22 sept 2012
Iran's Revolutionary Guard says expects Israel to launch war
An Iranian soldier is reflected in a mirror as he passes a tomb of a revolutionary guard who was killed during the Iran-Iraq war in a cemetery near Tehran in 2011
Israel will eventually go beyond threats and will attack Iran, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying on Saturday.
As speculation mounts that Israel could launch air strikes on Iran before US elections in November, Mohammad Ali Jafari told a news conference that Israel would be destroyed if it took such a step.
"Their threats only prove that their enmity with Islam and the revolution is serious, and eventually this enmity will lead to physical conflict," Jafari said when asked about Israeli threats to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported.
"We are making all efforts to increase our defensive capabilities so that if there is an attack ... we could defend ourselves and other countries that need our help with high defensive capabilities."
Jafari's comments, made at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military exhibition, come as Israeli leaders have increased their rhetoric against Iran.
"A war will occur, but it's not clear where or when it will be," Jafari was quoted as saying on Saturday. "Israel seeks war with us, but it's not clear when the war will occur."
"Right now they see war as the only method of confrontation," he said.
Israel, which bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 and launched a similar strike against Syria in 2007, has threatened to do the same in Iran if diplomatic efforts fail to stop the nuclear work it believes is aimed at getting weapons capability.
Iran, which says its nuclear work is for peaceful means, has said it could strike US military bases in the region as well as Israel if attacked.
"If they (Israel) start something, they will be destroyed and it will be the end of the story for them," Jafari said, according to ISNA.
Israel will eventually go beyond threats and will attack Iran, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying on Saturday.
As speculation mounts that Israel could launch air strikes on Iran before US elections in November, Mohammad Ali Jafari told a news conference that Israel would be destroyed if it took such a step.
"Their threats only prove that their enmity with Islam and the revolution is serious, and eventually this enmity will lead to physical conflict," Jafari said when asked about Israeli threats to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported.
"We are making all efforts to increase our defensive capabilities so that if there is an attack ... we could defend ourselves and other countries that need our help with high defensive capabilities."
Jafari's comments, made at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military exhibition, come as Israeli leaders have increased their rhetoric against Iran.
"A war will occur, but it's not clear where or when it will be," Jafari was quoted as saying on Saturday. "Israel seeks war with us, but it's not clear when the war will occur."
"Right now they see war as the only method of confrontation," he said.
Israel, which bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 and launched a similar strike against Syria in 2007, has threatened to do the same in Iran if diplomatic efforts fail to stop the nuclear work it believes is aimed at getting weapons capability.
Iran, which says its nuclear work is for peaceful means, has said it could strike US military bases in the region as well as Israel if attacked.
"If they (Israel) start something, they will be destroyed and it will be the end of the story for them," Jafari said, according to ISNA.
Report: US bans 20 Iran officials from travel to UN assembly
The United States has denied visas to about 20 Iranian government officials hoping to attend next week's UN General Assembly, including two ministers, Iran's Fars news agency reported Saturday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a regular at the assembly since he took office in 2005, will give his final speech there on Wednesday and will address a meeting on the "rule of law" on Monday.
But of the 160-or-so visas requested by the Iranian delegation two months ago, about 20 were turned down, Fars said.
It gave no reason, but many Iranian officials are subject to travel bans under sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program.
In Washington, the US State Department had no immediate comment on the matter.
Fars did not name the two ministers who were denied visas and said Ahmadinejad would be accompanied by his chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
Fars named two of those banned from going to New York as members of Ahmadinejad's staff: Mohammad Shaikhan, in charge of communications and information, and Mohammad Jafar Behdad, in charge of political affairs.
Ahmadinejad, whose second and final term in office ends next year, has used previous UN speeches to defend a nuclear program he insists is peaceful and to make verbal attacks on Israel, the United States and Europe.
He has questioned the historical truth of the Holocaust and cast doubt on whether Islamist hijackers were really responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Most Western envoys walk out of the UN chamber during his speeches, in protest.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a regular at the assembly since he took office in 2005, will give his final speech there on Wednesday and will address a meeting on the "rule of law" on Monday.
But of the 160-or-so visas requested by the Iranian delegation two months ago, about 20 were turned down, Fars said.
It gave no reason, but many Iranian officials are subject to travel bans under sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program.
In Washington, the US State Department had no immediate comment on the matter.
Fars did not name the two ministers who were denied visas and said Ahmadinejad would be accompanied by his chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
Fars named two of those banned from going to New York as members of Ahmadinejad's staff: Mohammad Shaikhan, in charge of communications and information, and Mohammad Jafar Behdad, in charge of political affairs.
Ahmadinejad, whose second and final term in office ends next year, has used previous UN speeches to defend a nuclear program he insists is peaceful and to make verbal attacks on Israel, the United States and Europe.
He has questioned the historical truth of the Holocaust and cast doubt on whether Islamist hijackers were really responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Most Western envoys walk out of the UN chamber during his speeches, in protest.
Iran official: German firm planted bombs in parts meant for nuclear program
An Iranian technician works at the uranium conversion facility just outside the city of Isfahan 410 kilometers south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2007
Iranian lawmaker says security experts discovered the explosives in components supplied by Siemens and removed them before detonation; firm denies claims.
Iran accused Germany's Siemens on Saturday of implanting tiny explosives inside equipment the Islamic Republic purchased for its disputed nuclear program, a charge the technology giant denied.
Prominent lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Iranian security experts discovered the explosives and removed them before detonation, adding that authorities believe the booby-trapped equipment was sold to derail uranium enrichment efforts.
"The equipment was supposed to explode after being put to work, in order to dismantle all our systems," he said. "But the wisdom of our experts thwarted the enemy conspiracy.".
Iranian lawmaker says security experts discovered the explosives in components supplied by Siemens and removed them before detonation; firm denies claims.
Iran accused Germany's Siemens on Saturday of implanting tiny explosives inside equipment the Islamic Republic purchased for its disputed nuclear program, a charge the technology giant denied.
Prominent lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Iranian security experts discovered the explosives and removed them before detonation, adding that authorities believe the booby-trapped equipment was sold to derail uranium enrichment efforts.
"The equipment was supposed to explode after being put to work, in order to dismantle all our systems," he said. "But the wisdom of our experts thwarted the enemy conspiracy.".
"Siemens rejects the allegations and stresses that we have no business ties to the Iranian nuclear program," spokesman for the Munich-based company Alexander Machowetz said.
Boroujerdi, who heads the parliamentary security committee, alleged that the explosives were implanted at a Siemens factory and demanded the company take responsibility.
