Iran Conflict Watch

A contact, Amirreza, in the northern Iran city of Tabriz told me that he isn't proud about Iran's nuclear program, but views it as a right, and that every country has a right to nuclear energy. He also pointed out that Iran is not a provacator of war, and he views the U.S. as such (indeed, Iraq provoked the Iran-Iraq war). Iran's nuclear power will be used for peace, he told me, and that throughout Iran's long history, they have always valued peace, a respectable life, and freedom.

It's helpful for me to hear what the people of Iran are thinking. And if Amirreza is any representation of that, they're not thinking about war and global supremecay, but about their own proud heritage and how they may continue that.

In addition to Easter and the continuation of Passover, this weekend is also the birthday celebration of the prophet Mohammad(1436 years) and the sixth Imam, Jafar Sadiq. I believe the actual celebration may have been Saturday evening, April 15th, which corresponds to Night of 17th Rabiul Awwal. Today, many religions seem to be celebrating!

According to a contact, Mansoor, I spoke with from Tehran, "The celebration is usually simple at our houses. There's no gifts in fact. People usually meet each other or call each other and congratulate by phone. But some people arrange parties that a lot of people participate."

In researching this on the web, I found very few resources to guide me along the way. For example, many sites used the word Wiladat instead of birthday, but I could not find out what this term means (Mansoor told me that it means "date of birth"). As these statements attest to my ignorance of Islam, I will devote additional time in this blog to sharing with you what I learn about Islam, particularly as practiced in Iran.

Maurice (or Morris) is member of the Iranian Parliament, representing the Jewish community.

According to Mr. Motamed, in the current climate set up byIran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "a backlash in the wake of [U.S. or Israeli] air strikes becomes a real possibility."

Regarding Iran's right to nuclear power: From MEMRI: "I have traveled many times outside Iran, and have discussed the issue [of the Iranian nuclear project]. I have been asked for my opinion and that of the Iranian Jewish community, and I have always emphasized that the Iranian people has the right to obtain nuclear technology and energy for peaceful purposes. The Iranian people must not give up this right under any circumstances - and indeed, it will not."

I have read and heard from Iranian contact a lot about the right to nuclear status. This is something I will be discussing a lot in coming days.

When I asked a friend of mine who is an officer in the marines what he thinks about the prospects of a conflict with Iran, he said that he hasn't heard anything about such a prospect specifically, but that in his line of work, one enemy is as good as the next.