Iranians accused in Iraq bombing deaths of soldiers:
Iranian agents were accused yesterday of masterminding a bomb attack that killed three Italian soldiers in Iraq last week and intensified political pressure for the incoming government to speed up its withdrawal of troops from that country.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060...21449-7319r.htm
Full Version: Iran - Volume Four
Common Ground Common Sense > National & International News > Daily National and International News > National News Archive
Iran a 'threat to Arabs and Israel':
Moshe Katsav, the Israeli president, has told Aljazeera that Iran poses a threat to Arabs and his country.
http://tinyurl.com/r37do
Moshe Katsav, the Israeli president, has told Aljazeera that Iran poses a threat to Arabs and his country.
http://tinyurl.com/r37do
Iran prepared for US attack :
Iranian minister says his country faces possibility of U.S. attack as Iran prepares to confront UN powers over its controversial nuclear programme.
http://tinyurl.com/rfwma
Iranian minister says his country faces possibility of U.S. attack as Iran prepares to confront UN powers over its controversial nuclear programme.
http://tinyurl.com/rfwma
US diplomat predicts tough Iran resolution :
The US diplomat leading talks on Iran's nuclear programme today predicted European governments would propose a tough UN resolution that could allow the use of sanctions or force against Tehran.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12912.htm
The US diplomat leading talks on Iran's nuclear programme today predicted European governments would propose a tough UN resolution that could allow the use of sanctions or force against Tehran.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12912.htm
Iran says Russia and China will not back sanctions :
Iran's foreign minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying that Russia and China had officially informed Tehran they would not support sanctions or military action over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12915.htm
Iran's foreign minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying that Russia and China had officially informed Tehran they would not support sanctions or military action over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12915.htm
Strikes on Iran too risky, says US general:
His comments are a rare public statement from the US military on what is the most contentious international issue of the day.
http://tinyurl.com/r7dut
His comments are a rare public statement from the US military on what is the most contentious international issue of the day.
http://tinyurl.com/r7dut
Patrick Seale: Power Makes Men Mad:
The war in Iraq, ruthlessly promoted by pro-Israeli neocons, has resulted in a strategic catastrophe for the United States - with the painful end still not in sight. A war in Iran would set the region on fire; unleash a world-wide wave of anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli terror; expose U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to devastating attack
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12919.htm
The war in Iraq, ruthlessly promoted by pro-Israeli neocons, has resulted in a strategic catastrophe for the United States - with the painful end still not in sight. A war in Iran would set the region on fire; unleash a world-wide wave of anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli terror; expose U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to devastating attack
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12919.htm
Iran decries U.S. refusal to rule out nuclear strike:
Iran denounced the United States on Monday for contemplating possible nuclear strikes against Iranian targets and urged the United Nations to take urgent action against what it called a dangerous violation of international law.
http://tinyurl.com/r5yjm
Iran denounced the United States on Monday for contemplating possible nuclear strikes against Iranian targets and urged the United Nations to take urgent action against what it called a dangerous violation of international law.
http://tinyurl.com/r5yjm
Iran Threatens Israel if U.S. Attacks :
A top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said Tuesday that Israel would be Iran's first retaliatory target in response to any U.S. attack.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12914.htm
A top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said Tuesday that Israel would be Iran's first retaliatory target in response to any U.S. attack.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12914.htm
A New Strategy on Iran
By Dennis Ross
The United States and Iran are playing programmed roles in a minuet on nuclear weapons. The United States pushes the U.N. Security Council to warn Iran about the consequences of going nuclear. And Iran continues its march toward development of nuclear power, even as its president declares that "we...
To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle
By Dennis Ross
The United States and Iran are playing programmed roles in a minuet on nuclear weapons. The United States pushes the U.N. Security Council to warn Iran about the consequences of going nuclear. And Iran continues its march toward development of nuclear power, even as its president declares that "we...
To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle
- Iran Seeks To Win Over Gulf Arabs In Nuclear Row
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Seeks...uclear_Row.html
Abu Dhabi (AFP) May 03, 2006 - Iran's top national security official said on Tuesday he was confident Gulf Arab states would not side with the United States in its nuclear row with Tehran and accused Washington of seeking to create trouble in the region.
- US To Form Anti-Iran Coalition If UN Rejects Sanctions
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_To_Form..._Sanctions.html
- UN Powers Divided Over Iran As America Threatens Sanctions
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/UN_Powers_..._Sanctions.html
- Iran Nuclear Program Not Compatible With Our Demands Says Nuclear Club
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Nucle...clear_Club.html
- How To Avert War With Iran
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/How_To_Ave..._With_Iran.html
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Seeks...uclear_Row.html
Abu Dhabi (AFP) May 03, 2006 - Iran's top national security official said on Tuesday he was confident Gulf Arab states would not side with the United States in its nuclear row with Tehran and accused Washington of seeking to create trouble in the region.
- US To Form Anti-Iran Coalition If UN Rejects Sanctions
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_To_Form..._Sanctions.html
- UN Powers Divided Over Iran As America Threatens Sanctions
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/UN_Powers_..._Sanctions.html
- Iran Nuclear Program Not Compatible With Our Demands Says Nuclear Club
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Nucle...clear_Club.html
- How To Avert War With Iran
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/How_To_Ave..._With_Iran.html
http://abcnews.go.com/International/print?id=1913798
Burns Sees Europe Backing Iran Sanctions
U.S. Diplomat Predicts Europe Agreeing to Sanctions Being Imposed Against Iran Over Nuke Program
By ANGELA CHARLTON
The Associated Press
PARIS - A leading U.S. diplomat predicted Tuesday that Europe would agree to sanctions being imposed against Iran over its nuclear program.
An Iranian official, meanwhile, accused the Europeans of bowing to U.S. pressure and reiterated his country's commitment to developing nuclear energy.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, speaking ahead of six-nation talks on Iran's nuclear activities, said he believed European governments will put forward "some form of Chapter 7 resolution" at the United Nations. A resolution under the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7 makes any demands mandatory and allows for the use of sanctions and possibly force if they are not obeyed.
Opinions vary widely among the diplomats meeting Tuesday about how to deal with Iran's refusal to stop enriching uranium despite international pressure.
Burns said the United States favors economic sanctions against Iran and countries that sell it weapons or so-called dual-use technology. China and Russia, which has arms and technology deals with Iran, oppose sanctions or military force and want to focus on diplomatic means.
On Wednesday, the other three countries involved in the talks Britain, France and Germany are expected to introduce the text of a new resolution on Iran before the U.N. Security Council.
A senior Russian lawmaker with close ties to the Kremlin said Moscow will reject a Security Council resolution on Iran proposed by the United States and its European allies because Russia will not agree to impose sanctions at this stage.
Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the lower house of parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Ekho Moskvy radio that he expected agreement on a milder resolution on May 9 at a meeting of foreign ministers in New York.
This could give Iran a deadline of 1-3 months to meet demands to stop uranium enrichment. If that deadline expired without result, Kosachev said, a new Security Council resolution would be required to impose sanctions on Iran.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said a Chapter 7 resolution was just "one of the possibilities" for dealing with Iran.
"We all have the objective of avoiding a nuclear-armed Iran and making Iran conform to the demands of the international community, but at the same time, ... giving Iran the means to develop a civilian nuclear program," Mattei told reporters.
Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed only at producing electricity, but the United States and other Western powers fear Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
"We expect nothing specific from these meetings. We have already made our decision," said Seyyed Ali Moujani, a top official at the Iranian Embassy in Paris.
He accused European negotiating partners of bowing to what he called American pressure and "losing their capacities for independence" on the Iranian nuclear question.
Also Tuesday, Mohammad Ghannadi, deputy chief for nuclear research and technology for Iran, said at a conference in the holy city of Qom that his country had found uranium ore at three new sites and that it continues to enrich uranium.
Tuesday's talks were the first since the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Friday that Iran has continued to enrich uranium. Mattei said the negotiators would focus on what "incentive and dissuasive measures" to take in response, and on clarifying the Russian and Chinese positions.
While Burns assailed Iran's position, he insisted, "We believe there can be a diplomatic solution to the problem. We have not given up hope on diplomacy."
Yet he dismissed any possibility of direct talks with Iran. "Diplomacy has to be hard-edged. Isolation is what we believe will work best," he said.
"Within a month or two or three, you are going to see international support for sanctions," he added.
The foreign ministers of the Security Council's five permanent members, plus Germany, will meet May 9 at U.N. headquarters in New York. The council will meet on Iran after those talks to discuss the new text.
Burns said Washington was not pushing for oil sanctions against Iran. He criticized the Russian and other governments for selling weapons and technology that allow Iran access to knowledge that could help to build weapons.
"It's not time for business as usual with Iran," he said. "It's time for a stiff solution."
Associated Press Writer Jenny Barchfield contributed to this report.
Burns Sees Europe Backing Iran Sanctions
U.S. Diplomat Predicts Europe Agreeing to Sanctions Being Imposed Against Iran Over Nuke Program
By ANGELA CHARLTON
The Associated Press
PARIS - A leading U.S. diplomat predicted Tuesday that Europe would agree to sanctions being imposed against Iran over its nuclear program.