Any sale of nuclear equipment to Iran is banned under U.N. sanctions, raising the possibility that if it indeed has some, it may have been acquired through third parties. Boroujerdi did not say when or how Iran obtained Siemens equipment. Despite a wide array of international sanctions, Germany remains one of Iran's most important trading partners.
The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran's nuclear work is aimed at producing weapons. Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, and asserts it has been the target of a concerted campaign by Israel, the U.S. and their allies to undermine its nuclear efforts through covert operations.
Some Iranian officials have also suggested in the past that specific European companies may have sold faulty equipment to Iran with the knowledge of American intelligence agencies and their own governments, since the sales would have harmed, rather than helped, the country's nuclear program.
According to Iran, the alleged campaign has included the abduction of scientists, the sale of faulty equipment and the planting of a destructive computer worm known as Stuxnet, which briefly brought Iran's uranium enrichment activity to a halt in 2010.
Iran's nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, said Monday that separate attacks on Iran's centrifuges — through tiny explosives meant to disable key parts of the machines — were discovered before the blasts could go off on timers.
Abbasi also told the UN nuclear agency in Vienna that "terrorists and saboteurs" might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency, after the watchdog's inspectors arrived at the Fordo underground enrichment facility shortly after power lines were blown up through sabotage on Aug. 17.
Iran has repeatedly accused the IAEA of sending spies in the guise of inspectors to collect information about its nuclear activities, pointing to alleged leaks of information by inspectors to U.S. and other officials.
Five nuclear scientists and researchers have been killed in Iran since 2010. Tehran blames the deaths on Israel's Mossad spy agency as well as the CIA and Britain's MI-6. Washington and London have denied any roles. Israel has not commented.
Boroujerdi said the alleged leaks of nuclear information to its adversaries by the IAEA may finally push Tehran to end all cooperation with the agency.
"Iran has the right to cut its cooperation with the IAEA should such violations continue," he said.
Boroujerdi, who heads the parliamentary security committee, alleged that the explosives were implanted at a Siemens factory and demanded the company take responsibility.
Any sale of nuclear equipment to Iran is banned under U.N. sanctions, raising the possibility that if it indeed has some, it may have been acquired through third parties. Boroujerdi did not say when or how Iran obtained Siemens equipment. Despite a wide array of international sanctions, Germany remains one of Iran's most important trading partners.
The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran's nuclear work is aimed at producing weapons. Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, and asserts it has been the target of a concerted campaign by Israel, the U.S. and their allies to undermine its nuclear efforts through covert operations.
Some Iranian officials have also suggested in the past that specific European companies may have sold faulty equipment to Iran with the knowledge of American intelligence agencies and their own governments, since the sales would have harmed, rather than helped, the country's nuclear program.
According to Iran, the alleged campaign has included the abduction of scientists, the sale of faulty equipment and the planting of a destructive computer worm known as Stuxnet, which briefly brought Iran's uranium enrichment activity to a halt in 2010.
Iran's nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, said Monday that separate attacks on Iran's centrifuges — through tiny explosives meant to disable key parts of the machines — were discovered before the blasts could go off on timers.
Abbasi also told the UN nuclear agency in Vienna that "terrorists and saboteurs" might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency, after the watchdog's inspectors arrived at the Fordo underground enrichment facility shortly after power lines were blown up through sabotage on Aug. 17.
Iran has repeatedly accused the IAEA of sending spies in the guise of inspectors to collect information about its nuclear activities, pointing to alleged leaks of information by inspectors to U.S. and other officials.
Five nuclear scientists and researchers have been killed in Iran since 2010. Tehran blames the deaths on Israel's Mossad spy agency as well as the CIA and Britain's MI-6. Washington and London have denied any roles. Israel has not commented.
Boroujerdi said the alleged leaks of nuclear information to its adversaries by the IAEA may finally push Tehran to end all cooperation with the agency.
"Iran has the right to cut its cooperation with the IAEA should such violations continue," he said.
21 sept 2012
Mofaz: Israel won't attack Iran in 2012
Israel will not attack Iranian nuclear sites this year, Israeli opposition leader Shaul Mofaz said Friday.
Mofaz, leader of the largest opposition party Kadima, said the US must take the leadership role in any possible strike on Iran, Israel's Army Radio reported.
Meanwhile, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin called on European countries to escalate sanctions on Iran and to impose a total embargo on the Iranian regime.
Rivlin also called for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be banned from speaking at the UN General Assembly during its annual debate.
Israel has urged world powers to set a red line for Tehran's nuclear programme, saying time was running out to stop what it sees as its quest for atomic arms and raising international concern it could launch a go-it-alone strike against Iran.
Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.
Mofaz, leader of the largest opposition party Kadima, said the US must take the leadership role in any possible strike on Iran, Israel's Army Radio reported.
Meanwhile, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin called on European countries to escalate sanctions on Iran and to impose a total embargo on the Iranian regime.
Rivlin also called for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be banned from speaking at the UN General Assembly during its annual debate.
Israel has urged world powers to set a red line for Tehran's nuclear programme, saying time was running out to stop what it sees as its quest for atomic arms and raising international concern it could launch a go-it-alone strike against Iran.
Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.
20 sept 2012
Israel will not attend nuke-free Mideast summit in Finland
Israel says it will not attend a conference on creating a nuclear-free Middle East, which is scheduled for December in Finland, despite Tel Aviv's reputation as the region’s sole wielder of nuclear arsenals.
The head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) announced the decision, claiming that the situation in the Middle East was not yet "conducive" to the creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone, AFP reported Thursday.
"The concept of a region free of weapons of mass destruction, that has never been put to the test, even in the most peaceful regions of the world, is certainly much less applicable to the current volatile and hostile Middle East," Shaul Horev told a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Wednesday.
"Such a process can only be launched when peaceful relations exist for a reasonable period of time in the region," Horev stated, insisting that the drive for a nuclear weapons-free Mideast must come from within the region, and "cannot be imposed from outside."
Earlier this year, Finnish representatives held talks with Israeli leaders to convince TEl Aviv to attend the meeting.
Israel, which has pursued a policy of ambiguity over its military nuclear program with the help of the United States, is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which governs and restricts the development of nuclear technology.
Israel is widely known possesses 300 to 400 nuclear warheads, 80 of which remain in high operational alert, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, that is, they are ready to fire.
The head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) announced the decision, claiming that the situation in the Middle East was not yet "conducive" to the creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone, AFP reported Thursday.
"The concept of a region free of weapons of mass destruction, that has never been put to the test, even in the most peaceful regions of the world, is certainly much less applicable to the current volatile and hostile Middle East," Shaul Horev told a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Wednesday.
