IAEA Iran moving closer to nuclear missile production

Iranian technicians at the Fordo enrichment plant (Reuters)

Source: Russia Today
http://www.rt.com/news/iran-nuclear-iaea-evidence-253/

The IAEA suspects that Iran has raised its enrichment threshold towards weapons-grade level. The hunch is based on evidence found at the Fordo enrichment plant a day after P5+1-Iran talks ended with no agreement.

The UN's atomic agency reportedly found traces of uranium enriched up to 27 per cent, diplomats told AP. This is seven percent higher than Iran’s known enrichment grade.

Even though this is substantially below the 85 per cent (and often higher) level normally required for weapons-grade uranium, the IAEA suspects that Iran has moved closer to producing the material needed to arm nuclear missiles.

Meanwhile, no official comments from the agency have been given.

The latest move comes a day after the group of six and Tehran failed to produce a result, as both sides refused to budge.

The P5+1 appealed to Iran to suspend its 20 per cent uranium enrichment program, which the group sees as vital to the negotiations process.

Tehran considered the Western proposal “unbalanced,” rejecting it over what it called unfair demands, which offer little in return.

What Iran sought at the two-sided negotiations are guarantees from the West that it will scale back on its sanctions, which significantly affect the country’s oil exports and economy.

The West believes that Iran is aiming to turn its uranium enrichment program toward making weapons.

At the same time, Tehran insists that nuclear enrichment is its “undeniable right” – and that it is strictly for peaceful use.

The next round of talks, which is seen as another chance to hammer out an agreement, is slated for June 18-19 in Moscow

UN nuclear chief: Deal reached on Iran probe

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano briefs the media after his trip to Tehran upon his arrival at the international airport in Vienna May 22, 2012 (Reuters/Leonhard Foeger)

Source: Russia Today
http://www.rt.com/news/iran-probe-agreement-reached-855/

The chief of the UN nuclear agency says he has reached a deal with Iran over probing suspected work on nuclear weapons, and adds that the agreement will be "signed quite soon."

Yukiya Amano says some details still need to be worked out. But he told reporters Iranian officials say those will not stand in the way of signing the deal, AP reports.

Amano spoke Tuesday on return from Tehran talks on resuming a long-stalled probe into suspicions that Iran secretly worked on developing nuclear weapons.

The investigation has been halted for more than four years, with Iran saying it never carried out such experiments.

Tehran has now agreed to terms that will allow IAEA probes of suspect Iranian sites, including the Parchin military complex where the agency has reported suspicious activities in the past.

Tehran denies working on atomic weapons, saying that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes like research and cancer treatment only. It claims Parchin is merely a conventional weapons site.

Inspecting Parchin, southeast of the capital Tehran, was a key request made by senior IAEA teams that visited Tehran in January and February. Parchin is especially significant since the IAEA believes Iran in 2003 ran explosive tests needed to set off a nuclear charge there. The suspected blasts took place inside a pressure chamber. Iran has never said whether the chamber existed, and rebuffed those demands at the time.

But with both Iran and the IAEA reporting progress in talks last week, anticipation ahead of the latest visit was high. Nevertheless, Amano said he could not predict whether he would clinch a deal allowing his agency to renew its long-stalled probe.

For Yukiya Amano this was the first visit to Iran since becoming the International Atomic Energy Agency chief in 2009.

Amano’s one-day trip also acted as a mood-setter for talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany).

The meeting is to be held in Baghdad on May 23

Iran faces arm-twisting demands ahead of key nuclear talks

A handout picture released by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's official website shows him (R) listening to an expert during a tour of Tehran's research reactor centre (AFP Photo / Iranian Presidency)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/iran-new-nuclear-demands-535/

The six-party party talks on Iran’s nuclear program, called “the last chance” by the West, may now be in jeopardy. The new requirements by the US and Israel towards Iran’s nuclear program have been rejected by the country as “irrational.”

Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak is now demanding that Tehran discloses the entire history of its nuclear activity and opens all its nuclear facilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The demand comes a day after media reports that the US and its Western allies plan to put forward a new requirement for Iran to immediately close and ultimately dismantle its recently completed nuclear facility at Fordo.

