Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called for the end of the “hegemonic” powers of the United States and Israel, whom he described as “the uncivilized Zionists.” He said the world would ”soon” see new “global management” by the Twelfth Imam, also known as the “Mahdi,” and his deputy, Jesus Christ.
This was Ahmadinejad’s eighth and likely final annual address to the opening fall session of the United Nations General Assembly. He is expected to finish his second term in office in June 2013. In each of his past U.N. speeches, he prayed for the soon coming of the so-called Islamic messiah. This time he went much further, offering his most detailed explanation to date of his Shia Islamic eschatology (End Times theology) and his understanding of the coming rule of the Twelfth Imam.
Ahmadinejad told the leaders of the world gathered in Manhattan that he had come this time “to voice the divine and humanitarian message…to you and to the whole world.”
“God Almighty has promised us a man of kindness, a man who loves people and loves absolute justice, a man who is a perfect human being and is named Imam Al-Mahdi, a man who will come in the company of Jesus Christ, peace be upon Him, and the righteous,” he said. Calling the Mahdi “the Ultimate Savior,” Ahmadinejad said his arrival on earth “will mark a new beginning, a rebirth and a resurrection. It will be the beginning of peace, lasting security and genuine life.”
Ahmadinejad said the coming reign of the Twelfth Imam on earth “will bring about an eternally bright future for mankind, not by force or waging wars but through thought awakening and developing kindness in everyone.” The Iranian leader did not offer a specific timetable, but he did say the “sweet scent” of the Mahdi’s global reign “will soon reach all the territories in Asia, Europe, Africa and the U.S.”
Despite his insistence that the Twelfth Imam’s reign would come without war, Shia eschatology experts say the opposite is true. As I document in my non-fiction book, Inside The Revolution, and dramatize in my most recent political thrillers, The Tehran Initiative and The Twelfth Imam, Islamic theologians say Muslim political leaders today are supposed to set into motion the annihilation of Judeo-Christian civilization as we know it and create the conditions of chaos and carnage to hasten the arrival of the Twelfth Imam. Then the Mahdi is supposed to turn all these wars and killings to his advantage and establish justice and peace. As I have both described and documented in my books, it is this Shia End Times theology that is driving Iranian foreign policy today. This is why the mullahs in Tehran are working so hard to pursue nuclear weapons and the means to deliver the, to prepare the way for the rise of this Islamic kingdom or caliphate.
On Sunday upon arriving in New York City, in fact, Ahmadinejad wasted no time in announcing that Israel must be “eliminated” from the earth. He dismissed any concern about a possible Israeli preemptive military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. What’s more, he also refused to distance himself from – much less disagree with – the statement of a senior Revolutionary Guard commander in Tehran who said earlier that day that for the first time Iran itself is actively considering a preemptive military strike against Israel and an attack on American military bases and personnel, and that a war with Israel could turn into “World War III.”
In a CNN interview with Piers Morgan, Ahmadinejad appeared to speak directly to the coming doom of the U.S. and Israel. Speaking of America’s role as the world’s only superpower, he said he believe an “historic period in the world is coming to an end, an era during which power has set the first and last word. Those holding the keys to power have set the fate of many populations. That era is coming to an end.” He later added that the State of Israel is “at the end of the line.”
Few world leaders are taking Ahmadinejad’s eschatology seriously. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, understands it. I’ve discussed it with him personally. Indeed, it is why he and his senior advisors in Jerusalem are seriously contemplating preemptive military action, to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of Ahmadinejad and men like him who are members of an apocalyptic, genocidal death cult determined to bring about a nuclear holocaust and the End of Days.
Just before leaving Israel for New York to address the U.N., Netanyahu reacted to Ahmadinejad’s speech. “On the day that we pray to be inscribed in the Book of Life,” the prime minister said in reference to Yom Kippur, “the authoritarian Iranian regime takes every opportunity to condemn us to death.” He added: “The Iranian oppressor chose to call in public, in front of the entire world, for our disappearance… That is a black day for those who chose to to remain in the room and listen to these accusatory words.” The Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu said his own speech on Thursday would constitute “our response,” and also pledged to “use every possible means” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The following are key excerpts from the address, specifically related to the coming of the Twelfth Imam:
Mr. President, Friends and Dear Colleagues,
Creating peace and lasting security with decent life for all, although a great and a historic mission can be accomplished. The Almighty God has not left us alone in this mission and has said that it will surely happen. If it doesn’t, then it will be contradictory to his wisdom.
