www.managingtheatom.org

28 January 2005

NUCLEAR ENERGY, WEAPONS, AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Iran defends nuclear programme (Reuters)
2. Israel warns of Iran's nuclear program (AP)
3. UK adopts cautious diplomacy over Iran's nuclear issue (Xinhua)
4. Iran Must Dismantle Nuke Enrichment Program EU (Reuters)

REGIONAL
5. Afghans, Iran linked by new road, divided by U.S. (Reuters)
6. Syria, Iran not doing enough to stop insurgents: Iraqi minister (AFP)
7. Iran's theocracy has lot riding on Iraqi democracy (USA Today)

INTERNATIONAL
8. Indonesian president receives Iran`s financial aid for tsunami victims
(IRNA)
9. Schroeder: Don't use force on Iran (CNN)

US IRAN RELATIONS
10. Rice Sees Diplomatic Solution to Iran Nuclear Row (Reuters)
11. US reacting to our better ties, says Iran (The Star Malaysia)
12. Clinton Urges Diplomacy For Iran (CBS News)

COMMENTARY
13. EDITORIAL: Military Rumblings on Iran (New York Times)
14. EDITORIAL: Wanted: Iran policy (Financial Times London)

NUCLEAR ENERGY, WEAPONS, AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Iran defends nuclear programme (Reuters)
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - Iran has vowed never to dismantle its
uranium enrichment programme, a day after a confidential EU document showed
that France, Britain and Germany had told Tehran they would not settle for anything less.
Iran has temporarily frozen its enrichment programme, a process of
purifying uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or weapons, but
insists that atomic fuel production is a sovereign right it will never
abandon.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=661775

2. Israel warns of Iran's nuclear program (AP)
By ED JOHNSON
LONDON -- The Israeli defense minister warned that Iran's nuclear program
is "very close to the point of no return" and urged the United States and
Europe to refer the issue to the United Nations.
During a visit to London, Shaul Mofaz called for sanctions to be imposed
against Tehran and detailed inspections of its nuclear facilities.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Israel%20Iran

3. UK adopts cautious diplomacy over Iran's nuclear issue (Xinhua)
LONDON, Jan. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Amid Washington's recent tough remarks on
Iran over the nuclear issue, US staunch ally Britain this time does not
seem to give support for a tough stance towards Tehran.
Days after US President George W. Bush said military action against Iran's
nuclear program had not been ruled out and Vice President Dick Cheney said
Iran topped the list of world trouble spots and Israel could decide to bomb
its nuclear facilities, the Sunday Times newspaper reported on Jan. 23 that
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has drawn up Britain's case against a
military strike on Iran amid fears Washington may seek support for a new conflict.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/27/content_2513565.htm

4. Iran Must Dismantle Nuke Enrichment Program EU (Reuters)
VIENNA (Reuters) - France, Britain and Germany have told Iran they will not
settle for anything less than an end to sensitive nuclear processes key to
the production of atomic bombs, according to a confidential EU document.
Iran has temporarily frozen its enrichment program, a process of purifying
uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or weapons, but insists
that atomic fuel production is a sovereign right it will never abandon.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-nuclear-iran-eu.html

REGIONAL
5. Afghans, Iran linked by new road, divided by U.S. (Reuters)
By Saeed Haqiqi
ISLAM QALA, Afghanistan, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The presidents of Afghanistan
and Iran opened a new road between their countries on Thursday amid hopes
that an increase in trade would improve their uneasy relationship.
Tehran has been unsettled by Afghanistan's close ties to its arch foe the
United States, its massive output of drugs and a recent report has even
suggested that U.S. special forces have entered Iran from Afghanistan to
search for nuclear sites.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL112885.htm

6. Syria, Iran not doing enough to stop insurgents: Iraqi minister (AFP)
WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (AFP) - Iraq's national security minister accused Syria
and Iran of not doing enough to stop rebels at their borders amid a violent
campaign to keep Iraqis from voting in national elections on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, we have two -- if I can put it in this way -- naughty boys,
neighbors Iran and Syria. The insurgents mainly are crossing the border
from the west," said Kasim Daoud, minister of state for national security.