"Such a process can only be launched when peaceful relations exist for a reasonable period of time in the region," Horev stated, insisting that the drive for a nuclear weapons-free Mideast must come from within the region, and "cannot be imposed from outside."
Earlier this year, Finnish representatives held talks with Israeli leaders to convince TEl Aviv to attend the meeting.
Israel, which has pursued a policy of ambiguity over its military nuclear program with the help of the United States, is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which governs and restricts the development of nuclear technology.
Israel is widely known possesses 300 to 400 nuclear warheads, 80 of which remain in high operational alert, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, that is, they are ready to fire.
UN chief Ban refrains from addressing Israel’s nukes
Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has evaded a question on the necessity to inspect Israel’s nuclear facilities, saying the Iranian nuclear issue is the question at hand.
“Now, the current issue is on how the international community should address the Iranian nuclear issue,” Ban told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday.
He stressed the importance of building international trust and confidence about Iran's nuclear energy program and expressed hope that the issue would be settled through negotiations.
I welcome this recent meeting between the P5+1 and Iran in Istanbul. I sincerely hope that they will continue to resolve this issue through dialogue,” the UN head added.
He was referring to a meeting between Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1 - Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany - in a follow-up to their previous negotiations on Iran’s nuclear energy program. The meeting took place in the Turkish city of Istanbul late on Tuesday.
Ashton and Jalili last met in Moscow in June. At the heart of the Moscow negotiations was Iran’s nuclear energy program, with Tehran standing firm on its inalienable right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the 16th NAM Summit in Tehran on August 30, Ban called on Tehran to continue cooperation with the UN nuclear agency and negotiations with the P5+1 in an attempt to resolve concerns over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.
He also advised the P5+1 to avoid using threats as a means of resolving Iran’s nuclear issue.
Israel has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran's nuclear facilities based on the unsubstantiated allegation that the Islamic Republic is seeking to produce nuclear weapons.
Iran argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found a shred of evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Unlike Iran, Israel a non-signatory to the NPT which continues to defy international calls to join the treaty, is widely believed to possess between 200 to 400 nuclear warheads.
“Now, the current issue is on how the international community should address the Iranian nuclear issue,” Ban told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday.
He stressed the importance of building international trust and confidence about Iran's nuclear energy program and expressed hope that the issue would be settled through negotiations.
I welcome this recent meeting between the P5+1 and Iran in Istanbul. I sincerely hope that they will continue to resolve this issue through dialogue,” the UN head added.
He was referring to a meeting between Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1 - Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany - in a follow-up to their previous negotiations on Iran’s nuclear energy program. The meeting took place in the Turkish city of Istanbul late on Tuesday.
Ashton and Jalili last met in Moscow in June. At the heart of the Moscow negotiations was Iran’s nuclear energy program, with Tehran standing firm on its inalienable right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the 16th NAM Summit in Tehran on August 30, Ban called on Tehran to continue cooperation with the UN nuclear agency and negotiations with the P5+1 in an attempt to resolve concerns over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.
He also advised the P5+1 to avoid using threats as a means of resolving Iran’s nuclear issue.
Israel has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran's nuclear facilities based on the unsubstantiated allegation that the Islamic Republic is seeking to produce nuclear weapons.
Iran argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found a shred of evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Unlike Iran, Israel a non-signatory to the NPT which continues to defy international calls to join the treaty, is widely believed to possess between 200 to 400 nuclear warheads.
Iran's nuclear chief admits providing IAEA with false information
Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani says misinformation meant to protect nuclear program, denies claims Iran is blocking inspectors from sites.
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani admitted to the London-based al-Hayat newspaper on Thursday to providing false information to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in order to protect his country’s nuclear facilities and achievements.
Davani, who heads the mission that arrived in Vienna for the annual Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meeting, claimed that Western intelligence agencies – highlighting the British secret service – are collecting information on people with links to the Iranian nuclear program, some of whom include the scientists killed by Israeli agents. It turns out some of these figures were investigated by IAEA inspectors.
“Sometimes we provided false information since there was no other choice but to mislead other intelligence agencies; sometimes we made ourselves appear weak and at other times we reported issues that made us appear strongly than we really were, he said, adding: "Ultimately it became exposed when inspectors directly asked us about these issues."
Referring to the UN's stance toward Iran, Tehran's nuclear chief sad he rejected the IAEA’s hostile position towards us and for treating us as if we are guilty, leaving the onus on us to prove our innocence."
"This is the same tactic that was taken against Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, and they are searching a legal framework to isolate Iran and worsen sanctions,” he added.
Davani estimated that the issue surrounding his country’s nuclear program will once again come up in the Security Council in November, in accordance with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano’s plan and under American pressure.
The U.S. has already made plans and is trying to get international legal approval from the United Nations and Security Council. If this does not succeed, they will try to lead a strike but in the meantime, they cannot do so.
Davani rejected the claim that Iran is preventing inspectors from visiting his country’s nuclear facilities:
“Every time they have asked to visit the facilities, we approved it within two hours, but we do not permit entrance into other sites that they claim constitute nuclear facilities, but which are in fact used for other military operations – for example a site in Parchin that has existed for 90 years, where we are developing weapons, primarily for aerial defense," the Iranian nuclear chief siad.
Abbasi added that Iran has "taken steps to bar aerial or satellite photos of these sites and this is why they want inspectors to enter the site and are trying to plant them as part of the international agency’s framework of inspectors."
Earlier this week, Davani accused the IAEA of attempting to sabotage its nuclear program, claiming that "terrorists and saboteurs" might have infiltrated the agency in an effort to derail it. He insisted that his country's program is aimed solely at making reactor fuel and medical research.
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani admitted to the London-based al-Hayat newspaper on Thursday to providing false information to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in order to protect his country’s nuclear facilities and achievements.
Davani, who heads the mission that arrived in Vienna for the annual Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meeting, claimed that Western intelligence agencies – highlighting the British secret service – are collecting information on people with links to the Iranian nuclear program, some of whom include the scientists killed by Israeli agents. It turns out some of these figures were investigated by IAEA inspectors.
“Sometimes we provided false information since there was no other choice but to mislead other intelligence agencies; sometimes we made ourselves appear weak and at other times we reported issues that made us appear strongly than we really were, he said, adding: "Ultimately it became exposed when inspectors directly asked us about these issues."
Referring to the UN's stance toward Iran, Tehran's nuclear chief sad he rejected the IAEA’s hostile position towards us and for treating us as if we are guilty, leaving the onus on us to prove our innocence."
"This is the same tactic that was taken against Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, and they are searching a legal framework to isolate Iran and worsen sanctions,” he added.
