26 septembre 2009
PM Netanyahu pushes top US officials on Iranian nuclear issue
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke with top US senators and congressmen over the weekend, in an effort to find a timely solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. In his conversations with top officials including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which came as a second uranium enrichment plant near Teheran was revealed, he stressed the urgency of the situation. Earlier Saturday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the newly exposed Iranian nuclear facility proves "without a doubt" the Islamic Republic is pursuing nuclear weapons, said Saturday. AFP quoted him as urging immediate action, saying, "Without wasting time, we must work towards the overthrow of the mad regime of Teheran." Iran kept the facility, located 100 miles southwest of Teheran, hidden from the UN nuclear watchdog until revealing it last week. Israel has long sounded alarm bells over what its belief that Iran is looking to develop nuclear weapons. "This removes the dispute whether Iran is developing military nuclear power or not and therefore the world powers need to draw conclusions," Lieberman told Israel Radio. "Without a doubt it is a reactor for military purposes not peaceful purposes," Lieberman said. Lieberman said he met with Arab foreign ministers while at the United Nations last week and said they expressed their alarm over Iran's nuclear program to him. "Nobody is worried about the Palestinian problem, everybody in the Muslim and Arab world and first and foremost in the [Persian] Gulf states are worried about the Iranian problem," Lieberman said. (00,33)
Iran to allow UN inspectors at second nuclear site
Iran will allow the United Nations nuclear watchdog to inspect its newly revealed, still unfinished uranium enrichment facility, the Islamic Republic's Iran's nuclear chief said Saturday. Speaking on state TV, Ali Akbar Salehi did not specify when inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency could visit the site. He said the timing will be worked out with the UN watchdog. Iran's newly revealed site is said to be in the arid mountains near the holy city of Qom, inside a heavily guarded, underground facility. The pilot plant will house 3,000 centrifuges that could soon produce nuclear fuel - or the payload for atomic warheads. Salehi added that Iran has pre-empted a conspiracy against Tehran by the U.S. and its allies by reporting the site voluntarily to the IAEA. Meanwhile, an aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying on Saturday that the facility will soon become operational. The statement came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama demanded that Iran come clean about its nuclear program or face "sanctions that bite" after the disclosure of the new uranium enrichment plant under construction south of Tehran. "This new plant, God willing, will soon become operational and will make the enemies blind," Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpayegani, who heads Khamenei's office, said, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency. Mohammadi-Golpayegani, a cleric, said the construction of the plant was a sign of Iran being at the "summit of power," Fars reported. He was speaking at a ceremony marking the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. (21,54)
Iran to hold missile defense exercise on Yom Kippur
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards will hold missile defense exercises on the upcoming Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Iranian media reported on Saturday. The announcement of the war games coincided with increased tension in Iran's nuclear dispute with the West, after the Islamic Republic disclosed that it is building a second uranium enrichment plant. The reports did not say what kind of missiles would be used in the war games, which will start on Sunday, the eve of Yom Kippur. In May, Iran said it had tested a missile that defense analysts said could hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf. A statement quoted by Iranian news agencies said the goal of the exercises by the Revolutionary Guards' air force, was "to raise the deterrence capability of the Iranian armed forces." On Yom Kippur in 1973, a coalition of Arab states launched a surprise attack on Israel. The ensuing conflict, the Yom Kippur War, was particularly costly and traumatic for Israel. General Hossein Salami, head of the Guards' air force, said that the drill would include simultaneous firings of missiles at targets. The exercises, which will begin Sunday, will last several days and take place in various locations. Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed alarm over Iran's nuclear ambitions and refused to rule out pre-emptive military action to stop Iran developing an atomic weapon. Israel considers Iran a strategic threat due to its nuclear program, missile development and repeated references by Ahmadinejad to Israel's destruction. (21,52)
Israel: Second Iran nuke site for military purposes
