[DoctorZIn]

Join Us At Today's Iranian Alert Thread – The Most Underreported Story Of The Year!

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[DoctorZIn]

Join Us At Today's Iranian Alert Thread – The Most Underreported Story Of The Year!

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”

[DoctorZIn]

"The Jury Is Still Out"

Time.com (Europe)
November 24, 2003 | Vol. 162 No. 20
JOE KLAMAR/AFP

Is Iran trying to make an atomic bomb? The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports that there is "no evidence" of such a program, though Iran is developing relevant technology and has shown a "pattern of concealment" over the past 18 years. At this week's IAEA meeting, officials will decide whether to declare Iran in noncompliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refer it to the U.N. for possible action, as the U.S. wants, or reprimand but continue to work with it, as the U.K., France and Germany prefer. TIME's Andrew Purvis spoke to IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei.

IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A TYPICAL CIVILIAN POWER PROJECT. DOES ANYBODY BELIEVE IT IS FOR PEACEFUL PURPOSES? It's not a question of belief or disbelief. Iran is saying it is willing to come clean. We got answers to all our questions. We got access to the facili- ties. We are getting robust inspections. But this is a work in progress.

U.S. UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN BOLTON CALLED YOUR FINDING OF NO EVIDENCE "IMPOSSIBLE TO BELIEVE." We are not in the business of judging intentions. What we look for are facts and proof, and so far we have no proof of a nuclear-weapons program. The jury is still out.

TEHRAN HAS EXPLAINED THE DISCOVERY OF WEAPONS-GRADE URANIUM TRACES AS THE RESULT OF CONTAMINATED EQUIPMENT. IS THAT TRUE? We are closer [to an answer]. We now know where the components that Iran says were contaminated came from. Our next priority is to go after the countries where they came from and talk to the governments. There are five, in Europe and Asia.

SHOULD IRAN BE REFERRED TO THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL? The Security Council's basic function is to ensure compliance with the [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty], and right now we are seeing compliance by Iran.

DO WE NEED THE U.N. TO CONTROL NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES? Unless you are ready to bomb your way through every country you suspect of developing weapons of mass destruction, I see no alternative to international inspectors. The lesson of Iraq is that we should be very cautious about jumping to conclusions. the u.s. says you no longer have a role In Iraq. We could close the nuclear file faster than the U.S. team. We have the experience. We know where to go. We know the scientists. And we have credibility.

http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901031124-543746,00.html

[DoctorZIn]

50 lashes for violating Ramadhan codes in Iran

TEHRAN (AFP) - Seven Iranian women in the southwestern city of Shiraz were sentenced to 50 lashes each for undermining strict Islamic codes during the holy month of Ramadhan, a hardline paper reported Saturday.
The women, wearing heavy makeup, were dancing and listening to loud music at the time of "iftar", the evening meal that breaks the day-long fast during Ramadhan, making fun of fasting Muslims, the Kayhan newspaper said.

They were arrested by police, the paper said, without giving any further details. Iran, governed by strict Islamic law since the 1979 revolution, prohibits drinking, smoking and eating in public places during Ramadhan.

Even non-Muslims and those excused from fasting for medical reasons are told to keep their non-observance quiet. Anyone found guilty of intentionally flouting this warning is sentenced to lashes and fines.

http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/mon/nov17w25.htm

[DoctorZIn]

IRAN LEADS AID FOR SYRIA'S MISSILE PROGRAMS

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has determined that Iran has been a major contributor to Syria's missile development programs.

U.S. officials said Iran has transferred expertise and technology to Syria in such fields as solid-fuel engine development, nonconventional warheads and guidance systems. The officials said some of the Iranian transfer reflects indigenous capabilities and others were obtained directly from such countries as China, Russia and North Korea.

"Damascus is pursuing both solid- and liquid-propellant missile programs and relies extensively on foreign assistance in these endeavors," Undersecretary of State John Bolton said. "North Korean and Iranian entities have been most prominent in aiding Syria's recent ballistic missile development."

In testimony to the House subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia, Bolton said Syria has obtained chemical warheads for a portion of its Scud missile arsenal. The U.S. official, who heads nonproliferation issues in the Bush administration, said Syrian missiles can reach Israel, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey.

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2003/november/11_16_4.html

[DoctorZIn]

Al-Tamimi's Top Iraqi Scientist Likely Fled to Iran

November 17, 2003
Associated Press
Dafna Linzer

The Iraqi scientist who headed Saddam Hussein's long-range missile program has fled to neighboring Iran, a country identified as a state sponsor of terrorism with a successful missile program and nuclear ambitions, U.S. officers involved in the weapons hunt told the Associated Press.