Davani estimated that the issue surrounding his country’s nuclear program will once again come up in the Security Council in November, in accordance with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano’s plan and under American pressure.
The U.S. has already made plans and is trying to get international legal approval from the United Nations and Security Council. If this does not succeed, they will try to lead a strike but in the meantime, they cannot do so.
Davani rejected the claim that Iran is preventing inspectors from visiting his country’s nuclear facilities:
“Every time they have asked to visit the facilities, we approved it within two hours, but we do not permit entrance into other sites that they claim constitute nuclear facilities, but which are in fact used for other military operations – for example a site in Parchin that has existed for 90 years, where we are developing weapons, primarily for aerial defense," the Iranian nuclear chief siad.
Abbasi added that Iran has "taken steps to bar aerial or satellite photos of these sites and this is why they want inspectors to enter the site and are trying to plant them as part of the international agency’s framework of inspectors."
Earlier this week, Davani accused the IAEA of attempting to sabotage its nuclear program, claiming that "terrorists and saboteurs" might have infiltrated the agency in an effort to derail it. He insisted that his country's program is aimed solely at making reactor fuel and medical research.
Deferring to Netanyahu
by GARY LEUPP
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin NetanyahuLast Saturday on CBS's "Meet the Press" (the longest-running series on U.S. television, dating back to 1947) veteran journalist David Gregory interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during "a special hour" on the theme of "Turmoil in the Middle East."
The show was mostly devoted to the global outrage sparked by the deliberately incendiary "movie" produced by the Egyptian-American Islamophobe Nakoula Bassely Nakoula, in particular the torching of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and death of four U.S. diplomats. But the segment featuring Netanyahu focused on the manifest difference between the Israeli leader and the U.S. president on the issue of Iran's nuclear program.
We are constantly informed that that program presents the world with a "threat," a "dilemma," a "crisis" even though (it should be repeated endlessly, and shouted from the rooftops!) U.S., Israeli and other intelligence communities have repeatedly concluded that Iran does not HAVE a military nuclear program.
In 2007 and again in 2011, the CIA, military intelligence agencies, Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, etc., collectively concluded—with a high degree of confidence—that Iran had abandoned any incipient research program towards a nuclear weapons program as of 2003.
That was the year the Iranian leadership offered, in a letter passed to Washington through the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, to abandon support for Hamas and Hizbollah and endorse the Arab League's endorsement of a two-state solution in Palestine/Israel in return for the restoration of normal diplomatic and trade relations with the U.S. (Dick Cheney threw the letter in his waste basket and even blasted the Swiss diplomat for passing it along.)
David Gregory either does not know that careful researchers armed with knowledge and a commitment to empirical reality have repeatedly concluded that Iran's nuclear program is what the Iranians claim it is—a program like those in Brazil, Japan and many countries designed to produce cheap electricity and medical isotopes—or he does not care. He has to read from a script composed not through honest investigation but through deference to a fear-mongering agenda.
At the beginning of the program, before interviewing U.S. UN ambassador Susan Rice, Gregory informed the audience that Netanyahu would also appear and indicates the topic of discussion: "Have relations between his country and the U.S. hit a new low over the looming nuclear threat from Iran?" He used the phrase "nuclear threat from Iran" four times during the hour.
He segued from an interview with Rice to the Netanyahu segment with: "Now to this looming threat from Iran from the Israeli perspective."
He begins his interview with the statement: "I want to talk specifically before we get to the questions of what's happening more broadly in the Middle East and the turmoil there this week about the threat from Iran."
Not, mind you, "the alleged threat." Iran is guilty unless proved innocent. The threat, as a given. The threat he must validate and promote, as virtually an editorial decision.
What if Gregory had said: "I want to talk specifically before we get to the questions of what's happening more broadly in the Middle East and the turmoil there this week about what you, and some in this country (particularly the neoconservatives), consider the threat from Iran,although in all fairness we should note that neither your intelligence agencies nor ours really believe Iran has an active nuclear program"?
Would Bibi's jaw have dropped in response to this unexpected injection of skepticism into the discussion? Would the "Meet the Press" editors and producers have freaked out at this breach of etiquette?
Gregory focused on the now famous comment Netanyahu made last week, and asked it if constituted interference in the U.S. election.
"The world tells Israel, wait," the Israeli leader had said. "There's still time. And I say, wait for what? Wait until when? Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel."
(In other words, the Obama administration which refuses to set a deadline for a U.S. attack on Iran on behalf of Israel forfeits, by that refusal, a moral right to dissuade nuclear-armed Israel from bombing a country that has no nuclear weapons nor even a nuclear weapons program.)
The statement was widely seen as an unprecedented Israel criticism of a U.S. president, during a presidential election campaign in which the other candidate, Mitt Romney, has eagerly embraced the most extreme Israeli positions and advertized his intimate relationship with the Israeli prime minister.
Gregory aggressively sought to press Netanyahu to acknowledge his effort to assist Romney by depicting Obama as weak, or lacking the 100%, unquestioning, religious-like support for Israel required by what politicians' staffers refer to as "political reality" in this country. Netanyahu naturally dodged the question, stressed U.S. bipartisan support for Israel, and the fact that Obama has assured Israel that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon. The difference is that Netanyahu wants the bombing now, and Obama sees no urgent need for it.
What if Gregory had asked the Israeli leader, "Sir, haven't you been predicting Iran's immanent acquisition of nuclear weapons since 1992? Didn't you predict on the floor of the Knesset that Iran would have nukes by 1995? Don't you do this every year? I mean, some people might actually think you're fear-mongering...Sarkozy told Obama that you're a liar. What do you say to that?"
Would the world of corporate television news have allowed the question?
Despite the aggressive questioning on the issue of "interference" in the U.S. election (as though this were more important that the issue of goading the U.S. into a criminal assault on a sovereign country that hasn't attacked another in centuries) Gregory treated the liar with deference, even at one point declaring, "You are the leader of the Jewish people."
I imagine a lot of Jews around the world shook their heads at that. His popularity level in Israel is currently around 30%, and one poll shows U.S. Jews prefer Obama to Netanyahu. He is not the leader of the Jewish people but the unpopular prime minister of a settler-state with a 75% Jewish population. Why the gratuitous flattery?
The low point in the interview was when Gregory raised the possibility that Iran, even were it to acquire nuclear weapons, could be "contained" as the Soviet Union and China had been during the Cold War.
"I think Iran is very different," Netanyahu replied. "They put their zealotry above their survival. They have suicide bombers all over the place. I wouldn't rely on their rationality, you know, you- since the advent of nuclear weapons, you had countries that had access to nuclear weapons who always made a careful calculation of cost and benefit. But Iran is guided by a leadership with an unbelievable fanaticism. It's the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?"
