Posted on 08/08/2005 11:02:32 PM PDT by DoctorZIn
Top News Story
Iran not worried about Security Council referral
By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran insisted on Sunday it would resume uranium conversion this week after rejecting EU incentives to end its nuclear fuel work, and said it was not worried about being referred to the U.N. for possible sanctions.
"Although we think referral of Iran's case to the Security Council would be unlawful and politically motivated, if one day they refer Iran's case...we won't be worried in the least," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi.
Britain, Germany and France, heading nuclear negotiations with Iran for the European Union, have called an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board of governors on Tuesday to discuss Iran's case.
The EU trio say they will recommend referring Iran to the Security Council if it goes ahead with plans to break U.N. seals and resume work at the Isfahan uranium conversion plant.
Iran, which on Saturday rejected an EU package of economic and political incentives designed to persuade it to halt nuclear fuel work for good, says it will restart the Isfahan plant as soon as IAEA surveillance equipment is in place.
"The European proposal has no value," state television quoted Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi as saying.
"We will insist on our rights and have decided to resume Isfahan activities as the first step of our measures. This does not mean we will stop negotiations with Europe."
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Iran faced economic sanctions if it refused to accept the EU proposals.
"I don't think anyone at the moment is thinking about a military confrontation," he told ARD television.
"If Iran doesn't back down, one has to expect it will be referred to the Security Council. If that happens we will be talking about possible sanctions. This would not be good for either side. Therefore I have to say I am very worried by Iran's apparent decision to choose a course of confrontation."
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Asefi, speaking at a weekly news conference, said IAEA technicians would be at the Isfahan plant on Monday to install additional cameras.
He said the 35-page EU proposal, which contained an offer of help with developing a civilian nuclear programme, was rejected because it did not recognise Iran's right to enrich uranium. Iran's official reply will be delivered to the EU on Monday.
"I suggest that the Europeans avoid the language of threat," Asefi said. "The only way is to encourage Iran and respect its rights."
Hardline newspapers declared the EU proposal worthless.
"Their proposal is an empty box in beautiful wrapping," Jomhuri-ye Eslami daily said. "If Iran agrees to it, it will be deprived of the nuclear fuel cycle forever and it would be an everlasting scandal for Iran."
Iran says its nuclear programme is solely designed to produce much-needed electricity and is not, as Washington insists, a cover for making atomic bombs.
It says that as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it has the right to produce fuel for reactors, a process that can also be used to make bomb-grade material.
The hardline Kayhan newspaper, which has long called for Iran to kick out U.N. inspectors and withdraw from the NPT, on Sunday argued that Iran was in fact not a member of the treaty since parliament had not ratified it.
Iran's new president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at his swearing-in ceremony on Saturday, said Iran would not be intimidated by threats from the West.
A religious conservative fiercely loyal to the ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad is expected to adopt a tougher position on the two-year-old nuclear negotiations with the EU, analysts and diplomats say.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the EU's proposed incentives for Tehran included backing Iran as a key transit route for oil from Central Asia -- the first time an EU politician had acknowledged such an offer was made.
"Our offer is substantial," Douste-Blazy told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview. "We are making proposals to the Iranians on energy, such as becoming major actors in the transport of oil between Central Asia and Europe via Iran." (Additional reporting by Amir Paivar in Tehran, Paul Carrel in Paris and Nick Antonovics in Berlin)
And finally, a couple of cartoons of Ahmadinejad:
- Payvand News reported that Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told the U.S. not to make a "big mistake" by denying visa to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
- Reuters reported that Shirin Ebadi urged her client, dissident journalist Akbar Ganji, to end a 58-day-old hunger strike.
- Reuters reported that two people have been killed, eight injured and 145 arrested in unrest among the Kurds of western Iran.
- Iranian blogger, Windsteed, Iran Hopes discussed recent arguments in the Iranian press that Iran is no longer a bound to the Non-proliferation Treaty.
- Iran Focus, an MEG website, reported that women will not be included in the cabinet of Iran‚’s new hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
- Iran Focus, an MEK website, reported that Iran's State Security Forces have been on heightened alert on Sunday in the Kurdish town of Bukan.
- Yahoo News reported that Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called for closer cooperation with Syria in the face of pressure on both countries from the United States.
- The Sunday Times UKreported that Iran signaled a confrontation with the West yesterday by rejecting the European Union's offer.
- Kuwait News Agency reported on the visit Sunday of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to Tehran saying it is of great importance.
- SMCCDI reported on the general strike has started to paralyze northwestern Iran.
- EurasiaNet provided a briefing on the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and its expanding role in Ahmadinejad's government.
- The International Herald Tribune reported that Iran on Sunday reiterated plans to resume uranium conversion this week, possibly as soon as Monday.
