Iran Navy test-fires 1st anti-radar missile

Iran's Navy test fired its anti-radar missile in the Strait of Hormuz on January 1, 2012 (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218771.html

Iran's navy has successfully test-fired its first home-built medium-range anti-radar missile during the ongoing major naval maneuvers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The new Iranian surface-to-air missile was launched Sunday during the “power phase” of the massive 10-day drills, said Rear Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, the spokesman for Iranian Navy's Velayat 90 war games.

The mid-range missile, designed and manufactured by Iranian experts, is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and an intelligent system that enables it to target radio emission sources and thwart jammers, Mousavi added.

On the second day of the power phase, the naval forces will launch anti-surface torpedoes from the Ghadir-class submarines. The Iranian marine units will also be deployed aboard sea vessels and target radar-evading drones by shoulder-launched missiles, the Iranian commander noted.

On the concluding day of the power phase on Monday, a major contingent of the surface, subsurface and naval aviation units will organize into a new tactical arrangement to prepare for the last phase of the naval drills, Mousavi said.

Iran's Navy launched the massive 10-day naval exercises on December 24. The military maneuvers cover an area from east of the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.

The military drills take place in line with a recent directive by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyyed Ali Khamenei, instructing Iranian armed forces to maintain total readiness to defend the nation against any potential threats.

Iran maintains that the maneuvers are defensive in nature and intend to convey a message of peace and friendship to the countries of the region. It has also extended a public invitation to regional states to hold joint naval drills with Iranian forces.

Pakistan defies US, honors Iran gas deal

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218383.html

Islamabad has stepped up work on its bilateral agreements with Tehran including the implementation of a Pak-Iran gas pipeline project despite US threats.

“Construction work on the pipeline in Iranian area was completed. And on remaining portion that was to be constructed in Pakistani area the survey has been completed. Pakistan is bearing losses due to energy crises and it would go ahead with different options including Iran,” The Nation quoted a Pakistani official as saying on Thursday.

The Pakistani source added Islamabad had not backed down from its trade agreement with Iran.

On December 19, high-ranking Islamabad diplomats said the administration of Barack Obama is frustrated with the “rapid progress” of Pakistan's gas project with Iran, and is exhausting all its resources to sabotage the deal.

“They (US officials) have gone to the extent of threatening [Pakistan's] President [Asif Ali] Zardari of economic sanctions if work is not stopped immediately,” the official said.

Zardari, however, reportedly dismissed the threats, bluntly asserting that the commissioning of the project is vital and inevitable for the wellbeing of Pakistan's “fast crumbling” economy.

The USD 7.6 billion gas pipeline deal, which was signed in June 2010, aims to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters (or 8.7 billion cubic meters per year) of Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.

Iran and Pakistan finalized the details of the deal during bilateral talks held in Tehran in October 2007.

In addition to exporting gas to Turkey, Armenia, and Pakistan, Iran is currently negotiating gas exports to Iraq.

'US won't brook disruption in Hormuz'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218193.html

The Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet says it will not “tolerate” any disruption in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran announced its forces are capable of closing the route if necessary.

"[The fleet] maintains a robust presence in the region to deter or counter destabilizing activities," a spokesperson for the fleet said on Wednesday.

"The free flow of goods and services through the Strait of Hormuz is vital to regional and global prosperity… any disruption will not be tolerated."

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway that leads in and out of the Persian Gulf between Iran and Oman.

Iran has repeatedly warned that in the event of a military attack on the country, it will not hesitate in taking all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty one of which would be to close the strategic oil passage.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said, “Iran has total control over the strategic water way,” adding that, “Closing the Strait of Hormuz is very easy for Iranian naval forces.”

On Tuesday Iran's Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi also warned that not a drop of oil would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions are imposed against Iran's oil exports.

Iran's Navy is currently conducting a massive 10-day naval drill, codenamed “Velayat 90”, in an area stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.

Iran to US: Stop leveling accusations

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218147.html

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the only option for the US is to respect the rights of the Iranian nation and stop leveling baseless allegations.

Addressing the citizens of Ilam on Wednesday, President Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iranians will not back down in the face of US expansionism.

“Given the fact that you (the US) have worked against the Iranian nation for 32 years, what have you gained to make you keep pressuring the Iranian nation through various means?” he added.

Ahmadinejad further pointed to the latest developments, saying that Western powers have used some regional regimes as tools to topple other governments in the region.

The Iranian president said the US and its allies have always deceived their hypothetical friends, adding that they are currently exerting pressure on certain regional countries by spending large sums of money on propaganda campaigns.

He said the ridiculous point is that a group consisting of the heads of the states that lack democracy, freedom and election, gather together to issue resolutions against another country and call for democratic elections in that country.

President Ahmadinejad advised regional countries to open their eyes and realize that if the enemy is currently using you "to mount pressure on other governments, it will be your turn next.”

“If you (certain regional states) think that by giving oil money to Europe and the US, buying weapons and giving those weapons to the opposition groups of other regional states, the US and its allies may take pity on you, you are mistaken,” he added.

'Closing Strait of Hormuz easy for Iran'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218133.html

Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari has reiterated that the country's naval forces can readily block the strategic Strait of Hormuz if need be, Press TV reports.