What if Gregory had interrupted, asking frankly, "Suicide bombers all over where? When was the last time you heard a truly credible report about an Iranian involved in such a bombing? Aren't you confusing al-Qaeda type Salafist jihadis with Iranians? "
Some Iranian mullahs have endorsed suicide attacks in certain circumstances, and the regime threatens to conduct such attacks in the event of an assault on Iran. But a simple Google search of "Iran suicide bombing" will produce more evidence for suicide attacks on mosques and persons in Iran by regime opponents than by forces aligned with the Iranian state.
"I mean," Netanyahu continued, "I've heard some people suggest, David, I actually I read this in the American press. They said, well, you know, if you take action, that's- that's a lot worse than having Iran with nuclear weapons. Some have even said that Iran with nuclear weapons would stabilize the Middle East- stabilize the Middle East. I- I think the people who say this have set a new standard for human stupidity. "
This is a clear reference to the Foreign Affairs piece by Kenneth N. Waltz last month, entitled "Why Iran Should Get the Bomb: Nuclear Balancing Would Mean Stability." Waltz, an emeritus professor of political science at Berkeley and senior research scholar at Columbia, is one of the most prominent scholars in international relations in this country. Chicken Little Bibi—who has warned that the sky is falling for twenty years— thinks neorealist Waltz has set a "new standard for human stupidity"?
What if Gregory had asked innocently: "What in Professor Waltz's analysis did you find stupid or inaccurate? Do you think it's stupid to suggest that Israel's monopoly of nuclear weapons in the Middle East allows it to act without any restraint against its neighbors, and that a nuclear Iran might force it to moderate its aggression?"
Of course, Israel officials sitting atop a stockpile of maybe 200 nuclear weapons refuse to talk about the subject, and mainstream journalists are trained to avoid the question.
"We have to stop them," Netanyahu raged, hoping to draw all the viewers into that "we," that false sense of collective, immediate threat. Nuclear holocaust. Mushroom clouds over both Jerusalem and New York City.
"Don't rely on containment. That is not the American policy. It would be wrong. It would be a grave, grave mistake. Don't let these fanatics have nuclear weapons. It's terrible for Israel and it's terrible for America. It's terrible for the world."
Gregory didn't challenge the paranoia but changed the subject. He asked if Netanyahu thought, as Romney has charged, Obama has "thrown allies like Israel under the bus."
Such is the quality of political discourse—discourse about anything, really—in the corporate media of this country today. Mandatory assumptions, focus upon political races between candidates who share these assumptions (yesterday it was "Iraq's weapons of mass destruction," now it's "Iran's nuclear weapons program" although both appear fiction).
Softball questions to known liars. (Is it not amazing that the likes of John Bolton and Elliott Abrams continue to appear on Fox News, posturing as an experts on foreign affairs?) Boasts of "fact-checking" and "keeping them honest" alongside abject ass-kissing and scrupulous avoidance of asking the important questions.
What evidence is there for an Iranian nuclear weapons program? Precious little in fact, but Netanyahu need not worry. Two-thirds of Americans think there's one, thanks in part to him but no less to "journalists" like Gregory.
GARY LEUPP is Professor of History at Tufts University, and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Religion. He is the author of Servants, Shophands and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan; Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan; and Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion, (AK Press). He can be reached at: [email protected]
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin NetanyahuLast Saturday on CBS's "Meet the Press" (the longest-running series on U.S. television, dating back to 1947) veteran journalist David Gregory interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during "a special hour" on the theme of "Turmoil in the Middle East."
The show was mostly devoted to the global outrage sparked by the deliberately incendiary "movie" produced by the Egyptian-American Islamophobe Nakoula Bassely Nakoula, in particular the torching of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and death of four U.S. diplomats. But the segment featuring Netanyahu focused on the manifest difference between the Israeli leader and the U.S. president on the issue of Iran's nuclear program.
We are constantly informed that that program presents the world with a "threat," a "dilemma," a "crisis" even though (it should be repeated endlessly, and shouted from the rooftops!) U.S., Israeli and other intelligence communities have repeatedly concluded that Iran does not HAVE a military nuclear program.
In 2007 and again in 2011, the CIA, military intelligence agencies, Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, etc., collectively concluded—with a high degree of confidence—that Iran had abandoned any incipient research program towards a nuclear weapons program as of 2003.
That was the year the Iranian leadership offered, in a letter passed to Washington through the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, to abandon support for Hamas and Hizbollah and endorse the Arab League's endorsement of a two-state solution in Palestine/Israel in return for the restoration of normal diplomatic and trade relations with the U.S. (Dick Cheney threw the letter in his waste basket and even blasted the Swiss diplomat for passing it along.)
David Gregory either does not know that careful researchers armed with knowledge and a commitment to empirical reality have repeatedly concluded that Iran's nuclear program is what the Iranians claim it is—a program like those in Brazil, Japan and many countries designed to produce cheap electricity and medical isotopes—or he does not care. He has to read from a script composed not through honest investigation but through deference to a fear-mongering agenda.
At the beginning of the program, before interviewing U.S. UN ambassador Susan Rice, Gregory informed the audience that Netanyahu would also appear and indicates the topic of discussion: "Have relations between his country and the U.S. hit a new low over the looming nuclear threat from Iran?" He used the phrase "nuclear threat from Iran" four times during the hour.
He segued from an interview with Rice to the Netanyahu segment with: "Now to this looming threat from Iran from the Israeli perspective."
He begins his interview with the statement: "I want to talk specifically before we get to the questions of what's happening more broadly in the Middle East and the turmoil there this week about the threat from Iran."
Not, mind you, "the alleged threat." Iran is guilty unless proved innocent. The threat, as a given. The threat he must validate and promote, as virtually an editorial decision.
What if Gregory had said: "I want to talk specifically before we get to the questions of what's happening more broadly in the Middle East and the turmoil there this week about what you, and some in this country (particularly the neoconservatives), consider the threat from Iran,although in all fairness we should note that neither your intelligence agencies nor ours really believe Iran has an active nuclear program"?
Would Bibi's jaw have dropped in response to this unexpected injection of skepticism into the discussion? Would the "Meet the Press" editors and producers have freaked out at this breach of etiquette?
Gregory focused on the now famous comment Netanyahu made last week, and asked it if constituted interference in the U.S. election.
"The world tells Israel, wait," the Israeli leader had said. "There's still time. And I say, wait for what? Wait until when? Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel."
(In other words, the Obama administration which refuses to set a deadline for a U.S. attack on Iran on behalf of Israel forfeits, by that refusal, a moral right to dissuade nuclear-armed Israel from bombing a country that has no nuclear weapons nor even a nuclear weapons program.)
