TERRORISTS IN IRAN HIRED BY U.S.

"A provincial official in Iran has accused the United States of being behind Thursday's bombing of a mosque that killed at least 19 people.... Jalal Sayah, deputy governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province, said three people had been arrested following the attack. "According to the information we obtained they were hired by America"... (BBC says) it is an open secret that former US President George W Bush directed large amounts of money to try to destabilise Iran and there is no sign the policy is any different under President Barack Obama..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8073336.stm

TERRORISM BOMBING IN IRAN

"A bomb in a mosque in south-east Iran has killed at least 15 people and wounded 50, the governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province said. The explosion happened in Zahedan, the provincial capital... members of a terrorist group had been arrested... There are a number of militants in the area... Two years ago at least 11 people, including members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, were killed by a bomb in Zahedan.... the Iranian government also accuses the US and Britain of supporting the militants..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8072795.stm

IRAN-PAKISTAN IP PIPELINE FOR CHINA AND RUSSIA
US policy toward Iran has directed a critical resource to Pakistan, China and Russia

"A silent, reptilian war had been going on for years between the US-favored Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline and its rival, the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, also known as the "peace pipeline". This past weekend, a winner emerged. And it's none of the above: instead, it's the 2,100-kilometer, US$7.5 billion IP (the Iran-Pakistan pipeline), with no India attached.... Iran and Pakistan finally signed a deal this week in Tehran, by which Iran will sell gas from its mega South Pars fields to Pakistan for the next 25 years... The last 250 km of a 900-km pipeline stretch in Iran between Asalouyeh and Iranshahr, near the border with Pakistan, still needs to be built. The whole IP pipeline should be operational by 2014..."

"For Beijing, IP could not be more essential. Iranian gas will flow to the Balochistan province port of Gwadar... which China itself built, and where it is also building a refinery... Gwadar is supposed to be connected to a proposed pipeline going north, mostly financed by China... (through) Pakistan (which) is the absolutely ideal transit corridor for China to import oil and gas from Iran and the Persian Gulf. With IP in place and with multi-billion-dollar, overlapping Tehran-Beijing gas deals, China can finally afford to import less energy via the Strait of Malacca, which Beijing considers exceedingly dangerous, and subject to Washington's sphere of influence. With IP, not only China wins; Russia's Gazprom also wins. And by extension, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) wins. Russian deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yankovsky told the Kommersant business daily, "We are ready to join the project as soon as we receive an offer..."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KE29Df02.html

IRAN HOSTS ANTI-EXTREMIST SUMMIT MEETING

"... Tehran is not wasting any time in deepening its ties with Pakistan and Afghanistan. A trilateral mini-summit in Tehran over the weekend brought the leaders of the countries together and culminated in a comprehensive "Tehran declaration"... It could be termed an anti-extremism summit, as the primary focus of the Tehran talks was regional coordination in the fight against terrorism and extremism... The three presidents are scheduled to meet again in the near future in the Pakistani capital Islamabad..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KE27Ak02.html

SAJJIL-2 MISSILE TEST SUCCESSFUL

"Iran says it has successfully test launched a mid-range surface-to-surface missile... described by officials... as a highly accurate "defensive" weapon... the Sajjil-2 missile used "advanced technology" and had "landed exactly" on the unspecified target... (the) two-stage missile... with a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles)... used solid fuel and was "able to go beyond the atmosphere then come back and hit its target". Solid-fuel missiles are reputedly more accurate than liquid-fuel missiles, which make up the majority of Iran's long-range arsenal..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8059104.stm

IAEA REPORT ON IRAN RELATED TO U.S. PROPOSED FUEL SANCTIONS
Because Iran has not satisfied the IAEA

Verification of Nuclear Non-Proliferation.
Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"The Agency has been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran, including all declared low enriched uranium. As the Report states, contrary to the request of the Board of Governors and the Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities, or its work on heavy water related projects. Nor has Iran implemented the Additional Protocol, which, as with other countries with comprehensive safeguards agreements, is a prerequisite for the Agency to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities. Iran has not permitted the Agency to perform the required design information verification at the IR-40 reactor currently under construction, and it has not implemented the modified text of its Subsidiary Arrangements General Part on the early provision of design information.

The Agency regrettably was unable to make any progress on the remaining issues which give rise to concerns about possible military dimensions of Iran´s nuclear programme because of lack of cooperation by Iran. For the Agency to be able to make progress, Iran needs to provide substantive information and access to relevant documentation, locations and individuals in connection with all of the outstanding issues.

Unless Iran implements the transparency measures and the Additional Protocol, as required by the Security Council, the Agency will not be in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran. I again urge Iran to implement all measures required to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme at the earliest possible date and to unblock this stalemated situation...