Located deep in the mountains, the Fordo research center has been built underground so that the enemy cannot attack and destroy it. Its inaccessibility to potential air strikes has been of particular concern to the US and Israel.

Iran has called the demands “irrational” with the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, saying that Fordo was built so deep underground only because of the constant threat of attacks.

"If they do not threaten us and they guarantee that no aggression will occur, then there will be no need for countries to build facilities underground,” he said. “They should change their behavior and language."

The talks between Iran and representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, known as P5+1 are scheduled for April 13-14 in Istanbul. However, Turkey has not yet officially confirmed it will host the negotiations.

The US and Israel are set to demand that Iran halts the production of uranium which they consider just a few steps from weapons grade and also end the shipment of existing stockpiles “to a neighboring, devoted country.”

"We do not see any rationale for such a request from the P5+1," Davani said. He added that Iran would continue producing small amounts of 20 per cent enriched uranium to fulfil its medical needs.

Tension around Tehran has been running high recently, with aggressive rhetoric from both sides. Following the new set of sanctions and the oil embargo, the West now sees the upcoming negotiations as the “last chance for talks.”

But the latest demands from the US and Israel that Iran abandons its newly completed site make any chance of agreement at the meeting between Iran and the six world powers unlikely.

The reaction of the Iranian authorities during the talks cannot be predicted, believes Leonid Gusev from the Moscow State University of International Relations.

“Some believe Iranians may make some concessions,” Gusev told RT. “They did this repeatedly over the past years. When someone pressed really hard on them, they back-pedaled slightly.”

“On the flip side,” Gusev added, “being under pressure, Iranians want to show that they can hold ground and resist this pressure.”

Such categorical demands for a halt to Iran’s nuclear program are a very tough psychological subject and the country will most likely adopt the “policy of flexible response” only in the event of inevitable military attack from the US or Israel, Gusev believes.

But even if this “last chance” for peaceful solution is wasted, the Nobel Peace Prize winning US president, who is running for his second term, is unlikely to openly call for an attack on Iran, Gusev believes. Alas, the US would gladly let Israel do the dirty work, if Iran’s nuclear ambitions cross a certain “red line,” he added.

The problem is that the US will decide where this line should be drawn, Gusev said. Iran has repeatedly claimed they do not have enough capabilities to enrich uranium to the 90 per cent purity level needed for it to be weapons grade.

According to official data Iran has barely more than 100 kilograms of 20 per cent purity uranium fuel stockpiled, which would not be enough even for a single nuclear weapon.

'Russia will not brook attack on Iran'

Outgoing Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/220920.html

Russia has warned that it would consider any NATO military action against Iran a 'direct threat' to its national security.

"Iran is our neighbor, and if Iran is involved in any military action, it's a direct threat to our security," Russia's outgoing ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, told reporters in the Belgian capital Brussels on Friday.

"We are definitely interested in the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. But at the same time, we believe that any country has the right to have what it needs to feel comfortable, including Iran."

The comments come one day after the secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, warned about the Israeli lobby's efforts to drag the United States into a military confrontation with Iran.

"There is a likelihood of a military conflict escalation, to which the Americans are being pushed by Israel," Patrushev said in an interview with Interfax on Thursday.

In addition, on Wednesday an Iranian scientist, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, was killed in a terrorist attack. In the incident, a motorcyclist attached a magnetic bomb to his car near a building of Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran.

Ahmadi Roshan was the deputy director of marketing at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.

The terrorist attack took place shortly after Iran reached an agreement with the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany -- to hold negotiations in Turkey.

The US, Israel, and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to convince the United Nations Security Council to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

They have also repeatedly threatened to launch a military strike against.

In November 2011, some US presidential candidates said operations should be carried out against Iran, such as assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, sabotage of Tehran's nuclear program, and even a military strike on the country.

The calls for assassinations are not idle threats as a number of Iranian scientists have been assassinated over the past few years. Professor Majid Shahriari and Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi were victims of these acts of terror.

