10/12/07

US-Iran to discuss Iraq on December 18: minister
AFP -
BAGHDAD (AFP) -- US and Iranian officials will hold another round of talks on Iraq's security next week, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Monday, ...
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hDIPWVJxjoGb-v6FfHNjSruekyNg

Whitehouse Says Iran Report Will Have No Impact On Missile Shield Plans
Washington (AFP) Dec 7, 2007 – The United States said Friday that it was pushing ahead with a planned missile shield that has angered Russia even as a new US assessment downgraded the nuclear threat from Iran. Washington has defended plans to build missile defense facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland as necessary to protect European allies from a potential missile strike from “rogue” states, especially Iran.
www.spacewar.com/reports/US_says_Iran_report_
has_no_impact_on_missile_shield_plans_999.html

Manama (AFP) Dec 8, 2007 – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday said Iran’s foreign policy was a threat to the United States, the Middle East and all countries within range of missiles Tehran is developing. “There can be little doubt that their destabilising foreign policies are a threat to the interests of the United States, to the interests of every country in the Middle East, and to the interests of all co
www.spacewar.com/reports/Gates_warns_of_
Iran_threat_to_US_and_Mideast_999.html

Iran NIE Hurts BMD Say Some Analysts
Washington (UPI) Dec 7, 2007 – The stunning U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that Iran is not making nuclear weapons will most likely deal a death blow to the Bush administration’s already-beleaguered plans to build an anti-ballistic missile base in Poland, armed with 10 interceptors to guard against a future Iranian nuclear ballistic missile attack against Western Europe or the United States. As we noted in this
www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_NIE_
Hurts_BMD_Say_Some_Analysts_999.html

US intelligence official defends report on Iran
Washington (AFP) Dec 8, 2007 – A top US intelligence official on Saturday responded to right-wing critics of a report that found Iran had suspended its atomic weapons program, saying the findings were the result of “solid” analysis. “The task of the Intelligence Community is to produce objective, ground truth analysis,” said Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. “We feel confident in our
www.spacewar.com/reports/US_intelligence_
official_defends_report_on_Iran_999.html

Iran, China finalise two billion dollar oil contract
Tehran (AFP) Dec 9, 2007 – Iran and China’s Sinopec on Sunday signed a two billion dollar contract to develop a major Iranian oil field, a crucial deal for the Iranian energy industry at a time of mounting international pressure. The Iranian oil ministry and Sinopec inked the deal to pump oil from the Yadavaran onshore field in southwestern Iran, which was first agreed back in late 2004, at a ceremony in Tehran, an AF
www.energy-daily.com/reports/Iran_China_
finalise_two_billion_dollar_oil_contract_999.html

Bush under fire over Iran claims
Washington (AFP) Dec 6, 2007 – The White House Thursday struggled to defend the dire warnings about Iran made by US President George W. Bush even after he had learned that Tehran had likely frozen its atomic weapons program in 2003. A new US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) released on Monday formally endorsed that conclusion, which Bush had first heard about in August from US Director of National Intelligence Michael
www.spacewar.com/reports/Bush_
under_fire_over_Iran_claims_999.html

Is Iran NIE a Blessing in Disguise for Israel?
Analysis by Trita Parsi*
WASHINGTON – The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate’s assertion that Iran currently does not have a nuclear weapons programme has caused much frustration in Israel. Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh referred to the report as a lie at a recent breakfast in New York, and Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer reportedly “doesn’t buy” its findings.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40373

Iran, North Korea and Syria? Or France and the UK?
By ImprovforLawyers(ImprovforLawyers)
Most of the world has abolished the death penalty. Who has not? Who does the state of New Jersey stand with on this issue? North Korea. Iran. Iraq. Saudi Arabia. Libya. Syria. That’s who we stand with on this issue. …
newjerseypoliticsunusual.blogspot.com/2007/
12/iran-north-korea-and-syria-or-france.html

UN envoy to Afghanistan meets Mottaki
Tehran Times – Iran
TEHRAN — United Nations representative to Afghanistan Tom Koenings here on Sunday held a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki on …
www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=158845

Iran Not a Nuclear Threat
By Patrick Chappatte
The International Herald Tribune
www.blackcommentator.com/256/2
56_cartoon_iran_not_nuclear_threat.html

