Iran Writes Letter To Bush

[Martin]

Time to give peace a chance?

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060508/D8HFI3OO0.html

Iran's President Writes to Bush


TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's leader has written to President Bush proposing "new solutions" to their differences in the first letter from an Iranian head of state to an American president in 27 years, a government spokesman said Monday.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki delivered the letter to the Swiss ambassador on Monday, ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told The Associated Press. The Swiss Embassy in Tehran houses a U.S. interests section.

In the letter, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposes "new solutions for getting out of international problems and the current fragile situation of the world," spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham told a news conference.
Elham declined to reveal more, stressing "it is not an open letter." Asked whether the letter could lead to direct U.S.-Iranian negotiations, he replied: "For the time being, it's just a letter."

Elham did not mention the nuclear dispute - the main obstacle between Washington and Tehran. The United States is leading Western efforts to pass a U.N. Security Council motion censuring Iran for refusing to cease enrichment of uranium.

It is the first time that an Iranian president has written to his U.S. counterpart since 1979, when the two countries broke off relations after Iranian militants stormed the U.S. Embassy and held the occupants hostage for more than a year.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator also said Monday that Tehran would like to see a peaceful solution to growing tensions with the United States. Ali Larijani was in Turkey as part of efforts to rally support for Iran's nuclear program ahead of possible Security Council action.
Ahmadinejad arrives in Indonesia on Tuesday for a six-day trip to do the same.

Last week, Larijani went to the United Arab Emirates to reassure its government about Iran's nuclear program, and last month former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani made a similar visit to Kuwait.
The United States is backing efforts by Britain and France to win Security Council approval for a U.N. resolution that would threaten possible further measures if Iran does not suspend uranium enrichment - a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors to generate electricity or material for nuclear warheads.

The Western nations want to invoke Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter that would allow economic sanctions or military action, if necessary, to force Iran to comply with the Security Council's demand that it cease enrichment.
But Russia and China, the other two veto-holding members of the Security Council members, oppose such moves.
Iran claims its nuclear program is strictly for generating electricity and that it requires enrichment to be self-reliant in fuel for nuclear reactors. But the United States and its allies believe that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons.

On Sunday, Ahmadinejad renewed Iran's threat to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if the Security Council imposes sanctions on Tehran.

Ahmadinejad told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that Washington and its allies "don't give us anything and yet they want to impose sanctions on us." He called the threat of sanctions "meaningless." Elham said Monday that Iranians had endured sanctions before. "We're not concerned" about the prospect of U.N. sanctions, he added

[H2O racing]

Yeah don't do anything about Iran arming themselves with nukes. Now think 20 years into the future when Iraq has 200+ nuclear warheads (They do have a need for nuclear energy because they are sitting on top of one of the worlds largest oil reserves!!) and they dicide to start up an offensive against neighboring countries. Sometimes peace is you worst enemy!

[Martin]

Welcome H2O..

The more we police the world... The more the world hates us.. This is probably the reason why the bush administration is barely being involved in this latest mid-east crisis... That plus elections are coming up soon.

Why do we allow Russia and China to have nukes... and not Iran? This is where the rage is coming from on Iran's side.. Plus, they already say their not using the plants for nuke weapons... So all and all.... Its just our government's paranoia that thinks their going to make nukes.. So yeah...our government is paranoid.. Maybe they should be on meds.

Just like Bush predicted Iraq has nukes all over the place...We went in and found nothing.. If we did the same thing to Iran and found nothing , I'll be moving to Canada.

Granny says Iran lyin' through their teeth...

Iran Denies Nuclear Ambitions As UN Security Council Mulls More Sanctions
24 February 2007 - Iran has told the U.N. Security Council it has no intention of producing atomic weapons, and accused Western countries of distorting facts about Iranian nuclear intentions.

U.S. and European diplomats told the Security Council Friday they would push for what German Ambassador Thomas Matussek called a "modest expansion" of penalties against Iran. The comments came a day after the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency reported that Tehran has expanded uranium enrichment activities in defiance of an earlier Security Council demand. A Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Jackie Sanders urged the Council to take what she called "additional appropriate actions to communicate to Iran that its non-compliance is unacceptable". "Unfortunately, Iran has yet to heed this warning or make the strategic decision to cooperate with the international community and end its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability," she said.

