Iran ‘'Continuing To Obstruct'' IAEA – Iran Says Will Talk To US Only After Policy Change
Wed, 02/18/2009 - 20:00 | by uaniadmin<!--[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]-->The Guardian reported that ''The UN's nuclear watchdog will report that Iran is continuing to obstruct its investigation into allegations of past work on nuclear weapons, but the country's uranium enrichment programme was expanding more slowly than expected. The report, due to be released today or tomorrow, is likely to sharpen debate within the Obama administration, which is reviewing its Iran policy.'' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/19/iran-nuclear-watchdog-united-nations)
AFP reported that ''Iran is considering holding face-to-face talks with Washington but first needs to see a concrete shift in U.S. policy, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday. 'We are considering this offer. It would be good if the Americans' policy changed not only in words but in deeds,' Mottaki said during a visit to neighboring Azerbaijan. 'We need to wait to see differences in (U.S. President) Barack Obama's policy compared to that of George Bush. If the United States makes steps towards Iran, counter-steps will be made by Iran as well,' he told journalists in comments translated into Azerbaijani. Asked what changes Iran was looking for, Mottaki replied: 'They know well.''' (http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20090219\ACQDJON200902190752DOWJONESDJONLINE000685.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Iran)
The AP reported that ''Bahrain has halted talks on a natural gas imports deal with Iran after a remark by a Tehran official perceived as an insult to the tiny Gulf kingdom, its foreign minister said Thursday. The flap between the two nations stems from comments attributed to former Iranian parliament speaker Ali Akbar Nateq Noori - a prominent cleric close to Iran's supreme leader - who was quoted by Arab media last week as saying that Bahrain was the 14th province of Iran until 1970.'' (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/19/news/ML-Bahrain-Iran.php)
AFP reported that ''US Senator Benjamin Cardin called on Syria on Wednesday to end its three-decade alliance with Iran as Washington reviews its policies towards the Middle East. After talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Cardin urged the Damascus government to seize the opportunity of a new US administration to end the support for Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups that earned it sanctions from president George W. Bush.'' (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hU1PoDpWJv62i2tFuD0XXqc_OnWA)
John Hughes wrote in the Christian Science Monitor that ''All the signs suggest that in return for Russian pressure upon Iran to end its military nuclear program, the Obama White House quid pro quo would abandon the missile defense project the Bush White House had planned to build on Russia's doorstep.'' (http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0219/p09s01-coop.html)
Roger Cohen wrote in The NY Times about Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. ''No Iranian puzzle frustrates America and its allies as much as how to reach Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who sets the country's direction.... Solving it lies at the heart of the Iranian challenge facing President Obama because although Khamenei's authority is not absolute, his veto power is. He can no more be bypassed than the Great Recession.'' (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/opinion/19cohen.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print)
The Washington Times published an editorial saying ''Iran has developed a new generation of unmanned aerial vehicles with a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi announced this week... Should Iran arm its drones with missiles having chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear warheads, any of which are or soon will be within Iranian capabilities, the UAVs will be strategic, offensive weapon systems.'' (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/19/new-iranian-capability-is-troublesome/)
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that '' A delegation led by international peace advocate David Hartsough of San Francisco is expected to land in Iran today for a weeklong mission to promote peace between that country and the United States." (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/19/BAP2160I0U.DTL)
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