[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

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Iran Articles/News Executive Summary Update Titles and Links February 15, 2006



Iran must be stopped, says Olmert

February 15, 2006
scotsman.com
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=236472006
Iran's president is obsessed with hatred of the Jews and must be stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons,
For years, Israeli officials have identified Iran as the country's biggest threat. That fear has heightened since the election of Iran's radical president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel's destruction and questioned whether the Holocaust occurred.
.
Olmert called for "concrete joint action by the international community" to halt Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran, Iraq, Hamas Make 2006 Year Of Crisis for Bush

February 14, 2006
RealClear Politics
Mort Kondracke
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_14_06_MK.html
That's because Iran's extremist government is not only defying the world community in developing nuclear weapons, but is highly influential in Iraq and is allied with Hamas and will try to undermine whatever economic pressure the U.S. tries to bring to force accommodation with Israel.

Iran's radical Islamist president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, traveled to Syria in January and not only sealed an alliance with that terrorist-aiding regime, but also met with leaders of Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
If Iran develops nuclear weapons with radical Islamists at the helm, there is every danger that it will actually use them against Israel - a country that Ahmadinejad has said should be wiped off the face of the earth - or employ them to intimidate neighbors and deter retaliation for terrorist activities or aggression, or hand them off to a terrorist group. It's the world's most dire nightmare.
Diplomacy would seem to be necessary in Iran's case to build a case for military action, because Iran has not been subject to the decade of sanctions that were applied to Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion.



Enriching uranium is fateful step for Iran

By Peter Grier
The Christian Science Monitor
February 15, 2006
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002806160_irannukes15.html
WASHINGTON — To begin enriching raw uranium, as Iran now has done, is to take a fateful step down the path of nuclear capability.
If Iran proceeds to a production cascade of thousands of centrifuges, it is now unlikely to build it at Natanz, Albright says. For security purposes, the Iranians would hide it in a new facility, perhaps among the many light industries clustered around Tehran.


EU slams Iran over attacks on embassies


http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=40536&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

LONDON, February 14 (IranMania) - Iran's failure to protect European embassies from attacks by crowds protesting caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed is unacceptable, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, whose country holds the EU presidency, said Tuesday.
"It is a cause for concern that Iran obviously is unable to protect European facilities and citizens," he said during a joint press conference here with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.
"That is absolutely unacceptable," he added.
Crowds attacked the British and German embassies in Tehran earlier Tuesday, the latest in a wave of protests sweeping the Muslim world over cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Mohammed.
Tehran has seen several violent demonstrations in recent days against the Danish, French and Norwegian embassies in protest at the publication in the European press of cartoons of the prophet, some showing him with a bomb-shaped turban.

Germans charged in Iran nuke warhead plot


By Martin Sieff
Feb 14, 2006
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/intelandterror/article_1097678.php/Germans_charged_in_Iran_nuke_warhead_plot
Germany has arrested two of its citizens and charged them with helping Iran obtain German technology needed to build nuclear warheads for ballistic missiles.
A Russian and a North Korean were also accused of helping the Germans, StrategyPage.com reported Monday.
StrategyPage.com noted that the Russian connection was “ominous, because Russia has lots of proven warhead technology. North Korea is also working on designing warheads for nuclear weapons.”

Report: Iran ready to use missiles, terror

American intelligence assessments warn Iran will launch long-range missiles, initiate global terror wave in case of attack on its nuclear facilities
Yitzhak Benhorin
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3216252,00.html

Iran is prepared to launch long-range missiles and initiate a global terror wave using secret commando units in response to an American or Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities, the Boston Globe reported based on U.S. intelligence assessments.
American intelligence chief John Negroponte recently presented before Congress an assessment warning Iran could initiate a large-scale confrontation if attacked. The CIA reached the conclusion Iran is gradually boosting its military capabilities, including threats on shipping lanes.
Hizbullah danger
However, the most severe threat possessed by Iran comes in the form of non-conventional weapons, including long-range Shahab 3 missiles, which are capable of carrying chemical warheads. Currently, Iran is also developing new missiles with an even longer range.
In 2001, Iran also purchased at least twelve X-55 cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and reaching as far as Italy. The Boston Globe says Iran has at least 20 missile launchers that are constantly being moved around the country in order to prevent detection.

German FM calls for united front against Iran

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=40525&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
LONDON, February 14 (IranMania) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Tuesday for the "cohesion" of the international community in face of Iran's obligations over nuclear activity, AFP reported.
"We believe that it is very important that the cohesion of the international community is maintained in the face of this challenge and we are working toward this objective," Steinmeier told reporters in Jordan.
"Unfortunately we have not been very successful," said Steinmeier on a visit to Jordan as part of a regional tour.
His comments came as Russian President Vladimir Putin and French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin issued a joint declaration in Moscow insisting that Iran must "conform fully" with its obligations over nuclear activity.

Russia, France Urge Iran to Suspend Uranium Enrichment

February 14, 2006
Itar-Tass News Agency
Itar-Tass
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=3198624&PageNum=0

MOSCOW -- Russia and France have made a joint statement, which calls on Iran to suspend the uranium enrichment process. “Russia and France are determined to resolve concerns about the Iranian nuclear program consequences for non-proliferation,” runs the statement adopted on results of the Moscow working visit by French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.



UK Straw: Iran Crisis Could Only be Resolved By Diplomacy

February 14, 2006
Dow Jones Newswires
AP
ABUJA, Nigeria -- Britain's foreign minister said Tuesday it was clear Iran had failed to comply with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, but said the standoff over the country's nuclear program could only be resolved by diplomacy. Jack Straw was speaking during a trip to Nigeria, as a top Iranian nuclear negotiator said Tuesday in Tehran that his country had resumed small-scale uranium enrichment, despite international moves to restrict the country's atomic development.


