Church officials in Iraq say they have canceled some Christmas festivities in two northern cities over fears of insurgent attacks.
The Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Kirkuk, Louis Sako, says church officials will not put up Christmas decorations outside the church and urged worshippers to refrain from decorating homes.
He says the traditional Santa Claus appearance outside one of the city's churches has also been called off.
In Mosul, Syrian Orthodox priest Faiz Wadee says Christmas celebrations there have also been canceled.
Christians across Iraq have been living in fear following a Baghdad church attack in October that left 68 people dead.
An al-Qaida front group in Iraq threatened more attacks against Iraq's Christians in a statement Wednesday.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BAGHDAD (AP) — Al-Qaida's front group in Iraq is threatening more attacks against the country's Christians unless two women it claims Egypt's Coptic Church is holding captive are released.
The Islamic State of Iraq issued the warning in a message posted late Tuesday on a website frequented by Islamist extremists.
The group has made similar threats in the past linked to claims of Egypt's Muslim extremists that the country's Coptic Church is holding women captive for converting to Islam. The church denies the allegations.
The message was addressed to Iraq's Christian community to "pressure" Egypt.
The Islamic State of Iraq was behind a recent series of attacks, including the siege of a Baghdad church that left 68 people dead. Some 1,000 Christian families have fled Iraq since then, according to the
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Turkey wants biggest role in the Middle East
Turkish clothing and beer are hot sellers in the streets of Arbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish north. Far to the south, Iranian cars roam the streets of Basra and Iranian pilgrims flock to Iraq's holy sites.
Sunni Ankara and Shi'ite Tehran, old rivals turned friends, are vying for post-war economic clout in neighboring Iraq to capitalize on an expected oil boom, and have been flexing their muscles in Baghdad's government formation talks, diplomats and politicians said.
Already one of Iraq's main trade partners, Turkey wants a bigger foothold in its southern neighbor through increased investment to counter Iran's growing influence and to boost its stature as a regional economic and political power.
Turkish companies are top investors in hotels, real estate, industry and energy in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, and increasingly in the Shi'ite south where Iranian influence had been almost unchallenged.
Iran is Iraq's main trading partner and has been one of the largest investors in its construction and industrial sectors since the fall of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
"It is clear that they are competing, specifically in Turkey's effort to dam in Iranian influence. Iran has undoubtedly gained a significant role in Iraq since 2003, and from about 2007 on, Turkey has started to push back," said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group.
"They are holding each other in balance."
Ankara, which spent years focusing its diplomacy on Europe, has turned its attention to the Middle East and an emerging role as a neutral mediator and economic power. It has lobbied for an inclusive Iraq government that does not exclude minority Sunnis.
Tehran, a regional Shi'ite power, made sure Iraq's majority Shi'ites tightened their grip on power by backing a merger between the country's main Shi'ite blocs, guaranteeing incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki another term, politicians said.
Maliki, a Shi'ite, visited Turkey and Iran in October as part of a tour to gain regional backing for his bid to form Iraq' new government in exchange for investment deals.
Iraq's Arab neighbours and the United States are worried about Iran's growing clout in Iraq, particularly as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw by end of 2011, tempting anxious neighbours to vie for influence in Baghdad.
"They (Turkey) are doing this throughout Iraq, in Kurdistan as well as in Baghdad and even Basra, which is not usually an area of Turkish influence," said Hiltermann. "The presence of a Turkish consulate in Basra is very much part of a strategy to dam in Iranian influence in Iraq through investments and trade."
ENERGY, INVESTMENT DEALS
A day before Maliki's visit to Ankara, Turkish oil company TPAO won deals to develop two Iraqi gas fields, a sign of Ankara's ambitions to become an energy bridge between Europe and the Middle East.
TPAO also has small stakes in two Iraqi oilfields, among a series of deals Iraq signed with global firms in a bid to quadruple its crude output capacity to Saudi levels.
As Baghdad embarks on unprecedented energy development, foreign investors also are eyeing opportunities in industry and infrastructure. War-damaged Iraq is starving for housing and electricity investments.
Turkish construction firms are building houses in Arbil, Turkish goods flood the malls and many young Kurds spend holidays in Istanbul, where some learn to speak the language.
About 55 percent of the foreign firms in Iraqi Kurdistan - 640 of 1,170 - are from Turkey, which expects bilateral trade of about $6 billion last year to grow to $20 billion in four years.
Iran has invested in power plants, schools and factories in Iraq, and expects exports to rise to more than $8 billion in 2010 from $6 billion a year ago despite Western-backed economic sanctions aimed at curbing business with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian-made Saipa and Peugeot cars are common on the roads and some Iraqis favor an illegally imported Iranian liquor.
"It is best described as the latest manifestation of a latent and sometimes overt Iranian-Turkish rivalry that has existed in the region for decades and centuries," said Gala Riani, Middle East Analyst at IHS Global Insight.
"Iran and Turkey have each historically considered themselves as being the bigger political, economic and military power of the region. In Iraq, both sides are capitalizing on the vast economic opportunities that are present in both the south and the north."
KURDISH FEARS
Turkey and Iran also have an interest in a stable Iraq as they seek a solution to their decades-long conflict with separatist Kurdish rebels, who fight for an ethnic homeland for Kurds. Like Iraq, Turkey and Iran have large Kurdish minorities.
"Turkey remains justifiably somewhat wary of Iran and, to some degree, still a rival. However, Ankara's AKP-dominated government has sought to improve relations with Tehran, in part to reduce the likelihood of regional conflict," said Wayne White, a scholar at the Middle East Institute.
"In Iraq, both Turks and Iranians have no desire for greater Kurdish autonomy. Both seek greater influence in Baghdad, although Iran clearly holds the upper hand in that respect."
But Iraqi political analyst Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie said Turkey may win growing influence in Iraq, at least in the short term, as a more neutral party that can win acceptance from all sides.
"With the rising pressure of the international community and increase of sanctions and hints of military actions against Iran, the near future will witness a rise for the Turkish role," he said.
"The Turkish role has the blessing of the international community and is backed by Arab countries. It has not met any Iraqi objection, as happened with the Saudis, who faced objections from the Shi'ites, or with the Iranians, who faced objections from the Sunnis," he said.
Courtesy by Reuters
Sunni Ankara and Shi'ite Tehran, old rivals turned friends, are vying for post-war economic clout in neighboring Iraq to capitalize on an expected oil boom, and have been flexing their muscles in Baghdad's government formation talks, diplomats and politicians said.
Already one of Iraq's main trade partners, Turkey wants a bigger foothold in its southern neighbor through increased investment to counter Iran's growing influence and to boost its stature as a regional economic and political power.
Turkish companies are top investors in hotels, real estate, industry and energy in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, and increasingly in the Shi'ite south where Iranian influence had been almost unchallenged.
Iran is Iraq's main trading partner and has been one of the largest investors in its construction and industrial sectors since the fall of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
"It is clear that they are competing, specifically in Turkey's effort to dam in Iranian influence. Iran has undoubtedly gained a significant role in Iraq since 2003, and from about 2007 on, Turkey has started to push back," said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group.
"They are holding each other in balance."
Ankara, which spent years focusing its diplomacy on Europe, has turned its attention to the Middle East and an emerging role as a neutral mediator and economic power. It has lobbied for an inclusive Iraq government that does not exclude minority Sunnis.
Tehran, a regional Shi'ite power, made sure Iraq's majority Shi'ites tightened their grip on power by backing a merger between the country's main Shi'ite blocs, guaranteeing incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki another term, politicians said.
Maliki, a Shi'ite, visited Turkey and Iran in October as part of a tour to gain regional backing for his bid to form Iraq' new government in exchange for investment deals.
Iraq's Arab neighbours and the United States are worried about Iran's growing clout in Iraq, particularly as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw by end of 2011, tempting anxious neighbours to vie for influence in Baghdad.
"They (Turkey) are doing this throughout Iraq, in Kurdistan as well as in Baghdad and even Basra, which is not usually an area of Turkish influence," said Hiltermann. "The presence of a Turkish consulate in Basra is very much part of a strategy to dam in Iranian influence in Iraq through investments and trade."
ENERGY, INVESTMENT DEALS
A day before Maliki's visit to Ankara, Turkish oil company TPAO won deals to develop two Iraqi gas fields, a sign of Ankara's ambitions to become an energy bridge between Europe and the Middle East.
TPAO also has small stakes in two Iraqi oilfields, among a series of deals Iraq signed with global firms in a bid to quadruple its crude output capacity to Saudi levels.
As Baghdad embarks on unprecedented energy development, foreign investors also are eyeing opportunities in industry and infrastructure. War-damaged Iraq is starving for housing and electricity investments.
Turkish construction firms are building houses in Arbil, Turkish goods flood the malls and many young Kurds spend holidays in Istanbul, where some learn to speak the language.
About 55 percent of the foreign firms in Iraqi Kurdistan - 640 of 1,170 - are from Turkey, which expects bilateral trade of about $6 billion last year to grow to $20 billion in four years.
Iran has invested in power plants, schools and factories in Iraq, and expects exports to rise to more than $8 billion in 2010 from $6 billion a year ago despite Western-backed economic sanctions aimed at curbing business with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian-made Saipa and Peugeot cars are common on the roads and some Iraqis favor an illegally imported Iranian liquor.
"It is best described as the latest manifestation of a latent and sometimes overt Iranian-Turkish rivalry that has existed in the region for decades and centuries," said Gala Riani, Middle East Analyst at IHS Global Insight.
"Iran and Turkey have each historically considered themselves as being the bigger political, economic and military power of the region. In Iraq, both sides are capitalizing on the vast economic opportunities that are present in both the south and the north."
KURDISH FEARS
Turkey and Iran also have an interest in a stable Iraq as they seek a solution to their decades-long conflict with separatist Kurdish rebels, who fight for an ethnic homeland for Kurds. Like Iraq, Turkey and Iran have large Kurdish minorities.
"Turkey remains justifiably somewhat wary of Iran and, to some degree, still a rival. However, Ankara's AKP-dominated government has sought to improve relations with Tehran, in part to reduce the likelihood of regional conflict," said Wayne White, a scholar at the Middle East Institute.
"In Iraq, both Turks and Iranians have no desire for greater Kurdish autonomy. Both seek greater influence in Baghdad, although Iran clearly holds the upper hand in that respect."
But Iraqi political analyst Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie said Turkey may win growing influence in Iraq, at least in the short term, as a more neutral party that can win acceptance from all sides.
"With the rising pressure of the international community and increase of sanctions and hints of military actions against Iran, the near future will witness a rise for the Turkish role," he said.
"The Turkish role has the blessing of the international community and is backed by Arab countries. It has not met any Iraqi objection, as happened with the Saudis, who faced objections from the Shi'ites, or with the Iranians, who faced objections from the Sunnis," he said.
Courtesy by Reuters
US Diplomats playing hardball with Iran
The United States must force reforms at the United Nations and play "hardball" with Iran and North Korea, incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Wednesday.
"I pledge to do all that I can to isolate US enemies while empowering and strengthening our allies, and I will not make apologies for doing either," the Florida Republican said upon being designated to head the panel.
The Cuba-born Florida lawmaker also vowed to use US dues to international organizations like the United Nations "as leverage to press for real reform" and warned she "will not hesitate" to call for cutting off money to "failed entities" like the world body's rights council.