“Closing the Strait of Hormuz is very easy for Iranian naval forces,” Sayyari told Press TV on Wednesday as the Iranian Navy continued with the ten-day “Velayat 90” naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz and Sea of Oman, which began on December 24.

“Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic water way,” the Iranian commander added.

Sayyari's comment came a day after Iran's Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned that not a drop of oil would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions are placed against Iran's oil exports.

Sayyari, however, noted that the Islamic Republic steadfastly maintains its interest in “establishing sustainable security and stability in the region.”

He further said that Iran hopes to convey a message of friendship and reassurance to the Middle Eastern nations by engaging in the ongoing naval exercises.

The maneuvers, which have been designed to showcase and put to test defensive strategies of Iran's naval forces, were planned as response to repeated enemy threats against the interests of the Islamic Republic, the Iranian commander added.

Sayyari also announced Iran's willingness to engage in joint naval maneuvers with other nations, particularly the regional countries.

The remarks by the navy commander come as Iran's naval forces are midway through their 10 days of drills in the Strait of Hormuz and beyond.

Among the objectives of the Velayat-90 maneuvers is to expand the presence of Iranian armed forces in international waters and prepare against piracy, terrorism or induced disruption to regional trade.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow shipping channel that leads in and out of the Persian Gulf between Iran and Oman.

Statistically, the waterway is one of the world's most important shipping lanes, with a daily flow of about 15 million barrels of oil.

The amount accounts for 90 percent of oil exports from oil-rich coastal countries of the Persian Gulf and nearly 40 percent of the entire global oil consumption.

Iran attack spells calamity for world

Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215640.html

Former Saudi intelligence agency chief Prince Turki al-Faisal has warned that launching an attack on Iran will have 'calamitous' consequences.

Speaking at Alfaisal University in Riyadh on Tuesday, al-Faisal said the impact of a military strike against Iran will be “calamitous … cataclysmic, not just catastrophic.”

Al-Faisal added that the adverse implications of such an attack would be felt worldwide.

The United States and Israeli regime have repeatedly threatened Tehran with military strikes under the false pretext that Iran's nuclear program may have a covert military diversion.

Iran has refuted the allegations, saying that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Iranian officials have vowed to deliver a crushing response to any military strike against the country, warning that any such measure could result in a war that would certainly reach far beyond the Middle East.

The Saudi official criticized singling out Iran's nuclear program while Israel is being given a clean chit.

Israel is considered to be the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

While Israel refuses to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities or to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty based on its policy of nuclear ambiguity, Iran has been subjected to snap International Atomic Energy Agency inspections due to its policy of nuclear transparency.

Israel recently test fired a new long-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The test was carried out at the Palmahim air base in central Israel.

This three-stage Jericho-3 missile, which is capable of delivering a 750-kilo warhead to a distance, is estimated to have a range of up to 10,000 kilometers.

'Returning US spy drone out of question'

Lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215438.html

A senior Iranian lawmaker says Iran will definitely not return the RQ-170 spy drone to the US, and Washington has to compensate Tehran for violating the country's airspace.

The White House must face the consequences of violating Iran's airspace and not request its drone back, Chairman of Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Tuesday, adding that returning the RQ-170 drone is out of the question.

The US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft was landed with minimal damage by the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit on December 4 while flying over the northeastern Iran city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) away from the Afghan border.

On Monday the Obama administration delivered a formal request to Iran for the return of the drone.

“[US President Barack] Obama is ignoring the fact that a spy drone has violated Iran's airspace and according to international law this is a violation [of the law],” Boroujerdi said.

The Iranian lawmaker added that the US has not officially requested the return of the drone, since the plea must be submitted through the Swiss ambassador to Iran and “this has not happened yet.”

Boroujerdi said the US must “pay compensation for the violating Iran's airspace,” in addition to apologizing to the Islamic Republic.

Obama: Give us our drone back

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215328.html

Following days of silence on the American spy drone captured and unveiled by Iranian armed forces, US President Barack Obama says Washington has asked Tehran to return the US reconnaissance drone.

“We've asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond,” Obama said in a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday.

The plea comes as the US and CIA refused to adopt an official position after Iran aired footage of the captured unmanned aerial vehicle on December 8.

The US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft was brought down with minimal damage by the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit on Sunday, December 4, 2011, when flying over the northeastern Iran city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) away from the Afghan border.

On December 6, two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to CNN that the drone was part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the US intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan.

They claimed the reconnaissance capability of the RQ-170 Sentinel drone enabled it to gather information from inside Iran by flying along Afghanistan's border with the Islamic Republic.

The RQ-170 is an unmanned stealth aircraft designed and developed by the Lockheed Martin Company.

Iran has announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the aircraft, which is similar in design to a US Air Force B2 stealth bomber.

Tehran says that the US drone spy mission was a “hostile act,” adding that it will lodge a complaint with the United Nations over the violation of its air sovereignty by the intelligence gathering aircraft.

Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei on December 8 called on the world body to condemn US aggressive moves against the Islamic Republic with respect to the reconnaissance drone that violated the Iranian airspace.

He made the plea in a letter sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz a-Nasser, and Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN ambassador who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for December.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents US interests in the country, and the Afghan ambassador to condemn the US violation of Iranian airspace.

