Iran scientist's 'killer trained in Israel': report

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_scientists_killer_trained_in_Israel_report_999.html Tehran (AFP) Jan 10, 2011 The alleged killer of a top nuclear scientist who was murdered last year said he was trained in Israel by the Mossad spy agency, state-television reported on its website on Monday. Majid Jamali Fash, identified in the report as "a member of Mossad terrorist network and the main element" behind last year's assassination of nuclear scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi, said he was trained by Israeli military officers at a base near Tel Aviv.
"On a trip to Tel Aviv, I got acquainted with several senior Israeli officers in a base on a highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. There, I learned different things such as tailing, stalking and planting bombs under vehicles," Fash was quoted as saying on the website.
He did not say when he had made the trip to Israel.
Fash said he was briefed about Ali Mohammadi and "practised bombing in a base near Tel Aviv several times."
"I was given a very precise model of Dr Ali Mohammadi's house and its whereabouts to be very well acquainted with the real situation of his assassination."
The report said that the details of his interview will be released on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, Iran said it had arrested "spies and terrorists" linked with Mossad who were behind Ali Mohammadi's killing.
The intelligence ministry said in a statement carried by state television that Iran's security forces had "infiltrated" Israeli intelligence and obtained "important and sensitive information on Mossad spies and operations."
"The main elements behind this terrorist crime (assassination) were arrested and a network of spies and terrorists linked to the Zionist regime was dismantled," it said.
In January 2010 Ali Mohammadi, a particle physics professor at prestigious Tehran University, was killed in a bomb attack outside his home which Iran blamed on "mercenaries" in the pay of Israel and the United States.
"Mossad... has had some European and non-European bases as well as bases in some neighbouring countries and used them to direct the unmanly assassination of Ali Mohammadi," the ministry said Monday.
It added that further information about "Mossad's infiltration as well as the dismantling of its espionage networks and the plotting of our prominent scientist's assassination will be gradually revealed in due time."
Iran has also blamed the intelligence services of Israel, the United States and Britain over bomb attacks against two top nuclear scientists on November 26.
Majid Shahriari, a senior scientist involved in Iran's nuclear activities, was killed by a bomb placed against his car, while Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, another top nuclear expert, was wounded in a similar attack.
Iran is under four sets of UN sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, the sensitive process which can be used to make nuclear fuel or, in highly extended form, the fissile core of an atom bomb.
Western governments suspect Iran's nuclear programme masks a drive for an atomic weapons capability, an ambition Tehran has steadfastly denied.
Israel and its ally the United States have not ruled out a military strike against Iran to stop its nuclear programme.

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The Dangers of a Nuclear Iran Eric S. Edelman, Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr, and Evan Braden Montgomery

The Dangers of a Nuclear Iran

Eric S. Edelman, Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr, and Evan Braden Montgomery

Iran's acquisition of a nuclear bomb would upend the Middle East. It is unclear how a nuclear-armed Iran would weigh the costs, benefits, and risks of brinkmanship, meaning that it could be difficult to deter Tehran from attacking the United States' interests or partners in the region. Read

