Posted on 01/22/2005 7:34:45 PM PST by freedom44
Iran ping.
Perhaps Reza Pahlavi
No the Iranian Student Dissident movement needs a face we can rally around. Someone we can rally around
They also arrested Mr. Arash Sigarchi, a blogger, 3 days ago in the province of Guilan in North of Iran.
bump
Iran has broken Western alliance against its nuclear activities: analyst
Tehran Times
22 Jan 05
TEHRAN (MNA) -- Political analyst and nuclear physicist Ali Khorram said here on Saturday that achieving scientific and industrial development is the key for Iran’s success in its nuclear talks with the European Union.
Until six months ago, not many people were aware of Iran’s scientific progress and nuclear status, and this also influenced the process of the nuclear talks, Khorram told the Mehr News Agency.
But after International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei’s reports revealed Iran’s scientific and industrial expertise in regard to the nuclear fuel cycle and centrifuge construction, its nuclear status actually served as an engine for Iran’s diplomacy, he said.
This scientific development made European countries and the United States realize that they could no longer persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear fuel cycle program, Khorram stressed.
It also proved that threats to attack Iran’s nuclear installations would not be effective, since nuclear technology has taken root in Iran, he added.
Khorram, who served for years as Iran’s representative on UN disarmament and human rights commissions, noted that the fact that the Islamic Republic made it known that it might withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was another factor that helped expedite the process of nuclear talks.
He stressed that the right to withdraw from the NPT is stipulated in the treaty as a clear right for all signatories, adding that a country which withdraws from the NPT has committed no wrong according to international law.
If it is revised in May 2005, the NPT would then become a new treaty that would require a second approval by member countries, Khorram said.
Some countries might refuse to accept the treaty in its new form, and this is what Europe and the U.S. are concerned about, he added.
He noted that the relative normalization of Iran’s nuclear dossier at the IAEA Board of Governors and the initiation of diplomatic talks with Europe were Iran’s most important achievements over the past few months of negotiations.
He added that the Europeans seek to completely halt Iran’s nuclear activities and will do everything in their power to realize their objective, saying that the U.S. is pursuing this goal more persistently since it has resorted to the use of economic and military threats against Iran.
Khorram stated that Iranian diplomats have a sensitive role in the joint Iran-EU working groups.
He went on to say that Iran’s wise decisions have broken the Western alliance against its nuclear activities, and if the three joint working groups reach the desired conclusion, Iran-EU relations could undergo a great change.
He added that the recent U.S. threats against Iran, issued just before the Iran-EU talks in Geneva, were meant to announce to Europe and the world that the U.S. will continue its current path if negotiations fail to reach a conclusion.
The U.S. also intends to implement a carrot and stick policy toward Iran with the help of Europe, Khorram said.
He stressed that Europe’s decision to offer Iran a light water nuclear reactor was a response to the country’s scientific and industrial development rather than a result of political negotiations.
However, since Iran has access to a heavy water nuclear reactor, which is an advanced type of nuclear reactor, buying a light water reactor from Europe should not be considered an achievement or industrial development for the country, he added.
Khorram said that Iran and Europe are currently going through a stage of confidence-building measures in order to lay the foundation of their relationship for future decades.
Europe is trying to convince Iran to agree to permanently halt its nuclear fuel cycle activities, but Iran is calling for the development of transparent ties with the IAEA while not forgoing its scientific and industrial capabilities, he observed.
He went on to say that Europe wants an objective guarantee from Iran that it will not use its nuclear program for non-peaceful purposes, while Iran wants a strong guarantee from Europe about the continuation of its nuclear activities.
The IAEA has made more than 8000 man/hours of inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites, which is unprecedented in the history of the international organization, Khorram stressed.
Due to political and technological reasons, Iran can only spend a few months on efforts to give an objective guarantee to the EU and to receive a strong guarantee from it, he added.
If the Europeans are planning to waste time, they are certainly making a mistake, and if that turned out to be the case, it would only prove that they are waiting for the U.S. spies to feed the IAEA information, he noted.
Khorram said he believes that the U.S. will also be present indirectly as a negotiating party in Iran’s talks with Europe.
Iran should seriously consider this issue so that, if the U.S. actually enters the talks, it will not be able to impose any new conditions on the Islamic Republic, he stressed.
Referring to the legal aspects related to Iran implementing the additional protocol to the NPT, Khorram said that the country should act in line with the terms of the protocol.
“We have to restrict the inspections to the level the country has consented to so far. If we accept commitments about something that is not officially accepted, the international community will also expect us to perform such illegal actions,” he added.
He stated that the additional protocol has not yet been approved by the Iranian parliament, adding that the country has only agreed to implement it temporarily.
“We have to note this is temporary and accepting anything beyond this should be regarded as accepting capitulation,” he emphasized.
Political negotiations have neither a beginning nor an end, Khorram said, adding that Europe is in a stronger position than Iran in the negotiations.
“We should be able to lead political negotiations from political to technical and legal channels and limit them to Iran-IAEA ties at the first opportunity,” he remarked.
Khorram added that setting the talks within a legal framework would give Iran the opportunity to hold talks on an equal footing with Europe and oblige the EU to observe the rules of the game.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Khorram discussed the relationship between Iran’s next presidential election and the nuclear issue.
The Europeans are counting on Iran’s presidential elections for they mistakenly believe the next president will determine the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, he said.
He observed that the next president could either present an initiative in negotiations with the international community or could neglect the matter.
In conclusion, Khorram said that the presidential candidates should keep in mind that diverting from the system’s general decision or the people’s desire to retain the country’s scientific achievements and expand foreign relations in their campaigns would negatively influence the process of the nuclear talks.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=1/23/2005&Cat=2&Num=008
Thank you F14 Pilot for that ping.
According to papers in Tehran, An extremist muslim leader shot dead in the city of Shiraz yesterday night.
Oh the humanity.
That is good news'.
indeed!
Mabye we should email this news to Joe Biden?
ThyssenKrupp official admits to US pressure over Iran leaving board
Iran Payvand News
Jan 22
Berlin, Jan 22, IRNA -- The chairman of the supervisory board of German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp, Gerhard Cromme, conceded that intense American pressure had forced Iran to give up its seat on the corporate's supervisory board, the daily Frankfurter Rundschau reported Saturday.
Although Cromme expressed "regret" over the US bullying tactics, he pointed out that his company would have faced "considerable financial disadvantages" in keeping the Iranian representative on the board.
Iran's representative at ThyssenKrupp, Mohammad Mehdi Navab- Motlagh did not seek re-election at the January 21 annual shareholders' meeting following American threats to bar the German industrial conglomerate from public contracts in the US.
Washington already forced ThyssenKrupp last year to slash Iran's share in the company from 7.8 to 4.5 percent.
Iran acquired 25.01 percent of Krupp's share in 1976. That figure was lowered to 7.8 percent after Krupp and Thyssen merged in 1999.
Iran's current 4.5 percent share in ThyssenKrupp is estimated to be worth around 357 million euros, according to German press reports.
http://www.payvand.com/news/05/jan/1206.html
Freedom for Iran ~ NOW!
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