Iranian President comes to America to Lecture Us on Nuclear Weapons

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad is coming to New York to attend the United Nation’s conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The conference, which is held every five years to review the status of Treaty compliance and consider changes, is scheduled to have a speech tomorrow from the Iranian leader who criticizes the West for their possession of nuclear weapons. At the same time Iran pursues a nuclear capability despite being a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty. Iran hopes to embarrass the West by pointing out Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons. I suspect he will fail to mention that Israel is not a signatory party to the treaty.

Iran is trying its best to pursue a nuclear option and lately Ahmadinejad has been travelling to meet with Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and President Lula of Brazil. All these travels have had two common themes anti-American rhetoric and talks about uranium or access to nuclear technology.

Iran is concerned that obtain sources for its nuclear needs that are not dependent on the West which is increasingly concerned about the secrecy of Iran’s “peaceful” pursuit of nuclear power.

New York City was the scene of a failed attempt at a terrorist bombing over the weekend. Pakistani Taliban, supported by Iran, claimed credit. But the UN will be a gracious host to the Iranian President whose nation just was granted a seat on the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women. Iran, where women are routinely imprisoned, abused, hung, and at times stoned, will now help shape global policy for the welfare of the feminine gender. The hypocrisy of the international body that allows this human rights travesty will tomorrow applaud Ahmadinejad’s duplicitous call for making the Middle East a nuclear free zone at the same time doing nothing about Iran’s violations of the very treaty under discussion. It should be noted that the conference in 1995 already passed such a resolution but again it has had no effect on Israel because Israel is not a signatory to the treaty. Iran is a signatory and had already been sanctioned by the UN three times for its failure to live up to its nuclear treaty commitments.

Ahmadinejad’s “diplomatic” efforts to forestall international sanctions on its own nuclear program are combined with various bluster. Iran has conducted provocative exercises in the Arabian Gulf and is pushing missiles to its Hezbollah surrogates in Lebanon. Just this last week an Iranian spy ring was wrapped up in Kuwait. Increases in Al Quds force presence are being noted in Latin America and they continue to play a role in Yemen. Some say Iran would like to promote a war between Israel and Lebanon this summer in hopes this will make the Israelis reconsider a strike on Iran until after Iran has what it needs to build a bomb. Using the UN is just another tool in Iran’s efforts to achieve what it has promised it does not seek – a nuclear weapon.

During the Second World War, Churchill and others took extraordinary measures to make sure Hitler could not gain access to Norwegian Heavy Water because they feared a nuclear weapon in the hands of a madman. Let us hope that there are men like Churchill today who will do the same things to prevent modern madmen from getting such weapons.

US Secretary of State makes farewell tour of the Middle East

Just a year after the United States sponsored a Middle East Peace Conference at Annapolis, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is off to the region next week to meet with various parties in order to encourage them to press ahead.

Last year, America urged the parties to conclude a peace deal by the end of President Bush’s term of office but that doesn’t look likely now. Arabs and Israelis both agree on at least one thing and it is that the American timelines will not be met.

Rice will start her tour the day after America elects a new President. The election will undoubtedly impact on the parties’ views of what will be possible in the weeks and months ahead.

But the American election is not the only one at issue. Ms. Livni’s failure to put together a coalition means Israel will go to fresh elections in February. And Palestinians are also divided over who is in charge and some are calling for fresh elections. The Israeli elections alone should delay any peace negotiations until well into the spring of 2009.

Secretary Rice will visit Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories during her four-day tour. After soliciting views from Fatah Palestinians, various Israelis and Jordan’s King, Rice will huddle with representatives of the Middle East Quartet at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh resort on the 9th of November. The Quartet, composed of the EU, US, UN and Russia, are unlikely to be able to offer much encouragement.

Meanwhile, Hamas and Fatah are scheduled to start reconciliation discussions in Cairo on the same day Rice meets on the Red Sea with the Quartet. These intra-Palestinian talks are very important. Hamas currently controls Gaza while Fatah has broader sway on the West Bank. Before Palestinians can hope to succeed in talks with the Israelis, they must have a clear idea of who is in charge and what they want.

The same applies to the Israelis. Political leadership in Israel is passing to a younger generation but lately they seem equally incapable of deciding who is in charge of their political future.

