Iran Apparently Frees American Hikers After Lengthy Delay

Two Americans that had been held by Iran since 2009 as spies after Iranian security captured them after claiming that they had entered Iran, have apparently been released:

The men, Shane M. Bauer and Joshua F. Fattal, both 29, were seen by reporters for The Associated Press leaving Evin prison in a diplomatic convoy including Swiss and Omani officials. The cars headed in the direction of Tehran’s international airport.

There were strong indications that the men would be taken by plane to the Gulf nation of Oman. . Last week, Oman sent a plane to Iran for the purpose of fetching the men.

The release of the men followed days of uncertainty over their fate after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised last week that they would be freed as a humanitarian gesture “in a couple of days.” The announcement by Mr. Ahmadinejad appeared calibrated to garner favorable attention before the Iranian leader flew to New York to attend this week’s United Nations General Assembly meeting.

But soon after his announcement, Iran’s judiciary denied that the men would be freed imminently, saying it had exclusive authority to order their release.

The pair was released on $500,000 bail, which sounds more like a ransom than a true bail. A third hiker, Sarah E. Shourd, was released after paying $500,000 in bail in 2010.

No evidence has ever been provided by Iran that the trio were spies, and for all intents and purposes, it appears that the trio had mistakenly crossed into Iran after an unknown uniformed security official waved them over to talk. The trio had been hiking in Iraq at the time.

This isn't the first time that the Iranians have arrested Americans for trumped up charges of espionage. The Alaei brothers were arrested by Iranian security on claims of espionage. The Alaeis were simply carrying out a public health mission of spreading the word about AIDS and how to prevent the spread of the disease.

The brothers were released earlier this year. One of the brothers was released after serving 2 of 3 years in prison, and the other was released in conjunction with pardons granted during Eid after serving 2 of 6 years. The Alaeis faced a secret one-day trial in which they were convicted and sentenced on trumped up charges:

Kamiar, 37, and Arash, 42, both physicians and pioneers in the treatment of HIV and AIDS in Iran, were arrested in June 2008. They were charged with plotting to overthrow the government after an unorthodox one-day secret army trial in December 2008 that human rights observers deemed baseless and politically motivated.

Kamiar was released last fall after serving more than two years of a three-year sentence. He led a global effort calling for his brother's release that included strong support from his UAlbany colleagues. His brother received a six-year sentence.

"This is wonderful news and cause for great celebration," said Carol Whittaker, assistant dean for global health and director of the Center for Global Health at UAlbany. "It's a terrific way for us to start the new school year."

Whittaker and others on the UAlbany faculty got to know the two brothers when Kamiar began his Ph.D. studies in the fall of 2007 and Arash stayed with him locally for several weeks. They gave a presentation at UAlbany about the clinics they ran and national strategic plan they developed for treating HIV and AIDS in Iran. Their "harm reduction" model managed to slow the spread of the disease in a Muslim country where drug users are shunned.

But their attendance at global AIDS conferences, where they presented statistics on thousands of AIDS patients in Iran, raised eyebrows among officials of the hardline regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The brothers received numerous honors for their pioneering work with AIDS patients, including a prestigious award from the Global Health Council that Kamiar accepted in Washington, D.C. in June. "I wish my brother could be here," he told the Times Union. "I don't feel I'm released until my brother gets released."

Arash was let go on Sunday along with more than 100 political prisoners from Tehran's Evin prison, a traditional pardon gesture timed to mark the end of the Ramadan religious holiday, Eid al-Fitr.

"The holiday was one factor, but there were many," Kamiar said. "All the doctors and scientists who joined the campaign to free my brother had an impact. I appreciate all they've done."

"We are thrilled to hear of the release of Arash Alaei," said Susannah Sirkin, deputy director at Physicians for Human Rights, a group that led the effort to get the brothers released. "PHR and the Campaign to Free the Alaeis have worked for years to see these two brothers freed and reunited. We are overjoyed that we are one huge step closer to seeing this dream become a reality."

Iran Continues Detaining Five Americans Accused of Fomenting Revolution

Three American hikers that crossed into Iran have now been held for a year. Earlier this month marked the second anniversary of the Alaei brothers being held by the regime in Tehran after being sentenced to a 12 year prison sentence last October for fomenting revolution.

