Free Republic

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has completed a new phase in its Arak heavy-water reactor plant, a presidential official said on Saturday, referring to part of Iran's atomic program which the West fears is aimed at producing bombs. The official said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would give a speech later in the day "announcing that the heavy-water project has become operational". Iran is building a heavy-water nuclear reactor at Arak, 120 miles southwest of the capital Tehran. The plant's plutonium by-product could be used to make atomic warheads. Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to master technology to produce nuclear weapons. Iran,...

Iran has announced that a heavy water reactor plant south-west of Tehran has been put into operation. The plutonium by-product of the plant could be used to make atomic war-heads but Iran insists it only intends to build nuclear power plants. The move comes days before a UN deadline for Iran to halt uranium enrichment, the part of Tehran's atomic programme that most worries the West. ...................... A Reuters witness said on Saturday the president inaugurated the project and toured the site at Khondab, which is near Arak, 190 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of the capital Tehran. The plant's plutonium...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Tuesday it was ready for "serious negotiations" on its nuclear program, but a semi-official news agency said the government was unwilling to abandon nuclear enrichment — the key U.S. demand. Top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani delivered a written response to ambassadors of Britain, China, Russia, France, Germany and Switzerland to a package of incentives aimed at persuading Iran to roll back on its nuclear program. Larijani refused to disclose whether the response included an offer to suspend uranium enrichment, and no details of Iran's response were released. The state-run television quoted Larijani as telling the...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran handed over on Tuesday its response to a nuclear package aimed at allaying Western fears that Tehran seeks to build atomic bombs, Iran’s state-run Arabic-language Al-Alam television reported. It said Ali Larijani, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, had handed the response to envoys representing the six nations in Tehran at the Supreme National Security Council, which handles the nuclear file. It did not give details of the reply.

Rice calls Lebanese PM to warn him that if the UN Lebanon resolution is not implemented, “We will not be responsible for the consequences” August 13, 2006, 10:18 PM (GMT+02:00) Earlier, Israeli FM Tzipi Livni put in urgent calls to the US secretary and the French foreign minister in an effort to salvage the ceasefire from Iranian-backed Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s 12th-hour retraction of his consent.

Iran's 'supreme leader' — Khamenei — tells country to brace for war In the first such order, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has directed its more than 300,000 troops to prepare for a confrontation with Israel and the United States. IRGC has directed and participated in the Hizbullah war against Israel. "Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards and Basij should prepare themselves to get even with Zionists and Americans," IRGC commander Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi said. "The supreme leader [Ali Khamenei] will announce the time for this." __ Full Text, Subscribers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Northeast Asia Report Report: China builds up 16th Army...

Captured Hizbullah Kidnapper Details Syrian, Iranian Collusion 21:53 Aug 08, '06 / 14 Av 5766 by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz The IDF released videotaped footage of an interview with a captured Hizbullah member who was involved in the July 12th attack in which eight IDF soldiers were killed and two others kidnapped. Chief of military intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin, told cabinet ministers on Sunday that the Hizbullah terrorist had been taken prisoner during an operation in Lebanon. Soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are still being held hostage by the Iranian-backed Hizbullah. Among other revelations of Hizbullah recruitment and training methods, the...

Bush & Blair news conference 12:30ET