Rantings of a Bastard

Britain is getting it's embassy staff (and their families) the fuck out of Iran.

Can't say I blame them.

An Iranian actress was sentenced to one year in jail and 90 lashes for her role in a film about the limits imposed on artists in Iran.

Because, obviously, punishing someone for being in a film about restrictions on free speech is just fine and dandy. It's not hypocritical at all.

(Yes, I'm aware that Iran probably doesn't have freedom of speech.)

Missing Iranian nuclear scientist defected to U.S. .... last June.

Okay, okay... it doesn't say he defected last June, but he 'went missing' last June. Man, I sure hope he didn't leave behind any family he gave a shit about.

No. Really.

Iran vows revenge for death of professor. Here's what gets me... according to the article, the assassination of the professor in question was done in a 'Zionist style'.

Hrm.

It's also an IRA style, a Hamas style, and probably a Mexican drug cartel style (although they seem to prefer beheading opponents or shooting up drug clinics).

Iranian nuclear scientist killed in bomb blast

Of course, Iran is blaming Israel for this. Because right now, in a country that's had regular protests since a widely criticized election months ago, ramping up to deaths of protestors just a couple weeks ago, why of course it's Israel behind this, and not one or another faction in Iran. Because everything is hunky-dory in Iran, despite all the evidence. Who are you going to believe - Ahmadinejad or your own eyes?

Edit: The plot thickens! It turns out that the dead physicist supported the opposition (Mousavi), so this really takes away from the idea that Israel was behind this. (But who really believed Israel was behind this?)

Apparently, acting like a decent human being whilst a Iranian official of any sort is wrong.

.... seriously, he sent an e-mail to Israel's FIFA team and that's bad?

Dear Iran, please join the 20th century. (Yes, I know it's the 21st century, but Iran apparently has to take baby steps with this kind of thing.)

Iran continues to blame Western nations for uprisings

Because, you know, being an authoritarian dictatorship with only a token's worth of democracy (haha) makes your citizens calm and happy with the brutal heel of oppression. They're shooting protesters, arresting the relatives of people who criticize the government (because in some cases, the people they want to arrest are no longer in Iran), and generally being dicks. But nope, it's all a Western plot. It has nothing to do with their own policies at all. Voter fraud? Bah. Repressive policies? Foolishness.

Why, you'd think it was a theocratic regime that severely curtails the rights of their citizens and enforces its own decrees by unilaterally deciding who gets to run for any major office. STUFF AND NONSENSE!

So.... I'm guessing that 2010 is going to see a lot more interesting shit go down in Iran.

Iran announces plans for 10 new uranium enrichment plans, still insists that they don't want to build nuclear weapons. Somehow, I just can't bring myself to trust them.

Ahmadinejad offers to buy US uranium.

He's offering to buy uranium that is 20% enriched, with the idea that it's to be used to produce nuclear medicines. Nuclear medicines don't directly use uranium; rather they use the fission and decay products of the uranium. In that light, hey, you know, doesn't sound bad, right?

Because, you know, he says that a bomb needs uranium enriched to 99.7%, so we could sell Iran the 20% enriched uranium. Except, of course, that he's wrong. Nuclear weapons typically contain 85% enriched U-235, and a crude, horribly inefficient weapon could be as low as... wait for it... 20% enriched. Huh. (To note, the less uranium is enriched, the more you need for critical mass. At 85% enriched, you need 55 kilograms. At 20% enriched, you need 400 kilograms, and at 15% enriched, you need over 600 kilograms.)

So, yeah, I don't see the U.S. falling for this.

Ahmadinejad humiliated over vice president choice.

Okay, so basically, Ahmadinejad recently picked a guy named Esfandiar Rahim Mashai to be the First Vice-President. (Not first as they've never had one before, but first in rank. Iran has twelve vice-presidents.) Mashai also happens to be Ahmadinejad's son's father-in-law.

He is also, apparently, a soppy liberal. Well, no, not how we would probably consider things. But to Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (the guy who is really in charge in Iran), Mashai is a problem. You see, back in 2008, Mashai dared to say that Iranians were "friends of all people in the world - even Israelis." You can imagine how well that went over.

So, Ahmadinejad picking him as a political ally resulted in... drum roll please... Khamenei ordering Ahmadinejad to dismiss Mashai from his newly appointed post.

Here's the kicker... will Ahmadinejad do it? Honestly, he probably will. But Ahmadinejad is in a pretty good position to stand up for his choice. Basically, all the political turmoil over the (almost certainly rigged) election means that the overall power structure (Khamanei and the rest of the Guardian Council) preferred Ahmadinejad to his chief rival in the election, Mousavi, despite the fact that all major decisions are made, regardless of who is President, by the Supreme Leader.

But, Khamenei needs Ahmadinejad to stay in office and look like a strong leader just as much as Ahmadinejad needs Khamenei's support. If Ahmadinejad is forced to dismiss Khamenei, it weakens Ahmadinejad. Even more, although this is highly unlikely, it could result in Ahmadinejad stepping down. That, friends and neighors, would really stir things up in Iran.

No, I don't think Ahmadinejad will step down if he is forced to dismiss Mashai. But it is an interesting thought, isn't it?

Iran's election authority has said that the claims of voting irregularites are unfounded.

Really.

Dear Iranian election authority, isn't it true that in dozens of cities in Iran, the total number of votes received exceeds the number of registered voters in those cities?

Iranian election authority: Umm.. yeah. But those votes didn't noticeably influence the overall results.

But aren't those still voting irregularities?

Iranian election authority: No. Now go away. We have to have brutal militia beat up unarmed women and old people. It's very hard work.

*sigh* Yeah, this isn't going well, and it's going to get worse.