Iran had not been scheduled to participate in Friday's Council debate on nuclear non-proliferation. But in a hastily-arranged appearance late in the day, Iran Deputy U.N. Ambassador Mehdi Danesh Yazdi defended his country's decision to continue uranium enrichment. He denied that Tehran has any intention to produce nuclear weapons. "Iran has clearly and continuously stressed that nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in its military doctrine," he said. The Iranian diplomat lashed out at countries he said were using the Security Council meeting on non-proliferation to make "baseless allegations" that distort Tehran's nuclear intentions. "No one in today's world can accept the unreasonable logic that it is OK for them to have nuclear weapons and threaten others with their massive arsenals and aggressive policies, while crying wolf about others' peaceful nuclear program," he said.

Senior diplomats of the five permanent Security Council members and Germany are to meet Monday in London to start work on a new resolution that would impose further sanctions on Iran. U.N. diplomats say the new measures are likely to include a tightening of economic sanctions, a ban on travel for officials involved in Iran's nuclear program, and an expansion of the list of technology items Iran is forbidden to import or export.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-02-24-voa1.cfm

See also:

IAEA: Iran Fails to Suspend Sensitive Nuclear Work by UN Deadline
23 February 2007 - The United Nations nuclear agency says Iran has failed to suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by the U.N. Security Council, as diplomats consider plans for new sanctions against Tehran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report to the council Thursday saying Iran has expanded uranium enrichment in defiance of the demand. The report clears the way for the council to possibly impose further sanctions on Iran. On December 23, the U.N. Security Council set a 60-day deadline for Iran to end the enrichment work, and banned Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear and missile technology. In Washington, U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns says he will travel to London on Monday to meet with U.N. Security Council members to begin drafting another sanctions resolution on Iran.

A senior Iranian nuclear official, Mohammad Saeedi, says Iran cannot accept suspending uranium enrichment because that would be contrary to its rights under international treaties. The White House voiced disappointment over Iran's failure to comply with international demands to stop enriching uranium. But Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said his country would prefer not to impose new sanctions on Iran.

The IAEA report says Iran has installed two uranium enrichment networks at its underground nuclear plant in Natanz, but has not fed uranium into the system. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel for nuclear power, or at more highly enriched levels, to build nuclear weapons. The United States and other major powers suspect Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-02-23-voa5.cfm

Something the Iraq Study Group suggested doing...

Iraq And U.S. Invite Syria, Iran To Meet
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007 - Invitation To "Neighbors Meeting" Reflects Change Of Attitude By Bush Administration

The United States and the Iraqi government are launching a new diplomatic initiative to invite Iran and Syria to a "neighbors meeting" on stabilizing Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday. "We hope that all governments seize this opportunity to improve their relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region," Rice said in remarks prepared for delivery to a Senate committee. Excerpts were released in advance by the State Department.

After first rejecting much of the Baker-Hamilton Report, the White House is now embracing a key component of it — engaging directly with Syria and Iran, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod. The move reflects a change of approach by the Bush administration, which previously had resisted calls by members of Congress and by a bipartisan Iraq review group to include Iran and Syria in diplomatic talks on stabilizing Iraq.

"I am pleased to announce that we are also supporting the Iraqis in a new diplomatic offensive: to build greater support, both within the region and beyond, for peace and prosperity in Iraq," Rice said, adding that U.S. and Iraqi officials agree that success in Iraq "requires the positive support of Iraq's neighbors." At the White House, press secretary Tony Snow told reporters the administration is "happy that the government of Iraq is taking this step and engaging its neighbors. And we also hope and expect that Iran and Syria will play constructive roles in those talks."

More http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n2521339.shtml

[waltky]

They need to quit meddling in Iraq...

Iran escalating involvement in Iraq: Iraqi adviser
Saturday 6th October, 2007 - Iran has significantly increased its involvement in Iraq in an effort to undermine any progress made by US President George W. Bush's troop surge, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said.

Iran was 'raising the heat' by supplying more sophisticated weaponry to militants responsible for attacks on US troops, al-Rubaie said Friday in an interview that appeared on the Washington Post's website. The Iranian agents detained by US troops and weapons intercepts are only the 'tip of the iceberg' of the Islamic state's activities in Iraq. 'What we have arrested is a peanut,' he said.

Iran has stepped up its role since an August meeting between the US and Iranian ambassadors in Baghdad to discuss US allegations that Iran has been fomenting violence in Iraq, al-Rubaie said. Al-Rubaie said top Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have approved of the role in Iraq even though they have publicly denied involvement.