There will be no progress towards Peace until the two sides have determined who will speak for them and what they will say. America must do the same before it can help.

Pirates and Marines

A new class of American amphibious ship recently made its first transit through the Suez Canal. The USS San Antonio, part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, transited the Suez on the 23rd of September and headed down the Red Sea towards the area where Somali pirates have seized more than a score of merchant ships this year.

Currently, US Fifth Fleet ships, including the USS Howard, are watching a pirate-seized merchant ship, the MV Faina. The Belize-flagged cargo ship is owned and operated by Kaalbye Shipping Ukraine and is carrying a cargo of 33 Ukrainian T-72 tanks and related equipment. The ship was attacked on Sept. 25 and forced to proceed to an anchorage off the Somali Coast. The pirates are demanding a $20 million ransom to release the ship and crew. There are some reports that demand has been reduced recently to $8 million. As many as 50 pirates are on board the MV Faina holding its crew hostage. One Russian crew member has died while in pirate control.

There maybe scores of pirates but there are about 1,900 US Marines abroad the USS Iwo Jima and several hundred more embarked on the USS San Antonio and they can be quickly transported by about two dozen helicopters.

The embarked Marines are the 2,200 man 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit has had combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan and its men are highly experienced.

The USS San Antonio (LPD 17) is a new class of amphibious transport dock ship. It carries four helicopters and a variety of tactical vehicles in its hull. It can also transport up to 800 Marines.

“As we enter the Fifth Fleet area of operations, we will conduct Maritime Security Operations, maritime infrastructure protection and will work to deter destabilizing activities in order to help create a lawful maritime order,” said Cmdr. Kurt Kastner, San Antonio’s commanding officer.

One of the challenges of the Suez transit was the narrow passage San Antonio had to navigate. “The path through the Suez is only 119 meters wide with water as deep as 14.8 meters,” said Lt. j. g. Kathleen Friel, San Antonio’s navigator. “Therefore, the turns made by the helmsman need to be precise when adjusting course.”

San Antonio is deployed as part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group supporting maritime security operations (MSO) in the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet area of operations. MSO help develop security in the maritime environment. From security arises stability that results in global economic prosperity. MSO complements the counterterrorism and security efforts of regional nations and seek to disrupt violent extremists' use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material.

Also in the Iwo Jima group are the guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage (DDG 61), the amphibious transport dock ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) and the guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) seen here transiting through the Suez Canal.

Since the MV Faina was seized, six other ships have also been seized or attacked by Somali pirates. The international community is frustrated at the expense and danger to cargos transiting this important shipping corridor. The US is also concerned that the tanks and other weapons and ammunition not fall into the hands of the Islamists who are fighting the Somali central government. These groups reportedly are getting a cut of the pirate ransoms which they use to finance their rebellion. Last week the Somali government authorized foreign powers to take action against pirates inside Somali territorial waters if such actions were coordinated with them.

Anyone familiar with the USMC hymn knows that the Marines have a long history of fighting pirates on African shores. I suspect the 26th MEU is planning to add a new chapter to that history.

Photos courtesy the US Navy.

Iran’s Military Defenses in the Gulf

Tehran announced today that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards was now in charge of the country's naval defense of the Arabian/Persian Gulf. Previously, the regular Iranian Navy had the lead role in this effort.

Over the years Iran has repeatedly warned it would shut down transit of the Strait of Hormuz at the southeastern end of the Gulf if Iran were attacked by outside forces such as the United States or Israel. Over a third of the world’s oil, some of it Iranian passes through the Strait on oil tankers.

The Strait and other parts of the Gulf are routinely patrolled by U.S., Arab, European, and other warships. Occasionally, there have been tense incidents with Iranian vessels. Last winter Revolutionary Guards speed boats threw debris in the path of U.S. warships and made threatening radio calls. There have been fewer incidents of that type with the Iranian regular navy.

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the top military adviser of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced the change at this morning’s press conference. He said "responsibility to defend the Persian Gulf" has been delegated to the Revolutionary Guards' navy. MG Safavi, himself a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said Iran’s regular navy was “assigned for the defense of the Gulf of Oman and Caspian Sea.” The Gulf of Oman is east of the Strait of Hormuz. The Caspian Sea is landlocked.