An Iranian official, meanwhile, accused the Europeans of bowing to U.S. pressure and reiterated his country's commitment to developing nuclear energy.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, speaking ahead of six-nation talks on Iran's nuclear activities, said he believed European governments will put forward "some form of Chapter 7 resolution" at the United Nations. A resolution under the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7 makes any demands mandatory and allows for the use of sanctions and possibly force if they are not obeyed.
Opinions vary widely among the diplomats meeting Tuesday about how to deal with Iran's refusal to stop enriching uranium despite international pressure.
Burns said the United States favors economic sanctions against Iran and countries that sell it weapons or so-called dual-use technology. China and Russia, which has arms and technology deals with Iran, oppose sanctions or military force and want to focus on diplomatic means.
On Wednesday, the other three countries involved in the talks Britain, France and Germany are expected to introduce the text of a new resolution on Iran before the U.N. Security Council.
A senior Russian lawmaker with close ties to the Kremlin said Moscow will reject a Security Council resolution on Iran proposed by the United States and its European allies because Russia will not agree to impose sanctions at this stage.
Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the lower house of parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Ekho Moskvy radio that he expected agreement on a milder resolution on May 9 at a meeting of foreign ministers in New York.
This could give Iran a deadline of 1-3 months to meet demands to stop uranium enrichment. If that deadline expired without result, Kosachev said, a new Security Council resolution would be required to impose sanctions on Iran.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said a Chapter 7 resolution was just "one of the possibilities" for dealing with Iran.
"We all have the objective of avoiding a nuclear-armed Iran and making Iran conform to the demands of the international community, but at the same time, ... giving Iran the means to develop a civilian nuclear program," Mattei told reporters.
Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed only at producing electricity, but the United States and other Western powers fear Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
"We expect nothing specific from these meetings. We have already made our decision," said Seyyed Ali Moujani, a top official at the Iranian Embassy in Paris.
He accused European negotiating partners of bowing to what he called American pressure and "losing their capacities for independence" on the Iranian nuclear question.
Also Tuesday, Mohammad Ghannadi, deputy chief for nuclear research and technology for Iran, said at a conference in the holy city of Qom that his country had found uranium ore at three new sites and that it continues to enrich uranium.
Tuesday's talks were the first since the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Friday that Iran has continued to enrich uranium. Mattei said the negotiators would focus on what "incentive and dissuasive measures" to take in response, and on clarifying the Russian and Chinese positions.
While Burns assailed Iran's position, he insisted, "We believe there can be a diplomatic solution to the problem. We have not given up hope on diplomacy."
Yet he dismissed any possibility of direct talks with Iran. "Diplomacy has to be hard-edged. Isolation is what we believe will work best," he said.
"Within a month or two or three, you are going to see international support for sanctions," he added.
The foreign ministers of the Security Council's five permanent members, plus Germany, will meet May 9 at U.N. headquarters in New York. The council will meet on Iran after those talks to discuss the new text.
Burns said Washington was not pushing for oil sanctions against Iran. He criticized the Russian and other governments for selling weapons and technology that allow Iran access to knowledge that could help to build weapons.
"It's not time for business as usual with Iran," he said. "It's time for a stiff solution."
Associated Press Writer Jenny Barchfield contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iran_nuclear&pr...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
Iran Close to Being Able to Fuel Reactors
Iran's nuclear chief said Wednesday his country has enriched uranium near the level needed to fuel reactors.
Nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said Iran had enriched uranium to 4.8 percent purity, which surpasses the 3.6 percent level Tehran declared it had achieved last month. To produce electricity, nuclear reactors require uranium enriched to 5 percent.
Enrichment is a highly difficult process that takes gas produced from raw uranium and aims to increase its proportion of the uranium-235 isotope, needed for nuclear fission.
The gas is pumped into a centrifuge, which spins, causing a small portion of the heavier, more prevalent uranium-238 isotope to drop away. The gas then proceeds to other centrifuges — thousands of them — where the process is repeated, increasing the proportion of uranium-235.
Enrichment typically starts out with a gas that is 0.7 percent uranium-235. It must be boosted to around 5 percent to produce fuel for a reactor — or 90 percent for the material for a warhead.
Iran Close to Being Able to Fuel Reactors
Iran's nuclear chief said Wednesday his country has enriched uranium near the level needed to fuel reactors.
Nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said Iran had enriched uranium to 4.8 percent purity, which surpasses the 3.6 percent level Tehran declared it had achieved last month. To produce electricity, nuclear reactors require uranium enriched to 5 percent.
Enrichment is a highly difficult process that takes gas produced from raw uranium and aims to increase its proportion of the uranium-235 isotope, needed for nuclear fission.
The gas is pumped into a centrifuge, which spins, causing a small portion of the heavier, more prevalent uranium-238 isotope to drop away. The gas then proceeds to other centrifuges — thousands of them — where the process is repeated, increasing the proportion of uranium-235.
Enrichment typically starts out with a gas that is 0.7 percent uranium-235. It must be boosted to around 5 percent to produce fuel for a reactor — or 90 percent for the material for a warhead.
I heard somewhere that 99% was required for a warhead, not 90%
Also, even if it's 90%, and they're improving enrichment by 1% a month, and they keep on doing it, that's 85 months or about 7 years.
Also, even if it's 90%, and they're improving enrichment by 1% a month, and they keep on doing it, that's 85 months or about 7 years.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp...06&Cat=2&Num=15
Iraq occupation has caused regional security problems: Rafsanjani
Tehran Times Political Desk
TEHRAN -- Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani held talks with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani here on Tuesday.
During the meeting the two officials discussed the most recent developments in bilateral relations as well as the Middle East region. Rafsanjani said that the unity of the Persian Gulf littoral states was a significant factor in maintaining security in the region.
“The cooperation of the regional countries will leave no excuse for the presence of the foreign forces in the region, and can assure the world about peace and security in the Middle East that is the main supplier of the world’s energy.”
He also said that the Western occupying forces have learned a great lesson in Iraq, proving that a mere reliance on military equipment is not enough to maintain security and interests.
Pointing to Iran’s nuclear issue, he said everything is transparent and the Islamic Republic expects the Islamic and Arab countries to defend Iran’s legal rights for a peaceful use of nuclear technology.
Rafsanjani stated that Qatar’s current membership in the UN Security Council benefits Islamic and Arab countries especially the countries in the Persian Gulf region.
He noted that the scientific developments in Iran were merely aimed at serving all countries in the world and region, saying that Iran hopes to boost bilateral cooperation with members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council.
For his part, the Qatari emir expressed hope that with the formation of a joint economic committee between Iran and Qatar, bilateral relations would develop.
He also said that Iraq’s security is inseparable from the security of the region, noting that settling Iraq’s crisis required consultations between Arab countries and Iraq’s neighboring countries.
Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani also said that Iran should try to consult with the regional countries in order to frustrate those who try to misuse the present critical situation in the region.
The Qatari ruler also said that using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes is among Iran's legitimate rights.
"We believe that construction of nuclear power plant for peaceful purposes is a legitimate right of all countries including Iran," he told reporters at a joint press conference with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad prior to his departure from Tehran
He said his visit to Iran provided a good opportunity to further broaden ties between Tehran and Doha and hoped to witness the expansion of economic and political ties within the framework of the MoU signed by the two sides.
Describing the two sides’ relations as deep-rooted and durable, he said the officials of the two countries are bent on furthering ties.
President Ahmadinejad also said Tehran believes that the Persian Gulf should serve as a beacon of peace and security for all regional countries.
"It is predicted that the current visit of the Qatari emir to Tehran which was made upon my invitation will lead to further promotion of ties between the two sides," Ahmadinejad told reporters.
He said that the two sides have agreed to continue mutual cooperation and never be influenced by aliens.
Iraq occupation has caused regional security problems: Rafsanjani
Tehran Times Political Desk
TEHRAN -- Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani held talks with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani here on Tuesday.
During the meeting the two officials discussed the most recent developments in bilateral relations as well as the Middle East region. Rafsanjani said that the unity of the Persian Gulf littoral states was a significant factor in maintaining security in the region.
“The cooperation of the regional countries will leave no excuse for the presence of the foreign forces in the region, and can assure the world about peace and security in the Middle East that is the main supplier of the world’s energy.”
He also said that the Western occupying forces have learned a great lesson in Iraq, proving that a mere reliance on military equipment is not enough to maintain security and interests.
Pointing to Iran’s nuclear issue, he said everything is transparent and the Islamic Republic expects the Islamic and Arab countries to defend Iran’s legal rights for a peaceful use of nuclear technology.
Rafsanjani stated that Qatar’s current membership in the UN Security Council benefits Islamic and Arab countries especially the countries in the Persian Gulf region.
He noted that the scientific developments in Iran were merely aimed at serving all countries in the world and region, saying that Iran hopes to boost bilateral cooperation with members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council.
For his part, the Qatari emir expressed hope that with the formation of a joint economic committee between Iran and Qatar, bilateral relations would develop.
He also said that Iraq’s security is inseparable from the security of the region, noting that settling Iraq’s crisis required consultations between Arab countries and Iraq’s neighboring countries.
Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani also said that Iran should try to consult with the regional countries in order to frustrate those who try to misuse the present critical situation in the region.
The Qatari ruler also said that using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes is among Iran's legitimate rights.
