Iran vows not to back away from nukes

kgw ^ | April 13, 2006 | ALI AKBAR DAREINI

[Flavius]

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Thursday that Iran won't back away from uranium enrichment and said the world must treat Iran as a nuclear power.

AP Photo Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures as he stands in front of picture of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Khomeini and addresses a meeting of students and universty staff in Mashhad in Khorasan Razavi province, 530 miles northeast of Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 12, 2006.

The comments were made as Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, arrived in Tehran for talks aimed at defusing tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

"Our answer to those who are angry about Iran achieving the full nuclear fuel cycle is just one phrase. We say: Be angry at us and die of this anger," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

"We won't hold talks with anyone about the right of the Iranian nation (to enrich uranium)."

Ahmadinejad declared on Tuesday that Iran had successfully produced enriched uranium for the first time, a key process in what Iran maintains is a peaceful energy program.

Iran's deputy nuclear chief, Mohammad Saeedi, then said Wednesday that Iran intends to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment involving 54,000 centrifuges, signaling the country's resolve to expand a program the United Nations has demanded it halt.

"Today, our situation has changed completely. We are a nuclear country and speak to others from the position of a nuclear country," IRNA quoted the president as saying Thursday.

The United States accuses Tehran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to produce nuclear weapons but Tehran says its nuclear program is merely to generate electricity.

The U.N. Security Council has insisted that Iran stop all enrichment activity by April 28.

ElBaradei told reporters after arriving at Tehran airport that he believed the time was "ripe" for a political solution." He said he would try to persuade Iranian authorities to meet international demands for "confidence-building measures, including suspension of uranium enrichment, until outstanding issues are clarified."

Also Thursday, China said it is sending an envoy to Iran and Russia to discuss the dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai is due to leave on Friday.

"Recently, there were some developments of the Iranian nuclear issue," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao. "We expressed our concern. ... We hope the parties should exercise restraint and not take any actions that lead to further escalation so we can solve the question properly through dialogue and diplomacy."

At the United Nations a day earlier, China expressed strong concern over Iran's announcement that it had successfully enriched uranium and called on Tehran to suspend enrichment. However, both China and Russia have repeated their opposition to any punitive measures against Iran.

On Tuesday, Iran announced it had produced enriched uranium on a small scale for the first time, using 164 centrifuges, at a facility in the central town of Natanz.

Saeedi said using 54,000 centrifuges will be able to produce enough enriched uranium to provide fuel for a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant like one Russia is finishing in southern Iran.

In theory, that many centrifuges could be used to develop the material needed for hundreds of nuclear warheads if Iran can perfect the techniques for producing the highly enriched uranium needed. Iran is still thought to be years away from a full-scale program.

The IAEA is due to report to the Security Council on April 28 whether Iran has met its demand for a full halt to uranium enrichment. If Tehran has not complied, the council will consider the next step. The U.S. and Europe are pressing for sanctions, a step Russia and China have so far opposed.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the Security Council must consider "strong steps" to induce Tehran to change course. Rice also telephoned ElBaradei to ask him to reinforce demands that Iran comply with its nonproliferation requirements when he holds talks in Tehran on Friday.

On Wednesday, Iran's nuclear chief, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, said the United States had no option but to recognize Iran as a nuclear power. But he said Iran was prepared to give the West a share in its enrichment facilities to ease fears that it may seek to make weapons.

"The best way to get out of this issue is for countries that have concern become our partners in Natanz in management, production and technology. This is a very important confidence-building measure," he told state-run television.

©2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[GodfearingTexan]

bomb them.

[bybybill]

Some one needs to tell this NT (next target) that it isn`t to smart to get close to nukes

[El Conservador]

Well, let's treat them as such.

If they try to lob a nuke into Tel Aviv, we could return the favor onto Tehran, how's that???

[Mike Darancette]

Bush has to create a doctrine in which he states that if the USA, any ally of the USA, any USA interest or US forces is attacked by a nuclear weapon of any type that Iran will face immediate retaliation.

OBTW Iran: Welcome to the club.

[Calpernia]

April 11, 2006: Dancing with Uranium

By Laura Mansfield with assistance from analyst JBean

Birthdays are a milestone – a day to recognize the symbolic passage from one age to the next.

