Join Us At Today's Iranian Alert Thread – The Most Underreported Story Of The Year! 
"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin
Posted on 08/15/2004 9:02:30 PM PDT by DoctorZIn
Allawi Stand Eases Iran-Iraq Standoff
August 15, 2004
AFP
The Peninsula
TEHRAN -- Iran’s official media yesterday hailed what it described as conciliatory remarks from Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi following a spate of angry accusations from other members of his US-backed government.
In an interview with the state IRNA news agency in Iraq’s Shiite holy city of Najaf, Allawi welcomed an invitation to visit Iran and said he looked forward to constructive relations between the former foes.
“We want establishment of good relations with neighbouring countries, especially Iran, and believe that our bilateral ties are based on common interests,” IRNA quoted him as saying.
Allawi distanced himself from US-led accusations, voiced by some in his administration, of Iranian interference in the new Iraq, notably by abetting infiltration of militants across the border.
“If there are any complaints, they are pointing to unofficial figures. We do not accuse the Iranian government of interference in Iraq’s domestic affairs,” the premier said.
“Some individuals penetrate Iraqi territory through neighbouring states, and that is true for Iran too.”
Relations between Tehran and Baghdad were severely strained earlier this month when Defence Minister Hazem Al Shaalan accused the Iranian authorities of trying to “kill democracy” in his country by fomenting unrest.
Shaalan also charged that Tehran had abandoned its longstanding favouring of the mainstream Shiite religious parties in Iraq and was arming the rebel militiamen of radical leader Muqtada Sadr in their deadly clashes with US-led troops.
IRNA also reported reassuring comments from Iraq’s charge d’affaires in Tehran, Khalil Salman Al Sabihi, about three of the news agency’s journalists detained in Iraq.
The Iraq embassy is “following the affair closely,” IRNA quoted the envoy as saying.
“We have asked the Iraqi foreign ministry for information about the circumstances of, and reasons for, the arrests, as well as the latest news” of the three detainees.
IRNA’s Baghdad bureau chief Mostafa Darban and journalists Mohammed Khafaji and Mohsen Madani were detained by Iraqi police on Monday night.
The news agency’s foreign editor Hassan Lavasani said yesterday that he still had no idea why his staff had been detained. The Iranian journalists’ association demanded an explanation from the interim Iraqi government on why the three were detained, in a statement carried by IRNA, whose journalists also signed a petition seeking their release.
There has been no word either on the fate of an Iranian diplomat who went missing on the road from Baghdad to the Shiite holy city of Karbala on August 4 and whose kidnapping was later claimed by a Sunni militant group.
Relations between Tehran and Baghdad have also been inflamed over the past week by a US-backed offensive on militia strongholds in Najaf, which is revered by the Shiite majority in Iran as well as Iraq.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=August2004&file=World_News2004081574735.xml
ARMED IRAQI ISLAMIST GROUP ORDERS IRAN TO FREE IRAQI POW’S
Posted Sunday, August 15, 2004
TEHRAN, 15 Aug. (IPS) The Islamic Republic regarded as “suspicious” a menace by the Islamic Army of Iraq, threatening Sunday 15 August 2004 to “punish” and Iranian diplomat it kidnapped last week.
Mr. Fereydoun Jahani was abducted on 4 August 2004 while on his way to Karbala where he had to open Iran’s fist consulate in to the holy city, but the news of his abduction was released three days later by an Arabic satellite television and confirmed by the Iranians.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the “identity of the group and the nature of its demand” -- that Iran release 500 prisoners allegedly held since the 1980-1988 War -- are “suspicious”.
"The case of the two countries’ prisoners of war has been closed and what still remains is the file of those missing in action", he said, referring to the threat by the Jeish-ol-Islam, or the Islamic Army of Iraq to “punish” Mr. Jahani within 48 hours if Iran did not release 500 prisoners captured in the former war, as reported by the Arabic satellite channel “Al-Alam”, the 24 hours Arabic language service of the Iranian Radio and Television Organisation.
According to the abductors, Mr. Jahani is an officer of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards sent to Iraq to create sectarian strife between Iraqi Shi’a and Sunnis.
