Ministry. While the website does not say who owns it, which is the norm in the Islamic Republic, alef.ir carries general news from Iran and around the world, not just security related concerns. Furthermore, the website carries criticisms of President Ahmadinejad, which an Intelligence Ministry website would be unlikely to do. In one article this week, alef.ir says Ahmadi-nejad “often makes no sense in his speeches, especially when he discusses economic issues.” Timmerman also said the article proves that Iran “is dropping the pretense that it is developing nuclear technology purely for peaceful purposes.” But the Saeedabadi article doesn’t say Iran has a nuclear weapons program. In fact, the article urges the government to develop nuclear weapons. “We ought to possess nuclear weapons,” Saeedabadi says, to have them in case a conflict with Israel or the United States escalates and Iran needs to respond to nuclear weapons used by either of those countries. Saeedabadi speaks only about using nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack on Iran, not about initiating any nuclear attack. The Persian commentary by Saeedabadi is available on the alef.ir website at: http://alef.ir/ 1388/content/view/83321/83/
