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[Cub3h]

Good news, now if they can tone down their "Death to America" and "Wipe Israel off the map" retoric and modernise when it comes to not sentencing homosexuals to death I'd be happy for them to replace the nasty Saudis as a western ally.

 

[ZiZ]

Those groups do not have mass murder and genocide justified in their creed or ideology, unlike ISIS and AQ, an ideology that they inherited from the Saudis, an ideology of hate and sectarianism that is being taught in schools across the kingdom which makes it a breeding ground for ISIS and AQ wannabee terrorists.

Those Shia groups are as much terrorists as the US and Western governments with their targeted killings via drones, indiscriminate bombardment and clandestine activities.

one of those shia groups literally has "Death to America" on their flag. Shia terrorists have done their share of mass murder, so has Iran backed Bashar Al-Assad.

And that article about the textbooks is extremely incorrect.

 

[Sijil]

Lol murdering Sunni civilians during the Maliki years, crimes against civilians in Syria, Sunni civilians at that. Remember the acts by the army of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the Mahdi Army that engaged in operating death squads against Sunni civilians during the Iraq war?

Shia groups are responsible for awful acts in many theatres, in many countries. Iran backed Assad and he killed many a Sunni civilian. Whether idealogical or not makes no difference, hate is hate.

No war is war, in this case civil war. The Americans fire bombed Fallujah when they fought AQ there, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Iraqi army, Maliki's security apparatus never operated without CIA consent, do you admit that the US government is a terrorist governmnnet?

The CIA was responsible for the 1985 Beirut car bomb which killed dozens of civilians in an attempt to retaliate against the Marine Barracks bombing, would you call the CIA terrorists?

The French army committed horrific atrocities in Algeria, are they terrorists?

one of those shia groups literally has "Death to America" on their flag. Shia terrorists have done their share of mass murder, so has Iran backed Bashar Al-Assad.

And that article about the textbooks is extremely incorrect.

Ideologically speaking, it's aimed at the American government not the people, a common mistake made by people who think they know Iranian history and Khomeinism. Shia groups are not idelogically motivated to commit sectarian cleansing as opposed to Saudi sponsored groups or those who are ideologically inspired by Wahabism, there's the difference. Shia groups can create stability and co existence with other sects and minorities such as in Lebanon and government controlled territories in Syria as opposed to the AQ/ISIS groups.

Concerning the textbooks, I'll take the word of Freedom house over someone who defends the Saudi regime, who just beheaded a peace activist. Not to mention my cousins in KSA who are forced to hide their Shia identity these days.

 

[gutter_trash]

Or the invasion of a country based on lies, or intentionally destroying the infrastructure and water supply of that country almost a decade earlier, or placing sanctions as a collective punishment killing half a million children and saying it was worth it in that country, or supporting the very same regime they removed fro mthat country to come to power, resulting in the deaths of several thousands people or....

that's only one country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5YgJx8VGRA

those weapons of mass destruction gotta be somewhere

 

[Quixzlizx]

Those groups do not have mass murder and genocide justified in their creed or ideology, unlike ISIS and AQ, an ideology that they inherited from the Saudis, an ideology of hate and sectarianism that is being taught in schools across the kingdom which makes it a breeding ground for ISIS and AQ wannabee terrorists.

Those Shia groups are as much terrorists as the US and Western governments with their targeted killings via drones, indiscriminate bombardment and clandestine activities.

Hezbollah has bombed/murdered random Jewish civilians in countries nowhere near the Middle East. Are you accusing the US military of intentionally bombing random Muslim civilians throughout the world just for being Muslim?

I'm sure the CIA has done very shady things, although I still don't know about blowing up random Muslims in unrelated countries.

 

[gutter_trash]

Hezbollah has bombed/murdered random Jewish civilians in countries nowhere near the Middle East. Are you accusing the US military of intentionally bombing random Muslim civilians throughout the world just for being Muslim?

both Shia and Sunni extremists are both scum

what I find disturbing is apologizing for one side and blaming the other. Both are dicks

 

[Abinash117]

Israel has had the support of the West forever and they continue to fuck shit up and prevent any possibility of peace with Palestine. Telling them to jog on when the rest of the world has a once in a lifetime opportunity is the absolutely correct thing to do

The US is like the only country that backs Israel in any capability what do you think will happen if the only country that backs them goes away? They say " I'm sorry guys I guess you were right " ? They do whatever they fuck they want, that else they got to lose at that point. Seriously, some of people don't think we shouldn't be isolating some countries at all thinking that if they are opened up they become just like us westerners eventually . But somehow doing the same to Israel and SA is somehow a good idea.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Time to start blasting them with Hollywood movies, McDonalds and Starbucks. More powerful then any war.

