Iran Supreme Leader calls for Real War Against the US

We must all be prepared for a real war and go to the war fronts and fight against America and its lackeys."--Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, July 5, 1988The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, called for "a real war" against the United States in revenge for the downing of an Iranian airliner by an American warship. Few at the time could have understood the meaning of Khomeini's words.

The US Air Force Military Airlift issued a warning to its civilian contractors: "We believe that Iran will strike back in a tit-for-tat fashion -- mass casualties for mass casualties. We believe Europe is a likely target for a retaliatory attack. This is due primarily to the large concentration of Americans and the established infrastructures in place throughout Europe." Read full story

Tehran: 'The Blood of Our Martyrs Will Be Avenged'

Iranian officials accused the United States of ''a barbaric massacre'' and promised to ''avenge the blood of their martyrs.'' Following the Vincennes accident, a spokesperson for the Iranian Embassy in London, Mohamed Beshti, predicted an act of revenge." We do not disclose our response but it will be an appropriate response to the magnitude of the American Crime," Beshti said.

In an interview conducted on May 16, 2008, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, the former president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, told me that Tehran had ordered the bombing of Pan Am 103 in revenge. [1] According to Bani-Sadr, in the immediate aftermath of the Lockerbie tragedy, Mohtashami-Pur boasted that he had contracted Ahmad Jibril, the leader of a Palestinian organization, to bomb an American airliner. Read full story

The USS Vincennes 'Accident'

I am saddened to report that it appears that in a proper defensive action by the USS Vincennes this morning in the Persian Gulf, an Iranian airliner was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz." -- US President Ronald Reagan, July 3, 1988In early July 1988, Iran had nearly completed an underground bunker that put its Chinese-built Silkworm missiles within range of any ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Additionally, the bunker also concealed Iranian weapons from American reconnaissance.

As a precaution, an Aegis class cruiser, the USS Vincennes -- the most advanced anti-missile weapon in the American fleet -- is stationed in the Persian Gulf. To many experts, the presence of the USS Vincennes in the Persian Gulf was a disaster waiting to happen because such a battleship was not designed to operate on a ''lake''. Read full story

Men Charged in Russian Journalist's Murder

According to Russian authorities investigating the 2006 murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, three men have been charged over the crime. Their role in the murder was not explained.On June 18, the investigative committee of the Prosecutor-General's Office named the accused as Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Ibragim Makhmudov. Khadzhikurbanov is a former police officer. The Makhmudov brothers are from Chechnya.

Certainly, no one seems to believe that these accusations mark the end of the investigation. "I have said many times that this is only the first part of the case," said Sergei Sokolov, deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta."I am calling on all our colleagues to be attentive to what is going on. If you look carefully at the investigative committee's official announcement, it says they have completed the investigation into the specific people who have been named in connection with the case. This means that the Politkovskaya investigation is not finished, but that it has only completed one part. It's not over yet, there will be a second and a third part."Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, also points out that "no criminal cases have been opened in relation to those who released leaks. It's through their fault the murderer remains at large."Muratov insists that Novaya Gazeta will continue its own independent investigation into the murder: "We believe, as before, that the investigation is on the right track. But one cannot interpret this as an end, or say that the crime has been solved." Read full story

Lockerbie Secret Document Confirmed

On Friday, OhmyNews International revealed the content, as well as the country of origin, of a secret document that constitutes one of the key issues being debated at the second extraordinary appeal of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.OMNI alleged that the document was the debriefing by the German BKA (Federal Criminal Police Office) of Iranian defector Abolghasem Mesbahi, who claimed that Tehran, not Tripoli, had ordered the bombing of Pan Am 103. According to a source very knowledgeable about this affair, Germany passed the document to the United Kingdom on Sept. 13, 1996.The Westminster government has imposed a public interest immunity (PII) certificate in order to prevent the defense from seeing this secret document, which happens to be the very document that was used to justify the second appeal in the first place.Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who has signed the PII certificate, has told the judges that he believes releasing the secret document would cause "REAL HARM" to the national interest.

Within hours of the publication by OMNI, an insider, who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons, contacted me. This source confirmed that OMNI had correctly identified the document and its country of origin. The source also tells me that the nature of an earlier meeting would unambiguously reveal the political nature of the indictments against Libya. Read full story

OhmyNews Identifies Secret Lockerbie Document

Last year, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) granted the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing a second appeal on the basis that his conviction may have been unsafe. Among the grounds justifying the decision, the committee stated that the Crown had not given the defense access to a secret document which may be vital to establish the innocence of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.The Westminster government, not the Lord Advocate, has imposed a Public Interest Immunity certificate in order to prevent the defense to see the very document which justifies the second appeal in the first place.

Very little is known about this document. We know that it was obtained from a foreign country, which is not the United States or one of its agencies. The document is rumored to obliterate the thesis of the bomb being activated by a MST-13 timer and the Thurman fragment. The government argues that the PII is needed, surprisingly not for National Security reasons, but to safeguard the good relation of the UK with the country that provided the document. Lastly, the document was passed to the UK in 1996. Yesterday, I was informed that the document was delivered on Sept. 13, 1996. The date leaves me with little doubt that the document is the testimony of Iranian defector Abolghasem Mesbahi who alleged that Tehran, not Tripoli, had ordered the bombing of Pan Am 103. Read full story

Former Iranian President Blames Tehran for Lockerbie

In an interview conducted on May 16, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, the former president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, told me that Tehran, not Libya, had ordered the bombing of Pan Am 103 in revenge for the downing of an Iranian civilian airliner by the USS Vincennes a few months earlier.On July 3, 1988, the navy cruiser USS Vincennes, also known as "Robocruiser," shot down Iran Air Flight 665 over the Persian Gulf. The civilian airliner was carrying mostly Muslims on their pilgrimage to Mecca -- 290 died, most Iranians.According to Bani-Sadr, in the immediate aftermath of the Lockerbie tragedy, Mohtashami-Pur, the then minister of the interior, acknowledged in an interview that he had contracted Ahmad Jibril, the leader of a Palestinian organization, to bomb an American airliner. The interview was scheduled for publication the following day. Hours before distribution, the newspaper was shutdown. Read full story