– God Almighty has promised us a man of kindness, a man who loves people and loves absolute justice, a man who is a perfect human being and is named Imam A1-Mahdi, a man who will come in the company of Jesus Christ (PBUH) and the righteous. By using the inherent potential of all the worthy men and women of all nations and I repeat, the inherent potential of “all the worthy men and women of all nations” he will lead humanity into achieving its glorious and eternal ideals.
– The arrival of the Ultimate Savior will mark a new beginning, a rebirth and a resurrection. It will be the beginning of peace, lasting security and genuine life.
– His arrival will be the end of oppression, immorality, poverty, discrimination and the beginning of justice, love and empathy.
– He will come and he will cut through ignorance, superstition, prejudice by opening the gates of science and knowledge. He will establish a world brimful of prudence and he will prepare the ground for the collective, active and constructive participation of all in the global management.
– He will come to grant kindness, hope, freedom and dignity to all humanity as a girl.
– He will come so mankind will taste the pleasure of being human and being in the company of other humans.
– He will come so that hands will be joined, hearts will be filled with love and thoughts will be purified to be at service of security, welfare and happiness for all.
– He will come to return all children of Adam irrespective of their skin colors to their innate origin after a long history of separation and division linking them to eternal happiness.
– The arrival of the Ultimate Savior, Jesus Christ and the Righteous will bring about an eternally bright future for mankind, not by force or waging wars but through thought awakening and developing kindness in everyone. Their arrival will breathe a new life in the cold and frozen body of the world. He will bless humanity with a spring that puts an end to our winter of ignorance, poverty and war with the tidings of a season of blooming.
– Now we can sense the sweet scent and the soulful breeze of the spring, a spring that has just begun and doesn’t belong to a specific race, ethnicity, nation or a region, a spring that will soon reach all the territories in Asia, Europe, Africa and the US.
– He will be the spring of all the justice-seekers, freedom-lovers and the followers of heavenly prophets. He will be the spring of humanity and the greenery of all ages.
– Let us join hands and clear the way for his eventual arrival with empathy and cooperation, in harmony and unity. Let us march on this path to salvation for the thirsty souls of humanity to taste immortal joy and grace.
Joel Rosenberg´s Blog
NEW YORK (AP) — After an hour of fielding questions about Syria, sanctions and nuclear weapons, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had enough. Now, he said, it was his turn to choose the topic — his "new order" which will inevitably replace the current era of what he called U.S. bullying.
Continuing his hectic pace of media appearances and diplomatic meetings, Ahmadinejad presented an air of boredom when it came to the hot topic on everyone's mind — Iran's nuclear program and the possibility of impending war. Whether it was feigned or sincere, he said he would much rather be talking about his vision of what the next world order might be.
Conveniently, it would be an order in which the U.S. and the traditional powers play a smaller role and every country has equal standing (though the state of Israel, he often predicts, will soon become a historical footnote).
"God willing, a new order will come and will do away with ... everything that distances us," Ahmadinejad told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday, speaking through a translator. "All of the animosity, all of the lack of sincerity will come to an end. It will institute fairness and justice."
He said the world was losing patience with the current state of affairs.
"Now even elementary school kids throughout the world have understood that the United Statesgovernment is following an international policy of bullying," he said. "I do believe the system of empires has reached the end of the road. The world can no longer see an emperor commanding it."
The interview was held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly — Ahmadinejad's last as president of Iran. He was to address the assembly Wednesday morning.
He also discussed solutions for the Syrian civil war, dismissed the question of Iran's nuclear ambition and claimed that despite Western sanctions his country is better off than it was when he took office in 2005.
Earlier Tuesday, President Barack Obama warned Iran that time is running out to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program. In a speech to the General Assembly, Obama said the United States could not tolerate an Iran with atomic weapons.
Ahmadinejad would not respond directly to the president's remarks, saying he did not want to influence the U.S. presidential election in November.