And welcome $10 oil when the floodgates open.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

The US is like the only country that backs Israel in any capability what do you think will happen if the only country that backs them goes away? They say " I'm sorry guys I guess you were right " ? They do whatever they fuck they want, that else they got to lose at that point. Seriously, some of people don't think we shouldn't be isolating some countries at all thinking that if they are opened up they become just like us westerners eventually . But somehow doing the same to Israel and SA is somehow a good idea.

The US isn't isolating Israel or SA, it's negotiating and trying to make peace with Iran.

If they don't like what the US is doing that is their issue, if Israel want's to act like a child and continue to lie then they can do that, but they know that without US navy support they have zero chance against doing any military operation against Iran.

 

[Abinash117]

Hezbollah has bombed/murdered random Jewish civilians in countries nowhere near the Middle East. Are you accusing the US military of intentionally bombing random Muslim civilians throughout the world just for being Muslim?

I'm sure the CIA has done very shady things, although I still don't know about blowing up random Muslims in unrelated countries.

CIA has bombed a group of people before, I think trying to kill a leader that was part of a group that killed a bunch of marines in, but they pretty much fucked up and got a lot of innocent people killed and the guy they was targeting wasn't even the right target. After that CIA wasn't allowed to assassinate national leaders are something like that.

The US isn't isolating Israel or SA, it's negotiating and trying to make peace with Iran.

If they don't like what the US is doing that is their issue, if Israel want's to act like a child and continue to lie then they can do that, but they know that without US navy support they have zero chance against doing any military operation against Iran.

I wasn't talking about the Iranian deal or achieving it will isolate some countries since the deal won't. I solely referring to turning our backs on those two countries as that was my original point.

 

[Quixzlizx]

CIA has bombed a group of people before, I think trying to kill a leader that was part of a group that killed a bunch of marines in, but they pretty much fucked up and got a lot of innocent people killed and the guy they was targeting wasn't even the right target. After that CIA wasn't allowed to assassinate national leaders are something like that.

I didn't say that the US hasn't killed civilians, I said that they haven't intentionally targeted groups of random civilians just for being a certain religion like Hezbollah has.

 

[Sijil]

I didn't say that the US hasn't killed civilians, I said that they haven't intentionally targeted groups of random civilians just for being a certain religion like Hezbollah has.

1985 Bir Al Abed Beirut bombing, car bomb authorized by the CIA in retaliation to the Beirut marines barracks bombing.

 

[Abinash117]

I didn't say that the US hasn't killed civilians, I said that they haven't intentionally targeted groups of random civilians just for being a certain religion like Hezbollah has.

I know I wasn't saying they did, I said they fucked up.

 

[Azih]

Wasn't that due to the embassy kerfuffle?

Which only happened because Saudi executed Nimr Al-Nimr for no sane reason.

 

[NervousXtian]

If there was ever a country worth turning your back on, Israel is one of them.

Single greatest factor in the destabilisation of the Middle East and propagators of a slow destruction of a people and their land.

At this point Israel is there for good. Work on a 2-state solution, but there's an entire generation of Israelis that were born there, live there, and have a right now to stay there.

I don't get the anti-Israeli stuff I see on this site all the time.. because it's almost as bad as the pro-Israeli stuff you see in the media... the atrocities are reciprocal.

 

[Joezie]

1985 Bir Al Abed Beirut bombing, car bomb authorized by the CIA in retaliation to the Beirut marines barracks bombing.

Which wasn't meant to intentionally kill civilians. It was an assassination attempt against Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh.

Still sucks obvs and is an absolutely shitty thing, but not intentional. TBH the best example one could use would be the theoretical faux masssacre plan the CIA planned to execute on American Soil to try and justify an invasion of Cuba. That was some scary stuff.

On that note, Super happy that the Iranian people now have vastly improved chances to really shine out. Wishing them the best.

 

[pgtl_10]

More money to fund terrorism. Yay!
State Sponsors of Terrorism Overview:
http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2014/239410.htm
http://freebeacon.com/wp-content/up...ial-Support-to-Terrorists-and-Militants-1.pdf

Good for the people of Iran, bad for the middle east.

Freebeacon is a conservative rag.

 

[Suen]

Which wasn't meant to intentionally kill civilians. It was an assassination attempt against Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh.

Still sucks obvs and is an absolutely shitty thing, but not intentional. TBH the best example one could use would be the theoretical faux masssacre plan the CIA planned to execute on American Soil to try and justify an invasion of Cuba. That was some scary stuff.

On that note, Super happy that the Iranian people now have vastly improved chances to really shine out. Wishing them the best.

