Frosty Reception: Rouhani’s Thaw Doing Little to Rid Skepticism of US

Iran's supreme leader is warning the country's hardliners against undermining the nuclear negotiations, defending the President's course of action. Within Iran, there's deep skepticism of any good intentions from Washington, when it comes to the country asserting its right to atomic energy. One former adviser to Iran's nuclear negotiating team told us that's because people see the US is engaged in constant double-speak. The worsening economic situation inside Iran means the country's finding other ways to make ends meet. China has reportedly agreed to finance various projects by unblocking 22-billion-euros of oil assets. Beijing and Tehran deal in the Yuan, not the dollar, so the sanctions don't affect China's business with its third-biggest crude oil supplier. Political analyst Seyed Mohammad Marandi says the US agenda is splintering.

Iranians Cry 'Death to America' in Huge Rally

Tens of thousands rally outside old US embassy site in Tehran to mark the 34th anniversary of the US embassy siege.

Verwandt »

Iranians Burn US Flags to Mark Embassy Seizure

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Thousands of Iranians chanting "Death to America" burnt US flags on Friday to mark the 33rd anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, just days before the American presidential election.

The demonstrators also chanted anti-British and anti-Israeli slogans, and burnt Israeli flags, as they gathered in front of the site of the former embassy, dubbed the "den of spies" by the authorities who sponsor the annual commemoration, an AFP photographer reported.

This year's rally came just days before Tuesday's US presidential election in which Republican challenger Mitt Romney has made Iran's controversial nuclear programme a top foreign policy issue.

"The greatest threat the world faces is a nuclear Iran," Romney said in a campaign debate with Democratic incumbent Barack Obama. » | Source: AFP | Friday, November 02, 2012

Egyptian Grand Mufti on Violence

Protests Spread Over Anti-Islam Film
VOICE OF AMERICA: Hundreds of protesters rioting against an anti-Islam film torched a press club and a government building Monday in northwest Pakistan, sparking clashes with police that left at least one person dead.

Demonstrations also turned violent outside a U.S. military base in Afghanistan and at the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the leader of the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah called for sustained protests in a rare public appearance before thousands of supporters at a rally in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah accused U.S. spy agencies of being behind events that have unleashed a wave of anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim and Arab world. » | VOA News | Monday, September 17, 2012

VOICE OF AMERICA: California's Coptic Christians Condemn Anti-Islam Film: LOS ANGELES — California Coptic Christians say they are shocked that an Egyptian Coptic immigrant appears to be the producer of an inflammatory film that has sparked violent protests across the Muslim world. They say the film violates the tenets of their faith. » | Mike O'Sullivan | Monday, September 17, 2012

Karachi ‘Anti-Islam Film’ Protest Turns Violent
DAWN.COM: KARACHI: A rally in Karachi in protest of an anti-Islam film met with shelling from police personnel on Monday as the demonstrators tried to march on the US Consulate, DawnNews reported.

The rally was being led by the Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI). The atmosphere turned tense when the protestors, demonstrating near the city’s MT Khan road, tried to march towards the US Consulate located a small distance from the scene of the protest.

A large contingent of Rangers and police personnel was guarding the area, and roads had been blocked in anticipation of the protests.

Security personnel opened aerial fire to stop the protestors from marching towards the high security area where the consulate is located. Clashes ensued as demonstrators pelted security personnel with stones, damaging one of their vehicles.

A senior police official said 30 students were arrested at the demonstration organised by the religious party. » | DawnNews | Monday, September 17, 2012

Rushdie: Video Protests 'An Ugly Reaction'
BBC – AUDIO: The author Sir Salman Rushdie has said that the protests in Arab capitals against a film which some Muslims say insults Islam is "an ugly reaction that needs to be named as such".

Sir Salman spent more than a decade in hiding under armed protection following a Fatwa in 1989 over his novel The Satanic Verses.

He told Today presenter James Naughtie that the film at the centre of the protests was an "idiotic video... A piece of garbage".

And he added "respect is a code for fear" which is "something we need to overcome".