Istanbul talks can resolve nuclear row: Iran

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Istanbul_talks_can_resolve_nuclear_row_Iran_999.html Damascus (AFP) Dec 27, 2010 A senior Iranian official said in Damascus on Monday that next month's talks in Istanbul between world powers and Tehran could resolve their dispute over Iran's nuclear programme. "We think (the negotiations), in line with the agenda decided in Geneva, could clear the way to resolving problems," said Ali Baqiri, the deputy of Said Jalili, Iran's nuclear negotiator.
"Continuing the negotiations in Istanbul could bring gains to both the parties concerned," Baqiri told a news conference after talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
But he criticised the West's two-pronged policy of negotiations at the same time as sanctions, warning it would "lead nowhere."
Despite four sets of UN sanctions slapped on Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme, Iran was "carrying out the most extensive economic programme in its history, showing its level of political, economic and social stability."
Negotiations "based on dialogue and cooperation could bring the other parties out of their impasse," said Baqiri.
Assad, quoted by the state news agency SANA, called in his talks with Baqiri for "a diplomatic compromise guaranteeing Iran's right to possess peaceful nuclear energy."
Last week on a visit to Istanbul for a regional summit, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged the world powers to choose cooperation over confrontation at the nuclear talks in late January.
"We think this meeting will be very important," he said.
The negotiations would be the second round between Iran and six world powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia, United States and Germany -- after talks resumed in Geneva earlier this month following a 14-month hiatus.
"We have suggested that in the forthcoming Istanbul meeting confrontation be replaced with cooperation and... this will be in the interest of all sides," he said through an interpreter.
"In cooperation we will have a win-win situation. There is no failure or defeat for any party.
The West suspects that Tehran is developing am atomic bomb under the guise of a nuclear energy programme. Iran denies the charges and insists its activities have a purely peaceful purpose.

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Iran Seeks Foreign Nuclear Scientists, Former Diplomat Asserts

A former Iranian envoy to Norway said his country has pursued scientists from North Korea and other nations to help support a nuclear-weapon program, the London Telegraph reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 22).
Defector Mohamed Reza Heydari recounted facilitating the entry of dozens of North Koreans into Iran as a Foreign Ministry operative based at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran.
"Our mission was to coordinate with a team from the Ministry of Intelligence in checking the visas of the foreign diplomatic and trade delegates who visited Iran, with special attention to VIPs," Heydari said.
"We had the instructions to forgo any visa and passport inspections for Palestinians belonging to Hamas and North Korean military and engineering staff who visit Iran on regular basis.
"The North Koreans were all technicians and military experts involved in two aspects of Iran's nuclear program. One to enable Iran to achieve nuclear bomb capability, and the other to help increase the range of Iran's ballistic missiles," Heydari said.
"In all our embassies abroad, especially in the African countries, the staff of [Iran's] Foreign Ministry were always looking for local scientists and technicians who were experts in nuclear technology and offered them lucrative contracts to lure them into Iran.
"The facade of the nuclear program is that it is for peaceful purposes, but behind it they have a completely different agenda," he said. The United States and other world powers have sought for years to negotiate curbs on Iran's uranium enrichment program, which can generate civilian nuclear fuel as well as weapons material.
Signs have emerged that Iran is working on centrifuges based on a North Korean design at facilities not revealed to the International Atomic Energy Agency, one Western official told the Telegraph (see GSN, Sept. 25, 2009). The North Korean centrifuges were said to be more technically advanced and greater in size than Iran's standard machines.
"Iran finances North Korea's missile program in exchange for access to technologies; North Korea's Nodong missile series is the basis for Iran's flagship Shahab missile project," former U.S. Defense Department adviser Christina Lin said.
It is necessary to "reassess" the status of Iran's nuclear program while taking North Korea's alleged assistance into account, Washington Institute for Near East Policy analyst Simon Henderson added (Damien McElroy, London Telegraph, Dec. 22).
Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday called on Tehran to bolster its nuclear transparency, Bloomberg reported.
“Iran must allow IAEA officials on its territory and make it possible to bring the situation under control,” Medvedev said. “This is why there are issues with Iran and sanctions against it.”
Iran has stonewalled certain efforts by the agency to clarify its nuclear intentions. For example, Tehran has refused to elaborate on its contention that Western powers falsified documents, provided to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, that suggest the Middle Eastern state studied nuclear-weapon design in the past (Arkhipov/Meyer, Bloomberg, Dec. 22).