Dr. Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimi's departure comes as top weapons makers from Saddam's deposed regime find themselves eight months out of work but with skills that could be lucrative to militaries or terrorist organizations in neighboring countries. U.S. officials have said some are already in Syria and Jordan.

Experts long feared the collapse of Saddam's rule could lead to the kind of scientific brain-drain the United States tried to prevent as the former Soviet Union collapsed. But the Bush administration had no plan for Iraqi scientists and instead officials suggested they could be tried for war crimes.

"There are a couple hundred Iraqis who are really good scientists, particularly in the missile area," said Jonathan Tucker, a former U.N. inspector now with the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute in California. "In the chemical and biological areas, their work wasn't state of the art but it was good enough to be of interest to other countries."

Only now is the State Department exploring the possibility of a government-funded program to block a scientific exodus and prevent Iraqis from doing future research in weapons of mass destruction. Initial cost estimates for the program run about million, according to a Nov. 3 draft proposal obtained by AP.

Two members of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency involved in questioning scientists in custody told AP the Iraqis continue to deny the existence of illicit weapons programs in Iraq. Dozens of Iraqi scientists have been questioned and less than 30 remain in custody. All of them, including senior members of Saddam's regime, have been subjected to lie-detector tests, which have come up clean on weapons questioning, the DIA officers said.

But U.S. scientists and weapons experts, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, said they're having trouble finding some Iraqi experts in Iraq and have no way of tracking ones they've met.

"They could leave Baghdad tomorrow and we'd never know," said one senior official involved in the hunt. "Very few are obligated to tell us where they're going or what they're up to."

U.N. inspectors spoke with Dr. Modher in Baghdad a week before the U.S.-led war began on March 20. Two U.S. weapons investigators say they believe he crossed the Iraq-Iran border on foot at least two months after U.S. forces took Baghdad.

His activities in Iran are unclear and may explain why his disappearance hasn't been disclosed publicly. The CIA declined to discuss its efforts with Iraqi scientists or identify individuals.

Thought to be in his mid 50s, the Czech-educated scientist specialized in missile engines. He met numerous times with U.N. inspectors during the 1990s and earlier this year when he argued that the Al-Samoud missile system under his command wasn't in violation of a U.N. range limit. The inspectors determined otherwise when tests showed it could fly more than 93 miles. They quickly began destroying the Iraqi stock, much to his frustration.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1117iraq-scientist17.html

[DoctorZIn]

EU's Solana Says Iran Honest on Nuclear Program

November 17, 2003
Reuters
Marie-Louise Moller

BRUSSELS - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Monday that Iran had been honest about its nuclear program and should not be reported to the U.N. Security Council this week for potential sanctions. His comments contrasted with the public stance of the United States, which says it wants the U.N. nuclear watchdog to declare Tehran has not complied with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to report it to the Security Council.

Solana also sounded more trusting than the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which said in a report leaked last week that while there was no evidence Iran was developing atomic weapons, it had failed to declare some past nuclear activities.

Solana said it was now up to Tehran to comply with an agreement it reached with three EU foreign ministers last month to halt uranium enrichment and open all its nuclear facilities to intrusive spot checks by U.N. inspectors.

"They have been honest. Let's see if they continue this all the way to the end," he told reporters before talks with Hassan Rohani, secretary of Iran's powerful National Security Council.

Asked if the board of the IAEA should report Tehran to the Security Council for concealing the scope of its nuclear program, which Washington says is a front for efforts to develop a bomb, Solana said he hoped not.

"I think that the decision that will be taken on the 20th will be less than that. It will not be a report to the United Nations, that is my hope. They (Iran) have to clearly manifest that they are doing what they committed to do," Solana said.

DIFFERENCES WITH WASHINGTON

Rohani, a conservative cleric close to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also met the foreign ministers of Britain and France, who along with Germany negotiated last month's deal offering the prospect of sharing technology if Iran ends uranium enrichment and accepts tough spot inspections.

Both sides described the talks as constructive.

Rohani told reporters there were no grounds to take Tehran to the Security Council and he did not expect such a move.

"Iran's dossier on our peaceful nuclear program leaves no justification, no reason for our case to be sent to the Security Council. Therefore I have no concerns whatsoever," Rohani said.

Visiting EU headquarters on the same day as Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, he said he had also raised "the danger posed by the arsenal of weapons of mass destruction of Israel."

Israel formally denies having atomic weapons but is widely believed by Western governments to be the only Middle East state with a nuclear arsenal.

EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss policy toward Iran with Secretary of State Colin Powell when he visits Brussels Tuesday.

The United States wants the 35-nation IAEA board to pass a resolution declaring Tehran in breach of its obligations under the treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

But EU diplomats played down talk of differences, saying U.S. and European officials were seeking a consensus text.

