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Vote on Iran nuclear activity postponed

By Judy Dempsey in Brussels
Published: November 22 2003 4:00

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday postponed until next Wednesday a vote on its response to evidence of Iran's clandestine nuclear programme.

Diplomats said the decision was made in a bid to buy time so as to bridge big differences between the US, and Britain, France and Germany. The Europeans have presented a draft resolution to the 35-nation IAEA board that does not say Iran is in non-compliance with its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

A country is in non-compliance when the IAEA cannot confirm that country has not diverted nuclear resources to a weapons programme, or when it confirms a country has diverted resources. Any mention of non-compliance could mean the case being referred to the United Nations Security Council, a move favoured by Washington.

The US said the European draft was too soft. "Iran's violations have been brazen and systematic," said Ken Brill, US ambassador to the IAEA. Iran's purpose, he said, "was the pursuit of nuclear weapons." Colin Powell, US secretary of state, told the Europeans this week the draft provided "no trigger mechanism in the case of further Iranian intransigence or difficulty."

Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA head, said Iran had for over 18 years concealed parts of its nuclear programme. The agency's latest inspection report, formally presented to the agency's board, said Iran had received help from four countries for developing nuclear weapons.

Despite this, Mr ElBaradei said there was "no proof Iran has been trying to build nuclear weapons."

Diplomats said both sides would now try to find language that would keep up the pressure on Iran to implement the IAEA's 'additional protocol', giving the nuclear watchdog the right to conduct inspections without notice.

Even if the Europeans amend the text, diplomats said they remained determined not to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, a move that would lead to some kind of sanctions regime being imposed on Iran. A German official said this would weaken any leverage the Europeans had over Tehran.

* A fire bomb was thrown at the British embassy compound in central Tehran yesterday, but a UK diplomat said no one was hurt and there was little damage, Reuters reports from Tehran.

"We're in touch with the Iranian authorities and we're reviewing our security arrangements," the diplomat said.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1069132072161

Swiss Expert Fears Iran's Nuclear Ambitions

November 22, 2003
Swissinfo
Faryal Mirza

A Swiss expert claims Iran does have a secret nuclear weapons programme and is in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

As the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meets in Vienna to decide the matter, Christoph Wirz says Iran’s denials are simply not credible.

The nuclear specialist works at the Spiez Laboratory, the Swiss government’s nuclear, biological and chemical defence establishment.

Writing in the “Allgemeine Schweizerische Militärzeitschrift”, a Swiss military journal, Wirz questions why an oil and gas-rich country like Iran says its needs to generate nuclear energy for civil purposes.

He argues that there are clear indications that Iran is producing nuclear weapons: the presence of a civil nuclear programme without clear economic advantages, inadequate international supervision of nuclear facilities, and a missile programme.

And Iran’s justification that it wants to use less oil to produce electricity is questionable, says Wirz.

He argues that the country’s claims to want to protect the environment and to make money from selling “black gold” on the open market ring hollow, given that this is dependent on the dollar rate and the price of oil.

The Swiss expert also believes that a missile-producing nation is likely to have a military nuclear programme. Iran is one of the few states to have produced or tested missiles with a range of more than 1,000 kilometres.

Security

National security is likely to be a driving force behind any nuclear weapons programme, argues Wirz. Geographically the country sits close to nations that already have nuclear weapons at their disposal - Israel, Russia, China, India and Pakistan.

To date, the IAEA has not uncovered any conclusive proof that Iran has a secret nuclear weapons programme. At the beginning of this month, Teheran agreed increased inspections by the nuclear watchdog.

And on November 10, Iran informed the IAEA that it would sign the Additional Protocol to NPT, paving the way for inspections at short notice.

An IAEA spokeswoman told swissinfo that Iran’s decision to sign the protocol was a positive development.

While it could be months before Iran actually signs the agreement, the IAEA says this is not a cause for concern.

Sanctions

The United States has been pressing for Iran to be declared in breach of NPT, claiming Teheran has not been honest about acquiring materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

If the US gets its way, this could pave the way for sanctions to be imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

The Europeans, on the other hand, favour a more softly-softly approach and would be prepared to share civil nuclear technology with Teheran.

