"Iran says it’s willing to work with West" by Ali Akbar Dareini | Associated Press, October 14, 2012
TEHRAN — Earlier, the country’s supreme leader said Iran would defeat its adversaries, who he said are using a combination of sanctions, military threats, and clandestine operations in an attempt to make Tehran back down on its nuclear program.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks follow a precipitous decline in the country’s currency linked to economic sanctions, as well as remarks by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta highlighting the possibility of a cyberwar between Iran and the United States.
Related: Sanctions Making Iranians Scream
I'll get to the cyberwar s*** a little later.
‘‘We should not neglect the enemy. The enemy enters through various ways. One day it’s talk of sanctions. Another day it’s talk of military aggression. And one day, it’s talk of soft war. . . . We have to be vigilant,’’ state TV quoted Khamenei as saying during a speech.
Well, you can certainly say one thing for the Iranian leader, he's not stupid -- although I hear he's a bit insecure.
Western powers are pursuing a two-pronged strategy that includes a mix of sanctions and diplomacy to try to force Tehran to halt uranium enrichment.
But the West has not ruled out the possibility of military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, and Panetta made a pointed warning on Thursday that Washington will strike back against a cyberattack, underscoring the Obama administration’s growing concern that Iran could be the first country to unleash cyberterrorism on America.
Translation: They want to blame Iran for a false flag attack that coincides with the collapse of the private central banking scheme upon which all western economies rest.
Related: The Two Worst Countries in the World
See who is beyond the cyberterror, folks? I suppose it is just another coincidence?
Tehran for its part has announced the discovery of computer viruses at nuclear, industrial, and government sites. It blames the West and Israel....
Related: Israel Puts Flame Under Iran
Been there for a while now.
--more--"
Can't seem to communicate with Iranians right now, readers. I wonder why.
"Iran says it foiled new cyberattacks by foreign hackers" by Rick Gladstone | New York Times, December 26, 2012
NEW YORK — Iran reported a spree of new cyberattacks Tuesday, saying foreign enemy hackers tried in recent months to disrupt computer systems at a power plant and other industries in a strategically important southern coastal province as well as a Culture Ministry information center.
Accounts of the attacks in the official media did not specify who was responsible, when they were carried out or how they were thwarted.
Anyone with a thinking brain knows.
But they strongly suggested that the attacks had originated in the United States and Israel, which have been engaged in a shadowy struggle of computer sabotage with Iran in a broader dispute over whether Iran’s nuclear energy program is for peaceful or military use.
Iran has been on heightened alert against such sabotage since a computer worm known as Stuxnet was used to attack its uranium enrichment centrifuges more than two years ago, which US intelligence officials believe caused many of the machines to spin out of control and self-destruct, slowing the Iranian program’s progress.
It's also thought it infected Japan's reactors and helped lead to the Fukushima disaster.
Stuxnet and other forms of computer malware have also been used in attacks on Iran’s oil industry and Science Ministry under a covert US effort, first revealed in January 2009, that was meant to subvert Iran’s nuclear program because of suspicions that the Iranians were using it to develop the ability to make atomic bombs.
Iran has repeatedly denied these suspicions.
The latest Iranian sabotage reports raised the possibility that the attacks had been carried out in retaliation for assaults that crippled computers in the Saudi Arabian oil industry and some US financial institutions a few months ago.
Even if they were responsible (and I don't think they are), who could blame them after what we have done to them?
US intelligence officials have said they believe that Iranian specialists in cybersabotage were responsible for those assaults, which erased thousands of Saudi files and temporarily prevented some US banking customers from accessing their accounts.
Is there anyone who believes US intelligence officials anymore?
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta cited those attacks in an Oct. 11 speech in which he warned of the United States’s vulnerability to a coordinated computer warfare attack, calling such a possibility a ‘‘cyber-Pearl Harbor.’’
Oh, that is such a loaded term. Watch out, America!
--more--"
Related: Iran’s cyber-contradictions
So who is doing all that hacking again?
"US, Iran strike deal for direct nuclear talks; But Tehran will negotiate only after election" by Helene Cooper and Mark Landler |
New York Times, October 21, 2012
WASHINGTON — The United States and Iran have agreed in principle for
the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program,
according to Obama administration officials, setting the stage for what
could be a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a military strike on
Iran.
Iranian officials have insisted that the talks wait until after the
presidential election, a senior administration official said, telling
their US counterparts that they want to know which American president
they would be negotiating with.
News of the agreement — a result of intense, secret exchanges between
US and Iranian officials that date almost to the beginning of President
Obama’s term — comes at a critical moment in the presidential contest,
just two weeks before Election Day and a day before the final debate,
which is to focus on national security and foreign policy.
No wonder Israel has never liked him and wanted Romney.
