Iran denies MP’s centrifuge claims January 28, 2007
Posted by محمد الحسن in Iran.add a comment
An Iranian nuclear agency official has denied claims made by a senior legislator that the Islamic Republic had begun installing 3,000 centrifuges at an uranium-enrichment plant, Iran’s state-run news agency says.
Hossein Simorgh, spokesman of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation’s public relations department, said “no new centrifuges have been installed in Natanz”, referring to the nuclear facility in central Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported late on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a legislator, said Iran was currently installing the 3,000 centrifuges, underlining that the country would continue to develop its disputed nuclear programme despite UN sanctions.
Contradictions
It was not immediately clear why the two officials made contradicting statements. Iranian officials have in recent weeks said the country was moving towards large-scale enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material.
Mohammad Ali Hosseini, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, refused to elaborate on the discrepancy on Sunday, saying only that the contradicting remarks were a “technical matter”.
He said: “Let the organisation elaborate on it at a convenient time.”
Ivanov visit
Further, Hosseini said Igor Ivanov, Russia’s national security adviser, arrived in Tehran on Sunday for talks with top leaders, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, and Ali Larijani, the country’s nuclear negotiator.
Diplomats have said inspectors from the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had concluded Iran was ready to start installing the centrifuges.
But they said timing the installation was likely to be a political decision.
UN resolution
The UN Security Council last month voted unanimously in favour of imposing limited sanctions on Iran after it ignored earlier demands to halt enrichment.
Iran faces the prospect of additional sanctions unless it stops enrichment by the end of a 60-day period that ends next month.
Enriched uranium is used to fuel nuclear reactors and to make nuclear weapons, and large scale use of centrifuges makes it possible to produce more enriched uranium in a shorter period.
Moderate politicians in Iran, particularly critics of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, have been counselling caution and possibly even suspending enrichment, until now a step opposed by Iran.
Ahmadinejad has been blamed by critics for exacerbating the standoff with the West, although the final say in nuclear policy and other matters of state lies with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority.
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Army ends Beirut curfew January 26, 2007
Posted by محمد الحسن in Lebanon.add a comment
Lebanon’s army has lifted a curfew on Beirut, but schools and universities are closed the day after four people were killed in clashes that raised fears of growing factional strife.
Traffic began to return to the streets of mainly Sunni districts of Beirut after the army lifted the curfew at 6am (04:00 GMT), but some feared that there would be more violence.
It was the first night curfew on Beirut since the 1975-90 civil war.
As-Safir newspaper’s headline on Thursday read: “God damn whoever awakened it!”
A vegetable seller in a religiously mixed area of the capital said: “It’s very bad. It’s going to be like Iraq here.”
Student clashes
Four people were shot dead in clashes between pro- and anti-government activists on Thursday and about 200 were hurt in the violence that flared after a scuffle between students at a Beirut university.
Some pedestrians were beaten up on the basis of their sectarian identity, witnesses said.
The four dead included two Shia pro-Hezbollah students and one supporter of the Sunni-led government.
The US ambassador to Beirut, whose country backs Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, against Hezbollah and its Shia and Christian allies, said the situation had become “quite dangerous” and Syria was involved once again.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, issued a religious edict calling his supporters off the streets.
Saad al-Hariri, the Sunni leader, urged government supporters to show restraint.
Speaking from Paris, Siniora said: “I call on everyone to return to the voice of reason.”
Devastated economy
Siniora was at an aid conference seeking help to shore up Lebanon’s debt-laden finances and repair infrastructure damage from last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah forces.
Jeffrey Feltman, the US ambassador, pointed the finger at Syria, which is Hezbollah’s main international ally, along with Iran.
“History has shown that outside powers like Syria have done it before. And I can’t give you solid evidence, but one can certainly make a pretty strong case that it’s Syria’s hands at work again,” he said on US-funded Al-Hurra television.
“Nobody should be surprised when things start to spin out of control, when there has been an intentional two- to three-month effort to provoke sectarian tension.”
National protests
The opposition launched nationwide protests on Tuesday, which shut down much of Lebanon and sparked violence in which three people were killed and 176 wounded.
The general strike intensified a street campaign that began on December 1, when opposition supporters began camping out near Siniora’s offices in central Beirut to back demands for veto power in government and early parliamentary elections.
Siniora and his main backer, parliamentary majority leader al-Hariri, have refused to give in to the demands.
