'War on Iran spells disaster for Israel'

Israel's Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159937.html


Israel's Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi has reportedly suggested that a military action against Iran's nuclear facilities would have irreparable consequences for Tel Aviv.

"A military strike is not the right way to foil it [Iran's nuclear program]," Ashkenazi said. "Initiating a war will only bring disaster upon Israel."

According to a Wednesday article in the prominent Israeli daily Ha'aretz, there are two fronts within the Tel Aviv regime over launching an offensive against Iran.

The first warmonger group includes hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak; and the second group, who is worried about the aftermath of a strike, includes Ashkenazi himself, Head of Israel's Mossad spy agency Meir Dagan, Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin and Head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence body Yuval Diskin.

Last spring, Ashkenazi was assured by Netanyahu that his views would be heard over a military confrontation, according to the article.

However, the Israeli defense minister appointed Major General Yoav Galant as Ashkenazi's successor. Ashkenazi will retire next month.

Meanwhile, Tamir Pardo, who favors a military action against Iran, was appointed as the new chief of Israeli spy agency, replacing Dagan.

Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu called for "a credible military option against Iran," insisting that the military effort should be taken by the 'international community' and led by the United States.

The fresh rhetoric comes a week after Tehran invited envoys representing "geographical and political groups" in the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit Iran's nuclear sites.

In addition to Iran's recent invitation, the IAEA continues to conduct its regular inspections and camera surveillance of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Iranian officials and lawmakers have hailed the invitation as a major step toward proving Iran's policy of "nuclear transparency" to the international community.

As an IAEA member state and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has repeatedly refuted repeated Western accusations that it has a hidden military agenda.

Mullen: US very ready to attack Iran

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156078.html


In a direct threat against Iran, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen says Washington is “very ready” to launch an attack on Tehran.

"There are real threats to peace and stability here, and we've made no secrets of our concerns about Iran," Mullen said on Saturday.

"From my perspective I see Iran continuing on this path to develop nuclear weapons, and I believe that that development and achieving that goal would be very destabilizing to the region," Mullen said.

Amid a standoff over Iran's nuclear program, both Tel Aviv and Washington have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike, based on the allegation that Iran's nuclear work may consist of a covert military agenda -- an allegation Iran has repeatedly denied.

The latest threat of military action was invoked by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who urged Washington to "destroy" the Islamic Republic through military action on November 6, 2010.

"Not to just neutralize their nuclear program, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard, in other words neuter that regime," Graham said.

Mullen himself had also claimed in the past that he was ready to start a war if he was convinced it would keep Iran from making a "bomb."

This is while Iran says its nuclear program is completely peaceful and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has, in its many reports, also verified the non-diversion of nuclear material toward military objectives.

In August, Iran complained to the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the General Assembly about US military threats over the country's nuclear program and based on "totally false" grounds, vowing a response to any such strikes.

Mullen, however, added that he supports the policy of imposing sanctions against Iran to pressure it into stopping its nuclear program, while continuing talks.

Iran and the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US plus Germany -- wrapped up two days of multifaceted talks in Geneva, Switzerland on December 7.

The comprehensive talks were held between Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1, after the West expressed willingness to return to the negotiating table.

Both sides have agreed to hold the next round of talks in Turkish city of Istanbul in late January.

Mullen once again stressed that an attack on Iran's known nuclear facilities would have "unintended consequences," adding however that "all options have been on the table and remain on the table."

Iranian officials have warned that any act of aggression by the US and Israel against Iran's nuclear facilities would be firmly responded to and could result in a war that would spread beyond the Middle East.

'US, Israel behind Chabahar attack'

Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Karami-Rad

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156001.html


An Iranian lawmaker says the United States and Israel are among the main perpetrators in the recent terrorist attack in the southeastern Iranian city of Chabahar.

“The United States and the Zionist regime (Israel) are among the main perpetrators of the terrorist attack on Tasua (the ninth day of Muharram) in Chabahar, and one cannot neglect their involvement in such activities,” IRNA quoted Mohammad Karami-Rad as saying on Saturday.

Every year, on religious occasions of Muslims -- and Shias in particular -- we witness … terrorist activities by the enemies of the Shia Islam in Iran and Iraq, he added.

The member of the Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said that based on the experiences [gained] during the 30-year history of the Islamic Revolution, the relationships between terrorist groups, and the United States and the Western world is clear.

At least 37 people, including women and children, were killed and more than ninety others were wounded in an attack which occurred at the Imam Hussein mosque in the southeastern Iranian city of Chabahar on December 15.