"We believe that construction of nuclear power plant for peaceful purposes is a legitimate right of all countries including Iran," he told reporters at a joint press conference with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad prior to his departure from Tehran
He said his visit to Iran provided a good opportunity to further broaden ties between Tehran and Doha and hoped to witness the expansion of economic and political ties within the framework of the MoU signed by the two sides.
Describing the two sides’ relations as deep-rooted and durable, he said the officials of the two countries are bent on furthering ties.
President Ahmadinejad also said Tehran believes that the Persian Gulf should serve as a beacon of peace and security for all regional countries.
"It is predicted that the current visit of the Qatari emir to Tehran which was made upon my invitation will lead to further promotion of ties between the two sides," Ahmadinejad told reporters.
He said that the two sides have agreed to continue mutual cooperation and never be influenced by aliens.
http://www.aljazeerah.info/2%20n/Iran%20Th....%20Attacks.htm
Iran Threatens Israel if U.S. Attacks
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
May 2, 2006, 2:01 PM EDT
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A top Revolutionary Guards commander said Tuesday that Israel would be Iran's first retaliatory target if attacked by the United States.
Gen. Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani also said Israel was not prepared to go to war against Iran.
"We have announced that whenever America does make any mischief, the first place we target will be Israel," the semiofficial Iranian Student News Agency quoted Dehghani as saying.
"We will definitely resist ... U.S. B-52 (bombers)."
President Bush has said a military option remained on the table if Iran did not agree to international demands for it to stop enriching uranium. However, he also has said Washington wanted to solve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program through diplomacy.
Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres called on Iran to scrap its nuclear program and warned: "Remember that Israel is exceptionally strong and knows how to defend itself."
Dehghani, who served as a spokesman during large-scale Revolutionary Guards war games last month, said the exercises were held ahead of schedule to send a message to the United States and its allies over Tehran's nuclear activities.
"We were due to organize the maneuvers in May but due to timing conditions and issues related to (our) nuclear energy and upon the recommendation of Mr. (Ali) Larijani (Iran's top nuclear negotiator), it was held 40 days sooner than planned," he said.
Friday marked the deadline set by the U.N. Security Council for Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program. Council members are now considering next steps, which could include punishing sanctions, although Russia and China oppose that step.
Israel's military chief said in comments published Tuesday that if Iran does obtain nuclear capability, it will constitute a threat to Israel's existence. When asked if the world can, militarily, stop Iran's nuclear program, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz told the Maariv newspaper: "The answer is yes."
Asked whether Israel would be involved in such a military operation, Halutz said, "We are part of the world."
Iran Threatens Israel if U.S. Attacks
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
May 2, 2006, 2:01 PM EDT
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A top Revolutionary Guards commander said Tuesday that Israel would be Iran's first retaliatory target if attacked by the United States.
Gen. Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani also said Israel was not prepared to go to war against Iran.
"We have announced that whenever America does make any mischief, the first place we target will be Israel," the semiofficial Iranian Student News Agency quoted Dehghani as saying.
"We will definitely resist ... U.S. B-52 (bombers)."
President Bush has said a military option remained on the table if Iran did not agree to international demands for it to stop enriching uranium. However, he also has said Washington wanted to solve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program through diplomacy.
Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres called on Iran to scrap its nuclear program and warned: "Remember that Israel is exceptionally strong and knows how to defend itself."
Dehghani, who served as a spokesman during large-scale Revolutionary Guards war games last month, said the exercises were held ahead of schedule to send a message to the United States and its allies over Tehran's nuclear activities.
"We were due to organize the maneuvers in May but due to timing conditions and issues related to (our) nuclear energy and upon the recommendation of Mr. (Ali) Larijani (Iran's top nuclear negotiator), it was held 40 days sooner than planned," he said.
Friday marked the deadline set by the U.N. Security Council for Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program. Council members are now considering next steps, which could include punishing sanctions, although Russia and China oppose that step.
Israel's military chief said in comments published Tuesday that if Iran does obtain nuclear capability, it will constitute a threat to Israel's existence. When asked if the world can, militarily, stop Iran's nuclear program, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz told the Maariv newspaper: "The answer is yes."
Asked whether Israel would be involved in such a military operation, Halutz said, "We are part of the world."
- Iran Nuclear Program Not Compatible With Our Demands Says Nuclear Club
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Nucle...clear_Club.html
Paris (AFP) May 03, 2006 - All five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany agree Iran's nuclear programme "is not compatible with the demands of the international community," a French official said after envoys wrapped up a meeting in Paris.
- US To Form Anti-Iran Coalition If UN Rejects Sanctions
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_To_Form..._Sanctions.html
- UN Powers Divided Over Iran As America Threatens Sanctions
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/UN_Powers_..._Sanctions.html
- Iran Seeks To Win Over Gulf Arabs In Nuclear Row
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Seeks...uclear_Row.html
- How To Avert War With Iran
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/How_To_Ave..._With_Iran.html
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Nucle...clear_Club.html
Paris (AFP) May 03, 2006 - All five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany agree Iran's nuclear programme "is not compatible with the demands of the international community," a French official said after envoys wrapped up a meeting in Paris.
- US To Form Anti-Iran Coalition If UN Rejects Sanctions
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_To_Form..._Sanctions.html
- UN Powers Divided Over Iran As America Threatens Sanctions
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/UN_Powers_..._Sanctions.html
- Iran Seeks To Win Over Gulf Arabs In Nuclear Row
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Seeks...uclear_Row.html
- How To Avert War With Iran
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/How_To_Ave..._With_Iran.html
The Russia Card
By ROSE GOTTEMOELLER
Published: May 3, 2006
Moscow
IN recent months, Iran has pursued defiance as if it were a virtue, declaring itself a member of the nuclear club, curtailing cooperation with international nuclear inspectors and rejecting calls by the United Nations to drop its nuclear enrichment program.
Should the rest of the international community give up on negotiations and take another path, either sanctions or the military options that have been bandied around in Washington? Maybe — but maybe there is also an opportunity to get Iran back to the negotiating table.
What we need is a wedge to push open the door to talks, and Russia might be able to provide it. Before the latest downward spiral with Tehran, the Russians had proposed bringing Iran into a nuclear fuel services center on Russian soil that would enrich uranium, manufacture fuel and deal with nuclear waste.
The concept isn't perfect — it would leave intact Iran's existing enrichment and other nuclear facilities. With Iranian defiance at its height, however, that might be a tactical advantage. The Russian proposal does not challenge Iran's right to enrichment, but it provides Iran with a less costly way to produce nuclear energy, its ostensible goal. The Russians could propose that the Iranians resume exploring this option, beginning with three immediate steps.
First, the Iranians would announce that they are ready to take a break in their enrichment program while they plan the next campaign of experiments, which would take six or eight months or even a year. Iran would in the meantime allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to resume monitoring its enrichment sites. Although no different in effect from resuming a moratorium, this approach has certain face-saving advantages for the Iranians.
Second, the Russians would propose that they and the Iranians focus their talks on the practical steps that are under way to establish an international fuel services center at Angarsk, in Siberia. The Iranians have been so hell-bent on enrichment that they have forgotten the rest of the fuel cycle — in particular, how burdensome it is to deal with nuclear waste. The Russians could remind them of that fact — and highlight how good a deal an international fuel service center would be for Iran.
Third, the Russians could urge the Iranians to examine the proposal for technological cooperation — including in nuclear energy — that Britain, France and Germany made last summer. At the time, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had just been elected and the Iranians rejected the proposal out of hand. But if the Iranians look closely, they might find better solutions to their professed energy problems.
A little tactical momentum along these lines might turn a hopeless negotiation into a productive one. That is, assuming that Iran is not a monolithic juggernaut determined to have nuclear weapons, but a country where different interest groups might be willing to listen and move policy in a new direction.
The other missing link is America. The United States could join the discussion with Iran about its interests in the future of nuclear power. After all, the United States is talking to other countries about global warming and energy security problems under the auspices of its new Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.
The United States would be unwilling to share nuclear technology with Iran any time soon. But America has a strong stake in laying out its vision for the future of nuclear power. Nuclear energy cannot expand in a way that avoids proliferation if the current model of Iran's nuclear program dominates the debate. An Iran that makes use of international fuel services — as countries like Spain and Sweden have decided to do — would be an important part of the equation.
A discussion of nuclear power's future, even if it had to be conducted through Russian and European proxies, might in turn narrow the larger distance between Washington and Tehran. For this to happen, however, American policy will really have to be what President Bush called for, a continuation of diplomacy.
Rose Gottemoeller, the director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Moscow Center, was responsible for nonproliferation policy at the Department of Energy from 1997 to 2000.
By ROSE GOTTEMOELLER
Published: May 3, 2006
Moscow
IN recent months, Iran has pursued defiance as if it were a virtue, declaring itself a member of the nuclear club, curtailing cooperation with international nuclear inspectors and rejecting calls by the United Nations to drop its nuclear enrichment program.
Should the rest of the international community give up on negotiations and take another path, either sanctions or the military options that have been bandied around in Washington? Maybe — but maybe there is also an opportunity to get Iran back to the negotiating table.
What we need is a wedge to push open the door to talks, and Russia might be able to provide it. Before the latest downward spiral with Tehran, the Russians had proposed bringing Iran into a nuclear fuel services center on Russian soil that would enrich uranium, manufacture fuel and deal with nuclear waste.
