Headlines: Ahmadinejad: Iran Justified in Barring Nuclear Inspectors
16 Sep 2010 13:32No Comments
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Ahmadinejad: Iran Justified in Barring Nuclear Inspectors
NBC | Sept 16
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC News on Wednesday that his country was justified in barring further visits by U.N. atomic inspectors and challenged other nations to fully disclose their nuclear activities.
He also rebuffed the threat of new sanctions: "Our nation does not need the United States whatsoever," he told NBC's Andrea Mitchell in Tehran. "Even if the U.S. administration increases the sanctions and -- 100 times more, and even the Europeans join the United States to impose heavier sanctions, we in Iran are in a position to meet our own requirements."
Iran has already allowed the inspectors several visits and other western nuclear powers should allow the same kind of access to their facilities, Ahmadinejad said in a wide-ranging exclusive interview that included comments on the recent release of American Sarah Shourd from a Tehran prison. "We have gone beyond the law, and we have cooperated with them," he said.
Ahmadinejad Changes Special Envoys to Advisors
Mehr | Sept 15
Following the Supreme Leader's advice against parallel activities especially in foreign policy areas, President Ahmadinejad has changed his decision and appointed his special envoys as advisors in international affairs.
In separate decrees, Ahmadinejad appointed Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Hamid Baghaei, Abolfazl Zohrevand, and Mohammad-Mehdi Akhoundzadeh as his advisors for the Middle East, Asia, Afghanistan and Caspian Sea affairs respectively.
Akhoundzadeh and Zohrevand have already served in the country's diplomatic system. In addition, the president has appointed Seyyed Shamsuddin Hosseini, the minister of economic affairs and finance, as his advisor in African affairs, and Mohammad Abbasi, the cooperatives minister, as advisor in Latin American affairs.
On September 7, 122 lawmakers wrote a letter to the president calling on him to obey the Supreme Leader's instructions with regard to the national foreign policy and remove his special envoys.
Sultan of Oman Tipped to Have Posted Bail that Won the Release from Iran of Sarah Shourd
The Times (via The Australian) | Sept 16
A mysterious benefactor who posted the bail to secure Sarah Shourd's release from her Iranian captivity was almost certainly the Sultan of Oman.
"I think you have it right," a well-placed source in Washington replied when asked for confirmation of the Sultan's role.
[Shourd], Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, thanked Oman for facilitating her release. The State Department said the tiny Gulf state had been a "key interlocutor" with Iran, but nobody would say who had posted the $US500,000 bail demanded by Tehran.
MPs Not Happy with Implementation of Outlook Plan
Mehr | Sept 15
MP Hamid-Reza Fouladgar has called for an investigation into the implementation of the 20-Year Outlook Plan (2005-2025).
The Majlis must form a committee to determine what has been done over the past years to achieve the goals of the plan, Fouladgar told the Mehr News Agency.
In a meeting with Ahmadinejad and his cabinet members in late August, the Supreme Leader called for a serious investigation to ascertain how to achieve the goals within the projected time period.
Leading Iranian Cleric Suggests Changing Presidential Election System
Mehr | Sept 15
A leading Iranian cleric has suggested that the country's president be elected by the Majles (parliament) or the Assembly of Experts rather than by direct public voting.
The proposal came from Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, who is considered to be close to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the two-day session of the Assembly of Experts, the deliberative body charged with identifying and replacing the Supreme Leader.
Another issue discussed during the session was a statement made by presidential aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei about a month ago calling for the promotion of the "school of Iran" instead of the "school of Islam." Speaking at the session, Hojatoleslam Mohammad Kazzem Bahrami criticized Mashaei's stand: "The notion of 'Iranian school,' instead of 'Islamic school,' is a perpetuation of ideas that seek to belittle the role of the Islamic Republic in the country's progress."
The session also condemned the desecration of the Qu'ran in the United States.
Iran Embassy Dismisses Claims of Financial Aid to Erdogan's Party
Mehr | Sept 15
The Iranian Embassy in Turkey vehemently dismissed a report by the British newspaper Daily Telegraph that Iran has agreed to donate up to $25 million to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).
"Such ridiculous allegations" cannot have the least effect on centuries-old relations between the two nations of Iran and Turkey which are linked through cultural and religious affinities, the ambassador noted.
"It is not unprecedented the [Daily] Telegraph, [which is] aligned to certain circles, publish such fake stories, and it has not aim except damaging neighboring and friendly relationship between Iran and Turkey," the embassy explained.
See also: "Turkey Denies Receiving Money from Iran" (Xinhua)
Oil Minister: Iran Gains Self-Sufficiency in Gasoline Production
Fars | Sept 15
Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mir-Kazzemi announced that the country has gained self-sufficiency in meeting its gasoline needs through domestic production and no more needs foreign supplies.
"At present we don't need to import gasoline, and based on our plans, 17mln liters will be added to the gasoline production capacity of the country's refineries before the end of the (Iranian) year (March 20, 2011)," Mir-Kazzemi said Tuesday night.
He said that Iran has managed to bring its gasoline consumption and production rates into balance through utilizing all the existing capacities and potentials, meaning that the country no more needs to import gasoline from foreign suppliers.
Mir-Kazzemi referred to Iran's self-sufficiency and progress in implementing different projects, and underlined that the country is capable of implementing huge projects, like the South Pars oil and gas field, relying on the capabilities of Iranian experts and engineers.
IRGC Is Involved Only in 5% of Economic Projects: General
Mehr | Sept 15
A military officer dismissed on Wednesday news that 65 percent of the country's economic projects are being conducted by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corp (Sepah).
Only three to five percent of these projects are being implemented by the construction organs of Basij and Sepah, said Ramezan Sharif, head of the IRGC public relations department.
