http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/30/us-iran-summit-idUSBRE87T0JJ20120830
Although Khamenei proposed a referendum for Palestine as a solution to the crisis there, he chose to concentrate on the nuclear issue. "I stress that the Islamic Republic has never been after nuclear weapons and that it will never give up the right of its people to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Our motto is: "Nuclear energy for all and nuclear weapons for none." We will insist on each of these two precepts, and we know that breaking the monopoly of certain Western countries on production of nuclear energy in the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is in the interest of all independent countries, including the members of the Non-Aligned Movement."
Khamenei deoted the rest of his speech to haranguing the US, Israel and UN Security Council, reserving special venom for Israel, which he described in colourful language as "ferocious wolves" proposing a referendum of Palestinians which could begin the process of creating a Palestinian state.
On Wednesday, Khamenei told PM Manmohan Singh that he had been influenced by Mahatma Gandhi today, there was no sign of it as latent violence overran his inaugural speech.
and.....
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Iran-nuclear-issue-Syria-dominate-tense-Tehran-summit/articleshow/15995001.cms
TEHRAN: Iran's showdown with the UN Security Council over its nuclear activities, and clashing speeches over the bloody conflict shaking Syria dominated the opening of a summit in Tehran on Thursday.
Those issues swept aside the veneer of diplomatic harmony Iran had been trying to project over the gathering of 120 members of the Non-Aligned Movement and left several leaders squirming in their seats.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneiopened the session with a speech in which he insisted his country "is never seeking nuclear weapons" and accusing the UN Security Council of exerting an "overt dictatorship" under the sway of its Western permanent members, the United States, Britain and France.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who looked irritated during the speech, shot back in his own address that Iran should build confidence in its nuclear programme by "fully complying with the relevant (UN) Security Council resolutions and thoroughly cooperating with the IAEA" -- the UN's nuclear watchdog.
Otherwise, he warned, "a war of words can quickly spiral into a war of violence."
Egypt's new President Mohamed Morsi -- making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian head of state since the 1979 Islamic revolution -- in turn embarrassed the summit's hosts by stressing that the Syria conflict was a "revolution" like the one his country went through.
"The revolution in Egypt is the cornerstone for the Arab Spring, which started days after Tunisiaand then it was followed by Libya and Yemen and now the revolution in Syria against its oppressive regime," Morsi said.
That directly contradicted the line put out by the Syrian regime and its closest ally Iran that the Syrian uprising was a "terrorist" plot masterminded by the United States and regional countries.
"I urge all the parties to stop procovative and inflammatory threats. A war of words can quickly spiral into war of violence. Bluster can so easily become bloodshed. Now is the time for all the leaders to use their voices to lower, not raise, tensions," he said.
A total of 29 heads of state or government are attending the Tehran summit, including those of Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority, Sudan, Qatar andZimbabwe. North Korea was represented by its ceremonial head of state, parliamentary presidentKim Yong-Nam, rather than the country's leader Kim Jong-Un.
Iran's policies roasted by U.N. head, Egyptian leader
DUBAI |
(Reuters) - The U.N. chief and Egypt's president delivered stinging speeches at a summit of developing nations in Iran on Thursday, damaging the host country's quest for global prestige and support for its nuclear program and its policy on Syria.
The Iranians had to listen while Ban Ki-moon denounced them for calling for Israel's destruction and denying the Holocaust.
Nor did Mohamed Mursi, the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, mince his words as he urged Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) members to back Syrians trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran's closest Arab ally.
The United States and Israel had frowned on the decisions by Ban and Mursi to attend the summit but they can only have been pleased with the discomfort the two men caused their hosts.
"I strongly reject threats by any member state to destroy another or outrageous attempts to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust," Ban said in his speech, without naming Iran.
"Claiming that Israel does not have the right to exist or describing it in racist terms is not only wrong but undermines the very principle we all have pledged to uphold," he added.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and this month described Israel as a "cancerous tumor". In 2005 he was quoted as saying Israel should be "wiped off the map" - words that Persian language scholars say should have been rendered: "Israel must vanish from the page of time."
Iran has portrayed its hosting of the high-profile summit as proof that Western efforts to isolate it and punish it economically for its disputed nuclear program have failed.
"Our motto is nuclear energy for all and nuclear weapons for none," Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the assembled heads of state, a day after Ban urged him to take action to prove Iran's nuclear work is peaceful.
"BULLYING MANNER"
The West suspects Iran is covertly seeking a nuclear weapons capability, an accusation Tehran denies.
In his speech, Khamenei criticized the U.N. Security Council as an illogical, unjust and defunct relic of the past used by the United States "to impose its bullying manner on the world".
"They (Americans) talk of human rights when what they mean is Western interests. They talk of democracy when what they have is military intervention in other countries," he declared.
Khamenei did not mention the conflict in Syria or Iran's staunch support for Assad, who is struggling to crush a 17-month uprising in which more than 18,000 people have been killed.
Mursi, a moderate Egyptian Islamist, said solidarity with the Syrian people "against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty" and a strategic necessity.
