Friday, 10 April 2009

 
FREEMAN CENTER BROADCAST- April 10, 2009
FREEMAN CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES
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They deem him their worst enemy who tells them the truth. - Plato
"The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see." -- Ayn Rand
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Ignorance Is Weakness - Know The Truth
Self-Inflicted Ignorance Is Suicide
The Freeman Center Is A Defense Against Ignorance
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THE TRUTH MAY NOT ALWAYS BE POPULAR,
BUT IT IS STILL THE TRUTH
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MAY HASHEM SAVE US FROM OUR "BEST FRIENDS"
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Any attempt by the U.S, Europe or the UN to limit Israeli military freedom of action should be prevented
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Israel concerned as Iran moves ahead with nukes, US joins talks
HERB KEINON
AP , THE JERUSALEM POST Apr. 10, 2009
 

Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons "demands everyone's attention" and "must
be of grave concern to every thinking individual," an official in the Prime
Minister's Office said Thursday night, following the inauguration of a new
nuclear-related facility in Iran and reports that North Korea may have
smuggled enriched uranium into the country.
"Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons could quite possibly be the single most
serious issue that faces the international community, and demands
everybody's attention," the official said. "It must be of grave concern to
every thinking individual."
The comment came two days after US Vice President Joe Biden said in a CNN
interview that it would be "ill advised" for Israel to launch a military
strike against Iran. Biden added that he did not believe Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu would take such a step.
The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it would participate
directly in group talks set to start Saturday in Geneva with Iran over its
nuclear program, another significant shift from president George W. Bush's
policy toward a nation he labeled part of an axis of evil.
The State Department said the United States would be at the table "from now
on" when senior diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security
Council and Germany meet with Iranian officials to discuss the nuclear
issue. "We believe that pursuing very careful engagement on a range of issues that affect our interests and the interests of the world with Iran
makes sense," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters.
"There is nothing more important than trying to convince Iran to cease its
efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon."
The Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported Thursday that several Western
intelligence organizations were investigating whether a ship that recently
traveled from North Korea to Iran had several dozen tons of enriched uranium
hidden in its cargo.
According to the report, the suspected move was seen by some intelligence
officials as an effort to hide traces of the highly enriched uranium program
to develop nuclear weapons, which the US believes North Korea is secretly
pursuing.
According to one Western intelligence source, the ship in question left
North Korea last December and traveled through the Indian Ocean. The cargo
was then shipped to a location near Teheran.
"The bulk of the [transferred] materials appears to be medium-level enriched
uranium," the source said. "It could be further enriched to weapons grade in
Iranian facilities."
Western countries fear that there could be some kind of enrichment agreement
between North Korea and Iran.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, said Thursday that Iran
was open to talks offered by the US and other countries over its nuclear
program, if the negotiations were based on "respect" for its rights.
Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate a new facility producing uranium fuel
for a planned heavy-water nuclear reactor in Isfahan, Ahmadinejad said that
past negotiations had fallen apart because of the West's demands that Iran
rein in its nuclear program.
He said "the Iranian nation has always been for talks," but that
negotiations must "be based on justice and respecting rights."
The US and its allies have expressed concerns that Iran could reprocess
spent fuel from the heavy-water reactor into plutonium for building a
warhead.
The process is distinct from uranium enrichment, which produces fuel for a
light-water reactor. Highly enriched uranium can be used to build a warhead
as well. Iran's enrichment program presents more immediate concerns to the
West than the hard-water reactor, because it is far more advanced.
The Defense Ministry said in a statement it was closely following the
developments, stressing that the inauguration of the new plant reinforces
the need for the world to closely monitor Iran's nuclear program.
The inauguration ceremony came a day after the US announced it would
participate directly in group talks with Iran over its nuclear program,
another significant shift from former US president George W. Bush's policy
toward a nation he labeled part of an axis of evil.
Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia announced Wednesday they were
inviting Iran to a new session of negotiations aimed at breaking a deadlock
in the talks.
Iran has not yet replied to the invitation.
Following the US decision to be a full participant in talks with Iranian
officials held by senior diplomats from the five permanent UN Security
Council members plus Germany, a senior adviser to Ahmadinejad said Thursday
that the Islamic republic would decide on a response to the overture after
evaluating the details.
"We will review it and then decide about it," Ali Akbar Javanfekr told Reuters.
China urged the Islamic republic to pursue negotiations.
"We are glad to see an improvement in relations between the United States
and Iran," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a press
conference in Beijing on Thursday. "We encourage Iran and other parties to
have active contacts to seek an all-round, appropriate and long-term
solution to the Iran nuclear issue."
The State Department had said that the US would be at the table "from now
on" when senior P5+1 meet with Iranian officials.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States would now
be a "full participant" rather than an observer in the talks, which include
it and the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council -
Britain, China, France and Russia - along with Germany.
"We believe that pursuing very careful engagement on a range of issues that
affect our interests and the interests of the world with Iran makes sense,"
Clinton said. "There is nothing more important than trying to convince Iran
to cease its efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon."
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the decision was conveyed to
representatives of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia by the
third-ranking US diplomat William Burns at a Wednesday meeting in London.
"The US remains committed to the P5+1 process; what is different is that the
US will join P5+1 discussions with Iran from now on," Wood said, adding that
Washington was hopeful Iran would attend.
Wood said the administration wants a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear
issue and believes that requires "a willingness to engage directly with each
other on the basis of mutual respect and mutual interests."
The invitation is to be sent to the Iranians by European Union foreign
policy chief Javier Solana. In a statement the group said it welcomed the
"new direction" of US policy toward Iran. No time frame was given for a date
of the meeting.

Posted by Britannia Radio at 14:21