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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."
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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."
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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

Iran test-fires two more new missiles

ran has successfully test-fired two more new missiles as the ongoing military maneuver in the south of the country was approaching its end, official media reported on Wednesday.
The state television said the Islamic Republic tested a new air- to-sea-and-ground missile with the capability of resisting electronic jamming systems and dodging anti-missile missiles.
The report defined the missile, dubbed "Nour," as a secret weapon marking a breakthrough in Iran's development of missiles.
Earlier, the official IRNA news agency reported that the armed forces on Tuesday successfully test-fired a highly precise anti- aircraft missile dubbed "Misaq" which can be launched from man's shoulder and is capable of hitting air targets.
"The speed of the missile is to the extent that no radar can detect it and its high speed protects it completely from being targeted in case of being detected by other warning systems," Mohammad Ibrahim Dehqani, spokesman of the war game, was quoted as saying.
"Misaq" and "Nour" were the Islamic Republic's fourth and fifth missile test-firing during the week-long war game
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Iran says war games tell U.S. not to meddle

The Supreme Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) declared on Wednesday that the week-long naval war games in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman by his forces serve as a warning to the United States “not to meddle in Iran’s internal affairs”, state television reported.
“The message of this great military exercise for [U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan] is for them not to meddle in Iran’s internal affairs”, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said on state television.
The powerful military chief warned the intelligence agencies of the United States “not to create insecurity in [the Iranian province of] Khuzestan and endanger security in the region”.
Safavi said the United States had to accept Iran as a “great regional power” and added that threats against Tehran would be of no use to the U.S. or Europe.
The general accused the “occupiers of Iraq and Afghanistan” of endangering regional security.
He warned the United States and Britain not to “hatch plots for the region”.
“We have intelligence that America and the countries occupying Iraq are trying to tarnish the image of Iran. They are giving the Iraqi people bad cement and expired medicines pretending they came from Iran in a bid to tarnish the image of our country in the eyes of Iraqis”, Safavi said.
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Iran military hints at Strait of Hormuz blockade

The Supreme Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, described on Wednesday the Strait of Hormuz on Iran’s southern shores as “the economic lifeline” of the West and said it could be used to put pressure on Iran’s enemies, state television reported.
About two-fifths of the world's oil supplies pass through the 50-kilometre-wide entrance to the Persian Gulf.
Safavi was speaking to reporters during the sixth day of weeklong naval exercises in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, dubbed “Great Prophet”. The general said that the area was of “immense military and geo-strategic importance” and that it linked the seaways of three continents – Africa, Asia, and Europe.
“Many industrial countries are dependent on the energy from this region. Japan gets 70 percent of its oil from this region, likewise 70 percent of certain European countries’ energy comes from this region”, he said, adding that every day the equivalent of 20 million barrels of oil travelled through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf are … the corner stone of [Iran’s] defence. The Strait of Hormuz counts as a point of economic control and pressure in the transfer of energy for aggressive powers from beyond the continent that want to endanger the security of the region”, General Safavi said.
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Iran's Ali Daei gives Saba Battery semis berth

Persepolis and the visiting Abu Moslem struggled to a 2-2 draw in the 27th week of the fifth Iran Pro League while national skipper Ali Daei struck two to hand Saba Battery a place in the League Cup semifinals, MNA reported.
Against the run of play, Abu Moslem took the lead in the 33rd minute through Mohammadreza Khalatbari, who spectacularly cleared four, including the keeper Farshid Karimi before finding the net from close range.
The red-clad home side was stunned seven minutes later when striker Mehdi Kheiri, who received a superb pass from captain Hossein Badamaki, slid the ball under the diving Karimi.
Persepolis, however, pulled one back just before halftime. Referee Fereydun Esfahanian awarded a penalty for Majid Nurmohammadi handball and a cool-headed Ali Ansarian converted the spot-kick.
Some 10,000 fans in Azadi Stadium gave Javad Kazemian a standing ovation as the forward duped his marker Aziz Farisat in the area to rifle home 10 minutes into second half.
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Iran reiterates it's ready to negotiate on large-scale enrichment

