US seeks UN action against Iran

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BBC: The US wants the UN to impose sanctions on Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons programme, says Secretary of State Colin Powell.
He was speaking after a report by the UN nuclear agency said Iran planned to test a facility that could convert raw uranium into weapons-grade material.
Mr Powell said the US wanted the issue to be referred to the UN Security Council for action.

U.S. Plans to Seek Sanctions Against Iran

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Associated Press: Secretary of State Colin Powell says the United States plans to press for a range of possible U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran in response to what he describes as a concerted effort by that country to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran Uranium Conversion Plans Provoke U.S. Fury

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Reuters: VIENNA, Austria – The United States accused Iran Wednesday of threatening global peace with its plans to process 37 tons of raw “yellowcake” uranium, which one Western nuclear expert said would be enough to build five atomic bombs.

Iran planning production of highly enriched uranium

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Iran Focus: Paris, Sep. 1 – Iran has announced that it will convert tons of raw uranium, ‘yellow cake’ into Uranium hexafluoride, used to produce enriched uranium, according to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Uranium hexafluoride is spun in centrifuges to produce enriched uranium. Highly enriched uranium is used for making nuclear weapons.

China admits to nuclear cooperation with Iran

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Iran Focus: China today for the first time admitted to having cooperated with the Tehran regime on its nuclear program.
Zhang Huazhu, the Chinese deputy minister in charge of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, acknowledged that in the period between the late 1980s and early 1990s China cooperated with Iran in developing nuclear technology.

Evidence on Iran Called Unclear

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Washington Post: U.N. inspectors have not uncovered definitive evidence that Iran has a clandestine nuclear weapons program, but they have been unable to clear up a series of suspicions and unanswered questions surrounding Tehran’s activities, according to U.S. and Western diplomats who have been briefed on an upcoming International Atomic Energy Agency report.

Iranian opposition leader condemns abduction of French journalists

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Iran Focus: The leader of an umbrella coalition of Iranian opposition groups strongly condemned the abduction of two French journalists in Iraq and called for their immediate release.
In a statement issued in Paris, Maryam Rajavi, the charismatic leader of the coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran, condemned “any form of hostage-taking, maltreatment and
harassment of innocent civilians under any pretext.”

Iran Says Has Arrested Several Nuclear Spies

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Reuters: Iran has arrested dozens of spies, including several who passed secrets about its nuclear program to its enemies, Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said on Tuesday.
The United States accuses Iran of using its atomic program as a smokescreen for building nuclear weapons, but Tehran insists the program is solely dedicated to meeting booming domestic demand for electricity.

Iran court sentences 16-year-old boy to death

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Iran Focus: Karaj, Aug 31 – A court here has sentenced a 16-year-old boy to death on charges of drug trafficking.
Feiz Mohammad, who is from neighboring Afghanistan, was tried and sentenced to death by a judge in Branch 122 of the Special Juvenile Court of Karaj, 40 kilometers west of the capital, Tehran.
Mohammad was accused of stealing seven kilograms of pure morphine from his employer, a ranch owner, and giving it to a group of Afghan immigrants distributing drugs. He faced no other charges.

Violence, poverty and abuse led girl, 16, to gallows

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Iran Focus: Neka (northern Iran), Aug 31 – The orphaned 16-year-old girl hanged in front of residents in this town close to the Caspian Sea on August 15 suffered years of brutal violence, exploitation and torture in the hands of relatives, local officials and plain strangers, and in a country where girls are the most vulnerable members of society, she had no one to go to for help.
The tragic picture emerges from dozens of interviews conducted by an Iran Focus correspondent with Atefeh Rajabi’s classmates, friends, relatives and neighbors in this humid, overcrowded industrial town that sits on a busy highway linking Tehran with the north of the country.