AFP: Iran wants China to replace Japan as its biggest importer of oil and gas, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was reported as saying here Saturday. “Japan is our number one energy importer due to historical reasons … but we would like to give preference to exports to China,” Zanganeh was quoted as saying the China Business Weekly magazine.
Iran wants China to replace Japan as top oil importer: report
Tehran Webloggers arrested in midnight raids
Iran Focus: Tehran, Nov. 6 – Security forces have raided and arrested three webloggers in Tehran, according to reports
from the Iranian capital.
The three, identified by their first names as Dariush, Omid
and Payvand, were arrested in midnight raids on their homes on Thursday.
Iran and Europe Locked in Nuclear Talks
New York Times: In an effort to stop Iran from producing a nuclear bomb, the 25 leaders of the European Union on Friday offered Iran economic and political incentives if it suspended its production of enriched uranium. The proposal, issued in a statement at the end of a two-day summit meeting in Brussels, coincided with negotiations that opened here in which Iran
was seeking concessions from France, Germany, Britain and the European Union to allow it to produce enriched uranium.
President may turn attention to Iran
Daily Telegraph: With Iran believed to be coming ever closer to developing nuclear weapons, President Bush may have to decide in the next four years whether to order pre-emptive military action against another “rogue” state. As with Iraq, the debate would revolve around the quality of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction and what constitutes “active” co-operation by Iran with weapons inspections.
Canada wants UN to assess rights situation as worse in Iran
AFP: Canada on Friday introduced a draft resolution at the UN General Assembly on what it maintains is the worsening human rights situation in Iran, a foreign ministry statement said. The text follows an earlier resolution on human rights violations by Iran, adopted by the United Nations and sponsored by Canada, in November of last year.
Heading off a nuclear Iran
National Post: More proof that the goal of Iran’s nuclear program is megatons not kilowatts, came last weekend. On Sunday, all 247 legislators present in the Iranian parliament voted to resume their country’s uranium enrichment activities, in violation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) restrictions. As if to confirm suspicions regarding their intentions, some deputies shouted “Death to America.”
Iran, EU nuke talks progress, but no deal yet
Reuters: Tehran is inching closer to a compromise with French, British and German diplomats seeking to persuade
it to give up its uranium enrichment programme, a senior
Iranian negotiator said on Friday.
Russia says UN debate on Iran could be detrimental
AFP: Russia confirmed Friday that it opposed Iran’s nuclear ambitions coming up for debate at the UN Security Council, where it has veto power, saying such a debate could lead to further regional tensions.
“It is very important to refrain from steps that could lead to further tensions,” Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
Chinese FM discusses North Korea, Iran with Powell
AFP: China’s foreign minister discussed the North Korea and Iran nuclear issues in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Colin Powell Friday, state media reported, two days after Bush’s reelection.
U.S. prefers diplomacy with Iran, but conflict possible
USA TODAY: Of all the foreign policy challenges facing President Bush in his second term, none apart from Iraq looms larger than Iran. Twenty-five years after Iranian students seized U.S. diplomats as hostages, Iran and the United States are at the brink of a potentially more serious confrontation over Iran’s apparent determination to develop a nuclear bomb.
