Iran President News Conference

[Martin]

I was looking forward to hearing what the Iran President had to say today at his first News Conference in the U.S. and both CNN and FoxNews cut him off.. I only saw a few minutes of it. I wonder how much our government paid those two companies off to only show a few minutes of his conference. Free speech is gone.

They're going to continue to 'persue diplomacy' until Iran has the bomb. Ahmadinejad knows that The W has his hands full with Iraq and that our troops are stretched to thin to do anything about it...

IAEA Says Iran Has Not Suspended Uranium Enrichment
22 February 2007 - The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency says Iran has failed to suspend uranium enrichment, in defiance of Security Council demands.

A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency concludes that Iran has expanded uranium enrichment since December, when the Security Council ordered a freeze on such activities. The six-page report says the Tehran government has continued construction of a nuclear reactor that could produce material used in weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied having any intention to build nuclear weapons, and maintains its enrichment activities are aimed at producing energy.

But the six-page report written by IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei says Iran's refusal to cooperate has left the agency unable to verify that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes. The report also says Iran has installed two uranium enrichment networks at its underground nuclear facility in Natanz, although no uranium has been fed into the system. The Security Council initially imposed sanctions on Iran in late December, and gave the Tehran government two months to suspend uranium enrichment.

The Islamic republic's failure to comply exposes it to further sanctions. But the Security Council president for February, Slovakia's U.N. Ambassador Peter Burian, says there are no immediate plans to begin discussions on a follow-up resolution. "Of course the presidency will be in contact with all 14 Security Council members, and we will find out whether there is a mood to convene consultations during our presidency or maybe a little bit later," he said. "We will be checking the mood and the interest of the members to deal with the matter."

More http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-02-22-voa38.cfm

[waltky]

Iran Fined $2.65 Billion for Terrorism
WASHINGTON Sep 8, 2007 - Iran must pay $2.65 billion to the families of the 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, a federal judge declared Friday in a ruling that left survivors and families shedding tears of joy.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth described his ruling as the largest-ever such judgment by an American court against another country. "These individuals, whose hearts and souls were forever broken, waited patiently for nearly a quarter century for justice to be done," he said. Iran has been blamed for supporting the militant group Hezbollah, which carried out the suicide bombing in Beirut. It was the worst terrorist act against U.S. targets until the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Hundreds of people crowded into a federal courtroom to hear Friday's ruling. Parents have grown old since their children were killed. Siblings have grown into middle-age. Children have married and started families of their own. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth described his ruling as the largest-ever such judgment by an American court against another country. "These individuals, whose hearts and souls were forever broken, waited patiently for nearly a quarter century for justice to be done," he said.

Iran has been blamed for supporting the militant group Hezbollah, which carried out the suicide bombing in Beirut. It was the worst terrorist act against U.S. targets until the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Hundreds of people crowded into a federal courtroom to hear Friday's ruling. Parents have grown old since their children were killed. Siblings have grown into middle-age. Children have married and started families of their own.

More My Way News - Iran Fined $2.65 Billion for Terrorism

[waltky]

New sanctions against Iran...

U.S. imposes raft of new sanctions against Iran
Thursday 25th October, 2007 - The United States has imposed wide-ranging new sanctions against Iran in a further effort to pressure Tehran to halt nuclear activities seen as weapons-related.

Targets of the new sanctions include the Iranian defense ministry and the Revolutionary Guards Corps. The measures announced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are the most severe against Iran to date, and mark the first time that the United States has targeted another country's military for sanctions. The sanctions package, which had been under consideration for months, includes measures aimed at isolating three of Iran's biggest state-owned banks - Banks Melli, Mellat and Saderat - for involvement in weapons proliferation or financing terrorism.

The U.S. says Iran's defense ministry and the Revolutionary Guards Corps are also being sanctioned for proliferation activity, while the elite branch of the guards corps - the Quds Force - is being penalized for providing material support to terrorist groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Taliban in Afghanistan. At a joint press event with her Treasury counterpart, Secretary Rice said the sanctions were prompted by Iran's refusal to heed international demands that it drop what she termed its "unwise campaign" for a nuclear weapons capability. Rice said an offer to Iran for civil nuclear power assistance and diplomatic benefits remains on the table if it gives up its pursuit of a nuclear fuel cycle.

"If the Iranian government fulfills its international obligation to suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, I will join my British, French, Russian, Chinese and German colleagues and I will meet with my Iranian counterpart anytime, anywhere," she said. "We will be open to the discussion of any issue. But if Iran's rulers choose to continue down a path of confrontation, the United States will act with the international community to resist these threats of the Iranian regime," she added. The sanctions forbid U.S. citizens or companies from doing business with any of the targeted Iranian institutions and freeze any assets they may have in banks under U.S. jurisdiction.

