The Parchin facility ThreatStream net has widened a bit and it is now streaming tweets about over a dozen additional Iranian nuclear facilities. Check it out here.
This ThreatStream pulls live tweets about the complex itself and looks at related issues in the Iranian nuclear program from three angles:
- Parchin Facility: All tweets about the facility.
- Iranian Nuclear Program: A much wider net pulling in all discussion about any nuclear topics and Iran.
- IAEA: Any tweets related to the International Atomic Energy Agencies activities in Iran.
Click here to launch the ThreatStream or here to see the full list of available live national security streams.
Another one bites the dust:
A similar bomb explosion on Jan. 12, 2010, killed Tehran University professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi, a senior physics professor. He was killed when a bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded near his car as he was about to leave for work.
In November 2010, a pair of back-to-back bomb attacks in different parts of the capital killed one nuclear scientist and wounded another.
The slain scientist, Majid Shahriari, was a member of the nuclear engineering faculty at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran and cooperated with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. The wounded scientist, Fereidoun Abbasi, was almost immediately appointed head of Iran’s atomic agency.
And in July 2011, motorcycle-riding gunmen killed Darioush Rezaeinejad, an electronics student. Other reports identified him as a scientist involved in suspected Iranian attempts to make nuclear weapons.
Rezaeinejad allegedly participated in developing high-voltage switches, a key component in setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead.
Something to think about, especially for those constantly touting Iran’s theoretically fearsome international terror capabilities, is the obvious weakness underscored here. Someone has been dirt napping very important Iranians, on their own turf mind you, one after another. Iran has not been able to retaliate in any meaningful way and they also haven’t been able to protect these guys on their own territory. Perhaps they’re just quietly readying their fearsome array of two-stroke gas powered flying boats for an all out retaliatory assault…
Will these targeted killings slow down the Iranian nuclear program? That is highly unlikely this far in the game. However, they do send a powerful message, they definitely underscore the regime’s weaknesses, they eliminate some dangerous individuals, and they will hopefully discourage others from pursuing similar career paths. Just head over to Google, search on “Iranian scientist”, and look at the resulting images. Would you want that job?
Follow developments in Iran live with the Blogs of War Iran Monitor at http://iran.blogsofwar.com.
I think it’s safe to say this “verdict” was expected:
It’s difficult to predict how the case against him will now proceed. Mr Hekmati has a high profile and holds an American passport. A decision to go ahead with his execution may have an impact on tensions between Iran and the West – which have got worse in recent weeks.
Iranian officials said his cover was blown even before he had arrived in the country, because he had been spotted by Iranian agents at the US-run Bagram military air base in neighbouring Afghanistan.
On 18 December, Mr Hekmati was shown on Iranian state television allegedly confessing to being part of a plot to infiltrate Iran’s intelligence services for the CIA.
The appeal window is pretty small, 20 days, but it’s highly unlikely that the execution will proceed. Alive, Iran can use him for propaganda purposes or as a bargaining chip. Hekmati doesn’t strengthen their hand much but Iran is already in a terribly weak position. They’ll take any angle they can get. However, If they execute him little will be gained while tensions will go through the roof. So, I expect him to be just fine but in Iranian custody for quite some time.
Follow developments in Iran live with the Blogs of War Iran Monitor at http://iran.blogsofwar.com.
Apparently the tape was received by the family quite some time ago and is being released to, hopefully, move the investigation forward:
Asked about the timing of the tape’s release, an F.B.I. spokeswoman, Jacqueline Maguire, said in a statement: “The video was not previously released due to ongoing investigative initiatives. The investigation to locate Mr. Levinson continues, as the U.S. government continues to work to find him and bring him home safely.”
Earlier this year, Mr. Levinson’s family received another e-mail containing photographs of him wearing what looks like orange prison garb and with a full beard. The F.B.I. was able to trace the various e-mails back to Internet cafes in either Pakistan or Afghanistan but not back to the person or group that created them, said the people briefed on the inquiry.
Mr. Levinson was 59 when he went missing on Kish Island where he had gone to meet with an American fugitive known as Dawud Salahuddin. Mr. Salahuddin has lived in Iran since 1980 when he fled there after assassinating a former aide to the Shah of Iran outside his home near Washington. Mr. Levinson’s family and American officials have said that Mr. Levinson went to Iran to investigate cigarette smuggling for a private client.
I’ve created a monitor to stream tweets about this case. You can follow the live updates at http://levinson.blogsofwar.com.
A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) revealed exclusive images of the next generation Bavar 3 Stealth Flying Boat this afternoon. The craft will apparently heavily leverage technology found in the recently captured American drone.
“Yes, we have exploited some aspects of the barbaric regime’s technology that we found in the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft. However, we found the craft inferior in many ways and have applied our superior technology to improve its capabilities.” the command said. “For example, The RQ-170 is not a boat. We have remedied this by adding stealth pontoons made of fiberglass rather than aluminum. We have also replaced the engine, which our engineers could not start, with a more reliable TAKSAZ 125cc motor.”
Perhaps the most striking difference is the addition of a pilot. According to the commander “The backwards regime is forced to use so-called drones because their pilots are afraid to take to the air. Also, many of them are too fat. Iran does not have such a problem thus the Bavar 3 will be deployed in swarms which are beyond counting by crusading forces. There are no countermeasureres!”
This, like most Iranian press reports, is a completely fabricated exclusive.
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