18 July 2007
Iran has launched a computer game with a strong political message that mixes the standoff over its nuclear program, the mystery of missing diplomats in Lebanon and its hatred of Israel. Players of the game ‘Special Operation 85: Hostage Rescue’ play the part of a special agent battling to release captured Iranian diplomats and nuclear scientists from the clutches of his US and Israeli foes. The game has been produced by the Union of Islamic Students, which was behind the infamous ‘World Without Zionism’ conference in 2005 where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped from the map".
"In this game we are not promoting terrorism and violence. By freeing Iranian hostages we are promoting selflessness, devotion and defense of our country," the group's secretary general Mohammad Taghi Fakhrian was quoted as saying by the ‘Reuters’ news agency. The eight-level game starts in Iraq, where a young married couple who are Iranian nuclear scientists have been captured by US forces while making a pilgrimage to the Shiite holy shrine in Karbala.
Special operations officer Bahman Nasseri’s mission it is to save the couple named Saeed and Maryam, who have now been spirited away to a prison in Israel. The fictional officer Nasseri slips into Israel and locates their prison. In a twist, he finds locked away not only the young scientists but also four other Iranians who in real life have been missing since disappearing in northern Lebanon at the height of the civil war in 1982. Tehran believes they were handed over to Israel by Lebanese Christian forces and are still alive. A successful player completes the eight levels by killing US and Israeli soldiers, stealing their computers which hold secret information, and finally liberating the scientists and the diplomats.
Meanwhile, the head of UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has hailed Iran's “positive' approach” towards negotiations to reach a resolution to its nuclear power ambitions. IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei said he was optimistic that continued dialogue would lead to the resolution of outstanding issues related to Iran's controversial nuclear program. “Iran needs to continue to cooperate with the agency to clarify the scope and nature of its program,” ElBaradei said at a press conference in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. He added: “We are seeing at least a positive move on the part of Iran, but I hope that we will continue this because if we are able to clarify those outstanding issues in Iran, that clearly will make an attitude change in the attitude of the international community.”
Read about the WJC's campaign to Stop the Iranian Threat