Both situations test the resolve of the US to protect its citizens from being detained by the regime in Iran.

A kangaroo court convicted the Alaei brothers claiming that they were using AIDS and human rights conferences as cover for their covert activities against the regime. The regime similarly claims that the three hikers, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal, were spying on the regime and hoping to overthrow Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cronies.

This Friday, a rally will be held in New York to demand Iran release the three hikers at 12:30PM, at 40th St. and 3d Avenue, NYC.

Iran Charges Detained US Hikers With Espionage

Once again, Iran is finding ways to tweak President Obama. His regime has charged three hikers who claim that they accidentally crossed into Iran with espionage.

Iran has charged three detained U.S. citizens with espionage, the official IRNA news agency quoted a
judiciary official as saying on Monday.

"The three are charged with espionage. Investigations continue into the three detained Americans in Iran," Tehran general prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said.

The three were held after they strayed into Iran from northern Iraq at the end of July.

The three, Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, crossed into Iranian territory nearly two months ago. Their families say they strayed across the border accidentally.

These aren't the only Americans being detained by the Iranian regime. The Alaei brothers remain in Iranian prison after a kangaroo court convicted them of trying to overthrow the government.

Iranian Regime Sentences Iranian-American To 12 Years For Causing Unrest

The Iranian regime continues its crackdown against opposition leaders and those it has deemed to have caused the unrest. They sentenced an Iranian American, Kian Tajbakhsh, to more than 12 years in prison:

Iran has convicted an Iranian-American academic for his alleged role in the post-election unrest in the country and sentenced him to more than 12 years in prison, the state news agency said Tuesday.

Academic Kian Tajbakhsh was arrested July 9 during a violent crackdown by security forces on street protesters and Iranian opposition members rallying against the country's disputed presidential elections. The protesters claimed the June balloting was rigged in favor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Washington has repeatedly demanded that Tehran free Tajbakhsh, who was the only American who was part of the mass trial of Iranian opposition members. Charges against him reportedly included espionage, contacting foreign elements and acting against national security of Iran.

In August, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appealed for the release of Tajbakhsh and he was specially named in a call by the British rock star Sting to free all political prisoners in Iran.

This isn't a new strategy, given that the regime has previously detained and sentenced the Alaei brothers on similar charges, and they've now been held for more than a year.

The Obama Administration has been unable to do anything more than make some weak statements in regards to securing the release of the Iranian-Americans held by Iran. The Iranian regime continues playing the Administration for fools.

Settle In For the Long Haul

The situation in Iran is going to continue developing and ebb and flow over the next few weeks and months. The Iranian revolution in 1979 didn't occur overnight. It flowed and ebbed as power struggles occurred behind the scenes and events transpired over a series of months. We should not expect this to be resolved quickly, and the bloodshed seen thus far may be an indicator of things to come.

The regime will continue doing all it can to crush the opposition. They're digging in their heels, including arresting more foreign nationals. Ahmadinejad's thugs have been arresting foreign nationals for some time, including Roxana Saberi and the Alaei brothers, but this is the first sign that they're going after foreign nationals since the election was disputed.

Chief among those that are purportedly being held by the Iranians are those with British passports since the Iranians blame them for the unrest:

Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ezhei told reporters that some with links to the West and Israel had planned bombings ahead of the June 12 presidential election, the government-funded Press TV reported Wednesday.

"England is among the countries that fan the flames with their heavy propaganda, which is against all diplomatic norms," the intelligence minister was quoted in the semi-official Fars news agency. "And the BBC Farsi has also played a major role. Also, a number of people carrying British passports have played a role in the recent disturbances."

The British Foreign Office said it was looking into the allegations.

"We have seen reports of the arrest of British nationals in Iran," the Foreign Office said. "Consular colleagues and the embassy in Tehran are making enquiries."

This comes from a regime that has no qualms about sending kids into mine fields during the Iran-Iraq war to blow up mines so that tanks and men with guns could fight. This is from the same regime that has no problem supporting international terrorism, including Hamas and Hizbullah, both of which care nothing for the lives of anyone who get in their way.

