2005-09-26

Iran Report

Iranian Nuclear Chief Ali Larijani: The West Should Learn the Lesson of North Korea (MEMRI)
"In my opinion, any reasonable person will understand that although Iran proposes these peaceful conditions, if you want to use aggressive language, Iran will have no choice but to protect its technological accomplishments by withdrawing from the NPT and from the regulations of the [Additional] Protocol, and to begin enrichment."

Anne Bayefsky: Impotent IAEA (NRO)
Working against referral to the Security Council, and for giving this state sponsor of terrorism more time to develop weapons of mass destruction, was U.N. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei from Egypt. ElBaradei said, after the failed U.S. and EU attempt to send the issue immediately to the Security Council: “I am encouraged that the issue has not been referred to the Security Council, precisely to give time for diplomacy and negotiation…” He continued, “time is still available for diplomacy to resolve outstanding issues, for Iran to build confidence, and that the question of reporting to the Security Council could only be discussed at a later date.”

For years, “lack of consensus” was trotted out as the main stumbling block to Security Council involvement. When it finally became clear that a vote at the IAEA would be the only way to move the issue forward, the size of the margin became the new obstacle. In an effort to minimize the opposition, the final resolution stated that Iran had breached the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, its claim of merely peaceful purposes was not credible, but that “the timing and content of the report…and the notification required” to the Security Council would be discussed at an unspecified later date. ...

The IAEA statute actually makes referral to the Security Council after a clear finding against Iran mandatory ...

ADNKronos: US Financing Radar Station on Iran-Azerbaijan Border
Tehran, 26 Sept. (AKI) - The Iranian media has reported a decision by the United States to finance radar stations in the central Asian republic of Azerbaijan, that the government in Tehran says are part of a military strategy by Washington to encircle the Islamic Republic. One of the stations is reported to be 20 kilometres from the Iranian town of Astara, while another is situated in Khizi, 50 kilometres from the border with Russia.

The construction of the two stations is part of the Caspian Guard Initiative, an American project which aims to guarantee the security of the 3.6 billion dollar, 1,600 kilometre-long Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline that runs from Baku in Azerbaijan to the Turkish port city of Ceyhan. ...

Read full articles at the links. First and third items come by way of Regime Change Iran.