On 8 March 1985, a car bomb equivalent to 440 lb (200 kg) of dynamite exploded 9–45 metres[11][12] from his house in Beirut, Lebanon. The blast destroyed a 7-story apartment building and a cinema, killed 80 people and wounded 256. The attack was timed to go off as worshippers were leaving Friday Prayers. Most of the dead were girls and women who had been leaving the mosque, though the ferocity of the blast "burned babies in their beds," "killed a bride buying her trousseau," and "blew away three children as they walked home from the mosque." It also "devastated the main street of the densely populated" West Beirut suburb.[13][14] but Fadl-Allāh escaped injury. One of his bodyguards at the time was Imad Mughniyeh, who was later assassinated in a car-bombing in February 2008

Yeah sure, not intentional. Any other murder you want to polish up so we can make it seem that only brown people can kill intentionally while the progressive free civilized West never does it?

Jesus christ.

 

[Costia]

Freebeacon is a conservative rag.

If you actually bothered to check, you would have seen it's a pdf of a report done by the US Congressional Research Service for a US senator and not a article by anyone on that site.
Thanks for your contribution to this thread. Drive-by posting is the best.

 

[Chichikov]

More money to fund terrorism. Yay!
State Sponsors of Terrorism Overview:
http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2014/239410.htm
http://freebeacon.com/wp-content/up...ial-Support-to-Terrorists-and-Militants-1.pdf

Good for the people of Iran, bad for the middle east.

Iran is still on the state sponsors of terrorism list and still face sanctions due to that fact.
These sanction were about their nuclear program and they've achieved their goal.

You can argue that being on that list should have harsher sanctions, but if you're hoping for the anti-nuclear sanctions to have any effect, you have to lift them when they comply, otherwise they'll have no reason to comply, and they would still be working toward a bomb.

 

[Buba Big Guns]

so saudi arabia admitted to 9/11. thats new to me!

srsly, since when is nationality important when in comes to terrorist groups.

Just go read up on Prince Bandar. His policies are largely unchanged in the current regime.

Saudi is a huge sponsor of terrorism and the biggest exporter of its dangerous ideology.

 

[yepyepyep]

Pardon my ignorance, but is it true that Iranians are not necessarily as fundamentalist as their theocratic government and more moderate in general? Or is there more of a mix where there are very religious segments of society that contrast with more moderate people?

I had a Iranian university tutor who said a lot of Iranian women don't really care to wear the Hijab and only do so because it is enforced in Iran. i.e. they won't wear the Hijab if they are in Western country. I can't remember if she was talking anecdotally though.

 

[gulfamashraf]

Good for them. Now sell us that cheap sweet black crude oil.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Lets hope they use some of that money to fuck with Saudi Arabia.

 

[brian577]

Lets hope they use some of that money to fuck with Saudi Arabia.

Exactly what we need, more tensions in the Middle East.

 

[Yamauchi]

Great news. They get immediate access to $50 bln, quite significant -- equal to about a year's revenue for the central government.

 

[Makai]

$10/barrel oil, here we come

 

[Suikoguy]

$10/barrel oil, here we come

Nope, most of this is already priced in. But should keep prices lower longer.

 

[timetokill]

Just saw that Hillary Clinton is calling for new sanctions on Iran. lol

 

[eyeball_kid]

Pardon my ignorance, but is it true that Iranians are not necessarily as fundamentalist as their theocratic government and more moderate in general? Or is there more of a mix where there are very religious segments of society that contrast with more moderate people?

I had a Iranian university tutor who said a lot of Iranian women don't really care to wear the Hijab and only do so because it is enforced in Iran. i.e. they won't wear the Hijab if they are in Western country. I can't remember if she was talking anecdotally though.

From everything I've read, Iran is quite similar to America in that there is a segment of religious fundamentalists, but most of the population is moderate. And there are certainly many liberal, non-theist people in Iran, but because of the government they cannot express such views openly. Iran was a very secular, modern society prior to the '79 Revolution. Many Iranians actually think positively of America (not our government).

Hopefully this deal will pave the way for further talks and peaceful relations, and most of all will improve the lives of the Iranian people.

 

[twinturbo2]

This happens and prisoners are freed.

Diplomacy works, who knew?

 

[Dai101]

Diplomacy works, who knew?

Guess who?

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Exactly what we need, more tensions in the Middle East.

More like balance. The Saudi royalty isnt going to stop funding sunni extremists anytime soon.

Just saw that Hillary Clinton is calling for new sanctions on Iran. lol

What a tool, I remember her saying "I will be a better president to Israel than Obama " to her jewish donors.

 

[FF Seraphim]

Good. I hope this accelerates the undoing of the cultural regression caused by 1979.

I do not fully understand this post. Iran had a working democracy until the US and allies assassinated their leader and placed the Shah in power around the 1940s. Sure they were more Western friendly but that comes with the West putting the Shah in power. What happened in 1979 was inevitable due to many different circumstances. Who knows how Iran would be if we didn't get involved.

 

[Shambalakan]

Pardon my ignorance, but is it true that Iranians are not necessarily as fundamentalist as their theocratic government and more moderate in general? Or is there more of a mix where there are very religious segments of society that contrast with more moderate people?