It has the potential to help Obama make a case that he is nearing a diplomatic breakthrough in the decade-long effort by the world’s major powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, but it could also pose a risk if Iran is seen as using the prospect of the direct talks to buy more time.
It is also far from clear that Obama’s opponent, Mitt Romney, would go through with the negotiation should he win election. Romney has repeatedly criticized the president as showing weakness toward Iran and failing to stand firmly with Israel against the Iranian nuclear threat.
Who?
The White House denied that a final agreement had been reached. ‘‘It’s not true that the United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections,’’ Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman, said Saturday. But he added that the administration was open to such talks and has ‘‘said from the outset that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally.”
Reports of the deal have circulated among a small group of diplomats involved with Iran.
There is still a chance the initiative could fall through, even if Obama is reelected. Iran has a history of using the promise of diplomacy to ease global pressure on it. In this case, US officials said they were uncertain whether Iran’s opaque supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had signed off. The US understandings have been reached with senior Iranian officials who report to him, an administration official said.
Related:
Iran hints direct talks with US are possible
Iran’s supreme leader rejects talks with US
Mixed media messages lost in translation again?
Even if the two sides sit down, US officials worry that Iran could prolong the negotiations to try to forestall military action and enable it to complete critical elements of its nuclear program, particularly at underground sites. Some US officials would like to limit the talks to Iran’s nuclear program, one official said, while Iran has indicated that it wants to broaden the agenda to include Syria, Bahrain, and other issues that have bedeviled relations between Washington and Tehran since the American hostage crisis in 1979.
Oh, no, we can only talk about one thing at a time (pfffft).
The question of how best to deal with Iran has political ramifications for Romney as well. While he has accused Obama of weakness, he has given few specifics about what he would do differently.
Because he wouldn't be doing anything differently. The plan is beyond him, and woe to the president that strays too far. I often like to think about how pissed conservatives would be now had Romney won and then backtracked on so many things. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had pushed immigration reform as president.
Moreover, the prospect of one-on-one talks could put Romney in an awkward spot, since he has opposed allowing Iran to enrich uranium to any level — a concession that experts say is likely to figure in any deal on the nuclear program.
Direct talks would also have implications for an existing series of negotiations involving a coalition of major powers, including the United States. These countries have imposed sanctions to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes but which Israel and many in the West believe is aimed at producing a weapon.
Dennis B. Ross, who oversaw Iran policy for the White House until early 2012, says one reason direct talks would make sense after the election is that current major-power negotiations are bogged down in incremental efforts, which may not achieve a solution in time to prevent a military strike.
The feeling here is it is just a pro forma for the West so they can say we tried talking, but....
--more--"
And with the "election" over:
"US rethinks strategy for Iran nuclear talks; New approach could relax sanctions faster" by Bradley Klapper and Matthew Lee | Associated Press, November 10, 2012
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is considering a new approach in negotiations to curb Iran’s nuclear program that would ease economic sanctions faster than previously offered if Tehran makes greater concessions than it has ever discussed.
The proposal is one of several options being discussed before another round of negotiations between world powers and the Islamic republic, officials said Friday.
The United States’ aim is to try to prevent the next set of talks with Iran from failing like all previous efforts.
The strategizing is taking place amid an upsurge in diplomatic activity. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency announced Friday talks of its own in Tehran in December.
Negotiations bogged down last summer over permission to investigate sites for possible secret work on nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, top negotiators from the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia have agreed to meet Nov. 21 in Brussels, a Western official said, in a prelude to a possible resumption of talks between those countries and Iran early next year.
By that time, the United States could also be wielding the threat of new and unprecedented sanctions against the Iranian economy that lawmakers in Congress are working on, according to congressional aides and people involved in drafting the measures.
Related:
"The Senate voted 94-0, The overwhelming bipartisan vote on an amendment to a sweeping, $631 billion defense bill reflected fears about the Iranian threat and the United States’ unwavering support for its closest Mideast ally Israel."
And yet they run into bipartisan gridlock when it is something you want or need, American.
The basic contours of any negotiated solution are clear: United States, European, and other international sanctions would be eased if Iran halts its enrichment of uranium that is getting closer to weapons-grade, sends abroad its existing stockpile of such uranium, and suspends operations at its underground Fordo facility.
It's still far below, but why let that get in the way?
But Iran’s leadership has refused to bite on that approach, even as the value of its currency has dropped precipitously against the dollar, sparking an economic depression and massive public discontent.
That has prompted United States brainstorming on ways to reshape the offer to make it more attractive for the Iranians, without granting any new concessions that would reward the regime for its intransigence, administration officials said.
No, they only do that when dealing with Israel.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The administration sees Iran’s refusal to comply with its nuclear obligations as the sole cause for the logjam. But officials say the administration is considering an expanded offer that includes a deeper and faster drawdown in the oil and other sanctions that are sapping billions of dollars out of the Iranian economy.
