"Sanctions that Benefit" - Iran, Russia agree to build new nuclear reactors.

Iran, Russia agree to build new nuclear reactors. (Taz).

Russia and Iran have reached the final agreement to build two new nuclear power plants.

The Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi told ISNA on June 23 that Tehran and Moscow started negotiations about building new nuclear power plants (NPP) several months ago and the "final agreement" about construction of two NPPs has been achieved.

He said that the accord is ready to be signed by officials and the sides want to seal the contract on June 23 or 24 in Tehran. Kamalvandi added that beyond the mentioned NPPs, Iran and Russia would talk about other nuclear reactors during Monday and Tuesday.

Nikolai Spassky, the deputy director general for international affairs at Russia's Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation is scheduled to pay a visit to Tehran on Monday to hold talks with ranking Iranian authorities on issues of mutual interest, Press TV reported on June 23.

According to the report, he will meet with Iranian officials at the Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), including AEOI Director Ali Akbar Salehi.

The report says that, earlier in March, Rosatom and the AEOI reached an agreement to build at least two more nuclear power plants in the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr.

Russia already constructed Iran's only nuclear power plant, 1000-MW Bushehr, which was inagurated in May 2011.

Russia's state nuclear firm Rosatom aims to grow its global order book to $100 billion in 2014, up 25 percent year-on-year, by securing new projects in Hungary, Kazakhstan, India and Iran, Reuters quoted Rosatom's CEO Sergei Kiriyenko on June 2.

Tehran and Moscow also have been negotiating about an agreement on an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month. The agreement potentially would enable Iran to boost oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day.Hmmm.....In Other news Khamenei affirms the Mahdi is coming soon to kill all the infidels.

Iran's Kavoshgar-e Pazhuhesh 'Balistic missile' sorry space rocket info video

Iran's Kavoshgar-e Pazhuhesh 'Balistic missile' space rocket info video.HT: UskowiOnIran.

Iranian Space Agency (ISA) and Astronautics Research Institute (ARI) info video on Iran's recently launched Kavoshgar-e Pazhuhesh space rocket. Video includes animation, telemetry and background details for the Kavoshgar-e Pazhuhesh space rocket program.More on Iranian 'rockets' here.

Related:

U.S. Nuclear Negotiator: If Iran Can’t Get the Bomb, Its Ballistic Missiles Will be ‘Almost Irrelevant’

Hmmm.....Admits Iran is seeking ICBM capability.......They don't need ICBM to reach Israel............Sometimes it takes 'A SPECIAL KIND OF STUPID'

Iran Gov News Agency Article About the Mahdi Succeeding Khamenei a Sign That 'Twelvers' Are Ready to Go?

Iran Gov News Agency Article About the Mahdi Succeeding Khamenei a Sign That 'Twelvers' Are Ready to Go? HT: Scramouchee.

Since the demise of all Jewry (many of whom are contained most conveniently within the borders of the nearby Zionist entity, a "one bomb state") is said to be a prelude to and a prerequisite for the Mahdi's return, that's a question that's reasonable to pose upon reading this:

Appointing Imam al-Mahdi as The Next Imam

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) -  Imam al-Mahdi (a.s.) is the hope not only for Muslims but for all oppressed human beings who suffer slavery, oppression, and subjection. He is the Savior who will free the will of man and save peoples and nations from the oppression of the corruptive regimes who have turned this world into unbearable hell.

Imam al-Mahdi (a.s.) was and is a great miracle in Islam. Allah concealed his birth, as he had concealed the birth of Prophet Moses (a.s.), because the Abbasid government looked for him…and in his remaining alive (in occultation) throughout the long stages of life is also a miracle for Islam, and in his reappearance and announcing the pure principles of Islam is another miracle too...

They really and truly believe this crap, and would do anything--including dropping the big one--to make it happen.

Nukes are useless because nobody dare use them – Ahmadinejad to RT.

