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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iranian Basij militia attack Italian embassy |
| 2010-02-09 |
| Dozens of members of Iran's religious Basij militia tried to attack Italy's embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said. “About a hundred Basij dressed as civilians tried to assault the embassy shouting “Death to Italy' and “Death to Berlusconi,' Mr. Frattini said referring to Italy's prime minister. Mr. Frattini made his comments during a Senate hearing on the situation in Iran. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #9 Debka reports that the French and probably the Dutch embassies are also being attacked as the kickoff to celebrating the Revolution. Iranian sources report the attacks appear to have kicked off the campaign for "stunning" the West - as threatened by spiritual ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or "crushing" the West - in president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's words this week. Our sources expect the government-instigated violence to escalate up to and including Thursday, Feb. 1, the start of anniversary events marking Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. They are designed to raise international tensions around Iran to fever pitch to deter opposition leaders from staging their planned mass protest demonstrations lest they be accused of treason and collaborating with the Islamic republic's foreign foes. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-02-09 21:08 |
| #8 They were after the prosciutto. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2010-02-09 16:03 |
| #7 There was an article on MEMRI a day or two ago featuring a Saudi holy man explaining that there was a secret American-Iranian alliance, directed against Saudi Arabia. As proof he cited the fact that while we closed our embassy in Yemen for a few days in response to local threats you never hear about us closing our embassy in Teheran. I was gonna post it for chuckles, but got distracted by something else. |
| Posted by: Fred 2010-02-09 15:42 |
| #6 My understanding is that the host country is responsible for guarding the embassies--on the outside. On the inside, I suppose the embassy's personnel, including military like our Marines, take care of business should the embassy property be breached. Who defends the Italian embassy in Iran if the government's agents attack the embassy? |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2010-02-09 15:08 |
| #5 Ah. Good point, g(r)omgoru. Mullah Richard, it's France that's going to ban face veils, including the burqa and the niqab. And quite right, too; there was just another major robbery over there by fully veiled individuals. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-02-09 13:45 |
| #4 It's probably the only (western) one still open, TW. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-02-09 13:11 |
| #3 Isn't Italy trying to ban the burqua or something? |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2010-02-09 12:56 |
| #2 Monsieur De Gaulle did turn a phrase beautifully, JFM. But what do the Mullahs have against Italy, then or now? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-02-09 12:25 |
| #1 During Cultural Revolutuion, for some reason there were demonstartations in which the RedGauards called De Gaulle a dog. He told: "That is the first time I am called a dog by pekingese" |
| Posted by: JFM 2010-02-09 12:11 |