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Why are Arabs Racing to Go Nuclear? By Andres Cala

http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm/6083/Why-are-Arabs-Racing-to-Go-Nuclear

A top US energy official said this week in Riyadh that Saudi Arabia expects to generate nuclear power within 10 years. Egypt will invite tenders for its first nuclear plant later this month. And Kuwait this week not only launched a feasibility study aimed at having nuclear power as early as 2020, it bought a 4.8 percent stake in French Areva, the world’s top reactor supplier.
That follows Jordan’s ongoing march to enrich uranium and to build a power plant and the United Arab Emirates’ years-old program aimed at completing its first nuclear power plant by 2017. Syria is believed to have been working on setting up its own nuclear plant before it was destroyed by Israelis.
Each country is in a different stage and not all will be successful, but few doubt that Arab countries will inevitably join the nuclear power frenzy sooner or later. It’s a question of economics, all countries say pointing to their insufficient power capacity and lack of options. But a driving force is unquestionably Iran’s nuclear program.
“There’s no doubt that there is rising interest in nuclear power in the Middle East,” said Charles K. Ebinger, senior fellow and director of the Energy Security Initiative in the Brookings Institute. “I think the reality is that all these countries will pursue this for energy security reasons. There’s an interest to address power demand and water desalination efforts.”
“But in light of Iranian situation we would be fooling ourselves if we deny there’s not a prospect of another motivation, which is to train their nationals to build weapons of their own if they feel threatened,” Ebinger said.
Most Arab countries have signed cooperation agreements with nuclear powers, including the US, France, Russia, China, South Korea, and Japan. Qatar is also mulling developing a nuclear program, as is Bahrain, and there is ongoing talk to share a regional program in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the six-country alliance in the Persian Gulf.
The need to rapidly boost power capacity is real and there are no alternative sources, other than oil, which is significantly more valuable, sold in international markets, as long as crude prices remain about $80 a barrel, Kuwait estimated. Only Qatar has enough indigenous gas resources.
The UAE and Oman already import gas supplies. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are burning millions of barrels of oil a day to meet demand, and Kuwait already suffers from blackouts. Egypt, which generates three quarters of its power with gas, will deplete its fields in 20 years. Jordan already imports 95 percent of its gas.
The question is whether Arab countries will follow the UAE in signing the so-called 1-2-3 agreements with Washington to access US nuclear technology on the condition that they forego enrichment and reprocessing, the two technologies that could be diverted for military purposes, as many believe Iran is doing.
Under International Atomic Energy Agency treaties, countries have the right to develop uranium enrichment, as long as they sign on to non-proliferation treaties. Egypt, for example, has said it intends to pursue enrichment. Jordan, with huge uranium deposits, said it will do the same in an effort to eventually become a regional supplier.
The more concerning case is Saudi Arabia, the regional powerhouse that rivals Iran. Riyadh recently agreed to buy up to $60 billion worth of American advanced weaponry to counter its enemy’s might. The Wikileaks documents exposed Arab concern over Iran’s nuclear program and support for a military campaign to derail Tehran, contradicting official Arab policy.
Earlier this week U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce Francisco Sanchez said Saudis “seem to be very committed to having civil nuclear as part of what generates energy for them and to do it relatively quickly, like within the next 10 years.” Sanchez said he saw “wonderful opportunities” for American companies, which implies Riyadh would forego enrichment.
But while Saudi Arabia has said they won’t pursue enrichment, they “included enrichment in terms of reference” of a contract signed with the French company helping the country map its nuclear future, said Ebinger.
For the time being, it appears only the UAE and Egypt nuclear power programs are set in stone. Analysts say there is a lot of politics directed at Iran in the Arab march toward nuclear power. “I think there’s that message implied that they will not fall behind. They are saying they will not fall behind technologically and they will keep their weapons issue open,” Ebinger said.

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• Factbox: Nuclear power plans in the Gulf and beyond (reuters.com)

Global Insights: One Step Forward, One Back for Nuclear Nonproliferation By: Richard Weitz | Column

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/7244/global-insights-one-step-forward-one-back-for-nuclear-nonproliferation

Two developments this week illustrated the "one step forward, one step back" nature of global nuclear nonproliferation efforts. On the one hand, Iran announced further progress in its domestic nuclear program, increasing Tehran's potential ability to make nuclear weapons. On the other, the IAEA voted to establish the first completely multinational nuclear fuel bank.

