Baztab, Tehran-based news website in English

February 18, 2007 9:46 AM

Baztab, an alternative Iranian news wesbite from Tehran, (feed) was launched last month. But last week, it defied Ahmadinejad's government's order to shut down its service.
posted by hoder (13 comments total)

In related news, holy fuck.
posted by EarBucket at 10:04 AM on February 18, 2007

This link to a Shia slanted news service might be of interest to some also.
posted by Burhanistan at 11:16 AM on February 18, 2007

That's it! We gotta invade now!
by 'we' I mean the armed forces of the United States of America, I sure as hell ain't going anywhere

BTW, it's sure a good thing that the British & Americans don't have any past history of 20th century colonialism wrt Iran. 'cuz that would make the invasion/liberation rilly challenging.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 11:52 AM on February 18, 2007

I must admit that I am suspicious of "alternative news websites" that magically appear in states declared to be enemies of the US and Israel that feature the writings of super neoconservative Michael Ledeen. This seems like either a US or Israel government or think think sponsored psychop more than anything else.
posted by bhouston at 11:53 AM on February 18, 2007

Crap, I didn't mean to post that comment yet, just preview it. Michael Ledeen doesn't actually seem connected not that I look into it. It would be nice to know the exactly reason why it was banned. It looks pretty tame in many ways now that I understand the Michael Ledeen thing was just republished in order to facilitate a response.
posted by bhouston at 11:59 AM on February 18, 2007

No update on Mansoor Osanloo or Yaghoob Salimi, sadly. You're not forgotten, comrades.
posted by Abiezer at 12:03 PM on February 18, 2007

Earbucket, I saw that too. From the article:

An official in Sistan-Baluchestan Province [of Iran], where two bombs were exploded recently, blamed the US and Britain for being involved in the terrorist acts in this southeastern province, FARS News Agency reported Sunday.

I have to believe that it is just rhetoric. U.S. made weapons are surely all over the world, in the hands of our allies and enemies alike. And while heightened rhetoric is not a step in the right direction, this doesn't seem to be a smoking gun. The U.S. has accused Iran of terrorist activity, and Iran has responded I know you are, but what am I?
posted by JamesToast at 12:32 PM on February 18, 2007

Not Good News
posted by homunculus at 1:18 PM on February 18, 2007

The U.S. has accused Iran of terrorist activity, and Iran has responded I know you are, but what am I?

The US has supported terrorism for a long time now. The idea that we don't support terrorism is naive and uninformed.

Most obvious examples: La Contra in Nicaragua, and the Afghani muhajadeen.

There has also been support for the creation of chaos and the disruption of government in Cuba and Iraq (external to the actual war).

This would be nothing new. The U.S. is a terrorist state. That is unlikely to change without a revolution.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 2:51 PM on February 18, 2007

Seems very likely the USA has lost huge stores of weaponry in its incompetent war.

Hell, it sold a ton of F14 parts to the Iranians. US fighter jets are going to be used against US fighters. No surprise whatsoever that they'll also be using US guns and bombs.

The military-industrial complex doesn't choose sides.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:03 PM on February 18, 2007

As is common in the US/Iran conflict, this photo is faked (This link was Dugg, may be sluggish). You really believed a state-run news agency?
posted by StrangerInAStrainedLand at 4:28 PM on February 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

As is common in the US/Iran conflict, this photo is faked (This link was Dugg, may be sluggish). You really believed a state-run news agency?

What on earth does that link prove? That grenades of the same make/model look identical?

I'm not saying anything about the legitimacy, but that "proof" is even weaker than the original photo.

Truly, I suspect that if you saw that video and thought "HA, I knew it!" that your mind was closed to any other options from the start.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 8:03 AM on February 19, 2007

What on earth does that link prove? That grenades of the same make/model look identical?

The point of the link is that the image showing US weapons taken from terrorists in Iran is well, fake. Cloning is a commonly and typically poorly used tool to copy selections within images, and was obviously put to use here. If anything, it proves that the news agency in question needs to hire better graphic designers.

Truly, I suspect that if you saw that video and thought "HA, I knew it!" that your mind was closed to any other options from the start.

Oh, so that's what I thought. Are you sure it's not you you thought those words?
posted by StrangerInAStrainedLand at 2:21 AM on February 21, 2007