But those sanctions could be scaled back only if Tehran agrees to far greater concessions that it has ever hinted at on its fiercely-defended enrichment program.
In other words, it's a non-starter.
Details of the potential proposal are still unclear, but the premise is to craft a deal that allows both sides to avoid the appearance of caving into the other’s demands.
Washington and many of its European and Arab partners fear Iran is trying to develop nuclear warheads, even if the Islamic republic insists the program is solely designed for peaceful energy and medical research purposes.
The Obama administration remains committed to a diplomatic solution. It says military options should only be a last resort and has pressed US ally Israel to hold off on any plans for a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
They won't forever. Already indicated summer by latest.
Patience in Israel and the United States is wearing thin.
Not here it isn't. We don't want any more wars for Israel. What is wearing thin is the endless war-mongering of my mouthpiece media.
Israel’s defense minister said Thursday that the timetable for Iran to enrich enough uranium to build nuclear weapons has been delayed by eight months.
It was an apparent reference to Iran’s decision, as reported by the IAEA, to convert much of its higher-level enriched uranium into a powder for a medical research reactor that is difficult to reprocess for weapons production.
Translation: They are NOT making a BOMB!
Israel sees the nuclear program as an existential threat, citing Iranian denials of the Holocaust, calls for Israel’s destruction, development of missiles capable of striking Israel, and its support for militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. It has pressed Washington in the past for more aggressive military posturing.
I don't need to be reminded of that, and in any event it is not an excuse for unjustified aggression.
With Obama reelected, a US official said the administration also would be open to direct talks with Tehran as part of the broader negotiations involving the larger group of world powers, if those would advance hopes of a negotiated agreement.
But a one-on-one encounter sometime in the next three months is considered highly unlikely by the administration because it sees no willingness by the Iranians, said the official.
The Supreme Leader has already put the kibosh on them.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Discussions with Tehran have been going on for a decade.
In Congress, lawmakers are working on a set of new sanctions that could prevent the Iran from doing business with most of the world until it agrees to international constraints on its nuclear program.
They sailed through because everyone knows Israel calls the shots in the US Congress.
The bipartisan financial and trade restrictions amount to a ‘‘complete sanctions regime’’ against Tehran, according to one congressional aide involved in the process, but they put the Obama administration in a difficult position with allies who are still trading with Iran.
That's an ACT of WAR!
--more--"
Related:
Not for long:
"UN agency chief questions Iran deal" by Mari Yamaguchi | Associated Press, January 12, 2013
TOKYO — ‘‘Negotiating with Iran is quite a challenge,’’ International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said. ‘‘A step forward doesn’t necessarily lead to another step forward. After making a step forward, there could be two steps backward, or even three steps backward.’’
Try negotiating with Israel. It's all in reverse.
Amano is in Japan for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Amano said resolving Iran’s suspected atomic program is among his top missions as IAEA chief.
Yeah, yeah, we know the UN is also under Israeli thumb.
‘‘I hope to peacefully resolve Iran’s suspected atomic program through diplomatic effort,’’ he said.
Officials said last month experts were expected to be allowed into Parchin military base, to investigate suspicions it might have been used in secret arms-related experiments, but Iran has not agreed to a key IAEA request — a visit to a site linked to suspected nuclear weapons research.
--more--"
"UN bid to reach nuclear deal with Iran unsuccessful" by George Jahn | Associated Press, January 19, 2013
VIENNA — Although Tehran may hope that agreement to meet again next month with the IAEA shows it is interested in a deal, that may be too little for the six powers, who are growing frustrated that their own talks with Tehran have barely progressed.
That's a signal that military action is coming soon.
Iran denies any interest in nuclear weapons, asserting that all its nuclear activities are peaceful. It stopped answering questions about allegations that it secretly did research and development work on such arms more than four years ago, saying it had provided enough information to disprove the claims....
How many times do you like answering the same question, readers?
Agency officials say they are willing to continue negotiations but some privately have described the delays as a tactic to further stall the investigations. They are particularly concerned that such delays can hurt their efforts to investigate the military site known as Parchin.
The IAEA suspects that Iran has conducted live tests of conventional explosives at the site southeast of Tehran that could be used to detonate a nuclear charge and have cited satellite photos indicating a cleanup there.
Are these doctored photos like we gave the Saudis when Saddam went into Kuwait?
But critics of the investigations contend that apparent demolition at Parchin is due to a major construction project by the Iranians and does not mean Iran is sanitizing the area.
The agency already visited Parchin twice, the last time in 2005. But back then, it did not have access to satellite imagery that it now uses to pinpoint its search. On Friday, Herman Nackaerts, who headed the team of International Atomic Energy Agency specialists, said that his team was again unable to go to the suspect site.
