http://news.antiwar.com/2013/01/07/israeli-finance-minister-pushes-us-to-make-specific-threats-of-iran-invasion/
“They need something in addition to the sanctions and in addition to the statements,” Steinitz insisted, adding that Israel is growing “impatient” and doesn’t believe negotiations are a path forward.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/01/06/next-round-of-us-sanctions-aims-at-destroying-irans-economy/
“The goal is to create a chilling effect on all nonhumanitarian commercial trade with Iran,” noted Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, adding that trying to target only parts of the Iranian economy was a “game of whack-a-mole that the United States could never win.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/04/us-iran-nuclear-eu-idUSBRE9030DA20130104
![]()
We have agreed to hold talks [with the P5+1] planned for January, but no agreement has been reached on the date and venue."
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili
“We have agreed to hold talks [with the P5+1] planned for January, but no agreement has been reached on the date and venue,” Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator told reporters in New Delhi on Friday. “We welcome their return to talks and we hope that they would enter talks with a constructive approach and would not repeat their previous miscalculations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) announced on Friday that nuclear talks with Iran would resume “very soon”.
“They’re negotiating the modalities and the details for the next round to be held very soon,” Sebastien Brabant, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who heads the P5+1 group’s delegation, said in Brussels.
Iran and the six major world powers have held several rounds of talks with the main focus being Iran’s nuclear energy program.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Israeli Finance Minister Pushes US to Make Specific Threats of Iran Invasion
'Impatient' Israel Wants US to Set a Date for War
by Jason Ditz, January 07, 2013
Visiting the US today for two days of meetings, Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz is pushing for the Obama Administration to move beyond simply imposing round after round of new sanctions on Iran and get toward “credible threats” to invade Iran at a specific date.
“They need something in addition to the sanctions and in addition to the statements,” Steinitz insisted, adding that Israel is growing “impatient” and doesn’t believe negotiations are a path forward.
Steinitz stopped short of making any specific statements on what the date of the Israeli-demanded “ultimatum” for war should be, but Prime Minister Netanyahu has previously suggested dates in the next few months would suit Israeli interests in such a war.
T hough Steinitz downplayed the timing of his visit, and insisted it had nothing to do with the nomination of Chuck Hagel for defense secretary, other members of his Likud Party have expressed “serious concern” about the nominee. The real timing, however, may be more related to Israel’s election later this month, with pushes for war being a centerpiece of Likud’s election campaign.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/01/06/next-round-of-us-sanctions-aims-at-destroying-irans-economy/
Next Round of US Sanctions Aims at Destroying Iran’s Economy
Officials Hope to Cripple Economy Ahead of Talks
by Jason Ditz, January 06, 2013
With the next round of negotiations with Iran set to begin in the next month or so, the Obama Administration is imposing yet more rounds of sanctions on the Iranian economy. Whereas others targeted specific segments, the new sanctions aim at damaging broad swathes of the economy with an eye towards collapsing it outright.
“The goal is to create a chilling effect on all nonhumanitarian commercial trade with Iran,” noted Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, adding that trying to target only parts of the Iranian economy was a “game of whack-a-mole that the United States could never win.”
The underlying justification for attacking Iran’s civilian economy with what borders on an outright embargo is the assumption that if the civilian economy is damaged sufficiently Iran will be more willing to negotiate. Yet since each new round of talks includes more onerous US demands, there is a constant game of trumping anything Iran might be willing to accept at any given time.
And so the economic warfare continues, leaving Iran’s government all the stronger as its civilian economy dies, and its population is forced to rely on government-run industries for what little economic production yet remains.
and will the next round of sanctions on Iran hit their food exports ?
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/despite-sanctions-iran-says-pistachio-saffron-exports-almost-doubling-1.492191
Iran's agricultural exports grew last year, with pistachio and saffron sales almost doubling, despite Western sanctions on trade with the country, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Iran's deputy agriculture minister as saying on Saturday.
Between March 21 and December 20, Iran's pistachio exports doubled to $587 million, making the nuts Iran's biggest agricultural export by value. Exports of saffron rose 87 percent to $213 million, Fars reported.
"Export of farming products has increased 15 percent compared to the previous year, while the agricultural exports are still on the increase on a daily basis," Far quoted Jahangir Pourhemmat as saying.
"Over 95 percent of Iran's needed products are produced inside the country which is highly important for the country's political independence."
Western sanctions on banks dealing with Iran, which are intended to force Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment program by preventing it from selling oil, have made it difficult for exporters of many other Iranian goods to get paid.
Despite tighter controls on trade with Iran in 2012 compared to 2011, Fars said exports of everything from tomatoes and potatoes to water melons, kiwi fruit and apples all grew significantly last year.
It did not say how exporters of agricultural goods were paid for their goods, but Iran has struck several barter deals over the past year to secure goods it needs in exchange for products it cannot sell easily due to banking restrictions.
and....
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/04/us-iran-nuclear-eu-idUSBRE9030DA20130104
(Reuters) - The European Union has proposed a time and place for further talks on Iran's nuclear program, but Iran has yet to respond, an EUspokesman said on Friday.
Iran said earlier on Friday it had agreed to resume talks in January with six major powers - represented by the EU - but the EU spokesman said Tehran had not yet replied to proposals made on December 31.
"We offered dates and a venue, but we are still waiting to hear back from Iran," said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who leads negotiations on behalf of the United States,Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China.
Mann declined to say which dates and venue the EU had proposed.
The countries involved in the talks - particularly in the West - want to rein in Iran's uranium enrichment work - which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes only but which produces material which, if processed further, can be used to make nuclear bombs.
There was no breakthrough in three rounds of talks since April 2012. But neither side has been willing to break off totally, partly because of concerns this could lead to war if Israel attacks Iran - something it has threatened to do if the Islamic Republic looks close to getting nuclear weapons
and......
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/01/04/281828/iran-p51-will-hold-talks-in-january/
Iran will hold nuclear talks with P5+1 in January: Jalili
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili (L) walks with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton at the consulate of Iran in Istanbul to attend a meeting on September 18, 2012.
Fri Jan 4, 2013 10:24PM GMT
3
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili says the Islamic Republic has agreed to resume talks with six major world powers about the country’s nuclear energy program this month.
“We have agreed to hold talks [with the P5+1] planned for January, but no agreement has been reached on the date and venue,” Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator told reporters in New Delhi on Friday. “We welcome their return to talks and we hope that they would enter talks with a constructive approach and would not repeat their previous miscalculations,” he said.
Jalili called on the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany -- to keep in mind that Tehran would continue to determinedly defend the Iranian nation’s right to peaceful nuclear technology.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) announced on Friday that nuclear talks with Iran would resume “very soon”.
“They’re negotiating the modalities and the details for the next round to be held very soon,” Sebastien Brabant, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who heads the P5+1 group’s delegation, said in Brussels.
Iran and the six major world powers have held several rounds of talks with the main focus being Iran’s nuclear energy program.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
No comments:
Post a Comment