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=36538

7. Iran's theocracy has lot riding on Iraqi democracy (USA Today)
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
TEHRAN, Iran As Iraqis brave bombs and bullets to vote in elections
Sunday, their Iranian neighbors will be watching a process that in some
ways could have almost as much impact here as in Baghdad.
If Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority dominates the voting, as is now expected,
Iran's own Shiite government could suddenly have a friendly neighbor after
decades of hostility that erupted into war between the two countries in the
1980s.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-01-26-iran-iraq-election_x.htm

INTERNATIONAL
8. Indonesian president receives Iran`s financial aid for tsunami victims
(IRNA)
Kuala Lumpur, Jan 27, IRNA -- Iran`s Minister of Welfare and Social
Security Mohammad Hossein Sharifzadegan handed over Tehran`s financial
assistance for the tsunami victims in Aceh to the president of Indonesia on
Wednesday.
Sharifzadegan, who later in the day left Jakarta for Tehran, was in the
Indonesian capital heading a relief and medical care delegation to tour the
tsunami-hit areas in the Muslim-populated province of Aceh.

http://www.irna.ir/?SAB=OK&LANG=EN&PART=_HOME&TYPE=HP&id=200501271041456

9. Schroeder: Don't use force on Iran (CNN)
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says any
solution with Iran over concerns it could use nuclear material to make
weapons should be resolved by diplomacy, not force.
Speaking to hundreds of people at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, Schroeder, who steadfastly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of
Iraq, said that it was imperative Iran not develop nuclear weapons.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/01/28/davos.schroeder.iran.ap/

US IRAN RELATIONS
10. Rice Sees Diplomatic Solution to Iran Nuclear Row (Reuters)
PARIS (Reuters) - The United States believes its row over Iran's nuclear
program can be resolved by diplomacy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
said in an interview.
Iran says its nuclear work is peaceful, but Washington says Tehran has a
covert atomic weapons program and said last week it would not rule out
military force to stop Tehran from getting the bomb.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7456369

11. US reacting to our better ties, says Iran (The Star Malaysia)

PUTRAJAYA: The United States veiled threat against Iran is a reaction
against the latter’s improving relations with the European Union and
Asia, among others.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs
Gholamali Khoshroo said this was because the Bush administration was
unhappy over their relations.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/1/28/nation/10017270&sec=nation

12. Clinton Urges Diplomacy For Iran (CBS News)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton urged the Bush administration Thursday
to stick to diplomacy to get Iran to abandon its nuclear program, which the
United States and other countries fear is part of a plan to make nuclear
weapons.
Clinton also said that even if Iran developed such weapons, it would find
it tough to use them.
"If they ever use them, they'll be toast," the former U.S. president said
in a freewheeling, 90-minute appearance at the annual meeting of the World
Economic Forum.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/23/world/main595350.shtml

COMMENTARY
13. EDITORIAL: Military Rumblings on Iran (New York Times)
President Bush began his second term with speculation rising about future
military moves against Iran. Last week, Vice President Dick Cheney placed
Iran first on the list of world trouble spots and darkly hinted that unless
tougher measures were taken to curtail its nuclear program, Israel might
launch its own pre-emptive airstrikes. Earlier this month, Seymour Hersh
reported in The New Yorker that secret reconnaissance operations have
already gotten under way inside Iran, as the Pentagon prepares target lists
of nuclear sites that could be attacked from the air or by ground-based
commando units.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/opinion/27thur1.html

14. EDITORIAL: Wanted: Iran policy (Financial Times, London)
It cannot have escaped anybody's notice that the background noise about
Iran is getting ominous - and has an eerie resemblance to the noises off
that grew in volume throughout 2002 as the administration of George W.
Bush, US president, prepared to invade Iraq.
As Mr. Bush started his second term last week, Dick Cheney, his vice-
president, explained in an interview that Iran - because of its alleged
nuclear weapons programme - was emphatically in Washington's sights,
unless, he said almost as an aside, Israel got there first in a reprise of
its attack on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981. Since Mr. Cheney was a
lead architect of the Iraq war it is impossible to ignore these dark
musings.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1a9bc364-70d1-11d9-b572-00000e2511c8.html

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