Front-page Iran

ElBaradei to visit Iran in next two days

Iran said the head of the United Nations atomic watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, will visit Iran within the next two days, as Tehran continues its standoff with the West over its nuclear program, according to AFP.
"Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Iran either tomorrow or the day after it, and the trip is within the framework of Iran's cooperation and consultation with the IAEA," a source in the Iranian nuclear negotiation team told the state news agency IRNA on the condition of anonymity.
He added: "ElBaradei will hold talks with a number of the Iranian officials during his stay and Iran's outstanding issues with the IAEA will be discussed."
On Friday, a diplomat with the agency said that ElBaradei will visit Iran next week "to meet with senior officials for discussions related to outstanding safeguard verification issues and other confidence building measures requested by the IAEA board of governors."
More at Iran Mania

U.S. steps up plans for possible Iran attack

The U.S. administration is stepping up plans for a possible air strike on Iran, despite publicly pushing for a diplomatic solution to a dispute over its nuclear ambitions, according to a report by influential investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.
Hersh's story in the April 17 issue of the New Yorker magazine, mostly citing unidentified current and former officials, says President George W. Bush views Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a "potential Adolf Hitler," and sees "regime change" in Tehran as the ultimate goal.
"This White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war," Hersh quotes an unidentified senior Pentagon adviser on the war on terror as saying.
The White House, without denying the report, reiterated that it was pursuing a diplomatic solution.
"We are not going to discuss military planning," said spokesman Blair Jones.
"The IAEA (The International Atomic Energy Agency) and the UN Security Council have spoken clearly: Iran must return to full and sustained suspension of its enrichment and reprocessing activities."
More at Reuters

U.S. Is Studying Military Strike Options on Iran

The Bush administration is studying options for military strikes against Iran as part of a broader strategy of coercive diplomacy to pressure Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear development program, according to U.S. officials and independent analysts.
No attack appears likely in the short term, and many specialists inside and outside the U.S. government harbor serious doubts about whether an armed response would be effective. But administration officials are preparing for it as a possible option and using the threat "to convince them this is more and more serious," as a senior official put it.
According to current and former officials, Pentagon and CIA planners have been exploring possible targets, such as the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan. Although a land invasion is not contemplated, military officers are weighing alternatives ranging from a limited airstrike aimed at key nuclear sites, to a more extensive bombing campaign designed to destroy an array of military and political targets.
Preparations for confrontation with Iran underscore how the issue has vaulted to the front of President Bush's agenda even as he struggles with a relentless war in next-door Iraq. Bush views Tehran as a serious menace that must be dealt with before his presidency ends, aides said, and the White House, in its new National Security Strategy, last month labeled Iran the most serious challenge to the United States posed by any country.
Many military officers and specialists, however, view the saber rattling with alarm. A strike at Iran, they warn, would at best just delay its nuclear program by a few years but could inflame international opinion against the United States, particularly in the Muslim world and especially within Iran, while making U.S. troops in Iraq targets for retaliation.
More at The Washington Post