Bank Melli Iran, the country's largest bank, "plans to launch a fund of up to 300m euros to invest in Tehran’s Stock Exchange, providing the first chance for foreigners to take a high-risk gamble on Iran’s bourse," the Financial Times of London reported Wednesday.[1] -- This fund is an attempt to attract capital driven away by a Western campaign of economic warfare. -- Last week Al Jazeera reviewed the various anti-Iran campaigns currently being waged against Iran: conjoined with economic and propaganda warfare is a "covert war of aggression [that] has been approved by the National Security Council, and carried out by the U.S. Defense Department, largely steered by the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney and by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld," Emile Tayyip reported.[2] -- There is every reason to believe that this campaign will intensify in the months ahead. -- On Wednesday, speaking at a right-wing think tank in London, Republican hopeful Fred Thompson went so far as to call for a "blockade" of Iran, the London Daily Telegraph reported.[3] -- Thompson repeated once more the false claim that Iranian President Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped from the map," a staple of the anti-Iran propaganda campaign that multiple scholarly refutations have failed to eradicate from Western mainstream media. -- In the early-21st-century post-9/11 Bizarroworld, with pundits like Norman Podhoretz "praying" for the bombing of Iran, Thompson's position may even appear moderate. -- But it, too, advocates what is an act of war. -- The Daily Telegraph acknowledges that blockade is an act of war — "technically." -- What concerns it more is that "a blockade would also have worldwide repercussions by driving up the price of oil, possibly causing a global economic crisis." -- Fortune noted on Apr. 15, 2007, "American companies are enjoying the most sumptuously profitable period in the 500's 53-year history." -- But you wouldn't know it listening to Fred Thompson: "The Western world is in an international struggle with jihadists who see this struggle as part of a conflict that has gone on for centuries and who won't give up until Western countries are brought to their knees," said Thompson. -- The former senator from Tennessee should be ashamed of himself. -- But he's not, because objectively the great utility of the politics of fear is to drive media-traumatized, ignorant voters into the arms of a corporatocracy that would otherwise be unpalatable to them. -- In the U.S., a media system designed to maintain these political-economic formations helps keep both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in corporatocratic control. -- The American political system is now only vestigially democratic, and is effectively controlled not by the people, but by corporate interests, which are prospering mightily. -- The Fortune 500 companies collectively earned $785 billion in profits in 2006, a record. -- This system could not be maintained without a demon to frighten voters. -- If the Islamic Republic of Iran did not exist, in fact, it would have to be invented....
1.
World
Middle East & North Africa
IRAN FUND OPENS BOURSE TO FOREIGN INVESTORS
By Simeon Kerr
Financial Times (UK)
June 20, 2007
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9ab5b9b8-1f77-11dc-ac86-000b5df10621.html
DUBAI -- A subsidiary of Iran’s largest bank, Bank Melli Iran, plans to launch a fund of up to 300m euros to invest in Tehran’s Stock Exchange, providing the first chance for foreigners to take a high-risk gamble on Iran’s bourse.
Flying in the face of tightening economic sanctions amid international pressure over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, the First Persian Equities Fund already has verbal commitments of about 100m euros ($130m, £70m) with strong interest from European hedge funds and emerging markets funds, said Stephen Austen, managing director of Mehr, a subsidiary of the Tehran-listed Bank Melli Iran Investment Company.
Mr. Austen argued that the Tehran Stock Exchange was highly undervalued, with a diversified pool of companies returning strong dividends, but he conceded the three-year, closed-ended fund provoked an emotional response from potential investors.
“It’s black or white -- they either think it’s great or mad,” he told the Financial Times in an interview.
Tehran’s market index has fallen about 25 per cent since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidency in 2005. Capital flight from the country has also increased.
The U.N. has imposed sanctions on areas of Iran’s financial system, including the country’s fourth largest bank, Bank Sepah, but not Bank Melli. Washington has pressured Standard Chartered Bank and Credit Suisse, leading foreign institutions in Iran’s financial system, to stop clearing U.S. dollars for Iranians, staunching access to capital, Mr. Austen said.
