Tuesday 21 February 2012

Iran takes a hard line


Iran threatens to extend oil embargo
• More European countries may have oil supplies halted
• Military exercise begins to strengthen key nuclear facilities
• Foreign minister says UN inspectors will not visit sites

20 February 2012 18.44 GM


Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, said UN nuclear inspectors would not be visiting any sites. Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters

Iran has warned it may extend an oil embargo imposed on Britain and France to other European countries, and launched a military exercise to strengthen key nuclear sites against air strikes as a team of UN inspectors arrived in the country.

Herman Nackaerts, the leader of the five-member UN team, said he wanted concrete results from the two-day visit, the second within a month. But, amid scepticism that inspectors would be permitted access to nuclear facilities, Nackaerts added that progress "may take a while".

The team is hoping to question Iranian nuclear scientists and visit the Parchin military base, where high-explosive tests are thought to have been conducted. But Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister, told a student news agency that the officials would not be inspecting any sites.

In a sign of mounting tensions in the region, Iran began a four-day military exercise in the south of the country to "practise co-ordination between the Revolutionary Guards and regular army and air defence units in establishing a defence umbrella over our vital centres, particularly nuclear facilities", according to a military statement quoted by an Iranian news agency.

Missiles, anti-aircraft artillery, radars and warplanes were being deployed, it said.
At the same time, Iran's deputy oil minister warned that the decision to halt supplies to Britain and France, announced at the weekend, could be applied to other European countries. 

"Undoubtedly, if the hostile actions of certain European countries continue, oil exports to these countries will be stopped," Ahmad Qalebani told state TV.

The threat to extend the embargo defied China's disapproval of Iran's measure. "We have consistently upheld dialogue and negotiation as the way to resolve disputes between countries, and do not approve of exerting pressure or using confrontation to resolve issues," the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in response to the ban on oil sales to British and French firms.

The Iranian move was prompted by anger at a European Union decision to stop buying oil from the Islamic Republic from 1 July as part of a programme of toughened sanctions. The European commission said on Monday that Belgium, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands had already stopped buying Iranian oil, while Greece, Spain and Italy were cutting back on purchases.

However, Qalebani insisted that demand for Iranian crude oil had increased.

In Jerusalem, Israel's deputy prime minister, Dan Meridor, said Iran's actions in recent weeks indicated that sanctions were beginning to have an effect. "The hysteria we see in Iran is a good indication, a symptom of what this regime is going through ... All this shows the pressure which this regime is under, but they have not yet decided to shut down their nuclear effort, so the struggle is on," he told the foreign press. "I think there is a chance of success [for sanctions] if they are done with determination, persistence and leadership."

Meridor, who is known to be more cautious than Israel's prime minister and defence minister on the issue of a military strike, repeatedly emphasised that sanctions should be given the chance to work. But, despite the international "community of interests", he said it was possible that Israel would have to stand alone to halt the suspected Iranian nuclear programme.

However, a report in the New York Times suggested that the Israeli military would face a "huge and highly complex operation" to hit Iranian nuclear targets. The report quoted US defence officials and military analysts, who questioned whether Israel had the military capability for such an operation; some voiced concern that the US could be sucked into finishing the job.

Israel would need to deploy at least 100 planes, flying a round trip of more than 2,000 miles, requiring mid-air refuelling and likely to come under anti-aircraft fire.
"Another major hurdle is Israel's inventory of bombs capable of penetrating the Natanz facility, believed to be buried under 30ft of reinforced concrete, and the Fordo site, which is built into a mountain," said the report. It was not clear if Israel's arsenal of US-made "bunker buster" bombs could penetrate deep enough.

The US has urged Israel to hold back from military action, fearing a strike could embroil the region in a spiralling war. Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, met Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, in Jerusalem on Monday to reinforce the message of restraint.

President Obama is to meet Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House on 5 March, when the Israeli prime minister visits Washington for the annual conference of the pro-Israel lobby group, Aipac. Iran will top the agenda of the two leaders' talks.


From RT

IAEA team in Tehran, may or may not visit nuclear sites

20 February, 2012

An IAEA delegation has begun a two-day visit to Iran to discuss the country’s controversial nuclear program, which some Western nations suspect is aimed at making weapons. The question now is whether the team will visit nuclear facilities.

A five-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency has arrived in Tehran to try and find proof that Iran’s nuclear intentions are not indeed peaceful. In November 2011, after a visit to Iran's nuclear facilities, the IAEA did not rule out that Iran has the potential to develop an atomic bomb in the future.

The team’s head, IAEA deputy chief Herman Nackaerts said that the group's highest priority remains “the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program.” 

“But we want to tackle all outstanding issues and this is, of course, a very complex issue that may take a while, but we hope it will be constructive,” he said.

The IAEA team wants to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of working on its alleged weapons program. Iranian state radio reports that IAEA inspectors have also requested to visit Parchin, a military base and weapons development facility about 30 kilometers outside Tehran.

This is IAEA inspectors' second visit to Iran in less than a month. Their last visit, in January, was described as positive. It was said then that Iran was"committed"to "resolving all outstanding issues"and both sides agreed to continue the negotiations.

That time, the IAEA inspectors tasked with verifying the peaceful nature of Iran’s atomic program did not visit any nuclear facilities.

Although Iran has repeatedly emphasized that its nuclear research is for entirely civilian purposes, these assurances are not enough to convince Western powers.

The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany (G5+1) will be held in Istanbul, Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said on Sunday.

Last week, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili sent EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton a letter announcing Iran's readiness for the resumption of talks "as soon as possible." There is no information on the timing of the meeting so far.

“In the talks, we are seeking to find a way out of Iran’s nuclear issue in such a way that it would be a win-win,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said.

Meanwhile, Professor Sadegh Zibakalam from the University of Tehran told RT that to his knowledge, IAEA inspectors have already searched “every corner of Iran’s nuclear facilities.”

“The point is that every now and then they say ‘we want to go there, we want to go here and we want to inspect this place and we want to inspect that place,’ but the point is that those places are not within the jurisdiction of IAEA – they are not parts of Iran’s nuclear sites,” he said.





Iran’s refusal to halt uranium enrichment is the crux of the dispute, and as a result the US and EU have implemented economic sanctions. The US has not ruled out using military force, while regional adversary Israel is said to be considering an attack before the end of this summer. 

But despite that, Iran continues research, and has even ramped up its nuclear activities. Last week, Tehran said it had installed another 3,000 centrifuges to increase its uranium enrichment capabilities.

Iran says it can now enrich uranium up to 20 per cent, whereas previously it was only capable of enriching to 3 per cent. Uranium isotopes of 3-4 per cent are used in nuclear reactors, while uranium enriched to more than 90 per cent is used for nuclear warheads. Iran maintains that it needs 20 per cent enriched uranium to produce nuclear fuel plates for the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

Tensions continue to grow between Tehran and the West, with the EU’s tightened sanctions due to begin on July 1. However, it was reported Monday that Belgium, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands have stopped buying Iranian oil. Greece, Spain and Italy are also cutting back on their purchases.

The economic sanctions against Iran target the country’s main exports, namely oil and gas. US President Barack Obama has signed an order to freeze all Iranian government assets held on American territory or within US jurisdiction – including foreign branches of American banks – from being transferred, paid, exported or withdrawn.

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