IAEA’s 35-member governing board is likely to decide the matter by the end of this week.

http://www.nzz.ch/2003/11/22/english/page-synd4471564.html

Iran Vows: 'No' to Dicisions Suppressing its Nuclear Energy Rights

November 22, 2003
Arabic News
arabicnews.com

"Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani here on Friday refreshed vows that Iran would not accept any "oppressive" decision coming out of the meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) later in the day," IRNA reported yesterday.

The IRNA report said "Rafsanjani, in a sermon at Tehran Friday prayers, said Iran is waiting to see how much the US can influence the IAEA board meeting, and warned against any imprudent decision by the agency regarding Iran`s nuclear energy program."

The report said "The next few hours are the hours of trial. We are waiting to see how much the US can impose its own inhuman and colonial views on the board through threat, coercion and bribing," he said. "The ball is now in their (IAEA) ground... If they do bad, the things will be then out of our control, and I hope they take no illogical decision because no oppressive decision can ever deprive Iran from its due rights."

The IAEA admitted this week "we have no proof to date that Iran's past undeclared activities have been linked to a nuclear weapons program."

Rafsanjani was quoted by IRNA saying that "Iran has shown good cooperation with the IAEA toward its nuclear energy activities, stressing that Europe as well as IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei were exercising good-will toward that issue."

the report said: He added that Iran's performance to foil the propaganda of the US and Israel that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons had been "very prudent and logical," and renewed Iran's positions that it will not give up its rights to exploit the nuclear industry for peaceful purposes.

"The correct thing that was done was that it was proved to the world that there is no evidence that Iran pursuing nuclear weapons in its scientific and technical movement," said Rafsanjani, who is also the chairman of Iran's Expediency Council (EC).

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/031122/2003112223.html

Beware Iranians Bearing Gifts

November 22, 2003
United Press International
Derk Kinnane Roelofsma

The old saying, "Beware Greeks bearing gifts" should be updated to "Beware Iranians bearing gifts."

It is timely to do so as the Iranians have been bearing gifts for the United States.

On Nov. 17, President Mohammad Khatami made a gift of recognition for the Iraqi Governing Council, the U.S. creation that has less than complete legitimacy in the eyes of much of the international community.

"We recognize the Iraqi Governing Council and we believe it is capable, with the Iraqi people, of managing the affairs of the country and taking measures leading toward independence," he said.

As Ray Takeyh, a Middle East expert at the National Defense University, points out in the current Fall issue of The National Interest, an important and influential segment of the Iranian Right, headed by supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has defected Khatami's reformist foreign policy line.

The trouble is that Iranian politics is made up of various segments with differing attitudes; and changes in positions may be merely tactical and short term. Take the current U.S. and U.N. concern to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons.

Iran has said it intends to sign an additional protocol to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty that would allow the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, to conduct intrusive, snap inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.

However, even if Iran does go ahead and signs the protocol, it would not come into force until ratified by Iranian parliament. And Tehran says it will reconsider signing if the IAEA board, now meeting in Vienna, adopts, as Washington would like, a resolution declaring Iran in non-compliance with the NPT. At the same time, Tehran acknowledges it has violated the treaty during the 20 years since it signed it.

The Iranians, whether on the right or those such as Khatami, are nationalists. As such they intensely dislike the strongly worded IAEA draft resolution. If the resolution is adopted, parliament might well refuse to ratify adhesion to the additional protocol.

But even if parliament were to ratify it, the rightist-dominated Guardians Council would be able to override parliament.

The past week has seen hard-line Iranians demonstrating against the additional protocol. Last Friday, Muhammad Reza Tabatabaii, the influential Friday prayer leader in Isfahan, Iran's second city, told his congregation: "Almighty God's power is above all and even if (the protocol) is signed, any change he deems necessary may come our way. We can change the decision with your prayers."

Given Iran's theocratic state and how its mullahs choose to interpret God's word, Tabatabaii was signaling that Iranian acquiescence to Western demands was far from a sure thing.

These inconsistencies are part of a larger consistency the Iranians have shown in relations with Washington since the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001. While the government offers a helping hand, other centers of power try to pull the rug out from under the United States.

