Iran 81mm Mortar Story: Twists, Turns, and Eating Crow
Kurt Nimmo | 14.02.2007 23:46 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | Terror War | World
Mike Rivero of the news site What Really Happened has completed a bit of investigative work into the supposed death merchant allegedly responsible for cranking out 81mm mortars, said to be in the arsenal of Iraq’s Shi’a militias.
It was just yesterday I received an email indicating my assertion the Iranian 81mm mortar story—part and parcel of the neocon effort to finger Iran for killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq—was in error, as it appeared at first glance indeed an Iranian death merchant manufactured 81mm mortar shells, thus debunking my debunking of the neocon effort, not that it particularly matters as the neocons will bomb the smithereens out of Iran regardless of the transparency of their propaganda. In short, I ate a healthy serving of crow, and then set about removing my original post and adding a retraction.
But wait a minute. Not so fast.
In the meantime, Mike Rivero of the news site What Really Happened has completed a bit of investigative work into the supposed death merchant allegedly responsible for cranking out 81mm mortars, said to be in the arsenal of Iraq’s Shi’a militias.
Rivero takes note of spelling inconsistencies, errors, and awful fishy graphic and design details on the supposed death merchant page (see his post on the WRH site). Moreover, the “phone numbers on the contact page are all 7 digit numbers. But in July of 2005, Iran switched over to an 8-digit phone system,” Rivero explains. But what really cinches it is the IP information:
Information related to '213.176.96.0 -
213.176.96.255'
inetnum: 213.176.96.0 - 213.176.96.255
netname: MUT-AC-IR
descr: Malek Ashtar University
country: IR
admin-c: SR3653-RIPE
tech-c: MR6958-RIPE
status: ASSIGNED PA
mnt-by: IROST-MNT
mnt-lower: IROST-MNT
mnt-routes: IROST-MNT
source: RIPE Filtered
person: Shapour Rahimi
address: Malek-Ashtar University Tehran Iran
phone: +98 21 22944490
nic-hdl: SR3653-RIPE
source: RIPE Filtered
person: Masoud RanjbarZade
address: Malek-Ashtar University Tehran Iran
phone: +98 21 22944490
nic-hdl: MR6958-RIPE
source: RIPE Filtered
Information related to '213.176.64.0/18AS15611'
route: 213.176.64.0/18
descr: IROST-route
origin: AS15611
mnt-by: IROST-MNT
mnt-lower: IROST-MNT
source: RIPE Filtered
While it is possible the Malek Ashtar University is hosting a web page for an arms merchant, this is, to say the least, highly suspect. In short, the IP information alone leads me to believe there is something extremely fishy about this whole affair.
In response, I am removing my retraction until this can be explained—and for the moment, I will fall back on my original claim: the neocons have falsely attributed the 81mm to the Iranians. Short of more definitive evidence—not likely to come from people who specialize in fabrication evidence, that is to say trading in lies and deception—I maintain the whole thing is a ruse designed to finger Iran and thus build a pretext to bombard that nation.
Addendum
Searching “Malek-Ashtar University” returns a few interesting results. Alireza Jafarzadeh, writing for Strategic Policy Consulting (SPC), mentions the Malek-Ashtar University in relation to Iran’s alleged attempt to build nuclear weapons. “One of the places used by the Defense Industry is their affiliate university, known as Malek Ashtar University located in Lavizan near Tehran, where they are using the ovens there trying to make C.M.C. [Ceramic Matrix Composite, said to be “a key material for building a nuclear bomb”]…. Exporting C.M.C. to Iran is against the international law.”
SPC bills itself as “an independent firm, founded to provide a wide range of consultancy on issues related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, Iranian internal and external affairs, as well as Iran’s role in Iraq,” in other words, it is hardly an objective source. As I wrote here last month, “Jafarzadeh was happy to proffer scary stories about mullahs with nukes. Now, however, as a neocon team player, he has adopted the Iran meddling in Iraq theme, apparently the emerging rationale conjured up as a flimsy excuse to be used in the upcoming effort to shock and awe Iranian school children and grandmothers.” As well, Jafarzadeh’s biography on the SPC website lists him as “a contributor for FOX News Channel, and until August 2003, Jafarzadeh acted for a dozen years as the chief congressional liaison and media spokesperson for the US representative office of Iran’s parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran,” in other words, the wacky Marxist-Islam MEK cult (see below).
“Malek Ashtar University is the center for different tests for nuclear weapons and is affiliated with the Defense Ministry. The headquarters for the University is in Tehran’s Lavizan area,” claims the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a less than objective source, as the NCRI was “founded in 1981 in Tehran upon the initiative of Massoud Rajavi (Leader of the Iranian Resistance) and is closely linked to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK); according to their website the NCRI ‘is the parliament-in-exile of the Iranian Resistance,’” according to SourceWatch. MEK is officially listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization and Massoud Rajavi is considered a traitor in Iran because he served as a malleable quisling for Saddam Hussein.
But wait a minute. Not so fast.
In the meantime, Mike Rivero of the news site What Really Happened has completed a bit of investigative work into the supposed death merchant allegedly responsible for cranking out 81mm mortars, said to be in the arsenal of Iraq’s Shi’a militias.