The concept isn't perfect — it would leave intact Iran's existing enrichment and other nuclear facilities. With Iranian defiance at its height, however, that might be a tactical advantage. The Russian proposal does not challenge Iran's right to enrichment, but it provides Iran with a less costly way to produce nuclear energy, its ostensible goal. The Russians could propose that the Iranians resume exploring this option, beginning with three immediate steps.
First, the Iranians would announce that they are ready to take a break in their enrichment program while they plan the next campaign of experiments, which would take six or eight months or even a year. Iran would in the meantime allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to resume monitoring its enrichment sites. Although no different in effect from resuming a moratorium, this approach has certain face-saving advantages for the Iranians.
Second, the Russians would propose that they and the Iranians focus their talks on the practical steps that are under way to establish an international fuel services center at Angarsk, in Siberia. The Iranians have been so hell-bent on enrichment that they have forgotten the rest of the fuel cycle — in particular, how burdensome it is to deal with nuclear waste. The Russians could remind them of that fact — and highlight how good a deal an international fuel service center would be for Iran.
Third, the Russians could urge the Iranians to examine the proposal for technological cooperation — including in nuclear energy — that Britain, France and Germany made last summer. At the time, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had just been elected and the Iranians rejected the proposal out of hand. But if the Iranians look closely, they might find better solutions to their professed energy problems.
A little tactical momentum along these lines might turn a hopeless negotiation into a productive one. That is, assuming that Iran is not a monolithic juggernaut determined to have nuclear weapons, but a country where different interest groups might be willing to listen and move policy in a new direction.
The other missing link is America. The United States could join the discussion with Iran about its interests in the future of nuclear power. After all, the United States is talking to other countries about global warming and energy security problems under the auspices of its new Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.
The United States would be unwilling to share nuclear technology with Iran any time soon. But America has a strong stake in laying out its vision for the future of nuclear power. Nuclear energy cannot expand in a way that avoids proliferation if the current model of Iran's nuclear program dominates the debate. An Iran that makes use of international fuel services — as countries like Spain and Sweden have decided to do — would be an important part of the equation.
A discussion of nuclear power's future, even if it had to be conducted through Russian and European proxies, might in turn narrow the larger distance between Washington and Tehran. For this to happen, however, American policy will really have to be what President Bush called for, a continuation of diplomacy.
Rose Gottemoeller, the director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Moscow Center, was responsible for nonproliferation policy at the Department of Energy from 1997 to 2000.
Britain, France Introduce Iran Resolution Ask News
Britain and France introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution Wednesday that would be legally binding and set the stage for sanctions against Iran if it does not abandon uranium enrichment. Diplomats said they hoped the resolution, backed by the United States but opposed by China and Russia, will be adopted before a meeting of foreign ministers in New York next Monday. The resolution mandates that Iran "shall suspend all enrichment related and reprocessing activities," according to the text presented to the council. But Iran nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said Wednesday his nation had enriched uranium to the upper end of the range needed to make fuel for reactors, further defying U.N. demands. Iran announced April 11 it had enriched uranium for the first time. The resolution also calls on Iran to stop construction of a heavy-water reactor. It will seek a report back from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Iran's compliance. "Once again, the key to this lies in Iran's hands," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said. "If they give up the pursuit of nuclear weapons, a lot of things are possible. If they continue to bluster and to threaten and obfuscate and try to throw sand in our eyes, then we're onto a different circumstance." No timeframe has been set for that report but France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said he wants that report no later than early June. Iran says its nuclear program is confined to generating power, but the United States and France accuse the country of secretly trying to build nuclear weapons. The resolution was written under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes any demands mandatory and allows for the use of sanctions - and possibly force - if they are not obeyed. Any sanctions would require another resolution. That could set up a showdown with Russia and China, which are adamantly opposed to such a tough resolution and can veto any resolution because they are permanent members of the council. Asked if a Chapter 7 resolution was acceptable, China's Ambassador Wang Guangya shook his head and answered "No, no, no." President Bush has refused to rule out military action in response to the Iranian nuclear standoff. When asked last month whether U.S. options regarding Iran "include the possibility of a nuclear strike" if Tehran refuses to halt uranium enrichment, Bush replied, "All options are on the table." He stressed, however, the United States will continue to focus on diplomacy. The resolution was drafted by Britain, France and Germany, the three European Union nations that have led negotiations with Iran. Ambassadors said discussions between the three EU nations, the United States, China and Russia were only beginning over the resolution. "On the strategic objective, there's nothing between the six of us. We do not want to see an Iran with a nuclear weapon capability," Britain's Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said. "On the detail of the resolution, there have been exchanges of views and those will continue." Last month, the Security Council issued a nonbinding statement that Iran comply with previous demands to abandon enrichment. That statement asked for a report from IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei in 30 days on Iran's compliance. As had been widely expected, ElBaradei issued a report Friday saying Iran had not complied, laying the groundwork for Wednesday's resolution. Western nations say the statement and the resolution are part of a gradual process of increasing pressure on Iran.
By NICK WADHAMS
Britain and France introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution Wednesday that would be legally binding and set the stage for sanctions against Iran if it does not abandon uranium enrichment. Diplomats said they hoped the resolution, backed by the United States but opposed by China and Russia, will be adopted before a meeting of foreign ministers in New York next Monday. The resolution mandates that Iran "shall suspend all enrichment related and reprocessing activities," according to the text presented to the council. But Iran nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said Wednesday his nation had enriched uranium to the upper end of the range needed to make fuel for reactors, further defying U.N. demands. Iran announced April 11 it had enriched uranium for the first time. The resolution also calls on Iran to stop construction of a heavy-water reactor. It will seek a report back from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Iran's compliance. "Once again, the key to this lies in Iran's hands," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said. "If they give up the pursuit of nuclear weapons, a lot of things are possible. If they continue to bluster and to threaten and obfuscate and try to throw sand in our eyes, then we're onto a different circumstance." No timeframe has been set for that report but France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said he wants that report no later than early June. Iran says its nuclear program is confined to generating power, but the United States and France accuse the country of secretly trying to build nuclear weapons. The resolution was written under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes any demands mandatory and allows for the use of sanctions - and possibly force - if they are not obeyed. Any sanctions would require another resolution. That could set up a showdown with Russia and China, which are adamantly opposed to such a tough resolution and can veto any resolution because they are permanent members of the council. Asked if a Chapter 7 resolution was acceptable, China's Ambassador Wang Guangya shook his head and answered "No, no, no." President Bush has refused to rule out military action in response to the Iranian nuclear standoff. When asked last month whether U.S. options regarding Iran "include the possibility of a nuclear strike" if Tehran refuses to halt uranium enrichment, Bush replied, "All options are on the table." He stressed, however, the United States will continue to focus on diplomacy. The resolution was drafted by Britain, France and Germany, the three European Union nations that have led negotiations with Iran. Ambassadors said discussions between the three EU nations, the United States, China and Russia were only beginning over the resolution. "On the strategic objective, there's nothing between the six of us. We do not want to see an Iran with a nuclear weapon capability," Britain's Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said. "On the detail of the resolution, there have been exchanges of views and those will continue." Last month, the Security Council issued a nonbinding statement that Iran comply with previous demands to abandon enrichment. That statement asked for a report from IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei in 30 days on Iran's compliance. As had been widely expected, ElBaradei issued a report Friday saying Iran had not complied, laying the groundwork for Wednesday's resolution. Western nations say the statement and the resolution are part of a gradual process of increasing pressure on Iran.
By NICK WADHAMS
UN draft on nuclear Iran tabled BBC News
Western countries have introduced a UN Security Council resolution that could trigger sanctions against Iran unless it abandons uranium enrichment. The ambassadors of France and the US said they hoped the council would approve the resolution soon. Despite objections from Russia and China, the draft falls under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, which allows for sanctions and even military action. Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful proposes only. However, Western nations are concerned it is seeking a nuclear weapons capability. On Friday the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, issued a report saying Tehran had ignored calls to halt uranium enrichment. Before a Chapter Seven resolution is passed, the Council has to agree that there is a threat to "international peace and security". China and Russia are yet to support such a resolution and are opposed to sanctions against Iran.
Western countries have introduced a UN Security Council resolution that could trigger sanctions against Iran unless it abandons uranium enrichment. The ambassadors of France and the US said they hoped the council would approve the resolution soon. Despite objections from Russia and China, the draft falls under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, which allows for sanctions and even military action. Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful proposes only. However, Western nations are concerned it is seeking a nuclear weapons capability. On Friday the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, issued a report saying Tehran had ignored calls to halt uranium enrichment. Before a Chapter Seven resolution is passed, the Council has to agree that there is a threat to "international peace and security". China and Russia are yet to support such a resolution and are opposed to sanctions against Iran.