Nukes are useless because nobody dare use them – Ahmadinejad to RT.HT: Russia Today.

“This is something that I said many times before. It is not of any use to us to have nukes. Where can we use nuclear weapons? They are useless, nobody can use them. The US has most of the nukes in the world – where can it use them?” he said.

The Iranian President believes society is “well over this one”. “It is so 20th century, even the people of the US are not going to allow the government to make use of them,” the Iranian president suggested, because “It is the most brutal and inhumane weapon that can be used against others.”

Throughout its history Iran “has always been a defender and has always used conventional weapons only,” claimed President Ahmadinejad. 
“Iran has never used chemical weapons. Iran is still defending itself with mostly a political-cultural defense,” Ahmadinejad said.
However, the outgoing president whose term finishes on August 3 warned that “one cannot get away with bombarding” Iranian nuclear facilities. 
“[Nuclear facilities] are securely localized in the heads of our scientists,” he said, referring to American and Israeli threats to carry out unilateral strikes on Iran in recent years.

The west headed by the US has been putting pressure on Iran over the country’s controversial nuclear program. Though Tehran always stressed the program is peaceful, Washington as well as Tel Aviv have suspected Iran of building nuclear weapons, something Tehran has consistently denied.
While the US has frequently stated that “all options are on table” while dealing with Iran, Israel threatened a unilateral strike on the Iranian nuclear facilities.
“Iran’s territory is 1,873 million square kilometers, that’s a vastness, are they going to bomb them all?”
“This is a psychological war and of course we’re ready to defend ourselves,” Ahmadinejad concluded.
However, the Iranian leader remarked that a direct dialogue between Iran and the US would be possible – if Washington agrees to “equal circumstances” dialogue, not a dictate.
“If somebody comes to you and holds a hammer over your head and forces you to have a dialogue – that is not right. A dialogue is about gaining understanding and resolving differences. It should not be used as a method to impose on others,” President Ahmadinejad said.

‘Every country will be affected by economic recession’

The world is facing an economic recession, the current economic crisis is an international one and it affects every country, be it Iran, Russia, the US or the EU, Iranian leader said.
“Iran has been under unilateral, one-sided, unfair sanctions, but despite severe unprecedented sanctions the country develops economically – nothing short of a miracle. All economic indexes are improving, per capita income is going up, the human development index is on the rise,” he said.
In late 2011 - early 2012, the US and EU imposed sanctions on Tehran targeting its banks and oil industry effectively banning the oil trade between Europe and Iran, and putting significant barriers to trade. Iran is still exporting oil, it has also begun to export electricity, steel and cement and the total exports, excluding oil, has grown seven fold, Ahmadinejad revealed.
“In many fields related to technology we are among the top 10 in the world,” Ahmadinejad said adding that in terms of scientific progress the country rose from 32nd to 14th in eight years and scientific growth is 11 times higher than the world average.
Western countries started to ignore Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and continued to do so over the last 34 years, but they have not succeeded in halting Iran’s economic development, President Ahmadinejad stated.

‘Fighting cyber war has become Iran’s second nature’

During the interview with RT, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also talked of Tehran having always been aware of the cyber warfare conducted against it.
In March, law and technology experts agreed that the Stuxnet worm used against Iran in 2009-2010 was a cyber-attack. Stuxnet was allegedly used to change the speeds of around 1,000 gas-spinning centrifuges without being detected, thus sabotaging Iran's nuclear research. The US and Israel have been accused of collaborating on the virus in a bid to damage Iran’s nuclear program.
“This is a world of communications. Once you get connected to the internet – there are going to be problems of a kind,” Ahmadinejad said.
“We’re talking to each other right now, right?” he told RT’s Sophie Shevardnadze. “Do you think that we’re being bugged? That this place is bugged? Maybe we’re bugged, it is not difficult to do,” laughed the problem off the president.