Related: Iran shows inspectors main nuclear site
You f***ing happy now?
Two diplomats familiar with his team’s negotiations said the main sticking points were Iran’s insistence that it be allowed to look at intelligence from the United States, Israel, and other IAEA member nations that the agency is using and its demands that any investigation not be open-ended.
What, they CAN'T SEE the "EVIDENCE" AGAINST THEM?
But the agency cannot share intelligence without permission from the nation that provides it and says it cannot accept limits on its investigation because one piece of evidence may lead to a whole new line of questions involving new sites, documents, or officials....
Translation: it's ALL CRAP WAR PROPAGANDA from ISRAEL!
--more--"
You guys really don't think we are falling for this again, do you?
"Iran says it will use advanced nuclear gear" by Alan Cowell | New York Times, February 01, 2013
LONDON — Iran has told the UN nuclear supervisory body that it plans to install more sophisticated equipment at its principal nuclear enrichment plant, a diplomat said Thursday, in a move likely to worry the United States, Israel, and the West....
You do.
The disclosure came amid high regional tension, a day after US officials said Israeli warplanes struck deep inside Syrian territory. The US officials said they believed the target was a convoy carrying sophisticated antiaircraft weaponry on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, that had been intended for the Hezbollah Shi’ite militia in Lebanon.
See: Israel's Strike on Syria
Iran is a close ally of Syria and Hezbollah. While an accelerated Iranian nuclear program would add to regional uncertainties — possibly renewing Israeli threats to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities — there was no immediate indication that the timing of Iran’s note to the IAEA was related to the events in Syria.
Then why?
International negotiations on the nuclear program are stalled by disputes on the venue and date for the next round.
Iranian officials offered no immediate comment on the note, but nuclear experts said Iran’s ambitions to install more sophisticated centrifuges had been known for some time....
It was unclear from the Iranian note whether the new centrifuges would be used to enrich uranium to the roughly 4 percent purity level used for civilian power generation or to the 20 percent purity level that can be used in medical isotope production. The higher purity is more worrisome to Iran’s adversaries because it is a short technical step away from the highly enriched uranium used in nuclear weapons.
Meaning they have none.
Cliff Kupchan, an Iran specialist at the Eurasia Group, a Washington-based risk consultancy, said in a note to clients Thursday that the faster centrifuges, assuming they work well, ‘‘would mark a significant technological breakthrough’’ that theoretically could shorten the amount of time Iran would need to create fuel for nuclear weapons should it choose that path.
But Kupchan cautioned that ‘‘Iran has a long history of overstating its capabilities.’’
Oh yeah?
News of the Iranian note emerged days after Iran said it lofted a monkey into space.
Related: Ahmadinejad Gets Around
That's one way of getting rid of him.
While US analysts said the missile technology used in the experiment appeared to have little military relevance, James E. Oberg, a former NASA engineer and author of a dozen books on human spaceflight, said Iran’s civil space advances also had propaganda value because the peaceful flights could take global attention off the nation’s military ambitions.
Wish we still had a space program.
Related: Fly Me To the Moon
Cui bono?
--more--"
"Iran is open to talks with US, official says" by Steven Erlanger | New York Times, February 04, 2013
Will you guys make up your mind?
MUNICH — Iran’s foreign minister said Sunday that his country was open to a renewed offer of direct talks with the United States on its nuclear program and looked favorably on a proposal for a new round of multilateral nuclear negotiations on Feb. 25 in Kazakhstan.
But the Iranian official, Ali Akbar Salehi, does not have the power in the Iranian system to decide these matters on his own, so his comments were viewed by European and US officials as more atmospheric, designed for the trans-Atlantic audience at the Munich Security Conference, than definitive....
I'm tired of symbolic s*** and fooleys appearing as news in my paper.
Having negotiated in the past with Washington over Iraq, he said, Iran had no ‘‘red lines.’’
Unlike someone else in the region.
Similarly, Salehi said he had ‘‘good news,’’ hearing that the European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, had proposed another round of negotiations with Iran by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany during the week of Feb. 25 in Kazakhstan.
Iran has regularly delayed such meetings....
Have they?
Iran is represented in nuclear talks by Saeed Jalili, who is designated as the ‘‘personal representative’’ of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Jalili is in Damascus, meeting with officials from the Syrian government, which Iran is supporting with arms, fuel, and cash.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: WWIII Will Begin in Syria
Already begun.
Vice President Joe Biden said bluntly in response to a question on Saturday that Washington was prepared for bilateral talks with Iran ‘‘when the Iranian leadership, supreme leader, is serious.’’ Biden added that the offer of talks ‘‘stands, but it must be real and tangible, and there has to be an agenda that they are prepared to speak to. We are not prepared to do it just for the exercise.’’