Pro-regime demonstrations take to the usual pastiche of burning American flags, but this time they throw in British flags for good measure. They also held demonstrations outside the former US embassy in Tehran.

Indeed, Iranians are dying for change, and some in the US are protesting against the Administration's lackluster response to the situation in Iran.

There are ongoing clashes being reported outside the Iranian Parliament building. Mousavi is reportedly under 24-hour watch by Ahmadinejad's thugs, and Mousavi's wife says that the country is under martial law.

Israel has a significant Iranian Jewish population as the country expelled the Jews following the 1948 War of Independence. They're following the situation closely and want to see the regime fall.

The show of support was organized by Kamal Penhasi, the Iranian-born editor of Shahyad, the only Persian-language magazine published in Israel. "We speak from the throats of the entire Iranian people, whose voices are being silenced by the censorship of the regime that is killing people on the streets …we are part of the Iranian people and want to tell them we are with them. Enough of this regime; the Iranian people deserve their freedom," he said at the demonstration.

Penhasi left Iran shortly after the Islamic Revolution. "I saw what happened in 1979; today's events remind me of that revolution," he said. "This is the great spark in the direction of the big revolution." Penhasi says the regime likes to show that it is strong, but in reality it is crumbling from within. "The people of Iran want their freedom and have taken to the streets to prove it." The young generation in Iran knows exactly what's happening in the outside world, they view Israel as a second paradise on Earth after the U.S. in terms of freedom, he says. Acknowledging that "30 years of brainwashing" have damaged Iranians' sympathy to Israel, Penhasi still believes it's there.

The Jersualem Post reports that the unrest may undermine the regime's ability to export its brand of Islam elsewhere, which is good news since its brand is pretty much associated with Hamas and Hizbullah. It may also impact Iran's nuclear weapons program, although I think that as being more farfetched since not even Mousavi was opposed to Iran obtaining nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

UPDATE:
Barry Rubin notes that there is a difference between Mousavi and Ahmadinejad that should be taken into consideration.

Indeed, to listen to what the Obama administration says—though it has moved up its rhetoric one step in recent days—there is some truth to that assertion. Yet it is foolish indeed for anyone to hope for that outcome.

What is the greater danger:

Iran has a less fanatical and adventurous faction in charge. It continues some of its problematic policies but is more cautious, less prone to risk-taking, devotes fewer resources to spreading revolution, and is more eager to avoid war.

Or

Power being in the hands of a group determined to become the region’s dominant power, eager to use money, subversion, and even nuclear weapons to do so no matter what the consequences.

I’ll choose the first alternative.

Even if it is only a matter of degree, Mousavi would likely be more cautious and less likely to agitate for violence and war against the West - a slightly less confrontational stance than Ahmadinejad. I think there was little difference between the two before the election, but now that the Ahmadinejad and his minions are cracking down in the way of stealing the election, there's no telling the position that Mousavi would take going forward. His positions have been overtaken by events and the Iranian people would not tolerate the mullahs running things as they have for 30 years.

UPDATE:
Have cracks appeared in the Guardian Council with overt support for demonstrations against Ahamdinejad? Hot Air has a photo purportedly of mullahs joining in with marching demonstrators. That assumes that this is indeed a photo of demonstrators against Ahmadinejad. It could also be mullahs marching in support of Ahmadinejad. In any case, we've got the drawing of lines and the mullahs showing their support overtly. They're taking sides.

UPDATE:
Mousavi's still in it, but another of the four candidates on the ballot is stepping back, rather than be seen as standing with the opposition.

Mohsen Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guards commander, officially captured less than 2 percent of the vote in the disputed election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the landslide winner over his nearest challenger, moderate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Mousavi, Rezaei and reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi alleged widespread vote-rigging immediately after the election, sparking large-scale protests.

In withdrawing his complaint to the Guardian Council, which oversees Iran's elections, Rezaei reportedly cited national security as his reason, The Wall Street Journal said.

He's as much a thug as Ahmadinejad, and it shows the extent to which the Guardian Council chooses people to run for President that hew closely to its own interests.

It's that Ahmadinejad threw the election that got people to realize just how the Guardian Council truly controls matters and how Ahmadinejad has ripped the veneer of legitimacy from what were really show elections.