“Naturally, there is a software war going on in the virtual world, our agencies are doing this – if it is necessary,” Ahmadinejad said.
Iranian electronic communication networks, banking systems, nuclear research network, electricity networks have all been attacked, but Iranian specialists “diffused the threats and counter-attacked,” Iranian President said. “This is a routine for us. These are the harms and disadvantages of communication technology.”

‘No ruler should feel safe’

As for a possibility of an uprising similar to the Arab Spring, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that such revolutions were managed from the outside.
“No ruler should feel safe, nowhere in the world, not only Iran,” he concluded adding that saying there is no ideal place despite humanity’s constant strife for perfection.
The planet with about seven billion population is being ruled by maybe 1,000 people, while the governments just come and go, the Iranian President declared, so legislation is imperfect everywhere in the world and the rulers should think about ordinary people – or be overthrown.
“In the next five-six year the countries run in a limited way by narrow-minded rulers will witness revolutions – including the US,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted.
In this regard the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is a historical movement, a popular way of thinking that is going to stay in power unless something else of a comparable size and power emerges, Iranian President pointed out. “It cannot be eliminated completely.”
The same applies to the situation in Syria, where people should have a right “to choose elected rulers themselves,” Ahmadinejad said. Those who want to come to power militarily should be ready that the same rules of war would be applied to them.

“The westerners do not want the Syrian issue to come to an end,” he said, and the west would like to redraw the Middle East map through developing the Syrian crisis – even if it would last for 20 years, believes the Iranian President.

Ahmadinejad Will Return (With Imam Mehdi)--Government Spokesman.

Ahmadinejad Will Return (With Imam Mehdi)--Government Spokesman.HT: UskowiOnIran.

The Iranian Government's spokesman, Mr. Gholam Hossein Elham, is making headlines in the Iranian media. He said that his boss, Mr. Ahmadinejad, will return to govern when Emam Mehdi, the Shiite 12th Imam, returns. He apparently said that in a form of a prayer at a speak in front of a group of supporters .

Mashregh newspaper has published a detailed report of this get-together of Ahmadinjead and Mashai supporters. It apparently ends with his loyal supporters surrounding him while sobbing (1).

This episode provides a rare glimpse at the bizarre "personality cult" tradition revived by the Islamic Republic. 

The continued open support for Ahmadinejad among some conservatives, despite his falling out of favor with the supreme leader, is setting the stage for a potentially bloody purge within the regime's inner circle. Hmmm......I wonder if he gives the Lotto Numbers for next week's draw as well?Read the full story here.

World Powers Accept Ayatollah Khamenei's Fatwa against N. Weapons as Criteria, please inform Pakistan.

World Powers Accept Ayatollah Khamenei's Fatwa against N. Weapons as Criteria, please inform Pakistan.(Fars).
The world powers accepted the Fatwa (religious decree) issued by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei against the production and use of nuclear weapons as a confidence-building measure and criteria during their recent talks with Tehran in Kazakhstan, a senior MP said on Wednesday.

"(During the Kazakhstan talks last week) one of the issues discussed was the idea of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the haram (religiously forbidden) nature of the production of atomic weapons," member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Esmayeel Kowsari said in an interview with Iran-based Arabic-language al-Alam news channel.

"Even other countries which possess atomic weapons and nuclear warheads should also be disarmed and should dismantle these weapons since we believe such weapons are illegal and against religion, and this issue was discussed in Almaty talks and was accepted by the Group5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany)," he added.

On February 22, 2012, Ayatollah Khamenei said the Islamic Republic considers the pursuit and possession of nuclear weapons "a grave sin" from every logical, religious and theoretical standpoint.

In January, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said Ayatollah Khamenei's fatwa is binding for Iran, adding, "There is nothing more important in defining the framework for our nuclear activities than the Leader's fatwa."Read the full story here.