But he argued that the international outcry over Iran's nuclear enrichment program was just an excuse by the West to dominate his country. He claimed that the United States has never accepted Iran's choice of government after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"Everyone is aware the nuclear issue is the imposition of the will of the United States," he said. "I see the nuclear issue as a non-issue. It has become a form of one-upmanship."
Ahmadinejad said he favored more dialogue, even though negotiations with world powers remain stalled after three rounds of high-level meetings since April.
He said some world leaders have suggested to him that Iran would be better off holding nuclear talks only with the United States.
"Of course I am not dismissing such talks," he said, asked if he were open to discussions with the winner of the American presidential election.
Israeli leaders, however, are still openly contemplating military action again Iranian nuclear facilities, dismissing diplomacy as a dead end. Israel and many in the West suspect that Iran is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, and cite its failure to cooperate fully with nuclear inspectors. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Ahmadinejad also proposed forming a new group of 10 or 11 countries to work to end the 18-month Syrian civil war. Representatives of nations in the Middle East and elsewhere would meet in New York "very soon," he said.
Critics have accused Tehran of giving support to Syrian President Bashar Assad in carrying out massacres and other human rights violations in an attempt to crush the uprising against his rule. Activists say nearly 30,000 people have died.
Ahmadinejad said the so-called contact group hopes to get the Syrian government and opposition to sit across from each other.
"I will do everything in my power to create stability, peace and understanding in Syria," Ahmadinejad said.
Earlier this month, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi announced the formation of a four-member contact group with Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia so far has not participated.
Ahmadinejad denied Iranian involvement in plotting attacks on Israelis abroad, despite arrests and accusations by police in various countries. He also vehemently disputed the U.S. claim that Iranian agents played a role in a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States last year.
Ahmadinejad will leave office next June after serving two four-year terms. He threw out numbers and statistics during the interview to show that Iran's economy and the lives of average Iranians have improved under his watch. Since his 2005 election, he claimed, Iran went from being the world's 22nd-largest economy to the 17th-largest; non-petroleum related exports increased sevenfold; and the basic production of goods has doubled. Median income increased by $4,000, he said.
It was not possible to immediately verify his figures.
"Today's conditions in Iran are completely different to where they were seven years ago in the economy, in technical achievement, in scientific know-how," Ahmadinejad said. "All of these achievements, though, have been reached under conditions in which we were brought under heavy sanctions."
Iran has called for the U.S. and its European allies to ease the sanctions that have hit its critical oil exports and left it blackballed from key international banking networks.
Ahmadinejad said he had no knowledge of the whereabouts of Robert Levinson, a private investigator and former FBI agent who vanished in Iran five years ago. He said he directed Iranian intelligence services two years ago to work with their counterparts in the U.S. to locate him.
"And if any help there is that I can bring to bear, I would be happy to do so," he said.
He also claimed never to have heard of Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine who is imprisoned on espionage charges in Iran. Hekmati was arrested while visiting his grandmothers in Iran in August 2011, and his family has been using Ahmadinejad's visit to New York to plead for his release.
In spite of Ahmadinejad's assertions on the importance of dialogue and respect for others, he has presented a hard line in many areas in this week's media appearances.
He refuses to speak of the state of Israel by name and instead refers only to the "Zionists." And when asked on Monday about author Salman Rushdie, he made no attempt to distance himself from recent renewed threats on the author's life emanating from an Iranian semi-official religious foundation.
"If he is in the U.S.," said the president of Iran, "you should not broadcast it for his own safety."
Russia has suspended the import and use of an American GM corn following a study suggesting a link to breast cancer and organ damage.
Separately, the European Food Safety Authority(EFSA), has ordered its own review in to the research, which was conducted at a French university.
The decision by Russia could be followed by other nations in what would be a severe blow to the take-up of the controversial technology.
Cancer risk? A farmer shows two corncobs of genetically engineered corn by U.S. company Monsanto, right, and two normal corncobs from Germany, left
Historically, biotech companies have proved the safety of GM crops based on trials involving feeding rats for a period of 90 days.
However, experts at the University of Caen conducted an experiment running for the full lives of rats - two years.
