IAEA report says that Iran's intentions are suspect but can't prove them

and, they cite Iran for wanting their own uranium enrichment program, ignoring the negotiations with the Russians, which seem to be progressing, where Russia would do the enrichment.

The Associated Press
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060228/WIRE/202280308/1117/news

February 28. 2006

VIENNA, Austria - Iran appears determined to expand its uranium enrichment program - a key international concern because of fears it could eventually make nuclear weapons, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a new report Monday.

The 11-page report emphasized that a more than three-year probe has not revealed "any diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices."

Still, it declared that - because of lack of sufficient cooperation from the Iranian side - the IAEA remained unable "to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran."

The finding was essentially an admission that the agency cannot establish whether Iran is hiding aspects of its nuclear program that it is obligated to report to the IAEA, the U.N. atomic watchdog, under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

There doesn't seem to be much of a case for anything here, especially if the Russian deal goes through. Looks like Bush's scheme to isolate Iran against the international community when the U.N. take this up isn't going to get any help from this report.

:evilgrin:

Spring may be on the way, but it has certainly been the winter of President Bush's discontent. The war against terrorism has been going badly. Violence in Iraq continues to grow, and increasingly it appears to be unfolding along sectarian lines. Sunnis are attacking Shiite mosques, and the Shiites are engaged in revenge killings. Iraqi security forces appear unable to impose order, and this may delay incipient plans to begin reducing U.S. military deployments in that troubled land. Progress in identifying a new Iraqi government has stalled ― at least for the moment.

Nor are American troubles in the Muslim world confined to Iraq. The Iranians have resumed their uranium enrichment activities in defiance of both threats and enticements from Europe, Russia and the United States. Ariel Sharon's immobilizing stroke along with Hamas' victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections has sucked much of the air out of the peace process in the Middle East. The public mood in the region remains highly polarized, and for all of Karen Hughes' media savvy, the United States is taking a beating along with the Europeans for the publication of Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Secretary of State Rice has been back in the Middle East this week, where the Egyptians, among others, enjoyed reminding her that America cannot preach democracy in Palestine, and then rebuke the winners, demanding concessions from them without making a serious effort to push Israel to display more diplomatic flexibility.

Nor has the president found much relief on the home front. His second term agenda ― social security reform and simplification of the tax system ― appears dead in the water. Worse yet, the administration's feckless response to the Katrina hurricane has been back in the news; an unflattering House GOP report on the Homeland Security Department's mishandling of the natural disaster put it there. The wrangle over NSA wiretapping has exposed a rift between Republican moderates and the White House, while sharpening the partisan divide with the Democrats. And the Abramoff affair has left politicians in both parties anxious about allegations about sleazy dealings with K Street lobbyists, and scurrying for cover. Yet it is the president's party that is most vulnerable politically, because it controls both the legislative and executive branches of government.

And this is, of course, an election year. With the president well into his second term, and the 2008 presidential sweepstakes virtually underway, Congress is more assertive, and politics more partisan than usual ― if that is possible. The odds generally favor the opposition party in mid-term elections, and the GOP is running scared.

article: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200603/01/200603012222232339900090109012.html

* The writer, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan, is a professor at Stanford University.

Even the French agree with us on that.

They don't need the power, folks. That's all I'm saying...

but he takes a different tack than you . . .

Iran has right to N-power: Chirac


PARIS, Feb 28: Iran has the right to civil nuclear power as long as it respects its commitments to the cause of non-proliferation, French President Jacques Chirac said on Tuesday.

“France believes in the need for the demands of non-proliferation to be respected, but believes this does not in any way prejudice Iran’s right to civil nuclear energy within such a framework,” Chirac was quoted as saying by his spokesman.

He made the remarks in conversation with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a few days ahead of a crucial meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency which must rule whether to refer Iran to the Security Council over its nuclear programme. —AFP

http://www.dawn.com/2006/03/01/int3.htm

PARIS (Reuters) - France accused Iran on Thursday of pursuing a secret military nuclear program, drawing a swift rebuke from Tehran before talks next week on a Russian proposal for resolving the dispute.

The United States said the international community was very concerned about Iran developing nuclear arms but diplomacy was being used to try to resolve the standoff. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was very optimistic about the diplomacy.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Iran's nuclear work, which Tehran says is solely for power generation, could not possibly be designed for civilian uses alone.

<snip>

No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. So it is a clandestine Iranian military nuclear program," Douste-Blazy told France 2 television.

"The international community has sent a very firm message by saying to the Iranians: 'Come back to reason. Suspend all nuclear activity and the enrichment of uranium and the conversion of uranium'. They are not listening to us."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060216/ts_nm/nuclear_iran_dc

off the table.

You said they don't need the power. Chirac says absent proliferation concerns he believes Iran has a right to civil nuclear energy.

Besides, belief of a weapons program is a far stretch from evidence, which hasn't been found by the IAEA.


Notice how all of Iran's oil customers are on one side and the ones left out have formed on the other, with Japan wavering?

n/t

Pakistan does, Isreal does, UK does, N. Korea does, Russia does, China does, WE do.

And the countries who have business with Iran, Pakistan- oil pipeline, China-$100b oil deal, Venezuela, Russia, are lined up on the other side. This is clearly not about Iran getting nukes. That can managed as well in the future as it has been up to now.

Even Negroponte admits Iran doesn't have the capability for a bomb. But, they hawk this crap about intentions. Hell, Bush intends to conquer the world. I saw where the Iranian president called for Russia, U.S., and Israel to dismantle their own nukes. Frickin lord of the flies mentality. The U.N. is being manipulated by a paranoid meglomaniac who makes the rules up as he goes to suit his ambitions for greed, power, and conquest.