Be Persian

Russia against anti-Iran sanctions

PRESS TV RSS News — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:49:39 +0000

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits the country’s nuclear power plant in the central city of Natanz. (File photo)

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybakov has voiced Moscow’s strong opposition to unilateral imposition of sanctions on Iran by the United States.

Rybakov reiterated Kremlin’s stance on such restrictions in a Wednesday meeting with the US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.

The top Russian negotiator in the talks over Iran’s nuclear program expressed concerns over Washington’s persistence in slapping new sanctions against the Islamic Republic, given the complicated conditions surrounding the case.

Russia has opposed the US-spearheaded economic and political pressure against Tehran, saying it is impeding a negotiated solution to the West’s standoff with Iran and the country’s talks with the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany).

Rybakov’s remarks echoed those made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who criticized the European Union’s last month decision to impose a ban on Iranian oil exports to the bloc.

"Unilateral sanctions do not help matters," Lavrov said on January 23. "We will restrain everyone from making harsh moves. We will seek the resumption of negotiations."

He had earlier described the additional unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic as having “nothing to do with” a desire to ensure the nation's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.

"It is seriously aimed at suffocating the Iranian economy and the well-being of its people, probably in the hope of inciting discontent," the Russian minister pointed out.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program, using this pretext to impose sanctions on Iran and threaten the country with military attack.

Iran has refuted the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful use.

The IAEA has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.

MRS/AS/HN

Israel: Iran able to target US by 2015

PRESS TV RSS News — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:49:39 +0000

This file photo shows Iranian ballistic missiles are launched during military exercises.

Israel’s Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz claims Iran will be able to target the US by intercontinental missiles, which it aims to build by 2015.

"They are working now and investing a lot of billions of dollars in order to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles," he told CNBC.

"And we estimate that in two to three years they will have the first intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the east coast of America," Steinitz said.

"So their aim is to put a direct nuclear ballistic threat... to Europe and to the United States of America," former chairman of the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee said.

Earlier this month, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon claimed Iran is developing a missile with a 10,000-kilometer range which is capable of reaching the US East Coast.

Tel Aviv has been trying to persuade the international community that the Islamic Republic, which is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is a threat even to the US and should be stopped.

This is while due to its policy of “nuclear ambiguity,” Israel does not allow any inspection of its nuclear program by international inspectors.

Israel, which is widely believed to possess over 200 atomic warheads as the only possessor of nukes in the Middle East, also refuses to join the IAEA and or to become a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The US, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program, using this pretext to impose sanctions against Iran and threaten the country with military attack.

However, the IAEA has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.

AGB/HGH

Iran, Russia slam intervention in Syria

PRESS TV RSS News — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:16:10 +0000

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev (file photo).

Iran and Russia have denounced foreign efforts to incite civil war and disintegrate Syria, saying they endanger the peace and security of the Middle East.

In a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the solution to the crisis in Syria was the implementation of reforms by the people and without foreign intervention.

“Given their common views and positions, Iran and Russia must make more effort to help establish peace in the region and prevent foreign intervention,” Ahmadinejad said.

Medvedev, for his part, said certain trans-regional powers seek Syria’s disintegration which is a threat to Middle East security.

The Russian president added that Iran and Russia can cooperate to peacefully resolve the crisis in Syria.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Hundreds of people, including Syrian security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters. Damascus, however, blames “outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

MYA/HGH

Iran ready to work with S. Arabia in PG

PRESS TV RSS News — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:05:27 +0000

File photo shows an offshore Iranian gas field.

Managing director of the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company (NIOOC) says Iran is ready to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to develop the Farzad A joint gas field in the Persian Gulf.

Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh said Wednesday that Iran follows a policy of cooperation, not rivalry, with its neighbors for the development of joint oil and gas fields, especially in the Persian Gulf.

“The National Iranian Offshore Oil Company, therefore, welcomes Saudi Arabia’s willingness to develop this offshore [gas] field,” he added.

The official further stated that exploration and 3D seismography operations have already started in Farzad A gas field and drilling operations are expected to begin late in March.

Zirakchianzadeh said NIOOC would sign six new oil contracts to implement oil and gas projects in the Persian Gulf before the end of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2011).

The projects, he added, include the development of Farzad B gas field, the development of Soroush oil field and renovation of oil facilities on Khark Island.

Asked about developments in the Hengam oil field project, which is shared with Oman, the official said the drilling of the fourth oil production well has been finished in the offshore field.

Zirakchianzadeh stated that the field is currently producing 22,000 barrels per day of crude oil, which will increase to about 27,000 barrels per day after nine new wells are drilled.

On Feb 12, the Exploration Department of the National Iranian Oil Company announced that it had signed a contract for the exploration and development of Farzad A gas field with Iran’s Petropars Company.

The country shares oil and gas fields with most of its neighbors in the Persian Gulf region as well as with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea.