An EU diplomat said Rohani's talks with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and a senior German official covered Iran's longer-term ties with "the wider West" -- code for the United States.

"What we are actively working toward is establishing this as a long-term process...to build further on Iran's relations with the wider West," the diplomat said.

Solana said Brussels and Washington shared the same aim, but the Europeans believed engagement was a better way to make Iran comply rather than threats.

The IAEA said in last week's report that the jury was still out on whether Iran had in the past tried in secret to develop atomic bombs as Washington says.

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=799552&tw=wn_wire_story

[DoctorZIn]

Sanctions against Iran unacceptable

04:36:21 È.Ù
Moscow, Nov 17

International sanctions against Iran would be "unacceptable" as Tehran has been open about its nuclear programme, Russia's Atomic Energy Minister said in an interview published Monday.

Alexander Rumyantsev said he hoped that the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, which on Thursday is to hold a key meeting on Iran, would "note the growing transparency and openness" of the Islamic Republic.

"Sanctions are unaccceptable as nothing has been discovered," the Russian Minister told the Vremya Novostei daily.

"Iran has shown everything it has (in the nuclear field). It is hard to imagine Iran still has something to disclose."

Iran, which is building its first nuclear power reactor with the assistance of Russia, is accused by the United States of using the atomic power project as a cover to develop nuclear weapons.

Copyright 2002,

http://www.iribnews.com/Full_en.asp?news_id=192618

[DoctorZIn]

Missing Iranian student activist back in prison

AFP - World News (via Iranmania)
Nov 17, 2003

TEHRAN -- A prominent Iranian student activist reported missing after he met with a visiting United Nations rights envoy is back in prison, his father was quoted as saying in press reports Monday.

The activist, Ahmad Batebi, was reported by his father to have gone missing on Saturday after meeting the UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, who spent a week here on a key fact-finding mission.

Batebi was one of hundreds detained during student-led protests in Tehran in 1999, and a photograph of him holding aloft a bloodstained T-shirt -- a picture that was widely carried across the world -- earned him a death sentence for propagating against the Islamic regime.

His sentence was eventually reduced on appeal to 13 years imprisonment, and he had been on prison leave for medical reasons when he met with Ligabo.

The prison leave had been due to expire on Monday. But his father, Mohammad Baqer Batebi, was quoted as saying he had been informed by Tehran's chief prosecutor -- hardliner Saeed Mortazavi -- that the student activist was now back behind bars.

The father also complained that he himself had been interrogated and threatened with arrest, and said his son then phoned home but had sparked worries about his condition due to the tone of his voice.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_3591.shtml

[DoctorZIn]

Movement condemns Istanbul murders and the preparation of the so-called "Ghods Day"

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Nov 17, 2003

The Movement has issued a strong condemnation of the bombings which killed over 20 people in Istanbul and injured over 200 other mainly among Turkish Jewish worshipers.

SMCCDI slammed, in addition, the Islamic republic regime for its main role in the raise of terrorism in the region while noting most of the clerics main involvments in many deadly actions and support of various death groups around the World and especially in Iraq.

The statement critisized, as well, the refusal of many European mayors, such as in Berlin (Germany) to ban the hate meetings named "Ghods Day" which is calling for the annhiliation of the Israeli state and its residents. The movement reminded that the Istanbul bombings, similar to those happened last decade in Argentina, occured just a day following the harsh tone call of the Islamic regime's Supreme leader asking for the "celebration" of "Ghods Day" around the World.

The original Persian text can be seen, in the Persian Section, located at: http://www.daneshjoo.org/cgi-bin/farsinews/viewnews.cgi?category=4&id=1069013057

Its translation is under progress and will be posted on the Public Statement of the website.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_3600.shtml

[nuconvert]

IRAN: THE MOST DANGEROUS NATION ON EARTH

Christopher Holton
11/17/2003
Iran poses the greatest threat to world peace and America's security. Iran has been a self-proclaimed enemy of the United States since 1979 when members of the radical Islamist regime invaded the U.S. embassy and took much of its staff hostage.

Iran is unique as a threat due to a combination of 4 factors:

(1) Active involvement on the wrong side in the war on terrorism.
(2) A growing ballistic missile program.
(3) A large arsenal of chemical and biological weapons.
(4) A quest for nuclear weapons.

An issue has been raised about the credibility of the Bush administration's use of intelligence to justify Operation Iraqi Freedom, especially as that intelligence applied to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Even though I believe this issue to be nothing but a red herring floated for political purposes, this report will attempt to put the Iranian threat in a historical perspective by illustrating the threat's growth in the 1990s and by citing statements by officials of the Clinton administration to debunk any thoughts that the Iranian threat is trumped up by "neo-conservatives."

