Iran must end ‘nuclear standoff’
Iran must end ‘nuclear standoff’ Aljazeera.net NEWS EUROPE March 02, 2009 Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the UN atomic watchdog, has urged Iran to co-operate with the international community and be transparent over its nuclear programme.
He said: “I again urge Iran to implement all measures required to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme at the earliest possible date and to unblock this stalemated situation.”
Speaking at the beginning of a week-long meeting of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, he also appeared to express hope that the United States’ apparent change in policy towards Iran would help resolve the problem.
“I am hopeful that the apparent fresh approach by the international community to dialogue with Iran will give new impetus to the efforts to resolve this long-standing issue,” he said.
Barack Obama, the new US president, has signalled that Washington may be willing to talk to Tehran over the two countries’ relations.
The United Nations has demanded Iran suspend its enrichment programme over fears it could be used to produce nuclear weapons.
Iran denies the charge, saying its programme is only for generating electricity.
Despite a six-year investigation, the IAEA has been unable to determine whether or not Iran’s uranium enrichment programme is intended for peaceful purposes.
Iran and USA – new approach needed
Iran and USA – new approach needed
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 26/02/2009
……….ROBERT BAER:………………………President Obama is moving tentatively to open up serious dialogue with Iran, but that process could be a long, slow one. And if further evidence emerges that Iran is moving closer to nuclear weapons capacity, he would come under pressure to act pre-emptively…………………………….what’s happened is that the United States looks at the Middle East through Israel. And the Arabs and the Persians look at Israel as an outpost of the United States of the West. We’ve lost this anti-colonial game and the Iranians have won it. They’ve simply portrayed themselves as not as religious fanatics, but as an anti-colonial power. And everybody in the Middle East, you look at the polls across the board, even countries like Morocco, which are entirely Sunni, look to Tehran as the great anti-imperial power. We’ve lost the ideological war. You know, that doesn’t mean we lost the war entirely, but we’ve lost the ideological war, but by bringing Iran to the negotiating table; by implementing Resolution 242; closing the settlements in the West Bank; getting the Israelis to a position where they don’t have to feel they have to bomb Gaza; will normalise relations in the Middle East…………. It’s a military dictatorship and any military conflict can be negotiated. Ideological ones cannot be…………………………….The nuclear weapons is a red herring in this conflict with Iran because the Iranians are not going to build a bomb now. I’m almost convinced of it. In as much as you can predict anything, they are not going to build and test a bomb now. It causes them too much problems – too many problems – they’ve gained too much. There would be international embargo, sanctions and on and on. Even Russia and China would back away. Nuclear bomb – they don’t need one right now, it’s just a way to get us to the negotiating table. But the major point is they’re not going to commit suicide. If the Iranians wanted to commit suicide, they could have done it long ago in the Gulf. Started a war with the United States. And they’re not going to start one with Israel either.
What the coming dialogue between US-Iran holds
What the coming dialogue between US-Iran holds Saudi Gazette Patrick Seale 26 February 2009 A WASHINGTON consensus is emerging about the necessity of talking to Iran – sooner rather than later. President Barack Obama has spoken of reaching out to the Islamic Republic, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has responded by expressing a readiness to talk. He has even written a letter to Obama congratulating him on his election. This must surely be taken as a signal of a coming thaw.Both sides recognize that, after 30 years of stubborn mutual hostility, the time for dialogue has arrived. It may still be premature to expect an early restoration of diplomatic relations, but the opening of a US-staffed interests section in Tehran seems a likely prospect…………………..Several developments seem to be driving the US and Iran to the negotiating table. Of these, probably the most important is Iran’s progress in enriching uranium. Although it denies any intention to manufacture nuclear weapons, Iran’s scientific and technological achievement suggests that it is on the ‘threshold’ of becoming a nuclear power. But it is by no means certain that it will choose to take that extra step.
America’s interest lies in persuading Iran to go no further, while Iran’s interest is to go just far enough to deter any would-be attacker, but not so far as to arouse the fears of its neighbors, and incur the problems and responsibilities of actually becoming a nuclear power.
Saudi Gazette – What the coming dialogue between US-Iran holds
Iraq’s War Disfigured Babies
Iraq’s War Disfigured Babies iSLAMoNlINE.NET By Afif Sarhan, Feb. 23, 2009 BAGHDAD— In new Iraq, women like Leila Omar Wassin are heart-broken giving birth to babies born malformed because of the deadly substances years of war have sown in their bodies.
“My first baby died after he was born without legs and the second one died few days ago because his spinal cord was exposed and his head was too big,” the 36-old woman told IslamOnline.net.
Wassim is one of the victims of the massive bombing of Fallujah in 2004, when the US army admittedly used depleted uranium munitions, which contain low-level radioactive waste……………………………
After denying it at first, the Pentagon admitted in November 2005 that white phosphorous, a restricted incendiary weapon, was used in shelling Fallujah.
