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IAEA not the best solution to the Iran nuclear problem -- latimes.com
Critics say Director General Mohamed ElBaradei was unduly cautious on accusing Tehran of working toward nuclear weapons. But even if he made the right decisions, the process isn't working.
When Mohamed ElBaradei was selected as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1997, he was known as a reserved bureaucrat who enjoyed the backing of the United States and was unlikely to make waves. Twelve years later, he is leaving at the end of the month with a Nobel Peace Prize to his name and a reputation among his admirers for speaking truth to power, having stood up to the George W. Bush administration over Iraq and Iran. Meanwhile, much of the world has continued to pursue nuclear weapons: India and Pakistan conducted successful nuclear tests to prove what they had, North Korea developed a nuclear bomb, and Iran acquired about 5,000 centrifuges and more than 3,000 pounds of low-enriched uranium. Critics blame ElBaradei for failing to rein in these nuclear ambitions, but we believe there is plenty of blame to go around.
ElBaradei Slams Iran, Declares Probe at a ‘Dead End’ -- News from Antiwar.com
Outgoing IAEA Chief Presses Iran to Resolve 'Issues of Concern'
With just four days left in his term of office, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei lashed out at the Iranian government, declaring that their ongoing probes “have effectively reached a dead end, unless Iran engages fully with us.”
Mohamed ElBaradei
ElBaradei also expressed disappointment that the Iranian government didn’t immediately accept the draft third-party enrichment deal. Iran has called for more talks on the issue and is seeking guarantees that Western nations, notably France, will follow through on their part of the deal.
A technical evaluation of the Fordow fuel enrichment plant | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Article Highlights
* Revelations about Iran's secret Fordow fuel enrichment plant have been seen as proof that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons.
* But the facility's small capacity makes enriching either reactor-grade or even bomb-grade uranium extremely time-consuming and impractical.
* Although it is significant that Iran has officially declared that there are no further secret nuclear facilities such as Fordow inside the country, it's possible that this facility could be one of several that has been either built or planned.
When Iran's Fordow fuel enrichment plant first became public on September 25 at the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, the underground facility, located near the holy city of Qom, was widely portrayed as proof that Tehran was pursuing nuclear weapons. In particular, U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown claimed that the clandestine enrichment plant's "size and configuration" were "inconsistent with that of a peaceful program."
On the Eve of WWIII? by Gordon Prather -- Antiwar.com
Can you believe it? We may be on the eve of World War III because a research reactor near Tehran – that mostly produces radioactive isotopes for use in medicine, and is subject to a Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency – will need refueling in a year or so.
How could that need result in WWIII?
Well, thereby hangs a tale.
ElBaradei to the Rescue by Gordon Prather -- Antiwar.com
In what will probably be his last act as Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Secretariat, Mohamed ElBaradei is seeking approval by the Obama-Biden administration of an agreement which "could open the way for a complete normalization of relations between Iran and the international community."
NIE Reveals Qom Facility Followed 2007 Bush Threats by Gareth Porter -- Antiwar.com
The Barack Obama administration claims that construction of a second Iranian uranium enrichment facility at Qom began before Tehran’s decision to withdraw from a previous agreement to inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in advance of such construction. But the November 2007 U.S. intelligence estimate on Iran’s nuclear program tells a different story.
The Iranian decision to withdraw from the earlier agreement with the IAEA was prompted, moreover, by the campaign of threats to Iran’s nuclear facilities mounted by the George W. Bush administration in early 2007, as a reconstruction of the sequence of events shows.
It’s Not Iran, Stupid by Gordon Prather -- Antiwar.com
President Obama sent a message, via Energy Department Secretary Steven Chu, to the September meeting of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reaffirming the commitments he made, to seek "a world without nuclear weapons," in his "electrifying" speech in Prague and in his United Nations Security Council Resolution 1887.
In making their decision to award Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee "attached special importance to Obama’s vision of, and work for, a world without nuclear weapons."
Gareth Porter: U.S. Story on Iran Nuke Facility Doesn't Add Up
The story line that dominated media coverage of the second Iranian uranium enrichment facility last week was the official assertion that U.S. intelligence had caught Iran trying to conceal a "secret" nuclear facility.
