Last Saturday, the Iranian Intelligence Minister, Heydar Moslehi accused the Swedish
cosmetics firm, Oriflame of trying to harm Iran’s security after the Tehran office was closed and five of its employees were taken into police custody amid allegations that they were running a pyramid scheme for a spy agency.
Moslehi was quoted as saying:
“Oriflame intended to fight the (Iranian) system. There are no economic reasons behind the company… We realized through the evidence that the arrogance (Western powers) and intelligence agencies sought to create security problems for the country through this company.”
An Oriflame representative in Stockholm said the firm is in no way involved in political activities. CEO Gabriel Bennet said:
“We are a cosmetics company, we are selling direct. We are of course not involved in any political activities in the country (Iran)…”
Mr. Bennet continued,
“It’s very difficult to comment on this because we don’t know why our colleagues have been detained, we don’t know why the company has been shut down…” Ah, the mysterious Iranian signature! “We are doing our utmost to solve the situation in Iran and especially for our colleagues being detained.”
Moslehi insisted:
“These companies operate with outside support and are not engaged in economic activities. They are under the guidance of spy agencies.”
To which refuted the Sweating Swede:
“The firm’s business model is to sell cosmetics and give 40,000 Iranians, mainly women, a possibility to earn money through direct sales.”
Good for Iran on cracking down. But why so paranoid?
Meanwhile Teheran is ready, willing and able to supply the Lebanese army with any arms it may need. This is nothing new since the Hezbollah swung into town in 1982.
Iranian General Ahmad Vahidi said,
“Lebanon is our friend, if there is a demand in this respect, we are ready to help that country and conduct weapons transactions with it.”
The USA is on the case, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that such transaction between the Islamic Republic and the Republic of Lebanon is exactly why “the importance both to our (American) national security and the security of the region to continue with our security assistance to the Lebanese people.”
This comes after, as OneJerusalem reported last week, the US suspended $100 million of foreign aid to the sometimes seedy Republic of Cedars, which is really OK, because plenty of arms donations are coming to Lebanon from France, anyway. Herve Morin, French Defense Minister sent a letter to Elias Murr, according to the Jerusalem Post, pushing the sale of 100 HOT anti-tank missiles to be used on their Gazelle helicopters.
Well, the US also warned Lebanon – and I think that means, should Lebanon crumble under Hezbollah influence, the IDF has the capability of destroying the Lebanese Armed Forces in four hours!
China, a huge, repressive, polluting, morally repugnant regime is known to have many an “organ harvesting prison” in its territory. They arrest political opponents, and they tell them they can go free if they simply give up a kidney and half of their liver. Oh, it won’t kill them, and yes, they get to go free, but on the other hand, if they don’t give up an organ, they stay in prison. Call it organ extortion, organ harvesting, call it repugnant, which I did already.
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