US, allies submit tough UN resolution on Iran Yahoo! News
The United States, Britain and France introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution on Wednesday demanding Iran suspend uranium enrichment that the West suspects are part of a secret nuclear weapons program. The text, which is still opposed by Russia and China, does not contain sanctions but goes further than a Security Council approved in late March. It threatens to consider unspecified "further measures as may be necessary" to ensure Iran's compliance, a veiled warning of sanctions the West wants if Iran does not comply. The draft calls on all nations to "exercise vigilance" in preventing the transfer of materials and technology "that could contribute to Iran's enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and missile programs." The resolution is under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes it legally binding. It gives Iran another chance to comply prior to a deadline that has not yet been decided but diplomats hoped it would be in early June. A Chapter 7 resolution allows sanctions or even war to enforce compliance but a separate resolution is required to define and activate either step. Russia and China, which could kill any resolution by using their veto power, are reluctant to endorse anything that might be seen as a step toward possible later sanctions or military action, although this draft does not threaten either measure. However, the Western allies want targeted sanctions if Iran defies this resolution, including a transfer of nuclear technology as well as a travel ban on individuals. "This resolution will not deal with sanctions," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said, adding that it was not in Russia's interest "to be within the range of another nuclear power." Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, who drafted the measure along with Germany and France, said he would like to see the measure adopted by Monday, before a meeting in New York by foreign ministers from Germany and the five permanent council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. But diplomats believe this is not possible and Jones Parry admitted, "I never predict timing, as I am always wrong." The key paragraph in the resolution states that "Iran shall suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development" and "suspend the construction of a reactor moderated by heavy water." Iran since 2004 has been building a heavy water reactor at Arak, 120 miles southwest of Tehran, which experts say raises concerns because it could produce bomb-grade plutonium. Heavy water, also known as deuterium oxide, is used in certain types of nuclear reactors to slow down neutrons so they can react with uranium in the reactor. A preamble expresses concern of the proliferation risks presented by the Iranian nuclear program and is "mindful of the threat to international peace and security." Iran maintains its nuclear program is legal and peaceful and recently even accelerated uranium enrichment but is still far below the level needed to make an atomic bomb. Its officials argue that the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, after three years of scrutiny, has not found a weapons program. They note the IAEA does not consider Iran's program an imminent threat to international peace and security. "We will not give up our legitimate right (to nuclear technology) because of America's bullying and pressure," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, according to Iran's state television network. "America is trying to impose its policies on its allies by humiliating them and bullying," he said. "Iran's nuclear issue can only be resolved through diplomatic channels."
By Evelyn Leopold
The United States, Britain and France introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution on Wednesday demanding Iran suspend uranium enrichment that the West suspects are part of a secret nuclear weapons program. The text, which is still opposed by Russia and China, does not contain sanctions but goes further than a Security Council approved in late March. It threatens to consider unspecified "further measures as may be necessary" to ensure Iran's compliance, a veiled warning of sanctions the West wants if Iran does not comply. The draft calls on all nations to "exercise vigilance" in preventing the transfer of materials and technology "that could contribute to Iran's enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and missile programs." The resolution is under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes it legally binding. It gives Iran another chance to comply prior to a deadline that has not yet been decided but diplomats hoped it would be in early June. A Chapter 7 resolution allows sanctions or even war to enforce compliance but a separate resolution is required to define and activate either step. Russia and China, which could kill any resolution by using their veto power, are reluctant to endorse anything that might be seen as a step toward possible later sanctions or military action, although this draft does not threaten either measure. However, the Western allies want targeted sanctions if Iran defies this resolution, including a transfer of nuclear technology as well as a travel ban on individuals. "This resolution will not deal with sanctions," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said, adding that it was not in Russia's interest "to be within the range of another nuclear power." Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, who drafted the measure along with Germany and France, said he would like to see the measure adopted by Monday, before a meeting in New York by foreign ministers from Germany and the five permanent council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. But diplomats believe this is not possible and Jones Parry admitted, "I never predict timing, as I am always wrong." The key paragraph in the resolution states that "Iran shall suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development" and "suspend the construction of a reactor moderated by heavy water." Iran since 2004 has been building a heavy water reactor at Arak, 120 miles southwest of Tehran, which experts say raises concerns because it could produce bomb-grade plutonium. Heavy water, also known as deuterium oxide, is used in certain types of nuclear reactors to slow down neutrons so they can react with uranium in the reactor. A preamble expresses concern of the proliferation risks presented by the Iranian nuclear program and is "mindful of the threat to international peace and security." Iran maintains its nuclear program is legal and peaceful and recently even accelerated uranium enrichment but is still far below the level needed to make an atomic bomb. Its officials argue that the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, after three years of scrutiny, has not found a weapons program. They note the IAEA does not consider Iran's program an imminent threat to international peace and security. "We will not give up our legitimate right (to nuclear technology) because of America's bullying and pressure," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, according to Iran's state television network. "America is trying to impose its policies on its allies by humiliating them and bullying," he said. "Iran's nuclear issue can only be resolved through diplomatic channels."
By Evelyn Leopold
Bolton Refuses To Answer Kucinich’s Questions About US Troops In Iran
By Doug Gordon
While Ambassador Bolton refused to answer questions about US troops in Iran, Bolton did state that the US was prepared to move against Iran, with or without the UN Security Council.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12933.htm
By Doug Gordon
While Ambassador Bolton refused to answer questions about US troops in Iran, Bolton did state that the US was prepared to move against Iran, with or without the UN Security Council.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12933.htm
Israel won’t allow Iran to carry out threats :
Israel will never allow Iran to acquire the power to wipe out the Jewish state, Ehud Olmert said.
http://tinyurl.com/hgsve
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Iran Enriches Uranium to Fuel Reactors :
Iran's nuclear chief said Wednesday his nation had enriched uranium to the upper end of the range needed to make fuel for reactors, further defying U.S. and European demands to stop those efforts.
http://tinyurl.com/kgbm5
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US to form anti-Iran coalition if UN rejects sanctions: Bolton:
The United States is ready to form a coalition of countries to take sanctions against Iran if the UN Security Council does not agree measures, the US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton said.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=292493&sid=WOR
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Addicted to war:
"House of War" author James Carroll says the Pentagon is out of control, the Cold War was unnecessary -- and it's good that we're failing in Iraq.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12936.htm
Israel will never allow Iran to acquire the power to wipe out the Jewish state, Ehud Olmert said.
http://tinyurl.com/hgsve
===
Iran Enriches Uranium to Fuel Reactors :
Iran's nuclear chief said Wednesday his nation had enriched uranium to the upper end of the range needed to make fuel for reactors, further defying U.S. and European demands to stop those efforts.
http://tinyurl.com/kgbm5
===
US to form anti-Iran coalition if UN rejects sanctions: Bolton:
The United States is ready to form a coalition of countries to take sanctions against Iran if the UN Security Council does not agree measures, the US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton said.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=292493&sid=WOR
===
Addicted to war:
"House of War" author James Carroll says the Pentagon is out of control, the Cold War was unnecessary -- and it's good that we're failing in Iraq.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12936.htm
Exclusive: Return Of The Shah
Shah of Iran's Heir Plans Overthrow of Regime
By Human Events
He believes the cause is urgent because of the prospect that Iran may soon develop a nuclear weapon or the U.S. may use military force to preempt that. He hopes to offer a way out of this dilemma: a revolution sparked by massive civil disobedience in which the masses in the streets are backed by elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12939.htm
Shah of Iran's Heir Plans Overthrow of Regime
By Human Events
He believes the cause is urgent because of the prospect that Iran may soon develop a nuclear weapon or the U.S. may use military force to preempt that. He hopes to offer a way out of this dilemma: a revolution sparked by massive civil disobedience in which the masses in the streets are backed by elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12939.htm
Any U.S. Act Puts Israel at Risk, Tehran Warns
--------------------
From Times Wire Reports
May 3 2006
Iran threatened to attack Israel in response to any "evil" act by the U.S. and said it had enriched uranium to a level close to the maximum compatible with civilian use in nuclear power stations.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world
--------------------
From Times Wire Reports
May 3 2006
Iran threatened to attack Israel in response to any "evil" act by the U.S. and said it had enriched uranium to a level close to the maximum compatible with civilian use in nuclear power stations.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world
Iran Rejects Statement It Would Hit Israel
--------------------
By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer
May 3 2006, 12:41 PM PDT
UNITED NATIONS -- The Iranian military on Wednesday rejected a statement from a top Revolutionary Guards commander that Israel would be Iran's first target in response to any U.S. attack, an Iranian news agency reported.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...opinternational
--------------------
By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer
May 3 2006, 12:41 PM PDT
UNITED NATIONS -- The Iranian military on Wednesday rejected a statement from a top Revolutionary Guards commander that Israel would be Iran's first target in response to any U.S. attack, an Iranian news agency reported.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...opinternational
- Russia Ready To Back Franco-British Resolution On Iran If It's Amended
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_Rea...ts_Amended.html
United Nations (AFP) May 04, 2006 - Russia's new UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, on Wednesday said Moscow would be prepared to back a Franco-British draft resolution on the Iranian nuclear crisis if its concerns were addressed. But he made clear that his government remained opposed to the use of force or sanctions to resolve the nuclear standoff with Tehran.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_Rea...ts_Amended.html
United Nations (AFP) May 04, 2006 - Russia's new UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, on Wednesday said Moscow would be prepared to back a Franco-British draft resolution on the Iranian nuclear crisis if its concerns were addressed. But he made clear that his government remained opposed to the use of force or sanctions to resolve the nuclear standoff with Tehran.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7BD...62466C616DF.htm
Iran's nuclear programme 'politicised'
Thursday 04 May 2006, 14:18 Makka Time, 11:18 GMT
The Iranian foreign minister says his country's nuclear programme is a technical issue that the UN Security Council has politicised by its involvement.
Speaking at a regional economic summit in Azerbaijan, Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran's nuclear activities would be better handled by the UN nuclear watchdog.