Spy drone loss deals blow to US security

US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215267.html

A US public-policy think tank says the RQ-170 is one of Washington's “most prized intelligence platforms,” adding that Iran's downing of the reconnaissance drone has dealt a “major blow to US security.”

“There is the risk of compromise to a host of very sensitive intelligence capabilities possibly including hyperspectral imaging systems, specialized listening devices, nuclear particle 'sniffers' and communications encryption devices,” said David Goure, Vice President with the Lexington Institute.

The US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft was brought down with minimal damage by the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit on Sunday, December 4, 2011, when flying over the northeastern Iran city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) away from the Afghan border.

Goure added that even if the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) “was destroyed on impact with the ground, there will undoubtedly be recoverable parts.”

“Long-range UAVs are programmed to return to base if contact is lost with their controllers,” Goure added, thus dismissing the US claims that the drone had simply 'malfunctioned' or crashed in Iran.

“They are not supposed to fly around aimlessly or simply land. A platform as sensitive as the RQ-170 would have had such a 'carrier pigeon' program in its guidance computer and, under normal conditions, would have flown home.”

On December 6, two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to CNN that the drone was part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the US intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan.

They claimed the reconnaissance capability of the RQ-170 Sentinel drone enabled it to gather information from inside Iran by flying along Afghanistan's border with the Islamic Republic.

The RQ-170 is an unmanned stealth aircraft designed and developed by the Lockheed Martin Company.

Iran has announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the aircraft, which is similar in design to a US Air Force B2 stealth bomber.

Tehran says that the US drone spy mission was a “hostile act,” adding that it will lodge a complaint with the United Nations over the violation of its air sovereignty by the intelligence gathering aircraft.

Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei on December 8 called on the world body to condemn US aggressive moves against the Islamic Republic with respect to the reconnaissance drone that violated the Iranian airspace.

He made the plea in a letter sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz a-Nasser, and Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN ambassador who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for December.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents US interests in the country, and the Afghan ambassador to condemn the US violation of Iranian airspace.

Israel woes over Iran's hunt of US drone

The RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft was downed by Iran's armed forces in the east of the country on December 4, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215317.html

The US officials are gradually coming forth with confessions over Iran's downing of Washington's RQ-170 unmanned reconnaissance drone.

This highly advanced aircraft had been assigned various missions, including operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"Military experts and specialists know very well what invaluable technological information this aircraft carries with it," an Iranian military commander-in-chief said.

Some of the US military analysts say that this aircraft was used to spy on Iran's nuclear sites.

The similarity of the technology used in this aircraft with that of B-2 stealth bombers and F-35 fighters adds to its significance. The special color of this aircraft gives it a unique feature to evade radars. RQ-170 is even capable of lingering in the sky for days. This aircraft can eavesdrop on the wireless and wired radio connections to a wide radius around its flight region. And if necessary, it is also capable of widespread electronic jamming around its flying region. Its radar is very advanced and one of a kind. It's equipped with cameras, lenses and sensors that enable it to take unique pictures.

Perhaps even more important than the very advanced and unique features of the RQ-170 is the manner in which it was ambushed. It's obvious that military analysts will speculate diversely, but none can be sure of their guesses. The most comic claim is that this aircraft had crashed in Afghanistan and Afghan groups have sold it to Iran. New intelligence reveals that the navigation system of this aircraft was hacked and the drone was subsequently grounded. The broadcast footage of the aircraft was so important for some analysts they speculated the rear end of the aircraft might have been damaged after its supposed crash and so only anterior images of the aircraft was shown.

Nonetheless, it is clear that there had been no crashes, and those who had seized control of the drone in Iran had landed it safely.

Washington's silence over the past few days was because the US army commanders knew very well what region the aircraft was flying over, when connections with it were cut off and where it landed.

One Israeli paper wrote that the US had initially intended to destroy the hunted aircraft, but it refrained from such an act for fear that a limited military measure against Iran might escalate into a full-scale war.

The Invasion of Iran's airspace by the US warplanes and helicopters, which were subsequently destroyed in a sandstorm near the eastern desert city of Tabas on April 25, 1979, has taught the Iranians to take the RQ-170 spy drone to a safe place and analyze its sensitive equipment to prevent a possible US attack from destroying the aircraft.

Undoubtedly, many governments and organizations from Russia and China to some regional Arab states will stand in line to buy the plane or, at least, get information on its advanced technology. They may also be ready to sign large military contracts with Tehran to get their hands on it. Iran, however, is wiser than easily losing the bird it has captured.

Of course, capturing this aircraft will not be the end of the world and will not change the military balance of power. Such planes lose importance when compared to US bombers and fighter planes. However, their technological resemblance to other advanced American aircraft is the bitter fact for the American military and government. Some US analysts have even noted that Washington will be first in line to buy the plane back from Iran.

But at what price? Will that price be paid through a compromise on Iran's nuclear case?

Israel and the US have been launching relentless propaganda hype about attacking Iran's nuclear facilities in the past few months. The Western press even reported that the US has contacted the Iranian officials telling them that it cannot prevent Israel's airstrike against Iran beyond March 2012. Some analysts have also noted that after US troops leave Iraq in late December, the country's sky will be unprotected and nobody will be able to prevent Israeli planes from crossing Iraq's airspace to reach Iran.