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Iran's key nuclear sites

ran's key nuclear sites

Arak - Heavy water plant

Iran is building a reactor at Arak, where it already has a heavy-water production plant

The existence of a heavy water facility near the town of Arak first emerged with the publication of satellite images by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security in December 2002.
Heavy water is used to moderate the nuclear fission chain reaction either in a certain type of reactor - albeit not the type that Iran is currently building - or produce plutonium for use in a nuclear bomb.
In August 2010, the IAEA visited the IR-40 heavy water reactor site at Arak. It said the facility was still being built but some major equipment had been installed. Iran told the IAEA the operation of the reactor was planned to start in 2013.
The IAEA said that based on satellite imagery, the heavy water production plant appeared to be in operation, but had not had access to it to confirm such reports.

Bushehr - Nuclear power station

The reactor building at Bushehr was built with Russian help

Iran's nuclear programme began in 1974 with plans to build a nuclear power station at Bushehr with German assistance.
The project was abandoned because of the Islamic revolution five years later, but revived in the 1990s when Tehran signed an agreement with Russia to resume work at the site.
Moscow delayed completion on the project while the UN Security Council debated and then passed resolutions aimed at stopping uranium enrichment in Iran.
In December 2007, Moscow started delivering the canisters of enriched uranium the plant needs.
Earlier in the same month, a US intelligence report said Iran was not currently running a military nuclear programme.
There are two pressurised water reactors at the site.
Satellite images from March 2010 show the first completed reactor building on a site that occupies 2.5 square kilometres (one square mile), about 17 km (11 miles) south of the city of Bushehr. Recent developments include a narrow channel to carry cooling water for the reactor from the Gulf.

Gachin - Uranium mine

Yellowcake is used in the preparation of fuel for nuclear reactors

In December 2010, Iran said it had delivered its first domestically produced uranium ore concentrate, or yellowcake, to a plant that can make it ready for enrichment.
Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said the first batch of yellowcake had been sent from Gachin mine sent to the Isfahan conversion facility.
Mining operations started at the mine in 2004.
Iran was believed to be running low on its stock of yellowcake, originally imported from South Africa in the 1970s.

Isfahan- Uranium conversion plant

Men making hexafluoride gas at the Isfahan uranium conversion facility

Iran is building a plant at a nuclear research facility to convert yellowcake into three forms:

• Hexafluoride gas - used in gas centrifuges
• Uranium oxide - used to fuel reactors, albeit not the type Iran is constructing
• Metal - often used in the cores of nuclear bombs. The IAEA is concerned about the metal's use, as Iran's reactors do not require it as fuel.

Natanz - Uranium enrichment plant

Iran is planning new facilities at Natanz

Iran resumed uranium enrichment work at Natanz in July 2004, after a halt during negotiations with leading European powers over its programme.
It announced in September 2007 that it had installed 3,000 centrifuges, the machines that do the enrichment. In 2010, Iran told the IAEA Natanz would be the venue for new enrichment facilities - construction of which would start around March 2011.
This is the facility at the heart of Iran's dispute with the United Nations Security Council.
The Council is concerned because the technology used for producing fuel for nuclear power can be used to enrich the uranium to a much higher level to produce a nuclear explosion.

Qom - Uranium enrichment plant

IAEA says work started on Qom site earlier than Iran suggests

Iran revealed the existence of the Fordo enrichment facility, which is being built about 30km (20 miles) north of Qom, in September 2009.
The facility is believed to be on a mountain on a former Iranian Revolutionary Guards missile site to the north-east of Qom on the Qom-Aliabad highway, Western diplomatic sources say.
Iran said it began the project in 2007 - but the IAEA believes design work started there in 2006.
The IAEA said it expected the Qom site to start enriching uranium in 2011. It is believed to have facility for 3,000 centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium.
Iran wrote to the International Atomic Energy Agency saying it intended to build a plant to enrich uranium to 5% - not enough for a weapon.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11927720

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US considers military options against Iran