Energy officials in Tehran said in July 2011 that as much as 35 percent of the country's energy development budget will go towards the development of joint oil and gas fields.

SS/AZ/HGH

News Wrap: UN Team Says Iran Trip Yielded Little Nuclear Knowledge – PBS NewsHour

iran - Google News — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:59:02 +0000

KWAME HOLMAN: A team from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency ended a two-day mission to Iran today with little to show. The goal had been to discover whether Iran is close to developing a nuclear weapon.
But the delegation's head said talks with Iranian officials failed to yield any significant progress. He spoke in Vienna.

HERMAN NACKAERTS, deputy director general, International Atomic Energy Agency: We discussed the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program. We also tried to get access to a site that is relevant for our investigations.

So we approached this trip in a very -- in a constructive spirit.

Unfortunately, we could not get agreement on either of them. So we could not get access. We could not finalize a way forward.

KWAME HOLMAN: The nuclear agency's board will have to decide on its next step when it meets early in March.

Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, today his country is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons. He called them useless, harmful and dangerous.

The Fitch rating agency downgraded its rating for Greece's debt again today, despite the new eurozone bailout package. And Wall Street closed lower, partly over concerns about Greece. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 27 points to close at 12,938. The Nasdaq fell 15 points to close at 2,933.

President Obama called today for cutting the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent. His plan would replace the lost revenue by eliminating dozens of existing tax loopholes. It also would set a minimum tax on overseas earnings of U.S. firms to encourage them to bring those revenues home.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the plan should have broad appeal.

JAY CARNEY, White House press secretary: We believe that the reception so far has been positive and will be positive, because it does what so many people say is important to do, which is -- and this is Democrats and Republicans -- which is lower the rate, broaden the base, eliminate the underbrush of unnecessary subsidies and loopholes and special provisions that complicate the tax code.

KWAME HOLMAN: Immediate Republican reaction to the plan was mixed. And it's viewed as unlikely Congress would take up a major tax overhaul before the fall elections.

Nearly 50 people were killed in Argentina today when a commuter train crashed at a Buenos Aires station. At least 600 others were injured. Officials said the train was packed with morning riders and going too fast when it smashed into a barrier at the end of the platform.

Emergency workers rushed to treat the injured, and to free those trapped inside the crushed cars. It was Argentina's worst rail accident since 1970.

Divers searching the wreck of a cruise ship off Northern Italy have found eight more bodies. Authorities said today one was that of a 5-year-old Italian girl. The Costa Concordia had some 4,200 passengers and crew on board when it hit a reef in mid-January. It listed badly and settled on its side. In all, 25 bodies have been found. Seven people remain missing.

A major study confirmed today that having a colonoscopy can save lives. It found that removing pre-cancerous growths during the exams can cut in half the risk of dying of colon cancer. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. The research was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Those are some of the day's major stories.

Iran to attend Berlin intl. tourism fair

PRESS TV RSS News — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:56:04 +0000

Iran is slated to take part in Germany’s 46th International Tourism Fair in Berlin (ITB) to introduce Persian culture and traditional artworks.

Iranian representatives will attend the world’s leading travel trade show along with many other remarkable organizations, travel agencies and trade companies from across the globe.

Iranian participants are to present their programs and achievements in the tourism industry and their different capacities, said Iran's Deputy Minister for Cultural Heritage and Tourism Hossein Jafari.

He also noted that Iran achieved great success in the 2012 Borsa International Tourism Exchange (BIT) held in Italy several days ago and won great acclaim at the event.

Iranian tourism companies have taken part in several other international fairs including the 32nd edition of international tourism trade fair of Madrid (FITUR) where the Iranian pavilion was warmly received.

The International Tourism Fair in Berlin presents a diverse range of products and services, introducing innovative techniques, and providing new trends, market developments, and vast business opportunities.

The 2012 edition of the Berlin Tourism show will be held from March 7 to 11.

FGP/TE

Analysis: Hyper-speculation over Iran – Jerusalem Post

iran - Google News — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:21:56 +0000

To read the headlines and watch the news these days is to walk away with a distinct feeling that the US and Israel are at loggerheads over Iran.

“Senior administration officials are arriving to pressure Israel,” read the overline to a front page Yediot Aharonot headline Sunday.

Two days later the same paper, reporting on the White House’s announcement of a March 5 meeting between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that has been in the works for weeks, headlined their page-two story as follows: “The pressure reaches the presidential level.”

And Yediot Aharonot is not alone by far. The media hysteria of a few months ago about an impending Israeli attack on Iran has now given way to media hysteria about a crisis in US-Israeli relations over how to deal with Iran. The surprise visit over the weekend by White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon only fed the frenzy.

Donilon’s visit was, indeed, rare. Obama’s top foreign policy adviser does not fly in unannounced for high-level meetings every day. And even if his visit did come fast on the heels of trips to the US by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Mossad chief Tamir Pardo – as well as a visit here by US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey – the very fact that Donilon did come for a visit does not necessarily signal tension or US pressure.

