EX-Turkish diplomat says US has nukes in Istanbul

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122623§ionid=351020204


A senior Turkish diplomat says the United States has stored tactical nuclear weapons in Istanbul.

Former Turkish defense ministry adviser and retired ambassador to Washington, Taner Baytok asserted that nearly 100 tactical nuclear weapons were stored, "not at the US Incirlik Base in Adana", but in Istanbul, the most populated city of the country, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

He said some of these weapons are in other cities near the Black Sea.

"Twelve million people are living on nuclear warheads in Istanbul... Those weapons must be taken out of Turkey," he added.

According to Baytok, tactical weapons, which are fired with a double-key system, were placed during the Cold War.

The weapons would be fired to the satellites of the former Soviet Union as they are attached to faster missiles with shorter ranges, said Baytok.

"One of the keys is in the US and the other in the host country, in this case Turkey," the former ambassador added.

Based on a former report published by The Times nearly 50% of US nuclear weapons in NATO member countries can be located in Turkey.

Based on the report, US President Barack Obama will remove all nuclear arsenals out of the NATO member states, including Turkey.

Jordan's King: Israel's future in "jeopardy"

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122597§ionid=351020206


Jordan's King Abdullah II has censured Israel for its illegal settlement works in occupied Palestinian lands, warning that the stalled peace talks may put the regime's future in "jeopardy".

Abdullah sharply rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his settlement plans in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), saying the regime's construction efforts in the region could ignite a new regional war.

"[It] looks like there is an attempt by certain groups to promote a third intifada, which would be disastrous," said the Jordanian king in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

He also warned, "I think the long-term future of Israel is in jeopardy unless we solve our problems."

"So with all these things in the background, the status quo is not acceptable; what will happen is that we will continue to go around in circles until the conflict erupts, and there will be suffering by peoples because there will be a war," king Abdullah told the prominent US financial daily.

Abdullah, who is to leave for Washington next week for US President Barack Obama's Nuclear Security Summit, said he will push the Obama Administration to impose specific terms on the Tel Aviv regime for a timeline in the resumption of 'peace talks' with the Palestinians.

"I think wasting too much time is something that we all have to be very concerned about because there is tremendous tension" in the region, said the monarch.

King Abdullah also warned the Tel Aviv regime about the Jordanian-Israeli relations that has hit the lowest point "since my father made peace with Israel... It hasn't been as bad as it is today and as tense as it is today."

On October 26, 1994, Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty under which diplomatic relations between the two regimes were established.

Iran policies contrary to US interests, Obama says

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120561§ionid=351020101


US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that Iran's policies were against US national interests, adding that Washington will keep existing sanctions against Tehran in force.

In a letter to the Congress of the United States, President Obama informed lawmakers about his decision to make the National Emergency on Iran, which will be expired on March 15, saying that the emergency will continue in effect for one year.

"The actions and policies of the Government of Iran are contrary to the interests of the United States in the region and pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," Xinhua quoted the US president as saying in his letter.

He added that issues between Washington and Tehran which led to the declaration of a national emergency on March 15, 1995 “has not been resolved”, stressing that "It is necessary to continue the national emergency declared with respect to Iran and maintain in force comprehensive sanctions against Iran."

The report comes despite Obama's claims that his administration is moving towards a policy change on Iran.

The US has also embarked on a campaign to slap fresh embargos against Iran over its nuclear enrichment program.

Russia and China, two veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, have voiced their reluctance to back new sanctions against Iran and continue to call for a diplomatic solution to the country's nuclear issue.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that it will not relinquish the legitimate nuclear rights of the Iranian nation under Western pressure.

Turkey: Israel move threatens ME peace process

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119541§ionid=351020204


Turkey has warned that Israel's decision to designate two Palestinian locations as Israeli national heritage sites would impede the Middle East peace process.

“We are concerned about the announcement by the Israeli authorities that certain historic artifacts in the West Bank, some of which are of importance to the Islamic world, will be accorded 'Israeli cultural heritage' status,” said the Turkish Foreign Ministry in a written statement.