The findings, which were peer reviewed by independent experts before being published in a respected scientific journal, found raised levels of breast cancer, liver and kidney damage.
The same trials also found evidence that consumption of minuscule amounts of a commonly used weedkiller, Roundup, was associated with a raised risk of cancer.
Both the GM corn, which carries the name NK603, and Roundup are the creation of US biotech company Monsanto.
The decision by the Russians to suspend authorisation for the American GM corn threatens to trigger a transatlantic commercial and diplomatic row.
Contentious: A combine harvests corn in a field near Coy, Arkansas. The decision by the Russians to suspend authorisation for the American GM corn threatens to trigger a transatlantic commercial and diplomatic row
Russia’s consumer rights watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said today that it has suspended the import and use of the Monsanto GM corn.
Rospotrebnadzor said the country’s Institute of Nutrition has been asked to assess the validity of the study.
It has also contacted the European Commission’s Directorate General for Health & Consumers to ask for the EU’s position on the corn’s safety.
Consumer scepticism in the UK and Europe means GM corn is not on supermarket shelves here, however it is fed to farm animals, including hens, pigs and dairy cows.
Important: In the USA, and much of Europe, corn is used to make an array of food products including cornflakes (picture posed by model)
Last week Monsanto said it did not think the French study would affect its license to export the NK603 to Europe but would wait to hear from EFSA.
The company said: ‘Based on our initial review, we do not believe the study presents information that would justify any change in EFSA’s views on the safety of genetically modified corn products or alter their approval status for genetically modified imports.’
The biotech industry and university researchers involved in GM research have mounted a major PR campaign over the last year to win over sceptical consumers.
In the past week, pro-GM scientists have been lining up to undermine the French experiments and criticise the way they were conducted.
However, a number of independent academics have praised the French team’s work, describing it as the most thorough and extensive feeding trials involving GM to date.
Mustafa Djamgoz, the Professor of Cancer Biology, at Imperial College, London, said the findings relating to eating GM corn were a ‘surprise’.
Prof Djamgoz, who describes himself as a neutral on GM, said: ‘The results are significant. The experiments are, more or less, the best of their kind to date.’
However, he said that it is now important to ensure they are repeated with more animals by independent laboratories to confirm the outcome.
‘We are not scaremongering here. More research, including a repetition of this particular study are warranted,’ he said.
The professor said it will take two to three years to get a definitive answer.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2208452/Russia-suspends-import-use-American-GM-corn-study-revealed-cancer-risk.html#ixzz27ZpJOAYY
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A super holding will be established on the basis of the group of companies Tactical Missiles and Military-Industrial Corporation (NPO Mashinostroyenia). The new organization will operate in the field of hypersonic technologies and their development, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said. Russia thus tries to keep up with the West, where supersonic missiles will form the basis of strike and missile defense systems.
As the official said, this issue had been discussed for almost six months. "In the first stage, it goes about the creation of a big superholding on the base of Tactical Missiles and the Military-Industrial Corporation," said Rogozin.
Tactical Missiles Corporation was created in 2002 on the basis of Zvezda-Strela federal state unitary enterprise. The corporation includes a number of companies that produce highly efficient missiles, guided bombs and air, land and sea-based arms systems.
"We found an acceptable solution, as to how the superholding will be created. "The project of the decision contains the basic idea - the hypersonic technology," said the official.
Russia is inferior to America in the field of the development of hypersonic technologies. The Pentagon generously spends money on the program of the development of hypersonic aircraft. During the past ten years, the Pentagon has spent about $2 billion on the program.
During the Soviet era, our country had its own experience in this area. In particular, similar technologies were used in the creation of experimental hypersonic aircraft, the X-90, that became known in the West as AS-19 Koala.
Russian engineers worked hard to create supersonic missiles in the mid-1970s. The work was supposed to be completed in the early 1980s. The first hypersonic missile was supposed to be passed into service in 1983. In 1980, according to reports, the prototype of X-90 reached a record speed of 4.3 M (M stands for Mach number that represents the speed of an object moving through air or other fluid divided by the local speed of sound). There is no doubt that Soviet engineers could achieve success and total superiority in the field over the potential enemy, the United States.