The propagandists wanted everybody to believe that Israel was ready to attack Iran on its own, but the United States has thus far barred that attack. Iranian political officials and military commanders have answered those claims by declaring the country's readiness to repel attacks.

Israeli and American press have also claimed in the past few weeks that Israel will use radar-evading drones, for which it has spent a few billion dollars, to attack Iran.

Such aircraft can stay aloft for a long time on low fuel in order to reach the target. But will few drones be all it takes to destroy Iran's nuclear capability?

Even if the answer is positive, downing the US RQ-170 spy drone will make Israel think twice. The mere idea that Israeli drones may be also captured will most probably make Israeli military commanders to review their plans.

Israel's drones have already played an important part in the assassination of Palestinian fighters living in 1967 occupied territories.

China must protect Iran even with WWIII

Major General Zhang Zhaozhon

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/213760.html

A professor from the Chinese National Defense University says if Iran is attacked, China will not hesitate to protect the Islamic Republic even by launching the Third World War.

Major General Zhang Zhaozhong said, "China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third World War."

The United States and Israel have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike, based on the allegation that Iran's nuclear program may consist of a covert military agenda.

Iran has refuted the allegations, saying that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Over the past weeks, Israel has renewed its aggressive rhetoric against Iran. On November 21, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that "time has come" to deal with Iran.

Israeli President Shimon Peres also threatened on November 6 that an attack against Iran is becoming "more and more likely."

Iranian officials have promised a crushing response to any military strike against the country, warning that any such measure could result in a war that would spread beyond the Middle East.

Iran military downs US spy drone

An American RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned reconnaissance aircraft (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/213765.html

A senior Iranian military official says Iran's Army has downed a remote-controlled reconnaissance drone operated by the US military in the eastern part of the country.

The informed source said on Sunday that the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit successfully targeted the US-built RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft after it crossed into Iranian airspace over the border with neighboring Afghanistan.

He added that the US reconnaissance drone has been seized with minimum damage.

The RQ-170 is an unmanned stealth aircraft designed and developed by the Lockheed Martin Company.

The US military and the CIA use the drone to launch missile strikes in Afghanistan and in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region.

The unnamed Iranian military official added that “due to the clear border violation, the operational and electronic measures taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran's Armed Forces against invading aircraft will not remain limited to Iran's borders."

However, NATO forces say operators lost control of a surveillance drone flying over Afghanistan last week that may be the same one Iran says it has downed.

"The UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] to which the Iranians are referring may be a US unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week. The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status," the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

The statement about the UAV was issued in Kabul on Sunday and released to reporters covering an international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany.

The incident comes as the United States has beefed up its military presence in and around the Persian Gulf region in recent months in the wake of a popular uprising in Bahrain.

The US Department of Defense says Washington is closely monitoring developments in Bahrain, which hosts the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, where 4,200 US military personnel are based.

Iran gives NAM data on IAEA report

Iran's envoy to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltanieh

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/209136.html

Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali-Asghar Soltanieh has offered the (Non-Aligned Movement) NAM critical information about Iran's nuclear program amid a publicity hype by the Western media over the latest IAEA report on Tehran's nuclear case.

In an extraordinary session of the NAM, held upon Iran's request on Tuesday, Ali-Asghar Soltanieh answered 20 critical questions about Tehran's nuclear program and a host of related issues.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano's latest report on Iran's nuclear activities was circulated among 35 members of the Board of Governors of the agency on Tuesday evening, almost 10 days ahead of the seasonal meeting of the board, due to take place in Vienna on November 17 and 18.

Amano has reportedly attached a 15-page annexation to his report, which focuses on the issue of Iran's alleged studies in the field of military nuclear activities.

According to some of the Western media speculations, the report makes three claims regarding Iran's nuclear activities, which purport that Tehran is pursuing a covert nuclear military program.

One of the claims has been made over satellite pictures of a steel container supposedly used for testing explosives that might be used to detonate fissile material.

The other claim revolves around Iran's hypothetical attempt to built computer models of a nuclear warhead, still another one conjectures that Tehran appears to have received foreign assistance in its experiments with nuclear material.

Soltanieh on Tuesday provided the NAM member states with detailed answers to 20 key questions about Iran's nuclear program.

Question 1: Has the IAEA detected, after 4000 days of most intensive inspection in the agency's history, even one gram of uranium being diverted for military purposes?

Response: No. Please study all of the reports by the agency's current and former director generals.

Question 2: With respect to nuclear activities and materials which are claimed to have not been declared until 2003, has the IAEA found out that they had been diverted towards military activities?

Response: No. All of these activities and materials were audited by the agency. Please study all the agency's reports to the Board of Governors between 2003 and 2004

Question 3: Was Iran ethically obliged to declare Natanz enrichment facility before 2003?

Response: No. Given that nuclear material had not been introduced into the facility until 2003, Iran was under no obligations to declare it. Particularly since Iran had not signed the Revised Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements, as well as the additional Comprehensive Safeguards (CSA) and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) agreements.

Question 4: Was Iran legally obliged to declare the heavy water research reactor in Arak (IR40) before 2003?

Response: No. Iran was not under any obligation to declare it since no nuclear material had been introduced into it until 2003, particularly since Iran had not signed the Revised Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements until 2003.

