Open for Business
Iran may soon be the first of several countries to join the nuclear club, with the help of Russian expertise
By Eve Conant and Adam Piore
NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL
Sept. 8 issue — They call it the “Berlin Wall.” It’s a plain, six-foot-high concrete barrier that bisects an unnamed village outside the Iranian city of Bushehr. On one side, about 1,500 Iranians live under Sharia—they lead quiet, spartan lives of work and prayer at the local mosque, with men and women strictly segregated. A few feet away on the other side of the wall, a rollicking population of 800 or so Russians and Ukrainians swill homemade moonshine and carouse late into the night.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/959468.asp?cp1=1Iran invites EU for nuke cooperation
Tehran, Aug 31 - Iran has invited the European Union for bilateral cooperation on the country's nuclear programs, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh said here Saturday.
Talking to reporters after his meeting with EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, Aqazadeh said Iran has asked the EU to prevent the politicization of the country's nuclear programs.
"During the meeting, we asked the EU representative to prevent the politicization of Iran's nuclear activities so that the agency (International Atomic Energy Agency) could continue its work in a calm atmosphere without propaganda," Aqazadeh said.
< br> "Touching upon the additional protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), we told the European side that Iran is ready to launch the expert discussion to this effect," he added.
He underlined the need to hold talks with the IAEA and said, "It is natural that there are important issues which should be discussed by the two sides in order to clear the ambiguities."
The official noted that Iran's cooperation with the IAEA is beyond legal commitments as the director general of the agency had confirmed such an issue so the agency be helped to reach favorable results.
He said this time the two sides held more positive talks compared to previous negotiations, adding European states are interested to cooperate more with Iran after signing the additional protocol.
The EU is also interested to be informed of Iran's nuclear programs, he added.
In a meeting with Aqazadeh, Solana urged Iran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying "Tehran's cooperation with IAEA will remove ambiguities and hasten to assuage the prevailing political atmosphere."
Solana urged Iran to embark on a confidence building process with the aim of assuring the world community and to calm the international atmosphere on Iran's nuclear program.
http://www.iribnews.com/Full_en.asp?news_id=187035&n=14"Will Israel or the United States take out the plant with a pre-emptive air or missile strike—just as Israeli bombers leveled Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981? Such a move would have to come before the plant goes online in early 2004 to avoid turning the region into a radioactive mess."
Early 2004 - this is the first I can remember seeing this date. A decision needs to made quickly.
Not much time.