"We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria, and translate this sympathy into a clear political vision that supports a peaceful transition to a democratic system of rule that reflects the demands of the Syrian people for freedom."
"INCITEMENT"
His words prompted Syrian delegates to leave the hall.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said the delegation withdrew "in rejection of the incitement in the speech to continue the shedding of Syrian blood", and returned after Mursi's address was over, Syrian state television reported.
Mursi said the bloodshed would only end if there were "effective interference from all of us". He appeared to be referring to diplomatic efforts, given that he has repeatedly ruled out any military intervention in Syria.
The NAM summit's final declaration is set to express deep concern about the violence in Syria and support for efforts by U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to broker a resolution to the conflict, a delegate at the meeting told Reuters.
Mursi's blunt remarks on Syria suggested there would be no early restoration of Egyptian-Iranian diplomatic ties, which broke down after the Iranian revolution over Egypt's support for the overthrown Shah and over its peace agreement with Israel.
Shadi Hamid, of the Brookings Center in Doha, said Mursi, who has promised a "balanced" foreign policy, had signaled by going to Tehran that he would not be as closely aligned with the United States as his ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak.
But his speech showed "he is not going to indulge the Iranians even when he sitting right next to them", Shadi said.
The emir of Qatar, whose country is believed to be arming Syrian rebels, called for a transfer of power in Syria through a political agreement, Qatar's state news agency reported.
and....
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Nuclear-weapons-an-unforgivable-sin-Khamenei/articleshow/15997630.cms
TEHRAN: The NAM summit may try to steer clear of contentious issues and even the NAM outcome document is fairly benign. But the IranSupreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei more than made up for this by kicking off the proceedings by saying that Iran would not seeknuclear weapons but would not give up its quest for nuclear energy. But his emphasis on the nuclear issue and silence on the Syrian conflict might be a signal on its own.
In a blood-guts-and-gore speech Khamenei thundered, "The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the use of nuclear, chemical and similar weapons as a great and unforgivable sin. We proposed the idea of "Middle East free of nuclear weapons" and we are committed to it. This does not mean forgoing our right to peaceful use of nuclear power and production of nuclear fuel. On the basis of international laws, peaceful use of nuclear energy is a right of every country."
Khamenei has maintained this position for a while, which often leads observers to believe that he and the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad are at odds with each other. But the battle for Iran's nuclear ambitions has become more than Iran seeking energy. In a country with the world's second largest gas reserves and one of the top oil-producers, the quest for nuclear energy is a difficult sell to the outside world. India takes the position that while Iran has the right to nuclear energy as an NPT member, it also has to abide by its NPT obligations. The US and EU are convinced that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and even countries like India are alarmed that this might trigger off a bigger domino effect that might be tough to control. It has triggered a slew of sanctions against Iran's energy and financial sectors that is beginning to hurt this country. Iran has been subject to the biggest ever cyberwarfare weapons assault with Stuxnet worm, followed by "Duqu", "Flame" and now "Gauss". Iranian nuclear scientists have been mysteriously assassinated, whose bullet-ridden cars are place as exhibits at the NAM convention centre. In a way, Iran's big NAM splash is intended as a message to the west that Iran is yet to be isolated from the rest of the world. There are about 25 heads of state here, apart from high level membership from all 120 members of the movement. The Iranian government announced that all NAM delegations would be given free access to the Natanz nuclear facility.
In a blood-guts-and-gore speech Khamenei thundered, "The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the use of nuclear, chemical and similar weapons as a great and unforgivable sin. We proposed the idea of "Middle East free of nuclear weapons" and we are committed to it. This does not mean forgoing our right to peaceful use of nuclear power and production of nuclear fuel. On the basis of international laws, peaceful use of nuclear energy is a right of every country."
Khamenei has maintained this position for a while, which often leads observers to believe that he and the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad are at odds with each other. But the battle for Iran's nuclear ambitions has become more than Iran seeking energy. In a country with the world's second largest gas reserves and one of the top oil-producers, the quest for nuclear energy is a difficult sell to the outside world. India takes the position that while Iran has the right to nuclear energy as an NPT member, it also has to abide by its NPT obligations. The US and EU are convinced that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and even countries like India are alarmed that this might trigger off a bigger domino effect that might be tough to control. It has triggered a slew of sanctions against Iran's energy and financial sectors that is beginning to hurt this country. Iran has been subject to the biggest ever cyberwarfare weapons assault with Stuxnet worm, followed by "Duqu", "Flame" and now "Gauss". Iranian nuclear scientists have been mysteriously assassinated, whose bullet-ridden cars are place as exhibits at the NAM convention centre. In a way, Iran's big NAM splash is intended as a message to the west that Iran is yet to be isolated from the rest of the world. There are about 25 heads of state here, apart from high level membership from all 120 members of the movement. The Iranian government announced that all NAM delegations would be given free access to the Natanz nuclear facility.
Although Khamenei proposed a referendum for Palestine as a solution to the crisis there, he chose to concentrate on the nuclear issue. "I stress that the Islamic Republic has never been after nuclear weapons and that it will never give up the right of its people to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Our motto is: "Nuclear energy for all and nuclear weapons for none." We will insist on each of these two precepts, and we know that breaking the monopoly of certain Western countries on production of nuclear energy in the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is in the interest of all independent countries, including the members of the Non-Aligned Movement."
