Congressman seeking to bar Iranians from US

Source: PressTV

A US congressman has announced his plans to reintroduce the Stop Terrorists Entry Program (STEP) Act into Congress, which calls for the deportation of most Iranians without permanent resident status.

The STEP Act, a bill that was originally presented in 2003, would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar citizens of Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the United States.

Rep. J. Gresham Barrett says he is reintroducing the STEP Act in response to the Fort Hood shooting, carried out by a US citizen, and the Christmas Day attempt to blow up an airplane over Detroit, attempted by a Nigerian national.

If passed, the bill would deport all Iranians on student visas, temporary work visas, exchange visas, and tourist visas from the United States within 60 days.

It would also make it illegal for Iranians to travel to the United States, though some exceptions could be made after "extensive federal screening."
----------------------------------
2010 Jan 05

US Ready to Step Up Pressure on Iran, Clinton Says



Source: PressTV

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States has already begun discussions with its partners about imposing sanctions on Iran.

The move is being made to pressure the Iranian government to halt its uranium enrichment activities, Clinton said in Washington on Monday.

"We have already begun discussions with our partners and with like-minded nations about pressure and sanctions," Clinton said at a press conference with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani.

She stated that the White House will continue its dual track approach of seeking to halt Iran's uranium enrichment program through negotiations while also considering sanctions.

The US secretary of state also said Washington is willing to keep the door open to dialogue.

Clinton's remarks run contrary to an earlier statement by the White House that said the end of 2009 was supposed to be a very real deadline for Tehran to accept a nuclear deal that called for its low-enriched uranium to be shipped out of the country in exchange for 20-percent enriched nuclear fuel.

Iran says it is ready to swap its low-enriched uranium for 20-percent enriched uranium on its Persian Gulf island Kish or in Turkey, Brazil, or Japan.

Iran needs 20-percent enriched nuclear fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, which produces radioisotopes for medical purposes.

Tehran says it will consider enriching the fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor in Iran if the parties involved in the fuel supply talks fail to provide it within a month.

Iran is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which gives the country the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2010 Jan 03

US Dismisses Iran Nuclear Ultimatum



Source: Al Jazeera

The US has dismissed an ultimatum from Iran to accept a uranium exchange deal, saying the move amounted to Tehran "standing in its own way".
Responding on Saturday to Iran's demand that the West accept the swap or watch Tehran produce its own nuclear fuel, Washington said an existing international Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) proposal should be sufficient.

"The IAEA has a balanced proposal on the table that would fulfil Iran's own request for fuel, and has the backing of the international community," Mike Hammer, a spokesman for the US national security council, said.

"If getting access to fuel is Iran's objective, then there is absolutely no reason why the existing proposal, which Iran accepted in principle at Geneva, is insufficient.

"The Iranian government is standing in its own way."
If Tehran was to ignore the IAEA offer and start working on its own fuel production, it is though it would take years before Tehran will be able to turn its uranium into nuclear fuel.

Iranian Ultimatum

The US comments follow those by Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, who was quoted by Iranian state television as saying the West had just one month left to decide whether to accept Iran's proposal that it swap abroad its low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.

Iran has already rejected a December 31 deadline to accept the IAEA deal that would see Iran ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for processing into fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.

Germany, one of six world powers engaged in United Nations-backed talks to ensure Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful, also said Tehran's ultimatum made no difference.

The "situation has not changed," a German foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by the AFP news agency.
"The proposal of the international community remains valid. Iran must seize this opportunity."

Iran is already under three sets of UN sanctions for refusing to abandon its sensitive programme of uranium enrichment, the process which produces nuclear fuel or, in highly extended form, the fissile core of an atomic bomb.

Further Sanctions

The administration of Barack Obama, the US president, is said to be considering another round of more targeted sanctions since the December 31 deadline passed.
The New York Times on Saturday reported that Washington believes the domestic unrest in Iran, sparked by disputed elections last June, has made its leader particularly vulnerable to new sanctions.

Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said the long-discussed sanctions proposal comes as the administration completes a fresh review of Iran's nuclear progress.

Obama's strategists believe Iran's top political and military leaders have been distracted in recent months by turmoil in the streets and political infighting, and that their drive to produce nuclear fuel appears to have faltered, the report said.
A UN diplomatic source in New York said preliminary work on drafting a sanctions resolution was likely to begin in mid-January.

The UN has demanded Iran suspend all enrichment, a demand Tehran refuses, saying it has a right to develop the technology under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iran has also defiantly announced it intends to build 10 new uranium enrichment sites, drawing a forceful rebuke from the UN nuclear watchdog agency and warnings of the possibility of new UN sanctions.
-----------------------------------------------------------

2010 Jan 02

Tehran Calls on West to Act



Source: PressTV

Parties involved in fuel supply talks to Tehran's research reactor will have to act fast as half of the two-month deadline has gone by, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman says.

The West is pressuring Iran to accept a UN-backed draft deal, which would require the country to send most of its domestically-produced low enriched uranium (LEU) abroad to be converted into more refined fuel for the Tehran reactor that produces medical isotopes.

The research reactor in the capital, which produces much needed radiomedicine for cancer patients, is soon expected to run out of fuel. Iran has demanded the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to arrange the fuel to be provided to the country.

Iran, however, has not accepted the proposal, calling for "concrete guarantees" for the return of its fuel as some Western countries' have previously failed to adhere to their nuclear commitments with regards to Tehran.

"During negotiations between Iran and concerned parties, it was agreed that Iran should receive nuclear fuel for its research reactor and should the parties fail to do so, Iran has the right to produce the required fuel on its own," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran the spokesman said that during the October meetings in Vienna "some countries had requested a two-month extension to the agreement.”

Iran had accepted the request but the clock is ticking on the agreed deadline.

"One month has already gone by, and if we are not provided with nuclear fuel the Islamic Republic will decide accordingly," Mehman-parast continued.

The US has refused to consider Iran's concerns on the deal and insists the UN-backed draft deal, which was first proposed by the Obama administration is "unchangeable."

This is while Iran, as the buyer of nuclear fuel, has the right to set conditions or ask for guarantees in the event of any purchase or swap deal.