ran said Tuesday it is willing to negotiate with world powers on the large-scale enrichment of uranium but will never give way on their key demand - to cease all enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or material for bombs.
The UN Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend all enrichment of uranium and formation shared with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.N. Security Council.
Her bottom line: ``I remain skeptical - lots of unanswered questions.''
``The conjecture that I have is that if I were Iran, and I wanted to put out disinformation, it might look a lot like what our government is claiming is information,'' she said. ``I can't tell you that's true, but I can't tell you it's not true.''
Harman didn't provide details on the classified session.
With tensions growing between the U.S. and Iran over its nuclear program, Tehran in the past week has touted new weapons including missiles supposedly invisible to radar and torpedoes too fast to be avoided. Experts have questioned Iran's claims about the weapons' capabilities.
The announcements came as the Bush administration was working toward a diplomatic solution to address its belief that Iran intends to produce nuclear weapons. Iran says it aims only to generate electricity, but it has thus far defied U.N. Security Council demands that it give up key parts of its program.
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The Talks are on Saturday

Mehr news agency quoted an unnamed official in Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) as saying that the Iranian delegation would be led by either Ali Hosseini-Tash or Aziz Jaafari, both of whom are brigadier generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and now hold senior positions in the SNSC.
The report said that Iranian Foreign Ministry officials will also take part in the meeting which would be held in Baghdad.
“The talks would be held before the cameras at the request of Iran”, the official said.
U.S. President George W. Bush has authorised the American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, to discuss the security situation in Iraq with Iran. The United States and Iraqi officials routinely blame Tehran for aiding the insurgency.
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Who's Supplying Irans New technology?

Iran has unveiled with great fanfare a series of what it portrays as sophisticated, homegrown weapons _ flying boats and missiles invisible to radar, torpedoes too fast to elude.
But experts said Tuesday it appears much of the technology came from Russia and questioned Iran's claims about the weapons' capabilities.
Still, the armaments, tested during war games by some 17,000 Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf, send what may be Iran's real message: its increased ability to hit oil tankers if tension with America turns to outright confrontation.
To underline that message, the maneuvers _ code-named "The Great Prophet" _ have been held since Friday around the Strait of Hormuz, the 34-mile-wide entrance to the Gulf through which about two-fifths of the world's oil supplies pass.
Throughout the war games, Iran has touted what it calls technological leaps in its weapons production. In recent years, Iran revved up its arms programs after long relying on purchases abroad to keep up its aging arsenal, hampered by U.S. sanctions and Washington's pressure on other countries against selling weapons to Tehran.
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Another New Missle

Persisting with its show of strength, Iran has tested a land-to-sea missile as well as a "flying boat", near the Strait of Hormuz — an area through which large quantities of Gulf oil are exported.
The Iranians on Tuesday test-fired the Kowsar missile. On Friday, Iranian military commanders said they had tested a missile designed to carry multiple warheads. Analysts say that throughout the course of their on-going military exercises at the strategic junction of the Gulf and the Sea of Oman, the Iranians have been sending a clear message that they have the capacity to influence the global economy, in case they are subjected to a military attack.
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U.S. not to join EU in nuclear talks

"The EU-3 is comfortable with where things are in the sense that there is a process that has been put in place, and that process should be able to lead to the desired solution," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said at a briefing.
Ereli argued that there is no suggestion that the process is soflawed that the United States needs to jump into it.
"The reason we're at a standstill is not because the United States isn't in negotiations, the reason we're at a standstill is because Iran is thumbing its nose at the international community and rejecting the offers of the EU-3, and rejecting the proposals of Russia, and moving with apparently great determination to develop an enrichment capability," Ereli said.
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Iran's Satellite