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Opposition strike paralyses Lebanon January 23, 2007
Posted by محمد الحسن in Lebanon.add a comment
At least five people have been wounded in Lebanon when shots were fired at protesters blocking roads as part of a one-day strike organised by the opposition.
Most main roads inside Beirut and into the city were blocked as the strike took hold and highways linking the capital to north and south Lebanon were also cut off.
Fve people were wounded in two incidents when shots were fired at groups of men trying to block roads near the towns of Byblos and Batroun.
Scuffles between protesters and pro-government activists were reported elsewhere and in some instances the military broke up clashes between the two sides.
The opposition, led by the Shia group Hezbollah, is calling for veto power in the cabinet and new elections to be held.
Dozens of protesters blocked off the only road leading to Beirut’s international airport at the start of the stoppage - which began at 04:00 GMT.
Several Arab and international airlines suspended flights to Beirut, and shops and businesses in the capital remained closed.
Plumes of smoke from burning tyres rose above Beirut and formed a black cloud which hung over the city.
The army deployed armoured vehicles at major crossroads along with hundreds of soldiers.
Lebanese security forces struggled to open blocked roads obstructed by protesters.
“Siniora out, down with the government,” Hezbollah followers chanted as they lit tyres in central Beirut, close to the prime minister’s office.
Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah MP, told Al Jazeera that the government was to blame for the protests.
“These people had to do this to make their voice reach the government. What would the people do when the government becomes a dictatorial one?,” he said.
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Al Qaeda deputy: If we are killed, you will be killed January 23, 2007
Posted by محمد الحسن in Al-Qaeda.2 comments
Al-Qaeda’s deputy leader has dismissed the US president’s plan to send thousands more troops to Iraq, challenging him to send “the entire army”, a group that tracks al-Qaeda messages said on Monday.
Ayman al-Zawahri vowed that al-Qaeda’s supporters will defeat the US in the new videotape intercepted by the Washington based SITE Institute.
In the video, al-Zawahri said it was the “duty” of all Muslims to take up arms against Islam’s enemies, and said the US strategy for Iraq outlined by George Bush, the US president, would fail.
SITE said the message was broadcast on al-Qaeda’s multimedia arm, as-Sahab, which the group monitors.
Al-Zawahri said in the message: “I ask [Bush], why send 20,000 [troops] only - why not send 50 or 100,000? Aren’t you aware that the dogs of Iraq are pining for your troops’ dead bodies?
“So send your entire army to be annihilated at the hands of the mujahideen [holy warriors] to free the world from your evil… because Iraq, land of the caliphate and jihad [struggle], is able to bury ten armies like yours, with Allah’s help and power.”
‘Mutual understanding’
The message is the first reaction from al-Qaeda’s leadership to the new Iraq strategy.
Bush plans to send a further 21,500 US troops to Iraq.
Al-Zawahri addressed Americans, saying they must “accept the facts of what is happening on the ground, and reject the fantasies with which Bush tries to deceive you”.
He said: “You must honestly try to reach a mutual understanding with the Muslims, for then, and only then, you might enjoy security.
“Security is a shared destiny, if we are secure, you might be secure, and if we are safe, you might be safe. And if we are struck and killed, you will definitely - with Allah’s permission - be struck and killed. This is the correct equation.”
Al-Zawahri also said that Islamic fighters were in control in Afghanistan.
He said: “Among [Bush's] ravings is that he has deprived al-Qaeda of a safe haven in Afghanistan.
“The entire world bears witness to his naked, barefaced lie, because al-Qaeda and the Taliban under the command of the commander of the faithful Mulla Muhammad Omar are the ones who have deprived America of safe haven in Afghanistan.”
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the video’s authenticity.
The video is the third message by al-Zawahri in just over a month. In an audiotape posted on the internet on January 5, he urged Somalia’s Islamic fighters to carry out suicide attacks on Ethiopian troops fighting in their country.
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Iran announces missile tests January 21, 2007
Posted by محمد الحسن in Iran.add a comment
Iran has announced three days of military tests and its president says no number of UN resolutions will change the country’s stance on nuclear development.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday: “The UN resolution was born dead and even if they adopt 10 more of such resolutions it will not affect Iran’s economy and policies.”
Iran’s military manoeuvres come days after the US announced that it would deploy a second aircraft carrier, the USS Stennis, to the Gulf.
An unnamed Iranian military commander said: “The manoeuvre is aimed at evaluating defensive and fighting capabilities of the missiles.”