UPDATE:
There are multiple reports coming in that Ahmadinejad's thugs have massacred people in Tehran. Persian Kitty, HuffPo, CNN, and other news outlets are reporting similar circumstances. No word on numbers of people murdered by the regime, but expect video and photos to get leaked at some point.

The regime's thugs in uniform opened fire on the crowds.

Hundreds of protesters clashed with waves of riot police and paramilitary militia in Tehran on Wednesday, witnesses said, as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insisted the authorities would not yield to pressure from opponents demanding a new election following allegations of electoral fraud.

It was impossible to confirm first-hand the extent of the new violence in the capital because of draconian new press restrictions on coverage of the post-election mayhem. But the witnesses reached by telephone said the confrontation, outside the national Parliament building, was bloody, with police using live ammunition.

Defying government warnings, the witnesses said that hundreds, if not thousands of protesters, had attempted to gather in front of the parliament on Baharestan Square. They were met with riot police and paramilitary militia, who struck at them with truncheons, tear gas, and guns. One witness said he saw a 19-year-old woman shot in the neck.

The Times is also reporting that Mousavi's distancing himself from the demonstrators engaging in today's actions, saying that this wasn't one of his officially sanctioned demonstrations.

UPDATE:
A troubling email from Iran, as posted at Normblog. In the email, the poster claims that more than 150 were killed in the protests over the weekend, and the true numbers are being withheld by the regime to thwart bigger protests. The dead and injured are not being brought to regular hospitals, but to military hospitals so that the numbers can be sanitized.

In fact several independent sources in Tehran hospitals and clinical centres have counted the dead from Saturday at over 150; yes more than 150. Doctors have been silenced from speaking about it. In fact when less than a week before (16 June) the doctors and nurses of Rasul Hospital in west Tehran witnessed 8 killed and 28 wounded from the day's demonstration, in their hospital, they came out on the street to inform people.

But on Bloody Saturday, the situation was totally different after Khamenei's command to slaughter demonstrators. I have a report just from one hospital not so far from my living place... In this hospital alone doctors received 20 dead and many other wounded. Security forces went to all the hospitals to which people themselves had brought the bodies, to gather all the wounded and dead; when paramilitary and military forces gathered the bodies, they sent them directly to military hospitals; they transmitted these bodies to their own centres too. In an unbelievable event in the hospital, of which I have a report, security forces have shot and killed the wounded persons before transmitting them. When doctors and nurses bacame mad and went out on the streets, they have opened fire on them too.

Read it all.

UPDATE:
President Obama is reconsidering a State Department invitation extended to Iranian diplomats to attend US Embassy July 4th celebrations. There was no reason to extend the invites in the first place (as if they would show in any event), but reconsideration isn't sufficient. You would be consorting with an evil and illegitimate regime that is murdering its own citizens who are attempting to protest against a stolen election and the destruction of what feeble human rights they have under Islamic law in Iran.

UPDATE:
Iranian press reports that the police identified and raided a headquarters for demonstrators. Of course, that location is the same as Mousavi's election headquarters. 1984 indeed.

UPDATE:
Hot diggity dog. Obama rescinds invites to Iranian diplomats for 4th of July celebrations at US embassies around the world.

Iranian Turmoil Continues

Various sources like Twitter continue to be a font of information and disinformation, so take reports with a grain of salt. There's quite a bit of rumors floating about, and hard news is harder to come upon.

Still, Twitter is an invaluable resource since the Iranian regime has attempted to thwart all news access and block attempts for the rest of the world to learn of what is going on inside the country.

Ahmadinejad's thugs are busy with their propaganda efforts, and it appears that they may have engaged in fauxtography, increasing the size of crowds to inflate their numbers in comparison to the strong showing by Mirhussein Mousavi's supporters. (Via the Guardian, which has running updates). Here's another photo that shows a state-supported rally backing Ahmadinejad, and it's considerable in size.

The online arena is another aspect of the conflict growing inside Iran, and the Iranian military is targeting websites and bloggers.

Meanwhile, Iranian leaders have arrested two elections officials who sent around an "official" letter claiming that Mousavi won the election. The authenticity of that letter isn't clear, but that only adds to the confusion surrounding the election results:

An Iranian news website reported that two suspects, who are believed to be behind the letter's distribution, have been arrested. The conservative website claimed that the two also handed out copies of the letter on board Tehran's train.