The United States, Britain and France circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations calling on Iran to suspend nuclear enrichment. The document will be legally binding if the council approves it.
Iran says its nuclear activities are peaceful. Washington says the programme could be a front for making weapons.
Mottaki said in English: "The Security Council is a place to secure the peace of all countries.
"Definitely international bodies should not avoid and ignore the essential rights of the countries and we hope that would not happen in the Security Council."
Mottaki was restating Tehran's long-standing opposition to its nuclear programme being referred to the council.
Vigilance
Russia and China, which hold vetoes in the council, have said they support action on Iran but want the resolution modified. They fear that too much pressure would be self-defeating and precipitate an oil emergency.
Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, said on Thursday that military action was not the solution to the stand-off.
The draft says countries should exercise vigilance to stop Iran obtaining nuclear-related technology and goods.
Russia, which is helping Iran to build a nuclear power station, has said it is opposed to any such restrictions.
Reuters
Iran's nuclear programme 'politicised'
Thursday 04 May 2006, 14:18 Makka Time, 11:18 GMT
The Iranian foreign minister says his country's nuclear programme is a technical issue that the UN Security Council has politicised by its involvement.
Speaking at a regional economic summit in Azerbaijan, Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran's nuclear activities would be better handled by the UN nuclear watchdog.
The United States, Britain and France circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations calling on Iran to suspend nuclear enrichment. The document will be legally binding if the council approves it.
Iran says its nuclear activities are peaceful. Washington says the programme could be a front for making weapons.
Mottaki said in English: "The Security Council is a place to secure the peace of all countries.
"Definitely international bodies should not avoid and ignore the essential rights of the countries and we hope that would not happen in the Security Council."
Mottaki was restating Tehran's long-standing opposition to its nuclear programme being referred to the council.
Vigilance
Russia and China, which hold vetoes in the council, have said they support action on Iran but want the resolution modified. They fear that too much pressure would be self-defeating and precipitate an oil emergency.
Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, said on Thursday that military action was not the solution to the stand-off.
The draft says countries should exercise vigilance to stop Iran obtaining nuclear-related technology and goods.
Russia, which is helping Iran to build a nuclear power station, has said it is opposed to any such restrictions.
Reuters
Why Has US Manufactured a Crisis Over Iran?
Tariq Ali
The Guardian
Till now, what has prevented the crisis in Iraq from becoming a total debacle for the United States has been the open collaboration of the Iranian clerics. Iranian foreign policy – fragmentary and opportunist – has always been determined by the needs and interests of the clerical state rather than any principled anti-imperialist strategy. In the past, this has led to a de facto collaboration with Washington in Afghanistan and Iraq. During the Iran-Iraq war, the clerics had no hesitation in buying arms from the Israeli regime to fight Iraq, then backed by Britain and the US. In the wake of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq – hoping, no doubt, that clearing the path for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and Mullah Omar might have won them a respite – the regime took a tougher stance on the nuclear question.
The Bush administration appears to be psyching itself up for a safe strike against Iran either by itself or via the Israelis, whose new leaders have referred to the Iranian president as a psychopath and a new Hitler. Why has Washington manufactured this crisis? The hypocrisy of Bush, Blair, Chirac or Olmert – their own states armed with thousands of nuclear weapons – making a casus belli of what are, by all accounts, primitive gropings on Iran's part toward the technology necessary for the lowest grade of nuclear self-defense, hardly needs to be spelled out. So long as these powers are allowed to enlarge their nuclear armories unimpeded, why should Tehran not?
The country is not only ringed by atomic states (India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Israel), it also faces a string of American bases with potential or actual nuclear stockpiles in Qatar, Iraq, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Nuclear-armed US aircraft carriers and submarines patrol the waters off its southern coast. Historically, Iran has every reason to fear outside threats. Its elected government was overthrown with covert Anglo-American aid in 1953, and the secular opposition destroyed. From 1980 to 1988, the Western powers abetted Saddam Hussein's onslaught, in which hundreds of thousands of Iranians died. More than 300 Iraqi missiles were launched at Iranian cities and economic targets, especially the oil industry. In the war's final stages, the US destroyed nearly half the Iranian Navy in the Gulf and, for good measure, shot down a crowded civilian passenger plane.
For the clerical state, the war on terror has been the best and the worst of times. Oil prices have soared. Enemy regimes on both sides, Baghdad and Kabul, have been overthrown. The Iraqi Shiite parties that they have been fostering for years are now in office. Washington has been reliant on their help to sustain its occupations both there and in Afghanistan. Yet social tensions in Iran are high. In this context, the nuclear issue is one of the regime's few unifying projects. It is worth recalling that the Iranian nuclear program began under the Shah with technology offered by the Americans. Khomeini put the project on hold, considering it un-Islamic. Operations were restarted, with Russians later taking over construction of the light-water reactors at Bushehr begun by the West Germans in the 1970s. From the start, Iran, like Germany, the Netherlands or Japan, has wanted its program to take in the full nuclear cycle, including uranium enrichment; Russia has several times threatened to impose conditions on fuel deliveries. Enrichment centrifuges were surreptitiously imported from neighboring Pakistan; not the process, but the failure to report it, was in contravention of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreements.
There is no evidence that Iran is much closer to nuclear weapons now than was Iraq in September 2002, when Blair and Cheney assured the world that Baghdad represented a "genuine nuclear threat". Reports in 2003 by a somewhat demented sect, the Mojahedin e-Khalq, of preliminary nuclear research at the Natanz installation were no such proof. But in the competitive scramble by European powers to enhance their standing with Washington after the invasion of Iraq, France, Germany and Britain were keen to prove their mettle by forcing extra agreements on Tehran. The Khatami regime immediately capitulated. In December 2003, they signed the "Additional Protocol" demanded by the EU3, agreeing to a "voluntary suspension" of the right to enrichment guaranteed under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Within three months, the IAEA was condemning them for having failed to ratify it; in June 2004, its inspectors produced examples of Iranian enrichment work, perfectly legal under the NPT, but ruled out by the Additional Protocol. Israel has boasted of its intention to "destroy Natanz" – the contrast to its stealth bombing of Iraq's Osirak reactor in 1981 a measure of the new balance of forces. In the summer of 2004, a large bipartisan majority in the US Congress passed a resolution for "all appropriate measures" to prevent an Iranian weapons program and there was speculation about an "October surprise" before the 2004 presidential poll. Plans were thus well advanced before Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in the June 2005 Iranian presidential election.
Ahmadinejad reaped the vote against Khatami's miserable record between 1997 and 2005. Economic conditions had worsened and Khatami was prepared to defend the rights of foreign investors, but not those of independent newspapers or protesting students. Maneuvering ineffectually between contradictory pressures, he exhausted his moral credit. Contrary to some reports, Ahmadinejad has not so far imposed any new puritanical clampdown on social mores. Instead, the most likely constituency to be disappointed is Ahmadinejad's own: The millions of young, working-class jobless, crammed into overcrowded living conditions, in desperate need of a national development policy that neither neoliberalism nor Islamist voluntarism will provide.
Nor is fundamentalist backwardness, exhibited in the denial of the Nazi genocide against the Jews and the threat to obliterate Israel, a basis for any foreign policy. To face up to the enemies ranged against Iran requires an intelligent and far-sighted strategy – not the current ragbag of opportunism and maneuver, determined by the immediate interests of the clerics.
Clearing the way for the overthrow of the Iraqi Baath and Afghan Taleban regimes and backing the US occupations has bought no respite. The US undersecretary of state has spoken of "ratcheting up the pressure". Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has said that "Israel will not be able to accept an Iranian nuclear capability, and it must have the capability to defend itself with all that this implies, and we are preparing." Hillary Clinton accused the Bush administration of "downplaying the Iranian threat" and called for pressure on Russia and China to impose sanctions on Tehran. Chirac has spoken of using French nuclear weapons against such a "rogue state". Perhaps it is simply high-octane rocket-rattling, the aim being to frighten Tehran into submission. Bullying is unlikely to succeed. Will the West then embark on a new war? If so, the battlefield might stretch from the Tigris to the Oxus and without any guarantee of success.
Tariq Ali
The Guardian
Till now, what has prevented the crisis in Iraq from becoming a total debacle for the United States has been the open collaboration of the Iranian clerics. Iranian foreign policy – fragmentary and opportunist – has always been determined by the needs and interests of the clerical state rather than any principled anti-imperialist strategy. In the past, this has led to a de facto collaboration with Washington in Afghanistan and Iraq. During the Iran-Iraq war, the clerics had no hesitation in buying arms from the Israeli regime to fight Iraq, then backed by Britain and the US. In the wake of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq – hoping, no doubt, that clearing the path for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and Mullah Omar might have won them a respite – the regime took a tougher stance on the nuclear question.
The Bush administration appears to be psyching itself up for a safe strike against Iran either by itself or via the Israelis, whose new leaders have referred to the Iranian president as a psychopath and a new Hitler. Why has Washington manufactured this crisis? The hypocrisy of Bush, Blair, Chirac or Olmert – their own states armed with thousands of nuclear weapons – making a casus belli of what are, by all accounts, primitive gropings on Iran's part toward the technology necessary for the lowest grade of nuclear self-defense, hardly needs to be spelled out. So long as these powers are allowed to enlarge their nuclear armories unimpeded, why should Tehran not?