"The decision of the top political leadership of the country at the end of the 1980s, when most advanced developments in hypersonic technology were artificially stopped, was nothing than treason," said Dmitry Rogozin.
Over this period, the Americans eliminated the long-standing gap, which could become possible with the help of Soviet developments that migrated overseas. The Americans have already built hypersonic vehicles. Last week, the U.S. tested X-51 WaveRider hypersonic missile, which, as reported by the media, was unsuccessful. However, the missile is capable of reaching the speed of nearly 7,000 kilometers per hour, which is six times the speed of sound. The appearance of such systems in the modern army may considerably change the existing missile parity.
Russia officially returned to this topic in 2009, when the Defense Ministry ordered to resume research works to develop hypersonic arms systems. Now, according to Rogozin, the Russian defense industry must "cut corners" to reach the technological level the USA has already achieved.
In organizational terms, Rogozin believes, one should establish "super for hyper" - a superholding for hypersonic arms. Judging by the announced plans, Russia's scientific potential for breakthrough in this area is not enough. In addition to the Military-Industrial Corporation and Tactical Missiles, the project may get Indian design bureaus involved that already have working experience with Russia as part of the Brahmos project.
"It's not only the integration of brains and the industrial potential. In the future, we will need to think about the test site ... We believe that with the help of this association, rather than takeover, we can accelerate the work in the field of hyper sound," Deputy Prime Minister said about the plans for the superholding.
As usual, scientific discoveries in the field of defense can then be transferred to civil technologies. In early September, the head of Tactical Missiles Corporation, Boris Obnosov, told reporters that the development of hypersonic technologies will contribute to the discovery of new technologies, including new types of fuel. According to him, hypersound is "very well related to aerodynamics, engine-building, avionics."
Vladimir Shabanov
Pravda
Iran's semi-official news agency Fars said Tuesday that the military has test-fired four missiles during a military drill in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The report quoted Revolutionary Guard General Ali Fadavi as saying that the missiles hit a "big target" the size of a warship and sunk it within 50 seconds.
According to the report, "The missiles were fired simultaneously at a sea target as large as a warship and sank it in 50 seconds."
Fadavi stated that "Iran's missile systems can reach the entire Persian Gulf coastline and beyond where the US bases are."
It was the first report of an Iranian military exercise taking place simultaneously and close to US-led joint naval maneuvers in thePersian Gulf, including mine-sweeping drills. The drill includes naval forces from Britain, France, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
The US Navy claims the maneuvers are not directly aimed at Iran, but the West and its regional allies have made clear they would react against attempts by Tehran to carry out threats to try to close critical Gulf oil shipping lanes in retaliation for tighter sanctions.
Fadavi added that the Iranian Navy plans to hold massive naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz until at least mid-2013.
According to Fars, Iran was "closely monitoring the US war-games in Persian Gulf.
"Americans' activities are under our constant watch any moment," Fadavi said. "Based on our latest assessments, 64 US vessels are present in the region, and the Americans claim that 20 of these vessels are participating in the drills."
Iranian navy's drill in December (Photo: MCT)
Over the weekend, Iranian Navy Commander Rear AdmiralHabibollah Sayyari boasted Iran's "intelligence supremacy over US moves in the region," and noted that the Islamic Republic was well informed of the details of the US-led exercise.
"We are well aware of the exact number and the position of the US surface vessels, aircrafts, submarines and minesweeping warships in the region," Sayyari was quoted by Fars as saying.
On Saturday, Iran officially introduced its new air defense system, "meant to confront American warplanes in case of a US attack on the country."
The system was displayed as part of a military parade held in Tehran to mark Sacred Defense Week and the 32nd anniversary of the Iraq-Iran war.
The "Raad," or "Thunder" system, is based on Russian-made S-200 long-range missiles, but now also carries "Taer 2" ("Bird" 2) missiles, which are domestically produced by the Revolutionary Guard.
Iran claims that the system is able to intercept threats at a range of up to 50 kilometers, with the capability of hitting targets at 22,000 meters.
Iranian officials said it is "designed to confront fighter jets, cruise missiles, smart bombs, helicopters and drones."
Ynet News