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_considers_military_options_against_Iran_999.html Washington (AFP) Nov 28, 2010 Suspicious of Iran's nuclear capacity, the United States is weighing military options in the face of Tehran's announcement it had a nuclear power plant up and running, the top US military officer said Sunday. "We've actually been thinking about military options for a significant period of time," Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff said in an interview with CNN.
Mullen said he doesn't believe that Iran's nuclear plant is for civilian use "for a second."
"In fact, the information and intelligence that I've seen speak very specifically to the contrary. Iran is still very much on a path to be able to develop nuclear weapons, including weaponizing them, putting them on a missile and being able to use them," he said.
Mullen said the United States was focused on dialogue and engagement about Iran's nuclear ambitions, but "in a realistic way."
"They've got a history of gamesmanship that certainly doesn't include closing on significant steps to indicate to the international community that they're not doing this," he said.
On Saturday, Iran said its first atomic power plant built by Russia in Bushehr had begun operations, ahead of a new round of talks with Western powers over the country's controversial nuclear drive.
"Without any propaganda and fuss we sealed the cover of the reactor and all the fuel rods are in the core of the reactor," atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying by Fars news agency, without specifying when.
But Salehi said the authorities in the Islamic republic "hope that electricity produced at the Bushehr plant will be connected to the national grid in a month or two."
Iran says it needs the plant, which had been under construction since the 1970s in the southern port city of Bushehr before it was completed by Russia, to meet growing demand for electricity.
But Western governments suspect Iran's nuclear program masks a drive for an atomic weapons capability, an ambition Tehran has steadfastly denied.

Iran says first nuclear plant begins operating

http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Iran_says_first_nuclear_plant_begins_operating_999.html Tehran (AFP) Nov 27, 2010 Iran said Saturday its first atomic power plant built by Russia in Bushehr has begun operations, ahead of a new round of talks with Western powers over the country's controversial nuclear drive. "Without any propaganda and fuss we sealed the cover of the reactor and all the fuel rods are in the core of the reactor," atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying by Fars news agency, without specifying when.
But Salehi said the authorities in the Islamic republic "hope that electricity produced at the Bushehr plant will be connected to the national grid in a month or two."
Iran says it needs the plant, which had been under construction since the 1970s in the southern port city of Bushehr before it was completed by Russia, to meet growing demand for electricity.
But Western governments suspect Iran's nuclear programme masks a drive for an atomic weapons capability, an ambition Tehran has steadfastly denied.
Salehi's announcement come ahead of the likely resumption of stalled negotiations between world powers and Iran on Tehran's controversial nuclear programme in Geneva on December 5.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said this week she had received "informal confirmations" from Iran about the date and location for the talks, "but I want a formal confirmation."
Iran and six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany -- have agreed to return to the negotiating table for the first time since October 2009, but two sides diverge on what issues should be on the table.
The world powers want the talks to focus on Iran's uranium enrichment programme but Tehran wants a wider discussion that includes regional security issues.
Iran is under four sets of UN sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, the sensitive process which can be used to make nuclear fuel or, in highly extended form, the fissile core of an atom bomb.
Last month Iran said it has begun loading fuel -- provided by Moscow which also recovers the spent fuel-- into the reactor core of Bushehr plant, a move which brings the facility closer to generating electricity after decades of delay.
Iran had begun transferring the fuel to the facility on August 21, a process which was described as the "physical launch" of the power plant.
On October 4, Salehi said the power plant would be ready to generate electricity by January -- two months later than previously announced.
The process of loading the fuel has suffered some hiccups, which Salehi has previously blamed on "severe hot weather" in Bushehr.
Early October, Salehi said a small leak in a pool beside the Bushehr reactor has delayed the start-up of the nuclear plant and four days ago, he also repeated previous denials by Iranian officials that an extraordinary computer worm, Stuxnet, had in any way harmed Iran's nuclea

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Iran: Bushehr Nuclear Reactor Fully Loaded -- Voice of America

Iran: Bushehr Nuclear Reactor Fully Loaded -- Voice of America

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Iran-Bushehr-Nuclear-Reactor-Fully-Loaded-110905769.html
Iran's nuclear chief says the country's first nuclear reactor is fully loaded and could be operational within months.