Question 5: Had Iran any obligation under the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement to report Arak's heavy water production plant to the IAEA before 2003?

Response: No, because heavy water and its products are not covered by the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. Iran started implementing the Additional Protocol in 2003.

Question 6: Was Iran under any legal obligation until 2003 to declare uranium conversion Facilities (UCF)?

Response: No. Since no nuclear material had been introduced into the facility until 2003, Iran was not under any obligations to declare it, particularly given that Iran had not signed the Revised Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements until 2003.

Question 7: Did Iran have any legal obligation to declare uranium mines including Gachin and Saghand mines?

Response: No, because Iran had not signed and implemented the Additional Protocol until 2003.

Question 8: Has the IAEA detected any nuclear material or activity including enrichment in Parchin and Lavizan-Shian, which are claimed to have been part of a nuclear weapons program after the UN agency carried out intensive inspections, including sampling and analyzing?

Response: No. The director general's press statement about Iran on March 6, 2006 reads, “On transparency, I think I mentioned in my report access to military sites, we have been given access to a number of military sites recently, to Parchin, Lavizan, Shian, to dual use equipment, to interview people. These are beyond the Additional Protocol, but they are essential for us to reconstruct the history of the program.”

On November 15, 2004, the director general reported that the agency had been provided access to the Lavizan-Shian military site where the agency took environmental samples. Finally, paragraph 102 of the director general (GOV/2004/83) says, “The vegetation and soil samples collected from the Lavizan-Shian site have been analyzed, and reveal no evidence of nuclear material.” Further information with respect to this issue is available in November 18, 2005 (GOV/2005/87) and February 27, 2006 (GOV/2006/15) documents.

Question 9: Did the IAEA, in its agreed Action Plan (INFOSIRC/711), announce that there is no other issue in addition to what was listed in 2007?

Response: Yes. The paragraph IV of the document (INFOSIRC/711) says that these modalities cover all the remaining issues, and the agency emphasizes that there will be no issues and ambiguities regarding Iran's previous nuclear programs and activities.

Question 10: Was the IAEA bound to submit the documents related to the “Alleged Studies” to the Islamic Republic based on its Action Plan?

Response: Yes. Paragraph III says, “Although the agency will submit the documents to the Islamic Republic, considering the Green Salt Project, experiments of high explosives and carrying missiles with returning abilities, it will also keep them with itself.

Question 11: Did the IAEA fulfill its obligations regarding the submitting of the evidence pertaining to the allegations to Iran?

Response: No. Please study the report by the former director general to the UN Board of Governors, where he correctly criticizes that the certain country that has provided the agency with the evidence on the allegations has not allowed the agency to submit the documents in question to Iran.

Question 12: Has the IAEA confirmed the authenticity of the content of the “Alleged Studies”?

Response: No. Please study the report by the former director general to the UN Board of Governors, where he correctly brought up the authentic problems with the documents. The director general also clearly explained that the nuclear materials and activities in the “Alleged Studies” are not relevant.

Question 13: What was Iran's obligation toward the document INFOSIRC/ 711 regarding the “Alleged Studies”?

Response: In Paragraph III of the document, which was discussed and agreed upon by the IAEA and Iran, and was to be approved by the Board of Governors specifies, “As a sign of the resolve to cooperate with the agency, based on all the related documents received, Iran will study the document and will inform the agency of its evaluation.”

Question 14: Did Iran, under the work plan, have any obligation to hold meetings, interviews or [allow] sampling regarding the “Alleged Studies”?

Response: No. As mentioned in Response 12, Iran was only obliged to inform of its evaluation. Iran has submitted its 117-page evaluation of the past three years. But the agency has not acted on its obligation to end the Action Plan. Accreting to Paragraph IV of the Action Plan, “The agency and Iran agreed that, following the implementation of the Action Plan and the agreed modalities for the negotiation of remaining issues, the implementation of the safeguards in Iran change to continue in the normal and conventional path.”

Notice: Instead of the Action Plan's conclusion, the secretariat introduced new allegations known as “Possible Military Aspects.” But in Paragraph IV of the Work Plan it is affirmed that “no issue has remained and there not any doubts about Iran's nuclear program and previous activities.”

Question 15: Has the Islamic Republic implemented the Additional Protocol?

Response: Yes. Please study the report by the former director general before 2006.

Question 16: Has Iran implemented the Modified Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangement of the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement?

Response: Yes. Please study the report by the former director general before 2006.

Question 17: Since when Iran has halted its voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol and the Modified Code 3.1? Why?

Response: Iran's Majlis (parliament) voted to stop the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol and the Modified Code 3.1 (after two years and half) regarding the unfair reference of Iran's technical nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council in 2006. The important point is that the Additional Protocol is not a binding legal tool and the Modified Code 3.1 was merely a suggestion by the Board of Governors and is not part of the legal provisions of the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA).

Question 18: Have all Iran's nuclear materials been measured, and are under the complete supervision of the safeguards and remained peaceful?

Response: Yes. Please study the annual Safeguards Implementation Report (SIR).

Question 19: Did Iran itself provide the possibility of unannounced inspections?

Response: Yes. The agency conducted more than 100 unannounced inspections in Iran. The advance-notice for some of them were issued only two hours before the inspection.