Khamenei deoted the rest of his speech to haranguing the US, Israel and UN Security Council, reserving special venom for Israel, which he described in colourful language as "ferocious wolves" proposing a referendum of Palestinians which could begin the process of creating a Palestinian state.
On Wednesday, Khamenei told PM Manmohan Singh that he had been influenced by Mahatma Gandhi today, there was no sign of it as latent violence overran his inaugural speech.
Those issues swept aside the veneer of diplomatic harmony Iran had been trying to project over the gathering of 120 members of the Non-Aligned Movement and left several leaders squirming in their seats.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneiopened the session with a speech in which he insisted his country "is never seeking nuclear weapons" and accusing the UN Security Council of exerting an "overt dictatorship" under the sway of its Western permanent members, the United States, Britain and France.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who looked irritated during the speech, shot back in his own address that Iran should build confidence in its nuclear programme by "fully complying with the relevant (UN) Security Council resolutions and thoroughly cooperating with the IAEA" -- the UN's nuclear watchdog.
Otherwise, he warned, "a war of words can quickly spiral into a war of violence."
Egypt's new President Mohamed Morsi -- making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian head of state since the 1979 Islamic revolution -- in turn embarrassed the summit's hosts by stressing that the Syria conflict was a "revolution" like the one his country went through.
"The revolution in Egypt is the cornerstone for the Arab Spring, which started days after Tunisiaand then it was followed by Libya and Yemen and now the revolution in Syria against its oppressive regime," Morsi said.
That directly contradicted the line put out by the Syrian regime and its closest ally Iran that the Syrian uprising was a "terrorist" plot masterminded by the United States and regional countries.
The Syrian delegation, led by Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi, walked out as Morsi delivered his comments.
They missed the Egyptian president adding that "Egypt is ready to work with all to stop the bloodshed."
The summit to-and-fro over Iran's nuclear ambitions had its roots in an unusually frank meeting Ban held with Khamenei and Ahmadinejad after arriving on Wednesday.
In those separate talks, Ban told them Iran needed to provide "concrete" steps to ease the international showdown which has raised the spectre of airstrikes on nuclear facilities, threatened by both Israel and the United States as an option.
Tensions have been raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency unveiling a new Iran "task force" to scrutinise Tehran's nuclear programme and its compliance with UN resolutions.
Additionally, the latest IAEA report on Iran's nuclear progress was expected to be released this week -- possibly even during the two-day Tehran summit.
The report is said to highlight expanded enrichment in Iran and suspicions concerning an off-limits military base in Parchin, outside Tehran, where warhead design experiments might have taken place.
Ban had been criticised by the United States and Israel for attending the Tehran summit. But before heading to Iran, he promised he would raise the sensitive issues of the nuclear programme, human rights and Syria.
He made good on that promise, and also took Iran's leaders to task for recent comments calling Israel a "cancerous tumour" that should be cut out of the Middle East, while telling both Iran and Israel to cool the bellicose language.
"I strongly reject any threat by any (UN) member state to destroy another, or outrageous comments to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust," Ban said in his summit speech.
"Claiming another UN member state does not have the right to exist or describe it in racist terms is not only utterly wrong but undermines the very principles we have all pledged to uphold," he said.
They missed the Egyptian president adding that "Egypt is ready to work with all to stop the bloodshed."
The summit to-and-fro over Iran's nuclear ambitions had its roots in an unusually frank meeting Ban held with Khamenei and Ahmadinejad after arriving on Wednesday.
In those separate talks, Ban told them Iran needed to provide "concrete" steps to ease the international showdown which has raised the spectre of airstrikes on nuclear facilities, threatened by both Israel and the United States as an option.
Tensions have been raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency unveiling a new Iran "task force" to scrutinise Tehran's nuclear programme and its compliance with UN resolutions.
Additionally, the latest IAEA report on Iran's nuclear progress was expected to be released this week -- possibly even during the two-day Tehran summit.
The report is said to highlight expanded enrichment in Iran and suspicions concerning an off-limits military base in Parchin, outside Tehran, where warhead design experiments might have taken place.
Ban had been criticised by the United States and Israel for attending the Tehran summit. But before heading to Iran, he promised he would raise the sensitive issues of the nuclear programme, human rights and Syria.
He made good on that promise, and also took Iran's leaders to task for recent comments calling Israel a "cancerous tumour" that should be cut out of the Middle East, while telling both Iran and Israel to cool the bellicose language.
"I strongly reject any threat by any (UN) member state to destroy another, or outrageous comments to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust," Ban said in his summit speech.
"Claiming another UN member state does not have the right to exist or describe it in racist terms is not only utterly wrong but undermines the very principles we have all pledged to uphold," he said.
A total of 29 heads of state or government are attending the Tehran summit, including those of Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority, Sudan, Qatar andZimbabwe. North Korea was represented by its ceremonial head of state, parliamentary presidentKim Yong-Nam, rather than the country's leader Kim Jong-Un.
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