In Afghanistan, Iran was helpful by allowing its ports to be used by the United States during the war, and in the Bonn conference that set up the Afghan interim government, headed by Hamid Karzai. But Iran also "expelled" Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the most viscerally anti-American and brutal of Afghan warlords, from comfortable sequestration back into Afghanistan.

Some say the Iranians did so because they wished to placate Washington by not seeming to shelter Hekmatyar. Others insist the Iranians knew he would add to America's problems by doing just what he has done, rally his supporters and join forces with the resurgent Taliban.

In the east of Afghanistan, the Iranians helped warlord Ismail Khan to restore his tyrannical rule over Herat and surrounding areas, putting him under obligation to Tehran by supplying a variety of aid that included uniforms for his fighters and a strong Iranian intelligence presence.

The same kind of thing is going on now. Iran has excellent reasons to avoid provoking the United States, given the U.S. military is present on both the eastern and western flanks of the country. There is a belief in Iran that only the mess the United States is faced with in Iraq has prevented it from proceeding with more regime changes, in Tehran and Damascus.

The worry they might be next on the American list has pushed the rightist mullahs to go along pragmatically with Khatami's moderation. Their anti-Western ideology has not softened, nor has their power lessened.

The right continues to dominate key governmental structures, such as the Council of Guardians, the national economy, the armed forces, the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, the judiciary, the basij militia, its own intelligence services outside the government, and hard-line vigilante groups used to beat up students demonstrating for a liberalized Iran.

It is the IRGC that enabled the guerrillas of Ansar al-Islam, a group of Iraqi Kurdish Islamists with ties to al-Qaida, to escape into Iran when Ansar came under joint U.S.-Iraqi Kurdish attack, then later allowed it to filter back into Iraq and resume its activities.

In the Shiite part of Iraq, Iran is indirectly supporting the would-be firebrand cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr. Last summer, he went to Iran and met with top leaders before returning to Iraq to whip up hostility to the U.S. presence, particularly among the 2 million Shiite poor who inhabit the Baghdad slum known as Sadr City.

Iraqi sources told United Press International that Sadr is known to be close to, and to receive funds from, Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese Shiite militant organization, Hezbollah, an offspring of the Iranian mullahs.

As an Iraqi said, "The Middle Eastern governments are masters of double-games -- and the Iranian mullahs are much more clever than Iran's other neighbors, the Syrians and the Turks."

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031121-111254-5924r

307 Foreigners Detained in Iraq, 70 are Iranians

November 23, 2003
Bahrain Tribune
bahraintribune.com

BAGHDAD -- Coalition forces in Iraq have at least 307 suspected foreign fighters in detention, mainly Syrians and Iranians, a US military official said yesterday.

“Two days ago the number was 307,” the official said, listing 140 Syrians, 70 Iranians and small numbers from Yemen, Chad, Saudi Arabia and the West Bank.
He was referring to non-Iraqis detained since Washington declared an end to major combat on May 1 after the war that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The men are suspected to have entered Iraq to carry out suicide and other attacks against foreign occupying forces and Iraqi authorities cooperating with them.

The number of foreign nationals entering Iraq to fight US occupying forces was “just a trickle”, the official said, adding: “That’s a serious problem, even if it’s just one.”

He said a total of 11,000 detainees were in custody in Iraq.

Attacks which Washington blames on remnants of the former Baathist regime and Islamists allied to al Qaada have killed 182 US soldiers since major combat was declared over.

The US official discounted any link between guerrilla operations and suicide bombings. “We didn’t see links between them. What we do see is some evidence of regional coordination (in guerrilla attacks),” he said.

He discounted the likelihood of Saddam or his deputy Izzat Ibrahim Al Duri playing a significant role in coordinating the guerrilla campaign, saying: “(I) don’t see that.”

Washington this week said there was evidence that Ibrahim was directly involved in some attacks and put a million price on his head.

The US commander of the 79th Ordnance Battalion in Iraq said yesterday that while anti-coalition insurgents might not show sophistication in manufacturing improvised explosive devices (IEDs), they are “extremely innovative.”
“I am not sure about sophistication, I would say innovation. They’ve been extremely innovative,” Lieutenant Colonel Dick Larry told a Baghdad press conference.