PM: We will expose Iran’s secret work
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 12/10/2007
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed yesterday that Israel will continue to work alongside the International Atomic Energy Agency to expose Iran’s covert nuclear activity. At the conclusion of the weekly cabinet meeting, Olmert said Israel plans to reveal that Tehran is still developing nuclear weapons despite sanctions imposed by the international community on the Islamic Republic. “Iran is continuing to manufacture and develop ballistic missiles and continuing its research and development aimed at nuclear armament,” Olmert said. The prime minister rejected criticism directed against Israel’s intelligence agencies and said Israel’s stance has not changed in the wake of the U.S. assessment that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The cabinet meeting was the first held since the U.S. report was made public last week.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=932706
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=932700

Mullen: ’I understand Israel’s concerns’
Amir Oren, Ha’aretz 12/10/2007
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Army, Admiral Mike Mullen, arrived in Israel last night for a one-day visit as the guest of Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi. Ahead of Mullen’s visit, the Pentagon released the transcript of a lecture he gave at the War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania November 28. Among the students is an IDF colonel. During the question and answer session, Mullen was asked about Israel and Iran. From Mullen’s answer, it can be understood the questioner, who was not identified, was an IDF officer. “I’ve been to Israel more than once,” Mullen said, “and I understand to some degree, obviously I’m not, I didn’t grow up in your shoes but I understand to some degree, physically where you live and certainly the concerns that exist from the Israeli perspective about your neighborhood.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=932700

PM: Israel will work to expose Iran nuclear program
Shmuel Rosner and Barak Ravids, Ha’aretz 12/10/2007
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told ministers on Sunday that Israel would continue to work alongside the International Atomic Energy Agency in order to expose covert Iranian activities and investigate its military program to develop nuclear weapons, despite efforts by Tehran to stymie their efforts. He said that, based a U.S. intelligence report released last week, Iran is enriching enough uranium to have a nuclear weapon within three years. “Iran is continuing its efforts to enrich uranium, and according to the report is set to accumulate sufficient amounts to produce nuclear weapons by 2010,” Olmert told his political-security cabinet. The cabinet was holding special deliberations on Sunday on a new United States intelligence assessment which states that Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=932430

Olmert: We’ll prove Iran pursuing bomb
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 12/9/2007
Prime minister addressed recent US report vindicating Iran, tells cabinet Israeli position remains unchanged – “Israel will work together with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to expose the Iranian military’s plan to develop a nuclear weapon, despite the limitations placed on it by Iran,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday in his first official response to the US intelligence report released last week on Iran’s nuclear weapons project. The report determined that Iran had halted its development efforts in 2003. Olmert said that Israeli intelligence officials had not been convinced that Israel’s position on the Iranian program should change. “Iran is continuing to pursue the two vital components needed for a nuclear weapons program – developing and advancing their rocket arsenal and enriching uranium,” said the prime minister.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3480728,00.html

U.S. experts criticize report on Iran nukes
Shmuel Rosner, Ha’aretz 12/10/2007
WASHINGTON – Observers from the right and left have told Haaretz that the report released a week ago on Iran halting its nuclear program will have no impact on U.S. public opinion or its effect will erode. Some said deficiencies in the National Intelligence Estimate will become increasingly apparent. Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, told Haaretz Friday that the report ignored the uranium enrichment at the Iranian city of Natanz because this project was not secret. The congressman from California said the intelligence community was only interested in secrets, and the media simply focused on what was new. Sherman said that while the report effectively removed the military option for both Israel and the United States and complicated Russian and Chinese support for sanctions, a “pushback” against the report had begun.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=932403

Shas minister: Americans’ attitude to report reminiscent of Auschwitz
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 12/9/2007
Yitzhak Cohen says during cabinet meeting ’US intelligence report was ordered by someone who wants dialogue with Tehran. Minister Eli Yishai: ’We must not play dumb in the face of the report’s findings’ – “The manner in which the Americans relate to the intelligence report on Iran is similar to the way in which they viewed those reports they received during the Holocaust on railways transporting hundreds of thousands of Jews to their death at Auschwitz,” Minister Yitzhak Cohen of Shas said during a security cabinet meeting Sunday morning on the Iranian nuclear issue. “It can not be that (US President George W. ) Bush is committed to peace as was declared at Annapolis, and then the Americans propagate such an intelligence report which contradicts the information we have proving Iran intends to obtain nuclear weapons,” Cohen said.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3480595,00.html