People were commemorating the martyrdom of the third Shia Imam, Imam Hussein (PBUH).

Iranian security forces have arrested nine people in connection with the deadly attack.

Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar has said that the elements involved in the attack were trained and equipped by foreign elements beyond the country's eastern borders in Pakistan.

One of the terrorists was arrested on the border with Pakistan as he was trying to flee the Iranian territory.

Sanctions prelude to dollar's extinction

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=137880§ionid=351020101


Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insists that the anti-Iran sanctions will serve as a stepping stone to eradicate domination of (US) dollar in the world.

President Ahmadinejad also reiterated that those countries that have followed the US lead in the sanctions efforts have denied themselves any role in Iran's economy, IRNA reported Sunday.

In an address to an event commemorating the international week of mosques, the president expounded on measures to encounter Western sanctions on Iran and emphasized that we will used the sanctions as an opportunity to expand the country's domestic manufacturing and globalizing Iranian commodities and products.

The Iranian president described the US-led sanctions as an oppressive effort and a sort of a psychological warfare in order to force the Iranian nation to compromise on their principles, adding that "this nation will never compromise on its independence, integrity, principles, demanding justice and opposing oppression."

President Ahmadinejad also reiterated that the time of those behind the anti-Iran sanctions is coming to a closure as they have further discredited themselves by adopting such measures.

Iran rejects negotiating under threat

Hossein Sheikholeslam, Advisor to Iran's Majlis Speaker
on international affairs.


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=137876§ionid=351020101


An aid to Iran's parliament (Majlis) speaker has reiterated Iran's refusal to negotiate with the West under dual approaches of imposing sanctions and then pushing for talks.

Hossein Sheikholeslam, advisor to the Majlis speaker on international affairs, rejected in an interview with Fars news agency the so-called 'carrot and stick' approach employed by the West to gain an upper hand in negotiations as unproductive and based on uneven terms, adding that such tactics are commonly employed by oppressive powers.

Sheikholeslam emphasized that in passing the anti-Iran resolution 1929, the UN Security Council acted contrary to the UN charter's principle of enhancing global security.

He explained that the resolution allows countries to inspect Iranian ships merely based on perceived suspicions and doubts and creating such an environment against Iran does not bring about a safer world.

Sheikholeslam described the sanctions approved by the European Union against Iran as "potentially dangerous" but added that Europe is yet to enforce such sanctions.

He also noted that the US-sponsored anti-Iran sanctions came right after Iran, Turkey and Brazil issued a trilateral declaration in which Iran agreed to a nuclear fuel swap through Turkey, removing the major Western hurdle in advancing talks on Iran's nuclear program.

The Iranian official added that Western sanctions against Iranian banks have already been enforced but with little impact since those countries participating in the US-backed sanctions never had any effective banking relations with the Islamic Republic.

The US-sponsored sanctions resolution was passed last June after intense efforts and international lobbying by the Obama administration to win votes in the UN Security Council. After the passage of the resolutions, however, the US and its European allies began to press for additional unilateral sanctions against Iran, targeting its shipping, banking and oil industries.

Japan to slap extra sanctions on Iran

Okada says Tokyo will use the US and EU sanctions as a
reference when drafting its own set of anti-Iran sanctions



Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=137307§ionid=351020101


Japan plans to impose additional sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, following similar moves by the US, the EU and some other states.

Japan voted in favor of a June 9 UN Security Council resolution to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Iran.

Following the UN measures, the United States, the European Union, Australia and Canada imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran, which mainly target the country's oil and gas industry.

The Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan approved on Tuesday a set of additional sanctions, including a freeze on the assets of 40 organizations and one individual, the official Kyodo news agency reported.

The move comes despite opposition by some Japanese officials, who have voiced concern that additional sanctions could hamper trade relations with Iran, a key supplier of oil to Japan.

Iran has stressed that sanctions have no impact on its economy, saying they will only hurt those countries, which have taken such measures against Tehran.

The organizations to be banned include First East Export Bank, an affiliate of Iran's state-owned Bank Mellat, and enterprises linked to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), the report said.

The government will also ban in principle Iranian investment in Japanese firms involved in nuclear technology development.

Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Tokyo would use the US and EU sanctions as a reference when drafting its own set of sanctions against Iran.

“We have to take concerted action with the United States and European Union. Sanctions cannot be lifted as long as Iran ignores UN Security Council resolutions and continues its uranium enrichment to 20 percent purity,” Okada said.

Iran in May agreed to send its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for fuel for the Tehran research reactor.

The decision, however, was cold-shouldered by the West, with the US drafting a resolution, which was approved by the UN Security Council in June.