In November, Iran test-fired dozens of missiles, including the Shahab-3 which can reach Israel, in exercises it said were aimed at putting a stop to the role of world powers in the Gulf region.
Resolution
Sunday’s tests will be the first by Iran since the UN Security Council imposed limited sanctions on the country last month, banning the sale of materials and technology that could be used in nuclear and missile programmes.
But Iran is standing firm on its nuclear development. Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that UN resolutions will have no effect on Iran’s nuclear policies.
“As our supreme leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] said, no Iranian official has the right to back down on Iran’s nuclear right.”
The Security Council passed Resolution 1737 on December 23 imposing sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.
On January 8, Khamenei rejected the UN resolution, vowing that the Islamic Republic would not back down in its nuclear drive.
Missile development
Last year, Iran tested an “ultra-horizon” missile, fired from helicopters and jet fighters, and the Fajr-3 missile, which can reportedly evade radar and use multiple warheads to hit several targets simultaneously.
US officials have suggested that Iran is exaggerating the capabilities of its newly developed weapons.
In December 2005, Israel successfully tested its Arrow missile defence system against a rocket similar to Iran’s Shahab-3. The Arrow was developed jointly with the US.
The Zalzal missile is a solid fuel missile, and the Fajr-5 missile, meaning “dawn”, is an artillery rocket developed by Iran early last year.
Iran has recently urged Arab Gulf nations to force the US military out of the region and join Iran in a new regional security alliance, an offer which has been mostly ignored by the Gulf states.
AGENCIES
20 U.S. troops killed in Iraq January 21, 2007
Posted by محمد الحسن in Iraq, USA.add a comment
At least 20 American soldiers were killed in military operations Saturday in one of the deadliest days for U.S. forces in Iraq, including 13 who died in a helicopter crash and five slain in an attack in Karbala, military officials said.
Saturday’s toll was the highest for U.S. troops in two years.
The heavy toll comes just ahead of President Bush’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night and amid mounting congressional opposition to the president’s decision to dispatch 21,500 additional soldiers to the conflict.
The military announced early Sunday in Baghdad that a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, the first troops in the Bush buildup, had arrived.
In a dispatch posted at 7:55pm Makkah time Saturday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Iraqi Resistance organization the Jaysh al-Mujahideen [“Army of the Holy Warriors”] had announced that it had shot down a US helicopter near the city of Buhriz, about 60km northeast of Baghdad.
The Buhriz correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the helicopter was carrying more than 15 US Marines. In an exclusive statement to Mafkarat al-Islam, a commander in the Jaysh al-Mujahideen said that the Resistance group in Buhriz had shot down the American helicopter with ground-based anti-aircraft fire.
Interior Ministry official and the police in Diyala province said the helicopter was shot down by insurgents who fired missiles, or possibly grenades, from at least two locations, The New York Times reported.
In Karbala, five U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded Saturday night when militia fighters attacked a provincial headquarters in the Shiite Muslim holy city, the military said. The statement said “an illegally armed militia group” attacked the building with grenades, small arms and “indirect fire,” which usually means mortars or rockets.
“A meeting was taking place at the time of the attack to ensure the security of Shiite pilgrims participating in the Ashoura [festival] commemorations,” said a statement from Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, deputy commander of the Multi-National Division-Baghdad.
Also Saturday, roadside bombs killed a soldier in the capital and one in Nineveh province north of Baghdad. The U.S. military announced that combat Friday killed a n soldier in Nineveh province and a Marine in Anbar province.
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Iran calls for immediate release of Iranian diplomats in Iraq January 21, 2007
Posted by محمد الحسن in Iran, Iraq, USA.add a comment
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini Sunday expressed hope Iranian diplomats kidnapped by US troops from Iran’s consulate general in Iraqi city of Erbil on January 11 would be released soon.
Speaking to reporters, he recommended the US to get rid of obstinacy and free Iranian diplomats soon.
“Iran’s Foreign Ministry has launched an active diplomacy on abduction of Iranian diplomats by the US troops since first moments of the event.
“Iran summoned Swiss and Iraqi ambassadors to Tehran, followed up the case through the Embassy in Baghdad and sent a protesting letter to the United Nations.”
He dismissed allegations made against Iran saying its consulate in Erbil was informal and does not enjoy diplomatic immunity and said, “The office has had consular activities since 1992 upon an agreement between the two states.
“Iranian and Iraqi officials have also exchanged documents of an agreement on promotion of the office to a higher level.”