Iran has strongly dismissed allegations of interference in Iraq, saying these were “without evidence” and an unnamed Iranian source has been quoted as saying that the group had acted in collaboration with the US Embassy in Iraq under direct supervision of US Ambassador John Negroponte.
Other sources said the abductors could be from the Mojahedeen Khalq Organisation acting under orders from the Americans in Iraq.
The Baghdad-based, oulawed MKO used to serve as a tool for the imprisonned Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran, but it had been disarmed by the American forces after they occupied Iraq and recently, the group's members were granted the status of war prisoners.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the interim Iraqi government responsible for the safety of Jahani and expects it to use all its means for his release", Asefi said, quoted by the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
"We have held various round of negotiations with the interim Iraqi government and all the groups which are thought to be able to help in this matter and this process still continues", he added.
The kidnapping followed the arrest of IRNA’s Baghdad bureau chief Mostafa Darban and two Iraqi staff, Mohammed Khafaji and Mohsen Madani.
Iranian officials say the fate of the fourth is still unaccounted for.
Iran twice summoned last week Iraq’s charge d’affairs to Tehran for explanation following the arrests and certain Iraqi officials” allegations against Iran.
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Saturday that the accusations, including by Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem al-Sha’lan, had been directed only at “unofficial figures” in Iran.
"We do not accuse the Iranian government of interference in Iraq’s domestic affairs", he told IRNA reporter in Najaf.
"We want establishment of good relations with neighbouring countries, especially Iran, and believe that our bilateral ties are based on common interests", Allawi said.
Iran’s State-owned, conservatives-controlled television also reported that four Iranians on a trip to promote trade ties between Tehran and Baghdad had been arrested by U.S. troops in Iraq.
Tehran’s relations with Baghdad clouded badly after Mr. Hazem Sha’lan, the Defence Minister labelled the Islamic Republic as Iraq’s “number one enemy” and the Interior Minister’s announcement of the arrest of four Iranian officers charges with “espionage”.
In response, Iranian press said Mr. Sha’lan is a “petty CIA informer” and accused him to obey orders from his “American masters”.
ENDS JAHANI 15804
http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2004/august/jahani_15804.shtml
Israel is in our range, says Iran
Reuters in Tehran
Monday August 16, 2004
The Guardian
An Iranian military chief said yesterday that Israel and the US would not dare to attack his country since it could strike back anywhere in Israel with its latest missiles, a news agency reported.
"The entire Zionist territory, including its nuclear facilities and atomic arsenal, are currently within range of Iran's advanced missiles," the Isna students news agency quoted Yadollah Javani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards political bureau, as saying. "Therefore, neither the Zionist regime nor America will carry out its threats" against Iran, he said.
Officials have highlighted Iran's military capabilities in recent weeks in response to some media reports that Israel or the US could try to destroy its nuclear facilities.
Last week Iran said it had successfully tested an upgraded version of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile. Military experts said the unmodified Shahab-3 was capable of striking Israel or US bases in the Gulf.
America and Israel have accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons, a charge it denies. Defence experts say air strikes are unlikely to disable Tehran's nuclear capability.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1283819,00.html
Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee urges to "Get very tough with Iran"
United Press International - World News
Aug 15, 2004
WASHINGTON - chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged the United States Sunday to get "very tough" to prevent Iran from making a nuclear bomb.
"We're going to have to get very tough" said Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Inc., when asked how to prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons.
Iran denies working a nuclear-weapons project, but says it will continue its program to enrich uranium to produce electric power. The United States rejects the Iranian argument, saying an oil-rich country such as Iran does not need nuclear technology to produce electricity.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Lugar said: "The Iranians are moving toward weaponization of the uranium experiment that they have. And they've been clearly doing this. I suspect to begin with economic sanctions on Iran ... but not ruling out at the end of the day military sanctions against Iran."
Asked would the United States support a preemptive strike, such as Israel's against Iraq in 1981, to end Iran's nuclear program, Lugar said, "I'm not going to speculate for a moment on a preemptive strike or any specific action."