The Iranian threat is real and it is growing.

Iranian Support for Islamist Terrorism

Iran sponsors Islamist terrorism around the globe.

Iran is the chief supporter of Hezbollah, a terrorist group described by the U.S. State Department and Senator Bob Graham as the "A Team" of Islamist terrorism. Until September 11th, 2001, Hezbollah boasted the highest body count of Americans of any Islamist terrorist group. Among other atrocities, Hezbollah was responsible for the 1983 truck-borne Kamikaze attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut in which 241 Americans were killed.

Perhaps no nation has done more to disrupt the Arab-Israeli peace process than Iran, which has provided funding, supplies and training for the two prominent Palestinian Islamist groups, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Despite the fact that Al Qaida is a Sunni Islamist group with beliefs supposedly opposed to those of the Shiite theocracy in Tehran, Iran had also provided safe haven for Al Qaida operatives since before America's war on terrorism began. Iran's support for Al Qaida was documented in Bill Gertz's bestseller, Breakdown, in which Gertz quotes a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst who uncovered the Iran-Al Qaida alliance. That alliance was also documented by former CIA agent Robert Baer in his bestseller, See No Evil. When U.S. forces dismantled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, hundreds of Al Qaida terrorists fled across the border into neighboring Iran where they were granted safe haven in training camp-like enclaves, complete with rifle ranges.

More recently, Geostrategy-Direct reported that Iran had been holding 15 senior Al Qaida operatives, including Osama Bin Laden's son, Saad. Intelligence sources believe Saad directed a bombing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from Tehran and Saudi authorities were said to be furious that the Iranians let Saad and other senior operatives leave Iran without turning them over to Saudi Arabia or one of its allies. Geostrategy-Direct quoted U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitrage as testifying before the U.S. Senate that Iran was "the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism." Armitrage also said that Iran has helped Al Qaida operatives escape U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.

Furthermore, as World Tribune reported on Tuesday November 4th, numerous Al Qaida operatives have been infiltrating into northern Iraq from Iran, with the intention of carrying out terrorist attacks against U.S. and Kurdish forces.

Iran's Missile Threat

Iran's decision to surrender to Iraq in the 1980-88 war was mostly due to Iraq's ballistic missile attacks on Tehran. According to Britain's authoritative Center for Defence and International Security Studies (CDISS), as soon as that war ended, Iran embarked on a major program to develop long-range ballistic missiles.

Iran is rapidly developing missiles and western Europe could soon be within range of their arsenal. If the French, Germans and Italians fall within range of Iranian missiles equipped with WMD warheads, cooperation with the U.S., such as it is, could halt.

According to CDISS, Iran has a large arsenal of missiles. Their inventory includes everything from relatively short-range Chinese-made CSS-8 missiles with a range of 118 miles or so, to the Shihab-3 MRBM (Medium Range Ballistic Missile) with a range of over 800 miles.

Credible reports in the West indicate the development of a Shihab-4 missile with a range of over 1,200 miles, which would put Europe within reach. Iran denies that it is developing longer-range ballistic missiles.

Most ominous is Iran's relationship with North Korea in the area of ballistic missile research. The Shihab series is believed to be derived from North Korea's Nodong series. Iran has invested heavily in Kim Jong Il's missile program and the North is known to be developing the Taepo Dong ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), which it test fired in 1998. CDISS estimates that the Taepo Dong 2 may have a range of as much as 3,700 miles. With a belligerent, cash-strapped North Korea that has already exported some 400 ballistic missiles to the Middle East and an oil-rich, belligerent Islamist Iran, it may only be a matter of a few years before Iran can strike as far away as London. And once the threshold of multiple stage rockets is crossed, the technical obstacles to developing a missile that could reach even further--including all the way to the United States--are relatively easy to overcome.

According to a September 2000 article in Bar Ilam University's Middle East Review of International Affairs, it is probably prudent to assume that Iran will possess ballistic missiles capable of striking U.S. cities by 2010.

Iran's Chemical and Biological Weaponry

In a report published during the Clinton administration in June 1997, the CIA declared that Iran was active in seeking all types of WMD as well as the capability to produce them. In 1996, Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Studies said that Iran was producing "several hundred tons of chemical agent a year" and that its then-current stockpile stood at 2,000 tons. Eisenstadt described Iran's chemical warfare program as "the most active chemical warfare program in the developing world."

While Iran is at least evasive and at worst dishonest about its WMD programs, a statement made by their Revolutionary Guards Corps commander, Yahya Rahim Safavi, in the spring of 1998 may reveal their intentions with regard to WMD:

"Can we withstand American threats and domineering attitude with a policy of detente? Can we foil dangers coming from America through dialogue between civilizations? Will we be able to protect the Islamic Republic from international Zionism by signing conventions to ban the proliferation of chemical and nuclear weapons?"