It is especially notable that today, the day which Muslims throughout the world celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Mohamed, is the date when Iran’s President has selected to announce the entry of Iran into the “International Nuclear Power Club’.

Coming on the heels of the “Blessed Prophet” war games, where Iran showed off its new weapons, including a missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, it is obvious that the selection of the date is intentional.

Iran has announced that it has crossed the threshold into the nuclear zone because it is now able to enrich its own uranium. True, enriched uranium can be used for peaceful purposes. But despite verbal claims from Iran’s leaders that its intent is to not develop nuclear weapons, their actions and their words in Farsi indicate otherwise.

Iran has a long and rich history; western civilization owes much to early Persian history.

But Iran has not demonstrated to the world community that it has the maturity to handle such a power. Allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons makes about as much since as giving a 15 year old boy a Ferrari as his first car. Sure, he wants it. But there’s a very high probability that he will wreck the car, and with a car that powerful, it’s likely that someone is going to die.

During the ceremony when Iran’s President announced that the enrichment milestone had been met, there were dancers on stage celebrating the announcement. The dancers performed beautifully, but according to state-run news agency IRNA in their hands they held vials of low grade uranium in their hands.

While the radiation danger was almost certainly negligible, the symbolism was clear.

Nuclear power is not a toy. Radiation is nothing to play with.

A nuclear Iran is frightening. Almost certainly today, in the capitals of Europe and the United States, a frantic discussion was getting underway about what to do in the wake of this latest announcement. Certainly there will be hawks calling for an attack on Iran, to defang its nuclear capability.

I can think of one very good reason for the US and Israel not to attack Iran at this time.

Iran wants us to attack them.

The last people who should be dictating the actions of the US government are the rulers of Iran.

[GSlob]

"retaliation" annihilation. The middle easterners have memories of unhealthy length.

[Waco]

Yeah, better wait till they blast 3-4 big towns in Europe, and maybe the U.S. Capitol, fore taking any series action. Yep, that oughta do it.

[SouthTexas]

Reminds me of the Planet of the Apes movie.

If they want nukes so bad, I say give them nukes!

[Mike Darancette]

Iran wants us to attack them.

It would seem that it is so. The USA should tell the UN that the Iran Doctrine (see #5) is in effect and it is up to the UN to do it's duty and keep nukes out of Iran. If Iran gets Nukes we are out of the UN.

[Calpernia]

El Barredi will have some splainin to do if he doesn't get a leash on Iran. :)

[CindyDawg]

I suspect they will blow themselves up.

[Calpernia]

Irony at it's finest.

[thoughtomator]

I've got an idea. Let's keep talking to Russia and France and pretend they're not in bed with the mullahs. Then let's studiously ignore all the arms the Iranians are funneling into Iraq to attack our forces with an destabilize the country. After that we can send a Muslim head of the IAEA in to talk with them. As a crowning achievement, let's downplay the fact that the Clintons gave Iran a workable nuclear bomb design in 2000.

[Andy from Beaverton]

Iran vows not to back away from nukes

Fine! Just stand there and enjoy the view!

[Enterprise]

Hey Iran - put the nukes down, put your hands behind your head and interlock your fingers and slowly back away. Don't make any furtive movements or it will be considered a hostile action and we will shoot to kill.

[GOPJ]

A nuclear Iran is frightening. Almost certainly today, in the capitals of Europe and the United States, a frantic discussion was getting underway about what to do in the wake of this latest announcement. Certainly there will be hawks calling for an attack on Iran, to defang its nuclear capability.

I can think of one very good reason for the US and Israel not to attack Iran at this time.

Iran wants us to attack them.

The fun with Iran is trying to think like a naturally intelligent, totally paranoid, strategically complex person who can only think within the craziness of the box called Iran. That said, my guess is they're trying to force us to hit them because their silent partner - the one with nukes and nuke know how,( and no, I have no clue as to who it is) has told them that's the way it has to be done. That's not an ME way of thinking. So the real question is, "who's Iran's silent partner?"

[Windsong]

Er..couldnt get a more credible news source for this?

[Calpernia]

My knee jerk response is Cuba.

JMT

[Calpernia]

nope