Biden once famously said he was a Zionist even though he is not Jewish.
--more--"
Related: Talks on Iranian nuclear program will resume
I'm always for talk over war. Always.
That's when a NEW TERM began to enter the propaganda spew:
"Relief on sanctions offered in Iranian nuclear talks" by Lara Jakes | Associated Press, February 26, 2013
ALMATY, Kazakhstan — World powers, fearful of scuttling negotiations beginning this week with Iran, are offering the Islamic republic some small sanctions relief in return for curbing its nuclear program. But officials warned Monday it is unlikely that any compromise will be reached soon.
Related: US blacklisting raises pressure on Iran
Negotiators set low expectations for the latest round of high-level talks to begin Tuesday in Kazakhstan’s largest city. It will be the first such meeting since last June’s in Moscow that threatened to derail delicate efforts to persuade Iran to stop enriching uranium to a level close to that used for nuclear warheads.
Unreal.
The stakes couldn’t be higher: The Obama administration is pushing for diplomacy to solve the impasse but has not ruled out the possibility of military intervention to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. And Israel has threatened it will use all means to stop Iran from being able to build a bomb, potentially as soon as this summer, raising the specter of a possible Mideast war.
You mean WWIII, right?
Tehran maintains it is enriching uranium only to make reactor fuel and medical isotopes and insists that it has a right to do so under international law.
Does.
It has signaled it does not intend to stop, despite harsh international sanctions on its oil and financial sectors, and UN nuclear inspectors last week confirmed Iran has begun a major upgrade of its program at the country’s main uranium enrichment site.
Well, it is their LEGAL RIGHT!
The clerical regime’s refusal frustrates the international community, which has responded by slapping Iran with a host of economic sanctions that US officials said have, among other things, cut the nation’s daily oil output by 1 million barrels and slashed its employment rate.
But, in a twist, negotiators now hope that easing some of the sanctions will make Tehran more agreeable to halting production of 20 percent enriched uranium — the highest grade of enrichment that Iran has acknowledged and one that experts say could be turned into warhead grade in a matter of months.
20% enrichment is for medical, weapons need 90%, it's been years of putting up with this stuff and it has grown tiresome.
--more--"
Related:
Iran not cooperating on nuclear weapons, UN official says
UN nuke agency: progress on Iran nuclear program
Iran may be set to boost its nuclear program
Iran called close to uranium enrichment goal
Iran says it will increase nuclear fuel production
Iran poised to expand uranium output
While experts agree that the Islamic Republic could assemble enough weapons-grade uranium to arm a nuclear weapon relatively quickly, they point out that this is only one of a series of steps need to create a working weapon. They say that Tehran is believed to be years away from mastering technology for an operational warhead. The report clashed with comments by Israeli officials."
I'll let you decide whom to believe.
While experts agree that the Islamic Republic could assemble enough weapons-grade uranium to arm a nuclear weapon relatively quickly, they point out that this is only one of a series of steps need to create a working weapon. They say that Tehran is believed to be years away from mastering technology for an operational warhead. The report clashed with comments by Israeli officials."
I'll let you decide whom to believe.
Iranian scientists have run computer simulations for a nuclear weapon that would produce more than triple the explosive force of the World War II bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, according to a diagram obtained by the Associated Press.
The diagram was leaked by officials from a country critical of Iran’s atomic program to bolster their arguments that Iran’s nuclear program must be halted before it produces a weapon. The officials provided the diagram only on condition that they and their country not be named."
Meaning it was Israel, Israel fabricating evidence, Israel.
"On Tuesday, Iran said that it was converting some of its stockpile of 20-percent enriched uranium into reactor fuel. Diplomats in Vienna said that once that is done, it is difficult to reconvert it for weapons. Some analysts contend that, by slowing the growth of its stockpile, Tehran could be delaying the moment when it reaches a size large enough to prompt military action by Israel, which has signaled readiness to attack Iran’s nuclear sites preemptively. Iran denies that it is seeking the wherewithal to build a nuclear weapon."
Wherewithal for a warhead tipped with nuclear weapons, oh my.
Next thing you know I'll be reading about "Iranian missiles designed to rain warheads down on the United States."
Let's see if we can get this cleared up:
Iran says Khamenei’s ban on nuclear weapons is binding
That's straight from the top.
"Ayatollah denies nuclear ambitions
TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader said Saturday that his country was not seeking nuclear weapons but added that if Iran ever decided to build them, no ‘‘global power’’ could stop it. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a group of visitors to his home in Tehran that his country favored the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons (New York Times)."
Iran has, since February, doubled its stockpile of fuel enriched to 20 percent purity — a level that bomb experts say could be converted to bomb grade in a matter of months — it still does not possess enough of that fuel to produce a complete nuclear weapon. Most of its stockpile is composed of a lower-enriched fuel that would take considerably longer to make useful in a weapon."