On November 29, 2010, Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi were targeted in terrorist attacks. Shahriari was killed immediately, but Abbasi, the current director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, sustained injuries but survived.

Iran says UN Resolution 1747, which was approved in March 2007, cited Abbasi's name and identified him as a "nuclear scientist," which helped the attackers target their victim.

According to reports, Ahmadi Roshan had recently met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. Iran says the IAEA has leaked information about Iran's nuclear facilities and scientists.

'Sketchy IAEA report sets stage for war'

According to a 2009 Wikileaks cable, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano asserted that "he was solidly in the US court on every key strategic decision, from high-level personnel appointments to the handling of Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/220902.html

A former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director has spoken out against the agency's recent report on Iran's nuclear program, saying he does not want to see another war waged based on “recycled, discredited data.”

“In the 24-page document, intended for a restricted distribution but widely available on the Internet, all but three of the items that were offered as proof of a possible nuclear-arms program are either undated or refer to events before 2004,” Robert Kelley wrote in an article titled “Nuclear Arms Charge against Iran Is No Slam Dunk” on the Bloomberg website on Wednesday.

Of the remaining three, he added, two are attributed only to two member states, “so the sourcing is impossible to evaluate.”

Kelley said the remaining allegation was in fact a revival of a two-page document, “purporting to come from Iran,” which the IAEA received in 2009.

“Mohamed ElBaradei, who was then the agency's director general, rejected the information because there was no chain of custody for the paper, no clear source, document markings, date of issue or anything else that could establish its authenticity. What's more, the document contained style errors, suggesting the author was not a native Farsi speaker. It appeared to have been typed using Arabic, rather than a Farsi, word-processing program.”

The IAEA released its latest report on Tehran's nuclear program on November 8, claiming that Iran has been engaged in activities related to developing nuclear weapons before 2003, which “may still be ongoing.”

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

Having already lobbied for the imposition of four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran, the US and its allies have since used the recent IAEA report to slap even stricter unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

On New Year's Eve, US President Barack Obama signed into law fresh economic sanctions against Iran's Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.

The European Union followed suit with its foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton threatening Tehran with continuing sanctions. “I expect Iran will realize that we will continue with sanctions. EU members are discussing further sanctions right now,” she said.

The EU foreign ministers are expected to hold a meeting later this month on January 23 to discuss proposed embargo on Iran's oil exports.

The IAEA report has more alarmingly led to calls from various US and Israeli corners for a military strike against Iran.

On December 20, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta claimed that Iran was one year away from building an atomic weapon, threatening that Washington will take every step “necessary” to stop Tehran's nuclear program.

Less than a week later, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said the US military is ready to launch a military strike against Iran, if occasion necessitates.

With the upcoming US presidential election, the Republican candidates have similarly heightened the anti-Iran rhetoric, in an apparent bid to win Zionist votes.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials have also recently stepped up their war rhetoric against Iran. On November 21, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned the "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."

The former IAEA director said he is “speaking up” about the flawed IAEA report, “because, as a member of the IAEA's Iraq Action Team in 2003, I learned firsthand how withholding the facts can lead to bloodshed.”

“Having known the details then, though I was not allowed to speak, I feel a certain shared responsibility for the war that killed more than 4,000 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis. A private citizen today, I hope to help ensure the facts are clear before the US takes further steps that could lead, intentionally or otherwise, to a new conflagration, this time in Iran,” he said.

Iran blasts US, UK for Nuclear Scientist assassination

On Wednesday, January 11, 2012, scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was killed in a terrorist attack in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/220809.html

Iran's Foreign Ministry has blasted the US and UK governments for their obvious roles in assassinating Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan in two strongly-worded protest notes.

Ahmadi Roshan was assassinated on Wednesday, after an unknown motorcyclist attached a sticky bomb to his car near Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran, killing him instantly.

The note to the UK Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed to the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists that immediately followed the remarks of head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) John Sawers, who discussed the launch of intelligence operations against Iran.

The note read that Iran's Foreign Ministry "voices its strong protest to the outcome of the mentioned British approach and underscores that the Uk is responsible for such acts of terror."