Iranian Authorities Arrest More Followers of Dissident Cleric
Radio Zamaneh | Sept 15
Islamic Republic authorities arrested another 39 supporters and seminarians of senior dissident cleric Ayatollah [Ali Mohammad] Dastgheib in Shiraz.
The opposition website Kaleme reports that these 39 followers of the dissident cleric have been arrested in the course of last week.
Earlier, they also arrested 13 of Ayatollah Dastgheib's seminarians, five of which were released on bail, leaving 42 of the dissident cleric's followers in prison at the moment.
20 Political Prisoners Released on Furlough
Mehr | Sept 15
Iran has granted furloughs to 20 political prisoners.
However, their names will not be announced so that they can spend their leave without any problems, "but of course as long as they act according to the furlough rules," Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told reporters on Wednesday.
Dolatabadi also said the bail money for Sarah Shourd, one of three U.S. citizens who were detained in Iran, was deposited in the Judiciary's account in a branch of Iran's Melli Bank in Muscat, Oman.
The Tehran prosecutor general stated that Mehdi Hashemi was subpoenaed last year and the fact that he is not in Iran does not mean his dossier is not going through the judicial process.
Dolatabadi said nobody charged with assaulting the house of former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi has been handed over to Judiciary officials.
Iranians Barred from Visiting Opposition Leaders
Radio Zamaneh | Sept 16
Islamic Republic authorities prevented the youth branch of the National Trust Party from meeting with their leader, Mehdi Karroubi, today.
Kaleme website reports: "In recent days, security forces have confronted social and political activists who have tried to visit Karroubi."
Similar treatment has been given to people attempting to visit the other disputer of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election victory, Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Iran Sanctions Curb Credit Transfer to Uganda -- Memo
Reuters | Sept 15
Uganda has been unable to obtain a $46 million credit offered by Iran because of complications in transferring the money due to U.N. sanctions, according to a government memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
Over the past two years, Iran has been strengthening relations with the east African country, which is set to become an oil producer in 2011, and there have been reciprocal state visits by the nations' leaders.
According to a Ugandan foreign ministry source, Iran offered a $10 million credit in 2008 to boost trade and investment with Uganda and that credit was increased to $46 million when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Kampala in April.
However, a memo prepared by the ministry for parliament's public accounts committee, in response to an audit query, said sanctions had complicated the money transfer.
Iran-Backed Senior IMU Commander Captured in Afghan North
Long War Journal | Sept 15
Coalition and Afghan forces captured a senior facilitator for the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan [IMU] with links to Iran during a raid yesterday in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz. The raid is the latest against the terror group in the Afghan north.
The IMU "foreign fighter facilitator," who was not named, was captured along with several associates during a special operations raid in the village of Basuz in the Taliban-controlled Chahar Darah district. Security forces found weapons and materials used to make roadside bombs at the compound.
"The commander maintains ties to local Taliban as well as Iranian-based Uzbek Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan facilitators," the International Security Assistance Force stated in a press release.
A senior US intelligence official told The Long War Journal that the captured IMU facilitator operates in Iran with the support of Qods Force, the special operations branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
OPINION
"Sanctions Have Worked"
Sadegh Zibakalam, Professor of Political Science, University of Tehran (Aftab News, in Farsi) | Sept 9
We should not wonder why the Koreans have joined the group of countries sanctioning us. [...] South Korea exports $40 billion worth of car parts to the United States. Should Korea not give into American pressure it could lose the American market.
I believe the next countries to sanction Iran will be China and Turkey.
Turkey exported $15 billion to 25 countries of the EU per year. Should the EU give Turkey trouble and should Turkey be forced to choose between Iran and the EU it is only natural that the Turks will choose them, just like yesterday and today when Japan and South Korea chose to do so and Turkey or other countries will choose the same path tomorrow.
China has for some time decreased its investments in and oil purchases from Iran. There was a time when we were the second largest oil exporter to China in the Persian Gulf region, but today we come in eighth. Our oil exports to China have decreased to 200,000 barrels per day from 800,000 barrels per day.
The claim that the sanctions have not worked and has forced us to blossom is all entertainment and propaganda. Sanctions have worked and many parts we need can't enter the Iranian market.
There are those who say that sanctions have not affected our economy in a negative way, and the sanctions [...] have made us struggle harder. This viewpoint is not based upon reality.
The sanctions will not lead to stopping of enrichment, but it will increase the price of enrichment and advancing nuclear activities for us. One could have paid a lesser price for that.
The foreign policy of the ninth cabinet has systematically moved in the direction of conflict and tension between us and the West. Unfortunately we have acted in such a way that rather than reducing tensions with the West, we have increased them.
Why Iran Sanctions Must Stay
The sanctions adopted by the European Union and most developed countries may yet induce Iran to sincerely enter into negotiations on how to keep its nuclear programme from being used for weapons purposes. But whether or not such talks ensue and are productive, the strict implementation of sanctions can accomplish something else very important: limiting Iran's nuclear weapons potential by denying it the means to expand fissile material production.
That's because, despite Tehran's braggadocio, its nuclear activities are not self-sufficient. Its gas-centrifuge-based programme for uranium enrichment relies on the foreign supply of key raw materials, such as maraging steel and carbon fibre, and of critical components, including vacuum pumps, electrical subcomponents and certain kinds of measuring equipment.
This reliance is apparent from Iran's procurement efforts, as detailed by the Washington-based nuclear proliferation expert, David Albright. Iran's efforts to reverse-engineer sophisticated components have not been very successful. No wonder more than half of the centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment plant are not operating. Western-led export controls have also kept Iran from moving beyond the problematic first-generation centrifuge design obtained from the Pakistani black marketer Abdul Qadeer Khan, beginning over 20 years ago.
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