Ros-Lehtinen, the senior Republican woman in the House of Representatives, said she would push for unspecified cuts in the US State Department and foreign aid budgets.
"There is much fat in these budgets, which makes some cuts obvious. Others will be more difficult but necessary to improve the efficiency of US efforts and accomplish more with less," she said.
"We must shift our foreign aid focus from failed strategies rooted in an archaic post-WWII approach that, in some instances, perpetuates corrupt governments, to one that reflects current realities and challenges and empowers grassroots and civil society," she said in a statement.
Ros-Lehtinen, a strong critic of Cuba's government and staunch backer of sanctions on Iran and North Korea over their defiance of world pressure to halt their nuclear programs, said she would continue to take a hard line.
"Rogue regimes never respond to anything less than hardball," she said.
"I support strong sanctions and other penalties against those who aid violent extremists, brutalize their own people, and have time and time again rejected calls to behave as responsible nations," said Ros-Lehtinen.
Ros-Lehtinen, currently the panel's top Republican, will formally ascend to the post when a new Congress convenes in January.
Courtesy of AP
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Allawi: Iran is a destabilize force in the region
The leader of the Iraqi bloc that came first in elections accused Iran on Sunday of trying to destabilize Iraq and manipulate the political process as he jeered at rival politicians seeking Tehran's blessing for forming the next government.
Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, narrowly won the most seats in the March 7 vote with strong Sunni backing but did not get nearly enough to control the government outright. That allowed his chief rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, to sideline the Iraqiya political party that Allawi heads by forming a Shiite-dominated alliance similar to the current government and close to Iran.
"I won't be begging Iran to agree upon my nomination," Allawi told the Al-Arabiya satellite TV channel.
He added that Iran should get out of Iraqi politics and "not impose or support one faction over the other."
Allawi's remarks were a clear jab at al-Maliki, who heads to Iran on Monday as he scrambles for enough Shiite support to keep his job. There were also new indications that al-Maliki's efforts to enlist Sunni allies in the region are falling short. The king of neighboring Jordan pointedly avoided endorsing the Iraqi prime minister for a second term in a statement Sunday.
The developments injected new doubt that Iraq's political mess will be resolved any time soon. It has been more than seven months since parliamentary elections that failed to produce a clear winner and the country is still without a government.
Allawi has threatened to boycott the next government if al-Maliki remains in office, although U.S. diplomats are trying to broker a detente that would give the Iraqiya leader some power and key ministry jobs if he backs down.
Al-Maliki recently clinched support from hardline Shiite political parties close to Iran. With that, and assuming he is backed as expected by a key Kurdish coalition, he will have enough allies to remain in office.
In a second television interviews aired Sunday, Allawi accused Iran of fomenting unrest in Iraq, Lebanon and among Palestinians. He said Mideast nations are "falling victim to ... terrorists who are definitely Iran-financed."
"We know that unfortunately, Iran is trying to wreak havoc on the region," Allawi said. "And definitely in Iraq, I can say categorically that Iran is trying even to bring about change to the political process according to their wishes and requirements," he told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."
Al-Maliki will meet Monday with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But the prime minister dearly wants support from Sunnis too — in part because of strong pressure from the United States to foster a new government that represents all Iraq's major political factions. He will visit Turkey and Egypt next week.
But his trip Sunday to Amman fell flat after Jordan's King Abdullah II withheld public endorsement for al-Maliki's bid for a second term in office.
A royal palace statement said Abdullah told al-Maliki in a closed-door session that it was "necessary to form a government that would reflect the aspirations of the Iraqi people and would effectively build a better future for them."
But Abdullah clearly sought to remain neutral, emphasizing to al-Maliki that it was up to Iraqis to pick their government.
"Jordan supports anything that would lead to achieving reconciliation between the Iraqi people and would consolidate their national unity," Abdullah added, according to the statement.
Arab states have been deeply concerned about the influence of Shiite power Iran in Iraq and across the Middle East. Jordan's ruler has been a particularly vocal critic of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. In 2004, Abdullah warned about the emergence of a "Shiite crescent" including Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad called the Jordanian king last Tuesday. The state media said discussions focused on Iraq and other regional matters, but did not elaborate. Government officials declined to say if Ahmadinejad asked Abdullah to support al-Maliki.
In other developments, a brazen midday heist on three jewelry stores and at least four bombings in Baghdad left nine Iraqis dead and 13 injured in a fresh round of brutal crime that has swept the Iraqi capital over the past year as political violence has ebbed. Iraqi authorities have frequently blamed insurgents for the devastation, saying they are hard up for cash and have turned to crime to raise money for other types of attacks.
Additionally, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued a new warning Sunday that Americans and other Westerners who live and work in Iraq — and especially in Baghdad — may be kidnapping targets. The statement followed similar warnings on Sept. 14 and Sept. 25 that cautioned U.S. citizens from traveling in Iraq's mostly Shiite south.
The new warning "applies to all parts of Iraq, especially Baghdad," the statement said. It comes a day after an Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman warned of threats against local and foreign journalists working in Iraq.
By AP
Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, narrowly won the most seats in the March 7 vote with strong Sunni backing but did not get nearly enough to control the government outright. That allowed his chief rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, to sideline the Iraqiya political party that Allawi heads by forming a Shiite-dominated alliance similar to the current government and close to Iran.
"I won't be begging Iran to agree upon my nomination," Allawi told the Al-Arabiya satellite TV channel.
He added that Iran should get out of Iraqi politics and "not impose or support one faction over the other."
Allawi's remarks were a clear jab at al-Maliki, who heads to Iran on Monday as he scrambles for enough Shiite support to keep his job. There were also new indications that al-Maliki's efforts to enlist Sunni allies in the region are falling short. The king of neighboring Jordan pointedly avoided endorsing the Iraqi prime minister for a second term in a statement Sunday.
The developments injected new doubt that Iraq's political mess will be resolved any time soon. It has been more than seven months since parliamentary elections that failed to produce a clear winner and the country is still without a government.
Allawi has threatened to boycott the next government if al-Maliki remains in office, although U.S. diplomats are trying to broker a detente that would give the Iraqiya leader some power and key ministry jobs if he backs down.
Al-Maliki recently clinched support from hardline Shiite political parties close to Iran. With that, and assuming he is backed as expected by a key Kurdish coalition, he will have enough allies to remain in office.
In a second television interviews aired Sunday, Allawi accused Iran of fomenting unrest in Iraq, Lebanon and among Palestinians. He said Mideast nations are "falling victim to ... terrorists who are definitely Iran-financed."
"We know that unfortunately, Iran is trying to wreak havoc on the region," Allawi said. "And definitely in Iraq, I can say categorically that Iran is trying even to bring about change to the political process according to their wishes and requirements," he told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."
Al-Maliki will meet Monday with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But the prime minister dearly wants support from Sunnis too — in part because of strong pressure from the United States to foster a new government that represents all Iraq's major political factions. He will visit Turkey and Egypt next week.
But his trip Sunday to Amman fell flat after Jordan's King Abdullah II withheld public endorsement for al-Maliki's bid for a second term in office.
A royal palace statement said Abdullah told al-Maliki in a closed-door session that it was "necessary to form a government that would reflect the aspirations of the Iraqi people and would effectively build a better future for them."
But Abdullah clearly sought to remain neutral, emphasizing to al-Maliki that it was up to Iraqis to pick their government.
"Jordan supports anything that would lead to achieving reconciliation between the Iraqi people and would consolidate their national unity," Abdullah added, according to the statement.
Arab states have been deeply concerned about the influence of Shiite power Iran in Iraq and across the Middle East. Jordan's ruler has been a particularly vocal critic of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. In 2004, Abdullah warned about the emergence of a "Shiite crescent" including Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad called the Jordanian king last Tuesday. The state media said discussions focused on Iraq and other regional matters, but did not elaborate. Government officials declined to say if Ahmadinejad asked Abdullah to support al-Maliki.
In other developments, a brazen midday heist on three jewelry stores and at least four bombings in Baghdad left nine Iraqis dead and 13 injured in a fresh round of brutal crime that has swept the Iraqi capital over the past year as political violence has ebbed. Iraqi authorities have frequently blamed insurgents for the devastation, saying they are hard up for cash and have turned to crime to raise money for other types of attacks.
Additionally, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued a new warning Sunday that Americans and other Westerners who live and work in Iraq — and especially in Baghdad — may be kidnapping targets. The statement followed similar warnings on Sept. 14 and Sept. 25 that cautioned U.S. citizens from traveling in Iraq's mostly Shiite south.
The new warning "applies to all parts of Iraq, especially Baghdad," the statement said. It comes a day after an Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman warned of threats against local and foreign journalists working in Iraq.
By AP
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Ahmadinejad taunts Israel from border with Lebanon
Courtesy of AP
Iran's president taunted archenemy Israel on Thursday from just across the tense border in Lebanon, rallying tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters as Israeli attack helicopters buzzed in the skies nearby.
"The world should know that the Zionists will perish," declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, echoing previous verbal attacks in which he has said Israel should be wiped off the map.
"Occupied Palestine will be liberated from the filth of occupation by the strength of resistance and through the faith of the resistance," the Iranian leader vowed as cheers went up from the crowd, waving a sea of Lebanese, Iranian and Hezbollah flags.
The fiery speech was delivered in the border village of Bint Jbeil, which was nearly destroyed by Israeli bombs in the 2006 war with Hezbollah and rebuilt with the help of Iranian cash. A stronghold of the Shiite militant group, Ahmadinejad's visit to the southern Lebanese area was denounced by Washington and Israel as a provocation.
The Iranian president's first state visit to Lebanon, it was turned into a show of strength by Hezbollah, Iran's close ally in Lebanon, which shares power in a fragile unity government with a Western-backed coalition.
Hezbollah organized a rapturous welcome Wednesday in Beirut's streets, which were bedecked with billboards and signs bearing photos of Ahmadinejad.
By contrast, Lebanon's pro-Western leaders have been pushed to the background, underscoring their eroding position_ and suggesting the competition over influence in Lebanon may be tipping in favor of Iran and its ally Syria, away from the United States and its Arab allies, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Ahmadinejad's border visit by saying Israel knows how to protect itself.
"We heard today the cursing and invectives from the Lebanese border. The best answer to the deriders was given here 62 years ago — the state and all that we've built and created since," Netanyahu said.
"Look what a nation, what a state and what an army the state of Israel has. We will continue building, we will continue to create our state and we will know well how to defend ourselves."
While Ahmadinejad received a hero's welcome from Hezbollah's Shiite supporters, his visit intensified fears among Sunnis and Christians that Iran and Hezbollah are seeking to impose their will on Lebanon and possibly pull it into a conflict with Israel.
Van loads of Shiites organized by Hezbollah made their way Thursday to Bint Jbeil's stadium, traveling along roads lined with Iranian flags. Located just two miles from the Israeli border, the village has a special significance for Shiites.
Dubbed "the capital of resistance" during Israel's two-decade occupation of the south, Hezbollah's leader gave a victory speech here after Israel withdrew in 2000, calling Israel "weaker than a spider's web" — a phrase that adorns a stadium wall along with photographs of weeping Israeli soldiers.
During Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, Bint Jbeil was targeted by Israeli troops, who met stiff resistance from dug-in Hezbollah guerrillas. The close-quarter fighting was among the fiercest of the monthlong war and much of the town was destroyed or damaged.
Now, with an influx of Iranian money, it looks brand-new, with freshly built roads and apartment buildings.