In October 2010, Sawers accused Iran of pursuing clandestine nuclear activities, adding the country's nuclear program cannot be halted through "conventional diplomacy."

"Stopping nuclear proliferation cannot be addressed purely by conventional diplomacy. We need intelligence-led operations to make it more difficult for countries like Iran to develop nuclear weapons," Sawers said.

In November 2010, shortly after Sawers remarks, terrorists detonated bombs attached to the vehicles of Dr. Majid Shahriari and Professor Fereydoun Abbasi, both professors at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, in separate locations.

Shahriari was killed immediately while Abbasi and his wife sustained minor injuries and were released from hospital shortly afterwards.

In a separate note addressed to the US government, sent via the Swiss Embassy which represents the US in Iran, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said diplomatic notes from Tehran about evidence of American support for anti-Iran terrorist groups have remained unanswered or have been met with Washington's approving silence.

"Based on credible evidence and reliable intelligence, this terrorist operation [on January 11] was carried out with the guidance, support, and planning of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the direct complicity of its elements. Thus the direct responsibility (of the terrorist attack) lies with the (US) government."

The note stressed that based on international law and conventions the US government must be answerable.

The note further warned the US government to immediately end terrorist operations targeting the lives of Iranian citizens.

"The Islamic Republic reserves the right to follow up on the issue accordingly," the note concluded.

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.

Sudan blocks South's oil shipment

Port Sudan (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192589.html

Sudan has prevented a shipment of oil produced in South Sudan from leaving port after Juba refused to pay customs fees, escalating tensions between the neighbors.

"Sudan has blocked the ship in Port Sudan... When the ship leaves the port, the South has to pay the customs authorities. This is the first time they didn't pay," Sudan Foreign Ministry spokesman Al-Obeid Meruh was quoted by AFP as saying on Friday.

The spokesperson earlier said Juba had refused to pay the north's fees for the use of its oil infrastructure, such as its pipeline, and therefore the cargo of 600,000 barrels had been blocked.

Meruh went on to say that Sudan and South Sudan have not reached an agreement about the transit fees, adding that Khartoum is asking for $32 per barrel.

South Sudan says other states charge a fee of $1.8 per barrel for providing the same facilities, urging the north to consider international standards in setting the fees.

The event intensifies a row between the neighbors in which Juba accuses Khartoum of making efforts to impede its economic growth.

"They want to stop the shipment so that it prolongs the whole [negotiating] process. Khartoum is trying to sabotage the economy of South Sudan," said David Loro, undersecretary for South Sudan's Ministry of Energy and Mines.

Loro added that a southern committee is holding negotiations with Sudanese authorities in Khartoum over the issue of transit fees.

The landlocked South has to use the north's infrastructure to pump oil, which according to the World Bank, accounts for nearly 95 percent of its total revenue.

South Sudan becomes independent

Citizens of the new country celebrate independence of the South Sudan at midnight in the capital Juba, July 9, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/188209.html

South Sudan has become independent, making it Africa's newest nation and the world's newest country.

South Sudan became independent several minutes ago, shortly after midnight local time on July 9.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Sudanese President Omar Bashir, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Yehia al-Gamal, and other prominent political figures travelled to the South Sudan capital Juba on Friday to attend the independence ceremony of the new Republic of South Sudan.

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, and the head of the US military's Africa Command, Gen Carter Ham were also in Juba for the independence day celebrations.

President Bashir, who forged the 2005 peace deal with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), expressed readiness to work with the “Southern brothers and help them set up their state so that, God willing, this state will be stable and develop.”

“The cooperation between us will be excellent, particularly when it comes to marking and preserving the border so there is a movement of citizens and goods via this border,” he said.

South Sudan becomes the 193rd country recognized by the United Nations and the 54th UN member state in Africa.

Joyful residents of the new nation banged on jerry cans and chanted the name of the world's newest president, Salva Kiir, the Associated Press reported.

“We are brothers and sisters who suffered for a long time, and that is why we are now celebrating, what we will achieve,” said a resident.

