''Iran’s Pars gas field pipeline''

From onlineopinion.au

''The U.S, U.K, Turkey, and the European Union are determined to save the ailing Petro-dollar by preventing the completion of Iran’s Pars gas field pipeline, through Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean. Should the Pars pipeline go online and remain under Russian, Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian control, then Russia would control approximately 40 per cent of Europe’s gas consumption, and with a Russian allied Syria, Russia would also be able to take part in the development of major gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean Levantine Basin.

Neither Russia nor China will accept a repetition of NATO’s abuse of UNSC Resolution 1973 – 2011 on Libya, but neither will NATO compromise with Russia on Syria. NATO and the GCC are determined to install an anti-Iran/Russia government in Syria that will only provide gas from the GCC to Europe instead of Iranian gas. While the likelihood of the present conflict in Syria ending with a pro-GCC/NATO government ruling a docile Syrian population is negligible, there is a chance that if the Muslim Brotherhood gained control of a significant part of Syria then Western aims could be achieved. Even a chaotic Syria prevents Russian, Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian control of the gas lines to Europe and increases feasibility for the proposed U.S. backed Turkey–Austria Nabucco pipeline projectfor natural gas from Iraq, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.''

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Pepe Escobar: ''Iran tests America's grasp of reality''

From Asia Times

''In Election 2012's theater-of-the-absurd "foreign policy" debate, Iran came up no less than 47 times. Despite all the fear, loathing, threats, and lies in that billionaire's circus of a campaign season, Americans were nonetheless offered virtually nothing substantial about Iran, although its (non-existent) WMDs were relentlessly hawked as the top US national security issue. (The world was, however, astonished to learn from candidate Romney that Syria, not the Persian Gulf, was that country's "route to the sea".) ''

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Pepe Escobar: ''Mr. President, Tear Down This Wall''

From TomDispatch
By Pepe Escobar

''Let’s start with the obvious but important: on entering the Oval Office in January 2009, President Obama inherited a seemingly impregnable three-decade-long “Wall of Mistrust” in Iran-U.S. relations. To his credit, that March he directly addressed all Iranians in a message for Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, calling for an “engagement that is honed and grounded in mutual respect.” He even quoted the thirteenth century Persian poet Sa’adi: “The children of Adam are limbs of one body, which God created from one essence.''

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Pepe Escobar: ''I love the sound of a drone in the morning''

From AsiaTimes

''It may not have been a deadly Predator equipped with a Hellfire missile eager to incinerate a Pashtun wedding party, but in our Brave New UAV World - also known as Obama's Drone Wars - even a lowly ScanEagle, manufactured by a Boeing subsidiary, may be assured to steal the limelight.

So here's the star of the show on Iranian TV after it was captured over the Persian Gulf. Geopolitical junkies fed up with the same old US generals regurgitating cliches on Fox or CNN will certainly feast on that ultra-retro "We will trample the US under our feet" banner, not to mention the quirky Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) production values in the PR front.''

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''Saudi tells UN Iran trespassing on territory''

From Arabian Business

''Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of straying onto its territory near oil and gas fields in the Gulf and warned it was looking at how to respond, the Saudi ambassador to the United Nations said.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Saudi authorities said Iranian helicopters flew several times over a gas field at Hasba, Abdullah al-Mualimi was quoted as saying in the daily newspaper Okaz on Monday.''

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''Shell Seeks to Pay Iran Debt With Grain''

From The New American

''Royal Dutch Shell is seeking to pay a $1.4 billion debt it owes to Iran that it has been prevented from settling since a European Union embargo that started July 1.

A report from Platts news service on June 25 said that the EU embargo included a ban on oil imports and a ban on the provision of insurance for tankers shipping Iranian oil. Shell, as an Anglo-Dutch-owned company, is subject to EU jurisdiction.

With previous attempts by Shell to settle the debt blocked by the embargo, Shell is seeking to circumvent the roadblock by paying off the debt with grain.''

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''Are the Saudis Bankrolling Israel’s Mossad?''

From CounterPunch
By Barry Lando

''A friend, with good sources in the Israeli government, claims that the head of Israel’s Mossad has made several trips to deal with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia—one of the results: an agreement that the Saudis would bankroll the series of assassinations of several of Iran’s top nuclear experts that have occurred over the past couple of years.  The amount involved, my friend claims, was $1 billion dollars. A sum, he says, the Saudis considered cheap for the damage done to Iran’s nuclear program.

At first blush, the tale sounds preposterous. On the other hand. it makes eminent sense. The murky swamp of Middle East politics has nothing to do with the easy slogans and 30 second sound bites of presidential debates.

After all, nowhere more than in the Middle East does the maxim hold true: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And both Israel and the Saudis have always detested Iran’s Shiite fundamentalist leaders. The feeling is mutual. Tehran has long been accused of stirring up trouble among Saudi’s restless Shiites.''

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''Iran Says It Can Live Without Oil Money''

From Eurasia Review

''Iran says it may stop exporting oil if international sanctions against it are intensified, adding that it has a contingency plan for running the country without oil revenues.

According to Reuters, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghassemi told reporters in Dubai on Tuesday October 23: “If sanctions intensify, we will stop exporting oil.''

