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Disastrous consequences of an attack on Iran

 I think the mischief and misery and unintended consequences of an attack on Iran would be beyond belief.”…..

Ian McEwan: misery of attack on Iran would be beyond belief. Lisa Allardice guardian.co.uk,  25 March 2012 Author says regime is ‘looking very wobbly,’ but that an attack would reunite the country behind its leaders Continue reading →

March 26, 2012 Posted by | Iran, social effects, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel to replace nuclear reactor with linear accelerator for nuclear medicine

Israel to phase out civilian atomic reactor by 2018     Particle accelerator to replace aging, fuel-short reactor By Dan Williams SOREQ, Israel, March 20 (Reuters) – Israel is phasing out a civilian nuclear reactor to which it has admitted foreign inspectors while keeping a second reactor, widely believed to have produced atom bombs, off-limits, officials said on Tuesday.

The small facility at Soreq, which began operations in 1960 with a one-time stock of uranium fuel from the United States, will be replaced by 2017 or 2018 by a particle accelerator fulfilling many of the same research and medical functions…..
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/20/israel-nuclear-idUSL6E8EK3AS20120320

March 21, 2012 Posted by | health, Israel | Leave a comment

Israel agrees that Iran has not decided to develop nuclear bomb

[includes video]  Israel: Iran Nuclear Bomb Construction Not Yet Decided On, Huffington Post,18 Mar 12,   JERUSALEM (AP) — Despite saber-rattling from Jerusalem, Israeli officials now agree with the U.S. assessment that Tehran has not yet decided on the actual
construction of a nuclear bomb, according to senior Israeli government and defense figures. Continue reading →

March 19, 2012 Posted by | Iran, Israel, politics international | Leave a comment

Iran offers full transparency in return for nuclear power assistance

VIDEO Iran Official Offers ‘Permanent Human Monitoring’ of Nuclear Sites    http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/iran-official-offers-human-monitoring-nuclear-sites/story?id=15930677#.T2Ow4cWPX_M  abc News,   15 March 12, A high-level advisor to Iran’s supreme leader said his country is ready to allow “permanent human monitoring” of its nuclear program in exchange for Western cooperation but also warned Iran is prepared to defend itself against military strikes.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, who serves as Secretary-General of Iran’s Human Rights Council and key foreign policy advisor to Ayatollah Khamenei, said the West should sell Iran 20 percent enriched uranium and provide all the help that nuclear nations are supposed to provide to countries building civilian nuclear power plants. He also said the U.S. and the West should accept his country’s right to continue what Iran calls its peaceful nuclear program.

In return for cooperation from the West, he said, Iran would offer “full transparency.”…..
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/iran-official-offers-human-monitoring-nuclear-sites/story?id=15930677#.T2Ow4cWPX_M

March 16, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

A nuclear weapons free Middle East in the interests of Israel and Iran

the US can build trust with Iran by supporting a nuclear-free Middle East. While critics would label such a policy stand unrealistic and such a regional agreement far-fetched, it may be in the best interests of both Israel and Iran.

Insisting on zero-enrichment for Iran seems to have already become unrealistic

America needs to change tack on handling Iran Washington can build trust with Tehran by committing itself to a nuclear-free Middle East Gulf News, By Hooshang Amirahmadi and Shahir Shahidsaless, Christian Science Monitor  March 12, 2012  If the US wants to
avoid military strikes on Iran and still wants a diplomatic settlement for the nuclear dispute with the Islamic Republic, Washington must stop talking from both sides of its mouth. Continue reading →

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

Conciliatory approach by Iran’s supreme leader

Iran’s supreme leader praises Barack Obama over war stance, 
Iran’s supreme leader took the unusual step of praising President Barack Obama for eschewing the language of war on Thursday, raising hopes that he may genuinely be seeking a negotiated solution to Tehran’s nuclear impasse with the West. Telegraph, By Adrian Blomfield, 08 Mar 2012 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chose to ignore a toughening in US rhetoric towards Iran in recent days, focusing instead on Mr Obama’s insistence that there was still a “window of opportunity” to resolve the dispute with Tehran in a peaceful manner.
“We heard two days ago that the US president said that (they) are not thinking about war with Iran,” the Iranian leader was quoted as saying. “These words are good words and an exit from delusion.”
Although the ayatollah’s compliment was undoubtedly barbed, it represented a significant departure from the virulently anti-Western demagoguery he normally employs, leading some observers to suggest that he was sending a conciliatory message to Washington…..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9131974/Irans-supreme-leader-praises-Barack-Obama-over-war-stance.html

March 9, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Time that Israel came clean about its secret nuclear weapons

Come Out of the Nuclear Closet, NYT, Micah Zenko    MARCH 8, 2012 Israel has been a nuclear weapons state since May 1967, when Prime Minister Levi Eshkol ordered the assembly of two nuclear devices to be driven to the Egyptian border, in the event that Arab troops defeated the Israeli forces.