Israel says weeks (sigh), and it will take even longer now that they are using it foe medical purposes.
Next thing you know I'll be reading about "Iranian missiles designed to rain warheads down on the United States."
Let's see if we can get this cleared up:
Iran says Khamenei’s ban on nuclear weapons is binding
That's straight from the top.
"Ayatollah denies nuclear ambitions
TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader said Saturday that his country was not seeking nuclear weapons but added that if Iran ever decided to build them, no ‘‘global power’’ could stop it. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a group of visitors to his home in Tehran that his country favored the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons (New York Times)."
Iran has, since February, doubled its stockpile of fuel enriched to 20 percent purity — a level that bomb experts say could be converted to bomb grade in a matter of months — it still does not possess enough of that fuel to produce a complete nuclear weapon. Most of its stockpile is composed of a lower-enriched fuel that would take considerably longer to make useful in a weapon."
Israel says weeks (sigh), and it will take even longer now that they are using it foe medical purposes.
So what else can we talk about?
I'm tired of the hints and red lines, and clowns with their cartoons. Why don't you just save your breath because we are tired of hearing it over and over again?
It seems like “there are voices that sound like they want a war,’’ and WE HEAR and SEE THEM ALL the TIME in the newspaper! The goal is Israeli hegemony over the oil-rich Middle East, and they tell us ‘‘The assessments are for a war that will last 30 days on a number of fronts.’’ Aren't those the same guys who said Iraq would be over last six months? I hope they know Iran is ready with an effective response they have been practicing. I don't even think God can help them now.
Not only are we not winning the war games, we are losing in real life, too -- and not for the first time. Either the war profiteers are selling us crap, or all that technology is really worthless.
Iranian official says country can copy downed CIA drone
Why would they want to?
The RQ-170 Sentinel drone cost the United States around $20 billion, but the expensive technology is now in Iran’s possession through reverse engineering. The Sentinel went down in December. Iran said it took control of it and landed it, but US officials said the drone malfunctioned and had to land. They eventually confirmed the plane was monitoring Iran’s military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back, but Iran refused."
I don't know what is worse, the Iranians hacking into it and bringing it down or a malfunction.
And then it happened a third time? You can't say they didn't warn us.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard denies drone capture
Also Sunday, an Iranian semiofficial news agency reported that a commander of the Revolutionary Guards was killed in the country’s Kurdish northwest. The report by Fars quoted a statement by the Guard as saying General Hamid Tabatabaei was ‘‘martyred’’ during an engineering assignment. It was the third reported killing of a ranking officer in the area, home to mostly people of the Kurdish ethnic group. Members of the Guard have in the past fought Kurdish opposition groups in the area. In recent years the Guard have attacked several bases of the armed Kurdish group known as the PEJAK, which has been occasionally involved in armed clashes with Iranian forces."
Is it PEJAK! or P.J.A.K.?! Either way I suppose they are part of Plan B, which means Iranians are being assassinated by western intelligence agency operatives.
And speaking of those devils:
"MEK, the mother of all blunders remains the CIA’s collusion with Britain’s MI6 in overthrowing Iran’s elected parliamentary government in 1953 and installing the Shah — so that the corporate predecessor of BP could retrieve ownership of Iran’s nationalized oil reserves."
Oh, the whole thing was just one big blunder, huh? Just ignore all those dead people.
Unfortunately, it's something most Iranians have never forgotten, and something most Americans don't even know happened. That is not by educational accident, dear readers.
"MARKING THE HOSTAGE CRISIS -- Girls held posters of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in front of the former US Embassy in Tehran on Friday to mark the Nov. 4, 1979, storming of the building by students who held 52 Americans hostage in support of the Iranian Revolution (Boston Globe November 3 2012)."
I guess the Globe's website forgot to post that picture I found in my printed paper.
I guess what it all really comes down to are the insults to a certain group of people, and those they do not like. Thus the Iranians must endure sabotage, slander, silliness (got lost in the translation, ha-ha), censorship, false accusations, criminal accusations, and rights reports. Heck, they are even jailing religious men (spy?) and killing bloggers.
Who in the world would want to talk to them?
I'm tired of the hints and red lines, and clowns with their cartoons. Why don't you just save your breath because we are tired of hearing it over and over again?
It seems like “there are voices that sound like they want a war,’’ and WE HEAR and SEE THEM ALL the TIME in the newspaper! The goal is Israeli hegemony over the oil-rich Middle East, and they tell us ‘‘The assessments are for a war that will last 30 days on a number of fronts.’’ Aren't those the same guys who said Iraq would be over last six months? I hope they know Iran is ready with an effective response they have been practicing. I don't even think God can help them now.