It also admitted to having used more than 1,200 tons of depleted uranium munitions in Iraq during the 2003 invasion.
The plight of babies’ birth defects has exacerbated over the years, becoming a common occurrence for doctors and nurses.
“Baghdad has shown a high level of contamination,” a doctor and a researcher at a Red Crescent Hospital in Baghdad told IOL, requesting anonymity.
“In 2005, we had about 600 cases reported at public hospitals and three years latter, this number has doubled.”
Iran Not Cooperating, but Israel undermining nuclear non-proliferation
IAEA Chief: Iran Not Cooperating By VOA News17 February 2009 The head of the United Nations’ nuclear agency says Iran is not helping resolve questions about any possible military aspect of its nuclear program.
IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said Tuesday in Paris that Tehran is not providing any access or clarification on the issue. Western nations have accused Iran of working on nuclear programs in the past, as well as possibly continuing such efforts. The U.N. has placed Tehran under three sets of international sanctions for its nuclear work.
Iran says its nuclear program is, and always has been, for peaceful, civilian purposes and argues that it cooperates with the IAEA.
ElBaradei’s comments come one day after he said that Israel’s refusal to sign the nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty is undermining the treaty’s legitimacy in Arab public opinion.
Writing in the International Herald Tribune newspaper Monday, the IAEI chief said that Israel is the only state in the Middle East known to have nuclear weapons.
Israel has never confirmed or denied that it has nuclear weapons. But ElBaradei says Israel’s position creates a perceived double standard.
Israel seen undermining nuclear disarmament – ElBaradei
Mon Feb 16, 2009
BERLIN (Reuters) – A perception among Arab nations that Israel has undermined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a major obstacle to global nuclear disarmament, head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said on Monday.
Tensions within the IAEA run deep over Israel’s presumed nuclear might and its shunning of the NPT. Israel is widely believed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal but it has never confirmed or denied it.
In an article for the International Herald Tribune, Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, set out what he thought should be done to achieve consensus on nuclear disarmament.
“What compounds the problem is that the nuclear non-proliferation regime has lost its legitimacy in the eyes of Arab public opinion because of the perceived double-standards concerning Israel, the only state in the region outside the NPT and known to possess nuclear weapons,” he wrote.
ElBaradei also reiterated he was encouraged by new U.S. President Barack Obama’s commitment to making the elimination of all nuclear weapons a central part of his policy platform.
To do that, nations have to overcome cynical attitudes to the United Nations, he said.
“The U.N. and related agencies must be given adequate authority and funding and put in the hands of leaders who have vision, courage and credibility,” wrote ElBaradei.
In a broadside against the United States and Israel, he said: “Above all, we need to halt the glaring breach of core principles of international law such as limitations on the unilateral use of force, proportionality in self-defence and the protection of civilians during hostilities in order to avoid a repeat of the civilian carnage in Iraq and, most recently, in Gaza.”
ElBaradei, who is due to leave office in November when his third term expires, clashed with the former Bush administration over what he saw as its unilateralism and refusal to engage with foes like Iran.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-38051120090216
Israel launches covert war against Iran
Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran’s nuclear programme, US intelligence sources have revealed.
It is using hitmen, sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt the regime’s illicit weapons project, the experts say.
The most dramatic element of the “decapitation” programme is the planned assassination of top figures involved in Iran’s atomic operations.
Despite fears in Israel and the US that Iran is approaching the point of no return in its ability to build atom bomb, Israeli officials are aware of the change in mood in Washington since President Barack Obama took office.
They privately acknowledge the new US administration is unlikely to sanction an air attack on Iran’s nuclear installations and Mr Obama’s offer to extend a hand of peace to Tehran puts any direct military action beyond reach for now.
The aim is to slow down or interrupt Iran’s research programme, without the gamble of a direct confrontation that could lead to a wider war…………………………………
Iran next target, warns Israeli diplomat
Iran next target, warns Israeli diplomat The Age Jason Koutsoukis, Jerusalem * February 14, 2009
A SENIOR Israeli diplomat has warned that Israel is ready to launch a military offensive against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
In an interview with The Age, Dan Gillerman, who was Israel’s permanent representative at the United Nations from 2003 until last September, said time for diplomatic efforts to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear capability might have already expired……………………….Detailed military plans to bomb Iran’s nuclear enrichment plant have long been on the table of Israeli military commanders……………….
Israel has carried out two strikes on suspected nuclear sites over the past 30 years. In 1981, its jets bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor at Osirak, and in September 2007, Israeli aircraft bombed a structure in Syria that was alleged to have housed a nuclear reactor.
Any new attack against Iran would be much more complicated, with the country’s uranium enrichment plants spread across many sites. Iran’s comparatively sophisticated military and its distance from Israel would present further complications for military planners and risk setting off a full-scale war.