The newly exposed nuclear facility in Iran was built for military purposes and is proof that the Islamic Republic is seeking atomic weapons, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Saturday. "I spoke this weekend with experts from the East and West," Lieberman told Israel Radio. "No one has any doubt, according to the technical data that was published, it's a military core. The disagreement has been done away with." Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed alarm over Iran's nuclear ambitions and refused to rule out pre-emptive military action to stop Iran developing an atomic weapon. Tehran insists its nuclear plans are peaceful and has resisted U.S.-led diplomatic pressure to curb its uranium enrichment, which can be used to generate electricity or make bombs. On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama demanded that Iran come clean about its nuclear program or risk "sanctions that bite," after the disclosure that a new plant was under construction southwest of Tehran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the facility was legal and open for inspection by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran is set to meet the United States and five other powers in October to discuss its nuclear program. Asked whether the strong words from Obama and other Western leaders came too late, Lieberman said: "No one wanted to admit the truth. Everyone tried, like always, to placate this mad regime." "I hope that after this latest revelation, at the discussion to open on October 1... the message passed from the start will be unequivocal," he said. Israel considers Iran a strategic threat due to its nuclear program, missile development and repeated references by Ahmadinejad to Israel's destruction. Lieberman said he met with Arab foreign ministers while at the United Nations last week and said they expressed their alarm over Iran's nuclear program to him. "Nobody is worried about the Palestinian problem, everybody in the Muslim and Arab world, and first and foremost in the Gulf states, are worried about the Iranian problem," the foreign minister said. (13,00)
Obama warns Iran to come clean or face a 'confrontation'
President Barack Obama declared Friday that Iran is on a path to confrontation with world powers unless it agrees to "come clean" and disclose all its nuclear activities. He said he would not rule out military action. Obama joined the leaders of Britain and France in accusing the Islamic republic of clandestinely building an underground plant to make nuclear fuel that could be used to build an atomic bomb. Iranian officials acknowledged the facility but insisted it had been reported to nuclear authorities as required. "Iran's action raised grave doubts" about its promise to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes only, Obama told a news conference at the conclusion of a G-20 summit whose focus on world economic recovery was overshadowed by disclosure of the Iranian plant. Obama said a telling moment could come next week when Iran meets with US and other world powers to discuss the nuclear issue. (08,16)
25 septembre 2009
'Iran nuclear site shows its unwillingness to follow int'l rules'
The leaders of the US, Britain and France demanded Friday that Iran fully disclose its nuclear ambitions "or be held accountable" to an impatient world community. They threatened new sanctions after the disclosure of a secret Iranian nuclear facility. "Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow," President Barack Obama said in the opening moments of the G-20 economic summit. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Iran has until December to comply or face sanctions. "This is for peace and stability," the French leader said. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown accused Iran of "serial deception." The leaders were reacting to the public disclosure of a new Iranian nuclear facility. Iran has kept the facility, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Teheran, hidden from weapons inspectors, but the US has long known of its existence, a senior White House official told The Associated Press. Obama decided to go public with the revelation after Iran learned that Western intelligence agencies were aware of the project, the official said before the joint statement. The officials spoke on grounds of anonymity so as not to pre-empt Obama. Obama hopes the disclosure will increase pressure on the global community to impose new sanctions on Iran if it refuses to stop its nuclear program. Beyond sanctions, the leaders' options are limited and perilous; military action by the United States or an ally such as Israel could set off a dangerous chain of events in the Islamic world. In addition, Iran's facilities are spread around the country and well hidden, making an effective military response difficult. The disclosure comes on the heels of a UN General Assembly meeting at which Obama saw a glimmer of success in his push to rally the world against Iranian nuclear ambitions. And it comes days before Iran and six world powers are scheduled to discuss a range of issues including Teheran's nuclear program. Earlier Friday, International Atomic Energy Agency officials said that Iran had revealed the existence of the site to the nuclear watchdog. Iran is under three sets of UN Security Council sanctions for refusing to freeze enrichment at what had been its single known enrichment plant, which is being monitored by the IAEA. Two officials told the AP that Iran revealed the existence of the second plant in a letter sent Monday to International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei. IAEA spokesman Marc Vidricaire confirmed receipt of the letter, saying the agency was informed "that a new pilot fuel enrichment plant is under construction," and that it would not enrich beyond five percent, suitable for civilian energy production and substantially below the threshold of 90 percent or more needed for weapons. Iran told the agency "that no nuclear material has been introduced into the facility," he said. "In response, the IAEA has requested Iran to provide specific information and access to the facility as soon as possible." The officials said that Iran's letter contained no details about the location of the second facility, when - or if - it had started operations or the type and number of centrifuges it was running. But one of the officials, who had access to a review of Western intelligence on the issue, said it was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Teheran and was the site of 3,000 centrifuges that could be operational by next year. The officials who spoke to the AP - one from a European government with access to IAEA information and the other a diplomat in Vienna from a country accredited to the IAEA - demanded anonymity Friday because their information