Iran nuclear program

Source : AP | Baghdad | 23 May 2012

Iran made the first move Tuesday in attempts to gain an edge in nuclear talks with the U.S. and other world powers: It agreed in principle to allow U.N. inspectors to restart probes into a military site suspected of harboring tests related to atomic weapons.

Source : Agencies | Tehran/Vienna | 21 May 2012

A majority of Iranian lawmakers yesterday urged world powers to respect Iran’s “rights” in crucial talks next week in Baghdad over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Of the 290-member Parliament, 203 MPs called on the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, the so-called P5+1 group, to also seek “co-operation” with Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“The P5+1 should respect the rights of the Iranian nation,” the MPs said.

Source : Reuters | Vienna | 19 May 2012

UN atomic watchdog chief Yukiya Amano and top aides will travel to Tehran tomorrow for talks with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, a few days before the Islamic state and world powers meet in Baghdad to discuss the broader nuclear dispute.

News of the rare visit came as Western diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran were making headway toward a framework deal on how to tackle concerns about the Islamic Republic’s atomic activity.

Source : Arab News | Jerusalem | 18 May 2012

US plans for a possible military strike on Iran are ready and the option is “fully available,” the US ambassador to Israel said, days before Tehran resumes talks with world powers which suspect it of seeking to develop nuclear arms.

Like Israel, the United States has said it considers military force a last resort to prevent Iran using its uranium enrichment to make a bomb. Iran insists its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes.

By : Reuters | Dubai | 15 May 2012

Iran has hanged a man it said was an agent for Israeli intelligence agency Mossad whom it convicted of killing one of its nuclear scientists in 2010, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.

Tehran has accused Israel and the United States of assassinating four Iranian scientists since 2010 in order to sabotage its nuclear program which the West suspects is hiding Iran’s attempt to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

By Gareth Porter | IPS | Washington | 14 May 2012

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano has signaled that there will be no IAEA agreement with Iran in the meetings in Vienna Monday and Tuesday on the terms for Iranian cooperation in clarifying issue of alleged nuclear weapons work.

Amano indicated in an interview with The Daily Beast Friday that he intends to hold up an agreement on Iranian cooperation in responding to allegations of military involvement in its nuclear programme until the IAEA is allowed to visit to Parchin.

By Elad Benari | Arutz Sheva | 12 May 2012

The United States is worried that Shaul Mofaz and his Kadima party’s joining a unity government with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could result in an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities at any given moment, according to a report on Channel 10 News on Thursday.

U.S. government officials told Channel 10 News that they believe a Likud-Kadima joing government could make a decision about an Israeli attack on Iran at any moment and perhaps even before the U.S. presidential elections in November.

By Reuters | Jerusalem | 29 Apr 2012

A former Israeli spymaster has branded the country’s leaders unfit to tackle the Iranian nuclear program because of what he called the “messianic feelings” behind their threats to launch a pre-emptive war on Iran.

Other veterans have come out against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently, but the criticism from former domestic intelligence chief Yuval Diskin was especially strong.

By Maayan Lubell | Reuters | Jerusalem | 25 Apr 2012

Israel’s military chief said he does not believe Iran will decide to produce an atomic bomb, describing its leadership as “very rational” in an interview published on Wednesday.

Lt. General Benny Gantz’s characterization of Iran’s rulers appeared to be at odds with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s oft-stated warnings that Islamic leaders could opt to use nuclear weapons even at the risk of devastating retaliation.

By Anshel Pfeffer | Haaretz | 11 Apr 2012

The headline of today's Maariv is extremely important, if true. It quotes American officials who say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised not to carry out an attack on Iran before the fall.