'There is one policy in Iran and others execute that policy, and that's done through the National Security Council. And its chairman is the supreme leader,' Rubaie said. The US military believes Iran's elite al-Quds force has been shipping the weapons into Iraq and trains militants, and says it has seized arms that were made in Iran.

More Iran escalating involvement in Iraq: Iraqi adviser

[waltky]

Fearless VP soundin' the warnin'...

Cheney warns of Iran's nuclear activities
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2007 -- U.S. Vice President **** Cheney reiterated on Sunday that Iran will face "serious consequences" if it continues to enrich uranium, a key substance for the making of nuclear weapons.

"The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose serious consequences," Cheney said in a speech to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Labeling Iran as "a growing obstacle to peace," Cheney said that "the United States joins other nations in sending a clear message: We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

Washington accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. While threatening to keep all options including military resort, the White House said that it is focusing on diplomatic means to try to resolve Iran's nuclear issue.

Iran, which always denies U.S. charges, insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Source

See also:

Iran: We Can Fire 11,000 Missiles A Minute
Oct. 20, 2007 - Saber Rattling From Military Commander Promises A Quick Response To Any Attack

Iran is capable of firing 11,000 rockets into enemy bases within the first minute after any possible attack, state-run television quoted a top Revolutionary Guards Corps commander as saying Saturday. Gen. Mahmoud Chaharbaghi, the missile commander of the Guards, said Iran has identified all enemy positions and was prepared to respond in less than a minute to any possible attack. "Enemy bases and positions have been identified. ... The Guards ground force will fire 11,000 rockets into identified enemy positions within the first minute of any aggression against the Iranian territory," the television quoted Chaharbaghi as saying.

Chaharbaghi did not specifically identify the bases or the enemy and did not refer to arch foes Israel or the United States by name. But the U.S. has 40,000 troops on various U.S. bases in other Persian Gulf countries and 20,000 in Mideast waters. Another 160,000 U.S. troops are in neighboring Iraq and about 25,000 are in another one of Iran's neighbors, Afghanistan. Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency also quoted Chaharbaghi as saying that Iran's radar-avoiding rockets cover the entire Persian Gulf and the entire Iran-Iraq border. Both on state-run TV and in Fars, he only used the word rocket, not missile. A rocket is normally an unguided weapon whereas missiles usually have guidance systems.

Chaharbaghi was quoted by Fars as saying that rockets with a range of 155 miles will be delivered to the Guards ground force soon. He didn't elaborate. Iran has periodically raised alarms over the possibility of war, particularly when the West brings up talk of sanctions over Tehran's rejection of a U.N. Security Council demand that it halt uranium enrichment. Tensions are high between Washington and Tehran over U.S. accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and helping Shiite militias in Iraq that target U.S. troops. Iran denies the claims. Washington has said it is addressing the Iran situation diplomatically, rather than militarily, but U.S. officials also say that all options are open.

MORE

[waltky]

Fearless VP warnin' all the aiders an' abettors...

Cheney warns firms of business with Iran
Saturday 27th October, 2007 - US Vice President **** Cheney has warned foreign companies that continued business with Iran could disrupt their ties to the US following new sanctions to punish Iran for its nuclear activities and suspected backing of terrorism.

'From our perspective it's very important that if you're going to do business with Iran, you're going to have problems doing business in the United States,' Cheney said Friday in a television interview on CNBC. The US enacted new sanctions on Iran Thursday, the stiffest since the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran. The sanctions targeted three of Iran's largest state-owned banks and parts of its military.

The vice president appeared to go further than US officials who told reporters Thursday that penalties were not planned against foreign firms that kept up business with Iran, but that the sanctions were aimed at discouraging companies from continued ties. The US accused three banks - Bank Melli, Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat - of funnelling money to terrorism and supporting Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme.

The unilateral US sanctions run parallel to US effort to persuade the UN Security Council to sign off on international sanctions, but Washington has faced resistance from Russia and China, two countries who twice approved limited measures. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke out against additional sanctions during a trip to Portugal, equating the move to a 'madman who runs around swaying with a razor'.

The White House rejected Putin's assertion. 'I reject the notion that it is irresponsible, because I think it is quite responsible and shows that we are more than serious,' spokeswoman Dana Perino said, adding 'we also are committed to the diplomatic path and that we are going to buttress that with sanctions'.