Addressing the roaring crowd in Bint Jbeil's stadium, Ahmadinejad said: "You proved that your resistance, your patience, your steadfastness, were stronger than all the tanks and warplanes of the enemy."
"You are the mighty mountain, and I am proud of you," he said.
Ali Daboush, a 35-year-old Shiite who works in Saudi Arabia, said he came home to Lebanon just to see the Iranian leader.
"He liberated this land. It was thanks to him," Daboush said. "No Arab leader has done what he has done."
Nearby, two Israeli attack helicopters could be seen hovering above the Israeli border town of Moshav Avivim.
Iran, whose ties to Hezbollah date back nearly 30 years, funds the militant group to the tune of millions of dollars a year and is believed to supply much of its arsenal. Hezbollah boasts widespread support among Shiites and virtually runs a state-within-a-state in Shiite areas of Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad met late Thursday with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and held talks earlier in the day with Lebanon's pro-Western prime minister Saad Hariri.
Throughout his visit, the Iranian leader has stressed unity among Lebanese, aiming to depict Iran as an ally of the entire nation, not just Hezbollah.
But the strains have been clear.
The Western-backed coalition has warned that Ahmadinejad is seeking to transform Lebanon into "an Iranian base on the Mediterranean." And among Shiites, mentions of Hariri were roundly booed during Ahmadinejad's speeches.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev slammed the trip.
"Iran's domination of Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah has destroyed any chance for peace, has turned Lebanon into an Iranian satellite and made Lebanon a hub for regional terror and instability," he said.
Hezbollah has nearly quadrupled its arsenal since the 2006 war to more than 45,000 rockets and missiles, including weapons that are more accurate and more powerful than the past, Israeli ambassador Michael Oren said in Washington.
Washington also came out strongly against the Iranian leader's visit, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterating American concerns about Iran's nuclear program and its "support of terrorism."
"So when the Iranian president goes to Lebanon, and we know that they are supporting financially and in every other way Hezbollah, which is on the border of Israel and the border of the Palestinian areas, then that is a volatile situation," she said in an interview aired Thursday on ABC.
Still, Israeli residents of Avivim, a farming village that looks across the border at a makeshift stage and replica of the Dome of the Rock built in honor of Ahmadinejad, showed little interest.
"We're not excited about his visit. ... Ahmadinejad is a big coward," said resident Rafi Peretz. "Why does he come only 300 meters from us? Why doesn't he come here?"
Iran's president taunted archenemy Israel on Thursday from just across the tense border in Lebanon, rallying tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters as Israeli attack helicopters buzzed in the skies nearby.
"The world should know that the Zionists will perish," declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, echoing previous verbal attacks in which he has said Israel should be wiped off the map.
"Occupied Palestine will be liberated from the filth of occupation by the strength of resistance and through the faith of the resistance," the Iranian leader vowed as cheers went up from the crowd, waving a sea of Lebanese, Iranian and Hezbollah flags.
The fiery speech was delivered in the border village of Bint Jbeil, which was nearly destroyed by Israeli bombs in the 2006 war with Hezbollah and rebuilt with the help of Iranian cash. A stronghold of the Shiite militant group, Ahmadinejad's visit to the southern Lebanese area was denounced by Washington and Israel as a provocation.
The Iranian president's first state visit to Lebanon, it was turned into a show of strength by Hezbollah, Iran's close ally in Lebanon, which shares power in a fragile unity government with a Western-backed coalition.
Hezbollah organized a rapturous welcome Wednesday in Beirut's streets, which were bedecked with billboards and signs bearing photos of Ahmadinejad.
By contrast, Lebanon's pro-Western leaders have been pushed to the background, underscoring their eroding position_ and suggesting the competition over influence in Lebanon may be tipping in favor of Iran and its ally Syria, away from the United States and its Arab allies, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Ahmadinejad's border visit by saying Israel knows how to protect itself.
"We heard today the cursing and invectives from the Lebanese border. The best answer to the deriders was given here 62 years ago — the state and all that we've built and created since," Netanyahu said.
"Look what a nation, what a state and what an army the state of Israel has. We will continue building, we will continue to create our state and we will know well how to defend ourselves."
While Ahmadinejad received a hero's welcome from Hezbollah's Shiite supporters, his visit intensified fears among Sunnis and Christians that Iran and Hezbollah are seeking to impose their will on Lebanon and possibly pull it into a conflict with Israel.
Van loads of Shiites organized by Hezbollah made their way Thursday to Bint Jbeil's stadium, traveling along roads lined with Iranian flags. Located just two miles from the Israeli border, the village has a special significance for Shiites.
Dubbed "the capital of resistance" during Israel's two-decade occupation of the south, Hezbollah's leader gave a victory speech here after Israel withdrew in 2000, calling Israel "weaker than a spider's web" — a phrase that adorns a stadium wall along with photographs of weeping Israeli soldiers.
During Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, Bint Jbeil was targeted by Israeli troops, who met stiff resistance from dug-in Hezbollah guerrillas. The close-quarter fighting was among the fiercest of the monthlong war and much of the town was destroyed or damaged.
Now, with an influx of Iranian money, it looks brand-new, with freshly built roads and apartment buildings.
Addressing the roaring crowd in Bint Jbeil's stadium, Ahmadinejad said: "You proved that your resistance, your patience, your steadfastness, were stronger than all the tanks and warplanes of the enemy."
"You are the mighty mountain, and I am proud of you," he said.
Ali Daboush, a 35-year-old Shiite who works in Saudi Arabia, said he came home to Lebanon just to see the Iranian leader.
"He liberated this land. It was thanks to him," Daboush said. "No Arab leader has done what he has done."
Nearby, two Israeli attack helicopters could be seen hovering above the Israeli border town of Moshav Avivim.
Iran, whose ties to Hezbollah date back nearly 30 years, funds the militant group to the tune of millions of dollars a year and is believed to supply much of its arsenal. Hezbollah boasts widespread support among Shiites and virtually runs a state-within-a-state in Shiite areas of Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad met late Thursday with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and held talks earlier in the day with Lebanon's pro-Western prime minister Saad Hariri.
Throughout his visit, the Iranian leader has stressed unity among Lebanese, aiming to depict Iran as an ally of the entire nation, not just Hezbollah.
But the strains have been clear.
The Western-backed coalition has warned that Ahmadinejad is seeking to transform Lebanon into "an Iranian base on the Mediterranean." And among Shiites, mentions of Hariri were roundly booed during Ahmadinejad's speeches.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev slammed the trip.
"Iran's domination of Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah has destroyed any chance for peace, has turned Lebanon into an Iranian satellite and made Lebanon a hub for regional terror and instability," he said.
Hezbollah has nearly quadrupled its arsenal since the 2006 war to more than 45,000 rockets and missiles, including weapons that are more accurate and more powerful than the past, Israeli ambassador Michael Oren said in Washington.
Washington also came out strongly against the Iranian leader's visit, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterating American concerns about Iran's nuclear program and its "support of terrorism."
"So when the Iranian president goes to Lebanon, and we know that they are supporting financially and in every other way Hezbollah, which is on the border of Israel and the border of the Palestinian areas, then that is a volatile situation," she said in an interview aired Thursday on ABC.
Still, Israeli residents of Avivim, a farming village that looks across the border at a makeshift stage and replica of the Dome of the Rock built in honor of Ahmadinejad, showed little interest.
"We're not excited about his visit. ... Ahmadinejad is a big coward," said resident Rafi Peretz. "Why does he come only 300 meters from us? Why doesn't he come here?"
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Iran at the center of NATO-Russia missile defense talks
A new and advance proposal on a missile defense plan for Europe will be presented to Moscow at a Russia-North American Treaty Organization (NATO) Council summit in November.
The summit will take place in Lisbon on November 20.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called for the creation of missile defenses in Europe, but Russia says a serious assessment of missile risks should be carried out before starting on the project.
Rasmussen has said a new Euro-Atlantic missile defense system would liven up the EU allies’ ties with the United States and the alliance’s relationship with Russia.
The leaders of 28 NATO countries should invite Russia to participate in the project at the November summit, he told journalists in September.
But the U.S.’s plans to deploy an anti-ballistic missile shield in Eastern Europe remains a bone of contention between Moscow and NATO. The U.S. says it would defend NATO territories against a possible missile threat from Iran, but Russia says there is no threat.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Ahmadinejad calls for U.S. leaders to be buried
Iran's president Sunday called for U.S. leaders to be "buried" in response to what he says are American threats of military attack against Tehran's nuclear program.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is known for brash rhetoric in addressing the West, but in a speech Sunday he went a step further using a deeply offensive insult in response to U.S. statements that the military option against Iran is still on the table.
"May the undertaker bury you, your table and your body, which has soiled the world," he said using language in Iran reserved for hated enemies.
Several top U.S. officials including Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have said in recent months that the military option remains on the table and there is a plan to attack Iran, although a military strike has been described as a bad idea.
The crowd of military men and clerics in the town of Hashtgerd just west of the capital chuckled at the president's insult and applauded.
The speech was broadcast by both state television and the official English-language Press TV, but the latter glossed over the insult in the simultaneous translation.
Ahmadinejad's remarks come in sharp contrast to ones he made to Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel in August in which he offered the U.S. Iran's friendship.
In Sunday's speech, Ahmadinejad also questioned once more who was behind the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. and said they gave Washington a pretext for seeking to dominate the region and plunder its oil wealth.
During his speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said a majority of people in the U.S. and around the world believe the American government staged the attacks, drawing a strong rebuke from President Barack Obama.
Ahmadinejad often resorts to provocative statements to lash out enemies. He has already compared the power of Iran's enemies to a "mosquito," saying Iran deals with the West over its nuclear activities from a position of power and he has likened the United States to a "farm animal trapped in a quagmire" in Afghanistan.
Iran also condemned the latest U.S. sanctions slapped on eight Iranian officials Wednesday, saying they show American interference in Tehran's domestic affairs.
Washington this week imposed travel and financial sanctions on the eight Iranians, accusing them of taking part in human rights abuses during the turmoil following Iran's June 2009 presidential election.
Source: AP
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is known for brash rhetoric in addressing the West, but in a speech Sunday he went a step further using a deeply offensive insult in response to U.S. statements that the military option against Iran is still on the table.
"May the undertaker bury you, your table and your body, which has soiled the world," he said using language in Iran reserved for hated enemies.
Several top U.S. officials including Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have said in recent months that the military option remains on the table and there is a plan to attack Iran, although a military strike has been described as a bad idea.
The crowd of military men and clerics in the town of Hashtgerd just west of the capital chuckled at the president's insult and applauded.
The speech was broadcast by both state television and the official English-language Press TV, but the latter glossed over the insult in the simultaneous translation.
Ahmadinejad's remarks come in sharp contrast to ones he made to Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel in August in which he offered the U.S. Iran's friendship.
In Sunday's speech, Ahmadinejad also questioned once more who was behind the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. and said they gave Washington a pretext for seeking to dominate the region and plunder its oil wealth.
During his speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said a majority of people in the U.S. and around the world believe the American government staged the attacks, drawing a strong rebuke from President Barack Obama.
Ahmadinejad often resorts to provocative statements to lash out enemies. He has already compared the power of Iran's enemies to a "mosquito," saying Iran deals with the West over its nuclear activities from a position of power and he has likened the United States to a "farm animal trapped in a quagmire" in Afghanistan.