Donilon’s visit was extremely hush-hush. Neither Israeli nor American officials reported anything about the discussions. No one outside of the participants, in truth, really knows what was said and what messages were passed on. And those who do know are not telling.

While the conventional wisdom is that Donilon’s talks with his Israeli interlocutors were dedicated to pressuring Israel to refrain from an attack, for all we know, he was mapping out flight routes into Iran with his counterparts.

That no one knows what was really discussed, however, need not get in the way of whipping up an Iran-related frenzy.

Truth be told, Dempsey fed the hysteria with a CNN interview Sunday in which he stated, “We think that it’s not prudent at this time to decide to attack Iran. I mean that’s been our counsel to our allies, the Israelis, well-known, well-documented.”

There are two telling factors in this comment.

Firstly, that the US does not think it is prudent “at this time” to attack. As Intelligence Agencies Minister Dan Meridor noted, that could mean the US will think it is prudent at another time.

Secondly, no one in Israel has said they think it is prudent to attack at this point either.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in Cyprus last Thursday that the sanctions have not worked thus far. That does not mean Israel is saying they will not work, or cannot work; only that so far the world is imposing sanctions, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is paying high-profile visits to his centrifuge halls. Saying they have not worked is a lot different than maintaining that they will not be effective, and Netanyahu pointedly did not say Israel would not give them a chance.

Israel and the West are locked in a dangerous dance with Iran. Only a handful of people on the Israeli and US side really know what is going on, and what messages are truly being conveyed between the sides. The rest is speculation.

Even US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), when talking Tuesday in Jerusalem about “daylight” and “tension” between the US and Israel on the matter, was relying on media reports, having not been privy – by his own acknowledgment – to inside information from the meetings.

And if the crisis is indeed exaggerated, there may be a good reason why. Despite conventional wisdom that it is critical that Israel and the US are on the same page on this issue, perhaps it is beneficial if Iran actually perceives that there is “daylight” between the two allies. Maybe this will keep them guessing as to what Israel will do.

If one man sees someone else coming in his direction with a pitbull on a leash, it is good if he knows the leash is tight. All this noise might be to get the Iranians wondering whether the US does indeed have a tight leash on Israel. And if not, maybe Jerusalem really will attack.

When engaging in speculation – and all talk about an Israeli attack, and tension between the US and Israel at this point, is speculation – it would be wise to keep the following in mind: When Israel, according to foreign reports, took out a nascent nuclear installation in Syria in September 2007, no one had any inkling of what was going to happen beforehand, and no one knew about it for days afterward. Not until the Turkish media reported that fuel tanks jettisoned from Israeli fighter jets were found in Turkish territory did it become known that Israel had struck inside Syria.

Which only proves the dictum from the classic 1966 spaghetti western, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”: “When you have to shoot: shoot. Don’t talk.” There is way too much talking going on, quite possibly an indication that the shooting is not as close as the media frenzy would have us fear.

US study: Iran research center had key role in atom work – Jerusalem Post

iran - Google News — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:01:34 +0000

UNITED NATIONS - An Iranian research center that has been investigated by UN nuclear inspectors appears to have played a key role in Tehran's atomic program, which Western powers fear is aimed at producing weapons, according to a new report released on Wednesday.

The study by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) will likely cast further doubt on Tehran's denials that it is seeking atomic bombs as the UN nuclear agency prepares to publish a new report on Iran in the coming days.

Iran's Physics Research Center was established in 1989 "as part of an effort to create an undeclared nuclear program," according to ISIS's president David Albright, a nuclear expert and former inspector for the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as well as Andrea Stricker and Paul Brannan.

"Although Iran has admitted that the PHRC was related to the military and had a nuclear purpose in the area of defense preparedness and radiation detection, its actual nuclear role appears much more extensive," the ISIS report said.

The Iranian research center was established a year after the end of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, in which Saddam Hussein's troops used chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers.

According to the UN nuclear watchdog's November 2011 report on Iran, the Physics Research Center was established at Lavizan, a complex near a military installation in Tehran.

Lavizan was completely razed in late 2003 and early 2004. Western diplomats and intelligence sources said at the time that they suspected Tehran was conducting undeclared nuclear activities at Lavizan and was determined to cover them up.

ISIS said it has acquired more than 1,600 telexes relating to the nuclear procurement activities of the Physics Research Center and Sharif University, another Iranian institution involved in Tehran's nuclear research, in the 1990s.

"Iran has failed to declare all of PHRC's activities to the (IAEA)," the Albright group's report says. "Iran has stated to the IAEA that the PHRC procurements were not related to a nuclear program. The information assembled in this ISIS report, however, contradicts this claim."

Smart man taught his dog some useful tricks (Video)

Alec — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:54:44 +0000

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Samuel L. Jackson sings ‘Go the F$@% to Sleep’ (Video)

Alec — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:54:36 +0000