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_7643.shtml
Missing Iranian envoy faces "punishment" threat: Iran TV
TEHRAN, Aug 15 (AFP) - An armed Iraqi group has threatened to "punish" an Iranian diplomat missing since August 4 unless Iran releases within 48 hours 500 prisoners still said to be held since its 1980-88 war with Iraq, Iranian state television said Sunday.
But Tehran denied it still held any prisoners of war, saying the last had been sent home more than a year ago.Iran's Arabic-language satellite channel Al-Alam said the threat came from the Islamic Army in Iraq, which claimed a week ago to be holding Fereydun Jahani but had made no demands.
The same group is believed to have executed two Pakistanis last month for "collaboration" with the US-led occupation forces in Iraq.
"The government must respond within 48 hours, otherwise Fereydun Jahani will be punished," Al-Alam quoted the group as saying.
"There are no more Iranian prisoners of war in Iraq and Iran sent home the last group of Iraqi prisoners of war it was holding in May 2003, after the US attack" on Iraq, the student news agency ISNA quoted a senior Iranian official as saying.
General Abdollah Najafi, head of the Iranian POW commission, said they had been handed over through the Red Crescent.
Iraqi charge d'affaires Khalil Salman al-Sabihi told ISNA that Iran and Iraq were cooperating over Jahani's case.
But he added, "We have no information on the measures taken" to try to free the diplomat, and "no information on those who call themselves the Islamic Army."
Asked about prisoners of war, he said that joint commissions were still winding matters up."Some Iraqi women claim that their children are still missing or prisoners in Iraq," Sabihi said.
The Islamic Army of Iraq said on August 8 that it had detained Jahani "for stirring sectarian strife and for activities outside his diplomatic duties".
He had disappeared as he was travelling to the central Iraqi city of Karbala to open an Iranian consulate.The Iranian government said Monday it was working around the clock to secure his release, but it believed he was "alive and well".
Jahani's disappearance came amid an ongoing war of words between Iraq and Iran over the latter's alleged interference in Iraqi affairs, which Tehran denies.
Sabihi was summoned twice last week following remarks by Iraqi officials critical of Iran and in the wake of Jahani's abduction and the reported arrest of three employees in Iraq of the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
An interior ministry official alleged that four Iranian spies had been arrested, while Defence Minister Hazem al-Shaalan branded Iran Iraq's "number one enemy" and accused it of arming rebel Shiite militia fighting government and multinational forces.
Iran denied the allegations but the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological spearhead of the Iranian regime, called on Shiites to resist, amid strong emotions in the Shiite-majority Islamic Republic over fighting around holy sites in Iraq.
A video announcing Jahani's detention showed the diplomat's business and identity cards, some bearing the logo of the Revolutionary Guards, often accused of leading Iranian operations in Iraq.
Iran insisted however that he was a veteran career diplomat.
http://www.iranmania.com/news/150804e.asp
US carrier rescues six Iranian sailors in Persian Gulf waters
MANAMA, Aug 15 (AFP) - The US aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy rescued six Iranian sailors after their cargo vessel started taking on water in the Persian Gulf, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet said Sunday.
After a distress signal was received, "Kennedy dispatched two H-60 helicopters from (squadron) HS-15 to the scene" early Saturday morning, said a statement.
"Aircraft ... monitored the dhow and coordinated helicopter rescue operations," it said, adding that all crew members were rescued from the Iranian-flagged Naji dhow and later treated on the carrier.
The Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet is working to repatriate the six Iranians "as soon as possible", the statement said. The United States and Iran have no diplomatic relations.
http://www.iranmania.com/news/150804d.asp
Bush begins targeting Iran's nuclear program
Bradenton Herald - Warren P. Strobel
Aug 15, 2004
WASHINGTON - Get ready for another crisis over weapons of mass destruction.
Convinced that Iran is covertly speeding toward making nuclear weapons, the Bush administration has begun a diplomatic campaign to sharply increase the pressure on Tehran.
The sudden sense of urgency follows the apparent collapse of a three-nation European initiative to persuade Iran to freeze its nuclear program. Iran is trying to renegotiate the deal and insists that its program is for civilian energy purposes.