“This step will create serious distrust between parties and harm the intensified efforts made in this critical period to revive the negotiations for the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been a source of grief for the people of the region for years,” the statement emphasized.

“We invite Israel to abide by international law in Jerusalem and the West Bank and to refrain from unilateral and provocative practices directed toward historic sites, including sacred places for Muslims, that are essentially a part of the Islamic cultural heritage,” it concluded.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that the regime is planning to include Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in al-Khalil in a "national heritage plan."

Palestinian authorities have called on the international community to pressure Israel to renege on its decision. The move has sparked Palestinian protests and has drawn criticism from other quarters, including the UN.

Democratically-elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has called for uprisings in the occupied West Bank to protest the plan.

Ahmadinejad: Israel terrified of Lebanese resistance

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118918§ionid=351020101


Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the Zionist regime of Israel is so terrified of the Lebanese resistance and people.

The Iranian president made the remark in a phone conversation with the Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, ISNA reported on Thursday.

President Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah also discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the region. He further praised Nasrallah's latest stance on the Israeli threats.

"The Zionists are really terrified of the resistance and people in Lebanon and the region," President Ahmadinejad emphasized. "But they (the Israelis) are looking for opportunities to make up for their past defeats in Gaza and Lebanon as they feel their credibility and existence are in jeopardy."

However, the president insisted, "They don't dare to do anything as they are afraid of the consequences."

The Iranian official further underlined the need for maintaining readiness against any potential Israeli threats adding, "If the Zionist regime want to repeat the same mistakes they previously made, they must be gotten rid of once and for all, so that the region will be saved from their nuisance for ever."

President Ahmadinejad then reiterated that to this end, the Iranian nation will remain along the side of the Lebanese and other regional nations.

The Hezbollah Secretary General, for his part, said that Lebanon and the resistance movement are in favorable conditions.

"We are not afraid of the Israeli threats and the Israeli threats will not work," Nasrallah said. "Strategically, Israel is not in a situation to wage a new war, but is after a psychological warfare with its threats… and of course, either way they will not get anywhere."

Ahmadinejad says Israel inching toward annihilation

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118385§ionid=351020101


As Israel maintains its anti-Palestinian policies and threatens regional countries, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that the regime would perish as it has "come to its end."

Addressing a huge crowd in Tehran's Azadi Square on the 31st anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Ahmadinejad said Israel was on the verge of annihilation.

He also criticized the United States' support for Israel, which, he said, went counter to President Barack Obama's oft-stated promises of bringing change.

“We do not want Mr. Obama to act under the pressure from a bunch of Zionists … unfortunately he is missing opportunities … he is not acting properly,” he said.

“He is moving in a direction that is against the interests of the American people and it is to the benefit of Israel.”

Earlier, in a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Ahmadinejad warned Israel against a new military campaign in the region.

He said that Israel was seeking for an opportunity to make up for its military mistakes during last year's Gaza offensive and the 2006 Lebanon war.

"Should Israel repeat its past mistakes and initiate a military operation," the president said, "the regional countries have to stand united in repelling the attack and finish it once and for all."

Lieberman: Turkey cannot continue bashing Israel

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118310§ionid=351020406


The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has criticized Turkey's repeated condemnation of Israeli policies, claiming Ankara cannot continue bashing Tel Aviv at every opportunity it gets.

"Every week to sharply condemn Israel, to say Israeli military forces have carried out genocide, to call operations to protect our citizens a crime against humanity... This sharp anti-Israeli line cannot be repeated every week," the visiting Lieberman complained on Azerbaijan's Lidar television.

Relations between Tel Aviv and Ankara turned sour in 2009 after Israel launched a massive onslaught against the Gaza Strip that killed over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and left thousands more injured.

The offensive drew sharp criticism from Turkey and prompted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to lash out at Israel's President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos before storming out of the session.