Israel’s ’auto-pilot’ policy on Iran
Trita Parsi, Asia Times 12/8/2007
      WASHINGTON – The US National Intelligence Estimate’s (NIE) assertion that Iran currently does not have a nuclear weapons program has caused much frustration in Israel. Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh referred to the report as a lie at a recent breakfast in New York, and Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer reportedly “doesn’t buy” its findings.
     Though the report aggravates Israel’s effort to compel Washington to pursue an increasingly harsh line against Tehran, all is not lost for Israel. In fact, despite these initial knee-jerk reactions, the NIE may very well end up being a blessing in disguise for the Jewish state by pulling Israel out of its paralysis with regard to Iran.
     Israel has long been at odds with Washington’s intelligence agencies. It started sounding the alarm bells on Iran’s nuclear program back in 1991, arguing that in the post-Cold War world, Iran and Shiite fundamentalism were emerging as the new strategic threat to the Middle East.
www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IL08Ak01.html

Engage with Iran and Syria, Iraq tells US
Financial Times – London,England,UK
By Roula Khalaf in Manama, Bahrain Iran and Syria have taken measures to curb violence in Iraq, a senior Iraqi official said on Sunday in a rare …
www.ft.com/cms/s/c37b4dd4-a683-11dc-b1f5-0000779fd2ac.html

9/12/07

Iran accuses U.S of espionage 08 Dec 2007 Iran has accused the United States of espionage in collating a report which was released this week which concluded Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, and hasn’t done for several years. Iran says the U.S. has admitted the NIE report was produced as a result of espionage activities, including satellite surveillance.
feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=307418

Israel says Iran could have nuclear bomb by 2010 09 Dec 2007 Israel believes Iran will have the resources to create a nuclear weapon by 2010 despite a U.S. intelligence report that it was not building an atomic bomb, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday. Olmert told his cabinet that Iran was continuing to enrich uranium and develop ballistic missiles and that Israel would press the U.N’s International Atomic Energy Agency to “expose Iran’s nuclear weapons activity”. [Expose *this.*]
www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0938868220071209

Israel no nuclear threat to neighbors, says Gates 08 Dec 2007 U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates defended Israel’s nuclear program on Saturday, saying the Jewish state did not seek to destroy its neighbors or support terrorism, unlike Iran. Asked at the Manama Dialogue conference whether he thought Israel’s nuclear program posed a threat to the region, Gates replied: “No, I do not.”
www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSL0866169420071208

Cindy Sheehan: NIEs: Waste of Time?
By Cindy Sheehan
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claims that BushCo has known at the highest levels about this intelligence for over a year, but they have all been beating their evil drums of war against Iran, nevertheless.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18858.htm

Iraq calls for Gulf security pact including Iran :
Iraq’s National Security Advisor on Sunday called on Gulf states to form a regional security pact, which would include Iran, while he reassured the area’s US allies that Baghdad is “heading West” in its foreign policies.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071209/wl_mideast_afp/iraqgulfiranpolitics

Iran drops dollar from oil deals: report:
Major crude producer Iran has completely stopped carrying out its oil transactions in dollars, Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Saturday, labelling the greenback an “unreliable” currenc
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGC7KSKjsKYUTGAF1oR04-yOpBgg

Now Is The Time For Serious Diplomacy On Iran:
The consequences of an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities which has been advocated by many are too hazardous to even contemplate seriously
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18855.htm
 
Bolton says US intel report on Iran was political:
Bolton described the NIE, released Monday, as a “quasi-putsch” by the agencies, Der Spiegel said.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22161437/

PM: Israel set to “expose” Iranian nuclear program :
Israeli officials have conducted a quiet campaign aimed at exposing the National Intelligence Estimate’s deficiencies. In his address to the cabinet, Olmert said that Israel’s stance on the Iranian nuclear matter would not change despite the U.S. report.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932430.html

Iran Studying Talks With US Over Iraq
The Associated Press –
Since May, Iran and the US have held three rounds of ambassador-level of negotiations over security in Iraq. Earlier in November, Iran agreed to a request …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ieb3NRXd7Fx_l4a97Y-vJkkicjiAD8TDRIP01