Over the past 45 years, Israel has refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, place its civilian nuclear program under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, or even
acknowledge that it has the bomb. Instead, Israeli officials such as Prime Minister Netanyahu have maintained, “We won’t be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East.”

It is time for Israel to come out of the nuclear closet.By maintaining this fiction, Israel has pigeonholed itself as an international pariah, allowing adversaries and the nonaligned movement to use Israeli intransigence as an excuse to slow progress on nuclear nonproliferation objectives, including preventing a nuclear Iran…..

There are three concrete steps that the Israeli government should take. First, provide transparency about the size, command and control, nuclear security features, and nonproliferation objectives of its nuclear arsenal, following the example of other states that have not signed the nonproliferation treaty. Second, in light of its intention to pursue civilian nuclear energy, sign a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency covering all existing or future nuclear facilities. Third, actively participate in international forums, like the conference on the W.M.D.-free Middle East to be held in Finland later this year. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/03/08/should-israel-accept-a-nuclear-ban/come-out-of-the-nuclear-closet

March 9, 2012 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Misunderstanding, wrong translation of Ahmadinejad’s supposed words “Israel must be wiped off the map”

from Wikileaks: Translation controversy Many news sources repeated the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting statement by Ahmadinejad that “Israel must be wiped off the map”,[5][6] an English idiom which means to “cause a place to stop existing”,[7] or to “obliterate totally”,[8] or “destroy completely”.[9]

Ahmadinejad’s phrase was “بايد از صفحه روزگار محو شود” according to the text published on the President’s Office’s website.[10]

The translation presented by the official Islamic Republic News Agency has been challenged by Arash Norouzi, who says the statement “wiped off the map” was never made and that Ahmadinejad did not refer to the nation or land mass of Israel, but to the “regime occupying Jerusalem”. Norouzi translated the original Persian to English, with the result, “the Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time.”[11] Juan Cole, a University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, agrees that Ahmadinejad’s statement should be translated as, “the Imam said that this regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e eshghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad).[12] According to Cole, “Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to ‘wipe Israel off the map’ because no such idiom exists in Persian.” Instead, “he did say he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse.”[13] The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translated the phrase similarly, as “this regime” must be “eliminated from the pages of history.”[14]

Iranian government sources denied that Ahmadinejad issued any sort of threat. On 20 February 2006, Iran’s foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference: “How is it possible to remove a country from the map? He is talking about the regime. We do not recognize legally this regime.”[15][16][17]

March 8, 2012 Posted by | history, Iran, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Even Netanyatu’s supporters offended by his inflammatory remarks about Iran

Netanyahu’s references to Holocaust in relation to Iran nuclear threat bother some Israelis Washington Post By Associated Press, March 7 JERUSALEM — The Israeli prime minister’s linking of Iran to Nazi Germany evoked ringing applause this week at a gathering of a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington. Back home, though, it drew some heavy criticism.

The Nazi Holocaust of World War II is a delicate and charged topic in Israel, and many felt Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated equating of the Nazis with the possible modern-day threat of a nuclear-armed Iran went too far..

…. His parallels were clear: Just as the Nazis tried to exterminate European Jewry during World War II, Netanyahu implied that Iran’s apparent pursuit of nuclear weapons is part of a plot to wipe Israel off the map. “Never again” is the signature phrase of the Jewish pledge that the Holocaust must not be repeated.

Critics accused Netanyahu of both cheapening the memory of the Holocaust and unnecessarily escalating tensions at a time when the U.S. was urging restraint….. Yehuda Bauer, a Holocaust scholar at Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, said Netanyahu’s Auschwitz analogy in Washington this week was “sheer nonsense.” While acknowledging the dangers of a nuclear Iran, Bauer said, “to bring up Auschwitz is a cheap way of gaining public attention.”
The uproar caused some discomfort even among Netanyahu’s supporters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/netanyahus-references-to-holocaust-in-relation-to-iran-nuclear-threat-bother-some-israelis/2012/03/07/gIQAFC6GxR_story.html

March 8, 2012 Posted by | Israel, politics international | Leave a comment

Killing Iran’s nuclear scientists – counter productive says U.S. security agency

Assassinations will not stop Iran’s nuclear program: ISIS Press TV 7 March 12, The US-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) says killing Iranian nuclear scientists will not delay the progress of Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

In its March 7 report on Iran, the institute focused on the situationof the Iranian nuclear energy program and efforts by Western countries to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear capability.