Hosseini noted that Iran’s consulates were active in Iraqi cities of Erbil, Sulaimaniya, Basra and Karbala and added that the two countries’ officials have also agreed to open consulates in Iranian cities of Ahvaz, Kermanshah and Mashhad.
“Based on international regulations and the Vienna Convention, Iran’s consulate general in Erbil and its staff enjoy diplomatic immunity.
“The US troops raid on Iran’s consulate runs counter to Iraqi national sovereignty right,” the spokesman said.
IRNA
Iran Shoots Down US Spy Drone January 17, 2007
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Iranian troops have shot down a U.S. pilotless spy plane recently, an Iranian lawmaker announced on Tuesday as the Islamic Republic was facing increasing military pressure from its arch rival — the United States.
The aircraft was brought down when it was trying to cross the borders “during the last few days,” Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh, a member of the parliament, was quoted by the local Fars News Agency as saying.
The lawmaker gave no exact date of the shooting-down or any other details about the incident, but he said that “the United States sent such spy drones to the region every now and then.”
SECOND U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER
The announcement came amid reports that the United States is increasingly flexing its muscles to counter Iran’s growing regional assertiveness and put more pressure on Tehran over its controversial nuclear programs.
It was reported Tuesday that a second U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, will arrive in the Middle East in about one month, the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq war in 2003 that the United States will have two carrier battle groups in the region.
The USS John C. Stennis, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carrier that has a capacity for 5,000 sailors, is scheduled to sail Tuesday from its home port of Bremerton, Washington, said Commander Kevin Aandahl of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain.
In about one month, the USS John C. Stennis, including an air wing of more than 80 tactical aircraft, will join Fifth Fleet forces that includes aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
“This demonstrates our resolve to do what we can to bring security and stability to the region … (and) dissuade others from acting counter to our national interest,” Aandahl said.
U.S. President George W. Bush announced earlier this month that the United States was taking other steps to beef up security of Iraq and protect U.S. interests in the Middle East, such as sending an additional aircraft carrier to the Gulf and deploying Patriot air defense systems to the region.
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Saudi Arabia mulls sending troops to Iraq ‘to protect their interests’ there January 17, 2007
Posted by محمد الحسن in Iraq, Saudi Arabia.add a comment
NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell reported on MSNBC that Saudi Arabia is mulling whether or not to send troops to Iraq, to “protect their interests” there.
According to Mitchell, Saudi Arabia is “deeply skeptical” that Iraq’s government will be able to quell the unrest. Over a hundred Iraqi civilians died today, including at least 15 from a bombing at Baghdad University.
But a leading Saudi Arabia official warns that Saudi Arabia can not be expected to “solve Iraq’s problems.”
After the first Iraqi invasion in 1990, then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney paid several visits to Saudi Arabia to secure permission to launch attacks from its country with U.S. troops.
An article in The New York Times reports that Saudi Arabia has backed President Bush’s escalation plan.
“Saudi Arabia endorsed the goals of President Bush’s new strategy for Iraq today,” Thom Shanker writes. “But in carefully worded comments, the Saudi foreign minister indicated deep concern about whether the Shiite-led government in Baghdad can halt sectarian violence and protect Sunni interests.”
raw story
Russia sells new anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran January 17, 2007
Posted by محمد الحسن in Iran, Russia.add a comment
Russia has said that it has delivered new anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran and said it would consider more requests from Tehran for defensive weapons.
Sergei Ivanov, Russia’s defence minister, told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday that Russia had supplied Iran with the modern short-range anti-aircraft systems TOR-M1.
“We’re developing our military and technical cooperation with Iran in accordance with international law and will continue to develop it,” Ivanov said.
“And if Iran wants to buy defensive, I underline defensive, equipment for its armed forces then why not?”
The United States has accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear arms and undermining security in the Middle East.
The United Nations has banned sensitive nuclear trade with Iran but there are no sanctions on conventional weapon deals.
“We don’t think that it’s an appropriate signal to be sending to the government of Tehran when they continue to be in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Tom Casey, a state department spokesman, said.
“We also believe as well that we certainly don’t want to see any kind of lethal aid or assistance given to any country that’s a state sponsor of terror. And as we’ve said, Iran is the leading state sponsor in the world.”
Ivanov, also Russia’s deputy prime minister, did not say how many missile systems had been delivered or when the deliveries took place.
Last year Russia dropped its plans to sell longer-range S300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, Russian news agencies have reported.
The US last year imposed sanctions on leading Russian arms firms over arms sales to Iran and Syria.
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