Hmmm.......Fatwas are issued in response to specific circumstances and can be altered in response to changing conditions. Ayatollah Khomeini modified his position on a number of issues during his lifetime—for instance, on taxes, military conscription, women’s suffrage, and monarchy as a form of government. Thus nothing would prevent Khamenei from modifying or supplanting his nuclear fatwa should circumstances dictate a change in policy.
Shiite tradition permits deception and dissimulation in matters of life and death, and when such tactics serve the interests of the Islamic umma (community).The context surrounding the original, rather expansive, nuclear fatwa and subsequent formulations that only prohibit the use of nuclear weapons demonstrates an important point: fatwas arise in response to specific circumstances and can be amended or reversed as circumstances change. Khamenei’s original fatwa was probably issued to deflect international pressure following the revelations regarding the Natanz centrifuge enrichment plant, and in response to concerns that after invading Iraq, the United States might invade Iran. Fatwas are not immutable, and no religious principle would prevent Khamenei from modifying or supplanting his initial fatwa if circumstances were to change.

Related: Iran - Fatwa against nuclear weapons political milestone

Someone should tell Nuclear Armed ISLAMIC Pakistan about these 'Fatwas'.......There's one born every minute!
The Islamic republic’s diplomats point to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 2004 fatwa against the development, production, stockpiling, and use ofnuclear weapons. The inviolability and permanence of the fatwa is open to some interpretation, however, and in earlier days, Iranian leaders made little secret of their intentions. In 1991, Deputy President Ayatollah Mohajerani stated that Iran should workwith other Islamic states to create an ‘‘Islamic bomb.’’ Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani,characterized today as a pragmatist, in contrast to hardliner Ahmadinejad, in 1988 explicitly called on Iran to equip itself both in the offensive and defense use of chemical,bacteriological and radiological weapons.’’ By then, as then-Speaker of the Majlis and Commander in Chief, Rafsanjani had already won Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s approval to resume the Shah’s nuclear program and to begin secretly importing material and conducting experiments in violation of Iran’s safeguards agreement with the IAEA.Read the the full story here.

Ahmadinejad to Attend State Funeral of Chavez.

Ahmadinejad to Attend State Funeral of Chavez.HT: UskowskiOnIran.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will attend the state funeral of the late Venezuelan president Hugh Chavez in Caracas on Friday. He called Chavez “a dear friend of Iran” and “an anti-imperialist leader.”

“As long as justice, love and freedom are alive, Hugo Chavez will be alive as well. As long as faith, purity and humanity are alive, he will be alive too. As long as nations are alive and strive for the materialization of independence, kindness and justice, he will be alive too,” Ahmadinejad said in a message to Venezuelan acting president Nicolas Maduro. (Fars News Agency, 6 March)

President Chavez, who died Tuesday, developed a close relationship with Ahmadinejad and other senior Iranian leaders and visited Tehran many times. The Iranian government declared Wednesday a day of national mourning across Iran.Hmmm......Updated: word if Pres Obama will attend.Read the full story here, more here.

Ahmadinejad: "Hugo Chavez has fallen "martyr" to a "suspect illness" but "Chavez Will Return With Jesus and 12th Imam"

Ahmadinejad: "Hugo Chavez has fallen "martyr" to a "suspect illness" but "Chavez Will Return With Jesus and 12th Imam"(TA).

A day after his death, Hugo Chavez is already being touted as a martyr and a messiah by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who equated the now deceased Venezuelan leader to Jesus and Shiite Islam’s 12th imam Wednesday, saying, “I have no doubt that he will return, along with the righteous Jesus and the perfect human.”

Ahmadinejad also reiterated claims made by Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro that Chavez died of a “suspect illness” but didn’t go as far as Maduro had in equating Chavez’s death to that of late Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yassir Arafat, who some believe died by poisoning at the hands of Israel.