More Cheney warns firms of business with Iran

See also:

Iran turns cold shoulder to U.S. sanctions, promises to continue co-op with IAEA, EU
Oct. 27, 2007 -- With its usual rhetoric in condemning the latest U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Iran has turned a cold shoulder to the U.S. unilateral move, refraining from taking any drastic action to derail its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA and the European Union.

LIMITED IMPACT ON IRAN

Washington announced Thursday that it is imposing new sanctions against Iran because Tehran supports terrorism in the Middle East, exports missiles while engaging in a nuclear buildup. The sanctions, which will be imposed against Iran's Defense Ministry, its Revolutionary Guard Corps and more than 20 Iranian companies, banks and individuals, are the most extensive since Washington and Tehran severed their diplomatic relations in 1980.

Observers believe that the new sanctions will surely cause further inconvenience in Iran's import-export businesses and affect its investment environment in the long run, but under the current circumstances, the unilateral measures have little impact in isolating Iran from outside world and changing its policy. Since the United States and Iran have no direct business contacts, the sanctions will have no practical significance. Although Washington also warns against foreign banks and companies doing business with Iran, the Islamic Republic still has extensive economic ties with many countries, including Russia and elsewhere in Europe.

Some local observers said that the unilateral U.S. measures would not necessarily be followed by non-American companies, especially those from countries that are not Washington's allies. Meanwhile, the U.S. sanctions have not gone as far as blocking Iran's export of crude oil, which is the mainstay of the country's economy. Analysts believe that the soaring oil prices will help Tehran to partially offset the damage caused by U.S. sanctions.

HEIGHTENED U.S.-IRAN CONFRONTATION

[waltky]

Putin an' the Chinese muckin' things up...

Russia-China toughen stance over Iran 'nuclear bomb'
Friday November 02, 2007 - Russia and China have been blocking tough UN sanctions against Iran for months, the United States said overnight, but major powers will seek to impose them if Iran does not halt nuclear work within two weeks.

Iran's president said he was "not worried at all" about broader economic sanctions it faces over its continued defiance of UN Security Council demands to stop enriching uranium. The five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany will meet in London on Friday to weigh a third round of sanctions.

In Vienna for consultations with the UN nuclear watchdog director, US undersecretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns said Iran was given a two-month grace period after the last UN resolution on March 24 to allow for further talks. But it pressed ahead with enrichment anyway.

"Russia and China have been effectively blocking a third resolution since then," he told reporters. Moscow and Beijing, two of the five veto-holders on the Council and both with big trade ties to Iran, have insisted on more time for diplomacy.

MORE

[waltky]

Internal power struggle in Iran?...

Larijani's departure fuels Iran power struggle
09 November 2007 - Ali Larijani's resignation reflects the increasing gap between moderate conservatives and hardliners in the Iranian government

When Iranian government spokesman, Gholam-Hossein Elham, announced the resignation of the country's nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, on 20 October, it appeared his unexpected departure had been forced on him rather than because of the personal reasons numerous officials and parliamentarians stated. The low-key introduction of his successor, Saeed Jalili, a deputy foreign minister with close ties with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and no note of gratitude being offered to Larijani, was interpreted as further evidences that he was forced to leave.

Before taking on the role as chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani was head of the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the country's largest media network, for 10 years. Part of his strength is that he belongs to the conservative elite - the revolution's 'Second Generation' - and had always enjoyed the support of the supreme leader. To a large extent, Larijani draws his political clout from his prominent clerical lineage. He is Ayatollah Mirza Hashem Amoli's son, which gave him and his brothers the opportunity to develop clan-like links within the political structure. Because of this pedigree, Larijani enjoys a respectable level of influence with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who held him in high esteem. It was Khamenei who appointed Larijani as head of the Nuclear Negotiation Team and the National Security Council in 2004.

However, when Ahmadinejad became president, he expressed serious concerns about what he called the "retreat and passivity" of Iran's right to nuclear enrichment and his uneasy feelings about Larijani's strategy and diplomatic leverage, because of his affinity to Khamenei. From the outset, Ahmadinejad favoured a more radical foreign policy. During 2006, the power struggle between Larijani and the president gradually intensified, leading Ahmadinejad to undercut and embarrass the chief negotiator by contradicting many of his statements on the progress of negotiations and the country's nuclear agenda.

Larijani's departure fuels Iran power struggle - Jane's Country Risk News