On Feb. 4, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council and simultaneously called on its government to suspend all enrichment-related activities. The Security Council has the power to impose political and economic sanctions on Iran.

On Monday, Tehran issued its third veiled threat in as many days to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Only one other country - North Korea - has ever withdrawn from the treaty.


Russia's Putin, Germany's Merkel Discuss Iran On Phone

February 14, 2006
Dow Jones Newswires
AP

What Putin Hopes to Gain from Iran

February 14, 2006
Time
Yuri Zarakhovich
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1159485,00.html?promoid=rss_world

Moscow seeks cash and cachet from its interventions in the nuclear crisis. But it may end up isolated, unpaid and under threat.


Putin had expected a cash windfall from Iran for the Russia-supplied nuclear capacity; the laurels of a global power-broker for defusing the Iranian nuclear crisis; and the praise of his increasingly nostalgic citizens for restoring the lost empire's glory.

Instead, he looks hapless before the specter of a nuclear-armed militant clerical regime that looms beneath the veil of a peaceful nuclear energy project. Putin's massive supplies of conventional weapons to Iran, including air defense missiles and armor, have strengthened that specter — much to Russia's own peril.

For months, Russia and China have been stalling the West's efforts to refer Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council.
From his own experience, Putin should have known better: Back in 2000, the Russian president had told a G-8 summit in Japan that he had convinced North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to abandon his missile program. Sounded good, until Kim explained he was joking. This time, Putin seems to be the butt of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's practical joke.



"A division in the Western position" helped fuel Saddam Hussein's defiance over the years, finally leading to war. In the long run, Putin's policies will do Hamas or Iran no better than they did Saddam, but they do risk badly hurting Russia.

Russia's projected income from just supplying seven nuclear reactors to Iran runs into $10 billion — and way more for maintenance, fueling, etc.

From 1990 through 1996, Russia supplied over $5 billion worth arms to Iran. Then, Russia heeded a U.S. request to stop military supplies, but resumed them in 2000, just as Putin became president. Last October, Moscow and Tehran signed a deal on military supplies worth $300 million annually. Russia will also supply $700 million worth of surface-to-air missiles. The Iranian arms market now promises Russia some $10 billion over next several years.

These tantalizing riches risk falling into the same chasm, however, as the unpaid billions owed to Russia by Saddam Hussein's regime, and other Moscow-backed rogue regimes. Russia risks ending up unpaid, friendless — and facing a volatile nuclear neighbor, connected to terrorist groups and armed with Russian weapons, right on her unstable southern border. Some return to glory, indeed.

EU Tells Iran it Wants to Normalize Relations

February 15, 2006
Dow Jones Newswires
AP
BRUSSELS -- The E.U. told Iran Tuesday it wants to normalize relations, but reiterated Tehran's nuclear ambitions and shaky human rights record were making that impossible..

It said she repeated E.U. pleas for Iran "to reverse this measure as it represents an unnecessary escalatory step."

"We do not question Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Plassnik said.

"However, the history of Iran's (nuclear energy) program and the many unanswered questions have raised serious doubts as to the exclusively peaceful nature of this program."

Also, Iran's refusal to grant international oversight of its nuclear facilities was "a further blow to international confidence," Plassnik said.

Plassnik called the attacks on the diplomatic missions and representatives " completely unacceptable" and condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his repeated calls for Israel's destruction and questioning if the Holocaust occurred.



Saudi Arabia In Sensitive Talks With Iran

February 15, 2006
Dow Jones Newswires
Masood Farivar
http://framehosting.dowjonesnews.com/sample/samplestory.asp?StoryID=2006021405290000&Take=1



Israel Sure of Russia's Vote on Iran

February 14, 2006
The Jerusalem Post
Herb Keinon
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1139395406631&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Israel is unconcerned that the current cloud hovering over its relationship with Russia -

Iran Plays Growing Role in Iraq, Complicating Bush's Strategy

February 14, 2006
The Wall Street Journal
Jay Solomon in Washington, Farnaz Fassihi in Baghdad, Iraq, and Philip Shishkin in Amarah, Iraq

Sufis, Iranian Police Clash in Holy City

February 14, 2006
IranMania.com
IranMania
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=40504&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs


Protesters Attack UK and German Embassies in Iran

February 14, 2006
Reuters
today.reuters.co.uk
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Iran&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&start=20

TEHRAN -- Demonstrators threw stones, firecrackers and at least two petrol bombs at the German and British embassies in Iran on Tuesday, in renewed protests about the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad. The protesters, mostly religious seminary students, chanted: "Death to Tony Blair", "Death to Britain" and Death to America".


Iran Holocaust Cartoon Contest Kicks Off

February 13, 2006
The Associated Press
Nasser Karimi
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/93-02132006-612289.html



Rushdie Death Sentence 'Renewed'

February 14, 2006
Contactmusic News
contactmusic.com
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/rushdie%20death%20sentence%20renewed_14_02_2006

The announcement comes on the anniversary of the proclamation issued by the leader of Iran's Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The daming edict reads: "I inform the proud Muslim people of the world that the author of the Satanic Verses book which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Koran, and all involved in its publication who were aware of its content, are sentenced to death."


Selling Out Moderate Islam

February 13, 2006
The Weekly Standard
Reuel Marc Gerecht
http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.23872/pub_detail.asp


Iran: Religion and Love

February 14, 2006
PBS
Ladane Nasser
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/blog/2006/02/valentines_day.html