Nobel laureates demand Iran release scientist sentenced to death
Seventy-five Nobel laureates have written and signed a letter to the Iranian government demanding it release the Iranian scientist who it convicted of espionage and sentenced to death.
The group wrote to Gholamali Khoshroo, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, on 17 November, and the letter was made public on 21 November. The Nobel laureates express their concern for the conditions of Djalali’s detention; they deem his trial “unfair” and “flawed”, and they urge the Iranian authorities to let him return to Sweden, where he lived.
The list includes prominent names such as Harold Varmus, a former director of the US National Institutes of Health, now at the Weill Cornell Medicine institute in New York, and Andre Geim, a physicist based at the University of Manchester, UK. They wrote: “As members of a group of people and organizations who, according to the will of Alfred Nobel are deeply committed to the greatest benefit to mankind, we cannot stay silent, when the life and work of a similarly devoted researcher as Iranian disaster medicine scholar Ahmadreza Djalali is threatened by a death sentence.”
The scientist, Ahmadreza Djalali, lived in Sweden and was accused by Iran of spying for Israel. He in turn said the conviction was revenge for his refusal to spy for Iran.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Seventy-five Nobel laureates have written and signed a letter to the Iranian government demanding it release the Iranian scientist who it convicted of espionage and sentenced to death.
The group wrote to Gholamali Khoshroo, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, on 17 November, and the letter was made public on 21 November. The Nobel laureates express their concern for the conditions of Djalali’s detention; they deem his trial “unfair” and “flawed”, and they urge the Iranian authorities to let him return to Sweden, where he lived.
The list includes prominent names such as Harold Varmus, a former director of the US National Institutes of Health, now at the Weill Cornell Medicine institute in New York, and Andre Geim, a physicist based at the University of Manchester, UK. They wrote: “As members of a group of people and organizations who, according to the will of Alfred Nobel are deeply committed to the greatest benefit to mankind, we cannot stay silent, when the life and work of a similarly devoted researcher as Iranian disaster medicine scholar Ahmadreza Djalali is threatened by a death sentence.”
The scientist, Ahmadreza Djalali, lived in Sweden and was accused by Iran of spying for Israel. He in turn said the conviction was revenge for his refusal to spy for Iran.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I say, let them kill’em!
Meanwhile, back at home, Iran sends it’s fleet with the message for the US.
https://www.rt.com/news/410778-iranian-navy-gulf-of-mexico/
I suppose if war breaks out, there is no safer place for the Iranian navy to be.
But then, are there truly any safe places anymore? Why did Northrop Grumman buy ATK?
https://investorplace.com/2017/09/northrop_grumman_more_dominant/#.WhiJ8DRHanO
They already boast of being militarily superior on land, sea, air, Internet (cyber warfare), and now space with an orbital platform in the works. C41SR.
“One ring to control them all”
Business locations throughout the world including their best partner/buyer Saudi Arabia… No wonder the Iranians are nervous.
Money will buy the most heinous of uncivilized action. Another genocide occurring while we are being distracted.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-british-weapons-arms-sales-saudi-arabia-yemen-war-increase-500-civilians-war-crimes-export-a8042871.html
And if that wasn’t enough…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5108651/American-mercenaries-torturing-Saudi-princes.html
It is sad that the Americans are completely taken over the inside of the Ritz. Even the crown prince has taken part in the torture and has ransomed $195 billion from his cousins.
One of the hotel guests was born in Ethiopia and has dual citizenship. Worth less than 5 billion, his money makes up 1/5 of the Ethiopian economy. 15% of the workers in Ethiopia draw paychecks from his businesses. This could collapse Ethiopia I’ll buy itself.
We need to temporarily, but substantially, selectively elevate the pressure of the atmosphere, around the greater Tehran metro-plex.
I see no other comment so far interested in anything here but propaganda.
I am concerned that a scientist is being pressured to spy under threat of death, as an example to other Iranian scientists around the world. This affects both those who will be asked to spy in the future, and the trust that non-Iranians can place in Iranian scientists who are part of the Iranian diaspora since the Khomeinists grabbed power in Tehran.
The fact that he did *any* science work outside Iran means that at some point he probably talked to a Jew. That, in the eyes of the IRGC, means he can be suspected of spying for “the Jews” (they seldom say “Israel” except when they are speaking where those who are not Jew-haters might overhear). This gives them leverage wherever the IRGC are trying to exert influence over scientists themselves inside Iran and outside.
This sort of degradation of the scientific networks around the world is deeply harmful to those networks, and ultimately to industrial society around the world as a whole. This is the sort of thing we can expect to grow as Iran becomes the next candidate for growing a revived Caliphate to rule the world. I find it improbable that the US can and will can exert enough influence to keep Iran from building a nuclear weapons system, so we will be dealing with that as a major issue, outside of the chances of major conflict to keep that from happening. The last Administrations weakened the US military too deeply to deter the Khomeinists. Israel might yet find itself pushed to the wall and strike first before Iran gets operational nukes. Hard to tell.
Whatever happens, we will be living with the consequences of allowing the Caliphate revivalist movement to get as far as Phase 2 in their 3 Phase plans. That is, to start building a nuclear-protected Caliphate to rally supporters to and stage “razia” to “defend” the “right” of all Muslims to live under Sharia Law wherever they may live. ISIS was foiled, but their Salafist presence was allowed to justify turning our backs on Shia Caliphate revival for far too long.
Expect ballistic missile defenses to become a far larger portion of defense spending in the next decade. Expect scientific networks to take many more hits on their effectiveness from both dependency on academic hierarchies and from distrust inside and outside their own networks. Alongside the growing hopes of commercial financing of spaceflight development there are massive portions of dark anti-industrial reaction growing in the world, and we have spent 8 years ignoring them as hard as we can. We will be paying the price for that far longer than the current administration will last.
Pure unadulterated and brutal political strategy, morality and or fairness are just a luxury of a more civilized (soft) mode of governance.