"The Guards' missiles are able to cover the whole width of the Persian Gulf. No warship can pass through the waterway without being in our range," he said. "Our armed forces, possessed with defensive weapons including missiles, air, sea and torpedoes, are able to control the Strait of Hormuz."

MG Safavi stated Iran's armed forces, including Army, IRGC and the 11-million-member Basij (militia) forces, were ready to stand up against any threat. Turning to Israel, he said, "the Zionist regime doesn't have the necessary political, economic and social capabilities to start a big war."

Concerning America, he noted, "In case of venturing into hostility with Iran, the US’s 200,000 troops in the region would be in serious danger."

America stepped its naval presence in the Gulf in recent years. Aircraft carriers are often in the confined waters of the Gulf and in the Gulf of Oman in order to provide air cover to U.S. Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tehran caused tensions with some Gulf Arab states over the occupation of some islands whose sovereignty has not yet been determined. Iran has had some clashes with the British Navy as well. They seized, and eventually released, a number of British sailors who were part of a boarding party trying to stop oil smuggling from Iraq.

Monday, Iran also announced an air defense exercise named “Defenders of Velayat.”

The commander of the Khatam-ul Anbia air base, Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani, said the “three stage” air exercise involved scores of aircraft and a large number of air bases countrywide.

Iranians invade America

Uniform-wearing Iranians are in the middle of the US heart land to do battle with America’s finest and to try and learn some of our secrets. Sounds scary but actually it may help promote peace between the two countries.

In a program sponsored by George Bush, Iran’s national basketball team is in Utah to play some pre-Olympic tune-up games against the NBA and others. They are here on official business to learn as much from the NBA games as they can before they move on to Beijing for the Olympic Games in a few weeks.

To help them learn our secrets, they are being allowed to watch NBA teams practice as they get ready for the Rocky Mountain Revue summer series. They will also play the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks as part of the series of exhibition games. And they will play two other games against NBA Development League players.

Iran Basketball Federation director Mashhoun Raza said "We want to learn some more techniques of the basketball in America to take with us back. America is one of the best basketball teams in the world, so we are here to get some experience from them and play with them and to learn from them (and) get to a higher level."

The Iranians have a pretty good team themselves. They not only qualified for the Olympics for the first time in sixty years in this sport but they are the reigning FIBA Asian basketball champions.

They won’t just be stealing our basketball secrets. They will share some also. The Iranians helped at a free youth basketball clinic with D-League standouts at the Utah Flash's training facility.

And if they get a chance, they will take in some of Utah’s tourist venues. That may be the most interesting event as the Iranian Shi’a Muslims encounter the Utah Mormons.

State Department spokeswoman Darlene Kirk, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, said this exchange program began in 2006 when President Bush asked her office to "expand our people-to-people contacts with Iranian people." More than 160 Iran citizens from various professions — doctors, lawyers, judges, artists and other national sports teams — have visited the U.S. so far. A group of elite American wrestlers returned the favor by traveling to Iran in 2007. "This is one of the ongoing commitments to build a bridge with the Iranian people through citizen exchanges," Kirk said

The NBA is happy to help. "In an increasingly turbulent world, it is rewarding to bring people together to celebrate teamwork, discipline and respectful competition on the court," said NBA commissioner David Stern in a statement released by the league regarding the Iranians' Utah visit. "In this spirit," Stern continued, "the NBA embraces the opportunity to welcome the Basketball Federation of Iran and the Iranian Olympic team in a demonstration of how something as simple as a game of basketball can promote understanding."

On the court, the Iranians will fight the Americans with all they have. But they will be fighting without their best player, Aidin Bahrami, who was killed in a car accident in December. That said, they still have a 7-foot-5-inch beanpole center, Jaber Rouzbehani. The Iranian team is coached by Rajko Toroman, a native Serbian. He is assisted by Mehran Hatami, former Iranian national team member.

In the run up to the Olympics, the Iranians will have played 28 exhibition games in Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Australia and China, as well as the United States. After a week of intense basketball in the USA, the Iranians will retreat back home to Iran for five days of rest and recuperation before heading to China to get ready for the Olympics. Perhaps they will battle Americans there on the courts one more time.

Thirty sharks arrive at the Dubai Mall

The Dubai Aquarium located at The Dubai Mall now hosts the first batch of thirty Sand Tiger sharks. They were delivered under the supervision of the Oceanis Australia Group in line with international best practices.