Regional bankers say the fund could prompt further U.S. concerns, following recent U.S. calls for Gulf states to limit business ties to Tehran. The Cayman Islands-registered fund, managed in Tehran, has a contingency plan to move the fund into a private sector bank in what Mr. Austen describes as the unlikely event that the U.N. broadens the sanctions regime to Bank Melli.
Mehr, which also has offices in the Dubai International Financial Centre, has a solid commitment of 15m euros from its parent and plans in August to start investing in blue-chip stocks such as car manufacturer Iran Khodro and Arak Petrochemical Company. Two previous attempts to launch Iranian equities funds failed in 2002 and 2003 amid the last Tehran bull run.
Strong European interest in the offshore fund ahead of its July 31 close highlights the growing appetite for high-risk, high-return investments, Mr. Austen said.
The market, with a capitalization of $37bn, is trading at a fraction of the earnings multiples enjoyed by Iran’s neighbors, while average earnings continue to grow at about 25 per cent a year.
2.
Conspiracy theories
THE U.S. BLACK PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN AGAINST IRAN
By Emile Tayyip
** The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been given the green light by the Bush administration to carry out an “information war” against several states in the Middle East, including Iran, Lebanon and Syria. **
Al Jazeera Magazine
June 14, 2007
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=11875
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been given the green light by the Bush administration to carry out an “information war” against several states in the Middle East, including Iran, Lebanon, and Syria, according to an article on The Raw Story. Quoting current and former intelligence officials, the report also stated that the Bush administration has been conducting secret operations against Middle Eastern countries through the Defense Department that aren’t monitored by the Congress.
Last month, ABC News reported that President Bush signed a presidential order allowing the CIA to carry out “non-lethal” covert operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to intelligence sources, there have been “at least two” other presidential orders signed over the past few years that have authorized the CIA to run an “open-secret” information war against Iranian interests, mainly leveraging resources and assets “within the United States and France.”
“It's a propaganda operation,” said a former intelligence official who demanded anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject. “It is not new,” he added, explaining that the campaign has been going on for a long time and has Congressional funding and support. CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano declined to comment on the ABC News report. “The CIA does not, as a matter of course, publicly discuss allegations of covert action, whether the assertions are wrong, right, or somewhere in-between,” he said. “That's one reason why the term ‘covert action’ still exists . . . But it's important to remember that, through the Congress, there is vigorous oversight of secret intelligence activities.”
ABC News may have reported the recent presidential order as “new” because of the recently-passed massive intelligence budget. Under the bill, about $50 million was appropriated for the “Democracy Fund” and the “Broadcasting Board of Governors,” both earmarked for Iran operations.
Perhaps the ABC News report is somehow old as it was published last month. But the Raw Story, quoting intelligence officials, said that there have been several other presidential orders authorizing secret operations against many countries in the Middle East, including Iran, Syria and Lebanon, as well as resistance groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, who are all being targeted through what intelligence officials call “black propaganda” operations.
The CIA is targeting Iran with a “pro-democracy” message, sources say, and the agency is backing anti-Iranian groups. However, the officials say such operations are almost entirely limited to information warfare, without specifying what mechanism is being used to distribute the propaganda; whether it includes news media, individuals or organizations. One former intelligence official said the CIA’s program is aimed at identifying potential allies and using them along with existing well-known groups that can disseminate false information.
BACKING TERRORIST GROUPS
In addition to the black propaganda campaign, the Pentagon is carrying out more aggressive covert operations to destabilize Iran. Stressing that such operations are far riskier than the activities of the CIA, intelligence officials said they started almost immediately after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Because these operations can be deemed as part of a military campaign, they aren’t subject to Congressional approval as the activities of the CIA, intelligence sources say.
This covert war of aggression has been approved by the National Security Council, and carried out by the U.S. Defense Department, largely steered by the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney and by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
The Raw Story mentioned one of these “off book” or black operations that started in 2003, when the Defense Department began working with terrorist and dissident groups in a bid to topple the Iranian government, bypassing traditional intelligence channels. One of these groups was a terrorist organization known as Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), which has been used for intelligence gathering; an activity usually carried out by the CIA. Intelligence sources say the MEK was being “run” in two southern regional areas of Iran, including a Shia region where a series of attacks in 2006 claimed the lives of many people and wounded hundreds.