Finally, I am hopeful that the apparent fresh approach by the international community to dialogue with Iran will give new impetus to the efforts to resolve this long-standing issue in a way that provides the required assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran´s nuclear programme, while assuring Iran of its right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

--From Introductory Statement to the Board of Governors, 2 March 2009, Vienna, Austria, by IAEA Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2009/ebsp2009n002.html

RUSSIAN MISSILE SALES TO IRAN

"Belarus fronts Russian Iskander-M surface missile sale to Iran, Syria... the Iskander-M (advanced cruise missile) sale to Tehran has gone through and negotiations are ongoing for Iran and Syria for another transaction: the sale of Russia's advanced S-300 anti-air anti-missile multi-targeting shield systems as well..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6055

RECANTED CONFESSIONS ARE ROUTINE

“Delara Darab.... was an Iranian woman executed ... initially confessed to the crime but later recanted... persuaded her to confess by convincing her she would not be executed...”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delara_Darabi

“Damaging Forced Confessions... there is an all too familiar ring about the supposed confessions of arrested journalist Roxana Saberi... They had promised to release her after the confessions and she denies all of her confessions... Forced confessions made before television cameras by high profile detainees are routine in Iran...”
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46713

IRAN TO SUPPLY NATURAL GAS TO WEST

"Iran is about to become a major fuel supplier to the West... For the sake of dialogue and cooperation, Washington is ceding Tehran the chance to feed its natural gas into the 3,000 kilometer-long Nabucco pipeline project (from the Caspian to the EU via Turkey). The strategic-economic consequences of the Obama administration's (action is a) major perk for Iran..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6047

IRANIAN CORRIDOR FOR U.S. TO AFGHANISTAN

"Talks on Iranian corridor for US troops, supplies to Afghanistan on fast track... Barack Obama's plans to ... (ask) Tehran to permit the passage to Afghanistan of fresh US troops, weapons and supplies across Iranian territory... the US Air Base at Al Udeid in Qatar would be the main hub for the air corridor taking US transport planes over the Persian Gulf, crossing the Iranian border and flying over southern and central Iran up to their destination, the US airbase near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. The sea route would hinge on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' main naval base at Chah-Bahar, which is situated on the Arabian Sea near Iran's border with Pakistan... an ideal port of call for US provisions to reach Afghanistan by a predominantly sea route. From this Arabian Sea port, consignments would head north through Iran's Sistan-va-Baluchistan up to the Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan border intersection and then turn east by convoy to their destination at Kandahar..."
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6048

PROPOSED FUEL SANCTIONS DEFEAT DIPLOMACY

"... The Iran Sanctions Enhancement Act, introduced by a bipartisan group of US senators, states in its preamble that its purpose is "to enhance US diplomatic efforts with respect to Iran by expanding economic sanctions against Iran to include refined petroleum... (this) new White House-backed legislation in the US Congress... aims to impose "crippling sanctions" on Iran by targeting its energy imports... to include refined petroleum... The powerful pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), over the weekend, (indicated that) the purpose of this pending legislation is to provide "a powerful new weapon to use against Iran".

"... It appears that pseudo-engagement has replaced true engagement with Iran and the new legislation camouflages its true intention - to restrict, postpone and ultimately nip in the bud the flashes of a diplomatic change in the US's hitherto coercive diplomacy toward Iran."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KE02Ak01.html

DIPLOMATIC ENHANCEMENT?

"H.R. 1985, The Iran Diplomatic Enhancement Act of 2009, would amend the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 to enhance United States diplomatic efforts with respect to Iran by expanding economic sanctions against Iran to include refined petroleum.... 4/21/2009... Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means..."
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_HR_1985.html

U.S. SAYS IRAN REMAINS A STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR
Mainly for supporting groups against Israeli occupation

Iran... remains the "most active state sponsor of terrorism" in the world, the US government charged Thursday. Iran was lumped with Syria, Sudan and Cuba as terrorism sponsors in the State Department report for 2008, the same countries that appeared in previous annual reports... It singled out the Qods Force, an elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as the Islamic republic's main means to cultivate and support terrorists overseas. The Qods Force gave "weapons, training and funding" to Hamas and other Palestinian anti-Israeli groups, Lebanon's Shiite Muslim fundamentalist Hezbollah as well as Iraq-based militants and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the report said..."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090430/wl_mideast_afp/usattacksintelligenceiran

ISRAEL ALMOST DESTROYED 140 IRANIAN PLANES
"Iran canceled air show when Russia warned Israel planned to destroy all 140 warplanes... Israel was planning to destroy all 140 fighter-bombers concentrated at the Mehr-Abad Air Force base for an air show over Tehran on Iran's Army Day... Moscow had informed the Iranians that its spy satellites and intelligence sources had picked up preparations at Israeli Air Force bases to destroy the 140 warplanes, the bulk of the Iranian air force, on the ground the night before the display, leaving its nuclear sites without aerial defense. A similar operation wiped out the entire Egyptian air fleet in the early hours of the 1967 war."
--DEBKAfile, April 24, 2009
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6040

ISRAEL PREPARING TO BOMB IRAN SITES

"The Israeli military is preparing itself to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government... it was unlikely that Israel would carry out the attack without receiving at least tacit approval from America... An Israeli attack on Iran would entail flying over Jordanian and Iraqi airspace, where US forces have a strong presence... it was unlikely that the Americans would approve an attack... the leaks or statements made by Israeli leaders and military commanders are meant for deterrence..."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6115903.ece

IRAN AND THE NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY (NPT)

"... Iran is a signatory state of the NPT and has recently (as of 2006) resumed development of a uranium enrichment program. The Iranian government states its enrichment program is part of its civilian nuclear energy program. This is allowed under Article IV of the NPT... Iran states it has a legal right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under the NPT, and further says that it "has constantly complied with its obligations under the NPT and the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency".