Iran also condemned the latest U.S. sanctions slapped on eight Iranian officials Wednesday, saying they show American interference in Tehran's domestic affairs.
Washington this week imposed travel and financial sanctions on the eight Iranians, accusing them of taking part in human rights abuses during the turmoil following Iran's June 2009 presidential election.
Source: AP
Friday, October 1, 2010
New Conference
The United Against Nuclear Iran Puerto Rico Chapter
Presents
Iran’s Nuclear Economic Reality
For more than a decade, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been pursing a clandestine nuclear weapons program at the expense of, not only the condemnation of the international community, but of its own economic well being.
Iran’s Nuclear Economic Reality is a comprehensive study of the immense investment of financial resources invested by the country’s elite in an effort to develop an atomic arsenal.
Overview: Iran’s 2010 economic situation and the out look for 2012.
Investment: An estimate of the massive investments in capital made by Iran in their nuclear program during the past decade.
Problems: The economic strain the development and eventual maintenance of a nuclear weapons program would place in the Republic’s already stagnant financial system.
Guess Speaker: Local economist, Jean Carlos Almodovar
There will be interactive activities to thrill and challenge the minds, so don’t miss out!
Location: Red China Restaurant
Date: October 7, 2010
Hour: 7PM to 8PM
Presents
Iran’s Nuclear Economic Reality
For more than a decade, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been pursing a clandestine nuclear weapons program at the expense of, not only the condemnation of the international community, but of its own economic well being.
Iran’s Nuclear Economic Reality is a comprehensive study of the immense investment of financial resources invested by the country’s elite in an effort to develop an atomic arsenal.
Overview: Iran’s 2010 economic situation and the out look for 2012.
Investment: An estimate of the massive investments in capital made by Iran in their nuclear program during the past decade.
Problems: The economic strain the development and eventual maintenance of a nuclear weapons program would place in the Republic’s already stagnant financial system.
Guess Speaker: Local economist, Jean Carlos Almodovar
There will be interactive activities to thrill and challenge the minds, so don’t miss out!
Location: Red China Restaurant
Date: October 7, 2010
Hour: 7PM to 8PM
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
New misssiles for Iran's Guard
Iran's defense minister says the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard has received its first batch of new missiles with enhanced guidance systems to hit ground targets.
Gen. Ahmad Vahidi says the defense ministry supplied the Guard with the upgraded surface-to-surface Fateh-110 missile, which was successfully test-fired last month. The weapon was developed by Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization.
Iran has been pushing to upgrade its missile arsenal, which already can target Israel and other parts of the region.
Vahidi says Iran will further develop the Fateh-110. He gave no details of the missile's capabilities but earlier versions could strike targets up to 120 miles (193 kilometers) away.
Vahidi's remarks were published Tuesday on the state TV's website.
Gen. Ahmad Vahidi says the defense ministry supplied the Guard with the upgraded surface-to-surface Fateh-110 missile, which was successfully test-fired last month. The weapon was developed by Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization.
Iran has been pushing to upgrade its missile arsenal, which already can target Israel and other parts of the region.
Vahidi says Iran will further develop the Fateh-110. He gave no details of the missile's capabilities but earlier versions could strike targets up to 120 miles (193 kilometers) away.
Vahidi's remarks were published Tuesday on the state TV's website.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
South Africa's Nuclear Program
By Raul Colon
rcolonfriaas@yahoo.com
The United States and its European allies found themselves at the cross roads of history regarding their dealings with Iran. The Islamic Republic continued to defy the international community with the recently acceleration of their nuclear weapons program. The implementation of broader United Nation sanctions system does not seems to steam the buoyant Iranian program. In fact, a case can be made that it had the opposite effect.
Almost three decades ago, the world confronted another emerging power seeking to develop an atomic arsenal. From the early 1970s, to the 1977 call for action, and all the way through the 80s, the Republic of South Africa started, maintained and eventually produced a comprehensive nuclear weapons program. One that went, almost unnoticed to the Super Powers. Now, more than twenty years since its end, Pretoria’s program is viewed by many as a case in study, especially in light of Iran’s effort.
For over fifty years, this once British colony was the single most powerful nation in the African continent. South Africa weapons’ industries produced (and continue to produce today) some of the most sophisticated weapons system platforms in the world. Their armed forces, spearheaded by the most professional Army in Sub-Sahara Africa and one of the most resourceful Air Forces in the world proved equally adaptable at either fighting guerrilla warfare in their own soil or taking head up any comers, including the Cuban-backed Angola army units armed with the latest in Soviet weapons system.
The string of successful military victories achieved by the South African Defense Force (SADF) since the early 1960s made them the most revered force in the continent, outside Israel. Spearheaded by on the battlefield success, the SADF continued to grow in size and stature during the proceeding two decades. But all of those military investments and combat exploits ended in the early 1990s with the handing over the government to the black majority.
The end of Apartheid and major budget cuts entrenched in the 90s reduced, not only the structural size of the SADF, but also it’s fighting capability. Today, experts believes that if South Africa were to be invaded by another small but well armed country, the SADF would be hard pressed to hold them, let alone to launch a counteroffensive campaign.
In late 1980s the white minority government started to make small gestures of reconciliation with the black majority. Restrictions were lifted, travel bans were abandoned and in a moment parallel to the fall of the Berlin Wall, longtime activist Nelson Mandela was free from twenty-seven years of captivity. Those events eventually lead Mandela and his political movement, the African national Congress (ANC), to assume power in Pretoria. This unprecedented pacific move gave South Africa the distinction of being the first modern state where the ruling elite gave up complete political and military power to the opposition without firing a shot.
Shortly after the ANC moved into the state house, reports began to surface regarding South Africa’s scuttling of its nuclear weapon program as well as its ballistic missile systems project, the later due in part by the imposition of massive United Nation’s financial sanctions since the mid 1970s. Details regarding the country’s nuclear program were sketchiest at first. Nevertheless, as time has passed more information had become available. Now, at least the outlines of the events surrounding the development of their nuclear weapons program are well known.
Accordingly to the record, South Africa’s atomic project produced six serviceable nuclear devices, all in the twenty kiloton explosion range. It was also determined that at the time, Pretoria possessed enough enriched uranium to build another bomb. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with major assistance from the United States, helped the government in dismantle its nuclear devices. The weapon’s nuclear components were melted down and the casings were physically destroyed. All material related to the programs was either completely destroyed or re-built for use in other fields. Today, South Africa is the only country in the world to voluntarily abandon a successful ongoing nuclear weapons program.
In the past few decades there had been a number of nations that had started small nuclear weapon programs only to abandon them when the horrified reality of the massive financial and logistic commitment sets in. Among the examples were: Taiwan, Sweden, Libya, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Algeria, Spain, Egypt and South Korea. Why those countries found necessary to invest resources that some of them did not posses in order to develop a nuclear weapon? The answer is simple: survival.
By the time President F.W. De Klerk and his National Party left office, South Africa had been involved in two decades of adventurous military expeditions. Their main antagonist was Angola. This relative small African nation had at its disposal a well trained, Soviet equipped armed forces. It had advisors from North Korea, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, but more importantly, it had two full Cuban seasoned combat divisions at its disposal. That is fifty thousand men with the latest in Soviet-supplied equipment and tactics.
In the 60s and 70s, Pretoria, mainly because of its Apartheid regime, was isolated from the world weapons market. It could not legally purchase advanced weapon systems in the world’s market because of U.N. sanctions. This situation forced South Africa to invest vast amounts of money in the development of an indigenous weapon industry. The industrial base of the nation was forced to divert vital resources away from other industries to weapons design and development. What they were able to produce was nothing short of amazing.
Some of the weapons platforms developed and fielded by South Africa were amongst the most advanced deployed in Africa. The 155mm G-5 howitzer was one example of it. The G-5 was so effective, that it became a best-seller in the black market. Also developed was the Buffel troop transport, a top tire troop carrier that would go on to see extensive action against the Angolans. Added to the almost unlimited number of top-of-the-line mortars, rifles and rocket systems, the SADF had enough firepower to deal with its enemies on the ground, the problem for Pretoria was in the air.
Unable to produce an indigenous fighter-bomber, the SADF air component could not stop the incursion of scores of Mig-29s and Sukhoi fighter-bombers flying from Angolan bases. Pretoria needed an answer to stop the bombing of its ground forces or the country could be overrun by the enemy quickly. Here is where the genesis of South Africa’s nuclear weapons program lays.
In 1976, South Africa’s only active nuclear research reactor, Safari, which was commissioned in 1965, had produced enough enriched uranium to produce one crude nuclear device. Despite several set backs, the country pressed ahead in the late 70s and early 80s, eventually managing to produce six clumsy and bulky World War II gun-type nuclear bombs, but more importantly for Pretoria, it had acquired a deterrence weapon. It is important to state that had South African scientific community be given more time, they probable would have been able to reduce the size of the devices which would allow the bombs to be placed on a missile warhead.
At this time another player came in the picture: Israel. The Israelis had just fielded its first indigenous offensive missile system, the Jericho-1, and was in the process of developing the longer range Jericho2 which was designed to carry a one ton payload to a distance of a thousand miles. Some of the early testing of the Jericho-2 was performed on the Overberg Test Range near Arniston, South Cape. Israel needed to utilize the Overberg facility because it did not possess an eastward facing test range of its own.
Peg to Israel’s use of Overberg was Pretoria’s desire to reduce the size of its nuclear devices. As crude units, they were large enough that if the needs ever arose, only obsoletes British-built Buccaneer fighter-bombers could have been employed to deliver them. Israel and South Africa had many common issues that tied them up together. One of them was their collective and deliberate “uncertainty” about their nuclear weapon program. They did not boast about the fact that each had develop a comprehensive nuclear weapon program, which in political terms is often more delivered in achieving political goals than a full disclosure of their activities.
Meanwhile, the ongoing situation in South Africa was making Washington nervous. Leaders in the US were coming to realize that in a short period, Pretoria would have the ability to re-shape politically and military the situation on the African Continent. It was Pretoria’s development of a nuclear device, more importantly, that their leaders were not boasting their existence that led America, the Soviet Union and Europe to make an all-out effort to convince the country to relinquish its nuclear arsenal.
In August of 1977, South African President De Klerk delineated the country’s defense deterrent strategy. The first phase of Pretoria’s defense stand was to be strategic uncertainty to be issue in case of impending national emergency. The government would not display any inclination on either side of the nuclear issue. Phase two was, if their territory integrity were about to be compromised, then Pretoria would admit to the world that they possess a nuclear capability.
If this action failed to impress the attacking party, Pretoria would switch the third phase, an underground nuclear test demonstration. This strategic plan was aimed mostly at Western capitals, more importantly, Washington; in order to obtain their political and military support in case South Africa’s military were to be overrun by an invading force. So here laid one of Pretoria’s explanation as why they need to acquire a nuclear weapon capability, to black mail of the West should the country was on the verge of collapse.
The main nuclear program efforts began in 1977 with the construction of the Vastrap nuclear testing site in the Kalahari Desert, a place Pretoria hoped to use in the testing of their nuclear devices. Preparations were made to use Vastrap for dummy testing, an instrumented tests without the actual nuclear core. Soviet surveillance satellite detected preparations for the test in early July 1977. Though the test never happened, it proved to Western Powers that Pretoria was seriously preparing a nuclear test in the near future. This same exercise happened again in the mid 1980s when Pretoria’s quest for a nuclear deterrence officially began.