Not only are we not winning the war games, we are losing in real life, too -- and not for the first time. Either the war profiteers are selling us crap, or all that technology is really worthless.
Iranian official says country can copy downed CIA drone
Why would they want to?
The RQ-170 Sentinel drone cost the United States around $20 billion, but the expensive technology is now in Iran’s possession through reverse engineering. The Sentinel went down in December. Iran said it took control of it and landed it, but US officials said the drone malfunctioned and had to land. They eventually confirmed the plane was monitoring Iran’s military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back, but Iran refused."
I don't know what is worse, the Iranians hacking into it and bringing it down or a malfunction.
And then it happened a third time? You can't say they didn't warn us.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard denies drone capture
Also Sunday, an Iranian semiofficial news agency reported that a commander of the Revolutionary Guards was killed in the country’s Kurdish northwest. The report by Fars quoted a statement by the Guard as saying General Hamid Tabatabaei was ‘‘martyred’’ during an engineering assignment. It was the third reported killing of a ranking officer in the area, home to mostly people of the Kurdish ethnic group. Members of the Guard have in the past fought Kurdish opposition groups in the area. In recent years the Guard have attacked several bases of the armed Kurdish group known as the PEJAK, which has been occasionally involved in armed clashes with Iranian forces."
Is it PEJAK! or P.J.A.K.?! Either way I suppose they are part of Plan B, which means Iranians are being assassinated by western intelligence agency operatives.
And speaking of those devils:
"MEK, the mother of all blunders remains the CIA’s collusion with Britain’s MI6 in overthrowing Iran’s elected parliamentary government in 1953 and installing the Shah — so that the corporate predecessor of BP could retrieve ownership of Iran’s nationalized oil reserves."
Oh, the whole thing was just one big blunder, huh? Just ignore all those dead people.
Unfortunately, it's something most Iranians have never forgotten, and something most Americans don't even know happened. That is not by educational accident, dear readers.
"MARKING THE HOSTAGE CRISIS -- Girls held posters of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in front of the former US Embassy in Tehran on Friday to mark the Nov. 4, 1979, storming of the building by students who held 52 Americans hostage in support of the Iranian Revolution (Boston Globe November 3 2012)."
I guess the Globe's website forgot to post that picture I found in my printed paper.
I guess what it all really comes down to are the insults to a certain group of people, and those they do not like. Thus the Iranians must endure sabotage, slander, silliness (got lost in the translation, ha-ha), censorship, false accusations, criminal accusations, and rights reports. Heck, they are even jailing religious men (spy?) and killing bloggers.
Who in the world would want to talk to them?
"Iran opens weeklong meeting of 120 nonaligned nations" Associated Press, August 27, 2012
TEHRAN — Iran opened a world gathering of self-described nonaligned nations Sunday with a slap at the UN Security Council and an appeal to rid the world of nuclear weapons, even as Tehran faces Western suspicions that it is seeking its own atomic bombs.
Iran seeks to use the weeklong gathering — capped by a two-day summit of Non-Aligned Movement leaders — as a showcase of its global ties and efforts to challenge the influence of the West and its allies. Among those expected to attend include UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, whose nation remains an important Iranian oil customer as Tehran battles Western sanctions over its nuclear program.
The 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement, a holdover from the Cold War’s pull between East and West, is also viewed by Iran and others as an alternative forum for current world discussions....
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi of Iran criticized Israel for remaining outside the United Nations’ main treaty on the spread of nuclear technology. Israel refused to discuss the full range of its military capabilities, but it is widely thought to have a nuclear arsenal.
Haven't you guys learned by now there are two sets of rules?
Outside the meeting site, Iran displayed three cars damaged by bomb blasts that Iran has blamed on agents from Britain and the United States. At least five members of the Iranian scientific community, including nuclear experts, have been killed since 2010 in a suspected covert war with its foes.
Iran and its proxies, in turn, have been linked by investigators to attacks and plots on Israeli targets around the world.
Which have usually turned out to be false flag attacks.
Salehi also complained about the perception of the ‘‘falling’’ clout of the UN’s general membership at the expense of the ‘‘rising power of the UN Security Council,’’ led by permanent members the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China.
Even before the first session got underway, however, a dispute flared about Palestinian envoys.
Iran said a political leader of Tehran’s ally Hamas had not been invited to the summit, contradicting Hamas claims Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was asked to come by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Hamas said on Sunday that Haniyeh has canceled plans to attend.
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Iran seeks to use the weeklong gathering — capped by a two-day summit of Non-Aligned Movement leaders — as a showcase of its global ties and efforts to challenge the influence of the West and its allies. Among those expected to attend include UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, whose nation remains an important Iranian oil customer as Tehran battles Western sanctions over its nuclear program.
The 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement, a holdover from the Cold War’s pull between East and West, is also viewed by Iran and others as an alternative forum for current world discussions....