Apart from the "odd and absurd" data contained in the letter, said the site, the document lacks a serial number and does not bear the minister's signature.

The letter is said to contain the allegedly true results of the presidential elections, which protesters claim were widely forged. According to the document, Mousavi is the real winner of the elections with 19 million votes, reformist candidate Mehdi Karoubi came second with 13 million votes and President Ahmadinejad only came third with 5.6 million votes. The second conservative nominee, Mohsen Rezai got only 3.7 million votes, the document stated.

The protests continue around the country, and there are reports that some prosecutors are threatening the death penalty against those leading the demonstrations. They're looking to blame the unrest on foreigners:

Security forces arrested a pro-reform activist and an editor on Wednesday while a provincial prosecutor warned that those causing unrest faced the death penalty. An official inquiry was launched into an attack on university students.

Tens of thousands of pro-Mousavi supporters defied authorities to rally in Tehran on Tuesday after the seven were killed in Monday's violence but international media were forbidden from leaving their offices to cover the event.

After Monday's deaths, Mousavi had urged followers to call off a planned rally in the same downtown area on Tuesday so the marchers headed north instead. Some sent messages to meet again on Wednesday for a rally at Tehran's central Haft-e Tir Square.

Pro-Mousavi protests have been reported in the cities of Rasht, Orumiyeh, Zanjan, Zahedan, and Tabriz. ISNA news agency said 88 people were arrested during post-election unrest in the city of Mashhad and up to 60 people in the city of Tabriz.

Mohammadreza Habibi, prosecutor-general in Isfahan province, said: "We warn the few ... controlled by foreigners who try to disrupt domestic security by inciting individuals to destroy and to commit arson that the Islamic penal code for such individuals waging war against God is execution."

A reformist source said Saeed Laylaz, editor of business daily Sarmayeh, and activist Mohammadreza Jalaiepour were both arrested on Wednesday. Jalaiepour was detained at Tehran's international airport, the source said.

Keep in mind that the Iranian regime has arrested Iranian-Americans in the past, including the Alaei brothers (doctors who work to reduce the spread of AIDS), and journalist Roxana Saberi, all of whom were charged with actions against the state. Saberi was released, but the Alaei brothers remain in Iranian custody. Watch for the regime to continue linking the demonstrations to foreign elements. It's far easier for a regime to do that than acknowledge that the demonstrations and unrest is due to the regime throwing the election.

Also note that the prosecutors are claiming that the demonstrators and those who engage in violence are waging war against God. They're trying to impose their religious authority and supremacy, and the Iranian people are having none of it.

Twitter and other outlets have enabled photos of the violence against Mousavi's supporters to be sent around the world, and the protests in places like Dubai, Paris, Vienna (and here), Berlin, and Frankfurt have used them to further their cause.

UPDATE:
More video:



This video shows protesters torching what is claimed to be a police station and gunfire can be heard in the background:


UPDATE:
This point cannot be stressed enough. Mousavi isn't necessarily better than Ahmadinejad, but these protests have the potential to go beyond Mousavi and get at real reform - and ending the Islamic regime altogether. The mullahs are doing whatever they can to suppress the demonstrations precisely because they see their power being challenged.

It also presents difficulties for the Obama Administration, since they were more than willing to have open talks with the Ahmadinejad regime and it appears that the facade of legitimacy of the regime has fallen by the wayside and with it Obama's foreign policy agenda regarding Iran.

UPDATE:
Mousavi is now calling for mass demonstrations tomorrow, despite warnings from the regime that there will be crackdowns. Things are coming to a head quickly.

Demonstrations continue in Tehran, and there's reports that 500,000 are marching towards Vali Asr Square.

Reports via Twitter also suggest that some of the police and basiji are turning and supporting the demonstrators.

