Semaine 37 / 2009

            The world needs to stop wasting time and must join forces to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor says. "The time is now. There is no more time to waste, and that's not only the Israeli perspective, it's much more general," Meridor told Reuters Saturday. Meridor said that Tehran's nuclear ambitions are not confined to the distant future. "When they decide exactly this or exactly that is a good question but it's not the main... [Lire la suite]

               The United States and five partner countries have decided to accept Iran's new offer to hold talks, even though Iran insists it will not negotiate over its disputed nuclear program, the State Department said Friday. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters that although Iran's proposal for international talks - presented to the six powers on Wednesday - was disappointing for sidestepping the nuclear issue, it represented a chance to begin a direct dialogue.... [Lire la suite]

            Explosion sounds were heard Friday afternoon in the Nahariya and Western Galilee area, according to reports received by the police, Magen David Adom and firefighting services from local residents. "As far as we are concerned, the Lebanese government is responsible for preventing any firing from its territory towards Israel," the army stressed in its complaint. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that two 122-mllimeter rockets had hit open areas in northern Israel and that... [Lire la suite]

          Fatah welcomes a new Egyptian proposal aimed at solving its dispute with Hamas, a high-ranking Fatah official said on Thursday. The Egyptian proposal has the support of the Hamas as well. "Fatah has welcomed and accepted the latest proposal," said Jibril Rajoub, the newly-elected member of Fatah's Central Committee, who said that the proposal would bring the two rival parties closer to signing a "national unity agreement." "President Mahmoud Abbas accepted it after... [Lire la suite]

               Iran has proposed a global system to eliminate nuclear weapons as well as cooperation on Afghanistan, fighting terrorism and energy projects but is not willing to discuss halting its uranium enrichment program, an Iranian official told the Washington Post on Thursday. Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, considered to be Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's closest political aide and reportedly under consideration for appointment as first vice president, described Iran's proposal... [Lire la suite]

              France called on Russia Thursday not to complete the sale of advanced air defense missiles to Iran. Meanwhile in Israel, the dust has not yet settled over the secret visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Moscow on Monday, reportedly over the same issue. Thursday, the Russian daily Kommersant quoted Kremlin sources as confirming Netanyahu's visit to the Russian capital. The newspaper added that Netanyahu's visit was meant to update Russian officials on Israel's... [Lire la suite]

                 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Thursday that Israelis would not be "suckers" in peace negotiations, despite their willingness to make concessions in order to reach an accord with their neighbors. "We have proven time and again that we are willing to make compromises for peace, but we won't lead ourselves astray - we are not willing to be suckers," Netanyahu told members of his center-right Likud party. He added: "There is a... [Lire la suite]

‏         The Prime Minister's Office issued a statement Wednesday night seeking to clear up the ambiguous nature of Binyamin Netanyahu's whereabouts on Monday, following reports he made a secret visit to Russia. The statement said that "the prime minister was dealing with matters of a classified nature." The Prime Minister's Office said that an earlier statement issued by Netanyahu's military secretary that the premier was at a security installation inside Israel was his own initiative. The PMO... [Lire la suite]

           Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos of Spain says his country will press for tougher sanctions by the European Union against Iran when Madrid assumes the bloc's rotating presidency in 2010. Moratinos made the remarks at a meeting with President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Wednesday night. He said Iran's response to the West's proposal to launch nuclear talks was insufficient. Moratinos also said that he came away from discussions in Damascus with Bashar Assad, with the impression that... [Lire la suite]

            American intelligence agencies have concluded in recent months that Iran has created enough nuclear fuel to make a rapid, if risky, sprint for a nuclear weapon, but has deliberately stopped short of the critical last steps to make a bomb. Glyn Davies, the American ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, declared on Wednesday that Iran now had a "possible breakout capacity" to enrich its stockpile of uranium to bomb-grade material. In interviews over the past... [Lire la suite]