AFP: The European Union lodged a formal protest with Iranian authorities Wednesday over the arrest and harassment of journalists, staff of non-governmental organisations and members of religious minorities. “The European Union has protested in general the arrest and harassment of journalists, Internet technicians and NGO activists … for expressing their views, and has urged the immediate release of those who are still detained, often in unknown locations,” said a statement from the embassy of the Netherlands.
EU protests to Iran over media, dissident arrests
Iran stalls on nuclear agreement
The Times: Iran has raised last-minute objections to the wording of an agreement to limit its controversial nuclear programme, raising fears of a confrontation tomorrow at a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
CIA says Iran, Qaeda pursued nuclear weapons
Reuters: Iran “vigorously” pursued programs to produce nuclear, chemical and biological weapons during the latter part of 2003 and was working to improve delivery systems, a CIA report said on Tuesday.
Iran Has ‘Sanitized’ Nuke Enrichment Site Exiles
Reuters: An Iranian exile group said on Wednesday Iran had taken steps to “sanitize” a military plant where it said Tehran had been making bomb-grade uranium for use in nuclear weapons. Iran denies it is trying to make an atomic bomb, saying its nuclear ambitions are purely peaceful to generate electricity.
C.I.A. Says Pakistani Network Aided Iran’s Nuclear Program
New York Times: A new report from the Central Intelligence Agency says that the Pakistani arms trafficking network led by A. Q. Khan provided Iran’s nuclear program with “significant assistance,” including the designs for “advanced and efficient” weapons components. The unclassified version of report, posted today on the agency’s Web site (www.cia.gov), does not explicitly say whether Mr. Khan’s network had sold Iran …
Iran asking IAEA to exempt some centrifuges from nuclear suspension deal
AFP: Iran has asked the UN atomic agency to exempt several dozen centrifuges from an agreement with the European
Union which went into effect two days ago freezing its nuclear fuel cycle, diplomats told AFP Wednesday.
Iran issues warning as UN nuclear watchdog mulls resolution
AFP: Iranian officials warned the UN’s atomic energy watchdog Wednesday that an overly tough approach would jeopardise the Islamic republic’s suspension of sensitive nuclear fuel activities.
Iran has ‘sanitised’ suspected nuclear site: opposition group
AFP: Iran has moved quickly to “sanitise” a site in northeast Tehran alleged to be at the heart of its feared pursuit of nuclear weapons, an Iranian opposition group claimed Wednesday. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) also released the names of five top Iranian scientists whom it says must be quizzed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to help determine Tehran’s real nuclear intentions.
Iranian objections threaten nuclear deal
The Times Online: Iran today raised last minute objections to the wording of an agreement to limit its controversial nuclear programme, raising fears of a confrontation on Thursday at a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Kamal Kharrazi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, told Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, at a meeting in Egypt that Iran wanted
two key paragraphs reworked, two weeks after the text of the agreement was finalised in Paris.
Impunity triumphs in Iranian justice
Reporters Without Borders: Six years after a wave of murders of intellectuals and journalists in Iran, the Kazemi, Forouhar, Charif, Mokhtari, Pouyandeh and Davani families, and other families like them, still wait to know the truth about what happened to their loved ones, while the instigators and perpetrators of these killings celebrate six long years of almost total impunity that shows no sign of stopping given the frequent displays of judicial complicity and hypocrisy in these cases, Reporters Without Borders said today.