UPDATE:
Richard Fernandez on Iran:

The reorientation of the IRGC mission to face internal threats is a tacit admission of political weakness. Contrary to the narrative that Iran has been strengthened by the events of recent years, it is strongly suggestive that the opposite is true. And now that the internal threat has actually materialized, the Obama administration should ask itself whether it is wise public policy to throw a regime racked by internal dissention and possibly collapsing upon itself the lifeline of “engagement”; whether it is opportune to give it international legitimacy and remove the sanctions at a time when it is beating itself up. In others words, the administration must ask whether it makes any sense to ring the bell just as Teheran is on the ropes. Following the lead of Kim Jong Il can be described as an act of dialogue without precondition, or it may simply be stupidity without precedent.

UPDATE:
At least 30 districts had voting totals that exceeded 100%. Yeah, I'll say someone screwed up rigging the election.

At least 200 polling stations across Iran had participation rates of 95% or above, say sources of centrist Auyandeh site

Turnouts of more than 100% were recorded in at least 30 Iranian towns in last week's disputed presidential election, opposition sources have claimed.

In the most specific allegations of rigging yet to emerge, the centrist Ayandeh website – which stayed neutral during the campaign – reported that 26 provinces across the country showed participation figures so high they were either hitherto unheard of in democratic elections or in excess of the number of registered electors.

Taft, a town in the central province of Yazd, had a turnout of 141%, the site said, quoting an unnamed "political expert". Kouhrang, in Chahar Mahaal Bakhtiari province, recorded a 132% turnout while Chadegan, in Isfahan province, had 120%.

UPDATE:
It looks like a schism has developed among the mullahs. There are now two factions fighting for control, the one backing Ahmadinejad, and the other is backing Mousavi. Those backing Mousavi do not have the IRGC at their beck and call, since Ahmadinejad has put his cronies in positions of power throughout the Iranian political structure, and his faction, which appears to include Khamenei is seeking to pursue an even more confrontational and aggressive agenda internationally. It's what this NY Times op-ed calls a silent revolution, which has moved the regime away from theocracy to a military dictatorship.

JUST after Iran’s rigged elections last week, with hundreds of thousands of protesters taking to the streets, it looked as if a new revolution was in the offing. Five days later, the uprising is little more than a symbolic protest, crushed by the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Meanwhile, the real revolution has gone unnoticed: the guard has effected a silent coup d’état.

The seeds of this coup were planted four years ago with the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And while he has since disappointed his public, failing to deliver on promised economic and political reforms, his allies now control the country. In the most dramatic turnabout since the 1979 revolution, Iran has evolved from theocratic state to military dictatorship.

UPDATE:
There have been rumors over the past few days that Ahmadinejad has brought in ringers from Lebanon and Gaza to supplement his IRGC, in particular Hizbullah. Now, there are reports that Hamas thugs have been brought in, and the Iranians have taken note - Iranians can tell when someone doesn't speak their language. It's too soon to tell if that's indeed the case, but it bears watching that Ahmadinejad doesn't trust his IRGC to do the job of controlling the situation, that he was forced to bring in thugs from Gaza.

I'm sure that will sit well with Iranians. It's yet another sign of how tied together Ahmadinejad is with the jihadis of Hamas and Hizbullah, and that they are little more than proxy armies for the Iranian regime.

Iran To Release Roxana Saberi; Alaei Brothers Still Held

This is a most curious gesture on the part of the Iranian regime. They had trumped up charges against Saberi and convicted her of conspiring to overthrow the Iranian government in a sham trial. Now, it looks like they're going to release her after an appeal that took longer than the original trial (if only barely). (HT: Hot Air)

An Iran court has cut jailed US-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi’s sentence to two years suspended and she will be freed later on Monday, her lawyer says.

The court heard Ms Saberi’s appeal against her original eight-year prison sentence on Sunday, after an international outcry. …

The five-hour appeal was far longer than the original trial - and before it began Ms Saberi was allowed a half-hour meeting with her lawyer.

Iranian justice is a misnomer. It's a kangaroo court and the regime was pushing this trial and conviction, just as surely as they're now looking to release her.

The question becomes why. Why is the Iranian regime now releasing Saberi? What have they gained from the release? Well, there's the possibility of a quid pro quo - Iran was invited to a conference on how to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan. That's no better than allowing the fox to guard the henhouse since Iran has no interest in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan since they benefit from that instability as it enables the regime to expand its influence.

