Nokia equivocates (i.e., "don't blame us") on WSJ story that it sold the Iran government the "deep-packet" surveillance software to monitor and trace back all internet communications originating in country. Apparently it was part of the deal to allow greater connectivity to the Iranian population.

Nokia Siemens Networks has denied it provided Iran with any special snooping equipment or capabilities when it helped install mobile networks in the country.

But the company concedes it did provide lawful intercept capabilities - as it does in the UK, US and most of the rest of the world. In fact this "Lawful Intercept" is defined by standards from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/23/iran_nokia_snoop/

Times Online Jenny Booth and James Hider report

The Iranian regime has appointed one of its most feared prosecutors to interrogate reformists arrested during demonstrations, prompting fears of a brutal crackdown against dissent.

Relatives of several detained protesters have confirmed that the interrogation of prisoners is now being headed by Saaed Mortazavi, a figure known in Iran as “the butcher of the press”. He gained notoriety for his role in the death of a Canadian-Iranian photographer who was tortured, beaten and raped during her detention in 2003.

“The leading role of Saeed Mortazavi in the crackdown in Tehran should set off alarm bells for anyone familiar with his record,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director of Human Rights Watch.

As prosecutor-general of Tehran since 2003 and as a judge before that, he ordered the closure of more than 100 newspapers, journals and websites deemed hostile to the Establishment. In 2004 he was behind the detention of more than 20 bloggers and journalists, who were held for long periods of solitary confinement in secret prisons, where they were allegedly coerced into signing false confessions.

Mr Mortazavi has also led a crackdown in Tehran that has seen women arrested for wearing supposedly immodest clothing.

Earlier this year he oversaw the arrest and trial of Roxana Saberi, the American-Iranian journalist sentenced to eight years for spying, and his name has appeared on the arrest warrants of prominent reformists rounded up since the unrest started, such as Saeed Hajarian, a close aide of Mohammad Khatami, the reformist former President. With more than 600 people now having been arrested, including dozens of journalists, many fear the worst.

Mr Mortazavi became notorious for his role in the death of Zahra Kazemi while in Iranian custody on July 11, 2003. Kazemi, a freelance photojournalist with dual Iranian-Canadian nationality, was arrested while taking photographs outside Evin prison, Tehran, during an earlier period of reformist unrest in the city, also ruthlessly repressed.

The first news of what happened to Kazemi, 54, came in a statement from Mr Mortazavi, which said that she had died accidentally of a stroke while being interrogated.

Two days later a contradictory statement was issued, saying that she had fallen and hit her head.

On July 16 Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the Vice-President, admitted that Kazemi had died of a fractured skull after being beaten.

Mr Abtahi, who is no longer in office, was also arrested in the round-up of hundreds of dissidents and reformists overseen by Mr Mortazavi last week.

Finished! Protest over in Iran. It was only a minor annoyance - soon to be forgotten. Lesson learned; duly noted: Don't mess with the puppet master.

I remember, one fine morning in September. I remember because I was out on the road - working. My crew and I watched the smoke rising over Lower Manhattan (from the Jersey side). At one of our stops, the TV was on. There were people gathered around it - watching. The president was explaining that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center towers. I felt a strange new sensation. By the time we arrived at our next stop my hands were shaking. One of my co-workers was sobbing openly. We all felt something had changed – something that could not be put back to how it had been.

We continued the route. Cell phone calls kept us informed. Within hours we knew the names of the skyjackers. It never occurred to us to wonder who might have been in on it from the inside, though that would become an issue in the coming months; years. How could we trust the words of a man who had (we were told) effectively stolen an election, after all?

Soon after, 9/11 was forgotten. Our focus became scattered; diverted by other, more immediate concerns. War, torture, body bags, political gamesmanship and conflicting opinions about how to go about rebuilding that which had been broken were expertly served in an unbroken stream of dolled up platters. Nobody noticed that the main course was missing. 9/11 never happened, or so it seemed. WE had been attacked on our own soil and almost 3000 people died, but that part of it was no longer to be mentioned. Only subsequent events deserved obsessive repetition and magnification in the press. Lacking the context of 9/11, none of these pieces fit satisfactorily, giving rise to wild speculation and doubt, all of which the media exploited to render an administration clumsy and ultimately ineffective.

Then, just before last November’s presidential election, came whatever it was that gave rise to TARP – another, this time perhaps more subtle, attack on our financial systems. It is never talked about and has never been investigated. Instead, we are told, it was capitalism that had failed (on its own). I, for one, still want to know how and why? The why is pretty obvious: Obama was elected in November. The how remains a mystery. (I suspect that knowing how would lead to who.) Politicians and the media consistently skip over this part of the story – just like 9/11 has now been effectively relegated to a mere footnote.

Obama was elected president. Again, so much about the man was unknown to us when we pulled the levers in good faith. So much was covered up; glossed over. Only now are we are beginning to see the trends.

Some say, take your pick: Either Health Care Reform or Cap and Trade will spell the end of America as we have known her. Both are coming up for a vote in our rubber stamp congress. Immigration and Tax Reform also loom large on Obama’s radical Marxist agenda. We have no reason to assume that any of this will bode well for us. I say, the die was cast way back on 9/11/’01. That’s when the ball started rolling in earnest.

Protest over in Iran! The government controls the narrative. Tienanmen Square (’89): The government controls the narrative. Obama assumes the office of President (’09). We still don’t have a clue just who this guy is. The government controls the narrative.

‘It can’t happen here’, we try to reassure ourselves right after saying our prayers and pulling the covers up. Outside the wind is howling and the rain splashes loudly against the windows. There’s also a branch that’s rubbing up against the eaves. We inhale sharply as we look forward to another sleepless night.

News Wires

A group of Japanese companies led by refiner Nippon Oil is in the final stage of talks to win a $10 billion development contract for Iraq's huge Nassiriya oilfield, a Japanese newspaper reported today.

Nippon Oil together with top oil explorer Inpex and plant engineering company JGC had been vying with Italy's Eni and Spain's Repsol in the race for the engineering, procurement and construction contract, but industry sources had said Repsol was no longer in the running.

Iraq's Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said yesterday that the Oil Ministry has selected a company to develop Nassiriya and has sent its choice to the cabinet for approval. He had declined to identify the company.

The project, which will include oil refining and power-generating facilities, is expected to cost around 1 trillion yen ($10.4 billion), and the government would provide support via the state-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the paper said.

The Nassiriya contract was initially scheduled to be awarded in late April or early May, but was delayed as Iraq asked for the bids to be revised and resubmitted.

Iraq oil reserves are severely underexploited after decades of war, sanctions, underinvestment and most recently sabotage during the sectarian slaughter and insurgency.

It hopes to boost flagging oil production of 2.3 million to 2.4 million barrels per day to 6 million bpd within five years by bringing in foreign capital with tenders and engineering deals, reported Reuters.