|
1. How Iran would retaliate if it comes to war
[By
Scott Peterson (Staff writer of The Christian
Science Monitor from the June 20, 2008 edition)]Istanbul, Turkey - Pressure is building on Iran. This week Europe agreed to new sanctions and President Bush again suggested something more serious – possible military strikes – if the Islamic Republic doesn't bend to the will of the international community on its nuclear program.
But increasingly military analysts are warning of severe consequences if the US begins a shooting war with Iran. While Iranian forces are no match for American technology on a conventional battlefield, Iran has shown that it can bite back in unconventional ways.
Iranian networks in Iraq and Afghanistan could imperil US interests there; American forces throughout the Gulf region could be targeted by asymmetric methods and lethal rocket barrages; and Iranian partners across the region – such as Hezbollah in Lebanon – could be mobilized to engage in an anti-US fight.
 |
2. Iran CIA
Factbook
[By
CIA THE WORLD FACTBOOK]
|
|
|
|
Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian, or other 5%
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arabic (official), Kurdish (official), Turkmen (a Turkish
dialect) and Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic) are official in areas where
they constitute a majority of the population), Armenian
|
|
|
|
|
|
Muslim (official) 97% (Shia 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian
or other 3%
note: while
there has been voluntary relocation of many Christian families
to northern Iraq, recent reporting indicates that the overall
Christian population may have dropped by as much as 50 percent
since the fall of the Saddam HUSSEIN regime in 2003, with many
fleeing to Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon
|
|
|
|
|
|
31,129,225 (July 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: |
|
|
3.Israeli Ministers Mull Plans for Military Strike
against Iran
[Iran
By Ralf Beste,
Cordula Meyer
and
Christoph Schult
(SPIEGEL ON LINE)]
The
Israeli
government
no
longer
believes
that
sanctions
can
prevent
Iran
from
building
nuclear
weapons.
A
broad
consensus
in
favor
of a
military
strike
against
Tehran's
nuclear
facilities
--
without
the
Americans,
if
necessary
--
is
beginning
to
take
shape.
Dani
Yatom,
a
member
of
the
Israeli
parliament,
the
Knesset,
was
invited
to
attend
a
NATO
conference
in
Brussels
last
year.
While
reviewing
the
agenda,
Yatom,
a
retired
major
general,
was
surprised
to
see
that
the
meeting
was
titled
"The
Iranian
Challenge"
and
not
"The
Iranian
Threat."
|
4.
|
