Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 12 – Irans influential former President Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani termed Thursdays resolution adopted unanimously by the International Atomic Energy Agencys Board of Governors as very cruel and said that Tehrans nuclear decision was irreversible.
Rafsanjani: Iran will never turn back on nuclear decision
Annan throws his weight behind UN atomic agency in nuclear standoff with Iran
AFP: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday backed a resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog agency calling on Iran
to halt nuclear fuel work, a demand Tehran has dismissed as absurd. “The (International Atomic Energy Agency) has spoken with one voice and the secretary general expects its resolution to be implemented,” Annan said in a statement through his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Iran leader to be granted US visa
BBC News: President George Bush has said Iran’s new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be allowed into the US to attend a UN meeting in New York next month. There was speculation Mr Ahmadinejad may be refused a visa because
of claims he was involved in the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Iran.
IAEA orders Iran to halt uranium enrichment
The Guardian: The main European powers last night pressured the UN nuclear authority into ordering Iran to freeze its nuclear activities as Tehran appeared to be winning a high-stakes diplomatic battle in the long-running dispute. After days of behind-the-scenes fighting over a form of words censuring Iran for resuming uranium conversion this week, Britain,
France and Germany gained backing for a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna demanding an Iranian reversal.
Playing with fire
The Washington Times: Iran, it seems, is playing with fire — and on two fronts. The first is the Islamic republic’s recent decision to pursue its nuclear ambitions despite being urged by the European Union and threatened by the United States not to restart its uranium conversion program.
Bush calls IAEA Iran demand ‘positive first step”
Reuters: President George W. Bush said on Thursday the decision of the U.N. nuclear watchdog to call on Iran to halt sensitive atomic work was “a positive first step.” “The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) today issued a report that expressed serious concerns about Iranian decisions and that’s a positive first step,” Bush told reporters at his Texas ranch.
IAEA board demands Iran resume nuclear freeze
Reuters: The governing board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Thursday unanimously called on Iran to halt sensitive atomic work it resumed this week, a demand Tehran has rejected as unacceptable and illegal.
The resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy
Agency’s (IAEA) board of governors says Iran must resume a full suspension of all nuclear fuel related activities and asks the agency to verify Tehran’s compliance.
Iran to flog dissidents for anti-government protest
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 11 More than a dozen protestors arrested in the oil-rich city of Ahwaz, southern Iran, during a demonstration in July were sentenced to serve prison time and to be flogged in public, Irans state-run news agency reported on Thursday. A court in Ahwaz sentenced the 15 individuals to flogging and jail time for creating mayhem and disrupting public order.
Iran to flog dissidents for anti-government protest
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 11 More than a dozen protestors arrested in the oil-rich city of Ahwaz, southern Iran, during a demonstration in July were sentenced to serve prison time and to be flogged in public, Irans state-run news agency reported on Thursday. A court in Ahwaz sentenced the 15 individuals to flogging and jail time for creating mayhem and disrupting public order.
Clashes in Shiite shrine unnerves Irans holy city
Iran Focus: Qom, Iran, Aug. 11 At noon, the streets are quiet in this dusty, hot, sprawling city of two million that is home to one of Shiite Islams holiest shrines. But near the home of the late Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Shirazi, a highly revered religious leader who was at odds with Irans ruling clerics, the eerie silence belies the simmering anger and grief that dominate the feelings among his followers, as a stream of visitors come to offer their sympathies and support to the ayatollahs family and friends over what everyone here refers to as the despicable incident.
