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There is a diplomatic avenue that would prevent war with Iran

Now, the West is all but isolated. Most non-Westerners would prefer to see Iran treated like other treaty parties – allowed to enrich uranium in return for intrusive monitoring by IAEA inspectors.

 this gathering crisis could be avoided by a deal along the following lines – Iran would accept top-notch IAEA safeguards in return for being allowed to continue enriching uranium. In addition, Iran would volunteer some confidence-building measures to show it has no intention of making nuclear weapons.

Iran deal would allow West to make U-turn on highway to war, The Age, January 25, 2012 There is little realism behind the demand that Tehran give up its capacity to enrich uranium, writes Peter Jenkins.

The Iranian nuclear controversy is reaching a critical juncture. On Monday, the European Union agreed on an oil embargo as part of sanctions against the country. On Sunday, Britain, the US and France sent warships through the Strait of Hormuz. Recent months have seen a big rise in the twin risks of military action and grave damage to the world economy. This is the consequence of what I believe to be a great diplomatic overbid – the West’s demand that Iran surrender its capacity to enrich uranium. Continue reading →

January 25, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Double standards of the West in sanctions against Iran

Like sanctions, war will not work either. A war could not deter Iran from pursuing its nuclear program and seeking nuclear weapons. 

The flaw in the arguments used by the United States, Israel and the European Union against Iran’s nuclear program is the apparent double standard. How can the US expect to persuade Iran to relinquish its nuclear program when America has acquiesced to India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons? The US has even signed a nuclear partnership pact with India…….

Accepting the inevitable: A nuclear Iran, DAILY NEWS EGYPT, By   Mamdouh G. Salameh      January 22, 2012, The only sanctions able to hurt Iran are those that ban its crude oil exports, but getting the international community to agree on such sanctions is virtually impossible.

The international political and economic repercussions of these sanctions would be so huge that they are not worth pondering. Even if, by the very unlikely chance, such sanctions were agreed upon by the United Nations Security Council, Iran’s retaliation would be immediate and destructive.

Iran could easily mine the Strait of Hormuz in the face of the 17 million barrels of oil a day (mbd) exported by the Arab Gulf oil producers. This would push the price of oil to more than $150-$200 a barrel (it is currently about $100 a barrel). The biggest loser, of course, would be the biggest oil consumer — namely the United States, which imports 12-14 million barrels of oil every day. This would spell an economic catastrophe for the United States in particular and the world-at-large. Continue reading →

January 24, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Murder of nuclear scientist has enraged Iranians and their religious leaders

Anti-US Chants as Slain Iran Nuclear Expert Buried, abc News,  By ALI AKBAR DAREINI   TEHRAN, Iran January 13, 2012 (AP) Thousands of mourners chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” on Friday during the funeral of a slain nuclear expert whom Iranian
officials accuse the two nations of killing in a bomb blast this week as part of a secret operation to stop Iran’s nuclear program. Continue reading →

January 14, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Unethical and unwise killing of Iranian nuclear scientist

The bomb blast that killed chemist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan this week seemed to be designed to limit the scope of the damage, unlike most terrorist attacks. But it did nonetheless kill his driver and wound a third person, which shows how easily an overly flexible definition of “civilian” can stretch to reprehensible lengths.

 A utilitarian calculation that suggests killing a few individuals now might save more lives later is not only ethically dubious; it’s also wrong. ..also counter-productive 

Killing civilians, Ottawa Citizen JANUARY 12, 2012 If the definition of “terrorism” is violence targeting civilians to spread fear in furtherance of a political motive, then the assassination of Iranian scientists certainly qualifies as terrorism. It should be condemned as such. It’s also an unwise strategy.

Although no one can say for sure who’s behind the attacks, the main motivation behind this string of assassinations seems clear: to slow down Iran’s efforts to become a nuclear power, not only by eliminating some skilled experts, but also by intimidating their peers. Continue reading →

January 13, 2012 Posted by | Iran, Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

A bunker buster bomb on Iran’s nuclear site – not the answer

military action against Iran’s nuclear work would be their last and worst option. Not only would this risk civilian casualties, but Iran would seek to retaliate against Western targets in the region, raising the risk of a regional war and risking global economic turmoil.

A strike, furthermore, would only delay, not destroy, an Iranian nuclear program whose known sites are widely dispersed and fortified against attack….

Iran nuclear sites may be beyond reach of “bunker busters”, LONDON   Jan 12, 2012   (Reuters) – With its nuclear program beset as never before by sanctions, sabotage and assassination, Iran must now make a new addition to its list of concerns:

One of the biggest conventional bombs ever built. Boeing’s 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), an ultra-large bunker buster for use on underground targets, with Iran routinely mentioned as its most likely intended destination, is a key element in the implicit U.S. threat to use force as a last resort against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The behemoth, carrying more than 5,300 pounds of explosive, was delivered with minimal fanfare to Whiteman U.S. Air Force Base, Missouri in September. It is designed for delivery by B-2 Stealth bombers. Continue reading →

January 13, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Fifth assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist

Iranian nuclear chemist killed by motorbike assassins,  and ,  guardian.co.uk,   11 January 2012  Tensions escalate with US and Israel as Tehran accuses the Mossad in fifth murder of scientists

A chemist working at Iran‘s main uranium enrichment plant was killed on Wednesday when attackers on a motorbike stuck a magnetic bomb to his car. The assassination – the fifth against Iranian nuclear scientists in the past two years – is likely to further escalate tensions between Iran and the west.

