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A new paradigm for a post-imperial world

Archive for the ‘Iran’ Category

An attack on Iran remains a terrifying possibility, as a desperate flight forward by the Anglo-American coalition from an already hopeless situation in Iraq.

Brazil-Turkey 1, sanctions 0

Posted by seumasach on May 18, 2010

Pepe Escobar

Asia Times

19th May, 2010

As D-Day approached in Tehran, it was as if the whole world was watching a numbers game. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on his way to Iran, said the chances of convincing the Islamic Republic to accept a nuclear fuel swap deal were close to 99%. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, after meeting with Lula in Moscow last Friday, said the chance was more like 33%. And the United States State Department, via Secretary Hillary Clinton, was all out pre-emptive, betting in fact on 0%.

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Iran awaits West’s reply to declaration

Posted by seumasach on May 18, 2010

The declaration stipulates that Ankara hold Tehran’s low-enriched uranium and return it if Iran does not receive the higher enriched uranium from either France or Russia in a specific time period.

PressTV

18th May, 2010

Iran says the new nuclear declaration leaves no excuse for the other side to block the nuclear fuel swap as it seeks cooperation rather than confrontation.

Following the three-way talks between Iran, Turkey and Brazil, Tehran announced a nuclear declaration on Monday whereby Tehran would send some 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for a total of 120 kg of higher enriched uranium.

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Colin Buchanan trashing lib dem conservative coalition on RT

Posted by smeddum on May 17, 2010

Posted in Afghanistan, Battle for Europe, Financial crisis, Iran, Multipolar world, New Cold War, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Turkish air defense system deployed to “defend Syria, Iran against Israel raids”

Posted by seumasach on May 14, 2010

Political Theatrics

13th May, 2010

High-ranking sources in the Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed displeasure with Turkey over deploying anti-aircraft batteries along the Syrian border in the Iskenderun district.

The Turkish daily Hurriyet meanwhile, quoted a military source as saying that “this move aims at repelling a US or Israeli attack against Iran or Syria.”

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Ahmadinejad steals ‘smart power’ torch

Posted by seumasach on May 6, 2010

Kaveh L Afrasiabi

Asia Times

7th May, 2010

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad seems to only gain in strength with the growing intensity of North American and European attacks against him. Such is the global community’s slide into competing camps, his championing of the nuclear “have-nots” – the bulk of the world’s population – gives him the demeanor of a peace activist who speaks the language of disarmament.

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US threatens to nuke Iran and anyone else it feels like nuking

Posted by seumasach on May 5, 2010

Shirin Ebadi

Global Research

3rd May, 2010

The 2010 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference will convene from 3-28 May 2010 in New York. This year’s conference – as with previous years’ – promises to be yet another battle between the developing and the nuclear-armed nations. The US insists that the NPT needs to be rewritten so as to place greater limits on what it calls “nuclear weapons proliferation” whilst the developing nations say that the concern over proliferation is being used as a pretext by the US to avoid its own obligations under the same treaty to disarm its own nukes and to share nuclear technology with everyone else. This year, the same conflict will likely continue, and the US (and the US media) will of course try to blame it on Iran when in fact the emphasis on disarmament is shared by a number of countries called the New Agenda Coalition that includes Brazil, New Zealand and Egypt, and is not limited to Iran.

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Iran, Brazil and the ‘bomb’

Posted by seumasach on May 2, 2010

Pepe Escobar

Asia Times

30th April, 2010

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim put it very politely at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran this Tuesday. Amorim said, “Brazil is interested to have a share in settling the Iranian nuclear issue in an appropriate way.”

“Appropriate” is code for dialogue – not a fourth round of sanctions slammed by the United Nations Security Council, much less the military option, which the Barack Obama administration has stridently kept on the table. Thus by positioning itself as a mediator in search for a peaceful solution, the Brazilian government is in fact on a “soft” collision course with the Obama administration.

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Iran-4 ministers urged to downgrade UK ties

Posted by seumasach on April 20, 2010

PressTV

20th April, 2010

A senior Iranian lawmaker says the Parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy has sent letters to four related ministries on downgrading relations with the UK.

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Obama Threatens Iran with Nuclear Weapons: Tehran’s Response. Full Text of Iran UN Ambassador Letter to UNSC

Posted by seumasach on April 16, 2010

TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iran’s UN ambassador Mohammad Khazaee called for the Security Council and other UN related bodies to show serious opposition to the US President’s nuclear policies and his threat against an NPT signatory which does not hold nuclear weapons.

Following the US President Barack Obama’s remarks that America will not restrict conditions of using nuclear weapons against Iran and North Korea, Khazaee sent a letter to the presidents of the UN Security Council Yukio Takasu and General Assembly Ali Treki and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and said threats of the US officials against Iran are inhuman and go against international rules and commitments.

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US violates UN law by threatening Iran

Posted by seumasach on April 13, 2010

PressTV

13th April, 2010

Iran’s envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog says the US nuclear policy which allows the use of nuclear arms against Tehran is a clear violation of the UN Charter.

Speaking on Monday, Ali-Asghar Soltanieh called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to deal with the US violations.

The US Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) purportedly restricts the use of its nuclear arms against most non-atomic states, except Iran and North Korea, which are accused by the US of seeking nuclear weapons.

Soltanieh also said the outcome of the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington is not binding as only a limited number of countries have been invited.

Unlike North Korea, Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Tehran has stressed that its nuclear program is only for the civilian applications of the technology.

The UN nuclear watchdog has, in many reports, declared that there is no evidence of military objectives in Iran’s nuclear program.

“According to international laws, any threat to use nuclear weapons against other countries … is against the UN Charter, the [International Atomic Energy] Agency’s regulations and international laws,” ISNA quoted Soltanieh as saying.

“The UN Security Council should act swiftly and deal with the US violations in this regard.”

Later on Monday, US President Barack Obama was to open the nuclear security summit which is being attended by the leaders of 46 other countries. Iran is not represented at the conference.

“The outcome of the Washington conference is already known. Any decision taken at the meeting is not binding on those countries which are not represented at the conference,” Soltanieh said.

The Iranian envoy said the NPR proves Washington’s unreliability on the nuclear arms issue, adding that the new US policy shows that the nuclear-armed power is in fact a big threat to international peace.

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Buchanan: Iran sanctions pave way to new war US can’t afford

Posted by seumasach on April 7, 2010

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