But an analysis of the transcript of that briefing by senior administration officials that was the sole basis for the news stories and other evidence reveals damaging admissions, conflicts with the facts and unanswered questions that undermine its credibility.
Iran's notification to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the second enrichment facility in a letter on Sep. 21 was buried deep in most of the news stories and explained as a response to being detected by U.S. intelligence. In reporting the story in that way, journalists were relying entirely on the testimony of "senior administration officials" who briefed them at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh Friday.
Associated Press: Venezuela seeking uranium with Iran's help
Iran is helping to detect uranium deposits in Venezuela and initial evaluations suggest reserves are significant, President Hugo Chavez's government said Friday.
Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said Iran has been assisting Venezuela with geophysical survey flights and geochemical analysis of the deposits, and that evaluations "indicate the existence of uranium in western parts of the country and in Santa Elena de Uairen," in southeastern Bolivar state.
"We could have important reserves of uranium," Sanz told reporters upon arrival on Venezuela's Margarita Island for a weekend Africa-South America summit. He added that efforts to certify the reserves could begin within the next three years.
The announcement came as revelations that Iran has secretly been building a uranium-enrichment plant provoke concerns among countries including the U.S., Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China.
Turkey unwilling to become fulcrum of new missile shield - report - South Eastern Europe - The Sofia Echo
Turkey's plans to buy missile systems from the US should not be interpreted as a willingness to host missile defence shield components on its territory, Turkish daily Today's Zaman said on September 21.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has denied media reports that Turkey is buying missile interceptors against a threat posed by Iran, the daily said. Iran was the main target of the missile defence shield initiative of former US president George W Bush, to be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic, scrapped by Barack Obama on September 17.
Having rebuffed the Bush administration on the plans to put missiles on its soil, Turkey re-inforced its stance that it would host Nato equipment, but not join US initiatives outside the alliance's framework.
With reports in the US saying that the department of defence notified congre
IAEA: No Proof Iran Has Nuclear Weapons Program -- News from Antiwar.com
The Associated Press earlier today leaked the details of what it believes is the “secret annex” to the IAEA report on Iran, which claims that the IAEA “assesses that Iran has sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable implosion nuclear device based on HEU as the fission fuel.”
The IAEA would not confirm the authenticity of the document, but reiterated that it has “no concrete proof that there is or has been a nuclear weapon programme in Iran.”
AFP: IAEA denies report it is sure Iran is seeking bomb
The UN atomic watchdog said Thursday it has no concrete proof that there is or has been a nuclear weapons programme in Iran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency rejected a US media report which claimed its experts believed Tehran had the ability to make a nuclear bomb and was on the way to developing a missile system able to carry an atomic warhead.
"With respect to a recent media report, the IAEA reiterates that it has no concrete proof that there is or has been a nuclear weapon programme in Iran," a statement said.
BBC NEWS | 'Israel link' in Arctic Sea case
Israel was linked to the interception of the missing cargo ship Arctic Sea last month, a senior figure close to Israeli intelligence has told the BBC.
The source said Israel had told Moscow it knew the ship was secretly carrying a Russian air defence system for Iran.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has dismissed speculation that S-300 missiles were on board the ship.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, has denied making a secret visit to Moscow on Monday.
The Associated Press: AP NewsBreak: Iran says US nuke documents 'forged'
Iran accused the U.S. on Friday of using "forged documents" and relying on subterfuge to make its case that Tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, according to a confidential letter obtained by The Associated Press.
The eight-page letter — written by Iran's chief envoy to the U.N. nuclear agency in Vienna — denounces Washington's allegations against the Islamic Republic as "fabricated, baseless and false." The letter does not specify what documents Iran is alleging were forged.
It also lashes out at Britain and France for "ill will and political motivation" in their dealings on Iran.
AFP: IAEA's new chief promises to unblock Iran standoff
The UN atomic watchdog's incoming chief Yukiya Amano promised Friday to go all out to resolve a long-running nuclear standoff with Iran after governors formally gave their assent to his appointment.