South Africa initially intended to build a nuclear device for research and development purposes and as is their initial nuclear program was given to the Minister of Mining instead of the Ministry of Defense. Over time, both agencies would share duties in building-up South Africa’s still infant nuclear program. The task of building a nuclear device by a third world economy country is of mammoth undertaking. One which needed to consolidate the prowess of the private sector with all the resources the state could supply. Full scientific mobilization was organized and non-essential resources were diverted, almost in full, to the program.
Seven years after the decision was made to proceed with program, South Africa produced one crude nuclear device, a remarkable feat by this perceived developing nation. The ordinance develop was similar in composition and technology to the one the United States dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945. The similarities with the American bomb was striking and it became obvious that South Africa imported nuclear materials and expertise from abroad, but what was not completely known is from where.
From 1973 onward Israel was South Africa’s most important weapon platform supplier, thus is a good bet that advanced Israeli weapons systems found their way to Pretoria, especially long range missile technology. The cooperation between Pretoria and Tel Aviv was a two-lane street. South Africa is believed to have shipped to Israel over fifty tons of concentrated uranium ore or yellowcake in exchange for thirty grams of tritium, a heavy hydrogen isotope usually used to boost the explosive power of a nuclear device. Tritium can substantially raise the yield of a nuclear bomb.
The Israeli tritium shipped to Pretoria never found its way to a nuclear weapon core, accordingly to several well stoked reports. With a useful lifespan of twelve years, much of Pretoria’s tritium was beyond service use at the time South Africa decided to closedown its nuclear program. The strict secrecy of which Pretoria’s nuclear program was perused often forced them to make do with in-house technologies. Between late 1978 to the early 1990s, South Africa produced high enriched uranium at its main producing facility in Pelindaba. One item that surprised UN Inspectors when Pretoria opened its program was the amount of low-tech equipment it used to produce the nuclear devices. Between 1977 and 1989, Pretoria developed six nuclear devices without ever accepting of conducting a test. In September 1979, a US’s Vela Satellite detected a double flash off the southern coast of Africa. This strongly suggested that a low-yield nuclear device was test exploded. As we now know, South Africa had only enough HUE for just one nuclear device in 1979.
This data was later confirmed by the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog group, in their forensic analysis of HUE production. South Africa built its first three devices in a heavy and bulky configuration, exceeding one ton, mainly to be used as an underground demonstration device. At the time, Pretoria did not posses the ability to perform an atmospheric detonation.
The country finally relinquished its nuclear weapons program along with its six known devices in early 1991. IAEA inspectors were allowed to travel the country in search of its nuclear processing sites. They encountered a high level of cooperation with South Africa’s scientists and related personnel. Disclosure of technical data was unprecedented in the years of IAEA monitoring activities around the world. There’s one area in which South Africa was reluctant to submit information: the source of the raw nuclear-related materials used during the life of Pretoria’s nuclear weapon program.
What is worrisome about South Africa’s nuclear program is that the Western Powers learned from it after it had been successful in constructing a crude nuclear device.@
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Iran-South Africa: A nuclear connection
Soon, a new article regarding Iran's nuclear program and it's similarities to that of South Africa in the late 1970s
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The Iranian precedent
By Raul Colon
“I can’t imagine how a genocide like Rwanda can happen in the age of Twitter”, exclaimed former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown early in 2009. “Outlets such as Twitter and Facebook had opened the door for the information to run freely, without much government or on-site censorship. Now, thanks to this new technology, we have an open window into any event on the globe. We can have instant information of whatever is happening on the ground”. Five months later, Mr. Brown and the world got the first taste of the what many has called the ‘Instant Revolution’.
Who does not remember the gripping posts made on Twitter and Facebook during Iran’s disputed 2009 election? Thanks to an unprecedented live-feed provided by two those two unlikely outlets the world saw provocative photos, shell shocking videos and up-to-the-minute accounts of what was happening inside one of the most reclusive countries on earth.
Western media and the public in general gravitated to their TV sets or computers to watch the Iranian people expressing anger and desperation for the first time and in front of millions, on what they believe to be a ridged election result. The seeds of a new revolution could have been planted last summer and thanks to those two social networks, the world was able to see it!
Twitting don’t commence radical chance, people do. But platforms such as Facebook can be a high value asset to activists operating inside an authoritarian regime. Of course, more is needed if a revolution is actually going to happen as the case in Iran clearly demonstrated. Nevertheless, such was the magnitude of unfetter information getting outside the Iranian borders that Tehran tried to shut down the all internet access in an effort to curb what was a rapid growing movement.
A case could be made that if had not been for the death of Michael Jackson, which took the air out of all the news for more than a month, the frenetic pace in which Iranians were expressing themselves through the social networks would have continue even with Tehran’s new and tougher censorship attempts. Accordingly to several internet watch groups, the number of ‘Tweets’ a minute attached to the election of June 12 was 40 a minute. That’s forty messages of 140 or less character each 60 seconds. Facebook reported a 25 per minute, Iran-related post rate. Both were all time numbers for each of the networks. That average lasted, more or less, until the 24th.
As impressive as those figures were, they became obsolete just a few days later. On June 26th, the day the world got word of the passing of Jackson, Twitter informed that their servers registered 73 Tweets a minute relating to the King of Pop. Data for Facebook is not available. But is a good bet they also saw a ten-fold increase in their posting. Despite the amazing figures related to Jackson, they did not last. On day three, the 29th, average Tweets per minutes dropped to 25. That’s only one more than Iran-based posting (24) seventeen days after the ballots were cast.
The death of an iconic figure such as Jackson may have suffocated the news and in the process, downplayed the amount of coverage the Iranian opposition generated but it did not ‘kill’ the movement as many pundits have stipulated. In fact, Twitter and Facebook has become more than a quasi-news service. They have transformed themselves into a communication tool. Demonstrators and sympathizers routinely use both social platforms to relate critical information. In authoritarian Iran, opposition meetings are set. Speeches are crafted and even flyers are printed all thanks to Facebook or Twitter posts.
There is where the real revolution began, with the flow of information. Not only it alerted the world of what was happening, but it established a communication ‘back channel’ which has the opportunity to outlast the State’s censorship.
United State Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, ushered theses words just three days after Iran’s election. “It is increasingly difficult for an authoritarian government to maintain control of all the means of communication that are available to its citizens, and especially when -- I mean, you either have economic stagnation and backwardness, or you allow modern communications. And it makes the control of communications, by a government, extremely difficult. And frankly I think it's -- you know, it's a huge win for freedom, around the world, because this monopoly of information is no longer in the hands of the government”.
This is the real Iranian precedent.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Russian and German give 'go ahead' to sanctions
Germany and Russia declared Saturday that the five world powers negotiating with Iran support a fresh set of international sanctions, and Chancellor Angela Merkel said they could pass soon.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a news conference with Merkel that "agreement on the sanctions exists," despite the fact that "nobody wants sanctions."
"We hope the voice of the international community will be heard by the Iranian leadership," Medvedev said through the official German translator.
Merkel said sanctions could be passed by the United Nations Security Council "in the near future."
Russia has been traditionally opposed to sanctions for Iran, a longtime trade partner, but in recent months officials have shown less patience with Iran's refusal to stop enriching uranium and heed other council demands meant to reduce suspicions over its nuclear aims .
"I am very happy, that we can stand here jointly today and say that this is a joint position not only of the European Union, the United States of America and Russia, but also of China," Merkel said. "That is an important step the international community has made here."
Moscow has recently joined the other four U.N. Security Council members — the United States, China, Britain and France — to tentatively back a draft fourth set of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
"We have always taken a two-way approach, making offers, on the one hand, but, as there are no qualitative changes, on the other hand now the time has come that such sanctions must be adopted," Merkel said.
Medvedev said it is unacceptable "that one continues to act irresponsibly. One has to move toward the partners of the international community and it is only in this way that complicated issues can be solved."
Russia's president arrived Friday for a two-day visit to Germany to discuss a range of issues with Merkel.
The West is against an expansion of nuclear nations and suspects Iran is enriching uranium to build a nuclear warhead. Tehran denies this and insists on its right to a peaceful nuclear power program, but has frustrated the West over its failure to prove it.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a news conference with Merkel that "agreement on the sanctions exists," despite the fact that "nobody wants sanctions."
"We hope the voice of the international community will be heard by the Iranian leadership," Medvedev said through the official German translator.
Merkel said sanctions could be passed by the United Nations Security Council "in the near future."
Russia has been traditionally opposed to sanctions for Iran, a longtime trade partner, but in recent months officials have shown less patience with Iran's refusal to stop enriching uranium and heed other council demands meant to reduce suspicions over its nuclear aims .
"I am very happy, that we can stand here jointly today and say that this is a joint position not only of the European Union, the United States of America and Russia, but also of China," Merkel said. "That is an important step the international community has made here."
Moscow has recently joined the other four U.N. Security Council members — the United States, China, Britain and France — to tentatively back a draft fourth set of U.N. sanctions against Iran.
"We have always taken a two-way approach, making offers, on the one hand, but, as there are no qualitative changes, on the other hand now the time has come that such sanctions must be adopted," Merkel said.
Medvedev said it is unacceptable "that one continues to act irresponsibly. One has to move toward the partners of the international community and it is only in this way that complicated issues can be solved."
Russia's president arrived Friday for a two-day visit to Germany to discuss a range of issues with Merkel.
The West is against an expansion of nuclear nations and suspects Iran is enriching uranium to build a nuclear warhead. Tehran denies this and insists on its right to a peaceful nuclear power program, but has frustrated the West over its failure to prove it.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Ahmadinejad warns opposition
The Iranian president on Friday warned the country's opposition against straying from the path of the founder of the Islamic Revolution and slammed Israel for a deadly raid this week on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke before hundreds of thousands gathered at the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the surrounding grounds in southern Tehran for a ceremony marking his death 21 years ago. The Khomeini-led Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah and brought hard-line Islamists to power in 1979.
"Those who deviate from the Imam's path will be banished by the people," Ahmadinejad said.
The stark warning came just days ahead of the opposition's mass rally planned on the anniversary of last June's disputed presidential election. The rally is to be the first opposition gathering in months and authorities have warned they will confront any unauthorized demonstrations.
The Iranian opposition claims Ahmadinejad won the June 12 election through massive vote fraud. It had rallied for months against the election results but was met by a heavy government crackdown, which the opposition says killed 80 people during street protests so far.
More than 100 opposition figures and activists were put on a mass trial, and 80 of them were sentenced to death or given prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years.
But Ahmadinejad reiterated Friday that the election was "100 percent free" and added he is "bound by duty to protect the people's vote."
The annual commemoration of Khomeini's death is part mournful ceremony, part political rally for the base that sustains Iran's hard-liners amid rising dissatisfaction with inflation, unemployment, social constraints — and an opposition movement that has persisted despite the crackdown.
Ahmadinejad, known for his anti-Israeli rhetoric, used the podium at the shrine grounds Friday to blast Israel's commando raid on the international flotilla off Gaza's shores, calling it "barbaric" and urging the dismantling of the "Zionist regime."
"They have lost their self-control and ability to think," he said of the Israeli raid that killed nine activists on the Turkish flagship in the flotilla Monday.
"Thousands such freedom flotillas across the world will sail out with freedom fighters, to scrap the Zionist rule and bring peace and freedom to all mankind," added Ahmadinejad.
