UANI

Reuters reported that "The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief urged Iran on Friday to accept an offer to process its enriched uranium abroad by the end of 2009, and advised Western powers not to impose further sanctions on Tehran.  Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said a plan brokered by the IAEA in which Iran would send low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for conversion into fuel for a Tehran medical reactor was a rare chance to defuse mistrust over its nuclear program." http://bit.ly/322zkN
 
AFP reported that "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanded on Thursday that world powers respect Iran and release its assets if they want to engage with Tehran, in an apparent reference to archfoe the United States.  'If our nation sees they have changed their behaviour, dropped their arrogant attitude ... and return Iranian nation's rights and assets the nation will accept that,' Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in the northern city of Tabriz." http://bit.ly/4D8cWs
 
Reuters reported that "U.N. inspectors revisited Iran's second uranium enrichment facility on Thursday, diplomats said, after voicing concern that Tehran's belated disclosure of the nuclear site meant more may be hidden away.  The inspectors aimed to make further checks of the Fordow site's layout and wanted more Iranian explanations to pinpoint the project's chronology and original purpose, as well as access to its director and designers.  Iran revealed the site to the International Atomic Energy Agency in September, two years after it said construction began. The IAEA said Iran was legally bound to own up about the plant as soon as plans were drafted. Iran disputes this." http://bit.ly/20wgOO
 
The AP reported that "Representatives of six world powers on Friday were considering measures against Iran for its refusal to halt nuclear enrichment activities, as the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warned Tehran not to miss the opportunity to resolve the dispute.  The European Union said senior diplomats from the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany took part in talks in Brussels. They come a day after President Barack Obama said the six nations will develop a package of serious new punitive measures in coming weeks. He did not give details." http://bit.ly/BVA6l
 
The Wall Street Journal reported that "The international spokesman for Iran's main opposition movement called for President Barack Obama to increase his public support for Iranian democrats and significantly intensify financial pressure on Tehran's elite military unit, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.  Mohsen Makhmalbaf, during an unofficial visit to Washington, also said Thursday that Iranian opposition leaders supported U.S. efforts to use diplomacy to contain the nuclear ambitions of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government.  Mr. Makhmalbaf's remarks came just hours after President Obama expressed growing doubt Thursday during the final day of his Asian tour about his administration's ability to engage Mr. Ahmadinejad's government on the nuclear issue." http://bit.ly/3YLsww
 
The Wall Street Journal reported that "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's coming trip to Brazil is spurring criticism of the country in Washington, souring a budding U.S.-Brazilian relationship that appeared to promise a period of unprecedented cooperation in Latin America.  Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's planned reception of Mr. Ahmadinejad on Monday undercuts U.S. and European efforts to pressure Iran to curtail its nuclear program, boosting his stature at a critical moment in the talks, experts say." http://bit.ly/EG9XU
 
Meir Javedanfar wrote in Friday's Real Clear World that "But Larijani resigned as Iran's top nuclear negotiator because he could no longer stomach working with Ahmadinejad. And after Ahmadinejad's controversial reelection, people like Velayati and Rowhani were sidelined. Those who surround Khamenei these days are almost exclusively all neo-conservatives. Despite their lack of experience, they have another important quality: loyalty. Iran's Supreme Leader has one goal in mind, and that's to build a bomb--be it a physical device or the 'breakout capacity' to build one on demand. Until then, he has no time, patience or sympathy for those who may question him, no matter how knowledgeable or skilled they may be." http://bit.ly/39OQJh
 
Roula Khalaf wrote in Friday's Financial Times that "The Saudis and Iranians - the Gulf's two major powers - have been battling it out through their media for months. Iran has accused Riyadh of involvement in the disappearance of a nuclear scientist and has been enraged by the Saudi move to fingerprint Iranians travelling to Mecca to perform the Haj pilgrimage.  The Saudi bombing of Houthi positions is adding fuel to the fire. This week, Iran's joint chief of staff Hassan Firouzabadi called Saudi attacks 'state terrorism' and Saudi Arabia's grand mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh accused Iran of 'collusion in sin and aggression'. A group of Saudi clerics lambasted Iran for allegedly 'financing and arming' agents to spread Shia Islam across Sunni lands." http://bit.ly/flDoL
 
Henry Sokolski wrote in Thursday's Washington Times that "Rather than open a debate about what Moscow is up to, most officials have been in one or another form of denial. This is a mistake. In fact, the latest evidence suggests Russia is trying to play both us and Iran.  Earlier this month, leaked International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) documents revealed that Tehran has been working on a nuclear warhead design that is far smaller, lighter and more advanced than anything previously suspected...This 'two-point detonation' warhead, which only the most advanced nuclear weapons states have mastered, is small and light enough to enable Iran's latest rocket systems to target NATO's southeastern members. With further range improvements, which are expected before 2015, Iran could target most of Europe." http://bit.ly/fruof
 
Massoumeh Torfeh wrote in Friday's The Guardian that "There is little doubt that Iran is speaking with two opposing voices. On the one hand the Islamic Republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, frowns on the US on the anniversary of the hostage crisis in Iran on 4 November, saying 'every time America smiles it has a dagger hidden behind'. On the other hand, however, the contested Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asks the US for some form of face-saving solution that he could sell to his hardline colleagues, the Revolutionary Guards. He does not spell it out of course, but the tone of his approach to Obama in his press conference in Istanbul should be taken as such." http://bit.ly/3o6e28
 
In a news analysis piece for The AP, Robert Burns, on Friday, wrote that "The Obama administration is shifting the focus of its Iran policy from talk to sanctions, but the prospect of winning early international support for toughened new penalties appears dim.  Equally problematic is finding a set of sanctions that would have a significant impact on the prime target of American and international worry: Iran's suspected pursuit of an atom bomb. Three rounds of U.N. sanctions, dating to December 2006 and aimed mainly at squeezing Iran's nuclear work, have had little apparent effect."  http://bit.ly/1ZETqj