As the organisation in charge of nuclear safeguards, the task of the International Atomic Energy Agency's director general was to make sure that member countries stuck to their commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Amano told journalists.
"What is expected of the director general and the agency is to implement these safeguards agreements in a professional and impartial manner. And I will do my utmost" to do so, he said.
The IAEA has been investigating Iran's controversial nuclear programme for the past six years, but has so far been unable to establish whether the activities are entirely peaceful as Tehran claims.
Associated Press: Group offers plan to eliminate nukes by 2030
A group committed to eliminating nuclear weapons presented on Monday a four-step plan to achieve that goal by 2030, while acknowledging that Iran could be a "show stopper."
The plan by the nonpartisan Global Zero Commission calls for the United States and Russia — the world's largest nuclear powers — to agree to reduce first to 1,000 warheads each, then to 500 each by 2021.
The U.S. is believed to have about 2,200 active strategic nuclear warheads and Russia about 2,800. Each has thousands more in reserve as well as large numbers of non-strategic, or tactical, nuclear arms.
During the second phase of cuts to 500, all other nuclear weapons countries would have to agree to freeze and then reduce their warhead totals. Those other countries are China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan and Israel but not North Korea, which has conducted nuclear tests but may not have a useable weapon.
Most Israelis could live with a nuclear Iran: poll | International | Reuters
Only one in five Israeli Jews believes a nuclear-armed Iran would try to destroy Israel and most see life continuing as normal should their arch-foe get the bomb, an opinion poll published on Sunday found.
The survey, commissioned by a Tel Aviv University think tank, appeared to challenge the argument of successive Israeli governments that Iran must be denied the means to make atomic weapons lest it threaten the existence of the Jewish state.
Daily Kos: The big (nuclear) lie on Iran gets even bigger
In his coverage today of the Iranian election, the New York Times' Bill Keller writes (with emphasis added by me):
Outside Iran, the result was comforting to hawks in Israel and some Western capitals who had feared that a more congenial Iranian president would cause the world to let down its guard against a country galloping toward nuclear weapons capability.
Not just with a "nuclear weapons program," which would be a sufficiently big lie. Not just "making steady progress towards a nuclear weapons capability." No, "galloping" towards it. The truth, of course, is that not only is there no evidence whatsoever of an Iranian "nuclear weapons program," but that Iran has actively disavowed any intention ever to have one, with Ayatollah Khamenei going so far as to issue a fatwa against nuclear weapons.
Taking Up Where Clinton-Gore Left Off by Gordon Prather -- Antiwar.com
This week several thousand delegates to the 2009 Policy Conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee will descend upon The Best Congress Money Can Buy, to conduct more than 500 separate meetings with congresspersons and key aides, to urge them "to deal with Iran’s nuclear threat against the Jewish state."
Or else.
Of course, Secretary of State Clinton has already testified under oath that
"The Non Proliferation Treaty is the cornerstone of the nonproliferation regime, and the United States must exercise the leadership needed to shore up the [associated nuclear-weapons proliferation prevention] regime."
The nuclear-weapons proliferation prevention regime which Obama-Biden-Hillary just declared we must "shore up" – as a consequence of the largely successful attempt by Bush-Cheney-Bolton to tear it down – is based upon what the IAEA Secretariat is required to do in the event it discovers that some nuclear materials subject to one of its Safeguards Agreements is "diverted to a military purpose."
Newt’s Sword of Damocles by Gordon Prather -- Antiwar.com
Well, there he goes again. Newt Gingrich wants us to believe a “sword of Damocles hangs over our heads.” Has wanted us to believe that since at least 2004, when he first decided to seek the Presidency, and when the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse [EMP] Attack made its first “final report” to Congress.
Who’s holding that sword over our heads?
For years it was alleged by Newt to be the Iranians, whom the Neo-Crazies and their media sycophants have insisted have a secret – so secret that not even Israeli spies or inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency, all of them on the ground in Iran for years, have any idea where it might be – deep underground nuclear weapons program.
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