The country is not only ringed by atomic states (India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Israel), it also faces a string of American bases with potential or actual nuclear stockpiles in Qatar, Iraq, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Nuclear-armed US aircraft carriers and submarines patrol the waters off its southern coast. Historically, Iran has every reason to fear outside threats. Its elected government was overthrown with covert Anglo-American aid in 1953, and the secular opposition destroyed. From 1980 to 1988, the Western powers abetted Saddam Hussein's onslaught, in which hundreds of thousands of Iranians died. More than 300 Iraqi missiles were launched at Iranian cities and economic targets, especially the oil industry. In the war's final stages, the US destroyed nearly half the Iranian Navy in the Gulf and, for good measure, shot down a crowded civilian passenger plane.
For the clerical state, the war on terror has been the best and the worst of times. Oil prices have soared. Enemy regimes on both sides, Baghdad and Kabul, have been overthrown. The Iraqi Shiite parties that they have been fostering for years are now in office. Washington has been reliant on their help to sustain its occupations both there and in Afghanistan. Yet social tensions in Iran are high. In this context, the nuclear issue is one of the regime's few unifying projects. It is worth recalling that the Iranian nuclear program began under the Shah with technology offered by the Americans. Khomeini put the project on hold, considering it un-Islamic. Operations were restarted, with Russians later taking over construction of the light-water reactors at Bushehr begun by the West Germans in the 1970s. From the start, Iran, like Germany, the Netherlands or Japan, has wanted its program to take in the full nuclear cycle, including uranium enrichment; Russia has several times threatened to impose conditions on fuel deliveries. Enrichment centrifuges were surreptitiously imported from neighboring Pakistan; not the process, but the failure to report it, was in contravention of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreements.
There is no evidence that Iran is much closer to nuclear weapons now than was Iraq in September 2002, when Blair and Cheney assured the world that Baghdad represented a "genuine nuclear threat". Reports in 2003 by a somewhat demented sect, the Mojahedin e-Khalq, of preliminary nuclear research at the Natanz installation were no such proof. But in the competitive scramble by European powers to enhance their standing with Washington after the invasion of Iraq, France, Germany and Britain were keen to prove their mettle by forcing extra agreements on Tehran. The Khatami regime immediately capitulated. In December 2003, they signed the "Additional Protocol" demanded by the EU3, agreeing to a "voluntary suspension" of the right to enrichment guaranteed under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Within three months, the IAEA was condemning them for having failed to ratify it; in June 2004, its inspectors produced examples of Iranian enrichment work, perfectly legal under the NPT, but ruled out by the Additional Protocol. Israel has boasted of its intention to "destroy Natanz" – the contrast to its stealth bombing of Iraq's Osirak reactor in 1981 a measure of the new balance of forces. In the summer of 2004, a large bipartisan majority in the US Congress passed a resolution for "all appropriate measures" to prevent an Iranian weapons program and there was speculation about an "October surprise" before the 2004 presidential poll. Plans were thus well advanced before Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in the June 2005 Iranian presidential election.
Ahmadinejad reaped the vote against Khatami's miserable record between 1997 and 2005. Economic conditions had worsened and Khatami was prepared to defend the rights of foreign investors, but not those of independent newspapers or protesting students. Maneuvering ineffectually between contradictory pressures, he exhausted his moral credit. Contrary to some reports, Ahmadinejad has not so far imposed any new puritanical clampdown on social mores. Instead, the most likely constituency to be disappointed is Ahmadinejad's own: The millions of young, working-class jobless, crammed into overcrowded living conditions, in desperate need of a national development policy that neither neoliberalism nor Islamist voluntarism will provide.
Nor is fundamentalist backwardness, exhibited in the denial of the Nazi genocide against the Jews and the threat to obliterate Israel, a basis for any foreign policy. To face up to the enemies ranged against Iran requires an intelligent and far-sighted strategy – not the current ragbag of opportunism and maneuver, determined by the immediate interests of the clerics.
Clearing the way for the overthrow of the Iraqi Baath and Afghan Taleban regimes and backing the US occupations has bought no respite. The US undersecretary of state has spoken of "ratcheting up the pressure". Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has said that "Israel will not be able to accept an Iranian nuclear capability, and it must have the capability to defend itself with all that this implies, and we are preparing." Hillary Clinton accused the Bush administration of "downplaying the Iranian threat" and called for pressure on Russia and China to impose sanctions on Tehran. Chirac has spoken of using French nuclear weapons against such a "rogue state". Perhaps it is simply high-octane rocket-rattling, the aim being to frighten Tehran into submission. Bullying is unlikely to succeed. Will the West then embark on a new war? If so, the battlefield might stretch from the Tigris to the Oxus and without any guarantee of success.
Over Thirty People Killed In Violence Across Iraq ;
Two U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi police officers were killed in separate bomb blasts.
http://tinyurl.com/k597y
===
18 dead bodies found in Iraqi cities of Babylon, Tikrit :
Iraqi police said on Thursday that they had found 18 unidentified dead bodies in the cities of Tikrit and Babylon.
http://tinyurl.com/gguby
===
US air assault kills 13 civilians in Iraqi: medics:
"US planes bombed a house in Aziziyah area of Ramadi city centre, killing 13 civilians," Ali al-Obeidi, a medic at the Ramadi hospital told AFP, adding that four people were wounded.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12944.htm
===
US Accused Of Killing Children:
Muhannad al-Fahadawi, a doctor at the main hospital, said two girls and a boy aged 8 were among at least 11 people he believed had been killed in the violence.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12943.htm
===
U.S. Releases New Zarqawi Images :
The U.S. military command Thursday released previously unseen images of a video purportedly posted by al-Qaida in Iraq ‘s leader, showing him decked out in American tennis shoes and unable to operate his machine gun.
http://tinyurl.com/k8uzu
===
Ex-CIA analyst condemns Bush 'manipulation campaign' on Iraq:
A former Middle East specialist of the US Central Intelligence Agency has condemned what he called an organised campaign of manipulation by the Bush administration to justify the Iraq war.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060504/wl_mi...raqusciaattacks
===
Iraqi president: Syria exporting terror, Iran great danger:
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani accused Syria of exporting terrorism to Iraq and Iran of posing a great danger to his country.
http://tinyurl.com/fzu92
Two U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi police officers were killed in separate bomb blasts.
http://tinyurl.com/k597y
===
18 dead bodies found in Iraqi cities of Babylon, Tikrit :
Iraqi police said on Thursday that they had found 18 unidentified dead bodies in the cities of Tikrit and Babylon.
http://tinyurl.com/gguby
===
US air assault kills 13 civilians in Iraqi: medics:
"US planes bombed a house in Aziziyah area of Ramadi city centre, killing 13 civilians," Ali al-Obeidi, a medic at the Ramadi hospital told AFP, adding that four people were wounded.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12944.htm
===
US Accused Of Killing Children:
Muhannad al-Fahadawi, a doctor at the main hospital, said two girls and a boy aged 8 were among at least 11 people he believed had been killed in the violence.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12943.htm
===
U.S. Releases New Zarqawi Images :
The U.S. military command Thursday released previously unseen images of a video purportedly posted by al-Qaida in Iraq ‘s leader, showing him decked out in American tennis shoes and unable to operate his machine gun.
http://tinyurl.com/k8uzu
===
Ex-CIA analyst condemns Bush 'manipulation campaign' on Iraq:
A former Middle East specialist of the US Central Intelligence Agency has condemned what he called an organised campaign of manipulation by the Bush administration to justify the Iraq war.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060504/wl_mi...raqusciaattacks
===
Iraqi president: Syria exporting terror, Iran great danger:
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani accused Syria of exporting terrorism to Iraq and Iran of posing a great danger to his country.
http://tinyurl.com/fzu92
Report: Iran Makes Fuel Rods for Reactors:
It said these Iranian-produced rods were already in use in a 5-megawatt reactor built by the United States — before Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution — at the nuclear research center in Tehran.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060504/ap_on_...ea/iran_nuclear
===
UN resolution on Iran: full text of draft:
Full text of a draft UN Security Council resolution put forward by Britain, France, the United States and Germany as the council’s proposed response to Iran’s nuclear programme.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12946.htm
===
US Seeks Targeted Sanctions If Iran Won't End Enrichment :
Bolton said targeted sanctions would also likely include "restricting trade in dual use and other sensitive items." He didn't rule out tougher sanctions at some future date.
http://tinyurl.com/z2lv2
===
Iran Military Denies Israel Is 1st Target If US Attacks :
The Iranian military on Wednesday rejected a statement from a top Revolutionary Guards commander that Israel would be Iran's first retaliatory target in response to any U.S. attack, according to an Iranian news agency.
http://tinyurl.com/z77cu
===
Ahmadinejad: Lost in translation :
What if the pronouncements by Ahmadinejad that cast him as this season’s baddie incarnate had been a) mistranslated and
taken out of context?
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12949.htm
===
Interview with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian Ambassador to the U.N.