“Earlier on, we’ve seen very simplistic types of explosive devices, they’ve gone to great measures to hide and camouflage those devices using various means to deliver them.”

Larry was speaking a day after donkey carts were used to conceal multiple rocket launchers which fired at Baghdad’s main media hotels and oil ministry complex, wounding two people, one of them seriously.

“The incident that happened yesterday using a donkey to deliver an improvised rocket device is innovation,” he said.

He said his 125-strong team had also found “quite a few animals that had been used as IEDs,” while other booby-traps were molded “to make it look like the curb.” He said the explosives used by insurgents were “available in Iraq.”

http://www.bahraintribune.com/ArticleDetail.asp?ArticleId=13699&CategoryId=2

U.S. Wants Tough Resolution on Iran

November 22, 2003
CNN
CNN.com

WASHINGTON -- The United States is negotiating with the U.N. nuclear watchdog a resolution that would condemn Iran for past violations of its nuclear obligations, a senior State Department official said Saturday.

A meeting this week of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors failed to adopt a decision on Iran's nuclear situation because of divisions among its members.

Last week, the IAEA released a 30-page report detailing how Iran admitted to producing small amounts of low-enriched uranium and plutonium in violation of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

At the same time, the IAEA said that there was "no evidence" that those previously undeclared materials were "related to a nuclear weapons program."

The Bush administration wanted the IAEA to declare Iran in violation of its treaty obligations and report Tehran to the U.N. Security Council.

However, the IAEA's 35 governors said Friday that they would decide Wednesday what to do next.

The decision was not a setback for the United States, the senior State Department official said, adding that the Bush administration still thinks the matter should be taken up later at the United Nations.

"It is inaccurate to say the U.S. went into meetings in Vienna last week looking for, and expecting, to get a majority of the IAEA Board of Governors to agree to refer the matter to the U.N. for possible sanctions," the official said.

He said, however, that "it is correct to report that the U.S. is now negotiating with the IAEA Board of Governors to draft a resolution condemning Iran for having a secret nuclear program for 18 years," in violation of the nonproliferation treaty.

In its report, the IAEA says "Iran has now acknowledged that is has been developing, for 18 years, a uranium centrifuge enrichment program, and, for 12 years, a laser enrichment program."

The State Department official said the negotiations could result in a provision saying that if Iran doesn't comply with its obligations in the near future, there "could be some reference to going beyond the IAEA" --in other words, making a report to the Security Council.

Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed Iran's nuclear program with his European Union counterparts in Brussels, Belgium, this week. After those meetings, Powell said a draft resolution sponsored by Britain, France and Germany on Iran's nuclear program -- a draft that does not refer to Iran's non-compliance or to the Security Council -- does not go far enough.

A Western official said a major issue is whether the final resolution on Iran should contain a "trigger" mechanism that would automatically refer the matter to the Security Council if Iran fails to take several steps further cooperating with the IAEA.

The Europeans say they oppose any U.N.-related trigger.

The official also said that Japan, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands are joining the U.S. in supporting tough language pressuring Iran to cooperate more fully, among other things by suspending its uranium enrichment program.

Iran earlier this month promised to take that step and to allow tougher nuclear inspections.

Although Powell said he is "pleased Iran seems to be moving in the right direction now," he said it remains to be seen whether it "is cooperating fully and openly with the international community."

Iran has said its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes.

Although the IAEA has acknowledged there was no evidence that Tehran's undeclared nuclear activities were related to a weapons program, its report said it was premature to "concluded that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes."

The primary reason cited by the IAEA for its continued skepticism is "Iran's past pattern of concealment."

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/11/22/us.iran.nuclear/index.html

US, EU Moving Closer on Iran

November 23, 2003
AFP
ABC News

EU and US leaders sought to bridge a transatlantic divide, this time on tackling Iran's nuclear program, deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.

"There's movement on all sides as we fashion the appropriate response," he told PBS television.

Mr Armitage said the transatlantic allies were not at loggerheads.

"I would prefer to use a term that we haven't yet reached agreement, rather than do not agree," he said in the interview.

"We're still continuing these discussions," he told the public broadcaster, according to a transcript provided by the State Department.

