Friday, April 28, 2006

Sorry about the past week and no updates. I've been busy, and this week will follow with no updates and then I'll be back to normal daily feed.
Thank you for visiting.

Watchdog says Iran defies UN

Iran has defied a UN deadline to halt uranium enrichment, the UN nuclear agency said in a report yesterday that led to calls for tough Security Council action over Tehran's atomic program. US President George W Bush said Iran's nuclear ambitions were "dangerous" but that Washington, which fears Tehran is trying to develop atomic weapons, wanted to resolve the dispute "diplomatically and peacefully". Iran reacted sharply, hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisting it was being denied its right to atomic energy and issuing a veiled threat to cut off ties with the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He said Iran did "not give a damn" about demands to freeze sensitive nuclear work, adding that the world would enjoy peace if it were not for US bullying. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei's report came as a 30-day UN Security Council deadline expired for Tehran to comply with UN demands to halt enrichment, which makes the fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but what can also be the explosive core of atom bombs. The report said the IAEA had taken samples on April 13 at Iran's enrichment facility in Natanz "which tend to confirm as of that date the enrichment level (of 3.6 percent) declared by Iran."
More at TMCnet

PFLP's Jibril warns US, Israel against attacking Syria, Iran

"We will not allow any aggression against Syria or the Islamic Republic of Iran," leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command Ahmed Jibril told a rally of about 1,000 supporters in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital.

"I say it frankly, we will not only be on their side, we will be in the forefront," said Jibril.
Jibril was among the Palestinian faction leaders who met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when the Iranian leader visited Damascus in January.

"You must understand that the pressures on Syria and Islamic Iran are primarily because of their stand on the Palestinian cause," Jibril told the rally.

"If the United States of America and this Zionist entity (Israel) believe that they can change the regimes in Syria and Iran, then we tell them: 'Think whatever you wish, but the Palestinians inside and outside (the territories) will remain on the side of Syria and Iran'," Jibril said.

Earlier this month, after a dramatic highway pursuit, Israeli security forces apprehended a PFLP member en route to carry out a suicide bombing. The group also supplied the bomb used in an April 2 suicide bombing that killed four Israelis near Kedumim in the West Bank.

In October, one of Jibril's aides reported that he was planning to move to the Gaza Strip.
More at the Jerusalem Post

Iran N-strike must be ruled out: Kasuri

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said on Friday nuclear strike against Iran should never be considered and the international community should provide it an opportunity for face saving.

He was speaking at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) on the subject of Pakistan's role in promoting peace and stability here today. He reiterated his call for efforts to seek a peaceful solution of the Iranian crisis.

Referring to reports on the possibility of a nuclear attack to eliminate Tehran's nuclear capability, he said. "I think that should not ever be contemplated."

Mr Kasuri cast doubts if a nuclear strike on Iran would be able to achieve the conceived objectives, adding , Iran might have already ⌠dispersed what it had. Secondly he said an attack on Iran would be considered an attack on yet another Muslim country.

This will destabilize large parts of the Muslim world, he said, adding there were Shia population in the Muslim countries.

Opposing sanctions against Iran, he said, Islamabad's oil import bill last year soared to $6 billion registering an increase of 50 per cent. If the price of oil went up by $100 a barrel one could imagine its impact on the world's economy including Pakistan.

He said the international community should not to undermine Tehran's capability to hurt and give a robust response following a strike against it. If a few ships were sunk in the Straits of Hormuz by anybody, there were not enough facilities for refining oil hence it would lead to oil price hike, he added.
More at DAWN

Excerpts from IAEA report to the U.N. Security Council on Iran's nuclear program

"After more than three years of agency efforts to seek clarity about all aspects of Iran's nuclear program, the existing gaps in knowledge continue to be a matter of concern."

------

"... the agency has repeatedly requested Iran to provide additional information on certain issues related to its enrichment program. Iran declined to discuss these matters ... ."

------

"... the agency was shown by Iran in January 2005 a copy of a hand written one-page document reflecting an offer said to have been made to Iran in 1987 by a foreign intermediary (in the nuclear black market). In order to be able to ascertain its nature and origin, a copy of the document is needed by the agency. However, Iran continues to decline the agency's request for a copy of the document."

More at the Chicago Tribune

0 comments:

Post a Comment

 

Directory of News Blogs