Question 20: Why does Iran deem the resolutions by the Board of Governors and the UN Security Council as illegal?

Response: A. In accordance with Article 12 C under the IAEA statute, if the inspectors notice any “non-compliance,” they should report the same to the director general and the later should report to the Board of Governors thereafter. Followingly, the Board will notify the report to the United Nations. None of these procedures have been applied with regard to Iran.

After three years elapsed since 2003, when the issue was raised at the Board of Governors, some members of the Board claimed that there had been “non-compliance” prior to 2003. Nonetheless, the director general did not use the legal term “non-compliance” and instead used the word “failure,” which has also been used with regard to the other countries, which implement the CSA. Based on this agreement, the issue will be considered as concluded after corrective measures are adopted. The former director general clearly confirmed in his report that Iran took all the corrective measures.

B. Article 12 C mentioned in the Board's resolutions speak of “recipient member states,” which have misused the nuclear materials delivered from the Agency. Iran has never received the nuclear materials mentioned in the relevant provisions under the Statute.

C. According to the Statute and the CSA, if the Agency discovers that the nuclear materials have been diverted to military purposes, it will notify the UN Security Council of the same. All the reports submitted by the incumbent and former dire generals so far contain no evidence of nuclear diversion.

D. Based on the CSA, if a member state does not allow the inspectors to enter the country and as a result the IAEA cannot conduct its verification activities, the Agency will notify the UN Security Council of the issue. All the reports by the director general since 2003 have explicitly announced that the Agency is able to continue its verification activities in Iran.

E. The resolutions by three EU member states against Iran from 2003 to 2006 have recognized Iran's move to suspend its uranium enrichment activities as a non-binding, voluntary and trust-building measure. Therefore, the Board of Governors 's resolutions which referred Iran's nuclear issue to the UN Security Council, after Iran decided to suspend its UCF activities voluntarily, are totally in contradiction with the Board's previous resolutions.

It should be mentioned that when the three EU member states proposed the anti-Iran resolutions at the Board of Governors in 2006 with political motives and in an attempt to involve the UN Security Council in an IAEA-related technical issue, enrichment activities in Natanz were still suspended voluntarily.

The last question from peace-seeking nations:

Based on the abovementioned facts, should we allow the IAEA, as the only international body tasked with promotion of peaceful use of nuclear energy for the achievement of peace and prosperity, to be manipulated as a tool by a number of countries which seek to turn the Agency into a watchdog utterly malleable into the hands of the UN Security Council and deprive the developing countries of their “absolute right” to use peaceful nuclear energy as stipulated in the IAEA Statute?

Russia blasts new IAEA report on Iran

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/209132.html

Russia has strongly criticized the release of the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran, describing it as a "source of a new increase in tension" over Tehran's nuclear program.

Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday the release of information from the IAEA report was driven by "destructive logic" aimed at the "intentional demolition of the political-diplomatic process."

"Russia is gravely disappointed and bewildered that the report is being turned into a source adding to the tensions over the problems connected to the Iranian nuclear program," reads the statement, Reuters reported.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano's latest report on Iran's nuclear activities was distributed to the 35 members of the Board of Governors of the agency on Tuesday evening, ahead of the seasonal meeting of the board, which is scheduled to be held in Vienna from November 17 to 18.

Iran dismissed the report as "unbalanced, unprofessional and prepared with political motivation and under political pressure by mostly the United States."

Russia also said that the agency's move would damage the chance of a renewal of talks between Tehran and the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany -- to solve the crisis over Iran's nuclear program through diplomatic channels.

"We have serious doubts about the justification for steps to reveal contents of the report to a broad public, primarily because it is precisely now that certain chances for the renewal of dialogue between the 'sextet' (P5+1) of international mediators and Tehran have begun to appear," the ministry said.

Russia also said that it needs time to study the detailed of the anti-Iran report.

"The analysis must take place in a calm atmosphere, since it is important to determine whether some new, reliable evidence strengthening suspicions of a military element in Iran's nuclear program has really appeared, or whether we are talking about an intentional -- and counterproductive -- whipping up of emotions," the ministry said.

Moscow also called on international community to "keep public steps in line with the interests of progress toward a political and diplomatic resolution."

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program.

Yet, as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, Iran has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence indicating that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

Vicious triangle forming against Iran

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/208576.html

In recent days, there has been a vociferous interest in Israel, the US and the UK in fanning the flames of Iranophobia in what observers see as a political red herring to engage in a catastrophic war in the Middle East.

The trio, which constitute a vicious triangle in their roguishly Iranophobic endeavors, have manifestly held secret meetings among the top security officials and formed a united front against Iran.

A recent report by The Guardian has revealed that British Chief of Defense Staff Gen. David Richards visited Tel Aviv secretly during the week, held a number of meetings with top Israeli military and intelligence officials and reassured them of Britain's unwavering support in case of an attack on Iran's nuclear sites. Further to that, the British officials revealed that the US government was mulling accelerating plans for targeted attacks on the country's nuclear sites and that Britain was prepared to be part of the plan for a possible attack.

Interestingly enough, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrived in London on Wednesday to hold talks with his British counterpart, with Iran of course to top the agenda. The importance of these meetings is that Britain's senior military official had not visited Israel for a decade. So, the recent meetings indicate the cementing security and military ties between the two countries.