was confidential. One said he had seen the Iranian letter. The other told the AP that he had been informed about it by a UN official. Iranian officials had previously acknowledged having only one plant - which is under IAEA monitoring - and had denied allegations of undeclared nuclear activities. An August IAEA report said Iran had set up more than 8,000 centrifuges to churn out enriched uranium at its cavernous underground facility outside the southern city of Natanz. The report said that only about 4,600 centrifuges were fully active. Iran says it has the right to enrich uranium for a nationwide chain of nuclear reactors. But because enrichment can also produce weapons-grade uranium, the international community fears Teheran will make fissile material for nuclear warheads. The IAEA says Iran has amassed more than a ton of uranium from its older Natanz centrifuges that is less than five-percent enriched and unsuitable for weapons use. But through further enrichment, that amount would give Teheran more than enough material to produce enough weapons-grade uranium - enriched to 90 percent and beyond - for one nuclear weapon. UN officials familiar with IAEA monitoring of Iran's nuclear activities have previously told the AP they suspected Iran may have undeclared enrichment plants with the state-of-the-art centrifuges that enrich more quickly and efficiently than Iran's mainstay P-1, a decades-old model based on Chinese technology. (17,29)
Netanyahu slams UN, challenges it to confront Iran
In a dramatic address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran poses a threat to the peace of the world and that it is incumbent on the world body to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons. In response to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claims about the Holocaust, Netanyahu began his speech by lambasting those who did not walk out on the controversial leader during his speech on Wednesday. The premier also took aim at Ahmadinejad's litany of statements casting doubt on the Holocaust. "Is this protocol a lie?" Netanyahu asked as he brandished the minutes of the Wansee Conference, the 1942 meeting during which Nazi officials planned the Final Solution. The prime minister also held up the architectural blueprints of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps that bear the signature of Hitler's deputy, Heinrich Himmler. "Are the successive German governments that have kept these documents for posterity all liars?" the premier asked. "And what of the survivors whose arms still bear the tattooed numbers branded on them by the Nazis? Are those tattoos a lie, too?" Netanyahu praised world diplomats who walked out of Ahmadinejad's fiery speech to the UN on Wednesday and assailed those who remained seated. "Yesterday the president of Iran stood at this very podium and spewed his anti-Semitic rants," the premier said. "Just a few days earlier he claimed that the Holocaust was a lie." "Do those who listened to Ahmadinejad's speech have no shame, no decency?" the premier asked. "Nearly one-third of all Jews at the time perished in the Holocaust," he said. "Nearly every family was affected, including my own." "Perhaps some of you think [Ahmadinejad] and his odious regime only threaten the Jews," Netanyahu continued. "Well, if you think that you are wrong, dead wrong." Netanyahu warned against the dangers posed by Iran, imploring the West to confront the Islamic Republic's "religious fanaticism." "The struggle against Iran pits civilization against barbarism," Netanyahu told the UN. "This Iranian regime is fueled by extreme fundamentalism." "What starts as attacks on Jews always ends up engulfing others," Netanyahu said. "This regime embodies the extremes of Islamic fundamentalism." The premier challenged the world body to prevent Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. Israel and the Western powers believe Iran's nuclear program is of a military nature, a charge the Iranians deny. Netanyahu said the progress made in the postwar 20th century could be undone if Iran is permitted to build atomic weapons. "History could be reversed if primitive fanaticism acquires deadly weapons," the premier told the UN. "The jury is still out on the United Nations, and the signs aren`t encouraging." The prime minister also assailed the Goldstone Commission Report which accused Israel of committing war crimes during Operation Cast Lead, the three-week offensive against the Hamas-led Gaza Strip. "Israel has justly defended against terrorism," Netanyahu said. "This report provides a clear-cut bias against Israel." "Rather than condemn terrorism, some at the UN are condemning its victims," Netanyahu said. "It is not easy to fight terrorists firing from schools and mosques." The premier said Israel has gone to "extraordinary" lengths to advance peace in the region, including the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. "The Gaza disengagement was very painful for Israel," the prime minister said. "Israel withdrew from Gaza because we believed it would achieve peace." Netanyahu took the UN to task for "remaining silent" while Gaza gunmen launched Qassam rockets at Israeli towns and communities in the western Negev. The prime minister said his country wants "genuine peace" and he praised the late Arab leaders Anwar Sadat and King Hussein of Jordan for their "courage" in forging diplomatic ties with Israel. "Every time an Arab leader truly wanted peace, they got it," Netanyahu said. "If the Palestinians truly want peace, we will make peace." Netanyahu also reiterated an Israeli demand that the Palestinians explicitly recognize Israel as "the state of the Jewish people." "Say yes to a Jewish state," Netanyahu urged the Palestinians. "The Jewish people are not foreign conquerors in the land of Israel." Netanyahu said he recognized that the Palestinians are also desirous of a homeland, and that Israel was committed to living side by side with its Arab neighbors. As a condition for peace, the prime minister said any future Palestinian state must be "effectively demilitarized" so that it would not have the means to threaten Israel. "I said effective because we do not want another Gaza, another south Lebanon, another Iranian-backed terror base threatening Jerusalem," Netanyahu said. "We want peace, and I believe that with goodwill and hard work, such a peace can be achieved." Netanyahu also invoked Winston Churchill in imploring the international community to oppose Iran and the rejectionist groups it supports, including Hamas and Hezbollah. "The question facing the international community is whether it is prepared to confront these forces or just accommodate them," the premier said. (15,42)