There has been much talk of reform in Iran, but even reformists in Tehran seem keen to develop WMD. In 1999, CIA Director George Tenet stated bluntly that "Iran's reformists and conservatives agree on at least one thing: weapons of mass destruction are a necessary component of defense and a high priority."

According to the Monterey Institute of International Studies' Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Iran has been stockpiling cyanogens, phosgene and mustard gas since 1985 and even used chemical weapons in limited quantities during its war with Iraq. In 1994, Iran began domestic production of nerve agent as well. On September 21, 2000, the CIA's Deputy Director of the Agency's Non-Proliferation Center, A. Norman Schindler, testified before a Senate subcommittee that Iran was "rapidly approaching self sufficiency and could become a supplier of chemical weapons-related materials to other nations."

If Iran is capable of supplying chemical weapons to other nations, it would seem plausible that it would be capable of supplying such agents to the Islamist terrorist groups that it has been sponsoring for decades.

Iran's biological weapons program is much murkier. They are suspected of having a bio-weapons research facility believed to be located at Damghan, about 150 miles due east of Tehran and 50 miles south of the Caspian Sea. The CIA believes that Iran has had a biological weapons research program since the 1980s and, given the nation's relatively advanced legitimate biomedical research capability, biological weaponry is within their reach.

There have been independent reports of Iranian forays into bio-weaponry. On August 14, 1989, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported that an Iranian scientist had made repeated efforts to obtain harmful fungi from Canadian and Dutch sources and, in December 1998, the New York Times reported that Iran was attempting to hire former Soviet scientists who had worked on the U.S.S.R.'s biological weapons program.

The Iranian Nuclear Program

Despite the seemingly rosy news of an agreement between the European Union and Iran to allow inspections of its supposedly "peaceful" nuclear power program, there are years of historical evidence that Iran's nuclear program is in fact a weapons program (IAEA denials notwithstanding).

Citing sources within Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, respected New York Times columnist William Safire reported that hundreds of Russian scientists were in Iran building nuclear reactors and that, since Iran sits on a sea of cheap oil, its only reason for building a nuclear reactor was to produce plutonium for bombs.

The Iranians, of course, deny this.

In January 1994, Undersecretary of State for International Security, Lynn Davis, told USA Today that "Iran's actions leave little doubt that Tehran is intent upon developing nuclear weapons capabilities." Davis went on to say that "Iran's nuclear acquisitions are inconsistent with any rational civil nuclear program."

To this day, Iran claims that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and they insist that they have no desire to have nuclear weapons. The IAEA seems intent on taking them at their word.

However, if one digs deep enough, one finds more sinister motives--out in the open for all to see. Probably no one has done a better job of digging than Kenneth R. Timmerman who, in 1995, wrote Iran's Nuclear Program: Myth and Reality
, which was published by the Middle East Data Project. He found four alarming statements by two Iranian leaders and two other world leaders with regard to nuclear weaponry--statements that leave little doubt as to the Iranians' true intentions.

In February 1987, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini uttered these words in a speech before his country's Atomic Energy Organization:

"Regarding atomic energy, we need it now. Our nation has always been threatened from the outside. The least we can do to face the danger is to let our enemies know that we can defend ourselves. Therefore, every step you take here is in defense of your country and your revolution. With this in mind, you should work hard and at great speed."

That certainly does not sound as if the Ayatollah wants nuclear power to air condition his mosque!

An even more overt statement came a year later. In a broadcast over Tehran radio in October 1988, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani
made this chilling declaration that called for the development of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons:

"We should fully equip ourselves both in the offensive and defensive use of chemical, bacteriological and radiological weapons."

It was only after Iran's nuclear program began to grow and the Iranians began to secure the assistance of Russia and China that denials about their quest for nuclear weapons started popping up. But there is simply no getting around the fact that the scope and size of Iran's nuclear program is way beyond what one would reasonably expect from an oil-rich nation. Between 1988 and 1995, Iran started construction on no fewer than 15 nuclear facilities. That is the kind of active program that one would expect from a country in a severe energy crisis--or one that is hell-bent on having nuclear weapons.

A lot more evidence of Iranian nuclear intentions surfaced during the 1990s. German and French security officials reported that, from 1992 to 1995, they foiled several; attempts by Iranian intelligence agents to purchase equipment needed to create an atomic bomb. But perhaps the clearest evidence spilled out in January 1995 in a nuclear deal signed between Iran and Russia. After the U.S. strongly protested the agreement, Russian President Boris Yeltsin acknowledged that the agreement did in fact contain a military "component" and he announced that he was voiding that portion:

"But it is true that the contract does contain components of civilian and military nuclear energy. Now we have agreed to separate those two. In as much as they relate to the military component and the potential for creating weapons grade fuel and other matters--the centrifuge, the construction of shafts--we have decided to exclude those aspects from the contract."