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''"Obama the Muslim:" Ploy to Cover-up Years of US-Al Qaeda Support''

From Land Destroyer

''Neo-Conservative Frank Gaffney thinks you are stupid. After plotting for the better part of a decade, arming Al Qaeda across the Arab World in a documented conspiracy to use the notorious terror group as a proxy against Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, Gaffney and his colleagues are attempting to jettison responsibility and all the blunders that have come with the plot, on US President Barack Obama. President Obama for his part, faithfully and knowingly carried out this strategy, "heeding" signed letters sent to him from Gaffney's warmongering circle, imploring him to not only support terrorists in Libya and Syria, but to do so more overtly.''

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''Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project to be completed by Dec 2014''

From Business Recorder

''Despite enormous US pressure, the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project will be completed by December 2014, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday.

In an informal talk with a group of journalists at the Embassy of Iran, the official said that work on the project was under way on both sides of the border and leaderships of both the countries were committed to complete the project within the stipulated timeframe.''

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''India to keep buying Iran oil despite EU embargo''

From RT.com

''India, Iran working on new mechanisms for transfer of payments''

From Tehran Times

''India is working with Iran to find a mechanism to sort out the problem of making payments in Indian currency for oil purchase, an Iranian official said.

The minister also asked New Delhi to make up its mind on the issue of joining Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project.''

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''Hyperinflation and the Middle Eastern Powder Keg''

From Financial Sense
Marin Katusa

''In the third century, greed got the best of Rome's emperors. As they spent through the silver in the treasury, one emperor after another reduced the amount of precious metal in each denarius until the coins contained almost no silver whatsoever.

It was the world's first experience with currency debasement and hyperinflation. As people saw the value of their savings evaporate, society grew angry and demanded a scapegoat. Christians became that scapegoat, and Romans turned on them with incredible violence.''

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''The SCO, China, Iran, and gold''

From GoldMoney

''I make no apology for returning to the subject of China, its role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and gold. Gold is now a strategic metal for present and future SCO governments, which between them have over 40% of the world’s population; and now that the price of gold is re-establishing its rising trend, understanding its future role as a replacement for the US dollar is increasingly urgent, because gold is wealth and this wealth is being transferred from west to east.''

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''Saudi Arabia Boosts Supertanker Charters to U.S. Gulf of Mexico''

From Bloomberg

''Saudi Aramco, as the company is known, may be shipping more oil before a Texas refinery it owns with Royal Dutch Shell Plc resumes full output, Sverre Bjorn Svenning, an Oslo-based shipping analyst at Fearnley Consultants A/S, said by phone. The extra cargoes could also be because Saudi Arabia is compensating for reduced supplies from Iran, he said.''

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''In Syrian shadow, Iraq's Maliki juggles Tehran, Washington''

From Today's Zaman


''Nine years after US forces ousted Iraq's Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, and nine months after they finally pulled out of the country, Maliki is heavily reliant on Tehran, Washington's enemy. He leans on Iran for political support at home and for backing in a Sunni-dominated region where he has few friends.

But he still needs the Americans, too -- for military aid, in part, but also as Iraq seeks global investment and trading access for an oil industry it is struggling to rebuild.''

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''Paul Craig Roberts: The Israel - Iran Conflict is Not About Nukes, but Water!''

From USA Watchdog..................''http://usawatchdog.com/controversy-over-irans-nuclear-program-is-a-hoax-paul-... - Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, Assistant Treasury Secretary in the Reagan Administration, says, "The Israel/Iran conflict is not about nukes, but water!" Dr. Roberts says, "Israel wants to get rid of Iran as supplier to Hezbollah . . . . So they can overrun Southern Lebanon," because that's where the water is. So, could Israel attack Iran before the November Presidential Election? Dr. Roberts says, "If the election is very close, Netanyahu is likely to take the gamble." Roberts thinks the President would be forced to support Israel militarily so as to not lose the Jewish vote in places like Florida. Dr. Roberts says, "The majority of Israelis do not want an attack on Iran." He goes on to say, "You can't even have an honest criticism that Israel is in danger without being called an anti-Semite." Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Dr. Paul Craig Roberts.''

''Siemens and Iran: A checkered past''

From Haaretz

''Siemens has been key to the Iranian regime not just in pursuing its nuclear ambitions. It has also been key in huge infrastructure deals, and its subsidiary Nokia-Siemens Networks has been accused by Iranian human rights activists of supplying the Islamic Republic with the apparatus to spy on opposition members' phone calls and social networking during the Green Revolution. The company tried to deflect these accusations but by the end of 2011, Nokia-Siemens admitted that international sanctions were making"it almost impossible for Nokia Siemens Networks to do business with Iranian customers."

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''Armada of international naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike''

From The Telegraph

''Cruisers, aircraft carriers and minesweepers from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.''

 

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''The Endless War: Saudi Arabia Goes on the Offensive Against Iran''

From Bellaciao
By Felix Imonti

''Saudi Arabia has gone on the offensive against Iran to protect its interests. Their involvement in Syria is the first battle in what is going to be a long bloody conflict that will know no frontiers or limits.

Ongoing Disorders in the island kingdom of Bahrain since February of 2011 have set off alarm bells in Riyadh. The Saudis are convinced that Iran is directing the protests and fear that the problems will spill over the twenty-five kilometer long COSWAY into oil rich Al-Qatif, where The bulk of the two million Shia in the kingdom are concentrated. So far, the Saudis have not had to deal with demonstrations a serious as those in Bahrain, but success in the island kingdom could encourage the protestors to become more violent.''

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