The US diplomat did not bring up the State Department's earlier goal of taking the matter before the UN Security Council, which could decide whether to impose sanctions.

On Friday, the State Department backed off.

That brought the United States closer to the positions held by many European countries.

France, Germany, Britain and several others on the IAEA board of governors would like to send a more measured message to Iran, taking into account its efforts to reassure the international community that its civilian nuclear program is not being diverted to military use.

Discussions at IAEA headquarters are to resume on Wednesday.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s995282.htm

Ex-UN Arms Inspector Ritter: US Wants Iran Regime Change

November 22, 2003
The Associated Press
Dow Jones Newswires

PRAGUE -- A former U.N. weapons inspector said Saturday that Washington seems to be questioning the credibility of the U.N. atomic agency in an attempt to achieve in Iran what it has already carried out in Iraq: regime change.

Scott Ritter, a former U.S. Marine, was a weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998. He has been a vocal critic of U.S. President George W. Bush's policy on Iraq.

Friday, the U.S. questioned the credibility of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency for failing to conclude that Iran has pursued a nuclear weapons program, as Washington believes it has. Washington softened its initial remarks later in the day.

Ritter said that the agency - which carried out inspections in prewar Iraq, where it never found any evidence of a nuclear arms program -"did a fairly professional and responsible job in dealing with Iraq."

"There's no reason to doubt that the (agency) would be any less professional and responsible in dealings with Iran," Ritter told The Associated Press following a speech in the Czech capital.

Ritter said he believed the U.S. would continue to put pressure on the IAEA so it would issue reports that back up the U.S. position.

If the agency fails to comply, then the U.S. "will denigrate the work of the IAEA and move forward unilaterally," he said.

Ritter said the U.S. wants the issue to be transferred to the U.N. Security Council "to create a perception of threat to international peace and security."

"The policy of the United States is to achieve regime change in Iran - the president has made it very clear," he said.

At a key meeting in Vienna on Friday, the agency's director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, said his experts had found "no evidence" of a weapons program and that more time and inspections are needed to determine whether Iran is truthful in saying it is using nuclear technology only to produce electricity.

Washington then accused him of playing down evidence that Iran has tried to build nuclear weapons over the past 18 years.

http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2003112221350000&Take=1

Shia Leader Escapes Attack

November 23, 2003
The Telegraph
Reuters

Tehran -- A rocket attack failed to kill a leading member of Iraq’s US-appointed governing council, Shia leader Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, in a Baghdad mosque yesterday, his son said today.

Mohsen Al-Hakim said the attackers fired a Russian-made rocket from gardens near the mosque but it failed to explode. The missile missed its target and wrecked a car parked a 100 metres away. No one was injured.

“It was a terrorist attack on his life by remains of Saddam’s regime and those who want instability in Iraq. They are pursuing the same goals as those who killed Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim,” Mohsen Al-Hakim said in Tehran.

The attack took place on the same day that guerrillas fired Russian-made Katyusha rockets from donkey carts at Iraq’s oil ministry and two Baghdad hotels used by Westerners.

Guerrillas have launched increasingly audacious attacks on US-led occupying troops, foreign organisations and Iraqis working with them. Many foreign organisations have quit, following suicide car bomb attacks.

Abdul Aziz warned earlier this month that Iraq was becoming a hotbed of terrorism that was spilling over into neighbouring countries like Saudi Arabia.

He succeeded his slain brother Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim as leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) — one of the main Shia groups in Iraq but which has been criticised by some for its readiness to work with the US-led administration.

Iran-backed SCIRI campaigned for years against Saddam Hussein's rule and its leaders returned from Iran in May after Saddam was toppled.

In August, Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim was killed along with 82 others in a devastating car-bomb blast outside the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf. An audio tape purportedly from Saddam denied he had any part in the bombing.

Akila al-Hashemi, a member of the Governing Council, was killed in September when gunmen fired on her car in a Baghdad suburb. Her assassination was blamed on followers of Saddam.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031123/asp/foreign/story_2602489.asp

U.N. Takes Issue With Iran's Human Rights

November 21, 2003
Reuters
Reuters.com

A key U.N. committee approved a Canadian-drafted resolution rebuking Iran for alleged human rights abuses, including torture, suppression of free speech and discrimination against women and minorities.

