Iran has a democratically elected government as far as I'm aware. The present government and their policies are the product of the settled will of the population of Iran are they not?

I have no idea what the political leanings of the OP are but, for example, if he had enthusiastically voted for and cheered for the government that caused this crisis with the West ... then  it would be difficult to find sympathy for his plight.

Quote from: tickstock on November 09, 2014, 17:25

What did the email on October 7, 2014 say?  Did you have two accounts?

Yep. We're obviously not being told the whole story here.
As Baruch Spinoza observed "No matter how thin you slice it, there will always be two sides"

Just because you can vote a country is not a democracy.

Iranian democracy is an odd beast, Gostwyck.  It's the sort of democracy that the UK might have if the Church of England was allowed to vet all political parties and candidates and reject any it didn't like, and where Parliament and Premier could be over-ruled by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Since this is going political, I'll add a few things: back in 2005 or 2006 (can't remember exactly) Mossad revealed that if Iran wasn't bombed immediately it would unquestionably have a nuclear bomb within 18 months. This information seems to be what prompted Gulf Arab states to set up their own "peaceful nuclear programme" - as we all know, peaceful nuclear programmes are what is needed to deter regional rivals who are about to get nuclear bombs. In the event, the 18 months passed without Iran getting bombed (to Israel's annoyance) and without it getting nuclear weapons either. A decade later it still does not seem to have any weapons-grade enriched uraniam and has converted a lot of its lower-grade enriched U into a form which prevents it being used in weapons (they always said it was for medical equipment). Meanwhile, nobody is talking about the "peaceful" Saudi/GCC nuclear programme, though Riyadh has nuclear co-operation deals with the US, China and Pakistan and is also rumoured to have an agreement with Islamabad to take delivery of a nuke or two any time it feels the need. If ISIS were ever to topple Al Saud and extend the Caliphate into the Arabian Peninsula I suspect we would hear lots of shocking stories along the same lines as those told about Iran.

For those who say that Arab oil powers don't need to go nuclear, it's worth remembering that the US was desperate to install nuclear power plants all over Iran when the Shah was in power, and would tell anybody who asked that it was stupid to waste oil making electricity when you could do the same with atomic power - exactly the opposite of what they say today.

I don't know if Iran wants a nuclear bomb. Back in the Cold War we had wise policies of Mutually Assured Destruction and suchlike keeping the peace between Russia and the West. I don't doubt that Iran regards nuclear-armed Israel as being as much of a threat to it as the US thought the USSR was 30 years ago.  I do know that the Ayatollahs in Qom, who direct Iranian policy, have never shown any desire for an early meeting with Allah as a result of a military miscalculation. For that reason, I'm not particularly worried about Iran getting nukes, it might even improve stability by making Israel think twice before using excessive force against neighbouring states. The nutters in the North Korean and Pakistani military, who already have their hands on nukes, are much more scary than the cooly calculating old men who run Iran.

There's so much in nuclear foreign policy that makes no sense at all that it is clearly a smokescreen for something else. How can it not be a problem for Pakistan to have nukes, when bin Laden was allowed to hide for years just a couple of hundred yards from a major Pakistani Army base? And when the raid that killed him didn't cause Islamabad to ask how he could hide there, it made them mad about traitors allowing the Yanks to get to him (a high treason trial followed against a doctor who helped the US). It's okay for Saudi to plan for 16 civilian reactors by 2030 but not for Iran to have any - and that's despite the involvement of Saudis in Al Qaeda and Isis, while Iran has no links with terrorist acts against the West  (with the likely exception of the Lockerbie bombing, which was probably retaliation for the US shooting down an Iranian civil airliner shortly before).

And all this leads to some poor bugger getting an iStock account closed.

I personally would prefer that there were no nukes, but at the very least best in the hands of true democracies. Iran, as many have mentioned above, is definitely not a democracy.

Quote from: ShadySue on November 10, 2014, 15:30

Quote from: Lizard on November 10, 2014, 06:15

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 23.

(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

iStock's EASA
11 a "... Stockphoto may ... terminate this Agreement ... for any reason by giving you thirty (30) days notice by e-mail at the last address contained in your membership information. ..."
(as contributors can)

Sorry but you are quoting the highest legal agreement of them all, the one all others agreements including LAWS have to follow, and no reason is good enough legally to confront declaration of human rights especially not terms of a company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights


 

@Ramin: What did the October 7 email say?

Quote from: Noedelhap on November 10, 2014, 00:33

@Ramin: What did the October 7 email say?

When the politics and hate take a break, we never got an answer to the question. What did theOctober 7 email said? We don't have the answer that started a political war on an assumed guess.

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on November 11, 2014, 19:08

Quote from: YadaYadaYada on November 11, 2014, 18:57

Quote from: Noedelhap on November 10, 2014, 00:33

@Ramin: What did the October 7 email say?

When the politics and hate take a break, we never got an answer to the question. What did theOctober 7 email said? We don't have the answer that started a political war on an assumed guess.

In reply 46 he said he never received the promised e-mail of October 7.

I'm not sure where the political war is - all I see is different perspectives that people have.

All of this is based on a guess, including the personal attacks about politics? Never got the email. Didn't do anything wrong. No reason. Just assumes he knows and starts accusing the reason. Some more start guessing it's the fault of the US. Now we talk nukes and politics not the question why the account was closed?

Israel and Iraq are long time enemies of Iran, and if Iran nukes up, then all hell could potentially break lose in the Middle East.

Quote from: Lightrecorder on November 11, 2014, 06:53

Your first line shows your ignorance. If you even say or think differently, anything other than pro government, you disappear. Democracy out of fear for never seeing your kids again. Thats not a democracy in my book.

Vapid nonsense as usual from you. Stating 'facts' without any sources or relevance to the topic. Isn't it about time you 'regenerated' yourself again with yet another user name to cover your tracks?