Such statements make Iranian claims that they do not desire to have nuclear weapons appear to be bald-faced lies.

There is still more evidence. Ukrainian President Leonid Kucha was quoted as saying that Iran was seeking help from his nation to build nuclear weapons:

"We need oil from Iran because Russia is strangling us. We have no intention of responding to the repeated request by the Iranians to share with them know-how on nuclear weapons, or to sell them any equipment in this field."

Once again, lest you believe that this is Bush administration "neo-con" scare mongering, the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program was recognized long ago by members of the Clinton executive branch. Way back in 1994, the head of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, John Hollum, predicted that Iran would have an atomic bomb in ten years--in other words, 2004. And an authoritative report by the Monterey Institute of International Studies written in 1995 quoted unnamed U.S. and Israeli intelligence officials as saying that they believed Iran would be nuclear-armed in a ten year time frame--in other words, 2005.

Either way, we are getting perilously close.

Perhaps that is why the Iranians are now going to great lengths to conceal the true nature of their nuclear program, perhaps so that they can avoid a confrontation with the West before they have a nuclear bomb.

The Iranians seem to be using the playbook that North Korea successfully used to become a nuclear power. First the Iranians feign cooperation, then they prevaricate. They insist that their nuclear program is entirely peaceful, then claim to reserve the sovereign right to do as they wish with nuclear power. One day we may wake up and the Ayatollahs in Iran will suddenly announce that they have The Bomb.

And then our options will be non-existent. Then it will be too late.

http://www.nationalsecurityonline.com/special.php

[DoctorZIn]

Powell says Solana went to far in saying Iran 'honest' with

IAEA
17 November 2003

The split between the United States and Europe over Iran's nuclear program widened on Monday as US Secretary of State Colin Powell said an EU evaluation that Tehran had been "honest" with the UN's atomic watchdog had gone too far.

"I wouldn't have gone quite as far," Powell told reporters in reference to the judgement on Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) presented earlier Monday by top EU diplomat Javier Solana.

He reaffirmed the US position that an IAEA report on Iranian compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) had proved Washington's contention that Tehran was seeking to develop atomic weapons -- an assertion not contained in the report and apparently not shared in Europe.

"It confirms what the United States has been saying for some time, and which we believe, that the Iranian nuclear development program was for more than just the production of power," Powell said.

"It had an intent to produce a nuclear weapon and I think that the information that has come forward establishes that," he said after meeting at the State Department with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.

Fischer, along with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and French Foreign Minister Dominque de Villepin, travelled to Tehran last month and won a key concession from the Iranians to stop enriching uranium.

Powell acknowledged that the trio had played a "very, very helpful role" in dealing with Iran but said the Islamic republic's history of deception about its nuclear intentions made Solana's judgement premature.

That history "should cause all of us to have serious concerns about judging too quickly whether or not we have received a full and complete story from the Iranians," he said.

Solana, speaking earlier in Brussels, said Iran had been "honest" in its nuclear dealings with the international community but stressed that it must now implement a deal to open up its nuclear sites to snap inspections.

"They have been honest. Let's see if they continue all the way to the end," he told reporters ahead of talks with Powell in the Belgian capital on Tuesday and a meeting of the IAEA governing board in Vienna on Thursday.

"We still have some hurdles to pass, but we have passed some very important ones," Solana said, adding that he did not expect the board to refer the Iranian matter to the UN Security Council, a move that could lead to sanctions.

Text and Picture Copyright © 2003 AFP. All other copyright © 2003 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.

http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/031117184418.lata67rx

[DoctorZIn]

Iran denies harbouring Iraqi rocket scientist
Also, top Iraqi officials blames porous borders for flow of foreign fighters

ALI AKBAR DAREINI
ASSOCIATED PRESS

TEHRAN - Tehran today denied that a top Iraqi scientist who headed Saddam Hussein's long-range missile program has fled to Iran.

The government reaction came a day after The Associated Press reported that Dr. Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimi had fled Iraq to neighbouring Iran, quoting U.S. officials close to the hunt for weapons of mass destruction.

"This report is completely baseless," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi told Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Also today, the president of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council said he does not believe Iran or Syria are behind violence in his country, but that militants could be slipping across the "out of control" borders, IRNA reported.

