Putin Will END Up Eating His Words (Daniel 7:7)

Putin says Iran has right to enrich uranium

By staff and agency of Tehran Times
On Line: 09 February 2015 19:02
In Print: Tuesday 10 February 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Iran has the right to have peaceful nuclear activity including uranium enrichment.

He made the remarks in an interview with Al-Ahram daily published on Monday.

“Our position is based on a belief that Iran has a right to peaceful nuclear activity including uranium enrichment, naturally under control of the IAEA.” he stated.

Commenting on measures taken by Russia to settle the problem over the Iranian nuclear program, Putin said, “I can say with no exaggeration that Russia makes a significant contribution to the settlement of the situation around the Iranian nuclear program.”

“It was not an easy task to convince our partners from the P5+1 to agree with this approach. At first, we continuously asked all the parties involved to sit down at the negotiating table and start a serious discussion of the ways to resolve this problem. We tried to convince them that there was no alternative to the political and diplomatic settlement. Then, we proposed a conceptual framework to advance along this way – the principles of the stage-by-stage movement and reciprocity. And such an approach was supported by all the participants in the process,” the Russian leader stated.

He went on to say, “The negotiations are well under way now. Substantial progress has been made. However, we have not managed yet to produce a final comprehensive solution either regarding the Iranian nuclear program itself or the prospects of lifting the sanctions.”

“We expect the efforts in this field to be continued. The crucial point is that nobody should try to derive unilateral benefit from the situation or to bargain out more than what is needed for a balanced and just resolution of this complicated issue,” Putin stated.

Quote of the day:

“I can say with no exaggeration that Russia makes a significant contribution to the settlement of the situation around the Iranian nuclear program.”

They Take The Mark On Their Right Hand (Revelation 13:16)

Iraqi Shiite militias grow brutal in anti-IS fight

Posted 2:58 a.m. today
Updated 3:05 a.m. today

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press; SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press

BAGHDAD — The vengeance that Iraq’s Shiite militias mete out as they fight the Islamic State group can be just as brutal as that of their sworn sectarian enemies.

In a grisly video recently posted online, a Shiite fighter shouts the name of a revered imam in victory as he poses beside decapitated bodies. Another militiaman sits nearby, grinning as he maims a corpse.
One bearded militiaman explains the bodies are those of fighters who “killed our comrades.” Another man shouts, “Our fighters were good guys. These are dogs.”

The Shiite militias who have answered the call-to-arms by the government to fight the Islamic State group are growing more brutal, stoked by a desire for revenge against the Sunni extremists who have butchered Shiites who fall into their hands.

That vigilantism is posing a challenge for the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, where authorities have been embarrassed by international criticism of the militias and are worried about militiamen getting out of control. Sunnis whom the government is trying to win over accuse the militias of atrocities against their community, and there are concerns over the militias’ links to Iran and Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah guerrilla group.

At the same time, the state can’t do without them. The Iraqi army melted away in June when the militants overran the northern city of Mosul and has struggled since to regroup. The tens of thousands of fighters in about half a dozen Shiite militias have filled the void. Militias have been credited with many of the recent battlefield victories south and west of Baghdad, while in the north, Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters backed by U.S.-led airstrikes have taken back some territory that fell to the Sunni militants this summer.

“The intervention of the Shiite volunteers was vital to saving Iraq,” said Shiite lawmaker Faleh Hassan, who joined the Kataeb Hizbollah, one of the most prominent militias. He said he was answering the call by Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to help fight the extremists.

He said he fought in the battle that broke the extremists’ siege on the Shiite-majority town of Amirli in August and later participated in operations to liberate Jurf al-Sakher, a town south of Baghdad.

He acknowledged “some misdeeds done by some Shiite fighters.” But, he said, “such practices happen during wartime.”

Last month, Amnesty International said Shiite militias are increasingly to blame for kidnappings and retaliatory killings of Sunnis. There have been instances of Shiite militiamen killing captured militant fighters — or Sunnis they presume to be with the group — though not on the scale of the Islamic State group, which has boasted of killing hundreds of captured soldiers, militiamen and members of minority groups over the past five months.

Several videos posted online seem to be intentionally made by the Shiite militiamen to show off atrocities and intimidate opponents.

None of the videos explain where or when the events shown took place, and their authenticity could not be independently verified. But regional Iraqi accents are spoken throughout the videos, and they correspond to events reported by The Associated Press.

In one video, a militiaman in a uniform with the Kataeb Hizbollah logo is seen propping up the head of a bearded man on a stick next to a decapitated body.

“Why don’t you burn him,” asks another militiaman.

“You don’t need to do that,” a third says. “You already beheaded him.”

In another, a masked militiaman stands next to a blindfolded man in handcuffs.

“This dog is a member of Daesh,” the fighter says, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. “As vengeance for the Shiite martyrs … we will slaughter them as they did us,” he continues, his hand motioning across the neck as his fellow fighters cheer. The video does not show the man actually being killed.

Some of the Shiite groups have sought to regulate their fighters.

On Oct. 31, the powerful Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia announced the expulsion of 49 members accused of “using the name of the Islamic resistance … to carry out their crimes.” The statement had no details, saying only that the expulsion was “in the wake of increasing kidnappings and blackmail.”

During August fighting for Amirli, fighters loyal to the powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were filmed carrying the heads of Islamic State militants they had killed.

The clip forced al-Sadr to issue a statement urging the Peace Brigade militiamen to keep their reputation “pure.” He also urged his followers to treat Islamic State captives ethically, adding, “Nobody should act the same way the terrorist are.”

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a Shiite who took over the post in September, has vowed to rein in the militias to avoid stoking more tensions with the Sunnis.