Dubai Aquarium, one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world, will open to the public on August 28, 2008. The Dubai Mall is one of the largest shopping and entertainment destinations in the world and will eventually feature over 1,200 retail stores and over 120 restaurants and cafes.

The Sand Tiger sharks form part of the expected population of 33,000 aquatic animals in Dubai Aquarium. Also known as Grey Nurse sharks, Sand Tiger sharks are large bodied animals, reaching up to 11 feet (3.5 metres). They are a docile, non-aggressive species. These sharks can grow up to 30,000 needle-like teeth in their lifetime which they use to grab small prey. They are found in warm or temperate waters throughout the world's oceans, except the eastern Pacific and have a tendency towards shoreline habitats.

The Sand tiger shark is the only shark known to adjust its buoyancy by burping—gulping and expelling air at the surface. This strategy allows the shark to hover nearly motionless in the water column.

Another interesting adaptation gives pups a head start: although several eggs develop at one time, the first two pups to hatch feed on the remaining eggs and embryos while still within the mother. At birth, the surviving one or two pups are already more than 3 feet (1 m) long. It has one of the lowest reproductive rates known among sharks, giving birth to one or two large pups every two years. As a result, population growth and recovery from over-fishing are slow.

The Sand tiger shark is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and is a candidate species for the U.S. Endangered Species list.

Sand tiger sharks actually eat very little. At an aquarium, they are generally only fed about two percent of their body weight each week. These sharks are not native to UAE waters.

Mr Yousif Al Ali, General Manager, The Dubai Mall, said, “With the largest viewing panel in the world, Dubai Aquarium is a fascinating attraction that will appeal to visitors. Apart from its leisure aspect, the aquarium will also educate visitors on the fascinating array of aquatic life. The Sand Tiger sharks are among the 85 species to be hosted in the aquarium.”

Mr Paul Hamilton, Curator of Dubai Aquarium said: “Total care was taken in the transportation of the sharks which are now adapting to their new environment. The management of marine species for Dubai Aquarium involves careful logistical planning and we are working with a highly qualified and vastly experienced staff. Sand Tiger sharks are amazing creatures and their arrival to the aquarium marks a major milestone for the project.”

The methodology employed in transporting, housing and maintaining the selected species within Dubai Aquarium comply with all relevant international and regional government permits, including CITES. The planning and setting up of Dubai Aquarium is in accordance with the guidelines of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), and abides by a comprehensive Code of Ethics and Animal Care with respect to the acquisition and display of the selected species.

Other attractions at The Dubai Mall will include the region's first SEGA indoor theme park covering 76,000 sp ft; the world's largest indoor gold souk with 220 retailers; a 440,000 sq ft fashion precinct with 70 flagship stores dedicated to haute couture; the Middle East's first Galeries Lafayette department store; KidZania, a 80,000 sq ft children's 'edu-tainment' centre; a 22-screen Cineplex; an Olympic-size ice rink; and The Grove, an indoor-outdoor streetscape with fully retractable roof.

Saudi Arabia launches a Billion Dollar 'Energy for Poor' Program

Saudi Arabia has launched an initiative to set up a billion dollar OPEC fund to help poorer countries cope with high oil prices. In addition, the Kingdom plans to offer a half billion dollars in soft loans, through the Saudi Development Fund, to countries struggling to make oil purchases at the elevated prices on the world market. Some of the Saudi money would go to finance energy development projects that would make countries less dependent on oil.

King Abdullah personally announced the creation of these efforts to help developing countries cope with high oil prices. King Abdullah also called on the World Bank to set up a conference for donor nations to discuss these initiatives.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi recently said that the kingdom is willing to produce more than the 9.7 million barrels of oil a day for the rest of the year if the need arises. He also said that the Kingdom will invest a further $129 billion in the energy sector over the next five years to help increase production capacity. The Minister added that 'the current status of oil markets doesn't please anyone and that things are not in the interest of either consumers or producers'.

The King said that his country's policy, since the establishment of OPEC, has been based on adopting a fair price for petroleum that is beneficial to both the producers and the consumers.

'Starting from this policy, we have been allocating a great part of our income for the assistance development, and in the last few months we have increased our daily production of petroleum from nine million barrels to 9,700,000 barrels and we are ready to meet any additional requirements in the future', the King said.