Jalal Talabani led a Governing Council delegation that arrived Monday on a first visit to Iran. His delegation was expected to sign political, economic and security agreements with Iran, IRNA said. Iranian-Iraqi relations were strained under Saddam Hussein and Iran now is wary of U.S. influence over its neighbour.

U.S. officials have called on Iraq's neighbours, Syria and Iran, to do more to keep infiltrators out of Iraq.

Foreign fighters inspired by anti-U.S. Muslim militant rhetoric, Saddam loyalists and Iraqis angered at being under U.S.-led occupation are believed behind a series of attacks on U.S. forces, international aid agencies and Iraqis working with the occupation administration.

The scientist's reported departure came as top weapons makers from Saddam's deposed regime find themselves eight months out of work but with skills that could be lucrative to militaries or terrorist organizations in neighbouring countries. U.S. officials have said some are already in Syria and Jordan.

UN inspectors spoke with the missile expert in Baghdad a week before the U.S.-led war began March 20. Two U.S. weapons investigators say they believe he crossed the Iraq-Iran border on foot at least two months after U.S. forces took Baghdad.

His alleged activities in Iran are unclear and may explain why his disappearance has not been publicly disclosed. The CIA declined to discuss its efforts with Iraqi scientists or identify individuals.

Thought to be in his mid-50s, the Czech-educated scientist specialized in missile engines. He met numerous times with UN inspectors during the 1990s and earlier this year when he argued that the Al-Samoud missile system under his command didn't violate a UN range limit. The inspectors determined otherwise when tests showed it could fly more than 150 kilometres. They quickly began destroying the Iraqi stock, much to his frustration.

"Dr. Modher was declared by Iraq to have been one of the principal figures in their missile programs," said Ewen Buchanan, spokesperson for the UN inspectors.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1069069223371&call_pageid=968256289824&col=968705899037

[DoctorZIn]

EU Welcomes Developments in Iraq, Iran

VOA News
17 Nov 2003, 17:34 UTC

The European Union has welcomed plans to restore self-government in Iraq and what it calls the openness Iran has shown about its nuclear program.
E.U. foreign ministers expressed satisfaction over a plan for a handover of power in Iraq from the U.S.-led coalition to a sovereign Iraqi government by June. Their statement came on the first of two days of talks in Brussels.

Meanwhile, the E.U. foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, praised Iran for what he called being honest so far in its dealings with the international community about its nuclear program. He urged Iran to implement a deal Tehran reached with three E.U. ministers last month to stop enriching uranium and allow unfettered inspections of its nuclear facilities. Mr. Solana expressed hope the International Atomic Energy Agency will not report Tehran to the U.N. Security Council, where it could face sanctions over its nuclear program.

Mr. Solana's comments followed talks with the head of Iran's National Security Council, Hassan Rohani, who stressed Iran's commitment to the agreement.

The E.U. ministers also met Monday with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Shalom told reporters before the meeting that Europe can play a key role in the peace process, but it must have what he called a more balanced attitude on the situation.

The E.U. ministers are to issue a statement Tuesday criticizing Israel for boycotting meetings with the E.U.'s Middle East envoy since he met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in September.

In the statement, the ministers are likely to also criticize Israeli plans for a security barrier in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in Rome for talks with Italian leaders on the Middle East situation and Israel's relationship with the European Union. Italy holds the rotating E.U. presidency.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=4AA9F4AC-920F-4EC1-9B9AF96FCC1933DE

[DoctorZIn]

IRAQ OCCUPATION TO END SOON: TALABANI

TEHRAN, 17 Nov. (IPS)

Jalal Talabani, the Chairman of Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) said that the American ruler of Iraq (Paul Bremer) has agreed to establish the Iraqi government and "God willing, Iraqi occupation will come to an end in near future".

"The people’s fate will be handed to the Iraqi people themselves with establishment of an independent government", Mr. Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of (Iraqi) Kurdistan added upon his arrival to Tehran.

Pressed by journalist at the airport on the worsening security situation in Iraq, Mr. Talabani minimised the crisis, saying that a terrorist group remnants of the deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hoseyn caused insecurity in Iraq.

"They are involved in sabotage in a small area. "In other areas, southern Iraq, Kurdistan and northern Iraq the situation is calm. Supporters of Saddam and al-Qa’eda are sabotaging only in a small area", Talabani said.

Leading a heading a 17-member delegation from both the IGC and the so-called government, Mr. Talabani told reporters upon his arrival in Tehran that he expects to reach important agreements with Iran on political, economic and security areas.

Mr. Kamal Kharrazi, the Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister who welcomed the Iraqi delegation said that Talabani’s visit to Iran is a good opportunity to develop economic and political cooperation between the two countries.

"We, the Iraqi neighbours, cannot remain indifferent toward what is going on in Iraq", Kharrazi said, adding, "We are always ready to cooperate with Iraq. We are ready to do what we can to help expedite establishment of Iraqi independent government".