- Canada Free Press took issue with Jimmy Carter's statements against U.S. policy and reminded us of his contribution to our current problems with Iran.
- Roozonline: Big chair or small president.
- Roozonline: the nuclear pressure on the new president.
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Why the hell should they worry....
The UN is a useless organization, riddiled with muslim influence and dictators.
The Security Council is like Monty Python's black knight...hardly something to worry about.
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Yawn.
Saddam didn't have any respect for international community and UN resolutions. Why should we expect these Mullahs to respect the international community?
But Doc, I urge folks here to READ the other articles you have listed below your featured news. Notice the love affair going on between Iran and Syria? Because I'm a Christian, this is somewhat chilling for me. Isaiah 17 says that Damascus will one day be toast, and the fact that Iran's new Prez seems to be moving into a "go" mode and decides to make visiting Syria a top priority......well, do the math. Especially when you see (read the aritlces) just WHAT they were talking about.
And then I've noticed several times in just the last few days, new "reports" that claim we don't think Iran will have any nuke capabilities for years, lol. Sure. I saw this stuff go on right before we went into Iraq. Here is one example of what I'm talking about:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=87379
I wonder if that isn't some sort of message to Iran saying...."See, we're (USA) so busy with Iraq, and the Retreat Plan in Israel that we just don't really have any plans of dealing with you Ahmadinejad for a long while, so kick on back and sleep easy." A month ago my email box was loaded with "nuke Iran now before they get nukes" news. That seems to have cooled off somewhat. Who knows? Time will tell.
Ganji's wife talks after her house was stormed
Emrouz, August 8, 2005, 15:05pm [local time]: Following the reports of the storming of Ganji's house by agents, Massoumeh Sahfiei, Ganji's wife, in a talk with Emrouz revealed some details of this raid: "Around 10am today (Monday) agents came to our house and damended to enter and search the house. When we asked them to show a search warrant first, they threatened to break the door and force into the house if we don't open up. These people included Ganji's guards at Milad hospital and were commanded by a person called "Movahed". As soon as they entered the house the started to use foul language and treated us badly and insluted us as they searched the house. In response to my protests, the two women that accompanied them attacked me such that my chador fell down and at this time the agents were filming and they handcuffed me to the bed and continued to film and search the house for two hours."
She added: "In this brutal attack, the attackers took all documents, pamphlets, books and our computer. They even searched my daughters' dress closet."
She emphasized: "We still do not exactly know what was taken away."
She reported that ever since the raid the telephone lines in their and neighboring houses are out and it is not possible to call the Ganji residence.
http://releaseganji.net/hostednews.php#735
The nuclear issue with Iran is the number #1 reason why we need regime change ASAP, yet even if they are five years away from getting an operational bomb, it doesn't matter.
The United States flat-out cannot leave Iraq until the Syrian and Iranian regimes are eliminated. If we do leave before then, I guarantee you that the Islamists will overthrow the government in short order. I can only hope that the U.S. is serious about regime change in those two neighboring countries, and that the news of the U.S. beginning a troop withdrawal as soon as spring 2006 is tied into that. There is reason to believe that this is the reason why John Bolton is now at the UN.
And look, Iran terrorizing its citizens. No one should live under those conditions. The US isn't the world police force, but we ought to promote freedom and democracy worldwide, regardless of whether or not that country to critically tied to US interests. Americans, Iraqis, and Iranians are all human beings. They are all worth the same. Too bad the U.S. media - and the vast majority of Amricans - don't agree.
And regarding estimates before a nuke weapon - it is important to keep in mind that much of the Iranian nuclear program is "underground," that is to say, it is an unknown. Yeah, based on the information we have, Iran might start churning out nukes in five years, but what about the reality of the situation? The actual current state of the Iranian nuclear program is a mystery. I'm not saying that we should act rashly, but when you read these intelligence estimates, it is almost certainly worse than you think.
And I must say I was somewhat shocked yesterday, with Europe seemingly collapsing into America's arms, chanting "Sanctions!" Almost a year ago, I was getting mad at Bush that he wasn't imposing sanctions on Iran. OK, it would/will be the UN, but it's likely to be vetoed, and even it is isn't, who is going to provide the ships and other assets? The same countries that have the most troops in Iraq (such as the US, UK, Australia, etc.), but most especially the Americans. But now, I'm almost against sanctions - for right now. Though I know the UN, like the US gov't, moves at a snail's pace. I want to give the Iranian people at least a few more months at trying to overthrow the regime. Not at least until 2006, after the Iraqi elections in December. And hopefully the Iraqi consititution gets approved in two months, although I dearly hope the constitution is moderate. I don't have a problem with Iraq's rules and laws being based on the Qu'ran, America's are based on the Bible. I just hope it doesn't go hardcore Qu'ran, like reducing women to second-class citizens.
Anyway, that's my two cents.
I agree.
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