U.S. intelligence reconfirms Iran has no nuclear arms program
U.S. intelligence reconfirms Iran has no nuclear arms program TEHRAN TIMES February 14, 2009 WASHINGTON (Agencies) – U.S. intelligence reconfirms that Iran has no nuclear weapons program, the new U.S. intelligence director Dennis Blair said in an annual threat assessment to Congress on Thursday……………………………Asked about it at a Senate hearing, Blair acknowledged it was a difficult question to deal with in a public setting.
“I can say at this point that Iran is clearly developing all the components of a deliverable nuclear weapons program — fissionable material, nuclear weaponizing capability and the means to deliver it,” he said.
“Whether they take it all the way to nuclear weapons and become a nuclear power will depend a great deal on their own internal decisions,” AFP quoted him as saying.
The assessment comes at a time when the new U.S. administration and Tehran appear to be in a diplomatic dance over whether and how to engage in direct dialogue.
tehran times : U.S. intelligence reconfirms Iran has no nuclear arms program
Gulfnews: Cleaner solutions lead to murky problems
Cleaner solutions lead to murky problems By Leah Bower, Special to Gulf News February 09, 2009, 23:11Everybody is going nuclear – or at least everyone seems to be thinking about it as a shortcut to cheap plentiful electricity.I don’t know that I buy into it being an alternative energy source. ……………it certainly isn’t green………………………..everyone is going to have to find storage facilities for the radioactive waste produced by these plants.
Already it is almost impossible to build a waste site in the US or Europe without encountering incredibly hostile opposition from nearby residents. While China might not have that problem, most other nations are going to be hard-pressed to find dump sites inside their borders.
If everyone starts building reactors, who’s going to take the waste from nations desperate for safe storage?
Here in lies the problem with a band-aid energy solution like nuclear power: Everyone could end up with enough energy, but also with a load of radioactive waste that no one will touch.
Gulfnews: Cleaner solutions lead to murky problems
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive
Israel’s war referendum
Israel’s war referendum The Washington Times February 9, 2009 – “……………….Many Israelis now believe the country no longer has the option of making this election a contest over who will better redistribute the wealth and expand the welfare state. Instead, it has become a referendum on who will best handle the challenges posed by Iran and its proxies………………………….The understandable perception that Israel has lost a significant portion of its deterrent capability has politically benefited Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the hawkish opposition Likud Party and current front-runner……………………… All of the major parties in Israel agree that Iran should not be permitted to develop nuclear weapons……………………….During the Bush administration’s final months in office, Washington rebuffed Mr. Olmert’s request for bunker-buster weapons that could be used to destroy hardened Iranian nuclear facilities buried underground, and it would not allow Israel to fly over Iraq to get to Iran. If Mr. Netanyahu wins on Tuesday, what will Mr. Obama say if Netanyahu requests bunker-busters? And if the American president says no, would Netanyahu – with a proverbial Iranian knife at his nation’s throat – decide to go it alone in attacking Iranian nuclear and missile targets?
Washington Times – EDITORIAL: Israel’s war referendum
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive
Israel urged to attack Iran within the year
Israel urged to attack Iran within the year PRESSTV 4 Feb 09 Tel Aviv should attack Tehran in the coming year in order to get the mission accomplished, says an Israeli expert in weapons.
Isaac Ben-Israel, Israeli legislator and weapons expert, said Wednesday that Israel has only a year to pull off a successful strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
He, nevertheless, asserted that any attack would only delay, rather than sabotage, Iran’s breakthrough in nuclear technology.
The former defense official said an attack on Iran should take place before it is too late. “Last resort means when you reach the stage when everything else failed. When is this?” ………………………Tehran, meanwhile, insists their satellite was designed and produced for peaceful purposes and will enable the country to track natural disasters and improve its telecommunications infrastructure.
Press TV – Israel urged to attack Iran within the year
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium
The Associated Press: UN nuclear chief supports US-Iran talks
UN nuclear chief supports US-Iran talks
By EDITH M. LEDERER – 30 Jan 09 DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The U.N. nuclear chief said Thursday that Iran should fully disclose its nuclear programs at the same time that the U.S. starts a dialogue with Tehran without preconditions. Iran’s foreign minister said that President Obama must declare how his policies would differ from those of former President Bush.The maneuvering over a possible U.S.-Iranian dialogue came as Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed Obama’s statements that the new U.S. administration was willing to talk to Iran after the Bush administration’s refusal to deal with Tehran.In an interview with Al-Arabiya news channel on Tuesday, Obama condemned Iran’s threats to destroy Israel and its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, but added: “It is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress.””That is the way to go,” ElBaradei said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “It is long overdue.””Iran should answer technical questions from the IAEA and the dialogue should start without preconditions,” ElBaradei said in the presence of Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
The Associated Press: UN nuclear chief supports US-Iran talks
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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