I had a Iranian university tutor who said a lot of Iranian women don't really care to wear the Hijab and only do so because it is enforced in Iran. i.e. they won't wear the Hijab if they are in Western country. I can't remember if she was talking anecdotally though.

It's mixed about everything.
Lots of Iranians (maybe more than 80%, but I don't know exactly) didn't use hijab before revolution. but after that, hijab was forced to everyone. and even hijab has evolved in these 30,40 years! from Chador:

to something like this:

girls couldn't use these 20 years ago and it was a strange thing those days!
or another hijab like Manteau. it was something like this 20 years ago (sorry for bad quality!)

but now these:

These days you can see lots of variety in hijabs from chador to manteau and other things, but they are still mandatory and girls should use them. and your tutor was right. most of Iranians won't wear hijab if they can, but lots of them use it anyway.
Hijab isn't the only thing that is mixed in Iran. you can see ultra religious persons and atheists, people that think US is satan (!!!) and people that love US and ...

 

[Suikoguy]

Just saw that Hillary Clinton is calling for new sanctions on Iran. lol

Did she say why? I'd say the situation with the captured soldiers and prisoner transfer were both amicable enough.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Netty am cry. All those years tearing about how they were "1 more year away from the bomb, you'll see!"

And now what's happened

 

[noshten]

Netanyahu and Hillary need to come out with a joint position - reaffirming it with flow charts

 

[Mac_Lane]

That's great to see diplomacy actually work, good on the Iranian regime.

And they've just announced they would buy 114 planes from Airbus, back to business already.

 

[Neo C.]

Pardon my ignorance, but is it true that Iranians are not necessarily as fundamentalist as their theocratic government and more moderate in general? Or is there more of a mix where there are very religious segments of society that contrast with more moderate people?

I had a Iranian university tutor who said a lot of Iranian women don't really care to wear the Hijab and only do so because it is enforced in Iran. i.e. they won't wear the Hijab if they are in Western country. I can't remember if she was talking anecdotally though.

I work with asyl seekers. I know some Iranian women and girls, I've never seen them wearing the hijab. Almost all Syrian women I know wear the hijab.

 

[Despera]

Well I guess this means oil prices will stay fucked for a while then.

 

[Irminsul]

I work with asyl seekers. I know some Iranian women and girls, I've never seen them wearing the hijab. Almost all Syrian women I know wear the hijab.

Yeah, from my own experience, no Iranians (although no asylum seekers) I've ever encountered wore the hijab. Also, one of them drank Whisky as their first alcoholic drink and was fine to her, lol.

 

[Frankfurter]

This is great news for everyone, except the fearmongers.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

Its like diplomacy actually works.

 

[Kenshin001]

That's great to see diplomacy actually work, good on the Iranian regime.

And they've just announced they would buy 114 planes from Airbus, back to business already.

Good on the Iranian regime? For doing what? Saudi Arabia has stayed a repressive fundamentalist country without sanctions, I fail to see why Iran should be any different.

 

[Azih]

Good on the Iranian regime? For doing what? Saudi Arabia has stayed a repressive fundamentalist country without sanctions, I fail to see why Iran should be any different.

More education, a more diverse economy, and a larger young population as well as a large pro Western diaspora that travels back and forth regularly.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Did she say why? I'd say the situation with the captured soldiers and prisoner transfer were both amicable enough.

“Iran is still violating UN Security Council resolutions with its ballistic missile program, which should be met with new sanctions designations and firm resolve,” she said.

“These prisoners were held unjustly by a regime that continues to threaten the peace and security of the Middle East,” Clinton added. “Another American, Bob Levinson, still isn’t home with his family.”

Clinton said, as president, her policy toward Iran would be to “distrust and verify.

The former secretary of State said the U.S. should not “thank” Iran for releasing prisoners unjustly held or for following through on its obligations.

“The treatment of our Navy sailors earlier this week was offensive, including the release of demeaning and provocative videos,” she added, referring to the brief capture of 10 sailors who inadvertently crossed into Iranian waters.

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/266173-clinton-calls-for-new-sanctions-on-iran

 

[Kenshin001]

More education, a more diverse economy, and a larger young population as well as a large pro Western diaspora that travels back and forth regularly.

Still won't make much difference to how the country is run. Iran will remain a repressive fundamentalist country.

 

[Azih]

Still won't make much difference to how the country is run. Iran will remain a repressive fundamentalist country.

The world's youngest population and a focus on higher education counts for a heck of a lot. Plus the country has more relative freedom than Saudi to boot. That's why they can elect presidents as diverse as Rouhani and Ahmedinijad. That counts for a lot too.

 

[andythinkpad]

Well I guess this means oil prices will stay fucked for a while then.

What's wrong with low oil price? Is oil price your mom?