“In independence we are going to have hospitals and schools and a lot of development around here. Our mothers and sisters died in the past. Hospitals were very far from us.”

South Sudan's independence comes after decades of conflict with the north in which over 1.5 million people died. The new oil-rich nation is one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.

A historic peace agreement between North and South Sudan signed in 2005 paved the way for an independence referendum in January 2011, in which southerners voted almost unanimously to secede. North Sudan has officially recognized southern independence.

China rolls out red carpet for Bashir

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with Sudan's leader Omar al-Bashir during the signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on June 29, 2011 in Beijing, China

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186876.html

Chinese President Hu Jintao has welcomed his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir in the capital Beijing, saying the visit will bolster the traditional friendship among the two nations.

The two presidents held talks in the Great Hall of People in central Beijing on Wednesday and signed several economic cooperation pacts.

"Mr. Bashir, you are a guest who has travelled from afar, and we welcome you," Hu said in his opening remarks.

State media quoted Hu as saying that al-Bashir's visit would solidify and develop traditional China-Sudan ties and promote “practical cooperation” between the two states “in many fields."

The Sudanese president, who called Hu his "friend and brother", thanked his counterpart for the "warm welcome and treatment."

Chinese officials said that the two presidents also discussed "Sudan's ongoing north-south peace process and the Darfur issue" as South Sudan prepares to become an independent country on July 9.

Sudan is China's sixth largest source of overseas oil and, according to Sudanese media, Bashir's meeting with Hu followed a trip to the headquarters of China National Petroleum Corporation, where he concluded an agreement to boost Chinese oil investment in Sudan.

Bashir's visit comes ahead of the partition of Sudan into two states, scheduled for implementation on July 9, after two decades of civil war.

Chinese officials have confirmed that achieving a peaceful relationship between Bashir's government and the newly formed state of Southern Sudan will be the main focus of their discussions during his visit.

China needs stability in Sudan to maintain an outward flow of oil and ensure the safety of its substantial investments there. Since most of Sudan's oil resources will lie in the newly formed southern state, the upcoming secession will be of major significance for China.

IAEA votes to report Syria to UN

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183969.html

Amid a whole host of abstentions and 'no' votes by Russia and China, the UN nuclear regulator votes to report Syria to the world body as what it describes as a former harborer of an undeclared nuclear reactor.

The motion was approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s board of governors in New York on Thursday with 17 members endorsing the move and 11 holding back their vote, AFP reported.

The body will therefore refer Syria to the UN Security Council over allegations that it built a nuclear reactor that was destroyed in 2007 by Israeli bombs.

The vote came a few days after IAEA's Director General Yukiya Amano slammed the Israeli regime for the arbitrary attack on what Tel Aviv had called 'a Syrian nuclear facility.'

Amano expressed regret that the bombing had been carried out "without the agency having been given an opportunity to perform its verification role."

In September 2007, at least four Israeli fighter planes crossed into the Syrian airspace and launched an attack on what turned out to be a research center that belonged to the regional grouping of the Arab League in the city of Deir ez-Zor in the northeast of the country.

The assault caused a significant rise in tension between the two sides, which are technically at war due to Tel Aviv's 1967 occupation and annexation of the Golan Heights in southwestern Syria.

"Rather than force being used, the case should have been reported to the IAEA," Amano had said.

Damascus denies harboring a nuclear weapons program. It opened up the attacked site to IAEA inspectors in 2008 and has pledged to fully cooperate with the agency regarding the issue.

Tel Aviv has neither confirmed nor denied bombing the site. Former US President George W. Bush has, however, written in his memoire, published last year, that the attack took place after he resisted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's request for Washington to undertake the strike.

The developments come amid Tel Aviv's continued refusal to declare its nuclear arsenal and its insistence on not joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Since 1958, when Tel Aviv began building its Dimona plutonium- and uranium-processing facility in the Negev desert in southern Israel, it has secretly manufactured numerous nuclear warheads, thus becoming the sole owner of such weapons in the Middle East.

