AFP: Iran’s hardline-controlled parliament voted through a bill Sunday that obliges the government to “guarantee” the Islamic republic’s production of its own nuclear fuel, the subject of international fears the country is seeking the bomb.
Hardline Iranian parliament pushes for enrichment
Iran delays threatened resumption of nuclear activities for EU talks
AFP: Iran is determined to resume its suspended nuclear activities but is postponing such a step for several days to
allow a new round of talks with the European Union, Tehran’s nuclear negotiator was quoted as saying Sunday by the IRNA news agency. “Iran’s decision to resume (uranium conversion) activities at the Isfahan plant is definitive,” said Cyrus Nasseri, Iran’s negotiator at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran’s parliament backs nuclear work U.S. opposes
Reuters: Iran’s parliament voted on Sunday to oblige the government to develop a nuclear fuel cycle, an action opposed by Washington which fears Iran could be seeking atomic weapons.
Sanction bill against Iran advances in Congress
AP: As Iran appears to move closer to resuming nuclear activities, support has been quietly building in Congress for new US sanctions, including penalties that could affect multinational companies and recipients of US foreign aid.
EU foreign policy chief confirms warning sent to Iran
AFP: European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana confirmed on Thursday that the EU had sent a letter to Iran warning it of consequences if it resumes its suspended nuclear activities. “We communicated very clearly to our Iranian interlocutors that that will have consequences if they decide to breach or to do something that for us is a breach of the agreements of November,” he told reporters in Brussels.
Britain Backs Penalties if Iran Restarts Nuclear Program
New York Times: As the European Union warned Iran against resuming its nuclear program, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that Britain would support American moves to invoke United Nations Security Council countermeasures “if Iran breaches its obligations and undertakings.”
Iranian Volunteers Training for Attacks
AP: More than 200 young men and women presented themselves Thursday as volunteers to carry out suicide bomb attacks against Americans in Iraq and against Israelis. The meeting was organized at Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery, south
of Tehran, by the Headquarters for Commemorating Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement, a shadowy group that has sought volunteers for attacks in Iraq and Israel since last year.
Iranians hold their noses as they pick new president
The Guardian: Iranians may have to hold their noses when they go to the polls in next month’s presidential election. This is only partly the result of a new craze for surgical nose jobs among Tehran’s fashionable youth. Like the British electorate, Iran’s 46 million voters are a bit sniffy about the candidates on offer. The favourite, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 70, conveys a distinct whiff of mothballs. A loyalist of Iran’s revolutionary leader, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, he has been president twice before, from 1989 to 1997.
France: European lawmakers and jurists demand justice for Iranian opposition
Iran Focus: Paris, May 12 European lawmakers and jurists called on French authorities to drop charges against officials of the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran and put an end to what they described as harassment of opponents of Irans clerical regime in France. The call came from hundreds of parliamentary, legal and political figures who attended a seminar in Paris on Tuesday entitled, “Two years after June 17, 2003, Justice for the National Council of Resistance of Iran”.
France: European lawmakers and jurists demand justice for Iranian opposition
Iran Focus: Paris, May 12 European lawmakers and jurists called on French authorities to drop charges against officials of the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran and put an end to what they described as harassment of opponents of Irans clerical regime in France. The call came from hundreds of parliamentary, legal and political figures who attended a seminar in Paris on Tuesday entitled, “Two years after June 17, 2003, Justice for the National Council of Resistance of Iran”.