More U.S. imposes raft of new sanctions against Iran

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Iran says new U.S. sanctions doomed to fail
Thursday 25th October, 2007 - Iran has denounced new U.S. sanctions designating Tehran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its elite Quds force as a supporter of terrorism in the Middle East.

Iranian state media quote Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini as saying the new U.S. measures are "doomed to fail." Hosseini says the sanctions violate international law and have no value. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the sanctions in Washington Thursday. Rice said the decision was prompted by Iran's refusal to heed international demands that Tehran drop what she called its "unwise campaign" for nuclear weapons capability.

Iran has denied the charge, saying its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The sanctions include measures aimed at isolating three Iranian state-owned banks and more than 20 Iranian entities, including individuals and companies. The restrictions freeze any assets the named parties may have under U.S. jurisdiction and forbid any U.S. citizen or organization from doing business with them.

The sanctions include designating Iran's defense ministry and the Revolutionary Guard Corps as proliferators of weapons of mass destruction. The measure cites the elite branch of the guards corps - the Quds force - for allegedly providing material support to terrorist groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

More Iran says new U.S. sanctions doomed to fail

[waltky]

Looks like it got their attention...

New U.S. Sanctions Draw Iranian Ire
October 26, 2007 - Regime, Citizens Angry At U.S., But Ahmadinejad Also Facing Fresh Criticism

Despite the government's insistence that U.S. and U.N. sanctions aren't causing any pain, some leading Iranians have begun to say publicly that the pressure does hurt. And on Tehran's streets, people are increasingly worried over the economic pinch. The sanctions have heightened resentment of the United States among some in the public. But they are also fueling criticism among Iranian politicians that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is mismanaging the crisis with hard-line stances that worsen the standoff with the West.

Washington announced new sanctions Thursday, targeting Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, which the U.S. accuses of supporting terrorism by backing Shiite militants in Iraq. The sanctions ban U.S. dealings with the extensive network of businesses believed linked to the Guards - and put stepped-up pressure on international banks to cut any ties with those firms. The reaction from Ahmadinejad's government was familiar. CBS News reporter Larry Miller says the regime called the measures illegal under international law, and said they were "doomed to failure".

The chief of the Revolutionary Guards shrugged off the sanctions, saying "the corps is ready to defend the ideals of the revolution more than ever before." "They have applied all their efforts to reduce the efficiency of this revolutionary body," General Mohammad Ali Jafari said Thursday, according to the state news agency IRNA. The sanctions come at a time when Iran's economy is struggling, with dramatic price rises this year. The costs of housing and basic foodstuffs like vegetables have doubled or even quadrupled. The government also has imposed unpopular fuel rationing in an attempt to reduce expensive subsidies for imported gasoline.

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New Sanctions Likely to Worry Moscow, Beijing More Than Tehran
October 26, 2007 - Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert, who has lived in Tehran for the International Crisis Group, says that the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iranian banks and on the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and Quds Force, are unlikely to have much of a financial impact on Tehran.

“With world demand for oil mounting and oil prices so high it’s very difficult to isolate Iran financially these days,” he says, adding that the sanctions will have more impact in Moscow, Beijing, and European capitals. He adds that “China and Russia are more concerned about the prospect of the U.S. bombing Iran than of Iran getting a nuclear bomb.”

Q. The United States has announced that it is imposing sanctions on three major Iranian banks in an effort to cut off funding for the Revolutionary Guards and other Iranian military units that the Americans have claimed are supporting terrorism and also helping out anti-American insurgents in Iraq. What kind of impact this will have in Iran?

A. The practical impact on Iran will be minimal. It is not as if Iranian banks or Revolutionary Guard entities were working with JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs. The principal intention of the announcement was to send a signal as much to the Europeans, the Chinese, and the Russians, as well as to the Iranians. The United States wants to alert Moscow, and Beijing, and others that they should not even think about doing business with Iran. But ultimately I don’t think that these measures are going to have much of a financial impact on Iran because the Iranians have been under U.S. sanctions for three decades now. There’s very little economic activity between Iranian banks and U.S. companies and corporations.

Q. Washington must be hoping international banks will shy away from doing business with the Iranians just as international banks did with the banks linked to North Korea when there was a crackdown on alleged counterfeiting by North Korea. But North Korea is much different from Iran.