Former US President Jimmy Carter has attested to the existence of the arsenal, which he has said includes between 200 to 300 nuclear warheads.

Israel has, however, neither confirmed nor denied possessing nuclear arms under a deliberate policy of 'nuclear ambiguity.'

96,000 displaced in North South Sudan conflict: UN

Smoke rises from burnt homes in the town of Abyei in this handout photo released by the United Nations mission in Sudan on May 23, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183720.html

The United Nations says the tense situation in the border region of Abyei between North and South Sudan has displaced 96,000 people.

“As of 5 June, the estimated number of people to be displaced by the Abyei violence was 96,000 people,” the UN's humanitarian office said.

“The situation in Abyei over the weekend was reported to be tense and unpredictable with reports of sporadic gunfire, and tukuls (traditional thatched huts) being burnt,” AFP quoted the UN office as saying on Tuesday.

According to reports, northern troops seized the oil-producing region on May 21, two days after the southern forces attacked a convoy of northern troops, killing 22 people.

The 'humanitarian crisis' in Abyei comes “in the middle of the hunger period” in the South which is between March and August. Tens of thousands of people lessen their consumption until the South's first harvest.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees says more than 300,000 southerners who used to live in the North have returned to the South, adding to the woes of the fledging government.

Meanwhile, clashes between the Southern and Northern armies in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, has claimed the lives of six people, the UN sources said on Tuesday.

“At one of the hospitals we visited, we saw six dead bodies, four of whom were government of Sudan police, and the other two civilians... Earlier we saw about 3,000 people taking refuge at the Kadugli police hospital,” Hua Jiang, spokeswoman for the United Nations Mission in Sudan said.

South Kordofan is situated in the North Sudan and is the only oil-rich state in the country.

Sudan rejects UNSC pullout demand

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmad Karti

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183374.html

Sudan has dismissed a request by the UN Security Council (UNSC) to pull its forces out of the oil-producing region of Abyei on the border between the South and the North.

“Sudan does not need to be asked to pull its army out of Abyei because this is a Sudanese territory,” AFP quoted Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Ahmad Karti as saying on Sunday.

“The army's entering the area to handle the security situation there was necessitated by the continued security breaches committed by the other party,” Karti added, referring to South Sudan troops.

The Sudanese top diplomat went on to say that their forces will remain in the region until an agreement is reached.

Karti's remarks come a day after the UNSC called on Khartoum to withdraw its forces from Abyei. The council claimed Sudan's military operations in Abyei are “serious violations” of the so-called 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The 2005 deal ended more than two decades of civil war between the rival sides. In January, majority of southerners voted for secession from the North in accordance with the agreement.

The agreement had left the fate of Abyei to a later referendum by the residents of the region to choose whether to join the South or the North.

Sudanese Armed Forces seized control of the oil-producing region on May 21. The measure came after troops from the South fired shots at a convoy of northern forces and UN peacekeepers on May 19.

UN starts study on Japan nuclear crisis

Workers wearing protective suits enter Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant No.2 reactor building in Fukushima Prefecture on May 18

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/180934.html

The United Nations has launched a study on the implications of the accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that the body will undertake a systematic study on the health, safety and security impact of the accident at Fukushima plant, which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in March, Reuters reported.

Ban said that the UN would present the findings at a high-level meeting on the implications of the crisis scheduled to be held during the annual UN General Assembly meeting in September.

The report "will address a variety of areas, including environment, health, food security, sustainable development and the nexus between nuclear safety and nuclear security," the UN chief said in a statement.

"It will also present system-wide views on how to improve disaster risk preparedness," he added, noting, "In producing this study, it is my intention to highlight the need to strengthen the capacity of the relevant international organizations, particularly the IAEA, recognizing its central role."

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organization and the World Food Program are among the UN agencies which will be carrying out the study.

On March 11, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, off the northeast coast of Japan's main island, unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours.

The massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami set off a nuclear disaster by knocking out power to the cooling systems of reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, and caused radiation leaks.

Sudan to build 1st nuclear plant

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was offered nuclear technology
by Iran earlier this year


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139759.html


Sudan is planning to build a nuclear reactor and its first nuclear power plant for peaceful electricity purposes by 2020, state media say.