A cabinet meeting chaired by the president declared Wednesday a day of mourning in Iran, the state television website said. During Chavez’s tenure Venezuela became increasingly close with the Islamic Republic with Chavez making 13 visits to Iran between 1999 and his death on Tuesday. Ahmadinejad has made six visits to Venezuela since 2005.Hmmmm.......Countdown to announcing Chavez died from same 'disease' as Arafat?Read the full story here.

"Space the Final frontier, To Boldly Go where no Twelver Went Before" - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants to be Iran's first astronaut.

"Space the Final frontier, To Boldly Go where no Twelver Went Before" - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants to be Iran's first astronaut.(NDtv).President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he was ready to be the first human sent into orbit by Iran's fledgling space program, Iranian media reported.
Iran declared last week that it had successfully launched a monkey into space and retrieved it alive, which officials hailed as a major step towards their goal of sending humans into space.
The launch added to Western concerns about Iran's space program because the same rocket technology could potentially be used to deliver a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile.
"I am ready to be the first human to be sent to space by Iranian scientists," Ahmadinejad said on Monday, on the sidelines of an exhibition of space achievements in Tehran, according to the Mehr news agency.
"Sending living things into space are the result of Iranian efforts and the dedication of thousands of Iranian scientists."
Ahmadinejad is known for provocative public comments and it was unclear whether the suggestion was a serious one.
His second and final term as president ends in June, and his political star has been on the wane since he fell out with parliament early in his second term and appeared to lose the support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Hmmm.....Jim are we in search of the 'hidden imam'?Read the full story here.

Iran says Khamenei’s ban of nuclear weapons binding

Iran says Khamenei’s ban of nuclear weapons binding.(AA).Iran says a religious decree issued by the country’s supreme leader banning nuclear weapons is binding for the Iranian government. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says the West must understand the significance of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s fatwa for the Islamic Republic, and that the edict should end the debate over whether Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Khamenei said last year that Iran is not seeking atomic arms. He called possessing such weapons a “sin” as well as “useless, harmful and dangerous.” Mehmanparast’s comments Tuesday come a day ahead of a new round of talks between Iran and the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. Read the full story here.


Hmmm.......Fatwas are issued in response to specific circumstances and can be altered in response to changing conditions. Ayatollah Khomeini modified his position on a number of issues during his lifetime—for instance, on taxes, military conscription, women’s suffrage, and monarchy as a form of government. Thus nothing would prevent Khamenei from modifying or supplanting his nuclear fatwa should circumstances dictate a change in policy.
Shiite tradition permits deception and dissimulation in matters of life and death, and when such tactics serve the interests of the Islamic umma (community).The context surrounding the original, rather expansive, nuclear fatwa and subsequent formulations that only prohibit the use of nuclear weapons demonstrates an important point: fatwas arise in response to specific circumstances and can be amended or reversed as circumstances change. Khamenei’s original fatwa was probably issued to deflect international pressure following the revelations regarding the Natanz centrifuge enrichment plant, and in response to concerns that after invading Iraq, the United States might invade Iran. Fatwas are not immutable, and no religious principle would prevent Khamenei from modifying or supplanting his initial fatwa if circumstances were to change.

Iran making Antrax at secret plant.

Iran making Antrax at secret plant.(WND).Russian scientists have helped Iran master four microbial agents for bombs, which the Islamic regime has used to arm 37 launch-ready missiles so far, sources have revealed.
The secret work is being done at a plant named Shahid Bahonar on a mountaintop by the city of Marzanabad off the mountainous Chalus road to the Iranian Caspian Sea.
The plant, under the supervision of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, is headed by Dr. Esmaeil Namazi, who oversees 28 Iranian and 12 Russian scientists, according to a source in the Revolutionary Guards intelligence division with access to the site.
There are several underground facilities at two levels with elevators reaching the lower level some 40 feet underground and where more than 100 personnel work on the microbial bomb project, the source said.
The plant has been expanded significantly in the last two years, and two high-power towers, one at the bottom of the mountain and one behind the plant, provide the needed electricity for the site. Homes have been built close by to accommodate personnel so they would not raise suspicion by commuting back and forth.
The scientists are working on 18 agents but so far they have developed four for weaponization, according to the source, who provided particulars on three of them:

Bacillus anthracis (anthrax). This bacteria was developed by the United States during World War II and through espionage was obtained by the Soviet Union, which has long mastered the production. Russian scientists have helped the Iranians to produce anthrax.