Iran's supreme leader and Khomeini's successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also criticized the raid as a "mistake" that "showed how barbaric the Zionists are."
Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters in Iran, also indirectly criticized opposition leaders, saying that some who revered the late Khomeini now "speak differently" than before. He also warned the opposition to carefully examine what he said was support that comes from "foreign enemies of Iran, enemies of the Imam."
Khomeini's grandson took the stage as he does every year on the anniversary, but this time his speech was repeatedly interrupted by anti-opposition chants from Ahmadinejad supporters. The chanting was apparently a jab at Hassan Khomeini's perceived support for opposition leaders.
Khomeini left the podium before finishing. "The dignity of the anniversary does not deserve what this small group is doing," he said.
The semiofficial Ilna news agency said other Khomeini relatives who attended the ceremony left in protest over the incident.
State TV carried the ceremony live, saying it was attended by 2 million people, including more than 700,000 Iranians who were bused in from various provinces.
Khomeini is still deeply popular and respected among Iranians, including veterans of the eight-year war that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched against Iran in the 1980s.
The TV reported that after the Tehran ceremony, there were anti-Israeli demonstrations in several Iranian cities and towns following Friday prayers.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke before hundreds of thousands gathered at the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the surrounding grounds in southern Tehran for a ceremony marking his death 21 years ago. The Khomeini-led Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah and brought hard-line Islamists to power in 1979.
"Those who deviate from the Imam's path will be banished by the people," Ahmadinejad said.
The stark warning came just days ahead of the opposition's mass rally planned on the anniversary of last June's disputed presidential election. The rally is to be the first opposition gathering in months and authorities have warned they will confront any unauthorized demonstrations.
The Iranian opposition claims Ahmadinejad won the June 12 election through massive vote fraud. It had rallied for months against the election results but was met by a heavy government crackdown, which the opposition says killed 80 people during street protests so far.
More than 100 opposition figures and activists were put on a mass trial, and 80 of them were sentenced to death or given prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years.
But Ahmadinejad reiterated Friday that the election was "100 percent free" and added he is "bound by duty to protect the people's vote."
The annual commemoration of Khomeini's death is part mournful ceremony, part political rally for the base that sustains Iran's hard-liners amid rising dissatisfaction with inflation, unemployment, social constraints — and an opposition movement that has persisted despite the crackdown.
Ahmadinejad, known for his anti-Israeli rhetoric, used the podium at the shrine grounds Friday to blast Israel's commando raid on the international flotilla off Gaza's shores, calling it "barbaric" and urging the dismantling of the "Zionist regime."
"They have lost their self-control and ability to think," he said of the Israeli raid that killed nine activists on the Turkish flagship in the flotilla Monday.
"Thousands such freedom flotillas across the world will sail out with freedom fighters, to scrap the Zionist rule and bring peace and freedom to all mankind," added Ahmadinejad.
Iran's supreme leader and Khomeini's successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also criticized the raid as a "mistake" that "showed how barbaric the Zionists are."
Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters in Iran, also indirectly criticized opposition leaders, saying that some who revered the late Khomeini now "speak differently" than before. He also warned the opposition to carefully examine what he said was support that comes from "foreign enemies of Iran, enemies of the Imam."
Khomeini's grandson took the stage as he does every year on the anniversary, but this time his speech was repeatedly interrupted by anti-opposition chants from Ahmadinejad supporters. The chanting was apparently a jab at Hassan Khomeini's perceived support for opposition leaders.
Khomeini left the podium before finishing. "The dignity of the anniversary does not deserve what this small group is doing," he said.
The semiofficial Ilna news agency said other Khomeini relatives who attended the ceremony left in protest over the incident.
State TV carried the ceremony live, saying it was attended by 2 million people, including more than 700,000 Iranians who were bused in from various provinces.
Khomeini is still deeply popular and respected among Iranians, including veterans of the eight-year war that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched against Iran in the 1980s.
The TV reported that after the Tehran ceremony, there were anti-Israeli demonstrations in several Iranian cities and towns following Friday prayers.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
'Mis-communication' between Iran and the U.N.
Iran's atomic energy chief claimed on Thursday that the U.N. nuclear watchdog misunderstood the nature of the experiments at a Tehran laboratory mentioned in the agency's latest report.
The report underscored the West's concerns about Iranian nuclear ambitions and came as the U.N. Security Council inches toward imposing a new round of sanctions on Tehran for refusing to suspend its nuclear enrichment.
Ali Akbar Salehi said the International Atomic Energy Agency's report earlier this week made a "misinterpretation" in a reference about pyroprocessing — a procedure that can be used to purify uranium metal used in nuclear warheads.
Salehi, according to the semiofficial Isna news agency, said the Tehran lab experiments deal with uranium production, not pyroprocessing.
"The experiments have no relation to pyroprocessing," he said. "We believe the agency used this false report about a process that has not yet taken place, with the purpose of influencing public opinion."
Salehi stressed such "mistakes" would backfire and only damage IAEA's reputation.
He added that the Tehran lab experiments sought to produce uranium metal from depleted uranium, which is an effective shield against harmful radiation. Salehi said Iran has plentiful stocks of depleted uranium but didn't elaborate on the source of the material.
In January, Iran told the IAEA it had carried out pyroprocessing experiments, prompting a request from the agency for more information — but then backtracked in March and denied conducting such activities.
IAEA experts last month revisited the site — the Jabr Ibn Jayan Multipurpose Research Laboratory in Tehran — only to establish "that the electrochemical cell had been removed" from the unit used in the experiments, according to the report.
Salehi said this was "not correct" and that Iran did not remove any equipment from the lab. He didn't elaborate but Isna quoted him as saying Iran would provide the IAEA with evidence at an unspecified later date.
Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iranian's envoy to the IAEA headquarters in Vienna already criticized the report in comments made Wednesday in the Austrian capital.
The U.S. and its allies are concerned Iran's program strives to make nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies and says uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes only, such as energy production.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Iran FM express hopes on deal
By Raul Colon
From AP
Iran's foreign minister said Monday he is optimistic for international approval on a deal to swap nuclear fuel with Turkey, and that Tehran hopes to restore diplomatic relations with Washington in the future.
Iran last week submitted the deal for approval to the International Atomic Energy Agency. It involves exchanging enriched uranium for fuel rods that can be used in nuclear reactors but not in nuclear weapons.
The agreement does not keep Iran from continuing to enrich more high-grade uranium on its own, leading to criticism from the U.S. and other countries, which are pushing for fresh sanctions against the country.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday called it an opportunity to finally make progress on the issue.
"In terms of realizing this agreement, it is my belief that all countries involved are searching for a way out of the current circumstances," he said.
Mottaki spoke to business leaders, scholars and reporters at a luncheon in a Tokyo hotel.
The fuel-exchange deal was brokered by Brazil and Turkey, whose leaders say it is a starting point for negotiations and have defended it from U.S. criticism.
It comes as the U.N. Security Council considers a new set of sanctions in response to Iran's refusal to halt high-level uranium enrichment. Iran originally said it needed the material to fuel its research reactor, after an earlier deal to secure such fuel from abroad fell apart.
Washington and Tehran broke off direct diplomatic relations following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Switzerland handles U.S. interests inside Iran. Mottaki said a restoration of official ties was a possibility, without setting a timeline.
"It is not our intention to permanently have no diplomatic relations with America," he said.
Mottaki repeatedly referred to Iran's close ties with Japan in his comments. He said he had held numerous long discussions on the telephone with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada about an agreement similar to the one submitted to the IAEA last week, and that Tokyo could help the current deal go through.
"I believe strongly that Japan can have a beneficial and constructive role in realizing the terms of the agreement," Mottaki said.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
A US source: Afghan rebels are trained in Iran
By Raul Colon
From Yahoo News Service
Afghan insurgents are being trained inside Iran and given weapons to fight security forces, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces said on Sunday, joining a rising drumbeat of criticism of Iran's role in the country.
General Stanley McChrystal said coalition forces were working to stop Iran from giving material help to the Taliban who have stepped up the campaign to force foreign forces out of Afghanistan in a nine-year conflict.
"The training that we have seen occurs inside Iran with fighters moving inside Iran," he said at a news conference in response to a question on Iran's influence. "The weapons that we have received come from Iran into Afghanistan."
The United States, battling a Taliban insurgency at its worst, has frequently accused Iran of providing some assistance to insurgents in Afghanistan, although Washington says it has not been nearly as important a factor as in Iraq, Iran's other neighbor, where U.S. troops are waging war.
In March, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said there had been a significant shipment of Iranian arms to fighters in the southern province of Kandahar.
U.S. forces are preparing for an offensive in Kandahar, the spiritual capital of the Taliban, this summer in what is seen a turning point in the war to force the insurgents to the negotiating table for a settlement of the conflict.
Iran denies supporting militant groups opposed to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government, and says it has a stake in the security of the neighboring state.
Tehran's economic influence in Afghanistan has grown rapidly in recent years, especially in the West, where cross-border trade is brisk. A dialect of Iran's Farsi language is one of two state languages in Afghanistan, and Iran hosted millions of Afghan refugees during decades of conflict.
McChrystal said Iran, as a neighbor, had natural interests in Afghanistan and to a certain extent the assistance and interaction it provided was healthy. "There is however clear evidence of Iranian activity, in some cases of providing weapons and training to the Taliban that is inappropriate," he said.
Iran backed the Northern Alliance in the war against the Sunni Muslim Taliban in the 1990s, but security analysts said Tehran's intelligence services could be helping elements in the Taliban as a tool against the United States.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Ahmadinejad urges Obama to accept nuke swap deal
By Raul Colon
From AP
Iran's president warned the United States on Wednesday that it will miss a historic opportunity for cooperation if it turns down a nuclear fuel swap deal that Washington has dismissed as a ploy.
Differences over the deal — and the U.S. push for new sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program — have threatened to close the door on President Barack Obama's already fading policy of outreach to Tehran.
"There are people in the world who want to pit Mr. Obama against the Iranian nation and bring him to the point of no return, where the path to his friendship with Iran will be blocked forever," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a rally in the southern town of Kerman.
The swap offer was negotiated last week by Brazil and Turkey, which are opposed to new U.N. sanctions on Iran. The United States quickly announced that it had won agreement from the permanent members of the Security Council — Russia, China, Britain and France and Germany — on a draft resolution that would hit Iran with a fourth round of penalties for refusing to completely halt uranium enrichment.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday rejected the Iranian plan to swap some of its enriched uranium for reactor fuel as a "transparent ploy" to try to avoid new sanctions.
The U.S. and its allies worry that Iran is seeking to develop atomic weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program only seeks energy-producing reactors.
The hardening of positions reflects a shift in tone by Obama, who came to office promising a policy of dialogue with Iran. The effort has made little headway, with the United Nations demanding Iran halt uranium enrichment and Tehran refusing and expanding its enrichment program. The dialogue policy has also been complicated by the Iranian leadership's heavy crackdown on the opposition following June 12 presidential elections that Ahmadinejad is accused of winning by fraud.
The fuel swap deal was touted as a rare opportunity to promote cooperation. A U.N.-drafted plan put forward in October called for Iran to send the majority of its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing into fuel rods to be returned to it for use in a research reactor. The U.S. sought the plan as a way to ensure Iran, at least temporarily, did not have enough low-enriched uranium to be further processed into a nuclear warhead.