There is, he explained "no trick to defend stuff you agree with. It's when you have to defend something that you despise and loathe that you realise you believe in freedom of speech.

"We need to insist that the culture of this country is one of open discourse."

At least seven people have died in demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa over the US-produced film. Listen to the audio here » | Saturday, September 15, 2012

Australian Police Tear Gas Anti-US Demonstrators in Sydney

New Dark Age Alert! Anti-Islam Film Sparks Protests and Violence across the Muslim World
Protests and violence breaks-out across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, as demonstrators take to the streets, enraged by a US-made film that demeaned the Prophet Mohammad. In the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, the German embassy is burned and the British embassy attacked

Auch in Sydney musste bei einer Demonstration von Muslimen die Polizei einschreiten
Die anti-westliche Gewalt radikaler Muslime wegen eines islamfeindlichen Internetvideos hat weltweit Besorgnis ausgelöst. Während die Gewalt in den arabischen Ländern etwas abflaute, brachen in Australien neue Proteste aus.

U.S. Won't Tolerate Efforts to Harm Americans: Obama
REUTERS.COM: President Barack Obama on Saturday rejected any denigration of Islam but said there is no excuse for attacks on U.S. embassies, insisting he will never tolerate efforts to harm Americans.

"I have made it clear that the United States has a profound respect for people of all faiths," Obama said in his weekly radio address. "Yet there is never any justification for violence .... There is no excuse for attacks on our embassies and consulates."

Angry anti-American protests have swept the Muslim world in response to a film that insults the Prophet Mohammad. An attack on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others this week.

A day after Obama led a somber ceremony marking the return of the bodies of the Americans killed in Libya, Obama acknowledged that a surge of anti-American violence in the Middle East is disturbing.

The Pentagon is sending Marines to beef up security at the U.S. embassy in Sudan, following similar reinforcements to Libya and Yemen. » | Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Lisa Shumaker | Saturday, September 15, 2012

Attacks on Embassies Spread in Wake of Anti-Islamic Film
THE GUARDIAN: British, German and US envoys targeted as riots erupt from north Africa to south-east Asia

A wave of anger that saw British, German and American embassies in Khartoum attacked by rioters swept across the Muslim world on Friday, with violent scenes playing out on streets from north Africa to south-east Asia.

The worst violence of the day was in the Sudanese capital, where protesters targeted the German embassy first, storming through the outer wall and setting fire to buildings and a car near the gates before they were pushed back by police firing teargas. German diplomats fled to the British embassy next door, which became the next target of the mob.

William Hague, the foreign secretary, said: "Sudanese police attended the scene, but demonstrators were able to break down a perimeter wall and cause minor damage to the compound. They did not attempt to gain access to the British embassy building." No staff had been harmed, he added. Reports said at least one of the rioters had been killed in clashes with police.

The US embassy in Khartoum, which appears to have been the next target, announced that protesters had been expelled from its compound.

Protests, mostly aimed at US embassies and galvanised by the emergence of a crude anti-Islam video made in California, were also reported in Iraq, Iran, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, Jerusalem and the West Bank, Kashmir, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Nigerian city of Jos. In Tunis, crowds of rioters throwing stones clashed with police outside the US embassy, who responded with teargas. A fire could be seen within the embassy compound and the American school in Tunis was also reported to be ablaze. Reports said two demonstrators had been killed. (+ video) » | Julian Borger | Friday, September 14, 2012

Volkszorn gegen die USA
Die Gewaltwelle in der arabischen Welt ist nicht zu stoppen. Der Protest gegen einen islamfeindlichen Mohammed-Film weitet sich aus. Der Volkszorn richtet sich hauptsächlich gegen die USA, wo der umstrittene Film produziert wurde. Die US-Botschaften stehen im Brennpunkt der Demonstrationen.

Anti-US Protests Continue
Protests against an anti-Islam video continue across the Middle East.

Mass Protests Intensify Across Muslim World
Demonstrations against US, sparked by anti-Islam video, continue in Egypt, Yemen, Bangladesh, Iraq and other countries.