The spacecraft is small by world standards - a microsatellite of a few hundred pounds. Launched in October by the Russians for a wealthy client, it orbits the earth once every 99 minutes and reportedly has a camera for peering down on large swaths of land.
But what makes this satellite particularly interesting is not its capabilities, which are rudimentary, but its owner: Iran. With last year's launching and another planned for the next few weeks, Tehran has become the newest member of the international space club.
The question now asked in Washington and other capitals is whether Iran's efforts are simply part of its drive to expand its technical prowess or an attempt to add another building block to its nuclear program. In that sense, it is the newest piece of the Iranian atomic puzzle.
To some government analysts and other experts in the West, Iran's space debut is potentially worrisome. While world attention has focused on whether Iran is clandestinely seeking nuclear arms, these analysts say the launchings mark a new stage in its growing efforts to master a range of sophisticated technologies, including rockets and satellites. The concern is that Tehran could one day turn such advances to atomic ends.
"It may appear tempting to dismiss Iranian efforts" as relatively crude, said John Sheldon, an analyst at the Center for Defense and International Security Studies in Britain who recently wrote a report on Tehran's space program. "But Iran has already demonstrated a persistence and patience that would indicate it is prepared to play a long game in order to achieve its ambitions."
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Ahmadinejad Statements

Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that the Islamic Republic was “determined” in its pursuit to obtain nuclear capabilities, according to a statement issued by his office and carried by the official news agency.
“The Iranian nation and government are determined about their rights in the field of nuclear technology”, Ahmadinejad said during a meeting in Tehran with the Foreign Minister of the Guinea Fatoumata Kaba.
“Today, several European countries and America have been bewildered over Iran’s nuclear issue”, he said.
“The path of the Islamic Republic of Iran in obtaining nuclear technology is clear, in accordance with laws, and under the consideration of the International Atomic Energy Agency”, he added.
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Another Missle

Iran conducted its second major test of a new missile within days on Sunday, firing a high-speed torpedo it said no submarine or warship can escape at a time of increased tensions with the U.S. over its nuclear program.
The tests came during war games that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have been holding in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea since Friday.
On the maneuvers' first day, Iran said it successfully tested the Fajr-3 missile, which can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads.
The new torpedo, called the "Hoot," or "whale," could raise concerns over Iran's power in the Gulf, a vital corridor for the world's oil supplies and where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based. During Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iranian ships attacked oil tankers in the Gulf, and Iran and the U.S. military engaged in limited clashes.
Iran's state television stopped its normal programs to break news of the torpedo test, showing it being launched from a ship into the Gulf waters, then hitting its target, a derelict ship.
Gen. Ali Fadavi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards' navy, said the ships that fire the Iranian-made Hoot had radar-evading technology and that the torpedo - moving at 223 miles per hour - was too fast to elude.
"It has a very powerful warhead designed to hit big submarines. Even if enemy warship sensors identify the missile, no warship can escape from this missile because of its high speed," Fadavi told state television.
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U.S. Committed to Diplomacy

In an interview with the ITV television channel recorded in Liverpool on Saturday, Rice acknowledged concerns that the standoff between the U.N. Security Council and Iran over its nuclear program could lead to the U.S. taking pre-emptive military action.
But she said: "Iran is not Iraq. I know that's what's on people's minds. The circumstances are different," Rice said.
"I just want to be very clear, Iran is not Iraq. However, the president of the United States doesn't take his options off the table. We are committed to a diplomatic course because we believe that a diplomatic course can work," she said.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who met with Rice in England before traveling with her to Iraq, has said it is inconceivable that military action would be taken against Iran.
However, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that Britain's government and military chiefs plan to hold secret talks Monday to discuss contingency plans about possible military strikes against Iran
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No Plans to Attack

British officials say they are not considering an attack on Iran and have no plans to discuss a military option, as has been reported in British media.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said a Sunday Telegraph article was wrong in saying British defense officials would meet Monday to discuss what action to take if Iran attacked Iraq -- such as strategically bombing suspected Iranian nuclear plants.
Sky News reports both British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are pushing for diplomacy on the Iranian issue to continue.
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US will Find Another Excuse to Target Iran