24 septembre 2009
UN Security Council calls for nuclear weapons states to disarm
The United Nations Security Council, at a historic summit meeting chaired by U.S. President Barack Obama, unanimously approved a U.S.-drafted resolution on Thursday calling on nuclear weapons states to scrap their deadly arsenals. Russia, China and developing nations supported the U.S.-sponsored measure, giving it global clout and strong political backing. The resolution calls for stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote disarmament and reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism. Obama was the first American president to preside over a Security Council summit, gaveling the meeting into session and announcing that the draft resolution has been adopted unanimously. "The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to a goal of a world without nuclear weapons," Obama said immediately after the vote. "And it brings Security Council agreement on a broad framework for action to reduce nuclear dangers as we work toward that goal." "Just one nuclear weapon set off in a major city could cause major destruction," Obama said, adding that a "nuclear war cannot be won, and must never be fought." He said the global effort would seek to lock down all vulnerable nuclear materials within four years. "This is not about singling out an individual nation," he said. "International law is not an empty promise, and treaties must be enforced." "We will leave this meeting with renewed determination," Obama said. Obama also said that all nations have "a right to peaceful nuclear energy." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saluted the national leaders for joining in the unprecedented Security Council summit on nuclear arms. "This is a historic moment, a moment offering a fresh start toward a new future," he said. Later, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the Security Council that the world should consider "far tougher sanctions" against Iran if it continues to seek a nuclear bomb. "As evidence of its breach of international agreements grows, we must now consider far tougher sanctions together," Brown said. It was only the fifth time the Security Coucil has met at the level of heads of state since it was established in 1946. (19,09)
Netanyahu: No peace until Palestinians accept Israel as Jewish state
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Haaretz on Wednesday that he would not agree to a Palestinian demand that Israel accept the 1967 borders as a condition for renewing peace negotiations. Netanyahu also gave a condition of his own, saying Thursday that he would never drop his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. "I told Abu Mazen [Abbas] I believe peace hinges first on his readiness to stand before his people and say, 'We...are committed to recognizing Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people'," Netanyahu said. "I will not drop this subject and other important issues under any final peace agreement," Netanyahu said. Netanyahu said that U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday was "positive" because "he also said something we had been seeking for six months, that we have to meet and begin the diplomatic process without preconditions." Obama had spoken "clearly about Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people," said Netanyahu. "I believe that disagreement about this is the root of the conflict." Netanyahu also pointed out that Obama had made reference to Israeli efforts to improve the Palestinian economy by lifting roadblocks. Obama speech on Wednesday was one of many from world leaders, and the American president focused a portion of his talk on efforts toward Middle East Peace. "The goal is clear," Obama told the General Assembly, "two states living side by side in peace and security - a Jewish State of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967, and realizes the potential of the Palestinian people." Referring to Obama's statement Netanyahu said, "The things he said about the occupation are not new. He also said them in Cairo, and in fact that is the formula adopted by the road map and it does not say we have to go back to the 1967 borders. "This is the formula adopted by governments before the one I head, which did not agree to go back to the 1967 borders. We certainly would [also] not agree to that. In the matter of the settlements he also said nothing new. These disagreements should not prevent the beginning of the process which, among other things if it is successful, will also decide this issue." Netanyahu said Obama, like other American presidents, reflected the deep basic friendship between the American and the Israeli people, and that "he stood in Cairo before the whole Muslim world and said this relationship would never be severed." Netanyahu added he believed the obligation of the United States to Israel's security was total. When asked about claims that Tuesday's three-way summit with Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Obama would become an excuse for foot-dragging, Netanyahu responded, "not on our part." Netanyahu told Channel 2 that Obama's speech to the the UN regarding negotiations without preconditions and the two state solution was "an important blessing." "The president said let's come and resume the peace process without preconditions. As you know I have been saying that for nearly six months. I was happy," Netanyahu said. However, Israelis and Palestinians said Wednesday that their envoys would meet with U.S. officials but not with each other, cementing the impression that the summit had produced little results. