Iran says no to US talks

[100% ILL]

Iran rules out US talks

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=29044&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

LONDON, Jan 25 (IranMania) - Iran ruled out direct talks with Washington on Monday as Israel urged the world to take action against the Islamic republic's nuclear programme, warning it could destablise the Middle East.

US President George W. Bush, just into his second term of office, has warned Tehran not to develop nuclear weapons or risk possible military action, in an escalating round of tit-for-tat rhetoric between Iran and its archfoe, AFP reported.

"We have said before that if anyone wants to talks to us in a threatening language, we will adopt the same tone," Iranian government spokesman and cabinet secretary Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told reporters.

Last week, Bush -- who once lumped Iran in an "axis of evil" with Saddam Hussein's Iraq and North Korea -- said he could not rule out using force if Tehran failed to rein in its nuclear plans.

US Vice President Dick Cheney also warned that Israel might launch its own pre-emptive strike to end Iran's nuclear programme and he put Iran "right at the top of the list" of global trouble spots.

While Iran insists its nuclear activities are strictly for peaceful energy purposes, the European Union's "big three" -- Britain, France and Germany -- are engaged in a diplomatic effort aimed at securing long-term guarantees the clerical regime will not seek the bomb.

In an interview on Monday, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said: "The world must mobilise against the Iranian nuclear option."

"Iran has become the focal point of all the dangers of the Middle East... This problem should be of concern to the whole world and not just Israel," said Peres, the founder of Israel's nuclear programme.

Since the downfall of Saddam in 2003, Israel has come to regard the Islamic republic as its number one enemy.

Israel's chief spy Meir Dagan told the parliamentary foreign affairs and defence committee that Iran's nuclear ambitions were close to "the point of no return".

Iran, he said, was nearly able to manufacture enriched uranium without any external help, Israel's army radio quoted him as telling the committee.

"From there, the route to building a bomb is a short one, and so it is up to the international community to increase its efforts in order to prevent the arming of Tehran," Dagan said.

On Sunday, Iran warned any attack on its soil would be a "major strategic blunder" and has insisted that its nuclear activities are strictly peaceful.

"If they (the Americans) stop these threats and deal with us as equals and forget preconditions, we will think about the possibility of negotiating with this government," Ramazanzadeh said on Monday.

The New Yorker magazine reported that US commandos have been operating inside Iran since mid-2004, secretly scouting targets for possible air strikes targetting what the US says is a covert weapons programme.

Although Iran and the United States cut off direct diplomatic ties shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, Britain, France and Germany are working to secure long-term guarantees that Tehran will not manufacture an atomic bomb.

Iran has agreed to suspend sensitive nuclear fuel cycle work, which can be geared to both civil and military purposes, for the duration of the talks.

Israel itself has never publicly acknowledged having a nuclear arsenal but foreign experts believe it has produced between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads.

[Qdrop]

i really hope Europe can make some headway....
cause the US is gonna be stuck in Iraq and Afganastan for years....
plus syria is on the list too......

we just don't have the resources to go into IRan....certainly not alone anyway.

"If they (the Americans) stop these threats and deal with us as equals and forget preconditions, we will think about the possibility of negotiating with this government," Ramazanzadeh said on Monday."

-- yeah, that's gonna happen. :rolleyes:

[100% ILL]

I think the real problem is more along the lines of, wether or not we are going to turn our backs on Israel. Thye continue to insist that Iran is the focal point of terrorist activity in the Middle east.

In an interview on Monday, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said: "The world must mobilise against the Iranian nuclear option."

"Iran has become the focal point of all the dangers of the Middle East... This problem should be of concern to the whole world and not just Israel," said Peres, the founder of Israel's nuclear programme.

Since the downfall of Saddam in 2003, Israel has come to regard the Islamic republic as its number one enemy.

Israel's chief spy Meir Dagan told the parliamentary foreign affairs and defence committee that Iran's nuclear ambitions were close to "the point of no return".

Now I don't feel that we should attack Iran based on the information at hand. The problem is Israel may push us to attack by threatening to attack themselves. As everybody pretty much knows, the US could never allow Israel to attack Iran and they know that, but they want to, so they may try to use their political leverage with us. It will be interesting to seee how this plays out.

[phinkasaurus]

the u.s. should let isreal do what they want. attack iran and then get the shit kicked out of them by the entire middle east.

then the u.s. can roll in and "bring democracy" to another area of the mid east.

[/sarcasm]

[Echewta]

Release Isreal. Release the hounds. They'll clean up the middle east.

[ASsman]

But YES to success.

LONDON, Jan 25 (IranMania) - Iran ruled out direct talks with Washington on Monday as Israel urged the world to take action against the Islamic republic's nuclear programme, warning it could destablise the Middle East.
Empty threats. Really they are worried about that? Please, hypocrites.

[Funkaloyd]

It's not hypocritical of them. They're worried about a Muslim nation having nuclear weapons. Duh.

[100% ILL]

ISRAEL IN THE IRAN FRAY, TOO
By Ehsan Ahrari
Asia Times (Singapore)
January 25, 2005
http://www.americantaskforce.org/news/roundup.htm

Reporter Seymour Hersh's allegations that the
United States may be penetrating Iranian
territory in search of credible evidence of its
nuclear activities, or even with a view to
bringing about regime change, have somewhat
overshadowed Israeli perspectives.

