The Iran Thread

[omid17]

Iran's leader says US nuke accusations wrong

Spoiler

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's supreme leader said Sunday that U.S. officials know they are wrongly accusing Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
In Iran's first official reaction to the U.S. decision to scrap a European missile intercept system to defend against threats from Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed President Barack Obama's administration is following the same policies as its predecessor.
"The U.S. officials who talk about Iranian missiles and their danger while saying Iran intends to build a nuclear bomb, they know these words are wrong," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state-run radio. "Despite its apparent friendly messages and words" the Obama administration is pursuing the same policy of Iran-phobia, he said.
The U.S. administration has invited Iran to start a dialogue on its nuclear program and gave a vague September deadline for Tehran to take up the offer. The U.S. and five other world powers accepted an offer from Iran earlier this month to hold "comprehensive, all-encompassing and constructive" talks on a range of security issues, including global nuclear disarmament.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Oct. 1 for talks on Iran's nuclear program. Iran has long maintained the program is purely for peaceful purposes and Khamenei reiterated that Iran considers the production and use of nuclear arms forbidden by the country's Muslim beliefs.
The Obama administration announced earlier this month it was scrapping a Bush-era plan for a missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic. Former President George W. Bush contended the system was needed to shoot down any Iranian missile if Tehran ever developed one with adequate range to threaten the United States or Europe.
U.S. officials have said the decision was based largely on a new U.S. intelligence assessment that Iran's effort to build a nuclear-capable long-range missile would take three years to five years longer than originally thought. The scrapped plan will be replaced by a new one initially geared more to the threat of short- and medium-range missiles from Iran.
Khamenei also addressed Iran's domestic political crisis, warning government supporters against accusing opposition members of wrongdoing without proof. It was the latest indication that the Islamic government may be easing up on critics of the June presidential election.
In a speech marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Khamenei appeared to be working to iron out tensions that have created the country's biggest domestic political crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — the fallout from the disputed June 12 election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election in a race critics say was marred by widespread fraud.
Amid mass trials of supporters of reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, as well as claims of abuse, coerced confessions and intimidation by security forces targeting the opposition, Khamenei said while a suspect's own confession was admissible, his testimony or accusations could not be used to implicate others in the unrest.
"We do not have the right to accuse without any proof," Khamenei said, urging the judiciary and security forces to pursue offenders within the bounds of the law. The speech was carried live on Iran's state radio and television.
"What a suspect says in court against a third party has no legitimate validity," he said.
Khamenei did not single out any individuals, but his remarks appeared to refer to testimony by some detainees who maintain that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and other reformists supported Mousavi to weaken Khamenei.
Rafsanjani — who has been absent from several recent official ceremonies, including a Friday prayer led by the supreme leader earlier in September — was seen sitting in the first row of worshippers during the prayer ceremony at which Khamenei spoke.
Khamenei has been a staunch supporter of Ahmadinejad, support that has further angered critics and opened up a wide rift between the country's influential clerics — reformists on one side, hard-liners on the other.
But in what could be an attempt to bridge that gap, he said accusing others in the media without any proof would create a climate of suspicion.
The country has already been faced with just such a situation for months since tens of thousands took to the streets in protests after the elections, sparking a harsh government crackdown in which hundreds were arrested or detained and dozens subsequently being brought to court in mass trials. Some opposition members say 72 died in the post-vote police crackdown, roughly double the government's official casualty figures.
Khamenei's latest comments could signal a change in the direction of the ongoing court cases against protesters. Some detainees blamed opposition figures and their supporters of fomenting the postelection unrest. Among those blamed were Rafsanjani and his son.

 

[Marx]

Personally I think we need to take an approach that is in between Bush's antagonism and Obama's apologetic attitudes of diplomacy towards Iran. Having extremes doesn't work in a case like this.

I agree hippie. I think that we need a good balance between the two.

 

[Kelly]

"constantly" slamming them for their holocaust denials...???

“To this day, there are those who insist that the Holocaust never happened — a denial of fact and truth that is baseless and ignorant and hateful,” Mr. Obama said. “This place is the ultimate rebuke to such thoughts, a reminder of our duty to confront those who would tell lies about our history.”

There were others?