Meanwhile, the regime continues holding the Alaei brothers, who were similarly convicted of conspiring to overthrow the regime. The brothers are doctors who treat AIDS patients and are well known for their AIDS prevention programs in Iran. One was attending my alma mater in a Ph.D program.

Let's not forget them.

UPDATE:
Jammie also notes the reports of Saberi's pending release.

Iran and North Korea Continue Testing Obama Administration

Iran continues pursuing its agenda regardless of what the Obama Administration does and is willing to concede. The Administration is willing to drop conditions on Iran's nuclear enrichment program.

The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a longstanding American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.

The proposals, exchanged in confidential strategy sessions with European allies, would press Tehran to open up its nuclear program gradually to wide-ranging inspection. But the proposals would also allow Iran to continue enriching uranium for some period during the talks. That would be a sharp break from the approach taken by the Bush administration, which had demanded that Iran halt its enrichment activities, at least briefly to initiate negotiations.

The proposals under consideration would go somewhat beyond President Obama’s promise, during the presidential campaign, to open negotiations with Iran “without preconditions.” Officials involved in the discussion said they were being fashioned to draw Iran into nuclear talks that it had so far shunned.

What could possibly go wrong? Iran wants nuclear weapons and any deal that allows Iran to continue working their centrifuges is one that furthers the Iranian agenda. Under the Administration's position, Iran will be a nuclear power before long, regardless of the consequences to the region and the world.

Iran is seeing the US being led by a weak-willed neophyte who doesn't understand power politics and the Iranians are going to take full advantage of the situation. They've been testing the Administration since day one, including trying several Americans on trumped up charges of espionage.

Iran is trying an American journalist, Roxana Saberi on charges of espionage in a secret trial. Yet, there's next to no outcry from the Obama Administration as to her treatment, or that of two other Americans being held, the Alaei brothers. The State Department calls the charges baseless, but yet the Administration is pursuing talks on the nuclear front? No wonder the Iranians are laughing.

On Tuesday, Reuters quoted a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, Ali-Reza Jamshidi, saying that a verdict can be expected “soon, perhaps in the next two or three weeks.”

Mr. Jamshidi also lashed out at calls for Ms. Saberi’s release from American officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. According to Reuters, Mr. Jamshidi said: “Giving an opinion on a case, by an individual or a government, without being informed about the facts in it, is utterly ridiculous.”

How about a quid pro quo - no talks unless the three Americans are released? Where is the outcry from the human rights groups? Instead, the Iranians will continue to gin up bogus controversies in order to push their agenda and the US is a step behind.

Want more proof of the Administration's folly and the world's rogue nations taking advantage of the Administration? North Korea is vowing to restart its nuclear program and thumbed its nose at the UN efforts to disarm the nuclear power.

UPDATE:
It took them long enough, but the New York Times to its credit has put the Saberi trial on the front page above the fold of its website.

UPDATE:
It will take time for the North Koreans to move forward on their threat, but that's to extract still more concessions from the Six Party talks and the US in particular.

You can bet that the North Koreans are seeing what the Iranians are doing (and getting from the US in way of concessions) and itching to get some more of their own (and vice versa).

Obama is being triangulated by the Axis of Evil and he probably doesn't even know it.

Iran Charges US Journalist With Espionage

The Iranian mullahs are again trying to test President Obama. They've captured an American freelance journalist and are charging her with espionage.

Iran's judiciary has charged detained Iranian-American freelance journalist Roxana Saberi with espionage, the ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

ISNA, quoting a judge who is the deputy head of Iran's prosecutor's office, said Saberi had "accepted" the accusation.

Saberi, a 31-year-old Iranian-American born in the United States who has reported for the BBC, NPR and other media, was arrested in late January for working in the Islamic Republic after her press credentials had expired.

"She had been carrying out espionage activities ... under the cover of a journalist ... and she has accepted the accusations," ISNA quoted judge Haddad as saying, giving only his last name.

This isn't the first time that the Iranian regime has charged Americans with espionage. The Alaei brothers remain held by the Iranian mullahs on similar claims, even though both were working to reduce the spread of AIDS in the country.

Forced confessions and invented charges are all part and parcel of the regime's overall approach to confronting the US on as many fronts as possible to see what they can or cannot get away with. Thus far, the Iranians are doing as they please, and no one is willing to put their foot down and stop them, especially President Obama.