Ali Akbar Salehi told state-run television Saturday workers had finished loading fuel rods into the core of the Bushehr nuclear plant, and that it could start generating electricity by February.

Salehi said officials are just waiting for the water in the reactor to heat to the right temperature before moving ahead.

Read more ....

More News On Iran's Nuclear Program

Iran Says Its First Nuclear Power Reactor Will Start Operating by January -- Bloomberg
Iranian nuclear plant nears national electricity production -- CNN
Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant to join national power grid in two months -- Xinhuanet
Iran says first nuclear plant begins operating -- AFP
Reactor started at Bushehr nuclear power plant -- ITAR-TASS
Iranian Nuclear Plant is Powering Up -- Arutz Sheva
Iran Nuclear Power Plant Completes Fueling -- CRIEnglish

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'Iran nuclear worm targeted Natanz, Bushehr nuclear sites'

German computer security expert releases new study claiming the Stuxnet worm, which some claim slowed down activity in the Iranian sites, was designed to act as a 'digital warhead.'

By Yossi Melman

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Computer Worm Targeted Centrifuges

Computer Worm Targeted Centrifuges

Experts examining a computer worm suspected of targeting Iran's nuclear program have determined that it was calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control (NYT). The worm was found primarily in Iran but also on computers in India, Indonesia and other countries.

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Exclusive Report: Evidence of Iran Nuclear Weapons Program May Be Fraudulent

Exclusive Report: Evidence of Iran Nuclear Weapons Program May Be Fraudulent
Gareth Porter, Truthout: "The Obama administration says there can be no diplomatic negotiations with Iran unless Iran satisfies the IAEA fully in regard to the allegations derived from the documents that it had covert nuclear weapons program. That position is based on the premise that the intelligence documents that Iran has been asked to explain are genuine. The evidence now available, however, indicates that they are fabrications."
Read the Articlehttp://www.truth-out.org/the-iaea-and-fraudulent-iranian-nuclear-documents65241

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Iran and the West: Next steps

Dealing with Iran’s nuclear program is one of the most important foreign policy issues of the day. Years of stalled talks, diplomatic dead-ends, and sanctions have made it difficult to see exactly where progress has been made with Iran and what efforts are worth pursuing. In “The Iranian quagmire: How to move forward” (November/December 2010 Bulletin), leading foreign policy experts weigh in from around the world on how to proceed with Iran -- from clear diplomacy to fuel swaps to the darkest scenario of military strikes. Whatever their proposed solutions, the writers express one common theme: We ignore Iran at our own peril. From the US, Thomas R. Pickering, Lawrence J. Korb, and Bennett Ramberg; from Turkey, Mustafa Kibaroglu; from Iran, Kayhan Barzegar; and from Israel, Emily B. Landau.

Below, more experts explore the options, their strengths and weaknesses, and propose various structures and points to consider as the West and Iran are set to re-enter talks in November.

http://thebulletin.org/web-edition/roundtables/iran-and-the-west-next-steps?utm_source=MailingList&utm_medium=email&utm_content=micheletkearney%40gmail.com&utm_campaign=Nuclear+news+Issue+%234-+FAS+Podcast+7

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Military exercises carried out near nuclear sites - Iran

Iran Air Force General Ahmad Miqan

Military Exercises Carried Out Near Nuclear Sites - Iran -- Reuters

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has carried out military exercises near its nuclear facilities, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander was quoted as saying on Sunday.

The West suspects Iran of seeking nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian research programme and is worried about the threat to international security. Tehran says its long concealed uranium enrichment drive is aimed only at generating electricity.

Read more ....