A. With world demand for oil mounting and oil prices so high, it’s very difficult to isolate Iran financially these days. All these sanctions, measures, and labeling of the Iranian military groups as terrorist entities actually concerns Russian and Chinese officials more than it concerns Iranian officials. And increasingly China and Russia are more concerned about the prospect of the United States bombing Iran than of Iran getting a nuclear bomb.

More Sadjadpour: New Sanctions Likely to Worry Moscow, Beijing More Than Tehran - Council on Foreign Relations

[waltky]

Who said anything about attacking Iran?

US downplays talk of Iran attack
October 31, 2007 - AFTER weeks of escalating US rhetoric on Iran, the White House vowed overnight vowed to "pursue every possible diplomatic means" to defuse the volatile dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

Spokeswoman Dana Perino sought to quiet fears that US President George W. Bush plans to attack the Islamic republic over its refusal to freeze sensitive nuclear work that can lead to the development of atomic weapons. "There's no reason for people to think that the president is about to attack Iran. I think that we need to make that clear," she said. "He doesn't want people to fear that, because what he is doing is pursuing a diplomatic track."

Ms Perino pointed to Mr Bush's meetings next week with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as evidence of diplomatic efforts to convince Iran to bow to international pressure over its nuclear program. "He believes it's important for him to pursue every possible diplomatic means in order to persuade Iran to stop its pursuit of a nuclear weapon," said the spokeswoman. Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

Asked whether she was sure that Ms Bush was not about to strike Iran, Ms Perino said: "I'm positive of that, and we're pursuing the diplomatic track." "It's not the fault of the United States that we're in this position. It's the recalcitrance of Iran, they were provided a means to have a civil nuclear program with the cooperation of the international community, and they walked away from the table," she said.

"We would like to have them reverse that course, and (US) Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice said we would meet with her Iranian counterpart anytime, anywhere, but they've yet to take us up on that offer," said Ms Perino. "That's why we pursued the sanctions last week and we are pushing for a third resolution in the UN Security Council - (which will) probably take place next month," she said.

MORE

[waltky]

US urges UN to get tough on Iran...

UN ready to impose new Iran sanctions
Friday November 2, 2007 - The UN security council is likely to impose fresh sanctions on Iran if it fails to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme, it emerged today.

After a meeting of the permanent security council members, plus Germany, in London today, the group agreed to finalise the text for a third UN resolution. Officials from Britain, France, Germany and the US - all in favour of sanctions - met representatives of China and Russia, which had previously blocked attempts to increase pressure on Tehran.

However, today's unanimous agreement suggests that Moscow and Beijing are now ready to increase the pressure on the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The US undersecretary of state, Nicholas Burns, had flown in to rally support for tougher treatment of the Iranian government. Washington announced its own series of unilateral sanctions last week.

Tehran, which has a deadline of next month to disclose full details of its nuclear programme, maintains its nuclear programme is for the generation of power. Washington accuses it of intending to develop nuclear weapons. Another meeting will be held on November 19, at which progress will be assessed following the publication of reports by Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the EU high representative, Javier Solana.

More UN ready to impose new Iran sanctions | Iran | Guardian Unlimited

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Possible J-10 sale to Tehran raises red flags
31 October 2007: Iran, China and Russia may have reached agreement for the supply of Chengdu J-10 advanced combat aircraft to Iran, according to Russian media reports.

The Russian business daily Kommersant published the story on 23 October but it was picked up and translated into English by the state-controlled Novosti news agency the following day. Kommersant has an acknowledged track record for monitoring Russia's dealings with Iran and Novosti's involvement gives the story an official seal of approval.

China, perhaps surprised by the extent of the Russian reports, has moved quickly to deny them. According to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular press conference: "The report is false and irresponsible. China has not conducted any negotiation on the so-called fighter issue. We hope the Russian newspaper could clarify its report."

Quoting sources within HESA (the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company), Kommersant said the Iranian military will take delivery of 24 J-10s between 2008 and 2010 to equip two squadrons. This is a similar number to the elderly Chengdu J-7 fighters previously delivered from China to Iran - raising the possibility that the J-10s will replace the obsolete J-7s.

Iran was previously thought to be negotiating a large package of Sukhoi Su-30MK fighters with Russia. However, it may have opted instead to acquire the more affordable but still capable J-10 from China. In Iranian service the J-10 would primarily be an air-defence platform, equipped with Chinese weapons such as the SD-10 active-radar air-to-air missile.

Possible J-10 sale to Tehran raises red flags - Jane's Defence News

[waltky]

So why doesn't Iran listen to their Chinese friends??...