Director-general of the Sudanese Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed Ahmed Hassan el-Tayeb, said on Sunday that his government had begun the plan for the development of the nuclear reactor at the beginning of this year.

The country "has already started preparing for the project ... in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is expected to build the first nuclear power plant in the year 2020," state news agency SUNA quoted Tayeb as saying.

An IAEA delegation is set to visit the African country this week to discuss the project, he went on to say.

Sudan has been an IAEA member since 1958, which means that it can develop nuclear energy with IAEA assistance.

Though the country has been under severe US sanctions since 1997, it has managed to boost both its oil production and increase its dam construction projects, thus encouraging growth.

However, in March, Khartoum announced that it needed to look for an alternate source of energy in an attempt to meet its growing demands.

Earlier this year, Iran offered to transfer nuclear technology to Sudan.

The African state has close economic and political ties with the Islamic Republic, which is locked in a dispute with the United States and some of its Western allies over its nuclear program.

Iran protests to UN over US war plan

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139320.html

Iran complains to UN officials about US threats of military attack on the country over its nuclear program, vowing a response to any such strike.

In letters to the heads of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the General Assembly that circulated Wednesday, Iran's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Eshaq Alehabib, slammed the US plan for an Iran strike which is based on "totally false" grounds, AP reported.

This comes after Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said the US military has a plan to attack Iran, although he thinks a strike is probably a bad idea.

Mullen, America's highest-ranking military officer, said he was extremely concerned about the possible repercussions of such a strike, warning that military action against Iran could have "unintended consequences that are difficult to predict in what is an incredibly unstable part of the world."

The US and its allies accuse Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Iran dismisses the allegations, arguing that all its nuclear activities are under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Organization.

The Security Council passed a fourth round of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in June.

In addition to the UNSC sanctions, the US administration adopted unilateral sanctions against Tehran in July, targeting Iran's financial and energy sectors.

On Wednesday, Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh, called on the body to counter the "incorrect and unfriendly" attitude.

"The IAEA should counter the incorrect and unfriendly attitude, including sanctions and resolutions by the UN Security Council which undermine cooperation," Soltanieh said.

"The IAEA should know that Iran has cooperated with the Agency beyond its undertakings to show its goodwill and build transparency," he added.

Blix questions judgment behind Iraq war

Hans Blix, the former executive chairman of the UN weapons inspection team in Iraq, AP photo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136443&sectionid=351021806

The former UN weapons inspector questions the judgment of Britain and the US in their decision to invade Iraq despite lack of evidence regarding the country's possession of WMD.

Hans Blix, the former executive chairman of the UN weapons inspection team in Iraq from March 2000 to June 2003, made the remarks on Tuesday while testifying at the independent Iraq Inquiry.

Blix said that he had initially thought Iraq had weapons of mass destructions, but when none were found upon the inspections, he warned the US and Britain that it was unlikely Saddam Hussein had illegal weapons, Reuters reported.

"What was really important was about this business of sites given, was that when we reported we did not find any WMD (weapons of mass destruction) they should have realized in Washington and London that their sources were poor," he added.

"What I question was the good judgment, particularly in [former US President George W.] Bush but also in [former British Prime Minister Tony] Blair's judgment," he added.

According to Blix, his concerns were ignored by Blair and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The former UN weapons inspector said that his team wanted to continue inspections, "But the military timetable did not permit that."
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2010 Jul 27

Hans Blix to appear at Iraq inquiry




Hans Blix has accused the US and UK of
dramatising intelligence on Iraq's weapons [EPA]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/07/201072775116884417.html

Hans Blix, the former head of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq, is to give evidence before a British public inquiry into the 2003 conflict.

The Swedish diplomat, who previously called the invasion a "tragedy" and "spectacular failure", is expected to speak about his tense relationships with former US and UK leaders in the run up to the war.

Blix revealed earlier this year that he had urged Tony Blair in the month before the invasion, to consider the possibility that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction.