The statement was widely seen as an unprecedented Israel criticism of a U.S. president, during a presidential election campaign in which the other candidate, Mitt Romney, has eagerly embraced the most extreme Israeli positions and advertized his intimate relationship with the Israeli prime minister.
Gregory aggressively sought to press Netanyahu to acknowledge his effort to assist Romney by depicting Obama as weak, or lacking the 100%, unquestioning, religious-like support for Israel required by what politicians' staffers refer to as "political reality" in this country. Netanyahu naturally dodged the question, stressed U.S. bipartisan support for Israel, and the fact that Obama has assured Israel that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon. The difference is that Netanyahu wants the bombing now, and Obama sees no urgent need for it.
What if Gregory had asked the Israeli leader, "Sir, haven't you been predicting Iran's immanent acquisition of nuclear weapons since 1992? Didn't you predict on the floor of the Knesset that Iran would have nukes by 1995? Don't you do this every year? I mean, some people might actually think you're fear-mongering...Sarkozy told Obama that you're a liar. What do you say to that?"
Would the world of corporate television news have allowed the question?
Despite the aggressive questioning on the issue of "interference" in the U.S. election (as though this were more important that the issue of goading the U.S. into a criminal assault on a sovereign country that hasn't attacked another in centuries) Gregory treated the liar with deference, even at one point declaring, "You are the leader of the Jewish people."
I imagine a lot of Jews around the world shook their heads at that. His popularity level in Israel is currently around 30%, and one poll shows U.S. Jews prefer Obama to Netanyahu. He is not the leader of the Jewish people but the unpopular prime minister of a settler-state with a 75% Jewish population. Why the gratuitous flattery?
The low point in the interview was when Gregory raised the possibility that Iran, even were it to acquire nuclear weapons, could be "contained" as the Soviet Union and China had been during the Cold War.
"I think Iran is very different," Netanyahu replied. "They put their zealotry above their survival. They have suicide bombers all over the place. I wouldn't rely on their rationality, you know, you- since the advent of nuclear weapons, you had countries that had access to nuclear weapons who always made a careful calculation of cost and benefit. But Iran is guided by a leadership with an unbelievable fanaticism. It's the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?"
What if Gregory had interrupted, asking frankly, "Suicide bombers all over where? When was the last time you heard a truly credible report about an Iranian involved in such a bombing? Aren't you confusing al-Qaeda type Salafist jihadis with Iranians? "
Some Iranian mullahs have endorsed suicide attacks in certain circumstances, and the regime threatens to conduct such attacks in the event of an assault on Iran. But a simple Google search of "Iran suicide bombing" will produce more evidence for suicide attacks on mosques and persons in Iran by regime opponents than by forces aligned with the Iranian state.
"I mean," Netanyahu continued, "I've heard some people suggest, David, I actually I read this in the American press. They said, well, you know, if you take action, that's- that's a lot worse than having Iran with nuclear weapons. Some have even said that Iran with nuclear weapons would stabilize the Middle East- stabilize the Middle East. I- I think the people who say this have set a new standard for human stupidity. "
This is a clear reference to the Foreign Affairs piece by Kenneth N. Waltz last month, entitled "Why Iran Should Get the Bomb: Nuclear Balancing Would Mean Stability." Waltz, an emeritus professor of political science at Berkeley and senior research scholar at Columbia, is one of the most prominent scholars in international relations in this country. Chicken Little Bibi—who has warned that the sky is falling for twenty years— thinks neorealist Waltz has set a "new standard for human stupidity"?
What if Gregory had asked innocently: "What in Professor Waltz's analysis did you find stupid or inaccurate? Do you think it's stupid to suggest that Israel's monopoly of nuclear weapons in the Middle East allows it to act without any restraint against its neighbors, and that a nuclear Iran might force it to moderate its aggression?"
Of course, Israel officials sitting atop a stockpile of maybe 200 nuclear weapons refuse to talk about the subject, and mainstream journalists are trained to avoid the question.
"We have to stop them," Netanyahu raged, hoping to draw all the viewers into that "we," that false sense of collective, immediate threat. Nuclear holocaust. Mushroom clouds over both Jerusalem and New York City.
"Don't rely on containment. That is not the American policy. It would be wrong. It would be a grave, grave mistake. Don't let these fanatics have nuclear weapons. It's terrible for Israel and it's terrible for America. It's terrible for the world."
Gregory didn't challenge the paranoia but changed the subject. He asked if Netanyahu thought, as Romney has charged, Obama has "thrown allies like Israel under the bus."
Such is the quality of political discourse—discourse about anything, really—in the corporate media of this country today. Mandatory assumptions, focus upon political races between candidates who share these assumptions (yesterday it was "Iraq's weapons of mass destruction," now it's "Iran's nuclear weapons program" although both appear fiction).
Softball questions to known liars. (Is it not amazing that the likes of John Bolton and Elliott Abrams continue to appear on Fox News, posturing as an experts on foreign affairs?) Boasts of "fact-checking" and "keeping them honest" alongside abject ass-kissing and scrupulous avoidance of asking the important questions.
What evidence is there for an Iranian nuclear weapons program? Precious little in fact, but Netanyahu need not worry. Two-thirds of Americans think there's one, thanks in part to him but no less to "journalists" like Gregory.
GARY LEUPP is Professor of History at Tufts University, and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Religion. He is the author of Servants, Shophands and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan; Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan; and Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion, (AK Press). He can be reached at: [email protected]
Israel root cause of all world problems: Iran envoy
Iran’s Ambassador to Beirut Ghazanfar Roknabadi
Iran’s Ambassador to Beirut Ghazanfar Roknabadi says although Israel is the main reason behind all international problems, Washington continues to support the Zionist regime.
“The security of the Zionist regime [of Israel] is the most important issue for Washington officials and they consider it sacred,” Roknabadi added in an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Manar television.
Referring to Israel’s recent military drills, he stated that Iran’s response to any foolish act by the Zionists will be very painful.
Turning to the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, Roknabadi said the fact that 120 countries agreed to the establishment of the Palestinian government with al-Quds as its capital has enraged the Zionist regime of Israel.
The Iranian ambassador noted that there is no solution to the Syrian crisis, except a political one which has been also underlined during the recent high-level meeting of the Quartet Committee on Syria which convened in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Monday, September 17.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.
Iran’s Ambassador to Beirut Ghazanfar Roknabadi says although Israel is the main reason behind all international problems, Washington continues to support the Zionist regime.
“The security of the Zionist regime [of Israel] is the most important issue for Washington officials and they consider it sacred,” Roknabadi added in an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Manar television.