China's Wen urges Iran to cooperate with IAEA
3 November 2007: BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has urged Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and show “flexibility” over its nuclear programme, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

“China respects Iran’s rights to the peaceful use of nuclear power and stands for the maintenance of the international non-proliferation system,” Wen told Iranian First Vice President Parviz Davoudi during a meeting in Uzbek capital Tashkent, the report said. “China will continue its efforts to push forward the peaceful resolution of the issue,” Wen added.

“Wen said peaceful negotiation would be the best way to resolve the nuclear issue and he hoped that Iran could further demonstrate its flexibility,” the official agency quoted a Foreign Ministry statement as saying. Six world powers, including China, agreed on Friday to push ahead with a third round of sanctions against Iran unless reports later this month indicate Teheran has tried to address their concerns about its nuclear programme.

China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has generally resisted sanctions and instead counselled more talks, but the United States has been pushing for what one US official called more “tough-minded diplomacy”. Iran has refused to halt uranium enrichment after two previous U.N. sanctions resolutions and denies it wants to make atomic bombs, saying its programme is for power generation.

Source

[waltky]

China talks, Iran listens...

Ahmadinejad for continued cooperation with IAEA
Nov.8, 2007: Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has called for the continuation of cooperation between his country and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"Iran has answered all the questions raised by the IAEA and the agency has announced that Iran's answers were all correct. It has also announced that there had been no deviation in Iran's peaceful nuclear activities," The Tehran Times quoted Ahmadinejad as telling a gathering in the northeastern city of Birjand in southern Khorassan Province.

"Those who are exerting pressure in order to make Iranians abandon their rights are making a mistake. The Iranian nation has chosen its path and will continue the path with strength and solidarity," he added. Ahmadinejad stated that imposing sanctions against Iran over its peaceful nuclear program was a grave mistake. "The resolutions were issued on the basis of false reports and therefore they have no credibility for the Iranian people," he added.

"The enemies and ill-wishers of the Iranian nation should know that threats, pressure, and sanctions will yield no result.The Iranian nation would not give up even one iota of its nuclear rights," Ahmadinejad said. He advised world hegemonic powers "to give up misbehavior towards Iran and be friends with the Iranian nation".

Source

[waltky]

Guess China got their attention...

Iran Hands Over Nuclear Blueprints
Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007 — Iran has met a key demand of the U.N. nuclear agency, handing over long-sought blueprints showing how to mold uranium metal into the shape of warheads, diplomats said Tuesday.

Iran's decision to release the documents, which were seen by U.N. inspectors two years ago, was seen as a concession designed to head off the threat of new U.N. sanctions. But the diplomats said Tehran has failed to meet other requests made by the International Atomic Energy Agency in its attempts to end nearly two decades of nuclear secrecy on the part of Iran. The diplomats spoke to The Associated Press as IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei put the finishing touches on his latest report to his agency's 35-nation board of governors for consideration next week. While ElBaradei is expected to say that Iran has improved its cooperation with his agency's probe, the findings are unlikely to deter the United States, France and Britain from pushing for a third set of U.N. sanctions.

The agency has been seeking possession of the blueprints since 2005, when it stumbled upon them among a batch of other documents during its examination of suspect Iranian nuclear activities. While agency inspectors had been allowed to examine them in the country, Tehran had up to now refused to let the IAEA have a copy for closer perusal. Diplomats accredited to the agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were divulging confidential information, said the drawings were hand-carried by Mohammad Saeedi, deputy director of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and handed over last week in Vienna to Oli Heinonen, an ElBaradei deputy in charge of the Iran investigations.

Iran maintains it was given the papers without asking for them during its black market purchases of nuclear equipment decades ago that now serve as the backbone of its program to enrich uranium — a process that can generate both power or create the fissile core of nuclear warheads. Iran's refusal to suspend enrichment has been the main trigger for both existing U.N. sanctions and the threat of new ones. Both the IAEA and other experts have categorized the instructions outlined in the blueprints as having no value outside of a nuclear weapons program.

While ElBaradei's report is likely to mention the Iranian concession on the drawings and other progress made in clearing up ambiguities in Iran's nuclear activities, it was unclear whether it would also detail examples of what the diplomats said were continued Iranian stonewalling. Senior IAEA officials were refused interviews with at least two top Iranian nuclear officials suspected of possible involvement in a weapons program, they said. One was the leader of a physics laboratory at Lavizan, outside Tehran, which was razed before the agency had a chance to investigate activities there. The other was in charge of developing Iran's centrifuges, used to enrich uranium.

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