Real Video
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12941.htm
===
Setting the Record Straight about Iran’s Nuclear Program:
Before the international community is lead to another “crisis of choice”, it is imperative that the public knows all the facts and is empowered to make an informed and sober decision about an impending catastrophe.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12942.htm
===
US threats make their mark on Iranians:
“On the one hand the Americans say the issue with Iran is our nuclear programme, and on the other they allocate $70m for overthrowing the Islamic Republic,” he said, referring to president George Bush’s decision to fund groups wanting regime change in Tehran.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/167fbcf2-da9f-11d...00779e2340.html
===
Stephen Zunes : Iran stands in the way of US designs:
The latest US National Security Strategy document, published this year, labeled Iran as the most serious challenge to the United States posed by any country.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE04Ak04.html
===
Iranian author arrested in Tehran :
A leading Canadian-Iranian intellectual, Ramin Jahanbegloo, has been arrested at the airport in Tehran.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4970120.stm
It said these Iranian-produced rods were already in use in a 5-megawatt reactor built by the United States — before Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution — at the nuclear research center in Tehran.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060504/ap_on_...ea/iran_nuclear
===
UN resolution on Iran: full text of draft:
Full text of a draft UN Security Council resolution put forward by Britain, France, the United States and Germany as the council’s proposed response to Iran’s nuclear programme.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12946.htm
===
US Seeks Targeted Sanctions If Iran Won't End Enrichment :
Bolton said targeted sanctions would also likely include "restricting trade in dual use and other sensitive items." He didn't rule out tougher sanctions at some future date.
http://tinyurl.com/z2lv2
===
Iran Military Denies Israel Is 1st Target If US Attacks :
The Iranian military on Wednesday rejected a statement from a top Revolutionary Guards commander that Israel would be Iran's first retaliatory target in response to any U.S. attack, according to an Iranian news agency.
http://tinyurl.com/z77cu
===
Ahmadinejad: Lost in translation :
What if the pronouncements by Ahmadinejad that cast him as this season’s baddie incarnate had been a) mistranslated and
taken out of context?http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12949.htm
===
Interview with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian Ambassador to the U.N.
Real Video
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12941.htm
===
Setting the Record Straight about Iran’s Nuclear Program:
Before the international community is lead to another “crisis of choice”, it is imperative that the public knows all the facts and is empowered to make an informed and sober decision about an impending catastrophe.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12942.htm
===
US threats make their mark on Iranians:
“On the one hand the Americans say the issue with Iran is our nuclear programme, and on the other they allocate $70m for overthrowing the Islamic Republic,” he said, referring to president George Bush’s decision to fund groups wanting regime change in Tehran.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/167fbcf2-da9f-11d...00779e2340.html
===
Stephen Zunes : Iran stands in the way of US designs:
The latest US National Security Strategy document, published this year, labeled Iran as the most serious challenge to the United States posed by any country.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE04Ak04.html
===
Iranian author arrested in Tehran :
A leading Canadian-Iranian intellectual, Ramin Jahanbegloo, has been arrested at the airport in Tehran.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4970120.stm
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=648
Russia, Pakistan against use of force in Iran N-issue: Mushahid
Russia, Pakistan against use of force in Iran N-issue: Mushahid
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?ed...rticle_id=24190
Ahmadinejad seeks regional support as pressure mounts on Iran
Ahmadinejad seeks regional support as pressure mounts on Iran
TOMGRAM: ON BOMBING IRAN AND OTHER FANTASIES OF AMERICAN POWER TOM ENGELHARDT (TOMDISPATCH, MAY 4): The American invasion of Iraq has proved a bottomless catastrophe, bombing a disaster, regime change an abyss -- all based on a deep-seated belief in the power of "American preponderance."
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=81770
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=81770
IRAN'S LATEST REVIEW & OUTLOOK (MAY 3, WALL STREET JOURNAL): How so many apparently thoughtful people can face the idea of an Iranian bomb with relative equanimity remains a mystery to us.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1146603517...ain_europe_asia
PAID SUBSCRIPTION
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1146603517...ain_europe_asia
PAID SUBSCRIPTION
NEVER AGAIN - CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER (WASHINGTON POST, MAY 5): Those who would finish Hitler's work now reside in Tehran.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6050401458.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6050401458.html
THE GATHERING STORM OVER IRAN - NILE GARDINER AND JOSEPH LOCONTE (BOSTON GLOBE, MAY 3): Britain will likely walk again with the United States if it is forced to confront Iran militarily.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...torm_over_iran/
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...torm_over_iran/
M.A.D. ABOUT YOU: SOMETIMES IT HELPS IF YOUR FOES THINK YOU'RE READY FOR WAR - WINDSOR MANN (WEEKLY STANDARD): If the president conveys a pure indifference to polls, which he has, along with an eagerness to confront his foreign foes, he just might get the mullahs in Iran to ask themselves, "Do you think he's really as crazy as he seems?"
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/175cjtil.asp
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/175cjtil.asp
CONFRONTING IRAN OPINION (BALTIMORE SUN, MAY 4): Tough sanctions may further isolate Iran, but they won't likely eliminate Tehran's nuclear program, only delay it.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/b...inion-headlines
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/b...inion-headlines
THE UN'S MOMENT EDITORIAL (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, MAY 3): There are divergent opinions on how to stop Iran. This is the challenge the Security Council faces, the possibility that it will once again be conquered by its own divisions.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion...newsopinion-hed
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion...newsopinion-hed
LATEST LAST CHANCE ON IRAN EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, MAY 3): Under any scenario, it will be important for the United States to make a convincing case to the world that it worked tirelessly and creatively with other nations on the diplomatic front to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of Iran's rulers.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editor...ment-editorials
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editor...ment-editorials
HOW CLOSE IS IRAN TO HAVING NUCLEAR WEAPONS: DON'T PANIC ... YOUR WAR QUESTIONS ANSWERED - ANDISHEH NOURAEE (CREATIVE LOAFING, MAY 3): Estimates of when Iran will have a working nuke vary according to how soon the estimator thinks Iran will have enough fissile material.
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobas...oid=oid%3A69764
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobas...oid=oid%3A69764
TWO CAN PLAY THE REALPOLITIK GAME - RAMZY BAROUD (ASIA TIMES, MAY 4): With Iran, the Bush administration is working from the Iraq playbook -- demonizing its leader, hyping the "threat" to neighboring countries, flexing its military might. So why is Tehran toying with the lion? It turns out that in the game known as "realpolitik", Iran has some cards of its own to play.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE04Ak03.html
TEXT OF ENTRY FROM
http://atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page.html
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE04Ak03.html
TEXT OF ENTRY FROM
http://atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page.html
SABER RATTLING OVER IRAN EDITORIAL (NATION): By hardening Iran's national resolve around its nuclear program, the Administration is narrowing the choices to war or capitulation. Saner voices must offer an alternative to the Administration's endgame.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060522/editors
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060522/editors
SLOUCHING TOWARDS TEHRAN - ELIZABETH SPIRO CLARK (TOMPAINE.COM, MAY 4): Whether by miscalculation or intention, a military strike is against Iraq is a real risk.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/0...ards_tehran.php
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/0...ards_tehran.php
THIS HIGH-OCTANE ROCKET-RATTLING AGAINST TEHRAN IS UNLIKELY TO SUCCEED: RINGED BY NUCLEAR STATES, IRAN'S ATOMIC PROGRAM IS SCARCELY UNREASONABLE. SO WHY HAS WASHINGTON MANUFACTURED THIS CRISIS? - TARIQ ALI (GUARDIAN, UK, MAY 3/COMMON DREAMS)
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0503-24.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0503-24.htm
TO END NUCLEAR SPREAD, WE MUST GIVE UP OURS - ALICE SLATER (MINUTEMAN MEDIA, MAY 3/COMMON DREAMS): There is a clear solution to the crisis over Iran?s nuclear ambitions -- but it requires much more than the current proposals for using diplomacy rather than waging war. The US must keep its own promise to give up nuclear weapons which it made in 1970 when it signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0503-27.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0503-27.htm
WAR WITH IRAN?: IT WOULD MEAN THE END OF OUR REPUBLIC JUSTIN RAIMONDO (ANTIWAR.COM, MAY 3)
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8936
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8936
IRAN STANDS IN THE WAY OF US DESIGNS STEPHEN ZUNES (ASIA TIMES, MAY 4): The crisis over Iran's nuclear program is not so much about Iran itself. What those in the Bush administration, the Israeli government and the bipartisan leadership in the US Congress are really concerned about is protecting the hegemonic interests of the US and its junior partner, Israel, not stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE04Ak04.html
TEXT OF ENTRY FROM
http://atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page.html
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE04Ak04.html
TEXT OF ENTRY FROM
http://atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page.html
BILL SCHER: THE IMPORTANCE OF COLE V. HITCHENS - JUAN COLE (INFORMED COMMENT: THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST, HISTORY, AND RELIGION, MAY 4): A newspaper article [s] alleges that Ahmadinejad said that Israel should be wiped off the face of the map. This idiom does not exist in Persian, and that what Ahmadinejad actually said was, "This occupation regime over Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."
http://www.juancole.com/ (PLEASE SCROLL DOWN LINK FOR ITEM)
SEE ALSO
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-scher/t...-v_b_20350.html
http://tigerhawk.blogspot.com/2006/05/iran...el-off-map.html
http://www.juancole.com/ (PLEASE SCROLL DOWN LINK FOR ITEM)
SEE ALSO
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-scher/t...-v_b_20350.html
http://tigerhawk.blogspot.com/2006/05/iran...el-off-map.html
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