terrorism" has no true purpose, then you'll understand that it was all in vain. Watch Farhenheit 9/11 the part about the mother losing her child.

It isn't good seeing an innocent child with torn muscles from his arm and his forearm bones completely visible. Imagine him as your child, your flesh and blood.

For those who believe war is everything, you just don't know.

I'm only 17 and there are adults who haven't seemed to have matured yet.

Depressing isn't it.

[girty1600]

Of course Iran's vocal minority will scream, "death to America". Did anyone expect anything less? Iran is scared; the men in power are in great jeopardy of loosing the control over their women. The burkas are starting to come off and people, including women, for the first time, are starting to speak out. This is a whole new world for some of these people for they have lived in squaller all their lives. Now they have a chance..a chance to speak out against tyranny for themselves as individuals. In the hopes that a nation will come to their aid before ending up in a mass grave with others that have opposed their government in the past, these people do cry out! They cry that they need help. Ladies: imagine what your life would be like if you were not allowed to pick your child up from school or show your face in public for fear of a stoning. Females in Iran are denied basic human rights every day because the men in power interpreted the Koran in a way that these are the laws, and do

still do today. The Koran was not written for any walk of people to be oppressed. It is the bible, just presented in a different way.

If you are thinking of going to a protest march as an opposition to the US's occupation of the middle east, please think farther. War is Hell but sometimes peace is worse. I thank God every day that I was no born a second-class citizen in iran for, I would have surely been killed for my beliefs that oppression is wrong.

Oh and BTW, the US does not need oil contracts from the middle east. The US has enough oil in the Alaskan receives alone to power the whole country for 160 years.

Iran might think it best to cool down a bit, you never know what pres. Bush will do

Edited November 1, 2004 by girty1600

[wunarmdscissor]

So your tellin me that there aint millions of stupid americans (as their are millions of stupid people in every country inc. Iran) shouting the very same thing at their tv's about Iran?????? As well as plenty of congressman who are saying the very same thing.

Your president has even said as much lol...

How do u expect them to react??????????????????????????????

HAve you people lost touch with reality?

When you start wildly naming entire country's as being part of an "axis of evil" how would you expect them to react, let alone re-start their nuclear ambitions ???lol???

This act was just posturing before the next round of talks with europe any way.

There is no timeline when they will restart their nuclear programme , but of course you conveniently missed that out of the article. as the article is meant to help scare americans into backing the next illegal war we embark on.

[zephyr]

I think some people here would easily qualify to be a parliamentarian in Iran certain line of thinking never ceases to amaze me because of its universality, eventhough I have my ears full of it

As for the invasion of Iran, only the ignorant dream of that! The people in charge know very well about the impossibility of such enterprise. That's why they dont make a fool of themselves by talking about it As I said before, I dont think the person who would want to invade Iran has been born yet

And girty1600; you've got some facts mixed up about women showing their faces or picking up their kids and getting stoned! Well, some of them do get stoned but not in the way you think

[Erikl]

Wun, are you serious?

Iran is a theocracy, and when Bush calls them part of the axis of evil, he isn't calling the entire Iranian people evil, because the Iranians in large have no freedom of speech, and have no say in their govenment actions.

God, it strikes me how people in democracies forget that only a minority of this world is a democracy, and half of those living under democracies are citizens of one country (India).

On the other hand, one shouldn't be surprised from those parliament members - any single one of them is qualified to be an Al-Qaeda member (or the Shiite equivelant of that - Hezbollah).

Those are not rational people. Those are the same type of people like Yasin, Bin Laden and Nassrallah.

And people who live under democracies (ie - wun and others) should stop seeing this government in the same light they view their own.

No comprasion is possible here.

[wunarmdscissor]

And erikl if you heard your country being called part of an axis of evil , you wouldnt take it personally???

[girty1600]

Wun, are you serious?

Iran is a theocracy, and when Bush calls them part of the axis of evil, he isn't calling the entire Iranian people evil, because the Iranians in large have no freedom of speech, and have no say in their govenment actions.

God, it strikes me how people in democracies forget that only a minority of this world is a democracy, and half of those living under democracies are citizens of one country (India).

On the other hand, one shouldn't be surprised from those parliament members - any single one of them is qualified to be an Al-Qaeda member (or the Shiite equivelant of that - Hezbollah).

Those are not rational people. Those are the same type of people like Yasin, Bin Laden and Nassrallah.

And people who live under democracies (ie - wun and others) should stop seeing this government in the same light they view their own.

No comprasion is possible here.

334607[/snapback]

Touche!

Just remember that give me your tired, your poor, should not extend to to terrorists. I live in a country that welcomes pretty much everyone, or at least did until some jerk told a couple of people to fly airplanes into the WTC and kill 3,000 people, and we have all walks of life here and deal with it every day. I do not hate anyone. I even let cuban refugees live in my house for 2 weeks while they located their families. I don't blame a group for what happened, you can scream "death to America" all ya want but, in the end, whoever is left will still stand.

Stand we will.

Edit-seperated reply from quote, merged double post. none of the content of this post has been altered. -UA

Edited November 2, 2004 by UniversalAbsurdity

[twpdyp]

Hold the Patriotism. When you finally lose a child in war, or a child who realizes that this "war on terrorism" has no true purpose, then you'll understand that it was all in vain. Watch Farhenheit 9/11 the part about the mother losing her child.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Michael Moore is not even a United States citizen correct. Now before someone begins by telling me he has rights. Michael Moore is about as factual as Oliver Stone. He takes about as much artistic license as is allowed and still call his "work" documentary. I for one would rejoice the day Michael Moore is thrown out of this country and never allowed back in.

As for Iran having and using nuclear weapons, let them, under one understanding. That if they use these these weapons in anything other than a defensive manor, swift and brutal retaliation will result. It would seem that the world will not allow the United States to step down as the world's big brother. So we must flex our muscles.

[Babs]

Erikl wrote:

....and people who live under democracies (ie-wun and others) should stop seeing this government in the same light as their own

I think this is at the crux of the problem. Wun and others do see these countries as democracies like their own and try to come up with solutions that will fit in their world. And like Erikl said there is no comparison, you cannot compare.

girty wrote:

...you can scream "death to America" all ya want, but in the end, whoever is left will still stand. Stand we will.

That is the American spirit. And you are so right!

[The Caspian Hare]

Iran isn't a htreat to us.

Are you serious? Iranian-backed agents and terrorist groups have spilled rivers of American blood. In any case, I think the Iranian government has more to fear from its own increasingly restive population than it does from the United States.

[alis]

imagine what your life would be like if you were not allowed to pick your child up from school or show your face in public for fear of a stoning

this is my favourite. i just love the imagination some people have .

[girty1600]

of course michael moore has rights, he has the right to make to make a movie that stirred up the world. And that movie ends with: this is a work of fiction, any resemblance to people, alive or dead is coincidence. MM is a laughable, almost a disturbing person, if I took him at face value. since he has no face value, it does not really matter to me.

[Babs]

imagine what your life would be like if you were not allowed to pick your child up from school or show your face in public for fear of a stoning

this is my favourite. i just love the imagination some people have .

334655[/snapback]

alis, why don't 'you' tell us about Iran? We would like to know about the culture and how the women are treated.