He has also accused the UK and US governments of dramatising the limited intelligence on Iraq's weapons, saying: "The allied powers were on thin ice, but they preferred to replace question marks with exclamation marks".

Blix, who conducted inspections in Iraq from November 2002 to March 2003, had warned Saddam of "serious consequences" if he failed to co-operate with his team and comply with UN Security Council resolution 1441.

Retrospective Gloss

Earlier this year, Blair told the inquiry in London that Blix had been clear in his reports in the run-up to the war that Saddam was not complying with international demands.

"Hans Blix obviously takes a certain view now," he told the hearing.

"I have to say in my conversations with him then it was a little different."

Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary, also suggested that Blix may have applied a retrospective "gloss" to his actions at the time.

"There are some of those who were involved who sought to give an account of what they were saying at the time without gloss," he told the inquiry earlier this year.

"There are others who have sought to give an account of what they thought they were saying at the time with gloss, and I think the jury is out on which camp Dr Blix is in."

But critics of the war say that Blix should have been given more time to establish whether or not Saddam was hiding stocks of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

Blix is the first foreign witness to give evidence at a public hearing of the inquiry, though others have spoken to the five-member panel, headed by John Chilcot, a former civil servant, in private during visits to the US and France.

ElBaradei welcomes Iran's declaration

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=126939&sectionid=351020104

The former head of the UN nuclear watchdog says Iran's decision to send its enriched uranium to Turkey could pave the way for broader negotiations.

Iran, Brazil, and Turkey issued a nuclear declaration in Tehran on Monday that names Turkey as the site of a nuclear fuel swap where Tehran would exchange its low-enriched uranium for reactor fuel.

The declaration calls for Iran to exchange 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of its low-enriched uranium for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told FRANCE 24 on Tuesday that the declaration “is a precursor to full-scope negotiations with world powers.”

“I believe it's quite a good agreement […] I've always said that the only way to resolve the Iranian issue is by building trust,” ElBaradei added.

“Moving half or more than half of Iran's nuclear material out of the country is a confidence-building measure that could defuse the crisis, and give the US and the West the space to negotiate,” the former IAEA director stated.

"Iran is prepared to talk, I know Barack Obama is prepared to talk. I base that on my discussions a few months ago with both [Iranian President] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and [US President] Barack Obama. Of course, nobody wants to give away everything before talks, but I do think both are committed to negotiations. And I think that now, with this agreement, the conditions are absolutely ripe to engage in full-fledged negotiations,” ElBaradei said.

Iran details conditions for N-swap deal

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=126757§ionid=351020104



Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has detailed the terms and conditions of a nuclear swap deal aimed at ending the standoff over the country's uranium enrichment.

In a declaration he read out to reporters on Monday, Mottaki also reaffirmed Iran's commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the legal right of all member states, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

He expressed hope that Tehran's decision to accept the deal would create a positive, constructive, and non-confrontational atmosphere that will open a new chapter of interaction and cooperation between Iran and the West.

Under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mottaki said, Tehran has agreed to deposit 1,200 kg of its domestic low-enriched uranium (LEU) in Turkey, where it will continue to remain the property of Iran.

He added Iran will ask the IAEA to station its personnel in Turkey to monitor the safe-keeping of the dispatched LEU.

The top diplomat underlined Iran will inform the IAEA of its decision "through official channels" within no more than seven days from the Monday meeting.

"Upon the positive response of the Vienna Group --which includes Russia, France, the United States and the IAEA- further details of the exchange will be elaborated through a written agreement and proper arrangement between Iran and the Vienna group that specifically committed themselves to deliver 120 cages of fuel needed for the Tehran research reactor (TRR)," noted Mottaki.

If the Vienna Group accepts Iran's terms and conditions, Mottaki said, both parties will "commit themselves to the implementation" of the deal, which requires Iran to deposit its LEU in Turkey within one month, and in return, the Vienna group will deliver 120 kg of fuel required for the Tehran reactor in no later than one year.

He warned that if the provisions of the deal are not respected, Turkey will, upon the request of Iran, send back the LEU "swiftly and unconditionally".