It took place at 8.30am, at the height of rush-hour in Tehran, according to witnesses quoted in the Iranian media. A motorcycle pulled up alongside a silver Peugeot 405 carrying the deputy director of the Natanz enrichment plant, Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32.

The pillion passenger stuck a charge to the door next to the chemist, which detonated as the motorcyclist drove off. The car’s driver was also killed and a pedestrian was wounded, but the charge used appeared to have a sophisticated shape that focused the blast into the car. While the door ended up in nearby trees, much of the car remained intact.

Ahmadi-Roshan was the fifth nuclear scientist to be attacked in Tehran in 24 months. Only one target has survived the daytime attacks, apparently carried out by a well-trained hit team. Iran has said the US and Israel are behind the assassinations, and blamed the Mossad for Wednesday’s killings….. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/11/iran-nuclear-chemist-killed?newsfeed=true

January 12, 2012 Posted by | civil liberties, Iran, safety | Leave a comment

Ahmadinejad points out that Iran has done nothing wrong

Ahmadinejad says Iran has done nothing wrong By Jeff Franks, HAVANA | Wed Jan 11, 2012  (Reuters) – Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flashed the victory sign and said Iran had done nothing to warrant enmity from its enemies after he arrived in Cuba on Wednesday amid heightened international tensions.

He said nothing about the bomb attack that killed an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran earlier in the day, which his government blamed on Israel and the United States, the leaders of international opposition to Iran’s nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad was to meet with President Raul Castro later, but shortly after arrival in the Cuban capital he told students in veiled remarks at the University of Havana that Iran was being “punished” for no good reason.

“Have we assaulted someone? Have we wanted more than we should have? Never, never. We have only asked to speak about and establish justice,” Ahmadinejad said……

January 12, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Attack on Iran’s nuclear plant likely to radioactively pollute Kuwait

Kuwait faces more risk than any other country in the region….. This gives Kuwait the right to request that the United States refrain from any military action that would put the Iranian plant at risk, the experts believe.

Bushehr plant damage risks 90% radiation in Kuwait KUWAIT TIMES, 11 Jan 12, : Kuwait is not prepared for any negative impact from military action against the Bushehr nuclear power plant, experts say. “A radiation leak from the Bushehr Plant puts at least 90 percent of Kuwait’s population at risk of being affected by the worst kinds of cancer that affect the brain and kidney”, according to studies mentioned recently by experts from inside and outside Kuwait who are following the development of Iran’s nuclear projects.
The expert, quoted in an Al-Dar daily report published yesterday, indicated that Kuwait is not prepared to thwart risks of a radiation leak that could happen as a result of a military strike or natural disaster affecting the plant.

The report quotes the experts as saying that an environmental organization assigned to monitor radiation levels is not equipped to give accurate readings regarding hazardous radiation leaks and spread levels. Continue reading →

January 11, 2012 Posted by | Iran, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Iran enriching uranium at underground site

UN nuclear agency confirms Iranian uranium enrichment at bunker, increasing nuke fears, Washington Post, 8 Jan 12 VIENNA — The U.N. nuclear agency on Monday confirmed that Iran has begun enriching uranium at an underground bunker to a level that can be upgraded more quickly for use in a nuclear weapon than the nation’s main enriched stockpile….. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/diplomats-confirm-new-iranian-uranium-enrichment-say-work-increases-nuke-fears/2012/01/09/gIQAZFN1kP_story.html

January 10, 2012 Posted by | Iran, Uranium | Leave a comment

Threats make Iran more anxious to have nuclear weapons

The ultimate irony, of course, is that the more the West tries to punish Iran for pursuing
nuclear weapons, the more they prove to the Iranian leadership the necessity of acquiring them.

A nuclear-armed state doesn’t get pushed around by bigger bullies,

Standoff Over Iran’s Oil and Nuclear Program Isn’t Going Away, Atlantic Wire,  DASHIELL BENNETT 6 Jan 12,  Iran promises more military action in the Strait of Hormuz, as western
nations try turn up the economic pressure in an attempt to stop the country’s nuclear program. After the Iranians conducted 10 days of drills near the all-important entrance to the Persian Gulf and threatened to close the Strait altogether if the U.S. and Europe impose more oil sanctions … Europe and the U.S. decided to consider more sanctions.