Only recently, a senior US military official addressing a forum in Washington said that Iran had become the biggest threat to the United States. “The biggest threat to the United States and to our interests and to our friends … has come into focus and it's Iran.”

Coincidentally (how so?), on the same day (Friday), Israel's president Shimon Peres also stated something virtually to the same effect, saying that the military option to stop Iran from obtaining "nuclear weapons" was nearer.

When asked by Channel Two News if events were moving toward a military option rather than a diplomatic one, Peres replied, “I believe so, I estimate that intelligence services of all these countries are looking at the ticking clock, warning leaders that there is not much time left.”

In this regard, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a pea in the pod, graced a G-20 summit of world leaders in France with his pithy words, “Iran's behavior and this obsessional desire to acquire nuclear military (capability) is in violation of all international rules. … If Israel's existence were threatened, France would not stand idly by.”

The trio (excluding France) have stepped up their rhetoric against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Threat is not a new word to Iran and the country is prepared for the worst and as Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said on the sidelines of a news conference in the Libyan city of Benghazi, “The US has unfortunately lost wisdom and prudence in dealing with international issues. It depends only on power. They have lost rationality; we are prepared for the worst but we hope they will think twice before they put themselves on a collision course with Iran.”

Time and again, the USA has renewed its hollow rhetoric against the Islamic Republic of Iran, repeating the same allegations again and again and again: that Iran is pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program; that Iran is supporting terrorism in the region; that Iran is violating human rights; that if Iran acquires the technology to produce nuclear weapons, it will create World War III.

The recent allegation leveled against the Islamic republic ahead of the next week's report by the UN atomic watchdog is that Iran has “built a large steel container for carrying out tests with high explosives that could be used in nuclear weapons,” and that Iran has made computer models of a nuclear warhead and other previously undisclosed details on alleged secret work by Tehran on nuclear arms.” Allegation comes after allegation against the Islamic Republic and the vicious triangle is forming to set a stage for an all-out attack against the country with the intended purpose of plundering its natural resources.

However, Iran will not sit quietly and leave the invaders in peace.

In August 2011, a top IRGC commander Brigadier General Ali Shadmani envisaged three effective measures to counter any potential act of aggression.

1. As Israel is the USA's backyard, Iran will disturb peace there. (The absence of peace in Israel will certainly deny repose to the USA as well.)

2. It would take full control of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway where over 40 percent of all traded oil passes (thereby spiraling up the oil prices to a confounding level and dealing a heavy blow to the already deteriorating global economy.)

3. It would keep a close watch on all American military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq. In case of an attack, Iran will cripple the troops stationed in those bases and incapacitate them of any possible move.

In the final analysis, the US hidden agenda in creating Iranophobia is to raise a specter of a nuclear apocalypse in the world, invade the country in alliance with Israel and the UK and other nefarious powers and eventually get their hands on Iran's myriad resources which they have coveted for so long.

In the unholy Israel-US-UK alliance, one cannot say with surety who is the most responsible party for these anti-Iran provocative acts but it seems that the Israeli tail is wagging the US-UK dog.

~~ Ismail Salami is an Iranian author and political analyst. A prolific writer, he has written numerous books and articles on the Middle East. His articles have been translated into a number of languages.

UK army chief secretly visits Tel Aviv

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/208350.html

British military chief General Sir David Richards has secretly visited Tel Aviv earlier this week, the Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post quoted the regime's military sources as saying.

Richards who is Britain's Chief of the Defense Staff reportedly held several meetings with the senior commanders of the Israeli regime's army though there are no details on the subject of his talks.

He also visited the northern parts of the Israeli occupied territories at the regime's borders with Lebanon.

The secret visit comes as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are reportedly making efforts to rally enough support in the cabinet to launch a military attack on Iran though an Israeli minister has dismissed a conflict as imminent.

"This issue [of military attack on Iran] should be discussed by the cabinet and put to the vote. But this event has not been taking place yet," said the minister, who is a member of the eight-member 'intracabinet' group opposed to an attack on Iran.

Moreover, after it emerged that Richards secretly met with Israel's military and intelligence senior staff, Barak arrived in London on Wednesday to meet with Richards and Britain's Defense Secretary Philip Hammond and National Security Adviser Sir Peter Ricketts.

The British media have also reported that Britain is developing plans for military action against Iran through deploying cruise missile-armed submarines and warships near the country's waters to help a possible US strike.

This comes as it is widely believed that the media hype about an imminent attack on Iran is part of the psychological warfare over Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

Nevertheless, Iran has categorically announced that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never been able to provide any evidence indicating that Iran's nuclear activities are military oriented.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials have repeatedly pledged that any attack on the country will be costly to the aggressors.

'UK considering Iran war contingencies'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/208346.html

British authorities are considering contingency plans for potential military invasion of Iran in yet another adventurous move, a newspaper report says.

The report comes as multiple statements by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have reiterated the peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities, over which IAEA inspectors are carrying out full, round-the-clock supervision using the most advanced and sophisticated surveillance cameras and equipment.

The authorities said Britain would endorse any US action plan aimed at launching an invasion on Iran amid decisions made in Washington to fast-forward missile strikes at the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities, The Guardian reported.