"Iran favours Iraq becoming free and independent and be ruled by the Iraqi people themselves", Kharrazi said, assuring the Iraqis that Tehran was ready to help in restoring stability and peace in the war-ravaged Iraq.

This is the first time that the American-installed, but powerless IGC is officially visiting neighbouring Iran that Washington has labelled as a "rogue state" and accuses of giving a helping hand to Iraqis opposed to American military presence in Iraq.

"Tehran’s policy is based on non-interference in the internal affairs of the war-torn country and its territorial integrity", Mr. Kharrazi told the visiting Iraqi delegation, adding that Iran hoped for speedy formation of an independent authoritative government in Iraq "in accordance with the will and determination of the Iraqi people".

In the meeting, Kharrazi reiterated earlier Iranian engagement to help Iraq’s reconstruction by exporting natural gas and electricity to Iraq.

"Collaboration between the two counties will strengthen regional peace and security and will lead to broader regional cooperation", Kharrazi noted, adding that joint investments and undertakings in various fields including railway, energy, trade, banking, exchange of tourists and pilgrims are among the potential grounds for cooperation.

For his part, Talabani an old friend of the Islamic Republic, said that Iran’s positive approach to IGC marks the significance of future cooperation and called for close ties and expansion of collaboration between the two states in all fields.

Reminding that Iran is one of the first countries that immediately recognised the Iraqi Governing Council, Talabani said "IGC is attempting towards further integration of Iraqis, consolidation of national unity and protection of Iraq’s territorial integrity, "hence our today visit aimed primarily to develop relations with Iran in all fields".

"Given that Iraq’s stability is important and indispensable, IGC closely follows the policy of establishing and safeguarding stability in Iraq by cooperating with neighbouring states", he added.

Under Saddam Hoseyn, Iran fought an eight years deadly war with Iraq, costing the two nations millions of dead and wounded as well as thousands of towns and villages destroyed.

Talabani voiced Iraq’s interest in Iran’s participation in the country’s reconstruction process and underlined that the interests of both countries as well as regional peace and stability depend on expansion of cooperation and deepening friendly ties between the two neighbouring countries.

Kharrazi and Talabani agreed to hold dialogues at the ministerial and deputy ministerial level as well as representatives of the private sector to discuss cooperation and exploitation of the potentials of both sides.

After a meeting with the lamed Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Talebani said United States should not oppose proposed energy swaps with Iran intended to help rebuild his war-torn state

When asked about U.S. opposition to cutting a deal with Iran, Talabani said there were "no impediments to co-operation.

"What we want to do with our Iranian brothers is to the benefit of...Iraq's reconstruction. If they are our friends, they should not oppose it," he told reporters.

A swaps deal appeals to the Iraqis who are finding access to markets difficult because of infrastructure and sabotage problems on export lines.

The British news agency Reuters quoted Iranian oil industry sources as having said that Tehran was willing to take delivery of 350,000 barrels per day of Iraq's Basra Light crude into its Abadan refinery in southwestern Iran.

The equivalent amount of Iranian Light crude could then be sold on behalf of Baghdad via Iran's Kharg Island terminal in the Gulf

Iraqi Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a Shi’ite Muslim, was not among the original delegation that arrived today in Tehran, Mr. Kharrazi said he would join it later in the day.

ENDS IRAN IRAQ 171103

http://www.iran-press-service.com/articles_2003/Nov-2003/iraq_iran_171103.htm

[DoctorZIn]

Tense situation in Iranian Universities

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Nov 17, 2003

A tense situation is existing in most Iranian Universities, such as Tehran, Mashad, Esfahan, Oroomiah (former Rezai-e) and Hamadan due to the constent harassements made by the regime's security apparatus and so-called "Bassij Students".

The already existing repressive conditions have increased with the Islamic month of Ramadan and the desperate try of the regime to force the students for the observance of religious rituals. Students are questionned and even threaten to be ban if they "eat food" outside the "religious time frame" starting at the beginning of the night, caught listening music or discussion with opposite sex.

Sporadic strikes, refusal to eat food during the religious hours and open crtics of the regime and the religion, despite the heavy presence of the regime's men, are taking place on daily basis.

The regime's men and the universities managements are becoming very nerveous as especially rumors of wider strikes are being heard in many sectors of the Iranian economy and services and as the official "student Day" is approaching.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_3613.shtml

[DoctorZIn]

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[Grampa Dave]

The Soros controlled media throughout the world has kept the lid on this incredible story.

Soros is a real buddy of the vile America/Jew hating mullahs who currently rule Iran. So we end up with these results:

"The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

"There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government."