More News On Iran Conducting Military Exercises At Its Nuclear Sites

Iran 'holds defence drills' at nuclear plants -- AFP
Iran Carries Out Military Exercises Near Nuclear Sites -- Radio Free Europe
Iran launches military drill on Tuesday -- ISNA
Report: Iran to hold five-day, air defence war games, to unveil locally made radar system -- Canadian Presshttp://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTER45113520101114
Iran plans to upgrade anti-aircraft systems -- Tehran Times (Iran)
Iran to produce 3000-km-range radar -- Press TV (Iran)
Senior Commander: Israel Too Weak to Threaten Iran -- FARS News Agency (Iran)

IAEA and ICTP Opens Nuclear Energy Management School

from IAEA Top News RSS Feed

Nuclear power is being considered as a clean energy option by ever more countries. Currently, the IAEA is involved in projects dealing with the introduction of nuclear power in 58 of the Agency’s 151 Member States. The Agency projects that within the next twenty years, as many as 25 countries will be operating their first nuclear power plants.

Major powers against solving nuclear issue: Ahmadinejad

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Major_powers_against_solving_nuclear_issue_Ahmadinejad_999.html

Tehran (AFP) Nov 11, 2010 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said major powers are against solving the controversy surrounding Iran's nuclear programme, state television reported on its website on Thursday. "In the next few days, the dialogue will commence but our experience shows that they are not seeking to solve the issue," Ahmadinejad said, referring to upcoming talks with six countries over Tehran's nuclear drive.
"From our side the issue has already been solved and we will continue our peaceful nuclear activities. The Western countries are arrogant and do not take others into account."
The talks are aimed at allaying Western concerns that Iran's nuclear programme is masking a weapons drive under the guise of a civilian programme, something Tehran denies.
Iran has proposed the talks be held in Istanbul on November 23 or December 5. Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany agree on Istanbul, but have proposed a date of November 15.
The final date is yet to be fixed.
Ahmadinejad questioned again the mandate of the six powers.
"What is the basis of this group and based on which law it was formed," he asked.
"If it consists of the five UN Security Council members, then what is Germany doing here? We welcome Germany's presence, but then we say that for the reason Germany is in the talks, others should also be in."
Iran has previously said that allies Brazil and Turkey be involved in these talks.
Ahmadinejad also accused the UN atomic watchdog of "giving information" to Iran's arch-foe, the United States.
"Accepting the additional protocol means that all our nuclear activities must be under the supervision of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), which gives information to America," he said.
In February 2006, Iran ceased to apply the additional protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which calls for tougher inspections of nuclear activities of member countries.
On Monday, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told the UN General Assembly "Iran has not provided the necessary cooperation to permit the agency to confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities."
Iran must carry out "full implementation" of IAEA and UN Security Council resolutions, he said.
Iran's deputy ambassador to the UN, Eshagh al-Habib, hit back, saying Amano's claim was "incorrect and misleading."
He called the UN Security Council sanction resolutions "illegal."
Iran is under four sets of UN sanctions for refusing to abandon its uranium enrichment programme, the most controversial part of its nuclear activities.

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Iran says nuclear swap must be based on Brazil-Turkey deal

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=247854211242866212 Tehran (AFP) Nov 3, 2010 Iran said on Wednesday that any nuclear fuel swap with the major powers must be based on an agreement it signed with Brazil and Turkey, dismissing reports a revised proposal was on the table. "If the Vienna group is ready for negotiation over the fuel swap... it would be based only on the framework defined in the Tehran Declaration," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told state news agency IRNA.
Mottaki was reacting to reports that the six major powers which have been seeking to allay international concerns over Iran's nuclear programme have been drawing up a new fuel swap deal to replace one proposed last year.
Under the deal drafted in October last year by the UN nuclear watchdog, Iran would have received fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran from France and Russia in return for shipping out most of its stockpiles of low enriched uranium.
After a prolonged stalemate over the proposal, Brazil and Turkey brokered a modified agreement in May but the United States rejected it, arguing it failed to take into account additional uranium enriched in the meantime and led the Security Council in imposing a fourth package of UN sanctions.
Last month, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said any new fuel swap deal would be more onerous than the one on the table last year as Iran needed to be accountable for its persistent defiance of Security Council ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment.
"In order to live up to the responsibilities that they have made and to lift any sanctions, they would have great responsibilities," Gibbs said on October 28.
"The responsibilities get greater each and every day even as the sanctions impact their economy more and more."
Gibbs spoke after the New York Times reported that Washington and its European allies were preparing a new, more onerous offer for Iran than the one proposed last year.
The new offer would require Iran to send more than 4,400 pounds (1,995 kilogrammes) of low enriched uranium out of the country, an increase of more than two-thirds from the amount required under the deal proposed last year.
Iran and the major powers are set to hold fresh nuclear talks later this month after a year-long hiatus. The world powers want the talks to focus on Iran's overall nuclear programme.