According to the report, British war planners are “examining where best to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles over the coming months as part of what would be an air- and sea-launched campaign.”

A senior official told The Guardian that the UK needs to accelerate its planning in this regard as the next spring could be a key decision-making period.

“Planners expect any campaign to be predominantly waged from the air, with some naval involvement, using missiles such as the Tomahawks, which have a range of 800 miles. There are no plans for a ground invasion, but "a small number of special forces" may be needed on the ground, too,” the report said.

The report comes as Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to be discussing the possibilities of surrounding an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

This is yet another example of violating international rules and regulations by Israeli authorities, who have a long record in making threats or carrying out attacks against sovereign nations in the Middle East.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, stressing its rights to commission peaceful nuclear activities as a signatory to nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), has repeatedly stated that its nuclear activities are totally peaceful.

'Bushehr plant to go on stream Monday'

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197765.html

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has announced that the country's Bushehr nuclear plant will go on stream during a ceremony next week.

Ali Akbar Salehi told IRNA on Tuesday that the ceremony, to be attended by the Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, is scheduled to take place on the coming Monday at Bushehr power plant.

The Iranian foreign minister said that in the world of Islam and among 57 Muslim nations, the Islamic Republic is the second country, after Pakistan, to develop a nuclear power plant.

Salehi stated, however, that capacity-wise, Iran is among the first top countries possessing nuclear power plants in the world of Islam.

“The two nuclear power plants of Pakistan combined supply 500 megawatts, while [Iran's] Bushehr nuclear plant has a 1000-megawatt capacity,” he pointed out.

The foreign minister also touched upon the experience that Iran has attained in putting the plant into operation, saying, “Iranian engineers have had the opportunity to pick up both the Western and Eastern technologies.”

The top Iranian diplomat further underscored Iran's self-sufficiency in nuclear technology and in different fields such as medical, industrial and agricultural usage.

Iran signed a deal with Russia in 1995, under which the plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999, but the completion of the project was repeatedly delayed. The nuclear power plant was finally finished with the help of Russia after three decades.

On August 17, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi announced a plan for the official inauguration of Bushehr nuclear power plant with full capacity of 1,000 megawatts in late November or early December.

US nukes threaten international peace

Iran's Permanent Representative to the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Kazem Gharibabadi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197564.html

An Iranian official says the deployment of US nuclear weapons in Europe threatens the security and safety of host countries and endangers international peace.

The deployment of US nuclear weapons in the territory of some European countries violates the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), Iran's Permanent Representative to the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Kazem Gharibabadi said.

He made the remarks at the “4th Annual International Conference Nuclear Dilemmas: Present and Future” at The Hague.

Gharibabadi advised the Western countries to focus on real threats that endanger international peace and security, such as Israel's nuclear weapons, instead of creating false ones.

“It is surprising that in the sensitive region of Middle East, while Israel is not a party to any international disarmament or arms control treaties and has an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction including nuclear ones, it is immune to any criticism,” the Iranian official said.

Israel, widely believed to be the sole possessor of a nuclear arsenal in the Middle East with over 200 undeclared nuclear warheads, pursues the policy of "deliberate ambiguity" on its nuclear program.

Tel Aviv has rejected global demands to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and does not allow inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to observe its controversial nuclear program.

“How can the countries that advocate disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons close their eyes to this obvious threat?” Gharibabadi pointed out.

He stressed the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities and said, “No evidence of the existence of a program to build nuclear weapons has been found in Iran.”

The US and its allies accuse Iran of developing a military nuclear program. In June 2009, the UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran's financial and military sectors under Western pressure.

Iranian officials have repeatedly refuted the allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the NPT and a member of the IAEA, Tehran has the right to use peaceful nuclear technology.

Iran to launch Bushehr plant in Nov-Dec

Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194325.html

Iran's top nuclear official has announced a plan for the official inauguration of Bushehr's nuclear power plant in southern Iran in mid-November or in December.

Bushehr nuclear power plant is currently nearing its pre-operation phase which means that initial tests for its reactor and turbine are in the final stages, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi told reporters on Wednesday.

The Iranian vice president added that the plant is getting closer to its 40 percent capacity, IRNA reported.

He stated that the steam which had already been produced in the plant was not transferred to the turbine to generate electricity and noted that the produced steam is currently injected to the turbine and electricity is generated.

The AEOI head explained that in a time-limited experimental phase, the produced electricity will join the grid but it will be then cut off to make necessary revisions.

On Sunday, Abbasi said that the first phase of the Bushehr plant has been scheduled to go on stream by the end of the holy month of Ramadan (early September) with a 40 percent capacity.

He noted that a pre-launch phase of the plant was due to be implemented by September and “if things proceed according to plans ... the [Bushehr] power plant will join the national grid with a 40 percent capacity.”

Iran signed a deal with Russia in 1995, under which the plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999, but the completion of the project was repeatedly delayed. The nuclear power plant was finally finished with the help of Russia following a three-decade delay.

In October 2010, Iran started injecting fuel into the core of the reactor at Bushehr nuclear power plant in the initial phase of its launch. However, engineers began removing the fuel rods in late February for safety reasons.

The unloading of the fuel delayed the plant's connection to the national grid, initially scheduled for the beginning of 2011.