Iran Convicts UAlbany Student In Secret Trials

I've previously reported on this story, but word comes now that Iran has convicted the Alaei Brothers in a sham secret trial. The two men, a University at Albany public health doctoral student, Dr. Kamiar Alaei, a prominent AIDS expert from Iran, and his brother Arash Alaei, were sentenced to three years and six years, respectively for plotting to overthrow the Iranian regime.

Physicians for Human Rights spokesman Jonathan Hutson told the Times Union Tuesday the doctors don't know all the charges on which they were convicted.

The doctors were interrogated for six months and possibly coerced, Hutson said in an e-mail. The prosecutor then "paraded them through a one-day trial on New Year's Eve without informing them of all the charges against them, and without disclosing all the evidence," Hutson wrote.

"If due process means anything, it means the right to know the charges, hear the evidence, and face the accuser," he wrote. "The doctors did not receive a fair trial, either by standards of international human rights law, or even by Iran's penal code."

Iran, Free the Doctors, notes that this is likely Iran's way of testing the Obama Administration.

In the wake of President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Iran has signaled that the espionage trial of two world-renowned AIDS doctors is a bellwether for the future of US-Iranian relations.

The Washington Post reported on Jan. 19 that an unnamed Iranian senior counter-intelligence official warned the new Obama administration that the case of Dr. Kamiar Alaei and Dr. Arash Alaei exemplifies a “full fledged intelligence war” between Iran and the US.

“If Kamiar and Arash are engaged in any war, it’s the battle against HIV/AIDS,” said Sarah Kalloch, Director of Outreach for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). “They traveled the world to share the Iranian model of HIV prevention, and to learn from other countries about innovations in infectious disease treatment. Treating AIDS is not a crime—it is good medicine.

Expect to see more tests in coming days. Iran could care less about human rights, due process, or other freedoms that we in the US take for granted. This is a naked display of power and a test to see how Obama responds.

UPDATE:
Amnesty International doesn't have a current statement out, only that the trial occurred on December 31 and didn't meet international standards. I'm sure they'll have something to say now that the verdict has been rendered.

Ahmadinejad Regime Silent While Holding UAlbany Student

A doctoral student from my alma mater remains held by Ahmadinejad's foul regime. The Iranians are holding Kamiar Alaei and his brother, Arash, claiming that they were plotting to topple the Iranian government. The brothers are internationally known AIDS physicians and were arrested in June. Kamiar is enrolled in SUNY Albany's PhD public health program.

Demonstrators held a rally outside the Iranian mission protesting the ongoing detention. Physicians for Human Rights is also protesting the action and have signed a petition demanding their release:

More than 3,200 HIV/AIDS advocates and researchers worldwide have signed a petition requesting that the brothers be released.

According to the Post, the brothers' arrest reflects a trend of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration to detain professionals who are suspected of promoting Western interests. According to Hadi Ghaemi of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a main focus of Ahmadinejad's administration is a "broad crackdown on dissidents of all kinds" and a refusal "to acknowledge that anything of the sort is happening."

An unnamed Iranian lawyer who has been in contact with Physicians for Human Rights said the Alaeis likely were the targets of intelligence and security officials in Iran. Hasan Hadad, deputy general prosecutor of Tehran, in an August statement said the brothers attempted to recruit and train people to topple the Iranian government. Hadad said that the brothers were "involved in organizing gatherings on topics such as AIDS that have received attention from domestic and international" non-governmental organizations, adding that they "acted to recruit individuals to travel abroad with the aim of training them on overthrowing the system. They were well aware of their activities and topics of training, such as velvet revolutions."

The brothers were involved in establishing a well regarded AIDS/HIV clinic program in Iran. The regime was tracking the Alaei brothers because of their close ties to the West.

UPDATE:
Larry King didn't bother to raise this question in his puff-piece interview with Ahmadinejad when he had a chance. Iran's record on human rights is abysmal, and King had an opportunity to press the case for these two doctors and did nothing. I guess he wanted to retain access for future interviews?

UPDATE:
PHR has a petition to sign demanding the release of the Alaei brothers. For more information, see Iran, Free The Doc.org.