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said there would be no follow-up session with the Israelis because the two sides hadn't bridged the divides that have prevented them from resuming talks. "It's not happening because we agreed to continue dealing with the Americans until we reach the agreement that will enable us to relaunch the negotiations," Erekat said. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel would dispatch envoys to meet with U.S. officials in Washington, but there were no plans now to meet again with the Palestinians. He said, however, that it was Israel's "sincere hope that we will see the restart of direct Israeli-Palestinian talks." The Palestinians refuse to restart talks until Israel freezes settlement construction. They also want talks to restart where they left off before breaking down earlier this year, something Netanyahu has refused. 'Obama assured commitment to stopping Iran nukes Netanyahu told several U.S. network television stations late Wednesday that Obama had also assured him he was committed to stopping Iran's nuclear program. In those interviews, Netanyahu also reiterated that Israel was unwilling to freeze "life" in West Bank settlements. Answering to whether he knew how long it was before Iran could produce a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu told ABC interviewer Charlie Gibson that he didn't "want to discuss whether we need another week or another month." "The crucial question is, what's the goal? And the president assured me time and again that the goal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. And I think that's the right goal," the premier said. The prime minister added that he saw Iran as "the major sponsor of world terrorism. Now, imagine what terrorism could be if the terrorists had a patron that gave them a nuclear umbrella, or worse, if that patron actually gave them nuclear weapons. " "That's a nightmare scenario, and we all have to ensure that it doesn't happen," Netanyahu told ABC. Netanyahu also reiterated comments he made recently about what he considered as the instability of the current regime in Tehran, saying he thought "this regime is a lot weaker than people think, and I think the civilized countries are a lot stronger than they tend to think about themselves." "This regime tyrannizes its own people, guns them down when they peacefully protest for freedom," the prime minister added. "There are so many reasons, endless reasons why this should not be allowed to happen. And it's time the international community acted in unison to make sure that it doesn't happen," Netanyahu said. In an interview to Fox News, Netanyahu commented on the possibility of unilateral action against Iran, saying "any country has and reserves the right for self defense and Israel is no exception but I think the specter of Iran arming itself with nuclear weapons and possibly giving it to terrorists or giving them [is] sufficiently troublesome for the international community to get its act together and act to stop this from happening." Answering to the question whether he was convinced Iran wanted a nuclear weapon, the premier asserted: "Yes I am." (19,08)
US, France walk out during Ahmadinejad's UN speech
France on Wednesday led a walkout of a dozen delegations, including the United States, to protest a fiery speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UN General Assembly. "It is disappointing that Mr Ahmadinejad has once again chosen to espouse hateful, offensive and anti-Semitic rhetoric," Mark Kornblau, spokesman to the US mission to the United Nations, said in a statement. Delegations from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, France Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand and the United States left the room as Ahmadinejad began to rail against Israel, a European source said. Israel had already called for a boycott of the speech, and was not present when the Iranian leader began his address. Canada had already said it would heed the boycott call. In his address, Ahmadinejad again took aim at Israel without mentioning the country or Jews by name, referring only to the "Zionist regime." The firebrand leader, reelected in disputed June elections, accused Israel of "inhumane policies in Palestine." "How can the crimes of the occupiers against defenseless women and children... be supported unconditionally by certain governments," Ahmadinejad asked. "And at the same time, the oppressed men and women be subject to genocide and heaviest economic blockade being denied their basic needs, food, water and medicine?" A French diplomat told AFP the Iranian leader's speech was "unacceptable," adding that European delegations had co-ordinated their action in advance if they found parts of the address unpalatable. Suggesting there was a Jewish conspiracy, Ahmadinejad added: "It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks." And he accused Jews of seeking to "establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions." During his speech, Ahmadinejad said his country was ready to shake all hands "that are honestly extended to us." He announced Iran's commitment to participate in building durable peace and security worldwide for all nations while defending the country's legitimate and legal rights. This appeared to be a reference to Iran's nuclear program, which was not mentioned in his speech. Ahmadinejad portrayed Iran as a defender of poor developing countries, lashing out at unbridled capitalism which he said has reached the end of the road and will suffer the same fate as Marxism. (10,39)