Rivero takes note of spelling inconsistencies, errors, and awful fishy graphic and design details on the supposed death merchant page (see his post on the WRH site). Moreover, the “phone numbers on the contact page are all 7 digit numbers. But in July of 2005, Iran switched over to an 8-digit phone system,” Rivero explains. But what really cinches it is the IP information:
Information related to '213.176.96.0 -
213.176.96.255'
inetnum: 213.176.96.0 - 213.176.96.255
netname: MUT-AC-IR
descr: Malek Ashtar University
country: IR
admin-c: SR3653-RIPE
tech-c: MR6958-RIPE
status: ASSIGNED PA
mnt-by: IROST-MNT
mnt-lower: IROST-MNT
mnt-routes: IROST-MNT
source: RIPE Filtered
person: Shapour Rahimi
address: Malek-Ashtar University Tehran Iran
phone: +98 21 22944490
nic-hdl: SR3653-RIPE
source: RIPE Filtered
person: Masoud RanjbarZade
address: Malek-Ashtar University Tehran Iran
phone: +98 21 22944490
nic-hdl: MR6958-RIPE
source: RIPE Filtered
Information related to '213.176.64.0/18AS15611'
route: 213.176.64.0/18
descr: IROST-route
origin: AS15611
mnt-by: IROST-MNT
mnt-lower: IROST-MNT
source: RIPE Filtered
While it is possible the Malek Ashtar University is hosting a web page for an arms merchant, this is, to say the least, highly suspect. In short, the IP information alone leads me to believe there is something extremely fishy about this whole affair.
In response, I am removing my retraction until this can be explained—and for the moment, I will fall back on my original claim: the neocons have falsely attributed the 81mm to the Iranians. Short of more definitive evidence—not likely to come from people who specialize in fabrication evidence, that is to say trading in lies and deception—I maintain the whole thing is a ruse designed to finger Iran and thus build a pretext to bombard that nation.
Addendum
Searching “Malek-Ashtar University” returns a few interesting results. Alireza Jafarzadeh, writing for Strategic Policy Consulting (SPC), mentions the Malek-Ashtar University in relation to Iran’s alleged attempt to build nuclear weapons. “One of the places used by the Defense Industry is their affiliate university, known as Malek Ashtar University located in Lavizan near Tehran, where they are using the ovens there trying to make C.M.C. [Ceramic Matrix Composite, said to be “a key material for building a nuclear bomb”]…. Exporting C.M.C. to Iran is against the international law.”
SPC bills itself as “an independent firm, founded to provide a wide range of consultancy on issues related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, Iranian internal and external affairs, as well as Iran’s role in Iraq,” in other words, it is hardly an objective source. As I wrote here last month, “Jafarzadeh was happy to proffer scary stories about mullahs with nukes. Now, however, as a neocon team player, he has adopted the Iran meddling in Iraq theme, apparently the emerging rationale conjured up as a flimsy excuse to be used in the upcoming effort to shock and awe Iranian school children and grandmothers.” As well, Jafarzadeh’s biography on the SPC website lists him as “a contributor for FOX News Channel, and until August 2003, Jafarzadeh acted for a dozen years as the chief congressional liaison and media spokesperson for the US representative office of Iran’s parliament in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran,” in other words, the wacky Marxist-Islam MEK cult (see below).
“Malek Ashtar University is the center for different tests for nuclear weapons and is affiliated with the Defense Ministry. The headquarters for the University is in Tehran’s Lavizan area,” claims the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a less than objective source, as the NCRI was “founded in 1981 in Tehran upon the initiative of Massoud Rajavi (Leader of the Iranian Resistance) and is closely linked to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK); according to their website the NCRI ‘is the parliament-in-exile of the Iranian Resistance,’” according to SourceWatch. MEK is officially listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization and Massoud Rajavi is considered a traitor in Iran because he served as a malleable quisling for Saddam Hussein.
Kurt Nimmo
Homepage:
http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=766
Comments
Hide the following comment
The DIO website is NOT Fake¬
18.02.2007 20:26
That would mean that every single link from DIO would be fake too. Follow the links and go
to the AMIG website that they are also claiming as fake.
As a military enthusiast I have visited those pages since the beginning of 2006. Yes they
contain stupid errors, use stock footage and in the English have poor spelling. The Chinese
military company webpages are exactly the same. Lost in translation springs to mind!
Do they expect these webpages to simply disappear? Do they not think that the Iranian
Government would have publically exposed such fakes by now? If the websites were 'U.S.
fakes' then the Iranian media would have had a field day with such exposure. Why have they
not done so?
Do they believe that Mr Vahid Karami is all part of the conspiracy?
Note the website links - www.diomil.ir
vahid karami tehran, Iran
Category: Security & Protection
military & chemicals & industrial & valve
Dear Sir,we are one of the largest important Industrial organization of Iran,which is
capable in production and export of multi - purpose defense and civil products & services.
such as Civil construction & industrial potentials,chemical products & materials ......more
Active for 1 year and 49 days
Company: defense industries
Website: www.sasad.ir and www.diomil.ir
Phone: +98-21-22542059 & 225613
Fax: +98-21-22551961 & 2254583
Languages: english'
The Malek Ashtar University also does have link to the Iranian Defence industry. This is very well known in the military enthusiast circles.
TEEJ