The Bush administration faces a fundamental dilemma similar to the one it faced two years ago in Iraq: Should the United States continue to work with allies who favor negotiation, or should it take pre-emptive, unilateral action to stop Iran?
Iran at forefront
President Bush's go-it-alone course in Iraq continues to draw criticism, both from foreign allies and many Americans as they prepare to select their next president. But action to confront Iran may be more necessary than against Iraq, some officials and private experts argue, because Iran has a far more advanced nuclear program and much closer ties to terrorist groups than Iraq did in 2003.
Concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions have bubbled for more than a decade, but they've taken a back seat to Iraq and the war on terrorism. That could soon change.
"Iran is going to be the 800-pound gorilla of American foreign policy come September," said a State Department official.
A senior European diplomat in Washington agreed. It is "one of the two or three biggest issues that we'll have to deal with in the next period," he said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, citing diplomatic sensitivities.
U.S. officials say they will begin a new push to have Iran's nuclear activities referred to the United Nations Security Council, which can impose sanctions. The next crossroads is a mid-September meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been monitoring Iran's nuclear work.
Possible force
"This is a troubling development . . . and you just can't ignore it any longer," Secretary of State Colin Powell said recently.
A senior administration official went further in an interview last week. He hinted that if Bush is re-elected, the use of U.S. military force to stop Iran from going nuclear - even by overthrowing the government in Tehran - wouldn't be out of the question.
U.S. credibility on Iran, however, has been undercut by the failure to find the weapons of mass destruction the White House warned of in Iraq.
"This administration has been discredited by the WMD experience" in Iraq, said Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter.
Said another State Department official, "Would it have been better if prewar Iraq intelligence had been better? Sure. . . . But it doesn't mean we're wrong" on Iran.
Brzezinski co-chaired a task force sponsored by the private Council on Foreign Relations that last month called on the White House to open a broad dialogue with Iran, rather than waiting until the nuclear issue is settled.
"The problem with this administration is, it doesn't know the difference between diplomacy and unilateralism," Brzezinski said. "If it simply uses inflammatory rhetoric, it will make the Iranians dig in their heels." Moreover, Iran, which borders Iraq and Afghanistan, could make life much more difficult for the United States in those places if it chose to, he said.
Deadline approaches
The CIA's rough estimate is that Iran could have a nuclear weapon by the end of the decade. Israel puts the date at 2007.
But the real crunch date could come sooner, when Iran's nuclear program becomes self-sufficient, rendering trade bans and other sanctions irrelevant.
Vastly complicating matters, Iran's suspected weapons program uses the same basic technology involved in a civilian nuclear energy program, which it's permitted to have under the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"Our ability to stop that program is very limited," said former CIA Director Robert Gates, who co-chaired the task force with Brzezinski.
Bush administration officials argue that momentum is moving behind the U.S. position, with the collapse of a deal struck by Britain, France and Germany in which Iran agreed to stop enriching uranium and associated activities.
If the international community agrees Iran is moving toward a nuclear weapons capability, "then you have to ask yourselves, what are you going to do?" said the senior administration official.
Iran has resumed assembling centrifuges to enrich uranium, in violation of its pledges. At a stormy meeting with diplomats from the three European nations in late July, Iranian representatives demanded a series of concessions, including security guarantees.
Yet the Europeans remain cautious about taking the issue to the Security Council.
"The question is, what then?" said the senior European diplomat. "Taking it to the Security Council does not automatically mean you are taking a step toward solution."
U.S. plans to squeeze Tehran hit another speed bump last week when IAEA inspectors appeared to verify one of Iran's central contentions about its nuclear research.
The inspectors determined that particles of enriched uranium found at Iranian industrial sites came from equipment purchased abroad, buttressing Iran's denial that it has been conducting home-grown enrichment of uranium for a bomb program.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_7642.shtml
Iran benefits from increasing oil prices: minister
TEHRAN, Aug 15 (AFP) - Iran is benefitting from the current increasing oil prices in the short term, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Sunday.
"Given the increased revenues from crude exports, hiking oil prices will be to the benefit of Iran," Zanganeh told the oil ministry's news agency Shana.