 

[Hobgoblin]

Iran is the kind of country that can dish it out (in regards to anti-Semitism and calling for the destruction of Israel) but cant take it. Anti-Iranianism? Really?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/09/20/iran.khamenei.missiles/index.html

(CNN) -- Iran's supreme leader on Sunday blasted U.S. plans to overhaul the setup for a missile defense shield in Europe, calling the Obama administration's intentions "anti-Iranian," state-run media reported.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the U.S. president is following "anti-Islamic and anti-Iranian" policies.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the U.S. president is following "anti-Islamic and anti-Iranian" policies.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also called Western concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions -- which Tehran says are only for energy purposes -- "purely a fabrication by the United States," according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

"This is something that is in the doctrine of anti-Iranianism, since the policy and the 30-year-old history of the Islamic Republic has proven that Iran wants to live in peace and under the spirit of equality and fraternity, with its Muslim neighbors and the rest of the world," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.

On Thursday, President Obama said the United States is significantly overhauling Bush-era plans for a missile defense shield in Europe, based partly on the latest analysis of Iran's offensive capabilities.

The "new missile defense architecture in Europe" will be ready faster, work with existing technology and provide better missile defense than the program proposed by former President George W. Bush, Obama said.

Obama said the change of gears was based on an "updated intelligence assessment" about Iran's ability to hit Europe with missiles. The Islamic republic's "short- and medium-range" missiles pose the most current threat, he said, and "this new ballistic missile defense will best address" that threat.

Khamenei, speaking on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, a festive end to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, countered by comparing Obama to his predecessor.
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"America, under its former president, spared no efforts against the Muslim world as well as against Iran," Khamenei said. "Even the current administration -- with the apparently friendly words and messages -- follows that same anti-Islamic and anti-Iranian policy of the past."

The Bush-era proposal called for the United States to set up a radar site in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland to counter the threat of Iran launching long-range missiles at America's allies in Europe. The new system will have "hundreds" of missile interceptors instead, a Pentagon official said last week.

It also will have mobile radars, including some in space, "that can move to wherever the threat actually emanates and wherever we feel we need to defend ourselves," said Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

 

[Kurosawa]

Iran is the kind of country that can dish it out (in regards to anti-Semitism and calling for the destruction of Israel) but cant take it. Anti-Iranianism? Really?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/09/20/iran.khamenei.missiles/index.html

What a bunch of delusional crybabies.

 

[Nivek]

Well, at least the people in power. But that's not saying much, given what Iranian leaders have said over the years.

 

[8wid]

It's funny how the Western world is so concerned with the development of Iran's nuclear capabilities, when Israel sits completely unchecked right next door with an untold amount or type of nukes, and is not even a signer of a non-proliferation treaty. I smell hypocrisy bleeding in the water.

 

[StorminNorman]

It's funny how the Western world is so concerned with the development of Iran's nuclear capabilities, when Israel sits completely unchecked right next door with an untold amount or type of nukes, and is not even a signer of a non-proliferation treaty. I smell hypocrisy bleeding in the water.

You are SERIOUSLY trying to compare Iran to Israel?

 

[hippie_hunter]

It's funny how the Western world is so concerned with the development of Iran's nuclear capabilities, when Israel sits completely unchecked right next door with an untold amount or type of nukes, and is not even a signer of a non-proliferation treaty. I smell hypocrisy bleeding in the water.

Israel can be trusted to not use their nuclear weapons like the other nuclear powers. Nations like North Korea and Iran on the other hand have regimes that are far more belligerent and because of that lack of trust, are feared that they will actually use them.

Israel will only use their nukes if one is used against them.

 

[Hobgoblin]

Israel can be trusted to not use their nuclear weapons like the other nuclear powers. Nations like North Korea and Iran on the other hand have regimes that are far more belligerent and because of that lack of trust, are feared that they will actually use them.

Israel will only use their nukes if one is used against them.

Exactly. I dont remember the last time Israel denied that a genocide happened or said that a neighboring country should be "wiped off the map."

 

[Ahura Mazda]

Changing the President in Iran is meaningless because the President has very little real power relative to the Supreme Leader. The whole system needs to change not one figure replaced by another.

 

[omid17]

^ agreed

 

[8wid]

You are SERIOUSLY trying to compare Iran to Israel?

I am because they are both nations that have developed nuclear weapons in secrecy and live in a world that is literally at the point of a gun. Why wouldn't either one try to eliminate each other.

Israel can be trusted to not use their nuclear weapons like the other nuclear powers. Nations like North Korea and Iran on the other hand have regimes that are far more belligerent and because of that lack of trust, are feared that they will actually use them.

Israel will only use their nukes if one is used against them.