Encephalitis. The blueprint of this virus, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, was provided by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in an agreement two years ago with the Islamic regime.

Yellow grain. This third agent, developed with the help of North Korea but named “yellow grain” by the Iranians, has no smell and upon impact will destroy the body’s defensive system. Victims would have a hard time walking or breathing within hours and slowly their digestive systems would be destroyed, likely followed by death within 48 hours.
“Yellow grain” could be similar to “yellow rain,” which the then-Soviet Union allegedly provided to North Vietnam and Laos to use against U.S.-backed rebels.
The source said Iran has provided this agent to the terrorist group Hezbollah to use in artillery shells and rockets, and has armed cluster bombs with it for any confrontation with Israel and America.
“It is no secret that Iran, in addition to pursuing nuclear weapons, has major programs for biological and chemical weapons, in defiance of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Convention that supposedly bans such weapons worldwide,” said Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, an advisory board to Congress.
Dr. Pry said a former high-ranking Iranian official of proven credibility with access to the inner circles of Iran’s government also alleged that Iran has armed missiles with chemical and biological warheads. According to this source, Iran has contingency plans for a massive biological and chemical attack against Israel should Israel attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The Shahid Bahonar site is heavily guarded and is visited weekly by a representative of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. All personnel, including members of the intelligence division on routine inspection, are disarmed before being allowed entry. Antiaircraft missiles and batteries surround the site, and plans call for further expansion, including a hospital for plant personnel. Read the full story here.

Iranians Scared by Netanyahu Speech, Says Iranian Woman.

Iranians Scared by Netanyahu Speech, Says Iranian Woman.(INN).By Elad Benari.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to the UN General Assembly placed fear into the hearts of Iranians, a Muslim woman from Tehran told Israel’s Channel 2 News on Friday.
The woman, Shahanaz, agreed to be interviewed to the Israeli channel despite the risks involved. She was first interviewed two months ago and was interviewed again on Friday, two days after scuffles broke out in Tehran as citizens protested the country’s failing economy.
“The economic situation has worsened [over the last two months],” she said, adding, “The prices have gone up. The prices of dairy products, gold and the dollar rate have gone up considerably and this made our lives even more difficult. Fruits have become very expensive, and people only buy essential goods, other than the rich people among us of course. We, the middle class, cannot buy many things. Meat, poultry and dairy products are the most difficult to obtain, because their cost has increased significantly within ten days.”
Asked about the demonstration on Wednesday in Tehran's largest bazaar, Shahanaz said, “I suddenly saw regime forces coming out of all sides towards the demonstrators in the bazaar. There were large crowds because that day that the dollar jumped suddenly from 2400 to 4200. There were many regime forces, even more at night, in the afternoon they were all armed and they arrested a lot of people. I saw them beat people. This time the demonstrators were mainly merchants who protested the economic situation, because with the situation of the dollar now, everyone will go bankrupt. 
I fear the planes will not be able to take off from Iran soon because of the difficult economic situation in the country.
“I wanted to show you the pictures I took of the prices of fruits and vegetables and other products,” she added. “I wanted to show the people who live on the street corners, or a wall full of ads for sales of human kidneys. Photographs of people who cannot finish the day. These are things I see every day, and every day it increases. The middle class is quickly getting closer to the poverty line.”
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman predicted this week that a Tahrir-style revolution could take place in Iran and called on the West to help the Iranian people bring down their regime. Asked about the possibility of this happening, Shahanz said, “I think we have no specific leader, the people here are not so correlated. At this point, I think only we can help ourselves - no one can help us, because first we must know what we want. Any outside assistance could only harm us.”
Addressing Netanyahu’s UN speech, she said, “It was a speech full of charisma. I heard of his red lines and it scared the people in Iran a bit. The authorities here may say that the things that were said are not serious, but the people take it very seriously. I read online that the red line is a message for Obama from Israel.”
Shahanaz emphasized, “The message of the people of Iran to the Israeli people is that we have no war with you, not over matters of religion or over any other. It is time we put our religious differences and personal beliefs aside and look at each other as human beings.”Hmmmm.......Sadly the 'Twelvers' have a different idea about the future.Read the full story here.