The vote in the General Assembly's human rights panel was 73 in favor, 49 against and 50 abstentions. Most European and Latin American nations as well as the United States supported Canada, while Islamic countries voted against the measure as did Russia, China and India.

Adoption by the panel, which includes all U.N. members, is a virtual guarantee of passage by the full General Assembly.

The Geneva-based U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted annual resolutions on Iran's rights record from 1984 to 2001 and the assembly followed suit. But last year the draft was narrowly defeated in Geneva and not revived by the assembly.

Specifically, the Canadian resolution calls on Iran, dominated by Shi'ite Muslims, to eliminate religious discrimination against minorities, including Bahais, Christians, Jews and Sunni Muslims.

It expresses concern at continuing public executions, the use of torture and amputation, arbitrary sentencing of political dissidents, suppression of press freedom and systematic discrimination against women and girls "in law and in practice."

Photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian citizen of Iranian descent, died in custody in Iran in June, from a blow to the head, seriously damaging relations between Ottawa and Tehran.

The Canadian draft did not refer to her but singled out crackdowns by the judiciary and security forces against journalists, parliamentarians, students, clerics and academics. It expressed "serious concern" at the "harsh reactions to student demonstrations" such as imprisonment and mistreatment.

But Canadian envoy Gilbert Laurin mentioned her in his address to the panel on Thursday, saying, "What the Kazemi case did was to highlight for the Canadian people the situation of journalists in Iran and the absence of freedom of expression."

Scores of student activists, estimated at 4,000, were jailed during the 10-day pro-democracy protests in June. Only a number of students were released after the supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on the judiciary to exercise leniency.

Iran's powerful Guardian Council, which reviews all legislation to see it accords with Islamic Sharia law, has countered many reforms attempted by President Mohammad Khatami.

Co-sponsors of the draft resolution with Canada were the United States, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Andorra and Micronesia.

http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=topNews&locale=en_CA&storyID=3873323

Iran says IAEA nuclear talks going its way

Saturday, November 22, 2003 - ©2003 IranMania.com

TEHRAN, Nov 22, (AFP) -- Iran's representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Akbar Salehi, has voiced optimism over the outcome of talks with the UN nuclear watchdog in Vienna, state television reported here.

"The majority of countries on the (IAEA's) board of governors are inclined to solving this issue peacefully," Salehi said.

"From now until Monday there will be a lot of developments. It is not predictable, but what we can definitely say is that things are moving in favour of Iran," he added.

Salehi's comments came after the United States claimed Iran had made "brazen and systematic" breaches of nuclear safeguards, but nevertheless appeared to back away from demands for the Islamic republic to be referred to the UN Security Council.

The IAEA meeting was adjourned until Wednesday after the United States and Europe's big three -- Britain, France and Germany -- failed in two days of intense, closed-door negotiations to agree on a resolution in response to the watchdog's report detailing almost two decades of hidden Iranian nuclear activities.

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=19905&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

US Backs Off Stand Over Iran's Nuclear Program

VOA News
22 Nov 2003, 17:00 UTC

Western diplomats say the United States has dropped its demand for the U.N. nuclear agency to declare Iran in violation of a global nuclear treaty.
The diplomats say U.S. officials abandoned their demand after it became clear that many nations on the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would not support the measure.

The 35-member board failed to agree on a resolution concerning Iran's nuclear program after two days of negotiations which ended Friday. U.S. officials had been calling on the IAEA to take a tough stand on Iran by declaring it in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which could have led to economic sanctions on Iran. However, a proposed resolution drafted by Britain, France and Germany contained softer language.

Diplomats say the United States is now pushing those three countries to toughen up their proposal, while accepting it will not declare Iran in non-compliance with the treaty. Officials with the IAEA say the board is continuing informal talks and will reconvene on Wednesday.

The United States has harshly criticized the IAEA for saying in a recent report on Iran that it found "no evidence" to suggest Tehran had a secret weapons program.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=BFBEF232-A07E-4A33-81536794C679C603

U.S. drops hard line on Iran nukes

Sat 22 November, 2003 20:34
By Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States has dropped its demand the U.N. atomic watchdog declare Iran in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, despite its belief Tehran wants to build an atom bomb, Western diplomats say.

