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U.S. wins a united front on Iran Nicholas Kralev WASHINGTON TIMES October 3,2006 The United States is confident that Russia and China will join it in pushing for U.N. sanctions against Iran if it does not agree to suspend enriching uranium this week, a senior U.S. official said yesterday. R. Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, also said the U.N. Security Council will insist on a clear answer to its demand that Iran suspend its enrichment activity. A "maybe" will be considered a "no," he said. "For four months now, we've been waiting for an answer," Mr. Burns...

Invasion Not Found in the History Books Deep in the recesses of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., hidden for nearly four decades lie thousands of pages of yellowing and dusty documents stamped "Top Secret". These documents, now declassified, are the plans for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan during World War II. Only a few Americans in 1945 were aware of the elaborate plans that had been prepared for the Allied Invasion of the Japanese home islands. Even fewer today are aware of the defenses the Japanese had prepared to counter the invasion had it been launched. Operation Downfall...

One hears not an encouraging word about US President George W Bush these days, even from Republican loyalists. Yet I believe that Bush will stage the strongest political comeback of any US politician since Abraham Lincoln won re-election in 1864 in the midst of the American Civil War. Two years ago I wrote that Bush would win a second term as president but live to regret it. Iraq's internal collapse and the president's poll numbers bear my forecast out. But Bush's Republicans will triumph in next November's congressional elections for the same reason that Bush beat Democratic challenger John Kerry...

The chief of staff of the Iranian army, General Atallah Salhi, said on Friday that Tehran has detected signs that the "Zionist regime" is falling apart. "Over the last few months we saw an offensive by the enemy against the Lebanese people and Hizbullah and we then saw signs that the Zionist regime is collapsing, and now we saw signs that the American leadership is collapsing," he said, warning that Iran can defeat Israel. Salahi spoke during a parade in Tehran to mark "The Holy Defense Week" which marks the start of the Iran-Iraq war. He addressed Israel and the...

MEDFORD, Mass.IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM has displaced Iraq as America's most serious foreign-policy problem. The question is whether we can live with nuclear weapons controlled by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the mullahs.President Ahmadinejad said that Iran would not be deprived of its "inalienable right" to develop nuclear power, and does not seek nuclear weapons. Despite these assurances, the ominous conclusion is that Tehran is arguably producing fissile material for nuclear weapons and defying the United Nations Security Council, as recent events suggest:On Aug. 22, Iran refused to allow inspectors from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog group, the International Atomic Energy...

Former President Clinton said Thursday the U.S. should try talking to Iran about its nuclear weapons ambitions without imposing a lot of conditions. "If you think you might have trouble with somebody, and God forbid if you think it could lead to a military confrontation, then there needs to be the maximum amount of contact beforehand," Clinton said in an interview with NBC's "Today" show. The Bush administration has refused to hold direct talks with Iran until it agrees to suspend enrichment of uranium, which the U.S. fears will be used to build nuclear weapons. "The United States should not...

Time magazine reported that the U.S. is hypothetically preparing for an armed conflict with Iran. The magazine asserted that the U.S. Army is preparing an air strike plan of 1,500 targets. Based on information received from U.S. military authorities, Time magazine reported the Pentagon’s war plan prepared specifically for attacks to be waged against Iran. While continuing its diplomatic efforts to ensure the imposition of sanctions against Iran, the U.S. is also making preparations for a probable military intervention. Time also wrote that the Army had been asked to be fully prepared by October 1, while the Pentagon continues works...

A Russian-built nuclear plant in Iran will be commissioned in the autumn of 2007. Russian Federal Nuclear Agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko told reporters in Vienna that the "physical launch" of the nuclear reactor at the Bushehr nuclear plant would take place in September 2007. The plant would come online in November 2007, the Interfax news agency reported. The United States has long objected to Russia's $800 million deal to build the Bushehr plant, saying it could be used by Iran to produce fissionable material for weapons. Russia eventually worked out a deal with Iran for all the plant's spent fuel...

CAIRO, Egypt — An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters returned to the streets across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence. ADVERTISEMENT The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified. The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the...

PARIS-French President Jacques Chirac suggested Monday that the international community renounce referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council during nuclear talks-and that Iran, in return, suspend uranium enrichment. "I don't believe in a solution without dialogue," Chirac said on Europe-1 radio, suggesting that the international community suspend the threat of U.N. sanctions in exchange for Iran's suspension of enrichment during negotiations. "I am not pessimistic," Chirac said. "I think that Iran is a great nation, an old culture, an old civilization, and that we can find solutions through dialogue." He suggested that, firstly an agenda for talks be set forth...