Tell that to Syria when the Israeli Air Force bombed a nuclear station after being unprovoked.

Exactly. I dont remember the last time Israel denied that a genocide happened or said that a neighboring country should be "wiped off the map."

I don't know when Israel was check for how many nukes that it had, or how those weapons were obtained or distributed, or received sanctions for aiding South Africa in its pursuit for nuclear weapons in the 80s. There is so much to be addressed. Let's worry about all the nukes after the fall of the Soviet Union, but not who Israel could be handing theirs out to.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Tell that to Syria when the Israeli Air Force bombed a nuclear station after being unprovoked.

There's a difference between a preemptive military strike in which Israel has attacked not only Syria's nuclear program, but Iraq's as well, and a preemptive nuclear strike. Israel would never do such a thing because they would receive such widespread condemnation to the point that even the United States, Germany, India, Micronesia, and other nations close to Israel would be appalled.

Also, Syria is one of the major antagonists against Israel. If there is one nation that you could call Israel's #1 enemy, it would be Syria. They have both preemptively attacked one another since Israel has been independent.

 

[Kurosawa]

It's funny how the Western world is so concerned with the development of Iran's nuclear capabilities, when Israel sits completely unchecked right next door with an untold amount or type of nukes, and is not even a signer of a non-proliferation treaty. I smell hypocrisy bleeding in the water.

Israel is in no way interested in instigating any sort of Nuclear exchange.

 

[omid17]

Iranian leader says he'll seek leniency for hikers

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090923/ap_on_re_us/un_un_ahmadinejad_interview

Spoiler

NEW YORK – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday in an Associated Press interview that he will seek leniency for three American hikers who strayed across the Iranian border, and he urged President Barack Obama to see Iran as a potential friend.
The Iranian leader also said he expects "free and open" discussion of nuclear issues at a meeting next week with six world powers, but stressed that his country would not negotiate on its own nuclear plans. He sought to open a wider nuclear dialogue with the West, and said the onus should be on the United States and other major nuclear powers to give up their weapons and to expand opportunities for all countries to make peaceful use of nuclear power.
He dismissed last week's U.S. shift away from a planned long-range missile shield in Europe, meant to guard against an Iranian strike, as "a respectful way of buying out" Russian objections.
"I heard Mr. Obama saying the next threat is Iran. Iran is an opportunity for everyone," Ahmadinejad said.
The Iranian leader's remarks on those and other issues in an hour-long interview at his New York hotel, just hours after he arrived in the U.S., appeared designed to present his country as open to a broad international dialogue and to soften Iran's image as a rogue nation bent on spreading its Islamic revolution.
The Iranian leader is in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. Obama is also speaking Wednesday.
Ahmadinejad remained soft-spoken and almost completely still in his chair as he politely fielded questions on a wide range of controversies rankling Iran's relationship with the West. He would occasionally nod or offer a small smile, particularly when he appeared pleased with a point he had made, but the Iranian leader never gestured or raised his voice. A few questions prompted an animated flurry of conversation in Farsi among members of his delegation before he gave a response that was translated into English.
He reiterated explicitly that Iran is not building nuclear weapons.
"I hope that Mr. Obama will move in the direction of change," Ahmadinejad said. At another point he said, "The sources of insecurity around the world need to be discussed."
The United States has agreed for the first time to fully join European-led talks with Iran, fulfilling an Obama campaign pledge to engage adversaries but risking a gambit that Iran will hijack the talks and yield nothing.
The United States, Israel and the European Union fear that Iran is using its nuclear program to covertly develop nuclear weapons. But Tehran says the program serves purely civilian purposes and asserts its right to enrich uranium for use in nuclear power plants to generate electricity.
The Bush administration had refused to negotiate further with Iran until it agreed to freeze its uranium enrichment efforts, which it has refused to do.
When asked in the interview about the three American hikers, the Iranian leader said they broke the law by illegally entering Iran. Nevertheless, Ahmadinejad said he will ask the Iranian judiciary to treat the case with "maximum leniency."
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the Iranian leader did not elaborate on what that might mean for the fate of the three Americans. Families of the imprisoned hikers have said they hope Ahmadinejad's visit to New York might yield a breakthrough in the case.
The three have been held for 52 days since they apparently strayed into Iran while hiking in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region in July. Their case has become the latest source of friction between the U.S. and Iran.
Ahmadinejad also was asked about the case of an Iranian-Canadian journalist, Maziar Bahari, who was working for Newsweek magazine and imprisoned while covering the social unrest in Iran after the disputed June presidential election. Ahmadinejad did not reply about Bahari, limiting his remarks to the case of the hikers.
The ambassador at Iran's mission at the United Nations, Mohammad Khazee, said later that he hoped the case of Bahari would also be resolved.
Ahmadinejad said he regrets the deaths of protesters in the violence that followed his country's disputed presidential elections, but denied that his government had any role in the killings.
Ahmadinejad said those who died were "not at fault." He instead said the responsibility lies with Iranian opposition politicians and with "European and American politicians" who he said fueled the violence.
"We believe what they did was very wrong," he said.
Pro-reform opposition has staged dramatic protests, claiming that Ahmadinejad's victory in the June voting was fraudulent. The Iranian government waged a bloody crackdown and opposition groups say at least 72 protesters were killed. Government officials maintain that only 36 people died, and Ahmadinejad repeated that claim.
"It is all very regrettable," Ahmadinejad said, adding that he has directed Iran's judicial system to investigate each death. "The government has no role in these events."
Ahmadinejad muted his remarks on the Holocaust, an event he has frequently questioned as a matter of historical fact. As recently as last Friday, Ahmadinejad questioned whether the Holocaust was "a real event" and said it was used by Jews to trick the West into backing the creation of Israel. In a speech in Tehran, he said the Jewish state was created out of "a lie and a mythical claim."
In a lengthy exchange, he did not repeat those outright denials.
Using markedly less confrontational language than he has in the past, Ahmadinejad said he is not interested in debating historical details. Instead, he said he wants to focus on what he calls the wrong done to Palestinians who lost their land when the state of Israel was formed.
Ahmadinejad said the Holocaust is used as a pretext for the repression of Palestinians. He grouped the deaths of Jews during World War II with those of millions of others who died.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to boycott the Iranian's address.
Ahmadinejad repeated his nation's interest in cooperating to help stabilize Afghanistan and help Iraq, but blamed the United States for having created chaos in the war-torn country on Iran's eastern border.
"The occupying forces or the groups that have sent in the military to these two states, if indeed their policy has led to further instability, what do they want us to do?" Ahmadinejad said. "What exactly can we do for a car that has decided to speed up and basically crash down the hill? I don't see exactly what we can do under that scenario."