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi of Iran criticized Israel for remaining outside the United Nations’ main treaty on the spread of nuclear technology. Israel refused to discuss the full range of its military capabilities, but it is widely thought to have a nuclear arsenal.
Haven't you guys learned by now there are two sets of rules?
Outside the meeting site, Iran displayed three cars damaged by bomb blasts that Iran has blamed on agents from Britain and the United States. At least five members of the Iranian scientific community, including nuclear experts, have been killed since 2010 in a suspected covert war with its foes.
Iran and its proxies, in turn, have been linked by investigators to attacks and plots on Israeli targets around the world.
Which have usually turned out to be false flag attacks.
Salehi also complained about the perception of the ‘‘falling’’ clout of the UN’s general membership at the expense of the ‘‘rising power of the UN Security Council,’’ led by permanent members the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China.
Even before the first session got underway, however, a dispute flared about Palestinian envoys.
Iran said a political leader of Tehran’s ally Hamas had not been invited to the summit, contradicting Hamas claims Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was asked to come by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Hamas said on Sunday that Haniyeh has canceled plans to attend.
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Iran summit interrupted by speeches on Syria, Israel
Iran resumes arms aid to Syria Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said last month. ‘‘There’s now an indication that they’re trying to develop, or trying to train, a militia within Syria to fight on behalf of the regime.’’
Isn't that what we are doing in Afghanistan, Leon?
"Obama’s wily strategy may temper Iran" by James Carroll | September 10, 2012
The Syrian crisis highlights Tehran’s influence, as Iran supplies weapons to Bashar Assad through Iraqi airspace....
Related: Sunday Globe Specials: US Lost Iraq War
Related: Sunday Globe Specials: US Lost Iraq War
Iran continues toward weaponizing uranium....
And this is the Globe's resident leftist peacenik talking!
Every day that war is postponed is a victory for better outcomes.
That I agree with in a certain sense; however, it doesn't mean the status quo is acceptable.
Every time Obama rejects a Netanyahu invitation to attack, or gives Israeli hawks a reason to desist, moderation can be revived — as much in Tehran as Tel Aviv. The coalition of nations joined in severe determination to stop an Iranian nuclear weapon is strengthened. Force need not be violent — a new sort of command, the tempered resolution that already won him the Nobel prize for peace.
He ought to give back that prize after the drone attacks and Libya coup, and force is always (even if indirectly) violent. That's why it's called force.
That I agree with in a certain sense; however, it doesn't mean the status quo is acceptable.
Every time Obama rejects a Netanyahu invitation to attack, or gives Israeli hawks a reason to desist, moderation can be revived — as much in Tehran as Tel Aviv. The coalition of nations joined in severe determination to stop an Iranian nuclear weapon is strengthened. Force need not be violent — a new sort of command, the tempered resolution that already won him the Nobel prize for peace.
He ought to give back that prize after the drone attacks and Libya coup, and force is always (even if indirectly) violent. That's why it's called force.
Tehran issues harshest attack on atomic agency
The United States and 29 other nations began the biggest mine-clearing exercise in the Persian Gulf region, a show of force as tensions escalate over the threatened Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. The 12-day exercise that started Sunday involves such Western nations as Britain and France, as well as participants as varied as Japan, Yemen, Jordan, New Zealand and Estonia.
The United States and 29 other nations began the biggest mine-clearing exercise in the Persian Gulf region, a show of force as tensions escalate over the threatened Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. The 12-day exercise that started Sunday involves such Western nations as Britain and France, as well as participants as varied as Japan, Yemen, Jordan, New Zealand and Estonia.
My printed Boston Globe also says it was a "reassurance to Israel that the United States has a military option available."
In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Iran as "a threat, not only for Israel but for the whole world." But she said that she wants to see a "political solution" and that the international community should work together."
You know what? Leave me and my nation out of this one. Let the rest of the world handle this one. Thanks.
You know what? Leave me and my nation out of this one. Let the rest of the world handle this one. Thanks.
I know just the guy to fix it:
"John Kerry embarks on inaugural trip in new job; Begins 9-nation trip to Europe, Mideast as top US diplomat" by Matt Viser and Bryan Bender | Globe Staff, February 25, 2013
LONDON — In another potential complication, Iran announced on the eve of the trip it has discovered new uranium deposits and plans to build 16 more nuclear reactors. Those facilities could be used to make atomic bombs....
Warheads, atomic bombs, wherewithal, nuclear weapons, you getting the point?
A major focus will be the civil war in Syria....
Related: Can We Talk About.... Syria?
Not now.
Kerry’s selection of Europe and the Middle East for his first overseas trip took some foreign policy observers by surprise. There was an expectation that, like former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s maiden trip four years ago, he would travel to East Asia....
I wonder who changed his itinerary.
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