U.S. officials interviewed by the Raw Story all expressed grave concern over the lack of attention to the Pentagon’s covert operations. Some believe that such illegal activities are being hidden under the loophole of “traditional military activities” to avoid Congressional oversight.
Steven Aftergood, director for the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy, says this loophole exists in Congressional oversight with regards to military covert activities. “CIA covert actions have to be authorized by a written presidential finding, which must be provided to Congress,” he says. “By contrast, DOD operations, including clandestine or covert operations, are not subject to this procedure . . . As a result, there may be a temptation to opt for a purely military action to take advantage of the loophole in congressional notification requirements.”
ECONOMIC WARFARE
Intelligence officials also said that the CIA has been allowed to target Iran’s economic interests, but that the authorization is only restricted to non-aggressive activities. The CIA “has been empowered to put economic pressure on Iran,” a former intelligence officer said, but didn’t say what the meaning of “pressure” is.
Other officials suggest that the economic warfare is either far more aggressive or is being attributed to the CIA while it’s being carried out by other agencies. According to a foreign intelligence official, the U.S. economic pressure is mainly aimed at Iran’s oil-rich economy, with Washington pressing financial institutions, oil firms, and international investment companies to boycott Tehran and even withdraw from existing energy projects. Other possible forms of pressure include less subtle activities, such as intercepting supply convoys and confiscating equipment.
3.
News
WE MUST BLOCKADE IRAN, SAYS REPUBLICAN HOPE
By David Blair
Daily Telegraph (London)
June 20, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/20/wfred120.xml
Fred Thompson, the actor and former Senator widely seen as the Republicans' best hope for keeping the White House, called for a "blockade" of Iran yesterday.
The screen veteran, whose announcement as the eleventh contender for the Republican nomination is expected within days, also warned that "jihadists" were trying to bring the West to its knees.
Mr. Thompson starred in "Die Hard 2" and "The Hunt for Red October" before serving as Republican Senator for Tennessee.
During a visit to London, he delivered a hawkish lecture on foreign policy, singling out Iran's nuclear ambitions as a key threat to the West.
He recalled how President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." [NOTE: Ahmadinejad has never said this.]
He said: "When the president of Iran shares his nightmare visions before cheering crowds, those are not just a fanatic's version of an empty applause line. The only safe assumption is that he means it.
"If we know anything from modern history it is that when fanatical tyrants pledge to wipe out an entire nation, we should listen. We must gather our alliance and do all in our power to make sure that such men do not gain the capability to carry out their evil ambitions."
Mr. Thompson said sanctions and diplomatic pressure should be used to compel Iran to obey three United Nations resolutions and stop enriching uranium. This highly sensitive process, now being done at Iran's nuclear plant in Natanz, can produce the material essential for a nuclear bomb.
The former Senator also suggested a more direct way of strangling Iran's economy. "A blockade would be a possibility if we could get the international cooperation, if in fact we're all reading off the same page and saw the nature of the threat," he said. "That would be one way to ensure that we didn't have to go to the military option."
Blockading Iran would technically be an act of war. It would involve using the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain -- and the warships of any allied nation -- to prevent shipping from reaching the Islamic republic's ports in the Gulf.
While choking the flow of imports into Iran, a blockade would also have worldwide repercussions by driving up the price of oil, possibly causing a global economic crisis.
During his lecture to Policy Exchange, a Right-wing think tank, Mr. Thompson painted a bleak picture of a world torn by religious terrorism.
"The Western world is in an international struggle with jihadists who see this struggle as part of a conflict that has gone on for centuries and who won't give up until Western countries are brought to their knees," he said.
Mr. Thompson, who is due to meet Baroness Thatcher today, said Britain was a vital ally.
He paid tribute to Tony Blair as a "statesman" and welcomed Gordon Brown as the "53rd prime minister of the United Kingdom".
Mr. Thompson, 64, said: "We in the United States have never had occasion to doubt the fortitude and the faithfulness of the British people.
"As much as ever, we count ourselves lucky to call the United Kingdom our closest ally and we are proud to call you our finest friend."