VIENNA – Talks to persuade Iran to move most of its enriched uranium out of the country have gotten off to a "good start," the head of the U.N. nuclear agency said Monday.
The comments by Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency, were significant because Iran earlier had signaled it would not meet Western demands for a deal under which it would send most of its enriched material abroad — a move that would delay its ability to potentially make a nuclear bomb.
Tehran has said it needs enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. But the West fears it could be used to make weapons, and the U.S. says Iran is now one to six years away from being able to do so.
Monday's Vienna talks between Iran and the U.S., Russia and France were focused on a technical issue with huge strategic ramifications — whether Iran is ready to farm out some of its uranium enrichment program to a foreign country.
ElBaradei appeared cautiously optimistic after the first day of closed meetings, saying most technical issues had been discussed and the parties would meet again Tuesday morning.
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U.S. officer: If Israel strikes Iran, U.S. will likely join
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies
The United States would find it difficult not to join an Israeli air strike in the event that Jerusalem decides to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, a former top-ranking U.S. Air Force officer told participants at a conference this weekend organized by a Washington think tank. Charles F. Wald, former deputy commander of United States European Command, said a military strike on Iran could set back the Islamic Republic's alleged nuclear weapons program by several years, but cautioned, "I don't think Israel can do it alone."
The former commander's remarks were made at an annual gathering of financial backers of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who were joined by diplomats, journalists and analysts.
"They have a fantastic military, but not big enough for weeks or months of attacks - hundreds of sorties per day," he said.
Wald said that should "our great ally Israel" decide to take military action to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, "pressure will mount for us to stand by Israel."
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People who are truly strong help the weak, not step on them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Iran's president has accused Pakistani agents of involvement in a suicide bombing in south-east of the country targeting a group of the elite Revolutionary Guards force. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Pakistan to arrest the attackers, who he said had entered Iran from Pakistan. Forty-two people died in the attack in Sistan-Baluchistan, including six Revolutionary Guards commanders. Iran has previously accused the US and UK of contributing to the attack. In his first comments on the bombing, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini also blamed the United States. "This terrorists crime revealed the evil face of enemies of security and unity who are supported by intelligence organisations of some arrogant governments," he said, using a phrase that usually refers to the US and its allies. Pakistani officials condemned the attack, which has been blamed on the Sunni resistance group, Jundullah. The Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman, Abdul Basit, dismissed Iranian claims that Jundullah's leader was in Pakistan. 'Crushing' response According to state media, one or more suicide bombers targeted the group of Revolutionary Guards leaders who had arranged to meet tribal leaders in the Pishin district close to the Pakistani border. Reports said a suicide bomber detonated a belt packed with explosives as the meeting was about to start. The deputy commander of the Guards' ground force, General Noor Ali Shooshtari, and the Guards' chief provincial commander, Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh, were among at least six officers reported to have been killed. Dozens of people were injured. A top Guards officer has also vowed to deliver a "crushing" response to those behind the attack, according to Agence-France Presse. Mr Ahmadinejad pointed towards Pakistan. "We were informed that some security agents in Pakistan are co-operating with the main elements of this terrorist incident," he was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency. "We regard it as our right to demand these criminals from them," he said, without elaborating. "We ask the Pakistani government not to delay any longer in the apprehension of the main elements in this terrorist attack." Iranian authorities summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat in Tehran, claiming that the assailants had arrived in Iran from Pakistan, Iranian state media reported. The Iranian foreign ministry also "protested against the use of Pakistani territory by the terrorists and rebels against the Islamic Republic of Iran", the Isna news agency reported. Earlier, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said "US action" contributed to the attack. The US dismissed the accusation. Banditry and kidnapping Sistan-Baluchistan is mainly made up of the Baluchi ethnic group, who belong to the Sunni Muslim minority of Shia-ruled Iran.Jundallah has previously been accused by Iran of terrorist activities in the province. The province borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and has long been affected by smuggling, drug trafficking, banditry and kidnapping. Jundallah, also known as the Popular Resistance Movement of Iran, says it is fighting against the political and religious oppression of the country's minority Sunni Muslims. Local media cited officials as saying Jundallah had accepted responsibility for Sunday's bombing, though there was no direct claim from the group.
This post has been edited by MSantor on Oct 23 2009, 11:20 PM
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U.N. inspectors got their first look Sunday inside a once-secret uranium enrichment facility that has raised Western suspicions about the extent of Iran's nuclear program.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency reported the four-member team visited the heavily protected facility, carved into a mountainside south of Tehran. The tour marked the first independent examination of the site, but no results were expected until after the inspectors leave Iran later this week.
The review also coincides with the countdown to Iran's expected decision on whether to accept a U.N.-brokered deal to process its nuclear fuel abroad — a plan designed to ease Western fears about Iran's potential ability to produce weapons-grade material.
The disclosure last month of Iran's second enrichment facility — known as Fordo after a village believed to have the largest percentage of fighters killed in the 1980-88 war with Iraq — raised international suspicion over the extent and aim of Tehran's nuclear program.
But Iran says that by reporting the existence of the site voluntarily to the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, it "pre-empted a conspiracy" against Tehran by the U.S. and its allies who were hoping to present the site as evidence that Iran was developing its nuclear program in secret.
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U.K. paper says U.N. watchdog has asked Tehran to explain new evidence
LONDON - The U.N. nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting the Islamic Republic's scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, the Guardian reported in its Friday edition.
The newspaper, citing what it describes as "previously unpublished documentation" from an International Atomic Energy Agency compiled dossier, said Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of a "two-point implosion" device. The IAEA said in September it has no proof Iran has or once had a covert atomic bomb program.
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran will begin large-scale air defense war games Sunday aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from possible attack, a senior military commander said Saturday.
The five-day drill will involve Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard and the regular army and will cover 230,000 square miles — or about 600,000 square kilometers — of central, western and southern Iran, said air force Gen. Ahmad Mighani.
As Iran has pressed forward with its nuclear program, Israel has repeatedly threatened military action to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The U.S. also has not ruled out military action should diplomacy fail to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear activities.
Washington and its European allies suspect Iran aims to use a civilian nuclear program as cover to produce weapons, and Iran has effectively rejected a new U.N. proposal aimed at easing those concerns. Tehran denies any intention to make nuclear weapons and says it only wants to generate power.
The defense drill will involve an attack by airplanes representing a hypothetical enemy.
"Reconnaissance enemy planes will violate our air space and try to disrupt electronic and radar systems, identify sensitive facilities, take photos and ... attack air defense sites," Mighani said, according to a state TV report. "And our air defense system will confront the intruding planes."
A planned key component of Iran's air defenses, an anti-aircraft missile system from Russia, has yet to be delivered.
Mighani criticized Russia, saying the delay in the S-300 missiles was apparently the result of Israeli pressure, not technical issues, as Moscow claims.
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