UPI: An Iranian opposition group claims Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the secret continuation of nuclear weapons development.
Speaking to reporters in Paris, Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman
of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said the Iranian regime
is “playing a double game” with Europe as the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency keeps an uneasy eye on the country’s nuclear possessions.
Group claims Iran has nuclear program
Iran to respond to EU nuclear offer, diplomats pessimistic
AFP: Iran returned to talks here Wednesday with Europe’s three heavyweight countries aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over its nuclear program, although diplomats were sceptical of a breakthrough.
The meeting started behind closed doors at the French embassy in Vienna, a French diplomat said shortly after midday (1000 GMT).
Iran warns of break in nuclear talks in case of “illogical demands”
AFP: Iran’s supreme guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Wednesday that Tehran could break off nuclear talks with the international community if “illogical demands” were made
such as long-term suspension of uranium enrichment.
Iranian footballers banned from sporting “unconventional” hairdos
AFP: Iranian footballers have been banned from sporting “unconventional” hairstyles and beards on the pitch and offenders will be fined and banned from playing, football officials said.
Iran Focus: Group discloses secret nuke effort
The Washington Times: The Iranian opposition group that exposed the nation’s covert nuclear weapons program two years ago said yesterday that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the effort to continue in secret.
The opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), also disclosed the existence of what it said is a new uranium enrichment facility in central Iran that is nearing completion.
Task for next president: curb Iran’s nuclear appetite
Christian Science Monitor: I asked a visiting editor from Azerbaijan a few days ago what his countrymen’s principal concerns were. One of the most significant, he said, was that the US might use Azerbaijan as a base for the US to invade neighboring Iran.
While that might seem fanciful, given that the US military is already overextended in Iraq, Iran certainly seems likely to be high on the foreign policy agenda of whoever is the next US president.
Europeans to resume talks with Iran; ‘last chance’ offer to avoid UN sanctions
Associated Press: European negotiators resume talks with Iran on Wednesday on a last-chance offer of incentives aimed at getting Tehran to stop enriching uranium and avoid the
threat of possible UN sanctions.
The new round of talks comes as Iran hints it may voluntarily suspend some unspecified nuclear activities in an attempt to reach a compromise with the Europeans.
Iran could take months to agree to ‘ambiguous’ European nuclear offer
AFP: Iran could take months to agree to a European request not to resume uranium enrichment, a nuclear negotiation spokesman said Tuesday, saying the offer was riddled with ambiguities and must be more balanced. “There are many ambiguities in the European proposal … We are waiting for an answer from the Europeans on our questions before we can decide (to accept it),” Hossein Moussavian told AFP by
telephone from Vienna.
The clock ticks on Iran
Washington Times – Editorial: Today, negotiators from France, Germany and the United Kingdom are set to resume talks with Iran over that country’s nuclear ambitions. If top Iranian officials’ remarks over the weekend indicate anything, it is that these talks, like the ones that preceded it, are likely to fail. The good news is that the Europeans are starting to notice.