Sunni lawmaker Raad al-Dahlki, from the mixed province of Diyala, said some Shiite militiamen are “carrying out a sectarian cleansing” of the Sunnis in parts of Diyala and Baghdad.

“I am afraid that at some point, these militias will be stronger than the government itself, they will be a state within the state,” said al-Dahlki.

Among ordinary Iraqis, the Shiite militiamen inspire a mixture of fear and admiration as they roam the streets in government SUVs with tinted windows and without license plates, whizzing through police and army checkpoints, no questions asked.

In the mind of many, the militias have become more powerful than the army.

A photo circulating on Facebook shows an Iraqi soldier saluting Shiite militiamen, dressed in civilian clothes, climbing onto the back of a truck taking them to the frontline. A mocking caption reads: “For the first time, we see an army saying farewell to civilians headed to battle.”

Ali Mustafa, a Shiite resident of Baghdad, said militias have helped “keep the terrorists away from Baghdad.”

“The Shiite volunteers did the job instead of the collapsing army,” Mustafa said.

___

Follow Sinan Salaheddin on Twitter at @sinansm

Read more at http://www.wral.com/iraqi-shiite-militias-grow-brutal-in-anti-is-fight/14169225/#52oj1d9hlKMvpJ1B.99

The Antichrist Makes Them Take The Mark on Their Hand (Revelation 13)

Shopping for guns in Sadr City

 

Guns In Sadr City

Weapon dealers display illegal weapons at a black market in Iraq, Sept. 1, 2010. (photo by REUTERS/Jamal Penjweny)

Who would imagine that a country with 1.5 million people in the army, police and intelligence apparatuses, would have a black market where weapons such as handguns and machine guns are sold like vegetables in the market?

 

Summary In the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad, a weapons market opens its doors every night to tribesmen who buy all kinds of arms, while the government claims to be unaware of the situation.

Author Omar al-Jaffal

Posted May 21, 2014

 Translator(s)Steffi Chakti

This is what is happening in Iraq. Every night, a number of young men set up stands in Sadr City, east of Baghdad, displaying various types of arms and munition.

This market is located in the Mredi area of Sadr City, which constitutes the stronghold of the Sadrist movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr. The area is also known for being home to the leaders of Shiite militias that emerged during the period of heavy sectarian clashes in 2006-2008.

Children practice aiming their guns into open space at the market, while their fathers stand next to them, proudly smiling. Arms are sold just like any permitted goods. The residents of Sadr City even know the opening and closing hours of the bazaar, which is simply known as “the weapons market.”

Al-Monitor met with vendor Rahim, who said, “This market is old, dating back seven years. … The majority of customers are tribesmen who own arms in case fighting erupts between the tribes.”

Sadr City is considered one of the most staunchly tribal areas, where tribal customs are enforced more than state laws. Vendors can provide all types of unavailable arms, including heavy weapons.
“The demand focuses on rifles and guns. Yet, some try to buy PK machine guns, or grenades, which we don’t have,” Rahim said. According to weapon vendors Al-Monitor met, arms are available through buying from and selling to the public who continuously replace their weapons or sell them due to financial hardship. “We buy some arms from soldiers or officers in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior,” Rahim said.

The demand is focused on the popular Glock pistol that is largely made out of plastic and is used by members of the ministries of interior and defense. The Glock pistol is considered a good-quality gun and sells for $2,500.

A security source in the Ministry of Interior told Al-Monitor, “This market is hard to control, given the cohesive social fabric in Sadr City. … The market does not pose a threat to security because the majority of those buying arms are not terrorists, but rather tribesmen who solve their fights among themselves.”

Rahim said, "Every now and then, the army and police raid the market. But they are not able to arrest any vendors, because we have watchers who inform us before they reach the market. By the time they get to the market, we have run away.”

Iskandar Watwat, a member of the parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, told Al-Monitor that he had “no information about this market.” However, Watwat called for “filming this market using mobile phones, so that the required measures can be adopted to arrest the vendors.”

Iran (Large Horn) vs United States (Babylon the Great)

Senior Cleric Reiterates Iranian Nation’s Rigid Stance on N. Rights

 

Great Babylon vs. First Horn

 

TEHRAN (FNA)- Tehran’s Provisional Friday prayers leader Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani once again underlined the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, and stressed that the Iranian nation will never give up its inalienable right to access and use the civilian nuclear technology.

Addressing a large and fervent congregation of the people on Tehran University campus on Friday, Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani said, “Sanctions cannot change Iran’s decision to continue its peaceful nuclear program in every aspect. “

He pointed to the ongoing talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany), and said, “As the Supreme Leader has said on different occasions we are not optimistic about the talks.”

The senior Iranian cleric reiterated that the Iranian nation will not withdraw from the achievements of its nuclear scientists.

Meantime, he urged the world powers not to insist on their illogical stance regarding Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in his recent remarks underlined the necessity for keeping vigilant against the enemies’ display of superficial and unreal moderation, stressing that their true hostile nature was shown in the recent talks between Tehran and the world powers.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the nuclear talks proved the US hostility towards Iran and Islam, and added, “The enemy’s smile shouldn’t be taken seriously.”

Addressing thousands of people from the Central province of Qom, Ayatollah Khamenei said victory will be surely achieved through resistance.

“The enemies thought in vain that they could compel Iran to hold talks under sanctions,” he said, and added that Iran has not come to the negotiating table due to the pressure of the sanctions as Iranians are a resistant nation.

The leader said the enemies think that they have come to know the Iranian nation, but they are wrong.

The leader said Iran is negotiating with the West only because it has discerned it to be necessary, and stressed that Tehran has accepted to negotiate with the US only on the nuclear issue and not on bilateral ties, reminding that Tehran and Washington are still enemies at the end of the day.

“… we have already expressed our readiness to negotiate with the Satan (the US) on specific issues if necessary.”