So Iranian naval officials announced a new set of war games that would take place in February. Meanwhile, Israel is talking about having its own missile defense exercise and the European Union is openly talking about a near total ban on Iranian oil imports, ratcheting up tensions instead of deflating them. Continue reading →

January 7, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Iran’s latest nuclear claim does not mean it is closer to the bomb

Analysis: Nuclear fuel test won’t hasten Iran bomb: experts By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA  Jan 4, 2012   (Reuters) – Iran’s latest claim of a breakthrough in its nuclear program seems unlikely to bring it any closer to having atomic bombs soon, but serves rather as another defiant message to the West. This week’s announcement that Iran has successfully made and tested fuel rods for use in nuclear power plants appeared designed to show that sanctions are failing to halt its technical advances and to strengthen its hand in any renewed negotiations with the major powers.

Spent fuel can be reprocessed to make plutonium, potential bomb material, but Western worries about Iran’s nuclear program are focused on its enrichment of uranium, which can also provide the core of nuclear weapons if refined much more.

“The (fuel rod) development itself doesn’t put them any closer to producing weapons,” said Peter Crail of the Arms Control Association, a U.S.-based research and advocacy group.

It could be a way of telling Tehran’s foes that time is running out if they want to revive an atomic fuel swap deal that collapsed two years ago but is still seen by some experts as offering the best chance to start building badly needed trust.

Diplomats believe Iran has in the past overstated its nuclear progress to gain leverage in its standoff with Western capitals, and the testing of domestically made fuel does not mean the country is about to start using it to run reactors…….. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/04/us-nuclear-iran-fuel-idUSTRE8030ND20120104

January 5, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Obama govt doing a balancing act with sanctions on Iran

Sanctions against Iran a balancing act for U.S. FINANCIAL POST, Reuters  Jan 2, 2012 By Andrew Quinn WASHINGTON – The United States has armed itself with some of the toughest sanctions yet targeting Iran but must carefully assess how to avoid catching energy-importing allies such as Japan, South Korea and India in the crossfire.

President Barack Obama signed the law on Saturday imposing sanctions on financial institutions that deal with Iran’s central bank, the main clearinghouse through which OPEC’s No. 2 oil exporter deals with clients around the world. Continue reading →

January 3, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Reuters reports on diplomatic dance – USA and Iran on nuclear development

However, Obama asked for scope to apply the measures flexibly, and will have discretion to waive penalties. Senior U.S. officials said Washington was consulting foreign partners to ensure the new measures did not harm global energy markets.

Despite its missile tests, war games and threats to close the Hormuz Strait, Iran has also made conciliatory gestures, saying it wants to resume talks with major powers, stalled for a year, about its nuclear research programme…..

Iran reports nuclear progress as sanctions loom  Jan 1, 2012 
* Missile test and fuel rod breakthrough challenge West

* Obama signs sanctions targeting Iran’s oil exports

* Tehran offers fresh nuclear talks in letter to EU

By Parisa Hafezi TEHRAN, Jan 1 (Reuters) – – Iran announced a nuclear fuel breakthrough and test-fired a new radar-evading medium-range missile in the Gulf on Sunday, moves that could further antagonise the West at a time when Tehran is trying to avert harsh new sanctions on its oil industry. Continue reading →

January 2, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Iran developing nuclear fuel rods and plates

First nuclear fuel rod tested in Iran TEHRAN, Tehran Times 1 Jan 12  – Scientists and researchers at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran have successfully tested the first domestically produced nuclear fuel rod containing natural uranium, Iranian news agencies reported on Sunday.

According to the reports, the first nuclear fuel rod was loaded into the core of the Tehran research reactor as part of an experiment to test its performance in operation.

Now Iran should convert fuel rods into fuel plates to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

Iran has constructed an advanced plant at the Isfahan nuclear facility for manufacturing nuclear fuel plates. With the construction of the plant, Iran is now among the few countries that can manufacture both nuclear fuel rods and plates. The nuclear plant for converting enriched nuclear fuel into fuel rods was inaugurated in Isfahan in early spring 2009. ….
http://tehrantimes.com/politics/94128-first-nuclear-fuel-rod-tested-in-iran

January 2, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Iran | Leave a comment

Sanctions and diplomacy a much wiser action than attacking Iran

open nuclear war between Israel and Iran is very unlikely. Israel knows that the consequences would be grave and in Iran’s case, the regime knows that it would result in their demise.

Iraq’s fledgling democracy is also likely to be negatively affected by war with Iran. And Saudi Arabia is also likely to be targeted, too. Syria may need to crackdown even more repressively on its internal protesters in order to support Iran.

 there is no guarantee that an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites would eliminate all of Iran’s nuclear sites,

war with Iran is likely going to unite the people behind an unpopular government. This should be avoided.

 


The Standoff With Iran: Challenges and Options, Huffington Post,    PAUL HEROUX  , 31 Dec 11 War is said to be the result of political failure. The tense standoff with Iran is heating up again since Iran has threatened to shot down the 34-mile-wide Strait of Hormuz. 15 million barrels of oil are shipped through the Strait every day, which makes up about 1/3 of the world’s sea shipped oil. Continue reading →

December 31, 2011 Posted by | Iran, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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