 

[Paradyme]

Canada set to boycott Iran's UN speech

Canada will boycott Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the United Nations today, saying his outbursts about the Holocaust and Israel are "shameful."

Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon will be at the world body to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly's annual debate, but officials signal he and other members of the Canadian delegation will vacate when the Islamic republic's president approaches the podium.

Walking out of the chamber is seen as a strong diplomatic show of disgust at the UN -- and since the 192-member chamber is generally packed on the first day of the annual summit, Canada's empty seats will not go unnoticed.

"President Ahmadinejad's repeated denial of the Holocaust and his anti-Israel comments run counter to the values of the UN General Assembly, and they're shameful," said one Canadian official.

"He uses his public appearances to provoke the international community, and that is why Canada's seats will be empty."

The gesture is stronger than one announced Tuesday by the German Foreign Ministry, which asked other European Union member states to walk out of the General Assembly chamber if Ahmadinejad again denies the Holocaust, or makes anti-Semitic statements.

The Canadian initiative will be welcomed by Israel, which urged all delegates to stay away when Ahmadinejad speaks.

Iranian officials said this week that Ahmadinejad intended to use his speech to offer a message of "peace and friendship."

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Canada+boycott+Iran+speech/2022648/story.html

...

 

[metr0man]

Russian president made a statement about supporting hard sanctions. Too lazy to find a link.

 

[Paradyme]

UN Delegates Storm Out Of Iran Leader's Speech

British delegates joined a series of other nations in staging a walk-out in protest at remarks made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a speech to the UN.

In his address, Mr Ahmadinejad launched a scathing attack on Israel, accusing it of adopting "inhuman policies" in the Palestinian territories.
He claimed greater global freedom and the "awakening of nations" would force Israel to abandon its "hypocrisy and vicious attitudes".

"It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks, and establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions," he said.

British delegates joined American and French representatives in leaving the room at the UN headquarters at this point.

A spokeswoman for the UK delegation said the walk-out was prompted by "anti-Semitic" rhetoric.

Undeterred, Mr Ahmadinejad went on to accuse foreign troops of spreading "war, bloodshed, aggression, terror and intimidation" in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He lashed out at capitalism, arguing it had reached the end of the road and would suffer the same fate as Marxism.

