Iran refuses to go beyond nuclear treaty obligations

0
AFP: Iran refuses to go beyond its treaty obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to prove the peaceful aims of its nuclear energy programme, a senior official said Thursday. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei “has no right to demand anything that goes beyond international rules”, said Hossein Mussavian, spokesman for Iran’s nuclear negotiating team.

Iran pouring foundation for heavy-water nuclear reactor – diplomats

0
AFP: Iran is pouring the concrete foundation for a heavy-water nuclear reactor which can make weapons-grade plutonium and which the UN atomic agency had asked it not to build, diplomats said Thursday. The work at a 40-megawatt reactor at Arak, southwest of Tehran, began in September, just after the UN atomic agency had asked Iran to refrain from building the reactor as a “confidence-building measure” that it does not …

U.S. Official Says Iran, Syria ‘Against All of Us’

0
Reuters: The United States kept up the pressure on Iran and Syria on Wednesday as a senior White House security official urged the international community to demand that Tehran and Damascus stop supporting terrorism.
“State sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Syria are with
the terrorists and therefore against all of us,” said Frances Townsend, homeland security adviser to President Bush.

Carrots for Tehran?

Washington Times – Editorial: Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency, under fire from Washington for failing to vigorously challenge Iran’s nuclear-weapons program, are taking a tougher line toward Tehran. As President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prepare to discuss joining the European Union’s efforts to use some incentives to persuade Iran to change its behavior …

Bush, Advisers Huddle Over Iran

0
Los Angeles Times: President Bush and his closest foreign policy advisers convene Thursday to grapple with an important shift in U.S. policy toward Iran: how best to support a European diplomatic initiative to prevent the Middle East nation from becoming a nuclear weapons state. The discussions follow a working lunch Wednesday at the White House that included Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during which the Europeans’ strategy to offer economic incentives was discussed, according to administration officials.

Girls in Iran being sold in Pakistan on daily basis

0
Iran Focus: Tehran, Mar. 02 – At least 54 Iranian girls and young women, between the ages of 16 and 25, are sold on the streets of Karachi in Pakistan on a daily basis, according to report outlining the latest statistics. The report also revealed that there are at present at least 300,000 runaway girls in Iran, adding that the estimated number of women under the absolute poverty line was more than eight million.

Girls in Iran being sold in Pakistan on daily basis

Iran Focus: Tehran, Mar. 02 – At least 54 Iranian girls and young women, between the ages of 16 and 25, are sold on the streets of Karachi in Pakistan on a daily basis, according to report outlining the latest statistics. The report also revealed that there are at present at least 300,000 runaway girls in Iran, adding that the estimated number of women under the absolute poverty line was more than eight million.

US says “alarming number of unresolved questions” in Iran nuclear program

0
AFP: There are “an alarming number of unresolved questions about Iran’s nuclear program,” which the United States claims hides atomic weapons development, US ambassador Jackie Sanders told the UN atomic agency Wednesday. Sanders said Iran had continued to deny UN inspectors “the transparency and cooperation they need to perform their duties” and that Tehran was “cynically” manipulating “the nuclear nonproliferation regime in the pursuit of nuclear weapons.”

U.S. Criticizes UN Nuclear Watchdog Over Iran Program

0
Bloomberg: The U.S criticized the United Nations nuclear watchdog today over its ability to assure the world that Iran is using atomic technology for peaceful means. “The IAEA is still not able to provide assurances that Iran is not pursuing clandestine activities at undeclared locations as it has been doing for years,” U.S. Ambassador Jackie Sanders said today in a statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s …

Iranian commander says 190,000 US troops a target if Iran attacked

0
AFP: The head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards has warned that 190,000 US troops stationed close to the Islamic republic could be targetted if Iran were attacked, a report said Wednesday.
“More than 190,000 members of American forces are scattered in Afghanistan and Iraq. If the US carries out its threats against Iran, they nust know that all these forces will be within our reach,” Yahya Rahim Safavi told the ultra-hardline Ya Lessarat newspaper.