Category Archives: Middle East

As the American disaster in Iraq deepens and domestic and foreign opposition grows, “neocon” fanatics such as Vice President Cheney believe their opportunity to control Iran’s oil will pass unless they act no later than the spring. For public consumption, there are potent myths. In concert with Israel and Washington’s Zionist and fundamentalist Christian lobbies, the Bushites say their “strategy” is to end Iran’s nuclear threat. In fact, Iran possesses not a single nuclear weapon nor has it ever threatened to build one; the CIA estimates that, even given the political will, Iran is incapable of building a nuclear weapon before 2017, at the earliest. Continue reading →

The presidents of Iran and Venezuela have agreed to spend billions of dollars to help other countries free themselves from US domination.

Hugo Chavez made the comments in a speech on Saturday with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is on a tour of Latin America.

The two also called for Opec oil production cuts to support falling crude prices.

They had previously announced plans to establish a joint $2bn fund for projects in Venezuela and Iran but on Saturday they said that the money would also be used to help friendly third countries.

“This fund, my brother,” Chavez said, “will become a mechanism for liberation.”

Chavez said the fund “will permit us to underpin investments … above all in those countries whose governments are making efforts to liberate themselves from the [US] imperialist yoke”. Continue reading →