There are currently 189 countries party to the treaty... Five states are recognized by the NPT as nuclear weapon states (NWS)... the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the People's Republic of China (the permanent members of the UN Security Council).

Only four recognized sovereign states are not parties to the treaty: India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea...

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that by some estimates thirty-five to forty states could have the knowledge to develop nuclear weapons

Key Articles

Article I: Each nuclear-weapons state (NWS) undertakes not to transfer, to any recipient, nuclear weapons...

Article II: Each non-NWS party undertakes not to receive, from any source, nuclear weapons...

Article III: Each non-NWS party undertakes to conclude an agreement with the IAEA for the application of its safeguards to all nuclear material in all of the state's peaceful nuclear activities and to prevent diversion of such material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

Article IV: Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes...

Article VI. The states undertake to pursue "negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament", and towards a "Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control".

Article X. Establishes the right to withdraw from the Treaty giving 3 months' notice..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Non-Proliferation_Treaty

ISRAEL HAS RESOURCES TO SUCCESSFULLY ATTACK IRAN
(Unless enrichment stops by late 2009)

"(A) detailed report compiled by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS)... Study on a Possible Israeli Strike on Iran's Nuclear Development Facilities... concludes that the Jewish state has all the resources necessary for a successful strike. The CSIS paper ... maintains there is no need to destroy dozens or hundreds of sites; the destruction of seven to nine targets would be enough to cripple the Iranian program, and lists them as follows:
1. Lashkar A'bad, site of secret uranium enrichment plants in the north near the Turkish border.
2. Tehranb, for the central laboratory for developing atomic armaments as well as more uranium enrichment facilities.
3. Arak, in central Iran, where a heavy water plant is under construction to manufacture plutonium for weapons.
4. Isfahan, in central Iran, near which a small research reactor and a cluster of laboratories for uranium enrichment, centrifuges and weapons development, are situated.
5. Natanz, the main center for uranium enrichment.
6. Ardekan, at the southern tip of Iran, where more uranium enrichment facilities are located.
7. Saghand, Iran's main uranium mining region.
8. Bushehr, on the Persian Gulf shore, Iran's biggest nuclear reactor built by Russia:

9. Gachin, near the Strait of Hormuz, the site of more uranium mines and enrichment facilities...
The authors propose three attack routes for a potential Israeli operation against Iran: an eastern route over Saudi Arabia; a central route over Iraq, and a northern route over Turkey, Syria and northern Iraqi Kurdistan. They point to the third as Israel's best option in view of the superiority of its electronic warfare (EW) capabilities."

"... an Israeli official (said) that Jerusalem would give the Obama administration until late 2009 to stop Iran's uranium enrichment projects; after that, Israel will be forced to act..."

http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1386

OBAMA PROPOSES URANIUM FUEL BANK FOR IRAN

"... the US is also probing a solution to the Iran nuclear problem with Kazakhstan's helping hand...President Barack Obama has already hinted that he intends to pay a visit to Kazakhstan... the Obama administration is "carefully considering" the setting up of an international uranium fuel bank in Kazakhstan... as part of a US-backed plan to put all uranium enrichment under international control... which could form the exit strategy for the historic US-Iran standoff. That is why the visit by the Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad to Astana, Kazakhstan, on Monday assumes exceptional importance..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KD10Ak03.html

OBAMA MAY ACCEPT IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

"... It now appears that the US might cede to Iran's nuclear program... as part of a policy review commissioned by Obama, "diplomats are discussing whether the US will eventually have to accept Iran's insistence on carrying out the [enrichment] process, which can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material"... the Obama administration's message to Tehran is increasingly shaping up as "Don't develop a nuclear weapon" - a nuanced stance that would not rule out a deal accepting Iranian enrichment as such...."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KD10Ak03.html

IRAN A POSSIBLE NATO SUPPLY ROUTE INTO AFGHANISTAN

"An Iranian diplomat has held informal talks with NATO officials for the first time in 30 years... ... the talks with Iran's ambassador to the European Union, Ali-Asghar Khaji, had concentrated on Afghanistan... news reports have suggested that NATO countries with forces in Afghanistan might have an interest in using Iran as a supply route..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7966263.stm

IRAN ACCEPTS U.S. AFGHAN INVITATION

"Iran has confirmed it will attend a US-backed international conference on the future of Afghanistan... US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said earlier this month that Iran should attend the high-level meeting... the two share an interest in a stable Afghanistan."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7965529.stm

IRAN RESPONDS TO OBAMA OVERTURE

"... President Obama on Thursday offered "a new beginning" in relations with Iran... Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has demanded concrete policy changes from the US as the price for new relations between the two states... singling out US support for Israel and sanctions against Iran... a minimum requirement for Iran would be a move by Washington to ease US sanctions..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7956504.stm