Iran's Defense Minister, General Ahmad Vahidi said Iran is ready for the big fight, Since we live in an era of Imam Mehdi's coming

Iran's Defense Minister, General Ahmad Vahidi said Iran is ready for the big fight, Since we live in an era of Imam Mehdi's coming.(TI).Iran's Defense Minister, General Ahmad Vahidi said Iran is ready for the big fight, Fars reported. Vahidi made the remarks during his speech at the "Shahid Motahari" memorial base. "While from distance, our enemy looks big, in fact it is more like a spider web, fragile," Vahidi noted. The general added that enemies of Iran try to show Iranian people how big their problems are, including military threats, sanctions, isolation, and cultural issues. "We have a holy capital, a Supreme Leader and martyrs that are ready to stand against enemy attacks," Vahidi noted. "This battle has been going on forever. Since we live in an era of Imam Mehdi's coming, this war is very important to us," Vahidi said.Hmmmm......"Still time for diplomacy"......yeah whatevah.Read the full story here.

Video - End Times Today Series Lesson 1: Mahdi vs. Antichrist.

HT: Shoebat. Read the full story here.

Iranian Religious Leader Threatens to Increase Uranium Enrichment to 56 percent.

Iranian Religious Leader Threatens to Increase Uranium Enrichment to 56 percent.(RN).Iran will start enriching uranium to 56-percent level if Israel and Western world keep on pressurizing the Islamic Republic with sanctions, Kabir News reported on Monday citing Iranian religious leader Seyed Reza Taghavi. “Currently Tehran produces 20-percent-enriched uranium but we will transform it to 56-percent-enriched uranium if Western countries continue their hostile viewpoint against Iran. All the restrictions and sanctions are because of the great power of the Islamic Republic.” Seyed Reza Taghavi added. Uranium enrichment is a central issue in Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Currently the Islamic Republic possesses 20-percent-enriched uranium which can be turned into 90-percent highly-enriched, enough for producing a nuclear bomb. Taghavi also warned that “if Israel makes any mistake,” Iran “will target the heart of Tel Aviv directly from Tehran,” adding that “Iran will not bow in front of the massive sanctions from Western countries,” Kabir News said. Western nations claim Iran’s nuclear energy research is a cover for atomic weapons production, which Tehran has consistently denied.Read the full story here.

Iranian Spiritual Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "Prepare For Environment That Will Bring Mahdi/End Times."

Iranian Spiritual Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "Prepare For Environment That Will Bring Mahdi/End Times."(TT).By Brad Macdonald.Tension is rising in the Middle East again. The civil war in Syria is worsening, Western sanctions on Iran are intensifying, large-scale military exercises by both Tehran and the West are on the cards. This is all worrying and cause for alarm. Yet, it is an unprecedented, largely ignored national address by Iran’s supreme leader that is most alarming. On Friday July 6, a number of Iranian state-run media outlets ran stories highlighting remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In his address, Khamenei warned his people all over the world that Iran must prepare for war, and that we are now living in “the end of times.” 
More specifically, Khamenei warned of the imminent return of the Mahdi, or the 12th imam. “The issue of Imam Mahdi is of utmost importance, and his reappearance has been clearly stated in our holy religion of Islam,” he said.