Referring to Israel’s recent military drills, he stated that Iran’s response to any foolish act by the Zionists will be very painful.
Turning to the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, Roknabadi said the fact that 120 countries agreed to the establishment of the Palestinian government with al-Quds as its capital has enraged the Zionist regime of Israel.
The Iranian ambassador noted that there is no solution to the Syrian crisis, except a political one which has been also underlined during the recent high-level meeting of the Quartet Committee on Syria which convened in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Monday, September 17.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.
Netanyahu erasing Palestinians with Iran war drama: Analyst
An analyst says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made the Palestinians disappear from the international stage with the "will he, won't he" drama of threatening to bomb Iran.
In an article on The Guardian website, Chris McGreal said Netanyahu’s bid to draw “Washington's energies into trying to prevent him from attacking Iran before the US election” has all but eliminated any talk of the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and Palestine’s move for statehood or recognition at the UN.
“When the Israeli prime minister was last in Washington, there was barely a mention of the Palestinians after his meeting with [US President Barack] Obama. And barely a word was breathed about the Palestinians at this year's meeting of the most influential of the pro-Israel lobby groups in Washington, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The focus was firmly on Iran.”
McGreal said Netanyahu’s recent appearance on Meet the Press this weekend was “telling” in that “there wasn't a single mention of the Palestinians during the 15-minute interview.”
“[Interviewer David] Gregory didn't ask about them, and Netanyahu didn't talk about them. Thus the fate of several million people living under varying degrees of an occupation that continues to plunder land, maintain discriminatory laws and administrative procedures - such as rationing water to Arab villages while their neighbors in the Jewish settlements have unlimited supplies - remains in limbo.”
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The international community regards all the Israeli settlements across the West Bank as illegal under international law.
“Just last week, the prime minister moved to expand 40 West Bank settlements built on land confiscated illegally - Israel admits it was illegal - from Palestinians by military order; hardly the actions of a man or a government that only wants peace, as is so often claimed,” McGreal said.
The Israeli military also frequently attacks the Gaza Strip, saying the actions are being conducted for defensive purposes. However, disproportionate force is always used, in violation of international law, and civilians are often killed or injured.
In addition to airstrikes and ground attacks, the Tel Aviv regime also denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and the right to decent living, work, health and education.
Gaza has been blockaded since 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
McGreal concluded: “Netanyahu has everyone where he wants them: the Palestinians behind the wire and most of the rest of the world looking the other way.”
In an article on The Guardian website, Chris McGreal said Netanyahu’s bid to draw “Washington's energies into trying to prevent him from attacking Iran before the US election” has all but eliminated any talk of the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and Palestine’s move for statehood or recognition at the UN.
“When the Israeli prime minister was last in Washington, there was barely a mention of the Palestinians after his meeting with [US President Barack] Obama. And barely a word was breathed about the Palestinians at this year's meeting of the most influential of the pro-Israel lobby groups in Washington, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The focus was firmly on Iran.”
McGreal said Netanyahu’s recent appearance on Meet the Press this weekend was “telling” in that “there wasn't a single mention of the Palestinians during the 15-minute interview.”
“[Interviewer David] Gregory didn't ask about them, and Netanyahu didn't talk about them. Thus the fate of several million people living under varying degrees of an occupation that continues to plunder land, maintain discriminatory laws and administrative procedures - such as rationing water to Arab villages while their neighbors in the Jewish settlements have unlimited supplies - remains in limbo.”
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The international community regards all the Israeli settlements across the West Bank as illegal under international law.
“Just last week, the prime minister moved to expand 40 West Bank settlements built on land confiscated illegally - Israel admits it was illegal - from Palestinians by military order; hardly the actions of a man or a government that only wants peace, as is so often claimed,” McGreal said.
The Israeli military also frequently attacks the Gaza Strip, saying the actions are being conducted for defensive purposes. However, disproportionate force is always used, in violation of international law, and civilians are often killed or injured.
In addition to airstrikes and ground attacks, the Tel Aviv regime also denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and the right to decent living, work, health and education.
Gaza has been blockaded since 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
McGreal concluded: “Netanyahu has everyone where he wants them: the Palestinians behind the wire and most of the rest of the world looking the other way.”
19 sept 2012
Iran hails nuclear talks with EU as 'positive and fruitful'
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator on Wednesday reported progress in talks aimed at restarting negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program, calling a meeting with European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton a day earlier "positive and fruitful."
Saeed Jalili offered few concrete details about Tuesday's meeting with Ashton in Istanbul, but said the two had assessed some "common points" reached by technical teams looking into the issue and had discussed "what can be done for a new cooperation."
"We discussed common points found by the experts and technical teams ... so that they may be brought closer together and that a framework for future talks can be drawn," Jalili said. "We hope (our) talks can help bring the common points closer together."
Earlier, the EU released a brief statement saying the talks that ended early Wednesday were "useful and constructive" and "an important opportunity to stress once again to Iran the urgent need to make progress." The EU said Ashton would brief representatives of the U.S. and five other world powers next week in New York about her efforts to restart negotiations that fizzled in June. "We are awaiting the result of the six powers' assessment," Jalili said.
Efforts for a breakthrough on restarting talks over Tehran's nuclear program have gained new urgency with fear that the failure of negotiations could prompt Israel to make good on a threat to attack Iran's nuclear installations. Iran denies it is making nuclear weapons.
On Monday, its nuclear chief, Fereydoun Abbasi, said that "terrorists and saboteurs" might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency in an effort to derail his nation's atomic program.
Islamic Republic's chief nuclear negotiator says technical experts find 'common points' during meeting with EU's policy chief Catherine Ashton in Istanbul .
Saeed Jalili offered few concrete details about Tuesday's meeting with Ashton in Istanbul, but said the two had assessed some "common points" reached by technical teams looking into the issue and had discussed "what can be done for a new cooperation."
"We discussed common points found by the experts and technical teams ... so that they may be brought closer together and that a framework for future talks can be drawn," Jalili said. "We hope (our) talks can help bring the common points closer together."
Earlier, the EU released a brief statement saying the talks that ended early Wednesday were "useful and constructive" and "an important opportunity to stress once again to Iran the urgent need to make progress." The EU said Ashton would brief representatives of the U.S. and five other world powers next week in New York about her efforts to restart negotiations that fizzled in June. "We are awaiting the result of the six powers' assessment," Jalili said.
Efforts for a breakthrough on restarting talks over Tehran's nuclear program have gained new urgency with fear that the failure of negotiations could prompt Israel to make good on a threat to attack Iran's nuclear installations. Iran denies it is making nuclear weapons.