"The recent changes in Turkey's foreign policy concepts were unexpected to us and not entirely clear. We are doing everything we can in order to preserve relations at the previous, very trustful level and to maintain close cooperation in all areas," Lieberman asserted on Tuesday. "We hope that Turkey from its side will make certain amendments to its foreign policy concept," he added.

The appeal by the hawkish Israeli minister for closer ties with Turkey comes despite a deepening division between the two military allies.

In January, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned the Turkish ambassador to Tel Aviv and made him sit in a lower chair than those of his own and three other Israeli officials confronting the Turkish envoy.

The humiliating meeting was further flavored with a deliberate absence of the Turkish flag. Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol was also spoken to in Hebrew and was refused a handshake.

The move irked officials in Ankara who denounced the "undiplomatic behavior" and demanded a formal apology from Tel Aviv.

"Israel should give some thought to what it would be like to lose a friend like Turkey in the future. The way they recently treated our ambassador has no place in international politics," Erdogan said on the future of Turkish-Israeli ties on January 31.

On Turkey's condemnation of the Israeli crimes during the Gaza war, the Turkish leader said his nation could not close its eyes on what it deemed as incompatible with human rights.

Russia says further anti-Iran sanctions futile

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116378§ionid=351020104


Moscow said on Saturday that imposing additional sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear energy program will most likely prove to be of no avail.

"I believe that in this particular situation, the effectiveness of [additional] sanctions is highly doubtful," said Russian Foreign Ministry Deputy Sergei Ryabkov, who represented Moscow at the meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1).

Meanwhile, an EU official said the six powers would continue to seek a diplomatic solution to the issue. However, he added that the P5+1 members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany — would also begin considering new sanctions.

"We will continue to seek a negotiated solution, but consideration of appropriate further measures has also begun," senior European Union security adviser Robert Cooper, who chaired the meeting, said on Sunday, without specifying the possible measures.

Although Cooper said that his statement was made on behalf of the P5+1, Ryabkov stressed that the six powers decided against new sanctions on Tehran.

The Russian deputy foreign minister added that the six powers had agreed to study new political methods to solve the issue.

"We will look at which measures can be developed in order to stimulate political and diplomatic solutions to the problem at hand," said Ryabkov.

"This does not mean that we have made a decision in regard to sanctions, this is the fulfillment of the mandate given by our ministers to complete a collective evaluation of the situation to decide what can be done further," the Russian official added.

"We do believe there is still time for meaningful political engagement, and efforts to find a solution. That's something that Russia has always advocated," he said.

P5+1 members had come together in the US capital to discuss possible new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Russia and China reportedly opposed any new measures. Beijing even sent a lower-level diplomat to show its reluctance to support tougher sanctions pushed by the West.

The US and its European allies were seeking to impose a new round of sanctions against Tehran, targeting certain high-ranking officials from Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and some of its affiliated companies.

Washington and its allies accuse Tehran of pursuing a military nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), however, has repeatedly said that it has found no evidence supporting the allegation.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, confirming the non-diversion of nuclear material in country's functional and under-construction plants.

Iran also denies the allegation, saying that it needs nuclear energy to produce electricity to meet the country's growing demand.

Turkey says Israel threatening global peace

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115893§ionid=351020204


Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lashed out at Israel over the violation of Lebanese airspace through which it threatens peace in the region.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Saad Hariri, Erdogan said Israel has to stop violating Lebanon's airspace and its territorial waters, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

"We can never remain silent in the face of Israel's attitude. ... It has disproportionate power and it is using that at will while refusing to abide by UN resolutions. We can never accept this picture,” Erdogan said.

“These steps threaten global peace," he warned.

Hariri also described Israel as an enemy that threatens his country's security through "its violation of our airspace and waters.”

Lebanese army said earlier in the day that its anti-aircraft artillery fired at Israeli fighter jets flying over the country's southern airspace.

The Lebanese army reports almost every day violations of its airspace by Israeli warplanes.