But Tehran balked for months over the terms of the plan. The deal it finally reached with Turkey and Brazil contains many similar provisions. However, since October, Iran has accumulated enough low-enriched uranium to still build a warhead even if send the amount under the deal abroad, making the deal less attractive to the West. Washington has accused Iran of trying to stall.
In his speech, Ahmadinejad said Washington and its allies should take the deal if they want to show they are open to dialogue.
"If they (U.S. and its allies) are truthful when they say they seek cooperation ... they should accept this offer," Ahmadinejad said. "But if they seek excuses, they should know that the path to any interaction will be closed."
He also had unusually harsh words for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, accusing him of caving in to U.S. pressure for new sanctions.
"Justifying the behavior of Mr. Medvedev today has become very difficult," he said. "The Iranian nation doesn't know whether (Russians) ultimately are friends, whether they stand by us or are after other things. This is not acceptable."
Moscow is a longtime trade partner of Iran with more leverage over it than Western nations.
"I hope Russian leaders and officials pay attention to these sincere words and correct themselves, and not let the Iranian nation consider them among its enemies," he said.
Russia issued a swift rebuke, saying its position was guided by longterm state interests and was "neither pro-American, nor pro-Iranian."
Russia rejects "all manifestations of unpredictability, political extremism, non-transparency and inconsistency in making decisions on issues of global importance," top presidential foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko said. "No one has ever managed to save his authority by making use of political demagoguery."
Like the U.N.-backed plan, Tehran's proposal would commit Iran to shipping 2,640 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium for storage abroad — in this case to Turkey. In exchange, Iran would get the fuel rods made from 20-percent enriched uranium within one year.
While in October that amount would have been around 70 percent of Iran's low-enriched uranium, its stockpiles now are beleived to have grown to around 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms), meaning it would still have enough to produce a warhead after the shipment abroad.
Also, Iran's insistence that even with the deal it will continue to enrich uranium to 20 percent on its own — from which it can produce weapons-grade material much more quickly than from lower levels — is an even greater problem for the West.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent letters to Obama, Medvedev and presidents Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Felipe Calderon of Mexico, urging them to support the fuel swap deal.
"Brazil will continue promoting dialogue and prevent the closing of the door that was opened" by the swap agreement, Silva's spokesman told reporters.
Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said acceptance would create "a virtuous circle for new talks."
"The objective (of the agreement) is to create a climate of international trust, that may not resolve all of Iran's nuclear energy problems, but does open opportunities for talks," Amorim told the state-run Agencia Brasil news agency.
Iran says uranium enrichment is meant exclusively for power generation. Tehran needs the fuel rods to power the research reactor, which produces medical isotopes to treat cancer patients.
From AP
Iran's president warned the United States on Wednesday that it will miss a historic opportunity for cooperation if it turns down a nuclear fuel swap deal that Washington has dismissed as a ploy.
Differences over the deal — and the U.S. push for new sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program — have threatened to close the door on President Barack Obama's already fading policy of outreach to Tehran.
"There are people in the world who want to pit Mr. Obama against the Iranian nation and bring him to the point of no return, where the path to his friendship with Iran will be blocked forever," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a rally in the southern town of Kerman.
The swap offer was negotiated last week by Brazil and Turkey, which are opposed to new U.N. sanctions on Iran. The United States quickly announced that it had won agreement from the permanent members of the Security Council — Russia, China, Britain and France and Germany — on a draft resolution that would hit Iran with a fourth round of penalties for refusing to completely halt uranium enrichment.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday rejected the Iranian plan to swap some of its enriched uranium for reactor fuel as a "transparent ploy" to try to avoid new sanctions.
The U.S. and its allies worry that Iran is seeking to develop atomic weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program only seeks energy-producing reactors.
The hardening of positions reflects a shift in tone by Obama, who came to office promising a policy of dialogue with Iran. The effort has made little headway, with the United Nations demanding Iran halt uranium enrichment and Tehran refusing and expanding its enrichment program. The dialogue policy has also been complicated by the Iranian leadership's heavy crackdown on the opposition following June 12 presidential elections that Ahmadinejad is accused of winning by fraud.
The fuel swap deal was touted as a rare opportunity to promote cooperation. A U.N.-drafted plan put forward in October called for Iran to send the majority of its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing into fuel rods to be returned to it for use in a research reactor. The U.S. sought the plan as a way to ensure Iran, at least temporarily, did not have enough low-enriched uranium to be further processed into a nuclear warhead.
But Tehran balked for months over the terms of the plan. The deal it finally reached with Turkey and Brazil contains many similar provisions. However, since October, Iran has accumulated enough low-enriched uranium to still build a warhead even if send the amount under the deal abroad, making the deal less attractive to the West. Washington has accused Iran of trying to stall.
In his speech, Ahmadinejad said Washington and its allies should take the deal if they want to show they are open to dialogue.
"If they (U.S. and its allies) are truthful when they say they seek cooperation ... they should accept this offer," Ahmadinejad said. "But if they seek excuses, they should know that the path to any interaction will be closed."
He also had unusually harsh words for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, accusing him of caving in to U.S. pressure for new sanctions.
"Justifying the behavior of Mr. Medvedev today has become very difficult," he said. "The Iranian nation doesn't know whether (Russians) ultimately are friends, whether they stand by us or are after other things. This is not acceptable."
Moscow is a longtime trade partner of Iran with more leverage over it than Western nations.
"I hope Russian leaders and officials pay attention to these sincere words and correct themselves, and not let the Iranian nation consider them among its enemies," he said.
Russia issued a swift rebuke, saying its position was guided by longterm state interests and was "neither pro-American, nor pro-Iranian."
Russia rejects "all manifestations of unpredictability, political extremism, non-transparency and inconsistency in making decisions on issues of global importance," top presidential foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko said. "No one has ever managed to save his authority by making use of political demagoguery."
Like the U.N.-backed plan, Tehran's proposal would commit Iran to shipping 2,640 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium for storage abroad — in this case to Turkey. In exchange, Iran would get the fuel rods made from 20-percent enriched uranium within one year.
While in October that amount would have been around 70 percent of Iran's low-enriched uranium, its stockpiles now are beleived to have grown to around 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms), meaning it would still have enough to produce a warhead after the shipment abroad.
Also, Iran's insistence that even with the deal it will continue to enrich uranium to 20 percent on its own — from which it can produce weapons-grade material much more quickly than from lower levels — is an even greater problem for the West.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent letters to Obama, Medvedev and presidents Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Felipe Calderon of Mexico, urging them to support the fuel swap deal.
"Brazil will continue promoting dialogue and prevent the closing of the door that was opened" by the swap agreement, Silva's spokesman told reporters.
Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said acceptance would create "a virtuous circle for new talks."
"The objective (of the agreement) is to create a climate of international trust, that may not resolve all of Iran's nuclear energy problems, but does open opportunities for talks," Amorim told the state-run Agencia Brasil news agency.
Iran says uranium enrichment is meant exclusively for power generation. Tehran needs the fuel rods to power the research reactor, which produces medical isotopes to treat cancer patients.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Iran's nuclear reactor goes on-line in August
By Raul Colon
From AP Wire Services
This morning, Russia's top nuclear official officially stated that work on Iran's first nuclear plant is on schedule and that the reactor will go on-line by early August.
Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko said Thursday that possible international sanctions being drawn up against Iran will not impede the launching of the reactor in Bushehr. Work on the plant began over 35 years ago by a German company that eventually abandoned the project after the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Russia agreed to complete the project in the 1990s but has delayed the launching due to numerous problems
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Defiant Iran against new round of sanctions
A defiant Iran shrugged off Wednesday the threat of new sanctions as Brazil and Turkey urged the United Nations to wait and see how a nuclear swap deal plays out before caving in to US pressure.
US President Barack Obama said he was "pleased" by developments after usual standouts Russia and China gave their backing to a tough new draft sanctions resolution circulated Tuesday to the full UN Security Council.
"We agreed on the need for Iran to uphold its international obligations or face increased sanctions and pressure, including UN sanctions," Obama said after talks with visiting Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon.
"And I'm pleased that we've reached an agreement with our P5 plus-1 partners on a strong resolution that we now have shared with our Security Council partners."
But Security Council members Turkey and Brazil urged the world body not to impose new sanctions until Iran had been given time to honour a deal they brokered to swap about half its low enriched uranium (LEU) for nuclear fuel.
"Brazil and Turkey are convinced that it is time to give a chance for negotiations and to avoid measures that are detrimental to a peaceful solution," read a letter signed by their foreign ministers.
The two countries forged a deal Monday they hailed as a step toward ending Iran's years-old standoff with the West, but which US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton framed as an attempt by Tehran to avoid further punishment.
Under the deal, the Islamic republic agreed to ship out much of its stockpile of low enriched uranium to neighbouring Turkey in exchange for fuel for a research reactor for medical isotopes.
"This agreement is a new fact that has to be evaluated," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who led the Iran-Brazil-Turkey negotiations, insisted in Brasilia.
Iran, which maintains that its nuclear enrichment activities are purely for civilian energy purposes and not aimed at building an atomic weapon as the West fears, suggested that the international desire for new sanctions was wilting.
"(Talk of) imposing sanctions has faded and this resolution is the last effort by the West," the Fars news agency quoted Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads Iran's atomic energy organisation, as saying.
The new draft being considered by the Security Council foresees cargo ship inspections and new banking controls.
It would also expand an arms embargo and measures against Iran's banking sector as well as ban sensitive overseas activities like uranium mining and developing ballistic missiles.
The draft has the blessing of all five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany -- a significant boon to the US after months spent trying to persuade Moscow and particularly Beijing to come on board.
China's backing of a fourth round of sanctions against Iran came despite its earlier support for the fuel swap deal.
"We attach importance to and support this agreement," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said after Monday's accord was struck.
Given the Brazil-Turkey letter, China's apparent reluctance to comment on new sanctions and Russia speaking only of its "understanding in principle... on the draft resolution," Salehi expressed doubts there was an emerging international consensus against his country.
"We should be patient because they won't prevail and by pursuing the passing of a new resolution they are discrediting themselves in public opinion," he said.
"I think there are some rational people among them who will stop them from making this irrational move."
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressed similar scepticism about the chances of new sanctions being passed.
"There is no chance the resolution is going to be passed," he told state-run Al-Alam television from the Tajik capital Dushanbe. "The nations who are seeking to impose sanctions are in the minority."
Already under three sets of UN sanctions over its defiance of repeated ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment, Iran touted its agreement with Brazil and Turkey as a goodwill gesture that paves the way for a resumption of talks with the major powers.
The deal is similar to one suggested last year by the P5 plus 1, who had been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme until their patience ran out at the end of last year.
The US says its main objection to the new deal is that there is no commitment from Iran to suspend its enrichment activities.
US President Barack Obama said he was "pleased" by developments after usual standouts Russia and China gave their backing to a tough new draft sanctions resolution circulated Tuesday to the full UN Security Council.
"We agreed on the need for Iran to uphold its international obligations or face increased sanctions and pressure, including UN sanctions," Obama said after talks with visiting Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon.
"And I'm pleased that we've reached an agreement with our P5 plus-1 partners on a strong resolution that we now have shared with our Security Council partners."
But Security Council members Turkey and Brazil urged the world body not to impose new sanctions until Iran had been given time to honour a deal they brokered to swap about half its low enriched uranium (LEU) for nuclear fuel.
