The United Arab Emirates has seized a cargo ship earlier this month bound for Iran with a cache of banned arms from North Korea, the first such seizure since sanctions against North Korea were ramped up, diplomats and officials told The Associated Press on Friday.
According to Mr. Khorramshahi, the judges explicitly stated in their verdict that Ms. Saberi could be released because "there was no animosity between Iran and the United States."
A member of Iran's official delegation to the UN's anti-racism conference verbally assaulted Shoah survivor and Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel in Geneva, referring to him as a "Zionazi." The incident was captured on film by Sergio Wider of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The video features the Iranian official repeatedly screaming at Wiesel, who chose to remain silent and ignore the reprehensible comments.The most ironic part of this is that there will be no riots in Jewish communities, no riots in Israel. Why? Because unlike the Muslims who rioted in response to the Mohammad cartoons- they're still doing it even two years later- the people such as myself who will undoubtedly be offended by this racist's namecalling believe in his right to paint himself a blithering idiot (free speech).
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"The Iranian president's sympathizers yelled 'Zionazi' at Wiesel, who was quite speechless following the incident," Wider said. "Nobody believed it happened, especially as Wiesel is one of the most well-known Shoah survivors and is greatly appreciated for his humanitarian work."
US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi poses for a photograph in Tehran in this April 10, 2004 file photo. An Iranian-American journalist detained in Iran since late January 2009 and accused of espionage went on trial this week and a verdict is expected soon, the Iranian judiciary said on April 14, 2009.
Aside from the fact that Ahmadinejad is a world-class asshole, it's very plausible that he's using this woman as fodder for future political engagement with the US. As you can see, it's clear that the number of charges they pulled out of thin air, moving from a lack of credentials to espionage, has no basis at all. What would Miss North Dakota 1997 be doing spying for the US in Iran?Iran has released few details about the charges against the [Saberi]. Saberi was arrested in January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But earlier this month, an Iranian judge leveled a more serious allegation that she was passing classified information to U.S. intelligence services.
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Her parents... traveled to Iran to seek her release. Her father, Reza Saberi, has said his daughter wasn't allowed a proper defense during her one-day trial behind closed doors a week ago. He said no evidence has been made public, and his daughter was tricked into making incriminating statements by officials who told her they would free her if she did.He told CNN on Sunday that her trial lasted only 15 minutes. "It was a mock trial," he said.
One Iranian analyst said Ahmadinejad's letter was politically motivated and suggested Iran could be using Saberi's case to gain leverage with the U.S.
"Iran can use Saberi's case as a bargaining card in possible negotiations with the U.S.," said analyst Saeed Leilaz.
President Barack Obama said Sunday he was "gravely concerned" about Saberi's safety and well-being and was confident she wasn't involved in espionage. The U.S. has called the charges baseless and said Iran would gain U.S. goodwill if it "responded in a positive way" to the case.Any other country in the world would be outraged at the baseless arrest of one of its citizens overseas. But not Obama. He's the bigger man, a man of maturity. Hell, he's so mature his spine has gone and vaporized into dust.