After two days of talks, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 35-member Board of Governors on Friday adjourned until Wednesday to give diplomats a chance to revise a French, German and British draft resolution condemning Iran's 18-year concealment of sensitive nuclear research.

However, Western diplomats said informal talks continued on Saturday between Washington and the capitals of the European Union's "big three" to toughen up the trio's proposal, two drafts of which the Americans rejected as too weak.

"Talks are definitely ongoing, though much of the discussion is taking place in the capitals," a Western diplomat said.

Diplomats close to the talks said U.S. officials had foregone their demand for the resolution to contain an explicit reference to Iran's past "non-compliance" with its NPT obligations and that Tehran be reported to the U.N. Security Council, which could choose to impose economic sanctions.

"I think the U.S. will accept a resolution without an explicit reference to non-compliance," another diplomat said.

Diplomats told Reuters U.S. negotiators had abandoned early last week their demand that Iran be reported to the Council when it became apparent only four other board members -- Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand -- would support this.

In exchange, diplomats close to the talks said the United States, which is convinced Iran wants nuclear weapons, were now helping Britain, France and Germany revise the resolution to include a timetable to keep pressure on Iran to cooperate.

The French, British and Germans want to encourage Iran to continue with its stated policy of fully cooperating with the IAEA rather than punish it for past failures. Diplomats said Germany especially feared too harsh a resolution would backfire and cause Iran to stop cooperating with the United Nations.

BOMB PLANS HATCHED DURING IRAN-IRAQ WAR

In October, Iran gave the IAEA what is said was a full and accurate declaration of its nuclear programme and said it had no more nuclear secrets to disclose. Tehran admits covering up the full extent of its atomic programme but denies wanting bombs.

But a senior Western diplomat said there was no question Iran had an atomic weapons programme that most likely began during the fierce Iran-Iraq that lasted from 1980 to 1988. He added that there were suspicions the programme still exists.

The United States harshly criticised the IAEA for saying in a recent report on Iran that it had "no evidence" suggesting Tehran had a secret weapons programme.

U.S. Ambassador to the IAEA, Kenneth Brill, told the board on Friday the phrase "no evidence" was "highly unfortunate" in the light of revelations about Iran's cover-up and secret experiments with plutonium reprocessing and uranium enrichment. He said the IAEA should have used the words "no proof" instead.

Brill said the IAEA's wording had provoked "expressions of disbelief that the institution charged with... scrutinising nuclear proliferation risks was dismissing important facts."

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei reacted strongly, calling the U.S. statement "disingenuous".

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=407686&section=news

Mansoor Ijaz: Osama In Iran

RushLimbaugh.com

November 21, 2003

Mansoor Ijaz, whose foreign policy insights I have long praised, rang up Fox and Friends live from London on Thursday morning to talk about his extraordinary report that Osama bin Laden is in Iran. Ijaz has spent about a month "quietly debriefing some very important intelligence sources that have come out of Iran" who feel the radical Islamist regime is taking the country "right off the cliff" by putting up Osama in one of the Western provinces. < P> Mansoor told Weather Guy Steve Doocy, "I think the time has come now to essentially confront the Iranian regime with the question, 'Are you harboring the top three or four leaders of Al-Qaeda?' This is the specific information that we have." Mansoor reports that Osama and his deputy Ayman Zawahiri crossed over into Iran in old Soviet-style black limos, under the guidance of the head of the Ayatollah's Revolutionary Guard. He says that the U.S. government now has this information, and is deciding how to deal with it.

My opinion has long been that we snuffed out bin Laden when we turned Tora Bora's thermostat up to 2,000 degrees. But if we didn't and he survived, it would make total sense for him to hightail it to Iran. Iran has always been one of the principal exporters of, and training centers for, terrorism. Note that Iran's statement that it's pursuing nuclear power for energy when it's a nation sitting atop a lake of oil, is so transparent a lie that even UN Atomic Energy Commission head Mohammed ElBaradei doesn’t buy it. As I've always said: keep an eye on Iran.