On Monday, its nuclear chief, Fereydoun Abbasi, said that "terrorists and saboteurs" might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency in an effort to derail his nation's atomic program.
Islamic Republic's chief nuclear negotiator says technical experts find 'common points' during meeting with EU's policy chief Catherine Ashton in Istanbul .
Israeli regime begins surprise live-fire drill in occupied Golan Heights
Israeli media say the Tel Aviv regime has launched a surprise military exercise in the occupied Golan Heights.
The drill kicked off on Wednesday following an order by Israel’s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz.
Different units from the Israeli military are taking part in the drill that “will end with a live fire exercise on Wednesday afternoon,” the Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.
“This drill is part of a routine program of checks and surprise exercises held throughout the year,” said an Israeli military spokesman.
Israel has recently carried out a number of war games and drills as Tel Aviv boosts its war rhetoric against Iran under the pretext of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear arms.
Iran has refuted the allegations about its nuclear energy program and maintains that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Iranian military officials have also promised a crushing response to any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic.
The drill kicked off on Wednesday following an order by Israel’s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz.
Different units from the Israeli military are taking part in the drill that “will end with a live fire exercise on Wednesday afternoon,” the Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.
“This drill is part of a routine program of checks and surprise exercises held throughout the year,” said an Israeli military spokesman.
Israel has recently carried out a number of war games and drills as Tel Aviv boosts its war rhetoric against Iran under the pretext of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear arms.
Iran has refuted the allegations about its nuclear energy program and maintains that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Iranian military officials have also promised a crushing response to any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic.
18 sept 2012
Iran nuclear chief says Tehran does not intend to enrich uranium beyond 20 percent
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, is escorted by technicians during a tour of Tehran's research reactor center in northern Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 15, 2012
Iranian news agencies cite Fereydoun Abbasi as saying that most of Iran's activities are geared at enriching uranium to 3.5 percent, rejecting claims of a nuclear weapons program.
Iran does not intend to enrich uranium above the 20 percent level, the chief of Iran's nuclear program told the country's media outlets on Monday, adding that Iran increased its enrichment activities after failing to obtain uranium for its Tehran research facility.
The comments by Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Fereydoun Abbasi came after the Iranian nuclear chief said earlier Monday that that "terrorists and saboteurs" might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency in an effort to derail his country's nuclear program.
"Terrorists and saboteurs might have intruded the agency and might be making decisions covertly," Abbasi said at the annual member state gathering of the IAEA, alleging that explosives had been used to cut power lines from the city of Qom to the Fordo underground uranium enrichment plant on August 17.
A day later, he said, IAEA inspectors had asked for an unannounced visit to Fordo.
"Does this visit have any connection to that detonation? Who other than the IAEA inspectors can have access to the complex in such a short time?" Abbasi-Davani told the gathering in Vienna.
"It should be recalled that power cut-off is one of the ways to break down centrifuge machines," he said, referring to the machines used to enrich uranium, which can have both civilian and military purposes.
On Tuesday, both state-run Press TV and Iran's official news agency IRNA cited Abbasi as saying of Monday's meeting that Tehran's goal wasn't to enrich uranium beyond 20 percent.
Speaking to reporters, the AOEI chief said that the only reasons Tehran upgraded its uranium to 20 percent was because it failed to obtain uranium for its Tehran Research Reactor, adding that most of Iran's enrichment activities were conducted at the 3.5 percent level.
Rejecting claims that Iran was using its civilian reactors to hide a nuclear weapons program, Abbasi said that the purpose of the enriched uranium was to produce radiopharmaceuticals.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran would be on the brink of nuclear weapons capability in six to seven months, adding new urgency to his demand that President Barack Obama set a clear "red line" for Tehran in what could deepen the worst U.S.-Israeli rift in decades.
Taking his case to the American public, Netanyahu said in U.S. television interviews that by mid-2013, Iran would be 90 percent of the way toward enough enriched uranium for a bomb. He urged the United States to spell out limits that Tehran must not cross or else face military action - something Obama has refused to do.
"You have to place that red line before them now, before it's too late," Netanyahu told NBC's "Meet the Press" program, saying that such a U.S. move could reduce the chances of having to attack Iran's nuclear sites.
Iranian news agencies cite Fereydoun Abbasi as saying that most of Iran's activities are geared at enriching uranium to 3.5 percent, rejecting claims of a nuclear weapons program.
Iran does not intend to enrich uranium above the 20 percent level, the chief of Iran's nuclear program told the country's media outlets on Monday, adding that Iran increased its enrichment activities after failing to obtain uranium for its Tehran research facility.
The comments by Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Fereydoun Abbasi came after the Iranian nuclear chief said earlier Monday that that "terrorists and saboteurs" might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency in an effort to derail his country's nuclear program.
"Terrorists and saboteurs might have intruded the agency and might be making decisions covertly," Abbasi said at the annual member state gathering of the IAEA, alleging that explosives had been used to cut power lines from the city of Qom to the Fordo underground uranium enrichment plant on August 17.
A day later, he said, IAEA inspectors had asked for an unannounced visit to Fordo.
"Does this visit have any connection to that detonation? Who other than the IAEA inspectors can have access to the complex in such a short time?" Abbasi-Davani told the gathering in Vienna.
"It should be recalled that power cut-off is one of the ways to break down centrifuge machines," he said, referring to the machines used to enrich uranium, which can have both civilian and military purposes.
On Tuesday, both state-run Press TV and Iran's official news agency IRNA cited Abbasi as saying of Monday's meeting that Tehran's goal wasn't to enrich uranium beyond 20 percent.
Speaking to reporters, the AOEI chief said that the only reasons Tehran upgraded its uranium to 20 percent was because it failed to obtain uranium for its Tehran Research Reactor, adding that most of Iran's enrichment activities were conducted at the 3.5 percent level.
Rejecting claims that Iran was using its civilian reactors to hide a nuclear weapons program, Abbasi said that the purpose of the enriched uranium was to produce radiopharmaceuticals.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran would be on the brink of nuclear weapons capability in six to seven months, adding new urgency to his demand that President Barack Obama set a clear "red line" for Tehran in what could deepen the worst U.S.-Israeli rift in decades.
Taking his case to the American public, Netanyahu said in U.S. television interviews that by mid-2013, Iran would be 90 percent of the way toward enough enriched uranium for a bomb. He urged the United States to spell out limits that Tehran must not cross or else face military action - something Obama has refused to do.
"You have to place that red line before them now, before it's too late," Netanyahu told NBC's "Meet the Press" program, saying that such a U.S. move could reduce the chances of having to attack Iran's nuclear sites.