Reza Pahlavi Offers Senators Three-Pronged Approach on Iran; Confront and Pressure the Regime, Support the People 9/14/2006 WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Hosted by US Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Mel Martinez (R-FL) Reza Pahlavi of Iran affirmed the world needed to focus on the big picture regarding the crisis facing his homeland, proposing an integrated three- pronged policy approach to the clerical regime of Iran. Offering his views to US law makers, he said "the best way to deal with the Iranian regime is by confronting it, pressuring it, at the same time supporting the Iranian people." Elaborating...

<p>In his televised 9/11 address, President Bush said that we must not ``leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons.'' There's only one such current candidate: Iran.</p> <p>The next day, he responded thus (as reported by Rich Lowry and Kate O'Beirne of National Review) to a question on Iran: ``It's very important for the American people to see the president try to solve problems diplomatically before resorting to military force.''</p>

"Iran is under threat; there are plans to invade Iran, hopefully it won't happen, but we are with you," Chavez told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a meeting of the Group of 15 developing nations. The U.N. has demanded that Iran suspend uranium enrichment amid concerns by some nations that it could be used for nuclear weapons. Iran insists that its enrichment efforts are peaceful, aimed solely at producing electrical energy. Chavez said Venezuela stands with Iran in this time of crisis, just as it has with Cuba, where Fidel Castro handed over power to Raul while recovering from intestinal...

Iran's largest bank blacklisted From correspondents in Washington September 09, 2006 THE US Treasury Department announced overnight that it had blacklisted one of Iran's largest banks, Bank Saderat, from having any links with US-owned banks. The move effectively cuts Iran's state-owned Bank Saderat off from conducting any business linked to the US financial system. The Treasury Department said it blacklisted Saderat because of its "support for terrorism." "Bank Saderat facilitates Iran's transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations each year," said Stuart Levey, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "We will no longer allow...

IRAN PRESIDENT PLANS TRIP TO NYC; SPEECH AT UNITED NATIONS

Iran: Why the Secrecy? Die Welt welt.de September 04, 2006 European Union foreign ministers met in Finland, at Lappeenranta, on Saturday to back High Representative Javier Solana's continued discussions with Iran. 'Solana said he would not need extensive sessions with Iran to clarify the remaining questions, but did not provide any timetable nor was one set by the EU Foreign Ministers.' Britain, France and Germany each received a secret letter in response to the demand that Iran cease producing nuclear fuel. 'Some of the other EU states are growing impatient with the secretive handling of the Iran issue by foreign...

Annan: Sanctions will not solve Iran nuclear issue By News Agencies and Haaretz Service United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met on Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran. Annan is expected to press Iran to help shore up the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, but diplomats say the talks will also cover Iran's nuclear standoff with the West. Annan said in a newspaper interview before arriving that he hoped for a diplomatic solution that would "avoid another conflict in a region already subjected to a great stress at this moment." Asked about indications that the United States...

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency told the U.N. Security Council its inspectors have found new traces of enriched uranium in Iran. The discovery marked the third instance that highly enriched uranium was found at an Iranian facility, but the IAEA said the nuclear fingerprint on the new discovery does not match that found on earlier samples, which the agency had concluded came from contaminated equipment from Pakistan, The New York Times reported Friday. The 6-page IAEA report did not identify where the uranium might have originated or whether it was connected to a secret...

Seeing Ahmadinejad up close, you appreciate that he is a formidable politician. He played the roomful of 150 journalists like a master performer. He has the look of a bantamweight fighter -- compact and agile, punching well above his weight. He's quick on his feet, answering a broad range of questions, including some critical ones about the Iranian economy, but he came away unscratched. He speaks more softly than you expect, making jokes and, on this occasion, avoiding some of his usual anti-Israel bombast. But the hard edge is never far. His eyes can twinkle one moment and then suddenly...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday challenged the authority of the U.N. Security Council as Iran faces a deadline to halt its uranium enrichment and he called for a televised debate with President Bush on world issues. The Security Council has given Iran until Thursday to suspend enrichment, a process that can produce either fuel for a reactor or material for weapons. ``The U.S. and Britain are the source of many tensions,'' Ahmadinejad said at a news conference. ``At the Security Council, where they have to protect security, they enjoy the veto right. If anybody confronts them,...