"The higher the oil price, the more profitable oil industry development projects," he added.Zanganeh said "political tensions" were the main reason for skyrocketing prices on the world oil markets.
"Market factors under the current conditions have not played any role in pushing prices higher and political crisis and tensions have kept prices high," he told Shana.
He echoed Iran's envoy to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, who said Saturday there is no reason for OPEC to raise production to bring prices down.
"Currently, there are over 2.8 million barrels of oil (per day) as surplus supply in the world's stockpiles, therefore there is no reason to supply more oil, even if feasible," Kazempour told Shana.
But he added, "Obviously, oil prices will have an upward trend regardless of the fundamental factors of the market, namely supply and demand."
Kazempour said: "OPEC cannot do anything about the current situation, because the situation has nothing to do with OPEC, and the more OPEC members produce oil, the higher the global stockpiles will become."
He attributed the record prices to political and military events, concerns over future oil supplies and OPEC's inability to pump more oil than current levels.
Iran is currently the second-largest producer in the 11-member oil cartel.Oil prices broke the 46 dollar per barrel mark Friday in New York amid fears over wartorn Iraq's ability to maintain exports, political crisis in Venezuela and legal threats hanging over giant Russian oil company Yukos.
http://www.iranmania.com/news/150804c.asp
IRAN FREEDOM BUMP
Not very sensitive huh?
Couple of reactions on Iranian discussion board on Iranian Judo fighters withdrawal.
http://www.mashregh.com/iranian/viewtopic.php?p=6802#6802
Sasuke
+ 100 posts
Joined: 03 Jan 2004
Posts: 150
:
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2004 3:19 pm Post subject: iranian athlete refuses to compete against israeli
http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2004/august/jahani_15804.shtml
ARMED IRAQI ISLAMIST GROUP ORDERS IRAN TO FREE IRAQI POW’S
Posted Sunday, August 15, 2004
TEHRAN, 15 Aug. (IPS) The Islamic Republic regarded as “suspicious” a menace by the Islamic Army of Iraq, threatening Sunday 15 August 2004 to “punish” and Iranian diplomat it kidnapped last week.
Mr. Fereydoun Jahani was abducted on 4 August 2004 while on his way to Karbala where he had to open Iran’s fist consulate in to the holy city, but the news of his abduction was released three days later by an Arabic satellite television and confirmed by the Iranians.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the “identity of the group and the nature of its demand” -- that Iran release 500 prisoners allegedly held since the 1980-1988 War -- are “suspicious”.
According to the abductors, Mr. Jahani is an officer of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards sent to Iraq to create sectarian strife between Iraqi Shi’a and Sunnis.
"The case of the two countries’ prisoners of war has been closed and what still remains is the file of those missing in action", he said, referring to the threat by the Jeish-ol-Islam, or the Islamic Army of Iraq to “punish” Mr. Jahani within 48 hours if Iran did not release 500 prisoners captured in the former war, as reported by the Arabic satellite channel “Al-Alam”, the 24 hours Arabic language service of the Iranian Radio and Television Organisation.
According to the abductors, Mr. Jahani is an officer of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards sent to Iraq to create sectarian strife between Iraqi Shi’a and Sunnis.
Iran has strongly dismissed allegations of interference in Iraq, saying these were “without evidence” and an unnamed Iranian source has been quoted as saying that the group had acted in collaboration with the US Embassy in Iraq under direct supervision of US Ambassador John Negroponte.
Other sources said the abductors could be from the Mojahedeen Khalq Organisation acting under orders from the Americans in Iraq.
The Baghdad-based, oulawed MKO used to serve as a tool for the imprisonned Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran, but it had been disarmed by the American forces after they occupied Iraq and recently, the group's members were granted the status of war prisoners.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the interim Iraqi government responsible for the safety of Jahani and expects it to use all its means for his release", Asefi said, quoted by the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
An unnamed Iranian source accused that the group had acted under direct supervision of US Ambassador in Iraq John Negroponte.
"We have held various round of negotiations with the interim Iraqi government and all the groups which are thought to be able to help in this matter and this process still continues", he added.