In general, no discussion of Iran's alleged
nuclear weapons ambitions can be held without
reference to what the government of Israel
thinks. An important aspect of Tel Aviv's
approach is to keep on ringing alarm bells, so
that the attention of the international community
remains focused on the issue. At the same time,
it has made a point of remaining engaged with
American officials. The fact that nuclear
non-proliferation is one of the top national
security issues of the Bush administration makes
Israel's job on the latter point considerably
easy.

Actually, Israel has nothing to worry about the
possibility of this issue fading into oblivion,
for two major reasons. First, speculation in and
around Washington has never stopped circulating
that the Bush administration has some sort of a
plan about destabilizing, or even bringing about
regime change, in Iran. What hasn't been clear,
however, is whether it would follow the Afghan
model of a military campaign, or the Iraqi
version of it. Considering the fact that the US
military is innovative and prolific about coming
up with sui generis campaigns for different
military operations, chances are that if
Washington indeed has plans for regime change in
Iran, it might not follow either of the two
preceding operations. That is why the recently
published essay of Hersh about a potential US
military action against Iran is read with
considerable interest and attention worldwide.

The second reason why the world's attention
remains focused on the issue is the possibility
that Israel, at some point, will take it on
itself to carry out preemptive operations against
Iran, from air and sea. Hersh mentions this
possibility in his recent essay. He writes,
"Israel has acquired three submarines capable of
launching cruise missiles and has equipped some
of its aircraft with additional fuel tanks,
putting Israel's F-161 fighters within the range
of most Iranian [nuclear and missile] targets."

It is interesting to examine Israel's own
assessment of the Iranian nuclear issue. In a
recent paper entitled "Europe and Iran's Nuclear
Future", issued by the Jaffee Center for
Strategic Studies, an institution generally

regarded as reflecting the official thinking of
that country, it is clear that Israel remains
dissatisfied with the basic approach of the EU-3
countries (Germany, France and the United
Kingdom) toward Iran on the nuclear issue. It
states:

Iran's nuclear ambitions are clearly reflected in
the extent of its program, its past record of
concealment, its ongoing effort to hinder
inspection, and its determination to continue
with uranium enrichment-related activities. By
contrast, the EU-3 have shown no similar
determination. The European stance has been and
remains to reach a "suspension" (which is, by
definition, a temporary measure) of Iran's
enrichment program, with some minor additions.
The Europeans have never unreservedly condemned
Iran's military nuclear ambitions, probably out
of political considerations, ie, the desire to be
seen by Iran as an "honest broker", rather than
from any real confidence in Iran's innocence. But
by failing to do so, they expose themselves to
suspicions of acting from ulterior motives.

It should not, therefore, surprise anyone that
the US also remains unhappy with the EU-3
approach, which is described in Washington as
characterized by too much carrot and not enough
stick.

The most important aspect of Israel's
perspectives on Iran's potential development of
nuclear weapons is what could be called its
alleged "cascading effect". The same paper states
that if Iran "continues with its weapons
development program and acquires or even comes
close to acquiring a military nuclear capability,
Saudi Arabia will probably feel compelled to seek
a nuclear 'umbrella' from Pakistan, through an
existing or new cooperation agreement. Others in
the region, particularly Egypt and Turkey, will
be similarly driven to obtain such a capability."
It goes on to claim that even Iraq would be
impelled "in the more distant future, to develop
a WMD [weapons of mass destruction] capability."
Thus, the essential aspect of Israel's position
on the subject is that no Middle Eastern country,
save itself, has the right to possess nuclear
weapons. Two realities should be kept in mind
regarding Israel's position. First, the US
government has absolutely no problem with Israel
having a nuclear monopoly in the Middle East.
Second, the Israeli position regarding nuclear
non-proliferation is a virtual carbon copy of the
long-standing US position on the subject.
Washington originally did not want the Soviet
Union to develop nuclear weapons. In fact, the
capabilities of the former communist superpower
to do so radically changed the rules of the game
underlying the Cold War. During that period, US
foreign policy, along with that of the Soviet
Union, was constantly driven by the notion of
nuclear deterrence. It was only after the
implosion of the Soviet Union that US foreign
policy was liberated from any thought regarding
how Moscow would respond or react to its own
maneuvers worldwide. In the same manner, Israel
is afraid that if a Middle Eastern country
becomes a nuclear power, it could forever lose
its freedom of action in the Middle East. The
specifics of such a scenario are not important
because Israel will do everything in its power,
including preemptive attacks, to make sure that
no Middle Eastern country ever develops nuclear
weapons. The US, regardless of who is sitting in
the White House, has no problem with such a frame
of mind. Such a reality makes it difficult for
Iran to realistically think about becoming a
nuclear power any time soon.

[SobaViolence]

Iran will beat any and all who try to invade. Iranians hate the religious fanatics in charge, but they absolutely despise the USA/Israel and will completely unite to fight them.

then the nukes will fly, and the wind will blow westward... (!)