The United States is firm in its plans to launch a military operation against Iran, said Kazim Jalali, a spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s Commission of Foreign Affairs, adding the United States would find another reason for its military operation even if the nuclear plants were immediately shut down.
There are peaceful motives behind the nuclear projects in Iran, said Jalali, when he asserted that the use of nuclear weapons is outlawed according to Islam too. The Western news media distorted what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said about Israel, Jalali argued.
Jalali was hosted in Turkey by the Political Thought Platform. Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, NPT, Jalali told Zaman, and added that the treaty accords certain rights to produce and utilize nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
There are nuclear projects in Iran that allow international monitoring, said Jalali.
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Iran May Retaliate With Terror

As tensions increase between the United States and Iran, U.S. intelligence and terrorism experts say they believe Iran would respond to U.S. military strikes on its nuclear sites by deploying its intelligence operatives and Hezbollah teams to carry out terrorist attacks worldwide.
Iran would mount attacks against U.S. targets inside Iraq, where Iranian intelligence agents are already plentiful, predicted these experts. There is also a growing consensus that Iran's agents would target civilians in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, they said.
U.S. officials would not discuss what evidence they have indicating Iran would undertake terrorist action, but the matter "is consuming a lot of time" throughout the U.S. intelligence apparatus, one senior official said. "It's a huge issue," another said.
Citing prohibitions against discussing classified information, U.S. intelligence officials declined to say whether they have detected preparatory measures, such as increased surveillance, counter-surveillance or message traffic, on the part of Iran's foreign-based intelligence operatives.
But terrorism experts considered Iranian-backed or controlled groups -- namely the country's Ministry of Intelligence and Security operatives, its Revolutionary Guards and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah -- to be better organized, trained and equipped than the al-Qaeda network that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
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Minister of Defence Denies Military Meeting

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said there was no truth whatsoever in the claims, made in the Sunday Telegraph.
He said: "No such meeting between defence, foreign office and other officials is taking place."
But BBC Defence Correspondent Paul Wood said US plans for a possible strike are thought to be at an advanced stage.
He pointed out that many defence analysts expected that British military officials would have a wide range of contingency plans available including one for a possible US air strike on Iran.
"There is no sense that such a strike is imminent however there is well sourced and persistent speculation that American covert activities aimed at Iran are already underway," he said.
The Sunday Telegraph said: "A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran."
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Iran has an aggressive military programme

Iran’s successful firing of a new radar-evading missile capable of striking several targets simultaneously shows that it has an “aggressive military programme under way,” the US State Department said on Friday.
The Iranian-developed missile can also “hide from radars and evade anti-missile missiles,” Iranian Brigadier General Hossein Salami told state television in Iran.
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the move “demonstrates that Iran has a very active and aggressive military programme under way.”
Their programme includes “efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction as well as delivery systems,” he said.
Iran is currently under mounting international pressure over its disputed nuclear energy drive, which Israel and several western nations believe is a cover for weapons development. Tehran denies the charges. “I think Iran’s military posture, military development effort, is of concern to the international community, as evidenced by the kind of consensus you’re seeing with regard to their nuclear programme as well as other non-proliferation concerns,” Ereli said.
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43 Aftershocks

Different parts of western Lorestan province have been rattled by some 43 aftershocks since Thursday evening when the initial quake hit, IRNA reported.
The Tehran University Geophysics Institute said the strongest of such aftershocks hit an area in Dorud, 80 kilometers east of Khorramabad in Lorestan province, at 04:47 (01:17 GMT) on Friday.
Initial reports after Thursday evening's major quake which hit the province put the number of dead at 70 besides 1,300 injured.
The strongest aftershock, which lasted for one minute on Friday, shook the cities of Dorud, Borujerd and Khorramabad followed by 42 minor ones causing panic among residents.
The quakes and aftershocks which hit Borujerd and Dorud have rendered about 15,000 families homeless.
Also Russia will be sending relief to the disaster affected areas. It'll send blankets and other humanitarian aid.
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There have been more clashes between anti-governmental rebel groups and security forces, this time leaving 3 more security forces dead. In the past 3 days the fighting has taken the lives of 6 security forces. The conflict is being held in the West Azerbaijan Province. It happened in the town of Khoy when the rebels drove up and open fire of the forces.
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