"Brazil and Turkey are convinced that it is time to give a chance for negotiations and to avoid measures that are detrimental to a peaceful solution," read a letter signed by their foreign ministers.
The two countries forged a deal Monday they hailed as a step toward ending Iran's years-old standoff with the West, but which US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton framed as an attempt by Tehran to avoid further punishment.
Under the deal, the Islamic republic agreed to ship out much of its stockpile of low enriched uranium to neighbouring Turkey in exchange for fuel for a research reactor for medical isotopes.
"This agreement is a new fact that has to be evaluated," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who led the Iran-Brazil-Turkey negotiations, insisted in Brasilia.
Iran, which maintains that its nuclear enrichment activities are purely for civilian energy purposes and not aimed at building an atomic weapon as the West fears, suggested that the international desire for new sanctions was wilting.
"(Talk of) imposing sanctions has faded and this resolution is the last effort by the West," the Fars news agency quoted Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads Iran's atomic energy organisation, as saying.
The new draft being considered by the Security Council foresees cargo ship inspections and new banking controls.
It would also expand an arms embargo and measures against Iran's banking sector as well as ban sensitive overseas activities like uranium mining and developing ballistic missiles.
The draft has the blessing of all five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany -- a significant boon to the US after months spent trying to persuade Moscow and particularly Beijing to come on board.
China's backing of a fourth round of sanctions against Iran came despite its earlier support for the fuel swap deal.
"We attach importance to and support this agreement," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said after Monday's accord was struck.
Given the Brazil-Turkey letter, China's apparent reluctance to comment on new sanctions and Russia speaking only of its "understanding in principle... on the draft resolution," Salehi expressed doubts there was an emerging international consensus against his country.
"We should be patient because they won't prevail and by pursuing the passing of a new resolution they are discrediting themselves in public opinion," he said.
"I think there are some rational people among them who will stop them from making this irrational move."
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressed similar scepticism about the chances of new sanctions being passed.
"There is no chance the resolution is going to be passed," he told state-run Al-Alam television from the Tajik capital Dushanbe. "The nations who are seeking to impose sanctions are in the minority."
Already under three sets of UN sanctions over its defiance of repeated ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment, Iran touted its agreement with Brazil and Turkey as a goodwill gesture that paves the way for a resumption of talks with the major powers.
The deal is similar to one suggested last year by the P5 plus 1, who had been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme until their patience ran out at the end of last year.
The US says its main objection to the new deal is that there is no commitment from Iran to suspend its enrichment activities.
Iran rejects new sanctions
Iran on Wednesday dismissed as "illegitimate" a draft U.N. Security Council resolution seeking to impose harsher sanctions against Tehran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh, a top adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the draft proposed by the U.S. was a reactionary response to a deal in which Iran agreed to ship much of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey.
The surprise deal, brokered by Turkey and Brazil Monday, didn't ease concerns in the West that Iran's nuclear program has military dimensions primarily because Tehran has said it will continue to enrich uranium to higher levels.
Uranium enriched to a low level is used for nuclear fuel, but if processed to much higher levels it can be fashioned into a weapon.
"The draft resolution being discussed at Security Council has no legitimacy at all," the official IRNA news agency quoted Samareh as saying Wednesday after a Cabinet meeting.
The deal would deprive Iran — at least temporarily — of some of the stocks of enriched uranium that it would need to process further to create a weapon, if that were its intention. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
But — because seven months have elapsed since the agreement was originally floated and Iran continues to enrich — it would still have enough material to make such a weapon even if Tehran shipped out the original amount stipulated by the U.N.
The material would be returned to Iran in the form of fuel rods, which cannot be processed further. Iran needs the fuel rods to power an aging medical research reactor in Tehran that produces isotopes for cancer treatment.
But to the U.S. and its allies the deal is to little now too late.
The United States and its Western allies won crucial support from Russia and China for new sanctions against Iran Tuesday but face tough opposition from non-permanent U.N. Security Council members Turkey, Brazil and Lebanon.
Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said world powers would discredit themselves if they passed new sanctions.
"By issuing resolution, they would further discredit themselves in the public opinion," he said on state TV. "Discussions of imposing sanctions has faded away and this is a last effort by the Western countries."
Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh, a top adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the draft proposed by the U.S. was a reactionary response to a deal in which Iran agreed to ship much of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey.
The surprise deal, brokered by Turkey and Brazil Monday, didn't ease concerns in the West that Iran's nuclear program has military dimensions primarily because Tehran has said it will continue to enrich uranium to higher levels.
Uranium enriched to a low level is used for nuclear fuel, but if processed to much higher levels it can be fashioned into a weapon.
"The draft resolution being discussed at Security Council has no legitimacy at all," the official IRNA news agency quoted Samareh as saying Wednesday after a Cabinet meeting.
The deal would deprive Iran — at least temporarily — of some of the stocks of enriched uranium that it would need to process further to create a weapon, if that were its intention. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
But — because seven months have elapsed since the agreement was originally floated and Iran continues to enrich — it would still have enough material to make such a weapon even if Tehran shipped out the original amount stipulated by the U.N.
The material would be returned to Iran in the form of fuel rods, which cannot be processed further. Iran needs the fuel rods to power an aging medical research reactor in Tehran that produces isotopes for cancer treatment.
But to the U.S. and its allies the deal is to little now too late.
The United States and its Western allies won crucial support from Russia and China for new sanctions against Iran Tuesday but face tough opposition from non-permanent U.N. Security Council members Turkey, Brazil and Lebanon.
Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said world powers would discredit themselves if they passed new sanctions.
"By issuing resolution, they would further discredit themselves in the public opinion," he said on state TV. "Discussions of imposing sanctions has faded away and this is a last effort by the Western countries."
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
New sanctions against Iran
AP-The United States , the European allies, Russia and China have agreed on a new package of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran in response to its refusal to halt its uranium enrichment program, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Tuesday.
"I am pleased to say we have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of Russia and China ," Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee . "We plan to circulate the draft resolution to the entire Security Council today."
Clinton didn't reveal details of the measures, which were formulated during weeks of negotiations among diplomats from the United States , Russia , China , Britain , France and Germany , a group known as the P5+1. There was no immediate confirmation from other P5+1 members.
Clinton's announcement appeared to rebuff an agreement announced Monday by Iran , Turkey and Brazil that was seen as an attempt to head off a fourth round of U.N. sanctions.
Western officials allege that Iran's nuclear program — which was concealed for 18 years from U.N. inspectors and was based on knowhow purchased from a Pakistani-run smuggling ring — is part of a secret nuclear-weapons development effort.
Iran rejects the charge and says it needs low-enriched uranium to fuel nuclear power plants that it plans to build. It also says it has the right to peaceful nuclear technology as a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of the international system to prevent the spread of nuclear arms.
The process that's used to manufacture low-enriched uranium fuel for nuclear reactors also produces highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
Under the agreement announced Monday in Tehran, Iran would send 2,640 pounds, just over half of its stock of 3.5 percent low-enriched uranium, for storage in Turkey within a month. At the end of a year, it would receive 20 percent low-enriched uranium for fuel for a research reactor in Tehran that's used to produce medical isotopes.
Iran said, however that the agreement didn't prevent it from continuing to enrich uranium. Moreover, it would have retained enough low-enriched uranium to produce highly enriched fuel for a single weapon, according to experts.
The United States , the European Union and Russia have expressed skepticism over the deal.
"There are a number of unanswered questions regarding the announcement
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Brazil talks nuclear with Iran
By Raul Colon
Source: AP
Today, the AP reported that the Brazilian president met with Iranian leaders Sunday to try to broker a compromise in the international standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, even as the U.S. says new sanctions are the only way to force Iran's cooperation.
Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is trying to use Brazil's friendly relations with Iran to show it can be a fair, neutral broker in the escalating dispute. Since evidence of a clandestine Iranian nuclear program first emerged in 2003, negotiations with world powers and visits by U.N. inspectors have failed to persuade the U.S. and its allies that Iran is not pursuing a weapons capability.
"It's more difficult for someone who has nuclear weapons to ask someone not to develop nuclear weapons," Silva said in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV on Saturday. "It's easier for someone who does not carry nuclear weapons, like myself, to ask for that."
The Brazilian president is reportedly trying to revive a U.N.-backed proposal in which Iran would ship its stockpile of enriched uranium abroad to be processed further and returned as fuel rods for a medical research reactor.
Silva began his visit by meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In the afternoon, he was to meet Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran maintains its nuclear work is only for peaceful purposes, like energy production. But the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency says Iran has not fully cooperated with its investigation to determine whether it has a military dimension.
The U.N. plan, first proposed in October, would deprive Iran of stocks of enriched uranium that it could process to the higher levels of enrichment needed in weapons production. The material returned to Iran in the form of fuel rods could not be processed beyond its lower, safer levels, which are suitable for use in the Tehran research reactor.
Iran initially accepted the deal but then balked and proposed changes rejected by the world powers negotiating with Tehran: Germany and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, which are the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Iran will continue to defy demands to prove its nuclear program is peaceful unless it is hit with a new round of U.N. sanctions.
"Every step along the way has demonstrated clearly to the world that Iran is not participating in the international arena in the way that we had asked them to do and that they continued to pursue their nuclear program," Clinton told reporters.
She also predicted that Silva's mediation effort would not succeed.
Silva met in Moscow on Friday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who said the Brazilian leader's efforts might be "the last chance before the adopting of known decisions in the Security Council."
Friday, May 14, 2010
Iranian threat help House to increase missile defense funds
On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee voted to increase missile defense spending. The subcommittee, which is in charge of oversight for missile defense programs, added $361.6 million to the FY 2011 missile defense budget. This additional funding, combined with President Obama's budget request of $9.9 billion, would bring total spending on missile defense for 2011 to $10.3 billion. Below is a list of the programs that will receive additional funding:
- Airborne Laser: $50 million
- PAC-3: $133.6 million
- AN/TPY-2: $65 million
- Aegis SM-3s: $50 million
- U.S. Israeli Program: $88 million
Further amendments increasing missile defense funding are likely when the full Armed Services Committee meets for markup of the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act on May 19.
The subcommittee also addressed two legislative provisions that affect missile defense:
1. Consistent with previous defense authorizations, limited the availability of funds for deployment of medium- or long-range missile defense until any host country has signed and ratified the necessary agreements authorizing deployment; and until 45 days after the committee receives the independent assessment required by the defense bill last year. It would also limit deployment until the Secretary of Defense certifies that the proposed system is operationally effective based on realistic flight testing.
2. At the request of the Administration, the mark would repeal the ban on contracting directly with a foreign government for missile defense activities, to allow for more direct collaboration with our friends and allies on missile defense.
Missile defense programs and funding received bi-partisan support as was stated in a press release from Strategic Forces Ranking Member Michael Turner (OH-3):
Iran expand enriching assets
VIENNA – Diplomats say that Iran has set up new equipment aimed at improving its ability to enrich uranium to higher levels.
They say that the equipment — an extra set of uranium enriching centrifuges — is not yet on line. But the diplomats add that if the centrifuges become operational they will allow Iran to turn out higher enriched uranium with less waste.
The diplomats asked for anonymity Friday in exchange for divulging confidential information.
Iran has been enriching uranium up to near 20 percent since February. While Tehran denies interest in nuclear weapons, that has put it further on the path of being able to produce warhead material.
Courtesy of AP
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)