 “We must study and remind ourselves of the end of times and Imam Mahdi’s era. … We must prepare the environment for the coming so that the great leader will come.”

The belief of a returning Mahdi, or 12th imam, is a defining doctrine within the most populous group of Shiites known as Ithna Ashari, or “Twelvers.” In addition to Iran’s supreme leader, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also belongs to this influential group.
According to Twelver theology, the Mahdi’s return will be precipitated by planet-engulfing wars, the likes of which will destroy one third of the world’s population, and another third as a result of widespread hunger, disease and social unrest. Finally, the destruction will be capped with the annihilation of the Jewish state and the killing of all infidels, after which the seed of Islam will be planted in the four corners of the Earth. 
Here in the West, most people mistakenly ignore this theology and the depth of commitment Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and their followers have to it. This is to our own peril. Twelvers don’t just believe the Mahdi will soon return: They consider it a personal responsibility to create the apocalyptic conditions that will surround his return. Frankly, ushering in the Mahdi is the guiding principle of Iran’s foreign policy! 
As Joel Rosenburg, former aide to Benjamin Netanyahu, put it, “In order to bring about this Islamic messiah, the Mahdi, the 12th imam, Islamic leaders need to hasten his coming by destroying little Satan, Israel, and the great Satan, the United States. The leaders actually believe they need to create bloody carnage, the death of millions of people in order to create the conditions for the Mahdi to bring peace”.
Indeed, as Khamenei recently told his people: “We must prepare for the coming. Since we consider ourselves the warriors of the 12th imam, we must fight.” Khamenei has created several centers in Iran devoted to the research of the coming of the Mahdi, and there’s even an annual conference on Mahdiism. In 2004, during his tenure as mayor of Tehran, Ahmadinejad constructed a “grand avenue” in preparation for the Mahdi’s return. When he became president in 2005, he allocated $17 million for a blue-tiled mosque in Jamkaran (south of the capital), closely associated with mahdaviat. Inside Iran, both Khamenei and Ahmadinejad have been quite literally preparing the place to which they believe the Mahdi will return. Ahmadinejad’s conviction is so strong, he even stood in front of a room full of United Nations leaders in New York and prayed for Allah to help him hasten the Mahdi’s return—which he could only do by precipitating a holocaust-type event! Citing Iranian news media, the Journal of Turkish Weekly last week reported that the regime in Tehran is even distributing a booklet titled The Last Six Months. According to Reza Kahlili (a pseudonym for a former cia operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards), “the material admonishes the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij paramilitary forces that they must be prepared to do their duties during the expected war.” One can hardly overstate the influence of Twelver theology on Iranian national and foreign policy. “From redressing the gulf between rich and poor in Iran, to challenging the United States and Israel and enhancing Iran’s power with nuclear programs, every issue is designed to lay the foundation for the Mahdi’s return,” wrote Scott Peterson.
Amir Mohebian, political editor of the Islamic Resalat newspaper, noted the effect of Ahmadinejad’s religion on his leadership: “This kind of mentality makes you very strong. … If you think these are the last days of the world, and the Mahdi will come again, this idea will change all your relations.” Putting himself in Ahmadinejad’s shoes, Mohebian stated, “If I think the Mahdi will come in two, three or four years, why should I be soft? Now is the time to stand strong, to be hard.”
Here’s how Charles Krauthammer summed up Iran under Ahmadinejad not long after he was elected in 2005: “A Holocaust-denying, virulently anti-Semitic, aspiring genocidist, on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons of the apocalypse, believes that the end is not only near but nearer than the next American presidential election. … This kind of man would have, to put it gently, less inhibition about starting Armageddon than a normal person.” When you read these statements, you begin to grasp exactly what is at stake right now in the Middle East! Problem is, too few are paying any attention to these facts.Read the full story here.