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Monday, March 10, 2008

Iranian threat merits Reuters pictures but no story

Reuters has a series of interesting pictures this morning from Iran that look like this:

A student stands in front of a banner with pictures of Israeli commanders, Head of Aman (IDF) Amos Yadlin (L), Director of Mossad Meir Dagan (C) and Defense Minister Ehud Barak during a pro-Palestinian meeting at a cultural centre in Tehran March 9, 2008. Students agreed on an one-million dollar reward for the murder of the three Israeli commanders. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN)

So where is the story that can fill in the details?

Not from Reuters. Apparently an explicit assassination threat against Israel coming from Iran is just a photo-op. The only place one can find details right now is a South African newspaper:
Iranian hardline students have offered rewards totalling a million dollars for the "execution" of three Israeli military leaders after Israel's deadly strikes on Gaza, the student news agency ISNA reported on Monday.

The group is even encouraging Iranians to donate their kidneys to increase the bounties on the heads of Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, Mossad spy agency director Meir Dagan and military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin.

The rewards were announced by the Justice Seeking Students Group on Sunday at a ceremony in Tehran entitled "setting the bounty for the revolutionary execution of the designers of state terrorism," ISNA said.

The bounty for Barak is set at $400 000 while those for Dagan and Yadlin are $300 000 each, the report said. It is not clear where the money is coming from.

"These sums will be given to any person or their families who could punish these individuals in any part of the world," the organisers of the event announced.

Pictures taken at the ceremony showed a banner bearing pictures of the three Israelis against the backdrop of an Israeli flag, with rifle sights stencilled onto the foreheads of the trio.

"Israel must be wiped off the map," read a quote from Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini printed on the top of the banner.
Nothing to see here. Just a cute little picture of Israeli officials being threatened with assassination. Just part of Iran's right of free expression when it comes to genocidal plans for Israel.

Is Juan Cole going to write to this student group to tell them that their translation from Farsi to English is incorrect?