And he also used his speech to brush off accusations that his re-election in June was a fraud, describing the polling day as "glorious and fully democratic".

Notably absent from Mr Ahmadinejad's podium address was the subject of Tehran's stand-off with Western powers over its nuclear ambitions.

As the Iranian leader prepared to address delegates, the UN Security Council members announced that they were expecting Iran to engage with them on the issue.

"We expect a serious response from Iran and will decide, in the context of our dual track approach, as a result of the meeting, on our next steps," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on behalf of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wo..._Assembly:_Some_Delegates_Leave_After_Remarks

...

 

[omid17]

G-8: Iran has 3 months to stop uranium enrichment

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090924/ap_on_re_us/un_un_g8_iran

Spoiler

UNITED NATIONS – Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Thursday that the Group of Eight nations is giving Iran until the end of the year to commit to ending uranium enrichment and avoid new sanctions.
Frattini, whose nation holds the rotating chair of the club of wealthy nations known as the G-8, said the member's foreign ministers agreed Wednesday night to give Iran more time.
"It seems to me a reasonable perspective. And after the end of December, I strongly hope we will have at that time practical moves from Iran," Frattini said.
"That's why together we decided while not excluding further measures, as even Russia apparently said, we have to give Iran a serious chance," he said. "If we give a chance, let's give a chance. Don't, I would say, immediately put another option on the table. This would be counterproductive to the eyes of our counterpart. This is our strategy for the moment."
The U.S. has only just won Russian agreement to consider new sanctions against Iran to add pressure on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who insists Tehran's nuclear program is designed only to generate electricity.
Frattini said that the informal agreement will be re-examined each month until the end of the year.
He said the G-8 could not let the Iranians believe the world's economic powers are "relaxed" and willing to let Iran string them along.
"But we are to make it absolutely clear that our window of opportunity will not remain open indefinitely," Frattini told a group of reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Frattini said G-8 ministers — the U.S., Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and Russia — also agreed that "concerning links" were emerging between Iran and North Korea.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opened the door Wednesday to backing potential sanctions. He moved in that direction after President Barack Obama scrapped plans for a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe.
While U.S. and Russian officials denied a quid pro quo, Medvedev told the U.N. General Assembly that Obama's roll-back on the missile defense plan "deserves a positive response." Obama himself has said his missile decision may have spurred Russian good will as a "bonus."
Ahmadinejad has taken a softer tone on many matters since arriving in New York for the U.N. meetings, emphasizing his interest in improving relations with the United States and expressing an openness to include nuclear matters on the negotiations agenda.
He has given no sign, however, that his country is willing to bargain away its nuclear program.
A member of the Russian delegation, speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Russians, said Moscow's final position on the question of imposing further sanctions would be determined, to a large extent, by Medvedev's consultations here.
The U.S. and Russia are among six countries that will hold talks in Europe next week with Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Obama wants to reserve the possibility of pursuing tougher sanctions if those meetings lead to no restraint by Iran in the weeks ahead. Russia, which has strong economic ties with Tehran, has stood in the way of stronger action against Iran in the past.

 

[Paradoxium]

Iran has been making thousands of centrifuges for a while (I think I might have mentioned this a while back). Many already speculated they were going to make a gun-propelling nuclear bomb because of this (otherwise why so much?). This second uranium facility pretty much jives with all this.

Let's face it, Iran intends to nuke Israel. You really think these guys give a **** what the UN or G8 says?

This is why I mentioned all those white nationalists and stormfronters cut so much slack on Obama (they hate Jews more than a half black/white), he is more nonchalant about Israel, and his old church buddy Wright is pretty damn anti-semitic. They white nationalists are more cool with Obama than most people realize.

 

[Kelly]

Well, that's fine.....because if any kind of "anything" comes near Israel, Israel won't give a flyin **** what the UN says either, and they will blow Iran off the face of the earth. And the world won't blame Israel, they will blame the US for not holding them back. Israel isn't stupid, they are in the driver's seat. Iran just thinks they are....

 

[Paradoxium]

I suspect a gradual exodus of from Israel to the United States still.

Very ironic thing for the white nationalists of course

 

[Kelly]

Oh I definitely think you will see quite a few Americans living in Israel making their way back to the states.....they are stupid if they don't.

 

[Marx]

IRAN TESTS MISSILE SYSTEM
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/09/27/iran.missile.test/index.html