Hezbollah To Intervene in Syria if Assad Needs Help - Nasrallah

Hezbollah Leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said today Hezbollah could intervene in Syrian civil war on Assad’s side if the need arises.

“(Syria) has real friends in the region and the world who will not allow Syria to fall into the hands of America or Israel,” said Nasrallah. (AP, 30 April)

Nasrallah also said that there are now no Iranian forces in Syria but added that Iran can also intervene militarily if the need arises.

“What do you imagine would happen in the future if things deteriorate in a way that requires the intervention of the forces of resistance in this battle?” Nasrallah said.

Syria's opposition accuses Hezbollah of actually fighting alongside Syrian government troops trying to crush the 2-year-old Syrian uprising.

File photo: Hezbollah Leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah (skepticaesoterica.com)

Iraq Oil Exports Hit 2.6 Million bpd

2.4 Times More than Iran

Iraq exported an average of 2.6 million barrels per day of crude oil in April, the Iraqi oil minister said today. Iraq produced 3.1 million bpd in the same period. (Reuters, 30 April)

Iran’s export for April was is expected to be at 1.08 million bpd. In 2011, Iran’s exports surpassed Iraq by 1 million bpd. (Iraq’s April exports stands at 2.4 times more than Iran’s). The latest OPEC figure for Iran’s crude production in March was 2.67 million bpd.

File photo: An oil field in Basra, Iraq (Reuters)

Islamic Awakening Conference in Tehran

Photo: Senior Iranian clerics at the front row listening to the speech by Iran’s supreme leader at the Islamic Awakening Conference in Tehran, 29 April 2013. (leader.ir/Fars New Agency)

Note: Don’t they seem hard pressed to stay awake at the “Awakening” event?

Ipak Trading Center in Tabriz, recently completed

Pics from the formal completion ceremonies for the Ipak Trading Center in Tabriz

The recently completed Ipak Trading Center tower

Ipak business and commercial park

Multilevel view of the commercial park

Overhead pedestrian walkway bridge

Modern architecture mark this building's facade

Stairways and escalators for a multilevel interior

Fountains at the center of the business plaza

Garden and seating provided at the center of the plaza

Ramps to the multilevel underground parking

Underground parking detail

Ahmadinejad and Meshaei at the completion ceremonies

Photos: tabrizemodern.blogfa.com and IRNA.

Rafsanjani Softens Stance Toward Israel

‘We Are Not at War with Israel’

Iran’s influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said today that Iran is not at war with Israel, Sharq daily reported. (Sharq, 29 April)

Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s comments is seen as an effort by a number of influential politicians to repair Iran’s image abroad after Ahmadinejad’s provocative remarks on Israel and the Holocaust during his eight-year presidency prompted international outcry. he remark is seen as part of growing calls by high-profile Iranian politicians, including potential presidential candidates, to repair Iran’s image abroad. Ahmadinejad’s comment in 2005 that Israel should be destroyed prompted an international outcry.

Last week, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf — Tehran mayor and a leading candidate in the June presidential election — said Ahmadinejad’s anti-Jewish remarks have damaged Iran.

Ayatollah Rafsanjani has not said whether he plans to run in the election.

File photo: Former Iranian President Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani (Baztab)