Washington Post: The Bush administration has dozens of intercepts of Mohamed ElBaradei’s phone calls with Iranian diplomats and is scrutinizing them in search of ammunition to oust him as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to three U.S. government officials.
IAEA Leader’s Phone Tapped
EU and Iran begin difficult talks on nuclear program
AFP: The European Union and Iran begin talks Monday
towards giving Tehran trade, technology and security rewards for suspending crucial nuclear activities that could be used to make nuclear weapons. The process is fraught with difficulties since Iran says its suspension of uranium enrichment, a key step in making nuclear fuel, is a temporary measure designed to show its intentions are peaceful while EU negotiators …
Iran is not imminent nuclear threat: ElBaradei
AFP: Iran’s nuclear programme does not constitute an immediate threat, the head of the UN atomic watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, said in an interview published here on Sunday.
Iranian customs officers arrested over smuggling
AFP: Iran’s judiciary has arrested 18 people, most of them customs officials, for involvement in a smuggling racket that brought in millions of dollars of televisions, DVD players and hi-fi systems, the state news agency IRNA said Sunday.
Iran says US Mideast reform agenda ‘not beneficial’ to region
AFP: Iran on Sunday accused the United States of selfishly “pursuing its own interests” by pushing for reforms in the Arab and Muslim world, saying the initiative was of no benefit to the Middle East. “America is only pursuing its own interests, and we believe plans imposed from the outside will not be of any benefit to the region,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.
Iran Refuses to Give Up Nuclear Research-Diplomats
Reuters: Iran intends to use Monday’s talks with France, Britain and Germany to ensure it has the right to go on carrying out research with equipment that could be used to develop nuclear weapons, Western diplomats said. Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rohani, will meet foreign ministers of the EU’s “big three” in Brussels on Monday for talks on details of a deal that would reward Iran for taking steps to assure the world it is not developing an atom bomb.
Iran warns it will quit nuclear talks with EU if no progress made
AFP: Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani warned Sunday that the Islamic republic would abandon key talks with the European Union on its nuclear programme if it was clear no progress was being made. The talks, set to begin in Brussels on Monday, are aimed at building on Iran’s agreement to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment …
Iran says permanent enrichment freeze ‘not on agenda’ in talks with EU
AFP: Iran said on the eve of crucial talks with Britain, France and Germany that it was not prepared to accept a permanent freeze of its controversial nuclear fuel work. “The permanent suspension of enrichment is not on our agenda. A short-term freeze is what we are stressing,” foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.
Whitewashing Iran
Washington Times – Editorials: In just the latest move that
calls into question the seriousness of its efforts to learn the truth about Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the International Atomic Energy Agency apparently withheld information suggesting that Iran had attempted to purchase large quantitities of dual-use material (items with civilian and military uses) which can be used to detonate an atomic weapon.
Iran Human Rights Conference, Exhibition in Paris Draws Crowds
Iran Focus: Paris, Dec. 11 A three-day exhibition of a
quarter-century of human rights violations in Iran, sponsored
by over 30 European human rights organizations, began with
a conference in Paris on Friday and is drawing large crowds
of French and Iranian visitors.