Referring to Western efforts to stymie Iran’s nuclear energy program, the report said the assassination of Iranian scientists or threatening Tehran with a possible military strike were not good options for preventing the progress of the country’s nuclear energy program.

Pointing to the disadvantages of employing “risky” strategies against Iran, the report said, “Assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and engineers have occurred with greater frequency but should be stopped because they carry too high a risk of retaliation.”

Moreover, the ISIS report added, assassinations are unlikely to be effective in setting back the Iranian nuclear energy program because they involve thousands of specialists and ingrained know-how.

The institute cautioned the West that “Iran might argue that assassinations are equivalent to a military attack and use this as justification for further provocations.”

“An under-siege mentality created by use of such tactics could motivate Iran to further degrade its cooperation with IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] and resist offers of
negotiation,” the report stated. … http://presstv.com/detail/230477.html

March 8, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

6 World Powers to Resume Nuclear Talks With Iran

World Powers Agree to Resume Nuclear Talks With Iran, NYT, By   and  , March 6, 2012 BERLIN — For the first time in more than a year the global powers dealing with Iran ’s disputed nuclear program  said Tuesday that they would resume face-to-face negotiations. “I have offered to resume talks with Iran on the nuclear issue,” said Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, who represents the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany in dealings with Iran. “We hope that Iran will now enter into a sustained process of constructive dialogue which will deliver real progress.”…..

 Fears of a pre-emptive Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities have driven up oil prices and represent a threat to the already fragile state of a global economy still reeling from a sovereign debt crisis in Europe . At the same time, the Iranians have acutely felt the squeeze from sanctions aimed at pressing the government to freeze its uranium enrichment program.

The resumed talks represent a significant step forward, because all six parties agreed to participate……http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/world/middleeast/iran-agrees-to-inspection-of-secret-military-site-report-says.html

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

Iran’s religious leaders strengthened after elections

Khamenei allies trounce Ahmadinejad in Iran election  
* Supreme Leader’s loyalists get over 75 pct of parliament seats

* Ahmadinejad may be lame duck for rest of term

* Election held under sanctions pressure in nuclear row (Adds Khamenei extending influence, Khamenei ally, run-off votes)
By Parisa Hafezi and Hashem Kalantari TEHRAN, March 4 (Reuters) – Clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has tightened his grip on Iran’s faction-ridden politics
after loyalists won over 75 percent of seats in parliamentary elections at the expense of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a near-complete count showed.

The widespread defeat of Ahmadinejad supporters – including his sister, Parvin Ahmadinejad – is expected to reduce the president to a lame duck after he sowed divisions by challenging the utmost authority of Khamenei in the governing hierarchy….. Absent from the vote were
the two main opposition leaders. Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, who ran for president in 2009, have been under house arrest for more than a year.

Iran denies Western suspicions that it is enriching uranium with the ultimate goal of developing nuclear weapons, saying the programme is for peaceful energy only.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/04/iran-election-result-idUSL5E8E407H20120304

March 6, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics | Leave a comment

Obama makes hawkish noises about Iran

Obama warns Iran he’s not bluffing over nuclear weapons, Herald Sun, by: By Mark S Smith & Anne Gearan in Washington From: AP March 03, 2012  US President Barack Obama warned that he is not bluffing about attacking Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon, in an interview published overnight

In his most expansive remarks on the issue so far, Mr Obama told The Atlantic magazine that Iran and Israel both understand that “a military component” is among a mix of options for dealing with Iran, along with sanctions and diplomacy. Continue reading →

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

Non Aligned Movement states support Iran’s nuclear energy program

NAM approves statement in support of Iran’s nuclear program http://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/96006 Tehran Times, 2 march 12, TEHRAN – The Non-Aligned Movement member states approved a statement in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program on Thursday. Continue reading →

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

Iran denounces nuclear weapons as ‘Great Sin” – West not so sure

Iran says nuclear weapons are a ‘great sin’  ABC Radio 702, 29 Feb 12, Iran condemned production of atomic weapons as a “great sin” as it called for more talks with the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog. The country is facing growing international pressure over its nuclear program, which it says is peaceful but Western powers suspect could
have a military dimension. Continue reading →

February 29, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

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