Iran’s Bushehr plant up and running

Posted on 14/08/2010 by terrortrends

Russia announced Friday it will begin the startup next week of Iran’s only atomic power plant, giving Tehran a boost as it struggles with international sanctions and highlighting differences between Moscow and Washington over pressuring the Islamic Republic to give up activities that could be used to make nuclear arms.

Uranium fuel shipped by Russia will be loaded into the Bushehr reactor on Aug. 21, beginning a process that will last about a month and end with the reactor sending electricity to Iranian cities, Russian and Iranian officials said.

Russia has walked a fine line on Iran for years. One of six world powers leading international efforts to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon, it has strongly criticized the U.S. and the European Union for following up with separate sanctions after the latest U.N. penalties — which Moscow supported — were passed.

Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as saying that the country had invited IAEA experts to watch the transfer of fuel, which was shipped about two years ago, into the Bushehr reactor.

“Fuel complexes are sealed (and being monitored by IAEA). Naturally, IAEA inspectors will be there to watch the unsealing,” ISNA quoted Salehi as saying.

Russia has said the Bushehr project has been closely supervised by the IAEA. But the U.N. watchdog has no monitoring authority at the plant beyond ensuring that its nuclear fuel is accounted for, and U.S. and EU officials have expressed safety concerns.

They note that Iran — leery of opening up its nuclear activities to outsiders — refuses to sign on to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, making it subject to international monitoring of its atomic safety standards.

Filed under: nuclear program, nuclear talks, Russia, sanctions, United Nations | Leave a comment »

Poll shows majority of Arabs view nuclear Iran in positive light

Posted on 13/08/2010 by terrortrends

A new poll shows that the percentage of the Arab world that thinks a nuclear-armed Iran would be good for the Middle East has doubled since last year and now makes up the majority.

The 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll found that 57 percent of respondents not only believe that Iran’s nuclear program aims to build a bomb but also view that goal positively — nearly double the 29 percent who thought so in 2009. The percentage of those who view an Iranian nuclear bomb negatively fell by more than half, from 46 percent to 21 percent.

But the Arab Public Opinion Poll’s findings on Iran stand in marked contrast to the stances of most Sunni Arab leaders, who fear the regional implications of an Iranian bomb.

“In my view, the Arab public position on Iran is largely a defiance vote or an ‘enemy of my enemy’ vote,” Mr. Telhami told the Washington Times.

Last month, The Times reported on unusually blunt remarks from the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the U.S., who said he favored airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites by U.S. or Israeli forces despite the consequences for the region.

“If you are asking me, ‘Am I willing to live with [the fallout from military action] versus living with a nuclear Iran,’ my answer is still the same: ‘We cannot live with a nuclear Iran,’“ Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba said during a conference in Aspen, Colo.

A day earlier, the Times of London reported that Saudi Arabia had given Israel tacit approval to use its airspace in the event of an aerial attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Officials from the kingdom vehemently denied the report, but most observers suspect that some Arab leaders would quietly cheer an Israeli attack, even if it generated riots in their capitals.

Iran repeatedly has denied that its nuclear program is devoted to anything but producing energy.

“There is no love for Iran in most of the Arab world,” Mr. Telhami said. “They fear Israel and U.S. foreign policy, so when we ask them, ‘Name the two countries that are most threatening to you personally,’ they identify first and foremost Israel and second the United States, and Iran is down on the list.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/6/poll-majority-of-arab-world-views-nuke-armed-iran-/

Filed under: Israel, nuclear program, Obama, United Nations | Leave a comment »

New Iran sanctions passed, Obama given right to waive

Posted on 25/06/2010 by terrortrends

Congress has approved new U.S. sanctions against Iran with legislation that reserves for President Obama the right to waive the sanctions on a case-by-case basis.

The sanctions, passed by the House and Senate on June 24, were meant to target Iran’s banking and energy sectors. Under the legislation, passed about two weeks after sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, foreign companies with links to Iranian energy projects and banks would also be banned from doing business in the United States.

At one point, the White House pressed the Democratic leadership in Congress to grant Obama the power to grant blanket exemptions from sanctions. Instead, the bill would allow the president to waive sanctions on companies on a case-by-case basis for no more than a year.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/ss_iran0572_06_25.asp

Filed under: Gas & Petroleum, nuclear program, Oil, sanctions, U.S. Congress, United Nations | Leave a comment »

Iran defies U.N., enriches more uranium

Posted on 23/06/2010 by terrortrends

Iran’s nuclear chief said Wednesday his country has produced 17 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20 percent, defying U.N. demands to halt the controversial program.

The 20 percent level, needed to produce fuel for a medical research reactor, is far below the more than 90 percent required to build a nuclear weapon, but U.S. officials have expressed concern Iran may be moving closer to the ability to reach weapons-grade level.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/23/iran-says-produced-kilograms-enriched-uranium/?test=latestnews

Filed under: nuclear program, sanctions, United Nations | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page