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• Iranian diplomat rejects nuclear fuel-swap proposal (telegraph.co.uk)
• Iran: West's 'Arrogance' Could Doom Nuke Talks (foxnews.com)
• Iran says West's 'arrogance' could doom nuke talks (sfgate.com)
• Iran envoy dismisses tougher terms for atom fuel swap (reuters.com)
• Shadow-boxing (bbc.co.uk)
• Iran Says It Is Ready to Restart Nuclear Talks (abcnews.go.com)
• New Iran nuclear fuel swap offer (bbc.co.uk)
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Iran and the West: Next steps

Updated: 2 November 2010 Dealing with Iran’s nuclear program is one of the most important foreign policy issues of the day. Years of stalled talks, diplomatic dead-ends, and sanctions have made it difficult to see exactly where progress has been made with Iran and what efforts are worth pursuing. In “The Iranian quagmire: How to move forward” (November/December 2010 Bulletin), leading foreign policy experts weigh in from around the world on how to proceed with Iran -- from clear diplomacy to fuel swaps to the darkest scenario of military strikes. Whatever their proposed solutions, the writers express one common theme: We ignore Iran at our own peril. From the US, Thomas R. Pickering, Lawrence J. Korb, and Bennett Ramberg; from Turkey, Mustafa Kibaroglu; from Iran, Kayhan Barzegar; and from Israel, Emily B. Landau.

Iran Will Not Discuss Its Nuclear Program In The Next Round Of Talks

A worker works in a part of the electricity generating plant of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran, Oct. 26, 2010. Iran has begun loading fuel into the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the first in Iran, on Tuesday. (Xinhua/ Mehr News Agency/Majid Asgaripour)

Iran Rejects Immediate Discussion of Atomic Dispute -- Global Security Newswire

Iran would not address its atomic activities in potential discussions this month with the five permanent U.N. Security Council member nations and Germany, Reuters quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's media adviser said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 29).

Iran last week appeared to agree on joining new nuclear negotiations this month with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who would represent Germany and the five Security Council members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Washington and other governments have pressed Iran for years to negotiate a halt to its uranium enrichment program, which can produce nuclear power plant fuel as well as nuclear-weapon material. Tehran has steadfastly refused to consider ending its enrichment work while defending its atomic ambitions as strictly nonmilitary in nature.

Read more ....http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20101101_6051.php

More News On Iran's Nuclear Program

Iranian Official Says Tehran Has Own Agenda for Nuclear Talks -- Voice of America
Iran not to talk about nuclear issue in upcoming meeting with G5+1: official -- Xinhuanet
'Iran will not discuss N-issue with P5+1' -- Press TV
Iran Agrees to Resume Negotiations on Nuclear Program After Yearlong Break -- Bloomberg
Iran agrees to new nuclear talks -- L.A. Times
Iran nuclear envoy 'agreeable' to talks -- CNN
Iran envoy: Nuclear weapons would be a strategic mistake -- Haaretz
Atom bomb would be strategic mistake: Iran envoy -- Reuters
IAEA Ex-Inspector Says Iran Is Bungling Its Nuke Program -- The Nation
Iran acknowledges sanctions driving up costs -- Washington Post
Q+A-How do the new sanctions on Iran affect oil? -- Reuters

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