AFP: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Thursday it was “inconceivable” that the United States would attack Iran over its nuclear programme and that the world would back such action. “I don’t see any circumstances in which military action would be justified against Iran full stop,” Straw told BBC radio.
US attack on Iran is ‘inconceivable’: Britain’s Straw
Iranians Express Ire at Bush
Washington Post: George Bush may have triumphed at home, but he was burned in effigy again and again in Iran Wednesday. Officially, the angry street demonstration marked the 25th anniversary of the student takeover of the old U.S. Embassy, when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days. But
unlike past commemorations, this one focused just as much on the future — and the potential for another showdown with
the United States during Bush’s second term.
Protests, Flag Burning Mark 1979 Embassy Seizure In Iran
Associated Press: Students burned American flags and
effigies of President George W. Bush on Wednesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, while a top Iranian official accused Washington of undermining his country’s goodwill gestures.
Iran can make the bomb, but doesn’t want to: Iranian official
AFP: Iran has the capacity to produce nuclear weapons but does not intend doing so, a senior Iranian official said here Wednesday. “We do not intend making nuclear weapons,”
said Ali Akbar Soltan, deputy director-general of Iran’s foreign ministry political department.
Indian Oil signs preliminary pact on proposal to develop Iran gasfield
AFP: Leading state-run refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said Wednesday it has signed an agreement to put forward a joint proposal to develop a gasfield in Iran, a project estimated to cost three billion dollars. The memorandum of understanding was signed Monday with Petropars, a unit of the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), said an IOC spokesman. The two firms will draw up a joint proposal for exploiting the gasfield and setting up liquefied natural gas liquefaction facilities.
Iran: children and nukes
The Jerusalem Post: While the world is busy contemplating
the appropriate response to the looming Iranian nuclear threat be it a European grand bargain, a covert operation, or a sophisticated military assault life in Teheran appears to be running its normal course: celebrating uranium enrichment, developing a longer-range Shihab-3 missile and, of course, promoting the rule of law.
In major compromise EU softens demand on Iran for uranium enrichment suspension
AFP: The European Union is no longer explicitly calling for an indefinite suspension of Iran’s uranium enrichment, diplomats said here Tuesday, outlining a compromise proposal ahead
of a crucial meeting with the Iranians on their nuclear programme. The diplomats said ambassadors from Britain, France and Germany were Tuesday to hand over in Tehran the EU’s written offer, ahead of a scheduled meeting with Iran in Paris on Friday on Europe’s request for Iran to halt uranium enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear weapons.
France wants “lasting” halt to Iran’s nuclear drive
AFP: French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier called Tuesday for Iran to produce a “lasting” halt to its uranium enrichment activities, as signs emerged of a compromise deal between Iran and the EU. “We are in an extremely intensive phase of discussions with the Tehran government and we are entering into this final phase of discussions with a certain optimism,” Barnier told reporters at a European Union meeting here.
In Brief
Iran Focus:
Iraqi Defence Minster: Proof of Iran’s meddling shatters reinforced concrete
2 young men to be executed
Woman, 74, two sisters commit suicide
Iraq tightening border security with Iran
Ironmongers protest government takeover of shops
New security apparatus set up in Qom
Unemployment on the rise in Khorassan province
Iran could agree to six month uranium enrichment suspension
AFP: Iran is prepared to suspend uranium enrichment for a maximum of six months during negotiations with European countries, but will never agree to permanently halt the practice, one of its top nuclear negotiators said on Tuesday.
“We have told them (the Europeans) that an indefinite suspension is unacceptable,” Hossein Mousavian told AFP.