The kidnapping followed the arrest of IRNA’s Baghdad bureau chief Mostafa Darban and two Iraqi staff, Mohammed Khafaji and Mohsen Madani.
Iranian officials say the fate of the fourth is still unaccounted for.
Iran twice summoned last week Iraq’s charge d’affairs to Tehran for explanation following the arrests and certain Iraqi officials” allegations against Iran.
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Saturday that the accusations, including by Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem al-Sha’lan, had been directed only at “unofficial figures” in Iran.
"We do not accuse the Iranian government of interference in Iraq’s domestic affairs", he told IRNA reporter in Najaf.
"We want establishment of good relations with neighbouring countries, especially Iran, and believe that our bilateral ties are based on common interests", Allawi said.
Iran’s State-owned, conservatives-controlled television also reported that four Iranians on a trip to promote trade ties between Tehran and Baghdad had been arrested by U.S. troops in Iraq.
Tehran’s relations with Baghdad clouded badly after Mr. Hazem Sha’lan, the Defence Minister labelled the Islamic Republic as Iraq’s “number one enemy” and the Interior Minister’s announcement of the arrest of four Iranian officers charges with “espionage”.
In response, Iranian press said Mr. Sha’lan is a “petty CIA informer” and accused him to obey orders from his “American masters”.
Final Result Iran Poll:
http://www.iranian.ws/poll/poll-5.php
Do you believe in separation of religion from state in Iran?
Yes, of course 78.3%
No way 18.8%
Don't Know 2.9%
Total votes: 4744
Persian Journal
Iran News
MP: U.S. Accuses Iran to Stop Its Scientific Advance
Aug 15, 2004, 17:40
Hamdan's representative to the Majlis said on Saturday that the accusations of the U.S. and its allies that Iran is using nuclear weapons is only a pretext to stop the country's scientific research.
Ebrahim Karkhaneh added "although the Islamic Republic of Iran has fulfilled all its commitments towards international rules and regulations, Washington and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are trying to exert pressure on the country to stop Iran's nuclear studies," IRNA reported.
Iran is the 16th country which has "thigs to say" regarding nuclear activities, he said, adding that any country has the right to access to this science. There are currently 105 nuclear power plants in the United States, while the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Iran has been faced with harsh protest, Karkhaneh noted.
According to IAEA regulations, the agency must help member states that enjoy nuclear knowledge promote their nuclear activities, he said, stressing that the agency has not fulfilled its commitment towards the Islamic Republic.
http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/printer_3317.shtml
Japan`s trade minister rejects US demand to give up oil deal with Iran
Aug 15 - Japan`s Trade Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Sunday his country has no intention of changing its policy of pursuing an oil development deal with Iran due to a US request to reconsider.
"We won`t say we`ll give up just because we were asked to do so," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Nakagawa told reporters when asked to comment on US Secretary of State Colin Powell`s remarks Thursday.
"There will be no policy reversal at the current stage," Nakagawa said.
But he noted that Tokyo will stay in close contact with Washington in proceeding with the oil deal and in dealing with Iran`s suspected nuclear energy programs.
"We can`t just disregard the nuclear problem," he said.
Japan and Iran signed an agreement in February to develop the Azadegan oil fields in southern Iran, one of the world`s largest oil fields.
In an interview with Japanese news organizations Thursday, Powell said the United States hopes Japan will take into account Tehran`s suspected nuclear energy development programs in tacitly urging Tokyo to reconsider the oil deal with Iran.
Washington believes the uranium enrichment program by oil-rich Iran is intended to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran says it needs enriched uranium for power stations being built to meet booming domestic demand for electricity.
The United States has indicated its intention to bring the Iranian nuclear case before the UN Security Council for sanctions.
"I would hope that the Japanese government, Japanese business, would take this into account as they make judgments as to whether this is the place that one should be making investments in or be doing this kind of energy business with," Powell said. /-
http://www.iranwpd.com/
It's good to read the outrage from Iranians regarding his 'apparent' anti-Semitism.
But, now that it seems the story is that he came in overweight and then made his statement about not competing against Israeli athlete, I'm wondering if this was an excuse on his part to try to avoid punishment when he got home?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.